#maybe I’d be more open to it and open about multitasking if my parents actually supported me wanting to do shit i actually liked growing up

[galariangengar]

Lowkey been thinking about getting a part time job for awhile now, and maybe applying to HomeGoods or TJMaxx cuz it’s close by, not that far of a drive, I can drive myself to and from there, and I’d get a discount cuz my mom and I do like shopping there. My mom brought it up again (even though I don’t like her tone when she asked again if I’ll get a job any time soon), and applying to HomeGoods has been on my mind since this past weekend… idk yet, maybe I’ll wait a little more

[wonderlustlucas]

jack pot ; part 3 - hwang hyunjin

⇢ prompt You know it’s bad when you’re high as a kite and he’s still on your mind. ⇢ pairing hwang hyunjin x female reader ⇢ word count 6.4k ⇢ genre fluff & angst (not heavy, just in a slow burn kind of way) ⇢ warnings (18+) drug use, a suggestive make out & the mention of a boner twice maybe ⇢ summary College is a matter of working hard and playing hard. It’s an opportunity to start fresh, to grow as an individual and to blossom with those you befriend. People come and people go, leaving their mark on your life and showing you all the parts of becoming an adult. Some, however, do more than leave their mark. Some take just as much as they give. Things become complicated once they take the entirety of your love because you outright offered it to them.—college!au ; stoner!au ; friends to lovers!au ⇢ a/n AAAAAAAA omg im so excited to post this, this by far is my fav part of jack pot & i cant wait to hear what u all think!!! sorry its a bit shorter than the other parts, & technically this is the *last* part, but there will be an epilogue where you will see how everything comes to be!!!! have fun reading!!! <3

⇠ part 2

five.

“Oh, fuck, he’s good,” Yeji gasps, shoving her phone into Maddie’s hands before faceplanting into the table.

“Are you H-T-T-P because I’m colon-slash-slash without you,” Maddie reads with a chuckle, thumbs hesitating over the keyboard. “Quick, YN, look up some pick-up lines.”

Closing the tab on the article you should be reading but has been long forgotten, you promptly do as you are told and open the first link from your search, Minho and Jisung leaning in to help. “There,” Jisung stops you, pointing to one, “’Are you a parking ticket? Because you have fine written all over you.’”

The table can’t help but burst into laughter at such a sentence. It’s stupid, but ever since Yeji and Kim Sunwoo began texting, their conversations have been full of tacky puns and emoji-filled compliments.

“Damn,” Maddie whistles, setting the phone back into Yeji’s limp hand, “he’s already typing back.”

“Gross,” Ryujin teases, busy typing away on her laptop. How she manages to multitask so well is a skill you certainly lack. “Why don’t you just like, I don’t know, ask him out?” Jisung asks and when you glance up, he’s looking at you. “Because that’s the guy’s job,” Maddie quickly saves the day, winking to you when you send her a grateful smile.

“Bullshit,” Jeongin scoffs. Everyone, even Ryujin, stops to look at him.

Did he just curse?

“I mean, like,” he stammers, cheeks turning rosy at all the attention, “it’s 2020. Guys have insecurities, too.”

“I agree,” Minho hums, looking to Maddie with hearts in his eyes, “that kind of confidence is enough to make any boy fall in love.”

“Yeah, but—”

Lia rebuts, but your attention quickly falls elsewhere when a text message first appears on your laptop, then your phone.

hwang hyunjin🦔🕺🏻💞🧻 [now] Where r u rn?

Unable to fight your smile, you quickly type back.

[3:39 PM] YN: outside hollin st café [3:39 PM] YN: why? :)

“Have you seen their new house, YN?” Minho asks, prompting you to click your phone off and set it back on the table. “Whose house?”

“Changbin’s parents.”

“Oh,” shaking your head, you distantly curse Chan for keeping your friend busy today. Unlike Jisung, Changbin likes to write lyrics and do whatever other music stuff during the day at a normal time instead of the middle of the fucking night while stoned and trying to finish his computer science assignments at the same time. “No, he forgot to send me pictures.”

“Dude,” Jisung sighs dreamily, “it’s huge. So nice. I think the front door alone could cover tuition.”

“Is it really that nice?” Maddie asks in awe.

“He started to show me pics the other day but couldn’t finish but the kitchen… unnecessary,” Ryujin quips, pausing her work to check her phone. “Yeah, it’s insane. The whole place is unnecessary but the kitchen is like, a house in itself,” Jeongin hums, head shaking in disbelief.

“Damn, now I really want to see it,” you sigh, making a mental note to hunt Changbin down so he can show you. “It’s like Hyunjin and his rings,” Minho snickers, “he has so many. Whenever we’re out, if he sees a ring, boom. It’s his.”

Well, he’s not wrong but… You bite your tongue no matter how badly you wish to defend Hyunjin and his affinity for rings and jewelry in general. The boy has taste, what can you say? You certainly are not complaining about Hyunjin’s long fingers and the way he chooses to decorate them.

“I never thought I’d hear Changbin’s parent’s kitchen be analogous to Hyunjin’s jewelry collection, yet here we are,” Maddie chuckles, leaning over Yeji to peek at her conversation with Sunwoo.

“Wow, speak of the devil,” Jisung pipes up of course as soon as you have reopened the tab to your assignment. Changbin or Hyunjin, you don’t know, head whipping up to find out and a peculiar mix of relief and panic settling over you once you spot the latter. “Uh oh, YN’s gonna go into cardiac arrest.”

As subtly as you can, you elbow Jisung in the stomach and smile at Hyunjin as he nears. “Hey,” keeping his eyes on you, Hyunjin approaches your table and stops behind Maddie opposite from you, “I’m sorry, I should have asked if you were busy.” His cheeks, already flushed, burn pinker once he looks away to smile weakly at everyone else.

“I’m not busy!” You squeak, scrambling to close your laptop and shove it in your bag. “Are you sure? I can come back later?” He offers, tilting his head and this is when you realize he is holding a bubble tea in each hand. And from the looks of it, one seems to be your usual order. “No, she’s not,” Jeongin answers for you, recognizing your stupefied expression.

“I was just – yeah. No,” rushing to stand and swing your legs out around the bench, you nearly fall flat on your face, “I wasn’t doing anything, actually.” Steadying yourself with a hand on Minho’s shoulder, you heave a labored breath before carefully walking to meet Hyunjin.

“Okay,” he beams, either oblivious to how flustered you are or simply choosing to ignore it. Turning to wave to your friends, he hands you one of the cups and you realize it is, in fact, your favorite boba. Oh boy. “See ya later,” you wave to them as well, nose wrinkling when both Jisung and Maddie wink in return.

Following after Hyunjin, you finally allow yourself to take notice of his attire and can’t help but feel confused. He looks good. And not in the good attractive way—he always looks good. But good as in formal. It’s four o’clock on a Tuesday in October and he’s out here looking as if he just got out of a business meeting. White button-down tucked into fitted black slacks, dress shoes, black tie, and he even has a black suit jacket draped over his arm. His hair is styled, too; ever since he dyed it back to black, he’s been growing it out long enough for his bangs to cover his eyes. Now, however, it’s parted down the middle and seems as if he’s ever so slightly curled it away from his face.

Suddenly, you feel ridiculous walking beside him in mom jeans and a baggy sweatshirt from high school.

“Thanks for the boba,” you mumble around your straw, brain still preoccupied trying to get over how utterly handsome he is. “Why do you look so fancy?”

The side of his mouth twitches up at your words, but his eyes stay glued to the sidewalk as you continue to your unknown destination. “I had an audition,” Hyunjin admits, voice devoid of emotion as if it’s not important at all. “An audition?” You echo. “Why do you sound so not super mega excited? How did it go? What was it for?”

“Well—”

“Wait!” You interrupt, stopping your walk once you realize he had an audition and you didn’t know. “You had an audition? What – why didn’t you tell me?”

Hyunjin frowns, avoiding your gaze and dragging his bottom teeth over his top lip. “I didn’t tell anyone,” he finally says before reaching for your hand and tugging you away from the walkway and into your campus’ main courtyard. “Why? Is it some sort of secret or something, Hyunjin?” You scoff, sounding way more annoyed than you intended. But you are annoyed; why didn’t he want to tell anyone?

“No,” he sighs, finding an empty area in the grass and lowering himself to sit, “I just… didn’t want anyone to know. Didn’t want to make it a big deal.”

“Hyunjin,” you sigh, visibly softening for him and settling down next to him, crisscrossing your legs, “it is a big deal. I don’t know what it’s for, but if it’s important enough for you to audition, then it’s important to us, too. You don’t need to be humble twenty-four-seven, you know. I’m sure you could have used our support.”

“I didn’t get it, though,” Hyunjin whispers, “they just – I didn’t get in. I wasn’t good enough.” Sensing the sadness in his voice, you find a lump forming in your throat when you notice the way his bottom lip trembles. “Hey,” panicking, you set your boba down and sit up on your knees to wrap your arms around him, cradling his head into your chest once tears start falling, “no. Don’t ever say you’re not good enough, Hyunjin.”

“But if I did better, practiced more, than I would—"

“Stop,” you hush, combing your fingers through his hair and brushing strands away from his eyes, “I’ve never met someone who works as hard as you do. You can’t beat yourself up over this. Everything happens for a reason. You don’t know what could have happened if you got in. You could have hurt yourself eventually, or maybe met someone who’s a real asshole.”

“Yeah,” is all he says, quiet and muffled when he turns to press his forehead into your sternum, body still trembling as he lets out all his tears. You stay like that for a while, holding him against you and soothing a hand up and down his back until his sniffling falls quiet. “Listen,” you finally sigh, grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling him back. Your heart sinks once you take in the wet trails down his cheeks and the puffiness of his eyes. “Forget about it. Was it something for dance?”

When he nods subtly, you cup his face in your hands and swipe his cheeks with your thumbs. “You are an amazing dancer, Hyunjin. You can’t let this get to your head. And I don’t want you working your ass off more than you do already. Practice makes perfect, sure, but you need to rest. What about the idea Changbin came up with?”

“The YouTube thing?”

“Yes! Filming dance tutorials or just posting your routines is a really good idea,” you remind him, wiping your hands on your jeans once he falls back onto the grass with a gentle thud, hair flaying around him like a halo. Your limbs twitch with the urge to lie beside him, maybe throw an arm around him and rest your cheek on his chest, fingers tracing the soft features of his face, stroking through his hair and reminding him just how innately perfect he is, inside and out. You, of course, resist such a temptation, flopping down beside him and staring up at the clouds with a heavy heart.

“I could do that. Maybe,” Hyunjin huffs. Tilting your head to look at him, you find yourself knee-deep in that familiar longing feeling, pausing simply to appreciate how pretty he is in the evening sun, cheeks rosy from crying and hair begging to be touched. Shaking your head to rid such daydreams, you remind yourself how fragile his emotions are right now. Now is no time to get caught up on a fantasy. Reaching for your tea, you lean up on an elbow and redirect your gaze to the trees, the promise of winter having turned what was green burnt sienna and butterscotch, leaving trees barren and branches swaying gently in the crisp breeze that leaves you curling into yourself. “You should,” you hum, distant, mind clawing to come up with the words you want to say.

“Come here,” Hyunjin says now, voice stronger than before and when his hand wraps gently around your wrist, you can’t find it in yourself to resist. Allowing him to pull you back down beside him, you curl into his side, resting your head a safe distance away from his own and onto the curve of his arm. “Thank you for being so good to me,” he expresses. You squeeze your eyes shut when the arm you lie on wraps around your shoulders and pulls you substantially closer. “I need to tell you something.”

A long stretch of silence falls upon you and for a moment, you are unsure the words even left your mouth. What are you thinking?

“Wait! I have something first,” Hyunjin sighs, missing the way your breath hitches. “Okay,” you whisper, fiddling with one of the buttons on his shirt and focusing all your attention there.

“I just – I think… I owe you an apology,” he finally says, “I need to apologize for something that I did a while ago that I know probably hurt.” Your chest tightens. There’s a lot that has hurt you when it comes to Hyunjin, but none that he’s done purposely. None that are his fault. None that he should be apologizing for.

“I feel like we came to some mutual understanding to not mention what happened when we were freshmen, but it kills me to know that – that something happened, and we never talked about it,” Hyunjin starts, grip tightening on your shoulder and suddenly, you think you are dreaming. This cannot possibly be real. “I know it was awkward but, I also know me and Yiren dating was… ah. I don’t know.”

When he falls silent, you are unsure of what to say or do. You have no idea what the end goal of this conversation is. Hardly a minute ago, your heart and your brain decided it was time to tell him. Now, you’re not so sure you can do that until he finishes, and you are not about to give him your two cents if his reasoning for bringing it up is not the same as yours.

“I just want to apologize for not being brave enough to talk to you about it. I know I was confused, but I’m sure it was worse for you when they told you about her,” Hyunjin continues, sensing your rendered silence, “and it’s been so long since that happened, and now, you’re one of my closest friends.” Ouch.

“But I’ve been thinking,” when he picks up again, your eyes fly open in a panic. He’s been thinking. Hyunjinhas been thinking. You think you are going to pass out. “And I just feel like we… me and you, I mean—"

The standard iPhone alarm blares from beside you, promptly cutting him off and you think it is the biggest cockblock known to man. “Shit,” he hisses, leaning up to tug his phone from his pocket and in the process nudging you from your comfortable position. Sitting back up, nerves aflame and heart racing, your brows shoot up in confusion when all he does is stare at the number calling him. “What are you doing?”

“It’s the studio I was just at,” he scoffs in disbelief, barely glancing at you before looking back to his phone. You have never wanted to shrivel up and die as much as you want to right now. “Well? Aren’t you going to answer?”

Hyunjin makes a noise of acknowledgement before tapping the green icon and bringing the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

Sitting quietly beside him, you watch with a forced smile as his hummed responses and subtle nods morph into enthusiastic laughs and wide, beaming smiles. Hyunjin notices your confusion when you tilt your head, mouthing a ‘What?’ to him.

“They made a mistake,” he whispers, covering the speaker of his phone, “read off the wrong Hwang. I’m in.” When he grins excitedly at you, your response isn’t as cheerful as it could be. As it should be. “Yay!” You whisper, clapping gently but quickly turning to your boba when the other line begins speaking again. Looking away, you take a hefty sip, nearly choke on a tapioca ball, and build the walls around your heart up all over again in a matter of seconds.

“I’ve gotta go,” whispering, you manage one more pained smile before getting to your feet and wiping your butt of any possible grass stains, “good luck!” When he shines you one more breathtaking smile and waves excitedly, you hastily head in the other direction, wrapping your arms around yourself and swallowing past the lump that threatens to form the farther you walk.

It must be nice, you think, frantically wiping at your waterline. Must be nice to put yourself out there and have things work out the way you want them to. Must be nice being told you’re ‘in,’ you’re wanted, you’re desired.

It must be nice.

six.

Pick up food, you said. Ask Jisung, you said.

Your conscience is a big fat oompa loompa ass bitch. You would have never called Jisung to ask him if he wanted anything from Taco Bell if you knew he was with Changbin. And not just Changbin, you realized four minutes into your call; Seungmin and Hyunjin, too. Apparently he went over their place to record, or something, and didn’t care to let you know. Not that you’re his mom and he has too—but it would have been nice, and would have saved you from spending almost fifty dollars at Taco Bell.

“I tried calling Jisung but he didn’t answer,” you snap once Seungmin answers your call with a muffled hello. “Can one of you please come out and help me carry this in?” You glance at the five large sodas and two bags full of food in your passenger seat with a grimace. “Sure,” he agrees and you make a mental note for the umpteenth time just how much you love Seungmin, “I’ll be out in a sec.”

True to his word, you spot him making his way out of their apartment and across the small courtyard to meet you by your car not even a minute later, hauling each bag under his arms. “Thank you,” left only with the cupholder, you hurriedly lock your car and follow after him. “No problem. Thanks for being our Uber Eats,” then, pursing his lips, “how much was this?”

“Forty-seven something,” you grumble unhappily, knowing this was a big hit to your debit. “We’ll pay you back, don’t worry,” Seungmin smiles, leading you up the final flight of stairs and kicking open the ajar door.

Immediately, you’re hit with the smell.

“Dear, fucking hell,” making a face, you rub your nose to keep from sneezing, “it reeks in here. How have you guys not been kicked out yet?”

The stench of weed generally does not bother you anymore, but still—they could light a candle, or something. Seungmin shrugs, setting the bags down on the kitchen counter. “Luck, I guess.”

“IS THAT YN?” From another room, you hear Changbin shout, followed by an excited shriek from Jisung. “They’re high. Very high. You’ve been warned,” Seungmin whispers just as tweedle dee and tweedle dum themselves come flying around the corner. “YN!” Jisung grins, engulfing you in a dramatic hug. “Watch,” you hiss, regarding the blunt held between his fingers that comes dangerously close to your hair.

“Sorry,” he smiles, then, without warning, sticks the thing right between your lips. “I didn’t even offer.” Well, when life gives you lemons…

You hesitantly take the hit and blow the smoke away from him. You weren’t planning on getting high today, but here you are. “Thanks,” shaking your head as if that will clear it, you turn to Changbin and snugly wrap your arms around him. Every day you thank the heavens that he is a chill, calm high, unlike your maniac of a roommate.

“Thanks for the food,” fishing into his pockets and pulling out a crumpled ten-dollar bill, he slaps it into your palm. You only hum in reply, shoving it into your own pocket and praying you don’t lose it before you remember to put it in your wallet. “Where’s Hyunjin?” You ask, no longer caring about being slick.

“In his room,” Seungmin answers, rummaging through the bags to find what he ordered. Then, “HYUNJIN!” You jump, reaching for your soda and standing away from the other three until they have claimed whatever belongs to them. No sooner than Seungmin calls for him, you hear a door being cracked open and out comes Hyunjin.

He looks extremely disheveled. Like, just woke up from a two-month hibernation, disheveled. In the blink of an eye, however, he rakes a hand through long blonde hair and promptly sets a baseball cap backwards to keep the strands away and suddenly, he doesn’t look so disheveled anymore. You force yourself to look away, cursing the way your gut twists.

“Gimme my crunchwrap,” you say around your straw, snatching the blunt from Jisung’s fingers and moving around him to fetch your dinner. He doesn’t even protest.

He knows you need it more than he does.

“That’s a lot of food,” Hyunjin says once he has finally entered the kitchen, voice groggy and eyes puffy from sleep. Or from being high, you can’t tell. Pressing his chest to your back, he wraps one arm around you to keep you against him while the other reaches into a bag to take what’s his. Swallowing past the desert dryness of your throat, you manage a thick inhale from the blunt before tilting your head to look at him and mentally thanking the other three for taking it as their cue to head out.

“Not my fault you guys eat like animals,” you chuckle shakily, trying to ignore the firmness of his body against yours, veins prominent on the arm that holds you against him and the ripple of muscle along his abdomen noticeable even through his shirt and yours. Dear god, it is too early for this. Not even seven o’clock and you are already drooling in more places than one.

Hyunjin pouts as if it is not true. “How much do I owe you?” He asks, finally moving away to grab his drink and you can’t help your disappointment, quickly finishing the blunt before tapping it out into one of the many ashtrays. “Don’t worry about it,” you wave off, digging through their drawers for a paper plate.

“YN,” Hyunjin deadpans, regarding you with a raised brow once you come up and begin unwrapping your food. You refuse to look him in the eye. “What do I owe you?” He repeats, firmer this time and it sends a chill down your spine when it most certainly should not. Sighing, you retrieve the receipt from your pocket and count everything he got. “Thirteen.”

Humming in content, Hyunjin reaches for his wallet on the counter and pulls a ten and five out. “There,” he beams, tucking the bills into your pocket himself. Rolling your eyes, you pray he does not notice how you flush and hurry out of the kitchen to join Seungmin on the sofa.

“House Hunters?” You ask with a laugh, looking at the TV once you have settled next to him. “I told you HGTV is the best.”

Seungmin hums in agreement. “I thought it was stupid at first, but Hyunjin was watching Fixer Upper and I got addicted,” he says, nodding to the older boy doing a little dance in the kitchen as he eats one of his tacos. Your heart does somersaults at the sight. “They’re all so good,” you agree after taking a few bites of your own food, eyes trained on the television, “House Hunters is a classic, though.”

“I like the international one,” Hyunjin adds on his way over, crashing unceremoniously next to you. Out of the corner of your eye, you notice Seungmin wrinkle his nose when Hyunjin sets his free hand casually on your thigh. “Shh,” he grumbles, vaguely gesturing to the screen and chewing a mouthful of food, “I wanna hear what the house has.”

One episode turns to two, which turns to three, which turns to four, and suddenly you have been watching House Hunters with Seungmin and Hyunjin for almost three hours. It definitely is the weed, always making time perpetually slower, and it did not help when Jisung and Changbin reappeared sometime during your binge with one of Felix’s bongs. Not necessarily how you intended to spend your precious Friday night, but there is no sense in complaining when you are with your buddies and Hyunjin, of course.

Taco Bell long gone, you watch with blurry eyes when Hyunjin gets up from his slumped position against you to head into the kitchen and open the freezer. This, as well as the realization that House Hunters has ended and gone to some other, not-as-cool show, brings both you and Seungmin somewhat back to reality.

“It’s almost ten,” Seungmin announces, staring dazedly at the time on his phone. You hum in acknowledgment, certainly sober enough to reply but simply too lazy to. “I think I’m going to bed. Or play something. Don’t wreck the place,” he sighs, dragging a hand down his face before standing up. “G’night, Minnie,” you smile, watching with a furrowed brow as he continues down the hall and into his room. It isn’t until you hear his door click shut does the weight of being alone with Hyunjin settle on your chest.

It’s not like you haven’t spent time alone with Hyunjin before. In fact, that usually is the way it’s been in the past three years; whether the two of you decided to do your own thing or the rest of your friends eventually left or went to bed, you are used to this feeling. Used to ignoring the butterflies in your gut when he does something particularly cute and used to tampering down the mental images you conjure up knowing it’s just you and him.

But that doesn’t make things any easier. No matter how hard you try, you simply can’t help but feel this way around Hyunjin, especially when you’re alone. That’s just the way the cookie crumbles.

“Whatcha wanna watch?” Hyunjin asks around one last spoonful of ice cream before setting the pint back into the freezer. “Uhh…” You drone, blinking heavily at the TV and back to him as he makes his way back over. “I dunno, I’m sure you’ve been watching some drama. You can put that on.”

“You sure?” He asks with a raised brow, collapsing next to you and slumping dramatically halfway down the cushions. “Yes,” laughing, you find yourself reaching out to tuck messy strands of hair back behind his ear without hesitation, “also, why are you wearing a hat inside?”

Hyunjin pauses, straining to look up as if he will be able to see the back of his cap against his forehead. “I’m wearing a hat?”

“Yes, you idiot,” in comes the endless weed giggles and you find yourself unable to stop laughing, watching with teary eyes as he sits up and takes his hat off. “I don’t remember putting this on,” he chuckles airily, flipping the cap back and forth in his hands before tossing it onto the coffee table. “Should I cut it?”

“No!” You shout a little too quickly and a little too loudly. Shrinking against the arm of the couch, you ignore his amused smile and look to his long hair, freshly bleached strands falling down to his neck and shorter pieces brushing against his cheeks. Fuck, it should be illegal to look this good. “I like it long. It really suits you.”

“It’s annoying,” Hyunjin grins despite his complaint, lifting his legs onto the couch and flopping onto his side, head now resting on your lap. “I don’t know what to do with it.”

Now that he’s offered playing with his hair on a silver platter, you don’t hesitate combing your fingers through it, tugging out pieces stuck under his head and brushing it out completely. “You could pull the sides back,” you hum distantly, separating a section of hair near his temple to pull back, “or make a bun with what you can. You just have to play around with it.”

Humming in agreement, Hyunjin resituates himself after reaching for the remote and switching to Netflix. When you go back to simply raking your fingers from root to tip in irregular directions, you don’t miss the way his eyelids flutter at the motion and make sure to pay extra attention to his scalp. When this turned into a head massage, you’re not entirely sure.

The drama Hyunjin puts on is unbearable. You stopped paying attention a while ago, focusing more on him and how he seems to enjoy it, fingers busy braiding random sections of hair, taking them out, and then braiding them again. With two finally done the way you want them to, you are midway through the third when your fingers begin to cramp up.

“Why’d you stop?” Hyunjin asks seconds after you drop the braid and stretch your fingers out. “Fingers are cramping,” chuckling at the disappointed pout of his lips, you crack what knuckles you can before going back and undoing the unfinished braid. “Oh,” he mutters, cheek still pressed against your leg, “feels good.”

Humming in response, you ignore the way his words make your heart swell and begin gathering all his hair into a ponytail, pressing the braids to lay flat and finally tying it with a hair tie once you have combed up all that you can. Immediately, his bangs and hairs closer to the nape of his neck fall out, leaving the ponytail spikey and messy. At least the braids look good. You can’t help but giggle.

“What?” Hyunjin asks, pausing his show and leaning up. “What’d you do?”

“Go see for yourself,” pointing to the bathroom, you comb out a looped piece of hair before he stands to do just that. His ponytail bobs the entire walk there.

When he reaches the door and flips the light on, you watch from your position as he checks himself out, brushing away his bangs and flicking the pony. You frown when he accidentally yanks at a braid.

“Come here,” you say, sitting up, “you messed up the braid.”

“Honestly,” Hyunjin considers his reflection one last time before skipping his way over, “it doesn’t look half bad.” Expecting him to sit back next to you, your pulse quickens when he anchors a hand to the armrest and leans in front you, only inches away from your face. “No, definitely,” you say once you have gotten over the shock of him being so close so suddenly, “I like it in the ponytail. You’d really impress the girls if you braided your hair yourself.” Reaching up to tuck hair back into the braid and press it down flat once more, you don’t miss the way his brows draw together and lips twitch down. “What?”

Time ceases to exist as Hyunjin begins to come closer. In reality, you know it simply is a matter of seconds, but all of space and time seems to still once he leans forward. It feels as if an eternity goes by, allowing you to count each individual eyelash, memorize the details of his skin, take note of the smoothed lines on his plump lips. The way time slows is cruel; it allows panic to set in, the realization that he most certainly is looming over you with his eyes on your lips sending a spark of excitement and anxiety through your veins.

And then, just as this realization and this panic has set your nerves aflame, a gentle hand comes to cradle your jaw before Hyunjin’s lips press against yours.

It is so easy to surrender to the taste and touch of him. Instantly, an eruption of emotions and thoughts spiraling out of control fills you, yet your brain focuses only on Hyunjin, Hyunjin, Hyunjin. This is not the first time you have kissed him, nor the first time simply having him so close, but the feeling that radiates from your heart outward is unlike anything you have felt before. This is uncalled for. This is not like two years ago. You were not expecting this.

Hyunjin sighs into the kiss when you lean up to loop your arms around his neck. No sooner have you done this, he breaks away to sit beside you once more, hands reaching for your waist and guiding you to sit over his lap.

You could kiss him all day, you think, palms lying flat by his collarbones before fisting the material of his shirt when his tongue prods at the seam of your lips. Blood seemingly coming to a boil and nerves sparking dangerously, you find yourself quickly sobering up as the minutes tick by, completely and utterly addicted to him and this feeling, this feeling you have craved but never crossed the line for. And now, it’s yours to keep.

Forgetting the braids, you seize the opportunity to rake your fingers through his hair. Different, than how you did earlier. Desperate. Combing it away from his face once, twice, swallowing his groans when you tug at the roots, you realize with a whine that his hands have left your face in favor of dragging down your sides, circling back to squeeze at your breasts, rubbing at your thighs and finally sliding back to your ass, situating you more comfortably on his thighs.

When Hyunjin finally breaks the kiss to journey elsewhere, littering chaste kisses across your jaw, below your ear, down your neck, the weight of your actions finally hits you. It is overwhelming, the way you come spiraling back to reality, and you are not sure if the quiet moan that leaves you is due to the press of something else against your thigh or simply the realization that you are making out with Hyunjin.

You have to stop before you get hurt again.

“Hyunjin,” you gasp, shuddering when his soft lips brush against your jaw, “wait. We need to talk.”

He pauses at this, fingers digging into your sides and you feel his frown against your neck. “What’s there to talk about?” He murmurs, arms sliding around you and tugging you closer, prompting you to wrap your arms around his neck and hug him close and pretend like his boner isn’t digging into you.

It’s your turn to frown. “About us,” whispering, you lift one hand to stroke through his hair, “we need to talk about us.”

“I thought my feelings were very clear,” Hyunjin scoffs, all tenderness in his voice gone. Instinctively, you lean back, blinking at him in surprise. “Unless this is just another one of your games? Does this not mean anything to you, YN? I don’t think I could stomach you running off to Changbin or fucking Chan again.”

His words pierce your heart before you have even fully processed them, hurt flashing across your features and your body goes numb. “What?” Is all you can manage, scrambling to get away from him, chest heaving and eyes suddenly burning with the brine of tears. “What are you talking about, Hyunjin?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about!” He shouts. You flinch, not from the way he raises his voice, but from the genuine sadness in his eyes. “The past three years have been a constant battle with you. We’re best friends, for fucks sake, I figured out a long time ago that you have feelings for me. Feelings more than best friends. Yet every fucking time we started moving in the right direction, you turned your back on me.”

You can do nothing but stand there and let the tears fall. All the words and bottled emotions you wish to say are right there on the tip of your tongue, but you simply cannot bring yourself to voice them. Not when he’s right. Not when you have turned your back on him time and time again.

And then, he hisses more to himself than you, “Is this just sloppy seconds? You never once thought about my feelings in all of this?”

The anger brewing within you suddenly bursts from the dam and hisses through your body like deadly poison. “Sloppy seconds?” You snarl, fists clenching. “Who the fuck do you think you are? Your feelings? You just said you know how I feel about you, so why didn’t you ever do anything about it? How was I supposed to know you felt the same?”

“I thought it was pretty fucking obvious,” Hyunjin spits back, gaze narrowing, “didn’t think I had to spell out the fact that I like you, YN. You’re a smart girl.”

“Do not treat me like a child,” clenching your jaw, you have to look away for a moment, pacing one, two, three steps, hands raking through your hair and wiping away the stream of tears from your cheeks. You have never been filled with such rage. Having finally reached its boiling point, it now consumes you whole, sweeping off in waves and destroying all boundaries. “Confessing is not an easy thing, as you apparentlyknow, so don’t make me seem like the only idiot here. But maybe I was wrong about you if you think of me as just sloppy seconds.”

“I never said that!” Hyunjin barks, standing up to grasp your wrist when you turn away to grab your keys. “Don’t put words in my mouth! I would never, never think of you that way. I just don’t understand why you never spoke up after all this time. I’ve been dying, YN, you have no clue how badly I have been—”

“Oh, believe me, I know,” you snap, yanking your arm away from him, “I told you, Hyunjin. Telling someone you love them isn’t as easy as learning to ride a bike. You’re right, I have turned my back on you. But not intentionally. I’ve been scared, I’m a pussy, whatever.” Biting your top lip as if it will stop the tears that continue to fall freely, you avoid looking at him and glance back to find not only Seungmin, but Jisung and Changbin, too, peeking out from their doors with eyes blown wide with shock. Once you have noticed them, however, they panic and scramble to get out of sight.

Sighing shakily, you look back to Hyunjin and cannot ignore the way your heart sinks at the sight of him. Even upset, he is beautiful. You wonder how much you will see him after this.

“You don’t have to tell me you like me back to make me feel better, Hyunjin,” bouncing on your heels, you suddenly feel exhausted, body and soul heavy with the words you not only spoke, but heard, too. “We can figure this out another day, but for now, I need to go home. I’ll see you.”

Turning away once more, you do not make it very close to the front door before he stops you once more. “Wait, YN,” Hyunjin huffs, smiling softly when he reaches for your hand and you do not pull away. Running his tongue over his lip, he seems to hesitate for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts.

“Did you mean it when you said you love me?”

⇢ epilogue

[millllenniawrites]

top shelf (FO! Poe Dameron x f!OC)

part one of when the stars miss the sun

words: 1.7ish

warnings: dark!ooc!Poe Dameron (if you want specifics, dm me); smut (not in this chapter but in the rest of the series so 18+ please folks); prostitution; established relationship (sort of); slow burn (yes the two can coexist leave me alone); redemption arc; Pixar ending; murder; warnings will be added as the series progresses

a/n: okay I never post oc content on here so this is scary. thank you to @kesskirata for giving me the confidence to post this. This was a writing exercise that @vampirewithbedsidemanners and I wrote while editing Horizons that ended up being really cool? So now y’all get to see it. THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR HORIZONS so if you’re keeping up with that series, don’t read this! like, major major spoilers! It’s literally all the same characters in an AU together! If you are somehow reading this after Horizons is fully posted in 2023 cause it’s probably gonna take that long, you’re good. The spoilers only go up until the end of that book.

__

Around the bar was a collection of high-top tables, packed with men clad in leather and partially obscured by the clouds of spice that hung around their heads. Redell moved like magic between the tables, shimmering and glowing even in the dark, eyes drawn to her against their will from men would never get their hands on her — men that couldn’t afford her even if they gave up their lives.

Redell waltzed down the dark hallway to the back rooms, her hips swaying with every step. Her heels clicked softly on the polished floors, their sound drowned out by the moans coming from the closed doors that lined the hall. Every step was one foot closer to victory or an early grave, not that anyone could tell she carried the knowledge on her shoulders.

She reached the end of the hall and opened up her room. The door slid shut behind her, leaving her in the dim lights that illuminated one tall, dark man sitting on the couch. He leaned forward, setting his glass on the short table in front of him. His strong jaw, a loose curl falling into his eyes, little details that almost let her overlook the uniform he wore.

She smiled, sweet but double-edged like the blade that ran down her back, as she sauntered over to him and straddled his lap.

“Long time no see, Admiral. Did y’miss me, honey?” She grinned, her voice low and tempting, playing the role she knew like the back of her hand .

“You know it’s hard not to.” He let his eyes move slowly over her. Not that he really needed to. He had her memorized.

Sliding his hands up her thighs, he smiled sweetly at her. “Is this room one of yours? Or do I have to behave?” He wasn’t new to this. Though not all of his meetings with the Resistance had been with Red, they were predictable. Either the room was clean and they could talk freely, or he’d fuck her for the cameras that were watching his every move and leave, slipping her the drive in his pocket and hoping that next time, they’d get to have a real conversation.

There weren’t many real conversations to spare in the First Order.

“It’s one of mine. I set it up just for you.” Redell’s fingertips trailed down his chest. Her nails were short, not like the long claws on some of the other girls, but he had no doubt that Red could tear his throat out without them. “Is that okay, baby?”

“Y-yeah that’s just fine.” He relaxed, the exterior that had been drilled into him since he joined up faltering in front of her. “It’s been too long, Red.”

“I know.” She murmured, kissing him deeply as she grinded on his lap. It was never like it was with everyone else. Her persona faltered, leaving her soft and vulnerable and sweet. There was something so real to the way she kissed him.

“Are you coming home with me this time?” She whispered, the same question she asked every time she had him in her arms, not ever wanting to let him go.

He shook his head. “But I’ve got you until tomorrow.” The Order looked the other way when their officers landed on-world. They’d barely notice the thousand credits transferring from their account directly into Resistance hands. “Come home with me.”

“Yes.” She answered immediately, kissing him again.

He shuddered under her, his hands tangling in her loose, curly hair. She brought out a softness in him that no else else ever got to see. Cradling her to his chest, he let his hands slide over her forbidden skin. He would never deserve this.

When she pulled away, leaving him gasping, she asked, “As your whore or something else?”

“As a friend?”

“Friend works. For now.” She murmured against his lips.

“Just for now? You looking for a promotion?” His hands hovered over her ass. The moment she asked for it he’d have her way with her, but before then he needed to make sure they looked like they were playing their parts if the door opened.

“I’d like to get fired, actually. So I get a choice.” She ran her fingers through his hair, tilting his head back and gazing softly at him. He let her manhandle him, even as she trailed a finger down his neck. “Is there anything I should pass on before you take me home? Just in case?”

His head spun with how quickly she could go between work and ruining him. “Just the stuff at the house.”

“Lead the way then, baby.” She said softly, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

He carried her out the back of the bar, so no one stopped them. Reached his shuttle, he unlocked it before carrying her up the boarding ramp.

He settled into his seat, Red sitting in his lap with her legs draped over one arm of the chair.. “You comfortable there, sweetheart?”

“Mhm.” She hummed, resting her head on his shoulder. “Is this your shuttle or do I have to behave?” She asked quietly, already kissing his neck.

“It’s mine.” He let out a soft moan as her lips brushed the sweet spot under his jaw, following it with a chuckle. “Don’t make us crash.”

“I won’t.” She kissed his lips briefly before nestling into his lap. “You were gone a while. Do anything interesting while you were out?” She asked, playing with his hair.

“We had a couple of yours end up in one of my interrogation centres. That was a headache to fix. Otherwise, not really. Just the usually dark and gloomy.” His face split into a wry grin.

“You know, it’s much nicer back with us. You’re welcome to come with me. Defect. I’ve got space in my bed for you.” She said suggestively, like it wasn’t something she offered most times he saw her.

“As tempting as that is, sweetheart, your leadership is never gonna accept an ex-Admiral from the Order. If I defect, I’ll be spending the rest of the war in one of your prisons.” He toyed with the ends of her curls as he piloted the shuttle with one hand. “And you’d lose your informant. Isn’t it better for you to have a man on the inside?”

“Would my man on the inside consider making this arrangement a little more permanent then?”

His eyebrows knit together. “You’re the only one getting my intel.” She had been for a while.

“I’m not talking about the intel. I’m talking about access. You can’t come to us. Maybe I can stay with you.”

His eyebrows shot up. It sometimes took him a minute to remember that she wasn’t just a pretty face. “Yes. Yeah. Let’s do that. Assuming you’re okay with coming on the Finalizer with me in four weeks.”

“Sounds like fun.” She grinned. “You’re my only client at Vinny’s. I don’t have to go anywhere but your bed for the foreseeable future.” Her hands slid down his chest, tucking under his shirt. “I’ll work on getting you a pardon. To keep you out of prison.”

“I’m sure you’ve got better things to do.” He got himself into the mess. He was just doing as much good as he could before it all caught up to him and he ended up in a First Order prison or open space, depending on how his boss was feeling.

“I’m very talented at multitasking,” she said quietly. “You never told me why you joined the Order.”

He grumbled, “It sounded like a good idea at the time.”

She’d never asked before. If he was going to tell anyone, it might as well have been her. Red was the only one it was even remotely safe to be open with, and he knew he was going to die before he had the chance to find someone else he could trust as much as he’d come to trust her.

“The government was a mess. I was young. I wanted to prove that I could be a rebel like my parents.” He traced patterns on her thigh to ground himself. “By the time I realized that it was a knock-off Empire, I was in too deep.”

She cupped his face, her persona dropping. She wasn’t a prostitute anymore but a true rebel, flames burning in her blue eyes. “We’ve all got skeletons in our closets, Poe. It’s never too late.”

“Sweetheart, you don’t get to Admiral by doing nothing.” A Destroyer would be his coffin. Deep space, his grave. There was no running from his past.

Her eyes turned black. “You don’t get head an intel team just by floating by either. Doesn’t make me any less of a rebel.”

He tilted her chin up and kissed her, softer with her then he should have been.

[kimsgoeun]

If you could see your whole life from start to finish, would you change things? Maybe I’d say what I feel more often.  I... I don’t know. 

► GENERAL INFORMATION

FULL NAME: Min Moon-ji

NICKNAMES: MJ

AGE: 31 

DATE OF BIRTH: July 5th

OCCUPATION: Art Teacher / Tutor

GENDER & PRONOUNS: Cis Woman & She/Her

SEXUALITY: Bisexual

FACECLAIM: Shin Hye-sun

► APPEARANCE

HAIR COLOR: Brown

EYE COLOR: Brown

HEIGHT: 5′8″ (172.72 cm)

TATTOOS: None

► PERSONALITY

ZODIAC: Cancer

JUNG TYPE: INFJ

TEMPERAMENT: Phlegmatic

MORAL ALIGNMENT: Neutral Good

POSITIVE TRAITS: Kind, Open-Hearted, Thoughtful

NEGATIVE TRAITS: Shy, Self-Critical, Clumsy

SKILLS: Drawing/Sketching, Multitasking

HOBBIES: Running, Painting, Going to galleries, Drawing

DISLIKES: Being the center of attention, Disappointing others, Overthinking

INSPIRATION(S): Jane Bennet (Pride & Prejudice) Riley Matthew (Girl Meets World) Woo Seo-ri (Still Seventeen) Kim Eun-hee (My Unfamiliar Family)

► CONNECTIONS

FAMILIAL CONNECTIONS Min Dae Ho (Father) Lee Baram (Mother) Min Moon-hee (Older Brother, 33) Min Moonbin (Younger Brother, 28) Sara Min (Sister-in-Law)

ROMANTIC CONNECTIONS Sofia Bodden (girlfriend)

PLATONIC CONNECTIONS Leon Choi (Best Friend, Childhood Friends)

HOSTILE CONNECTIONS

► HEADCANONS

middle child of two brothers; was kind of left in the background a lot as a kid since she was quiet and didn’t mind having to take care of herself

got into art because of how often she spent time by herself

felt closer to her younger brother, moon bin, but he passed away over a year ago and she’s still a little heart broken over it

her parents moved to california during her high school years because her dad got a job

was nicknamed mj by her classmates; didn’t really mind it so lots of people started calling her it

decided to go to art school due to her art teacher and her younger brother’s insistence she try it

clumsy

giant sweetheart and wants to be friend with everyone; mom friend minus the actually having a child

working on trying to speak up for herself since she has otherwise been letting others just kind of have their way; not confrontational at all

► Biography

Supernatural Verse, TW: Death Mention

Among her family, Moon Ji was by far the quieter one, and between her brothers, it was easy enough for her to get lost in the shuffle. Her parents never understood where she inherited her shy and timid nature, but overall she was a well-behaved girl who seemed to not mind being on her own to do her own things. It was probably how she found her interest in art – it allowed her to speak without being overly verbal. The only problem with that? She rarely let anyone else in her family even look at her work for fear of their criticism. The only exception to that rule was her younger brother, Moon Bin. Perhaps it was because he was the youngest or because she felt some responsibility to take care of him, but Moon Ji had always felt closer to him versus their older sibling. Somehow he always seemed to understand her more than the rest of their family and so when he would encourage her to let other people see her the way he did, she didn’t get quite as annoyed as when everyone else did.

It was around her second year of high school that her father told them they’d all be packing up and moving to San Francisco due to a job he had been offered in the states. The idea of leaving the safety of Astoria terrified her and she worried about being able to fit in at a new school when she rarely felt like she fit in now. Of course, Moon Ji never once voiced her complaints about the move, especially since she could see how excited her dad was about the opportunity and could see how he was trying to get them to be excited about the change as well.

San Francisco was certainly a change of pace in comparison to Astoria. Being thrown into a new high school was even harder. Fortunately she was able to find comfort in the art classes held at her new high school and even found a mentor in her art teacher. It was because of her mentor that she ended up applying to art colleges in California. It was also because of their class that she ended up getting nicknamed MJ by her peers.

Two years of high school in San Francisco ended up going by a lot faster than she had anticipated. She hadn’t made as best of a friend as she had in Astoria but she had made a few other artist friends that made it easier to get through all the awkward social dynamics of high school. When college acceptances had come in, she was more than surprised to be accepted to a few art school up and down California. Her choices ended up coming down between staying in San Francisco to be close to her family and an art school in Valencia, but it was Moon Bin who encouraged her to broaden her horizons. As terrifying as it was to live out on her own, with her family’s encouragement (and mostly Bin’s push), Moon Ji took the chance and headed to southern California for the next chapter in her life.

She was still just as quiet in university as she had been during the rest of her childhood, but at least she got to work on her art every day. It was during those year away at school that she found out her baby brother was getting married to his high school sweetheart, Sara. She was more than excited for the pair and happy knowing Bin and even happier knowing she was gaining a sister in the process.

Her parents were moving back to Astoria by the time she was finishing up her degree, and after graduation she decided to head back with them. Moving back felt like coming back home and it wasn’t until she was back that she realized how many concerns about being a shapeshifter had been sitting on her shoulders since leaving the place. Not having the aspirations of becoming a famous artist, MJ ended up taking on a teaching position at Patriot High as the new art teacher.

When Sara broke the news to her family that Moon Bin had died, she felt like she had lost a piece of herself. His death had been difficult for her to accept, but when she found out Sara was also pregnant, Moon Ji tried her best to be there for her. Her parents had insisted Sara move to Astoria so they could help, but it was MJ who convinced her in the end. Telling the other woman her concerns about her nephew potentially being a shapeshifter and not wanting Sara to have to deal with that on her own seemed to seal the deal, and Moon Ji made a vow to herself that she’d do what she could to help Sara in honor of her brother.

► MISC. INFORMATION

SPECIES: Shapeshifter / Human (AU)

HERITAGE: Korean

NATIONALITY: Korean-Australian

SPOKEN LANGUAGE(S): Korean, English

RELIGION: Non-Practicing Christian

EDUCATION LEVEL: Undergrad in Art from California Institute of the Arts

ECONOMIC STATUS: Middle Class

► LINKS & PLOT IDEAS

Character Account | Inspo | Meme Headcanons | Meme Prompts 

Sofia Tag / Santiago Tag || Sara Tag || Leon Tag || Cecelia Tag (AU)

► Verses

Astoria (Supernatural): Refer to biography above!

Art in Korea (Human): After college, MJ moved to Korea as an art teacher. With Moonbin and Sara close by with their own job, she spends most of her time with them when she’s not on her own. Not being great at venturing out on her own, she’s stuck to a rather mundane routine that she’s happy with (or at least that’s what she tells herself). 

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #394

“just want one thing  /  just to play the king  /  but the castle’s crumbled and you’re left with just a name  /  where’s your crown, king nothing?”

Do you have your ears pierced more than once? Yeah; I have two in my earlobes and my right tragus pierced. I used to have a cartilage and anti-tragus piercing, but they closed when I had to take them out at the hospital. -_- Do you use an electric toothbrush? Yep. Have you ever seen a queen bee outside its hive? I don't believe so? Have you ever used Duolingo? No. Do you think the number 13 is unlucky? No. Which Clue (or Cluedo) character is your favourite? I always played Scarlet because I thought she was pretty. Do you have any novelty ice cube trays? No. Have you ever had a bad experience meeting a bf’s/gf’s parents? No. Do you get sick of eating turkey during the holidays? I don't eat turkey because I don't like it. I have honey spiral ham instead. Have you ever danced on a table? No. Did you have a lot of fun as a little kid? Yeah. Is there someone you can talk to all day, never running out of stuff to say? Some days. Ham or turkey? Ham. Would you rather eat nothing but fruits or nothing but cheese sandwiches? Fruit. What’s the last song you sung along to? I think Shinedown's "Get Up" while I was in the car. You get to be in any tv series or movie. (old/new) What are you choosing? Let's seeee... maybe Wonderland! Do you meditate? No; it actually stresses me out because I can't completely clear my head. What’s your go-to song when you’re angry? "Headache" by Motionless In White is a good one. What do you think about the most? My weight, honestly. It's at least an itching thought in my head at ALL times. Just being able to feel that I'm overweight and simply glimpsing a fatty part of my body is so, so upsetting. I usually look in the mirror to see if my face is slimmer whenever I pass one, or I'll grasp a part of my body to just feel if I've lost weight there. I could really go on and on about this, but I'd rather not, given it's depressing me talking about it. Have you ever visited any celebrity gravesites? No. How do you feel about archaeology? It's extremely fascinating to me. Any animals whose behaviors you find particularly interesting? ALL animals! Meerkats, however, quite obviously top my list. I love love love social animals, and their behaviors and deep connections remind me of just how human animals really can be, but honestly better half the time. What are your thoughts on gun control? There MUST be reform. I don't think entirely taking away the right to bear arms is the answer, but there needs, needs, NEEDS to be some serious tidying up regarding it. I believe it should be much more difficult to legally obtain a firearm with very extensive background checks and things of the like. I firmly do believe it would help SOME to prevent gun violence. Nothing is ever going to completely stop it unless firearms just cease to exist, but anything that helps reduce it is worth it. Would you have a big cat (like a tiger) for a pet if you could? Absolutely not. Big cats are extremely dangerous with strong hunting instincts, and besides putting my life at risk, I am not forcing a large animal into a small space. Do you like animals better than most humans? Sure as hell do. What simple things in life bring you the most joy? Hearing birds chirping in the morning, crickets and toads at night, starting my soda for the day (rip), watching snow fall, feeling a cool breeze on a nice day with the windows open, my pets wanting to cuddle... just to name a few. I massively appreciate the small things, so I could make this a very long list. What are your favorite smells? Cinnamon rolls, coffee, fresh baked bread, lilac, honeysuckles, etc. Ever found anything cool at a thrift store? What was it? Yeah! I've found some dragon figurines I use for decor, but the absolute coolest has to be this shipwreck lamp that I bought. I love flea markets. How do you find new music to listen to when you want it? YouTube recommendations, usually. Do you like all those dystopian future books/movies? They're all right. If you collect anything, what is your favorite piece of that collection? I collect two types of things: meerkat-oriented and Silent Hill stuff. My favorite part of my meerkat collection is Rebel, my super cute plushy that Jason got me. I slept with it for years and even now that we're done, I still hold the little guy very dear to me. My favorite SH piece I have is a limited edition, Japanese flyer for Silent Hill: Revelation that I won in a giveaway. How did you meet your significant other (if you have one)? N/A How did you meet your best friend? Via YouTube. Your favorite place to be aside from your home? Sara's house. Do you have any favorite books you’d like to have signed by the author? It'd be dooooope if I could have Tim Clutton-Brock sign my copy of Flower's biography. Do you like any board games or card games? I mean yeah. Not a lot, but some. What is your least favorite beverage? Of the things I've tried, probably black coffee. Do you like Breaking Benjamin? I do! What kind of music do you like? Metal, rock, alternative, and indie. Do you like guys with long hair? Yes. Have you ever seen an elephant? Yes. How many people of the opposite sex have you told you loved them? One, if you mean romantically. Do you and your mom get along? Yeah, we're really close. Have you ever had to change your phone number? Twice that I recall. I got a creepy text once, and another with threats. Ever been bitten by a spider? Not to my knowledge. When you were little did you jump in puddles? Oh, absolutely. Bugs: Cool or gross. Even though I'm scared of some of them, they're certainly still cool. Well, most. Do you wear a toe ring? No, I don't find those attractive at all. Have you ever had to babysit before? Twice, even though I didn't want to. Do you actually eat your fortune cookie, if you get one? Yeah, I like 'em. What's your favorite thing about cats? I enjoy how calm and independent they are. Salt, or pepper? I like both, but I prefer to have salt. Think of an ex. What's his favorite color? Jason's were green and purple. Which is better, the taste, or smell of coffee? I only like the smell. What item appears the most in your room? Meerkat stuff. Liquid eyeliner, is good, or totally sucks? My hands are WAY too shaky for that. Has a stray dog ever tried to bite you? No. Do you currently have any bug bites? No. Do you multitask well? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Do you know what an "AMV" is? Yes, because I used to make them and am considering getting back into it. What’s one award show you have to watch every year? None. Who do you like more: the Batman or the Joker? The Joker. Have you ever had a pet rock? I don't recall, actually? I might have as a little kid. Haha, there was one April Fool's Day that Mark sold rocks with his mustached "M" on them, and I SO wanted one. He gave all the earnings to a charity that I can't remember, so that also really made me wanna get one, but yeah, I was NOT asking Mom for even a small amount of money for a rock, haha. She woulda been so fucking confused. Do you know anyone with a lazy eye? Knew, rather. Did your parents let you have pets when you were a kid? Yes. What band was on the last band t-shirt you wore? Ummmm... I'm not sure. Maybe Korn? What’s the last movie you watched at a friend’s house? Elf, I believe? Do you have any tattoos on your arms? Yep. Do you own a teapot? No. Did you have a GI Joe when you were a kid? No. What is the origin of your last name? Irish. Do you ever use the "n"-word? NO. What piercing do you like most on the opposite sex? It would depend on the person, but probably some sort of lip ring(s). What is your salad dressing of choice? Ranch, or the kind from Olive Garden. Have you ever written anything longer than 10 pages? Yes. I wrote a massive essay on toxic masculinity during my last college attempt. I got WAY more into it than I thought I would.

[rhosyn-du]

Title: A Wonderful Institution Artist: @bidnezz​​ Pairings: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, various background pairings Word Count: ~53k Warnings: graphic depictions of violence, discrimination against Downworlders, reference to rape, Clave-typical homophobia, implied character death, minor character death Summary: Magnus doesn’t have time for this bullshit. Warlocks are disappearing in New York City—five people in less than three months—and Magnus is determined to find them and protect the rest of his people from whatever took them. He doesn’t have time for politics, and he certainly doesn’t have time for whatever nonsense the Clave is proposing about marrying a Shadowhunter to a Downworlder as part of the new Accords. He doesn’t really have time for a pretty Shadowhunter who’s surprisingly kind to warlock children, either, but, well, he’s always been good at multitasking.

Alec always knew he couldn’t have what he wanted, but he’s spent the nearly four years since the newly-appointed Consul recalled his parents to Idris without explanation making the best of what he can have. When life suddenly offers up almost everything Alec actually wants on a silver platter, he can’t quite bring himself to trust it, especially when it comes with a million caveats and a side of impending disaster. But he knows how to handle disasters, even if the return of the Circle on top of Clave secrets that could destroy the Accords is way beyond the disasters he’s used to fielding. Hope, on the other hand? He doesn’t know what to do with that.

This fic was created for the @malecdiscordserver​ Mini Bang 2020.

Chapter Twelve

The sound of the cell door swinging open woke Magnus from the light sleep he’d managed to fall into. After speaking with Dot, he was finally able to force himself into the sleep that eluded him before. He knew he’d need to be rested if there were any chance for Jocelyn’s plan to work. And he needed Jocelyn’s plan to work.

“Val’s making the exchange in a little over an hour,” Jocelyn said quietly as she knelt beside him. “He’s getting his people ready now. We’re portaling out in about ten minutes. If we’re very lucky, no one will notice that I or this,” she pulled a stele from her boot, “are gone before I get back.”

“Where is exchange taking place?” Magnus asked, feeling access to his magic come back in a rush as the manacles fell from his wrists.

“Are you familiar with Renwick’s?”

“The old smallpox hospital?” Magnus asked. “I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never been there.”

“We’re pulled close enough to the island that the warlocks who are portaling us in can see where we’re going,” Jocelyn told him, “so you should be able to get line of sight. Just stay out of sight. Depending on what kind of backup Clary’s thought to bring, you and the element of surprise might be the only advantage we have. When Clary arrives to make the exchange, wait for my signal. We only have one chance at this.”

“I understand,” Magnus said. “Go. Before they notice you’re missing.”

Now that he had access to his magic again, it was tempting to ignore Jocelyn’s warning about staying out of sight. In the days since his capture, Magnus’s grief had transformed from despair to a cold-burning fury. He wanted to rend, to destroy. But he couldn’t do that yet, not without putting the Downworlders under Valentine’s control in danger. He had to take down Valentine first, and since Valentine was who he really wanted anyway, he could wait.

It was easy enough to get to the top deck undetected, using his magic to peer through walls to make sure the way was clear. Portaling onto the island without being seen was a little more difficult, since Valentine had left sentries all around the perimeter of the hospital grounds. Magnus took a grim satisfaction in snapping two Circle members’ necks so he could slip past them without alerting their compatriots.

He used the same tactic to move through Renwick’s as he had on the ship. It was slow going, as he had to avoid being detected by the warlocks under Valentine’s control and couldn’t risk killing any more Circle members where they might be missed.

Magnus didn’t have a clock to check, but he thought it had been most of an hour since Jocelyn had freed him when he settled into a closet that shared a wall with the room where Valentine waited with two Circle members. Jocelyn was bound hands and feet to a chair beside Valentine, mouth gagged with white cloth, glaring balefully up at him as he absently stroked her shoulder. Magnus knew from his exploration of the abandoned hospital that several teams of Circle members and mind-controlled warlocks waited nearby to help subdue Clary and anyone she might bring with her.

Clary and Jace arrived a few minutes later. Alone, by all appearances, which made Magnus’s heart sink. He prayed it was a ruse, as Valentine’s apparent lack of backup was.

From his hiding place, Magnus couldn’t hear Clary’s conversation with Valentine, but he could see them clearly. He watched Jocelyn for anything that could conceivably constitute a signal, while keeping an eye on Valentine and Clary out of the corner of his eye.

As he watched, Clary reached into her bag and pulled out what could only be the Mortal Cup, and Magnus decided that if Jocelyn didn’t give him her signal in the next five seconds, he was done waiting and she could just follow his lead.

Several things happened at once. Valentine reached for the Cup. Jocelyn rose from her chair, bindings falling away as if they’d never been tied, and threw herself at Clary. And a portal opened in each corner of the room, letting in the teams Valentine had stationed outside the rendezvous point.

Magnus wasted no time in opening his own portal, targeting Valentine even as he stepped out of it. There was a part of him that wanted to draw this out, to watch Valentine scream and beg. But he wanted even more to see Valentine dead, and ensuring that meant doing it quickly.

With precise motions, Magnus loosed three bolts of magic, targeting Valentine’s heart, windpipe, and brain stem. He didn’t know which one found its mark—maybe they all did—but Valentine’s body dropped like a rag doll to sprawl amidst the broken ceramic of whatever it was Clary had glamoured to look like the Mortal Cup.

Magnus didn’t have time to revel in Valentine’s death. He’d had a sort of vague hope that killing Valentine would release those under the influence of his mind-control serum from his influence, but the bolts of magic that flew his way suggested otherwise. The warlocks were Magnus’s next priority anyway, since they posed the biggest threat, and he wasn’t confident at all that others fighting them would care about their safety.

Magnus lost track of everything else that was happening over the next few minutes, focused as he was on dodging and parrying magical attacks. It was a good thing the warlocks Valentine had chosen to accompany him weren’t terribly powerful, or Magnus would have been in trouble. If he’d brought Ragnor, or even Dot, Magnus wasn’t sure he would have been able to hold them off without killing them.

He’d managed to take down one of the warlocks—just unconscious, he hoped, although it had been hard to gauge his attack when he was holding off two others and dodging a fourth—and was using a pile of wooden crates as a shield when he realized there were far more people involved in the fight than there had been when it began. Shadowhunters mostly, it looked like, but he saw werewolves and vampires in the mix, as well. It seemed that Clary and Jace had been smart enough to bring backup, after all.

A bolt of magic caught one of Magnus’s attackers in the back. Not enough to kill or even badly injure through the warlock’s defenses, but it certainly drew her attention away from Magnus. Magnus gave a quick smile of thanks to his defender and made a mental note to thank Elias properly when this was all over.

His opponents down to two, Magnus was finally able to really look at what was happening in the room. It was absolute chaos. Shadowhunters and Downworlders battling it out, Shadowhunters bearing the Circle rune fighting Shadowhunters without, Downworlders fighting their brothers and sisters who were under the influence of Valentine’s serum. And there, half in the hallway still and silhouetted by the hallway’s bright fluorescent light, but still recognizable as he took down opponents with ever-precise arrows, was Alexander.

It was impossible that he was here, but there was no mistaking it. Alec was here. Alec was alive.

The relief that threatened to overwhelm Magnus was interrupted by an inhumanly strong shove, pushing him out of the path of a bolt of magic he’d completely failed to notice in his surprise.

“Please try not to get yourself killed while we’re in the middle of rescuing you,” Raphael growled as he moved to face a Circle member who for some reason thought it was a good idea to take on a very annoyed vampire alone.

Right. The battle.

Magnus threw himself back into the fight, although he allowed himself the occasional glace to reassure himself that Alec was really there.

With the arrival of the combined Shadowhunter and Downworlder forces, it didn’t take long to subdue the Circle. The last Circle member had barely been restrained when Magnus was in Alec’s arms. He wasn’t even sure which of them moved to embrace the other first. He only knew that he was with Alexander, and they were both safe, and he never, ever planned on letting him go again if he could help it.

“I thought you were dead,” Magnus whispered against Alec’s neck. “I thought I’d lost you.”

“I know,” Alec said, pressing a kiss to his temple before pulling back to look him in the eyes. “This whole time, trying to find you, not knowing if you were alive or dead, I’ve never felt that kind of fear. Ever. Magnus,” he took a shaky breath, “I love you.”

Magnus’s own breath caught in his throat, and he had to swallow it down before he could answer. “I love you, too.”

And then he was kissing Alec like he needed him more than he needed to breathe. Magnus almost thought he might.

“I hate to interrupt whatever this is,” Raphael said, not sounding in the least bit sorry, “but in case you’ve forgotten, we still have a bunch of people to rescue. Also, the building is on fire.”

Reluctantly, Magnus pulled away from Alec. “The other captive Downworlders are being held on a ship nearby,” he said. “I can portal us there.”

“We should probably take care of the fire first,” Alec said, reaching out to reclaim one of Magnus’s hands. “And getting the prisoners secured.”

Magnus squeezed Alec’s hand. No matter what else they had to deal with tonight, he had no intention of letting go.

Even after they’d put out all of the fires, both literal and figurative, it took hours to file all of the necessary reports with the Clave, not to mention explaining the entire mission and justifying why they hadn’t run it past the Council in the first place. It probably would have gone faster if Alec and Magnus had been willing to work in separate rooms, but there was no way Alec was letting Magnus out of his sight any time in the near future, and it was clear Magnus felt the same.

So, Alec filed reports on his tablet, sitting in a corner of the makeshift infirmary/lab where Magnus worked with Catarina and Izzy to figure out how to counteract the various potions and chemicals Valentine had injected the captured Downworlders—and, it turned out, a few Circle members—with. The actual infirmary was full of Shadowhunters being treated for their battle wounds.

From the chair where he was restrained until they successfully cleared his blood of Valentine’s serum, Ragnor offered his input on creating a potion to counter the serum. He’d offered Alec a profuse apology for his injuries, an apology which Alec insisted was unnecessary since Ragnor had been under Valentine’s control and since Ragnor hadn’t killed him outright the way Valentine no doubt expected. If it had been anyone else, Alec probably wouldn’t have survived long enough for Jace to find him.

The first person they managed to successfully free from the effects of the serum was a tiny, dark-haired warlock girl name Indra who’d been taken from Iris’s home. As soon as she was cured, Catarina brought Madzie to see her, and Indra immediately wrapped herself around the older girl and refused to let go. The two girls curled up on a cot near Alec, and Indra fell asleep while Madzie stroked her hair and told her all about the paper animals Madzie was going to teach her to fold.

Somewhere between reports for the Clave and updating the duty roster to account for injuries that would take more than a couple runes to heal, Alec dozed off. He woke to the gentle touch of Magnus’s hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, sleepyhead. You ready to head home?”

“I was ready hours ago,” Alec said, pushing to his feet. “I just wish the Clave hadn’t disagreed so vehemently.”

“I do hope they’re at least giving you the day off after all this,” Magnus said, offering his hand.

Alec took it, slotting their fingers together. “A whole week, actually. Technically, it’s medical leave,” he explained at Magnus’s surprised look. “On account of the whole almost dying, unconscious for several days thing. Lydia’s being reassigned to Paris—there’s apparently ‘something strange going on’ there that the Clave wants her to look into since they’re so happy with her work here—but she agreed to stay in New York until I’m back from leave.”

“Ah, the Council has decided to let you off your training wheels, then?” Magnus said as they stepped out of the Institute into the faint glow of pre-dawn light.

Alec snorted. “My Institute recovered the Mortal Cup, took down the Circle, and killed Valentine Morgenstern. No one questioning my suitability for this job has a leg to stand on anymore.”

“Not to take away from your accomplishments,” Magnus said, “but I’m pretty sure I remember killing Valentine myself.”

“But it happened on a mission I was leading,” Alec said. “As far as the Clave is concerned, that’s my jurisdiction. Of course, none of this keeps them from expecting me to report to Alicante to give the Council a full, in-person account of events as soon as I’m back from leave.”

“Naturally,” Magnus said. “And did you have any plans for how you’d like to spend this week of leave you suddenly find yourself with?”

“I did, actually,” Alec said, pulling Magnus to a stop so they could speak face to face. “I know our whole relationship has been kind of unconventional, and I’m honestly not sure how a normal relationship even works, but I was thinking it might be nice if we took this time to have an actual honeymoon.”

“I think that’s a wonderful idea,” Magnus said, smiling widely. “We could go see the olive groves in Tuscany. Oh! And I could finally take you to that place in Chiang Mai with the amazing tam sua.”

“That sounds great,” Alec said. “Maybe later in the week? I was sort of thinking we could spend a couple days at home.”

“Of course,” Magnus said, squeezing his arm. “You’re still recovering. You need to rest.”

“Yeah,” Alec said, “that’s not quite what I meant. I seem to remember my husband suggesting something about a hot threesome with his amazingly comfy bed.”

“Even better,” Magnus said, leaning in for a soft kiss. Which, naturally, led to another, less soft kiss, and then a third that was verging on wildly inappropriate for the middle of Central Park.

They were both breathless when they broke apart, and Alec couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face as they stood, foreheads resting against each other.

“Take me home, Magnus,” he said.

“There’s nothing I’d like better, Alexander,” Magnus said, opening a portal to the loft. To home.

[trying-write-fanfics]

Shouji Mezo X Reader Remember part 9

This part is a little OOC, but whatever.

Yaoyorozu and Todoroki cornered Shouji to get more information on Y/n. He re-told the asthma attacks, how she didn’t want any help, but ended up fainting. Her dorm is by the teachers and she has her own room with a laptop that has websites blocked. With her second chance at life, she might go into biology like her mother. 

“I’m pretty sure your theory is right, Todoroki. I think she was experimented on.” Shouji said.

 It wasn’t outright said, but with what Aizawa said, this was probably her safest place. She hasn’t tried to escape or anything. Was she escaping from anymore experiments, or was she just isolated. Isolated so she wouldn’t have anyone to talk to. No one to hear “I am here and I am hurt.” Or “save me!”

“How are you feeling?” Aizawa asked.

“Physically a little like shit and emotionally shittier! How could you tell them what I did? Now they’re gonna hate me for committing petty crimes!” Y/n whined. “They’re all wide eye heroes, now they’re gonna be so heart broken their favorite teacher was secretly a thief.”

“They figured out that you were your mother’s child and thought you were taking notes in their quirks. I came clean, and I’m actually a little proud of them for figuring something out so fast.” Aizawa said.

“Yeah but now I’m gonna get bullied!” Y/n yelled.

“They’re not gonna bully you. I heard that Shouji carried you to recovery girl, and he knew your secret.” He tried to make her feel a bit better so she could set up the class review packets.

“I mean, I guess, but that’s just what you’ve taught them.” She complained. “But I was wondering something.”

“What is it?”

“Could I call my parents or siblings or maybe see some of my middle school friends? Or at least go grocery shopping. I’m yearning for some familiarity.” She told him. 

“Look at you opening up. I’d have to think about it honestly. This is supposed to be a punishment you know.” Aizawa told her.

He told her he may allow her to arrange something, but everything was going to be monitored, and that if she were to leave she’d need an escort. It turned her off on the idea a bit, not that she was planning something, she just thought it would be lame to have to hangout with her friends and Aizawa. A major reason why he was considering it was because he wanted to be the opposite of the family dynamic she had back at home. The isolation would only make Y/n worse on her development. Sure she could make new friends and adapt to this environment, but  he knew how kids were. She didn’t hate it here, but she didn’t like it either. This was a new planet, but with surveillance he can allow bits and pieces to come in and out

 The next day Y/n was the first person in the classroom putting packets together. It was boring and she was scared to face her peers, but it had to be done or she’d never move on. She was grateful for Shouji telling her that everyone knew, instead of being surprised by it. 

“So you really are a criminal.” Butt-u-go said to her. “If you ever commit a crime again while I’m a hero I will take you down.”

“I’m gonna jay walk right in front of you just to kick your ass, other than that I have no plans to commit any more crimes.” She told him. 

“How can you be so sure?” He growled. 

“My old group hasn’t tried to find me at all. It’s like they forgot about me.” Y/n whined.

“Ha, loser. They all probably forgot about you.”

“Oh shut up diarrhea hands!” Y/n yelled at him. 

“Y/n, were you only pretending not to recognize me?” Momo asked. “Was that part of the plan?”

“I remembered your name, but honestly I’m not so good with faces. Didn’t we last see each other like ten years ago?”

“Yeah, we were seated at the same table.”

“That sounds familiar.”

Not the familiarity she was looking for, whatever Momo seemed happy to see Y/n for whatever reason. Maybe it was familiarity for her. More students had questions for her regarding her true identity, and they promised they wouldn’t treat her any differently because everyone makes mistakes. Aizawa soon came in and class started. Today they were gonna train outside. Aizawa told Y/n he wanted her to teach them hand to hand combat. The rules were simple, practice hand to hand combat. Mineta was absent so with Y/n it was an even number. 

“Y/n will give you guys some pointers, do you want to pick a volunteer?” Aizawa said. 

Aizawa did have Y/n review her combat skills with him and figured there was a benefit for her to actually teach some of them. She probably learned the latest fighting styles of criminals and any tricks that were coming out to use against heroes. A 15 year old may not be the fastest and best way to combat new villains, but its a start.

“You know I always pick on Butt-U-go, does anyone else wanna try?” She said. 

“Sounds like you’re scared!” Bakugo yelled. 

“Iida lets fight.” 

“I accept your challenge!”

 “Okay so when fighting one on one you need to address your weaknesses, I don’t know yours, but I bet one is your head.” She told Iida as the others began training. Y/n took Iida’s wrists. “Make sure that your arms aren’t locked until you have you to defend yourself…” 

 She continued tactics that she learned when she was in training. Sure she still needed some, but her perspective brought a fresh light on their training, and they needed it. 

“Now try and hit me.”

Shouji heard that sentence and let his hand watch. Iida pulled his fist back and then tried to release a blow. Y/n grabbed his wrist and pulled it around his torso and got behind him. She put her other hand by his neck to make it seem like a hostage situation.  She then went to correct his form and they went again. Shouji was sure that he was going to be picked to be her partner, and yet… Why did he care?

“Iida you have more limbs that just your legs you gotta punch better.” Y/n told him. 

“I have nerve damage-“

“Wait seriously?”

“Yeah, I was-“

“When you’re up against someone who wants to kill you and your legs are all stalled out, they don’t know you have nerve damage, at least pretend you don’t to still scare them, that’s like your greatest strength is the unknown you have about yourself. That’s how I almost kicked Aizawa’s ass.”

 What? How in the hell did this 15 year old, loud mouth, go hand to hand with Eraserhead. Okay they knew, but still, sure Aizawa told them but it was weird hearing it from her. It’s a hero’s job to capture criminals, not kill. He didn’t know what L/n’s intentions were. Still when the USJ attack happened he was well equipped when versing a majority of criminals. Was it because she didn’t rely on her quirk that shocked him. 

“You have a lot of depth for this topic.”

“Well now you know, I’m a minor to reform.” She said. “By the way I’m sorry about your brother.”

“I know you have nothing to do with Stain.” He told her. “I just have a hard time understanding why you did commit crime.”

“If you think my mind set was, hey I’m gonna start trouble today, you’re wrong. It was at first helping someone.” She told Iida as she resumed the training by throwing a punch at him.  He blocked it, but her second fist was the real blow as it stopped before she hit him in the nose. “I thought I could do anything for my friend.”

Iida had already heard she sacrificed herself which was why she was here.

“Even if you knew what your friend was doing wrong?” Iida asked jumping back to give them some distance to recalculate. 

“I’m still learning my moral compass, but like hell I’ll let the stiff law be it.” She pretended to punch him. 

 He thought he knew the move she was doing. Another side punch to the face, but instead she hopped and lifted her leg to the other side of his face. She was good at diversions. While he turned his head to focus on her fist, he would have been kicked in the back of the head. But she didn’t hit him, she brought her leg back when she landed.

“You know in one of these situations, you could just push me down. You might get grazed, but you don’t have to be so defensive.” She told him. 

“I have to say, you’re quite good at multitasking. You can carry a conversation and spar at the same time.” Iida told her. 

 “...thank you.” It took her a minute not to think of a response that either made wouldn’t make her gloat or wasn’t sassy. “I’m sure you’ll get out of your straight and narrow mind to get like that.”

She can try. 

“That can’t be too much of a bad thing!”

“I’m teasing, hero bloodline.”

She gave advice to a few more students. She was able to surprise them with her tactics. Though she didn’t see them fight as much, she learned a lot by watching them all in class. The class learned they didn't watch her that well, or that she did have something to offer. Her bored face and weird phrases didn’t give them anything about her fighting style. Sure Iida had engine legs, but his reactions weren’t fast enough for someone he still underestimated. Someone who couldn’t fight with their quirk, who got caught, who never had proper training was still able to fight them well enough to surprise them. If able to use their quirk, no doubt they could fight her and win, but that’s not the purpose of the training. Someone like the head of the league of villains could touch them and their bodies would shrivel up to dust. Being too rash could result in death. 

 “So you got a rival, Iida?” Y/n asked. 

“There is someone I thought I looked down on, but he’s grown past me now-“

“It’s beefcake isn’t it.” Y/n said. 

“Hey you didn’t let me finish.”

“I can’t wait forever for you to get to the point!” Y/n whined. “God all you guys hate on beefcake.”

“I don’t hate him! I just hate how poorly I misjudged someone.” Iida said. “He’s my friend, an ally.”

“I mean, okay.” She didn’t totally understand his reasoning, but she wasn’t gonna think long on it. 

“You’ve kinda locked on him yourself.” Iida told her.

“I worry for him. He’s a sweet kid.”

“He’s our age.”

“Okay but we all pretended I was older so…”

“Hey! Pencil pusher, why didn’t you pick on me for training? You scared?” Bakugou yelled.

“I don’t want you to fart on me, god!” Y/n yelled back. 

The class went back to the room for a head count and waited to be released from school to the dorms. Y/n sat next to Aizawa. The phone rang.

“Class 1-A, teaching aid speaking.” Y/n said. 

“(Last name) your father has called. If you want to take it, come to the front office. The phone call will be recorded and listened to.” The sectary told her. 

“Oh my god really- Aizawa you wouldn’t believe it! I have a phone call at the front office, I’m practically the president of coolest person here.” Y/n said.

“You may go.”

“I don’t know where it is.” Y/n told him. 

“Kirishima, you wanna help (last name) to the front office?” Aizawa asked.

“Sure!”

“I’ll be there soon, tell my father!” Y/n told the phone.

[purplesurveys]

775

Do you always carry breath mints? No, I don’t find it essential considering I only get (or got, by now) a certain allowance per week and my budget is usually just right to fit in food, gas, other necessities, and maybe one or two nights of eating out. JM always brought a pack of those every day though and if I felt like I needed one, it was easy to ask him for one. On a side note, it’s so weird having to type these out in the past tense now that that part of my life is virtually over... What is the point of scented pens/pencils/erasers? I don’t think they have one. They’re just fun to have around if they’re new to you and you have a bit of extra money to buy them. Do you buy/wear band-aids with cartoon characters on them? No but we do have packs that come in different colors, which is entertaining enough for me. Are you amused by celebrity fashion flubs? Egh, not as much these days but it’ll sometimes be fun to look at what people are wearing at major events like the Oscars and Met Gala to see who hit the mark and who didn’t. What do you think your reaction would be upon entering the White House? Political feelings aside, I think I’d be as excited going there as I would be going to other tourist destinations. Bonus points if they’ve got a museum inside.

Do you buy and wear crazy looking socks? I wouldn’t call them crazy-looking, but I do like socks with wackier designs like if they’re sushi-themed or burger-themed haha. Would you run down the street wearing a tutu, fishnets, & flippers? That literally just sounds like a task that other college orgs make their applicants do as part of their application process. I’d do it if it was a dare or if something’s in it for me, but I wouldn’t on my own. Have you ever grown your own sea monkeys or dinosaurs? I don’t know what you mean. Would you want to travel into deep space? You kidding? I’ve wanted to go to space since I first read about people going to the Moon. I’d for sure do it if it was offered to me. Have you ever thrown a game controller (or the game) and broke it? Nah but pretty similar; I’ve often smacked my laptops when something goes wrong, like if the internet isn’t fast enough or if it hangs.

Did you ever own an Etch-a-Sketch? No. I think my mom did though. Do/did you ever have glow-in-the-dark stars on your ceiling? Nope, but my dad’s family in Tondo had these, in my cousins’ room. When we went over to visit we’d typically spend the night, so every time it was lights out the stars were my favorite thing to see cause they felt pretty magical to me. Does your house have an attic that had stuff in it when you moved in? No. We don’t have an attic but our third floor is our rooftop. What movie were you really worked up for that ended up disappointing you? Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. And this is gonna get so much flak, but The Shawshank Redemption. Does/did your school have special dress-up days? No for both schools I’ve been in. I do appreciate the fact that my current school has no dress code though. What cartoons did you watch when you were little? A lot, since kids are supposed to watch cartoons anyway lol. My favorite ones were Spongebob, Fairly OddParents, Mr. Bean, The Wild Thornberrys, Jimmy Neutron, House of Mouse, and The Emperor’s New School. Do you eat peanut shells along with the peanuts? I don’t. Have you ever gone white-water rafting? Nope. What part of a paper is hardest for you to write? Introduction. It sets the tone for your entire paper so if it isn’t good or appealing enough, it’s hard to follow through and come up with an excellent piece overall. Does your grandma wear an apron when she cooks? I never saw her wearing one, no. This is your chance to get it out! Place random rant here: Get me the fuck out of this house. How often do you need "me" time? These days I’ve had so much of it I wouldn’t even want it anymore for a while after this lol. Normally though, it’s important for me to have this at the end of the day. I’m always with a bunch of people and friends everyday in school and recharging by being alone is vital to me. Does it bother you that almost everything is done on computers now? Sometimes it can feel impersonal, like if you get invited to a debut or wedding through Facebook. But most of the time I find it convenient because everything is instant now. Have you ever gotten stuck in a revolving door? I don’t think so. There was a time I had fun going around a revolving door at the City of Dreams entrance for a few turns because I hadn’t seen one in a while hahahaha but I didn’t get stuck. Who is your favorite superhero? Not big on that whole genre. I guess I like Wonder Woman. KFC Chicken: original or extra crispy? Original please. What class in school do/did you secretly love? Idk, if I like a class I’d be vocal about it lol. What animal do you most resemble while eating? A human? Pop-Tarts vs. Toaster Strudels. Discuss: I’ve never had the second one and I really like Pop-Tarts, so the verdict here is prrrrretty obvious. Do you believe there are subliminal messages in songs? Like...Illuminati-wise? Lmao not at all, but people sure were busy trying to prove this about Beyonce and Lady Gaga back in 2009. I do think other intentional forms of subliminal messages exist, like how Hayley was actually singing the word ‘mercy’ when she sang the chorus to Simmer. Think about your first kiss. Did you have any idea what you were doing? No, she had to teach me how to move my lips and to not be scared and just go with the dance, because I was very nervous. Would you play Jumanji, if given the chance? I’ve never seen the movie, both original and remake.

Name a song lyric you heard wrong the first time and what it really said: I can’t recall an instance at the moment. Do you text/call while going to the bathroom? (Go multitasking!) I’ll bring my phone so I can scroll through Reddit or play games. Do you always make sure your cell phone is charged before going somewhere? Most of the time. I’ll still forget sometimes, though. Did you get Happy Meals just for the toys as a kid? No. They weren’t my kind of toys so I didn’t really ask my parents for Happy Meals. I asked for other toys I knew I’d have more use out of instead.   Have you ever seen your parents cry? If so, how did it make you feel? My mom. She was crying because my sister did a very kiddie mistake, and I was mostly indifferent because at that point our relationship was severed, and also why the fuck would you cry over a little booboo your 8 year old daughter did? She was being dramatic that day and I had no fucking time nor pity for it. What are your thoughts on Chuck Norris? I mostly know him as a 9GAG meme but other than that I know nothing of him. Did you answer that last question with a random Chuck Norris fact? No.

What is the most annoying sound in the world? Boomers complaining and getting their uninformed opinion out in the open. Do you honestly care about calories and fat content? No. How do you feel about animal testing? Fuck outta here. Do you often shift blame towards others? No. This is what my mom did and continues to do, and like I’ve said before I’ve made it my life’s mission to not do the things she did. Do you ever feel like you're smarter than your boss? I don’t have a boss. But I definitely didn’t doubt my internship boss, she was obviously very wise and had gone through a lot to get to where she is today. Your very first best friend: Is he/she STILL your best friend? No. Do you add condiments to your ice cream, or just eat it plain? Nah dude what the hell? Have you ever witnessed a crime? I saw a car very nearly run over a group of pedestrians walking on the pedestrian lane, but the driver was able to hit the brakes before they hit them hard. What's the coolest personalized license plate you've ever seen? Not a lot of cool plates here considering we’re only allowed a maximum of three letters and three numbers. If a plate is personalized it’s usually the driver’s initials and birthday, and that is hardly interesting lol. Did you ever have a piggybank that literally ate your money? No.

[justjessame]

Put Me In Coach 11

Negan and I, given half a choice, would have gone back inside the club, said our goodbyes, and been groping one another in his car within minutes of leaving that boat.  We didn’t have half a choice, my mother had planned the evening, remember?

We got back inside, and I swear, I could FEEL the looks we got from other tables burning into us.  Probably no one knew a fucking thing, but Mary knew, I could tell from the way she was biting her lip to keep from laughing.  And I saw, with tight lips, when she handed Eric his goddamn cell phone back.  Shit.

Negan held my chair for me and I felt his chuckle.  Damn it.  I sat and noticed him and Eric sharing a look and had to hold back an eye roll.  Fuckers.  

“Re-enacting the Titanic,” I heard Eric mutter from down the table as I focused on my damn plate.  “More like taking Coach’s huge iceberg of a-”

He was interrupted by our desserts, actual sugary versions this time.  Thank fucking Hell.  Mom had outdone herself with the planning for this party, she’d clearly wanted to make an impression on those tables that were sad enough to be seated near our group.  Four separate cakes, different flavors, not huge, but with sparklers flickering on each one came carried by four servers.  

“For our graduates!” My mom smiled down the table at us, and I knew she was enjoying every damn eye on our table.  Jesus.  I was currently commando with the shortest dress imaginable, my best friends had seen my man’s dick inside of me, and that same man’s hand had found my knee under the damn table.  Shit.

“Negan,” I whispered as the servers made their way around the table offering each of us a choice of cake or choices, shit we were being indulgent.  They were starting at different sides, and I’d already turned down two.  “Sweetheart.  Darling.”  His fingers were sliding up my inner thigh and I swallowed so hard that I felt like someone HAD to hear me.  “You have to move your hand.”

“Do I, princess?” His fingertip was NEARLY where he clearly wanted it.  “Why did you part your knees, sweetheart?”  Fuck, because I’m powerless when you touch me?  Because I want your hands every-damn-where right the fuck now.  In fact, just fucking lift me onto the table in front of you and start our own celebration right here.  His lips touched my earlobe and I felt myself twitch all over.  “You want my hand where it is, don’t you, Amara?”  Another hard swallow from me.  “You want me to touch you right,” his fingertip brushed my damp lips, “here, don’t you?”  I had to fight myself to keep from lurching up to have more contact.  “You want me, sweetheart, but we’re gonna have to fucking have a slice of cake, and then we’re gonna gather the gifts, say goodnight, and I’m taking you out to my car and I’m fucking you so hard and fast that what we did on that damn boat is gonna be a fucking memory.”  Shit.  “Then we’re going home, and I’m going to unwrap MY gift,” me, clearly. “And I’m going to have my REAL dessert.”  Fuck.  His hand left and I felt my breathing return to normal.

  I have no clue what type of cake I had.  Not a fucking clue one. No idea.  The flavor?  Not Negan.  That’s all I could work through my mind.  

Conversation?  Sure, it buzzed around me.  Did I talk?  Maybe?  I have no fucking memory of it.  From the moment he told me exactly what he planned on after cake, my entire brain shut down.  I could have sworn that my entire body was on fire and vibrating from NEED.  We’d just had sex.  And yet, there I was, literally holding myself at bay from ripping his fucking suit off and riding him at the table, surrounded by family, friends and former classmates, and I don’t think I would have noticed the fucking audience.  Shit.  This man had destroyed me.  

If we ever break up again, might as well just count me out and I’ll become a damn nun because NO ONE would ever be able to do what he could.  A word, a touch, a look and I was ready.  Multitasking?  Not where Negan was concerned.  He spoke, and I went on full frontal sexual preparedness.  Jesus.

We must have said goodbye to everyone.  I must have hugged my parents, Eric and Mary.  I had to have.  It would have been weird not to.  Yet, my mind was zeroed in on nothing more than his car, and HIM.  Damn it.  

The night air was slightly chilled when we exited the front doors.  Negan set my bag of gifts down and shrugged off his suit jacket and slung it over my bare shoulders.  Then my hand was in his and we were at his car.  The doors opened, the gifts tossed into the trunk and then I was on top of his lap and he was fulfilling the first of his promises for the night ahead.  

When we got to Negan’s apartment, I pulled the bag I’d packed and stowed days earlier in his trunk.  Little did Coach know, but I wasn’t his only gift.  We’d barely closed the door when he had me back in his arms.  

“How are you still horny?”  My smile against his lips couldn’t be held back.  Jesus, he should bottle his stamina.  “Give a girl a minute, Coach, she’s not as young as she used to be.”  He laughed into my mouth and pulled me with him to sit on the couch.  I curled into his side after tossing my heels.  “Ugh, heels.” Moving so I was laying back against one of the sofa arms, he pulled my feet onto his lap and his hands met my tender feet and he started massaging gently.  Closing my eyes at the feeling of the kinks being worked out of my sore feet, I smiled.  “You really are a man of many talents.”

“Don’t know about that.”  His hands were massaging up my ankle.  “Figured if you fucking wore those things the entire night, you might need a little rub down.”  I could hear the smile in his own voice.  

Cracking my eyes open, I studied him.  His stark white button down shirt, the blue striped tie, his hair combed back from his forehead Negan was gorgeous.  That wasn’t an exaggeration.  He was so fucking handsome that I couldn’t fucking take it.  I licked my lips and he looked up at me.  “Do that again, and I won’t finish your massage, princess.”  Damn it, his voice had that tone.  The ‘Coach is HUNGRY’ tone.  

“I have a present for you.”  His smirk made me roll my eyes.  “You get that ALL the damn time, Negan.”  I reluctantly moved my feet from his lap and hands.  I grabbed my bag from where he’d dropped it by the door.  When I got back to the couch with it, I noticed how intently he was watching me.  Pretty fucking sure large predator cats could take a page out of his playbook on attention to their prey.  I pulled a large gift box from inside my bag and handed it to him.  “I saw this, a few days ago, and it screamed Coach Negan.”  

I watched, waiting as he untied the bright red ribbon, carefully tugging it away and opening the box with far more precision than I’d expected.  Then the top was gone, the tissue paper parted, and he sat staring down.  Damn it.  Had I picked wrong?  

“You saw this and it screamed me?”  His eyes met mine and I could see his dimples come out to play.  Whew.  I nodded with a small smile.  “Oh, sweetheart.”  I bit my lip and he was about to toss the gift, still settled in the bottom of the box on the coffee table and unwrap his second gift, but I stopped him.

“Try it on, Negan.”  He bit his lip and I shook my head.  “It’s gotta look better than a pitboss, right?”  His chuckle made me giggle.  And he stood up and pulled it out of the box.  Black leather, old school biker jacket, the zippers blinding silver.  He started to pull it on, but I stood up to help.  “Allow me, Coach.”  He bent down a bit, and I held it open for him.  Wrapping my arms around him from the back, zipping the zipper up from behind.  “Turn.”  And there it was...fuck.  I licked my lips again, and that was all it took.  We spent the rest of the night unwrapping and enjoying our presents, over and over. 

[toukatan]

If eremika were parents how would each of them be?

the cutest thoughts are in my mind right now i love thinking about papa eren and mama mika. also it’s mother’s day where i’m from, this is a perfect time coincidence. so happy mama’s day to all the beautiful mums out there for being everything!

eremika as parents headcanons!

eren:

hurt his child and he would literally kill you

he may be a tough guy but little do others know that’s he’s the softest dad in the world

let’s the baby get away with anything

constantly caught staring at the baby in his arms in awe thinking ‘i made this little being? me? you’re mine?’

the type of dad to sneak and bribe the baby with chocolate after dinner if they eat all their dinner

anything his baby does is the biggest accomplishment and he would boast so hard about it (if jean had a child you best believe eren and him are gonna be like ‘look at my baby, look at them go, did you see that? they did that’)

does everything and anything to make the little one laugh

does the aeroplane and blows on the babies belly

always giving the little babs kisses on the forehead, crown of head and anywhere he can reach

mikasa:

softest mama there is, literally is a naturally gifted mother!

you’ll always see her with baby in hand doing anything and everything. multitask mama

has the fastest reflexes for example catching the baby if they’re learning to walk

always playing cutsé things with the little one on the bed and caught tiredly falling asleep with them in her arms

mikasa singing and humming gently to the baby as she’s putting them to sleep

let’s the baby play with her fingers and hair

always praising them for smol accomplishments because she’s proud

her heartskips a beat at the word ‘mama’ any time her child calls for her

bonus eremika with a little one!

mikasa quietly walking into the baby room to check up on the little one only to find eren asleep in the crib with the baby

okay but have you thought about mikasa knitting them all red scarves? because yes i have a need please!

baby throws up on eren and mikasa is always cleaning them both up

when they both bathe the little one mikasa actually washes them well as distracts them with toys. while eren is playfully making soapy hair styles and beards on them

eren going the whole day saying ‘dada’ and even reading a book about dad’s only for their bean to say ‘mama’ at the end of the day

mama giving kisses to their baby and eren getting jealous, especially if it’s the baby doing it to her. mikasa would here him mumble something under his breathe and she’s gonna be a tease and say ‘something wrong?’ while holding the little one in her arms, where they’re both staring at him and eren is a terrible lair looking away from them he says ‘nope’ peeps an eye open at them ‘maybe……yes’

idk why but i see these two looking over their baby while he’s sleeping and just being all lovey ‘he has your eyes’ and they’d go back ‘he definitely has your hair’ - ‘no, no it’s definitely yours, soft flowy’ / ‘your personality’ - ‘but when he’s fussy, he’s all you’

mikasa waking up in the middle of the night to settle the baby when they’re crying only to get up and see eren already cradling them. ‘he just woke suddenly. i got this, get some sleep mika’ is what he tells her when he hears the bed sheets moving. but she doesn’t and sits herself right next to him ‘hey, sleep’ he says smiling at her and mikasa just plays with the babies hair ‘you know i won’t’ - forehead kisses ‘so he’s just like his mother huh?’ *sighs in soft*

hope you enjoyed reading everyone! i could go on for days about the two of them being parents, i’d happily do more! once again, happy mother’s day to the mums out there! 💛

[hargroves-dingus]

fire meets gasoline | b.h x v.h

pairings: Billy Hargrove x Veronica Hopper (O.C), Hopper!AdoptiveDad x Veronica Hopper, Eleven!AdoptiveSister x Veronica Hopper

summary: Billy comes to pick up Max and Hopper isn’t happy about his daughter knowing the neighbourhood bicycle, but what happens when Veronica disregards her father and still goes to Tina’s party to see none other than Billy Hargrove?

warnings: moderate swearing??

a/n: lemme know if you want to be tagged in future parts dudes :)

CHAPTER TWO

Morning were often my favourite time of the day, quickly followed by nightfall: the hours I could truly bask in my own solace. The sunlight fought to seen through the curtains, shining a bright light on my face causing me to turn to the other side of the bed, humming in content at the smell that lingered. Dad was making eggos. Hauling myself out of bed, I threw my hair up in a messy bun and wiped the sleep away from my eyes.

“Morning sweetheart” Hopper robotically muttered, he said it every morning, and when faced with making breakfast, he lost the ability to multitask. “The girls not up yet?” Scanning the room for the brunette and her ginger accomplice, only to find they were missing so knocked on her bedroom door and alerted them of eggos – which motivated them to get out of bed. “Four eggo extravaganzas and strawberry milkshakes.” Hopper announced, placing them around the table. The mismatch family (plus a Max) sat around the table, starting to devour their breakfast, before a door knock pulled us all from our morning conversation.

Already getting up, I dusted any crumbs off of my lap, “I’ll get it.”, and lazily opened the door, and snapped into sense when Billy Hargrove was leaning against the doorframe, his gold necklace dangling idly in front of his chest, wearing none other than a shirt that was buttoned a bit too low. “I’m here for Max, princess.” God I could only imagine Hoppers reaction to his pet name, and I was not looking forward to the questioning. “We’re still eating breakfast, none of us are ready.” I shrugged, leaving the flirty tone from last night at bay. Not around Hopper or the girls. “Explains the outfit.” At this moment, I realised how exposed I was, simply an oversized t-shirt that hung over my right shoulder from the excessive size. “Stop gawking, Hargrove.” Slightly snarling with a small smirk, crossing my arms at his not so stealthy mission of checking me out. From this and when we met, it seems he likes being caught. “Come in then.” Turning on my heels, I walked back to the table, picking up my plate, “You can have some of mine.”

“So you can be nice sometimes.” Laughing, he grabbed a plate from the cupboard and I piled some food onto his place and gave him a fork, and we sat at the counter beside eachother. Feeling Hoppers eyes burning into us, I slightly shouted “Dad? This is Billy, Max’s brother.” Feeling like an introduction to the teenage boy in his house was what he was expecting. “Step-brother.” Both Max and Billy mumbled, which I threw my hands up in surrender up, muttering a string of amused ‘sorry’s.

“We’ve met.” Hopper grunted, eyes squinting onto Billy. This was a splendid start. “Still speeding around town like a maniac, Hargrove?” He was challenging him. Baiting him almost. “Not anymore, sir, not since you busted me.” Billy’s signature cocky tone was back, and it irritated Hopper, as he added, “Six times.”

“Five, actually, sir.” He corrected, and you could see Hopper tense up, as if ready to pounce. “Alright, Mr and Mrs Testosterone, break it up.”  

Both backed off, turning back around to continue their meal. For a bit, I just watched him eat, sitting in a comfortable silence. It was then that I really noticed his eyes, this bright shade of blue that burned into you. They were like water, or even the sea, but the intensity reminded me of a burning fire. “Having fun there, princess?” Laughing, I cleared his now empty plate into the sink. “You wish.” Raising an eyebrow, I leant back onto the counter to which he walked over, reaching behind me, our bodies millimetres from touching and all I wanted to do was close the space between us, “Oh I do. Trust me.” And picked up an apple, and copied my stance on the counter opposite. “Are you coming to Tina’s party tonight?” Taking a bite of the apple, the juice slightly dripped onto his chin and he wiped it off with the back of his hand. How could Billy fucking Hargrove eating an apple make me so goddamn weak? “I might make an appearance.”

“Billy, let’s go!” Max shouted from the door, all dressed and ready to leave. Billy rolled his eyes in what I guess to be frustration and pushed himself off the counter. I went to walk him to the door and he placed his hand on the small of my back, sending shivers down my spine, “Well I hope you do, princess.”

Billy then straightened out his jacket, and extended his right hand forward in front of Hopper, and he begrudgingly took it and grunted “Thank you for breakfast, sir, nice to see you again.” And when he left, a part of me was hoping it wouldn’t be for long. There wasn’t a breath of silence before Hopper broke it again. “So. Veronica.” He scratched his head, almost comically and in the most patronising and dad-like way asked “How long have you known Billy ‘I like to speed around and break rules’ Hargrove?” Of course he was getting annoyed. Billy isn’t the type of guy who bring home to your family. He’s the type of guy to only ever meet your bedroom. Playfully rolling my eyes, I stood put, not moving from the door.  “Since yesterday, dad. Purely because he’s Max’s step-brother.”

“Then how did he know where the plates were kept. Hmm?” His voice became louder, angrier, and he sharply shrugged in anticipation. Slamming his hand on the side and he sighed before returning to his more heated tone, “Why does he know where we keep our goddamn cutlery, Veronica?”

“Stop yelling! Fucksake. It’s seriously not that deep. I invited him in for a drink when he dropped Max off last night. No need to make a drama.” I’d known Hopper to get mad at me. It wasn’t rare. I guess over time, he accepted whatever shit I got into and he shrugged it off. But I had seen him angry. This somehow felt different. “No need? Sorry I don’t want my daughter hanging out with some trouble maker Casanova like him.” Scoffing, he placed himself on the sofa, elbows resting on his knees running his hands over his face. “I can handle myself.  This is bullshit. And you know it.”

“Excuse me?”

Then it clicked. He didn’t like Billy because he’s a ‘bad boy’ (or not entirely), he didn’t want to lose his little girl. “You just don’t like the fact that I’m growing up. I’m no longer a kid and that scares the shit out of you. I’m going to be around boys, going to parties, sleeping with people,” At the last part, he scrunched up his face in disgust, and almost in raw truth, as he realised I was right. “And that terrifies you. But don’t project that onto me. Deal with your shit, dad.”

*  *  *

The house was practically shaking from the blaring music, the entire teenage population of Hawkins crammed into Tina’s house, filling their veins with burning alcohol, finding somebody to pretend to love for just one night, pretend they didn’t live in this tiny shitty town. Clinging to my denim jacket, I mentally cursed at myself for wearing black cycling shorts and a black tucked in t-shirt, causing my legs to turn into icicles from the Indiana October weather. There were murmurs and subtle gasps of shock when I walked in, parties never usually being my scene, opting to stay in and read. Or maybe have dinner with the devil as I’ve heard some people say I do in my spare time. That one was my favourite.

Hearing I chorus of cheers, I was drawn to the garden, hearing a voice roaring, “That’s how you do it, Indiana!” and a smile graced my face as I identified it as Billy. My pathway was blocked as the bathroom door swung open, and a guy leaving nearly knocked me off my feet. “Fucking hell, watch it ass-” My series of curses halted as I looked up to see none other than Steve Harrington. Steve Harrington crying.Nobody had seen King Stevecry. Well, anybody but me. And I’m not talking about this moment. Before he was crowned King, we were best friends, since being toddlers. He was the one who held me crying when I felt alone and unloved (each time) and when Hopper adopted me, then we distanced. I’d seen Steve cry, when his parents were on brink of divorce, when he felt like they didn’t care, we saw each other at our lowest. It must be something big to cause Steve to break at a party full of everybody he knew.

“Steve? Let’s go outside.” I tried my best to hide his face, to keep up his image but everyone was too drunk to remember this tomorrow. We sat on the porch steps, and the cold air whipped my skin and I sat waiting for him to talk. “Don’t shut me out again.” I whispered, not even looking at him, the pain from all those years ago laced in my voice. “Talk to me.” Placing my hand on his wrist, I tried my best to comfort him. At first he tensed up, not used to my touch but it didn’t take long for him to relax into it, putting his other hand atop mine, interlocking our hands. “It was all bullshit.” His voice was broken. Utterly broken. I hadn’t heard his voice like that since his dad told him he wished he’d never had a son in the first place. “What was?”

“Her.” Nancy Wheeler. When they first started dating, it made me laugh. Stuck-up prudish good girl dating King Steve – what else did I expect? But I never thought she’d end it. Honestly thought new Steve would fuck up and sleep with someone else. “What happened?”

“She broke up with me.” He laughed. In a way that was filled with disbelief, even he couldn’t understand it. “You can do so much better than Nancy fucking Wheeler.” Scoffing, I wrapped my arms around his shoulder and pulled him into a hug which he only weaselled his way out of, standing up in front of me, running his hands through his hair. “I don’t want better. I want her. I love her.” Sighing, I looked up at him. “Love is fucked up, and overrated.”

“I know.” With that, he wiped his face, shook his body as if shaking away his pain and smiled at me. A genuine smile. “I’m going to head home. Thank you, Ron.” Ron. It felt weird hearing him say it but comforting at the same time.

“You made it.” Steve’s place was replaced with Billy, and a waft of beer stench and cigarette smoke invaded the air around me. He flashed a smile, biting his lower lip and I stretched my legs out in front of me. “Seems I did Hargrove.” Crossing my arms, I took in the view around me. Nightfall. The sky was dark, a poetry of stars strung throughout the blackness and the blanket it made comforted me. He sighed in boredom before asking, “Wanna get out of here?”

“I know a place.”

*  *  *

He parked his car on the side of the road, and as I grabbed his hand, I guided him through the trees. “So where are we going?” He chuckled, “You’re not going to kill me right?” Weaving throughout the towering branches, I sighed in content as we arrived at a clearing, the grass full of a variation of flowers and walked to the group of rocks in which I perched myself on top of, motioning for him to join me. “My thinking place.”

“Thinking place?” He repeated, looking around, taking in the view. The flowers were my favourite, the haze of purple and yellow, although the vibrancy was masked the dark sky. “Obviously you know Hopper isn’t my real dad.” I stated, voice void from emotion. And as I said that I didn’t know why I did. Why I was opening up. But there was this feeling. This instinct that I could trust him. “My dad left when I was four. Mum died from an overdose when I was six. Hopper was close to my mum so he took me as his own.” Looking at him, his eyes were glassy slightly, eyebrows furrowed and I felt this steel ball sink in my stomach. “Please don’t give me that look. I don’t want your pity.”  Resting his hand on my thigh, his warmth made me jump slightly, probably the California in him. But his touch calmed me. “I wasn’t going to. I know a few things about shitty dads.” It was odd. Two strangers opening up to each other. “Yours an asshole too?”

“You see this?” Twisting slightly, it revealed a scar along the side of his head, running along his temple, “Gave that to me.” I traced it with my thumb, the rest of my hand placed on the side of his head. “Fucking hell, Billy.” Scoffing, he looked down, then coughed, discarding of the tears that started to form. “See? Now you’re giving me that look.”

“That’s different. Mine decided I wasn’t going enough for him so left. Yours…”

“Hey,” He hushed, this newfound softness in his voice was soothing, and he took both of my hands in his and brought them up to his lips. “Don’t think you’re not good enough. You were four. Whatever the reason he left, wasn’t because of you.” I sent him a weak smile. I only ever spoke to Hopper or El about it, on the very rare occasion, but it was nice to open up to him. “You know what, Hargrove? We’re kindred souls, you and I.”

He smirked, laughing under his breath, “Oh yeah?” Nodding, I crossed my legs, fiddling with the hem of my shorts, “I think we were meant to find each other”

“You really believe in that stuff?”

“Not until I met you.”

-------

taglist:

@katiexdacre​ 

@httpakasha​

@yaidothat​

@becca-dolan​

@prettylestrange

[houseofvans]

ART SCHOOL | Q&A with DETH P. SUN

Influenced by the works of Richard Scarry, Charles Schultz, and the likes of Tove Jannson, artist Deth P. Sun’s interest in art and zines started early on–from drawing everything in an encyclopedia to creating his first zine in high school. From that point on, Deth has been a prolific painter, zine maker, and doodler, focused on making his art on his own terms. With his central hero– a genderless cat – Deth explores various  natural and strange worlds through a subtle narrative, created by his brushwork, ambiguity, and color palettes. 

Find out more about Deth’s art, his wordless storytelling, and what inspires him by taking the leap below. 

Photographs courtesy of the artist.

Introduce yourself?   My name is Deth P. Sun, I’m an artist living in a tiny coastal town in Northern California, but most of my adult life was spent in the Bay Area, primarily in Oakland and Berkeley. I tell people I’m Cambodian, which is mostly true.

When did you begin having an interest in art and painting? How or why do you think you gravitated towards this profession? I’ve always enjoyed drawing, I think I kind of like getting better at it and learning about new things that are centered around that. It’s one of the cheaper hobbies to get started in as a kid. It’s not really a thing I think about too much these days. Mostly I wonder how my life was set by my 17 year old self.

How do you describe your work to people who maybe unfamiliar with it? Until I moved to this town I live in now, I kind of never had to. Mostly because I don’t meet new people outside of my circle. I just tell people I’m a graphic artist. If they want more info I just stare at them blankly because I think it’s kind of rude to ask strangers what they do for a living.

There are various aspects to your paintings from being narrative and storytelling to those that feature various painted objects and natural things. Can you tell us a little bit about the narrative elements of your works and how that came about? Yeah, I just like suggesting that there’s a narrative with my work, which isn’t that hard as long as you don’t stray too much from your pallette or reuse images to find in each painting. I kind of like seeing a whole set of paintings, that’s when you sense that there is a story.

When did you protagonist character start to take shape? How did that evolve and come-about? I’ve just always drew a character like that. Probably in high school. It’s been so long I don’t really remember. It probably came from my sketchbook. Most of my sketchbooks are kind of boring because it was just me repeatedly drawing the same stuff until I got better at it. I think I was trying to draw a cat and I drew something else that I liked.

In some of your other works, you paint collections of items from food, mushrooms, crystals to swords and old style cell phones. How did these paintings originate for you? Were you finding yourself sketching certain things that you read about or were you just obsessed with a certain object that week? My parents taught themselves English using Richard Scarry books so they were the first books I had my hands on. It’s just pages and pages of him drawing things with words describing what they were underneath. When I was younger I had this project where I’d take an encyclopedia and try drawing everything in it. I think I only got to M. Also when I was kid while drawing in my sketchbook I would just run out of stuff to draw so I’d go room to room drawing everything in each room.

It was just a thing to kill time.

How has where you live and its landscape influenced the work you create?  What’s your favorite thing about residing there? I guess it does a little, but I think I drew the stuff and then when I got here, I liked it a lot, so I ended up on this tiny coastal town on the bluffs. I started drawing weird epic landscapes after watching a bunch of Swedish films a few years ago.

What was your last adventure or walk through your neighborhood that showed up in one of your work, thematically or just visually? One time a friend invited me to a barbeque. They lived near the train tracks a couple of miles from me, so I walked up the tracks passed the cemetery and over a few tressel bridges. It was really nice walk. Met a turtle. They had to come down and get me because I didn’t know the path to their house, and it was getting dark.

What IS your favorite thing to draw or paint? Do you have an UNfavorite thing to draw or paint? I like drawing pineapples. I hate when strangers ask me to draw them. I want to punch them in the face.

When did you start picking up the paint brush and taking your works to the canvas? What do you enjoy about painting vs. drawing? The first time I painted was in my high school art class, I think like most other Americans. I was using tempera, so it sucked. But I started buying acrylic soon after. I think painting and drawing is kind of the same thing, or least I just paint like I’m drawing. I don’t think it was a strange transition.

What’s a typical day like for you at home and in the studio? What’s your process like? I fill out internet orders sometimes, or a wholesale order. Sometimes I draw. Mostly I get up and look at my email and go, “I have a lot of stuff to do and this is gonna suck”. I don’t really multitask, so it’s usually me filling out orders for 8 hours and trying to get to the post office before 4:30 while watching dumb shit on the internet, or me helping a friend screen print in my garage, or if I have a show just ignoring everything else in life and painting for two months.

A few years ago I kind of got burnt out of making a living with just painting. So I was like maybe I should make more t-shirts and prints. So I ended up moving to Fort Bragg and screenprinting more stuff and making more drawings toward that. But now my days are filled with me screen printing and filling out small orders or hanging out on my computer photoshopping all day. So now I’m in some other kind of hell.

What are your go-to art tools? A Pilot Hi-Tec C (They’re called G-Tec 4s in other places) pen. I use the .4, but should probably switch to .5. You have to have a light touch with them or else they’ll jam. 

Right now I enjoy using Mitsubishi pencils, but the cheap Mirado Black Warrior pencil you can get at most stationary store is just as good.

Been filling a sketchbook using Opaque markers. Posca’s are pretty good, but the color choices are limited, so I started buying Molotow. The Molotow’s can be refilled so they might end up being a better value.

Lately I’ve been painting with cheap $2 craft paints mostly because I don’t like mixing colors. Just bought a few of the Martha Stewart’s at Michaels. I still buy Golden and Liquitex, but it’s nice to mix in other stuff.

Not only do you draw and paint, you are always printing and creating zines of your works. Do you remember your very first zine you made? Are you working on a new zine? The first zine I made was pretty horrible. It was staple at the top corner, and I gave it out to my friends when I was in high school. I put everything precious in a box before I left for college and when I came back my dad had threw it out. At the time I was pretty bummed, but now I’m glad I don’t have to deal with that. I’m always working on something. Sometimes things take a really long time. I drew everything I ate while in England and Scotland several years ago and just now getting it all together. I’ve gotten rejected from a bunch of zine fairs, so there really isn’t a urgency to get it finished. I’m thinking of making one for the tiny town I’m in, and other that’s like a newspaper, but filled with just my gibberish drawing of words.

Do you have a favorite zine maker out there you’d like to share with folks? I’m pretty excited to  be tabling at Comics Art Brooklyn. Last year  I sat nearby Evan Cohen (http://www.evanmcohen.com) who I had just bought zines online from a few weeks before so that was kind of unexpected. He makes rad work. There was a few other artists there whose work I enjoyed. I came home with a lot of nice prints which I never really get from strangers. Stuff from Natalie Andrewson, Tiny Splendor, most everything Peow Studios publishes, and Jen Tong. I like this zine called Terror House by Sammy Harkham that I’d buy a few to give out to friends and the zines my friend, Evah Fan makes.

What are you constantly inspired by? And who are some of your early and current art influences? I think what keeps me going is random problem solving with how I paint. Or maybe the natural world. I don’t really know if I’m being totally honest.   I grew up reading Peanuts. It has it’s good moments. I think I became comfortable with not always having to be in the up. I really like Tove Jannson’s work.. I’m not a fan Tintin, but I like the way Hergé uses color and lines. I was lucky enough to come to the Bay Area while the Mission School was around and Yoshitoma Nara had a few shows, so it made it okay for me to make paintings the way I do.

What do you do when you are not painting, drawing or making zines? How do you find yourself unwinding? I watch a lot of dumb shit on youtube and take long walks. Each week I go to a game night where I do board games (Catan, Ticket to Ride, Dixit, Pirates Cove are in the usual rotation). I like to cook and have people over. I actually unwind by drawing and watching a lot of basketball while listening to basketball podcasts.

What advice would you offer to an aspiring artist who might wanna follow in your footsteps? Be nice to everyone you meet ever. Always try to learn. Don’t get caught up in what people think of you or your work. Know that if you keep on doing something you’ll get better at it. Pick up different hobbies. Make friends with other artists. Be open to all opportunities. Get used to rejection.

What’s your best Art School tip that you want to share with folks? Some random wisdom you learned through your personal journey or just while making art? You know I don’t know if I’m the best person to get advice from since I sort of carved out this weird existence. When you’re young, it’s easy to get caught up in weird things and maybe a person should just get caught up in those things. I do meet old school mates who have regrets about how their time in art school was spent, but I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way of doing it. I think there really isn’t any rush, and also if you feel like you “failed” you can always just get back up because no one is really paying attention.

I think I hear a lot from folks who worry that they’re too old to try painting or doing art for a living. And I’d hear this from someone who’s like 25 or 30. But there really isn’t a deadline to any of this stuff and also no one really knows how old anyone is. I think everyone’s trying to get to some sort of finish line, but really just existing and making work is all there is.

What do you think you’d be doing if you weren’t an artist? In an alternate universe, what career would Deth find himself doing? I’d probably be working in tech if I’m being honest with myself.

What’s a question you never get asked in an interview that you wanna ask yourself and answer? There really isn’t.

What are your favorite style of VANS? My favorite Vans were the slip ons with a grey herring bone pattern on them. I had 4 or 5 pairs, but I think they switched to a smaller pattern because I couldn’t find them again.

What’s coming up for you the rest of the year or into the next? Comic Arts Brooklyn (http://comicartsbrooklyn.com), a solo show in January at Spoke Art (https://spoke-art.com) in San Francisco. I’ll have stuff at a print fair in Oakland (https://www.oaklandprintfair.com), and an art book fair in Berlin (http://www.friendswithbooks.org/content/about) through Vanilla Studios (http://vanillastud.io).

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[nth-generation-kpop]

Stupid Cupid

Chapter I 

Summary: Han Jisung introduced Eurydice to Orpheus at a lavish summer festival. He struck fire in the hearts of Odysseus and Penelope. He schemed in the study group of Marie and Pierre Curie and kept Bonnie and Clyde’s drinks flowing. He passed beautiful love letters between Oscar Wilde and Alfred Douglas. He orchestrated passionate love that lasted late into life, aged like fine wine– that “grow together” type of love. And he’d seen men more hopeless than Bang Chan and Seo Changbin. Jisung has a job to do, but he can’t resist taking on some side projects in the meantime.

Happy Valentines day!! <3 

“You’re not old enough to drink, are you?” Jisung gestured at the glass in Hyunjin’s hand as he unwrapped his scarf, sliding into the booth across from the other.

“You know very well that I am far older than that, Han Jisung.” His friend’s face was more youthful than he’d ever seen it before, with big, round eyes and a soft curve to his jaw, though the annoyed expression was the same. “But no, I’m not. I’ve gotten myself assigned to a pair of star-crossed lovers in a high school nearby. I thought the aesthetic of meeting up with an old friend after 2,000 years more important than the details. This is soda.”

“You always loved your aesthetics. Has it really been 2,000 years though?”

Hyunjin smiled. “Nearly, what was it? The 5th century? We crossed paths when you were on Guinevere and Lancelot, and I was finishing up Tristan and Isolde?”

“I did always love your work. It’s a shame humans turn love stories into tragedies.”

Hyunjin snorted, sipping from his glass. “Imagine my surprise 500 years later when I heard the story retold.” The story books never got it right.

“If I wasn’t there for it, I’d chastise you for sloppy work.”

“Trust me, you wouldn’t be the first. What are you working on at the moment?”

The waiter dropped off Jisung’s drink as well and he smiled, waiting for them to be out of earshot before he answered. “Multitasking. I’m cultivating a future Cupid, which was the main assignment, but I’m staying with two boys who are entirely helpless at love.”

“That sounds fun. Low stress, high reward.”

“It is, I’d definitely recommend it. If it wasn’t for the side project, it’d feel like a sabbatical.”

“A future cupid, so that means he’s been spurned by love then? Have you figured out why he’s jaded yet?”

Failed love was most common by far. Future Cupids were broken souls, broken hearts, who went on to be healed by truly remarkable love-- if they allowed themselves to be open to it. In Jisung’s experience they most often did not, which is where the current Cupids came in. He didn’t even remember his own colossal heartbreak, by the time he had his colossal love he probably couldn’t remember it, but he did remember his first love. He thought about it often, fondly.  Bringing that to people is why he loved his job so much, and why he couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

Jisung shook his head. “He’s complicated, but I have an idea of what it was. Failed love, not his own, and… shattered faith.” He smiled. “I’ll just have to put it back together I suppose.”

“Playing matchmaker then?”

Jisung wrinkled his nose. It was straightforward. Find a nice person, not a soulmate but a good-for-you short-lived love, work their Cupid magic and restore faith in relationships. Sometimes the best thing for a person is to date someone they’re never meant to end up with. He had a feeling that wouldn’t work with Minho.

“Not exactly. I’m just planning to point out all the beauties of love, make him see that sometimes heartbreak is necessary, and that true love is worth the risk. If that fails, I suppose ‘matchmaking’ is my backup plan. Minho… he just seems too resistant to the idea for such a direct fix.”

Hyunjin raised an eyebrow. “Minho, huh? Your charge?” Jisung made a nose of agreement. “So you’re getting attached.”

Jisung waved his hand noncommittally. “You know how I am.”

“I do, and you’re getting attached. Have the “powers that be” caught on yet?”

Reluctantly, Jisung answered. “Of course not, I wouldn’t still be here if they had. I’m good at hiding it, I haven’t been sanctioned in centuries.” He didn’t want to admit it, but Hyunjin had always known him better than he knew himself. He could hide from his bosses, but never from his friend.

“You get overly attached to them all, I wonder if this will be the one that will bite you in the ass.” It wasn’t judgmental, more teasing. In all reality Hyunjin hoped that it worked out. He could barely even remember the spectacular love that made him a Cupid in the first place, but Jisung had always been irrevocably in love with the emotion itself. Hyunjin wasn’t sure if his friend could distinguish where the love of love ended and everything else began.

“I wouldn’t be the first.”

“No, you wouldn’t. Be careful they don’t pull you off the assignment.”

Jisung grinned at that. “When have they ever figured out what I’m up to before I’ve done it, my friend?”

“Fair point, but as I said: there’s a first time for everything.”

“I’ll be safe. And you as well.”

Hyunjin scoffed, downing his drink as if he were trying to pretend it was aged whiskey instead. “How much trouble can I get into? I’m 16.”

“Take a sabbatical when you’re done! You’re probably due for one, right? Just one lifetime, spend it resting and cultivating love in your spare time. It’s freeing.”

“You might be onto something there. Anyway, I’ve got to get back. I have foster parents.” The accompanying eye roll made Jisung laugh again, standing up to hug his friend.

“Don’t be a stranger. Once every 2,000 years isn’t nearly enough.”

“I was going to say the same thing. Good luck.”

“You too.”

~~~~~

Chan and Changbin didn't usually make a point to meet up for lunch, both too busy with their class schedules and part time jobs, knowing they'd most likely see each other in the evenings anyway. But today was a special day. Today marked the 1-weekiversary of their new roommate Han Jisung.

The two boys had been best friends nearly since birth, growing up as neighbors of similar age-- they knew from living with them could be hard. Their first roommate Brian fared pretty well, but when he moved out he told them that they'd developed habits they knew didn't bother each other, but that they never stopped to consider whether it bothered him. Changbin hated dishes, so he left them for Chan to do whenever the elder got around to them. In turn he did Chan's laundry, a fair trade for everybody but Brian, who was constantly washing dirty cereal bowls and praying he didn’t knock over the towers of laundry all over the living room. They apologized and he waved it away, saying he should have just said something but they seemed to have a good thing going. On his way out, Brian suggested a two bedroom.

The second roommate…. Well, Chan and Changbin had scrambled to replace the second roommate after only a couple months. Everything seemed fine, and then a few weeks in it absolutely imploded and the two were left staring at the rubble of their roommateship (and their sanity) wondering where it all went wrong. It started with Seowoo nagging Chan to go to sleep, saying that the noise and the lights were bothering him-- nevermind the fact that Chan tried his best to be quiet and his room was at the other end of the hall, door shut, with only his desk lamp on. Then it was Chan’s cat, which was actually also Changbin’s cat but Seowoo ignored that and complained constantly to Changbin about how dirty and smelly it was. Changbin promised to clean up after her more, but Seowoo was adamant that she was disgusting and there was nothing Changbin could do to help. Chan is so dirty, Chan is so loud, Chan is so boring-- they weren’t sure what exactly it was that set him off, whether Chan and Changbin’s friendship upset him too, but he latched on to Changbin and… didn’t with Chan. Suddenly he wouldn’t speak to Chan, he simply rolled his eyes and left whenever they were in the same room, and when they finally sat him down and brought it up to him it was the explosion of the century. He told Changbin he felt betrayed and insisted he had done absolutely nothing wrong. Why should he be expected to get along with them all the time? Why shouldn’t he be able to voice his opinions? Why was he being attacked for nothing?

And he was gone the next day. Chan came home from classes seemingly just after Changbin, who he found standing in the doorway of a completely empty bedroom. Seowoo wouldn’t answer their text messages or any of the phone calls. After a couple days, it looked like he wasn’t coming back, and they contacted their landlord-- unfortunately they were required to cover the rent if he didn’t show up, but they promised to take Seowoo off the lease if he didn’t put up the money.  

Which he didn’t.

Enter Han Jisung, a friend of a friend who heard all about their roommate situation on several occasions. Jisung had called Chan directly, saying that he'd been having trouble finding a good place to live at such an odd time in the year, a couple months into when leases normally began. They agreed to meet up and maybe show him the place, and after a short introduction and confirmation from the friend that he was a good kid (read: not an ax murderer), Chan and Changbin brought him over for the very short tour and gave him a copy of the lease to look over. It was actually Jisung who brought up the trial period, though he suggested a full month and they agreed right away. After that he'd sign the lease, as long as they “worked well” as roommates. When he'd left, Chan and Changbin struck up their 1 week no discussion policy, to give him a fair chance without their reservations and past roommate failures clouding their judgment. It turned out to be a good idea, Jisung turned out to be a lot to get used to.

Changbin started it off. “...so the new guy.”

Chan nodded. "He's a bit odd"

“Yeah, just... as a person, a bit strange isn’t he?"

"But he's clean and he paid his rent and he's nice enough," Chan added quickly.

Changbin agreed immediately, and they lapsed into silence. "He bakes, did he tell you he bakes? That's definitely a plus, and he isn't disruptive or annoying."

“I say we have him sign the lease.” There was something off about the guy, Chan always felt like despite seeming completely transparent, he was hiding something. Still, he didn’t seem dangerous, and Chan had a feeling this was a good thing.

Changbin was even less confident, less willing to risk anything after the weeks of being pulled in different directions between his friends, standing on the edge and not knowing whether to take sides as he wanted to or try and keep the peace. Seowoo had left him paranoid and a bit guilty towards Chan. He felt like maybe he hadn’t done enough to mediate the situation, or he was too neutral. Jisung seemed different, though. He seemed more involved, he wanted to get to know Chan and Changbin, but he still understood boundaries and their need for space. He seemed kind-- he really, really seemed harmless. If he shook things up, and Changbin sensed that Jisung might, it may be for the better. In the end, he thought, the risk would be worth it.

“Me too.”

And so Han Jisung became the third resident of their little apartment, and thus began the most eventful year of their lives.

~~~~~

“Changbin.”

The older boy looked up from the pan, where he’d been half-heartedly nudging around bits of chicken in an attempt to ‘stir fry.’ “Yeah?”

“Are you a hopeless romantic?” Jisung’s tone was lilting, almost artificial as if straight off one of those made-for-TV movies.

“Uh, no.” Changbin squinted at his roommate as the latter huffed and pouted, wrapped around a throw pillow that Changbin hadn’t remembered seeing before. “Why, are you? Is anyone actually?”

“Of course I am! Everybody should be.”

“And why’s that?”

Jisung pouted again, gesturing to the laptop in front of him. “Because love is beautiful and wonderful. I love love.”

Changbin couldn’t help but laugh, turning back to his pan. “What are you watching?”

“A movie… you might think it’s dumb, but it’s about a couple who meet by chance in a shop in a big city, and it turns out that the shop is magic and by... the universe’s happy accident they keep meeting, over and over again, until they fall in love.”

To Jisung’s surprise, Changbin answered “That sounds nice.”

“Would you want to watch it with me? I’m only a few minutes in, but I don’t mind restarting it. I’ve seen it a million times.” Changbin wasn’t sure he’d ever heard Jisung sound… well he couldn’t tell if it was shy or nervous. Excited, curious, enthusiastic, sassy-- so much sass-- but genuine vulnerability was new. Changbin always felt like maybe Jisung knew more than anybody else in the room, somehow always a step ahead. Regardless, it sounded completely unlike the polite, bubbly boy he’d come to know over the last month. When he looked up from cooking, he met big hopeful eyes and knew he wouldn’t be able to say no.

“Sure, just let me finish cooking?” Changbin made a face at the pan-- it looked nothing like his mother's.

Amused, and maybe a touch sympathetic, Jisung said “...we could order takeout.”

“Yeah, we should do that.”

They started the movie just as Chan got home and roped him into it as well-- unlike Changbin, he admitted to being a hopeless romantic outright. They’d taken the liberty of ordering Chan’s usual as well, and their food came in the middle of the exposition.

It was a good movie, objectively. The plot was decent, the characters were really well developed, and some of the scenes were cheesy, but good cheesy. Chan loved it, and was very vocal about the fact which made Jisung incredibly happy. Changbin was a bit more non-committal, just shrugging and saying “it was fine” when Jisung asked what he thought. He said it was a feel good movie, and that he was happy to have an impromptu movie night with them. Chan threw a plastic spoon at him and said “humbug” at his answer, laughing when Changbin threw it back and smacked him directly in the forehead. Jisung just smiled at him knowingly-- he could feel how happy the movie had truly made Changbin, and how something suspiciously like hope tugged at the boy’s heart each time the couple met and fell deeper in love. And Jisung didn’t know it, but by the time they split off to get ready for bed that night, Changbin admitted to himself that yeah, he is a little bit of a hopeless romantic underneath it all.

Lying in bed that night, Jisung considered his two… projects, you could call them. His friends. He was pretty sure Chan was ready for a relationship, despite needing a little help with the logistics of getting a boy to fall in love with him. He’d be the perfect charge for a Cupid, ready to fall in love at the first sign of something. He just needed a nice boy, a slightly forward nice boy, to fall into his path. His shyness held him back more than anything.

Changbin would be a bit more difficult. Jisung would have to find someone he could spend a decently long amount of time with, and it would be a slow progression. He needed to warm up to someone before he could even start to fall in love, be friends first no doubt. He’d have to be coaxed into it, subtly because Seo Changbin was the reactionary sort-- if he realized he was falling in love, Jisung didn’t think he’d let it happen.

And he decided that they’d need a little preparation first, or at least a situation Jisung could evaluate them in. They’d been living together for nearly a month at this point, so he had a pretty good idea of how the boys functioned-- frankly, they didn’t go out much besides classes. Both were busy with school and work and the clubs they were involved in. (Jisung considered trying to set them up with people from those places, but after a bit of snooping on the potential candidates, he decided each one was for one reason or another a resounding no.)

Which made objective number one convince them to go to the bars with him.

~~~~~

A soft knock on his door pulled him away from his assigned reading. “Chan?”

“Yeah, come in!” Jisung opened the door, peaking at what Chan was up to.

“Sorry for interrupting,” he said, gesturing to the book, which Chan immediately closed and put aside.

“No, it’s a welcome interruption. What’s up?”

Jisung perched on the edge of Chan’s bed, twisting one of his rings around his finger and biting his lip. “I kind of have a favor to ask you? And Changbin when he’s home.”

Chan smiled. Jisung was incredibly cute when he was nervous. “Yeah, of course. What is it?”

"Well, I'm going out with a guy Friday, not really as a date but as a ‘my friends and I are going to the bars you should come with’ type thing? Or, well he said to bring some of my friends so I thought I'd invite you? We're friends right?"

“Yeah! Yeah, we’re friends. That sounds fun.”

“Really? I know the bars aren’t really your thing but I thought you might have fun… and if you don’t we can leave, I just… I mean it’s the first time he and I are kinda hanging out.”

“And you want some backup? I’m kinda flattered.”

Jisung smiled. “I really do consider you a friend, I’m not just coming to you because…”

“Because we live together and you know I don’t have plans this weekend?”

“Right, I think it’ll be fun.”

“Me too, don’t worry! And Changbin will say yes if you tell him I’m coming. He’s kind of a baby about social situations involving people he doesn’t know,” Chan teased.

“He’s cute when he’s shy! He should use it to his advantage.”

“If he could use it to his advantage, I have a feeling he wouldn’t be as shy or as cute.”

The knowing look popped up on Jisung’s face as he stood up. “He just need a little training.”

With a loud ‘thanks!’ Jisung slipped out of the room to do god knows what, and Chan had to laugh. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was so much more to Han Jisung than he could imagine.

Friday afternoon rolled around and found Chan laying across his bed, mindlessly scrolling on his phone when Changbin quietly opened his door without warning and slipped into his room. Before he even got a word out, Changbin blurted “he’s picking out my clothes” in a whisper.

Chan laughed, sitting up. “What are you talking about?”

“Shh, I don’t want to offend him! You’re coming right?”

“Yeah, of course,” Chan assured his friend, frowning. “Do you not want to go?”

Changbin hesitated. “I don’t know, it’s not really my... scene.”

“Me neither, but he needs friends right now. And maybe it’ll be fun!”

Yuna meowed as she walked into the room, passing through Changbin’s legs and rubbing against his ankle. Being okay with cats had been the first roommate test, and Jisung passed with flying colors. Yuna, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure about Jisung yet.

Bending over, Changbin scooped her up cradled her in his arms as she meowed at him again. “You get to stay home, Yuna. Can’t I stay with you?”

“Nope. Come on, it’ll be fun,” Chan assured him again, standing up.

“He’s picking out my clothes, Chan,” Changbin reiterated, glaring.

“I bet he’s doing a better job than you would be.”

Dressed and ready to head out the door, Changbin had to agree that Chan had been right-- he looked really good. It was still cold outside, so Jisung chose a long sleeve black t shirt under a black button down with silver buttons that must have been his, tucked in with a simple black and silver belt. Paired with dark grey skinny jeans and Changbin’s own red-lined combat boots, his thin frame looked flattering instead of scrawny, and the copious amount of black wasn’t overwhelming. Yeah, he looked really good, so much so that he was kind of excited to go out-- a strange, entirely new feeling.

Chan obviously agreed, letting out a low “damn” upon entering Changbin’s room. “Jisung said to give you these, and to convince you to let him put eyeliner on you. I promised him a 50% success rate.” He handed Changbin a set of silver glasses with circle frames.

“Thanks, and honestly… I’m inclined to let him do whatever he wants after this.” Changbin looked at himself in the mirror again. “Are you sure his major is Literature and not… fashion design or something?”

“That makes me feel better, he’s in with Yuna picking out my clothes too.”

“Yeah, don’t be too worried,” Changbin said, shoving his phone and wallet in his pocket. “Yuna’s warmed up to him?”

Chan nodded. “She’s letting him hold her now, at least. He says she’s helping him, anytime she meows he says ‘no, you’re right he’d look better in something else.’ It’s kinda weird.”

“Yeah, well it’s Jisung. I’m just glad she doesn’t swat at him every time he tries to pet her anymore. I ran out of bandaids.”

“Yeah, I think we’re in the clear with him.”

The two smiled at each other after a second. “Yeah, I think we are.”

Chan ended up dressed… not dissimilarly to Changbin. Jisung apologized, cat in arms, saying he didn’t think they’d look too matchy-matchy, but he could pick something else if Chan didn’t like it. In a long white button down, untucked, with black skinny jeans and a pair of oxfords he rarely wore, Chan waved him off saying that he liked Jisung’s choice and he looked too good to change. Plus they were going to be late if they didn’t leave soon. Jisung hummed, narrowing his eyes at Chan before setting Yuna on Chan’s bed and relenting. As he left the room to change, Chan grabbed his things and gave the kitty curled up on his pillow a goodbye kiss. Somehow, Jisung was dressed and ready to go in less than five minutes, and the three were off.

The bar was loud and crowded, even this early in the night. As he bumped into the third person in less than a minute, Changbin had a feeling that it would only get worse, and that he needed a drink. A glance at Chan told him the other was feeling similarly, if a bit less anxious; and Jisung seemed to pick up on it quickly, making a beeline for the bar. He ordered them a round, opening a tab and telling them to charge it for the night-- they could settle up later. By some miracle they found 3 empty bar stools and sat waiting for Jisung’s boy and his friends to show up, chatting as they sipped their drinks.

Changbin glanced around apprehensively, the feeling in the pit of his stomach growing a bit. He felt out of place. Beside him, his friends sat so casually, not seeming to notice his small inner turmoil. You look hot, a voice whispered inside his head. It’s okay to have fun. You’re not out of place, you certainly don’t look out of place. You’re branching out. And you’re here to have fun, loosen up. You can do this.

Changbin downed the rest of his drink and looked up to find both Jisung and Chan staring at him. “Sorry, what?”

“There’s a guy at the bar and I think he’s checking Chan out but Chan thinks I’m ‘crazy,’” Jisung said, subtly gesturing with his finger quotes. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

Changbin shrugged, casually looking over and catching a guy glancing towards Chan curiously. “Yeah, I mean I think he’s checking you out. He looks like the ‘come here often?’ type though…” Jisung snorted, agreeing. Perhaps Changbin wasn’t as clueless in the matters of love as he’d thought.

“I mean, I look hot. I wouldn’t blame him for checking me out,” Chan teased, winking at Changbin who rolled his eyes.

“It’s the eyeliner!” Jisung almost stood up with the force of that statement. “Changbin I’m telling you, if you would have let me--”

“Are you saying I don’t look hot?” Changbin cut him off, raising an eyebrow.

“Wh-- no! No, no of course not. I dressed you, didn’t I?” Changbin laughed and Jisung realized he was being teased. Fiddling with his straw in his drink and averting his eyes, Jisung mummbled, “Just saying you would have looked hotter if you’d cooperate.”

“Next time,” Chan suggested, and Jisung narrowed his eyes at Changbin.

“Next time, I promise.”

A grin spread slowly across Jisung’s face. “I’m holding you to that.”

Laughing, joking with his friends felt so comfortable that he forgot to be stressed about the bar and the noise and all the people-- yeah, Changbin could do this. Minho showed up not too long after, but he and Chan fell in with some of Minho’s friends, drinking and talking together both with and without the couple. A few drinks, and the group spilled out onto the dance floor-- the apprehension all but gone, feeling confident, Chan and Changbin went willingly and without hesitation.

Jisung, on the other hand, stayed at the bar with Minho, half-heartedly sipping their drinks as they’d both expressed the desire to keep an eye on their friends. Jisung had been put into many of the same classes as Minho on purpose, and had gotten close to him for obvious reasons. When the boy asked him out, he was surprised, but deemed it the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone: learn more about Minho and give his roommates a little test run. They chatted, starting with talking about their friends and how they’d met. Chan had been doing surprisingly well, though Jisung would agree that he was the more social of the two. He wasn’t being flirted with by any of Minho’s friends, and Jisung had been preventing anybody from approaching him directly on purpose-- he wanted to ease them into the experience, so he’d pointed out people checking them out but… deterred them otherwise. It wasn’t control, just influence. Cupids worked with feelings, confidence and happiness and attraction, but the love that they sparked wasn’t the life-altering, earth-shattering variety-- unless it grew that way on it’s own. True love blossomed on it’s own.

Jisung felt Changbin’s panic from the moment they entered, but with a little help he relaxed as well. An artificial boost in confidence from Jisung’s direction even sent them both boldly out onto the dance floor, their newfound friendships with the others from the group helping a great deal.

As they spoke, Jisung gave Minho the rundown on how he’d become roommates with the two boys, and how it was currently his mission in life to get them to go out more, maybe meet some people.

“I don’t mean to make them sound like hermits, they’re just…”

“Shy?”

“Yeah.” Jisung smiled and glanced over his shoulder. “And not particularly confident, even though they’re both amazing! I have the bad habit of trying to play matchmaker with people I care about.”

“What about you? No confidence issues ever?” Minho teased.

“Nope, I’m too confident for my own good.”

Minho caught his eyes, a smile pulling at the corner of his lips. “I like that.”

Jisung felt the tips of his ears go red as he looked into his drink. “Good.”

“Good.”

When Minho excused himself to go to the bathroom, Jisung took the opportunity to skip onto the dance floor as well, surprising his two roommates but barging right in between them in the middle of a song. Scanning the dance floor, he decided it was maybe time to push the envelope, selecting a cute boy dancing near them who was clearly interested in Changbin-- one who he could sense had a good heart. He used a little bit of his mojo to encourage the boy to make a move, albeit a subtle move. He had a feeling Changbin would be a bit of a baby deer when it came to being hit on, making anything too forward out of the question.

He watched out of the corner of his eye as the boy inched his way closer and closer, eventually bumping straight into Changbin. His roommate looked up with big eyes at the stranger, who flashed him a sweet smile and began to introduce himself.

Changbin, however, cut him off with a quiet apology, moving away from him to a space on the other side of Chan. Oblivious.

Jisung’s sweet boy frowned, dejected, and moved off the dance floor back to who Jisung assumed was his group of friends, and before Chan and Changbin even came off the dance floor the boy was gone. Dejected himself, Jisung spotted Minho on his way back to the bar and wrapped his arms around both of his roommates, telling them he was having so much fun but he had to get back. They sent him off with winks and go get him’s, still under the impression that his date was the whole reason they were here.

Minho asked how his friends were doing and he let out a huff of air. “Not entirely hopeless, but they don’t inspire confidence. Yet.”

Eventually Jisung shooed Minho off to go dance with his friends for a while, saying that Chan and Changbin were probably dying for an opportunity to come over and interrogate him on how everything was going. He was right of course, and only spent a few moments alone at the bar before his roommates landed on either side of him.

“Is it going well? Do we need to bail you out of here?”

Jisung laughed and shook his head. “It’s going really well. Why, are you guys ready to leave?”

“Not really,” Changbin said as Chan ordered another round. “We’re having a good time. I’m glad we did this.”

“Hey, I saw that guy talking to you on the dance floor? Tall, light hair?”

Changbin laughed, shaking his head. “No, it was nothing. I just ran into him. He was cute though.”

“You should have made a move! I bet he would have danced with you.” Chan seconded him, but Changbin waved them both off.

“I just ran into him! Really, it was nothing.”

“I think he was checking you out earlier, but okay,” Chan added.

Jisung scanned the bar for a beat, then spotted the guy who has been checking Chan out earlier in the evening, still sipping a drink. He wasn’t drunk, and he wasn’t too sleazy-- just forward. He seemed like a good option for Chan, as good as the sweet boy he’d sent to Changbin. Just something to test the waters. A little nudge to catch his attention and a bit of encouragement, and both Jisung and Changbin caught him approaching. Jisung took the full drink in front of Chan saying “you’re not going to need this,” and smiled at a confused Chan as he sipped it, turning to talk to Changbin.

“Hey, uh… I’m Joonho.” It took Chan a second to realize that the man speaking was talking to him, actively trying to catch his attention by leaning on the bar to his left, and holding out his hand. Chan shook it and introduced himself, smiling politely.

“You look really familiar?” To his right, Jisung cringed and Changbin snorted, though Chan was too busy studying Joonho’s face to notice, trying to remember having met before.

“Oh, um… well maybe we had a class together? At the university, I’m a in the International Policy?”

“I’m going for business admin, so maybe that’s it! I just couldn’t place you, so I had to come talk to you.”

“Yeah, that must be it. Lots of business classes…” Chan looked at his friends awkwardly, not knowing how to continue the conversation. “Or… well our classes are probably in the same building.”

“Yeah, maybe I’ve just seen you around… but I feel like I would have remembered someone like you.”

He smiled shyly, wishing Jisung hadn’t stolen his drink so he’d at least have something to do with his hands. “I don’t know, there are a lot of students on campus, especially in the business program.”

“Not many as gorgeous as you.” It hit Chan like a slap in the face and he looked up at the guy wide-eyed, taking in the flirty smile.

“Oh, uh” was all he could muster, with a little laugh.

“So could I buy you a drink?”

Chan nodded, mouth opening and closing like a fish before he choked out a, “Yeah, I’m drinking-- well, I was drinking rum and coke.”

While he ordered, Chan shot a look of panic at his roommates, receiving two unhelpful sets of thumbs up in return. Chan turned back to watch the bartender make their drinks, then picked his up and awkwardly clincked his glass with Jooho’s.

And it all went downhill from their. By the time his drink was half gone, Joonho had made a lame excuse, thrown out a ‘it was nice meeting you’ and hightailed it out of there. Chan groaned as he left, leaning his head on Jisung’s shoulder.

“It wasn’t that bad.”

“No, it was worse,” Chan insisted.

“It was pretty bad,” Changbin supplied, and Jisung glared at him. “What? The guy was cheesy anyway.”

“Binnie, you’re not helping,” Chan pouted, downing a good portion of his drink.

“At least you recognized that you were being flirted with.”

They both eyed Changbin, who shouted “I just bumped into him!”

Chan made a noise of discontent and Jisung could feel his discomfort growing. He and Changbin seemed to take a turn for the worse, neither of them enjoying this quite as much anymore, and Jisung looked at his watch. “We should go.”

“We can stay,” Chan offered weakly, clearly ready to leave but not wanting to drag Jisung down with him.

“No, it’s late! I’m tired, and I gotta play a little hard to get to keep Minho interested. Come on, onto the dance floor for one more song and then we’ll head out.”

Chan left his half-finished drink, and they ended the night on a high note. On the way out, Minho promised to text Jisung for another date the following week, and he planted a kiss on the boy’s cheek in return.

Chan teased him on the way out. “Teach me your ways.”

“Trust me boys,” Jisung said, slinging his arms around both of their shoulders with a grin. “If I can’t get you boyfriends, nobody can.”

[jordanmu]

TAGGING: Dylan Clarke & Drew Rose.

TIMEFRAME: 8/04, evening.

LOCATION: Dave & Busters.

NOTES: Dylan and Drew’s first date. It’s not really finished, but it’s cute drylan so that’s all that matters.

Dylan wasn’t necessarily the kind of person to meet up with someone she met on Tinder, but Drew? Drew was different. It wasn’t often that Dylan felt like others could keep up with her, but this girl was beautiful and energetic.. and damn, she couldn’t wait to meet up with her. She decided on skinny jeans, her high top Converse and a Rolling Stones t-shirt. Dylan hoped it wasn’t too casual, but she was never really one to dress up for things like this. And really.. it was an arcade. She decided to meet up with Drew there, taking an Uber and waiting for her outside, texting her with a smiley face (okay, maybe it was three) and that she couldn’t wait to see her.

It didn’t take a lot for Drew to get excited about something, but it was still a nice feeling that she was excited to meet Dylan. She hasn’t gone out on a date since she was with Sebastian, so when Charlie signed her up for Tinder of all things, she was a tiny bit nervous. She’s never liked dating apps—she figured it was definitely a way for the government to control who got together and maybe some form of population control, but she wasn’t sure about that part of her theory yet—but she really liked Dylan. So, dressed in her usual ripped skinny jeans, a t-shirt, and a flannel wrapped around her waist, Drew made her way to Dave & Busters. Seeing someone who looked a lot like Dylan (she was gorgeous, but who knows, she isn’t the best with faces), the girl furrowed her eyebrows and walked up to her. “I hope you’re Dylan, ‘cause otherwise you look a lot like her and I’m not the best with faces but,” Drew was almost sure she was right. “I dunno how people do this. I’m Drew, though, if that helps?”

As soon as Drew approached her, she felt like like she was at a loss for words. Sure, she’d seen pictures of her online, but in person? She was stunning. Dylan lit up, giving her a bright smile, nodding when she asked if she was actually the right person to meet. Without a warning, she wrapped her arms around the girl and brought her close. “Sorry,” she chuckled, pulling away, her cheeks tinged with a soft red. “I’m a hugger,” she explained with a shrug, realizing that Drew’s eyes were so much more beautiful in person. “By the way, I totally am Dylan. That would be super weird if I hugged you and I wasn’t.” She paused, trying to seem like she wasn’t nervous. “You know, I think you’re the first person I’ve met up with on Tinder...” She trailed off, looking towards the entrance of the arcade, motioning for the girl to follow her inside. She figured that they should get to know each other and play games first, so she bought them an arcade card and made sure they had enough to play a lot. She turned around finally, giving Drew a playful smile, waving the card in front of her face. “You ready for me to kick your ass, or what?”

Drew couldn’t help but give the girl a bright smile in return, feeling her heart beat a little faster at just how beautiful she was (now that she was sure it actually was Dylan). “I mean, yeah, it would be kinda weird but you’re pretty so I don’t think I’d mind it.” Drew told her, shrugging a bit. She was always pretty candid about what she was thinking, so while it may have sounded like she was flirting, she was genuinely just thinking about how pretty Dylan was. Hearing the girl say she was the first person she’s met up with from the app, Drew let out a relieved breath. “Thank god, me too. So, we’re both inexperienced Tinderers and the bar is set pretty low... the pressure is officially off,” she felt a bit better about the date as they walked through the doors and gave Dylan a small thank you as she bought their arcade card. “Uh, no, I’m pretty good at arcade games once I get the hang of them—“ Drew told her, walking backwards a couple steps as she led them to where the games were before turning around. “—some of them are kinda confusing. Like with the shooting games. How do you know what you’re supposed to shoot without knowing the backstory and plot line? What if the aliens are actually the good guys, like in Captain Marvel? You never know.”

So, Drew was dorky. Like, really dorky. And Dylan found it absolutely charming, along the with fact that she was pretty damn dorky herself. She couldn’t help but chuckle at the fact that she needed a plot line for a basketball game. “You’re cute,” Dylan gave her a soft smile, putting her hand on the girl’s shoulder gently, and then forced herself to tear her eyes away from Drew. She finally realized that the arcade was packed, surprised that she was so distracted by the girl in front of her that the loud chatter and screams were quiet. Because Drew specifically said that she liked games with plot lines, Dylan decided on a Star Wars one that you had to sit inside of. “I wish I could open this with The Force, but...” She shrugged, opening up the curtain and waiting for her to slip inside. After she did, Dylan gave Drew a playful nudge. “Watch me talk all this crap and you’re so much better than me.” She swiped the card twice, making sure that the both of them would be able to play and then grabbed her bright blue gun. She quirked an eyebrow before pressing play, looking over at the blonde. “Light Side or Dark Side, Drew?”

Drew couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth when Dylan called her cute, dipping her head a little so she didn’t look like a complete dweeb for how the compliment affected her. She didn’t say anything in response, just looking at Dylan for a moment before looking around at the games. It was really great that Drew felt as comfortable with the other girl in person as she did over text. Her eyes widened in excitement as Dylan led her to the Star Wars game, eagerly slipping inside and grabbing the gun. “If only Midi-chlorians were real... I’ve totally tried to use it. I used to think I just wasn’t force sensitive and that made me really sad but it’s not even possible,” Drew shook her head, almost in disappointment. She looked at the screen, immediately (and probably not surprisingly) choosing Light Side. “Even though the Dark Side can summon lightning through their fingers, which is so cool, I’m all for the Light Side.” As the game started, Drew couldn’t help but continue her rambles as they played, her eyebrows furrowing in concentration. “I think Chi is the closest thing to the force as we’ll get, ‘cause it’s all about the energy within every living thing and ideally, we’d be able to use that energy to create the Force. But obviously we haven’t figured that out yet.”

As soon as Drew got excited about the fact that Dylan had picked a Star Wars game, she knew that she had matched with the right girl. Dylan was always the type of person to get into any kind of game, but she couldn’t help but be slightly distracted by the girl next to her. Though she knew many things about Star Wars, it seemed as if she had forgotten everything every time she tried to open her mouth. Instead, she listened to Drew, smiling to herself, letting out a playful huff when the screen showed that Drew had won. “Shit,” Dylan chuckled, placing a gentle hand on the girl’s thigh, looking over at her. She was a little nervous and wasn’t sure if it was okay to even touch her like that, so she didn’t leave it there long. Dylan moved her hand away, using it to open the curtain again. “I knew you’d be better than me.” She let Drew get out first, and followed behind her, and she couldn’t help then smile on her face. “Okay, so. You’re going to have to tell me about...” Dylan started, but got distracted when she noticed Guitar Hero, her face lighting up. “Oh my God, yes!” She exclaimed, skipping over towards the game, thankful that two younger kids had just walked away from the game. Dylan immediately slung the plastic guitar around her shoulder, and then spun around on her heels, an excited look on her face. “Jam with me, Drew Rose,” Dylan said in a sing-song voice, holding her hand out for Drew to take.

Drew's eyes lit up when she had won - she was pretty decent at video games, but arcade games took her awhile to figure out. It made sense that it would be a Star Wars game that she won, though. Her eyes flickered down to the hand on her thigh, shooting Dylan a small smile. But just as quickly as the other girl had touched her, the hand was removed and Drew couldn't help the small pout on her lips. She was an affectionate person, and she really liked Dylan, so she already knew she wanted to be as close to her as possible. As they continued walking down the rows of games, Drew let her eyes wander to all of the different ones, remembering the scene from the Jimmy Neutron movie where all the kids chose different carnival rides and rode to outer space to get to their parents. Her attention was brought back when Dylan had suddenly left her side and was practically running (rather cutely) towards Guitar Hero. "I'm so bad at this game," she warned Dylan with a smile. "But I will happily jam with you, Dylan Clarke." A nod of her head confirmed her determination as she took Dylan's hand. "But seriously, you're so gonna win this one. There's way too much going on." She gave her hand a squeeze before taking it back to put a guitar around her shoulders. After a couple different songs of Dylan killing it and Drew... not killing it, she looked at the other girl with her eyebrows furrowed. "I'm such a bad multitasker. All the colors go and you're also supposed to strum and hit the buttons and how do you remembers which colors are which without looking at the guitar? And then you just miss what's on the screen," Drew looked down at her guitar in concentration, trying to get her hand placement right. "But you're really excited about this game and you're cute when you're excited so we can totally keep playing." She paused for a second, shaking her head. "Well, you're always cute from what I've seen, so I guess extra cute would have made more sense to say."

Watching Drew play Guitar Hero was hilarious, and as they played song after song, Dylan realized that the girl was actually terrible at the game. She found herself giggling, shaking her hips and headbanging to the music, making sure to make eye contact with the blonde. It was clear that there was a connection between the two of them, and Dylan couldn’t help the way her eyes continued to flicker down to Drew’s lips. “Dude,” she said excitedly, slightly out of breath from all the dancing she’d been doing. “I don’t know why I’m so good at this game. It��s freaky. Like, I can’t play a single instrument, but this..? I rock at it. I’m practically a rockstar when it comes to this game.” She blushed when Drew called her cute, putting down the guitar before turning back towards her. “Me? Extra cute? That’s all you. Seriously, you’re..” She trailed off, wanting to convey that she definitely was feeling something towards her. “Drew, you’re fucking beautiful, honestly,” Dylan breathed out, leaning forward press her lips against her cheek, smiling shyly.

“That’s like me with video games except I would totally be good in a zombie apocalypse so like, with Days Gone I think I’d be winning.” Drew scrunched up her nose a bit. “Especially because there’s no electricity and appliances and I’m bad at working those things, anyway,” she waved her hand flippantly, not able to keep the smile from her face as the other girl spoke. “Definitely a rockstar.” She nodded seriously, before she smiled even wider (if that was possible) when Dylan pressed a kiss to her cheek. It reminded Drew how much she would love to kiss the other girl right now, but she figured it was probably too early on in their date (despite the connection she already felt with Dylan), and she didn’t really want their first kiss to be in the middle of a crowded Dave & Busters. Still, her eyes flickered down to Dylan’s lips for a second before she snapped herself out of it. “Yeah?” She ducked her head a bit. Drew was never one to feel nervous and could probably count on one hand the amount of times she’s been in a situation that has made her nervous, but this girl was calling her beautiful and she hadn’t had a compliment like that in awhile. “It’s good we look like we do in our pictures. Not that I wouldn’t like you anyway, ‘cause your personality is really cool but the fact that you’re so pretty just is like. A bonus. So that’s awesome, y’know?”

“So you’re basically saying thank goodness I’m not super weird looking, right?” Dylan teased her, voice a little bit quiet since the two of them were standing so close to one another. She kept her eyes trained on Drew’s, thinking about kissing her, but knowing that in front of a Guitar Hero gaming system possibly wasn’t the best idea. After playing a few more arcade games with Drew, she figured that it was probably a good time to sit down and have something to eat. Dylan reached down and took Drew’s hand in her own, interlocking their fingers as she nodded her head towards the restaurant. “C’mon, let’s go eat, I want to get to know you better,” she explained, smiling to herself as they walked over towards the restaurant. She asked for a table for two, standing there hand in hand with Dylan, squeezing her hand gently as she smiled over at her.

Drew felt Dylan tangle their fingers together and instantly let out a content sigh. "Thank god, I've been wanting to do that all night but it's kinda weird in an arcade and we need our hands for a lot of the games, so..." she trailed off, shrugging. She couldn't help but just continue thinking about how cute and pretty Dylan was, just standing there, squeezing her hand and smiling at her. It made Drew's stomach feel all fluttery, and that was always a feeling she genuinely enjoyed. Eventually, they were led to a booth, Drew letting Dylan slide into one side before she slid into the other. "I didn't know if you're one of those people who think it's weird when people sit on the same side of the booth," she told her, her eyes looking over the menu. "I don't think you can get to know me all in one night, 'cause there's a lot, but hit me with it."

“You can seriously hold my hand anytime,” Dylan told the girl, her heart feeling like it was beating quicker against her chest. Just feeling her hand against her own was comforting, and she couldn’t help but let her thoughts trail off to kissing Drew, once more. She was shaken out of her thoughts when they were led to the booth, watching the other girl sit down on the other side of the table. “I don’t think it’s weird. I don’t think I’d complain about being closer to you, if I’m being honest.” Dylan shrugged, picking up the menu and scanning for something that hopefully piqued her attention. After she decided on the dish that she was going to order for the night, she set down the plastic menu and took in a deep breath. “Alright, get to know you. I have a feeling that as a quint,” Dylan started, her eyes a little wide, thinking about all of her sister’s names. She understood the struggle somewhat, due to being a twin, but she couldn’t imagine being one out of five. “People mostly ask about your sisters. But I want to know about you. What would you say is your biggest passion, do you think?”

Okay, good, so this girl seemed to say what was on her mind just as much as Drew did, which was relieving. Drew didn't want to have to hold her tongue about the little things like wanting to be closer to Dylan, or thinking she was pretty, or anything of the like. Hearing Dylan ask her about herself instead of her sisters, Drew shrugged lightly. "I love talking about my sisters, so s'okay that people ask that, but it's sweet you wanna know about me instead." She shot her a smile before their waiter came over and took their drink orders. Once he left, Drew leaned her head on her hands and looked over at the blonde. "Anyway, dogs, definitely. And not like, I really like to pet them - I mean, I do, like a lot," she nodded seriously, "But I've worked at a kennel for the last, like, eight years and I've been saving money to open my own dog hotel. Kinda like in Hotel for Dogs, but an actual one." Drew absentmindedly reached across the table to take Dylan's hand into her own and play with her fingers. "That's what I've always wanted to do besides be a Jedi... but, what about you? You seem like a really passionate person and I wanna hear everything."

The fact that Drew was passionate about dogs of all things was pretty damn awesome. It spoke a lot about her character, and it was just one of the things that made Dylan think that she was pretty much perfect. “That’s so awesome!” She exclaimed, smiling as she thought of all the cute dogs that she must be running around with all day at work. “Really awesome, Drew. I admire that.” Dylan felt her cheeks grow hot when the girl grabbed her hand, and she locked eyes with her, enjoying the feeling of her fingers on her skin. “You’ll have your own place one day, I know it.” She nodded, taken aback when the waiter asked for their orders. After they finished, she turned back to Drew, bringing her hand closer to her mouth, placing a gentle kiss against the back of her hand before she started talking. “Comic books. I just... I don’t know. Ever since I was little, I’ve been kind of obsessed. I first read a Captain America issue when I was eight years old, and the rest is history.” Dylan shrugged, chewing on her bottom lip as she pondered what exactly to say. “Maybe I want to have a shop of my own one day, you know?”

Drew's smile only grew as the other girl kissed the back of her hand. She gave it a soft squeeze in return, finding it relatively easy to stay focused on Dylan. Which never happened. It meant even more to her that Dylan seemingly didn't think her dream of a dog hotel was dumb. She had definitely matched with the right girl. "Seriously?" Drew asked excitedly at the mention of comic books. "I love comic books. I mean, I never read them to the extent you probably read them but I love superheroes and Marvel and DC and all of that, so that's so cool." Drew beamed, giving her hand another squeeze. At the last thing Dylan said, Drew furrowed her eyebrows together. "You can totally do it. I believe in you, Dylan," she said easily, her tone completely honest and sincere. "And I'd be your first customer, 'cause that's super cool and I love comic book stores. Can I be your first customer?"

[rhosyn-du]

Title: A Wonderful Institution Artist: @bidnezz​​ Pairings: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, various background pairings Word Count: ~53k Warnings: graphic depictions of violence, discrimination against Downworlders, reference to rape, Clave-typical homophobia, implied character death, minor character death Summary: Magnus doesn’t have time for this bullshit. Warlocks are disappearing in New York City—five people in less than three months—and Magnus is determined to find them and protect the rest of his people from whatever took them. He doesn’t have time for politics, and he certainly doesn’t have time for whatever nonsense the Clave is proposing about marrying a Shadowhunter to a Downworlder as part of the new Accords. He doesn’t really have time for a pretty Shadowhunter who’s surprisingly kind to warlock children, either, but, well, he’s always been good at multitasking.

Alec always knew he couldn’t have what he wanted, but he’s spent the nearly four years since the newly-appointed Consul recalled his parents to Idris without explanation making the best of what he can have. When life suddenly offers up almost everything Alec actually wants on a silver platter, he can’t quite bring himself to trust it, especially when it comes with a million caveats and a side of impending disaster. But he knows how to handle disasters, even if the return of the Circle on top of Clave secrets that could destroy the Accords is way beyond the disasters he’s used to fielding. Hope, on the other hand? He doesn’t know what to do with that.

This fic was created for the @malecdiscordserver​​ Mini Bang 2020.

Chapter Two

There were too many Shadowhunters in Magnus’s loft. It had probably been a mistake to invite Alec in the first place, but Magnus had let his judgment be swayed by a pretty face and a frightened child, and now he was stuck with the man’s sister and parabatai, too.

Magnus thought that perhaps, had they met under different circumstances, he might have enjoyed Isabelle’s company. Jace, on the other hand, managed to perfectly embody the condescending arrogance that so annoyed Magnus about Shadowhunters.

“Help him up into a sitting position,” Magnus instructed. “It will help the potion go down easier.” He spared a reassuring smile for Madzie, who sat curled up in a chair with Mr. Flopsy, watching the proceedings with worried eyes that nonetheless kept blinking toward sleep.

Isabelle and Jace did as instructed, maneuvering an unconscious Alec from his sprawl across Magnus’s couch into something that resembled an upright position.

Magnus leaned over Alec’s head, where it lolled against the back of the couch, hand resting against Alec’s cheek to hold him steady.

“Alexander,” he said softly. “if you can hear me, I need you to swallow the potion I’m going to give you.”

There was no response. Magnus hadn’t really expected one, but thought it was worth saying in case some part of Alec’s unconscious mind heard him.

Slowly, Magnus poured the potion into Alec’s open mouth, stroking a hand down Alec’s neck to encourage swallowing. He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the movement of Alec’s throat beneath his fingers.

“He should be awake in a few minutes,” Magnus said.

“Thank you,” Isabelle said with an air of genuine gratitude that Magnus had rarely heard from a Shadowhunter.

“It was no problem, my dear,” Magnus said, and was surprised to realize he meant it.

As soon as Alec woke, the Shadowhunters would be out of his hair, and he could deal with every other disaster the evening had presented him with. Like the mundane woman and infant warlock currently asleep in his guest room, under Catarina’s watchful eye.

As if his thoughts had summoned her, Catarina stepped out of the guest room, closing the door softly behind her. She motioned to Magnus, who joined her in the corner of the room. As he’d suspected would happen, Madzie had fallen asleep in her chair.

“The mundane is under a whole tangle of memory spells,” Catarina said quietly. “Too many for me to untangle in one evening, and honestly, after hearing the little she did remember, I don’t know if it would be good for her to remember the rest of it.”

“That bad?” Magnus asked, frowning.

“I can’t be entirely sure, but I think…” Catarina let out a tired breath. “I think Iris has been luring or kidnapping mundane women and forcing them to bear warlock children.”

Magnus took a deep breath to rein in the fury that suddenly flared through him. Deal with the practicalities first.

“Does she remember if there were other mundane women living at the house?”

Catarina shook her head. “One of the few things Leigh is very clear on is that she and Iris were the only ones caring for the children. And she remembers that she’s Noah’s mother, although thankfully for her sanity, she doesn’t remember anything about how she came to be pregnant.”

“Lucky for her, certainly,” Magnus said, “but that leaves us not knowing where Iris was getting the demons.”

“Actually,” Catarina said, “she also mentioned something about the basement of the house being dangerous. It could be nothing, but…”

“But it could be that Iris was keeping a captive demon in the basement for her disgusting breeding program,” Magnus finished for her.

“We can go check it out after your guests leave and we get Madzie into an actual bed,” Catarina offered.

“I have a better idea,” Magnus said, glancing over his shoulder to where Jace and Isabelle were conferring quietly on the couch beside a still-unconscious Alec. “Shadowhunter!”

“Warlock,” Jace responded, sounding bored, but he and Isabelle rose to join Magnus and Catarina.

Magnus rolled his eyes. “I have reason to believe a missing warlock might have been keeping one or more demons captive in her basement. I thought perhaps you might want to look into it, since dealing with demons is kind of your whole,” he waved a hand, “Shadowhunter thing.”

Jace and Isabelle exchanged a quick look, then Isabelle said, “We will look into it. If you give me the address, I’ll make sure someone checks it out.”

“While you’re at it,” Alec muttered from the couch, eyes blinking open, “could you look into being a little less loud?”

Isabelle was the first to reach his side, with Jace close behind. Magnus took his time joining them.

“You had us worried for a minute there, big brother,” Isabelle said.

“How are you feeling?” Jace asked, and the concern was so evident in his tone that Magnus could almost forgive him for being such a complete pain in his ass. Almost.

“Headache,” Alec answered. “No serious damage except maybe my pride. Did I really get taken down by a Ravener demon?”

“You did,” Magnus answered, “but given that there were at least two dozen of them, I think your pride will recover.”

Alec looked up at him then, and Magnus was caught once again in those startling hazel eyes. He wondered how it was possible for a man he’d only just met to have such an effect on him.

“Thank you,” Alec said. “For healing me. You didn’t have to.”

“Nonsense,” Magnus said. “If I’d been faster, you might not have been hurt in the first place. Although,” he added with a flirtatious smile, “if you really wanted to thank me, you could buy me a drink sometime.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Magnus saw Isabelle cover a smile with her hand and decided that, yes, she could also have an exemption to his one Shadowhunter in the loft is too many rule.

“Uh,” Alec said, looking bemused, “you can bill the Institute for your time. How long was I out?”

“About fifteen minutes,” Jace told him.

“And the demons?”

“All of the trails converged on the alley where we found you,” Isabelle said. “We got there just in time for your dramatic collapse,” she added, grinning.

Alec winced. “Ouch. Wounded pride, remember?”

“I suspect the demons were tracking Madzie,” Magnus said. “I followed their trail from the house where she was staying with several other warlocks. It’s not the first attack of this kind I’ve seen in recent months, although it is the largest.”

“This got something to do with the missing warlock you mentioned?” Alec wanted to know.

Magnus nodded. “One of several, I’m afraid.” Although he couldn’t quite bring himself to feel too bad that Iris had been taken, not if Catarina’s suspicions proved true.

“And this has been going on for months.” It wasn’t a question. Alec looked at Jace. “Why is this the first I’m hearing about this?”

“It’s the first I’ve heard of it too,” Jace answered, shaking his head.

“We haven’t exactly been advertising the disappearances,” Magnus said. “And to be honest, I don’t think anyone expected Shadowhunters to care about a few missing warlocks.”

“Well, I do,” Alec said, annoyance clear in his voice. “We do.” He sighed, running a hand over his face. “We should get back to the Institute,” he said, standing. “Thank you, again. For healing me, and for having my back.”

“It was my pleasure, Alexander,” Magnus answered. “It is, tragically, not every day I have handsome men swooning in my arms.”

Magnus thought he caught the tiniest hint of a smile as Alec rose from the couch.

“I’ll let you know if I hear anything about those missing warlocks,” Alec promised.

“Please contact me if you do,” Magnus told him. “Or if there’s anything else you think we might be able to help each other out with.”

Magnus saw the Shadowhunters out, then returned to the living room, where Catarina was watching him with amusement.

“Oh, he’s too pretty not to flirt with and you know it,” Magnus told her.

“I said nothing,” she said, shaking her head but still smiling.

Magnus flopped theatrically onto his finally empty couch and closed his eyes. He thought perhaps one was the right number of Shadowhunters to have in his loft, so long as it was the right one.

Alec managed to get a full five hours of sleep before a pounding on his door woke him. He’d meant to go straight to bed when they’d returned to the Institute, but his curiosity had gotten the better of him, and instead he’d spent nearly an hour reading everything in the Clave database about Magnus Bane, and then another two lying awake in the dark, trying to reconcile any of it with the man who’d fought at his side and saved him from demon venom. Who’d caught him when he fell.

Before Alec could shake the cobwebs of dream and the vague impression of kohl-rimmed eyes from his mind and answer, his sister was opening the door and barging right in.

“Come right in, Iz,” Alec muttered into his pillow.

“Sorry, hermano,” Izzy said, perching on the side of his bed, “but I thought you’d want to know that Mom’s here.”

That woke him right up.

“Did she say why she’s here?”

Izzy shook her head. “Just that she wanted to see you when you were up. She said she’d be in her office.”

Her office. Of course. Never mind that his parents had been in Idris for most of the past four years, or that neither of them had even set foot in the New York Institute in over six months, they were still technically Heads of the Institute. Alec just hoped she didn’t move anything important on his desk. Her desk. Fuck.

Alec tried not to be bitter about it, he really did, but some days it was harder than others, and today was apparently one of those days.

“Thanks for letting me know. Can you tell her I’ll be there in twenty minutes?”

“Can do, big brother.” She leaned in to give him a hug. “I’ll be training if you need a sparring partner to blow off some steam with after.”

It took exactly ten seconds in his mother’s presence for Alec to know he would most definitely want to hit things after this meeting. There was a brittle edge to her perfunctory smile that managed to convey all of the same disappointment evident in her recent letters while not quite hiding a bone-deep exhaustion. Not for the first time, Alec wondered what exactly his parents were doing in Idris.

“Mother,” Alec said, stepping into the office and falling instinctively into parade rest. “This is unexpected. If I’d known you were coming, I would have been awake to welcome you.”

“It was a last-minute decision,” Maryse answered. “I finished what I was working on earlier than expected, and Consul Penhallow suggested I come and ensure everything is set for next week’s negotiations.”

It made sense that the Clave would send someone to oversee preparations for the final round of negotiations over the revised Accords, since those negotiations were to be held at the New York Institute. It even made sense that the Clave would send Maryse, as one of the official Heads of Institute. But Alec couldn’t quite shake the suspicion that his mother was here for more personal reasons.

“I’m sure you’ll find everything in order,” Alec said. “Will Father be joining you?”

Maryse’s answering smile was tight. “Your father will be here in time for the negotiations. He still has some things to take care of in Idris.”

Her smile sharpened, and Alec knew he’d been right about why she was here.

“Besides,” she continued, “I thought you and I could take this opportunity to discuss your future, just the two of us.”

Alec shook his head, suddenly feeling as though he’d gotten no sleep at all. “There’s nothing to discuss. I volunteered, the Council chose me, end of discussion.”

“There’s still time to change your mind,” Maryse said with a carefully controlled calm. “The negotiations aren’t until next week. The Council will choose someone else, and the Downworlders will never know the difference. If you’d bothered to consult me about this in the first place, or even your father—”

“I consulted with Consul Penhallow,” Alec interrupted.

“Jia Penhallow doesn’t give a damn about what your decision means for this family,” Maryse snapped. “Or what it means for you.”

Alec looked away, choosing his words carefully. “What it means for this family is that the revised Accords—the ones that you support— will be signed, and they won’t be put in jeopardy by someone who resents marrying a Downworlder for political reasons. When the Clave first announced this marriage was going to be a part of the revised Accords, you and Dad are the ones who convinced me it was necessary. I’m doing what I can to make sure it goes smoothly.

“Besides,” he continued, finally meeting his mother’s eyes again, “you’re the one who suggested I start looking for a wife.”

“I meant you should find a Shadowhunter wife, Alec!” Maryse said, throwing up her hands. “Yes, the revised Accords are important, and yes, someone needs to do this, but that person doesn’t have to be you.”

Alec regarded his mother for a long moment. “What aren’t you telling me?” he asked finally. “The Council thinks I’m the right person to do this, and so do I. If you have a reason for disagreeing that goes beyond distaste over the idea of your son marrying a Downworlder, then tell me what it is.”

For just an instant, Maryse seemed to hang on the precipice of speaking, but then her shoulders slumped, and she sighed. “I’m doing what’s best for our family, Alec.”

Alec knew his mother well enough to know that there was no point in asking again.

“So am I,” he said instead. “Is there anything else? I told Izzy I’d train with her this morning.”

Maryse shook her head. “We can discuss preparations for the negotiations when you’re feeling less recalcitrant.”

He found Izzy in the training room, practicing forms with a staff, right where she’d promised to be.

“That bad?” she asked, grabbing a second staff from the rack on the wall and tossing it to him. “Want to talk about it?”

“Nope,” he told her, feinting high, then moving to sweep her left leg.

Izzy danced out of the way, laughing. “Come on, Alec. If you’re not going to keep me up to date on family gossip, at least give me a decent fight.”

She moved toward him, throwing out three jabs in quick succession, all of which he blocked.

“Now who’s not giving a decent fight?” he taunted. “I was getting a better workout arguing with Mom.”

“You’re still recovering from last night,” she said, rolling the staff lazily across her shoulders as they circled each other. “I wouldn’t want to further damage your ego.”

“Cute,” Alec said before launching another attack, this time at Izzy’s midsection, which she blocked and rolled into her own attack.

They kept on like that for several minutes, attack and parry, back and forth, neither managing to land a blow. It was exactly what Alec needed to ease the frustration of his earlier meeting.

“Speaking of last night,” Izzy said just as Alec felt the last of the frustrated tension loose from his shoulders, “have you heard from Magnus?”

Alec felt a tiny frisson of…something deep in his belly at mention of the warlock. It distracted him enough that he didn’t quite block Izzy’s next attack, and his shoulder caught a glancing blow. It wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable as Izzy’s smug grin.

“Why would I hear from Magnus?” Alec asked, rolling out his shoulder with an intentional casualness.

Izzy gave him a pointed look. “About the missing warlocks? You did promise to share information, remember?” Her grin widened as she bounced from foot to foot, looking for a hole in his defenses. “Or maybe he thinks you’d have a different answer for him if he asked you out without so many people around.”

“He didn’t— That’s not what that was,” Alec insisted. He could admit, at least to himself, that he’d been just a tiny bit flattered at Magnus’s flirting, but he wasn’t foolish enough to take it seriously.

And even if Magnus had been serious, it wouldn’t matter. Alec was getting married.

Izzy gave him her most disbelieving smirk, then added insult to injury by blocking his next attack seemingly without effort.

“Then maybe you should ask him out,” Izzy suggested. “You can’t tell me you don’t want to.”

“Izzy,” Alec said warningly, “drop it.”

“For now,” she agreed, once again darting out of range of his staff. “But don’t think this conversation is over, big brother.”

Alec was saved from answering by the arrival of a fire message. It was entirely Izzy’s fault that he let himself wonder, for those few seconds before he read it, if it might be from Magnus.

“Everything okay?” Izzy asked, lowering her staff.

“Yeah,” Alec said, frowning faintly. The message was from a warlock, just not the one he’d been hoping to hear from. “Yeah, I just gotta take care of something real quick.”

“Guess I’ll just have to kick your ass later then,” Izzy said with a shrug.

Alec decided that one wasn’t worth answering.

“Thank you again for coming,” Catarina said, leaning back against the park bench. A few feet away, Madzie was pushing Mr. Flopsy on the swing set. “She just wouldn’t believe you were really okay until she could see it for herself. And with Iris gone, she doesn’t have a whole lot of stability in her world right now.”

“I get it,” Alec said. Shadowhunters didn’t exactly tend to live long and full lives, and this wasn’t the first time he’d seen a kid who’d lost a parent figure panic over other people getting hurt. “And I don’t mind. If seeing me alive and well is what it takes to make Madzie feel safe again, that’s something I’m happy to do.”

“You’re her hero, you know,” Catarina told him. “You and Magnus. She doesn’t talk much, but when she does? It’s about how the two of you saved her. I think I’ve heard the story five times already this morning.”

“I don’t feel like much of a hero,” Alec said. “I was just doing my job.”

“Maybe,” Catarina said, watching him carefully, “but you do it a lot better than most Shadowhunters. At least where warlocks are concerned.”

Alec shrugged uncomfortably. This was not a conversation he wanted to have on a sunny morning in the park with a near-stranger.

“How are the others you rescued, the mother and baby?” he asked instead. Izzy had filled him in on the details he’d missed while he was unconscious.

“As well as they can be under the circumstances, Catarina answered. “Safe. It’s not as common that a warlock child and his mother need shelter as it is for a warlock child alone, but it’s common enough that we have safe places for them.”

“That’s—” Alec didn’t know what to say to that. He’d never really had reason to think about what life was like for warlock children, but it made sense they wouldn’t exactly have a stable home life with one mundane parent and one demon. “I’m glad they have somewhere to go.”

Alec’s phone beeped, the tone he used for alerts from the Institute, and he sighed. “Duty calls.”

Catarina gave him a tired smile. “It always does.”

At Madzie’s insistence, Alec gave Mr. Flopsy a hug before heading back to the Institute, and whatever his mother needed from him now.

For the second evening in a row, Magnus found himself with a splitting headache and in desperate need of a stiff drink. He’d spent the day speaking to Iris Rouse’s few friends in the hopes of finding something that might lead him to her or the missing children. Instead, he’d merely found that Iris’s friends were no more pleasant than the woman herself.

He was just about to open a portal back to his loft—and his plethora of whiskey—when he sensed the demonic energy. He was being followed. Very sloppily.

Instead of opening the portal, he crossed the street and headed east. If someone was stupid enough to send demons to follow him, he was damn well going to find out who and why.

The demons kept themselves well back as Magnus wove his way through crowded streets, and he began to think they were merely tracking his movements. Which was good, because he didn’t think there were more than three following him, and if these demons were sent to track him by the same person who sent the horde of Raveners after Madzie, Magnus would be very insulted that they’d sent fewer demons for him than for a six-year-old.

But if it was the same person, Magnus didn’t want these demons reporting back to the person who summoned them. Even though his investigation into the disappearance of Iris Rouse and the warlock children living with her had yielded basically nothing, he didn’t want to give the person who took them even that much information about what he did and did not know.

Decision made, he turned another corner, leading his pursuers toward an area likely to be a bit less crowded. Glamour could hide what he was doing from passersby but fighting demons in the middle of a crowded street in Midtown wasn’t exactly safe for innocent bystanders, even if it was going to be a very short fight.

It was another ten minutes before he found a short side street deserted enough Magnus wasn’t worried about some mundane accidentally stumbling into his fight. With an air of nonchalance, he stopped and pretended to examine a particularly large crack in the sidewalk.

As Magnus had hoped, the demons followed him onto the street, although they kept to the shadows. He’d been right: there were three of them. Shax demons, and almost certainly sent to spy on him. It took less than ten seconds to take them down, a blast of magic in the thorax of each.

“Well done,” came a voice from over his right shoulder.

“More like medium-rare,” Magnus said with a smirk as he spun around to face Alec. “You know, if I’d realized you were going to come dashing to my rescue, I would have left one of them for you.”

Alec raised his eyebrows in skepticism, but Magnus could see the hint of a smile underneath, and it was breathtaking. “You don’t really strike me as the type to need rescuing.”

“Oh, I’m not,” Magnus agreed. “But I wouldn’t want you to feel like I don’t appreciate the attempt.”

“That’s not— I mean, I wasn’t—” Alec blew out a long breath. “I was following up on a possible demon sighting, not trying to rescue you.”

“I suppose that’s a relief,” Magnus said, ignoring the slight twinge of disappointment that Alec was looking for demons and not for him. “It wouldn’t do for Shadowhunters to think the High Warlock of Brooklyn can’t take care of himself.”

Alec snorted. “I don’t think there’s any danger of that. ” Magnus quirked an intrigued eyebrow, and Alec hurried to add, “I just mean, the Clave’s file on you is pretty clear on your ability to take care of yourself.”

“I would question the accuracy of anything the Clave has to say about me,” Magnus said, “but I’m glad to hear they got one part right, at least.” And he was more than a little pleased that Alec had been reading up on him, even if his choice of source material was questionable.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Alec said. “Do you know what those demons were after?”

“Following me,” Magnus told him. “I spent my day investigating the latest warlock disappearances, and I suspect the person responsible sent those Shax demons to follow me and report back on my activities. Not that I’ve had much luck in finding anything.”

“Are you sure you’re safe?” Alec asked with a frown. “If the person kidnapping warlocks is tracking you, you could be their next target.”

“I appreciate your concern, Alexander,” Magnus answered sincerely, “but I assure you I’ve taken plenty of precautions. As we just covered, I’m more than capable of handling myself in a fight, and my loft is quite well warded.”

Alec’s frown lessened, but didn’t disappear entirely, and Magnus couldn’t help but be touched by his concern. “And is that where you’re headed now? Back to your loft?”

Magnus nodded. “I was thinking I could use a drink after the day I’ve had.” He paused, debating internally, then added, “Would you care to join me?”

Emotions flickered across Alec’s face like frames in an old-time film: surprise followed by delight, which was quickly doused by regret.

“Magnus, I wish— I just—”

Magnus held up a finger to silence him. “I understand.”

And he did, much as he wished he didn’t. Shadowhunters weren’t exactly accepting of same-sex relationships, nor relationships between Shadowhunters and Downworlders. Whatever attraction there might be between the two of them, Alec was obviously unwilling to pursue it. Maybe even unwilling to acknowledge it. Really, it was what Magnus should have expected, and he hated that he’d let some small part of himself hope.

Alec huffed out a frustrated breath. “You don’t,” he said, but offered no further explanation.

“Well,” Magnus said, letting his own regret show through a tiny smile, “it was a nice thought. Goodnight, Alexander.”

He couldn’t be certain, but he thought he heard a faint “goodnight,” follow him through the portal back to his loft.

[huacademic]

help my summer break starts soon and I feel like i'm gonna be bored with nothing to do all break!! what are some things i could do?

hello there! it’s my first official day of break, so here’s some ideas:

things to do for summer break

first I wanna start off with more fun, hobby stuff and move into more scholarly activities later

local events

though my area is super duper boring, a 15-minute bike ride east and a 20-minute walk south brought me to some of the coolest parts of town. check out those weird billboards they have in ice cream shops or look up “things to do near me” and I guarantee you’ll at least find a couple of options to do for the day (I found out there was a dinosaur-themed park about an hour from my house and you can bet your butt I went there asap). ESPECIALLY in summer, some areas have tons of music or culture festivals (pride, anybody?) so be sure to look for not just your city, but ones surrounding it too!

work out

okay, now I’m not saying get super into cross-fit or anything, but if you have a bike you never use or even just a lovely park near you, maybe trying out something new like that would be engaging? I brought my skateboard outside last year and promised myself I’d learn how to skate, I did a daily 10-minute practice and eventually just starting going further than a meter or two, it acted like a great break between what I was doing in the day. If you don’t have any equipment, a lot of people have paths near their homes they just never go on (I’m not saying the creepy secluded kind), but even just doing a daily walk/jog gets you out and about, soaking up the sun (or snow if you’re in australia???) and can help you to clear your mind. (some local community centers also have free sports clinics if you wanna try them out!)

new hobbies

never forget when I ironically picked up a ukulele from a sale for cheap and bought it for giggles and then ended up spending nearly an hour a day playing with it… new hobbies don’t have to be instruments or sports, but here’s a list of tons of hobbies you could try out to pass the time. a lot of people collect things as a hobby too, so maybe you can pick tons of flowers and press them to use for your art or bujo! Let’s not forget arts and crafts: knitting, painting, etc. these are not only great for relaxing/multitasking, but you get a product in the end! maybe even ask your parents to teach you a thing or two if they’re super into their own hobbies

books!

not to be a dork, but summer is the perfect time to get back on your reading habits. since no teacher is telling you what you can or can’t read, go ahead and indulge a little (go read those sappy vampire lover stories you’ve been secretly curious about). try a new style or author to go out of your comfort zone, you may be surprised that sci-fi is your fav genre of all time. (also, I’m not saying complete it, but if you wanna read, but are brain-dead from your calc class, look at the rory gilmore reading challenge!)

learn a language

now obviously you can’t become a master of every romance language in the span of three months, but you CAN at least tackle the basics of them. there’s enough resources about how to start a language on this site that I’ll just leave you to the langblr community (*cough* or my langblr tag *cough*) for posts about that. opening your language barrier is such a cool and helpful experience, that I def recommend it to anyone curious enough. Everyone on here’s gonna recommend it anyway, but duolingo has helped me SO MUCH in trying to learn every possible language in human existence, but I suggest their website version actually since under each lesson they have notes on grammar and more physical lessons on how to not goof up when learning whatever you’re learning.

(also don’t forget to do your summer assignments if you have any!!!)

alrighty, that about wraps things up, hopefully this helps a bit!