#me: omg new bugs life content

[whaleiumsharkspeare]

Not me getting all excited over the How Not to Draw episode about Flik because I think A Bug’s Life is a highly underrated Pixar movie and also because I love Flik he’s so quirky and positive. We love a genuinely optimistic and helpful character

[redtsundere-writes]

Out Of My League | Heartsteel Kayn / Rhaast

Heartsteel Kayn / Rhaast x f!reader

Part 1: Facecheck.

Part 2. Part 3. Part 4.

Sypnosis: A chronically online girl doesn´t know that her Discord friend may be someone she already knows.

Contents: Modern AU, High school AU, a lot of bad jokes and meme references. No warnings.

Word count: 2023 (omg this year)

Author's Note: So... this gremlin's birthday was yesterday and since he has been on my mind lately. I decided to write him a fic cause why not?

Thanks to @mclovin1803 for helping me with proofreading and picking a title. (If this is out of charcater, blame him)

You were the exact definition of an introvert. You weren't good at talking to people you didn't know, your social battery doesn't last long, and you get excited when your friends cancel plans at the last minute. You like your loneliness and spending the afternoon playing video games and your guitar.

As an introvert, you didn't have many friends aside from a few classmates and some family members you were close with. Luckily, you had several friends on Discord. Among them was someone by the username of Rhaast. You didn't chat with him often because he wasn't as chronically online as you were, but he knew you were always down to play League of Legends with him.

One night while you were comfortably playing the new Super Mario Wonder on the switch, you received a message from Rhaast.

@Rhaast: League?

It had been two weeks since you had last played together, so you put the Switch aside and accepted. You opened League and put your headphones on to hop on the call with your friend.

"Hello there," you greeted him like Obi Wan as you waited for Rhaast to enter the game. He laughed at the reference. He had a deep, kinda seductive voice. You didn't know for sure if he was pretending or if he really talked like that.

"How have you been?," you asked while looking for your nightly playlist on Spotify to set the mood.

"Great. Yesterday I went out with a girl and today I broke up with her." You rolled your eyes at the comment. You knew Rhaast was quite the heartbreaker for discarding women like they were underwear. Personally, you didn't like that about your friend.

"And now why did you break up with this one,?" you asked as you started the game.

"I only went out with her once and she was already bugging me. My phone kept ringing because of her, so I blocked her," Rhaast answered with a chuckle. “Thank God I'll never date this asshole,” you thought.

"I wish there were more girls like you. You wait for me to send you a message and you are always down to play with me." He said while locking in Zed as his champion while you locked in Qiyana.

"I’m always down to play with you because I don't have any friends, not because I like you." You kamikazed by words.

"Damn, and I thought you had a crush for me," Rhaast joked. "Come to think of it, you never tell me anything about your love life," He suggested so he could hear some gossip.

"I haven't told you because I don't have any," you said, pretending to cry. Rhaast laughed at your foolish performance.

"Come on, you must have at least a crush or something," he insisted curiously as the game began. There was no one you liked... but someone caught your eye.

You felt like a fool for getting nervous every time you saw Kayn and his group of friends walk past you in the hallways. Kayn was a popular kid from a higher grade. He was good at sports, had good grades, was a member of an upcoming band, and was always surrounded by friends, while you were the complete opposite. You knew you shouldn't be nervous seeing him around because there was no chance that he would have the slightest interest in you. The majority of girls in your class drooled over him, so he was free to choose whoever he wanted. Why would he choose you?

Also, you had no good reason to go over and talk to him. The only chance you had, you blew it. You still cringe at yourself at night when you remember that moment. In your first days of high school, you had no friends and you just started learning to play guitar. When you tried to leave the music room that day, you ran into a tall boy with pink hair, perfect black eyebrows that indicated the true color of his hair, piercings decorating his ears, a pointy nose and a magnificent athletic body. Everything about him could catch anyone's attention but his most striking feature was his beautiful eyes with heterochromia, his left eye was green and the right; red. You were a moth and he was an RGB lightbulb that demanded your attention.  

You stood paralyzed infront of him. You clutched your music sheet notebook to your chest in nervousness. He was way too attractive and you didn't know how to feel about it. You tried to greet him but only stutters came out of your mouth. It was true that you weren't good at starting conversations but you had never been at a loss for words.

"Can you move? I want to get in," he asked while looking at you as if you were an inferior being.

"Ah... Yes-s, I'm s-sorry." You couldn't help your stutter as you stepped aside so he could enter the room. The Adonis didn't say anything else, but your eyes were still glued on him. The boy saw you watching him without shame.

"Can I help you with something?" He asked directly. You quickly shook your head and ran out of the room. “You are so stupid, you made yourself look like you have never seen a man!” You thought embarrassed as you felt your face getting hot. This was definitely your canon event.

One day, Rhaast sent you an ad. Riot was hosting a promotional convention for players at the capital at the end of the month.

@Rhaast: You goin'?

You: Maybe, sounds good.

@Rhaast: Let me know if you goin'.

You: Are you?

@Rhaast: If you go, I'll go.

You: K.

Thus the days passed until the day of the event arrived. You got ready with your best clothes: A K/DA sweatshirt, freshly washed pants, and the least dirty sneakers you had. You left your apartment nervously to finally touch some grass and meet your friend in real life. After a tedious subway ride, you arrived at the convention center where the event was taking place.

You: I'm here. Where are you?

@Rhaast: Wait for me at the entrance. I'm almost there.

You saw that there were several people waiting for their respective friends at the entrance, so you decided to stay in that area. You waited patiently while playing on your phone until you heard some girls next to you get excited.

"Look, it's Kayn, he looks so good!" They whisper to each other. You looked up quickly when you heard that name and, sure enough, the Adonis was there. “What is Kayn doing here?!” you thought as you tried to hide behind your phone as if you pretended he wasn't there, but your eyes traveled quickly between the screen and him. He was wearing a black crop with a jacket on top, tight pants and silver chains on his neck, fingers and waist. “Oh no, he's hot!” You thought nervously, wanting to run away. Your heart wasn't taking it.

You felt envious when the girls next to you didn't hesitate to approach him. Seeing the confidence they had to greet and talk to him, you felt that they had already known each other before. “I wish I could do that,” you thought.

"I didn't know you played League." One of the girls commented.

"I don´t play much," Kayn answered without taking much notice. Looking cool as heck.

"Are you here alone?" The other girl asked.

"Well, I'm meeting with a friend. I'll call her, " he said while searching for his friend's contact on his phone.

*Incoming call from Rhaast*

Out of nowhere, your phone started ringing from an incoming call on Discord. It was Rhaast. “No way,” you thought as you looked at Kayn and your cell phone simultaneously. “No, this must be a coincidence” you thought before answering.

"I'm here, where are you?" Your knees felt weak as Kayn spoke the words he was hearing over the phone. “Kayn is Rhaast?!” you thought in disbelief.

Kayn quickly found you and your eyes met. The last time that happened was a year ago. You knew Rhaast for over two years. That meant that Kayn, the cutest boy in school, had heard your horrible jokes, your fangirl screams when you saw Faker at almost every World Cup, and your burps for two years. You wanted the earth to swallow you whole at that moment.

"Oh, there she is. See ya," he hung up the call and said goodbye to his friends. He approached you while you were dying internally. You were lucky a wall was holding you up because you were sure you were going to pass out at any moment. “Breathe, maybe he doesn't remember you,” you thought.

"Hey! Why didn't you tell me we went to the same school, snake girl?" he joked. You covered your face in shame with your hands. “He does remember!” You thought, defeated. You still didn't believe that Kayn was still talking to you.

"Shut up, Rhaast… I mean, Kayn." You said, pulling your face out of its hiding spot. Kayn smiled, looking at your blushing cheeks.

"So you know me," he said confidently.

"How can I not know you? My classmates can't stop talking about you," you said defensively.

"I don't mean that," he said as he brought his face closer to yours. You backed up as far as the wall would allow you.

"Just look at you, you're crazy for me." He mocked in a flirting way. You couldn't help but to blush once again.

He was right, not only did he caught your eye, you liked him. You liked him more than you thought. Not because he was the popular Kayn, who is in a band and all the girls fight over him, but because he was also Rhaast. The one guy who laughed at your horrible jokes, the one who didn't criticize you every time you screamed when you saw Faker and burped when you did to match your energy.

"Ha! Says the guy that I always carry,” you mocked him back. Kayn laughed. That laugh that made you feel better in the small corner of your room.

"That's my girl!" He said before taking your hand. You blushed at the unexpectedly intimate act. His hand gently squeezed yours to guide you to the convention entrance.

You spent the whole afternoon chatting and spending all your money on merchandise. You got to know Kayn better than you ever thought. He was a little bit blunt, but nicer than you pictured. It was like you were seeing the other side of Rhaast. Kayn also got to know you on another level when you started to feel comfortable around him. You were a girl with whom he could see himself talking for many hours everyday without getting bored, something he had not felt with anyone else.

You and Kayn said goodbye to a wonderful day together. Both felt their hearts beating like crazy for each other. You had spent the entire day together but you still missed each other once you parted ways. You arrived home and then threw yourself on the bed to start screaming about the exciting day you just had. You had finally talked to Kayn and he seemed to like you. And boy did he like you...

The next day, another school day had ended, so you decided to go to the music room. On your way, you saw Kayn and his friends heading towards the exit. Finally, you got the courage to do something you've always wanted to do.

"Hey, Kayn!" You called him from your place. He turned around to see you among the other students passing by in the hallway.

"Wanna play later?" You asked, blushing lightly for attracting his attention. His friends began to tease him that a girl was talking to him that way, but he didn't care. Kayn smiled as he saw you standing there, blushing but determined.

"You know I do!" He said before turning around and getting back with his friends. You smiled. Maybe he wouldn't have chosen you before, but now you had a chance. 

Order your own fanfic! (Starting price: $5 USD)

Masterlist.

[areiton]

Cap-IM Rec Week - Day 7

Today’s list is short--it’s highlighting work you wouldn’t normally give a chance to, and that’s pretty rare for me. I give everything a shot because I’m a greedy whore when it comes to Stevetony. But here are two works that standout and that I thoroughly loved. I’ve really enjoyed @cap-ironman Rec Week--if you’re looking for more recs, check out @stevetonyweekly where I post all the Stevetony content I read each week. 

Tiny Spy Assassin Steve by copperbadge

An AU in which Steve Rogers was born into the modern day and never received the Serum, but managed to make it into SHIELD as a handpicked protege of senior field agent Abraham Erskine. Along with Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff, Peggy Carter, and eventually Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes, Steve still tries to make a difference.

Particularly in the life of Tony Stark, who picked up what he thought was an art student in a bar, and ended up dating one of SHIELD's top agents...

I am EXTREMELY picky about pre-serum Steve fics and this one is just--fan-fucking-tastic. 

[Podfic] Straight on till Morning by Sineala by M_Samro

Tony Stark resigned his commission in Starfleet five years ago, after a disastrous away mission, and he swore he'd never go back. He just wants to be left alone to build warp engines in peace. But the universe has more in store for him than that, as he discovers when Admiral Fury comes to him with an offer he could never have expected and cannot possibly refuse: first officer and chief engineer aboard the all-new USS Avenger, a starship of Tony's own design. What's more, the Avenger's captain is Steve Rogers, hero of the Earth-Romulan War. Believed dead for over a century, Steve is miraculously alive... and very, very attractive.

But nothing is ever easy for Tony. As he wrestles with his secret desire for his new captain and his not-so-dormant fears, another mission starts to go wrong, and Tony becomes aware that Steve has secrets of his own -- and the truth could change everything.

So this fic--podfic--deserves two spots on the list. First because I almost didn’t read it. Star Trek was the first media I can remember watching as a child (dear god, the nightmares from those fucking ear bugs) and it remains one of the nearest and dearest to my heart, so I’m extremely picky about crossovers--but I trusted Sine and it quickly became one of my favorite Trek fics, in or out of the fandom. I’m ALSO picky about podfic--I get very very little time for podfic and I’m super picky narrators on these kinds of things--audiobooks/podfics/podcasts--so I wasn’t sold on the idea, but I had a house to paint and a friend rec’ed it and omg, best decision ever. As emotional as the reading the fic made me, listening to the podfic was even more so. I love it to an unhealthy degree, honestly. 

[dimepdf]

HEAD OVER HEELS. + ARYGLE

masterlist. / taglist. / any request? [ ❥ ] synopsis. requested! "I was wondering if u could do an Argyle (st) smut? Idk if you want me to be more specific because I don't really have any specific stuff for it" author's note. more Ari fics RAAAAAH

[ ❥ ] pairing. arygle x reader

[ ❥ ] word count. 2.2k

[ ❥ ] genre and warnings. +18, afab reader, Byers!reader, enemies to lovers, sibling trope, pining, pwp but barely plot, overstimulation, whimpering, hickeys, sub!Ari, slight corruption kink, oral (m), crying, creampie, just tooth rotting fluff

You always hated your younger brother's friend Argyle. He just added to the uncomfortably new environment by moving from Hawkins to a more populated place with new people. 

It was a struggle for you to leave all your friends behind, along with the high emotions of the trauma that was being packed away. Your mother, Joyce, just wanted a fresh start for your family. You weren't one to nag or whine, knowing everyone was just doing whatever they could to protect one another.

But that didn't mean that you wouldn't live up to your annoying older sister's traits. You had graduated high school before leaving Hawkins, leaving you with a lot of time on your hands in California, most of it being an overbearing annoyance to your three other younger siblings. 

You were a pretty prominent character in your family while everyone was too busy being sprung up to fit in. You spent your time helping with the many sarcastic and humorous comments that you would muster. You didn't hate California, but boy did you hate Argyle.

You thrived off of being a smart-mouthed annoyance, and Argyle was the type to smile at an insult. You would watch with a grimace every time he would stutter and stumble over his words with that lost puppy dog look on his face. You were convinced that he would harass you more with his daily compliments than anything else.

"Hey Y/n, Is Jonathan here?" Your head slouched to hang off of the shoulder of the couch arm. You glance at the voice from upside down, the TV show that you were watching in the living room buzzing the room to life.

Your lips quirked into a frown. You saw the familiar long-haired male that stood alongside the doorframe, your eyes instantly squinting from the bright colors of his clothing. 

A groan passed your lips as you repositioned to lie on your stomach, your face pressing against the seat cushions as Argyle tried to make it as obvious as possible that he had been staring at your ass so shamelessly. 

"He's been put on driver's duty for Will," you sighed. "Something about some new game sale, blah blah." You recall the sad rock, paper, scissor game; the house being surprisingly quiet as Jane was off for the weekend at a friend's sleepover and your mother was out of town on her honeymoon with Hopper.

Alas, you were the only one to occupy the home, at least until Argyle arrived. You didn't even bother to ask him how he even managed to find his way inside without a key. 

Knowing how kind your mother was, she probably told him where the spare was for the nights that he needed some place to crash. 

Your eyes roll, feeling the dip in the couch at your feet, Argyle just at the other end with a content smile on his face. "So, what are we watching?" There was a pause of silence that followed the question. "Do you like, hate me or something? Why are you so buggy?" was the question that was enough to make you budge and reposition, so you sat with your knees tucked into your chest glaring at him.

"I bug you because you bug me." 

Argyle spoke softly. "I don't bug you, I literally just talk to you and you're always like, 'omg Argyle, you're so annoying ah' and all I ask is how your day is going," Argyle spoke softly. "I mean, dude, you're like my best friend's sister. Of course, I want to talk to you. I don't want you to hate me." You consider the thought of being friends with him instead of the many days of teasing just for the fun of it.

"I don't mean it in a seriously bad way. I just like, I don't know, teasing everyone, but if I knew that it would make you feel that way, I wouldn't have done it in the first place, I guess." Your glare softens as your eyes flicker to the curve of your knee to Argyle, your fingers drumming nervously against the plush of your thigh.

"Well, your apology is accepted honestly. Now I feel less like a loser virgin." Argyle chuckles, his fingers twisting around a strand of his hair, his eyes refusing to hold eye contact with you like his life depended on it.

"Well, maybe I could help with that." Your suggestive tone made his head snap in your direction, almost laughing at the sight of his surprised face. 

"Wait, are you—you're being serious?" He stuttered.

"I don't know. I mean, we’re all alone and Jonathan and Will probably won't be back for a while." Arylge swallowed the lump, watching you crawl from the other side of the couch towards him with a glint in your eye, a small whimper leaving his lips the moment you had slid into his lap. 

"Oh okay, wow," Argyle whispers, his breath hitched as you position yourself to hug against his chest, the feeling of your breast pushing against him being enough to make him feel light-headed.

As if it couldn't be more of a dream for him, his eyes widened as you leaned in to kiss him. The feeling of your soft lips pressed against his was enough to make his lashes flutter close, a moan from his throat vibrating against your mouth. 

His hips buckling against yours, your tongue poking through your lips, coaxing entry into his mouth. could already feel the print of his erection through his tight jeans. Argyle never thought that he would ever be in the position of having his best friend's sister grinding against him, let alone any woman kissing him.

The feeling of your fingers searching for the zipper of his jeans made him flinch. "Wiat, wait, are you sure?" Arylge stuttered out another whimper, leaving his lips from the sensitive and new feeling of drying humped anything that wasn't his pillow. 

You welcomed a whole different perspective for him, new sensations starting to cloud his mind as all he could do was lean back with his lips parted, moaning like a modern day whore as you kissed down his jawline, sucking hickeys into the sensitive part of his neck that made him shiver, added to the overbearing feeling of his cock twitching from the attention.

His cock peeked up from his boxers the moment you had exposed it from the elastice of his underwear, you found it cute how easily turned on Ari had gotten from just some simple touches and how loudly he moaned from just the teh warm feeling of your tongue wrapping around the base of his length before stuffing him in your mouth as deep as you could down your throat.

“Oh, S-shit, shit. Oh god, you're so good at t–that.” Argyle stutters.

When Arglye spoke, his voice was raspy and you wanted to fuck him until he was nearly in tears just from the sounds that came out of his mouth. While Arygle bucked his hips to try and fuck your mouth, you continued your masterful teasing by bobbing your head and swirling your tongue around his tip. As you lowered your head to accept all of Argyle's cock, your hands moved to his hips for better stability.

You bobbed your head in a way that allowed the tip of your nose to touch Argyle's belly button just a little bit as you hollowed out your cheeks, allowing more of his length to slide against your tongue. You could feel the man's trembling body and Argyle's frantic forward motions as she pushed herself desperately toward what she wanted. 

The blowjob didn't last long since as cum poured out of Argyle's cock, his veins began to rapidly pulse. You swallowed him as soon as his fluid made contact with your tongue. wiping your mouth, then getting to your feet to see Argyle slouching. You breathe deeply as you recline backwards on the couch.

You take a seat next to him casually, as if you hadn’t just sucked his soul from his body. Argyle glanced at you, melting at your confident smirk. His mind is too flooded with the effects of your attractiveness to even worry about the sinful act that you both just did openly in your family's home. 

It's not like his worries matter much anyway. The moment you leaned in to give him another kiss, Argyle seemed more prepared for it than the first one, this one being more passionate than the first, his mouth moving desperately against yours.

Argyle was the first to pull away from your lips, panting like he had been so caught up in the way you made him feel to remember to breathe. It still wasn't enough time for him to process you, hovering on your thighs, sliding off your pants, hooking your underwear to the side and grabbing his dick.

“W-wait,” Argyle stumbled, his hands grasping at your shoulders to settle your still on his lap. “I just—I want to make sure you're okay with this and…stuff.” Argyle whispered nervously. 

You smiled sweetly at Argyle, your heart warming at the sight of how unscattered he looked under you, his tan skin glowing, lips puckered, and eyes dark and glistening with passion as he peered up at you. You grinned sweetly at him. 

Although your bodies were close to one another, this closeness was insufficient to kindle the simmering heat of need that was bubbling inside of you. 

Your last real hookup had been months ago, Steve Harrington. Who was merely a companion who warmed your pillows and climbed through your bedroom window whenever you got bored, not a true romantic partner. In other words, you were just so freaking horny.

You almost felt sorry for him, his reaction to you taking all of him inside of you almost comical. He squirmed and whimpered from the heat of your cunt engulfing around his shaft, you gave a bit of mercy only slowly lifting yourself up and down his length at a more tamed pace than what you truly needed; it was still enough contact to make him shiver.

“Oh, do you wanna keep going?” you chuckled as Argyle huffed from under you looking flushed more over embarrassed at the fact that he had finished inside of you so quickly.

“Please?” he whimpered shyly, his face ducking into chest , his cheek meeting the plush of your soft chest hiding. You could still feel him clench inside of you, the feeling making your thighs tremble as his fist curled around the fabric of your shirt. 

His breath picking on the moment you continued to grind against him, his eyes clenching shut repeating a silent encouragement in his head: “please dont cum, please dont cum.” over and over, despite his cock betraying him and feeling more and more sensitive. 

Just being inside of you made him feel like he was stuck on a cloud, the simple bliss of actually being touched with a woman made him almost feel like he was flying. “Oh s-shit.” the male cursed, as more hot white lines spurted inside of you. 

You know you should have been worried, not wearing a condom at all was enough to make you worried but at the moment your head was so crowded, so full of thoughts about Argyle bending you over and having his pathetic little way with you. 

As if the experience couldn't have gotten more crazy for him, just the sight of you stripping off your shirt and tossing it to the side turned him into a complete mess as if taking his virginity wasn't enough.

“I think i love you,” Argyle whispered, you had to admit hearing someone confess their love for you was very endearing feeling your cheeks flush from the compliment.

“I…i love you too Argyle.” Argyle let out a breath of relief. Both of you giggling as you both repostitioned yourselves so that your back was resting against the mattresses Argyle standing over you before your hands could guide him back inside of you. 

Bucking his hips, to meet your thrusts matching your pace, his fingers dipping into your thighs hard enough to leave dark bruises that would form later that day on your hips.

Argyle's mouth stayed open, mumbling nonsense about you feeling so good, and how you are just so pretty as his hips slammed against yours.

Ayrgle was close, you could tell him how sloppy his thrusts were becoming from how he slouched over you holding onto the top of the couch cushions staying to stay together as another orgasm was begging to release from him, but he just could stop until you had finished he didn't want to stop.

A reassuring hand rested against his cheek, “it's okay Ari.” you spoke softly, it was enough to finish him off once more.  His body felt like it was vibrating as barely any cum was released from his cock shooting blanks inside of you. 

Tears ran down Argyle's cheeks from how oversensitive he was, his cock twitching  and twitching from how many times he had came. 

You pushed on his chest making him rest next to you on the couch though you didn't manage to chase your own orgasm the experience was enough for you to actually finally enjoy having sex for once.

[ ❥ ] taglist. @loveshineslikethesky @willowwonka @sh3lov3dyou @spenglerslime @misaamaneswifey @anastasiavv @wheremygorliesat @r0se1111 @trinkettray @tougly2care @the1andblue @begay-do-crimes @moonstarteaxx @vxid42 @eddiemunsonswife21

@eddiemunsonbby @lluvin @dwaynesluvr @slutforfics @missmaximoffsblog @clowncrawler @bored0-0 @mr-magic @teehopper @mi-yo-0 @meidix9 @mantiswife @stickysnail @spookybabey @1efleur @kewlbeans-22 @dasespicyagh @lollolgetrecked @femmefaetale-blog @pinkladyy @sultrylies @sagethephantom @kyyellaxi @ghoullful @passivehippie @alexloveskili @ragingginger @joletown @xiichao @snailchess @cybergnf

tap here to be added to taglist.

[messenger-of-stupidity]

This is a letter to ZSakuVA that I know he probably will never see.

(spoilers for newest audio. But not really since the title of that audio says everything that I say here.)

AHEM

King Crumpet,

I am just a little bug that has been following your channel for a little over a year now. In that time I've consumed many a content, whether that be while I'm studying for finals (which makes the whole uni student listener very immersive omg), going to sleep, or simply going about my day to day life. And it has been a happy journey where I jump at jumpscares, laugh at the jokes and funny moments, learn new things, grow flustered when your voice goes closer to the mic. (A very nice voice hehe)

And I understand you like angst. I too enjoy angst. The fics I write are testament to that.

But congratulations, take your crown. For you have broken this stoic face of mine (not actually stoic all the time since my poker face is for shit) and made tears generate and fall for the first time when listening to an audio. (From whoever.)

True, I make jokes about crying or sobbing but it's all on the inside. (Like the numb little bug that I am lmao)

But you have taken a character I have truly gushed and blushed over and had him shatter my heart in ways I didn't know was possible.

So take your crown while I cradle what is left of this torrent of emotions you have given me. Let me wait out for the lessening of the building dread I experienced while waiting for the outcome. I much would have preferred you yelling at me instead. But I consume this content nonetheless. (That's more poetic than I've managed to be for like... Three weeks. Which is saying something since it wasn't very poetic lmao)

Sincerely,

A Crumpet of Stupidity

(on second thought, no he will not escape this, I'm editing my YouTube comment and putting it there to heighten the chances of him seeing it.)

[15-lizards]

hi :)

i'm so sorry, i'm new to tumblr so i haven't gotten the whole asks thing down yet. could you do 1, 3, 6, 8, 9, and 10 for the reed gang and also stannis baratheon? thank you!!! :)

Omg of course my love!!

1. What would their social media page/activity be like?

-I think Meera has a twitter and spam instagram where she complains ab her problems and wonders if she’s a lesbian in the captions of cute animal memes (im projecting) and Jojen solely uses his instagram to identify bugs and plants and sometimes rocks. Stannis has like a very professional Facebook page for his business/election campaign or whatever and he has like five followers and sometimes Robert comments under his posts while he’s drunk

3. My thoughts on their design/aesthetic alone

-god I have so many thoughts. Meera is just such a kind looking girl (and Ellie Kendrick made me gay) who dresses like a bog person and throws nets and spears 10/10 no notes I love you swamp wife. Jojen is similar but he’s a sickly swamp boy which makes me sad but it’s an interesting character design I care him. Stannis is soooo fucking good like having his brothers height and strength but none of their charisma and also he’s balding is actually hilarious. Absolute unit of a depressed man

6. Psychological headcanons (tastes, fears, talents, regrets, how they deal with anger, just anything that comes to mind on the topic)

-Jojen Reed Autism Swag thank you for listening. Like I said that child can identify the hell out of some rocks and bugs. Meera eldest daughter syndrome!!! She’s so scared of losing Bran now that she knows she’s gonna lose Jojen she wants to protect everyone and make sure no one’s sacrifice goes to waste it’s such a burden to carry :( plus she has to protect everyone to my babygirl is getting grey hairs. Stannis also eldest daughter syndrome! He is repressed he is dutiful he is angry he only ever did what was expected of him and got jack shit in return but he keeps on trudging on cause that’s what he has to do I want to bite something

8. Made-up connections with other characters that weren’t in the canon (friends, enemies, whatever)

-Meera and Dany are girlfriends and love each other this is canon to me actually. Meera and Robb would be friends I think and Sansa too :,) Jojen is such a little old man nerd I think he’d like hanging around Davos bc he respects little old man nerds (like Shireen, they would be friends too). And Stannis has never had a real friend in his life besides Maester Cressen and Davos but I think he has a grudging respect for Kevan Lannister. Dutiful second sons the both of them. Davos tries to get them to become actual friends bc he’s tired of being the only homoerotic codependent relationship Stannis has

9. Headcanons about their past

-I think Meera, not Jojen, has been raised to take over House Reed. She’s a natural leader and I’m sure Howland knows his son is gonna he paste anyway. Jojen probably used to want to become a Maester and study the higher mysteries before he got his death dreams :( Stannis was probably considered being sent to the citadel too, but I think Steffon decided he needed to stay by Roberts side to be his voice of reason which obviously turned out really well

10. Content about them I’d like to see more of

-I need more Meera fanart pretty please I miss ny baby girl. I also want fics of either her and Dany or her and Jojen and the starklings getting into shenanigans. I would love to see more Jojen dream analyses too, and posts connecting him to Cassandra and other literary references I live for that shit. I am honestly stuffed to the brim for Stannis content bc my entire tl is just Baratheon blogging but I will never say no to more fanart of him, sad old man stavos fics, or analyses on his character!!!

[finniestoncrane]

Hello! I don't want you to feel like you have to answer this but I appreciate anything you have to say; I just started write some fanfictions, mostly ships and sometimes character/reader and I wonder if you know how to get more likes or advice for a new writer?

hey lil bug, i am probably not the best person to ask because i am in an eternal struggle there too, i think we all are? but i think important things (that are easier said than done trust me) i'll list below and apologies if i'm talking absolute shite i am so ill lmao

stop counting notes and don't compare yourself to others, i see people get lots more likes or reblogs than me because they are bigger blogs or more than me because they are smaller but better lmao but if you're writing things you like and are having fun then who the fuck cares (it's me i care deeply and ashamedly oops) but it leads to some classic menty-bs™ at least on my part

i run an etsy shop and i don't do jack shit in terms of pushing it so like i just inherently do not care about engagement culture? i noticed that the people who like my fics also like my dumb posts about my life, so it's nice to conflate it like do they like me because of my fics or my fics because of me, either way that's a warming feeling, so maybe try being yourself more and not a "content machine"? i dunno i'd rather have friends than popularity

even if you get one like that's still a whole person who read your thing and like it u-u i love reading stuff by people who are just starting to write (i think fic writers who don't support other fic writers are weird sorry, like i'll push someone to write the exact same scenario as me with the same characters if i need to and then i'll reblog it without giving a shit because someone's hobby is valuable and beautiful)

ok so for new writers: write as much as you can, but you don't need to post everything! and my top tip is writing notes to yourself the way you would talk to yourself like i no kidding have documents filled with things like "and then omg finnie what if he took his dick out and slapped you in the OMG IN THE FACE WITH IT and then yummy sex ensues yeah bitch" and just having something silly but that feels fun is enough to make me find the energy to write

and! foster as many relationships as you can, sometimes i write things knowing full well that the only people who might enjoy it are the discord server, or my one friend who is also deeply into a specific niche fetish in relation to one character, and it feels like giving a gift to someone which is joyous

[thisdreamplace]

hi. i wish i had the courage to come off anon but im not comfortable with it. but i just had a good cry while scrolling through your blog. thank you. honestly, life has been so sad for years. in 2020, i found out about the law. life has been rough & i just want softness. all of these rules that have been thrown at me do not make me feel good. i’m even afraid to type this at this point bc it may “mess up my manifestation”. but all this forcing is not worth it. does anyone ever stop and say “is all this worth it”? not about being god but all the rules & methods & techniques. does anyone ever want to live in peace? i feel like all of it isn’t peace. at least for me. in my head, god is stress free. but i can’t even wake up or go to sleep without the constant thought of negativity. i wake up “man, my 3d is still this way ugh, let me ignore & force these affirmations down my throat” and repeat the next day. i haven’t enjoy my life for 2 years. is anyone not tired like me??? 😭 it’s all supposed to be simple. i’m not the type to repeat forced affirmation & analyze every damn thing. i just want to eat ice cream & chill. lol. after scrolling through your blog, i see it’s ok. it’s okay to do whatever feels right for me. i hate that i had to see your blog to understand that. i wish i believed in myself the way i believed in others. i was already thinking i should just do my own thing but i didn’t trust it. i had to see a blog say it. 🥲 no more of that tho. i trust me. if we think about it, someone had to discover this law themselves. who’s to say we can’t just come up with something our self. there is no limit. blogs & loa related people don’t resonate with me anymore (no hate at all, i’ve just evolved in some way). i believe the true feeling is what brings you peace within. what truly resonates with me is creating my own thing. so that’s what i’ll do. so this is my official goodbye to the community.

ty beautiful blog that i just so happened to come across a second ago. 😂💞

hi <3

awe anon. tbh i think a lot of people are tired. i think its morseo frightening to let it all go though. the scary thing is once you learn about this law, there is no turning back. there is always that voice bugging you that says, "you caused this, its your fault, change it ! fix it now !" the sort of peace our past ignorance used to bring is no longer an option. we cant forget everything we know. but how can we move forward from here, branching off with all we know now ? its honestly terrifying when you put so much time and energy and faith into this for so long.

its actually very beautiful that this blog gave you a sense of light ! i love that ! this is literally why i love people and interaction and experiences. because we can move forward and grow in such positive ways thanks to the light of someone else ! thats literally so beautiful to me ! its why we are here together !!! omg

i'm glad that youre finally setting urself free. take it moment by moment n be patient with yourself as you find what feels best, and learn what its like to really listen to yourself. i remember during my break how i went throught this process and i told one of my friends it felt like i was literally recovering from addiction. bc thats essentially what its become for many. logging into whatever platform everyday, getting their daily high from all the motivational content and success stories, just to crash again later when the world just isnt seemingly bending to their will like the top accounts promised. its really an addicting doomloop. so take it easy and be okay with wherever you are at a moment.

if u ever feel comfortable to come off anon, i would love to be friends <3 sending all the love and sunshine to u on ur new journey ! xo

[rubynationwins]

Farewell (for now)

Hello party people!

The title of this post probably gave this away, but I am announcing an indefinite hiatus starting now. It only feels right that I stop with the random “omg I have free time guys I’m gonna write!” posts. Obviously, I am not good at sticking to promises (or a regular upload schedule).

Anyway, I am graduating college in a few weeks and will be starting a new chapter(ha) of my life and don’t think writing fanfics is going to be a part of it. At least, for now. Who knows, maybe in 3 years the writing bug will bite me in the ass again & I’ll start pumping out new content like nobody’s business! But I can’t promise anything, sorry.

I want to take this time to thank every single one of my followers and readers who have supported my work and shown it so much love! Just because I’m “gone” doesn’t mean my fics are, they will stay on my tumblr and archive of our own, and that’s a promise I can keep, so please keep enjoying them!

I wish you all the best,

Ruby❤️

[cloudslostlibrary]

1. What movie are you watching?

the new jurassic world movie ! it was so cheesy lmao

not my fav but the ending was rlly good!

2. Do your prefer watching movies in the theatre or at home?

i prefer to watch them at home! i tend to talk some what, making comment about the movie so-

3. Do you/ how do you like your popcorn?

im not a big fan of popcorn if I’m being honest, dont eat a lot of it due to that lo

4. Do you like monopoly?

yes! omg yes! the amount if drama it causes

5. Do you know how to play chess?

I do! not very good at it but yes! i was in the chess club in elementary lol

Pls the movie was so cheesy tho-

the characters where ao stupid except for like 3 or 4 and it annoyed the hell out of me skdneijdi-

hru doing??

have you eaten / drunken anything recently?

have you taken time to yourself for some self-care?

I love the silly dinosaur movies, and I also talk a lot during movies lmao my parents hate it but I love going to movie theaters. Monopoly is my favorite game!! And I’ve been loving chess lately lol

1. I’m doing alright right now, just kind of content with life yk?

2. I’m currently eating and drinking! Same breakfast I always have lol

3. I brushed my teeth and combed my hair so we can count that as self-care surely

Thanks for the questions :D below is some more for you/np

1. Do you own any stuffed animals?

2. Are you scared of the dark?

3. Do you like bugs/ arachnids?

4. Do you like paper crafts?

5. What is your favorite dinosaur?

[inmyblueparadise]

Omg hi you replied to me! That made my day I love your work! Can you do an imagine where you’re sick with a stomach bug and the guys all take care of you and baby/Pamper you?

Hi love ! Sorry it took me some time to write this. But I hope you like it xx

Life on the road is not easy. Especially when you’re performing every night, recording overnight and filming a documentary. You and the boys were currently in the middle of the UK leg of the Where we are tour, and you were dead tired. You'd just finished a show in Manchester, and you were currently in your bunk on the bus, starting to fall asleep. Everybody was sleeping, so the bus was very quiet when suddenly you heard a voice.

Y/N I’m sorry to wake you but I need you in the recording booth. Damn ! Even in your dream you were still thinking about work ! Except that this was not a dream. You felt a hand, shaking you awake, and Julian your producer, spoke again. You could hear in his voice that he was sorry. Angel I’m so sorry for this, but can you wake up ?

Hmm, what time is it ? You rolled around, almost falling out of the tiny bed, your eyes still closed.

It’s a little after midnight, you’ve been asleep for 20 minutes. I’m sorry darling

It’s ok, I’ll get up.

I appreciate it. I’ll wait for you in the room. He said, walking away and exiting the bus. The recording room, was, actually a hotel room. You could have slept in one of them but you had been so exhausted after the show that you stayed on the bus parked outside the hotel. Getting out of bed was torture, your head was killing you and your body was screaming at the effort. Looking up you saw Ben, with his camera, filming you for the This Is Us documentary. You gave him a tired smile.

Is it ok if I film this ? He asks

Yeah yeah, it’s ok, gosh I’m so tired you said speaking quietly to not wake your bandmates, who had the same idea as you and were currently sleeping in their bunks. As you exited the bus Ben asked you a question to film some content.

So angel what is happening now ?

We’ve just finished a show in Manchester a few hours ago, and now it’s my turn to record my parts for the new album, so I’m going to our little studio on the road, most commonly known as Julian’s room to do that.

You kept walking, until you reached the room, to be honest, you were extremely tired, it was the 3rd night in the row that you had to do a show and then record because management was dead set on having the album finished as quick as possible. And the barely 9 hours of sleep in the last 72 hours were starting to take a toll on your body. You had felt nauseous all day, and had barely eaten a thing because of that. But that’s life on the road you said to yourself, you’re living the dream, don’t complain.

As you entered Julian’s room, you were greeted by him and the sound technician.

I need you for Best Song ever and the chorus of Happily babe.

You nodded, grabbing the headset and getting behind the mic. You recorded for 3 hours, singing at the top of your voice. Best Song Ever was a bitch, you couldn’t seem to get the high note right and you were getting extremely irritated because your throat was starting to hurt.

I’m sorry J you said with tears in your eyes, your stomach hurting.

It’s ok babe he said turning around but his eyes widen when he saw your face, Y/N are you ok ? You look really pale !

Yeah, yeah, I’ll try it one more time if you'd like, your voice cracking at the end.

No, no you’re exhausted, your going to damage your throat, it’s ok you go get some sleep and we’ll continue that tomorrow.

You let out a sigh of relief. When suddenly your stomach churned and you ran to the little bathroom. You barely made it to the toilette before you started puking your guts out.

Julian was quick to be by your side and pull your hair back, just has another wave of nausea hit you.

Ok, babe, breath. He said running his hand on your back. I’m going to get someone to help

Please don’t it’s OK it’s just the fatigue of the last few days I’m going to go to bed and I’ll be better by tomorrow morning

You slowly made your way to the bus your stomach empty and your head killing you. Once inside, you crashed into your bunk making as little noise as possible knowing that the five boys were sleeping.

After what felt like 20 minutes of sleep, you heard Paul’s voice inside the bus

Guys it’s seven you need to wake up you have a radio interview to do in an hour !

You couldn’t help the groan that came out of your mouth. Your entire body was hurting, your throat felt like it was on fire and you wanted to puke just thinking of getting out of bed.

The curtain of your bunk was opened a few seconds later, Paul's face bearing a concerned expression.

Y/N, darling, Julian told me what happened last night, how do you feel ?

Not that good…You said, but you couldn’t recognize the voice that came out of you. It was raw, and when you talked it felt like the inside of your throat was scratched with sandpaper. Paul gently places a hand on your forehead.

Darling you’re burning up ! I’m going to call a doctor, and we are going to take you to the hotel to rest, I’ll be back ! Paul left with his phone already near his ear. And I started to close my eyes again, but a soft voice brought me back, along with a hand brushing a few hairs away from my eyes.

Hey Angel, what’s wrong ?

Lou, you shouldn’t be near me, I think I’m sick

It’s ok darling, he kept his hand in my hair gently massaging it, making you close your eyes, You’re going to be fine.

Completely exhausted, you fell asleep very quickly not knowing that the other 4 boys were standing right next to Louis, watching you.

Liam was the first to break the silence of the bus. We should get going and let her rest. Not making a move to go, still watching you sleep.

It wasn’t until Paul came back to the bus, forcing the boys to leave and get ready, that they left you.

A doctor came an hour later, checking on you, and taking you to the hotel room helping you to bed with Paul’s help and placing an IV in your arm to keep you hydrated. His diagnostic made Paul boil in anger. Exhaustion.

According to the doctor, all you needed was a lot of rest, and you should be better the next day. But the big brother/babysitter knew that when the boys found out about that they’ll be pissed. Like him.

-

Meanwhile, the boys were being interviewed. And of course, the first question was about your absence.

After the boys told the man that you were resting because you had been sick, they answered the other questions, but none of them were really focused on the interview, but mostly on the girl lying in bed at the hotel.

Niall was the first to apologize to the man. Sorry we’re a little distracted, it’s early in the morning and it’s weird not having Y/N with us.

Yeah, when any of us is sick or feeling down she’s the one who takes care of us, we just want to get back to her quickly. Zayn added

Harry chuckled before adding And she’s also the one usually keeping us in check during interviews

This made the boys laugh, because it was true. You always took care of them whether it was during interviews that made them uncomfortable or on the tour bus and even on stage when they fell.

The interview lasted one hour. The longest hour the boys ever had to sit through. Finally, the last question came.

So what are you going to do for the rest of the day, your next show is tomorrow so you have a day off today. Anything exciting planned ?

They didn’t need to talk to each other to know what they were going to do after this.

Zayn was the first to speak. Well we are going to see Y/N obviously

Yeah we’re going to nurse her back to health and then probably sleep all day, because we had to get up really early, Niall haded.

They all got up, and started walking back to the parking lot to get back to the cars. They were surprised to see Paul waiting for them outside.

Hey Paul ! How is Angel ? Harry asked pinching his bottom lips between his fingers

The look on the tour dad, made them all fear the worst. Boys I’m going to need all of you to stay calm. Y/N is fine, she is resting at the hotel right now.

Well that’s good no ? Why are you asking us to stay calm ? So does she has the flu or something ?

No Liam, she doesn’t have the flu, according to the doctor she suffered from exhaustion. And I talked to Julian, Y/N has been recording all night for the past three days. According to him she barely slept, and her body couldn’t handle it.

To say the boys were shocked was an understatement. They knew first hand that management has been pressuring them for the next album, but this pressure was costing you your health and that pissed them off.

Those fucking wankers ! That was all Louis could say. We are touring, filming a fucking movie and recording an album they need to give us a fucking break !

Yes I know, that’s why I called Syco and told them that you will be taking a two weeks break on the recording of the new album. Now let Y/N rest, I’m going to take you back to the hotel.

Before we go back, can we make a few stops ? Niall asked a smile making it's way on his face.

-

Your head was pounding. Your throat was dry. If you didn’t know any better, you would’ve said this was a bad hangover. You opened your eyes, well-tried because as soon as you opened them you had to close them again, the room was too bright. Too bright. With your dry throat the only thing you could say was a small Ouch. But it was enough to alert the five boys present in the room.

You opened your eyes a second time, feeling pressure on your hand. A hand with an anchor tattooed on the wrist. Hey you, Harry softly said, smiling at you.

Hey Angel, Liam said gently on the other side of the bed. Handing you a glass of water. How are you feeling ?

Did we go out drinking last night ? Because if we did I drank way too much you answered with a smile after drinking a bit of water.

Babe, it would have been way funnier if you didn't look like shit Louis said smiling at the end of the bed.

Oi ! That what I thought ! What are you five idiots doing in my room while I’m sleeping ? It’s creepy !

Niall was the first to roll his eyes, but walked to the bed to offer you a cookie that you took, grateful, because you were really hungry. We are here to nurse you back to health Angel.

Well the service is disappointing, considering the lack of sexy nurses costumes. That brought a smile to the boys faces. What should we do then doctors ?

Well, we got you food, movies, and our delightful company darling, what do you want to do first ? Louis asks with a smile sitting at the end of the bed.

Well right now I going to use the bathroom, you said getting up. Your movement alerted the five boys that all got up to help you. Alright boys, as much as I love you, I don’t think our friendship extends to helping me pee.

But what if you fall in there ? Harry asked frowning

I’m a girl, I sit down to pee, I’m not going to fall. Give me 2 minutes and I’ll come back to bed. You took the IV pole and rolled it to the bathroom. True to your words, you were back in the room 2 minutes after. Opening the door, what you saw brought a smile to your face. Liam, Harry and Niall were laying on your king-size bed, surrounded by cookies and sandwiches. Louis was sitting on the edge of the bed watching Zayn working on the TV.

Louis got up and walked the few feet to you opening his arms, and hugging you tight. How are you feeling Angel ?

Tired but better than last night you said keeping your head on his neck. He brought you back to the bed, where you laid down in between Harry’s legs, your head resting on a small pillow.

So what are we watching ?

Disney movies babe, Zayn answered while he took a place on Niall, while Louis did the same on Liam. You were sandwiched between them.

You spend the entire Little Mermaid, eating cookies, drinking water and joking with your boys. Harry was gently stroking your hair, while Louis and Zayn were each holding your hands. By the time Aladdin started on the screen you were asleep. And so were the boys. That’s how Paul found you a few hours later, all cuddled up on the bed.

Your adoptive father on the road couldn’t help but smile, at the sight. His five grown boys and angel, finally getting some rest. The song you all wrote together couldn’t be more true that day. « If you ever feel alone, don't. You are never on your own. »

[boeswhore]

I feel as though everyone on hockeyblr rn has baby fever… that being said… spare girl dad jamie drysdale crumbs pls?

omg don’t gotta ask me twice to write about my jamieson <3 major girl dad vibes from him !

you’re awaken by the cries of your baby girl from the nursery room causing you to sigh softly as you slowly lift yourself out of bed. jamie’s hand gently holds your wrist before sliding off as well.

“i’ll come with you,”

you nod as you both trudge towards little auroras room. jamie’s eyes light up once they land on her as he grabs her in his arms, swaying her back and forth.

“what’s going on my princessa?” he coos, leaning down to press a soft kiss against her nose and immediately her cries dimmed down as she stared up at her dad with big eyes.

“daddy’s got you, are you hungry?” he asks as he takes a seat in the rocking chair while aurora babbles in response.

“i’ll grab her bottle,”

jamie nods, his eyes trained on his little human being in his arms as you walk out of the room.

he wore the girl dad title proud, when he found out you were having a girl he was overjoyed.

jamie was often on the road so whenever he was home all he wanted was to spend all of his time with his two girls. he will constantly drag aurora with him everywhere.

while he’s cooking, he’ll balance her in his hip and ramble to her about random things. when he’ll be watching tv, he’ll have her resting against his chest while he gently rubs his hand up and down her back occasionally pressing pecks against her forehead.

“while your mommy is grabbing you your milky, do you want me to tell you another story?” he asks, as aurora tilts her head giggling up at jamie.

“i’ll take that as a yes sunshine,”

his eyes scan the bookshelf for a quick and easy picture book but he decides to tell a story of his own while he waited for you to bring up her bottle.

“so today we’re going to talk about how your pretty mamma told me you were her in belly.” jamie starts as he gently tickles her sides causing aurora to squeal in delight.

“i was coming back home from a road trip and your mamma didn’t text me properly at all for a few days and i was getting worried. i thought she was mad at me but little did i know— i was going to get the best news of my life.”

you shake her bottle and stop at the door when you hear jamie say your name.

“when i got home, y/n broke the news and gave me a shirt that said baby drysdale on the way. my heart dropped to my stomach. i couldn’t believe it. i was nervous but knowing that i had your mamma by my side i knew i could accomplish anything. when i found it was a girl, i knew automatically that you’re going to be daddy’s little girl,”

your grin at the sight of your husband and baby daughter as she babbles in response to jamie as reaches out to grab his finger.

“m-mamma,” aurora babbles causing jamie to grin, “yes rori, mamma and you mean the whole world to me. i’m so glad she gave me you.”

you decide to walk in now and jamie looks up at you and smiles, “look bubby, mammas here!” jamie murmurs as you pass him the bottle.

“what story did you read to her today?” you ask and jamie looks up, bringing to the bottle to her lips. “that’s a secret between me and my little bug,” jamie replies causing you to shake your head as you bite back the smile on your lip.

as aurora finishes up her bottle, jamie gently rocks her body to sleep.

“she looks like you, beautiful.” he whispers, placing a kiss to her nose.

you smile softly leaning into jamie’s side, pressing a kiss his lips.

it was in this moment where it hit you. your life was complete. you were married to the love of your life, had a loving husband that loved his daughter more than anyone else, for once you felt happy and peace.

a sense of contentment, you were home.

[smolla-than-a-bug]

omg... requests are open.. whatever shall I do ...... omg.... I'm so helpless... I don't know what to request.... omg .... . ..

headcanons on the kawata twins, mitsuya, mikey, and draken dating a sensitive, airheaded gn s/o who's really strong but doesn't like showing their strength because they think it'll make them unattractive to the boys. They only use the strength to protect people but it's a last last last last resort

Is this too detailed.. it's too detailed . ... I think it's too detailed . . . . . . 4give me I'm daydreaming and it's 1 am

tokrev boys with a s/o who’s insecure about their strength

ft. smiley, angry, mitsuya, mikey, draken

[ navi | tokrev m.list | request rules ]

content — gn!reader

notes — HI LILI SORRY THIS TOOK A WHILE JSNNDN its not too detailed dw!! i dont mind details tbh also pls get some sleep :(

⚜️ SMILEY genuinely thinks this new discovery of his is the best thing ever. He has no idea why you’d think it’d make you unattractive at all, but the fact that you’re strong makes things so much better! He now fantasizes about various power couple scenes where you both beat up annoying members from another gang together, and you have to remind him to turn down the violence a notch because you’re not willing to just randomly punch people out of nowhere just for the fun of it.

⚜️ ANGRY doesn’t understand why you think anything would make you any less attractive in his eyes. The moment he hears about that, he’ll become insecure himself—does he not make the extent of his love for you evident enough? Nothing is going to change the fact that you’re always going to be the most attractive person to him, and if you’re insecure about that, he takes it as his own responsibility to show his adoration for you all the more.

⚜️ MITSUYA falls even deeper in love with you, holds you close and whispers in your ear about how he’s thankful you told him but you can forget about that little insecurity. To him, you’re just so perfect. He especially loves that you have the same morals as he does with regards to only using your strength as a last resort to protect others. That’s how he knows you both just naturally click.

⚜️ MIKEY thinks you’re the coolest person he’s ever met in his life. He’s already quite whipped for you because your personalities kind of match up in the sense that where he can be goofy, you can meet him at his level, but the way you’re strong has his jaw dropping and his eyes sparkling. Sure, you’re nowhere as strong as he is, but the idea that you can handle yourself despite your tendency to be a bit silly is just really attractive to him.

⚜️ DRAKEN is shocked and needs a few seconds to recover. This entire time, he thought he’d have to take up the role of protecting you because of the way you are. He’d die before letting anyone get their hands on you, but as it turns out, 1. You can actually handle yourself, and 2. You’re a protector yourself. It’s a whole new concept to him that his brain just buffers for a minute before it settles that you’re such a breath of fresh air to him, and he’s so lucky to have someone as cool as you.

all rights reserved © smolla-than-a-bug, 2021. please do not copy or repost my works. reblogs/feedback/comments are appreciated!

tokyo revengers taglist — @victoirey

[graphitesatellite]

Okay alright!

So I have a request!

For the arcana, either the main 6 or the main 3, could you maybe write a headcanon where mc gets hurt really badly and the li has to take care of them please? I don't know if you do that, because it is a little angsty, and potentially a little gorey too, but if you do, I would really appreciate it! Thank you!

Oh, and your work is amazing, by the way! Like everything you post is so good to read! I really love it so much!

jdhdjdkshsj omg anon you are too sweet, thank you so much <3 stuff like this keeps me writing

for the record im almost always down for angst, so no worries there, and as far as gore goes I can handle blood and vague viscera but I just Do Not fuck with detailed descriptions of organs (think the pinkie pie cupcake creepypasta, shit scarred me for life)

so yeah I’m gonna hurt mc pretty bad but hey at least they’ll never get disemboweled :)

content warnings: severe burns, broken bones, blood, bugs, and vomit

Asra

it happens so fast — so fast, nobody can tell exactly where it started. After such a dry summer, all it takes is one spark to turn the maize maze into an incinerator.

you entered separately this year, figuring it would be fun to meet each other in the middle and find your way back out together. It was a good idea in theory, and you were enjoying yourselves until a voice somewhere shrieked, “FIRE!”

the flames tear through the dry maize like it’s tissue paper. You’re surrounded in an instant, and Asra is beside himself because he doesn’t know where you are, or how to get to you. That doesn’t stop him from sprinting through the maze, completely disregarding his own well-being as he calls your name, choking on smoke and the inside of his own throat. Magic surges through him, acts on his instincts. It might be the only thing keeping him alive.

he finds you unconscious in a dead end, trapped on three sides by towering walls of fire. His heart hammers so hard it hurts. You’re so still. Are you breathing? Images flash behind his eyes: fine sand, charred bone, ash. His panic overwhelms him, and he blacks out. Next thing he knows, he’s laying on cool ground, somewhat singed but mostly okay. A few kind strangers kneel over him, encouraging him to relax and breathe. He can’t do either until he knows what happened to you.

the good news is you’re alive; somehow (try as he might he can’t recall the details), Asra managed to drag you out before the flames engulfed you entirely. The bad news is you sustained severe burns across your legs and torso. It’s painful to look at, and Asra finds himself thankful you’re still passed out. That feeling is quickly displaced by the urge to get you home and make you better, as better as his magic will allow. Exhaustion be damned.

one of the bystanders offers a free ride to center city on their wagon, and Asra graciously accepts. He spends the entire time hunched over your unconscious form, gently smoothing his hands over your burns, again and again, like they’re stubborn wrinkles in a piece of cloth. Each pass restores your skin a bit more, building it back layer by layer. It’s gruesome work, but by the end you look mostly okay. Covered in scars, but okay. Alive.

back at the shop, he’s not convinced he could carry you up the stairs in this state, so he drags some bedding down and makes a nest in the back room, surrounding you in the softest blankets and pillows he can find. Only then, after he’s sure you’re cozy enough, does he take a pause. It’s so quiet here. No crowds of concerned onlookers, no squeaky wheels or braying animals. Just him, and you, breathing. Hot tears well in the corners of his eyes. He stifles a sob, catches himself on the edge of a table as a wave of dizziness rushes over him. He really overdid it. The last thing he wants is to take his eyes off you, but on the verge of passing out, he settles down at your side, lays his head on your chest, and quickly falls asleep to the sound of your beating heart.

some time later, when you come to, confused and panicking and weeping, he doesn’t feel rested, but he sits up anyway. You need him more than he needs sleep, as far as he’s concerned. He takes your face in his hands, whispers assurances that you’re okay, you’re safe, you’re home. You swear you feel your skin smoldering. Asra shows you the fresh scars, gutted by the fact that while he can heal your physical wounds, he can’t magic away the trauma. That’s something you’ll have to work through in time. That’s something he’ll help you navigate, one step at a time.

Nadia

maybe what stings the most is how preventable the situation is — the puddle of water you slip on could have, should have been mopped, should have been noticed by someone and taken care of before it caused an issue, but for whatever reason, it wasn’t. It’s an untraceable failure Nadia nonetheless blames herself for when it throws you off balance and sends you tumbling down the grand staircase.

she watches it happen, notices the puddle just an instant before you do. There’s not enough time to warn you, not enough time for her to reach out and steady you, but she tries. You slip, she cries your name, the tips of her fingers graze your shoulder as you topple over and fall, fall, fall… it takes so long for you to fall. You seem to bounce off each step, limp as a ragdoll by the time you hit the bottom with a sickening thump. She runs down the stairs after you, almost loses her footing and collapses next to your prone form. You don’t respond to her voice, nor her touch. She cradles your head to her chest as she calls for someone to help.

it’s a miracle you didn’t split your head open. You’re covered in bumps and bruises, and a few of your ribs might be cracked, but Nadia is, at the very least, grateful you’re not hemorrhaging from a head wound. She refuses to move until a doctor examines you, deeming you unconscious and badly hurt, but alive. Then, with the help of palace staff, she lifts you off the ground and carefully transfers you to bed.

You sleep for several days. It kills Nadia that she can’t ask if you’re comfortable, if you need anything. She tries her best to do what she thinks you would want, lighting your favorite incense, gently washing your face, sitting with you and holding your hand as she reads or fills out paperwork. Any meeting she can’t take in your room is swiftly postponed or canceled. Her duties as countess are important, and she takes them very seriously, but they’re not more important than you. Nothing is more important than you.

she wears a very brave face around the staff and doctors. To them, she seems perfectly calm, a portrait of composure. In private, she’s never felt so scared, so helpless. She wants to fix this, but she doesn’t know how. She doesn’t think she can. There’s so little she can actually do for you right now. She needs something to do, something concrete and direct, something to make her feel useful. But all she can do is putter around, and wait. It’s her own personal hell.

the day you wake up is easily the second happiest day of her life, right after the day you got married. Your eyes crack open, you whisper her name, and the tears are instant. She can barely keep from smothering you in kisses. She helps you drink, pets your hair as you adjust to the waking world once again. You reach for her hand and ask how long you’ve been out. She answers, and you, shocked, ask if she’s been with you the whole time. But you already know she has. The look on her face, the love in her eyes, says everything.

Julian

you don’t remember the name of the bar — it can’t be the rowdy raven because you’re not currently in Vesuvia, but it’s a similar sort of deal, the kind of place where “unsavory” characters hang around and “make trouble,” mainly by drinking violently strong alcohol and bickering over card games. You and Julian have your own booth, and you’re a couple drinks deep, teetering on the edge between tipsy and buzzed when you decide a game or two of cards might be fun.

half an hour later you’re on a hot streak and the other people at the table are starting to get pissed. You excuse yourself from the next round to use the restroom, giving Julian a kiss for good luck. When you return, he’s raking in the pot, and you’re so happy for him that when you go to sit down, you don’t notice the guy next to you pulling your chair away. You lose your balance and fall backward, throwing your arm out to catch yourself. Big mistake.

you land hard, all your weight coming down on your forearm, which buckles with an awful crunch. There’s no doubt that it’s broken, but you don’t realize how bad it is until you sit up and look. Julian is at your side in an instant, wincing at the unnatural angle, murmuring it must have been a clean break before asking the guy what the hell he was thinking. The guy gets defensive, saying it was supposed to be a joke, you don’t have to be all up in arms about it. The rest of the table laughs. Julian seethes. You can tell he’s about to do something reckless, so you tug on his coat with your good hand and tell him you just wanna get out of here. He shoots the table one last withering glare before he helps you up and leads you out of the bar.

the adrenaline of the moment wears off while you walk, so by the time you make it back to where you’re staying, you’re in incredible pain. Julian ushers you to the bed, sits you down and gently takes your arm. After an excruciating moment, he tells you he’s going to have to set it, and it’s unfortunately going to hurt. A lot. You hate the sound of that, but you tell him to do it, get it over with. He asks if you want him to count down, you say no. He asks if you’re sure, and before you can fully say yes, he sets the bone, and you pass out.

when you come to, you’re tucked into bed, arm splinted and wrapped. Julian dozes in a nearby chair, an open book in his lap. He startles awake when you try to sit up, tells you not to exert yourself, asks if you need something. You tell him some water would be nice. He brings you a glass in record time, carefully props you up so you can comfortably drink. His touch is so mindful it borders on reverent. Teasingly, you ask if he treats all his patients this way. He quirks a brow at you, then grins his signature grin, saying other patients have to pay extra for the special services he gives you. You try to laugh in a way that doesn’t jostle your arm too badly.

Julian’s expression falls in a very sudden, very familiar way. You cut him off before he can even start, firmly telling him this isn’t his fault and he better not start apologizing. Basically pouting, he asks if you’re sure it’s not at least a little bit his fault. You give him A Look. He sighs and glances away, softly admitting he doesn’t like that fact you got hurt when he was right next to you, and there was nothing he could do. He just wishes he could have protected you somehow. You understand this, you really do. It’s horrible to feel helpless when someone you love gets hurt, but you remind him he’s not entirely helpless. He made you better, didn’t he?

after a pause, he says he hadn’t thought of it that way. A smile creeps up his lips, and with a chuckle he says he’s glad you’re around to help him think straight. Smiling right back, you tell him you’re glad he’s around to make you better. He promises he will always make you better, whenever you need him, no matter what, and you know he means it with all his heart.

Muriel

it’s a beautiful day — the sky is clear, the sun is bright, the air is warm. The forest around you seems to glow green with exuberance. What a perfect day to go fishing; or, more accurately, what a perfect day to visit the river with Muriel and watch him fish. He’s better at it, anyway, and you’re having a good time balancing on big rocks at the edge of the water in the meantime. They’re a bit slippery, but you’re pretty confident you won’t fall. And if you do, it’s not like it’s a long way down. What’s the worst that could happen?

from the middle of the river, Muriel frowns as you walk across the rocks like you’re a performer on a tightrope, his heart spasming each time you pause and sway. He audibly sighs in relief when you make it to the other side, then tells you to please be careful. You flash him an impish grin, saying not to worry, you’re being so careful. As you do, you take a blind step forward. Your foot hits one of the rocks at an angle, and your ankle bends in a way it’s not supposed to. You pitch forward, falling first onto the sharp rocks, then into the shallow water below.

you hear Muriel call your name as you fall, and you’re underwater for mere seconds before he’s at your side, lifting you out. He holds you mostly upright against his chest, rubbing your back while you cough up a mouthful of river water. You cling to him, shivering from the cold, ankle throbbing. The rocks scraped you up pretty bad on the way down. You feel the sting of small wounds along your face and arms, though none of them hurt as bad as the area right above your knee, which struck the rocks most directly. It’s hard to tell how bad it is, but judging from how it burns, it must be big.

Muriel lays you on some soft grass under a nearby tree. His eyes are wide with panic as he looks you over, and once he gets to your legs, he freezes. With some difficulty, you push yourself up to see what he sees. That’s… wow, that’s a lot of blood. That’s so much blood, gushing from your leg. It makes you woozy, so woozy you lose all the strength in your arms. You drop backwards onto the ground, snapping Muriel out of his trance. He takes a deep, deep breath. When he exhales, his expression is less horrified and more… determined. Resolute. He rips a strip from his shirt and ties it tightly around your leg, apologizing softly when you whimper, telling you he’s going to get you home, and you’re going to be okay. You believe him wholeheartedly, and when he picks you up again, you let yourself relax against him. You’re so tired. You’re so cold. You tell him as much. Holding you securely, Muriel takes off running for the hut.

by the time he gets you inside, you’re barely conscious. The makeshift tourniquet has slowed your blood loss significantly, but not entirely. Muriel peels the wet, stained clothes off you, his shyness overpowered by the need to save you, whatever it takes. Then he lays you on some furs by the freshly-lit fire, letting you warm up while he gathers supplies to clean and bandage your wounds. He doesn’t say much as he does, mostly urging you to stay awake, to keep looking at him so he knows you’re awake. You try your best. You really, really try, but you’re just so tired. A solid black curtain falls over your vision. Muriel’s voice grows distantly frantic, but you’re too far gone. Blobs of color swirl beneath your eyelids as you slip from the waking world.

next thing you know, Muriel’s cradling you against his chest, hopelessly bargaining for your life, saying he’ll do anything, give up anything. He only stops when you manage to wheeze out his name. Then, after a pause, his shoulders shake, and he heaves a great sob. He pulls back to look at your face, sobbing again when he sees your open eyes. You realize he’s wrapped you up burrito-style in the softest furs you have, making it somewhat challenging to wiggle your arms free, but you do, and you reach up to hold his face in your hands. He leans into your touch like it’s his salvation, and honestly, maybe it is.

he weeps another moment or two, letting you wipe his tears with your thumbs. When you think he’s nearly calmed down, he asks, voice cracking, that you please never, ever do that again. You agree immediately, and you tell him you’re sorry. Suddenly puzzled, he asks you why. You say you’re sorry for worrying him, and he tells you that’s just the way it is, he always worries, especially when it comes to you, it’s nothing you can control or have to be sorry about. Still, you should have been more careful, and you promise him you won’t put either of you in that situation again. Muriel finally starts to relax. He thanks you, tells you he loves you. You ask him to say it again, pretty please, and when he goes pink, you giggle.

Portia

following an unmarked, unfamiliar trail through the woods maybe isn’t the best idea — but it’s certainly an adventure, and it’s one Portia is excited to share with you.

though you’ve taken plenty of hikes together, you’ve never come across this trail before. It branches off the main path suddenly into a deeply forested area, so naturally Portia wants to see where it leads, if anywhere. It’s not the most outlandish place she’s taken you. You don’t get a great feeling from it, but it’s not like the two of you are helpless. It should be fine, you think, and soon as you make up your mind, Portia happily grabs your hand and pulls you in with her.

the first moments are uneventful, which feels like a good sign. Portia wonders aloud what you might find, throwing in a few ridiculous ideas just to make you laugh. You easily slip into some banter, then some flirting, then some flirty banter. It’s turning out to be a pretty fun time when you feel a sharp pinch on your leg. Then another. Then another. Ow. What the hell? You look down, expecting to see some sort of nettle, but it’s so much worse than that. Bugs. So many bugs, crawling up your leg. You scream. Portia turns to see what’s wrong; she screams louder.

before you can react, Portia takes off running in the direction you came from, pulling you by the hand so you’re forced to run with her. The pinching travels up your legs, across your waist and your back. You try to shake the bugs off, but it’s difficult to do without stumbling. Portia just manages to keep you upright until you emerge onto the main path, where she grabs the first leafy branch she finds and uses it to sweep the little bastards off you. Every now and then she beckons you forward a few steps, stomping at the ground to kill the persistent stragglers. Each sting throbs in time with your rapidly beating heart; you’re sure you can feel them swelling.

you’re also sure you can feel more bugs on you, crawling across your skin, under your clothes. You swat at yourself in a panic. Portia hurries you along, telling you it’s going to be okay, you’re going to be okay. You have a hard time believing this, but you trust her. Eventually, after what feels like an eternity, you make it home. Portia starts stripping you down before the door’s fully closed, and even though you don’t see any bugs, you can still feel them all over you. You squirm, squeak out a sob. Portia checks you over, tells you finally that they’re all gone, despite what you feel. She asks that you stand still for just another moment so she can remove the stingers. You do, though it seems like you stand there for much longer than a moment, flinching as Portia gently scrapes a playing card again your skin, apologizing each time, promising she’s almost done, almost done.

the pain is constant and burning. You nearly weep when Portia finally leads you to bed and helps you lay down on your stomach. The cool sheets provide you momentary relief while she rummages around for some sort of soothing balm. You close your eyes, take some deep breaths, try to accept the fact you’re safe now. Portia warns you before she touches you again, which you appreciate. She takes a damp cloth to your skin, cleaning each sting and dabbing it with a bit of balm, helping you roll over so she can get to the ones on your front as well. You close your eyes as a wave of nausea passes over you. You tell Portia you might vomit, and she passes you an empty container just in time.

once you’ve emptied your stomach, Portia takes care to wipe your mouth, and only then do you notice the tears on her cheeks. She blurts out that she’s so, so, so sorry. If she hadn’t urged you down the trail this never would have happened, but it did, and now you’re hurt because of her. You tell her she couldn’t have known, it’s not like she did it on purpose. And yes, it hurts, but its not permanent. She supposed you’re right… but insists that since it was her mistake, she’ll take responsibility by caring for you until you’re better. She asserts she won’t let you raise a finger, and really, you don’t think you can argue with that, even if you wanted to.

Lucio

I don’t wanna put a bunch of effort into writing a serious one sees for him cuz I don’t think he’s capable of taking care of himself much less anyone else

if you want my honest opinion on how he would handle an injured MC tho, I think he would whiff it super hard, try to make it better himself even tho he has zero (0) grasp on medicine and would end up making it worse. Like if you don’t bleed out or die from shock, you’ll succumb to infection within days. Dumbass doesn’t know how to properly clean a wound, he only knows how to hurt. It’s the only thing he’s good at.

[ichorai]

frozen hearts, flaming arrows ; p.sh

parts ; one. masterlist. two coming soon.

pairing ; fire!seonghwa x ice!reader

summary ; two enemy clans. one icer healer, one flamer soldier, one brewing war. love was never meant to be a part of this. but then again, when is love ever supposed to be a part of anything?

words ; 7.3k

warnings / includes ; cursing, violence, a make-out scene !!, future suggestive / mature content, hwa being sexy as always, ANGST okay this is a lot of ANGST and hURT, enemies to friends to enemies to lovers trope lol

a/n ; bet yall didn’t see this one coming lol but yea pls enjoy !!! im rlly excited for this series omg !!! im sorry this part was rlly short and kinda bad kkdfjdf but this is just the beginning and i swear part two will be much better !!

A snowflake glowing a luminescent blue lazily floated above your palm, multiplying into several others until you held a mini-flurry in your hand. You walked past all the frosted-over trees, huffing in deep breaths of cold air as your boots stepped over piles of unblemished snow and crispy dead leaves. 

Being a healer was exhausting. Though you were still fairly new to the job, you couldn’t help but lay all the blame on yourself for being incapable of saving a life today. You just… hadn’t expected there to be that much blood. Icers had thicker blood for a reason; it wasn’t usually a problem. The head healer tried to reassure you that you did everything you could, but you couldn’t stand to be in the medbay for much longer. You needed air. 

And that’s how you ended up here, head spinning dizzily as you stomped through the wintry grey forest, releasing out a frustrated groan from the bottom of your lungs.

“You’re dangerously close to our territory, Icer.” The sudden deep-timbered voice had you flinching so harshly you hit your head on an icy tree branch. “I’d watch my step if I was you.”

Breath caught in your throat, you watched with wide eyes as the Flamer stepped out of the shadow of a tree. He was undeniably handsome; his irises were dark, flecked with a fierce gold the same hue as the edge of a fire, his slicked-back hair a nightly black, and a curl of his carmine lips that was nowhere near friendly. An obvious insignia of a red flame was embedded into his unwrinkled jacket, a clear sign of this man being from the Fire Tribe.

“I’m sorry. I hadn’t realized I was so close to the border.” You murmured, backing away slowly. The small snowflakes that you had accumulated in your palm quickly dissipated into the air, but miniscule particles of snow still floated around you, no doubt a result of your quaking nerves.

Noticing this, the man watched curiously as a snowflake drifted by him. He raised a finger towards the ice crystal, a small orange flame bursting out of the tip. The snowflake melted into a droplet of water, falling to his feet. You noticed the snow had melted away from him in a large circle around his shoes, now standing in a patch of wet grass. Even from the great distance between the two of you, you could still feel the wavering heat pulsating from this strange man.

“What are you doing so far away from your people?”

You knew you shouldn’t be talking to a Flamer stranger. They were dangerous, and it was common knowledge that Icers and Flamers weren’t on the best terms as of late.

“I couldn’t be there anymore,” You whispered, just loud enough for him to pick up. At his raised eyebrows, you continued on. “I’m a healer. It was a lot of pressure not to mess up.”

He nodded, his curiosity getting the best of him. He stepped closer and asked, “Then why are you a healer?”

“Because I’m good at it.” The words came off far too snobbish for your liking, so you quickly added in a sheepish tone, “Also because I like helping people.”

The two of you fell into a queer silence, before he nodded, somewhat satisfied with your answer. The Flamer turned his back to you, “I best get going now. The lands aren’t going to patrol themselves. Run back to the rest of your people, Icer.”

You could feel his heat retract as he walked away. More snow fell to cover his tracks, as if the strange man with flaming eyes was never there.

It wasn’t until the same time the next day that you found yourself strolling towards the forest, back to the same spot last night, feet acting to their own accord. You paused in your steps when you realized where you were heading. 

Would you really risk getting a Flamer angry at you for getting too close to their borders again? With not another thought, you pushed back the doubts and walked onwards… it wasn’t like you actually crossed the border. There was a large grey strip of forest land that belonged to neither tribe; it was far too costly to maintain and the forest gave them nothing but bugs and piles of dead leaves.

Much to your surprise, the man was already there, watching you with those glowing eyes of his. “What are you doing here?” He hissed.

“I can ask you the same thing,” You retaliated, arching an eyebrow.

The cold wind whistled as it blew past you, but you were planted firmly to the ground. He, on the other hand, grimaced quite obviously as the breeze tousled his neat hair about, sending dark strands careening into his eyes.

“I’m Y/N,” You said with a small smile. Although he pulsated with heat, that only made him feel the frigid sting of the cold wind all the more. At the sight of his shivering form, you wondered just how bad a Flamer can be.

He eyed you suspiciously before stepping forward quite boldly, sticking out a hand, “I’m Seonghwa.”

There was a strange arrhythmic thump in your chest. Now that he was so close to you, the lilith-hued snow around your feet started to wilt away as well, your cheeks flushing at the sudden rise in temperature. Icers weren’t very good with heat, that was obvious.

And when you took his hand, it was as if he was the coldest thing you’ve ever touched. But that couldn’t be it… you couldn’t really feel the cold much. Nonetheless, you gripped his palm unflinchingly, staring him dead in the eye. It became like some sort of challenge, but the both of you knew that you had obviously won. Seonghwa winced at how freezing your fingers against his were.

“Do you come here everyday?” The Flamer asked once he retracted his hand from yours to shove into the warmth of his pocket.

“Yesterday was my first time. I wasn’t planning on coming back today, but I just ended up here on instinct.” Your boot scuffed the pristine snow, avoiding the way his gaze seemed to quite literally burn holes into you.

Seonghwa frowned slightly. Funnily enough, the same exact thing had happened to him. He wasn’t on patrolling duty today, so really, he had no cause to be out here. He could be curled up with a book in front of a nice, warm fire, instead of standing in the snow with an Icer, of all people. Gods, he must be crazy.

“So… what are you doing here?” Your seemingly innocent question had Seonghwa struggling for words. 

In all honesty, he had been curious whether or not you’d come back. An Icer healer in the Grey Forest was more than enough to pique his interest. Nothing remotely gripping ever happened in the Fire Tribe (other than the various men and women who threw themselves at him whenever they got the chance). He hadn’t actually expected you to come back. 

“I’m… hunting.”

“It’s illegal to hunt outside of your tribe lands, everybody knows that.”

“Who said I was hunting for an animal?” Seonghwa crossed his arms over his chest to try and look somewhat menacing, but you just grinned. “I was looking for a book I lost.”

You hummed slightly, “Right.” As you waved your arm about, little snowflakes seemed to trail after you, and Seonghwa watched in masked fascination. “Can’t you just admit that you came to see me again?”

“Who’s to say that it’s not you coming to see me?”

“Hmm, let’s just say we both came to see each other. I’ve never seen a Flamer up this close before.”

Seonghwa blinked down at you with wide eyes, as if realizing just how small the distance between the two of you was. His cheeks reddened quickly as he cleared his throat into a fist, stepping backwards and almost slipping on more snow. When he attempted to sidestep the large wet puddle he’d created because of his rippling heat, his foot caught onto a tree root and he tumbled backwards. Snowflakes clung onto his dark hair and he shivered yet again. You tried to conceal your sniggers behind a palm, but Seonghwa still seemed to notice, his blazing eyes narrowing in mock-offense.

“You’re enjoying this,” He stated with an accusatory tone.

“Of course I am,” You replied through muted laughs. “I’m sorry. I would help, but I’m afraid I’d only make it worse.” To emphasize your point, you shook your hands slightly, blue crystals of snow whirling about.

Seonghwa’s fiery eyes seemed to soften at this. He pushed himself up to his feet, now shivering so harshly that you could hear his teeth chatter. You’d only known this Flamer for less than two days and yet he’d already managed to tug at your heartstrings.

“You should go back and get warm. I’ve read about Flamers and their immune systems… you guys are absolute babies when it comes to the cold.” Out of instinct, you reached out to touch his arm, like you did to most sick patients. But of course, you paused just before the tips of your fingers brushed against his jacket, curled your hand into a palm and forced it back down to your side. “I wouldn’t want you getting a fever just to see an ordinary Icer.”

Seonghwa cracked a half of a smile, shaking his head in disbelief.

But when he spun on his heel to leave, you called out before you could stop yourself, “Will I ever see you again, Seonghwa?” He stopped in his tracks without turning to looking at you. Stomach coiling into a tight knot of tension, you awaited in the palpable silence, a heavy lump forming in your throat.

“Next time, let’s go somewhere a bit warmer, yeah? Meet me closer to Flamer territory, by the river next to the largest tree in the Grey Forest. If you get to see me shiver, I get to see you sweat, Icer.” And then he continued on his way, until his lithe form disappeared behind the misty haze and the frosted shrubbery.

Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck. Just what were you thinking, agreeing to meet with a Flamer? Were you always this stupid or had you just realized now? You couldn’t believe you were spending your free time with some random Flamer from the Fire Tribe. 

Thoughts of doubt swirled about in your head as you wove your way through the Grey Forest. The low rumbling of the river had you gulping down a large lump in your throat. It was already far too warm for you liking, the little snowflakes that buzzed around your head slowly melting away in water droplets. You didn’t think you’ve ever been this nervous before; not even back when you performed your first major surgery. There was just something about Seonghwa that you couldn’t stay away from… like when your Nan used to tell you no sugar candies before bed, it only made you crave for them all the more.

By the time you spotted Seonghwa leaning against the large tree, you were panting heavily, perspiration marring your skin. 

“Fancy seeing you here,” The Flamer chimed, seeming to be in a much better mood now that the tables have turned. He seemed quite at ease, not a bead of sweat to be seen. “Already worked up quite a sweat, have we?”

Pathetically, you lifted your arm to conjure a small snowball, proceeding to press it against your head for cool relief. It quickly melted into a slushy of ice and water, dripping down your hair. You frowned, while Seonghwa grinned in return.

“Not so fun, is it?” He teased while you kicked off your boots and dipped your feet into the river, moaning in relief at the slightly cooler temperature of the water. You wished to make it colder, but much to your disappointment, the water wouldn’t crystalize because of how quickly it was rushing by. 

Seonghwa crouched next to you, but still kept a decent length away, picking up rocks to skip across the river. For that, you were grateful, because if he made you any warmer than you were at that moment, you would’ve gotten up and stormed back to Icer lands. 

“The first time we met,” You started after flicking water onto your face to cool down, making Seonghwa glance at you with curious eyes. “You were telling me to go back to my territory. But now, you made me come closer to Flamer lands. What’s up with that?”

“I don’t know,” He answered honestly. “You’re just… not what I thought an Icer would be like. It made me curious.”

“And what did you think we’d be like?”

A small shrug lifted his shoulder, “Cold. I mean, not that you aren’t, but cold as in… your hearts would be frozen over as well. I grew up with stories of Icers freezing Flamers to death and placing them in their gardens as statues. But you don’t seem like you’d do that kind of stuff. Especially when you told me that you were a healer.”

“For me, everybody knew the story of how the Fire Tribe would lock the Icers they captured in a sealed room, and the snow they made would melt and they’d slowly watch as the room filled with water, unable to turn it into ice because it was too damn hot. And eventually… they’d drown.” At the last few words, you frosted over your fingers and dunked them beneath the waters’ surface.

Seonghwa’s horrified expression made you chuckle slightly.

“Well, for the record, we don’t do that. We aren’t barbarians.” His words were said huffily as he crossed his arms and turned fully to fix his rapt gaze on you.

“I know. It was merely a silly childhood legend.”

The hours dribbled away fairly quickly, you and Seonghwa exchanging tales of your childhood that only increased in absurdity the farther you recounted. He told you about his friend, San, and how they once snuck into Wind Tribe territory to steal rare Gustberries that only grew in the harsh fields of the Breezers. You told him of Hongjoong and Wooyoung, the former being your closest friend and the latter constantly getting himself hurt. Laughs and giggles and the quiet hum of the river filled the silences in between the gaps of your vivid conversations. The more time you spent talking with him, the more you found yourself growing fond of the fiery-eyed man. Who would’ve thought?

By the time the sun had already set, you and Seonghwa were sitting much closer than when you had first sat down, his heat pulsating through the air in waves. To be honest, you didn’t quite mind the subtle warmth after you got used to the initial shock, but you knew you were pushing your limits. An Icer shouldn’t be out in high temperatures for this long. 

You pushed yourself up to your feet, head swimming dizzily as you sucked in lungfuls of air. Slightly concerned, Seonghwa reached out to help you find your feet, but he pulled away at the last moment, just as you had last night. The tables really have turned, you thought in mild amusement.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m… fine…” You swayed on your feet slightly, pressing your cooler palm against your warmer-than-usual forehead.

“Come on, let’s get you back to the cold. You guys are absolute babies when it comes to the heat.” He said, mimicking the same exact words you told him yesterday. A weak laugh slipped past your lips, as you leaned against a tree branch.

Oh, everything was just too hot. You’ve been out of the snow for too long…

All of a sudden, the world was flipped onto its side, damp grass pressing against your face. You could barely register Seonghwa startled yelp before everything went dark.

“Hey. Icer, are you okay? Icer! Y/N, come on, I put you back in the snow, I don’t know what else to do.”

Though your head pounded as though someone had whacked you with a tree branch, you could just barely make out Seonghwa’s concerned tone. When your eyelids fluttered open, you were met with the sight of the Flamer’s handsome, yet alarmed face.

“You okay?” His words came gentle and soothing.

Puffing out a small sigh, you nodded tiredly. Being back in the snow felt much better, “Yeah. Thank you,” You croaked out sheepishly.

Seonghwa beamed down at you, before shuffling away so as the snow around you wouldn’t melt. But just as soon as the smile graced his features, it quickly dissipated into a frown, “Don’t scare me like that,” He practically scolded. “You win, okay? Next time we can stay in the snow.”

Breath caught in your throat, a heavy blush laid over your cheeks, “Next time? You just can’t get enough of me, can you?”

“No, I suppose not,” Seonghwa said somewhat nonchalantly, shocking you.

“I… well, thank you for the, well… uhm, getting me back,” You stumbled over your words the longer Seonghwa stared. Oh, what was this man doing to you? “I have some… healer things I need to do… so, I best get going… erm -” Without another thought, you pushed yourself onto your knees, snow crunching underneath your breeches as you leaned over towards him.

He was so warm. His face, especially, once you brushed your far-cooler lips against his cheekbone. The Flamer reared back with a ridiculous, startled expression, eyes comically wide. One of his hands came up to clamp against the cheek you kissed, mouth opening and closing but no words coming out. 

“It was really nice talking to you. Thank you again,” You murmured while hiding a grin behind your palm. With that, you turned on your heel and left the blushing Flamer alone in the snow.

From then on, you saw Seonghwa practically every day. Oftentimes, you’d meet in the snow and stroll through the Grey Forest until it got far too warm and the both of you would have to turn back. The moment he’d see your skin dampen with sweat, he’d have the two of you abruptly changing course, steering away from the heat of the Fire Tribe. You thought that was incredibly thoughtful of him. 

Once, Seonghwa discovered a more shallower part of the river that you could actually crystalize to keep yourself cool. That day was a good day. You had gently taken his scorching hand and tried to help him run across the ice before his heat could melt it away. The two of you left soaking wet, boisterous grins painted across your lips.

Hongjoong, being your closest friend and all, was constantly questioning and badgering on about where you went every afternoon. After all, you were a healer and your tribe needed you. But, however selfish it was, you didn’t want to stop seeing Seonghwa… he made you feel things no person from the Ice Tribe had ever made you feel.

The more you saw him, the more you had the urge to yank his stupidly sharp jawline towards you and shove your lips onto his. You’d imagine the way the warmth radiating off his skin would feel underneath your frigid palms and lips. You thought back to the second-long cheek kiss you gave him a couple months back, a fond smile tickling at the corner of your mouth.

“What’re you thinking about?” Seonghwa asked from beside you, nudging you slightly. Over a long course of time, the pair of you grew more and more comfortable with one another, inching closer and closer with each meet-up. At this point, you were practically sitting on top of him, one of his legs intertwined with yours and your head laying on his shoulder, the both of you leaning against a frosted tree trunk. Seonghwa smelled of sweet, burning sugar with a heavier scent of roasted coffee beans. He also often complained about how cold you were, although his tone was always fairly light and lacked any true bite. 

“Nothing,” You were quick to say, pulling your head away from his shoulder to peer up at him.

Shrugging off your strange attitude, Seonghwa glanced down at you with excited eyes, “You wanna see a new trick I learned?”

Without awaiting your answer (because he knew you’d say yes anyway), Seonghwa cupped his hands together and pulled them away to produce a thin orange flame morphed into the shape of a shooting arrow. You watched in rapt fascination as the fire-arrow spun in the air when Seonghwa whistled sharply. Then, he pushed it away to embed itself into the tree across from you. The tree’s dry bark was quick to catch aflame, but you flicked your hands and caged in the fire with frost, the orange dying out into the blackened wood. 

“Learned that during archery,” Seonghwa beamed down at your bemused expression. “You know, only the best Flamers can morph their fires into shapes. It takes a lot of concentration.”

With no effort at all, you twirled your fingers to make an intricate rabbit out of ice, whiskers and fur and all, holding it out to Seonghwa with a minuscule smile. The Flamer scowled slightly, and touched the tip of his finger to the clear crystal, watching it dribble into liquid through the gaps of your palms.

You rolled your eyes to the side before leaning your head back onto his shoulder with a content sigh, “Don’t you compete with me, Park Seonghwa. You’ll never win.”

Much to your surprise, he didn’t bother to argue, and instead pressed his warm nose into your frosty hair, humming, “Yeah, yeah. And who was the one that fainted in the heat again?”

“If I recall correctly, you’ve caught more than three colds just this year! And it’s only the fifth moon, too!”

His hands suddenly darted out to tickle your midriff, to which you squirmed away with a smothered laugh. 

“Hm, wanna put it to the test? I promise I’ll go easy,” You said teasingly once you managed to capture his wrists. You could feel his pulse rapidly thumping against the pad of your thumb. 

“I don’t know… I wouldn’t want to hurt you.”

“Trust me, you’re not the one that’ll be hurting.”

“Oh, you’re on, Icer.”

The two of you stumbled onto your feet and you held yourself up in a defensive stance. With a faint smile, Seonghwa mimicked your position. Admittedly, it wasn’t a very fair fight; you were a healer and he was a well-trained fighter.

But nonetheless, you were the first to throw, a frozen ball of ice the size of your fist hurtled towards him at top speed. Seonghwa was quick to react, blasting the ice with orange flames until it melted mid-air. You frowned and lithely dodged behind a tree when he reconjured his fire arrows and sent them after you. In retaliation, you quickly brought up a thick ice barrier with a laugh, smothering the thin lines of fire away with the sole of your boots. 

The air was chock-full of his crackling flames muted by your snow, crystalline icicles dripping from nearby tree branches, and lame taunts tossed back and forth by the both of you as you play-fought for another couple of minutes.

Seonghwa might’ve had the upper hand in combat, but you knew how to play dirty. Just as he was stepping forward, you sent a sheet of slippery ice to slide underneath his boots. With a bewildered expression, Seonghwa flailed about for a moment, the small fire he prepared in his palm dying down to glowing embers, before tumbling down into the snow. 

“That was low, Y/N,” The Flamer huffed out whilst trying to catch his breath against the pale white mound of snowflakes, glaring at you with playfully narrowed eyes. You were glad to see that he wasn’t actually angry at you.

“Do you call defeat, Seonghwa? There’s no shame in admitting it, you know!” Your jaunts were light-hearted as you walked closer to him and Seonghwa found himself grinning despite the cold stinging his skin. 

Sticking your hand out to help him up, Seonghwa eyed you for a moment with an indiscernible expression, his playful nature fading away into something you couldn’t quite decipher.

Instead of pushing himself up, he suddenly pulled you down with him, a startled shriek leaving your lips and echoing across the Grey Forest. You fell on top of him with a grunt of pain, meeting his glowing amber eyes with your confused ones. During your hazy moment of puzzlement, Seonghwa tugged you closer, his warm palms curled around your forearms gently. 

And then, without further warning, he kissed you. This one was nothing like the first kiss you gave him. That one was merely an innocent peck on the cheek. But this one… this one held passion and furtive desire and yearning. The both of you most definitely wanted this, it was quite clear by now.

Your senses were overwhelmed in the best way possible. All you could smell was him, the heavy undertone of roasted coffee beans sending your head into a cloudy daze. Your lips were slanted against his hot ones, noses of starkly opposite temperatures bumping against one another in your moment of desperation. You weren’t sure where to place your hands, so you balled them up against his jacket, just close enough to feel the hardness of his chest underneath.

For you, everything was hot, searing with a need for more as his plump, warm lips laid over yours. For him, however, everything was cold. The snow beneath was a mild annoyance, and yet he was willing to bear through it for you. You were equally freezing, but Seonghwa welcomed the cold for once, a dangerous ache that would grow to be lethal if neither of you were careful.

A small, frosty sigh left you when he pulled away for a second to stare at you with those intense eyes of his. You stared back with part-confusion and part-longing, lips agape. That apparently set something off in him, because he sat up with you straddling his hips, hands now encircled around your midriff as he kissed you more passionately, leaning forward so your back arched into him.

This wasn’t supposed to be happening. Why were you feeling these emotions for a Flamer of all people? Why couldn’t you have just stayed within your own tribe? Turmoil churned about in you as you kissed him in somewhat of a frantic manner. You hated yourself for loving it so much.

The second time he pulled away, you were both gasping for breath, lips swollen and clothes rumpled and askew. You could tell he wanted to kiss you again, and probably a thousand times after that. To be frank, that was all you wanted as well.

But you knew this had to stop. And so, when he leaned forward to capture your lips with his again, you flinched none-too-subtly and slid off his lap. An expression of genuine hurt flickered across his handsome, reddened features. A twinge of guilt gnawed away at your stomach as you got up onto your shaky feet.

“Go home, Seonghwa,” Was all you could find yourself saying with a hoarse voice. “You’re going to catch a cold again.”

You couldn’t look at him anymore. And so, you left him laying crestfallen in the snow, hurriedly making your way back to Icer lands, small blue snowflakes trailing behind you and cold tears pricking the corners of your eyes.

The next day, Seonghwa didn’t show up. You waited by your usual meet-up place, gnawing on your lip anxiously, glancing every which way in hopes of seeing the raven-headed Flamer. In the midst of your worrying turmoil, more and more snowflakes emanated from your skin and it didn’t take long for them to accumulate by your feet, completely covering your boots in a pristilline white blanket. You stepped out of the feather-soft pile, opting to impatiently trudge about in an attempt to steel your nerves.

You hadn’t been able to sleep that night. Seonghwa’s heartbroken expression was imprinted into your mind, leaving you in a mess of guilt and regret and anger. 

Why did you have to push him away? Seonghwa, your first non-Icer friend, shoved away as if he meant nothing. You released a frustrated groan, smacking your palm into your forehead.

It made sense that he didn’t want to see you. If you were in his shoes, you probably wouldn’t leave your room and have the light of day touch your face for a whole moon. The idea of Seonghwa upset just didn’t sit right with you. Nonetheless, you could do little else than bide your time for him, however much you hated waiting.

He didn’t show up the next day either. Nor the one after that. 

By the fourth day of waiting, you started to feel twinges of discouragement, but you never gave up, determined to set things right with Seonghwa. The niggling thought of him never showing up was one that often pestered you while you patiently awaited his return, although always quickly shoved down into the corner of your mind. You didn’t want to think about what you would do if you never saw him again.

It took just over a week of waiting for him to come back. At that point, you hadn’t thought he’d come back at all, reluctantly accepting that you’ve ultimately ruined your friendship with Seonghwa.

And so, imagine your surprise when his voice rang out through the trees, your name rolling off his tongue smoothly, “Y/N.”

Startled, you flinched so hard that your head hit a branch that hung lowly on the icy tree you were sitting beneath. It reminded you so much of the first time you met him that you couldn’t help but crack a smile after your initial pained grimace.

“Seonghwa,” You gasped, eyes round with shock and mouth agape. “You’re… you’re back!” 

The excitement in your voice didn’t go undetected by either of you, but his features were set in stone, unmoving and neutral. Those blazing eyes of his seemed to bore holes into you, and you felt strangely naked underneath his gaze. You noticed that his appearance was more disheveled than ever, eyebags dark and hair not neatly slicked back like usual. He looked broken, but far too proud to admit so.

“Seonghwa…?” You stepped closer, the frosted leafy foliage crumbling under the pressure. This man was someone you deeply cared about, and you knew he felt the same about you.

So why was he staring at you like you meant nothing to him?

A shiver ran down your spine, a sensation that only Seonghwa could bestow upon you. Which was ironic, because the cold feeling that tickled down your spine was ignited by a man with powers of fire and heat. 

You and him didn’t belong together. That was clear as day by now.

“Seonghwa,” You mumbled again, reaching out to him once close enough.

He shut his eyes as if looking at you were torture. It stung more than you liked to admit, so you retracted your fingers, clenching them into a fist and dropping them back by your side awkwardly. The air was so tense, so utterly uncomfortable, you could feel the crack in your heart splinter into more branches.

“Stop saying that.”

“Saying what?” Your bottom lip trembled. This wasn’t the Seonghwa you’ve grown to be so fond of. This man scared you. You had half a mind to grab him by the shoulders and shake some sense back into him. Where did your Seonghwa go?

An angry huff escaped his lips, misting visibly out of his carmine lips. The very ones you kissed a little over a week ago.

“You can’t… just… don’t say my name. Please. We can’t be like that anymore. We can’t do this. We can’t keep seeing each other.” Seonghwa’s stoic mask disintegrated into raw emotion. He looked to be on the verge of tears, and you wouldn’t be surprised if you mirrored the same exact expression.

There was a part of you that wanted to yell and scream and throw sharp icicles at him until he had no choice but to run back to Flamer territory. Anywhere, as long as it was far away from you. The other, more rational part of you, whispered that he was right. After all, you were the one that pushed him away first. It was only fair.

A broken bone won’t heal if you keep putting pressure on the wound. Being a healer, you couldn’t just ignore your own teachings.

But for just once in your life, you wanted to be selfish. You wanted to hold Seonghwa tightly in your grasp, no matter how dangerous it was. You wanted to call him yours, and you wanted to be his. You wanted to kiss him again, despite the small action being the ultimate downfall for the both of you.

And so you found yourself croaking out, making sure to emphasize his name, “Seonghwa, you know just as much as I do that there’s something here between us. You can’t just ignore it and toss that all out the window!”

His face screwed up in an effort to keep the onslaught of tears at bay. Perhaps what he felt for you wasn’t yet as strong as what he’d call love, but he wasn’t very far from it. He cared too much for you, so much more than anybody else in his life.

He needed you. And because of that, he had to let you go. Fraternizing with the enemy wasn’t something to be taken lightly. If his tribe knew about this little escapade of his, they’d have his head and would finally have a good enough reason to declare war. Regardless, it was only a matter of time. The Fire Tribe has hated Icers for centuries and centuries, teetering on the brink between neutrality and complete bloodshed. 

“We have no choice,” The words were said in a low tone, rumbling deep down in his chest. Seonghwa shuffled closer, so close that you could feel his familiar heat wavering against the ice once again. You longed to reach out and place your hand on his chest, feel his heart thumping against his ribcage frantically, just as yours was. “Do you know what they’d do to you - to us - if our tribes found us together? It’s too risky, Y/N. I don’t know what I’d do if you got hurt.”

“I’m a healer. I can take care of myself! And we can just stay careful like we always have. Besides, people rarely come into the Grey Forest anymore!” Your words came out fast and jittery and panicked. You thought that you had already come to terms with losing the man that stood in front of you, but you were far from acceptance, you knew that now.

Seonghwa carded a pale hand through dark strands of hair, “I’m sorry, were you not the one that told me to go back home? You started this. You wanted this!” He was so agitated that when he swung his arm back to his side, small crackles of fire lit up his fingers.

Something inside you snapped, “I most definitely did not! It was just… all too sudden and I needed time to think. Now that I’ve already thought, there’s no need for us to run away and never see each other again! You’re overexaggerating, Seonghwa.”

“No, you don’t get it. Don’t you know, Y/N? Our tribes are verging on war. We’re supposed to be enemies, you and I. Don’t be daft!” His voice raised a notch or two louder, and you found yourself shrinking into yourself.

Tears pricked your eyes and you looked away from his fierce gaze, “We don’t have to be a part of that. We can just -”

“Just what? Pretend? We can’t play picnic in the forest and act like our people aren’t planning to slaughter each other!”

“You know what?” You shouted so loudly that the birds nesting on treetops fluttered away, a mass of dark wings and agitated squawks. “If you want to walk away from this relationship, from me, then go ahead! I won’t stop you. Fuck you, Seonghwa. Fuck you for throwing this away the moment it became something more.”

“You were the first to push away!” He protested, pointing an accusatory finger at you.

“Well, I’m sorry!” You cried out, furiously swiping away the tears that dribbled down your cheeks. “I’m sorry I was scared! I’m willing to try again, but you’re not giving me the chance. I waited for you every day, you know.”

“I know. I saw,” He said, suddenly quiet. “I’m sorry for making you wait.”

The two of you stared at each other defiantly, heavy breaths misting the air in front of you. His nose was tinted a deep pink, no doubt because of the cold.

“I’m leaving,” Seonghwa said after a long while. “And you shouldn’t come back here. Ever. I need you to know, Y/N. I’m doing this because I care about you. I expect you to do the same for me.”

Then, after casting you a forlorn expression, he tore his blazing eyes away and stiffly swiveled around in the snow. A gust of wind tousled his hair and he blew out a sigh of pale white mist. The cold made his nose red, and you subconsciously noticed the way he shivered slightly, brushing snowflakes off his sleeve. You’d miss that.

You’d miss him.

His heat grew fainter as his long strides took him further away from you. Your tears had crystallized on your cheeks uncomfortably, a frozen reminder of what you’d lost. You had half the mind to storm right up to Seonghwa and force him to stay here, by your side. That was the child speaking within you, however, and you were no longer a child. 

Flicking the solidified salt water on your cheeks away, you did just the same as Seonghwa had minutes ago, trudging your way back to Icer lands. Little did either of you know, the two of you cried fresh tears along the whole journey back. 

The last time you ever stepped foot in the Grey Forest was just the day after. Your eyes were puffy and aching, hair a terrible mess, and a wax-sealed envelope was tightly clutched in your hand.

There was a chance that Seonghwa would never come back. In fact, it was most probable that he’d never get the precariously written letter you left by the usual meeting place, considering what he told you yesterday.

Fond memories sunk its sharpened claws into you, stealing away your breath as you cupped both hands over your mouth, overwhelmed in every way possible. You were far too drained to cry, having emptied away all your tears the day before.

And so, you brushed stray snowflakes off the periwinkle-hued wax stamp, placing it down by the tree stump where Seonghwa usually sat. 

Then you muttered a quiet, broken goodbye, stomping back to Icer lands. You were never going to see Seonghwa again. 

Dear Seonghwa,

I know you told me to never come back. I won’t, I promise. I just wanted to leave the letter because… we never properly got to say goodbye, did we?

Well, congrats, you big dummy. You’re right. You always were, and you always are. We were never supposed to be friends. I mean, I suppose we’re enemies now, aren’t we? It was quite the foolish fantasy we had going on there, huh? I get it, we have to stay loyal to our respective tribes, we can’t risk getting caught, so on so forth. I just hope that when war is declared (which doesn’t seem to be long from now, to be quite honest), I won’t see you on the battlefield. I don’t think I’d be able to handle that. 

So, I guess this is goodbye. It’s a little hard to believe that I won’t ever get to see your stupid face again. Remember when I threw a snowball at you so hard that it broke your nose? You panicked and blood went splattering everywhere and it didn’t stop until I got you to calm down. For a highly-ranked Flamer soldier, I’d expect you to be less squeamish at the sight of your own blood. It’s alright, though. As a healer myself, blood still freaks me out just a bit.

I thought I ruined your pretty face for all the poor ladies and gents who were mad in love with you back at the Flame Tribe, and I felt so guilty. And then you smiled! I remember feeling envy and astonishment at the same time because how the hell could one look pretty while smiling through a broken, bloody nose? 

I’m glad I didn’t ruin your face, though. You’d probably get really mad at me if I did. But you would’ve forgiven me eventually, right?

Frankly, I don’t know if I deserve your forgiveness for what I did. And no, I’m not talking about hurting your precious face (they say a once-broken nose makes a man more attractive!). I’m sorry for pushing you away, Seonghwa. Really, I don’t know what I was thinking. I was scared and I needed time to think. I hope you understand that. If you don’t, that’s okay as well.

If I could rewind time, I wouldn’t have stopped kissing you. I could’ve carried on for days and days and days on end. Did you know that you’re the second person I’ve ever kissed? Don’t ask about the first, drunk Wooyoung isn’t really something to brag about. Well, for the record, you were the first kiss I actually enjoyed. Congrats.

Of course, all this doesn’t mean that it was entirely my fault. I waited for you for a week, and you did nothing but hide behind trees and watch. That was real shitty of you, to put it plainly.

I’ll miss you, though. I’ve never felt this way about any Icer and I doubt I ever will. Of all people to set my sights on, it just had to be a Flamer. What rotten luck we have.

Goodbye forever, Seonghwa. Stay safe, alright? For my sake.

With much love,

Y/N.

Seonghwa read the letter through so quickly that his pupils seemed to be moving at lightning speed. Then, with a numbed heart, he read it a second time, this time much slower.

By the third time he reread each of your carefully handwritten words, warm tears of salt water were running over his cheeks. His face had grown considerably hotter, the salty liquid steaming misty tendrils against his skin. He was angry. So, so ridiculously angry. At himself, at this stupid rivalry between the tribes, at you for being so goddamn perfect. Of course you’d managed to squeeze in jaunts and jokes in a farewell note.

There was a part of him that wished he’d never come back to the Grey Forest and found the letter. Fat droplets of his tears trickled down his jaw and soaked through the parchment, marring the intricate ink characters. With a gentle sigh, Seonghwa brushed the dampness away and stiffly flicked his wrist.

The letter burst into glowing orange flames. And Seonghwa watched on, stifling down the urge to break down into a fit of chest-wracking sobs, until your goodbye was nothing but a measly pile of blackened ashes on his palm.

[soobadnoonecanstopher]

Touch it for Real, Part 5

Genre: Humor / Fluff / Eventual Smut

Warnings: OMG they were roommates / slice of life / slow burn / mutual pining / crude humor / cursing / virgin!baek / idiots to lovers / mention of feet

Characters: Baekhyun X You/Female Reader

Description: You teach Baekhyun how to date. (Basically the Get You Alone M/V)

Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 , Part 5, Part 6

Baekhyun was trembling. His hands were actually shaking so much each time he tried to type into the keyboard of his phone he hit the wrong letters and the typos rendered his message impossible for even the autocorrect to guess what he was trying to say.

“Just — ugh — just give me a regular keyboard for fuck’s sake,” he was grumbling to himself, “my hands wont stop shaking. I can’t. I can’t do this.”

He tossed the phone with force away from him and it landed face down on the carpet across the living room.

“No. I refuse,” he was staring over at the phone on the floor with a shell shocked aura about him, “just forget it. I’ve changed my mind. I can’t. I won’t!”

You’d given him a homework assignment an hour ago.

Ask a girl out on a date.

He’d been sitting on this sofa with his phone in his hands, writing, deleting, rewriting and deleting, again and again, into the text message conversation he had going with Mia.

It had been going pretty well with Mia actually. You’d been handing him the reins more and more and you both celebrated together with a single glass of wine the night he’d had his first actual phone conversation with her. Baekhyun was a lightweight and usually refused to drink more than a few sips of alcohol but he’d gone for the chilled bottle in the fridge and poured it into two glasses and handed one of them to you and lifted his own into the air. He did not wait for you to acknowledge his toast though. He just downed the contents of his glass with a wince on his face in a single go, slammed the empty glass down onto the counter roughly and stormed out of the kitchen toward his bedroom. You sipped your glass and counted it as a shared celebration.

His phone call lasted for 3 minutes and 32 seconds and he managed to tell one awkward joke that elicited audible laughter from the girl. You knew because you sat on the couch beside him with your ear pulled up as close to the phone as you could manage, trying to hear everything that happened. You’d let him know you were here to intervene if something went wrong but honestly you were sure he would do well on his own. And honestly, he was about to do well on his own, despite how awkward and very nervous his voice was.

They had gotten past the introductions at least twice when he briefly forgot what came after “hello” and simply said it a second time. She at least said it twice too and the awkward pause that came after that went on for too long when you held up the index card in your hand and pointed with your finger to the question you had written down.

“Uhh...so h-how...umm...how are — I mean, what are you up to?”

You couldn't make out her response, but whatever she said pulled an interested hum from the back of his throat and he made a quick witted remark that had her giggling in response.

You could definitely make out the sounds of her laughter and you could instantly see the change on his face when it happened. You saw the brightness form inside his eyes and he turned to look at you with a surprised expression as he lifted a finger to point at the phone he held in his hand.

His eyes were wide with something in between amazement and panic and he mouthed the words ‘she’s laughing’ at you and you nodded enthusiastically in response.

Unfortunately a few seconds after the joke he accidentally dropped the phone and it took a wild bounce, landing somewhere under the couch. He couldn’t find it for two whole minutes and when he finally found it, he made up some excuse about having to go because he smelled something burning.

He stared at the phone until the screen turned black and he didn’t move when you rubbed a soothing hand over his back.

“That went pretty good,” you offered. Baekhyun grunted and turned toward the kitchen for the celebratory toast.

Since that night, (you know the one) you’d intentionally taken on a more supportive teacher role in this project. You vowed to keep yourself involved as much as he needed and you swore you could keep your own selfishness from impeding his progress. The way you had been acting had been unfair and he was too good to you for him to deserve anything less than your very best.

You had made a promise to Baekhyun and then you made a promise to yourself to follow through on that promise. You would move Heaven and Earth to help him reach his goal because he deserved it and seeing him happy would be enough to get you through anything that came your way.

You were fine.

No really, you were completely fine.

He was moaning.

You sat on the couch beside him with your foot propped up on the coffee table as you carefully applied the second coat of polish to your toenails. You’d become quite the expert at applying polish to your nails during bumpy situations. Sitting next to the man who flailed and squirmed beside you on this sofa was commonplace and simply no big deal.

You could probably do this during an earthquake.

His moaning turned into much louder moaning and he threw himself back onto the arm of the couch dramatically and in protest of the unfairness of your assignment.

“Buuuug,” he whined through his nose, drawing it out like a little kid.

You’d just finished your pinky toe when his foot pushed up against your thigh.

Your aim was quick and you reached over and grabbed his foot by the heel as you pivoted in place.

“Be still,” you said calmly and you held his foot in place as you applied the bright red polish to his big toenail. You often did his toes to match your own because it made his toes look adorable and he wore socks everywhere he went anyway so he didn’t mind what you did to amuse yourself.

You moved quickly, dabbing carefully over each of his nails until they were all painted to match yours. You blew air over them to dry them, being thankful you’d invested in the 60 second polish.

“Buuu-hu-hu-hu-uuug,” he moaned harder, wiggling his hips into the fit he was throwing and closing his eyes to sell you on the absolute anguish he was in. “Bug, I just don't think I can do it. Can we do something else? I don't even know what to do on a date. What if she says no? Oh god, what if she says yes, I’m going to puke. Do you want to see me puke? Because I am going to puke.”

You tapped a hand lightly over the top of his finished foot and pointed to the other one and after a few moments he shifted, giving in to what you asked for right away.

But good lord, he was dramatic. The whining and the moaning intensified just when you thought you couldn't stand another volume increase he raised his voice into a shout and put actual words to his protests. Your ears were already ringing and you could feel your substantial patience — really, you were on a level with a Buddhist monk after two years living with this — beginning to shake.

“I mean, if I asked you to teach me how to swim would you chuck me into the ocean on the first day?”

You forced your focus down on his other foot, getting the polish smooth and perfect with each stroke. He had gone quiet after his question to you and you bit down on your lip as you carefully pondered the words he was saying. The last thing you wanted was to make him so uncomfortable he was unable to go about his daily life. You didn't need this project to become a source of heartache for the man.

You were not an unreasonable person. Perhaps this really had been too big of a step for him to take without having even practiced under the careful instruction of a teacher.

He’d waited in silence for you to answer for only a few seconds and when you didn’t; because you were thinking about it, dammit, he threw his whole head back and his mouth opened up and he wailed into the ceiling above his head at an even more annoying volume than you thought was possible. This was new and shocking. It was deafening. Surely the neighbors would think someone was being butchered in here.

The awful sounds were coming straight from his diaphragm. The man had power in those pipes and he was going to destroy your ear drums in order to get his way. It went on and on, changing from a moaning, groaning large-dog-with-a-bellyache sound into what you imagined it might sound like inside of an echo chamber trapped with a big sad whale, the biggest ones they made, who also happened to be on fire. He was giving you everything he had now. This was full volume and it was horrible.

“Alright!” You shouted over the wretched screaming, “Alright fine! For the love of God, Baekhyun!” You said for emphasis and the incredible relief of silence flooded and cleansed your ear drums that still vibrated from the after effects of all of that noise.

He lifted his head and closed up his mouth instantly and his eyes were wide as he cautiously watched and waited for what you would say next.

“Do you want me to teach you? Do you think you can practice with me so you learn how to do it before you have to do it for real, on your own? That’s what you mean right? You want more instruction before I throw your ass into the ocean?”

His lips were situated down into a fierce pout now and he nodded his head twice; a big ol’ up and down.

You were irked now. No amount of pathetic pouting on that face could pull you back from the edge. Even the slow careful nod of his head was just an obvious attempt at winning you over with cuteness. Well, it wouldn't work. If anyone was capable of annoying someone to death, it was this man right here and he came very close just now.

“New assignment,” you said with your finger raised and he pulled his bottom lip in between his teeth and pushed his top lip forward as he inflated his cheeks into round balloons. He sat up straighter and he waited for you to speak.

“Since I am a woman,” you began with your finger still raised and waving in his direction. His eyes glanced down at it, “you may ask me out on a date, for practice. And if I say yes, we will then—”

Your pointed finger was joined by your whole hand as you opened it up and you waved it through the air twice, a visual representation of cause and effect of such a situation. His eyeballs followed every movement you made, looking at the hand that moved instead of at you, the actual speaker.

His eyes popped up into yours when he registered the words you were saying; the requirements of his new assignment.

“...we will then — well, we will..”

Your words were sticking. He was listening very closely and he’d released the air trapped in his mouth and his lips now hung open as his eyes occasionally followed the waving of your hand in front of his face. It was silly how shifty his focus was when your hand moved in front of him.

“We...will…” he said and his face moved, mirroring the movements of your hand as he tried best to understand the new task you were trying so hard to assign to him, even repeating your words to help you get the next ones out.

“We will go on a date. A real one. A practice date. You will have to take me on a date, Baekhyun. You’ll just have to .. do your best at it.”

“A date? I’ll have to,” he said with a flinching, squinting blink of his eyes, “...do my best?”

“Yes, of course,” you said as you pointed your finger at him again, pulling a swift but deep gasp into your lungs to fight the dizziness you could feel building inside your head, “It’s an assignment. Like school. I will give you a grade on how well you do. If you fail, then it’s over and I’m a terrible teacher and clearly your problems are beyond my area of expertise.”

His polish was dry. This conversation needed to be over because you were weirdly agitated by the wide eyed, deer in the headlights expression stuck on his face.

“I’ll send you some study materials later. You better take this seriously, Byun Baekhyun. This is a real assignment from your real dating teacher.”

The entire situation made you anxious. The desire to flee was very strong. You needed a getaway and you needed it now. You felt a tremble inside that could only be attributed to just how freaked out he had been acting. It was rubbing off on you.

You wanted to make a quick escape but you were now fighting with the many bottles of nail polish scattered across the coffee table; you’d gone through so many of them as you decided on which color to use — they really were just numerous and just everywhere. You grasped at them, trying to grab huge handfuls at one time but your hands couldn't hold as many as you wanted and each attempt sent a bottle or two clattering noisily to the table below. It was really ruining the dramatically cool exit you were trying for.

After quite a bit of noise you felt the warmth of Baekhyun’s arm as he leaned against you and began to help you pick up the bottles; carefully placing each in it’s designated spot in your huge nail polish organizer.

It took a bit of effort for you to turn to look at him and when his fingertips carefully placed the final bottle in the case you clicked the lid closed and finally managed to face him.

His eyes were flighty. His face was flushed and when he met your eyes the smile on his lips was very tense. It looked like a grimace.

You had to be insane to be doing this. Willingly putting yourself into a situation like this with him, a situation that was for instructional purposes only, but a situation nonetheless. Your heart was racing inside of your chest and you briefly wondered if he could hear it with him sitting so close to you.

You swallowed it away, the nerves or the uncertainty or whatever it was that had taken hold of your hands and made them unstable and you turned to look into his face head on.

“Do you understand the assignment?”

Baekhyun filled his lungs with air and straightened his shoulders, pulling them back as his eyes closed up. You recognized the self calming behavior. When he turned to look at you he held a new determination in his eyes and he nodded his head and furrowed his eyebrows.

“I was always a good student,” he said, “I will do my best with this assignment. I’ll take it seriously, so I can learn from you well.”

You reached forward and patted the back of his hand lightly and offered a reassuring smile.

“Don't be too nervous, okay? Remember it’s for class so you should learn from it. Mistakes are natural and they help us grow. And you won’t have to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. I mean it.”

He swallowed and his lips flattened out into a thin line across his face. His head bobbed up and down and he hummed out a response that told you that yes, he did know what was expected of him for the sake of the lesson; for the sake of his future as an adult man who was entering the dating pool in search of the companionship of some lucky lady.

“Also remember, it’s just me. No pressure. Okay, Peanut? I’m here to help you. You could spill an entire cup of iced tea down my dress at dinner and I would still forgive you.”

“No pressure,” he repeated under his breath and when you were finally satisfied that he really understood, you stood, hefting your manicure supplies up with both hands and you stepped away from the living room to return them to your bathroom.

“Do I have a deadline?” He called after you and you turned back with your hand on the doorknob to your room, quietly amused by the seriousness you saw on his face. At the same time, proud of what a good student he was. He was a smart boy, he would do well in anything he was determined to do.

“Ask me out by tomorrow or else Ben might beat you to it.”

You figured a little sense of competition couldn't hurt. And yes, you were still actually speaking regularly with Ben. You were pleasantly surprised with how smart and how funny he turned out to be and he turned out to be a pretty good distraction for the evenings when you’d normally be bored and hanging around in Baekhyun’s room while he played some game on his PC and he’s toss you a remote for the screen that hung up on the wall above his head. You’d play music videos, or cooking videos from YouTube, or some drama or variety shows and he’d play his games and lean far back in his chair watching the screen when exciting things happened on screen.

A few times lately though, when you went into his room you’d find him watching some anime and you just knew he’d want to pay close attention so he could discuss it later with Mia. You’d much rather find someone to entertain you alone so you didn’t have to be ignored or shushed when you interrupted his anime with some stupid question about it, like who is that guy with the crazy eyes and why is he trying to kill everybody. Ben’s conversations were good enough to keep you occupied at least a little bit.

Back in your bedroom you got to work searching for materials for Baekhyun to study. Mostly using helpful YouTube videos with titles such as “how to ask a girl out”, “what to talk about on a first date” and a super helpful online book you found called The Gentleman’s Guide: How to be the Perfect Date. It was just a little outdated with the styles but the book was extensive and ran the gamut from hygiene to manners to confidence and conversation; it even had an entire section called The Art of Subtle Seduction and it made you just a little embarrassed to think of Baekhyun reading this part. He was an adult. He could handle this much. The Dos and Don'ts of a First Date section alone was worth the price you paid for the book.

You wrote up an email with your course materials and sent it off to the man.

Then you sat and waited alone in your bedroom until your level of boredom that in any other situation would be unremarkable, when combined with the built up anticipation inside of you, mixed into a perfect storm of swirling lunacy that was bouncing around inside of you; trying to break free and wreak havoc on something other than your chest walls.

You grabbed your cell phone, slipped by the 2 waiting text messages from Ben that you would absolutely get to later, and opened a new text message to Baekhyun.

‘peanut did you get my email ^^?’

You were sure he did. Of course he did. You wondered if there was anything he found lacking in the pages and pages of super helpful information you sent him. You wondered what he thought about it all and maybe if he needed some guidance or suggestions on how to proceed with the first step of his assignment. Did he need you to come over to his bedroom and watch the videos with him? Would that be too awkward?

Your phone vibrated.

‘yep’

He would ask for help if he needed it, you were certain. He would be fine. This wasn’t real anyway. It wasn’t like there was an actual deadline, not really. You enjoyed talking with Ben but it didn’t seem like he was close to asking you out yet. He had been a bit busy lately and you had been busy as well with work and with helping Baekhyun.

You’d seen from the notification preview on your phone that Ben’s last two messages were asking you something that would take a while to explain and you didn’t want to open them yet in case he’d been expecting you to reply quickly. You needed a bit more time to come up with an answer for the questions he had casually asked about your roommate. You’d tell Ben that Baekhyun was, yes, a guy. And no, it wasn’t awkward living with a man.

You’d get to all that later. Now, you were entirely too keyed up about a problem of your very own creation.

When.

But really...

When?

You could not relax. Because honestly it could happen at any moment. He could come barging into your room, plop his ass down unceremoniously on your bed and say “Hey Doll, hows about you and me go on a hot date this weekend, what about it? Nyeeahhh?” Like some sort of 1940s gangster. You could definitely see Baekhyun doing this accent. You were pretty sure he had a 40s gangster hat in his closet.

You’d decided that you wouldn't give him a hard time about how he asked you. You’d accept right away for the sake of his nerves, if he worked up the courage to ask you at all, then he was on the right track and he deserved an E for effort.

You still had trouble with the anticipation. Not knowing when was the hardest part to handle. You tried your very best to go about your day in as normal a way possible. Sure, you jumped every time you heard a sound, but other than that, it felt like any other day.

He spent the rest of the evening in his room and didn't even come out until you heard the doorbell ring. You peaked your head out of your bedroom door and waited for him to answer it but after a few minutes with no sight of him you stepped out. The doorbell rang a second time and you rushed from your room to answer it before the visitor gave up.

It could have been something important. This building had a doorman so it was usually someone who had a purpose ringing the bell.

The view through the camera monitor showed a run of the mill pizza delivery man, and you remembered that it was Baekhyun’s turn to make dinner tonight. He must have ordered you a pizza so he could hide in his room all night and not have to worry about walking around you in the kitchen and not asking you out on a date.

This was his way of avoiding you for the night.

You had to swallow down the flash of silly disappointment that popped up. You’d assumed correctly that he had already paid for the pizza and you received your cardboard box of loneliness with a polite smile for the weirdly cheerful delivery kid.

You gave a quick glance at the label in the front of the box to check for forbidden toppings just in case he’d forgotten who he was avoiding tonight and put something weird on it like corn and mayo or hot peppers.  

The label had four lines of ingredients listed, the first said ‘xtra cheese’ and each additional one after that said ‘xtra cheese.’ Nothing else, just ‘xtra cheese’ listed four times in succession.

What in the world?

You briefly considered a malfunction of the pizza shop’s label maker, but boy was this thing heavy. Did he sneeze while selecting toppings and accidentally hit the option four times?

You set the monster down on the counter and lifted the lid. It was steaming hot despite the trip in the car and up the elevators to your door and as soon as you opened it you noticed the odd appearance of the inside lid.

There was a message handwritten with black marker inside of the lid.

Your stomach leapt up into your throat as you recognized what this was. The message started with the word Bug.

You had to cover your mouth to get through this.

Bug,

I know this is really, really, really, really cheesy, but will you go out on a date with me this Saturday?

Knock thrice on my door for yes.

-Peanut

P.S. Did I beat Ben?

You had to hang your head to contain it. You wanted to scream. Giggles actually burst out of your mouth before you could stop them. You were highly amused. Actually reallly fucking impressed and goddammit you felt a genuine flutter of butterflies inside of your stomach. How was he this clever? He had always been very silly and good at thinking of the most ridiculous scenarios to get things done, but wow. When you lifted the lid once more to read his message again your mind spun with the logistics of that man in that bedroom sneakily ordering this thing from a real pizza shop that was probably a block from your home.

Did he call them and explain the situation? Did all of the employees gather around, chanting ‘More cheese! Give the man more cheese!’ As they loaded this pizza up with what looked to be a full inch of melted cheese on top? It compromised the edges of the crust and flowed over the cardboard below. It was absolutely ridiculous and nearly inedible too.

Did they giggle at the pet names you called each other as they selected the employee with the best handwriting to relay his message?

You were buzzing again. This time it was pride. He was brilliant at everything he put his mind to and this was clearly no exception. He would do so well in his life.

You left the kitchen and made your way toward his closed bedroom door. As you came close you heard a very soft thud; wooden door hitting wooden door frame. The movement was hardly noticeable but you could see a slow turn of the doorknob too. He probably thought he was sneaky.

You lifted your closed fist and quietly hit three times against his door and after exactly ten seconds you heard the squeak of his doorknob turning and his bedroom door opened up an inch.

You saw a single brown eyeball peeping at you through the opening.

“I’ll text you the details later,” he whispered and the door closed up again before you could respond.

The details came by text message a day later, just as he promised. It was a Thursday afternoon when your phone buzzed and you’d just put the final touches on your data entry work for the day, running it through a spell checker for mistakes as you always did. You’d expected to hear from Ben by now, he said he had something to go straighten out at the bank. He’d taken it well, finding out that your roommate was a man around your age, and he didn’t even ask too many prodding questions about him.

The message was from Baekhyun with the time he would ‘arrive’ to pick you up on Saturday and he gave you sparse details about what he actually had planned; just a quick note at the end that he would be wearing a suit. You figured this was a hint for you to dress up as well.

Was Baekhyun taking you some place fancy? Your curiosity was positively burning and Baekhyun had been acting super weird around you lately.

Whenever you’d come into a room he was already occupying he would make up some excuse why he had to leave it and vanish inside his room to carry on with his highly secretive behavior. Whenever you went into his room he would spin in his chair toward the door with what you were positive was a caught red handed look on his face. It was like you had just caught him watching porn, only you’d caught glimpses of his screen before he quickly hit a keyboard command to clear out the screen and you didn't see a single boob.

After the first time, you’d made it a point to barge into his room often, just to see the surprised look on his face; you did it all for that gasp of air, the frantic fingers of panic on the keyboard, and the trembling hand over his chest as he clutched his pearls. All you caught flashes of were just regular looking websites. Regular text and regular pictures. You saw some blues, you saw some greens. You definitely didn't see the incriminating black and yellow theme of everyone’s favorite adult website. There was nary a penetrative moan to be heard through his speakers. The entire thing brought you great joy. The man was acting so odd and honestly he was getting your hopes up for a fantastically mind blowing date on Saturday. You’d already picked out your dress, heels, and jewelry and had been having a very hard time tolerating the ever so tedious passage of time.

By the time Saturday rolled around you were a wreck of nerves; though you weren’t exactly sure why you were so anxious. It was probably his recent fretting and obsessive preparations that had rubbed off on you. You’d decided to take it easier on him today. He’d obviously been working very hard on this assignment once given the dangling carrot of a good grade to be awarded at the end and if there was one thing you knew about Baekhyun, it was how much he strived to achieve perfection in his academic performance. You’d provided the materials. He’d obviously been studying and go-time was quickly approaching.

You took your time getting ready, soaking in your bathtub to kill some of the dull waiting hours before he was due to pick you up. By the time you were scrubbed, rinsed, shaved, moisturized, plucked, preened, coiffed, and scented to your satisfaction, you had only a half an hour to slip up the straps on the fancy fitted cocktail dress and check your reflection in the full length mirror. It was fitted and had a deep plunging neckline. It accentuated the best parts of your figure and the high slit that landed over your upper thigh showed just enough skin to make you feel sexy.

With your heels you were ready to go; feeling about as pretty as you had in a long while. The silliest little fantasy swam through your head as you spun in front of the mirror and it brought just a little warmth to your cheeks as you allowed it to play out. The idea that he would find you so lovely, so irresistible, that even the iron willed man with his self control like a steel trap would lose himself in the slow blinks of your lashes and drown in the pools of your eyes for just one night.

When you lightly slapped a palm over your cheek, it was to ground yourself. This was fake. Everything that happened tonight would be the result of careful calculations and applications of behaviors modeled in text books that he had studied all week long. It was a date with Baekhyun, but it wouldn't really be an accurate representation of the Baekhyun that you know so well.

You knew he would follow a script. He would perform as a perfect gentleman and you would play along, knowing that when he brought you home you would get a gentle hug and a thanks for sharing your knowledge with him and you would close your bedroom door and he would return to his bedroom door and life as you know it would simply fall back into place as it should remain unchanged for however long it took for you to get back on your feet, perhaps get a place of your own not too far away from him; although this neighborhood was very expensive, you’d settle for one or two subways stops away if it meant you could visit your best friend often and see him living out the life he deserved with someone who was worthy of his love.

Tonight, you will enjoy. But you would not allow your emotions to betray your rational mind. You would enjoy it and then it would be over and Baekhyun would have the skill set to ask out Mia, or whoever else he set his mind on asking out.

Your quiet self assurance was interrupted by two soft knocks on your bedroom door and your hands were trembling as you grabbed your handbag that had your cell phone, a tube of lipstick for touch-ups and a few just in case items you were always taught to carry with you, you know, just in case.

You’d reached the door and swung it open with a beaming smile on your face.

Your date was here. Baekhyun was here. It was Peanut.

A smile that quickly transformed into what you were sure was a gaping opening in your face resembling some aquatic animal and you found yourself gazing upon, frankly, an expertly styled exquisitely handsome real life man, who was wearing Byun Baekhyun’s face and smile.

Despite seeing him standing before you with your own two eyes, your brain was having trouble reconciling the two; your harmless roommate and the man who stood before you wearing a crisp suit jacket that he filled out shockingly well, a fashionable collarless dress shirt that looked like it came from some fancy boutique from downtown, fitted dress slacks that you tried your best not to linger on for too long, and were his shoes Italian? You were pretty sure they were Italian. More than just the clothes, his hair was different. He’d gone and had something done to his hair! Lord, you saw slight waves and a deliberate styling by an expert hand with just a bit of his forehead visible. Oh he looked so lovely with this hair style.

You remembered to close your mouth, but only after the realization dawning on you that he hadn’t said anything to you as you silently admired how beautiful he looked standing in his fancy suit looking like at least a million bucks.

You knew...you knew he was an attractive man. You’d have plenty of glimpses of it again and again, freshly reminded of it during that photo shoot late that night. You’d even known he worked out and had had plenty of chances to ogle the muscles on his arms and chest when he just woke up and would wander out shirtless for a drink of water. You knew that the entire shape of this man was the kind of handsome that you had to make conscious decisions to ignore. You’d forced yourself to look away plenty of times in the past. Still, the Baekhyun who stood here today, the one who had his lips parted as he stared into your eyes now after what you were certain was a head to toe, slow as hell, full body appreciation of all of your preparations to get ready for tonight, this Baekhyun was, for lack of a better word, he was sexy as all hell.

For the first time since you began this project; these lessons in dating, you felt like you might actually be in some sort of trouble.

Baekhyun spoke at last and it was the softest whisper. He said your name. Not Bug, not stupid or dummy or stinky which he called you sometimes even though you knew, you fucking knew you always smelled amazing. You went out of your way to smell great. The sound of your name on his voice softened the shock in your face and you felt a smile pull at your lips.

And so you smiled at him and watched the slow but complete smile that manifested on his pretty face.  

“Hi,” he said with a blink of his bright eyes.

“Hi Baek,” you said. Your heart was racing.

He pivoted on his (Italian!) shoes and extended a bent elbow toward you and you slipped a hand around his arm.

He was doing so well. Each step you took through your shared home felt new. You had a hard time keeping from watching the side of his face and each glance you made was greeted with the light touch of his eyes as he met your eyes with his own.

Moments blurred. He ticked all the boxes, of course. He opened your door, closed it quietly behind you once you were inside. Even helped you with the seatbelt, much to the dismay of your racing heartbeat when he reached over to pull the red strap across you, careful to keep his hands well away from touching any of your actual body as he did it. The true devastation hit you when, all closed up inside the dark car in the silent moments before he started the engine and the intoxicating smell of him reached your nose.

This was a new smell. Baekhyun had gone to the salon, gone shopping for expensive new clothes, and was also wearing what had to be the best smelling cologne you had ever experienced in person.

“You smell really good,” you said without looking at him and your fingers fidgeted with the strap of your handbag to keep your mind working.

“So do you,” he said followed by an inhale that you were certain sounded just a little thready and he was steering the car through lanes and turns of a parking garage to exit the building.

His destination was the kind of fancy dream-like restaurant that you saw only in movies. The sun would be setting soon and you were led to a rooftop terrace with a view over the city and a single table set for two. You followed the pleasantly clean woman and lingering just behind you, Baekhyun silently fell behind one or two steps. A glance behind woke him up from whatever daze he’d fallen into and he closed the distance with two larger steps and a shy smile on his lips.

The waitstaff worked like ninjas. Glasses were refilled as if by magic and course after course of delicious food appeared before you as you watched the sunset over the horizon and when the light faded enough, the soft glow of twinkle lights illuminated the view around you.

The dinner was delicious and the scenery was breathtaking and that alone would have given him full marks for such a lovely evening out, but Byun Baekhyun was proving to be an overachiever as he started to talk to you. He was asking you open-ended questions, pulling conversation easily from you and you found yourself giggling and laughing as he joked in response or told you some funny anecdotes from his childhood that he knew you would love.

By the time dessert arrived you were pretty certain you were drunk despite half of the wine that remained back in your glass. Baekhyun, ever the stickler for vehicle safety had stuck to soft drinks and when he excused himself for the restrooms, you waited patiently under the glowing lights as you daydreamed about the genuine brightness you were certain you saw in his smiles. Had the twinkle in his eyes been just a reflection of this place? Everything about him tonight felt so real. You’d read through the same book he read through and you couldn’t recall him using a single recycled phrase or conversation point during dinner.

Maybe he was just that good of a student.

A noise startled you from behind and you jumped when a single red rose was laid on the table in front of you.

A rose. Baekhyun had brought you back a rose from somewhere; maybe he stole it from the elaborate flower arrangements you passed on the way in.

“Where did you get this?” You mused as you smelled his sweet offering and he shrugged and tugged at the top button of his shirt, undoing it and slipping slim fingers down to undo the second button as well. Your eyes watched the action and weirdly the fragrance from the rose smelled sweeter than the first time you smelled it.

“I just had it,” he said cryptically with another charming and blinding smile.  

“Ready to go? We have one more place to visit.”

The next place he took you was even more magical than the fancy restaurant. The parking lot was nearly empty and when he opened your door he was fussing around with a small bag in the backseat of his car.  He pulled out a pair of black ballet flats and you watched in awe as the man actually kneeled down on the pavement in front of you to carefully slip your heels off of your feet and slip on the comfortable shoes.  

While they did not look anywhere near as sexy as the heels did, you instantly understood the need for a change.

Baekhyun had brought you to an aquarium with what looked like miles and miles of indoor and outdoor paths to walk through with tunnels traveling through the biggest tanks of aquatic sea life you’d ever seen.

You were instantly hypnotized by the deep sea exhibits that seemed to take you for miles and miles below the surface of the ocean where the sea life grew weirder and the lighting grew darker and dimmer the further down you traveled. Here at depths difficult to wrap your brain around the fish and sea creatures have adapted to freezing waters and a bleak existence without any light at all. Many had their own light sources. The bioluminescent exhibits sparkled and twinkled like the stars in the sky out in the country. You saw entire universes all around you.

Baekhyun was as enraptured as you were and spent his time carefully reading each exhibit’s information card out loud as he stared with his mouth open in awe at the different creatures. There were hundreds of different species of fishes, beautiful ones and downright creepy ugly things from the very bottom of the oceans; endangered species too; the sleepy eyes of the sea turtles were your favorites and the impressions Baekhyun made of their swimming faces made you cackle with laughter. Bright lights illuminated meters of corals of all shapes, sizes, and colors, and you honestly felt like you’d entered another planet when you both walked into the jellyfish halls.

They glowed and flowed, bounced and danced, and moved like a dream. You found yourself hypnotized as you stared at the biggest tank full of them for long enough for Baekhyun to make three circles around waiting for you to follow him out of this room so he could go see the sharks.  

You knew the sharks were coming. You’d had a look at the map. And while you didn't necessarily dislike them, their huge sizes and razor sharp teeth always gave you the heebie-jeebies. The jellies were just so comfortable to look at and so relaxing.

It took some coaxing from Baekhyun, and maybe even a little tiny push at the back of your shoulders to get your feet to move and you lingered a bit long in the dark hallway that connects the two exhibits.

You just felt that maybe, the sharks could wait just a little bit longer to meet you.

He’d noticed right away and you opened up your eyes that you’d closed up for a little relaxing session when you felt the tips of his fingers running along the palm of your hand.

He gripped lightly at first, and then shifted your hand within his and he began walking forward in that dark hallway with you trailing behind him.

Baekhyun touched you sometimes. This was something that he did, on occasion. During a scary movie when you’d jumped too many times, or when you both walked through a crowded place and he didn't want you to wander off, he would occasionally hold your hand.  This wasn’t something new to you.

However your heart was beating hard in your chest and the warmth of his hand coupled with the firmness with which he held you felt so damn nice you were having trouble focusing on anything else except for your own shallow breathing and racing heartbeat — and his hand holding yours.

Sharks swam at a gentle languid pace. Clearly at ease and very well fed here in their homes, there didn't seem to be very much murder and feasting happening at all. Hammerheads, tiger sharks, something uglier than any other creature you had ever seen that came from The Midnight Zone of the deepest parts and with each creature that swam overhead, or beside you, or creeped up from somewhere behind you, Baekhyun would turn to face you and take two or three steps backwards as he pulled you through it, your hand held securely inside of his. He would smile at you that debilitating smile, and tilt his head and call you a scary cat or a big baby and you would laugh and roll your eyes and deny that you were even a little bit scared of anything at all.

All was going well. You were very well taken care of and felt very secure inside this tiny tunnel at the bottom fo the ocean and you’d noticed this time when Baekhyun had turned around to look at you with a bright smile that smile wavered just a touch and his eyes seemed to focus on something that was coming up from behind.

Your curiosity got the better of you and you turned to see what he saw.

Baekhyun moved quickly then, moving both of his hands up to reach for your face he pulled your head forward and moved his own face close to yours. You felt the warmth of his forehead lean against yours for a moment and you could not see around or behind you with his hands placed so carefully on the sides of your head like this.

You knew what it was. It had to be something huge and terrifying, maybe even something with fresh blood still on it’s teeth. A Great White. The giant monster from the movie Jaws that you had watched with him once not realizing just how scary it would be and you spent most of the film curled up under his arm wincing at the horrors you saw on the screen.

“Hey Peanut,” you said softly while looking up close into his eyes. He was so close you could feel the warmth of his breath on your face. His smell, that new smell of his smelled even better this close to his skin.

“Hey LoveBug,” he said with a gentle smile and you knew based on the use of this carefully reserved nickname for emergencies that it was exactly as you had feared. A Great White, chomping on the remains of the cutest crying baby penguin. The fluffiest one with its whole life ahead of it.

Baekhyun was safe though. Baekhyun was warm and he was here to protect you. You would be okay, you knew it.

“Is it gone yet?” You asked after what felt like the average time for a fish that size to swim away and you noticed something. It was a look, just a glance. Baekhyun’s eyes floated a bit and the warm breath you felt coming from him was delivered in quicker puffs through his parted lips.

When he licked his lips, you could not help it, your eyes caught the motion as his tongue ran over his bottom lip and left wetness behind and by the time you realized what you had done — where you had looked — you had already done it, your stubborn eyes had already looked and in your mind a vivid replay was happening. You felt too much. This was too much. This was supposed to be fake. Why did he have to smell so fucking good and why was he so aware of every tiny detail about you he knew when something would overwhelm you and ruin your mood, so he used his own body to shield you from it and protect you. You cautiously pulled your eyes back up only to find him blinking too fast and he was dropping his hands from your face as he took a step back and away from the stifling closeness.

You were dizzy. You felt it all over. Your heart was racing and the warmth you felt traveling through your body sent waves through you. You had to rub lightly over your forearms to smooth out the goosebumps and Baekhyun was no longer facing you, but was staring off into the literal depths of the cold black ocean and you took a while to recover enough to walk by him toward the exit of the aquarium and back into the darkened city streets you knew as the real world.

The walk back to the car was quiet and had an odd flavor about it. You both could feel the end coming. It had been a wonderful date. You’d spent hours, just the two of you talking and laughing and exploring literally new worlds you hadn’t before experienced. You felt a sudden but definite melancholy to see the fancy circles that made up the logo of his car.  

“Hey, you want to take a walk?” Baekhyun’s voice halted your steps and you turned back to see him standing with a hand in his pocket, fidgeting in hidden, likely with the key fob to his car, and a new sort of nervous flush on his cheeks that you hadn’t seen since he first showed up at your bedroom door looking like a dashing Prince Charming ready to sweep you off your feet.

“Sure,” you said, meaning every bit of it and secretly extremely thankful that this evening wasn’t over yet.

The walk was peaceful. It was a bit chilly tonight and you didn’t even resist when you felt the warmth of the coat jacket he placed over your shoulders. You thought you’d become used to the smell of him by now, but clearly you were incapable of ever getting used to his smell.

The streets were mostly empty now that the night had grown stale and you walked side by side passing various touristy shops that had long since closed up for the evening. Ahead you could see a small street side cafe that sold warm teas and coffees and Baekhyun was pulling out his wallet before you even had the chance to look at him with hopeful delight all over your face. He ordered two hot coffees and you danced and celebrated when he handed the first one to you.

It warmed you from the inside and you paid no mind to the smudges of lipstick all over the white lid of your cup. The hot drink made you happy and you could see your breath like a dragon in the chilly night air around you. Each puff made Baekhyun smile and when he’d taken a particularly big drink from his cup he pulled his head back and puffed out three perfectly formed rings of warm air into the color air above his head. The rings grew and then faded quickly but you were so excited to see his trick that you made him do it again and again until he was puffing and out of breath  and laughing too much for any more cool rings to form. This man was full of secrets. Absolutely full of them!

The night was winding on. You could feel the lateness in your limbs and you’d long since finished your drinks and dropped your paper cups into a street side trash can. Your feet, you found were protesting. It wasn’t that they ached or hurt or anything like that. You weren't even that tired. You were just having trouble with the idea of this ending and the night being over.

Everything had to end eventually. You didn't even pout at all when he pulled open your door. You just climbed in and sat down, fastening your own seatbelt this time with a sense of finality looming in your mind along with a wagging finger that quietly scolded you for letting your guard down during this date.

The drive back home was quiet. He didn't even turn on the radio and even though he drove with one hand, he held his other hand firm atop his thigh.

The small touches and stolen glances were over. The date was over. He had done very well. You were thoroughly swept off your feet and his grade would be an A+. You would go back to your room and go to sleep and tomorrow morning when you woke up you’d find him back to his usual antics and maybe, maybe you’d even get him to ask Mia out on a date.

You swallowed the dryness in your throat and the familiar landmarks outside your apartment building called you back home. Baekhyun pulled into the parking garage and you did not wait for him to round the hood of the car to reach your door, you simply opened it yourself and pushed through it.

Baekhyun did well. You had given him a task and he’d done it. He deserved all the praise and recognition for a job well done. He’d taken it seriously just as he said he would. This dark mood that had suddenly come over you could not show. You shouldn’t do this to him.

You cared for him too much to ruin this sweet evening.

You loved him too much. This quiet secret usually echoed around inside of your heart and you winced to hear it peaking it’s way up into your running thoughts.

The apartment was dark and you walked through it easily, knowing exactly where you could walk without bumping into anything and he didn’t turn on any lights as he walked closely behind you. He hadn’t said anything to you on the drive home, nor did he speak right now as he walked you back to your bedroom door where he had picked you up.

You turned to face him now. You pushed a smile up to your lips and his face was mostly in the darkness, barely lit with the city lights from the window.  

“Thank you for a lovely evening, Baekhyun. It was perfect. You were perfect. Seriously, you are amazing.”

You leaned before he did and you felt the staggered response from his limbs as he wrapped both of his arms around your shoulders for the hug.

“Thank you for coming with me tonight,” he whispered against your ear and when you pulled out of the hug, your small smile was not returned. You could see enough of his face to see that he did not smile at you now.

Your hand was on your door and you turned and stepped inside, thankful that you had left your small table lamp on. The room was warm and inviting and you closed the door behind you with a soft click that sounded exactly like clapperboard snapped to signal the end of a movie scene. You could almost hear a director somewhere yelling cut. Everybody clapped for the job well done. All the actors could now go home. It was over.

Your shoes were off. You’d pulled off the earrings and had taken off your necklace and the delicate tennis bracelet’s clasp was so tiny you had to try a few times to get it open so you could take it off.

When you reached up to slip the strap of your dress off your shoulders a tiny sound interrupted you. It was almost like a knocking, but it was so soft you had to listen carefully to hear if it repeated again.

It did not, but you could not shake that feeling that it had happened and out of genuine curiosity you walked across your bedroom and pulled your bedroom door open.

Someone was there; Baekhyun was there, standing in nearly the exact same position as he had been, wearing the same clothes. The only difference was the sight mess to his hair and the definite pink shade you saw on his face even in the dim lighting from the windows.

“Peanut?” You couldn’t imagine what this was. He was finished. The assignment was finished and he had done perfectly, you’d said so already...but, his eyes. You caught that same look that you’d seen on him many times before. It was a look of hard determination that propelled him forward when he dove into some new and difficult project he had to master. If you had to give it a name, you’d call it his passion. The passion he had inside of him to do things right. To be perfect.

“I said I would take it seriously,” he said in a well controlled voice and you shook your head, not understanding what he meant. Did he have some regrets about how the night went? Did he feel that he had somehow failed to live up to the requirements you’d set forth for him as his teacher?

“The date, I told you I would.” He wasn't clarifying anything with his words.

It was then that he moved.

His hands were up and Baekhyun took a step closer to where you stood confused and surprised at the threshold of your bedroom door. He reached for you with both hands and you felt the warmth of his palms on your cheeks at the same time as you felt the exhale from his parted lips against your mouth. It happened in a single moment. His lips connected with yours and you gasped in a surprised breath. Baekhyun kissed you. His lips were on yours and he held your face tightly between both of his hands as he did it. This was it. This was his goodnight kiss at your front door. This was the end of the date.

You could just make out the ultra up close view of him, his fluffed up hair, the smoothness of his forehead, his eyes closed up tight and dark eyelashes spread over his cheeks and it was all a big blur and so you closed your eyes and your heart raged noisily inside of your chest with the sudden need you felt for this to happen.

Your own lips parted and you felt the tilt of his head as his bottom lip pushed out slipping perfectly between your own and you could not stop it. You could not control the tightness with which your hands clung to the cotton of his dress shirt and pulled him toward you. You could not contain the way his tongue brushed lightly against your own and the way you reacted to it. The light moan that escaped from your throat and bounced around inside of his mouth. The light draw you felt on your lip as he pulled lightly and sucked on your lip as he did it. The final pull was him pulling away.

He ended the kiss with a step backward and a drop of his hands from your face.

He had kissed you and you most definitely had kissed him back. The labored breathing you struggled to contain did nothing for the dizziness.  

“Goodnight,” he said with a roughness on his voice; plus the blown out look in his eyes was telling you of many forbidden things that he was running from now. Things that even he knew were a very bad idea.

This had been fake. This was supposed to be a lesson.

You stood at your doorway and watched him disappear into his bedroom and after standing frozen in your doorway you had no choice but to return to the quiet glowing comfort of your own bedroom and close your door too.

Your hands were shaking and you felt the trembling all over you as you looked around at the place you called home. The place you loved more than anything in the world except for maybe that man who was likely facing a very similar struggle behind his own closed bedroom door.

The only difference was just how much you had to lose if you gave in.

You loved him. You knew it deep down inside of your soul. It had been buried for so long deep in the frozen depths of your ocean that you thought it would never surface and consume you, yet now you knew you’d been a fool.

Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 , Part 5, Part 6

Tag list: @j-pping  @blahblahblah-boo  @his-mochi-cheeks  @amyeonzing@littleflowercrown13  @baekinmylife  @insta1010  @nana-banana  @f4ncyvelvet@bbhbeth  @totallynerdstuff  @byunbabybaek @maijinki @bbyunz@theclawofaraven @kingkushdealer  @uhobob