#my face hurt i need to clean the cat room i need to vacuum i need to do dishes

[plantanarchy]

this year i got a bad cold the second worst (week 10, our biggest planting week) and worst weeks (mother's day week) of greenhouse spring rip i'm suffering so bad

[fantastic-bby]

SKZ as animal hybrid boyfriends

Pairing: Reader x Members

Word count: 2.9k

Genre: Fluff | Headcanon | Animal Hybrid/Shifter AU | Boyfriend AU

Warnings: Very brief mention of spiders

Masterlist

Chan

A husky hybrid

Has the CUTEST pair of gray and white ears that stick out of the top of his head

Also has the most gorgeous pair of pale blue eyes that glow in the dark

He has a fluffy white tail that wags like crazy whenever he’s excited because he doesn’t know how to stop it from showing

He’s also the sweetest boyfriend in. The. WORLD!

Always asks how you’re doing

Makes sure your not missing any meals and that you’re always hydrated

Every morning, he wakes you up with cute good morning texts and he always tries to send you good night texts sometimes forgets because he gets so caught up in work

He makes up for it tho

Sends flowers to your place whenever he forgets uwu

Chan’s the perfect boyfriend

The only problem is that you’re allergic to dogs

He didn’t realise why you always seemed to sneezy and stuffy whenever you would come over to his place

Until you told him

And his reaction makes you feel like you just told him the most horrific thing in the world

To him it is!!!!

Because he’s the reason that you’ve been having allergic reactions around him!!

He starts vacuuming his place more often to keep any fur away and makes sure to keep the area super clean so that you’re clear from anything that could cause a reaction

He also starts lint rolling and vacuuming his clothes before giving them to you so that you don’t take any of his fur home unless you ask him to leave his fur

Chan gets confused whenever you tell him that you don’t want him to vacuum or wash his hoodies before giving them to you

But you like them because every time you see the strands of gray and white fur sticking out of his hoodie, it reminds you of him

So instead,

Chan starts buying a crap ton of allergy meds

Puts them in every corner of his house

In the bathroom

The kitchen

The living room

The bedroom

Literally everywhere just in case you get a super bad reaction

That way he’s always prepared for anything

Minho

A maine coon hybrid

The most luscious fur ever known to man

His cat ears are so fluffy and always well groomed

He has this beautiful fluffy orange tail that he’s gotten pretty good at hiding his feelings with

Usually a hybrid’s animal features would probably give away their emotions, but Minho learned to control his ears and tails really well

It’s just that his ears are really sensitive and they flick around every few seconds whenever he’s in a crowded place

He has a pair of yellow eyes that are constantly in the shape of slits simply because he wants to intimidate everyone around him

Also always has his claws out because they intimidate strangers

Wouldn’t tell anyone, but Minho lets his pupils dilate when he’s alone with you (´∀｀)♡

He also likes to tease you a lot but you know he’s just joking because if he was serious, his tail wouldn’t be so related

You try not to tell him because then he’ll start working harder to hide his tail swishes

Is the most precious yet teasing boyfriend out there

He’ll make a joke about you eating a lot of ice cream whenever you’re sad, but he’ll always have your favourite ice cream in the freezer

If you complain about some kind of muscle pain, Min would call you weak but then also come home with muscle relief patches that he’ll stick to you himself

Minho likes to shift into cat form if you’re stressed because then it means that he wouldn’t really disturb you a lot

His footsteps are way quieter when he’s in cat form as compared to human form

So if you’re stressed or tired and you ask him to give you time

Minho would shift and hide in one of the cat towers he bought for himself until he hears you coming out of the bedroom

The moment he hears the sound of the bedroom door opening, he’ll lift his head and peek out from the top

If you sit on the floor right in front of the tower, Minho will scurry off of the tower to sit in your lap to

But if you don’t even look at the tower and you instead go to the kitchen, he’ll wait a bit longer to give you more time

Changbin

Yk I wanna say he’d be some cursed Dwaekki hybrid the skzoo dwaekki haunts me in my sleep

But I genuinely feel like he’d be something really threatening like a wild animal

So if Chan’s a husky and Minho’s a maine coon

I’m gonna throw Changbin in as a grizzly bear because he’s a tank of a man and I love him for that

His ears are dark brown and rounded, poking out from the top of his head

His eyes are super dark brown and sometimes you can’t even tell if you’re able to see the white in his eyes bcs his pupils are just that big

His hands have these huge black claws that could claw someone apart if he wanted to

Also has a cute brown tail that he often hides underneath his clothes because it’s small enough for him to sit on

He gives THE BEST CUDDLESSSS!!!!!

Sometimes shifts into bear form just to cuddle you because it’s cold and relying on the heater might make it too warm

So Binnie likes to use his own fur to warm you up if he notices you shivering

Also would not hesitate to bear his teeth at anyone who tries to hurt you

Changbin doesn’t really tell anyone this

But one of his proudest bear traits is his ability to vocalise like a bear

Which means that whenever he feels the need to protect you or whoever’s around him

He will growl like a bear

And it’s terrifying

You didn’t even know that Changbin could roar until one night when a stranger wouldn't take your ‘no’ as an answer and your boyfriend almost lost his mind

He pulled you behind him and grabbed the collar of their shirt and just roared at them

The stranger being a hybrid of a smaller bear species immediately scrambled off

But Changbin also immediately switches back into sweet, cuddly boyfriend the moment he turns back to you <3

Hyunjin

A sphynx hybrid

Very dramatic

Very loud

He has pink cat ears sticking out of the top of his head with a little black splotch on his left ear

He also has this naked pink tail that sticks out from underneath his shirt

Every minor inconvenience and Hyunjin’s meowing and whining to you about it and you think it’s funny every time he does

Like the time he misplaced his sock and was crying all over your shared home looking for it until he found it underneath the bed

His claws are retractable, so he usually hides them because he doesn’t want to hurt anyone on accident unlike Minho

He’s VERY cuddly both in human form and cat form

Hyunjin likes to do the ‘kneading the dough’ thing whenever you’re cuddling

And ends up leaving holes in your clothes because his claws would accidentally grab onto the fabric

Would also feel really bad afterwards because now he’s ruined your shirt

You reassure him that it’s fine

But Hyunjin’s dramatic also kinda wants an excuse to go shopping with you

So he cries about it and it leads to him dragging you to the mall so that he can buy you a new one

Ends up getting distracted at a cat cafe because he’s made conversation with one of the cats there

And he’s basically talking to them like he’s a middle aged wine mom talking about their weird husbands

You have to remind him what the goal is

But he’s so immersed in the conversation with the orange tabby that you can only watch in amusement

Hyunjin’s talking to it in English while the cat nods with it’s tail swishing every time he asks it a question, mewling every once in a while as a response

You watch with a smile on your face, chin resting against the palm of your hand as you listen

You can only gather that Hyunjin’s telling the cat about why you’re at the mall

And the cat turns to you with a bored expression on its face before meowing

“She says good luck on finding a new shirt”

You nod and reach out to pet the cat’s head as thanks

You and Hyunjin leave after a while

And soon, the trip to get one shirt turns into a shared shopping spree

Jisung

Kinda obvious but he’s a squirrel hybrid

He has a pair of rounded, light brown ears on the top of his head

A bushy light brown tail that bumps into everything whenever he’s in cramped spaces

And the CUTEST pair of brown eyes EVERRRRR

His squirrel trait is where he gets the habit of stuffing food into his cheeks whenever he eats

Ji’s really good at climbing

So he has this long ass piece of wood that he keeps in the living room of his home so that he can still climb something in squirrel form if he can’t go outside

He also has tiny black claws that he uses mainly for practicality when he's in human form

So stuff like cutting into plastic, through strings and to open mail

He just slides his finger across the top of the envelope and boom

Jisung’s quite clumsy

It doesn’t help that he has this huge, bushy tail behind him

He bumps you with it a lot and he’s always so apologetic over it

But it’s fine because it’s his tail and it’s soft and cute and it’s part of Jisung UwU

There were a couple of times where you would wake up and his tail would be tickling your sides

So you’d wake up giggling

And it would wake him up too

He’d turn around and immediately wrap his arms around your waist to cuddle into you

You love playing with his ears

Jisung’s really responsive whenever you pet his squirrel features

So if you touch his tail in public

He’s jolting forward like AHHH

And you like to gently rub his ears whenever you’re cuddling

Jisung usually ends up cuddling into you more because he really likes it whenever you play with his ears

He has a habit of making those squirrel squeaks whenever he’s uncomfortable

So in public, if he feels like he’s overwhelmed or wants to leave

He’ll cling onto your arm and start squeaking softly so that only you’re able to hear

And it’s an easy way for you to know that he wants to leave without him actually telling you

Felix

Horned owl hybrid

He has two sets of white and brown feathers that poke out from the top of his head and curls to the back

He does, however, have talons at his fingertips that he doesn’t really like because it gets caught on a lot of things

Has feathers running down his arms, but can’t actually fly in human form

His eyes are this beautiful amber colour

He also has a lot of hanging stuff in his house that he likes to fly back and forth to whenever he shifts into owl form

Absolutely loves doing the head spinning trick because you freaked out the first time you saw him do it as a human

Felix also has really light footsteps

So sometimes you don’t even hear him coming into a room and suddenly he’s beside you

Which scares you sometimes

Overall, Felix is just unintentionally scary.

Buuuut

Because he has really good eyesight at night

And because he’s nocturnal

He sleeps in the day

Which means that all of his work is done at night while you’re asleep

His hearing is intense which means that he could hear the smallest pin dropping in the kitchen from the bedroom

So when he hears something strange coming from the kitchen

He’s immediately crawling out of bed and peeking out of the bedroom door

That’s when he sees a spider crawling out from behind the fridge

A huge spider

Now, Felix does NOT like spiders

But he knows that if you wake up in the middle of the night to get a drink, then you’re going to be freaked out by too

But he should be able to toss it out the window in owl form

So Felix pops open one of the windows and shifts

His silent flying and sharp night vision make it a quick mission that’s executed without much hassle

He manages to grab the spider with his talons and just tosses it straight out of the window

By the time Felix has returned to the bedroom

You’ve woken up because you realised he wasn’t beside you anymore

So he climbs back into bed and lets you hold onto him while you fall back asleep

Seungmin

Labrador hybrid

Has a pair of golden ears flopping over the top of his head

Also has a golden tail that he usually hides because if he gets over excited then it’ll wag all over the place and might bump into things

Is a relatively quiet person and is also a quiet dog

He doesn’t say or bark that much

But you’ve come to learn how to read his body language

Because his posture both in human form and dog form speak his thoughts

Like whenever he’s standing tall then you’ll figure that Minnie’s probably uncomfortable or feels threatened

As quiet as he is

He’s extremely attentive to your needs as well

Seungmin’s able to catch your body language way quicker than you are at reading his

Which means that the moment you look uncomfortable, he’s immediately moving to stand beside you with an arm wrapped around you

Think of it as that TikTok trend that’s like ‘using my scary dog privilege’

In this case

Seungmin’s more than happy to be the scary dog that lets you walk around alone

He’d bark and bite at anything or anyone who would try to hurt you

Even in human form, he’d growl as a warning to other animal hybrids that are around you

Whenever you’re out in public, Seungmin tries to stay by your side just in case anything happens

But when he has to part from you to talk to another group of your friends

He keeps you in his line of sight

He’d always angle himself in conversations so that the person he’s talking to has their back facing you so that he’s able to see you

And when a cat hybrid suddenly approaches you

Seungmin’s more on the attentive side but he hasn’t gone into protective mode because you don’t look uncomfortable

But then your frame starts to shrink

He immediately changes his posture

Which scares the people around him because suddenly, Seungmin looks so scary

He waits a moment longer and the moment you start looking around the room for him, he’s shoved his drink into the hands of Hyunjin so that he can make his way over to you

He slings his arm over your shoulder and glares at the cat hybrid who’s now extremely intimidated by the presence of the labrador hybrid

Seungmin leans close to the cat and growls at them until they run off

He stays with you for the rest of the night and the way he stays in protective mode makes you feel safe

Until you get home and Seungmin’s back to this ball of cuddle fluff that you absolutely love (｡♥‿♥｡)

Jeongin

Fennec fox hybrid

Has a big pair of white fluffy ears that poke out of his head

Has a fluffy white tail that blends into a more golden colour that’s long enough to poke out from underneath his shirt

He has super insane hearing

Even if he has headphones in, he can hear the outside world

Bodes well for him because whenever you walk into his apartment, he’ll walk out immediately to greet you

He never actually feels hot or warm because his body heat radiates off of his ears

Is always cold in human form

In fox form, his fur insulates his body instead so he doesn’t feel much of a difference

Has a habit of not drinking for hours because he can get stuck in his fox form

Also has a habit of chewing on your desk plants if he deems them edible

Unfortunately for you, that means you’ll come home to your beautiful plant babies half eaten and munched away because your fox boyfriend wanted a snack

To solve this problem, you filled the fridge with berries and vegetables for whenever he feels like snacking

But sometimes he goes overboard and he pretty much eats everything he can find when he forgets to eat for a while

He’s a fox hybrid that doesn’t know how to shift on command

Usually he has this big urge to shift but he’ll be stuck in one form for a while before being able to switch

He doesn’t know any other fox hybrids

So Jeongin has to learn to control his animalistic instincts with the help of you!

His human partner

Lucky for the both of you

You have a friend who’s a red fox hybrid

She’s not a fennec fox

But she still shares similar instincts to Jeongin because they’re both fox hybrids

So now Jeongin comes to you with the biggest smile on his face whenever he’s accomplished something, gushing about how Fox Noona taught him how to shift on command

He’ll show you

And you watch as he shifts into this tiny little fennec fox with a big smile on his snout (Ｔ▽Ｔ)

[unloved-cadillac]

LMAO an idea has come into my noggin. Levi’s Fem s/o brings home an animal. I’m thinking a cat, but a dog would be fun too. Honestly up to you what animal! It could be a hedgehog for all I care. Anyways, Levi pulls the “I said I didn’t want a pet” act but ends up being VERY attached to the new animal. Like puts a cravat on it, baby talks it, etc. Maybe carries it around when he can. I just see this happening lol. Thanks!

C/n: I loved writing this! Thanks for requesting and I hope that you enjoy🤍

——————————————————————————

A Turn of Events. (Levi x Reader)

The day quickly turned to night in the city of Sina as a young couple walks on the sidewalk. “Honey, I’m thinking about getting another car.” You say and Levi looks at you. “Another car? Why?”

“Well, I need to get another one. It’s costing the same as a new car so might as well just get another one.” You sigh and take Levi’s hand and lean on his shoulder. “I wish life wasn’t so expensive.” You say and he kisses the top of your head. “I know. We’ll be okay though.”

The both of you chat and as you cross a path that led to an alleyway, that’s when you heard it. “Levi.” You stop him and look into the dark alley. “Do you hear that?” You ask and he looks. A soft whining noise came from there and you gasped. “It’s probably a puppy. Let’s go see.” You were about to walk into it but the back of your jacket was caught by Levi. “And do what? It’s probably there for a reason.” You scoff and pull away from him. “How can you be so cold? I’m going to see if it’s okay, you’re welcome to join.” You say and turn on your phone flashlight as you head in. Levi groans and follows you.

You follow the soft whines as you headed deeper into the alley. “Here here, sweetheart. I’m here. Where are you?” You talk to the animal and it whined louder and you turned to the left to see a box next to a dumpster. You shined your flashlight on it and there it was. A puppy. “Oh no. Baby, are you okay? What happened?” You ask and squat down to see it. It curled up as it shivered and whined. You tried to examine its body and you saw it’s leg bleeding.

“Y/n!” You hear Levi call as his footsteps approached you. “Over here. I found the pup!” You yell back and then you continued to coo at the puppy. “Let me help you.” You whisper to it and it looks up to you with big black eyes. You smile as you gently pet its head. “Don’t worry.”

Levi stood behind you as you talked to the creature. Only you were crazy enough to do this, in the dirt nonetheless. “Hold this.” You give your phone and he continued to shine the light on you. You gently lifted the box up and held it in front of him. “Levi, it’s so light.” You sounded like you were on the verge of tears and he sighs. “What now? We can’t take him to the vet. They’ll be closed now.” He says and he sees you smile while looking at the pup. “We take him home for the night. First thing tomorrow, we take him to the vet.” You say and begin to walk out of the alley.

Levi didn’t even argue. He knew he wouldn’t stand a chance once there’s an animal involved.

Once you took the pup home, you gently dressed it’s wound and wrapped a bandage around it. You put a plastic bag over it and tied it up so you could bathe it. “Oh, you’re a boy! Hello, handsome.” Levi heard you say and he groans. “This cannot be happening.” He mumbles in his hands. When you were finished, you dried the pup and brought him out to the kitchen. You had some leftover chicken from dinner and gave it to him in a bowl which he gulped down.

“We aren’t keeping him, by the way.” Levi suddenly says and you look at him. “What?! Why?!” You ask and he shakes his head. “I do not want a pet in the house. They’re too much to handle and filthy. Once we take him to the vet, that’s it.” He says, trying to hold his ground.

But then you walked over to him and wrapped your arms around his torso and laid your chin on his chest, looking up to him. “Levi.” You coo and he shakes his head and looks up. “No.”

“Leviiii.”

“I said no.”

“But LLeevvviiiiii, look at him. He’s an innocent soul who did nothing wrong in this selfish world of ours. A horrible human being threw him away and now he finally got another chance at having a happy and good life with a loving family. Don’t throw him away.” You whisper and Levi listens as he looks at the puppy with the bandage on his leg, eating. He lifted his head to look at Levi and you turned to watch him and as you looked at the pup, his tail wagged so hard.

“He’s a baby, Levi.” You finally say and let go of Levi to go to the puppy. You sat on the floor as you played and petted the pup and Levi just groaned. Why did you have to make so much of sense? He heard you baby talking and he shook his head. “Tch. Fine. But he’s your responsibility.” Levi finally says and you squeal and run into Levi’s arms. “Oh thank you, Levi.” He holds you as he looks at the puppy who looked like he had a smile on. “Yeah.”

~~~~

At the vet, they said that he was a pure German Shepherd. His leg was scarred and hurt but nothing drastic. “And what is this little ones name?” The vet asked, ready to write. You looked at Levi as you thought.

“I didn’t even think of a name.” You say and scratch your head. Before you could say anything else Levi spoke up.

“His name is Tiger.” You look at Levi who looked at the vet, not wanting to look at you. You smiled to yourself and held Levi’s arm. “Tiger it is. We want to keep him overnight just to run some extra tests just to make sure. You can come get him tomorrow.” You and Levi nod and leave the vet. “Tiger? What made you think of that?” You finally ask Levi as you both walked to the car.

“Dunno. It suited him.” Levi glanced to you and you smiled. “Alright. So let’s go get some stuff for him. Bed, toys. Collar.” Levi hums in agreement and you both head to a pet store. A big white bed for Tiger was bought along with toys, shampoo, brushes, and a leash.

When Tiger came back, needless to say he felt right at home. He was energetic, playful and just a happy pup. You had to have a whole album on your phone dedicated to him. Levi took longer to allow Tiger in but he eventually did. And it was amazing.

Tiger was four months, so he was at the age where you could carry him. So Levi, always had him in his arms. Tiger’s front paws would be on Levi’s shoulders as Levi held his back and cleaned. Tiger was afraid of the vacuum so Levi had to hold him while he vacuumed. You even caught him baby taking to Tiger.

“You are such a handsome boy. Yes you are. You’re my handsome boy. Who’s handsome boy are you? Yes that’s right. Mine.” He says as he plays with Tiger and you chuckle and Levi immediately looked at you. “H-Hey Y/n. We were just playing around.” Levi stutters and you nod. “Oh I know. You and your handsome boy.” You play the recording and Levi’s eyes widened. “Delete that.” He says and you shake your head. “No.”

“I said delete it! Tiger get her.” Levi orders Tiger but he just walks to you and sits in front of you. “Mama’s boy.” You show Levi your tongue and run away from him. Levi chased you and Tiger joined and all three of you ended up on the couch, on top of one another.

Tiger didn’t like to sleep alone. His bed was in the living room, just in case he needed to eat or drink but he whined and whined at your bedroom door and only stopped when he was let it. So now he sleeps in between you and Levi.

Levi even got Tiger a cravat. A cute one with paw prints and you were in awe. “Look at our baby, Levi! So handsome.” You squish Tiger’s face and kiss him all over. Levi chuckled and carried Tiger as you all laughed.

One time, Levi fell asleep on the couch and Tiger jumped up and slept on his chest. Levi unconsciously wrapped and arm around him and now that it is your lock screen. Levi’s lock screen is you holding Tiger as he smiled at the camera and you smiled at him.

Levi and you had a family. Not a fully human family, but a family nonetheless.

——————————————————————————

“I miss my girl and boy so much. I hope that they’re in a better place now.”

🖤🤍Thanks for reading🤍🖤

-Caddy.

[ateezinmymind]

Pinning them to the ground

Ateez x reader

Fluff, suggestive, humor

A/N: I started this earlier instead of doing schoolwork,, I was bored ok😆

Hongjoong:

your wrestling match began when you called him a ‘tiny baby’

*dramatic gasp* “HEYYYY! I’m pretty tall”

pretending to sulk, he bursts into a sprint towards you

screams coming out of you. You’re only option was to run away..

Wearing socks and coming around corners don’t go well, so *pLOP* you’re on your butt.

hearing hongjoongs giggles erupting into his aggressive cute ‘AHH HA ha HA’ (a/n: uwu omg I can hear him) then the thud of him dropping to the floor

Turning you pout,, “DONT LAUGH MEANIE”

Only to start the argument of “you called me TINY”, “because YOU are”, “my butt hurts” etc

Getting up off the floor you scramble towards joong while he’s still bent down

Knocking both yourselves down on the hardwood, sliding around you try to keep the upper hand

Grabbing both his hands you pin them above his head and straddle his waist

“I won.BOOM”

“Y/n” hongjoongs groans out

Thinking you hurt him, you lift your body up

He gives you a taunting “AhahaAha SUCKER”

Slipping away from you, hongjoong runs towards your bedroom

“HEY NOT FAIRRR!!” running back for revenge with the biggest smile

Seonghwa:

you were sitting on the couch playing on your phone when you heard the vacuum start

signaling it’s ‘time to clean up’

Getting grumpy from the thought of tidying up, you make your way to the kitchen.

Seeing that there was no mess, you knew hwa was gonna annoy you about that fact you didn’t help

Not wanting the possibility of that outcome to happen you sped walked towards the cleaning man

Having his back towards you, you sneak behind him and tap his right shoulder

Moving to the left while he turns his gazed to the right

Taking the vacuum from his grasp you start giggling

Seeing you tricked him you say “HAH gotcha.” and continue to clean

Seonghwa goes :O

“Oh finally, it’s about time you helped y/n”

You could just hear the smirk forming on his face

Hwa coming up to you, flipping you over his shoulder

You squeal “YAA put me down!-“and start to spank his butt repetitively

Quickly getting placed back on the floor, he begins to wrestle you, “Hah I gotchu now”

Feeling playful you link both your legs behind his back and squeeze his waist

Letting out a groan of pain, Seonghwa’s grip on your arms loosens and you take control

Flipping your bodies over, you now on top. Seonghwa bites his lip

“I like this new y/n-“

Realizing the position you’re in and feeling hwa under you, you begin to tense up

Once again he takes control, but this time in something he prefers more...(a/n:you. Under him. Sexy time)

Yunho:

You both were having a Harry Potter movie marathon (a/n: as one does when they’re with this teddy bear)

When The Prisoner of Azkaban started it’s ending credits, it was time for snack refills and restroom breaks

So when you were in charge of popping more popcorn and such, Yunho went to the bathroom

*POp pp OP POpP pOp* waiting until the snack was done cooking you went to put the next movie in

Hearing footsteps down the hallway you jumped when Yunho yelled

“WiNGardiUm LEVioSA!!”

Letting out a small squeak, you charge for him

running and diving between is long ass legs you let out a series of laugher

Yunho traps you between his knees slightly blushing from the close proximity of your body to his

*BEEEEP BEEEP BEEEEEEP*

Releasing you, he turns to go grab the popcorn and other snacks

But when you see an opportunity to attack you go for it..something you do often-is attack. With kisses, hugs or even tickles

This time you came up behind him with a different tactic,,you holler “EXPelliARMUS!!”

Hanging onto his broad shoulders you bite his neck, pulling him down to the floor-laughing

“Y/n-ahhh!!” Yunho squeals out

From being on the floor you two quickly start fighting to pin each other down

Struggling you think of ways you can get the advantage..then ‘bing’ idea

Stopping your movements, locking eyes with Yunho you began to lean in.

Him being swooned for you, closes his eyes-as your lips moved against each other

Then BAM you now on top of him, cup his face and declare yourself the winner

“Fine princess,, but let’s see who will be the first to fall asleep”

“Bet?-“ ... “BET”

(a/n: I want to have a Yunho)

Yeosang:

having chicken for dinner definitely had its pros but,, also it’s cons

Fighting for the last piece of food ALWAYS led to a petty argument, no matter what you said or did. Yeosang. never. lost.

(a/n: all hail the chicken master)

On the couch, chicken being eaten, watching your show together. You thought he would be distracted enough for him to not realize you took the chicken

“How could you,,”

Turning your head to the male, you’re met with the coldest glare

“Trying to take MY last piece of chicken? Babygirl I don’t think so..”

Choking on the food in your mouth from hearing the nickname,, he lightly chuckles

*cue flustered mess*

“Well..why don’t we fight for it?” — “y/n let’s be honest here, you never win..”

Rolling your eyes you put the chicken down and wipe your hands clean

“No idiot, FIGHT. For. It.” Yeosang wipes his mouth and sits up

“If you want it that way,, the-“ taking him from the waist, he grabs onto your belt loops to keep from falling

Pinching, squeezing and pushing was involved until you actually managed to make him fall to the ground.

*lowkey mad, but the love is always there*

Pinning him down he congratulates you

“Well Done Y/n. I’ll give you the crown for this round” *easily gets out of your hold*

“But only because you’re so cute and helpless”

Speechless. You contemplate who really won this game.

San:

“Y/nnnnnn... I’m BOReDdd..”

Looking down at the handsom boy, you give him a sweet smile.

“Want to play a game then?”

Eyes sparkling, San gets up from his lying state to face you straight on

“Depends on the game..”-“what do you have in mind y/n?”

Telling him to close his eyes for 30 seconds. You quickly get up and head to your bedroom

Trying to find a hiding place, you hear San count “28..29..30..”

Frantically looking around your bedroom you quickly place yourself behind the door

Seeing his shadow enter the room, you jump in front of him

“YAAAAHHHHHH!!!—“ San dropping to the floor out of shock you start giggling

“Scaredy-cat sannie”

Getting on top of his limp state, you take the advantage to pin him down

“MmHmmmM” you hear him hum

“Looks like you won, love,,” “How shall we celebrate?”

Placing your hands on his chest and putting your weight on his lower half, you give him an innocent look of your flushed face

(A/n: wow y/n is slut for sannie)

Leaning towards the side of his head you whisper in his ear and softly bite the lobe

“Anything..everything, just as long as it involves you..”

You know sexy time. Bc he’s a FLIRT

Mingi:

He challenged you to a leg wrestling match, just because he wanted to see how cute and tiny you are

“No fairrr MINGII,, you have those perfect thighs, I’m no match. Go get Wooyoung”

(A/n: I’m all here for Mingi thighs 😌)

“But I challenged you,,” *cue pouting minki*

“Well I don’t take your challenge...INSTEAD, I challenged YOU!”

Hysterically laughing Mingi gives you that beautiful huge grin

Walking up to him you dramatically say “I challenge you. Song. Mingi. To just, JUST. A quick wrestling match-“

“Where whoever pins the other person down, wins. AND gets bragging rights”

Proud of your offer, you see Mingi standing dramatically. (a/n: you know that ‘hello Mingi from ateez and hello Jennie from blackpink’ meme//where the hand is on the hip?? lol)

It was settled. Y/n vs Mingi in a match to win bragging rights.

Starting on opposite ends of the living room, you sprint his way, over the couch taking a pillow with you

*turns into a mini pillow fight*

Laughter and sounds of whacking were the only things coming out of your fight.

Mingi falling down to the ground due to his aggressive laughter,, you quickly jump onto his stomach

“HAHAHA LOSER” declaring yourself the winner you immediately get up and run to the ateez dorm

“GUEES WHO JUST LOST A WRESTLING MATCH!!!”

Get prepared to hear Mingi screams as he runs after you

Wooyoung:

It started out as a bet

“Oh please,, obviously I would beat you y/n—the possibility of you magically obtaining strength out of the picture. I bet you’ll never be able to pin me”

Confident boy

But oh wait.. y/n!! You live to annoy your s/o

“Sounds like you’re scared Woo..Why don’t we put this bet to the test?”

Snorting out of amusement

He gestures you to come at him with two fingers

“Come at me y/n”

Then once you make your moves on him, he has to tease you.. DUH

“I know you just can’t keep your hands off me love”

Smacking is thigh you stick your tongue out and taunt him to you

Taking steps away from him, it’s then your turn to gesture him forward

“ReADDYY.... FIGHT!”

Screaming at each other you beginning biting.

After the series of pain and humor you were about to give up when wooyoung got a cramp in his calf

“AahhHhh OUCHYYY OWW OW”

Finding his discomfort hilarious, you laugh your way on top of him

“What were you saying about that bet again? That I’d never be able to pin you?”

You kiss his cheek and get off him

Massaging his leg he starts,

“That’s cheap y/n,, taking advantage of a person in need of healing”

Gives you the biggest frown

Jongho:

(A/n: OMGGG CUTEST BABY EVER🥺my heart)

With Jongho it was just a simple, yet sly trick you pulled

Giving snuggles, you made your way on top of him

“You know how you’re the strongest member love?”

A quiet yet relaxed ‘yes’ coming from the boy

You hug his chest and situate yourself over his body

Thinking of what to say, you hum

“Why do you bring that up so randomly?”

The little giggles coming from your mouth, are contagious as Jongho starts giggling as well

“Looks like I’m the strongest now..”

Grabbing Jong’s hands you pin them above his head and smile

Looking at your self place above him, Jongho spreads his arms out. So you’re now getting lower to his face

Licking your neck, he uses your weakened demeanor as an advantage

Flipping the two of you over he gives you his cutest gummy smile

“You seriously are so cute. stop. It”

The boy is in love with you

[bangteamhyuk]

Moving On

Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Angst, Producer! Min Yoongi

Warning: mentions of sex, angst, contains heavy argument (One Shot)

Word count: 3,850k

Synopsis: You went back with Yoongi to your old apartment before moving on to the next. While cleaning, fixing, and rummaging all of the things inside, you two began to reminisce your life when you were still building your dreams together. Until he saw his old broken piano, then reality hits the two of you.

“I’m sorry I’m late!” you tried to catch your breath after rushing on to the stairs. Three floors were pretty tough for someone bringing cleaning tools, while hoping not to disappoint the person who was waiting for you for half an hour on the other end.

Yoongi turned around and crouched down a bit to see if you are fine “It’s okay. I’m sure you have reasons” He took the broomstick from your hand and put it together with the big vacuum cleaner he was holding. He paused for a moment and smiled at the sight of a white but clear oval diamond ring you were wearing. Your engagement rings.

You quickly blushed and turned away, flustered at the sight of Yoongi smiling at you. “Bunch of Min residents. Still cracks me up” you chuckled at the stick figure faces of you and Yoongi looking mean as the welcome door mat.

“Yeah, you thought of that” he pulled out the keys from his pocket and unlocked the door.

“But you were the one who drew those faces, Yoongi Matisse” you remarked as you fixed your hair. He scoffed as he put on his hairband.

“Ready to clean our stuff?” he asked. You nodded.

Yoongi went inside first and opened the curtain from the window on the front, giving light inside the studio apartment that were filled with dusts and memories. You followed. You turned around to see cobwebs around the table occupied with pictures, knick-knacks from all the travel you two had been, and even crumpled grocery receipts hidden on the side.

“5 good years huh?” you spoke, brushing your finger on the table to see how much dirt occurred over the years.

“Uhuh, 5 good years, and now we’re ready to move out Y/N” he replied.

“Look if we put the couch on the center, our visitor might think we’re bunch of couch potatoes. First impression last babe” you reasoned, as you sat beside Yoongi on the bare wooden floor of the room.

He shook his head “Y/N, I’m just saying that we needed to be reminded that it’s okay to rest once we get home, that’s why I was thinking that the couch should be there. Besides are we really going to admit and entertain guess here?” he gave you one tough argument that was hard not to consider.

“Ok fine, but what if I’m feeling a little frisky and want to do it while we watch TV? And then a burglar came from the door, right?” you turn to look at him with conviction in your eyes then continued “All I’m trying to say is that, putting it on the center have its disadvantage. Would you want your dick to be seen by a stranger, worse to a voyeur burglar?” you raised your arms and pointed it with your open palms at a non-existent couch against the other side of the empty room.

Yoongi narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth in disgust “I can’t believe hearing this poor argument just to convince me in putting…” he paused then sighed “Fine, let’s put the TV and couch on the right side and the dinner table at the center” he conceded.

“Happy girlfriend equals happy life” you smiled at your victory. Yoongi turned to you and smiled dryly. You chuckled.

“We’re going to build our dreams here…” he spoke softly while staring at the open window in the midst of vacant space between the two of you. You stared at him and lingered for a moment.

“Yes, we will” you smiled, as you turned to stare at the open window as well, filling the bareness of the room with all your hopes and dreams together, as you closed your eyes.

“Achoo!” you sneezed as you open your eyes again, while patting the dusted couch and pulling the cushion seats out. Yoongi was mopping the hardwood floor, while you on the other hand was preparing to vacuum the old couch. Suddenly you saw something, you didn’t expect.

“Ugh Yoongi!” you burst into laughter. “What?” Yoongi quickly went towards you on the old couch as you pulled out something hidden underneath the seat.

“Your dried out condom! Ugh, gross!” you exclaimed as he grinned showing you his gummy smile that you love so dearly “I told you to put them to the trash, every time! Ugh! Good thing I found it before we sell these…” your face turned sour as you held on its tip and quickly tossed it on to the trash bin. “You know what, I think we should hand them over to the cleaners first before selling them. It’s been unused for 2 years…”

“You know for 5 years since we planned to put furniture on our place, I just realized we had a really great time with that couch” he stressed the world ‘really’ which made you blushed immediately, and well a bit annoyed at the same time. “Not once did we had any visitor, not even that voyeur burglar you were talking about” he raised one of his eye brow and smirked.

You quickly pulled out the dusted pillow and threw at him. “What? I’m just saying it wouldn’t matter if we put it on the center or not.” he laughed.

“Okay, Nostradamus. Let’s get back to business. I have book signing to attend to later” you turned your back to continue cleaning the couch while you heard him chuckle once more and resumed to mop the floor.

“What’s this surprise?” you tried to reach out for something, while Yoongi was making sure you can’t see anything through the blindfold.

“Take another two steps to the front. Here. Great. Now! The big reveal!” he slowly opened the blindfold as he showed you his D-I-Y wooden desk situated beside the apartment’s lone window.

“Happy birthday Y/N!” You gasped. “You made these? Even the succulents on the desk?” you hurriedly went to your new work desk and examined everything over and underneath it. You opened one of the drawers and saw a 20-dollar cat design fountain pen you’ve been eyeing for weeks in the department store “Yoongi, thank you!” you held it to your chest.

“Well, I did the wood work but not the succulents. I just..” he scratched the back of his neck. “add that for a little touch, you know, something to ease your stress when writing stories”

You quickly ran up to him for a kiss. “Yoongi, thank you! I love it! I love you!” he grinned.

“Can you kiss me again? Maybe deepen it?” you obliged, but parted for a second. “But if my work space is on the window then… where is yours?” you asked.

He shrugs. “I can stay at our bed. I mean, I’m sure you don’t make much sound when your busy so it’s okay. I just needed a laptop and my guitar to make music” you smiled weakly. “It’s really okay babe, it’s a win-win situation. Look at this way, if you put my workspace near the window, I might include unnecessary noise from the outside. This is great!” he hugged you tight, assuring you that all is well.

“We’ll make our dreams happen in this apartment, you and I” he kissed your forehead, reminding you that you are not alone in this city trying to make it big one day. “I’m here for you always Y/N”

“I’ll always be here for you too Yoongi. We will definitely make it happen” you closed your eyes, and rest your head on his chest. You two stayed like that for a while.

“How much do you think this desk would cost?” you tap the pen on your cheek.

“I deserve a $200 for this!” he pointed at the desk. “It took me a day to figure out how to assemble everything, and I had to scratch each side with a small sandpaper for an hour Y/N! An hour! Just so you wouldn’t get hurt over its sharp edges. So yes, I demand a $200 refund for this!” he raised his eyebrow to show you how much he protests at the thought of not being able to find a just compensation for his hard work.

“But Yoongi, it’s been used for over 3 years and unused for over 2, so expect it has some scratches around and the faint smell of old wood, so $100?” you examined the whole piece, while waiting for Yoongi to agree

He closed his eyes and shook his head “175!”

“150? Last price” you faced him.

“Fine. 150” he sighed, finally agreeing to the unjust price. You then wrote the price on the note pad.

Yoongi crouched down and rummaged through the piles of things on the floor, left untouched for 2 years and saw something familiar.

“Yoongi, what if we include the chair and then we can ask for $200 deal—” you stopped midway as you saw Yoongi pulled out his electric piano, all broken.

“Open the box babe!” you watched him open the huge ribbon and tore out the wrapper on the floor. You went to the table and refilled two glasses with cheap wine.

“Oh babe, you don’t have to” he gently pulled the brand new portable electric piano from the box.

“Happy 3rd anniversary!” you handed over his share of wine. As he pulled you down to where he sat, and you fell on his lap. “Oops, careful the wine might---”  He didn’t even let you finish when he kissed you hard just to show you how grateful he was for the gift.

“Mmm…” you chuckled as you parted from the kiss and turn to the piano. You brushed your fingertips at the piano keys and smile “The greatest song of all time will be made here, in this piano. I’m claiming it!”

He hugged you tight as he rests his chin on your shoulder. “I definitely will. I love you so much!”

“You know, we can still have that fixed and sell it for…”

“No!” he exclaimed sternly. “I’ll keep it” he looked down; a bit embarrassed at his quick reaction.

You looked away, unsure what to say. You thought it was useless to keep something old and broken, but you guess it’s better that way. To let him keep a piece of you, the old you that he once knew.

“Congratulation’s Min Yoongi!” you popped the party pooper from the front door surprising Yoongi.

“Didn’t you see the live steam? The song I produced didn’t won” he closed the door and tossed the key to table.

“Doesn’t matter, the real winner is at home now! Yay!” you blew the party horn from his side, playfully tickling his ears. He brushed it down and pulled himself away, clearly annoyed.

You followed him still “It was great! The KMA failed to recognize it this year, who knows the next song you produ--- ”

“I don’t care about next year, or the next, and the next after that! It’s been 3 years, Y/N. 3 years since we’ve moved here and where has it gotten us? Nowhere!” he snapped.

You opened your mouth but quickly withdrew as you knew that saying anything further might make him more upset. “Baby, I…” you pulled him for a hug and gently stroke his back. “I understand how frustrated you are…” he shook his head and gently stepped away.

“No, you don’t. It’s easy for you to say, having a stable office job while you write as a hobby. But I only know how to produce music, it’s the only job I know! You don’t get to know, because you don’t have to rely for an award to know how good or shitty your stories are!” he snapped in anger.

You bit your lips and tried to process the situation, hoping you’ll say something to make him feel okay “Yoongi, I’m sorry that I don’t get to know that, but you know that I didn’t have much choice, but if I could I wanted to write full-time and you know that… We needed something on our table and---”

“So, it’s my fault now? That doing pizza delivery as part-time is not enough?” he didn’t even let you finished.

“I’m not saying that!” you finally cried, as you wiped your eyes with the back of your hands in frustration.

“Well then, tell me what? Because I find it hard to convince myself that it is not what you meant” he gave a sarcastic chuckle.

“Yoongi, why are we doing this? I’m just trying to help. Didn’t you say we’re going to make our dreams come true in this city, in this place, together!?”

“Well, you’re not helping, and clearly it isn’t happening.” He looked away as he took the opened bottle of wine you left on the table and chugged on it.

You looked to the ceiling and let out a long sigh “You know, I tried. For 3 years…” you nodded to yourself as you stared at the ceiling for a moment then at Yoongi. “I’ve seen you struggled. I’ve seen you succeed. I’ve seen you at your best and your worst. I saw you strive hard than anyone can in making songs, several of it! It was great, and I’m not just saying it because you’re my boyfriend but because I believe in you Yoongi. I believe in you, because I love you. I trust you no matter what, I trust that you’ll make it happen… Make US happen!” you paused.

“…But the way that’s been going lately? The way you pushed me aside, not wanting to talk things over. Having more arguments with you each day. Aren’t you tired? Instead of growing together, we’re just…growing apart!” you continued, shutting your eyes to the cold reality. You took a deep breath and pulled a glass from the kitchen sink and filled it water. You drank a glass full of it, hoping it’ll drown down the pain. He fell silent.

“You know what? Let’s…” you sighed at the thought “Break-up” you took your spare key and your bag hanging from the wall.

“Fine, leave!” he hit something aimlessly and heard a shriek of mismatched melody from the electric piano. You turned your back to see it, the electric piano you bought for him, broken and damaged. Like the way you and Yoongi are…

Silence.

You cleared your throat and began writing notes on your pad.

“When’s the wedding?” he turned to you while you sat a far from him.

“Next year, June 1st” you replied softly, resisting to look his way.

“Park Jimin’s a good guy…” he smiled weakly.

“He is.” You nodded. Then silence.

The only thing that broke the monotony of stillness between you and Yoongi within those four walls, was the sudden sound of a person knocking on the door from the other side. Yoongi slowly stood up, and went to the door to open and see who it was.

“Well, speak of the devil” he bit his lip and smiled at him. He wasn’t bitter or anything, in fact his smile was sincere after seeing what was in front of him, a genuine smile from you upon seeing the person you love, even if it was not him any longer.

He thought how bittersweet it was, to be someone looking through a window from the outside looking in, because he once knew what it feels like to be the source of your happiness. That smile he vividly recalls, even when he closed his eyes. Every outline, every mole, everything about you, he commits to memory even now that you’re gone.

“Are you ready for your book signing love?” Jimin chuckled.

“Did you get me food on the way?” you narrowed your prying eyes towards Jimin

He nodded “Cheeseburger with double patties, no onions but with extra pickles” he tilts his head to have you scoot over to his side.

You grinned, as you took your purse and ran towards Jimin. “See you tomorrow then? For the contract signing with Mrs. Song?” you turned your back to remind Yoongi.

Yoongi nods. “This apartment is already sold, so we just need our signatures to seal all deals”

“Mm, well, thanks. Congratulations by the way for winning KMA and MAMA for 2 consecutive years” you smiled.

“Well, the performer has a big participation to it too” he turned towards Jimin, as he shyly smiled and shook his head. “Hyung, really it’s the best music of all time!”

He raised his shoulder and looked at the dusted piano left on the floor “Not nearly, no…”

“Guess we’ll see each other around?” Jimin smiled as he wrapped his arms around your waist.

“Yeah, see you” Yoongi smiled and watched you two leave.

Jimin helped you with your seatbelt as he pulled out something from the backseat.

“Iced Café Latte with grainy sugar for my beloved fiancé” he handed out

“How come you always knew the perfect time I want my coffee?” he shrugs.

“I’ve gotten some information” he winks at you and started the engine.

“Hyung, there you are. I’ve been looking for you” Jimin sat beside Yoongi under a cherry blossom outside their music studio office.

“It’s break time and it’s spring, when can I have my peace?” he turned away, looking annoyed.

“Well, I’ve been thinking if we can add more lyrics to this verse? And…” Yoongi’s phone suddenly rang to notify a text, as Jimin’s eyes widened when he saw his phone glow, displaying a photo of you that Yoongi took when you two were still together. “You know Y/N?”

“Yeah, why?” Yoongi tilt his head, clearly confused as to why Jimin knew who you are.

“But he’s my girlfriend, hyung!” he stood up, almost as if ready to fight.

“Well, um, this awkward” he squint his eyes, unbothered at Jimin’s reaction “I didn’t know really that you are…” he opened his mouth then withdrew, finding words how to explain the situation “I don’t know how to say this to you but, he’s my ex”

The two of them, chatted for a while, agreeing on things that annoys Jimin and the things you used to annoy Yoongi.

“Do you still love her?” Jimin turned to Yoongi, his face sullen, hoping that he would like to hear Yoongi’s answer from his query.

He breathed hard “You know kid, you’ll never stop loving a person even if they’re gone. Even if you were left by time, leaving you to oblivion, making you a faint memory from that person. You just don’t” he took his coffee from the vending machine that was sitting on his side and drank before he continued.

“But that doesn’t mean you want that person to be there for you forever. Knowing that she’s happy, well even more happy without me by his side, that’s more than enough. Isn’t that what love is supposed to be? Even when it doesn’t feel like romance, it changes into something, something that transcends beyond it. I can’t explain kid, but you’ll understand it someday” he turned to Jimin, hoping he didn’t touch a nerve that would make him angry.

“I really love her, hyung. My manager’s pretty upset about this whole relationship situation but I couldn’t care anymore. If they find out about us or not, I don’t care!  I’d rather admit the truth than deny and hurt her, she doesn’t deserve that. I just, I feel like she’s the one even when she’s moody and all” Jimin shyly confessed.

Yoongi nods “Jimin, you should know several things so you could avoid argument with Y/N. First, of all never underestimate her love for coffee. Never.” He straightened his palm to emphasize his statement.

“She loves coffee first thing in the morning, do not talk to her without her having a coffee yet, under any circumstance. Well, unless you don’t want a great day ahead of you, you could, but I do not recommend it all. Speaking of coffee, she would want one after having a stressful day or any stressful situation she was in. But this is important, take note, she likes sweet coffee and bitter ones on the morning.”

Jimin listened to him attentively as Yoongi continued “If she writes story, she’ll want you to read it from start to end. Do it and be honest, she hates mediocre comments so you have to be tedious about reading it. She loves it when you ask, so that’s a tip. If you fail to read everything, you can ask her. Oh, but be careful about your questions, because she’ll know when you didn’t read it all and she’ll be really upset”

Yoongi chuckled upon remembering how you love to eat unlimited BBQs “She also loves meat, like seriously a lot! So treat her to BBQs every often or else she’ll get moody for a month. She’s a heavy drinker too, so ready your liver and try to keep up with her. And lastly, never end the day without telling her how you truly feel, she’ll appreciate it, whatever it is that’s on your mind tell her. I can see the way she looks at you in that picture” he peered through Jimin’s phone on the side which was glowing due to several notifications “because that was how she used to look at me too. I bet she’ll understand you. She now loves you Jimin.”

It was already night time when Yoongi finished cleaning the room and putting everything that you two wanted to sell inside a big box. Yoongi looks at the broken piano and stared at it for a moment “I guess the greatest song of all time were never made” he stood up, picked it up and took it with him, as walked towards the door way.

He looked at the empty room, one last time “This place still smells like us, let’s not forget this scent wherever we are” he spoke softly to himself and turned the lights off.

He closed the door and saw the doormat again.

“Bunch of Min residents” you drew on the doormat. He chuckled “That’s pretty witty, wait let me add a little touch” he took the marker from you and drew your faces which made you two laughed even harder.

“This is a masterpiece! We need everyone to see this!” you quickly went to the door and put it on the entryway.

Yoongi smiled as he watched you from the couch and sighed at the thought of wanting to be with you forever. He just knew from that moment on you were the one.

He rolled the mat from the floor and tossed it to the nearest trash bin.

He knew it was too late for regrets, but at the same time he knew it was for the better. Whatever happened in the past brought you two to where you are all supposed to be now: Happy, contented but apart.

All the memories, your hopes and dreams that you two shared together, are now gone. Cleaned to make room for another one.

He looked at the door and smiled weakly “Ijen, Annyeong (Goodbye now)” and left.

Let’s move Goodbye to this place, that we grew attached to Let’s move Now to a higher place While taking the last box out of the empty room I looked back for a moment Times we cried and laughed Goodbye now

Moving On- BTS

A/N: Hi! Thank you so much for getting here. Hope you’ll also like the spin-off series for this: Seesaw (Teaser)

[delicatewerewolfsoul]

Cat's Fault - Yang Jeongin

–pairing: jeongin x fem!reader, best friend!jisung, roommate!minho

–genre: fluff, neighbors au!

–word count: 3,3k

–synopsis: after encountering your cute neighbor many times ... Who would you have to thank for the outcome?

-for bar (@yyxgin ) love you so much bestie 💓

It wasn’t that Jeongin didn’t really like cats, it was the fact that he didn't understand why they were so popular. That small animal, walking towards it’s prey for afar, the sneaky eyes already showing the reason they’re doing this, there was always a reason why they were put their body against their owners leg, rubbing their fur against it, as if the the contact would make the prey’s thought, change like magic and that’s why he chose to stare at them from afar, not getting into their business. His roommate, Minho, smiles from afar as he looks up from the small, fluffy gray feline next to his leg, to look at his roommate's face. All he spots is a face of disapproval, a disgusted face if you will, as he and Jeongin lock eye contact, Minho laughs at it, finding it extremely entertaining. 

“You know it won’t hurt you right?” Minho says as he rubs the back “Animals can sense that when a person doesn’t like them, or when they aren’t a good being, but I really bet they do like you, at least that’s what their behavior shows” he says as he stands up and gets his keys, walking towards the front door. “Anyways, I’ll be heading out to do some errands, I’ll be back in a few hours, be sure to feed them okay?” he says as he opens the door and Jeongin, whines but accepts at the end cause the devils shouldn’t starve as well. 

You step out of your room, quickly putting your hair on a messy bun, ready to make yourself some breakfast and start your day. You eat slowly and out your dishes in your sink to clean up later. It was a cleaning day since you didn’t really have to do anything. You had a break from work and no fresh errants to take care of, you decide it’ll be nice to take care of your house. You decide before doing anything, to water your plants on your balcony. You watch as the water disappears when hitting the soil that supports the plant and your neighbor comes to mind. A nice boy, with a bright smile that lights up the whole world, he was super attractive to you, but you couldn’t make a move, well, now you were thinking about it, you couldn’t even probably great him, too awkward, you bet the boy would be actually laughing at you after you two would talk. 

You step close to the last plant close to your neighbors balcony and you start pouring the leftover water in it. The door next to you opens, and he steps out, in some sweatpants and a white sleeveless shirt, with some wet clothes on his hands, from the laundry. “Good morning y/n, what a surprise seeing you here, you don't have to go to work today?” he says, stretching to hand the clothes high, his biceps flexing in the progress and you feel yourself getting a little lost, looking at them, until he hums in question that you understand what you did and take a deep breath and answer that you actually have a free day today, and that you decide to clean. You ask him about his day, trying to open a conversation hoping to make him open up to you and hopefully get closer. 

“Me? Oh, I actually have nothing to do today, my roommate had to head out so I have to stay here to clean a little, maybe cook… I hope, but generally nothing much” he says and the sound of a timer can be heard in the background, cutting your conversation short. He huffs disappointed, “I’m sorry, I have to go now, it was nice talking to you” waving at you and wave back at, pouting as his back disappears into his apartment, with a new failed attempt of getting closer to him. Jisung was so going to laugh at you later.

You step inside again and grab the vacuum cleaner and start cleaning the whole place, trying to get rid of the embarrassment of the whole incident. What you don’t notice is that you had a little visitor on your door, a small feline, exploring the new place out of curiosity, smelling the door and moving slowly inside. You turn off the vacuum and you hear plates clashing and you turn around to see a little animal on your table sniffing your plates that you were going to clean later. It then meows at you and you let out a little scream as it jumps down from the table, coming towards you and you jump at your couch naturally to avoid it, saying to yourself “Why is there a cat in my apartment?”, louder than you thought you did. 

Jeongin was panicking. He searched everywhere, in his room, in Minho’s room, in trash cans, even in the sinks but it was nowhere to be found, like it vanished into thin air. The cat was supposed to be fed but where did the cat go? He sits on the couch, the importance of the situation finally getting to him. He puts arms on his knees, and supports his head on his palms as he thinks what will happen when Minho returns and he finds their apartment minus one pet inside. Will he first lose his life first or his house?  That’s the question that was running in his mind right now and he felt his heart pumping quicker, what did the little feline actually go? At the moment he hears the scream and shoots up, shocked as well, wondering what exactly happened… Until he hears your question and he sighs in relief. 

He then goes to your door and knocks slowly “y/n, it’s Jeongin, can you open the door for me?” he says and you stop in your tracks as you hear him, turning your eyes at your door. Why did he need to be the one to come save you? This was so embarrassing you think, like an idiot screaming because of a small cat. Most people would laugh at your fear, saying it was stupid and unreasonable to fear a cat, but you had your reasons. He knocks again and you jump down the couch, running to the door. You open the door quickly and he smiles at you but before he can say anything,you step behind him, and grab his bicep and he freezes from the sudden contact. 

“Can you save me from that” you say, your voice kinda high pitched and shaky. The little cat comes closer to them happily, understanding the familiar scent of Jeongin, and he picks him up. “I’ll take him, I hope he wasn’t much of a problem” he says, noticing your balcony door wide and he facepalms. “He came through the balcony right? I’m really sorry, I think I let my balcony open as well” he says biting his lower lip. “No worries, if I didn’t let mine, he wouldn’t have came here, don’t worry about it” you say and you then just stay there, both looking around awkwardly, trying to find something, anything to continue the conversation until he can’t stand the tension anymore and announches, always with a big smile on, that the cats needs to be fed, but with the promise to talk more when they have time. That’s a progress right?

You lay back on your couch, your hands covering your face as you think how the whole morning went through, with the balcony door finally closed and the clean long forgotten. What a traumatic experience, how weird it must have been for him to see you getting worked up over a small animal, a fluff ball out of all animals, how embarrassing it is. A rather loud knock on your door startles you and you open it, to find Jisung there, shaking a bag with food in front of your face. You let him in and he puts the food on the table, cockily announcing that you don’t have to thank him, as if you would. He then notices the look on your face and he scrunches his eyebrows in question and you sigh, the moment you feared, finally here.

“You a cat was in my apartment moments before you came” you say and he gasps, having full knowledge of your fear and before he can ask what happened then, you continue, kinda sarcastically “don’t worry about it, my hot neighbor took care of it” you say and he laughs at the disappointed look you had on your face and he understands. “Hey, I there’s no way it was that bad, seriously” he says putting a hand on your shoulder. “Maybe he found it cute… You know, the whole ‘they want me to protect them’ thing” he proposes as he takes out the containers out of the plastic bag and you both sit down to have lunch. 

You explain all the incidents from the moment you went to your balcony, until minutes before his arrival. Jisung had a smile during the time, but you could see how he was holding his laughter as you went on and on. It made him happy that you had such big interest in that ‘hot’ neighbor of yours, that you had to make him listen as you explain to him what happened and why it happened for over 15 minutes. “So wait, you tell me that you both forgot your doors open after the conversation?” he says, putting his palms on the desk, coming closer. “Well yeah” you say furrowing your eyebrows. “He always does before, but he left kinda in a hurry today too” you say looking away. You wonder if he actually caught you staring and it makes you feel so embarrassed all over again. 

“Well, I think he maybe likes you too,” Jisung annouches and you glare at him, as a signal for him to stop joking. “I mean it’s true! I can see all the signs bro… And I’m intuition says so as well, you gotta trust me” he says passionately and you decide to tell him exactly what you think, not sugar coated, just raw truth “Jisung… We both know your intuition sucks” you say and he settles down on his chair, feeling defeated after your comment, actually agreeing himself that his “intuition put you two in trouble many times before. “What is there anyways to like about me? He only sees me half woken up, with sweatpants on and a messy bun while watering my plants, how can that be attractive?” you wonder feeling kinda hopeless, letting your body lose on your own chair and he laughs, finding the look on your face kinda cute, finding this moment, the perfect timing for teasing. “Who knows” he says standing up, “maybe he likes the unemployed tired mom style” he says and dodges the pillow that came with force from your direction. “Anyways, I got to leave now, Minho is waiting for me” he says, putting on his bag, and you smirk, teasing him too “oh? did your boyfriend call you?”. He rolls his eyes at the comment, knowing that the two of them spend too much time together. “He is not,how many times do I have to tell you? And so you know, I haven’t seen him since the day he moved to this building”.

“Minho lives here!?” you stand up shocked. His eyes went round “you.. you didn’t know? He moved here like a week ago? But I haven’t been to his place as well, he lives with a friend I think” he says and you huff. “That loser.. He’s been living here for a week and hasn’t even come to say hello”, “i'll make sure to say that… I still can’t believe you didn’t even bump on each other this whole time, anyways, I’ll call you” he says getting to the door. “Bye” you say waving at him as the door closes, your house empty once again.

“Long time no see idiot” Jisung says as he takes off his bag and sits on the chair opposite Minho, with a cheeky grin on, as he knows the nickname will annoy him much. Minho doesn’t show much reaction, instead he calmly says “nice seeing you too” as he lets his phone down and they start talking about their news and interests, catching up on each other's lives. They continue talking, and after a while you become the topic. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell y/n you moved in the same building with them” Jsiung says, laying back on his chair, crossing his hands in front of him. Minho raised an eyebrow at his friend confused at his statement “Didn’t tell them? What do you mean? I even greeted them once while I was stepping out of my house” he states, kind of frustrated and that also confuses Jisung. “But… They told me they didn’t know” Jisung says, rubbing the back of neck, his voice getting more silent, even though he wasn’t responsible for the misunderstanding. Minho runs a hand through his hair, shocked that you actually forgot the interaction “Bro, we actually live next to each other! They live left to us” he says and Jisung starts laughing, startling his friend, but also confusing him even more. 

Jisung collects himself after some minutes and finds the power to ask “Anyways, tell me again, who are you living with?” a smile on his face, because he knows the answer, but he couldn’t help himself, the whole situation seemed too comical to him. “Jeongin… What is going on?” answers Minho with probably zero patience left. Jisung between laughs explained to him that you actually had a crush on Jeongin with you knowing that he was friends with Minho and Jisung. “So.. To be clear, my cat went into y/n’s apartment cause these two idiots left the balcony doors open right? And Jeongin actually touched the cat? Please...That’s actually so funny” Minho says recalling the last time Jeongin properly touched his pet, and it was when the feline jumped on his bed,and he ‘accidentally’ cuddled the animal to sleep until he woke up to animal meowing and him pushing it away in result, so it wasn’t a fun experience. 

“We gotta do something… I feel like if we make them meet up without one knowing that the other will be there” Jisung concludes and Minho laughs, now having to help some idiots confess “the rest will happen naturally I guess, Joengin have been wanting to confess anyway, we’ll just push them… A little” he says and they spend the rest of their time, planning. Later that day you receive a message from Jisung to “be at my house tomorrow at 6pm, Minho will be here as well, don’t be late, or else I’ll come drag you here” leaving you with no choice but to accept your fate. You wonder what he actually has in mind again, his aggressive tone always meant trouble. But Minho being there would make it better… Right?

Jeongin hasn’t been so confused by Minho in his life before. He just told him they’re going to Jisung, and that’s obviously a very normal thing of course, they all hang out a lot, they’re friends after all, but something in Minho’s expression seems kinda weird. He was always so calm, and he really didn’t butt in people's business, even if he wanted to help in different situations, he kinda did in a way very subtle, that only people that know him would notice. So in the 3 years that they’ve been friends, he’s never seen such an intense look on his face, it was kind of scary tho, and it confused him a lot. 

“Care to explain why you sent that aggressive text yesterday? I would have come anyways, without being forced” you say as you enter Jisung’s apartment the next day “I know you’re planning something Jisung, just spit it out so we can be over “you say letting your body fall back on his couch, folding your arms in front of you. “We just wanted you to meet Minho’s roommate, chill. He’ll be here soon” he says, disappearing into the kitchen and after a few minutes you hear the bell, and then a very visibly frustrated Jeongin enters the room. “Jisung, what is wrong with him? He’s been having that weird throughout the whole walk here… Someone, tell me what’s going on” he almost yells towards the kitchen totally missing your presence in the room, until he hears “Jeongin you let out, shocked as well. They had some explaining to do.

Honestly, the meet up was going more smoothly than all of you thought it would. It was way easier to get a conversation with Jeongin, with a little help from your troublemaker friends of yours, and you learned loads about him. How he had school every morning, how you almost always left at the same time, his passion for games and music, along with how they all became friends. You both were so glad to actually be talking properly with each other, that you had such a big smile when answering, warm cheeks and you also stood too close to each other, that the other two boys felt like they were intruding. "What is so exciting and interesting that you two are talking about, so closely to each other, wanna share?" Minho says, putting his arm around Jeongin's shoulder, scaring both of you and him, now embarrassed, avoiding each other's eyes. "Anyways, it's getting late, I'll stay here today, so you head back home" he says and taps Jeongins shoulder, before standing up. 

After a few minutes, now with jackets around your frames, you're ready to go. Minho drags Jeongin to the side and then mentions "this is your chance, take it" shooting him a smile and Jeongin finally understands the meaning of this whole operation. You finally say goodbye and you start walking towards home. You both walk in silence, finally alone from your friends, feeling more shy and vulnerable that you were at that time. Your hands bump with each other, as you walk and he swears he sees you shyly smile at the coincidence and finds your reaction way too cute, not to smile back. He then takes your hand in his, and as he intertwines his fingers with yours, he hears you taking in a breath that makes him giggle, finally understanding your feelings as well. "You know… I actually don't like cats" he announces after a while of silence "I actually touched Minho's cat once, and yesterday it was the second time, only because you were afraid of it" he says giggling, rubbing the back of his neck after that little confession. "I've been wanting to come and maybe ask you to go for a coffee with me sometime but all the courage I had built up for that, left after minutes of talking to you. Would you actually want to hang out? Maybe alone this time" he says now, facing you and you can't help but nob, squishing a little his hand as you enter your building. 

Jeongin didn't like cats, but he came to like them, thanking these little rascals for helping him get the person he liked, treating them with a little more food, when Minho wasn't present to yell at him for overfeeding his kids.

Tagging: @fluffyskzclub

[rpmemes-galore]

a few people wanted to know the story, so enjoy.  fair warning, its a long, rough read, with a buncha triggers possible throughout.   but hey, hey, enjoy, i guess?  will probs end up deleting this later today and gonna work on memes.  hope y’all are doing okay, take care. 

My relationship with my older brother has always been really... rocky. Without going into too much potentially triggering detail, he hurt me a lot when I was younger, so there's a lot of fear surrounding him. Saying that now as the reason for why I could never stand up to him for this.

A few years ago, my family decided that someone should move into our late grandparents home to look after the place, and I immediately volunteered. I loved that home, that farm. There were a ton of good memories there, and I was so excited when my family agreed. But, then my health took a downward turn and it was decided I couldn't live alone due to safety reasons. Enter, my older brother. He was in his late twenties at the time, and parents wanted him to finally move out, so they said he was going to come live with me there to keep an eye on me in case something happened. I wasn't happy about it, but he was the only one who could, and the only way I'd get to live at my late grandparent's place, so I agreed to it.

Right from the start, things were not great. He didn't help unbox anything except for his own belongings... No kitchen stuff, no bathroom stuff, just his clothes and computer. As it was just me doing it, and with my fragile health at the time, it was taking me a long while to get it all done. And that's when my aunt thought it was a great idea to start doing weekly visits, i.e. inspections of the place. She got pissed when she saw things still boxed up after a week of being there, but told me she was willing to look past it if it got put away soon.

I busted my butt getting everything put away, then. But I was contending with other issues at that point. He'd started messing up the house. I would wake up to find garbage and crumbs across the kitchen counters and table, dirty dishes dropped wherever he was closest to, and his dirty laundry dropped on the living room floor. His room started getting bad, as well. From about a month of being there, it started to stink. I went in a few times and there would be dishes with rotting food on his dresser. The floor was covered in a layer of food wrappers and other garbage. Dirty laundry was thrown everywhere. His game discs, which we'll come back to later, would be laying unprotected on the floor.

It just got worse from there. At the start, he'd tidy up a little bit after himself. If I asked politely enough, he'd throw garbage away or bring his dishes out of the room... only if I asked him. Three months in. That changed. He started getting snippy at me, slamming and locking his door if I asked him to do anything around the house. His messes were getting worse, and it was just me trying to play catch-up everyday. It got to the point my morning routine was wake up, head out to the kitchen while picking up any dirty laundry / garbage on the way, gather up dirty dishes from around the room and put them on the counter to wash, wash a few of them just to get a headstart, wipe crumbs off all counters and table, wash the rest of the dishes (I still don't understand how he could use so many in a single night), sweep floors if the crumb situation was bad enough. All this before I'd allow myself to have anything to eat or drink, due to sheer panic of my aunt stopping by unannounced again and seeing the place in this state.

My brother was working a very part time job at the time and, as soon as he left for his shift, I would pounce on his room. I'd haul out armfuls (plural) of dirty dishes which I'd then hurry to wash, I'd carry out at least one full, heavy duty garbage bag of trash. I would try to make his bed after brushing off the crumbs. All this in the few hours I had before he'd get back home. And he would always get incredibly pissed at me for it, which I understand. I know it was an invasion of privacy and, if not for the aunt, I wouldn't have done it... But the state of his room was going to get us both evicted, so I felt justified doing it.

It went on this way for a year and half. During that time, he made me bring his game discs in to get them fixed, had me pay for them, and never paid me back. I wound up in the emergency room on three separate occasions, all due to working myself to the point of over-exhaustion and aggravating already pre-existing health problems. Once, when I was away for a few days, he'd turned my room into a storage room. Ie, he threw all his laundry and belongings on my bedroom floor because he didn't want to deal with them. I wound up having to sort through it and pick it all up. He moved the landline phone into his room, essentially cutting off my contact to the outside world behind a locked door as my cellphone barely had any service there. He took food money from me, against my will, to buy his own... Would eat part of it and let the rest rot in the fridge until I cleaned it out. (important note, I have a lot of dietary restrictions. So it's not like I could just snack on it or share it with him. I just had to deal with him basically stealing my food money, then wasting it on food I couldn't even eat.) He would lock himself in his room anytime the aunt came by, making me have to face her wrath on my own, because I had no lock on my door, and I wasn't allowed to put one on. He would barge into my room uninvited, but get pissed if I went into his. He would expect me to play video games with him and throw a fit if I said no, even after I explained that I had too much cleaning to do and, if he really wanted me to play with him, he would have to lend a hand so it would be done quicker and I might have energy to play. He never did. He wouldn't empty out our cat's wet food and would just let it go moldy if I wasn't there for a few days... and would 'forget' to refill her water.

The only jobs he was expected to do around the house were emptying the cat litter for our one cat and vacuuming, both things I physically couldn't do because of severe asthma. And once a week, he was supposed to bring laundry over to our parents place to wash, as we didn't have a washer or dryer. I remember him vacuuming once the whole time we were there. He rarely emptied the cat litter, which meant I would wind up having to do it once in a while and just suffer through a serious asthma attack afterwards. He also rarely brought the laundry over. I wasn't able to drive, so I would wind up having to ask my mom to bring it over with her when she visited. Three jobs. He hardly ever did any of them, but still expected the house to be clean when our aunt stopped by and would be upset if it wasn't. He just didn't want to have a hand in getting it that way.

On the subject of other family, I tried reaching out. My parents would visit on occasion. They both knew how bad it got, they'd seen it at the worst. I'd even called my mom in a full crying panic more than once, when the aunt called in the morning to say she she'd be there in an hour... And the house wasn't clean. Mom had to come over and help me speed clean it, with me working through a full-blown panic attack, scared I wouldn't have it "clean enough" by the time the aunt got there. Mom is also the one who drove me into the ER. She knew how bad it was, but he was her golden child. The "can do no wrong" child, and I was always the problem. She would tell me I was making it out worse than it was, that it wasn't that bad, that it wasn't his fault he was messy, that I should just deal with it and clean up after him. Dad would at least seem sorry for me. He'd tell me he wished my brother would clean up after himself, but that there was nothing he could do. Aunt just didn't want to hear my excuses. She would yell at me for the state of the place, after I'd worked myself half to death cleaning already. She blamed me for it, threatened to kick us out over every tiny thing wrong. Made passive aggressive comments. Took pictures and said she would show them to the rest of our relatives so they'd know how we were destroying the house, ect.

A year and a half of this. I lost a dangerous amount of weight. I hardly slept, hardly ate, anxiety spiked so badly I was having panic attacks at least once a week, especially toward the weekend when I knew the aunt was coming. All of my days were devoted to cleaning up after him. I dropped hobbies just to wash dishes or pick up his garbage. I even pulled an all-nighter just trying to make the house look presentable... After I'd been in the hospital and spent a few days at my parents place recuperating, so you can imagine the state of the house.

Toward the year and a half mark, I met my now husband. When we decided he should come spend the weekend, I was both happy and terrified. I worked myself to the point of passing out to make the place look decent. I asked my brother to help, told him we would be having company, and was met with a slamming door in my face while he went back to his video games. Now husband came up, we had a great time and chose to make it a weekly thing.

It was about a month into that when I went away for the weekend with my then bf. At this point, he kind of knew how bad it could get and just wanted to get me out of there for a few days. He'd even given my brother a piece of his mind for not emptying the cat litter and making me do it, because of my asthma. So brother hated him. Told me to break up with bf for being "rude" to him. Even called my mom to complain about it and it I got chewed out by my mom for "letting" my bf at the time talk to my brother that way. I was beyond sick of brothers bullcrap. I was exhausted. Had been in the ER just recently because of him, again, and needed to get away. Bf took me up to a cabin and we spent the weekend there, had an amazing time. And brought me home. From the second I stepped back into the farmhouse, I wanted to cry. It was an absolute disaster, like the brother had gone out of his way to destroy the place. So much garbage, laundry, dishes, ect. I said goodbye to the bf, who was horrified and reluctant to leave... And I started trying to make a dent in the horror show that was the house. It didn't take long for me to breakdown. When I called the bf that night to make sure he'd gotten home safe, I told him how bad it was. And he invited me to move in with him. I jumped at that chance for more reasons than one.

Brother took immediate issue with this. He threw a fit when I told him. Straight up told me I was being selfish, that I didn't appreciate all he did for me, that how dare I leave, how could I DARE to move in with someone who talked to him that way!! I just packed up a few of my things and went with the bf. Just like that. I was out.

It was three months before I went back to grab a few more of my things. In that time, brother had gotten an eviction notice from our aunt and was having to move back in with the parents. And I don't blame her one bit. Let me paint a picture for you of what I saw when I walked in the house: he'd run out of room for garbage on the counter and table, it was stacked too high, so.. he'd opened the oven, pulled the racks out and was piling garbage up on them, instead. Guess what the only place that didn't have garbage was... The pristine garbage can. The living room floor was covered in his dirty laundry. He had run out of clean dishes and resorted to using Tupperware lids as plates, with the dirty dishes covering the entire counter by the sink or stacked in his room. Speaking of, I caught a glance inside his room. The smell was worst in there. I could tell there was food in there from the time I left... Didn't try to take a step inside, obviously, not that there was a place to step. Keep in mind, this is AFTER the aunt had visited and demanded he cleaned up. She'd seen it this way, blew her top, and he still didn't give a crap. I, on the other hand, panicked. Call it ingrained at this point, but I started frantically cleaning. It was only my bf who stopped me. Had to actually grab my hands and hug me to get me to stop, with me hyperventilating and close to a panic attack. We got my things and got the hell out of there. But not before I noticed my brother seemed upset that I hadn't cleaned up while I was there.

Brother's living back with our parents and has trashed his room there. He's still pissy at me for calling him out on the way he treated me, and thinks I'm still required to be nice to him because mom says I should... and that he did absolutely nothing wrong with the way he behaved. He's also still holding a grudge against my hubby for him having the utter gall to tell him to be an adult and clean up after himself. Mom still denies it was bad (even though she's dealing with it now) or that I have anything residual from that time, despite the fact I told her that I get panicky and shaky when the place I'm living, now, gets even slightly untidy.

For me, I'm happier than I've ever been. I'm essentially no contact with my brother and limited contact with my mom. Just got married. Living with someone who loves me and actually helps with housework, even without being asked! Still dealing with the trauma of living in a place that felt THAT stressful and unsafe, but working on it. Not holding out much hope of brother realizing how entitled he was / is, but eh. He's not worth the time thinking about him.

[ah-ga-seven]

Till’ The End Of Summer - Chapter 5

>> series masterlist <<

Pairing: Choi Yeonjun x Reader

In a Nutshell: College!AU, Rich Kids, Friends to Lovers, Fuckboy athlete Yeonjun, Overprotective Best friend Soobin, contains all of TXT and other Idol cameos, Omnipresent perspective.

Synopsis: You and Yeonjun are caught up in a cat and mouse game because of unspoken feelings and endless pining for each others’ attention. With the summer break approaching and lots of college parties, will you finally get a chance to explore your feelings for each other; even though the world and Yeonjun’s reputation makes things complicated?

Word count: 5K.

Genre: Fluff, Angst.

Warnings: Mentions of a broken family, verbal and mental abuse.

A/N: English isn’t my first language, pls don’t come for me ;)

Yeonjun was sprawled out on your couch, lying down like a starfish. His attention completely focussed on his phone, as he scrolled through his endless Instagram feed.  

You stood in your kitchen, occasionally staring at him as you cut up some fruits for the two of you to snack on. The sight of him being so comfortable on your couch made you reminisce to just days ago when you couldn’t even imagine him ever stepping foot in your home ever again.

But boy, how times have changed.

Just a week ago you were at the festival, where you argued, got hurt, and shared your first kiss. It all seemed like it happened months ago, but the reality of it all was the opposite. To be honest, being with Yeonjun made the time pass effortlessly, which is both a good and dangerous thing.

To your friends’ knowledge, both of you had made up and decided to leave your feud behind you. What they don’t know is that you are trying to make your relationship work behind their backs. You felt awful about lying to your friends, but you and Yeonjun both agreed that it would be better this way, so you can both figure out your feelings for each other before your friends get a chance to meddle in your business.  

No one would be caught in the crossfires or have to pick sides if things ended up not working out, but with how everything was going in this week alone, you have to say that you don’t expect a negative outcome.

You’re falling, and you’re falling fast. Yeonjun makes you feel warm inside. He’s respectful, patient and the more you get to know him, the more you realise how similar the two of you are. You spent the past week having little dates at your place, just talking, eating, and watching movies or listening to music. He was careful though, not wanting to say or do the wrong thing or move too fast. He was afraid to scare you away if he would show all of his affection for you at once. So, he held back. Though as time passed, he started to not care anymore.

He loved how shy you got every time he stared at you or held your hand, kissed your cheek, or when he stole a quick peck from you when you’re focused on something else. The shock on your face is what got him going. He thrived from being in control and making you feel small. Because to him, you were adorable when you were flustered. Yeonjun had never been in a serious relationship or any type of relationship that went further than the physical stuff. With you, he had to start from the beginning. It made him nervous because he didn’t know how. He didn’t know when he was overstepping or when he was doing too little. To be honest, you just made him a nervous wreck. Although the same could be said for you. You can’t really explain it because you are comfortable around him but at the same time every single time you catch him staring, you want to run the opposite direction.

You look up from your cutting board to steal a glance from Yeonjun again but to your surprise, his form had left the couch. You were about to look around for him but before you knew it, you felt two arms snake around your waist. Startling you lightly.  

“Hi,” he whispered in your ear while placing a soft kiss on your temple. You lean into him. Chuckling as you put a grape in his mouth, which he basically vacuumed inside with his pouty lips.  

“Mmmh,” he moans in satisfaction, letting go of you to grab more of the grapes. “They’re so sweet,” he hummed. “Don’t say it…” you breathe, but you know him better than that. A smug grin crept on his face. “Almost as sweet as you” he teases, beaming at you knowing how much you cringe at his awful pickup lines and dad jokes. Moments like these made it seem like you were a married couple, but then again; you weren’t complaining.

You roll your eyes, playfully pushing him aside as you grab the plate of fruits. He follows you to your living room area and sits down on the couch while you sit down on the floor at your coffee table, folding your legs over each other to make yourself comfortable.

He looked at you funny, unsatisfied with the fact that you decided to sit so far away from him. “Are we strangers?” He scoffs grabbing your arm as he pulls you in his lap. You giggle as he starts to tickle your sides. He doesn’t stop there though as he tickles you without mercy, trapping you under him on the couch while he continues to taunt you. You gulp for air between your cackles and slap his chest to get him off.

“Y-yeonjun stop I can’t breathe,” you cry out and he gives in. Concluding the moment with a sloppy kiss on your lips which he deepens as he laces his slender fingers through your hair.  

You close your eyes, getting lost in the moment, until your doorbell rings.

Your eyes widen and you push Yeonjun off, which earned you a glare.

“Shit” you hiss, straightening out your clothes while walking to your front door. You stand on your tiptoes to try and see through your peeping hole and you’re surprised to see Soobin standing in the hallway.

“It’s Soobin” you whisper-scream and Yeonjun’s eyes nearly roll back to the back of his head. “Why is he here.”

“I don’t fucking know, go hide!”

“Hide?” he cocks his eyebrow at you.

“Yes, Yeonjun. Hide” you say a little louder.

“Where?” He asks dumbfounded. You could tell he was annoyed, but this was part of the deal. No one would find out until the end of summer. Especially not Soobin.  

“In my room, now gooooo,” you say as you push him into your room closing the door behind him, not giving him a chance to complain. You quickly skim your living room with your eyes trying to detect any evidence of male energy around but there was nothing to be found except for Yeonjun’s shoes, which you concealed by throwing your coat on top of it.

Soobin’s impatience got the best of him as he started knocking on your door again.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m coming,” you say in a sing-a-song voice.  

You quickly make your way to the front door, opening it and welcoming Soobin with the most genuine smile you could manage to put on your face.

“Heeey” you greet him with a hug, you had to stand on your toes to properly hug him but you didn’t mind. Soobin smelled like clean cotton and Iris flowers, which made you melt into the hug a little. You had to admit, you missed him.

“Hey” he cooed. “Why do you smell like male cologne?” he questioned and chuckled, but the comment caught you off guard and panic was evident in your eyes. He noticed and laughed loudly.

“Chill, I was just kidding,” he says as he walks into your living room, plopping himself down on the couch in the exact spot where Yeonjun was lying just seconds ago.

The sight made you paranoid and your eyes dart to your bedroom door, but you quickly turn your attention back to Soobin. Trying not to make things too obvious.

“Not to be a dick, but why are you here?” You ask sitting down beside him.  

Soobin cocked his eyebrow at you and he scoffs indignantly.

“I just missed you. You barely ask me to hang out anymore. How are you so booked and busy when it’s summer break,” he pouted. He spotted the fruit plate on your salon table and grabbed a handful of grapes, munching on them one by one.

“Ahh, I just-”  

“Is it because of the whole Yeonjun thing that you aren’t coming over? Because I thought you made up?  And he’s been missing as well, he’s barely home anymore so, it’s not like you’d run into him if it makes you feel that awkward…”  Soobin says insinuatingly, looking at you. He was trying to read you and jumping to his own conclusions, but it somehow helped you since you didn’t know what to tell him anyway.

You just nodded, making him think he made the perfect assumption and you could tell he physically relaxed as his shoulders dropped a little.

“I just needed time,” you start. “But I’m okay now, I promise. I’ll come over tomorrow for game night with the guys and Mia.”  

Soobin’s eyes lit up. “Really? Oh, the boys will be so happy.” 

He clapped in his hands like a kid and gave you a beaming smile.

You couldn’t help but reciprocate the smile and you playfully nudged his shoulder.  

“What are you doing? Wanna go get ice cream?” he asked looking at you expectantly.  

“Uhm, I can’t, I have a family Skype call” you half-lie. You did have the Skype call, but not anytime soon.

“I can stay for that? We’re close,” he simply states.

“I also have to Mary Condo my closet,” you shrug. You need him out. And fast. 

Knowing Yeonjun’s extra and impatient ass, it would take 5 more minutes before he’d blow your cover.  

“I can help with that too.” Soobin’s persistent fiery side was showing. He could read you like a book and noticed how you wanted him out. Although he didn’t know why. He sat up, still staring you right in your soul waiting for you to respond.  

“And have you going through my underwear? No thanks,” you joke light-heartedly but you noticed how he sensed something was off. He squinted his eyes at you and looked around your living room.

“Hmm, okay,” he said getting up. “Then…I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” He gave up. Knowing you wouldn’t give up either. The both of you could go at it for hours like this. But Soobin figured you needed space.

You followed him to your front door and he turned around on his heels, wrapping you up in a tight hug, resting his head on your shoulder. “Don’t be sad okay,” he sighs and your heart hurts at the sweet gesture. You hate having to lie to him but you know it’s for the best even though the guilt is eating at you in a moment like this.

But you knew that this was the only way Yeonjun and yourself were going to be able to explore your feelings for one another.

“I’m okay, I promise,” you say letting go off him and giving him a genuine reassuring smile. He smiled back at you and nodded.

“See ya,” he says as he opens your front door and walks out. You wave at him until he’s out of sight, strongly exhaling as you close the door behind you. You rest your forehead against the doorframe to organise your thoughts. Realising how much of a shitty friend you have been to Soobin lately.

You sigh and turn around throwing your head back, but as you pass the corner, Yeonjun was already standing in front of you, arms crossed while tapping his heel to your wooden floor.

“That took forever,” he huffs.

“Well, he knows me better than anyone Yeonjun, he knows I’m lying to him.” You brush past him, making your way to your kitchen to pour yourself a glass of water. You realise your tone might have been a little irritable, but it’s you who you’re frustrated with. Not him.

Yeonjun just studies you, leaning on your kitchen counter as he watches you chug the contents of your cup away.

You bite your lip, giving Yeonjun an apologetic look as you meet his eyes again. “I’m sorry.”

He stayed silent and rubbed his forehead. “When it’s just the two of us, it’s great. But I don’t wanna have to hide in closets and Anne Frank you, y/n. I want to take you out on dates. Show you off. Post you in my stories, all the dumb shit.”  

“Well you came up with this whole deal yourself mister, and it’s been fun and all but I still barely know anything about your life outside of school and if I have to judge you based off of those stories then I’m not sure if I can trust you wholeheartedly," you explain softly, trying to avoid eye contact with him. You know his eyes are burning into you, so you just play with the rim of your cup.

“Why can’t you just see me for the person that’s standing in front of you right now instead of caring what other people have to say about me,” he says looking at you in disbelief. His tone was cold but most of all, he was sad and hurt.

It was almost like he took every win with a loss.

You were lying if you said it wasn't hard to trust him. But you also knew he had to earn it. The short week that you've been dating was way too short of a time frame to judge his sincerity off of, but when you're alone with him he's nothing like the person he is when he's with his friends. He's not as loud and boastful with you, but you're not sure if that's just a mask he's putting on for you.

“I want to” you say lost in thought. You didn’t even notice how Yeonjun got closer to you until he placed his hands on both sides of your face, making you look up at him.

“I don’t know how many times I have to assure you that I’m not going anywhere, but I’ll keep doing it if It makes you feel any better. The whole Yeji thing was a mistake, it shouldn’t have happened and I know that. But you promised that you would let that go and give me a real chance, but I don’t think you’re really doing that y/n. It’s unfair to me.”  

You sigh, defeated. “You’re right” you admit.

Yeonjun shoulders fell, raising his eyebrows in surprise. “I am?”  

“Yes, you are,” you roll your eyes and Yeonjun’s face lit up. He showed you his boyish smile and squished your cheeks together in his palms. “Good, because I blocked her number, unfollowed her, and unfriended her all together” he states proudly.

Your facial expression spoke for you and he chuckles. “Yes, for real,” he says reading your mind.  

“It’s not like I would ever ask you to do that.”

“But you’re glad I did?” He asks snaking his arms around your waist, pulling you into his chest.

“I guess so...” you sigh, melting into his embrace.

You decided to chill for the day and watch a movie while the two of you were cuddled up under a blanket together. Luckily, you were both the type to talk through movies, debating why certain characters would do or say what they did. It was fun to pick each other's brain and you felt content and relaxed in his embrace. Every single time he chuckled, laughed , or hummed at your comments you felt his chest vibrate, sending shivers down your spine. His warmth was addicting and you can’t quite explain what it is but you felt safe.  

Your mind went into overdrive for a second and you recall your little argument from this afternoon. It was insane to you how quickly both of you went from angry and worked up, to completely peaceful and content. You weren’t quite sure how Yeonjun brought the worst and the best out of you in such a short amount of time. Your mind flashes back to your argument about his lack of opening up to you and you start to wonder why sharing his troubles and feelings with you is such a hard thing for him to do.  

You blinked a couple of times, not realising that you weren’t paying attention to what Yeonjun was saying so he nudged you a little. “Are you tired?” he whispered as his hands rubbed up and down patterns on your back to show comfort.

You look up at him and shake your head. “No, I was just thinking…” you say moving a strand of his hair from covering his eye.  

“About what baby?”  

Before you could open your mouth to speak, your phone started to ring. It was your scheduled family Skype call. It’s something your parents swore by, every Thursday night they would call you to check in on you, and see your face. Aside from the constant texting throughout the week of course.

You sit up. “I have to take this.”

Yeonjun looked at the caller ID and grabbed the remote to pause the movie.

You sit up, turning sideways so your back was leaning against the armrest of your couch, with your legs draped over Yeonjun’s lap so he’d be out of sight.  

You fix your messy hair and answer the phone, putting on your sincerest smile as you see a blurry image of something that looked like a terrace.

“Dad?”  

“Dad you need to turn the camera around, I can’t see you guys.”

“Oh honey, you never seem to get this right.” You hear your mom argue in the background and a smile crept on Yeonjun’s lips at the interaction.

You roll your eyes, chuckling as you finally see your parents’ faces.

“Hi sweetheart.” Your dad smiles at you fondly.

“Hey, how’s Italy?” you ask looking at the tans that both of them had developed, already knowing the answer.

“Amazing, but it would have been better with you here of course,” your mom says.

Your parents’ lifelong dream was to travel through Europe, and this year they finally got to turn that dream into a reality. They worked hard for it, and you wanted It to be something they did together, hence the fact that you decided not to join.  

“See, you say that mom, but I don’t think you mean it," you and your dad start laughing while your mom innocently fails to see the humor.

“I mean it y/n” she pouts. “I miss you a lot.”

Yeonjun decided to occupy himself by grabbing his phone, going through his social media but in reality, he was listening to your conversation with your parents. He didn’t quite realise it in the moment but he was happy listening to your playful banter and the sound of your giggles. He has always longed for that type of affection from his parents. He longed for the same type of warmth in his family. The type of warmth that isn’t bought with a new car or other meaningless expensive items.

All he truly wanted from his parents was love. But they failed to give that to him in his upbringing, as they were never around, too busy with their careers to care.  

The call with your parents didn’t last much longer due to a bad Wi-Fi connection on their end. You sigh as you put your phone on the table. Averting your attention back to Yeonjun.

“I’m sorry about that”  

“No, no. Don’t apologise. That was really cute” Yeonjun says giving your thigh a small squeeze as he smiled at you.  

“Cute? How so?” you chuckle genuinely confused.

“I mean that you have a cute relationship with your parents, that’s all,” he says calmly, grabbing the remote to press play on the movie again.

You frown, taking the remote control from him which made him lock eyes with you.  

This was your chance to ask questions, and so you did.

“Don’t you?” You ask cautiously.  

Yeonjun sighs. “I don’t wanna bore you.”

“No, please. You know you can tell me anything." You say grabbing his hand, rubbing those comforting circles on to the back of his hand with your thumb. The same way he always does with you.

He looks at your sweet gesture and his shoulders fall. He takes a deep breath and looks you in your big innocently sparkling eyes again and his whole body relaxes in an instance.  

“My parents married each other out of a business agreement. I am just a by-product of a business deal, nothing more than that,” he sighs.

“How…could you say that?” Your heart breaks at his words, and suddenly a lot of puzzle pieces fall into place.

“That’s what my dad tells me.” He let out a bitter chuckle, but you couldn’t believe your ears and didn't believe his unbothered demeanor

“To the outside world, my life seems close to perfect but in reality, it’s far from it. I’ve always gotten what I wanted, sure. But no amount of money can buy someone’s love...I guess.”

How could someone so unbreakable and incredible as Yeonjun, carry around this much baggage? This much hurt and resentment. The people that were supposed to be his safety-net and the warmth that he is to you, were everything but that. They were cruel and abandoned him as a child. Your mind couldn’t fathom the reality of things. Yeonjun could have turned out a lot worse, and suddenly you thank god that he hadn’t.

He continued to explain how his desire of being the greatest in everything he does, is because all he wanted was to be noticed by his parents. That his efforts would earn a simple “I’m proud of you, son” or an even simpler. “I love you.”  

You realize that his fear to commit comes from the fact that he doesn’t know what true commitment and love feels like, and as the realisation struck you. Tears start to fill the brim of your eyes.  

You hear him sigh.

He was hurting, and the fact that he made this all seem as if it wasn’t a big deal hurt you even more.

“My mom is the better one out of the two, she checks up on me at least once a month.” He smiles that bitter smile again, looking up at the ceiling with his arms crossed.

“You and the guys are the only ones that sort of know about this by the way. I intend to keep it that way, I don’t want the campus to turn into a pity party for me,” he says absentmindedly. He didn’t know why he felt the need to clarify that, maybe it was the hyper-masculinity kicking in. Although he knew he could trust you with anything, he somehow still felt the need to justify himself.

As he sensed your lack of talkativeness, he looked at you. Startled when he sees tears spill from your eyes.

He sits up in panic, not knowing what to do. Not knowing how to deal with emotion.

“Wh-why. y/n, are you crying?” he asks, eyes getting sad as he launched forward. Placing his hand in your knee in comfort.

You sniff and wipe your tears with the sleeves of your shirt. “I’m sorry.”  

“Don’t apologise” he says pulling you into his chest, cradling you like a baby. “I’m okay, I promise. Please don’t cry for me.  I made peace with it a long time ago.”

You sniff into his chest. “You shouldn’t have had to. You should have had parents who care about you. Parents that see you for the amazing person that you have become.”

“No, stop. I’m none of those things.”

Shit. This was a deep-rooted problem. A problem you weren’t sure how to start fixing. He thinks so little of himself, thinking he isn’t worthy of love and affection when the opposite was true. The meaningless sex was just a coping mechanism. An effort to find the warmth he longed for as a child. The warmth he still longed for right now.

You sit up, cupping his face, and littering his features with kisses. He melts in your touch, a soft giggle escaping his lips.

“Yes. You. Are” you say in between kisses.  

He took your hands from his face, making your look up at him in confusion with your innocent doll-like eyes. He sighs, avoiding your gaze.  

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” he says softly. And you nod in agreement.

You would never push him to open up to you more, and honestly, you weren’t sure you could handle more revelations at the moment. You were happy he told you what he did. It helped you understand him, and somehow it made your desires for him burn more passionately than ever.

He got up, stretching his body as he yawned. “I should get going, it’s getting late. I promised to teach Hyuka how to drive tomorrow,” he states.

He was running from more confrontation and you knew it, but you decide not to be clingy and give him the space he needs, even though every fiber of your being wanted him to stay. You decide to let it go.  

You pout up at him and he chuckles, bending down to give you a passionate kiss on your lips. "Don't worry about me."

You nod and get up to walk him to your front door and watch his tall figure elegantly cascade around your small living room, retrieving his belongings. When he found his car keys, he turned back around to look at you and he melts at the sight.

You were playing with your fingers, eyes big and insecure. You wanted to hug him but you weren’t sure if he was up for more affection.

He hooked his pinky in yours, pulling you towards him as he envelops you in the tightest hug he could possibly give you without smothering you completely.  He sniffed in your sweet perfumy scent that he loved so much and made the hug last a little longer than usual. He realised just how hard he had fallen for you in this moment. He didn’t want his dream-like blooming relationship with you to end before it started, but he also couldn’t help but think that you deserved someone better than the emotional fuck up that he is.  

You deserve someone who can love you back with the same amount of love that you give, and he knew all too well that he had a long way to go before he could give you anything close to the emotional stability that you deserved.

You stood on your tip-toes and pecked his lips once more. Yeonjun sent you a sweet smile, caressing your cheek with his thumb before he turned the knob to your front door.  

“Text me when you get home” you yell after him, but he didn’t respond.

As Yeonjun turns the corner of your apartment building he can’t help but drag himself down with his emotional state. The conversation with you unlocked memories that he had locked away. His mind starts to find more and more reasons as to how you deserve better than him. How he could never be enough for you and how he could never truly promise that he wouldn’t hurt you no matter how much he cared for you.

He was fucked up, and no one better than Yeonjun himself knew that trying to get you to love him was the most selfish thing he could have done.

Yeonjun opened the door to his expensive car, sliding into the drivers’ seat, starting the engine at the same exact time as the skies started to cry. It looked like a scene out of a damn movie.

Rain was falling like there was no tomorrow but he couldn’t get himself to drive off. He threw his head back. Listening to the loud sound of thick raindrops attacking his windshield in a rapid tempo.

His mind flashes back to the night before he left for college.

Yeonjun packed his bags with loud music blaring through his Airpods. He was feeling extra productive and he had almost finished packing all of his necessary belongings.

His father walked in, startling Yeonjun and snapping him back to reality as he took out one of his Airpods to listen to what his father had to say.

"Aren't you supposed to be gone already?" His father said picking up a picture from one of the boxes situated on his bed, scoffing as he looked at the picture of Yeonjun and his friends as he put it back into the box.

Yeonjun rolled his eyes. "I'm leaving tomorrow."

"Good, I was going to turn this room in to a gym." his father huffs

Yeonjun clenched his fists, trying to hold back his anger. "I don't know why you bother talking to me if this is how you're going to act." Yeonjun says, knowing he's probably going to get a verbal beating in return for his smart mouth but his dad just laughed at him.

"You're right. Just remember who's paying for your education smart-ass."

"What's going on?" his mother emerged from the entrance of Yeonjun's bedroom as she heard them argue.

"Nothing," his dad replied looking at Yeonjun. "Nothing at all."

A sudden surge of anger jolted through Yeonjun’s body as he snaps back to reality, and in response he hit his steering wheel as hard as he could multiple times in attempt to release his anger. Tears start to prickle his eyes at the bitter memory and he decided to let go. Drowning himself in the sorrow he felt and carried with him.

He cried for the first time in what felt like forever. Letting go of all his resentment and pent up frustration as he wept with his head hung low on his steering wheel.

If only money could buy happiness.  

Chapter 6

[sleepless-stories]

The Dark Plans of the Dark Sides (1/2)

Part 2

Summary: Virgil wants a change and to join the light sides. Janus along with Remus encourage him to go and do it.

Warnings: Panic Attacks, U!Patton & U!Roman, weapons, threats

__________________________________________

Janus walked down the hall quietly, looking down at the philosophy book in his gloved hands. 

There was suddenly a crash in the kitchen. 

Janus dropped his book running to the kitchen. In there he saw Virgil kneeling on the floor with a huge puddle of water and glass shards everywhere. Janus sighed walking slowly closer, “Virgil?”

Virgil looked up tears in his eyes before glancing back at the glass, he was struggling to breathe, it had just come on so suddenly. 

Janus gently reached down pulling Virgil up off the floor and lifted him carrying the anxious side to the couch. Janus sat holding him close, “remember, in for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, out for 8 seconds.” he whispered tapping the rhythm on Virgil’s shoulder. “You’re safe, thunderstorm.”

Virgil nodded resting his head on Janus’ shoulder as he struggled to breath, slowly breathing with the rhythm of Janus’ tapping. 

As Virgil got calmer Janus stopped tapping and just rubbed Virgil’s back. “What happened?”

“Panic attack.” Virgil mumbled gripping onto Janus’ capelet.

“All so suddenly?”

“Yeah… It’s ok, and I could clean up the kitchen.”

“Nope.” Janus shook his head, “I’m going to go clean the kitchen, you are going to rest.”

“No, Jan-”

“Yes.” Janus let go of Virgil and stood up, “Remus!” he called out. 

Remus popped in instantaneously, “Hey snakey.” he grinned maniacally. 

Janus nodded, “Please take Virgil to his room, he needs to rest.” 

Remus’ smile fell and he became a bit more serious as he glanced at Virgil with a soft and slightly saddened look, “Panic attack?”

“Yean… but I’m fine.”

Remus nodded then scooped him up, “Well off to rest for you Emo Raccoon, maybe later we could play clue?” 

Virgil nodded and held onto Remus. 

Remus nodded to Janus before sinking out. 

Janus sighed looking up at the ceiling when they left, he slowly walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a towel. He took off his capelet and hat then put dish gloves over his own before kneeling down on the floor and soaking the water up with the towel. Janus pulled out the trash discarding of the large glass pieces before he was able to vacuum up the rest. 

Janus finished after not too long and got up, he got a glass of water and a bottle of grape Gatorade before going to Virgil’s room. Knocking lightly before he opened the door, Janus walked inside, he walked over to the side of the bed and put the water and Gatorade on the nightstand then looked at the bed. 

Virgil was asleep under the covers and his weighted blanket, Remus was still there having not left him and was cuddling Virgil not leaving the other. 

Remus glanced up half awake, “Join us?” he whispered.

Janus nodded laying down and getting under the covers cuddling the two, he fell asleep after a little while. 

____

Virgil sat in the living room staring at a mirror on a wall, though it was more like a window. A window showing whatever one wanted to see. He was staring at the light sides quietly, all of them interacting with Thomas.

Janus walked into the room and saw as he walked over, he sighed softly and hugged Virgil, “what’s up?”

“I… I just wonder what it’s like there.”

“Don’t know… Virgil would you like to go there.”

“What? No! Of course not.” Virgil shook his head looking at Janus with a hint of fear in his eyes.

Janus pulled Virgil close, “I know you’re lying. You don’t have to be scared, I know you wouldn’t be abandoning us.”

“I know… I guess I just want…”

“Change?”

“Kinda.” Virgil nodded and sighed, he brushed his hand over the mirror making it just reflect them.

“Well you’re anxiety and change is scary.”

Virgil nodded, “what if they don’t like me.”

“You’ll be allowed back here, and if you’re lonely I’ll be there right away.”

Virgil nodded. 

“You should do it.”

“Alright… tomorrow?” Virgil asked softly, looking at Janus.

Janus nodded, “tomorrow.”

Virgil touched the scales on Janus’ face for a moment before hugging him tightly. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too, storm cloud.”

Remus popped in and looked at the two cuddled on the floor. He went over lifting them up and sitting on the couch holding them. “What’s wrong?”

“Virgil is going to go, he wants to join the core.”

Remus nodded instantly hugging tighter, “watch out for my brother! He’s insufferable.” He groaned with a laugh.

Virgil smiled, “and you’re not?!” 

“Of course not.” Remus grinned.

Janus shook his head, “lies.”

They all sat cuddled on the couch not leaving each other, at least for now.

_____

Virgil woke in the morning still on the couch with Janus and Remus. He yawned slowly pulling himself out of the cuddle pile only for Janus’ arms to constrict around him holding him in place. 

“You’re not leaving without breakfast and a proper goodbye.” Janus mumbled, opening his eyes. 

Virgil nodded softly, “I’d never leave without those.”

Janus nodded letting go.

Virgil got up then walked away to his room.

Janus pushed Remus causing him to fall off the couch and to the floor, but still fast asleep. Janus shook his head laughing softly as he went to the kitchen starting to make pancakes.

Remus woke up as soon as he started smelling food. He jumped to his feet running over to the kitchen, “breakfast?”

“Yep. I made your pancakes specially, tuna and broccoli.” Janus laughed.

“Aw thanks Janny.”

Janus nodded smiling. 

Remus skipped down the hall going to Virgil’s room.

Virgil had a bag packed and was just putting the last of his things in it. 

Remus opened the door walking in. He looked around the room, “you’re really going...”

“Yeah… before my anxiety tells me to stop.”

Remus nodded and went over and hugged him, “I’ll miss you.”

Virgil hugged back, “I’ll miss you too.” He sighed.

Remus let go before snatching a stuffed crow, spider, cat, raccoon, he had once made Virgil off the bed “you better not be leaving Nightmare.”

Virgil laughed, shaking his head, “I’d never even think I’d leaving it.”

Remus nodded handing it over.

There was a light knock on the door, Janus stood there leaning against the door frame. “Breakfast time.” 

They walked out of the room and all sat at the table in the kitchen eating in anything but silence, seemingly not wanting to lose a minute with Virgil. Just talking about anything that came to mind.

Virgil sighed finishing his food, “I… I think it’s time.”

Janus nodded getting up. He grabbed Virgil's bag then went over giving him a hug, “I’ll visit you soon.”

Virgil nodded, wiping away tears and hugging back. “You better, or I’ll think you abandoned me.” He laughed slightly.

“Don’t worry, we never will.” 

“I’ll never abandon you either. I love you guys.” Virgil said looking at Janus then Remus.

Janus hugged him tighter, “love you too.”

Remus hopped up from the table, “love you!”

Virgil peeled himself out of their grip then took a step back, “goodbye.”

They nodded watching Virgil disappear, leaving.

____

Virgil appeared in the living room of the other sides, greeted with glares of the happy go lucky sides. “H-hi…”

“Villain… what are you doing here?” Creativity growled.

Logic shot creativity a look before shaking his head and sinking out.

Creativity got out pulling a sword out of thin air and pressing it against Anxiety’s neck. “Don’t get in my way.” He said before sinking out.

Morality sat on the couch glaring before standing up walking over, “you’re just evil aren’t you?” He asked with a bite to his tone.

Virgil stared his eyes welling up with tears, he should’ve known… he wouldn’t be accepted just showing up… they had always saw them as evils only hurting Thomas. He took a deep breath as he felt his anxiety rising.

Morality watched before bursting out into light hearted giggles, “don’t worry anxiety, we’ll see eye to eye soon enough.” He winked, his eyes glowing a bright aqua blue before he sunk out.

Virgil fell down to his knees as soon as he was alone, tears running down his face. He could do this… he’ll be accepted soon enough, it would be fine. He shook his head breathing before disappearing to his new room. 

______________________________

General Tag List

@crazy-multifandomfangirl

@aceawkwardunicorn

@mistythegenderqueermess

[mikauzoran]

Lukadrien: Zebras Can’t Change Their Stripes: Chapter Four

Read it on AO3: Zebras Can’t Change Their Stripes: Chapter Four

When Adrien woke up, everything smelled fresh and clean, like fabric softener and laundry detergent.

He was warm and dry, and the bed, the covers, and his pyjamas were all comfortable and soft.

He’d been holding his cat plushie, Chat Noir the Third, when he’d fallen asleep, and C3 was still tucked under Adrien’s arm, fur fuzzy against Adrien’s skin.

It was comforting. In a way, it reminded him of Plagg and how they would sometimes snuggle.

Adrien rolled over onto his back and hugged C3 closer.

Grief and joy mingled in Adrien’s chest as he stared up at the clean, white ceiling.

The morning sun was pouring in through Adrien’s windows in a cheerful, inviting way that Adrien had never experienced in his old room with his old windows.

He was safe. He had a home—a real home this time.

It had been eleven years since he had last had a true home…since he’d lost his mother and the mansion had become silent, cold, and empty.

But now Adrien was home and safe and wanted.

He buried his face in C3’s fur, remembering what Luka had told him the previous day: Luka had bought C3 for Adrien so that he would remember he was loved.

It had been a long time since Adrien was last loved, and the prospect of getting something like that back was overwhelming.

He set C3 aside so that he wouldn’t get him dirty as he cried.

He couldn’t pinpoint exactly why he was crying, if it were happiness or sadness or stress, but it felt good to get the emotions out.

When he was done, he sat up, cleaned his face with the tissues on the nightstand, and got out of bed, ready to do his best with the second chance he’d been given.

It felt amazing to get dressed in new, clean clothes with the knowledge that he could throw them in the laundry whenever he felt like it at no charge and that he didn’t have to sleep in them or wear them for multiple days at a time.

It was really nice to have a spacious, private bathroom with a door that locked where he didn’t have to worry about the sanitation.

Well…Luka’s bathroom was currently a mess with toothpaste and shaving cream smudges on the counter and mirror and grooming products left spread out all over the place. Used towels were scattered, crumpled on the floor, and the medicine cabinet was left open.

But Adrien wasn’t necessarily worried, unlike he had been when using other bathrooms where he didn’t even want to think about what kind of germs were growing on surfaces.

Once dressed, Adrien went to Luka’s door and listened for signs that his roommate was awake.

The apartment was still, and Adrien didn’t see any light peeking out from underneath the door, so he assumed that Luka was still sleeping and, instead, made his way to the kitchen.

It was a war zone that had been subsequently ravaged by flood, famine, and pestilence.

It was hard to believe that things could go to ruin in as few as six days, but Adrien was seeing the evidence with his own eyes. Luka was the comparatively neat and tidy Couffaine, but The Breakup had obviously laid him very low indeed.

Dishes were piled high in the sink and crusted with days-old food debris, so Adrien rinsed and scrubbed to the best of his ability before loading them all up in the dishwasher.

Hardly anything in the fridge was worth salvaging.

Adrien got out trash bags from under the sink and started checking dates. He sniffed the items that still resembled food and summarily tossed the ones that were more petri dish than pasta.

He cleared off the counters, sorting the refuse from the misplaced possessions and raided the cabinet below the sink for cleaning supplies.

Once the kitchen was spotless, he expanded his efforts to the living room, picking up the dirty clothes, junk food wrappers, and takeaway containers.

He located the mop, broom, and vacuum cleaner in the coat closet and set about sweeping, reasoning that he would vacuum the rug once Luka was awake so that he didn’t disturb him.

With the living room looking presentable, he gathered up the rubbish, dirty clothes, and items needing to be returned to their respective homes, putting each grouping in their own location to be dealt with later. He then moved on to the bathroom.

By the time he was done tidying and scrubbing, it was midmorning, and he was starting to get kind of hungry. When he’d woken up, he’d still been full from the ridiculous amount of food he’d eaten the day before, but after burning so many calories cleaning, his body was getting ready to eat again.

Luka still hadn’t emerged from his room, so Adrien left a note on the blank page of a sketchbook he had found while cleaning to let Luka know that he hadn’t run away. He was just grocery shopping.

He tore another empty page out of the sketchbook so that he could write up a list of the things he needed from the store.

There was a Monoprix just up the street from the apartment, so it took him less than an hour to walk there, shop, and make it back home again.

He picked up a croissant from the bakery section to snack on as he cooked breakfast but noted that it paled in comparison to what he remembered of those from Tom and Sabine’s.

Adrien was beginning to think that Luka was dead as he plated the food. It was almost noon, and Adrien hadn’t heard a peep.

Luka had looked exhausted the previous day, and he’d mentioned not sleeping well since The Breakup, so maybe he was just catching up on sleep, but Adrien had enough experience with depression to know that it was time to step in and drag his flatmate out of bed.

He knocked on the door, but there was no response.

Taking a deep breath, he turned the knob and discovered it was unlocked.

“Luka, I’m going to be really mad if you’re actually dead,” Adrien grumbled, hesitantly pushing the door open. “Luka?”

Adrien blinked as he got his first glimpse at the inside of Luka’s bedroom.

It was even worse than the rest of the apartment, and that was saying something. Garbage and dirty clothes were strewn everywhere, and the floor was like a minefield of filth.

“Oh, Luka,” Adrien cooed, carefully making his way across the room to the bed. “You’re really hurting, aren’t you?”

Luka snored softly, deaf to Adrien’s sympathy.

“Orpheus.” Adrien kept his voice quiet as he gently shook Luka’s shoulder, not wanting to startle his friend. “Luka? Hey. Wake up.”

Luka drew in a long breath, and his eyes slowly blinked open.

He stared up at Adrien in a daze.

“Angel,” he whispered, reaching out to stroke Adrien’s cheek.

Adrien was torn between enjoying the attention immensely and feeling guilty about it because Luka was obviously still out of it.

“You are not awake,” Adrien chuckled, carefully removing Luka’s palm from his face. “Earth to Luka. Come in, Luka.”

Luka gave a jolt as he blinked and his eyes came into focus. “Oh my gosh. Adrien. Sorry. Hi. What’s wrong? Did you need something?”

“It’s breakfast time. Get up,” Adrien teased, tugging on Luka’s arm lightly.

Luka cursed under his breath. “I am so sorry. Give me just a minute and I’ll go to the grocery store and then make you some breakfast.”

Adrien snorted in laughter. “No need. It is I who have made you breakfast. Come eat before it gets cold.”

Luka blinked at Adrien. “You what?”

“I made omuraisu,” Adrien explained with a pleased smile.

“You what?” Luka repeated, wondering if his ears were failing him.

His Adrien didn’t cook.

“I’m twenty-four,” Adrien enunciated. “I make my own breakfast. Now, get up or I’m seriously climbing in bed with you and pushing you out.”

“…You made breakfast?” Luka echoed in disbelief as he followed Adrien toward the door.

“Yep,” Adrien confirmed with a pop to the p. “I’ve worked in a lot of kitchens these past few years. The chefs taught me some things.”

They stepped out into the living room, and Luka had to do a doubletake. “Faeries came during the night and cleaned the apartment.”

Adrien cracked up. “I mean…it’s not like this is the first time someone’s ever called me a faerie, but…I prefer the term ‘knight in leather armor’.”

Luka gawked at Adrien. “You cleaned the apartment?”

His Adrien wouldn’t know what to do with a broom if his life depended on it…unless he needed to use the broom as a weapon. His Adrien had that covered, but to use a broom for its intended purpose…

Adrien came to a stop in the kitchen, pushing one of the plates of omuraisu towards Luka.

“Surprise,” he announced softly, a sad expression in his eyes that made him look older than Luka had ever remembered. “I’m a functional, responsible adult now too.”

“Yeah,” Luka breathed, looking at Adrien with new eyes. “You went and grew up on me, didn’t you?”

He pulled Adrien into a tight hug, and Adrien squeezed back.

“I had to get it together pretty quickly,” Adrien confessed bitterly. “I cook, clean, do laundry… I even scrub toilets now.”

Luka pulled back, looking mortified. “Please tell me you didn’t clean the bathroom.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Adrien assured.

Luka dropped his forehead to Adrien’s shoulder and let out an animalistic groan. “I am so, so sorry. I swear I was going to clean everything today.”

“I know. I believed you when you kept telling me so last night,” Adrien informed. “It was just that you were completely wiped out, and I saw an opportunity to be helpful.”

Adrien took Luka’s face in his hands and tipped it up to look him in the eye. “This isn’t like before when I’d sneak out and come visit you when I was upset. I may still be a mess, but you’re a wreck too at the moment, and, now, I’m able to help and support you too.”

“Don’t sound so pleased about me being a disaster,” Luka chuckled, horrified and amused all at once.

“I promise I’m not. I’m just glad that I can finally do something for you after all you’ve done for me.” Adrien gave Luka a sincere smile and then stepped back to focus on his food. “Eat your breakfast already.”

Luka sighed, resigning himself to this alternate universe where his Adrien was fully capable of taking care of himself.

“Thank you,” he stressed, digging into the omuraisu. “…Geez, this is good!”

Adrien smirked around his fork. “Told you so.”

“What else can you make?” Luka wondered through a mouthful of rice and egg.

“I specialize in ethnic food,” Adrien preened. “I do desserts passably too, so maybe tomorrow I can make tiramisu and chickpea coconut cashew curry.”

Luka bit his tongue to stop himself from confessing his eternal love to Adrien because it was way too soon after The Breakup to be developing feelings for anyone. Besides, Adrien was vulnerable; Luka would be taking advantage of Adrien’s dependency on him if he made any kind of move.

He never wanted Adrien to feel pressured into anything for fear of winding up back on the street again.

Instead of the declaration of love, Luka smiled gratefully. “I’m really, really glad you came back into my life yesterday.”

Adrien paused, looking taken aback for a moment, his fork pausing halfway to his mouth. “You like curry that much?”

“It’s not just about the curry,” Luka chuckled. “Thank you for all of this.”

“Sure.” Adrien returned the smile with a grin full of pride. “I’m not even done yet. I still have your room to clean.”

“No,” Luka groaned. “I can clean my own room.”

“I’m sure you can, but I’m going to help you,” Adrien informed in a tone that told Luka he would not be backing down. “You can tell me what you don’t want me touching, but I can at least help sort the trash from the dirty clothes from the dishes from the stuff that just needs to be put away.”

“I will consider letting you help,” Luka conceded through gritted teeth.

“Perfect!” Adrien chirped cheerily. “…So, I didn’t start any laundry yet because I wasn’t sure what your preferences were, but this evening after we sort through the stuff in your room, you can tell me how you want your laundry done, and I can work on that while you hide your dirty magazines or whatever.”

Luka rolled his eyes. He was pretty sure that Adrien remembered that Luka was demi and didn’t experience sexual attraction unless he had a strong emotional connection with someone and, therefore, had no need for dirty magazines. They’d talked a lot about sexuality when Adrien was sixteen/seventeen and trying to figure things out. Adrien didn’t have trusted adults to talk to, and Luka was actually really honored that Adrien had come to him.

“I will consider letting you help with laundry,” Luka repeated with a shake of his head.

“Great. So…status update,” Adrien prattled right along, leaning his forearms on the counter as he consumed his omuraisu. “I gathered all the trash and piled it up in bags by the door because I didn’t know what the building’s trash collection procedure was.”

“We can take it down to the dumpster on our way out the door to band practice,” Luka replied.

“Cool.” Adrien nodded, taking in the information. “I also piled all the clothing articles in two heaps over by the couch….” He hesitated, biting his bottom lip. “…Not all of the clothes are yours. I can wash them and fold them up in a trash bag so you don’t have to see them, if you’d like.”

Luka winced. “…I don’t know right now. Sorry.”

“That’s okay,” Adrien rushed to assure. “I’ll just go ahead and do that, and then you can deal with them whenever you’re ready.”

“I really hope there wasn’t anything too embarrassing,” Luka groaned.

Adrien grimaced. “You both have impeccable taste in underwear?”

“I want to die,” Luka replied with an ironic smile.

“It seriously wasn’t a big deal,” Adrien stressed. “…Though, I wasn’t able to determine as easily what was yours as far as possessions go, so I just lined them up neatly against the wall out of the way. I hope that was okay? You don’t have to go through them anytime soon. They can just wait until you’re ready.”

Luka reached out and rested a hand on Adrien’s bicep. “Thank you.”

Adrien placed his hand over Luka’s and smiled. “What are friends for?”

“For times like this,” Luka hummed, feeling blessed.

There was a beat, and then Adrien went back to his status update. “I cleaned out the fridge and went shopping for the essentials, but we’ll need to shop again tonight or tomorrow for the rest of the week. Also, I bought a cheap rice cooker. I hope that’s okay. I had a rice cooker up until a few months ago, and I used to cook all kinds of things in it. I can do a lot with a rice cooker.”

Luka grinned, watching Adrien fondly as he animatedly recounted his rice cooker culinary adventures.

Adrien had slipped so easily into Luka’s life, making himself indispensable in less than twenty-four hours. It left Luka wondering what he’d been doing without Adrien for the past four years.

 “Émile!” Josie cried, sprinting across the bar and enveloping Adrien in a fierce hug.

Luka, smiling fondly, stepped around them and went over to get the things he’d left with Jacob the previous day from the bassist. “Glad to know I mean nothing to you, Josie.”

Josie ignored Luka, focusing all of her enthusiasm on Adrien. “Look at you! You clean up nice, Kid! Look at your little baby face! You are the cutest thing. I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too, Josie,” Adrien chuckled, hugging her back with genuine affection.

Luka couldn’t stop grinning because Adrien was adorable. He got attached to people so quickly.

Jacob looked back and forth between Luka and Adrien and quirked an eyebrow quizzically. “You two came together?” he whispered so only Luka would hear.

“He’s actually my roommate now,” Luka confessed, wanting to get this conversation over sooner rather than later.

Jacob’s eyes bugged out. “Dude. You work fast,” he hissed. “You’re already shacked up?”

“No.” Luka winced. “It’s not like that. It’s completely platonic. He just needed a place to stay.”

Jacob nodded, not believing that for a second. “Right.”

“Émile!” Marc greeted, leaving his guitar propped against his keyboard on stage to go give Adrien a hug. “Hey, Kiddo. I did get your text with your phone number. Sorry I didn’t text back. I read it right away, but I was in the middle of burning food, and I completely forgot.”

“No worries,” Adrien assured, returning the hug and absolutely loving it. “So long as you got the message.”

Luka promptly shoved down the little niggling of jealousy that sprouted up at seeing Adrien being affectionate with another guy.

Josie quickly distracted him as she came over and hung off of his shoulder. “You don’t look like crap today.”

“Thank you?” Luka frowned, trying to decide whether to be insulted.

“He said Émile needed a place to stay, so he moved in with him yesterday,” Jacob reported, looking at Josie expectantly.

Josie’s eyes went wide. “Wow. Very opportunist. You get any yet?”

Luka swatted her away. “It’s platonic. I just broke up with The Girl, guys. I am not jumping into anything for a very long time.”

“Are you trying to say that my baby brother isn’t good enough for you to seduce?” Josie snorted, doing a very good job of actually looking offended.

Luka threw his hands up in frustration. “You know, I was having a good day until I had to deal with you two clowns.”

“Émile!” Jacob waved as Adrien and Marc came over to join them. “Sup, Kid?” He opened his arms for a hug which Adrien readily gave.

“Hey, Jacob.” Adrien smiled nervously as he pulled back, reaching up to rub at his neck. “I actually have something I need to tell everyone.”

The band’s expressions suddenly went serious.

“What’s up, Émile?” Josie prompted gently.

Adrien took a deep breath. “That isn’t actually my real name.”

Luka’s eyes widened, and he reached out to rest a hand on Adrien’s shoulder. “You sure you’re ready to do this now?”

Adrien nodded. “Yeah. They’ve shown me nothing but kindness. I don’t want to lie to them.”

“Is your real name ‘Adrien’?” Marc inquired.

Everyone looked to him in surprise.

Adrien blinked. “You knew?”

Josie and Jacob turned to Marc with twin frowns.

“How’d you know that?” Jacob demanded.

Marc shook his head. “I wasn’t sure. I just thought you kind of looked like the billboards I used to see all the time.”

“Billboards?” Josie echoed, arching an eyebrow.

“My name is really Adrien,” Adrien confessed. “Adrien Agreste.”

Jacob blinked. “That…sounds familiar?”

“I used to be a model,” Adrien elaborated. “Especially about ten years ago my face was on everything. You couldn’t get away from the advertisements if you tried…. I’m also known more notoriously as Gabriel Agreste’s son,” Adrien informed, gaze directed intently down at his shoes. “You know. Papillon.”

Jacob promptly pushed Luka out of the way and wrapped his arms around Adrien, announcing, “Just so you all know, this is mine now.”

“I don’t think so,” Josie huffed, coming to join the puppy pile. “I saw him first, but if I get caught when I sneak into jail to assassinate his father, you’d sure as hell better take care of him for me.”

She turned to Adrien (who looked very, very confused).

“You’re adopted,” she declared, her voice just on the right side of calm even as it came out clipped and furious. “There’s no way you’re actually related to that slimewad. He akumatized my little sister when she was being bullied, and there is no way you’re related to him. Besides, like I keep saying, we are officially adopting you now.”

Marc reached out a hand to rest on Adrien’s shoulder. “We’re here for you. Promise.”

“People…don’t usually react like that,” Adrien hiccupped. “They usually want nothing to do with me when they find out who I am.”

“People suck,” Jacob reported. “Obviously, they didn’t put much effort into finding out who you really are because, if they had, they would have discovered that you’re a precious baby who deserves to be loved and protected.”

Adrien turned to Luka with a watery smile. “You pick good people.”

Luka grinned. “I picked you, didn’t I?”

The whole group besides Adrien groaned.

Adrien only smiled.

“…So why ‘Émile Dupain’?” Josie inquired as they slowly pulled away.

“‘Émile’ is actually my second name,” Adrien explained. “I was named after my mom.”

Everyone nodded, making cooing, “that’s so sweet” noises.

“‘Dupain’ I stole from a friend,” he confessed with a blush that made Luka narrow his eyes. “It was the most common surname out of all of my friends, so… Plus, it was like taking a little piece of home with me while I roamed around.”

They all cooed again.

“Wait. Hold up.” Jacob turned and pointed to Luka just as the conversation was about to shift. “He’s not surprised about any of this. Did you tell him already yesterday?”

Adrien bit his lip, smiling guiltily. “I’ve known Luka for about a decade now, actually. I didn’t recognize him yesterday until we were outside on the street, though. He still had blue hair when I last saw him.”

“Man, I dated him when he had the blue hair,” Jacob sighed, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t have let him go so easily if I had known the black hair upgrade was coming.”

“Hey,” Luka grumbled. “I looked good with blue hair. It went with my eyes.”

“I actually think the black offsets your eyes better,” Adrien hummed thoughtfully. “The black makes the blue pop. I like it like this.”

Luka’s brain broke. “O-Oh? You think so?”

Marc put a hand over his mouth, holding in a laugh. “He’s never going to dye his hair again.”

Josie opened her mouth to quip, but then she caught the soft, warm, gooey way Luka was looking at Adrien.

She sucked in a sharp breath. “Holy crap! He’s Adrien!”

Adrien gave a start, suddenly very worried. “Uh…yes? I thought…that was okay?”

She waved her arms, shooing away his concerns. “No. The thing with your father is fine. I meant that you’re Adrien. Luka’s Adrien!”

Jacob’s jaw dropped. “He’s The Boy!?”

Adrien looked to Luka for reassurance, quite obviously anxious at something he had no way of understanding.

Luka grimaced and wrapped a comforting arm around Adrien’s shoulders. “Yes,” he said pointedly. “He’s the dear friend I’ve mentioned many times to you.”

Jacob scoffed under his breath at that.

Marc decided to stay out of it.

“I really was worried about you while you were away,” Luka explained to Adrien. “I may have been a little preoccupied.”

Slowly, Adrien began to nod, thinking he understood. “Sorry again for worrying you.”

“He survived,” Marc assured, beckoning Adrien over to the stage. “He was a real mess for a while, though.”

Josie hung back, giving Luka a skeptical look. “You moved in with The Boy a week after breaking up with The Girl?”

Luka shrugged helplessly. “It’s platonic.”

“You make questionable life decisions,” Jacob snorted. “You’re screwed.”

“He’s going to wish he were,” Josie sighed. “Does your sister know that you’ve set yourself up for total emotional annihilation by platonically moving in with The Boy a week after your breakup with The Girl?”

“Adrien isn’t ready to tell people he’s back in Paris yet, so don’t you dare say anything to Juleka,” Luka growled protectively, getting his friends’ attention.

They shared a look and then held their hands up in surrender.

“We’re just worried about you, Dude,” Jacob clarified sympathetically.

Luka sighed, all the hot air coming out of him. “I’m kind of worried about me too,” he confessed.

[the-silentium]

Jinx

Masterlist

Pairing: The Swedes x Reader

Words: 3300 words

Warnings: Mention of semi-nudity.

A/N: Hey dear people. I know I usually write for Five, but I had to write at least once for these nice brothers who I clearly love too much. @jossambird​ this one is for AND is because of you. Please enjoy!

What made you pleasant in the brothers’ eyes was exactly why people generally avoided you. You didn't talk much, always preferring to stay by yourself instead of gathering into groups, passing your time daydreaming, and drawing on a weird small board instead of drinking collectively with the rest of the Commission's workers. You had a perfect mission success rate and to the surprise of many, you always came back unscathed. A lot of agents asked you about your methods but you never answered, much to their annoyance. Not even your supervisor knew, not that he minded. 

So a majority of the Commissioners treated you like an outcast, someone to be left alone and forget. In your time as a reject, you met the only trio that was as silent as you. You never planned on accepting more than one cooperative mission with them, but something attracted you to the brothers. Maybe it was their acceptance of your personality, how they never forced you to express yourself and treated you like a normal person or perhaps it was the bond they shared that made you desire to not be alone anymore. 

The boys didn't mind your presence around them. They quickly realized that a lot of the rumors about you were false, you had so much more to give to those who accepted your introvertness. You were diligent in everything you were a part of, always taking initiative before the brothers even asked you to do something, you were observative enough to predict what they needed and always gave them a helping hand whenever they asked. You were a hard worker, that was for sure. On the other side, after a couple of missions alongside you, they noticed that you often put everyone's need before your own, so they had to keep that in mind. 

A year later, you were an unofficial member of the group, accompanying them more often than not on their trips. Oscar became your best friend, the one with whom you'd share the second twin size bed available in the crappy motel rooms, the one who had managed to make you open up about your past -some part of it, at least- and the one who would always hold your hand whenever the dark was too much for you to handle.

Axel was often the one to make you laugh, with his snarky remarks to Oscar's stupid pranks or with his silly fire camp stories. (The boys will never tell you that, but these stories were made solely for you as a mean for Axel to hear your melodious laugh. Never did the older brother tell his siblings stories of the sort. Oscar and Otto were quick to realize their brother's enamored behavior, to which Axel threatened them to keep their mouth shut about.) To your delight, Axel even let you cook meals from your country. He often helped you around the kitchen just like you often did when he was the cook. 

To your embarrassment, you systematically seemed to fall asleep on Otto whenever he was your couch buddy. His body heat mixed with his height made it perfect for his bicep to serve as your pillow. He always said that it was fine, that you needed the rest but you couldn't stop yourself from feeling ashamed. In return, you made sure that you helped him with the chores and the cleaning. 

You smiled as you stopped the vacuum, admiring your handy work. Wherever you guys went, the stray cats were always welcome into your little temporary home, meaning that cat hairs were everywhere. This time wasn't so bad, the only two stray felines passed the majority of the time on someone's knees seeking body heat. 

You put away the vacuum in its rightful place and made your way to your bed. It was rare, but sometimes you had your own bed. You were grateful that Otto found a place for rent, causing you to have your very own room for the first time in three months. You loved Oscar but you couldn't wait to remove your pants and bra and walk around your room with only a baggy t-shirt and panties on. 

You passed the table where Axel was reading a file and Otto was bent over a map marked with red dots here and there. You stopped at Otto's side in hope of catching his attention. It didn't take long. 

"I finished the vacuum, you won't have to do it later." You smiled as he huffed and rolled his eyes, unsurprised that you hadn't listened to him when he told you to take the day to yourself and let him do the cleaning. "If you guys need me, I'll be in my room." 

Otto hummed in response as Axel nodded, a small smile on his lips. You had to curl up your toes to refrain yourself from moving forward and do something stupid. Quickly, you turned around and walked to your room, glancing for a second at the snow covering the houses, trees and yards. The sight was truly bewitching, although you weren't a fan of the cold temperature. 

Looking under your bed, you pulled out your bag and searched around in its depth, taking out your fully charged iPad and apple pencil. 

Drawing has always been a part of you, despite what it caused. You had to get your thoughts and ideas out of your head and drawing was your way of doing it. All you had to do was find a way so no one could see your drawings. It wasn't easy with your old sketchbook, anyone could find the book and open it, so you requested an iPad with a compatible pencil and locked it with a very complex password. 

You verified that the door was completely closed before caving to your wants and discarded any unnecessary clothing, leaving you in your most comfy oversized t-shirt and your undergarment. 

Now comfortable, you jumped into the bed next to your tablet and started drawing as soon as you positioned yourself with your back pressed onto the headboard. You didn't know how long you passed there, drawing the content of your mind, only knowing that you were at your fourth piece when the door flew open, presenting you Oscar with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face, leaning in the doorway. 

"I came to ask if you wanted to watch a movie, but I see you already have one." He snickered. 

You had once told the brothers what your "small board" was, although skipping the part that it was your drawing tablet. You showed them the music and videos kindly pre-installed by your supervisor and of course, Oscar wanted to watch modern movies with you. You'd never scrolled through the entirety of the movie selection available, but you should have. Before you knew, Oscar had selected Fifty Shades of Grey and everything went down from there. Needless to say that his own time period wasn't that open into showing nudity so it was a shock for him. At first. You were only grateful that the older brothers weren't interested into watching modern movies and that they never knew why Oscar teased you with a color. 

"I'm not watching anything, Oscar." You countered defensively.

He entered the room, unbothered by your appearance. 

"What are you doing then?" He reached for the iPad, causing you to hit the lock button in a hurry, hiding the lines and color behind a hard black screen and a password. 

"But I wanted to see." He whined, putting. You made the error of rolling your eyes, giving Oscar the opportunity to grab your pencil out of your hand. 

"Give it back!" You yelled, reaching for the electronic crayon. Oscar stepped away from the bed, almost making you fall off the bed. 

"It's a pen? You draw? Can I see it?" His eyes were sparkling, but it didn't hurt in the slightest when a categorical no fell from your lips. "But why?" 

You jumped out of bed, ready to jump on him if need be to recover your stolen good. 

"Because. I don't have to give you a reason- Oscar!" You followed him out of the room as soon as he dashed for the door. He stopped in the living room, where he used his height to annoy you and keep the device out of your reach. You tried to reach it on your tippytoes, without success. 

"Oscar I'm not kidding. Give it back." Your patience was getting thinner by the second. 

"Same for me. I want to see." He smirked at something behind your shoulder, but you couldn't care less at the moment. 

"I said no!" You tried again to reach for your iPad in the outstretched arm of the younger Swede, unconsciously offering a perfect view of your behind to two completely red Scandinavian. 

"Give it back!" The desperation in your voice caused Axel to intervene, his heart reacting to your panicked state. 

You felt tears forming into your eyes, from anger or distress, you didn't know, but you harshly wiped at them in hope of concealing your weakness. Oscar froze at your movement, eyes widening at the sight. Someone behind you grabbed the devices from Oscar's hand, before handing them to you. 

"Enough brother. She said no." His tone was hard and let no place for discussion, not that Oscar would have tried to argue after he saw the water in your eyes. 

With shaky hands, you pressed the electronics to your chest, protecting them from any other wandering hands. With them close and safe, your frantic heartbeat could finally slow down. 

You turned to Axel to thank him until you noticed how bright red his cheeks and neck were. He was still glaring at Oscar, although when he realized that you had turned to him, his gaze fell somewhere near you. The realization of why he couldn't meet your gaze dawned on you like a cold bucket of water, your very own cheek reddening. 

Mortified, you fled to the security of your room, the door banging on its hinges behind you. You searched the doorknob for a lock, helplessness invading you when you found none. Rushing to the bed to hide under the covers, you could only hope that the boys would leave you alone for as long as you needed. Forever would be an acceptable amount of time. 

You cried yourself to sleep, remnants of your panic playing tricks in your head, tormenting you with what-ifs. What if Oscar had seen your drawing? What if he decided to try again in the future? What if the boys decided that they had had enough of you? What if- whatif--

A soft knock resonated through the door, waking you in a panic. You had a terrible headache and your eyes were burning. You were disoriented until Otto's soft voice reached your ears. 

"Dinner is ready. I brought you a plate." 

You couldn't possibly think of eating at the moment, but you couldn't find it in yourself to let your sweet Otto turn back, defeated, to the kitchen. 

"Come in." You managed to croak out, your throat not used to form words instead of sobs. 

Otto opened the door slowly, the light of the house entering your dark room, allowing Otto to see your form concealed under the sheets. Only half of your head was poking out of your safe zone, giving him all the information he needed on your state. 

You managed to give him a small smile as he walked into the room to place the plate onto your nightstand. He paused for a second, seemingly thinking over what he wanted to do or say, before making up his mind.

"Oscar is very sorry." His hands formed fists when he met your red eyes. 

"I won't say it's fine because it's not." You answered, breaking the eye contact to concentrate on the wet spots on your pillow. 

"We know." A shadow blocked the light coming from the hallway and into your room, creating an enormous dark form onto the opposite wall. You lifted the covers to hide the remaining of your face, causing Otto to walk out of the room to keep the newcomer outside. 

The smell of the food was heavenly despite the fact that your stomach wasn't ready to welcome any of it soon. You pulled the cover off your face to allow fresh air to enter your lungs and repositioned yourself in a somewhat comfortable position. It didn't take you long to drift off, too tired to resist the welcoming arms of Morpheus. 

You woke up to a pair of steely eyes glaring at you from the doorway. Nervous, you got up from the bed and followed the retreating figure. On your way, you grabbed and slipped on your sweat pants, running to catch up with Axel. You collided with his back when he stopped abruptly and fell on your ass due to the force of the impact. 

Your eyes widened as soon as you caught sight of Oscar's body lying on the floor, blood running down his nose, eyes open but unseeing. A scream died in your throat, the pitiful sounds you managed to do were muffled by your hand covering your mouth. Axel turned to you, glaring at you from his vantage point. 

"He saw your drawings. It's your fault." 

Sobs shook your body as tears ran down your face once more. All you could do was chant a succession of no, desperately wishing that it wasn't true, that you didn't kill him. 

You expected the older brother to kill you in retaliation, but he must have known. No, he knew. As a fruit of your imagination, he knew how to make you suffer. Slowly, his arm lifted to the side, pointing towards the door where Otto was waiting, a blank expression darkening his features. 

"Leave." 

Your heart stopped. You would be alone again. Just like the past 16 years of your life. The only ones who accepted you were now rejecting you because they had seen what you so desperately tried to hide. Because your selfishness had broken them. Why couldn't you just stop drawing? Why-

Axel's hand closed firmly on your upper arms, the surprise and fear causing you to shot up into your bed, the sheets falling from your body and exposing your sweaty skin to the chilly air of the room. You slammed your hands onto your mouth in hope of containing the sobs and not disturb the other residents of the little house. 

Just in time, your body stopped shaking, your tears stopped falling and your breath stopped breaking. You stiffened as a knock resonated in the air, Oscar's voice breaking the silence. 

"Are you up?" 

You were relieved to hear his voice, to know that he was still alive and well. You really wanted to answer him, to let him know that he was forgiven and that you didn't hate him, but you knew you looked like hell and that it would only hurt him more. So you stayed silent, waited until your heard his footsteps walking away to get up, gather your clothes for the day and with the discretion that one could only acquire after years of training, you made your way to the bathroom down the hallway. 

The woman looking at you through the mirror looked definitely dead, with her dull puffy eyes, her untamed hair, the tear tracks on her cheeks and her pale skin. Quickly, you showered to remove any trace of your sadness, took an aspirin to lower the pressure into your skull and got dressed to not embarrass anyone furthermore. Now, the woman looked just like you, healthy and beautiful, if not just a little more down than usual. 

As you came out of the bathroom and entered the living room connected to the kitchen, Oscar immediately shot up from the couch like he had waited for you all this time. You knew Otto and Axel's attention were on the both of you even if they continued with their activities, making breakfast and petting the cats. 

"I am so sorry. I crossed a line and I know it wasn't right. Please, don't hate me. I'm sorry." He was as shaken as you were if his disheveled hair was anything to go by. This was a first. 

"I don't hate you, Oscar." He relaxed at your word, a soft smile leaving his lips. "I forgive you, but please, don't do it again." 

He shook his head and wrapped you in his arms. The tightness was a bit too much, but you didn't mind, you hugged him just as tightly. 

"Thank you." He whispered as he pulled away, a small smile on his handsome face. 

You playfully punched his shoulder to which Oscar retaliated by poking your sides until you were on the floor, laughing so much that your headache came back. 

"Food's ready." You cheered at Axel's statement, successfully pushing your white-haired friend off of you when he wasn't focussing. 

"Thank you." You said to the cook while getting seated to your place. He hummed, just as usual, the events of the day before seemingly forgotten. 

Despite your great appetite, you didn't touch your fork, instead gathering the courage to come clean. 

"My birthday is October 1st, 1989." The Swedes froze, surprised about the new information. Everyone at the Commission knew about the children born on this particular day. You continued when Oscar opened his mouth. "My ability," you frowned, "if I could call it like that, is that if I accomplish a specific task, people die."

The brothers were lost, not getting to what you were implying. 

"If someone sees a drawing I've made, they die. Generally in the next day or so. It can be by a heart attack, a brain hemorrhage or a stupid accident." Your gaze found Oscar's grey one. "You didn't see it, did you?" 

He shook his head, a smirk stretching his lips. "You're that bad, eh?" 

You kicked his ankle under the table, a yelp resonating into the room. 

"You could have died, you moron." 

"You're not kidding?" His head tilted to the side.

"No! How do you think I killed for the Commission for the last 16 years? I only had to show them a drawing and they were dead by the next day!" You huffed, frustrated that he didn't believe you at first. "I've lost my family because of it, I won't lose my friends too." You chewed on the interior of your cheek, your gaze fleeing everyone’s by falling on your plate. 

Before any dark thoughts could invade your mind, a hand fell on your shoulder. Axel didn't have to say it in words for you to understand. They'd never give up on you, no matter what, the reassurance making you smile to your plate. 

"Why don't you stop?" Otto's question pulled at your heart. 

"Because whenever I draw, I draw my family. I miss them a lot." You could hear the laugh of your little sister in the wind sometimes or could see yourself playing in the snow with your older brother. It was an accident, you didn't know at the time, but when you showed your very first drawing of the neighbor's dog to your family at dinner, you had sealed their fate. Four heart attacks under the same roof on the same night was hardly a coincidence, leading the Commission to take your case seriously. They took you in and made you who you were. 

A chair moving harshly on the floor caught your attention. Oscar walked around the table to hug you from behind, his face pressed against yours.

"We are your family now." 

[hazbinextgeneration]

Into The Casino Ch15

Well at least now things were starting to move along it seemed. The little naïve gal was FINALLY starting to make progress and he could actually enjoy himself while doing so. Oh she was still clumsy and tripped over her feet or misplaced a step here and there, but OH BOY! It was MUCH better than when they were first starting out and her being so tense all the time. All he had to do was put on a little swing and let her figure herself out a little ways in, not that he was complaining though. He enjoyed this just as much as anyone else and the happy smiles and laughing she was starting to give off was absolutely delightful! She was even starting to get a little better with his presence around her, she still jumped and acted suspicious of him, but the little progress was outstanding compared to months ago when she wouldn't let anyone so much as shake her hand. He was far from done believe me, but he had an idea as to what to do now. Not that his singing and dancing weren't amazing after all.~ They absolutely were astounding and she even said so herself, so why should he even worry about that bit? But he had to confess. It was nice having a dancing partner who actually knew of the dances they were doing, but don't think he was letting her dance swing, the waltzes were actually coming along much better now as well. He would have to commend Cyber for her idea later, she was no longer so reluctant to perform such dances with him...And that's one of the only thing's he was worried about. She had no problem dancing with HIM. Just him. Cyber reminded him that she might be different in a giant crowd of his peers, but he would deal with that when it came.

Right now they had to get ready. So imagine her surprise one day when she egarly got up for today's day of dancing lessons and instead found as soon as she opened the door, Cyber was waiting at the other side holding a box. Amafia blinked and only watched as she came in not even asking. The box was placed on the bed and she began to shift through it. Pulling out what looked like a kit of sorts, some kind of paint brushes, and lastly some kind of shimmering fabric of some sort. The sighed and went to rub her head before looking back to the confused looking unicorn just standing there staring before walking back over to her. She was surprised when Cyber closed the door and began pushing her towards the bathroom. "Go clean yourself up good. And hurry. Boss likes to show up early sometimes to show off." "Show up?" She twisted her neck to look over her shoulder at her before Cyber gave her a small shove into the bathroom. Grabbing the door. "Where are we going now?" She rolled her eyes. "That fancy party of course. And we're both already ready to go. Now hurry up and get groomed up I have to doll ya up before we leave, since last time you had trouble putting on plain eye shadow. Now get done will ya?" The bathroom door was closed shut behind her...and she stood there a moment just blinking at it in surprise. ..Before reluctantly turning with drooped ears to the room and sighed, this would be a long day wouldn't it? And a fancy party was the last thing she really wanted right now. All those eyes peering at her and..and like Lou suggested. He intended on having fun there as well, the sudden fear pooling in her stomach made her jump at the very thought of messing up in front of everyone and embarrassing them both. And it'd be all her fault! And what if something else worse happened from that?!...She shook her head. No, NO!! She wasn't about to fall down that rabbit hole again. Despite the wave of emotions, she sucked in a deep breath and let it out again. Not again. She told herself. She wouldn't let herself go down that path again. Once was too much of enough anyways. So the world of warm water and soap was visited for her, still with the rock in her stomach and the lump in her throat. Cyber also seemed to be lazersharp with her senses and was waiting right outside the door as soon as the door opened again and she was again dragged out and forced to sit down on the bed at she went to work. Something looking similar to a gun but sounded like a vacuum was aimed at her face before hot air was blasted into her face and she flinched back when Cyber went around her body and began shifting her hair around with a hum. Brow raised....The thing was turned off and she yelped again when a brush was yanked through her head. Cyber wasn't kidding when she said they were in a hurry and ignored her small yelps and whimpers at her hurrying through her mane of hair, seriously. Why did women insist on having this? She never understood the thought of it, long hair would just get in the way of battling for your life anyways. But that still didn't stop her from just putting it into a neat fluffed up ponytail, Lou said to make her look nice. Not extremely fancy, so this would do. Amalfia hiss and lightly reached up to poke at the handywork done before she yelped as she was pushed up from the sitting position from the bed and a blue-green blur of fabric was yanked over her head, she gave a muffled whine of surprise before it was yanked all the way down and Cyber set to work straightening it onto her. Before these strange shiny...wing like pieces were retrieved from the box as well. "Hold your arms out." ...She didn't question her at this point and just did as she was asked. Watching as the things were slipped onto her and secured onto her by the smaller female. They resembled butterfly wings with peacock markings. Shimmering blues and greens with the patterns. ..Until something was shoved onto her face and she blinked back through eyeholes through the shimmering mask Cyber was securing into her. it felt as light as the wings accessories added to her and blinked down to Cyber who took a few steps back and looked her over. "...There. God enough." She still didn't have time to get her bearings when Cyber grabbed her hand and pulled her out the door and into the hallway. Trying not to trip over the long train of the dress as she was pulled along and around the corner..Where a certain plant demon was waiting for them both. He was wearing that black cloak again, giving him the look of a true high class villain and he was currently humming and staring at himself in a giant hallway mirror in front of him. Straightening his tie and looking at himself before those red eyes blinked to the incoming two figured behind him and smiled, twirling around just at the flashes of shiny blues and greens stopped in front of him. His smile widening. "Ah! Look at you.~" His eyes glazed over her. Totally worth the souls he paid. "My, my. Now don't you look absolutely delightful.~" She blinked and looked to the mirror in front of them...and froze at what was gazing back at her. He chuckled when her hands slowly came up and touched her face delicately. Cyber did a fantastic rush job in just a short time. "Not that I expected anything less from you two of course. Shall we be going?" She paused. "W-Wait!" She looked back to him. "S-S-So soon? Now? B-B-But that seems so early for you. What about here?" "Disease and Midnight are in charge. I trust them to watch my casino for one day and night. That's how long this whole thing lasts you know, a whole day and night.~" He grabbed her arm and lightly tugged her along as he walked along. "And if anything does go horribly wrong, then we'll leave immediately. Im not stupid to leave them in charge if I didn't trust their abilities now would I?" "N-No. I guess not..b-but why so soon?" His smile curled at the ends. "Simple. The sooner we arrive the better the chances of scoping out the ...competitors we can do. I always enjoy 'friendly' competition, and Im never late to an event such as this. That would be too unexpected of me.~" She rose a brow at what he ment, and turned to Cyber, but the metal guard just straightened herself in the mirror for one quick second before obediently following behind them. Making sure NOT to step on the dress's trail behind her. The pit in her stomach formed the more she thought of all those people around her staring and not knowing what they were capable of, but she hid it relatively enough as he lead her out to the fancy limo, which he was quite eager to have her sit into minding the pieces of her dress and ducked in after her. As the engine started up she had to wonder where exactly they would be going exactly. Her scalp still lightly hurt from Cyber's quick one hour dress up game and she was tempted to rub her head, but she didn't need the guilt of having her hard work ruined on top of the build up of bad feelings already pooling in her stomach. So to pass the time, she looked out the window and watched the famous casino fade away into obliviation as the car sped up...funny, she didn't think the car could go this fast before. The run down buildings of the poor saps and other small businesses around them slowly turned into bigger ones. Much, MUCH bigger ones. She had to bend down to look at them, yup! Definitely skyscrapers along with a lot of other strange looking buildings. Most were in weird shapes and sizes but most definitely BIG. Fancy giant signs were plastored onto each and every one of them, neon signs glowing and strange puns and words were etched into them. 'Dante's Inferno: We heat your hundredth enemy for free!' 'Cat's Eye Children's Center' 'Hell-of-a Good Time'.....By the neon lady she could figure out it must've been a place similar to Rita's and she gave a small cringe at that. But there was one place that caught her eye after a good long while, she blinked and squinted her eyes at it. There was a tower a little bigger than the others, looked pretty shiny too, but what attracted her eyes to it was the spotlights shining around from it and the overall high class vibe it gave off. And she couldn't help but be amazed by the sheer thing. Lou seemed to notice her interested look and craned his neck over to peer at what she could possibly be marveling at...and he chuckled. She jumped and looked at him, not even hearing him come next to her, and he shook his head. "Typical Cyrus. Always one for the dramatics. I wonder what he could possibly have in store for THIS year." "This year?" Her eyes blinked confused at him and he chuckled. "My associate likes to invite all the big names in the second circle to his little shindigs to keep an eye on what new ideas they have and what young blood thinks can easily outthrow some of the more powerful ones. Smart move dequised as a simple high society party, but I do enjoy 'catching up' on what's going on through the grape vine.~ Can't have anyone trying anything around MY area now can we?" "Does that mean that you're..." His head slowly turned to her. "Y-You're one of t-the big cheeses around this neighborhood?" His smile got even more wider. "My dear.~ You are looking at the person who is currently the thriteenth most dangerous man in the second circle of hell." There was DEFINATELY a glint in his eyes and a growl in his tone as he spoke. "But perhaps...someday that will change." She shivered under his look and Cyber had to nudge him to get him to cut it out. "But for now I would much rather have a pleasant evening with you.~" She wasn't sure how to take that, so instead of answering she looked back out the window and watched as the building came closer and closer and just as she suspected, it actually was spotlights shining all around. All around a giant metal fence higher than any she's seen, and right behind him was an honest to goodness almost typical looking backyward. If the backyard belonged to a millionaire. A giant pool shimmered in the lights and bounced off the other expensive looking outside furniture the more the limo passed and she only stopped looking when they suddenly stopped and Lou gently but firmly grabbed her hand as the limo door popped open and he got out dragging her behind him. Cyber following close after. To say she was surprised was an understatement. She was completely caught off guard at the amount of class this building had right in front of her. Because from the moment they got out a red carpet was the first thing they stepped on and Lou didn't even give her a chance to take it in as he pulled her along similar like a mother would their child. But that still didn't stop her gawking at the impressive structure as they walked up towards it. Just like the resturaunt and Rita's club, there was a pair of bodyguards but these demons..OH! These demons looked like they could wrestle a whale and still not break a sweat, they were that big and that muscular compared to herself who was just a twig in comparison. But Lou didn't even look fazed when he reached into his coat pocket and simply presented the pink purple paper he had first showed her advertising the place to him to them. The bigger one of the two took a couple seconds to look it over before he grunted and shifted to open the door for them to enter. SHE. WOULD. HAVE. Stopped dead in her tracks if Lou still wasn't leading her around and her jaw dropped at what her eye beheld on the inside once they made it in. Oh. My. Goodness. IT. WAS. BEAUTIFUL!! You know that grand ball room every little girl dreamed about when they pretended to be a princess? Well how about the paintings of those anceint fairytale ballrooms with cinderella or some other ancient kingdom? Well this was like that. But much MUCH more better. The whole place was alive with golden lights that shined with the BIGGEST crystal chendeleir she's EVER SEEN!! It sparkled against the pure white ceilings and walls and speaking of walls. Giant stained glass windows shimmered with each window showing a different scene or picture. A woman dancing. A giant rose. A man riding into battle on horseback. They were all beautiful in their own way. But as he lead her down the massive marble staircase she instantly took notice of the other voices around them and looked down. Instantly taking notice of the maybe..Fifty or so other demons that were already inhabiting the ball room and it's magnificent floor. She blinked. She'd never seen so many fancy suits or dresses in her life as she instinctively squeezed herself a bit more tighter to Lou's side as the demon rose a brow and gave a slow look around the room. It didn't look like anyone new had joined the fray, good. He didn't have to watch out for any new blood trying their tricks...yet. But there was always threats no matter with or without new overlords making themselves present. And with his and Cyber's combined senses on high alert, he should be fine from any threats for tonight. But Amalfia could sure feel a bunch of eyes on them now as some of the demons looked over in their direction, but some turned away as soon as they saw them. Most of them were a bigger than her and she could barely see past the flurry of sparkling dresses and jewelry. From the very corner of the room there was a band with lots of different demons in tuxes dressed up and playing as one man waving around a small pointed stick stood on a step above the band. He muct've been the conductor for the band. They were playing a rather lovely victorian style-like waltz. Mostly with violins and flutes for now, very calming. And past all the people was the longest table she'd ever seen. And just now she noticed the smell of food pounding her nose. Her eyes glanced over all the sparkling glassware and plates holding MOUNTAINS of food of all kinds and sizes. A giant roast pig, chocolate fountain, rows and rows of fruits and deserts near it. Her mouth just watered at the meer sight of the glorious amount of food she hadn't seen since....NEVER!! Lou could see where her eyes went and he chuckled again. "Ah! So Mr. Early bird is late for once." Lou calmly turned his head with a raised brow to a random demon that was maybe ....THREE?! feet taller than him and covered in gold jewelry among his feathered body. Amalfia froze and Lou could feel her grip tighten around his arm at the much taller demon as she flinched. A lovely lady on either side of the tall bird demon as he rose a brow to her ..then to him. "Picked up another, eh?" She blinked up to him and Lou chuckled before waving him off. "Oh, well things can have a small bump in progress. And it does seem Im still fairly early compared to a lot of others." The taller demon hummed and shook himself out. The gold jewelry glittering among his features as he turned with the two ladies hanging off him. "None the less. I wonder if there'll be anymore surprises in store for tonight." The plant demon merely chuckled as the man walked off and Amalfia shivered at the weird glint he held. "W-Who was that?" "THAT was Cyrus." He calmly stated when he pulled her away. "Great grand nephew of one of the princes of hell and fifth most powerful being in the second circle." She blinked after him before turning to Lou. "He seems like a very flashy character." He laughed and smirked at her. "My dear. He works for his Uncle and he's VERY good at what he does. He's not afraid to show his wealth, it's one of the ways to show your power down here and can ward off comepitors and rivals weaker than you." "So..Does that mean all these demons are o-overlords and r-r-royalty?" She gave another look at the many demons around them and more were still coming in through the doors. If they were really as power hungry and strong as Lou makes them to be...she visically gulped and her ears went back. Cyber rose a brow at her reaction and shot up a look at Lou as if telling him to do something. Cyber was on edge for any blast that could possibly kill him or her. And a blast from a terrified unicorn was the last thing they wanted here, they were trying to keep a low profile after all. So Lou waved his hand around them calmly and stated. "No. No one here is true royalty not even Cyrus. And while overlords such as myself are usually here, I suspect most of these people are as simple the band at play or the cheifs that cooked his food. Most people to attend these things are just weathy business owners, you don't have to be strong persay to be weathy and have power and influence. I just happen to be a mix of the two." His eyes glanced over herself and it took her a moment to realize he was glancing at her dress. "Why do you think I asked for such a design to your dress? Not only does it look beautiful on you, if we happen to run into a certain little birdy, it'll send her into a tizzy hopefully.~ Less business for someone who throws a tantrum.~'' ........She blinked. And rose a brow. "Are you saying that...You asked them to make this dress to make fun of Rita and get her to argue with you to lose business?" "That's the point! And I don't see why you would complain. You did say you didn't like her place, and this isn't like on the surface. Down here you have to use your head. Even with clothes." She blinked and looked back around her. Well...She guessed that made sense. These were demons after all, you kinda expect fair and square to be a foreign concept down here, so it would make total sense for someone to do that and it was one way to do so without physically putting anyone in danger. In a way, it was kind of him...Rita? A feeling of guilt suddenly bubbled up in her as Charles full history lesson smacked her brain into overdrive as the memories of what he said came flying back to her. But....the guilty feeling wasn't about BEING with Lou. The guilty feeling was about about NOT TELLING Lou if that made any sense. Sure she didn't really lie to him about anything, and it certainly wasn't anyone's fault. Disease didn't know and telling him might get the snake in trouble, and even though she kinda getting tired of the guy peeking around corners at her, she didn't want him to get in trouble. And what would poor Midnight think? Sure she was always grumpy, but she really did care about Disease. In their few encounters when Disease just hugged the small which and said nothing but good things about her, there would be a red over her face or maybe once and a while a very, very small smile. She couldn't really explain it, but she had a feeling Midnight actually liked Disease's flirty words and sweet hugs for someone being so grumpy. And she definately didn't want any bad blood between the two for something she did....But not telling Lou for some reason just felt ...wrong..Really, REALLY wrong. Like telling him what she knew was eating at her. Maybe it was because Lou and Charles were enemies in life and now work rivals, but it still felt so wrong. Her stomach rumbled out and she gave an embarrassed jump at it and looked to the table, giving a hungry look towards the mountains of food avalible. She was rushed out so fast she hadn't had anything to eat for breakfast. And just now she noticed how hungry she was. Lou chuckled at the obvious look she was giving and stopped walking. "Would you like to stop and get something to eat?" She turned up a hopeful look to him and nodded and he turned their direction towards the table. "Well then. Perhaps you could stay there while I find a certain someone I've been 'dying' to do business with." Cyber blinked and almost mirrored the same surprised look the pony did at his offer. But neither said anything until they got to the table and he unfurled his arm around her, with a grin as her eyes instantly hit the small fancy desert cup and gave another look to him. "...Well. You don't need my permission to eat. Have at it!" Her eyes lit up and she excitedly but slowly took the fancy looking cake in a cup with cream and strawberries and began eating it. A plesent smile rising to her lips as she did so- He was interrupted when Cyber pulled on his side and he leaned down. "Yes, Cyber. Did you want something?" "Leaving her alone? Here? Have you gambled the last brain cell away?," she whisper hissed at him. He just calmly smiled. "Cyber. If everyone just sees me cling to her the entire night, they'll definately think Im trying to hide something and by treating her as I would normally treat any 'dates' I bring sometimes, it would be less suspicious. And it's not as if anyone would pay much attention to a small weakling like her...well weak for the moment. This party is about showing off and trying to mooch off the most greedy looking lowlives here. She is neither giving off rich or powerful auras." His smile became wider. "Besides. Nothing is going to happen if you watch her. Will you?" Cyber still looked like she wanted to protest but ultimately sighed and just nodded and Lou patted her shoulder. "See? You're worrying too much." "And I think you're worrying maybe just too little-" "Is everything alright?" He turned back up and smiled at the lady. "Of course. Everything is going to alright. But I must ask something of you, and I ask that you follow the intructions I'm about to give you." Her confusion and worry grew just a little bit more. "W-What is it?" "I have some business scouting to do for a moment or two. So I need you to stay right here and wait for me right here until I come back." one look told him she DID NOT like this idea anymore than Cyber and she opened her mouth to argue but he held up a hand, "Now, I know it sounds like a stupid idea, but you have trusted me more than one would usually do and it's only fair I would ask to cash in that same trust for myself. Wouldn't it?" She opened her mouth again...but closed it with a sigh and simply nodded. Well, he had a point. She asked him for a few things and she supposed standing and waiting in one place wasn't the worst thing to ask of her. He smiled wider. "Good girl. Now Cyber will make an appearance every so often to check up on you so you have nothing to worry about, and if someone does approach you, just act as uninteresting as possible. That usually drives them off. If not, just wave Cyber down. I promise I will be back shortly! Just trust me with this one thing." He turned on his heel and without so much as another word, walked off towards the large crowd. Cyber and her exchanged a quick unimpressed look before she sighed and began following off after said plant demon who easily disappeared off into the sea of demons wearing sparly dresses and tuxedos, not even that tall top hat being seen. And she was left all alone. With nothing but the desert cup in her hands as company for herelf. But as promised she didn't dare move from the spot and instead looked around at the demons for a couple minutes..and coughed. The smell of smoke and perfume wasn't as bad as the state at Rita's, but she still didn't like the smell of smoke or too much perfume sprayed on, so not wanting to look rude and upset anyone she just looked down and ate on the sidelines for the next few minutes, trying to look as boring and uninteresting as possible. One thing she learnt from her time down there, if you don't make eye contact and keep to yourself, you're more likely to be left alone. And it worked no one approuched her or got close except to walk around her to get to the table and she would happily silently move out of the way for the demon, but once or twice had to stop herself from snorting from any cigar or perfume shoved into her nostrils. But over all it was nice. But she couldn't help but flinch at anyone getting too close. Once and a while she'd thought she'd see a glimpse of Cyber peeking out somewhere but she couldn't be too sure, after all it seemed the talking got louder as did the music. They were playing a new melody now. Still sounded like a waltz but more intruments were added like some drums, trumpets, and she was sure there was at least one tuba but the band was blocked from veiw because all of these demons. All the different smells and sights and sounds were starting to become rather dizzy to her if she did say so herself. She also began to lose track of time. How long had it been since she last saw the two? Maybe an hour or two at most now and her nerves were certainly NOT helping in this situation. And not only that, but being alone with your thoughts had a habit of always making you remember certain things. Like that guilty feeling of still not telling Lou anything about her and Charles encounter. She had pondering it for a long time now and came to the conclusion that it would not go away until she said whatever was on her mind, and so it was decided. As soon as she saw him she'd tell him. Tell him, and ask as a 'courting favor' to her to not be so hard on Disease. It might not be the brightest thing but what was the alternitive? Letting the feeling in her gut continue to bother her? She learnt it was always better to keep your mouth shut bout these certain thing but...It was hard to explain, but she had a feeling that everything would be ok. So she just stood there patiently waiting but she did pause when she finally caught sight of a certain plant demon a little ways from her. He was talking with someone and laughed at something he said. Well, she knew she promised to stay but- Like with Disease, she gave a guilty look around but didn't see Cyber anywhere or looking at her...So. She left her spot. And started walking towards him. But a crowd of demons just HAD to move in front of her at that same time and she lost him again in the crowd. Whelp! No turning back now. So pushing into the crowd she went. The music of the giant ballroom gently flowed throughout and between the beautiful decorations wrapped around the walls. The way the candles lit up the surroundings and made the shadows beautifully dance against the walls. The way the smell of delicious food and flowers wafted through the air. The beautiful music mixing with the laughter and talking of the guests around the whole place. It was almost like a dream. Everyone having a great time behind their masked faces, no one telling who they were or maybe that was all part of the game. The fun of not knowing who you were speaking too and being able to be your own person tonight. But maybe she wasn't meant to join the fun and laughter that everyone else seemed to be having. Being maskless and alone wondering the ball was the lonely fate of the girl in the flowing white dress. Blindly walking and circles, moving around. The sounds, the smells, the atmosphere. It was starting to make her dizzy. Everyway she'd turn she would catch a glimpse of a man with red eyes. Very familiar red eyes. Her dizzied mind knew not to be afraid or excited about the way it gazed and pierced her soul. The way he looked at her with those beautiful blood red eyes. Promising only trouble ahead. Well maybe she was looking for trouble, her head was kept on a swivel, always looking around herself in the see of masked laughter. Sometimes she'd catch a glimpse of red or maybe it was just her clouded emotional mind. At this point she didn't know if she was searching for him or trying to ensure she was far from him. But however she put it, the circles and laughter was starting to get dizzier and dizzier. She barely noticed when someone tall and with a smile, bowed to her. Grabbed her hand. And lead her to dance. Maybe it was because she was temporarily blinded by the smile upon his face, or the swirls of the graceful dance they spun. But there was no mistaking those red eyes. Perhaps she was crazy. Perhaps her dizzy mind was clouding any judgement. Maybe she was under some kind of spell from those red eyes. But when those fangs smiled at her- She smiled back.

His brow rose as his body brought her's to a matching slow dance with other blurs around them. "I thought I asked you to stay put. I would've came to get you you know."

"I w-w-was looking for you actually." She wasn't even paying attention to the dance he had pulled her into. Almost perfectly going along with the slow beat.

He chuckled. "Oh really? Were you that desperate to be in my arms, or was someone bothering you?"

Her eyes glanced down for a moment. "N-No..Not someone. Something actually. I g-gotta confession to make."

She gave a small surprised gasp when he suddenly spun her before quickly pulling her back into that same slow circling motion so they could still speak while speaking. "Now what could that be I wonder. Would you mind sharing?"

She hesitated for a moment, staring down again before closing her eyes and taking a slow inhale. Releasing it back out before looking back up to Lou. "I-...I t-talked to Charles when I visited Rita's club."

They stopped. Literally stopped in place as soon as the sentence left her mouth. She stared down frozen at her for the longest time before he chuckled and asked, "Beg pardon?"

She took in another breath. "I talked to Charles about you. H-He-..He told me everything between you two..." Her ears went back. "I-I know you killed him."

"......Do you know?" His mind was already racing with ideas and possibilities from this new outcome. Certainly a lot of bad ones so he'd have to quickly recover and cover his tracks now. What would be the most sappy thing to make her feel guilty and not belei-

"But I don't beleive him." Again his brain's train of thought stopped and he blinked in surprise at her as she finally dared to give a smile back to him. "Well..Not about the killing him part. I do beleive you did THAT. B-B-But about all the other stuff about how you're nothing but a terrible person who only thinks about himself. I don't beleive he was right about that part of you, not fully at least."

.....He blinked. "And...how did you come to that conclusion?"

Her ears perked back up. "By the way you treat Cyber and the others. You put a lot of trust in them and care about what they have to say, that shows you care about them in some way or another. And you treat me as an equal person instead of some object just sitting there to look pretty, which is a glow up from the schmucks that I'm used to being around." He still didn't answer and instead a surprised look came over him. "I trust you. And you're....f-f-fun to be around. And you're polite, and treat me with kindness. ..I-I don't know what you saw in me to take an interest, but Im happy you were so kind enough to give me such a chance...You're MUCH better than Charles paints you as."

He stood there for a moment as the other demons still danced around them. Cyber was giving him a raised brow confused glance from the sidelines, wondering if maybe something had gone wrong- But he quickly cleared his throat and looked off to the side for a moment. A strange fuzzy feeling in his chest. " I-...Well that's very, very kind of you to say so. ...To be honest not a lot of people I've met has said that to me-..." Those red eyes gazed over her in a strange way. "...And if I may return your kindness, you're not as bad a person yourself. In fact, I would say your skills as my newest employee have been improving greatly!!"

Her purple eyes sparkled at the compliment. "R-Really?"

He cleared his throat. "Of course! I wouldn't lie about progress. Now shall we continue? I would like to enjoy myself before I return back to business. I almost sealed the deal with something I think would make a wonderful addition for my business,..and I would appreciate it if you stay with Cyber this time."

"I will. I promise....Hey, Lou?" He hummed. "Thank you."

"For what exactly?"

"For everything."

His 'your welcome' was a smile and leading her back into what would not be the last dance for them that night, and Cyber rose a brow further from the sidelines. Humming to herself and rubbing her chin. Thing's might get a bit more interesting.

All characters except Amalfia belongs to @palettepainter

[theelliottsmiths]

This morning I woke up to one of my cats having violent stomach issues all over the place and I'm just done cleaning poop and vomit off all the surfaces (including my vacuum cleaner wtf) and I am in desperate need of some wholesome R+ stuff, no matter if stories or pics or GIFs. Please help me out because I think I've lost the will the live a bit before I even had my first cup of coffee.

Oh those poor babies and also you. I have no idea when this came in, I woke up and then set about hand shampooing my living room carpet and I'm just now properly looking.

This is one of my favourite Rammstein pictures. It's like Oli is introducing a new kid to the class or he's presenting schneider to the crowd like Look at my boy! Appreciate him!! The true star of the show, the heartbeat of the music

I think it's really sweet how Paul always talks about Schneider's acting, especially when I think back to all the quotes about him being a bit of a dick when he gives criticism. It becomes obvious that he does it at least mostly for the genuine good of the band and the person, it's just his delivery is a bit harsh. When he praises someone he really goes for it. It must feel fucking fantastic.

Speaking of, Paul and Schneiders closeness now? C'est manifique. Look at them! Sweet, loving boys. Silly. Smart. Pretty.

Flake is truly a ray of sunshine. He's painted as some kind of grumpy old man but he's actually just so content and grateful for whatever life gives him. He loves the band and would become a fucking stagehand if that's what it took to stay with them

Do we have time to tell about Paul and Flake knowing each other for almost their entire lives? Flake was what, sixteen when he joined Feeling B? They've gone through everything together. I don't particularly know what their relationship is like but their history hurts my heart.

A lot of the time, especially after tours and making albums, Richard will say negative things, or at least things that can be interpreted negatively (I suspect he's often misunderstood when he's trying to be honest), that make it seem like he doesn't want to be in Rammstein anymore. This made me feel so much better about that when I saw it

This is one of my favourite interviews because Richard is so drunk and wiggly. It looks like he wants to hit on the cameraman and also this is the 'we only bend for women' interview

Paul making weird noises is enrichment for the soul

Rare cute Till and Oli :)

Sidenote, Richard and Olis relationship is actually so much cuter and more than I thought? Like, I had the impression they just stayed out of each others way because, I don't know, personality clashing? But actually, and I have more gift I just hit the limit, they do seem to love each other very much on stage. When they say it they do mean everyone.

Hey, Richard, look! For you, something to look at please! Scholle it's so important for you to be seeing *hold the phone closer and closer until it's pressed to Richards face so he'll notice him*

Have you ever just say and watched all of the fails and funny moments kinds of videos about them? At I think 1:12:29 ish is the clip of Schneider trying to spear Richard because if his Zerstören solo, which is basically just Richard getting to be as annoying as possible for a few minutes. Fucking love zerstören live videos.

Also for a real cheering up I recommend searching Bück Dich Reaction on YouTube and watching specifically every white man's reaction. Everyone else, for the most part, is just like Fuck Yeah this is cool and there is in fairness one white guy who just does the funniest laugh, but the No Homo reactions make me cackle. Especially this guy who sure doth protest too much

God there's so much more I could add. They're so wholesome, despite the whole necrophilia and abuse thing they have going on.

[heyiwrotesomethings]

You’ve Cat to be Kitten Me Right Meow

Shinobu Kochou x GN Reader Modern AU, No Demons

“Alright, did I get everything? Do you think you need anything else?” Mitsuri asked.

“Looks like everything. Food, treats, toys, litter, bedding... all the things I’ve ever known cats to need.” (Y/n) smiled, listing off the various items in front of them.

“Right, I just want to make sure. Obanai really caught me off guard with this couple’s retreat thing.” Mitsuri said, looking fondly at the ball of fur sitting on the carpet. “Speaking of couples, are you sure Shinobu isn’t going to mind?”

“She left for a week long health and science conference yesterday, so you guys should be back long before she gets here.” (Y/n) replied, kneeling to ruffle the cat’s fur and rub behind its ears. “Besides I love cats, especially sweet little LoveFluff!” “I really appreciate this, (Y/n).” Mitsuri said. “I’m sure you’ll take great care of her. We’ll be back in three days and don’t hesitate to call or text with any questions or updates. Oo! I love pictures, send a lot of pictures!” “Okay,” (Y/n) laughed, “I can do that. You better get going though, don’t want to keep Obanai waiting too long.” “Okay, okay.” Mitsuri knelt down and gave LoveFluff a few quick pats and kisses. “Be a good girl for (Y/n) sweet baby, momma will see you in a few days!” Mitsuri gave another quick wave and sweet smile before leaving the apartment and shutting the door behind her. “Looks like it’s just you and me, LoveFluff.” “Mow” *** The first day went without a hitch. (Y/n) and LoveFluff played with toys, watched some nature documentaries, and many photos were sent to Mitsuri. Dinner was served and business was done in the appropriate box. Yes, this was going perfectly (Y/n) thought when they got up the next morning. (Y/n) had just filled LoveFluff’s bowl for breakfast and poured themself a lovely warm drink when they were jarred out of their calm state by the sound of the front door opening. “Surprise, (Y/n). I’m home~!” (Y/n) nearly spit out their drink, their eyes darting between LoveFluff and the hall that lead to the entryway. Oh shit, I’m in trouble, they thought. “The conference was a bust. You’d think they would have planned it better but it was so unorganized. I did see Tamayo, so it wasn’t a complete waste of time. We came to the consensus that it would be better to just go home so-” Shinobu had finally emerged from the entryway to witness (Y/n) frantically looking for a place to hide LoveFluff and failing miserably. “...(Y/n),” Shinobu said, sternly. “Isn’t that Mitsuri’s cat?” “Yes...” (Y/n) answered, quickly realizing there was no way around this. “And why, pray tell, is this furry menace infiltrating the sanctity of our home?” “Mitsuri and Obanai are on a couple’s retreat and Mitsuri asked me if I could take care of LoveFluff.” (Y/n) replied. “I’m sorry Shinobu, I should’ve told you, but I didn’t think you’d be back so soon. She was going to be gone tomorrow afternoon and I was going to vacuum and clean up before you got back.” “You mean we still have this fur ball in our apartment for at least another twenty-four hours? (Y/n), the couch and your sweatshirt are absolutely covered in fur!” Shinobu pointed out, disgust obvious in her tone. “You’re mad, aren’t you?” “No shit, honey.” Shinobu sighed, rubbing her temples. “If it makes you feel any better, I closed the bedroom and your office off so she couldn’t go in there.” (Y/n) said, sheepishly. “Thank god for small favors I guess.” Shinobu grumped, walking past (Y/n) with her luggage. LoveFluff thought this was a good time to rub herself on Shinobu’s calves as she walked by, eliciting another distressed groan from Shinobu. “Stop that, you are getting my pants furry! (Y/n), you are going to be making up for this for the rest of our natural born lives... and then some!” she griped as the cat followed her down the hall towards the master bedroom. (Y/n) followed behind and scooped up LoveFluff to prevent her from getting into the bedroom. “She’ll be gone tomorrow, Shinobu. I’ll take care of everything. If you want to stay at Kanae’s for the night I understand.” Shinobu turned on her heel, hand on the bedroom door. “Surely you don’t think you can get rid of me that easily.” “I’m not trying to get rid of you, I just thought you wouldn’t want to be here right now.” “I want to relax in my apartment with my partner without that beast shedding all over the place!” Shinobu replied, clearly exasperated. “I’m going to put my stuff away, then take a shower and then we can talk. I need to clear my head.” “Okay, love you.” “I love you too, even though you can be absolutely infuriating sometimes.” Shinobu blew a kiss, then leveled a glare at the cat as if it had stolen something precious from her. She then disappeared behind the bedroom door, closing it firmly behind her. “I’m in so much trouble, LoveFluff.” (Y/n) whispered to the cat purring in their arms. *** (Y/n) texted Mitsuri while Shinobu was in the shower and updated her on the situation. Mitsuri was quick to sympathize and promised to get back as soon as possible the next day. When Shinobu re-emerged from the bathroom, LoveFluff jumped off the couch and pawed after her. “Oh come on now, I just got clean, shoo!” “She likes you, Shinobu. She just wants you to pet her, or play with her.” (Y/n) called from the couch. Shinobu groaned. “Toss me that feather-ball-string thing.” (Y/n) tossed the mid-range toy over and Shinobu jingled it around. LoveFluff happily ran around after it, occasionally catching it and giving the toy a few kicks with her back legs before Shinobu would pull the toy free and the chase would begin again. “What are you smiling at over there?” “Nothing.” (Y/n) answered, turning back to the tv. Not long after, (Y/n) felt something soft plop onto their lap and looked down just in time to see the heavy set cat jump up from the carpet into their lap. “Oof!” (Y/n) hunched forward a bit and the toy slithered over their shoulder and off of the back of the couch, a movement that LoveFluff didn’t miss and quickly scrambled over (Y/n)’s shoulder and pushed off, sending (Y/n) into a further hunched position. Shinobu’s laughter rang through the apartment when (Y/n) regained their bearings and looked behind the couch with a look of confusion and betrayal etched on their features. “Now you’re going to get it!” (Y/n) laughed. Getting up from the couch, arms outstretched. “You know, I haven’t gotten a hug since you got back. I think now would be a nice time for one!” “(Y/n), no! You are coated in shedded fur!” Shinobu scolded, playfulness still dancing in her eyes. “I just got changed!” She pointed the cat toy forward, ready to defend herself from the approaching figure. “You should have thought about that before you let the cat use me as a human springboard!” (Y/n) yelled, rushing forward. Shinobu smacked (Y/n) upside the head with the cat toy and used the momentary distraction to run behind the kitchen island. (Y/n) wasted no time however, in simply jumping onto the counter and sliding to Shinobu’s side of the temporary barrier and caught her off guard. The pair ran back into the living room with LoveFluff quick on their heels. (Y/n) managed to tackle Shinobu into the couch, holding her tight and peppering her face with kisses. “(Y/n), no, get off! I’m covered in fur now!” Shinobu gasped, trying to stop laughing. “Sorry, love. I’m afraid the cat thinks I’m a good place to sit.” Shinobu looked over (Y/n)’s shoulder and saw LoveFluff laying down on (Y/n)’s back. “You are going to continue to crush me because the cat is comfortable and you don’t want to move it?” “That’s the plan!” (Y/n) laughed, snuggling into Shinobu. “Besides, you are now thoroughly covered in fur, you can’t possibly get any hairier, and the next couple nature docs lined up are focused on insects, and I know you like those so, let’s just relax here and watch them.” (Y/n) smiled. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt...” Shinobu sighed, running her hands over (Y/n)’s hair. “How do you do it? Why can’t I stay mad at you?” “Because you loooove me~” “I suppose that would have something to do with it.” Shinobu agreed, a slight smile visible on her lips. The couple and their house guest hardly left the living room area for the rest of the day. Opting to order a late lunch/ early dinner from one of their favorite restaurants and watching documentaries and movies all day. It was rather late when Shinobu and (Y/n) fell asleep halfway through an ocean life documentary and not long after, LoveFluff rejoined them, curling up near Shinobu’s side. ***

The next morning Mitsuri let herself in with the spare key, Obanai not far behind. She had expected to at least see (Y/n) up, but was pleasantly surprised to see her friends sleeping peacefully on the couch with LoveFluff. “Isn’t this just the most precious sight you’ve ever seen?” Mitsuri cooed, quietly. “I wouldn’t say the most precious.” Obanai replied, beginning to gather the cat supplies around the apartment. Mitsuri’s eyes shone with adoration and pulled her phone out, snapping various photos of the sight before her. “(Y/n) is gonna love these!” Once Mitsuri and Obanai collected all the items and put them in the car, Mitsuri returned with the cat carrier and loudly entered the apartment this time around, causing the couple on the couch to stir and the cat to jump off to investigate. “Hello, my sweet baby angel! Did you have a good time? Did you miss me?” “Mowwww” (Y/n) awoke and rubbed the sleep out of their eyes, carefully extracting themself from Shinobu, who groaned and turned to her side. “Hey, Mitsuri, sorry, I was sleeping. Need help with grabbing stuff?” “No that’s fine, Obanai helped pack up. You and Shinobu look no worse for wear.” she smiled. “I’m sure she’ll find ways to get me back for this for years to come, but it definitely went over better than I thought it would.” “Well, be sure to tell her I’m sorry as well when she wakes up. I’ll make her some ginger tsukudani later this week too. Hopefully that will count for something.” Mitsuri said, coaxing LoveFluff into the carrier and shutting the door behind her. “I’m sure she’d appreciate that.” (Y/n) yawned. “You should get some more sleep so I’ll get going. Thanks again for watching LoveFluff for me.” “No problem. It was my pleasure.” “Oh, one more thing!” Mitsuri called from the door. “Check your phone, I got some cute pics!” Mitsuri left and (Y/n) sat back on the couch in the gap left by Shinobu’s bent legs and unlocked their phone. They smiled at the sweet picture that Mitsuri had sent them. It was (Y/n) and Shinobu cuddled up on the couch with LoveFluff tucked into Shinobu’s side. “What are you doing over there.” (Y/n) turned to the sleepy-looking Shinobu. “Just looking at the cute picture Mitsuri sent me.” Shinobu sat up and lazily laid her head on (Y/n)’s shoulder to look at the phone. She scoffed. “That girl has no sense of personal space.” “Look who’s talking.” “Quiet you.” Shinobu said, softly shoving (Y/n). “Cats’ gone so you need to get to work.” “Alright,” (Y/n) sighed. They got up and got the vacuum cleaner out of the closet. Shinobu smirked from her spot on the couch. “Oh, and I’d like some tea and a foot rub when you’re done.” “You are never going to let this go are you?” “Probably not.”

[blissfulalchemist]

“Do you miss them?” + “this is for the best.” For CatRaf?

Hi Jo! Your reward is getting a little bit of Cat’s past! Thank you though for suggesting cause Cat needs to address this. 

“Wren, I’ve been thinking,” Cat gave a small pause meeting Wren’s blue eyes, “I think its time for me to go home.”

She gave me a smirk, “Not for another three hours. If I have to suffer then so do you,” she gave a laugh, “It’s what sisters do.” 

Cat looked away hiding the sharp pain in her heart at Wren calling them sisters. There was no doubt that they were sisters on some level, but recently every time it was mentioned Cat felt like it was wrong to some extent. It hurt. She had sisters, blood ones, two states away that she hadn’t seen in almost two years beyond the pictures they posted or sent her now, and here she was building a new family like they didn’t even exist. Cat pushed the food around in the tupperware, her voice soft, “That’s not what I meant Wren,” she looked up to her friend through the hair falling in her face trying to gauge Wren’s reaction.

Wren set her bite of cheesecake down, “Oh. You mean home home.” Cat gave a small nod, “You don’t mean forever right?”

“No,” she shook her head, “Just for a little bit. There’s some things I need to take care of.” Things that need to be done before I move forward.

“Do you miss them?” Cat looked up waiting for some kind of clarification, “Your family.”

“Yeah,” she gave a small shrug, “It’s been almost two years since I’ve seen them in person. I’ve,” she let out a slow breath, “I’ve missed a lot and its time I start trying to repair those relationships. I can’t keep running forever.” 

Wren gave a slow nod, “You’re right about that. Have you talked to Raf about it yet? Is he going with you?”

“I don’t think so, but I’m talking to him about it all tonight,” she said as she gave Wren’s hand a gentle squeeze, “It’s just for a week.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The slam of the trunk made Cat’s heart race as she looked at her faint reflection in the body of her car. She was really doing this, really going back home for the first time in a long time. She turned giving Wes a hug and then to Wren, “You sure you’re going to be okay all by yourself,” Cat could hear the worry in Wren’s voice, You promise you’ll come back for sure, “I can always go with you still. Offer some protection against your family.”

“I’ll be fine Wren, it’s only for a week like I said. Back before you know it,” Cat held out her hand pinky extended, Wren smirking, “I never break a pinky promise. Just ask Wes.” She let out a small laugh as she interlocked her pinky with Cat’s. 

“Yeah Shadow,” Cat jumped at the sudden closeness of Raf’s voice behind her, “Sorry,” he gave her a kiss on the cheek, “Cat’s gonna be fine. I’m going with her.”

She looked up to Raf who was already loading a bag in the trunk and a small cooler in the back seat, “No you’re not. I told you I was doing this on my own.”

“I won’t get in your way,” he grabbed her hand, “Besides I’d be seen as a shit boyfriend if I didn’t meet your family. Can’t have that now can we?”

Cat took a deep breath, a smile coming to her face, “No we don’t. Pretty sure I’d never live it down if I didn’t bring you along.”

Raf kissed her forehead before turning to Wren, “Now make sure he eats and gets enough entertainment and play. Take him on a walk at least once a day,” Cat and Wes rolled their eyes, hers more playful with a smile.

Cat gave Raf a small nudge with her elbow, “Stop it. Wren’s taken care of Wes before.” She pointed to Wes, “Now see you gotta make sure she has enough cheesecake, love, and attention while I’m gone. I don’t want to come back to a sad Wren.”

Wren gave a small laugh as Wes waved them to the car, “Alright, get outta here.” Raf grabbed the keys from Cat making his way to the drivers side. Once settled the two waved as they pulled out of the driveway to the main road.

“At least it’s easy to get there once we’re on I-90,” Cat mused as she got the music set up for the ten hour drive, “Then it’s I-25 and I can give more specific directions as we’re closer.” Cat looked down at the phone in her hand, eyes staring through the screen, “You really didn’t have to come with me, Raf.”

He glanced her way briefly, “I know why you’re really going,” he reached for her hand kissing the top of it, “You shouldn’t be alone for it. I also promise you I won’t be in your way, but I’ll be there for when you need me.” Cat leaned up kissing his cheek in thanks, laying her head against his shoulder as they started their day long drive. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

She felt glued to the seat as she looked up to the town house, the light blue a bright spot against the navy sky. She didn’t want to stay with family and had opted out of a hotel, that may have been a mistake on her part. She forced herself out of the car and up to the front door on her shaky legs. It had been empty all this time, the last person to walk through was a friend that was asked to make sure everything was okay and in order still for her arrival. She should have sold this place a while ago, but it was one of the last things that bound her here in a way, if you looked beyond the logistics. 

The door swung open as she came face to face with the small wall where his coat still hung, shoes still lined up under the little bench, and the unopened box of multichrome utensils above them. She stepped through the threshold to the past, well a skeleton version of it. There were things too valuable to lose packed and stored away in places that could be locked up, until she decided what to do. The posters, pictures, furniture, books, knick knacks, and memorabilia still where she left it, like she had never left. The empty cases Theo had been looking through to find a game he needed still fanned out on the coffee table. The converted poker table still had dice and character sheets on it from the game they had all played. The small dining table was still set up ready for an anniversary dinner, all of it an echo of the past that she had refused to let go of.

Walking around she could see that her friend was kind enough to clean everything up, even leaving fresh linens that weren’t hers on the bed and in the bathroom upstairs. The once vacuumed sealed pillows, fluffy and set up with the rest of the bed. Their bed. She wondered if the pillows still held the scent of his body wash on them. “Cat,” Raf’s voice was soft as he walked up behind her, setting their bags just outside the room. Pictures of them still hung on the walls in this part of the house, “How are you holding up,” he whispered, putting his arms around her.

Her eyes couldn’t stop scanning the room, pieces of that day still lingering after all this time, things she never moved because she didn’t want to believe he was gone. Eventually they just became reminders that he was there, parts of him that were always going to stay with her. “We don’t have to sleep in the bed, mi amor,” Raf suggested. She shook her head slowly, walking towards the bed, her fingers brushing the left side of the bed, before picking up one of the pillows. She didn’t need to bring it up to her nose to get the faintest hint of his scent lingering. Cat felt her legs buckle beneath her, sitting on the bed clutching the pillow. 

The hole she felt in her chest ached, the edges searing, as it pulled apart, her eyes filling with tears. She felt herself start to rock, burying her face into the pillow, the faint creaking of Raf’s footsteps nearing her. He bent down meeting her at eye level, hand on her knee, “Do you want some time alone?” She gave a nod, holding back her sobs, “Okay,” he nodded slowly as he stood, “I’ll keep the door open a bit,” he gave her a small hug kissing the top of her head, “I’ll be downstairs on the couch if you need me.” She listened for the familiar sounds of someone downstairs away from the sounds of her crying, before lying on the bed clutching on to the pillow in her arms. 

The sound of the front door slamming woke Catlina up, her mind going back to that morning, panic surging through her before she focused on the sheets, different from that day. She took a few deep breaths listening to the rest of the small house. She heard faint shuffling in the kitchen downstairs, getting up to change into the pjs she brought with her. She made her way down the stairs quietly, sitting once she was able to see the kitchen through the wooden railing. She watched as Raf put away groceries and set things up for breakfast, trying to get acquainted with where everything was in her old kitchen. 

He mumbled to himself as he opened every cabinet and drawer looking for the skillet, she smiled watching as he missed checking under the oven. “The oven,” she said, Raf’s brown eyes looking up to her in surprise. She nodded to the oven, “Skillet is in the drawer under it.” He bent down pulling it out holding it up for her to see.

She stayed in place watching him, “You used to watch him cook from there,” Raf asked, smiling, getting the pan warmed up.

“He didn’t cook very much,” she leaned her head against the wood, “But I would when he tried to surprise me with breakfast. It was always the smell of the pancakes that woke me.”

“The box ones, I assume,” Cat nodded watching as he put the bacon in the pan. “Guess some things never change,” she tilted her head confused, “I was hoping to surprise you with breakfast already made,” he pointed with the chef’s knife at her, “and there you are sitting there watching me.”

She grew quiet, watching him a minute longer before getting up to sit at the small breakfast bar. “What would you want to do today?” She rested her chin on top of her hands on the counter, “We don’t have to be at the dinner until four and you woke me up earlier than I thought you would.”

He chuckled, his eyes never leaving his work, “You’re still adamant about the main reason we’re here being done tomorrow?” She didn’t answer, “Well if that’s the case let’s do something easy in the city.”

“Like the museum and zoo?”

“Don’t think we’ll have enough time for both, Conejito,” he said, “Gotta be one or the other.”

She rolled her eyes, “We easily can do both. The museum and zoo are basically across the street from each other. My sisters and I would do both all the time. Start with the zoo because it’s cooler in the morning and then do the museum while it’s hot outside.”

He gave her a kiss, “You lead and I’ll follow, how about that?”

Raf was proven wrong in their ability to accomplish both places in one day, the tension relieving as they walked around each place doing all they could, except the IMAX at the museum. Cat promised him that they would come back before they left, knowing he wasn’t going to leave it be. 

Despite all the memories that she had with the places they saw it didn’t hurt. Even when they passed the spot that Theo had proposed to her at, the pain wasn’t the knife it once was. She kept it from Rafael though, using the water display beyond it to stop and stare. It was also the spot they had both been at before they ever met, both on a school field trip, their classes on either side of the water display. She had no memory of ever seeing Theo but he had somehow clung to the image of her face in his subconscious enough to friend her online a month later, or so he claimed each time he brought it up.

As loose as she felt while there dissipated as the two drove from her house to her grandparents’ house. She let Raf drive not trusting her mind to be focused on the windy canyon road there, her nerves getting the better of her. No one was mad at her, many were excited to see her, see her happy and coming to a place of normal. The person they remembered her being. Cat just couldn’t shake the feeling that it was an act and that she was tricking them somehow or they were all saying that now but the minute they heard of the new family she started to build in Montana they would turn on her. 

Her hand clung to Raf’s tightly as they walked up to the front door, conversation heard from the back of the house on the patio. Cat knocked on the door waiting to be let in, despite her sister Maya telling her to just walk in once she got there. It was Jaxson that answered the door, his blonde hair longer and falling into his blue eyes that lit up as a smile spread across his face. He quickly embraced her in a tight hug, Raf letting go of her hand taking a small step back, “God it’s so nice to see you again,” he pulled away leading her inside, “Everyone’s here you know. It kind of turned into a welcome party.” Hearing Raf close the door had Jax’s blue eyes land on him, the two men assessing the other, before Jax held his hand out, “You must be the one everyone can’t stop whispering about. I’m Jax.”

Raf shook his hand smiling, “Rafael,” his brown eyes landing on Cat, “You hear that Conejito, they’re already talking about me.” She gave a small laugh as Jax led the two of them outside, everyone making it easy for her to greet them as they seemed to make a line in front of her, Raf soon pushed to the side. Person after person approached Catlina wanting to talk with her or never let her go, it was overwhelming and scaring her as her eyes strayed to her sisters and father patiently waiting. 

Raf noticed and tried to pull her away best he could without seeming rude. She stood before the three of them with only a moment passing before Maya took the first step to her. Her arms encircled her older sister, her black hair falling into Cat’s face as she buried her face into her neck. They held each other close tears falling from both of them, Catlina feeling a closeness that could only come from a bond like this. How could I ever have abandoned this, she thought as Maya pulled away wiping the tears from her face. 

“We’ve missed you so much,” Xandie stepped up for her turn at a hug as Maya spoke, “We were starting to think that we would never hear from you again.”

Cat held tightly to her youngest sister, “Started to think the worse happened to you,” Xandie cried into Cat’s hair, “just kept waiting for that call.”

“I’m sorry,” Cat stammered out between the sobs that were starting, pulling Maya back into their group hug, “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“You’re back now,” Maya said softly stroking Cat’s hair, “That’s what matters more right now. We can work on everything else as time goes on.”

“We just don’t want you to leave us behind again,” Xandie said lightly hitting the back of Cat’s shoulder, “Even if you choose to stay up there, you’re not going to lose contact with us. Any of us.”

Cat nodded, “I promise. I promise. I love you both so much..” The girls heard their father clear his throat behind them, pulling away from each other. She wiped the tears from her face steadying her breathing as she looked to dad, his stocky build still the same with his five foot eight inches height. His black hair had greyed more and more wrinkles formed around his eyes, dark brown like hers as they looked the other up and down before she ran into his arms. “I’m so sorry dad.”

His arms felt safe and sturdy like they always had since she was a child, “Like your sister said, you’re here now.” He kissed the top of her head, his eyes looking up to Raf standing silently to the side, “Who’s he?” 

Cat hummed as she brought her face to meet Raf’s, she pulled away waving him over to her. She took a step back standing next to him, “Dad,” she looked to her sisters who came to stand close to their father, “Maya, Xandie, this is Rafael Estrada. Raf this is Maya, Xandie, and my dad Dominic.” 

Raf quickly had a smile on and his hand out to shake theirs, “Pleasure to meet you all. Cat’s told me a lot about you all.”

“And yet we’ve heard so little of you,” her dad said shaking Raf’s hand.

“It’s the guy she’s been seeing, dad,” Xandie told him, rolling her eyes, “I hope you know I don’t like you very much.” Cat’s eyes went wide, “Don’t give me that look. Until I can prove he’s not some jerk that’s gonna kidnap you again forever, I won’t like him.”

“I’m with her sister on this one,” Dominic said, looking Raf up and down, “Nothing too personal but you got some shoes to fill.”

“Well hopefully I can make my own, I don’t want to be a replacement,” raf said shaking her sisters’ hands, “Could never dream of taking his place.”

Dominic gave a small nod, taking in Raf’s posture, “What branch are you?”

“Excuse me?”

Dominic nodded to how Raf was standing, “Know a military man when I see one. What branch?”

Cat saw Raf stand taller, if it was possible, before answering, “Marines. I’m a pilot,” her dad raised a brow nodding, “Does that win me some points?”

“Just one in dad’s eyes,” Maya interjected.

“One more than I just had,” Raf said laughing.

The two men soon got to talking and Maya was pulling Cat away to the kitchen, “You didn’t send any good pictures that gave his face justice,” she fanned herself the two laughing. “He seems nice enough though. How long have you two been dating?”

Cat looked up to the ceiling doing the math, “I’ve known him for a little over a year and a half, but we started to date about a year ago.”

“He’s the reason you started to talk to us again,” she responded softly. Cat looked at her confused, “If I’m remembering correctly that’s when you started to reach out to us again and it was because of him.”

“Well not just him.”

“But he’s a big reason,” Maya nudged her, seeing the blush starting to run up her neck, “It’s okay if it is. It means I can be madder at him if he breaks your heart.”

“Maya!” The two laughed as they gathered drinks to pass around as the party normalized, Cat making the rounds almost three times with introducing Raf to everyone. The third time was everyone wanting to talk to her trying to catch up in the little time they had, she was glad the two decided to stay a week. She could make smaller gatherings in that time frame, if this party went well she might even brave seeing her mom one more time, one last attempt to have some connection with her.

The conversation quieted as a late guest strode in through the house. Cat recognized the shorter stature and brown hair of her mom before she saw her face. Cat’s heart raced leaning to Maya, “You didn’t tell me she was coming.”

“I didn’t invite her, just told her you would be in town,” she whispered. They looked to Xandie who shook her head. “Wasn’t dad,” her sisters’ eyes narrowed as they landed on Raf a few yards away talking to Jax and his brothers, “Was it him?”

The slight clench in Rafael’s jaw as he realized who just came was enough to know that it wasn’t him, “No. He’d never do that to me.” Cat took a deep breath, walking up to Gina, “What are you doing here?”

“What? Am I not allowed to see my own daughter?” She asked her eyes misting over as she took Catlina in. “I had to come and see you,” she reached a hand up to Cat’s face, Cat leaning back from her grasp.

“Why?”

“What do you mean why? I missed you. Your sisters weren’t the only ones you cut all contact with when you left,” she argued crossing her arms.

“Except I cut off contact with you two years before I left.”

“I still don’t understand why. You had no reason to do that.”

“I had every reason to. You left me, told me what was happening wasn’t real, that I was making it all up.”

“And I wasn’t wrong,” Gina shook her head, “You had everything growing up, there was no need for you to throw a tantrum like that, you were twenty three it was time for you to grow up.”

“You don’t listen do you?” Cat shook her head, “You never did. I was in pain. I needed comfort and you took it away, withheld it unless I was able to be what you wanted me to be.”

“You never wanted my comfort growing up so I didn’t think you needed or wanted it, if you really were in pain.” She lowered her voice, “Look I’m your mom. I’m far from perfect but you never were able to see that yourself were you?”

“Don’t turn this around. I know you’re not perfect, I was fine with that,” Cat took a breath holding back the lump in her throat forming, “But even imperfect parents and people are willing to change, adapt, and learn from their mistakes.” Cat saw Raf slowly make his way over to her, “I didn’t even expect much from you after that day in the hospital mom. I just wanted an apology for that one mistake. Not for everything else you did just that one mistake and you still couldn’t do that.”

“I did nothing wrong. I was there for you just like you wanted me to be.”

“No! No you weren’t! You couldn’t even tell me that you loved me.”

“I do love you though. You taught me what love was.”

“They why didn’t you tell me that when I needed it most!” Her tears were welling up in her eyes, “It’s like you decided to just give up on me. Made me feel like I was worthless, could easily be tossed aside. Only worthy of any kind of affection from you if I could put on a damn mask. Newsflash! I’m your daughter and you should love me for all of me. Not just what you pick and choose from.”

“Don’t speak to me like that,” Gina’s eyes narrowed, “I’m still your mother.”

“Not until you start acting like one! I’m tired of playing these games with you! You’re never going to change and until you start showing some kind of real progress of that I’m never going to call you mom.” 

The pain was sharp on her cheek, needles following as Cat looked back up to Gina’s eyes, “And I deserve a more respectful daughter.” 

Raf’s body behind hers was a comfort as she brought her hand up to her cheek, “I think it’s time for you to leave,” he said coolly.

Gina’s eyes flicked up to Raf then back down to Cat. “I guess this is for the best then that I’ll never respect you. We both get what we want that way,” Cat’s voice was low, her heart no longer racing, “Have a nice life Gina.”

Gina’s face was stone as she looked to Raf, “I hope you know you’ll never be good enough. No matter what you do, you’ll always be a failure in her eyes. Better to get gone while you can,” she gave one last look to Cat, eyes cold, hands in fists at her side, “It was Theo’s downfall, why is he going to end up any different.”

“Mom it’s time to go,” Maya pushed, escorting Gina out of the house, the other guests silent as they made a path. 

Cat let out a shaky breath once she heard the car leave, Raf moving in front to face, “Let’s go somewhere more private,” he said, putting his arms around her leading her inside to one of the empty bedrooms. Cat felt the sobs wracked her body as soon as the door shut, falling to her knees trying to catch her breath. He sat on the floor trying to move her into his lap, settling for rubbing her back and stroking her hair when she refused, whispering words of comfort to her as the tears flowed freely. 

The more she cried the lighter she felt. Different from the many times she had cried over her mom and losing her, there was always something heavy to be felt afterwards, not this time. She was free. Finally free of her, she didn’t have to carry her with her anymore, Cat could finally leave her behind. There was no leaving behind the scars that were made but now there was no risk to the stitches being reopened, she could heal and leave them be. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed but as the crying slowed, Cat moved to sit in his lap resting her head against his chest, “Do we need to leave early,” he asked softly, his arms cradling her. 

She shook her head, “No,” Cat looked up to him, “I’m free, my love. I just need a moment before we go back.” She felt him kiss the top of her head, “I’m sorry for what she said,” she leaned up to kiss him, “You know it’s not true right. I never have or ever will see you as a failure.”

“I know,” he wiped the last stray tears away, “What’s one woman’s, that I had never met before now, opinion worth when she can’t even appreciate the person that you are.” Cat returned his soft smile, letting herself snuggle up to him as she felt the wave of emotions pass. Once they did she cleaned up and they both returned to the party that seemed to be back to normal after the scene that was made, Cat and Raf finally able to fully enjoy the reunion until the late hours of the night.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“You sure you want me to stay here,” Raf asked as Cat looked out the passenger window to the top of the hill littered with gravestones. Some new ones had been placed since she last visited, and she recognized the older gentleman walking up the hill with a bouquet of mission bell poppies in his hand. They were his wife’s favorite flowers, he brought them almost daily when they bloomed at their house, mixing two red roses on their anniversary, because that was the color of the sash that she wore with her dress. “Cat?”

She didn’t look back to Raf, “I need to do this part on my own. I’ll be okay.” Raf let out a breath nodding as she stepped out of the car, drawstring backpack in hand. Cat made her way up the hill careful of stepping on the graves, her hands shaking as she moved closer and closer to his gravestone at the top. Her graveyard buddy was already there, setting the flowers down, as she reached into her bag, “I was hoping to see you Ed.”

His jade green eyes lit up as they landed on her, “You’re a sight for sore eyes. Did you make it to the small town like you wanted?” 

“I did,” she handed over the box of lemon cookies, “Met someone that helped me perfect your wife’s recipe that you gave me.” 

He opened the box pulling out a cookie, his smile getting bigger as he chewed, turning to the gravestone, “You seeing this Joanie, your cookies are going to live on.” He gave a small laugh, “No they aren’t an exact replica but they’re damn close,” he shook his head facing Cat again, “We were never able to figure out that one step she did to make them but I’m glad you came really close to it,” he gave her a hug, “Thank you.”

“I’ll send some down to you as often as I can.”

“I’d like that,” he nodded to Theo’s gravestone, “I think he’s missed you,” Cat looked over seeing small flowers growing along the edges of the stone, “Started growin’ the little bluebells a couple months after you left.” 

Cat took a breath waving goodbye to the man moving to sit in front of the stone, the backpack sitting in her lap. “Hey Theo,” she started reaching into the bag, “Happy anniversary,” Cat pulled out a picture frame along with a game case. “Sorry I’ve been gone for so long. I just needed some time to figure out what the next step was,” she gave a sheepish smile, “Don’t think I didn’t think about you or didn’t miss you while I was away.” Cat twisted a finger around a long piece of grass, “I’ve missed you since you left for work that morning. I was,” Cat’s voice caught, “I was so excited for you to come home that night three years ago. I just couldn’t believe we had been married for two years already, that our life had started and was going to just get better.” Cat held up the game case, “Look, I even still have your present, er, well sort of. I think Jax snuck into the house and borrowed it, but I don’t think you would have minded that.” She placed the game against the stone, letting her shoulder slump.

“Theo, you know that there’s no way I could ever really stop loving you. You’re always going to be in my heart,” Cat looked down the hill to the parked car Raf sat in, reading the book he borrowed from the house, “but I found the next step, my love. I know where to go now.” Tears filled her eyes as she looked back, “I feel like you had my car break down in Hope County on purpose, knew where I needed to be, I’m sure you were tired of seeing me so sad all the time. Is that why you sent all the people you have to me?” Cat pulled out a smaller frame holding two pictures, “It was you that led me to meeting Wes, Wren, Rowan, Randy, Jane, Mel, Whitney, Chance, and Raf. If it wasn’t then you better strike me down with a gust of wind, if it’s a breeze I’ll take it as a yes.” Cat saw the dried petals move before she felt the small breeze, smiling and feeling the few tears she had roll down her cheeks, “I knew it. You always knew how to best take care of me.” 

She sniffled, “You know I want to tell you about them but I have one other thing that’s really important,” Cat waited for the small breeze to pass through before continuing, “See there’s this guy, Rafael, and we started dating about a year ago, which maybe you know already, I don’t really know how the afterlife works,” she let out a small laugh shrugging. “Anyway, I think we’re getting to a point of wanting to move forward and I want to, with him, I love him. I just can’t until I know you’ll be okay with it, that you don’t feel like I betrayed you, because I love you too. I will always love you.” Cat looked down to the ground watching as the tears landed on the grass below her, “You’re gone though so I need to finally let you go. So can you give me some sign right here that you understand that?” 

Cat looked around silently for anything that seemed out of the ordinary, letting out a sigh slumping her shoulders, “It’s not-,” she started before her eyes landed on a small bunny that was making its way to her. Cat watched as the small breeze scared it so they hid behind the game case, toppling over once it’s little nose stuck out from the other side. Cat laughed wiping the tears away, “You could have also just sent a breeze but thanks for the clarity of your answer.” She propped the case back up, “I’m not just gonna let Raf push you down like that though I hope you know.” Cat took the bigger frame, a copy of their first kiss at their wedding in it, and placed it next to the case. She looked to the other frame, the two photos were group ones. One was of her and Theo with their group of friends, while the other was of Cat and the little family she started to make back in Montana, “These are for you too. So you don’t forget and so you can put faces to names as you and I catch up. We have,” she looked to the time on her phone. It read two thirty in the afternoon, “Exactly three years to catch up on. You know I still remember all the stuff I wanted to talk to you about during our anniversary dinner.”

Cat sat for two hours talking to the gravestone reminiscing and explaining all that she had done, the good, the bad, and the funny. Sitting there talking to her late husband she felt content with the knowledge that after all this time she was going to let go. He’d never leave her heart, his memory will always be tinged with pain and despair, and this day was always going to be one she could never get over, but now she was going to carry him with the same weight as his wedding ring on her wrist. It was just as Ed had told her when he found her crying a few days after the funeral, and he was right, it was enough to carry them lightly, so long as they were never forgotten. 

She had a smile on her face as she slid back into the car, Raf looking her over, “I’m fine, mi amor,” her eyes met his, “I’m really okay. I’m ready to move on.” She kissed Rafael deeply, “It’s time to move forward. I’m ready.”

[apriorisea]

BTS Imagine: When You’re Sick - Taehyung

You wake up and everything hurts. Groaning a little, you curl into a ball and keep your eyes closed. You’d thought you were getting a little sick the night before, but even you hadn’t realized how quick the virus would move in: your entire body ached, your head was pounding, and you couldn’t breathe through your nose even a little. 

    Work. The thought flashes across your mind and you pry your eyes open, fumbling for your phone. You pull the device to you and peer blearily at the screen. You inhale sharply---and give yourself a coughing fit in the process. When you finally recover, you glance back at the time to be sure: you’re almost 94 minutes late. Why didn’t I hear my alarm?      Taehyung appears suddenly in the doorway, carrying one of your favorite mugs. “Honey,” he says immediately, moving to set the mug down on your bedside table. He turns to you and presses the back of his hand against your forehead. “Lie back down, it’s okay.”     You shake your head. “No, I--I overslept, I need to call and explain---”     “Shh.” He kisses your forehead. “Everything is okay. I took care of it.”     You stare at him uncomprehendingly, but your head is pounding so hard that you decide to listen to him and lie back down, swallowing another cough. “I don’t...”     He leans down and helps prop your head up. “Take these, they’ll make you feel better.” He kisses your forehead after you swallow the pills. “That’s my girl.” When you’re settled, he places his long, cool fingers on your cheek, leaving them there. “You’ve got such a high fever,” he frowns.      “Tae,” you manage. “What about work?” Remembering that he had the day off, you modify: “My work.”     “I woke up early this morning and you weren’t doing so well,” he explains softly, placing his free hand on the other side of your face. “You were coughing a lot and tossing and turning and your forehead was already getting so hot...You worried me. So I turned off your alarm so you could get some sleep and called in to work for you.”     Your eyes flutter shut in relief. “That’s....thank you, babe, that’s--” A cough interrupts you again. When you eventually recover, you open your eyes to find him staring down at you in concern.      Silently, he slides an arm under your back and sits you up, then rearranges your pillows so you can rest in a more elevated position. This done, he presses the mug into your hands. “Drink this. The medicine should kick in soon.” You accept the mug and he steps away to turn on the TV, automatically tuning it to one of your favorite channels, then carefully pulls another blanket up to your chin. His fingers trail across your face again and he frowns. “I think we ought to take you in to the doctor,” he says seriously.     “I don’t need to see a doctor. It’s probably just a head-cold or a 24-hour flu bug or something. It’ll pass,” you say weakly, taking a small breath as you feel the cough medicine start to work.      He doesn’t seem sure, but he doesn’t argue with you. “Go back to sleep. Are you hungry? Does anything sound good?”     You shake your head. “Not right now.”     “Then just relax. I’ve got it, honey-love.” He tucks a strand of hair behind your ear, then smooths it back again and again, the repetitive motion making your eyes shut again.      They fly open. “I’m supposed to go check on my friend’s cat.” You look at him worriedly. “I went so early last night because I wasn’t feeling great, it probably--”     He leans down and kisses your forehead right between your eyebrows. He lingers there a long time. “I said,” he says quietly, “I’ve got it. I’ll go check on the cat, don’t worry.”     “Okay.” You decide to trust him and snuggle against your pillow, trying to find a comfortable spot where your neck muscles don’t ache as much. “Thanks Tae. I love you.”     “I love you, too. Please rest.” He pulls the blanket back up to your chin and resumes stroking your hair until you fall asleep.     When you wake up an hour later, you find the humidifier humming away next to you and sitting by your lamp is a box of tissues with a sticky note on the front: I went to the store for more juice and medicine. If you need ANYTHING, call me. Don’t worry. --xo Tae. You’re so tired that you only manage to grab a tissue before you start to drift off again.      You sleep more fitfully this time, missing his comforting presence to help ease you into a deep sleep. In your dreams you swear you can hear someone vacuuming and the washer/dryer running, but when you wake up, you find only him, pressing a cool cloth against your forehead.      “How are you?”  he asks immediately, helping you sit up.     “I’m not sure.” You frown at nothing in particular, trying to assess your condition through your fuzzy head. “I think a little better?”     He smiles at your expression, trying not to laugh, and sits carefully on the bed next to you. “That’s good. I got some applesauce,” he says, rubbing your back gently. “Do you think you can try some?”     You make a face. “I don’t know, Tae, it doesn’t really...doesn’t sound good.”     “What sounds good?” he asks, his hand still making soft circles on your back. “Soup? Toast? Oatmeal? Pudding?”     “No....I guess I’ll have a little bit of applesauce.” With his help, you manage to eat a few spoonfuls of applesauce. “Were you...were you cleaning earlier?”     “Yes. Oh,” he looks suddenly worried. “Did I disturb you?”     You shake your head and feel the world spin at the motion. “No, not--not at all. Oof, I think I need to lay down again.”      Before he lets you rest again, he makes you take more cough medicine and painkiller. “Take another sip of juice,” he insists, and when you finally do, he lets you rest again. “That’s my girl,” he says, his voice soothing like honey. “Just relax.”     “How---how was the cat?” you ask, trying to find the most comfortable position.      “She was just fine,” he says calmly. Taking one of your hands in his, he runs one finger lightly up and down each of yours while he talks. “She’s really cute---I almost brought her here.”     You smile. “I’m sure the landlord would love that.”     He shrugs. “I wasn’t thinking about the landlord. I just thought you might love it.”     Your eyes flutter shut, at utter peace even with how poorly you feel.     Seeing this, he leans down and kisses your face. “She looks just like the cat we had when I was little,” he begins softly, stroking your arm. “But he was even bigger....and meaner. My aunt’s dog was terrified of that thing.”     “Your cat....” you say drowsily, opening your eyes to look back up at him. “Slippers?”     “Mmhmm,” he agrees. “Silly old Slippers. He was a mean thing, but he would chase the little ball of yarn I had for him. He’d spend at least 15 minutes chasing that thing down before he would remember he was a demon and freak out.”     You laugh. “Slippers, the demon cat...” The combination of the drugs and his calming voice is putting you to sleep again. “Maybe...maybe we should get a cat....Or...or a puppy....”     Grinning, he leans down and kisses you softly. “How about we talk about this more when you feel better, okay?”     “Mmhmm,” you agree. “Will you tell me more stories, Tae?”     He’s watching you with a soft, fond smile on his face. “Absolutely. More Slippers stories?” he asks, brushing your hair back from your face. “I have a million of them, probably.”     “About whatever,” you say, your mind swimming a little from the medicine and your own exhaustion. “I just love to hear your voice.....”     The smile turns into a massive grin at this. “Of course, honey. Whatever you want.” He brushes your hair back again. “Close your eyes, just relax and listen. My parents never wanted Slippers in the first place,” he begins, running his fingers through your hair gently. “I had to beg them to let me keep him. They were right, of course, but they gave in, and so little demon cat came to live with us. The only person he ever liked was my grandfather---and he hated cats. But Slippers would go up to him, curl up on his lap, and purr.” He laughed softly. “That stupid cat would never purr for anyone else, but he adored my grandfather.” He pauses for a long moment to see if you would stir: when he realizes you are already in a deep sleep, he smiles and leans down to kiss your cheek. “Sleep tight, my darling one.”     You wake up at 7:30pm, fully expecting to feel better---and feel only the ache in your head, the scratch in your throat, the heaviness in your eyes. Groaning, you look blearily around the room, hoping to find him but seeing nothing but the still-blaring TV. You swing your feet out of bed, pull your sweatshirt tighter around you, and shuffle down the hall to look for him.     He’s in the kitchen, listening to soft music while he sweeps; he can’t help but dance a little while he moves, his body naturally moving to the beat. He turns suddenly, somehow sensing your presence without seeing you, and sets the broom aside immediately. “Hi honey!” he says cheerfully, coming to you. “How are---” As he gets closer, he sees how pale you are still. His tone changes immediately. “You’re still not feeling well, are you?”     “Not really,” you say miserably. “I really thought I’d be better by now.”     He kisses your forehead. “It’s all right. Let’s get you back to bed---are you hungry?” You shake your head and he hums sympathetically, then steps away to turn off the music and shut off all the lights. “Okay. Come on, let’s go back to bed.” Wrapping an arm around your waist, he basically carries you back down the hall. “I think we need to call into work again for tomorrow.”     “But what if I’m better by then?” you protest as he helps you back into bed.      He gives you a look.      “...It could happen,” you add sullenly.     He can’t help but grin at your pouty face. “Let’s not take any chances, right? You can take one more day off and then you’ll be completely healed and ready to go.” Pulling off his sweatshirt, he climbs into bed next to you. “And before you ask, I already went to check on the cat. He’s fine.”     “And you didn’t bring him home with you?” you ask with a small grin.      He grins back at you, then leans over to kiss your lips softly. “Not this time. Now,” he adds, reaching for your laptop and opening it up to your email. “Let’s get this done right now.” In a few minutes, he has an email typed out to your boss and coworkers, making sure every little detail is taken care of before shutting down the computer and putting it away. “I’ll probably have to go in to work for a little while tomorrow, so while I’m gone I want you to rest all day, okay, honey-love?”     You smile up at him. “I promise.”     As he settles back against his pillow, you settle into him, resting your head on his shoulder and feeling a little better already. He turns off the lamp and as the room falls into darkness, he slips his arm under you, curling you into his embrace. You close your eyes as he presses another soft kiss to the top of your head. “...The apartment looks amazing, lovey. You’ve been working hard.”     “Aw,” he tries to play it off, but you can tell how pleased he is with your compliment. “I just want everything to be perfect so that when you feel better, there’s no stress.”     You kiss his chest. “You’re amazing. I’m so blessed to have you.”      He nestles his cheek against your hair. “I love you,” he murmurs, rubbing your arm. “Get some rest, honey. You’ll feel all better in the morning.”     “I hope so,” you say sleepily, then add with a grin: “Because tomorrow.....we’re going to go pet-shopping.”     He pulls you closer and you fall asleep to the sound of his soft, delighted laughter.