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#not so much with split and mark i knew they were gonna look awkward even with custom content
0kid0g1 · 4 months
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I want all of you to know I already hate this household
OK SO APPARENTLY SIMS 4 STUDIO DOESNT EVEN WORK RN SO A LOT OF STUFF HERE ARE PLACEHOLDERS FOR THE TIME BEING
But my main plan rn is to have 2 separate households, featuring all the main npcs (+Jermbo for the sillys). Most other npcs will come at a later time, but I will be excluding extremely minor characters (such as some of the npcs on the raceway floor)
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beelsnack · 5 months
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Imperfect - Obey Me! Boys and an MC With Scars
Continuing my trend of hyper-specific self-insert fics lol
This is me projecting a little bit, I have quite a few scars. I'm diabetic, so I don't heal very well. Also, the scenario described in Mammon's part actually happened to me, so...yeah, ya boi is projecting.
There is a part two in the works, I just don't want to make this post too long.
Content Warning: Mention of self-harm in Belphie's part.
-----
Lucifer: “Can I ask you something?”
The two of them were enjoying a rare moment of peace, sipping on hot drinks together in the early morning. Most of the occupants of the House of Lamentation were still asleep, or the ones that were awake were busy doing their own thing. For once, it felt like the world was allowing them to take a break.
Lucifer set his coffee cup down and regarded them with the soft, fond look that he seemed to reserve for them alone. “Of course, my dear.”
“If you could…” the human cleared their throat, shifting their weight around nervously. “If you could get rid of my scars, would you?”
Lucifer’s expression hardened, and for a moment they were worried they had made him angry. An apology was halfway out of their mouth when Lucifer stood, making his way over to their side and cradling their chin in his gloved hand.
“If you wished it, it would be so,” he rubbed a thumb over one of the pock-marks on their cheek. Not only had cystic acne left a constellation of marks across their face, they had always bruised easily so even the mildest of injuries left scars. 
“But you are exactly the way you need to be as you are,” Lucifer continued. “And I wouldn’t change a single thing about you.”
Mammon: “Did it hurt?”
At first the human thought that Mammon was attempting to use a cheesy and potentially blasphemous pick up line on them. But when they looked up from the TV show the two of them were watching while curled up in their bed, they realized that he was looking at the faded red-purple marks adorning their legs.
“Well, it didn’t fucking tickle.”
Mammon flushed. “I didn’t - I mean - uh, shit, um - “
They shoved him good-naturedly. “Don’t worry about it.”
Both of them sat in silence before they decided the awkward tension was too much. “You wanna know how I got these scars?” they asked, in a terrible Joker impression.
“Not if you’re gonna sound like Heath Ledger while telling me.” 
The human snorted. “It’s not even that cool, honestly. I was helping move some furniture, and the house had a pretty long set of concrete steps. I was going backwards down the steps, lost my footing and ate it from about six feet in the air.”
“Fuckin’ hell,” Mammon hissed, wincing in sympathy.
“I have one on my arm, too, but that one’s a bit more faded,” they held up their forearm. The discolored patch of skin was barely visible in the dim light from the TV, but Mammon could still tell it couldn’t have been a pleasant experience. “Had a split second to chose between bashing my head in or fucking up my arm.”
“...I’m glad you chose your arm?” Mammon shrugged.
“Me too,” they laughed.
Leviathan: He was staring.
The human was starting to get a little uncomfortable with how intensely Levi was looking at their face. They knew the scar on the left side of their face was intense - it had been a constant reminder of the house fire they had survived when they were younger. But Levi didn’t have to stare at it like he was committing it to memory.
“I’m just thinking…”
“Thinking about what?” The human wished they had a hood to hide behind or something, they were starting to get angry. 
Levi must have realized his error, because he suddenly turned bright red and looked away, hand covering the lower half of his face in embarrassment.  The human felt a little bad, but at least Levi wasn’t gawking at them anymore.
“...y’look…lrpzuko…”
“...Come again?” 
“I said you look like Prince Zuko!” Levi blurted before pressing his hand harder against his mouth. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that, I’m just gonna - “
“Wait,” the human pulled up their phone camera. “...I kind of see it, holy shit.”
Satan: “So where did this come from, anyway?”
He knew it probably was committing some sort of social faux pas to ask, but Satan was a curious creature by nature, and he figured that he and the human were close enough. Figuratively and literally, considering they were laying with their head in his lap while the two of them were reading.
When they made an inquisitive noise, he idly drew a clawed finger down the long, jagged scar decorating their forearm. He felt them stiffen against his legs, and when he looked up he saw the apprehension on their face.
“I…God, it’s so stupid…”
“Come on, it can’t be that bad,” Satan urged. They hesitated a bit before sighing.
“I was fighting with this kid in…it was either middle school or early high school. I went to walk away because I was kind of getting sick of arguing with the moron, but when I turned around they shoved me hard enough to knock me over. I kinda like…flung my arm up, to protect my face, y’know? And since it was outside it got all scraped up. Never healed fully, I guess, so now I have this.”
Satan hummed thoughtfully, tracing the outline of the scar. It was faint, barely visible in dim lighting, but it was obvious that the human wished it wasn’t there.
“You fought back, right?”
“Duh.”
Asmo: “You seem very focused there, darling. Don’t quite know your shade?”
The two of them had been standing in the foundation section of the local Dephora for a while now. Asmodeus knew the store like the back of his hand and had already scooped up all of his favorite products in addition to a couple new drops that had made their way onto Devilgram. The human, however, hadn’t moved for about 20 minutes.
“I mean…I know my shade, but…” they hesitated, hand idly drifting towards the side of their neck. “Coverage is more what I’m worried about.” 
Asmo’s brows furrowed. The human had a scar from when they got splashed with hot oil as a child, and they were notoriously self-conscious about it. Aesthetically, Asmo understood - it wasn’t pretty, it looked like it had hurt and if he could he would use every bit of his magical power to get rid of it completely. But it was part of the human, and Asmo loved it regardless.
He slipped a hand overtop of the humans, causing them to look up at him with worried eyes. Asmo’s own eyes softened, and he leaned over to press a gentle kiss to their forehead. “Darling, if you do want to cover it up to boost your confidence, I will gladly help you pick out foundation and concealer. But you know you don’t have to if you truly don’t want to, right? That I’ll love you no matter what?”
The human looked away, but Asmo still caught the shy smile they wore as they leaned into his hand. “I know.”
Beelzebub: “Can I help you?”
Admittedly, the human was a little paranoid about whether or not people were staring at them. But this time, it was very clear that Beelzebub was staring at them, and they weren’t sure how they felt about it. They were cooking dinner, after all, they might not even be the thing that Beel was staring at.
“That mark on your shoulder.” 
Immediately, the human tensed up. They had thought that the shirt they were wearing covered up the conspicuous birthmark on their right shoulder, but apparently not. “What about it?”
Beel paused for a moment. “It looks like a potato.”
They turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow. “Does it? I can’t really see it all that often.”
“Mm,” Beel nodded before unfolding himself from the stool he was sitting on and coming up to hug the human from behind. He leaned down to nuzzle affectionately against the mark, and the human felt their apprehension begin to bleed away. “I like it. It makes you, you.”
They remained silent for a moment before a small smile tugged at the corner of their lips. “Thanks, Beel.”
Belphegor: “Did you do that to yourself?”
It took a minute for the human to realize what Belphie was talking about. They had just changed into their pajamas, and they honestly had thought Belphie was asleep. But apparently he had been awake enough to notice the evenly-spaced cut marks along the insides of their thighs.
“...Yeah,” they muttered, hiding their face in his chest. So much for a peaceful night’s sleep. “A while ago.”
“Why?”
They shrugged. Honestly, thinking about that particular time in their life wasn’t something they did often, at least not consciously. Every time they did, their heart rate increased, their breathing sped up, and it suddenly felt like they were in that dark room again with nothing but their spiraling thoughts - 
“You don’t have to tell me,” Belphe muttered against their hair. “Stay with me, now, okay?”
He ran a hand up and down their back soothingly, and it would never surprise them how gentle Belphegor could be for a demon.
“You want to know what I think?” Belphie allowed his fingers to trace the marks along their thighs, but the touch was distinctly platonic. 
“Mm?”
“I think,” he pressed a kiss to the crown of their head. “That you were going through a lot, and those scars are proof that you made it through.”
The human stilled, processing, before they snuggled deeper into Belphie’s embrace. “You think so?”
“Mm-hm,” he hummed sleepily, hand stilling against the small of their back. “Not that I’m glad you have them, mind you, but nobody goes through hell completely unscathed and you shouldn’t feel ashamed of them.”
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im-in-vin-ci-ble · 3 years
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Hello~ Can I request a Mark x fem reader who’s a lot like starfire and is very Powerful close to omni man and is also an alien princess but she lives on earth and they go to the same school and she’s also a solo hero who one day sees invincible fighting off a tough villain with the teenteam but is losing so she steps in to help and he recognizes her and starts getting all nervous since he has a crush on her and then after that they introduce themselves get to know each other and eventually work they’re way up to mark confessing and she says yes :3
(If possible can it be a slow burn im a sucker for slow burn tropes and stuff 😤)
A/N: I gotchu, this bout to be a lil long 😮‍💨 making the fem!reader a little more human, figured since she’s in an actual school for humans she’d need to adapt to the humor/culture so she doesn’t get suspicious
Pairing: Mark Grayson x Fem!Reader
Rating: M, some swearing and gross monster guts
Warnings: N/A
Summary: Mark is finally joined in battle by an alien princess who has caught his attention. Turns out she goes to the same high school, and if he can throw around 150-pound monsters across the street, surely he can confess his true feelings to a girl... right?
"Are you fucking kidding me right now?!" Rex Splode yelled as he wobbled up off the ground. "We've been on this thing for hours and it only has one damn cut!"
"Calm down Rex," Atom Eve said from behind, "You're gonna get even more tired from yelling."
The two watched as Dupli-Kate attempted to distract the scaly kaiju, replicating herself second after second to give space for Invincible to hit the monster by surprise. The kaiju's screech echoed throughout the city and shook the foundations of the surrounding buildings, forcing Rex, Atom Eve and Robot to move aside and save however many civilians they could.
"Invincible," Dupli-Kate shouted, "I can't keep up much longer!"
A sonic boom overcame the surrounding noise and Invincible appeared from the clouds. Dropping in at maximum speed, the young superhero balled his hand into a fist and took a deep breath. A loud battle cry escaped his mouth but it was cut short as the kaiju's heavy arm slapped him away just in time, throwing him through destroyed buildings until he landed on the pavement.
Out of breath, dizzy, and in a serious amount of pain, Invincible laid on the broken road for a second to regain his strength. The wind softly blew down on him as he focused his sight on a contrail leading towards him, and he watched as a girl in purple land right next to him.
She bent down and held him upright, "Invincible, are you okay?"
"Mmhmm," Invincible croaked with a defeated smile, "Totally fine."
His sight reverted back to normal and the first face he saw shocked him alive. It was her. They never talked in school and he was almost sure she didn't know his real name, but here she was, basically cradling him in her arms and calling him Invincible.
So she knows who I am. At least with the suit.
"Come on, that kaiju is about to be destroy the entire city," she said, helping him get back on his feet and flying away to the seemingly unbeatable figure.
He huffed, "Stay cool, Mark. She's here to help," and he followed suit.
This marked the first time he really interacted with the new superhero; he'd only ever see her on TV or read about how she saved people on the newspaper. He'd be lying if he said he didn't find her attractive — as do most guys his age — but watching her blast the kaiju with the green bursts of energy from her hands made her only even more appealing.
Invincible regrouped with the rest of the Teen Team. "I don't know what else we can do to this thing," Atom Eve admitted.
"I do," the girl spoke up. "Distract it as best as you can but stay far away from the stomach. When I tell you to take cover, make a run for it."
Robot replied, "That seems highly dangerous."
"Let's do it," Invincible quickly replied in a high-pitched voice.
Everyone looked over at him, surprised at the sudden change in his voice and just how fast he reacted in agreement. 
"Uh, it's a good plan," he nodded, causing the girl to shoot a warm smile his way. "I definitely think we should do it... if all of you... uh, think, we should."
Exhausted and out of options, the rest of the group followed her orders and took different corners of the monster. Dupli-Kate handled one leg, Rex Splode handled the other, Robot and Atom Eve took the arms, and Invincible went back to the head. The kaiju struggled to keep its focus on just one of the heroes, and while it remained preoccupied, the girl absorbed all the energy she could muster and flew straight for the stomach.
"Take cover, now!"
Invincible and the Teen Team moved away and they watched as the flying hero's eyes opened in a bright shade of neon green, both her arms extended out as a large ball of green formed around her hands. The rays exploded right through the kaiju and it shrieked in pain as she briefly disappeared into the stomach. The kaiju lost balance and slowly fell forward as the girl, her eyes still green, appeared on the other side and harshly fell down on the ground.
The kaiju landed on the street with a loud boom and the group ran towards the girl who was now covered in parts of the kaiju's digestive system.
"Okay, that's kinda gross," Rex Splode commented, to which Dupli-Kate quickly responded, "Shut up."
Invincible dropped down on his knees and wiped the blood and guts off her face. Subtly admiring her facial features up close, he couldn't believe (and almost felt stupid) that he never recognized her despite the fact that he almost saw her everyday.
The girl groaned in agony softly shook her head, her eyes fluttering open to the sight of Invincible's dark hair, goggles and yellow mask.
"Hey, hey," he whispered, "Are you alright?"
She sat up and hissed at her injuries, holding her head with her bloody hand. "Mmhmm," she gently nodded with a half smile, her eye one still shut. "Totally fine."
---
Mark had a hard time focusing on school. His body ached from yesterday's injuries and he suffered a few bruises from literally tearing through buildings. He made his way to his locker and rested his head on the metal door, dreading the fact that he still has an entire afternoon of classes to go. Closing his eyes in hopes to quickly recharge, his moment of peace was disrupted when a shoulder rammed into his chest and several books landed right on his toe.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry," a voice exclaimed.
Mark's head snapped up at the sound of the voice. It's her. He momentarily froze and watched the girl bend down to pick up her things, and when he finally regained movement a split second later, he also bent down to help her out. He kept quiet as he tried to think of the coolest possible response to make her think that he was actually the coolest guy in school, but all he could think of was how heavenly and badass she looked yesterday.
"Thanks," she said as he handed her the book. "I hope your foot doesn't bruise."
They both stood up and he shot her a nervous smile. "T-totally fine," he replied, clearing his throat afterwards.
She crossed her brows at his response and nodded, and a look of suspicion replaced her worried demeanor.
"I'm Mark, by the way," he cleared his throat again and reached out his hand, "Grayson."
"Mark... Grayson, huh?" she responded, scanning his face as her suspicion grew. Her eyes finally landed on the hand that was waiting, and she took one last look into his eyes before deciding to shake it. "I'm Y/N," she introduced herself with a skeptical smile, feeling his sweaty palm wrapped around hers. "I'll see you around, Mark Grayson."
She walked away and Mark's eyes followed her trail as far as he could see. He quickly pulled out his phone to send a text to Eve, who was actually watching their interaction a few classrooms down.
"Mark," Eve called out as she moved towards him. “So I’m assuming...”
"You knew?” he asked her in disbelief. “Why didn't you tell me Y/N was a superhero? I just introduced myself to her as Mark Grayson and I'm almost positive she knows I'm Invincible."
"First off, it's not my secret tell," she answered with a shrug. "Second, you guys didn’t trade secrets or whatever?”
Mark shook his head in a panic, "No, but I'm guessing she also knows that I know her secret the same way I know she knows my secret." He rested his forehead on the locker door once again and groaned, "Ugh, I'm so into her, it isn't even funny. And this whole superhero thing just made it even more awkward."
Eve laughed, "Look, I'm not going to force her to tell you if she isn't up for it, but if you want, I can ask her to hang out with us later. Maybe — emphasis on maybe — my presence will make her comfortable enough to admit who she is."
"Okay, okay," he sighed, turning around to rest the back of his head. "My insides are dying."
"After the kaiju yesterday, be thankful you don't mean that in a literal sense."
---
Where in the hell is Eve?
Mark pulled out his phone for the third time in 10 minutes. Still no call or response from Eve to his text. He was getting evidently nervous; his palms were sweaty again and it felt like someone turned up the heat in Burger Mart. His left leg jerked up and down in anxiety as he stared at his phone, looking at the seconds on the clock icon tick by. If he were left alone with Y/N, he'd have no idea what to say. What does she like? Should I bring up the kaiju yesterday and praise Invincible? No, she'll just think I'm full of myself.
"Hey Mark."
He jolted and saw Y/N standing by the corner of the booth. "Hi!" he replied in that irritatingly high-pitched voice. Mark's heart began to race and the thoughts in his head ran wild. "Um... Have a seat. Sorry Eve isn't here yet, she actually hasn't answered my calls or my messages. Teenage girls, huh? What can you do?"
She crossed her brows again and chuckled, "That's fine, we can wait for Eve. But I think I'm more concerned about you."
"What do you mean?"
Y/N chuckled again, "You seem... nervous.”
He faked an obnoxiously loud laugh, “Me? Nervous?”
She watched him from across the table in silence, waiting for him to regain his composure.
When Mark couldn’t hear Y/N laughing with him, he finally shut up and shook his head. “Yeah, I am nervous, sorry,” he admitted, shutting his eyes tight. 
She giggled, “Totally fine.”
Hearing her say those two words calmed his racing heartbeat. A smile crept on his face and she reciprocated, their eyes locking for a few seconds before both their phones buzzed.
“Oh, I just got a text from Eve,” Mark said. 
“Me too.” She opened the message and began to read it out loud, “Sorry, can’t make it tonight. Something came up.”
“Have fun, you two,” he followed, his voice faltering. He placed his phone, screen down this time, back on the table and sighed, “Sorry, guess you’re stuck with me. That is, if you do want to stay and... hang out, and stuff.”
"Why wouldn’t I?” she replied, her warm smile easing Mark back into a relaxed state. “It’s nice to have a friend who...” she trailed off, “understands.”
“Understands what?” he asked.
“This thing people like us call life,” she answered. “You know, it took me a long time to acclimate here. I didn’t think I ever would, then I met friends who made this place feel like home. And home is a feeling I hadn’t felt in a really long time.”
Mark rested his elbows on the table and leaned in closer, “Well, I’m always here. You know, a-as a friend... or an acquaintance, even. I don’t, I don’t want to push it.”
Y/N giggled again, “You’re a funny man, Mark Grayson. This planet is lucky to have someone like you.” She reached out and held his hand, “And I’m even luckier to have you as a friend, or an acquaintance.” 
He felt the heat rush to his face and he could swear his heart nearly jumped out of his chest. The afternoon flew by in a hurry as they engaged in lengthy conversations, fatty fast food, and childhood stories. While Mark was open to sharing every tiny detail — down to the color of the bleachers at the park where he played little league — Y/N kept hers pretty vague, leaving out descriptions of family members and even the places where these stories happened. 
Mark’s phone buzzed again, but the vibrating pattern indicated it was a phone call. He turned the screen over and saw the unknown number; it was time to suit up.
“Shit, I’m sorry Y/N, but I need to go,” he said in a rush. “I have a... uh, an emergency.”
You couldn’t have thought of anything more specific?
“It’s cool. Um, don’t worry about it,” she said, shaking her head with her eyes glued to the vibrating phone. 
Mark’s one leg was already out the booth before he decided to finally just go for it. Sitting back down with his now quiet phone in his hands, he took a deep breath.
“Y/N, I think you’re really cool. Can I maybe, like, call you sometime, or something?”
Her lips formed into smile that extended to her eyes, and it was enough for Mark to melt a little. “Of course. Yeah, sure,” she replied in excitement and typed down her number on his phone. She handed it back, “Now you know how to reach me if you’re getting your ass whooped again.”
His mouth fell open as his shaky hands grabbed his phone. “Wait—”
She smoothly slid out of the booth, “See you later, Invincible,” she winked, “Don’t get killed today.”
---
Luckily for Mark, no one got killed today. Maybe a few wounds here and there, but nothing painful enough that will land him in the GDA hospital. After spending an hour in the shower, he finally managed to lie down on his bed and rest his body. He sank into the mattress and closed his eyes, taking in the seconds of undisturbed peace that have become rare moments since he got his powers. 
As he replayed the events of today’s fights in his head, his mind drifted off to the hours he spent with Y/N. He pulled out his phone and mustered the courage to press the dial button, and the repeating sound of the ringing was making his pulse race. 
“Hello?”
“Oh good, you didn’t die today.”
Mark chuckled and sandwiched his hand between his head and the pillow. “It wasn’t that bad today, just took a few hits,” he explained. “So listen, Y/N, I was wondering, uh—”
She cut him off, “What are you doing right now?”
“What?”
“What are you doing right now?” she repeated.
“Um, nothing, just getting some rest” he sat up and looked around. “Why?”
“If you’re not too tired, do you maybe...”
Mark smiled, “Maybe...?”
“I don’t know, sneak out? My roof is pretty comfortable.”
Silently fist pumping, he fully stood up and nodded, “Text me the address.”
Just as quietly as he exited his room via the window, he softly landed on Y/N’s roof. Swiftly flying up and greeting him, she took the place next to him and crossed her legs. 
“You’re right, your roof is pretty comfortable,” Mark said.
She chuckled at his remark then noticed a gash by his right temple. Her brows furrowed in worry, “You have a wound,” she said, making sure not to touch it.
“Don’t worry about it,” he replied, softly holding her hand and placing it back down with his. “Totally fine.”
Those words brought her some sense of comfort as her eyes softened, causing her to unconsciously squeeze his hand. Mark’s eyes widened and he looked down at their tangled fingers, frozen for a moment.
“Is this... okay with you?” he asked.
She nodded. “Wanna lie down? Since my roof is so comfortable?” she asked with a smirk.
“Sure,” Mark chuckled, removing his hand from her’s and stretching his arm out as they lied down. Y/N rested her head on his shoulder, keeping her eyes up at the stars.
“Hey Mark?”
“Yeah?”
A moment of silence.
“Thank you for coming.”
He looked down at her as she met his eyes, “You’re welcome.” 
The two shared a smile, and Mark took a deep breath as he prepared himself for the words that were about to come out of his mouth.
It’s now or never, Mark. Now or never.
“Watching you kick ass yesterday was... really a sight to see,” he began. “You’re powerful and strong, but more importantly, brave. And you’re so fucking beautiful and kind and smart and...” Mark trailed off, sighing, “I never thought I would be in this position — with you next to me in a very comfortable rooftop under the stars.”
“Mark...”
“And I really like you. Like, really, really like you.”
“Mark.”
“It’s okay if you don’t feel the same way, but I just wanted to let you know. It’s important that you know—”
“Mark,” she cut him off. “I like you too. A lot.”
He breathed a sigh of relief and covered his eyes with his free hand. “Oh thank god. Thank god!” he exclaimed.
Y/N shushed him, “You’re gonna wake up the neighborhood, Invincible.”
“Sorry,” he giggled quietly, “I got excited.”
She laughed and faced her body towards him. They locked eyes again, and Mark didn’t know if it was gravity or just the adrenaline that pushed him, but he finally leaned down and met her lips. Static ran through his body as he deepened the kiss, and he felt an excitement that was even more exhilarating than the first time he flew.
She pulled away and Mark ran his hand through her hair, resting his hand on her cheek. “How was that?” he asked.
She smiled gently and placed her hand over his, “Totally fine.”
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xxxsweetdreamzxxx · 3 years
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warnings/tags: dom!Jaehyun sub!reader, fanfic, smut; cursing, hook up, fingering, cunninilingus, unprotected sex, cream pie
summary: a chance meeting while shopping for bathing suits turns your summer vacation a little hotter
word count: 4.4k (help)
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this was interesting to write as the beginning and ending are based off of separate dreams this time, so hopefully I was able to link them in a way that made sense. please enjoy!!
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"How does this look?" You asked your friend Jamie, holding a skimpy neon bikini set to your body. 
It was the first full day of your annual summer beach trip with your bestie, and you'd arrived in the seaside town you always traveled to late last night. After eating a mediocre breakfast provided by your hotel, the two of you had headed to a nearby mall to buy new swimsuits. She'd had luck finding one relatively quickly. But the reason you were still there, on the second story of a large department store several hours later, was because you had yet to. 
She made a face. "No offence, but it's not really your style..."
Sighing, you put it back on the rack. "I know."
Rounding the stand that contained the bikini you'd just put back, you briefly glanced over at the neighboring section, which had swim trunks. Movement had caught your eye, caused by three guys walking through. You barely even paid attention to them at first glance, but the one in the back caught your eye, and you did a double take. 
At this second glance, you saw they were all young, probably close to your age, and very attractive. 'Are they models?' You wondered. But again, it was the one behind the first two that really made you look on in awe. He had muted fluffy purple hair that covered his forehead, and dark eyes that shone like diamonds even from this distance. His soft features and perfect skin made you wonder if he was an angel. His thin white shirt hugged what was probably toned muscle underneath. When the taller of his two friends said something funny, he smiled and oh my God, he had the cutest dimples. 
At that moment, he shifted his eyes up and saw you standing there, staring. Like a deer caught in headlights you froze, embarrassed as fuck you'd been caught. But his smile only widened, and he gave you a slight nod in greeting. 
Ripping your gaze away, you acted like nothing had happened and tried to return to shopping. 
"Oh wow y/n, you saw those guys right?" Jamie exclaimed, following you. "Now that's what I'd call eye can-"
You interrupted her, face flushed, by holding up a pale blue gingham bikini. "What about this?"
Before she could answer, her eyes focused on something behind you, mouth falling open slightly. A deep voice then responded to your question. "I think it looks cute."
You whipped around, only to come face to face with the man you couldn't keep from staring at. Your eyes widened and you gulped, startled. Up close, he was simply breathtaking. Literally; you felt your breathing become strained as your heart pounded in your chest. 
"Th- Thank you, um..?" You stuttered before taking a deep breath.
"Jaehyun." He answered. 
"Ah, Jaehyun." Damn, even his name was cute. You gave him a shaky smile. "So I should get it?"
"Definitely." He encouraged. He then looked to Jamie, who'd been speechlessly watching the exchange. "What do you think?"
Turning around, you waited to see her response. After looking between the two of you for a couple of seconds, she grinned and gave a thumbs up. You weren't sure if she was approving of the bathing suit or... 
"Hey, what are you guys doing the rest of today?" Jaehyun asked. 
"Oh, not much." You replied quickly, not planning to elaborate. 
"We'll just be at the beach!" Jamie said louder and at the same time, speaking over you. "Wanna come with?"
You gave her a look, trying to shut her up. She looked back at you as if to say 'what?'
He smiled. "Sure. Let me ask the boys if it's okay with them."
He beckoned the two of them over, who didn't hesitate to comply. Jamie introduced you and her to the group, as you were still majorly distracted by the million thoughts running through your head. The tallest of the three then introduced himself as Johnny, a friendly guy with a round face and sculpted arms that were on full display thanks to the tank he wore. The other was Mark, who shyly said hi to you and Jamie. He had a boyish and youthful aura about him that made you immediately assume he was the youngest. They both readily agreed to head to the beach. 
Still not fully registering what had just happened, you walked to the check out in a near trance and bought your swimsuits. Then you exited the mall, and made your way to the parking lot. Jaehyun went to get his car while the rest of you waited at Jamie's. When he pulled up, the guys got in. After quickly entering her car with her, Jamie pulled out of the parking lot and followed them as they lead the way to the beach.
"Y/n, you okay?" She asked, taking her eyes off the road for a split second to glance at your face. Your prolonged silence had prompted her to speak.
You removed yourself from your racing thoughts. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just surprised."
She grinned. "Well, today's not gonna be boring, that's for sure. It'll be a lot more eventful than if we'd hung out at the beach by ourselves."
You nodded in agreement. You knew there wasn't much harm in doing this - there would be plenty of people on the beach around you - they couldn't try anything. And besides, you didn't even get those vibes from them. That wasn't what made you uneasy. It was the thought of spending a day at the beach with such attractive guys that made the tips of your ears turn pink and your heart rate increase. You just prayed you wouldn't say or do something utterly embarrassing. 
Jamie drove into the public beach parking behind their car, parking a few spaces away from them. Exiting the car, you and her first made your way to the bathrooms to change. This beach was well maintained, a stone walkway lead to them and then continued on and up to a wide bridge that arched over the barrier dunes and then down onto the sand. Palm trees provided shade, which was made good use of as it seemed wherever a tree cast a shadow there was a cool bench to sit. 
Locking yourself into a stall in the women's bathroom, you undressed and then pulled on your brand new swimsuit. Thankfully, despite not being able to try it on in the store, it fit extremely well. The gingham pattern, pale blue color, and small ruffles on the waistband and straps made you conclude this was the cutest bikini you'd ever seen. Exiting the stall, you briefly peered into the mirror above the sinks to pull your hair into two low pigtails. 
Turning back around, you found Jamie standing there in her new suit, smiling at you. 
"Ready y/n?" She asked. 
You took a breath before replying. "Yep."
Arm in arm, you walked out to meet the boys, who'd already changed and were standing there waiting, beach bags in hand. Johnny got excited as he spotted you both and practically ran towards beach, Mark trying to keep up with him. Jaehyun looked unbothered as he stayed behind to walk at a normal pace with you. By the time you'd crossed over the sand dunes and strolled onto the beach, Mark and Johnny had already found a good place a little ways away to set up. They'd brought two large towels, big enough for multiple people to sit on, and had spread them out over the sand.
Jaehyun sat down on one, then patted the ground next to him, motioning for you to sit next to him. After a few seconds of contemplation you complied, folding your legs to the side as you still kept a couple feet of distance from him. Jamie sat down with Johnny and Mark on the other towel. 
For the next hour or so, the five of you talked about various topics in an effort to learn more about each other. Gradually, you loosened up as you got used to their company. Johnny and Mark were college friends of Jaehyun's, who'd came into town a few days before you to visit him where he now lived on the coast. Funnily enough, the two boys were staying in the same hotel as you and Jamie while they did so - it was the closest to Jaehyun's apartment.
Noon came and went, and the air continued to heat up around you until it was unbearable. You looked out at the ocean water longingly,  but didn't want to leave by yourself, and the others seemed to be having such a great time...
Glancing over at you, Jaehyun made a suggestion. "Who's up for the water?" 
Despite your assumptions, the agreement was unanimous. As one, you all rose and ran towards the rolling sea, chasing each other. Diving into the waves, you ran out until the water was up to your waist. Johnny swam out farther than any of you, while Jamie and Mark stayed in slightly shallower water. 
You heard the sound of someone sloshing around in the water directly behind you. Spinning around, you were met with his chest - his white shirt was now wet and you could see some of the muscles through it - as your eyes widened and you looked up into Jae's eyes. He smiled down at your face, less than a foot away, dimples on full display. 
"Hi." He said in a way that made your heart melt. Then: "Feel better?" 
"Y- yeah, it was really hot before." Your words betrayed your body - being in the water wasn't cooling you off at all anymore. 
You stood there for a few awkward moments in silence, not knowing what to say. 
"Um-" You began. 
"Woah y/n look out!" He cut you off, sudden panic on his face as he closed the small distance between the two of you.
Suddenly, a large wave crashed into your back. It pushed you straight into the only thing that would keep you standing - his body. Instinctively, you gripped onto his shirt tightly so you didn't fall, tugging it towards you. He didn't hesitate to wrap his strong arms around your waist to steady you. Only after the wave had passed did you realize what you'd done, quickly releasing the fabric from your hands. But he didn't let go. 
"Are you okay?" He asked, worry in his tone.
You nodded, heart pounding loudly in your ears. However, you were shaking slightly. 
He began leading you back towards the shore, not convinced. Stumbling onto the hot sand, he guided you back to the towels, sitting you down once you got there. Getting a smaller towel, he wrapped it around you so you could dry off, then he sat down next to you. 
You looked at him, embarrassed. "You can go back if you want, I'll be fine here."
"No, I'm good." He leaned back a bit. "I'm not much of a swimmer anyways."
He then lifted his arm and ran his fingers through his damp hair, brushing it back off his forehead. You gulped, incredibly bothered by the motion. 
He looked at you with a slight smirk. "Thirsty?"
"Yeah." You replied. 
Smirk widening, he handed you an unopened water bottle. You drank, trying desperately to calm down. 
Jamie ran up to you, Mark following close behind. "Y/n are you okay?" She asked, confused and concerned. "What happened?"
You explained without including the details that made you blush when you thought of them. She sat on the towel next to you, deciding not to go back out. Mark followed suit and shortly after Johnny joined you again when he realized everyone was out of the water.
After a bit, you began to get hungry and got up to try and find some food. Luckily, there was a food truck nearby with some cheap lunch. Returning to the towels, you ate in relative silence as the sun moved slowly west overhead. The rest of the afternoon was spent walking, playing with a frisbee, and sunbathing. You noticed Jaehyun seemed to be keeping you within a few feet of him the entire time, never leaving you alone or with the others. Even when you went back out with Jamie into the shallow water, he followed - even though he tried to appear like he wasn't. 
            .•°•. ♡ .•°•. ♡ .•°•. ♡ .•°•.
Once the sun went down, everything was packed up and taken back to the cars. You threw back on your shorts from earlier before heading to a nearby bar, open to the sea and cool night air. It was already crowded with many tourists, and once you entered you quickly lost sight of the others,  later catching a glimpse of Jamie talking to Johnny off to the side with a drink in hand. 
Seeing the bar, you made your way over to it by yourself and sat on one of the barstools. You beckoned the bartender over to order your drink. 
"What can I get for you?" She asked, polishing a glass. 
"A margarita please." you answered.
She then looked at the seat next to you. "And you sir?"
"A margarita for me too, thanks." A familiar voice answered. 
You turned around in your seat to face Jaehyun, blinking at him.
He smiled and nodded in greeting, those adorable dimples reappearing on the corners of his mouth. Feeling your face heat up, you quickly turned to look at the bartender as she made your identical drinks. 
You cleared your throat a little. "So... you like margaritas too?"
He chuckled softly at your attempt to break the awkwardness. "Truthfully, I've never tried one. Thought tonight was good first time."
You could feel his eyes on you, boring into your soul in an attempt to get your attention. When you couldn't take it any longer and tilted your head to look at him, his eyes immediately met yours. A slight smirk spread across his lips.
When your drinks were served, he was the first to take a sip, eyes not leaving you for a millisecond. You drank and shifted in your seat, fully aware of how he was checking you out as his eyes began to roam. You wondered if maybe you should've put on a shirt over your bikini top to cover yourself better. But that thought was quickly dismissed as a new one took its place. You liked it - the way his attention was focused on no one but you. There were plenty of other hot girls there that night,  but he paid them no mind. 
The hours drifted by as those around you melted away and it felt like you and Jae were the only two in the entire world. The music and voices of patrons were only a buzz in the distant background as you focused on his soft words. You found you enjoyed each others company - he made you comfortable with the idea of spending as much time in it as possible. 
When the clock struck ten, you could feel the beginnings of fatigue creeping into your mind. An incoming text made his phone buzz. He checked it, relaying the message to you after briefly lifting up his eyebrows in surprise.
"Your friend's heading back to the hotel with Johnny and Mark, she's driving them there."
"Oh!" You replied in surprise, glancing around the bar but finding them already gone. You knew what was probably going to happen to Jamie, but you didn't voice it. 
He looked at you for about a minute before speaking again, slowly. "Do you.. wanna come to my place?"
You met his eyes again, heart and mind racing at his invitation. The implications of his question didn't slip by you, they were fully realized. Still, it didn't take you long to make up your mind - in fact, you'd already made it before he'd asked. 
"Yes." You replied. 
He smiled wide and grabbed your hand, intertwining his fingers with yours. You quickly slid off your barstool and exited the bar, making for the car. You giggled as he pulled you along. The moon shone down on you from high overhead, lighting the way. Once reaching the car, he opened the passenger door for you and you hopped inside as he then closed it and rounded the car to his seat. Getting in, he started the car and drove out onto the road towards his apartment. 
Your mind raced as you made the silent drive to his apartment, listening to the low sounds of the radio coming through the speakers. It only took a few minutes before he was parking, getting out, and coming around to help you out of the car. Grasping your hand tightly again, he lead you into the building. The lobby of his apartment had only dim lights on at this time to illuminate the room. No one was around. Jaehyun took a left after guiding you through the main doors. 
"This way." He practically whispered, taking you into the elevator. 
He hit the three and the doors closed, leaving you alone in the small space with him for a few moments. He didn't waste any time in turning you around to face him, closing the gap between you. Locking his lips with yours in a heated first kiss, he backed you up into the elevator wall, driving you up it slightly with his strong arms. You instinctively wrapped your limbs around his body to steady yourself and kissed him back. You could taste both him and the drink he'd had at the bar - the mixture was heavenly. 
A ding signified your arrival at his floor, forcing you to part. Thankfully for the both of you, his door wasn't too far away. Pulling you down the hall quickly, Jae stopped at his door and took out his keys, fumbling with them for a few seconds as he tried to rush. When the door was unlocked, he pushed it open, letting you both walk through before harshly closing it again. 
For the few seconds it took for him to throw the keys on a small table next to the door you glanced around the dark apartment. Through a cracked door to your left you could make out a bathroom. A small kitchen stretched across most of the right wall from the door, a long bar separating it from the rest of the room. In this main room was both his living area and bedroom. His bed was pushed up against the farthest wall, which was taken up entirely by two giant windows. The moonlight shone through them, illuminating a balcony on the other side that looked out into the night and the street below, where palm trees waved back and forth in a light breeze. 
The sudden grip of his large hand on your waist from behind made you jump. He spun you around, and gave you that soul piercing stare that made all your self-control fade away. You leaned in this time, seeing a smirk spread across his face right before you closed your eyes. As soon as your lips brushed against his again, he picked up were you'd left off, kissing you relentlessly and leaving you breathless. Slowly, he backed you up further into the apartment until the backs of your legs bumped up against the edge of the bed as you struggled to bring air to your lungs. 
He lifted you just enough to clear the mattress and sit you down on top of it. Climbing onto it himself, he gently laid you down onto the sheets underneath him. He kept himself up with his knees, one on each side of you as he started to move his plush lips down to your neck. He proceeded to mark you, painting several dark spots onto your skin that would surely be there the next day. 
"Ah, Jae." You moaned out for the first time, when the tenseness that had been building between your legs became too much to stay silent.
He paused. "What is it princess?" 
"I need..." You began, heating up at the petname.
"Yes?" He asked patiently, waiting for your commanding words. He smiled down at you, raising a hand to your cheek to stroke it soothingly. 
"You." You finished, meeting his gaze. "I need you."
He smiled wider. "Sure thing."
Removing his hand from your face, he moved it down to the waistband of your shorts. Unbuttoning them with both hands, he slipped them off and down your ankles with ease. Placing his strong hand on your upper thigh, he spread it away from the other and began moving his fingers closer to your heat. Shivering at his touch, you sunk deeper into the bedsheets. He let his fingertips get to the edge of your bikini bottoms, but stopped there, teasing you. 
"Hey-" You breathed, scolding him when you realized what he was doing.
He looked down at you, hair messily splayed around your head as your chest rose and fell beneath him. Your skin was beginning to glisten with perspiration, your eyelashes fluttering slightly every time you blinked your half-closed eyes. "Hm?"
You took a moment to respond. "Touch me Jae."
He smiled a dark smile as he brushed your bikini bottoms to the side. The first touch of his fingertips against your slick clit had you lifting your hips up off the bed, curses falling from your lips. He forced them back down, pinning you to the bed with his body. He quickly resumed his actions, running his fingers back and forth over your folds as you moaned at the pleasure. He then suddenly inserted a finger into your dripping core. 
"Ah-" You gasped in surprise as he continued, using his thumb to trace circles across your clit. It was all too much for you to handle. He watched as you gradually lost control beneath him, writhing about in pleasure. The dangerous combination of things he was doing to you quickly brought your first high like a rising wave that crashed into the beach before it. 
You didn't have time to warn him before your walls clamped down on his finger and your juices spilled out onto his hand, sheets, and down your legs. He let you ride out your orgasm and calm all the way down before removing his finger and sitting up, licking every last bit of you from his fingers. You peered down the bed at him, watching in fascination as he lapped it up like a man starved.
"Shit, you taste good." He complimented, making your face feel flushed. 
When his hand was clean, he bent down and stuck his head between your legs. A second later, you felt the flick of his tongue on your inner thigh. He left a trail of wet kisses up it, making his way back up to your heat. Without warning, you felt his lips brush against your folds as he proceeded to use his tongue to clean you up as best he could. His hot breath against your pussy made you squirm and draw your legs up closer to your chest. Once satisfied he sat up again, licking the last of you from his lips. 
He then repositioned himself above you. Removing his swim trunks, his hard member sprung free and stood erect, precum trickling from its pink tip. Slipping a couple of fingers into the waistband of your bikini bottoms, he pulled then down your legs, leaving them with your shorts at your ankles. Lining up with your entrance, he held himself up with his strong arms, caging you in. You looked up at him, his faded purple hair messy across his face. He gave you a reassuring smile - dimples and all - before pushing into you with ease and rolling his hips down onto yours. Matching the pace he set, you pulled his face back down to yours to kiss him again, softer this time. He complied, kissing you deeper and slower as he pushed further into you with each thrust.
When he bottomed out, he speed up the movement of his hips, gripping yours to bring them closer to his. The lewd sounds of sex filled the apartment, combined with both of your increasingly loud moans.
"Jae." You moaned out, breaking your kisses. You felt the tenseness building in your abdomen again. 
He groaned as you felt him twitch inside you. "Fuck, you sound so hot saying my name like that."
He then hit your g-spot with the tip of his cock, pushing you over the edge. You came undone all at once, flexing your walls around him, gasping for air. Seconds later, hot strings of his cum shot through you, spilling out onto the bed along with your own. Riding out your orgasms simultaneously, your heavy breathing gradually quieted until he pulled out and sat up on the bed beside you. Watching him slide off the edge and stand up, your eyes followed him as he made his way to the bathroom entrance, ducking in for a second and returning with a towel.
Climbing back onto the bed, he leaned over you and gently cleaned you up with the towel, being extra careful around your sore clit. When most of it was wiped up, he discarded the towel onto the floor and laid down next to you. You rolled onto your side to look at him in the moonlight.
His skin had a visible sheen to it and his hair was a fucking mess - it stuck partially to his damp skin. But that only made his perfectly sculpted features more beautiful. You felt him wrap his arm around your naked waist, holding you to his body. Brushing a loose strand of hair away from your face, he spoke for the first time in minutes.
"Let's do this again tomorrow."
In your fucked out state, you couldn't respond with much else than an excited nod as you snuggled up to him. He gently kissed your swollen lips, happy. 
Brushing your nose with his, he whispered: "Night y/n." 
You replied by kissing him back, closing your eyes, and drifting off to sleep in his arms. 
343 notes · View notes
yourmcu · 3 years
Text
Birthday
Pairings: The Avengers x  reader
Summary:
It’s your birthday and the team gets creative on how to surprise you, putting their acting skills to the test.
Word count: 2,350
A/n: just a little something because,, well,, it’s my birthday *runs away* also it’s cheesy, hopefully it makes sense lmao
Warnings: uhhh brief mention of explosion? mostly fluff
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The Avengers wanted to get creative for your birthday this year. For the few years they've known you they picked up on things about you. One, you paid no mind to your birthday at all and just considered it a normal day like the rest of the 365, Tony took note that you hated parties, at least the really big ones, something that involved only the team would be good.
Okay, you sound like a party pooper, but that isn't the case; it's not a crime to just... not want to have a grand celebration, right? And people singing the 'happy birthday' song to you too while you just sit there in silence. It's awkward, you once told Natasha. It’s also awkward and hard for you to receive presents even though that’s what birthdays are all about, you’re still getting used to it since you knew someone like Tony Stark.
Well, the team think you're an amazing friend and they all treat you like family. They're so glad they met someone like you.
You're immediately called to the conference room on that day. Only to find the team arguing and pointing fingers at one another.
You kinda just slot in, sitting on the chair you usually sit on whenever there's a meeting or mission briefing. Glancing around, you try and find out what they're fighting about.
Security. Suits. Brief mention of Ultron. Rhodey busying himself with phones, probably making a lot of calls. Natasha and Clint talking among themselves, only raising their voice whenever they're included in the conversation which mainly consisted of Tony and Steve arguing.
"Suit up, get the jet ready." Steve dismisses but before he could walk out himself you raise your hand.
"Hey, sorry, I just woke up," you say sheepishly but coolly at the same time. "What happened, is everyone supposed to go? Can I read the file?" Because if this is an Avengers-level threat that required everyone, you'd want to know all about it.
His sharp and expression softens slightly when he looks at you. "No file, I'm afraid. Some of the compound's security protocols have been compromised, someone hacked in." He proceeds to tell you how they particularly had interest in Bruce and Tony's lab so the other rooms were untouched.
Apparently, they took blueprints and materials, maybe a handful of Tony's suits.
But if you think about it, those two carelessly letting the security to their lab loose? Highly unlikely...
You push the thought to the back of your mind and nod when Steve tells you to get ready. Stark tech can be dangerous in the wrong hands, after all. Let alone the Iron Man suits.
Fortunately, those things have trackers. Leaving you to wonder again why those idiots don't even try and take them off so they won't tracked?
Sat on the floor of the jet while everyone was strangely quiet but once again you didn't pay any mind, you sharpen a few of your knives. Natasha sat on a stool near you, idly picking her nails. An hour into the flight you furrow your brows and look around.
"Are you guys okay?"
"Yes," Tony states quickly and a matter-of-factly. They all share glances before he continued. "It's the tension. Sorry. My fault."
"It's not your fault, Tony," Bruce starts.
"I'm sorry, to whom were those stolen suits again?" Steve speaks up as well and you could tell it's gonna be a full blown argument again.
"Now hold on just a second-" Tony faces the super soldier to counter.
You merely blink, not expecting a simple question to turn out like this. Clint just glances from the pilot's seat and Natasha almost cracks a smile by the look of your face. If only you knew it was all fake, all planned. But what does she know? You're a spy too, maybe you've figured out what they're up to and decided to play along.
Sad to say you're still oblivious. Maybe the fact that you only slept three hours last night is one case. You wanted nothing more than your bed right now.
Heck, not one of them wished you a happy birthday but you didn't notice at all.
Tuning out their bickering you sit down next to Natasha who's the only one not in the argument.
"I haven't seen Wanda all day," you say and she turns her head to face you. "Or Sam, or Bucky."
"Probably not back from their mission." Natasha answers promptly.
You frown at that. "Steve made this sound like an Avengers-level threat, and it is, shouldn't they be here?"
You don't wait for a response, opening up a globe-shaped hologram that shows where the jet, represented by a blinking dot. Your eyes slightly widen when you see the target location which is one of the places you've been dying to visit your whole life.
Maybe it's just a coincidence. You definitely didn't expect to visit it for the first time on a mission though.
Natasha clears her throat. "Hey, have you read the book I gave you?" She subtly closes the globe up when she catches your attention.
You shake your head bashfully. "You know I'm a slow reader. Give me two months then I'll come back to you." You laugh. Natasha smiles and tells you to take your time. "Have you read the book I gave you?"
"I loved it."
"I knew you would!" You say excitedly and the next few moments you discuss about the specific book. She's just glad you didn't ask any further questions about the location.
--
All of you split up once you reach the base but Rhodey and Bruce stay in the jet as backup. The place reminded you so much of the old Avengers tower, only with darker themes. You're paired with Clint who you follow to the side of the building, with surprisingly no cautiousness. He just... ran in, entrance deserted of guards.
You all had a digital, tech checklist to see what was stolen including all the suit names. So far you've searched two drawers now and still no sign of any agent or guard. But it's weird since the others are clearly doing their part on their floors. Thuds, footsteps and sometimes banging sounds could be heard all around.
“Finally," you mutter when you hear footsteps behind you, spinning around so suddenly to surprise your enemy and take him down with ease. You raise an eyebrow when they don't put up a fight at all.
Clint was in front of a computer when you peek in to one of the rooms but he waves you off. "I'll meet you on the next floor. This'll take a second."
"One suit on the roof!" you hear Steve grunt through your earpiece.
"Remember to remove the arc reactor, that'll shut them down for sure." Bruce reminds through everyone's comms.
You hear Tony let out a noise. "Might have a problem with that, Banner, they're all reprogrammed."
Expecting the man with seven Ph. D's to worry, it only took him a minute to respond back. "It's your tech. I don't believe they could do that completely especially having them for only twelve hours."
"In that case," Tony sighs. "There should be a kill switch under one of their reactors."
"Which one?" Natasha grunts.
The deafening silence from Tony's line explains it.
You fight your way though the thugs which again, don't put up a fight. Sometimes you throw one punch and they're out cold, leading you to believe the intense training Bucky insisted you do worked. The only tough ones were the Iron Man suits themselves.
Ripping out the arc reactors wasn't easy. You had to use all you force. On the second one you encounter it got the upper hand and blasts you through a wall, the impact sending sharp pain to your head and back.
You hear metal thumping of a suit so you get back up and attempt to get your hands on the Iron Man in front of you.
"Hey, hey. Same team. Look," Tony grips on your wrists and lifts his mask up. "You alright?"
“Yeah," you pant, relaxing a bit. "Yeah. One of them got m-"
"We just discovered a bomb, northwest," Clint says. By ‘we’ he means him and Natasha. The redhead speaks right after. “Two and a half minutes. How many suits left, Friday?”
"Only one more suit is fully functional."
You get out of Tony's hold and sprint up the stairs. "I got it."
He smiles to himself. The plan is all coming  to place.
As soon as you enter the room you dodge a blast from the much bulkier Mark XVI. Of course they'd want to make the stealth suit more powerful. You launch yourself towards it, stomping on an arm while trying to dodge blasts from the the other one.
"Y/N! Fifty seconds!" Steve shouts in your earpiece.
You could've just jumped out, leaving the compromised suits here to be blown up but being under pressure made you panic and set your only goal to find the switch.
The suit could still set off a blast from the arc reactor so you couldn't really get your hands on it without losing a freaking arm.
"Get out of there!”
But you didn’t have enough time. So you just curl into a ball against the wall, accepting your fate.
A pop did go off. Loud, but you didn't feel yourself torn into pieces right after. You also heard a bunch of aye’s and oh’s. Redwing whirs by to your head to drop off a birthday hat.
"Happy Birthday!”
Your eyes fly open. Turns out the only thing inside Mark XVI was confetti. Natasha walks over to you to inspect and make sure you're alright.
"What the hell?" Your eyes widen at her, then at everyone. Sam and Bucky were now standing with them, smiling at you amused.
"I think she's in shock.”
“You think?”
Steve glares at Tony with a hint of amusement. "I told you it would be too much."
"Trust me she prefers something like this instead of a big party. Don't you, Y/N?"
"What do you mean?" You take off the hat and clutch it between your hands, appreciating Natasha rubbing your back as you try to collect yourself. "How is none of this real?"
"We basically faked a mission for you." Rhodey says.
You look around all the rubble. "This building, the people, suits-"
"Bought the place," Tony states. "Hired stuntmen, did a few tweaks on the suits...”
"God, why would you do that?" You bury your face in your hands, not knowing if you should be laughing or crying. "I punched those guys!"
"They'll be fine, they signed up for it."
You gently get up and brush off some confetti off your knees.
"But back at the compound... you guys were yelling at each other and during the whole thing you all sounded serious," you point out. "Was that all part of the act?"
Especially when that 'bomb' was about to go off. Steve's panicked voice made you scared for your life, only to know that it was all fake.
They all show signs of agreement, laughing.
"We'd make such great actors." Natasha smirks.
"Alright, the cake isn't going to blow itself." Clint walks up to you with said cake and you meet him halfway.
Everyone gathers around and before they could inhale to sing the stupid song, you cut them off. "You all know I hate to be sung at. Can we just get this over with?"
They all burst out laughing, you giggle in the process, blowing out your candle. You all group hug right after. The laughter makes you miss the sound of faint thunder outside.
"Look who's late." Bruce points out.
"Yes, I got here as soon as I can, my apologies." Thor smiles sheepishly.
Your ears perk up at the all too familiar voice of the god of thunder. Moving everyone of the way, you leap to hug him. "Thor!"
"Happy birthday, dearest Y/N." He grins and pats you on the head. "I'm afraid my - I mean - our gift, is with Loki at the moment."
"Enough with the formality, I’m just glad you’re here.”
Peter rings up Tony to tell him everything's set up at the huge building they rented for your low-key party. Just the Avengers. Peter, Vision and Wanda were in charge of setting things up over there, from decorations and food. Sam and Bucky also helped a bit before they arrived at the fake base.
So you all get into the jet again, this time you look at the windows in awe to see what the city's like. You also asked a bunch of questions on how they pulled something stupid but unique fake mission like that.
Once you've reached your destination, the place was simple yet big enough to fit everyone. Tony really took notes for this year. You didn't like anything too fancy or elegant, and you didn't like huge-ass parties with hundreds of people you've never met before.
Here you're with your family eating, drinking booze and playing games, generally having a good time.
You give the other five Avengers big hugs. Vision's never usually a hugger but for you he made an exception just for today. Everyone was surprised when he lifted you off your feet and spun you around.
"Hugging has a lot of good benefits," Vision says when he lets you go. "Astounding, I know. It is recommended eight times a day, hopefully you've already gotten that much."
You giggle at his remark and Wanda rolls her eyes playfully. “Thank you, Vision.”
“Splendid, that means I don’t have to give you one.”
You turn around to see the god of mischief himself carefully hand you a wrapped box. Loki chuckles when you smile at him. “Happiest Birthday.”
“Loki.... you know you and Thor didn’t have to-”
“Thor? That one’s from me. I assure you.”
“Y/N!” You hear Tony call from the other side of the room. “It’s time for presents, little miss. Good lord this looks like Christmas morning.”
-
unfortunatley i am that extra to post a birthday fic woo hoo
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Text
Lay All Your Love on Me (Chapter 7) (Part 1)
Paring: Soft Dark Alpha Lee Bodecker x Female Omega Reader
Summary: After moving to Knockemstiff, Ohio with your troubled parents, you find solace in the local Seven-Eleven. There, you bump into the Alpha sheriff, Lee Bodecker.
And then you keep bumping into him. There's just something about the chubby Alpha that keeps drawing you in. Now there's something going on with the new preacher of the church that you attend. Everything's a mess.
But you're an unbonded Omega. Life can turn to shit anyway.
Chapter Warnings: This chapter opens with Lenora's post-rape. Mentions of sexual coercion, as well as cheating from Preston's end. Unplanned pregnancy via rape is mentioned here too. Mentions of serial killers, and Carl just being downright creepy. Anger issues from the Reader, as well as gun violence and death threats. There's also another character death in here, so we're keeping count of the body count, lol. Some possessive behavior from Alpha Daddy. I've been writing him as soft!dark, but in this chapter and the next one, he's gonna be full-on dark. Maybe a tiny smidge of fatphobia in this one? Like a small smidge. A blink and you'll miss type of smidge. Just to cover all of my bases.
Additional Notes: I am so, so sorry for how long it took for me to update this on Tumblr. I usually update this fic on my AO3 first before I update it on here. But, since I split this chapter into two, it took longer than I thought. So this will just be part one, and part two should follow quickly!
Please read the chapter warnings before continuing with this chapter, as this chapter and the following chapter will have some disturbing themes. I want this to be a safe space for everyone. And, if you're a minor, please do not interact. Thank you!
I also have a series taglist for this series now, so if you'd like to be added to just the series taglist, let me know!
Word Count: 3, 370
Two days before your annual visit... with Lenora in the afternoon
Lenora Laferty was crouched over the toilet seat in the girl’s bathroom, vomiting her guts out.
Sick.
She had been feeling sick for the past week.
She didn’t know what had caused this. Lenora had woken up every single morning for the past week with an urge to puke her guts out.
Emma and Arvin had been getting used to the sounds of puking in the morning.
It was becoming alarming.
Emma was fully ready to ask if she had been frolicking around with an Alpha.
But she hadn’t, because she had gotten so busy.
Later though, she would ask.
Now, now though, Lenora continued to puke her guts out.
Her Omega had been very vocal this past week. Screeching. Throwing a fit. Screaming and shouting at her, due to the changes coming in her body.
She hadn’t wanted this.
She had wanted none of this.
Lenora’s Omega had screamed and shouted when Lenora had entered Preston’s car. Her screaming had become louder when the disgusting Alpha, (married too, she should add), kissed her. She had thanked some fucking being up there when Lenora had pulled away, stammering and saying that he was married.
Oh. And he was married, did Lenora’s Omega mention that?
Yeah.
Mhmm.
The Preacher was married.
He had a bite mark on his neck.
Preston Teagardin had an Omega for a wife. No pups, though. From what the church gossip said, he only got an Omega because Omegas were easier to control. His Omega wife had been a young, defenseless thing. It was horrible, what Preston Teagardin did behind her back. He had raped a young Omega who had just presented in his car, and who was currently vomiting her guts out in her school bathroom.
Lenora’s Omega remembered how much she had pleaded, begged him to stop whatever he was doing to her because she was currently sweating so much. Beads of sweat rolling down her temples as her Heat made her scent riper. Lenora had remembered saying, pleading, crying out so many no’s. She had pleaded with the Preacher that all she wanted was to make the pain go away. All she wanted was the pain to go away.
“I’ll help take the pain away,”   he had told her.
What he had done to her had been way worse.
Lenora had been pleading, nay, begging him no. No, no, no, no, no. All she wanted was some toys to help her out. She’d take them and go back to the Russell household to due with her Heat herself. Her pleading had turned desperate when she saw his wedding ring on his hand. She knew he was married. He knew he was married. It was a sin. Why was he doing this? To her? All she had wanted was for him to leave her alone. To stop looking at her, sniffing at her like she was something he could eat. Like a predator in the shadows, waiting to pounce on their prey.
And he had.
Oh yes, he had.
Lenora had remembered screaming until he had put a hand across her mouth. Flipped her over onto her stomach. Her Omega had been so busy screaming and throwing a fit in her mind that she didn’t register him pulling her dress up, yanking down her underwear, where she had slapped on a thick Slick Pad.
“No,”   She had been begging again, “Please Preacher- you’re… you’re married. This ain’t right.”
“It’s okay. No one has to know.”
There was a moment of hesitation.
Preston had taken that slight beat of silence as a yes.
Lenora had screamed again.
The brunette, young Omega had lifted up her head from the toilet bowl. The urge to vomit was still there.
Never had she ever felt this sick.
He had violated her body. Taken a piece of her that she could never get back.
Now, Lenora’s Omega was fully convinced, that she was pregnant with this fucker’s pup.
Lenora could feel the bile rise up to her throat again. She vomited into the bowl again.
Her scent of cherries and vanilla was burning. Making her eyes water.
Not to mention her Omega was throwing the biggest hissy fit known to man.
Her Omega wanted blood.
She wanted justice.
But now…
Now...
Everything had gone wrong.
Everything had been utterly ruined.
At the same time in Knockemstiff with you and Lee...
Carl was staring at you.
Actually, he had been interested in you ever since he came here.
Why would his brother-in-law be with someone like you?
It perked his interest.
So he watched you.
All the while your eyes were completely focused on the TV.
When Carl had been young, he never really stood out in crowds. He was always awkward. He discovered a love for photography when he had been young. He had been the only Beta in his family. His father had been an Alpha, his mother an Omega, his sister an Omega, and his brother an Alpha. His parents had always favored his brother over him, even though he had been the eldest.
With all the things at home… he never felt any happiness.
Photography slowly became his comfort.
The first time he had killed someone was when he had been in his early twenties. A simple knife through the neck incident.
It had also been his first picture.
Carl… Carl couldn’t begin to explain the euphoria that had run through him then.
Like a switch had flipped.
He had found his calling.
His true calling.
And when he had married Sandy, he had made it his life’s work.
Every murder, every picture… it was like a piece of heaven. Like Carl was close to those pearly white gates. Almost as if he was being baptized and made holy.
The Beta man had always used his Omega wife as bait to lure in his victims. Omegas had naturally sweeter scents. Easier to lure in prey. Carl never had an issue with his wife getting all of the men. Alphas or Betas. He knew male Omegas didn’t exist. Just like female Alphas. So, he didn’t mind that his Omega wife did the bulk of the work.
Until now.
Knowing how good Omegas smelled, it didn’t surprise him by how good you smelled either.
But you?
You smelled really, really, really good.
Even better than Sandy.
You smelled like chocolate chip cookies. Freshly baked. As if he had just pulled them out of the oven.
And your gland.
There was Lee’s bite mark on your neck. Showing the entire county who was your Alpha. Who you belonged to. Carl had noticed Lee’s bite on his gland from you looked to be there longer. Almost like you had bitten him first.
How peculiar.
In your society of Alphas, Omegas, and Betas, it was very unusual for Omegas to bite first. The majority of the time, it was Alphas who bit first. Omegas who bit first were considered unnatural. Unheard. Just like female Alphas or male Omegas. Not only that, it was considered taboo for Omegas to bite first.
So why the hell did Lee allow you, a normal, boring Omega to bite first?
It puzzled him.
For the first time in his life, he didn’t want to murder you.
For the first time in his life, he was jealous of his wife.
His wife always got her boy toys, why couldn’t he get his own babydoll for once?
Why not be greedy and have his own turn this time?
He inched closer to you. Scooted over just a bit. It made you stop.
You did not trust Carl.
Not one bit.
No.
Nope.
Nada.
Your eyes were narrowed. From where you were seated in the living room, you could still feel his stare. You were sitting on the couch. The furthest away from the Beta.
Oh no.
You were not going to sit next to him. Sandy, maybe. But Carl?
Absolutely not.
You were not sitting next to that man. That damn Beta smelled like rotten cabbage soup. You’d rather die than sit next to him.
The TV was still playing. Playing something. Maybe a sitcom? You didn’t know. Maybe it was I Love Lucy.
You had never wanted to flee from a room faster in your life. Sandy was with Lee, and you heard some conversation as they had walked through the front door. Because of their shopping trip. Bags full of groceries. You had seen Lee smile at his younger sister and laugh, his tummy shaking. It had made you smile. Having his sister here with his Omega, his Bondmate… it was good for him. Very good. He had been happier than ever.
Your mother was next door. Talking to the neighbors. You suspected she just wanted to play nice.
But you were not going to play nice with this Beta.
No.
Never.
You were not.
You would not be nice to this man. You could fake a smile and pretend to be nice, but the next time you would see him, you were going to grab your shotgun that Lee pretended you didn’t have under your bed and chase him around the house with it.
Just in case.
Although your mood was a bit better, considering tomorrow, you and your mother would be going to visit Lenora and Arvin. You missed them. You hadn’t called them in weeks.
Sandy and Lee were still unpacking the food when you had gotten up stiffly, not even sparing a look towards Carl.
Lee saw you walking into the kitchen.
His smile dropped at the sight of the sour look on your face.
Sandy watched as you grabbed the phone and spun the dial.
Spin. Spin. Spin.
Spin. Spin. Spin.
Putting the phone near your ear, you waited.
There was a shuffling noise on the other line before you heard a familiar voice.
“Hello? Who is this?”
“Emma? It’s me.”
“Oh! Hello dear. Arvin’s here, would you like to talk to him?” Emma’s voice trailed off. “Uh-huh,” you were nodding, your voice low, “I’d like to talk to him.”
Him? Who was him?
Lee and Sandy stopped with the groceries.
There was a shuffling noise again and you heard her shout.
“Arvin! Get over here! Someone’s on the phone wantin’ ya!”
Lee froze.
His jaw clenched.
“… Hey! Why haven’t you been callin’ the house? Lenora presented!” came Arvin’s voice from the other line.
You blinked.
Clearly taken aback.
“O-Oh…” More blinking, “Lenora presented? What’d she present as? Omega? Beta?”
Sandy Henderson felt her world stop. Or freeze. Like one of those record scratches on a sitcom before the episode would rewind back to its proper place.
All of a sudden, she remembered Roy Laferty’s words before he died.
Lenora. Her name is Lenora. She’s my daughter.
“… Yeah, but she’s been actin’ real funny lately. Ya think you could talk to her when you and your Ma come to see us?” Arvin’s voice from the other line brought both Sandy and Lee back.
You were nodding.
“I mean, Omega to Omega. I love her and all, she’s my little sister, but I ain’t an Omega, ya know?” Arvin said.
“Mhmmmm… I get it…. Yeah… I’ll talk to her when we get there… uh-huh… I miss you too… uh-huh… yeah… yes… I’m on my best behavior Arvin… no I’m not causin’ no trouble… I ain’t like you and your angry ass… naw… naw… shut up and smoke ya damn square Russell… mhmmm… yeah… got someone that I’d like you to meet one of these days Arvin… he’s my Alpha… love him so much…”
Sandy saw the corners of Lee’s lips curl up into a smile at that.
He was in love.
Her Big Brother was in love. She watched him come from behind you, walking towards you and gently put his hands on your shoulders, gently pushing you back towards him. She could see him bend his head down a little and rub his nose against your gland, making you giggle and squeal. Sandy saw you, watched as a smile came over your face. Your entire face lit up as you looked at your Alpha, who was deeply chuckling at your response.
There was an aching in her heart. Watching you and Lee interact was what she had wanted with Carl. A normal, loving husband. And she had that in the first few years of her marriage. Sandy had almost felt like a princess with her prince charming. Carl had been so charming.
And then the murders started happening.
Sandy had vomited the night before they had driven up to her Big Brother’s house. First, she had taken a shower and cried in it before she had actually vomited, puked her guts out into the toilet.
She had never suspected, nor expected her life to turn out like this.
She had never thought one day that she would be marrying a fucking serial killer.
No. Never.
“… Okay! Okay, yes! Okay. Bye.”
You hung up gleefully. Turning to Lee, you saw him looking so amused.
“Ya gotta stop doin’ that Lee, you’re too distractin’,” you scolded him playfully. Clearly amused, “Oh really?” Your Alpha even had his eyebrow cocked and everything. “Me? Distracting? Never sugar. I’m a good Bondmate. I always give my babydoll the space she needs.” He defended himself playfully. You just rolled your eyes. Looking at your sister-in-law, you spoke.
“Was he always like this growin’ up?” you questioned her. Sandy snorted. “Even worse,” she said solemnly with a nod. Lee just pouted.
“Gangin’ up on me. My little sister and my Omega. I’ll never forgive you two for this.”
Giggles filled the kitchen as you and Sandy snickered.
“What’re you makin’ for lunch?”
Just like that, the entire mood had shifted.
Lee had noticed you had tensed up from where you were in his arms.
Your Omega was alarmed.
Beta.
Smelly Beta is here.
Nasty Beta.
Like the church incident where you had seen the Preacher, you stiffened up. It was like you and your Omega had become one. Like you knew what the other person was thinking. In perfect sync.
Lee made eye contact with Sandy.
And then his gaze came over to his brother-in-law.
Carl was looking at you.
Lee was reminded of those leery looks other Alphas used to give his sister when they used to be young pups. Leery, predatory looks. Almost like his younger sister was something to be eaten.
Like now.
“… Lee and I bought some tomatoes. We might just make tomato soup with grilled cheese.” shrugged Sandy.
Sandy spoke your name.
You blinked.
“Lee was tellin’ me bout that book you were readin’… I haven’t been to the library in a while. You wanna go? After lunch?”
At her suggestion, you slowly nodded. Like you were coming out of a fog.
“Yeah… yeah… sounds great. Gonna go down to the Seven-Eleven, D-Lee, you want your usual?”
You had nearly slipped up.
“Yeah,” Lee said, his eyes still trained on Carl, “Yeah, that sounds good, Omega.”
“Okay.”
He pressed a kiss on the top of your head. His keys clinked together as he slipped the keys to his cruiser into your pocket. Happily humming, you said to Sandy, “Lemme get my heels on. Then we can go. Lee, ya left ya Pepsi cup in the car again… can you bring it inside to wash it?”
Nods came from your Alpha. A happy hum came from you. Maybe even a smile. Mood temporarily raised, you made your way into Lee’s room to grab your shoes.
Lee was now looking at you as you bounced down the hallway, the mere thought of slushies always putting you in a happier mood. Blue eyes continued to watch you and Sandy, watching intensely as the two of you walked to his cruiser. He saw you say something to his sister before rolling your eyes.
It was when he realized why you were rolling your eyes.
Oh.
Oh.
Oh.
Never had Lee spud to you so fast.
You were already rolling your eyes again.
“Lee,” you were saying, “did ya forgot?” You made hand gestures to the cup that was still in the car. The chubby Alpha cursed under his breath and accepted the cup from you. Cup now in his hands. Even knowing that the two of you did indeed have an audience. He couldn’t help himself. His arms went around you, making the familiar scent of your Alpha waft into your nose. It made your Omega sigh in content. And then, and then when he dipped his head down, his tongue licking, pressing down on your gland, scenting you, reminding everyone in this godforsaken county who the hell you belonged to, you melted.
Sandy’s eyes were watering. Due to the intense phenomenons, her Big Brother was giving off. Eventually, Lee lifted his head up. His eyes were dark. That dark, deep, possessive feeling all wedged and shoved down part of him satisfied.
At least for now.
Now, now, he could look down at you. Down at the mating gland that showed his bite.
“I’ll get you your usual. Cherry?”
“Yes.”
A thrill ran down your spine.
“Okay. We’ll be back-”
The sounds of the car opening and closing were heard.
“C’mon!” came Sandy’s shout from the passenger’s seat, “We gotta still come back to make lunch!”
You turned back to look at Lee.
“Go, Omega.” He told you. With one last kiss on the top of your head, you waved at your Alpha before getting into the driver’s seat.
Only after watching you drive off with his sister to the Seven-Eleven did Lee walk back inside, Pepsi cup gripped in his hand.
And when the door closed behind him, it was too late.
Lee Bodecker had been too quick for the brunet Beta man. A pudgy hand came to wrap around Carl's throat, and the man was shoved back. Right up against the wall. His small brown eyes widening in fear.
The first time Carl had met Lee, he had snickered to himself, looking at the Alpha who was his girlfriend’s older brother.
Lee had long made peace with himself, that he didn’t look like every other Alpha he knew. Or had known in his youth.
He knew he had rolls. He knew his tummy stuck out and jiggled. That his face was chubbier and less chiseled than it had been when he was younger. He saw those stretch marks on his stomach, on his thighs that used to be red, but were now faded and looked like lightning bolts etched onto his pale, milky skin.
Lee had given no shits, that everyone probably thought of him as the fat Alpha. His body type did not bother him in the slightest. Nor did it bother you. In fact, whenever the two of you were in his bed together, you had always cuddled up to him. Soft, sweet little murmurs and mumbles about how squishy he felt around you, how he kept you so warm. The way he’d wrap his big, strong arms around you, keeping you feeling so safe and warm. Like a warm blanket.
Carl Henderson did not know this Lee.
Nor was he used to it.
This Lee… his part of his brother-in-law that Lee kept so deeply buried… this piece of darkness which bubbled to the surface.
Carl wasn’t used to his.
Lee’s blue eyes were pure black. He looked almost like he was in a Rut. His scent of chocolate bourbon burned, making Carl have a headache.
The Alpha didn’t even need to try to pick him up.
There was a slamming noise.
“She’s mine.”
Lee’s Alpha was seething.
“You don’t look at her. You don’t talk to her. You don’t sit next to her.”
Carl’s nose was burning. He coughed. His eyes watered.
Lee’s expression on his face looked downright murderous.
“If I see or hear you harmed a fuckin’ hair on her head, I will fuckin' kill you.”
The burning urge to just put a fucking bullet through Carl's head came, rushed through him again.
His mind was completely made up.
Carl needed to die.
Carl was going to die tonight.
Taglist: @greeneyedblondie44, @bxnnywriting
Series taglist: @queensIvy
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cosmicgoddesswrites · 3 years
Text
The Nanny - Prologue
Single Dad!Kuroo x Nanny!Reader
Summary: Kuroo Tetsuro is about at his wits end; there's only so much a man can take with work piling up, his divorce getting messier by the minute, and his 6-year-old daughter raising hell at home. Hiring a nanny sounds like a band-aid solution, but who knows, maybe this will work out?
Word Count: 1147, this ones a lil short since its the prologue
Warnings: Female!Reader, Some cursing, mentions of v!olence
Masterlist. Next. 
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Oh how Kuroo wished he could play along with his friends' banter as they pointed out the purple bite-mark peeking out from under his shirt collar.
He wished he could lie and say he had met someone to dull the ache his ex-wife had left in her wake; that he had met someone knew who felt the primal yet intimate need to mark him as theirs and only theirs.
He wished he could lie about his sex life still being active despite not having gotten any action in the past year.
The tenseness in his shoulders, the fatigue clouding his mind, the beer that had been long forgotten save for the occasional swirl of his glass, pried the truth from his tight-lipped smile.
"Actually, Emiko did that..." Kuroo admitted, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. He practically shrunk at the looks of disbelief and judgement thrown his way by his high-school friends.
"No way!" Yaku objected, "No way Emiko did that! She's an angel!"
Kuroo sighed at that. 'Was' would have been a more proper term to use, but Kuroo could never admit that out loud.
Before the divorce, Emiko was an actual angel. A gift sent from heaven that brightened her father's life each and every day.
Then Kuroo walked in on Emiko's mother on her knees in front of some stranger, some man she had brought into their shared home, with Emiko sleeping in the other room.
Since then, Emiko had begun to get more and more aggressive, often screaming at the top of her lungs, flinging her balled fists at her father, causing scenes in public to the point where the tired 28 year old couldn't even think of leaving the house with her.
Kuroo knew the divorce would take its toll on her, especially since he had to deal with his own parent's divorce at such a young age as well. But with him, well, he never became violent. He became quiet, shy, more reserved and afraid to interact with others.
But violence... Kuroo cried himself to sleep the first night Emiko hit him as he was trying to get her dressed for bed. Just the thought of it had him taking a swig of the room-temperature beer in hopes of hiding his quivering lip.
Yaku quickly masked his shock, placing his hand on the larger man's bicep. "Hey... when's the last time you got a good night's sleep?"
"Yeah," Kenma interjected, taking a swig of his fresh beer, "your bags are darker than mine." That earned a swift kick to his shin.
"Not anytime recent," Kuroo said, not even noticing Kenma kicking Yaku back. "Emiko is such a pain to get to bed now... she kept me up till 3 last night."
"Is that when she..." Yaku motioned to the bitemark, earning a nod from the father.
"You know... there's no shame in hiring some help." Yaku smiled, "have you ever thought of hiring a nanny or something?"
Kuroo's tired eyes instantly shot open as he shook his head. "Oh no, no no, if I even thought about that Hanako wouldn't let me live it down."
Yaku and Kenma both seemed to recoil at the mention of Kuroo's ex-wife.
"Well it doesn't matter what she thinks, there's a reason she's your ex-wife. She has no say in your life now." Kenma snapped, voice bitter as if that woman were here herself to hear the venom he spat.
Yaku nodded, "Exactly! And there's no shame in admitting you need help! Plus it might actually do you and Emiko some good to have a helping hand around the house."
"Oh?" Kuroo tilted his head, "And did you have someone to refer to me? Or am I supposed to comb through hundreds of nannies I'll have to buy a nanny-cam to monitor?"
Yaku pursed his lips at that. Honestly there were a lot of nannies that he knew. Being a professional volleyball player meant his teammates who were fathers often had nannies hired to help them with their kids. But that of course meant all those nannies were spoken for.
He could practically feel the lightbulb click on above his head as someone came to mind.
"Actually, I do!" he exclaimed, chugging the last of his beer before grabbing his cellphone and sending a text to Kuroo. "She's my little sister's best friend, they both went to university together. She has a degree in Early Child Development and Child Psychology, and she's very eagerly looking for work!"
Kuroo's cocky smile faltered. He didn't actually expect Yaku to have a recommendation right then and there for him. "And... she's not gonna kidnap my child?"
"No!" Yaku gasped, smacking Kuroo's arm. "She's very nice! She's young so she'll be able to keep up with Emiko, and she's got a good head on her shoulders."
Kuroo glanced down at the text. (Y/n) (L/n). He took another quick sip of his beer, maybe he could make a decision on this when he wasn't sober.
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Kuroo woke up to a splitting headache and the ring of his doorbell. He turned over with a groan to check the time, scoffing when he saw it was only noon.
He had some words for Hanako if she was trying to drop Emiko off at his doorstep earlier than she was supposed to. For someone who made such a big fuss about their custody agreement, she sure did enjoy skipping out on time with her daughter.
Another ring of the doorbell had him clutching his head before rushing to get on a shirt and answer the door.
His bare feet padded over to the entrance of his home, his hangover throwing caution to the wind as he opened the door without even checking to see if it actually was his ex-wife and daughter.
He whipped open the door and immediately froze in place. A young woman, somewhere in her 20s, stood before him. Her eyes trailed over his disheveled figure not-so-subtly as panic clearly set in her features.
"O-oh, Im sorry! I must have the wrong address!" She sputtered, immediately reaching for her phone, presumably to check the address she was looking for.
"Ahhh, that's okay, no worries." Kuroo mumbled, watching her curiously. The big, luxurious houses in this neighborhood were spread apart rather well, it would be difficult to get the address wrong in a place like this. "Maybe I could help you? What's the house number?"
The woman seemed to hesitate for a moment before reading off her phone, "Uhh, 726?"
This couldn't get any more awkward than it already was.
"Oh... this is the right house..."
The woman looked at him, clearly confused, "You're Kuroo? I thought you were expecting me, you texted me last night?"
Kuroo felt his heart seize. What texts?
She continued, sensing his confusion. "Ahhh... I'm (Y/n) (L/n)... the nanny?"
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Taglist:
@kellyyween @whore-for-anime @lilith412426
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semischarmed · 3 years
Text
Chrysalis, Part 2
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“Yeah... Steph broke up with me.” I say to him, trying to bring some of the old Kyle’s feelings out to show some semblance of distress but there is nothing to bring out. Instead, I cannot help but go from a fake pout to a giggle. It obviously reads a bit creepy, but Red takes the awkward situation well, nervously laughing to match my giggling before giving a sympathetic grimace. “Oh man, I’m real sorry about that bro, I know you two were super close. Fuck Steph. Maybe we can hang out or do whatever dude, just kind of get your mind off things” he states, as he reaches for a shoulder pat. I reciprocate by pulling him into a hug, much to his surprise, stating “Thanks man, for everything, I don’t think I can be alone right now”. And I never will be.
“Yeah man, anything you need, I’m here for you.” He warmly replies back, giving me a pat on the back. In our embrace, I take a whiff at his chest, remaking on his flavor. Woodsy, fresh cut grass, just a bit acrid and the smell of fresh rain. God he smelled good. I took another deep inhale, moaning imperceptibly before trying to slip inside him. Instead, I am met with disappoint at my inability to get inside my big bro. He pushes me back from my extended embrace with a slight crinkle in his nose, again treating the awkward situation in stride. “But uh, maybe take a shower first” he laughs. 
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———
Richard Levi- or “Red” as he was better known- was my Big Bro at Sig Chi. Though, from Kyle’s old memories, it actually wasn’t until I met him a fourth time that I found out his name wasn’t really just “Red”. Apparently, the previous frat president was also a Richard and a less confusing name had to be chosen for the then-freshman. The frat had taken to calling him ‘Red’, on account of his fiery red hair and soon after, the entire school had caught on. Though it was mean-spirited at first, Red never seemed to have been bothered by it, and by the time I arrived, there had only been one “Red” in the frat. Beyond that, my body knew very little about his Big Bro. From these memories it was fairly obvious that he has been trying to connect with the old Kyle after they had been paired, though Kyle was relatively disconnected in their conversations. I’m not even sure why the old Kyle stuck around with all the frat stuff to be honest, since apparently this seemed to occur with all the other members of the frat. If anything, Kyle seemed to only open up around Steph. That is, until I became Kyle. The new Kyle was confident. He was attentive. He was social. In a sense, Me being him had allowed for ‘Kyle’ to be greater than the sum of his parts, we succeeded in areas where the other could not. Where Kyle was oblivious, I was not. Where I could not succeed socially in school, my newly confident self as his body could. In a sense, we completed each other through my possession of him. And I loved every moment of it.
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I’ve been living through my forever host Kyle for a few weeks now and it has been nothing short of fantasy. From hanging out with my frat bros to getting hazed to winning a few more games. All of it was worth it. All of it made life feel like life. Even the mundane feels great in his shoes. Waking up, brushing my teeth, exercising. Just living. Knowing it was me inside, me in his skin, using his hands, walking his legs, breathing in his lungs. Ecstasy.
A few of his-well, my- friends noticed the new and improved Kyle. Friendlier, less reserved, smellier. That last bit might have been my fault. I love Kyle, all of him- and that included his musky, putrid odor which has only intensified since his possession. With me running the show, this meat-suit can’t help but respond in kind by rewarding my constant ecstasy in this body with a steady stream of its pheromones. It also probably didn’t help that I had a penchant for covering myself in my team’s scents and for avoiding any of his deodorant. In any case, I found it hot, I wanted people to know what this flesh of mine was. I was Alpha. I was living testosterone. Athlete. Me.
Still, I wanted to make sure I truly did have him forever. My old body had the ability to slip into others and ever since I had become Kyle, this new body has not been able to replicate the same feat. I speculated it was just a byproduct of my fairly recent acquisition but it’s been a few weeks now and I still haven’t had any indication that this body retains my old ability. Of course this came with the worrying thought that, despite all my preparation, all my effort, Kyle was still just a pile of flesh that my old body was just wearing temporarily. No. I can’t think in that way. This is me. I am Kyle.
So of course, I’ve been testing my old abilities in this body, trying with every hand shake, every shoulder hug, any physical connection with someone to get inside them. I’ve been fucking tons of cute guys on campus too, though no one in Sig Chi seems to have noticed. Either that or they had another reason to not bring it up- perhaps they were trying to avoid an awkward situation. In any case, despite all these attempts, I’ve had no such luck with my little possession crusade. At least, I hadn’t until last week. 
The last time I fucked Mark- some cute rando on the 8th floor of my dorm- I left a little of my cum inside him. In just that split second, I felt his mind and body open up to me, and I took advantage of that brief glimpse to jam just a bit of my arm inside. That was when I had my first epiphany. Of course. Me-in-Kyle was like a new body, not just me possessing him, so it only made sense that I had to rebuild my old abilities from scratch. Still, possession in this new Kyle body seemed to operate differently. Maybe it was the extra power from his vitality, but I definitely seemed to maintain the tiniest bit of residual control over Mark. Nothing too crazy, just very slightly influencing some of his decisions the following week like what he wore or making sure he didn’t tell a soul about the half possession. This had some application. My old body had been able to possess groups of people before, though it had some limited uses. For one, they had to be somewhat close to each other, and at some point, I could no longer maintain that state and my physical form had to reconvene, ending the session. This? This was different. Even now I can feel the traces of my control over Mark. Kyle’s sperm must be really fucking virile. Mixed with my latent ability for possession? We were potent.
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Before I could ponder what I could do with this new power, I began to feel a bump in the back of this body. Cosmic correction perhaps? Whatever it was, I felt myself being separated from Kyle. From Me. At least, most of myself was overcome with an intense numbness akin to the separation after a possession. One of my arms remained tethered to him, preventing the force from removing me Kyle’s body fully. 
This, of course, chilled me to the bone. I didn’t just possess Kyle... I became him- if we were separated what would happen to each of us? For one, I embedded myself into him, became the crevices of his mind and self. Whatever would left over without me wouldn’t be Kyle or me, so much as it would just be a pile of living flesh. Likewise, what would become of me? The guy who no longer had a separate physical form from Kyle. I looked at my arms, quaking in fear at the events that had just transpired. What I did to me, to Kyle, truly was against the natural order of the universe. Was I on a ticking clock then? Doomed to one day disappear for my sin? I stared at my arms again. That was when I had my second epiphany. I smiled wickedly. So that’s how it was.
Chrysalis. That’s what I called my special little device, my glorified sleeping bag meant to catalyze the process of forever tethering me to Kyle. I have long since disposed of the thing, but it was clear I had need for another run of the Chrysalis. Or rather, a chrysalis. 
The second epiphany came in the arm that I had used to test possession through Mark, the arm that had kept me tethered to my true body, against the natural order. The second epiphany was that I was not complete. It was the need to balance the scales. A separate possession and container were need for me and Kyle to be one. Two became one. So, in much the same respect, what I needed was to balance the books. What I needed was to fully possess another as Kyle, thereby fulfilling the cosmic debt. “One” will stay as one through a process that fulfilled both my of requirements of container and possession. I need to possess someone. I need a human Chrysalis. And I knew just the guy. I immediately started masturbating. I’m gonna need a lot of cum.
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So, that’s where I am right now. I’ve been hanging out with Red, nearly every day, making us closer, all the while slipping bits of my seed into him. I started out with just a bit in his water bottle during one of our gym sessions, when he wasn’t looking. God it was hot. I watched him choke a little too, when his mouth came across my wad of goo but nevertheless he downed it like a champ. He laughed the whole thing off but I could tell he was a bit disturbed by whatever was in his bottle. I was able to will him to hug me a half second longer than usual. 
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Another time, I baked some nice cookies with a bit of me-juice in them. He found them delicious. I couldn’t help but moan a little when he first bit into it. He moaned too, before sheepishly stating “my bad bro, these are just some really fucking good cookies.” I played along, giving him a “Aww thanks man. Made these special, just for you”. He willfully ignored my wink after.
Half a week ago, I slipped a bit in his shampoo bottle. That was pretty kinky, until I realized he had just washed it all off. So yesterday, I put a big extra batch in his sandwich when he wasn’t looking. That one was apparently extra potent. He took his first bite- big, messy- getting a dribbling of  “Mayo” over his beard. Instinctively, he motioned to wipe it off with a napkin, but stopped him. He watched me quizzically, as I began to scoop the mayo sucking on the little extra I got on my index finger before stuffing the rest in his mouth. “The fuck? Dude...” he chuckled gently as I felt both heat and tension increase. He was huffing, entranced, taking moist, shallow breaths as I tug on his beard, pulling his head closer to mine. “You need a bit more” I whispered, as I began to unbuckle my jeans. Red snapped out of it, pushing me away, whispering “wait... what the fuck man, what was that?” For a few brief moments, we just sat there in awkward silence. He glared at me, before closing his eyes and taking a deep sigh. “Uh, look, I... won’t tell anyone at the frat. ok? Just... don’t ever do that again. Anyways, I don’t even swing... well... Besides-“ he chuckled, returning to his normal self and tousling my hair “You’re my little bro. That’s, kinda... like... incest, you know?”
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This one’s a fighter. By now, there’s gotta be a pint’s worth of my cum swimming inside him. Whenever he hangs out with me, I throw a little here and there. A quick squirt here, some extra cream in his coffee there, maybe a little extra icing on that cake. I make sure the parts of me inside him wriggle inside, get him extra hard, slam his brain with some extra dopamine around my scent. By all accounts he should be squirming in ecstasy when I’m around. But Red... he’s a cut above the rest. No matter what I do, he seems to just shrug it off. The most I’ve ever seen was maybe a gaze linger half a second too long.
It’s been a few days of this and I already feel the slightest dull sensation in my body. The universe trying to correct itself. Still, I have faith in my plans. He’s almost ready, I think. And if he isn’t ready, I’ll make him ready. I want this day to be special. The day I become Red and the day I truly become Kyle. 
—End Part 2—
Next one should be up relatively soon...
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sir-subpar · 3 years
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Where have you been? (1)
*This takes place in the Cursed!Bf au. This is pretty focused on Pico's point of view. Not a lot of shipping in this chapter, but I had a lot of fun writing this. This will be a 2-parter. Btw, swear words.*
Pico had challenged Boyfriend to another rap battle for fun and awaited his arrival. He was late, but they did plan to meet up at 5:00 pm so Pico figured it was just rush hour traffic holding him up. So he waited patiently. Minutes turned to hours, and the sun had set below the horizon. Pico tried to text him, but got no response. This was bullshit. He waited for hours like a fool and now B was ghosting him? If he didn't want to rap why didn't he just cancel? 
Pico grit his teeth in frustration as he got into his car. He began driving to Boyfriend's and Girlfriend's house. His grip on the steering wheel was unnecessarily tight. Sure, maybe he was overreacting a little. It was just a rap battle, but it angered him that B had wasted his time. He could have done something to let him know that they had to cancel. So in the moment, telling him off just sounded cathartic. He muttered random obscenities under his breath, as if reciting how he was gonna tell him off.
By the time he had reached the house Bf and Gf shared together it was dark out, some stars had started making their mark on the blackened sky. Pico could see the living room light was on. Good, they were home. Pico slammed the car's door, then walked up the little path to the house's front door. He knocked on the door and waited. He tapped his foot impatiently. He had spent his whole afternoon waiting for this guy to show up so the idea of waiting any longer annoyed the hell out of him.
 He could hear the door being unlocked and was about to start his angry rant when he saw it was Girlfriend at the door. The look on her face was odd, she looked surprised and… worried? That seemed off to Pico, as she usually opened the door with more enthusiasm no matter who was there. She was wearing a red crop top and black sweatpants, her comfy clothes.
 "... Pico? What are you doing here?" She asked, her tone came off as nervous. "I just wanna ask Boyfriend something." He decided not to yell at Girlfriend, she wasn't the one he was pissed at anyway. "Oh… He isn't with you? He doesn't… live here anymore." 
Just like that, all the anger built up in Pico had just fizzled. Replaced with confusion and shock. And a little bit of worry. "Why doesn't he live here??" Pico asked, what was going on? "Bf and I… we broke up. He left a few weeks ago and I haven't seen him since." She seemed nervous, she avoided making eye contact as she spoke. She left fidgeting with her hair, a nervous habit of hers. 
"So you don't know where he is, huh?" Pico asked, he too, started feeling nervous. 
"I haven't seen him since we broke up. He left most of his stuff here too. Even his phone. I figured he had run off to stay with you but I guess that's not the case." Girlfriend continued. Pico's worry only grew from there. He put his hands in his pockets and awkwardly continued their conversation. "How long has this been going on? Like, when was the last time you saw him?"  Pico had to know. How long had he been out of the loop here? Girlfriend looked him in the eyes, almost shamefully. "Two weeks." 
Pico couldn't help but be shocked by this. "Do you know anyone else he might have talked to? Anyone he might be staying with right now?" Anyone who would know where he is? That was what he really wanted to know. Where could he have gone? Girlfriend shook her head. "No, I don't know who he'd go to other than you. Most people we know don't really like him that much as far as I know." Pico couldn't help but grow more worried. This just wasn't like B… was he in trouble? "Well.. I'm gonna try to find out where he is. You wanna help?" Pico gestured towards his car, thinking they could ask around. Girlfriend averted her gaze, once again avoiding eye contact. "I'm pretty sure I'm the last person he wants to see.." 
Pico couldn't argue with that. Hell, when he and Bf broke up they still kept in contact to some degree. Boyfriend completely ghosting someone was rare, so he must've really wanted to avoid her. "Yeah… I guess that makes sense. Uh, have a good night." Pico and Girlfriend shared goodbyes and went their separate ways. Pico never liked being alone with her, to be honest. It was always awkward, now it was made worse with Boyfriend being who knows where. Pico drove off in his car, contemplating what he should do. 'Maybe I should just call some of B's friends. He might just be staying at one of their places.' He thought to himself. 
Pico had to think about who Boyfriend trusted the most (not counting himself or Gf in this case). He started thinking of people B had introduced him to. 'I have Hex's number, he's friendly, maybe Bf talked to him? It's worth a shot.' Pico scrolled through his contacts until he found Hex's number. The phone dialed for a few seconds, then he heard a robotic voice greet him. "Hello friend!" Hex exclaimed, enthusiastic as always. Pico wasn't really sure if he'd consider himself as Hex's 'friend' per say, but he never disliked the guy. 
"Hey Hex, it's Pico." 
"Greetings Pico! Haven't heard from you in a while! How are you?" 
"I'm alright, thanks. I actually need to ask you something. Could you help me with something?"
"You sound worried. How can I help?"
"I know this might sound random but… is Boyfriend staying with you by chance?" Pico nervously tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. He hoped that by some chance that maybe Hex knew something.
"No, why?" Just like that, Pico's hope was dashed. Despite that, he decided to fill Hex in on the situation. Maybe having another person looking out for B would help their chances of finding him.
"Well, he and Girlfriend split up 2 weeks ago and he just kinda… disappeared. I've tried to reach out to him but he's not responding. Gf said she has no idea where he is."
" I'm sorry, I don't know any more than you do."
 Pico let out a small sigh. "Yeah, I'm worried about him. Hey, if you see him, will you let me know?" 
"I will."
"Thank you, I appreciate it." Pico was about to hang up the phone when Hex said one last thing. 
"Actually, my friend Whitty sometimes hangs out with Boyfriend. I'll call and ask him if he knows where Boyfriend is." Hex sounded hopeful, which made Pico feel a little better. "Thanks, Hex. Let me know what he says."
"Will do! Bye for now!" 
"Bye."
Pico hung up. Deciding to drive home for the time being. He couldn't help but suddenly wonder though… who was Whitty? The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't recall meeting someone named Whitty. Maybe Bf had mentioned the guy to Pico before. Regardless, if this guy knew anything about Bf, he'd take it. 
Pico got home and felt exhausted. He kicked his shoes off at the front door, and dragged his feet as he walked towards his bedroom. He changed into some pajamas and started preparing to sleep. Part of him wanted to stay up and wait to hear back from Hex, but he was tired, and he needed to rest. He'd continue his search after getting some sleep, he decided. Pico pulled his bedsheets over his body, closed his eyes, and eventually drifted off to sleep. 
Pico got up the next morning at around 7:30 am. He got dressed, brushed his hair and teeth, all that usual morning routine stuff. Then, just as he was about to start calling more people to see if they knew anything about Bf, he got a call from Hex.
"Hello? Hex?"
"Pico!" Hex yelled, sounding excited. "I have good news!" Now Pico was beginning to feel excited. "I talked to my friend Whitty. He said he saw Bf a few days ago!" 
"Does he know where B is now?" Pico was nervously fidgeting with the collar of his shirt. He wasn't entirely sure why, but ever since his conversation with Girlfriend, he just had a gut feeling that something was wrong. He hoped it was just paranoia. "Does he know where Bf is now?" Pico asked. 'Please say yes.' He pleaded in his mind. "Hang on, let me ask him." Hex replied, then his voice sounded distant. He was talking to someone in person, their conversation muffled. "He said no, but he saw Bf in the same general area a few times last week. Maybe all three of us should go there and look for him together! Like a search party!" Hex sounded hopeful, and honestly it wasn't a bad idea. Pico took a deep breath. This was a good thing, this narrowed the search a bit. Pico reminded himself. "Okay, let's do it." He said, feeling determined. "I'll send you the address so we can meet up. See you there!" Hex proclaimed. "Thanks, I'll be there." Pico hung up, then rushed to get his keys, his gun, and other supplies then got in his car. Hex, as promised, sent him the address. Pico entered it into his phone's navigation system and drove there. It was in an oddly run-down neighborhood, with rundown buildings and dark alleys. He wondered what Bf would be doing there. He honestly didn't like the idea of parking his car in this neighborhood, do you worried that it would get stolen or broken into. So he parkes a little ways away, and walked the rest. It was for the best. 
He walked to their agreed meet up spot. The sidewalk was in poor condition, as well as most of the buildings around him. Cracked and discolored walls, boarded up windows, shattered glass and trash was all over the place. The street alone looked as though the city gave up on it. This whole place was run down. Even one of the street lamps was knocked over, luckily it was the morning so it didn't matter. 
Pico could see Hex's monitor head and basketball jersey from a distance. Said robot noticed him and waved to him. He saw someone else there with him, presumably Whitty. Upon closer inspection, Pico noticed a few things about Whitty. The first being that he was fucking tall as hell! Pico knew that he was short in comparison to most people but even so, this dude was TALL. Pico standing at his full height wasn't even half this guy's size. He had to be close to 9 feet tall. The next thing he noticed was the fact that his head was a bomb. His eyes were orange and glowed. Pico couldn't help but stare at the guy. When did Bf come into contact with this guy? How did they meet?
"Hey." Said the tall bomb-headed man. Pico flinched slightly, realizing he must have noticed him staring. His voice was kind of gruff, but not the usual kind of gruff. It reminded Pico of an electric guitar for some reason. Though he figured it probably was best not to say that out loud. Pico snapped out of his thoughts and finally replied. "Hey, I'm Pico. I'm guessing you're Whitty?" Pico held out his hand to shake Whitty's, the taller man returned the gesture. "Yeah, that's me." When their hands touched, Pico was surprised by how warm Whitty's hand was. It was definitely hotter than his own human hand. Not to mention how smooth his skin was, it felt somewhat like metal, but not quite. He kind of wanted to keep holding it just so he could examine it more, but he figured that would be weird to do to a guy he just met. So he let go.
 "So… you saw Bf around here?" Pico asked, and decided it was time to start their search. "We crossed paths a few times but every time he ran away. He seemed… upset." Whitty explained, somewhat trailing off towards the end of his sentence. He too, seemed like he was worried about Boyfriend. Pico wondered how close they were. "Can you show us where you last saw him?" Hex asked, a question mark appearing on his screen. Whitty nodded "Yeah, follow me." He turned on his heels and began walking in front of them. He seemed confident, like he knew the area well. Pico and Hex quickly followed.
 It was mostly quiet between them, Hex played some simple tune to break the silence. Something Pico appreciated. He felt a little awkward, he didn't know anything about Whitty, but apparently he was a friend of Bf's. He quickened his pace a bit so he could walk next to Whitty, he decided to break the silence between them. "So… how'd you meet Bf?" Whitty looked at Pico with an unreadable expression. "He challenged me to a rap battle." Pico chuckled at Whitty's answer and replied jokingly with "Ah, so the same way he meets everyone." Whitty chuckled. "Yeah, pretty much." He could hear Hex laugh a bit too. It really was the way he met most people. "So, how long have you known each other?" Pico asked. "Hmm… I think months now, almost a year. What about you? You two seem close." Whitty looked at Pico quizzically. Pico rubbed the back of his neck "Aw geez, a really long time. Since we were kids." Whitty's eyes widened in surprise. "Wow. So you're really close then huh? That explains a lot actually."  Pico tilted his head in curiosity. What did he mean by that? "Yeah? Like what?"  Whitty shrugged. "I dunno… B talks about you sometimes. He told me several times that I should meet you. Said he thought we'd get along." Whitty chuckled. "He always looked so happy when he talked about you.." 
Pico couldn't help but feel flattered, but he also felt a little jealous. Bf told Whitty so much, he trusted him. He knew He longer than Whitty did, yet Bf apparently didn't trust him enough to tell him about his and Gf's breakup. Pico tried to ignore those thoughts. Bf, wherever he was, needed him. It wasn't time to be bitter. "Wish we could've met under better circumstances." Pico muttered, Whitty nodded. "Yeah."
Hex then decided to interject their conversation. "Hey Whitty, are we close to where you last saw Boyfriend?" The robot asked suddenly, startling Pico. For a second, he actually forgot the robot was there. 'Oh yeah.. We've been walking for a little while now.' Pico realized that he had lost track of where they were. "Yeah, sorry. It's just around this next corner, we're almost there." Whitty instructed. "Ok!" Hex replied. Pico nodded, observing their surroundings. This part of the neighborhood was… odd. It didn't seem quite as old as the rest of this beaten-down area. It seemed more… recently abandoned. The buildings, though still a mess, seemed more modern in comparison. Like at some point, this was a nice neighborhood, possibly even upper class at one point. 
The trio turned right at the faded crosswalk, about three buildings down the street, they stopped. Whitty turned to face Pico and Hex. "This is where I last saw him. I tried to talk to him but he ran off and I lost track of him." Pico looked at the rundown building they were in front of. Unlike the other buildings in the area, it didn't seem that old. What surprised him though, was the obvious damage. It looked like the building caught fire at some point. The windows looked like they were shattered from the inside. Pico looked through them, he could see the remains of what appeared to be a restaurant. Broken and burned tables, shattered plates and collapsed support beams were all over the place. He could see the remains of broken speakers towards the back of the dining room, close to what was probably a bathroom. Pico took a few steps back and tried to read what was left of the restaurant's sign. Then it clicked.
 He had heard of this place, about a year ago it was on the news because some lunatic blew up the place in the middle of a rap battle. He remembered seeing Boyfriend and Girlfriend escaping the smoldering wreckage on the news. He called them as soon as he saw it and let them stay at his house that night to comfort them. He could vividly remember the look on Girlfriend's face when they watched the aftermath on the news. Complete and utter terror. He had never seen her more scared in his life. Apparently the arsonist was never caught, for some reason. Pico never understood that. It was a restaurant full of people, surely somebody would have seen where he went, right? The thought made Pico uneasy. Why would B come anywhere near this place after that?
"Yo, Pico. You listening?" Whitty's voice suddenly pulled him out of his thoughts. He wondered how long he was zoning out for. "Sorry I- I just got lost in thought. What were you saying?" Pico felt bad. He was supposed to be looking for his missing friend, not zoning out. Pico mentally chastised himself for it before focusing on Whitty again. "I don't know where he went from here, but I don't think he left this side of town." Pico nodded, then looked up at Hex, his monitor was processing something. Pico guessed he was thinking up a plan. Then the monitor showed a map. "Maybe we should split up into different areas" the robot started, his now map that was once his face highlighted three different areas in the neighborhood. "After each of us surveys their area we can check in with each other over the phone." Hex offered. Pico, though he appreciated the thought, didn't really like the idea of the three of them splitting up in a neighborhood like this. Sure, he could take care of himself. Hell, he was an assassin for fucks sake. But even he knew he wasn't invincible. He was vulnerable. Especially in an area he wasn't familiar with. Before he could politely object though, Whitty commented on the plan. "Sorry Hex, that's a no go. This place ain't a good area. If we split, we could get ambushed." Pico was relieved that Whitty agreed with him. "If there were more of us, then we could split up into teams. But it's just too risky to do as is." Pico added, making his stance on the situation known. Hex sighed (or at least did the robot equivalent of sighing), his arms dropped and his now disappointed face appeared on the monitor's screen again. "Ok… this is far less efficient though." Hex replied, defeated. Pico gave him a comforting pat on the arm. "We appreciate the thought, Hex." Pico said, hoping it would appease the mechanical man. Hex smiled and let it go. "Where should we start looking?" Hex asked the group. Pico couldn't help but eye the burnt restaurant. "Let's check in here first." Whitty and Hex both looked at Pico quizzically, but shrugged it off and agreed. 
Pico attempted to open the front doors, but they wouldn't give, the restaurant's double doors were stuck shut. Pico was about to slam into it when he was stopped by a large hand. Slightly startled, he realized it was Whitty who lightly grabbed him. The bomb man gently moved Pico away from the door."I got it." Was all he said before he gripped one of the door's handles and yanked the whole door off its hinges. Wood splinters flew everywhere as the door cracked and broke.  Whitty tossed the door aside with one arm. Pico's jaw almost dropped. 'Holy shit. Either that door was weak or he's strong as hell!' Pico was tempted to comment on it but didn't want to come across as rude so all he did was thank Whitty. Hex on the other hand clapped his metallic claw hands, the metal making numerous "ting" sounds. "Great job Whitty!" Hex exclaimed before walking through the now open doorway. Whitty rubbed the back of his head, seeming a little embarrassed. Pico noticed Whitty's cheeks were slightly glowing orange. Was that how he blushed? "Err.. Thanks. It's nothing." Whitty had to lean down in order to fit through the doorway, Pico walked in after him. 
The three of them spread out a bit to investigate the remains of the restaurant. Pico honestly thought it was depressing to look at. This had once been a peaceful place to take your loved ones to and enjoy food. Now it was just a husk of its former glory. An ashy, decrepit ruin. After a few minutes, they found nothing and decided to leave. Pico felt bad for wasting time in this old building, but he was glad the others were still willing to help. The trio decided to keep looking around the neighborhood, continuing their search for Boyfriend.
Hours. They had been searching for hours, and there was still no sign of Boyfriend anywhere. Pico felt his legs getting sore. He hadn't walked so much without stopping in a long time. Hex seemed unfazed, but maybe that was because robots couldn't get sore muscles. Whitty seemed a little tired, but didn't show signs of really slowing down. Pico really wanted to just power through it and be helpful, but his legs were in agony. He needed to sit down. It didn't help that it was past noon and he hadn't eaten much that day. "Hey guys. I need to sit down for a bit, my legs are killing me." Pico admitted, hopong the others would be cool about it. "Okay, let's take a break. We've been doing this all day." Whitty agreed. Hex noticed a bench in the distance. "Why don't you rest over there?" The robot offered, and the other boys agreed. The bench was a bit tall, Pico had to hop on to it. Whitty on the other hand had no such trouble, being the vertically-blessed giant he was. Pico was a little jealous. Pico let out a sigh. "Where the hell is that blue-haired dumbass?" Pico asked rhetorically, he was getting frustrated with this. He was worried, tired, and felt lost. He thought he knew Bf well, but he didn't know him well enough to predict this. "I wish I knew." Whitty added, sounding worried as well. Pico was thinking about what to say when his stomach growled loudly. 
"Hungry, huh?" Whitty chuckled. "Fuck yes, I'm starving." Pico replied. "You know what? I'm gonna get lunch. You hungry?" Pico asked, standing up despite his legs begging him not to. "I'm always hungry, sure." Whitty chuckled again. "I'm never hungry!" Hex happily chirped. That time Pico chuckled. "Well, you could still come with us, even if you don't eat anything." Pico offered. "Thank you friend!" Hex smiled. "Cool." Pico gave a thumbs up. "So… where are we going?" Whitty asked, tilting his head a bit. He stood up, ready to follow Pico. "First to my car. Then I'll drive us to a restaurant or something." Pico explained, beginning to walk towards said vehicle. "Just a heads up, I parked a bit far, but it should only take, like, 20 minutes to get there." Pico warned, knowing the others (or at least Whitty) were tired as well. "No problem friend! Lead the way!" Hex declared enthusiastically. Whitty just shrugged and said "We've been walking for hours, 's not like 20 minutes will kill us." And just like that, they were off.
Pico, as promised, drove the three of them to a small diner that wasn't too far away. It was thankfully in a nicer neighborhood. The three sat together at a booth table near the back. Hex had powered off to regain some energy. More or less leaving Whitty and Pico alone.
 "Hey, lunch is on me, k?" Pico stated. He had been paid generously on his last job, so he wasn't worried about meal prices. Whitty seemed caught off guard. "Uh, y-you don't have to do that-" "I insist." Pico bluntly interjected. Whitty again, tried to decline. "I shouldn't- you don't need to do that, really." Whitty stammered a bit. Pico doubled down on it. "I'm not budging on this man." Whitty tilted his head to the side curiously, but still seemed slightly flustered. "Why are you so persistent in paying for both of us?" Whitty asked. Pico shrugged. "I just want to thank you for all your help today. I've been stressed out trying to figure out where B is and I really appreciate you helping us out." Pico said earnestly, he was still really worried about Boyfriend. "I.. You're welcome. I'm not gonna lie, I care about him, and I'm worried for the guy. Last time I saw him, he seemed off." Whitty confessed, rubbing the back of his head. Pico's curiosity piqued a bit. "Off? In what wa-" ''Hello boys! Can I get you something to drink?" Pico was suddenly interrupted by their waitress.  "Oh. Right. We should probably order something haha." Pico joked, chuckling a bit. "I'll take a Coke. What about you Whitty?" Pico asked, gesturing towards the taller male. "I'd just like water, please." Whitty replied, the waitress wrote their drink orders. "Okay. Are you ready to order your meals as well?" She asked sweetly. "I think we need a few minutes." Admitted Pico. "Okay, I'll give you some time to think about it and will be back with your drinks in a bit, okay?" Whitty and Pico politely thanked her and looked at their menus. 
"What're you thinking of ordering?" Pico asked, he wondered what kind of food Whitty enjoyed. "I don't know. I'm still surprised that you're paying for both of us." Whitty responded unsurely. "It's all good man. I got it" Pico gave a reassuring smile. "I just want to warn you that I eat a LOT. I'm not exactly cheap to feed." Whitty warned, embarrassed. Pico chuckled, "I'm not exactly peckish, either." "I really mean it, Pico. I eat more than humans do." Whitty once again gave a disclaimer to Pico. "And I really mean it when I say I'll cover it. Just get what you want." Pico stated adamantly. 
"Really?"
"Yes, really."
"..."
"..." 
"Are you sure?"
"Whitty if you ask me that again I'm gonna smack the shit out of you."
(To be continued…)
(I wanted to write more but this is long so I'm gonna break it into two chapters. The next one is gonna have more angst so I wanted to end this one on a bit of a lighter note
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jisungsmochi · 3 years
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can we dance? - mark lee
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mark’s instalment of my series! i personally enjoyed writing this one a lot! 
word count: 2.3k 
series masterlist 
summary: “i know i don’t know you, but i’d like to skip the small talk and romance”
while attending his very first college party, mark has a little too much to drink and starts dancing with the random girl sitting at the bottom of the stairs. he didn’t need to know you just yet. when he pulled you close to him, you didn’t feel like you were dancing with a stranger. but rather someone who could steal your heart in a minute.
//
mark wasn’t the type to get wasted at all. but something about attending his first college party had him ecstatic. he felt a little tipsy as he roamed the halls of whichever frat house the party was held at. he couldn’t walk straight, bumping into multiple people who only shoved him away from them. he eventually took a seat at the bottom of the staircase, watching people walk in and out of the front door. he barely noticed the girl sitting right next to him.
you had your head leaning against the wall, trying to drown out the music blasting through the house. mark slowly shuffled away from you, leaving a small gap between you both. you raised your eyebrow once you felt movement next to you. you recognised his face immediately, he was the cute guy in your orientation group at the start of the semester.
“are you alright there?” you decide to spark up a conversation with the tipsy boy. mark just nodded, finding the words to say back to you, but his head was pounding.
“y-yes, i just need to sober up a bit” he giggled at himself, causing you to crack a smile at his adorable antics.
“understandable” you nod along, unsure of how to continue the conversation. the reason you remembered mark so well, was due to his constant asking of questions during the orientation. although others in your group were slightly annoyed, wanting to carry on with the campus tour, mark lee couldn’t stop his glimmering gaze of the features the campus had to offer. you found it quite endearing how he was filled with so much curiosity. but you didn’t have much courage to approach him that day, which you regretted instantly.
“you wanna dance?” mark suddenly snaps you out of your thoughts. you furrowed your eyebrows at him, watching as his smile came into view. he was adorable.
“uh i’m not much of a dancer” you shook your head, trying to deny his offer as politely as you could. but mark was stubborn, he came to have fun and he was determined to dance with the pretty girl at the bottom of the staircase.
“come on, don’t be a party pooper” he started teasing, moving closer to you, dragging you to stand up with him. as much as you wanted to remain seated, you allowed the brown haired boy, to pull you up. he let your hands linger near his shoulders, finding the physical affection quite comforting.
“okay, one dance” you held up your index finger, mark responding in a nod as he pulled you along to where everyone else was dancing. you felt nervous stepping into such a big crowd, but mark had an aura around him where you felt comfortable.
“just focus on me” he smiled widely, taking your hands in his as you both started grooving to the music. your dance moves were a little rusty, consisting of gentle swaying and some light bounces to the beat. mark on the other hand, was a very enthusiastic dancer. he was jumping up and down, screaming the lyrics from the top of his lungs, causing you to giggle. he never really let go of your hands, always finding a way back to them if you both lost contact somehow. it made your cheeks heat up quickly, but you would try and blame it on the alcohol.
suddenly, you felt mark pull you by your waist, slowly grooving to the current song that was playing. you felt your breath hitch for a split second, feeling how close he was to you. in that moment, everything stopped. all you could focus on was how gorgeous mark lee looked and how he embraced you so smoothly. as you looked into his eyes, everything felt at ease. what was happening?
mark started getting tired after the fourth or fifth song, signalling he was going to grab some water. you agreed to wait for him near the stairs again, taking some time to yourself.
“so i see you’ve met mark lee” haechan, a boy from your monday morning lecture, approached you with a mischievous smirk on his face.
“o-oh yeah, we just met” you quickly responded, unsure of how close the two boys were.
“you just met yet you were dancing all up on him? dang girl, you’re boldddd” haechan teased, lightly tapping your shoulder. you couldn’t hide how shy you were by his words,
“t-there’s nothing going on. he doesn’t even know me properly” you shook your head.
“please, i have like a sixth sense, i can sense when love is in the air” the blonde boy started babbling, slowly losing your attention.
“you’re gonna fall for him” haechan finishes, sending you a wink before moving off to chat with other party goers. what a strange guy...
“hey, how’s it going?” mark greeted you once again, taking a small sip of water.
“i’m great, kind of tired though. might head back to my dorm soon” you informed him, looking around to see if you had misplaced any of your belongings. mark wanted to stop you from leaving, but he was unsure of how to bring it up. he had just met you, he didn’t know your name, he barely knew you at all. but something inside him was telling him to stop you.
“n-no, stay” he blurred out, gently wrapped your wrist. you looked down at his hand, raising an eyebrow at his sudden actions. mark lightly coughed before slowly pulling his hand away from you.
“i-i mean, i’m tired too. i’ll walk you back to your dorm, it’s pretty dark out there” mark tried to save himself, shooting you a small grin. you couldn’t help but copy his expression, gently nodding at his offer.
“i’d like that” mark let out a sigh of relief, following your lead as you started the short walk to your dorm. you purposefully walked slower than usual, noticing how mark would try and match your pace. he truly was a saint.
“i-i just realised i didn’t quite catch your name back there” mark suddenly reminded you, making you internally face palm yourself. how did you never mention your own name?
“oh i’m y/n, and you’re mark lee” you watched as his head shot up at the mention of his name.
“h-how do you kno-“
“we were at orientation together. you were wearing a dark green hoodie and could not stop asking questions” you lightly chuckled at the memory, causing mark to reminisce on his own.
“ah, i recognise you now. you were bucket hat girl” he couldn’t stop smiling for some reason. you didn’t want to question him, but you, yourself, couldn’t contain how happy you were that he remembered you.
“i guess we both noticed eachother” you stated, a warm feeling now forming in your stomach.
“oh but tonight is just the beginning” mark smirked, moving to stand infront of you as he continued walking backwards. you were confused as to what he was doing, but you were too caught up in his words to even question it.
“the beginning of what, may i ask?” you slightly shake your head, pointing to the entrance of your dorm, signalling mark to halt in the middle of the pavement.
“not sure, but it’s definitely the start of something” he cryptically responded, walking alongside you to your dorm room. you faced mark, not wanting to say goodbye.
“i had a lot of fun tonight, mark. i actually forgot how fun parties were, the workload has really weighed me down” you started rambling, assuming he had zoned out but mark lee was stringing along to your every word.
“i totally get it. i’m not usually the type to get drunk or dance with strangers. but i’m glad i got to meet you” he avoided your gaze, feeling his cheeks start to heat up.
“did you want to come in?” you suddenly offered, causing mark to shoot his head up to face you. were you really inviting him into your room? just wait until haechan catches wind of this.
“w-would that be okay?” the clueless boy muttered, scratching the back of his head.
“yes, mark. that’s why i’m opening the door right now to let you in. so you coming or what?” you playfully teased, opening your door. mark followed your gesture, cautiously stepping into your dorm room as you closed the door behind him. your quickly turned the lights on, moving to place bag on your bed.
“your room is really cute” mark intended to whisper to himself but luckily you heard him.
“thankyou, it’s still a work in progress” you offer him a bottle of water as you both sit at the end of your bed.
“so mark, i have to ask, do you have a girlfriend?” you smirked at your own words, watching as the boy shot his eyes up at you.
“w-what? n-no i don’t, do you?” he stuttered, your eyebrows raising at him.
“i mean, do you have a boyfriend?” he repeated more calmly, taking a long sip of water.
“no i don’t” you simply respond, eyes locked on the boy at the end of your bed. the tension in the room just shifted.
“cool...that’s cool” was all he managed to say.
“you’re a weird kid, mark lee” you shake your head, laying down on your bed, feeling your eyes flutter. mark just stared at you, slowly getting up before pulling your blanket over your body. he softly patted down the bumps, making sure you were securely tucked in. you felt a smile rise to your face, mumbling a quiet, ‘thank you’ to the boy. mark just nodded, packing up his belongings before making his way to your door.
“before you go, let’s hang out tomorrow” you call out to him, watching as he turned on his feet to face you one again.
“i- yes yes. have a nice sleep” he stammered, turning the doorknob before rushing out of your dorm room in lightning speed.
‘god mark, could you be any more awkward?’
//
there was one flaw to your plan to see mark the next day, you didn’t ask for his number, nor were you in contact with his friends. you woke up to a slight headache, which luckily was relieved by taking a pain killer. you scrolled through your phone, desperately trying to find mark on any platform you could. and just like that, it was like god had sent you a message. and by god, you mean lee haechan.
haechan: mark keeps asking about you, here’s his number. thank me later by bringing me a coffee next class ;)
you hurriedly called the number, ignoring the requests from your classmate. mark picked up immediately, which came as a surprise to you.
“h-hey” he spoke first, feeling giddy you bothered to call him back.
“hey, sorry i forgot to ask for your number. my mind was just preoccupied” you started rambling, brushing through your hair as you put him on speaker.
“it’s fine really. did you want to grab some brunch?” he immediately got to the point, making you freeze momentarily.
“yeah sure” you nodded, knowing he wouldn’t be able to see you.
“cool, i’ll meet you at your dorm room, we can walk together” he offered, you heard shuffling from his side.
“thanks mark, see you soon!” before you were about to hang up, you heard a loud voice screen,
“markie is going on a date!” you instantly knew it was haechan’s. mark abruptly hung up the call, not bidding you a goodbye. you shook your head in amusement before getting ready.
as promised, mark was at your door in a prompt manner, smiling softly as you greeted him with a slight hug. mark felt stiff, but you pushed it aside, walking alongside him to the local cafe spot on campus. mark was surprisingly good at small conversation, rambling on about all sorts of things that came to his head. you couldn’t help but adore how his eyes were constantly glistening, he looked like he found beauty in almost everything. mark really wanted to impress you for this date, offering to hold your cardigan when it was getting a bit sunny and buying you ice cream while you sat on the park bench.
“how’s your hangover?” mark chuckled, mind drifting to the night before. you looked away from him slightly, feeling embarrassed.
“it’s all cured with some ice cream and great company” you cheekily commented, watching as mark’s mouth fell agape.
“i see i see” was all he managed to say back. you sat in silence for a while, admiring the scenery infront of you. you felt mark shift closer to you, arm now reaching over your shoulders. you allowed him to pull your body into his side, leaning your head on his shoulder lightly. it felt quite natural, being in mark’s presence. despite only knowing him for less than twenty four hours, you’d say you were very interested in mark lee.
“we should head back to our dorms now, i mean, unless you wanted to keep hanging out. oh god why am i so lame? i’m not even drunk? i’m just stupid. oh my god” mark started mumbling pulling his arm off your shoulder. you raised an eyebrow at the stressed boy, pulling him by his collar, before placing a gentle kiss on his lips. that surely shut him up. mark’s eyes widened at the touch of your lips on his, hands completely frozen.
“i’ll see you tomorrow, mark” you smirked, walking away from the flustered boy, who barely let out any farewell to you.
maybe mark did talk a lot of shit when he was drinking. but you left him speechless for once in his life. who would have thought one dance, would change everything.
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thisnoodlewritesao3 · 3 years
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Daddy Issues | Sawamura Daichi/Reader
Characters: Sawamura Daichi, Reader, mentioned Ukai Keishin
Pairings: Sawamura Daichi/Reader
Warnings: Kinda cringey, this is just a crack fic
Word Count: 925
Summary: It was an honest mistake, that's what it should have stayed as - but of course you couldn't catch a break
A/N: I wrote this one like a month ago now, it is just cringe and crack. So, have it world, enjoy the things I made.
--------
This shouldn’t have been a difficult task.
All you had to do was grab the shampoo that your mom used, she insisted on a specific brand because any other types messed with her hair… or something? You shrugged off the thought, lightly biting your bottom lip, brows knitted together.
You knew the scent off by heart - mostly because you’d steal some of it - so you’d narrowed it down to two different options. The bottles looked similar, nothing stood out to you and the only way you could figure it out is if you called her, but you had pride.
That was the issue. You should have known what it was; not like it’s a hard thing to remember. So why couldn’t you?
You flickered your eyes up to the man beside you, he had his back turned to you, so for a split second you thought he was your dad. Without anymore thinking behind it, you tapped him on the back, waited for the sound of shuffling, and then spoke,” hey dad, which is the one tha-” you looked up to meet the eyes of the man who should have been your dad. Of course, now that you saw his face, you could see he definitely was not your dad. You blushed, almost dropping the bottles and stumbling backwards. “Sorry! I- you just looked like my dad, but I don’t think I even came here with my dad. That’s probably so weird, I’m sorry- I promise it’s a compliment, besides, you’re way more attractive than him!” Your hand shot over your mouth, one of the bottles promptly falling to the floor.
He ran his hand through his short brown hair, smiling at you awkwardly, “thanks?” His voice was deep, sweet like honey.
For a second longer you were frozen before you snatched the bottle off of the floor, jolting past him, “I’m just gonna buy them both? That’ll be better, thank you for your help not-dad.” Right now you wanted nothing more than to melt in a puddle and die, maybe you could do that?
The shop owner avoided your eyes with a light smirk and you just knew he’d heard you a second ago. Footsteps behind you set off your heart rate again as you struggled to get the money out of your wallet, dropping it and spilling coins everywhere.
“Sorry!” You cried out, bending down to gather them as quickly as possible.
“You should really ask your dad for help,” the owner snickered, meeting eyes with the boy from earlier.
You tried to laugh, it should have been funny, yet such an embarrassment flowed through your veins that you couldn’t think of anything other than trying to get away. A heavy sigh escaped you as you shoved way too much money onto the counter, exclaiming for him to keep the change as you grabbed the bottles and bolted out of the door.
A small group of boys watched as you ran as fast as you could down the road, dropping some coins along the way.
Would this nightmare ever end?
----
Your head was planted firmly against the window as you stood with your friend, waiting for the day to begin. A red mark had now appeared on your forehead as you continued to groan about yesterday’s events. Every time you thought about it, you wanted to die all over again.
“Do you secretly have a daddy kink?” She asked, a smirk tugged at her lips.
“I do not have a daddy kink!” You yelled behind gritted teeth, earning a few confused looks from the other third years. “He just looked like my dad.”
“But he wasn’t?”
“Obviously not! And then the shopkeeper-” you threw your head back and silently screamed, “I wanted to die. Can you kill me?”
“I would, but then I might get blood on my clothes.” She snickered. “I can pencil you in for next week.”
“That’s too far away…”
Silence settled between the two of you as she texted someone.
“Was he really that hot?” It wasn’t an unusual question, but it still caught you off guard.
“Oh, so hot, I just wish I was normal so I could have said it without comparing him to dad.” You shoved your face into your hands.
“What did he look like?”
“He had this, like, short brown hair that just looked really soft. And he was tall, probably muscled, I think he plays sports.” You tapped your finger against your chin, squeezing your eyes shut to recall the memory you’d burnt into your eyelids. “His eyes. Oh. My. God. His eyes, I could have drowned myself in them. And his voice!” You squealed softly, tilting your head back, practically drooling. “I would have kissed him. I should have. That would have been less awkward.”
“How about you kiss me this weekend?” A familiar voice called out behind you. Shaking, you turned around to see the boy from yesterday, smirking down at you with something playful in his eyes.
It felt like the world stopped, your stomach dropped further than you thought possible. Your friend laughed behind you, cackling like a hyena; you shot her a glare but she’d turned away, she knew. A soft growl rumbled deep inside of you.
“So?” The boy asked, tilting his head to the side.
“So what?” You stuttered, looking back up at him with wide eyes.
“Do you want to go out this weekend?”
You froze. “I don’t even know your name!”
“Sawamura Daichi. But, if you really want to, you can call me dad.”
--------
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morkleemelon · 3 years
Text
off the ice || chapter 3: steady now
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previous || m.list || playlist || next
pairing: college hockey player! mark x college figure skater! reader
genre: fluff, humor, college au, sports au
word count: 6.9k
warnings: swearing, party with drugs and alcohol, scene of borderline harassment (nothing actually happens), financial struggle, insecurity, social anxiety, mention of injury
a/n: huge thank you to my beta readers @writing-frog​ and @skiimmiilk for helping me edit this! now I won’t have to tweak it a hundred times after posting XD also (not spoiling) I’m sorry I did you like this, sungchan :(
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I’m not sure if I’m awake, dead, or dreaming, but somebody please take me out of this misery.
Your neck struggled to support your head as you fought to stay conscious on the locker room bench. It was early Saturday morning and team practice was far from over. Unwillingly, you had to stay up the previous night, studying deep into the AM because a certain boy kept distracting you in your head.
Over and over again, through your shift at the diner to the ride home to right here as you clung onto Yuna’s arm for support, Mark’s cute smile and Lisa’s daring accusations spun through your tired mind. It’s really not fair- a guy talks to you once and you’re already imagining things…
You quickly shake the thoughts from your head. 
  “Alright girls, thanks for coming in so early today,” your head skating coach, Tanya, smiled warmly, “captains, get everyone warmed up and I’ll go over some exciting announcements at the end of practice”.
“Thank you, Tanya,” the fatigued girls chorused half-heartedly as the captains ushered everyone out of the locker room and into the hallway for stretching. 
Reaching down to touch her toes, Yuna looks over to you. “Y/n, are you okay? You look worse than usual”.
The exhausted expression on your face said it all as you bent down to do the same. “I’ve got a lot on my mind. Econ test is coming up too”. You yawned into your words.
“I know you’re gonna say no, but if you wanna let loose a little, there’s a party tonight,” Yuna peers at you upside-down from in between her legs.
“You know I’m not a party person,” you decline, blacking out slightly as you stand back up. You blink to clear your vision.
As much as you admired your popular best friend for putting herself out there and being able to have fun at a party, it couldn’t be you. The drinking, the smoking, the groping, ogling men- not to mention the anxiety of existing in a frat house full of judgmental people, was all too much for you. As tempting as letting loose a little on a Saturday night sounded, you’d much rather do it in a way that involves your cozy pj’s and watching your favorite skating compilations on YouTube. Alone.
“I know, I know,” Yuna holds her hands up innocently, “but it could be fun. I know Mark is gonna be there”.
You whip your head around so fast that your ponytail nearly slaps her in the face. Flustered, you smooth down the nonexistent wrinkles on the front of your skating jacket. “Oh, that’s nice. What’s that got to do with me?”.
“Just letting you know,” Yuna shrugged in a ‘matter of fact’ manner. 
The captains led the team out to the rink to do laps. You weighed Yuna’s words for a minute as you skated across the ice. Naturally, being here where you were the most comfortable with yourself made you more susceptible to her convincing ploy. If you looked at the last few days in review, you had already made four new friends from just letting Yuna take the reins for one afternoon. That’s about one friend for every dollar in your bank account!
But the nagging reality was that Yuna had a massive amount of friends, cool friends, who were probably going to be at that very party while you had nobody but her and a guy you just met. This didn’t sit well with your anxieties. You’ll just end up awkward if Yuna wants to talk to someone else, or desperate if you cling to Mark, who would probably be weirded out.
As expected, it’s best to stay in.
The practice ran smoothly. As always, the hour and a half of spinning, falling, and getting back up resulted in soreness and loss of breath. Nonetheless, it recharged you and the cloud of tiredness in your head finally dissipated. You felt so free on the ice because you knew that you did it well. It isn’t about the money or your popularity or if you have to work part time just to afford the skates that you wear. If you put in the hard work and effort, you are rewarded with success; that’s a big part of what you liked about it. 
“Excellent job today, ladies. I’d like everyone to give a special round of applause to y/n today,” Coach Tanya suddenly singled you out as the team gathered around to hear her ending announcements. Tanya gave you a warm smile and gestured towards you as you bow to your clapping teammates. “For mastering the triple lutz. I can tell you’ve been practicing extra hours, both from the log sheet and from your performance today. At this rate, we may send you to nationals in the spring”.
Gasps echo across the cold, near-empty stadium. Your jaw hung open at Tanya’s ambitious plan and Yuna grabbed onto your arm excitedly, giving you a nudge of congratulations. It was extremely rare for a sophomore to be sent to the national competitions. Even some seniors never make it past the pre-auditions at Seoul University alone. You weren’t even dreaming of going within the next year despite all of your extra night-time practices. Looking at Tanya’s face, it didn’t seem like she was joking either.
“Thank you, Coach Tanya. I will work even harder”.
“That being said, I have some exciting news pertaining to all of you ladies: this year, Seoul University is sponsoring our team to hold a friendly competition for the winter festival as a sort of main event. Don’t be alarmed because it is optional. It’s September now, so if you are interested in participating, you will have just under four months to prepare a pair skate for the festival in December. Untraditionally, the audience will be voting to choose a winner instead of a panel. Furthermore, the theme, costumes, and music will all be up to you, so have fun with it! Oh and not to mention, the winning pair will be rewarded a monetary prize of $5,000 each”.
Shocked looks were exchanged between teammates. Your brain was still processing to make sure you heard Tanya right as she reiterated.
“Yes,” Tanya laughed, “you heard me right, girls, $5,000 each. It’s a tremendous opportunity and if not for the money, for a chance to practice performing in front of a crowd”.
Murmurs of excitement hush across the near-empty stadium.
“Yuna,” you look up to the taller girl and grip her arm with both hands, “Yuna please we gotta do this”. You shake her slightly with your pleading, “be my partner?”.
The blonde giggled, “duh, of course! Lisa and Hope will probably do it together since they’re both on JV so it’s perfect. Let’s get that ten grand for you!”.
“Wait no, but-”
“Y/n. You know I’m not about to argue with you about this,” Yuna sighed, looking up to the fluorescent ceiling lights to avoid your indignant stare. You relaxed your grip on her arm, knowing that you wouldn’t win this fight no matter how guilty you felt. “You’re better than me by a long shot. If anyone could bet on a winner, they’d put their money on you without a doubt. And if we win it’ll be because of you, so think of it as a fair split based on contribution. I’ll take a $20 cut to buy us dinner,” Yuna encouraged. 
You close your eyes and rest the side of your head on her shoulder.
That’s my best friend. I don’t deserve her.
You felt bad, but you knew that you needed this money more than anything right now. Your parents didn’t earn much and they were already burdened by this semester’s tuition, even with the scholarships. Picking up extra shifts at Frankie’s did little more than cover skating fees and rent. The heavy, looming fear of next semester being the one when you’d have to drop out often kept you up at night. It’s nobody’s fault, but that’s how it is.
Yet like a miracle angel sent from Heaven, this competition could cover an entire semester’s worth of tuition if you win. You needed the prize money desperately. You were going to have to win it no matter what.
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“Bye!”. You waved to your teammates as they exited the locker room, probably to go out and be social on a Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately for you, your only plans were to sit alone at the library, studying.
“You seriously don’t wanna join us for lunch today?”. Yuna slung her skating bag over her shoulder. Her wet hair from just showering stuck to her face, but even like this she looked like she could be on the cover of a teen magazine.
“I’ll pass. I can grab a salad from the convenience store before I head to the library. Midterms are coming up and I gotta do a lot of review,” you explain, brushing a wide comb through your tangled mess of hair. Yuna moved to pull her hair back into a ponytail. You watched as her perfectly sculpted reflection made an action so simple into a reason for envy. The stained locker room mirror, however, did your bare face no favors. Your best friend remained oblivious as you picked yourself apart again. Your cheeks were a little too round, nose a little too wide, eyebrows a little too uneven. You shove the brush in your bag and turn around before you could fall deeper in insecurity. “Let’s go”.
As always, you chose to disregard your insecure thoughts and pretend like they never existed. Talking about it seemed weird, so you just chose not to do it. And you didn’t like bothering other people with your problems either. It was best to just keep it to yourself. 
“Y/n!,” a familiar voice called out from behind you. You stopped walking down the stadium corridor, turning around to see who could’ve known your name. Usually it’s Yuna getting stopped by one of her many friends.
Ashy blonde hair came into view as the boy jogged to catch up with you. Your legs were doing just fine after over an hour and a half of training, but they trembled at the sight of a certain dreamy junior boy.
“Hey, fancy seeing you here,” Mark smiled down at you, the dim hallway lights catching on his cheekbones and jawline, accentuating his beautifully sculpted features. 
“I’ll see you later,” Yuna winked, patting you on the back and making a break for the exit before you could protest.
“I-uh, hey, Mark,” you stutter. Was it just you or did he get even more good-looking since the last time you saw him?
“Did you guys just get out of practice?”. You could hardly pay attention to his simple question as you checked him out. Mark sported a simple outfit consisting of a plain black hoodie with matching black joggers and sneakers. His red hockey bag which was slung across his back was supported by one of his thumbs. With the sleeves of his hoodie rolled up to his elbows, you watch as the lines of his forearm muscles shift and strain with each fine movement from the weight of the duffel.
“Uh, yeah. Yeah! We did,” you answer after an awkward pause. Oh, God, please let that not have been weird. “Are you here for your practice?”. You mentally slap yourself for your stupid question; he’s wearing gym clothes and has his hockey gear, what else was he going to do at the rink?
“Yeah, I am,” Mark laughed good-naturedly, leaning slightly on the wall next to you, “I came here a bit early, actually. I was hoping to catch you”.
Catch...me?
Your face flushed at his heart-fluttering remark. Contesting with the urge to spontaneously burst into flames, you try your best to give a steady reply, “Oh! What for?”.
“I-uh,” Mark diverted his gaze down to his shoes, “I know I got your number from the group chat, but I wanted to ask you in person. There’s a party tonight at the sheep’s house- my friend’s house- and I was wondering if I was gonna see you there”.
You simultaneously wanted to sink into the floor to disappear forever and jump into the air to celebrate. You did neither. 
Was he asking you out? Not really. But then again, he wants to see you there at the party. And he came here early to specially ask you in person. 
You replay the debate you had with Yuna earlier. Past-you had made some valid points about not going, but how could you say no when he put it like this?… oh, fuck it.
“For sure. I’ll be there”. You offer a wry smile to try to cover your nervousness.
“Awesome,” Mark’s eyes twinkled as he smiled, “can’t wait to see you tonight, then”. 
“Can’t wait,” you echoed. You couldn’t help but notice how he was a few inches taller and you had to tilt your head back to meet his soft, brown eyes.
“I should probably get down to the rink to set up for practice”
“Oh okay! Don’t let me keep you”
“Not at all”. His fingers shifted to adjust the strap of his hockey bag and your eyes brushed over the ripple of his forearm. He was doing the bare-minimum and your knees were ready to buckle in the middle of the hallway. 
“I’ll get going then!,” you excuse yourself with a curt wave. Turning around, you head briskly for the exit before you could embarrass yourself further and agree to more irrational proposals. 
Before your hand could even touch the exit door to let yourself out, reality hit.
Oh no. I have to go to the party.
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Yuna squealed and pounced you onto your bed as you told her the news. “I can’t believe it! You’re really gonna go?”.
You run a stressed hand through your wavy locks, “I guess? He didn’t leave me much of a choice”. Rolling around on your bed, your best friend clapped and cheered despite your wanting to travel back in time and tell Mark you couldn’t make it. But how were you supposed to say no to that face? Thanks to this, your library study session was far from focused or helpful.
“We gotta get you looking hot, y/n. I mean, you’re already hot,” Yuna corrected, “but even more hot for your first college party”.
Hopping off your now messed-up covers, you go to observe yourself in the full-body mirror in all your said ‘hotness’. You were currently enveloped in a grouchy oversized tee shirt that you got from a choir field trip in high school paired with plain gym shorts hidden underneath. Your hair was especially frizzy from being air-dried after your shower. 
“The only hot I am is a hot mess,” you groaned. Did you look like this when Mark saw you earlier? Shit.
“Nonsense, silly,” Yuna hugged you from behind, “you’re adorable and you’d be surprised how much hair, makeup, and a good fit can change someone”. She looked into your eyes eagerly through the mirror as if asking for permission. You were too nervous about the party to deny her so you gave your roommate a reluctant nod. It was better that she helped you get ready so you could fit in and thus blend into the background.
Squealing again, Yuna gave you a squeeze and scurried to flit through her closet for something you could wear. 
“Go straighten your hair, y/n!”
“Yes ma’am”. This much you could do. “How’s this?”. Yuna held up a skimpy bralette top, its white lace barely covering any surface area at all. 
“That’s a top?!”
“Ok nevermind”. Tossing the tiny piece aside, your roommate continued sifting earnestly through her collection of expensive clothes.
You ran the straightener through your partitioned hair carefully. 
“What about this one?”. Yuna held up a simple red crop top. A small notch ran an inch down the neckline which gave it a little edge, but it seemed like it would be in your comfort zone.
“That’s perfect,” you smile.
Hair now pin straight and finally smooth, you change into the red top and ripped black denim shorts Yuna picked out for you. Your best friend was much better at makeup than you were, so you let her take the lead once again. The only times you wear full makeup are for performances and you would look like a complete clown if you showed up with the two inch eyeliner you knew how to do. 
Applying a small amount of base makeup to your face, Yuna went for a more natural look, knowing that you weren’t comfortable with standing out too much. Subtle brown eyeshadow and lengthening mascara made your eyes pop just the right amount and a cherry lip balm tinted your lips a translucent, shiny red. Even you had to admit your confidence was boosted from the new look you weren’t used to seeing in the mirror. 
That’s me. I’m… kind of pretty
“Aw, honey, you look so beautiful,” Yuna cooed, wrapping up your makeover with a clap. She did her own makeup effortlessly and put on the discarded bralette from earlier. However ridiculous it looked on the hanger, she made it look like a million bucks and it suited her perfectly. 
You moved to sit on your bed and lace up your trusty white sneakers. Yuna wore a bigger shoe size than you which came as a relief because you weren’t sure if you could handle wearing any of the daring stiletto pumps in her collection. 
“You know, I’m so happy you’re going to come this time. I was always really sad when you stayed home studying every weekend instead of going out and having fun”.
“I would’ve gone if I knew how to talk to people,” you reason, picking at the dirty aglet of your shoelace, “and I’m honestly really nervous right now. You better not leave me, okay?”.
“You’re so sweet and thoughtful, anyone would be lucky to talk to you! I know it’s easier said than done, but you’d be surprised what a little confidence will do. And of course, I won’t leave you”. Yuna gave you a bright, reassuring smile before pulling you off the bed. 
You take one last look at your reflection in the mirror.
That’s right, confidence. I’m confident.
“Let’s go”
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The walk down to the party was much shorter than you expected. Turns out, the ‘Sheep’ lived in that sketchy house just off of campus which you made a point to avoid during your nighttime jogs. The tables were turning as you approached the rickety front porch on purpose. You clung to Yuna as an array of neon lights shines through the window blinds and the open door. The bass of a generic pop song jolted through your bones. 
Walking into the home, your grip on Yuna’s arm tightened as unfamiliar faces surrounded you. The crowded room stank of sweaty bodies and weed. A countertop stocked full of red solo cups and different types of alcohol was visible from where you stood. Heads turned to stare at Yuna while the two of you entered.
What am I doing here?
“Hey, you made it!,” an unfamiliar voice shouted from over the ruckus. Your eyes fell nervously on the voice’s owner. He had dark brown hair and sharp, defined features. His accent was strange, but you couldn’t quite put your finger on it. 
“Hey!”. Yuna brought the stranger in for a loose hug. “Yangyang, this my roommate and best friend, y/n. Y/n this is Yangyang also known as ‘the sheep’. He’s from Germany”.
Ah, Germany.
You offer him a small wave, surprised when he pulls you unexpectedly into a hug. 
“Nice to meet you, y/n. Mark’s told me all about you,” Yangyang smirked, “please help yourself to drinks, girls. The guys are in the basement playing pong”.
“Woo! Let’s get wasted!” Yuna yelled while pulling you towards the drinks.
You stood awkwardly at her side as she poured both of you drinks- a half a solo cup of strawberry vodka for her and a sprite zero for you. You wish you could be in bed, curled up alone with a good movie. Or even at the library studying-
“Hey,” a deep voice right next to your ear wrecked your train of thought. Alarmed, your eyes were met with the middle of a chest as you turned around to see who it was. Craning your head back, an unfamiliar, tall boy with stiffly-gelled brown hair looked down at you. You winced at the acrid smell of axe body spray now flooding your nostrils. He looked young, maybe even younger than you, but he was clearly very drunk. “Where have you been all my life?”.
“Excuse me?,” you exclaim over the booming music. The boy placed his hands on the counter on either side of you, trapping you in between his arms. Looking over to find Yuna, she had already shifted deeper into the crowd and was busy talking with other people. 
“I’m Sungchan,” the boy unwelcomingly introduced, “what’s your name, beautiful?”.
“I-uh I’m y/n,” you stuttered. Sungchan’s face was way too close for comfort and his breath stank of cheap alcohol. You felt his humid exhalation brush over the top of your head like a toxic cloud and you fought to not gag.
“Y/n. You come here with anyone?”. You pressed your back as far into the counter as you could to get away from him, but there was little room to go. Fear began to set in as you realized you were trapped. What should I say? What do I do?
“I-I…” 
“She came here with me”. A firm hand gripped Sungchan’s left arm and yanked it forcefully away from the counter. Your saving grace put a gentle hand on your shoulder, tugging you slightly away from the drunk perpetrator. Struggling to comprehend what was happening, you looked up to see it was Mark, staring the intoxicated boy down. 
“C-captain”
“What’s a freshman doing with my girl?” Mark pressed. His expression was unamused. 
Your heart trembled at his unanticipated lie. His girl? Mark brushed a reassuring thumb over your shoulder, clueing to you that he would handle this. 
“I didn’t know, I-”
“Sungchan, right? You still trying to make varsity next year?,” Mark interrupted, eyebrows raised in annoyance at the freshman. Sungchan’s eyes went wide as he held both hands up innocently.
“Y-yes I-”
“Misconduct can get you kicked off the team, you know. Not to mention I’ll be senior captain next year so I’ll have a say in who makes it into varsity”.
“I’m sorry, captain, I really didn’t-”
“Fuck off”. Mark gestured his free hand towards the open front door. Sungchan looked around, as if unsure what to do. The surrounding party-goers danced and drank on, unaware of the altercation and more interested in who they were going home with tonight. Finally, the lanky boy’s head cleared enough to make a decision. Sungchan bowed slightly in apology and stumbled towards the exit. The untouched solo cup of sprite fizzed in your shaking hands.
“Are you okay?”. Mark faced you with a concerned look.
You clenched your grip tighter around your drink as you fought back tears, the shock wearing off and the gravity of the situation hitting you full-on. You set the cup down and shake your head no.
“Do you want to get out of here?”.
You nod your head vigorously and tears began streaming down your cheeks. What a waste, all of Yuna’s hard work down the drain. Mark nudged you forward and guided you towards a back door. Weaving your way through the crowd, Mark greeted his friends with a “hey” or a simple nod. You felt a few girls eye you discontentedly at the sight of Mark’s hand ghosting over the small of your back while others were too high or drunk to notice. The cool night air welcomed you as Mark urged you outside and you rushed to escape the cramped house. He shut the door behind him, muffling the heavy bass so you could finally hear yourself think.
Dabbing away at your tears so he wouldn’t see, you breathe deeply to regain your composure. 
“Thanks for that”. You managed to let out after a few minutes of sniffling and silence. Your voice was slightly hoarse and you couldn’t meet his eyes, but he waited patiently by your side. 
So much for coming to this party, he probably thinks I’m a mess. This whole thing was a huge mistake. 
“I think I’ll go. Sorry I can’t stay”. You turn to walk down the wooden porch steps.
“Wait-”. Mark’s voice halts your departure. “Would you like to go on a walk with me? Or I can at least take you home. I don’t want you going out alone after what just happened…”. 
Looking up at him, the dim porch light glowed behind him, giving him a soft golden halo. His brown eyes which were usually smiling now shone with worry as he scanned over your tear-stricken face. Your heart which was beating rapidly from fear earlier began to settle down in his reassuring presence. Being alone right now might not be the best idea. But more importantly, being with him sounded like what you really needed. You nod.
The sound of crickets chirping and sneakers scuffing took over as the two of you walked farther away from the booming music of the party. You weren’t sure where you were headed, but you also didn’t know if there was anywhere you wanted to go. Wandering down the deserted streets in comfortable silence, Mark followed you patiently as he waited for you to be ready to talk. Before you knew it, your feet brought you to the lake and you stood watching the water ripple under the night breeze. The moon, almost full, illuminated silver each ebb and flow.
“I’m sorry you’re missing the party”. You quietly broke the silence. You felt bad for making him leave. All of his friends were there and he probably really looked forward to it. 
“Don’t be. I only went so I could talk to you, anyways”
You look at him in surprise. Mark’s eyes remained glued to the lake, sparkling from the reflected moonlight.
“How many girls have you told that to?,” you scoff. Internally, you screamed.
“Couldn’t name another one”
You pause before resolving to stroll further down the lakeside. The sound of footsteps behind you confirmed that he was following. Stopping as you reach the familiar creaky wood, you take a seat on the worn-out dock, him on your right. You dangle your feet over the dark, sloshing waves. It was cool, despite the summer season. A breeze rolled by, making you shudder. However cute the crop top was, it didn’t do much to keep you warm. Not that you could have planned on running away from the party and needing a sweatshirt beforehand.
“Here, take this”. Mark unzipped his jacket to give to you.
“Oh it's ok-”. You couldn’t finish your protest before the warm fabric was draped across your shoulders. Your face grew pink once more. If you didn’t know better, you could be admitted to the hospital for how much you’ve been blushing recently. “Thanks,” you mutter, looking down at your hands with a small smile. 
“Is that Frankie’s?”. Mark’s voice cut through the silence.
“What?”
“Is that Frankie’s?,” Mark repeated, nodding at the small restaurant bordering the lake some distance away. It looked as if it had just closed, yellow fluorescent lights still on while a tired waitress scrubbed away at a table. Only one car, probably her’s, remained in the parking lot.
“Oh, yeah. That’s where I work part time,” you confirmed. “I come here to the dock to sit sometimes. You know, just to think”.
“I feel that. Sometimes everything is way too much to handle and you need to take time to breathe. I have a place like this too”
Mark’s sincere confession came as a surprise to you and unintentionally, it showed on your face.
“What, you don’t believe me?” Mark feigned hurt, putting a hand on his chest. “Do you think hockey guys can’t have feelings too? I have a fan club for heaven’s sake!”.
You laugh at his exaggerated outcry. 
“And that’s a bad thing? Don’t you guys like the attention? Attention from lots and lots of pretty girls”. You raised an eyebrow, teasing him.
“As if,” Mark ran a stressed hand through his hair, “they’re all crazy as hell. Honestly, none of the guys really like the attention”.
You nod in understanding. Seeing how the Lovelees acted the few times you were around them, you’d hate being the subject of their affections too.
“But how about you,” Mark continued, “I haven’t seen you much at parties”.
You let out a sarcastic laugh, “if you couldn’t tell from tonight, I’m not much of a party girl. Today was my first and probably last party”. You had gotten so comfortable walking and talking with Mark that you had almost forgotten about the horrible incident that occurred earlier. Pulling the soft jacket over yourself more, your face falls as you remember Sungchan’s intoxicated face.
“Hey” Mark’s hand grazes over your slumped shoulders, bringing you back to focus on him. “I’ll never let him bother you again”. 
While you were unsure of how your makeup was holding up due to all the crying, his delicate features were all the more beautiful under the pale moonlight. You notice how close you’re sitting, knees almost brushing against each other’s and his face was but inches from yours. And even though you were wearing his jacket so he was left with only a tee shirt, you were sure you weren’t imagining the heat radiating from his body. Slowly, your eyes flutter down to his parted lips.
There it is once more, the hot flush in your cheeks and the strain in your chest. 
Meeting Mark has been a rollercoaster of emotions, but you felt undeniably comfortable sitting next to someone who would’ve been a stranger just a few days ago. Something about him felt familiar to you now and you trusted in his words. He was someone... safe. 
“Really?,” you whisper, not taking your eyes off of his soft, pink lips. 
“Really”. His confirmation was too gentle to be heard above the sound of the rushing water below, but you read his lips as they shaped around the word.
Before you know it, you were leaning in, just enough so you knew you weren’t imagining it. A mellow breeze plays with your hair, causing a few strands to fall astray. Cautiously with his hand, Mark slowly tucks the fallen pieces back behind your ear. He hesitates there. The feeling of his warm fingertips sends tingles down your spine. Carefully scanning your expression to make sure you were okay, his hand inches down to gently cup your cheek. “Can I kiss you?”.
You could feel the warmth of his breath fan across your lips, his own not centimeters away. Your heart pounded rapidly as you gave an affirming nod. Closing your eyes, you wait.
This is happening.
A jolting vibration from your pocket caused your eyes to shoot right back open and Mark let go of you in surprise. Your phone kept buzzing, the harsh sound amplified by the wooden dock. Sighing in frustration, you struggle to remove it from your back pocket as Mark looks away, coughing awkwardly. Your face burned red from embarrassment.
Why does this always happen to me?
“Hello?”. Your tone was laced with annoyance.
“Y/n! Where aare youu?,” Yuna slurred. Trap music blared in the background confirming that she was still at the party. You could hear Ten asking if Mark was with you over the ruckus.
“I left. And yeah, Mark is here”. You put the phone on speaker and held it up towards the boy you were about to kiss moments ago. 
“Hey guys,” Mark said sheepishly. Yuna squealed in delight.
“That’s my boy!”. Ten’s booming voice took over the call.
“Stop it man,” Mark warned, increasingly agitated at the couple for ruining the moment.
“Okayy kids! Have fun, but not tooooo much fun”. Yuna giggled into the microphone. 
“I’m hanging up,” you said quickly before pushing the red button to end the call. Any longer and you weren’t sure you could resist throwing your phone (and perhaps yourself) into the lake. A brief moment of silence ensued, both parties unsure of what to do next. Was there anything you could do to save the moment after that? 
“I uh…,” you start.
“Yeah umm…,” Mark agreed. Silence ensued.
“Uhh…”. Your steady tone wavered as you started to giggle. The awkwardness dissipated because before you knew it, both of you were laughing wholeheartedly at the unfortunate situation. 
“Yuna tends to have great timing,” you explain.
“Mm. Ten does too,” Mark related, stroking his chin and nodding as if thinking deeply. 
“She said she wouldn’t leave me at the party but lo and behold”. You gesture to your surroundings, exasperated.
“That sucks,” Mark agreed, “you should have come found me. I was waiting for you, actually”.
“I was going to,” you picked at the zipper of his jacket, “but we had just gotten there when... you know”.
“Yeah. You don’t have to talk about it if you’re not ready. I don’t want to pressure you at all, but I’m always willing to listen”
“You’re,” you look for the right words, “you’re so amazing”. 
“Yeah?”
You keep your gaze in your lap, “Yeah. And you know, I wish we’d met earlier, Mark. Because it’s really nice talking to you and you’re a really great guy”. You check for his reaction.
“Yeah, I wish we met sooner too”. His expression was that of… adoration.
Being with Mark was so easy. Conversation came to you two easier than anything else in life did. And just like that, feet swinging in sync above the water, you talked for hours. He told you about his alien conspiracy theories and his aspirations to be a professional hockey player and then retire into sports medicine. You told him about your parents and how you missed them dearly because they worked way out of the city to support you and your dream. You did everything you could to be able to pay them back, even majoring in economics which was more profitable than environmental studies or professional skating. Mark listened thoughtfully and admitted that he related in a lot of ways with his parents being all the way in Canada. 
The night rushed by and the two of you talked until the golden peaks of sunrise painted the water from its usual blue. You had shifted so you were sitting facing each other on the dock. The early sunlight cast a warm glow over Mark’s face. He looked like a painting- a Monet. Or a Renoir.
“Um so, I guess it’s Sunday now”. Mark rested his chin into the crook of his elbow. You could hear the tired in his voice, but you mutually understood that neither of you wanted to leave.
“Do you have to go?”. You picked at a piece of fuzz on the sleeve of his sweatshirt which you were still wearing. The disappointment was evident in your question. Even though you had spent the whole night getting to know each other, it felt like you had just barely scratched the surface. There was still so much more you wanted to talk about. 
Checking his watch, Mark contemplated for a bit. 
“It’s 6:12 a.m. right now. I actually have to get somewhere by 6:30,” Mark explained.
“So early?”
“Yeah it’s… you could come with me if you want?”. His sleepy eyes twinge with hope.
You look to the lake, the sparkling ripples tinted gold with the rising sun. Sunday was usually a rest day for you and you didn’t have anything planned. As fatigued as you felt, everything in you wanted to accept his invitation. You cracked a small smile, getting up to stretch your legs. You hold out a hand to help him up.
“Lead the way”
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“Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you home? This might not be fun for you…”
Mark’s expression was worried as the two of you stood at the entrance of the local church, the doors open and you could see rows of tables and food set up as if ready for people at any minute. The streets were starting to bustle as the world began to wake up. A volunteer from inside the church spotted you, walking out to give his greetings. 
“Mark!,” the man called out as he pulled Mark  in for a warm hug, “good morning!”.
His eyes turned towards you and Mark moved to introduce you. 
“Daniel, this is y/n. Y/n, this is Daniel. We volunteer together here at the church to serve breakfast to the homeless,” Mark disclosed.
“Nice to meet you, Daniel”. You shake his hand with a smile. Gosh, I probably look like a mess right now. I didn’t even get to change or take off the makeup from the party yesterday. You self-consciously zip up Mark’s oversized jacket to hide your exposed midriff. 
“Nice to meet you, y/n! This is the first time Mark has brought a… friend here”. Daniel’s eyes darted between you and Mark with an assuming smile.
“Yeah,” Mark coughed, turning to you, “do you want me to take you home? This probably isn’t what you expected I don’t know why I-”
“No,” you interrupted, “I’d like to stay and volunteer”. Offering him a reassuring smile, you rest your hand on his arm to show him that you were okay. There was truth to his worries when Mark said this wasn’t what you were expecting. You never would have thought that a popular guy like him woke up early on the weekends to help the needy. Evidently, he did it out of the kindness of his own heart, not for attention. You always imagined it was all parties and messing around, but you were pleasantly proven wrong.
“Great! Mark can show you around and get you started,” the older man clapped before heading inside.
“You’re kind of awesome, you know that?”. Mark’s question caught you off guard. He slipped his hand into yours to lead you into the building, the simple action sending your heart into a frenzy. 
“Awesome how?”
“Just… awesome,” Mark clarified cryptically, holding the door open for you to enter the storage room. He tosses you a green volunteer shirt.
“Alright, I’ll take the compliment,” you laugh, taking off his jacket and handing it to him. To your surprise, he pushes it back to you.
“You keep it. I like it a lot better on you”
Mark Lee if you keep saying things like this, I’m going to catch on fire.
You fight to put out the flames spreading across your cheeks and give a single nod, setting the sweatshirt down on a nearby box. Not willing to strip in front of him in the church storage room, you pull the volunteer shirt over on top of the shirt you were already wearing.
“So anyways,” Mark continued as if he didn’t just say the most romantic thing you’ve heard in your life, “the people will start coming in about 20 minutes. Our job is to portion out the food and once everyone is served, we can go eat and talk with them”.
“Got it”
“Here, let me get this for you”. His hand guided your waist to spin around as he pulled an apron over your head. Tying the back of the garment together, your breath hitches in your throat as you feel his fingers brush under the fabric of your shirt. You turn your face to the side and you can see his soft expression in your peripheral vision. The heat from his body behind yours feels so welcoming.
I wish he’d kiss me right now.
And he wants to. He tries to. He’s leaning in and everything is perfect. Your heart is beating fast as you tilt your head back, but like clockwork, a jolting buzz from his pants makes you jump apart. No, not like that.
“I swear to God, I’m throwing away my phone”. Mark ran a frustrated hand through his hair, picking up the kiss-blocking call. “Hello?”. You sighed.
You watch as the annoyed expression on his face fades into shock as the speaker on the other side panicked through the phone. Your own frustration transforms into concern as Mark looks at you and you catch the words “car” and “hospital”. Mark paces back and forth.
“Alright, I got it. Yeah, she’s with me. I’ll tell her. We’ll come right now. Don’t worry, Ten, she’s going to be fine”
“What is it?,” you ask as soon as he hangs up the call, eyebrows furrowed in confusion and worry.
“It’s Yuna…,” Mark trailed off, shocked by the news. Your heart dropped down to your feet.
“What about Yuna?” Your voice shook with panic.
“She-she was in a car accident. She’s at the hospital right now”
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glitxhwayventeen · 3 years
Text
Lonely Together
Jihoon: Chapter 4 (Waves)
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Characters: Jihoon x female reader
Genre/Warnings: multi-member au (different scenarios), werewolf au, fantasy, fluff, suggestive content, mentions of marking, angst (kinda maybe sort of?). Any others will be put as warnings when future chapters are thought up/written. Please let me know if I missed anything!
Author’s Note: So I’m trying to not make every story super depressing. At least for now. So I took a shot at some average fluff for Jihoon’s chapter. Let me know what you think! It’s a bit short, but I’ll edit it some more to juice it up when I have the free time.
Please remember that all of these chapters and the content within them are a work of fiction! They’re just for fun/entertainment!
Bold= Dialogue Italics= Thoughts
☁️
Lonely Together Masterlist
Chapter 4: Waves
You were still getting used to everything, which no one could blame you for. You weren’t used to being around humans let alone lovey happy couples all the time. It was all… disorienting to you. You understood why the rest of the pack acted the way they did with their mates, in a way you also felt some primal need to be the same with Jihoon. But it was just… quite a big adjustment for you.
It wasn’t bad by any means! You knew you’d get the hang of most of it eventually. But there were some things you weren’t sure you’d ever get used to. Like the constant PDA of the couples around you. You didn’t understand the need to be that close to someone all the time or need to be that handsy. You always wondered if maybe Jihoon wanted to be like that, but you never really had the courage to ask in case you wouldn’t like his answer.
You also knew you’d never really like the fact that the pack seemed to refer to you more as a mate than as a wolf. You grew up being a wolf above all else, you considered yourself a wolf first. Now, you were Jihoon’s mate. Just one of the girls. You ate with them, you hung out with them, and you were treated like them even though you were just as strong if not more so than most of the males. Soonyoung didn’t get treated that way even though he was technically Seungcheol’s mate. It seemed unfair. That thought seemed to leave a bitter metallic taste in your mouth, but you just dealt with it because that’s just how it was now.
And you knew you’d NEVER understand the need to give your partner sweet little gooey nicknames. I mean, who the hell decided it was an adorable idea to start calling the person they fuck baby? How the hell was that SUPPOSED to be cute? It was creepy to you. You could tell it visibly bothered Jihoon that you hadn’t called him anything other than his given name, but you just couldn’t bring yourself to call him by anything else. Every cutesy petname you could think of just felt… wrong to you. Sweetheart? Shit didn’t make sense. Hearts were NOT sweet. Sugar? He wasn’t composed of glucose or fructose so that wasn’t right. Prince? He wasn’t royalty, well, at least not that neither of you knew of. Daddy? Even creepier than baby. So you just opted to leave it at Jihoon.
As for you and Jihoon, you’d been doing alright. You were still rather shy around each other, but you were definitely more obvious in your affection with each other. For instance, at breakfast you always seemed to find yourself scooting your chair as close to his as you could manage. And he always made sure you were within his sight. You weren’t sure why. Where could you have possibly gone when you were stuck with a bunch of wolves? But it did make the chambers of your heart constrict extra whenever you noticed him trying to look for you. You had to admit, It was kinda cute.
There was still one problem. You two hadn’t… consummated your bond yet. You were still unmarked even though it had now been weeks of being in the same house together. He hadn’t even tried to sleep with you. It had you confused, shouldn’t he have wanted to have sex with you by now?
-
“Dude quit being a little bitch and just do it already!” Soonyoung groaned at his younger brother while he pinched the bridge of his nose.
You were currently outside learning how to play soccer with Somi, just far enough away to where you couldn’t hear what was going on inside. They were all watching you guys from the window. You felt someone staring at you so you looked up from the ball next to your feet towards the house. Your mate was eyeing you and had a fond smile flashing brightly at your from his spot. You gave him a sweet one back with a little wave added before you continued on with your fancy foot maneuvering past the younger girl and scored a goal, causing you to jet your hands in the air in celebration. God he loved you.
Jihoon looked away to sigh and he ran his shakey hand through his slick hair, “But how am I supposed to do that? You fuckers are here every second of everyday and she can hear everything that goes on the same as I can. You’re all way too distracting. If she’s anything like me-” He was cut off before he could finish his sentence.
“Which she is.” Mingyu stated with a giant grin on his face while crossing his arms over his chest.
“IF she’s anything like me, she doesn’t want you guys listening in or around when we’re going at it. She’s too private for that” Jihoon emphasized, trying his best to contain his annoyance at the taller boy for his smugness, “Plus, you’re all too lovey with each other, it makes us both awkward and uncomfortable.” He admitted.
Joshua laughed and slapped his hands on his knees where he was sitting down at the table, “So you’re telling me that WE make YOU GUYS uncomfortable? Have you ever even been in the same room with yourself? You’re both ridiculously intimidating to the girls because you’re so quiet. WE know it’s because you’re just shy. But THEY all think you’re some sort of psycho killer dude!”
“Yeah if looks could kill, we’d all have been long dead by now!” Snorted Wonwoo, who had his arm wrapped around his mate possessively.
Jihoon raised his chest out defiantly, slightly annoyed at his pack mates for making fun of his cold exterior, “Yeah? Well at least I can keep my hands off my mate for more than a split second!”
He never really understood the need to keep partners away from other people. That is, until the other day when Chan had accidentally brushed up against your front while trying to reach for a plate. He all but chewed him up and spit him out for it, though you didn’t know that as he did it once you had gone up to bed. He couldn’t help it. His inner wolf just snapped at the poor kid. Though looking back, he’d still do it again. No one should be touching you but him.
“Not for long. You’re getting soft. You’re laughing more at the things she says, you’re joining us on errands more because she goes with, you’re getting more and more protective over her because she’s not marked and you don’t want anyone taking her away from you” Mingyu proudly spoke up much to Jihoon’s shock. He happy that he had taken the smaller wolf off guard with his statement, “You’re getting just as whipped man. You want my advice?” He asked, seeming pretty genuine with his question.
Jihoon nodded at him. Mingyu was surprisingly one of the few who could actually keep a few feet’s distance from his mate. Out of everyone in the pack, he would’ve DEFINITELY expected him to be the one most likely to be attached to his lovers side. But he when he found his mate, he didn’t get possessive over her at all. He just let her do her own thing with relative freedom. He figured he must have had some sort of secret behind being able to control himself and, for your sake, Jihoon figured he should take any help he could get before he got bad.
“Mark her as soon as you can. It helps. You wont get as jealous, at least around us, because we’ll smell you on her.” He shrugged towards his elder, quickly going over and kissing the top of his mates head who was sitting on the ground braiding Josh’s mates hair.
The thought of marking you sent a weird feeling through Jihoon’s veins. He WANTED to. But the real question was, would you LET him? “I don’t know. It could help I guess. But again, you bitches are always here and if I EVER want to do anything with her, you assholes can’t be anywhere near or she’ll refuse.”
“Okay okay! What if we were to all go visit Taeyong’s pack later? Then would you get the stick out of your ass and just fucking get it over with?” Seungcheol interjected with a heavy chuckle.
He was just as glad that his younger brother found you as everyone else. He really needed you in his life, even if he didn’t want to admit it. So he knew he had to help him figure out how to finally make things ‘official’ with you.
Jihoon thought for a moment. There didn’t seem to be a reason why that couldn’t work. He’d just have to make sure you knew to stay behind which, considering how touchy feely the others were, you’d probably be more than happy with that, “That’s….. actually a good idea.”
“Yeah no shit Sherlock. That’s why he suggested it” sneered Jeonghan. Jihoon sent him a small warning growl before Hannie went and collected the other mates and boys to tell them the new plan for the day.
He couldn’t lie, he was super fucking nervous. Other than that day you found out you two were mates, he hadn’t been left alone with you. At least not completely. There was always someone how because of how many people that lived in the house. He didn’t have much experience with girls. He had more experience than you did, but he was still trying to grasp the whole ‘mating’ thing. He didn’t know where to even start. He couldn’t just go up to you and go “hey I need to mark you or I’m gonna go crazy so we need to fuck like rabbits.” I mean, what kind of loser did that? He had to start thinking of a more subtle approach.
And, as if on cue, in came you and Somi from outside after Jeonghan had called for you both from outside. Your cheeks were a bit flushed from being in the sun and your hair that was once put up in a neat ponytail was now falling out in locks towards the rest of your face. You had grass stains on your knees and you had a bit of dirt on your forehead. You looked like you had gotten into a fight with the ground when in all reality, it was just your first time playing a child’s game.
“So, we’re going somewhere?” Somi ran up and kissed Chan on the cheek before he cuddled her in his arms.
“Yeah. WE are. THEY’RE staying here.” He let a playful grin plaster on his face as he pointed at your and your mate.
You cocked your head to the side in confusion, “We are? Why’s that?”
Chan gulped down his dry throat and shifted his eyes towards Jihoon, who was now staring daggers into him, “Oh… um- well… because…”
“Because we’re gonna be doing coupley shit over at Taeyong’s today and Jihoon said you wouldn’t want to watch us make out.” His sentence was quickly interrupted by the oldest alpha, much to your mate’s relief as his answer seemed to satisfy you.
“Ew yeah no. I’ll stay here that sounds gross,” you shook your head and scrunched up your nose in disgust, “Though I think I’ll take a shower. I feel almost as gross as you all are together.” You chuckled as you mad your way up the stairs and to the bathroom.
-
A little while later after everyone had got themselves together and understood why they suddenly had to leave, they began to head towards the door to depart. You were now upstairs in your bedroom, a towel tightly wrapped around your body and hair as you read a book to work on your Korean. You were pretty good with the actual speaking portion of the language, minus your accent of course, but you were still having a bit of trouble with the spelling and reading. And since it was the native language of most of the people who lived in the house, you figured it was best you study up on it a bit more to become more fluent.
Before you knew it, the others had left. You began focusing on a page of plural ways of speech and were brought out of your gaze by a soft voice near the doorway of your bedroom, “How’s the studying coming along?”
“It’s going about as well as dealing with humans after centuries of avoiding them.” You figured, putting your book down on the bedside table and looking at your mate who was now moving to sit at the end of your bed.
“That bad huh?” He joked while bringing his hand to touch your naked thigh. It brought a light pink blush to your cheeks, but you did your best to avoid it as much as possible and continued the conversation.
You shrugged the heat one your face away, “It comes and goes in Waves. Besides, It could be worse”
“And how’s that?” Jihoon questioned, giving you a tilted head in response.
“I could have had to go watch all the other suck face all day with another pack.” You laughed in amusement at your own joke.
Jihoon hesitated for a moment before he responded, “Well… yeah… about that…” he trailed in an effort to avoid the situation.
“What about it?”
“Wellllll….” He took a deep breath in so he could finish his sentence, “They decided to leave for me- well for us- so we could… have some time alone together…” he brought his newly hot face down to look at his lap so he didn’t have to look you in the eyes as he spoke.
“Alone time?” You bit your lip to hold back a knowing grin. You knew exactly what he was trying to say. But you really wanted to HEAR him say the words. Half to confirm your suspicions, half so that he would squirm a bit.
“Uh yeah. Alone time…” he started to pick at his nails to distract himself. He had never really been this nervous before. Why was he even nervous? You were his mate. It’s not like you’d have an issue with it all… right?
Your pulse was starting to race. The thought of what could happen was heating your body up to the point of concern. You weren’t sure why you were reacting this way, maybe it was because he was your mate, maybe it was because now you could go into heat, you didn’t know. But you did know that if he was going where you thought he was going with his sentence, you’d definitely not be complaining.
You gave him a wondering look, “What do you mean by alone time?” You faked innocence in your question, playing with the edge of the towel wrapped around your body.
He groaned in frustration and threw himself to the bed, landing on his back with a light thud while his hands found their way to his face, “They all left so I could mark you okay?? I knew you wouldn’t want to do anything like that with them here. But I knew I needed to do it soon so that my jealousy wouldn’t get the best of me. So Cheol agreed to have everyone leave for the day so we could just-get it over with” He sighed out, hands still covering his eyes so he could ignore your no doubt astonished face.
But instead, you found yourself straddling him in your easily droppable attire. His hands automatically sent themselves down to hold your hips once his body realized what was happening.
“You know, you could’ve just said that to begin with you know” you seductively let out. His face was absolutely stunned at your sudden behavior change. What actual fucking alien world had he stepped in when he came into your shared room?
(Updated 9/16)
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jeontaehui · 3 years
Text
TAEHEE WITH WAYV
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kun kunhee
taehee’s true aegyo only shows when she talks to kun.
she would call him ‘kun gege‘ or ‘kunnie kun kun’ when she’s feeling it lol
taehee Loves kun’s cooking !!! every time the neos would separate into groups during an activity that involved cooking, she’d beg to be in the same group as him.
(nct world ep. 8) “oppa, your food is to die for.”
kun looks at taehee very fondly, like how a dad would watch his child. 
he thinks taehee can be a bit out of hand sometimes, but 98% of the time they’re together, kun looks like he’d spoil taehee without her having to ask him. 
(180403 vlive) “kun-ge,” taehee skips in her steps as kun turns his head to acknowledge her, “hmm?” “if ten oppa asked you to cut me in half, would you?” she asks him expectantly, and without missing a beat, he replies, “no”. triumphantly, taehee turns to the back to stick out her tongue at ten, “see, you’re the only person—“ “i don’t want to have two of you around,” kun cuts her off with a playful smirk, which turns to a laugh as soon as taehee lets out a gasp. she continued to ramble about how she trusted him, how she felt betrayed. “i’m just kidding,” kun says as he put his arm around taehee’s shoulders, pulling her close before ruffling her hair. 
although they’re not a very popular duo or not seen together quite often, taehee absolutely missed kun and his playfulness (and maybe his cooking too).
iconic moment (uncut take #1 | 2020 yearparty behind scene #2) “hello,” they respectfully greeted, with taehee clinging to kun’s side. “i’m here with taehee,” kun starts, “and even if we aren’t in a scene together, we’re hanging out.”
“i missed kun oppa,” taehee pouts, “kun gege.” this immediately made kun smile, it was clear how kun adored taehee like she was his own child. “really?” and taehee nods in response. “it’s been like, what, two years? since i’ve last seen you. moments with you are like, a breath of fresh air,” kun softly laughs at the comparison as he shakes his head at her dramatics. “you’re just making stuff up, aren’t you?”
“i’m not! i swear!”
“are you sure it’s not my cooking that you missed?”
“well... maybe that too.”
song happier by marshmellow ft. bastille
ten tnt / tenhee
taehee likes to think of ten as her twin, but then he would always shoot down the idea. 
(n’-75) “we’re like twins, right?” taehee tells ten before throwing a chip into her mouth. “yeah, but you’re the annoying one and everyone likes me.”
their videos on nct’s dance channel are literally Divine !!!!!! nctzens especially went wild when taehee performed with ten on ‘hit the stage’.
the dirty jokes ..... don’t even get me started. ten would make one remark and it immediately becomes dirty when he makes eye contact with taehee (ft. mark sometimes). if taehee was about to break out laughing, she’d go “UGH I HATE YOU!”
but even if they’re like this with each other, ten and taehee care about each other a whole lot :(
(nct world ep. 3) taehee strained her wrist while attempting to do jump over the vault. though she was able to balance herself quickly, she looked as if she were about to fall; at this split second, ten took a worried step forward, afraid that she’d slip to the ground. later, when taehee comes back with a wrist guard around her hand, ten takes a concerned look at her and asks if she was okay.
taehee also caught a cold while they were preparing for ‘90’s love’ and ten kept insisting he’d make her something to help her feel better.
ten would never admit it but taehee is his baby, anything or anyone that’s bothering her will have to go through him first >:(
iconic moment (jcc ep. 25) “ten, i don’t think it’s supposed to work that way,” taehee giggles at him as he stood a foot away from her while mixing his self-made cookie dough. “no, you wait for it. it’s gonna work,” ten insists while pointing the wooden spoon menacingly at taehee, but this just made the girl smile wider.
she secretly slides the jar of white sugar towards her and scoops up a spoonful, before moving carefully towards ten. “i don’t even think you added sugar,” she mumbles, but his body moves to block her and she bumps into his back with another step. “HEY!” she laughs at how protective ten was getting over his cookie dough, and his stirring becoming more and more aggressive as she tries to put sugar in it, “i’m going to place some so it has a taste!”
ten protests that he already did a while ago while taehee maneuvered her way around him laughing. ten knew what she was trying to do and so he bumped his hip against hers to stop her from getting any nearer. “this is going to spill! ten, stop!,” taehee tries to hold in her giggles, ten was being too cute. “and you’re going to clean it up when it does,” he bites back.
taehee resumes to finding ways to get sugar into the mix while ten resists, causing a very entertained mark to fill the studio with laughter. after a few minutes of trying, taehee sighs and puts back the sugar in the jar, "wow, i never knew baking could be so tiring.”
turns out, ten’s cookies didn’t come out that well and taehee’s expression said it all. “i told you so.”
song positions by ariana grande 
winwin winhee
when winwin was promoting with wayv, he and taehee would send each other messages asking about their days or if they had plans for anything. since both units were busy, they really never do this and it’s only rare that they message each other, let alone call each other.
that’s why taehee was very happy when she saw winwin again for resonance :(
if taehee was chill about her love for winwin before, now she’d just poke his cheeks every once in a while.
(uncut take #1 | 2020 yearparty behind scene #1) taehee watches from the side as three or four members corner winwin to gush over him, making her give a disapproving shake of the head to the camera. “everyone, winwin hyungie is like a baby,” she nods. “babies won’t like it if you bother them too much, so you have to be subtle with your affection.” taehee gives a playful smirk to the camera, “that’s why winwin hyungie likes me.”
winwin, on the other hand, thinks that taehee changed very much the last time he saw her. from being childish and innocent, she became matured and confident. this is how winwin felt time really flew.
(uncut take #1 | 2020 yearparty behind scene #1) “winwin gege~,” taehee whines, seeing how it would roll off her tongue. “did i say that right? ‘winwin gege’?,” she looks to see that winwin already had a fond smile on his face. “you are so cute,” he pouts, “jeon taehee, you are really too cute.”
iconic moment (201106 twitter blueroom live) “winwin hyung, who is your favorite member here in 90’s love?,” haechan asks from his left. and as everyone appeals to him, including mark who touches his ear out of affection, he already had one person in mind. “jeon taehee.”
song left to right by marteen
lucas luhee
a very very very very chaotic duo.
if you watch compilation videos of the funniest moments from empathy era, the iconic clip of lucas and taehee saying something else instead of ‘yadom’ (nasal spray) would always be included. they had to cut out that part from the live later, and members had to tell them what ‘야동’ actually meant in the next live.
taehee would try to teach lucas some korean before, but then that’s just her talking in korean with an english accent.
(180712 vlive) “why are you so tall?,” taehee raises her eyebrow at him. “why are you so short?,” lucas laughs.
taehee threw a pick-up line at mark during that same live, and lucas asked her why wasn’t she like that to him too. “lucas, don’t laugh but,” taehee tells him, “even if you’re as tall as a tree, i’ll still see you as a big baby. i’m not lying.”
and so jungwoo and taehee’s snacking tradition was actually jungwoo, taehee, and lucas’ snacking tradition.
for taehee, it’s so satisfying to watch lucas eat especially if he’s enjoying it so much. lucas actually admitted that the food that taehee carried in her bag would eventually go to his stomach. it became a habit for taehee to carry some in her bag even if lucas wasn’t promoting with her anymore.
iconic moment (uncut take #14 | ‘resonance’ mv behind the scene) “yo lucas,” taehee greets as she was pulled into a friendly bro hug. when she pulls away, she quicklt takes a look at lucas’ gorgeous features and steps back, “woah, you’re seriously so handsome.” lucas turns shy at her compliment and rubs the back of his neck, “you too.”
taehee raises her eyebrows in amusement, smirking as she says, “i’m handsome too?” lucas thinks for a moment before nodding yes, “you can be handsome too.”
“okay czennies, meet two very handsome people. hello!”
song rather be by clean bandit (ft. jess glynne)
xiaojun xiaohee
out of all the ‘99 boys, she’d want to get to know xiaojun more the most. 
they’re not awkward with each other, they’re just shy to approach each other and start a conversation. 
(sun & moon ep. 2) “taehee-ssi told me the other day she really liked xiaojun hyung’s voice out of the blue,” the said girl eyes haechan carefully, suddenly feeling nervous at what he’s going to pull. “i told her she should tell you herself, why is she telling me? she said she was shy,” when he had said this, a chorus of ‘ohh’s’ came from the rest of the bunch, except for taehee. she had a threatening smile on her face directed at the one and only lee haechan, so he decides to prod her further, “taehee-ssi, perhaps you’d like a guesting on awsaz?”
unknowingly though, xiaojun soon becomes one of the causes of taehee’s smiles or laughter whenever they’re filming together. 
(nct world ep. 2) “taehee, fighting!,” he cheers as taehee stepped forward to arm wrestle. the latter quickly turns around to give him a salute as she winks.
(201120 vlive) “xiaojun comes home and he talks about taehee too,” kun shares, “they hang out a lot.” doyoung snickers, “he fell for her too? taehee tells us how funny you guys are in your dorms, but she only ever talked about xiaojun.”
so yes ,,, they are very shy around each other but as far as we know !!! they’re really good friends who want to be closer to each other.
iconic moment (uncut take #14 | ‘resonance’ mv behind the scene) “you guys have pets in your dorm, right?,” taehee asks him as she leaned back, her arms supporting her from behind. “yes, we have three. the dog is bella and we have two cats named leon and louis,” taehee’s eyes widened, though she admits she feels jealous to have their pets around.
“i would keep my dog with me but they won’t let me.”
“oh really? what’s the name?”
“her name is 뚱이, and she’s a lhasa apso.”
“ahh,” xiaojun nods, “does she pee on your carpet?”
taehee throws her head back slightly as she laughs at the question, bringing a hand to her mouth to hide her growing smile. “do your pets pee on your carpet?” xiaojun shrugs, “well, sometimes,” he nods off disappointingly, causing taehee to giggle. “but we love them,” xiaojun sighs, and his eyes see taehee’s wide smile as she agrees with him. “that’s right, we love them.”
song i really like you by carly rae jepsen 
hendery deryhee
taehee finds hendery SO funny, i swear.
like he can literally just smile and nod she’d bust her lungs out from laughing
nctzens found it cute when taehee and hendery monitored each other while they were shooting for the ‘misfit’ track vid.
(misfit track video behind the scene) “ooo hendery is good. he looks cool.”
taehee watched the awsaz episode of winwin and jisung ,,, firstly because of those two.
but then hendery and haechan were so funny too she may have shed a tear from laughing.
a fan asked in those video call fansigns if taehee has watched any of wayv’s videos and she laughed, saying that she watched the one where they acted as disney princesses.
“hendery is so funny, really,” she smiled. “I CAN SHOW YOU THE WORLD!!!!”
they became really close during resonance era and talk about games, their pets, and already have some inside jokes between the two of them.
like a member would just say ‘cabbage’ and we already have the two of them smiling to each other from across the room !!! or they’d make eye contact when looking at the mirror and taehee would just bust out laughing.
iconic moment (201106 twitter blueroom live) “you’re really, really, really, really handsome,” yuta starts with utmost sincerity, “hendery.” the latter brings a hand to his face, his face warming up at the compliment as he sighs contently. this comical reaction causes taehee to burst into a fit of laughter, one you could hear off-cam.
later, when it was time for the ‘90’s love’ unit to take charge of the live, taehee giggles out of the blue, trying to keep her laughs in. “why?,” mark asks as he glances at her. “i’m sorry i just,” she pauses. surely, she was thinking about the funny things hendery pulled when they were doing the live before them. “i just keep thinking about how funny hendery was. i’m sorry, i’ll just eat my fries,” she says the last part quickly, throwing a french fry in her mouth as she bites back a smile.
song love story by taylor swift (disco lines ft. cassidi remix)
yangyang yanghee
taehee finds yangyang SO cute, precious, and tiny.
whenever yangyang is speaking, we’d see taehee in the corner of the frame smiling. 
she’s all over the yangyang vocalist agenda !!!!!!
(uncut #16 | ‘90’s love’ recording behind) “this is yangyang’s voice, isn’t it?,” taehee beams as she hears the younger’s voice through her headphones. “i really like his voice.”
yangyang’s such a smiley baby around taehee, partially because she told him he was very cute when he smiles.
fans find it so endearing when taehee calls yangyang “yangyangie” as if she’s talking to a baby :(
(201022 weibo live) “taehee noona and i play games when she comes here,” yangyang tells renjun. “and then she’ll hangout with the pets later,” he and renjun laugh at this. typical taehee.
taehee would buy drinks from the vending machine for sungchan since he’s the maknae in ‘90’s love’ but !!!! she makes a special exception for yangyang.
just a little bit more and he’s up taehee’s baby list ^ ^
iconic moment (uncut take #8 | ‘90′s love’ mv behind) “today is yangyang’s birthday!,” taehee chirps as she held the camera, making sure she and yangyang were both in the frame. “you’re like, 21 now, right?,” yangyang nods, “how are you feeling today?”
“i feel happy right now since you guys like prepared a cake and stuff and sang ‘happy birthday’ to me awhile ago,” taehee smiles at this. “so i’ll continue to work hard with you guys as we wrap up filming,” yangyang finishes as he beams at her, the latter mirroring his expression. 
“you’re so cute, you know that, right?,” taehee coos as she focuses the camera to yangyang (who smiles shyly at the compliment), before placing herself back in frame. “i only got to play games with yangyang a few times because chenle invited me, but now that we’re all spending time together, i think yangyang’s a very cute dongsaeng.” at this, they both giggle and taehee raises her fist for a fist bump. “i know,” yangyang says as he bumps his fist against hers, taehee laughing at this cute ball of sunshine. 
song timber by pitbull (ft. ke$ha) 
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theboyzuniverse · 3 years
Text
More than strangers
You rush into the nearest building as the rain pours down relentlessly. It had come a little earlier than the forecast said it would, it always did and you should’ve known better. You curse yourself and shiver from the cold as a voice interrupts you.
“Are you okay?”
So apparently, its a boy’s dorm.
“Yeah, just hiding out here for a while until the rain dies down a little.”
You turn around to see a tall, handsome guy with the kindest eyes. He looks a little familiar but you can’t really figure out where you’ve seen him before.
“You’ll get sick if you stay that way, come on up.”
The invitation was tempting but you felt a little wary of going to a stranger’s room, and a guy at that.
He chuckled a little, “Its okay Y/N, I don’t bite.”
You looked at him wide eyed. “How-”
“I know your brother.” He paused. “So are you coming?”
“Yeah,” You said hurriedly and went after him. You were cold and tired and you weren’t gonna say no to a little hospitality.
“What’s your name?”
“Lee Jaehyun, but I prefer to be called Hyunjae.”
“Why?”
He sighed, “Long story.”
Luckily his room was on the second floor so you didn’t have to go much further and the awkward silence that ensued became less awkward. His long legs taking smaller strides than he could’ve taken so you could keep up at a comfortable pace. You wondered how he and your brother knew each other and why you didn’t know about him before. You reached his room and he immediately handed you a towel, a big plain white shirt and gray sweatpants.
“Sorry, its the smallest ones I have.”
“Its fine.” You replied as you made your way into the bathroom and hurriedly locked the door.
Hyunjae was attractive, like really crazy attracrtive. You realized why your brother never let you meet him before as soon as you stepped into his room. Everything about him and his room screamed heartbreaker as soon as you saw him clearly in the light, it had been dark outside and you only caught glimpses of him.
“Are you okay?” He asked from the other side of the door.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
You quickly washed up and changed your clothes, wondering what you should do after you go out. Should you just brave the storm and run to your dorm? No, that didn’t make sense, it was too far and the storm was still too violent. Stupid big campus. For a while you just rested your hands on the sink and looked into the mirror, and you let out a huge sigh of relief despite your awkward circumstances. You finally found the courage to break things off with your controlling boyfriend of two years. You didn’t know how suffocating your life had been until you actually did it, and now you felt the relief even more. Pulling yourself together you got ready to head out. Just as you were about to go out the lights went off and you heard Hyunjae cursing.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, just make yourself comfortable on the bed. Hopefully it won’t be dark for too long.”
You nodded, then realized he couldn’t see you.
“So how do you and my brother know each other?”
You could see a small smile form on his face as your eyes adjusted a little better to the dark.
“We used to jam together in high school.”
“Oh, you’re a musician too?”
“No, I just sing.”
“Oh, cool.” You mentally slapped yourself for your less than average social skills.
A sudden bolt of lightning lit up the room and you screamed in unison with the sound of thunder that followed. Hyunjae made his way towards the bed and got under the sheets, motioning for you to join him.
“Come on, its cold and you’re scared, and its warmer under here.”
You hesitated for a second but realized he was right. Even if you asked for a sweater it would still be cold. So you joined him as he wrapped his arms around you to your surprise, but you didn’t stop him. The both of you cuddled under the sheets with your back resting against his broad chest and his long arms around you. You both looked out the window and watched the storm.
“Your brother wouldn’t let me meet you,” He finally spoke. “He would show us your dance videos and some of the songs you wrote, he was so proud of you. Yet he wouldn’t let any of us meet you.” He chuckled.
“Yeah, he’s a little protective.” You smiled, remembering the times he would almost get into fights with your douche bag ex-boyfriend. You started to wish a little that you had let them fight at least once.
There was another round of lightning and thunder and you tensed up a little, Hyunjae brought you closer to him and you felt your heart beat faster. Partly because of your fear of lightning, but mostly because of what he was doing. You lay still hardly daring to breathe as he took drew circles at the back of your hand.
“Relax Y/N, its okay.”
You tried to relax but you couldn’t, your heart was going crazy. It didn’t help that he smelled so good and his warm breath occasionally hit the skin of your neck. You squirmed trying to calm yourself down. The wind blew hard outside and you squirmed again afraid that another round of lighting and thunder would follow. You felt Hyunjae tense up as he suddenly halted his actions and cursed under his breath. You froze.
“If you don’t stop squirming, I’m gonna have to do something.” He said soft but serious. You whipped around to see his face. So handsome. But what was he talking about.
He cursed again. “Did you take off your bra?”
“Y-yeah, everything was wet.” You said sheepishly.
At this point you knew what was happening. Hyunjae was all hot and bothered, he had told you to stop squirming because of what was hardening down under. The fact that he found out you didn’t have your bra on didn’t help. With some sudden found courage you turned yourself around facing him and straddled yourself on his lap.
He was shocked for a split second then his hands cupped your face. “So beautiful.”
You blushed at his words although he probably couldn’t see it.
“Kiss me.”
The soft gaze that he had earlier completely changed when you told him to kiss you, it was kind of scary but weirdly exciting as well. You held your breath for a second.
“Are you sure you wanna do this?” He asked.
You gave a small nod as he immediately leaned in for a kiss, one hand still cupping your face and one hand going behind your neck. You moaned as you grind yourself into him a little. Hyunjae broke the kiss and cursed again.
“Did you take off your panties too?”
“I told you, everything was wet...”
Then he kissed you again this time more passionate and needier than the first kiss. His hands went under your shirt and cupped your breasts, his thumb grazing over the nipples every now and then. You grind your crotch against his again as he lets out a soft moan immediately followed by a curse again. He lifts his shirt over his head and takes it off and does the same to yours.
“So beautiful,” He mutters again under his breath as he lay you down on the bed.
Hyunjae trails kisses down from your lips to your jaw, down your neck where he starts sucking and leaving marks. You whimpered as he got your sensitive spot. Then he continues to trail down kisses stopping at your breasts to suck them, one hand squeezing the other as he sucks your nipples. He does the same to the other breast and goes down to your stomach where he stops. He lets out a breath and removes your pants, or technically, his pants.
You lay there naked, but not feeling cold. Hyunjae parts your legs and trails down kisses again this time in your inner thighs. You were wet and needy but he took his sweet time reaching the very place you wanted him to reach.
“Hyunjae, please...”
“Hmmm...?” He hummed as he licked your clit and sent a shiver up on you. He started sucking on it as he inserted a finger. At first he had a slow pace and gradually made it faster, then he inserted a second finger as he kept licking and sucking your clit.
“H-hyunjae...” You said in an almost whisper.
He took out his fingers and licked them clean. He knew what you really wanted and needed. He maintained eye contact with you and you couldn’t help but look straight at him too, his eyes were enchanting as all traces of softness was gone. He quickly removed his pants, put on a condom, and hovered over you, positioning himself at your entrance.
“Its not your first time is it?”
You shook your head.
“Good, but its still gonna hurt a little.”
Hyunjae was right, even though you weren’t a virgin, he was definitely a little more than you were used to. Hyunjae cursed again about how tight you were. He slowly thrust into you as he waited for you to adjust to his length. Then all of a sudden a bolt of lightning was followed by a roar of thunder and you tensed up clenching him unintentionally as a string of curses flew out of his mouth.
“Shhh... Its okay Y/N...” He said softly as he planted a kiss on the corner of you lips.
His words and actions helped you calm down. Hyunjae slowly picked up the pace, and you started thrusting your hips to meet his pace. An unspeakable amount of pleasure washed over you as he repeated hit your sweet spot. You were a moaning mess calling out his name, and he buried his face in your neck giving you kisses every now and then. His thrusts became hurried as you were nearing your climax. An orgasm washed over you as an overwhelming pleasure overtook.
“Just a little more,” He whispered as he thrust a few more times as he too reached his high while you rode your orgasm.
As he stopped his thrusts he kissed you on the lips again as he pulled out. the feeling of emptiness felt a little weird. Hyunjae disposed of the condom and put on a pair of shorts. He came back to bed immediately to cuddle you in his arms.
“Let’s just sleep like this for tonight. we can wash up in the morning.”
You nodded as he gave you a small kiss on your forehead and you buried your face in his warm chest.
“It was amazing.” You mumbled in his chest.
He chuckled and you could feel his laughter vibrations in chest.
“You were amazing.”
Hyunjae tightened his arms around you and pulled you closer as you both drifted off to sleep.
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Leverage Season 2, Episode 15, The Maltese Falcon Job, Audio Commentary Transcript
Dean: Hi I'm Dean Devlin, Executive Producer and Director of this episode.
John: I'm John Rogers, Executive producer and Writer.
Chris: I'm Chris Downey, Executive Producer, and this is the Maltese Falcon Job. Part two of our season two finale.
John: And this is a lot of fun, this was- this was born of an episode we never wrote. Just- we really wanted to just put them on their pins.
Chris: Right.
John: Just really knock them on their ass and so- were you handheld there? Handheld whenever there's a problem, right?
Dean: Well this is actually a 360 steadicam. And what we're trying to do is let- their entire world is spinning out of control, so we just wanted this just to keep spinning around. They don't know where they're gonna land.
John: This is a fast, hard reset. The second- the second half of the season finale last year, we kinda eased into it, we reset the locations.
Dean: Here we throw you right into it.
Chris: Right.
John: Yeah, you best be paying attention and you really see when, you know- they're the uber team. You know, you really need to put them onto the wall, and the FBI and Interpol in this situation, they're utterly lost. And Interpol, it was interesting, it was something we were saying last- cause it was Mark Sheppard credit in the last episode. We were looking for a villain, and the problem is we kept coming up with this recurring, separate villain. We’re like, ‘We've never met this person before, we don't care. The person you really want it to be is Sterling! But he's an investigator.’
Chris: ‘He's an insurance investigator, what does that have to do with insurance? We have to find a way to make this about insurance?’
John: Oh man, we killed ourselves.
Dean: Do you remember what you said John? The night-?
Chris: It was between you two, right?
John: It was us. I Skyped you at like 11 o’clock at night, you had come back from scouting-
Dean: And we were talking, and the idea came up, ‘What if we just made him interpol?’ Do you remember what you said?
John: No.
Dean: You said, ‘We are either coming up with the best idea we’ve ever come up with, or we’re both reall,y really tired right now.’
[Laughter]
Chris: And it was.
John: It was great.
Chris: As soon as I heard it, I said, ‘That’s a great idea.’ Because we needed to give him a wider mandate.
John: Yes, if we're gonna keep them as a recurring bad guy-
Chris: Great idea.
John: And what was great is, we already shot the episode that he was in before, so we had to go back and reshoot that ending.
Dean: Here's my favorite Tara bit, of her whole arc.
John: Oh, that's right.
Dean: And this man was actually our local assistant.
[Laughter]
Chris: That was AJ.
John: Yes. And a fine actor by the way.
Dean: He did a great job.
Chris: Oh look at this shot, look at this.
John: Look at just the look he's doing. Just a good 1960s Zero Mostel take there. Yeah, ‘Oops.’
[Laughter]
Chris: Mrs. Robinson.
Dean: Comedy frame.
John: Comedy frame. We got like nine takes of Christian reacting to that by the way.
Dean: And my favorite is they both originally put their heads back, and then only Christian’s head came back out again, but we didn't have time for that. 
Chris: Oh I love that.
John: We can't break for comedy too much here, cause you've got the momentum going. 
Dean: Yeah.
John: And you're like, you have to keep resetting - they are in trouble. This, by the way, great hack taught to us by Apollo Robbins.
Chris: Yes.
John: Our thief consultant took us through how you can get access to the hotel computer system through the back of your television.
Chris: Yes.
John: This is a real thing. Please don’t-
Dean: Please don't try this at home.
Chris: Please don’t try this.
John: Don't try this at home, but most hotels have internet enabled televisions now, and that allows you a backdoor into the- 
Chris: It's a good example, too, of our team is so good at what they do, that we always try and look for ways to take away all their tools and find a clever way they have to use whatever's around them to-
John: Yeah
Chris: -you know, get their information.
John: Yeah, and that's again, constrained in time, constrained in space.
Dean: And that little porno name here, we had to get clearance on. 
John: I know. We came up with so many pornos that were real. That we came up with the most ridiculous porno name, ‘Nope that's a real one, that’s a real one.’ What did we land with, Indie Panties Day?
[Laughter]
John: Yeah, there's also- I wonder if we got it on the DVD, a really creepy, awkward beat after they’ve watched the porno that Aldis and Beth did, just very. 
Chris: That's a nice little viral video.
John: Yeah we’ll have to find that. 
Dean: Yeah.
John: Oh, and a beautiful three way pass, by the way. That was a tough shot, you know, in a crowded-
Dean: And it's a callback from the Zanzibar Job. 
John: Yes.
Dean: Where they did a similar three way.
John: Yeah. 
Dean: And I love this local actor.
John: Oh man, he's fantastic.
Dean: Harold rocked it.
John: ‘Yes, it was delicious.’ Yeah no, Eliot's impatience. This, by the way- getting a hotel key without your ID, I was a little fuzzy on whether it would work or not. I had written it, and I was like ‘Ah, am I kinda cheating?’ So I went to a hotel and did it. 
[Laughter]
John: Two days before we actually did this.
Chris: You did?
John: Yes. I won't tell you what hotel because they shouldn't have done it, but I got a hotel room key that way.
Chris: That's great.
John: Yeah. It's amazing what you can do if you have no fear of prosecution.
[Laughter]
John: ‘Oh, I'm doing a television show.’ And this was tough. We had to split them up, we had to figure out what the geography was- oh he hates Sterling so much.
[Laughter]
John: And Mark Sheppard just teeing off, just- 
Dean: Mark is delicious in this part, man. 
John: Yes.
Dean: I'm telling you, I could just watch him play this guy all day long.
John: Yeah, and what's great is Richard Kind, kind of, really kind of justifying, really doing the evil speech of evil, ‘He's a good mayor.’
Chris: Yeah.
John: And he was the one who came up with, ‘I’m good for Bellbridge.’
Chris: ‘I was good for Bellbridge.’
John:  ‘I'm- no matter what I did, I did my job, you know.’
Chris: I like, too, that we have Nate and the mayor both- 
John: Both drinking.
Chris: Both drinking.
Dean: Yeah.
John: I think that was on the day we came up with that, where Nate would get the booze from. 
Dean: Right.
John: Same place. I think we were just- cause this is the same hotel room. That was the fun of this episode, it was figuring out all the identical space- the fact that all hotel rooms are identical.
Chris: Right.
John: And that we suddenly realized, ‘Wait that means we can shoot in one and just redress.’ This is a long ass speech, this was a tough day.
Dean: And again done in a one-er.
John: Yes.
Dean: So the degree of difficulty for poor Mark was very, very high, but he knocked it out again.
John: He's really abused in television. Cause I will tell you right now, a lot of show runners will be like, ‘I have two and a half of impossible bullshit, get me Mark Sheppard in here.’
Dean: Right.
Chris: He's- I think he went from here, he was- he did the- I guess that three part CSI-
John: Yeah.
Chris: Where they had all the CSIs in one link and he was the bad guy in that, and he works.
John: He's a great- he really in that British actor tradition, yeah. 
Chris: Yeah.
John: And this- this bio of this arms dealer is pretty much just a bio of an arms dealer we took. I'm not gonna tell you who, because it was Chris’s idea and if you're angry, you should take your vengeance on him and his family.
[Laughter]
John: And not me, I am a big fan of arms dealers.
Chris: Paul Blackthorne, great- what is he-?
John: Well he had done Dresden Files, I knew him from that. 
Chris: Dresden Files.
John: But he's, you know, nailed the accent, and he's also really tall, he's got a physically imposing presence. 
Chris: Yeah.
John: And Tim’s tall, and it's really hard sometimes, to find the villains that can kind of, you know. And this was a great scene, and really one of the few times that the team lays into Nate. And I like, by the way, Nate’s getting more and more rumpled. Everyone else is kind of pulling it together, and he's just getting rougher and rougher looking.
Chris: Didn’t we have some weather here?
Dean: On the outtakes reel that's actually on this DVD, you'll see some funny outtakes from this scene.
Chris: With the weather right?
Dean: With the weather and Tim’s hair.
[Laughter]
Chris: Oh wow.
John: Oh right, even Chris is having a problem here and he's in a ponytail. Yeah the wind- the whole day we were shooting this we had thunderstorms coming through. 
Dean: Right.
John: So we were literally, ‘It's sunny. Go, go, go!’ And running down and getting the exteriors, yeah. 
Chris: Yeah.
John: Yeah we banged this out fast, man.
Dean: And yet they really nailed it. Again, when our actors dig in, they find gold.
John: And this was a big moment, this was- this is something I think that people sometimes ask, ‘Why does Eliot do this?’ Eliot has made himself a promise, this is his job, he will keep them safe.
Chris: Right.
Dean: And Nate realizes-
John: That's all he has.
Dean: Nate realizes for the first time he's actually let his team down.
John: Yeah.
Dean: And now he feels like he has to make it up to them.
John: Well, you know, when Parker does it. 
Dean: Yeah.
John: I mean that's the thing, Parker never gives- expresses- she’ll tease, she’ll express sarcasm, but disappointment- you know, ‘Be the person we came back for.’ She's referencing the season opener.
Dean: Right.
John: And that's the problem, is addiction- he's allowed himself to be- he's no longer the guy who used to chase them.
[Silence]
John: That's me drinking my Guinness, don't mind me.
[Laughter]
John: Oh god. What would I do without booze? 
Dean: So now we come back to the hotel.
John: Was that on mic? Alright.
[Laughter]
John: So we’re back on the hotel. 
Dean: And again, our clue from the previous episode of the Maltese Falcon.
Chris: Really key to watch these two back to back folks.
Dean: Oh, now this is-
Chris: I mean, maybe get a sandwich, but don't do much more than that.
Dean: This, I think, is one of my favorite bullet time shots that we've ever done. 
John: This was not as- not quite as insane as- and America thanks you for Beth in the French maid outfit.
Chris: The french maid.
Dean: It’s after this gag.
John: Yeah. Not quite as insane as the- by the way, this moment is based on a comedy club in Winnipeg, when- where the comics would go perform, it was a contest amongst them to see how long they could go without leaving the hotel room, and without letting the maids in.
[Laughter]
Chris: Cause there was no-
John: There was nothing to do. 
Chris: Nothing to do.
John: So it was like, ‘I went 40- I went 72 hours; the maids left the towels at the door.’
Dean: Great passing out scene.
Chris: Oh there we go.
John: That man is passed out. And that looks like my bed in every stand up club I ever went at.
Dean: This was the bullet- this was a very complicated bullet time shot.
John: Is this as bad or worse than the pilot, where you did four different directions?
Dean: No, it's not as bad as the pilot, but the timing of it is hard because of the extras and the switching of directions.
John: Yeah. So we start with one-
Dean: And we were using a different steadicam artist who had never done this before. 
John: Oh, that’s right.
Dean: So we had to teach Norbert how to do it while we were doing it.
Chris: Oh, that's right. 
Dean: It was very tough.
Chris: Cause our camera guy had a-
Dean: It was the one day Gary Camp was actually sick.
John: Yeah.
Chris: His tooth exploded or something.
John: Yeah, and he still showed up for work, by the way. 
Chris: He did.
John: With a face that looked like somebody had worked him over with a bat.
Dean: Now originally you had a much more complicated gag to stall, and then you came up with this gag, and we were on the floor laughing.
Chris: Yeah, this is funny.
John: You said, you were like, ‘I can't shoot that gag, all I have is the elevator’ I was like ‘Alright, well we’ll do this.’ And it's funny cause it was really a throwaway, and then the more we talked about it, the funnier it got.
Dean: Yeah.
John: As you realize it's just comedy beat, after comedy beat, after comedy beat. Also: Mark Sheppard.
Dean: Yeah.
Chris: Mark Sheppard does the- he takes you through the- 
John: The fives stages of death and dying.
Chris: The array of reactions.
Dean: This is-
Chris: Puts on a [unintelligible].
John: And by the way- same elevator, we’re just changing the floor number on every shot.
Dean: And the plants.
John: And the plants.
[Laughter]
John: So yes. And we- but we did run Tim up the stairs a lot that day.
Chris: We did.
Dean: I'll tell you this may be my- the funniest gag we've ever done.
John: Just cause both actors- oh this- just the seething.
Dean: The rage.
John: And both actors kind of really digging in on it.
[Laughter]
Chris: Oh.
John: And then... 
Chris: Just kidding this right on his reel, this is all the different, kind of, reaction to it.
John: And I like, he's almost too tired to keep doing it. And up.
Dean: But what sells the whole gag for me is this last one. Because at this point now they've done everything they can, and they just don't care anymore.
[Laughter]
John: They're just. 
Dean: They're done.
John: They’re done, they’re just exhausted. And now- now Nate can give up. Yeah, he's bought them enough time to do what they need to do. And also this was a nice beat, cause Mark made a point of it, it's like if he just had one more second he would've figured it out.
Chris: Yeah.
Dean: Right.
John: You know you can never- Sterling- you always have to play fair with him. 
Dean: Right.
John: You know he's always this close to figuring it out. These guys were great as the vaguely resentful FBI agents. 
Dean: Exactly.
John: Because he's very insulting. And a timing joke. Mark carries a lot in this episode.
Chris: Door- door closed, there you go, door closes, door opens.
Dean: Mark had his work cut out for him this episode.
John: Door opens. ‘Hey, Bob.’ Yeah, these two had a lot of fun. There’s about 900 different takes of this. And oh this was tricky, because when we got up there, we were shooting on the top floor, but that meant we couldn't double the corridor.
Dean: That’s right.
John: Because we had the skylights.
Chris: Oh, hm.
Dean: So we had to find other corridors. 
John: Yeah, and sometimes people were sleeping, sorry about that.
Dean: This is a very simple bullet time shot, but a very effective one, I think.
John: Yeah, the big reveal.
Dean: Just the, ‘viola.’
John: And you're out.
Chris: How did they do that?
John: A lot of fun. And a wink, which would distract any normal human. And this is- I'm trying to remember where we came up with this bit. Oh the carts were brutal, trying to find the cart we could put a dude in.
Chris: Oh yeah.
Dean: But this bit here is a call back to the episode with the kids-
John: Yes. Yeah That's right- where Hardison and- 
Dean: Cannot rappel.
Chris: That’s just great.
John: Rappelling just does not fit well, he's just not left as- and by the way, it really- real risk of Aldis Hodge strangling there. Sorry about that, Aldis. 
[Laughter]
John: And he's figured it out. Yeah and that was a lot of fun. Nashua, New Hampshire, near where my sister lives, by the way.
Chris: Right that's where they're sending it.
John: That's actually where they are sending it- they're sending that trunk to my sister’s front lawn. What little I can do. And this is- what's fun is that we- the camera work is very energized, the game's afoot, and the second half- it’s interesting, the two previous seasons, the two episodes both had their own internal structure. This really just plays as a movie because all the set up is the first half.
Chris: Yes.
John: This entire episode is the rock that's been pushed down the hill, and we’re just chasing it.
Chris: And everything is paying off.
John: Yeah. And again, drawn from my experience in standup years, all the hotel rooms look alike. If you were to wake me up in any random hotel room, I woke up and my trash was there, I'd assume that that was my room.
Chris: Sure. I mean as any business traveller can tell you, they'll wake up and not know what city they're in.
John: And Richard Kind, by the way- poor Richard Kind spent a week in that bathrobe. 
Dean: Yeah.
John: On docks, on oil tankers, in hotel rooms.
Chris: Yeah, it’s true.
John: That was- he formed a very unhealthy relationship with that bathrobe.
Dean: And had to be in the bathrobe the whole time.
John: Yeah. This is my favorite bit- they're just the type of people who cut up people in tubs, that's their job.
Chris: Yeah.
Dean: But this little look of Eliot's right there tells you everything.
Chris: ‘Alright, I'm gonna cut her up.’
John: ‘Alright, this is my day.’ Aldis’s character Mr. Joshua, of course, named after the Gary Busey character from- 
Chris: Lethal Weapon.
John: Lethal Weapon. If we need a killer's name, why not-?
Dean: Go to the best.
John: Why not reference the best? Bunch of different versions of this. And I love them playing good cop, bad cop. But it was interesting, we had a version of this speech- and I will give this up to you as director, that explained everything. And you really looked at it and said, ‘Alright, here's the actual three things we need for this to make sense.’ Cause as the writer you never know, but you come at it from a storyteller like, ‘Here are the points the audience needs to be emotionally engaged to move forward.’
Dean: And it was a tough call, because Richard did such an amazing job with this speech. 
John: Yes.
Dean: You almost didn't want to lose anything. But, you know, we have time that we have to come in at the end of the show, and we needed to lose some time, so we really boiled it down.
Chris: Oh was this something that came out in editing? Or in-?
John: Yeah.
Chris: Oh it did, I didn't even notice.
John: You didn't notice, exactly. 
Chris: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
John: The speech was about twice as long. Because really there's a whole mini scene between Richard and Tim there. 
Dean: Right.
John: And it really was- you know, you got it, he's bargaining for his life. That’s all you need to know.
Dean: And Richard is so knocking it out, you're actually learning a lot more with even less.
John: Yeah. His relationship through his attitude. No, there are times- even a writer would admit-
Dean: And that's all real sweat, by the way, no sweat bottle came in there; he earned each drop.
John: Boom. I like Aldis’ vague resentment at not being allowed to punch the guy.
Chris: Yeah.
John: Because again, everyone has their niche. And also the great expression Beth chooses there. ‘Eh, I've been in the tub waiting while you beat up a mayor. I'm out now.’
[Laughter]
John: ‘What are we doing next?’
Chris: Yeah, completely blank affect.
John: Yeah, exactly.
Dean: Day at the office.
John: Yeah.
Dean: But the subtle look of feeling like she's on a sinking ship. 
John: Yeah.
Dean: That we get out of Tara at the end of this scene, is really very great for setting up the turn.
John: And even- It's interesting, to watch Chris choose- Aldis is having basically Hardison question dad, while Eliot is instead watching the interplay between the two of them to see how Nate treats Hardison. 
Dean: Right.
John: Knowing that's the better indicator of what the relationship is. He does a similar thing in 207, actually, between he and Sophie- between Gina, with the bomb scene. 
Dean: Right, right. 
John: Yeah.
Dean: And then here we drop our red herring. Has Tara jumped the shark?
John: For a minute or half we considered doing it. For a minute and a half, what would- the problem was, it's Jeri Ryan, and you like her and you're hanging out with her and working with her and it was like, ‘Nah, I don't want the- I like the character.’
Chris: Well it sets up the- the act where it all pays off is one of my favorite acts we’ve done.
John: It’s one of my favorite bits ever. This, by the way, it seems like it's just an act break, it's horrible. Sterling has used his- the fact he used to be best friends with Nate Ford, to know that he is going to use his child’s- dead child's art to trap him.
Chris: Yeah.
John: This is a moment that was kind of thrown away, and the two actors, I saw them actually talking about it on set and they really dug in on it.
Chris: Yeah.
John: It's like, that is a horrible moment. You know, because he knows he won't leave town without that, and Sterling is the only man on earth who knows he won't leave town without that. 
Chris: Right.
John: Yeah. And it's one of the few times we’re behind the desk there.
Dean: Yeah.
John: Yeah. It's a weird place to shoot; it's just got that picture behind it, it's just trough to frame
Dean: But we wanted to get there and we found a place. Now this scene is unusual in that we've gone now to our handheld, which we do when our characters are either in physical or emotional jeopardy. But unlike other scenes, we went musicless here.
John: Yes.
Dean: Because the performances were so strong and so right on-
Chris: Oh that’s great.
Dean: -we didn't want to tell the audience what to feel. Just- we just wanted them to feel it.
John: Also in the tradition, that's the same glass.
Dean: Yeah.
John: Nate and- 
Chris: Oh that's the same glass from- from Nate in-
Dean: Season 1.
Chris: Season 1. That’s great.
John: Nate and Sterling have one glass they pass back and forth between each other depending on who’s winning.
Chris: That's great.
Dean: Right.
John: And the fact he's brought it to give it to him is sort of a signature of the deal they're falling into. And again, by the way, the idea that you would protect a witness that might’ve killed a cop. When you do the research? Oh man. This was kind of the Whitey Bulger thing in costic.
Chris: Well I mean, you know, we- it gave us a chance to explore- it was a whole different episode from the point of view of the FBI. 
John: Yeah.
Chris: About the compromises that people make when they get confidential, you know- 
John: Informants.
Chris: Cooperating witnesses, of looking the other way of other things they're doing. All they are focused on is their case.
John: That mayor is giving them 20 good busts.
Chris: Yeah, yeah.
John: They're not going to follow rumors. Also Mark Sheppard is a- man, this is a great scene. There's two versions of this scene. This is the one we used, the one I like. One where he's angry and superior, and one where he's genuinely hurt that Nate Ford had become this man. 
Dean: Yeah.
John: That he's genuinely hurt he has to offer him this deal. And this is the take we used. 
Chris: Yeah.
John: Which was an oddly vulnerable moment for that character. He doesn't want to be here, he doesn't want to be giving him this offer. Wow, this is all close up, too, which we almost never do.
Dean: Yeah. But this is- there's a lot of things that we did in this two part season finale that we don't normally do, that were out of the box, but necessary, it was very interesting.
John: Yeah, and this is him telling him this is his last chance. No, and- I always wonder- I gotta- I need to ask Tim when does- cause I know Tim in his head knows when Nate makes the decision what he's gonna do. Is it here or is it after the phone call? Is it after the phone call?
Dean: I think it's after the phone call.
John: Yeah. But there's alot going on.
Dean: But the twist here was cause Nate always is two steps ahead. Until he said, ‘And my team,’ and the guy- and he says, ‘No, just you.’ And there's a look on his face and it's one- it’s again, a rare vulnerable moment for Nate where he didn’t see that one coming. 
John: Yeah. And loses his hand and it's like, you know.
Dean: Again, getting to shoot at the actual docks was fantastic.
John: Except we can't shoot past her right shoulder, cause there was a navy ship there that we started to shoot, and the nice gentlemen came over and told us not to put that on camera, please.
Dean: That’s right.
Chris: Oh really?
John: Yeah.
Chris: Wow.
John: Yeah.
Dean: And briny despair may be my favorite Parker line.
John: Briny despair, old clowns.
Chris: Old clown shoes.
John: Briny despair. And again, there's a mini arc here, and the actresses are very good friends, and they're really found it, of their developing physical friendship and, like, just the fact that she can be- Parker’s physical character, and so the fact she’ll walk in pace with Tara is a big deal.
Dean: And now we've brought back Sophie.
John: There you go.
Dean: First time we haven't seen her on a monitor this season.
John: Exactly.
Chris: And here's the payoff from the scene in-
Dean: 207.
Chris: Well part one also, this-
Dean: But we set up really at the- 
Chris: We did, you're right.
Dean: At the- The Two Live Crew Job that she was going off to find herself. 
John: Yeah.
Chris: Right.
Dean: And then in the next episode, when he tried to bring her back, she says, ‘Do you want me back for the team, or for you?’ 
Chris: Right, right.
Dean: And now he calls that back and says, ‘Not for the team, for me.’
Chris: Right, right.
Dean: ‘I need you back.’
John: It was also subtle, but we've shown her in conveyance in a lot of the other shots when she's away, so you won't be tipped off by the fact that she's in a conveyance. That she's in transport.
Chris: That she's in a helicopter.
John: She's in transit, she’s in a helicopter. We've shown her in cars, she’s done the cell phone in different locations. 
Chris: Yeah, yeah, that’s true.
John: So hopefully you were not like ‘Oh, why are we seeing her in a different context?’ 
Chris: Right.
John: We've seen her in this context before. Now this was- man, this was a great day, this was just- we cleared the set and Tim just parked his ass on the floor. 
Dean: We did three takes, but this is actually his first take. He so nailed it on the first take.
John: Oh, really?
Dean: That the others were really just for safety. But he just came in there, ready to do this part.
John: Yeah. And this is- you know.
Dean: And then the tragedy that she didn't hear any of it. 
John: Yeah.
Chris: It's one of the great things about cell phones. Is that- from a dramatic standpoint- I mean they help you bring characters together, but you can also use them to- 
Dean: Separate them.
Chris: To separate them.
John: Never in 1940s comedy is or 1940s movie is like, ‘Pennsylvania 927: Oh the killer is-!’ ‘Oh I lost him.’
Chris: ‘The line went dead!’
John: ‘The line went dead!’ ‘No sir, the line’s not dead, I'll reconnect you right away.’ Thank you operator.’
Dean: But his feeling of betrayal at losing the connection.
John: Yeah.
Dean: Really again, is a wonderful red herring where we feel like, ‘Oh my god, he's really gonna sell this team out.’
John: Yeah.
Chris: Yeah.
John: Or at the very least you have no idea what the hell he's gonna do. 
Dean: Yeah.
John: You know, he is drunk, he is pissed off. No he-
Chris: And he's been put- he's been backed in a corner.
John: And you know, which-
Dean: But even the way he said here, ‘I have a plan that will fix everyone.’ It’s like, woah.
John: And having the picture that Sam drew. It's interesting that it's essentially a codependent relationship, but it's a functioning one that they have.
Dean: And here, again, is a strange bit of blocking that we had never done before, where Nate has isolated himself on the stairway. 
John: Yes.
Chris: Well that helps sell everything, too, doesn't it? Separated from them.
John: Well he's not in front of them, he's behind them. He's separated from them, exactly. Fun bit of blocking, too, actually. It's- we’ll use it again, I'm sure.
Dean: Yeah.
John: Cause that's a nice angle. And yes and then everyone- and then her coming around to pull focus. No, it's for a static shot, it's really interesting. But this is one of the few times we don't tell you the plan.
Dean: Right.
John: You know, it's one of the few times we transition. Usually we-
Chris: We did that in part two of season one, also.
John: Yeah, yeah. It’s- we’re usually an open mystery. 
Chris: Yes.
John: At least- and this was one of the few times that you're not- you have no idea- because the rules for the show usually are, you know what's gonna happen and the fun is seeing it go wrong and how they're gonna recover. This one it's like, you’re just gonna have to trust us.
Chris: Who invented the ‘And this is what we're gonna do’ was that Aristophones? The first one.
John: That was Aristophanes.
Chris: ‘Alright everyone, gather around. Grab your togas; let’s go.’
Dean: Now once again we've got the teams separated in different locations, each with different objectives.
Chris: Yeah.
Dean: And that's a little bit of a callback to the pilot episode, when she did the burn gag.
Chris: That's true.
John: Yes, the burn scam. Yeah, wow was this a tough shot.
Dean: That's a little bit of scale, huh guys?
Chris: Wow. 
Dean: How about that?
Chris: They let us- now was that digital or do we- let us paint on the ship?
Dean: We digitally put the name on the ship.
Chris: We did, ok.
John: Well, we did paint some of it .
Dean: We did paint some of it. You’ll see a sign later that we actually painted.
John: That was a lot of fun, just trying to figure out like, the whole break into the FBI office. And what's the easiest way? 
Dean: Short fight, but one of my favorites. 
John: Yeah, just brutal. This is a tough- this was a tough day. Chris did all of these fights in one day, straight through, and ran back and forth between the dialogue scenes.
Dean: This really should've been two days of shooting, that we did in one day.
John: He did like a 20 hour day here.
Dean: This was an insane day.
Chris: Oof.
Dean: But we only had use of this ship for two days, so we had to get it all in.
John: Yeah. He's got the samurai ponytail rocking there, that's how you can tell there's gonna be some fighting. And we have money, and we would like to arrange a meeting. ‘I'm a man with a briefcase full of money, I would like to meet your boss.’ It’s a great, classic trope.
Chris: I like this act, this is my favorite act.
John: I also like- I gave them this running bit where he's counting guys with guns.
Chris: Yeah, I remember that from- you came up with that last season.
John: Season one, and we never found a place for it.
Chris: That's a great shot, too.
John: Yeah, that's a great shot. That and- actually on the boat, that's the way you get between decks. This is actually one of my favorite Parker bits, just talking- coming up with the speech about what it's like to die in an air vent. Because the fact that she's always in air vents, is worth addressing, you know.
Dean: And it shows you the way her mind thinks.
John: Yes, exactly. ‘Scratching on the metal.’ She's kinda turned on, I'm not sure where this is going. 
[Laughter]
Dean: Yeah, that’s fair.
Chris: It's the tongue, the darting tongue and she shakes out of it.
John: Let’s go and we’re off.
Dean: She loves the danger.
Chris: We didn't get wet that down folks, that was actual Portland rain.
John: Yes, Beth Riesgraf and Jeri Ryan were on a rooftop, on a skyscraper, with a thunderstorm during most of this day.
Dean: Not dangerous at all.
John: Not dangerous, ignore the lighting, kids. Man, what were we thinking?
Dean: And he pulled out the Scottish accent out of nowhere, which was fantastic.
John: I know, I know. Which was a lot of fun. Because the idea is the mayor has gotten in over his head, and he's dealing with the same sort of businesses that- power drill was the nastiest thing I could think of.
Chris: And that's quite a nasty bit on it, too.
John: Yes, exactly. Well that’s- you know, I mean, if you're gonna mess up somebody's knees, that's the bit you're gonna use yeah. ‘Still counting.’ Oh yeah, then we just reset- it was really tricky because it was so complicated, we had to reset their goal at the beginning of every act. 
Dean: Right.
John: What do they need to get? Yeah. And again, it's like, do these guys really meet in broad daylight to look at their goods? Yes! Yes they do!
Chris: Yeah.
John: And usually-
Dean: And here's where we set up the phone does voice dialing, which is crucial to our final act.
John: Thank you 21st century. Because we enjoyed tying up Richard Kind and we’ll leave it at that.
Chris: Yeah, I'm sure the fact that GPS is in every phone is gonna be our best friend and possibly our worst enemy this coming season. 
John: No, it's a big deal. 
Chris: Yeah.
John: A phone that's on is a phone that can be tracked.
Chris: Yup.
John: Exactly. And yes and Richard, by the way, finding the desperation. ‘They cut her up in a bathtub!’ 
John: Like the murder wasnt the worst thing in the world, but the fact that somehow it was so undignified? Yeah. Nice scream. And that was, by the way, great little comedy beat, just like, ‘Well to be fair, he did most of the cutting.’ 
Chris: Yeah.
John: The two of them- we don't usually have Eliot and Nate doing comedy together, but when they do it's a pure relationship, it's a nice rhythm.
Dean: And if you look closely, there in the distance, we've set up Sophie is actually with the buyers.
John: Yes.
Dean: But you wouldn't notice that unless you watched it again.
Chris: Oh, that's great.
John: And now they've broken in, they've come down through the air vent, she did not enjoy the experience in any way shape or form. Oh man, this was a tough day. That's like-
Chris: Hot? Cold? What was the temperature? Do you remember?
John: Brutal, brutal hot. Cold at night. Hot at- you know what? There's never-
Dean: Back and forth.
John: It's never comfy on an oil tanker deck.
Chris: No- I’m trying- yeah I'm trying to imagine-
Dean: And there again, there’s Sophie in the distance.
Chris: There she is, that's great.
John: Sophie in the distance. And this is a real fusebox we tacked into. Sorry.
Dean: In city hall?
John: In city hall. 
[Laughter]
John: This was actually a fun thing is, this year we shifted to Hardison not using a signature laptop, but using the minis. 
Chris: Yeah.
John: Because our hacker consultant, Kevin Mitteny told us that's what they're using. They're using $300 computers and throwing them away if they're gonna get busted. And running stuff off the thumb drives.
Dean: And this was the- in the actual cargo hold of the oil tanker, so this was very confined space to shoot in. It looked great, but it was very difficult to light and move the camera around and because the top of the stairs- that was the only stairs that was the only way in and out of that room. So all the lights, all the cameras all had to go up and down stairs- there was no other way in or out.
John: And remind you, Gina’s in this scene later. Gina at, like, 17 months pregnant.
[Laughter]
John: Came down those stairs like a fricken trooper, man. We were just- we were more scared than she was. She was like going down them, and we were like, ‘Ahhh, oh god.’
Chris: Just kind of like [unintelligible] step.
John: It’s an oil tanker! And she’s in like fashion boots, and a kicky top, you know.
Chris: Wow.
John: This was- you know what’s weird? This speech doesn’t advance the plot in any way, shape, or form. This speech is just him selling his character to buy time, and yet it’s really interesting. 
Dean: Yeah this-
John: Tim’s digging in on the character here. It's his evil speech of evil, you know.
Dean: Right
John: And he never gets to give one.
Chris: Yeah, it's interesting when we can do that. We've done that a few times, the- 
John: Glengarry, Glen death.
Chris: Sophie also- also as the Indian pharmaceutical rep gave an evil speech of evil.
John: Yes.
Dean: And this you wrote in the script as the Bourne fade. 
John: Yes.
Dean: Which I thought was the perfect description.
John: It's a perfect- it’s a good shorthand. He's there, and then he’s not there.
Chris: It's great.
John: By the way, Chris has just stepped three feet to the right into a tool locker.
[Laughter]
Dean: Right.
John: There's no actual exit there. And- was there a reason for the 360? Just to keep it- just to be interesting? Because I don't think it was-
Chris: And how hard was that within that space?
Dean: Really hard. But we felt that it was a great way to, again, the world has changed. We thought one thing was going on here, but now we've spun it by-
Chris: And that's steadicam.
Dean: That's all steadicam. Gary Camp.
John: It's weird, because it's also, kind of, Nate Ford buying into his persona there. That's one of the times you really see him.
Dean: And Jackie ‘The Joke Man’ Martling.
John: Who came in and did a great job for us!
Dean: You know what's funny, is that I thought he was just gonna be a comic that you had to teach how to act. But you know what? He really came in with the character, he committed to it, he wasn't just trying to be jokey. I mean, he really knocked it out.
John: He totally gives us serious takes-
Chris: He’s totally convincing as the evidence locker guy.
John: Slightly more convincing than Jeri Ryan in insanely hot pants as the FBI agent. 
[Laughter]
John: I gotta with Jackie here on the verisimilitude scale. Although we did put Jackie in those pants, that didn't work out for us as much. But no, he's great and the kind of vaguely resentful- you can totally see him doing this character on a- 
Dean: And yet he gave us a great exit line here.
John: ‘Oh no, who wants to talk to the evidence guy?’ 
[Laughter]
John: And that was, by the way, that was him, that was not in the script.
Chris: That’s true.
Dean: And not overselling it either.
John: No, no, it was really nice. You could see him playing that role on a cop show.
Dean: Totally.
John: Absolutely. Nate Ford, international man of mystery and arms dealer.
Chris: Peacoat really working well on the boat.
[Laughter]
John: Yeah, nice. It's very much-
Chris: That was a coat waiting for a set.
John: Yeah. Well it's interesting cause- 
Dean: Oh and there's Sophie in the background.
Chris: There’s Sophie!
John: And some people in the first screening kind of caught her, but- 
Chris: Now she's there buying guns? Who’s-?
[Laughter]
John: Well she's- she is buying guns, you know. 
Chris: For her library?
[Laughter]
Dean: Library needs guns, too.
John: Libraries need guns, too. I like to think- I like to think that she is a Swiss buyer.
Chris: No, I mean, it’s a well armed library.
John: She's a Swiss buyer, she’s-
Dean: And here's a nice little turn.
John: Nice swing around. Shot that day on the boat to reveal that they talked. And then over again. Wow, and we all shot this in a real container.
Dean: In a real containter.
Chris: It was for real? Oh, wow.
Dean: Yeah. Now back on the roof, and this is my favorite Parker bit we've ever done. 
Chris: Yeah.
John: Yeah it's tough. There's a lot of good ones, but. 
Dean: But.
John: But we never expected Beth to do this.
Chris: This turn here is great.
Dean: This is the first time since the pilot that we brought back how lethal she can actually be.
John: There's a bit in Stork Job, but boom. Oh yeah and she locked in on Jeris throat on that, too. 
Chris: Yeah.
John: And Jeri goes over the edge. 
Chris: Over the edge. 
John: She's wired, but that's Jeri Ryan hanging over the edge. And it was-
Chris: And again, it was raining and windy. 
John: Raining. Yeah no, they were both fearless up there. 
John: They had a good time up there. They really wound up working well together. And now it's all gone to hell.
Dean: But it's a real callback to that pilot line of, ‘Going to my angry place.’
John: Yeah. This is just- because what's happened is- and just for writing thing, Parker has let her into the family. The only people who are human beings are members of the family. Once Jeri’s betrayed them, she’s moved outside the family, and is an object.
Chris: Well, also to betray the family is-
John: Real ship captain.
Dean: Real ship-
Chris: Oh wow, that's great.
John: You were saying? To betray...
Chris: To betray the family is even worse.
Dean: This is a great hit right here.
Chris: Oh!
Dean: Bam! Man.
John: Yeah- man shooting- that's as wide as that space is, guys. 
Dean: Yeah.
John: That was brutal to be down there.
Dean: And these are two guys from the beginning of the previous episode. So again, if you haven't watched them back to back, you might not realize these are the two guys who shot Bonanno.
Chris: Yeah.
John: Yeah, so you know we've linked up, physically, the bad guys.
Dean: Now that one actually- we put that one actually up there.
John: Yeah, that's a real sign. And this is my favorite, this is one of my favorite character reveals ever, and it's because she's doing one of my favorite characters ever. Gina’s doing Annie Croy here.
Chris: Annie Croy.
Dean: Which, again, ties back to the beginning of the season.
John: Yeah it's almost like we think this through. Yeah and- I'm sorry we're all gonna be quiet here because we all love this.
Dean: ‘Bye now.’
John: ‘Bye now.’
[Laughter]
John: That's fucked up, man. I'm sorry, I'm gonna swear on DVD and say that is fucked up.
Dean: That ‘bye now’ is. 
Chris: The ‘bye now’ throwaway.
Dean: Oh boy, ruthless. And then my second favorite reveal of a character all year.
Chris: Oh.
John: Yeah. No, that's fantastic. And the way Tim sells this like, ‘What the hell is going on?’ No, even writing that character reveal I wasn't sure it would work, and even when we shot it I'm like, ‘Yeah, this works.’ Gina- you've been so waiting to be- hear her voice.
Dean: She is so talented.
John: We've also really lined it up like there’s no out here. We- usually the audience- a smart audience member will see a backdoor we put. There is no backdoor, she's the backdoor. 
Chris: Yeah this was a tricky bit of scripting too, right? I mean we had a ship, and we needed to disable it. I mean, what was- right?
John: It was a lot of wandering around on the ship going, ‘Alright, how does this work exactly?’
Chris: Yeah.
Dean: And even though Tim is out of focus here, you get everything right there.
John: ‘The hell’s going on?’ And she doesn't break character, no.
Dean: Cause she is the ultimate grifter.
John: Yeah, no she does a great- and OK, shoot this guy in the face when I'm off the-’ She's impatient and that's actually kind of a nice thing. And now this.
Dean: Terrific little fight scene shot by Marc Roskin.
John: Yes, at some ungodly hour of the morning. And this is where we pay off the numbers. We've been waiting two years to do this.
Dean: And again, in the actual ship.
John: Yeah, there's a lot of stuff to hurt yourself on. 
Dean: And this gun going off was not easy.
John: Yeah.
Chris: Oof. 
John: Yeah, we're spilling brass all over the inside of the ship. The- this is a brutal fight sequence, all these stunties did- you know, they're banging off metal all over the place.
Dean: In this kind of space, it is so hard to do this safely, these guys were champs. And Christian- I’m telling you, he's amazing in these things.
John: No double.
Chris: Yeah.
Dean: Refuses to get a double.
John: Refused to get a double. There you go, and down, he counts. By the way, we’re not exhibiting superhuman strength here. This is how you break flexicuffs.
Chris: Oh wow, that's a little hulk moment.
John: Yeah, the only thing keeping- if you- if- that's why they flexicuff you behind your back. The only thing keeping you in flexicuffs in front of you is the belief that you should be in flexicuffs. Little survival tip.
Chris: Oh wow.
John: And this is also a favorite bit, because it was really written as a kind of expositional, but Beth found this really weird rhythm near the end of it.
Dean: Oh boy.
John: This is shot with the XD right?
Dean: Yeah.
John: This is all shot with a Prosumer-level camera. 
Dean: She just finds this little bit of evil.
John: ‘Oh, I actually thought you were going to throw me off.’ Yeah, exactly.
Dean: Just this little fake laugh here, just so great. I think it's actually in the two shot, because it has to be in the comedy frame.
John: Yeah the- also the- it's interesting that the- the idea that it's fair enough that they would indeed-
Dean: Here it is.
John: Here it is, coming up. ‘I thought you were actually going to throw me off the roof’. And there she is. The look before hand, the ‘Oh, that's right, this is how humans are supposed to react.’
[Laughter]
John: ‘Eh, I was totally going to throw you off that roof.’ 
Chris: Yeah, that’s great.
John: But the whole understanding that yes we probably- that's actually a favorite line and Jeri really nailed it, which is ‘You would have forgiven him.’ They're all enablers, they're all in this weird broken family, and you know, it's both their strength and their weakness. Also, again, by the way, director thing, I had a whole explanation of how Hardison disarmed the ship, and we had no time to shoot it and you were like, ‘Giant wrench!’
Chris: Giant wrench!
John: You know what he's done.
Chris: When you see a giant wrench, you see that he messed something up.
John: He is a monkey wrencher. You know! It's a term.
Dean: In the comedy frame. so-
John: And by the way, ‘Took you long enough,’ is a recurring theme for the entire back half of the season.
Dean: Right there.
Chris: Oh that's right.
Dean: And she walks by. ‘Huh?’
[Laughter]
Dean: Love it.
John: And then a beautiful over the shoulder. Oh that's a hero shot right there. No, it really is- it’s interesting because it was very scary, because you know, you didn't know how long Gina would be with us going into the season and everything.
Chris: Oh, this is great.
John: And the entire act depends on Sophie being the best grifter on earth.
Chris: Even him-
Dean: And it's just fun to see them all back together again, because we've been starved from it.
Chris: Him being like places where he doesn't know he was all throughout this episode.
John: Yeah, it's a nice running gag actually. And zero. And by the way, it was Chris who caught the count. Chris came up to me and was like, ‘If that's the last guy I'm gonna-’ I was like, ‘Oh, good catch at 2am, nicely done.’ ‘Took you long enough,’ again.
Dean: And this sets up the handcuff bit at the end.
John: Yeah, that was tricky.
Chris: Right he has the handcuffs.
John: Oh god, yeah. Boy this was really easy to keep track of.
[Laughter]
Dean: And both of them really delivered- you know, this is a very short scene that needs a lot of emotions. Because it wraps up really where they are and where they're going next season, and they just did it with looks and with subtext. And it was just terrific.
John: You poor bastard. And also, by the way, what I love about this is, this is the happy ending to most television shows, this moment right here. We then fuck it up.
Dean: Right, exactly.
John: Yeah. They really care for each other, they are really good friends.
Dean: And they're there for each other.
John: And they're there for each other, and he's a broken bastard. And what's great is he walks out of there without really knowing what the rest of the plan is.
Dean: My favorite Richard Kind line right here, ‘I don't know.’
John: ‘I don't know.’
[Laughter]
Chris: That's very Richard Kind. That’s Mad About You, Spin City Richard Kind right there.
John: Yeah, it really is. And by the way, yeah, only two ways out of this. That seems like a design flaw to me. Because that front window is a 40 foot drop onto the deck of the ship; you can't get out through that front window. 
Chris: Oh wow.
John: Yeah if you lock these doors, they ain’t going anywhere. Yeah, and a nice run and gun there, and there's also a little mini scene we blew off there with Paul sort of turning on Richard. Hero moment, hero- the team together.
Dean: By the way, those are some digital effects to remove the pregnant belly.
John: Nice, nicely done.
Chris: Oh really, wow.
Dean: Yes.
Chris: I say it a lot.
John: And nice hug.
Dean: And also just on a small note, we couldn't afford two helicopters. Because we had a helicopter in the scene, and we also needed a helicopter that could shoot the scene. So we used the same helicopter for both and then just digitally erased the camera that was mounted on the end of the helicopter.
Chris: Wait wait, so in other words when you're up there with them you're also shooting- the cameras below it?
Dean: So in other words- yeah, so when you see the helicopter arrive later, there was actually a camera attached to it.
John: A giant camera rig on it, like the size of a VW bug on the bottom of it.
Dean: But we erased it.
Chris: Oh that's amazing.
John: Yeah. Yeah and Sophie’s thought of everything. There's a way out, you hear sirens, it's all coming together. 
Dean: And it's fun to see them back together again.
Chris: And again, not that we do this typically. But this was, in a sense, this scene was kind of conceived of first, this scene and him on the deck. 
Dean: Right.
John: That's right.
Chris: That we were leading up to.
John: The original version of the script is, it opens with him bleeding out on the deck and you have no idea where he is.
Chris: But I'm saying even in the beginning of the season.
John: Oh yeah.
Chris: This scene was kind of where the show was going. How we were gonna get there was the question.
John: You don’t- everyone has their different ways. Before we shot a frame of season two, I knew it ended with Nate Ford saying, ‘I'm a thief.’
Chris: Right. But even- but even on a- also on the deck of a ship remember- I remember that.
John: Yeah, on the deck of a ship.
Dean: Now I think this ending is one of the bigger endings we’ve ever done, and it's really the most emotional ending I've ever done.
John: Really? I dunno you and I-
Dean: More than I was expecting it to be.
John: You and I disagree, because we all have our favorite stuff, but yeah, it-
Chris: It’s certainly a huge hero moment.
John: It's a huge hero moment, and they're all making great choices. Eliot really wants to just tear through these guys, and Nate’s not gonna let him.
Dean: Yeah.
John: Yeah. 
Dean: He's being a good dad for once.
John: Yeah. He’s- and by the way, again, this is not the right choice, he shouldn't have lied to them, he shouldn't have had a plan he didn't tell them, he shouldn’t- he's a control freak. Even in his moment of sacrifice, he's a selfish, alcoholic bastard.
[Laughter]
Dean: That's right.
John: I just wished to make sure nobody makes sure nobody thinks he's being super heroic here. He doesn't really change that much. 
Chris: That’s true.
John: No, and this was fun, we had all different kinds of versions of lockers and found out that yeah, that's how they keep a lot of evidence.
Dean: That’s crazy.
John: That was fun though too, also, you only had two rows of those evidence lockers, so you staggred them to shoot through them to make it look-
Dean: To make it seem like they went on forever.
Chris: Yeah where was that? Where-?
John: That was on set that was- remember the small soundstage we had?
Chris: Oh, ok.
Dean: It was actually a reworking of the set at the end of 207 at the airport. 
John: Yes. It was the airport, but we just moved it over to the other stage. And I also love the idea again- Nate and Sterling are playing a game that just nobody else gets to be a part of. This is just- this is just nine moves ahead guys. 
Dean: Right.
John: There's another version of the show where Katie O'Grady chases Eliot, Parker, and Hardison for an entire season, yeah, but in this version. ‘I can feel you thinking’ he knows him, he knows him that well. He knows the counter move- no, they really dug in here. And by the way, it's 110 degrees on that deck, Tim’s in a peacoat handcuffed to a rail. He's working his ass off here. 
Dean: With the turtleneck.
John: With the turtleneck, yeah. Oh and just the sheer rage Katie O'Grady is radiating there. 
Chris: Now what time- what day- part of the shooting day was this? Did you make-?
John: This was morning.
Chris: This was, like, first thing?
Dean: Yeah, this was the first shot.
Chris: Is that a challenge to do the most emotional thing first?
Dean: It is, and especially because when we started shooting it we were in cloud cover and then halfway through the scene the sun came out. And so then trying to make that all work was really difficult. 
Dean: This, I thought, was surprisingly more emotional than I anticipated when we were there.
John: Well it was weird because when we were there, we couldn't quite get the staging, and they seemed like they were standing really far away. ‘Cause the deck was bigger than we thought.
Dean: Right.
John: And no- well this is the shot because by shooting this way, you get intimate, it feels like they're right on top of them. The other reverse kind of shows you the space.
Chris: I think it also parallels from season one, also-
John: Yeah it does, it does.
Chris: The scene where they’re standing around, really nicely.
Dean: But they're all disappointed in him, which is great. He sacrificing for them, but that's not what they want.
John: No. And he lied to them. And he's- you’re an idiot, I mean, that's really what Eliot’s thinking right there.
Chris: Yeah.
Dean: Yeah.
John: Like, ‘You know what? If you just talk to us.; I really never realized how [unintelligible] this episode is. 
Chris: It is.
John: It’s a big hero sacrifice, but it’s- you know he really broke the family. Again.
Chris: Yeah.
Dean: And Gina just nails this scene. I mean, we waited for this kiss for two seasons.
John: Yeah.
Dean: And it comes out, and she's crushed by it. It’s great.
John: Yeah. And again, and- you know this is a big hero moment in his head and she calls him on it. Because she- and this is what's interesting, Sophie Deveraux is a more advanced human being than Nate Ford is at this point. She went away, she took her space-
Chris: Right.
John: You know. 
Dean: And she lets him have it.
John: In the same way he let her have it at the end of season one, she's letting him have it at the end of season two. I love that look, by the way, that Eliot- Chris and Mark really set up the fact that they can't stand each other, really well.
Chris: And here, you know, the relationship between these two kicks in also. 
John: Yeah.
Chris: Between Nate and Sterling.
John: Yeah, the fact that he held it together- and they don't know, by the way. 
Chris: Right.
John: They have no idea when they're leaving.
Dean: That little look with Christian is just great.
John: And there's a camera mount on that helicopter.
Dean: That's been erased.
Chris: That's great.
John: ‘Who the hell is this guy?’ That- this is- you’re right, we wrote the ending first.
Chris: Yeah, I remember, this was-
Dean: He goes, ‘I don’t know.’
John: I remember this was the first thing ever.
Dean: This was the end of the arc. ‘I'm a thief.’
John: ‘And I'm a thief.’ I mean this is a callback to him saying I'm not a thief for two years. 
Dean: Right.
John: Wow. Thank god this is the last episode of the show.
Chris: And we’re not listening- and we can't hear it here in the commentary, but Joe Le Duca did- the orchestration for this is absolutely fantastic.
Dean: It's actually the first time he went and got a real orchestra. 
John: Yeah.
Dean: Went to Salt Lake City and recorded with a real orchestra, and I mean the scale of this is outstanding.
John: It's giant. 35- I think we had close to half a- 50 FBI agents here. And just cars, helicopters, and this is a big- this is a big hero moment, man. This is a film ending, you know.
Dean: Yeah, it really is.
John: This is it. I love his choice here, it's like, ‘And if I die, I'm totally cool with that.’
Chris: Oh here we go.
John: And he's bleeding out, can you see?
Dean: See the blood on the ground.
John: The blood- he's bleeding out. There's no guarantee Nate Ford will make it.
[Laughter]
Chris: Wow.
John: Which was fun actually shooting this, ‘cause Tim really loved this. And two days before we finished shooting, he turned to me and went, ‘Wait am I dead?’
[Laughter]
Chris: Oh that’s something.
Dean: Stay tuned for season three and you'll find out.
John: I know. No kidding, you'll find out.
Dean: Thank you again for hanging in there with us and listening to this commentary.
John: We had a great time and we really appreciate you guys watching the show.
Chris: And thanks again for watching season two; we can't wait to bring you season three.
John: And thank you, Portland.
Dean: Yes.
John: Big thank you, Portland.
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