#one of my coworkers screeched at me and had me get down and saw i was keeping weight off a leg

[lilac-melody]

If I can stop getting scolded at work over my refusal to ask for help that would be fantastic

[jogetsobsessed]

Mud Puddles - Seth Clearwater

This is based on this request !! I had a lot of fun writing it, thank you so much to the anon who requested this! Also, I hit 100 followers, so yay! Thank you so much to everyone for being patient with me and my unreliable posting. I hope you all enjoy!

“Come on Y/N”, a squeaky voice called from ahead. 

You bounded through the countless mud puddles littering the Clearwaters property, the heavy raindrops soaking through your clothes. But you didn't care. 

You didn't care that the cold was reaching your bones or that the mud most likely had wrecked your favorite t-shirt. 

No, you simply were having the time of your life, chasing after your best friend, who was equally as dirty (if not dirtier) than you. 

It was some make-believe game that his older sister had taught the pair of you that had the two of you sliding all around the yard. Today marked the season's first “good” rain, turning the sizable lawn into your own slip-and-slide. 

The game went on for hours, each of you taking countless turns at being game leader, trekking through the wilderness, finding different treasures to take back to your shared treehouse, one that his father had built the two of you as a shared birthday gift years ago. 

Eventually, the chill did catch up to both of you, as you reluctantly marched back home, taking the time to jump in just a few more puddles. Once Seth had burst through his back door beckoning you to follow you were immediately stopped by his mother, who almost had a heart attack at the sight of him and you. 

Head-to-toe mud was caked on your bodies.

“Seth Clearwater and Y/N Y/L/N what on earth were you two thinking”, Sue screeched as she rushed off to find towels to attempt to clean you off enough for her to get you home. 

She was still yelling about how she couldn't believe the two of you managed to get that dirty in one afternoon and how you shouldn't be left unsupervised any longer. Leaving you and Seth standing in front of the sliding glass door, clothes dripping on the linoleum. You were focusing on the sound of your teeth chattering when you felt someone staring at you. 

Your gaze tracked to your left and you saw your best friend, teeth chattering and looking like a drowned rat staring back at you. As soon as he saw you looking back at him a wicked grin broke out on his face and he threw his head back, howling with laughter. 

Soon you joined him, laughing so hard that your cheeks started to hurt almost instantly. And there stood the two of you, ten years old, laughing until Sue came back in the room, accepting the towels she brought, and you happily agreed to stay for dinner. 

Life couldn't get any better, not when you lived in Forks, down the street from your best friend on the entire planet. 

The cruelness of reality caught up to you only a mere month later. 

When your parents sat you down after you had got ready for bed one night and explained that in just a couple weeks you were going to be leaving your childhood home, and the town that you loved. They did their best to try and explain how it was a smart economical decision for your family, your dad got a new high-paying job. Bribery was their main tactic, explaining that you were going to get to decorate your new bedroom and pick out some new toys and clothes for your new school. 

But it didn't matter. 

Because all you heard was that you were moving twenty hours away. 

Twenty hours away from your best friend. 

It was like your entire world was crumbling apart. The light from within was blown out. 

They promised that you would make new friends. 

But you didn't want to make new friends, not when you had the best one in the entire world. 

-------------------------

Rolling into town you truly had no plan. 

Your mom had heard from an old coworker of hers that the Clearwaters still live in the same house from your childhood. Sue and Harry had always been the type of people with an open-door policy, and you were hoping that their generosity still stood to this day. “You're always welcome in our home Y/N’, Sue had told you all those years ago when you ran to their home, tears streaming down your face after your parents told you about the move. You didn't need a place to stay, just someone to talk to and catch you up on everything from the last ten years. 

The turns in the road came to you naturally, it was like riding a bike, something you never truly forget. Crossing through Forks, turning left onto the reservation. And just like the drive through town, nothing had changed. 

And when you came upon the familiar gravel driveway you felt like you were ten years old again. 

------------

Your hand was hovering over the faded green door, the peeling paint revealing the old shade of brown it used to be. 

Your thoughts were racing, what if Sue didn't recognize you, or thought it was weird you had just shown up out of the blue after all these years? Part of you wanted to turn around and haul ass back to San Diego, and just pretend that the past few days and this road trip didn't happen. 

But you knew that if you showed up back home so soon you would look like a complete fool to your parents and your friends. You came all this way for this moment. 

The sound of your knuckles rapping against the wood caused the sounds of someone moving about the kitchen to halt. Footsteps padding through the house were the next sound and you took a step back, preparing for whoever you were about to come face to face with. 

“Y/N?” a voice said, completely startled. 

“Sue!”, you mirrored, relieved to see the woman you once considered a second mom. She stared at you in shock before opening the storm door fully, ushering you inside, pulling you into a bone-crushing hug. Laughing you hugged her back, breathing in her familiar smell of pine and fresh bread. She pulled away but kept you in her outstretched grasp admiring you. 

“I can not believe how grown up you are”, she fawned tears in her eyes. 

“A decade away will do that to yah”, you said laughing slightly. 

She ushered you through the house and into the kitchen. You sat on the barstool where she directed you, accepting the glass of water and a small plate of cookies she pushed in your direction. Comfortable silence fell over the two of you as she stood on the opposite side of the counter just gazing at the sight of you. 

Conversation flowed freely after you broke the silence, complimenting her on the cookies. 

You were in the middle of laughing at a story about Leah learning how to drive for the first time when the sound of the front door crashing open sounded through the house. Sue immediately rolled her eyes at the sound, muttering something inaudible under her breath. 

Heavy stomps bounded into the kitchen but came to a sudden stop. 

“Hey honey, we have a surprise visitor” 

Slowly you pushed yourself around on the stool, taking in the sight in front of you. 

Saying he was handsome was an understatement. 

He stood tall, his tan complexion glistening with sweat and his jaw dropped to the floor. Your smile was weak as you watched his eyes look you over from head to toe, drinking in the sight of you. 

His gaze drifted past you, looking at his mom who seemed to understand what was going on, even if you didn't. 

Sue left the room, sliding past you and slipping out the back door. Leaving just you and Seth in the kitchen. 

Slowly you slid off the stool and took a few steps towards him. As you approached a loud snort escaped you and you snapped your palm across your mouth trying to stifle your laughter. 

“What is so funny?”, he questioned cocking an eyebrow. 

Your laughter only got louder as you had to crane your neck back to meet his gaze. Confused he started to laugh a little too, rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced down at you. 

“You were two inches shorter than me when I last saw you, that's what's so funny”. 

His laugh was full this time, finally understanding where yours was coming from. Now he stood what seemed to be eight to ten inches taller than you, definitely surpassing six feet. 

“I can't believe you're here, standing in my kitchen”, his voice was soft as if he didn't want to startle you, as if this was a dream. His hand slowly reached out towards yours. And when your two hands met you could have sworn you felt electricity. He coughed back another laugh, a nervous energy suddenly taking him over. 

You rubbed your thumb over his unnaturally warm hand as you met his gaze again, giggling before you threw your hands around his neck. He faltered for a second before he wrapped his arms around your waist lifting you and tilting you around slightly. You squealed, caught off guard by the gesture, tightening your grip on him. 

Seth sat you down and continued to stare at you, watching every slight movement you took, almost like he was afraid you would disappear. Tugging him towards the living room, the two of you sat on opposite ends of the loveseat, tucking your legs into your chest so you could turn and fully face him. 

You wanted to know everything about him. Every detail about the past ten years of his life. Because even though it had been almost that long since the two of you had an actual conversation you still felt drawn to him. Like no time had passed at all. Looking at him behind the new adult body you still saw the ten-year-old that you had once loved. 

Seth knew. 

He knew from the moment that you turned around. 

You were his person. 

The imprint bond was just like everyone, all his brothers had explained it. 

Suddenly Y/N was his reason for existing. 

The same girl that he had been having dreams about since he was a child, the same girl who he had pined after, breaking down in secret whenever she got brought up in conversation. The same girl who had been missing for over half his life. 

He had been able to communicate it with Sue by just the look in his eyes, and he was grateful she had gotten the hint and left the room. This was something that he needed to process with as few eyes on him as possible. 

You were none the wiser, simply laughing about the reversed height difference the two of you now shared. Why would you know, you hadn't been around when Seth phased for the first time or experienced the hellish year that followed the Cullen's returning from their short time away from Forks. 

And he was glad. You had been kept safe, far away from the danger that the supernatural world possessed. 

Seth wanted to tell you, he wanted to tell everyone. Something deep inside of him was telling him to jump up and scream it from the rooftops, you were his imprint. 

But he knew he couldn't. At least not right now. 

You didn't have the slightest clue about anything supernatural, so he certainly couldn't start by telling you that the two of you were meant to be together. That the two of you were going to be tied together for the rest of your lives. 

So for now, he didn't. 

For now, he relished in your company, listening intently as you told him about your life. About everything he had missed during your absence from Forks. 

And he was content, someday you would know. But not today. 

[thewonandonly]

23:44 — baby, have you never been like that? a night i want to leave without any plans, please take me anywhere but home | anywhere but home by SEULGI

seonghwa offered the helmet to her, his hand not wanting to give it up due to the fact that he never had a second rider with him; save for the single time he had to pick her up from the sketchy taxi driver.

seonghwa could feel his blood run cold as he offered his coworker the helmet.

"give..." it took both of her hands and one of seonghwa's to tug the helmet back and forth, "give. me. it!" she pulled it from his hands, before putting it over her head and fumbling with the strap, "you know, it's been a week, and you're still protective over a helmet." she mumbled, poking her tongue against her cheek as she tried to get a feel for the clasp.

seonghwa sighed, standing up and slowly guiding the strap through the clasp, tightening it. his hands were gentle, and almost shaking as he pulled it tight enough.

"ready?" he asked plainly, looking at her.

she raised an eyebrow, "what?"

seonghwa immediately placed his hands on top of the helmet, and shook it around on her head, checking to see if it was secure.

he couldn't help but chuckle as she screeched as he moved her head around, before patting the top of the helmet and nodded to her, "you're all good." he nudged his head to the bike, "get on." he swung his leg over the bike and placed his phone into the holder, before pulling on his gloves and intertwining his fingers together to keep them flush against his skin. "are you gonna get on?"

seonghwa could tell that you were recovering from the shaking of the helmet, before she stumbling around, throwing her leg over the bike and resting her foot onto the foot pedals, "jesus christ, was it really necessary to do that?"

"always gotta make sure it's on safely." he pushed the key into the ignition.

she tapped her helmet, "yunho's never done that to me before." she mumbled.

seonghwa sighed, adjusting his own helmet and turned to her, "doesn't he drive a moped?" he chuckled softly, turning the key, "he doesn't need to do that if it doesn't go over 40." seonghwa spoke a little louder over the rumble of the engine, "hold on tight."

she wrapped her arms around his torso, just as he began to kick off out into the road, she tightened her arms around his waist. and she only relaxed when the two of them stopped at a red light.

seonghwa flipped up the eye shield, turning to her, "you can't wrap your arms around me so tightly." he complained, his hands resting on the gas tank of the bike, "it constricts my movement." he scoffed, "when we turn, lean with me. the center of gravity shifts on a turn."

"i know how to ride on a motorbike." she complained, "or a scooter."

seonghwa rolled his eyes, "a moped." he turned to the light, "just... don't hold onto me so tight." he flipped the eye shield back down and turned around the corner.

despite being on the back of a motorbike, you could see all the lights overhead, a smile crossing your face under the helmet. the rumbling of the engine almost felt nostalgic as well.

seonghwa pulled up to an older looking house, and you looked to seonghwa, who placed his feet on the ground.

"this isn't my complex."

"i know." seonghwa scoffed, "wooyoung needed something from me."

wooyoung came out wearing a black sweater that looked almost like a dress on him, aside from the plaid pajama pants covering his legs.

as soon as he saw the both of you, his face lit up like a christmas tree.

"hey! yn's here!" he chuckled, "if i knew you were coming, i would've gotten all done up." he smiled, "where are you both headed?"

"she got ditched by her friends." seonghwa mentioned.

you gasped, rolling your eyes, "i didn't get ditched. mingi's with his mom, san went out of town and yunho and jongho are workaholics." you smiled at wooyoung, "so, seonghwa's giving me a ride home."

"yipee." seonghwa sang sarcastically, pulling whatever wooyoung needed from his backpack.

wooyoung sighed, "if only my bike was fixed, i could've taken you home." wooyoung gave a playful wink to you, holding his hands out for what seonghwa was giving him.

seonghwa looked at him through the helmet, "just for that, i don't think i'm gonna give you what you need." he revved the bike.

wooyoung grumbled, "come on, bro!" he gaped, "i need it."

seonghwa shrugged, "take back the comment."

"dude, it wasn't a jab. i was just saying, if my bike was fixed, you wouldn't have to give her rides home."

seonghwa rolled his eyes, "whatever." seonghwa dropped the snacks into wooyoung's hands, "don't make a mess."

"don't even worry about it, hwa. joong's in there." he chuckled, "thank you, bro! yn, i hope he gets you home safe. if you ever need a ride, don't hesitate to call."

"thank you, wooyoung." you laughed, your arms wrapping around seonghwa's torso again, "i'll keep that in mind."

"get back here safe, hwa." wooyoung nodded, "don't go crazy with a lady there."

"she can handle it." he revved the engine again before turning around on the street.

shouting over the wind and the rumbling, you asked seonghwa, "was that wooyoung's house?"

seonghwa shouted back, "it's mine." he pulled out onto the street, driving back towards your complex.

which was only a 5 minute drive from his house.

with such close proximity to each other, both on the motorbike and the houses, you were surprised you haven't seen seonghwa around the neighborhood before. if you did, you knew you wouldn't have forgotten him.

seonghwa pulled into the parking garage, and turned off the engine, dropping the kickstand and letting you climb off the bike, "here we are." he pushes up the eye shield and pulls off a glove to begin typing into his phone.

you unstrap the helmet, gently passing it to him just as he moves the bag from his chest to his back, "thank you, seonghwa. i appreciate it."

"don't mention it." he waved it off, shoving the helmet into his backpack.

"do you wanna come upstairs and have something warm before you head back?" you offered, shoving your hands into the pockets of your sweater, "it might help with the wind. it's a bit chilly."

seonghwa shook his head, "no, it's fine." he tightened the bag straps with his thumbs, "i should head back. wooyoung is probably making a mess of the house already."

you nodded, "not a problem." you smiled, "thank you, again."

seonghwa flips the eye shield back down, driving out of the parking garage and looked both ways before driving off, leaving you to stand just outside your apartment building, once again.

you made your way up to your apartment, feeling alone in the empty apartment. mingi was kind enough to wash the dishes and clean the apartment for the weekend before he left, leaving a note with food to order, like you were a teenager.

you wandered over to your bedroom, falling onto your bed, your bag hanging from your hand as you turned to look at the balcony outside.

AUTHOR'S NOTE ; unfortunately, i've been looking for a new job so i was unable to write a new chapter so please accept this extra for a post today 🫶🏻

PARK SEONGHWA is a stone-cold, cantankerous punk-rock player. He hates everything about the world, and if he had just one chance, he’d do anything to keep the best thing about the world in his arms; you, the complete opposite of everything he’s ever built up to hate.

TAGLIST ;; @punks-rad​​​​​ @atinytinaa​​​​ @prince-mingki​​​​​ @dear-dreamie @yoongiigolden​​​​​​ @noonaishere ​@naiify @kodzukein​ @layzfeelit @dandelion-aj @popcatx0 @aestheticsluut @aggiebackstage @agustdpeach @diorsgyu

copyright © 2023 thewonandonly. all rights reserved.

[sweetsmollthings]

Ok so with my post about external shrinking triggers I did keep thinking on it more and wrote something……

Contains: shrinking in spurts, triggered by keywords; shrinking to about 5’3”; shrinking to about 3’6”; shrinking to 3”; an almost-kidnapping; a rescue; fear and angst; probably inaccurate grocery store things (because the author has never worked in customer service jobs)

“Ah—!”

Paige jolted, then looked towards the neighboring cashier. “Val? Are you—?”

“Don’t talk to me,” Val snapped, yanking out her earbuds much too fast (which she clearly regretted, judging from how she winced) and fumbling with her phone. Paige faintly heard a snippet of whatever she was listening to (something about miniatures?) before she finally managed to turn it off.

Paige frowned. The brusque attitude wasn’t unexpected—in all the time they had worked together, Val had always avoided talking to coworkers and customers alike, pointedly keeping her earbuds on to drown out everybody else. She probably took the late night shift to interact with as few people as possible (which, fair); even so, Paige would have liked some appreciation. She considered leaving her alone as requested.

…But the way that Val curled up, clutching her phone tight, breathing much too fast, was too concerning to ignore.

“Hey,” Paige said softly, moving closer. “Deep breaths, alright? Let’s calm down—wait, why are you so short??”

Maybe that was a strange thing to focus on for what was clearly a panic attack, but when someone was a whole head shorter than they should be, how could you not comment on it?

And, when someone got even shorter right before your eyes, could you blame a person for getting derailed? “Wha— huh??? What??? You—“

“Shut up,” Val hissed, shooting out a hand to presumably cover Paige’s mouth, but clearly misjudging the distance because she ended up bopping Paige on the chin instead. Her short sleeves billowed with the movement. Her other hand held a now too-big shirt to her chest. “Just—go away! I’m taking a break—“ Val suddenly grabbed her pants in the middle of turning around, stopping them from falling. Paige saw her ears go red.

“I, um,” Paige stuttered, then wordlessly retreated to her cash register and tried to be normal about this. Don’t stare, don’t stare, don’t stare…

It was impossible. Paige snuck a glance and startled, at first thinking that Val had gotten even smaller, but no. She was just crouching down. Hiding, probably.

Paige hesitated, then reached over to turn off Val’s checkstand light.

After a very quiet half hour, Val stood up again. Full height, this time. She glared at Paige. “Don’t say a word. To anyone.”

Paige nodded. (Not like anybody would believe her.) “So…about all that…”

But Val was already plugging in her earbuds, back to tuning out the world.

…Well. Probably best not to pry.

-

After that incident, Val seemed to put extra effort into avoiding Paige at all costs. Which wasn’t difficult, especially since Paige decided to not pursue the many questions she had. Whatever happened, it wasn’t any of her business. Maybe it never happened in the first place. Maybe she had been dreaming or delirious—never mind that she had felt totally awake—after all, shrinking was obviously impossible.

The unspoken arrangement worked out well. At least until one day, passing by the bathroom door, someone grabbed Paige’s arm.

Screeching, she swung a fist towards the offender and only hit the door (ow). As she nursed her hand, she actually looked at the door and saw Val peeking from behind it. At a much lower angle than she should be. Like, way lower. “Change the song,” she begged, which was…sorta creepy, actually.

“Huh?” Paige said, still trying to reconcile Val’s current impossible height and shift in demeanor.

“On the PA, stupid!” she hissed. (Ah, there we go.) But it turned into a whimper as, all of a sudden, she shot down a few inches. Above them, the speakers cheerfully sang, “a little bit of Monica in my life, a little bit of Erica by my side…”

“R-right! Hang on,” Paige said, running to the office. Somehow, she managed to make it before the chorus ended.

When she ran back, the bathroom door was closed again. She knocked. “It’s me. Are you…okay?”

The only answer was a clumsy click as the door opened again. Val peeked out, definitely much shorter. Child-sized, even. She clearly had to reach up for the door handle and looked miserable about that fact. “Thanks,” she mumbled. Then, “I need you to help me home.”

Glancing around to make sure nobody was watching, Paige crouched down. “Can’t you just grow back? You did last time.”

“It’s past midnight,” Val explained bitterly. “I’m stuck like this for now. Just get me home. You have a car, don’t you? It’s just a…quick drive.”

“But my shift isn’t over,” Paige said, then realized how ridiculous that was in this context. “Um. Okay. Just…follow me, I guess.”

Val opened the door a little wider and waddled out, hefting a bundle of what seemed to be almost all her clothes—thankfully, she still had a dress on. That is, her shirt, which was long enough to be a dress. Or rather, she was small enough for it to be a dress. The bundle looked like it would explode out of her arms and Paige briefly considered offering to hold it for her, but then decided that would be too weird.

“I’m gonna just quickly check the carts,” Paige told the manager, who just waved her off, not even looking up from his phone. Val padded behind her on bare feet, ducking her head even though she really didn’t need to. She couldn’t be seen over the register even if she stood up straight.

It was as quick a drive as Val said, just across the street and around the corner. Completely walkable, under normal circumstances. But under abnormal circumstances, Val needed to be helped in and out of the car and escorted to the steps. She couldn’t even unlock the door on her own. Val didn’t say a word the whole time, not even a thank you before shutting the door in Paige’s face.

-

So clearly, for whatever reason, Val shrunk any time she heard any word that meant “small” and grew back at midnight, like some sort of bizarre Cinderella. Her general demeanor made a lot more sense now. Why be friendly with people if conversations were a landmine for triggering a…curse? Probably a curse. This seemed pretty curse-like.

Being privy to this secret didn’t afford Paige any exemption to Val’s antipathy, though. It did afford her a lot more requests for help, and while she did understand that she was probably the only one who could help (since the cat was out of the bag anyways), it was sort of getting stressful, considering that most of the requests involved sneaking her out of work. Sometimes when she wasn’t even that small.

“Can’t you get noise-cancelling headphones or something?” Paige asked tersely on one of their secret drives.

Val looked at her, surprised. Even after their arrangement began, they never really exchanged words during the drives. It was just a given that they should be done in silence. After a long pause, she tugged at her shirt (which wasn’t even that baggy this time) and replied, “They hurt after a while. And it’s not like they work perfectly.”

“It’s better than nothing. I can’t keep doing this for you, I’ll lose my job.”

Val glared hard at the glovebox. “Okay. Got it,” she said coldly, sending a twinge of guilt through Paige. But really, it was unreasonable to ask her to do this. She wasn’t in the wrong here. Val should be figuring out how to handle this herself.

-

“Who’s that?”

Paige blinked, coming out of her automatic check-out mode, and looked at where the shopper pointed. “Huh? Val?”

The shopper nodded. “Thanks. I don’t need a receipt.”

“Alright,” Paige said slowly. That…was a little weird, right? Should she tell Val? But it’s been pretty awkward ever since their last conversation. And she could handle herself. She should handle herself, really. Paige wasn’t her keeper.

When their shift ended, Paige got into her car and headed home—her home, not Val’s. Which, of course, was how it should be. It was late. She needed some sleep before class. They weren’t friends.

…

Sighing heavily, Paige turned around and drove back to the road she had grown so familiar with, peering ahead for any sign of a person on the empty sidewalks. As she approached Val’s house, her headlights caught a lone figure, crouching close to the ground, over a pile of clothes—

Paige quickly parked, launched herself out of her car, and punched the shopper from before in the solar plexus. In one fluid motion, she scooped up the clothes and retreated, jumping back in (and knocking her head on the top of her car, ow), and slamming the door behind her—wait, was Val even in the clothes? She couldn’t feel her weight, did she drop her? Paige tore at the bundle of clothes in her lap and yes, she could see a small form squirming around, thank god—

The shopper suddenly slammed a hand on her window and she screamed, dropping Val in the cupholder and slamming on the gas. She didn’t stop until fifteen minutes later, when it was pretty clear there was no car following her. She pulled to the side of the road. “Okay, pretty sure we’re good,” she announced. “Let’s get you out of—“

The tiny hand that slapped at her fingers when she reached into the cupholder barely registered, but Paige flinched back anyways. As the adrenaline wore off, she became aware of soft crying.

And with that came the extra awareness of how…small Val was at the moment, the smallest she’d ever seen her. So small that she fit in a cupholder. So small, she could easily be whisked away.

“I-I’ve never—it’s never been th-this bad before,” Val managed between sobs, tripping over her self-censorship. “Wh-what if I don’t grow back this time?”

“I mean, you always grow back, right? No reason that’ll change. You’ll be normal again in…” …twenty-two hours.

Paige flinched as the wailing just grew louder. Not by much. Being just a few inches tall affected your volume, as it turns out.

“…Want to go to my place?” Paige offered meekly. Neither of them brought up the obvious fact that Val couldn’t stay at her own place. Possibly couldn’t ever go back, considering that her would-be kidnapper knew where she lived.

The cupholder gave no answer other than more weeping. So Paige just quietly drove home.

[keep-the-wolves-close]

Steady Heart

Chapter 2: Deep Stays Down

Pairing: Slow-burn Kayce Dutton × OFC Stella Daniels

Rating: M? (Still figuring out the rating system) (might eventually be M anyhow)

Warnings: Grief, panic, language because I mean let's be honest we've all seen the show lol

Word count: 2,710

Gif credit goes to @bodybebangin (I totally can’t remember if there’s a way to transfer the gif to my post with your profile link on mobile.) Edit I figured it out and I’ll remember for the next time!

Authors Note: Thank you everyone for the interest in my first chapter! Here we are with chapter two! I hope you all like this one too! I had to split chapter 2 into two so technically there’s an extra chapter. So I think I’ll post this early 😂.

I would love to give credits to @dameronscopilot for being a sounding board for me during this whole process, giving outsider insight, a cheerleader, and allowing me to screech at her about things that have happened during the writing process. I seriously couldn’t have gotten this far. 💛

Stella tossed the covers of the bunk back. She reached for her glasses and her phone. It was around 8:30 in the morning. She wasn’t too late, but later than she had planned. Late by ranch standards, for sure. Thankfully no one was in the bunkhouse at the time so she had free reign of the bathroom.

She came out fully dressed and ready for the day. She saw all the men out the kitchen window. ‘All of them, except one.’ She blinked rapidly and air rushed up from her lungs. It was like that thought had just sucker punched her right in the gut. The nausea came back, her fingertips and cheeks went numb. No one came for her. More so, Lee wasn’t barging in, telling her to “Get your ass up and let’s get a move on! You’re holdin’ me up, lil’ bit!” He let her get away with much more than he probably should have.

Leaning forward against the sink, she looked down and tried to catch her breath, open mouthed and salivating. She tried to convince herself to not vomit. ‘In through your nose, out through your mouth girl.’ A groan escaped her. Her eyes welled up and she sank to the floor against the sink cabinets.

Stella slammed her fist on the floor. “Fuck!” She screamed in anguish. Partly regretting hitting the floor so hard, but most of it aimed at the loss of a coworker. A friend. The thought of never seeing him again, never hearing him giving her a hard time about his brother, about how she did something with a particular horse? It hit her like a freight train. One thought after the other. There was an empty crater made by the absence of Lee. One which she didn’t even realize would be there.

She hiccupped and hyperventilated while the tears streamed down her round cheeks. Stella tried to remind herself not to pass out. She could hear Lee's voice, right after she had gotten bucked really hard for the first time. “Big breaths kid. Big breaths.” Her face contorted into sorrow. She gulped air for a minute. Slowly, but surely, her breathing came back to a better rhythm.

Standing carefully, she ran the cold water in the sink. Stella splashed her face and held the cold water around her eyes. She didn’t need to be super swollen and red going out there. Ryan would immediately sniff it out.

Fixing her hair into a bun, she closed the bunkhouse door behind her. Before she had her meltdown, she had seen from the window that John and Rip had brought out Kayce’s horse. She definitely wanted to go and watch; that horse was about to give everyone a run for their money. He listened great for Kayce though. There was something kindred between the two that she noticed yesterday. She didn’t think John would have the patience for him for long.

“Hey Rip, Mr. Dutton.” She smiled at them.

“Hey kid.”

She rolled her eyes at the foreman while laughing. “You do realize I’m 26 now and not 14?”

“Don’t do that to me, Stella-belle.” Rip pleaded playfully.

Stella jested. “What? Make you feel old?”

John grinned at Stella. “If it makes him feel old, then I feel ancient, little girl.”

“Well you do look pretty rusty with that horse, sir.” She joked because of the show the stallion put on while she walked up.

“Oh you think you can do better?” John challenged her.

“I mean, your oldest and youngest did teach me almost everything I know.”

“And who do you think they learned it from?”

“Lloyd.” Stella giggled and hopped up and over the fence. She wiped her hands on her pants. “Let me take a crack at him.”

She handed her glasses to John and said, “Don’t get your dusty fingerprints all up on my lenses, sir.” He chuckled and stepped back to the fence where Rip stood.

“You should invest in contacts, dear.” John joked. He didn’t leave the pen, just in case she needed someone to grab her out. He knew his son’s best friend could be a little reckless when it came to the horses. Lee had seen fit to mention that to him.

“My glasses treat me just fine, thank you.” She pivoted back to the mustang.

“Whoa Tank.” She said softly and outstretched her hand to him. He looked to her, but then at John behind her. He let out a short snort and stomped his front foot.

“Mr. Dutton, no offense, but get out of the pen please.” She could hear him as he shuffled his way out.

He leaned over to Rip and said quietly, “Excuse me, just getting kicked out of my own arena.” They shared a chuckle at her determination.

“I can hear y’all by the way.” She smirked over her shoulder at them. “I work with the rest of these horses nearly every day, so let me try to do my thing.”

Stella stepped forward carefully. “Is that better, bud?” He nickered gently at her, partially satisfied. She chuckled at him. “Just like Kayce,” she said softly.

She clucked twice. “Come here boy.” The stallion took his time as he decided whether or not she was going to betray his trust. Just like she would with Kayce, she let him come to her. Which, he finally broke and decided she was interesting enough.

In her outstretched hand, he placed his muzzle. She began to pet him on his velvety soft nose and forehead. Once she felt that he was comfortable and he wasn’t giving a negative reaction, she started to mess around with his saddle; giving him gentle shoulder pats every so often. She just wanted to be extra sure that if the stud tried to toss her, she would have as much control as possible.

She got close to his ear and said gently, “okay, Tank. You ready to show these boys what we’re made of?” The horse chuffed just a tiny bit, just loud enough that she could hear him. She patted his chest and placed her foot in the stirrup. Stella gauged his reaction and he made it seem like she could proceed. She scrunched her eyebrows in suspicion and gripped the horn, stepping up into the saddle. She didn’t want to pull on his back harder than she needed and piss him off even more.

She sat deep in her seat and took a deep breath. She kept the reins loose, they were split reins anyhow, and her legs soft on his sides. Her heels low to keep her center of gravity. Stella could feel the stallion’s mind brewing. She brought his head up because she didn’t want him to go between his knees.

“Well I’ll be damned,” John muttered.

“Why do you think Lee and I gave her the position to work beside him with the horses, sir?”

“It’s okay, boy. You’re doing gre— shit!” Stella grabbed the horn tight and pulled her legs close because Tank took off in a flying leap.

He bounced them both around for the longest 10 seconds of Stella’s life. He tried to flip them, but she loosened her legs and pulled his head sharp into the inside lead causing him to lose momentum. She could hear Lee screaming at her in her head to get him on the inside and get his head back from him. The stud took a step to the side to gain balance. Tank made his displeasure known as he hollered and tried to toss her more times than she could count.

Stella flexed his neck and made him move forward. She, at the very least, wanted to get him to listen to her. There was a lot of work she was going to have to put in with this one. ‘Of course Lee left me the difficult one.’ She kept pushing him forward in long strides around the arena and finally he ground to a halt with an agitated squeal. They were both breathing heavily, but she refused to let him catch her off guard again. She flexed the inside rein again.

“Come on Tank, work with me here.” He tried to step on the outside lead to get away from her direction, but she brought him back in. He allowed her to trot him over to the two man audience they had. At least she had thought it was just Rip and Mr. Dutton. Everyone else from the bunkhouse had joined in to watch the free rodeo.

Lloyd looked proud. “We could make you a rodeo queen yet, little bit.”

Stella let out a full belly laugh. “Oh my god, Lloyd. Hell no. I like where my spine is. I’ll be just fine without the buckle.”

She stopped in front of John and he passed her glasses over to her. “He’s got a lot of work ahead of him, but I really don’t think anyone but Kayce is gonna be able to do anything with him. Or at least have him agreeable. This is absolutely your son’s horse, sir.” She got down and gave Tank a few good pats on his shoulder.

John and Stella shared a look of understanding and she put her glasses back on. They both knew exactly what she meant about Tank being Kayce’s. More so, Kayce being Tank’s. She breathed a chuckle through her nose and handed the reins over to Rip.

“I’ll keep trying with him tomorrow. I’ll talk to Kayce about him if you want me to?” She offered.

She watched Rip walk off and holler out, “Jimmy! Saddle up! We’ll make you a cowboy, yet.” Bless that man for what they were about to do to him.

“Yeah Stella. You do that for me.” John directed her.

She sent a text to Kayce. Hey, you got a minute to talk about that horse of yours? When she brought her eyes back up from her phone, she almost choked at the sight before her. Jimmy was now duck taped to Tank and being given explicit directions by Rip. Stella wandered over to her brother and Colby. She heard them placing bets on the horse or Jimmy.

“That horse has a name, ya know.”

“And what would that be, little bit?” Colby asked sarcastically.

She bit back. “His name is Tank if you would have paid attention at all.” She came to occupy the space between the bro-buds and Mr. Dutton and Rip.

“Do I detect some defensiveness?” Ryan goaded her.

Stella leaned forward on the fence and placed her foot up on a rung. “I never said I wasn’t gonna put money on the horse. I just want you to use his name, is all. Respect him and he’ll respect you. Maybe.” She cracked a smile. “I put $20 on Tank.” John let out a gruff chuckle from her right hand side. “I expect both of you to pay up too.” She joked to her bosses.

Ryan hissed through his teeth at her as Rip and John guffawed at her challenge. “Stella Lee!”

“What?” She bounced her shoulders. “Alls fair. Isn’t that right, gentlemen?” She focused on Jimmy and the horse, bouncing around just like she and John had been not long before. She felt for the poor kid because they were so rough on him, but he needed to harden up some.

Silence overtook her. This is where she would have been standing while watching Lee in the pen. Ryan glanced over at his sister when he realized she had gone silent.

He leaned toward her. “You okay?”

“I will be.” She murmured back. She didn’t have the energy to get into it.

Ryan questioned quietly. “Lee?” She confirmed silently. He sighed and placed an arm around her. “We’ll get through this, Stellee. I promise.”

Her phone buzzed in the back pocket of her jeans. Pulling it out, she glanced at the message preview. If you mean my father’s horse, I guess I got some time.

She replied. You want me to call you?

“Hey, I’ll be right back. I might gotta make a phone call.” Stella announced to the men as she removed herself from under her brother's arm. She figured the barn would be the closest and quietest place. Jamie was just walking up as she made her exit, and she acknowledged him in a quick greeting.

In through the side door she went. She figured she could say hi to her baby at the same time. Abigail made a happy noise at her arrival. Stella caressed her muzzle fondly. “Come on girl, back up.” She clucked twice and gently pushed her muzzle and the bay roan moved backward. Opening the stall door, she moved inside to the cleanest part and made herself comfortable on the floor to wait for Kayce’s approval to call.

She heard movement from the front of the barn. Her eyebrows pulled together. It was past morning turnout, and it wasn’t feed time, so no one should really be in here. She went to move back out into the hallway when she faintly heard John talking to Jamie.

“Did they identify Kayce?” John asked. Stella tilted her head quizzically and stopped moving. What did they mean, “identify Kayce”?

Jamie answered. “Not yet.”

“Who are the agents we’re talking about?” John asked.

“It’s, uh, Tom Reynolds and Aaron McReary.” Jamie offered up.

John pursed his lips in contemplation. “Reynolds I can deal with. I don’t know this McReary.”

“Yeah, he lives in the south end of the valley. Word is he likes his religion.”

“As in “won’t tell a lie” likes it?”

“Yeah, that would be my guess.” Jamie exhaled heavily.

“Find out where he goes to church. Anything else?” John thought twice. “Anything else? You said there were a few.”

Jamie sighed. “The medical examiners report. You’re not gonna like it.”

“Who else has seen the report?” As John questioned his second oldest son, Stella leaned forward to try and peek out the bars of the stall.

“The only ones who have seen it, want it to change.”

“Then it’ll change.” John started walking in her direction. Stella withdrew from the bars and bent down in the front corner to avoid being seen.

“It means they’re doctors. Which means they took an oath and it wasn’t to you. No matter what we do the photographs won’t change. The body won’t change. It’ll tell the same story to anybody who looks.” Jamie started to raise his voice.

“The body is buried, Jamie. Relax.”

“Yeah, but when they see the report…”

Abigail chose the most inopportune time to snort loudly. Stella squeezed her eyes shut, fixed her glasses, and put her hand on the underside of Abigail’s stomach. She tried to convince her to be quiet.

“When they see the report what?”

“When they see –,” John spoke over Jamie.

“–You think I’m just gonna let them dig up my son?”

“When they see the report they’re not gonna ask, they’re just gonna do it, dad.”

“Don’t say it –,”

“–I think–,”

“–Don’t say it –,”

“–I think we should beat them to it.”

“Don't even think it!”

Stella could hear things getting heated. She wanted to know, but also didn’t. She looked at the stall window that faced the one back paddock for the horses. Silently she thanked God for her girl having one of the few rooms with a VIP view. She gave Abigail a pat and tried to quietly climb out the window. She accidentally leaned back against the open section and it bounced against the barn. She grimaced as her feet dropped to the ground semi-gracefully. She thought she was in the clear as she took off. Unbeknownst to Stella, John had heard the noise from Abigail’s stall on his way out.

She was gonna have to go around the barn the long way to avoid running into John. She made an immediate left to wrap back around and texted Kayce. Actually, can I just meet you at your house?

There was only a few minutes in between messages. Yeah, that’s fine with us. Stella thanked God above and darted to her car. She didn’t catch John as he peeked around the corner and watched her race off.

Comments, thoughts, commentary, and asks are welcome! Just please be gentle lol. 🤓

[ilovebokutokoutaro]

𝐋𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐜

Minho x reader

Warnings: ED, don't read if mentions of eating disorders could trigger you please don't. Throwing up, angst, comfort (i just want to tell you all you're really freaking pretty and awesome).

─┉┈◈◉◈┈┉

"trust me, why don't you just trust me? You're the only beauty, show me more."

─┉┈◈◉◈┈┉

Minho loved you, he loved everything you did just as much too, he loved watching you speak, he loved watching you smiling at the things you liked, he loved the way your eyes shimmered brightly when you looked at him...and just everything.

But minho specially loved watching you eat, he knew your relationship with food wasn't the best but you had been doing better and so maybe he thought letting it go wouldn't do anything bad.

But minho didn't need to specially know that comments like "she's so thin", "she's so pretty", "i wish i was like her" only ever drove you to edge, he thought that maybe you'd feel better about yourself if you heard such stuff.

What he didn't know was the looming darkness enveloping your head in a warmth that'd slowly burn your body into nothing but bones.

He didn't know the haunting silence that made it's way to your heart as loud screeches as you stared at your reflection, it appeared you could never see the beauty minho carried in his head, the beauty you were.

Your fingertips trailing your collarbones as you breathes in a sharp sigh, knuckles so cleary visible only you could see the thickness that blinded your view, you were getting unhealthily thin.

Minho had been out for a month and you felt horrible for being like this, you weren't a kid he should have to arrange meals for, to make sure you ate well, you weren't.....you never wanted to be a burden to him.

And it didn't help as you walked your way to work, after 3 days, too scared to show your face anywhere.

Summer had recently started and you hated the fact you had to show your body to people, open for them to judge. So you wore a thin oversized and full sleeved shirt, a lose pair of pants to hide the shape of your body.

But it was to no avail.

"you're getting too thin, y/n! You need to gain weight.." a coworker of yours mumbled and you could already feel the one bite you took coming up your throat. "Y-yeah?" You chuckled awkwardly as they went on and on about what you should and what you shouldn't do.

God you wanted to die, you had barely eaten 5 bites and you already felt so full, but you were scared.

Scared that if you stop eating they'd pick on you again and so you ate, only to sit in the toilet 15 mins later, throwing up everything you had.

Forcing your fingers in your throat as you bit down hard, throwing up everything you've had since morning, a dull ache followed through your tummy to chest, the back of your throat and tongue aching as if you had been beaten down.

Your jaw felt stiff and painful as you got up, shivering as you saw a woman standing near the sink with a worried expression.

"A-are you okay?" She whispered cautiously and you mustered up the best smile you could, "yeah ofc! Just had something bad for lunch so my stomach acted up hahaha don't worry!" You cheerfully explained.....well as cheerfully as you could...

"okay..." She stuttered still a bit suspicious but you laughed and left, forgetting to dry your hands as you pinched your skin.

The rest of the day went by easily and you sighed as you walked back to your house, yet again alone. Wishing minho would be back soon, taking small steps and soon you were cautious of how you walked, what if you looked weird walking because you were so thin?? What if your body looked uglier than it used to??

What if you- your thoughts were interrupted by a sudden urge to throw up, you hadn't had anything yet, and you had already thrown up everything you ate in the morning.

You speed walked to your apartment, sweating through your shirt as the heat came to you.

And it wasn't before you were back in your bathroom throwing up water as you wheezed. You should eat. You should eat. You should eat. You should eat....you shouldn't eat, you shouldn't eat, you shouldn't eat.

"oh god i really do hate myself..." You chuckled, tears wetting your cheeks, small cries slowly turning into loud sobs as you wrapped your arms around your head to stop the thoughts. Even just for a moment...just for a second.

"why am i like this?!" You complained, standing up to look at yourself in the mirror. God you looked horrible, dark circles making you look like a zombie. And then you walked out. Eating whatever came into sight.

Crying as you stuffed yourself with whatever food you could find. Too ugly, too thin, too much. You were too much for anyone.

And you ate more the other day, ignoring the guilt bubbling up at the pit of your stomach. You felt sick. You felt really sick. Sick of yourself, sick of everyone telling you how your body should look like, Sick of hating yourself for breathing, sick of being so ugly and unworthy.

And you waited, waited and waited for someone to pull you out of the hell hole you've jumped into.

Talks with minho got brief as he got busier with his schedule and you with eating and throwing up alternatively.

And there was only so much you could take....as you sat on your bed, wishing to be dead as the images of your body flashed in your head over and over. God it was haunting. You had gained weight. A lot of it, or that's what you thought.

"I'm so sick of myself" you cried loudly, tears blurring your vision over and over no matter how hard you tried to wipe them away.

"I'm sick of feeling like this minho, I'm too ugly for you, I'm too much. Why are you still by my side? God... aren't you tired of me? Aren't you.....why do you even love someone like me?" You sobbed and you could hear a sharp breathe coming from the other side.

"y/n.." he sounded sad, maybe disappointed. Was he disappointed in you? Was he crying because of you?

"I'm sorry.." you sobbed out again and you could hear every little breathe he took. "Listen...baby you're not too much and ugly? God. I've never ever seen someone as pretty as you ever, if only-" he took a deep breathe "if only you could see yourself the way i see you, if only i was there to hold you right now...but I'm not, so stay for me, please if you can't love yourself, take care of yourself for me, i love you, i love everything you do, the way you look at me, how pretty you look when you smile, you look so pretty even when you're crying even though i hate seeing you in pain. You're so goddamn pretty y/n i don't understand why you would ever think I'll get tired of you....i could never. I may not understand what you're going through right now, but i love you and I'll always be here for me whenever you need me. I- i love you so much!!" He exclaimed and you cried back a loud "i love you so much too"

A smile adorning your face, even when tears stained your pretty cheeks as you talked to him untill your couldn't keep your eyes open.

Maybe it was going to be hard, maybe you're not worthy of anything but minho loved you, and that's all that mattered. You weren't just your body. You were wayy more than the shape your hips took or the way your tummy rolled or the chubbiness of your cheeks, you were wayy more than what your body looked like and minho made sure you knew that.

--------

This may not be accurate or fit into what you feel but this is how i feel so i wrote it accordingly. Also hope that all of you know how absolutely precious you are, how pretty you all look when you're happy and i wish you all eat well. I'm so proud of anyone suffering through such and god i love you all so much too💞💞

[btsmosphere]

OOOO this is such a unique idea i dont think i v seen an ask game like this. big brain ru 🙇🏻‍♀️💫❤️

as for the no. 14 please!😚💕

14: Wrong place wrong time mafia au

pairing: jin, jungkook, reader ???? some combo of the above genre: mafia au, angst?, humour?, strangers to ? word count: 1180 rating: pg15 warnings: violence, threat, assault with a knife

a/n: when I first checked number 14 and saw this.. I thought 'wow, way to be vague, past me. wtf do i do here' - but in the end I had an absolute field day writing this. the longest one of the game yet! hence it also took up a bit more time than the previous ones💜thank you for playing my dear diti and I hope you enjoy your drabble😘x

This place was always quiet. Tonight especially so, even the server had yet to show themself.

For you, that was no problem. It was why you picked this restaurant, needing somewhere you could count on to be left alone after the day you’d had. Or the week. Or-

Well, safe to say, you were drained. College had been running you to the ground, all while your work was trying to load you up with more shifts as more of your coworkers left. You were one of the few not in a position to up and go, needing the cash.

Another perk of this place were the prices. Really, you didn’t know why it wasn’t busier. Good food that didn’t leave your bank account in mourning? Sure, it was a bit out of the way but you had never seen it full.

Equally, it wasn’t often that it was completely deserted. Today, you were counting your blessings for that.

Until a tinkle of the bell announced another customer. It was just the one, though, as a surreptitious glance over your shoulder told you. The new arrival seemed just as eager to mind their own business, sliding into a table far from yours and slumping backwards with a scowl.

Before he could catch your eye with that deadly look, you turned back to your own table. You weren’t blind to his attractiveness, but you were undeterred in your quest to ignore him nonetheless.

To your relief, movement finally made itself known at the counter.

Slipping from your seat, you made your way to order before the server decided to disappear again. You already knew your favourite dish here, the combination of sauce and toppings not one you had found anywhere else, so that made it easy for you.

Despite there being one more customer waiting, the server jotted down your order and swiftly left.

Shrugging, you turned to sit back down. It wasn’t your problem if the new guy had to wait. Your food was your priority.

As you stepped towards your table, the other man rose from the corner. Keeping your eyes averted from him, you headed to wait.

It seemed he had other plans.

The moment he drew level with you, he diverted without warning. No sooner could you blink than his hand was around your neck, shoving you backwards into a table. The impact was noisy, pain blooming in your lower back as the wooden legs screeched on the floor.

Gasping, your eyes found the man’s for the first time. Hard and steely, they froze you in place, helplessly trying to balance yourself against the poor table.

Gulping, you desperately willed your heartrate to calm. The man’s heavy brows were drawn together and his frown only deepened. Still gripping your collar tightly, he slowly raised his other hand, making you hiss in a breath and struggle to get away once more, fear hijacking your body.

This guy had a knife.

Were you really about to be stabbed? Way to top off the day you were having. Maybe he just wanted your wallet. You did have food to pay for, but your life seemed a bit more valuable in that moment.

Your efforts to shake him off were futile, and you grew limp as he poised the knife cooly in front of your chest.

With trepidation, you raised your eyes to his once more, preparing yourself to give in to whatever he asked so you could get out of this alive and back to your damn dinner.

Your confusion only escalated at his words.

“Weapons out. Now,” he hissed, “put them on the table.”

Clearly you stared back at him, stunned, for too long, because he jabbed the knife closer, pressing against the front of your shirt.

“Clearly you’re the one with the weapons here,” you retorted. Oops.

Watching the fury on the man’s face blaze to life, you gulped. You really were about to meet the end of a knife.

He opened his mouth, but another sound came first.

The door opening.

You let out a breath; another customer might just force your attacker to give up. But you tried not to feel too relieved just yet.

Whoever it was seemed to take a while making up their mind. Maybe the scene they were met with frightened them and the moment they unfroze they would bolt. But, after a very long few seconds, slow footsteps moved towards the pair of you.

Far from deterred, the man with the knife yanked harder on your collar. You stumbled once more against the table. Breath quickening, you diverted your gaze downwards and saw a smart pair of shoes stop close behind your assaulter.

“Let them go, Jin.”

The new voice sounded bored, but the reaction was instant. At last, the hold on your neck weakened, allowing you to slump backwards onto the table. Your mugger whipped around.

“…Jungkook?”

Staring at the scene in shock, you caught a glimpse of your saviour. Or was he? He may have distracted your attacker, but he seemed to know the man. Jin, he said?

The new man, Jungkook, was also in a suit, and clasped his hands easily in front of him. His mouth quirked into a smile, eyes flickering behind Jin to look at you. He seemed all too amused, a youthful spark captured in his eyes and sublte dimple in his cheek.

“I see you’ve made a start without me,” he observed.

“They’re… they’re not one of yours?”

Jin glanced towards you, and for the first time you didn’t find him intimidating. Gone was that hard frown, and instead he gaped not unlike a fish. Still, you held down your smile, not willing to push your luck.

Jungkook smiled blithely, saying nothing. One eyebrow raising, Jin turned back to Jungkook.

“But they… they ordered it. That dish…”

Jungkook shrugged.

“No one orders that,” Jin continued.

If you didn’t already know he was armed, you might have voiced your offence at that. He had jumped you, a complete stranger, and now he was judging your choice of dinner?

“Good to know that your intention was to cut straight to the chase,” Jungkook finally spoke up, brushing aside Jin’s line of questions, “and here I thought we had agreed to a peaceful meeting.”

“You- You set me up!” Jin exclaimed, “They’re a decoy!”

Suddenly, he had turned back to you again, and that anger had returned. The knife hadn’t gone anywhere either.

Jumping up, you hurriedly darted out of his reach, but Jungkook’s reflexes had you beat. His hand closed swiftly around Jin’s wrist, halting the knife in its course. The two men exchanged a heated stare, until Jin huffed and the knife clattered to the ground.

Heart still thunking against your ribcage, you glanced hopefully back out at the door. However, having moved closer when stopping Jin, Jungkook now stood in your way. He turned his attention to you.

“Sit down,” he smiled, gesturing with his free hand to the table you had just been attacked against. “Wouldn’t want to miss your dinner.”

~

Thank you for reading! Play my prompt roulette and get a drabble of your own here :)

[auughsoundeffect]

GENSHIN CHARACTERS AS LINDSEY STIRLING PIECES

I love Lindsey, she needs more recognition!!

Diluc

First off, the name fits perfectly

The images in my head told me THIS is his song alr? You can’t change my mind.

Im always right.

There are parts that literally sound like a bird screeching, (MY DESCRIPTION IS SO BAD BUT HEAR ME OUTTT)

His burst is a literal phoenix like… Hellooo???

This piece is so intense, I get goosebumps everytime I listen to this.

Scaramouche

I SEE HIS BACKSTORY CUTSCENE IN MY HEAD AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS PIECE

And then it becomes so crisp after the start!!! Like good crisp.

You can feel the anger, the betrayal, the sadness, the HURT

You feel the exhaustion of being let down so many times.

Kaeya

I beg you do not sleep on this one. I get goosebumps everytime.

It’s so intense.

And we all know that Kaeyas backstory is so intense despite his careless and composed personality.

Yes I think about the fight he had with Diluc when I hear this. And now you will too.

The hurt. The mixed emotions. The sadness. The horror. All the feelings he felt going up against his precious brother back then.

God DAMN

La signora

Waltz - Lindsey Stirling

(Underrated masterpiece btw. Couldn’t even find it in the music feature)

You can hear the pain in this piece

The ANGUISH.

The RAGE.

DESPERATION

Her backstory is so so sad.

At least she’s back with Rostam now lmao

Ajax

BRU-TAL

Intense. Asl.

Yes I know I say everything is intense but srsly. When did I lie?

No matter what he has no choice but to keep pushing forward.

Like c’mon, I know this ginger smiles n shit but let’s be realistic—

Being a harbinger is hard.

Most of the people who are in the fatui don’t even like to work there but it’s the only option for them.

Bro doesn’t even like his coworkers like..??

It’s a hard life he has.

Keeping it all a secret from his family too.

Who knows how many peoples blood stains his hands.

His life is a mess.

Arataki Itto

Good vibes ONLY!!!

It fits so well with his optimistic personality

I love him so much 💔

Idk what else to write.

The song is just a dead giveaway. It’s so Itto bro.

Venti

Got the “hear ye hear ye☝️😀” vibes yfm?

So happy and youthful

Makes me wanna do folk dance fr

This is just fitting

Bard music fr

Goes hand in hand with Venti’s juvenile vibe

Good vibes only‼️‼️‼️

Nilou

Don’t deny it, we all know she’d perform to this and EAT IT UP.

All I can think of is her dancing to this.

I know the audience will be left with goosebumps all over their body

What can I say?

It’s flamboyant, mesmerizing, absolutely breathtaking.

[super-ion]

Ion & Emily - First Date

(master post)

This one's the final episode of the "How it All Started" arc:

How it All Started

First Night Out

~~~

"Okay, but like the portals with the tentacles. How is that not hot?"

Emily rolled her eyes.

"Harper, I thought we were talking about costumes."

"Hotness is about presence," Harper argued.

"And Ion doesn't have presence?"

"I guess… but she's only ever fought Jackrabbit. That's like fighting a plastic bag. Talk to me after she takes on Umbra, then we can compare notes… Oh hey, your girlfriend is here, we can ask her."

Emily looked up to see Jen and she felt her face heat slightly.

"She's not my girlfriend," she hissed. 

"Not with that attitude, she isn't," Harper whispered. "Tell you what, we'll have her settle this, if she picks Ion, you have to give her your number."

Oh… the last thing Emily needed was her coworker trying to meddle in her love life.

"Harper, no-"

"Hi, Jen!" Harper said cheerily. "Emily and I were just having a debate and we were hoping you could weigh in. Who's hotter, Lady Lacuna or Ion?"

Jen squeaked and stumbled as she approached the counter.

"I'm going to murder you," Emily said under her breath, but Harper ignored her.

"Personally, I'm a fan of Lady L, but Emily's fully on board the Ion train."

"Y-you think Ion is hot?" she mumbled.

Emily glanced up from Jen's coffee. It might have been her imagination, but Jen almost seemed to be studying her curiously.

"Yeah," Emily sighed. "I like how she does things."

"You like how she targets big banks and corrupt politicians, we're talking about hotness," Harper argued.

"Didn't you just say hotness was about presence?" Emily shot back. "Also, Ion is unapologetically queer."

"Okay yeah, she does have that going for her," Harper admitted. "So who's it gunna be, Jen?"

Jen shot a panicked look between the two of them. 

"I… uh…"

"You don't need to answer," Emily said. "She's being nosy."

Jen relaxed slightly at that.

God, how could someone be so awkwardly cute? Emily thought to herself.

Fine.

Before she could second guess herself, Emily popped the cap off her pen and scribbled something extra on Jen's cup. She set it down on the counter and put on her brightest smile which wasn't hard around Jen.

"Here you go," she said. "Have a great day Jen."

Jen picked up the cup and her eyes grew improbably wide. They darted between the string of digits on the cup and Emily's face. Even as her face grew beet red, the corners of her lips quirked into the tiniest goofy smile.

"I… thanks… um… you too!"

She turned, blushing and fled the cafe.

"Oh my god!" Harper said giddily. "Did you really-"

"Shut it, Harper," Emily replied, unable to keep her own smile off her face.

***

It was… not quite a great day for Emily. She genuinely liked working at the cafe, she liked watching normal people just doing normal people things. The problem was, some normal people were assholes. For whatever reason, the rest of the day had just been a relentless string of one entitled customer after another.

She was tired. She just wanted to collapse at home and watch something mindless. But of course she had to stop at the ATM, which meant she was right outside the bank when half a dozen cop cars swarmed in, screeching to a halt around her.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," she muttered. She glanced at the machine which still held her card captive. Yeah… she wasn't getting it back now. 

Before she could move to evacuate the premises, one of the windows of the bank exploded outward and a black clad figure tumbled out. The figure staggered to her feet and brushed the glass off her. Emily found herself staring at the form fitting costume, black and glowing green and shining chrome.

Ion.

Oh my god, she's hotter in person, Emily thought.

Ion looked up and froze as she saw the assembled police cars. For the tiniest moment, Emily saw a flicker of very real fear on her face.

Fights between supers were usually fought with a certain expectation of professional courtesy. In general, that expectation did not extend to cops, especially for an openly trans supervillain who already had a record of exposing police misconduct.

That was probably the main reason why Emily was not at all surprised by what happened next. It was also mostly why she didn't try to resist… mostly.

Ion was suddenly behind her, one arm wrapping across Emily's shoulders and mechanical limbs looming menacingly over her.

"I'm really sorry about this," Ion murmured in her ear. "Do you consent to being taken hostage and/or being used as a human shield?"

"Uh… yeah, sure," Emily replied. "But you should probably be aware-"

"Talk later. Hold on tight."

Alright then. This was happening. Emily knew that when a super told you to hold on tight, you had better do it quickly and without question. Something unfolded from Ion's backpack and emitted a low humming that Emily recognized as gravimetric repulsors spinning up. She tightened her grip and they shot into the sky.

"Oh shit!" Ion shouted. "Shit shit shit!"

They were going very high, very fast. Ion was clearly not used to passengers. For a horrible moment they started tumbling before the wings flared with a groan and they slowed to a hover high above the city.

"Sorry," Ion said sheepishly. "These are new. I'm still getting used to them."

"Wait," Emily replied. "Have you ever actually flown before?"

Ion offered an embarrassed smile before they rocketed forward towards the river. She brought them to an apparently abandoned warehouse by the docks, and they descended through a broken skylight as the floor opened to  reveal a subterranean landing pad.

They set down gently and the ceiling slid closed above them ominously.

Ion sighed and raised her hands to her face to remove her mask. Emily cleared her throat and Ion spun, looking surprised that she still had a hostage. She blinked her luminous green eyes a few times and something like recognition flashed across them.

"O-oh," she said. "Right. Hostage."

Emily narrowed her eyes. There was definitely something familiar about Ion that she couldn't quite place.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" she asked.

Ion blanched and straightened.

"No. I've never met you before in my life," Ion lied.

Okay, that was honestly fair, given that she was a supervillain. However, all Ion had accomplished was convince Emily that she was a riddle to solve.

"You've never kidnapped anyone before, have you?"

"I have… not," Ion admitted.

Emily suppressed a laugh.

"Okay, so you're probably going to want to lightly restrain me. Maybe that chair over there? Do you have any rope?"

"I… do."

Ion darted over to a set of drawers and proudly produced a spool of rope. Emily seated herself in the chair and attempted to get comfortable.

Emily, what the hell are you doing?? she asked herself as she looked expectantly at Ion.

"Is this alright?" Ion asked as she wound the rope around Emily.

"Yeah, you're doing great," Emily replied as part of her tried to ignore the fact that she was presently living out one of her fantasies. Another, louder part of her was relishing it.

"So…" Emily said to break the awkward silence. "You should probably know that there's a good chance Umbra is going to be coming to rescue me."

Ion fumbled the knot she was working on.

"Just thought you should get a heads up," she continued. "And if you wanna record it or anything, can you please blur my face before releasing any of the footage?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Ion replied.

Then after a moment, "Why Umbra? Are you and he…?"

Emily barked a laugh.

"Oh god no," she said. "Among a whole lot of other reasons, he is absolutely not my type... if you take my meaning."

"Oh good," Ion said with noticeable relief. Then after a pause, "Do… uh… you want anything to eat? I have a robot making grilled cheese right now… nothing special though. I usually don't trust them with the cooking, but I actually managed to finally get the recipe and process right. It's about the most complicated thing they can manage."

Emily raised an eyebrow.

"Are you offering your hostage a meal?"

Ion shrugged.

"Sure. I mean, this whole kidnapping thing has got to be hugely inconvenient for you. The least I can do is offer you a meal."

"Sure, why not?" Emily replied.

A bright smile flashed across Ion's face and she disappeared into a side room. This was certainly turning out to be a unique experience to say the least.

Ion reappeared a moment later with the steaming sandwich. She set the plate down in front of Emily who tentatively picked up the sandwich. Nothing special grilled cheese was actually amazing. She knew it was technically robot made, but if Ion was half as good at cooking, maybe Emily should give Ion her number. Wouldn't that be ironic? Her dating a supervillain?

She studied Ion as the villain opened a cabinet filled with labeled binders. She plucked one labeled Umbra and began flipping the pages as she idly chewed her lip.

Holy crap, did she just have binders for every possible scenario? Admittedly, Emily hadn't met many supervillains, but she doubted many of them went to this level of detail. It was actually kind of endearing in a weird way… and again, vaguely familiar.

"Hey," Emily said. "You seem pretty nice and I'd hate for you to get hurt on my account. You should probably just throw this fight. I have a feeling Umbra's not going to pull any punches if he thinks I'm actually in danger. Also, he's smart enough not to get Rickrolled into submission."

Ion looked up in surprise and Emily felt herself blush slightly.

"Yeah, I watched the video of you taking down Jackrabbit," Emily admitted. "I gotta admit, it was pretty fucking awesome watching you take that prick down like that."

She felt a very familiar chill in her bones and she glanced at the ceiling where shadows were slithering unnaturally along the seam in the door.

Ion followed her gaze and she grew pale and swallowed nervously.

"This was fun," Emily told Ion. "We should do it again some time. See you around, yeah?"

"Yeah…" Ion replied as the shadows detached from the ceiling and coalesced into a human figure between them.

***

Unknown number, 7:15pm:

Hello? Emily? This is Jen.

Emily, 7:17pm:

Hey Jen! How's it going?

Jen, 7:18pm:

I am well.

I had a tough workout today, definitely feeling it.

How was your day?

Emily typed out a bland response and deleted it. There *had* been something very familiar about Ion…

No… that was impossible. 

Except impossible things happened every day, she reminded herself.

Emily, 7:26pm:

Pretty good overall

Work kinda sucked, but I had a really good evening

[luna-redamancy]

Sorry I'm late, but I just saw that requests were open, and I am in dire need of fluff.

So, either Sauron or Morgoth, your choice. Christmas/winter holiday fluff. Female reader takes some time off to go see her favorite person, and get some well deserved rest. One of her parents has been pestering her about getting her life together, but on their timeline instead of hers. This leads to a lot of tension and aggravation.

So, to help relieve some of that tension, and to put reader in a much better mood, the decision is made to make the holidays special for her.

Totally not based off the fact that my dad and I had a big fight/argument right before I left to see the rest of my family for Christmas.

Where is your dad located- I just want to talk- that's all, just a chat.

On a serious note, I am very sorry you had to deal with that, coming from a not so kind family myself I understand how horrible it feels. I hope this brings somewhat joy? I set it in a modern AU. Please let me know if you need anything- whether it's talking or another comfort fic!

“Why can’t you just be happy for me?” You cut off your mother, a disappointing frown on your face as you took in her annoyed expression. It was the holiday season and your employer was so kind to agree to your week-off request from the shop you worked at. 

You thought this year would be different- no, you yearned for this year to be different. To have what your coworkers did, where they discussed how kind their mother was to make their childhood favorites and their fathers weren’t too expressive but they were kind and gentle when it came down to it mattering. Why couldn’t you have that? 

“Why can’t you just say ‘(Y/n), I’m happy that you found happiness even if it’s not what I would’ve done,’ - Huh? Why?” You blinked back tears, angry ones, not the sad kind. 

“You need to be getting your life together, you can’t just waste it away staring at the wall!” Your father argued, never one to turn down an opportunity to be ‘right’ - and by ‘right’ he simply means to get the last word in or argue until you can’t deal with him anymore. 

“I’m not wasting it away, I’m doing perfectly well for myself!” 

“Other women your age are getting married, having kids for heaven's sake, and look at you. What’ve you achieved? Nothing.” 

Pausing, you looked up at your father. Instead of replying with a wicked tongue like how he thought you would, you simply shook your head. Taking the embroidered napkin out of your lap, you threw it over your dinner plate. Your chair screeched as it shoved backward whilst you stood. 

“Happy holidays, mother, and father,” You muttered as you exited the home, briefly pausing to grab your coat off the hook and slide your boots on your feet. You blocked out the sounds of shouting and cutlery slamming against the oak table as you exited into the winter night. You were so hopeful. 

-

“‘M home,” You softly announced, taking off your coat and placing it on your designated hook. You crouched down to take off your boots, your heart feeling heavy as you put them in line with Sauron’s. 

You could hear him humming to himself as he made a cup of hot chocolate, and the thought made you nearly grimace. Who were you to ruin his night? 

“(Y/n), is that you?” Sauron called, pausing in his steps back toward your shared bedroom. 

“Just me,” You called back, your voice sounding sadder than you wanted, making you wince. The last thing you wanted was to worry him. 

Standing back up, you brushed your leggings off, mentally giving yourself a pep-talk to keep it together until you got into the shower. There you could release all your frustrations without worry and it’ll be -

“You don’t look too good,” Sauron muttered, mostly to himself as he approached. You couldn’t deny the laugh that left your throat at his utterance, shaking your head in amusement.

“The visit didn’t go well, I’m guessing,” He spoke softly as he pulled your scarf from around your neck, hanging it right next to your coat. 

Sauron pulled you from the foyer, guiding you further into the warm home you two have created. 

Sitting you on the couch, he pressed a kiss to your temple. 

“Wait here,” He spoke against your flesh before disappearing back into the kitchen. Looking at the side table you realized he never made it to the bedroom with his hot chocolate, the whipped cream slowly melting and the cinnamon that was delicately sprinkled on top was now just brown blobs. 

“I’m sorry, sweetheart, I didn’t mean to-” You were cut off by a fresh mug of hot chocolate being thrust in your face. It was made similar to Sauron’s, although rather than cinnamon on top it was an extra bit of the hot chocolate mix- sprinkled on the fresh whipped cream. 

“No need to apologize, arimelda (Dearest),” Sauron would’ve scoffed if it was anyone else, but not you- never you. Instead his expression was soft, “Especially when it comes to expressing your feelings.” 

Sauron’s presence was like a warm blanket, wrapping round you and providing you with a serene feeling of safety and security.

Simply nodding, you accepted the warm beverage and out of the corner of your eye you could see him grin when you took a sip. 

“Now, how about we settle in and watch a movie?” Sauron grabbed a blanket off the blanket ladder, your favorite one, bringing it over to the couch and wrapping it around you before handing you the TV remote. 

“Or we could watch whatever you want, I have no preference” As long as I’m here with you. Catching onto his unsaid words, your heart fluttered in your chest. 

“You mean it?” 

“Of course, when would I lie to you?” He settled in next to you, his arm swinging over the backside of the couch, gently rubbing your shoulder as you began to search through the latest releases on your streaming account. 

Your holiday season may have gotten off to a bad start, but no way was Sauron going to let his beloved feel like dirt and not get to enjoy themselves. 

Forever Tag

@lady-of-lies @all-things-fandomstuck  @fizzyxcustard @izzydaelleth @aquaangel18 @raindancer2004 @love-colorfulglittercollection @ladylouoflothlorien @ten-tenya-iida @legolaslovely @bthtallmadge2 @abesottedlass @wilhelmyna @tigereyesf @aspookybunny @keijibum @moony-artnstuff @sirkekselord @guardianofrivendell @fluffymadamina @izbelross @fandomhoe101 @acahope311 @kitkatd7 @mooseetx @themerriweathermage @elvish-sky @bitter-sweet-farmgirl @laurfilijames @frequentlychangingfandoms @cameronsails @linasofia @starryeyedrogue  @shethereadinghobbit @beenovel @onlystarshere @fckmini @spidergirla5 @i-did-not-mean-to @lathalea @myselfandfantasy @strange-old-worlds @otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore @broken-ghost @mbruben-stein @tschrist1 @hai-kbai

Sauron/Mairon- 

None Currently

[alyosiuscreightonward]

Dear Diary.

Yesterday was a very fucked up day. There was some weather and it’s what you’d expect when you live in the Northeast Corridor. Like when I lived in Florida. Living there you expect lots of rain and hurricanes and shit. Yes it is true, there’s a run at the supermarkets. Most people get all the ingredients to make French Toast, but I prefer a waffle and some eggs.

People can be so stupid and it’s absolute madness how many places close and batten down the hatches because they know it might snow. I clearly remember when I was in Texas, a freak ice storm. I swear to Gawd that they shut everything down. It all came to a screeching halt. I was out on the road in my little 1999 Ford Escort Station Wagon and had no problem getting around. No big deal, right? Even though there are transplants from the Northeast Corridor, they still panicked. My favorite I was in the car going Westbound and I saw a tricked out Hummer coming down the street. They were making a right turn on to the highway and I watched this $100k car fishtail and they came to close for comfort. My passenger had white knuckles watching this. I shrugged it off and kept going.

All my coworkers bailed on me. I texted them and no response. I called them and left voicemail and no response. Dude. Really??!! We’re in the Northeast Corridor. WTAF??!! So I had to close the store by myself and everyone was inside under the blankets. Not much business but still folks did come in and shop. I felt defeated once again but I still did my job and I drove through some messy slushy streets. Ugh.

In 2023 one raindrop, one snowflake or whatever the weather brings, school closures is just the beginning. Madness. Back when, we’d still go to school and then they’d decide to send us home or just stay. Hell, I walked to school in a blizzard. It was just about two miles. I still went. Once there was this freak blizzard and my family was without heating oil for like ten days. Thank goodness our house had two fireplaces and one was in my mother’s master bedroom. We lucked out. All those years ago, we coped with the bullshit. Today, it’s like, stop the world, I want to get off. Really??!! I also remember Easter Weekend 1969, another freak snowstorm. It took us nearly 12 hours to drive from NYC to Boston. We did not lose our shit.

I cannot even imagine how folks feel if they just happen to live in the area of the country called, Hurricane Alley. I don’t have a clue how they deal with that shit, but somehow they come through. I’ve heard stories about people getting ice storms etc who live in the Texas panhandle or the higher altitude areas of Arizona or California. Okay, shit happens but not like here in the Northeast Corridor where the majority of people feel as if the planet has stopped spinning on its axis.

I’m over it and I’m going out today regardless.

[the-letter-horror-lover]

black.

Chapter 7: You are not alone, not anymore

Chapter Text

~Your POV~

Darkness. It surrounded me so fast, I had no chance to scream or shout. Was I dead? It felt so soft. Like some cloth wrapped all around me. When I fell down from that tree I had my eyes closed. I still had them closed right after out of fear, but then I finally opened my eyes to see darkness. Plain darkness and nothing else.

Before I did so I thought, what if I would open them, what would I see? Hell? Heaven? Nothing at all? Or perhaps my deceased parents? I wanted to be reunited with them so bad. I missed them so much. I haven't seen them in a very long time. I forgot how they smelt like. How they talked. It was so long ago. Too long ago. But one thing I knew I would never forget for sure: The good memories I had with them. They taught me a lot after all.

Suddenly a young sounding voice screeched out.

"Sebastian! Did you catch her?"

I was confused, this sounded more like a voice from hell to me. Then, a velvet but deep sounding voice crawled into my ears slowly, siting on my ear shell and making me shiver at it's sound.

"Yes my Lord, she didn't get hurt at all, have no worries."

That for me sounded rather like heaven. But what were these voices exactly talking about? And who were they? My soft surroundings got removed from my body slowly and I was on the ground apparently. It was a black coat that had caused my temporary darkness.

I stood up slowly, still shaking from the fall before. In front of me, two men. Or more like, one and a half men.

"May you need assistance to stand on your legs my lady? You seem to be shaking a lot", the tall man with raven hair, red eyes and a black elegant suit asked me politely. So that velvet and heavenly sounding voice belonged to him.

"No thank you, I'm fine..." I replied and blushed a bit, that man was handsome as hell.

"Wait a minute..." I called out, eying both of them, "You are two of the ball guests! I saw you standing around and talking to some of the guests! Why did you follow me here?"

"Well," The tall handsome man began, "My master, the Earl Ciel Phantomhive ordered me to, your sudden leaving was quite unexpected may I say and we thought it was suspicious."

The blue haired boy, apparently named "Ciel" continued after his Butler finished.

"Correct. Sebastian had taken me to this point of the woods here where we had lastly seen you running. We hid in the bushes until Trancy and his Butler were gone. Then we heard a branch cracking and a girl falling down. That girl was you. Now..." he walked around me, I watched his every move carefully as I didn't trust strangers, but apparently he was no threat to me, "Do tell me, who are you and why did you run away from him? Did he harass you? Tried to inappropriately touch you? We can help you...You are not alone. Not anymore."

I thought for awhile, turned around and smiled forcefully.

"I don't think you can help me. The situation that I'm in is way too complicated, and it keeps getting more and more complicated. He didn't do anything wrong to me tonight. You must know that I'm his maid. I wasn't allowed to attend the ball and was doomed to do some extra chores while the ball was going on. Some of my coworkers decided to help me still to be able to attend the ball by doing my chores for me which was very nice of them. That's how I got to the ball, in disguise behind a veil to make him not recognizing me."

I finished the sentence and started to shiver due to the cold weather, the tall man called "Sebastian" noticed and took off his coat. He wrapped it around my shoulders like a blanket. I got surprised but enjoyed the nice gesture, he was a real gentleman, just like...The Triplets. Something on him reminded me of them. Perhaps the eyes, I don't know. They were of a nice color red that reflected with the night sky. Ciel came from behind me and touched my shoulder while Sebastian stood next to him in silence.

"How about we take this discussion to a different place? It's too cold here and we don't want you to catch a cold in this thin layered dress."

I nodded in silence and so we walked back to the Manor and took a back entrance where only staff members could enter with a key. I had it around my neck with me luckily in case I needed it which I indeed did.

We sneaked into my bedroom and I changed my clothing, back into my maid outfit in case Alois would walk in into the room at any hour. The ball was coming to an end after all. I told them to turn around until I was done changing my dress and they did so.

I sat on the bed in between them and told them the real reason why I was working here and the reason I attended the ball and that, may I say it like that, it didn't turn out to be as I imagined.

"I'm afraid I...fell in love with Earl Trancy unexpectedly tonight."

"WHAT?!" Ciel shouted in a disgusted tone, "You fell in love with HIM?! But he abused you! How could you? What the devil is wrong with you?!"

Sebastian cleared his throat at his master's rude remarks and added, "Pardon my master's direct wording, but what he really meant to ask a bit more politely was, why so?"

His red eyes pierced through my soul, I could feel it. What a strange man. But how handsome he was!

"W-well, I can't explain it. I heard of his tragic back story and...I got some sympathy for him due to that. Tonight I wanted to find a man to run away from here, but Alois Trancy spotted me looking at him, luckily without to recognize me through my veil and danced with me and...I had, for the first time in my life in a long time...genuine fun. A-and besides I'm not sure if it's real love or just a hopefully short phase. This time however, it feels different. I have fallen in love before, but not like this."

"Well," Ciel didn't hesitate to give me an answer, "Then you should come live with us in my Manor. We will pay you enough money as a maid, treat you good and we know the Queen personally, which is a great honor."

I looked down on my feet and crossed my arms. Should I? Should I leave this Manor for good? It would be a step in a better future. A future of freedom.

Or maybe this Ciel boy was abusive as well? Well, he didn't make that impression to me at least. He rather seemed like a person who liked to help people in need, like me. I sighed loudly before giving my answer to him.

"...I have to decline, I'm sorry Lord Phantomhive."

"What the...?? You just told me you were abused by him!! Humiliated! Injured! I'm offering you a good home and enough food and you dare to refuse and to still live with this sadistic bastard? He must have BRAINWASHED you!!"

He was right. What has gotten into me? Why am I suddenly so attached to this manor? Is it because of the Triplets? Héloise? Or maybe...Could Alois possibly be the reason why I wanted to stay here so bad even after what happened?

Sebastian coughed once more and continued before that Ciel boy could throw a temper tantrum like a kid. Well, he WAS a kid after all.

"Perhaps there is a specific reason to it, may you tell us why you would not like to come with us Miss...uhm...Pardon me we didn't catch your name yet as it appears."

"...(Y/n). It's (F/n) (L/n)."

"Miss (Y/n), right. Pardon me."

He bowed lightly before I gave my answer while slowly looking back and forth at them, "These past few weeks, they didn't feel so horrible and suffocating anymore. I think it's because we got a new servant, a maid...She's so nice to me and always cheers me up. I think she would be as miserable as I was before she started to work at our manor if I would suddenly take my leave from here. So due to her sake, I want to stay. It became my mission to make her feel good here. I'm sorry, due to that I have to decline your generous offer Early Phantomhive."

Ciel seemed to have calmed down while I spoke and probably even earned some understanding for my reasoning, but he and his Butler exchanged worried looks before he stated, "Alright. If this is your decision then we can't force you to come with us. But, in case you still need our help...Contact me as quick as possible please."

He gave me his business card. He seemed to own a company. At this age it was pretty uncommon to own a company I thought.

"Okay thanks! I really appreciate how helpful you have been to me tonight. But I must ask you to go now. Master Trancy would be furious to see anybody up here without his permission. I must also attempt my chores. Goodbye for now, Lord Phantomhive and Mister Michaelis. It was an honor to get to know you."

I bowed and they left shortly after. I hid the business card under my pillow and hurried down to where me and the Triplets were shortly before the ball began.

I took the two baskets with the seeds and corn and pretended to see if I sorted them out right. Two minutes later I heard steps behind me and a loud sobbing.

"Claaaaaaude!! Why would she just run from me like that!! I didn't do anything wrong! TELL ME CLAUDE!!"

Claude just glared at him with his emotionless face and tried his best to comfort him even if it seemed hopeless.

"Master, you mustn't be upset for that. There are plenty of women in England who may be interested to marry you. Another ball next month perhaps would-"

"NO!! NO NO NO!! NO MORE BALLS! I'm honestly done for now...It was a bad idea Claude! I met the love of my life and the next minute she exits my life again! What the bloody hell did I do wrong tell me Claude?!"

I continued with my pretending and found pleasure in his whining. It was kind of amusing seeing him annoy the hell out of Claude. But Claude of course, pretended he wasn't annoyed at all. It was like a running gag in this manor.

But in another way, I understood how he felt. It was like giving a lollipop to a toddler just to rip it off his hands again. Not fair. But I had to do it. He wasn't the right one for me. Or was he?

Alois suddenly came walking towards me and kicked the corn and seed baskets away from my hands.

"Why is everyone leaving me?! What am I doing so wrong apparently?? Why why why??"

I stood up a bit panicked and felt a grip on my arm. Someone dragged me a little more away from the tantrum throwing blonde.

I turned around to see the Triplets. I gave them a worried look and turned back to see Alois crying on the floor.

Claude walked over to us suddenly.

"It may be better for you four to go to your rooms swiftly as long as the master is in that mental condition."

We bowed and turned around to leave as Claude turned me around quickly by the shoulder and gave me a glare while whispering to me.

"I certainly know what you have been up to tonight. Don't you dare acting upon the master's orders like this ever again. I'm not letting the master know this time out of slight pity for you. Let this be a warning. In case you do that again, I won't hesitate to tell him about it", he said in a threatening voice.

How did he...know?! Could demons recognize people even if they were disguised well? It made kind of sense at least since each person's soul is individual. I didn't know Claude could have been any more creepy than he normally was though.

I bowed to Claude again and whispered a "Yes thank you" and run up into my room. On this evening I haven't heard anything from my master, Alois, which worried me a little. I secretly hoped he would do okay. And of course that Claude wouldn't snitch on me, that sneaky bastard. You gotta be prepared for many things with this demon.

~~Time skip, next day~~

On that day it was cleaning day. I got advised by the Triplets to go clean the master's office. I dragged the cleaning utensils to Alois' room and opened the door, being told he wasn't in there at this time, which I was being informed wrong about it. My jaw dropped immediately as I caught Alois Trancy masturbating under his desk. He immediately stopped doing what he did and put his shorts back on.

"E-excuse me master I'm coming back another hour..." I mumbled and quickly walked out of the room, shutting the door with a loud thud.

I went into the staff room and got worried. I haven't seen or heard about Héloise since the past day before the ball. Where was she? Did she already get kicked out? Speaking of which I haven't seen her attend to many chores since she started working here. She was always given different chores than me. That's strange. Usually me and Hannah or me and the Triplets attended the same chores from time to time. Really weird.

Then one shocking thought flashed through my mind. What if...no it can't be...What if she was Alois' personal bedmate and that's why the master often kept his bedroom door locked? I clenched my fist at my bust as my heart started to ache. What was that feeling? Why were my thoughts of him having a possible sexual relationship with his new maid hurting me?

One moment later, just as if she heard my thoughts, Héloise entered the staff room. She sat down next to me and glared at me. Her eyes weren't cheerful looking as usual. In fact she had bags of tears under her eyes, just as if she had cried for the entire night.

"Hey are...you okay?" I asked her while attempting to touch her arm.

She turned around and whispered something I couldn't hear. Could it be...?

"Did...did the master abuse you?! Tell me!"

"No it's fine...it's nothing don't worry", she said in a lower voice than usual.

She awkwardly shifted on her wooden seat and had her hands in her crotch, just like she tried to hide something. Or maybe she felt sick in her lower abdomen for a reason? I smiled and had a thought in my head on how to cheer her up. Whatever bothered her, I wanted to make her day better.

"Come with me, I will show you a place I always go to when I feel sad and need sometime alone."

She nodded and we went outside, just a few yards away and we were in a public garden full of beautiful bluebells.

"Isn't this wonderful? Look how the sun is shinning down on them! I love these flowers as they are rather rare here!" I said while twirling around before falling down on the ground full of these flowers.

She looked around as the wind started to blow a little and looked baffled. I thought she must have liked the sight as well. She walked over to me and traced the flowers while doing so.

"I like bluebells, you know? They are my favorite flowers", she said while softly lifting one's head up without to tear it out of the soil.

"What a coincidence! The master likes them too apparently, so I heard from the Triplets. Well I understand why...They look so small and fragile yet so beautiful, kinda like you."

She looked at me with a flustered facial expression and blushed heavily.

"O-oh...Why thank you! I think you are pretty as well."

I looked down to a single flower I had picked up and explained, "I often came to places with bluebells as a kid to play alone. After my parents died I came even more to such places to sort out my thoughts. It's like I could tell the flowers my problems and they would actually listen. It was like the things I had told them were safe and locked in their petals forever."

I rolled around in the flowers and then had a brilliant idea.

"Let's pick some of them up and make flower crowns with them!" I suggested and she helped me picking some up before we crafted some together. I made one for her and she made one for me. As I placed it on top of her head I smiled proudly at my work and commented, "You look just like a princess now!"

She smiled at me and she seemed to have gained her strength and happiness back again. Whatever had made her sad before was forgotten for now and I was glad I could help her.

We went back inside and walked along the corridors. We talked and giggled but suddenly froze as we suddenly heard steps coming closer. Oh no. If this was our master Alois and he would see that we were outside by our flower crowns we would surely get punished and the hard work I did to cheer her up would have been for nothing!

I panicked for a second and looked around, I saw a janitor room right around the corner not far from us and dragged her by her arm in there.

She sat down first and I accidentally fell on her lap as I had to close the door as quick but as gentle as possible before he could see us.

The steps continued it's path and away from our door, they sounded a lot like Claude's, not like Alois' loud high heel steps. I sighed and saw nothing in there. It was so dark. On the other hand though, I felt something hard beneath me. I rubbed myself on it and she moaned a little in my ear. I didn't know I was that close to her.

"Oh, I see what you did there..." I commented, getting a clue of what that hard thing could be.

"W-what do you mean...?" Héloise said scared. Why was she scared? There was nothing to be scared of.

"Well it's pretty obvious isn't it? You hide your staff key in your undergarments. That's smart!" I commented.

"O-oh yes I-i do hehe. B-but can you please get off me now?" she asked.

"My knees are heavy from all the walking, would you mind helping me getting back on my feet?"

"S-sure."

She helped me up by grabbing one side of my hip and with her other hand my boob, probably accidentally due to the darkness and pushed me up.

"Okay so let's exit this small room now," I said but was held back by her before I could find the door knob in the dark.

"How about...We try something...different for once?" she cooed in my ear in a flirtatious tone.

I turned my head around in the dark and whispered to her in a confused manner, "W-what do you mean?"

"Have you...ever had the desire to help someone out let's say, in a sexual way in this manor?" she asked in a flirting tone.

"W-well not that I know, no," I lied out of shame, the master has done this to me often before and I didn't want to seek for pity. She then shot me a quick "Good" and I felt something hard rubbing at my panties as my maid dress got lifted up.

"What are you trying to do?" I asked her a little scared of her sudden actions.

"Let's do it. Me and you. Right here. I will stick my co- I mean, I will stick my fingers in you and give you the orgasm of your life, how does that sound?" she asked but without any further words from me my panties were pulled down and something started to enter me slowly as I moaned out of surprise and lust. Pussy juice must have been dripping from me at that moment as I felt it run down my then bare legs, my stockings were put down without my notice too.

"O-okay, I truly am in the mood now that you mention it, it must have been that key in your panties that made me do that..."

She just chuckled and inserted her fingers in me in one motion while saying, "Yes, the key~", yet the fingers felt incredibly hard and stiff. But yet so soft. Her fingers must have been thick too or she at least used four fingers, because two fingers wouldn't have been exactly what I felt in me. Her other hand went under my maid uniform and massaged my right breast slowly which aroused me even more.

I moaned out loud and felt her move her fingers in and out slowly. I felt something lightly slapping my butt while she did so. I thought it may have been her arm maybe. It felt so good I could barely hold back my moans but I had to since anybody could have hear us. She moaned as well, probably because she fingered herself at the same time.

"Ah! I'i-m gonna cum!" she said and I almost immediately answered after giving out a few stifled moans due to my heavy breathing, "M-me too aah!"

Suddenly I felt some warm liquid being inserted in me as her fingers reached almost the deepest spot in me. What was that...? Was I that wet?

I ignored it and she appeared to have taken her rather thick fingers out of me. We panted like crazy as if we just run a marathon. I opened the door a little bit so we could see something in this tiny room. I turned around and saw her dress already pulled back down to hide her crotch, she also put her panties back on which were white lace panties. She must have fingered herself so hard, I saw some white transparentish liquid on her dress, kinda like dots and like something splashed out of her almost.

I gave it no other thought and shrugged it off. I adjusted my maid dress, slid my panties back on and opened the door to see if somebody was out there. It appeared that no one was around so we sneaked out silently but quickly.

My legs felt weak from what happened. This was my first experience with a woman ever and very risky since the Victorian time where I live in is rather against homosexuality. I hoped that no one had witnessed that...As I turned around on my way to the staff room, Héloise had vanished from my side. Where did she have to go so fast?

~~Alois POV~~

I run into my bedroom and closed the door loudly. I hit the door with my back and sunk slowly onto the floor while grabbing my wig and tossing it across the room. Did I just...made love with my maid? This was my first time I had entered her by her sex. Yet I can't complain, she aroused me so much, I couldn't stop myself from doing so even if I wouldn't do that to a simple maid like her. I originally wanted to wait until I was married. I wanted to do it with the one I love in the wedding night, not with some bloody maid from my manor! Now it was too late and I felt ashamed. She felt so good inside, I'm glad she turned around just when I had the maid dress back how it was so she couldn't see my actual genitals. This was bloody risky and she could have found out that I disguised as a maid to spy on her, I won't do that again, I promised.

For now.

Just when I fell into my bed exhausted, Claude knocked on the door and I told him to enter. With no other words being exchanged he dressed me back into my actual clothing. Due to the events with my maid earlier there was a tension in the air at that time. I thought that I should have hold myself back, but it was so hard not to especially when she sat on my rock hard erection and rubbed herself on it, thinking it was just a simple key underneath. It almost drove me mad out of lust.

"Is everything alright master?" he asked carefully after eying me. My Claude ALWAYS noticed when something is up with me! That's why I loved him so much. More than my own life.

"I-it's nothing don't worry! I had quite a...hard experience today", I answered my Butler and giggled at the end of my sentence.

"May you prefer a bath at this time? You seem very exhausted", he commented while walking through the floors with me after dressing me.

"Maybe...But I want (Y/n) with me in the bath, she shall wash me this time", I ordered. I wanted to punish this naughty maid for being a little slut while her working times.

"Yes your highness."

Chapter 8: No matter how I'm gonna find you

Chapter Text

~~Alois POV~~

I stood in front of the bath tube and waited for (Y/n) to come to bath me. I couldn't help but think about the stuff I did with her. And the fact that she was hella naive. That bloody whore even enjoyed all of it! I wanted to punish her so bad, and I would I thought.

Looking at the empty bath tub I grew inpatient by every minute, until I was about to kick that door open and scream her name, I heard a knock in front of the bathroom door.

"M-master..." I heard her fragile voice calling me, "I sincerely apologize for being late, but here I am now!"

She sounded slightly cheerful. After shagging me and letting me explore her ax wound. What a slut. Her happiness in her voice angered me more, to the point where I didn't even dare turning around to her the entire time. Instead I faced the bath tube.

Or...was she happy maybe because of the thing that just happened between us a couple of minutes ago...? Before our sexual adventure, we had so much fun in the flower field. It made me adore her more. She's not that bad of a person after all. Makes me think of her as a sister.

"(Y/n)." I called her. I came slowly closer to her, until we were only less centimeters apart from each other. "You bath me today instead of Claude, understood?"

Before she could say something when she raised a finger and opened her mouth, I answered in advance for her.

"And don't ask why that is. I just spontaneously decided so." And so she slowly lowered her finger and closed the gap which is going to be filled with my genitals soon again. Thinking about that aroused me a lot. I knew I was gonna punish her for the thing earlier.

She walked all around me to get the water into the bathtub. I daydreamed a bit and didn't see the time passing by as the hot steamy water was already in the expensive bathtub. Impressive. She was a better maid than Hannah. And more attractive. And kinda...cute...

Wait, what the bloody hell was I thinking now?! She was just a mere servant to me, nothing else. Just because we had some...intimate moments together doesn't means anything at all!

"Master..." I heard her speak up, me, irritated as I was being interrupted in my daydreaming, turned my head quickly around to face her.

"Hm?"

"Your bath is ready."

"Oh yes of course."

I undressed myself and went slowly into it. The water sent shivers through my body immediately. I also received a slight hard on from this sensation. It felt nice. Baths often calmed me down when I was feeling uneasy. I mean how could I not in this manor full of filthy demons. Luckily (Y/n) wasn't one. But the Triplets...They were the ones I found the most useless next to Hannah. And the way I saw them around (Y/n) often...Made me mad and furious. But...

Why though? Why was I mad that she talked to the demon Triplets of my manor? When she's around them she's definitely happier than with me. For some reason, I thought I must change that.

While I was deep in my thoughts, I felt her rub my back and scrub my hair with the most expensive shampoo in great Britain. After all, I only deserved the best. The way she washed my body aroused me more and made me forget about her punishment. Maybe...She didn't deserve any more punishments for now. Only now I started to see the value she had to me. She was the only human being in this manor, together with me. Maybe I should start to treat her more human. She wasn't a monster.

~~Some weeks later, Reader POV~~

Master Alois has become nicer to me lately. I had no more punishments for weeks. But even if I had one problem lesser, I started to have another problem suddenly.

My head hung right into the toilet. Puking out all my guts as it felt like. Two of the Triplets, Timber and Thompson, patted my back carefully.

"There there." Timber's voice murmured next to my ear.

"Maybe she's caught a flu," Thompson commented, looking at his brother while I still puked a lot. My entire breakfast landed in the porcelain pot. What a pity!

The third Triplet, Canterbury, came back with a ginger tea.

"Ginger tea will help her stomach recover quickly," He chimed in right after his brothers and they nodded in response.

A few minutes later I was siting in my room sipping on the ginger tea the Triplets fetched me. They went back to attend their chores. I was so thankful for their help, I was really not feeling well. This is the first time I fell ill in the Trancy Manor since I started working there. I was kinda surprised it came so out of the blue. It made no sense at all. It was summer after all!

My door was suddenly opened and I looked up with slight happiness, thinking it was the Triplets who came to check on me.

"Oh hey guys I-!"

I stopped talking as I noticed who was really standing on the door frame.

"M-master Alois...! Good morning!" I managed to choke out out of fear and surprise before looking down into my tea.

"Say..." his soft voice said carefully while coming closer to me, "Does working for me make you so sick?"

No anger in his voice like usual. Just pure concern. Was he actually...worried of me? What happened to the Alois I knew?

"N-no way! I just probably caught a flu, that's all. Also if you will excuse me, I have to attend my chores now. Good day master!"

~~Alois POV~~

With these words she left as quickly as I came into the room, leaving her almost empty tea mug behind. I walked back into my office and sat down into the chair having to attend paperwork. After awhile of being bored, I supported my head with my hand and my eyes wandered over to the bookshelf, where I had placed the (f/c) lost shoe of my beloved disappeared princess of the ball night I held. I stood up from my chair and reached for the shoe. It was placed a bit higher than I thought so I tip-toed my way up until I successfully grabbed it. Walking back to my desk and siting back down again, I eyed the soft yet hard fabric of the high heeled shoe. Placing it on the desk, I rested almost my entire upper body onto the table, still eying the shoe.

"When are we going to meet again my darling...?" I whispered, closing my eyes and remembering that night. It was like a fairy tale. Not one day where I didn't think of her elegant body moving along with mine in perfect sync, dancing the night away until she suddenly left me. I stood up from the chair and took the shoe into my hands and pretended it was her again and danced with it, without any music that is.

"Your Highness..." I heard Claude suddenly say. I opened my eyes again to see him standing slightly confused at me dancing with a woman's shoe in my working dorm.

"C-claude! Since when are you here?"

Not answering my question, he came over and took the shoe out of my hands.

"Highness, are you still feeling troubled by this woman? Why can't you just forget her. There are plenty of other women out there for you to marry."

His statement upset me deeply. How could he say such rubbish!!

"But Claude!! I LOVE her! She's the one I want to marry Claude! Why can't YOU understand that?"

I saw him clutching the shoe very hard, as if he felt slight anger about my words. The anger was also heard in his voice.

"Pardon me, but she left and never came back after this night. There's a small chance you will actually see her ever again. Especially the fact that she had her face hidden from the public and nobody truly knew her, not even the guests. It's not like she's going to come back to claim her shoe back."

That's when it hit me. Her shoe, trying it on...Maybe there's a chance for me to see her again! If I invite a lot of women over to try this shoe and she really shows up, we will marry. Maybe she WANTS me after all! I turned around to my Butler and took the shoe out of his hands.

"Thank you Claude! You're truly a genius!"

With these words I left the room, leaving Claude behind more confused than he was before when he saw me dancing.

My plan would work I thought. I will find her again. The love of my life. Then we will marry, have a lot of cute intelligent children and grow old and happy together forever.

~~3rd person POV~~

The Triplets were doing chores in the kitchen with (Y/n). As she sat down drinking yet another tea, Timber came over to whisper in her ear, since the master and Claude were around. The other two Triplets followed their brother. Alois had caught them some day when they were talking a bit too loud with her and told them he will punish them very hard if they don't pipe down again. They broke their whispering rule once for her as she was very special to them, just like a sister.

"The master has been nicer to you lately. Did something happen that we don't know of?"

Thompson came whispering next to her other ear.

"Yeah it can't just be us, you noticed it too, didn't you?"

Canterbury stood in front of her nodding before whispering closely to her face as well.

"Tell us (Y/n), we have nothing to gossip around lately since the master's been calming down. It's boring without any drama around here."

As a habit she got from them, she started to whisper to them as well. They all held a hand open next to their ear to hear her better, a pretty adorable sight to say the least.

"I know right you guys? It's just bizarre how Alois has changed lately. I'm genuinely worried about him. I hope nothing bothers him too much."

"Here we go again..." Timber whispered while looking at Thompson who would whisper next, both brothers looking at Canterbury

"She's babying him again as it seems."

Canterbury, with his final words, said what was on everyone's mind.

"You're not developing feelings for that little devil brat aren't you?"

Slight sneering and chuckles came from the triplets.

"N-no?" she lied and they knew she did.

"You poor, poor little human." Thompson said at her words while shaking his head slightly.

"She's not going to last one minute alone with him without that he throws a tantrum that she won't kiss him." Timber said.

"Kissy kissy." Canterbury mocked.

"Not funny you guys. I'm going to take a break in the staff room, I have talked enough to you guys today."

As she left, the Triplets whispered some more to one another.

"Oh look, we angered her."

"She's very angry indeed. I hope she forgives us. It's just too amusing, we simply can't help it."

"All she needs is something long and hard in her and that will do."

Timber and Thompson nodded at Canterbury's rather smutty statement.

(Y/n) went right into her bedroom to take a nap instead of going into the staff room. She felt sick again. She couldn't help but think about the ball night over and over again. That Alois she had seen then was a different Alois. A cheerful Alois. An open minded Alois. A very happy and carefree Alois. She wanted to see him more often like this. It hurt her heart to see him unhappy or throwing any tantrums. He was a broken boy, and she was a broken girl, so she felt his pain.

I just want an opportunity to talk to this Alois again...The one I met in that white outfit. I want to tell him how I feel about him. Maybe he feels the same way.

What she didn't know at that time was, that this opportunity would come sooner than anybody would have expected.

Chapter 9: Second Chance for Love

Chapter Text

A few weeks later, I was still not feeling well. I often felt sick, especially in the morning. On top of that, I had a little weight gain and had strange eating habits. It was very weird, but I had no time to worry about it. After all, there were chores to be made and I didn't want to anger the master as I cared for him too much by now. I couldn't turn back but I have realized that I was hopelessly in love with the young Earl of Trancy.

Speaking of him, he announced yet another ball. I was so excited at first. Meeting that beautiful and well mannered Alois again, different from the one who would usually abuse me and give me the hardest chores. Also on top of that he made sure me and the Triplets would stop speaking together. There weren't too many occasions anymore where I would see them.

But there was one problem. I won't be able to see the well mannered prince Alois at all this time. He had heard from Claude that I was in fact not working on that day at all. That sneaky bastard couldn't keep his dirty demon mouth shut! But he told him only half of the truth, which I was kinda thankful for. The master told me he will make sure to lock me up during the ball, in the cold basement, so I won't be able to go anywhere.

The day of the ball arrived and just about two hours before it began, master Alois grabbed me by the hair mid-chores, a bit of horror written into the Triplet's faces when Alois dragged me through the corridors of the mansion and threw me into the basement on an empty plain white sheeted bed. He turned to me while smiling in a psychotic manner, his butler Claude next to him the entire time, watching the entire scene while I felt pathetic in front of that filthy demon.

"Just to make sure you won't try to sneak out of your chores this time. Claude go get it!"

Claude bowed and went to get a tons of dirty clothes from my master, placing it onto the bed next to me. The mountain of his clothes was bigger than me.

"Wash these and iron them after. I want all of it done by tonight when I come back otherwise...I will get rid of both of your eyes. Maybe even one arm or leg...We will see!"

The heavy basement steel door got closed while I heard his childish psychotic laughter and I was sitting alone in the dim light by now. Oh well, seems like I will never get to see Alois' good side ever again, the one I met during the ball that made my butterflies roar like crazy. It made me depressed to think about it. But now I had a lots of things to occupy myself with. Like his dirty laundry...I started to tear up in doing them mid-way.

"Why me...why do I have to fall in love with such a greedy mean bastard...He has no mercy at all...Can't he see that I fell in love with him and that I only want his best??" A familiar voice answered me in the dark while I silently sobbed. "Truly, he doesn't deserve you at all doesn't he?" looking around I couldn't spot anyone, but I felt two hands roaming my back then to my shoulders and I immediately froze to their touch. The sensation sent shivers deep down my spine.

Another voice came after that one, it came from my right ear as it purred in it. "Long time no see sweet sweet (Y/N). You are too nice to end up here, did you know that?" and yet again I felt another pair of hands roaming from my hips to my stomach to my legs. I smelt a soft cologne tracing over me.

"Let us help you out for a bit...You deserve better than this. Waaay better." the third voice said on my left while the owner's hands cupped my wet cheeks then played with my hair and twirled the ends of it between his fingers. Realizing whom these three voices belonged to I turned around, trying to hide my excitement.

"I-it's you guys..." I said halfway in fear halfway in happiness. Fear not because of them being alone with me down there, more of the master if he catches me with the Triplets and happiness because they came to save me, so they claimed.

"Timber...Thompson...Canterbury...Why do I deserve your help...?"

Thompson spoke up first.

"You are special, (Y/N). We believe you can truly change something in our master's heart as you did to us."

Timber followed.

"If you truly love him, go and confess to him that you were present on the ball and that you are the woman he's looking for. You may not know it yet but he's been looking for you for a very long time now since he met you at the ball. He still keeps your shoe in his study and sobs oh so often that he won't come back, it became honestly very annoying to hear him daily like that. The ball tonight was on purpose to find the one that fits the shoe, which will be you."

Canterbury finished what they had to say. "We will take care of his laundry, you go and win his heart. It's time for you two to get together and marry...and make some beautiful babies together so the master can shut his depressed mouth up for good. Although we feel deeply jealous of him marrying somebody as gorgeous as yourself, we truly support you, (Y/n). However if he ever tries to hurt you in any ways..." all three started to stare at me with magenta flashing eyes, which was honestly a very chilling sight. "...let us know so we can avenge you."

I group hugged them with tears in my eyes and sobbed for a bit.

"I-i don't know how to thank you guys...seriously..."

"You remind us of Hannah in many ways so we are very protective of you." Timber explained, then Thompson continued. "With you in her place this place isn't as bad as it usually would be without her."

"But of course her boobs are incomparable to yours." Canterbury finished with a smut remark. I eyed him for that and his two other brothers seemed to not be surprised at all to have heard their brother's perverted yet true words. My boobs were looking like deflated balloons against her big juicy melons.

I wiped away the tears from my face while smiling sadly, "I miss Hannah too. Without her this Manor is dark and lonely. But I'm so glad I have you guys in this situation! Claude has been a snitch and very useless for me."

They then handed me over a neatly folded dress and I recognized it immediately.

"T-that's the dress I wore during the ball when I met not-so-shitty Alois!! I thought my master had taken it away from me and tossed it away...You guys...went to fetch it for me again?" They nodded in response before Timber spoke up again. "Now hush and go! The ball has already long begun and the master is letting many women try that shoe as we speak."

I hummed happily in response and put the dress on under their hungry eyes, not bothered at all that they were watching me right now at this very moment. They were like my brothers after all. Nice and protective.

All that was important now was that I would go and confess to Alois as soon as possible before he changes his mind. Getting inside that dress was a bit of a struggle I must say, the Triplets went to my aid when they saw me barely fitting in. Did I gain so much weight or what? Weird...

On my way to the ball room I put my veil on my face again, I was preparing myself to surprise the young Earl whom I was in love with...I had a specific plan how I would approach him about the whole stuff.

~~One hour prior to that moment, 3rd Person POV~~

"Ladies and gentlemen, as you are already aware of tonight's events, I'm looking for a bride by one condition: For her to fit into this shoe in here! Let us all assemble in front of me in a row so we can begin the selection!" Alois cheerfully beamed at his guests.

"What did he say?" A voice whispered from the crowd. "Is he insane?" Another one asked. True words by the way. In fact he was so insanely in love with his yet still unknown princess, that he would actually arrange a ball just to let a bunch of women try out a single shoe. All of Britain will be thinking in the near future that the Earl of the Trancy house has gone completely insane!

In a matter of seconds a big row with many women almost fighting to get into the top of the row appeared in front of a dumbfounded Alois. Even the Earl himself was quite surprised that so many women were interested in him at all. Even if it was just for his money or his good genetics, these women would die to get into that lucky position to be his spouse. Tapping with his foot on the floor in annoyance to the still bickering women in the row, he became inpatient and it was very much visible in his face.

He turned to face his beloved Claude. "Claude, where are the Triplets at?! I haven't seen them in awhile."

Just when Claude was about to speak up, they appeared behind him, looking at their master by only popping their heads up from behind Claude in all directions, which looked kind of adorable.

"There you are you bloody lots! Go and get the rest of my guests refreshments and appetizers. Don't be so damn useless for fucks sake!!"

The Triplets bowed, walked away whispering to each other. "Useless he says."

"He is the one in this household doing nothing but giving orders."

"Hannah did great leaving all this behind. Without (Y/N) here we would have turned completely insane already and would have already burned it down long time ago."

~~One hour later~~

The young Master looked tired seeing all these women struggling to get into the shoe. It was either too big or too small. And on top of that they tried so damn hard to fit inside, only to be left disappointed, leaving back to the rest of the guests. After awhile there were no more women left to try out the shoe, which almost sounded impossible at first when that huge row of women was there. It was hopeless for poor Alois. With a sad and disappointed face he turned to his butler, desperately clinging on his suit, his butler's face stern, but inside he was smiling and so damn thankful that the young master put (Y/N) into the basement, locked and alone in the dark.

"Claude, it's useless!! Nobody of them fits the shoe, nobody of them is her either. I will never find her!" However before the young Master could throw one of his infamous temper tantrums in front of all of his guests, his dying wish seemed to have come true at last.

When the ball room opened a certain someone behind a veil and a beautiful (f/c) dress appeared, everyone gasping in awe.

"It's the girl from last time!" one woman said in the crowd gathering around her.

What they didn't see however, was that she only wore only shoe. Alois looked up and a thrilling smile appeared on his face, while his butler's face showed confusion and blatant disbelief, also a hint of anger. Never ever had Alois Trancy been so happy before to see his beloved and soon bride to-be.

"Hello, is it me you're looking for?" she sang underneath her veil, by then having arrived in front of Alois' feet. He kneeled down in disbelief, not believing that she actually really came back after all this time. She lifted up her dress slightly to reveal her naked shoe-less foot, he didn't hesitate and put the missing shoe on, it matching perfectly on her delicate foot. He then proceed to hug her leg, overjoyed, tears started to form in his shut eyes. This time no tears of sadness, tears of pure happiness and bliss.

"Please do never ever leave me ever again, okay? Stay by my side forever!! I want to make you the happiest woman alive, give you a beautiful big wedding, gift you many healthy children and grow old with you and you only. No one shall destroy our ever lasting love, my love." He looked up again like a puppy as she kneeled down to his level, petting his soft light blonde hair.

"Alois, before you can do that however, I want to reveal to you who I really am. I have fallen in love with you long before we met on that ball. In fact, we have met way before that day, but you are not aware of it at all. No matter how bad you have always treated me, I have always harbored my feelings for you in me. I someday realized that I have fallen deeply in love with you. That was the day of the ball when I saw your other side which convinced me that you are the one for me."

He stood up at the same time as her, not quite understanding what she meant and very much confused by all of that new information.

"Darling, what do you mean 'treated you bad'? I don't understand." he chuckled while his tears were still flowing down his cheeks out of happiness. (Y/N) realized that the time was come by now. She went into one last warm embrace with Alois before she lifted the veil up a little, kissed him on both cheeks, his forehead and his mouth.

"Do take off my veil please and you shall get all your answers." She said confidently yet sadly, finally wanting to show him who she really was. His gaze skeptical and hesitant for a few seconds, he then proceeds to take it off of her face slowly, revealing his maid, (Y/N) behind it. Shock was written all over his face as he dropped the veil, it gently sliding down onto the floor. After one minute of awkward silence between the two while the people in the ballroom kind of tried to mind their own business by engaging with each other but failed due to how extremely dramatic this entire scene was, Alois began to speak again after he was speechless for a very long minute.

"(Y/N)?? But how?! You are supposed to be down in the basement doing work for me! You were behind this the entire time?! I-" he shouted furiously then paused, out of breath from anger as his puffy oceans started to gain tears again. She began to explain.

"Despite your abuse and violent tendencies, I knew that there was another Alois deep down. A nice and caring Alois. After seeing and interacting with you on that ball night I was convinced that you aren't just a bad person after all. On top of that, I started to care for your well being a lot more than before. If you however decide to not marry me anymore, that's reasonable, I lied to you the entire time after all and sneaked my way around to see you on that ball night.. In the beginning I wanted to escape this manor, but now I would be absolutely honored to fill this manor with as many children as possible to make it a happier and more lively place for you and me and the rest of us."

From afar, the Lord Phantomhive was also present, looking at the happenings from back there. Due to his rather small height however, he couldn't see the unfolding happenings.

"What in the devil is going on over there?! Isn't that the girl looking like a princess we met the other night? Bloody hell, turns out she's the one he's been looking for all along. That poor thing. If he ever treats her badly then he shall prepare for his death that's for sure! We promised her assistance after all."

His Butler Sebastian Michaelis standing next to his master with a thoughtful face, answered him in a mocking manner. "Truly, her love for him must be eternal, otherwise there wouldn't be any plausible explanation why she would have done all that. Ah, humans have always fascinated me, but this romance brought up so much more knowledge to light. As for hour height, young master, you have yet to grow out of puberty to be able to enjoy your full height."

His master turned around to face his butler, irritated and angered by his words.

"Shut up you!! Says a damn demon who never ever went through the pain of pubertyYY!" his voice unexpectedly croaked at the end of the sentence, making him look down with a flushed face in embarrassment. His butler, amused by that well timed puberty sign could barely hold his laugh back and cackled.

But let's get back to our love birds shall we?

Alois thought for awhile, not knowing how to respond. On one side, she would be loyal to him forever. On another side, she was a terrible maid in his eyes and he wished her death before. Even for him his feelings have changed towards her. He hated her only half as much as before. Did that mean they were even by now?

"I-" Alois started, but wasn't sure how to continue. "I have also fallen in love with you...I'm crazy in love to the point where I'm getting mad just being near you. And also kind of...frisky..." he looked down on his crotch, remembering all the times he had done it with her. Even as 'Héloise', he had his way with her. Without that she ever noticed that it was him all along. Looking up in courage, he also made a decision to confess something.

"I was also not very sincere with you...Do you remember Héloise?" she widened her eyes while nodding quickly at him, awaiting sad news that she had left the manor too out of despair just like Hannah. But the following statement, not even she had ever thought to ever hear that in her life. "I was her all along. I used Hannah's former maid dress and a wig arranged by Claude, to fool you into thinking I'm a new maid at my manor just to spy on you. However, I have never found anything suspicious unless that strange relationship between you and the triplets..." he paused while his eyes wandered over to where they were standing, glaring at them while they were whispering to each other. "I think all this time I felt deep hatred for them because they got so close to you and I hated seeing that. In that time I pretended to be a maid, I found out you're a nice loving person and I made so many mistakes mistreating you and hurting you...I'm truly sorry. You deserve better than someone like me. I'm a monster and I deserve to die alone." Hanging his head low, tears started flowing down his delicate pale cheeks.

She took his chin softly in her hands as she whispered. "Hey, look at me." He looked up like a sad puppy into her (e/c) orbs. "You can fix all this right now."

Confused, Alois took her hands that were previously placed on his chin, "W-what do you mean? What can I do?" he stuttered.

"Alois Trancy," she let go of his hands, walking around him once while her eyes wouldn't leave his, he would follow her steps with his head. The next thing she said made his jaw drop and the crowd before them became deadly silent. No more whisper was heard. Not even from the triplets.

"Marry me. Make me your spouse and I shall forgive all of your cruel actions against me at once."

Chapter 10: Our happy Ending

Chapter Text

Alois had accepted my wish to marry him and we invited many people to our wedding, including a few nobles like the Phantomhive manor and the Midfords. Ciel Phantomhive became a great friend of ours later on and Ciel had forgiven Alois for all the things he and his butler had done to him. More like I told him to go and apologize so the kindergarten war would finally end between them. Unfortunately we also had to invite that strange Druitt man. Let's say the way he acted at our wedding was...interesting.

He firstly got drunk, flirted with tons of women and then passed out on a single table. Just in time for me and Alois to exchange rings and kisses, he woke up like he didn't drink a drop.

"BRAVO BRAVO!! ULTRA CUTE AND ROMANTIC!! MAY YOU TWO HAVE THE BEAUTIFULLEST CHILDREN AND A BLESSED FUTURE!!" we heard him screaming and clapping from the last few rows as soon as me and Alois' lips touched, but we didn't let that bother us. Well, at least he wasn't rude and wished us well.

I really liked my wedding dress a lot. One of my childhood dreams was it to wear a beautiful wedding dress, all glittery while looking like a fairy tale princess. I also found my prince, just like in my favorite fairy tales. Overjoyed and exhausted from the wedding, me and Alois later found each others genitals entangled with each other while heavily making out. We just went for the 6th round as I spoke up to him, remembering something I should have told him a loooong time ago, but I kind of forgot during all these events. Maybe now was the best time.

"A-alois hold on. I gotta tell you something important...You're gonna be a father soon."

Alois' blonde hair was stuck to his sweaty forehead as we were mid-missionary position, he stopped in his tracks and looked at me amused. "Duh. Of course I am going to be a father after tonight!! I would be worried if I wouldn't..." he chaste kissed me after that with a worried smile on his cute pink lips.

"That's not what I meant Alois...Remember that time you were dressing up as a maid and shagged me in the closet...? I found out after I confessed to you that I am pregnant. I experienced pregnancy symptoms more than a week after and in the end I went to a doctor with the Triplets while you were on a city walk with Claude and the doctor confirmed my suspicion. It's been 2 and a half months since that. How could you forget that sexual encounter in the closet?! Haven't you noticed how much bigger I got around my stomach area?! For hells sake Alois...I thought you were smarter..."

"I have noticed a change on your body but I didn't think of that...I thought you just enjoyed food a lot nowadays since you seem happier as well ever since you confessed your love to me. Either way, I'm soo happy!! We are gonna be parents hooray! I can't wait until this hollow and triste manor get's filled with childrens laughter!"

I nodded and he hugged me and then we continued making love, moaning filling the room until we released for the 6th time, falling in bed exhausted, holding hands and panting.

Alois smiled like a goof and looked over to my side in the dark, I could hear the pillow's ruffling, he whisper-talked in my ear seductively.

"With you by my side we are going to be amazing parents! I can't wait to have a bunch of children with you and see them grow up...I want to make babies with you over and over again! We shall have a newborn every spring!"

"I second this! I can't wait to experience parenthood to it's finest with you...But please consider taking a break some time. We don't need to always impregnate me over and over...I'm not a baby making machine. My body might need a break some time for a year or two. I'm okay with a few children though! Let's do this, just you and me, forever."

We shuffled closer to each other and cuddled the entire night long. For our honeymoon he took me to Paris, France and we had great fun together. It was super romantic. The baby bump got bigger and bigger too. I was super excited to spend all my time with my dear Alois. This is the life I have been waiting and wishing for with all my heart. That it actually happened is a miracle to me. Never in my life would I have guessed that my future husband would be near me all the time without realizing. And now he's finally mine. And I am his.

~Time skip 5 years~

Everyone deserves happiness. And so did my husband Alois despite all his wrongdoings.

I forgave him for everything he did. But under a few conditions:

First was the marriage, then kids. Oh and that he would treat his servants better, especially the Triplets. I never cared much about Claude though. I was allowed to talk to the Triplets again too since I requested that. They were so sweet and it was a shame they were not allowed to speak, but that changed now. They are able to speak freely now but when it comes to dirty thoughts, they keep them to themselves and just still sometimes whisper among themselves. Speaking of servants, Hannah came back and me and her get along so well! She's so nice. Of course I made Alois apologize to her too for his mistreatment. Claude remains by Alois' side out of pity for the boy but is allowed to form other contracts with people in our area to not end up as a starving miserable demon. Same with the Triplets and Hannah. Everyone got their happiness in the end.

We also have four wonderful children:

Maria, Luka, Anaïs and Héloise.

And I am yet again pregnant now one year after the last child...with twins this time. The Triplets and Hannah often baby sit the kids while me and Alois go out. They make wonderful baby sitters and they love our kids just like if it was their own flesh and blood.

My wish came true in the end. I found and married my prince, even if it was under strange circumstances. The fact that he was my boss was not easy to handle, but in the end, thanks to the great help of the Triplets and the fact that I never gave up no matter what I got what I wanted. My prince was Alois Trancy. And me, (F/N) Trancy am his princess. Just like how they say it in the end of my dearest fairy tales.

And they lived together happily ever after.

[iced-nct]

Leaked

Pairing: Camboy!Chenle x F Reader

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: Language, smut, choking (?), oral (f receiving. mans knows how to eat. iykyk), enemies to fuck buddies, nudes, Big Dick Chenle agenda, this is FILTH (I love it), alcohol consumption. if I forgot anything please let me know, but as always 18+ MINORS DNI

Synopsis: Having your nudes leaked online is something that you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy. Yet somehow, when it happens to your least favorite coworker, Chenle, he manages to come out the other end with a massive following. When yours get leaked a few hours after, you both agree to track down who at the office is sending these out. Maybe, just maybe, Chenle isn’t as bad as you thought.

A/N: This is my favorite of the camboys I'm not gonna lie. I am so proud of this one.

Chenle might not have set out to be your work nemesis, but he sure didn’t object to the label you placed on him. He sought you out every day to torment you just for fun. The worst part was that he was so well-liked in the office, so you had no one to vent to. Having to endure his endless teasing and pranks while everyone else laughed about how cute he is.

It was a fairly normal Friday morning at the office, and you spent it sifting through the odds and ends of paperwork from throughout the week. Your email open on your screen awaiting clients replies as you were organizing. Had it not been for your neighbors' obnoxious squeal from her cubicle, you might not have looked up to see the unread email in your inbox.

“Oh my god! He looks even better than I imagined!” She shrieked.

Sure enough, there in your email was Chenle’s private photos. You were torn between deleting the email and reporting it to HR, assuming it was another prank. Or continuing to scroll to just take a little peek. He was attractive, there was no denying that. After being witness to the photos you completely understand your coworker's screech. It was warranted. Chenle was unlike anyone you’d seen before, his body was delectable, and that cock... you had to click out of the email before you saw anymore. The raunchy images caused a deep blush to flush across your cheeks.

Chenle strode up to your desk, with a cup of coffee in hand utterly unbothered by the chaos that was consuming the office. He rested his elbows on the wall of your cubicle, staring at your computer screen with intent.

“What’s that?” He tipped his chin to gesture to your email inbox.

Having not heard Chenle come up behind you, he had startled you. It caused a chain reaction of you knocking over the cup of coffee onto your keyboard, desperately trying to wipe it up with your scarf, and in turn opening the explicit email. Chenle spat out his coffee as he stared at his own nude photos on your screen.

“It wasn’t me I swear” You cried, desperation filling your voice.

Just as he was about to open his mouth with a retort, one of your coworkers strode by. Her hand delicately brushing over Chenle’s arm as she spoke with a saccharine voice “Nice photos”

Slowly everyone else began crawling out of the woodwork to purr praises to Chenle. Showering him in compliments about how nice his body is and how they wished he came to the office like that more often. One or two people whispered that they’d be getting off to them later. You didn’t have a moment to breathe before a second email came through, instantly your face paled.

Plastered across everyone’s computers were intimate photos of yourself. The air in the office seemed to thicken and the walls closed in. Not being able to stomach any more of the tension, you grabbed your bag and jacket. On the way out coworkers who had just praised Chenle now sneered at you. They hurled vulgar insults at you as you hurried to the exit. Once in the safety of the elevator you took a moment to breathe, not noticing the man who had followed you out.

“What the fuck just happened” Chenle huffed a breath of relief from beside you.

“It appears my peace and quiet was short-lived" you sighed heavily.

Chenle knocked your shoulder playfully “Oh come on y/n, it happened to me too”

You pondered his response deeply, and supposed he was right. Both of you were justified in leaving work. The only difference was Chenle was praised while you had been scorned.

“It would be easier if I hadn’t gotten called a whore more times than I could count on the way out” you chuckled lightly.

The elevator doors opened and you both emerged in the lobby of the office building. The man grabbed your elbow lightly to lead you outside to the street. “We can go to mine and start investigating. I’d like to email HR by Monday morning” Chenle spoke quietly into your ear.

You struggled to keep up the pace he had set, and his long legs and your heels weren’t helping. You wretched your arm from his grip and he turned to face you. “Why would I go to yours to help you?”

He grinned slowly and slung an arm lazily over your shoulders. “Because it happened to both of us. And I happen to have a talented hacker as a roommate”

You huffed in annoyance but allowed him to lead anyway. He was right, after all. The last thing you wanted was for more photos to get sent. However, you really didn’t want Chenle to know where those photos had come from.

-

Chenle’s apartment was cleaner than you expected for a single man in his twenties, which was surprising. He gestured for you to take a seat in the living area on his plush leather couch while he grabbed his laptop and made drinks. You sat awkwardly on the sofa, occasionally checking your phone to see another response to your photos. This was shaping up to be an exhausting Friday. Chenle returned a few minutes later with his MacBook and two highball glasses filled with deep amber liquid.

He handed you a glass and you swirled the liquid, the ice cube clinking against the glass. “Whiskey. I figured we’d need something strong after this day” Chenle smirked knowingly.

“Thanks” you raised the glass to your lips, taking a small sip. The whiskey burned down your throat in all the right ways.

You both got to work listing people who had vendettas against each of you. People who generally didn’t like your presence, or people who may have been out for your jobs. The list was small, but not entirely insignificant. There were a few people at the office who weren’t fans of the strained relationship you and Chenle had. But would they truly stoop this low? You hadn’t thought so.

“So, we have our list.” Chenle started “Now we need to figure out how and where they got the photos”

Your breath hitched and you stood up abruptly “Where’s the washroom?”

Chenle pointed down the hall behind him, you padded off quickly. There had to be something you could tell him other than the truth. There was no way you would ever let Chenle know about the side job you had going. You leaned on the counter in his bathroom, the gears turning in your head, coming up with any excuse. Vengeful ex? That might just work. Fake online profile trying to be you? Also believable. Not wanting to risk spending any more time in the bathroom you opened the door. Across the hall was a room filled with an intricate set up of cameras and monitors. You might’ve brushed it off as his roommates had you not seen the framed diplomas on the wall in Chenle’s name.

Peering down the hall towards the living room, you could see the back of his head. He was fully enthralled in whatever it was that he’d found on his laptop. You took the opportunity to tip toe across into his room. It was a toss-up of what was more interesting, the plush king-sized bed covered in soft grey blankets, or the desk that held thousands of dollars in recording equipment. Snooping was bad, and you knew it, but when else would you have this opportunity. All it took was slightly shaking the mouse and the monitor lit up, the screen was illuminated with a camsite you distinctly recognized. It was the same one you used for your side job. But the profile wasn’t yours, it was Chenle’s. Clips of videos played on repeat, the photos in the email having come from his own profile.

“You know the bathroom is on the other side of the hall?” you whipped around to see Chenle leaning against the doorframe. His dress shirt sleeves had been pulled up to his elbows and his tie thrown off somewhere, leaving his top buttons undone.

“I didn’t mean to I was just-” You stumbled over your words, trying to just explain. “I do the same thing” you blurted out.

Chenle’s eyebrows raised for a moment at your confession, before settling back down. His eyes raked over your body. “Yeah. You look like you’d do well on there” his tongue swiped over his lips.

The way he was looking at you turned on something primal within you. You both stood in silence at the discoveries of some strange alter-egos, taking the opportunity to really look at each other in ways you hadn’t before. Chenle had always been hot, and when he was on your team it made him even hotter. It seemed he had the same idea, because you hardly had a moment to react before you were getting pushed down on the mattress. Chenle’s mouth met yours in a flurry of need. Both of you using each other to rid yourselves of the day's frustrations. His lips were soft yet filled with lust as he ran his hands over the swell of your breasts. Your hands wandered down his back and around his front where his growing bulge was pressed against your inner thigh.

He pulled back breathless and stared at you with wonder-filled eyes as you palmed him over his trousers. Chenle leaned into your touch, groaning as you squeezed lightly.

“No no” He stopped and stepped back. “I want to please you first”

Chenle helped you out of the confines of your clothing, leaving you standing naked before him. He hoisted you up onto the bed, hooking your legs over his shoulders as he trailed his lips down your inner thigh.

“So much better than the photos” He murmured into your core.

You whined in anticipation, sensing Chenle’s sadistic smirk as his lips dusted lightly over your folds. “For the love of god, Chenle” You fisted his hair.

The man breathed a soft laugh before diving into you fully. Chenle feasted on you, knowing exactly what to do and how to touch you. His tongue like velvet on your soaked pussy, and you would be seeing stars before you knew it. He took pride in being able to make you feel good, and having you a whimpering mess beneath him. With his tongue lapping over your clit, he slid two fingers into you. This action earned him a string of curses; his laugh sent vibrations through your core. You came undone around his fingers, eyes rolling back in ecstasy.

When you looked up to where Chenle stood between your legs, he sucked his fingers into his mouth. Savoring how you tasted. You grasped his shirt in your hands to pull him onto you in a heated kiss. As your tongues met, you could taste yourself. Drunk on the feeling of Chenle, you hadn’t noticed him slip out of his clothes. Pausing your advances to pull off his shirt, now it was your turn to admire his body. Truly those photos hadn’t done him any justice. Your mouth watered at the sight of his erect cock, wanting to feel him inside you. Chenle reached over to his desk drawer, pulling out a condom to roll it on.

Feeling the pressure of Chenle’s body on yours as he pushed into you was heaven. His cock filling you in a delicious way, with one hand resting lightly on your neck and the other rolling your nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Hardly able to form coherent sentences as Chenle thrusted into you.

He laughed as he looked down at you “Aw, is baby drunk on my cock already?” you could barely manage a nod, moaning for him instead.

Chenle loved seeing you fucked out for him, he thought it was the most beautiful sight to behold. His teeth grazed across your breast, causing you to hiss in approval. His thrusts were punishing and unrelenting, and the way his fingers dug into the flesh of your hips was sure to leave bruises come tomorrow. But it would all be worth it for the best sex you’ve had. Chenle whispered dirty things in your ear about how many times he’s thought of bending you over your desk at work and fucking you senseless. Your nails dragged down his back as he ravaged you, just to mark him the way he had with you. He sucked deep purple welts across your chest, a reminder for days to come for who made you feel this good.

His thrusts slowed, and you both panted heavily. Chenle’s head dropped to your shoulder as you came, your walls clenching around him. He finished just as you did, a low grunt in your ear as you clawed his shoulders, pulling him deeper. You both laid there for a moment, catching your breath. Chenle pulled away to tidy up, he disappeared into the bathroom to clean himself up before returning with a warm cloth to wipe you down. A ghost of a smile played across your lips as he settled onto the bed next to you. Both of you laying together in silence, your fingers tracing over Chenle’s toned chest.

“So” you breathed “what now?”

He looked intently at you “now, we figure out who at work is obsessed with us.”

The search continued well into the night. Taking a few more breaks for pleasure in between.

Taglist: (If you like my works and want to be added, let me know!) @vantxx95 @yoooori

[aurumacadicus]

Brooklyn 99 AU with Tony and Bucky? I think there’s a lot of potential and unexplored aspects in this AU

Unfortunately my only knowledge of B99 is "BoOoOnE?!" and Andy Samberg sliding all the way to the elevator on perhaps-stocking-feet so this probably won’t be too faithful. I’ve made Tony a mixture of “I’m terrible at my job” Gina and “I don’t want my coworkers to know anything about me” Rosa.

--

“So,” Natasha said slowly.

Bucky narrowed his eyes at her from over the file he was reading. “So,” he replied.

“I heard that you flirted with Stark and he didn’t even notice,” Natasha said, lips curving into a mean smirk.

“Oh my god,” Bucky sighed, lifting his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. Then he dropped it, glaring at her. “Did you know he has two PhDs? I didn’t learn that from him. I learned it from Steve. Who learned it from Bruce, in forensics. Who only knew because he and Tony did dissertations at the same time and Tony told him not to worry so much because he’d already finished one and could give him tips.”

Natasha rolled her eyes, frowning, because it was no fun if Bucky didn’t take the bait. “Okay?”

“Why is he working here as Fury’s assistant if he has two PhDs?!” Bucky sputtered.

“To get back at my parents,” a voice behind him replied.

Bucky screeched and flailed backward in his chair so hard that he tipped over and fell onto his back. Upside down, he could see Tony leaning over him, eyebrow raised. He looked incredibly unimpressed. Bucky sighed. This must have been how Steve felt when he realized Sharon had watched him shove half a hoagie in his mouth in one go.

“...Anyway,” Tony said, setting some more folders on his desk. “Fury wanted me to give these to you.”

Bucky crawled up onto his desk to look at the files. “These have Steve’s name on them.”

“You’re basically the same person,” Tony reasoned. “And last time I saw him he was talking to Sharon so he’s going to be useless for the next three hours, and these are time sensitive.”

Bucky wrinkled his nose, then had to concede. Steve had almost puked the hoagie back up. It was hard to come back from that.

“So you don’t have a good relationship with your parents?” Natasha asked Tony carefully, because he rarely answered personal questions.

Tony turned to blink at her slowly. “I don’t have any,” he said, and then flounced away while she and Bucky gaped after him.

“Did Tony just say he got this job to get back at his parents and then say he didn’t have any parents?” Clint asked, looking up from his own desk, where he was definitely slacking off and playing minesweeper instead of filling in forms.

Thor turned from putting a picture up on the bulletin board. “Do you think that means his parents are dead?”

“I think it means Fury plucked Tony from the ground like a turnip,” Clint decided.

“You’re attracted to a turnip, haha,” Natasha told Bucky, and Bucky sighed and buried his face in his hands.

[yoongis-tangerines]

tattoo artist!jungkook x reader

➼ pairing: tattoo artist!jungkook x fem!reader

➼ genre: sfw, slight angst, absolute crack

➼ wordcount: 2k

➼ summary: you had a bad day, jungkook had a bad day, what could go wrong? a loT of things, apparently….

➼ what to expect: “am i gonna have to deal with u non-caffeinated all day now?”

➼ talk to the characters!

your feet drag as you finALLY reach your apartment after a long... long day of absolute hell

lets get things straight

today... was a day

you work a boring office job but today was particularly NOT boring to day the least

and if anyone at your office can say that, it’s you

wHY you of all people

seriously

lets take it back to this morning that started off your awful day

first of all, you slept through your alarm

.... okay you may have pressed snooze one too many times and refused to acknowledge the blaring of your obnoxiously loud alarm clock but tHAt doesn’t matter

might as well be screeching WAKE UP YOU HAVE RESPONSIBILITIES

but no, that went zip! right over your snoring head

what’s even worse?

you woke up without your personal heating body pillow :(

aka your boyfriend :(

aka jeon jungkook :((

AKA the most beautiful man on earth who-

okay let’s not get carried away

deep breath

WHEW n e ways-

“fuCK” you throw off the covers in a rush and stand up too quickly, resulting in a head rush

you’ve always had a thing for sleeping in

when you say thing you mean bad habit

so bad that your best friend and coworker, taehyung, has arrived at your apartment door on multiple occasions because you’re sUPPosed to be downstairs for him to pick you up and take you for coffee before work but you’re twenty minutes late

typical

taehyung huffs as he buzzes the lobby of your building and is answered by the lovely receptionist

“hi, how may i help-”

“i’m here for y/n...” taehyung sighs in exasperation, leaning with his whole body weight on the wall where the intercom is

“oh! right, hi again taehyung. i’ll let you in”

.... the receptionist KNOWS him you’ve been late so many times

he should have a key to the gate at this point

or maybe yOU should be ON TIME-

deep breaths, tae his eyebrow twitches as the gate *clicks* open and he wanders inside

he jogs up the stairs instead of taking the elevator even tho you live on the 5th floor cause he needs his blood pumping if he’s going to even beGin dealing with you

taehyung arrives at your door and pulls out his spare key but hesitates when he hears clattering and things falling from inside your apartment

.... is u good?

he shoves his key in the door and pushes it open, coming face to face with you eating breakfast

....

is that a toothbrush sticking out of your mouth?

.. and is that mascara in your hand... and a spoonful of cereal in the other? while you’re brushing your teeth?

“what r u doing?”

“my morning routine, what does it look like?” your mouth is full and taehyung winces in disgust

“it LOOKS like a circus act. come on, we’re late for coffee-”

“i’m doing makeup, leave me alone” you continue to put on your mascara while leaning over to look in your compact mirror sitting on the counter all while eating breakfast AND brushing your teeth

“isn’t eating while brushing your teeth contradictory?”

“i slept in.” you murmur as you subconsciously push your cereal away

“i can see that” taehyung looks at what you’ve laid out for yourself over the back of your sofa to wear and he grimaces

“why are you going to wear... a black button down and leopard print jeans to work?” taehyung glances at you as you practically thROW your bowl in the sink with a CLATTER and your toothbrush goes alone with it but he makes the executive decision not to tell you-

“i picked the first thing i saw, i’m in a rush” you groan and sweep up the clothes and throw them back in your closet

taehyung sighs “let me pick out your clothes. is jungkook not here?” taehyung peeks into your room to see if he’s missed him but from the way you SLAM your closet door shut, he stops talking

“DON’T even get me started. i don’t know where he is, today is supposed to be his day off” you shove tae into your closet to pick your outfit before shutting yourself into the bathroom to tame the raT’s neST that is your hair

taehyung picks out a cute white blouse and black slacks- simple but cute. he smiles to himself and dusts his hands off and begins looking for your shoes

well

taehyung decides to press

cause you seem upset and he wants answers

“what could he be doing?” tae sets your clothes out for you

you snatch them up and return to the bathroom

tae blinks

ok then

“if i knew i wouldn’t be mad”

ok listen

jungkook always leaves you some evidence as to where he’s going

without fail

wiTHOUT FAIL

clearly today is with faiL

you are his girlfriend

you deserve to know

o god

you sound like a psychopath

u are not a psychopath

but

where’s your bb? :((

and why didn’t you text him?

you did

seVeral times

no answer

*sigh*

jungkook is a tattoo artist, it’s not like he has imporTANT responsibilities that he could possibly fail to mention to you

maybe he does but not as much as yOURS

anyways

you throw on your outfit and run a brush through your hair and sLING your purse over your shoulder

you snatch up taehyung’s wrist and drag him out the door

“wHoa okay we’re leaving now”

“yup.” you press the elevator button (very aggressively, tae clearly underestimated you) and tap your foot angrily

taehyung stares at the side of your head in confusion

why r u mad?

jungkook prolly just had to run into work real quick he’ll be back

you plop into the passenger seat with a huff and crossed arms

tae scoffs, “ok, pouty, let’s get you a coffee.”

you-

ur not pouty >:(

you quickly tuck your puckered lip back into your mouth before tae can see and-

he’s staring right at u

oops

he’s a king of pout™ so he can just shove his comment right up his-

the coffee shop doesn’t go much better

the barista got your order wrong

honestly how hard is is a caramel macchiato

apparently vERY hard when you’re ogLINg at a certain kim

kim taehyung

ok you admit your best friend is WHEW attractive

but this barista

managed to get a venti, half-whole milk, one quarter 1%, one quarter non-fat, extra hot, split quad shots (1 1/2 shots decaf, 2 1/2 shots regular), no foam latte, with whip, 2 packets of splenda, 1 sugar in the raw, a touch of vanilla syrup and 3 short sprinkles of cinnamon ALL CORRECT

the things you can do when doing them for kim taehyung

and you

you got a black coffee with two shots of caramel

:))))) perfect..,,,.

you yEET that shit into the trash as you exit and taehyung chokes on his coffee

“w-wha- you hoe, i paid for that!”

“who are you calling a hoe? maybe if you stopped fliRTing with the barista, i wouldn’t have to throw my precious coffee away.”

..,,..,.

“am i gonna have to deal with u non-caffeinated all day now?”

..,,.,...

you want to strAngle him

so you’re not gonna recall your work day because of your cubicle neighbor

park jimin

who is a flirty pAin the ASS

you mean, he’s endearing and all but-

could he like leAVE you alone you have had no caffeine

that is esSENTIAL to your day

you’re a caffeine addict

you might have hypotension

you’ll have to get that looked at

n e ways

you arrive home with a loud groan

the groan was to alert anyone who perhaps might be home

hint hint

jungkook where r u

you flinG off your shoes and toss your bag onto the sofa

so he’s not on the sofa

weird

he’s usually home watching some marvel movie by now which you always endear with him

he’s gotta be home

plEASE

“jungkook?” you call into the seemingly empty apartment

you hear a grunt

“huh?” it’s coming from the office

your cock an eyebrow and peek into the doorway

jungkook’s slouChed over his desk with his head in his hands, gripping his beautiful, fluffy blue highlighted hair

fun story- you actually convinced him to die his hair

.,., you didn’t convince him per sAy

you mayyyyhaps have switched his blonde dye out for blue when he was gonna bleach it even blonder and then-

he seemed okay with it- changing things up

and he still doesn’t know you did it

which is disappointing

you wanted to prank him :(

and you got no reaction :(

fiNe :(

k bACK to the moment at hand

“are you okay?” you tilt your head when your eyes scan over all of the beauTIFUL drawing scattered all over the desk with ink and tracing paper everywhere

you snort “what a mess,” you start picking up the crumpled papers and tossing them into the bin where he must’ve intended them to land but failed miserably

jungkook groans in annoyance

“thanks, i didn’t notice.” he rolls his eyes

um

excuse you???

attitude

“okay, grumpy. clean up and join me for dinner.” you try to suppress your own anger for his sake.

he doesn’t usually get like this but you try to lighten to tension a lil when he does and it usually works

clearly not this time-

“i’m good.”

“no, come. on you need to eat something. you’re acting hangry and when you get hangry you-”

“i SAID i’m fine, leave me alone.” he waves you off

you feel your heart pulse

anger or hurt?

moStly the former

“jungkook, calm down-”

“y/n for the millionth time, i’m not hungry.” jungkook wrings his hands anxiously as he stares at his art.

his boss was harsh today

namjoon must’ve had a bad day too

everything jungkook put on the inspiration board, he shot down

“that one’s lopsided”

“it’s supposed to be lopsided, joon-”

“i don’t care, do it again”

jesus

who spit in his cereal?

“joon, seriously, i can just-”

“it’s hyung to you. i am your boss and if you want to keep this job, you will go back into your studio and do it again or i will give all of your clients to hoseok.” namjoon points to jungkook’s studio like he’s his dad

jungkook’s heart clenches

he isn’t great under pressure

or getting yelled at

and namjoon just did both

his throat stings and his tear ducts well up

he huffs

jungkook spins on his heel and throws open the privacy curtain and storms into his studio

jungkook is probably the bEst artist in this place

namjoon gave him his own studio to do his art in peace and come up with new ideas

why are they suddenly not good enough?

he sniffles quietly

good god

he cannot be crying right now

to be fair (or clear) joon didn’t have the best morning

he’s just angry bc his daughter woke him up this morning and he realized he was late for dropping her off for school

he didn’t mean to snap

but jungkook’s been neglecting his superiors as they are and he can’t let him get too casual

he’s the boss

they can’t just wALK all over him

he needs to stand up for himself

yEAH that’ll show em!

...,,, so why does he feel like he just yelled at a child and stole his dreams like a big, bad monster?

..,,.., he’ll apologize tomorrow

ok back to the present (agaiN)

jungkook stares at his drawing with tears welling up

namjoon was right

his drawing is lopsided

.... it’s MEANT to be lopsided, it’s ABSTRACT-

he tries to get over himself

namjoon isn’t an artist like him

yeah... yeAH he just doesn’t GET IT

loseR

ok joon’s not a loser, jungkook really looks up to him but he yeLLed at him and hurt his feelings :,(

he turns around and you’re gone

frick

he didn’t mean to yell at you like that

which.,.,. probably means that joon didn’t mean to yell at him either

a chain reaction if he’s ever seen one

he pushes his art utensils aside and sighs

...

u kno wat

fucK it

he chuCKs a paintbrush at one of his hanging canvases of his most hated figure painting and it lands right where an eye was supposed to go

he smiles

that made him feel better >:)

you’ll definitely ask about that later when you see it

and he smiles for that too

he exits his studio to find you chopping onions and..,,. crying harder than you should be if you were oNLY chopping onions

“oh, baby, put the onions away.” jungkook rushes to your side and takes the knife from your hand to encircle your hands with his own

you’re blubbering a lot and he’s starting to worrY

“carrots... what’s wrong?” he searches your face for any sign of physical pain

you nod as a fresh stream of tears begin

“it’s- it’s just the onions.” you wipe your eyes veRy unconvincingly and attempt to pull away but jungkook hold onto your arms

“no, i know it’s something else. tell me what’s wrong.” he bends slightly to meet your eye-level

but he already knows what’s wrong

“i-i slept in this morning and tae had to come get me agAIN and you had already left, and i almost wore leopard pants to work and then the stupid barista got my order wrong bc she was too busy droOLing over tae and i didn’t have my coffee, and then work was-” you start hiccuping too hard to finish your story and jungkook pulls you in to rest on his shoulder

“okay... okay... i know you had a bad day...” jungkook bites his lip

how should he apologize to you?

he’s not good at this..,,.

“but i know you had a bad day too cause you never leave without telling me where you’re going.” you sNiffle pathetically against his shoulder

ouch

his heart clenches at that

you’re right

he doesn’t leave without telling you where he’s going

but he did this morning

let’s backtrack

his phone started ringing pretty eARLY in the morning

he groans and smACks the answer button before letting out a groggy “hello?”

“get your ASS down here, jeon! we have an emergency!” jin’s voice sCreEChes and then hangs up

jungkook is bewildered and still haLF asleep

(turns out the emergency was that there was no one at work to get his coffee)

and in his haste, he forgot to leave you a little note :(

he forgot about that :(

he pats your back gently and begins explaining himself

“jin-hyung called me this morning tell me there was an emergency at work, but as it turns out, he just wanted coffee. i should’ve known better.” jungkook laughs awkwardly to yourself

“oh.” your voice is quiet and jungkook worries his lip

what does he DO?

he’s gotta make you feel better :(

“do you... wanna watch a movie and forget about it?” he peeks down at you and he can feel you starting to be less tense

“... anything other than marvel?”

he groans with a pout

“finE..,,. anything other than marvel.” he sighs in utter deFeat

he can’t help it

ur adorable :)

...,,,, ok here goes

“hey..,. i’m sorry for snapping at you earlier. I had a rough day, joon-hyung didn’t like something i drew and i guess i take that very personally-”

“i know you do.” you sniffle pathetically

“but that’s no excuse. i’m sorry, jagi. i know you had a rough day, too.” jungkook curls your hair behind your ear and smiles awkwardly

you return the smile when you think about how much he really looks like a bunny

“it’s okay, jungkook. i should have picked up on the clues.” you giggle, wiping your last tears

jungkook smiles, “this won’t happen again, i won’t push joon-hyung’s buttons anymore.”

....

“well did u also tell namjoon i’d kick his ass if he ever hurt you again?”

jungkook snorts

[wromwood]

So, earlier this month, I stopped working at one of my part-time jobs. While I still believe it was the best choice, considering how the job’s responsibilities changed since most Broadway theaters stopped requiring vax card checks, I will miss one of the big perks that the job offered: the opportunity to watch Broadway shows for free after shifts.

Now that it’s over, I think it’s time to share the full list of shows that I had the opportunity to see, ranked in order of how much I enjoyed them, from least to most. However, keep in mind that I didn’t think ANY of these plays were necessarily bad, nor did I hate any of them.

Take a moment to remind yourself that this is ranked based on pure enjoyment, and here we go!

Macbeth

Yeahhhh, sorry Daniel Craig, but this production of the Scottish Play definitely made the bottom of the list. (Or top, since we’re going from least to most.)

Again, I didn’t HATE this production, but this show confused me the most, and not in a good way. I’ve read Macbeth before, and I still found this production hard to follow. The staging was simple and vaguely modern, meaning that context and furniture were the main clues as to where any of the characters were at any time. Combine this with frequent double-roles for a lot of the actors, and I often couldn’t place who was speaking, where, and why.

This show was also the play of weird artistic choices. No matter what happened, there was almost always FOG, which worked sometimes, but just seemed to cover up lacking scenery at others. When Macbeth gets stabbed at the end, he seems to get stabbed in the crotch, and the spray of blood seems to come directly out of his butthole. When dramatic/spooky things happen, they LOUDLY blare what sounds like the Psycho knife screech, which just made those moments jarring and silly to me. Finally, at the end, when MacDuff is about to kill Macbeth, they FLASH bright white lights to slightly (but not totally) blind the audience as to what’s about to happen.

... then all the characters, dead and alive, sit by the wall, nursing their wounds while the last bit of the play happens. The Weird Sisters pass around bowls of soup, and they all eat while one of them sings a modern song that I don’t know well enough to understand why it connects to the scene. I know what this moment was GOING FOR, but it honestly felt like MacDuff stopped murdering Macbeth at the last minute and went “.... You know, violence isn’t going to solve anything. We all made mistakes. Let’s just call it off, apologize, and eat soup.”

There was one side character who, during the performance I saw, spoke into a handheld mic for no reason (with popping P audio to boot, which annoyed me), dressed in a Steve Jobs turtleneck, and spoke with a tone of voice that just seemed flippant and not totally immersed in the drama. I can’t even relate to being confused by this character to other coworkers who saw the show, since they remember a totally different actor (apparently one of them used a wheelchair), or at least a portrayal who didn’t use a handheld mic.

That leads into another aspect of the show that doesn’t help my rating: not only does it have a limited engagement, it was technically still in previews when I saw it, so it was always changing. However, every time I heard of the changes, they never really seemed to be for the better. The core flaws always remain.

Daniel Craig’s performance was OK. He’s a good actor, and he wasn’t bad in the role. However, he also wasn’t great. I’ve seen more engaging Macbeths. I put this down to direction, though. The same could be said for Ruth Negga as Lady Macbeth, although I believe her performance was a little stronger.

Finally: points off for causing undue stress on me and my coworkers, who had to avoid saying the name of the show while we were working in different theaters. Bad luck did legit happen after people said it. Also, both times I worked at this theater, it rained and made my job harder.

Now for a couple moments of positivity: I thought the porter scene was super funny and that the actor did it well. Props for that!

Also, since I had to stand in the balcony, I did not see that what I thought was the back wall of theater (a brick wall with piping) was actually the set itself. This meant that when, at the end of the show, the wall MOVED FORWARD, limiting Macbeth’s space, forcing him into conflict, and making him feel that there’s nowhere to run from MacDuff seeking his revenge, I was LEGIT SCARED. THE WALL WAS MOVING, WALLS SHOULDN’T MOVE, WTF

Anyway. Next show!

The Phantom of the Opera

Ah, Phantom. Phantom, Phantom, Phantom. Not gonna lie, you’re so low down partly because your theater is hell to work at. So many tourists, and so many of them angry.

But this show is also farther down partly because the specific performance I saw felt off. I saw this show during the period where so many Broadway actors were coming down with COVID that they had to rely on all the understudies at their disposal. As a result, nearly the entire cast were understudies, and I think it showed. The show felt a little bit offbeat, especially in regards to the Phantom himself. His performance felt more silly than dramatic in some parts, although the show itself doesn’t help in that regard. Christine was good acting wise, but her voice just wasn’t strong enough during a few numbers. Eric also could’ve used a singing boost. It’s not a good sign when your performance of Phantom needs stronger singing.

I want to make one thing clear: I LIKE Phantom of the Opera. (i’m so sorry, best friend who hates it) I don’t love it, but I do like it. I think the music is good, and I find the dramatic shenanigans to be NUTS, yet entertaining. Maybe that’s why this performance felt off to me. I’ve seen a version of the show that I like better in the past, and have my own thoughts on how the show should  be done. The performance I attended just didn’t satisfy that itch. Maybe later non-understudy performances were better! Who can say.

Still. It was Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic theater. The sets and effects were still amazing, and the acting was still good. It was a net positive overall, but it could’ve been better.

To Kill A Mockingbird

Ah, now we TRULY get to the proof that this list isn’t so much “worst to best” as “least fun to most fun.” I honestly wish this show wasn’t so far down the list, as I really did like it. It’s a great adaptation of the book, with great actors, sets, and direction. If you’ve read the book or seen the movie To Kill A Mockingbird, you know what this is about, and you know what happens in it. But it’s still a good story, and it makes for a good show. I remember that for being a Mockingbird adaptation, and dealing with some pretty heavy stuff, this show managed to still have a lot of humor in it. I laughed a surprising amount during the show, but fortunately, it still knew when to keep things serious and solemn.

The show DID add a few new elements. While the play utilized Scout’s recollection of the past as the main narrative force, there were a couple scenes that Scout couldn’t have witnessed, such as Atticus Finch convincing Tom Robinson to let  Atticus be his lawyer for the case. This is a cool moment to see, as this is Atticus and Tom Robinson’s first interaction with each other. However, it’s interesting that Atticus learns that Tom felt sorry for Mayella beforehand, and warns him not to say that in court. It feels like they wanted it to be foreshadowing, or at least a setup so that when Tom says it later, the audience KNOWS that the trial is essentially lost, or that Tom really felt pressured into telling the absolute truth of the matter. However, since we didn’t get (or NEED) that kind of setup in the book or the movie, it feels a little extraneous. Still, it wasn’t bad at all, so I’m fine with its presence in the show.

Jeff Daniels was great as Atticus Finch. As someone who mainly knew him from Dumb and Dumber, a film that I don’t really find entertaining, I was pleasantly surprised to see him excellently play this intelligent, (mostly) soft-spoken, and principled man. When he put Bob Ewell in a headlock, despite having to stand the whole time, I was so pumped that I stood on my tiptoes to watch.

The other actors also do their roles justice. They cast young-looking adults as the kids, no child actors here, and they were great at embodying the characters. All three “kids” actually have their own moments of “narrating” and recounting the events of the story.

The actor who plays the man who pretends to be a drunk (a review of the show says that Sorkin combined three characters into one for his play: Link Deas, Reverend Sykes, and Dolphus Raymond) was not only the same actor for Boo Radley, but he was also the one deaf actor in the show. This worked very well. Not only is the “drunk” man an outcast for being deaf AS WELL AS for having had a mixed kid with a black woman, but also Boo has another dimension to him for his own silence and outcast status. Scout even signs “thank you” to him shortly before the very end of the play.

Also. I gotta give props to this play for making Scout’s big old ham costume. I was waiting for that and it delivered. Bravo.

Despite not being closer to the top, this show was still great, and I’ll fondly remember watching it. (although I won’t fondly remember how an usher pressured me to sit in a seat that someone had already bought a ticket for, how I tripped and fell flat on my face getting back out, and how another usher SHUSHED me after SHE ASKED ME to explain what had happened)

Chicago

Ah, now we’re getting to the fun stuff! I went into this pretty much blind and had a great time. I honestly don’t have much criticism. It was just real good. I think the cast was mostly comprised of understudies, since I saw it during the period where so many Broadway actors were coming down with COVID that they had to rely on all the understudies at their disposal, but if so, they did an excellent job. The singing and choreography were phenomenal, the content was FUN, and I had a good time.

Also, I love that both the male and female chorus members wore sexy outfits.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

If there’s any show I’m glad my job let me watch for free, it’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. This way, I didn’t give J.K. Rowling my money, and I supported the people I DO care about: Broadway actors.

While it’s true that the show’s script wasn’t personally penned by Rowling, she DID essentially give it her blessing. She was present when the writers formed the story, and even answered questions that they had. There’s no uncertainty that she at least contributed to this, so I still consider this partially her responsibility.

This show is most convoluted thing I’ve ever seen in my goddamned life.

This definitely isn’t helped by the fact that this is the TRIMMED version. At least for NYC, they changed the show from two separate two-and-a-half hour performances to one three-and-a-half hour performance. As a result, it feels like the “Summer Once Again” episode of The Goes Wrong Show... in reverse. Before intermission, the show runs at a breakneck pace, with little room to breathe, let alone establish ANYTHING. It’s only after intermission that things finally run at a human speed again. Or maybe I was just used to it. Either way, it took over an hour for things to feel normal.

The plot’s still a MESS. The protagonists’/antagonists’ kids angle can’t help but make it feel like a direct-to-DVD Disney sequel, or a child OC fanfic, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I never really got into Albus (unsure why. I think it felt like he was just complaining after a while), while I unexpectedly grew more on Scorpius as the show went on. He was a bit annoying to me at first, but then he just became sweet and fun. I wish him the best.

The Voldemort’s daughter thing is, of course, ridiculous. And with how little the character is “set up” (she’s hiding as someone else for a while), it just kinda feels like she came out of nowhere. This show’s biggest fault is that it’s trying to tell a Harry Potter years-long story in one Broadway show. There’s just too much to cram into one viewing, or maybe even two. I’m not saying the answer is to make one show for each school year, though. That would make no sense. I also don’t think you NEED to limit the story to just one school year, although that would make things simpler. I think, overall, it needs to be presented in a more concise and better paced way. Preferably after scrapping the time travel plot, or at least making the time travel more like how it occurred in Prisoner of Azkaban.

SPEAKING OF WHICH. I don’t like how this show utterly throws out how the Time Turner is set up in Prisoner of Azkaban. Despite technically creating paradoxes, I like how the Time Turner is used in that book/movie. It establishes that while you can use it to mess about in time and do the right thing, there’s still a degree of certainty to the true timeline. All the things that the characters try to fix end up resulting in what they already experienced. This creates a few bootstrap paradoxes, but it shows that while their actions are useful, they can’t really CHANGE anything. This made the timeline feel secure, and prevented the time travel from being too powerful. I always respected that about the Time Turner, even when I was younger and loved the idea of changing the past to affect the future.

.... and then they go in a totally different direction for Cursed Child. It turns out that you CAN change the past, and that you CAN create a totally different future, and that if you do the wrong thing, whoopsie! Now Hogwarts is run by Headmaster Umbridge, is guarded by Dementors, and you’re late to celebrating Voldemort Day.

Yes, all that happens in one of the alternate futures of this show. Yes, I did actually laugh at the reveal.

So. After all the faults I just listed (and more I didn’t list), why is this show here on my list? How did it beat Phantom, Mockingbird, and even Chicago?

Partly, this is due to the effects. Whenever I asked someone how Cursed Child was, they replied with “Oh, the effects are GREAT!” Which... may not have been a good sign for the story, but it turned out to be absolutely true. The effects are, indeed, astounding. The crew took the challenge of representing magic on a Broadway stage and answered it phenomenally. There were moments that took my breath away in how real they looked, especially in regards to the Dementors.

Another reason this show is here on the lists is.... well, I had a fun time.

I DID have a fun time in a way the show didn’t intend, though. Now that I care less about the Harry Potter series overall, I was able to laugh at this show a lot more than I would have as a kid . It was definitely FUN to see how this story is a convoluted mess. Also, the acting is still good, so there were still good performances.

Also, there were some parts of the show that successfully hit the little parts of the Harry Potter fan that still reside in me, or at least the Potter fan of the past. The Dementors made me feel like a scared kid again. Seeing magic and hearing the familiar spells thrilled me. I feel like if I was a stronger fan, I’d dislike how some characters were done dirty. But I’d also like an excuse to see other characters return and give one last hurrah.

Finally. One shout-out to the moment that legit felt like it could have been from a Potter book or movie. While most of the show felt like new Rowling stuff, stuff that’s weak or weird or just extraneous, there was ONE moment that wowed me in effects, execution, and nostalgia:

The trolley lady.

There’s a moment in the show where Albus and Scorpius climb on the roof of the Hogwarts Express to leap off before they reach school. However, as they do, the trolley lady suddenly appears, perfectly balanced, even her trolley full of snacks.

Then she reveals herself to be an eternal aspect of the train who helps to ensure that every student REMAINS on the train. She even says the Marauders couldn’t escape her. She turns into a monster, her fingertips ELONGATING before our very eyes into claws, as she roars at the two boys escaping.

That was NUTS. My heart was pounding in my chest, and for the first time in years, I felt like a true Potter fan experiencing more genuine Harry Potter.

Still, I’m glad I didn’t pay for it. And I’ll continue my boycott of anything J.K. Rowling. I haven’t seen the new Fantastic Beasts, nor do I intend to. PLEASE don’t give any money to Rowling, as she’s done so much harm to the trans community.

But credit where credit is due. I did enjoy this Broadway experience, even as I scratched my head at it. If you have an opportunity to see it for free (no money to J.K. involved), then take it.

The Little Prince

Ahh, now onto another head scratcher! This show delves into the artsy abstract, with lots of dancing, maneuvering on aerial straps, and projected animated landscapes. While there IS a narrator onstage recounting the story, they do not physically resemble the Aviator, and they also speak aloud the “dialogue” that the other characters would be saying.

It didn’t help that I went into the show totally blind, not knowing what it would be like. I hadn’t even read the BOOK before. For most of the show, my reaction was that one Krusty GIF:

However. This show grew on me, and eventually won me over. It might look overly artsy at first, but it really is beautiful. The music and choreography are just gorgeous. Every part was fascinating, even if I didn’t know what was going on. I was confused, but also intrigued, thoughtful, and entertained; these emotional states lasted all the way until the end, when they showered us in red paper petals shaped like hearts.

Also, there was a part after the bows where someone went on the aerial straps and actually swung OVER the crowd like Spiderman. That was cool. :3

Now that I’ve read the book, the show makes a lot more sense, and I appreciate it as an adaptation in retrospect. Even if the vain main was adapted into a clown-looking dude who uses a smartphone. I truly wish I could see this again with my newfound knowledge of the book in mind.

Plaza Suite

Now onto the rich person play! This is what I and a few other coworkers called it because 1) it’s at a very fancy looking theater and 2) the crowds that came to see it were typically (but not always) rich New Yorkers and tourists. Half of them acted SO privileged, and the Mask Up folks were even told to be more lenient with them. While we still had to tell them to keep their masks up, we were also advised to not be as “forceful” or “commanding” as we would be at other theaters, which left a sour taste in my mouth every time I heard it.

However, the show itself is great, and definitely gets better the more it goes on. Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker act very well in it, and they understandably have incredible chemistry together. Broderick especially surprised me with the amount of physical comedy that he does in the second and third parts of the play. He’s a bit of a hit or miss actor in most of the things I’ve seen him in, but this play is a hit. Plaza Suite is also just a very clever play overall, with the humor only getting better with each part, so the actors have wonderful material to work with.

Also, the play takes advantage of the fact that there are no set changes. The set looks AMAZING. It looks just like a fancy expensive plaza suite was chopped out of a building and plopped onto the stage. The special effects (the few times they were necessary) were also great! When the rainstorm happened outside the windows in the third part, it looked and sounded pretty real!

Overall, despite attracting grumpy privileged rich people, it was a fun time!

A Strange Loop

Ohhhh, talk about FUN. Almost all of my coworkers were scrambling to get their hands on a shift for this show. I came in mostly blind, but I knew a few important things: 1) It’s the tenth musical to win the Pulitzer Prize, 2) it's the first musical to win a Pulitzer written by a black person to win, 3) it’s the first musical to win a Pulitzer without first having a Broadway run, and 4) it’s unabashedly black and queer.

Not only was I able to watch the show after my only shift there, but I was  also extremely lucky to get a ticket in the third row of the orchestra. (Someone just gave the ticket back to the theater; I guess they had to cancel? Unsure) Anyway, I had a CLEAR view of this wild, meta, and heart wrenching show. Everybody in the cast is so talented, and I was surprised to learn this is Jaquel Spivey’s Broadway debut. He plays Usher, the lead, and he does it wonderfully.

Honestly, there’s not much else I have to say here. The music is great, the acting’s phenomenal, the emotions are powerful, and the bare cheeks of the chorus member who stood on my side of the stage during “Exile in Gayville” are tight.

Also, the crowd for this show was definitely the most understanding and mask-wearing crowd I had ever worked with. Loved that.

Company

This was a blast. Company was another show I went into mostly blind, and I’m glad I did for this production. In fact, I’m curious about the effects of going into this one blind, as this production of Company has some big gender swaps. The male lead Bobby is now a woman (Bobbie), the bride-to-be with cold feet Amy is now an anxious gay groom named Jamie, and the three girls that Bobby dates are now three men. The only time the genderswap feels noticeable is a moment late in the play where Patti Lupone’s character proposes that Bobbie should sleep with her husband. In the original, she proposes that she should sleep with Bobby. I think the original works better tonally. Aside from that, everything else felt so natural that, if you hadn’t told me there was a genderswap at all, I don’t think I would’ve guessed.

Genderswap or not, this was a great time. I’m usually not the biggest fan of abstract staging; it’s gotta be done well for me to really be on board. This production does it super well! From the big neon letters, to hiding the number 35 in various places, to changing prop sizes, all the ways the staging plays with Bobbie’s psyche are both entertaining and thought provoking.

Since I came into Company blind, I was legit surprised by the power of the show’s comedy. Company could have achieved a high place on this list through laugh-power alone.

The acting and singing are, of course, amazing, and I’m so glad I got to see Patti Lupone in a Broadway show. She may not have too major a role, but she performs it so well. She just has a dazzling presence to her, and a beautiful voice to boot.

The rest of the cast are great too! My favorite number was Jamie’s “I Am Not Getting Married Today.” His performance was wildly entertaining, as was the random priest popping out of the fridge and freaking him out. Comedy gold.

Come From Away

I’m surprised that I was able to watch this show totally blind. I didn’t know a THING about it until a couple of days before my first shift there. The one thing I learned before I saw it?

“It’s about 9/11.″

That definitely gave me the wrong idea of what this show would be like. I came into it expecting a consistently dark, somber, and mournful story. However, while it does center around a tragic event, and it touches on some of the paranoia, stress, and xenophobia that people felt during/after 9/11, the show surprised me with lots of fun music, warmth, and goodwill. It even taught me about part of the aftermath of 9/11 that I never knew about- that after US airspace was closed, 38 international aircraft were forced to reroute and land in Gander, Newfoundland. Luckily, the town of Gander welcomed the hundreds of new people, provided them with food and shelter over the next week, and stayed in touch with their new friends in the years afterward. It’s such an interesting and heartwarming story, and as I watched from standing room, I was bouncing to the tune of the music all the way through.

(Also, thank you for being under 2 hours. It’s nice to watch a Broadway show that’s the length of a movie.)

The Music Man

Now for the show that so many people are dying to see and willing to spend hundreds of dollars on tickets for- The Music Man, starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster. While I knew the basic story of The Music Man beforehand, I still hadn’t actually watched it before, so I had a fun time watching this partially blind. The story’s silly, and parts are clearly old fashioned, but I thought it was very entertaining. The music is great, and it was nice to hear an official (yet slightly changed for modern audiences) version of “Shipoopi” after being so familiar with the Family Guy rendition.

The two aspects that really blew me away, though, were the look of the show and the acting.

This show was fun just to watch. The sets and costumes are all gorgeous. Also, during “The Wells Fargo Wagon”, they did a couple of neat things with the horse-drawn wagon. First, they had little moving cutouts of the horse galloping with the wagon in tow in the “distance”, which was fun. Then they had the “horse” (people in a really great horse costume) come out on stage, which was so impressive.

And as for the acting? It’s Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster, of COURSE it was amazing. This was actually my first real experience seeing Hugh Jackman sing and dance, and he’s excellent at both. The rest of the cast is great too; everyone was full of energy and immensely talented.

This show might’ve given me a couple tough crowds to work with, but being able to watch it was worth it.

Hangmen

I couldn’t help but love Hangmen. I loved it so much that it was the only show I saw twice during my old Broadway job. Sadly, both times, I had to miss the first ten minutes, in which (as far as I could piece together) the main character condemns to death the man who sets the whole plot in motion. I went into the show mostly blind, knowing only that it took place in the 1960s, after hanging is abolished in the UK, and that it was written by Martin McDonagh. (He created The Pillowman)

This play is a great dark comedy. Despite the dark subject matter and the attitudes of some of the characters, nearly every joke landed. Even if the laughs were sometimes surprised or slightly uncomfortable, the jokes WORKED. There’s so much great setup and payoff, and I was always invested in what was going on.

The sets are also wonderful. While I couldn’t really appreciate the first set (jail room), I loved looking at the detail of the later pub set. Like the plaza suite in Plaza Suite, it truly looked like they carved out a real location (in this case, a 60s British pub) and put in on a Broadway stage. Also, there’s a short scene in a cafe that was stage marvelously, literally taking place ABOVE the pub set. It was practically hidden up there, only revealed when it had to be, and it still looked realistic, with a THUNDERSTORM visibly happening outside its windows. So cool.

Alfie Allen of Game of Thrones fame is in this production, and he’s marvelous. Even before I knew he was in Game of Thrones (I did not watch it), I thought he was one of the strongest actors in Hangmen. He just has this ENERGY of great acting ability on that stage. Then I learned what he’s been in, and I thought “Oh, that makes sense.”

Without going into spoilers, I will say that the hanging in Hangmen (that I did see, at least) is chilling to watch. I had to keep telling myself that there had to be a harness, that there were precautions in place, that they wouldn’t risk the life of an actor. Great acting combined with great effects equal legit fear that someone’s gonna die.

Finally, I really liked the excuse to listen to Northern accents for a couple hours. It’s just nice. Reminded me of when I was studying in Manchester, even though Hangmen takes place in Lancashire. Speaking of which, I was super amused to hear the hometown of one of my friends, Burnley, get name-dropped a half-dozen times over the course of the show. I don’t hear about it much outside of him and football, so that was a nice surprise.

And that concludes my thoughts of all the Broadway shows I saw during my old job. I did get a NEW job working on Broadway, but it won’t provide the same show-watching opportunities that the old one did. (Fortunately, people will be WAY more polite to me because I’m not working COVID safety anymore) Still, I’ll always be grateful for this period in which I saw what is probably nearly a thousand dollars worth of Broadway shows.

Thanks for sticking around to read all this! If you’ve seen these shows, lemme know your thoughts. :3