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vivwritesfics · 6 months

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Keep On Rolling - MV1

Chapter Nine

Summary: Lando's best friend having feelings for anyone on the grid? Impossible, right? She worked with them, sharing her friendship with the grid with the world via the FormulaY/N youtube channel.

After film a video including... spicy water (alcohol), everything changes between her and a certain world champion. Good thing she hasn't had a crush on him since his F1 debut, right?

Right?

2.1K words

Series Masterlist

Summer break. Y/N had never been so excited for summer break. It had been an awfully stressful season so far, with all of the needless drama.

Y/N thought she'd have a chance to talk to Max before the beginning of summer break, but no. Not yet. It left this horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach whenever she so much as saw a picture of him.

When she first started her Youtube channel, when her 'Day in the life of a wag' video blew up, this wasn't what she expected. She didn't expect to fall head over heels for a driver. Even if this was what she expected, she would never have expected it to go this wrong.

The first stop on Y/N's summer break was Texas. She'd been invited out there to stay at Daniels place. Horse back riding, the Austin murder walk and more.

Danny was more excited than Y/N was, that was clear. While he went back to Texas, Y/N had two days to go home and pack her things before her long ass flight.

Ten hours. Y/N was in the air for ten hours. She spent most of the flight with her headphones on her head, listening to music as she made plans for her Youtube channel. Her filming equipment was in her carry on, ready for her to begin filming her annual summer break vlog.

Daniel met her outside of the airport. He had sunglasses covering his eyes and a cowboy hat covering his head as he leaned against his car. "Howdy, little lady," he said in a terrible American accent as he popped the boot of the car and grabbed Y/N's things from her. Ever the gentleman, Daniel placed her things into the car and pulled open the passenger side door for her.

"So, you haven't uploaded a video for a while," said Danny as they drove away from the airport.

Y/N shrugged her shoulders. She looked out of the window, at the scenery as the passed by. "I just haven't made one for a while."

"Is everything okay with you and Lando?"

"It is now," Y/N muttered under her breath.

That week in Texas was amazing. Daniel took her quad biking and horse back riding. They rode all of the trails, on a different horse every time. Of course, Y/N and Daniel were holding the saddle while somebody else led them around. He took her out for dinner and they did all of the fun things Texas had to offer. (Well, not all of them. Isn't texas fucking massive?)

“Thanks for coming,” said Danny as he hugged her at the airport. “Do you feel recharged?”

“Definitely,” Y/N answered as she hugged him back. Daniel was always warm, and he always smelt so good.

He squeezed her one last time. “Good luck in

After Texas Y/N had a quick stop home. She spent a night washing and drying her clothes before packing her bag, ready for her holiday with Lando and Carlos.

Y/N made her way to Monaco. Still, Lando hadn't told her why he was being weird during Silverstone. He maintained the fact that he wasn't acting weird, and Y/N was out of her mind.

She still hadn’t had a chance to talk to Max. Y/N and Lando hadn’t spoken further about it since Spa. Probably a good thing; her week in Texas had helped take her mind off of it. And then Y/N made her way to Monaco. Monaco where Max lived.

She was unlikely to see him, since she was only in Monaco for one night. And Max was probably spending his summer sim racing, unlikely to leave his apartment.

Once Y/N was in Monaco, she made her way straight to Lando’s apartment, dragging her suitcase behind her. She wasn’t going to think about Max as she walked through the streets – he was going to be at the back of her mind. Why would she think about him when she was heading on an awesome holiday? Why would she think about it when she was jetting off to have fun with her friends? Why would she think about it him…

Why wouldn’t she think about it? Why would her mind not focus on Max at every second? She missed him. They were good friends and she missed him so fucking much. She missed having him around. Like with the drunken quiz video; Y/N spent the entire thing leaning on Max, whispering things in his ear and giggling to herself. He was the one to take care of her, taking the responsibility from Lando. Max didn’t have to do that, but he wanted to.

When Lando opened his door, Y/N threw herself into his arms. “Wow, okay,” Lando said as he pushed the front door shut. “What’s all this about?”

“Just shut up and hug me,” Y/N replied, burying her face against his shoulder. She sucked in deep breaths, breathing in his scent. It was comforting, he smelt like home. To Y/N, he was home.

Lando pushed her away, held onto her shoulders and looked at her face. And I mean really looked. Trying to read her thoughts. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but Lando knew she’d tell him when she was ready.

“Was Texas good?” He asked and he led her into his bedroom. On his bed was an empty bag, a pile of clothes beside it. There were shorts, shirts and swimming trunks.

Y/N nodded her head as she began folding his clothes. “It was good,” she replied, packing them into his bag. “It was a chance to recharge my batteries and do something different.” Y/N grabbed his toiletries and shoved them into the inside pocket. “Definitely needed.”

As soon as she was done Y/N dumped Lando’s bag onto the floor and sat on the bed beside him. She laid back and stared up at his smooth ceiling. “Lan?”

“Yeah?” He said as he laid down beside her.

“Do you remember I told you about my sort of crush on Max?”

“… Yeah?”

Y/N sucked in her breath, holding her hands against her stomach. “Did it surprise you, when I told you? Because you didn’t seem very surprised.”

Lando huffed and turned his head to the side, facing away from Y/N. “Kind of,” he mumbled and shuffled on the bed. “I mean, I’ve seen the way you interact with him, and I’ve seen that sort of smile on your face. You always look happy around him and I don’t know if you even realise.”

No, Y/N didn’t realise. She didn’t realise the way she always wore a beaming smile around Max or the way she gravitated towards him. Even when Lando was there, Y/N was always standing closer to Max.

But that wasn’t happening at the minute and everybody noticed. Whether Y/N and Max themselves noticed, everybody else did. Lando knew. He was privileged enough to not be left in the dark. And Charles. He knew too, probably more than everybody else.

That night Y/N slept in Lando’s bed with him. He had his arms wrapped around her, keeping her tucked protectively against him as they slept.

They only got a few hours of sleep, waking up before the ass crack of dawn to catch their flight. Y/N wore sweatpants and an LN4 hoodie as they got their things into the taxi and made their way to the airport. Y/N said her earphones in, resting her head on Lando’s shoulder as they drove. Her eyes were tired and she couldn’t wait to get herself a coffee.

It didn’t take long to get through the airport. In the early hours of the morning there weren’t many people trying to get a flight, so Lando only got recognised a handful of times. Y/N was more than happy to get pictures of Lando and the fans, and some of them even wanted pictures with her.

Tenerife was a rather long flight. Y/N had moves downloaded onto her phone as they flew, heading towards the Island. Before they’d put their phones onto flight mode Y/N and Lando and received a text from Carlos, informing them that they had arrived to the villa and it was lovely. Y/N wanted to talk about the Max situation. She desperately wanted to. But a plane wasn’t the place, not with how many people there were around them.

Once they made it to Tenerife there wasn’t a taxi waiting for them. There was a Carlos Sainz. Carlos had left his girlfriend in the villa while rented a car and drove to pick up Y/N and Lando. He had to wait in the car as Y/N and Lando made their way over to him. People snapped pictures of them as they walked through the airport and out to the carpark.

“Hola pollito,” (Hello little chicken) said Carlos as he wrapped his arms around Y/N.

“Hi Carlos,” she said as she hugged him back. “Is it nice? Have you been in the pool yet?”

Carlos laughed as he took her begs from her, ever the gentleman. “Of course I have,” he said and placed the bags in the back of the rented car. He did the same for Lando as the two of them climbed into the car, Lando in the front and Y/N sitting in the back. “Did you have a good time in Texas?”

“Brilliant time. Danny might be my favourite now.”

“Ouch.” Lando held his hand over his heart as he turned to face her. “Is Danny the one that takes you to every race?”

Reaching forward, Y/N pinched Lando’s cheek.

Their week at the villa was wonderful. Y/N and Lando didn’t bother unpacking before they were cannonballing into the pool, trying to drown each other chasing each other from one end of the pool to the other. Each night they ate in a different restaurant and each day they did something different. The second day they went to the beach. Carlos’ girlfriend sunbathed while Carlos and Y/N partially buried Lando. The four of them played in the ocean and Lando built a sandcastle while the others rested.

On the second day they went exploring, heading up the trails along the winding paths. Y/N and Lando allowed Carlos and his girlfriend some time alone as they explored the small shops in the nearest town. Y/N bought herself a fridge magnet and a bracelet and Lando got a keyring.

They slept in the same bed, like normal. It was too hot to sleep pressed up against each other, so Lando and Y/N slept on opposite sides of the bed with the covers off.

When the week was up, Y/N and Lando headed back to Monaco. She stayed with Lando for one more night before heading off to Charles’.

Charles had Y/N for three days before she and Lando were heading back to England for the filming of a Quadrant video. For those three days Y/N and Charles were on his yacht, sailing out of Monaco for a couple of hours.

“So, you and Max,” Charles said as Y/N laid in the sun. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“There’s nothing going on,” said Y/N as she held her arm over her eyes as she looked up at him.

But Charles knew better. He knew something that Y/N didn’t. He knew what was going on with Max.

Max and Charles were best friends; that was no secret. So, who better to find out what was going on with Max but Charles? He revealed none of Y/N’s secrets, of course, as he found everything out from Max. He found out what Max was feeling, found out why he had pulled away all of a sudden.

Was it somebody else? Did this potential other person not like Y/N? Was the way Max was feeling him scaring him? Was there an outside influence keeping him away from Y/N, or was it all his own choice?

Charles had all of the answers. He knew everything; Max hadn’t held back. He’d had nobody to talk to for the last few months, so he spilled and told Charles everything.

And Charles kept it to himself. He did that for Y/N so he only gave Max the same courtesy.

“Just wait,” he said, smirking as he walked away.

“How about you try being more cryptic next time!” Y/N shouted as Charles jumped into the water.

Taglist (Open): @sticksdoesart @eviethetheatrefreak @eugene-emt-roe @glai1023-blog @mqcherie @itsjustkhaos @chonkybonky @arian-directioner @lazybot @lpab @princessria127 @fangirl125reader @honethatty12 @larastark3107 @urfavouritef1girly @cassiopeiia24 @callsign-scully @lexiecamposv @dl-yum @savagecelery @laneyspaulding19 @formulas-bitch @teenwolf01 @gayfrog29 @fictionalcomforts @avg-golden-retriever @pxppeypianotme @ruleroftheuniverse @ferrarisbitch @ashy-kit @dark-night-sky-99 @sadg3 @asmoothoperator @formula1mount

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transfelid · 2 years

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Kinrichment — Expressing Nonhumanity and Indulging in Kintype-like Behaviours:

Why is this important?

Species euphoria is a feeling of contentment, comfort, and rightness that one experiences when they’re able to present as and be addressed as their correct species. Activities that align closely with your species are an easy way to attain this. Species dysphoria affects a lot of us, so it’s handy to have an idea of how to combat this, or just an idea of how to have fun with and connect to your identity more.

If you are in a safe environment, and have the means to, it’s nice to try out some things that make you feel more like yourself. This could be as simple as making a few vocalisations (barks, growls, roars), eating kintype-related snacks such as jerky, and chewing on a plush toy or other safe object, or as elaborate as having a full-body fursuit or quad-suit of your kintype or living as close as possible like your species 24/7. I’ve tried to write some suggestions for activities, as well as methods on how to figure out some for yourself.

Tips and Suggestions:

It it helps, think of yourself as taking care of your enrichment needs as an animal. You are both a tiger and the keeper introducing a treat pumpkin into the enclosure.

Behavioural / Environmental:

— Research common behaviours or vocalisations of your kintype. Videos or documentaries may be helpful for this. Try to reenact them.

— Research your kintype’s habitat, and think about how you can replicate it in your own environment:

Spend time in a dark room for nocturnal kintypes. If possible, adopt a nocturnal sleep schedule. You could spend time outdoors at night such as in a garden, on a porch, or just looking out of an open window, use caution if going outside alone at night.

For cooler environments: go out in the cold or snow outdoors, sit in front of a fan, drink cold/iced beverages, or lay in an ice bath. Be careful not to develop hypothermia.

For hotter environments: rest near a heater, lay on a heated pad, sunbathe/bask, drink hot beverages, wrap up in a blanket or a few layers, or visit a sauna. Be careful not to overheat.

For underwater environments: swim, run a bath, or go out in the rain. You can also play whale song or underwater ambience.

For forest-dwelling kintypes: visit a forest or woodland, or play forest ambience.

You can take up outdoorsy hobbies such as hiking, camping, kayaking, trail riding, or mountain climbing.

If you cannot leave the house, can’t do these suggestions for any reason, or your species is from an environment difficult to replicate, a good alternative is to find a soundscape close to what your kintype is familiar with and practice meditation and visualisation, especially visualising yourself as your kintype exploring this habitat. Another option would be to write descriptive pieces or to draw scenery from noemata or from photographs.

— If your kintype is domestic, read care guides, forums, or books on how to raise and care for your species. It may have some suggestions for toys, games, and activities for you.

— If you are a working animal and miss having a task, find an easy way to continue doing that job by doing things such as tracking scents around your house, locating hidden objects, herding objects or (consenting) people, pulling objects to mimic a sled or carriage, standing guard in your room or house, asking a friend to give you tasks, or helping and guiding others, literally or emotionally.

— Play with toys for domestic canines/felines, but make sure they’re safe to chew and put in your mouth. An alternative to pet chew toys would be chewlery made specifically for human-bodied people.

— If your kintype is commonly kept in zoos, you can read relevant care guides and look at the enrichment suggestions. You won’t be able to do all of them, but it may spark inspiration for other games and activities.

Here are some suggestions of where to look:

Association of Zoos and Aquariums Care Manual

AZA Ungulates Husbandry Manuals

Australasian Zookeeping Husbandry Manuals

— Research the diet of your kintype, and then find some similar foods and recipes you can create and safely consume (there is elaboration on this topic further down).

— Build a nest or den out of blankets, pillows, and items you enjoy. You could also invest in a large dog bed.

— Go to the beach or create a sandpit to dig holes in, you can use your hands like front paws instead of a shovel.

— Quadrobics is a type of exercise based around running, walking, and jumping on four limbs like a quadrupedal animal. I do not know much about this, and definitely not enough to give any detailed tips here, so you should look into it for yourself if you’re interested in starting. Remember to always use safety gear such as wrist protection. A safer/easier way to do quadrobics is by ascending stairs on four limbs.

Aesthetic:

— If you’re an adult, you can wear certain pet-play gear such as pup hoods, pony hoods, paw mittens, and harnesses. Although on the pricier side, I find the hoods from Wruff Stuff to be more comfortable, customisable, and a nicer design than the more generic ones you see around. They stock a range of species designs such as dogs, cats, foxes, pigs, and dragons. They also sell bodysuits, collars, paw-design shoes, and harnesses. Not sponsored by them, I just think they’re neat.

— Wearing fursuits, quadsuits, or fursuit parts, such as fursuit heads, tails, horns, hoof shoes, wings, or paws to match your kintype.

— Wearing a belt-loop tail made from a (ethically-sourced, research where you’re buying this from) pelt or faux fur.

— Wearing animal ears on a headband or hair clips, or silicone elf-like ears.

— Another common accessory is collars. I recommend buying from a maker that creates them for human-bodied people, rather than pets, so you can get a comfortable size and a range of customisation, but it‘s fine to buy a large enough dog collar if that’s your only option.

— You can now find many face masks with teeth, animal print, and animal snout designs.

— Hoodies with attached ears, horns, and/or tail. These can be bought as custom-made or generic designs, generally from furry fandom creators.

— Claw rings

— Coloured contacts, make sure they’re from a reputable company.

— Body paint, body markers, or makeup. You can look up tutorials to achieve certain animal looks / traits.

Creative:

— Draw or paint a self-portrait, or visualise your phantom limbs and draw how/where they appear on your body.

— Write fiction, a non-fiction informational piece, or a personal essay about your experiences, your noemata, your species, a shapeshifter of your species, or an alterhuman like yourself.

— Create your own gear such as masks, yarn tails, or jewellery.

— Make music based on or inspired by your alterhumanity, or by your noemata of music styles from your life/world.

Miscellaneous:

— Collect items that remind you of your kintype such as plushies or ornaments. If your kintype hoards items, you could start your own hoard.

— Spend time with other nonhumans, whether in person or online. Discuss your feelings, memories, and experiences. Ask those of a similar species to you what activities help them experience species euphoria. You could join or create an alterhuman Discord community or pack if you so wish.

— Read the writings of other alterhumans, especially in terms of their experiences of animality, how they express(ed) their kintype, and species euphoria.

Fictionkin:

— For (humanoid) fictionkin: indulge in your kintype’s interests and hobbies, try food you enjoyed, dress in their style or even cosplay them, make playlists of songs that remind you of yourself/your life/those close to you, maybe you can find merchandise / replica props of objects that mean something to you.

— If you want to engage in fandom, you can publish fanfiction or fanart based on your noemata or become active in forums or subreddit communities dedicated to your source, but I wouldn’t recommend being openly fictionkind while you’re there.

— If your fictotype is a nonhuman species, think about the previous points more suited for nonhuman kintypes; if there are earthly animals similar to you (reptiles, mammals, fish, birds, insects) find out what’s recommended for them as well, it may be helpful to you.

Kintype-related Food:

A lot of my information is from the Safe Recipes for Nonhuman Identities lecture from Othercon 2021, although I have added a few things. I recommend watching this panel yourself for some specific recipe ideas and more information on food safety and preparation.

— Raw meat and fish are unsafe to eat and should be cooked thoroughly. Steak tartare, carpaccio (thinly-sliced raw meat or fish), or black-and-blue steak are some safer alternatives to just raw meat, but should be sourced and prepared by a professional.

— Raw eggs are unsafe to eat unless the eggs you purchase are pasteurised, or the egg has been irradiated.

— Candy chalk, bone-shaped meringues, hone-senbei (deep fried fish bones), and roasted marrow bones are good alternatives for bones. Although not a bone itself, soups and stews made from bone or bone marrow-heavy broths may be of interest.

— Hard candy in the shape of gems or crystals, rock candy, chocolate rocks, and pomegranate seeds are good alternatives for rock or gem cravings.

— Chocolate-covered crickets or ants, roasted and seasoned mealworms, black sesame seeds, roasted pine nuts, and roasted sunflower seeds are good options for insect cravings. A lot of insects are more-or-less readily-available to buy in the form of protein-rich snacks, flour, or novelty foods, though mostly from specialty stores.

— Cranberry juice, tomato juice, chocolate pudding thinned with warm milk are good alternatives for blood. Black pudding or blood sausage, if you can get it, is made with blood. You can ingest cow or pig’s blood on its own, if it’s sourced by a professional, however it can be risky.

— Canned meat (corned beef or Spam), canned fish (canned salmon or tuna), beef or pork jerky, fruit leather, snack cookies or crackers, cubes of cheese, and steamed rice with gravy/meatballs/meat chunks are good alternatives for domestic pet food / treats.

— You can source uncommon meat cuts and organ meat from a trusted butcher. Your butcher may also be able to tell you where to get anything they don’t sell.

— For vegetarian options for carnivorous cravings, jackfruit and tofu can make good meat substitutes. There are also a variety of meat-shaped meat substitutes such as Beyond Meat and Quorn.

— There are ‘kin recipe tumblr blogs who post and tag content specifically for certain kintype species, although most are inactive you can still look through the posts. There are also general ‘kin request blogs out there that will suggest recipes and snacks relevant to your kintype.

‘Kin recipe blogs:

@kin-eats

@kinfood

@kinfoodie

Closing Notes:

I definitely haven’t included every possible activity or kintype in here, I’m only one tiger after all, but I tried my best! Feel free to add any suggestions that help you, ask any relevant questions, or shoot me an ask and I’ll see what I can suggest for you (but keep in mind that I’m not a request blog).

#wanted to get this out for therianthropy day #otherkin #therian #alterhuman #therianthropy #nonhuman #fictionkin #fictionkind #wolfkin #catkin #kin #kin care #kin self care #species euphoria #resources

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dojunie · 10 months

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MESSENGER, HRJ [PT 8: SHH!]

➥ PART 8 OF MESSENGER; a small smau about a stranger, a whole lot of animal pics, and a relationship you would never have expected to come from texting a random number written on a public bathroom mirror.

➥ WC: 3.4K

[PREVIOUS PART] [INFO/MASTERLIST] [NEXT PART]

a/n: double update AGAIN bc i took forever to update 🤠

current tl: @matchahyuck @theboyz-jacob @hoeshi17 @neoteez01 @hibernatinghamster @luvvsnae @shwizhies @skynightgalaxy @ihrtnyu @kunvibing @liliansun @txpxwxk @is4b3ll3s @rxnexxi @rum-gone-why @she-is-dreaming @chenfleur @haedgaff @twogyuu @jeongintwt @rinrinslovebot

RENJUN HAS NEVER WANTED TO STRANGLE SOMEONE MORE THAN HE DOES RIGHT NOW.

There were almost tangible beams of heat drilling into the side of Donghyuck’s head as Renjun glared at him from across the table, while the man in question smiled and flirted and chatted with his girlfriend like absolutely nothing was amiss. Birds were chirping. The sun was shining. There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky, and students were wandering around in the quad outside without a care in the world—

—And yet, he still felt like he was seconds away from being executed.

Had Renjun’s mind not already been obliterated from the test he’d just taken in his last class, he might’ve been more suspicious of Donghyuck’s text. Because Lee Donghyuck? Asking him if he was free to study? On a Friday?

However, a few hours of studying simply didn’t sound too bad after just barely escaping English Lit with his average intact, which meant he didn’t smell the blood in the water until it was too late— when he’d stumbled upon the rather quiet corner that Donghyuck told him to head towards instead of their usual spot on the first floor. (And this should have been another clue, as Hyuck has only ever wanted to study near the vending machines on the rare occasions Renjun could convince him to open a book, but like any normal human being, he wasn’t thinking that this random change in scenery would lead to this.)

He rounded the corner, saw Donghyuck, saw Doyeon, and then saw you, and instantly felt like he'd just walked into the universe's idea of cruel joke.

Why? Well. Because the only logical solution after realizing how badly he'd fucked up by not immediately telling you who he was after the volleyball game— the double life he’d accidentally started by being too embarrassed to tell you in fear of… everything, really— had been to just... never see you again.

As stupid as it sounds, like some plot from a teen movie, it was the only thing he could think to do that wouldn't make things worse.

Renjun would quicker die than tell you this, but he'd gotten used to you. He'd grown familiar with always having you in his head, accustomed to your endless exclamations, used to how his mood would shift for the better every time your message bubble appeared on his screen— and the idea of losing you because of something so stupid made his stomach squirm like nothing he'd ever felt before. To keep you in his life as Duckboy he'd have to stay out of your way as Renjun, and if those were the stakes then he'd take his chances.

He'd just avoid you like the plague. That was fine. He could do that.

(Since he's never seen you in real life before this week, it probably won't even be that hard, he thought. Right?)

Right.

Hence the reason his heart just about exploded in his chest when he saw you sitting in this library seat.

A few minutes have passed since then, original panic ebbing into tightly-wound stress as the seconds ticked by with you not even a foot away from him.

He initially thought that if he just acted really serious about studying, you might keep your distance. If he glued his nose to his textbook and said nothing, pretended you weren’t there, entirely at the expense of looking like an uptight dork but hopefully putting you off from wanting anything to do with him— he might get out of this unscathed.

He felt you looking at him. He’d even caught you nearly say something to him once, watching you open your mouth out of the corner of his eye, before you thought better of it and slouched back down in your seat, frowning.

For a while it worked. But as he honestly should’ve known about you by now, if your messages were anything to go by— your curiosity could only be so subdued.

“What course is that for?”

You leaned into Renjun’s side of the table.

He tore his eyes away from the textbook he wasn’t focusing on to look at you, and is wholly embarrassed by how easily his indifferent facade cracks.

The worst part of it all is knowing that if he wasn't such a coward, you might've been halfway to being friends by now. Maybe this would have been it. But instead he set himself up for this: You, sitting at his side, asking him questions and talking to him and entwining yourself further and further into his space with the obvious intent of getting to know him better, without the slightest idea that you already knew him. You know where he was born. You know his hobbies, his favorite animals and least favorite foods; you know about the difficulties he has with brother, and because it’s easier to tell things to strangers on the internet, you know things about him that not even his own family knows.

Except you don’t really feel like a stranger to him anymore.

“I can’t recognize like half the words on that page. This is math, right?”

“Applied Statistics,” he replied feebly.

There were some things that couldn't be translated through a phone, though. Like the clear lilt of your voice without the tin of a receiver. How much you seem to fidget; biting pen caps, tapping the table with your fingers, bouncing the balls of your feet against the carpeted floor. Your lack of respect for personal space. He’s hit by a blast of your shampoo or perfume (Honey, like you told him you put in your tea? Vanilla?) as you bow your head closer to oogle at his side of the table.

“Have you ever seen the Davinci Code?" you asked. "All that equation gibberish that was floating around the Mona Lisa in that really, really, ridiculously long monologue scene near the beginning?”

He has never seen the Davinci Code. He nods anyway.

“This looks like that. You actually understand this stuff?”

“It’s an advanced course,” Donghyuck cut in suddenly. Both you and Renjun turn to look at him; you in interest, he, with irritation hastily returning. “You have to take a test to even get a chance to take that class because it counts for like, three math credits, instead of the one like the rest of us losers have to contend with. Renjun here is pretty smart, you know?”

Fuck off, he wanted to bite— but then you hummed and nodded beside him like this made sense, and he temporarily forgot his venom.

“Probably why I haven’t seen you around,” you told him casually. “I don’t tend to attract people with more than two brain cells to rub together, if not already obvious by my friendship with these two.”

Doyeon gasped and reached across the table to swat at you, and you flung yourself closer to Renjun to get out of her reach. You’re giggling brightly as you begin to bicker with her, the same laugh that’s been swirling around in his mind since that night you called him— and again, his irritation slips away at the familiar sound. Though, instead of it being recouped by the slushy feeling he usually got when he thought about your laugh— he’s struck by even more guilt.

The only reason Renjun already knows what you sound like is because you called Duckboy that night.

The reason he’s so sure he’s smelling honey and vanilla is because you told Duckboy that those were your favorite scents.

The reason he knows that math isn’t your strong suit isn’t because you just told Renjun that you find it hard— it’s because you told Duckboy a few days ago that you flunked two math courses in your freshman year, and that it really knocked the wind out of your sails. It was something you told him in sincerity, the first time he’d ever noticed a waver in your usually boisterously confident persona and the sheepish way you brought him a little closer; how Renjun had to fight to keep from grinning when you got flustered afterwards and made him promise not to make fun of you for it.

‘I only tell people that I really trust about that,’ you’d texted him later, ‘So don’t go around making me regret it!!!’

And now he was repaying your sincerity by lying straight to your face. If that wasn’t grounds for regret, he didn’t know what was.

His stomach was in knots by the time he was snapped out of it, to the sound of Donghyuck’s muffled wailing. Muffled because Doyeon’s hand is clamped over his mouth, the girlfriend in question staring at him, wide eyed, as if he’s just done something awfully stupid— and judging by the pinched look on your face as Renjun chanced a glance at you, he might not have been too far off.

“Kim Doyeon,” you whispered, betrayed.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry— Shit, I thought you were kidding! Was your little phone-rendezvous seriously supposed to be a secret?”

What? Renjun lost the plot. He has no idea where the conversation has gone. Donghyuck manages to wrangle Doyeon’s hands from his mouth, enough for him to gasp a needed breath, and then out comes a howl that echoes throughout the high ceilings of the SNU Technical Library.

“You have a cyber-boyfriend?”

Turns out that the corner that Donghyuck picked for his study session was not nearly as secluded and confined and soundproof as you all thought. Ten seconds later and you were being run out of the library by the little, hawkish, very red in the face floor attendant. Twenty seconds later, poor Renjun has somehow ended up saddled with Donghyuck’s bag as you and Doyeon chase him around the front steps of the building, shouting obscenities over his lack of decorum— and another twenty seconds later the four of you are walking back to the dormitory block, Donghyuck’s ears pinched pink and the conversation having shifted back to normalcy.

You hadn’t really been planning to study today. You honestly hadn’t been planning to do much of anything really, besides vedge out in your dorm room with a bag of frozen peas on your ribs (courtesy of Duckboy’s quick thinking, though you’d never tell him that) since only two short days have passed since the game and you were still plenty sore.

But Doyeon, in her text, had offhandedly mentioned that this Renjun guy would be coming, and your sudden openness to cracking open a book surprised the both of you. She, because the last time you willingly agreed to study with her and Donghyuck was… Never, and you because you weren’t expecting the mere idea of seeing Hyuck’s friend again to make studying sound like less like torture.

You’d be lying if you said your mind hasn’t run across him since the game. Nothing nefarious, of course. Just vague curiosity. Interest. Mostly around how, with a face as cute as his, it was possible you’d never noticed him around campus before; or just why the hell he’d been acting so weird when you met. Plus other innocent questions, like what he got up to in his free time if he was allegedly as reclusive as Donghyuck had joked. Like if he read books. Or played an instrument.

Or if he had a girlfriend.

(You know. Completely harmless things like that.)

Then he’d appeared in the library corner a little bit after you’d gotten there, looking properly studious in his little denim jacket, books huffed up under his arm and bag slung over his shoulder— but also just as stiff and sickly as he’d been upon seeing you a few nights ago.

It was like your mere presence put him on edge but you had no idea why, and this little study session confirmed that it wasn’t just a first-meeting-jitters thing. He didn’t seem to relax for a single second back there at the study table, and pondering the list of possibilities began to drive you a little crazy.

(Did you smell bad? It couldn’t be. You’d showered before you left your room, and even spritzed an extra burst of your honey chamomile perfume since you knew you’d be in close proximity to him today. Were you too pushy? Hopefully not— you’d been trying your damnedest to be on good behavior, only asking the most mundane of questions to hold yourself back from voicing any thought that grazed your brain like you usually did with potential friends; and he’d been responding in kind. He wasn’t weird around girls, since he seemed to talk to Doyeon just fine— So what’s the deal?)

You didn’t get any closer to answering that question like you’d hoped you would before the session was over, but that was no matter. All today had done was cement in your brain that, whether he was just a natural introvert or if it really was something about you that ticked him the odd way— you’d die before you gave up on figuring it out.

Maybe a little dramatic. But that’s just how much you hated being left in the dark.

After Donghyuck had gotten you all kicked out of the library (and you’d socked him good for the ‘cyber-boyfriend’ comment), the consensus had been to just call it quits on studying for the day. Fine with you. You didn’t mind an hour to kill before practice, anyway.

You’ve ended up beside Renjun again as the four of you wandered down the path that led you back to student housing. Hyuck and Doyeon were a few steps ahead, mumbling about something you weren’t quite close enough to hear, until Doyeon cursed.

“Of course I would remember now,” she whined. It was only when she stopped to turn, eyebrows knit as she found your face, that you even realized she was talking to you. “Statistics. Statistics. That’s what I was forgetting to tell you in the library. I got a text from Guyeon a few hours ago complaining about a pop quiz that her statistics professor set on her this morning, and I remembered you two were taking the same course but on different days— the whole reason I even asked you if you were free to study with us today was to tell you that so you could prepare.”

“Statistics?” you echoed. “Like… Stats 204? Professor Yubin’s Stats 204?”

She winced, damning confirmation, and when it finally hit you almost gasped aloud. You have a pop quiz tomorrow?

“So?” Donghyuck asked. “Just study for it tonight? Aren’t you free for the rest of the day?”

“No, dipshit,” you hissed, dread steadily rising, “Considering that your girlfriend is the captain of the team, you should already know that Doyeon and I have practice in an hour that doesn’t end until six! Not to mention that studying doesn’t really help when you barely understand the material in the first place—”

“Aren’t his quizzes pretty short though?” Renjun asked quietly.

It was obvious that he wasn’t expecting any of you to hear him, from the way he froze when all three of your heads whirled in his direction, but you did. You heard him loud and clear.

“What was that?” you asked quickly. His face seemed to pale three shades at the sudden intensity of your stare.

“Have you… Taken? Statistics 204 before?”

“Uh—I… Yes? But it was in freshman year, I mean, it was a while ago—”

“But you took it,” Donghyuck interrupted, voice suddenly very, very pointed. You glanced at him. Hyuck’s face was now the perfect picture of interest, a carefully neat and somehow still nefarious grin tugging at his lips. “Right, Jun? And like I said, Y/N, Renjun here is a real star when it comes to numbers. Did I already tell you he has a 4.0 too? That he was a tutor last year?”

Your eyes widened further. He was a tutor? He was that smart?

Foolishly you asked in what subject, knowing the answer wouldn’t sway your sudden bubbling desperation either way, but you felt it right to ask— and Donghyuck’s smile only widened further.

“Math.”

“I stopped tutoring though,” Renjun blurted quickly, as if only now realizing where this was going, and you turned back to him to catch his expression morphing into clear alarm. “I only did it for a few months because the STEM board asked me to fill in a spot, I’m not any authority or anything—”

“The school asked you to tutor people?”

“I feel like that should make you a very big authority,” Doyeon chimed. “Maybe the biggest authority, actually.”

“Well shit,” Donghyuck said cheerily. “And aren’t you free for the rest of the day, Renjun? Isn’t that just the craziest coincidence that Y/N could use a study buddy tonight?”

And for the first time in the very short amount of hours you’ve known this guy, as Renjun whirled to look at Donghyuck, you saw a cast on his face that wasn’t vague discomfort or straight up horror. It was a look you didn’t even know Renjun’s face could make— and the pure, burning disdain written all over his features was enough to snap you out of your blind hope.

His expression couldn’t be any clearer; Renjun did not want to be volunteered.

Which… duh, you suppose in hindsight. If he couldn’t even sit next to you in the library without looking like he was waiting to exploded, then what type of torture would it be to study with you alone? Sure, you were desperate for any chance to not fail this quiz, but the last thing you wanted to do was force the guy into your space when he obviously wasn’t too sure about you yet. Ideally, you wanted to win him over naturally. Not through Donghyuck’s odd meddling.

Before Donhyuck could say anything and make it worse, you shook your head and forced as big a smile as you could manage.

“That’s alright,” you said, casually waving a dismissive hand, “I got it. I, uh… I have another friend who can help me out, anyway— I’d hate to spring something on someone so last minute!”

You felt Doyeon’s pointed eyes on the side of your face, narrowed in obvious disbelief— because you were lying through your teeth and she knew that you had no friends who were taking Stat 204 this semester, much less any who’d ever volunteer to help you study on a Friday night— but instead of acknowledging her suspicion, you avoided her gaze altogether and restarted the walk back to the dorms.

“What?” Hyuck whined belatedly. He stared at you as if he couldn’t believe whatever he was scheming didn’t work. “But— But Renjun is literally—”

“Forget it,” you interrupted. “I have no interest in taking up his night with the hell that is reversed variables. Doyeon and I have to be at practice soon and I still want to eat, so can we get a move on?”

This thankfully seemed to be the end of the conversation, even if Donghyuck was huffing and puffing the whole way back to the dorms; Doyeon next to you now since your sudden speed walking had shifted you to the front. You knew she had things to say about all of that but you kept your eyes forward. (It wasn’t like she wasn’t going to have an entire afternoon to interrogate you in the gym during practice, anyway. God.)

The two boys paused on the pathway as you and Doyeon branched off towards your own building, Donghyuck making all sorts of crying noises and loud declarations of love as Doyeon walked on and tried to look annoyed about it (clearly failing, if the pink in her ears was anything to go by), while Renjun just stared off after you like the entire weight of the world was on his shoulders.

Almost as if realizing he was being odd again he rebooted, blinking it out of his eyes and nodding you goodbye in proper quiet fashion, you couldn’t find it in yourself to be too off put by it.

(Mostly because his lip pulled into the tiniest smile as he waved, and the sight of it was cute enough to make you forget. What can you say? You’re a simple girl.)

If it turned out that there really was a reason for how curious he was being, you were sure you’d figure it out soon enough. You were rather good and sleuthing out secrets— and Renjun was the most intriguing puzzle you’d come across in a long time.

[PREVIOUS PART] [INFO/MASTERLIST] [NEXT PART]

110 notes · View notes

cinnamonfm · 3 months

Text

with: open where: the quad when: september 12th

The quad is bustling with people making their way from one destination to another. It was a place of movement, first and foremost - people hardly ever staying put for long enough to truly become part of the scenery. Unless, like Heni and her conversation partner, you were sat on a bench. That was definitely not an act of movement. "Can you believe we were ever that small?" She asks, head nodding in the direction of a group of freshmen clearly on their way to a rush event. "I refuse to believe we were actually that young once. It feels like some sort of elaborate lie."

#ogdenstart

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whumpty-dumpty-doo · 5 days

Text

We Are TroubleD - "Saturdays Are For Soup" - (Pre-capture)

Written as a part of @whumperofworlds' WoW's Birthday Whump Event!

Day 9 (my chosen prompts are bolded) - Aftermath of rescue / Sickness / "You're burning up."

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Event page | My event participation masterpost (coming soon) | “We Are TroubleD” Masterpost | Next (coming soon)

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Content warnings: Food, sickness, medicine (pills), nausea mention, trouble breathing, trouble sleeping

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The boys should have won an award for their dedication to academic excellence… or at least that’s what D thought. After all, it wasn’t typical for either of them to spend their entire Saturday tucked away in the university library unless it was absolutely necessary. Apparently today it was absolutely necessary, and D made sure to voice his displeasure about it.

“You don’t actually want to be here all day, do you?” he questioned as they scaled the stairs to the building’s second floor. T shook his head and adjusted his backpack.

“Of course I don’t, but I told you, if I don’t meet this deadline then I’m screwed. I can’t focus at home right now… A few too many sleepless nights. I need a change of scenery.”

“But on a Saturday?” D griped. He was being a little dramatic about it, partially playing it up for laughs, though he genuinely wasn’t into the whole idea.

T rolled his eyes. “I never said you had to stay. Hell, you didn’t even have to come. I just offered in case you wanted to get a head start on your stuff for next week. You’d be wise to do so.”

D considered his friend’s words and made a small “tch” out of the corner of his mouth. Good ol’ T… he was right as usual and was just looking out for D's best interests. He did have an essay that he was dreading writing for his art history class, and he supposed there would be some decent resources for that somewhere in the stacks. Begrudgingly he admitted to himself that it would be smarter to stick around to get a jump on it rather than putting it off until the night before, which was his usual M.O. for writing projects.

“Ugh, fine. You’re right. But I might bounce in a few hours. It’s too nice outside today to stay cooped up in here.”

He didn’t see it, but a small smile spread over T’s lips. Atta boy.

When they made it to the second floor, T was breathing heavier than usual, his cheeks flushed a gentle pink. D frowned as T caught his breath.

“Wow, really?” D asked. They had walked up those stairs dozens of times, and they had never tired T out before. “You okay?”

T shrugged it off. “Yeah. I dunno, just a little winded. Must’ve overfilled my bag this morning.”

He had gone a little crazy on packing for the day; T had stuffed in multiple heavy textbooks, his laptop, a full water bottle, snacks, several notebooks, and anything else he possibly could have needed for a day of marathon working. It was way more than what he usually lugged around on a typical school day, and he felt that pretty much as soon as they had left home. The added weight pressed down onto his shoulders, and he was already tired out.

D spotted two open chairs at a table near one of the large picture windows and made his way over with T trailing behind him. The two of them plopped down their bags and set up their workstations, ready to dive in for the day.

T was his typical studious self, wasting no time in getting to work on his assignment, but it took D longer than he cared to admit to actually get started. He kept jealously staring out the window at people strolling by on the sidewalk below, all dressed up for fun days out.

Guys were out on in the quad tossing a Frisbee around. There was a gaggle of girls filming each other running around with a bubble wand and laughing. Some people were simply lounging on benches under the shade of the trees engaged in conversations. Any and all of that sounded more fun than homework… but it had to get done.

Beside him, T coughed a few times, jerking away D’s attention. Message received. T was subtly trying to tell him to get on with his work, and D obliged. He pulled out a pencil and opened his notepad to skim his class notes.

But T kept coughing. Not constantly, but frequently in little spurts. He knocked against his chest with his fist to get his lungs to calm down, then took a swig out of his water bottle.

“Dusty…” he remarked.

D gave a small chuckle. “This place always is.”

Eventually D managed to buckle down, and before he knew it, he was flipping through borrowed books, researching, and typing. An hour and a half passed, and he was only broken from his workflow by T making a frustrated grunt.

D glanced up from his screen and saw T staring absently out the window, his brow creased like he was in deep thought. D had seen that look on his face before when T was working something out in his mind. It was a look of concentration and pensiveness.

… But something was off about it today. He looked troubled, like there was something under the surface that was bothering him.

“See, I knew I wasn’t the only one who wanted to be outside to enjoy the day. I see you staring.” D teased.

T didn’t respond, he simply blinked, then his frown deepened as he continued to stare through the window at nothing in particular.

‘Man…’ D thought. T was really lost in whatever he was turning over in his mind… probably some big math problem. He was one of those geniuses that could solve really complex stuff in his head. It just came naturally to him. In a way D envied that, but he himself never found numbers and figures super interesting like T did.

Well, T might have been somewhere on another mental processing planet, but D was ready for a brain break. He closed his laptop, then stretched, deciding it was time to go for a short walk.

“You want boba?” D asked.

T’s vision dropped back down to his own laptop keyboard and his lips slightly parted, though he didn’t speak. He still had that frown and thousand-yard stare. Maybe he hadn’t heard D.

“Hey, do you want boba?” D repeated. He reached out and lightly tapped the table’s surface in front of T to get his attention.

With a small jump, T came back down to Earth and finally turned to D. His face changed to a slightly surprised expression, though he still seemed distant. Was it D’s imagination, or did he seem paler, too?

“Huh? What?” T questioned.

“I’m going for bubble tea. Do you want some?”

“Oh. I uh… I dunno. Sure. Thanks.”

T seemed flustered coming out of his trance, like perhaps he wasn’t all there. He must have noticed how D was looking at him, because he shook his head to clear his mind.

“Sorry, I just feel a bit off. Kinda tired.” he explained. “A drink sounds good. Could you get extra ice? It’s like, stupid hot in here.”

What the heck was he talking about? The sun was high in the sky, but it was behind the building, not shining directly through the windows. If anything, D felt cold in the space. The library tended to blast the AC for whatever reason. How could T feel hot? Weirdo…

D took T’s order but refused his money as per usual. He liked treating his friends to things. It made him feel good.

It was nice to get out into the sunshine, even if it was just for a brief walk across the way for tea. The library was too stuffy in D's opinion. After all, T had just had a coughing fit in there, proving his point. They should both be out in the fresh air. The afternoon felt incredible- there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the temperature was perfect. Maybe D could convince T to pack up long enough to enjoy their drinks outside.

The line for tea was longer than D had anticipated, and by the time he had picked up their drinks and started back toward the library, twenty minutes had passed. Hopefully T didn’t need that tea too badly.

D approached their spot and found T leaning forward on the table, his elbows bent and his head resting in his hands. His face was completely obscured like he was either crying or was extremely frustrated.

“You good?” D asked, hesitantly setting T’s drink in front of him. “Must be one hell of an assignment if you’re this stumped.”

T shook his head. “I have a headache.”

“Did you eat yet today? Drink enough water?”

“Yeah. I’ve been taking care of myself, I just—” T lifted his head, squinting into the light from the window, but winced and quickly pulled back into himself. He made his way down a little further, placing his arms on the table like a pillow and burying his face into them.

“Light hurts.” he muttered.

D swirled the ice around in his drink thoughtfully, then took a sip as he sat down.

“D’you want to go home?” he asked gently. “Sounds like you have a migraine.”

“Mm…” T uttered. “No. I still have so much to do. Do you have an aspirin?”

D pawed through his bag but came up emptyhanded.

“Nah, I’m sorry, I’ve got nothing. I can get you some from the campus store if you want?”

T nodded and D stood.

“Alright, Hang tight. I’ll be right back. You should drink some of your tea while I’m gone. Maybe it’ll help you feel better.” he reached out a reassuring hand, gently clapping T on the back, but his fingers landed slightly above T’s collar and came in contact with the back of his neck. As soon as D felt T’s skin, he pulled back and gasped.

“Whoa! T, you’re burning up!”

“What?”

“Dude, I think you’re sick.”

Slowly T sat up, once again squinting into the light. He looked miserable, and unmistakably pale. D hadn’t been seeing things before after all.

“No… I can’t be— ugh, crap, maybe you’re right…” he leaned forward again, dizzily resting his forehead against the heel of his palm as he felt his stomach lurch. “Yeah, I’m nauseous…”

“Here, I’m gonna pack up. Let’s get you home.”

T made a stubborn noise of protest, though it sounded strained. He knew better than to stick around in such a state, but if he went home then what about his project?

“D… I’ve gotta finish this…”

His friend crossed his arms. “You won’t get anything done if you’re under the weather, plus you’re gonna infect everyone in this library if you stick around. Come on. You clearly need to lie down. Pack up your books. You can read them in bed.”

One of T’s hands clenched over his stomach, and the other curled into a fist to mediate the pain.

“Fine…” he took a second to collect himself, then slowly began to gather up his belongings. T placed things in his bag through half-lidded eyes, his head sagging wearily a time or two like he just couldn’t handle it. D helped him along as soon as he had gotten his own things packed up.

T got to his feet, then reached down for his backpack. He grabbed a strap and pulled up, but once it was taut the bag didn’t lift off of the ground. T cringed with effort and wobbled unsteadily as his arm hung loose.

“I’m so sorry to ask you this…”

He didn’t need to finish the request. D was already bending down to grab his bag in addition to his own. D hefted both backpacks onto his twiggy little shoulders and felt his eyes bulge in surprise under the weight. God, why were T’s textbooks so heavy?! The kid must have crazy muscles to be able to haul even one of those around every day. No wonder he was so worn out. D took a breath and quickly wrestled his face into a neutral—no, calm and pleasant, so T wouldn’t worry—expression, then helped T to his car.

T attempted to force the veneer of being in better shape than he was, but the illusion shattered almost immediately after he buckled himself into the passenger seat. He was napping before they even got out of the university parking lot. Once they arrived home, T limped up to their apartment and made a beeline for the couch.

“Uh-uh. Real bed.” D ordered. Poor T looked ready to drop, and the couch was the first thing he saw, but he needed a proper rest. The boy nodded distantly, then slunk off to his room.

***

T was out pretty much the second his head hit the pillow, and wound up being down for a few hours. He managed to sleep for quite a while, but it wasn’t always solid. It was hard to get comfortable, and he tossed and turned while battling weird dreams and body aches. He woke up a few times, never fully flashing back into full consciousness, though he was able to do a few things in his stupor.

One time he woke up to pills and a glass of water on his bedside table. He swallowed them down, then conked out again.

When he woke up another time, there was a thermometer. He stuck it under his tongue and waited. When it beeped, he pulled it out and checked the tiny screen. He had a temperature alright.

Another time the water had been refilled and there were saltine crackers on a plate. D was watching out for him, and T was thankful.

Finally, T woke up fully sometime in the evening and pulled out his phone to catch up with whatever he had missed in the world while he was resting. He was already feeling a little better thanks to the water and pain relievers D had left him.

While he scrolled, a delicious smell wafted into his nostrils… heavenly… at least what he could make out through his stuffy nose. In the kitchen he heard D humming a tune contently to himself over the sound of the stove’s fan. He must have thought T was still asleep; It was rare to hear D singing out loud unless he either thought he was alone or was in the mood to not care if he was heard. T didn’t recognize the song, but it was nice to hear D sound so relaxed. It made him feel more at ease.

T reached for a tissue and blew into it, sniffling after the fact. Ugh. Whatever this cold was, it sucked. A shiver ran through him. He had woken up drenched in sweat, and it was cooling a bit with the air around him. He hated the way it felt on his skin- more gross than anything. He peeled his shirt off and tossed it aside on the floor, then peered over at his closet door longingly, willing for a fresh shirt to magically float on over to him. That wasn’t going to happen, though.

Timidly T threw off the covers and made to stand up, but right as he did, there was a quiet knock on his door. D turned the handle, then poked his head in.

“Are you decent?” he asked. He was joking, but T flopped back down to his bed and swiftly yanked the top sheet up over himself.

“No, actually.” he responded, but D was already looking at him, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Oh, I— uh… I-I’m sorry. Do you want me to leave?”

T sighed, then lowered the blanket down. Whatever, it’s not like D had never seen his chest before. He just felt a little self-conscious due to the sickness. It was wracking his brain and not allowing him to think straight.

“No, you’re fine. Come in.”

D entered fully, carrying a single tier wire shelf in his hands with a baking sheet on top of it. T cocked his head to the side at the sight.

“I brought you dinner.” D explained.

“Are you carrying it on the shoe rack we bought last week?”

D shrugged.

“Yeah well, we don’t have a bed table or proper trays, so this was the best I could come up with. I promise the shelf’s clean. I just took it out of the packaging.” his eyes quickly scanned T up and down. “Did your fever burn your shirt off?”

“Too sweaty.” T replied. He reached up and finger combed his hair, unsticking it from his forehead in an attempt to look somewhat put together, even though he definitely wasn’t. “Could you grab me another from the closet?”

D set the makeshift tray down for a moment, then did as requested, searching for a soft shirt and plucking it off its hanger. As he pulled it out, he looked at the design on the front and his eyes flashed with recognition.

“No way.” he said. “Is this from spring break freshman year?” D flipped the shirt around so T could see it. There was a screen-printed image of a very cartoony sea turtle in swim trunks riding a surfboard and grinning brightly under some radical font that read “SEAMOUR’S SURF SHACK: PIZZA AND TREATZA!”. Just laying eyes on it brought back memories of the beach trip they had taken with their friends that spring. D could practically smell the woodfire pizza oven, the tomato sauce and bubbling cheese from their meal, and of course the saltwater blowing in on the ocean breeze.

“I didn’t know you bought this!”

“Oh yeah! That place was the bomb. I wanted to remember it. We should go back there again someday.” D tossed T the shirt, and he slipped it on, a nostalgic glimmer in his eyes.

D picked up the shoe-rack-cookie-sheet-tray-table and brought it over to the bed, then placed it down on top of the sheets. T took the thing in and couldn’t contain his laughter. It certainly wasn’t an aesthetically pleasing setup, but it was a thoughtful and creative one, nonetheless. He appreciated the effort.

“Thanks. That's ingenious, D, I'll give you that. What did you bring me?” he looked down at the tray and lit up at the spread before him. There was a bowl of hearty looking soup, a condiment container with a dollop of sour cream in it, and a small plate of sourdough bread slices.

“Hold on a sec, is this that soup your grandma made us when she visited? Plem… Palm…” T couldn’t quite remember the name, but he definitely remembered the soup. It was incredible.

“Pelmeni soup, yeah.” D said. He seemed pleased that the meal had made an impression on T. “I called her up and got the recipe. This isn’t going to be as good as hers, but I tried. Just thought you could use something solid, y’know? You need strength if you want to kick this thing quickly.”

T eagerly picked up his spoon and dug in. His shoulders sank in bliss when the flavor met his tongue. The savory taste of the chicken dumplings, the broth, and the vegetables mixed together in a delectable delight, warming both his body and his soul.

“Oh my god.” he spoke behind another mouthful of the stuff. “Please make this more often.”

D dropped his gaze to the floor and his long black hair flopped in his face, allowing him to hide a flattered little smile.

“Does that mean you like it? You know I’m not normally a chef or anything. You don’t have to lie if it actually sucks.”

“Shut up, it doesn’t suck! I’m not lying!” T happily slurped down several more spoonfuls as D grabbed his water glass to refill it.

“Well, that’s a relief. I’m glad I didn’t screw it up.”

D went out to the kitchen, then returned with a full glass. He set it down on the bedside table and picked up the thermometer. The screen display had long since shut off.

“You took your temperature earlier, right? What was it? How are you feeling?”

T swallowed a bite of bread. “99.1. Guess that’s what I get for not sleeping as much as I should have in the last week or so.”

D scoffed. “Hate to tell you I told you so, but…” T worked too hard, and that was coming from an art student who often was right there with him up late into the night. He had implored T to rest more, but it seemed like he wasn’t going to slow down until his body forced him to.

“Yeah, yeah, I know…” T waved him off. “Anyway, I’m feeling a bit better than I was earlier, but I’m definitely still sick. I’m hot and cold at the same time… What gives?!” he scrunched up his features and looked like he had a tickle in his nose. In a flash he had snatched up a tissue and brought it up to his face, where he exploded into it with a sneeze.

“Mmm, and there’s that.” he sniffed. “Headache’s gone for now, but I feel like there’s a balloon pressing against my sinuses.”

“Well, eat up, then get some more rest. Sorry about your project. You should email your professor to tell him you’re sick and that it’ll be late.”

T stirred some sour cream into his soup to make it creamier. “Already did. Thanks for talking some sense into me and getting me out of the library. And for the medicine. And for this.” he nodded down at the food.

“Anytime. Let me know if you need anything else.” D reached out with his foot and lightly tapped T’s backpack at the base of the bed. “This is here if you want it, but really, get some more sleep.”

He started to walk out the door, and T’s face fell.

“You’re leaving?” he asked. D looked over his shoulder.

“Uh, well, yeah. You’re sick, plus you probably don’t want me around bugging you while you recover.” he saw the look in T’s eyes and wavered. “… Do you?”

T messed with the top sheet absentmindedly, lightly pulling on it and twisting it in his hands.

“You could hang out if you wanted… I don’t mind the company.”

D peered up at the ceiling and weighed the risks in his mind, then breathed out a fond sigh. It did suck to be alone, especially when dealing with something like a cold.

“Alright, but you’re wearing a mask.” he said. “I don’t wanna catch it.”

T sniffed, then blew his nose again and nodded. “Deal.”

D left momentarily, fixing himself a bowl of soup. He grabbed their handheld video game consoles too in case T wanted to play later. D might have pointed out the bag full of textbooks on the floor, but he knew that what T really needed was rest and relaxation.

He made himself comfortable on the beanbag chair across the room while T finished up his dinner. Once done, T placed the homemade tray table combo on the floor, put on a face mask, and snuggled back down under the blankets. He turned to D.

“So, you remember what happened after Seamour’s, right?” T asked, steering the conversation back to their beach vacation. Behind a mouthful of dumpling, D’s eyes brightened, and he nodded emphatically. He gulped down the bite and resurfaced for air.

“Oh my God, how could I forget? We went out to that pier and freaking Landon launched his sandal off the dock… I still can’t believe he managed to fling it off like that.”

“Right?! How did he do that?!” T laughed. “And then Cici asked that fisherman to try to get it—”

“And he actually caught it!” D finished. The two cracked up. “Like, what kind of luck is that?! Can I have some?”

The pair reminisced for quite a while, T laughing and smiling through it all despite the discomfort that came with the sickness. It was nice to have a distraction from it, and he really appreciated D’s company. It was nice that he had stayed.

They talked and shared stories until T’s eyelids grew heavy and he nestled further down into his pillow. It was about time for bed at that point anyway- hours had passed without either of them noticing. D rose and stretched deeply, grabbing his bowl from the floor, and adding it to the tray. He scooped up the whole bundle and deposited it in the kitchen, then returned to insist that T take another round of medicine before sleeping.

T accepted, removing his mask and taking what D gave him before settling in for the night.

As D left, he gave T a friendly tap on the shoulder with one finger.

“Sleep well. Call or text me if you need anything. If I’m not sleeping, I’ll come help you.” he said.

“Will do. Thanks again, D. I’m lucky to have you. G’night.”

D peered back from the door frame and smiled softly at T, relieved that he had been able to help him. It was nice to take the evening off to chat, and he was glad that T had asked him to stick around.

"'Night. Get well soon." D flipped off the light switch and closed the door, leaving his roommate content with a belly full of soup and well wishes for a speedy recovery.

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

Day 9!

Kind of nice to give the boys a break, even though it comes at T's expense. Sorry dude! Luckily with D looking out for him and serving him healthy and hearty meals, I think the guy will be back on his feet in no time!

Thanks for reading!

---

Tag list: @dutifullykrispyland, @fleur-a-whump, @gala1981, @generic-whumperz, @risahraun

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whiteleopardwasteland · 23 days

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Saw some beautiful scenery when I went out and did quads!!! I enjoyed it a ton >:3

#therian #felinekin #snow leopard therian #otherkin #positivity #seal therian #nonhuman #nature #wolf therian #alterhuman #quadrobics #quads #im a happy snow leopard #aaargh it was so warm outside

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quad-weave · 24 hours

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More Aloalo Island shots (it's just so pretty!)

#final fantasy xiv #final fantasy 14 #ff14 #ffxiv #ffxiv screenshots #ffxiv scenery #quad scenery

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cam-strong · 1 year

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2 Mile Timed Run 🏃🏼‍♀️

Drove to the path along the water this time for a change of scenery!

My quads were so sore on this run and it hurt keeping the pace up (in a good way- I’m not out here tearing my muscles to shreds). Despite that, I knocked a minute off my time in 2 weeks. Pretty happy with that!

Spent some time foam rolling and took a hot bath. Hopefully that will help decrease tomorrow’s soreness level 😜

#fitness #fitblr #workout #cardio #running

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thorsenmark · 1 month

Video

flickr

Navigation of Four Corners Monument Navajo Tribal Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While standing in the New Mexico portion of Four Corners Monument Navajo Tribal Park with a view looking generally to the north into Arizona, Colorado, and Utah. My thought on composing this image was to capture a wide angle view, looking across all the states, while capturing some of the surrounding portions of this multi-state and tribal park landscape. The rest was a long waiting for those few seconds in between people moving to the states line crossing.

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themaladaptivewriter12 · 3 months

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Title: Valentine's Promise

Might add a part two, a sm*t, haven't decided

Pairings: Cater Diamond x Twisted Wonderland Male OC (Mirai Yuhara)

Summary:

“Mirai?” Cater whispered. “Huh?” Mirai answered, reluctant to take his eyes off the city. “Jasper.” Mirai’s head snapped away from the scenery for a second to see Cater holding a small red velvet box. Mirai froze, his heart stopping, his blood feeling as if ice was shot through his veins. He didn’t know what to do, but to sit there like a deer in headlights.

Notes:

cw: Nothing but fluff.

This was a little thing I wanted to post for Valentine's, albeit 3 days late, and it kinda delves into a little bit of the "after story" I've been conjuring up for Mimi and Cater. Hope you enjoy!

Reblogs are appreciated, just use my custom tag, #TheMaladaptiveWriter12, if you do! ( ´ ▽ ` ).｡ｏ♡

Cross posted from my Ao3: TheMaladaptiveWriter12

Cater sighed once more before stretching his arms above his head, grunting softly as his back popped in multiple places, the tension from slouching over his desk all day lessening. Today felt like the worst, time felt as if it had been slowed with how excited Cater was, but now that it was finally over, and that excitement hadn’t waned a bit. From the moment he had woken up, Cater had been so giddy that he couldn’t focus. He had messed up during his debriefing, ran into the vending machines because he was on his phone, and he accidentally misspelled their client’s name on their webpage. #Unprofessional.

The moment the last meeting of the day was adjourned, Cater sighed with relief, slouching in his chair. This month so far has been super busy with the amount of clients who wanted their advertisements up today, potential clients whose appointments were scheduled all throughout the week with notes that needed to be looked over, and various websites to be updated. They definitely weren’t out of the woods yet, but that was the life of someone who worked in the Social Media and Marketing Department.

But today was special, and it had the entire building buzzing. Pink, red, and white hearts decorated the office, the women of the office wore their pretty pinks and luscious reds, pretty bouquets and boxes of chocolates dotted the desks, the guys wore their best dress shirts, and the older men adorned their themed ties hand picked by their wives that morning. Today was Valentine's Day and Cater knew this one was going to be special.

Cater made his way to his desk from their roundtable when an arm wrapped its way around his shoulders, startling him.

“So,” the voice said.

Cater whipped his head around and was met with a mop of brown hair and brown eyes. It was Lucas, of course it was Lucas. The twenty-five year old was Cater’s senior by a year, and terribly nosey.

“So?” Cater asked.

“Penelope, she’s pretty cute right?”

“Not this again,” Cater sighed, moving out of his grasp to walk a bit faster.

“Oh, c’mon dude,” Lucas sighed, rushing after him, “You two would make a great couple!”

“And I keep telling you I’m seeing someone.”

“You mean his fake girlfriend,” Fabian joked, matching their stride.

Fabian, a twenty-two year old blonde with a knack for unintentionally offending people with his words. Cater wouldn’t lie, he didn’t like the guy when Fabian first came to their department, but after they got to know each other, and eventually sat in the same quad, he learned that Fabian wasn’t a bad person, just a little hard with his words.

“Mimi is not fake,” Cater huffed, moving to clean up his desk.

“C’mon dude, you can’t blame me,” Fabian reasoned, from his side of their shared desk, “Every time I mention your girlfriend you get all defensive, and the last time I asked for a picture, you wouldn’t show me.”

“Maybe she’s shy?” Brain offered from his desk.

Brian was the best behaved out of their quad. He hated confrontation, and tended to keep to himself, but when the time arose, the twenty-four year old would stick his neck out for anyone without a second thought.

“Or imaginary,” Fabian muttered.

Cater rolled his eyes, making for his hasty retreat, when suddenly his phone vibrated and like his life depended on it, Cater snatched his phone from his desk, unlocking the device. Fabian and Lucas rushed over to try and peek at the message, which Cater promptly pulled out of sight.

“He’s practically been glued to his phone the whole day,” a soft voice chided. “I knew he loved the thing, but today was something else entirely.”

“Sup, Tif,” Lucas greeted, looking up from his attempt to get a glimpse of Cater’s phone.

“Hey guys,” Tiffany smiled.

Tiffany, better known as Tif throughout the building, was part of the Marketing Department. The twenty-five year old and her team often worked with Cater and his quad, like today.

“Hey, Tif,” Cater smiled.

“Going home so soon?” Tiffany asked.

“Yeah,” Cater sighed with a dopey smile, “I got plans and I don’t wanna be late.”

“Plans?” a sweet feminine asked, “That’s nice to hear.”

“Penelope,” Lucas cheered, “How was work?”

“It was an easy day,” Penelope smiled, playing with the petals to a bouquet of flowers.

Penelope, the office sweetheart and most eligible bachelorette, was the floor’s secretary. Cater couldn’t remember a time when Lucas wasn’t trying to set him up with the twenty-five year old, or a time the guys of the building treated her like a princess. Don’t get him wrong, Cater liked Penelope, but just not like that.

“Oh, nice flowers. Who’s the sender?” Fabian asked.

“My mom,” Penelope laughed awkwardly, “She always sends them on Valentine's Day.”

“That’s cute,” Tiffany smiled.

“Aw,” a deeper feminine voice sighed, “I wish my mom did that.”

“Hey, Brooke,” Brian smiled, “how was accounting?”

Brooke was head of accounting, and like a mother figure to the younger workers on the floor. Anytime you needed something, Mama Brooke was on the case, the twenty-nine year old taking her title with stride.

“Same as always,” Brooke said dismissively. “What I wanna know is what was so important that you couldn’t pay attention during today’s roundtable, Cater?”

Cater laughed awkwardly, “Sorry, Brooke. I’ll admit, I was a bit distracted today.”

“I get it, it’s Valentine’s Day,” Brooke smirked, “you just got distracted by some really nice pictures from your girl.”

Cater flushed to the tips of his ears,” I-It’s not like t-that!”

Brooke laughed, “So, does anyone have any plans for tonight? My husband and I are going to that really fancy restaurant on 5th street.”

“Me and my hubby are gonna go see a movie,” Cecelia said excitedly.

“Me and my girlfriend are gonna stay in and make dinner,” Fabian said.

“Jesse and I are gonna go to a drive-in movie,” Brian smiled.

“That’s cute,” Cecelia whined, “We should've done that instead.”

As the group spoke of their evening plans, Cater’s phone vibrated again, and he was on it like a moth to a flame.

“Mimi’s here,” Cater gasped, suddenly rushing to get his things.

“Mimi?” Cecilia asked.

“His fake girlfriend,” Fabian teased from his seat across from Lucas.

“Whatever,” Cater laughed with a scoff, putting the last of his things in his bag.

“It’s okay man, we’ve all been dumped before,” Fabian said, “You don’t have to keep up this charade any longer.”

Cater rolled his eyes, getting the last of his things.

“Leave him alone, guys.” Brooke huffed, “Cater, I’m sure your girlfriend is very nice.”

“Thanks Mama Brooke. See ya,” Cater called, practically running to get to the elevators.

“Oh, I gotta see this,” Fabian said, rushing to follow Cater.

“I’m coming too,” Lucas exclaimed, shooting from his seat.

The group followed closely behind Cater as he weaved his way through the desks, quads, and cubicles, trying not to lose that head of bright orange hair in the crowds of people making their ways home.

The Cater and his unappointed followers passed by one of the quads when a pair of gold eyes spotted them. “Where are you guys going?”

“Hey, Maddox,” Lucus shouted, “You’re gonna finally see Cater’s girlfriend!”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.”

Cater rolled his eyes affectionately. Maddox was one of the seniors of the department at thirty-six years old, he was one of the guys who trained Cater when he first joined, and became a big brother of sorts. Whenever Cater needed something, whatever it might be, Maddox had his back.

All of them shoved their way into the elevator, pressing the button to the ground floor. The ride from the eighth floor was a long one, and every time they stopped on a floor, they got curious looks as there wasn’t a lick of room for anymore people.

Once they stopped at the third floor, Keith gave them all weird looks, as he was trying to use the elevator as well.

“Keith,” Cecelia waved, “we’re gonna see Cater’s girlfriend.”

Keith worked in IT, the twenty-six year old always hanging on the eighth floor when he wasn’t supposed to.

“Ima take the stairs and meet you guys down there,” Keith said, before he rushed to the opposite side of the room to the stairwell.

“Guys,” Cater whined as the doors shut once more.

Downstairs, Mirai stood awkwardly next to a gaggle of women. He felt so out of place standing next to all of them in their cutesy skirts and frilly dresses, even their hair was curled and or pressed. And how could he forget their polished nails on dainty hands that held their teddy bears, roses, and chocolates.

Then there, sticking out like a sore thumb, he was, a man all dolled up with a bouquet of flowers of his own. Mirai couldn’t help but feel a hint of jealousy at their flawless beauty. Why couldn’t he look that pretty like them with their soft skin and long eyelashes? Maybe he should have worn a skirt instead?

Mirai sighed, shaking his head to somehow shake the thought away. He was fine, this was fine. He dressed up too in his suit and black and red rose pattern mesh button up. He had spent hours trying to perfect his eyeliner, and once he did, he chose pink eyeshadow that went perfectly with his flushed cheeks and pink lipgloss. He knew it did, because he had called Crewel before he left and he said so.

Instead of a teddy bear, well, he did actually get a teddy bear, but it was with the soap set that came with bath bombs, face masks, lotions and oils, which was at Cater’s apartment, sitting on the living room coffee table. And as for chocolates, Cater hated sweets, so he improvised with dark chili chocolates for him to try and if that failed, Mirai got a fruit and cheese platter, which was also sitting in Cater’s apartment, chilling in his refrigerator of course. Fiddling with the petals of his bouquet of roses, wondering if it all was too much.

And on a side note, Mirai really thought he would be late with how much of a hassle it was to get into the building itself. The guy at the gate gave him a hard time, and it wasn’t until Cater’s father had to explain that he was with him did the man let him in. After that, Mirai and Mr. Diamond had split ways in the lobby, the older man having something important to take care of, leaving Mirai in the lobby, which led him to his current problem. The woman at the front desk.

The woman gave him such a hard time for a while, questioning how he got past security, why he was there, and who for. Mirai argued with her for a good while, telling her that he was picking his lover up, just like everyone else and that yes, his visitor’s pass was valid. Mirai didn’t understand, all of the misses were here, so why couldn't he be? Mr. Diamond said it was okay, so what was so bad about him being here?

She had finally stopped when one of the women stepped in, asking her why she was so adamant on trying to get Mirai to leave. And now said front desk woman, with the name tag that read “Mara,” was giving him the stank eye as she tapped away on her desktop computer. Mirai just hopped Cater or Mr. Diamond came back soon.

“So what do you and your boy have planned?” the woman from earlier asked.

Mirai startled a bit, not expecting her to ask him that, or anything for that matter, “I-I, h-how did you-”

“Oh please, Honey, no man makes himself look that pretty for a woman unless one of them swings the other way,” the woman laughed. “Also, I may not be the straightest woman here.”

“O-Oh,” Mirai chuckled nervously, “I tried my best. Uh, do you think it’s too much?”

“Not at all, hon, you look stunning,” she smiled. “You make me feel like I should have stepped up my game this morning, but then again, my Georgiana doesn’t like that shmancy stuff.”

“Don’t, don’t sell yourself short. To be honest, I was a little jealous at how pretty you guys were compared to me.”

“Please, you’re the best dressed out of everyone here.”

“Thanks,” Mirai muttered, flushing a pretty pink.

“You’re welcome,” the woman smiled, “I’m Xola by the way.”

“Mirai.”

A chime sounded through the lobby and immediately everyone perked up at the sound, their eyes honing in on elevators.

“Good luck,” Xola smiled.

“Back atcha,” Mirail nodded.

The elevator doors opened and Cater scanned the lobby, looking for the familiar blonde wolf cut and silver prosthetic. It didn’t take long for Cater to spot a constellation of freckles on rosy cheeks and eyes as bright as the stars.

“Mimi,” Cater gasped, running across the lobby.

“Cater,” Mirai shouted, matching Cater’s enthusiasm as he met the strawberry blonde halfway, wrapping his arms tightly around his neck.

Cater pulled back just enough to smash his lips into Mirai’s in a deep kiss, his hand reaching up the cradle the back of Mirai’s head, his fingers musing through his gelled tresses. Mirai sighed against Cater’s lips, his eyes closing in bliss. If his hands weren’t so full, Mirai knew his hands would be bunched up in Cater’s blazer by now.

Cater finally pulled back after he had enough, the biggest grin on his face. “Hey Babydoll,” Cater muttered affectionately, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” Mirai chuckled. “Sorry I wasn’t able to come down for your Birthday. I could only get three days off.”

“I don’t care about that. You’re here now and that’s all that matters.”

“It does though,” Mirai whined, “ It was your twenty-fourth Birthday.”

“And you can make it up to me by coming to see me for your twenty-third. Now, Happy Valentine’s Day.”

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” Mirai smiled, wriggling out of Cater’s grasp to hand his gifts.

“Mimi,” Cater gushed, “thank you, baby. And don’t worry, yours are in the car.”

“It’s okay,” Mirai smiled, “I can wait.”

Cater looked at the bouquet and smiled fondly, “Ya’know, after all those years of painting the roses red, I’ve come to appreciate a fine red rose. I can tell these are good quality.”

Mirai chuckled, “Same here. I couldn’t just get any old rose, it just didn’t sit right. I felt as if Riddle would pop out of nowhere and collar me or something.”

The two of them fell into a fit of laughter at the image they conjured in their heads.

“That’s Mimi?!” Lucas shouted, prompting an end to Mirai’s and Cater’s little moment, “You told me Mimi was a girl!”

“No I didn’t,” Cater said with a sardonic smile, “I said I was seeing someone and you assumed.”

“But his name is Mimi!”

“Yep. Short for Mirai.”

“Dude,” Lucas whined.

“Ignoring him,” Brooke said, pushing her way to the front of the group, “I think some introductions are in order.”

Cater took the time to introduce his colleagues to Mirai and vice versa. Mirai found the group to be very lively, and even with their different personalities, they somehow fit together perfectly.

“You two have seriously been together since high school?!” Cecelia gushed, “That’s so cute! I wish me and my hubby were high school sweethearts.”

“I’m not sure if it counts, Cater mused, “we met during my third year, and by my fourth, I was doing my internships, and he was entering his Sophomore year.”

“It counts,” Brain nodded.

“Wait, how old was he when you two met?!” Tiffany asked.

“He was seventeen then,” Cater laughed.

“Oh.”

“I’m so proud of you, Cater,” Maddox cried, “my boy is becoming a man.”

“Maddy,” Cater whined, “stop it.”

Mirai chuckled at their antics.

“So how come I’m just learning you have a high school sweetheart?” Fabian asked.

“I told you I was seeing someone for a while,” Cater laughed. “You're the one who decided that I had an imaginary girlfriend.”

“As I said earlier, you wouldn’t show me pictures.”

“And since when did I have to?”

The two began to bicker when a thick accented voice spoke up, “So this is the fabled lover of Cater Diamond.”

Cater laughed awkwardly, looking up at Georgiana, “I didn’t know word got out that far.”

“You two make a great couple.”

“Thx.”

“If only you’d told me it was Cater, I'd have given you some dirt on these guys, Mirai, no questions asked,” Xola laughed.

“Don’t you dare,” Keith shouted.

Cater’s colleagues began to converse amongst themselves, when Mirai checked the time. It was almost four-thirty, their dinner reservations were at five.

“Catie,” Mirai muttered, pulling at Cater’s sleeve, “We have to get going.”

Cater gasped. “Oopsies, sorry guys, but we gotta go if we wanna make our reservation. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“Bye Cater, have fun,” Tiffany called.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” Brooke shouted.

They made their way to Cater’s car, and Cater, ever the gentleman, opened Mirai’s door first, making sure he was seated, before shutting the door, and making his way to the driver's seat.

“Here you go, Baby,” Cater muttered, kissing Mirai on his temple, as he handed Mirai a bouquet of pink and purple hydrangeas, a teddy bear and a box of chocolates.

“They’re so pretty,” Mirai gushed, “Cater.”

“Of course, you only deserve the best.”

“And you got me lilies,” Mirai whispered, voice growing a little emotional, “Cater.”

Cater kissed Mirai on the head once more, “Don’t cry, Baby.”

“I’m not. I’m okay.”

Cater smiled softly, starting the car, and as he pulled out of his parking spot, the two of them spotted Mr. Diamond pulled out of his parking spot. Mirai waved with a big smile, his smile getting even bigger, if that was even possible, as Mr. Diamond waved back.

“Have a good night, Mirai, Cater,” Mr. Diamond called from his open window, as he drove up to their car.

“You gonna go see mom?” Cater asked.

“Of course.”

“Good luck,” Cater called. “And give these to them for me?”

Mr. Diamond nodded, taking the flowers before diving off the lot.

“Let’s get going, shall we?”

The ride to the restaurant wasn’t a long one and after Cater switched his blazer for a red one and gave his keys to the Valet, they made it just in time. The restaurant was beautiful, decked out for the holiday with rose petals decorating the tables, white ribbons covered the chairs, and pink hearts decorated the windows. And you’d think it would look tacky, but it didn’t, somehow the restaurant made it work, the look giving it a romantic, classy feel.

The dining room was packed with couples, each and everyone of them dressed to the nines. Mirai wondered how Cater even scored seats in a place like this.

“Good evening, Sir,” the hostess smiled, “May I have a name for your reservation?”

“Diamond,” Cater supplied.

After a second, the Hostess smiled, “Ah, here we are. Diamond, table for two. Alright, follow me if you please.”

Dinner went off without a hitch. Their table was on the indoor balcony that overlooked the rest of the restaurant and the city below through their floor to ceiling windows. They were served three courses starting with drinks and appetizers, which consisted of honey glazed prosciutto wrapped asparagus paired with a raspberry or cheese fondue sauce and for their drinks, sparkling cider since they had to drive home.

For their next course, Cater had a brown butter steak and mashed potatoes, and for Mirai, a plate of their finest fettuccine chicken and broccoli alfredo. Over dinner, the two of them talked about anyone and anything. Mirai filled in how things were with living with Crewel and Grim, and how university was going. He talked about the last time he met up with Ace and Deuce and how they even went to visit Riddle and Trey. Mirai told Cater anything he thought was interesting.

And Cater told him things in return. Cater talked about his department, his floor and everything they went on in the office. He talked about his sisters and his mother, he talked about his upcoming collaboration with Vil, and his hopeful future one with Idia and Kalim.

Once dessert was served, things slowed down. The sun had long set, the food had settled in their bellies and with the looks Cater started giving Mirai over his glass of sparkling as he watched the blonde devour a piece of red velvet cheesecake, Mirai was ready to head out.

“Ready, Babydoll?” Cater muttered with lidded eyes.

Mirai swallowed, feeling the telltale heat of a flush beginning to prickle at his cheeks, as he started back at Cater. The strawberry blonde smirked, putting down his glass to rest his cheek on his fist.

Mirai cleared his throat, but his words still came out hoarse, “Y-Yeah.”

They paid, took the last piece of cake to go and made their way to the front of the building where the valet arrived with their car, and as they waited, Cater made sure to get as many pictures as he could.

“Can we stop by somewhere before we go home?” Cater asked after a while of driving.

Mirai looked from his window to Cater, he couldn’t read the strawberry blonde’s expression, his face blank, eyes on the road.

“Sure. I don’t mind,” Mirai muttered finally, looking back at the city flying by.

Cater drove around for some time and after a while, Mirai realized they were in the outskirts of the city, the amount of skyscrapers getting smaller, the amount of cars dwindling.

“Where are we going?” Mirai asked, looking out the windows.

“Surprise,” Cater smiled.

It wasn’t long after that they made their way to a scenic spot that overlooked the city. Here, they could see the stars in the sky, there were no bright lights outshining the galaxies above.

“Come sit,” Cater beckoned, crawling over the center console to sit in the back seat of his red convertible.

“Cater,” Mirai giggled, crawling after Cater.

Once he was back there, Cater wrapped the two of them in a blanket and pushed the button the dropped down the top.

“Why are we here?” Mirai asked, “What's going on?”

“Because it’s nice, and I can get some totally awesome pics for my Magaicam.”

Mirai shook his head, he guessed some things would never change. Cater snapped a bunch of pictures as Mirai stared at the cityscape below.

“Mimi?” Cater called.

“Yes?”

“Cake?”

“I just had some. You tryna get me fat?”

“Well I do like feeding you,” Cater smirked. “Open?”

Mirai smiled, taking the fork into his mouth. The cake was sweet, creamy, and think, just what he liked in a good cheesecake. Eventually Mirai’s eyes wandered back to the city. Even from here, the city looked full of life. The red taillights dotted the roads, the white and gold lights from the buildings twinkled like stars, and above, the lights the warded off incoming planes pulsed like the city's heartbeat. Mirai agreed, this was nice.

“Mirai?” Cater whispered.

“Huh?” Mirai answered, reluctant to take his eyes off the city.

“Jasper.”

Mirai’s head snapped away from the scenery for a second to see Cater holding a small red velvet box. Mirai froze, his heart stopping, his blood feeling as if ice was shot through his veins. He didn’t know what to do, but to sit there like a deer in headlights.

“Ca-Cater?” Mirai whispered, shakily.

“I-It-It’s not, it’s not what you think,” Cater stammered, face going cherry red. “Will you open it?”

Mirai shakily took the box from Cater’s hands, gently pulling the top up to reveal two simple gold bands with little flowers engraved on the outside, and in the center most flower, was one lone white rhinestone. On the inside of the rings were their names, Cater Diamond on one, and Mirai Jasper Yuhara on the other.

Mirai's lip quivered as he tried his best to take the ring out of the box, but he didn’t think he could without dropping it. “I can’t,” Mirai gasped a breath as he eyes filled with tears.

“Here, let me,” Cater whispered, taking Mirai’s ring to loop a matching gold chain through it.

Mirai watched curiously as Cater did so, wondering what the gold chain was for.

“I know you’re supposed to wear these on your left hand,” Cater muttered, before reaching around the blonde to clasp it around his neck, “but I wanted it so that when the time comes, you would be able to fit it on your right.”

Only then did Mirai’s eyes finally shed their tears, “Cater.”

“They’re promise rings, oh, well, you probably already knew that-wait did you? I-I-, this, this isn’t a proposal, well, not that kind of proposal. I wanted that one to be even more special, like #TheProposal, but I also wanted this one to be special, but not too special that it would outshine that one, and I-,” Cater stopped for a second, before laughing through his tears, “I’m not making any sense, am I?”

Mirai chuckled, voice muffled due to his emotions, “I-I-It’s, I understand you fully.”

“I-I’m so nervous,” Cater breathed, eyes misty, “I’ve never thought I’d be doing something like this. My life has never been stable, ya’know? I’ve moved around more times than I could count, gained and lost so many people who were close to me, and after a while, I stopped caring. I just knew everyone would disappear one day, so why try? If they were all gonna forget Cater one day, why not give them Cay-Cay instead?”

Cater took a breath before continuing, “But that was before I met you. You made me want something stable, something permanent. You made me want to be me, to be Cater. And I want you.”

Mirai hiccuped at Cater words, and as Cater reached for his hands, Mirai sobbed, gripping them tightly.

“I can’t express how much I want this to be the real deal, but I can wait. I want you to finish school, I want you to find a place for yourself here in Twisted Wonderland. And then after all of that, we can think about actually tying the knot,” Cater chuckled.

“I’d like that,” Mirai smiled, voice quivering.

“We can take our time, we can be young and dumb. We can make our mistakes, and find our place and who we are.”

“And then when we marry, we can get that house with the guest room, and the huge backyard?” Mirai asked.

“Yep, the one with the guest room for the guys, and the two car garage for our fancy cars.”

“With our dogs, and space to throw parties the whole street would envy?”

“And let’s not forget the giant walk in closet.”

The two of them fell into a fit of joyous laughter, the world and all of their worries seeming a world away.

“Here,” Mirai eventually said, holding out the other band to Cater.

“You do it,” Cater smiled.

Mirai took his time and carefully slipped the gold band onto Cater's left hand. “There. Perfect.”

“Yeah, perfect,” Cater sighed, but he wasn’t looking at the ring on his finger. Mirai looked up and realized what he was implying, his face flushing.

“I love you, Mirai,” Cater said, voice full of unbridled emotion.

“I love you, too, Cater,” Mirai choked out.

Cater pulled Mirai in for a sweet kiss, like he was trying to convey his feelings with his body and soul. Mirai kissed him back, the same feeling of love and devotion. Cater pulled back seconds later, pressing his head to Mirai’s. Even if the kiss wasn’t a long one, it conveyed everything they wanted it to.

“So, selfies?” Cater asked.

“Yeah, selfies,” Mirai laughed.

Cater snapped as many pictures as he could between showering Mirai with love and affection, littering his face and anywhere he could get his lips on with kisses. Mirai felt as if he was floating. Yes this was only the beginning, and yes they did have a long way to go, but Mirai was fine with that, because had a promise to keep, and there’s no place he’d rather be, he was content with just simply basking in their shared happiness and adoration.

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