#rip I meant to post this before work and just. forgot

[seongclb]

LIKE A MAGNET ! sim jaeyun

“you’ve called me a lot of things, sim jaeyun, but never have you called me a magnet.”

“not like that! i just meant, we’re not as alike as we think. kinda like a magnet..”

SYNOPSIS. whereby your academic rival, jake sim, returns after spending a year in australia to come back and restore his place: as top physics student but also your (hopefully) boyfriend.

PAIRING. academic rivals to lovers, slight enemies to lovers, flirty!jake x fmr

GENRE. fluff, light angst.

WARNINGS. cursing, jake being flirty, kissing but not making out.

WORD COUNT. 7512 words

N. finally out yelp i think this is not as good as i wanted it to be but i have to post as promised so pls make sure to give feedback and stuff !! special thanks to mari for beta reading :) i love u pooks

TAGLIST. @sjyuns <3… @dollkis @taejaysmain @dear-hoon @oldjws @jjakey02 @luvistqrzzz @yizhoutv @mrchweeee @darly6n @hoonieluv @ghostiiess @jaeyunsonlyone @en-happiness @loumin908 @tasnim10 @rikisly @samyu01 @ashrocker123 @enhastolemyheart @enhaz1 @viagumi @articxari @vnsux @mersmoon @jungwonderz

Kicking your shoes off, you step into your house as your mother frantically scours the house for her expensive china plates.

“Mum, what’s going on?” You wonder, looking around at the house and noticing how all your awards and family photos are out. You groaned, this only meant one thing - guests were coming today.

Great, you thought. After a tiring day with your best friends driving you mentally and physically insane, you now had to entertain guests in your own house when all you wanted to do was lay in the comforts of your bed.

“The Sims are back from Australia,” your Mum announces while pushing you up the stairs.

You pause as your heart plummets down your stomach, “What do you mean?”

Your mum chuckles, “The Sims! Don’t tell me you forgot about them already. It’s only been a year.”

“Mother, this has been the best year of my life. Why are they back? Wasn’t Mr Sim, like, settled in his new job? Why are they coming here of all places, too?”

Your mum narrows her eyes at you as your father steps into the room, struggling with his tie, “Ah, Y/n you’re home! You’d better go up and get dressed. The Sims are arriving soon.”

“So, I’ve heard,” you huff. “I know we’re family friends but shouldn’t they settle in their house first? Why are they coming here already?”

“Because,” your dad sighs. “Mr Sim and I have secured a business deal. We’re going to be partners in the firm soon, which is why they’re back. Of course, we have to welcome them with a nice meal.”

You groan and cross your arms, “Isn’t this something you discuss with your daughter first?”

Laughing, your dad pinches your cheek sweetly, “Now, why would this concern you? Go upstairs and get dressed, you must be hungry after practice today.”

It takes every fibre in your being to not stomp up the stairs in defiance. Sim Jaeyun, the cause of your distress throughout your entire school whole life was returning after a blissful year of peace. The mere thought of it made you want to rip every strand of hair out of your head.

Stepping into your room, your eyes immediately set on the expensive dress sitting on your bed that your mum laid out for you. Just as your parents requested, you hopped into the shower to prepare for the dreadful evening ahead. It’s not like you weren’t used to this; your parents worked in especially high fields and earned decent salaries. It was more than normal for them to have these important, yet over the top, dinners every few months meaning you had to dress up like this often. The only issue was him.

You could already hear his irritating giggles from your bedroom. Amazingly, they were the same as you had remembered.

Before you could even take a deep breath, there were soft knocks at your door, “Mum, I’m coming. Thirty seconds.”

There were the knocks again. Rolling your eyes, you swung your door open, ready to ask your mother why she couldn’t wait for thirty seconds, when you saw him leaning on the archway of the door. His lips were curled into that familiar smirk of his, yet Jake looked so different. His hair was much shorter, slicked back slightly but a strand of it falling onto his forehead.

It had only been a year, yet you were more than surprised to see Sim Jaeyun actually looking semi decent.

His eyes are playful as they rake over your figure, checking you out head to toe. The feeling of Jake’s eyes boring into you evoked a sense of insecurity to wash over. Since when did you care about him looking at you?

“Hurry up,” he ruffles your hair as he runs down the stairs. Forgetting about the annoying action he had just done, you pause for a moment; his words replaying in your mind. It seemed that Jake’s looks weren’t the only thing that was different but he had developed a strong Australian accent, too. It wasn’t attractive, though.

No, of course, not. That was impossible, being Jake Sim.

You fix your hair before following him into the living room where his parents are sitting on the couch in your living room.

Mrs Sim smiles at you as you greet her, “Y/n! You’ve grown so much.”

She engulfs you in a tight hug as you giggle, “No, I look the same. You look better than ever, of course.”

She shakes her head as she makes room for you on the couch, “Nonsense, you’ve gotten even prettier just like Jaeyun. He’s gotten so handsome now, right?”

You nod, sending an obvious fake smile towards his direction.

Jake clears his throat as he brings his glass of water to his lips, “Y/n, have you grown any taller since last year?”

You force a polite chuckle, despite wanting to throw your glass at the smile on his lips, “Maybe a few inches.”

Jake nods, pursing his lips to prevent a wider smile from breaking out, “I see.”

He sits opposite you at the dinner table, sending you winks every so often just to get a sneaky middle finger or a dirty look in return when no one was looking.

“Y/n, you’ll have to show Jaeyun around tomorrow,” Your dad says to you.

“I’m sure he knows where everythings been. It’s only been a year,” You smile.

Jake leans over, “I heard there were some changes. I’m afraid I might get late to some of my classes.”

You turn to Jake, “Oh, really? Who said that?”

“Sunghoon,” Jake smirks back at you.

You nod, of course he did. Sunghoon was the little provoker in your feud with Jake; always meddling to give Jake new ideas on how to annoy you. That was clearly one of his duties as Jake’s best friend since he had just given Jake another reason to irk you and follow you around tomorrow.

“So, why can’t he show you around?” You narrow your eyes.

Before Jake can answer, your dad interjects, “It’ll be better for you to do it, Y/n. I’m sure Sunghoon will have practice and other things tomorrow.”

The little shit was smiling way too hard, again. He just gets lucky too often.

The talk quickly turns into business amongst your parents, boring you completely so you use it as a perfect opportunity to excuse yourself to your room until your Mum says, “Why don’t you take Jaeyun to your room?”

Jake’s eyes grow as he smiles mischievously, “Yeah, you can show me what topics you have been covering in Physics. I don’t want to be behind.”

You take another deep breath, it got to the point where every breath now was slow and used to calm you down in order to stop you from lunging at the boy in front of you. He used every opportunity to get you to agree to yet another thing to help him with while your parents were around.

Jake followed you up to your room, standing at the doorway for a moment to look around your room at a different angle before stepping in and tracing his finger over all your trophies and pictures.

“Hey!” He calls, pointing at a particular picture of you with a trophy after winning the Science Fair competition. “We did this together, I’m in this photo. Did you crop me out?”

That day was quite fun, one of the only times that you and Jake had worked together rather than against one another, which was the usual dynamic. That occasion, your father had suggested for you two to work together. Even back then, it had created such dismay for you but you couldn’t deny that he was the reason why you two had won. You didn’t work well under pressured environments, so Jake had picked up the slack and presented most of it but you doubted that he did it for the sake of you. He definitely did it for the mere reason that he wanted to win.

You scoff at the pout on his lips as he picks up the frame, “Obviously. I’d get nightmares with a picture of you in my room.”

Jake touches the picture, a sigh of relief leaving his lips, “You didn’t cut it. You folded it.”

He dismantles the frame, unfolding the picture to reveal a younger version of him, “I was handsome back then, too. Keep it unfolded, you can use it for motivation.”

Fake gagging, you snatch the frame back from him and set it down, “I don’t need motivation. “So, how was Australia?”

Jake shrugs, playing with the Miffy plush that you cuddle to bed every night, “It was fun. Different from here. Better girls.”

You roll your eyes and respond sarcastically, “Sounds wonderful.”

“Jealous? Don’t worry, they didn’t compare to you,” Jake flirts.

“Ew!” Your face contorts in disgust. “Don’t make me throw you out of here, Jaeyun.”

He giggles and goes back to nosily touching all your things. You watch him in silence for a few more minutes, not minding Jake exploring your room. Jake’s parents call him from downstairs, initiating that it was time for him to finally leave.

“This new business deal means I’ll be seeing you more often than you’d like, angel.”

Your eyes flicker up to meet his briefly upon hearing the pet name before he leaves the room. He’s staring at you, searching for a response in your facial expressions but all you can focus on is the luring brown specks in his eyes. The Australian air must have done a number on him; this was not the SIm Jaeyun you knew. Of course, he still used to go out of his way to annoy you before, but the excessive winking and flirting was so unlike him. It was only until you heard him call you ‘angel’ that you realised how different Jake was, now.

You returned down the stairs to bid them goodbye.

“Y/n,” Jake’s father calls. “Jake and I will be here tomorrow morning to pick you up for school. We must repay the favour.”

“What favour?” You question.

Jake’s mother strokes your arm lovingly, and you wonder how a woman so kind can produce that devil staring at you by the door, “We’re so thankful that you’re tutoring Jake every weekend!”

You raise an eyebrow and look at your parents, who suspiciously are avoiding your eyes, “It’s no problem. Is this why Mr Sim is picking me up tomorrow?”

They nod and hug you goodbye, constantly reminding you of their appreciation.

With one last annoyed look towards your parents, you turn on your feet and head up to your room for the night to scream into your pillow about the return of Sim Jaeyun.

୨ৎ

The next morning, at the table while you wait for Jake and his father, you see your own come down the stairs to get ready for his own job.

“Y/n, you and Jake have to go to school alone. Mr Sim sends his apologies, he has a meeting,” Your dad informs you.

You groan softly at the light knocks on the door, knowing it was Sim Jaeyun. “That must be him,” your dad smiles as he opens the door. “Hi, Jaeyun.”

“Good morning, Mr Lee. Is Y/n ready?” Jake asks as he steps into the house and meets your annoyed eyes. Slinging your bag over your shoulder and walking towards Jake, you say bye to your father and leave the house with him.

“Why did your dad want us to go to school so early?” You huff. Jake smiles down at you, “So we could go get breakfast.”

He flicks his dads bank card in between his fingers, “Wanted me to thank you for that tutor thing. Did you know about that, by the way?”

You shake your head, “Mum and Dad probably knew I would refuse. Did you?”

You look up at him and see he shakes his head, with a proud grin on his face, “Mum and Dad probably knew I would refuse, too.”

You stop and cross your arms at him, “Why would you refuse? I’m the top of the class, you should be honoured.”

Jake snickers, “You’re top of the class because I was in Australia for a year.”

He ruffles your hair before walking off, leaving you to curse at him under your breath.

With a croissant and a coffee in each of your hands, you walk through the school gates with Jake. As expected, all eyes are on him. Everyone knew him; you remembered the way everyone was heartbroken when he announced that he was leaving last year. Apart from you. You were busy bouncing off the walls to celebrate his departure as now, there was no debate about who the top physics student was. You knew it sounded condescending and extremely nerdy, but you worked hard for your grades; the title was deserved.

“I have to go to the principal's office,” Jake tells you.

“Go then,” You shrug. Jake tuts and drags you to the principal's office with him.

You fight off his grip on you, “I thought you didn’t know where anything was.”

Jake rolls his eyes, “Shut up and wait here. We have class together next, anyway.”

Just as you’re about to argue back, you realise that you do in fact have Physics next. Of course, he was in your class.

You sit and eat the breakfast that he bought you while you wait. Not long after, he exits the principal's office with a few books in his fingers.

“What are those?” You ask as you try to reach over and read them, only to have them held over your head and out of your reach.

“Don’t be so nosy,” Jake tuts. “Let’s go, we’re going to be late.”

You frown and follow him swiftly.

Jake opens the class door, and all eyes are set on him once again. Your Physics teacher calls him to the front while you rush to your seat at the back, away from all the gazes fixed on him.

Thanking God that your first lesson after the dreadful weekend was Physics was a waste since Jake was momentarily ordered to sit beside you.

“Is there a problem, Y/n?” Your teacher asks following your noises of protest.

You shake your head, not that it mattered to Jake who was already sitting in the seat beside you.

“Thankfully, I got placed next to my tutor. What would I do without you?” Jake drawls with a soft smile on his lips.

“Shut it, Sim,” you groan, snatching your things to your side of the table. “My side. Your side.”

Jake watches you pull out a thin ribbon and place it in the middle of the table.

Towards the end of the lesson, you’re assigned individual worksheet tasks that Jake gets done with smoothly. Unlike you, who is struggling slightly.

It’s not that the work is difficult to understand, but you’ve never been that close to Jake to see his hands. Despite your many attempts to focus on your work, your gaze is teared away from the Physics equations on your sheet and replaced with the sight of Jake’s hands only inches away from your own. In order to control your impulsive thoughts, you have to focus your full attention towards not touching his hands which is driving you absolutely insane.

Jake looks over his shoulder at your sheet, eyes widening slightly, “How are you still on the first question?”

Jolting slightly, you scramble to pick up your pen and mumble sometimes about getting distracted.

Jake bites his lip to prevent a giggle from escaping, “If you need help, you can ask me.”

“I don’t need your help,” You respond and commence with the work.

The bells to announce the end of the lesson go off soon after and you sigh in relief, packing your things instantly in order to get away from that nightmare sitting beside you.

Jake watches you pack up as if he was waiting to say something until Park Sunghoon and Jay Park run into the classroom.

“Jake!” Sunghoon smiles widely, Jay following shortly.

Jake grins, “I didn’t see you two this morning.”

“We had to meet up with the football (soccer) team before school. Join us after school today?” Jay asks.

Jake shakes his head, “Can’t. I have to study with my tutor.”

You dart your eyes over to him, “Not today.”

Sunghoon and Jay break out into fits of laughter.“No way, Y/n has to tutor you. That’s so unfortunate, Y/n,” Jay says to you, and you nod with a frown.

Jake furrows his eyebrows, “What’s so bad about tutoring me?”

“Dude, you don’t even need a tutor. Y/n, I’ve been asking you to tutor me for months now,” Sunghoon follows you around your desk.

“I didn’t have a choice!” You remark. “Our parents arranged it behind our backs.”

Sunghoon smiles, “What? Like an arranged marriage?”

“Ew!” You both said in unison.

Clearing your throat, you look at Jake again, “I’m not tutoring you today. They said weekends. “

You grab your bag and leave the room, rushing to find your best friends. Minji and Jieun are sitting at the usual bench near the football field, snacks laid in their laps as they discuss the precious lesson when you rush towards them.

Their attention immediately turns to you and Minji asks, “Y/n, is it true that Jake’s back?”

You huff and nod, “You’ll never believe it.” And, with that, you start filling them in on all the events that have occurred in far little time that you’d like.

They listen intently as you tell them every single detail since yesterday.

Jieun gasps, “How has this all happened in less than 24 hours?”

You shrug and steal a biscuit from her lap, “Honestly, I’m wondering the same thing. I didn’t even know he would be back 24 hours ago.”

Minji leans forward, “Shit, don’t look. Shit, shit, shit.”

Despite Minji’s request, Jieun turns her head with a car and gasps, too.

“What?” You ask, impatiently, wanting nothing more than to see what they were so intrigued about.

“Jake’s in a football shirt,” Jieun claps her hands together and you roll your eyes, although you turn your head ever so slightly to get a look. You don’t see Jake anywhere.

“Where?” You ask, now looking more closely.

Jieun and Minji giggle beside you and you close your eyes in anger after sudden realisation, “He’s not there, is he?”

“Nope,” Minji chuckles. You lightly shove her with your arm as she continues, “So, Y/n. A crush on Jake, huh?”

“Impossible!” you argue. “I was just looking because you guys were so shocked.”

You cross your arms and stuff your mouth with snacks as your friends stare at you in disbelief, “I do not like Sim Jaeyun.”

୨ৎ

Taking tests were usually anxiety inducing, but with your rival back, it was even worse than usual. Jake helped you separate the table into individual seats for the test, watching the way your fingers drummed on the table; a habit to get rid of the nerves.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take it easy on you, angel,” He whispers, leaning so close to your ear that you can feel his breath fanning onto your cheek.

“Ugh,” You shove him away. “Are you trying to make me vomit before the test so I can miss it and fail?”

Jake sneers, “As if I need to do something like that. I’ll get higher than you regardless.

“We’ll see about that Aussie boy.”

Jake's eyebrows raise upon the new nickname, his eyes gleaming as he watches you take the test paper into your hand and write your name before starting it. Jake leans back in his chair, twirling his pencil in his fingers before he too starts the test.

The school bells go off, signalling both the end of the school day and the test.

Jake stands behind you as you hand in your paper and exit the classroom.

He taps your shoulder, “Did you finish all the questions?”

You nod, “Yeah, did you?”

“Yeah, but I don't think I did that well. I guess it's good that I’ve got myself a tutor, huh?” Jake giggles beside you.

You almost laugh, instead concealing it with a roll of your eyes, “Lucky you.”

“Be ready for one, tomorrow,” Jake ruffles your hair, earning a smack on the arm from you, which he fake winces at. “You coming to the football game next Monday?”

“No,” You guffaw and watch Jake slip his hands into his pockets.

“Hm, I thought you were. A little birdie told me you were,” Jake shoves his phone into your face, revealing messages from your mother telling him that you would go.

Angrily, you twist Jake’s ear and he yelps, “Ow??? What was that for?”

“Many reasons,” You cross your arms. “You messaged my mum to get me to go to your stupid football game! Why do you even have my mothers number?”

Jake rubs his now pink ear, “She told me to take it for the tutoring sessions since you said no to giving yours. Plus, is it so bad that you’re coming? Your friends are there every day.”

“Yeah, to see the boys they like,” You shrug.

“There’s no one you want to watch play?” Jake asks, slipping his hands back into his pockets.

“I have no interest in watching anyone play.”

Jake hums again, turning his face to the side before clearing his throat, “That’s because no one wants you to watch them.”

You glare at him, “Then, why did you ask my mother to force me to go?”

Scorning, Jake responds, “I didn’t force her. I just mentioned it and she said to make sure you go. Why would I want you there?”

At his words, you feel your heart gain a few bruises but you play it off, “I’m not going.”

“Shut up, Lee. I’ll pick you up at 5 on Monday. Games at 6,” With that, Jake walks off to join his friends. You grab your phone and message your group chat with your friends.

You: It looks like I'm attending my first school football game next week.

Minji: You wanna tell me this isn't because of the Sim boy?

Jieun: LMFAO FR.

You: Dude messaged my mother to get me to go.

Jieun: No fucking way

Minji: Yeah, so when's the wedding?

You: shut up, we don’t like each other.

Minji: 🙄

Jieun: keep telling yourself that. Want us to pick you up?

You: no… he’s picking me up

Minji: act surprised!

Jieun: Suit yourself, I am surprised!

Usually, the weekends are more than enjoyable; being that you can sleep in bed for a few hours longer than usual without feeling like you're rotting away as you’re still up before noon which automatically means you're being productive. This weekend was different; just like every day has been since Jake has arrived back.

This was now yet another time that he’s randomly been in your house as if he lives there, and waiting for you to join him.

“You’re late,” He says, taking a bite of an apple.

“I forgot,” You respond and sit down at the table with your textbooks.

Jake sits beside you, smiling at your pyjamas, “Why are all of them so childish?”

You frown, “They’re not childish. Anyway, focus!”

Tutoring Jake reveals to be harder than you thought. He either gets distracted every few minutes with an odd would you rather question that he needs to hear your response to or he’s bragging about how he doesn’t need these tutoring sessions, and could easily beat you in the upcoming exam.

Two hours fly by ever so slowly, and you’re silently thanking God that it’s over when the time comes.

Slamming your books shut, you spring to your feet with a wide smile plastered over your lips “Well, it’s been lovely but, that’s me done. Goodbye!”

Jake snickers as he watches you disappear up the stairs in a hurry, “See you on Monday!”

Monday flies by faster than you realise, you think as you sit in Physics next to Jake with your head resting in your palm. Monday was always such a mission to get through, but it didn’t help that you had a particularly late night.

“Tired?” Jake asks, sliding over your favourite bottled coffee. Your eyes light up upon seeing it as you accept it with a slightly enthusiastic nod.

“Extremely, staying up watching ‘Criminal Minds' is not a good idea,” You advise before taking a happy swig of the coffee.

Jake laughs, “Thanks for the warning. You’re coming to the game, by the way.”

You roll your eyes, “Is that why you got me a drink?”

Jake hums, “Why else would I do something nice for you?”

You scowl and hand him the coffee back, only for it to be slided back towards you with a disgusted expression on his, “I don’t want it! You already put your mouth on it.”

You sigh, and put it back in your bag, “Asshole.”

“Idiot,” He remarks.

You flick your eyes up and notice the teacher handing out the test papers from the last lesson, “We’ll see who the idiot is.”

The teacher places both yours and Jake's papers down with a smile.

You read the 97 on your paper, tilting it nervously to reveal to him as you wait for his mark.

“96,” He huffs, setting the paper down with a disappointed frown.

You clap your hands together with a wide grin, “I knew it! Sim Jaeyun, you fell off!”

You tease him consistently, singing celebrations in his ear as he places the paper in his bag, smiling at the 98 written on his sheet that he would much rather keep hidden for the sake of you singing gleefully beside him.

Jake swears he’s never seen you so happy; it's almost impossible to keep his smile under control as he watches you in slight fear that the adoration he has for you is emanating more than he would like.

୨ৎ

Your exciting plans to nap immediately after school were destroyed when you heard knocks on the door at exactly four minutes to five pm.

You answer softly, “Come in.”

Expecting one of your parents to walk in, you don’t bother to try and fix your hair or anything so when Jake walks in, you hurry to cover your snoopy pyjamas with your blanket, but judging by the way he snickers, you can tell he’s already seen it.

Jake stands in front of your wardrobe, “Say, Michael B Jordan came into your room and opened your wardrobe. Would there be anything you’d be too shy to show him?”

“No,” You reply, confused. Jake swinging your wardrobe doors open and grabbing a sweater before throwing it at you and walking out of the room was the last thing you had expected. Not to mention that he compared himself to Michael B Jordan, as if you’d care if he had seen your undergarments. Jake, however…

“Ten minutes!” He calls out before closing the door.

You sit in disbelief for a few moments before complying with his demands.

A few moments later, you walk out of the room and hear Jake and your father watching the football game.

“You’re here watching the game when you’re about to play anyway…” You stare at the two, dumfounded.

Jake tilts his head up at you as he gets up, “The game’s too good. Let’s go!”

He says goodbye to your parents and walks you to his car, “We’re kind of early, so you wanna eat something or eat after the game?”

“After the game?” You repeat slowly.

“Don’t tell me you’re planning to run home as soon as the game begins,” Jake runs a hand through his hair.

You stifle a laugh, “I doubt I'd make it before half time.”

Jake laughs, “Alright, let's get going.”

Along the way, Jake plays some songs and you can't help but enjoy the atmosphere. Jake glances her eyes towards you from time to time, fighting the smile that creeps his way onto his face in response to yours.

He can't help but think of how beautiful you look, when you’re not even doing anything remotely significant.

“We’re here,” You say.

“Thanks, Sherlock,” Jake rolls his eyes and gets out of the car. As soon as you open the car door, he pushes you back inside and shuts it. You furrow your eyebrows at him standing by the passenger door.

Jake swiftly opens the car door for you, looking around as you leave the car although it's a struggle to move after a zoo of butterflies started swarming in your stomach from his actions.

“Thanks,” You rub at the nape of your neck as he mutters an ‘its alright’ to you.

The pair of you make your way across the football pitch, Jake greets people as he walks past them while you dodge dirty stares from jealous students. It almost makes you want to laugh; if only they knew how it really was.

To be quite honest, you weren’t sure if you knew either now that you thought about it.

Brushing your thoughts away, you sat down on one of the benches, “I’ll watch from here.”

Jake nods and slings his bag to put next to you, “You’ll watch this, right?”

“Yes,” You huff. “Anything else, kind sir?”

Jake throws his head back as he laughs, “No, madam.”

Before you can look away, Jake removes his top and replaces it with a football jersey. You know you shouldn't, but you can't help it - his abs were literally staring at you in plain sight, so you had to look back at them.

Of course, he notices you staring and tuts, “Didn’t strike me as a pervert, Y/n.”

You gasp, stammering, “You.. You didn't even warn me!”

“Relax, angel. I don’t mind,” He jogs backwards, sending you a few winks before printing off to the rest of his football members.

Just before the game starts, Minji and Jieun run over and join you, already screaming the names of whichever boy they were infatuated with at that current time.

The game proves to be far more interesting as expected and you end up not regretting letting yourself be dragged out of bed by Jake.

You watch intently as Jake dribbles the ball and shoots it directly in the goal. Your adrenaline must have taken over you, since the next thing you know, you’re jumping up and cheering. In the midst of Jake’s celebration around the pitch, he looks over at you with the widest smile he’s ever fathomed. Jieun and Minji share smirks from the side.

By half time, he separates from the rest of his team and runs directly to you.

You hand him a water bottle as he sits beside you, sweat droplets making his skin glow an extra bit.

“I didn’t expect you to cheer for me,” Jake says, smugly.

“I didn’t cheer for you. I cheered for the team,” You correct.

“I didn’t see you get up and cheer like that when Sunghoon scored,” Jake mutters under his breath.

You dart your eyes at him, “You’re lucky I didn’t hear that.”

Jake sits beside you, regaining his strength in the fifteen minute break while you look around at the other members, eyes fixated on one familiar member.

“Oh shit,” You turn around to Jieun and Minji, whose eyes follow your previous gaze and soon replicate your own shocked expression. Jake turns to the three of you, attempting to eavesdrop.

“Is that-”

“Don’t say the name,” You gesture to Jake sitting beside you.

“Woah, woah,” Jake stands up. “Whose name?”

“None of your business,” You snap. “Shouldn’t you go and, like, discuss team plays?”

Jake shakes his head, “Nah, this isn’t a serious game. It’s just a friendly. Who’s the guy?”

Jake nods his head at the guy you were looking at, fury slowly bubbling in his insides.

“He's a relative,” You lie.

“Bullshit,” Jake huffs. “I’ll find out after the game, anyway.”

The guy was Lee Minseok, and he was your first kiss at a party several months earlier. Being a kiss at a party, you don’t even remember it but your friends had informed you of it. He, too, had wanted to reconnect by messaging you on each and every one of your social media accounts for weeks after despite you saying you weren't looking for anything. You’d felt bad, but it was better to leave it as a drunken mistake than leading him on completely. It had also been a shame that he was your first ever kiss, but you were glad you didn’t remember it.

You look at Jieun and Minji again before sitting back down next to Jake, who doesn’t say another word. After a few minutes, he walks off to his members without saying anything. You feel slightly disappointed that he didn’t say one of his flirty remarks, but you don’t pay too much mind.

You continue watching the game, silently cheering whenever Jake scores or does anything remotely notable and you notice how his eyes always turn to you upon doing something well, but again, you don’t think much of it.

It’s only when you notice Minseok slytackling Jake, leading to Jake falling on his back. Soft gasps erupt from the crowd, a way of everyone agreeing that it was far too harsh of a movement. Minseok holds his hand out to apologise, only to be rejected by Jake smacking his hand away and pushing him by the shoulders. It becomes a small brawl, Jay and Sunghoon having to pull Jake away and to the changing rooms. You watch Jake strut over to the changing rooms, a look of rage crossed over his face.

The next thirty minutes of the game go by painfully slow; all you wanted was to know if Jake was alright.

Despite Jieun and Minji’s attempts at trying to get you to go home with them, you wait for Jake, just to find out if he's okay.

It gets dark when you spot Jake walking on the other side of the football field and you call him over, “Jake!”

He turns around and looks at you with a slightly bewildered expression, but waits for you nonetheless.

“Are you okay?” You ask.

“I’m fine,” He mumbles. “Did you ask Minseok if he was, too?”

It was your turn to look at him bewilderedly, “No, I couldn’t care less if he was injured.”

Jake’s lips almost curl into a smile. Almost, if he didn’t hear Sunghoons words replaying in his head. Minseok was your first kiss - he stole your first kiss. The feeling of rage bubbled in Jake’s insides again.

“Anyway, I waited because you promised to get me food,” You grin.

Jake looks away, “I can’t. Dad needs help at home.”

“Oh,” You whisper. “Okay, but you owe me another day.”

Jake nods in agreement, and you wait for that familiar smile to return on his face, but it doesn’t.

“I’m going to get going,” You say.

Again, you wait for him to say something, like offer to drop you off home. But, nothing.

You feel like a fool as you walk away from him, his figure growing smaller and smaller behind you with every step.

The next few days are all similar, there are times where you expect Jake to say something to you around the halls or in Physics, but he doesn’t. You don’t even see him around the house anymore, despite his family being there and them saying that he was busy catching up with schoolwork. That was definitely a lie, you knew him.

Mr Sim calls you to sit with them, smiling at you politely.

“Thank you for tutoring Jaeyun. His grades slipped a bit in Australia but, thanks to you, they’re back to normal,” He grins. “I hope there’s no hard feelings, though.”

“Of course, not. Why would there be?” You return his politeness.

Mr Sim sighs in ease, “Oh, I thought you would be since Jaeyun got 98 on the recent test. Although, it was only a marks difference. You’re seriously wonderful-”

The rest of his words tune out, the only thing you hear is that Jake got higher than you in the test but he lied. Why did he lie?

୨ৎ

Deciding to head over to his house with the lie that you needed to give him some school work was merely impulsive, it was far too late when you realised at his doorstep. You’d spent the last few days laying in the darkness of your room, wondering why he has suddenly switched off his typically playful manner to a foreign, nonchalant version of himself. You even cried to Jieun and Minji about it, who cursed him repeatedly.

Jake opens the door in Spongebob pyjamas to which you cock an eyebrow at, “And you called mine childish.”

“What are you doing here?” Jake asks, helping you into his house. “Do you want something to drink or eat?”

You shake your head and he leans on the wall in front of you as you take a seat.

“So,” Jake stares at you. “What are you doing here?”

You take a long and slow breath, “Why did you lie about your mark in the recent exam?”

Jake steps forward slightly, “How did you-”

You shake your head, “It doesn’t matter. Why did you lie?”

Jake exhales, “I knew it would make you happy.”

You scoff, getting to your feet, “Why on earth do you care if I’m happy?”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Jake grits his teeth.

“You hate me. You’ve been avoiding me for days, now,” You breathe out.

Jake stares at you blankly, before breaking out into a fit of laughter, “Hate you?”

He inches closer to you until hes standing directly in front of you, “Y/n, I came back here for you.”

“What are you talking about?” You chuckle. “You came back because our parents-”

“No,” Jake interjects. “You think I didn’t beg my father to take that deal? You think my dad doesn’t know how in love with you I am? Y/n, everyone knows but you!”

You shake your head, “This isn’t true.”

“Look, if you don’t like me back, just say so. But, don’t come here and start spewing nonsense. I’ve liked you since that day that we won the Science Fair together. I’ve been in love with you since I left for Australia.”

You look up at him, “No way.”

Jake rolls his eyes and takes your hand, pulling you to his bedroom. He sits you down in his bed while he reaches into a drawer and pulls out a large box.

Jake removes the lid and brings out multiple items that you recognise and some that you don’t.

“This is my Y/n box,” he places it onto your lap. “Have a look.”

Jake holds a few items in his hand, “This is the bracelet I won at a Physics competition in Australia at the beginning. I planned to give it to you. This is a teddy I won at some amusement park. And, this is a letter I wrote on the plane when I realised that I was in love with you. Well, am in love with you.”

Jake continues, “Even my grades, Y/n. They were nothing without you. It’s like you were my only source of motivation, my grades were average towards the end of the year in Australia. My parents and my teachers all blamed it on the move, but I knew. I knew it was because you weren’t there.”

You’re speechless, he kept everything remotely linked to you since you were thirteen. He thought of you in every little thing he did.

“You love me?” You question.

“Yes, Y/n. I’ve been in love with you.”

“But,” You breathe out. “I’m hard to love.”

Your voice is strained, and isn’t far from a whisper. There’s so many things you want to say yet so little words to conform them to the perfect boy sitting in front of you.

He almost guffaws at your words - Jake might have if he didn’t realise just how serious you were. He didn’t understand; what on earth was so hard about loving you? There was nothing.

If only you could see just how effortless it had been, straight from the beginning. The minute he laid eyes on you standing by a handmade rocket, scribbling ideas down on a piece of paper, it was as if the atoms in the universe had created an inseparable bond that tied you two together. It was as if the poles in the universe had drawn together, creating a magnetic field of attraction.

Jake’s eyes twinkle as he leans closer to you, “There is nothing hard about loving you. Loving you is like breathing out oxygen, so if loving you is hard then breathing is, too.”

You flick your eyes up at him again, now only centimetres away from those pink plush lips of his until you close the gap, pulling him into a soft kiss.

“I love you, too, “ You breathe out.

“Really?” Jake gasps. “You’re not just saying that?”

You shake your head, intertwining your fingers, “No, seriously. I do, I didn’t know I did but now.. Now, I know. I came here because you were avoiding me the whole week and I couldn’t bear it.”

Jake giggles, “That’s because I didn’t think you liked me back after that whole situation with Minseok at the football game. I thought it would be better to just leave you alone.”

Jake gently intertwines his fingers with you, a casual action albeit causing your heart to race a million miles per hour.

“So,” he beams, “if you get higher than me in the next Physics exam, I’ll take you out on a date.”

You cock an eyebrow at him, a grin paired on your lips, “And, what if I don’t?”

Jake looks away, thinking for a moment, “Then, you take me on a date.”

“Well, can I give you a kiss first?” You ask, raising an eyebrow at him as if he’s ever going to decline that offer

“You don’t need to ask twice,” Jake breathes out, before meeting your lips with a wide grin plastered on his face.

୨ৎ

Seeing Jake knock on your window from outside your house was quite a shock for you, being it was a Sunday evening and you were sorting out your school bag for the next day.

You open your window to let him in with a befuddled expression worn on your face, “What are you doing here? It’s almost 6:30.”

A soft smile is on his lips as he looks at you, and climbs through your window, “I had to see you. Its been so long.”

Rolling your eyes playfully, “I saw you on Friday.”

“That’s far too long, angel.”

You smile as he wraps an arm around your waist to pull you in for a warm embrace, he hums as he closes his eyes and rocks your body with his from side to side.

“Why didn’t you use the front door?” You ask him.

Jake nervously rubs the back of his neck, “I’m scared of your father.”

You laugh at his words, “You’ve known the man for years! What’s there to be afraid of?”

He sits down on your bed, playing with your teddy bears, “Well, he’s different with me now that I’m.. dating his daughter.”

“He’s a bit shocked but he’ll get used to it. You can’t expect him to like you if he finds out you’ve been sneaking in through my window, though,” You pinch Jake’s cheek softly.

Jake nods, “I know.” Jake sighs and leans into your touch against his cheek.

“Why don’t you try going back through the front door? You can ask my parents for permission to grab dinner outside, today,” You suggest, pulling his hands up.

You watch Jake’s eyes glint in excitement as he heads back out of the window. Yet, he doesn’t forget to turn around to press a quick kiss on your cheek before he leaves, only to return to be in your house in less than a minute.

Hearing the doorbell ring, you make your way downstairs while fighting the urge to grin upon knowing exactly who was at your door.

You watch your father open the door, seeing Jake, “Hi Jake, what brings you here?”

Jake stammers, “Hello, sir. I mean, Mr Lee… I came to see Y/n.”

You stand beside your father, “Dad, you haven’t even let him in.”

Pulling Jake inside, you frown at your Dad as your Mum joins the three of you.

“Honey, why are you so awkward around Jaeyun now? Weren’t you the one who always wanted him as a son?” Your mum chuckles.

“I didn’t think he would become a son like.. this,” Your dad darts his eyes towards you and Jake. “So, is the relationship going well?”

You struggle to not break out into a fit of laughter, “Yes, Dad. Thanks for your concern. Jake and I are going to get some ice cream.”

Your Mum nods happily while your father sighs and sits back. Jake bows his head politely and leaves with you.

“I hate the awkwardness,” Jake whines and you laugh, intertwining your fingers with his.

“He’ll get used to it!” You boop Jake’s nose sweetly.

Walking alongside Jake with your fingers wrapped tightly in his own, the crisp autumn air hitting against your cheeks and the streetlights illuminating the sky; you can’t help but feel a sense of longing towards the moment. It just felt right.

“I’ve been thinking,” Jake breaks the silence, tilting his head towards you. “Actually.. No, no. You’re going to make fun of me.”

Jake hides his face in his hoodie, but you can still see the redness in his cheeks.

“What?” You laugh, prying his face out of his hoodie. “Tell me!”

Jake sighs, “I used to think we were alike but I don’t think we are. So, I guess we’re kinda like magnets.”

“You’ve called me a lot of things, Sim Jaeyun, but never have you called me a magnet.”

Jake sighs with a smile on his face, “Not like that! I just meant, we’re not as alike as we think. Kinda like a magnet, but they work out fine. If anything, there’s literal forces of attraction pulling them together. Isn’t that so cool?”

You chortle, “Yes, Jake. That’s very cool. I love being your magnet.”

Jake presses a kiss to your lips, “Stop making fun of me.”

“Stop being a nerd,” You retort.

“Says the one who got 100% in the last quiz!”“Don’t be jealous, Sim. You’ll get on my level someday.”

[fallingformatt]

FIRST GLANCE M.S. PT. 2

Matt x fem!reader

summary: as you’re trying to get your mind off of Matt you bump into someone, who could it be?

warnings: smutttt!!!!! unprotected sex, overstimulation, praising.

word count: 2.8k

a/n: the first part is available here

at first I didn’t know where to start on this one, but bro I’m actually in love with this second part.

I also made my account pretty and made a masterlist with all of my works it’s available here

feel free to leave requests on what I should write next or what you would like to read in general ;) or just yap w me

this post is not proofread

➽───────────────❥

"You taste so sweet, I could eat you out all night."

"Shit, you feel so good around my cock baby."

"You're such a good girl for me, fuck."

It has been 3 days since I bumped into him, and every night as I was trying to fall asleep, vivid flashbacks were running through my head, subconsciously making my hand slide down my panties, pleasuring myself, desperately trying to catch the pleasure from that night but with no success.

I was going insane. Recalling that night I was tipsy and I don't quite remember his name, I think it was Matt, but I do remember everything else. His eyes, his fluffy hair, his moans and his dick. His cold rings on my skin, his grip on my thighs, the cold counter against my ripped tights as he was eating me out, overstimulating me.

I groan as I turn around in my bed laying down on my stomach, pulling my pillow under my head as I grab it with both of my hands and let out a scream of frustration, still thinking about that night, and then it hit me, 'his number. He gave me his number before I left, and I wrote it down somewhere' I think to myself, my eyes shoot open as I reach for my phone sitting up in my bed, and unlocking it. I start scrolling through my phone frantically.

"Think, think, think, think, come on, where did you write it down," I say out loud to myself trying to find his number.

I continue scrolling through my phone, it now has been 30 minutes, no luck. I groan as I throw my phone off my bed.

'Maybe it was meant to be just one time.' I think to myself, trying to console myself. I lay down, now laying on my back, staring at the ceiling. 'This can't be true, there is no way this was meant to be one and done, I refuse to believe that.' I think to myself

"I need to get my mind off of him," I say out loud and slide out of my bed similarly to as a snake would. Now laying on my fuzzy rug next to my bed I grab my phone I previously threw and unlock it searching for my best friend's number. I start calling.

"Hey let's do something, I need to get my mind off of some things," I say hopeful that she has something already planned.

"Yeah I'm down, what do you want to do?" She answers and my face grows a small frown.

"I don't know, to be honest, I was hoping you would have already something planned," I say truthfully.

"Well it's your lucky day, I do have something planned, I just wanted to know what mood you're in, let's meet at my place in like 2ish hours" my friend answers.

"Oh my god ur the best, I love you," I say and end the call.

My mood is already getting better. I get up from the floor and walk to my vanity excitedly. I sit down and put in rollers in my hair before starting on my makeup.

Once I finished my makeup I got up from the chair and walked to my closet. I swung open the closet door and started searching for something to wear. I don't know what to wear, and I don't know what occasion to dress for since I forgot to ask my friend where we're going or what are we doing.

I pulled out a dark red, leather miniskirt and put it on, I paired it with a black, skin-tight short-sleeve top, that had a huge cutout in the back, and put on black kitten heels that matched the vibe of the outfit perfectly. I walked to the mirror to see if I liked the outfit.

I went back to my vanity and took out the rollers in my hair, I put in some gold jewelry and was ready to head out.

Before leaving my apartment I check the time and it reads 3:26 PM, I text my best friend that I'm heading out and walk out of the door, I get in my car and drive to her place.

"I'm here," I say loudly as I walk into her apartment, I put down my purse on the couch and head to her room, I open the door and see her doing her makeup. "Heyy girl," I walk over to her, and hug her, greeting her. I sit down on her bed and watch her get ready as we chitchat.

"Like ever since that night, I literally can't stop thinking about him," I say looking at her. She turns to look at me removing the lip liner from her lips. "This sounds bad, I know what we need," she says. I tilt my head in confusion, waiting for her to finish her thought. "There's our favorite wine in the fridge," she signals to the kitchen with her head before she turns back to finish her lips.

I head over to the kitchen, open the fridge, and take out the wine, I get two wine glasses and walk back to her room. I set the glasses down on her table before opening the bottle of wine and pouring some for the both of us.

"Oh my god ur finally ready," I say as I get up from the bed. While she was getting ready we finished the bottle of wine. "You look great," I say and she blows me a kiss as a thank you.

"Where are we going?" I ask raising an eyebrow. "Well I thought we could head out to a bar, then see where the night takes us," she says. "What bar did you have in mind?" I ask. "Well the one we went to recently, the one with the cute bow mirror," she answers me and my smile drops. "Girl, I'm trying to forget about him, not retrace my steps," I say as I cross my arms. "Well it's not the only bar, we can go to a different one, or we can go to a party one of my friends is throwing," she offers.

We get out of the apartment and get an uber to drive to the party. When we pulled up to the beach house it was still light outside, the loud music and people were buzzing all over the place. We get out of the car and head to the front door which is left open as people are constantly walking in and out.

We head in and there are a lot of people here, some are dancing, some drinking their drinks and talking, and there are even people swimming in the pool in the backyard. The view of the beach is beautiful, "Do you want anything to drink?" I ask my friend. "Yeah, I spy with my little eye a red wine bottle that just screams 'drink me, drink me', " she says making me laugh.

I go to the kitchen where all of the alcohol is, I pour the wine into some cups for me and my friend, I take both of the cups in my hand and turn around to walk back to the living room where my friend is, but before I get the chance to start walking I smash into someone, wine spilling everywhere. "I am so sorry," I say as I immediately bend down to pick up the cups without looking at who I smashed into, embarrassed that I have caused a mess in the house of a person I don't even know.

I feel a thumb press against my chin and another finger below it as someone pushes my chin up so I would be looking up. When my eyes travel up my stare widens as I see who it is. I stand up putting the spilled cups on the kitchen counter without looking, "I am so sorry Matt," I say as I'm once again looking at the fluffy haired guy. I already feel myself getting wet.

"You're so clumsy," he says as he looks down, making me also look, his white shirt is now covered in dark red liquid. I grab some paper towels and start rubbing his shirt frantically. "I didn't mean that to happen," I say focused on the stain. He grabs my wrists to stop me. "It's okay, besides you're not gonna get that out with just some paper towels," he says trying to calm me down.

"Let's go to the bathroom, and run it under some water," I offer, he nods in agreement. I take his hand as I lead the way to the bathroom. This house is huge and I can't seem to find the bathroom anywhere, I hear Matt laughing from behind as I open every door, hoping that it's the bathroom. "Stop laughing at me, I don't know where shit is, I don't live here and I've never been here before," I say, anger and frustration can be heard in my tone. "You're hot when ur angry," Matt says, taking the lead as we head to the bathroom.

"Did you know where it is all this time?" I ask entering the bathroom. He nods his head, "my friend is throwing a party here, it's his house," he says also walking in and closing the door behind him. "What ar-" Before Matt gets to finish his question I smash my lips onto his, my hands immediately traveling to his fluffy hair. He grabs my ass, his one hand traveling to the back of my upper thigh signaling me to jump and I do just that. "It's cold," I say and Matt looks at me completely confused. I look down at his shirt which is drenched in wine. He also looks down and chuckles a bit.

Matt sits me down on the counter of the sink. Flashbacks immediately run through my head, "It doesn't matter, I need you," I say as I pull him closer to me pushing my lips onto his once again, he picks me up and presses me against the bathroom door not breaking the kiss. He breaks the kiss, letting go of my ass and letting me down. I look at him confused. "Not here," he says before he opens the door pulling me out of the bathroom by my hand.

We walk through the living room passing the crowd that's dancing, my eyes lock with my best friend and a huge smile creeps up on my face as I point to Matt with my head waving at my friend. Matt's leading us to the second story of the house, his steps are fast, as we walk up, the music gets quieter, and he opens the door to what I'm guessing is a guest bedroom.

He pulls me into the room, closing the door before pushing me against it, his lips traveling to mine. As the kiss deepens I can feel Matt smirk, my hands travel down to his crotch, and I move my hand up and down, massaging his cock through the jeans, and he lets out a moan.

"C'mon baby," Matt says as his hand moves to mine. I remove my hand from his crotch and unbutton his jeans, his lips meet mine again, his hand traveling to the nape of my head. I slowly walk towards the bed, guiding Matt with me, not breaking the kiss.

I break the kiss pulling and tugging Matt's stained shirt, signaling him to take it off. He pulls it off over his head, and I wrap my fingers around the hem of my shirt pulling it over my head. I watch his face as his eyes move to my boobs. I unbuckle my leather skirt, pulling it down along with my panties.

I give Matt a slight push, he sits down on the bed behind him and I get on top of him. I press my lips on his neck leaving sweet, wet kisses on his neck, sucking on it leaving a mark. I feel his hips buck up yarning for me, I start grinding my hips against his clothed dick and he lets out a moan. I push my lips on him as I feel his hands travel to the waistband of his boxers and jeans, I pick up my ass so he can push them down.

I feel his hard cock brush against my pussy before I grab it and guide it, aligning with my entrance. I slide down on it letting out a loud moan as I throw back my head. "You feel so good on my cock princess," Matt moans out. His lips leave a trail from my neck to my breasts as I bounce on his cock. "Oh my god Matt," I moan out.

His mouth wraps around my nipple, sucking on it as his hand rests on my ass, he gives it a slap before sliding up my waist, and my back and stopping at my other boob massaging it.

I fasten my speed as I feel the climax coming, I let out a loud moan, "I'm close Matt," I moan out, he wraps his hands around my back and turns me around, laying me in the bed, he's now on top of me, he starts pounding into me as he rests his elbow next to my head, his lips attacking my neck leaving dark marks on my skin.

My hand travels to his hair, my fingers playing around his fluffy hair, "don't stop Matt, ple-" I moan out and he starts thrusting deeper and faster, his hand travels down my thigh sliding it up and down before he guides it to wrap around his waist. I let out a moan as I felt the knot in my stomach about to burst. "I'm cumming," I scream out as I feel my walls tighten around his cock, my back arching.

He continues planting deep and fast thrusts, my back still arched, my legs lightly starting to shake around his waist. "Matt," I cry out. "Shhh baby, not yet, I know you missed this," he says his voice deep, he buries his head in the nape of my neck, fastening his speed, my hands traveling to his back, my fingernails digging into his skin, I hear him hiss through his moans as I leave marks on his back.

He picks up his head, "your pussy feels so good around me," he moans out. "Look at me," he says, his voice filled with lust as he starts to move even faster making my head roll back as the pleasure takes over my body and I feel a knot forming in my stomach once again.

"Look at me," his voice is demanding and strong, his hand wraps around my jaw pulling it down, making me look at him, his eyes are dark. "Did you miss my cock?" He asks keeping his thrusts strong and fast. I nod my head. "Words baby, I need words," he growls. "Fuck yes, yes Matt I missed your cock so bad," I blur out "Good girl," Matt says pushing his thumb against my lips. I part them open sucking on it.

My hands reach for the sheets as I grasp them in between my fingers. "I bet you rubbed your clit thinking of me," he says with a smirk on his face, my eyes widen as I let out a moan, "that's right baby, you missed me," Matt says as he pulls his thumb out of my mouth, his thumb travels to my clit as he starts rubbing circles on it. I throw my head back as I let out a moan, "I'm close, don't stop," I let him know.

He buries his head in the nape of my neck once again, pushing in me, "fuck you feel so good princess," he moans against my skin pushing me over the edge. "I- I-," I can't seem to finish my sentence as I feel my climax taking over me once again. I ride out my high as I feel him twitching inside of me, "fuck," he breathes out before planting his seed into me, his teeth coming in contact with my skin in order to not let out a moan.

He lays next to me, pulling me next to him, I lay my head on his chest and I look up, "we managed to bump into each other 3 times," I say and feel his fingers brushing through my hair. "I guess it's settled then," he says, his breathing still uneven, "we're a thing, so we don't have to bump into each other again," he lets out a chuckle looking outside the window, his hand traveling down to my ass, "wanna go to the beach?" He asks and a smile creeps on his lips. I nod my head and push my lips onto his, kissing him.

[lalal-99]

of the big city {h.j.} | track 2

©March 2023, February 2024 by lalal-99

Han Jisung x afab!reader | trope: slice of life, coming of age | word count: 6.9k

Synopsis: The one where uni starts and you meet some interesting people.

Check Chapter Overview for complete list of warnings

Note: The next chapters are gonna be much shorter, I promise. The overwork is going smoothly so far, I have the next chapter ready and will probably post beginning of next week. I also wrote two whole new chapters this week which I'm very proud of. I really hope I can finish this story this time around :)

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Please don't flag as mature or repost this story - Thank You!

“Baby? Do you have some paper for me?”

With an annoyed eye roll you ripped a page from your new notebook, smoothing over the edges of the torn binder. You pushed the single page over towards him with reluctance.

“You forgot your notebook on the first day already?”

And to think notebooks and pens were the main reason you had gone to the store yesterday.

“Don’t blame me. You know I’m not a morning person. And you didn’t want to wake me up with sex, so...” The smugness in his voice made you wonder if he actually thought he had won this discussion. You raised your eyebrows at him, hinting at the thinness the metaphorical ice on which he was walking.

You usually didn’t get annoyed that easy. If you had, your relationship sure as hell wouldn’t have lasted this long. The reason: Jisung and his lack of understanding social cues. To take the hint and not bother you any further when you were already frustrated, all it took was a look.

Although he wasn’t the reason for your irritation today. Or at least not the sole one.

It was the first day of university, so naturally, you were a little on edge. Whatever happened from this day on would decide over the paths your life took in the future. It was a step you had waited so long to take but dreaded all the same. Jisung, as your loving boyfriend, should have known how much this meant to you.

Sometimes, you speculated if he did it on purpose. Rile you up when you were anxious to give you something to put your focus on instead. His intentions might have been sweet, but this wasn’t taking any tension off your shoulders. Jisung forgetting his notebook and blaming you for it, even as a joke, could have likely been the last straw.

“Baby?” As you looked back at him, you noticed his cute pout. It was almost cute enough to make you forget what you had been so annoyed about a minute earlier. “Do you also have a spare pen? And some highlighters would be nice, too.”

Shaking your head at Jisung, you let out a snort. So he hadn’t forgotten just his notebook, but his pen and highlighter too? Got it. Very unwillingly, you handed him the items. You thankfully always had a spear set in case of emergency. Or, in this case, your boyfriend’s scatterbrain you had been dealing with for many years already.

“You have got to be kidding me.” He blew you a playful kiss, thanking you for your service. “Don’t let this become a habit. I’m not piggybacking you through university as I did in High School. Understood?”

As much as you loved him, Jisung had his fair share of annoyances. Like his living-in-the-moment type of attitude. A contrast to your thoroughly organised persona, you usually appreciated your differences. Without his Yin, your Yang wouldn’t shine as bright and vice versa.

That still didn’t change that you wouldn’t be his personal secretary this time around.

Jisung was old enough to care for himself and not rely on his girlfriend for every one of his needs. Whether it was some paper and pens, your skillfully crafted cue cards, or an all-nighter before one of his final exams. How ever you had talked him into studying for that one anyways.

“I love you, too.”

If he only weren’t so damn cute.

Out of pure principle you ignored his comment with an unintentional snicker. You continued your draft outline on your first notebook page—your attempt of getting a head start on future lecture notes—thus almost missing the voice chatting up Jisung.

“I’m taking you won’t be sleeping in the dorm a lot, will you?”

The depth of the second voice made you look up from your notebook. As the light shone into the room from behind the boy, it almost blinded you. Once your eyes got used to the brightness, you could finally make out a lean figure. He set a reusable coffee cup on the desk next to Jisung before sliding onto the wooden chair.

The boy was clad in comfortable attire, loose hanging jeans paired with a simple t-shirt. His long, blonde hair messily framed his face, a green beanie rounding off his skater-boy look. Something told you he had more to himself than what his cover showed. The several silver rings on his fingers could have been the reason for your suspicion. Or it was how he carried himself—a perfect line leading from his soles to the tip of his head. In exact contradiction to your boyfriend’s slouching posture.

“Morning to you too, sunshine.” The smirk in Jisung’s tone indicated his playfulness and a sense of closeness. “Why do you care? You’re not in love with me, are you?”

“No,” the boy scoffed, his bag placed neatly under the table. “I just wondered if I can stop waiting up for you or if I will have to identify your corpse at some point.”

Looking past Jisung, the boy noticed your presence, sending you a heart-warming smile. The freckles all over his nose and cheeks juxtaposed the darkness of his voice and over-all looks. Something about his aura relaxed you, his company drenching his atmosphere in happiness.

“Hi, I’m Felix!”

“I’m Y/N. I’m Jisung’s-”

“Girlfriend. Yeah, I know. He talks about you a lot.”

Jisung leaned in closer to you, though he kept his voice at the same volume, “Be careful, baby. He’s very much in love with me already. I might leave you for him.”

“You can have him.” You leaned past your boyfriend, directly addressing Felix. “But make sure to always have a spare pen and paper. And also a spare pair of pants.” The scene from earlier this morning came back to mind, a teasing look creeping onto your face. “He might say he can care for himself, but he will wear your leggings and pink baby-girl crop top when there’s no alternative.”

“Good to know,” Felix replied with a deep chuckle, amused by the picture you had painted. He ran his hands through his blonde hair, showing off his ears and all the piercings. Okay, so, definitely not a skater-boy-type.

“You might be joking now.” Jisung threw a know-all look in your direction. “But you won’t be laughing when I wear your fishnets to your grandpa’s next birthday.”

“Don’t you dare put on my fishnets! They were expensive.”

“That’s alright. We’re about the same size, so he can wear mine.” Felix’s words came unexpected and not even Jisung couldn’t conceal his amusement.

“Great, there’s two of you now. Is it too late to drop out?”

In all the years you had known him, Jisung rarely ever made friends this easy. Not even a week on campus, and he had gotten close enough to Felix to joke in his usual manner. How they had even gotten this close when Jisung had spent most of the day at your place was a mystery to you. Still, the little time they had spent together was enough to have discovered a mutual hobby—catching Pokémon. As they argued over who had found the rarest creature, you picked up your previous task. Though that didn’t stop your joy in finding that Jisung had made a friend. And a nice one at that.

You felt guilty for even thinking it, but Jisung had never been particularly good at making friends. Not before meeting you and not afterwards either.

Most of all, you blamed the lack of a ‘do not say’-filter in his conversational skills. His openness posed an obstacle to making new acquaintances—or at least it had many times before. After years of getting side-eyed or complained about, he had stopped talking to new people all together. Like he already expected the sole attempt to make connection to backfire. The few relationships he had formed despite his shyness had been pure luck. And your very own relationship only existed due to your perseverance.

That Jisung had already befriended Felix, at least as much as possible in three days, put you in a bright mood. One of your biggest fears about moving was your boyfriend rooming with someone he didn’t get along with. With someone as talkative and easily compatible as Felix, Jisung would likely not be clinging to you as much. Which wouldn’t have been the worst scenario, but still.

With every passing minute the lecture hall filled more. When something sharp scratched your shin, your head finally snapped towards one of the new-comers. A blonde girl had sat down next to you, and you found the culprit when you noticed her pink heels.

“Oh my God. Did I hit you? I’m so sorry.” Her hand came to her mouth in shock as she apologised a couple of times. You rubbed over the sensitive skin which was already bruising from when you had hit that crate of boxes yesterday. Talk about unfortunate accidents. You pushed the urge to groan at the pain down, forcing a smile onto your face instead. “It’s those dang heels. I knew I should have worn the sneakers today.”

“It’s fine. Surprised me, that’s all.” Embarrassment reached over her cheeks to her ears, a frown painting her face. “No worries.”

For a few seconds she hesitated but finally accepted your willingness to let it go. Out of the corner of your eye, you followed her as she unloaded the contents of her purse. She pulled out a torn notepad and a vintage-leather pencil case, which must have seen better days. She reached back into her designer bag, face distraught as her search came up empty.

She tried grabbing the attention of two boys on her right side, tied deep into their conversation. When she eventually realised she had no other option, her gaze tiptoed towards you. “Sorry to bother you again.” Teeth nibbling at her lip, she forced herself to get over her embarrassing mistake seconds earlier. “Do you have a pen I can borrow?”

Even if your shin had hurt worse, you would have still helped her out. With a genuine smile, you nodded, searching your pencil case and then your bag.

“I wanted to grab one before leaving my room, but I noticed a stain on my shirt and needed to change it. So, I forgot about the pen,” the girl recounted her morning ventures. “I’m so sorry for bothering you.”

“You’re not bothering me,” you assured her. Your smile turned to an apologetic scowl once you realised you couldn’t help her out after all. “I’m sorry. I always carry at least one extra pen, but scatterbrain next to me left his head in bed this morning.”

“You talking ‘bout me?”

Jisung, who you hadn’t expected to react to the mention of his unflattering nickname, turned to you.

“Hey, Felix,” you called the boy two seats from yours, ignoring your boyfriend. “Do you happen to have a spare pen?”

“Sure. I always carry an extra one in case.”

“Interesting. So, some people do use their heads before leaving the house.” It was a reproachful remark addressed to Jisung and his forgetfulness, and he caught the meaning.

“Some people do use their heads before leaving the house,” he scrunched his nose, teasing you by mimicking your voice and repeating your previous words as you snickered. Your perfect boyfriend, everyone.

Felix handed the pen from his jacket past you, the girl accepting it with a thankful smile.

“You’re a lifesaver.”

“I usually go by Felix. But lifesaver is good, too.”

The girl giggled, before introducing herself, “I’m Yuqi. I live in the student housing off campus. You know, the ones next to that coffee shop with the green doors. It’s open 24/7. Genius marketing move, right?” Biting her lip after that info dump, you noticed her nose doing a little scrunch. “Sorry. I talk a lot.”

“I haven’t noticed,” Jisung joked, your elbow gracing his rib at his sarcasm. You wondered if there would ever come a day you didn’t have to act as his personalised filter.

“Don’t listen to the idiot next to me,” you declared, “I find it charming.”

“Me, too,” Felix agreed, and Yuqi relaxed. It told you that she usually didn’t get that reaction when spraying words like a waterfall.

“I live in the same building.”

Excitement took over her features. “What? No way! Which room?”

“B4.”

Yuqi shrieked, her hand touching your arm, “I’m B12! That makes us floormates.”

“I guess it does.” Yuqi was the first person you met who lived in the same building that wasn’t your roommate or her girlfriend. “I’m Y/N. And this,” you thumbed back at your boyfriend, “this is Jisung.”

“Hi,” he greeted her with an awkward wave.

“Nice to meet you all.”

With that, Yuqi picked up her purse, pulling out an old folder. Well, it appeared to be rather new, but the edges were already torn, some of the plastic cover coming off the corners. The latter especially gave you an ick, and you forcefully pushed down the urge to smooth over them. You could handle some chaos, even if this was a lot.

Good thing, Yuqi spoke up again, giving something different to concentrate on.

“What’s your major?”

“I’m doing Business Admin.” Before you could return the question, Yuqi already reacted, hand touching your biceps in excitement.

“No freakin’ way! I’m in Marketing.” The delight in her voice was addictive as you couldn’t help a grin pulling on your lips. “See, I even wore the perfect outfit for our first lecture later today.”

Yuqi leaned back, giving you a better look at her clothing.

She was in a pair of white jeans, a rosé-coloured blouse adorning the upper half of her lean figure. A single, thin gold necklace decorated her neckline, fitting the two golden earrings. The one thing that stood out in that well-rounded outfit was her other earrings. About a dozen of them decorated both ears from the dainty top to the slim bottom. To round the fit off, she wore a pair of light-pink high heels. The very same that had already made acquaintance with your shin.

“Pretty, right?”

“Very girlboss,” you agreed in earnest. Your own clothes contrasted her colourful optics, made up of mostly black items.

“I’m so glad I’m not the only girl in the classes.” There was a hint of playful disgust in her statement, making you chuckle. “All the other people I met who are in Business were boys. Not that boys are bad or anything. I love boys. But they can be—a lot.”

“I get it. I lived with three boys back home. Well, technically, my dad is a man,” you air-quoted, “but where’s the difference, right?” Yuqi chuckled. “It’s nice to have a girl around every once in a while.”

Yuqi reached for her coffee cup as her gaze wandered to the grey haired middle-aged man who entered the room. He walked up to the desk at the end of the hall, his briefcase landing on the table with a loud thud.

With that, you straightened up, pen in hand and ready to take notes the second your prof opened his mouth.

05:23 PM: Hey, are you studying in the dorm tonight?—Y/N 05:25 PM: No. The place is all yours :)—Hwasa 05:25 PM: Is lover boy coming over again ;)—Hwasa 05:26 PM: He’s hanging out with his roommate tonight... Bonding. I’m thinking about inviting a friend over. I met her at orientation earlier this week—Y/N 05:27 PM: Sounds fun—Hwasa 05:27 PM: Anything special planned?—Hwasa 05:27 PM: Not yet. Maybe eat something and a movie? Explore the city?—Y/N 05:28 PM: You wanna explore this bar Joey’s? I’m meeting some friends there later. Happy Hour starts at 8—Hwasa 05:29 PM: You sure? I wouldn’t want to intrude—Y/N 05:29 PM: I told you I’d be taking you out one of these days—Hwasa 05:30 PM: Texting you the address right now!—Hwasa

Stepping through the dark wooden doors, a wall of warmth hit you like a thick blanket.

It had gotten colder the past few days, fall beginning to hit the city. You took off your scarf, looking around the place in search of the familiar, pretty face.

This place seemed to be the city’s hotspot, every table packed to full capacity. Red velveteen clad the round tables right by the entrance, the seating options becoming wider once you reached the back. Couches fanned out in random patterns all over the dark oak floor. The furniture’s vintage finish further accented the brown parquet.

You felt like you had stepped straight into a movie scene.

The wave of a dainty hand over the crowd’s heads caught your attention as you spotted your roommate in the back. You grabbed Yuqi by the hem of her sleeve, dragging her behind you as you made your way to the group of girls with a smile.

“Hello,” you greeted the table once you had gotten close enough for them to see you.

Hwasa hugged you in bliss, almost tipping over the drink in front of her, “Hi! I’m so glad you could make it.” As she noticed Yuqi, she pulled her in for another warm embrace, “Nice to meet you! I’m Hwasa.”

“Yuqi,” your friend replied, joy written on her face at the enthusiastic welcome.

Knowing Hwasa and her usual calm persona, you knew she must have already taken full advantage of Happy Hour.

“Nice to meet you.” You introduced yourself to the two unfamiliar faces, sending Wheein a quick nod as she met it with a smile.

The two girls with your roommate and her girlfriend couldn’t have been much older than them. The first had straight black hair reaching the bottom of her back, at least from what you could tell. The other sported a short grey bob. It highlighted her sharp jaw in what you could only describe as a tomboy-ish look. Like Wheein and Hwasa, they were beautiful and made you somewhat self-conscious. You shouldn’t have come here unprepared, or put on mascara, at least.

First to introduce herself was the black-haired girl, her smile almost blinding you. “Hi, I’m Solar.”

An extraordinary name for an extraordinary beautiful person. Fitting. In your mind, there was no doubt she made people of any gender fall in love with her the moment she stepped into a room. Her calm, almost carefree aura was truly something else.

“And I’m Byul.” She was just as pretty, though in a less traditional sense. A boyish charm surrounded her, though her blazer hinted at a seriousness to her person. She looked—important.

You introduced yourself and Yuqi, pulling out the two remaining chairs. They must have fought off several people to reserve these. “Are you students, too?”

“We used to be,” Solar explained as she emptied her tulip-coloured drink.

The girls seemed to have stocked up on various drinks; more glasses than people were at the table. If the drinks were half as good as they looked, you’d be in for a long night.

“We graduated last year,” the black-haired beauty continued, bumping shoulders with Hwasa. “I used to be Hwasa’s roommate, actually.”

“I didn’t even notice!” Hwasa giggled, thus proving your assumption about the amount of alcohol consumed before your arrival. “She’s my ex, and you’re my next.”

You chuckled in amusement, reaching for the menu at the edge of the table. The faux leather was soft beneath your fingertips as you skimmed over the Happy Hour options. When your eyes landed on your favourite drink, a smile spread on your lips as you handed the menu over to Yuqi.

“They have Long Island Ice Tea in three different flavours?” Yuqi exclaimed, the scenic buzz of this place rubbing off on her. Not that she wasn’t this emotional about almost anything. “Would it be very immature to try them all tonight?”

“Not at all. I am browsing through the new offers myself. We can get drunk together.”

Not a fair fight. Hwasa had already gotten a head start.

You called over the waiter by raising your hand, and he headed for your table not a minute later. He raised an unintentional eyebrow at the consumption level—One Mojito, three Long Island Ice Teas and another Piña Colada and Gin Tonic. Even so, the boy sent you a smile, spinning around and wandering back to the bar.

Once he was gone, Hwasa swiftly emptied her previous drink. All it took was one strong sip through her straw, and the Tonic and ice was gone. The coldness reached her brain soon after, prompting her eyes to grow wider—like those of a comic-book figure.

“Babe, you should slow down,” Wheein suggested with a chuckle. But her girlfriend waved her off.

“I’m fine. Also, I don’t have any courses tomorrow, so I have the whole day to sleep off that hangover I’ll be having.”

“Great. I’ll remind you when you’re hugging the toilet seat later.”

“I’ll be fine, I promise.”

“Mhm.” Wheein didn’t seem uber-convinced Hwasa would keep her promise but let it go anyways.

As the girls went back to their previous conversation, you tried your best to follow them.

You understood that Solar was passed over for a big promotion at her job and that she was convinced, her boss was sleeping with her opponent.

“What do you do for work?” Yuqi’s question took the words right out of your mouth.

“I am an assistant buyer at a small fashion label,” Solar explained, making you look at Hwasa in surprise.

“Don’t you also study fashion?” Taking a sip from her already empty glass, she nodded in silence. You frowned when you noticed her uncomfortable look at Wheein following your words. There must have been some form of backstory, and the last thing you wanted was to make things awkward. Instead you attempted correcting your mistake. “I’m sorry. Did I say something wrong?”

Passing a few glances around the table, Byul finally spoke up. “Our cutie Hwasa here used to study Chemistry full-time. She developed a small crush on Solar in her second year, so, she changed majors to spend more time with her.”

It took a moment to dawn on you why Wheein and Hwasa had reacted the way they did.

“Yes, but I hadn’t met my love then.” Hwasa bobbed her girlfriend’s nose, pouting to cheer her up. After a few seconds, Wheein couldn’t stop her frown from turning into a giggle. They were just the cutest.

“You’re a little drunk, aren’t you?”

“Drunk of love!”

“I stand corrected. You’re absolutely hammered.”

Playfully nudging her girlfriend, Wheein relaxed, emptying her own drink. Non-alcoholic, from what you had gathered.

“Anyways, since Solar is into boys only—”

“Men,” Solar interrupted her friend with a sigh. “I stopped dating boys a long time ago. They never know where to put things.”

“Sorry, since Solar is into men only,” Byul corrected, her eyes meeting yours again, “that didn’t work out. Now Hwasa is stuck with fashion. She met Wheein not too long after.”

“That’s right!”

The enthusiasm in her reaction made Hwasa finally tip over her glass. The melted ice cubes went all over the table, the cool liquid running down the sides. Some of it landed on your jeans, so while Hwasa apologised profusely, you called over the waiter a second time in five minutes.

A moment later, the young man rushed over with your drinks, handing you a towel to dry yourself. It didn’t go by you that his gaze focused on you for a few extra beats, but you ignored it. Your returned the now moist towel with kindness and he left with a light blush.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t notice that.” Solar’s caught your attention by the touch of her hand as she nodded towards the waiter.

“Notice what?”

“That the waiter was flirting with you,” she explained, looking around the table. “You noticed too, didn’t you?”

Byul agreed, “Sure did.”

“You’re not one of those girls who are, like, super slow on cues, right?” You chuckled at her question, shaking your head.

“No, I noticed, too.”

The confusion on the beauty’s face made you chuckle a little. “So what, then? He’s cute. Get his number.”

“Nah, I’m good.” You waived her off, taking a sip from your fresh drink. The rum burned down your throat, the lime juice and sugar adding a bittersweet taste to it. “Also, I don’t think my boyfriend would be particularly happy with me asking other men for their number.”

If everyone’s focus hadn’t been on you already, it sure was now.

“You have a boyfriend?”

“Very much so, yes.”

Solar seemed surprised by the information.

“Is it serious? I mean, you obviously shouldn’t cheat on him. But you are at university. If you don’t explore and get to know yourself now, when will you get another chance?”

You took another sip to ease the discomfort from being the center of attention. Not exactly where you usually were. “We’ve been together for five years. I’d say that’s pretty serious.” That did the trick, her mouth now agape in shock. She leaned in closer to you, cradling her chin in her palm.

“Five years? So, you’re High School Sweet Hearts?”

“Middle School, actually.”

“Is he any hot?” Yuqi interrupted, also leaning in further. How your relationship had become the talk of the whole table had gone right by you.

“What do you mean? You met him at orientation. He sat right next to me.”

“No way! That’s your boyfriend?” You hummed, agreeing. “But you called him dumbass like 5 times in one hour.”

“I did, but it’s more a term of endearment. I call Jisung dumbass; he calls me stupid. It’s a whole thing.”

As soon as you had cleared that up, Solar was back at it, hitting you with question after question.

“Wait, but like, for real. You’ve never been with anyone else since Middle School?”

You shook your head, correcting her statement. “I’ve never been with anyone else ever.”

Usually, you never talked about yourself and your relationship this much. You were rather private in that sense, though, you also understood their curiosity. It wasn’t every day that you met someone who had been with the same person since they were 14. You understood the length of your relationship was uncommon for someone your age.

“So, he’s your first boyfriend?”

“Yup.”

“So, you never kissed anyone else? Had sex with anyone else?” Byul further interrogated, now also fully invested in your love life. That you had only met the girls maybe 20 minutes ago seemed irrelevant. Not like you hadn’t seen that question coming sooner or later.

You agreed with a nod. “I never wanted anyone else.”

“How do you even maintain a relationship for that long?” Yuqi budded in again, her focus different from the older women’s. “My longest relationship lasted 4 months, and then I got tired of him.” For some reason, her statement made so much sense to you. Yuqi definitely needed constant excitement to fill her heart. “What’s your secret.”

You thought about it before answering shortly, “Shared trauma, maybe?” When no one laughed at your words, you backtracked. Your honesty might have been too much for them after all. “That was a joke. Obviously. We have a lot in common and went through similar stuff in life.”

It became quiet for a few seconds, though you sensed that Solar was holding back. Whatever she might have had dancing on the tip of her tongue, she took her sweet time wording it in her pretty head.

“Please, don’t take this the wrong way.” Always a great way to start a sentence. “If the shoe fits, tie that bitch up. But you’re in college now. This is your time to explore your interests—your options. No one comes out of college the way they go in. It’s a life-changing experience.”

“So, I should cheat on my boyfriend, is what you’re saying?” You started getting a little defensive now that your love life appeared to be under attack. All the attention got uncomfortable as much as you understood where it was coming from.

“That’s not what I was saying at all.” Some of the tension fell from your shoulders. “I’m saying people change. So, don’t be surprised if your boyfriend and you don’t work out.” Still not the direction you wanted this conversation to go. But Solar continued anyway. “Take Byul, for example.”

Solar leaned back, her hand coming to her friend’s shoulder.

“Byul started college, wanting to become a lawyer.” Byul nodded, agreeing. Her blazer somehow made more sense now. “She finished her degree and opened her own music production studio not two months later. And Hwasa—” With that, Solar went on to your roommate, who threw her a playful wink. “The first year of college, she cycled between so many partners, we were certain, she’d end up pregnant or with an STD. And look at her now.”

From how lovingly Hwasa was gazing at Wheein, there was no doubt in your mind that she had happily moved on from those days.

“And when Wheein started college,” Solar continued her list, “she was straight as a ruler. Do you see what I’m saying?”

“I do.”

And it was the truth. You understood that most people used college to find their path in life. The women around you were the best example for it. All four of them had found their place in the world, who they wanted to be, through university. You didn’t doubt that whatever had happened to them was necessary for them to grow into the women they were today.

At the same time, you knew your life better than anyone else at this table. You remembered every little thing you had gone through together, with Jisung. You understood how his mind worked. What he struggled with and how to get him through it emotionally—you had witnessed most of it with your own eyes.

And there was nothing one-sided about it either. There was no doubt in your mind that the same went for Jisung. He knew you like the palm of his hand—and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I’m still very sure we are not gonna break up.”

“I hope you don’t.” Yuqi finally came to your rescue, cutting the tensive atmosphere. “He’s adorable.”

Thankfully, Solar accepted it as the end of story. She sat back as Yuqi diverted the conversation from you to Byul, asking her about her work at the studio. You calmed down as the centre of attention drew from you and towards the ins and outs of the music industry. When Hwasa playfully bumped her shoulder into yours, you looked up at her. A teasing wink showcased her support and affection. And probably her drunkenness.

“Sorry about her. Solar can be very straightforward, but she has a good soul. She’s a realist, and very openly so.”

“It’s alright,” you told her, taking your glass and a huge sip of your Mojito. “I know most relationships at our age don’t last. But we’re solid as a rock. It’d need a tsunami to separate us.”

You hoped the rest of the night would go a little less awkward than this. Though, as the alcohol ultimately entered your system, you soon forgot about the whole conversation.

“I’m gonna be sick.”

A second later Hwasa bent over the nearest bush.

“What happened?”

“She got sick,” you explained the situation as you used your hair tie to fixate Hwasa’s long locks behind her neck. “You good?”

Hwasa wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and nodded as she stumbled towards the housing entrance. Wheein supported her other side, the two of you exchanging concerned looks.

“Is she gonna be alright?”

“I think so. It usually takes a glass of water and an aspirin, and she’ll be back to her old self.” You didn’t doubt Wheein knew how her girlfriend usually handled alcohol. “I’m gonna take her to my room to make sure. It’s closer to the bathroom, and I don’t have a roommate she could disturb.”

“You have a single room?” Yuqi questioned in surprise. Her enthusiasm after midnight was still higher than yours had been all evening. “Man, I should become dorm supervisor next year.”

“It has its perks.”

Yuqi took over once you had reached your room, holding up Hwasa so they could lead her to her girlfriend’s room.

“Good night. Call me if you need help,” you told Wheein, who nodded thankfully.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” After Yuqi had bidden her goodbye, you turned to your door, entering the four-digit code to unlock it.

Once inside, you rid yourself of your shoes, turning the lights on as you set your bag down by your dresser.

A groan came from your bed, making you jump and stumble back against the wooden cupboard. Your blanket moved at the disturbance, a bulge the size of a grown person appearing underneath it. It took a mop of familiar brown hair to calm you as you realise that not an intruder had overtaken your bed.

“Dang it! Jisung, you creep! You almost gave me a heart attack.”

Noticing the tired haze in his eyes, you strolled over to him. You slid next to his torso as your hand reached for his chubby cheek, grazing his skin. It woke him up, your action met with a sigh and his head leaning comfortably against your palm.

Under the blanket, you noticed his shirt, which didn’t even begin to cover his bulging biceps. It took you a moment to recognise why it didn’t fit him like his other clothes usually did.

“Are you wearing my crop top again?” Amusement laced your tone.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” You almost didn’t understand him, his vague mumbling blurrier than typical. He must have been asleep for a while.

“What are you doing here? I thought you wanted to hang out with Felix tonight.” You took out your earrings, neatly placing them on the small nightstand by your bed. “What happened to bonding with your roomie?”

“We hung out for four hours,” he explained with a yawn. “Then I came over because I missed you.”

Running your hand down the side of his face, he grabbed it as soon as he could reach it. He brought it to his lips to give your skin a quick peck.

“Now, come to bed, so we can sleep.”

“I need to get changed and brush my teeth first.”

“I can help you get out of your clothes. And I don’t care if your breath stinks.”

“I care.” You got off your bed to rush through your evening routine so you could fall into your love’s arms already. Yet, your intentions were rudely interrupted. “What the heck!”

Before you could take a step, Jisung’s arm snapped out from beneath your blanket, pulling you back. You couldn’t react fast enough as he dragged you into a lying position next to him, still fully clothed.

“See? I don’t care.”

“What about the light?”

Lifting his head off your pillow, he grabbed the tissue box from your nightstand and tossed it at the light switch. You didn’t know when he had suddenly learned to aim, but it hit smack-bang in the middle, shutting off all the light in your room.

“I gotta admit, that was impressive.”

“Now, let’s get you out of those clothes.”

You giggled as he effortlessly opened the button and zipper of your pants and dragged them down your legs. He tossed them towards the end of the bed, to be dealt with tomorrow. Next was your top, which he swiftly brought over your head, throwing it to join the rest of your clothes.

“If you only cleaned as quick as you undress me.”

“Everybody has their own forté.” You snickered at his words, closing the gap between you. “I could also be way quicker than that. We haven’t had sex in a week. Right now, your clothes are my nemesis.”

The heat of his body caught you in a warm hug, “A week already, huh?”

“8 days and 7 hours, to be exact. But who’s counting?” His arm came around you, scooting you closer so your back pressed flat against his chest.

“You wanna reset that clock?”

“Nah,” he brushed your suggestion off. “I’m way too tired to have sex right now.”

“Tomorrow then?”

“About that.” His hot breath fanned over your neck. “I know it’s date night, but there’s this party I was invited to. I thought we could go to that instead.”

“A party?” It was the first week of university. How had your introverted boyfriend already been invited to a party? You should have probably seen the answer coming. “Whose?”

“I think you know.”

Of course, you knew. How could you not when his parties had been legendary even back in the day? Though, until now, you had suppressed his present at this campus all together. His being the one who shalln’t be named.

You thought about Jisung’s suggestion for a second.

Sure, a party would intervene with your bi-weekly date night. And, on top of that, it was organised by someone, you didn’t know how to approach after everything that had gone down. But this was university, after all. And, as Solar had said before: University is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. So, why the heck shouldn’t you go to a party?

“So? What do you say?”

“Fine.” Jisung’s previously unbothered expression turned into a smile as he grazed his lips to your neck. “Just... Don’t tell your sister we’re going. I’m not sure she would appreciate us hanging out with her ex.”

“Lying to my sister? Who are you, and what did you do to my girlfriend?” A yawn hit your ear, your face scrunching at the unwanted ASMR session. “I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

As Jisung slipped into a deep slumber, your mind raced through the events of your day. It usually did at the end of the day, your mind too tired to do anything productive but too awake to rest. The silence around you allowed you to remember an earlier text message you never got to answer.

Pulling your arm out of your boyfriend’s iron hold on your body, you reached for your phone on the nightstand.

Your dad had sent you a voice message about three hours earlier when you had still been at the bar. You pushed the play button and brought the phone to your ear to not disturb Jisung’s beauty sleep. By all means, he needed it. Or so he said.

“Hi, honey. It’s dad. I hope you had a lovely day and aren’t studying too hard already.” You smiled at his words, knowing it was one of his biggest hopes for you to get some time to yourself. “Remember what I told you when you left? Live a little!” A pause as he was seemingly picking up something from the ground. “I just wanted to ask when you were coming home Friday. I’m planning brunch with you two and Jia, so if you could be here by noon, that’d be great.”

Friday was the day after tomorrow. You hadn’t forgotten you’d be going back home for the weekend, but you sure hoped the party tomorrow wouldn’t keep you up all night. If you had to be home by noon, you’d have to leave campus by ten. And after a party, like you expected this one to be, you prayed you and a certain someone wouldn’t be too hungover.

“Anyways, sleep tight, and have a lovely night. We miss you!”

A second voice appeared in the background, not too far from your father’s, and your heart skipped a happy beat. The words were harder to make out as he was munching on an apple, cereal, or something else crunchy.

Still, there wouldn’t come a day you wouldn’t understand his babbling.

“Come home soon, please! Mhpf—I miss you, mommy.”

With a loving smile plastered on your face, you replied with a heart emoji. After such a perfect goodnight-messaged, you’d be sleeping like a stone tonight.

Next Chapter >>> Let me know if you want to be tagged. Make sure you have an age indicator in your profile.

Masterlist Let me know your thoughts!

[fubbybebby]

Complete 2023 Furblet Teardown/Disassembly Guide

hi!! this post will be an image heavy teardown guide for the newest 2023 furby furblets. questions are welcome!

Be aware there will be skinning and disassembly below the cut!

You will need:

A PH1 size screwdriver

a stiff, strong, thin prying tool (like a very thin flat head screwdriver, a butterknife, a palette knife, etc.)

a second stiff tool to pull/push on tabs (i used a mini plastic curved scraper)

optional, but a small magnetic mat and a small container (or just 2 containers) to hold parts and screws so you don't lose them!

This is my volunteer model ooh-koo!

She is in complete working order, both before and after the teardown. There aren't many fragile parts inside furblets (they're surprisingly simple but clever!) but I still do not recommend following through with this disassembly unless you're absolutely fine with damaging your furblet. Furblets are NOT meant to be taken apart, and are filled with 1-way safety pins in the faceplate that cannot be removed without bending/breaking them out.

To start, remove all visible screws on the underside of the furblet where the battery compartment is. There are 6 total screws, two larger ones for the battery compartment and 4 smaller ones on the outside holding the bottom on to the furb. These screws are different sizes, don't lose them and put them back in the right places! The bottom of your furby should look like this now:

(i forgot to take a photo of this initially, so she is skinless here.)

After this, you should very easily be able to lift the plastic strip holding the fur into the shell. Part of it is tucked into a nook to allow slack in the fur for lifting it over the body!

After this, gently pull the fur up and over the body shell, and flip it over the ears. These are held in place by plastic clips so be gentle and don't force it off yet.

now for the most genuinely difficult part of the whole process, unclipping the ears

Holding the ear on the front and back to sandwich the pieces together, and being VERY gentle, slide your first prying object under the wide end of the white ear clips. This will lift it to allow you to pull the clips up over the barrier. While still leaving the pry in, use your second object and push/pull on the clip. Here I am pulling since my scraper is curved and it was easiest. The T shaped clip should pop right out, but may need a lot of finagling to get it there. I stretched the second clip and damaged it, so again be slow and careful!

Repeat this process on all four tabs! Now, the skin should only be held on to the furb by the face plate.

To open up and remove the faceplate, start by removing all three screws on the back of the shell. Again, I forgot the picture initially so she is already skinless here.

Now, pull apart the two halves of the shell. The microphone is wired from the center board to the back half of the shell, so don't pull too hard or you might rip the wires out!

Pay attention to your individual furblet! Mine has pink and purple components, remember or take a picture of the lay out so you aren't confused later. the pink and purple parts on either side just pop right out, and the button slides off the peg along with its spring. This will give you full access to the backside of the motherboard.

Remove the screws on either side, and it will release the whole center plate from the front half of the shell. There is a third screw on the bottom of the center plate, but this only separates the battery contact plate and the base plate of the motherboard (i wouldn't really recommend removing it since it's not relevant to anything you need access to) The whole center plate will now just slide out of the empty front half of the shell!

There is one additional piece kind of floating on the pegs here, and it's needed so the furb recognizes button presses to the mouth. Here it's the J shaped purple piece! This just pops right off and you can see all the safety pegs for the faceplate and mouth/gem buttons. To remove the pegs, you will have to manually bend the tabs holding the pegs in place. This WILL damage your furblet. Do not go further if you aren't wanting to break anything.

After bending the tabs out, the pegs should pull straight through, releasing the whole faceplate. At this point, the skin should come right off too! Here are the inside and outside parts.

Congrats! You've completed a disassembly. To put your furblet back together, just do everything in reverse!, however please note the following:

When reassembling, be sure to replace all spring parts in their correct positions! The ear mechanisms are reliant on all of these springs to work. For the inside, make sure the Y shaped brackets are on their correct sides, and that the end of the metal spring is INSIDE the furb, pushing against the bottom plate (the left side here has a small divot where the left side spring goes, the right side just kind of sits on top of the plate)

Similarly, when replacing the shell be sure to lift the ears all the way up and close the metal pins into the shell. This puts tension on the spring so they'll be able to pop out when the button on top is pressed. Test the button to make sure everything is working mechanically!

And that's all! This wasn't very difficult to do, but because of the actual inevitable damage caused by removing the face plate, i figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to make a guide of some sort. Please feel free to use and link this guide however you see fit, but please don't use my photos! Thanks for reading 🩵💙

[castle-of-ruin]

A/N: Hi! So, this story has been in the works forever. I've always wanted to write for Deacon. I've always wanted to write Bodyguard!Deacon specifically. It's something I've thought about from the very beginning of my journey with Swat. I find it important to clarify that this is an au. The events that take place in this story are completely and utterly my own. They are made up and not true. I hope that, as readers, you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Rating: 18+ MDNI

Pairing: Bodyguard!Deacon x f!Reader

Reminder: This is a bodyguard au. It in no way relates to the actual plot of Swat.

Warnings: mentions of injuries, violence, death threats. There are no explicit descriptions of the readers' body type or other features. Brief use of the word 'her', reader is not named, and there is no use of y/n. Mutual pining, use of the word sweetheart.

Other characters: Jim Street, Dominique Luca, Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson

Word Count - 3.2k

Author's Note 2: If I forgot any content warnings please let me know. Once again I hope anyone who reads this story enjoys you. Feedback, reblogs, comments, likes are all welcome and much appreciated. I'm really putting myself out there by posting this story. It's personal and something I'm so passionate about. Happy Reading!!

Disclaimer: I do not condone people taking my work and reposting it as their own. Do not steal my work.

Adding some visual inspiration for the people who care💕

In the Beginning 

When you first began working with criminals, you never expected your life to be threatened. Sure, there were risks of taking a job like this, but all you were asked to do was to determine whether or not a person was classified as fit to go to trial. That meant oftentimes you had to postpone hearings and trials due to a person's mental capacity. 

You understood how upsetting it could be and you understood why people would blame you for justice not being brought forward. It was easy to empathize with those people, but it didn't mean your life needed to be in danger. 

The first night your life was threatened you were just getting home from a grueling day in the office. Your feet ached and your stomach grumbled. Upon your arrival home you found a note taped to your front door. You tilted your head inspecting the letter before you ripped it off the door. Bile rose in your throat as you read the letter. 

I will kill you for what you've done 

The note was scribbled haphazardly and hardly legible, but you were well aware of what it said. Never in your four years of working had you needed to go to the cops. People you'd worked with time and time again. 

The Los Angeles Police Department was unhelpful when it came to answering your pleas. It wasn't until you went to your childhood friend Jim Street that you were finally heard. 

You hadn't seen Jim in over 3 years. After he left for swat the two of you hadn't had much time to get together anymore. You spoke occasionally, but had no time to really see each other anymore. 

When you showed up at his door he was surprised to see you. The greeting was cut short, you were rushed and scared. As you explained everything to Jim, Luca, Jim's roommate and coworker listened carefully. He was actively trying to think of a way to get you helped out. 

"What about Deac's security business?" He piped in. 

The two of them looked at one another.

They spoke briefly to one another about their old coworker. Explaining to you how Deacon departed from SWAT and took up doing security details full time. You nodded as you listened to them. It wasn't a bad idea, but you didn't know how long it would be before something would take place. 

As if they heard you in your head they had already made the phone call. Luca spoke briefly with someone on the phone, you assumed it was Deacon. Jim smiled softly at you, trying his best to give you some kind of comfort. 

You stayed with Jim and Luca while you waited for Deacon to arrive. You felt safe with them and you took advantage of the opportunity to rest. With eyes closed you lulled to sleep for the first time in days. 

Your slumber was rudely interrupted by a warm hand on your shoulder. The action made you jump, and your eyes searched for the culprit. Jim smiled at you sheepishly, apologizing with his eyes more so than with words. 

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." He told you. 

"It's okay, just, jumpy is all." He nodded his head in understanding. 

"He's here." Jim stated. 

You got up and followed Jim out of the den and back into the living room. Luca talked to another man, you assumed it was Deacon. 

Luca turned when he saw you come into the room. His face lit up, he had already accepted you as one of his people. 

"Hey Deac, this is her." He patted the man on the shoulder and he turned to face you and Jim. 

You hadn't paid him much attention before he turned, but you were shocked to say the least. He was a surprisingly handsome man, and it made your heart pound in your chest. 

In the few seconds before Luca introduced the two of you, you allowed your eyes to trace over him. The hair on his head was mostly gray aside from the occasional dark strand here and there, his beard joined in the majority of gray. The black t-shirt he wore hid no ounce of his muscled form. You wondered if he wore a shirt two sizes too small on purpose.

A clearing of a throat disturbed your thoughts. You blinked rapidly and pulled your eyes away from Deacon. Luca introduced the two of you and you shook Deacon's hand. Heat creeped up your neck as he stared down at you, with a soft smile. 

The smile slowly faded and he crossed his arms over his chest becoming serious. 

"Luca tells me you need some protection? Care to explain the story to me a little bit?" He asked. 

You nodded, and took a seat on Luca and Jim's couch. You explained the story to him as thoroughly as you could. Jim grabbed your shoulder in comfort a couple of times when the emotions overwhelmed you. 

"This isn't the usual detail my team and I take on, but you're a friend of a friend. I'll make sure you're safe. I'll work on this personally." He nodded to you and to Jim. 

Tears welled in your eyes. 

"Thank you Deacon." He smiled and nodded again. 

"Of course. Now, first things first. You need a safe house of some sort while I work with my team to track down the people after you. Is there somewhere you can think of that won't be public knowledge?" He asked you. 

You thought about it for a moment before you nodded. 

"I do.”

Present 

The cabin air was frigid as you made your way back inside. Placing the firewood in its rightful place you take a piece and set it on the fire. Rubbing your hands together you enjoy the warmth seeping into your skin. A car pulling into the driveway draws your attention away from the fire. 

Getting up you make your way to the window on high alert. Your guard falls when you spot Deacon getting out of his car. You watch as he scans the area before coming to the front door. He knocks twice on the door and you go over to it to open it. 

When he enters he hands you the bag in his hand. 

"What's this?" You ask. 

Deacon smiles softly, "Dessert." He states and you peer inside. 

Your smile widens upon seeing apple pie and vanilla ice cream in the bag. 

"Damn, Deacon, I'm surprised you got something so unhealthy." You laugh. 

He shakes his head, "I eat ice cream." 

"Doesn't look like it." You mutter to yourself. 

"What did you say?" He asks. 

"Nothing. Ignore me." You shake your head. 

Taking the bag into the kitchen you unload everything into the freezer.  You notice dishes still left over from this morning in the sink and go over to wash them. Under the running water your thoughts drift over the past 2 months. 

It felt like nothing was happening. You felt stuck, and frozen. Like a prisoner with nowhere else to go. This was meant to be for your own protection, but being stuck in your family's old cabin in the woods was driving you to madness. Plus, being stuck here with Deacon, alone for all hours of the day was testing every amount of strength and willpower you have. Which was just about none when it came to the older man. 

Since the beginning of month 2 things have felt different between the two of you. In month one Deacon wouldn't even sit on the same couch as you. He always sat in the chair furthest from you at the small table in the dining room, and he never looked at you for a moment more than necessary. 

Now, something was different.

He sits next to you on the couch and actually joins you when you watch tv. Now, he doesn't hide his lingering gaze, nor does he sit in the chair furthest from you when you eat. The subtle changes in his behavior drove you mad. 

From the very beginning you were heavily attracted to him. Now, even more so. 

"Hey," Deacon's voice draws you from your thoughts. 

"You okay?" He asks. Coming forward and leaning against the counter. 

Your eyes are drawn to the way his arms bulge as he crosses his arms over his chest. You gulp and look away. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

He chuckles and leans forward, your breath catches in your throat as you look up at him. He switches the water off and leans back against the counter. You let out a breath and close your eyes. 

"You were washing the same dish for 10 minutes. Obviously something is wrong." He states. 

"10 minutes?" You ask and he nods. 

You let out a deep sigh and grip the edge of the sink. Tears well in your eyes and you decide not to hold them back any longer. You let yourself cry and put your head in your hands as you lean on the sink. Deacon touches your back and you allow yourself to lean into it. He rubs soothing circles on your back and allows you to cry. 

After a while you sniffle and wipe your face. 

"I'm sorry." You wipe at your eyes and look over at him. 

His smile is sad as he looks at you. Deacon swipes a stray tear from your cheeks and cups your face in his hand. He leans in as if he's going to kiss you but, then the moment is broken when something clicks in his head and he pulls away clearing his throat. 

"Don't be sorry. I'm gonna go contact my team. See if there's any updates." With that he exits the kitchen. 

Fuck. You think to yourself.

For the rest of the day Deacon avoided you like the plague. It made you feel even worse than you already did. Loneliness pangs in your chest as you sit on the couch and aimlessly scroll through the channels. 

Deacon busts into the room and you jump. 

"We have to go now." He states, throwing your jacket at you. 

Jumping to your feet you throw the jacket on and follow Deacon to the back of the cabin. You grip his jacket tightly in your hand trying to stay close to him. He turns and looks at you, pressing one of his fingers to his lips. 

He opens the door quietly and inches out slowly. Deacon grasps your hand in his and drags you out into the woods. The two of you run for a while before he stops. 

"You see that ridge up there?" He asks pointing. 

"Yes," You pause looking at him. 

"Go. Get up there and hide. Don't come out until I come get you." He instructs. 

You grip his arm. "Deacon, what if you don't come back?" 

He grips his phone in his back pocket and places it in your hands. 

"Call, Street. Tell him where we are. Tell him to send the team." He states. 

You nod, with tear filled eyes, and trembling lips. Releasing his hand you take off up the hill and hide. Pulling Deacons phone out of your pocket you dial Jim. 

"Hey Deac," 

"Jim, it's me. Deacon told me to tell you to send the team. Hurry Jim. I'm scared." You sob. 

"Where are you?" He rushes out. 

"Near the Oregon border." You stutter out. 

"Keep the line open, we're tracking Deac's phone." You nod, but he can't see you. 

Gunshots could be heard in the distance. Tears fall freely now, rolling down your cheeks. 

"Got it, we're on the way. Stay hidden." He urges and the line goes dead. 

You pull your knees as close to your body as you can trying to hide away in the dark nook. The gunshots fade in the distance and your heart races faster. Every part of you wants to run and see if Deacon was okay, but you listened and stayed put.

After what felt like forever a helicopter could be heard overhead. Staying in your hiding spot you close your eyes and hope they make it to you soon. You were freezing. 

After a few more minutes you could hear voices and footsteps. Some shouting out how many people were dead, others asking where Deacon was. You heard Jim's voice in the distance calling for you. Now you got up from your hiding spot and went tumbling down the hill. You ran as fast as you could back in the direction of the cabin. 

"Jim!" You yell his name when you finally see him. 

He comes running towards you and you slam into him. Hugging him tightly, tears once again falling freely. His hand goes to the back of your head as he holds you close. 

When you pull away you search his eyes seeing if they hold anything. 

"Where's Deacon?" You ask. 

There it was. Jim averts his eyes from you for a brief moment. Something the normal eye would never pick up. You grip his arm tightly. 

"Jim please, tell me." You beg.

"He's alive, but he's been shot. Plus some other injuries. He wasn't conscious when we wheeled him out of here." He tells you truthfully. 

Your shoulders sag. "Is he going to be okay?" You ask. 

"We don't know yet. Come on, let's get you out of here." Jim wraps his arm around you. 

"But, it's not safe." You stop. 

"It is now. Has he not told you?" Jim asks. 

You tilt your head. "What do you mean?" 

"Deacon, and his team were able to locate the men who threatened your life. He had me, Hondo and the rest of the team go in and take them down." He pauses for a moment. 

"Some got away. They had found your location and we couldn't get to them before they left. We were just barely able to warn Deacon before they showed up." He finishes. 

You haven't cried this much since your childhood pet died when you were 16. A part of you died that day with him. Now, here you were crying over a man you may never get to see again because he too might be dead.

Jim leads you to the helicopter and helps you get in the seat before doing so himself. You watch the land below get smaller and darker the higher into the air you go. Jim grabs your hand and squeezes it for a moment. You know it was him trying to comfort you. Jim had never been good at that. 

Being able to go back to your home felt wrong. It was crazy to think that two months living in the unknown would change your entire view on your life. You desperately want to go to the hospital to see Deacon. Make sure he's okay for yourself, or see for yourself he's not okay. 

Jim agrees to take you to the hospital. Upon arrival you notice how many people were there for Deacon. He was held in high regard amongst his former teammates. It was a sight to see. 

Someone calls your name and you look in the direction of the voice. The man you knew as Hondo approaches you. 

"We've heard a lot about you. It's nice to finally meet you." He tells you with a genuine smile. 

You nod, unable to form words of any kind. Your throat was sore and scratchy. Making it feel impossible to speak at the moment. You need water. Once again reading your mind, Jim appears with a bottle of water in hand. You smile thankfully at him. 

"Thanks." You croak out.

You find a seat and wait with the rest of the people in the waiting room. The hours tick by as all of you wait for an update on Deacon. 

Three hours after you get to the hospital a doctor comes out of the OR doors. Everyone stands, and the doctor's eyes widen. 

"Are all of you here for Mr. Kay?" He asks. 

Everyone nods. The doctor takes his glasses off and wipes them before adjusting them to his face once more. 

"He's going to be fine. Recovery will suck, but he will recover. Gunshot wound, cracked ribs, fractured arm, the list goes on. It's a good thing he has all of you." He nods. 

"Can we see him?" Your quiet voice pokes through the crowd. 

"It's after visiting hours, but I can allow one of you back." He states.

You expect someone to go back and see him, but when no one does you step forward. Jim nods at you. You found it odd the people who have known Deacon the longest would allow someone who's only known him for two months be with him while in this position. 

The doctor nods and gestures for you to follow him. He leads you down the hall of hospital rooms and stops when he reaches Deacon's door. 

"I'll have them bring in some blankets and pillows. If you don't plan to stay, let me know." He states. 

"No, I'm staying." He nods and leaves. 

You examine the small hospital room. The monitor beeps to the rhythm of Deacon's heart. This is the first time you've seen him in over 5 hours. You weren't sure if you ever would. 

Taking him in you frown at the sight of him. A bandage on his left cheekbone, busted lip, a splint on his right arm. He was a mess, all because he was protecting you. 

You pull the chair over to him and sit down beside him. 

"Damn you, Deacon." You whisper. 

You grab his open hand into your own, looping your thumb around his. He didn't close his hand around yours, but that didn't matter. Feeling his pulse thump in his wrist was enough. You lean your head down and place it on the bed, closing your eyes. Allowing yourself to take in his warmth. Meaning he was very much alive. 

A nurse enters the room and gives you a soft smile before setting up the small bed in the corner of the room. You silently thank her. Your eyes snap to Deacon when you feel his fingers wrap about your hand. 

His eyes are just barely open as he looks at you. 

"I'm sorry." He croaks out. 

"Sorry? Why are you sorry." You raise your eyebrows at him. 

"Scaring you." 

"Deac, you saved my life. You have nothing to apologize for. I'm the one who needs to apologize. I'm the reason you almost died." You grip his hand tighter. 

He laughs, then groans in pain. 

"It was my job sweetheart. You don't have to apologize either." He reassures you.

"I guess we both need to stop apologizing." You laugh out. 

"I guess so." He gives a small smile. 

You rub his arm softly and he watches you do so. 

"You should get some rest." You tell him as you stand up. 

He watches as you lean over and press a kiss to his cheek. Your breath catches in your throat as you linger a moment longer contemplating things in your head. His beard scratches your cheek as you loop your arm around his neck in an awkward hug. 

"I'll be right here if you need me." You tell him. 

He nods. Flicking the light in the hospital room off you make your way to the small bed in the corner and try to sleep. 

"Goodnight Deac." 

"Goodnight Sweetheart.”

Tagging a few who may want to read it : @obiknights @chelseasdagger @streakyglasses

A big big thank you to @spnshortcake for encouraging me to post this. I'm grateful for you. Thank you love ❤️.

[tonberry-yoda]

did i mention that hisoka is also bouncing around in my head?

Tastes Like Bubblegum - Hisoka Morow

word count - 396

~~another short one with some mistakes in there probably lmao~~

WARNINGS: hisoka... so only a bit suggestive, but nothing crazy. not 18+ or anything

He tasted like bubblegum.

Was it cliche? Yes.

But god, something about it was the best part about him.

You could never forget that taste, either. The way he would run over to you out of the blue and place his lips on yours, his tongue just barely sliding over your lower lip. His long nails would always tangle their way in your hair and he would always whisper something highly suggestive in your ear before vanishing.

You hated him for that.

But you loved him for that too.

You almost forgot about Hisoka. You both decided to get your Hunter's licenses and move on. You used yours for good while Hisoka did whatever he wanted with his. You took classes, met other Hunters and businesses that could help you grow, and had articles written about you and your work.

Sometimes, on late nights, you would chew on the end of your pen and remember the magician; that menace of a man. The way he charmed you at the Hunters exam, whispering in your ear about how powerful you were. How he wanted to rip your heart out.

You would've let him too, that's the funny part.

You leaned back in your chair and breathed in the cold air coming in through your window. You would take that Hunters exam all over again if it meant you could spend just a few more hours with him.

You knew he was dangerous. You could sense it, even when you hadn't developed your nen. But honestly, you didn't really care. You were intrigued by him. You wanted to see how dangerous he really could be.

Curiosity killed the cat.

You wouldnt mind what it would do to you.

"Hard at work, are we?"

You were startled to hear another voice in your empty apartment, but eased when you knew who it was.

"Hisoka," you giggled. "How did you get past the door man?" You turned to him, his heels clicking as he stepped closer to you.

"I have my ways."

"Oh, I'm sure you do."

Hisoka chuckled and tipped your chin to look up at him. "You've been thinking about me." He tilted his head and brought his face closer to yours, your lips almost brushing against one another's.

"Maybe." You teased, pulling him by the shirt, his lips falling onto yours.

Yeah.

He still tasted like bubblegum.

~~~~~

hxh masterlist --- pinned post

@tonberry-yoda

[captainsarahscratches]

HAPPIER PT.2

......

The next part will definitely have smut so be warned.

......

Within a few minutes, your jaw is agape. Tony is stunned and CM Punk just tore your CEO and EVPs a whole new asshole, and for what???

The madness continued, you're trying to explain your way out of this to press, Tony is beyond pissed. MJF is now pissed off because his return was fucked over. You just got the press to start to disperse. Then all of the sudden you hear clattering and yelling from afar. Someone yells for security and then you and Tony run down the hallways to find the noise. Claudio is trying to get people to calm down and get people away from the door. Mox is yelling and telling someone to fuck off. Then you hear Kenny's voice, "MOTHERFUCKER!?!"

You barged your way through the crowd, and you didn't know what to expect exactly, but it definitely wasn't this. Punk is in the back with a chair in hands, which Matt is trying to get away from him. Nick is by the wayside looking dazed as all hell. Kenny is holding Punk's dog in one hand and has Ace in a headlock with the other arm.

"What the fuck man, did you just fucking bite me??? Fuck, Jesus Christ!"

Within the next few minutes, security is in the room everyone is separated and the men are escorted out separately.

Your job was utter hell the next two months. Constantly trying to explain what happened without really having an answer. But all you truly cared about was Kenny. Nine months away and comes back on top for one night and it's ripped away from him. You fight like hell to get things straightened out and finally succeed.

Although, it's been two months. You've only talked to Kenny briefly during this time and typically about work. But that didn't mean that you forgot what happened before the chaos. However, you were confident that when the storm settled, and you could breathe again, you would ask Kenny about that kiss. You were positive everything would be fine... until he left for Japan

You didn't think much of it at first, he loves Japan and hasn't been there in a long time. He's not hurt anymore so he can actually enjoy himself. At that point, you had contacted the boys and told them it was safe to regain their social media presence. You even encouraged them to post something until related to the incident. Then Kenny posted a picture with Kota...

He had mentioned him before of course, and in a fond manner. Talking about how they are still friends and considers him one of the closest people in his life. He never stated that he still had feelings for him of anything of the nature but still it made you worry.

Either that kiss really was just him being him and meant nothing romantic. You started to tell yourself thaf he had kissed his friends in the past, usually in the ring and for the camera but still. Thought they at least knew it was going to happen.

Or that kiss did mean something but you took to long to say anything to him and lost your chance. Now he's hurt that you didn't respind correctly and falling back into familar arms. Either way had made you sick to your stomach and mad at yourself for letting him leave.

The last two weeks you've kept your distance from him. Unaware of how to proceed. But tonight the elite is returning, and in a big way. The start of a best of 7 series you came up with to not detour from the other teams. A few hours before the show, the three of them approached you. Matt, Nick, and Kenny stood in front of you hugged you. Thanking you for everything you have done and standing by them. Then he said it, "I mean it y/n, you're an amazing friend." and kissed you on the cheek.

Kenny walked away, as did Nick, but Matt stayed. He saw you freeze and your face fall. "Are you okay y/n?"

You scoff softly, "A friend..." looking down at the ground "Well I guess that answers that. After all this time and everything I've done and he still can't see that I love him"

"Woah..." Matt stunned but understanding. Putting his hand on your shoulder "It's okay, you know Ken-, Kenny's great at expressing himself on the mic, but only as Kenny Omega. You and I both know Tyson isn't as talented. I mean come on, he even legitimately answers to his ring name. Like he's an actual video game character."

You softly chuckled to yourself and Matt smiled at the fact he got a laugh out of you. "Look, I don't know what exactly is going on in his mind but I think it's worth talking to him. He talks about you all the time but doesn't say much when he's around you. And I think that says something right there, but you guys need to talk." He told you.

"He doesn't want to talk, every time I've tried he's always been short with me or changed the subject." You replied.

"Well, maybe you need to get Kenny to talk to you then, not Tyson. Kenny is the way he gets his real thoughts out half the time anyway. "

With that vague advice, Matt walked away and prepared for the night. Leaving you contemplate how to get Kenny to talk to you over Tyson.

As the night continues and the Elite is about to return, fans chanting their theme throughout the stadium. You remind the men that your social media team will be trying to get shots of them and their new entrance. Seconds away, from the entrance Kenny looks over at you and looks like he wanted to say something important but the Death Triangle's music just ended and trotted to the curtain. Matt quickly popped up on the other side of you, "Hey, make sure to hang around after the match. I think someone wants to talk. Just give him a shot." You said of course as you rushed him back to his spot.

The match continues, leaving fans confused as the Elite doesn't immediately win their championship away. Then a roar overtakes the building as they announce the best of seven series, you smile still very proud of yourself that they took your idea.

The cameras are down, and the crowd stays as Kenny talks to the crowd. Charming, charismatic, and surprisingly fluent storytelling for him to just be making it up as he went along. His speech continues, and you walk down the ramp to ensure your team is getting the shots they need. Kenny sees you by ring side, crouched down to not block the view. He smiles at you and your face grows red again.

You've seen him in the ring hundreds of times in person but something about him, just purely in his element was always so satisfying to watch. You continue to watch him, and then see Matt smile and wink your direction. Grabbing your attention he points to Kenny in the ring. You listened closer to what he was saying.

"I've gotten to spend to spend a lot of time with my best friends in the whole wide world, given a lot more than I anticipated, but I loved every second of it and glad to step back here tonight with them as a trio. But we didn't do this alone, we had some amazing support. From their Matt and Nick's wives and from someone very special to my heart. I want to thank all of you." In that moment, Matt and Nick are looking at you, your heart is racing and all you can see is Kenny looking straight at you with that smile you love so damn much.

The crowd has mixed reactions to him alluding to a significant person, and Kenny being the tease he is gives him no other information to what he means. "They are truly one of the kindest, selfless, and genuine people I have ever met. And not to really jump the gun, but i guess i did that a few weeks back, but I love them." He smiled and had to regain his composure again as he started to stumble over his words. You looked back at the Bucks, Matt looked shocked he said that and Nick looked exasperated at the fact he just said that first thing. They both look back at you and one of your interns nudges your shoulder and smiles.

Kenny proceeds to wrap up his speech, nervously smiling through his words the rest of the way. You retreat backstage why the three of them work the crowd as they depart. Kenny catches you for a moment, "Hey, wait for me. If that's okay." You can't stop smiling and your face is still red and you nod to agree. He looks down at you for a second and smiles again. "Okay. I'll see you soon."

[dognonsense]

My original folkpunk song Train Track Diorama

its about how my bus stop was being redone so they keep skipping it now when im taking the bus home, so instead i have to take a route where i take the train tracks home.

When walking home i like to listen to folkpunk and sing as loud I want cause ill often be heading home at 1am and be like ah yes karaoke time on the train tracks.

But when its not 1am and brighr out I'll hunt for train spikes since i think they look cool. The most I collected was twenty in one day but i changed it to nineteen because i enjoy lying and think its a funner number to say. I think I have about 30 spikes total. I keep 4 spikes in my bedroom inside the diorma box that i keep random crap i find. Sometimes i take photos and draw whats there. I also pick up random thrown away toys, art supplies and bits and bobs :3

the chorus is kiss me with teeth, rip into me and take a bite, show me a fight. i like to bite :33 monch monch I'm a puppy girl i bite what can i say. I guess its kind of an exploration into my own repressed sexuality of growing up in singapore and having so much of sexuality being taboo, to the point where if i kissed ppl with teeth theyd always be like woah omg ive never kissed someone like that ur such a violent kisser and its just so weird. Repression of sexuality and all that and just outright yelling KISS ME WITH TEETH!!! and i also really like the imagery of teeth. I have a human teeth necklace and about 10 fake tooth necklaces!

I feel like I should reveal that I am stoned right now writing this. So stoned that i was meant to be grinding my weed and got 4 nugs in it before writinf this essay. And now my cat is yelling at me from outside my door. Allow me to compose myself. I was always meant to be watching ruthless lesbians on the button by film cooper on youtube. My life is so busy yall. I have to watch youtube, smoke weed, and post on tumblr ALL AT ONCE!!! I dont know how I manage it.

I forgot where I was in the song. Oh then! Look up at the ceeeeling! Greet the spiders!! Im looking up right now and there she is a cobweb with a spider above me in my bed. I'm working on having a good relationship with spiders and treating them as friends since they kill bugs.

oh but im new to spiders because in singapore our lil bug eater is a gecko! So growing up in the tropics ur little geckos live in ur house year round and eat ur bugs hide behind paintings and stuff. I was going to add a verse about how my dad tried to train a gecko in his room by killing ants for it and leaving them out and leaving bottle caps woth water out for it. My dad was not a fan of ants. It was very silly of him.

hope you enjoyed this deep dive into train track diorama with your favourite folk punk jester: Meme!!!

[torreshalstead]

whatever she needed

Summary - Matt had made it obvious that his office was always an option for her, whatever she needed, be it good or bad, his door was always open. But when the door opened this time and he saw her eyes were rimmed with red, his chest tightened and he knew something was wrong.

Notes - totally forgot to post this to here yesterday! AO3 Link

After he had found her in his office needing some quiet when the news of Scott potentially giving up Amelia had hit her, Sylvie had sought out the peace and comfort of his office on a number of occasions. He wasn’t complaining, he enjoyed having the additional company when completing stacks of paperwork. She would sit on his bed, her legs crossed in front of her, working diligently on whatever she needed to complete that day.

He was thankful that since that day when he had taken her into his arms, her tears staining his shirt, she hadn’t needed his office for that reason, instead he was greeted by a smile when she’d tug open his door, paperwork clutched to her chest in a silent question. He’d always smile and nod and the pair would work in a comfortable silence until they were interrupted by dinner or the next call.

Matt had made it obvious that his office was always an option for her, whatever she needed, his door was always open. He liked having her in his space, liked glancing behind him to see her chewing on the lid of her pen, brows furrowed as she completed whatever request form or incident summary the shift demanded.

Matt was completing a similar such report when a soft knock pulled him from his concentration. Turning to see the familiar figure of Sylvie’s shadow through the blind, he reached forward from his seat, opening the door wide, welcoming her inside.

She walked in and he immediately knew something was wrong. She was hugging her arms tightly to her chest trying to make herself as small as possible. Her usually bubbly personality was notably absent and her eyes were rimmed with red.

‘Sylvie, what’s wrong?’ He panicked.

‘Bad call,’ she muttered quietly, ‘can I?’ She asked, gesturing her head over to his bed.

‘Of course,’ Matt said, shutting the door and watching as the normally confident PIC, curl into a ball on his bed, her back towards the windows into the bunk room.

Clearly she had not come here to talk so Matt closed the blinds, she didn’t need an audience to her obvious pain, the firehouse could be a nosey bunch when they felt so inclined.

‘If you want to talk about it, I’m here,’ he said quietly, returning to his seat at his desk. He could have been mistaken but thought he heard a small noise in acknowledgment as a response.

Staring back at his paperwork, the words no longer held any meaning, his focus continually swayed to the woman behind him. He wanted to help her, he didn’t know what had happened on the call but it had clearly affected her severely. She had experienced a lot during her time as a paramedic, and not much rattled her anymore. But now she was in pain and he was powerless to do anything to help her.

After a couple of moments of failing to focus on his work, he heard Sylvie’s voice quietly pipe up from behind him. Turning around to listen, she was still facing away from him, her arms wrapped around her knees.

‘It was a kid,’ she said, her voice barely louder than a whisper. ‘He took a bullet for his mom, she was crying for him, her baby boy.’ Sylvie sniffed.

‘I’m sure you did everything you could,’ Matt said, in a feeble attempt to comfort her.

‘We couldn’t do anything, we were too late,’ she said flatly, all emotion suddenly void from her voice. ‘A family ripped apart in just a moment,’ she choked out after a moment.

Then it all clicked into place for Matt, Sylvie’s new family had been torn from her in just a moment as well, just one hideous twist of fate meant the woman who had given birth to her was taken from her before she had really had a chance to experience life with her. And this mother had lost her child. Unfortunately they saw death in their jobs more than they would like but as Matt thought back to the calls they had taken in the past few weeks, this was the first fatality since Julie’s passing. No wonder it was having such an impact on Sylvie.

‘Sylvie…’ he started but realised he didn’t know what to say.

‘I know it’s part of the job, we save the ones we can but it just hit me,’ she said, her voice thick with tears. ‘We can’t save everyone.’

Her statement was true of course, but Matt was struck by the finality of it, the morbidity coming from the normally cheery medic. His chest tightened looking at her still curled on her side. He wanted to pull her into his arms and protect her from ever feeling like this again.

Just as he was debating awkwardly offering her a hug, the bells rang calling Truck 51 and Squad 3 to an incident on Wabash.

‘You can stay here whilst I’m gone,’ he said as he jumped to his feet, he really didn’t want to leave her when she was like this but the job came first.

‘Thanks Matt,’ he heard her murmur as he closed the door behind him, leaving a piece of him in that office with her and hoping she’d be okay.

——————————————————————————

It was a long, tedious call. They had been called to assist another house on site at a chemical fire. Waiting for Hazmat to show had taken hours, apparently it was the day for hazardous spillages across Chicago. Their call had no risk to human life, the factory had been evacuated before the fire had started and there was no risk of it spreading, it was an individual warehouse on an empty lot. So they had to wait as multiple calls got pulled in front of them with a higher urgency.

The longer they stayed away from the house, the more Matt’s mind drifted back to Sylvie. He hoped she was okay, Violet was still at the house, Ritter, Hermann. She had people she could turn to if she wanted but Matt had an inkling that she wouldn’t want to burden anyone else with her feelings. Always one to put everyone else’s emotions above her own, even when it was detrimental to herself.

By the time they got back to the house, it was far into the evening, the Chicago skyline bright against the night’s sky. Someone made the call to order pizza for dinner but Matt quickly excused himself when he failed to spot Sylvie in the break room with the others.

The blinds to his office were still down, no light coming from within. He knocked lightly on the door before opening it a crack and sliding in.

Sylvie was exactly where he had left her, curled on her side facing the wall, her jacket and boots still on.

He turned to leave, deciding he could just kip out on the couch in the break room when he heard a quiet voice.

‘Matt?’ Sylvie’s voice was thick with sleep.

‘Hey, sorry to wake you,’ he said quietly, turning around to see Sylvie shifting on the bed to sit up and face him.

‘I didn’t mean to fall asleep,’ she said, the usual Sylvie tone still missing from her voice. She clearly still wasn’t feeling herself and it felt like a twist in his gut for Matt.

‘No you’re fine,’ he responded quickly. ‘Stay as long as you want.’

There was a beat where neither of them spoke, just maintained eye contact.

‘Do you mean that?’ Sylvie said quietly, breaking the awkward silence.

‘Of course,’ he responded plainly.

‘Will you stay with me?’ She asked quietly.

‘If you want me to, then of course I will,’ Matt said, taken aback by her question. It was what he wanted obviously, the thought of having to leave her upset and alone again tugged at his heart strings.

‘Please,’ she said, ducking her head as if embarrassed to have asked.

‘Do you want to talk about the call?’ Matt asked, coming to sit at the foot of the bed as Sylvie sat up, resting against the pillow.

‘It just reminded me of Julie,’ Sylvie said, keeping her focus on her hands on her lap. ‘It’s just sad.’

‘It is sad,’ Matt agreed, deciding from the off to be more of a silent participant in this conversation, simply giving Sylvie a space to voice her feelings.

‘I had this whole new life planned out, Julie and Scott moving to the city, spending time with them and baby Amelia. I’d talked to my parents about it and they were going to come in too and meet them all. Instead, they met Scott and Amelia at a funeral and never got to meet Julie,’ Sylvie spoke sadly, Matt could see the tears beginning to glisten in her eyes. ‘It just isn’t fair, she was taken from me before we got to have this new life. She was taken from Amelia and now that little girl will never know her Mom.’

Sylvie fell quiet, the odd sniff was all the noise that was coming from her.

‘But she will know her,’ Matt said, wanting to say something to provide just a modicum of comfort. ‘Through you and Scott, you’ll keep Julie alive for her and Amelia will get to hear all about her mother through the people who knew her and loved her.’

When Sylvie stayed quiet, he was worried he had overstepped. But a second later when she glanced up, a sad smile pulling at her lips, he realised he hadn’t.

‘How do you always know what to say?’ Sylvie asked with a wet chuckle.

‘Captain training,’ Matt said with a grin.

‘Thanks Matt,’ Sylvie said, the tears still making their tracks down her cheeks but a small smile appearing on her face.

‘Anytime Sylvie, and I mean it,’ he reached out and placed his hand on her shin, the nearest part of her he could reach. ‘Do you want to go back to sleep?’ He asked.

‘I think I‘ll just lay here a little longer if that’s alright?’ She asked, wiping away the tears with the back of her sleeve.

Matt nodded and started to get up to leave before Sylvie stopped him, ‘I meant it when I asked if you’d stay?’

‘Oh, ummm, yeah of course,’ Matt said, his throat suddenly drier than a desert. He reached down to take off his boots, unsure what Sylvie wanted from him but whatever it was, his boots didn’t need to stay on. When he straightened up, she had scooted to the far side of the bed, leaving him enough space next to her.

He took a seat a bit awkwardly, still unaware what his position was, but when Sylvie put her head on his shoulder, a deep sigh coming from her lips, he relaxed. He lifted up his arm, letting her snuggle closer and wrapped his arm around her shoulder as her head fell to his chest.

Matt didn’t know how long he sat there, his arm tight around the shoulders of the woman who had a tight grip on his heart but when he felt her breathing even out he knew she had fallen asleep. He let his own eyes drift close. He was glad she felt she could turn to him but a part of him ached that the first time she was falling asleep in his arms it was like this. It wasn’t quite the scenario he had envisioned but when her hand tightened into the front of his shirt in her sleep, he realised he would take what he could get and if that was Sylvie needing a friend and a shoulder to cry on, figuratively or literally in this case, he would be that for her. He would be whatever she needed him to be.

[prince-rowan-of-the-forest]

To Make a Heaven of Hell (2/?)

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Virgil might have been given a paradise, but that doesn't mean he's ready for it.

Lucky for him, he doesn't have to be.

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Chapter warnings : Self-depreciation

Notes:

This was meant to be posted yesterday but I was binge-watching BBC Ghosts for five hours and forgot, I do apologise.

Also I'm so wary about the characterisation of the Hell's Belles characters, I'm hoping I did good hehe

Please enjoy regardless!

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Virgil barely got a look at the room he appeared in before he opened the door - gate? - behind him and stepped out, slamming it shut behind him. Taking short, sharp breaths as he stared at the dark, polished wood with a gothic-style handle and small but intricate carvings. Taking itall in made him feel sick, but for some reason he couldn’t make himself look away. 

The universe had given him a paradise, his own space that reflected his very soul, and… it made him feel sick. 

He didn’t deserve this, not after everything that happened in his life, he’d been nothing but a burden, a problem for everyone he came across - his parents, his teachers, his partners, everyone had said the same thing. He was hard to talk to, to get along with, to work with. His anxiety made him impossible to handle, all the time. His parents had kicked him out, he’d leeched off of his last boyfriend for a home, food and limited safety when he couldn’t even get a job to pay for it, and he’d died in a way that could definitely have hurt other people, he was awful - all he seemed to do was ruin lives, how on earth had the universe thought him worthy of a paradise?

“You’ve been staring at that there door an awful long time, darlin’, is something wrong?” Someone said from behind him. Virgil whipped around, only to come face to face with an older woman with a kind smile, glasses and a soft-looking sweater.

“No, I- uh- I’m-” Virgil started before sighing. He was about to tell her that he was fine, but a glance back at the door that led to his own personal paradise left an uncomfortable, icky feeling pooling in his gut. 

“You wanna talk about it?” She asked gently.

“I…” Virgil took a deep breath, brushing a hand through his hair, she seemed nice enough and if this was supposed to be paradise then… maybe he should give it a try? “Yeah, okay, if you don’t… mind?”

“Of course not, sugar,” She said, “Would you rather go somewhere more private?”

“I don’t know anywhere but here,” Virgil said, shaking his head immediately, “I’m… new.”

She nodded, “I see, so, what is it about this door here that’s giving you so much trouble?”

Virgil took another deep breath. Opening up to a stranger felt a little like he was ripping out his heart and offering it on a platter. He definitely hadn’t been expecting to have to do it today, but then again, they hadn’t expected to die, either, so… 

He supposed talking wasn’t the worst way this could go.

“This is… my… paradise…” Virgil said, even just the word left a sour taste in his mouth, “But I just… looking at the door- thinking about it? Makes me feel sick- I, I didn’t even get to look at it, I nearly vomited and left as quick as I could when I appeared there, I just… I dunno, I feel gross.”

“Sometimes,” The lady said, “You don’t feel ready, and that’s okay, but maybe all that means is that your soul’ll have to do a little healing before you can go through that door.”

“That’s… okay?”

“Of course, darlin’, it’s perfectly okay to not be ready,” She said, “But, if you’d be wanting some help - and maybe something to do with your time - whilst you work towards it, I know a couple of lovely people who would be more than happy to help you out, if you wanted to tag along?”

“Oh, no,” Virgil said, waving his hands, “I don’t want to be a bother-”

“You won’t be a bother, sweetpea,” She reassured, waving him off, “I was heading down anyway, I’ve got a pie to deliver, see?”

Sure enough, where Virgil hadn’t noticed before, she held a decorated cake box under one arm.

“...Okay then, if you’re sure?” Virgil said, tucking his hands into the pockets of his jacket as he watched her for confirmation. 

“Sure as sugar, I’m Judy, I darn forgot to introduce myself, you must think I’m awful rude,” She said as she started walking, Virgil quickly hurried to follow, not wanting to get lost in this maze of doors and paths. He couldn’t help but be glad to leave his own behind, for now. Like Judy said, he just had to wait until he was ready. 

“It’s fine,” Virgil waved his hand, “I’m Virgil.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Virgil,” said Judy, turning back to smile at them, “And rest assured no-one’s gonna judge you for taking as long as you need to accept your paradise, okay?”

“Okay,” Virgil said, nodding as he repeated those words in his head, he can do this, he just had to wait. It would be alright. 

Virgil was overwhelmed by it all as soon as they stepped through the archway into a giant hallway. People looked so different here - he could see not only every ethnicity and age he thought existed in the world but people… who didn’t look like any people they’d ever seen, with a rainbow of skin colours and a range of features they’d only ever seen in fantasy stories - horns, tails, wings, fangs, claws, animal like ears and hair in a plethora of styles and colours too. He couldn’t help the way he stuck close to Judy - the only familiar person in this bustle - as they made their way through.

They could hear hundreds of cut off conversations as they passed, he saw groups of people together who he’d never have seen interact back on earth - he saw a woman in medieval peasant’s clothes having a lively conversation with a butch goth. He saw gates and archways labelled with different places he’d only ever heard about or seen discussed online, gates that said they would take you to different places of afterlife from different religions - he saw the Greek underworld on the way, on top of another hallway that seemed to lead to places that weren’t such afterlife realms, he saw a coffee shop, a bakery, a gate that seemed to lead to a universal shopping mall…? He hurried to catch up to Judy, maybe he could explore all of this later, for now, he didn’t want to lose his guide. 

Eventually, he came to two gates with names he was much more familiar with, Heaven, and opposite that, Hell.

“I live up there in heaven,” Judy told him, snapping him out of the daze the crowd had put him in, as she pointed to the archway that shed light across the hallway, “So if you need to find me at any time, just ask around up there, okay?”

“I’m- allowed?” Virgil asked, “In- in heaven?”

“O’course you are,” She said, frowning, “You’re more than welcome in all of the paradise realms, even if you’re not ready to accept your own paradise just yet, but you don’t need to worry about that right now, ‘kay? You ready?”

“For what?” Virgil asked, glancing between the two gates.

“Meetin’ my work family, darlin’,” Judy said with a smile, waving for him to follow her towards Hell’s gate. He paused, wavering. He’d always been told to ‘go to hell’, but he never expected to actually be standing before it, even if he was apparently just visiting. It was intimidating, to say the least, the lobby looked huge, from what he could see from here, and he could hear the distant screaming from inside. He could see souls filing in, most looking disappointed or upset, some angry or arrogant. What if he got stuck after he went in - finding out he was really meant to be here all along, and the paradise was just a cruel joke? What if Judy’s family hated him, or judged him like she said they wouldn’t? What if all of this was a massive trick?

“You’ll be alright,” Judy said, turning back to him as though she could read their mind, “Trust me, no-one will even think to bother you if you’re with me.”

Virgil took a deep breath, before forcing his feet to move. They didn’t know how true that statement was - he definitely didn’t yet know how terrifying Judy could be - but some part of him seemed to know he could trust her. 

Judy led him swiftly through the lobby of Hell, avoiding the main lines of souls and the demons milling about the space. As they went, demons and souls alike turned to look at him, though the demons seemed to see Judy with him and immediately go back to what they were busy with - most of them directing souls to where they should be, some were having their own conversations - whilst the souls continued to stare until they had passed. 

He pulled his hood up, hunching their shoulders. Virgil really wasn't a fan of all the eyes on their back. 

"You'll be okay darlin'," Judy reassured once again, obviously noticing the way they were hiding, "I know its overwhelming at first, but you'll get comfortable in no time at all, here we are,"

Virgil looked at the desk in front of him, and as he took in the desk itself along with everyone sat and stood behind it, he felt his eyes widen in what felt a little like wonder. 

The front of the desk read "Hellp Desk" and underneath that: "fuck around and find out," Virgil couldn't help cracking a small smile at that, at least these people had a sense of humour. 

A whole host of people were sitting behind the desk, most of whom were engaging in their own conversations. Only one was actually talking to a soul over the desk, and the other who was sat down immediately turned upon seeing them approach. 

"Hi, Judy!" She said - a tall woman with red hair wearing a hoodie featuring a logo he was almost certain he'd seen before, but couldn’t place no matter how much he thought about it, "Who's this?" 

"Hi," Virgil said, awkwardly waveing although his hand was tucked into his hoodie sleeve. 

"Hey kid," She said, smiling as she cocked her hip and tapped her nails on the coffee cup she was holding, "You… don’t look like you’re meant to be down here? What's up?" 

"Um," Virgil started, "No, I uh- I'm supposed to have a paradise, but…" 

He trailed off, feeling his face redden as he retreated further into his hoodie.

"Want me to tell her, sugar?" Said Judy, Virgil breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sure," Virgil said, scuffing his foot on the ground.

"Alright," Judy said, "Well, I was just on my way back down from visiting Penny up in paradise and I found this dear standing outside his door, he told me he's struggling with accepting his paradise, so I thought I’d bring him down here to see you all." 

"Ah," Lily nodded, before smiling at Virgil and offering her hand to shake, "I get it, we've had a few situations like that down here, I’m Lily, you?" 

"Virgil," Virgil said, before taking a breath and shaking her hand, "He/they pronouns, please." 

"Got it," Lily nodded, "So, how about I introduce you to everyone?"

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General tags: @full-of-roman-angst-trash @reptilianrapscallion420 @your-local-random-dino @cutebisexualmess @glacierruler @roseianxiety @bella-bugatti-frogetti-baguetti (if anyone wants to be added, let me know!)

Hell's Belles AU tags: @awitchbravestheverge @twoalpacas @goldnskyart @anxious-mess19 @doteddestroyer

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[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.168 thoughts REDO!

The bulk of this week's review wasn't directly related to Undead Unluck, so I'm going to delete that one and rework it into its own standalone post later. This post is going to start the same as before, but now it's going to address a point I meant to talk about and simply forgot because I got sidetracked

So, once again:

[Time for School]

HIGH SCHOOL! AU! HIGH SCHOOL! AU!

Man, this was one of the funniest chapters in a long time, from Fuuko ripping open Shen's eye to force Untruth onto Feng to Feng realizing that he's been reduced to a gym teacher and won't get to fight anyone, I was laughing start to finish

I really needed it, too, I was having a rough day at work (when normally Jump day is my day off...), and this chapter cheered me right up!

Shen and Mui's relationship developing into an actual romance of course was a great way to start us off, and seeing Fuuko continue to wrap Feng around her finger gives me great hope for how his character is going to interact with the story going forward, but of course the real meat of this chapter was the Union infiltrating Chikara's school

I'm sure that Tozuka will think of a way to actually incorporate everyone into the plot to save Chikara's parents, but man...do they really need to be here? I think that any one of them would be sufficient to stop a truck from hitting some pedestrians, and yet here everyone is, wearing costumes and faking credentials to get close to an underage boy

Boy, sounds bad when you put it like that...

Anyway, of course this is the mission that Fuuko is the most excited about. Fuuko's greatest regret is that she couldn't live a normal school life, so while this is clearly wholly unnecessary to helping Chikara, it's absolutely vital to Fuuko to do this. I imagine it's going to help endear the group to Chikara, too, but this isn't really about him. It's the one truly selfish thing that I think Fuuko is going to be doing in the series, and she deserves it! Treat yourself, girl!!!

And again, there is no need for her to bring everyone else along if she just wants to play high schooler. But let's be honest, there was no way she wasn't going to bring them along. Not only would she want all of her loved ones to be present for what is going to be the most important side quest of her life, but consider this: NO ONE ELSE HERE HAD A NORMAL LIFE EITHER!

Shen and Mui grew up on the street, Billy's been a mercenary for lord knows how long, Sean was in the cartel! I could go on! Sure, a lot of them probably went to high school normally and had these experiences already, but their lives have been screwed up for so long by this point that it'd definitely be good for them to have a taste of normality. Not even just by virtue of being Negators, the way that everyone here has lived their lives has simply been abnormal, so letting them have normal jobs and normal friends is a great way for them to get a basic idea of how their lives could look once everything with God is resolved. Many of them likely won't choose a life like that, but still, having that perspective could really change the trajectory of their lives by expanding their horizons

I just think it's a shame that so many other characters don't get to be here. Sure, world-famous boxing champion Void Volks and American military captain Creed wouldn't make much sense to be here, but c'mon...you did this arc BEFORE recruiting Tatiana?!

The other girl who missed her entire adolescence??? The other girl who can never touch another person??? THE GIRL WHO CHIKARA HAS A CRUSH ON??? She would have been perfect! ...Assuming that she won't be stuck in Sphere this time...oh god, that's probably why, she's still going to be in Sphere and wouldn't be able to go to school...

Also sad that Andy can't be here, but it was established LOOONG ago that he can't pass for a kid in this very school, so while it would be nice to see Fuuko and Andy play high school sweethearts, it would definitely be tricky to pull off. But who knows, maybe this is where we'll finally get him back? Probably not, but I'd like it

I don't expect to see much if any combat in this arc, but weirdly, I'm perfectly okay with that. I'm really excited to see a more domestic look at this cast, and as we've established, Tozuka is just super funny, so this is probably going to be, at least for the next couple weeks, a fantastic slice-of-life manga. I know I said it about the Hong Kong arc too, but I think this is the most excited I've been about an Undead Unluck arc

It definitely says something about Tozuka's quality as an author that he's made me say that two arcs in a row

[vendynee]

People You'd Like to Get to Know Better

I forgot I was tagged forever ago by @kal-sharok and meant to do it and never did 😅 Also combining some questions from @sillyliterature 's post bc why not :)

Favorite Color: Crimson Red and Sapphire Blue

Currently Reading: I mostly read fanfic nowadays but I did start rereading Six of Crows recently.

Last Song: Thinkin' Bout Me by Morgan Wallen

Last Series: Technically going through a Shameless rewatch with my partner but we can't watch it consistently. Before that it was Shadow and Bone (rip 😭).

Sweet, Savory, or Spicy?: Savory. My sweet tooth has been slowly dying as I'm getting older 🥲 and I can't handle spicy food for the life of me.

Currently Working On: Now I'm starting to get ready for finals but besides that I have some little oneshot WIPs I'm slowly chipping away at. Also been playing through DA2 several times over.

Three Ships:

Fenhawke (Fenris and Hawke, Dragon Age 2) -- More specifically Fenoah, which is Fenris and my Hawke, Noah. But I'm a sucker for Garrett or any other m!Hawke with Fenris. I just love that broody elf so much he deserves so much love and happiness.

Fenhanders (Fenris, Hawke, and Anders, Dragon Age 2) -- I am a sucker for polycules what can I say. Fenris and Anders are great enemies/rivals to lovers with Hawke being the glue that keeps them all together. Love it.

Pavellan (Dorian Pavus and Lavellan, Dragon Age: Inquisition) -- Dorian is such a sweetheart and Lavellan is my favorite inquisitor (which is why all five of my inkies are Lavellans 😅). I romance Dorian on every run because he's just so sweet.

Last Film: I couldn't even tell you it's been so long since I've seen a movie. I do plan on watching Barbie and FNAF eventually though. Dunno when.

Currently Watching: I still have to finish Shadow and Bone 😅. Also was in the middle of a Heartstopper rewatch and got distracted.

Currently Consuming: Everything Dragon Age. In the middle of my fourth DA2 playthrough rn and I recently bought all of the comics to read.

Currently Craving: I could use a margarita rn ngl 🤭

Tagging: Anyone who's interested :) I feel annoying tagging people so if you wanna do this consider yourself tagged

[apollos-boyfriend]

I dunno if you've done a post on this, but do you want to explain any of your design choices for hannah/ the origin of her scars?

i don’t think i have! i may have explained her scars in some tags but those are LONG lost so! official icarus’ channah explanation post (under read more bc i think about her SO much)

(channah for reference)

first, the design choices i gave because i Have to have cbedwars be matching at all times or i WILL die:

pointed ears! hannah’s ears are long and point upwards to match the more contemporary fairies/elves. (purpled’s ears are short and point upwards; boomer’s are short and point downwards)

freckles! i think hannah would be out in the sun a lot, so she has the Lightest amounts of freckling around her entire body, but mostly her cheeks. (purpled has white freckles in the same area, while boomer’s are green)

dyed hair! i cannot remember WHY i started giving her pink wisps, but it happened somewhere between may and june of 2022. she dyes them herself, and has been for years now, to the point where most people have never known her without them. (purpled has purple sections in his bangs—those are natural; boomer dyes their side strands green daily to fit in)

turtleneck! this design first appeared in my first Big cbedwars drawing, and i think at some point i genuinely Forgot hannah’s skin didn’t include it. (purpled wears a long-sleeved one that doubles as fingerless gloves; boomer wears a turtleneck sweater)

piercings! hannah has both ears pierced, although i do Not keep them consistent at all between drawings. the only real constant are the two lobe piercings that most people have, everything else i kind of make up on the spot. (purpled has only his left ear pierced; boomer only has his right)

and for non-bedwars designs:

sharp, angled eyes! initially, i wanted to give her and tina the semicircle and semicircle but upside-down duality, but i found the upside-down semicircles didn’t fit her in any instance outside of eggpire!hannah. so i compromised, keeping her lashes to only her lower waterline and using more angled edges (that you can’t actually see in that drawing rip) to keep that sharp edge to her

her hairstyle is meant to match more closely to cc!hannah’s signature wisps! i also felt as if someone who’s used to the battlefield and acting on her feet wouldn’t want her hair flying all over the place all the time, so i put it up into a side braid. not only does it help to keep it out of her eyes, it’s harder to grab onto mid-battle than a ponytail, giving her additional protection.

a singular rose! i got tired of drawing her flower crown all the time. consequently, i got tired of drawing her arm roses all the time, to the point where i Forgot she even had them in the first place. whoops.

lipstick! i first drew her lips with bright-red lipstick for my pride month tinarose drawing, and i’m still kind of obsessed with that piece. i just think the princess peach-type circular lips suit her really well :]

as for her scars! hannah has died by heat/fire twice: once when she lost her wings, and another when she was pushed into lava during the final egg stream. i personally choose to believe the wing incident was a canon death, and therefore, she could’ve gotten her scars from it, much like tubbo got his from the fireworks, but i’ve also made them work if we strictly want to stick to canon. i think hannah either died before she was fully submerged or was never fully submerged in the first place, having tried to fight back and claw her way out, leaving only half of her body scarred. since that one IS an in-universe canon death, the scars carried over when she respawned.

[regenderate-fic]

When I Run Away (You're Who I Run To): Chapter 12

main post read on ao3

Word Count (Chapter): 3,382

NOTES: forgot to post at midnight everyone please forgive me

also yaz's chili powder experience in this chapter is inspired by 1. the time my ex accidentally got super spicy chili powder and didn't realize until she'd made completely inedible chili and 2. my own general desire to have the hottest possible hot sauce so i can put in a tiny little dash and flavor the whole thing. there used to be a guy working in my college dining hall who would use his free time to make hotter and hotter hot sauces and they were soooo good and literally could flavor a whole bowl of stuff with a little drop. rip to my college wish it had stayed open just for that </3 i have to settle for the trader joe's habanero sauce now. oh and it's also inspired by me getting soooo clumsy and awkward when faced with any romantic prospect. but somehow it works 😌 women are mesmerized by my autistic charm. send post.

Slowly, Yaz approached the counter. It was only a few seconds before Ace noticed her, waving, and only a few seconds after that before Rose turned, her usual brilliant smile showing up when she saw Yaz. “Hey.”

“Hiya.” Yaz’s tone felt flat. She came up next to Rose. “What’s going on?”

“Getting coffee,” Rose said. “Where’ve you been?”

Yaz pointed up. “Saying hi to Penny.”

“Oh, you could’ve waited. I would’ve gone with you.” 

Yaz shrugged. “Didn’t know if you’d wake up in time. Told her we’d be back tonight, though.”

Rose wrapped an arm around Yaz’s elbow. Yaz tried very hard not to read into it. “Suppose that’s all right, then.” 

“Did you order for me?” Yaz asked, nodding at the coffee machines. 

“Didn’t even have to,” Rose said. “Ace saw me walking in and started pouring our cups.”

“Helps that you’re consistent,” Ace said, setting down two to-go cups on the counter. “How’s the professor?”

“She’s all right,” Yaz said. She picked up one of the coffees. 

“I think that one’s Rose’s,” Ace said. 

Yaz sniffed it. Definite chocolate flavor. “Yeah, good call.” She passed it to Rose and picked up the other cup. “Thanks, Ace.”

“Anytime.” 

To Yaz’s complete relief, the rest of the day passed normally. She had appointments lined up for most of it, which meant her interactions with Rose were limited to quick hellos as they passed each other in the halls, and although she spent most of the day feeling like at any moment someone would jump out at her and tear off the top layer of her skin, leaving her raw and bare, everything was fine. Yaz executed her tattoo designs, and she coached Bill through a few practice tattoos on fake skin, and she sanitized and sterilized her equipment, over and over again. Finally, the day was done, and she and Rose headed over to Penny’s, where Penny and Donna were sitting across from each other at the kitchen table, engaged in a heated game of chess.

“She cheated!” Penny said the second Yaz and Rose stepped through the door. “Yaz, tell her she cheated.”

“Er— you cheated,” Yaz said to Donna.

“Did not!” Donna protested. “That was a completely legal move. It’s not my fault you don’t know the rules.”

The rest of the evening passed quickly. Yaz even managed to ignore the looks Penny was giving her every three seconds. Once Donna and Penny finished their game of chess (which concluded with Penny declaring her king an emperor, and Donna declaring her bishop a megapope, and then the emperor and megapope signing a peace treaty between their two countries), Donna brought in a deck of cards so they could play games better suited for four people. Yaz liked it, the sort of warmth and camaraderie of playing together with friends, even when Penny started saying that her queens were secretly controlling the rest of the cards as part of a hivemind. Actually, Yaz especially liked it when Penny started saying things like that.

In this way, Yaz sort of settled into a routine. She’d get up in the mornings and go across the street with Rose, trying with every passing second not to touch Rose too much or too little, trying not to stare at her for more than a moment, hoping desperately that Rose hadn’t seen— wouldn’t see— her post. She still wasn’t thinking too hard about the sudden “maybe I’m into women after all” factor; that seemed pretty irrelevant, anyway. It wasn’t so much that she liked women, in the hypothetical, general sense. She liked Rose, in the concrete, specific sense. And that seemed a lot more straightforward, somehow. 

By the end of the week, Penny was doing well enough that she was baking again. She wasn’t behind the counter, but when Yaz and Rose showed up, Ace pointed at the kitchen and told them to go in. Yaz realized, as she walked through the doorway, that she hadn’t really seen this space before: it was huge, with industrial ovens and wide countertops. Penny was, as she had said before, sitting in a tall office chair, leaning over a counter to lay out dough, and when she looked up and saw Yaz and Rose, she pushed off the counter and rolled towards them so fast Yaz thought she was going to fall over.

“Hello!” she said, shaking flour out of her hair. “Look! I’m back!”

“I can see that,” Rose said. 

“Only doing a few hours today,” she added. “But that’s enough to get some baking done.” She gestured at the dough. “Making challah! Are you two coming by tonight?”

“‘Course we are,” Yaz said. “If you want us to.”

“‘Course we want you,” Penny said. “When haven’t we wanted you?”

Yaz shrugged. “Just checking. Don’t want to show up uninvited.”

“Nah, you’re always invited,” Penny said. “Don’t know why you wouldn’t be.” 

“I can cook tonight,” Yaz offered. “If you want. ‘Cause I know Donna’s busy, and you’re still dealing with—” She waved a hand. “You know. Everything.”

Penny stilled. She looked Yaz right in the eye. “That would be amazing.” She glanced down. “I mean, if you’re sure.”

“Yeah, of course.” Yaz shrugged. “I probably would’ve been cooking for me and Rose anyway. And I always make too much.” She glanced at Rose. “You know. If you can do without your leftovers.”

“Yeah, I’ll survive.” 

“D’you have any dietary restrictions?” Yaz added. “Or anything I should know about?”

“We’re a very lazy kosher,” Penny said. “No pork or shellfish or anything. And I can’t have cow milk.” She tilted her head to the side. “Which helps with the lazy kosher, actually.”

“I don’t do pork either,” Yaz said. She smiled. “Sort of my lazy halal. Rose, we have soy milk, right?”

“Think so,” Rose said.

“Soy okay?” Yaz asked Penny. “Might not need it. Still haven’t decided what to make.”

“Works for me.” 

Rose grinned. “See you tonight, then?” 

“Yep!” Penny pushed her hair out of her face, leaving a trail of flour. “See you.”

“Good to see you covered in flour again,” Yaz added.

Penny grinned. “Isn’t it?” She rocketed herself back over to the countertop with her dough, and Yaz and Rose went back out into the main part of the bakery, both still smiling. Ace already had their coffees ready, and they stuck around for another moment to make small talk with her before going back outside.

It was an ordinary day, for Yaz. She had a few appointments, and she gave feedback on a few more of Bill’s practice tattoos, and she spent a decent amount of time hanging out with Bill and Amy and sometimes Rose in the lobby. She’d finally managed to relax again around Rose: she was learning how to live with these newly awakened feelings, how to stop herself from jumping three feet in the air every time Rose so much as brushed against her. She was able to relax, now, if she was sitting in the lobby and Rose came in and tried to share her chair; she was able to move over a bit and wrap an arm around Rose’s waist and let Rose’s thigh overlap hers without a second thought. The thing she liked best about Rose, after all, was how comfortable their relationship was, and she was slipping back into that comfort, now with a new dimension. 

Finally, the shop was closed for the day. Bill and Amy had gone home, and Yaz was pretty sure Rose had gone upstairs. She was still in her studio, rearranging her machines and inks. She probably didn’t need to be, really, but it gave her a moment to herself, a moment to gather her thoughts before she went upstairs and started cooking. 

She heard footsteps in the doorway. She looked up: it was Rose, of course, standing right in the doorframe, her half-smile soft in the studio’s white light. She stepped closer to Yaz. 

“Hey.” She reached out, taking Yaz’s hand, swinging it between them. 

“Hey,” Yaz said, turning to face Rose properly. “What’s up?” There was something unfamiliar in Rose’s eyes, unreadable. Yaz frowned. “Everything okay?”

Rose nodded. She stepped closer to Yaz, lifting her free hand and brushing it through a few of Yaz’s stray hairs. The backs of her fingers grazed Yaz’s cheek, and Yaz stared at her, trying to process the touch. Electricity was dancing across her skin where Rose’s fingers lingered, and she swallowed. 

“Rose—”

Rose’s eyes were scanning her face, looking at her, all of her. Yaz got halfway through taking a breath to say something else, but Rose beat her to it: “Yaz— I—” She hesitated, then looked down, just for a second. When she looked up again, her eyes had softened, and Yaz couldn’t help but soften in response. 

Rose’s hand pushed Yaz’s hair behind her ear, drifted back towards her neck. Slowly, she leaned in— Yaz had just barely enough time to wonder whether this was some kind of dream before Rose’s lips brushed against hers. 

The kiss was brief, chaste, except that when Rose started to pull away Yaz couldn’t help but chase after her, redoubling the contact. Rose dropped Yaz’s hand to rest her own hand on Yaz’s upper arm, and Yaz wound up with her hands on Rose’s waist, holding Rose as gently as she’d never allowed herself to. Rose’s lips were warm against hers, her twin lip rings a thin ridge against Yaz’s mouth. Everything about it felt so completely natural: exactly what Yaz would have expected, if she had ever let herself imagine this.

Finally, excruciatingly, Yaz pulled away. 

“Rose,” she said, quiet. “What was that?” So much hinged on this moment— eight years of friendship culminating in this, this unexpected moment that Yaz was still trying desperately to understand. 

Rose bit her lip, eyes flitting around Yaz’s face. “Er— hopefully something you wanted?”

Yaz looked down. “I mean— yeah. I did.” It felt like more of an admission than she wanted it to be. “Just—” She moved her head back up to meet Rose’s eyes. “Why now?”

Rose’s smile felt like it could’ve lit up the whole universe. “Oh, you know,” she said, her tongue poking out between her teeth. “Not sure ‘vagueness’ is your calling.”

“Oh, God.” Yaz collapsed against Rose, burying her face in Rose’s shoulder. “This is the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Rose wrapped her arms around Yaz, laughing. “It’s all right,” she said. “It’s sweet.” 

“Seriously,” Yaz said, still muffled against Rose’s shoulder. “I need the Internet taken away from me.” She pulled back a bit, her hands still rooted on Rose’s waist. “Hang on. Penny didn’t tell you, did she?”

“Nah.” Rose was still smiling, the same solid sureness in her eyes that Yaz always liked about her. “You’ve made it across platforms. I saw it on Instagram.”

“Oh, no.” Yaz fell back against Rose’s shoulder. “I can never go out in public again.” 

“I only saw Penny’s comment ‘cause I got curious and went to find the actual post,” Rose added. “Really. She can keep a secret.” 

“I can’t let anyone see my face ever again,” Yaz said. “I’m serious.”

Rose’s hands slid from Yaz’s back to her shoulders and down her arms until they reached Yaz’s own hands, fingers tangling together. “It’s all right,” she said, her voice soft. “Really.” 

Yaz lifted her head again. “I just didn’t— I didn’t know who to talk to.” She looked away. “Usually I go to you with this kind of thing.”

“I wouldn’t have minded,” Rose said, and Yaz could hear the grin in her voice. “I’ve been after you for years now.”

“You— what?” Yaz looked up and   shook her head, an incredulous smile blooming on her face. “Years?”

Without breaking eye contact, Rose nodded. “Thought you were never going to come round,” she said. There was something shy in her voice— it wavered, just a little. 

“Oh, my God.” Yaz let go of Rose’s hands so she could cover her face. “I didn’t know.”

“Is that— I mean, is that all right?” Rose asked.

Yaz lowered her hands. Rose was still looking at her, her brow slightly furrowed. 

“Yeah,” Yaz said. “It’s— it’s amazing.” 

“Really?” Rose’s shy smile was emerging again, filling Yaz with feelings she’d never even imagined before this moment. 

“Yeah.” Yaz tugged at one of Rose’s belt loops, just like she normally might to get her attention— how had she thought their relationship was completely platonic? She let one hand cup the back of Rose’s neck, and she kissed Rose again, letting herself feel every point of connection between their bodies, every movement of Rose’s lips against hers, every strand of hair brushing against her hand. And the best part was how Rose kissed her back— delicately, but with abandon, her hands running up and down Yaz’s arms, snaking around her shoulders to tangle in her braid. They broke apart, both smiling, laughing together. 

“All right?” Rose asked again, tipping her forehead to rest against Yaz's. Her hands were still in Yaz's hair, fingertips brushing against Yaz's neck. 

“Yeah,” Yaz whispered. 

They stood there for another moment, breathing each other's air, and then Yaz stumbled back, her hands flying up. 

“I still have to cook,” she said. “I didn't even decide what to make.” Suddenly, the question of what to bring to Penny’s was the most important thing, standing out at the forefront of her mind. 

Rose laughed. “It’s okay.” She reached out and caught Yaz’s hands in the air, pulling her in close once more. Yaz fell still. Her hands landed on Rose’s shoulders, and Rose smiled. “C’mon,” she said. “Let’s go upstairs and see what we’ve got to work with.” 

Yaz nodded. Still in a daze, half-convinced this was another dream, she let Rose take her hand and lead her out of the shop and back into the stairwell to their flat. If it was a dream, though, she realized, surely Rose’s hand wouldn’t feel like the most real thing about it all— surely Rose wouldn’t be so warm, so tangible, so clearly there. 

Rose pushed open the door to their flat, and Yaz followed. Rose wasted no time in hopping up onto the kitchen counter, and Yaz rolled her eyes. “You know I’m going to need that.”

“There’s plenty of room,” Rose said, gesturing around the kitchen.

“If you say so.” Yaz couldn’t even look at Rose: it was like looking at the sun. She didn’t know how to take in all that light, how to look at Rose’s teasing smile and honest eyes as she moved around the kitchen. She busied herself with her cooking instead, letting her world distill itself down to a wooden spoon and a pan, managing quick glances at Rose out of the corner of her eye. Of course, she could feel Rose’s eyes on her the whole time, and the thought put a small smile on her face, even as her self-consciousness exaggerated her every movement until finally she pulled the cap off her chili powder too hard and wound up spilling half the bottle into the pan.

Immediately, she started coughing. Rose jumped off the counter, taking the half-empty bottle from Yaz’s hand— and then she started coughing too, the chili powder still hanging in the air. Yaz stared down at the half-cooked chicken, now covered in red powder.

“D’you think I can scoop it off?” she asked. 

“Sorry, Yaz,” Rose said. “I’m not sure anyone could eat that. Especially not with the stuff you use.” 

“Guess not.” Yaz turned off the stove. It was true that the chili powder she used was especially strong; it was an asset, as far as she was concerned, that she could use a tiny amount and flavor a whole dish. But her strategy had worked against her here. “I don’t know if I have the time to redo it.” She frowned. “And that was all the chicken.” 

“I’ll text Penny,” Rose offered. “We can get takeaway. They’ll understand.”

“Yeah.” Yaz didn’t move. “Maybe I have time for something else.”

“Yaz, it’s okay.” Rose set down the chili powder on the counter and reached for Yaz’s hand, tangling their fingers together. Yaz turned to look at her. 

“Is it?” she asked. “I just wanted to do this. So Penny and Donna wouldn’t have to worry about it. And—” She gestured to the stove. “I don’t know. It’s not how I wanted it to be.”

“But if we order from somewhere, Penny and Donna still won’t have to worry about it,” Rose pointed out. “And you can cook for them another time.” She squeezed Yaz’s hand. “Yaz, are you all right?”

Yaz stared at her for a moment, and then, before she could process what was happening, tears were streaming down her face. She closed her eyes, mortified. “I— I don’t know.”

“Oh, come here.” Rose pulled Yaz into her arms, holding her close. Yaz melted into her, burying tears in the shoulder of her T-shirt.

“Sorry,” she managed. “I don’t know why I’m like this.”

“You’re okay,” Rose murmured, her voice right next to Yaz’s ear. She pulled back, bringing one hand to Yaz’s face to wipe at her tears with her thumb. “Swear I didn’t mean to throw you off like this.” 

Yaz shook her head. “It’s not your fault.” 

“It sort of is,” Rose laughed.

“Yeah, okay,” Yaz said. “It sort of is.” She swallowed. “I think— I just— I guess I just don’t want to ruin anything.”

“You’re not going to ruin anything.” Rose glanced at the stove. “Except maybe the chicken, but we can deal with that.”

Yaz looked down. “Are you sure?” 

“Yaz,” Rose said. “Yasmin.” She tilted Yaz’s chin up to look at her, and Yaz did look, her eyes completely caught in Rose’s. “If I didn’t like you, do you really think I would’ve been living with you for the last four years?”

“Plenty of people hate their roommates,” Yaz countered. 

Rose rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, I got lucky, ‘cause I really don’t.” She hesitated, and something in her voice softened as she went on. “Yaz, you’re my best mate, all right? That’s not about to change. Got it?” 

Yaz swallowed. “Yeah. Okay.” 

“And we can work out all the other stuff as we go.” Rose stepped back. “Right now, I’m going to text Penny and Donna, and then I’m going to call in an order at the Chinese place. All right?”

Yaz nodded. 

Rose stayed put for another few seconds, her eyes searching Yaz’s. Yaz’s skin burned where Rose was touching it— and then Rose dropped her hands, and their absence lingered. 

“Okay,” Rose said. “Be right back.” She stepped away, and Yaz stumbled back over to the stove. She picked up the pan with the ruined chicken and scraped it off into the trash, and then she washed the pan in the sink, letting her muscle memory carry her through the task. By the time she was done, Rose was back, dropping her phone into her pocket and saying, “See? All settled.” 

Yaz laid the pan on the drying rack and turned to her. “Thanks,” she said, her voice quiet.

“‘Course.” Rose reached out for Yaz’s hand again, and Yaz let her. “Think we’ve got about fifteen minutes before we should go get the food.” She paused. “Or, one of us should. Suppose it doesn’t need to be us both. I can do it, if you like.”

“No, I’ll go too,” Yaz said. “Think a walk might be good for me.” She looked down at her hand, joined with Rose’s, and felt herself starting to smile again. She looked back up at Rose. “Fifteen minutes?”

Rose nodded. 

Yaz pulled at Rose’s arm until Rose stumbled closer, her eyes darting across Yaz’s face. Yaz raised a shy hand to Rose’s hair, letting it run through her fingers. 

“Enough time for me to kiss you again, then,” Yaz said. Was her voice always this loud? “I mean, you know. If you want.” She cringed, hearing herself— could she sound more awkward?

Rose didn’t seem bothered, though. Quite the opposite: she was smiling, biting the inside of her lip. “Definitely enough time.”

Yaz didn't waste another second. 

[augustallosaurus]

Tag Game

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it.

I was tagged by @ogsimpgoose and then accidentally forgot abt it for a few days LMFAO. I was reminded tonight hence the poor formatting of the post because I’m doing this on my phone before I pass out.

I’m fairly certain @pastel-skulls hasn’t been tagged yet :) suffer

world building works

“The Myceal Desert” — originally a world doc dedicated to a cat civilization heavily inspired by Ancient Egypt that I’ve been considering adding into my Big Project (tm)

“The Origins” — a word doc dedicated to the scribbled down notes I have surrounding what was originally Wolvden Lore but has since grown into something much bigger. It’s currently mostly about the Parthenon of Gods that rule over my various wolf packs.

“End / Elytrian Lore” — a doc I have that’s similar to the Origins doc in the sense that it’s filled with what is mostly mindless notes and scribbles. Though this one is about my Minecraft Au and the History and Biology of the creatures of the End Dimension.

“The ARK” — admittedly my most empty word doc that is going to be scribbles of ideas for my AU based around the game Ark: Survival Evolved with the slightest hint of Horizon: Zero Dawn.

original character works

“The Afterwood CYA” — a choose your own adventure style game I’ve been working on and off over the past year. Essentially you play the part of a wolf (yes, within the Origins universe) that wakes up within a world of eldritch horrors and must do what you can to survive.

“Afterwood CYA Prologue” — another choose your own adventure game that would act like a prologue to the above. Unlike the above, though, it would have a ‘canon’ ending that would be alluded to throughout the main CYA game. It’s meant to be like a tutorial level for the larger CYA.

“Ghast loses her wings” — an original character of mine (more specifically, an elytrian minecraft oc based off the Origins Mod) gets her wings ripped off a la Maleficent style and has to come to terms with the consequences of that, both mentally and physically. The story is actually told through the eyes of Goose’s (tagged above! :D) OC.

“Lord of the Rain” — a God within ‘the Origins’ Universe, Thunder Weaver, comes face to face with his murderer; the woman who loved him more than anything.

Abandoned Works

^ I do not plan on finishing these fics, but I would be more than happy to answer questions about them :)

“In the Beginning, there was Nothing.” — a short, “introduction monologue” style fic that would have introduced the Parthenon of the Origin Universe as well as the reasoning behind their creation.

“Into the Night Sky” — another wolf fic but it was more of a ‘filler’ than anything else. Originally meant to be a short little scene explaining the beginning of a massive shift within one of the packs and was heavily inspired by dialogue from the show Grey’s Anatomy.

“Driftrot” — “My parents named me Vulturekit, for the markings on my face. My father always seemed proud of it, some sort of sign from Starclan, but as I grew it just felt like a bitter reminder.”

“Dying” — “Frosted was never an optimist, so when he realizes that Badger Bite doesn’t have the herbs he needs to help his friend recover from influenza, he goes to extremes to ensure Whispering Wood’s survival.” Set within the Origin universe.

[autobot-ratchet]

MTMTE 17-19

MTMTE 17

“No cure for cybercrosis, but you can bet they've invented a million new ways to kill someone...” GOD. FUCKING. THE ABSOLUTE FUCKIGN STATE OF IT ALL I AM GOING TO CLAW MY OWN FACE OFF

“Not everyone's ready to give up on this- this very seductive idea that we're immortal,” he says while fiddling with his hands. Man he knew from the very beginning, huh, or at least had a feeling, even way back in issue one. Like sure, his hands were giving out, which meant the end of his career, but I think Ratchet knew his time in general was running out too. And getting Pharma's hands and being able to continue working never tricked him into thinking otherwise, just let him keep himself occupied while waiting it out

aaauufgdsjk Cyclonus is so upset... he likes Tailgate a lot but he can't bear to say it or to even properly express his grief...

Percy's smile is cute lmAO

Cyclonus is trying to give Tailgate a one-of-a-kind experience before his death...... aaaaAAAAAA........

to this day I am still so sad that Luna-1 igniting after Rodimus and Rung touched down on its surface was because of Rung and not Rodimus because I had so much fun with my “Rodimus knocked up the moon” jokes and it just doesn't hit the same with Rung lmfAO

“We could be looking at the next Optimus Prime or Ultra Magnus!” or the current Megatron, even

eyyy it's Dr. Giggles McChainsawhands

MTMTE 18

aww, Swerve considers Skids his best friend, they're both so cute

I love Swerve's big stupid blaster, I want a model of it for myself, where's that toy line, Hasbro

big fan of Cyclonus disobeying Rodimus's order not to engage with the decepticons alongside Whirl. Also a huge fan of Whirl asking Cyclonus if he wants to attack them with him as if he just invited him over for tea

love Rodimus cursing Tyrest out lmAO same buddy

God Pharma is so weird and gay at Ratchet lmfAO I said it before, I know it's actually pretty tragic how hard he fell off but also god. Look at this fuckin guy

I completely fucking forgot about Star Saber lmfAO

like. Pharma really did just remove Ratchet's head and spark from his body just for shits and giggles huh. I remember the first time I saw that panel with the reveal I thought Ratchet was dead for sure but nah, he's back to normal not much later and we just don't talk about the whole out-of-body experience ever again

love Rung subtly agitating Minimus until he snaps at him to test if he's actually Magnus, love that it works too lmAO

MTMTE 19

poor Magnus getting yelled at by Tyrest, it's not his fault the Lost Light is a disaster ship filled with a nonsense crew

Whirl was actually the first one to refer to Rodimus as Rodders lmAO I always remembered that as a Brainstorm thing

love Ratchet goading Pharma into putting him back in his body. He took him out of his body just to show off, why not have him put him back in, just to see if he can? 'course, it comes back to bite him in the ass but y'know

Whirl talking about how he doesn't get his claws replaced with hands because then the anger might fade and then he'd have no motivation is so fuckin real lmfAO I used to be so much more motivated than I am now and it was 100% out of rage and spite and lemme tell you, depression is starting to overpower the rage and spite and leave me not feeling much at all and it makes a big fuckin difference

aaaaaaaand rip Ambulon

eeeyyyyy it's the Circle of Light! Shame Drift got exiled right before we caught up with them lmAO man that still makes me sad, he was so excited to see them again...

YOU.

There's. Something to be said about Tyrest's bit about cold constructed bots being predisposed towards sin and that they'll eventually slip beyond god's reach, considering, y'know. Who he is lmfAO That's an entire post to be made in and of itself and I do not have to words or brainpower to make it right now but damn is this bit making me feel. something

and yknow what there's something even more to be said about Tyrest's new take on the law what with him being Who He Is. The whole concept of integration of religion into law (as in forcing the rules of your religion to be everyone's rules that they have to follow or be punished, regardless of whether they practice said religion or not) skeeves me the fuck out to begin with but this is. This is a lot lmfAOgfdhsjk a god not knowing he's a god but being a fanatical believer of god to the point of literal genocide is. It's something