#she's looking at me like 'no cheese ? no cheese for me ? 🥺 you'd do that to me ? not give me cheese ? when i'm being so nice ? 🥺 '

[keeps-ache]

eating pepperjack cheese out of the baggy while trying to keep this spicy cheese away from the cat while it's also burning that carp out of my tongue and it's barely gonna be 6 a.m. in a couple minutes

[tsukimefuku]

CHAPTER ONE: PUTATIVE SELF DEFENSE ❀ HIGURUMA SENSEI SERIES

masterlist link | mdni!

❀ putative self-defense.

when a person believes they are in imminent danger and acts in what they believe would be self-defense, when, in reality, the threat does not exist or is not as severe as perceived. 

wc: 5.9K ❀ pairing for the series: professor!higuruma x student!reader

❀ summary.

after your roommate fails to replenish the coffee in your dorm room, you drag your insomniac ass towards the cafeteria before heading to your first criminal law class. unfortunately, things don't go as expected — it's so, so much worse than you could have anticipated. at least, your personal torturer is very good-looking, and has the most beautiful hooked nose you have ever seen.

❀ Tags and c/w.

non-curse au. college au. silly slow-burn rom-com between professor and college student (this is purely a work of fiction, okay guys?) reader is kind of a mess (like, literally). this is cliché with some twists. nobara is the best and worst roomie ever. nobamaki is a thing here. nobody likes cafeteria coffee. higuruma has a best friend, i'm so happy about that. second hand embarrassment. misunderstandings are talked through and resolved. higuruma is a little unhinged, and we love him for that.

thank you so much @redlikerozez for betaing this 🥺

Your morning was a clusterfuck.

Diving your face in ice cold water did absolutely nothing to wake you from your anxiety ridden all-nighter. The world felt like a half dazed hallucination by this point.

Your energy was running so low this morning that you wound up putting your jeans on top of your pajamas pants, throwing a coat over the rest of the mess, and twirling your hair into something that could barely be considered a bun, topping it all off with the ugliest scarf you had — a red polka-dot scarf.

It seemed to be a taunting from the Gods — this was, for some supernatural reason, the only scarf you ever found when you were running late, and you hated the thing, but feared that if you threw it away, some higher power would punish you, and you'd never find another scarf to wear.

You were also scared that if you tried taking a shower, you might end up sleeping under it.

"What are you doing?" your roommate asked, as you pulled your face from the bowl filled with water and ice cubes. "Jesus, you look like hell."

"Trying to crawl my way back to the world of the living. It's not working."

Nobara walked behind you and opened the mini-fridge, grabbing a single slice of cheese and rolling it up to eat it.

"Oh, a breakfast fit for the champions" you mocked, while patting your face with a tea towel.

She scoffed. "Get off my ass, I didn't have the time for groceries."

"Oh, you totally had the time, you just spent it all with your girlfriend in her room!"

Nobara grabbed a crumpled tissue that she found over the counter and threw it in your direction.

You dodged it because you weren’t sure what the fuck that tissue had been used for cleaning.

"Leave me the hell alone! I deserved it before classes started," she complained, pouting.

You laughed as you walked towards the coffee machine, to see if some liquid energy would be enough to pump you through the day.

"Aren't you supposed to be out there already? Weren't you going to head into criminal law today or whatever?" she asked.

And you were, actually.

"So, how is he?" you inquired, tapping around the coffee machine and behind it, looking for the coffee powder.

"Professor Higuruma, you mean?" Nobara got up and walked towards her bed, throwing herself over it like a rag doll. "I still haven't had class with him, but according to Maki, he's kinda weird."

"Your girlfriend's definition of weird for the male faculty members is too broad, Nobara. She said the same thing about at least four or five professors."

She shrugged. "According to gossip, professor Higuruma had to take some time off academia after his PhD because of a mental breakdown."

"Well, he is the guy that got two masters degrees simultaneously and one PhD right after. I guess that does things to a person" you mocked, opening the cabinet drawer. Where is the coffee?

"Oh, that's why he's the head of two chairs?!"

"Yup, Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law."

"Well, from what Maki has told me, he likes to quiz his students on the spot randomly," Nobara stated as she pulled her phone from her night stand and began texting.

After looking all around and not finding the coffee powder, you were very much annoyed. 

"Nobara, where is the coffee?"

"We don't have any," she answered nonchalantly, still with her eyes glued to her phone.

You whipped your head towards her so fast, you nearly hurt your neck.

"Nobara, I need coffee. This is not a drill! It's my first criminal law class!"

"Oh, future criminal defense attorney, you definitely need some coffee, no one in their good mind would be wearing whatever the hell that is," she noted, pointing at you. "Especially that ugly red thing around your neck. Why do you still have that?"

"Ugh, now I'll have to go into the cafeteria before class to drink their awful coffee, and it's entirely your fault. Wardrobe editing rights are officially revoked!"

You stepped towards the door grabbing your bag as you heard her ask, "Hhey, is that your pajamas top?"

"No!" you replied, pulling your coat over your hello kitty pajamas top, before going out.

***

I can't fucking believe this.

You got in line to buy an overpriced $2 coffee — overpriced because it basically tasted like dirty water flavored with the souls of the damned — as you looked at your watch nearly every twenty seconds or so.

This coffee was so bad you usually tried to cover it up with milk, syrup and whatever else they had at their clients' disposal, but the aftertaste was always — always — completely cursed.

While in line, you noticed the guy who stood in front of you, and got distracted from your hurry by his back, as silly as that might sound.

He was tall — not the tallest, but at least a head above you — and his black hair was neatly cut by the tail end where his neck met his black suit collar. His posture was a little crooked to the side, one shoulder hanging a little lower than the other, and it felt kind of… charming?

Realizing you were nearly burning a hole in the man's back with your eyes, you averted your gaze elsewhere.

This is pathetic. I'm pathetic.

You figured that you had to be really sleep-deprived — and, honestly, kinda lonely — to be simping over some random guy's back.

Not only that, but while waiting in line at the campus cafeteria, the less sexy place to ever exist.

Class. I need coffee. I need to get to class. I'm pathetic. I’m also almost late.

And almost late you were. Somehow, you managed to wait just until you'd be a little too fumbled on the clock in order to get your ass out of your dorm room's bed to do something about it, and never even bothered to check if there would be any coffee to be made.

Just one of the many minor self-sabotaging shit you pulled against yourself from time to time.

After grabbing the damned drink and tainting it with further things to mask its terrible taste, your sleepless and nearly-late ass, when running across the cafeteria, body slammed by accident the same guy that was in line right in front of you. He was then covered in your coffee — an unholy concoction of said beverage, cold water, milk, and pancake syrup for sweetening. 

Not only that, but to top it all off, you chuckled right after you began apologizing, actually laughing at the poor man.

It wasn't because the situation was even remotely funny, or that you were cackling at his humiliation. You just had the laughter response to stressful or embarrassing situations.

At church, during the national anthem, at an accident, or in the middle of a very hard test — whenever you were really stressed, you found yourself having to hold your urge to cackle.

Unfortunately, even after twenty-seven years, this was something you hadn’t quite mastered yet.

As you tried to grab some napkins from the counter behind him, you slipped, ceasing the laughter immediately.

Instant karma. Seems fair.

Before you hit the ground, though, he held you by your waist and with a hand on your arm. You felt the taut muscles under the suit enveloping you and pulling you back on your feet in one dexterous, swift motion. His shoulders were not slouched anymore.

"Shit, shit, I'm so sorry!" you exclaimed, trying to shuffle yourself away from him. His grip was tight, clearly from someone that had just been startled, and his body felt warm — especially considering you had just covered the poor guy in hot liquid.

As you parted yourself from him, you finally took a good look at the man. 

The best words to describe him right now were disheveled mess. His tie was crumpled, his white button shirt had a massive brown stain from the coffee spilled, his short black hair was messily pulled back leaving a few strands out to frame his forehead, and his ashy black eyes were clearly surprised as he tried to check if you were alright. 

And that beautiful hooked nose.

He was definitely brooding and good-looking — the tired, overworked, insomniac, bags under his eyes and two steps away from sleeping on his feet kind of good-looking.

The front certainly matches the back.

Then, realizing your mind was doing whirls about his appearance, you shook your head for a moment, dispersing the thoughts away.

"It's fine, just let me-" he answered, taping his hands around his suit, seemingly looking for something. 

You had nearly forgotten you were tight on time until you heard the bell ringing. He turned around startled when it rang, cussing something under his breath, which gave you the perfect opportunity to dash away.

"I'm very sorry! I'm really late for my next class, I need to run, but I'm so, so sorry!" you blurted as you took off running, feeling a tinge of guilt knowing full well you had left him alone to fend off for himself with that abominable coffee stain.

So, why clusterfuck?

When you arrived in class, having lost yourself on campus twice when running around like a dizzy duck in a fatigued haze trying to find the right classroom, you saw who was sitting at the professor's desk in front of the entire classroom.

That huge coffee spill was pretty visible, even if he had now closed his suit jacket on top of it.

Shit.

The man was fumbling around with some papers over his desk with one hand while he adjusted his glasses — that he wasn't wearing earlier — with the other.

You sat in the back of the classroom, which had an amphitheater architecture to it. If you were lucky enough, though, maybe he wouldn't notice you.

However, upon further inspection, you noticed that the back of the class was especially empty, and realized at that moment you were standing out like a sore thumb. 

This couldn't get any worse, could it?

You wished for a hole to appear right under your feet and drag you down.

"So, good morning to you all. I apologize for my late arrival. As you can all tell, I had to face some unforeseen circumstances," he began, pulling on the edge of his jacket suit to reveal the brown-colored Rorschach of shame plastered over his white shirt.

Some students laughed, and you recoiled in your seat, praying this was all just a first-day-in-class-embarrassment type of dream.

It wasn't.

"Welcome to Criminal Law I. My name is Higuruma Hiromi, and I'll be your professor. I hope you all can learn a thing or two from me," he said, before stepping in front of his desk and sitting over it.

"So, I'd like to begin this class with the following question: what is fairness?"

Some hands jumped up, and you slid yourself under your seat even further, surely to hit the ground if you sunk any deeper. 

Higuruma's eyes began darting around the classroom.

Something you'd learn in a second about him was that he liked to poke at the students who didn't seem keen in participating, just to create some stormy engagement and get truly unexpected answers.

The ones who lifted their hands, the classic know-it-alls, were the students he considered to be remarkably boring and utterly predictable.

"You," he stated, and it took you a few seconds — and multiple blinks — to realize his finger was pointing in your direction. "Girl with the red scarf, tell me what you think fairness is."

You were at a complete loss for words.

"I… I… Fairness…"

Then silence.

You couldn't muster up anything to say to save your life.

You really should have slept better.

He sighed, and tilted his head to the side.

"Guess I'll have to demonstrate it."

Nobody understood what the professor meant, and much to everyone's surprise, he began walking up towards you, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he did so.

Then, looking straight at you, he stood beside the exit door, and gestured towards it. 

"Girl with the red scarf, please, leave this classroom."

Before you could actually be offended that he didn't even ask your name, you felt your stomach drop, and your face glow a warm, deeply uncomfortable red.

Out of everything you thought could happen, getting kicked out of the classroom within the first five minutes into a lecture wasn’t even listed as one of the top 10 alternatives.

What the fuck? Isn't that a little excessive?

Speechless, you grabbed your backpack from the ground, and lifted yourself up, standing there for a few seconds, completely dumbfounded. The classroom was silent enough that a needle falling on the ground could be heard.

And then, suddenly, the urge came upon you, raining down like a hailstorm.

Laughter bubbled up your throat, and you coughed a little, pursing your lips shut, scrunching your face all around, trying to avoid any sound from leaking out.

He looked at you a little puzzled, and seemed to be wondering if you were about to have a stroke.

You began walking towards the door, but as you were about to cross it, he extended his arm in front of you, blocking your passageway.

"Stay there for a second."

"What?" you asked, coughing a little to shy the laughter away, and his face was once again briefly puzzled when he heard your voice.

A few seconds later, he softly shook off whatever thought that was, and resumed speaking.

"Is this fair? Asking a student to leave a classroom because they failed to answer an open-ended question?" he inquired the other students, waiting for someone to answer.

"N-no, it's not," some guy answered from the front.

Higuruma gestured for you to seat back where you were, and you clumsily stepped your way back, face flustered in utter and absolute embarrassment. This was definitely how bad it all could get. Is he dunking on me for spilling coffee on him and running? That's petty.

 The man was certifiably insane. He was lucky to be so good-looking.

"And why it is not?" he proceeded with the questioning, slowly walking back towards the front of the class again.

"It would be excessive to do so," another student answered.

"Correct. Precisely that, it would be excessive," Higuruma chimed, sitting back over his desk, legs mildly spread as he opened his suit jacket and mindlessly smoothed out his tie with one of his hands. "Criminal Law isn't just about subsuming a person's actions to something the law has described as a crime, and then mechanically submitting said person to some randomly prescribed penalty. Fairness is the most vital and important theoretical foundation when studying criminal law. Not answering a question could be considered some type of in-class offense, sure, and expulsion from the classroom is one possible way to punish the deviant student, but it would be disproportionate and unreasonable to do so."

His gravely voice filled that classroom with no effort whatsoever, and it was an actually pretty good exposition.

It was one thing to describe what a sunset looks like, and another, very different, was to actually show one happening in real time. Words paled in comparison to the crimson, purplish sky engulfing the end of a day.

Most of your teachers, up until this point, had simply begun writing something on the white board at the start of each class, and made less than memorable remarks while spitting out the theory written in the recommended books list in the syllabus. So distant, so abstract, so… Detached from real life.

This was thought-provoking. This was enthralling. Well, this was the reason you enrolled in law school in the first place. 

For a moment, you forgot this professor had just exercised his petty revenge on you, propping yourself up with trepidation. Your tiredness was completely forgotten as his monologue ensued.

He was the real deal.

"Fairness. It will be your guide to assess if a given penalty after a verdict is adequate or not, if someone who acted in self-defense should be found innocent or exceeded their rights in doing so… If the law itself is good enough as it is or should be subject to change, because a penalty might be too high for a seemingly innocuous offense that shouldn't even be a crime in the first place." 

Higuruma paused for a moment to let his students simmer on his words.

"Fairness is the be-all and end-all of Criminal Law. I need everyone to understand this before we proceed, because fairness will be our primary lens in this classroom when studying the subject. So, can I trust that all of you understood what fairness looks like, rather than what it can be conceptualized as?"

He darted his eyes in your direction, and you saw yourself unconsciously nodding in acquiescence. 

You were sure you caught a whiff of a smile on his face right before he resumed his introductory class of principles in criminal law.

***

“We are the only nerds that do this in the teacher’s lounge,” Higuruma stated, as he made his next move on the checkers board.

“You’re probably right,” Higuruma’s best friend replied in his pristine striped gray suit vest, as he thought for a second before making his own move and taking three consecutive pieces of Higuruma’s checkers as he did.

Higuruma groaned in response. Why does he always win on checkers? Goddammit.

“How are you so good at this, Kento? Let’s play chess, just so then I get to win” he complained, leaning back against his chair. “ I can see you winning this one in three moves.”

Nanami huffed. “Checkers was your idea. Besides, we both have our classes soon, there wouldn’t be enough time for a proper chess game.”

Higuruma removed his glasses and slid them inside one of his suit jacket’s inner pockets, brushing the tips of his fingers against his closed eyelids. He couldn’t catch a wink of rest the previous night, anxious to be back in a classroom after such a long time.

It all became very blurry, so he put his glasses back on.

Higuruma didn’t know if he was eager, nervous, happy or dreading this day.

Perhaps a mix of everything and then some.

“I needed something to wake me up. I’ve barely slept, and I’m in dire need of some coffee.” 

“You could try drinking the coffee from the teacher’s lounge,” Nanami pointed out, gesturing his head in the direction of a creepy looking and unkempt thermal bottle. “I wouldn’t advise you on it, though. Only professor Ieiri has been brave enough to drink it so far.”

“I guess I’ll take my chances with the foul cafeteria coffee, I might survive that.”

Nanami smiled as he looked at his friend.

“You’re too overly dramatic.”

At that, Higuruma scoffed.

“And you’re too underly dramatic. That’s why I teach the passionate, great chair of Criminal Law, and you’re responsible for the boring, sleep-inducing chair of Commercial Law.”

“It pays the bills pretty well at my firm,” the other professor retorted. 

Higuruma lifted an eyebrow, as if offended that Nanami thought that argument would dissuade him from his stance.

They were both silent for a moment before Nanami spoke again, noticing the deep eye bags on Higuruma's face.

“Are you having trouble sleeping?”

“No more than the usual,” Higuruma replied, shuffling on his chair, still focused on the checkers board.

Nanami lifted an inquisitive eyebrow, silent for a while, and Higuruma sighed.

“I mean it. I’m fine.”

Still a little unsure, Nanami nodded.

“Okay. Just reach out and come to my office if you need anything,” he offered, slight concern masked under the monotone of his voice. 

“Aw, he likes me,” Higuruma playfully chanted. “So thoughtful of you, my dear.”

“Tsk, shut up,” Nanami scoffed as he got up, taking his neatly folded blazer on his bent arm, “and it’d take me two moves instead of three to have this victory over you.”

“Seriously?!” Higuruma exclaimed, glancing at the board. Upon further inspection, he realized his friend was right. “Shit.”

“Hiromi, go drink your coffee at once. You’re barely functional right now, there is absolutely no way you could teach a class in the state you’re in.”

“Kento, I could teach criminal law in my sleep,” Higuruma mused before lifting himself up. Nanami sighed as Higuruma exited the room.

***

This might be the worst coffee I’ve ever drank, Higuruma thought to himself as he put his cup over the counter and removed his glasses to pinch on his nose. It was all but a failed attempt to air out the foul taste of that watered down, sad excuse for a coffee.

He tried drinking it with nothing — no sugar, no milk, no sweetener, but this atrocity begged for anything to mask the old powder aftertaste.

After folding his glasses and throwing them in one of his suit’s inner pockets, Higuruma let out a heartfelt sigh, just hoping for things to go smoothly that day.

He'd have his hopes torn to shreds in seconds.

Some loud, hasty steps coming in his direction caught his attention, but as soon as he turned to face whoever that was, Higuruma was met with a hot splash all over his shirt and tie.

You have to be kidding me.

“Shit! I’m so sorry!”

He heard a female voice coming from the blurred face right in front of him. Her voice was what he’d call an unusually sweet — if worried — voice. It had a genuinely kind melodic quality to it.

Even if hasty, her words sounded like a heartfelt apology.

Then, she… chuckled? 

Hm… What?

She seemed to lean over dramatically and grab something from behind his back. 

However, on the way back with her arm, her body brushed against his in a worrying fashion, and Higuruma quickly realized she was about to fall. Even though he was over 24 hours sleepless, adrenaline and his reflexes kicked in, as he held her before she could hit the ground, pulling her against him to stand on her feet.

He was still somewhat disoriented from lack of sleep, and failed to realize his hand was still holding her arm intently before the woman squiggled away from his grip.

There was a red blurry thing under her also blurred face.

Only then did he realize he should probably see her face and talk to her properly about the debacle.

The professor said it was fine and began tapping around his suit, not remembering in which pocket exactly he threw his glasses in. However, before he found it, the bell that indicated the time for the first class rang, and Higuruma realized he had completely lost track of time. 

"Fuck," first class and already running late. 

The woman seemed to apologize and ran away, leaving him dumbfounded.

The professor finally managed to find his glasses, fishing them out of his pocket and putting them on, glad that his next class was at the building just around the corner. 

He walked hastily towards it, and got there in less than a couple of minutes, seizing the opportunity to check on his state on the mirror as he entered the elevator.

The coffee stain was humongous and very evident on his white shirt, but he was glad that at least his black tie seemed to fend off fine from the beverage. As Higuruma passed his fingers over the fabric of both pieces, however, it was somewhat sticky. 

He let out a disheartened sigh, stepping out on the corridor and into the classroom, placing his briefcase on the side of his desk.

Now, what will I teach these people today?

Hiromi began ruffling around his papers trying to find the course syllabus, and realized he hadn't brought it with him. These papers were nothing but useless administrative shenanigans, so he decided to wing it in any way he could to illustrate criminal law for the students.

The thing is, how can you effectively grab someone's attention when it's 7 o'clock in the morning, and most people are completely hungover?

With adrenaline, of course.

***

The rest of the class went on without a hiccup, and you had made much more notes than you anticipated you would. His voice had a weird calming and focusing effect on you, as much as you hated admitting it — also, it wasn't so hard accompanying him walking around making his exposition when his face looked like that.

However, you decided you'd talk to him, first off because it would be incredibly uncomfortable to keep going to both of his classes for six months without ever addressing the coffee faux pas, and second because you had just been victimized by the pettiest revenge known to mankind by a college professor. 

You kind of deserved it, but still. It was pretty immature, even if he was Dr. Genius who just taught the best class you had ever seen in your life.

"So, students, we'll have a quick test this week," Higuruma stated, "the Dean has requested that all professors use these to assess your knowledge every month, and I'd like to get this over with as soon as possible."

Many sighs and displeased grunts could be heard around the classroom. He leaned over his desk as he sat, putting his papers away in his briefcase.

"I know, I don't like it either, but at least you'll only need to study a week's worth of content, not a month."

Some hm, fine, ugh, were uttered by the students as they left the classroom. You walked hesitantly behind them all, waiting for everyone to leave before you could speak to him alone. 

You were already going to be remembered as the girl mock expelled from the classroom. No one needed to know you also had assaulted their professor with a desecrated cup of coffee before that.

As you stepped in front of his desk, he lifted his gaze to meet yours.

"Yes?"

Something you hadn't anticipated was that looking at him — and his hooked nose — up close like this would jumble your thoughts around.

Oh, shit. He's handsome.

Dumbified, you spat out the first thing you could think of.

"So, professor, I'm the student you fake expelled earlier," you stated, realizing he obviously already knew that.

Brilliant. Off to a great start.

Higuruma nodded, feeling something prickling at the back of his brain as he heard your voice for a second time.

"What did you think? Was it a good way to convey this class motif?" he asked, finally closing his briefcase and putting it on the ground, completely ignoring the fact that it was probably an uncomfortable experience for all of the people involved, especially you.

You were a little incredulous at how oblivious he seemed to be, and it annoyed you. Was this out of good heart, or was he playing dumb?

"It was a good exposition, professor, but I wanted to talk about something else," you answered.

“5000 yen.”

“... What?”

“That’s my law firm’s hourly fee.”

You stood silent. He chuckled a little, shrugging back.

“I’m joking. I don’t even have a practice. Tell me what you need.”

Is this guy for real?

You cleared your throat before continuing.

“It felt horrible to be on the spot like that out of nowhere, without any knowledge as to what was going on.”

After blurting it out, you braced yourself, knowing full well by now that professors were usually pretty big ego'd kind of people. Nonetheless, this had to be said, at least for the sake of the next student he decided to torture with one of his experiments.

He looked at you with wide eyes, and seemed to ponder for a moment.

“Oh, I see. My apologies,” Higuruma offered in earnest, while his face softened.

You were very surprised.

“Oh, okay," you mumbled as you scratched the back of your neck, "I accept your apology. But maybe you should really give the student a heads-up next time you intend to do that.”

“That would presume I consider that students are people, and not minions to torture.”

Uh?

“Also a joke.”

“You’re not very good with those.”

Did I say that out loud? 

He simply stared surprised at you, seemingly a little shocked.

I did say it out loud.

"Fuck."

And that too. 

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Higuruma suddenly chuckled, much to your surprise. Your eyes widened, and you stared at him, extremely confused as to what was up with this guy.

“You're a sincere person," he noted, and you shrugged hesitantly.

Higuruma was definitely amused at this exchange.

He then proceeded.

"Being sincere is good, but my best friend always warns me to try keeping it to myself most of the time. I don’t listen, of course, but maybe you should for now. People get offended easily.” 

His exposition made you feel a little less out of place — and less alone, for what it was worth. You instantly remembered your parents used to chide you for blurting out things like that out of nowhere, instead of keeping them in your head like other people do, according to them.

You didn't realize you were smiling as you mindlessly opened your coat.

He took notice of your shirt, and began slowly realizing there was something off about it.

"Is that usual?" you asked, out of the blue.

He shook his head, being pulled out of his head. "What?"

"The mock expulsion?"

"Heavens, no."

"Then, why?" you inquired.

He rubbed his face with his hands.

"Because I needed something to wake mine and everybody else's brain up. Classes shouldn't be this early, and I didn't get a wink of sleep last night."

Higuruma was still out of sorts, spilling the tea of his insomniac state to one of his random students whom he had just met.

"Oh, me neither!" you told him, also absentmindedly, on a stream of consciousness rant towards a professor you were talking to for the first time. "Classes should start after noon, at the very least…"

"I know, right? Some things shouldn't be a crime, but making people wake up this early for class definitely ought to be."

You laughed softly, and you both kept silent for a moment, before you remembered what you thought was the reason for the mock punishment.

"Oh, professor… I'm sorry about the coffee."

He was confused for a few moments before broadening his eyes as he finally realized it.

No wonder Higuruma felt like he recognized your voice from somewhere, and now he took a good look at the red smudge he had seen earlier under what he figured was your face.

It was the ugliest scarf he had ever seen.

"I came here wanting to ask if you had done the fake expulsion thing as some sort of…" you sighed, a little ashamed. "Well, I'd like to apologize for staining your clothes, and offer to get you new ones, or at least pay for your laundry fee if needed."

He lifted one eyebrow at you before he resumed speaking.

"I didn't catch your face then. I mean, I didn't recognize you at all," Higuruma answered, "so no. But I'd never… Well, you barely know me, so you wouldn't know, but my opinion on the matter is that professors that exert selfish vendettas against students, for whatever reason, are absolute fools."

"You didn't recognize me? Say what now?"

He pointed at his glasses, and you finally understood completely how all of this petty revenge narrative was entirely in your head.

"I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay."

"But still…"

He sighed.

"It was a possibility, given how things in a college setting usually go, but that is why we investigate things further before prosecuting, right? A narrative might make a lot of sense, up until you confront it with the gathered evidence."

You joined your hands in front of you, embarrassed.

"Yes, I guess so," you answered, "but please, let me at least pay to get your clothes cleaned."

The professor shook his head.

"Absolutely not. You're an undergraduate student. I've been one, I'm quite aware of the financial hardships most of you endure as I've struggled with them myself not so long ago."

Even though you felt somewhat uncomfortable about not evening things out, he was right. This money would be fairly missed — you were already missing the $2 worth of coffee you didn't manage to drink.

"It was an accident, you didn't cover me with your beverage intentionally. Also, you had to leave because you were late for my class," he paused, "and I'm actually flattered you'd leave someone to fend off for themselves against that foul cafeteria coffee just to run to one of my classes."

You chuckled a little, and he proceeded.

"So, it's okay. You don't have to pay me for anything. This is fine."

You sighed, truly relieved, and he was glad you came to talk to him and properly apologize for the blunder.

"Thank you for your time and kindness, professor. I hope you have a good day."

He bowed his head slightly.

"Same to you."

However, something was still scratching at the back of his mind.

"Hm, hey… since we are on the topic of clothing and I just let you off the hook on paying for my dry cleaning…" Higuruma said, and you stopped midway towards the door, turning to face him.

"This might be an odd question, but I'm very curious."

"Hm… what is it?"

He pointed at your sleeping shirt, now evident under the open coat.

"Are those pajamas?"

You immediately pulled your coat over your hello kitty top, lifting one eyebrow in pathetic defiance.

"Of course… not?"

Higuruma thought to himself that you were turning into one of the most unique students he ever had.

"Do you intend to be an attorney?"

"... yes?" You answered, with some suspicion.

He huffed.

"Then improve your lying game for Court. You can do your crazy, but defend it as if it was the utmost truth in the universe, okay?"

Higuruma couldn't quite explain it, but this conversation with you was strangely amusing.

Maybe going back to the classroom wouldn't be so difficult after all, if even half of his students were a little out of sorts like this.

"... Okay," you replied, removing your hand and letting your pathetic sanrio pajamas shirt show once again.

"So, are those pajamas?" he inquired again, more incisively.

You straightened yourself and made a fake serious expression.

"Of course not."

"Much better," Higuruma answered with an actual smile.

The way his cheek creased around his mouth was weirdly charming, just as most things about him, it seemed.

Trying not to stare, you smiled back at Higuruma and turned around, leaving for your next class with heat prickling against your cheeks.

Tag list:

@arusearu @yammy-yammy-yama @markleeisdabestdrug @redlikerozez @delirious-donna

@alwaysfreakingout @murderofravens @senseifupa @higurumapet @cindyneko-strider 

@ohhheymessa @actuallysaiyan @bigbaddulce

[luveline]

hi jade !!! i absolutely adore ur fics of eddie n r with kids they’re always so cute :((( like they fr warm my heart sm !!

if ur still taking requests could u pls write smn w r and roan coloring eddie’s tattoos? it’s totally cool if not !! much luv 🫶🫶🫶

hi yes of course tysm for ur request 🥺

You're curled up on the small couch with your head in a book when Roan runs full pelt into the living room. Eddie, sitting on the floor with his hair tickling your thigh, opens his arms to catch her.

"God, you're a bombshell," he complains as she lands, "and where have your socks gone?"

She digs her feet into him and laughs, a move that shows very much who's daughter she is.

She's not big enough to do any damage and still Eddie whines, turning his face to you to beg for some saving. "She's making ground beef out of my legs."

"You're made of beef?" you ask mildly, turning a yellowed page. "Like a cow."

"Moo," Roan says.

Eddie feels at once like he's been gravely insulted and proud of her for remembering what animal makes what sound. He settles on glaring at her until she moo's again, and then stroking her hair behind her ears with a sigh.

"Your hair is getting soooo long, mini me. Do you wanna haircut?" He pretends to snip at her hair with his fingers.

You actually close your book at that. "It's beautiful. I love how even when it's brushed the ends stay lovely and curled. And when you do the ringlets," you praise, sounding dreamy. You rake your fingers through Eddie's hair and goosebumps race down his arms. "Just like her dad's."

You kiss the top of his head and then stand. "I'm gonna heat up that soup I brought, okay?"

He reaches out to stroke your leg as you go.

Roan hums a song under his head, hands on his arm. She tickles his bicep without meaning to and he giggles like an idiot, wrapping his arms around her back to restrain her.

"You didn't answer my question," he tells her.

"Question?" she says. It's a mouthful of a word for her, he's surprised she can get through it.

"You want a haircut? It's almost to your tummy." An exaggeration. It's just below her chest. "If you cut it all your curls would come back."

"Like daddy's?"

"Kind of."

Roan hums some more and then climbs out of his lap without answering his question. He takes it as a no, anyhow, and isn't surprised. Her hair looks lovely either way, he'd just wanted to express that she has the choice.

Abandoned, Eddie closes his eyes and drops his head into the space where you'd been. He loves Sunday's like this because the cleaning's been done, Roan's clothes have been washed, and all there is to do is sit and listen to his two girls making noise. You flit back and forth in the kitchen buffeted by the sounds of cooking, the smell of soup rich and enough to make his stomach ache. How nice, to be cooked for. Roan bumps around in her bedroom.

"Do you want me to go out and get some bread?" he calls.

"There's enough!" you call back. "Grilled cheese en route."

"Oh god," he murmurs, voice quiet and thick with delight, "I'm spoiled beyond my wildest dreams here. Blessed, even, I-"

His dramatics are cut short by Roan once again catapulting into his lap. He groans at the impact, screwing his eyes closed to play dead.

A cold wetness moves over his skin. He worries she's spit on him, but then Roan presses a little harder and the nib of a pen becomes clear. He peels his eyes open and finds her colouring the puppet with her washables.

Roan couldn't care less at his condition, he finds, her small hands on his arm and turning so she can see the puppeteer and his demon. He'd worried when she was a baby that one day she'd get scared of his tattoos. They're not the most kid-friendly he could have chosen when he was nineteen.

Despite plans for a small 'R' somewhere safe, he hasn't had a tattoo since she was born. Money has either been too tight or too sacred; how could he spend it on himself? There's always dolls and houses and dresses to buy, always ice cream and days out and things she needs.

She's chosen a soft pink. His skin is just pale enough to show it.

"Whatcha doing?" he asks redundantly.

"Colouring."

"I can see that. Any reason?"

"I like pink most."

"I can see that, too," he says. Roan swaps one pink for another. She doesn't try very hard to stay in the lines and he's not bothered. When she colours the puppeteer's hand in a fiercer purple he's actually quite impressed.

"That is beautiful," he says, giving the top of her arm a squeeze.

"'Nother one?" she asks.

He bradishes his other arm. "Please, baby."

She tries to colour the bats in green and pink, almost like flowers. It doesn't really work, as they're almost solid blocks of colour, but it's a valiant effort and he thanks her for it with a sloppy kiss to her cheek.

She loves it, giving him one in return. The pen in her hand leaves a long line up his neck as she ducks in.

Roan pulls away with a beaming smile.

He takes a chance and cups her face in his hand. Or rather, his thumb, because her face is tiny. "Thank you, Roan. You're a good drawer, you know? You're really good."

She smiles some more, shy and happy and adorable. He's shocked at how lovely she is whilst looking like him. It doesn't make any sense at all.

"Roan, you want grilled cheese, princess?" you call.

Eddie caps her pen and pulls her up into his arms. She takes it for a cuddle and hugs him as he carries her to the kitchen, all heavy and sweet in the nook of his neck.

"My girl's an artist."

You melt at the sight. Table set and dinner plated, you throw the hand towel over your shoulder and stand as close to him as you can. "Nice tattoos, handsome," you say.

"She is! Yes. Maybe I can have some tattoos after dinner," you say, voice taking on the bubble affect of parentese.

"Yes!" Roan shouts.

"I think we're agreed," Eddie drawls. "Now for our feast. Thank you, my lady."

You flick his shoulder. "Yeah, you're welcome, hotshot."

-

more eddie and roan

[berryhobii]

Hiiiii i just absolutely love your work and your representation for us black fans/readers thank u sm!!! im also extremely obsessed with Late for Work couple but this could go for any of the couples. im not sure if youre still taking requests (if not im so sorry not trying to be pushy kdjsks) but i wanted to know how would you think reader x Jungkook handle being an interracial couple in korea?! esp w her being a black woman? like reader feels a moment of insecurity or something and JK feels angry that someone made her feel that way and just loves her and makes her feel better? pure fluff or smut, ik you'd capture it perfectly 🥺💞 love you keep up the amazing work and take it easy!!!! xoxoxoxxxxx 💜💜💜

Hi! Thanks so much for your request! It really inspired me because I definitely understand being in an interracial relationship and the prejudice and problems we as black people face when he decide to date outside of our race. To my black people, WE ARE BEAUTIFUL. We have always been beautiful. People who hate on us fear our beauty because they know they could never replicate us or do what we do. Again, thank you for your request and I hope you enjoy! I made it a angsty but with fluff and just a tiny little piece of smut at the end. I also set this with the LFW Couple during their engagement phase🩵🩵🩵

~

Being a black woman, you’ve faced a lot of hate and turmoil. Some from your own community, some from others and even some self deprecation from yourself.

Regardless, you had amazing parents and friends who always assured you that your skin was beautiful and that you were beautiful. You were a black woman—the blueprint, the most elegant and graceful, the most envied.

You should be proud and you were.

Despite having so much overflowing confidence, there were moments where you could feel that little monster called insecurity crawling up your spine.

The most recent moment you could remember was a few months after you got engaged to your now wonderful husband, Jungkook.

He had taken charge of a lot of the wedding planning, saying he had a lot of good ideas and since he spent a lot of time at home anyway, he’d do most of the searching and calling. Of course, you’d come home and give some of your ideas as well.

“It’s your day, baby. I want you to have everything you want.”

Your heart and tummy soared with butterflies at hearing that. He really treated you like a princess. It was both of your wedding but Jungkook wanted you to have the wedding of your dreams. He didn’t care if you wanted him to wear pajamas or dye his hair orange, he’d do it if it meant you’d be happy.

With wedding preparations came things like makeup consultations and hair trials. As a black woman in Korea, there wasn’t a lot of options for makeup that fit your skin or people who understood your natural hair so you knew you’d probably be relying on yourself a lot for the time being. Good thing you knew how to do your own makeup and hair but doing it yourself kind of took away the magic and experience of wedding planning.

Thankfully, with some hard searching, you found a salon with a black employee. You could have cried tears of joy, seeing as her skin complexion was close to yours and that she had experience with wedding makeup.

Her name was Jazz and she was actually born in South Korea. The salon she worked at was owned by a close friend of her parents and she’s been working there for a few years.

“So, tell me about your fiancé. Is he handsome?” She asked you in English as she detangled your hair. Your Korean was pretty good but you sometimes preferred English.

You smiled just thinking about him, pulling up a photo of him on your phone. It was a selfie you two took after getting engaged—your left hand raised to show off your ring and him cheesing hard at the camera.

Jazz made an ‘oooo’ sound, looking a little closer at him. “He is very handsome. How’d you bag someone like that?”

With candy crush, you thought.

“Yeah. He’s amazing. He’s so kind and sweet too. I can’t imagine life without him.” You chattered dreamily. Your life had barely started with Jungkook but you wanted to live the rest of it with him. You wanted to laugh with him, to scold him for staying up too late, to argue with him and then make up later, to experience every joyous moment with him.

You only wanted him. For the rest of your life.

Jungkook came to pick you up after your appointment, waltzing into the shop like he owned it. You bit your lip at the sight of him—he’s being growing his hair out, claiming he wanted to see how it would look before the wedding. He asked how you’d like it and you insisted you’d love his hair any kind of way but you were secretly wishing he’d grow it out and wear a ponytail. Fingers crossed!

When you started spending more time together, you noticed how many hours he spent in the gym. You’d FaceTime him sometimes and he’d often be boxing or lifting weights, sweat dripping down his neck and muscles bulging. And yes, the first time you two had sex was after one of those calls. You had given yourself a 90 day time restraint, just to make sure he was pursuing you for more than just sex. 89 days was pretty close though so you considered it a win!

He scrunched his nose in a cute smile when he saw you, long legs carrying him over to where you were getting some final touchups by Jazz. She noticed him approaching, jaw dropping at your fiancé.

She leaned down to whisper scream in your ear, “girl he is fine as hell!”

You chuckled. “I know.” Standing to your feet, you greeted your sexy fiancé. “Hi baby.” You greeted in Korean.

Once he was close enough, he pulled you into a hug, inhaling the scent of your clean hair and all the products Jazz used. He pulled away to get a good look at you.

“You look beautiful baby.” He complimented and you smiled even wider, feeling all giddy under the praise. “Do you think this is the hairstyle you want for the wedding?”

“I like it but I don’t know. I’m gonna come back.”

“Please do!” Jazz chimed from behind you, making both of you laugh.

“Jungkook, this is Jazz.” You introduced. He smiled politely at her, reaching out a hand for her to shake.

“Nice to meet you.”

“The pleasures mine. I have so many ideas for the wedding and I just know your fiancé will look amazing in anything.” She gushed.

You felt Jungkook’s hand squeeze at your waist, looking down at you with soft eyes that made your heart flutter.

“I know she will too.”

You wanted to plant a smooch right on those lips, squeeze him tightly and never let him go.

Jazz’s grin was wider than the damn Joker. Ah, she loved love.

Jungkook’s eyes widened slightly as he remembered something, turning to Jazz, he inquired, “hey, do you guys dye hair here? I’m thinking of going purple.” He followed an excited Jazz over to the wall where they kept hair dye samples.

You smiled endearingly at both of them. They both gave off golden retriever energy. You hoped they’d be friends.

While they did that, you went back to the waiting area. You had seen a wedding magazine that you wanted to show Jungkook.

There were 2 older Korean lady’s sitting there, chatting to each other and reading magazines as well. They looked up when you entered, giving you looks that you’ve grown used to living here. It wasn’t really disgust or anything, it was more like a “what are you going here” kind of look.

You smiled at them, bowing your head a little in respect before shifting through the magazines for the one you were looking for. You found it, flipping through the pages to search for the centerpieces you saw.

“She’s marrying him? How distasteful.” You heard one of them say. You paused for a second. Were they talking about you? No, right? They were already having a conversation before you walked up. They were probably talking about someone else.

Just mind your business, you thought.

“It’s bad enough one of them is working here. I don’t want her touching my hair but Sunhee insists she knows what she’s doing. I don’t believe it. They can barely take care of their own hair. Just look at it.”

There was no way you could doubt that. They were definitely talking about Jazz. She had hair that appeared shorter, compliments of shrinkage. She showed you a photo of her hair straight and it was very close to her butt. You knew of the negative implications behind natural hair, especially when it came to shrinkage and the stereotypes surrounding it. You wished people understood more about black hair but ignorance had no bounds.

“I’d never let my son marry one of her kind. Look at her. She looks dirty. Just imagine their children. Ugh.”

Dirty? You weren’t dirty. And what was one of your kind? They were talking about you like you were less than human. You’ve experienced a lot over the years living here in South Korea—fetishization, discrimination, even people randomly touching you but you’ve never had anyone be that bold to speak about you right in front of you. They must have heard you speaking English with Jazz and assumed you didn’t understand them. Or they could very much well know you spoke Korean and just didn’t care.

You didn’t even realize Jungkook approaching you, startling a little at his hand on your back.

“You alright, baby?”

You managed a convincing smile. You didn’t want to cause a scene or anything. Jungkook was very overprotective of you. He didn’t tolerate disrespect and your comfort and safety was his number one priority. He was quick to remove you from any situations that he thought you’d be unsafe in and he was even quicker in shutting someone down who tried to embarrass or disrespect you.

You trusted him with your whole heart so why was it so hard to tell him? You took one look in those doe like eyes and you never wanted to see them harden in anger or get misty with tears.

So you smiled and reassured him. “I’m fine. I wanted to show you these centerpieces. Aren’t they nice?”

“They’re wonderful. I really like that arrangement. Let me take a picture of it.” He pulled out his phone and snapped a quick photo. “Ready to go? Taehyung and Namjoon invited us out to dinner.”

“Yup. All ready. Let me just say bye to Jazz.”

He nodded and let you go. Your smile dropped when you turned around, speed walking over to Jazz who was cleaning her station.

She noticed you walking up. “Oh, your fiancé already paid for you. He also made an appointment to dye his hair purple. Can you believe it? I personally think red would suit him better but-“

You cut her off by pulling her into a tight hug. You know you just met her so this was probably strange but you just needed her to know something.

She did think this was the tiniest bit weird but she still reciprocated your hug. You were a really nice person and she loved knowing of another black woman living in the same area.

“You okay?” She asked.

You pulled away and smiled at her. “I’m wonderful. And you’re beautiful.”

Her expression softened. “Thank you. So are you.”

“Here, take my number. I’d love it if you could come to my wedding.”

~

The entire car ride home, you were quiet. You had turned on the music to avoid any conversation. You knew if Jungkook started questioning you about what happened at the salon, you’d break and tell him about those women. You also knew it was stupid of you to hold it in but you just couldn’t tell him. You’d just forget and move on.

Yeah, that wasn’t happening.

When you got home, Jungkook went to take a phone call and you went to the bedroom to stare at yourself in the mirror.

You loved your hair. You loved yourself. You loved your skin. Those women were just ignorant. You shouldn’t let them get to you.

But you couldn’t stop thinking of what they said about you and Jungkook.

“I’d never let my son marry one of her kind.”

Did Jungkook’s parents think that of you? They were very kind to you and never made you feel not welcomed. You spoke to his mother all the time about the wedding. She’s even taught you how to cook Jungkook’s favorite meals. His father was a bit more stern but still a very kind man.

And what about Jungkook? Did he have an issue with you being black? You don’t think he would have dated or proposed to you if he didn’t, right? You never assumed he had an issue with your race just like you didn’t have a problem with his. Of course, you acknowledged he was Korean and you did your best to respect him and his culture. He was always so open, assuring that you could ask him anything and you did the same.

He admitted you were the first non Korean woman he’s ever dated and he didn’t want to do anything to offend you. Like he assured you, you told him that you weren’t much different from others. You still expected him to treat you well in this relationship and vice versa. Your differences in your races and culture didn’t really change very much.

So moments like these really made you wonder if you were too different.

“Baby, we have a few hours before dinner. Did you want to play It Takes Two with me?” Jungkook asked as he entered the bedroom. He noticed how you were staring at yourself but not in the normal admiring way you often did.

This time, your face looked somber. Was something bothering you?

“Baby? Are you okay?”

You looked at him through the mirror.

You couldn’t keep it from him any longer.

Sighing, you turned to face him. He had moved closer to you so now he was just inches away.

For some reason, you couldn’t lift your eyes to meet his. Shame burned at you.

Jungkook pouted his lip and tilted his head, reaching out a hand to cup your cheek and raise your head. Your eyes met and suddenly that dam broke.

He could see how your eyes began to tear up and he panicked. “What’s wrong? What happened?” He racked his brain for anything he could have done to upset you but nothing was really coming to mind. Was this one of those times you wanted him to pick up on hints? He could be a little dense sometimes which you thought was cute. You were good at communicating which helped both of you avoid any unnecessary problems.

So what was wrong?

“Jungkook…..do you….have a problem with me being black?”

Wow. Not what he was expecting. Then again, he didn’t really know what to expect. You hardly cried so he hasn’t gotten very good at determining your types of crying.

He was baffled by your question. “What? What are you talking about?”

You sighed again. “Well, I overheard these women talking at the salon. They were talking about me and Jazz. They called me dirty and said that they’d never let their sons marry one of my kind….” You inhaled a shaky breath, looking away from his eyes. If you looked any longer, the tears would fall.

Jungkook felt two emotions well up in him. The first was pure rage because how dare someone speak about you like that? He wished he had heard it because he would have given those women a piece of his mind. Respecting your elders was an important part of his culture but he didn’t give a damn about that when someone was disrespecting you.

The second emotion was sympathy because he hated seeing you doubt yourself. You were such a wonderful person, surefooted and with an unflappable spirit. You let comments roll off your back like water, only looking ahead and never letting people taint your energy. He knew you used to struggle sometimes with self love, especially trudging through the world as a black woman but he never saw it get to you and he admired that about you.

So to see you ready to cry over this made his heart ache for you.

“Sweetheart, look at me.”

You blinked your tears away, slowly shifting your gaze to stare back at him. A gentle smile was on his face, one you only ever saw during moments like this—those moments where he could fully open his heart up to you.

“Do you really think I would have even pursued you if I had a problem with that?”

You shrugged your shoulder. “I don’t know….” You mumbled, averting your gaze again but he moved his head a little to make you look at him again.

“I think you’re the most stunning person I’ve ever laid eyes on. When I first saw you, all I could think was how could such a gorgeous person exist? Naturally, I noticed your skin but only because it was glowing. You were brighter than anyone in that restaurant.”

You choked out a watery laugh. You remember that day. It was one of those days where you felt particularly hot. You weren’t expecting to meet someone but there was Jungkook, a little awkward but so charming. He caught your attention immediately. No one knew but receiving those flowers from him solidified your attraction to him and a part of you knew you’d be together in the long haul.

“I don’t care about you being black.” Then he realized what he said and backtracked a little. “Well, of course I care but you know, I don’t and….wait let me start over.” He stumbled, making you laugh again. That boyish awkwardness always managed to rear its head but it only made you fall for him even harder.

“I get what you mean.”

He sheepishly grinned before continuing, “I care about it because I care about you but I also don’t care because that’s not all you are. You’re sensible and bright and clever and so self assured. Not to mention, your ass is absolutely amazing and I want it tattooed on my forehead.”

You snorted a laugh, playfully smacking him on the chest. He was so silly but he knew if it was possible, he’d do it. He was that obsessed with you and everything about you.

“You’re ridiculous.”

He wrapped his arms around your waist to pull you closer to him, sparkling eyes blinking up at him.

“And your laugh is goofy and you’re bad at reading directions for furniture and you put your freezing cold feet on me at night which drives me insane.” He huffed.

“Socks are uncomfortable.” You defended.

“But…” He leaned down to brush his lips over yours. “I love all of that about you. I’ve never once doubted that. I love you, all of you.”

The tears finally fell but they weren’t because of your insecurity, not anymore. They were because you adored this man in front of you and you felt so unbelievably lucky to have him in your life.

“I love you too.”

Your lips met in a kiss that reminded you that he was what you needed. He was the only person you wanted.

And as you made love that night, sweet whispers of his love warming your skin, all of those previous anxieties had completely dispersed from your mind. His cock stretched you open, your arms holding him tightly and his hands grounding you to this reality. His lips blazed hot kisses across any skin he could reach, hips pushing slow and deep inside of you and bringing you closer to euphoria.

“You’re so beautiful.” He whispered, gripping your thighs that were wrapped around his waist and keeping him close.

“Jungkook….” You breathily uttered his name, not knowing what else to say but he didn’t need you to. He could feel all of your emotion through his name and he wanted to hear more of it.

“I got you, baby. Always.”

That little monster was locked back in its cage for now. You couldn’t guarantee it wouldn’t break free again but you knew Jungkook would be there to help you through everything.

Everytime.

[cupidsdescendant]

oh my god I'm so embarrassed but do you think you could give us some headcanons for a friends-to-lovers kinda thing with Scout? maybe some nsfw ones as well??🥺 a shy reader maybe? afab?? totally cool if this is too specific or if you'd just rather not 👉👈

hey anon! Sure I'd love to. I've been working on a longer fic so I haven't been online much but thank you for the ask!

Friends 2 Lovers: Scout X Y/N! (BONUS NSFW)

-Both of you have been close friends for years, you could tell by all the childhood photos each others mom's forced you to take

-Photos of you and him at his birthday, your birthday, at the zoo, roller skating, etc. They all hung up on a corkboard that had all his cherished memories on display. -Scout had always felt neutral with you because you were his closest friend. Except for a few awkward moments that you both repressed. -Moments like Y/N laying on his chest, her hand accidentally moving close to his thigh or them accidentally touching hands, both tried to forget them but when they were alone, it was always in their mind. -Scout would occasionally flirt with Y/N "as a joke". He also loves "practicing" cheese one-liners on you. -"Are you from Tennessee? Because you're the only 10 I see!" he says clicking his tongue and shooting finger guns at you. "God you're such a dork." Y/N says, rolling her eyes. -"Okay, okay how bout' this one-...Baby, if you were words on a page, you’d be fine print~!" Scout says with a huge grin. -"Yeah maybe," Y/N said, she put her hand on her face and looked longingly at him. "You play baseball, yeah? Cus you're a real knock outta the park." -Scout's face became lightly flushed with pink, "haha. Y-you're kidding, right?" "Of course. Why would I be serious?" She got up and stretched her arms "Besides if I was going to flirt with you I'd be less cheesy." -"...How so...?" He asked. -Y/N looked over to him and grabbed his hat from his head, firmly placing it on hers. "Maybe something a little like this." -She put her arms around his shoulders and pushed him to her "How bout we go to my room and you give me a home run?" She said with a toothy grin. Scout's face was doused in red and a loud roar of laughter followed "God that was so bad!!!" Y/N said holding her face "Oh my god, sorry. I'll think of something better." She walked away leaving Scout an embarrassed mess -Even though it was a "Joke" he couldn't stop thinking about the interaction. He buried years of crushing so deeply that once Y/N said that, they all rose from the grave. He couldn't stop thinking about her in more ways than "Just friends." -Of course, Y/N felt this way the entire time but she tried to pay no mind to it. Her heart was always heavy when she was next to him because there was this want to just tell him how she felt...but she couldn't -Weeks go past after the interaction and both of them decided to work the courage to ask each other. Scout with a letter in hand and Y/N was a planned speech they both asked each other to meet at the top of the hill where a huge tree stood. -"No I-" They said together "Wait-No You can go-" Their words were identical, pointing at each other "STOP!!! YOU GO FIRST- OH MY-" Both of them grunted in annoyance and Y/N signaled to zip Scout's mouth. -"J-Jeremy." She said anxiously, staring at his eyes made her anxiety worsen. "Uh...so like. We've been friends for a while and. I- Uhm..." Y/N shut her eyes tightly and poured the truth out. "Jeremy, I've always liked you and it was hard to say because...I didn't want to ruin our friendship if...i-if it didn't w-ork.." -Scout dropped his letter and gently held her hands. "No, no. I...I felt the same way too, Y/N. You're right- that's the reason why I kept it in for so long." -"So what now?" She said looking at him. -A sensual kiss fell onto Y/N's lips, Scout's gently touching hers and she felt herself met a little. He pushed up against her and she held tightly onto his shirt as they both lowered down. -A whole make-out sesh happened on that damn hill lmao. NSFW WARNING AHEAD!

-Tries hard in bed to please you, but has no experience. -Jacks off A LOT, though. This man shoots semen like 24/7. -Whenever he watches porn he tried to take notes to make sure he does the same to you lol -Average erection, around 5-6. -He asks his mom what to do once you both have sex and she hands him a pack of condoms

-Takes him bout a minute to put one on, he's super embarrassed by it. "I hope I can try and give you a good time..." "Any moment with you is great, Jam Jam." (yes that's his nickname) -Fear not! He gets the hang of it and progressively gets better. -Is willing to do any kinks you enjoy <3. Some of his is degradation, praise, very light BDSM, and overstimulation

-He's a little dirty too~ (he doesn't tell you) but even though you guys are dating he imagines you aren't, and it's just his hot best friend giving blow jobs for free or "practice" -He lets you overstimulate him, practically have him shaking by the end of every session -His favorite thing to do with you is eat you out and let your cum drip out. Sucking it and licking your clit afterward

-He always spoons you after and hugs you but for some reason, he gets super hungry and energetic so he'll usually bring back a snack and talk your head off until you're asleep!! Ighty anon! Thanks for the request!! I'll be uploading more in the future <3

[timmymyluv]

double trouble

FAKE INSTA

dad!timothée chalamet x mother!reader

hope you guys missed the twins au! this is super cute and I love this domestic soft parenting theme so please enjoy 🫂

tchalamet shared a story

ynandtimo.fansite

liked by randomuser,datuser and 1.1m others

our lovely parents out for date night without the kids after a while. 💗

tagged yourusername, tchalamet

user7 my parents I think

ynfanbase wait 🤔so if in the first years since yn had the twins they'd accompany timmy for his rare one year projects but now he hasn't accepted anything new sans the movies he's already filmed 👀

dunestimo ok you have a point 😭 word on the street says yn is gearing for her fashion comeback both on the runway and on the magazine

username972 omg what if she goes straight for vogue usa when ur that girl 😌

bestgirlyn when you comeback from ur hiatus after raising kids with thee timothee chalamet strong as ever as the fashion world's darling >>>

datuser even her maternity and post birth clothing was always on point 😭without when trying shed look so good

user789 timo house husband era soon🔜

yourusername timo male wife

ynschalamet YN??!?! WHAT ARE U DOING HERE

yourusername nothing 😁just missed u guys

ynsbulgaria miss you too angel ❤️sending hugs and kisses to the fam

datuser whens the new album? also missed u on the runway queen

liked by yourusername

ynfanbase OMG SHE LIKED WGAT DOES THIS MEAN?!?

yourusername

liked by kendalljenner, gigihadid,stevenyeun and 20.3m others liked this

back to work? missed the chaos.

user876 not yn posting an actual candid pic of her backstage

yourusername im ngl it can get real crazy backstage at fashion shows 😭😭never been one to sugarcoat

bellahadid ditto

yourusername can't wait to walk the runway again with u baby bells 🥺

bellahadid me too my butterfly 🫂💗

devonleecarlson RETURN OF THE GOATTTT

hooooooyeony never lost your spark girl!

yourusername 고마워 언니! (thank you older sister!)

kekepalmer so excited bestie!!!

yourusername me too bby ❤️

tchalzfans

liked by randomuser, user824, and 569k others

papa timmy going on a walk with the twins in central park today! everyone was fairly skeptical and wanted to give the family the space but timo offered to take a few pics to the lucky fans who were so gracious/respectful.

tagged tchalamet

tchalamet do I have a dad bod yet? *drum hits to a lame joke*

user888 TIMMY 😭😭

yourusername you ate with me during all my cravings and still built like that nothing we can do about

tchalamet I can dream

yourusername keep dreaming wildcat

sandboxuser WILDCAT THE HSM REFERENCE WKDKEK

milliebobbiebrown 🎶you may sayyy I'm a DREAMERRR 🎶🎶

yourusername 😭😭MILLSIE PLEASR

user233 see guys how being respectful to celebs pays off

fan197 when we don't treat them like wild animals and actual humans who deserve privacy like everyone else>>>>

ynsgermany omg where's yn

yn4ever she announced her comeback to the runway remember? the kids are a little older and tim is taking some time off to be with the two while mama is back, still on top of her game 😌

trolls8 he looks a little tired

usernamehere now can u stfu if you were a dad to twin toddlers you'd look tired too you old hag

user111 😭😭

usernamehere if you wanna look tired i can give u a black eye or two you punk

odessamay I was the fan who took a pic with him here! he was so nice I felt shy to ask for a pic as I was also waiting for a bagel but he so kindly offered 🥺

laurieschalamet ooh what flavour of bagels did he get?

odessamay he got plain old cream cheese while he got some strawberry and cream bagels for yn!

ynsparadise yes I heard yn is still in nyc just having more meetings/photoshoots but she's not that far off from the kiddos

odessamay the kids are so cute clearly no one took pics of them to respect their privacy but they were so friendly and charming to the strangers they'd meet!! sometimes they were shy hiding behind their dad but they loved hugging/shaking others hands or even talking to them about anything ❤️

user87 yn and timo raised such good natured, well adjusted and polite kids

liked by nicoleflender

yourusername

liked by lilyrosedepp, noahschnapp,louispartridge and 29.3m others

first time on set since I had the twins. I admit it hasn't been the easiest and I was quieting down fears even as the cameras flashed. but to make it clear, I only look like this post childbirth bec of my genetics/natural physique, and the resources that allows me significant assistance during childbirth, running the household and a loving, dedicated staff whose main job is to keep me happy and healthy. Our bodies have done such a wonderful thing to bring a child to this world and you should treat your body kindly after, not push yourself to look a certain way after.

Your body changing after childbirth isn't a bad thing, if you don't wear the same pant size anymore, your organs rearranged differently or something changes colour or the stretch marks that form, everyone's body is different and let's celebrate that as long as it's not causing any significant harm, discomfort or illness to your lovely body.

I cannot thank the entire village who was by my side then and now when I welcomed my two little angels and the warm embrace as you've welcomed me back to the fashion world. To my muse, my partner, my other half @/tchalamet I cannot thank you enough for the love and sacrifice you've shown our family and I love love you so much mon amour.

tagged voguemagazine, tchalamet

tchalamet baby mama 💗

yourusername better be your only or else 🔪

tchalamet you can be sure of that ma'am 😁

florencepugh You better. Or Else.

usernamehere SO OMINOUS YN DEFENCE SQUAD SERIOUSLY

cher u look so sexi darling xxo 🎉💌❤️💜💙❗♨️🔊

user444 love cher and her blast of emojis wkdkdk

yourusername thanks cher!

anokyai missed you girl!!!

yourusername missed you too babes!! see you soon mwah 😘

jasminetookes amen to the message! you don't have to look like this childbirth you just delivered a baby from your pelvis that alone is so miraculous

phoebebridgers women are so powerful>>>>

liked by tchalamet,nicoleflender and paulinechalamet

emilyratajkowski love u mama

yourusername from one mama to another xoxox

[starlit-hopes-and-dreams]

Word find tag (soon, later, wait, when, and now)

I was tagged by @thegreatobsesso. Thank you! <3

Tagging: @i-can-even-burn-salad, @winterandwords, @nanashi23 Your words: quick, thrill, threat, laugh, heal

I've been challenged to find positive quotes after my last very angsty word find. They were slightly difficult to find, but turns out I *do* have a few :D

These will be from Shattered Soul. It got a bit long (bc they're cute scenes damnit 🥺💜), so I'm slapping on a readmore.

wip intro

Soon

[Darian] He fixed up a plate and dug in; he hadn't realized how hungry he was. To his relief, Alaia began eating again as well, although she stopped sooner than he would've liked.

She gave him a strange look right as he took a large bite from a meatpie. "I'm really not a prisoner here, am I? Kiala offered me training. You're sitting here eating with me, not even asking any questions. Nobody locks the door. If I could walk more than two steps at a time, could I leave?"

The meatpie stuck in his throat at that, and he reached for some water to wash it down. "Do you want to leave?" he asked carefully.

Please, don't want to leave.

"Leave the room," she clarified, and he began to breathe again, nonchalantly taking another sip of water to cover his relief.

Later

[Alaia] She picked up the clear glass, which showcased a rainbow of colored liquid within. It smelled sweet, slightly fruity, but had the distinctive aroma of alcohol. Tentatively, she took a tiny sip, mindful of the coffee she had tried this morning. But she was relieved to find this tasted wonderful, like a medley of different fruits bursting upon her tongue. A noise of appreciation escaped as she looked at the drink with more interest.

Nuzzling her temple, Darian asked, "Better than the coffee?"

A pleasant warmth spread in her chest as she took a larger drink. "Oh yes, there's no comparison."

Darian chuckled.

Jesam pressed close to her other side, reaching over to grab some bread and cheese. Aleix teased him, jerking the basket away, and she reached out to intervene as they started fighting for it. Cambria gave her a conspiratorial grin, and they both reached for the basket, claiming the last couple pieces of bread, cramming them into their mouths as all the males complained.

A couple of drinks later, Alaia felt ready to float free from her body. Whatever this alcohol was, it wasn't human alcohol. It made her feel light and airy. But also warm and fuzzy, so maybe it was normal alcohol. She didn't know anymore, and didn't care.

Wait & When

Before he could mention adding milk or sugar, she lifted her cup and took a cautious sip. Darian winced, anticipating her reaction. Sure enough, her eyes watered as her face screwed up in disgust at the bitterness.

"Oh gods," she gasped. "You people drink this willingly? What is wrong with you?"

Darian burst out laughing, even while he mindspoke their server.

Alaia gave him a dirty look, pushing the cup away. "It's not funny—"

"I'm so sorry," Tay said, interrupting Alaia before she could give Darian the tongue-lashing he likely deserved. "Here, let me help you. Most of us prefer at least a little cream and sugar to soften the bitterness. Or I could bring you tea, if you'd rather not try again." They wrung their hands while they waited for Alaia's response.

"Oh no, it's not your fault," Alaia assured them. She shot another glare at Darian and reached for the small container of cream the server had brought. "How much should I add?

Darian was convinced there was more cream and sugar than coffee in Alaia's cup when she finished. By that time, their food had been delivered. Alaia looked at her plate of fluffy sweet bread topped with fresh fruit with something that actually resembled interest. She picked up her fork, then pointed it at Darian.

"Tell me, is there anything I need to add to this to make it not taste like burned charcoal steeped in hot water?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Are you going to stab me with that fork?"

"Only if you lie to me." She scowled, but there was a thread of amusement dancing between them, and Darian smiled.

Now

She rolled her eyes, turning to point her fork at Kiral. "Speak."

Kiral burst out laughing. "Bossy much, kaireda mia?"

"I'm not above stabbing you with this fork and making you squirm before I heal you," Alaia threatened, waving said fork around. "And what in the Mother's name did you just call me? At least your brother translates his sappy terms of endearment."

"I think you like my sappy terms of endearment, mi'alla," Darian said, squeezing her hip.

"Kaireda mia means dear sister," Kiral managed to choke out between bouts of laughter. "Now we've moved on to physical threats?"

Alaia lowered her fork, suddenly remembering the king and queen were at the table. She eyed them a little nervously, considering she'd just threatened to stab the crown prince.

Mariana caught her look, and smiled. "We don't hold titles in this room, kaireda. Besides, I'm sure Darian is thrilled to learn his mate is just as bloodthirsty as he is."

Elian chuckled. "Yes, Darian is pretty quick to draw his dagger. Kiral probably appreciates only being threatened with a fork."

"I do!" Kiral said, gasping for breath. "I appreciate it about as much as the offer to heal me after. Means I don't have to trail blood everywhere while I drag myself to the Hall of Healing."

[hewasmadeofthegalaxy]

I want to know more about dream friend 🥺

His name was Poe

I first dreamt of him when I was five

He was my age at the time. He died when we were both seventeen.

I'm about 99% sure he was Egyptian

We lived in an oasis, where the tree canopy was so thick, you'd only get sunshine in certain spots. The oasis was lit up by glowing mushrooms and grasses and fireflies, it was deadass so beautiful

Outside of our oasis was dangerous desert. There were ruins out there, but they were few and far between. When we got older, Poe started ruin-diving to try to find Old World treasures to sell for some spending money.

There were other oasis cities out there, but they were few and far between. I think we went to another one once, but it was such a long journey that we promised each other to never do that again lmao

He had a little sister who looked WAYY different from him. It was one of those things you understood that you never talked about. Poe didn't ask me what my real life was like and I never asked him why his little sister was white.

Poe was very intelligent and had an extensive library filled with all sorts of interesting topics. I tried to read some of the books once, but they were all in Latin.

His sister once mistook us for a couple and he explained to her that he was too busy Adventuring™️ to commit himself to something so silly as romance. I thought it was funny. She did not.

There was one point we found a temple, absolutely COVERED in moss. We had to dig through it, looking for old artifacts, and we were surprised when the moss started coming up ON ITS OWN in clumps. Turned out some land crabs had decorated their shells with it. They were not happy with us and we both had to climb up two separate pillars to get away from their stupid little pinchers.

There was one point where we found a trapdoor in a random alleyway and we went into it, thinking we would find maybe an old sewer tunnel. It was a bomb shelter.

It still held signs that a lot of people had been holed up there around 200-250 years ago.

Poe deadass said, "Well that's enough lore for one day. I'm going to go make some Mac n cheese" and the promise of Mac n cheese had me following him back out.

Poe was always the type to be SUPER excited about adventuring, giggling a lot and jumping around, but when there was evidence that the Old World did not end well, he would immediately play it off and leave, but you could tell it was getting to him.

The night he died, we were at a ruin we'd never been to before. The ruin was comprised of broken up concrete, a skyscraper that was missing its top half, and what looked like a regular mud patch.

Important to know that in this dreamworld, this was the only skyscraper that existed.

He was muttering, tossing things to the side. He had dark bags under his eyes and he wasn't smiling or laughing.

I kept asking what we were doing there and telling him that something felt very off about the place.

"There's something off about all of it" was his response.

We went to cross the mud patch, me lagging behind him.

We found out the hard way that it wasn't a mud patch

He sank in and I tried to get him out, telling him not to struggle, but he was in full panic mode. I was reaching forward with a long piece of rebar and telling him to grab on, but it was just beyond his reach.

I tell him that it would be okay that I would see him in my dreams again, that he couldn't die permanently and he had that "oh you sweet summer child" look on his face.

He was crying when he was dragged under. I couldn't dig him out and I was too far from help.

I never saw him again. Not even in flashbacks.

[exalted-dawn-drabbles]

HI OKAY ONE MORE BELOVED🥰🥰 perhaps for Tal & Neria (if you'd indulge me🥺): ❛ because i like you. because you’re my friend. ❜?

Thank you to @inquisimer, @contreparry, and @dadrunkwriting for the prompts! Combining two today :3 'Because I like you. Because you're my friend.' and 'you brought me food?' Enjoy a silly little drabble about Talenna, Neria, and Cheese XD Rated:G

Cheesy | By Exalted_Dawn

Perhaps the steady lurch of a horse’s gait would never be something Talenna got used to. In fact, if it meant not having to stay in the saddle for a minute more, Talenna didn’t care if she never became accustomed to the feeling. 

“Creators, please tell me that we are almost to Jader,” she called ahead, not bothering to keep the irritation from her tone. She was far too tired for platitudes. Whatever gratitude she’d held for being out on the road again was now long diminished by the persistent ache in the base of her spine. 

Neria snickered, looking far too amused for Talenna’s liking. “HA! I could but I’d be lying, lethal’lan. By my guess, we’re still a handful of hours out from where we’ll be making camp, and then we have about two hours more of riding tomorrow until Jader. Why? Is your ass feeling it yet?” 

“Aye well some of us don’t have calluses for arse cheeks,” she huffed, more bark than bite. How anyone could do this for days on end without going completely numb in the bones was beyond her understanding. 

But Fenedhis, four more hours? The both of them had run out of their food stores earlier this morning and the hunger had only served to sharpen Talenna’s foul mood. 

“I’ll forgive you for that comment only because you agreed to keep me company on this trip, and only because you look so miserable.” Neria’s great loping hart pulled up alongside her own steed, startling the horse into a lurching side step when its heavy rack of antlers swung too close. Talenna yanked hastily on the reins, but new to riding as she was, overcorrected and jammed her leg between both flanks. 

“Pala ma’ masa,” she sputtered with a hiss.

Neria watched with a not-so-subtle interest, her lips twitching with the effort of holding back laughter. “I thought you said you were used to hard travel.”

“On foot,” Talenna clarified, flexing her toes to help work feeling back into her muscles. “I only learned to ride about two months ago. And this is the first time I’ve gone without taking regular breaks. You’ll have to excuse me, your Holiness, for the faults of my mortality.”

“Ooooohhhhh, low blow, Talenna,” Neria said with a shake of her head. “Low blow.” 

Talenna snorted, the sound swelling into a half-stifled giggle, and together they laughed. For the first time in days, Talenna felt some of her weariness slip away. It was a small comfort, the simple joy of good company, but even so, it was a welcome reprieve. 

“Here,” Neria started, a wide grin still on her face as she rifled through her bag. She pulled out a swath of cheesecloth– a parcel roughly the size of a small notebook– and passed it to Talenna. “You must be pretty hungry. I saved something for you to snack on just in case we didn’t reach the camp today, but I guess there’s no harm in having it now.”

“You packed food for me?” She was skeptical of whether that was really true, but Talenna wasn’t about to turn away a meal when her stomach was on the verge of rebellion. Why Neria hadn’t mentioned the food sooner, Talenna couldn’t say, but if-

She paused. “...Neria?”

“Hm?”

“Why is there only cheese in this sandwich?” 

Neria shrugged, her mouth stubbornly shut and her eyes fixed on the horizon.

“There’s a bite out of it,” Talenna continued, her suspicions quickly falling into place.

“Oh? Perhaps Fen’harel stole a bite,” she responded, too casually.

Talenna had to fight off another wave of laughter as she noted the cracks in Neria’s facade– the stiffness in her shoulders, her tightened grip on the reins, the way her jaw tensed. Oh Creators, this was too good. “Neria, is this your sandwich? Did you pack a sandwich solely made of cheese?” she asked, choking on the words as she bit down a breathless chuckle. 

It was now Neria’s turn to scowl, her peridot eyes sharpening to slits as she stared daggers at Talenna as she held the ‘sandwich’ aloft. “Oy, if you don’t want it, I’ll happily have it back. That’s my breakfast you’re waving around, you know.” 

“Oh?” Talenna hummed. “Then my apologies, I gladly accept your saddlebag cheese. Whatever did I do to earn such a gracious gift?”

Talenna nearly fell from her saddle as Neria shoved her hard in the arm, muttering a slew of curses that would make any respectful hahren blush. “Because against all common logic, I like you,” she snorted. “Because you’re my friend. Or at least I thought you were.”

It was a good thing that Talenna’s muscles were already sore, because it made it that much harder to notice the burn in her gut as it clenched with restrained laughter. The poor sandwich was all but crushed now, but still she held it close, like a treasure. “Ir abelas, falon, I didn’t realize that you were so…”

“Cheesy?” Neria finished.

“Cheesy.” Talenna agreed, and with a smile and a shrug, she took a bite.

[kingpreciouswrld]

Imagine the team out at night in paris for a vacation and they’re in front of the Eiffel tower while Nat and reader are sharing earphones together listening to old sappy french musics and slow dancing,the others also take photos of them.

Natasha and reader aren’t together yet but reader has been courting Natasha for the last couple of months and she finally decides to be reader’s girlfriend as she rests her head on reader’s chest🥺

Stars

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Reader

Genre: Fluff

Word count: 1k

Warnings: None?

A/N: I know you told me to imagine but I wanna be in paris with Nat 😫 Small kine cried while writing the ending 🥺 If you REALLY wanna cry, listen to the song at the same time it says in the story.

__________

Much to Tony's excitement, Fury had given the Avengers time off. The team had fought about where to go. Sam, Tony, Steve, and Bucky pushed for Disneyworld while you, Natasha, and Wanda pushed for Paris, France. Vision, of course, sided with Wanda and thanks to some threats and negotiations, the decision was made.

Paris, France.

You'd always wanted to go to Paris and not just because it was the home of your favorite puff pastry, laying your eyes on the Eiffel Tower has always been a dream of yours. Something about seeing historical landmarks with your own eyes makes everything feel so surreal.

Another reason you wanted to go to Paris was because of a certain redhead,

Natasha.

There'd never been anything serious between you two, but that didn't mean you'd never tried. Natasha knew of your feelings but she’d never been ready to open up due to her time in the Red Room and you never pushed her. Days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months, and each day you’d always do something to make the redhead smile or make it known that you’d been thinking of her.

Paris was the city of love and you hoped something magical could happen there.

It was a bit cliché and a long-shot, but you always hoped.

~~~~~~~

"Say cheese!"

A click sounded as Wanda stood over your sitting form while Natasha sat next to you and laughed.

You blinked and narrowed your eyes toward the witch,

"Wands, I'm just eating. You don't have to take a picture of everything we're doing."

"But this is PARIS Y/N! And this is officially, your first croissant–"

You rolled your eyes and nodded mockingly,

"In Paris"

"–IN PARIS!"

Admittedly, Wanda had been more excited than you thought she'd be but it was nice to see her let loose and have fun. Her excitement was so contagious that it spread to the whole team.

When the team split up in small groups Natasha and you stuck together although you two almost always paired up with Wanda and Vision. Wanda would drag all of you to little shops along the streets and fawn over little knick knacks, sometimes even spending a whole hour in one shop.

There would be times where you stopped the group when you saw Natasha eyeing a bakery and eventually overtime, all of you became stuffed with pastries and Vision's arms were packed with a multitude of souvenirs that all of you had acquired during your stroll.

~~~~~~~

Steve had suggested that the whole team meet at Champ de Mars to watch the sunset and so that's where you were now, sitting on one of the blankets with Natasha at your side.

You sat back and people-watched. There were couples, families, and friends scattered around the park grounds with the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop. Mixed with the cotton candy sky, it looked ethereal and your eyes sparkled in amazement.

This was real.

It was picture perfect.

Natasha thought so too, but her view was different from yours.

Paris was nice, beautiful even, but nothing could compare to the childlike awe in your eyes.

The way the color of the sky glowed on your skin and the twinkle of the city lights reflecting in your eyes made Natasha wish she could stay like this forever.

"Nat? You okay?"

She was snapped out of her thoughts after you waved your hand in front of her face. Light pink brushed her cheeks as they heated up when she noticed that she was caught staring at you.

You chuckled and shook your head, "Come on, dance with me," you said and held your hand towards the woman.

"There's no music," Natasha said, amused.

You pulled out your phone and your airpods, "Aha! Now there is."

Rolling her eyes, Natasha took ahold of your hand and stood up. She followed you as you led her out a little ways away from the team and the blankets. Her breath hitched as she faced you. You were already looking at her and she was immediately captured by your loving eyes. She couldn't help but close her eyes as you tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, your fingers grazing her cheek before you gently placed an airpod in her ear.

When you knew the airpod was secure, you chose Edith Piaf's 'Hymne a L'Amour' and carefully settled your hands on Natasha's waist,

"This okay?"

"It's perfect."

As the song played, the two of you swayed together as if you were the only people in the world. The team stopped what they were doing and watched on as you two held each other close, completely unaffected by the world around you.

As you two held onto each other, Natasha leaned forward and rested her head on your chest. She felt more than heard your breath hitch and she held you tighter.

She sighed in content when she felt your hand splayed across her lower back,

"Yes," she whispered softly.

"Hm?"

Natasha pulled her head back and locked eyes with you. The combination of the darkening sky, the slow, passionate music, the lights of the city and the now Eiffel Tower lights made Natasha tear up. Everything was perfect. Everything felt right in the world. There weren't enough words to describe how much love she felt for you so she wanted to show you.

She unraveled her arms from around you and placed them on your cheeks. She held you so lightly and delicately as if any pressure would break you.

Meanwhile, the team watched in awe. Wanda and Steve had their phones and cameras out and took as many pictures as they could. Even they were deeply moved at the display in front of them, it seemed as if you two were untouchable.

Your eyes met and you couldn't help but tear up yourself as you saw the many emotions brewing in emerald eyes. You didn't know who leaned in first but your lips met for the first time and you sighed into the kiss. You tightened your hold on Natasha. You wrapped your arms around her waist and pulled her flush against you as if you needed to ground yourself in the moment. Somewhere in the back of your mind you heard some clicks coming from the direction of where the team was but you didn't care.

Natasha was the first one to break off from the kiss and she leaned her forehead against yours,

"Yes, I'll be your girlfriend…"

Both of you had tears in your eyes and you both let out watery chuckles before you two leaned in and kissed softly again, now under the stars of Paris.

__________

Marvel tags: @007giu