#so half my time has been just trying to open the right menu hahaha

[masqueradeoftheguilty]

ourgh. im so slow about it but i am having a good time with this project.

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression Ep 22 - Soba restaurant Hosojimaya.

J: Um, its a programme edition of The Freedom of Expression, right here?

K: Yes, we're finally on location, kinda.

J: We're finally on location. So this place has been recommend on local area tv shows before. I'd like us to pay a visit to that restaurant.

K: Not that one!?

J: The one and only..you can see the sign. I can't say that I come here every week, but I come at least twice a month. I've lived nearby here for 15 years, so I must have come here about 150 times.

K: You really have been coming here, havn't you?

J: I have. Can you see the sign? It says 'Soba restaurant Hosojimaya'. Today we will try out the legendary Hosojimaya. *clapping* Thank you. *Kaoru gets some hand sanitizer* Oh, please do that, please do that. Ok, Kaoru, can you go in first.

T: The door says 'hand operated'.

J: So, what do you think after getting inside? It really has the atmosphere of a soba restaurant, doesn't it? Ah, here's the menu. Well, its a soba restaurant, so of course it has many types of delicious soba noodles, but the thing I always order is on the in-house special menu. Here it is, Half curry with chinese style soba noodles. Its a small size curry rice with, well, we would call it ramen. Once you try this, you won't be able to stop..its so...Can you smell that good smell?

K: Yeah, I can.

J: Well, we can't convey the smell to the viewers...I mean, everything on the menu is delicious, but I generally go for this.

*sitting down at table*

What shall we do, shall we go for Half curry with chinese style soba noodles?

K: Yes, I will.

J: Will you? Shall we talk about stuff while eating it?

T: Because I revere Fujii sensei so much, I'd like to try the Katsu curry with raw onion that Fujii sensei ate, if they can do it.

J: Oh, you're gonna go for that? So shall we order? Im certainly going for Half curry/chinese soba. Won't you feel like eating it when you see it?

T:...

K: Hahaha

T: Ahh, what should I do?! I can only look forward to that. Thats all I can do.

J: You can only look forward to it? Well, actually, the operating hours for this place are already over for today, but I asked especially for them to open for us.

T: Ah, thank you so much.

J: Ok, well..Excuse me, can we order please.

T: Please.

J: *Gesturing to himself and Kaoru* Us two will have Half curry/Chinese soba. And, sorry, but one of us would like to have something different...*gestures to Tasai*

T: Can you do the Katsu curry with raw onion that Fujii sensei ate? You can?! Thank you! I'm so happy.

J: *To staff* How long has this place been operating? *To K, T* He's the third generation.

Staff: Probably 43 years.

J: 43 years?

T: Do you really come here, Joe?

J: *To staff* No, no, I do come here a lot, don't I!?

Staff: Yeh, he's been coming here since before I started to work here.

J: See!

T: You weren't lying!

J: I wasn't!

K: If you were lying to would be pretty risky to take it this far.

J: It would be! Like I said on this show before, this place is near the Shogi Hall, and a lot of Shogi players come here, but thats not the reason I first came here. I can't really remember why. I mean, I live near here...but, even if you just look at it from outside, it looks nice doesn't it? You can't lose with this type of place. Well, today, if you eat this and don't find it delicious, I will shave my head!

T: Really?!

J: Haha, not really, I just wanted to see your reaction. I saw a sparkle in Kaoru's eyes. Well, if anyone comes here and asks for half curry/chinese soba which Joe Yokomizu recommends, just be aware that it does sometimes sell out. What time does the restaurant stay open till? Lunch time is until about 2:00 or 2:30. And then in the evening they open from about 17:00..but it does sell out quite quickly, so rather than getting here just before closing time, do try to come with a bit of time to spare. The fact that its far from the station is perhaps what makes it seem like a gourmet place. Its not like a so-called famous restaurant in front of the train station.

T: I see

J: Restaurants in front of the station get a lot of chance customers, its less about the taste, and more about the convenience. Like, the food comes out quickly and stuff. Thats a possiblity with that type of place, but a restaurant thats far from the station has to get more local customers, and a lot of repeat customers, so if the food doesn't taste good they won't be able to....I'm talking a lot today, aren't I?

K: You are. But, if you didn't talk...

J: Yeh, Im the only one who's talking. But after you eat, we'll get your reactions. I'll keep trying until then. Well, today we are gonna have the half curry, but here in Sendagaya - Jingu mae, it is said to be a curry battleground. There are a lot of delicious curry restaurants. But Hosojimaya's curry is a soba restaurant's curry, so its less spicy than some of the others, but its delicious. *To Kaoru* Do you like curry?

K: Yes..I grew mold in it once before though.

T: Oh, yeh.

J: Ah, you said, that legendary curry. Um, Hosojimaya's curry has a bit of meat in it, but not big pieces, just enough that you can pair it with either noodles or fried culet, and it won't get in the way. Ahh, my mouth is starting to water.

K: Haha.

J: Actually, because we're on location today, I've not eaten since last night.

T: Me too.

K: Yeh, I was told to come hungry too.

J: Ahh, this is great.

T: Its a gourmet report. *1

K: Its the first time I've done this.

J: Dir en grey doing gourmet reports doesn't  usually happen, right.

K: It doesn't. Its the first time for me.

T: So this is gonna be quite rare footage.

J: Yes! You know, doing food reports is surprisingly difficult.

K: Really?

J: You always end up saying 'Yummy!'

K: *laughing* I don't know if I'll say that.

J: Ah, the food is here!

K: That was quick.

J: Kaoru, yours first. What do you think?

K: Wow, looks great! You can tell just by looking at it.

J: Right?! Its a winner.

T: Amazing

J: Half curry/Chinese soba is here.

K: I'll start with the soup.

T: Ahh, looks so good.

J: How is it? I love this so much. Its here! Look at these soba!

K: Ahh, your curry is here!

T: This is man's food!

J: I'll get katsu curry later. Oh, Kaoru! You started eating?

T: Fujii sensei ate this?

J: He did...Yummy...Yummy. How is it?

K: Mmm, delicious.

J: This must be tough for people watching, thier mouths will be watering. This has a lot of extras in it, ???*2, also pork, it has tonnes. How is the Katsu curry?

T: Delicious.

J: I bet it is. Fujii sensei...

T: The portion is big.

J: Yeah.

T: When I eat this and think of the shogi players, its kinda moving.

K: Shogi players won't be able to concentrate*3 if they are hungry.

J: Right. Ah, Kaoru tried the curry!

K: Ah!

J: He said 'Ah'. How is it?

K: Delicious.

J: We can see that, haha. At our age, we don't often eat carbs with carbs, do we?

K: Right.

J: So this is a good chance, if you come here.

This curry is still really nice even after its cooled down...

.....Look, Camerman, Kaoru has finished. That was quick! He's faster than me. Kaoru is finished!

K: I enjoyed that, thank you.

J: A word from you Kaoru, now that you've finished?

K: Yummy.

J, T: Hahaha.

J: You said it!

T: We got there in the end.

J: If we use other peoples' catchphrases too much, ????. That was simple.

J: ???

T: He's good at pretending *4

J: Scary! Ahhhh, that was delicious!

K: Yeah, but..

J: Ahh, the soup?

K: Yeh, the soup, and the onions, I want to rake them up all into one spoon.

J: Hahaha...So, that was Hosojimaya. Look, here's the menu, there are a lot more things on the menu.

K: Its difficult to know what to choose.

J: By the way, the Katsu curry is 980yen. And the Half curry/chinese noodles that we had is 1250yen. Opening hours on Sat are till 2:30pm. Its closed on Modays and public holidays.  From 3:00pm to 5:30pm its closed for preparations. Open from 5:30pm onwards. The address is Shibuya ward, Sendagaya, 2-29-8, Hosojimaya. Tel: 30400921

T: Joe, you don't need to go that far.

J: No, just in case people want to contact. Well you can find the details on Tabelog.

T: Kaoru, would you like to say a final word?

K: Gochisousamadeshita/I enjoyed this meal. Im blissfully full. If you are nearby, please come here to try it out, and say Joe recommended it, right?

J: Yes.

K: Gochisousamadeshita.

J: Gochisousamadeshita.

T: Gochisousamadeshita. It was yummy!

J: Yummy!

*1, 3 Couldn't clearly hear, but I think thats the gist.

* 2 Couldn't catch, some ramen ingredient. 

*4 This exchange I couldn't make out explicitly, but they are talking about the phase 'まいう~\maiuuu', which is a phrase used by TV comedy personality Ishizuka Hidehiko when he does gourmet reports, and is a play on the word 'umai/delicious'. Also, how to translate that? Yummy?

[faustonastring]

main 6 with an mc who acts like a grandma? like straight down to their bones creak when they stand, idk :),,, (side note, your writing is so good holy mother of faust)

Thanks for requesting! (And the compliment!) I hope you like it! Just a disclaimer, I’ve never had a grandma like figure in my life, so this may be very stereotypical or a little wrong, so apologies if it’s a little off, (I’m also very tired, so sorry for the mistakes !)

Request are open!!!!!

Main six with a Mc that acts like a grandma!

Asra

He finds it oddly enchanting, but just because he finds it enchanting don’t think your gonna be left off the hook, he’s still going to (lovingly) make fun of you for it. (So will faust)

If you carry mints or hard candies with you, he falls in love all over again, and he’ll buy you some that you can keep in your stash as a way to apologize for eating them all, (one day he was sucking on one and you made him laugh, he almost choked to death, so now he’s only aloud to eat what ever is the vesuvia equilvant to life savers)

He’ll try to make you some sort of potion or spell to stop you’re bones from cracking, he doesn’t mind, but it kinda weirds him out if it’s a really good one, like the ones that just sound like something just snapped in half-

Like I said before he’ll tease you for it. A lot. He’ll ask you if you need help crossing the street, or going up/down the stairs, asking if you can read the menu alright or if you need your reading glasses, or if you can’t hear him he’ll ask if you need your hearing aid. (Just to clarify again, he does this lovingly.)

Nadia

Nadia is quite old her self. Though she’s most likely in her mid to late forties, she’s not at grandma age, yet. But that doesn’t mean her sisters aren’t. Or even better. Her parents.

She doesn’t mind really, she finds it kind of nostalgic in a way, that is until you start complaing. Don’t start complaing please if you do it too much you’re going to start reminding her of not only her ancient family members but her ex husband too, who looks thirty but acts like he’s sixty.

She mentions trying to do yoga to help minimize the god awful bone cracking noises, but might have to leave the room because there is no way those noises are natural. If all else fails she’ll take you to a chiropractor (ya know, those people who rearrange- crack your bones for you)

She isn’t one to tease you, but her family is, but it’s not really teasing it’s more like comparing you to them, in their old age, and how worst your going to get when your older. (Also off topic but please keep hard candies with you for Volta. She can have some hard candy. As a treat.)

Julian

Remember when I said Nadia felt slight nostalgia? Its like that. But times ten. I mean the man was raised by grandmas for a decent portion of his life, but that’s not a turn of or any thing no, no, no, it makes him feel at home.

Some of you are going to kill me for this, but it’s been proven that men tend to have a habit of falling in love with people who remind them of their mother, so if julians equlivant of a mother was a bunch of grandmas.....well aren’t you in luck

All jokes aside, he’s kind of the same way, again he was raised by grandmas, Portia and him embodie diffrent aspects of a grandma I feel like, but we’ll get to her in a minute. Julian though, his bones crack. Often. And it’s an ungodly noise too, and he also likes to keep hard mints, (or like those strawberry hard candies I feel like) on him at all times. I feel like he also can’t hear for shi-

You two tease each other for it, and you get bonus points if you fight like an old married couple, you two will make little bets like who ever can go the longest with out popping a bone wins, the loser has to buy you both pints at the rowdy raven, or top also it isn’t uncommon for one of your bones to crack while having sex I’m just saying-

Portia

I feel like the ship wreck happened when Portia was too young to fully remember her parents, so the grandmas that raised her is (other than Julian) the only family she’s ever had, but don’t worry, because she’s had a lot of practice cracking those stubborn bones that just won’t sit right-

She’s learned a lot from being raised by grandmas, like how to make banana bread crumb pudding, or bake a pie, or correctly tend to a garden, etc etc etc, but that’s about the extent of her grandma duties, unlike her ancient brother her bones don’t crack every time she moves.

Please keep some hard candy with you for her, it’s a nice little pick me up for when you come to visit her at the palace, it’s also a great way to bribe her to get some juicy gossip, or to get her to top/bottom which ever you prefer, she’s most definitely a switch ( you get bonus points if it’s one of those strawberry hard candies I mentioned earlier. She’s the whole reason Julian started keeping some on him)

She tease you a lot for it, but if anyone. And I mean anyone were to make fun of you for it that’s not her, well she’s already pulling her hair back up

Muriel

At first he thinks this is just how normal people act. (He doesn’t get out much, in case you didn’t already know) but then he starts to realize that only you act like that. Which he doesn’t mind. He likes you. You’re weird. He likes that. But then he hears your bones crack, and oh god, he thinks something’s wrong.

He thinks he broke you. Espically if he was holding you or hugging you, or hell even touching you, and your body made an ungodly crack noise. He kind of just stares there in confusion and fear because you just brushed it off, but that sound like it hurt, and you just let it happen??? And it happens all the time?? (Wait till he finds out about periods all my afab babes out there. Hahaha, good luck Charlie)

He does get used to it eventually,but if your bones were to ever crack from moving or standing up, he’ll simply say “stop that” but he says it with a small smile on his lips. And if your having a particular bad day with the cracks, he’ll very shyly ask if there’s any thing he can do....like maybe a massage?

If you’re ever hiking with him and your knees start cracking, he without question will carry you to your destination, and pretends he doesn’t hear you if you try to protest. But why would you?

Lucio

He sees himself in you. It’s terrifying, but he’s a narcissist so he’s kind of into it-

Look like I said before, he looks like he’s thirty but he acts like he’s sixty, ( I was gonna say eighty but I was feeling generous) and six at the same time. His bones crack a lot. He hates it. He’s really insecure about it. But he hates it less when he realiszes yours do it too.

I feel like lucio also has poor eye sight and is a little hard of hearing, (either that or he’s never listening) but refuses to get treated for it, so if you fit into either of those categories, and get treated for it, he might cave and do it too. He also thinks you look hot in glasses, and buys you like twelve different pairs.

You two most definitely fight like an old married couple. Sorry I don’t make the rules. The palace staff starts to make bets on when your getting a divorce, but they just don’t understand the level of intimacy it takes to lovingly fight with some one over every little thing. (That’s what true love looks like baby)

Also keep hard candies on you at all times. Not for you for him, because if you give him one once, he’ll ask for it again and again and again, it’s like if you give a mouse a cookie, (if you ever read that growing up,)

Thanks for reading! I’m really tired so sorry about all the typos and mistakes, if you want me to rewrite it or fix it when I’m fully awake I Will! Sorry it’s my bad for pushing it off so long! Any way I hope you enjoyed!

Next headcanon: main six reacting to mc wanting to start a family. (5/22)

Request are open! :)

[war-sword]

what can i get you? (2)

part 2 | index | masterlist

draco x female reader [muggle AU, slightly aged up]

summary: One handsome Draco Malfoy is the only boy you trust at your new job to tie your ties. words: 3,139 a/n: i’m so glad y’all are liking this it validates me in that this isn’t boring as fuck :D once again too many details i looked up for this HAHAHA. also in case you missed it last time this story has a playlist! it’s a mix of songs i hear a lot while at my job and also others i name/ envision in this story. taglist: @clockworkherondale @accio-rogers @mayorofzillyhoo @diademofdraco @drawlfoy @ladybuginthetardis @silversslytherin @lushlavenderskies @socontagiousimagines @acciodracoo @eltanin-malfoy @maceyisntcool @newhopenessie​ @hp-slaps

read the rest of my masterlist

◈◈◈

The next time you work, it’s a much smaller event; a charity fundraiser at a small venue (this meant just plain black collared shirts, no ties, thank goodness). There’s only six people working including you, and you’re a little sad to see that Draco isn’t one of them. Luckily, Pansy is there, and none of the people are interested in the goat cheese and date appetizers you’ve been passing, so you sit on the metal kitchen counters with her, Theo and Blaise and eat them.

“Buffet parties are so nice,” Blaise sighs, putting another tiny piece of flatbread into his mouth. “We only really bus once. The dream.”

Pansy picks up the piece of paper that has the catering itinerary and menu printed out on it. “Holy fuck, this party ends at nine thirty. I might actually get to sleep at a normal time tonight.”

“What, no, let me see!” Theo rips the paper from her hands, and looks at it with a surprised expression. “Oh, shit, it does.”

Pansy does a little dance, and Blaise takes a photo of the paper with his phone. A minute later it buzzes with a notification, and he laughs as he reads it. “Yo, Draco is cheesed. He’s at the other party with Gabrielle in Brixton, he probably won’t get back ‘till one.”

“Poor bastard,” says Theo. “Take a photo.”

Blaise opens up his Snapchat camera, and you all squeeze into the frame. Theo poses with a goat cheese flatbread up to his mouth. Blaise captions it “sucks to suck”, and hits send. Draco responds almost immediately.

The photo is only of the top half of his face, and from the angle you can tell he’s in the kitchen. “This wedding has three courses, kill me,” is one caption. Another textbox right below says “tell new girl I said hey xx”.

You can feel all three of your coworkers staring at you as the Snapchat expires. “Give me that,” you say to Blaise, and they all laugh. Blaise hands you his phone. You take a similar photo, furrowing your brows. “calling me new girl? and xx-ing in the same sentence? the audacity.” you caption it. Draco takes less than ten seconds to snap back. 

This one is once again, the top half of his face, but features one of his perfectly-shaped brows in a high arch. “how else am I supposed to make an impression?” it says, with “add me, dmalfoy17” below. 

The snap was a full seven seconds, and you stare at it until it expires. You hand Blaise back his phone and whip your own out from your back pocket. 

“What’d he say?” Pansy asks, snatching the last flatbread away from Theo’s hand. 

“Something cheeky,” you shrug, playing it off. Meanwhile, you open Snapchat and type in his username into the ‘add friend’ bar. 

“Typical,” Theo mumbles, watching wistfully as Pansy eats the last appetizer. “I’m going to go check on how the tables are looking, see how many people have food so far.”

Draco Malfoy added you back!

You Snapchat Draco every chance you get as you finish up at your party, and once everything is packed you help take everything down to the loading dock and pack the truck. You and Pansy walk to your cars together, and you take a video of the two of you captioned “we out ” with the timestamp sticker reading a blissful 9:43. Draco sends back a photo of himself in the kitchen again, a text box full of angry emojis.

You say goodnight to Pansy. “You’re working tomorrow, right?” 

“Yeah,” she says, standing on the doorframe of her car to look at you over the roof. “At Sunbeam Studios. You?”

“Same.”

“Nice,” she smiles. “I think most of us will be there, it’s supposed to be a big one. See you then.”

You hop in your own car and clock out. When you get home you take a quick shower and collapse into bed. You have three new Snapchats from Draco. In one of them he says he’s also working at Sunbeam tomorrow, and you smile in spite of yourself. You take a photo of you snuggled in your sheets, and caption it “going to sleep now just to flex on you. see you tomorrow.” You send it and put your phone on your bedside table. The buzz of your notifications cuts through the silence of your room, but you resist the urge to check them. 

The next day you arrive at Sunbeam and clock in. This venue is much bigger than the other’s, and when you walk through the back door your guess is confirmed that tonight will be a fancy wedding. Sure enough, Gabrielle hands you your uniform and asks you to go ahead and change, directing you to a closet. 

You put on the dress shirt and slip the vest on, and lastly tackle the tie. You thread it under your collar, and try to repeat the steps Draco showed you last week. Over, across, wait, that doesn’t look right. Which end was the short one? You try a few more methods and then sigh in defeat. You put your normal shirt into your backpack and leave the closet in search of one boy.

You walk around the back, which is bigger than the other venues you’ve been to, and find Draco in the kitchen. He’s still dressed in his street clothes and is helping organize trays of food to be heated that other people are bringing in from the truck. You walk up and tap him on the shoulder. 

“Oh, hey! Wow, you’re on time.”

He looks so genuinely excited to see you that you can’t help but grin. “Help?” You hold up the ends of your tie.

“Of course.” Draco takes up your tie and starts to knot it. You don’t even try to pay attention.

“Who else is here?”

“Just you so far, besides those of us who came from the warehouse with the truck. Gabrielle is about to loose her fucking mind if the rest of you don’t start showing up. She needs all the passers to help her make the bread boards and set up the salad course.” He finishes your tie and gives it a little tap, and then another to the end of your nose. Your chest feels like it’s collapsing in on itself. 

“You’re not serving tonight?” You busy yourself with the buttons on your vest as you talk.

Draco leans against the counter and pulls a face. “No, sorry. They need me in the kitchen.” He nods his head in the direction of the door that must lead to the reception area. “Gabrielle’s out there, you should probably go.”

“Sorry,” you say, walking around the other side of the counter. “I’m still trying to process this betrayal.”

“I’m sorry! I’ll make you a box and save you some cake.” He leans on his elbows, looking up at you as you rest your back on the door. “Just come hang out with me in here when you’re not bussing– it’s a buffet so there should be some downtime. I’ll just yell at the others if they try to take a break back here.”

You laugh and try to think of something tricky to reply with when the door is ripped out from behind you, causing you to stumble backwards. Draco snorts. 

“Y/N! Come on, I need your help. Draco, stop distracting her!” Gabrielle does look incredibly flustered. 

“I was just coming,” you say, and Draco holds up his hands in mock surrender. 

You help Gabrielle arrange various breads on trays, along with scoops of hummus and goat cheese. You’re adding olives to the trays when Pansy walks in, doing the last buttons on her vest. Gabrielle practically throws a box of crackers at her and tells her to start adding them on, rambling on about how stressed she is. “...And then we left two boxes of food at the warehouse and I had to go back and get it… luckily we’re the closest. If it was the other party we’re doing tonight I would’ve lost my mind. That one’s all the way in Watford, they never would’ve made it back and forth in time.”

You politely listen, nodding when appropriate. You’re finishing the trays when Greg and Vincent walk in, in the midst of doing their ties and putting on the vests. Gabrielle yells at them to finish getting dressed later and to start assembling salads, shoving a bag of greens into Greg’s arms and a bag of shredded carrot to Vincent. “We’ll just assemble them on the plates out here. Please be neat.” 

You fill water glasses while they walk around and make the salads directly onto the plates, assembly line style. Pansy is following behind Greg, adding raisins to the beds of greens he’s laying down. You watch her for a moment as she adjusts the amount of salad on each plate, taking from plates with too much and adding to ones with too little before sprinkling her raisins. You catch her eye and she shakes her head furiously at Greg’s incompetence. 

Once all the glasses are filled, you help set out the bread trays onto the tables and head to the back to take a break while everyone waits for the guests to arrive from the ceremony. Draco and Theo are the only ones in the kitchen tonight, opening boxes of food and assembling appetizers onto trays. You grab the menu sheet off of the cooler and skim it. As usual, it all sounds delicious. 

“These people must love mexican food,” Pansy says, looking over your shoulder. “Who asks for two types of tacos at their wedding?”

“White people who want to be funky,” Theo says, pulling a pan of the goat cheese flatbreads from the oven and replacing it with one of chopped fried fish. 

Draco pulls the wrapping off a cardboard box to reveal miniature taco shells made from blue corn. “I don’t think we’ve ever made these.”

Gabrielle bursts into the kitchen to tell the four of you who helped set up to start passing. The goat cheese and tomato mozzarella flatbreads are the only thing that’s ready. You and Pansy each put on a single glove and place six appetizers around the edges of your circular serving trays, grab some napkins and head out. 

You weave through guests in the lobby, the pleasant sound of the string quartet that’s in the corner filling your ears. A group of bridesmaids in seafoam dresses stop you before you get very far and wipe your tray clean. Clearly everyone is starving, because they ask you to come back as soon as you can. 

When you return to the kitchen, Draco has a specially shaped wooden board with six tiny tacos in the little grooves ready for you. “They’re so cute. What’s in them?” You ask as you put down your empty tray for Theo to refill and pick up the board to examine them

Draco pauses in filling another taco and looks over at the menu paper. “Uh, sriracha chicken. Want to try?”

You nod. You move to put down the board, but Draco holds out the one he just made, and you open your mouth. You try to eat it as neatly as you can in one bite from his hand.  He gives you a questioning look, and you nod approvingly. “‘S good,” you say after swallowing. 

“Hey, stop stealing from the guests,” Theo teases. He leans towards Draco and opens his mouth dramatically. “I wanna get fed, too.”  

“Get your own,” Draco deadpans. 

You laugh at Theo’s offended face, and hurry out of the kitchen to hide your blush. It’s not from the spice. 

Tiny tacos are a big hit. You abandon passing the flatbread appetizers, waiting in the kitchen every time for Draco to fill your board. When he opens the next box of miniature shells, you’re all surprised to see that they’re yellow. Twenty minutes after that, the final box is filled with red ones. “If I’d known they were different, I would’ve mixed them!” 

“You’re fired, Draco,” Pansy mocks. “Out of the kitchen. You’re never allowed to touch tacos again.”

There’s a short break for the passers while the guests recess into the reception room and eat the salad course. Then you’re sent out to start collecting plates, and to tell the guests the buffet is open for them to get food at their leisure. 

The night goes on like usual– out on the floor, try not to drop any dishes, someone asks for a new fork, bus the plates in the back. This venue has a place for outdoor bussing, which you find nice since the weather is pleasant. Once it hits 9:30, it’s a struggle to take plates from guests who are still eating or sipping the very last of their drinks, as usual. You haven’t taken a break all night, because every time you would head out onto the floor there were dishes on every table to take. You dump the ice from some cocktail glasses into the liquids bucket and peek around the corner to where the truck is parked. Greg and Vincent are sitting on the back of the truck, sharing a cigarette and staring at their phones. You sigh in annoyance and put the glasses into their designated crate. If those two can take a break, you’re going to also.

You walk back into the building and into the kitchen. Draco’s the only one in there, sitting on a cooler and checking his phone as well. “Hey.”

He looks up as you settle onto the cooler next to him, stretching out your legs and popping your neck. “Hey. They keeping you busy out there?” Draco asks.

“Yes,” you sigh. “That, and Pansy and I are the only ones bussing. Greg and Vincent are out at the truck skiving off.”

“I’ll put Gabrielle on them,” Draco says. “They’re always doing that. At least they’re learning to not hang around where I can see them.”

“Where’s Theo?” You rub on your right shoulder– it’s gotten incredibly tight from carrying your heavy tray all night.

“Cutting the cake. You’ll have those plates soon, and that’ll be it.” Draco sets his phone on the counter and shifts towards you, motioning for you to turn also.  “Let me.”

Draco digs his thumbs into your tense muscles and you can’t help but groan. “Ugh, that feels heavenly.”

“You’ve got to switch the arms you carry with, Y/N. You’re so much tighter on the right.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” you say, leaning into his touch.

The bliss of having Draco’s hands work your tense muscles is sadly short lived. Theo comes into the kitchen with the rest of the cake, having served all the guests. It’s got three different layers, vanilla, chocolate, and carrot, and you have a tiny slice of each. 

“We’re gonna go take down the buffet, what do you want me to save you?” Draco says, boxing up the untouched top layer of cake to put in the refrigerator for the new couple.

“Just some of the mac n cheese and veggies, please.” You grab your bussing tray and head back out onto the floor. Greg and Vincent have reappeared, and when there’s only a few tables left with cake plates you head to the back again. Draco is loading up the truck while Theo cleans the kitchen. “Want me to bring you these glass crates?” You call to Draco.

“Please!”

You carry the crates of glasses and dirty dishes from the bussing area to Draco in the back of the truck. You’re pretty strong, but Draco takes even the heaviest crates from you with ease. Why are boys allowed to be so muscular for no reason? 

“We’re missing some glasses, did you get everything off the floor?” Draco leans against the wall inside truck, looking down at you on the ground. He’s shiny with sweat, and he lifts up the bottom of his shirt to wipe his forehead off, giving you a great view of his toned abdomen. 

“Uh.” You continue to stare at him even as he drops his shirt, your mouth going dry. “I’m pretty sure.”

“Hopefully they’ll turn up.” Draco checks his watch. “It’s already eleven, why do people never want to fucking leave?”

You turn around to glance at the windows, still glowing blue from the lights inside, ‘Build Me Up Buttercup’ easily heard even from outside. You stare at the lights for a few seconds, trying to blink away the image of shirtless Draco from your mind. “Dunno.” 

When you turn back, he’s staring at you now. Draco jumps off the back of the truck and lands lightly beside you. “Let’s go help Theo in the kitchen, see if we can get everything else ready.”

The rest of the supplies are pretty much packed and ready to be brought to the truck. Everyone who had put on a uniform is changing back into their street clothes, and Pansy is taking off her dress shirt in the middle of the kitchen without a care. You momentarily wonder what would happen if you decided that bold, but end up going out into the hall to slip out of your uniform. 

They’ve finally turned on the lights in the reception room, and you all head out to do one last sweep of the floor, checking under tablecloths for stray forks or napkins. You find a few and carry them to the back, and the few glasses you were missing earlier make their appearance. Gabrielle shoos you all from the kitchen at last, telling you to go home. 

You put your takeout box Draco had made you into your backpack and head towards the parking lot, when you hear footsteps catching up with you. It’s Draco, and he’s carrying a giant bunch of white flowers that you recognize as the centerpieces from the tables. “Are you stealing?” You chide.

“See, I was going to give you some, but now I’m rethinking it,” he smirks. “I sometimes like to take them. My mum loves white lilies.”

“That’s sweet.” 

You’ve reached your car, and he stops with you, holding out the giant bunch. “Pick some.”

You make a serious face as you select a handful of flowers and bring them up to your nose. They still smell wonderful. “Thanks, Draco.”

“No problem.” He throws you a wink and turns on his heel. “See you next week, Y/N.”

You get into your car and clock out, setting the flowers on your dashboard. When you get back to your flat you carefully arrange them in one of your tallest glasses in some water, and set them on your counter. They’re a nice reminder to get you through your week.

◈◈◈

don’t you wish draco malfoy would give you a shoulder massage on the clock and give you flowers.... damn

[itsmymeaningoflife]

I started this fic back when s10 started but I’ve had a major writers block. I hope you enjoy what I have so far :)

I can’t lose you too

“Mom, where are you going?”

Carol blinked her eyes open. The false sense of bliss faded, leaving her with an empty pit in her stomach and a longing in her chest. When she couldn’t hold on any longer and her body begged for slumber, her mind would roam and conjure up another ignorant paradise. Never repeating the same fantasy twice, but it was always happy. Always him.

She was stood on the porch of the old farm house, clutching her frayed woollen cardigan. Her hair was longer than she remembered it and was pulled back into a lose bun. Vague shouting was all that could be heard as Rick, Glenn and Shane ran towards the figure in the distance. It was too far away to make out exactly what it was, but it’s hobbled walk and skewed features raised concern for the group. As it staggered forward Carol realised that the ‘walker’ was carrying something.

“Somebody fetch Carol!”

“Where’s Carol!”

The men’s voices rang louder this time and the hair on the back of her neck prickled. Her legs carried her into a sprint across the field before her head caught up. It couldn’t be true. They searched for her every day, every hour they had light, with no luck. Yet, cradled in his arms was Sophia. Against all the odds Daryl had found her. He staggered forward as Carol rushed to meet him, heart pounding hard and fast. Sophia had always been too small for her age but seeing her now - grimy clothes and tangled hair, wrapped in his arms - made her look as fragile as the day she was born. Her eyes were closed and her skin pale, wrenching a nervous sob from Carols lips.

He had found her, but was he too late?

“Hey, she’s okay.” He reassured. “Jus’ sleeping. I found her hiding up a tree from some walkers. Some food, water and a good sleep and she’ll be as right as rain.”

Carol sighed, tears streaming down her face and stroked her daughters hair. Sophia was alive.

Hershel appeared and insisted on checking them both over. It was then carol noticed the steady stream of blood trickling down Daryl’s forehead. She reached out a concerned hand but he flinched back.

“I’m fine, let’s just get her inside.”

She blinked and then she was sat next to Sophia’s bed inside the farm house, holding her small hand tightly, never wanting to let her go again.

“Thank you.” She murmured, raising her eyes to meet Daryl’s who was sat on the other side of the bed, a bandage wrapped around his wound. “You did more for my little girl today than her own daddy ever did in his whole life. And I’ll never be able to tell you how grateful I am.”

Daryl smiled.

“Told ya’ didn’t I? We would find your little girl and she’d be just fine.”

Tears begun to blur her vision and when she wiped them away Daryl was sat in his chair at her side. She rose to her feet and placed a soft kiss on his bandages, right where the wound would be. Acutely aware of her stomach rumbling, she turned to go and get herself some dinner as a small cold hand clamped around her wrist.

Sophia was sat bolt upright in bed, eyes wide and scared.

“Mom, where are you going?”

It was the first bitter-sweet dream of it’s kind and caused Carol to jerk awake in her new bed at Alexandria. She had many years to mourn Sophia and clinging onto her only reminded Carol of how far she had come in this new world. The loss of her daughter cut all ties to the old world and her old self. Yet her sweet girl was never too far from her heart. Every night after that her dreams were all vivid warps of what could have been all those years ago.

The pale of water splashed at Carols side as she made her way back to the Grove. A distant squeal of laughter made her heart lurch with happiness as she quickened her pace up the grassy slope. Daryl danced around, arms outstretched, making a half-hearted attempt to grab the two young girls who tried to weave around him. Mika squealed and jumped backwards as Daryl made a swipe for her arm- his mock-growl turning into a bark of laughter as she dodged him. Lizzie used this opening to dive forward and make a dash towards the Pecan Tree, laughing loudly.

“Nooo!” Daryl exclaimed, crashing into the floor and the autumn leaves crunching under his body. Lizzie touched the tree trunk, followed closely by Mika.

“We win, we win!” The girls sang in chorus, laughing breathlessly.

“Can we play again?” Asked Mika taking a step towards where Daryl was lay motionless on the floor, playing dead. “Come on Da- AHHHHH!”

Daryl threw a handful of leaves at the girl and jumped to his feet with a playful shout. His ambush startled Mika enough for Daryl to scoop her up and hoist her over his shoulder. Thumping on his back with her small fists and cackling the entire time, Mika called out to her sister.

“Lizzie! Help me! The dragon caught me.” She squealed.

“I’ll save you!” Lizzie now brandished a stick as a sword and waved it at Daryl.

“Not if I catch you first.” Daryl jumped forward, making another swipe for her with his free arm, earning another hoot of laughter from the older girl. Weighed down by Mika over his shoulder, Daryl’s reflexes were slowed so he received a defensive whack on his arm from the ‘sword’.

Lizzie froze, worried that she had hurt Daryl but the man laughed harder and used this opening to lunge at the girl. He scooped her up around her waist and held her under one arm. Both girls were now flailing and wriggling to get free but Daryl held them tightly.

“I win! I caught you and I’ll eat you both for dinner! Hahaha!” He shouted manically as both girls giggled.

“Or we could take little girls off the menu and eat some pecan pie instead?” Carol called over their laughter.

Daryl whipped around and set both girls on their feet.

“Last one to reach mom has to wash the dishes.” He claimed, breaking into a run with both girls hot on his tail.

Carol set her bucket of water down and braced for impact. Daryl slowed to let the sisters overtake him and reach Carol first, nearly knocking her off her feet with their collision before he joined them in the group hug. When they all broke apart Daryl left one arm slung across Carols shoulders, pressing their sides together as they walked towards the house. The girls carried the bucket between them, still breathless from their afternoon of fun.

“Looks like you’re on washing up duty.” Carol mocked.

“I don’t mind.” Daryl smiled giving her a squeeze.

Realising that Lizzie and Mika has fell behind, Carol turned and froze. The bucket was gone. Lizzie had blood trickling down her temple and hands. Mika’s shirt was torn and bloody.

“Mom?” They said in unison. “Where are you going?”

This time Carol woke up with tears in her eyes and an empty feeling in her heart. She hadn’t told anyone about the horrors that unfolded at the Grove, hoping that the memories would die with Tyreese. Judith was too young to remember the sisters who saved her life back when the prison fell, leaving only Carol to mourn them. She couldn’t save Mika from her sisters twisted fantasy and she couldn’t save Lizzie from herself. Losing the girls had broken her, yet it felt different to when she had lost Sophia. Carol was a completely different person at that time and knew that both girls jeopardised Judith’s survival. So, she repressed the grief and hoped that the group wouldn’t speak their names again. They never did. Nobody found out what happened to her surrogate daughters after the fall of the prison. Nobody even knew that they had been reunited. But he looked at Carol with such agonising heartache that she believed that he knew exactly what she had lost. She had seen the same broken spirit in Daryl after the group had lost Beth. That girl was a fighter with a heart of gold; a dangerous combination. In the end it was what got her killed. And it tore Daryl apart to lose the child that he fought so hard to protect.

Looking back, Carol had to admit that the groups time on the road had turned them feral. Never staying in one place for more than a night, she barely had time to dwell on her grief and bottled it up once more. Arriving in Alexandria should have been a relief but this lifeline only made her angry. These people were left unscratched from the horror that was the end of the world, living a fantasy behind their fences. Families were whole and mothers still tucked their children into bed each night without having to worry about them being torn apart. They lived in a bubble.

The moment she stepped through those gates Carol knew that to survive im that place she couldn’t be a hardened warrior any more. Plastering on a smile, she played the role of the timid housewife she one was. She cooked and smiled and cleaned and smiled some more. Adapting to her surroundings was the only thing that kept her alive. Carol knew how to make friends with the neighbours and be gracious towards the assholes; Ed made sure of that. However it became clear to Carol that Alexandria had its own type of monster hiding behind its walls. The type of monster that made little boys cower in their closets and seek refuge with someone who knew how to handle a gun. The world as they knew it had faded, yet the horrors of domestic abuse had taken root within the community, leaving Carol to try teach Sam Anderson how to navigate the threats outside the walls and within his own home.

The bell-timer rang and Carol dried her hands on a tea towel before donning her floral oven gloves and opening the oven door. A sweet smell of cinnamon filled the kitchen as she placed the tray of perfectly baked cookies on the counter to cool. On the other side of the breakfast bar, Sam sat scribbling notes on a piece of paper out of a battered text book.

“They smell delicious.” He remarked, pausing writing to inspect her wares.

He reached towards the goods with a greedy hand, which Carol wafted away with her tea towel.

“They’ve just come out the oven you fool.” She laughed, shaking her head. “Anyway, they’re not for us, they’re for Rick and Michonne to say thank you for the casserole that they sent over for us last week.”

Sam sighed and placed his head in his hands, pouting. The back door clicked and Daryl entered, pausing for a second to wipe his feet on the mat.

“Hey.” He smiled warmly at the pair. “Oh, something smells amazing.”

Daryl made a beeline for the tray, only to be greeted with a light slap from Carols tea towel.

“Not for you either.”

Daryl’s pout matched Sams, their sulking making Carol chuckle as she lifted the cookies onto a plate to cool.

“But I suppose I can’t send these over to the Grimes’ without them being tested first, can I?” She smiled pushing the last cookie on the baking tray towards the boys.

Their faces lit up. Daryl took the cookie and split it in half, offering the bigger of the two to Sam. The boy accepted it gracefully and Daryl ruffled his hair. Almost comically, both of them bit a huge mouthful of cookie before repeatedly gasping at the heat. Carol shook her head chuckling.

“I don’t know what you expected.” She remarked, sealing the lid onto the cookie tin. “You boys are always so impatient. Anyways dinner won’t be long so go get yourself cleaned up.”

Daryl whined like a frustrated puppy.

“Shower. Now. Or do I have to hose you down on the porch?”

A bark of laughter lingered in the kitchen as Daryl hurried off upstairs, escaping the dreaded threat of the hose. Carol found herself holding a full biscuit tin and walking towards the back door until she felt a hand tugging on the hem of her jumper.

“Mom, where are you going?”

Losing Sam didn’t hurt the same as losing her girls but it chipped away at the walls she had built up nonetheless. Carol was angry when he died. Not at Sam, he was just a timid child, but at Jessie for not teaching him how to handle himself around walkers. At Sams age, Carl was an active member of the group, helping them to defend and scavenge and kill. She never wanted to be responsible for Sam. He was weak and he wouldn’t last a day out beyond the wall. But the boy had taken a liking to Carol and she couldn’t shake him off. She remembered a time back at the farm, when she was too cowardly and inexperienced to aid in the search for her own daughter and someone else was just as angry at her for not teaching her daughter the basic rules of the new world.

“You ain't my problem! Sophia wasn't mine! All you had to do was keep an eye on her!”

Carol would be lying if she said that those words didn’t rip through her like bullets every time she remembered them. Back when Daryl Dixon didn’t let himself feel anything but anger, he devoted every hour of sunlight to search for her daughter. That’s what hurt the most in the aftermath- Daryl pulling away from the group once more. It was his determination to find her that kept an ember of hope burning in her heart, even after her mind had accepted the harsh reality that their searching was a dead end.

“We don’t know if we’ll ever find her, Daryl.” She had told him a week into the search.

After he came back with an arrow in his side and a bullet graze on his head, it was obvious that this man was going to get himself killed looking for a girl that was already dead. It was true; Sophia wasn’t his. But he searched all the same. And when her daughter came stumbling out of that barn, eyes glassy and unseeing, Daryl was the one to catch Carol in her hysteric attempt to join Sophia and hold onto her firmly in the dust until the ordeal was over.

Sophia was her world, and losing her shattered Carol in an indescribable way. She was left to pick herself up, piece by piece, and put herself back together as a whole new person. The new Carol vowed to not love a child as she did her own daughter. Lizzie and Mika came close to bringing down that wall but she was careful to always keep them at arms length for the sake of he own heart. Sam was another challenge, battling her own maternal instincts to keep the attachment at bay, but she managed to keep her promise to herself.

Until Henry entered her life.

After the war with the saviours, Henry helped Carol heal. She had raised him and watched him grow into a skilled and loving young man who allowed her to call herself a mother once more. When they had lost Rick and the communities crumbled apart, she finally understood why Alexandria lived in an ignorant fantasy. At the Kingdom, she didn’t need to be a fighter or a scavenger. She was the Queen. As much as she hated the title, she was living the perfect fairy tale. Married to the King and mother of the Prince- she had everything this new world could offer. Then the skin freaks showed up and shattered her happy paradise in one afternoon. It should have been a happy day. A day of rejoice and celebration between the reunited communities. Instead she ended the day with Daryl holding her as she became a childless mother once more.

When Henry started showing his face in her dreams, Carol found herself wanting to be asleep for longer each night. Yet it was seeing someone else in those blissful situations that had her feeling conflicted when she woke. Never knowing whether she’d rather cling to an ignorant part of her imagination or try to push them aside and try to heal. The world in her head was happy and loving but when she woke, she struggled to deal with the grief clouding her every thought. So she dealt with it the only way she knew how. Carol stopped sleeping. Learning to live without the veil of foolishness she held in front of her eyes for years was a difficult adjustment, made harder by the frequent visits from the ghosts of her past. It was easier living in Alexandria, surrounded by the friends and family who helped keep her grounded through every battle she had faced so far. Every time she had drifted, they had brought her back. He had brought her back. And she needed that now.

Her dream ended abruptly and Carol blinked her eyes open for the forth time that week. Debating whether to get up and face the day, she fumbled with the twine around her wrist.

[lovinmcu]

A New Life in Cali, ch. 4

Chapter 4

Pairings; Chris Evans x reader

Warnings; none really

A/N; I don’t know how Disney offices are run, but a girl can dream right! And I realize MCU and Frozen 2 timelines don’t match up, but it’s my story so hush it! Lol. making up for such a short ch.3!!!

The alarm goes off way too soon at 6:30 and you hit snooze a couple times and before you know it, you are running late. But at least you’re an artist so no one pays much about your appearance at work. No dress clothes, but no pajamas, plenty of leggings and mickey mouse shirts. That might be one of the best parts of your job. You decided on breakfast at work in order to make it out the door on time.

You arrive at work on time, not that anyone pays that close of attention, but you’re supposed to be there by 8:00 so you do your best. First, you drop your stuff off at the office, and start your computer and get everything turned on for the day. On your way to breakfast, you check with the department secretary to see if there is anything urgent you need to know about. 

“9:30 staff meeting,” she responds.

“Thanks, but first coffee!” You chuckle and head that direction. You were really thankful for the relationship Disney has with Starbucks, so that meant their coffee hut inside the main lobby. They know what you want before you open your mouth, but this morning is a little different, you add a couple shots of espresso and head back to your desk with your caramel macchiato and bagel, knowing full well there would be something to eat at the staff meeting. 

You set back down at your desk at 8:30 and check your email. 

  ·notes on frozen 2

·staff meeting, you already knew about

·note from your boss wanting to inform about adding another project to your plate with Frozen fixing to wrap up. ….wait what?! 

You quickly re-read that one. He’s trusting you to be a lead animator on a Disney short. He wanted ideas to start working a storyboard in 10 days, and there was a list of who you’d be working with. You couldn’t believe it, this was YOUR time to step up your game at Disney. You knew he had liked your style before he hired you. You had also worked as his intern one summer while he was still an animator and when this job came open, you were his first call. 

8:45, you pick up your phone to text your mom the news, you were bursting with excitement. And you realize you hadn’t seen the last message from Chris last night/this morning. 

You glance over it, it says, “GN sweetie.” You close it and open a text to your mom to tell her the good news, about halfway through the text you realize what Chris had called you. Like it finally processed its way through your head. SWEETIE! What?!?! You hurry and finish the text and hit send and reopen Chris’. “So, sweetie huh?”

You go back to emails. Mostly nothing, some quick responses to send back and then you were getting your act together for the staff meeting. Making notes on how far you are coming along on Frozen 2 edits. But you were on cloud nine after the email from your boss this morning. 

*bing*

“Yeah?!?” “So?!?!” “Can I not call you that?” Chris says.

“No, you’re fine, just picking on you. That’s why you keep me around, right?” You hit send and finish up some notes on frozen. 

“Oh, you’re worth keeping around for more than just that.” ;-) “Lunch today?” “You could meet me on set.” Chris quickly responds. You wonder how he responds so quickly. “I’m in makeup, getting all pretty for the day.” Like he read your mind. 

“Awww, that must mean a long day in the make up a chair then! ;-)” You put your phone away and start walking toward the room your staff meetings are. You’re a few minutes early but so is everyone else when there’s food. Everyone is talking about what can this be about at such short notice as they grab drinks and some breakfast and take their seats. You’re bursting with excitement but figured you’d wait for the boss to tell the news of your upcoming project. 

9:28 *bing* oh shit, you mumble because it wasn’t on silent. Nothing had started yet so you take a look at your phone. And your smile got even bigger if that was really possible at this moment. You had a message from mom saying “congrats, can’t wait to hear more”. And just then another came in from Chris.

“HAHAHA very funny!” “so, lunch? I’m on break about 12:30” 

“Sure, I shouldn’t have a problem making it over” “But you’re sooooo far away!” “But something may change with this staff meeting fixing to start” “Gotta go”

“Talk after so I can have your name put on the list so you can get in” Chris responds.

The staff meeting wasn’t much out of the norm. Everyone went around and reported their status on everyone’s projects. Most of them being for Frozen 2 because we were all trying our best to get it finished on time. Things were coming along great, and the boss was pleased. Next, he went through a bunch of announcements, along with, telling the team of your next project. Everyone gave you applause and cheered for you. They all knew how big of a deal it was for someone so new to the staff. Staff meeting ended with the announcement that he wanted all edits in by Wednesday. You’re working late last night paid off or you’d be coming in this weekend. You’d now be able to catch lunch with Chris. And enjoy the pool party tomorrow without stressing. 

10:20 You remember to send a quick message to Chris on the way back to your desk. And then you found something to stress about….a bathing suit for tomorrow. How in the world were you going to make that happen on such short notice? You set down at your desk and take the chance and message Britney. “Wanna go bathing suit shopping after work?”

“Sure thing! I was thinking the same thing!!” Brittney responded. Brittney was 34, the same as you. You were both in the creative field, she is a graphic designer. She moved here from Kentucky, a couple years ago to design concert merchandise for all sorts of huge bands. Turns out you all grew up just a couple hours apart. So she made it feel a lot more like home quickly. 

“Dinner too?” You respond. “I’m in the mood for some pizza.”

“Sure but after we find bathing suits…k?” 

“LOL sounds like an excellent idea.” You respond and try to focus on getting some actual work done today and it’s already 10:45. Where has my day gone?! So you set an alarm for 12:15 knowing that if you don’t you’ll miss lunch all together. You turn to your computer and as your suspected, get totally lost in your work. You always do, because you love what you do. Before you know it you're turning off your lunch alarm and saving your work, grabbing your purse. You decide to walk the 3 or so blocks it is. You message Chris on your way. “Walking on this nice day, be there in a couple of minutes”

“Sounds good, I’ll send my assistant to meet you at the gate”

Before you knew it you were showing your id to the security guard, who knew you already due to working your building a lot too. He always knows the faces of the ones that don’t keep 8-4 hours and always makes sure you make it safe to your car if he’s there after dark with you. Chris’s assistant walks up and introduces herself. She beautiful, and young, and….now you’re feeling jealous. You’re not sure why You and Chris are just friends. But of course, he’s always been on your celebrity crush list, so you do your best to put the thoughts away But she obviously didn’t think much of you because she wouldn’t even speak to you when you asked questions on the way to Chris’ trailer. She knocked. Chris opened the door while pulling his shirt down, obviously changing out of his costume. He stepped back to welcome you both in,  and gave you a hug and kissed your head to greet you. You weren’t really sure what that was about, but you did know his assistants didn’t like it! Her attitude changed to super bubbly and fake when Chris asked about lunch, but he caught you rolling your eyes at how fake. She handed you a menu of things they could make on set, you picked the first thing that looked good, Chris ordered his usual, whatever that was, and she left the trailer. 

“What was that about?” Chris asked as soon as he knew his assistant was out of earshot. 

“What?”

“The eye roll?!”

“Just how fake she was being” You responded. “She barely said two words to me from the gate to here, but as soon as you opened the door and she saw half your bare chest she turned into some bubbly cheerleader”

“Yeah, it’s been getting on my nerves but I thought she was like that with everyone, obviously not by the look you had on your face,” Chris laughed. “She must be jealous!” You rolled your eyes at Chris this time but shrugged as well because you knew he was right. 

You two sat on the couch talking (and flirting just a little) until your food arrived. You asked a ton of questions about filming, you’ve always been curious about it. Wondering what parallels there were too animated films. He graciously answered the ones he could and admitted when he didn’t know the right answer. Before you knew it, miss cheerleader assistant was entering to say our time was up and Chris was needed in wardrobe for his next scene and you needed to get back to get actual work done today. Chris walked you most of the way out until you all got to wardrobe and he wouldn’t let you leave without a giant hug and a peck on the cheek before you parted ways, but not without Anthony giving out a catcall. *yet another eye roll*

On the way back to your office, your head was spinning. To the point you were almost dizzy, overthinking, of course, trying your best to not make too much of the kiss, but you knew you’d have to keep it together for the rest of the day and maybe feel Brittney out on what she thinks over pizza tonight. 

@thejemersoninferno​ 

[stargazedwinchester]

I Died For You | Dean

Very much inspired by ‘Cherry Red’ by Waterparks, it can be found here! Was originally going to call it Cherry Red but since the song is about a minute and a half long I thought the main lyric links better with the imagine rather than ‘Cherry Red’

(Also didn’t want to overuse the term ‘cherry red’ hahaha)

Warnings: Death

Word count: 1,923

--

You're laid flat on your back after defeating the final vamp in the nest. You and the Winchester’s found a case in Greenfield, Massachusetts. You were currently staying at a motel on the outskirts of Vermont when Sam found the case, thanks to Jody Mills’ help. Blood was splattered all over your face and your clothes, and thanks to the vamp, your new coat is ruined. "Ugh! Not my new coat!" You whine, acquiring Deans attention. "Hey, at least it’s not Gucci." He smirks, breathing heavily. Sam offers you his hand, and you accept. Once you were back onto your feet, Dean congratulates you with a pat on the back. "Good fight, Red."

You were out of hunting for a while. You sprained your ankle and broke your arm during a fight with a werewolf, and were hospitalised for a week due to unconsciousness, then forced to be bedridden by the Winchester’s since they didn’t want you practically killing yourself on another hunt. Your arm still hurt a little, though, it had only been a week since you had the cast taken off at the hospital, but you were adamant that they needed your help. After all, you were one of the best hunters around.

Your hand brushed the almost Carmine stray hairs out of your mouth and eyes. Nothing glamorous about the Hunter life, so you embrace it with open arms. "I think we deserve a big, fat burger after... all of this." You gesture towards the deceased bodies of the vampires, and Dean nods. "Obviously. Let’s go." Dean takes the lead towards the exit. Sam follows behind.

--

You had been dating the eldest Winchester for over 4 years now, you both were practically soulmates at first sight, bumping into each other - on purpose - at the same diner every weekend for a month, ordering the same food and chatting about new hunts and cases each time. The time Dean didn’t see you at the diner on one Saturday afternoon, he knew something was wrong, and within an instant, his eyes darted to his brother with curiosity, which in return, Sam did too. They were both very fond of you, and on this specific night, they were so sure to ask you to join them on hunts, to join them in life. To act as their best friend and someone to confide to, after all, they only had each other. “Cherry red. Man, it’s a beautiful colour, ain’t it?”

You found your own case down south, in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. A family of witches called the Loughlin Family. You knew it would be a bad idea to take the challenge on yourself, but you insisted that it wouldn’t be too hard, either way, they’re just people... right? With hex bags and powerful spells, powerful enough to send you flying across the room and possibly kill you, but you knew that. You didn’t need help.

—

You exited the impala and entered Smokin’ Lee’s 80’s themed diner, the bell sprung when you opened the door, and you took a booth seat in the far left corner, next to the window. ‘It’s weird being here again but actually sat with you this time," you mention. "I was always in the booth behind." You smile, pointing to the booth behind you. Sam smiles. "Yeah, we’ve come a long way, haven’t we?" He says, turning his head toward Dean. "We can cheers to this when we get our beer." He chuckles, as the waiter hands you all a menu. "I already know what I’m having." He pursed his lips, smiling at you, waving over the waiter. He makes his way over with a notepad and pen, greeting you with a smile. You order your food and start gossiping about the vamps you beheaded an hour ago.

You noticed that the food and drinks were taking too long, and mentioned it to the boys. No staff member was around anymore, it was only you and the brothers sat in the booth. No customers, no cashier, no waiter. Hell, not even any chefs. It was too quiet for your liking, the feeling in your stomach told you so. You grasp your handgun from your hidden coat pocket, you switched out your other jacket with one of Deans since you knew that going into a diner covered in blood won’t end well on your part. You scoot out of the booth and are at the ready with your gun, Dean indicates you go with him and Sam goes around the back by himself. "With me, Cherry," Dean whispers, slowly making his way to the door of the kitchen. Sam had already left. You pull back on Deans arm, he glances at your arm, then st your eyes. "What?" He asks, clearly agitated, he was curious about what has happened, and he wanted his damn food. "Let me go first," you insist. "That way, you can save my life if need be." You plant a kiss on his cheek before squeezing past the doorway, stepping into the kitchen.

The burger patties were still sizzling on the pan, black smoke emitting from them and towards the ceiling. Dean took a second look at them and shook his head. "Aw, man. My burger." He cried, pointing st them. You giggle st him being a baby, motioning for him to follow behind. "I’ll cook some food for all of us when we get home." You say, still on your guard. Dean appreciates your cooking so much, he sometimes compliments them and says "it’s better than any diner ever could." Which, is the best thing he could ever say to you.

The place was empty, which still didn’t settle with you. You knew something was wrong, but you weren’t sure what. Dean worms past you, looking through any entrance and exit he could find. “There’s no-one here.” He exclaims, speaking louder this time, waving his hands in defeat. You loosen up and drop your weapon to your hip, also admitting defeat. Sam appeared around the corner. “Anything?” He asks, looking at you, then at Dean. “Nope. Nothing.” Dean says, turning around for one last look. “I don’t understand,” You begin. “What... or who would just up and leave? The whole crew? And not even leave a trace or fight back?” You question, running your hand through your bright hair. You walk up to Sam and lean against the wall near him. You all stood silent for a second when you heard a rustle behind Dean as if something is scuttling away. Dean remains in his spot, and you presume he didn’t hear it. Either way, you stand on guard with Sam. “Dean, get back from there.” You warn him and he glares at you. “Why?”

“I heard something in the bushes behind you. Please get back.” You plead, and he bids his hand. “I didn’t hear anything I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He then takes his attention back down to his gun, as if he's reloading it. ‘He’s oblivious,’ Your brain tells you. You hear another rustle. ‘He needs to move.’

Without hesitation, you walk towards dean and grab him by the collar of his denim jacket, and push him out of the way. “I’m not letting anything happen to you,” You start, “If anything happens, I’d rather be the one to die. Not you. You’re a goddamn Winchester.”

“Well Y/N, so are you.” Sam expresses, you shake your head.

“Not yet.” You glance at Dean who’s eyeing both you and Sam, you give him a wink. He huffs, then smiles.

After a couple of minutes, the rustling stops. Then a trash can is knocked over to your left, in an alleyway. You divert your attention to it, increasing Sams too. Dean stays back since he acknowledges that you love to take the lead during fights and hunts, and of course, he doesn’t like it, but he does respect it. The figure positions itself there in the shadow of the diner, eyes glowing yellow. You raise your gun and shoot as quick as you could, but you missed. Panicking, you move backwards and Sam takes the lead instead, he whips out a silver blade and launches towards the wolf, as the wolf cries out in pain, the whole pack emerge from behind the bushes, just as you thought. Sam rejoins you and you both work together while Dean rampages by himself, until one manages to jump him and tackle him to the floor. You gasp and manage to headshot one final werewolf before hurtling towards the monster, and swiftly knocking the wolf over, you perched yourself ontop of it, as it squirmed and scratches your arm in the process. You wince, but it doesn’t distract you from the fact that it managed to take down Dean Winchester.

“Y/N!” Sam yells, making you turn around. He tosses you his silver blade and you catch it in your right hand, and pierce the werewolves forehead, suddenly feeling the creature underneath you weaken. You continue to penetrate the wolfs head over and over again, until you hear Sam murmuring to Dean.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, we’ll get you patched up, won’t we?” Sam panics, looking up at you with sorrowful eyes.

You notice the huge chunk taken out of deans neck, the blood pouring out of him like milk out of a babies bottle. He’s struggling to breathe, the liquid soon filling up his airways. “Dean, oh my God.” You cry, collapsing next to his face, stroking his hair, watching his helpless face stare back at yours. “That... that almost got me... didn’t it?” He makes out. “That was close,” he says, tears streaming down your cheeks. You can’t help it, but you don’t like Dean seeing you cry. “Why are you crying, Red? I’m okay.” He says weakly, his eyes shifting to Sam. “Sammy, help me up.” Sam chuckles ever so softly, knowing how this day is going to end. He still tries though, trying to fulfil his brothers wants as he knows he’ll be knocking on Heaven's door any time soon. “Dean-” You wail, not being able to decide whether you want to carry on speaking or not, it was so hard for you to see him like this, see him so gullible, so vulnerable. It hurts. Sam helps him sit up, Dean groans in pain. “I love you, Red.” He drifted in and out of consciousness, “I love you.” He tries to pat Sams shoulder but misses. Sam holds onto his brother's arm for comfort. “I love you, Winchester.” You reply, wiping the tears from your face.

“Cherry red. It’s beautiful, ain’t it?” He murmurs, his eyes ever so slightly resting in an exact spot, looking somewhat bloodshot. “Dean!” You wail, Sam shakes his arm for a response. “Dean? No, no, no, no, no.” He breathes, trying to find a way to regain his consciousness, “Sam, he’s gone,” You place a hand on the younger Winchesters shoulder. “No,” He whispers. “He’s gone, Sam. He’s gone,” you repeat, not really believing it yourself.

It hadn’t sunken in yet, you still thought that the next day you’ll wake up to a snoring 37-year-old man that you have known since he was 33. You thought all of this was just some practical joke that someone had set onto you and Sam, that someone had asked Gabriel to put on a show to get some laughs. But no, this was reality, this was your reality that just hadn’t sunken in.

It hadn’t sunken in.

[abyss-mal-blog1]

current mind-space//word vomit

it’s amazing how much can change in a few days, but it hasn’t been a week since my finals ended and i already felt so different. i have been doing f45 everyday this week (if not then some kind of workout, but i’ve really been into that recently). i am feeling so much better now without deadlines, sometimes i don’t know if i function better under pressure or not. i guess not, but then it’s amazing how much i can do and achieve under pressure. i need the right amount of pressure, and this semester it has been a little difficult for me to get around that. 

last friday was kinda my last day of finals, i just had an essay to submit, and i am disappointed in myself and my work ethic because i submitted it at 9pm, went to my cousin’s (disappointing) party, and then professor emailed me to say that she cannot read Pages format (seriously smh @ my tardiness!!!), only got back at 1am that night and sent my mediocre essay. i am a little sad about it because i know that is not my 100%. idk why but college so far has just been a series of 80% effort. this paper was an interesting one, on airbnb, on the sharing economy, it’s a performance studies paper where i analyze the hospitality platform in terms of host-user relationship, parasitism and (attempted) to talk about free online labor. it is a little too late now but i kinda want to work on it again and like, submit for feedback. maybe ill ask taylor. 

last saturday was kinda meh, i agreed to go to a *social* kinda event at a bar/club at chelsea, held for Asian-ivy-alumni-people that yanlin invited me too. it was at up&up and honestly a little...i didn’t enjoy it at all. the music sucked, the people were either too dorky or gross or old or weird, and the whole time i just kept saying to myself, “never again”. they said it was open bar but they only served absolut, which was shit. and then my friend’s two friends were...i feel sorry that this was their first clubbing experience. at the beginning my reaction was look at all these ivy alumni! get hitched with one of them for ~da connectsx~ (and nothing else) but no kidding i was actually interested in talking to them just to get to know what people who graduated from ivies are up to, and what are they doing at such events...and are they actually enjoying themselves because it was really kinda gross. met my friend’s friend who seemed like a really smart engineer (he asked for my number the next day lol), and a german dude at the bar who didn’t want to get me a drink. all i needed that night was a drink.....(i’m glad i didn’t drink tho because recently drinking has made me feel all kinds of bad)  we had ramen after at ramen-ya (most probably the worst ramen and charsiew i’ve had but what can we do at 3am and my friend wanted noodle and soup...)

on sunday i KNow i should have left my house earlier to workout but i didn’t. i was angry at myself that i didn’t. instead, i stayed at home and emotion-ate. i must have eaten more green bean soup than my stomach would have liked. what else...avocado? i remember..two bananas? god. this was the day i felt like i was n’s boyfriend because i had to do what she wanted to do. i know i had agreed on going, but at that point i really wanted to go thrifting or something. i mean when i got to central park it was fine and things were good but the whole day just felt like i was kinda pulled into doing something that wasn’t my first choice of plans, not that i didn’t enjoy myself lying under the sun at the park. it just felt like i was accompanying someone. i was half an hour late to meet her as well, and half heartedly got a burrito-wrap at newsbar. if you think about it it is really kinda funny, we’re just buying food and taking the subway to this grass patch 50 blocks away. we didn’t walk much, we literally only stayed at a little grassy slope overlooking the baseball pitch. anyway we went to a dance class after (the class was an hour long but i felt like n had asked me about when and what time we should book the classes for more than an hour by text so i just got really sick of it) i rushed home and got dinner with my uncle who’s in town for my cousin’s graduation. i was surprised that he chose the same japanese restaurant again, after dissing it half a year ago we ate here. the omakase was crazy and it cost 230 per person. (for the most expensive set) it was also kinda dumb because you aren’t allowed to order a different omakase set from anyone else - everyone on the table has to order the same - because of “timing”. i wonder if this is how it is in japanese omakase etiquette, but in any case it really earned them a hefty amount because my uncle decided to get 230 for all of us. qiyang didn’t like and said qiqi had bad taste, hahaha. the food wasn’t bad, i mean it’s japanese fusion, but the prices were way too steep for the taste. anyway enough about the food, during the dinner i think we talked about many things though. i kinda wanted to talk to my uncle individually because i think he is the only one who knows about ah gong, but he was sick, and i could tell he was exhausted. my aunt got a little impatient because i didn’t arrange plans to take their furniture and they were going to throw all of them away and it was actually the first time i’ve seen her get so worked up - but at the same time trying to control her emotions - because she was talking to me. i could tell she was annoyed though but i tried not to take it personally, and arranged it tomorrow. 

arranging the moving stuff was kinda last minute, i was walking to the library for work one day and i saw a truck that said MakeSpace. i assumed it was a kind of moving company and so i looked them up. they seemed to be pretty okay in terms of their services and so i decided to try them out. confirmation and setting up an appointment went pretty smoothly, except for the part where the guy i think his name was joseph, asked me to give my credit card details over the phone. idk why i did that! i stopped though, and asked him why, to which he replied he wanted to key in with the coupon code. this service has so much gimmicks within the first 2-3 minutes on the phone he was already telling me about how the first pick up is free, and that he will deduct 100$ off the first month...when people give you discounts too easily it just feels like a ploy and a thing they give to everyone, it’s not anything special and it’s probably calculated inside whatever we have to pay. anyway, i was just thinking it would be cheaper (assuming the maximum that i would have to pay is ~$500, as i confirmed with them on the phone yesterday), it’d still be cheaper than starting an apartment lease now and going through the trouble of finding two subletters. 

well. idk, it’s also easy to have things all moved in, i have to find a place to store my perishables!

moving is so much work, and storing things. this reminds me of my paper on airbnb and about the digital nomad lifestyle. it is interesting though, that this is what it has become. but the homogenized aesthetic is something i really cannot stand, in airbnb, in coffeeshops around the world..i am sure you know what i’m talking about. a new york times writer did something about this - he termed it “Airspace” - and apparently it originated from Brooklyn. I guess that’s where the art/avant-garde stuff started. well. keep a look out im gonna write a blogpost about that 

moving on 

nat came to sleepover on sunday night and a few days after because the school kicks you out of the dorms you pay so much for right after your final ends. i forgot if we did something fun but i probably just fell asleep. 

on monday i think i went to f45 and did cardio at Dumbo with Gi. he seems like a pretty nice trainer, the first time i went it was him and another girl Bertha (i think my first f45 was last tuesday) and i felt like i had two personal trainers with me - Gi was cheering me on and Bertha was doing it with me. it felt like such a good workout, one of the best ive had in a while. then work, where i arranged the movers stuff. i also realized i bought the wrong date for my flight ticket as my friends and had to buy one more...............

tuesday was the same f45 in the morning, and the bobst after. didn’t really get much work done at bobst. oh i also viewed a 3BR flex at 160. hella expensive and small, and dates didn’t work out anyway. also the broker who brought us to view the apartment was a very nice tall french man and his name was jean-francois which i couldn’t pronounce and asked nat but still called him jean as in jeen instead of john. this is why i have to learn french. you’re embarrassing. i also went to the itp/ima spring show with shubham which was super cool. there were many cool ideas, and i just wonder if i could create something like that. i didn’t get to see all of the exhibits which i regret, but i remember a few notable projects. one was an installation made with keyboards that randomly clicks, but when you hold your phone up it’ll stop. it’s made using 3d gestures. there’s also one at a gallery for surveillance, this team had a thing they call facebox, and it’s literally a box, that when you open it has a webcam that would capture your face, find you on facebook, and print out an invoice/receipt on how much you have earned for this giant tech company.  what else...an AR project that when you scan a food,  it shows you where the food comes from. nat said that she would love it if menus have something they could scan and then have pictures appear in ~holographic~ format, or maybe in the nearer future something on your phone that shows you a picture of the picture of the food. but isn’t it a surprise tho? sometimes the fun’s in the surprise, you read the description, you know what are the foods you’ll eat, leaving room to imagine or be surprised by how the chef puts it together! anyway, went for dinner with nat and jenny - got vegan shwarma (definitely wasn’t worth $14) and went to get crepes with will after. 

wednesday we were gonna go to the dmv but we weren’t prepared. nat also needed to get her passport and she was lazy. wow the number of times i mentioned her, it feels like she’s my boyfriend at this point. talked to famz, sister, and beatrix. am currently considering if i should even go to beijing or just go straight home. fuck. went to bobst for work but no one was there i was just really sleepy. viewed an apartment at 55 morton (it’s a nice quiet residential street that seems to be tucked away from the loud cars and bars and people) then i went to f45 again-varsity!!! cardio!!!, walked across brooklyn bridge (a little regret although i wanted to walk, but my bag was heavy and there were too many tourists to brisk walk) 

also the reason for this is that after my soba/miso/salad/shrimp dinner last night i was just watching a bunch of netflix shows and it was probably the caffeine from puerto rican roasting company - the barista made me a chai cappuccino with almond milk (3 SHOTS!!!)

me and nat couldn’t sleep, i really think i slept for an hour. i watched so many different shows, yoko and john’s documentary, while we were young, anthony bourdain, i was seriously flipping through all the shows and alternating between amazonprme and youtube and netflix and i even tried watching peaceful cuisine and making the brightness lower and had the sleep mode on and wow i just couldn’t sleep

so yeah the birth of this word vomit 

i am going to create more things

[nebulous-frog]

For the Seductive and Magnetic Man

Summary: Dan finds a cologne ad on the floor with a sample scent that smells fantastic, so he has it basically attached to his nose for a while. Phil is confused at first, then amused, and then he gets an interesting idea...

Word Count: 3637

Pairing: Phan

Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, Friends to Lovers

Warnings: Dan swears

Author’s Note: Huge thanks to the fantastic @imnotinclinedtomaturity for betaing!

Link to AO3 Fics Masterlist

The flat was a complete disaster. Socks and papers were scattered everywhere, dirty plates were balanced precariously on all the furniture - the works.

Dan couldn’t handle it anymore.

Phil had been gone for the last few days, visiting his family. In that time, Dan had managed to work through all of his usual boredom-ending routines, right up to the point of tidying. He had played video games, outlined video ideas, attempted several times to film, and gone on nearly endless tumblr odysseys. Now, he was just restless, a feeling that was compounded by the fact that Phil would be returning that evening. Since Dan had exhausted every other possible activity, his restlessness led to him finally dealing with tidying.

A few hours into working through the piles of crap littering their flat, Dan’s eye caught on a small square of paper with a very attractive man printed on it. Curious enough to stall his tidying, Dan bent down and picked it up.

A cologne advert? I don’t remember getting this.

Dan flipped it over, looking to see who it was addressed to. It just said “current resident.”

We definitely don’t need it, so I guess I’ll just throw it away, Dan thought. He fanned himself with it for a moment as he thought about which pile to tackle next, then paused. Oh my god, something smells amazing. What is it? He looked around until his eyes rested on the cologne advert in his hand.

The model’s smolder greeted Dan’s confused gaze.

Dan brought the advert closer to his face and sniffed carefully. An overwhelmingly masculine scent flooded his nostrils and he moaned.

Oh my god, this smells amazing. This is legitimately the best thing I’ve ever smelled.

He inhaled deeply, taking in the magnificent scent again, drowning himself in it.

Tidying forgotten, Dan spent the next several minutes stood in the middle of the lounge of the flat, breathing deeply and swooning over a small piece of paper.

Suddenly, his phone rang. Irritated at having to move the advert from his face, Dan took his phone out of his pocket and answered without looking.

“Hello?” he said, annoyance creeping into his voice.

“Dan! I’m almost back to the flat!” Phil replied cheerily into the phone.

“Oh! Great, I’ll see you soon, then.” Dan smiled, happy that Phil was nearly home. “We don’t really have any food ready right now and I can’t be assed to cook tonight, so I’m just gonna call for some Indian takeaway, if that’s alright with you?”

“Sounds fantastic. You know what I like, so I’ll let you handle it.”

They hung up and Dan fetched the takeaway menu from the junk drawer. He was starving, and basically everything sounded good, so he called up the Indian place they liked and ordered probably too much food.

He looked around the flat again and noticed it was substantially tidier, which he took pride in. Phil certainly would appreciate coming home to a relatively tidy flat, something that definitely did not slip Dan’s mind as he reviewed his work.

Realizing he still had the cologne advert in his hand, Dan walked to their rubbish bin to throw it away. As soon as his hand was over the bin, however, he paused. It really did smell wonderful. Was he sure he wanted to throw it away? The scent would probably linger on the paper for the next few days, at least, and he could just smell it occasionally until it was gone, right?

Who am I kidding, this thing will be practically taped to my face this week. It just smells so good, I might as well keep it for now. With that thought in mind, Dan turned around and brought the paper to his room, taking a big sniff one last time before depositing it onto his bedside table for later.

Just as he left his room, he heard the front door opening.

“Hello,” Phil called out cheerfully.

“Hey, Phil!” Dan called. He walked down the hallway to meet Phil at the door.

“Hey! I hope you weren’t too bored here all alone the last few days,” Phil said as he dragged his luggage further into the flat.

“Of course not! It was practically heaven without you here banging against walls, eating my cereal, and leaving cupboards open every five minutes,” Dan teased. Even if he wouldn’t admit it just yet, he really had missed his friend.

Phil rolled his eyes, but at least looked a little sheepish. “Your mum’s a cupboard.”

Dan let out a hyena laugh, then finally pulled Phil forward into a hug.

“I did miss you, though,” Dan said seriously, shoving his face into Phil’s neck.

“I missed you, too, you spork,” Phil giggled, wrapping his arms around Dan.

They stood in the main hallway for a minute, hugging and just breathing each other in again for the first time in almost a week.

“Hey Dan?” Phil said hesitantly.

“Mmhmm?” Dan tightened his arms around Phil’s waist.

“You smell like cologne.” Phil breathed deeply. “I don’t think either of us have that scent, though? It’s kind of faint, I think.”

Dan felt his face heat up. Shit, did I really smell that advert for so long that Phil can smell it on me?

“Oh, uh, I don’t know,” he said nervously. He began to waffle, trying to cover up his embarrassment. “I don’t take your stuff without asking, obviously, so I didn’t take your cologne or anything. I don’t even use cologne that much, you know that. Why would I use cologne when I’ve just been staying home all week? I don’t need cologne at home, you know? I’m not really sure what you’re smelling, tho-“ Dan stopped abruptly when Phil began to move.

Phil pulled back from the hug a little, just enough to see Dan’s face. “You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to, but..." Phil trailed off, trying to find the right words. Dan looked at him expectantly. “Do you have a secret boyfriend that you haven’t told me about yet?” Phil asked tentatively. He seemed unsure and a little uncomfortable, avoiding eye contact and shifting his weight from foot to foot.

Dan spluttered and backed away from the hug entirely. “What?! No!”

Phil held his hands out in a placating gesture. “It’s perfectly alright if you do, Dan. You- you know I support you-“ he continued, clearly entirely misinterpreting Dan’s response as a fear of homophobia rather than pure shock.

Dan burst out laughing, flapping his arms in the air as if he was trying to pull more air into his mouth. “Oh my god, no, Phil! I haven’t left the flat in days and nobody’s been here. When would I have gotten a boyfriend, anyway?!” Dan shook his head and let out another snort of laughter. “Oh my god, this is ridiculous.”

Phil stared at Dan with complete confusion in his eyes, hands still raised like he was calming a wild animal. “I’m... sorry? I’m lost. Why am I smelling new cologne, then?”

“God, this could only happen to me!” Dan managed to exclaim between giggles. “I was tidying and found a cologne advert and it smelled really good, so I’ve just been standing around with my nose buried in it for, like, half an hour?”

Phil’s expression was mostly vacant, except for the slightest downward tilt to his mouth that gave away his continued confusion, which made Dan laugh all the harder.

“Here, I still have it in my room. You have to smell it, Phil, it’s really spectacular.”

Dan quickly led Phil to his room and handed him the advert.

Clearly skeptical, Phil took the paper and brought it up to his nose. He took a small sniff, then his eyes fluttered closed and he took a deeper breath.

“Oh my god, that’s amazing!” Phil exclaimed, taking another breath.

“I know!” Dan agreed excitedly. “It’s so good, I just want to smell it forever!”

Phil took the advert away from his face and looked at the text on it, then burst into laughter. “The tagline- hahahaha-” Phil struggled to speak through his laughter. “The tagline is ‘For the seductive and magnetic man’- hahaha- That’s so cheesy, oh my god!”

Dan giggled along with Phil. “I mean, it’s not wrong. It might as well be magnetic, with how much I kept it to my face earlier.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Much later, after they had stopped laughing and their Indian food had arrived and been consumed, Dan and Phil sat in their lounge watching anime. Dan had the cologne advert right against his nose again. It smelled so good, who could blame him?

Phil glanced over at Dan and noticed the advert, chuckling quietly at Dan’s antics. “You’re really obsessed with that advert, aren’t you?”

“It smells so good, Phil, I can’t help it!” Dan whined. Phil’s laughter only increased. “Stop laughing at me, you spork!”

“I’m sorry, you just look really ridiculous like that!” He really likes that cologne, hmm…Phil thought, the start of a plan formulating in his mind.

“You’d be doing this too if I let you have it, so don’t you start!” Dan argued indignantly.

Phil rolled his eyes. “It smelled good, but not that good, Dan. I think you’ve exaggerated a little bit.”

“I definitely have not. This is the best damn thing I’ve ever smelled. It’s just so masculine but soft and it’s got this hint of vanilla-“ Dan sighed and sniffed the advert again. “It’s genuinely perfect.”

Phil side-eyed him. “Uh-huh, whatever you say Dan.”

Maybe I can use this to my advantage, thought Phil.

That night, Phil snuck into Dan’s room while he was asleep and took a picture of the advert, making sure he could read the name of it later on. His plan was now underway.

~~~~~~~~~~

A week later, Dan and Phil had settled back into their usual rhythm. Dan would spend hours at a time scrolling through tumblr on the sofa while Phil would look much more productive, sometimes even working all the way through his to-do list. That is, he’d be productive up until he went to the toilet for weirdly long amounts of time, returning with significantly higher statistics in all of his various gaming apps.

They had been “working” all day and the sun was beginning to set as it approached 8pm. Phil was just returning from another long toilet break when he noticed the time and decided that it was late enough for them to be done for the day.

“Hey, Dan?”

“Yeah?” Dan replied, not looking up from his browsing position.

“Wanna watch a film or something?”

“Sure. What did you have in mind?” Dan kept scrolling.

“Maybe Avengers or something? I’m in the mood for action.”

“Sounds good, if you set it up.” He liked some art of him in dungarees. Maybe I should try dungarees in the future...

“Deal,” Phil said. He strode across the lounge to put the film on.

Phil’s movement caused the air to move, wafting an alluring scent in Dan’s direction.

Dan’s head snapped up and he sniffed the air hungrily. “Did you get new cologne, Phil?” He looked over to see Phil bent over their television set, ass sticking out. The combination of the smells and Phil’s fine ass made Dan’s brain short-circuit.

“Hm?” Phil turned around innocently. “No, it’s the normal stuff. You must be smelling things.” He turned back to the TV, completely ignorant of the effect he was having on Dan.

Dan inhaled deeply again, then shook his head. The smell had dissipated. He closed his laptop and pulled a blanket off the edge of the sofa, deciding to get settled in for the film.

When Phil had the movie queued up, he sat down next to Dan and pulled Dan’s blanket up so he could curl up under it, too.

It wasn’t uncommon for them to cuddle while watching a film at home; they were rather affectionate for best friends and both preferred to hold something squishy while watching films, so they often hugged each other on nights like this.

What was strange, however, was that Dan was having a hard time controlling himself.

Phil was attractive, sure, but Dan was well used to it by this point and he had gotten over his all-consuming crush ages ago. Or, at least, so he thought.

There was just something about Phil tonight that had Dan practically drooling. A few minutes into the film, Dan was already pressed much more firmly against his best friend than he ever was for films. Sure, they’d cuddled this close in the past, but that was only when they were drunk or one of them needed some extra human contact for mental health purposes.

But now, Dan’s face was pressed tightly into Phil’s arm and his own arms were wrapped tightly around Phil’s torso.

Dan supposed he must be drunk somehow. He hadn’t had any alcohol, but maybe it was something in the air. Now that Phil was closer, he was smelling that fantastic scent again. Phil had said that his cologne was just the same as normal, though, so Dan was confused. Had he just never appreciated Phil’s cologne?

Dan breathed deeply throughout the whole film, savoring the intoxicating smell. He wasn’t really paying attention to the movie, but that didn’t particularly matter since they’d watched it so many times. Instead, Dan was focused on trying to keep himself from crawling farther into Phil’s lap and physically shoving his nose into Phil’s skin or licking a stripe up his neck.

He didn’t really notice when the film ended until Phil turned to him.

“Dan?” Phil’s amused voice broke the silence.

Dan jumped, picking his head up from where it was burrowed in Phil’s shoulder. “What?”

Phil smirked, but tried to hide it in a small smile. “It’s over. It’s been over for, like, five minutes. Do you ever plan on moving?”

Blushing, Dan pulled away from Phil and moved the blanket off his lap. “Sorry, I’ll just-”

Phil caught Dan’s wrist before he could stand fully. “No, Dan, I didn’t mean-” Phil huffed out a sigh, seeming frustrated with himself. “You don’t have to move if you don’t want to. I was just teasing you. We could watch something else, too, if you want?” Phil blinked his big, innocent, blue eyes up at Dan.

Phil seemed as reluctant to move as Dan was.

Dan relaxed back into Phil, resting his head back on Phil’s shoulder and draping the blanket back over his legs. “As long as we don’t have to move, I’m okay with anything.” Dan finished settling back in by snaking his arms back around Phil’s torso and taking in a deep breath against his neck.

“Of course. I’ll pull up Netflix,” Phil agreed. Once they had old episodes of Buffy playing, Phil sighed and cuddled back into Dan.

This is the best cuddle I’ve ever had, Dan thought briefly. He was just so comfortable resting against Phil, especially when Phil smelled as good as he did. How haven’t I noticed Phil’s cologne before? It’s so entrancing and relaxing. The warmth and calmness of the whole situation relaxed Dan so much and he couldn’t help it when he fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

This began to happen fairly regularly in the Dan and Phil household. Dan would be on his laptop in the lounge and Phil would walk by, and suddenly Dan would practically attach himself to Phil, breathing deeply and swooning slightly. Everything Phil did was unbelievably attractive to Dan, from taking out the trash, to cooking, to sprawling out on the sofa. There was just an aura of masculinity and sexiness that pulled Dan in like a moth to a flame.

Dan’s clinginess had gotten a little weird as a result. He just couldn’t keep his hands off of Phil. They had always been pretty close physically, of course, paying almost no attention to personal space, but this was on a whole other level.

These days, Dan was often essentially wrapped around Phil. If Phil was cooking, Dan would come up and hug him from behind, burying his face in Phil’s neck. If Phil was editing, Dan would hug him and rest his chin on top of Phil’s head. Dan would seek out hugs from Phil more often than ever before. When Phil asked, Dan always gave an excuse about being tired or touch-starved or having an upset stomach before pulling Phil into a strong hug and breathing him in.

One day, Dan couldn’t take it anymore. Phil smelled too good and Dan had tried his hardest to contain himself, but his willpower slipped.

Phil was making them both dinner, something that always made Dan feel special. Dan came into the kitchen a little before he knew Phil would be done cooking and, as usual, hugged him from behind, arms circling Phil’s waist. He inhaled deeply, breathing in Phil’s incredible masculine-but-soft scent.

“Hey, Dan,” Phil said casually. “I’m just about done.” He’d gotten used to Dan’s clinginess surprisingly quickly.

“That’s okay, take your time,” Dan whispered back, not moving away from Phil. Dan enjoyed the way Phil shivered as Dan’s lips and breath brushed his neck when he spoke. Before his brain could catch up with his body, Dan began leaving kisses on the side of Phil’s neck, just to see how he’d react, starting from the base and working up to his jaw.

Phil stopped stirring the sauce on the stove and tilted his head to the side, giving him more access. Dan took this as a sign of encouragement, continuing the journey of his mouth up to Phil’s jaw, which had a slight 5 o’clock shadow. Dan groaned at the scratchy stubble under his lips. It reminded him once again just how hot Phil was. Phil turned his head slowly, leaning into Dan’s kisses, twisting around until their lips met.

Dan froze, his brain finally catching up with his actions and making him panic. I’m kissing Phil. Oh my god. I just threw myself on him, he’s probably so uncomfortable! I’ve taken this too far, I need to go back! He quickly pulled back, eyes snapping open. He wasn’t even sure when he’d closed them.

Phil’s eyes were gently closed, his lips still puckered from the kiss. Without hesitating, Phil leaned forward and kissed Dan again, who was still too shocked at his own behavior to pull away fully after their first kiss.

Phil’s kissing me. Oh my god. With this realization, Dan loosened his arms around Phil’s waist, giving Phil the freedom to turn around so they could kiss easier.

Dan was in heaven.

When they finally pulled away, Dan was slightly dazed breathing heavily.

“Well, that took you long enough,” Phil whispered teasingly, leaning his forehead against Dan’s. Phil had a cute little smile on his face.

Dan blinked, confused and still reeling from the kiss. “What?”

“I’ve been waiting for you to kiss me for weeks, you spoon,” Phil giggled quietly. “Well, more like years, but I’ve been trying harder these last few weeks.”

Dan blinked again, but couldn’t figure out what to say.

Phil rolled his eyes. “I bought that cologne you were addicted to. Remember? The one where I thought you had been visiting a boyfriend but you had actually just been smelling an advert?”

Dan blinked a third time, then his brain finally caught up. “Hey! You said you didn’t change your cologne! I’ve been going mad trying to figure out what happened this whole time!”

“Oops,” Phil giggled. “I guess I lied.”

“Damn, Phil. That was an ordeal. Do you have any idea how fucking enchanting you smell? I can’t believe I haven’t jumped you yet. In fact-” Dan kissed Phil again, harder this time. He broke it off a few seconds later with a satisfying smack. “I can’t get enough of you. I’ve been attached to you for however many weeks now because you just-” kiss “-smell-” kiss “-so-” kiss “-good.”

They kissed again, for longer this time. Dan pushed Phil forward until Phil was crowded against the sink, thoroughly snogging him.

Phil pulled away just enough to whisper out, “Dan,” before his lips were otherwise occupied again. A few seconds later, he did it again. “Dan, wait, dinner-”

“Shit!” Dan said, pulling back and releasing Phil. He could smell whatever sauce Phil had been cooking beginning to burn. He quickly pulled it off the hob and stepped back to let Phil fix it. “Sorry.”

Phil shot Dan a disbelieving glance. “You’re totally not, but I forgive you anyway. We were having way more fun.”

Dan grinned. “That we were.”

Phil grinned back, then turned to his cooking. “Besides, this means I can give this cologne a positive review. The advert was totally accurate.” Phil casually stirred the slightly-burned sauce.

“Oh, really? What did it say, again?” Dan said with a teasing tone. He tried to think back to what it said, but found himself a little too distracted by the rush of affection he was feeling for Phil to be able to remember.

Phil turned back to him with a sly smirk, now finished with his cooking. “‘For the seductive and magnetic man’. I think your behavior is proof of the accuracy of that statement, since you were definitely magnetized to me, you seductor.”

Dan spluttered and laughed. “Phil, you’re the seductor, since you seduced me, not the other way around!”

Phil just smiled. “Oh, well, that’s just a matter of perspective.”

“For what it’s worth,” said Dan as he wrapped his arms around Phil once more, “I think you’re definitely a ‘seductive and magnetic man’ and I couldn’t be happier to have been seduced by you.” Dan leaned in and kissed Phil again. “Especially since it was with that fantastic cologne.”

[the-literalist]

Spare Me Some Time (11)

Pairing: USUK

Word Count: 4526

Summary: Alfred Jones is as poor as they get, living homeless on the streets. He is the type of man that high-paid businessman Arthur Kirkland would never spare a passing glance, but that’s about to change.

Link to the full story on AO3

Alfred hadn’t been to a Starbucks in forever. He thought that the coffee was pretty decent, but it was way too expensive and so he tended not to splurge on a drink he could get somewhere else for half the cost. They did offer some pretty interesting flavors though, all equally sweet and delicious, and Alfred felt his mouth watering just roaming his eyes over the menu posted on the wall.

He finally decided on a decadent chocolate Frappuccino, piled high with whipped cream and syrup drizzled over the top. Oh man, he was going to enjoy this to the very last drop. When was the last time he had a treat like this? He almost couldn’t believe that Arthur actually proposed to come here, it seemed like the man had never set foot in a Starbucks before.

Alfred watched Arthur with humored interest; the shorter man had spent a great deal of time racking his eyes over the menu only to grow more and more irritated (no doubt because he couldn’t find his desired tea as an option).

“Excuse me,” Arthur called out to the barista who had been waiting for him to pick something and pay. “Where is your tea selection? I don’t want a chai latte tazo whatever-the-hell! I just want a normal tea, hot – as it should be. None of that iced crap!” 

The barista stared at him, unimpressed, and blinked slowly. “We have plenty of choices,” she stated while bringing up a box full of different brands. “Green, black, white, herbal – take your pick.”

Arthur murmured a “that’s more like it” under his breath before taking the box from her and rummaging through it.

Alfred stood off to the side with his drink already made, watching the line gradually get longer and longer behind Arthur. He knew by now that Arthur was a no-shame kind of guy, he probably didn’t care that people were waiting. Unfortunately, the barista did.

“Sir, have you decided yet?” she asked with a rushed inclination, gesturing vaguely to the box in Arthur’s hands.

He narrowed his eyes at her. “This is a very delicate procedure. If I pick the wrong tea, it could completely ruin the rest of my day. We wouldn’t want that, now would we?” He picked up two different tea bags and studied them closely.

Alfred had to bite his lip from chuckling at the barista’s reaction, she looked like she was ready to explode.

“Sir,” she tried, “please pick one!”

“Fine, you inconsiderate slag. I’ll take this herbal one then,” he said while thrusting the tea bag in front of her. Alfred’s eyebrows shot up, damn Arthur was nasty sometimes!

She took it in a huff and then got a cup from the side. “Name?”

“Beg your pardon?”

Alfred leaned in close to Arthur, “She needs your name to write on the cup.”

The Englishman hummed in reply, “It’s Arthur.”

The barista looked at him, “Author?”

He frowned. “No. Arthur.”

“Oh I’m sorry, I can’t understand your accent. Can you repeat that again?” Alfred covered his mouth to hide his giggles. The barista was totally fucking with him and he couldn’t say that Arthur didn’t deserve it. That’s what happens when you treat workers in New York City rudely.

And Arthur looked more pissed then ever. “My accent is perfectly understandable thank you! You need to get your hearing checked. And you know what, make that Mr. Kirklandto you.”

The barista looked at him with an unreadable expression. “Of course, Mr. Kirkland,” she said with false innocence while scribbling the name on the cup.

After paying for the two drinks and finally allowing the next couple in line to order, Alfred and Arthur moved to the side.

“So it’s your first time in a Starbucks?” Alfred asked, already knowing the answer. “Yes, and my last! I suggested going here because I always hear how obsessed Americans are with the place. God only knows why...I just thought you’d prefer this to other cafes.” He pointed down to the giant Frappuccino in Alfred’s hands, “and I doubt you’d be able to find that monstrosity elsewhere. It looks disgusting by the way.” Alfred pouted, “Hey! Don’t judge! This shit is delicious, you gotta try it.” He held it out to Arthur who put his hand up in disgust.

“No thanks, I’ll wait for my tea while you subject your body to diabetes.”

“Rude,” Alfred stuck his tongue out at him.

Finally a different barista placed a ready-made hot tea on the counter and called out, “Mr. Cockland? Tea for Mr. Cockland?”

Alfred’s face scrunched up before he burst out laughing. Arthur on the other hand turned bright red. Then he whirled his head around to the register where the first barista was. She looked at him and gave the sweetest smile before turning back to the client she was helping.

Arthur’s eye twitched. He grabbed his drink off the counter and then grabbed Alfred’s shirt to drag him out of the coffee shop.

When they were safely outside and Alfred’s laughter died down, he took a moment to appreciate just how angry the other man looked. “C’mon, you have to admit that was funny.”

“No it was not! It was inappropriate, and uncalled for I might add. She’s lucky I don’t report her,” he tapped his foot irately.

Alfred rolled his eyes, “Yeah but you were kind of a douchebag.”

“What are you saying? That I deserved it?” Arthur narrowed his piercing green eyes at him, and it reminded Alfred so much of a few days earlier when Arthur had yelled at him for trying to return his money.

He tried to hide the sudden stab of dejection. “I’m just saying you should be nicer to people, especially when their job is to serve you. You shouldn’t act like you’re better than them, that’s all. Everyone deserves respect…servers, waiters…even the homeless,” he tacked on.

The other man started to fidget uncomfortably, mulling over Alfred’s words. He turned the cup over in his hands to look at the name ‘Mr. Cockland’ written across it in big black letters. Finally he let out a heavy sigh and raked a hand through his hair. “You’re right. I…need to work on that don’t I?”

Alfred gave him a small smile and stated encouragingly, “Don’t worry, I can help you.”

“You think you can reverse three decades of mistrust and egotism thrust on me by my family and friends?”

Alfred beamed at him, undaunted. “Of course!”

His positivity must have been infectious because Arthur smiled back at him. “Okay then. Before we start training,” he started jokingly, “why don’t we sit and enjoy our drinks?” He motioned to the outdoor seating area, where there was an empty table with two chairs.

“Sure,” Alfred affirmed as they made their way over and sat down.

Arthur snorted, “So is this what Americans do to pass time? Buy overpriced coffee and talk aimlessly for hours?”

The younger man tapped his chin in fake thought, “Hmmmm well yeah, mostly the chicks though. Or people on dates.” Shit, he did not mean to say that last part. He didn’t let Arthur ponder his words before asking quickly, “Why, what do British people do?”

“Go to a pub of course, I must say I’d fancy a pint after that interaction with the barista…” He put his elbow on the table and held his chin in his hand.

“Hahaha! It’s too early to drink!”

Arthur looked at him incredulously before asserting, “It’s nevertoo early to drink.”

Alfred couldn’t tell if he was kidding but it seemed like he wasn’t. He mentally added ‘heavy drinker’ to his steadily-growing list of things he knew about the Englishman.

“You Brits must really like your liquor,” he said amusingly.

“Oh you don’t know the half of it. I could drink anyone under the table in my hometown,” Arthur stated confidently with a smirk on his face.

Alfred smirked back at him. “Impressive. I’m not a huge drinker though, I’ll leave that to you.” He threw in a wink for good measure.

“Well that’s a shame… so you don’t know of any good pubs around here then?”

“Um no not really, I’ve never really been to a pub actually, I prefer clubs so I can dance. Pubs just make me think of tiny, dimly lit bars that serve fish and chips with beer. Not really my thing.”

Arthur did not look happy. And he was definitely pouting. “That’s not all that pubs have to offer! Especially in England! I don’t know what kind of crap goes on here but there has to be an authentic English pub somewhere in this godforsaken city.”

Alfred laughed. “You’re probably right. We’ll just have to do a bar crawl one night to find the best English pub!”

The Englishman contemplated this before nodding in agreement.

They went on to discuss other topics, from their alcoholic drinks of choice to their college experiences, to favorite subjects in school, and Alfred even got Arthur to open up about his childhood a bit!

An hour and a half had gone by before Alfred started thinking more and more about how much it felt like a date. The two of them, sitting outside enjoying the sunny weather talking and laughing and generally enjoying each others’ company. It was exciting of course, but he also didn’t know if his companion felt the same attraction. He still didn’t even know if the man swung that way! Alfred had let his sexuality slip the night before, but Arthur hadn’t alluded to his own preferences, and Alfred wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

It was also weird that Arthur was paying for everything. Alfred felt bad about it, of course, but it wasn’t like he had any money anyway and Arthur clearly had the funds and had no qualms with spending it. The guy was seriously loaded. And Alfred was only a little bit jealous.

If he had that kind of money he was be donating it to charities to give back to the community. Of course he had nothing against the Englishman about spending his own money however he wanted… it was just interesting seeing the contrast between their two upbringings and lifestyles. Alfred had never been on a date with someone posh, or ‘bougie’, or whatever. He tended to go for the tamer, quieter, and laid back men – the ones who had a few part time jobs and preferred to play video games rather than go to work.

Arthur wasn’t like that at all. He was hot-headed, quick-witted, and devoted to the painstaking time and effort to do good work. Alfred could tell the man was a force to be reckoned with. And, for some reason, he really liked it. He liked that Arthur was sarcastic and honest and spoke his mind even when he probably shouldn’t. He liked that the man acted all tough and fierce one second but the next turned all wide-eyed and adorable the next second.

Speaking of his eyes, they were just gorgeous. Green eyes were rare in general but Arthur’s were absolutely mesmerizing. The way the light was reflected in the little gold flecks of his irises captivated Alfred and he couldn’t stop staring, watching Arthur talk animatedly until he paused and gave Alfred a weird look.

“Well?”

Alfred shook his head to redirect his attention; he had completely zoned out. “Huh? Sorry, what’d you say?”

“I asked if you wanted to move on to the suit shopping?”

“Aw but I was having so much fun here!”

“You weren’t even listening to me while I was speaking!” Arthur shouted, scowling at him.

“I sorta was,” he giggled, shrugging his shoulders and radiating innocence.

“My arse you were,” was the response. He abruptly stood up, grabbing the long-finished cups off the table and tossing them in the garbage. “Are you coming or not?”

“Yeah yeah hold your horses,” Alfred replied whilst standing and stretching his arms up to the sky.

They weaved their way through the people sitting and chatting and started down the street. Arthur was using the GPS on his phone in order to find the ‘perfect’ place to buy nicely tailored suits and Alfred followed his lead.

After only walking a few blocks, Arthur came to a halt in front of a store with a name that Alfred couldn’t pronounce. There were luxurious tuxedos on perfectly posed mannequins in the window and even the tiny light bulbs in the display case looked expensive. Alfred’s stomach dropped. This was the kind of store he wouldn’t spare a passing glance; he didn’t belong here!

Arthur held the door open and when he noticed that Alfred was not inching any closer, he dragged him inside whispering “it’ll be fine”.

The place was a lot bigger than it looked. Tons of suits lined the walls, sorted by color and style. There was a section for wedding suits, professional suits, everyday suits – what the heck was an everyday suit?? It was very overwhelming, and Alfred couldn’t help but feel extremely out of place surrounded by such affluent clothing.

A clerk spotted the two men and approached them. “How can I help you two today?”

Arthur took the lead. “Well, we were hoping to find a classic suit for him,” he gestured to Alfred with a nod.

The clerk responded, “Very well, follow me please.” He brought them to a long line of suits toward the back of the shop, a varying array of blues and blacks poking out from the rack.

Alfred gulped. They all looked exactly the same! How was he supposed to pick one?

Thank god Arthur seemed to know the “ins and outs” of suit shopping. After pulling a bunch of suits from the rack and discussing with the clerk which would be the most appropriate for a typical work setting, he ushered Alfred along to the changing room to try them on.

He stared at himself in the big mirrors lining all sides of his dressing room, feeling caged and uncomfortable. In the brightness of the contained space he could see his body so clearly. Like the bags under his eyes and the gauntness of his face. He removed his shirt and examined the way his ribs bulged out. He had never looked so ugly, he decided. The lackluster eyes and pale skin was nothing reminiscent of how he used to look. Something had to change; he couldn’t go on looking like hallowed version of himself.

“Everything okay in there?” he heard Arthur ask from the other side of the closed door.

“Uh huh, hold on,” Alfred took the first suit off the hanger and quickly began to change, praying it wouldn’t look overly baggy on his emaciated figure.

He carefully stepped out of the changing room in a dark blue jacket and matching dress pants, awaiting a reaction from the Englishman.

Arthur looked pensive, with a hand on his chin in thought as he assessed Alfred’s outfit.

It was making him kinda nervous.

“Sooo, what do you think?”

Arthur came forward to button the first button on the jacket, and to hike up the pants so they weren’t hanging so low off Alfred’s hips. Alfred managed to not overtly blush at the manhandling, just letting Arthur tweak and correct any imperfections he saw.

At last he sighed and shook his head. “No, I’m afraid that look just doesn’t quite work for you. Let’s try the next.”

Alfred let out a sigh of his own, he had been secretly hoping for the ‘one and done’ kind of shopping trip but alas, the universe was not on his side today. He begrudgingly returned to the dressing room to try on the next suit, which turned into the next suit, which turned into the next…like seriously, Arthur was so picky! It wasn’t Alfred’s fault that he couldn’t rock the professional look like his British companion could.

When he finally emerged with one of the only remaining suits left to try on, he was expecting Arthur to turn it away like all the others, but instead Arthur’s eyes widened and he leaned forward.

“Ah! That one! It exudes classiness and sensibility. It’s bloody perfect. Finally, my god I thought we were never going to find one.” He smiled so beautifully at Alfred then that the taller man’s heart skipped a beat.

“Y-you really think so?” Alfred asked. Curse his stammering.

“Yes! It fits you exceptionally well,” he turned to a clerk in a nearby aisle. “Excuse me sir, we would like some advice on this suit that he has on. Do you think it needs to be hemmed at all?”

The dark-haired clerk came over to them before stopping abruptly.

“Alfred…is that really you?”

Oh shit. It was his old coworker and good friend, Kiku! What the hell was he doing working in this store?

He couldn’t keep that question to himself apparently. “Kiku oh my god! Long time no see! What are you doing here??” He put his hand out which Kiku took as the two shared a friendly handshake.

“Ah, I work here now. I stopped working at the videogame company only a little bit after you left. You were right about that place – so hostile and unpleasant.”

“I know right! I guess it’s a good thing you weren’t there for much longer after I got the boot, I bet you were hella bored,” he laughed merrily.

Kiku smiled tight and warm in response and then changed the subject. “I am surprised you are here in a suit, Alfred. This must be a very special occasion. Are you going to an event with your boyfriend?”

Alfred blushed from ear to ear as he looked to Arthur frantically. “Ohh no no hahaha he’s not- this is just my friend, Arthur! Sorry I totally forgot to introduce you guys.”

The Japanese man looked embarrassed as well. “Oh I’m very sorry, I should not have assumed anything,” he turned to Arthur and bowed slightly. “It is nice to meet you.”

Arthur lowered his head a bit as a show of courtesy. “Pleasure to meet you, Kiku.”

The blue-eyed man looked between the two, thrilled that one of his best friends and his newest friend were getting along nicely, albeit a tad awkward at the ‘boyfriend’ mention.

“The suit isn’t for an event of any kind, by the way. We were looking for something he could wear in a professional setting,” Arthur began, steering the conversation back to the reason they were in the store in the first place. “How do you think it fits him?”

Kiku approached Alfred to measure the lengths of the sleeves and pant legs against his body, and Alfred didn’t miss the frown at his Japanese friend’s lips. Suddenly nervous, he pulled absentmindedly at the lapels of the jacket. “Well? Do I look good or what?” He laughed anxiously.

“I believe it is a good fit for you. If the pants feel too long, I will recommend getting a little trimmed at the bottom, but I do not think it is necessary. With the proper shoes, I think this suit is a good match.”

Alfred looked to Arthur for his approval as well so he could finally get this damn thing off and into the regular comfortable clothes that were beckoning him from inside the changing room.

At last he was permitted to change and when he emerged, he carried the pristine suit over his arm, trying his best not to wrinkle or tamper it, lest he incur the Englishman’s wrath (and perhaps his Japanese friend’s wrath as well, though that was much rarer).

The two men had been engaging in small talk but stopped once Alfred was in front of them.

“Shall I get this paid for then?” Arthur questioned as he took the suit from Alfred’s arm.

“How expensive is it?” Whoops, didn’t mean to let that one slide out.

Arthur fished the price tag out of the fold and glanced down. “Not too bad, especially for this label, definitely worth it.” With that, he turned on his heel and headed to the register.

Alfred narrowed his eyes before he turned to Kiku. “How much is that suit?” He knew his friend wouldn’t lie to him, and now he had to know.

The shorter man looked uncomfortable. “It is around five hundred and fifty dollars.”

Blue eyes widened to abnormal proportions. “F-fi…five HUNDRED? Oh my god… That is literally insane. I can’t believe he’s doing this,” he murmured the last part mostly to himself but Kiku heard it anyway.

“Your friend is buying that for you? He is very generous,” there was a question of ‘why’ hanging in the air between his words but Alfred wasn’t going to indulge his curiosity, not now at least.

“Yeah he is. He’s a great guy,” Alfred said truthfully.

“Alfred, can I ask you a question? It is unrelated.”

“Yeah of course.”

“You look very different from the last time I saw you. Much more thin, and tired. Are you okay?”

Alfred gulped and rubbed the back of his neck, feigning ignorance. “Yeah dude I’m okay, I just lost some weight is all.”

His friend studied him for a moment before replying, “I know you better than that, I think. You seem to be lying.”

Okay but did Kiku really have to call him out like that? Couldn’t they all pretend everything was fine and dandy? He had never known his friend to be so direct with him before, apparently Alfred wasn’t the only person that had changed since they last saw each other.

He was trying to formulate his response when he saw Arthur making his way over to them with the newly purchased suit in tow.

This wasn’t the kind of conversation he wanted to have in general, least of all in front of Arthur. He definitely missed Kiku and wouldn’t mind hanging out again in the future, and maybe by then he would be able to open up about the struggles he had faced over the last half-year, but now just wasn’t the right time.

“Kiku, it was really great seeing you, but I think we’re going to head out now.” He tried to smile without giving away his discomfort as he turned away toward the door.

Arthur stopped him, “Oh we’re in no rush. If you’d like to stay and chat with him, it’s no issue.”

The dark-eyed man kept glancing between the two of them, no doubt evaluating the situation and trying to come to a reasonable conclusion for why Alfred was acting so weird. Alfred didn’t blame him for wanting more information, but this was just so freakin’ awkward!

At last Kiku opened his mouth again. “I should help other clients again anyway, so I do not mind if you need to leave. But first I want to invite you to my apartment next week, I am having friends over for a videogame party. We will try out all these new games I got recently. Do you want to come?”

It wasn’t often that Alfred was left speechless, but this was one of those times. He had no idea what to say.

“Uhhh, I– uhhhh,” he sputtered gracefully.

“You do not need to give me an answer now!” Kiku supplied urgently, “You can always text me when you decide.”

Alfred nodded dumbly in response.

“Do you still have my phone number? I have tried texting you multiple times the last few months but you didn’t answer. I was unsure if you lost your phone, or if you got a new number.”

Sweat was starting to drip down Alfred’s temple, and his hands were clenching and unclenching at their own accord. He thought back to the crappy phone with a cracked screen he hadn’t been able to use in months, that was currently stuffed in his tote bag at Arthur’s place. He hadn’t used it since the battery died after he had been forced out of his apartment, and he obviously couldn’t pay his phone bill so it wasn’t like he could use it for anything other than the stupid game apps he had installed to stave off boredom. Suddenly he thought about how many calls he had missed, how many texts had gone unanswered. Looking down, he hadn’t realized his eyes started to water.

So, so much shame.

Arthur’s worried hand was on him in an instant and he heard Kiku start to frantically reconcile for damage that he didn’t cause.

“Alfred, forgive me, I did not mean to make you upset. You do not need to answer about the party or the phone. I only asked because I miss your company.”

And if that just about made Alfred burst into tears right there…

“N-no it’s okay. Sorry, I just-” he wiped at his face desperately, hoping that the other patrons weren’t looking in their direction witnessing him cascade into a state of panic. He took a couple of deep breaths as Arthur continued to squeeze his shoulder soothingly.

“Kiku, I-” he tried and failed to even his voice out.

“It’s okay, you’re okay. You don’t need to speak right now,” said Arthur gently. Alfred took another deep breath, feeling himself calm immensely from the Englishman’s pacifying voice and comforting touch.

This time when he wiped at his face, the tears didn’t reappear. And when he felt prepared, he lifted his head to look at the two worried men in front of him.

“Thank you. I just…Kiku I want to tell you everything that happened since I got fired from that shithole of a company, but I’m not ready yet. Just know that I haven’t been able to use my phone in months, so honestly I don’t know how I can contact you.” He shook his head sadly.

“Do you havea phone?” Arthur asked him, seemingly perplexed at the notion.

“Yeah, I do. It’s long-dead though. Not sure if it’ll turn on when I charge it but I can try. And I’m not gonna have service or anything since I don’t have a phone plan anymore.”

At this, Arthur perked up. “Oh don’t worry yourself with that! We’ll get you set up with a new plan and everything, not a trouble at all.”

Alfred stared at him, debating whether or not to fight the offer, but already knowing how it would play out. How quickly they had developed a pattern of behavior.

He smiled at him, “Thanks dude, you’re the best. Seriously.”

Arthur blushed slightly, “Nonsense.” Then he faced Kiku before taking out his own phone. “I can take down your information just in case the data was lost and we need to get him a new one.”

Kiku smiled and exchanged information with Arthur whilst the tallest of the group watched on.

At last they all said their goodbyes (and Kiku was blessed with a tight hug from Alfred) before the two blondes exited the store. They had only made it a couple of paces on the sidewalk before Arthur turned to him and stated, “You have good taste in friends.”

Alfred couldn’t help but agree.

[tweakerwolf]

DRM Endings 5 + 7

First round of endings, I put these two together since they are literally right next to each other in the dialogue branch. 5 was like the second one I got because I just knew I would be ‘rewarded’ for being on the sex train. And I was right, the name of the death did not disappoint hahaha

I will say here, since this is my first post for the DRM endings, that I saw Wren’s post about how the first few dialogue options within the bar and entering the alley ‘don’t matter’ as in they don’t affect the outcome of the game. So I’ll be mixing those first few answers up in my guides just for the fun of it but what really matters are the choices you make after he wants you to struggle! Keep that in mind.

On the off chance that this is the first time someone is reading my guides, I go into a lot of detail, hence the ‘read more’ link. I don’t just list answers, I want to be able to give warnings and descriptions for people that might be hesitant to try any particular path. So, the dialogue options you are expected to choose will be bolded, any trigger warnings or other descriptors will be italicized and all endings are block-quoted and italicized because I have multiple endings in the guide. So save often so you don’t have to re-play every single dialogue choice each time. I tend to add in small amounts of personal characterization in my guides as well (maybe the player character being dumb or horny or stubborn, etc) as a way to add to the story of why you pick the dialogue that you do so the guide is my own interpretation of the game itself. Just a warning; if you aren’t into that then just scroll through to find all the bolded answers I guess hahaha.

You find yourself standing outside of a bar named The Crossroads and you can’t help but think about demons. Maybe the owner had been thinking about them too. It’s late and you tell yourself that you should be asleep but instead of turning around, you push open the door and head inside. It’s packed inside, almost unbearably warm compared to the cool night air; you push in further and head for the bar. Everything seems normal so far, no sketchy demons hanging out waiting to make a deal. But as you sit there looking at the drink menu you get a chill up your spine; you look around and see a guy watching you. The way he’s staring at you... it’s intense. He smirks when he notices you catching him staring. You feel adventurous so ask him “See something you like?” He responds by looking you up and down and complaining that your clothes are in the way. Then he introduces himself and asks if you want to leave with him. He’s hot and you’re down to get laid so obviously accept his offer. Mateo smiles and beckons for you to follow him.

You head back out into the cold night air and Mateo immediately grabs your arm and pulls you down into the nearby alley. You don’t resist and you can feel the butterflies in your stomach as he pulls you along- this is a first for you! Following some guy into an alley, how dangerous! The alley is pretty deep, the streelamp doesn’t even illuminate it completely... Mateo pulls you into the darker corners, away from the light. That’s when he tells you that he’s going to be mean to you, so respond with “Be rough with me” since you don’t want to chicken out now. He doesn’t waste any time, grabbing a fistful of your shirt and slamming you back into the wall. As he presses you against the wall, he asks if that’s rough enough; tell him  “Yes” because you were just being coy, you didn’t expect him to actually rough you up... Instead of lightening up though, he just smirks and says that he’s going to get a lot rougher than that... Oh. Mateo doesn’t give you a lot of time to dwell on that, his hands are moving across your body; you can’t help but note the confidence in his explorations. Almost instantly his hands go down to your pants and you jerk in surprise- he wants to do it in the alley?? You thought it was just going to be making out but he wants to get down to business. You can’t help but think about how dirty and gross it is... but Mateo isn’t deterred, he actually tells you that he likes this particular alley because the noise from the bar helps down out all the screaming. And just like that he drops to his knees and undoes your pants. As his mouth touches your skin you decide that the alley is ok after all and you let him continue.

(semi-descriptive sex scene starts below, consensual under the circumstances of this ending. Sexual content from this point onwards)

He pulls your jeans down and bites your hip and your thighs before pulling your underwear down too. Of course Mateo notices how turned on you are at this point, smirking and commenting that the alley must not be so bad after all. He makes one final comment, saying that he can’t wait to destroy you, then his tongue is on your skin again. His hands are gripping your hips and that’s the only thing keeping you upright; your knees go weak as he works you over. Suddenly he leans back so he can turn you around, pulling your hips away from the wall as he puts his face back between your legs. You gasp and moan, using a hand to try and stifle yourself- are you really that desperate?!

By the time Mateo is done your legs feel like jelly. When he pulls on your pants, you barely manage to catch yourself as you tumble to the ground. He pushes you down onto your back and you try not to think about the dirty feeling of the asphalt beneath you. Next thing you know, Mateo is between your legs and unbuttoning his own jeans. He really doesn’t half-ass things! He’s ready to go all the way in the gross, open alleyway. And after what he just did to you, you’re ready too! Call out “Fuck me, please!” which makes him smirk and tease you a bit. He doesn’t leave you hanging for long though and he presses his cock into you. He pushes in all the way but pauses for a moment, looking down at you; eventually he rolls his hips slowly (slight screen shake), making you moan. He tells you that he knew you’d look good on the ground like that and he calls you a fucktoy, mentioning that he didn’t even have to try hard to get you. Then he asks if you’re just going to let him treat you like this- you’re letting some stranger fuck you in a dirty alley! And he didn’t even try to romance you, hell, he wasn’t even nice to you at any point. He suddenly slaps you (slight screen shake) and then yells at you to fight back when you sit there in stunned silence. He wants you to make it fun... Let it happen, whatever it is that he wants to do. You’re desperate for more and you aren’t sure what he wants from you. It’s not like you could escape at that point anyways and you know it, so why bother trying? You moan and shudder as he continues to thrust inside of you. A small part of you thinks you should try to push him off but... you’re just too full of...

...fear to really move. The things he said, the way he’s acting, it’s making you a bit on edge, even if it felt good at first. Maybe fighting back will just make it worse and you don’t want him to actually get rough with you... But instead of praising you for going with the flow, Mateo pauses, upset that you aren’t going to fight back at all. He gets mad, commenting that he has to do all the work... Before you can wonder what he means by that, he pulls out of you and stands up. You can’t do anything but sit there with your pants still around your ankles as he tucks himself away. You aren’t sure if he’s just going to leave you there are not... he calls you boring but then says that it isn’t a problem. You’re blindsided by a kick (quick thud noise) that knocks the wind out of you. The next thing you know, Mateo is pressing his boot down on your neck... Now you start to really freak out, your legs kick out as you try to push his leg off of you. He comments that the whole point of fucking you alive is that you make it fun, there’s no fun in it if you just lie there! A corpse can just lie there too. You continue to struggle but you grow weaker as you’re deprived of oxygen... As everything goes dark, you hear him laughing... Pathetic!

OR

... arousal to be hurt by his words. Your legs are squeezing his waist and you want more from him. You know it shouldn’t feel good- you’re in public, on top of garbage! But it feels amazing, there’s no denying it. You’re already close to an orgasm. Mateo runs his thumb over your mouth and you start sucking on it as you jerk your hips in time with his, moaning loudly. But Mateo gets pissed, asking if you’re too horny to even struggle. He curses and says that he’ll have to find someone with some self respect next time. Then he calls you a slut and tells you that he won’t kill you until after you get off, that way you at least finish first, since you’re so horny and all. He even throws in a bonus- if you don’t come, he’ll let you live! That finally catches your attention... he’s not serious, right? He continues to jerk his hips (slight screen shake) and you tense up. He was just joking right? Before you can say anything, Mateo starts manhandling you, pulling you up and turning you around so he can take you from behind. (slight screen shake) You barely catch yourself, hands and face just inches away from a nasty puddle of who knows what. There is trash everywhere... Mateo thrusts back inside you (multiple screen shakes) and you can’t help but feel pleasure. He was joking, right? Next his arm snakes around your hips so he can stroke you, knowing that you’re close. You’re terrified as you feel yourself get closer and closer to climaxing. It isn’t long before you’re screaming from the pleasure and you go weak. Orgasm achieved. Again, Mateo calls you a slut and says that you got off despite the fact that you could’ve chosen to live instead. His hand pushes down on your back and your face is pressed into the nasty puddle; it’s not that deep... just a few inches, but that’s all it takes to cover your face and block out the air. You push against the concrete and scream, struggling, but Mateo is too strong. His hand is like a steel vice holding you there. There’s no air... and the whole time, he’s still thrusting inside you. You can feel him fucking you even as you swallow the gross liquid. Eventually you go limp. Slut!

[facets-and-rainbows]

Blue Exorcist: Spy Game - Yukio in Wonderland (part 2)

More of this insanity, now in glorious technicolor English. Every time you see a name that looks different from usual, it’s because it’s a feminine version.

[Part 1 is here]

Part 2

“We’ve got plans to go hang out with Ryuko and the gals, don’t you remember?”

“Who’s Ryuko?!”

“Koneko is out doing something for the sutra club, but once that’s done we’re gonna have a girls’ day out.”

“Can…can guys even come to a girls’ day out?”

“Seriously, what are you talking about? You’re acting really weird.”

Rin dragged her little “sister,” who was still acting suspiciously, to True Cross Academy’s new girls’ dorms.

  “Huh? Yuki-chan-sensei’s been acting weird? Like how?”

The girl whose room they were in, Ren Shima, was talking with a piece of sweet-looking rock candy in her mouth.

She had light pink, curly twin tails and rosy cheeks. Overall she was cute like a porcelain doll…except that she seemed perfectly content lying on a bed that was absolutely covered with dirty laundry, fashion magazines, half-eaten snacks, and home workout gadgets.

The hardest part to accept was her outfit, which consisted of just a T-shirt, a pair of boy’s boxers, and, for some inscrutable reason, fuzzy leg warmers. With fashion sense like that, it was hard to tell if she was hot or cold, or male or female, or what.

“I dunno, all of her’s weird. The whole pitcher.”

“Pretty sure you meant to say ‘picture’ there, Ni…Nee-san.”

“Right there! See? What’s with the ‘Ni-nee-san?’ Why’s it start with ni?”

“That is kinda weird. And you’re not talking like the usual Yuki-chan-sensei…You kinda sound like a boy.”

Ren agreed with Rin’s prompt criticism. Despite her flippant attitude, she was actually pretty sharp.

Annoyed, Yukio fired back, “You’re the weird one here, Shima-ku… I mean Shima-san.”

“Huh? Why’s that?”

“There’s so much I want to say, but for now, just stop dressing like you were robbed by bandits on the way here.”

“Hahaha, you really are acting weird.” Ren snickered. “Bandits? Seriously? That’s funny.”

“Hey, Ren. Knock it off,” came a voice scolding her friend. “Sensei’s been busy with all sorts of stuff lately. She’s probably just tired.”

The concerned voice belonged to Ryuko Suguro.

She was tall, slender, and attractive, with the same bold two-tone hair as the male version, and for some reason she was wearing a maroon tracksuit with “Class 3B – Suguro” written on the front. There was also some embroidering that looked like the name of a middle school, so maybe it was an old tracksuit that she was wearing around the dorm.

She had a few rubber bands on her wrist, which gave her a certain down-to-earth quality…okay, it mostly made her look like a middle-aged woman.

“You should get a little more rest.”

“Thank you, Suguro…san. By the way, if it’s not too much of a bother, I’d like to ask…Why are you wearing a middle school tracksuit?”

Yukio was expecting an answer like “all my other clothes are still in the wash,” but Ryuko nonchalantly replied:

“Oh, this? Well, it still fits fine and it’d be a waste to get rid of it, obviously. Plus it’s comfortable.”

“It’s not like anyone’s gonna see it, right? Comfort first,” Ren agreed, yawning lazily. “You know Ren-chan can go a week without a shower if she’s not meeting any boys.”

“Okay, a week is way too long,” Ryuko scolded.

Obviously. Yukio agreed wholeheartedly in his mind.

“Though I’m totally fine going a couple days without washing my hair.”

Huh? Yukio glanced over at Ryuko, but she seemed completely calm. What’s she saying?

Weren’t girls supposed to be the ones who knew all about different brands of shampoo, and were late to things because they were doing their hair in the morning? Weren’t they supposed to exchange cute candy-like bath bombs as gifts, and take hot baths for their health, and maybe even try making handmade soaps sometimes?

Was that all just an illusion in the minds of men? Just a dream?

Is this the reality? Is…Is Shiemi-san like this too?

Yukio was stunned. His sister asked, “What’s wrong, Yukiko? You’re making a really weird face.” She laughed innocently. “Hahaha, you look ugly like that.”

Yukio wasn’t even at liberty to respond to her thoughtless comment. He tried to pull himself together.

Calm down. These guys…well, these girls? They were boys originally. They don’t count! That has to be it!

Surely normal girls showered and washed their hair every day, and sometimes went all-out doing their hair in the morning, and wore cute clothes even around the house, and kept their rooms clean.

Surely they weren’t like this, hanging out in dirty rooms wearing strange outfits, having lively conversations about gross topics. No way.

As Yukio was repeating that to himself, his sister said,

“Man, it’s hot in here though.”

She set up camp in front of the old electric fan, and started flapping her skirt up and down.

“Ah, nice and cool. I think I’m coming back to life.”

Shocked, Yukio grabbed her hand to make her stop.

“Don’t you have any shame?!”

“What’s gotten into you, Yukiko? You’re overreacting. It’s fine, I’ve got shorts on underneath. Everyone does this kind of thing at all-girls schools and stuff.”

“That’s not the problem!” Yukio yelled at his sister, another of his dreams about girls shattered. Just then—

“Sorry I’m late,” said a husky voice as the door opened. “It went on longer zan I sought it would.”

“Oh, Koneko, you finally made it.”

Miwa-kun?

The other inhabitant of the room, Koneko Miwa, had returned.

Yukio instantly thought of what Konekomaru had looked like dressed as a girl—but what appeared was…

A drop-dead gorgeous woman with a tall, well-proportioned, glamorous body like a model’s, and beautiful blonde hair that went down to her waist. She could have been a Hollywood actress.

“Wh-Who are you?!”

“I’m Koneko Miwa…Is somesing wrong, Yukiko-sensei?” Koneko asked in a slight accent, her face clouded with confusion.

Well, I sure didn’t expect this…

Is she…half-foreign?

The only thing about her that seemed like Konekomaru was the glasses.

Yukio fell to his knees on the floor.

Just what is going on here?

What could have happened to him and everyone else?

As Yukio was nursing a headache, his sister cheerfully said:

“Welp, since Koneko’s back, should we get going?”

And in the next instant—

“Hold on a sec!” “Uhh…Ten minutes. Just give me ten minutes.”

Ryuko and Ren’s voices overlapped.

Before they even got a response, they were already running around trying to get ready.

Why didn’t they do this in all the time they had before? Why were they just hanging around chatting when they weren’t even ready to leave?

Yukio stared at them in disbelief. Pretty soon, ten minutes were gone in a flurry of whining about lost combs and lost socks and stains on a favorite bag. And then…

“Five more minutes.” “Gimme ten minutes. Ten minutes.” “Just five minutes.” “Six minutes!” “I just need four minutes!” “Three minutes!”

…time kept getting added on endlessly.

What is this? Why didn’t they just say how much time they really needed from the start? Why announce it bit by bit? I can understand this coming from Shima-kun, but what happened to the serious, detail-oriented, order-loving Suguro-kun?

Yukio was getting annoyed, but his sister and Koneko next to him seemed like they were used to this. They didn’t seem especially bothered, and didn’t try to hurry things up.

“Hey, Koneko, did you know about the Happy Buffoon over at True Cross Sweets House?”

“I do! But not ‘Buffoon.’ ‘Buffet.’ True Cross Sweets House even ’as pancakes on zeir buffet menu. It’s so popular!”

“Sure is. So I was thinking, how about we go today after we’re done shopping?”

“Oh! Zat would be wonderful!”

“Right? Right? They’ve got a chocolate fountain and everything, you know? I’ve gotta try that with some marshmallows.”

“Tee hee hee. Zat sounds like fun.”

They just kept up the excited girl talk (?).

In the end, they were only able to leave after waiting on Ryuko and Ren for an hour and a half…

[Part 3]

[jjkfire]

Try Me pt. 2

Namjoon x Reader // College!AU, Rugby!AU // 6k words

Summary: You wanted nothing more than to leave behind your old self when you moved on to college to play rugby but when you see your high school classmate, resident fuckboy and captain, Kim Namjoon, at the rugby department orientation, you feel like everything might fall apart.

Genre: Fluff

A/N: asadsfhgd finally working my way through my updates and this is a short-ish chapter but!!! i hope y’all like it (: sorry it took me so long hahaha. also, happy thanksgiving!!!

Part 1 //  Part 3

Previously…

“You better visit the ATM before you pick me up,” You smirk. “I’m a big eater.”

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head,” Namjoon smiles. “I’m pretty sure my wallet can handle it.”

After all, he has been saving up for three years.

Namjoon’s waiting at the entrance of your dorm, kicking up dust and shuffling his feet amongst the dead leaves. His palms are sweaty despite the fact that it’s the coldest day of the fall season so far. He tries to convince himself that it’s just you, that he had no reason to be nervous but the fact that it’s you he’s waiting for is the reason why he can’t seem to keep still. Namjoon laughs at his precarious situation, about how it had taken him 3 years to finally have the balls to ask you out, albeit not in the most romantic way and you also probably think it’s just a normal dinner between 2 friends but really, he’ll take anything he can get.

Friends. Ah, how did that happen? That’s a question he often asks himself considering how the two of you had barely spoken to each other at all throughout high school. To be fair, Namjoon tried, he really did but you always seemed to be in a world of your own, uninterested in socializing with anyone in school. 

He remembers the first day you had arrived at the school, timid you, standing in front of class, introducing yourself as you nervously fidget with the straps of your backpack. You had spoken so softly that he struggled to hear much of what you said, only able to hear you say your name. 

You were all anyone would talk about for weeks, many gossiping about how you had just moved here from a bigger suburb, how your parents had opened up a small grocery store in the corner of town but all the excitement soon died down when they realized that you seemed like you wanted nothing to do with anyone, forever brooding on your own in some far away corner.

Namjoon remembers the exact moment you piqued his interest. He remembers being in absolute awe of you when he was hanging around the field during the rugby tryouts, the men’s team told to take a rest as they watched the women’s team take the field. He didn’t expect much from you, though there had been murmurings of your supposed talent but he’s never seen you participate in anything remotely athletic during gym class and the very fact that you’re here, by your own volition comes as a surprise to him. Everyone’s expecting you to be mediocre at best because it’s well known that the women’s rugby team is the easiest team to get on to in this school. It being underfunded and all meant that it wasn’t filled with talent but rather filled with kids who just wanted a little something to add to their CV, that says, hey look! I study, but I’m athletic too!

You get in line like the rest of the girls, listening intently as the coach explains the drills that were to be performed for the tryouts and though you’re literally beaming on the inside, excited to finally be on the grass again, you maintain a blank expression, nodding at the coach’s words. Nobody pays you any attention as you step up to the line, ready for the 10m sprint but the moment you take off, everyone’s whipping their heads to look and as the drills go on, people start to take notice of you because you manage to crush all the drills, your baseline score for each drill better than what they were hoping for. The coach doesn’t tell anyone but he has your name written down on the team slip before the tryouts are even over. That day is the day Namjoon acknowledges the fact that he thinks he’s maybe, just maybe, beginning to crush on you.

He spends his time in high school admiring you from afar, always trying to work up the courage to approach you whenever you took to the field to practice alone, kicking ball after ball between the two poles but he’s so afraid he’ll mess up, that he’ll say something stupid so he keeps his distance, forever wondering, what if. If anyone else in school could hear Namjoon’s inner monologue, they’d be laughing their ass off because he’s Kim Namjoon, the most popular boy in school so why would he even concern himself with you? With what you’d think of him? They don’t understand, is what he would say to himself because you seemed to have no care in the world for him, for anyone really.

Namjoon remembers exactly the number of times you had spoken to him in high school and it’s a grand total of 3 and with each time, he falls for you even harder than before. The first time you speak to him, it’s a group discussion in class and this is the first time he’s heard you speak with confidence, saying sentences at a time instead of your usual two or three words. You’re simply eloquent, everyone on the table listening closely to what you had to say and he’s not sure if it’s because they’re shocked to hear you speak or just like him, they’re impressed with the way you had just managed to make the cryptic poem they had to read, that much understandable. Somehow, you end up being some sort of a discussion facilitator, making sure everyone in the group got to speak, your voice soft and encouraging.

“Namjoon, what about you?” You question, and his head snaps towards yours, shaking him out of his daze. “I really liked how you interpreted the scene where she looks at the stars as her expressing her longing to fit in but what about the line after that?” You ask, referring to the poem. He’s sure you’re only asking because you’ve noticed how silent he’s been but he jumps at the chance to answer you anyway.

He responds confidently, hoping that whatever he says doesn’t sound like made up garbage to you because god does he want to impress you. You’re doing that thing where you smile and nod as you listen to him and everyone’s practically doing the same but when you do it, his heart flutters because it’s the first time you’ve paid attention to him like that. He wants this discussion to last forever, for you to continually question him about his opinion, the back and forth between the two of you makes him content because despite the jock stereotype that’s tied to him, Namjoon loves literature and he loves that you’re the first person in this class who actually cares about the pieces that you’re all assigned to read. 

“It’s fascinating,” You murmur to him, when he asks you about the poem, everyone in the group already bored with the discussion. “The author strings the words together so well and you can feel the emotion, the strength behind it all. I can’t really explain it but it’s just powerful, moving… you know?” Yeah, he knows, because he feels the exact same way and just like you, he can’t find the right words to describe it all. Namjoon stares at you dreamily for the rest of the class and he really hopes you or his peers don’t take notice. That day was the day you had first spoken to him and it’s the day where Namjoon acknowledges that yeah, he definitely has a crush on you and he wants to get to know you better but you never attempt to carry on the conversation when he says hello so, he simply buries his growing feelings for you deep down where no one but him can see.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” You murmur, removing your phone from your purse. “Did you wait long?”

“No, no, I just got here…” He smiles nervously, taking in the sight of you in a casual red dress.

“Shall we call a cab?” You ask, already swiping at your phone to bring up the app.

“No, I umm… borrowed one of the seniors’ car actually.”

Namjoon leads you to the car parked further down the street, opening the door for you and you let out a small gasp of surprise as if you couldn’t believe that he was being this nice to you. Quickly, you slide into the passenger seat, Namjoon making his way to the driver’s seat himself after shutting your door.

“So, did you visit the ATM like I asked? Because I wasn’t joking… I skipped lunch just so I could pig out tonight.”

Namjoon laughs, boisterously so because only you would do something so ridiculous.

“I already told you babygirl, my wallet can handle whatever the final bill is going to come up to,” He grins smugly and you only smile, your mind wandering to just what items on the menu you’d be ordering.

The car ride is filled with small chit-chat, mostly you groaning about the anatomy class to be honest but Namjoon doesn’t mind, he could listen to you talk all day. Also, considering the fact that he’s beyond nervous at the very moment, he’s glad you’re doing all the talking because lord knows he’d be stuttering half the time if he speaks. He nods occasionally, agreeing to whatever it is that you’re saying because his mind is too busy ticking things off his checklist because he needs tonight to go exactly to plan. Tonight needs to be 101% perfect because this is his first chance at getting to impress you and so far, despite all of his efforts, it’s not going great. Try as he might to calm his beating heart, it’s of no use. His palms are sweatier than before and he’s obviously been too quiet, the occasional side glances you flash him enough to tell him that you’ve noticed. He glances to the back seat, trying to look for the gift he had brought along and damn it… of course he forgot it. Of course he forgot the main point of tonight because that’s what you do to him, reduce him to a nervous forgetful wreck and it takes everything in him to not scream at himself in frustration. It’s okay, he murmurs to himself. There’s still much of the night left and he could definitely make up for his slight blunder.

The restaurant looks a lot fancier in person with the elegant décor, elaborate tableware and the sophisticated looking guests. As you peer around the restaurant while Namjoon talks to the staff at the counter, you suddenly feel like you’re extremely underdressed. You fidget in your spot and Namjoon looks at you quizzically before he grabs you by your wrist, softly tugging you behind him as he followed the waitress to the reserved table. 

Once you’re seated, the waitress brings along leather bound menus for the both of you and before you open it, you already know that you’ve made a mistake… that this restaurant was way out of yours and Namjoon’s price range. 

“Joon, let’s leave,” You mumble, shutting the menu.

“W-why?”

“This is… this is crazy. This is way too expensive and neither of us can afford this on a college budget. Let’s just go to Mcdonald’s or something.”

Namjoon lets out a snort, enjoying the worry etched on your features.

“You were the one who wanted to come here.”

“I know and that’s because I saw an article online about this place but I didn’t know it was going to be this fancy,” You mumble. “I’m not even dressed well enough for a place like this.”

“You’re dressed just fine. You look… beautiful,” He blushes, watching as you quirk your eyebrow at the compliment. “We’re staying. A deal is a deal and I plan to follow through.”

“This isn’t a time for you to let your big ass ego get in the way,” You sigh. “I don’t want to have to end up washing dishes tonight because we can’t foot the bill.”

“Y/N,” He smiles, his signature dimples making an appearance. “I promise you we won’t be washing dishes tonight so just relax and order whatever it is that you want. Did you forget that you had planned on making me broke by the end of the night?”

You let out an annoyed huff, picking up the menu when you realize that he wasn’t going to back down from this one and for what reason, you simply don’t understand. 

“What are you getting?” Namjoon asks after some time.

“Edamame,” You answer and he can’t help but laugh because how were snap peas going to be enough for dinner?

“And?”

“That’s it,” You mumble. “I’m not that hungry.”

“I clearly remember you saying that you had skipped lunch earlier today.”

“Yeah, I did but I don’t know… I’m just not hungry.”

“Sure,” He laughs, indulging you in your lies. “At least pick a main. I’ll help you finish it if you can’t. I’m paying anyway,” He shrugs.

“But I’m not hungr—“

“Please?”

“Fine,” You sigh. “I’ll get the uhh… California roll.”

Of course, of course you had picked the cheapest of all the items on that page.

“But you hate that,” Namjoon chortles.

“N-no, how do you— No I don’t,” You retort, shaking your head vehemently.

“Yes, you do. I clearly remember you mumbling under your breath about how much you dislike that roll when we went out for dinner with the others at that Japanese restaurant near campus.”

You have on the most adorable pout, conceding that Namjoon had caught you in a lie and all he really wants to do right now is grab you by the face and kiss you but of course that isn’t something he could do at this very moment. He wonders how you do it, how you’re so adorable all the damn time as if you didn’t know how much everything you did made his heart palpitate wildly. He finds it funny how you like to talk big, always going all out with your threats but when it really came down to it, you never follow through. This had been something he had expected out of you tonight and luckily, he had prepared way in advance, studying the menu ever since you had agreed to go to dinner with him.

“Well, maybe if I try it this time, I’ll like it?” You offer and Namjoon, shakes his head at you, the sweetest smile on his lips.

“How about I do the ordering?”

“No, please… You’re going to go overboard. I know you will.”

“This is an apology dinner, you know? I’m supposed to go overboard.”

“No you’re not. Look, I forgive you. Happy now?” You sigh. “Please, let’s get out of here before you make a decision you regret.”

“Babygirl,” He smiles lopsidedly. “We’ve already drove out this far. We’re already here so, let me spoil you tonight alright?”

“Fine, spoil me… but just not here, please,” You beg. “Spoil me with nuggets at Mcdonald’s instead. Yeah?”

Namjoon refuses to listen to you already signaling to the waitress that he’s ready to order. So fucking stubborn, you grumble to yourself. You knew agreeing to go to dinner with him was a bad choice.

“So, excited for regionals?” He asks, sipping on the green tea.

“Heck yeah,” You smile. “You?”

“Ah you know, been to so many now that they all start to feel the same,” He smirks, referring to all the times he had reached the regionals in high school while your team failed to even make one. “But it’s your first isn’t it? The newbies are always excited. It’s cute.”

“Whatever,” You grumble. “Keep being cocky and maybe you won’t even make the second round.”

“Are you doubting me?” He questions. “Last I remember it wasn’t me getting absolutely destroyed by coach at practice this week. It was you.”

“I just had a bad day, alright? I stayed up all night working on that stupid anatomy assignment.”

“You should’ve just asked me for help but ah of course, you were giving me the silent treatment.”

“Which you fully deserve.”

“Debatable,” He shrugs. “Anyway, still need help on that assignment?”

“No… Yes… No…” You murmur, unsure if you really want to ask Namjoon for a favour because he sure had a knack for requesting the weirdest things.

“Is that a yes or a no, babygirl?” He asks. “Just so you know, the assignment is worth a good 10% of our grade.”

“Okay, fine, yes,” You frown, knowing that you needed however many points you can salvage at this point just so you don’t end up with a bad overall grade for the class.

“Great,” He smiles and you’re waiting for him to ask for something in return for his help, like a handjob or something just as ridiculous but he stays silent, simply choosing to take a sip out of his cup.

“That’s it?” You ask and he looks at you, his eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. “Nothing, never mind,” You quickly huff, waving your arms in the air.

“I mean if you’re willing to offer something in return…”

“No, I’m not.”

“Really? Not even say… a kiss, a blowjob, a handjob, whatever really… I’m not too picky.”

Right, there it is. There’s the Namjoon you know.

“Hmm, let me think about it and huh, guess what? The answer is a big, resounding, fuck no.”

“Babyg—“

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that.”

“You can tell me as many times as you like,” He smiles. “Doesn’t mean I’ll listen.”

“You’re insufferable.”

“But you love me all the same.”

“You pronounced hate wrong,” You grumble.

“You know they say the line between hate and love is a thin one.”

“Says who?”

“Well, I’m glad you asked,” He begins and oh god, here it comes, you groan. You bring up your fingers to plug your ears, refusing to hear him go on another one of his long spiels. “There was a study done by the professors at The University College of L—“

“I’m so sorry for the wait,” The waitress interrupts. “It’s a rather busy night but here are your appetizers!”

“Oh thank god,” You smile. “You just saved this dinner because if I had to listen to him speak for one more second, I think I would’ve stabbed myself with this fork.”

“G-glad to be of service to you miss…” She bows awkwardly, unsure of what to say or make of the very unlikely bickering couple in front of her because truly, all the two of you have been doing so far is argue with each other.

“Nice job,” Namjoon snorts, noticing the light blush tinting your cheeks.

“Shut up and eat,” Is all you manage to grunt out before helping yourself to the plate in front of you.

The dinner comes along rather smoothly and you’re surprised by Namjoon’s good taste in food because you’ve loved every single dish so far. You started out eating the dishes shyly, a bite or two here and there and Namjoon knows it’s because you’re thinking about the price but he basically stuffs everything onto your plate, basically threatening you to eat it and you finally relent, gobbling up everything in front of you. Everything’s delicious, of course it is and you don’t shy away from thanking him for the dinner every 5 seconds just so he knows despite your attitude, you really do appreciate the fact that he’s taken the effort to drive all the way here and have dinner with you. To be honest, you had planned on texting Namjoon that day to apologize for overreacting over some harmless prank but hey, he offered free food and who were you to say no to that. Plus, it was funny to see him so upset, doing anything in his power to get you to forgive him.

The pair of you talk throughout dinner as if it had been months since you last spoken when in fact it’s been just a few days. You’ll never admit it to him but you’ve missed him a fair bit and there had been so many instances throughout the days you disregarded him where you’d pull out your phone to text him about something you had just saw until you remember you’re supposed to be ignoring him. Silent treatment is something you’re great at, a true talent of yours and when you were serious about it, you would honestly ignore the person for as long as you needed to. If Namjoon hadn’t come up to apologize, you’re pretty sure you could go on for weeks because you really hated giving in when you know you had been done wrong.

“Namjoon, at least let me pay for half of the bill,” You mumble, clicking on your seat belt.

“I already told you this one’s on me,” He sighs in return, turning the key in the ignition.

“But Joon… just—“

“If you’re that adamant on paying your half, then fine,” He huffs. “But know that I don’t take payments in cash or credit,” He smirks, lifting his eyebrow playfully to which you reply with a roll of your eyes. There he goes again with his fucking sexual innuendos.

“Yup, that’s what I thought,” He laughs. “Now I don’t want to hear about it anymore okay?”

You let out a groan of defeat, sinking back into your seat, enjoying the soft music that played through the speakers.

The dinner had gone better than Namjoon had expected. There were no spilt drinks or choking mishaps like he had seen in his nightmare but rather the dinner was mostly just you and him having conversations filled with laughter and pure banter, something he’s always enjoyed whenever he hung out with you. He wonders if you can tell that it’s getting harder for him to hide the fact that he’s very much infatuated with you. His roommate, Hoseok tells him he’s too bloody obvious sometimes, that he might as well be shouting out that he loved you just by the way he’d drop everything at a hat whenever you called. Namjoon is utterly and completely whipped for you but nobody seems to take notice, everyone chalking it up to one big joke which really is his fault anyway. He hides behind the little insults and casual jokes because he’s not really sure how to tell you he’s had a 3-year long crush on you. But with banter and the incorrigibly sexually fueled jokes he throws at you, he’s able to slip in everything he’s ever wanted to say to you… Everything is basically a big fat excuse just so he can constantly ask for kisses and tell you he likes you without actually having to deal with the consequence of having to see your face contort into something between pity and disgust in the event that you don’t feel the same way. 

“Namjoon!” You exclaim suddenly, grabbing onto his thigh to gain his attention and the car swerves slightly, his heart rate reaching a maximum at the sudden gesture. “Sorry!” You quickly retract your hand.

“There’s a McDonalds coming up,” You point ahead to the glowing M. “Do you think we can make a quick stop?” You ask patting his thigh lightly and Namjoon’s about to combust into flames with your hand sitting so high up on his leg.

“S-sure,” He mumbles signaling to the left to take the exit. “You’re still hungry?”

“I just want some ice-cream,” You laugh. “It’s been a while since I’ve had some.”

You skip into the fast food joint the moment he parks his car, returning with two ice cream cones as he waited for you outside. The two of you take a seat on the long bench outside the restaurant and he shivers after licking his ice cream a few times. In Namjoon’s opinion, it’s starting to get too cold to even consider having ice cream and for 15 minutes, the two of you debate on whether ice-cream had a season because Namjoon believes ice-cream should be reserved just for summer but you argue that that’s ridiculous for ice-cream was a year-long snack. It’s these nonsensical conversations the two of you always seem to have that have people shaking their heads. Who cares? Is what many would say regarding the things the both of you tend to argue about but the two of you would wave them away telling them they didn’t understand. 

As you sit next to him licking away at your ice cream, Namjoon can’t help but feel like he’s in a dream, like this is some absurd joke because this reminds him of the exact situation he had found himself in just about a year ago when you had talked to him for the second time, except you’re a lot more sober this time.

It must’ve been your first time at a party because you gulped down alcohol like nobody’s business and soon enough you were laying on the lawn chair in one of your classmate’s garden. Your class had planned on leaving you out of the invite list because well, you didn’t seem like you were interested in attending a party anyway but Namjoon insists that out of courtesy, they should send you an invite anyway. So, when the party was long over and it was time for everyone to clear the house, they left you under Namjoon’s care saying that you were his responsibility anyway since he had been the one who insisted on inviting you. Namjoon didn’t mind if he was being honest. If anything, he was more than happy to send you home. At least that way, he’d know you had gotten home safe and sound. He had spent the past hour of the party with you anyway, listening to you drunkenly spew your thoughts (fairly interesting ones at that… but that’s a story for a different time) so, what was another 10-minute detour to drop you home to him?

Except, it wasn’t a 10-minute detour, it was a 20-minute detour where you force him to drive you to a McDonald’s because you wanted some ice-cream. Namjoon, the soft-hearted creature that he is, couldn’t find it in him to refuse your request, even if he was dead tired at that point so he pulls into the parking lot of the fast food joint like you had asked of him.

You return with the ice-cream in hand in mere minutes, handing him his with a mega-watt smile on your face. You’re evidently still drunk, slurring your words and gesturing exaggeratedly as you argue politics with him. He wishes you paid this much attention to him when you’re sober because right now, you’re looking at him like he’s the only thing that matters… which is exactly how he looks at you.

“You have some ice-cream over there,” You point at his lips.

“Where?”

“There,” You point and he darts out his tongue in an attempt to lick it. “No, the other side,” You laugh.

Namjoon’s purposely missing the spot just so he can hear your laugh tumble out of your lips, a sound he has decided is his favourite after hearing it numerous times tonight.

“Help me then,” He whines, handing you a napkin and you giggle taking it from him.

One second you’re bringing up the napkin to his lips and the next Namjoon feels like he’s in some alternate universe because somehow your lips are on his. He drops his ice cream in favour of placing his hands on your face, holding you close to him like he believes this is the only chance he’s ever going to get to kiss you. It feels like time slows down and speeds up altogether and suddenly, you’re pulling away, licking at your lips before you flash him a smile.

“There, all gone,” You grin before returning your attention to your ice cream, biting away at the cone.

That’s it, he sighs. He’s a goner. He knows he’s done for because with just one kiss you had confirmed that yes, he indeed has more than just a crush on you but he also knows you’re not going to remember any of this tomorrow, not even one second so perhaps it was true… that he was in some sort of alternate universe because he’s the only one that’s going to remember what you’ve said to him tonight and how your lips felt like on his. But that’s alright, he exhales. After all, he’s been silently pining for you for two years already and if anything, he could go on for many more.

“Namjoon? Hello?” You question, waving your hand in front of his face.

“Huh?”

“I said you have ice-cream on your lips.”

No way. No way this is happening.

“What?”

“Ice-cream on your lips,” You repeat. “There.”

“Where?” He questions as he makes a show of licking his lips, intentionally missing the spot.

“You’re just doing that on purpose,” You laugh.

“Am not,” He giggles. “Help me then,” He smiles, handing a napkin to you.

Namjoon’s heart is beating so hard in his chest that he’s positive you can hear it. You grab the napkin out of his hand, giggling like you had a year ago and really, this time he feels like he really is in an alternate universe because no way this was happening, no w—

You laugh wildly, hand on your stomach before you’re getting up to run after having smeared your ice cream all over Namjoon’s face and ah, he realizes that yes this is in fact reality. Really, he should’ve expected this.

“You brat!” He screams, chasing after you, yielding the ice cream cone in his hand like a weapon.

“Please,” You beg, laughing as you attempt to side-step him but there’s nowhere to run and you scream in horror as he holds you in a headlock, smearing his ice cream all over your face, not even leaving an empty spot in sight.

“Namjoon! Let go!”

“Nope, not until you clean off the ice–cream on my face.”

“Okay, okay,” You grumble. “Hand me the napkin.”

“There’s no need for napkins, babygirl.”

“What do you mean? Namjoon… n-no! Don’t you da—“

A shriek tears through the quiet night as he licks a long strip up the side of your face and you attempt to wrestle your way out of his hold, elbowing him in the stomach.

“What? Not into tongue play?”

“You’re disgusting!” You exclaim, breaking out of his hold to grab the napkins lying on the table, trying with all your might to wipe away his saliva.

“Thought you’d be a cunnilingus type of girl,” He frowns playfully, evading the balled-up tissue papers that you throw at him.

“It’s a talent you know,” You sigh, walking over to the outdoor sink to wash the ice-cream off your face. “The way you can turn every and any situation into something sexual.”

“I told you, that’s only something you can bring out of me,” He winks, prompting you to roll your eyes at him.

There’s still a layer of stickiness on your skin no matter how many times you’ve washed off the ice-cream on your face but at this point, you don’t really care. You let Namjoon into your room, pointing towards a chair for him to sit as you pull up your assignment on your laptop. You had asked him if he was willing to stop by for awhile to help you finish up your assignment and to your surprise he agrees in a millisecond.

As you stayed seated in your chair, typing at your keyboard, Namjoon stands behind you, placing both hands on either side of you as he rested his chin on your shoulder. It’s relatively normal for him to be this close but for some reason, this time, you feel a slight fluttering in your chest.

He practically does the whole assignment for you, telling you verbatim just what you should write and you thank all your lucky stars that he is the genius that he is. Namjoon starts up the count again, the one where you owe him a kiss for every question and he tells you way in advance that he’s not letting you get away with it this time around, that he’ll collect every single one when he reaches 365. For the 100th time of the night, you roll your eyes at him, refusing to acknowledge the rubbish he spews.

“Oh shit, was I interrupting something?” Umji questions as she steps into the room, hanging her scarve on a hook on the wall. “I can uhh, leave…”

“Hmm? No? It’s just Namjoon,” You laugh and his heart drops at that. What did you mean by just Namjoon?

“Hmm, yeah, just Namjoon,” She parrots and you’re not sure why she just repeated what you said.

“Hey Umji,” He greets, turning around to smile at her.

“Hey,” She smiles in return. “How was the date?”

“It wasn’t a da—“

“The date went great,” He grins. “I think we’re finally ready to come off from that break we’re taking,” He laughs referring to the stupid Facebook post he had put up when you had instructed for him to clear up the situation.

“Umji, don’t listen to him.”

“That’s amazing!” She exclaims, playing along, indulging Namjoon because just like him and apparently everyone else, she enjoyed watching you flounder around whenever he flirts with you. “Y/N, you and Namjoon are going to make the best power couple in this school.”

“Heard that?” He smirks at you and you only bring up a hand to your face, exhaling deeply through your nose.

“That’s it,” You groan, shutting your laptop. “Leave,” You look towards Namjoon before pointing at the door.

“I help you with your assignment and this is how you treat me,” He sighs. “You really break my heart, you know that, babygirl?”

“Stop calling me that.”

“Never,” He smiles before pecking you on your cheek and making his way over to your bed to collect his coat. Wait, did he just kiss you on the cheek?

You wipe at your face in disgust, throwing him a mean glare as he stops to wink at you.

“I hate you, you know that?”

“That makes question no. 15,” He smiles. “I like the progress we’re making. Do you think you’d like to pay me with your kisses on a weekly basis instead?”

“Get out!” You shout throwing your bottle of hand cream at him while laughing and he ducks it easily, closing the door behind him but not before he shouts out, I love you babygirl! loud enough for everyone on the floor to hear.

“So, really,” Umji laughs as the door clicks shut. “How was the date?”

“It wasn’t a date,” You groan. 

“Please, the both of you are dressed to the nines, he borrowed a car, you ate at a fancy restaurant,” She murmurs. “How isn’t it a date?”

“It just isn’t,” You shrug. “It’s just two friends, going out for a fancy dinner.”

“Sure,” She huffs, shaking her head at you. “Come on, show it to me.”

“Show what?”

“Whatever he got you.”

“He didn’t get me anything,” You answer. “I told you, it was just dinner. An apology dinner.”

“He really didn’t get you flowers or chocolates or anything?”

“Yup,” You nod, popping the p at the end.

“Huh, guess it wasn’t a date then.”

Fuck.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Namjoon is pacing outside your door because fuck, if he hadn’t forgotten the stupid box of chocolates in his room would you have realized then that the dinner was in fact, a date? That you’d understand that he actually does want you to think that you were on a date with him? Because you know, he’s in fact in love with you?

Goddamn it.

Why was he always so forgetful? He grumbles to himself the whole drive back to his senior’s place, mentally cursing himself for forgetting the only thing that would’ve made the night a stellar 10/10. It’s fine, it’s fine, he mumbles to himself. This dinner was more like a test drive and when he gets another chance, he’s going to go all out with chocolates, flowers, maybe a choir that would sing something along the lines of hey this is a date and I really like you not just as a friend but romantically actually so please for once in your life realize that the reason I call you babygirl is because I want you to actually be my girlfriend… Perhaps they’d be able to sing all of that in a more eloquent way… Maybe in a song that’s similar to Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud because you always come to mind when he hears that song.

“Yeah, it wasn’t a date.”

“That’s funny,” Umji mumbles. “I remember seeing him running haphazardly through campus earlier this afternoon with a fancy box of chocolates in hand.”

“Ah, you know Namjoon,” You sigh. “God knows how many girls he’s chasing at any given time.”

See, it’s like you expected because of course he has someone else and you laugh pushing away the feelings that have seemed to bubble to the surface tonight. Ridiculous, you laugh. For you to have thought that he might feel something for you… Completely and utterly ridiculous.

You love the attention Namjoon gives you, even if your mouth betrays you and you end up cussing at him half of the time whenever he says something remotely romantic but at the same time you hate it because you know it’s all a huge wondrous joke that everyone is in on and you’re the butt of it. He goes around town, claiming his love for you, calling you his babygirl but then on the flip side, he’s chasing another handful of girls while you’re sat alone and confused, your heart unsteady because of all the flirty compliments he throws your way. Truthfully, it hurts… it hurts you to know that the only boy on campus who pays attention to you, only does it as a joke and sometimes you want to tell him to stop, to tell him that despite the way you brush off any form of romantic attention he pays you, sometimes you wish it was genuine. Maybe if he stopped scaring off all the guys that were even remotely interested in you, you could find someone to love.

Ah, if only you knew that you already had someone to love.

Part 3

A/N: As always, thank you so much for reading and feedback is welcome!!! (:

[you-will-always-be-my-king]

So since Teen wolf is ending i decide to put my top CLASSIC STEREK FANFIC REC

This is fanfics that i always loved, and go way back I think all of then are from 2012-2013? i dont remember the name of all my favs, because i didnt have an ao3 account and was terrible with names, but here it is:

Gravity's Got Nothing on You

“Three weeks,” Derek says.

“Still don’t want to,” Stiles says.

“I’ll pay you,” Derek says, and that… that has Stiles interested. Alf’s Antique’s may be a great job, but it’s not a high-paying job, and half of Stiles’s tuition is coming from financial aid, so…

“How much,” Stiles asks, “are we talking here? Because I know your family, dude. And it’ll be kind of awkward after.“

“My family thinks you’re some sort of fucking gift to the world,” Derek seethes, like he’s jealous, “they’ll probably be pissed at me when we break it off, so don’t worry about that. Five hundred bucks.”

“A thousand,” Stiles says, because screw ethics. Also, the Hale family is loaded. Derek can deal.

- This one was my first long fanfic that i enjeyd, it is so worth it, and fake pretend relantionship

There is a Brotherhood   

So far, college has taught Stiles three things:

1) Eight am classes are cruel and unusual and should be avoided at all costs, even if it means having to enroll in something truly hideous instead, like Econ 101.

2) Dorm security is just as tight as Stiles’ orientation leader had promised it would be, and the dude guarding Scott’s dorm in particular does not respond well to bribes.

3) Mrs. McCall clearly had no clue what she was talking about when she’d insisted that Scott and Stiles needed to branch out and room with strangers, so it’s all her fault that Scott ended up with a total dick of a roommate and Stiles got stuck all the way across campus with some guy who has a girlfriend two towns over and is thus never around.

Or, the one where pledge brothers Stiles and Scott start a prank war with Derek Hale's fraternity.

- This is just one of the funnist fanfics i ever read

Just Act Normal

If someone had told Stiles back in high school that he would be an Oscar winning actor by the time he turned 25, he would’ve probably told Scott to punch them. The thing is, though…they would’ve been right.

Which makes returning to Beacon Hills, center of all that is supernatural and better left avoided, all the more awkward.

- This one i toke some time to read, because i didnt see stiles was an actor but it always showed up in rec lists and i give up and read and OMG it is so great, actor!stiles totally became a headcanon

Fly a Little Faster  

Everyone knows when you go back in time, you shouldn't step on an ant, just in case you accidentally kill your own grandparent or something. But what happens when you go back in time and, uh, accidentally interrupt the one event that apparently made the Grumpiest Alpha in Town into a ball of mindless manpain?

Well, if Marty McFly can do it, so can Stiles Stilinski. All he has to do is get Derek and Paige to fall in love before he gets pulled back to his own time. And before he makes anything worse. That's easy as pie, right? Right?

-This fits canon so well that it is amazing, and the speed that mirrorkill took to post this alway amazed me

Permanent Fixture

Derek is Scott's older brother. Stiles is Scott's best friend. Derek is falling in love with Stiles. This is a bit of a problem. 

- This is another one that took me a while to read, because scott and derek brothers wtf? BUT I LOVE IT, and those who like doctor who it is mandatory ;)

Cupboard Love

He’s carefully balancing the sandwiches and the two biggest tupperware containers he could find that both had functioning lids when the front door opens and he almost drops everything right there in front of the stupid fountain.

If that’s Derek Hale, he’s definitely not a mountain man.

- Cute and adorable, what more can I say

Fireman Derek's Crazy Pie [Cheeseburger Baby]

“He can't blame me for the fact that I live in a building full of people united in the singular effort to ogle Hot Fireman as often as humanly possible."

Laura laughs, loud and echoing in the empty restaurant.

"Hot firemen can make a girl do crazy things," she agrees, nodding towards her brother's name on the menu. "Derek won't let me date anyone from his company, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate the eye candy."

"Send them my way," Stiles suggests, finally loading up a forkful of pie. "Apparently I'm incompetent enough that I need to be babysat at all times, because it would be cheaper than dispatching a truck every time I try to use a kitchen appliance."

- This one is super funny and adorable

Sourwolf Candy    

When the Sourwolf Candy franchise offers a $10,000 annual scholarship to the school of the winner's choice, Stiles jumps at the chance to enter. It doesn't matter that the other prizes are a day with one of the Hales and a lifetime supply of Sourwolf Candy. The sacrifices are worth it, because if there's one thing that Stiles hates more than Sourwolf Candy, it's Derek Hale.

So of course he has to spend a day with the guy who made the catchphrase 'Don't be such a Sourwolf' popular: Sourfaced Derek Hale himself.  If he doesn't, he doesn't get his scholarship money.

Derek just wants a little sugar.  Or a lot of sugar, as the case may be.

A whole case of sugar.

(He stress-eats sugar, ok?)

- Stiles has the biggest crush of the universe, really babe

Hello, Heartbreaker

It’s a popular joke among Alphas: fuck an Omega, get heartbreak on your hands. Omegas are fragile little emotional things, needy and whiny. Stiles refuses to become that, or to believe that he’s anything like that.

Stiles and Derek have been fuckbuddies for a while when Derek loses his memories of the past three years - and them - in an accident. (Also - everyone's a werewolf, and everyone's alive.)

- First fanfic i ever heard about Mpreg, it is just mentioned, but it was a shock hahah

hope is the thing with feathers

Stiles is ten when he saves the Hales from their burning home and Derek from a wolfsbane bullet, and this establishes a pattern that seem to continue indefinitely.

"Then he's facing a burning home, and he wraps the hood of his sweatshirt around his mouth before he pushes the door open and steps inside. There's Mr. Hale asleep - he hopes asleep - on the couch, next to - Stiles thinks that's his brother but there are so many Hales, who can keep track. He rushes over and starts shaking him, can see the rise and fall of the man's chest so he knows he's alive, but he's not waking up. He shoves away his hood so he can shout, "Mr. Hale! You have to get up, there's a fire! Mr. Hale, get up!" Nothing, he's not even twitching, both of them taking in deep even breaths like they're having the most peaceful of rests, and Stiles is going to cry. "Wake up, wake up, wake up!" There's a moment, where all Stiles can hear is the blood rushing in his ears and not the roar of the flames or the creak of wood, then with a violent, silent pop it's all back and both of the men are gasping awake, eyes open and jumping to their feet. "

- Dorks, these two are dorks

Honorable mentioned:

You Belong With Me  

Ever since the new neighbors moved in, Stiles and Derek had been best friends for as long as they could remember. Over the years, Stiles fell in love with the boy next door and watched as his best friend dated, wishing to be the lucky person who got to say that 'Derek Hale is my boyfriend'. Alas, he was overlooked and settled for being the best friend and pined from afar. 

- Dorks pinning, but this one is from 2015, so not that old, or is it? hahaha anyway this is really funny and cute

[egle0702]

[TRANS] GRAZIA Korea September ’17 JJ Project Interview

Congratulations. “Verse 2” placed 1st on the Hanteo Weekly Chart. JB: To be honest, we really paid attention to the smallest details because it was our first activities as a unit in 5 years. Rather than the visible result, I’m glad to hear many people give such comments like “It touches my heart,” or “The lyrics are good.”

You participated in writing lyrics and music for all the tracks on this album. JB: At first, rather than biting off more than we could chew, we just wanted to work hard on it. But eventually, when we began working on it, we became more ambitious about actually making a good album. So we took greater care of everything in the second half of the making process. Jinyoung: A lot of fans are waiting for a new GOT7 release, and if you suddenly release a unit album with weird songs on top of that, you would feel sorry for it. Since we’re doing this as GOT7’s representatives, we tried our best to make an album one wouldn’t be embarrassed of, so that we wouldn’t bring trouble to others. We haven’t participated in writing a title song before, but this time we wanted to show that we are the “guys who can tell our own stories,” so we ended up participating in the creative process.

We met Mark last month, and he strongly recommended JJ Project songs. JB: Mark is now JJ Project’s promotion king (laughs).

When I listened to your album, I got the feeling you have matured. There must have been a lot of changes over the last 5 years? JB: I think that I definitely learned to accept reality positively. If I used to be stubborn about my own truth in the past, I guess you could say that now I’m more inclined to go for a compromise?

You have grown up. JB: I realized that what I think isn’t the only right answer. Jinyoung: Compared to what I was 5 years ago, I think I became quieter. Back then I used to talk a lot, but lately I feel that there’s really no need to talk that much.

Is there a reason that made you think that way? Jinyoung: I learned that “Silence is Gold” through various happenings. Also, different from JB hyung, I learned to have my own opinion. Before, I used to embrace opinions of others thinking I was an amateur, but now I have learned the necessity of revealing my own ideas. As my skills grow, little by little my own thoughts accumulate, too.

Then, when do you get the feeling that you have aged somewhat? JB: Lately, when we go to music shows, there are a lot of rookies who are younger than us. So it’s when we watch their stages and think not “Wow, how cool,” but “Really fresh.” That’s when I wonder whether I have grown old.

Rookies usually are overflowing with this special passion. JB: Now I can see that. We also work hard on stage, but I think that the feeling is a little bit different. I think that I was rather relaxed in my rookie days, but someone looking at me back then will definitely have thought “Why is he trying so hard?” (laughs) Jinyoung: It’s similar for me, too. I also get the same feeling when I see the rookies display really bright images on stage, but, on the other hand, I get to think “Ah, those guys will really regret this 5 years later.”

Why would they regret it (laughs)? Jinyoung: After 5 years such things in some way become their dark history. No matter what you do, it looks excessive. Just like we have felt it.

When you released the album, you also opened an exhibition under the same name with the photos and pieces of writing you have done yourself. JB: I really like reading and taking photos, so when they offered to do something like that at the company, I figured we should try it. However, it did feel burdensome. Because my skills aren’t good enough to display them at an exhibition.

Any memorable parts of your essay that were displayed at the exhibition? Jinyoung: There’s a sentence where it sounds as if hyung attempts to start a conversation with me with “Jinyoung-ah, time flies, eh?” I was really shocked when I saw that, thinking “Hyung uses such expressions?” Haha. JB: I was also shocked when I saw that sentence. I did write it, but it got slightly trimmed. The original was “5 years have gone by. Jinyoung-ah, time flies.”

The original is very clean. Jinyoung: Yes. But they changed into something very sweet. JB: That’s why I also wondered “The meaning is the same, but why is it so sweet?” We had it decided to go with the serene theme for this exhibition. Jinyoung: The concept for this exhibition was a blind show off*. So that everyone could enjoy it lightly with fun. JB: But suddenly I became a sweet guy one morning. Of course, the meaning was similar, but the nuance was slightly different.

Then what is memorable among the things that Jinyoung wrote? JB: There is a scene where I walk while looking at my phone and this photo has this sentence: “There is a reason for looking at the ground, too.” But I wasn’t looking at the ground; I was looking at my phone. I remember it because it didn’t match the photo. Jinyoung: I wrote it like this on purpose. People are walking with their heads down as they focus on their phones. And it’s not because they are weak, they all have their reasons… was what I meant. JB: Another thing was this photo of a barley field and the sky. And totally at random, he had written this phrase: “Sky and barley, ah, I’m thirsty.” It was really funny. Hahaha.

So not all phrases connote specific meanings, it seems. Jinyoung: It’s boring if everything is serious. JB: We did include random phrases here and there. Because we wanted to share the fun with the fans.

This album’s title track “Tomorrow, Today” contains the worries of the young people. What are you two worried about lately? JB: I think I am always worried about the same things: Which road I should take; how I should work on developing myself. And I am concerned every day about what I should eat. That is a very light worry (laughs).

But that is the most important worry. JB: Usually, there are things you want to eat. But that doesn’t apply to me. Never in my life have I genuinely wanted to eat something in particular.

You don’t have a favorite dish? JB: Of course, I do have. But it’s not like I feel I want to eat it no matter what; I do not get cravings.

Alright, then let’s confirm this by asking Jinyoung, who is always next to you. Jinyoung: This is really... (looks at JB) Hyung, can I say this? I’ll be honest about this (laughs). When we order food, hyung always says he’s not eating. But if I order 2 sets just in case, hyung comes over and asks “Do you have food?” He might not want to eat anything specific, but if you order something, he eats it. Although he always says he’s not hungry. JB: Even if I want to order something, there’s so much on the menu. I really can’t choose. Because there’s nothing I want to eat in particular. Jinyoung: Hyung, I think you’re the type who can choose when you see the real thing. JB: I say I’m not eating when I can’t recall the menu, but when eventually I smell the food, I get hungry. And then I stealthily walk over. Jinyoung: And then I naturally pull out the second set (laughs).

When you spend a lot of time overseas, you start missing Korean food, even if you do not eat it often. JB: I eat only Korean food even when I’m abroad (laughs). I’m a real Korean food lover, so I always have to have soup and stew.

Then what is Jinyoung worried about as of late? Jinyoung: It might sound a little funny, but my biggest concern is to prevent voice cracks and going flat as much as possible. We have to rehearse quite often in the morning when our voices are still not warmed up. There are a lot of singers watching, so my main concern is to get over it without going flat.

I suppose it is an obvious concern for a singer. Jinyoung: Hyung has a nice vocal tone and he’s good at singing, but my tone is a bit lower and my throat tends to tighten up when I sing high notes, so every morning is hard. But it’s even harder because I get stressed out that I shouldn’t go flat in front of other people.

Haven’t you found any solution for this problem? Jinyoung: There is one. When I hit high notes, I can pull the microphone away as far as possible and just pretend that I’m singing. Hahaha.

Can I use this for the interview (laughs)? Jinyoung: This is something I do only at rehearsals. I do well for the actual broadcast. JB: My voice also tends to crack sometimes. In fact, it happened at the rehearsal yesterday… (laughs). Jinyoung: Hyung, yesterday that was really great.

What did happen at the rehearsal yesterday for you to say that? JB: I was singing my parts, and every single time my voice cracked. Jinyoung: Hyung was so flustered then that after the rehearsal instead of “You have worked hard,” he said “Hello.” JB: Honestly, the voice is an important instrument for any singer, but the condition is always different even if you do the same thing at the same time, and if you sleep the same. So your voice might also crack or it might not. At first, I used to get stressed a lot because of it, but now I just get over it laughing. It’s already happened, so there’s nothing you can do about it. I just tell myself that I have to work hard the next time. Luckily, I did well for the broadcast yesterday.

Is Jinyoung’s blood Type A, by any chance? JB: I am Type A. Jinyoung’s Type O.

That’s unexpected. JB: Type A usually remains quite optimistic when something big happens. On the contrary, the smaller the affair, the more we tend to worry. Jinyoung: It’s not something insignificant when your voice cracks in front of other people. JB: If I make an embarrassing mistake, I keep on looking at it, until I get used to it. And if I feel that I have adjusted myself to it, I don’t ruminate over it again. I try to not make the same mistake twice.

What about when you have to choose? Do you have regrets about the choices you don’t take? JB: It depends on the situation. And I think the amount of regret that remains depends on the importance of the choice. Rather than saying I have no regrets, if my choice was a mistake, you could say I look back at it and make a resolve to not make the same mistake again. Jinyoung: If I have decided on something, I’m the type to try and push it through as it is first, and then look back onto it later.

You must be the type who focuses on the present choices. Jinyoung: It’s something I have committed to already. So I have to complete it as well. After that, I wonder why I did it that way.

Do you have any lingering attachment to the choices you didn’t make in the past? JB: I sometimes think I should’ve worked harder in the past, and I wish I had thought the way I do now when I was younger. Jinyoung: I am the opposite. I think I worked too hard in my trainee days when I came to Seoul and didn’t have many friends. Without any space to breathe. I wish I would’ve been more relaxed and made some friends back then. Back then I had a lot of worries and I felt the pressure to succeed, so I wasn’t too close with the other trainees, too.

The two of you have a common history of placing 1st in an open audition, using the same song. After that, you’ve been together for almost 8 years, is this fate? JB: Aside from that, we have other ties, too. When we entered the audition, we actually entered it separately, but before the final performance where you had to make team groups, the people at the company put the two of us together. I think we’ve been together ever since then. Jinyoung: We spent our trainee days with hyung talking about people who had done it better. Who had been better. And then we filmed the drama together, we debuted together, then did GOT7 together. We’ve spent 7~8 years like this.

And thus you two are special to each other, I think. Jinyoung: We have faith in each other. JB: We know what we like and what we dislike, so we don’t really bump into each other. We are considerate of each other. Jinyoung: I think that when you’re in a relationship, rather than the good things, it’s the most important to refrain from doing the things others dislike. Since we already know very well what each of us dislikes, we are considerate of that.

What was your first impression when you two met? JB: How should I put it? Jinyoung had this feeling of extremely clean and pure, uncontaminated first-class water.

Does he still have that kind of feeling (laughs)? Jinyoung: People change, it’s been 8 years. JB: No matter how pure the water might be… (laughs). Rather than saying he went through a negative change, I think he got more seasoned at the same time maintaining that original feeling.

What was Jaebeom’s first impression? Jinyoung: He was like a “playboy” in the best meaning of the word. If we compare his past demeanour to the present, he goes through his life in a rather fierce manner now, but at first he seemed to be very relaxed.

When do you get the feeling that the two of you match really well? JB: Normally, we obviously match pretty well, and we match when we work. When we’re together, no matter what we do, everything just goes neatly and efficiently.

Is there something about you two you wish wouldn’t change as the years go by? Jinyoung: Hyung’s love for music is still the same, from the very first time I saw him. It’s about time it changed, to be honest (laughs). JB: Jinyoung has this feeling of a disciplined man. It’s not like he tries to live properly on purpose, he’s just born with it.

When was it the last time you have felt genuinely happy? Jinyoung: When JJ Project’s album was released. I got the album to sign it, and I was glad it came out so pretty. JB: Hmm… I’m the type that can’t feel emotions like “good” or “happy” that well. Of course, I did like it when the album was released.

Then what could make Jaebeom happy? JB: I don’t know. I think I’m just taking it easy with my life. Because I didn’t try to live while trying to feel happiness. I think I’m just the type who thinks “Life is life,” and who doesn’t put too much meaning into it.

This is the moment when we need information from Jinyoung again. As someone who has watched him from up close, when does Jaebeom get happy? Jinyoung: When he watches funny videos on YouTube? Yesterday he was also laughing so much by himself, that I checked it out wondering what it was, and he was laughing so hard watching videos by a rapper called “Designer.” Then he looked sincerely happy.

Recently, you asked your member Yugyeom to rate “Verse 2” in one phrase. I will also ask the same of you. JB: Best album! According to my standards, it’s a well-made best album. I always put an effort to work hard on every album, but this album is a little bit more special. I participated in the creative process more than for any other album, and just as much as I have thrown my heart and soul into it, I also like the track order and the album design.

Jinyoung: No regrets. It feels like we have poured our everything into it. We didn’t have much free time because we worked on it together, but I think we have spent that time very well. With no regrets. JB: And since we have completed this task, we have to work hard on making the next GOT7 album, too.

* Jinyoung used the term 중2병, which basically refers to the attitude of a 13-14-year-old, when puberty hits, and they behave as if they know everything.

Kor-Eng: Egle0702

Scans: GGOONERR_

MAY BE TAKEN OUT WITH PROPER CREDITS!!!

[dodadum]

Mercy76 week - Day 1 “Firsts”

I just realised that this old draft kinda fits with the theme of day 1! First "date" and first kiss. I hope you enjoy my first published Mercy76 fic! (I am super nervous about posting this hahaha)

(Btw, the song I quote is The Devil by Michael Mott performed by Sierra Boggess. Go listen to it! It’s a great song ❤)

Jack, you really don’t have to do this..“ Angela groaned as Jack pushed her along with him out of the building. She could admit that she had been locked inside her office for a bit too long, but she had things to do! Jack couldn’t just barge into her office and force her with him outside. Not that she didn’t like it, she enjoyed having someone care about her own health for once.

“Oh yes I do! Angela you’ve been glued to that desk for three days now, you need to get some fresh air.” Jack said in a very scolding manner, but laughed it off. They exited the building and walked out into the chilly November weather. It wasn’t snowing, but it was still quite cold. Angela immediately felt her cheeks redden from the cold, as she was used to the heating in her office.

“Where are we even going?” Angela asked, tightening her scarf around her. She asked, a little irritated as she thought about all the work she still had to do when she got back. This had only delayed her research even further.

“It’s a surprise. And would you stop thinking about work? I can tell just by the look on your face that you’re thinking of that big heap of papers on your desk. Can you please try and relax? Just for today? For me?” Jack smiled and looked down at her with his puppy-dog eyes. Angela sighed and pouted her lips.

“I might try.” The corners of her mouth turned up into a soft smile.

“Alright, we’re here! You don’t even know it yet, Angie, but this is gonna be your new favourite restaurant.”

They rounded a corner and Jack pointed at a medium-sized building with a tiny sign in front of it that read “Maurice’s Angel Bistro”. Angela snickered and Jack glared down at her.

“What’s the deal? Are you mocking me for my taste in food?”

“No, no..” Angela laughed. “You do know that I know Maurice, right?”

Jack’s jaw fell to the ground.

“You know THE Maurice? How?!”

“I thought that’s why you brought me here.. He and I met while I was studying for a year in France and after meeting me he decided to branch his restaurant into Switzerland. I’ve been a loyal customer ever since. He’s like family! But we haven’t spoken at all since I joined Overwatch, so I doubt he’ll recognise me..” Angela gave a half-hearted smile and put a strand of her hair behind her ear. They stepped inside and the warm atmosphere was like a shock from the cold air outside. Before they were even barely inside they heard heavy footsteps quickly approaching them. Angela felt a pair of thick arms around her as she was swept into the air.

“Angela! Mon ange!” The man named Maurice exclaimed with a large smile. Angela smiled back with a laugh as Maurice put her back on the floor.

“Hello Maurice, it’s been way too long.”

“Indeed it has, mon cheri. You should know better and call every now and then!”

Jack could barely hear the man trough his thick French accent. He chuckled as Angela was put back down on the ground. That’s when Maurice looked at him.

“My my, isn’t it Jack Morrison, the poster boy of Overwatch itself? What are you doing with my angel out like this?” Maurice raised a brow and leaned in close to him. He was a very tall man, and easily overshadowed Jack.

“Oh, it’s nothing like that Monsieur! I’m just treating Angela dinner.”

“That’s a shame, she’s a very good girl you know.” Maurice whispered to him and grinned with a chuckle. Jack blushed.

“Come on, l’ll get you two a table before I go back into the kitchen.” Maurice led Jack and Angela to a table by a window, a little separated from the rest, and left them with some menus as he went back to the kitchen as he said he would.

Jack noticed there was someone up on the stage playing piano music and an empty mic standing in the middle of the stage. Perhaps it was open mic night?

“Maurice can be a bit overwhelming the first time you meet him, but I promise he’s a good man once you get to know him.” Angela said as she looked up from her menu.

“Oh, that was nothing. He seems nice.” Jack chuckled and closed his menu, having already decided on his dish. “Pick whatever you want, by the way. My treat.”

Angela wanted to resist and urge him that she could pay for herself, but knew she would be starting an already lost argument. She smiled in response and looked back into the menu.

“I’ve never been here on an open-mic night before. You think anyone will sing?” Jack asked as he looked back at the stage, making him miss Angela’s eyes widening with an expression similar to fear.

Not today. Any day but today, she thought to herself.

“I-I don’t know, no one has ever sung when I’ve been here!”

She tried to laugh away her nervousness but failed horribly.

Not long after they had been seated Maurice returned with a expensive-looking bottle of wine which he poured up in two glasses and placed them in front of Angela and Jack. They made their orders and Maurice took the menus. That’s when he glanced at Angela with a smirk.

Angela shook her head furiously.

“No, Maurice I am not going up there! I haven’t…”

“Nonsense! Pierre is here, he remembers your song well! Couldn’t you do it, just for this old fool? S'il vous plaît? For old times’ sake!” Maurice batted his eyelashes which made Angela laugh. Jack was staring at the two, wondering what in the world was going on.

Maurice then suddenly grabbed Angela’s arm and pulled her out of her seat.

“I’m very sorry, Monsieur Jack, but I am going to have to steal your angel for one moment. You will see her again soon, I promise.” Maurice winked and hurried with Angela towards the stage.

“I’m sorry, Jack!” Angela called back to him with a nervous smile before she was rushed away. Jack just chuckled, still very confused about the whole situation.

Jack watched Angela get put onto the stage and sat down on a bar-stool type of chair by the mic. The man by the piano finished his piece and looked at Angela, awaiting her call. She looked very nervous. Somehow Jack’s eyes met hers despite the distance between them and Jack gave her a reassuring smile. It seemed to calm her down as she smiled back and looked at the man by the piano who started playing soft notes. Then she started singing.

“Oh, the devil has a secret… And he’ll keep it as long as he can… He will mask his face any time or place, but beneath is one hell of a man.”

Jack was absolutely baffled and mesmerised by her voice. He could never have imagined that she could sing, especially like that. His heart seemed to flutter just listening to her.

“But when he calls out my name, I submit to his game… I remember the night when he followed my light as he came face to face with my flame…”

Jack never wanted that magical moment to end, but as the song drew to a close he cheered and clapped loudly along with the rest of the audience. Angela bowed with a wide and bright smile on her face before she made her way down from the stage back to their table. As she saw his gaping mouth she couldn’t help but laugh.

“Should I take that as a positive response?”

“Angela, that was absolutely amazing! I had no idea you could sing like that.” Jack gave her the most genuine smile he could as they sat back down and their food arrived. During their dinner, Angela couldn’t help but glance up at Jack’s few times, who looked very handsome in the candle light. She caught Jack’s glance a few times as well, thinking she had been caught when it in fact she caught him staring at her.

They said goodbye to Maurice on the way out of the restaurant to brace the great outdoors. It had already gotten dark and the only light now came from the moon and the dim streetlights. It had also started snowing, which left the both of them shocked. But it served as a reason for Angela to stay close to Jack so they could both be warm.

“Well, here we are.” Angela said as they closed up on her apartment building. She stayed close to him, wrapped around his arm all the way to the door.

“I had a great time at least, filled with lots of surprises.” Jack chuckled and looked down at her.

“I had a lovely time as well. Thank you for dragging me out here, Jack.” She smiled up at him. She leaned up to kiss him on the cheek but Jack’s head turned at the last second, by accident or not she’ll never know, and their lips met with a weird mix of cold air and warm breaths. What surprised them both was that neither of them pulled away at first, they simply stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity. Jack’s arm wrapped around her back and held her close, even when they parted. They both had a deep blush on their cheeks. Then they started laughing. Her laugh was one the most beautiful things he’d ever heard in his life, tied with her singing.

“Goodnight, Jack.” Angela smiled and kissed him on the cheek this time before slipping out of his grip and walking into her apartment building. She waved goodbye before she was completely gone. Jack’s heart felt like it was beating a thousand beats per minute and he grinned to himself as he made his way to the bus stop.

He just kissed Angela.

This had surely been the best day of his life.

Thanks for reading ❤