#so i was in utter shock like i knew her super well for 3 years like it was a group of 3 and wed had countless outings and sleepovers ect

[transjordanli]

Golden boy. Golden girl.

The two lock eyes and all Jordan can do is gulp. Marie eyes the scene she’s walked in on. Being ever so perceptive, she takes note of the mess of clothes and makeup. She sees that Jordan is flushed, wearing pants they definitely wouldn’t wear with that tank.

“Oh princess,” Marie coos, closing the door behind her and walking up to her partner. “Having a weird gender day?” She asks, voice ever so gentle and kind. Not a hint of condescension or pity.

OR

An exploration into Jordan’s upbringing and identity. And how they’ve finally found a safe space.

AO3 link

The phrase “Golden boy” has always had more than one meaning for Jordan Li. Thanks to Luke, the name wasn’t as painful anymore. But it still stung, but now for more than one reason.

The first time they heard “Golden Boy” uttered from their father’s lips was after their elementary school spelling bee. They pulled their first all nighter the day before studying their ass off. In hindsight, it paid off since they won. But they didn’t know that it was going to be the start of those two words haunting them for their entire life.

Jordan often found solace in their mom’s closet. They loved exploring the large walk in closet, door securely closed behind them. They were particularly drawn to her jewelry cabinet. They’d set it in their lap and would lose themselves in the tiny drawers, running their fingers along the cool jewels and silver and gold. But they were especially fascinated with pearls. Much to Jordan’s delight, Mrs. Li had quite the extensive pearl collection.

One day, a tiny 9 year old Jordan took out one of their mother’s pearl necklaces. This one was a simple string of pearls with a silver heart pendant. They stood in front of the mirror, admiring the necklace. They slipped it over their head. And within a flash, they grew an inch and their hair grew to their shoulder blades.

Although shocked at the sudden shift in appearance, the young kid couldn’t help but relish in the feeling of how their hair now fell over their shoulders. The elegant pearl necklace seemed to pop out even more with their shiny, black hair cascading down. With a giant goofy grin, Jordan couldn’t stop swooshing their hair side to side. They ran their fingers through the locks as well as the pearls sitting atop their neck. It just felt right. They felt free.

And then their parents barged in, the euphoria of that moment coming to an abrupt end. Without realizing, Jordan shifted back. Their newly long hair went back to short and tight around their ears.

Mr Li. got down on one knee and yanked the necklace off so fast that the piece broke in his hands. The pearls exploded in a frenzy. The sound of the tiny pearls rolling along the wood floor echoed loudly, filling the tense silence that was between the three family members.

After what felt like ages, Mr. Li brought the tiny child into his arms and whispered into their skin.

“You do have powers… I knew you would. My golden boy.”

After that day, the Li’s made it very clear that they were over the moon about their child’s super abilities. But with terms and conditions. They pushed Jordan to be the best they could be, academically and physically whilst supporting them in every extra curricular.

But they were only allowed to compete in boys track and field. They had to wear a button down shirt, slacks, and a tie during debate. They had to perform at orchestra concerts in a 3 piece black suit.

There was no room for discussion of anything else. Anything remotely feminine was out of the question. So eventually Jordan just stopped trying. They found themselves compartmentalizing integral parts of who they are just to please the people around them - parents, peers, and partners alike. They tried their best to adhere and conform to this idea of masculinity. Because if they were a boy, they would excel in whatever they put their mind to. If they were a boy, they would be respected.

And it fucking hurt. Mrs. Li locked her jewelry cabinet, forbidding Jordan to look let alone wear any jewelry. Same with her makeup.

They went through two separate puberty’s and had to go through it alone. They weren’t allowed access to training bras or tampons/pads, so they had to steal whatever they could find at school.

The only time they felt safe enough to shift was during the dead of night. Once they knew their parents were asleep, they’d stand in front of their bedroom mirror and analyze what they saw staring back. While their broad shoulders and sharp lines and angles are indeed a part of them, it wasn’t all of Jordan. And in a flash, they were met with a shorter version of themselves. They eyeballed their curves and soft skin. Their jet black hair that hung low on their shoulders and long eye lashes batting softly. It felt like they could breathe again, if only for a little while.

Once they graduated high school and got accept to Godolkin University, there was still an air of uneasiness surrounding shifting and being themselves. The school did pride themselves on diversity and inclusion, yes. But to what extent?

They still pushed themselves to be the best. Because as they quickly learned, being an Asian bigender superhero isn’t the marketable American dream. But they met people along the way.

Andre, Luke, and Cate were the first people in their life to love all of them. They weren’t “too complicated” to be understood. They didn’t have to be just One Thing around them. They were free to be themselves, however that may look.

Luke, precious Golden Boy, was the first person to ask them what pronouns and gendered terms they preferred. Taken aback and being so restricted throughout their life, Jordan tearfully answered that they didn’t actually know. Luke took it upon himself to help them explore what felt right and comfortable. And for that, Jordan is eternally grateful.

Cate was the first girl friend they’ve ever had. Well, the first one who knew all of them at least. She bought Jordan their first few pieces of makeup: mascara, black pencil eyeliner, lip gloss, and a neutral color eyeshadow palette. After many personal failed attempts, Cate helped them learn how to actually use the products on their face. She went through a similar experience whenever she enrolled at God U, and she made it her personal mission to not let Jordan walk around looking like a clown like she did.

They’ve come so far in their personal growth and understanding of who they are. They are a boy, just not all the time. And they are a girl, just not all the time. And finally, at last, that’s okay! It’s okay that their identity isn’t the norm. They’re allowed to be themselves unapologetically. Yeah, they’re still working some things out in terms of gender expression, but isn’t everyone? The point is, they’re at a place to where never have to compartmentalize parts of themselves to “fit in” or make others lives easier again.

Which is why they can’t, for the life of them, understand why they’re finding themselves doing it again. They’ve worked so hard at unlearning self sabotaging behaviors. But the second Marie Moreau came into their life with her gentle, big brown eyes they were a goner.

They know she isn’t a shitty person. And yeah, there is literal video evidence of Marie enjoying their female form. But that voice in the back of their head telling them that masculinity equals safety is a relentless motherfucker.

So now Jordan is sat at their desk wearing nothing but a bra, grey tank, and briefs in their fem form. They are…completely dumbfounded about what to do for their date night. It looks like a Sephora threw up on their desk; they have their small but mighty collection of makeup scattered everywhere. Their dorm itself isn’t in much better shape. They took out all of their clothes, trying on every article of clothing they own but nothing feeling right.

Their clothes are pretty gender neutral by design. Sizing is tricky as it has to fit both forms, so buying from the men’s section is usually the rule of thumb. But they’ve never allowed themselves to wear anything more feminine. Do they want to? God yes. Especially now. But they’re terrified.

“Jordan?”

A soft knock is echoed by their name being called, snapping Jordan out of their thoughts. They swing their head towards the clock, processing it’s already 6:30. Which means they’ve spent the last 2 hours getting absolutely fucking no where.

“Uh, h-hold on!” They quickly stutter out, stumbling out of their chair and throwing on the first pair of pants they find. With a sense of mania, they start throwing the mess they’ve made into their closet as quick as they can.

“Babe, it sounds like you’re doing construction? I’m coming in!” Marie announces, opening the door just as Jordan is shoving 4 pairs of shoes into their closet.

The two lock eyes and all Jordan can do is gulp. Marie eyes the scene she’s walked in on. Being ever so perceptive, she takes note of the mess of clothes and makeup. She sees that Jordan is flushed, wearing pants they definitely wouldn’t wear with that tank.

“Oh princess,” Marie coos, closing the door behind her and walking up to her partner. “Having a weird gender day?” She asks, voice ever so gentle and kind. Not a hint of condescension or pity.

Jordan blinks rapidly, trying to stop the tears from forming. Their shoulders start to shake and that’s all Marie needs to see before wrapping the smaller girl up in her arms.

“Shhh…. It’s okay baby. You’re okay.” Marie affirms, rubbing Jordan’s shoulder and placing a kiss on the top of her head. “Tell me what I can do.”

“I,” Jordan lets out a single watery albeit frustrated chuckle.

“I don’t even know. I-I just wanted to look…” They trail off, scared of even saying it out loud.

After a few beats of silence, Marie figures Jordan is done trying to explain. So she carefully tries to finish the thought.

“You wanted to look pretty, right? That’s why all of your makeup is out and why you’re wearing a bra today.” She notes gently, swaying the two of them side to side. She feels Jordan nod into her chest, nuzzling themselves deeper into her as if trying to hide from the world.

She doesn’t want her partner to feel ashamed for anything, especially this. So she unwraps her arms from their form and takes their face into her hands. She gently cradles their jaw, wiping their tears with her thumb.

“You’re my beautiful girl,” Marie says with a gentle smile, “and I love you. All of you, okay?”

Jordan feels their eyes well up once again and they nod, their lips trembling. They lean up and plant a gentle kiss on Marie’s lips, placing their hand on top of hers on their jaw.

Marie smiles into the kiss, humming softly before pulling back ever so slightly.

“Can I try something? You trust me, right?” She asks softly, taking both of their hands in hers.

“Of course.” They answer instantly without a second thought.

Satisfied, Marie gently leads them back to their desk. They take a seat and the taller girl wastes no time getting to work.

“I saw this eye look on IG and saved it so fast for you…I think you’d look incredible. I’ve been trying to find the right time to try to do your makeup.” She explains as she props her phone up for the video tutorial and cracks her knuckles.

“I’m so excited. And very lucky I have such a gorgeous canvas…” Marie grins, gently buffing out the peach color shadow.

“Oh hush up, Moreau.” Eyes closed, Jordan sticks their tongue out. They don’t need to have their eyes open to know Marie is grinning ear to ear right now.

“It’s true! This wouldn’t work on any ‘ol canvas, ya know. I am a highly trained professional artist, of course, but the prettier the canvas the better.” She jokes, continuing to carefully work on their eyeshadow.

“Now open up,” With Jordan’s eyes now open, Marie picks up a dark brown eyeliner pencil and applies it from the middle of their lid to the outer corner, dragging it a bit below their lid. Motioning for them to look up, she applies the same eyeliner to their lower eyelid, middle to end. She buffs it out with the same peach shadow color.

“Almost done!” Marie grabs a palette with a gold tinted glitter and gently pats some onto their index finger before patting it in their inner corner.

She picks up a pink nude lip tint and gloss, applying them carefully onto their lips.

“God I’m so glad you’re not white. I couldn’t do this shit on white people lips!” Marie exhales as if completely relieved. And this alone causes Jordan to double over laughing - the first genuine laugh Marie has heard since she’s walked in. And she can’t get enough.

“Just a bit of mascaraaaaa….” Marie trails, being extra careful to not stab her partner in the eye. “And done!”

She throws the tube onto the table and takes a step back, admiring her work. Her stomach starts to flutter. Jordan looks ethereal.

“O-oh wow….” She stutters out, “I really outdid myself.”

Jordan face flushes once again. They’re still not used to compliments regarding their femininity. They’ve been called hot and every other synonym many times while masc, but it feels a lot more intimate when they’re in their fem form.

“Can I see?” They ask, voice small but with a hint of excitement.

“Of course, my love.” She takes Jordan’s hand and pulls them up. She walks them to their full body mirror, turning on the lamp so they can get a real good look.

Jordan lets out a sharp inhale the second they see their reflection. The makeup is subtle but just enough to really accentuate their features and eye shape. They look… beautiful. And they finally feel it too.

“Oh my god,” Jordan leans in, inspecting their face closer at every single angle. “You-you did amazing. Thank you.”

Without missing a beat, they turn around and practically throw themselves into Marie’s arms, hugging her tight. Marie chuckles and hugs them back just as tight.

“Anything for you, my golden girl.” Marie coos, breaking the hug and opting to kiss their now glossy lips.

Jordan heart flips at the phrase golden girl. They don’t think they’ve told anyone about that painful nickname, let alone Marie. But it sounds… right coming from her lips. It’s safe.

“Don’t want to ruin your makeup,” She says into the kiss, grin and all.

“Mm, of course of course.” Jordan jokes, still flushed, before breaking the kiss.

“We may have missed the movie buuuut I’m starving. How about we head to the mall? I want to get my baby girl a pretty outfit.” Marie asks as she grabs Jordan’s silk bomber jacket from their now messy closet and helping them put it on.

“I, you….” Jordan starts, but Marie’s face makes it clear she’s not budging. Her stubbornness is one of Jordan’s favorite things about her.

Knowing they won’t win, they sigh and concede. “Fine. But I’m at least paying for our pizza, okay?”

Marie claps her hands in satisfaction and is already opening the door. “Works for me. Now let’s go - I wanna show you off!”

Marie grabs their hand in and pulls them out the door and doesn’t let go. And Jordan never wants her to.

[ourlittledinosaur]

Finding Out I'm Pregnant!

New Post has been published on http://ourlittledinosaur.com/finding-out-im-pregnant/

Finding Out I'm Pregnant!

The happiest day of my life.

The happiest day of my life after my wedding day and before the day my son was born, was the day I found out I was pregnant.

I have mentioned before that my husband and I had wanted to have a baby for quite some time. From the first time we agreed to try to conceive to the moment of that positive pregnancy test was nearly three years.

I had spent a week at work feeling tired and strangely out of breath. I remember telling my boss as I was cleaning one day that I felt weird and jokingly told her, “Ha! Maybe I’m pregnant!” She said, “You better take a test.” I laughed it off at the time, but the more I thought about it the more I realized I had never quite felt the way I did.

Oh sure, I’d started my period a few days earlier, but come to think of it… It WAS super light. Nothing to really empty from the diva cup. Just some spotting. Hmmm…could I really be pregnant?

I had taken pregnancy tests before when I had experienced a couple late periods. My husband had been disappointed before, just as I had, so I decided I wasn’t going to say anything to him this time unless the outcome was a joyful one.

Of course, it was this night that our second vehicle was in the shop and so my husband picked me up from work. On the way home I asked if he would stop by the local pharmacy so I could pick up a couple things.

“What are you getting?” He asked.

“Something for me,” I replied.

“You’re buying a pregnancy test, aren’t you?” How does he know that?

“Yes, but I wasn’t planning to say anything to you about it, so let me be.”

“You’ve taken like 30 of those things.” He sighed.

“No.” I argued. “I have taken 6. Two 3-packs in 3 years. That’s hardly 30.”

“Well, it seems like you’ve taken a lot. Are you sure you want to buy these now?”

“Yes, I have my reasons. Please make the stop on the way home, honey.” I requested.

He did, and I bought another 3-pack of Clear Blue Pregnancy Tests, promising 99% accuracy. I honestly tried not to think too much of it. He was right, they’d just been a waste of money every other time. Maybe I should just go home. But I continued in my mission.

Prepping for the Test

Once we got home, I showered away the work day, and followed my normal getting-ready-for-bed-routine, making a point to read the test directions before going to sleep. I knew I had to wait for that first morning urine to have the best results (despite what the test directions said), and I didn’t want to try to “hold it” while I fiddled with reading them the next morning.

I went to sleep that night the same as every night, not truly expecting anything to be different in the morning.

The next morning in the 6 o’clock hour, nature’s call woke me and I went into the bathroom. Groggy with the new day, I would have forgotten my mission from the night before, had my night owl wisdom not laid everything out for me.

Doing the pee-pee dance, I hurriedly snapped the cap off the test stick and set to work. I set the test behind me on the top of the toilet and went about washing my hands… and washing my face… and brushing my teeth…, not daring to go near the pee stick that was bound to herald bad news again.

The Results

Once my 3 minutes were up, I nonchalantly walked over and picked up the test.

PREGNANT.

What?! I looked again.

PREGNANT.

I stared at that one, simple word in utter shock as my eyes filled up with tears.

I smiled. I was pregnant!

[Hannah] made a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life…” 1 Samuel 1:11a

To Continue this Story, click here.

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[plantsanddictionaries]

How to hide from your feelings 101: live in the library

[kiyosamu]

painful reminders

(part 1/3)

——— ♡ ———

pairing: suna rintaro x female reader

genre: angst to comfort

cw: brief mentions and descriptions of assault (not from suna, not domestic violence), reader experiences post-traumatic stress, panic, anxiety

——— ♡ ———

“hey, i’m here now. you’re safe.”

the words echoed in your mind for a few seconds too long. you were hardly able to register their meaning while under the influence of your deep fear. you felt nothing but dread; impending pain and horror that you were sure was coming at any moment.

——— ♡ ———

suna slumped his body on the window of the train, trying to contort his larger than average build into a position comfortable enough to get a few moments of rest before arriving at his stop.

“attention passengers. there is a situation and we need to make an emergency stop at the next station. please gather your belongings and file out of the train as soon as we arrive.”

weird, he thought. must be another petty robbery. maybe someone refusing to get off of the tracks, or something exciting, like a mass murderer.

suna caught himself just as he had the thought, stopping his process immediately.

he shook his head, unimpressed at his ability to appear removed and disinterested no matter the situation. not to mention the scenarios running through his mind; scenarios that would terrify any sane person with an ounce of emotion no matter who they were.

suna scoffed and sat up to grab his bag.

of course, he knew it was nothing like that. that’s probably why he didn’t stay in his head and scare himself with anything further. why bother upsetting yourself by simply letting your mind run away from you? stupid, he thought. he never understood overthinkers. not only was it not productive, but it was exhausting.

thankfully, this station was only about a ten minute walk from the next, the one he was supposed to get off at. even though he was coming home from a tiring practice, the athlete never seemed to run out of stamina.

suna squinted as bright blue and red lights lit up the dark streets. rain began to pour and suna cursed his odds. the forecast predicted only a 10% chance of rain, and he just so happened to be getting caught in that unlucky percentage when he had to walk even further just to get back home.

he groaned and pushed his hair out of his face. the rain soaked his clothes, his sweatpants and shirt clinging to his body. suna felt disgusting and suddenly the thought of a hot shower was even more appealing than the leftover onigiri he had waiting in his fridge.

just as another thought of self pity was about to cross his mind, another police car flew by him.

must be pretty bad, wonder what happened..

that thought was as far as his curiosity went. if it was major, he’d probably hear about it on the news or in the paper. if not, well, it really was none of his business.

as he turned down the next street, he saw four police cars all blocking off the station. police tape sectioned off the area and officers stood with their arms crossed and chests pushed out as other vehicles pulled in.

he blinked a few times, taking in the scene for a second before realizing he’d stopped walking. suna brought himself back to reality and stared at the ground with his hands in his pockets. while he was shamelessly nosy as a teenager, he’d grown into quite the reserved young adult who knew how to mind his business.

unfortunately, that new trait flew out the window the second he heard a familiar voice.

——— ♡ ———

“officer, please. he said he’d come back for me, i don’t feel safe going home… i don’t have family here, i don’t have anywhere else to stay-“

“look. you’re just scared, but you’re not injured.” the man stared down at you with an emotionless glare. “there’s nothing more we can do for you. the suspect assaulted two other women and they’re cooperating. why are you asking us for more when we’ve done everything we can so far?”

his voice was as cold as your quickly declining temperature, the rain soaking through your t-shirt and causing you to shiver.

“he.. he held a knife to my throat. there’s-“ you lifted your hand to lightly trace the marks on your neck that had been squeezed in place only an hour before. “he said he was going to kill me but…” you trailed off, the night’s events playing over and over in your mind with no indication of stopping the endless repeat. “but then he saw the lights and ran. he said he’d be back for me…”

the officer sighed.

“criminals often utter threats to make their victims submit to their words and give in. they want to commit their crimes as quickly as possible. we’ve gone over this, you didn’t know him. he doesn’t know anything about you-“

“but what if he does?!” you shouted, tears streaming down your cheeks before you’d even realized you were crying.

“listen ma’am, you need to calm down-“ the officer grabbed your wrist and you ripped it away from him, covering your mouth and staring in disbelief at the officer. you were in shock. you couldn’t process what was going on, let alone what had happened. you didn’t know what to do.

you froze as you felt an arm around your shoulder. a familiar voice spoke your name with tenderness and a low, empathetic tone that you’d never heard from him.

“i’ll take her home, officer. she’s my neighbour.”

while that was true, you were still surprised at the gesture. rintaro suna had been your neighbour for 3 years. the two of you were friendly; you’d been to each other’s homes a handful of times and sometimes would share a meal or drop off some food that was too much for one person.

you were both single, living alone in your apartments. although you weren’t super close, you always felt like he was a friend. a slightly distant, reserved, quiet friend, but a friend nonetheless.

the two men exchanged words for what felt like an eternity before suna squeezed you closer to him, guiding you out of the area and walking you towards your apartment.

you opened your mouth to say something. anything. even just a greeting, a thank you for the escort home.

when you stopped walking, he stayed close to you and looked down at your expression.

you opened your mouth to say something but the moment you did, you relived the traumatizing situation once again and fell into a deep panic.

“i-i-… no-n..” your words broke as you felt your body shaking. the cold rain was doing nothing to help your condition, and if you could describe it in any way, it was like losing control of your own sanity. you felt the panic wash over you as the phantom pressure of the knife pressed against your windpipe - your mind quite literally putting you in a choke hold.

“hey. i’m here now, you’re safe.”

the words echoed in your mind for a few seconds too long. you were hardly able to register their meaning while under the influence of your deep fear. you felt nothing but dread; impending pain and horror that you were sure was coming at any moment.

suna wrapped his arms around you protectively. he didn’t know why, he didn’t even really know what was going on, but he knew that all he wanted to do in that moment was to prevent anything further from hurting you.

you clutched at his hand and dug your nails into his skin. you didn’t mean to, you didn’t even realize you were doing it. suna would be lying if he said it didn’t hurt, but he ignored it and held you close against him until you felt like you were okay to walk again.

when you caught your breath, you pulled his hand away from your face.

“i’m sorry… i don’t know what happened.” you choked out.

“you had a panic attack.” he said quietly. “we don’t need to talk about anything right now, though, okay? let me get you home. you went through something horrible and you’re freezing cold. it’s just a little more up the road, can you make it?”

you nodded, dropping your hands to your side and suna instinctively held onto the one closest to him.

“i’m scared to stay in my apartment… alone…” you whispered.

“you can stay with me.” suna said this with more certainty than suggestion. if anything, it was a statement. he was planning on having you stay over or even him staying at yours. whatever worked, he just didn’t want you to be alone and he knew you had nobody else to call.

he had never planned to get involved in your personal business like this. he didn’t want to be the weird neighbour, and he already worried if bringing you food some nights would make you uncomfortable.

those thoughts were always put to rest whenever you smiled at him and graciously accepted his gestures. your warm smile and the way your cheeks made your eyes squint when you were really happy was an image he’d always have trouble shaking out of his head for the following days.

suna snuck a glance at you as the two of you started to walk again. your smile that he swore could light up an entire city was nowhere to be seen.

he would do anything to see that smile on your face right now.

you looked like a shell of what you once were. he knew that you’d experienced something traumatic, but seeing you like this made him feel something hard in his chest.

you didn’t deserve that.

a painful squeeze developed deep inside him when he thought of what your face must have looked like when it had happened. a sweet girl who seemed to always bring out the bright side in any situation. you’d made him sweets (that he secretly broke his athletic diet for) when he’d lost an important game, and always made him smile whenever he saw you.

it was different right now. he felt anxious. he squeezed your hand in his and you didn’t even flinch, didn’t even seem to notice as you looked ahead with a blank stare.

on the other end, his touch alone was enough to give you the tiniest bit of comfort. it wasn’t much, and you were still scared, but it was enough to get you home.

——— ♡ ———

part 1 | part 2 (in progress) | part 3 (in progress)

[the-cult-of-russo]

Biggest regret (part 3)

Pairing: Billy Russo x Reader

A/N: So many of you guys love this story and I love it. Thank you guys 😊

So this one really went off on a tangent and it's longer than I thought. But I didn't wanna rush this and I'm enjoying this story. So he doesn't meet his kid yet, that's in the next part that I'm writing right now. Then there will be another part that I've got in mind too.

Warnings: cursing, angst, sadness, fluff kinda, emotional Billy.

-----------

Delilah cooed happily where she was perched in a little rocker seat. It was vibrant pinks and yellows with a bar along the top and little stuffed animal shapes dangling off it that she swatted with her chubby hands. 

You were cleaning. Stress cleaning to be precise. Ever since you got that letter from Billy you'd felt out of sorts. You really hadn't expected it. You'd spent the better half of the start of your pregnancy thinking he'd come to his senses. That he'd turn up and say sorry or even call or text. But by the end of the pregnancy you realised you'd asked too much of him. That maybe you didn't know him as well as you thought. 

It had been a bitter pill to swallow having him just walk out of your lives like that. Your pregnancy hadn't been easy by any means and that only made it harder. You had no family, no real friends. You'd been completely alone. Every time you ended up at hospital the nurses took pity on you. Seeing you so sick with no visitors or help. It had been hard. 

Since Delilah could return home, one of your neighbours in your complex had taken to helping you. Louise was a woman in her 60s and before now you'd only ever seen her in passing with a murmured hello. But seeing you struggle as a single mother, she'd taken you under her wing and helped you immensely. 

You had to work from home since you had the baby. The time off with unpaid maternity leave when she was born and was sick had set you back quite a bit and now you were struggling. You'd had to leave your job since there was no way you could do it from home and you didn't have child care or the money to do it. And honestly, after having Delilah, the overwhelming urge to keep her safe was shocking. You didn't really want to leave her with someone you didn't know. It had been hard for you to agree to it with Louise who would occasionally have her for an hour or two so you could catch a break. And she was literally only next door which eased your mind a little. 

Now you were doing proofreading and transcription work from home and it didn't exactly pay great. You got by though and you made do with what you had. You just didn't expect things to go this way. You still remember when you found out you were pregnant and told Billy. It had been a huge shock to you and despite the nagging feeling that this was how it would end, you stupidly hoped it would be different. 

~

You sat on the bed, the test in your hands as the two pink lines glared at you. You were pregnant. You had a baby in your belly. You felt like you couldn't breathe. You and Billy weren't even super serious. There were feelings involved but neither of you mentioned it. Opting instead to pretend they weren't there. You were scared if you told him you loved him that he'd run for the hills and he was scared of feeling anything at all. 

You'd been 'together' for nearly two years. You weren't officially boyfriend and girlfriend, there were no labels slapped on you both. But everyone knew you were his and he was yours and it worked just fine. But now there was a baby. Now things got serious way quicker than you expected and you were terrified. 

You weren't ready to be a mom. You'd never put much thought into having kids and you didn't know how to be a mother. You'd have a tiny human that depended on you to keep them safe and loved. How the fuck would you manage that? And then there was Billy. You'd have to tell him and you felt sick with worry about how he would react. 

You knew about his childhood, you knew pretty much everything about each other. He'd never known love as a child and you hoped that would mean it would force him to want to be there and be a good dad. But you knew him well enough to have the worry that it would have the opposite effect and he'd freak out. 

He'd been at work and you'd been at his place. You didn't live with him, you still had your own place. But you stayed there most nights or he would be at yours. You never spent a night away from each other. 

You heard the front door open and close and you felt a wave of dread settle over you. Like an ice cold blanket snaking around your entire body as it squeezed. You had to tell him. You had to hope he would be okay with this. You knew you'd keep the baby regardless. Despite only knowing for literal minutes, you cared about this baby. This baby was a piece of you and a piece of Billy. There was no way you couldn't keep them.

"Hey, sweetheart! I'm home!" You heard him call from the living room. You swallowed thickly as you stood on shaky legs, stuffing the test in the pocket of your hoodie. You made your way to the living room as he shucked off his jacket. He looked handsome as always and he flashed you a warm smile when he saw you. But it fell when he took in your anxiety induced state.

"What's wrong?" He asked carefully, black eyes scanning over you like he was checking if you were hurt. Your throat tightened as you felt your eyes prickle and you willed the tears away. 

"Uh… you should sit down. We need to talk," you murmured softly. He frowned, tilting his head as he regarded you.

"Sounds ominous," he replied dryly. He complied though and moved to sit on the sofa. You opted to stay standing near the coffee table.

Your whole body felt like it was shaking and you felt in your bones that this was the moment where everything would change. Either for better or worse, but change was coming and it hurt your heart. You needed to just tell him, get it over with. You inhaled a shaky breath as you looked at him. His face was etched in concern and he was patient with you, watching all the emotions pass over your face.

"I'm pregnant," you blurted, grabbing the test from your pocket and handing it to him. His eyes almost popped out of his head and he grabbed the test, staring at it. You couldn't get a good read on his face other than the surprise and you didn't like that. He was staring at it hard and you knew he was deep in thought. That cold dread came back and sunk its claws into you. 

Suddenly, he tossed the test on the coffee table, springing out of his seat and moving around to the back of the couch like he wanted to get far away from you.

"No," he frowned. You blinked dumbly at him for a moment as your eyes burned.

"No?" You asked softly. His dark eyes pinned you in place then. For a brief moment you saw utter pain and complete panic, eyes glassy with unshed tears. But then all emotion left his face, left his eyes, and it felt like a punch to the gut. You'd seen that look on his face before but never directed at you. 

"I'm not… I can't do this. I don't want a kid," he said coldly. The lump in your throat got bigger as you nodded. What else could you say? You could cry and scream and fight but what was the use? Part of you expected this although you hoped for something else. You couldn't force him to stick around. If he wanted out then you had no choice but to let him. 

You felt tears slip down your face as you glared at the floor, lower lip quivering. You couldn't look at him. The pain you felt was unbearable. Pain for yourself for losing him, pain at how cold he was being, and pain for your baby for having a dad that didn't want them. Did Billy even realise he was continuing the cycle of his own upbringing? 

You felt his eyes burning into you but you couldn't look. You had so many things you wanted to say but they all caught on the lump in your throat. Without a word, he grabbed his jacket and left, slamming his door behind him so loud you jumped. You sobbed then, moving to curl up on the sofa as you let it all out. He was gone. You'd have to do this all alone and you missed him already despite him leaving you like this. 

You were unsure of how long you lay on his sofa sobbing your heart out until your phone chimed with a message. Stupidly you thought it was Billy saying sorry. It was Billy, but he definitely wasn't apologising.

'I'll be back in two hours. Pack all your shit and be gone before I get home. Don't contact me again.' 

You felt a surge of anger and bitterness seep into you then. You thought he'd cared. Never had he told you how he felt about you but he acted like he cared. Introduced you to the Castle's, his family. But clearly you were wrong. His message was loud and clear. You didn't respond, there was no need. He wanted to never hear from you again and that was fine. You packed anything of yours and left within an hour, your heart heavy with pain, hurt and anger. 

~

When you got his letter, at first you were angry. You wanted to be petty. Wanted to ignore it or send him one back telling him to go fuck himself. But you'd looked at your daughter then with her sweet smile and her dad's eyes and you couldn't. Because despite what he'd done, she deserved her dad. 

You hadn't responded to the letter right away. Two weeks you kept reading it and coming to terms with all the emotions it brought you. You knew you still cared about him even after what he'd done. You couldn't help it. But his letter sounded so sincere and the self loathing in his words tugged at your heart. He'd fucked up big time, but he was trying to fix it. Billy was a proud man and you knew it took him a lot to reach out to you. You wanted Delilah to get to know her dad and wanted her to have a relationship with him. 

You had a lot to work through and you and Billy would need some serious talks to be able to co-parent properly, but you'd do it for Delilah. There wasn't a thing in the world you wouldn't do for that girl. 

So you'd replied and now you've been waiting for his call. You were full of nerves and you could taste the emotions lingering from the day he left in the back of your throat. You felt like you were in some kind of limbo. 

After stress cleaning for a bit and looking after Delilah, you sat on the sofa with the TV on low as she snoozed in her little seat. You felt lucky she was such a chill baby. The pregnancy and birth had been harder to deal with and you thought having her would be difficult but it hadn't been that hard for you. Louise kept telling you that you had natural maternal instincts and that you'd picked it up easily. 

You tried to pay attention to the screen when your phone buzzed from your pocket. Your heart skipped a beat as you got it out. It was a number you didn't recognise and your breath started coming in shorter because you knew just who it would be.

"Hello?" Your voice shook a little as you answered and you heard a soft sigh on the other end. 

"Hey, Y/N, it's Billy," his voice was smooth like always but it sounded off. A little raw. 

"You got my letter then," you murmured. You rolled your eyes at yourself for stating the obvious but you didn't know what else to say. Never had it been so stilted and awkward to talk to Billy. 

"Yeah… and I know you asked me to really think about it, so I did. And I wanna be there. I'd like to… I'd like to meet her if I can," he sounded apprehensive and you wondered if he thought that you'd reject him even after telling him in the letter you wanted them to meet. 

"Okay… I'd like to meet up with you first. We have a lot to talk about that needs dealing with before you meet her," you said firmly. This you wouldn't budge on. There was a lot of unresolved tension and feelings around you both and one quick meeting with him wouldn't fix that, but you wanted to clear some air before he came to meet Delilah so it wasn't completely tense. You also wanted to make sure he really was 100% with this or you wouldn't allow it to happen. You wouldn't let her get hurt. 

"Yeah, I'll do… anything you need. Whatever you want," he answered quickly. You nodded even though he couldn't see it, happy that he wasn't fighting you on it. He seemed like he genuinely wanted to take this seriously which was good.

"Right… uh… I can… I can meet you today. The diner down the street from my place? About 6pm?" You asked softly. You heard him sniffle a bit down the phone and you started to wonder if he'd come up with an excuse about work. You knew he worked late a lot. 

"Yeah, that's fine. I'll be there," he said resolutely. This was a good start already.

"I'll see you then, bye Billy," you murmured. 

"Bye, Y/N," he replied softly. You hung up and blew out a breath, your shaking hands gripping your phone. You hadn't heard his voice in over a year and it had your heart hammering away against your ribcage. You still loved him but the love was tainted with pain and betrayal. You'd have to stuff it down for the sake of your daughter. 

You didn't bother to change out of your jeans, boots, tee and hoodie and after asking Louise if she could look after Delilah for a bit, you set off out. You'd told Louise everything. She already knew what happened with Billy and you'd even let her read his letter. While she wasn't happy he'd walked away in the first place, she was happy he was trying to step up now. You were glad she was supporting you with this. 

You got to the diner five minutes early and fully expected to have to wait. But when you got inside, Billy was already sitting in a booth. He looked shit scared and his fingers drummed on the table restlessly. As you approached, his head snapped up. So many emotions crossed his face as he looked at you that you couldn't keep up with them. But when it settled on heartbreak you felt your own squeeze painfully in your chest. 

He stood up as you got to the table and there was an awkward moment where you both looked at each other. He looked tired. He had dark rings around his eyes and his usually perfect hair was a little dishevelled. He had on casual clothes and his leather jacket. He took a step closer like he was going to hug you and you stepped back without thinking. His face fell a little and he nodded, the movement stiff but he seemed to understand you weren't ready for it. 

He moved to sit down and you sat opposite him. It was so tense you could cut the air with a knife and you didn't even know where to start. The waitress came over then and gave you both a bright smile and you both ordered coffee. Once she was gone the tense atmosphere was back.

"I'm sorry," Billy muttered brokenly. Your eyes looked up at him then and he was staring at you with shiny eyes. Your throat constricted and you cleared it.

"Billy-" you started with a frown. He cut you off though.

"I know… I know I'm the biggest asshole out there. I don't deserve you sittin' here or givin' me a chance. But I want you to know that… I thought about you and the baby… Delilah… every damn day. And I-I hated myself for walkin' away. And I can't take back what did, but I can be better. I want to be better. And I'm sorry I hurt you and I'm sorry I left. But I'm serious when I say I wanna be here. You said I'm in or out and I want in. And I swear, I fuckin' swear that I'll prove to you I'm a better man," he said imploringly, leaning his forearms on the table as he watched you. 

You blinked at him, collecting your emotions as the waitress came over with the coffees. She didn't linger, sensing the heaviness of whatever was happening in your booth. 

"I'm glad you're here, Billy. And it's gonna take work for us to… to be okay around each other. But Delilah is the focus here and you deserve to have a relationship with her. You're her dad," you said softly. He sneered, not at you but himself, as he shook his head.

"No… no I'm not. I haven't been there. Sure she's mine, my DNA, my blood, but… I walked out. I left you, I left her and you both needed me. I'm not a dad, not yet. But I'll do whatever it takes to show you I'm worthy of bein' her dad," his voice shook yet was also firm and you knew in your heart he meant his words. It settled you a bit to know he really was serious about this. 

"I'll be honest… part of me expected to come here and you wouldn't be ready. That you were talking shit for whatever reason. But I believe you. I wish it hadn't taken this long but I'm glad you're here now, Billy. It's been… so fucking hard doing this alone," your hands were around your cup and you stared at them as you spoke, your voice quiet among the light buzz in the diner. 

You heard his breathing hitch and looked at him again. His fists were clenched and his head was lowered which made it hard to read his face. His whole body was tense and you were about to open your mouth to ask if he was okay when you noticed his shoulders shaking slightly. Oh. 

He sucked in a breath as a broken sob left his lips and it ripped a hole right through your chest. Now matter what he'd done, seeing him this way was jarring. You'd seen many sides to Mr Billy Russo and you'd even seen him cry before. But he looked so worn down and broken and it hurt you even if it was his own fault. 

His elbows resting on the table, he brought his hands up and rested his head on them as he openly sobbed. You never thought you'd see the day that Lieutenant Russo cried in a public space but he seemed beyond caring. 

You swallowed the lump in your throat as you stood and moved to his side. You slid into the booth next to him as your own eyes welled up and you reached out a shaky hand to stroke the back of his neck. He tensed at first like he hadn't even noticed you'd moved which was startling given how perceptive he was about everything around him. But then he relaxed and moved his face from his hands and turned to look at you. Tears were streaming down his face and he looked younger and vulnerable. 

You wrapped your arms around his neck and he didn't hesitate to bury his face in your neck as his own arms held you tightly. You stroked his hair softly, trying to soothe him a little. You couldn't help it. Maybe it was that maternal instinct that always hated when someone was upset around you or maybe it was just the fact that no matter what happened, you did still care.

"It's okay, Billy," you whispered through your own tears. He shook his head where it was still pressed against your now damp neck.

"No it's not. I fucked up. I shoulda been there," his voice was muffled and broken with his soft sobs that were slowly easing and you held him a little tighter. 

"You did fuck up but you're here now and that's what matters," you murmured. You pulled away and he let you go reluctantly as he sniffled and looked down. You reached up and wiped his cheeks with your hoodie sleeves and then he looked at you. 

"We can't change the past, Billy. Yeah, you messed up, and yeah it hurt me. But you already missed out on so much and that's a punishment in itself. Things aren't gonna be easy and it'll take time for us to heal, but you're here now and Delilah needs you. That's what matters," you uttered, hands falling from his face. 

He sniffled again as he nodded, his obsidian gaze searching your face like he was looking for something. 

"I don't… I don't have the words because thank you doesn't even come close. I don't deserve this. I don't deserve you helpin' me out and I don't deserve Delilah. I didn't really think I'd hear from you and now here you are, fuckin' comforting me in a diner when it should be the other way around," he lamented with a frown. 

"I don't like seeing you cry," you shrugged with a weak smile as your hands toyed with the sleeves of your hoodie. He gave you a small smile back as he nodded. A silence settled over you both then and it was slightly awkward. You knew he was probably embarrassed and also still beating himself up. Once upon a time you'd be glad to know how hard he was being on himself over this. But seeing him like this was painful. 

There were still a lot of things to sort through with the pair of you but they weren't the priority. The first and most important thing was him establishing a relationship with his daughter. You figured in time things would get easier with him and he seemed dead set on being here now. And you could see the genuine remorse for walking away so you knew he was serious. 

"I should go. But uh…" you murmured as you stood from the booth, Billy following suit. 

"You can… you can meet her tomorrow if you'd like? I could… I don't know, make dinner for us all? You could come by my place and meet her before dinner?" You suggested, voice laced with uncertainty. His face lit up then even with his slightly damp cheeks and shiny eyes. His smile was bright even if it was hesitant. 

"I'd really like that," he nodded as he gazed down at you. 

"Okay… good. Uh… come by around 5?" It still felt awkward between you and you hated it. It used to be so easy between the two of you. 

 "I will… thank you, Y/N," he murmured sincerely. You nodded and gave him a little smile. He stepped forward and this time you didn't step back. The hug didn't last long but it took you back to a time when things were good with the pair of you. Where you felt safe in his strong arms surrounded by his calming scent. It sent a pang through your chest. You hugged him back before he moved away and you gave him another nod before you left. 

By the time you were walking in your complex you had tears down your cheeks. It had been hard to see him after everything. Hard to see him such a mess too. You had that feeling, the same one you did the day you found out you were pregnant. That things were changing, this was a turning point. Only this time it was a good one. 

It was hard to wrap your head around after all this time that he'd be there. Of course there would be a period of adjustment where he got to know his daughter, but eventually he'd be parenting just like you. It was a strange feeling to comprehend that you wouldn't be alone in this anymore. 

Seeing him and speaking to him, it had eased some of the bitterness that you'd held for him. Not completely but quite a bit. You couldn't hold onto the anger and pain of the past, not when Delilah needed this. You'd never be able to go back and redo how things happened but you could close that chapter and start a new one. One where Billy was actually around and your daughter had a dad. Despite the nerves for the dinner the next day, you were also a little excited and hopeful. 

[empressapprentice]

Arcana Headcanons: M3 + MC Who Beats Everyone at Chess

Hello friends! The lovely @firefly-child posted about a fun game called Request Roulette. They post a prompt, and anyone who wants to is free to fill it. The first prompt is: “How would the main 6 react to MC beating like every person that’s goes against them in chess but at the end they whisper to the LI that they actually have no idea how to play chess and just kept moving pieces till they won” and also includes the lovely line “hehe move pieces around make brain go brrrrrrrr.” I just had to do this. I’m going for a bastard version of The Queen’s Gambit here.

Housekeeping stuff: This is just the main 3, although I have some ideas for the other characters and will be posting soon. I also wanted to break the posts up because despite this being incredibly silly, it still managed to be super long (oh well!). Also warning for some horniness in Julian’s, but nothing worse than what you see in game (couldn’t resist hehe). The good stuff is under the cut :)

Asra:

You and Asra don’t tend to play board games together, favoring card games that utilize his Tarot deck. So despite him knowing you so well, he doesn’t realize you have absolutely no clue how to play chess.

Asra learned to play during one of his many trips and it became one of his favorite ways to distract himself. Playing chess didn’t require the friendly camaraderie that other games do (something he couldn’t muster while mourning you or during your recovery) and gave him something to focus on other than you. He got surprisingly good over time. Though he never put any real time into studying strategies, he has an uncanny ability to figure out his opponent’s plan, always countering it perfectly.

So when the two of you join an informal tournament and you start doing really well (like, really well), Asra just can’t take it. He can hardly believe that you were hiding this skill from him for all these years. He’s looking at you with so much love in his heart and a goofy grin on his face.

When you take a break before the final game and beckon Asra over, he assumes you’re nervous. He peppers your face with kisses and leans over to give you words of encouragement, but you stop him. You instead whisper in his ear, telling him you’ve been just pushing pieces around randomly. He pulls back, a look of shock on his face. Then, he breaks out into peals of laughter. 

Knowing your secret does not diminish Asra’s enjoyment of watching the final game at all. For a moment, he considers resting Faust on your shoulders and using her to communicate possible moves, but he decides to take a step back and let you work. He truly doesn’t care that you’re faking it, he’s in awe of you. His eyes even get a little misty when he thinks about how far you’ve come since the resurrection, the picture of cool confidence in front of the crowd.

When you win, he picks you up in his arms and spins you around. Sure, you may not be a secret chess genius, but it is just like the person he loves to manage to pull this off.

Nadia:

Nadia has been trained in a wide variety of strategy games and genuinely enjoys playing them. She occasionally studies chess strategies to keep her skills sharp. There’s nothing she enjoys more than the challenge of cracking a puzzle. It’s just like when she tinkers with mechanical projects: there’s always a “right” answer to each move her opponent makes, and she loves to figure it out.

She’s hosting a friendly competition with some fellow politicians and dignitaries in the salon. She encourages you to play a game, since it’ll look good for the Countess’ partner to be an active participant in the games.

She’s pleased to see you win your first game and continue to work your way up through the ranks. There’s pleasant chatter in the room while everyone compliments the Countess’ choice in partner. She’s proud of you, but her competitive edge is seeping in. She can’t believe that you hid your talent from her--she’s impressed, a little turned on by your chess prowess, and determined to take. you. down.

Soon, it becomes clear that you will need to go against Nadia. You’re shaking in your boots. You got this far against your other opponents, but you genuinely didn’t care about the outcomes of those games. All you wanted was to help Nadia host a good afternoon of friendly games. But now you’re in too deep. You need to put up a good display of strength against your wife, and ideally you would lose so Nadia can save face, but at this point you don’t even know how to move the pieces to get a certain outcome.

You and Nadia are seated across from each other and you are both trying to keep things friendly, but there’s a distinct undercurrent of tension in the room. You get first move as the reigning champion. Nadia takes a long moment, makes a deliberate move, then leans back and smirks at you. Uh oh, she’s feeling really competitive.

You go round for round, while you just move pieces based on your general whims. You can tell that Nadia is becoming slightly flustered, struggling to figure out your strategy. Finally, mercifully, Nadia pulls out a winning move. By now, the dignitaries have lost interest and the event naturally winds down after the game ends.

When you and Nadia are alone after the game, you know you have to tell her your secret. She detects the change in your mood and assumes you’re upset about losing. You turn to her, and the story spills out of you. You finish telling your story, breathless, and the two of you stare into each other’s eyes for a long moment before breaking out into laughter.

Julian:

Who brought a chess set to the Rowdy Raven? It looks so out of place in the tavern, where drunkards usually stick to playing cards and other simple games. The goal is usually to play as many rounds as quickly as possible to shuffle a few coins back and forth among the gamblers.

When Julian spots it, his eyes light up. He asks if you’d be willing to play a round against him, before a mysterious stranger walks up and claims the chessboard. They say that you’ll have to fight to use the chessboard. Julian’s already rolling up his sleeves, but you quickly realize that the stranger wants one of you to play them--if you win, you can borrow the board.

Emboldened by your drink, you push Julian away and sit across from the stranger. You know you’ve never played chess before, but how hard could it be? Turns out, not that hard. You just push a bunch of pieces around and soon, the stranger declares you the winner.

Julian swaggers up to the chessboard and sits across from you. Julian, the love of your life, who is so smart in so many ways, has also come to the same realization that you came to just moments ago. He has no idea how to play chess. 

“Hey, MC, how about the winner gets to ask a favor, ~any~ favor of the loser?” He’s waggling his eyebrows at you just like he always does. He’s calculated his odds of winning, and they’re not good. But he figures that if he wins, he’ll ask you for a kiss, and if he loses, he’s sure that your creative mind will find some use for him.

You play against each other, each making more and more questionable moves. You don’t know much about chess, but you think he’s moving some of the pieces in the wrong configurations. But you worry that if you call him out, you’ll expose your utter lack of chess knowledge. He also thinks you’re doing some weird things with the pieces, but he has the exact same concern.

Neither of you are willing to back down and admit you don’t know what’s going on. You also don’t know how to end the game. It’s something with the Queen piece, but which one is even the Queen?

The two of you play against each other, getting progressively drunker as you sip on Salty Bitters. A tankard or two later, you crack. You tell Julian all about your stroke of luck against the stranger and his grin just gets wider and wider. He tries to play it off like he’s an actual chess genius and he knew what he was doing the whole time, but you call his bluff. Better get him home, because soon he’ll be begging to be punished for lying.

[backcauseimboreddd]

The Book of Boba Fett fanrewrite. Chapter 1. The Daimyo of Tatooine

Summary: A simple retelling of TBOBF I wrote to improve my writting. Doesn’t include any exciting plot changes (yet). But feel free to read if you like reading devoloping writers and (hopefully) seeing them improve.  Tw: Mentions of r*cism, Mentions of s*xism, D*ath, M*rder.

A/n: This is the first fanfic I’ve posted in years so please be kind to me lol. Also not a native english speaker and dyslexic so fair warning. Super thankfull for any interactions and lmk if you wanna become moots!!! ((: <3

Not a single word was uttered as Bib Fortunas lifeless corpse laid on the palace floor. Both staff and patrons alike stared upon the throne in the center of the room, as Boba Fett took his seat. It had been years since Han Solos escape, and as daimyo Bib had made sure to let all of Tatooine know of both Jabbas, and Fetts perishing during the ordeal. In all fairness it had seemed like Fett for sure was finished when he got swallowed by the sarlacc, and telling people that you survived the same fight that claimed the life of what might have been the galaxys fearces bounty hunter, served Bib well while establishing himself as the new crime lord of the small desert planet. However, Boba Fett was never the one to count out. Thanks to stone hard determination and his beskar armor set, was Boba Fett able to escape the belly of the monstrous beast. It took some time to get his bearings back, and he wasn’t any longer the man he once was, but the moment he had escaped the jaws of Tatooines feared sarlacc, he knew what he needed to do. If he was no longer going to be the galaxys most esteemed bounty hunter, he would become its most respected crime lord.

Jabbas throne was big, Not shocking as it was designed for a Hutt. As Boba Fett leaned back making himself comfortable in it. Fennec Shand leaned on to one of its oversized armrests. Fennec was a highly regarded bounty hunter in her own right, but following a fight with another famed Mandalorian she too had suffered serious injuries. Maybe it was finding each other during such vulnerable times, that was what led Boba and Fennec to grow so fond of one another. Fond might be a bit too strong of a word for their relationship. They did not go to pod races together, they didn’t spend their weekends trying to sober up and drag the other one out of the cantina after one too many drinks. No, they simply shared some similar experiences. Experiences that though not being rare amongst their profession, were rare to be shown sympati for. Especially from another bounty hunter. But thanks to this understanding between them, Boba and Fennec were committed to together reach their goal of taking charge of the criminal underworld of the little speck of sand in the Outer Rims known as Tattoine.

“Listen up, you all work for me now”. Bobas voice took hold of the room with the same force as the man himself had just minutes earlier as he blasted his way in and killed daimyo Bib Fortuna. Violence being an inherent part of life in Mos Espa had preemptively prepared the palaces workers for this scenario. Violence equals power equals control. And it was clear to all that Boba Fett was the one in control right now. “You there! Clean this up”. The new daimyo yelled at a Gamorrean guard while casually waving his boot in the direction of his predecessors corpse. The green pig-like creature picked up the body of the man he had been serving under for the past five years and walked through the palace all without showing a single emotion. The light of the twin suns simmered into the corridor windows as the appointed guard walked his way out to the backside of the infamous castle of crime. “Hrrkg”. It’s hard to tell the difference between a Gamorrean sighing and speaking, and even when he was alive Bib had never bothered to learn it. Neither had Jabba. Talking to themselves had become normal for the guards. Indifferently the forest colored alien through his former bosses corpse down the edge of the cliff on which the palace was built. The desert heat scorching the lifeless body at the bottom of the ravine. “To the rest of you, I want this place looking respectable for your new daimyo ones I return”. Boba ordered sternly as he got out of the throne he’d just claimed, walking out to the streets of Mos Espa with Fennec at his side. 

“So what now”? He asked in a noticeably softer tone. “We make our rounds, let the people of Tatooine meet their new ruler”. Fennec answered, focused. The whispers were so many that they together sounded like shouts. Everyone had something to say as the famed and long presumed dead bounty hunter made his way through town. “No way. It’s an imposter, it has to be”. “Mom, mom!!! Who is that”? It was clear that no matter how hard the people tried to keep on with what they were doing, the return of Boba Fett had everyone on edge. Overhearing the curious kid questioning their mother, Boba made his way over to them leaning down to face the child. The youth stared into the sightline of the mandalorian mask. “I am Boba Fett”. He declared with an unusually warm voice before standing back up. “...And I am the new daimyo of Tatooine”! He declared for all bystanders to hear now in a much harsher tone. The same silence that had fallen in the palace was now to be found on the main street of Mos Espa. But unlike earlier at the palace, Boba was not the one to break the silence.  

“Hahaha”. A loud and boastful laughter was the only thing heard as the people of Tatooine stood frozen in fear and suspense. Turning around to see who would dare to disrespect him like that Boba saw an older man standing tall and unwavering in the self proclaimed crime lords presence. “This planet hasn’t had a real daimyo since Hutt. Fortuna might not be half as influential as Jabba but if you think he’s going to allow you to walk around his streets for another hour you’re-“. “Bib Fortuna was shot dead by Boba Fett this afternoon”. Fennec interrupted assertively. The man looked noticeably less smug. But that did not stop him from talking back to the two legendary bounty hunters. “He only controlled a third of the territories, good luck taking on the families”. The continued back talk started to get on Bobas nerves. He took a sturdy step towards the mouthy man. “They will submit, or they will die. Just like the rest of you”. Bobas voice once again captivated the crowd. “Understood”? He asked, staring down the heckler. “Yes, my daimyo”. He replied, while looking away from the green and red helmet covering the face of the man that had just claimed his home planet. Without saying a word Boba and Fennec went back to walking down the same busy street, just as full but almost completely quiet this time.  

As the pair continued their round they got to downtown Mos Espa. The rumors of Boba Fett having returned, and laid claim to areas belonging to his former employer Jabba the Hutt were already spreading across the town. Being an effective and influential daimyo not only meant that one should be respected by ordinary citizens, but also by the other prominent figures of the community. It was for that reason Fennec and Boba deemed Sanctuary as their next stop. Sanctuary, as the name might imply, was one of the few peaceful places at the center of Tatooine. The casino managed to be the only place where people could drink and gamble without it escalating into blaster fights and bar brawls. The fact that Sanctuary managed to become the actual sanctuary that it was, was all thanks to one woman, Madam Garsa Fwip. Garsa was an abnormality in the criminal underworld. An established and respected Twi'lek woman was not the norm among cantina owners. In fact many of them shared a saying, “Twi’lek girls belong on the poles or on their knees”. The fact that she ran such a profitable and well managed business in spite of the racism and sexism she faced might have been what led the people to realize just how tough she really was. 

Warm and hospital feel from the live band playing Space Jizz and customers chatting could make just about anyone feel relaxed. Boba unconsciously relaxed his armored clad shoulders as he and Fennec walked into Sanctuary. Through the bustling bar crowd Madam Fwip effortlessly stood out. Thanks to both a tall and slender build, as well as a pair of heels expensive enough to rival that of a queen or a senator, the two directly laid eyes on her. And she, on them. The cantina owner made her way to greet her establishment's newest guest. “Lord Fett”. She said doing curtsy to the man. No one could argue that Boba Fetts presence wasn’t huge. But in actuality he, and the rest of the clones of Jango Fett stod quite short. The pink hued Twi’lek stood above him, but that did not hinder her from treating him as her superior. Letting men feel in power around her was something Garsa was used to. And it had come to serve her well, no matter how often it could feel demeaning. Why reveal a strong hand when your opponent already deems it weak. “Please, allow us to clean your helmets. On the house of course. Two other Twi'leks, one green and the other blue, relieved Boba and Fennec of their helmets and walked away to clean them.

This was the first time the new daimyo had been without his mask since taking his title. Though aged and somewhat scared there was no mistaking that he was who he said he was. Even though he often had kept his helmet on, his face was still known across the galaxies. Not so surprising since he shared that face with every other clone issued by the former jedi republic. “I presume you’re here to inform me of the new normal around things now that you are the one in charge, let's go to my office”. Garsa led them up a teal colored spiral staircase to the casinos upper floor. The stairs led up to a room filled with tables with people playing sabacc and other games designed to make them lose as much money as possible as fast as possible. “Here”. The hostess stopped in front of a cream colored door that had blended into the wall until she pointed it out. “Will she join us?” She asked, gesturing towards Fennec. “She will”. Boba answered concisely as they made their way into Garsas office.   

The room was quiet. For what seemed like pretty thin walls, they isolated sound surprisingly well. At the very end of her office Garsa had a sturdy desk set up with a chair on each side. However at the center stood a lower table with two sofas facing each other. She laid down in one of these sofas, as Boba and Fennec took a seat in the other. “Tell me daimyo, what will life under your rule be like?” The Twi’lek woman asked. For someone not leading the discussion she sure knew how to take charge of it. “All that I ask is that you respect me as your boss, and that you pay your taxes”. Boba established. “Well that won’t be a problem. Serving under anyone other than Fortuna is an improvement”. Garsa replied with a small giggle. Unmoved by the attempt to stroke his ego, Boba Fett continued laying out the conditions on which he planned to rule. “What percentage did you pay him?” “Ten, but he raised it to twelve not too long ago. We’ll be earning you hundreds of thousands of credits a month, no need to worry Lord Fett”. Garsa ensured, proud of running one Tatooines most profitable businesses that didn’t involve freezing people in carbonite. “It’s getting raised again, from now on you’ll be paying twenty”. Boba stated. “Ehh.. Lord Fett, I’m sorry but… with all due respect I don’t see why’d you need that. The money that doesn’t go to your pocket goes back into this place, to ensure that it’ll grow even more profitable for you”. Madam Fwip stutterd shocked by the demands that had been made on her and her business. “Boba Fett is the one who owns this place, just as he is the one who owns the rest of Mos Espa. You are to follow his demands and be grateful he allows you to be in charge of such an important venture of his”. Fennec said without raising her voice. It’s not like that was something a top assassin like her needed to do to get their point across. And across it got. Biting her tongue Garsa Fwip nodded as she accepted the new terms she and her cantina were to serve under. She followed the two out as they got their newly clean and almost shiny helmets back. Fennec walked out first, giving the daimyo and his new subject a short moment for themself. “I’m sure serving under you will be a pleasure Lord Fett”. Garwsa said with a smirk balancing the line between ironic and flirty. “Thank you Madam Fwip, I promise you and the rest of Tatooine are going to fare well under the rule of Boba Fett”.

[bwbatta]

two - persuasion

Abstract: Draco and you are just friends so doing him a favour and pretending to be his girlfriend wouldn’t effect your friendship, right?

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x reader

Warnings: some swears but that’s all!

Word count: 2623

A/N: let’s go for part 2 then?! Thank you so much for all your lovely comments! Everyone who has asked to be on the taglist has been added and if you would like to be on the list, just send me a message! Dividers are by the super talented @firefly-graphics 🤩

Series Masterlist | Main Masterlist

Part 1 | Part 3

The plan was set.

Draco and you had talked some more about what being ‘in a relationship’ entailed, whilst at the same time avidly avoiding Pansy in your free time. In fact, you were surprised with how little you’d have to change the dynamic between the two of you.

The first point was friendship, which was easy enough you thought. There’s no point in starting a fake relationship if you don’t get on well in the first place.

Second, communication. You agreed to be open and honest with each other, this whole plan wouldn’t work if you weren’t telling each other everything.

And finally third, intimacy.

This one was obvious enough and it was more than just hand holding or sharing the odd kiss or two, you knew that. It was about selling your relationship to be believable to everyone else around you, including your closest friends.

One of which was Hermione.

The plan on paper was simple, you both said you’d start off small and work your way into being a couple, so why did you feel this pit of anxiety in your stomach?

Nerves? Sure, you chalked it down to that.

So when you entered the Great Hall the next morning, late and in desperate need of caffeine, you somehow didn’t expect your ‘boyfriend’ to approach you with a steaming mug of coffee.

You completely missed the blonde boy too as you took your normal seat with a frantic expression on your face. Your roommates didn’t wake you up like they usually did so when you woke and found no one there, you almost screamed when you checked the time.

“Coffee coffee coffee” the mantra on your tongue “where the hell is the coffee?!”

Hermione looked amused as she packed up the book she was previously reading into her bag.

“Ron finished it moments ago, there’s no more”

“What?!” You blanched “there’s none?”

Hermione shook her head, the answer a definite no.

With energy lacking and spirit deflated, you grabbed a couple slices of toast and buttered them quickly, at least trying to put some food in your stomach even if it wasn’t your usual caffeine shot.

However when Hermione froze slightly, eyes narrowly following something behind you with a glare, you frowned at her confused. That was until Draco perched on the seat next to you, holding a mug of coffee between his hands.

“Granger” he greeted in a civil manner causing the witch to freeze in shock, half expecting an offhand snide comment about her blood status. He then turned to you and offered the coffee, “thought you might need this”

“But I thought there was none left!”

“I saved you it”

“You saved me a coffee?”

“Kept it warm too”

You could’ve cried when you took the mug from him and immediately the drink warmed your hands. Eagerly taking a sip, you found the coffee itself was exactly to your liking.

You went to point it out but before a word could leave your lips, Draco rolled his eyes at you with a smile.

“What? You thought I didn’t know how you took your coffee?”

The question was rhetorical, not that you cared. Exhaustion was the only thing you felt that morning up until then, quickly being replaced with utter fondness for the Malfoy boy next to you.

“Thank you” you told him as he grinned back at you

“Don’t mention it”

Draco raised his hand and swiped away a lock of hair which had fallen out of your two second attempt to pin it back this morning in your rush.

Your breath hitched slightly as his eyes found yours and he leaned in towards your ear.

“How am I doing?”

Your brain stalled.

Right.

Of course.

He was acting like he cared about you in front of Hermione.

To convince Hermione.

Who of course, confirmed with a quick glance, was looking between the two of you with suspicion in her eyes.

Quickly painting a smile across your face like he’d said something sweet, you pulled back and shot him a dazzling smile.

“Alright, I guess” you said, vague enough so Hermione wouldn’t clock onto what he really said.

“Good” he grinned back at you before standing from the seat. “I’ll see you after class later, yeah?”

You nodded at him, and with a fond smile at you and a courteous nod to Hermione, he left the two of you be, heading to his first class.

With the thought in the back of your mind that you should probably also get to class, you were stopped by a substantially confused Hermione who looked at you like you’d grown another head.

“Was I just in some parallel universe?”

“What?”

“‘What?’ Seriously, that’s how you’re going to answer that question?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” you shrugged your shoulders before standing and picking up your bag and the mug of coffee from Draco.

“What aren’t you telling me?” The Granger girl continued to interrogate you as she too stood, though with a lot more vigor.

“There’s a lot of things I’m not telling you Hermione, but if it’s anything to do with Draco, I don’t know what you mean”

Striding out the Great Hall, she quickly followed you, pestering for more information which you avoided expertly until you got to your first class you shared.

“Why did Malfoy get you coffee?”

“Because it was a nice thing to do”

“Why was he civil with me?”

“Maybe he’s seen the light”

“(Y/N)! Tell me! I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight otherwise and you know it!”

With a sigh you turned to face her.

Putting on a performance like it was tough for you to keep a secret, you ‘umm’d and ‘ahh’d under her questioning until you really had had enough of the interrogation.

“Okay, fine, we may or may not be dating” you said like it wasn’t a big deal

“What?!”

“Miss Granger!” Professor McGonagall’s voice snapped “if you’re so done with your conversation, perhaps you could start writing your essay?”

“Yes, Professor. Sorry, Professor”

With a glare shot your way, meaning she’d grill you later for information, the bookworm turned back to her work and started writing furiously.

It was later that day that you found out that Lavender Brown had overheard your conversation with Hermione and so naturally, the gossip that you and Draco were dating was spread across the entire school.

Some believed the rumour, others didn’t so much. This of course included Blaise, the Weasley twins, and of course, the ever stubborn Pansy.

When the boys finally cornered each respective friend, they of course had some questions that needed to be addressed. 

Blaise cornered Draco first at Lunch. 

The Malfoy boy had just started to tuck into his food when a book slammed down on the table next to him, startling the boy. 

Blaise pinned him with a hard look.

“Is it true you’re dating (Y/N)?”

“How’d you hear that?!”

“Word gets around fast... so, is it true?”

“Yes it’s true” Draco rolled his eyes at his friend

He was honestly shocked at how quickly the rumour had gone round the castle, though he suspected some of the Gryffindor girls were behind it. They always seemed like they pounced on any gossip going.

This also meant, Pansy had probably heard it by now.

Draco’s interest peaked.

“Who’d you hear it from?” The blonde asked his friend

“Bulstrode of all people” Blaise rolled his eyes “thought I might’ve found out from my friend himself but apparently not”

“Sorry man, it only really happened yesterday”

Blaise waved his apology off

“So tell me, is this for real? It’s not a prank or anything, she knows you think you’re going out with her right?”

“Yes, (Y/N) knows we’re going out” Draco rolled his eyes in exasperation “she’s also not being forced or blackmailed into going out with me if that puts your mind at rest”

This wasn’t technically true and Draco fought the urge to cringe slightly as he remembered the deal he had made with you.

Despite the other copious Christmas presents he had to get you, being civil to Granger wasn’t so bad he remarked. They only shared a few classes, all of which were with you present, so all he really had to do was ignore the fact the muggleborn witch existed and he’d keep his side of the deal up.

“Good” Blaise huffed, finally sitting down next to him “can I ask you something though?”

“You just did”

“Smart arse” Blaise rolled his eyes but continued on “what made you ask her out?”

Draco paused.

You hadn’t actually discussed this so there wasn’t a definite plan on what response to give. The boy trusted himself to come up with a decent answer though so instead of panicking, he said the first thing that popped into his head.

“I’ve been in love with her for years”

Well... he didn’t expect that to be his response.

“You have?” Blaise asked also taken aback

“Umm, yeah, sure, she’s the one for me you know?”

Draco kicked himself once again

Why couldn’t he think straight?!

“She’s just... she’s so funny, you know? One of the funniest people I’ve ever met. Her laugh, man, is enough to make me laugh even harder because have you heard it?! It’s hilarious!”

Unconsciously, Draco began to smile at the thought of you.

“Also, she’s super talented at anything she does, which would be wildly annoying if she wasn’t so modest about it. She’s also the most sarcastic person I’ve ever met, yet also the kindest. She’s got so many good qualities it’s hard to even think about anything bad about her.”

Draco stopped, breaking out of his train of thought.

Now that... that, he really hasn’t expect to be his response.

“I’m glad you’re happy then, Draco” the Zabini boy smiled at him “seems like you really like her”

“Yeah... I do”

You were pounced upon by both the Weasley twins not much later on, both demanding answers.

“You’re dating Malfoy?!”

“As in Draco Malfoy? The ferret?”

“He’s not a ferret!” You rolled your eyes at the pair. “And yes I am. Why? Do you not believe the castle gossip?”

“We heard it-“ Fred began

“Still working on believing it” George finished

You rolled your eyes and continued on to the library, your original destination before you got jumped by the identical redheads.

“Believe what you want” you shrugged trying to play it off.

“See (Y/N), here’s the thing, I don’t know if I believe you’re actually going out with him” Fred stated causing you to frown.

“What do you mean?”

“Freddie here believes you guys are faking it for some reason” George chucked an arm round your shoulders as they continued to walk with you.

“Why would we be faking it?!” You laughed like the idea was ridiculous.

“I just know you wouldn’t go for him” Fred shrugged “your standards are too high.”

“My standards are too high?!”

You were mildly offended at the suggestion, no matter how correct Fred was about the two of you faking your relationship.

Reaching the library quickly, you turned to the boys who had halted at the sight of the only room in the castle they adamantly wouldn’t enter.

“Well, unless your plan is to follow me into the forbidden room of books, I’ll see you guys later?”

Not waiting for an answer you swung open the door, mind now focused on studying for that test you had coming up in Herbology later that week.

“I still don’t believe you!” Fred shouted after you before the door closed shut behind you

All you could do was roll your eyes.

It was dinner later that evening when you saw your ‘boyfriend’ again since breakfast when he’d given you the coffee.

By now, you two were the talk of the castle which is why you weren’t surprised to see a fuming brunette strut up to you. The Slytherin girl looked as if she should have smoke coming out her ears you thought, not that you’d tell her that and anger her even more.

“(Y/N)” Pansy sniffed almost impatiently as she reached you.

“Pansy” you replied innocently which seen fo infuriate her more.

“I heard you’re supposedly dating my boyfriend?”

“Your boyfriend?”

You couldn’t help but phrase the question like you really didn’t know what she was talking about.

“Draco!”

“...Draco?”

“Draco Malfoy!” She practically growled at you

“Ohh, Draco as in my boyfriend?”

“Yes! Wait no-“

You snorted at her slip up and ignored her as you sidestepped and entered the Great Hall spying the familiar mop of platinum blonde hair, sending him a smile,

Before you could make your way over to him though, a hand grabbed your arm with nails roughly digging into your skin.

“Hey, I wasn’t done talking to you” Pansy seethed

“Well I was done talking to you” you shrugged truely bored with the girl “I’d appreciate it now though if you let go of my arm.”

“No, I’m not finishe-“

“Yes you are” Draco cut her off this time

Pansy’s expression looked like her brain had short circuited for a moment before she gathered herself and smiled flirtily at the boy.

“Hey Drakey baby”

“Firstly, for the millionth time, don’t call me that” Draco narrowed his eyes at her into a glare. “Secondly, (Y/N) also asked you to let go of her arm so I suggest you do so.”

At once, like your arm was on fire, Pansy dropped her grip which she had forgotten about as soon as the Malfoy had entered the conversation.

You rubbed your arm as you pulled it to your chest. Pansy’s nails had dug deep and actually split the skin on your arm slightly by the force she had held you by.

“And finally, I’d appreciate it if you’d fuck off and didn’t harass my girlfriend, especially about lies that we’re somehow involved.”

With that being said, Draco wrapped his arm around your waist and escorted you over to the spot he was originally sitting at, letting you take his seat while he forced Crabbe to move down a space so he could sit next to you.

“Thanks for that” you sent him a smile “though I can handle Pansy”

“I know” he replied with a grin of his own “I just needed to get that off my chest. Let me see your arm.”

“It’s nothing-“

“(Y/N)”

With a sigh you reluctantly held out your arm so he could see the damage Pansy had done. Spotting the crescent shaped breaks in your skin, his jaw clenched in anger.

“Psychotic bitch” he mumbled under his breath barely loud enough for you to hear, “episkey”.

The wounds sewed themselves back together in no time and you send him a grateful smile.

“Heard you got cornered by Blaise earlier”.

“Heard the same about you with the Weasley twins”.

“Mmm” you shrugged “there was bound to be a few that didn’t just automatically believe we’re dating. Some might need a little more persuasion, especially Pansy. Also it is still only the first day since the gossip broke though, it might just be that we wait for the news to settle.”

“I guess” he rolled his eyes playing with the pasta on his plate with his fork, before pausing slightly, setting it down and turning to you.

His eyes glanced round the hall quickly before snapping back to you with a grin. Leaning towards you, he wrapped an arm around your waist to pull you slightly closer to him as his lips became level with your ear.

You fought the urge to shiver.

“Or... it just means we’ll have to make it all the more believable, Sweetheart.”

Series Taglist:

(If you’re in bold, tumblr wouldn’t let me tag you ☹️, otherwise if you want to be added, let me know! 🤩):

@weasleytwinswheezes @azkabanlexi @streetfighterrichie @queen-of-the-coven @gdee703 @thatguppienamedbae @crumpets-are-better-with-jam @savcks @remmyswritings @thescarletknight2014 @w0nderr @heyiheardyouwereawildone36 @moonlightorbit @ceeellewrites @nicole-prz @depressedchilipepper @swiftlymoniquesblog

[bleachhaven]

Soutaicho’s Secret Admirer (Shunsui x Reader) — Part 3/6

Author’s Note:

I know I said I’d have something for you this weekend, but all the love ya’ll showed Part 2 of this story had me super inspired that I just sat down and wrote this out. After all, feedback is what fuels writers xD There should be a few more parts left after this. I know I know...the 2-parter story has evolved into a 5-parter :P

First off, thank you so much for all the love! Secondly, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. 

A very special thanks to @sexintheseireitei​ for all the encouraging words! This chapter is dedicated especially for you!

--

Read Part 1 and Part 2 first...

As much as Nanao-chan strictly insisted that today was just like any other day, the bits of pink and red popping up all over the black and white of the seireitei said otherwise. Of course, Squad 1 was devoid of such nonsense, despite Shunsui's several clandestine operations to host a party in the 1st for the last decade. He had been sternly thwarted by his fuktaicho who did not believe this day to hold any meaning at all.

Maybe that's why it was that much more fun to bother her thoroughly with something she would definitely think to be too extravagant.

"Happy Valentine's Day, my sweet, sweet, Nanao-chan," Shunsui said with a cheeky smile, plopping the gift down on her desk.

She stared at the little teddy-bear donned in red bows and holding a red plushy heart saying "sweet, sweet, Nanao-chan!"

Her gaze turned upwards towards him. "This is a highly inappropriate gift to give to your fuktaicho."

"Ah, but we are practically family. And you are my sweet, sweet, Nanao-chan after all..."

"Hmm..." was all she said in response.

Even if she said she hated the gift, she dared not move it. She allowed the fluffy thing to take space on her desk and carried on working.

Shunsui continued to stare at her, waiting impatiently and expectantly. She continued to look over another expense report from the 11th for property damage, but Shunsui didn't move.

Finally she looked up. "Did you need something?"

He pouted at her. "Did Nanao-chan forget?"

She wanted to pretend and feign ignorance but she just couldn't do it. She has clearly gone soft in the past couple of years if his pouting face could make her cave this easily.

"Fine," she sighed, and reached into her desk drawer. In her hand was an assorted box of chocolates all complete with a white ribbon tied into a bow. "Happy Valentine's Day, Taicho," she said.

"Why, thank you, Nanao-chan! You really shouldn't have," he said making Nanao snort a bit. He was already opening it as he sauntered towards his side of the office.

On top of his desk was...well, nothing but paperwork, and he had to say he was just a little bit disappointed. He had been wondering what his beloved Secret Admirer would give him this Valentine's Day. Truthfully, it was all he had been  looking forward to this week. But there was no love letter hidden beneath other official mail or left on top of his window sill.

He sat down at his desk and pulled out his latest project. He popped in one of Nanao-chan's chocolates, the taste of salted caramel teasing his taste buds, and spread out the fancy lavender colored paper.

After all, she wasn't the only one with a way of words.

Even after becoming the Soutaicho, he continued to write a few chapters for "Rose-Colored-Path." Sure, that was mostly erotica but writing a love letter couldn't be that difficult, could it?

He already had a bit written out. He was still trying to figure out how to tell this sweet Secret Admirer he would want to get to know her, without making it sound like either its a command from the Soutaicho, or as if he was a complete and utter lecher trying to score a night or two of fun.

Then of course there was the bigger problem. How in the world was he to get this love letter to her? He still had no clue who she was let alone if she was actually serious about the things she said. It was both frustrating and romantic.

Right now, as things were, it was mostly frustrating.

It was in times like this that he desperately wished Juu was around. He was certain his best friend would have had some kind of solution or at least some words of wisdom to offer to this heartbreaking dilemma. Or maybe he would have admonished Shunsui for falling for someone he hadn't even seen yet. With Juu gone, and with the position he now held, he had no one to talk to about things that bothered him.

He had no peers after all. Being the man at the top was not easy. He knew it would be a difficult job when he stepped up to it, but he had no idea that it would be this lonely.

All of his quiet sighing and restless shuffling naturally drew Nanao's attention.

"How difficult is it to read through a missive and stamp your seal of authority?" Nanao asked, stepping up to his desk. He tried to hide what he was working on, but Nanao's sharp eyes would not be waylaid. "Unless...you are not working on the paperwork as you were supposed..."

"No, no!" Shunsui insisted, knowing the lavender paper was peeking through his hands. "It's just a bit of difficult paperwork. Strictly official business, I assure you, my dear Nanao-chan."

"Oh I see," she said, and Shunsui hoped she really didn't see at all.

"What is it?" he asked warily.

She had a strange smile on her face. One that had Shunsui wanting to run for cover. It did not bode well when Nanao-chan bared her teeth like that.

"Does this have anything to do with...your Secret Admirer perhaps?"

Shunsui could swear he tried to remain expressionless as to not give anything away, but maybe his heart stopped a little."I don't know what you are talking about."

She raised a brow at him. "Really? Do you really think anything would get by me in this office? That I wouldn't notice the fancy little letters you've been hiding from me?"

"You knew?" Shunsui asked, a bit shocked. And here he was thinking he was being so hush hush about the whole thing.

Nanao rolled her eyes and returned to her desk. "It offends me that you thought I didn't."

Interesting turn of events this turned out to be. He couldn't help but wonder. If Nanao-chan did indeed know all about his Secret Admirer...maybe...

"Do you know who it is?"

Nanao, who had picked up her paperwork again, smiled down at the form before her. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't," she said non-commitedly.

"Please, Nanao-chan! Don't be so mean to your Taicho. Just tell me."

She shook her head, denying his request. "I'm not telling you anything about anything. Now, please either do your work, or run along and let me do my work in peace."

"So mean," Shunsui mumbled, picking up the brush once more and dipping it in ink.

However, the whole conversation planted a terrible thought in his head. What if there really was no Secret Admirer? What if it was some elaborate prank on the poor lonely Soutaicho by someone? Maybe the SWA was having a laugh. He wouldn't put it past Matsumoto-san honestly. Or even his own Nanao-chan. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. And the more it made sense, the more it made his mood plummet.

But he didn't want to believe it. He longed for these letters to be true, for it was too late now. He was halfway there...falling for a nameless, faceless woman who had romanced and seduced him with just a sweet words. How cruel would it be for it to now turn out to be nothing more than a prank?

A few minutes passed by, the silence broken only by the scratch of brush on paper. Then a commotion outside startled Shunsui out of his reverie.

A sharp knock, and a bid to enter, was followed by an officer of the 1st relaying some strange information of something or the other that Squads 11 and 12 had gotten up to. A fight or a brawl.

Nanao sighed, standing up from her desk. "Not again."

"It's alright, Nanao-chan. I'll take care of it. You carry on with whatever it is that you were doing," Shunsui said making a move towards the door already. His mood was feeling low and this was the perfect excuse to get out of the office for a while.

Once he was gone, Nanao cleared up the completed paperwork on his desk to be sent to the relevant divisions. If the little lavender paper got stuffed between some forms and approvals, it was purely an accident. If that specific set of forms ended up in Squad 13, it was surely unintentional. If it was found by the third seat of Squad 13 it was only because their squad was without a fuktaicho still and all the paperwork fell upon her.

Nanao definitely couldn't have predicted any of that after all. But then again...Ise Nanao almost always knew exactly what was going on, did she not?

—

Shunsui was in a glum mood when he finally returned to the office. Nanao had left a message with another officer to let him know that she had a SWA meeting so she would be leaving the office a bit earlier than usual to attend that before the Valentine’s Day Party at the 8th.

He almost thought to go straight to said party. Lisa had continued with his silly tradition as the current Taicho of Squad 8, and she went all out. He dared not be too late and risk all the good sake provided generously by Squad 6, and the cellars of  Kuchiki manor itself, running out. But he had to finish his love letter, even if he knew he might never get to send it to the relevant individual...if there even was an individual in the first place.

When he stepped in, he couldn't see the lavender paper on his desk. Truth be told, he couldn't see anything on his desk at all.

It was covered with a huge, and by huge meaning gigantic, bouquet of red roses. He shunpoed to see if there was a card left for him, and there definitely was.

Dear Shunsui,

I have to say I don't need a special day out of the year to show you how much you mean to me. Still I know how much you enjoy this day. I used to love the parties you threw back then. Yadomaru Taicho carries on the traditions but I feel it's not just the same. Not without you.

Every day feels like a day dedicated to love when thoughts of you haunt me always...but what a beautiful way to be haunted indeed.

Happy Valentine's Day, Shunsui!

These roses may one day fade, but my love for you never will. I've loved you for a lifetime already, and I know I would love you for another lifetime more.

These are chocolates I made especially for you, infused with your favorite sake, just the way you like it. Every time you taste one, I hope you'd think of me thinking of how much I yearn to taste you.

With love,

Your Secret Admirer

He picked up the box of chocolates he hadn't noticed earlier as it was hidden behind the elaborate bouquet of roses. It was an elegant box with a pretty pink print of sakura blossoms, tied together with a pink bow. It almost looked too pretty to undo. Almost.

He slowly opened it and popped a cute heart-shaped chocolate into his mouth, savoring the taste of delicious chocolate mixed with the mild bite of the sake. It tasted absolutely divine.

He was floored. If this was a prank, it was truly an unnecessarily elaborate one.

But he allowed himself to cherish this moment in the solitude of his now quiet office. Handmade chocolates and flowers...it was something he would do for someone he was romancing. Now to be romanced by someone so extravagantly, it felt truly amazing. He couldn't believe someone made these with her own hands just for him. He didn't think he had something so sweet done for him in a very long time...maybe not forever.

He was the one who had always played the role of the romantic, the seducer, the lover...it did indeed feel nice to have this kind of charm turned on him.

But as much as he devoured the attention, he also felt strangely dismayed. Instinctively, he was a giver. It applied to his family and friends, and it definitely applied to his love life. Even if it was a summer fling, he still treated his companions with respect and adoration. In whatever way possible, he tried to give everything he could to those he loved and valued. It was not in him to not reciprocate. He didn't know how to not be a giver. It wasn't in his nature.

This time, he truly desperately wanted to shower his admirer with so much love and affection, and it killed him inside to not know who she was...

—

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[hops-hunny]

The Daft and Dashing

Pairing: Ron Weasley x Male! Reader

Pronouns: He/Him

Word Count: 1.3k

Request: “can I request a ron weasley x male reader where ron just discovered his feelings for the reader and he kinda freaks out because its the first time that he feels attracted to a boy and he is just so cute and kind to the reader and everyone its like ??? because ron its treating the reader like that and just they end together and super fluff?”

Summary: Ron is a bit daft but he eventually realizes what he feels.

Warnings: A bit of swearing (as usual), fluff, slightly sassy Luna.

A/N: Sorry for the wait anon! Hope I captured the prompt well enough!

Ron had a very unusual life. He lived in the middle of nowhere in a house that could fall apart at any moment, he had as many siblings as a small class, and his best friend was Harry-fucking-Potter for merlin’s sake! He had come to a point in his life where nothing was really surprising to him no matter what circumstance he found himself to be in. That was until (Y/n) came into his life.

(Y/n) had transferred from Ilvermorny half way into the year. No one wanted to befriend the new kid, especially the new kid sorted into slytherin. After the things (Y/n) had heard about his house, he couldn't blame them. The sad thing is, if anyone would've taken the time to watch the boy they'd see he really wasn't much harm if any. He loved to stay after and help professor Sprout out with the green house. He’d sneak from his dorm late at night to prepare meals for the next day with the house elves. And although up to that point no one had noticed him, that one night someone had.

(Y/n) had bid his favorite house elves goodbye, eating the vanilla cupcake they had given him. His heart dropped at the sound of a jingling collar and the swearing of Filch’s gravely voice. He had always been careful, making sure to keep track of time to avoid this situation but it seemed that Filch was patrolling earlier than usual. 

“Oi! Weasley, get back here! I’ll get ya just you bloody wait!” He heard as a mess of red hair rounded the corner.(Y/n) hid behind a pillar debating whether or not to help the boy. He grabbed Ron’s wrist, pulling the larger boy with all his strength. He began to run, moving a tile on the floor as he jumped through it, dragging Ron as well. 

“What are you doing? Who the hell are you?!” The ginger boy said loudly, looking at the smaller boy as he muttered ‘lumos’. Even with the light illuminating from the unknown male’s wand, he could barely make out his features.

“Shh!!I’m the guy who’s saving your ass. Keep moving, quickly now!” (Y/n) said. He was very thankful for all the free time he had to himself due to his lack of social life. While everyone else had a blast at Hogsmeade, he simply explored the castle finding new ways around that would even put Fred and George’s passage ways to shame. (Y/n) and Ron went through many twists and turns, ducking under cobwebs and avoiding critters. They finally reached a wall. The shorter boy hit the wall three times, a passageway opening up and a ladder falling down in which the Gryffindor common room could be seen. “Here’s your stop.” He said. Ron stood there, inspecting the boy before looking down at their hands. He quickly pulled his back as they had at some point began to hold hands.

“Thank you… I’m sorry, what was your name? I don’t think I caught it.” Ron said, looking down the hole he had come up from. His eyes widened slightly at the Slytherin emblem embedded on the boy’s sweater vest.

“I didn’t throw it. See you around.” He said. He smiled slightly and winked before hitting the wall 3 times again as the hole that was once there vanished right before Ron’s eyes.

To say Ron wasn’t amazed with the boy after that would be an utter lie. He recalled how he didn’t sleep any that night, thinking of the mysterious Slytherin boy he had seen. It gave him a feeling in his chest that felt familiar and when he saw the boy that following day in potions, he knew he had to know him. And now, months later he was glad he did.

“I think you’re in love.” Luna said, knocking the boy out of his daze.

“Yeah? And how the bloody hell would you know?” Ron said, getting defensive over the subject. Luna wasn’t phased by the boy’s demeanor however.

“Well, the real question is, how the bloody hell wouldn’t you know?” She said in a calm state, continuing to weave together the flower crown she was making. Despite how Ron and his two best friends thought the girl was an absolute loon, he knew she was very intuitive especially when it came to emotions. He knew Hermione would just tease him and rush him and that Harry couldn’t keep his trap shut. So, he came to the only other person he knew could help. “Okay, let’s try something. Close your eyes.”

“What? Why?”

“You’ll see, just close them.” she looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to do so. As he did, she started to speak again. “Okay, now picture this: you’re hanging out with (Y/n). You’re having a blast, studying together in the astronomy tower. All of a sudden, someone approaches him. They hold him, kiss him deeply, hold his hand. How would that make you feel?” Ron’s brow furrowed as he listened to the situation. He clenched his fist slightly, visibly getting more angry. Luna gave him a knowing look even though the boy couldn’t see her.

“I’d bloody kill them! No one should be doing that to him, no one but me that is.” His eyes snapped open, widening at the realization. “Bloody hell. No way...I like him. I fucking like him!” He said in shock, Luna shaking her head in agreement. He stood up quickly. “I gotta go! Thank you Looney- I er- mean Luna!” He said as he ran back to the castle. The girl rolled her eyes when he was out of sight, sighing softly as she placed the freshly done flower crown on her head.

Ron continued to sprint, not stopping until he reached the gryffindor common room where he found his friends. They were all deep in conversation, looking up when they saw him coming. Hermione moved over, making room for the boy to sit in his usual spot which was next to (Y/n). (Y/n) smiled up at him.

“Hey Ron! Where’ve you been? I was lookin’ for ya earlier!” He said as his friend sat next to him. Instead of Ron saying anything, he simply grabbed the boy by his sweater, kissing him rushed and roughly. The slytherin boy gasped, but melted into the kiss nonetheless. Ron pulled away from him.

“I love you, I love you for merlin’s sake! I don’t want some fucking bloke to hold or kiss you in the astronomy tower!” He said, stroking the boy’s cheek softly as he looked into his eyes. (Y/n) looked at him, tilting his head confused as he chuckled slightly.

“I’m not quite sure I understand what you mean by that, but I am sure that I don’t want that either. Although, I was wondering when you’d realize you were into me that way. I was starting to lose hope.” He said, rubbing his arm sheepishly. Ron continued to caress the boy's cheek delicately, before he hugged him close.

“You owe me a fiver, Harry. I told you Ron would tell him first!” Hermione said, breaking the silence as Harry groaned, pulling his money from his pocket as he handed it to the girl.

“What? You guys knew?” Ron said, mouth agape as he watched his friends who had lost bets exchange money with the ones who won. “All of you bloody knew?! How come no one told me?”

“Ron, you carry the boy to his dorm when he’s too tired, bring him soup and flowers when he’s sick, and let him wear your sweaters. Anyone would be a damn fool not to notice! But, I suppose that’s why you didn’t.” Ginny exclaimed, shaking her head at her brother's stupidity. He was about to get steamed but the smaller boy kissed his cheek, grabbing his hand.

“Everyone calm down. The important thing is that he DID notice! I’m just glad to have him now.” He said, not wanting a repeat of the last time Ron and Gin had gotten into a fight. He yawned and began to rub his eyes. “Carry me to my room, love?” He asked him. Ron didn’t hesitate, picking the boy up bridal style as he began to walk off to the slytherin common room. He turned around, looking at the lot of their friends, giving a devilish smile as he winked.

So, as the sun began to go down, so did Ron….on (Y/n) that is.

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

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[darling-dummy-blogs]

Being with You- Victor Li

Summary: Victor’s birthday is just a few days away, Cassie wants to spend time with him so she made plans with him. However a sudden business trip Victor needs to attend the week of his birthday ruins her plans. Cassie ends up having to cancel the plans. But suddenly seeing Victor returning the night before his birthday, telling her how he feels about her shocks her..

Paring: Victor Li X Cassie (OC)

Genre: Fluff!

Warnings: None!

Fandom: Mr. Love Queen’s Choice

Word Count: 2k

Notes: Based on the prompt below: 

 “Did you just kiss me?”

~ It’s Victor’s Birthday! 

~ Happy Birthday to My Tsundere of a Husband~ I love you. <3

Cassie sighed as she gazed at the calendar above her workspace, which had been filled with a lot of important dates and reminders scattered throughout the month of January. However she looked at a specific date in particular. 

January 13th. 

A day that she grew quite fond of. Why did it seem so special? Well it was Victor Li’s birthday. Her boss and her close friend. She had always gone all out for his birthday, at least ever since she had met him and got to know him as a person and through working with him. 

Even though he always seemed to scold her for doing so, she knew that he enjoyed himself. She had noticed in the few years that she had known him, he grew to be more relaxed and comfortable with her. 

He was more kinder with her, and even softer. Which ultimately caused Cassandra to catch feelings for her boss. A risky move on her part, but she couldn’t help herself. Or even stop herself from catching feelings no matter how hard she tried. 

Not only that but if he were to ever find out and didn’t feel remotely the same, she would risk losing him as a friend. At the mere thought of that, she frowned and winced. That was not a risk she wanted to take at all. 

She shook her head, she didn’t want to think about the negatives right now, it wasn’t the time for it. 

Cassie wanted to do something with him. She then turned to her phone that rested on her desk. Grabbing it and quickly dialing his number. 

-- 

Victor sat at his desk, working away as he normally did, he was nearly done with all his work for the day, already feeling exhaustion. 

He had quite the long day, having back to back meetings with investors and clients. His brows were furrowed as he worked.

Reading through emails, revising through reports and signing off on papers. Just an average work day. 

However, today seemed like one of those days where it felt exhausting. It wouldn't be the first time it has happened. 

Just as he finished reading through yet another email, his phone lit up and rang. He looked at it, Cassandra's name appeared on the screen. 

He felt the corners of his mouth twitch upwards at the sudden call. He took off his reading glasses and picked up the phone, answering it. 

"Hello?" He spoke.

"Hey Victor!" Her voice spoke through the phone, sounding cheerful as always. His smile grew a bit wider. 

“How come you’re calling? It’s pretty late.” He asked, leaning back in his office chair. 

“Well I was calling because I wanted to ask you if you were going to be busy on your birthday!” She spoke cheerfully. 

Victor’s eyes scanned over the work that laid out on his desk, it was only 2 days away from his birthday. “I don’t think so. I might have to do a little work but I’ll be available. Why? What are you planning?” He asked, his tone becoming rather playful. 

“Umm… That is a surprise!” She spoke, her voice beamed. “But you’re working? On your birthday? That doesn’t seem like fun.” He could hear the pout in her voice. 

He chuckled, he normally didn’t care for surprises but when it came to her, it was an exception. “Alright then. I’ll take the day off and I’ll spend it with you. Would that satisfy you?” He teased

She was silent for a moment on the other end of the phone, as though she was thinking about it, “Hmm... yes, yes it would!” She let out a giggle. Hearing it through the phone filled him with a warm feeling. 

“Alright, then I’ll speak to you tomorrow. Goodnight, Dummy.” His voice coming out soft at the end, a smile on his face. “Goodnight, Victor.” 

And with that the two of them hung up, Victor let out a sigh, one that he didn’t realize he was holding in. Along with the feeling of his heart fluttering within his chest. This feeling he grew to be very familiar with whenever he was talking to her. It was a nice, blissful feeling. 

However the moment of bliss passed as his phone rang once again, his eyes snapped down to look who was calling. It turned out to be his assistant. His smile turned into a scowl. 

Victor groaned as he had to go back into work mode. He picked up the phone. 

“What is it?” His voice came out stern, as he heard his frantic assistant’s voice, informing him some bad news. 

His scowl turned into a deep frown. As he took a deep breath, before ordering his assistant, “Book me a flight for tomorrow.” He ended the call before setting his phone down, resting his hands on his hands. 

Damn it… How was he going to tell her? 

--- 

The overwhelming feeling of sadness washed over Cassandra's heart, a frown appearing on her face. 

He really wasn't going to be back for his birthday?  

All the plans she had made for that day slowly going down the drain as she stared at the last series of texts he sent her. 

'I'm sorry…' 

'I really wish I didn't have to go.' 

'When I return, I'll make it up to you. I promise ❤' 

She didn't reply to them. She didn't know how to. The feeling within her heart only worsened.

His birthday was tomorrow… 

She knew it was about a business deal, and she understood that perfectly, but of all the days to choose, the business trip had to take place the day before his birthday. 

And she didn't even know when he plans on returning. It's been hours. She hasn't heard from him since she last spoke to him, which was earlier that afternoon. The call replaying in her mind over and over again. 

He was already at the airport when he called. Telling her the news...

"I have some bad news." Victor's voice spoke on the other end, sounding quite unhappy.  

"...What is it?" Cassie spoke, confused as to why he suddenly called her at 1:30PM.  Shouldn't he be at work right now? Or better yet in a meeting? 

"I received a call last night after we spoke and there had been some issues with a client. So I'll be going on a business trip," 

There was a pause. 

Cassandra gulped as she suddenly spoke, "And…?" 

"...I will most likely not be back tomorrow."  

A long pause… None of them spoke a word. 

"Cassie?" His voice came out much softer, concern evident in his tone. 

"I have to go." She finally spoke, ending the call almost immediately, not giving him a chance to reply. 

And that was the last that she had heard from him. He tried calling her again but she silenced her phone. Too upset to answer and definitely needing to rethink and cancel the plans she had made for the two of them. 

Cassandra huffed, realizing how childish she acted earlier. She should have been more understanding of the situation. 

Surely, if he were there with her, he would have scolded her and called her a 'Dummy' for being so childish. 

She plopped down on her comfy bed, staring up at the ceiling, her mind being filled with thoughts of Victor. 

Letting out a groan, she ran her fingers through her hair, "Get… Out… Of... My.. Head!" She muttered as she gripped at her long brown locks. 

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't. Turning her head to the side, she glanced at her clock. Taking note of the time 11:45PM. 

She should really go to bed, even though now there was no reason to get up early. 

However, the sudden ring of her doorbell caught her off guard. It was late at night. Who could be at her door? 

She made her way out of her bedroom and to the front door, opening it and coming into contact with Victor. 

Her eyes widened. 

Victor?! 

The two of them stared at each other for a while, that was until Cassie cleared the silence with the most obvious question. 

"...What are you doing here???" She blurted out. "Aren't you supposed to be on your business trip?" 

"...That wasn't important." He spoke, as he stepped closer to her, shutting the door behind him. "Spending time with you, is more important to me." 

She blinked, in utter shock, her heart beginning to pound within her chest. "V-Victor.. But-" 

She got cut off almost immediately as he pulled her closer to him, in a warm yet welcoming embrace "Cassie," His voice came out in a soft whisper to her ear. “I came back earlier because I wanted to be with you.” 

“Wha-” She was speechless, purely in shock realizing that he was actually standing in front of her. That it wasn’t a dream or a hallucination. 

He continued however, “After I called you at the airport earlier, I couldn’t focus on any business.” 

“Why? Wasn’t that meeting super important for you and for LFG?” She inquired, her voice being muffled slightly due to being in his hug, she looked up at him as she slowly wrapped her arms around his neck to reciprocate his embrace, rather than stand there awkwardly while he held her. 

After a moment of silence, he spoke again, his voice becoming even quieter against her ear. “Dummy… do I really have to spell it out for you to understand?” He pulled away, staring at her with a soft look. One that held so many emotions behind it. 

She could feel her heart skip a beat just from his expression alone. At a loss for words she opened her mouth, ready to say something, anything but nothing would come out. He leaned in closer, their foreheads touching and their breaths intermingling with one another. 

“Victor…” Her voice came out in a soft whisper, and it wasn’t long until he closed the small space between the two of them, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. Surprising her once more, not expecting him to go this far to express how he felt. 

Sometimes it was hard for her to decipher how he felt about her, there would be times when it would be obvious but then there were times when it was as though those obvious moments never happened. 

A moment passed, and he pulled away, taking in her speechless expression, her cheeks flushed bright red in that moment, as she stared into his eyes. “Did… Did you really just…” Her voice wavered as she cleared her throat, trying to get her thoughts together. “Did you just kiss me?” 

“Yes, yes I did.” He spoke calmly, the corners of his mouth rising into a beautiful smile as he took in her flustered expression. 

“I-” She still could hardly communicate with how flustered and shocked she was. She had so many questions and so many doubts and thoughts that crossed her mind. She wanted answers but at the same time she didn’t. 

“Cassie, I like you.” He finally admitted. “The main reason I am back so early is because after our phone call at the airport, I couldn’t stop thinking about you… And I didn’t want to be away from you.” 

I always enjoy being with you, there has never been a time where I didn’t enjoy being with you… 

He thought to himself as he glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, reading the time as he looked back at her, with a loving gaze. “Especially on my birthday.” 

It was now 12AM on January 13th. 

She couldn’t believe this was happening, her heart was beating wildly at this point. He likes her? He actually likes her?? 

That was what was really what shocked her, but it also gave her a sense of relief. She really feared that she was the only one with feelings and feared that it would affect their friendship and work relationship. 

She couldn’t seem to hide the sudden smile that appeared on her face as she pulled him into another kiss, surprising him this time, his cheeks lightly flushing only for her to pull away moments later, a smile on both of their faces. 

“Happy Birthday, Victor…” She whispered. 

[1-lightofjustice]

Justice for Awashima Seri

One of my latest posts made me want to re-watch K Project Return of Kings, especially Scepter 4 segment. And damn, there are so many things that happened to Awashima and frankly she didn’t deserve it. I’m not talking about GoRa’s overly disgusting fanservice attempts on Seri, although that’s indeed something that must be protested. I’m talking about how she was kept in dark by her two megane colleagues (mainly Munakata) even though she’s Second in Command of Scepter 4 and someone who has been working besides them for years. After I finished rewatching..... wow it’s worse than I remembered. My heart truly breaks for Seri, and I’m super glad that in the end she got her happy ending (by punching Munakata’s face). Like first, we know how worried she was about Munakata’s state, and after Reisaru’s fight in episode 8, Seri was so worried about Fushimi’s wellbeing and his bedding. Then at the very beginning of her role in episode 9, we have this :

For almost anyone besides Seri, maybe they will not think too much about the fact that they can’t understand what the hell are on Munakata and Fushimi’s heads, after all they’re not the easiest people to understand. But for Seri, it’s quite a new unpleasant territory for her. There’s a reason why she’s the Second in Command after Munakata, why she can easily command the rebel Fushimi without many protests from the said rebel, and why she can work alongside cryptic geniuses like Munakata and Fushimi. From R:B novel, we know that she’s an all-round achiever, but one of her main virtue is she’s goddamn observant. She more or less can understand Munakata’s unique mindset, and she mostly can see right through Fushimi’s bullshit. She more often can hit ‘100 point mark’ regarding the enigmatic Munakata and the ‘absolute tsundere’ Fushimi than any other human being except each other. Like on Munakata’s case, we have this :

Yoshino continued. “An ordinary man would have an interest in nude females, I think, but this is the Captain we’re talking about… How is it for him, what do you think?” She looked up at Awashima.

Awashima’s lips curved into a stiff smile as she took her time to think.

Then she drew a breath and, “I haven’t given that subject a thought until now. But well, if I had to answer…” She shook her head. “This is what I think: in the Captain’s case, it’s entirely possible that never once in his life he has so much as opened that kind of magazines or, alternatively, stores an entire thousand book collection of obscene materials in his room, and I won’t be surprised in the least in either case. Would this suffice as an answer?” Munakata Reishi’s right hand woman and Lieutenant, Awashima Seri, said with an even more strained smile.

 Case Files of Blue Chapter 1 (and looking at how eager Munakata asked Hidaka to show his collection, suffice to say that Awashima is absolutely correct about her answer).

Awashima: But, well, for the Captain it’s probably of equal value. Fushimi: Of equal value? What is? Awashima: Protecting this country’s peace and fulfilling his promise to a kindergartener.

Optician Drama CD

And on Fushimi’s case :

“…It might not be a misunderstanding, you know. What if I were in cahoots with Homura?” he retorted, lips pursed.

For a moment, Awashima’s eyes widened slightly before narrowing to slits as she humphed letting a slight smirk tug on her lips. “Suppose there really is a traitor who’s trembling while covered in cold sweat; I’d say at the very least it’s safe to assume he’s not switching sides because he likes it. It’s time for your report. The materials are ready, I hope?”

The King and The Traitor 

“It’s hard to call realistic, I have to agree with you on that. And on the off chance that it indeed is a strain’s doing, there is hardly any ground to claim harm sustained from the act. It’s the rainy season, after all. So I do find the idea of wasting time and manpower on investigating this possibility unreasonable, especially considering that we hardly have any to spare, but… if it’s an order from my superior officer, I will look into it though?”

It was said curtly and emotionlessly, but Awashima let out a little chuckle, hearing Fushimi’s answer. “Then look into it for me. Since like me, my competent and capable subordinate, too, seems to be concerned with this matter.”

Endless Rain

Also in anime, she noticed Yata’s worry for Mikoto and informed him about Mikoto’s condition to calm him. After breaking Sarumi’s fight, instead of asking apology, she demanded Fushimi to show her the result of his investigation, knowing full well that Fushimi already did some digging before he confronted Yata. She made the remark about only a King can attract another King. Heck, she already deduced that the reason why Munakata kept Zenjou-san on Scepter 4 is to kill Munakata one day, even though Munakata understandably never told anyone about it. During ROK, I kinda got feeling like Munakata and Fushimi were purposely ‘ghosting’ her, but looking at how observant she is, it’s quite understandable why Munakata and Fushimi kept Awashima in the dark to preserve their secret mission (still jerk move for them though). 

I think that’s one of the reason why Fushimi gave the hint about his secret mission only to Yata. Not only Yata is his best friend, but he also can count on Yata’s insensitiveness, having been the victim first-hand in the past. Like, Fushimi who is surprisingly responsible and dutiful for his job maybe thought “it’s fine to give Misaki a hint, it’s not like he can pick it up anyway”, so he can feel ‘less guilty’ for endangering the secrecy of his mission. Not that he’s wrong though, I mean Yata you’re a good guy but I have to say you really have a fine thick-head for not noticing and still saying that Fushimi betrayed the Blues, Fushimi jumped from sinking ship after Fushimi uttered such a vague sentence and after knowing that Fushimi secretly asked your brother to quit Jungle. Thank God Munakata gave him clear explanation later. Instead for Awashima, she only got this :

In that brief moment of silence, Fushimi let Awashima knew 3 things :

1. He joined Green clan and willing to attack his ‘former’ clansmen for them.

2. Not only joined Green clan, but he’s now one of J-ranker of Jungle. You know, the true Green clansmen, the one they have to be most cautious like Sukuna and Yukari.

3. He allied with one of Green clansman who participated on Anna’s kidnapping and former Scepter 4′s prisoner.

And he didn’t give Awashima and Kusanagi anything except complete silence and green-laced knife-throwing. Mission accomplished! The monkey succeeds on fooling the strong-willed and observant Lieutenant of Scepter 4. Just like the phrase “To fool your enemy, fool your friends”, there’s no way Awashima can perceive that except as complete betrayal. Haha.

(Truly, Fushimi was so good at executing his job. Too good, actually).

Then, after that shocking revelation that can shake someone’s mentality, she still had duty to report it toward her superior. Look at her reaction after Munakata said things about biting the giver’s hand.

(OMG watching that scene after knowing about Fushimi and Munakata’s secret mission made me truly itch to punch a certain King’s beautiful sparkly face).

She blamed herself for failing to look after Fushimi. I read some posts about Fushimi’s betrayal speculation before ROK episode 11 was aired, those who predicted that Fushimi joined Green for real, almost all expected Yata to stop Fushimi and made him go back to Scepter 4 (or Homra). While I understand the potential Sarumi heartbreaking angst and their another flashy fighting scene, I can’t help but think, can Yata do it? Not that I doubt strong bond between them, but Yata and Fushimi are equal in power. Okay, Yata is stronger in raw power, but Fushimi proved himself can accommodate his power effectively to match Yata. We know from their fight in Ashinaka Gakuen that Fushimi’s dual-color status can pass Yata’s defense, just like an attack can pass the defense from the same aura. Then Fushimi got his Green Aura. I didn’t say that Yata surely would lose to Fushimi on that situation, but it’s understandable if he lost and no one will blame him. But Seri? She’s canonly stronger than Fushimi, she’s usually can keep Fushimi on check in Scepter 4 and Seri is his direct superior after Munakata. I think if indeed Fushimi joined Green clan, the ones that have a chance to win battling him are Seri, Kusanagi, Kuro, and Kings. I can see Awashima blamed herself for failing to stop Fushimi and wanted to compensate for that failure by bringing Fushimi back to Scepter 4.

So, as if that burden is not heavy enough, Munakata brought Zenjou to his side and Awashima, who already worried about Munakata’s safety for a whole season and more, got an honor to watch on front seat as this happened :

Her King had a sword pointed toward his neck, but Awashima wasn’t fast enough to even touch her saber. Munakata’s Second in Command, who just realized that preventing her King’s Damocles Down is her responsibility, was shown the fact that she was not fast enough in comparison with Zenjou. Just, let’s imagine some time between episode 9 and 11 Seri looked at her saber, lamented at the fact that she failed to stop Fushimi and she was not fast enough to fulfil her most hurtful responsibility. Imagine Seri tried to get a hold of herself, readied herself to point her sword toward her closest comrades. 

Of course her torment didn’t end there. The Quack Prime Minister fired Munakata from his duty, removed him from Scepter 4. And Munakata, wordlessly, without giving any words or announcements toward his clansmen...  

(SERIOUSLY GIVE HER A BREAK! MUNAKATAAAAA!!!!)

I feel like that scene is the peak of Munakata’s “ghosting” toward Awashima. Not to mention, her (and Scepter 4) next order is :

(Help! My poor clueless ducklings are trapped while their genius jerk megane superiors are carelessly walking toward suicide plans!).

Honorary mention for the rest of poor lost ducklings :

(Yes, Munakata, you can’t just leave without any words toward your clansmen. Especially when you literally walked toward your death).

(BTW the meaning of “one unthinkable thing happening after another” is Fushimi’s betrayal followed by Munakata’s resignation. Little appreciation that they thought Fushimi’s betrayal is “unthinkable thing” even though the fact that Fushimi’s status as Homra’s “traitor” is widely known in Scepter 4).

 (Zenjou-san and the rest of Scepter 4 are not amused by your secret plan shenanigans, Munakata and Fushimi. Zenjou thought that those jerks truly ruin meganes’ reputation. Unbeknown to him, Enomoto thought the same).

Well, we know what happened after this. Seri and the rest of Special Squad got their first clue about what the heck is happened from a freaking TV, they rushed toward their King, the show was shifted to Silvers and Reds and NO SCEPTER 4 REUNION OR SETTLEMENT EVEN THOUGHT GORA CRAFTED SUCH A BIG AND COMPLEX CONFLICT IN SCEPTER 4.

Well, at least Seri got to punch Munakata in the face, even though in my opinion she truly deserved more after all the shits she had been through.

[wulfies-kpop-fanfics]

One Photo → Mark Lee [6]

↳  Pairing: Mark Lee/Reader

↳  AU: Soulmate!AU - The first touch of two soulmates permanently scars their bodies.

↳  Warning: Suggestive

↳  Word count: 4,349

↳  Chapters: Prelude | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | You Are Here! | 7 | 8 | 9

⁙ Summary: For an end of the year photography project, you’re tasked with taking a photograph for your favourite group, NCT127, and coincidentally, discover your soulmate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FRIDAY - 6 - Part 2

As the two of you travel down the hallway making quiet conversation, Mark stops in his tracks. You're completely focused on him, not sure what he's looking at. The hallway goes silent, save for heavy breathing and the sound of kissing. 

Peeking out from behind Mark's back, you peer around the bend of the hallway to join your soulmate's gaze, landing on none other than Rhiannon and Donghyuck, the latter pushing her up against the wall. 

"You hypocrite!" Mark quickly covers your mouth with his hand, but it's already too late- both of them are startled enough to quickly separate and begin smoothing out their clothes. 

Once Rhiannon realizes that it's you and Mark that caught her, she grabs Donghyuck's hand. She looks completely serious, her face flushed red. "Where, need it now. Our turn." 

With your mouth still covered, you look up at Mark. He's still nearly stunned, exchanging looks with Donghyuck, who is equally frozen in place and watching all of this unfold. "Uh," Mark starts sheepishly, glancing between the couple standing before you. "End of the hall, second last room," 

Donghyuck nods and says something in Korean, and from context you assume he's done the same as Mark - prepared a room. He tugs on her hand gently, quickly leading her past the two of you - the slightly awkward moment passing as soon as Rhiannon and Donghyuck are out of sight. 

Mark removes his hand from your mouth, and you glance back for a moment. "Well," you say, swallowing thickly. "I guess I know how she feels now."

Mark smiles, barely keeping back a laugh. "Seems like it. Let’s go back to the stage before we find out if those rooms are soundproof or not." 

It was relieving to know that once you two arrived back in the arena, none of the guys even so much as made a whisper about what you and Mark so obviously left to do. Everyone was now sitting on the stage around what looked like a picnic blanket that had a spread of snacks over top of it. They all waved to greet you and Johnny helped you up on the stage when you approached. “Help yourself,” Jaehyun said, popping a piece of melon in his mouth. “We just gotta wait for Donghyuck and Rhiannon to come back and then we can do a small dance practice.” 

You and Mark happily approach the others and take your seats among them. You sigh in contentment as you chew on a piece of pineapple, finally chipping away at your post-sex appetite.

"So," Johnny begins as you're about to eat your second piece of pineapple, "we couldn't get much out of Mark, but we were all wondering why you and Rhiannon were living by yourselves off-campus in the city." 

You freeze for a moment, chewing and swallowing cautiously. Mark grabs your hand and looks at you sympathetically. 

"It's a little complicated," you answer, "but we chose to move out when we were accepted to college. I lived with her family for a while after my parents were arrested, but I feel like I made their home life a lot worse. I would have left earlier, but my inheritances and my government grants didn't arrive immediately." 

Jaehyun looked at you, eyebrows furrowed. "What happened to your parents?" 

You licked your lips and sighed. "Your general gang slash drug dealer gig. They both got hefty prison time for child neglect, drug possession and trafficking on top of harbouring fugitives." 

Everyone was silent, save for the muted sounds of eating. "That all sounds horrible," Johnny said. "I never would have guessed you came from that life."

"Sometimes I can't believe I went through any of that either," you agree, "after I left home my life got a lot better. I have Rhiannon to thank for it all. Because of her, I'm here now." You smile as best you can, picking up a mini ham and cheese sandwich triangle you spotted on the platter. 

"What are we all talking about?" Rhiannon called as she and Donghyuck entered through one of the side archways into the arena. You and Mark helped them up onto the stage where they took their places and also began picking at the food. 

"Collecting my life story," you say, watching the others nod. "I was saying that I lived with you and your family for a while until we moved out." 

"Mm, yeah. Rough few years," she commented, picking up her own sandwich triangle. "I'm so glad we moved out."

"Why?" Jungwoo asked, causing you to turn your attention to him.

Rhiannon licked her lips. "It was pretty easy going for the five of us while my mom was still around. (Y/N) and I were working to help my dad out and my mom ran a daycare. When the two of us were graduating from high school, my mom passed away from breast cancer." 

You looked down at the floor of the stage, acutely aware of the sullen silence as she paused. "Then life got bad. Mine and my sister's mental health plummeted and everyone was always arguing, especially my dad and my sister. Once (Y/N) and I were both accepted to study in the city, we moved out with her inheritance as fast as we could." 

"I'm sorry," Taeyong added. "It's better now, right?" 

"As good as it can be," you smile somberly, peeking up a little bit as Mark held your hand. "I miss our mom more and more every day, but we know she's watching over us, cheering us on. If we give up on what we've been working so hard for, she'd definitely beat our asses. Once we graduate, we will be able to build the best lives for ourselves as we can."

"Now that we have all of you, it feels like we fell out of a nightmare and ended up in a dream," Rhiannon said, chewing on another piece of food. "Now all I need to do is get (Y/N) to stop eating stuff with ketchup and I will reach nirvana."

You rolled your eyes and smiled at her. "Ketchup isn't that bad," you protest, nearly breaking out into full out laughter as Mark also makes a disgusted face toward you. 

"You like ketchup?" He asked, jokingly frowning. 

"Not as much as her sister," you point at Rhiannon, "Lindsay will eat ketchup with mac and cheese!"

"Oh God, that's disgusting!" Mark stuck his tongue out and nearly gagged. 

"We know!" Both you and Rhiannon exclaimed in unison. 

Things quieted down again as everyone finished the snacks that were laid out, and you all helped clean up once the tray of snacks was polished off. Yuta ended up being the one voted to go backstage with the dishes, but Johnny, Taeyong and Doyoung eventually offered to go and help. Jungwoo, Jaehyun and Taeil also left, you assumed to maybe go to the bathroom, leaving you, Rhiannon, Mark and Donghyuck to occupy the stage. 

Once the crowd had diminished, Rhiannon turned her attention to Mark, mischief written all over her face. You already know what's about to come out of her mouth, so you stand up and make your way onto the other side of the stage to hide behind a curtain. 

"(Y/N)? Why are you hiding?" Mark seems curious, standing up to walk over to you, but stops in his tracks when Rhiannon begins to speak. 

"So, Mark, you guys were up there for a while."

"Y-yeah…" his response was drawn out, not exactly sure where the conversation was going. You inwardly groaned. 

"Did you like (Y/N)'s boobs? Pretty big, right? Also super pretty," 

"Noona!" Donghyuck chimed in, also standing up and reaching for her arm. "That's bad!"

Mark goes beet red, looking your way sheepishly. He starts stuttering as if he's shutting down. You take a deep breath, you probably should do something. 

"Y-yeah, they were pretty great, um-" he starts, then it looks like something clicks in his head. "H-how would you know what they look like?"

Rhiannon grinned at him, her eyes shifting to the backstage entrance as Yuta and the others were all clamouring back in, "I've seen her naked tons of times. Best breasts on the market if you ask me." 

"This needs context! This really needs context!" Johnny shouted as soon as everyone else stopped in their tracks. 

At this point, Mark is so red that you think he might actually turn into a tomato. He's completely frozen and speechless, mouth hanging open in shock. Taking in a deep breath you emerge from the curtain you take Mark's hand and squeeze it gently. 

"How about we address how quickly you came back from the VIP rooms?" You question, sticking your other hand on your hip.

"Well, y'know," she starts, looking over at the small crowd of boys staring in disbelief. 

"Noona-" Donghyuck tries to stop her, but she whispers something in his ear which in turn seems to stop his protest. 

"I'm all for taking dick up my cooch but I figured a nice thigh fuck would be better to start out with. Keep them wanting more, right? Oh, he's not small, either."  She winked. 

"Noonaaaaaa," Donghyuck whines, following that up with something else in Korean you couldn't understand. Everyone in the room was completely silent, frozen in disbelief of what had just entered their ears. 

"Well, I think you got your context, John," Jaehyun was the first to utter any words. 

It definitely took a while for you to process what just happened. You knew what Rhiannon was like and you expected a small comment from her, but you were completely floored. You opened your mouth to say something, but no words came. 

"Well, let's not just stand here, we have an hour before the stylists want us," Taeyong clapped his hands politely, and that seemed to get everyone else in gear. The awkwardness still took a while to fade, so you and Rhiannon decided to sit off to the side while the boys clamoured into their positions to practice dancing. 

Once the melody of Cherry Bomb entered your ears, your heart began to thud in your chest. It was one of your favourite songs by them, and the dance was also easily one of your favourites, just behind BOSS. You sat just by the edge of the curtain, clapping along and waving whenever Mark glanced in your direction, tapping your feet against the floor. Rhiannon was outright jamming next to you, making you laugh and grin at her as you shook your head. 

When Simon Says started, you stood and (pathetically) tried to imitate the dance as you stood in your spot. Mark looked over at you for a split second as he faced you to change positions in the dance and he flashed a quick thumbs up with a smile. 

The next thing you notice though is Rhiannon, who also decided to stand up to start dancing. "Hey (Y/N), watch this," she bends her arms to a ninety-degree angle and then begins to swivel her hips like she's playing with a hula hoop. 

You can barely contain your laughter as you watch her dance and don't even notice that the music stopped, everyone turned toward her to catch her in the act. 

Yuta is holding his phone, presumably the one controlling the Bluetooth speakers that are hidden somewhere on the stage, trying not to laugh. "Neither of you know how to dance, do you?" 

"Hell no," you're wiping away a tear, watching Rhiannon' silly grin. 

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I hope Red Velvet has an opening cause I'm about to take the world by storm," she is hardly able to finish her joke before she also bursts out laughing, doubling over and holding her stomach.

"C'mere," Mark held out a hand to you, "let's all have some fun before we have to go." 

With a smile you approach your soulmate, pressing your scarred palms to his. A newer song you don't think you've heard yet starts playing over the speakers, Yuta smiling warmly in your direction. Rhiannon joins Donhgyuck and the boys slowly begin to teach you an easy dance, laughing and having fun. 

Time flew by and eventually they had to go backstage to get changed and have makeup done by the stylists. You and Rhiannon stuck around backstage for a bit, but eventually, you decided to go find your seats. You left your backpack in the stylist room with Mark, hoping you would remember it after the show. 

"Wait!" Mark caused you to stop in your tracks on the way out, turning towards him and meeting his eyes. "I have something for you." He stands up from the makeup chair he was perched in and dug around in a cardboard box in the corner of the room. He eventually comes up with an NCT127 light stick box. 

"You really didn't have to, I could have gone out to the merchandise line," you said sheepishly as Mark handed it to you with a grin.

"It's a gift," he retorted with a smile. "I wouldn't want you to be in that line long enough for you to miss any of the performances."

"Thank you, Mark, I'll wave it higher than everyone else." You looked over at the stylist. "Can I kiss him, please?"

She nodded. "We haven't done lips yet. Go ahead." 

Excitedly you lean forward to peck Mark on the lips. "I love you, see you soon," 

"I love you too, (Y/N)," Mark held your hand for a few seconds before he had to let you leave the room and return to his chair. 

Once you had taken your seat and prepared your light stick, the lights began to fade. Other fans were being let into the venue, and soon enough the concert would start. Rhiannon looked over at you with a grin, holding up a pair of earplugs. 

"Check your light stick box," she said. "If we learned anything from seeing BTS last year is that we need these, Donghyuck packed some for me. Maybe Mark did for yours."

Peering into your box, you noticed at the bottom that there was a pair of earplugs sitting there and a note in Mark's writing.

In case you forgot. Love, Mark

You smiled at the note fondly, placing it back in the box, closing it tightly. You slipped it underneath your chair, sitting down and watching the lights dim. You just finished putting the lightstick strap around your wrists, putting the earplugs in your pocket. 

Your phone buzzed as fans began to take their seats, and smiled when you read a text from Mark. 

Mark: I hope you're ready for the show tonight

You: I've been preparing myself since I bought the tickets

Mark: I wanted to ask you something before my phone gets confiscated

You: What do you need?

Rhiannon perched her chin on your shoulder and read the texts. "Ooh," she sang. "Does he sext you?" 

"No!" You quickly dispute. "I'm not sure what he's gonna ask." 

Mark: I spoke to my manager and the guys, since I leave for Vancouver tomorrow, I wanted to know if I could spend the night at your place

You: you would really be allowed to do that?

Mark: they made a special exception, I just wanted to know if you would be comfortable with it

You: of course I would be, you are more than welcome to stay with me 

"Ooooh! I hope they made that exception for Hyuckie!" Rhiannon exclaims, taking her head off your shoulder and reaching into her pocket for her phone. 

Mark: that makes me really happy, meet me in the VIP room after the show, I will bring your backpack 

You: okay, I love you, don't overdo it

Mark: I can handle anything life throws at me, dont worry :) love you too

It felt like as soon as you put your phone down, the concert started. Any concert you've ever been to has always managed to be the fastest few hours of your life. This one was no exception - you could feel your heart pound and your chest vibrate with the beat, eyes glued to the stage before you. 

You always had problems remembering everything that took place during any show. You knew every song and you sang until your throat went raw, danced with your lightstick until your arm was sore and rolled your eyes with a smile whenever Rhiannon screamed too loudly, too close to your ear. During the concert, you forgot about life outside. You forget about your problems, your exams, graduation, everything. 

Something you would never forget, though, was every time Mark looked at you. No matter how deep in concentration he was, every time he was on stage and close to you, he would smile. His face would be glistening with sweat, his chest would heave in deep breaths during a transition, but no matter what, he always managed to grin in your direction. 

Being so close to the stage and just being at any concert always gave you a special type of high, that filled your heart with music and happiness that you sometimes felt you couldn't experience. At the end, when the boys left the stage and the lights came back on, you sat down to finish soaking it all in. 

"Agh, I'm all sweaty," was the first thing Rhiannon said since everything was all over, and you couldn't help but laugh a little. 

"I wonder why," you muse sarcastically, looking up at her from your seat with a smile. 

She looked down at you and stuck her tongue out. "Don't you have somewhere to be?" She asked. 

Your eyes widened. "Yeah. Is Donghyuck going to meet you backstage?"

She nodded. "Mhm, I'll meet up with you two later. See you in a bit." 

You gave Rhiannon a quick hug before grabbing your lightstick box and attempting to move with the crowd exiting the arena. Some of the fans that catch a glimpse of you stare as you pass by- most likely noticed that you had a backstage pass lanyard around your neck. You try to avoid eye contact with them as best you can, slipping into the staircase that leads up to the VIP rooms. 

You reached the end of the hallway, gripping the doorknob and pushing it open. The curtain was still covering the window that looked over the arena, and the small coffee table was still pushed up against it, next to the bar stools. You slipped off your shoes and sat on the couch, making yourself comfortable. It would probably be a little while before Marked joined you, so you set down your lightstick box and curled up in the corner of the cushions.

The ringing in your ears slowly faded away as your mind wandered, drifting off into a light snooze. You feel comfortable and warm, the scent of Mark still was barely noticeable in the air around you. You smiled to yourself when you thought of what Mark reminded you of- a strong campfire with fresh s'mores and the sweet summer air that lingered just outside the radius of the fire's warmth.  

There was a soft clicking sound that followed the doorknob being turned. You barely perk up when Mark enters the room, clad in his Superhuman t-shirt and black jeans. It seems all of the sweat from his performances has been wiped away, but his face is still flushed. He slips your backpack off his back and gently sets it by the door. 

"Hey, sleepy," he whispers, approaching you and kneeling before you. He gently takes your hands, kissing the knuckles. "Did you have fun?"

You smile sleepily at him. "Yeah, I had a lot of fun. You don't look tired,"

Mark continued to smile at you. "Looks can be deceiving," he says. "I just have to put some things away and then we can go."

You perk up a bit as he stands, grabbing the blanket to put inside his own backpack. "Shouldn't we wait until everyone is gone?"

Mark shrugs. "We have to go back down to see the others, that should give us some extra time so that we don't get in a streetcar where we will be swarmed." 

You nod, yawning. "Okay, I trust you." 

Mark sat down beside you once he zipped up his backpack, giving you a tired smile. He looked down at his arms, idly running a finger against the scar of his arm. "I guess we will be seeing a lot of news about this soon."

You join his gaze and frown a little. "Do you think it will be bad?" You ask, chewing on your lip. 

"No, I don't think so. At least I hope. I like to think our fandom is mature enough," Mark takes your hand for a moment and squeezes it. "Shall we go?" 

You nod and unfurl yourself to stand up. You both put on your backpacks, you put on your shoes and then head out the door together. You return backstage to meet with everyone, feeling a little surreal that you can personally compliment them on their performances. When you hug each member one last time, you barely catch yourself indulging in their scents, all unique and sweet in their own way. Rhiannon is watching you with a knowing smirk as you do, and as you hug Jungwoo you manage to stick your tongue out at her. 

It felt strange but good to go home that night with Mark. It was warm and a little lonely outside compared to how it was inside the venue during the event, but it was a nice change after being inside with a few thousand screaming people. The streetcar ride and the walk back were pleasant, making idle conversation about the concert as Rhiannon and Donghyuck walked along with you. 

Once you arrive home, everyone stumbles tiredly inside. You bring Mark's backpack into your room, and all of you play rock-paper-scissors to determine who gets to use the bathroom in order. Rhiannon, Donghyuck and Mark all destroyed you in the game, so you hang back in the kitchen to make some sleepy time tea while you waited. 

You nearly fell asleep standing in the kitchen and waiting for your kettle to finish heating up the water. Just as you're finishing preparing everyone's tea, Mark emerges from the bathroom clad in soft pyjamas and sporting freshly dried hair. 

"Is that for me?" He asked, pressing a kiss to your cheek. 

You nod at him. "If you could bring the other mugs to Rhiannon and Donghyuck too, Rhi's is the purple mug and the blue one is Donghyuck's. I'm going to go freshen up." 

Mark nods at you with a smile. Briefly holding your hand as you make your way into the bathroom. You shower quickly, not bothering to pamper yourself. Once you get out, you dry your hair thoroughly with a towel, sighing at the feeling of massaging your scalp. 

Once you exit the bathroom, clad in your own pyjamas, you see that Mark is still in the kitchen, clutching his mug of tea. 

"Feel better?" He asks, taking a quick sip.

"Mm," you answer, "I'm just about ready to pass out," 

"I made you a mug of tea if you want it. Half-full." Mark smiles when you gently return his earlier cheek kiss. 

You reach forward and grab the warm Dragon Ball Z mug to take a few quick mouthfuls of perfect tea. "Thank you," you say, "I had a really great day today." 

"Me too," Mark grins sleepily, "but I'm ready to sleep."

"You and me both." You place your mug in the sink. Mark follows suit, gently taking your hand as you lead him to your room. When you pass the living room you notice it's empty, so you assume Rhiannon and Donghyuck have already both gone to sleep. 

Once you open the door to your room, you feel so much more relaxed and comfortable. You beckon Mark in, sheepishly smiling as you begin to relocate your mountain of stuffed animals. There's not much light since you hadn't turned any on, but a streak of moonlight is seeping in through your curtains, enough that some things in your room are clear to see.

"Your room is very cosy," he compliments, taking a seat on the edge of your bed and running his hand along the fabric. 

"I spend a lot of time here, so I like to make it as comfortable as possible,"

Mark nods with a small smile. "Oh, I almost forgot."

"Forgot what?" You watch him curiously as he stands and moves to his backpack, unzipping it and rummaging for a few seconds before pulling out the fuzzy polar bear plush. 

"This belongs to you," he says, tucking it under the covers before taking his seat again. "We should keep him comfy."

You grin at him, "thank you for not thinking I'm weird for asking about it,"

He shakes his head, "anything to help while I'm gone," he comments, trailing off as he continues to observe the contents of your room, and you blush once you realize Mark has spotted some photo cards stuck onto the edge of the shelf above your computer desk. 

"I see you have everyone here," he comments with a smile. "Including…"

"Day6," you answer sheepishly, inviting yourself under the covers. "Come cuddle?" 

Mark chuckles lightly and complies. He pulls back his side of the covers and slides in, immediately moving to drape an arm over your side. He blinks slowly, smiling warmly as his eyes search your face. 

You bring a hand up to lightly run your hand through his hair, massaging his scalp gently. He closes his eyes and hums with contentment.

"I love you," he whispers, pressing a kiss to your forehead. 

"I love you, too." You manage to drift off easily that night, content to sleep in Mark's arms.

[katsuflossy]

Could I get a Bakugo x Reader where the Mina convinces the reader to avoid Bakugo for a day to make "the heart grow fonder" and when Bakugo finds out he goes off on Mina, takes the reader to his room and gets super clingy? If that makes any sense at all

The Heart Grows Fonder...Even if Mina has to Force it.

A/N: Hiii. Thanks for being my first ask! I really appreciate it💕💕 And it made total sense to me. Hope you like it!

Pairing: Bakugo x reader

Taglist: @sunset-novice-writer @goatsenpaiultimate (if you want to be added to my tl, just message me!)

“I mean it’s not that hard for someone to hold your hand or give encouragement without a shitload of insults before AND after those affections. Like, you’re his GIRLFRIEND. For Christ’s sake.” Mina paced around your dorm, avoiding the little hut she made on the ground for your frequent study sessions. Those study sessions lead up to what she calls ‘Teatime with Mina’ and the show was currently running. 

She always gets better grades when studying with Bakugo but that’s beside the point.

“Mina, I knew what I signed up for and it’s okay, he doesn’t usually mean-” She cut you off with a palm to the face, already knowing the recycled excuses you were about to give. “It doesn’t excuse the fact that he’s been being extra moody to you but hanging out with Eiji all day!” Your shoulders drooped at the truth; her words sounding little insecurities you shoved at the back of your mind. He has been distant and more irate lately, most letting all the smoke out on Midoriya and leaving a little heat for you. But, towards you, it was mostly the cold char and ash as if he was too moody to speak to you properly but still able to spit out a few embers 

And Mina had enough of it.

“(Y/n), for the last week we had this same talk, and nothing gets changed. We need to teach him a lesson: that Class 1A’s sweetheart will not take this cold bad boy persona anymore, that’s like, soo 3 years ago.” Hesitation circled within your head. It would be a lie if you did not want your boyfriend to at least be a little bit more affectionate but this was Mina’s plan, and her plans were not known for leaving Bakugo a happier man. You had two options: Hope that your ox of a boyfriend has a change of heart and starts giving you more attention or go on Mina’s suicide mission. 

The chances were more favorable with Mina’s, even if it was risky.

The next morning, Mina’s operation, The Heart Grows Fonder, took off full steam. You sighed and rubbed the sleep from your eyes as you walked out of your dorm 15 minutes before the actual time Bakugo would bang on the door yelling at you to get the fuck up. Mina made sure to text all the guidelines of the operation, even emergency steps for when Bakugo does something dangerous, call it “Atomic Blonde”.  Arriving at the living room, you met with Tenya conversing with Midoriya, possibly about their work study. With a nod to the other few students in the lounge, you greet the two. 

“Goodmorning (Y/n), you’re awfully early this morning. Where’s Kacchan? He’s usually with you.” Midoriya surveyed the area to make sure he was not mistaken. You mentally cursed at how known it is that Kastuki has to wake you up in the morning because you’re a late riser. 

“Well, I’m trying to be more productive and get up earlier for the day.” Your poorly made excuse was enough for Tenya to take and change the conversation with. 

“That’s great (l/n). It’s amazing and very beneficial to wake up early in the morning to start the day out right with more energ-”

“(Y/N)! If you don’t open this fucking door right now I will blast it down!” The irate’s shouts could be heard from the floor above. The muffled threat was caught by everyone’s ears, eyes now turning their attention to you, who was sweating bullets from the idea of getting caught.

“Well I’ll take your word for it Tenya, I’ll even start jogging now!” and with that, you sped out of the building as the duo blinked at your figure in confusion. 

Bakugo did not make the day easy for you, not within the slightest. First, he blew up your phone ranging from concerns to curses to threats for not opening his messages and one apology written by Kirishima about your boyfriend’s crude behavior. Then he constantly glared at you in class every chance he got until Present Mic asked if he needed to go to the bathroom because his face was so screwed. Finally, he tried to corner you during paired practice to which “Atomic Blonde” had to shift into full gear. 

It was terrifying to see the blonde burst through the crowd with a villain hunch and a deadly aura spanning the room. A scream of your name had Uraraka grab your hand and nervously declare you as her partner before using her gravity-defying quirk to hightail the both of you out of the blonde’s way. The class simply observed the two girls floating away while Bakugo stayed on the ground, releasing his rage in a series of spitfires and curses.

Turns out,  all the girls knew of the operation. Thank Mina for implementing Code Atomic Blonde which involved the heroine troop of 1A.

But no one could rescue you this time.

As soon as practice ended, Uraraka got a message from Midoriya saying that he was at Recovery Girl injured and needed help. She left you promptly but not before hastily apologizing. Never mind it, you searched for Mina carefully, hoping not to encounter the raging bull who was targeting you. Approaching the exit, you checked each corner before stepping out into the open, only to be pulled back into the practice room. The air forced out of your lungs as your back crashed against the wall, halting your movement due to the shock and the immediate pain. Two muscular arms caged your being in like prison bars and maroon eyes froze you on sight. A shadow cast above his brows and his lips pulled back in a ferocious snarl.

The bull got you.

“Are you fucking kidding me (Y/n)?!” The dynamic of his vocals nearly burst your eardrums due to its loudness.

“W-what are you talking about Kastuki?” A nervous laughter escaped your lung attempting to diffuse the threatening and honestly scary atmosphere.

“Don’t play dumb with me right now. You really went along with Mina’s shit of a plan!” Oh, he was fuming. 

“Kastuki, I-”

“Don’t. say. anything.” His curt response shut you up immediately, too guilty to utter a word. He didn’t even look at you as he snatched your wrist, dragging your body to wherever he pleased.

“Kastuki! Where are we going?” But your question fell on stubborn ears as you were continuously tugged without question or. Soon, you find yourself on the Height Alliance grounds, stumbling up the stairs as Bakugo still had your hand in his grasp. The next minute his bed hits your back which was honestly sore from the first impact. Same arms caged in your head but a softer look froze you this time.

“I know Mina put you up for this stupid cold shoulder idea.”

“Wha- How?” 

“Mina told Denki, his short-fused brain couldn’t keep his mouth shut,” you sighed, already plotting revenge on Kaminari for breaking girl code. “So I took Deku’s phone so Round Face can fuck off.” His snarl deepens as the thought of Midoriya before returning to you.

“I can’t believe you followed her stupid prank.” Your own snarl branded your face now.

“It wasn’t a stupid prank. It was payback; you haven’t talked to me the whole week and if you did, you were always moody.” Two snarls stared at each other, competing for the surface area of each face until Bakugo scoffed and plopped over to your right, taking up the remaining area of the bed. His lithe body reached over to his bedside table before tossing a long, narrow black case to you. 

“Our 6 months anniversary is tomorrow and I didn’t know what to buy you or what you girls liked. So, I asked Shitty Hair and he’s been helping me this entire week so I could surprise you with something.” His eyes staring at his mattress, trying to hide the red blush brightening his face. Inside rested snuggly was a tennis bracelet with your favorite jewel. Your own face warming up at the gesture.

“Aw Bakugo...This is so nice.”

“Yeah, yeah tell that to the chewed up wad of gum. Handed her ass to her when Round Face to you for a flight.” His smirk branding on his face, proud of his victory before pulling you into his arms. His legs intertwined in your own as his hands spanned on your back, making no easy way for an escape. 

Not that you would.

Your head meets the slope of his neck, breathing in the light caramel scent naturally secreting from his skin. His head laid on top of yours as his hands massaged the sore areas of your back in a soundless apology.

“Bakugo, I’m sorry for ignoring you. I was just so lonely this week and I didn’t think of asking you if-”

“I know you’re sorry just...stay here.” The only sound made was the two of you breathing as you both lulled off to sleep.

Mission: Accomplished(?)

[lokidiabolus]

Last Resort - chapter 1

Fandom: The Maze Runner

Pairing: Thomas x Newt

Warnings: ex boyfriends, AU

Summary: Three years after breaking up with Thomas, Newt finally thought the past of hating each other was behind them, until Thomas asked him for a favour - pretend they got back together for a week while staying at his parents' home. Because it was an absolutely dumb idea, Newt was inclined to refuse, but then found himself in the house he used to visit when he was in love and happy and the bitter reality of only pretending for people he always liked made him miserable. But it was nothing against dealing with Thomas himself for a week straight and trying not to fall back in love that hurt them both.

Or: Prompt ch. 192 with added spice. Or something. I just needed to write for a while :')

Can be found on Ao3.

Notes: Hi! I was really into writing something, like really, really hyped, but then couldn't find anything that would make me go "yaaas!". So I thought of just giving up, until I somehow vaguely recalled I wrote this small one shot about two exes falling back in love in parents' house, and just sort of thought: oh yeah. Angst, good. Could add some horny. Good. Let's try. So here we are. Trying. It's not exactly deep or anything. I just needed to get this out of my system :') And it's not like I can't write anything else but AUs... ha.

Unbetad!

Sometimes Newt felt like the world was against him in literally any kind of situation. Once he decided to commit to something, a sudden force worked against him immediately, completely ruining the plan, or at least derailing his confidence in it. For about a year he thought that maybe it was the Universe giving him signs, for another year it felt like a karmic backslash and this year he settled on the fact he was just being despised by whatever higher force was in charge.

Although last year wasn’t as bad, really, until November 12th on dot. If it was about to be documented anywhere, he was just getting out of his shower, quite sleepy already, in rather calm, peaceful mood, once his phone dinged with a new message and he, without knowing the consequences of reading it, opened it. Even though it had Thomas as a sender - he thought later it should have deterred him from ruining the night for himself. Yet, his stupid lizard brain just clicked on it, blissfully unaware.

ThomAss - [23:14] – This is a life-or-death matter, you HAVE TO help me out D:

Newt - [23:15] – HAVE TO even.

ThomAss - [23:16] – YES. Please. I’m ready to beg too, that’s how desperate I am!

Newt - [23:17] – Hmm. Tempting. On your knees?

ThomAss - [23:18] – It’s negotiable.

Newt - [23:19] – Might think about it. Go on.

ThomAss - [23:20] – I need you to come home with me. I mean to my parents’ home.

Newt - [23:21] – What…?

ThomAss - [23:22] – It’s an emergency. They’re being persistent, so I need to bring somebody over.

Newt - [23:24] – I don’t follow?

ThomAss - [23:25] – Somebody I’m dating, that is.

Newt - [23:26] – Yeah, no.

ThomAss - [23:27] – Pleaaaaaaaaaase! T^T

He refused to admit he was fuming when he tossed his phone on the mattress and ignored how it beeped several times with new messages. There was no bloody way he’d go all smiling into Thomas’ parent’s house and pretend they were dating when they broke up three years ago in bad blood and it took them over two years to recover enough to be able to at least talk in a civil way. Sure, these past few months were sort of… better than the rest, though Newt didn’t really know if there was a reason, or they just let go of the grudge.

Well, partially let go, at least Newt’s was still lightly festering sometimes, on bad days when he was stupid enough to let his guard down and remind himself of it.

His phone beeped three more times and then the silence of his flat got sliced to pieces by the obnoxious ringtone he put in spite to Thomas’ contact two years ago. They weren’t calling each other, so there was no way he’d hear it at any point back then, but now, when the sound filled his home, he had a fleeting thought of smashing the phone to pieces instead.

“I said no,” he answered anyway, cold enough for Thomas to definitely get shivers on the other side of the line.

“Newt, please, I beg you,” Thomas didn’t even bother with greetings and whined like a five-year-old. “You can’t possibly be that cruel, can you?”

“Minho,” Newt gritted out. “Why not him?”

“He’s in England! Drinking tea! He’d throw me off the Big Ben if I interrupted his super-secret-date-everybody-knows-about!” Thomas responded frantically and Newt pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

Fine, he had a point, probably, Minho would rage at him if he tried to drag him back shit like this. He planned the totally-not-a-date for months, never introduced the person and then disappeared. Everyone knew why, but they didn’t know to who.

“Teresa.” Another possibility, and Thomas’ groaned into the speaker.

Oh, so he already asked her, and she turned him down. Not to mention…

“Brenda?”

Another groan.

“For fuck’s sake,” Newt had to force himself not to throw the phone against the wall. “Have you literally asked everyone and I’m the bloody last resort?”

“Sort of?” Thomas piped and Newt refused to acknowledge how it stung weirdly.

Am I being hypocritical?

It wasn’t like he was willing to go anyway, but somehow his pride didn’t like it. And his pride was a bitch, he knew, and had the power to overwrite his common sense.

“Look, it’s just…” Thomas sighed into the phone. “…embarrassing.”

“Embarrassing?” the blond repeated. He would say uncomfortable maybe, but embarrassing? “What is bloody embarrassing about it? I’ve heard you snore and fart and throw up and come, and you think this is embarrassing?”

“This is embarrassing!” Thomas whined like couldn’t hear the naked truth and Newt shook his head. They had their history, and it wasn’t just a week short fling. They lived together for three years and dated for seven, there honestly couldn’t be much of an embarrassment present anymore.

Although maybe yes, after three years of barely talking.

“You’re ridiculous,” he mumbled after, dropping a towel he was drying his hair with on the bed. “How’s this even a question, can you just tell them you’re single? Or. I don’t know, that the person you date had other business to attend to?”

“No,” Thomas answered immediately. “I can’t and I won’t. You act like you don’t know them, they’re onto me.”

“Cuz you’re a liar?” Newt tilted his head to the side and Thomas grumbled.

“Am not, okay.”

“So where’s your significant other that can’t attend?”

“On the phone right now, being difficult. Obviously,” Thomas delivered without ounce of shame and if he was standing right in front of Newt, he would have one in his face. “Look, I didn’t want to ask you, cuz of course it’s kinda weird, since my parents already know you and all.”

Of course he would rather bring Teresa or Brenda over, Newt thought and the bitterness surprised him.

“Well, at least they wouldn’t be as shocked,” he said in response, pushing the wave of reminiscing back down. “Imagine Minho, he would probably tear the place apart.”

“Yeah, but we didn’t break up with Minho,” Thomas reminded him, keeping the sombre tone despite Newt trying to lighten the situation.

“You don’t say,” he said instead. “And?”

“And they know we did,” Thomas continued. “So it’s gonna be awkward, you know.”

“Can imagine, yes,” Newt didn’t want to play dumb. “I already told you no though, so there’s no reason to torture yourself with the what if.”

“When did I ever want anything this important from you though!” The whine was back, and Newt sucked in a sharp breath.

“You want me to make you a list? Or would a text suffice.”

“I told you I’d beg on my knees, right? I will. I’m ready to go to your place right now and kneel for the whole night if that’d please you,” Thomas shot back, sounding too serious for Newt’s liking. His neighbours would hate him if Thomas spent the night in front of his door on his knees, serenading him just to make him cave in.

“For fuck’s sake, for how long am I going to be pretending I love your stupid face again then?” he growled unhappily and Thomas on the other side let out a small laugh.

“Well, mum said a weeklong vacation, but I’m sure like three days would be enough to sate her craving for whatever she actually craves when she forces me to do this,” he dropped like a week wasn’t a death sentence or could pose an actual problem with Newt’s remaining vacation days. Which was not. But Thomas didn’t know that.

“I know you have vacation days left, since you always hoard them,” Thomas immediately added like he could read his mind and Newt couldn’t stop the curse leaving his mouth. “It’s not so bad, right? Countryside, fresh air, great food and for free.”

“For the cost of my sanity, but sure, for free,” Newt grumbled and padded to the table to boot up his notebook. “When?”

“I’d pick you up on this Friday at 3? Work or home, your pick.” There was an obvious relief in Thomas’ voice and Newt kind of wanted to remind him they still broke up and barely talked to each other for two and half years, so it was not going to be a walk in a park at any point, but he kept his mouth shut.

“I work till 4,” he uttered while opening his e-mail and started to write a request for vacation. “So something past 4 in front of my workplace should be fine.”

“Four? Since when?” came a question and Newt rolled his eyes. “It used to be 3 max.”

“Three years ago, sure,” Newt decided to overlook Thomas’ weird habit of keeping shit like this memorized. “Things changed.”

“You work longer for the same pay?” Thomas guessed and Newt scoffed.

“I’m not an idiot, okay,” he commented sternly. “I got promoted. So I go to work a bit later, but work till later too.”

“Aaah,” Thomas voiced. “That’s pretty cool. Congratz.”

Year and half late, but I guess it’s the thought that counts. He just hummed.

“Then four it is,” Thomas got back on track easily. “Thanks, Newt. You’re a lifesaver.”

“You don’t know what it will cost ya yet, don’t be so happy about it,” Newt said grumpily. “I don’t work for free.”

“How’s pleasant company and free accommodation and full inclusive not enough for you? You spoiled little bitch,” Thomas faked an offended tone and Newt rolled his eyes.

“Pleasant company is questionable, since you’re going to be there,” he shot back, more out of habit than with an actual spiteful intent. “But I guess your family will do.”

“Oof, alright,” it didn’t take anything from the cheerful tone of his, “you can send me a bill after. Fucking high maintenance as always, aren’t you.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Newt chirped and hung up. The moment he sent the mail to his boss he immediately regretted it.

***

Friday came so fast Newt barely noticed the week whooshing past him, and suddenly it was 3:50, he was basically done with his workload for the day, his weeklong vacation got a green light and a bag with his things was sitting mockingly on his table, reminding him he was an idiot who just liked to make himself miserable.

Thomas was already texting him since morning to not forget to pack undies like he was a mastermind of great humour and Newt’s eyes lingered a bit too long on a kitchen knife when he was packing yesterday.

But then again, Thomas’ mum definitely had much better cutlery, so the variety of murder weapons just multiplied.

He pointedly ignored how his stomach lurched at the sight of Thomas at his car in casual clothes and unzipped jacket like it was spring (the -4 degrees disagreed with him, and especially with Newt’s complete lack of proper thermoregulation), actually having a pleasant expression on his face Newt last seen… well, long time ago. He took Newt’s bag and put it in the boot of the car with such nonchalance Newt almost believed his parents might be tricked into thinking they really got back together, how smooth and easy he made it look. Newt refused to ruin it with sarcasm, so he just got into the passenger seat and let Thomas get them on the road.

“You know Christmas is still a month away, right?” Thomas commented once Newt got rid of his coat and scarf, since the car was warm inside, and tossed it onto the back seat, before putting on the seatbelt.

“Yeah?” he raised an eyebrow at him and didn’t like the smile Thomas had on his lips. He was going to nag, for sure.

“Just that you’re wrapped like a present,” came an expected comeback. “How many layers you even have? You took all of your winter clothes on?”

“Stuff it,” the blond glared at him. “It’s cold outside.”

“It’s not that cold though?” Of course Thomas wouldn’t let it go.

“Just cuz you circulate lava and not blood doesn’t mean others do too,” Newt’s glare intensified. “Like it’s something bloody new I’m cold as fuck all the time.”

“Yeah, it’s really not,” his companion shrugged with self-satisfied smirk and Newt wanted to stomp on the brake and just get out of the car. Why did he agree again?

Prick.

What even made him so happy? Still didn’t realize how many faked smiles he’s going plaster on his face through the stay? Or he didn’t care?

“What are we going to tell them?” he asked instead to bring them closer to the problem, since the resolution was only three hours’ drive away. He wouldn’t admit it, but since he agreed to help with this clownery, he couldn’t stop thinking about what to tell the people he genuinely liked and didn’t want to lie to. He could almost forget how rare it was to stay alone with Thomas these days – or months – or years – without an urge to strangle the brunet every time he got close and opened his mouth, when they were sitting in the car so peacefully now.

It was calm but utterly bitter.

The bitterness, Newt thought, was probably still the remnant from three years ago. Maybe not as vicious, but still accompanying him after all these years, every time they saw each other. The first year was catastrophic, the second they both calmed down a bit, and the third they actually managed to lead a normal, reasonable conversation with minimum insults.

Newt wasn’t shy to admit he missed his ex during quiet moments of his life; somehow. He was especially prone to it during his birthday, somehow spending the passing years without Thomas’ company hurt, despite the bad parting. Talking with Thomas with more ease was nostalgic. But his brain always helpfully supplied it was not going to last because they were still the stupid, broken up them deep down.

Not to mention pretending to be lovers just to get Thomas’ parents off his back was lame as fuck. He had no idea why he agreed. Maybe he was lame too.

“I don’t know. We bumped into each other on a party and made out in a closet,” Thomas responded, the smile finally falling off, his eyes glued to the road before him. “And decided to try it again.”

“Ugh.”

“What, you have a better idea?” Thomas shot him a look and Newt snorted.

“We managed to talk normally again and realized we’re still in love with each other?” he offered, just to piss him off. “Since, you know, it happens to normal people?”

“What, sex in the closet does not?” There was that annoyance in Thomas’ voice again Newt knew so well. They usually talked to each other like that – annoyed, nagging, angry, and it wasn’t hard to fall back into it.

“Probably to you,” he averted his eyes from his companion and watched the passing scenery instead. “But I’m not that easy.”

“That’s true,” he heard Thomas whisper, more to himself, and rather buried himself lower into the seat. The fact their intimate life sucked the last month they were together hadn’t been a secret and Newt was very much aware it just sped up the fall of their relationship. But at that point it all felt wrong, and the last thing Newt had wanted was having angry sex, or sex out of obligation, or basically anything intimate without enjoying the other person’s company. Because they sure weren’t enjoying each other for some time already.

Thomas didn’t like it. And he was pretty open about not liking it. But then again, so was Newt.

And then they broke up. It was outside during Christmas, under the lit-up tree on the city square, and Newt still considered it the most unpleasant memory of his life. They were furious, both of them, and the breakup was inevitable, but when it finally came, it wasn’t an explosion full of shouting or accusing as he expected.

Nope, it was quiet, cold and devastating. Seven years down the drain, just like that.

“Let’s go with your version,” he heard Thomas saying roughly. “It happens.”

“Yeah,” he piped, closing his eyes.

In fairy tales.

***

“Oh my god, I knew it!”

It was the first thing that hit them both when the door to the house opened and Thomas’ mother ran out, shrieking like a siren while going straight to Newt and almost suffocated him in an embrace. “I knew you two would get back together, I knew it!”

“There goes the surprise,” Newt managed from the rest of his breath and when she finally released him just to run back to the house to tell the rest of the family the big news, he gasped like he was drowning.

“Good to know she’s as strong as ever,” he croaked, and Thomas hummed and took both of their bags to carry it inside. He had gotten visibly darker and grumpier the closer they got to his hometown and now he almost visibly carried a dark, raining cloud above his head, looking like he just arrived at his own funeral.

Newt followed him inside with surprising ease though, like returning to this place somewhat negated everything Thomas tried to spoil. He had only nice, pleasant memories of this house, and those people, so even if Thomas ought to be a dickhead, he could always enjoy himself here.

“Newt!” a roaring voice welcomed him next, and another crushing hug lifted him from the floor. Thomas’ father was a big, broad guy who could probably lift the house itself, and his jolly personality apparently remained untouched as well.

“Hi there,” the blond greeted him right the moment he got back to the ground, trying to withstand the bear pat that followed. “Haven’t seen you in forever.”

“Likewise!” the big guy cheerily replied. “Glad to see he came back to his senses! Was seriously afraid he’d bring that gloomy goth girl here, I don’t think we have enough black around for that.”

Teresa or Brenda.

“Nah, he still has a thing for blonds,” he replied with a smile and immediately heard Thomas’ scoffing from the living room. The fact that both Teresa and Brenda turned him down must have scarred his ego a lot.

The jab was worth it though.

***

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Anna (Thomas’ mum) patted his arm for about fourth time already since they arrived, her face fond and eyes happy, and it made Newt guilty as hell. They all gathered in the kitchen, which smelled like fantastic food and happy memories. “I swear the breakup was so shocking, we didn’t want to believe it. Tom took it so badly too, I-,”

“Mum,” Thomas’ voice sounded threatening from behind them. “Stop feeding him useless stuff. He just got off work and spent three hours in the car, let him breathe a little.”

She made a face at him but sent Newt an apologetic smile and gave him a muffin. Still tasted as he remembered, and he had to admit those small welcoming bits were the only brakes he had from running away. It wasn’t like Thomas was nasty towards him or anything – he wouldn’t dare since they’d call him out on it – but since they had the talk in the car Newt could feel the uncomfortable tension between them that always ended in an argument.

“You want coffee?” Newt realized Thomas was looking at him now, eyebrows raised, and he just nodded, not trusting himself to say anything.

“I’ll bring it to you, you can go sit with others,” Thomas added as if he couldn’t get rid of him fast enough and Newt didn’t argue with that logic. The moment he left the kitchen and sat between Thomas’ dad and sister, relief washed over him, and he could finally breathe a little easier.

“I thought you’d already be married to somebody decent,” Hannah (Thomas’ little sister) commented while she plastered herself against Newt’s side like she used to do when she was little. Newt haven’t seen her for about four years, give or take, and now she was 14 and apparently full of opinions. “And not wasting your time with him again.”

Him, pointedly looking at her brother who was sneering at her while entering the living room with Newt’s coffee, was seemingly normal occurrence lately, judging from zero reactions from the parents.

“I know, I’ll never learn,” Newt piped in anyway, which made Thomas sneer at him for a change, and almost spilling the coffee on him, not even trying to mask it as an accident.

“Do I have to be the target of your bad jokes?” he glared at them collectively and when Anna arrived after him with dinner, Newt felt nostalgic, like literally nothing changed, and he relaxed into it with more ease than he expected.

He was just glad Thomas was sitting further from him and didn’t need to force himself to act natural. When he reached for the coffee, his favourite taste of it surprised him, but he didn’t meet Thomas’ eyes.

***

“I have to say, you got even cuter,” Anna suddenly said once they were past dinner, Newt couldn’t eat or drink anymore or he would explode and decided to walk it out while helping her bringing dishes to the kitchen and putting them in a dishwasher.

“Anna,” he chuckled. “That’s not what a guy wants to hear.”

“I’m just saying,” she had a genuine smile on her face. “I feared I’d never get to see you here ever again. I know you don’t really want to talk about the breakup and all…”

She stopped for a second, her eyes searching, and Newt hated how strangely painful it made him feel. He sincerely hoped it didn’t show on his face.

“I just want you to know I’m happy you two got back together,” she concluded, which meant it definitely showed on Newt’s face and she saw it. “I know you must have your reasons back then and everything, but I’m just… so glad for you two. And I wish you’d visit more often as well.”

Newt’s chest tightened like he was about to have a heart-attack and he had to push the guilt back down with the power of his sheer will alone, right in front of her trusting, hopeful eyes, like he was disarming a ticking bomb with 10 seconds on the countdown. He expected maybe some initial awkwardness, or some of them poke fun at how they finally got their shit back together after three years, but this wasn’t the plan and he hated how he wanted to hide behind Thomas’ back and just push him to deal with this instead.

“Yeah,” he gulped down the rising agony. “We absolutely should.”

Liar.

“You were always such a great kid,” she pushed herself from the kitchen counter and pulled him into a tight, heartfelt hug. Tears almost spilled out of Newt’s eyes when she squeezed him with loving gentleness he didn’t want to feel again to know what he was missing. “We all love you so much. Thank you for coming back.”

He couldn’t stop the guilt anymore and quietly wept into her shoulder, praying to any higher power for her not to notice.

***

It wasn’t an escape. He did not run away like a coward the moment he could. He didn’t light up his cigarette outside on a porch with trembling hands because he couldn’t get his nerves under control. It just happened. He just felt like it. He just needed the fresh air, nothing else.

He thought, maybe if he kept telling himself that, the tears would eventually stop and he wouldn’t be sniffling anymore into the night, with sky sprinkled with stars and air cold enough to make his face feel like ice.

He heard the door opening only vaguely, his eyes stinging, until the automatic light flashed above him, signalizing a movement nearby. He noticed Thomas too late, he realized when he started pathetically wiping away tears into his sleeve.

“You okay?” Thomas asked a bit abundantly, seeing the state of his, but Newt had to admit there weren’t many other questions to ask anyway.

“Yeah,” Newt sniffled, trying to get his feelings under control, but failing miserably. “Sorry… just. Give me a few, I’ll be fine.”

Thomas took a step closer, and Newt hated how he flinched at that.

“Mum told you something?”

He had an unreadable face, Newt thought. Neutral and careful and Newt couldn’t say what he was thinking. He hated how the ability of reading this man just disappeared like the rest of their history.

“Nothing bad,” he shook his head and brought the cigarette to his lips, inhaling shortly. His hands still trembled but not as badly anymore. “Are they worried?”

“Not yet, I think,” Thomas replied quietly, glancing towards the door, then sighed. “I guess it’s… kind of painful.”

“Kind of,” Newt agreed softly. “But it reminds me how nice it was when it lasted.”

“Yeah,” Thomas finally glanced at him, his eyes a bit warmer. “It was amazing.”

Newt felt a lump in his throat forming, and the more Thomas was looking at him, the worse it got, until he couldn’t really stand it. So he offered a small, apologetic smile, put the cigarette out and returned back to the house with buzzing in his head and weird pressure in his chest.

The mischievous grins Thomas’ family gave him once he reappeared in the living room never felt so wrong.

***

Newt didn’t really plan on it, but since the night progressed and his company slowly started leaving for the night, he eventually fell asleep on the couch in the living room. He thought he heard somebody trying to wake him while softly saying his name, but he was too exhausted to rise to the challenge and just let his eyes close shut.

The last thing he noticed was sudden warmth engulfing him, like being hugged by a fluffy animal and then he was out like a light.

He dreamed of first loves and heartbreaks.

***

“You’re being 17 only once in your life, man, cheer up a little!”

Newt grumpily looked at the shot he was given with liquid of unknown origin and then back at Minho, who was grinning at him encouragingly, already drunk enough to be considered not the most reliable source of what fun is. Newt couldn’t say he liked the taste of any alcohol he tried so far, and even though Minho made it look like it’s the most delicious thing he ever had, every cup tasted like spirit and burned unpleasantly.

Sure, he was 17 today. Sure, he tried alcohol because everybody did to celebrate, but every time they looked away, he just poured the rest of his cup into something that could hold it (the cactus probably wasn’t happy about it and Newt mentally apologized to the plant when he disposed of the rest of his beer in its pot).

“Lemme take that from you,” a sudden movement on his side caused the small glass to be taken from his hand, and then a brown-haired boy downed the drink like it was water. Newt had no idea who he was, but since he saved him from possible vomit-inducing moments, he immediately liked him.

“My saviour,” he grinned once the boy tossed the empty glass back to Minho who barely caught it. The boy smiled back at him, his big, brown eyes warm and honestly really pretty.

“Thomas,” he introduced himself. “I take it you’re the birthday boy. Newt, right?”

“Right,” the blond nodded in agreement. “You here with Ben?”

It was just a guess, but he vaguely remembered Ben mentioned something about bringing friends over and Newt didn’t mind. The more people present, the easier would it be for him to disappear at some point to avoid being cornered with other alcoholic beverages.

“Yep,” Thomas nodded with a cute smile. Newt wondered if he was already at least a little drunk to be so easily charmed. “I know I should have brought a gift, since it’s your b-day and all, but I kinda came empty handed. Sorry about that.”

“Preposterous,” Newt faked a shock, hand on his chest and laughter bubbling in his throat, but Thomas was already fishing through his pockets as if he was searching for something to give, and that made him laugh for real. “It’s fine, Tommy. You saved me from alcohol poisoning, you have a free pass.”

“That’s lame though,” Thomas objected unhappily and then finally found his phone in his back pocket, looking at Newt expectantly. “Can I at least get your number? I swear I will make it up to you.”

Normally Newt would argue he didn’t need anything, for real, don’t sweat it, but the more he was looking into Thomas’ eyes, the more his common sense refused to work, and caving in was so, so easy.

“Sweet,” Thomas smiled happily when he saved the contact and then slung his arm around Newt’s shoulders, leaned close and took a quick photo of them both on his phone. “You won’t regret it.”

“I know I won’t,” Newt said, and he meant it.

***

He woke up with his head painfully pounding, like he slept too long or too short. In a moment of confusion of his whereabouts one glance across the empty but messy living room from yesterday’s festivities gave him the answer he sought – he was in hell and it smelled like pancakes.

He gingerly sat up, analysing the situation carefully, until his eyes stopped at the clock showing 12:04 and Newt refused to believe them. He couldn’t have possibly slept till noon, right? Thomas was playing a prank at him by rewinding the clock or something, there was simply no way. He usually woke up at 7, if he really had a deficit then 9 the latest and felt guilty about it. Twelve sounded like a bad joke.

Then again, his body was so sore it made sense. He had a crick in his neck, his legs felt wooden and stiff and there were creases from the couch everywhere on his naked skin. He had a soft, fluffy blanket draped around his body he didn’t remember even seeing yesterday but was grateful for anyway.

“Fuck,” he breathed out in mortification. “What am I even doing?”

“Having a zombie march, I’d say,” a voice interrupted his inner freak out mercilessly and he turned around too fast for his poor head to comprehend and world spun for a moment. “Thought you died or something, geez. Since when you sleep so long?”

Thomas was slowly walking towards him with a tray, trying to balance the cups with coffee on it, and once he successfully set it down, there was only a small puddle under one, so still a success. He brought pancakes and muffins Anna baked and Newt didn’t feel like his appetite was up to this.

“I dunno,” the blond rubbed his eyes sleepily. “I guess I wasn’t really sleeping as much these past few days…”

“Your back must hate you though,” Thomas glanced at the sofa pointedly. “Only sitting for too long on this torture device is painful.”

“Eh,” Newt shrugged. “I’ve had worse.”

“Well, you look like shit, so not much worse,” Thomas didn’t spare him, smirking at Newt’s apparently dishevelled appearance and he just flipped him off.

“Have a pancake, you’ll feel better,” Thomas pushed the tray closer.

“Maybe later,” Newt untangled himself from the blanked instead. “I need a bath.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

Newt mentally slapped Thomas so hard his face landed in the pancake cushion. In reality he just scoffed and wobbled out of the living room at the sound of his ex’ snickering.

***

Nobody really commented on Newt’s faux pas of passing out on the couch until it was time for lunch, but they did comment on his food habits (or better on having none). He barely ever ate breakfast in the morning, so he didn’t eat the fluffy pancakes, or the muffins Thomas brought him, but he did drink the coffee. Before he could even properly digest that Anna was already serving lunch and he had no way how to wiggle himself out of that one.

The rest of the day passed like a blur and when the evening came Anna was chasing him to the bed the first moment he yawned.

“You’re not going to ruin your back on this monstrosity!” she was pushing him up the stairs with Thomas behind her, laughing at them. “I don’t understand how we didn’t buy a new one yet, but now we have to, or you’d wreck yourself on it!”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Newt tried to argue, but she was having none of it and finally stopped in front of Thomas’ room, which… was an obvious choice, but Newt felt his blood running cold at the sight of the familiar area.

“I prepared clean towels and everything,” she pointed at a fluffy pile on Thomas’ desk. “Good night!”

“Yeah…” the blond barely got that out and she was already leaving, calling to others downstairs to help her choose a new couch so she could immediately order it online.

“Well, at least we’ll get rid of that relic,” Thomas commented while entering the bedroom as well, all smiles like he didn’t realize there was one bed, them broken up and Newt’s absolute horror.

“We’re not sleeping in the same bed, are we,” Newt ignored him with eyes fixed at the lodging in the room and Thomas crossed his arms on his chest, his lips in a wide grin.

“What, I clearly remember you saying there is nothing embarrassing about me anymore, since you heard me fart and all.”

“Oh god, shut up,” Newt wished his words were a spell and came true, but of course they didn’t work on Thomas, since he started laughing like a hyena. Anna naturally would let them both sleep in Thomas’ room, it was an obvious choice, but he sure hated it.

Thomas’ room was the same as Newt remembered it, but it made sense, since Thomas had his own place in the city for years. His family had no reason to change it, let it be the queen-sized bed, the blue-ish walls and sleek black furniture hugging the place. It had no sofa, which was the core of the problem for one of them and Newt’s regret of saying yes returned in full force.

“It’s not like it’s a small bed,” Thomas commented matter-of-factly once he had his fill of fun and sat at the edge of the incriminated furniture, obviously taunting him.

“It’s not like I care,” Newt bit out and circled the bed in disdain. “Sleep on the floor for what I care.”

“But it’s my bed,” Thomas argued with badly concealed glee. Newt guessed it was because now he could make fun of him now, which must have made him feel good after being a target of little quips from his family for two days. “If you don’t like me in it, you go sleep on the floor.”

“I’m a guest in here,” Newt crossed his arms on his chest. “Don’t you have any manners? Not to mention you owe me for coming here and playing your lying game.”

“It has nothing to do with manners or me owing you, you’re just being a stubborn ass as always,” Thomas corrected him and clearly didn’t feel like being merciful, especially when he just flopped onto the mattress and looked at Newt expectantly. “So, let’s calm down and get some sleep. I promise I won’t attack you until you’re awake again.”

“Shut up, jerk face,” Newt barked at him and grabbed the towel Anna left there, turning to leave for the bathroom, definitely not running away. “As if I’d bloody let you.”

“Mhmmm.” Thomas’ face was grinning, and Newt wanted to set his guts on fire.

Goddamn, fuck this all.

***

Of course Thomas already laid under the covers, one arm under his head, other holding his phone and leisurely scrolling through it. The room was bathing in darkness, outside of the small lamp on the bedside table. Newt still remember that lamp from years ago, and how they almost broke it when Newt accidentally knocked it over when they were having sex… here… okay, that particular memory really didn’t need to resurface right now.

“I know right,” Thomas suddenly spoke, looking at Newt pointedly. “I was surprised that thing still works too. Got banged so badly.”

“Hmm…”

“Not the only thing that got banged though,” of course the fucker had to add, and Newt tossed his shirt he was holding at him. Only got small laugh in response and then his shirt got dropped carelessly on the floor, left crumpled there like trash. Newt wanted to kick Thomas’ ass so bad he almost reached for his whole bag to hit him with it.

“Going to stand there whole night?” Thomas was acting smugly because he had an upper hand for now, the blond knew the tactics very well. Just milking the moment until one of them snap, he sure hadn’t changed. Newt seriously considered to just leave and sleep in the car if he had to.

“Are you going to be this insufferable the whole week?” he seethed, and Thomas shrugged.

“Define insufferable. Don’t feel like I am any of that.”

“Alright, then I’ll leave tomorrow,” Newt countered him, because he was honestly too tired already and couldn’t think of anything that would make Thomas to fall from his high horse for just one second. Or just show some understanding, because the moment they got in his room he made sure to make Newt as uncomfortable as possible. “You can tell your parents whatever you want, I don’t care.”

“Are you seriously throwing a tantrum over us sleeping in one bed?” Thomas sat up while putting his phone away and he had this old Star Wars shirt Newt got him for his 20th birthday and it was like a punch in his gut.

“Yes,” Newt just said and the warmth from the bath was slowly dissipating from his body, leaving him chilled and miserable.

“We slept together for 7 years,” Thomas objected with a small frown. “It’s not like you don’t know me. Or how I sleep.”

“It’s not like it matters in this situation.”

“I told you I won’t do anything,” another argument and Newt shook his head. He wasn’t even worried he would try anything; they were way past that phase anyway. It was just… so uncomfortable. “Jesus, Newt, please be reasonable. It’s cold, you’re shivering like a wet dog over there, I have perfectly normal, warm bed and we won’t even be touching. I don’t know what kind of block you have in your head, but can you just let it go for tonight and come here before you catch a cold and blame it on me too?”

“I-,” Newt couldn’t even start when a soft knock stopped him mid speech and the door opened few seconds later with Anna between them, smiling. Probably chaperoning, he would guess if he had a coherent thought.

“Just wanted to ask if you want chicken or steak for tomorrow lunch,” she chirped and Newt could almost see the loading screen in front of his eyes, for how much he couldn’t comprehend the sudden topic change.

“Go lie down, you’ll freeze out here,” she immediately noticed him standing there barefooted and pushed him gently towards the bed. “Do you want another blanket? I know you’re always cold. Thomas brought the fluffy one downstairs yesterday, should I fetch it?”

“It’s fine, I have two in here already,” Thomas interjected immediately and before Newt could react anyhow, Thomas reached for his hand and pulled him onto the mattress. “Will warm him up if that wouldn’t be enough.”

“Just try to be quiet, will you,” Anna seized them both in disapproving stare and Newt felt sick in his stomach. “So what. Chicken or steak?”

“I vote for steaks!” Thomas immediately shot out and Newt still didn’t understand what was even important about food in this situation, so he just nodded dumbly, and then Anna was leaving with good night and disappeared behind the door again, plunging the room into silence.

He could hear Thomas’ breathing close to his own and finally understood he lost this fight without much of a battle happening.

“Can we sleep now?” he heard Thomas ask, so he just slinked under covers and turned his back towards the man, feeling vulnerable and stupid at the same time.

***

They didn’t talk about the night. They didn’t really talk at all during the day, since when Newt woke up, Thomas was already gone, and Hannah mentioned something about him and his dad leaving early in the morning for whatever reason.

Newt hated how relieved he felt.

He spent most of the day with Anna making lunch and dodging questions about him and Thomas’ breakup and reconciliation. Anna didn’t pry as much as he feared she would, but she obviously wanted to know what happened three years ago and he had no nice answer for her, so he just kept it vague.

We stopped talking to each other properly.

We felt like we needed a break.

No, there was no bad blood between us, really. Absolutely no arguments that would cut too deep, I assure you. We just needed some time. We’re back together now after all, right.

The lies twisted so painfully on his tongue he was grateful when Thomas finally got back at 4PM and Anna’s attention turned to him instead. When the day progressed, Brian (Thomas’ dad) sat them all in the living room in the evening and opened his favourite bottle of whiskey he kept for special occasions.

They lit up fire in the fireplace and Anna brought over snacks, and just sitting there and chilling felt soothing to Newt’s guiltiness eating him up from within.

“We just sealed the deal with a new partner today,” Brian said in a booming voice when he was pouring a glass to Newt who was sincerely relieved his special occasion wasn’t Thomas and him dating again. Because that sure would send him out of the room quick, he could handle only that much before snapping.

“That’s fantastic,” he gingerly accepted the glass and watched Thomas doing to same when offered, wondering if he could somehow dump his own drink into his glass without being suspicious. They sat too wide apart though, with Thomas between his parents and Newt felt the gap deeply.

“That’s right! It means more work, but it’s going to be worth it!” Brian nodded happily and poured glass to Anna as well. When Hannah came with her own, he shooed at her to get juice instead, at which she pouted. “We were dealing with them on and off for about a year, so when they agreed to be a permanent supplier, it’s gonna make a difference.”

“You should invite the CEO for dinner,” Anna added to it and Brian immediately agreed. “But for now, cheers!”

Newt smiled and raised his glass as well, but his throat already hated it in advance. Once he sipped the wood-scented drink, he forced himself to remain passive and not make a disgusted face that was forcing its way up, grateful Anna and Brian were too busy planning what food to choose for the business dinner.

“Oh my god, can you stop shouting in my ear?” Thomas suddenly stood up when his dad leaned over him to his mum for umpteenth time. “Go sit next to her! Geez. I’m not a cushion you can bulldozer over.”

Brian laughed and pushed himself towards his wife on Thomas’ spot, which left Thomas to sit next to Newt with an unceremonious plop.

“I thought maybe cream cake for dessert?” Anna was brainstorming loudly in meantime. “Right, Newt? You always liked the cake.”

“Oh yeah, loved it,” Newt quickly switched his attention to her from Thomas’ sudden warmth next to him. “Think it’s a great idea for the dessert.”

“See!” Anna beamed at Brian happily and Newt flinched when his glass got bumped suddenly and he almost dropped it before he realized it was Thomas’ own glass touching it now.

“Pour some over,” he mumbled towards the blond quietly. “Before they notice and start pestering you about quality of well-aged alcohol.”

“Thanks…” he piped gratefully and hastily splashed most of his glass’ contents away. He noticed Hannah was looking at them, but she only rolled her eyes and started arguing with the parents that beef was no better than pork for the main dish.

“She’d drink it instead if she had a chance,” Thomas whispered towards him. “Going to be a fucking alcoholic before she reaches twenty.”

“Weren’t you the same though,” Newt objected automatically, and Thomas sipped his now almost full glass with a smirk.

“Never minded the taste, yeah,” he shrugged while licking his lips. Newt would believe from his expression the drink tasted good, if he didn’t know better. “I still like beer more though. This can easily knock me out of my socks if I’m not careful.”

“Mm.”

“You slept well?”

Newt stiffed at the question, as he expected he would if Thomas was going to breach it, and then forced his body to relax again while gripping his almost empty glass firmly.

“Fine,” he only uttered.

“Are we going to have a problem again tonight then or is it fine?” he heard Thomas asking in low voice and refused to meet his eyes. The night was alright, he slept more or less okay too, but that didn’t pose a problem in the first place, and Thomas knew it. Newt couldn’t say if it was Thomas’ way of being petty or getting revenge, but it sure bothered Newt like a thorn in his side.

“Can’t possibly kick you off, when your mum likes to check up on us,” he mumbled with a quick glance towards Anna, still in heated debate over food with the rest of the family. “So let’s pretend it’s fine.”

“I’m not pretending anything,” Thomas scoffed. “I don’t mind sharing a bed. It’s not like you’re a stranger.”

“Sure.”

“Hmm,” Thomas let out and then moved again, lifting his legs and deposited them rudely on Newt’s lap while leaning against the side of his dad who barely even noticed.

“Sure then,” he was grinning when Newt shot him a glare. “Love of my life.”

“I swear I’ll murder you,” Newt gritted through his teeth and refused to acknowledge how his heart thumped when Thomas smiled at him like he just said something overly sweet.

“Looking forward to it,” the brunet responded instead while sipping their shared drink and Newt twisted his big toe in revenge. Sadly, it didn’t have much of an effect.

***

“What the fuck happened to you over those years, jesus fuck!” If anybody asked, Newt didn’t sound like a naggy wife scolding her husband, no sir. “You can’t hold your liquor for shit!”

“Whaaa-,” Thomas’ attempt to sound offended interrupted a loud burp and then fit of laughter, all that when he was plastered over Newt’s back who was unceremoniously dragging him back to his room.

“If you throw up over my back, you’re dead,” he warned the drunkard coldly and Thomas let out hehehe but didn’t deny it. Newt suspected him he could walk just fine but wanted to be as obnoxious as possible, so Newt would have to take care of him in front of his amused parents who left them to it. Newt would be much happier if Thomas’ dad would toss his son to the bed one armed, because he definitely could, and wouldn’t leave Newt to fight with the deadweight all alone, but then again maybe it was for the best.

True enough, Thomas had in total of four and half glasses full of whiskey, even though Brian laughed at him to get drunk after three shots. Naturally didn’t know every time he poured Newt a fresh batch, even though Newt tried to tell him no thanks, he secretly dumped it into Thomas’ glass who drank it, just to get refilled from Brian again as well, and that went until the bottle was empty and Thomas started giggling.

Which led them to the situation at hand – with Newt dragging his ex up the stairs and to his room – their room – while swearing like a sailor, and then just dumping him onto the bed like a sack of potatoes where Thomas landed with soft oof.

“Why’s the room sp’nning…?” he heard the muffled question shortly after, looking at Thomas’ boneless form of a dead drunk with his face half buried in covers. “Make it stooop~.”

“You feel like barfing?” he asked instead of reacting to the drunk observation and Thomas groaned, then tried to push himself up, just to fail miserably. He tried two more times until he realized he really couldn’t get up because his arms wouldn’t support him, and just had to worm his way up to the pillow by crawling. Which was almost painful to watch, honestly.

“Neeeewt.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” the blond buried his face to his hands until another whine of his name came and he walked to the bed and pushed Thomas on his back instead. That got him a sloppy grin in return in a drunk haze.

“Hi,” the drunkard slurred. “How’re ya?”

“Sucky,” Newt answered while crossing his arms on his chest.

“Oh noooo…” another whine. “Whyyy?”

“Have to take care of one smashed idiot,” Newt nudged Thomas’ side with his knee, earning another giggle. He couldn’t say he had experience with drunk Thomas – or at least with this much drunk Thomas. If he ever got inebriated enough to be considered wasted, he just passed out, usually. But today’s drunk Thomas sure had some annoying stamina and kept himself awake for too long.

“I’ll protect you from ‘im,” Thomas managed to reach out with his hand, grabbing at Newt’s sweater. “C’me to the bed.”

“I think you need a bucket first,” Newt let him pawn his sweater with a sigh.

“Mkay.” The hand on his sweater stayed, grabbing randomly, until it dropped to Newt’s thigh where it lightly squeezed, and Thomas let an appraising hum. “You got thinner.”

“It’s just your imagination,” Newt pushed the hand away and it bounced back onto the mattress. “Get changed, I’ll be right back.”

“Nooo…”

He ignored the whine and left the bedroom with a lump in his throat. Drunk Thomas could be bad for his conscience.

***

He got back half an hour later, after a bath and finding a bucket he could deposit at the edge of the bed, in hope Thomas didn’t manage to throw up in meantime. He found him sleeping sprawled over the mattress, right in the middle, still in the same clothes and smelling like a liquor store. There was no barf anywhere at least.

“Sweet,” he sighed while putting the bucket near Thomas’ possible trajectory of his head if he felt like bending over and vomiting. “Glad we had this talk about sleeping together, huh.”

He slowly crawled onto the bed, careful not to wake Thomas up (though judging by his occasional snores it wasn’t happening) and slid under the blanket as much as Thomas’ weight allowed him.

In hindsight… there was no way he could be mad at him anyway, for today. No matter how drunk the man got, he still remembered how Newt didn’t like alcohol and Newt hated how it warmed his jaded heart.

He fell asleep eventually, dreaming of grabby hands and sad smiles.

***

“Your mum is going to hear us, you ass!”

“Don’t care.”

“Tommy!”

No response, only hot lips on his neck, licking and biting and pampering it with kisses and Newt just remained pinned against the door of Thomas’ room, taking the weight of his boyfriend against his body and roaming hands grabbing at his butt and then traveling to his thigh, hiking it up to settle against Thomas’s hip. His heart was beating so loud he couldn’t hear anything else, just thump thump thump of his blood roaring, and Thomas’s sweet nothings he was murmuring to Newt’s ear in a rough voice.

“I want you so much,” Thomas whispered when unbuckling Newt’s pants, sliding his hand under them against hot, naked skin, and Newt couldn’t hold back a moan, he just needed him closer, he needed to kiss him, to touch him, to get him inside-

“Fuck, you’re so hot,” Thomas bit out, voice strained, and Newt let him to lift him up and carry him towards the bed, their lips meeting in a messy, frantic kiss. It was painful, it was rushed, but it was what Newt needed, the brutal strength of Thomas’ body pushing into him and his own breathy moans coming out when their lips parted, and he heard a dull thud at some point when he was trying to hold onto the bedpost once Thomas thrusted into him so strong it made him see stars, but he didn’t care about anything else but pleasure and pain and adoration he felt when he was with him-

Newt woke up with a start, his body hot and aroused, and he felt on fire and caged and painfully hard. He could barely catch a breath when he noticed arms slung possessively around his torso and waist pushing him insistently against warm body behind him, waking up all his senses one by one like Christmas lights.

It took him a moment, the initial confusion clearing like a fog from his mind, making him realize Thomas was cuddling him from behind, one of his hands got under Newt’s shirt and was spread across his naked belly possessively.

“Shit,” he couldn’t stop himself from cursing and attempted to disentangle, but it only made Thomas to clutch to him harder, like a defence mechanism, unwilling to let go. He tried to push away one of the arms holding him, but Thomas slung a leg over his hips in response, trapping him even more.

“Don’t leave,” a sleepy voice sliced the silence and Newt stiffened once he felt hot lips on the back of his neck, mouthing there persistently.

“Thomas-.” He tried to turn around but couldn’t move an inch and Thomas bit down slightly, sending shivers down Newt’s spine.

“Mmm…” he heard the hum, and then the tense weight relaxed once Thomas fell asleep again, and Newt didn’t dare to move anymore.

It was going to be a long night and Newt refused to acknowledge the little voice in the back of his head screaming for relief by Thomas’ hand.

[lethal-k]

Mi Corazón (JHS)

Hey all! Amanda here! I think I’m in love with this couple. I usually try not to define my character’s race, ethnicity, or nationality, but I really wanted to base this imagine loosely on my family’s old block parties. Plus, the lack of Hispanic representation within American literature is crazy, but it’s getting better as each day goes by! I just wanted to contribute to that! If you’re interested in me making imagines based on other cultures or anything, feel free to request it, just know that it may not be as rooted as this one, simply because this is my own heritage and I will have to do a lot of research on other cultures before diving in. Anyway, I also wanted an excuse to write an imagine where one of the members has to dance to Latin music because Latin music is so romantic. Hobi just seemed to fit the theme I was going for. Anyway, if you like this imagine please heart it, reblog it, and follow me! I love y’all, stay safe, and borahae <3

Genre: established relationship! au, fluff

Pairing: Hoseok x reader

Word Count: 4.3K

Warnings: swearing, google-translated Spanish, pining and simping, mentions of cartels and gangs, small mentions of immigration, literally one of the most endearing couples I have ever written.

Summary: Y/n takes Hobi to meet her family at one of their famous Miami block parties. 

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  “What if they don’t accept me..” Hobi mutters while you guys search for a parking spot on the street.

  You glance at him, “What do you mean? What is there to not like about you?” You flash him a smile before returning your attention to the street, “This is ridiculous, I’m literally their child, I should get VIP parking for God’s sake.” you mutter while shaking your head. 

  Hoseok chuckles at you, “There’s one,” He points out a spot and you quickly start parking in between the two cars. He sort of deflates in his passenger seat while looking at the street lined with cars and the house that bustled with life. “What if they don’t accept me because I’m Korean? What if they think I’m not good enough for you because I can’t speak Spanish or dance well like you? What if they think my career is too much and that I won’t be able to take care of you?” He expresses his worries out loud. 

  You put the car in park before turning to face him in the seat. Leaning towards him, you grab his chin in your hand and squish his cheeks together. “Don’t worry, mi amor. My family moved into the U.S. from Mexico so they know what it feels like to not fully know a language while surrounded by English-speakers. They won’t judge you.”

  “Bu-” he tried to cut in.

  “Shh,” you shush him and put your finger on his lips, “I taught you different latin dance styles last week and you caught on super quickly. You’re making an effort to learn my language and they already know I can damn well take care of my own self but if they mention anything negative about your career then I will step in and tell them off. Okay? Stop worrying, they will love you.” He sighed and nodded, looking a little nervous. “Good, now let us go.” You give him a quick peck before getting out of the car. 

  Your parents had moved into the U.S. from the dangerous city of Culiacán, Sinaloa in Mexico in 1992. Six years before you were born. They had moved due to the dangers of the infamous Sinaloa cartel. They decided, instead, to settle down in Miami, Florida. Where they had you, your little brother, and your baby brother and sister. The youngest two are twins. You are their oldest child, now at age 22. Your little brother, Pedro, is now 19 and the twins, Miguel and Rosalína, are both 15. All of you grew up in the house that you and your boyfriend of 11 months are walking up to now. 

  Two years ago, you had moved to Seoul, Korea in hopes of reaching your dream to become a fashion designer. You chose South Korea because, well c’mon, Korean fashion is to die for. It also was not as cliche as New York, California, or Paris. A year and some months into living in Seoul, you met Hobi. Of course you knew who he was, but you treated him as any individual, which he took a liking to. Fast forward another month or two and you two started dating and now you are here, walking on your childhood street, up to your childhood home, about to meet your family and childhood friends. Yeah, you could say today was pretty special. 

  You two were walking up when all of a sudden a young woman who seemed to be the same age popped up in front of you both. “Y/n!!” She squealed.

Your smile grew wide and you pulled the girl into a bone-crushing hug, “Ay, Carlita! Cómo has estado?” 

  “Bien, bien.” She smiled back before glancing at your boyfriend, “Who is this?”

  You looked next to you and saw Hobi standing there, hands behind his back, and a shy smile on his face. You held out your hand towards him and he quickly took it, “Carlita, this is my boyfriend, Hoseok. Hobi, this is my childhood best friend, Carlita.”

  She smiled warmly before holding out her hand which he shook, “Hello there! It’s nice to finally meet the mysterious boyfriend.”

  Hobi chuckled and nodded at her, “It’s nice to meet you too.” His accent came out a bit and you smiled at his shy behavior.

  “Would you happen to know where everyone else is?” You asked, sort of wanting to get introductions done and over with so you can party with your boyfriend and family. 

  She shrugged, “I know that Pedro is playing video games with the boys in his room, I have no idea where everyone else is at.” 

  You sighed and shook your head while smirking, “That boy and his video games.”

  Carlita giggled at you before walking off, “Well welcome back home and it was nice to meet you, Hoseok! Maybe we can catch up more later but right now I have to stop Tío Edgardo from skateboarding. Old man claims that he is trying to regain his youth.” she rolls her eyes.

  You laughed at her and nodded. 

  “She seems nice.” Hobi commented in Korean.

  You smiled at him before grabbing his hand, “C’mon, let's go meet my little brother.”

  The two of you walked throughout your home before coming to a door in the hallway. You open it without knocking and low and behold, there is Pedro and a couple of friends playing Mario Kart. From the looks of it, your brother is losing terribly.

  “Pedroo.” You sing out his name in hopes of getting his attention.

  “What is it?” He asks, not looking up from the screen. You scoff at his reaction.

  “What? No, ‘hello sister’, ‘how are you sister’, ‘who is that man with you sister’” You tease.

  He shrugs, “Dude. Mario Kart. Priorities.”

  Your jaw drops and Hobi starts laughing hysterically. “This is what I get after saving your ass from mom and dad for years. The complete and utter disrespect.” You say, mocking offense with your hand on your heart.

  He smirks at your comment but his eyes remain glued to the screen, “Yeah yeah whatever. I’ll talk to you later outside, close the door on your way out.” 

  You shake your head, “I’ll hold you to that!” You yell as you close the door. 

  Hobi looks at you with a raised eyebrow and the same smirk that Pedro wore, “Have you two always been like that?”

  You nodded and giggled, “Yeah, pretty much.” He shook his head at you and wrapped his arms around your waist, walking behind you back into the main area of the house. 

  The two of you passed a couple of neighbors, all of them who greeted both of you with open arms and hands full of alcohol. You lead him through the kitchen, not glancing at your surroundings. You are about to walk to the backyard before you hear a familiar voice.

  “Ah, mi hija, si sales por esa puerta sin saludar, no dudaré en conseguir mi chancleta.” (Ah, my daughter, if you walk out that door without saying hello, I won’t hesitate to get my flip flop.) You freeze at the sound of your mother’s voice and turn around to find her staring at you with a pointed look. You smile sheepishly and shrug your shoulders before waving at her.

  “Hi, mama.” The look she was giving you faded off her face and transformed into a smile. You walked over to her and gave her a hug. She pulled you in, wrapping her arms around you tighter. You sighed in content, realizing how much you missed her and your home. The picture of her in the kitchen, glaring at you, and threatening you with her flip flop put you on a nostalgia trip. Although you wouldn’t trade your life right now for the world - a beautiful penthouse apartment with your boyfriend in the middle of South Korea’s capital - you did find yourself missing the smell of huevos con carne and chorizo that drifted throughout your home. You found yourself missing the melodic voice of Romeo Santos on Sunday mornings that indicated it was time to wake up and start cleaning. You found yourself missing the company of your siblings and the embrace of your parents. But as said before, you are currently living a wonderful life in Seoul, with your career progressing fast and the man of your dreams right beside you. 

  “I’ve missed you, you barely call anymore.” She scolds you while simultaneously pulling you into her even more.

  You nuzzle your face into her shoulder, “I’ve missed you too, mama. I promise to try calling more often.”

  You pulled away to smile at her, only to find her checking out your boyfriend from head to toe. “Ay, hija. ¿Quién es ese buen pedazo de culo que trajiste?” (Who is that fine piece of ass you brought with you?)

  Your eyes widened and you lightly smacked her arm, “Mama!” 

  She giggled and looked at you, “What?” she complained.

  You sighed and shook your head. You glanced over to Hobi to find him smiling warmly at you and your mom, despite not knowing what you two are saying.

  “Mama, this is Hoseok. My boyfriend.” You said, putting emphasis on the word boyfriend.

  He awkwardly smiled at her and waved, “Hello ma’am.” 

She smiled warmly at him while walking over, pulling him into a hug. You laughed at Hobi’s shocked face and little ‘oof’ at the strength of her pull.

  “Call me mama, ma’am makes me feel old.” Hobi smiled at her acceptance and hugged her back, looking to you for reassurance. You give him a quick thumbs up before she let him go and turned to you. “While the two of you are here, mind helping me carry out these dishes to the table outside?”

  You scoffed, “I’ve been here for a matter of 10 minutes and you are already putting me to work like I’m 12 again.”

  She smiled and shook her head, “It’s cause you always act like you’re 12, hija, now get let's make use of your boyfriend and his muscles and carry these enchiladas to the table.”

  You laughed at her antics before translating to Hobi what his task was and putting the tray of food in his hands. You grabbed a plate of tortas and she grabbed the empanadas before you started heading out. 

  “Thank you, hija, Hobi. I will see you both later, I have to go yell at Pedro for hiding away in his room.” She walks off, shaking your head and you smile at her retreating figure.

  “Your whole family seems nice so far.” He said, taking you into his arms and holding you. You giggled and pulled back slightly.

  “They’ll be your family soon too, hopefully.” You whispered, giving him a quick peck on the lips.

  He smiled and nodded, “And I cannot wait for the day that they do.” 

  You blushed at his confession before your eye catches two heads of hair that were identical by the pool. You smiled at Hobi and took his hand in yours, leading him towards the edge of the pool.

  “Rosa! Miguel!” You exclaim and stand behind them. Rosalína looks up at you from behind her glasses and smiles.

  “Hey sis!” You hug her from behind and she holds your arm. You pull away and look at Miguel expectantly, only to find that his eyes are somewhere else. You follow his gaze to a very familiar girl and smirk. 

  Rosa smacks him on the back of the head and he flinches, glaring at her. She nods her head towards you and Hobi and he looks at you two before smiling sheepishly. “Oh hey, Y/n..” You kept smirking at him and his face flushed red under your gaze. 

  “Still being a simp, I see.” You tease. He looks away, face turning 10 shades redder.

  “Shut up.” He trailed off.

  Hobi tapped your waist, pulling your attention to him. He tilted his head in confusion. “What joke am I missing?” He asked.

  Rosa snorted. She turned her head towards Hobi, catching his attention. “You see that girl over there, with the blonde hair?” She said and pointed. He nodded slowly, following the direction and looking at the girl. “Her name is Lucy. Miguel here has been pining after her for like- 5 years. Since we were 10! Can you believe that? I say he should just grow some balls and tell her that he likes her.” 

  You laughed at her choice of words while Hobi smirked. Miguel shoved her side in embarrassment. 

  “I’m not pining,” he glared at her before glancing at you, “Nor am I simping.” He trailed off while looking at Lucy before glancing at Hobi, “She is just super pretty and totally out of my league.”

  You smirked and looked at him, “Nah man, you’re totally simping.”

  “Literally, shut up, Y/n.” He said, crossing his arms and pouting.

  Hoseok smirked and laughed, “No, you should totally do it, kid. You only live once and the worst is that she’ll say no. But if she says yes…” He trailed off, leaving the rest to Miguel’s imagination. 

  Rosa high-fived Hobi, “Thank you! I’ve only been saying that for years! I’m Rosalína by the way, but you can call me Rosa. This idiot over here is Miguel.” She introduced herself.

  Hoseok smiled at her, “I’m Hobi, Y/n’s boyfriend.”

  “You’re in that one band, right? BTS?” she asked, tilting her head.

  He nodded, “Yep, that’s me.”

  “Nice,” She nodded, “I like your song Dope.”

  He smiled, “Thank you.”

  You watched the interaction with a big smile on your face. It seemed that your boyfriend was becoming more comfortable. And that couldn’t make you any happier. 

  You shook your head at your thoughts before looking towards your sister, “Hey Rosa, where is dad, anyway? I want to introduce him to Hobi.”

  She rolled her eyes, “Where do you think?” She snorted and nodded her head towards the make-shift dance floor. A few people moved out of the way to reveal your father, Modelo in hand, dancing merengue to Suavemente. 

  Your eyes widened and you let out a laugh of embarrassment, “Oh. My. God.”

  She shook her head before looking towards Hobi who wore amusement on his face. “That would be our father. He’s been like that for the past hour, I think that’s his 6th beer.”

  You giggled at the ridiculous man that you called your father before grabbing Hobi’s wrist. “C’mon, let me introduce you to the ol’ man.” 

  Hobi’s face lost all color and looked uneasy. Rosa laughed as you two walked off, waving bye. You could tell your boyfriend was nervous, after all this was your dad. Your father. Keeper of your heart. The man who raised you. If he didn’t approve of Hobi then it would be devastating to the both of you. 

  “Wait-” he stopped you from going on, “What if he doesn’t like me? What if I’m not good enough for his daughter? Hold on, does my shirt look okay? What about my hair?” He panicked.

  You decided to shut him up with a kiss straight on the lips. He froze for a second before relaxing into it and wrapping his arms around your waist. You giggled at him, “He will love you, Hobi. You look perfect.”

  He nodded, still a little dazed from the kiss. You left him on the side of the dance floor and dodged dancing neighbors until you met your father in the middle.

  “Suavemente! BESAME!” He shouted as you tapped his shoulder. You giggled as he turned around and looked at you in pure glee. “Mi princesa! How are you, mi corázon? Dance with me!” He exclaimed and grabbed your hands, pulling you into the dance with him.

  You laughed and threw your head back. “I’m good, papa! I want to introduce you to someone!” 

  He nodded at you and grinned wolfishly, “Then lead the way, Princess.” He followed you off the dance floor and to Hobi.

  “Papa, this is my boyfriend, Hoseok.” Hobi visibly gulped.

  “Hello, sir.” He said, putting on a charming smile and holding out his hand. 

  Your father’s eyes narrowed, looking Hobi up and down, a poker face on. “Boyfriend, huh?”

  Hoseok faltered for a second, “Yes, sir…” He said, using his other hand to scratch the back of his neck out of nerves.

  Your dad suddenly smiled and took his hand, pulling him into a hug, “Well welcome to the family then! It’s nice to meet you!” 

  Hobi visibly relaxed into the hug, smiling at you with a big grin. All you could do is smile back, happy that he made a good impression on your dad. 

  Your father pulled back and squinted at Hobi, “You hurt my daughter and I’ll kill you.” He said, gruffly. 

  Hobi’s eyes widened, “N-never, sir.” He stuttered.

  Your dad broke out into another smile again, “Good!” He clapped him on the back, “Here, let’s go have some drinks!” He led you two to the bar before leaving to go dance some more. 

  It was later that night, after more less-stressful introductions, multiple plates of food, and a few drinks that you and Hobi were sitting together at a table, watching the party and enjoying each other’s company. You were staring at your parents, who were in the middle of the dance floor. Corazón sin cara was playing as your parents swayed to the music, your father’s arms wrapped around your mother’s waist and her head leaning against his chest. You smiled softly at them with a look of fondness in your eyes. 

  “They seem to really love each other.” Hobi said, looking from you to your parents.

  “They always have,” You said softly, laying your head on your arms and looking at them, “They’ve been through a lot together, a lot of trials and tribulations. When I was a little girl, I thought they were the purest definition and example of true love. They’ve always had each other, and I used to yearn for that as a teenager.” You explain.

  Hobi smiles and puts his arm around you, “Well, my love, now you can think of us when you think of love. I want to give you everything, the world, and I want to have your back just like your dad has your mom’s.” He says, pushing your hair behind your ear.

  You turn to him and smile, pulling him into a slow and passionate kiss.

  “I love you so much.” You mumble against his lips.

  He smiles against you, “I love you too, jagi.” 

  It’s when Obsesíon by Aventura comes on the speaker that you pull away with a gasp and wide eyes.

  “What is it?” Hobi frowns, confused by your sudden behavior.

  You giggle, “This is my song!” You get up and find Carlita before pulling her to the dance floor. Hobi smiles at you, and how your eyes shined with excitement. He watches you from afar, noting how natural you look among the people you grew up around. Although he may not know anyone and sticks out like a sore thumb, you are the complete opposite, blending in as if you had never moved away to begin with. He thinks that you have never looked so beautiful, than you do right now, at ease and having fun with your friends and family. He remembers how excited you were for him to meet all of them, going as far as to teach him some Spanish and give him some Latin dance lessons. You were so excited for this trip, and now that you both are here, Hobi doesn’t ever want to leave. Because you look so happy here, and all he wants is your happiness. 

  “You love her.” Hobi looked to his right to find your father, sitting down next to him with two beers in his hand. He said it more as a statement than a question.

  Hobi glanced back at you, “Yes, sir. I do, very much.” He sighed out, watching the way your eyes lit up and your smile grew as you sang along with the song. He watched how you moved with ease to the melody with your best friend and he could only admire you and think of how lucky he is, to call you his.

  “I could tell, you’re looking at her as if she’s your world right now.” Your dad smiled gently at Hoseok.

  Hobi blushed a little and looked down before looking back up at him. “She is my world, sir. She’s helped me through a lot, and she supports my career and always is there if I need her. I only hope that I’m the same for her.” 

  Your dad gently laid his hand on Hobi’s shoulder, smiling at him. “You are. The look that’s on her face right now,” He nodded at you on the dance floor, laughing with Carlita, “I haven’t seen that look in a very long time. She was going through a lot when she left, and now I can see that she’s happy again. You make her happy, Hoseok. That’s all I could ever ask of you.” 

  Hoseok smiled at him, “Thank you, sir. That means a lot.” He looked back at you, smiling at you when you looked at him and winked. He blew a kiss to you before leaning back in the chair. “I’m not going to lie, I was nervous when she said that I would be meeting you all.”

  Your dad chuckles at that, “Yeah, I could understand that,” he sighs, “I have always been the first man in her heart. I’m used to protecting her, to providing for her, to loving her. But now I’m not the sole man in her heart anymore, you are there too.” He says. Hobi looks at your father to find him staring back at him intensely. He looked him dead in the eye, “I believe you are a good man, Hoseok, and I fully give you my approval and welcome you into our family.”

  Hobi’s face breaks into a wide grin, “I’ll cherish her for the rest of my lifetime, sir.”

  The song changed to something more upbeat, and you were suddenly calling out to him, beckoning him over to dance. 

  “I have no doubt that you will, now go get your girl.” Your father clapped his back as Hobi stood up and made his way over to you. 

  You took his hand in yours and started moving along to Como la Flor.

  “Baby, remember how I taught you cumbia? Well this is an iconic cumbia song!” You smiled. Hoseok squeezed your hand and started moving along with you, getting the movement and rhythm pretty quickly. He laughed at your tipsy state. But that didn’t matter, what mattered is that you were having fun, and that you were happy. And despite the alcohol effects, you still managed to dance like a professional. You giggled when Hobi spun you, and it was the most beautiful sound on this earth to him. The two of you were in your own world, dancing together and laughing with each other. You were so caught up in each other that you almost didn’t notice how the song changed into a slow one. But when you did, Hobi pulled you closer and you nuzzled into his chest as you danced bachata with him. He took extra lessons in this dance style, without you knowing, just because he knew it’s your favorite.

  “I love this song so much.” you mumbled, slurring your words a bit.

  “What is it?” He asks, whispering in your ear.

  “Imitadora by Romeo Santos aka king of bachata.” You mumbled back.

  He smiled at your cuteness, leaning down to peck your forehead. You two kept moving to the music, and he spun you around. “What is it about?” he asked when he pulled you back in.

  “It’s about how his lover changed and turned cold, no longer giving him the same love that she once did.” You stated, smiling up at him.

  He frowned, “Well that’s..romantically depressing.” He said.

  You snorted, “Romantically depressing?” 

  “Yeah,” He smirked down at you, “it’s a romantic song, but it’s also super depressing.”

  You shook your head at his ridiculousness and pulled him into a kiss.

  “At least the melody is pretty.” You said after pulling back.

  He pulled you closer to him, “Indeed it is, jagi. Indeed it is.”

  As cliche as it sounds, the world faded around you two, as you both got lost in the dance and each other. You two held each other as if the world was ending. Your souls intertwined and the two of you vibed together. The moment itself was as intimate as it could be, and it would forever remain one of your favorite memories of you two.

  Later that night, after the party had ended and everyone had either gone home or gone to sleep, the two of you laid in your bed. Surrounded by darkness, you stared at each other, whispering about how well today went and how much fun you had.

  “I think they like me.” He whispers to you, intertwining your fingers with his. 

  “Oh they definitely do,” you giggled.

  “What do you mean?” he raised his eyebrow.

  “My mom thinks you’re a ‘fine piece of ass’ as she calls it.” You snort.

  Hobi let out a surprise laugh, his cheeks turning the slightest bit of pink. You moved closer to him, cuddling up against his chest.

  “I would have to agree with her though.” You whisper.

  “Oh yeah?” He smiles down at you.

  “Mhmm,” you mumble, falling deeper into your sleep, “You looked so sexy tonight, dancing to Latin music.”

  He smirked down at you, kissing the top of your head and closing his eyes.

  “Yeah?,” he mumbled back, falling deeper into his own sleep, “I might have to do it more often, then.”