#so if there are any horrible mistakes I'm sorry LOL

[ahgasegotarmy116]

Just Take It | Jeon Jungkook | Part Five

Summary: You start a conversation with Jungkook about where you stand but are interrupted by an uninvited visitor Pairing: Inexperienced f!reader x Best Friend's Dad Jungkook (20 year age gap) Word Count: 4.7K~ Warnings: Suggestive and explicit language (an argument). Nothing too crazy honestly. Horribly edited too because it's been three weeks and I wanted to get it out! a/n: Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out but I was away from home for a week and then wrote a couple of one shots and blah blah blah lol but anyways I hope you enjoyyyy Requested by: @kkusadmirer 💜

After our eventful afternoon Jungkook and I ended up laying in his bed and watching movies since like he said, he wanted me to be "well rested" before we have the talk. The talk that could change everything between us... 

There are multiple outcomes to this scenario and I'm not sure if I'm ready for any of them. 

On one hand he could say this was all a mistake and he was just acting on his urges. I know now for damn sure though that he's attracted to me but I don't know what his motives and feeling are towards me. If he even has any besides surface level physical attraction. 

On the other hand he could want to pursue a friends with benefits sort of arrangement. Being fuck buddies or whatever with an older man does sound exciting when I think about doing it with him. It's just that don't know if I'd want something like that even if it was with him. 

I told Jared before that I wanted to save myself for marriage and I feel like that's something I still want to stick to. I've definitely crossed so many lines with Jungkook in the last not even twenty four hours, more like twelve hours or something like that but regardless lines have been crossed and I'm still not sure how I feel about any of it. 

I want to say that I don't regret it and it's not just because it felt fucking phenomenal and out of this world but because I feel safe with him.

It might just be because over the past couple of months that I've been living with him he's become someone I care about and honestly trust with my life so I didn't really feel a need to say no to him. I wanted it to happen, I know I did I just didn't really think it would ever happen. I thought that it would stay in my hormonal fantasies forever and I was okay with that. 

The way he's been treating me has shown me that he cares about me. Although I was trying to convince myself that it was somewhat of a paternal instinct in him and that he was just being protective over me, I knew that it was something beyond that. 

I tried to somewhat address it in a weird sort of way with the whole asking why he didn't have anyone over conversation and he knew what I was trying to ask and addressed it but his answer made me even more confused. 

"I wouldn't want to ruin what we have going on here"  like what does that even mean? He doesn't want to ruin the dynamic we have in the house in terms of we're comfortable with each other and feel no need to let anyone inside our little safe space. 

Or did he mean that he didn't want to ruin what we have going on here because he wanted to see where things went with us on a more romantic level?

He hasn't explicitly told me that he would want to pursue a relationship with me but circling back to before he's given me clear signs that he's attracted to me and isn't one to hide it. 

He knows to a certain extent that I find him attractive too because I asked him to take my virginity. (I'm never gonna be able to live that one down) Anyone could tell that he was clearly struggling to hold himself back and the fact that he kissed me just shows that he wanted to. That he wanted me.

Then there's another possibility that he might want a sugar baby sort of relationship and I don't even want to think about something like that. 

Don't get me wrong! I respect the hustle, but that's just not for me. 

If I'm gonna be doing something like what we are doing right now then I want it to be something that I want to do without any ulterior motive. I don't want to put a monetary value on the time I spend with him but not gonna lie, living it large and not having to worry about money or working sounds very tempting.

I don't think he's that kind of man though...or at least I hope he's not. 

"Penny for your thoughts?" he asks playfully, having noticed that I haven't really been paying attention to the movie we've been watching. 

"Just thinking" I answer, cuddling in closer to him as I've refused to let go of him today and he hasn't made moves to do any different. 

"Bout what?" he prods further, placing a kiss on the top of my head and taking in the fresh scent of his shampoo in my hair.

"Things" I continue, liking the game we've started to play. 

"What sort of things?" he chuckles, telling me that he's enjoying it too. 

"All kinds of things" I say nuzzling closer into him and he wraps his arm tighter around me to keep me there.

"Wanna share a few?" he asks, clearly not letting this go since he wants to at least make sure I'm okay. 

"Thinking about how you might want to make me your sugar baby" I mumble into his chest and he laughs wholeheartedly making me even more embarrassed. 

"Is that something you'd want?" he asks and I shake my head. 

"You don't wanna be at home and sit pretty, waiting for me to come back and shower you with gifts and jewelry and give you the world?" he teases while pinching my sides making me pull away from him, trying to escape. 

"N-no! Now s-stop" I choke out through laughter and gasps of breath. "What would you want" he asks after having tackled me down onto the mattress making sure to do a thorough job of tickling me until I could barely breathe. 

I take a second to think, my eyes going back and forth between his while his stay still, focused and almost begging for an answer. 

"I thought we weren't going to have this conversation until I was well rested" I say, breathless, still not knowing up from down when it comes to us. If there even is an 'us'. 

"You feel well rested?" he asks, cocking a brow at me and I nod my head quickly, giving me a crooked smile in response. "Then it's perfect timing right?" he continues and I nod again leaving him getting off of me and leaning his back against the headboard, waiting to hear what I have to say. 

I take a minute or so to gather my thoughts and the whole time he's watching me curiously, almost able to see the wheels turning in my head. 

"What happened between us kind of caught me by surprise" I start, looking down at my lap and playing with my fingers nervously. "I don't regret it, it was just, well I'm just kind of confused about how you feel about me, and I'm really confused about how I feel about you" I admit and I can see his expression go a bit wary but I jump at the chance to explain myself. 

"It's just that I think both of us know at this point that we're extremely attracted to each other" I start out and the corner of his lips upturns for a second but nods in confirmation, waiting for me to continue. 

"With us getting physical and all so quickly I can't help but think that maybe we should take a step back. I would like to know your thoughts and intentions and feelings about all of this. I might be overthinking it but I really think it's best to be up front and honest with each other" I say and take in a shaky breath, scared I might've said the wrong thing.

"You're so sexy when you act so mature like that" he taunts and I groan, wanting to keep this serious. "I'm just playing Bunny. Well I'm not because you really are sexy but I don't want you to feel all nervous and insecure like you are right now. We're being open and honest right?" he questions and I nod my head, eager for him to continue. 

"Meaning it would be the perfect opportunity to tell you that I have feelings for you right?" he says and my eye bug out in response, not knowing what to do now. "Wasn't expecting that huh?" he chuckles and I shake my head making him laugh even more. 

"Cat got your tongue Darling?" he teases and scoff at that. "No I was just being polite and letting you keep talking since you let me do the same" I say, making excuses and trying to keep my voice level. 

"Sure Bunny" he smirks not believing a word I said but continuing nevertheless.

"I've had feelings for you for a while now and I haven't told you or acted on it because I wanted to respect the fact that you were in a relationship. I never liked Jared though for what it's worth" he says without hesitation and it makes me cringe at the thought that I was about to marry that snake. 

"Is it harsh to say I'm glad he's out of the picture?" he says boldly making me laugh. "Not just because it benefitted me but because he didn't deserve to marry a beautiful, intelligent, kind hearted woman like you. I would've said something but I'm not your father so I knew it wasn't my place" he finishes and making me smile, thankful that he was so considerate. 

Now that I think about it, even back then I respected and trusted his judgement so it wouldn't have bothered me even if he did say something.

"It's not harsh to say because I'm happy about it too. To be honest though I don't really know what I ever saw in him. I think because he was the first guy that more or less respected my boundaries that I thought I had to hold onto him. I don't know" I say and he nods his head.

This is something I haven't experienced before. Someone sitting and taking the time to actually talk things out without any outside distractions and focusing on each other and hearing each other out. 

Maybe it's just an age thing and the fact that Jungkook does fit the standard of dating older and more mature men is better. We're not dating though, but I guess we'll hopefully figure out where we stand once this conversation comes to a close.

"I'm really confused and I kind of don't know how to feel but I'm not closed off to figuring things out" I say, glancing up at him and back down at my lap, nervous from seeing how fascinated he is with me right now. 

I hold my breath and wait for him to say something but when nothing ever comes I chance looking up at him again and I'm surprised to see how he's still watching me.

"Like I said, I've had feelings for you for a while and if you're open to seeing where things go then I would really like to take you out on a date. Like on a proper date. I know since we've been living together and we've been spending a lot of time together but I-" he start off strong but begins to ramble and is regretfully cut off by the sound of the front door opening. 

"Dad! Dad where are you?" Jina calls out and neither of us dares to move or make a sound. "Dad" Jina drags out, regretfully confirming that I am in fact not dreaming. "Be down in a second" he says then presses a finger to his lips. 

"Just stay in here and I'll take care of it" he whispers and I nod my head, watching him as he panics internally before leaving the room and closing the door softly behind him. 

What the hell are we gonna do? My car is out there! Or wait, did I put it in the garage yesterday? I can't remember but I really hope it's not out there otherwise she'll already know I'm here. 

"What are you doing here?" Jungkook says. I can hear his muffled voice through the walls and I know I probably shouldn't listen but curiosity gets the best of me making me rush to the door and quietly crack it open, needing to hear how this conversation goes. 

"Nice to see you too dad" she says, and I hate the fact that I'm only able to hear them but I'll settle for this. 

"You should've contacted me before you came over Jina. You know I don't like people showing up unannounced" he says sternly.

"You're usually totally fine with me coming over" she says sounding thoroughly confused and I can hear Jungkook clear his throat before she starts again. 

"Am I interrupting something?" she asks after no doubt clocking the dishes that were left over from lunch. Two plates, two cups and two sets of silverware. A dead giveaway that someone is here especially since it hasn't been cleaned up yet. 

"You are actually" he says and I trip, surprised that he would straight up admit it but he has no reason to hide, and neither do I.

Having pushed the door open thanks to my clumsiness (somehow able to stay upright and keep my dignity this time) I'm faced with the dilemma of if I should just go back inside and pretend that never happened when it clearly did or come out and face her. 

I'm given the luxury of having that choice since she hasn't seen me yet but I decide it's better to do this as soon as possible. We've hid the fact that I've been living here for two months so what's adding on the fact that I've been messing around with her father while doing so. 

(Although this is a newly added feature but she doesn't need to know that)

I take a deep breath before stepping out from behind the door, watching Jina's face go from surprised to confused to disgusted to angry before turning back towards her father. 

"You're fucking my best friend?" she accuses, not completely wrong but semantics. 

"Best friend's don't fuck around and get pregnant by their friend's fiancees" I remind her, walking down the stairs in conveniently only Jungkook's shirt making what's going on, or what's starting to go on between us even more clear. 

"Oh grow up! It's not like there's anything we can do to change that now can we? Plus looks like you're doing just fine without him" she throws at me and from that moment I'm not pulling any punches. She wants to play dirty? Fine, let's play dirty.

"Jina stop it" Jungkook growls, going on the defensive, not being able to gauge what kind of mindset she's in or even her reasoning for coming here but wanting her out all the same.  

"Grow up?" I chuckle dryly, "I guess you're right, I guess maybe I have started growing up since it seems I've matured enough to be with someone like your father. Which, last time I checked, wasn't someone you have any business in questioning on things like his sex life and who he does and does not partake in it with" I say, placing a hand on his bicep possessively and I feel the tension he had once held in his body start to melt away. 

Interesting to know that I have this effect on him...

"Come on, we both know that you're probably just a piece of ass to him" she scoffs before turning to address him. "Didn't know you started picking up strays. I wondered where she had ran off to" she says, continuing to disrespect the both of us without a care in the world.

"Don't call her that!" Jungkook says, jaw clenched as a way to keep himself in check. 

All I see is red though and the next words I hurl out are ones that I couldn't stop myself from saying even if I tried. The ringing in my ears fanning the flames of my agitation making it impossible to hold back.

"How's life being pregnant with my fucking ex boyfriend's baby? He's probably taking real good care of you huh?" I taunt, cocking a brow at her and from the way the color rushes to her cheeks and the words die in her throat are enough to tell me everything I need to know. 

He hasn't done shit for her.

She balls her hands into fists by her side and lunges at me but Jungkook jumps in between us, grabs her by the shoulders and turns her around, forcing her out the front door. 

"You're gonna throw me out and choose that slut over your own daughter?" she yells struggling to get out of his grasp the whole way. 

"Last time I checked honey the only slut around these parts is you" I throw back, following right behind them and the way her jaw drops is just priceless. 

"That's enough! Jina go!" Jungkook says through gritted teeth letting go of her once she's passed the thresh hold, leaving her standing there, looking between the two of us before scoffing and storming off down the driveway. 

"I knew you were obsessed with her I just never thought you would bother acting on it" Jina spits out at her father and when she sees that he doesn't flinch she hurls more baseless lies and insults at the both of us. 

"You know she's just using you to get a place to stay and get over her ex right? What happened to staying a virgin until you got married y/n? Huh? Guess getting cheated on really fucked you up" she spits while unlocking her car. 

"And I guess fucking around with an ego-driven two-timing narcissist gets you pregnant" I throw back and she purses her lips before sinking down in her car, accepting defeat this time and leaving like her father told her to. 

"Say hi to Jared for me" I call out, waving at her as she grips the steering wheel until her knuckles have gone white, putting it in drive and backing out of the driveway.

I walk over to the couch and let out a big sigh once I've sat down, throwing my head in my hands as a way to ground myself. 

Breathing through this dizzy feeling from that whole confrontation that I had not been prepared for is a lot tougher than I thought it would be, my whole body still buzzing.

I hear Jungkook close the door behind him after having watched her speed down the street, still worried for her safety but also wanting to make sure she was actually gone. What happened just now was enough of a confrontation to last me a lifetime, or at least it feels that way.  

"Hey" he whispers, kneeling in front of me and rubbing my back, "Are you okay?" he continues and I nod my head, feeling the tears prickling in my eyes, calling my bluff.

"Come here" he whispers, sitting on the couch next to me and pulling me onto his lap, rubbing my back again and holding me while I let out some of those tears I had held back.

"I don't even know why I crying" I say, sniffling and sitting back up to dry my eyes.

"No one likes getting into fights with someone they used to care about. Well, nobody sane likes getting into fights with someone they used to care about" he says, trying to lighten the mood and it does the trick making me scoff a bit, smiling at his efforts to make me feel better.

He cups my face and wipes a few tears that had fallen, looking at me with his brows pinched together as if his heart is breaking with mine.

"But you still care about her though, don't you?" he asks and I nod my head. "It's hard not to" I admit, getting off his lap and sitting next to him which makes him angle his body to face mine, taking hold of one of my hands, encouraging me to speak my mind. 

"She's been my best friend for the past six years. That's not something that can magically be turned off for me. I know what she did to me was devastating and I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive her for it. I'm still trying to heal from it all so I don't know, I couldn't help but defend myself, and you. I'm sorry you had to see that" I say, mumbling the last part and feeling so much regret for saying those ugly things about his daughter right in front of him. 

"Everyone has a right to defend themselves and when you're being attacked like that, you can't help but say hurtful things. She had no right and she knew that and wanted to hurt the both of us anyway" he says and I take a deep breath before turning my attention back to him because she said just as many hurtful things to him as she did to me.

"Are you okay?" I question, tightening my hold on his hand to hopefully encourage him to be vulnerable with me as well. 

He nods his head with a sad smile and waits a beat before saying anything and I hold my breath until he does. 

"No one wants their daughter to end up in the kind of situation she put herself in or see the people that they care about hurting but what she said didn't hurt me" he says and I nod my head, paying attention to his hand that I have placed in my lap, tracing the swirls of ink with my eyes as they travel further up his arm. 

"What did hurt me though was the way she was talking about you. You know that's not how I feel about you at all right?" he says, tilting my face up towards him making purposeful eye contact with me, needing to know that I believe him. 

"I know" I nod, giving him a sad smile accompanied by my still glossy eyes making him even more sad seeing how upset all of this has made me. 

"Can I do anything to make you feel better?" he asks, cupping my face and keeping my eyes on him when I try to turn them away. "No, I'll be okay" I shake my head and he studies my features before nodding and accepting my words at face value. 

"Okay, do you wanna go back up to my room? You can sleep in there with me if you'd like" he says, brushing a tear dampened strand of hair out of my face. 

I give him a mischievous smile, telling him I know what he's up to but he pulls away and puts his hands up in a way to defend his motives. 

"Just sleep, I promise. Scouts honor" he says, crossing his heart and I laugh at his playfully defensive nature. "Sure" I say, taking hold of his hand while he stands up and leads me back to his bedroom. 

~~~~

After having talked a little bit more about what had happened the topic of conversation circles back to what we had been in the middle of before she showed up. 

"So earlier it seemed like you wanted to ask me a question" I say, taking a sip from my soda that had come with the take out we had ordered hours ago, toying with the straw and keeping his attention. 

"Yeah? And do you know what your answer might be to said question?" he teases, wetting his lips and keeping his eyes trained on mine. 

"You have to ask the questions first Daddy" I say placing my drink down on his nightstand and when I turn to face him again he's tackling me down on the bed peppering kisses all over me. 

"Stoooppp" I giggle and he laughs along with me before leaning back to hover over me. "Will you go out with me?" he asks and I can tell that this whole moment has him feeling like a teenager again.

"I thought you'd never ask" I say, running my fingers through his hair making him lean into my touch. 

"You can't take it back though. Once we do this I won't ever let you go" he husks out, placing a kiss on my palm and I shutter at the feeling. "Then don't" I breathe out making a flame of desire flash through his eyes. 

"You're gonna get yourself in trouble you know that?" he warns, placing a kiss on my nose before getting off me and turning off the tv. "Hey! I was watching that!" I pout "No you weren't" he chuckles. "Plus it's time to go to bed. We've got a big day ahead of us" he says, getting under the covers and motioning for me to do the same. 

"Big day?" I question, not remembering we had something on the agenda this weekend. "I may or may not have planned out our date this morning while you were still in bed Sleeping Beauty" he says, pulling me onto his chest but I sit up pulling away from him with my brows scrunched together. 

"How were you so sure I would say yes?" I scoff, shocked by his bold assumption. "From the way I've been making you moan my name I figured you wouldn't mind going on one date with me in return" he says and my jaw drops, throwing the covers off myself and making a break for it but he yanks me back towards him making me flop down on the bed. 

"You can't just say things like that" I whine, hands over my eyes as a way to block him out of my vision and hide the very apparent blush that I'm sure is starting to bloom. 

"Am I wrong?" he taunts, placing kisses on my neck and collarbone, dangerously close to making me moan his name again. 

"You're no fair" I say, pushing him off and giving him my back making him chuckle at my shy behavior. He lays down and pulls me back into him. My back now against his chest and his hand placed on my hip where I'm again reminded that I'm only wearing his shirt and my under ware. 

"Keep your hands to yourself Mr." I tease while prying his hand off me. "Come on darling, you know I'm a man of my word. Just sleep, nothing else" he says, this time sliding his hand further up to hold onto my bare waist. 

"Fine" I grumble out and he laughs and nuzzles his nose into my neck, taking another deep breath, flooding his senses with my scent. 

"Goodnight Bunny" he mumbles against my skin. "Goodnight Daddy I tease and am rewarded with a slap on my ass. 

"Did, did you just spank me?" I say trying to wiggle out of his hold but he's already got his arm wrapped around my waist again. "I told you that pretty little mouth of yours was gonna get you into trouble didn't I?" he says, switching to rubbing his hand along the tender flesh he just struck, caressing it in a way to ease the pain. 

I pout and settle back into the bed, not dignifying his words with a response. It's only when I accidentally move my hips backwards do I freeze from gaining a soft moan from him, no doubt caught off guard from the contact of my ass up against him. 

"Sorry I didn't mean to I-" "I know Bunny, just go to sleep" he says placing a kiss on my neck and holding my hips in place, putting a little more space between us. 

As I slow my breathing to a steady one I start to lull myself to sleep but I flinch at the sound of his cute snores in my ear. 'Something I'll have to tease him about in the morning' I giggle to myself and take his hand off my hip, choosing instead to hold it against my chest having him surrounding me. Soon I'm slipping into that dreamland he had drifted off to moments before, safe and warm being in his arms.  

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[moethewriter]

Idk if you're comfortable doing these but maybe reader is on their month and needs comfort from finnick. Had mine last week the cramps, nausea and back pain was crazy fr lol. Or maybe just a comfort reading been a rough week

Please and thank you have a lovely day 🫶🏾

Of course I can write that anon! Periods are the worst. TITLE: Chamomile Delights WORD COUNT: 1.1k WARNINGS: Period content, fluff TAGS: Can be read as gn!reader (women aren't the only ones who get periods y'all!) A/N: Loved writing this one! Periods are ass, and as a non-binary person who gets them, we all need a little comfort! Hope you all enjoy this! I'm still not feeling 100%, this flu is lingering my friends, but writing has been taking my mind off of that! Love yall! Also not beta read as per usual, sorry for any spelling mistakes! Haha! -

It had come early, and to say you weren’t happy was an understatement. You wanted to die, truly lay down and allow yourself to become one with the earth because anything would be better than this shit. You didn’t remember the last time you felt this horrible during your cycle, usually you could manage but today was just … awful. Everything made you want to cry, or you when something inconvenienced you, you wanted to chuck it against the wall and watch it smash. You were nauseated at the smell of anything Mags brought you to eat, and to top it all of you just felt so fucking miserable.

Finnick had been gone for a few days, off in The Capitol, when your period had started, usually he would be there to provide any sort of comfort you needed but right now you were alone. You couldn’t blame him, Snow had summoned him and many other Victors for a week of galas and to introduce the new Victors. You feigned illness, which in some ways was true, but you were upset he couldn’t stay with you. Had you known it would start, you probably would have gone because at least then you would have your built in space heater.

You wanted to have him near you, as childish as it sounded. He always made you feel better and doted on you. He made you feel better and knew how to take care of you. But mostly you just missed him. His comforting smile, the way he would rub your lower back and just hold you to help you fall asleep. You were miserable without him, and you looked like shit. It wasn’t ideal, but you could make it through the worst alone if you had too. You felt like something that had just crawled out of a sewer drain, and you were sure you looked like it too.

Finnick hated seeing you so ill. He always wanted to make you feel better in whatever way he could. Whether that was holding you while you angrily muttered and cursed at the world for having cramps, or making you a small dinner that he knew wouldn’t make you sick. Well more like got Mags to make something while he presented it to you, he had never been the best cook and when you weren’t well he knew it was hopeless to try and feed you anything he made, it was sweet the way he tried so hard.

Some days he was a pain in your ass, but you didn’t mind that anymore. 

“When he gets home, I swear I’m going to kill him.” You whispered, throwing a pillow over your head, maybe if you suffocate yourself enough, the lack of oxygen flow would stop the pain all together. “Damn fucking President Snow calling his ass away. Maybe I’ll kill him next.” You grumbled under the pillow.

“Kill who next?”

You sat up straight, regretting your decision the moment you cramped up a little more. You felt a small wave of nausea hit you as you covered your mouth. You hadn’t expected him home until far later in the week. 

“What the fuck?” You muttered, squinting your eyes. “You’re home early.” You observed the glitter on him, his demeanor and the way he was dressed.

It wasn’t unusual for him to come back from The Capitol dressed far differently than anything he wore at home. It wasn’t Finnick’s usual style, he preferred a more low key look when he was in District Four, always had, but he did look gorgeous.

“And you look like shit.” He raised an eyebrow, leaning against the door frame. “Are you in pain?”

“I feel like shit, thanks for the observation, Finn.” You rolled your eyes. “Yes, obviously.” You were far grumpier than you wanted to be but you couldn’t help it right now, the light was too bright and you abdomen felt like it was crushing your insides.

“Ah. I see.” Finnick said, exiting the room.

You grumbled to yourself angrily, desperately searching for a position that gave you any relief, though nothing you had tried worked thus far. At least Finnick was here, despite the annoyance you had at the entire situation, you were thankful he was home early.

“Hot water, and a cup of tea.” Finnick said, returning a few minutes later holding a steaming mug and a small towel.

“Finn.” You felt tears well up in your eyes. “Sorry. I’m not upset, and sorry for being a dick, thank you.” You smiled, as he passed you the cup, you inhaled it and the smile grew.

Chamomile, a luxury to get when you were outside The Capitol. It was your favourite tea, always had been, and he  managed to snag a few boxes of it when he could. He always thought of you like that, whenever he could get you something he would. 

He sat beside you, gently pressing a kiss into your shoulder and you exhaled deeply at the simple, yet comforting gesture. Having his presence was already a comfort.

“What do you need from me?” He asked, pressing his chin to where he laid the kiss. “You know I’ll do anything for you.”

“Kill me?” You questioned, a teasing tone lacing your words. You sipped the tea he had brought you and felt the warmth take over your body. 

“Well … not that.” He snorted into your shoulder, his hands moving to gently massage your sides. 

“Thank you for the tea, and the hot water. Hold me, massage my back … work your usual magic Odair, because when I tell you I’ve been so unpleasant these last two days … I’m not lying.” You huffed.

“You’re not always unpleasant?” He teased, moving the massage to your shoulders.

You could feel the deep knots slowly being undone, and you let out a sigh of relief, you hadn’t realized the tension had been that bad.

“I will kick you off this bed.” You warned, shooting him a glare.

“Then who would take such good care of you?” Finnick smiled, continuing to work his magic. “No one can live up to this.” He laughed, a small sound coming from the bass of his throat. 

You loved his laugh.

“Hush, let me relax.” You closed your eyes, and focused on his soft humming,

Days like these had always been so miserable, you had gotten so used to riding it out alone, but now you had Finnick. He would always take care of you, and you would in turn, take care of him. There would never be one without the other, not anymore.

“I love you.” You said, simply, leaning into him.

“I love you too.” He said back, holding you closer.

[strongheartneteyam]

I wet you like water but she stained you like blood.

Chapter 2

Pairing: widowed!dilf!Jake Sully x younger!female!human reader

CW: angsty as hell, Neytiri is dead in this AU, unrequited love, older man & younger woman relationship (y/n is in her 20's), feeling like you're only there to fill in the gap someone else left (Neytiri, in this case), mentions of death and being a widow, complex feelings, talks of trauma, CAN BE TRIGGERING TO SOME, mentions of sex, mentions of sexual fluids, reader feeling guilty about being with Jake not long after Neytiri's death

Not proofread. And I can't even read what I just wrote, without even correcting it, because I have to feed my cat and take care of dinner right now. I'm just praying this stuff makes sense. I'll correct any mistakes as soon as I can. Sorry in advance lol This amateur writer here never has enough time on her hands...... 🥲

Chapter 1 𓆩♡𓆪

You're so much older and wiser

And I wait by the door like I'm just a kid

Use my best colors for your portrait

Lay the table with the fancy shit

And watch you tolerate it

If it's all in my head tell me now

Tell me I've got it wrong somehow

tolerate it (Taylor Swift)

𓆩♡𓆪

Jake was a widowed father of 4, he was an attractive, responsible, charming, older man. And he was also funny when he was just chilling, hanging around his friends or his family. Last but not least: he had a delicious "dad bod", a word people came up with to describe older men who are still toned but have some cute fat here and there.

You were a girl in your 20's, a young xenobotanist living in Pandora, who used to spend her nights alone, eating cup noodles, watching and rewatching old TV shows from when the planet Earth was still a place where humans could actually live in, and feeling lonely. So, when Jake Sully got his eye on you, you fell head over heels for him.

You knew well you could never replace Neytiri. Even after her death, she still had a place in Jake's heart that nobody, not even you, would ever be able to claim as yours.

Still, you could not let Jake go. Still, you insisted in staying. Still, you didn't seem to love yourself enough to say to yourself "I deserve better" and wait for a guy who actually loves you, not one that seemed to only love your company and well... your body most of all, as it seemed.

Okay, maybe you shouldn't think this bad of Jake. You knew he felt really connected to you, in a deep level. You two would talk late at night and he would always be vulnerable and tell you about real personal and deep stuff about his life - the one in the human body and the one in the na'vi body -, while the both of you would eat roasted meat and fungi, up in some tree in the middle of the Pandoran forests. But you knew he did not love you. Even if you could feel his heart beating fast through his chest when he kissed and touched you, away from everyone, never in front of anybody, because you two were adults and knew damn well that situation, him seeming like he was so happy and living his best life with another woman, a much younger human girl, who was at an age where she could actually be his daughter, wouldn't sit right with anybody, not human, not na'vi - given that he had children that were still mourning the death of their mother (one of them being a little girl, Tuktirey).

That sacred feeling, love, was saved inside of Jake's heart for Neytiri, his deceased mate, even after death. He bonded with her through tsaheylu. You, as only a human, no neuro queue to connect with his in sight, knew you could never compare to that primal bond he had experienced with her. But worst of all (you felt horrible saying "worst of all" but you knew you didn't mean it like that, like you didn't care about other people's feelings), Neytiri was the mother of his children. She might be with Eywa now but you knew Jake would always remember her looking all beautiful and incredibly feminine carrying his first born, Neteyam Sully, and his other two biological children in her belly (Kiri was adopted after her biological mom died, a dear friend of the couple, Grace Augustine. Kiri was a miracle kid. Her mother was bearing her inside of her body after her own death, inside the lab. That was crazy stuff your human mind would never understand, you thought. Only the na'vi could understand the magnitude of Eywa's power. You yourself knew she was strong and respected her but didn't love and worship her like they did.)

Thinking about the way Jake must still adore the memory of Neytiri and think about her and even cry missing her gave you a big lump in your throat and made you wanna throw up. You felt like the worst being in the Universe thinking like that, but you swore, truly, that feeling that way was not you being a petty selfish girl, jealous of the man you were currently in a situationship with and not even considering to have some respect for his grief and the grief of his children - who had just lost their mother -, but it was actually the love you felt for Jake manifesting in your body, in a psychosomatic way. The pain and desperation you felt thinking about the possibility of him never getting over Neytiri made you sick to your stomach, it made the bones inside of your flesh ache.

The first time you saw him talking to Norm one day at the lab, his tall, large frame in all its glory, his blue skin so beautiful, his dark blue stripes adorning his whole body in intricate patterns, his long brown hair falling on his toned back, his tail looking so cute, reminding you of a kitty cat.... "I'm fucked" You thought to yourself. "Am I really catching feelings for this older na'vi man who will probably never want me in this way?! Damn, he's still mourning his dead mate.... Neytiri died not even a whole year ago... I must be evil to be thinking about him this way at this moment. Stop that, you crazy stupid heartless girl."

You looked at him again and he was smiling, his fangs touching his lower lip. He had such a cheerful, precious smile, even though you knew he had been through a whole lot of pain and trauma in his life. "He must be really strong and resilient. That's beautiful." You thought to yourself

Jake Sully had the right amount of muscles but still had soft flesh in all the right places, his tummy just perfect enough for you to be able to squeeze it if you wanted to, his thighs thick but the muscles were balanced with sweet softness. He made you feel a raw kind of heat in your lower belly and think about him just before sleep, like you were a damn schoolgirl. Sometimes (okay, many times...) he made your panties slick with your own juices when you imagined him taking you in his arms and kissing you hard, dominating you like you were his. Which you wished you were. Until one day that wish was fulfilled. You were in cloud nine when that happened.

Jake had been in the marines back when he was human and lost the movement of his legs, being left needing a wheelchair to move himself around and do day to day activities. He lost his twin brother back on Earth, too, after he - Tommy - had been mugged. And now, he had just lost his wife to death too and was left alone to take care of his 4 children. Poor thing must have PTSD, if the na'vi brains were able to have the same disorders as humans brains had. You didn't know, to be honest. You were a xenobotanist. Your area of expertise was the biology of extraterrestrial plants, not the biology of extraterrestrial bodies.

The fact that he still was capable of irradiating happiness through his eyes, smile, voice and overall presence made you weak with admiration. And love, you must say. Because thats what you were: weak and in love, all for and with Jake Sully.

Too bad his feeling were not even close to being the same as yours. He loved you as a friend and he lusted over your body. He wanted to protect you from any harm anyone could ever do to you. The bitter part of it all is: he could never protect you from the harm he himself did to you. The harm being giving you pieces of what could be his love, but it wasn't. That was the worst crime he could ever commit against you. At least that's what the pungent pain deep inside the arteries of your heart told you. Every night. Every time you remembered he didn't love you, but he loved Neytiri. Everytime you got reminded of the fact that you were alive and she was dead but you still were not his favorite.

Goddammit. How did you end up competing with a dead na'vi woman over a na'vi man's love? You sure were losing your mind.

But falling in love with Jake Sully proved to you that you were not the nerdy science girl who used to always put reason first and feelings last, that you always thought you were. Not when it came to love, at least. Or not when it came to this relationship.

𓆩♡𓆪

If any of you wanna be in the taglist for this fanfic, just leave a comment 🤍 ily n hope you're having a nice day/night 💓⚘

[acotar-taylorsversion]

More Recent Thoughts and What Not

So, I've been thinking about Lucien a lot lately. I don't hate him, so don't come at me, but sometimes I just feel that there were a couple of reasons why Sarah made him Elain's mate. I'm an Elriel girly for life and nothing and no one but Sarah saying otherwise will convince me that they aren't endgame. That being said, I think that Sarah made him Elain's mate as 1) Elain and Az's "obstacle" and 2) a way for him to stay relevant so she could use him in the overall plot. I mean, think about it. Feysand and Nessian both had these "obstacles" that kept them from getting together right away and Elain's bond with Lucien is a big reason why Az hasn't pursued her or thought more about a future with Elain. Why would he get his hopes up if he doesn't know how Elain truly feels about Lucien? He said himself in the bonus chapter. Elain was more than willing to kiss and perhaps go further and Az said that they had never gone that far. AND HE NEVER ACTUALLY THOUGHT THAT THEIR ALMOST KISS WAS A MISTAKE! HE FORCED HIMSELF TO SAY THAT BECAUSE RHYS WAS THERE AND WAS DEMANDING AZ TO STOP! Anyways, but yeah. And I know that Sarah orginally planned for Lucien and Nesta to get together but instead made Nesta end up with Cassian because of how perfect they were when she first wrote them in a scene together. But she needed a way for Lucien to be relevant to the plot, because let's be honest, I saw no place for Lucien after Feyre chose to stay in the night court. I actually forgot all about him until he showed and tried to take Feyre away. I think she always intended for Lucien to be involved with Vassa, but how would he have known about her if he didn't leave the Spring Court with Feyre because of Elain. Elain was the only reason he left with Feyre. Elain was the only reason Lucien didn't blow Feyre's cover the entire time she was back and I don't think that he would have been as close to her as he was if it weren't for the promise of offically meeting Elain. Even being Helion's son hasn't really done anything for the plot, yet. Do you guys see where I'm going with this? I don't know. LOL. The Eluciens might think I'm crazy!

And I want to say that Elain does not owe Lucien anything. Her silence is an answer in itself. I mean, she was about to kiss Az and do God knows what else with him in foyer of the river house while Lucien slept upstairs. She just doesn't care or doesn't care enough to consider him in moments like that. Clearly, time away from him does not affect her and he seems to be just fine away from her as well. Yes, he's being respectful by not pressuring her, but he can also take a hint. I don't think she'd be offended if he never got her a gift again until they both make the decision to accept the bond. And I don't see that happening. I just don't.

It's also suspicious how their bond was instantly recognized. Like feysand and nessian's bond took time to snap but Lucien instantly knew? And why can Az smell it and no one else can? Amren smelled feysand's but she's different and no body else could smell it until they accepted it. Elain and Lucien have not accepted it so what's going on there? Eluciens and gwynriels can call us crazy all they want to but we have legit questions. I still stand by my opinion about how Az acts more like Elain's mate than Lucien does.

Also, can I just say how much I hate all the hate the inner circle is getting on tik tok? Like, I'm sorry. I know we are all entitled to our own opinions but if you hate Feyre and Rhys so much that you create a 10 page slide show about how much they need to die and how horrible they are, then you don't deserve the series anymore. Why are you still reading it? Sarah has stated that Rhys is her favorite and feysand will always be the center of everything so they aren't going anywhere.

Same goes for all the Nesta and Cassian hate. Like wtf? NO. I will absolutely not put up with hate for either one of them for any reason. They are my favorite couple, like more than elriel and that's saying something. I waited years for their book and I am absolutely disgusted that people want her to break her bond and get with ERIS?! That is an insult to Cassian.

Let's see. What else? During my reread of Silver Flames, I realized that all the signs of Gwyn being a lightsinger or having some type of power are there from the moment we meet her. Both Nesta and Az and his shadows all react to her powers, which involve singing and music in some way. I noticed that she is always singing, too. I get the feeling that most of Gwyn's arc was not only proving to herself, but to everyone around her, that she's strong and capable. I think Az triggered something in her and she wanted to prove to him that she's not that girl that he saved anymore. You know? Also, when Nesta described her smile, it was said "Nesta couldn't explain the way she sensed that there was something else mixed into her. Some secret beneath that pretty face." This reminded me of the infamous quote of Az thinking of Gwyn's smile "a thing of secret, lovely beauty." Why are they associating secrets with Gwyn? I have so many questions and I need Sarah to explain ASAP. Like legit questions, someone explain it to me.

What do you guys think?

Now, I know that some gwynriels and eluciens might see this, and that's ok! I am open to discussions as long as they are civil, in the comment section or a message or an ask.

[hazshit-hotel-hater]

The way substance abuse has been handled on the show thus far genuinely upsets me and reeks of writers who either 1.) don't understand the subject matter they're presenting and haven't done even the bare minimum to research it or, worse, 2.) simply don't care.

Apologies for the slight rant incoming, your comment about how it has been mostly "handled" off-screen got me going because that's 100% true and in that truth is such a missed opportunity for the show. The way it has been handled winds up feeling incredibly shallow and juvenile at the end of the day, especially for a piece of media that is attempting to present itself as "adult" and navigate multiple incredibly sensitive topics. I'll try not to get into my own personal experiences and will speak broadly, but the show uses substance abuse more as a cheap character flaw to poke fun at or something to magically handwave away when it is inconvenient, rather than the life-altering, debilitating illness that it is.

Nothing about Angel's use is ever meaningfully explored. It's so (apparently) unimportant to his arc and development that one rude comment from Husk (a character who ALSO has a problem with gambling and alcohol that is never addressed) is all it takes for him to suddenly "resist temptation" and be shown as "recovered" (unless I'm misremembering). Or was he suddenly going to counseling off-screen too and its just another thing that will be told to us rather than shown? And how does Charlie even handle that at the Hotel (I'd be really interested in this as a moment for her character to have to grow/change too)? Does she even understand substance abuse and the many unaddressed systemic factors that can influence it? Or is the entire recovery process just shame based (because that works so well /s) combined with some more corny trust exercises? Why is this incredibly serious topic relegated to the background as if it's unimportant?

Recovery is hard. It is emotional and exhausting. Withdrawal (depending on what you're coming off of) can sometimes mean excruciating, unimaginable pain and in some cases people literally die. It is not a funny "ha-ha I take drugs because I'm chaotic and wild" quirk to be adored or glorified and it definitely should not be presented as something that can be wrapped up in a month or two off-screen without any development whatsoever. That's just insulting.

When you approach a topic like substance abuse and recovery, I personally feel you need to take in all sides of it. All the missteps that come with it (two steps forward one step back - mistakes are expected and okay), the self-loathing, the guilt and shame, the joy, the sense of freedom, the loss, and the best part of all: the incredibly difficult but liberating journey that is rebuilding your life and learning to love yourself and your body again, once you've chosen to be free and to live life.

Mad props to anyone who has ever battled this disease. You are strong, you are worth it and you are valued. Lol I am so sorry for going off here but I so appreciate you calling out the lack of exploration on this topic in the show. I guess I didn't even realize how annoyed and upset it was making me feel (praying this is coherent...).

This was absolutely coherent don’t worry!! Im really glad to see other people talking about this. I myself have not struggled with drug addiction but I have struggled with other kinds and as someone that studies a bunch of medical junk, I’d say I’m decently knowledgeable.

I’m mainly going to focus on Angel for this since he’s the main character I write for, but I assure you other characters addictions are also handled in my rewrite.

During the actual canon show, we don’t see Angel actually abusing substances that often; there’s a few times, most notably in episode 4, but from the rest of the show onward we hardly see anything. Yes in episode 6 they mentioned relapsing, which, mind you, was done horribly, but I digress. They touch on relapsing; Angel relapses, and then… what..??? What happened from that? I don’t feel upset or second hand guilt of any kind from this scene because we haven’t seen Angel’s attempts to stay sobre and off drugs.

His name is fucking Angel Dust. You don’t, I dunno, think that’d entail a higher dependency on drugs? Why do you think he named himself that?

About his name before anything else, the show has so much potential later on to talk about Angel picking out his drag name and why he chose that specifically. So much potential to explore how he views drugs and himself. He sees them as an escape and something “fun” to take his mind off of his actual life. When you die in a fucking coma and wake up in hell as a spider you’re going to want an escape. You will want to ignore reality. I am fully convinced Angel picked his name once he started performing because thats what he needed at the time. He needs to be like that to survive in hell. Angel is an incredibly mentally ill, troubled, traumatised, and unstable person, and being surrounded by so much intense negative influence only amplifies his current problems. I don’t mean to drag Vox in here but in my last redesign post I mentioned how very mildly bad people can become even worse people in hell because of the environment and this is no different for Angel. He’s been surrounded by crime and drugs his entire life and unable to live comfortably because of his sexuality. He has very likely been struggling with substances since he was a teen. Possibly even younger. He is not going to suddenly get over his addiction because of something like this. It could pave the way to him looking into dealing with it, but things like this can take years. I don’t remember when my addiction started; I’ve been clean for 2 1/2 years now I think, but the amount of relapsing and anguish I experienced while working towards that isn’t something that can be done in a few days or months. I still struggle with feeling like I deserve to say I’m recovering.

I’m hoping they tactfully handle this as they should, but my hopes are low. It’s okay to show a character relapsing. It’s okay to show a character feeling guilty. What matters is that the struggle is there to signify they’re trying. For a character with a song called “Addict” you really don’t see much of it. Drug and alcohol addiction is not a silly thing to just twiddle your fingers with and be like “well I guess thats over!” It’s incredibly insensitive to do so.

Whenever I write about Angel’s struggles with addictions, I focus on how small they can feel until you realise what’s actually happening. Just me talking about my rewrite again, but to get my ideas out here: Angel smokes often. He smokes at the studio when he’s stressed, he smokes at the hotel when he’s stressed, he smokes at in alleyways when he’s bored, there’s almost no location he won’t, but sometimes he tries to smoke less. His lungs aren’t the same as humans and technically he has 2 pairs of lungs, but smoking causes him to cough. This is painful in general and especially painful for Angel since he has barbs going down the back of his throat. Imagine choking on sandpaper, kind of like that. It’s painful, he doesn’t like the sound, Fat Nuggets REALLY doesn’t like the sound, and it’s an overall inconvenience, so he tries to stop smoking as much. Periods like this usually go fine for him until the stress returns or he starts to feel the withdrawal. Withdrawal from any sort of addiction is terrible, and in Angel’s case, just from not smoking it worsens his mental state further. He becomes irritable and stressed and that stress leads to wanting to smoke again to calm down. He may resist a few times and those times should be praised, but he gives in eventually. One cigarette to calm down becomes two, then three, and before he can process himself getting carried away, the entire pack is gone. It’s things like this that make addiction horrible. It’s something that deeply scared me when I was struggling. When I was struggling I was still in the mindset of “I can stop when I want to” and then being so suddenly hit in the face with the realisation that I’m not longer in control of this is terrifying. I could not stop when I wanted to. There were even points where I didn’t want to stop. Even just getting the smallest glimpse of this in an incredibly serious manner with Angel Dust would surprise me. To think the bar is this low on a show that seemingly prides itself on tackling such sensitive topics like you said is appalling. Your show shouldn’t have to be told how to write itself.

[arthropod-concoctions]

(AO3)

Grian's ears were still ringing when he respawned, back at home. He closed his eyes, buried his face in his hands, and groaned.

“I'm so sorry, Scar,” he muttered to himself. He'd decided to go make an apology to the man himself as well, as he would also be waking up right about now. Grian opened his eyes-

And immediately noticed that he was not in his own base.

He sat up and looked around to get his bearings. He was lying in a soft green bed, in an organically-shaped room with walls of living wood and beautiful wood-carved furniture. Jellie was lying in a cat bed a few meters away.

Scar's base. Why on Earth am I in Scar's base? He thought. “Scar?” he called out, then cleared his throat, because his voice sounded incredibly hoarse. There was no response.

He got up to go find Scar, but barely made it two steps away from the bed before collapsing onto the floor. His legs felt like he'd walked a marathon. That was concerning; respawn pain wasn't supposed to be this intense, even after exiting a hardcore world, and he'd barely even hurt his legs when he died. His ears were the part that got hurt-- and they still did. He rubbed his ears, hoping to make the ringing stop. It didn't, but Grian noticed something else: his ears had pointy tips.

“Wait a second...” Grian suddenly had an idea of what might have happened. He hastily dug through his horribly unorganized inventory for something with a mirrored surface. He eventually found a hand mirror with golden decorations, which he'd never seen before, and looked into it. A scarred face with dark green eyes looked back at him.

“Oh no,” Grian said, in Scar's voice.

He was in Scar's body. That must be why his legs hurt so much, he realized. He looked around and quickly saw a cane carved from spruce wood leaning against a nightstand, with a large green crystal worked into the design. Grian grabbed it, and immediately felt the pain lessen; slowly, he stood up again. For a second he tried to rebalance with his wings, but of course they were gone now.

This was a very big problem; seemed like something had gone wrong separating his and Scar's soulbond. He should probably check how his own body was doing; he closed his eyes to Watch elsewhere--

And nothing happened. He just opened his two regular eyes again.

He sighed. “Right. Scar's not a watcher.” he'd have to go check things out the old-fashioned way, but before then, he decided to send a quick message to everyone online. He pulled out his chat; the device was colored cyan and orange.

Grian joined the game

GoodTimeWithScar joined the game

<Cubfan135> heyoo

<Zedaph> Hi there!

<GoodTimeWithScar> guys

<GoodTimeWithScar> there's a big problem

<Cubfan135> need some help, Scar?

<GoodTimeWithScar> not right now

<GoodTimeWithScar> but

<Grian> no im having the time fo my life lol

<GoodTimeWithScar> im not scar

Grian experienced kinetic energy

<GoodTimeWithScar> that is

Well, at least Grian's questions of what had happened to his body and Scar's soul were answered now. He decided to go find Scar, and see if he had any idea what to do now. He left Scar's treehouse, opened his elytra-- mechanical elytra, he'd have to get used to those again-- and took off.

He flew towards Scarland's main street at first, before realizing his mistake; he set his own spawn point at his own base, so that would be where Scar was. Sure enough, when he approached his base he also saw a figure with black-and-white wings circling around the rocks floating high in the sky. It was a surreal sight.

Grian ascended up to where Scar was flying around-- quite clumsily, he should add-- and called out to him: “Scar!” he landed on top of a rock, nearly losing his balance but regaining it by using Scar's cane. Scar, who had been singing to himself, looked in his direction.

“Flying around, so gracefully on the wings of a- WHAT IN THE WORLD!” Scar shouted, the sight of Grian spooking him so much he involuntarily flexed his wings, and he began to fall down.

Grian watched Scar plummet down and try to recover, frantically flapping the wings but not letting them catch any air, before eventually hitting one of the rocks floating lower down and dissolving into white smoke. Grian winced, and began gliding down again, towards his bed this time.

He touched down just in time to see himself rolling out of his own bed, visibly shaken. Scar looked in his direction and startled again, falling back onto the bed.

“That was hard to watch. Hello, Scar,” Grian said to him.

“I don't- who are you and how have you- wait.” Scar stammered, before stopping to think for a second.

“...Grian?” his expression on Grian's face was dumbfounded. I hope I don't look like this much of a loser when I'm myself, Grian thought to himself.

“Yeah. It seems we've done a bit of a switcheroo for some reason. What, did the wings not give that away to you?”

“Yeah, but I thought we'd just merged together for some reason! I didn't think you would be in my body!”

“And that didn't concern you for even a second?”

“No, I was having too much fun for that. Look, dude, I have wings now!” Scar said, and spread his wings out again.

“Yeah, I know, those are my-” Grian didn't finish his sentence, distracted by the sight of Scar jumping up and flapping the wings, not gaining any air at all, and faceplanting into the ground. He groaned.

“You just respawned. You have to give them a few minutes before they work again.”

“That's lame,” Scar said, sitting up. “Anyway, what should we do now?”

“I dunno. Maybe we should go check on some of the other people that've come back, see if they're- what's so funny?” Grian said to Scar, who was giggling.

Scar stifled his laughter, and waved his hand. “Nothing, nothing. Keep talking.” His smile looked very out of place on Grian's face.

“Right. So, check on the other peeps, or maybe we should talk to X and see if- why are you laughing?”

Scar's giggle had evolved into a full-on laugh now. “I'm sorry!” he said between wheezes, “It's just... I sound so stupid with a British accent.”

Then he added, doing a terrible imitation of Grian's accent: “'maybe we should go see X to-' see, I just sound normal now!”

Grian pursed his lips, then whacked Scar on the shoulder with his cane. He half-expected to feel the impact in his own shoulder as well, but fortunately that wasn't in effect anymore.

“Hey, back off!” Scar said in response. “You know, technically you're hitting yourself when you do that. Self-harm is very unhealthy, don't you know?”

“Oh- you're one to talk, mister powdered-snow-baths!” Grian responded. “Anyway, I think I'm going to go check on Tango and Etho now. You wanna come with, or...?”

“Okay!” Scar said, before standing up again. “Let's fly, bird boy! Wait, no I'm the bird boy now. Let's fly, elf boy!” With that, he spread his wings out once again, and successfully took off this time. Grian grabbed a firework rocket and followed suit.

“Remember, Scar, I'm using regular elytra now. So if you fall, I'm not gonna be able to catch you.”

“Oh, you think I'm gonna fall? Of course not, I am an expert at flying with wings now! Did you not see me practicing...” Scar's voice faded into the distance as he moved closer and closer to the ground, too distracted by talking to keep his altitude consistent.

Grian heard his own voice yelp from below, and burst out laughing. Server-moving bugs aside, it was nice to be flying again. It was good to be back.

(next)

[anonfromtheflight]

Heeeeeey!

Thank you so much for the messages I got wondering if I was alright. I am! I just have the worst luck ever!

But at least I'm in good health? And alive. That's a win too. I'm just convinced more than ever that nothing good will ever happen to me without something horrible happening right after 😓

So I made it back to Santiago from home on Sunday night and all was well. But I got robbed on Monday! After work, rght outside a subway station! And not only the asshole took my cellphone, he punched me in the face to make me drop it!! 😒 I almost never take my phone out in public for security reasons but when my boss called, I answered because I thought I had left something important at work. But when I hung up while I was leaving the subway station, before I could put my phone back in my pocket, a huge dude came to towards me, punched me in the face and then left with my phone! 😩

It wasn't even a nice phone, it was basic af and I had it for three years, but it had my stuff and UGHHHH I had to go to the police and then to the hospital to get my face checked because my cheek swelled right away. At least he avoided my glasses? Oh and I had to block my phone number with the mobile company, my bank account because of the bank app and another banking app i use.

To make things worse, I left my tablet back at my mom's by mistake last weekend so I had no electronic device with my info to block my stuff myself. I had to ask my sister to do it and to post a message on instagram in case my friends got any weird messages and to let people know I wouldn't be available. And that if someone talked to them via whatsapp, it wasn't me.

I didn't think about her doing the same for me here, I didn't think anyone would notice or care oops, sorry for that 😬

AND UUUUGHHH I CAN'T BELIEVE I MISSED THE S3 RELEASE DATE ANNOUNCEMENT!!! At least I can enjoy the theories and gifs now 😑 I also can't believe I missed a WHOLE week of OMR beauty content with Omar looking gorgeous and downright sinful wtf

Now I'm back home because tomorrow I have to go vote, got my tablet back and blocked absolutely everything. At least since I sold my soul to google, I don't have to try to remember my passwords lol and could basically wipe everything from my phone remotely.

But yeah, I'm okay! I'm only sporting an ugly bruise on my face that makes me look like I'm part of the lamest fight club in existence.

[world-of-aus]

Love & Barbells - Pt. 4

Pairing: Chubby!Bucky (gym crush) x Reader

Warnings: Pinch of angst.

Authors Note: We've been in a very angsty mood lately, and it's gonna seep through my work here lol. I hope y'all enjoy this part, and remember feedback is a writers jam. All other parts can be found on @worldofausupdates Happy Readings Baby Buns.

“So where are they?” 

You snort from where you watch your roommate in the mirror of the gym, her eyes darting around the area scoping out the early birds. 

“At home, In bed like any sane person.” You reply as you lift the weights slightly, feeling them out. 

She hums under her breath continuing to look around, “you know for their build I’d imagine they’d be here as soon as it opened.” You laugh openly as you grab the weights, “yeah, well for their build I’m sure they also know bodies need rest with how intense the train.” You pass the weights to her, laughing as her stance falters with the newly added weights she holds in her hands, “why does this feel heavier than last week,” she whines struggling to lift the weight. 

“It feels heavier,” you start as you press down on her biceps feeling the muscle, “because if you want to build that muscle, you have to go up in weight, hit till failure, we’ve been through this before.” She sets herself up in front of the mirror muttering under her breath as she goes, “what was that?” you grin as you reach for you own weights, “I said that just because I know doesn’t mean I care for it.” 

“Come on now, I told you I was going to get you back, didn’t I?” 

Your roommate is back to muttering under her breath but sinks into the routine when she sees you bring up the weight to your chest. You fall easily into the mindset of what you’re there to do, your reps slow and controlled as you watch yourself in the mirror eyes occasionally flicking to your friends, a smile on both your faces every time your gazes meet. And whether she notices your wandering eyes scanning the gym goers in the back of you she doesn’t mention keeping her teasing to herself for once. 

“Oh god you’re horrible,” she groans as she lets the machine clang into place, “why do I even put myself through this, I know what’s going to happen every time I ask to come with you, and it’s like I don’t learn!” You're laughing as you give her shoulders a sympathetic squeeze, sweat gathering on both your brows as you catch your breaths. “You would think you would have already learned from your mistake.” She raises a brow at you, watching as you take on a mock stance, “don’t be afraid to push me,” you mimic, “I can handle it.” 

She’s throwing a rolled-up napkin at you, the wet ball filled with cleaner hitting your skin before falling at your shoe. “Sorry my arms don’t work,” she retorts tongue poking out at you. You roll your eyes despite the smile pulling at your lips, leaning down you pick up the napkin before making your way to the nearest trash bin.  

Discarding the napkin you scan the area to see if the equipment for your next set is open, you find that it is but that’s not what catches your attention. 

 There’s a bright smile on his face, white cut tank molded to his body, grey sweats leaving very little to the imagination as he leans over the bar of the bench press, flirty smile on his lips. Your eyes flit down to the cause of that smile, a fit redhead who has her fingers wrapped around the bar, her smile is grasped between her teeth as she looks up at him. You look away, swallowing the knot in your throat as you retreat back to your friend, who has seemingly seen the same thing. 

You offer a weak smile, her lips turned in a pout as she reaches for you, she doesn’t embrace you but squeezes your arms, she knows affection would be too much. “We could skip the bench for today,” she offers, “use dumbbells instead?” She’s not surprised when you shake your head, “no, we’re going to the bench, it’s open and those benches are barely open, even on the dead days, so I'm getting my time in.” Your friend watches you, “are you sure y/n you -” 

“Come on,” you murmur as you force on a smile, “y/n,” she tries with a look. You shake your head as you gather your things from the floor, “let’s be honest,” you say as you straighten out, “there was no way he was single, I just happen to let myself get a little to hopeful when he was with the guys since I started here.” 

“Well hey, there’s still hope,” she says as you begin your trek across the gym. You look over at her brow raised in question, “maybe Sam and Steve are single,” she offers, “they’re just as good looking.” You let out a snort, hand reaching out to smack at her sore arm, she just barely gets away with a laugh, “what, it’s true!” 

“For that we’re upping your weight twice,” you say as you continue forward making a beeline for the bench. “Oh come on!” she whines, as she matches your step, the two of you falling closer to the bench. 

You claim your spot, your bottle, bag and keys placed at the foot of the bench, your friend takes her spot on the chair. You move around the side getting the weights you plan on sliding into the bar, your eyes focused on the task and not on the couple working feet away from you. 

You mirror Bucky’s earlier move, looking down at your roommate, you help her space her hands right, “you ready?” She tightens her fingers, “they were both looking at you the entire time by the way,” she murmurs, “like watching your every move.” Your heart skips a beat, you pull a smile patting the bar, “are you ready,” you question again. Your friend gives you an unamused look, “fine don’t listen but when we switch, I'm going to make you listen!” Your smile cracks, “wouldn’t expect anything less, remember brace your core and breathe through every rep,” you advise as the bar goes up your fingers assuming their position as she goes for her first rep. 

You can feel eyes on you, and it’s not your roommates, though her eyes remain locked with yours as she looks to you to help her push through each rep. “C’mon last one,” you encourage, “take in a breath, now brace,” she gets out her last rep, your hands guiding hers to rerack the weight with a clang. You laugh as her arms fall to the sides, “I know I said I would do one more exercise after this but please – no more!” 

“How about this,” you say, “let me get out my reps then we can go down to the diner for breakfast, my treat.” 

Her eyes sparkle as she shoots up out of the bench her body turning to get her hands on your cheeks squeezing the flesh, “I love you, I promise next week will be better!”  

A ‘sure jan’ leaves your lips as you switch her spots leaving the weight she started with as a warmup. When you sit on the bench, as you go to lean back your eyes somehow find Bucky’s and indeed both him and the redhead have their gazes trained on you like your friend mentioned earlier. They offer you a smile, Bucky waving at you from where he stands at the bar, almost like he never moved since you noticed him from across the gym. And despite the knot growing in your throat, you return the sentiment before shifting your attention back to the bar. You lock eyes with your roommate as you get your hands into position, “I told you," She hisses as she helps you unrack. 

Keeping your mind focused on what you’re doing has always come easy, its keeping your eyes from wandering to him that you find hard. In between sets while switching out weights your eyes have never wanted to seek him out more, to see him with her. You know they’ve moved from the bench to the mirrors but you just don’t know where. You slip the new weight on to the bars, “you better not go till failure,” your friend laughs as you take a seat on the bench, “because then we’re both failing.” You laugh as she tries to lift the weight while you lay back curling your fingers around the bar, “good thing you’re not the one lifting then, all you got to do is support when you see me about to crush my chest.” 

“HA. HA. You better not die, I want breakfast.” 

You laugh rolling your eyes as you twist your hands breathing in as you lift the weight, your friends' hands following yours as you take your first rep. Despite mentally telling yourself to take it slow, keep it controlled you can’t help but to get your reps in quicker than you should be, but with how light the weight felt the first 4 reps you thought surely it would remain light. Wrong. Oh, how wrong you were as you went for the 7th rep only to struggle to push it up, your face burning along with the muscles in your arms. 

Your roommate looks at you in panic, her fingers curling on the bar as she tries to aide you in your pull-up. You rerack the weight, defeat settling in your bones as you push yourself up into a sitting position. Your roommate comes up next to you, her hand on your shoulder squeezing, but all you can focus on is the group across the gym, laughter bubbling from their lips his arm thrown over her shoulder, her fingers wrapped around his waist.  

Your roommate obscures your view a small smile on the corner of her mouth as she perches on the bench with you, “let’s head out for breakfast yeah, I’ll buy.” 

You’re nodding, offering her a smile as you stand, your hand coming up to your head a humorless chuckle spilling past your lips “God I’m being silly, I’m sorry.” She passes you your things, throwing an arm over your shoulder, “it’s not silly and don’t be sorry, just take the next two days to reset, he's not the only man you know,” she murmurs as she leads the two of you towards the exit a pair of blue cerulean watching you with concern in his gaze and your name on his tongue. 

[ask-cupcakesans]

What I posted about yesterday was a mistake.

I wasn't supposed to upload it and never should. I'm sorry for wasting everyone's time, but I think I need to take a break from Tumblr for a while.

I've messed up people I was with so bad and I know I could never change what I did. Even a simple apology won't do anything. Just an awful/horrible person I am. I really thought I'd change for the better but obviously I didn't.

Bye everyone Hope you all have a good day/night.

Update:

I am feeling alright now. I've decided to work on myself instead of grieving. I currently already have some drawings done, but I'll continue to stay away from Tumblr a bit now just to focus on more important things.

About my ex-friend and the artist, I no longer want their forgiveness. They made their choice so I'm okay with that. I'll probably make a new confession with more detail, but I barely have any proof of the things I did and I don't have much memory since I remove, distance myself, or delete as many things as possible. I erase any traces related to them. It's how I cope with things. Since the post from yesterday was meant to be a WIP I would add more and edit it.

Anyway, I'm also working on the dreamwarriors comic again. The new shading style is killing me, lol ;v;. I might also try to find ways to get the pages down faster.

I do have some more reference sheets so I can get those done.

That's all I got for now.

For those in the replies, thank you so much for all the support, and yes, everything I've done is in the past and I'm only focusing on the present.

Alright, I'm stopping because my braincells are dying, lol

Again thank you all, have a good day/night

[celtic-crossbow]

Hey there, its me again, the favorite anon (it seems weird for me to call myself that, i have to find another way to make it known its me) and i just wanted to give a simple answer, felt like i left you hanging about the art thing so sorry. I’ll try to be brief with my answer, about the whole thing that happened that day, i didn’t really get it all just came in and saw there was some weirdness going on, we all make mistakes we’re human after all so its good you apologized, i think.

I’m really invested in how Daryl and Birdie’s relationship will develop, i just knew he was gonna be the biggest helicopter parent lol, bet he’ll be the kind of dad that freaks out after the kid sneezes just once and i’m here for it, i did note that Daryl didn’t really have any suggestions even when reader commented about the name thing way back when he was sick, but didn’t really think it would come into play, i thought it was more of him being sort of insecure haha but i knew it would be Bird related, come on, Bird blanket and her dad is Always wearing a vest with wings? To me, thats cinema.

Also i forgot to comment on the last ask, but Daryl knowing all this stuff from his books but not knowing about the placenta??, its so funny to me, come on man it was too good to be true, most realistic moment for me honestly, men just operate on a different frequency i swear.

And about Lori, well i did note that Daryl joked about her on the first ep of season 3, wasn’t really malicious tho i think Daryl just kinda secretly likes to gossip, like that time he told everybody Merle had the clap for no reason lmao, the idea of Daryl secretly being a gossiper is hilarious. And more Lori? I’LL BE EATING IT UP I KNOW IT, and getting to see more of her and Rick?? Might as well be christmas for me, i’m curious to know what advice she has, i’ll be waiting eagerly for the moment where she just goes ‘’Y/N can you watch Carl for me?’’ that’ll be the moment we know their relationship has peaked. Alright i’m just joking, i love her so much in this fic.

Carol is the gift that keeps on giving, i love how she immediately knew she had to save birdie from these fools, poor kid doesn’t deserve to suffer with a messed up diaper on her first day on this Earth, i’m guessing she’ll be Birdie’s Godmother, if that’s a thing to them anyway, i have a feeling her bond with Birdie will also be very special and just motivate her to be even more of a badass.

Alright about the art, its totally fine, you know its out there sorta like a message in a bottle, it now belongs to the world not me haha i want to keep practicing with these characters when i have more time, this one was made on a tight schedule but who knows, i’m already thinking of what else to make plotting like a supervillain in my lair, but for now i only have a few hours, if you want to post that one its totally cool with me.

Thanks for being so sweet, i hope you are taking care of yourself and taking your time to write, its very important, and yeaaaah 600 words thats me being ‘’brief’’ somebody needs to take this keyboard away from me.

Bye bye <3

My favorite Anon! You just let me know what you want me to call you and I will! 🩵

Don't worry about not answering right away on the art. I just wanted to make sure it was okay before I showed it off. :) I was worried all that shit had chased you off. I felt/feel horrible about it but it's done and in the past now. I'm sorry if it affected you in any way.

I have just started chapter 31 and bless these two. A newborn on the road is really going to test everyone. He's going to be talking about the name a little in this and why he chose it.

Bless him, he didn't get that far in the books. He kept telling her he hadn't had time to read and how he felt bad about it. He really wanted to know everything but when it came down to reading or providing/protecting or reading, he of course chose the first. I just could not have him being like what?! when she pushed it out.

Daryl being a gossiper! LOL YES.

Reader is definitely going to need help. Lori will play a pivotal role, along with Carol, of course. I want there to be a real bond with Lori, something that will tie reader to Carl and Judith after that day. Daryl loves Judith, we already know that but I want there to be this real bond with reader and the kids.

I still have a while to explore before we even get to the prison, so buckle up! :)

Thank you for always sending these. They seriously make me smile! 🩵🩵🩵

[ferociousconscience]

@wanderinghedgehog, I'm so sorry, I wanted to put this under this post of yours, but tumblr keeps eating it. Hey!! You are right!! I really loved your analysis, and I really hope it's not too unwelcome of me to expand on this myself, as it's something I quietly think about almost every day during my meditations on Javert's character, and don't have a lot of occasion to speak about! I feel as though the best, most overlooked part of Javert's character is this exact thing; His fall is set up in his introductory chapter. Javert is born to a wolf-- He domesticates himself using society and virtue as his sword, wielding it against the parts of himself that he hates-- Only to revert back into a wild, snarling animal when faced with Valjean. His own personal sense of duty and professional boundaries are ALWAYS being blasted specifically by the presence of Jean Valjean (no matter if that presence is real or imagined). It's not just in Javert Derailed, either!

In The Descent, it is present in the fact that he went against Madeleine's orders, which were to immediately free Fantine without punishing her. before those orders, he is a mere hunting dog, truly! He's not the one doing the killing of Fantine, that's the job of a prison. He's merely the one facilitating her death. As we see in the beginning of the scene, Javert is cold and unfeeling in the carrying out of his duty, but he experiences "the most violent emotions he had ever felt in his life" as soon as Madeleine enters the room and speaks on her behalf. Hugo points out that Javert going against a superior was here before an unthinkable action, but his extreme emotions about "What the mayor could be" in that moment blasted that wall away. Madeleine easily destroys something that was once an ingrained part of Javert-- Javert himself says it is the first time in his life that he would do such a thing, and that he was despairing to do it. Later, furious at being humiliated by the man he knows to be Valjean, he writes his letter of denunciation. In Javert, the book named after him (which I also think is significant, considering the books named after characters seem to be highlighting a character's most painful moment, moments at the cost of themselves, ala Eponine), he admits to Madeleine that he had denounced him as a convict out of what he himself initially thinks is a valid complaint, but is then (mistakenly) lead to believe that his fury was just out of personal beef towards a man that apparently had nothing to do with any of this besides Madeleine looking like him, simply resembling Valjean, and that he was not only willing, but demanding needily to destroy his own societal standing, his own career, his own life to make himself virtuous again, able to live with himself again. This is something that I go over so many times-- The Javert chapter is basically just a beta version of Derailed-- That off-screen "Earthquake" Javert goes through must have been so very similar to what he felt in Derailed. He is being forced to face his own abhorrent "mistakes", going against what he had been trained-- and for what? Valjean. The mere bothersome memory of Valjean had eaten away at his "virtue", and so, in a word, Javert must be erased to become "himself" again. In Aftershock, Javert is literally turned into a horrible demon because of his emotions towards Valjean. No longer the stoical and calm man that he was set up as, he turns into a sloppily-dressed animal, slurring his speech, barking out words, grinning and laughing like a madman, so filled with self-satisfaction over being right about Valjean and moreover catching Valjean that Fantine dies of fright. [Continued in a reblog, tumblr is cutting me off bc its too long lol]

[kawaiigentlemenpolice]

Welcome to my blog,treasure seeker! 👒🍖🏴‍☠️

Welcome to my humble One piece writing blog, i will start by saying this: I'm Italian. My English isn't horrible but, it isn't the best either. I am bound to make mistakes and there will be misunderstandings but, I am learning! If you are bothered by anything I might say please do tell me right away! Most of the times that happens I do not mean it! So I'm sorry in advance if I say something bad! i'm a writer as an hobby so my work will not be the best but i will hope it will entertain you! I'm an adult, if you're uncomfortable with that you're free to ignore me. I'm also sorry if I make anyone uncomfortable by asking their age. I don't want any misunderstanding to happen. So, if you're an adult we can chill whatever it's fine. If you're a minor I will most likely not talk to you unless you need help with mental problems. I'm happy to help with that. "By "misunderstandings" I mean people thinking I have bad intentions when I ask "what's your age" to someone. Unfortunately because of my lack of knowledge in English, (since it isn't my first language) people in the past thought I was something I'm not. It made me disgusted and very hurt. I just want to relax and not worry about problems like that again. I'm just trying to make friends not start drama. Thank you. I go by Von mostly but i have many other nickames too such as Hoen,Momoko and Minty you can choose wichever you like. i have adhd,autism and neurodivergent.

༘˚⋆𐙚｡⋆𖦹.✧˚🤍ྀི༘˚⋆𐙚｡⋆𖦹.✧˚🤍ྀི༘˚⋆𐙚｡⋆𖦹.✧˚🤍ྀི༘˚⋆𐙚｡⋆𖦹.✧˚🤍ྀི༘˚⋆𐙚｡

This blog may contain SFW or NSFW content so minors DNI

Character i simp and kin and for me i only think fluff and cute stuff about them (but i don't mind reading NSFW of em apart from Luffy, Sanji,Usopp,Nami,Chopper i don't like it ) but i mostly want to snuggle,kiss and hug them because they're my favourites lil beanies hshshshhs

Law (he's the cutest)

Zoro(hot)

Luffy (silly lil guy)

Sanji (bf material)

Nami (gf material)

Usopp

Kidd

Mihawk

my ask box is open so interact with me whenever you want,just mind that this account is on my pc lol my main is @sweetchildcloud

i write stuff not centering the canon verse so if you don't like it DNI,i usually write angst,d*pression,comfort,s*icidal comfort,comfort in general,fluff,cute and post really goofy art

that's all and i hope you enjoy you stay y/n-ya

Drawings masterlist (just drawings that i do i will put them here)

Reference sheets masterlist

[jazzycurls]

I want to know what love is -

pt.3

Summary: After years of being stuck in an abusive marriage you are hoping to start a new life with your son. Meeting an old acquaintance awakens feelings in you that you thought were long gone. Will your broken heart allow you to love again?

Pairing: Eddie Munson x fem!Reader

Warnings/Tags: No use of y/n, angst, PTSD, domestic violence, injuries, jealousy, brief arguing/raised voices, curse words, hurt/comfort, fluff, smut, wet dream, (let me know if I missed something)

An: Hi you guys! This is my first time writing smut, so I'm sorry if it sucks lol. All feedback is welcome, be gentle please haha. Please do not steal or copy my work. Don’t repost without credit. This is my written work, everything besides the characters and plot points by the original writers, belongs to me.

Word Count: 6,669

~

You gasp as his fingers travel over your hips, grasping your thighs and pushing them apart. Kisses rain down on the insides of your thighs, getting closer and closer to your aching core. You arch your back and wine, trying to get closer to the source of pleasure.

"So wet," he murmurs, his lips pressing a sloppy kiss to your folds.

Moaning deeply you grab his curls, pulling him closer to you. You grind yourself on his lips, nose, tongue, anywhere you can get some friction.

He chuckles darkly "so impatient," he says, kissing your clit. He lets go of your legs and kisses his way back up your body before settling between your legs.

"Please," you beg, running your hands along his back.

"Please what?" he questions. You can feel him at your entrance teasing you, making a mess of you.

"Please, Eddie!"

You jolt awake covered in sweat. Turning over, you look at your clock and groan. It's only five o clock in the morning, one hour before your alarm is set to go off. You lie back and attempt to go back to sleep when the memory of your dream hits you full force.

You gasp and reach a hand between your thighs, you're soaked. Grazing your clit by mistake you moan unexpectedly. Thoughts of your curly-headed neighbor run rampant through your mind.

"Nope, nope, not going there," you say yanking the covers and throwing them off of you. You get out of bed and see a small wet stain covering your bedsheet. "Jesus Christ," you mutter. You pull off your sheets and toss them into the laundry basket in the corner of your room.

Sleep is out of the question, so you stomp your way to the bathroom, nearly waking your son up in the process. After taking a very cold shower, you set about getting your day started. "Today will be a good day," you tell yourself before waking your son up to get ready for school.

~

Today was definitely turning out to be a horrible one. You ended up being late taking your son to school, despite waking up earlier than usual. Your babysitter had also canceled last minute which made you late to work as well. Luckily Mrs. Brenda was available and more than willing to watch your son for you.

You had just gotten the job at the diner and couldn't afford to mess it up. After getting an earful from your boss, Benny, about the importance of attendance, you proceeded to fuck up everything you touched.

Memories of the dream you had last night plague your thoughts constantly, making you serve customers the wrong orders. You apologize repeatedly which helps you earn back some of the tips you were sure you had lost.

After a while, you were finally able to get into your groove, which was also helping to keep your mind from wandering. As you hung the orders in the chef's window for preparation, you heard the tinkling of the doorbell alerting you to new customers.

You immediately headed in their direction, taking your notepad from your apron. You're the only waitress on your shift today, which doesn't give you any time to waste.

From what you could hear this group seemed to be a wild and raucous bunch. You groaned internally, these were the type to change their orders constantly and tip low.

You walked over to the table with a smile "welcome to Benny's, may I take your order," you asked. As you looked at the table, your eyes met the source of your distraction. "Just great," you thought silently.

Eddie grins widely at you, giving you a quick wink before giving you his order. You quickly jot it down before taking the order of the woman sitting beside him. "She's cute," you think while listening to her order. Her light freckles dusted across her face, her hair was short and in brown waves. 

As you take the last two orders, you notice that they seem to be a couple. The guy has great hair but the overuse of his hair spray makes you slightly dizzy. The girl beside him is also pretty with shoulder-length brown hair and high cheekbones.

"Alright, you guys I'll bring your order out shortly," you smile thinly. You walk over to the window to place their orders and grab the plates that are ready.

You become distracted once again as you serve the other customers, your eyes keep finding their way over to Eddie's table. You can't help but notice how close he is to her. Boisterous laughter comes from their table, catching your attention once again.

This time she's leaning onto his arm as she dissolves into a fit of giggles. Your chest tightens at the sight. "Is he on a double date," you wondered and why did the thought of that make you sad?

"Order up," the cook yells. "Order up," the cook yells louder this time. You finally hear the call and rush to get the order.

Balancing the trays of food and drinks, you walk over to Eddie's table and hand out everyone's orders, giving Eddie his last. Your hands graze each other as you pass it to him.

"Enjoy, and let me know if you need anything," you say with a plastic smile. Your eyes flicker over to Eddie, you find that he's already staring at you intently, watching as you walk away.

Another waitress comes in to start her shift, giving you the chance to take a lunch break. You decide to go outside to the side of the restaurant. There's a secluded area with a table and bench that the employees use.

You sit there eating your lunch, lost in your thoughts. What the hell was wrong with you? First, there was the dream, then you couldn't stop thinking about him and now here you were getting jealous over someone who was just supposed to be just a friend!

You sighed deeply, taking another bite of your food. Whatever this problem was, you needed to get your shit together. Eddie had become one of your closest friends and you didn't want to mess that up.

If you were honest, your feelings were hurt that Eddie didn't introduce you to his friends. Was he ashamed of you? Did he think you were not cool enough and wanted to keep your friendship a secret?

"Hey, whatcha doing?" Eddie whispers into your ear.

"Jesus Christ Eddie," you yell, holding your hand across your chest.

He laughs and takes a seat next to you, his thigh lightly touching yours. "Sorry," he smirked not looking sorry at all.

"So, what ya doing out here all alone," he questions, looking around.

"It's my lunch break and I came out here to be alone," you say pointedly.

Eddie doesn't catch on to your attitude or he chooses to ignore it. "I didn't know you worked here," "I would've come by more often had I known," he says bumping your shoulder with his.

You tense from his touch and lean away slightly "I just started," you said with a heavy sigh.

Eddie turns completely toward you, confusion etched across his handsome face "are you mad at me," he asks you softly.

You sigh again pinching the bridge of your nose. "No, I'm not mad at you," you reply honestly. Truthfully you couldn't find it in yourself to be mad at him. Really you were mad at yourself for being mad in the first place. You had no right to be.

"Well, what's wrong then," he pleads, taking your hands into his.

You desperately wanted to tell him. Tell him how you were jealous of the girl he was with and how you were sad at the thought he was ashamed to introduce you to his friends. Your pride and fear however were stronger than whatever it was you were feeling at this moment.

"I'm just having a really bad day," you say skirting around the truth. You turn to him giving him a sad smile.

He smiles at you but it doesn't reach his eyes this time. For some reason, he looks disappointed, like the response you'd given him was wrong and he knew it.

"No worries princess, we all have shit days," he replies. "Want to know what I do when I'm having a shit day?" he asks.

"I'm scared to ask," you mumble. After a moment your curiosity piques anyways. "What do you do," you whisper.

He gives you a toothy grin as he reaches into his jean pocket and pulls out a pre-rolled joint.

You gasp, scandalized, you knew that Eddie smoked, you weren't stupid. But you never thought that he would offer it to you.

You think for a moment, you have about four more hours of your shift left. Things can't get any worse than they already have, plus you've smoked before, occasionally. Even though that was years ago, it still counted in your book.

Eddie's still looking at you, patiently awaiting your answer. "I think I'll take you up on that offer," you state shyly.

He looks at you with a wide comical smile that takes up half of his face. He obviously was not expecting you to say yes. "Let's go to my van," he says as he glances around. "I would hate for someone to come out here and catch us."

You both walk over to his van and get in.

"Well, let's fire this bad boy up," he says as he brings the joint to his lips and lights the other end.

He takes a deep pull, closing his eyes as he inhales the smoke. A second later he releases it slowly and passes it over to you. "Brace yourself, sweetheart," he chokes out. "This is some grade A shit right here."

"I've smoked before Eddie," you retort as you take the joint. You wrap your lips around the end and inhale deeply. Immediately you begin choking, feeling like you were going to cough up your lung.

Eddie leans over and pats you on the back with a worried look on his face. "I'm okay," you breathe out shakily. You pass him the joint and lean back against the seat. Eventually, you get the hang of it and can inhale without killing yourself.

You laugh abruptly, catching Eddie's attention. "What," he questions, his full lips holding a smile of their own. He takes one last puff and puts it out in the ashtray.

"Just thinking about how bitchy I was to you— all because of some dream I had," you giggle shaking your head.

He immediately turns his body halfway towards you, you have his full attention. "So— what was the dream about," he asks, trying to be casual but failing miserably.

You open your red-rimmed eyes, gazing over at him "wouldn't you like to know," you reply cheekily. "If I told you, I would have to kill you!"

Your high right now that's for sure, why else would you mention the dream to him? But at least you're sober enough not to completely spill your guts.

"Anyways," you singsong. "I'm really sorry, Eds" you pout giving him your best puppy-eyed expression.

He groans, throwing his head back against the headrest "don't look at me like that," "I'm a sucker for the puppy-eyed look."

A moment passes and he turns back to you with a hopeful look in his eyes "okay, I'll forgive you— if you let me meet your son." He pauses before continuing "you talk about him all the time and I feel like I know him already," he says. "Plus, I'm good with kids, I kinda have a group of them that I watch over, so you don't have to worry about that," he rambles nervously.

A grin takes over your face before you can answer. You find it cute how nervous he is about asking you. You had already considered having them meet each other.

You felt like you and Eddie had been friends long enough to know that he was a good person. He was also someone who you were starting to care deeply about regardless of how much you tried to deny it.

"Yes, I would like that," you responded.

He leans over and gives you a quick hug before rambling about where would you like the place to be and what time. You both decide that a picnic at the park next weekend would be nice.

Looking at your watch you notice your lunch break was supposed to end five minutes ago. You tell Eddie goodbye before rushing back to your job. Lucky for you, the rush hour has slowed down so your presence wasn't missed.

The rest of your shift goes off without a hitch, all thanks to Eddie. How could someone be a problem and a solution at the same time?

~

It's the day of the picnic and you were a nervous wreck. You had told your son that he was meeting a new friend of yours today. He was apprehensive initially, for some reason he thought that this new friend was a boyfriend. It took some time before he was convinced otherwise.

The lunch you had prepared for yall to eat, was packed and ready to go. Now you were just killing time, by trying to find an outfit to wear. You were torn between a sundress and some cut-off shorts.

You didn't want to dress up too much, due to the surprise you had planned today. Eventually, you choose the shorts, it's casual enough for the park and will allow you to move comfortably.

Your shirt is white with the red words 'drink coca-cola. Pairing it with your white converse,  you go about fixing your hair. You decide to wear it down in loose curls.

As you walk into the living room you call out to your son, letting him know it's time to go. He walks up to you and looks you up and down with a brow raised. "Are you sure he's not a boyfriend?" he questions.

"No, he is just a good friend of mine, okay?" "Now come help me carry the cooler to the truck superman," you laugh. You load everything into the bed of your pickup and head to the park to meet Eddie.

~

When you arrive at the park Eddie is already there, he looks so nervous you can't help but laugh. You park your truck beside Eddies. He walks over to you as you both get out of the truck.

The first thing you notice is how good he looks, more so than usual. You can tell he put a lot of thought into his appearance. His curls are not the usual frizzy mass and it looks as if he used a leave-in conditioner to help tame them. You want nothing more than to just run your hands through his hair

His clothes seem to be new as well. He has on a pair of ripped black jeans and a Judas Priest shirt, his signature black bandana is hanging from the back pocket of his jeans.

You introduce them and wait on bated breath. Eddie is the first to make a move "Hey man, it's nice to finally meet you," he says as he holds his hand out to your son.

"Nice to meet you, how long have you and my mom been friends?" he inquires with a raised brow.

"For about a couple of months now," Eddie responds. "It feels like I've known her forever though."

Your son hums in acknowledgment, keeping his eyes trained on Eddie as if he was evaluating him. The conversation falls into a lull.

Clasping your hands together you pick the conversation back up. "You know Eddie runs a club for Dungeons and Dragons," you say.

That catches his attention making his eyes light up "wow, that's so cool!" he exclaims. "I always wanted to play but none of my friends likes it," he says breathlessly.

Eddie grins, "well today is your lucky day man, I can talk to my group and see how they feel about taking on a new member," he says. "If that's what you want and if mom is cool with it," he adds glancing at you.

"Yeah, that would be awesome!" he replies quickly. "Can I do it mom please?" he begs, giving you the puppy dog eyes.

You look at the both of them, they're both staring at you with a hopeful look. "I suppose so, as long as it doesn't interfere with school." you state matter of factly.

Your son gives you a quick hug, saying thank you, and turns to Eddie who gives him a high five. You can't hide the smile on your face at the sight of them getting along.

"Okay, guys! Let's get this stuff out of the car, yeah?" you say as you walk to the back of your truck.

~

The picnic goes better than you could've imagined. Eddie and your son talk nonstop about various things, such as DnD, movies, games, and music. You sit quietly, for the most part, eating your food while watching them interact. You make comments here and there but let them continue to get to know each other.

After a while, you hear Eddie calling your name while waving his hand near your face. You look over at him and see his smiling face. "Hey, where did you go just now," he says jokingly.

You let out a small laugh "I was just listening to my two most favorite people," you reply looking at them both. Standing up you dust off your shorts.

"I'll be right back you guys," you call out as you head towards your truck. Looking over your shoulder you check to make sure their attention is elsewhere.

You pull out three water guns making sure they're full. You place two of them back into the bag and hold yours behind your back. As you walk back over to them still sitting on the blanket, you throw the bag at their feet.

They look at you with a puzzled expression "I have a surprise for you both," you sing mischievously. You pull out the water gun quickly and spray them both. "Catch me if you can!" you yell gleefully as you run towards the dense maze of trees.

After running a short distance you hide behind a tree to catch your breath. A twig snaps close by and you hold your breath. Peering your head around the trunk of the tree you spot your son looking around for you or Eddie.

You leap from your hiding spot blasting him in the chest before running off again. "Going to have to do better than that you son," you holler joyfully.

Crouching down behind a large bush, you pump your gun to make sure it's loaded.

"Well, well, well, looky what we have here," says Eddie.

You look up to find him a few feet ahead of you with his gun already trained on you. You move to raise your gun and he stops you with a clucking of his tongue.

"Ah ah princess, no sudden movements kay?" he says patronizingly. "How I see it, you're in a real tough spot darling, but I'm gonna be fair to you cuz I likes ya," he says with a faux cowboy accent.

"So, what do you want," you ask looking up at him beneath your lashes.

His breath catches a little and he clears his throat " you have two choices, the first one is I get to have an unlimited amount of hugs whenever I want for a week."

He stops and takes a dramatic pause before continuing "The second option is one kiss, any time or place no questions asked." he says smirking at you.

Your cheeks flame at the proposition and your mind goes blank, leaving you unable to form a reply. You can hear your son's increasing footsteps in the distance.

"Time's ticking sweetheart," he says mockingly still holding up his water gun.

You can hear your son approaching so you blurt out a response without thinking "the kiss," you say breathlessly.

"Great choice," he says slyly before taking off in the other direction whooping and hollering.

You're still sitting there when your son springs forward, catching you unaware. "Gotcha," he yells before spraying you full blast.

~

To say your son had a blast at the picnic last weekend would be an understatement. Once you had parted ways with Eddie, he proceeded to talk your ear off about him. He wanted to know when and if he could see him again.

He was ecstatic when he found out that he lived in the trailer right behind him. You had to make him promise that he would not go over there unannounced. Even though you were sure that Eddie wouldn't mind, you didn't want him to become a bother.

You were currently on your way to meet with your lawyer. He wanted to discuss your options for the case since your husband was not cooperating. He thought that since he had a record of violence, it could work in your favor with getting the proceedings pushed forward.

You were hopeful about what the outcome could be. If you could get the judge to agree with hearing your case sooner, then maybe you could finally be free from him. When you mentioned it to Eddie he was nothing but supportive.

He had asked you if you could go out with him and his friends afterward. He knew how stressed you were and wanted to help get your mind off of everything.

You were tempted to say no, you didn't want to risk getting jealous again. You weren't sure if the girl from the diner was just a friend or something more.

Making a fool out of yourself was something that was becoming a common occurrence, especially when Eddie was involved. But when you looked into his pleading brown eyes you couldn't find it in you to say no.

So you had plans to go to the hideout later tonight. Also, he told you that he had a special surprise for you but he wouldn't budge whenever you asked him for a hint.

You pulled into the parking lot and cut your car off. Gathering all of your documents, you said a silent prayer as you headed up the steps into the office.

~

You stood in front of your mirror as you smoothed down the front of your leather mini skirt. "This is stupid," you thought. After five wardrobe changes, you still couldn't decide what to wear.

"Fuck this, I'm not changing again," you muttered as you walked over to your closet. Pulling on your high-heeled ankle boots, you checked your makeup in the mirror for the hundredth time before heading to the front door.

Eddie had given you the directions and told you what time to be there. He explained that he would be a little late but that was due to the surprise he had planned. You were nervous about hanging out alone with his friends but he reassured you that they would take good care of you.

Your parents were watching your son for the weekend so you didn't have to worry about staying out too late. You got into your truck and gripped the wheel anxiously. You were nervous, excited, and scared all at once. It had been too long since you had gone out and partied.

After taking a deep inhale and exhale you cut on your truck and headed towards the hideout.

~

You stood at the entrance of the club awkwardly. Feeling like a fish out of water, you were hyper-aware of the looks that you kept receiving, from men and women. You weren't sure if the looks were a good or a bad thing.

Just when you decided that you were going to go back home, you felt a warm hand on your shoulder. You turned around and found yourself face to face with the woman from the diner a few weeks ago.

"Hi, I'm Nancy!" she said with a cheery slur, extending her hand towards you. It seemed she had gotten a headstart on drinking.

You gave her a small smile " Hey, I'm—,”

"I know who you are," she replied with a coy smile. "Eddie talks about you all the time," she said nonchalantly.

Your eyebrows shot to your hairline. Not only has he already mentioned you to his friends, but he talks about you all the time? It seemed your previous concerns were unwarranted. 

Before you could get her to clarify, she linked her slim arm through yours pulling you close. "C'mon, let's go meet the others, they're dying to meet you" she declared before steering you into the small building.

It was dimly lit, the inside was bigger than how it had seemed outside. Nancy led you to the bar to get a few drinks before meeting with everyone. Not knowing what to get, you ordered a rum and coke, which was always a safe choice.

You both headed towards a smattering of tables that surrounded a medium-sized stage. There was a decent-sized crowd scattered about.

You could hear laughter as you approached a group, you recognized them all besides one. There was a new addition this time, a cute girl with red hair.

"Guys, this is the gorgeous girl Eddie told us all about," Nancy said loudly, catching everyone's attention.

"Hi," you said waving shyly.

The girl who had sat close to Eddie at the diner was the first to speak. "Hey girl, nice to properly meet you, I'm Robin!" her eyes sparkled with merriment.

"Nice to meet you too," you replied politely.

"I'm Steve, nice to meet you," the one with the nice hair said.

"And I'm Vicki," the last girl said with a smile.

You gave everyone another smile and wave before you took a seat.

Nancy took a seat on the other side beside Steve. He put an arm around her pulling her close and giving her a quick kiss.

You made small talk with everyone, eventually loosening up. They were actually pretty nice, you could see yourself hanging out again in the future.

You took a sip of your drink, letting the liquid warm your insides. "Do you know

when Eddie's gonna get here," you asked after some time had passed.

Steve looked at you with a mischievous grin "he's already here," he stated mysteriously.

You turned to him in surprise "oh?" "Where is he," you questioned. His eyes flickered toward the stage making you follow his gaze.

There you saw Eddie setting up band equipment on the stage. How he had managed to get onto the stage without you noticing was a mystery.

His eyes caught yours and winked at you, causing you to flush with a wide grin. You knew you looked like a love-struck puppy but you couldn't find it in yourself to care.

Eddie tapped his mic "Everyone doing alright tonight?" he asked still fiddling with his guitar. The crowd, except your group, gave a half-hearted reply.

"Alright ladies and gents, for the people who aren't familiar with us we're Corroded Coffin." He turned towards his band giving them a signal to start.

They were pretty good but your eyes were glued on Eddie. He was completely in his element, becoming immersed in the music. You watched as fingers glided skillfully along his guitar with ease, tossing his head back and forth to the pounding of the beat.

Nodding your head along, you swayed along to the song. Eddie turned his head toward you, catching you off guard when he started to sing! You were blown away as he strolled the stage towards you, belting out a harmonious tune into the mic.

Sweat began to bead along your hairline as he leaned towards you provocatively. "How many talents does this man have," you thought. He's a helluva guitar player and a decent singer.

You gripped the sides of your seat as he let go of the mic to perform his guitar solo still looking toward you. You were painfully aware of the dull ache between your thighs, causing you to fidget in your seat.

Eddie turned away from you with a smirk and proceeded to walk the rest of the stage for the rest of the performance. Everyone chit-chatted around you as Eddie and his band played through two other songs.

Steve had been so kind as to get refills for everyone, so you were now on your third round. You weren't drunk but you weren't exactly sober either.

It was hard for you to conversate with the others due to your sight constantly being on Eddie. After performing their last song they thanked the crowd and began to break down the equipment.

Your group whooped and cheered loud enough for the entire crowd. You turned back to everyone making small talk as you waited for Eddie to come over.

"I see you were very interested in Eddie's performance," Robin said with a smirk.

You finished sipping your drink before replying. "He was great," you replied honestly. "I didn't even know he was in a band!" laughing as you looked over in her direction. You noticed that she and Vickie were close, closer than what normal friends would be.

She chuckled giving you a knowing smile before leaning towards Vickie and whispering in her ear causing her to blush. "Not friends," you thought with a small smile on your lips. You shook your head and laughed softly, you could be clueless sometimes.

"Hey guys, how did you like the show," Eddie asked everyone as he flopped into a seat beside you.

Everyone complimented him and he turned and looked over towards you. "How about you sweetheart?"

You looked at him, taking in the sheen of sweat covering his forehead. His curls were frizzy from sweating and hung in loose waves down his shoulders. You resisted the urge to run your hands through them.

"I loved it, you were like some sorta rockstar up there," you beamed.

He blushed prettily at your compliment "thank you," he said cheerfully.

Several drinks later the club had livened up and music was blaring overhead. Nancy and Steve were on the dance floor while the rest of you were making light conversation.

You set your glass on the table and rested your arm on your chair. A moment passed before you felt Eddie's hand rest atop of yours.

Your breath hitched as you peeked at him from the corner of your eye. Other than a smirk, his face held no indication of what he was doing. He remained impassive as he continued to chat.

With the liquid courage coursing through you, you felt at ease with how you were feeling. You turned your palm face up to properly grasp his hand in yours.

Gradually he began to rub small circles into the palm of your hand. After a while, you felt his fingertips ghost the expanse from your fingers up to your wrist and back down again. You closed your eyes at the way his touch caused warmth to flare between your legs.

He did this a few times before suddenly stopping, letting his hand rest on yours comfortably.

You turned to him, your lips were slightly parted allowing you to take in deeper breaths. His gaze was already turned toward you.

The look in his eyes thrilled and frightened you at the same time. His brown eyes were intense with a look you'd never seen him wear before. He looked as if he were dying of thirst and you were the last drink of water.

Suddenly the air seemed to vanish along with everyone else but Eddie. You licked your lips causing his gaze to drop down to your mouth. He squeezed your hand tightly this time, which you returned equally.

At that moment Steve and Nancy sat back down breaking whatever spell you seemed to be under. You chose that opportunity to excuse yourself from the table and go to the restroom.

Once in the bathroom, you relieved yourself and washed your hands while looking in the mirror. Your face was flushed and had a light sheen of sweat. You wanted to blame it on the alcohol but you knew better.

Eddie had you hot and bothered in a way you hadn't felt in a long time. Even when your husband was home, he rarely touched you due to his overdrinking.

You opened the door to the bathroom to find Eddie standing there silently in the dark hallway. In any other circumstances, he would have scared the hell out of you.

"Hey, I just— wanted to make sure you were okay," he stated in a deep voice.

"Yeah, I just needed a moment," you replied. You stepped closer to him as a man walked out of the other bathroom and behind you down the narrow hallway.

As you stepped closer Eddie you found yourself directly in front of him. Your stare followed the way his band tee clung to his chest, outlining his pecs and traveling to the narrowing of his waist...

Eddie groaned and shifted, bringing your gaze up to his eyes. You gasped softly at the look in his eyes.

You weren't sure who stepped forward first but suddenly you were pressed against the hard expanse of his body. His head hung low as you tilted your head back.

He wrapped his arms around your waist cautiously and you glided your hands from his chest, slipping them behind his neck. His lips hovered over yours teasingly, tempting you to move forward.

"I'm going to kiss you if you don't stop me," he whispered, rubbing his nose against yours.

You gazed into his dark eyes before letting your eyes drift shut " I don't want you to stop," you said softly.

He quickly tilted your head back further, pressing your lips to his. Lips melded together sensuously, making you whimper softly into the kiss.

Your fingers combed through the soft curls atop of his head as he pulled you tighter against him. People walked by but you two could care less. The moment you were sharing was the only thing that mattered.

His tongue swiped across your lips searching for access. Parting your lips, you felt him slide his tongue across yours skillfully. You could feel your breasts sliding across his chest as you moved against him, making your nipples harden.

Your core began to throb with a dull ache and you moaned deeply into his mouth.

At the sound of your noises, he groaned in return letting one hand travel down to cup your ass. His other hand playing with the hem of your skirt teasingly.

You arched into him more, begging silently for something, anything to quell the storm brewing within you. He slipped his hand beneath your skirt and slid one finger from your clothed entrance up to your clit.

"Fuck, your so wet," he murmured against your lips.

Your breathing became ragged as you attempted to stifle a moan. You were still aware that you were in a public area.

He swiftly turned you both around so his body covered yours, giving a small sense of privacy.

You could still feel his fingers teasing your entrance, gently prodding, causing the fabric of your panties to dip into you slightly. Closing your eyes, you parted your lips letting your breath out in uneven pants.

"Look at me princess," he said, his voice hoarse.

You slowly opened your eyes, meeting his intense stare. He swiftly pulled your underwear out of the way, gathering the wetness pooled at your entrance, before pressing down on your clit.

He covered your mouth with his as you cried out in response, weaving his tongue with yours. Tightening your hold on his hair, you pulled his head closer, deepening the kiss.

His finger began to circle your bud faster and faster until you were gasping for air against his lips. You could feel him panting as well, the faint smell of beer, cigarettes, and mint fanning across your face.

Suddenly, he thrusted two fingers into your heat, making you throw your head back, bumping your head on the wall. You bit your lip to keep quiet. He began to pepper kisses along your jaw working his way down to the side of your neck.

You pulled his head away to look into his eyes "please," you whimpered. The need to cum had become overwhelming, leaving you clenching around his still fingers.

"Fuck," he bit out before shoving his fingers back in and out at full force.

Your head hit the wall again with a thump as your orgasm began to build steadily.

He grabbed your chin to keep your gaze on him as he took you higher and higher. Keeping motion with his fingers he started to rub your clit with the pad of his thumb.

"Eddie, I'm gonna—," you moaned unable to finish your sentence.

"Look at me baby, I want to see you cum for me," he said keeping his gaze locked on yours.

You came with an audible gasp, gushing around his hand. He continued stroking you lazily, as your walls fluttered around his nimble fingers.

Removing his fingers from your heat, he pressed against you, claiming your lips in a heated kiss. You felt his hardened length along your thigh.

At the feel of him, you felt your core clench, making you feel empty. You moaned softly into his mouth angling your body towards his member.

He pulled back and looked you in the eyes "you need to go now," he said pressing his forehead to yours.

"Hmmm," you said hazily. Your mind was still foggy from the orgasmic bliss.

"If you don't go, I'm gonna end up fucking you in this hallway," his voice was strained with longing.

"Our first time should be somewhere special," he said finally. He gave you one final sweet kiss before stepping back.

Even though he had just made you cum with only his fingers, he somehow still managed to make you flush from embarrassment.

You nodded your head, silently agreeing. He had a point, you were lucky if no one had witnessed what had just occurred. You smoothed down your skirt as you pushed yourself from the wall.

Now that the rush was fading, shame was starting to creep in along the edges of your mind. Keeping your head down, you moved to brush past him.

"Hey," he said softly, taking hold of your hand. "You, okay?" He rubbed the palm of your hand gently, looking deep into your eyes.

Your heart twisted from the expression on his face. His eyebrows were creased, genuine concern etched into his features.

"Yeah, just a little embarrassed, I guess," you replied honestly.

His response was instant "don't be, you have nothing to be ashamed of." he said smiling warmly.

You smiled in return, allowing him to loop your arm through his and lead the way out of the club.

As you reached your truck, he turned to you, your arm still tucked securely against his side. He took your other arm and pulled you into him.

"Are you okay to drive?" he murmured into your hair. "I can drive you home if you want," he said suggestively.

"That's okay," "I think you sobered me up a bit," you joked lightly.

He gave you another kiss leaving you breathless. You climbed into your truck, giving him a small wave before pulling off to head home.

Next Chapter

[stranded-labyrinth]

post fall hannibal and will are regularly blowing each other's backs out on beaches and beds and every other available surface in cuba. life is good and they're killing and eating folks together on the reg. they learn and know everything there is to learn and know about one another, until one night they're cooking and hannibal sees a spider in one of the vegetables and five minutes later he's on the counter while will busts a lung laughing at him but gets rid of the spider in like five seconds while also identifying which kind it is and what its habitat usually is etc etc so basically a little fic based on your post and featuring entomologist will graham

i had to look at pictures of garden spiders for this. i hate you.

anyway, this didn't end up being very crackficy at all. as a matter of fact, this is just angst LOL. i'm sorry for taking it so far beyond the direction you wanted it to go in

also, big warning for arachnophobia, because spiders are talked about a LOT in this fic!

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

The weaving maiden, doomed to repeat her greatest accomplishment and gravest error for years to come.

Every so often, Hannibal found himself thinking back to her story. While he scarcely spoke of it, it had become one of his favorites.

There were two people on Earth who knew why Hannibal so frequently consumed human flesh, and one of them had counted herself amongst the dead that lay in his past. That left only one, who had stood alongside him, searing the other contender’s arm on a grill to show Hannibal the wonders of southern barbeque.

Then there was the classic depiction in Greek myth of mortals boasting to the divine, divinity striking down mercilessly until the mortal would indeed understand that there are fates worse than death.

Rule number one of the ancients: Never equate yourself to a god, nor place yourself above them.

Hannibal was quite certain that, should he have been born approximately 3,000 years prior, he would have been flayed open in public.

That being said, the myth was one of the only ones in existence to truly be able to make his skin crawl, and thus its horror was far more embedded into his mind than any of the other tragic tales of the Greeks (save for one that he’d lamented by heart for approximately four years).

People often made the mistake of assuming that spiders died off in the winter. They could not be more wrong.

There was a time years ago, during those frozen months in Lithuania, in which his captors had been able to keep their fires burning.

Their first goal had always been to simply obtain ransom money and be on their way. Hannibal could remember the glow of campfires then, Mischa asking him when they would be going home. He never had an answer for her.

He remembered killing all the spiders for her in their little den.

Easily frightened as she was, being so young, she sought her older brother when seeing something crawling horribly fast along the wall, or along the floor. Even sitting innocently in the corner, those little creatures frightened her, and thus they were swiftly sent back to whence all things came with a hard PAT.

There had been one that had passed them by, as it turned out. Mischa discovered it sitting in the corner and let out a shrill cry, loud enough that one of their captors had shouted at her for it. Hannibal did swiftly away with the offending arachnid, neither of them knowing what had already taken place before its discovery.

A day came not long after, closer to their freezing days, where Hannibal could remember Mischa growing sniffly. Searching around, he discovered the likely perpetrator: A dust bunny in the corner, aggravating her allergies.

He remembered grabbing it, hoping to remove it from their den.

He could almost forget her hunger pain induced cries when he remembered the way she screamed as hundreds of the spider's babies cascaded over them both. He had very nearly drowned her out with screams of his own that day.

Spiders, for every day since, were associated with exactly one scene in his mind: Fear, death, and the cold.

Arachnophobia, as people seemed to so commonly deem just about any distaste of the horrible little things, always seemed to be the butt of the joke. Something to be mocked for, something pathetic, something weak.

He was not weak.

That being said, he was rather fortunate that the concept never came up to begin with. In their little house, Hannibal had yet to see any of the cursed creatures. The most he’d hear of them were from Will, who would find one on occasion and inform Hannibal that he’d taken it outside, before going on about its species, where it was native to, the patterns of its body, and then inevitably inform Hannibal that he had just, in fact, been bitten by the little rascal.

Hannibal smiled to himself as he went on with his chopping in the kitchen, wondering just how much poor treatment at the hands of an animal Will could withstand. He imagined Will would forgive just about any creature that wasn’t human. Most of all, it was pleasant to be able to find himself unaffected by the knowledge of the arachnid’s presence, for once. Perhaps it could be said that it was because he never actually laid eyes on them.

In the middle of his thoughts, his eyes focused more on the pan he was pouring into than his hands, it seemed that the outer shell of the onion he’d been chopping was touching his hand. Odd, he thought he’d brushed those aside already.

And then it moved, and he glanced at his hand.

--------

Will stepped through the hall, brows furrowed in confusion. He could have sworn he’d heard his name be called, quickly and in a tone he’d never heard Hannibal use before, but he’d received no response when he called back.

“Hannibal?” he called, beginning to head towards the kitchen. “Are you–

Any question he may have had cut off entirely when he stepped into the kitchen, only to see Hannibal perched on the furthest possible counter.

Cowering.

Before he could so much as question him, eyes radiating concern, he spotted movement across the floor between them.

When his eyes locked onto it, he couldn’t help but smile.

“Oh hey there, little guy,” he cooed as he bent down, scooping the spider off of the floor and into his palms. “What are you doing inside? You’re never inside! Did someone leave the window open, hm? Were you curious?”

He doesn’t notice Hannibal staring at him, his eyes wide, his breathing shallow. 

“Oh, you’re a pretty little guy, aren’t you? Yellow garden spider!” Will declared proudly. “Oh, your stripes are just beautiful…”

Hannibal swallowed hard, willing his voice to not quiver as much as he was sure it would.

“Will.”

Will glanced at him, snapped out of his reverie by the reality of his petrified lover.

“Kill it.”

It was not a request. It was a command.

Will frowned.

“Hannibal, I’m not killing it, you know that,” he argued. “I’m just gonna take it outside.”

Hannibal’s mouth opened to speak, his vocal cords cut off when they were inundated with things he could say. Let it go so it can come back? So it can lay eggs? So it can bring its swarm?

So he’ll be drowned in frightened screams again, no longer knowing which are his own?

Will’s eyes raked over him, his frustration beginning to dissipate.

“Hannibal,” he began, daring to finally ask, “why are you on the counter?”

Hannibal did not answer, his eyes firmly locked on the vile creature in his lover’s hands.

Concern melted back into Will’s look. “Hannibal…” He took a step forward. “It’s not gonna hurt you, see? Look, it’s just–”

As Will held the little beast out, Hannibal flinched.

“Whoa– Okay, okay!” Will said quickly, taking several steps back. “Look, I’ll…I’ll just take it outside, okay? You won’t have to see it again.”

“It’ll come back,” Hannibal said, quiet enough that he was just barely heard. “It’ll come back in hundreds.”

Will stood still, as though searching for a solution. He had never seen Hannibal like this before, not ever. He had never seen Hannibal frightened.

As the creature moved in his hands, he could feel a particular spot beginning to itch. Looking down, he saw a rather familiar two pin pricks in the heel of his palm.

He sighed.

He dropped the spider to the floor.

And he stomped.

He swallowed hard, trying not to audibly gag at the distinct crunch feel beneath his shoe. The quick shattering of the exoskeleton, like tiny tectonic plates forced to shift beneath a great weight. A little world coming to an end.

He lifted his foot, staring down at the curled up remains of the critter he was going to let outside.

Some small agony swelled in his chest, and he looked to Hannibal, the way he always did.

Hannibal was finally breathing again, his face showing nothing but pure relief.

And the agony was gone.

Carrying the spider corpse to the window to give it a good toss outside, the realization dawned on Will that he would do just about anything to never see that fear in that man’s eyes again.

It wasn’t the first time he took a life at Hannibal’s behest that he never thought he’d take.

And Hannibal gazed at him the way he imagined humanity had been gazing at the moon for thousands of years, in silent awe of the beauty he was beholding.

Somewhere deep in his memory palace, a little boy had someone to kill the spiders for him, too.

[shuttershocky]

Hey, I just started Arknights (coming from fgo lol) and I'm not really sure what I'm doing. I got Gravel on my first roll, is that good? Should I be using records to level up my operators quickly, or should I save them? Are the starting characters like Yato and Rangers worth leveling? Sorry, I really like the game so far but I feel like I don't know what I'm doing.

Not to worry, I'm familiar with this dance

Raise your 3 stars first - The low rarity units in this game are surprisingly strong for the costs it takes to raise them, which is why any new player guide worth its salt will tell you to invest in them early rather than putting all your resources into your higher rarity units right away (who cost exponentially more to raise). Your 3 stars will be enough to carry you through the early story chapters as well as the resource farming stages, which will help you build your higher rarity units a lot easier.

Build your base - Clearing the early story chapters unlocks base building. Think about it as if you could build Chaldea / the Wandering Sea base and see your servants milling about. This is important because you can passively gain both LMD (the equivalent of QP) and records (embers) from your base by setting up factories to make gold and XP records, and a trading post to sell the gold. The farther you get in the main story, the more of the base you can unlock and build to really cut down on grinding time. Different operators will have different base skills that can improve your base too, and the 3 stars have some pretty strong ones which makes investing in them early even better!

Don't mind all the extra stuff yet - There's like a fuckton of game modes like Integrated Strategies, Stationary Security Service, or Contingency Contract that a new player shouldn't worry about. These are endgame shit for built players. Don't worry about missing out, rewards that are exclusive to IS or CC are permanently there so you don't have to fear missing out.

Don't completely max out characters - It's slower to raise characters in Arknights than it is in FGO, and you are NOT encouraged to totally max out a character's level because costs balloon with both levels and rarity. For example, if you have Gilgamesh in FGO and you stop at level 80 after getting his ascension 3, you'd be nuts, you're missing out on stats! But in Arknights, many people leave their operators at Elite 2 (Ascension 3 equivalent) level 40 or so even when their operators can go up to 90, because as a strategy / puzzle game your victory is a lot less dependent on stats than the strategic value of your solution, and also because levelling from Elite 2 50-90 is insanely expensive for minor stat increases. I say this having a fuckton of maxed out characters, don't do it it's horribly inefficient. Only max out an operator for love, since AK doesn't have a grails feature.

Pace Yourself - There's no need to rush. Any event that has already had a rerun becomes permanently added to the game via the "Side Stories" menu for you to play, and old welfare operators that have had their rerun some time ago will become permanently unlocked for new players to get anytime. You have a base that can passively farm LMD and XP for you, event shops give out lots of materials (just like in FGO, it's much easier to get mats from event shops, and event stages also have a lot of material drops), even perfectly clearing a stage unlocks an auto-deploy function for it, so even farming an event becomes as simple as pushing a button and then doing anything else with your time while the game plays itself.

Also to answer your question, Gravel is good yes, though not in a way you might be used to. Gravel's combination of having extremely fast redeploy time and having tank skills is great for new players still learning the game and using her to plug any holes in their defenses or fix mistakes, but then as you get more experienced you stop seeing a use for her. Then you get WAY more experienced and play the WAY HARDER endgame challenge content and you realize you need Gravel again.

Don't feel shy about asking for more help! It can be a really challenging puzzle game

[arlecchno]

mission accomplished [ scaramouche x reader ]

twenty-two | the story of us

prev masterlist next

the aftermath of everything.

warnings: swearing, use of scara's real name, use of signora's real name, mentions of injuries, signora calls you sweetheart lol, just a bit of angst at the start, not exactly proofread

a/n: this is pretty much a filler chapter cuz it's just you trying to avoid scara lmao. title and overall chapter is heavily inspired by the story of us by taylor swift. happy reading!

grammatical errors may occur so please let me know if i've made any mistakes!

you feel like absolute shit.

yun jin eyed you worryingly from the kitchen as she prepared you a drink. walking to the living room with a mug in hand, she carefully placed it on the coffee table in front of you.

“you should have something to drink.”

you didn't reply, opting to only stare at the beverage instead. the hot mist of the steam was still floating around, and the strong aroma of the famous steeped liyuean tea waft through the room.

“do you think i'm a bad person?”

yun jin arched an eyebrow, placing herself next to you on the small couch. “what do you mean by that?” she asked, looking at you.

still staring at the mug, you speak up. “i always sacrifice myself for others, albeit a little too much, you could say.” you chuckled to yourself. “i thought that if i were the one who ended up hurt instead of others, it would be for a good cause. i never see myself fit being saved, because honestly, i don't deserve it.” you said as yun jin eyed your head along with your damp hair, wrapped up in a soaked gauze roll.

you looked out to the small window of yun jin's dorm, taking in the dull view of the still heavy rain. how long has it been? over an hour now? the rain still hasn't stopped.

“yet i made the person who i treasure the most hate me in just one night, just because i was too busy wanting to be the hero.” you turned your head towards yun jin, eyes puffy from the short breakdown you had earlier. “does that even make me a good person at all?”

yun jin sighed, grabbing ahold of your hands. your hands were as cold as ice, not surprising, she thought to herself. you showed up at her door still clad in your soaked dress from last night, and an unknown black blazer draped over your shoulders. you may be smart in yun jin's eyes, but archons, you couldn't even bring an umbrella along?

“there's nothing wrong with putting others first, luna. but you should also know that you deserve just as much help as others do, you know.” she said, hands smoothing along yours in reassurance. “is this about ivan?” she questioned, and you slowly nodded.

eyes tearing up again, you looked down to your lap. “we were doing so good, yun jin, so, so, good. but i just had to ruin everything, i'm so awful, archons, i shouldn't have stormed off on him.” you sniffled, tears falling down to yours and yun jin's hands.

you recalled back to the things you did with scaramouche before it all went wrong. the dance, the balcony, the night before, everything. looking at it now, you felt like that was all just a fever dream, because none of it could explain why you were breaking down over a heated fight with scaramouche.

how did things get so wrong?

you thought after the grad ball, you would've found leads and close up this case after getting enough evidence, and would continue on your life with a blooming relationship with scaramouche. but now, you're not sure if you could even go on with this case given your situation.

it was your fault, really. if it wasn't for your actions, you would've saved both you and scaramouche, with no one hurt. but you just had to be the saviour and risk your life, only to end up sabotaging your own relationship with him.

it was entirely your fault, even from the start.

maybe you should've never agreed on working undercover for this case.

“i really am a horrible person, huh?” you chuckled, averting your gaze back to yun jin. she had a sympathetic expression plastered on her face, feeling sorry for what you're going through right now.

yun jin engulfed you in a hug, hands rubbing your back. “don't say that, luna. you're just having a hard time. don't beat yourself up for it.” she said, pulling you closer.

you stayed still for a second, in yun jin's arms, before finally breaking down fully, drowning your tears on yun jin's shirt.

the rain was still pouring heavily, with bolts of lightning shattering across the sky, just like how everything was shattering your heart into millions of pieces right now.

“what in the world happened to you?”

signora stared at you through her computer screen, referring to your very obvious bandaged head.

you looked away, avoiding her sharp gaze. even though it was merely a video call, you can't help but get scared of her. from the tone of her voice, you could already tell that she's worried as hell.

huffing, you replied. “it's a long story.”

“that's not your room.” signora pointed out, looking at the background. “it isn't scaramouche's either.”

“i'm at yun jin's.”

“and why are your eyes red and puffy? did you just finish crying?”

you groaned, grabbing a pillow to bury your face in it. “you ask so many questions.” you complained, voice slightly muffled.

“of course i'm gonna be throwing out a lot of questions, i'm a cop.” she tried joking around, though stopped when you don't respond.

signora sighed, looking at your slouched form with your face deeply buried in a pillow, body slightly shaking.

she's never been like this, she thought. even during stressful days at the precint, or during finals back in uni, you were never one to show such vulnerable emotions to someone, let alone to her, your closest friend.

it must be that bad.

“are you okay?” she finally asked, voice soft, contrary to what it was a moment ago.

chuckling, you perked your head up from the pillow, tears already threatening to fall. signora's face turned even more worried at the sight.

“no. i feel like absolute shit.”

signora didn't reply, looking at you in worry through the screen, waiting for you to continue.

“i had a fight with him.”

the blonde-haired woman raised a brow. “don't you guys always do that?”

you heave out a huff. “this was different.” you muttered, looking down on your laptop keyboard. “we were getting along really damn well for the past week, but everything fell apart when last night happened.”

“i did remember that gremlin texting me that you got in the hospital, which was the main reason why i called you.” signora shrugged. “but i didn't expect for the story to be this complicated. you're gonna have to tell me all about it, y/n.” she said, hands making gestures.

sighing, you averted your attention back to her. “fine. i'll tell you.”

after what felt like forever, you finally finished telling signora about what had happened, from the past few weeks, all the way to yesterday's fight. even though the information were rather a bit too much for one to listen, signora was still able to catch up quickly on the story, humming at your sentences in acknowledgement.

“well, that's about it.” you finished, voice cracking.

“do you like him?”

“what?” you asked, dumbfounded.

signora brought up her hand to look at her nails. “the way you talk about him makes it seem like you have feelings for him.”

widening your eyes, you stared at your friend in disbelief. “wha– no!” you denied almost immediately. you wiped the tears in your eyes with your sleeve, and continued on rambling on how you have absolutely no feelings for the ravenette.

you went on for a couple of minutes, looking elsewhere to avoid signora peering at your flustered state. but when she never replied to any of your retorts, you snapped your head back to your laptop screen, just to see signora smiling mischievously at you.

you pursed your lips in a thin line. what is she smiling about?

oh.

oh. this woman.

“you're just trying to distract me from being sad now are you?” you deadpanned, and signora's smile grew even wider.

she let out a laugh. “ah, y/n, what a great detective you are, always catching onto stuff in a heartbeat.”

narrowing your eyes at her, you frowned. “not cool, rosalyne.” you said, crossing your arms. “you always do this.”

“i just don't want you to be sad, sweetheart. surely you two could work this out, no? the balladeer may seem like a bit of a douche, but i doubt he'd be this big of a jerk.” the blonde-haired woman raised her two hands and made gestures as to how big she was referring to, making it a point.

you chuckled. “sure.”

“have you went back to your dorm after the fight?” signora questioned after a moment of silence.

“yeah, kuni would've been in class this morning so i went back to get my stuff.”

signora raised a brow. “kuni? is that a new weird nickname you have for him?”

your eyes widened for the second time, and you quickly fumbled for a reply. “uh–n-no! no, it's um, nothing. just a uh– inside joke, yeah.”

no way in hell would you ever reveal scaramouche's real name to her, even if she was your closest friend. it's not like you wanted to be the only one who knew, but scaramouche had trusted you, and only you, for him to reveal a sliver of his background.

there's no way you would ever go behind his back to expose such a thing.

signora eyed you suspiciously, but didn't question further. clearing up her throat, she speaks up. “are you really going to be okay? if there's anything i could help then i'd be–”

“no.” you cut her off, cracking up a small smile. “it's okay, rosalyne. this'll be over in no time.” you reassured.

oh how you were so wrong.

the past two weeks have been hell for you.

you've never thought how hard it would be to avoid scaramouche in campus, and given how you only have one class together, you thought it would've been rather easy to not bump into him.

but you were proven wrong. so many times.

the first day without him was the hardest. you both had criminology that day, and you were stupid to think brushing him off would be that easy.

sure, yun jin was in criminology too, but it didn't mean it wasn't easy to not spot the ravenette in a lecture hall full of students with that obnoxious hair of his. you sat with yun jin quite far from your usual seat, which was a few rows back.

the bandage on your head was long gone now. after your last trip to the doctor's, he's informed you that you were free to take it off, which you immediately did right after your got home, cursing about how the thing's been such a hassle for you.

scaramouche still sat at the same place, not even sparing a glance at you, seemingly like he doesn't even know you at all.

but you couldn't take your eyes off his purple head, staring at the way he focused in class, the way he takes notes, everything. there wasn't even any reason for him to be acting like a student when you two were just working undercover, yet he blended in with everyone, listening intently on what the lecturer was talking about.

you, however, could not be subtle at all. yun jin had to keep pinching at you every time you glanced towards scaramouche's seat, which was every single second. it was impossible for you to focus in class when he's just sitting a few rows in front of you, you were practically itching to get over there and apologize for that night.

but you didn't, and would never do that, not even over your dead body. you could never let your pride down and just waltzed right back into his life, not after everything.

so you held your head high, pretending like all of this could be avoided.

you're convinced that the universe hates you.

“you've gotta be fucking kidding me.” you mumbled under your breath, watching as the bell to the campus cafe chimed, the guy you were trying to avoid for weeks from walking in.

out of all times he could've been here, you thought to yourself. this is gonna kill you.

you were just sitting in the campus cafe with your laptop on the table, trying to continue on the case, but he just had to come here. it was inevitable, no matter how hard you try. scaramouche would always appear in the corner of your eye, wherever you are. oh how you want to dig yourself into a big hole and just bury yourself in it.

covering half of your face with your hand, you turned your head to the window in hopes of scaramouche not noticing you.

maybe you should leave this place, and go somewhere else to focus back on your work. if scaramouche was here, there was no way in hell you'd be able to continue on working.

slowly turning your head back to the busy counter, you watched as scaramouche ordered his drink, with him solely focusing on the menu.

this should be it, you think. this was the perfect opportunity to escape!

you closed your laptop and quickly packed your stuff in your bag on the empty seat beside you. taking a deep breath, you grabbed your bag and drink, heading for the door.

you had your eyes plastered to the floor and head hanging low as you quickly head for the exit, hoping that scaramouche wouldn't turn his head back and notice you.

what you didn't realize was scaramouche trying to find a seat while waiting for his drink, and he was heading towards your direction, as you were heading towards his.

luck really wasn't at your side at all.

next thing you knew, you bumped into scaramouche harshly, the impact making your drink spill. luckily for the ravenette, your drink didn't land a single drop on him. unfortunately for you, your drink spilled all over your clothes.

“shit!” you whisper-shouted, caressing your head that bumped into a stranger's chest. slowly widening your eyes, you snapped your head up, wanting to apologise to the random person you just head-bumped, just to see that scaramouche was the one in front of you, eyes as wide as yours.

oh archons, this is awkward.

“y/n?” scaramouche mumbled in shock. his eyes darted towards your clothes that were now stained from your spilled drink, making him tug you closer by the arm.

he stared at your shirt for a couple of seconds before looking up at you, bringing up a hand to hastily check your face and head for any injuries.

his breath was fanning your face, and heat quickly rushed up to your cheeks from the close distance. you haven't been this close to scaramouche ever since the grad ball, which was around two weeks ago.

his touch felt foreign, but also something that you've longed for.

“are you okay? you didn't hurt yourself, did you? was the drink hot? did you get any burns?”

blinking for a couple of times, you brushed off those thoughts out of your head. this is not the time to be thinking about the past, y/n.

you grabbed his shoulders to push him away slightly, just enough to give you two an appropriate space. “it– it's fine! i'm fine.” you turned your head sideways, avoiding his gaze.

scaramouche furrowed his brows, not used to the idea of you pushing him away, when you've always been the one to pull him close.

“i uh– i actuallly need to get going.” you said sheepishly, rubbing the back of your head. brushing past him, you headed for the door, the bell making a sound as you opened it.

“wait–” turning back, scaramouche tried chasing after you, but stopped when you already left the cafe.

the ravenette frowned, retracting his hand back to his side. were you still mad at him? he asked himself. he pursed his lips into a thin line. maybe he shouldn't have been so harsh on you.

the few weeks without you has been hard for him. before, he'd always come home to your presence, whether it be you watching tv, eating at the kitchen island, or you doing work on the couch. but now, he comes home to an empty dorm, with only silence engulfing the place at all times.

scaramouche hates to admit it, but he missed you. more than anything.

“order for ivan!” a barista called out to him, making him turn his head to the counter. his drink was ready to be picked up, with the fake name of his written on the cup.

he sighed, running a hand through his hair as he headed for the counter. grabbing his drink, he left the campus cafe, the chilly wind automatically nipping his skin.

scaramouche took a sip of his drink, the hot beverage hitting his throat just nicely. he sighed once again, looking to his surroundings to see if you were anywhere in sight, which unfortunately, you weren't. goodness, how fast were you even walking? were you that willing to avoid him?

shaking the thoughts out of his head, scaramouche watched as the wind blows through the trees. he shouldn't be dwelling on such trivial matters. he doesn't need to see you right now. none of this bothers him. he's doing fine.

oh how he wished any of those words were true.

“you know, you can just go to him if you want to make up so bad.” yun jin remarked, watching as you stare at scaramouche's back.

one hand resting on your chin, you turned your head towards your friend. “hm? did'ya say somethin'?”

“you're unbelievable.” yun jin glared at you, flicking your forehead, which earned a whine from you. the young woman paid no mind as she continued on complaining. “you should go up to him and reconcile. i doubt he'd reject you.”

rubbing the spot she flicked at, you groaned. “no way. he's the one who should come to me and apologize. i'm not gonna just give up and let him win this argument.”

“is this really just about winning your petty fights?”

“...what do you mean?” you asked confusedly, giving her a perplexed look.

“i feel like there's more to it than just that reason.” yun jin crossed her arms. “otherwise you wouldn't be avoiding him for this long.”

you huffed, turning away from her dramatically. “it's only been two and a half weeks. i can go much longer without him.”

“doesn't seem like it to me.”

snapping your head back to her, you arched a brow. “what?” you questioned.

“don't think i've never noticed how your gaze on him lingers longer and longer in each class, how you keep stabbing and staring at your meals, and how you always save a seat at every single place we've been to, because his place was always a spot next to you.” yun jin pointed out, every single fact being shot right to your head like a missile.

not waiting on your response, she continued further. “there's even an empty seat next to you right now!” she pointed her finger at the unoccupied seat to prove her statement.

“that's just coincidence!” you fought.

she rolled her eyes at you, causing you to frown even more. “stop being in denial, luna.”

“'m not in denial.”

“then go and sit next to him right now.”

“wha– no!” you quickly turned down, bringing up both of your arms to make an 'x' sign.

you love your friend dearly, but archons is she annoying the hell out of you right now. you wished she could just keep her mouth shut, even if everything she's said were true. partially.

but then again, you're not gonna just tell her that.

yun jin narrowed her eyes at you for a moment, before sighing. she turned her head back to her laptop, which was opened to the topic you were gonna learn in criminology today. “viktor told me a couple of things about how ivan's been acting these days.”

you accidentally slammed your hands harshly on the table, which earned a lot of stares from other students in the lecture hall, scaramouche included. rubbing your neck sheepishly, you slouched on your seat in embarrassment, avoiding the stares you were receiving. yun jin merely chuckled at your actions.

“what did viktor tell you?” you asked almost immediately, figure still slouching. “did he mention something about me?”

yun jin smirked, finding it amusing how you were so eager to know about what's been going on with scaramouche, when you were the one who kept denying about the fact that you missed him.

catching onto her act, you pouted. “i'm only asking because you were the one who talked about it first.”

“sure, you are.”

“just– just get to the point!”

yun jin laughed, but obliged to your demand. “well, in terms of emotions, ivan is now pretty much emotionless. which is not surprising considering how he wasn't that much of an emotional person anyways. he's like a brick or something.” the black-haired woman said, eyeing the lecture hall doors to see if the professor has arrived.

seeing that he hasn't, yun jin continued. “viktor also told me that ivan's been hanging out at the campus library as of late. no idea why though, he's already gotten the dorms all to himself, he doesn't need to go to the library to get away from roommates anymore.”

“yun jin.” you cleared your throat after she finished her sentence, placing your hands on her shoulder as you turned her to your direction. “i love you, but that's just how ivan is. he's an emotionless prick who likes to do whatever he pleases. i've known that for over five years now.”

“...five? i thought you guys met at your old college?” yun jin asked confusedly, making you widened your eyes at your slip up. “five years ago would be when we're around seventeen. did you meet him back in highschool?”

releasing your hands from her, you scratched your temple awkwardly. “well– i uh, i guess so?”

“what do you even mean by that?”

“we– i um, met him in highschool, yeah, but we didn't really get to know each other until college.” you quickly fumbled for a lie, causing yun jin to eye you suspiciously. “stop looking at me like that!” you complained, avoiding her gaze.

yun jin stared at you for a couple of seconds, and you sweat, silently hoping she doesn't catch on your made up story. who would even believe that a 26 year old was making up a lie that they were 4 years younger?

the young woman huffed, about to say something before the professor suddenly barged through the doors.

you sighed in relief. maybe you were lucky after all.

or not.

“what do you mean you can't come with me to the library?! you promised to accompany me!”

the black-haired woman sighed, busying herself with her hair. “sorry, luna. viktor made a last minute decision to meet me, said he needs to talk about something.” she turned her head to your direction by the door.

groaning, you pinched the bridge of your nose in annoyance. “viktor has the same assignment as me! can't you two just have your little date at the library?”

“i'm afraid not, y'know that viktor has always been a last minute person.”

“please?” you pleaded.

“no.”

“pretty please?”

yun jin rolled her eyes, heading to the fridge to get a drink. “that's not gonna work on me, luna, i'm not like your dear boyfriend.” she muttered. “why do you even want me to accompany you so bad? you like going places alone.” she asked, gulping down a cup of water whilst waiting for you to answer.

“first things first, he is not my boyfriend.” you denied rather quickly. “and secondly, you said he always goes to the library now, what if he's gonna be there?!”

“i doubt the library is going to be full, you'll be fine. just sit somewhere else if you see him or something.”

you eyed her sceptically. “i'll kill you if you're wrong.”

looks like she's gonna heave her last breath after all.

you have no idea why, or how, a library this humongous would be filled to the brim, students filling up the place like an ant's nest.

it was painfully unbelievable how much of bad luck you have for the past few weeks (you like to think otherwise), and it'd be the death of you if these things were gonna keep on happening. there was no way you'd be able to finish up this case in time.

peering over the many tables, you attempt on finding an empty seat with your arms full of books, which in your case, seemed to be impossible. you walked around the whole library, in hopes of finding a spot to do your work at, but to no avail.

grumbling, you silently cursed to the students that came to the library today. really, out of all days this library would be full, it just had to be the day you need to get your work done.

after what felt like forever, you finally found yourself a nice and empty seat a few feet away from you, even if the long table was full with other students. you'd accept any kinds of spot at this point, as long as you get to sit and do your work comfortably.

smiling, you walked up happily to the table like a baby duck following its mother, until you stopped halfway when you caught glimpse of the very familiar bundle of violet hair, your smile faltering almost immediately.

no.

this cannot be happening.

absolutely not.

“this has got to be the worst fucking month of my life.” you mumbled under your breath, the thought of your incident actually being the worst month for you suddenly thrown out the window.

this is seriously killing you.

slowly backing away, you turned around and walked over to the nearest bookshelf, hiding behind it.

what in the world are you gonna do now?

you slightly peeked your head to the side of the bookshelf, just enough to see scaramouche doing his work on the table, a few seats away from the empty chair you've been eyeing on. holding onto your books tightly, you quickly think of a plan.

should you just go back?

no, you want to finish up this assignment as soon as possible, you don't want to be late in submitting your work. just because you weren't exactly a student here doesn't mean that you can slack off on work, that's quite literally the only priority you have in life.

should you just look up the topics on the internet?

no, the internet is not the most reliable source, and you'd much rather gather up and use books, they're much more informative and useful. there's no way you'd fully rely on the web. and to add, you already have the books here in your arms anyways, it'd be a hassle to put them all back after everything.

should you just sit there?

it probably won't be that bad, right?

clenching your jaw, you finally decided that, fuck it, you're going there, whether you like it or not. ignoring him won't be that hard, you've basically been doing the same thing for the past two weeks, surely this'd be nothing.

you finally worked up the courage to walk back there and snatch the empty seat, just in time before anyone else could claim it. sighing in relief, you placed the heavy books down on the table and got ready to work as you pulled out your laptop.

after setting up your small work space, you cracked your fingers and did a bit of stretching, the thought of scaramouche being present barely bothering you anymore.

it's fine, just a couple of hours and you'd be out of here, there was no need for you to pay attention to that annoyingly purple headed guy.

speaking of which, maybe taking a teeny tiny peek at him won't hurt...

taking one of the borrowed books, you opened it up to a random page and act it as a shield for you to ogle your eyes at him, slightly peeking your head out to the side of the book to look at what he's doing.

scaramouche was busy working up something on his laptop, occasionally looking at a notebook to his left. you let out a huff at his annoyingly and frustratingly attractive face. why does he have to look this good in such a boring library?

the ravenette raked a hand through his hair, slightly knocking his glasses out of the way. you furrowed your brows, questioning yourself. when has he ever gone to public with his glasses on? you thought to yourself. that's fairly new, you think as you duck your head back down, just enough to hide behind your book.

pondering on the thought, you hadn't realised that, the guy you were thinking of, snapped his head right to your direction, and when you finally looked back at him to take a more closer look, he was already staring at you with a blank expression.

you widened your eyes, quickly hiding your head back behind the book you're holding upwards with heat running up your cheeks. what the hell?! why is he looking at me?! you fought with the demons in your head, cursing yourself over and over for your actions.

maybe this was a bad idea after all, because once you peeked back to his seat, he was still looking at you, with that stupidly forsaken nonchalant look of his.

fuck, you think to yourself.

at this point, you just wanted the ground to open up and swallow you, bringing you the very core of earth, in hopes of avoiding being in a sticky situation like this.

you two held eye contact for a moment, seemingly like time has stopped, everyone and everything stopping in a motion except for you and scaramouche.

it was funny, you thought. you only ever see these kind of things happening in tv shows and movies, yet the same exact thing is happening to you right now, which is fairly weird. is your life just some sort of entertainment?

the one to break the continuous eye contact was scaramouche, as he suddenly turned away to pack up his stuff, slamming his laptop down and shoving it in his bag. you continued staring at him with a confused expression, as you watch him standing up and leaving.

scratching your head, you thought to yourself at what you could've done for him to leave all of the sudden. did you have something on your face? you silently pondered, rubbing your face to see if there was anything there.

after a few seconds of no answer, you shrugged, and continued on doing your work like nothing happened.

maybe he just needed to take a shit.

how scaramouche wished you knew how crazy you're making him right now, suddenly leaving him with a rapidly beating heart, sweaty palms, and flushed cheeks. he thinks you're utterly insane, because he has no idea why the most subtle things you do is making him feel like this, his chest tightening up every time you were in his presence.

scaramouche shook his head as he left the library, slinging his bag properly onto his shoulder.

maybe he should ask childe about this, if he was even available that is. that shithead, he thinks, he always has to go missing at these times.

maybe pierro? or pulcinella, he guessed, the guy's one of the only few people he could actually tolerate, unlike dottore.

he sighed, cursing to himself over and over again for the whole walk back to his dorm.

you're fucking crazy. absolutely batshit insane for making him feel this way.

did you really think i was gonna make them reconcile this early

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