#so sometimes my bag just has a bunch of random other used tickets from other countries in it

[bogkeep]

loooove this puzzle. super haizcore. sad that i completed it so fast

(vintage travel tickets by the brand galison)

[son-fuori-di-me]

"I had no idea I could change someone's life."

One Shot. Word Count | Around 3300. Description | <French female pov> you're visiting Rome for the first time, and you casually meet Damiano David the day before the Circo Massimo concert. The conversation takes a unexpected path.

Content | Real talk. No romantic development. * Expect French idioms and italian approximations from automatic translators

---

"Bordel, c'est immense !" ("Holy cow, that's big !") I said, looking at the Circo Massimo.

It was my first time in Rome. Knowing Italy a bit, I expected a hell lot of sun, a delicious bunch of ice cream for each meal, and tons of pretty things to snap with my phone. Well, that was the plan for my first two days there. Cause Saturday would be a very different day. Saturday would be Måneskin day.

I've been waiting for so long to do this trip. And what a blast it has been for now. Took only a bag, my external battery, some makeup and my favourite clothes to finally discover this astonishing city. This was my first solo trip. I've always travelled with my family or my ex, but never on my own. For once, I could decide what I wanted to see, what I wanted to eat, when to take a break. And as there are plenty of things to see in Rome, i wanted to enjoy every second of my trip. I could focus my last day there solely to the Måneskin concert happening that Saturday night. But as I didn't want to leave anything to chance, I decided to precisely organize my last day, so I could visit a bit more - a get a last fantastic meal before the concert.

I got myself a gold pit ticket. I guessed that would mean I had a special queue. So on Friday night, as I was back from a late tour in town, I decided to watch more closely the Circo, to check for the entrances, and see how I could sharpen my organization and schedule for the next day.

"J'espère que je vais pas avoir à poireauter toute la journée, avec la chaleur qu'il va faire." ("I hope won't have to hang around here all day tomorrow, the weather's gonna be hot as hell")

It was almost 10 pm. I was getting closer to the Circo, trying to read the boards, but all was written in italian and didn't seem to concern the concert. And a year fangirling over Måneskin clearly wasn't enough to become fluent. I saw no sign mentioning "gold pit". So I decided I would ask around, with Google translate ready in my phone in case I couldn't find anyone speaking English.

I saw a guy sit on a bench, smoking. He was dressed in an ugly dark sweater, with the hood over a cap. He was either a drug dealer or a hobbo. My instinct as a girl living in Paris got the uphand and I decided to ignore the guy and try to find a woman instead, or maybe a group of locals, to get me the information I wanted. Unfortunately, after a good 20 minutes walking around and asking people, no one could tell me how to make sure I find the right queue for the concert. I was about to give up and head back to my airbnb and I saw a silhouette still sitting on a bench, near the Circo. It was the same guy from earlier. "Bon, je tente, s'il est trop chelou, je me barre." ("Well, might as well take the risk, if he's too much a weirdo, I clear off quickly.")

"Scusi, do you speak English ?" i said, getting closer to the guy, but still from a good distance in case it turned wrong.

"Pretty good. You need something ?" He was searching something in his pockets and reached his pack of cigarettes. His voice was deep, but gentle. He did look funny but didn't sound dangerous - i still didn't get too close as I hate the smell of smoke.

"Do you know well il Circo Massimo ? I'm going to a concert here tomorrow and I want to make sure I find the right queue, but they haven't installed any sign yet". I asked, showing the structure of the stage behind me.

"Cute accent, where are you from ?" he answered, completely ignoring my question.

"Well, I'm French. So, do you know il Circo ?" I preferred to quickly repeat my question to let him know I wasn't interested in whatever he was trying to.

"Ah, Bonjour ! I speak a little French !" He said, now reaching for his lighter.

"Yeeaaaah cool, but how about the Circo ? I'd like to be here early enough, but I don't know wh-" I froze as he lighted up his cigarette. It was brief, but with the spark, I saw his face for a second.

"Hm ? You don't know what ?" He asked, with a smirky voice.

"Mais naaaan ?" ("Dont tell me -") I let out that typical French astonished sound without thinking. "You gotta be kidding me !"

He laughed as I was getting a little closer, staring at him. With one hand, he was putting his lighter back in his pocket, with the other, he lifted a bit his cap. It was him. It was Damiano.

I felt my spine shiver with that uncomfortable sensation of being around someone famous. As a journalist, I had my lot of interviews, so I knew there's no point in changing behavior around such people. But I still was flabbergasted to see him.

"Sorry, I didn't recognize you. Well, gotta say you're not dressed in your best outfit !" I chose the strategy of sass, to hide how impressed I actually was.

"That's my favourite sweater you're seeing me in, and I'm smoking hot in it" He said with a smirk, getting into the sassy game.

"Time off before the big day ?" I asked, completely forgotting about my initial request and switching to my interview mindset when I'm super focused about the conversation. "Shouldn't you be having a great night of sleep, to recharge your batteries ?"

"I don't feel like going to bed" He said, having no idea how the conversation would soon turn. Fortunately for him, I wasn't working in the music media industry. "That's quite a stage we're gonna play on."

I didn't know why he was talking to me about all of this. I didn't dare to ask him either. I just enjoyed the moment.

"Well, the Eurovision song contest was bigger, wasn't it ?"

"Hm, don't tell me about it, I still don't know how I managed that."

He suddenly had a strange tone in his voice. It didn't sound like the radiant and confident Damiano you see on Instagram stories or on TV interviews. I remembered where I heard him like that. In the 2019 documentary "This is Måneskin", the making of Il Ballo Della Vita album, in the sequence he's arguing with Vic on a train, as he tells her how anxious he can be get sometimes.

"Well, you did, didn't you ?" I put on a more serious voice. "And you had a ton more of pressure, representing your whole country ? So how a concert here in your home town could be worst than performing in front of all of Europe - not to say the whole world ?"

He was still smoking, listening in silence.

"Or maybe it isn't about how big the performance is but about performing in itself ? Why are you performing ? Why are you putting on a show ? All those fancy clothes and that makeup, who is it for ? For people to love you ? Or for you to love yourself ?"

Mais qu'est-ce que je branle ? Il va se barrer dans deux secondes, là c'est sûr (What the fuck am I doing ? He's leaving any second now.) I got a bit too excited about being able to share a few words with him. What's gotten onto me ? Well, let's go then.

"What is it you're running after ? Or running from maybe ? Some complex to compensate ? With all that smudge and confidence, that wouldn't surprise me."

He sat back on the bench. As he inhaled a deep breath of smoke, I saw a smile on his face. But I also saw his hand holding the cigarette shaking.

"Are you a psychiatrist or something ?" He simply said, as if he was trying to keep his voice as steady as possible.

I hesitated to tell him the truth. I was sure he would walk away the second he would know my actual job. Et puis merde, autant tout dire. (Well, fuck, might as well be honest.)

"Nope, I'm a journalist." I admited, as he looked right back at me with a surprised look. "Pretty much the same. We get appoitments with random people, listen to their life, observe their body language, and tell them our whole opinion about all of it, which might very well shape how they perceive themselves from now on."

"Only difference is that you don't have to keep anything secret. Right the contrary."

There. This was it. He was gonna leave now, for sure.

"Before you go, did I hit any truth ? Don't worry, I'm not in the music media industry, I won't write anything from our conversation." I hoped this information would save me a few more seconds with him.

He didn't answer right away. He didn't leave either. He kept looking at me, still smoking his second cigarette in a row now.

"Whatever it is you write about, I guess you must be good at it" he finally replied. "Cause you did score a few points."

Another short silence broke. As a fan, I was obsessed with his music, lyrics, and attitude. But catching a glimpse of what lied behind the glamour definitly caught my interest. I wanted to know more.

"Why are you here ?" I slightly deepened my voice, getting back to my interview tone, and kept on going with this as if that was usual business for me. "It's half past 10. You play on Rome's largest stage tomorrow. You surely better should be in bed, or be about to, before the big day."

In that moment, I had the upper-hand in the conversation. He was sat on the bench, I was on my feet in front of him, and therefore above him. Not the best approach to get someone's trust for an interview, but with a personnality like Damiano's, you gotta put your own show.

"I actually don't sleep much before big events like these" He finally answered, accepting his condition as an interviewee. "I don't sleep much at all."

"You're tend to insomnia ?"

"Not really, I just got used to 4-5 hours of sleep, that's it."

"Even during tours ? Cause this all sold-out European tour for Teatro d'Ira must have been exhausting".

"You have no idea, bellezza."

"So tell me." From there, I decided to change my strategy and sat on the ground, still in front of him, but giving him the upper-hand, to put on a more trustful atmosphere. "How are you doing ? And I don't mean, like casual 'yay, fine', I mean : how are you doing ?"

I still have no idea of my tactical move of giving him more space to express himself worked, or if he understood right away where I was leading him, but in the end, he still didn't seem bothered by this conversation we were having. In fact, it looked like he was enjoying it.

"I'm... content, I'd say." He paused, and I didn't interrupt him with another question this time. "I know I'm going through the life I wanted. The music, the tours, the praise. It's all I could have ever asked for."

D'accord, très bien, mais ? (Okey, very good, but ?) I stayed silent, but I couldn't help anticipating what he was saying.

"But surprisingly, sometimes it's still... unfulfilling. Like I can never be satisfied".

Repressing some Hamilton's lyrics from my mind, I innocently pretend I didn't fully understand what he meant - another journalistic technique, to get someone to repeat themselves with other words in order to get them deeper into their reflexion.

"What do you mean, "never be satisfied" ? You're on top of Spotify chart list, your albums are now platinum successes, you're winning awards. How is this not satisfying ?"

"It's just... What are all those things for ? Money ? Fame ? Yeah, I like those but..."

"Typical Capricorn" I muttered, to slide in the conversation that I actually knew pretty well my subject - my subject being him. He chuckled.

"Damn really ? Let me guess ? Aries ?"

"Pisces+Taurus, actually. So what, you don't like being famous ?" Getting back quickly into more questions - another technique to keep control over the rhythm of an interview.

"It's not that I dislike it. It's just... not always as fun as I thought it would be."

"What part of the job ? The writing and composing ?"

"No, that's the best part." He reached for a third cigarette. It was almost 11 pm now. "Vic, Thomas and Ethan. Måneskin. They're the best thing that ever happened to me".

"Then what, you feel like a fraud ?"

"Hell, no ! I'm exactly where I should be." He claimed, with a light pride tone.

"So, if you're proud of what you create, and if you love the people you create that with, then what is the matter ? If life is about getting the Bare Necessities, it seems like you got it all." Hitting with a universal - and musical - reference. Shoud do the trick.

"Hahaha ! Lo stretto indispensabile, si ! But life isn't that easy." He said laughing, as I felt he started to let go of the tension. "In real life, you get judged all the time, and people try to dismantle you, and spread rumors."

"I didn't think you'd be one to listen to people's comments about you".

"I'm not. I stopped giving credits to those. But it's still here, you know ?"

"From what I see, you're keeping it real, with lots of wisdom. I can't quite grasp what seem to bother you."

He paused, looking at his feet for a few seconds.

"I'm afraid it won't last." He finally confessed. "I'm afraid it all ends as quickly as it all started. I'm afraid people get bored. I'm afraid I become a caricature of myself. I'm afraid I can't write new songs. I'm afraid to be a shooting star, you see ? Very bright, but gone in a flash."

"Like, to be an Icare ? Or may I say "Ykaaar" like on your Instagram ?"

He chuckled again.

"Huh, I'm that obvious ?"

"Yeah, even a bit over-the-top, if I may dare say so."

"Well, I've always related so much with this mythological figure. I mean what's wrong with aiming for the Sun ?" He said, pointing a hand to the dark sky above us. From his attitude, I could tell he was way more relaxed than in the beginning. He even took his cap and hood off, so I could now see his face more clearly. His eyes were glittering. "Burning your wings... What's that morale supposed to teach us ? Be modest ? Be moderate ? Che noia !" (How boring !)

"Well don't be !" I felt almost like scolding him. "There's nothing wrong with seeking big dreams. As there's nothing wrong with this feeling of being outrun by your life. Savour the moment. Every second of it. It's because you can't know how long it may last that it tastes so good, so thrilling ! And you actually already are ten steps ahead ! Writing songs like ´Torna a casa' or ´Coraline' at, what, 19-20 years old ? You're the real deal, dude. And even if later on, you get blank page anxiety or write just good-enough songs, it's okey. You got plenty of time to make mistakes. Take the leap of faith. Failing and being a failure aren't the same. You learn, you grow from it. It's okey to doubt yourself, but please, don't ever doubt all the love and support you get."

I paused, hoping I didn't do too far and missed my point. But in a way, I could also feel I got it right. He was looking at the Circo, his eyes even more sparkling than before.

"I..." He got up, standing on the bench, looking as tall as a statue from my perspective. He came down and took a few steps. I got on my feet, starting to feel concerned about what I just said.

"I didn't know I needed to hear that." He finally confided. "I always wanna reach perfection. I'm aware I can be authoritative, sometimes even harsh, on the band. I can't accept to be a failure. But love and support, that, I can't get enough of."

I didn't respond. There was nothing to add. This instant felt like an hour. The wind was slightly blowing through the length of the Circo in front of us. His hair reflected the gentle light of the moon, only showing her first quarter. He broke the tranquility of the moment, turning and taking a few steps in my direction.

"Grazie mille" he said, his arms opened, calling for a hug.

"But, you're very welcome" I said approaching him, softly putting my arms on his back as he put his over my shoulders. The second before his face disappeared from my vision, i noticed a tear on his cheek.

"You've completed reset my mind. I feel like I can start all over again. I was anguished, trapped by my anxiety. But it's all gone now. You've changed me. Thank you, thank you so much" He affirmed full of hope, his voice shivering.

"Wow, well. I had no idea I could change someone's life." I answered, trying to hide how moved I myself was from the conversation.

------

It was almost midnight now. We kept talking for a while, comparing life in Rome and Paris, exchanging what was our best concert experiences. But he still needed to get back home to rest before the concert, and I didn't want to arrive too late at my airbnb - even if I could have spent the whole night talking with him. Yet, to enjoy our last few minutes together, he offered to walk me back to where I was staying. It was just a 15 minutes walk, along the Tevere river bank.

"So tell me." he asked with a smirk. "How does the Bare Necessities go in French ?" He started to muffle the melody.

"Oh no, you don't expect me to actually sing it ?"

"Hehe, you got me into a therapy session, so I can get a little song from you, no ?"

"Damn, you. This is blackmail !" But drunk on the moment, I took a deep breath.

"Il en faut peeeeeeu pour être heureux, ("Look for the baaaaare necessities,") vraiment très peu pour être heureux, ("the simple bare necessities") il faut se satisfaire du nécessaire !" ("Forget about your worries and your strife")"

I started dancing along, if I had to be ridiculous, might as well utterly be. But he actually followed my lead, clicking his fingers.

"In fondo, baaaasta il minimo, ("I mean the baaaaare necessities") sapessi quanto è facile ("Old Mother Nature's recipes") Trovar quel po' che occorre per campar ! ("That brings the bare necessities of life !")

We kept on singing Disney songs for a few minutes as we walked at a slow pace - I was shocked he never saw Tarzan and immediately made him promise to watch it as i told him Phil Collins recorded all the songs in five languages, including Italian. When we finally reached my destination, we exchanged a last timid hug as farewell.

"Well, I'll see you on stage tomorrow." I told him as I crossed the street.

"And I'll look for you in the crowd !" He shouted with the brightest smile on his perfect face.

** the end **

[wulfies-kpop-fanfics]

One Photo → Mark Lee [1]

↳  Pairing: Mark Lee/Reader

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

↳  Word count: 4,863

↳  Chapters: Prelude | You Are Here! | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

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

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

MONDAY - 1

Your heart was pounding a million miles a minute as you stepped into your photoshoot studio on campus two weeks later, ready to see a bunch of other students preparing for interviews for the same position. Surprisingly, you were the only one present besides your teacher. She smiled and approached. “Hey,” she greeted you with a short handshake. “I see you’re nervous?” “A little,” you admit, returning her friendly grin. “I’m surprised nobody else is here.” She hummed. “Well, there was a lot to choose from. Come on. This one, I believe, is a little special compared to the others.” “How so?” Your voice was laced with curiosity as she led you further in, past the background sheets that separate the room into two halves. Behind it were people you had only dreamed of seeing in person.

The three of them stood as soon as they lay eyes on you. Johnny, Mark, and Jaehyun. You were completely frozen, staring at them and nearly forgetting to breathe. The thought of the members interviewing you themselves had never even entered your brain.

Your teacher placed a hand on your shoulder, startling you. Without a word, she smiled at you, nodded at them and left the room. Once the door shut with a soft click, Mark approached you. “Hi, I’m Mark Lee,” he held out his hand. “You probably knew that, considering your expression.” He laughed sweetly. You barely held out your hand with a shy nod, “I’m (Y/N).” Instead of going through with the handshake, Mark immediately moves in to engulf you in a friendly hug. “It’s nice to meet you,” you mumbled into the hug, barely processing that you were actually hugging Mark Lee and were in the same five-foot radius as three members of NCT. Johnny and Jaehyun also hugged you tightly, insisting that you join them at the table your teacher had set up for them.

“I thought I would be more prepared,” you admitted softly, digging into your backpack and pulling out your portfolio of projects and random photos you’ve taken. Mark takes it first to open and look through. “I’ve been a fan since your debut.” 

Johnny smiled. “Then you’re just the person we’re looking for,” he said. He glances over at your portfolio, then back to you. “The truth is, we aren’t looking for a professional like a lot of others in this program. We bring our own from our company.” Your knit your eyebrows together in confusion. “Then why sign up? If, um, you don’t mind me asking.” 

Jaehyun looked up from browsing your portfolio with Mark. “We were looking to take one photo.” He held up his index finger. “We wanted to have a friend that’s from around here to help us find the perfect spot, and photographers always know the best places.” Your eyes widened. A friend? Did he really just say that? “Just one photo?” You decided to ask, the whole prospect of clarifying what Jaehyun meant by ‘friend’ was a little too overwhelming.

The three of them nodded. “We want just one photo for our dorm. This stop is important to us, and we want this to stay away from social media. It’s just going to be for us. And for you, for your project, of course,” Mark explained. “We don’t want someone that is too professional and we don’t want a fansite to take it. It seemed to us that a friend would be the best choice.” He smiled gently at you. “We’ll provide you with a ticket and backstage pass, as well as paying you based on the program’s price for the photo to be touched up and framed.” 

You tripped over your words. “Well, I… I don’t think I’m in a position to turn you down, but…” Johnny cocked his head to the side. “But..?” 

You gulped and sheepishly avoided eye contact. “I can’t speak Korean,” you mumble, fiddling with your fingers. Mark smiled sweetly at you. “That’s okay. We’ll translate for you. So, what do you think? Would you like to spend a day with us before our show?” 

You smiled, deciding to be a bit more daring. They did say, friend. “You’re asking that like there’s even a shred of a chance I’d say no.” 

All three of them grin. “Thank you, I was hoping you would say yes,” Mark says. “Your portfolio is stunning.”

Your face goes red and you're barely conscious enough to stand with them as they prepare to leave. Johnny and Jaehyun hug you again, praising your work before taking their leave, but Mark doesn't join them.

“Our manager has your teacher's contact information, but I want to involve the company as little as possible… if it's not too sudden, could I please have your number?” Mark smiles sheepishly, offering his unlocked phone to you, open to a new contact page. It's as if he has no idea of the impact he has on his fans. Sometimes you forget that NCT is made up of normal humans, and the one standing in front of you is a year younger than you are. 

“Of course,” you take it gently and add your contact info, taking a quick selfie to add as your little profile picture, all while Mark watches you searchingly. “Here you are,” you hand his phone back, hesitating on saying what you were thinking, “since you want to be friends, feel free to text me.” 

Mark takes his phone back with a smile, sending you a quick smiley face to make sure the number was correct. The room is silent for a moment, your face feels as if it's on fire and Mark returns the stare you gave him when you walked in.

“Come on, Mark!” you hear Johnny’s voice from outside the classroom and you both turn toward it. You smile sheepishly.

“I shouldn't keep you, should I?” you ask, voice soft and a little embarrassed.

“No, but I wish I had more time. I'll text you, I promise,” he says, hugging you once more before leaving you alone and speechless. 

You wondered if all fan interactions were like the one you just experienced. You were aware the members of NCT were known to be humble and kind, but they were much calmer and affectionate than you expected. The idea that you just saw Mark's smile in person made your own cheesy grin spread across your face as you packed up your portfolio. 

After class, you headed back to your dorm, a skip in your step. Once you opened the door and stepped inside, you felt like you could collapse. Fatigue washed over you like a tidal wave, and you knew it was time for an afternoon nap. Rhiannon was still in her lab, so you could grab at least 20 minutes of shut-eye before she would come back and beg for you to make dinner. You set your bag down by the door with your shoes and set a course for your bed. As soon as you were able to slide underneath the covers and nearly drift to sleep, your phone vibrated.

You reach into your pocket, confused. Rhiannon was the only friend that had your number, and if she even thought about her phone in a lab, she would be kicked out. Once you unlock your phone, you finally remembered who else you gave your number to.

Mark: Hey!

You licked your lips as your chest twinged and filled with butterflies. You screamed internally for a few seconds, the moment hitting you a little harder than before. Mark Lee had your cell phone number and he was texting you first. 

You: Hello, what’s up?

Mark replied almost immediately, which startled you a little bit. You turned over in your bed to get a little more comfortable.

Mark: We were just finishing up settling into our hotel rooms. I wanted to know how you're doing, are you in class? I hope I'm not interrupting anything

You: No, I got home a little while ago. I was gonna take a nap tbh

Mark: Oh! Sorry, I don't mean to take away sleep from a college student

You smiled a little bit. He was too sweet. As if your nap wasn't going to ruin your sleep schedule.

You: Its fine, if I had a nap I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight anyway

Mark: So you're free then?

Your eyebrows furrowed as you typed your response.

You: Uh yeah, why? Did you all want that picture now?

You put your phone down, a little overwhelmed. If they wanted it now, you wouldn't see them again until the concert, which wasn't until Friday. Perhaps you should have expected they wanted to do this as fast as possible, their Canadian and Chicago stops were planned with vacations in mind considering Johnny and Mark's heritage. When your phone buzzed again, you almost jumped to grab it.

Mark: Well no not yet. I was just wondering if you wanted to get coffee or something. Or tea if you prefer that 

Your eyes widened.

You: Really?

Mark: Yeah. I dunno, I want to take the friend thing more serious than the guys. They just wanted to use that word so it was like an unspoken contract that you wouldn't post this everywhere y'know? 

Your heart sank a little bit, but you could see how important privacy was. If you were in the same position, you would have done the same.

You: I understand… I'm still kind of a stranger though, are you sure?

Mark: That's why I'm asking. I don't want you to be. So, will you meet me?

You: There's a Tim Hortons on the first floor of M building near where you met me on campus, I can be there in 40 minutes 

Mark: See you in 40 minutes then :)

As soon as you read that text, you tossed your comforter to the side and raced into the bathroom. You fix your hair and could barely decide whether to change your outfit or not. He did see you earlier today, would he think you were trying too hard if you changed? 

“Keep it together, (Y/N),” you told yourself, patting your cheeks with your hands as you eyed your complexion in the mirror. “He just wants tea and coffee, nothing major.” 

Just then, the front door opened. “Are you talking to yourself again?” Rhiannon called from the foyer.

“No,” you called back, clearly lying as you took one more scan of yourself in the mirror before leaving to greet your friend. “You’re back early. How was the lab?”

“Tiring,” she answered. “My bitch lab partner came in even earlier than usual to make sure I didn't have the chance to set up our station again.” She rolled her eyes and dropped her backpack next to yours. 

“Yikes,” you reply, watching her wander into the kitchen. “Are you gonna tell your professor that she is trying to sabotage your grade?” 

Rhiannon sighed. “I don't know if the following shitstorm would be worth it,” she says, plugging in the electric kettle. “I'm gonna make some tea, you want any?”

You shook your head, even though she probably couldn't see you from the wall separating the kitchen and foyer. “No thanks, I'm going out to Tim's in M building.” 

Rhiannon took less than a second to appear in the archway to stare at you. “Why?” She questioned, squinting at you. 

“Mark asked me to meet him for coffee.” 

“Mark,” she repeated, crossing her arms. “I thought you hated Mark Davids.” 

“Not that asshole,” you shot back. “Mark Lee.” You began to look for a pair of cuter shoes as Rhiannon’s eyes widened.

“You got the job?!” She exclaimed, her voice nearly reaching a squeal. "YOU MET MARK LEE? WITHOUT ME?!"

“Yeah,” you smile sheepishly, taken aback by her shouting. you picked out your favourite pair of shoes, red converse high tops. “He just seems like he wants to hang out right now though.”

“Oh my God,” her voice nearly lowered to a whisper. “Mark Lee just asked you out.”

You rolled your eyes. “He didn't ask me out, he just wants to talk,” you explain, pulling on your shoes to tie them. 

“I dunno, he could be it,” she says, waltzing back into the kitchen. “You never know!”

You sigh. “See you later!” 

“Tell him to get Haechan's number!”

After a 15-minute subway ride and a lot of hurried walking, you hauled open the pristine doors of M building, the newest addition to your college campus. Right before you was a little Tim Hortons with a tiny student’s lounge to accompany it. There was a little bit of a line to the micro cafe since night classes were starting up around now, but the student’s lounge was close to empty. 

You took in a deep breath, fully stepping inside and beginning your search for Mark. It doesn’t take long to spot him, he’s sporting yellow hair and a white face mask, accompanied by two red Tim Hortons cups at a table in the corner of the lounge. It takes you a moment to fathom your position - about to meet someone you’ve been crushing on for months through a computer screen for coffee in a lounge at your college. On top of that- he’s already bought you something.

“Hi,” you meekly greet him, approaching the table. Mark looks up from his phone and his eyes immediately crease into the crescents of his beautiful smile.

“Hey, (Y/N)!” He pulls his mask off, “sit down, I, uh, got you some tea. You kind of struck me as that kind of person, so I hope I got it right.” 

“Thank you, Mark. You really didn’t have to buy me anything…” You smile nervously, your face feeling hot and your heart beating a mile a minute. Mark seemed a little nervous, just like you. It was a sobering moment, taking the cup he pushed toward you and opening it to take a sip. Your eyes widened. Your tea was exactly the way you always order it, nearly to the grain of sugar.

Mark watches your expression, happy that you seemed to like your tea, “I wanted to treat you. I know how weird this must all seem for you, but for some reason, I feel like I know you.” He runs his hand through his hair, avoiding eye contact for a moment. 

You look away from him as well. There's a moment of silence between you, the bustle of students slowly diminishing as the sun sets behind you. 

“I, uh, can't really relate to you in that way,” you whisper after you worked up the courage to break the silence. “A lot of your life is on display.” 

“You're right,” Mark agreed. “There are a few things I keep to myself, though,” he smiled cheerfully. “But what I mean is hard to explain.”

Curious, you nod toward him, “try me.”

“When I was standing in line, I was trying to figure out what to get you. I wanted to treat you since I asked you to come, and I kind of expected for you to say no since your professor said you had class today and-”

“Mark, it’s fine, stay focused.” you smile faintly at him and wait for him to continue, sipping your tea again.

He blushes and nods sheepishly. “When it was my turn, I got what I wanted and the second I thought about you, I recited medium steeped orange pekoe tea with two cream and one and a half sugar like I had been getting it for you for years.” He stops for a moment, presumably watching your stunned reaction.

Your breathing was feeling a little crooked, and you couldn't quite place what you were feeling. You tried to take in a deep breath, shaking your head when Mark began to look concerned. 

“Sorry,” you apologize quickly. “I, uh, kind of know what you're talking about. This is all just a little; I don't know…”

“Overwhelming?” Mark finished, nodding his head. “I can't stop thinking about it.” 

You tried to smile. “I guess you gave the bug to me,” you joke. “Want to get some air?”

“I'd like that.” 

The two of you walked down a path that led off-campus, talking. It was as if the two of you had forgotten your positions in life; Mark a celebrity with his life on a pedestal and you just a fan that forgot how much you really knew about him.

You were rediscovering his cheerful nature, his loud and hearty laughter that was a whole-body endeavour, learning that he plays the guitar, his love of ice cream and sweet things. His favourite colour was blue, and he loved Christmas so much he already had a growing list of things to buy for his friends as gifts.

The sun was nearly hidden behind the hills of the park you wandered into, admiring the newly blossomed cherry trees. You were showing him a small bed of flowers decorated to look like a Canadian flag when Mark asked the dreaded personal question you had been hoping you would never have to answer again.

“How did your parents find out?” His tone was soft, curious. He didn't sound as invasive as others have been in the past, but the question still made you bite your lip to keep from frowning.

“A gang fight,” you answer, bitterly. “My dad punched my mom in the face so hard that day, she needed to go to the ER. It actually took three months for her to figure out why the print of my dad's fist hadn't faded from her cheek.”

Mark didn't speak for a moment. “Was that too much to ask?”

You looked up at him from the flower bed, smiling faintly. He looked good in the final evening glow. “I don't mind that much, but...”

“I'm sorry,” he said, tentatively placing a hand on the small of your back. 

“It's okay,” you start, his sympathy nearly made you melt. The two of you begin walking again, Mark absently running his fingers over cherry petals as you both passed the trees. “I got out of it all pretty quickly. They fought when they were high, and that was almost all the time. Sometimes, I feel scared just thinking about how my life might end up. If any of it is all as real as everyone says it is.”

Mark stares at you, and there is sympathy radiating off of him. He looks like he wants to say something, but he stays quiet.

You hold back a frown and decide to break the silence. “Anyway, how about your parents?” 

“A hug,” he answered, nodding, a smile returning to his face. “it's not the most common first touch in the world, but I hope I find mine the same way.” 

“That does sound nice,” you agree softly.

“I've heard it's all up to fate and magic,” Mark says, charm in his voice. “I've always wanted to believe in that.”

“I'd like to believe in that. Makes life seem a little more bearable. I’ve just always been so cynical through my childhood, so much so that all of my hope for a fairytale ending faded a long time ago. I never really thought that anything good would come out of it. If the universe really wants me to find someone, I guess I can’t really do anything about it.”

Mark smiles, although you can tell he is hiding a smidge of disappointment. “I suppose that's one way to think about it,” he replies. “I just want to know someone so well that I don't have to think twice about it. Like knowing the exact way to cheer them up when they're sad. Like the perfect cup of tea or their favourite stuffed animal. I guess that takes a little bit of magic.” 

You stop in your tracks, thinking about the perfect tea he had given you earlier.

“What's wrong?” Mark stops and turns around when he notices you're not keeping pace.

“Nothing,” you lie with a smile, watching Mark's scepticism through the darkness of night. 

“Okay,” he says softly, looking up at the sky. “I guess it's late, huh?” 

You join him in looking up. If the city wasn't always so lit up, this spot would be perfect for a shot of the starry night sky between the small canopy of cherry trees. “I guess it is.”

“How far away is your dorm? I can walk you,” he suggests, taking your hand. You're frozen, too stunned by the gesture to pull away.

“You don't have to,”

“But I want to,” Mark grins. “It's the one way I can make sure you get back safely.”

“You're too kind…” you pause for a moment. Mark is staring you down, waiting for you to say yes. “I'm not allowed to say no, am I?”

He shook his head, smiling. “Nope. Come on, let's go.” 

Scoffing lightly, you concede and begin walking again. “You can take me to my subway stop and I can tell you which train to take to go back,” you offer, assuming he would need to be back at his hotel before it got too late at night. 

“No,” he said quickly. Your eyes widened at his tone and once he noticed your reaction, he lowered his voice. “I just… have these gut feelings. I'd like to escort you right to your dorm,” he clears his throat, “um, if I'm not crossing any lines.” 

You feel sympathy for him. Just looking at Mark, you can tell he's worried about you, but you can't quite see the reason. “Okay,” you agree softly. 

It's silent for a while as you both walk through the well-lit city. It's not until you pass a food truck on the way to the subway station that either of you says something again.

“You know, you and I walked around that park for hours and we didn't even know how late it was until the last minute,” Mark comments, still holding your hand and pulling back gently to keep you from walking past him. 

“Yeah, you're right,” you blush, you had to admit to yourself that you hadn't lost yourself in conversation or such comfortable silence like that even on a date. "We forgot to eat. Are you hungry?”

“Yeah,” Mark admits with a laugh, “and these hot dogs smell good.” 

You look up at him. “I'll buy.” You wriggle your hand out of his grasp and run toward the cart before Mark can catch you, readying your wallet. 

“Two hot dogs please, one with relish and one plain, please. Also, burn the plain one a little bit, thanks.” 

“You're slippery,” Mark says, watching you pay for the food.

“You bought me tea, it's only fair,” you stick your tongue out at him. He sighs and nods at you, only breaking his gaze when the man at the cart hands down the hot dogs a few moments later. “The one with relish is yours. You hate ketchup, right?” 

Mark takes his hot dog, eyes wide. “Uh, yeah,” he pauses. “I just haven't really told anyone outside the guys and my family.” 

You're halfway through a bite of your ‘dog and you nearly choke on it. 

“Hey, hey!” Mark reaches out for your shoulder, hoping that you wouldn't pass out. “Chew and swallow! Sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out.” 

You swallow and cough, shaking your head. “Don't worry, I'm fine,” you say. “This is just a weird feeling.” 

He nods. “Yeah. But I don't really mind it. Come on, let's walk some more.” 

It was totally surreal to you, walking and eating with Mark. He was right, there was this strange feeling washing over you every time you looked at him, different than watching him on a Vlive broadcast or music video. Like you knew something about him that nobody else did, and it made you feel both good and scared out of your mind. It felt invasive.

One subway stop and a little bit of a walk later, you both arrive at your dorm building. “Here we are,” you announce. “My roommate is probably going to kill me for coming back so late.”

“Should I go in with you? To protect you?” Mark is smiling, but you can tell there is a hint of seriousness. 

“If you want. She will probably ask for something from you, though.” You open the main doors and enter in your code, leading Mark in with you.

“Like what?” Mark furrows his eyebrows. “She's not weird, right?”

You nearly laugh out loud. “She's weird all right, just not the kind you're thinking of. She wanted me to get Haechan's number from you, but I got so absorbed in talking with you that I forgot to ask.” 

“Oh,” Mark is following you close behind, letting out a tiny sigh of relief. “That doesn't sound too bad, but his reaction should be interesting.” 

You shrugged. “You don't have to do it. Anyway-” You're cut off as the door to your apartment opens, Rhiannon stepping out and pressing her hands to her hips. 

“Look who's finally back,” she states, and you can immediately tell she is angry. “It's almost 1 AM!” 

“Shh! I'm sorry, okay? I lost track of time! I was with-” 

“Mark,” she says, her voice less harsh when she notices Mark is standing behind you, sheepishly smiling and waving at her. “At least you had the initiative to walk her home.” 

You squint at your best friend. It's clear she is trying not to freak out in front of him. “Are you gonna let me inside?” 

“Not yet,” she states. “Mark, I love you,” she says quickly, grabbing your arm and pulling you to her. You're smiling awkwardly at him, shrugging and mouthing ‘sorry’. 

Mark smiles awkwardly and nods at you. “Uh, thanks,”

“Thank you for bringing (Y/N) back. Has she asked you about Haechan?” 

“Yeah. I'll text you guys his number when I get back- which I probably should…”

You step forward. “Do you know how to get back?”

Mark shakes his head. “I think it's on Yorkville, I might have to use my GPS.” 

You shake your head. “It's easy to get there. Head to the station you and I were just on, take the southbound for 5 stops. Once you get above ground, you should be on that street.” 

Mark smiled at you. “Thank you.” He approached you to give you a hug, which felt warmer than the other two from earlier in the day. When he turned to leave, a pang hit your chest.

“Mark,” you called. Instantly he turned around, his expression curious. “Let me know when you get back safely.” 

He nodded, smiling warmly. “I will, I promise.” 

You watch him leave, a little shocked that spending the entire night with him didn't feel like it at all. You're only broken out of your thoughts when Rhiannon drags you inside your apartment and shuts the door.

“You scared me half to death, you bitch! At least text me when you're gonna stay out this late! I thought you were just having tea! I was this close to calling the cops!” She presses her index finger to her thumb and shoves her hand towards your face as you stand before her, a little humiliated.

“Your fingers are touching,” you say quietly, screwing your eyes shut.

“Exactly!” she exclaims. “I was one button away from speaking to 911! You're goddamn lucky I heard you and Mark coming down the hall!” You open your eyes when she gently touches your arm. “Don't scare me like that.”

“I'm sorry. I promise I'll keep in touch next time.” You smile awkwardly at her. “I was just so caught up in talking and trying to make sure it wasn't a dream.” 

Rhiannon nodded and returned your smile. “I know. You should go to bed, you have class in the morning.” 

“Yeah. Thanks for worrying about me.” 

Once you were in fresh pyjamas, you had some music on in the bathroom while you dry your hair with a towel. A quick shower before bed always was relaxing enough for you to fall asleep quickly. Snuggling up in bed after that long day was especially nice, gathering up your teddy bear to hug close. You're just about to drift off when your phone buzzes. 

Mark: Hey, I'm back safe. Thank you for the directions 

You: You're welcome

I had a really nice time tonight 

Mark: Me too

You have class tomorrow right 

You: Yeah, it's a short day though, just a small photoshop lab 

Mark: Do you want to hang out again when you're done? By the way, the number I promised - __________

You: I'd like that. Thanks, I'll forward it to her 

Haechan was cool with it right 

Mark: Me too :) yeah he was cool with it, he owed me a favour anyway 

Sleep well ok?

You: I will, you too? 

Mark: Yeah I promise 

Goodnight (Y/N)

You: Goodnight :)

After putting your phone down on your nightstand, you peacefully drifted off with a smile on your face.

[jiminsfault]

❥ pairing: Jungkook x reader

❥ genre: non-idol!au, nc17 / fluff, the tiniest amount of smut, a bit of crack, romance

❥ word count: 7.5k

❥ summary: Jimin wanted to play matchmaker and you fell right into his love trap.

❥ warnings: a lot of sexual comments, Reader has a fixation on hygiene?, Jimin is gay, side Yoonmin (it’s not really much but present), sexual tension, Jungkook probably has a Noona kink, use of korean honorifics (only a bit), Reader is super awkward, Jungkook is gonna steal your heart, more sexual tension, Jungkook knows tiktok, making out, kisses, it gets heated a bit, a lot of love, shy boy!Jungkook, more love

❥ thank you for this great header heathy! @shadowsremedy​ uwu

“Hey, uhm. Could you…,” Jimin started his sentence next to you, lying on your couch, “would you go on a date with me?”

You just sipped on your glass of coke, hearing this, you almost spat it out. With wide eyes you turned towards him and couldn’t keep your mouth closed, once you gulped the drink down. “No?” He asked, seeing your reaction. His tone was questioning and he had eyes just as big as you had.

“No. What the fuck, Jimin? Why would I go on a date with you? Like, ever,” you rolled your eyes, looking at him with disgust. Not to misunderstand, Jimin was handsome and funny, always there for you when you needed him. He encouraged you to go out and meet people and sat through movies with you, when you needed to cry about the boy who broke your heart.

But that’s exactly why you wouldn’t ever go on a date with him. Jimin was your best friend ever since high school, when he sat down next to you, a new student from Busan and just moved to seoul. He didn’t know anybody but when he sat down next to you, you smiled at him and explained to him what the class was about. Ever since then, you both were like paper and glue, sticking together for whatever troubles you had. You know too much about the guy, couldn’t ever see him in a romantic way. Plus, he’s gay, so.

Jimin rolled his eyes, too, sitting up and throwing all the crumbs from his chips onto your couch. He’s going to be cleaning this. “No you dummy, not like that. Just accompany me out with two guys and-”

“I will not have a foursome with you and some random dudes you found on Grindr!” You screeched, holding your pointer finger up and successfully stopping him from speaking.

“Can you shut up for a second? I don’t ever wanna see you when you get down and dirty with someone. You can keep that for yourself, I already had to find your vibrator,” shaking his head, he shuddered at the memory, “that was enough trauma.”

“I’m trying to tell you, it’s kind of like a double date. Except, the two dudes don’t know that yet. I really wanna fuck this one guy but he didn’t get the memo so he invited his friend when I said we could meet up sometime.” Another eye roll while he threw a chip up in the air and caught it with his mouth. He continued to speak, while chewing, making you cringe at his disgusting behavior. “His name’s Jungkook, the friend of his. You’re gonna come with and distract him from me and my snack. I just want some alone time to make him my sl-”

You held your hand up again, looking away. You didn’t want to hear what he had to say. “Fine, okay. If I come along, what’s in it for me? I have to spend my evening with some rando, getting him away from his friend? What if that dude doesn’t want to be alone with you?” Your face gave your doubt away, looking Jimin up and down.

“That’s the thing, Y/N. He doesn’t know that he wants to be alone with me yet. After that evening, when he realized what good of a catch I am, he definitely won’t get enough of some good alone time.” You scoffed, when he wiggled his eyebrows up and down. Reaching forward, you snatched the bag of chips from him and ate some yourself. “And what’s in it for you, my sweet darling? Jungkook’s fucking hot, too. I’d want to bite his ass, but he’s straight as an arrow.”

He fake pouted, shortly after his devilish smirk came out because he could tell that you were considering it. “Do you have a picture? I’m not gonna let you trick me like last time,” the trust you once had in him to hook you up with someone was long gone after he told you he’d found the man of your dreams, until the guy turned out to look like he drank beer for fifty years and hadn’t showered for much longer.

“No, but I can describe him?” You tsked, standing up from the couch and going to the bathroom. Jimin could lie to you all he wants, you’re not gonna waste your time with this. “C’mon! Help me get some ass! Please!”

You snickered as he wailed in the living room, already having decided to help your friend out a little. But he didn’t need to know that just yet, teasing Jimin was too much fun.

“So you’re sure this guy won’t be a creep?” You checked back in with Jimin for the nth time. He could never be trusted when he was trying to get into some dude’s pants.

“Yes, Y/N. I’m a hundred percent sure and if I’m lying, you can absolutely cut off my balls and serve them for breakfast, yeah?” It was laced with humor and he side eyed you from the passenger's seat in your car. Breathing out, heavy with annoyance, you nodded.

This couldn’t be the worst, you supposed. “What happens if you and your twinky hit off and y’all wanna leave? Am I supposed to stay with this Jungkook guy?” 

“He’s not a twink, Y/N. You’ll see, Yoongi is really nice!” His voice reached high ends and you scrunched up your nose. Even though you dressed up in a deep blue dress that was bordering on mid thigh, with your favorite heels, comfortable but still chic, you were full of doubts. Yes, a movie with Jimin and additional possible friends would be nice, but the risk of an unhygienic or rude date is still present.

“I can smell your worries,” Jimin said. You looked at him quickly and saw that he was watching you intently. “Jungkook really is a nice guy. He’s younger than you but he got his manners. And he’s a smart one,” he went on about your date for the rest of the way to the cinema and once you parked the car, he finally stopped talking.

“If you’re lying, prepare your balls,” you threatened, looking at him with sharp eyes. He nodded with a smirk and jumped out of your car.

You followed him, linking your arm with his after he waited for you and together you walked towards the entrance of the cinema. Inside, the entrance hall was bustling with people buying tickets and snacks, walking to the assigned rooms to watch movies. Children were running around and groups of teenagers filled the ticket box office.

Jimin already went to complain about how long they’d have to wait but then a guy approached. He had black hair, was about the same size as Jimin but had a bit of a smaller frame. His face was feline like and he seemed to know exactly who to talk to. “Jimin?” His voice sounded when he was only a few steps away and with a happy noise, your friend let go of your arm and fell into the arms of the man.

“Yoongi! How are you, where’s Jungkook?” He blabbered quickly, laying his arm around this Yoongi’s shoulders. Now that you thought about it, you never asked how Jimin met this guy. When they were closer to you, you smiled at Yoongi and introduced yourself. He seemed a bit shy, shrinking into Jimin’s frame when he greeted you. It was cute and suddenly you knew exactly why Jimin was so keen on meeting him. 

“Jungkook is getting us popcorn, one sweet, one salty because we didn’t know what you guys preferred. Also drinks, I hope coke is fine?”

Jimin and you both agreed and once the both of them started conversation, you started to look around more. They seemed to get along well, why were you even here? And where is this Jungkook? The snack checkout was still full with people and considering the lack of knowledge you had about his looks except ‘he’s handsome’, your searching was hopeless.

You decided to grab your phone out of your small purse, checking the time only to see that the movie should start in about ten minutes. “Guys, why don’t we buy the tickets? We’ll miss the start if we wait longer,” you trailed while you still looked at your phone, overlooking the messages a group chat sent.

“Already taken care of,” a smooth voice announced from behind you. It caught you off guard, so you shrieked a bit and clutched your hands to your chest. A giggle was heard and shortly after, the person to the voice stood next to you, hands full with popcorn and drinks. The two men across you, still in conversation, took a drink each, Jimin holding a popcorn bag as well. “You must be Y/N, yeah? I’m Jungkook,” he said. Once you finally looked at his face, he was quite tall so you had to look high up, you saw a very handsome face.

He had perky and cute lips that seemed strawberry pink, a small mole underneath and his smile was cheeky and adorable. With his smile came bunched up cheeks and his eyes seemed to carry his happiness. The light brown hair was partly over his forehead, a small gap let you see a bit of his eyebrows, strong and dark. His frame was wide, muscly it seemed. He was wearing a jeans jacket with a white shirt underneath and ripped pants that hugged his wonderfully thick thighs. Was he a god or something?

Everyone noticed your quietness and to cover the awkward pause in conversation, Jimin laughed and went in to hug Jungkook. “Nice to see you! Yoongi told me a bunch about you. This here is Y/N, she can be a bit shy around new people,” he made show to hold your shoulders and make you look at him. Your cheeks glowed up with heat and an embarrassed laugh made it out from between your lips.

“It’s fine, I’m sure we can get used to each other inside,” Jungkook said with a friendly tone and you were glad that this was all that was needed for the small group to get moving. Jimin trailed in front with an arm draped around Yoongi’s waist and he looked back to wink at you. “C’mon, don’t wanna miss the ads, huh?”

This Jungkook really had an effect on you like no one else did. For god’s sake, you were older than this guy and you acted like a schoolgirl. Get a grip, Y/N!

With a heavy intake of breath, packing your phone back into your purse, you walked towards the three that were already a bit up the stairs. Arriving next to your date for the evening, you looked at his side profile. “Should I take something from that?” Pointing to the drinks and the bag of popcorn in his arms, you kept looking at him, between glancing down to make sure you didn’t miss the final step and walked behind Jimin and Yoongi. Did they even know which room the movie was playing?

“I got it, thanks,” he said, smiling down at you. Pressing your lips together, you nodded. “You’re a year older than me, right?” His question confused you a bit, after not much conversation he brought up age in an awfully weird way.

“Uhm… yeah, I think so? Jimin said I’m older than you, so,” you shrugged your shoulders and looked in front of you, walking through the doors of hall D. You saw your friend and his company walking up towards line 47 and they sat down on seat 4 and 5. “Do I go past them or do we sit here?”

You pointed at the seats 2 and 3 and looked at Jungkook. He scrunched his nose and you could see his eyes smile again. Nodding his head to the seats you were pointing at, he sat down shortly after you did too. He sat next to Yoongi, which made you be the furthest from your friend and slightly on edge. Jimin said he’d be with you until you were comfortable, but you weren’t sure if you were ready to be on your own with Jungkook.

The room was already dimmed down, the ads weren’t playing yet, so it was still relatively bright for a cinema. “Which popcorn do guys have?” Jimin asked from the end of your small row. Jungkook grabbed one popcorn and held it in front of you, looking at you with a grin.

“Find it out?” You gulped, raising your hand to grab the flake, but Jungkook held it closer to your mouth, making you open your mouth and taking it from his fingers with your lips. They touched the tips of his fingers briefly and you felt a spark of warmth in your belly, as well as your face. He still looked at you closely and didn’t waver from your face, meanwhile you looked sideways towards the screen to avoid his eyes. You munched the popped kernel and licked your lips.

“Salt,” you stated, shyly looking at the still smiling man who now nodded. Jimin could’ve just tried his own popcorn to find out that they had the sweet one. You furrowed your eyebrows and looked at your lap. Why did he tell you to dress up? Jungkook was only wearing a jeans jacket and Jimin himself wasn’t that dolled up either.

Gnawing on your lip, you blended their voices out, only to be poked at your shoulder. You looked over, noticing that Jungkook probably tried to talk to you. “Is salt fine with you?” You nodded, calming yourself down. Right when he put your drink in front of you to have it, the lights got turned off.

“Oh no, now I can’t see the holder,” you murmured more to yourself. You clumsily tried to place your drink into the round plastic on your seat to your left but almost dropped the cup. Hissing out a curse, you tried again but failed. Suddenly you saw through your peripheral vision that Jungkook moving next to you, leaning across your body and taking your cup from your hold, finding the holder and sitting back into his seat. Stunned, you were glued to your place. Your breath was quick, Jungkook smelled nice and the way he leaned over you and completely covered you made you a bit unconcentrated. The advertisements started blaring out of the speakers but people were still talking, chewing their snacks and slurping their drinks.

“Noona,” Jungkook suddenly murmured right next to your ear. You felt his breath on your cheek and his presence was so hard to ignore. “Are you fine? You seem uncomfortable,” he continued, voice laced with obvious worry.

You looked to your side, making his face out with the light of the screen in front. It was close but he kept his distance once you faced him. “I’m a little nervous,” you whispered honestly. “And I’m overdressed.”

He giggled cutely, looking at the screen for a moment, where a movie trailer was now playing, but turned back to you. “Maybe a bit,” he admitted. He paused, seeming to think about his words. “But you look really pretty, Noona.”

He turned his head slightly to the side and smiled at you, fumbling around with your purse in your lap and avoiding his gaze. The cinema filled even more up and before the advertisements were fully over, there sat a man right in your viewpoint. A very tall man. You huffed, going left and right to see over his head, but to really see something, you’d have to lean over Jungkook. Taking a glance at him, he was casually talking with Yoongi and Jimin, they had picked a conversation up while you were busy. Munching a bit on the popcorn and sipping from his drink, he looked almost cute, wouldn’t he be so attractive that you couldn’t cope. His jeans jacket was still on and he spread his legs, slouching a bit in the seat to get comfortable. You usually hated it when men took up space like this. Jimin constantly did it to get on your nerves and if you would have half a mind, you’d see that he’s doing it tonight as well. Something about the way Jungkook made it look like changed your mind. It was suddenly not as gross, you’d rather get a personal feel for the meaty legs and the man was so attractive, you were sure his body had to be as well.

With a quick look to his side, he noticed you stopped squirming. But when he looked at the head in front of you, he could tell that it still very much blocked your view. Rasping his throat to prepare, he leaned over to you and came close, “do you want us to switch seats? I can probably look over him.” You jumped, slouching into your form and when you looked to your right, you saw that Jungkook was ready to stand up. 

“No, it’s fine,” you whispered, laying a hand on his wrist that was nearest to you. He looked at the contact and you spluttered, realising your touch. He looked up, the dim lighting making it hard to really read his expression. With an audible sigh, he gave up the advance of switching seats, but still wanted to help you.

“Excuse me, Sir?” He leaned forwards a bit. The man in front of you turned over and looked at him, demanding what was the problem. “My girlfriend can’t really see with you in the view, would you mind scooting up the row two seats? It doesn’t seem like more people will come.”

You covered your face, wanting to disappear. Jungkook couldn’t just talk to a stranger like this, calling you his girlfriend. But to your surprise, the man nodded, smiling friendly and saying that he figured it should be alright, switching seats and then checking back that everyone could see. With gaping eyes, you looked to your seat neighbor and shook your head slowly. He grinned at you and leaned back, starting a conversation over how great he is, sarcasm obvious in his tone, but you still agreed wholeheartedly.

The movie started, the lights got even lower and you finally could lean back and relax. Until you realized one crucial thing, Jimin lied to you once again. The little fucker would get some nice bruises once you were done with him, he picked out a horror movie without telling you. In fact, you thought you were here to watch a family friendly animated movie, not something about dead dolls. He probably just wants his twink to be scared and hide in his arms and yet you have to suffer through it.

You tried to hold in your screams and whimpers at the first scary scenes, but Jungkook still noticed the stiffening of your posture and the small shrieks you let out. Without you even really noticing, he pulled you close and whispered in your ear, “you scared?” Nodding, you looked at him with terror in your eyes and he chuckled deep in his chest. You felt it through his jacket, your shoulder at his front. At the opportunity, you looked at the men next to Jungkook. Yoongi was laying in Jimin’s arms, hiding his face in his neck when the screen gave away jump scares and shrill noises.

“You can hold onto me, if it helps?” Jungkook suggested. At this point, you were willing to try anything. So you clutched onto Jungkook’s upper arm, pulling him a bit in front of you to hide behind his shoulder when the music started to build up.

As you left the movie hall, credits rolled and popcorn collected, you staggered out into the light and took in a big breath of air. You survived. Never in your life had you regretted meeting Jimin this much, the guy still had the nerve to laugh at you and mimic your shocked eyes. Yoongi giggled next to him, seemingly more attached than before the movie and you asked yourself if you really were needed to give them privacy.

“I think I’ll go to the bathroom, too. The ride home will be long,” Yoongi trailed, pointing behind him as he started walking backwards. Jimin nodded, waving cutely and turning back to you. Jungkook attended the bathroom as well, which made you wait on them now.

With a cheeky grin, Jimin looked at you expecting. “So? What do you think about Jungkook?” Rolling your eyes, you walked away from him, in search for the nearest chair to sit on. 

“Jimin, I have an assumption and if I’m right about it, I’ll kill you.” The seriousness in your tone made him press his lips together and look at you. “You and Yoongi know each other well enough already, yeah?”

Your friend tried to avoid looking at you, moving from foot to foot and laughing nervously. “Well,” he started, puffing his cheeks with air. “We do know each other, but we don’t fuck! Yet. He never took my flirting seriously, which is why he invited a friend when I asked him out.”

He looked at you with puppy eyes, making you sigh. “But there was more behind me joining tonight, right? This seems like a setup.” Crossing your arms in front of your chest, you looked behind Jimin to see when one of the others came back. Your friend bit his lip, slowly nodding.

“Y/N, I know Jungkook, so I know that he’s such a great guy for you. When Yoongi said he’ll bring a friend, I asked him to bring Jungkook,” he admitted. “Getting you out of your room has been hard enough for a few weeks now, but you rarely meet guys. You always cry about your ex and that you’d never find the right one, so…,” he trailed off.

“So you took it into your own hands and made me come here, dolled up like this? You chose a horror movie, how cliché of you. The seats?” The wild guesses made Jimin squirm, you catching his plan head on and exposing him.

“Give him a chance, Y/N. He saw pictures of you and I told him a bunch, he thinks you’re really cute and Yoongi probably listens to him swoon about you right now! Nobody takes this long for a wee.” You laughed weakly, not knowing what to think of this.

Exhaling, you looked at Jimin for a long, quiet pause. “He’s really cute,” you said with finality. He made a show of fist bumping the air and congratulating himself. “But you can’t just play matchmaker with me.” The guilty look was back on again, puppy eyes and wobbly lip.

“Y/N, but you like him, right? Will you see him again?” He said in his baby voice. You laughed at this, closing your eyes and shaking your head. “No, really, will you?”

You had to think about that. Jungkook was handsome, smelled good, his hair seemed washed. He looks like he’s hygienic and he was really nice to you as well. Funny, in his own way and he helped you out multiple times. He flirted with you, too. It was a good date, after the awkward beginnings you felt comfortable and he was ready to protect you from the scary figures on screen. While contemplating all this, you bit on your lip and looked at your feet, not noticing the arrival of your company.

“I think I will, actually,” you started, raising your head until you saw Yoongi next to Jimin and realized Jungkook’s presence next to you. For the nth time tonight, blush rose to your face and ears, averting your eyes.

Jimin, not getting enough of teasing you tonight, started to smirk at his newest plot against you. “Hey, why don’t I come back to yours?” He turned to Yoongi, wiggling his eyebrows twice and laying his hand on his date’s waist. He made a noise of thinking before checking in with Jungkook, agreeing to Jimin’s suggestion afterwards. With horror in your eyes, you saw Jimin wave at you and Jungkook, faking worry and playing his act of, “I hope it doesn’t bother you to drive with Y/N?”

Watching the two descend down the stairs, heads disappearing, you turned to look at Jungkook, who already watched you. “What do you think you will?” The question seemed like he waited the whole conversation out to ask and you couldn’t keep eye contact with his intense stare on you.

“Ah, just… Jimin asked if I’ll study tonight!” You exclaimed, moving to jump off the chair but Jungkook stood in front of you, blocking the way.

“Did you enjoy tonight enough to meet me again?” He asked, his voice a tone darker than it was before and when you looked up at him, you couldn’t focus on just one feature of his. His broad frame covered you completely once again and his smell invaded your senses. Feeling a bit dizzy, you put your hand on his biceps. He felt your apprehensiveness and held you by your waist to support you.

Being shy about this kind of thing, you looked down and nodded quickly. “Yeah, I…,” you started, looking up again and being assured with the way his eyes didn’t waver from your form, “I’d really like that.” He smiled, nodding slowly and helping you get down from the high chair.

“So, can I ask you for your number, then?” He was blushing a bit himself, touching his ear when he waited for you to tap your digits into his phone. He promised to text you soon, said he couldn’t wait to meet you again and asked you all kinds of questions to find out what date idea you liked most.

In the end, he had a few ideas that he wrote down and said he needed some more time to think about it. You giggled at his cute behavior, asking him to lead the way for his place, once you were in the car. He helped you navigate and thanked you for getting him home, wishing you a good night and a safe drive back to your place. You nodded and reminded him of texting you, hearing a ping only moments after he closed the car door to walk the driveway up.

Checking your phone, you chuckled when you saw a message by an unknown number, ‘how soon can you see me again?’

It turned out to be very soon, actually. Just the next week, Jungkook organized a date for the two of you, keeping it a secret where exactly he’ll be taking you. He told you to wear casual clothing, just a simple outfit and no heels. He teased you to not overdress again and you actually screamed. Getting your point across that it was Jimin’s fault was hard when Jungkook was cocky enough to assume you wanted to lure him in.

But on the same friday, Jungkook picked you up with his truck, greeting you with his bright smile and congratulating you on the fitting clothes. He received your famous eye roll and off you went, onto the road. 

The ride wasn’t long, Jungkook assured you that it’s around the city and that it’ll be fun. You decided to trust him, waiting to arrive wherever he takes you. Talking to him came easy, over the last week you texted a lot and got acquainted enough to be comfortable around him and tell stories to fill the car. His music taste was exceptional and he promised to make you a playlist soon.

When he turned the corner into a parking lot, you looked around. “Where are we?” You asked, confused because there was no obvious sign hung on the house you were in front.

“You’ll see,” he said, smile steady on his face as he left the car and walked towards the house, your steps close behind him. Jungkook rung a bell, next to it was a handwritten name but the door opened quickly, not giving you time to figure the letters out.

“Jungkook,” you said quietly, looking at him from where he stood three stairs above you. He looked down at you with a quizzed face, leaning his head to the side. “This isn’t some spooky stuff, right?” You furrowed your brows as you hesitated.

He let out an airy laugh, “no, don’t worry, Noona.” He winked at you, not very smooth since he ultimately blinked but it was cute, so you let it slide. Just opening your mouth to repeat the response to the title he used, that you had messaged him a few times now, he mocked in a high tone, “it’s just one year!”

You shook your head, following after him as he walked up two floors. “Pottery?” You asked confused once you saw a sign on the door you halted in front of. He didn’t include that in any of the ideas over the last week, so it took you off guard. Not pegging him for the type, you looked at him as he opened the door that was left open by whoever owned this.

“Yeah, pottery. Jimin told me you never tried it, so I figured we could learn something,” he trailed, walking inside the open room where a register stood with a woman behind and a few people walking around. “Hello, I called,” he greeted the woman behind the desk. “Jeon Jungkook?”

The receptionist nodded, making a noise of understanding as she scrolled through the computer in front of her. “Yes, there it is. Room 3, it’s right to the left once you lead the hallway.” He nodded, looking where she pointed and after you greeted the woman yourself, the both of you walked towards where she instructed.

“C’mere, you’re so slow,” Jungkook teased as he looked back at you and stood in the room. You grumbled something about your short legs, he couldn’t hear everything, but laughed his heart out at your grumpy face.

“Do we do this alone? Aren’t we getting instructions on what to do?” You threw into the almost empty room. There were stools and round tables, you figured they were where you could do the pottery. On the side of the room was a table with already made cups and bowls that were drying and next to them sat black plastic boxes. “What’s in these boxes?”

Before he could take a guess, you walked to them and opened one, seeing clay inside. “Ooh, so this,” you grabbed a clump, “is what we use?” He chuckled at your many questions as he sat on one of the stools in front of a table.

“Bring it here and let’s do this,” he grinned. Taking the clump, you dropped it on his table and went back to close the door, figuring that you really wouldn’t have an instructor. You sat down on the other stool, scooting it closer to Jungkook to watch what he was doing. “My knowledge about this is limited to tiktoks and youtube videos, I’m just saying,” he warned, serious look on his face until it cracked.

He dipped his hands in a water bowl that stood next to him on the floor, tapping the chunk of clay and applying pressure. When it worked, both your eyes were wide and you made a sound of amazement. After he made a high pole, he pressed it down and used his thumbs to make a hole and rounded his hands to cup the outside, bringing it into a circled form. “I’m making a cup!!”

You continued watching him for a bit and then decided to get working yourself, getting clay from the boxes and patting the mass, forming it up, pressing down but…, “my clump doesn’t like me.”

You looked over at Jungkook with a pout and presented the flat cake of wet clay, a small dent where your thumbs sat. He giggled, standing up and putting his chair next to yours, much closer than before. “Gimme your hands, let me lead,” he said, holding his hands, that were full of clay, in front of you and waiting for your smaller ones. “Now that I’m thinking of it, we should’ve covered our clothes with something,” he thought out loud. It broke the tension that started to build and let you laugh about him freely.

Now that he leaned over your shoulder and held your hands in his to help you form the clay, it seemed like the spinning mass was playing just a side character. His incredibly good scent rose up to your nose again, filling your thoughts of him and his much bigger frame. The way he leaned over you and you felt his hair tickle your ear, sometimes feeling his cold earring on your cheek when he leaned even more in, was intense for you. Thinking was hard when all your brain could process was him.

Just when he managed to archive the cup form, your thoughts stopped being foggy, brain clearing up a bit. “Look at us, we’re out here making cups! Look at this,” he almost roared, excitement clear. His arms were tight around you and he wiggled you with him, holding your hands in his, all full of clay. You cheered too, trying to turn your head to look at his smile. But suddenly, he seemed even closer, immediately looking into your eyes and you gulped, feeling the heat rise to your neck and face. You stuttered back, making him stand up and removing his arms from around you.

“We should uhm, wash our hands,” you said, stiff and shy. He nodded and added that the hour was almost over and you’d need to be out of the room anyway. “What about our cups?” You asked, puppy eyes on display and almost speaking in a high, watery tone. He chuckled, assuring you that he can get them once they call him. When you left the room, you not only found a washroom but the woman who owned this place. She greeted you and asked if you had a good time, mentioning that they will put your cups out to dry and can either pick them up or come and paint them too. With hopeful eyes you looked up at Jungkook and without even seeing your pleading face, he agreed that you definitely had to paint them.

Once she left to remove your cups from the tables and set them out to dry with small name tags in front of them, you and Jungkook left to wash your hands. The restroom wasn’t gender seperated, since the house was originally meant to be actual living place. So there you stood, both incessantly rubbing your hands to get rid of the clay.

Jungkook got done much quicker than you did, not in the mood to make your skin sensitive so you rubbed carefully along your skin. “I don’t think I can get it off,” you pouted. “My skin will hurt if I scrub them too harshly.”

He took your hands in his and started carefully smoothing off the partially dried clay on your fingers. Once he was sure that your hands were clean again, he turned off the water and dried both your hands with the towel, patting your skin rather than rubbing even more. You held back a coo, finding it incredibly adorable of him to take care of you this way. When he looked up from your hands, your eyes met and the tension from back in the pottery room was building again.

“Y/N, would you hate me if I said that I really want to kiss you right now?” His voice was held quiet, considering that other people could request the washroom as well. You shook your head twice and scooted closer to him. He wore a small smile and reached down, taking one of his hands from your still towel wrapped ones and holding the side of your face and neck with it. His thumb caressed your cheek and he switched from looking into your eyes, down to your lips.

After a final moment of giving you the chance of declining, he closed the distance and kissed you softly. There was barely any pressure for the first few seconds, until he moved back and licked his lips, kissing you again but much more determined.

You reciprocated the kiss immediately, filling all your senses with Jungkook and not getting enough of him. An eager, tiny moan slipped out from your lips when he pulled off for a short moment, turning yours and his own head a bit as not to clash noses. He chuckled breathily into the kiss and let his hand roam to the back of your nape, getting you closer to him. He let go of your hands completely, taking the other one and holding you softly by the waist. He took a step forwards, leading you blindly against the sink and the kiss grew desperate. Your breath turned heavy and you couldn’t hold back from pressing against his lips more. Laying the towel down behind you, you grabbed at Jungkook’s shirt around his waist and held onto him. A whine slipped past you when he tentatively licked against your bottom lip, asking for more but still taking it without thought right after.

You both flinched when somebody knocked against the door, calling, “could this be hurried up a bit?” Jungkook looked at your face with flushed cheeks and swollen lips, eyes wide for a moment before he broke out into his wide smile again. He held your face with one and your hip with the other hand still and leaned a bit back to give you space to breathe.

“We’ll be out in a minute!” He exclaimed loud enough to be heard outside and looked back at you. “You’re okay?” His eyes held something in them but you didn’t have time to analyze it, nodding and turning to hang the towel up where it’s supposed to be. He took your hand in his, surprising you and opening the door. A middle aged white woman stood in front of the door, giving you both a judging look before Jungkook said, “that clay sure is tough to get off, huh?”

After that you left, laughing about the woman’s face and praising each other for the cups you made. Jungkook suggested milkshakes and burgers after you drove for a little and happy with the idea, you agreed.

After the food, not definable if it was more lunch or dinner by the time you were eating, Jungkook dropped you off at your place, wishing you a good almost night and saying that he’ll text you when he’s home. You blushed as you asked him to close his eyes and went in to plant a kiss on his cheek. His eyebrow jumped up at the contact and when he opened his eyes again, he grinned. You waved after you closed his door and turned around to walk into your apartment complex, smiling widely.

“Did you guys fuck tho?” Jimin asked you, hand raised and flopped over when he stood in the doorway with his weight on one leg and his hip popped out. His lips were pursed and he raised his eyebrows in expectation. You laughed lightly, shaking your head.

“No, we just,” you bit your lip, “kissed.” It was clear he didn’t buy it but he let it slide. Nodding multiple times, he walked over to the couch and flopped down.

“So, I assume you fell for my little trap, huh,” he grinned. “I was right about thinking you guys would work out, he’s the right amount of gentleman for you.”

He was right about this, you did enjoy Jungkook’s company and you started regularly texting and meeting up, sometimes just casual without the whole pressure of a date around it. He stole some kisses from time to time, always grinning too cute to get scolded for it and secretly, you loved getting attacked with his smooches when you least expect it.

“When is he gonna ask you out? What’s he waiting for?” Your noisy best friend opened up his snacks, throwing some into his awaiting mouth and chewing obnoxiously. You shrugged your shoulders, walking from the kitchen isle to the couch and joining Jimin.

You snuggled into the couch, next to him, watching a movie, when the door bell ringed. “Did you invite someone?” You looked up at Jimin from where you rested your head on his shoulder. He shook his head, watching you as you got up to see who was at the door.

The peephole revealed that Jungkook was standing in front of your door and you never opened it this quickly. “Gukkie! What are you doing here?” You squealed, falling into his arms. You weren’t expecting him at all, haven’t seen him for a week now and missed him the most. He chuckled, putting his arms around you and kissing your head.

“Had to visit the baby,” he talked into your hair, beaming in the affection. Giggling, you looked up, chin on his chest and grinning. “Hyung?” He asked, wide eyes and pitched voice.

Jimin greeted Jungkook back and they fell into small talk, you taking the opportunity to get some drinks, you and Jungkook’s selfmade cups for each of your drinks and a store bought one for Jimin. 

The cups were painted white by your request and once they dried you and Jungkook were able to paint them as you liked, making it your fourth date at the time. You painted the cups for each other, making it a surprise but both ended up with an equally cute design. Jungkook painted your name in his squiggly handwriting and added a heart next to it, painting a smiley and flowers. On his cup you painted colorful swirls on one side and on the other one you painted two stick figures representing both of you.

Once you sat back on the couch, Jungkook between you and Jimin, the teasing started. “Cute show you guys gave me, is there gonna be more later?” Jimin’s eyes were glinting with mischief.

Instead of laughing like you did, Jungkook slapped Jimin on the back and grinned stiff, “you could also just leave?” They both laughed overly exaggerated at it and slept each others backs, until Jimin took Jungkook’s head underneath his arm and rubbed his hair quickly, creating heat.

“Respect your elders, Jungkook. But you’re right, I should go,” he looked up in thought, “Yoongi is probably missing me,” he swooned. After standing up and pushing Jungkook into the couch one last time, he hugged you and took his leave right after.

Jungkook took a sip of his drink and tsked at how Jimin left his untouched, smiling at his cup like he did every time he was over and you gave it to him.

“Ah, my plan worked well,” Jungkook smirked, placing the beverage back on the table in front of the couch, leaning back into the comfortable pillows and looking at you. “Let’s cuddle, c’mere.” His voice turned soft regarding you, opening his arms and inviting you with a wiggle to his brows.

“Why are you here, Guk?” You murmured after a short moment. He exhaled and sat up a little, rasping his throat.

“I actually wanted to ask you something,” he said, very serious but the corner of his mouth moved up on his own. “Can we play Mario Kart?”

You blinked at him, bursting into laughter. “This is a very serious matter, Y/N. ” His face was stern, looking at you with no hint of humor.

“You made Jimin leave so we can play a video game?” The question wasn’t really in need of an answer, but Jungkook nodded anyway.

“You can be Peach and I’ll be Mario,” he said as he stood up and searched the drawers of the TV table for the remotes.

“Why do I have to be Peach? I always play Toad.” At this, Jungkook turned around abruptly and shook his head.

“No, that wouldn’t make sense,” he said. He was confusing you and your face made that clear but he was too busy with checking if the remotes had batteries in them, turning on the console and picking out the game of his desires.

“What are you trying to archive with this?” You giggled. “Why can’t I play my usual character?”

He pursed his lips and rolled his eyes up to think. “Okay, well… let me word it differently.” He walked towards you, still sitting on the couch, and placed the two remotes to his side. Sitting opposite of you with crossed legs, he bit his lip and looked as his fingers as he pulled on his sock. “I want you to be my girlfriend,” he said timidly, looking up at you to catch your reaction.

You smiled, because it’s simply Jungkook. He could always act like the annoyingly confident guy but he’ll never hide how shy he really could be. 

Nodding, you breathed, “yeah,” and squealed when he took you into his lap with a smile. “But can I still be Toad?”

© 2020 @jiminsfault. All rights reserved.

[sammy-gvf]

We get along (for the most part)

Chapter One.

OC x Lee Bodecker

Warnings: None for now. Just some cursing.

Plot : The local rebel badass girl and Lee Bodecker have had run ins, lets see how it goes, shall we? 

MINORS DNI !!!!! Eventually this story will get 18+. I dont feel like getting in trouble because of you. Thanks a bunch. 

Evan Rachel Wood ( Across the Universe 2007) 

( personally in my head this is what she would look like but you can interpret her anyway you want!)

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My name is Margaret Lane, well Maggy. 22. Born May 2nd 1947.

The resident bad girl, don't worry, I gave myself that nickname.

I have lived in this tiny, middle of nowhere town my entire life. Same people, same gossip.  There's no escape. No matter how hard I try, something always stops me. I live with my parents and little brother here in Knockemstiff, Ohio. My parents and I have a mutual understanding of “you go to work and come home and then we don't talk”, which is fine with me. My little brother is the only one I can really rely on. He is 17 years old and he is really the only person in my family that I can really talk to. I mean, I have friends but they aren't living in the same house as me. Not yet at least, we are thinking about moving out all together.

High school is where I built my reputation, of course. Used to sneak around with Arvin Russell, which led me to meet Lee Bodecker. Sneaky ass sheriff used to follow my every move, making sure he took every opportunity to bust Arvin and I any chance he got. 

Had nothing better to do than to bust on teenagers who were sneaking out to their parents, what a loser. Along with gaining some parking tickets and speeding tickets along the way, we became acquaintances. Thinking about the future, I was dying to leave this town. Never got the chance to after high school, hopefully I will as soon as i'm done college. 

 I can say whole heartedly that I do NOT enjoy Lee's presence. That man memorized my license plate number. Stops me all the time, for no reason. 

Flashback 

It was a warm saturday evening, about 7pm. I had just got some college work done. Figured it was too nice to just sit inside, right?

 I get up out of my bed and put my school stuff in my bag, walking over to my closet to put on a pretty yellow flowy dress and grab my leather jacket, that'll go nice with the breeze coming in through my window.

I put my hair up in a bun and slip on some keds, something easy ya know? 

I turn off the light in my room and walk into the living room where I see my father asleep on the couch, I walk over to the counter and grab a little piece of paper and write “going out for a drive, be back soon” and put in on the table in front of my father so if he wakes up, he knows where I went. 

I actually have a lot of freedom compared to other girls my age, many girls my age are looking for husbands and/or their parents are trying to set them up with someone. My parents know who I am, I was so against having an actual boyfriend so I just slept around. Obviously, people at church got wind of it but I didn't really care, to me men are there at my disposal. I play the field for my own reasons. 

I grab my keys off the door in the foyer of my little house and head outfront. 

I head down the steps of my house and waltz towards my red little 1964 Ford Mustang. Worked for it all by myself. 

Getting in the car, I pop a cigarette in my mouth and light it up. Keeping the cigarettes in my car was my best bet, my father would kill me if he knew I smoked these things. Turning on the car, I throw in a Led Zeppelin cassette, immediately Whole Lotta Love starts playing. What a good song to drive to. 

I put my windows down and start driving down a long road where I know for a fact no one drives this time of night, partly because they are afraid of the sheriff, Lee Bodecker. 

Lee doesn't scare you, never has. 

Blaring music at high volume was what you  were known for in these parts and you could really care less about the time and how loud you had it. Music is a really important part of your self expression. 

Speeding down the road, cigarette in my mouth screaming the lyrics 

You need cooling

Baby I'm not fooling

I'm gonna send ya

Back to schooling

A-way down inside

A-honey you need it

I'm gonna give you my love

I'm gonna give you my love

 I smile and listen to the lyrics, I feel like such a rebel. People in these parts don't listen to this type of music, devil music they call it. They think it has some deep down evil meaning. I just shake it off, they wouldn't know real music if they tried. 

 I could just leave right now if I wanted to. Drive out of town and start fresh, no one would miss me. Except my brother and friends. They are really the only people keeping me in this dead end town. 

The cool breeze enters your hair and you lose your hair tie. Fuck. 

“ Damn It”  You say as you put the cigarette down and try to look to see where it went. It's nowhere in sight. 

“ I have to pull over to get this thing” you think to youtself. It's the only hair tie you own right now.

you light another cigarette and pull my car over to a slightly darker side of the road. You get out of the car and start searching for my hair band, it had to have fallen behind your seat. 

 Of course, you saw familiar blue and red lights pull up right behind me.

“Fuck me” you mutter as you turn around, shut the car door, kick the dirt under your feet and lean up against the car , patiently waiting for Lee to take his good ol time walking to me.

Lee exits his police cruiser wearing the typical uniform with the typical toothpick in his mouth.

You watch him as he slowly strides over towards you and You roll your eyes at him as he eyes you down, prick.

“Well, well, well, Ms. Lane. Fancy to see you here.” Lee says smirking and laying one hand on your car's trunk. You scoff at him.

“ Hands off the car, Bodecker. Thought you'd know better than to touch what's not yours.” You say looking over at him, taking a drag of your cigarette. Lee scoffs and walks over to you, taking the cigarette out of your mouth and crushing it with his shoe. Your jaw drops and you look over at him in disgust as he chuckles at your reaction to his doing.

“Pretty little ladies like you shouldnt be smokin these, could make ya look ugly” He says. 

You can smell the tobacco smell coming off him, the smell of mints sticking to his breath. He is a little closer to you now, you back up and grab your pack of cigarettes out of the cup holder in your car. Bending over, the sheriff gets a nice view of your backside for a split second.  

“Sheriff, I would like to respectfully say I do not give a fuck what a man thinks about how I look smoking a cigarette, I am not here for a mans enjoyment. Also, one more pet name and I'm telling your wife.” you say as you light another cigarette and the sound of Led Zeppelin is lingering in the background, Lee clicks his tongue and looks over at you.

“Ms.Lane, you have quite the mouth on you. Not very ladylike for a woman your age.” Lee takes his hat off and leans against your car. He lights a cigarette and stands there for a minute. You look at him confused and you roll your eyes. 

“Lee, besides bothering me, do you have a purpose being here right now?” You look at him and say while you take a drag of your cigarette. Lee looks over to you and laughs. 

“Well, I just seen a car parked all by itself on the side of the road and I was on duty anyways but then I saw your license plate and figured I'd see why you, little lady, are out all by yourself at this time of night.” Lee says throwing his cigarette on the dirt ground below him. 

You turn to look at him and finish your cigarette, leaning against the car still.

“ I appreciate your concern, Bodecker. I am just out for a drive and pulled over to find my hair tie, it came out while I was driving. Pulled over to look around for it, don't want my hair in my face while I am driving. Also, not a little lady. I am grown.” You say turning away from Lee and finding your hair tie, you turn to Lee while tying your hair up, smirking you say

“ Goodnight Officer,also don't follow me again, yeah?” You say climbing back into your car and you slowly pull away.

Lee stands there watching as you climb back into your car, the smell of your perfume in the air invades his lungs, dumbfounded, he smirks and laughs to himself. 

“Smart girl” Lee says as he smirks and turns to go back to his cruiser.

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You had noticed sometime down the road that there was a car following you with no lights on, you had just assumed it was some random person but with one certain lick of light you saw the sheriff's face in the mirror of your car mirror. Figuring that out, you went a little faster down the road and then you lost your hair tie, you knew what was coming. 

You look in the car mirror to look at Lee. He's already turned his car around and started driving the other way. You werent dumb, you know from the years of Lee catching you sneaking out and drinking and or having boys in your car as a young girl, he knows your moves. It makes you think he patrols these parts so he can catch you doing something dumb one day just to cuff you up and get some control. He never does. 

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 Two people with reputations in this town. 

 How bad can it get?

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Hi everyone! Welcome to my first fic! Lee Bodecker is quite the character and I have been wanting to write him for a while. Dont forget to leave some opinons so I can know what yall would want to possibly happen! Dont forget to like/reblog! It would mean the world. I am not sure about my posting schedule but itll most likely be once or twice a week! also let me know if youd like to be added to my tags so I can let you know when I post another chapter! 

Tags- @please-buckme , @ladyfallonavenger , @buckysdolls , @nerdy-depressed , @do-not-pray-for-me , @unsentlettersandmore , @local-spacegirl , @youcancallmeishita , @not-another-fangirl​ , @angelicbabydolll

[13dead-ends]

Chapter Three Dates and Parties

Henry Cavill x Named OC

Chapter Three of Blood Bound

Summary: Nina’s adjusting to life in London and to working as Henry’s donor. She starts to realize that there’s more than just fancy outings and parties that come with the pay raise.

Word Count: 6k

Warnings: mentions of blood, blood drinking, wrist biting/wounds, swearing, mentions and descriptions of a riot/protest, drinking.

A/N: Chapter three yay! I really hope you all enjoy it! @hellcaster901​ watched as i suffered through a block to get this out. If i missed any warnings on this chapter or any other chapter let me know! Happy reading :)

           I couldn’t go back to sleep again, so I went to the kitchen to start dinner. I found pasta and sauce. I thought about Henry telling me to eat a big dinner and then the dream. I groaned and shook my head. Stop thinking about that. I focused on my spaghetti and watched the clock. Irene would be calling soon too. It didn’t take long to make, and I ate while watching Netflix. I sighed, thinking about binging The Witcher for the first time with Irene, we ate dinner on the couch like this so many times. I looked at my clock and she still wouldn’t call for half an hour. I finished and cleaned up, and then it was right about time for her to call me. I laid in bed and stared at my phone, waiting for her to call me. Soon her drunk selfie filled my phone screen for a facetime.

           “Ello mate,” Irene said in a terrible accent.

           “Please no accents.” I laughed at her. “How are you?”

           “Good, lonely.”

           “Aw, Irene.” I missed her bad.

           “Just keep my mind of it by telling me everything.” I told her about the flight, Penny, and gave her a little tour of the apartment.

           “Wait, Henry Cavill saw that picture of me?” She groaned. I had told her about Henry’s random compliment of my costume.

           “Hey, we looked awesome.”

           “Yeah, but I’m in a fucking orange wig.” I snorted.

           “You’ll have to come visit me. Then he can see your real hair.”

           “Of course I will. We’ll have to plan it.” She smiled. “Okay, tell me about Henry, how was it today? Did he feed yet? Has he-“

           “Irene chill out.” I chuckled. “But yes, he fed today.” She waggled her eyebrows. “He was nice.” I couldn’t think of words for what had happened today.

           “Nice? Nice? You’re gonna have to give me more than that.” I rolled my eyes.

           “It was different than before. I don’t know.” She tilted her head.

           “He is a million times more attractive.” Thinking of him in that tank top, in between my legs… “I don’t know how you don’t just combust at the site of him.”

           “Me neither, girl.” I took a big breath.

           “Have you been putting on the moves?” I scoffed.

           “Irene, he’d paying me.” She rolled her eyes.

           “Well, I heard that Mark Strong, who’s with Positive, had a relationship with a donor.” I sighed. I wasn’t sure what the rules were with that. Well, I guess in all the paperwork I had to go through there never was any mention of that.

           “I don’t know. It could get complicated.” I sighed it was hard to tell how something like this could pan out.

           “But you can’t tell me you haven’t thought about it.” My cheeks burned.

           “No, I guess I can’t.” I muttered and she cackled.

           “I knew it!”

           “I fucking had a dream about him, Irene.” Her jaw dropped.

           “Tell me everything, immediately.” After talking with her for a while, I needed to go to bed and she needed to go to work. It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep after hanging up.

 I stared at my closet, looking for something to wear. It was still nice out, but it would turn into fall soon and I wanted to wear something summery before it does. Henry had finally gotten a full day off so, he was taking me around the city today. I basically got to be tourist for the day. I had told him I wanted to see The Crown Jewels, but that was my only must. I was curious to see what he’d pick for me to see. I found a skirt and shirt to wear, and shoes easy to walk in. As I pulled my shirt over my head my phone rang.

           “Hello?” It was Henry.

           “Nina, good morning.”

           “Good morning,” I smiled into the phone.

           “I’m leaving to come get you now, are you ready?”

           “Yes, I am.” I looked in my mirror, my makeup simple so it wouldn’t melt off if it got hot.

           “Alright, great.” I squeezed the phone in between my shoulder and ear and began putting on my shoes.

           “I’m excited.”

           “Me too. I’ll see you soon.”

           “See you.” I hung up and got my shoes on. I went out and made sure I had everything together. I was so excited that I was pretty much ready before Henry would get here. I sighed and sat on my couch.

           If you don’t send me pictures of Henry while on your date today, I swear.

           I laughed at the text Irene sent.

           I’ll try, and it’s not a date. Go to bed.

           I didn’t wait for a reply and just scrolled through my phone until Henry got here. He knocked on my door and I grabbed my bag, all but skipping to the door.

           “Hey, ready to go?” He smiled at me.

           “I am! Let’s go,” He held the door open for me as I stepped out.

           “Someone’s excited.”

           “Well yes, of course I am.” I grinned up at him and he chuckled.    

           “I’m glad I finally get to show you around.” He had a hand on the small of my back as we got to the elevator. My skin tingled underneath the fabric of my shirt. He pressed the down button and it didn’t take long for it to open.

           “Where are we going first?”

 I stared at the glittering jewels in the glass case. They were beautiful and I couldn’t believe they existed. “You’ll fog up the glass,” Henry’s voice was right by my ear. I jumped at his sudden proximity to me. I bumped into his chest and he steadied me.

           “You scared me.” I could see his smirk in the reflection of the glass.

           “Come on, there’s still more to see.” He pulled me away by my elbow and I looked back at the pretty gems one more time. We went through the rest of Westminster and then he took me to the Eye. A giant Ferris wheel on the Thames. I stared up at it, the thing was intimidating.

           “Are you scared of heights?” Henry had our tickets in his hand, he stood next to me.

           “I don’t think so,” I chewed on my lip. “But that’s pretty high.”

           “You’ll be fine.” He smiled at me. “Shall we?” We waited in line for a bit and then he helped me on to the compartment. It was a little glass oval, so you could see outside from all angles. After jumping on the moving thing, we made our way up. The view of the city getting bigger and bigger.

           “It’s amazing.” I got closer to the window to see everything. I took a picture for Irene.

           “It’s beautiful.” He was standing next to me, arms crossed. I looked around the compartment. There wasn’t a lot of people in it, and they didn’t really notice that Henry Cavill was in here. I pursed my lips. When I looked back out the glass, we were almost at the top. I gulped, looking down into the Thames. I let out a little gasp and Henry’s hand found a place on my waist. The same tingles from before we’re there this time, my shirt was a little bunched up and my skin touched his.

           “That don’t look down thing is pretty good advice.” I muttered and He chuckled. The wheel circled back, around and we got off, Henry holding my hand as I did. He let go once I was off completely. I let him lead me down the side of the Thames.

“How about we go get something to eat?” He asked.

“Yes please.” I looked over at the Thames and boat floating through it. “Where are we going?”

“I remembered you saying something about sushi,” I smiled. “I think you’ll like this place.” We didn’t have to walk far and being this close to the river the temperature was perfect. It was such a good day for this. When we arrived I could already tell this place was fancy. I caught a little sign on the door window that said vampire owned and ran. Inside was a pretty dark-haired women at the hostess station. She smiled at us when we walked in.

“Hello! How many?”

“Just two, please.” She grabbed menus and lead the way. In the dining room was the normal looking place, but all the booths had dividers so you could be separated from other people. A lot of places like these popped up. It accommodates the vampires who want to feed in private while their donors ate as well. He’d feed again today. It had been about a week since he was at my apartment. It was about time. “A booth would be great.” She took us to the booth and we ordered drinks. I just stuck to water and looked at the menu.

“Get whatever you like.” The sugar daddy part of this arrangement was really nice when it came to food. When we ordered, Henry didn’t get anything, and when the waitress left, he shut the curtain that cut off our booth.  I thought of how it felt last time and swallowed. I felt like Henry would catch every little reaction I had. I couldn’t think about him too much, or that dream.

“What did your family think of you moving?” He asked suddenly. I took a breath.

“Well, I’m not really on speaking terms with most of my family, so I’m not sure.” I forced a laugh to make it less depressing, but he looked at me with a furrowed brow.

“Can I ask why?”

“They weren’t really into the idea of me donating like this.” I sighed.

“And you still do?”

“There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s been a really good way to make money and pay off loans. I’m okay with it and that’s all that matters.” He nodded. “What’s your family like?”

“I have four brothers.” I raised my eyebrows. “And our mum and dad.”

“Wow, what a lady. Raising four boys.” He smiles big.

“Yeah she’s the best.” He looked away for a second. “Did you go to University at all?” I guess it was twenty questions time.

“Yeah, I majored in English and Journalism.”” His eyebrows raised.

“A writer? Why don’t you do that?”

“Well, I do. I write articles for a little website sometimes, but after losing two book deals after graduating, I just, I don’t know.” I shrugged. I still wrote like crazy sometimes but kept it in journals. I didn’t even type them anymore.

“Why don’t you get back into it?” I chewed on my lip.

“That’s a good question.” I sighed. “I still write on my own. I just don’t really have the confidence to put much of it out there.” His face softened.

“I bet if you did it would do well.” He smiled.

“Well, thanks, but you haven’t even read my writing yet.” I laughed.

“Still, don’t sell yourself short.” He looked at me, his blue eyes seeing right through me, but in the gentlest way possible.

“I’m not really sure if this is a comfortable question, but how were you turned?” I didn’t know much about how the change worked. I’m pretty sure it’s something to do with the way you’re buried. I never asked questions, but I felt like I could with Henry. “You totally don’t have to answer that.” He shook his head.

“That’s a long story. For another time if you don’t mind.” He didn’t look at me, and I figured it was a touchy subject. I wanted to know more, but if he didn’t want to tell me…

“Sorry,” He shook his head, his smile returning, but it was smaller. “Did it hurt? Changing?”

“It was kind of like falling asleep and waking up, just as something else.” I nodded.

“Is any of your family a vampire too?”

“No, just me.” He pursed his lips. “Did you ever ask your last client these questions?” I tucked my hair behind my ear.

“Not really, he didn’t talk that much.” I sighed. “Sorry, I’m grilling you. Just tell me to shut up if it’s too much.” He laughed.

“It’s alright. What’s this website you write for?”

“It’s just a little site, kind of like Buzzfeed. I write articles about donor news mostly.” He nodded.

“I’ll have to check it out.” I shook my head. “What? You don’t want me to?”

“No, yes. It’s fine.” I gave him the website and he pulled it up on his phone immediately. “Not now!” In a panic I reached for his phone and obviously he was too quick for me. The phone all but disappeared from my sight. He was so fast.

“I’ll look later.” He smirked at me.

“How fast are you?” My eyes were wide.

“Very fast and strong.”

“That’s why you do your own stunts.” I leaned my chin on my hand. “What else can you do?”

“My senses are the same as yours, if your senses were magnified by a 100.”

“Are they really?” I leaned forward.

“Yes, it’s like everything I see, or touch, is more intense than when I was a human.” I thought of the way he held my wrist when he fed. How did my skin felt to him?

“That must be amazing.”

“It’s overwhelming. At first.” Suddenly the waitress came by with our food and left quickly.

“I-“My phone ringing cut me off. I huffed. Who was calling me? “Let me see who that is.” I pulled out my phone and saw Irene’s picture. I furrowed my brows; she knew I was going to be with Henry all day. Plus it was the middle of the night there. She wouldn’t call unless she had to.

“Irene? What’s up?” I answered.

“Nina! Oh my god, are you okay? Where are you?”

“Yes, I’m fine. I’m with Henry. Why?”

“Have you not heard? There was a huge riot at the Positive building in London. I was binging a show all night and I saw news footage.”

“What?” Henry and I made eye contact. He pulled out his phone and started looking it up.

“Yeah, I wasn’t sure if you would be there today. I wanted to call.” She sighed.

“No, we haven’t been there today.” I had only been to the building once since I’ve been here. It wasn’t as big as the one in LA but had the same resources. “What did you read?”

“They were protesting the donors, shitting on vamps too. Then someone broke a window or something. Shit hit the fan and cops were all over. It looked kind of crazy.” I rubbed my temple. This was a normal occurrence in this line of work. People still didn’t like this.

“Thanks for checking on me.”

“I was just worried. I wanted to make sure.” I nodded.

“Well, you should get to bed, okay?”

“Okay. Text me later.”

“I will.” I hung up and took a deep breath. Henry was watching a video of the riot, now. He turned it so I could watch with. A large group of people holding signs stood in front of the building. The signs said things like donors are sinners and vampire whores. I cringed at them. They were directed at people like me. The front glass door suddenly shattered and the camera shook. Some of the protesters ran in, and others just stayed, yelling at who ever came close. I clenched my jaw and leaned back on the booth.

“Fucking psychos.” I mumbled. I crossed my arms.

“Did you deal with that a lot in LA?” I nodded, looking up. “It happens here every now and then.”

“It’s not that hard for them to mind their business.” I decided to focus on the food instead of the riot. I’d do my research tonight and probably write an article, but right now I didn’t feel like dealing with it. Henry put his phone away and sighed.

“How is it?” I smiled.

“It’s great! Thank you for bringing me.”

“Of course. It’s a good place.”

“Very private.” I raised my eyebrows.

“That’s what I like.” He smirked. “When you’re finished, I’d like to eat as well, if you’re okay with that?” I nodded.

“Of course.” I said mouth full of rice. I swallowed. “Sorry,” He just grinned at me, laughing under his breath. After getting my fill of the rolls, Henry stacked the dishes, pushing them out of the way. I held my arm out across the table, chewing on the inside of my cheek.

“Thank you,” Henry leaned forward and took my hand, just as delicate as before. He kissed the inside of my wrist. I kept my eyes opened as his fangs pierced my skin once again. The warmth from him came back and my toes curled. Chills ran up my back as I watched him take my blood. His eyes were shut and his hands were big around my arm. His lips were pillow soft on my skin. I let my eyes flutter shut for the rest. Basking in the feeling it gave me.

“Are you good?”He finished but my eyes hadn’t opened.

“Yep, I’m alright.” I opened them just in time to see him wipe a tiny speck of red off his mouth. I absently licked my lips. I took a long drink of water, I still felt the feeling lingering, the ghost of his lips still on my skin.

“What got you into this?” I grabbed a bandage out of my purse for my wounds.

“I girl in my dorm told me about it my first year of college. I would only donate at labs at first, and it got me some extra cash.” When started opening the band aid Henry held out his hand for it. I handed it to him and stretched my arm out again. “My last two summers I would get a lot of money for my blood specifically. I stopped after I graduated, but when I didn’t get a book deal, I came back.” Henry nodded, and stuck the bandage on, smoothing it with the pad of his thumb.

“There,” he smiled at me. “You ready to go?” I nodded and Henry paid and we left. We stayed away from the Positive building, there wasn’t really a plan to go there but now we avoided it. I was just happy to let Henry be my tour guide. He took me to local places I would’ve never heard of if he wasn’t with me. It was a fun afternoon.

“Did you have fun?” Henry was at my door; I had stepped inside while he had his feet planted in the hallway.

“Yes, today was wonderful.” I grinned at him. “Did you?”

“I did.” He smiled too. “I do have somewhere to be so I’m going get out of here. Good night, Nina.”

“Thank you so much for today, and goodnight.” I hesitated, but he walked off, so I shut the door and leaned against it. My eyes were shut, and I took a deep breath. It was such a good day. I went to my couch and turned on the TV. Of course, similar footage to the video on Henry’s phone splayed over my screen. I chewed on my lip. I had almost forgotten Irene’s frantic call. I turned up the volume listening to the reporter on screen.

“There was significant damage to the front windows of the building, but no one was hurt during the attack.” I sighed. That’s good to hear. “Police are investigating possible suspects.” I listened to the news for a little while, there wasn’t much information yet, just more videos and interviews with people who were there. I changed it eventually and just ordered food for dinner, my feet started to feel the effects of walking around all day. It was easy to fall asleep that night.

 A few weeks and visits with Henry later, I stared at myself in my mirror. I was wearing a black floor length dress with glittery sequins in lines down the entire thing. I had splurged for this evening party for the company. It was the London location’s 10-year anniversary and they were having a celebration. Sarah and Kari would even be there. Kari had emailed me asking if I wanted to be sat next to her. It was an assigned seats kind of party, so with Henry’s pay checks kicking in, I got a nice dress. I even curled my hair and winged my eyeliner. Obviously, employees and donors could go. What I didn’t know until this morning was that clients were invited as well. I was glad I got the dress. If there was a chance that he might be there I wanted to look good. I smoothed the dress down and took a deep breath. It’s okay if he’s not there. You got this dress for yourself. My phone ringing brought me out of my thoughts. It was my Uber, here to pick me up.

           The party was being held at a very fancy hotel downtown. It towered over me as I stepped out of the car. I walked up to the door and a door man held it open for me. I thanked him and gripped my small purse in my hands. Inside was a beautiful room with two large desks on both sides. A fountain surrounded by a few comfortable looking couches was in the center. I turned to a woman at the desk, she looked up at me and raised an eyebrow. I cleared my throat.

           “Could you tell me where the Positive party is?” I smiled at her.

           “Do you let those things bite you?” I stepped back at the bluntness of her question.

           “I-“

           “I’m so sorry, Ms, the party is down the hall on your left.” A man came from a door behind the desk, gesturing toward the hall. I only nodded and walked off. What the hell was that? I didn’t look back at the girl and just went straight to the open grand double doors. I heard light music playing from them and golden light spilled out onto the floor. I turned and saw a large ballroom. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and large white tables surrounded a dance floor. I blinked at the beautiful place.

           “Hi there!” I turned to my right to see a table filled with names and seat numbers. “What’s the last name?” A smiling women sat behind it all.

           “Locke.” I told her, trying to see if Henry’s name was anywhere.

           “Nina?” I nodded. “Table 17.” She handed me the number and I thanked her, then walked out to find the table.

           “Nina! Over here!” A few tables a head is where Kari sat, waving me over. I walked quickly over to her. “You’re next to me.” She patted the chair next to her. I sat down, admiring the pretty dishes set up in front of me. “You look beautiful.”

           “Thank you. So, do you.” She did. She wore a gown that fit her figure perfectly.

           “How have you been? Do you like London?” She smiled at me.

           “Yes, it’s amazing. How are you?” We did a little small talk and then other people came and sat down. A girl sitting next to me.

           “Nina, this is Abbey, another donor.” I shook her hand, she had pink lip gloss and blonde hair. “Abbey this is Nina.”

           “Hello, welcome to London. Kari told me you just moved.” She smiled.

           “Yeah, are you from here?” She nodded. “How long have you been donating?” I loved meeting other donors. I liked hearing their experiences.

           “Around five years.”

           “She’s Tom Hiddleston’s favorite.” Kari nudged me and my eyes widened.

           “You’re Tom Hiddleston’s donor?” She rolled her eyes at Kari.

           “Yes, he’s a good client.”

           “Oh, he’s more than that.” I furrowed my brows.

           “What do you mean?” I asked.

           “They definitely sleep together.” A man with curly hair came and sat on the other side of Kari. My mouth fell open a little. “I’m James by the way.” He smiled at me. “I’m a donor as well.

           “James is very mouthy.” Abbey glared at him.

           “I didn’t realize you were allowed to-“

           “Oh, the company doesn’t get involved with your relationships.” Kari told me.

           “Oh wow.” I mumbled. I looked behind me at the door and didn’t see him. I imagined myself giving in to the feeling his feeding gave me. What if I did? It wouldn’t matter contract wise. I shut my eyes for a second and took a breath. They began talking about their lives and I listened, getting served drinks and dinner as we spoke. James was a donor for multiple people, one including Lady Gaga. Before she was Tom Hiddleston’s donor, Abbey was a donor for a really rich engineer. He had given her yacht for her birthday last year. I couldn’t believe half the stories they told me. They gossip about other donors too, and I never realized how competitive it could be.

           “A lot of ladies were mad when they found out Henry Cavill had picked a donor.” I had told them who my client was, and everyone’s attention was on me.

           “Really?” I looked between the three.

           “Oh yeah, his profile was very popular.” Kari took a drink of wine. I wondered again why he picked me. “He wanted me to get it to you first though.” She looked at me. “Have you and him…” She nudged me and I shook my head.

           “No, nothing like that.” I gulped.

           “Is he coming at all tonight?” I had been looking at the door throughout all of dinner. He wasn’t here yet, so why would he show up now?

           “I don’t know. We never even spoke about this. I only just found out clients were coming this morning.” Abbey sighed.

           “Tom isn’t here either.” She crossed her arms over her stomach. “Filming.” Henry had told me he’d start filming soon. I wonder how that will affect how much I get to see him. The waiters took our plates and the dance floor was opened up. Abbey and Kari went out there and James was talking to some one who had come over from another table. I got up to get another drink. Maybe if I had something a little stronger, I’d be confident enough to dance. I held my dress up as I walked over. I ordered a screwdriver and a shot. I felt drained from the socializing. The bartender handed me the drinks and I tipped him. I took the shot and my face scrunched up at the taste.

           “Damn it.” I cursed.

           “Didn’t taste good?” I jumped and turned around. Henry was standing there chuckling at the empty shot glass still in my hand.

           “Shit, you scared me.” I set the glass down.

           “Sorry,” He smiled at me. “I’m not sure if the shot means it’s been a good night or a bad one?” I licked my still bitter lips.

           “It’s fine, it’s a good night. Being social just gets to be a lot sometimes.” I chuckled, my neck feeling warm from the booze. “How’s your night?”

           “Great, I’m glad I decided to come.”

           “Why’s that?”

           “I wasn’t sure if you were coming, and I would’ve been bored if you weren’t here.” I couldn’t help but grin up at him.

           “I’m glad you came too.” We stood at the bar and talked, I liked his stories better than the drama Abbey and James spoke about. He had started training for the next season of The Witcher, he told me about the moves he learned, and I was hanging on his every word.

           “So basically, when I turn around the sword will-“ We looked up as someone called Henry’s name. “Oh, that’s a friend. I’ll be right back.” I just nodded and leaned on the bar. I had got most of the drink down and hearing the music made me want to go dance. As I took another drink a beautiful, curvy, red headed women stood at the bar a few feet away from me. She was hard not to stare at, but when my eyes met hers, I froze. She was staring right back at me. One perfect eyebrow raised; lips pursed. If looks could kill.

           “Nina! Come on, you have to dance a little.” Kari had run up from the dance floor. She grabbed my arm and pulled me back with her. The girl flicked her hair over her shoulder and turned away. Who the hell was that? Kari didn’t give me time to think as she spun me around, forcing me to dance with her and Abbey. I don’t know how long I danced before the music changed to something slower. Almost from muscle memory I began walking off the floor, but just before I got to the edge I was stopped by Henry. He held a hand out to me.

           “Do you want to dance?” I smiled and took his hand. It was colder than mine. He pulled me close, a modest grip on my waist, but his touch felt good. He held one hand up and I placed my other one on his shoulder. My heart was racing.

           “I’m probably not very good.” I looked down at my feet as we began moving.

           “You were doing fine with your friends.” I looked back up at him and he was smirking at me. “Just relax. I can hear your heart beating.”

           “So, you can hear that.” He rolled his eyes. It felt like he was gliding me over the floor.

           “Yes, I always can.” He whispered and a shiver ran up my spine. “You look beautiful by the way. I don’t think I’ve mentioned that.”

“Thank you,” I looked back down at my feet, to make sure I wouldn’t step on him.

“Look up at me, don’t worry about your feet.”

“It’s not mine I’m worried about. I feel like I’m gonna step on you.” I laughed, and so did he.

“You’re fine. You haven’t stepped on me yet.” I nodded.

“True,” I tried to keep my eyes on him, but sometimes his blue eyes were hard to stare into. It made me feel vulnerable, but almost in a good way.

“I saw your article.” That’s when I almost tripped.

“You did?” I had written an article about the riot at the company. It became the top story on the site within a few hours. I was pretty proud of it. I wanted to lace the danger of the riot with my background of donating. I wanted to show how protesting something that’s my choice is wrong.

“Yes, it was amazing. It was very beautifully written. I could almost hear you reading it to me.” My face broke out into a grin and I forgot completely about my feet.

“Really? You liked it?” My heart felt like it was going to burst.

“Of course I did! I found other ones you’ve written as well. I loved them.” He never lost eye contact with me I knew he wasn’t just saying it.

“That means a lot to me, to hear you say that.” I wasn’t used to getting face to face feedback. Since moving over seas, I mostly communicated to the website online and through phone calls, plus the comments from readers were all on the website itself. Hearing Henry say these things out loud made me proud. “I’m surprised with how popular it got.”

“You shouldn’t be. It was a good piece.” My grin never stopped as he spoke. “I want to read more of your work.” He pulled me in tighter as another couple came close to my back. My chest was brushing his now.

“Can I ask you something?” Man, that shot must me working.

“Of course.”

“Why did you request me?” He tilted his head.

“Well, at first it was your blood type.” I nodded.

“I hear it’s very popular.” He chuckled.

“Yes, but something about your profile made me curious, plus you had experience. I thought it may be better that at least one of us knew how it was gonna go.” It made sense. “Not to mention you’re beautiful.” A blush rose from my neck to my face and my skin felt hot.

“Thank you. You’re definitely way more attractive than my last client.” He burst out laughing, stopping our movements for a second.

“Glad to hear it.” I laughed, the heat under my skin still not going away. The song ended and he lead me off the dance floor, my arm hooked in his elbow. “Where’s your table?” I lead him to it and he kept my arm locked through his, so close that my dress brushed his leg. I felt hyper aware of his closeness. At the table everyone was sitting down again, but a familiar red head was in my seat. I furrowed my brows.

“Nina!” Kari’s cheeks were pink and there was a few shot glasses stacked on the table. “You missed shots, but I see now that you were busy.” Everyone turned around, including the red head.

“That’s okay.” I smiled at them.

“I’m Lila, by the way.” She smiled and her white teeth blinded me. She held out her hand, but it wasn’t to me, it was to Henry. He let me go as he shook it she didn’t bother to offer a hand shake to me.

“I’m Henry, and this is Nina.” Henry touched the small of my back, a little lower than he did while dancing.

“Nice to meet you. You’re obviously a client, I’m a donor at Positive.” Lila finally decided to turn to me. “And what do you do here?” I blinked.

“She’s my donor, actually.” Henry cut in and I smiled at her. Her eyes narrowed at me.

“Oh isn’t that just-“

“Wonderful! Nina’s adjusting quite well to the company.” Kari rubbed my shoulder. “Aren’t you, Nina?”

“Yes, it’s wonderful here.”

“Anyways, Lila you’re in Nina’s seat and they’re about to serve dessert.” Kari ushered the women out of the chair.

“I’ll be seeing you around.” She said, only looking at Henry. When she was gone, I let my brow furrowed. What the hell was that?

“You better get to your seat as well, Henry.” Kari patted his arm.

“Come find me before you go?” Henry turned to me.

“Yeah, of course.” He kissed my cheek and walked across the room to his table. I sat down at mine and fiddled with a fork.

“Oh shit, you pissed her off.” James was giggling in his seat. “She hates you.”

“What did I do? Who even is she?” I leaned forward. I needed everything these guys knew about her.

“She likes to call herself high-profile. She only donates to people with money or fame. She’s just greedy.” Kari rolled her eyes. I’m surprised she would even speak about her like this. “She lost us two donors in two months because she wanted their clients.” My jaw dropped.

“As soon as Henry Cavill’s profile hit the website, she was on him. Obviously he picked you, so it didn’t matter, but she wanted Henry.” Abbey shook her head. “She’s just a bitch. That’s all I have to say.” I saw her a few tables over, red hair cascading down her back.

“So she doesn’t like me because Henry choose me and not her.”

“Don’t worry about her, Nina. She’s just petty. There isn’t much she can do anyways.” I couldn’t help but think that if Henry ever wanted another donor, he could have her. The thought made my stomach churn. She looked over her shoulder and smirked at me. I looked away.

“You and Henry looked good out there.” James winked. I looked around and found Henry already looking at me. He smiled as we made eye contact. I smiled back until he got distracted by somebody at his table.

“He’s such a gentleman.” Kari gushed and I wondered if Henry heard that. “You picked a good one Nina.”

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

Taglist: 

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[timeisacephalopod]

Courtship

Have a fun high school ABO AU in which Bucky is a tired omega who’s kind of tired of people hitting on him and Tony happens to be the only one who gives him good courting gifts!

Bucky stares into his locker as some random alpha prattles on next to him about shit he doesn’t care about. He sighs and turns to her, “want to know how to lose about fifteen pounds instantly?” he asks and she frowns.

“Uh, sure?” she asks more than states.

“Get into a car accident and lose an arm,” he tells her. It has the desired result of making her give him a confused and also slightly grossed out look as she walks away.

Beside him he hears a snort and he turns to find some other god damn alpha beside him and honestly how many really feel the need to try their luck today? Can’t they take a hint? “Nice. Should have told her to lose her head though. I mean, you’d have to sacrifice the fact that you lost an arm in a car accident once but it’d still be funny. I could make you a new arm though,” the guy says and Bucky laughs.

“I can do without some weird straw arm, thanks.” Its more polite than he feels like being but he’s pretty sure laughing at the guy’s suggestion is harsh enough. Doesn’t seem to fluster him any and Bucky can’t tell if that’s good or bad at the moment.

“It wouldn’t be straw, but that’s cute. Or disturbing, depends on if someone has handed you a straw arm before.” Bucky doesn’t answer and the guy winces. “Fuck, people around here have no idea how to give courting gifts,” he mumbles and he walks off. Bucky frowns because that’s the first time someone else’s weird behavior managed to get someone to leave him be. He doesn’t think too long on it though, content to go to class instead of worrying himself with it.

*

Tony’s had the design half made for awhile and he figured the gift was original enough to make him not look like a fucking idiot but apparently some other tool bag went and made poor Bucky a straw arm so he automatically looks better in comparison. Still kind of a weird gift but Tony figures if nothing else its practical and he think practicality is a useful thing to consider when gift giving. Also, without knowing Bucky all that well its kind of all he has to go on.

Bucky looks baffled though, but not the same kind of baffled he is when he gets jewelry, which Tony doesn’t get because he’s never seen Bucky wear any jewelry. Rhodey’s always annoyed that no one gets him any jewelry but mostly because he’d pawn it for money so he can buy stuff he actually wants. Probably another model plane not that Tony would ever tell anyone sniffing around for that information that.

“You made me an arm,” he says, sounding more confused than he looks.

Tony has no idea if this is a good or bad reaction. “Um, yeah. Said I would. And its not straw,” he adds, attempting to make a joke but it falls flat.

“Its metal,” Bucky says, ever the astute one.

Yeah, this has gone terribly. Tony shrugs a little, “um. Better building material? I’ll uh, leave you to it,” he tells Bucky before scurrying off.

Rhodey’s face tells him everything he needs to know when he gets back to his own locker space. He settles a hand on Tony’s shoulder, “I mean, you tried man.”

“Guess the good news is that he didn’t quote Charles Manson?” Tony asks more than states but Rhodey looks like he feels even more sorry for him at that.

“Tones, that should probably be a given.”

Okay, maybe that’s a point but Bucky does manage to pull the weirdest quotes from the even more fucked up sources just to get people to give him a break and maybe not getting a weird line from a cult leader is a good thing. But maybe given Rhodey’s pitying look it isn’t an improvement at all.

*

Bucky has no idea how the arm is doing any of that but holy shit it works mostly like a normal arm. Grasping stuff is a little difficult because he doesn’t know how to control strength given that his flesh arm has limits this one doesn’t but still he didn’t think it was more than a stunt. He only tried it on for shits and giggles.

“Hey,” he says, finding Tony in the back of the library with, of all things, college math texts around him. Bucky frowns, “what’s with the higher curriculum?” he asks.

Tony sighs, shooting a copy of Macbeth an offended look. “Technically I could have graduated high school years ago but English continues to fuck me over. And I need a couple other credits. But I’m good at math so,” he says, gesturing to his math texts.

Bucky mostly sees letters and his last brain cell checks out because fuck that shit. “Uh huh. How’d you get this arm to do these things? Its like its reading my mind,” he says, lifting his hand and looking at it. Freaks him out still when he lifts it because he hasn’t had a left arm in a year and when it shows up in his field of vision he jumps out of surprise.

“It kind of is-” Tony starts but Bucky cuts him off.

“My arm is psychic?” he asks and why did he have to go say that? The one time he manages to not get a shitty gift from someone who wasn’t at all pushy about it and he had to go say something weird.

Tony laughs though, “I... well no, that’s not technically how it works but I’ll spare you the long winded scientific explanation because a psychic arm is more fun.”

Fuck, Bucky doesn’t know what to do here now. He used to be kind of good at this but that car accident fucked him up pretty good and now his best bet is to get people do go away because he doesn’t want to date anyone. Sometimes he missed the dates and courting were fun because now its a hassle for him because of the newfound anxiety.

“Thanks for the arm, it freaks me out when I see it because I forget that I used to have an arm but this is neat,” he says and immediately flees because that is by far the worst reaction he could have spit out.

*

Sure social media has its drawbacks but Tony did manage to glean a bunch of information from Bucky’s Facebook so there’s that even if he hates Zuckerberg. Still, every troll has its use so when he shows up beside Bucky’s locker he feels relatively confident in himself at least until he gets a fucking death glare. He stops for a moment, glancing behind himself for some stupid reason before making peace with the fact that Bucky was, in fact, glaring at him in particular. “I can go,” he says, waving a hand around.

Thankfully Bucky relaxes and sighs. “Sorry, I’ve had a bad morning,” he says, picking up the fucking ugliest brooch Tony has ever seen with his thumb and forefinger in disgust and holding it up like a totem of annoyance. Which Tony supposes it is.

“Good news Buck, that’s expensive. Faberge. From the looks of it you could probably get a couple grand for that,” he says and Bucky stares at it him like he’s nuts.

“For tis ugly as fuck beetle looking thing?” he asks and Tony shrugs.

“Rich people like ugly shit.” As a rich person he feels he’s qualified to talk on the subject and frankly he doesn’t get the obsession people have with the tackiest stuff. Even his mom has a weird attachment to ugly things.

Bucky looks back to the ugly beetle brooch. “I think you telling me this isn’t a worthless hideous trinket is better than the actual gift,” he says before he tosses it back in his locker. “I assume you come bearing gifts too?” he asks more than states. He looks tired of it and frankly Tony doesn’t blame him, omegas seem to constantly be drown in attention that betas are jealous of and alphas who suck whine about because why do they have to buy all the gifts? Tony might think that has merit if it wasn’t for the fact that alphas started that trend and continue to enforce it with much more attention than any omega does. Actually omegas seem to avoid the attention but the pretty ones don’t get a choice. Hence Bucky.

He moves a little closer and hands Bucky his next gift. Bucky takes the tickets and his eyebrows go up in surprise, “Rocky Horror tickets,” he says, shocked.

“Yeah, uh. The second one is for whoever. Steve I assume. Musicals aren’t my thing,” Tony says. He watched it for reference and honestly Bucky has some... weird taste. Online research tells him its a classic but its definitely not Tony’s taste.

Bucky frowns, “you gave me tickets to a show you don’t even expect me to take you to?” he asks and Tony frowns.

“Is that not normal? I watched the movie but like... I don’t get the appeal. Why would I go to something that doesn’t really interest me when you have friends that you'd probably rather take?” If he got tickets to something he liked he’d take Rhodey over anyone else unless whatever it was interested Pepper more, then he’d take her.

“I... wow okay. Thanks,” Bucky says, smiling down at the tickets.

*

Rhodey stares across the parking lot and Tony follows his gaze, frowning. “She’s a lesbian, Rhodey,” he tells him. Rhodey turns to give him a dirty look.

“What do you know, Stark?” he asks and Pepper snorts from the other side of the car.

“More than you because he’s right, Carol is clearly gay as hell and in love with Maria. I don’t know if they know it yet though. What do you think?” she asks him and Tony doesn’t know why. He sucks at this stuff.

“I think Carol knows, but Maria is clueless.”

Pepper nods, looking back over to them talking together. Carol has her head thrown back, laughing at something Maria has said. “You guys are wrong,” he tells them but he has no confidence in his voice so Tony knows Rhodey knows that he and Pepper are right. “So how’s the Bucky thing going?” he asks instead, changing the subject. Pepper looks interested too and Tony shrugs.

“I assume okay. I haven’t found any of my stuff in the garbage so that’s nice.” Pretty sure that brooch would have ended up in the trash if Tony hadn’t told him  it was worth money.

“You gave him an arm, how’s he supposed to throw that out?” Rhodey asks and Tony squints.

“Trash cans can hold arms, Rhodey. Serial killers occasionally leave them in there.” Rhodey rolls his eyes at him and that’s fucking rude, Tony’s right and they all know it.

“Well that’s good news! The not throwing out your gifts thing, not the serial killer arm thing obviously” Pepper adds when she realizes how that sounds. “Maybe if he agrees to a date you’ll shut up about him.”

Tony gives her a dirty look because he doesn't even talk about Bucky that much. “Yeah, you’re always on about him,” Rhodey says, happy to latch on to anyone but him being made fun of. Tony gives him a dirty look too. “Don’t look at us like that, its not our fault you never stop talking about him.”

“I don’t talk about him that much,” Tony mumbles.

*

Bucky starts looking forward to Tony’s gifts because they’re always something that Bucky would like, not something shiny, or something his suitor would like but he doesn’t care about. The gifts show that Tony pays attention to what he says given that he mentioned liking Harley Quinn once and Tony got him a bunch of comics about her. Better than any of the other stuff he got anyway and even if he spends a lot, and Bucky is sure he does, he’s not showy about it. Or pushy and Bucky is especially fond of that.

Some alphas, they go out of their way to give people who didn’t ask for them gifts and then get mad when omegas don’t respond the way they like. Tony clearly wants his affections, but he never really pushes it. So when Tony hands him a gift card to a book store Bucky calls him back. “How do you know I read?” he asks and Tony snorts.

“There’s at least three new books in your locker every week. Usually on cults or serial killers and you have weird interests. Was gunna grab a book on something you read about, but then I realized I have no idea what you’ve already read and you obviously have that information so I figured a gift card might be more useful to you than my stab in the dark.”

A gift card would be more useful to him. Tony isn’t exactly wrong about that, but the fact that he knows anything at all about Bucky’s interests is surprising in its own right. “Do you have any plans tonight?” he asks and Tony smiles brightly for a moment before ehe pulls back a little.

“Not really. I mean I was probably going to watch Star Wars for the millionth time but other than that, no.”

“I’ve never seen Star Wars,” Bucky admits and he laughs when Tony appears to short circuit. “What? I have better things to do. I watch a lot of documentaries,” he says in his own defense.

“Okay but like. Star Wars,” Tony says meaningfully.

Bucky shakes his head, smiling. “Fine, since you’ve taken such an interest in what I like I’ll watch Star Wars with you but be warned that I don’t trust people who give me bad movie recommendations.”

“Star Wars is great, you’ll love it if for no other reason than weird looking aliens and totally cheesy graphics compared to what people can do now.”

[kelsmister]

Phoenix Fan Fusion 2019 -- Artist Alley Review May 23-26 2019 *Thursday - Sunday* ==Opinions expressed are completely my own, and from my own record. If your experience differed, then good for you. This is how the event unfolded for me. You are more than welcome to write your own review, and even allowed to vend at this event. Keep in mind my opinions are again, of my own accord.== Once again I decided to brave the desert sun and venture out of my comfortable air conditioned room to sell my various wares in the hopes of making a decent buck. After my hard drive crashed two weeks ago I had high hopes this event could at least cover part of those expenses. Oh boy, did this show do a 180 and nose dive into the deep end of the pool without bracing for impact. Where to start? I’ve been doing PCC (as it was formerly known as before the lawsuit involving San Diego vs some weird event in Colorado), for about 6 ish years now. Maybe closer to 10 by now. Point is, I’ve seen this show go from great things to downright lousy. This year was one of the lousier ones. For those who don’t know, or plum forgot, around 2 years back a man brought in real weapons, real bullet proof armor, and had threatened the life of one of the guests at the con. Idiot posted said exploits online where his one and only online chum alerted authorities and he was swiftly apprehended before he could do such vile acts. The next day the con had to crack down hard on security, as the city pressured them to not have one of those ‘mass shootings’ happen in THEIR city. (Hey I don’t want to be shot at either!) The whole scramble to get metal detectors and REAL security personnel (not just teen volunteers) took it’s toll as lines stretched for hours around the buildings in 110+ sweltering heat. Some passed out, others drenched in sweat, it was bad. Many vowed never to return, as last year did show a slight decrease in attendance. However the damage was already done. Last year the increased costs for security left the con with empty wallets and almost zero budget, they fell seriously into the red nearly going bankrupt because of it. So this year they revamped everything by cutting corners wherever they could. First thing- entry points restricted to just 3. I believe the prior year it was 5, so right there it’s not as many personnel you need to hire, or rather pay the company to hire. Secondly, they moved registration back inside the building, so saving on rental tents and such. Third, they really cut corners with the artist alley. They added more artists. Pipe and drape were scraped. Tables were now side by side, no gaps no 2 feet of spacing between you and your neighbors. Now everyone resided in 8 table deep rectangles with taped down walkways behind everyone to ‘allow entry/exit’ for the middle tables with mini pipe and drape at the ends to block out the attendees. Did I mention more artists? Seriously, they squeezed in so many that the aisles did not match up with the vendor aisles. Row 900 was actually row 1000 in artist alley. This confused several attendees walking by who would look up to see a huge banner saying one thing but the ground saying another. Our once nicely printed up table signs, which use to hang off of the pipe and drape backings were now lazily stapled to the front of tables, which fell off rather easily fyi. The rectangle of selling for each cluster of artists left many to just push their now brought from home photo backdrops to the very edge of their space, some not caring at all and just going over these 1.5 feet of ‘walkway’. Many tri-pod legs stuck out, I myself kicked a few out of frustration and even had to yell at a neighbor behind me who somehow thought the double lines were ‘his’ space. Again, no one ever came by and demanded the space be free. If pipe and drape were used instead it wouldn’t have been an issue. But being right up against each neighbor was infuriating to say the least. You couldn’t hang anything on the sides of your display for fear people would think it was your neighbor’s work. Without the pipe and drape the sea of artists looked horrid. Random photo backdrops as far as the eye could see. Some looked good, but others yuck. For those who don’t have backdrops it looked just like a big yard sale. And a lot, and I mean A LOT of tables were left empty. At cons it’s common for a few people not to show up, emergencies happen, but heck even my neighbor didn’t show allowing me to stretch out onto his space (free of charge kind of nice). Besides this they never did closing announcements. You got one at 5 minutes till but nothing else. Not saying every con does this, but at a show this big, and a hall this grand, you have to warn the public. “Hey guys 1 hour until the vendor hall closes!” “Not to alarm you all but the hall closes in 30 minutes!” “Better make those last minute purchases, hall is closing in 10 minutes. Please start making your way to the exit!” Nope, none of this. Also, randomly, on Saturday around noon someone got a hold of the overhead PA system and started blaring music. It was so loud we all were covering our ears. After song number two started to play I rushed over to the exhibit hall manager booth where I kid you not an ARMY of angry vendors were ready to lynch someone. Eventually the music cut off and we all cheered, but never heard how that happened. Maybe a blu-tooth thing?

Security. Oh boy. They had MAJOR problems. This was supposedly the same company hired the prior year, but man they didn’t act like it. Prior year everything ran smoothly, never a problem, but this year it felt like rookies-r-us training camp or something. Day 0 I overheard one of them, as they searched me ask another “Uh.. what do I do again?” Not exactly encouraging to hear. I get not all of them can be trained veterans of this, but most acted like day 1 newbies. Each day their ‘allowed/not allowed’ list changed. Sometimes they allowed bottled water, other days nope toss it. Luckily being a vendor they allowed me all the bottles of soda and water and snacks, but I heard the rumors. Some said they had to toss their sealed Gatorade or sandwiches in bags. And sometimes I was allowed in any entry point, the last two days they forced me to the one furthest away. Again, you guys can’t change the rules EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Pick something stick with it. Heck on one day, I think Friday, I got in the specialty line but the staff pointed me to general and said it “would be quicker”. Ok whatever. So I hoped over, nope. It wasn’t. Guys in front of me reeked of BO, and this was at 9am, and of course had bags in a bag in a bag. So searching took FOREVER. As I’m waiting for my turn a supervisor approaches me and points to the other line saying “Madam vendors are supposed to go through the specialty line-” I cut her off “YES I know, YOUR employee sent me HERE. I’m not hopping lines, I’m staying here. Go yell at her.” She tried to make me go but gave up after a bit.  Never had this problem before. Makes me wonder what this company did to suddenly get a bunch of rookies working for them who haven’t got a clue. OH. With the weird ness too, some days they made me open the money box and shuffle through it, other days nope didn’t care! AGAIN IT WASN’T CONSISTENT. NOT ONE BIT. Bathrooms. Another disgusting beast. This convention center has multiple bathrooms, I’m thankful for that, but the one closest to me oh boy, it was busy almost every hour. It reeked by the end of day one and never lost that lovely wretched odor of feces, urine, and chlorine. Did I forget to mention that cleaning staff, fed up with doing their one job of cleaning, almost went on strike during this? They complained to the con saying the bathrooms were too hard to maintain during this crazy event, and had threatened to just up and close the downstairs restrooms as a consequence. Con luckily put their foot down, but it did explain why at one point I saw the barrier up around the bathroom while the cleaning crew gave me the stank eye as I had to walk further down to whiz. So, the take away, if you didn’t bother to read my lovely little rant. PROS: - 8 foot table - 3 badges per table - Largest show in AZ - Easy to get into (application wise) - Big attendance numbers - Several hotels near by - Easy walk from light-rail (public transit)

CONS: - Table cost over $300 (for inline) - Table cost varying $300-500+ (endcaps higher) - Security and flip flop rules - No ‘cheap’ food alternatives - No food trucks, only con center food court - Strict food ban (cannot bring in whole pizzas) - No free parking - Booth space reduced - Pipe and drape gone (possible cost in future) - TONS more artists now - Guests not best draws - Crowded but not a lot of buyers - Huge homeless problem (it is downtown) - Ticket scalpers, you have been warned - Aisles narrowed - Tables side by side (no exits for some)

[adotblog]

The One Who Always Made The Grade - Chapter 1

Pairing: LMM x Reader

Warnings: none?! Wait, did I write this??

Notes: Lin is workshopping ‘Heights while subbing at a college. Reader (a post-grad) is assigned as his TA. There are a thousand ‘Heights references, obviously and my Shakespeare geek is showing again. Started with a prompt (thank you, lovely lady), and now a 5-part monster.

I couldn’t think of a title, so...!

Words: 2872

Tags: @alexanderusnavilindelahamilton

——————————————————

You groan as you run your fingers through your hair. The room has been silent for half an hour or so as you both worked. You look over at the professor, then up at the clock. There are still another 15 papers to grade. He eyes the stack of essays. “We need more coffee.”, he says. “Definitely. I’ll go to Joe’s, Mr Miranda”, you say, getting up from the desk. “Please stop calling me that,”, he cringes “You’re not my student, Y/N”. “Sorry...Lin”, you say with a smile as you grab your bag and head for the door.

—————————————————

“He missed the point entirely?”, Lin asks, putting down his pen and looking across the desk you’re sharing. You have your head in your hands as you grumble. Lin laughs “Didn’t quite catch that, Y/N”. You straighten up and exhale with a loud sigh. Still you can’t stop your frustration leaking into your voice. “He’s lifted the entire quote, right to ‘I will be horribly in love with her’...and he just basically says ‘Benedick realises that to win, he must be more in love than her’”.

Lin grins, amused by your derision of his student’s work. “What would you have written?”, he asks.

You throw your hands in the air. “Maybe, just MAYBE, I’d have mentioned that there’s nuance there-that the actor can decide whether Benedick is newly introduced to the idea of loving Beatrice in this moment or that he could reveal that he’s always been in love with her, but in denial, for so many reasons-both sensible and foolish. Honestly, that’s high school Shakespeare-and he doesn’t get it?”. You stand and pace as you continue.

“MAYBE, I’d have realised that that isn’t even the best quote to focus on-that this play, this amazing play- which he clearly hasn’t read properly- has so many truly magical passages.”. You spin on your heel “Write about ‘I do love nothing in the world so well as you. Is not that strange?’- the stark beauty of the abrupt admission. Write about Benedick saying he ‘cannot woo in festival terms’, contrast their private, informal love with Claudio and...what?”. You stop-Lin is watching you, leaning back in his chair, arms folded and a goofy smile on his face. He shakes his head. “Nothing. I love your passion.”, he says simply.

“Well...The kid is butchering my favourite play, damnit.”, you sulk as you sit down. “You’re going to make a great teacher”, he says warmly, shocking you into a small smile. “Here, you mark this one”, he says as he hands you a different student’s paper. “She gets it”, he winks.

A little embarrassed now, you hand him the offending paper. “It’s probably not that bad, I…”, you mumble. “Oh I’m sure it is”, Lin says “Damn kid never listens to a word I say.”.

——————————————————

You check the clock- 10:30. These late night grading sessions have become a habit over the last few weeks. It’s perfect because this part of campus is so quiet at night-just professors who’ve holed away in their offices, the occasional grad student in search of a computer. Mostly it’s just you and Lin, and mostly you’re grading.

You also talk a lot. Sure, about literature. Or at least that’s how it started. Now it’s sometimes movies, or music, even campus gossip occasionally. He’s excitable like a puppy-boundless energy...until his caffeine runs out, anyway.

You look over at Lin now. His brow is furrowed as he squints at his email, clearly displeased at the content.

“Lin?”. “Yeaaaahhh.”, he answers distractedly. “How come you aren’t tenured somewhere?”, you ask. “You’re great, students really work for you...most of them anyway… how come you’re just doing this one semester?”. Lin sits back in his chair. “This isn’t my life’s work.”, he shrugs. You deliberately leave a silence for him to fill. He does. “I’m a writer...a playwright actually. At least, as soon as someone puts one of my musicals on, I will be I guess…”. He looks embarrassed.

“I love musicals. Wow, I’m going to be able to say I knew you when…!”, you say. He’s surprised by your reaction, and grins. “I hope I get good enough that you can…”, he says. “Anyway, I need to balance temp work to give me time to write, with earning money to pay the bills-that’s why I just sub.”. He looks a little weighted down by the admission, it’s clearly something he’s having to struggle with-ambition and failure, uncertainty. There’s no doubt in your mind that he’ll succeed.

“Make me a promise right now.”, you say impulsively, getting to your feet. He looks up at you as you stick your hand out across the desk. “I get tickets to opening night when you get to Broadway.”. He stands too, a slow smile creeping to his face. “Deal.”, he says softly. You return the smile, suddenly acutely aware that you’re effectively holding his hand. And neither of you has let go yet. You can’t be sure but you think you see his gaze flick down to your lips before he releases your hand, his expression awkward.

——————————————————

An instant message alert pings at your terminal.

Lin: These tests are a hot MESS. Are you free after hours?

Y/N: I finish at 5, can be with you by 6?

Lin: You’re sure? Don’t want to keep you.

Y/N: I’m sure. Bring coffee as payment.

Lin: Deal.

It’s just before 6 when you track him down to the rehearsal room at the very back of the building. “What the…?”, you question as you throw your bag on a chair. “I know. French department’s being fumigated, a bunch of them are camped out in our normal room.”, he complains.

You stand in the middle of the room, assessing the layout. Beaten old upright piano in the corner and a million plastic chairs. No desk, no whiteboard. “Aha!”, you exclaim as you dash across the room to the curtained off area. “What?”, Lin asks, having watched you the whole time. “Behind the curtain, there’s always a folding table.”, you say. “How can you possibly know that?”, he laughs. “Didn’t you ever do community theatre? There’s always a table so they can have committee meetings and feel important.”.

You pull back the curtain with a dramatic flourish. Puppet theatre. Wooden benches. Random bits of scenery. Trestle table. “Score!”, you yell and begin to manhandle it out of the recess. Lin runs to your aid, grabbing the other end. You walk it to the middle of the room where you do battle with the folding legs, both falling about laughing, and eventually get it standing. You pull over two chairs and start unpacking papers from the plastic crate Lin’s brought.

“Huh.”, Lin says as he sits down and opens his laptop. “What?”. You stack papers between you. “We’ve never been on the same side before.”, he says, looking over at your chair. “Umm, of the table. Desk.”, he adds and hands you a coffee. You smile as you take your seat next to him. “Always on your side, Lin”, you joke.

——————————————————-

You push open the door with your butt and reverse into the room with your coffee tray. Lin’s at the piano and plays clown entrance music as you struggle to keep the cups and bags from falling. “Cut that out or no cookies for you!”, you chastise. He comes to take the cups from you and places them atop the piano. He sits back at the keyboard. “I fancied a musical interlude for our coffee break”, he says.

“Like...karaoke?” you ask. “Ha, maybe. What’s your favourite musical?”. You unwrap the cookies as you answer. “Rent. No, Les Mis. No, Rent. Ugh, don’t make me choose things.”. He plays the intro to “A Heart Full Of Love” And you give him a death stare. “NO. Also, eww I’m not Cosette!”, he laughs as he keeps playing. “You’re Eponine?!”. You posture next to the piano. “Duh, I’m Enjolras!”. He laughs so hard he has to stop playing, nearly falling off the stool. You hand him a cookie. “So, cut to the chase.”, you say. He cocks his head to the side. “Lin, you’re at the piano, you clearly want to play me something from your musical”, you tease. “Get on with it.”. You lean your elbow on the top of the piano as he pretends to be outraged.

“Yeah you’re right.”, he concedes after approximately two seconds. He bites the cookie then hands it back to you. He chews super fast, hurriedly takes a sip of coffee and then says “This is called ‘In The Heights’”. He plays a bouncy melody on the keys. “I can’t sit still at all tonight…”.

He plays like someone living the melody. He inhabits the song, it’s just an extension of him. The song, by the way, is utterly charming. It’s a ballad, clearly a love song, but upbeat. It really feels like Lin. Halfway through the verse he looks you in the eye. “So take these dreams

And sing them back to me”.

You weren’t expecting to react to what he was going to sing. But as you hold his gaze and listen to the lyrics and he sings “Please come back to me”, you swallow thickly, wetness gathering at the corner of your eye. He hits the final chord of the song and for a second he just stares at the keys. He’s clearly in the emotion of it and it takes a second for him to slip back into himself. “Uhhh. It needs some more work and..”, he shuffles on the bench.

“Lin, it was beautiful.”, you say, aware there’s a catch in your voice. “You wrote that? You really wrote that?”. He smiles “Yeah.”. “Do you realise how good it is? I...I really am gonna see you on Broadway one day!”, you say excitedly. He smiles and gets up from the bench, heading back to the table/desk. “Break’s over”, he smiles. You chase after him. “No! I need to hear more! Do they get together?! Are they happy? Did you break them up?!”

——————————————————

From that day, you never go back to the old room. Instead you always use the rehearsal room for grading and lesson planning. You always plan a coffee break and it always happens at the piano.

You always ask Lin to play something he’s written. He always does-he is a natural show-off after all. You love everything he plays, he’s a genuine talent and his songs easily stick in your head so you find yourself humming snippets even when he’s not around.

——————————————————

“I believe Ms Y/L/N might have some thoughts on that”, Lin says from the whiteboard. Your head snaps up as all the students turn to look at you. Lin grins and beckons you to the front of class. You make your way through the desks, hoping the look you’re giving him accurately conveys your feelings about being put on the spot.

“Much Ado is an infinitely better love story than Romeo and Juliet...Go!”, he says and gestures like a starting pistol, jumping out of the way to give you the floor. You sigh. “Alright. I hope you’re writing this down I’m gonna test you later. First: Beatrice.”.

——————————————————-

“That was...unexpected!”, you scold him later. “Ahh, I’m sorry-but I knew you’d make the case so well”, he grins. You fold your arms. “You had them enthralled.”, he says, more serious now. You begrudgingly thank him “Don’t spring that on me again, though”, you say. “Couldn’t if I wanted to”, Lin says as he packs his messenger bag. “That was our last class together.”.

Oh. Right. He’s a sub, he won’t be back next semester...you’ll be someone else’s TA. You feel a little pang of you don’t know what. “But hey, we’ve gotta get through finals first”, Lin grimaces. “Oh god. Do you have a plan?”, you ask. Lin gets out his diary and you talk through when you can go over the content of the test and then grade it. “We need to post results early that Monday morning so really we need to work through the weekend-can you do that?”, he asks. “Sure. The rehearsal room?”, you ask. “Well, that room seems to be perpetually empty other than for you and me, so yeah.”, Lin chuckles. “I’ll bring the snacks!”, you say happily.

——————————————————

And so, two weeks later, it’s Saturday night and you’re both cross legged on the floor in front of 30 papers. You’ve laid them all out, trying to sift them into piles of great, good, not great and terrible. Lin sighs. “Honestly, Y/N, if you have somewhere to be-just go. Saturday nights should not be spent like this.”, he grumbles.

“Nah it’s fine.”, you shrug. The truth is you like his company. You look forward to your musical coffee breaks. “Then at least let me buy takeout or something.”, he says. “Lin I literally brought every snack there is, stop procrastinating.”, you say.

“Ugh, fine. How long til we said we’d take a break?”, he asks. “Half an hour-can you manage that?”, you ask sarcastically. He sticks out his tongue before going back to work. Exactly 29 minutes later he jumps up and runs to the bag of snacks you’ve brought. He throws you some gummy bears and rips open a bag of pretzels on his way to the piano.

“Alright what’ll it be tonight?”, he asks, playing a few chords. “Something by you”, you say through a mouthful of gummy bears. “You always say that. I ain’t your performing monkey!”, he jokes. “Please, you live for an audience-you’re everyone’s performing monkey!”, you laugh. He gasps. “How dare you. Ok this one is called Hundreds of stories-but it’s not finished yet.”.

He starts singing a tale of a guy looking for his place in the world. The theme is fairly unremarkable but his lyrics…”memories like dyin’ embers From a dream I can’t remember” strikes you so hard that you miss the next couple of lines. You can easily imagine how an actor will bring these songs to life on stage.

When he finishes you clap. He grins as he grabs another handful of pretzels. “Loved it”, you say. “It’s gonna be an amazing musical, Lin”. “I hope so”, he says. “Hey you should come next time we present it!”, he says excitedly. “I’d love that! Can I sing along?”, you joke. “Absolutely not! You couldn’t anyway…?”, Lin says. “Oh yeah?”, you clear your throat, make a big show of straightening your posture and looking out over the rehearsal room before singing “This is my street, my childhood esquina…”. You only know the first four lines or so but when you turn back to Lin he is grinning ear to ear.

“How’d you remember that?!”, he asks. “Lin you played me it twice and it’s been my ear worm for a month. It’s GENIUS.”, you declare. Lin looks both embarrassed and pleased. “Thank you.”. There’s an awkward pause. “I should go get coffee”, he says and trots over to the door.

——————————————————

“Agreed?”, you ask, as you both stand in front of the stacks of papers. He takes one last look. “Agreed!”, he says. “Yes!”, you holler. Lin leaps up and down, whooping, then throws his arms around you in a celebratory hug. It only lasts a second before he breaks away and starts piling the papers into his crate, but it takes you longer than that shake yourself back to his conversation. “...and honestly, they’re a good bunch of kids”, he’s saying. You nod and smile.

“Oh! Lin, I forgot I got a favour to ask you.”, you remember. “Sure, What?”. “Umm, well I’m applying for a couple of jobs here-night school teaching, that kind of thing….”. “Y/N, that’s great! You’d be great at that!”, he interrupts excitedly. You smile. “I just wondered if maybe you would give me a reference?”.

“Of course!”, he says “gimme your phone.”. You hand him your phone and he adds his number. “Just call me when you need something.”, he says. “Great, thank you!”, you say in relief. “No problem. Honestly, it’s been great working with you. You deserve to get a good position next year.”, he says warmly. You place your phone back in your pocket with a smile.

Lin picks up the crate as you check around to make sure you haven’t left anything. “That’s it.”. “Thanks for everything, Y/N”, he calls as he heads for the door. You stay rooted to the spot, a strange pit of disappointment in your belly that you don’t quite understand. “Wait, Y/N?”, Lin calls back through the door. “Yeah?”, you shout. He comes back into the room, balancing the box in the doorway. “Call me in a minute and hang up, so that I have your number too.”, he says with a small smile. You return the smile. “Sure.”. “Bye.”.

A few minutes later, as you head to your apartment, you call him and hang up after three rings. As you throw yourself down on your bed, your phone lights up.

Lin: Thanks. See ya around, Y/N.

See ya around.

——————————————————-

[dontshootmespence]

Secret Santa Exposes a Secret

A/N: Day 11 of the 25 Days of BAU Christmas has the team (season 4 team), including a reader doing Secret Santa, insisted on by Penelope Garcia of course. :D

“Babygirl, do we really have to do Secret Santa?” 

Garcia cut her eyes at her statuesque God of a best friend. “Yes. We do. Don’t be such a grinch.”

Morgan huffed, but smiled. None of them really had the money to give presents to everyone, and as much as he didn’t want to do Secret Santa, he’d do anything for his Babygirl. “Okay, so we pick names now? I’m assuming you already have all our names in a bag.”

“That I do, my sexy grinch.”

With her festive Christmas dress and bright, red-lipped smile, Penelope swirled around the table as Hotch, Rossi, Morgan, Emily, JJ, Reid and Y/N reached into the bag and pulled out a name. “We have a week and a half. Go forth, my pretties.”

A soft smile had crossed Morgan’s face when he pulled Emily’s name from Garcia’s colorful bag of Christmas cheer. Despite having only been with the team for a little over a year, Emily belonged here; he knew it - they all did. There was a comfort in their relationship that wasn’t there with anyone else - even Penelope. Penelope was his Babygirl, through and through; he’d do anything for her, but the two of them couldn’t just sit in silence and still have a conversation. He could do that with Emily. On nights when cases were getting to them, he and Emily could go out for a drink, say nothing, and somehow feel better.

Speaking of drinks. If he’d learned one thing about Emily over the past year, it was that she loved her wine. She had a glass ever night before bed. That’s why when he found out that a place called Vinebox would deliver personalized wine flights to your door for three months for $80, he knew he had to get it. 

It may not have been the most “thoughtful” of gifts, but at the end of the day, having that glass of wine to relax was important to her, which was why it was the perfect gift.

At first Emily couldn’t figure out what to get Hotch. He had everything he wanted for the most part. That’s when it dawned on her. What he didn’t always have was time with his son, and while she couldn’t give him time off or take away his troubles, she did have the ability to grab him season tickets to the local baseball team. They weren’t all that expensive and he could take Jack to them every time. She’d make sure of it. Even if she had to take his paperwork and finish it for him so he could go.  

She of all people knew that there are some moments you couldn’t get back. Jack was his world. Between her and the rest of the team, they’d definitely make sure he took some time off to relax and treasure the little things.

Hotch was pretty sure he had the hardest match of anyone. JJ was a young woman and young mother who didn’t really want for anything. She had her son. She had the man she loved. And even a job she enjoyed. How she juggled it all was astounding to him. 

After a lot of pondering, he realized that things weren’t everything, experiences sometimes counted even more. With all the stress of being a new mother, a loving girlfriend and a devoted agent surely weighed on her, right? Just in case he was going crazy, he called Haley to ask if his idea was a good one. 

“Absolutely!” She screamed into the phone, nearly blowing out her soon-to-be ex’s eardrums. Despite their separation, they still loved each other. “As someone who’s been a new mom, an hour massage to herself will be more rejuvenating than you can possibly imagine.” She’d had one herself shortly after Jack was born and it was like her batteries had been recharged. 

“Perfect. Thanks, Haley.”

“Anytime, Aaron.”

“Tell Jack I’ll see him soon and I love him.”

“I tell him every night.”

With a gift card in hand, he felt a weight lift off him. He’d found the perfect gift for JJ and despite his sadness at this being his first Christmas without Haley, they were getting along. Things were going to be okay.

What the fuck were you supposed to get a best-selling author and millionaire who could literally buy anything he wanted? JJ loved Rossi, but getting him for Secret Santa. Dammit, that was hard. Immediately, she thought of bourbon, but she wasn’t sure exactly what kind to get, so during the week when they met at his house for dinner, she searched around his collection of alcohol to discern some of his taste and figure out what he did and didn’t have.

God, he had an extensive bourbon collection. From what she could gather from his store, he liked his bourbon spicy and sweet, but not too sweet. 

In her search for the perfect bourbon, JJ came across way too many sweet bourbons, until finally she stumbled upon something that looked so disgusting to her, it just had to be his perfect type of bourbon - Michter’s 1010 Year Bourbon. It looked gross - it was perfect!

Hopefully, he didn’t have a bottle of it already hidden around her somewhere.

If there were two people more opposite in the world, Rossi wasn’t sure he’d be able to find them. Penelope was his complete opposite, but that’s why he loved her so much. He liked bourbon. She liked cosmos. He liked fine art. She liked random knick knacks sitting all over her desk. He liked cigars. She preferred cupcakes with colorful icing on them.

What was he supposed to get for the quirkiest, most sunshine happy human being he’d ever met in his life?

Cats.

She loved cats.

After a bad day in her lair, she drowned herself in cat videos.

Through online shopping and super fast shipping options, he was able to put together a basket of all things cat. A cat face mini purse. A cat cameo necklace. A cat mug for her desk. A ring with cat ears on it. A tank top with cat whiskers. All the cats. Cats, cats, cats, cats, cats. It was perfect. On a bad day, she’d pull out all of her cat-related things to make her smile.

When Penelope picked Y/N’s name out of her bag of tricks, she’d gotten an enormous smile on her face. It was such an awesome thing to shop for a geek, and that’s what Y/N was - her lovable nerd girl. 

Y/N loved cartoons, movies, television, broadway musicals, basically anything that could keep her distracted from the horrors they saw every single day. 

But Penelope had a big problem - a big, BIG problem. She could’t just buy one thing. It was actually impossible for her. When she went shopping for one person, she either bought that person all the things, or ended up buying something for more than person at a time. It was a problem. Or was it?

First, she picked out a shower curtain with the periodic table on it, which would be great for her and Reid when they were in the shower together, not that they’d admit that. Apparently, they were still trying to keep things a secret even though the entire team could see that they were head over heels in love with each other. 

In addition to the curtain, she bought a bunch of thigh-high socks with words on them, including geek, nerd, bacon and bookworm, a Star Wars cuckoo clock, and a chessboard that looked like the first one from the Harry Potter movie. She and Spencer would have fun with that too. Maybe one of these days they’d finally admit they were getting it on. That would be a great Christmas present.

She’d already gotten Spencer something for Christmas. They were dating. Of course, she’d gotten him something, but now she needed to get him something else, and something else that didn’t seem too special because she didn’t want to give away to the rest of the team that she and Spence were dating - something super nerdy that he would never buy for himself was definitely the way to go. 

For his gift from her personally, she’d gotten him a bunch of different things that he could use to make him feel better after a long day. He liked baths, especially now that she was in there with him, so she got him some bath bombs. She’d also bought some kinetic sand for destressing, a leather bracelet with her name inscribed on the inside, star stickers for the ceiling above their bed, wookie seatbelt covers for his car, and even noise-cancelling headphones that were made to look like Darth Vader for when he needed to tell everyone in the office that he was overwhelmed and they needed to leave him alone. 

What else was she supposed to get him?

That BB-8 droid you could control with the phone!

He refused to buy it for himself because it was a lot of money, but it was something he wanted and it was inconspicuous enough as to not give them away. It was perfect.

Spencer always felt an enormous amount of pressure to get someone the perfect gift, but for Morgan he’d do it. It took him almost a week to think of something perfect, but the moment he laid his eyes on it, he knew it was perfect. It was a sawhorse and work table all in one for when he worked on his houses. It was foldable and thin for easy storage and everything. 

He was so glad he’d found something he thought Morgan would genuinely like and use. Now the pressure was off. The only thing weighing on his shoulders now was making sure no one found out about him and Y/N yet.

“The day has come!” Penelope said happily. “It is time for everyone to reveal themselves to their giftees! Me first! Y/N, here you go, this was so much fun, Merry Christmas, I love you!”

Y/N leaned over and gave Penelope a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, My love.” Her eyes nearly bulged out of her head when she opened her gifts. “An HP chessboard, cool thigh-high socks, Star Wars, a periodic table shower curtain! Garcia you went overboard.”

“Do you love it all?’

“Yes, of course.”

“Then I don’t care!” She giggled. “Your turn.”

Pulling the box out, she handed it over to Spencer, trying her best to hide her blushing face. “Hope you like,” she tried to say as informally as possible. 

“Oh my god, it’s the BB-8 droid,” he smiled. Y/N wondered if anyone could tell that they were dating, because Spencer seemed to be doing a horrible job of hiding it right now. “Thanks, Y/N. You really shouldn’t have, but I do love it.” 

He barely made eye contact with anyone for the rest of the night save for giving Morgan his own gift. “Kid, how did you find this? It’s perfect!” Morgan stood up from the round table and unfolded the table right there. “This is going to be so much easier than lugging around two separate pieces to every house I work on. Did you calculate the perfect gift mathematically or something?” He asked, bringing his kid brother in for a hug. 

“Yea, something like that,” Spencer laughed, as he tried to peel his eyes off his new droid. 

Folding the table back up, he propped it against the wall and pulled out his gift for Emily. The subscription was all wrapped up in a card, but she couldn’t contain herself from spewing expletives at the thought of getting new wines to try for the next three months. 

Hotch had nearly shed a tear at Emily’s gift of season tickets for him and Jack. “I promise, that no matter what myself and the rest of the team,” she said (turning back to give the rest of the team a death glare), “We will make sure you get to go to each of those games with him.”

“Thank you so much, Emily.”

He turned away to wipe the tear from his eye in secret before grabbing the card to give to JJ. 

“Wooohoooo! A massage...an hour to myself...yessssssss.” She sighed happily, sliding back in her chair. “This is amazing, Hotch. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. You’ve more than earned it.”

With a smile, she reached behind her chair to grab her gift to Rossi. “Okay, when I was at your place last week, I did some snooping. I really hope you don’t have this yet, but you are impossible to buy for because you can already buy everything you want.”

His eyes sparkled against the reflection of the aged bourbon. “Oh, Michter’s. I’ve never had this one before. You do know me, JJ. It’s perfect. I think I’m gonna drink some now. Anyone else want?”

Rossi snickered and shook his head as everyone gagged at the smell of aged bourbon. Only Morgan and Hotch would drink it with him on occasion. “And last but certainly not least, my gift for the one and only organizer of this Secret Santa, Penelope Garcia.” Leaning over, he gave her a hug and watched as her mouth dropped open.

“Everything has cats on it,” she said. “You sly dog, you. Tank top, a mug, a rang, a necklace, a purse. I can surround myself with kittens all day every day. Thank you so much!”

As everyone broke into separate conversations, smiles thankfully filling the room where so much horror had been seen. Soon, they all found themselves yawning and getting ready to leave. “So, I hope you two make good use out of that,” Penelope said sneakily, pointing towards the curtain as she looked between Y/N and Reid. 

Without thinking, Y/N nodded and checked her hip against Spencer’s. “Ha! I knew it! You’re dating!”

The two glanced at each other. They were too tired to fight it. “Yea,” Spencer said. “I guess we are,” Y/N finished.

Penelope gloated as they walked toward the elevator. “Best Christmas ever!”

@unstoppableangel8  @coveofmemories  @iammostdefinitelyonfire26 @jamiemelyn @sexualemobitch @rmmalta @lukeassmanalvez @reddie-for-mileven @hogwarts-konoha @original-criminal-fanfics @lookwhatyoumademequeue @rt8815 @amarislestrange @sarahkay-19 @bagelsofdoom @xxfeelmylovexx @psychoticantisepticeye @matthwgraygublr @dsgirl4987 @captainreid @teatimewithtiya @queenanneslace4 @the-awesome-one-with-pigtails @tippy06 @ultrarebelheart @static-001 @remember-me-forever-silent-angel

[jaeminlore]

werewolf!renjun

okay so obv werewolves aren’t human’s favorite monsters

there are hunters and poachers and people who just plain kill werewolves on sight

you are a circus worker

the newest circus addition is the werewolf exhibit, where a tamer brings out a werewolf pup for all the humans to gawk at

and tbh you don’t rlly like it. the thought doesn’t sit well w you,,, but you don’t know how to stop it

there’s this lil werewolf pup in a small cage in your mobile circus,, and you’re doing your nightly checks on the cages when the pup starts whimpering???

and you know your boss told you not to open the cages but you figure letting the little gray wolf walk around for a bit won’t hurt anything

so you unlock the cage

and it’s almost instant,,,, like as soon as he crawls out of the cage he transforms into a boy

like a human boy

and his gentle brown eyes are wide and he’s like “you’ve got to get me out of here”

he’s frantically looking around as if your boss is going to see him

and he’s like “at least feed me a burger or something i haven’t eaten in days”

you ??? bc your boss told you that he was keeping the werewolf fed????

the werewolf boy licks his lips and looks around “i smell pancakes and eggs”

you are highkey surprised by how good his scent must be

“well there’s a diner just down the road??”

“pls pls pls take me there. i won’t complain or anything and i won’t try to run i just need food”

and you feel so bad bc you had no idea your boss wasn’t feeding the boy/pup and you hate that you’ve gone this far without noticing

“let me get my bag to pay for your meal”

but gUESS WHAT

you decide that you don’t want to be around some toxic circus owner who mistreats monsters so you quickly pack up your entire suitcase and sneak back to where the werewolf was waiting

luckily your boss could sleep through a nuclear war so he hears nothing

when you return back to the boy he’s shivering so you give him your jacket while the two of you walk down the street towards the diner “try to get the cheapest thing on the menu,” you tell him

and he’s nodding like yeah i understand i’ll get one (1) scrambled egg pls

you realize he thought you meant it meanly, that he shouldn’t be allowed an expensive meal, so you quickly shake your head

“no! not like that just … I need to save enough money for two train tickets back home,,,,”

it takes the boy a few moments to realize that you are offering to take him away from the circus

“i-isn’t this your job? won’t we get in trouble?”

you shrug “the pay’s lousy and i don’t want to work for a man who treats people like he’s been treating you. i would’ve taken you out of i had known sooner … ”

“renjun! my name is renjun.”

he smiles down at you,, and you notice that he has a cute lil snaggle tooth and his hair looks soft nd pretty

like a field of wheat or gold or smth equally as mesmerizing

“i’m y/n.”

the two of you eat at the diner, and the waitress sneaks a few extra pieces of bacon onto his plate after seeing how starved renjun seemed

then you guys hit the late train

the two of you look like runaways, with your bag under your feet and renjun sleeping w his head rested on your shoulder. the two of you sleep the whole way home,,, and you call your parents at the station to come pick you up

and they’re like,,, glad you left the circus if the boss was an abusive douchebag,,,, but also they’re like,, you can’t just steal a werewolf and expect us to keep him,,, they get violent you know

so renjun can’t stay w you

and he’s highkey sad bc he really likes you and your scent is comforting to him

he holds your hand while the two of you walk around town,, trying to figure out what to do

when you stop in front of this large gothic house that definitely looks haunted,,, and there’s some kind of swampland right behind it??? in the suburbs???

renjun’s like where are you taking me what is this

but you brighten like i know a boy who lives here! his name is mark and he’s a witch! he told me once that he lives here w a bunch of other monsters including a werewolf!!

“but i can’t just live w random monsters they won’t accept me as their own”

“sure they will,” you assure him, “they do it all the time.”

you knock on the door

it’s opened by the disgruntled human doyoung, holding a handheld vacuum cleaner

“hello”

you squeeze renjuns hand and blurt out “my friend’s a werewolf and he needs a place to stay.”

werewolf!sicheng pushes doyoung out of the way from wherever he had been hiding and grabs renjun by the shoulders like “where are you from? did you have a pack? how old are you? what color is your fur? does the moon affect you too????”

nd it takes taeil to pull him back like calm down buddy he’s just a pup

bc honestly renjun is small like he’s really not a very big kid and his wolf form looks like a medium sized puppy (not that nct know this)

but renjun is pretty calm i mean he gives off this calm aura and he introduces himself and answers all of sicheng’s questions

it isn’t long before nct welcome him into their home of misfits n monsters

renjun loves it there,, and he calls you every day from mark’s phone to tell you about it

soon doyoung enrolls him in mark’s school so he’s able to get a good education

and he gets to see you every day so he’s happy

life w nct is so much fun for renjun

he’s a part of the club for canines w sicheng jaemin and mark, although he doesn’t understand why mark is there he doesn’t ask questions

realized v v quickly that doyoung doesn’t like his werewolf form simply bc he hates the fur on the couch

it acts up his allergies so renjun tries his hardest to remember not to change his form

but sometimes he and sicheng and jaemin change into dog forms and chase each other around the house for fun so he forgets abt doyoung

poor doyoung

doesn’t rlly know abt the werewolf/vampire rivalry until donghyuck explains it to him

except he rlly exaggerates everything and makes it seem like there was some kind of conspiracy that started the whole war

taeil has to shut him up and tell renjun that it was simply a question of which mosnter was more fearsome

renjun doesn’t think he’s scary at all

he doesn’t think sicheng is scary either

the two of them eventually learn to calm each other down during the full moon so much that neither of them are very scared of the moon anymore

what renjun is still afraid of are humans

the only humans he likes are doyoung and you

otherwise he gets rlly skittish and nervous around them

you don’t know this but he has nightmares a lot about the circus and your boss locking him up again

he has nightmares abt you not rescuing him and him starving in the small cage

it’s hard for him to sleep all through the night he usually wakes up whimpering

and he crawls under sicheng’s covers to feel some kind of comfort

but one day sicheng is out for the night on a date

and when renjun wakes up sicheng still isn’t home,,, and he doesn’t want to wake the other boys bc he isn’t sure if they’ll understand (spoiler alert: they will and they do)

so he steals mark’s phone and calls you up

even though he isn’t crying you can hear the tremor in his voice

“renjun? what wrong?”

nd he breaks down and tells you everything,,,, how he’s scared of most humans,,, and every night he dreams of the circus,,, and how he’s terrified that your boss might find him one day and demand he return

you rush over to the house immediately and renjun lets you in

the first thing he does is hug you

and he sniffs your hair

i know that sounds wierd but renjun connects your scent w his freedom and safety,, and just the scent of you helps him feel more at ease

he doesn’t want to let go like his hands are clasped at the small of your back so tightly he isn’t in any hurry to release you yet

the two of you sit on the couch and watch late night cartoons w a blanket covering your legs

nd eventually renjun lays his head on your lap and tells you all abt his dreams

while you run your fingers through his hair

he falls asleep like this, and you do too after a few minutes

when mark wakes the two of you up the next morning to get ready for school, you’re both snuggled up close to each other

you give renjun your hoodie to sleep w at night so he’ll feel safer,,,, and bc of this he has a lot less nightmares

wow i love werewolf!renjun

the end

part of monster!nct collab w @trickortaeil

[alimcgowanblog]

The Worst Experience

February 2, 2019 was the beginning of the worst experience of my life. I remember every single thing about that day (thinking it would be like any other). It completely altered my little world. 

The past couple weeks Shane hadn’t felt well. He sometimes had bloody noses or woke up with dry blood around his mouth. I assumed he was adjusting to the altitude after returning home from his Afghanistan deployment 3 months prior. This particular morning however, he saw a bunch of black dots. This time we decided he needed to go to the E.R. Naïve me again, I assumed he was simply dehydrated and needed fluids from being sick. I held his hand, walked him in, and helped check him in. I explained to the nurse these recent mild symptoms he’s had. Once I said them, the nurse immediately stopped writing and looked at me concerned. At first, I didn’t think anything of it, but now I know she knew. She totally knew. 

I kissed Shane goodbye and expected to pick him back up in a hour or two. It was laundry day, so I wanted to get a jumpstart on it in an empty house. I was folding laundry on the couch watching Jimmy Kimmel when I realized it was taking Shane longer than expected. The E.R. is always overly crowded however, so again, not jumping to any conclusions. He then called. He said that I needed to get to the hospital ASAP and the doctor needed to talk to us both. There, my heart skipped a bit. There, I had doubts developing. I grabbed my keys and raced over. 

He was in a dark room resting. The doctor must’ve seen me because he came in directly behind. He had me take a seat and sat down as well. He then calmly said to both of us, “I know you’re both worried, but I’m unfortunately going to make you more worried right now. Shane has Leukemia. His white blood cell count is 40 x the amount it should be. We need to transport him by ambulance [because he is a fall risk] to one of the best cancer hospitals nationwide - Anschutz in Aurora, CO.” Shane and I were both in denial. Shane asked, “Is it possible that it’s just an infection?”. The doctor responded, “Absolutely not. It is cancer and you need to inform your family immediately. Ali, you need to get your things in order. Pack a bag and meet him there in Aurora.” I watched Shane be taken away on a stretcher while reminding me of what not to forget to pack, and where to drop Prince (our dog) off. I watched him drive away with the sirens blaring knowing my whole world changed. 

I couldn’t even call my mom. I didn’t know how to tell her. So, I texted her. I then pulled over to vomit. I finally got home to a couch full of folded laundry thinking this was my only priority today. I threw random clothes into two bags (not realizing we were going to be staying there for almost 2 months). I drove to this huge, unknown area that’s all hospitals - Anschutz, Children’s Hospital, and the UCHEALTH University. I was so backwards and in a daze. I went to all three buildings desperately trying to find him. It felt as though he was kidnapped and I was tracking down his captor. It was an honest nightmare of pure panic that I couldn’t wake up from.

Eventually, I did find him. and All I wanted to do was hug him, but I couldn’t because of all the wires and machines connected to him. To this day, that beeping sound haunts me. That is where he was officially diagnosed with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia- APL. The pull out couch in his room became my temporary bed. The gowns, gloves, and masks became my temporary wardrobe. This was my new life; my new reality without any choice at all.

It was a Saturday. The next day was Super Bowl Sunday and thankfully, the Patriots won for him while we watched it in his hospital room (even though he couldn’t see). The next day however, Monday, he couldn’t breathe. They gave him all of these machines to increase his oxygen levels but nothing worked. He suffered from Differentiation Syndrome. Basically, what happens is your body becomes so overwhelmed by all the fluids the machines pump in you, the fluids starts to flood your organs rather than be absorbed. He was literally drowning in bed. 

He was then taken from the Oncology floor to the I.C.U. and put on life support with a 10% chance of living. He doesn’t remember this transition (thankfully) but I do. I will forever remember this night because it was the worst night of my life. 

We went from a few nurses pushing his bed quietly through hallways into the I.C.U. to this room full of lights and doctors. They grabbed him, stripped him naked, and began preparing to intubate him. Shane had been so brave till this moment. Through the crevices of doctors’ shoulders in front of me, I could see him look for me. I was so helpless watching him search for his comfort and safety, me. 

 I was then pulled to a table outside of his room with papers slapped in front of me. It was a male doctor, shorter with glasses I remember, handing me a pen. He then yelled, “If you don’t sign these right now, He’ll die tonight!” He was clearly doing his job at a stressful time (which I understand)... but the fact that the doctor couldn’t compose his fear is what absolutely shot my nervous system. I signed the papers (which had to have been chicken scratch), and then was placed in a waiting room with a hospital blanket. At 2am, I sat in that frigid, dark room alone with my thoughts and feelings. I couldn’t call anyone since I had no idea what to report. No one explained anything to me. His life trumped my understanding of it (obviously). 

Hours later, a nurse and that same doctor came in to explain the situation. He was definitely calmer, but still blunt (which I appreciate now... no BS). He informed me of the seriousness of Shane’s condition - 10% chance of living. I was told to go to a hotel and call our families to come as soon as possible. They took me to see him and I almost fainted. My sweet, happy soldier that conversed with me hours prior was a still man that only had machines as his form of communication. I hated how still he was. 

I couldn’t stop screaming, crying, and pleading with God that this wasn’t happening. I had to get a grip though because I could tell some nurses were debating to call psych on me. I walked away with plastic, hospital bags holding our belongings, knowing I was walking to an empty bed, in a hotel, that could symbolize a potentially empty bed forever. 

It was snowing, so I had to brush off the car and scrape off the ice. I then called my mom absolutely hysterical. She got a plane ticket that second (thank God). After that phone call, I texted Shane’s parents thoroughly (because I don’t think I could’ve verbalized another sentence), and Big Mike did the same. That definitely helped me cope. I needed my mom, and Shane needed his dad.

None of us could eat. None of us could sleep. It was just beyond traumatizing for all of us. He went days without progress. The doctors came in everyday looking discouraged because there was nothing new to report. 

Prayer became my obsession. Prayer was a drug, and I its addict. I exposed all vulnerability and requested anyone/anything possible to pray too. This is where however, I became a true believer in God. I literally watched the ripple effect of prayer evolve. I watched a true miracle perform its magic. 

Friday morning, the doctors came in smiling. Non-verbal communication can express more than any sentence. They told us that his lungs are twice as strong as yesterday, and they’re on the verge of inhaling more oxygen than the machines would allow! In addition, he was waking up at times from the anesthesia wearing off. We’d have to explain where he was and what was happening till they put him back to sleep. The chocking, restraints on his wrists, and fear in his eyes were definitely soul crushing... but to see life in his eyes again... to see his brain working; processing what we were telling him... we found our lost hope. We selfishly wanted him afraid of this life because that meant he was alive, fighting it.

That afternoon, they took him off life support and by then his mother, Rachel was there too to welcome Shane back. The next 40+ days is for another time to write. So, let’s end this post on a good note. He woke up! He beat the 10% odds and survived! He became my Shane again! Thank you God and prayer for being the miracles desperate souls need in this world. Thank you God and prayer for giving fighting souls a fighting chance.

"If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough." -Meister Eckhart

[jake-guentzel-59]

Shoot your Shot Part 3 - Auston Matthews

So today was move in day for my college so I didn’t have time to even start part 4 so I’m not sure when I will have that done by. I’ll try to finish it tonight so all I’ll have to do tomorrow is edit. I don”t know if it will be up tomorrow but I’ll try my best. Also, this one has Auston in it about 90% of the time. Words: 1954 Warning: None I could be wrong

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

Auston told me that they had the day off so I told him to get a couple of the guys and meet back at my house in about an hour and a half. We exchanged numbers and I told him to text me when he was on the way. I ran upstairs and headed straight to the shower. Wrapping myself in a towel, I headed to my closest to pick out something to wear. I wanted to look good because I was hanging out with Auston but I also didn’t want to over dress for the occasion. It took me about 20 minutes to find the perfect outfit. After that, I did my hair. I didn’t bother on doing any make up today because I couldn't put any near my stitches. Heading downstairs, I put my shoes on and waited in my living room for Auston to text me, Kenzie had surprisingly woken up and called me immediately. "Oh my good Logan! They all followed you, can you get them to follow me? Did you DM them yet? They even commented on your picture. I told you it was meant to be." She continued to ramble on for about 5 Minutes about her being right about him being the love of my life before I stopped her. "Calm down Kenz, if you want you can come hang out with them with me today. Auston showed up at the house to apologize and asked if there was anything he could do to make up for it. I told him yes so, I'm taking him and a couple of the guys to go see the little boy and his father that gave us the tickets. You in?" I asked "Yes yes, a million times yes! When do you want me to be there?" "Well you could come to my house right away and get a drive with us or you could just meet us there." "I'll be at your house in 10 minutes." She told me "Alright, see you then." I said hanging up

Waiting for everyone to get here, I turned on the tv and start flicking through the channels. I got a text from Auston saying that he was on the way. As soon as I replied, Kenzie came running through my front door. "Did I miss them?" She asked panting "No, they're on their way. Did you run here?" "Yes"   "My god Kenzie you live like 7 blocks away! Here, drink this." I said handing her a bottle of water

We sat on the couch watching some random show waiting for them to get us. Kenzie was to winded to talk anymore. I texted my dad making sure it was okay to visit the little boy. My dad thought it was a great and told me to text him when we were on the way and he would meet us by the doors. I'm a little worried about my dad seeing Auston because he was so angry at him last night. Even talked about suing him. It took some time to talk him out of that one. About 5 minutes later I hear a horn honk outside. Turning off the tv and grabbing the things I bought the family last night at the game, me and Kenzie headed outside. Getting out of the car was Auston, Mitch, and William. Kenzie ran outside and practically attacked them all with hugs while greeting them. "Slow down there Kenz, I don’t think David would like you all over a bunch of guys." I reminded her of her boyfriend. "Sorry just kind of got excited." She said backing off of them "I'm not sure if she introduced herself while she was attacking you but that's Kenzie and I'm guessing she knows who you are." "Well this is William and Mitch," Auston said introducing us to him, "When you said there was something I could do to make it up to you, I didn’t think it would involve our friends." He said winking. "Well someone gave my dad the tickets for helping his son.” I said trying to hid the blush that crept onto my face. “I feel bad because his son was so excited to go to the game. He's a huge fan of you guys so I figured you guys could go surprise visit him, if that’s okay with you guys?" I checked with them. "That's a great idea, I love meeting the fans. How old is he?" William asked me "I think he's 6." "He's going to be so excited. I can't wait to see his face." "Alright guys let's go!" Mitch yelled at all of us while hopping into the front seat. It was me, Kenzie, and William in the back with Auston driving. "I know we’re doing a good thing right now and that this is how you wanted me to repay you but I'm going to repay you another way with just me and you." Auston told me before getting into the front seat.

The drive to the hospital was less then quiet. I couldn't stop thinking about what Auston just said to me. Maybe Kenzie was right about him. Trying to get Auston out of my head, I texted my dad to tell him we were on the way. He replied and said he was waiting for us by the door. Poor Will in the back didn’t get a chance to even think because Kenzie wouldn’t stop ask him questions and talking the ear off him. I tried my best to help Will by talking to Kenzie but it didn’t work. I'm going to have to make I get the middle seat on the way home. Auston kept stealing glances at me in the mirror. Every time I would catch him I would give him a small smile and he would smile back and look away. He didn’t talk too much, which I thought was weird. Mitch was sitting up front playing a very strange range of music. Everyone was complaining about it. I think I was the only one who actually enjoyed his weird range of music. "Hey Mitch, you have to send me your playlist sometime." I told him "You actually like this?" Auston asked me dumbfounded "Not the whole thing, some of it is shit, but he has some good songs on here." "Wow Logan, just when I thought we were getting along, you insult my music taste." Mitch said pretending to be hurt. "Well I have better playlists than him so I'll send you mine instead." "I would like that" I told Auston smiling, "Also, my dad might be a little rude with you. He was pissed that you hit me in the eye. Almost tried to sue you actually. I talked him out of it thought. Can't promise that he's still not mad." "Matthews, meeting the parents already? A little early don't you think" Mitch said laughing. This causing Auston to hit him on the arm.  

The rest of the ride consisted of Kenzie driving Will crazy and Auston and Mitch roasting each other and me laughing at them. When we arrived, dad was where he said he was right by the door. I introduced everyone to him and he shook their hands. All except Austons' of course. He just kind of looked at him and nodded. "Sorry about him, he'll loosen up towards you soon." I whispered to Auston, "So dad did you tell the little boy we were coming?" "No, I didn’t tell him but I told his father. I thought he was going to cry. The little boys name is Geoff by the way." Dad told us "What happened to him anyway?" Auston asked trying to get my dad to warm up. Dad just glared at him before answering "He suffered from a brain injury." "That poor boy. He's doing better though, right?" "Yes" "Dad can you try to be a little nicer to him please? He truly is sorry for what he did and you know he didn’t try it" I said my dad pulling to the front of the group so it was just us. "I'll try to be nicer but I can't make any promises. He did hurt my little girl after all." "Well dad I'm fine and it's not going to leave any permanent damage so please, please, please try to be nicer." I begged him "Fine I will."

We made our way up to the Geoff's room. His dad met us outside of the room shaking the hands of all of the guys and thanking every one of us. He was almost in tears while thanking us, talking about how happy Geoff was going to be. I don’t think I've ever seen anyone as happy as he was. That was until I saw Geoffs' face light up when he saw the boys walk into the room. He got up out of bed so fast wanting to meet them. Both my dad and his told him to stop where he was and get back in bed immediately so he wouldn’t hurt himself. We gave him the bag of stuff I bought him at the game. He got so happy over the jersey asking the boys to sign it for him. We stayed there for about an hour because Kenzie had work. Geoff and the boys talked about hockey, told jokes, they signed a bunch more things for him, and took a lot of pictures so he could show all of his friends when they came to visit him. Geoff was getting tired from the pain medicine he was on so we all said good byes to him and headed out. His dad couldn’t stop thanking us. As we were leaving, my dad told me I had to pick up Mads from day care because he was going to be home later than normal. I made sure I got the middle seat when we got to the car and Will thanked me silently so Kenzie wouldn’t hear. Auston dropped us all off one by one. Dropping me off last. "Actually, can you drop me off at the day care? I have to pick up my little sister." I asked him "Of course, did you want me to drive you and her home?" "No that’s fine, she likes to walk home. I take her to the café where Kenzie works and we get lunch and then we walk around and go into different store and stuff. It's her favourite thing. She loves learning about all the different thing in Toronto. We do it about once a week." "You guys are really close, aren't you?" "Yeah, she's my everything. When she was born she had a heart defect and they didn't think she was going to survive. The day she was born she had open heart surgery. She ended up needing 3 more. Her last one was a little over a year ago. It was touch and go there for a while but she's a fighter." I smiled at him getting a little teary-eyed thinking about almost losing her. He put his hand on my knee trying to comfort me. "Would you like to come with us on our walk today? If you're not busy or anything" "No that's okay. I don't want to intrude on your sister time or anything." "I promise its fine. She always tells me that we need someone new on our walks so she can teach them everything about Toronto that I taught her." I told him laughing as we pulled into the day care parking lot. "Alright I'll come with guys. I could learn a thing or two about this place anyways." He told me smiling.

[hokkaidodo-blog]

there’s snow business like hoe business

In my life so far, there have been many things that I have started to do. Many things that have interested me greatly and captured my intrigue and thus,  I have made it my mission to accomplish said things. This process usually includes equal parts of both impulse buying tat from the Internet that I am convinced will be beneficial to me in some way for my new hobby and also developing slightly obsessive behaviours with regards to the aforementioned new hobby and putting every second of my spare time into it. This undoubtedly all occurs before the dawning realisations that I was, in fact, unfortunately born with the attention span of a goldfish and that either 1) I’m bored shitless of my new hobby and can’t believe I was ever interested in it in the first place,  or 2) I have a huge tantrum because I’ve started something new and difficult for 10 minutes a week but somehow I’m not automatically a pro at it immediately. The third step is the abandonment of my new hobby never to be seen, mentioned or eluded to in any way, shape or form for the rest of my fickle existence. My current list of personal pathetic pursuits includes – but is by no means limited to – the following things:

Learning German. Ask me what I ate for breakfast and as long as it’s cereal or an apple, I can tell you in German.

Dance aerobics classes. Lol.

Intricate adult colouring books. My eyes go fuzzy after colouring one leaf and my friends think I’m mad when I turn around and “hey guys, look at this cool art-nouveau squirrel I just spent three hours colouring in 47 shades of brown.”

Going to the gym. Cried for two weeks solid when I pulled a toe muscle and then was appalled and disgusted when I didn’t wake up the next day after one mild workout with a toned tummy and arms like Popeye.

Eating healthier. People who say they prefer a green smoothie over a share-bag of pretzels and a pot of cheese and chive dip are fake. Steer clear and do not trust.

THIS BLOG. Somehow, it’s been two months since I last posted my last post which ALSO started out similarly by saying something along the lines of “omg lol how has is been so long since I’ve written?!” lol.

Anyway, this time I present to you another smattering of pictures and verbal diarrhoea (is this still verbal?) digital diarrhoea and stories and stuff and a bunch of I-don’t-even-know-what from the past two months.

To start with, the season here turned faster than my stomach when sometimes I would get home from a terribly draining and emotionally tiring day at school of playing with poster paint and lentils in GSCE Art BTEC and ask Mum what we’re having for dinner, to which she’d reply with the dreaded: “mackerel salad”.  One day I was still in my T-shirt and jumper, walking to campus wading through piles of golden foliage and then suddenly two days later and I’m skating to school on sheet ice covered in bruises from spectacular tumbles and a good three feet of snow on either side of me. A lot of my friends in sunny Spain or France or even Tokyo say to me (whilst surprising smug giggles) “how’s Sapporo, Ross? Enjoying the snow?” to which I adamantly reply, “It’s not that cold!” and then rummage for a third pair of socks and my thermal undies. It’s beautiful though and I don’t regret a thing!

Snow business like hoe business, amirite

As for Christmas, – and no I am not a Scrooge – I am not feeling at all Christmassy this year. People still work and have classes on the 25th - which is gross for me - but there are still decorations and huge light displays up until midnight on Christmas Day, when as soon as it is over every trace of the festive season is torn down and everybody gets ready to welcome in the New Year.

“can you take a picture of us, we’re a couple”

This being said, I will definitely miss getting plastered with my Grandma on Christmas eve by glugging a bottle Amaretto and then waiting for her to request that the entire family sings “O Come Let Us Adore Him” in five part harmony whilst accompanied by Grandpa on the stylophone; sitting around in my pajamas on Christmas morning, laughing for thirty minutes because the puppy gets present opening priority and then Mum gets the black bin-sack out because he’s covered the living room in wrapping paper confetti and glitter; and then also eating Iceland out of their entire supply of frozen duck spring rolls, mini pizzas and garlic mushroom bites on Boxing Day, before complaining about how full you are yet still continuing to inhale a quarter pound of the leftover turkey, half a block of cranberry Wensleydale (with pickles), some coleslaw, a pile of bubble and squeak and some Mingles whilst the same annual festive episode of Top of the Pops lulls you gently to sleep with Fairytale of New York and Slade.

OTARU

I didn’t realise how much I missed the ocean until I hadn’t seen it for a couple of months and the sea was longer than a 15 minute drive from my house. Luckily, the seaside town of Otaru is just a train ride away from Sapporo and it felt so good for my soul to be back by the water. (Hippie child alert.)

Otaru is a picturesque little town famous for glassblowing and its beautiful canal which is lit up with candles every year for it’s winter festival. Ironically (yet gruesomely hilarious to me), after visiting the aquarium which is apparently super famous, and admiring all of the fab fishies and strange creatures, we went to a seafood restaurant and had some of the best sushi and sashimi that I have eaten so far. In other news: the demolition of a seven-tier soft-serve ice cream that left me questioning my lactose tolerance; the discovery of yet more face-cut out standees that left us all with a questioning outlook on Japan; and a two-storey shop stocked full of music box pieces. Who knew the demand for that was so high?

“Hey guys, can one of you Google whether or not you can die from eating too much ice cream because I don’t feel all that hunky dory right now”

A bear in his pants holding tissues! Japan!

Yes! It’s meant to be a penis! Awesome!

Why is it that when it comes to telling people about what you’ve been up to that your brain just turns to porridge and you can’t help but reply with the bog-standard “Oh the usual; you know, not much”.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

So, three months in (eek) and what are my thoughts on Japan? Well…

1)      Japanese people (in general) seem to be very organised and structured. Take for example, the rush hour on the underground. In London it wouldn’t be unusual to have an unwashed armpit of a local hipster thrust under your nose on your morning commute whilst a lady next to you gossips loudly on the phone to her girls about the chlamydia disaster that happened with Tony last night. This may or may not be accompanied by the gentle pitter-patter sound of some 90s trance music seeping out from underneath some headphones somewhere; twelve people standing on your foot; a distinctive scent wafting from the gentleman opposite you who forgot to eat breakfast so decided to delight everyone with his loud munching of a Lamb & Mint from The Traditional Cornish Pasty Company; and occasionally the fleeting anxiety that comes with frantically patting yourself down and hoping that you haven’t dropped your wallet.

The Japanese subways are deathly quiet, however. Sometimes it’s peaceful in the morning, and sometimes it’s unnerving. You’re awkwardly scared to breathe in case it tickles someone’s neck and you’re all in a line facing the same way and you daren’t get in the way of the station attendant with the big wooden shield who squeezes you in so the doors can close. There’s no crazy rush or crowd on platforms, just two neat lines and an unsettling calmness for someone who is used to (and who quite enjoys) mild chaos and hecticness.  

 2)      Went to the Asahi Beer factory; the most lit class field trip ever. With free beer. 10/10 would recommend.

3)      Japanese staff in restaurants, ticket offices, libraries etc absolutely will NOT speak Japanese with a non-Japanese person. It’s incredibly frustrating. As someone who’s main focus here is to improve my language skills, it is tough to do so when you struggle to get natives to treat you like anybody else. Whether some Japanese people just assume that there is categorically no way that a non-Asian person could become conversational in Japanese, I have no idea. For example, you will order in a restaurant in near-perfect Japanese to which you are just started at blankly. The waitress turns to my Japanese friend who repeats word-for-word and accent-for-accent exactly what I just said, and everything is fine. This usually continues for a few minutes and each time leaves me questioning my intelligence, my language competency and my foreigner-ness, and also just what do I need to do to try and win over the Japanese? (Video link)

I think that’s it for now. I’m sure I had more thoughts so I’ll try and write them here more often when I remember them (part 2 of me saying that). Nothing much is happening in the next few weeks, it’s that kind of winter jaded-ness that happens every year. BUT – everything is beautiful, I’m still smiling and I’m still in Japan and very lucky to be alive. I’m looking forward to January where things will kick-start again, and I can start travelling and exploring some more. Just got to finish 2017 with as much love as possible and give it a good end.

BONUS PICS: Some pretty skies at the Hokkaido Historical Village and me riding a humpback whale at the museum. You’re welcome.

Every single typewriter stamp from an old Japanese printer press.

I'm putting on my shades to cover up my eyes, I'm jumping in my ride, I'm heading out tonight ;)

[bigglobbytears]

(I don’t have a title yet) but

The girls of 1-A take a night out to go to a concert together, and Uraraka is determined not to let anything ruin this night, even her annoying classmate who they bump into.

Friendship fic, background Minamomo, extremely self indulgent writing.

As the train clacked and clattered on the tracks, Yaoyorozu called out for what seemed the hundredth time:

“Okay Girls! So it’s only three more stops then we transfer to the blue line, which will take us there directly.”

Jirou had her foot up on the seat in front of her, and narrowed her eyes at the thinning buildings around them. “Man, we’re not even in a part of the city normal people live in anymore, it’s just yuppies and suburbs. Mainstream venues are the worst.”  

They were clustered near the back of the train car, legs out in the aisle and leaning over each other’s chairs. All the class 1-A girls had started planning this a while ago, spurred off of a random conversation in the locker room after hero practice, when Uraraka saw that her favorite band of all time, Loud Youth, was touring, and would be playing nearby. They felt a little bad for excluding the boys, but, as Hagakure pointed out, they deserved something that was just for them. Uraraka was a little relieved, not because she didn’t want Deku and Iida to come, but because there was something nice in not having to explain herself when she screeched at the tour announcement. Sometimes, girls just get things like that.

Tsuyu, sitting next to Uraraka with her knees pulled up to her chest, turned to Yaoyorozu, who was checking her phone again.

“So, this is your first concert Momo?”

Yaoyorozu blushed a little. “Yes, I’m afraid I was a bit sheltered growing up. I’ve seen classical performances but, from what I understand, they are not similar.”

“No, not really. I’ve only been to one show, it was Pink Bubble Live.”

Ashido, who had been teasing Yaoyorozu by sneakily angling her selfies catch her off guard in the background, whipped her head around.

“Woah woah woah, isn’t that an idol group?”

“Yeah, I went with my younger siblings as a chaperone. It was fun, though. What about you, Mina?”

Ashido leaned back, screwing her face up in an effort to remember.

“Not sure… My middle school boyfriend was pretty into european noise rock, so I think I went to one of those first.”

Yaoyorozu looked slightly horrified. “And that was… Fun?”

“Eh, kinda, but it wasn’t really my scene. But neither was the boyfriend, so we live and we learn I guess.”

Hagakure leaned over the front of her seat, holding out her phone. “Hey, check it out Tsuyu! I think I was at the same Pink Bubble Live concert as you were!” On her phone was a super cute photobooth selfie (of, presumably, her) with the special concert filter over it. “I went with some of my friends from middle school, right before we all graduated to different high schools.”

“That sounds like so much fun! I feel like a show like that is so exciting, even if it’s pretty frivolous.” Commented Uraraka, wistfully.

“So what about you? Did you see any shows up in Mie?” Jirou said, poking her across the aisle with her foot.

“Yeah, only one: “Young Joey’s Jammers”. They play Loud Youth covers mainly, but they were pretty good!”

“So, the only live music you’ve seen… Is a cover band for what we’re about to go see.”

“Yup! I’m much more excited for this though! The other one was just in a community center, while this one has a proper stage and seating and everything!”

“Wow, you really are a super-fan.” Tsu mused.

“What about you, Jirou?” Hagakure asked, “I bet you’ve seen loads of live music, but what was your favorite concert?”

Jirou, strangely enough, seemed a bit flustered.

“Oh, well, after awhile, you start to really appreciate the ones that aren’t corporate. House shows, punk warehouse shows, things with a bunch of bands that are just in it for the music, you know?”

“Yeah, but, which band in particular?”

“The Dead… Rats.”

Hagakure’s shoulders went up a bit in displeasure. “Why would anyone want to think about dead rats?”

“Hu hu hu, look what I found.” Ashido drawled, showing on her phone a tagged picture of Jirou, close to tears, standing next to the five members of Pink Bubble Live. Jirou turned beet red, and spat “Look, my dad was filling in for one of their guitarists! I went as a favor for him!”

“Did you wear the autographed shirt as a favor to him too?”

“Hey, stop messing around, this is our stop!” Yaoyorozu announced above Jirou’s splutters.

Out on the platform, Uraraka made sure her pink mini-backpack was still zipped tight. She hadn’t known what to bring, more than the printed out ticket, and her wallet for emergencies. Her hands felt like they were buzzing with anticipation. For the past two weeks she had been listening only to Loud Youth while getting ready in the morning, and listening to it every night as she went to sleep. She had bought nothing but rice and miso for her month’s groceries to recover the cost of the ticket. It was all going to be worth it, though. Hero life was rewarding, but sometimes it felt like she was just being tossed around an obstacle course (And, in most of All Might’s Hero training exercises, this was true.) Everything was so structured, especially after they had moved to the dorms, and It was nice to go out, away from the city, from the school, from some of the other students who she didn’t get along with as well-

“Oh my gosh, look! it’s that one girl from the support course!”

Down the platform, looking intensely at a map of train routes, was Hatsume Mei. She had the defining trait, in Uraraka’s mind, of being one of the people she least wanted to see right now. She seemed to be fussing with one of her bags, and luckily was distracted enough to not have heard Hagakure. Uraraka was just drawing in breath to whisper that they should try to avoid her, when Ashido loudly yelled “Heeey~! Mei! What are you doing here?”

The breath in Uraraka’s cheeks came out in a quiet, strained whine, which nobody noticed. Oh no, she was waving back… Oh no! she was coming over! Shit shit shit!

The group (minus Uraraka) swelled forward to meet their classmate/former sports festival competitor who seemed ecstatic to see them.

“Why, if it isn’t the class 1-A girls! I feel like I haven’t even seen you since you were training for the hero exams! What are the chances!”

Yes, what were the chances. What were the chances that the one girl that Uraraka couldn’t stand was here on the one night she had to relax. Not wanting to come across as obviously rude, she just stood back and nodded a greeting before looking away. The conversation continued by way of Yaoyorozu, who had, as always, perfect manners.

“Yes, it has been pretty hectic lately. Especially with the increased security in the dorms and curriculum, we’ve been pretty focused on school. I hope all has been going well for the support course?”

“Oh, yeah, it’s been great! Definitely not as intense as the Hero course ha-ha! You guys don’t seem to be out here for work, how come they’ve let y'all wander so far away from the school like this?”

Jirou lifted up a chain around her neck, which swung with the same charm they all had. It looked almost like an old tamogatchi, with a little picture of the principal on it.

“We all have these little tracking devices, just in case. Plus, they can send out distress signals, receive messages, know where the other ones are, and whole bunch of other stuff too.”

Hatsume immediately leaned forward to inspect it, her wide cross-haired eyes obviously taking in every bit of the little gadget. “So cool! So what are you all doing here then?”

Uraraka tried to pipe up innocently “Oh, nothing much, just hanging out, you know-”

“We’re headed to a concert.” said Tsuyu, shooting a look over at Uraraka, who shot back her own.

“Oh my god, The Loud Youth concert? I’m going too! They’re like, my favorite band!!”

Great. Nice. Awesome.

Hatsume’s outfit is only a little but less eclectic than her usual look at school: Huge chunky combat boots, a bright blue hoodie, arms covered in multi-colored wristbands and watches, and huge red sunglasses resting on her head. Around her waist, though, was still her standard, blocky utility belt she would use to mess with any machine she was able to get her hands on. Uraraka sniffed, not able to hold herself back. “You know they won’t let you bring tools into the concert venue right?”

Hatsume just laughed and said “Oh, but that’s the awesome thing about this belt!” And then she struck her infuriating pose and loudly proclaimed “I have outfitted this belt specifically for tonight, allowing me to come prepared for any future mishap the night may throw at me! I have a foldable water bottle, breath mints, hand sanitizer, high protein snacks, advil, earplugs, extra socks deodorant, two portable phone batteries, and so much more, all ingeniously packed for ultimate lightness and accessibility!”

Tsuyu leaned forward to look around the cluster of girls at Uraraka.

“Oh wow Ochako, you were just saying your phone was close to dying.”

“Oh. Naw. I mean, I’ll be fine.”

“Didn’t you say ‘Oh boy, if ya’ll need to find me at the concert, just yell loudly and hope for the best, cause my battery’s about to go belly-up’”

“Yes. Yes Tsu I did say that.”

Yaoyorozu cut in, looking concerned. “Uraraka, you should charge your phone, from what I hear concerts can be quite the chaotic environment.”

With her lips pinched in annoyance, Uraraka handed over her phone.

She didn’t say much more as they went, with one extra member, to the concert.

Even outside of the place, they could tell it was huge, with multiple levels and a huge stage in the center. People were coming out of every train, and already in line to get their tickets stamped. Even though they had arrived early, per Yaoyorozu’s planning, they could tell it was going to be a challenge to find good seating.

“We’ve got to get up to the higher levels!” Ashido yelled above the babble of the crowd, “Those spots have tables and chairs, and the balcony seats have way better views than the ground floor!”

Once they got in, they tried as hard as they could to push through to the stairs.

“Hey, where’s Hatsume?” Hagakure yelled from the back of their pack. Somehow, she had slipped away without them noticing.

“C’mon, don’t worry about that, let’s go!” Uraraka motioned for everyone to follow her towards the slow swell making it’s way up the back stairs. Tsuyu moved close to her, and said, a little softly so that the other girls wouldn’t hear:

“You don’t like Mei very much, do you?”

“What, how can I not like her, I barely know her.”

Tsuyu just stared at Uraraka with her big, round eyes, silently telling her that she wasn’t buying it.

“Fine! I get a weird vibe from her. She’s loud, she kept forgetting my name when we first met, and she’s just… A lot.”

“The name thing is a bit rude, but maybe she deserves a better chance from you. We all have big personalities, we can’t blame someone for overshooting it a bit.”

Uraraka didn’t know what to say, and she felt a bit hurt that Tsuyu wasn’t taking her side on this. A shout from above interrupted the awkward feeling in her brain. Up there was Hatsume Mei, waving wildly, pointing at her prize: A table by the balcony, with enough chairs for all of them.

Once they reached her, She had already spread out her many water bottles and mints and granola bars over the whole table in the unspoken message of ‘I’m saving these seats for my friends.’ Everyone wanted to know how she did it, and she said that security and staff always have a back stair that they use, and although it’s open to the public, almost no one uses it because it’s out of the way. Ashido at this point proclaimed her the guardian angel of the night.

Uraraka had zoned out of the conversation, looking down below them. Down there was a densifying crowd of people, getting thicker and thicker until it reached the foot of the stage, which was still dim and mostly covered, waiting for the first opening act. She had made up her mind about what she was going to do.

Jirou and Ashido were passing around two small flasks, and were in the middle of teasing Yaoyorozu at her indignation over it when Uraraka dramatically stood up, took off her hoodie to reveal her Loud Youth band tshirt underneath, and proclaimed,

“Guys, I’m going to the mosh pit.”

No one seems keen on the idea of letting her go down alone. “Uraraka, I’ve heard these things can get extremely riotous.”

“Yeah man, mosh pits are no joke, they can get intense”

Uraraka rolled her eyes. “Guys, yesterday in class I had to dodge an active avalanche simulation while tied to Kirishima, I can handle a rowdy crowd.”

Yaoyorozu still looked hesitant. “Yes, but that was when you could use your quirk. In that crowd, it’s just you.”

Hatsume stood up and said “Don’t worry about it girls! I’m going too!” and she also dramatically took off her jacket. Much to Uraraka’s displeasure, she was wearing the same shirt, but in red. She tried to be polite, keeping in mind what Tsuyu had said.

“Oh, wow, thanks, but really I’ll be fine-”

“But I want to go! This will be my chance to see Young Joey in person, and I’m gonna be as close to her as possible!”

Uraraka mentally resigned to the situation, and together they made their way back down into the center of the crowd together. The first opener comes onstage to lukewarm applause, and announced themselves as the Bang Bears. Four of the members were wearing pretty cute ears and furry outfits, while the fifth member was just a bear. They played pretty well (The bear was surprisingly good on bass) and Uraraka politely nodded her head to the music. Hatsume had led them into a good spot, close enough to the stage that you could smell the fog, and they were nestled comfortably in the crowd. Uraraka shot a sideways glance at Hatsume, who seemed slightly bored.

Uraraka’s (now fully charged) phone buzzed, and she sees that it’s a text from Tsuyu. It’s a picture of two bobbing heads in the crowd, in a swirling mass of bodies and lights.The text underneath it read “I spy… two future best friends! :P”

Uraraka texts back “haha no -gun emoji-”

Tsuyu: “C’mon, give it a try! I mean, you both seem to be super fans of the same band”

Uraraka: “A lot of people like this band! I’m standing in a crowd of them!” Tsuyu: “Ok, if you say so. I’m going to go save Jirou, she accidentally sat between Momo and Mina and they both keep shooting glances at each other when they think the other isn’t looking :P”

Uraraka: “omg! They are being sooo obvious (+u+)”

Tsuyu: “I knoow. Either way, Jirou looks like she’s ready to blow their covers for them. Good luck down there!”

Uraraka put away her phone, and looked over at Hatsume again. She decided to take a random stab at conversation.

“So… Have you always been a fan of Loud Youth?”

Mei turned her eyes to to focus on her, which Uraraka still doesn’t really like, but said “No, I only got into them last year! I started listening to their last album while I was working on my entrance submission to UA Support Studies, and listened to nothing else for like, a month!”

Uraraka tried to work off of it. “Yeah, I love using their third album, Fever Rabbit, as a workout playlist. It’s like, my absolute go to, so much that Deku has stopped letting me DJ in the gym.”

Oh no. Without meaning to, she had accidentally brought up one of the main pressure points for her annoyance with Hatsume.

“Oh yeah, you’re always hanging out with that Izuku kid, aren’t you? He’s kinda funny, isn’t he?”

“Funny how?” Uraraka said, feeling her eyes start to narrow.

“Oh just like… Like, you wouldn’t look at him and think ‘Hero’ right? But that kid is like, super intense, even with his plain look.”

“Whatever Deku looks like is what a hero looks like” Uraraka snapped “Heroes can have big goofy grins, and, and soft hair, and cute freckles, and-” and suddenly she clamped her mouth shut, mortified by the fact she is telling this girl who is NOT her friend just how much she thinks about Deku’s freckles.

Hatsume doesn’t seem to notice her embarrassment, and instead looked thoughtful over what Uraraka said “You know, you’re right! I think that’s one of my problems, thinking more about looks rather than function sometimes. My teacher always tells me I focus too much on making something look flashy more than making it work.”

Uraraka felt herself getting a bit curious- She knew next to nothing about the support course, other than working with them occasionally on her outfit and gear, and has no idea how their curriculum goes. By the time the Bang Bears finished their last song, Hatsume was explaining how the support studies finals went (unlike the hero course, theirs is project based, and they have to submit a piece of equipment that has to pass rigorous review and grading). Uraraka, at this point, had drunk most of Hatsume’s foldable water bottle, and thought that this was probably the only chance she would get to go to the bathroom for a while. She excused herself, and Hatsume promised to save her spot.

Just like everywhere else at this venue, the bathroom had a line, cutting into the hallway. Uraraka meekly joined it, trying not to tap her foot out of anticipation to get back to the crowd. She felt a nudge on her shoulder. There behind her was a slightly flushed (which meant pinker than usual) Ashido. “Hey Uraraka, can I talk to you for a sec?”

“Uh” Uraraka shuffled forward an inch with the line. “Yes?”

“Great, I could really use your help man. Look, here’s the deal, cards on the table: I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I really like Momo.”

“Oh! Yeah, I know.”

“That’s okay if you’re a bit shocked man, I mean, so was I, but that’s just how it goes.”

“No, really Mina, I know. I think it’s great.”

“See! That’s what I love about you dude, you can always adapt to the unexpected. Anyways, I need your advice, because I don’t know how much longer I can keep it secret. I mean, I don’t know if she even likes me back! She probably likes other people who are her level, people who are more like Todoroki or, the president, or something.” They were now inside of the bathroom proper, and Uraraka was keeping both eyes glued onto the stalls while she talked to Ashido. Man, she REALLY had to go.

“Look, Ashido, I’m sure Momo thinks you are great. She likes Todoroki fine, but I’m sure for dating, she just wants someone that makes her feel relaxed and happy. So just, I dunno, see if you can make her laugh, and then you know if you should ask her out or not.”

Ashido put her hand up to her forehead, obviously needing a moment to process this.

“Oh my gosh Uraraka…. You are so smart, thank you so much!”

Ashido then gave her a hug, tight enough that Uraraka felt real fear that she’ll accidentally pee herself, then dashed out of the bathroom, yelling back “Just you wait, I’ll relax the hell out of her!”

About five minutes later, Uraraka made it into one of the stalls. She was barely sitting in there long enough to admire all the colorful graffiti when she heard a familiar panicked voice call from the bathroom entrance.

“Uraraka! Are you in here? I’m freaking out!”

Uraraka, still in the stall, called back “Uuuuh yes? Can I help you?”

Yaoyorozu’s feet appeared outside her stall, and she yell-whispered “Uraraka! I need your help!”

“Um,”

“I think I’ve been drinking too much, and it’s messing with my perception of things! I keep feeling like Mina is noticing that I like her! She keeps looking at me and saying weird things to me!”

“Oh, oooh, okay um.. I’m sure it’s nothing”

“I mean, I’ve been strictly monitoring my intake, making sure I don’t go over my limit, and with my current body mass I should not experiencing these alcohol side effects!”

Uraraka tried to finish up while Momo goes on about her body mass calculations, and opened the door to see her standing right there, wild eyed and blushing furiously.

Uraraka edged by her to get to the faucets, trying to take on a calming tone, keeping one ear peeled to make sure the second opening act hasn’t started yet.

“Listen, Momo, I think you’ll be fine. No, you don’t have to make a breathalyzer for yourself. You know, I think Mina just wants to talk to you. Maybe she likes your company.”

Momo gets silent at this, still looking frazzled.

Uraraka, after drying her hands, puts her hands on Momo’s shoulders.

“Look, you’re sweet, you’re smart, you’re capable, it could be Mina just likes you”

Momo’s shoulders dropped.

“As if. I’m way too high maintenance for her. She probably wants like, a motorcycle-riding bad girl, and I’m not that.”

Uraraka felt like she could scream, but instead she took a deep breath.

“Listen, Mina isn’t complicated. She wants someone who will listen to her bad jokes, and that’s about it. Just relax.”

Momo nods, and Uraraka patted her on the back, leading her back into into the hallway.

As soon as she saw Yaoyorozu head back towards the stairs, she looked down at her phone. There were some missed messages from Mei, telling her to come back ASAP. Uraraka shoved her phone back into her pocket, and practically runs back to where Hatsume is. There she sees what the problem is.

In front of Hatsume, towering head and shoulders over anyone else in the crowd, was a big rocky fella, bright red and not budging from in front of Hatsume. As Uraraka drew closer, she heard Hatsume’s commanding voice insisting to this man that he had to move, she couldn’t see, and that she had been saving a spot-

Uraraka came up and meekly stood next to her, not knowing what to do, feeling like this was her fault. With a sound of crunching gravel, rock-man turned his head around to look at them and leaned over, so that he would be looming above them.

“Look here, sweeties. You don’t get to save spots in the mosh pit. Eat it and leave, because I’m not moving.”

Uraraka saw, even in the dim light, Hatsume’s face flush with anger.

“Now, listen here asshole! My friend and I were here first, and we deserve a spot in this crowd! If you want to be bitter and gross about it, then you don’t deserve to even be here! Have fun living life as… as an extremely unpleasant person!” and she grabbed Uraraka by the hand and led her away from rock-man, absolutely fuming. The second act was coming on, and the lights were dimming again. Uraraka stopped Hatsume, trying to look down and blink the tears out of her eyes. She cleared her throat and said,

“Maybe… Maybe I should go back up with everyone else. I don’t know why I was so stupid, I should have known better than to think we’d get at all close to the band. Everything in this night is going wrong.” Uraraka now couldn’t keep the shake out of her voice, and felt pathetic.

“I blew all my money on this one ticket, and I’ve been rude and bitter all night, and I keep thinking that I can be some… Some slick cool girl, when really I’m just a loser fan.” Oh no, she was crying. Real heroic, Ochako.

“I don’t think you’re a loser!” said Hatsume empathetically. She pulled out a little package of tissues and offered one to Uraraka to blow her nose on. “And plus, that was just a bump in the road! I haven’t even shown you my secret plan yet!”

Uraraka looked up, still sniffling. “P-plan?”

“Yup! To get us in front! Here, put this on, and follow my lead!” Hatsume pulled out two black baseball caps with the words “staff” written on them, and a spray bottle and clump of rags. She put one of Uraraka’s head, and the grabbed her hand and led her back into the crowd, this time around the side, where the crowd was slightly thinner. When she finally started leading Uraraka into the main fray, she told everyone standing “Make way, we gotta get through, someone partied a little bit too hard, and trust us, it isn’t pretty! Excuse us, thank you, we’re just getting through!”

As soon as people heard that, they jumped right out of the way, letting the girls pass through without challenge, obviously not wanting to think to hard about the mess they claimed to be cleaning up.

Before Uraraka knew it, they were there, next to the stage, feeling the beat of the second openers drums in their feet. She couldn’t help but squeal and clutch her face, not believing how close they were. Hatsume grabbed the caps off their heads and tucked them away before security saw them, and Uraraka pulled her into a rough hug.

“Thank you.” she said, muffled into Hatsume’s shoulder. “This is one of the nicest things anyone’s ever done for me.”

Both of the girls then looked at eachother for  soulful moment, then collapsed into giggles, laughing at the whole strange situation. The laughter kept bubbling up through Uraraka’s chest throughout the whole short set, and at one point they sent a picture to Tsuyu of both their hands touching the stage. Tsuyu sent back a picture of all the girls crowded in a selfie cheering for them. In what felt like a moment, the opener has played their last song, and the lights went dark. A rush of fog hit her square in her face, and she heard the opening chords that by now she had memorized, note for note.

—–

The rest of the girls were waiting for them by the front of the doors by the time the concert ended. When Uraraka tried to call out to them, she was surprised to find that her voice came out a dull croak. Jirou found this absolutely hilarious, but it didn’t stop both Uraraka and Hatsume from detailing every bit of the concert to the rest of the girls.

“When they played ‘Skip Hop Sweat’ I lost my mind, that drums solo was so good!”

“I didn’t know how funny the band was, their banter was almost as good as the songs, I swear!”

“Oh, but the best part was during ‘Window Shopping’ when Young Joey SANG RIGHT TO URARAKA! She touched her hand and everything!”

Hagakure giggled at their raspy voices.

“Oh man, you better hope that clears up before Monday’s English oral exam. You know how Professor Mic feels about ‘PRO-JECT-IOOOON!’” and she yelled out the word in an uncanny impression of the teacher. By now they were at the train station, and Hatsume turned to the group.

“Well,” she croaked, “I’m taking a different train back home. This is where we part I think.”

She hugged every girl there in turn, everyone expressing goodbyes and mentioning how nice it was to have seen her. She reached Uraraka last, and pulled her into a tight hug, rocking a bit before letting her go. Her eyes seemed a bit overbright as she said,

“Really, I had such a good time tonight. I’m so glad we got to hang out. I was totally prepared to go to this concert alone, but I’m so, so happy I ran into you guys.”

Uraraka blinked back, sincerely touched by this. “Me too.”

And she meant it.

On the train, Uraraka kept having to keep herself from dozing off on Tsuyu’s shoulder. She could hear Ashido and Yaoyorozu having a quiet conversation behind her. Mina was shyly muttering something about how she has been wanting to try out this new burger place in town, and was wondering if Momo would maybe want to check it out with her.

“Oh, yes, I would love that… I’ve never had a burger before.”

“What? Oh man, we’ve gotta go then! I think you’d love them, you really strike me as the burger kind of girl.”

Once they finally beeped their way back through the school gates with their school IDs, they tromped up the stairs to the dorms. The boys were all in the living room, yelling and jumping on the couch, eyes rapt on the screen. Apparently they had spent their saturday in playing a full Super Smash Bros Tournament, and right now Kaminari and Deku were facing off in the final round. Kaminari, judging from the jeers of the rest of the boys, was losing. Some of the girls plopped down on the couch to watch the end of the match, but Uraraka felt like she was about to pass out from exhaustion. She murmured a broad “G’night” to everyone, heard it distractedly echoed it back, and made her way up the stairs to her room.

She only managed to kick off her shoes and pants before she crawled into bed. Before she completely fell asleep, and saw one more message from Tsuyu. It’s a picture, obviously taken from far away and zoomed in, and overly bright from the stage lights. However, there at the edge of the stage is undeniably Uraraka and and Hatsume, raising their arms up, inches away from their idol. One message is tacked along with it:

“Told ya <3”

Uraraka smiles as she drops her phone to the side and passes out, ready to sleep in tomorrow.

[soupiyamashuu]

whats in my ocs’ pockets ( TEXT HEAVY )

INSPIRED BY A POST I JUST SAW

the format is basically like: Name - description. everyday content. extras.

Finn: this guy ... always has weird stuff in his pockets ok. im sure that if cargo pants were stylish he’d be wearing them because he is always complaining about “NOT ENOUGH POCKETS”.

contents: keys, passes, phone, headphones, wallet, ID cards, library cards, pencils, pens, paper, paperclips, etc. he likes to bring along a lot of office supplies so he can draw in meetings with his co-workers. he sometimes brings in food ( candies ) and weird toys that he can fuck around with when he’s really fucking bored. often, he keeps weird anime references ( naruto cards, dragon ball marbles, etc etc )

Elena: elena’s got a lot of useful stuff, but she doesn’t have very many random things on a daily basis.

contents: keys, bus passes, IDs, wallet, phone, teacher ID, hard candies, and bandaids. elena will sometimes collect odd things during class, such as erasers, mechanical pencils, pens, and left behind notes. she likes keeping her stuff in specific pockets as well. finn tends to give her weird gifts to keep, so she’ll put those in her pockets as well. sometimes she’ll accidentally leave trash in her pockets after forgetting to throw it away.

Dimitri: he always picks out clothes with deep pockets so he can store more things, kind of like how finn does. except he doesn’t hoard random things for later.

contents: his keys, passes ( bus pass, parking pass, student lunch pass, dorm pass, etc. ) phone, headphones, IDs, and his wallet. he’s the type to keep ticket stubs, so he probably has stubs from a few days ago in one of his pockets, especially if he didn’t clean out his pockets // hasnt washed his pants yet. he once had someone else’s student ID in his pocket for days before looking at it and realizing it Wasn’t his.

Cecil: this guy barely has anything on him! therefore he’s good with pants without deep pockets.

contents: phone, keys, loose money and change. he also brings contact solution / a contact case OR glasses cloths. while he doesn’t keep many things everyday, he tends to pick up things for later, especially when he goes outside. once he collected a bunch of “cool” leaves and shoved them in his pockets for later.

Toby: toby doesn’t keep anything useful in his pockets

contents: phone, headphones, an eraser, one single canadian penny toby claims his penny gives him good luck because ever since he picked it up on a trip to vancouver, he’s been having multiple streaks of lucky days. toby likes to have very tight pants and therefore doesn’t get much pocket space. he usually keeps his phone in either his hands or the pockets of his jacket. he likes to pick up rubber bands and keep them to send to others as “gifts”

Marina: marina surprisingly has a lot in her pockets.

contents: a slip of paper that has her coffee orders, her phone, headphones, paperclips, a wallet, keys, passes, and loose change. marina could have put her change in the wallet, but what’s the point. it’ll just fall out anyway. she also tends to have folded up sheets of paper that have new things she wants to buy. she keeps a french flag pin in her pocket sometimes.

Carmen: carmen is the most efficient with her pockets.

contents: paperclips, her phone, (broken) headphones, wallet, keys, pens, pencils, scraps of paper, and little pieces of candy. she likes to keep candy around in case she’s Really hungry or one of her friends is hungry. she also keeps a glasses cleaning cloth in her pockets just in case. carmen also likes to have at least 5 bandaids on her person at any given time.

Yuki: yuki is fairly average with what’s in his pockets

contents: pocket notepad, wallet, keys, phone, anxiety meds, and a pencil. he doesn’t like to have a lot in his pockets because he’s always worried that he’ll forget something that’s Actually important. he would like to carry around a stress ball, but hasn’t bought one yet.

Tsukihime: she keeps almost Nothing there. literally, most days she’ll just carry around her phone, a key, a train pass, and a credit card / loose money. this is probably because she doesn’t actually wear a lot of things with pockets. her purse has a lot in it, but this is a post about pockets.

Nikolai: this guy literally has a billion things

contents: lucky rabbit’s foot, laminated 4 leaf clover, phone, headphones, wallet, keys, pencil, erasers, candy, gum, a bandaid, a single match, a rubber band, torn papers, a cleaning cloth for his glasses, a swiss army knife, a “get out of jail free” card, a checker piece, and his library card. when questioned why he always has so much useless stuff, he replies, “There will come a time for all of this stuff.” cryptic!

Keiko: she doesn’t have anything to hold in her pockets very much. if she keeps anything, it’s usually candies or important papers.

Kikka: doesn’t keep many things except for candy.

Luna: not an avid collector of many things, she’s got pretty empty pockets!

contents: phone, passport, wallet, keys she keeps all of her ID cards in either her passport or her wallet and rarely bothers to pick up anything. she will sometimes keep a pencil and paper in her pocket if she’s going to an exciting event. if she’s going to be driving around a bit / walking a bit, she brings her headphones.

Kouki: he’s always carrying a bunch of useless junk around with him. relatable?

contents: phone, headphones, a comb, wallet ( pokemon themed ), and some IDs. he’ll carry around literally anything that he thinks about. he likes to keep a laminated card of jerry seinfeld’s face in his pocket and brings new things around every day. he has a written out schedule of his school day in his pocket on the back of a coupon for captain crunch cereal. kouki sometimes brings pokemon games in his pocket, then forgets his DS at home. he also often sneaks in odd food and gacha machine prizes. he kept a gumball that was oddly shaped in his pocket for 3 months.

Ha-Yun: she has funny things in her pockets, usually from her friends and family.

contents: headphones, phone, ipod, wallet, ID cards, library card, tissues, phone camera add-ons, and a little plastic alien. often times, she has american money in her pockets. even though she lives in south korea. she says her “fans” from her blog send her money to the PO box without exchanging it to KRW. she likes keeping a glow in the dark alien figure in her pocket just in case. sometimes she keeps miniature flashlights in the case that she has to run around outside in the dark.

Chun: because she’s always exploring outside, she often picks up a lot of stuff outdoors.

contents: phone, ziplock bag, headphones, camera lenses, microfiber cloths, bandaids, candy, pencils and a notepad, a wallet, keys, IDs, etc. she often picks up seashells and keeps polaroid pictures in her pocket. she likes to collect little shells for her pet crabs to look at. sometimes picks up flowers and weird plants.

Markus: markus keeps Only important things. if he doesn’t need it, why would he pick it up..

contents: phone, wallet ( w/ IDs, passes, keys, and money... efficient! ), and a swiss army knife. on the rare occasion that he does pick up something else, it’s usually money.

Melati: melati seemingly picks up anything that she thinks looks neat.

contents: phone, lucky clover, tissues, an ID card, money, a library card, bandaids, headphones, and her keys. melati usually walks around through downtown on the weekdays and ends up picking up a lot of stuff she sees. often, she picks up rocks and flowers, sometimes random lost receipts and notes she finds on the ground. she likes to buy trading cards and put them in her pockets sometimes.