#someone save me from this stomachache

[twstbookclub]

Adronitis

Summary: Deuce met you once, and he thought that was the end of that. Until, he bumps into you twice in two different occasions. POV: 2nd Person Pronouns: Gender-neutral Admin/Writer: Cressa🦋 Tags: Third Time’s the Charm, Puppy Love (if you squint), Slow Burn with an open ending, Deuce Spade being an Awkward Sweetie, Romance, Fluff, MC is not the Ramshackle Prefect/Yuu Word Count: 1, 554

i’m alive lmao. finals are over, so i have the chance to post this. it’s been in my drafts for months, and i finished this while nursing a stomachache ;; this isn’t proofread, by the way.

Deuce first met you during club hours. He didn’t think much of you, not when he’s focused on becoming an honor student that’d make his mother proud. Your first meeting didn’t unfold like a romance drama. There were no cherry blossoms drifting in the breeze. Time didn’t slow down nor freeze when your eyes met. His heart didn’t pound so much that it’d jump out of his chest. It felt like any ordinary day in Night Raven College minus his shenanigans with the Ramshackle Prefect, of course.

If anything, it started with a water bottle.

Sweat dripped down Deuce’s jaw, slightly gaping due to his tired panting. With his hands on his knees, he watched the salty droplet fall to the ground as he gathered his bearings. The sun seemed harsher today, glaring down at the runners in the field. Deuce heard some of his clubmates groaning about the sweltering heat, either in loud complaints or hushed curses.

Water. I need water, was all Deuce could think at the time.

As if someone read his mind, a water bottle dangled in front of his eyes. Deuce blinked in disbelief, then his gaze trailed from the hand holding the miracle to another vaguely familiar face. You stood there with a lopsided smile and a hand on your hip. Under the blinding afternoon sun, you seemed like a guardian angel that descended in the middle of a desert.

“You look like you need it more than I do,” you chuckled. Once Deuce took your offer, you shot him another smile and continued on your way. The grime and sweat from all the running didn’t bother Deuce. The cold water bottle soothing his dry throat and hot skin didn’t deter him either.

Deuce just watched you run with a curious gaze.

The second time the Heartslabyul freshman saw you, Deuce had bumped into you in the cafeteria. A special menu came up, so the area was more crowded than usual. Students argued and dragged each other away from the line. Some snuck and cut into the queue in hopes of getting to the limited-time menu early. No matter where you went, you’d always bump into arms and elbows. He almost got hit on the neck by someone else’s elbow when Ace dragged him through the masses.

Deuce spied some guys trading lunch while another pair started a fist fight. Although, that ended when Jack lifted the boys by the collars; like a mother cat scolding her kittens. It was pandemonium, and Grim hasn’t even started making a ruckus. One pair even started fighting with magic until his housewarden collared them with his signature spell.

Honestly, that was dumb of them, but that’s not the focus right now.

He already found out some things about you at this point. You’re a freshman, just like him, and you joined Track and Field—again, just like him. Although, that’s where the similarities ended.

You didn’t attract too much attention. You didn’t seem to cause any trouble, which is rare in an all-boys school filled with the most rambunctious and rebellious students. With so many students attending NRC, you were just another face in the crowd. It was no wonder Deuce hadn’t noticed you until that day.

“Oh!” You beamed, another water bottle in hand. “It’s you! Um, Deuce, right?”

“Yeah,” Deuce stiffly nodded, feeling a bit awkward at his friends’ stares, “You’re part of Track and Field, too, right?”

Your name smoothly rolled off his tongue, like honey dripping into tea. Another huge smile graced your lips as your eyes shone brighter. Deuce felt his heart stutter at your change in demeanor. The ground under his feet felt unstable, which made him a bit dizzy and disoriented.

“I always wanted to run like you,” you sheepishly admitted. A wince from a hit to your side broke Deuce from his trance. “I could go on, but this isn’t the time and place, huh?”

Before he could say anything, Deuce watched you maneuver your way through the crowd with a wave. “I’ll see you around!”

“Merciful Seven,” Ace groaned and checked Deuce on the shoulder as he shoved past him, “Get your goo-goo eyes and head out of the clouds, man! We’re gonna get nothing at this rate!”

“Huh? What’d ya say?!” Deuce growled, chasing after the redhead. “Come back here, you punk!”

He could vaguely hear the Ramshackle Prefect exasperatedly sigh and call for them. Grim choked out an annoyed scream from behind. As the noise and jostle of the crowd consumed Deuce’s senses, the image of your bright expression seared itself into his mind.

The third time, he found you in the courtyard on his way to Sam’s shop. Deuce saw you fiddling with something as you muttered to yourself. Your fingers twisted a tiny key lodged into a mahogany box with gentle precision. Your tongue poked out of your lips as your eyebrows scrunched together. Deuce noticed that you’ve always made that face whenever you ran in the field. He just knew that the world around you didn’t exist whenever it happened. Not even the harsh heat stopped you.

“Hey Deuce!”

He almost flinched at your voice. Smiling, you patted the spot beside you on the grass, then returned to fiddling with the contraption. It was a music box, Deuce realized. It was an antique music box with some scratches and dust. The tiny thing had seen better days.

Wait, how did he end up in front of you? Better yet, when did he go off the path towards you?

“Hey, uh, what’s that you’re holding?”

… It’s obviously a music box. Why did I ask that? Deuce thought, nearly smacking himself in the face at how stupid he sounded. If Ace could hear him right now, he’d be cackling and howling til his stomach hurt the next morning. He could just imagine the mischievous smirk on the Prefect’s face while Grim snickered behind their legs.

Embarrassing would be an understatement.

“Oh, this?” You chuckled, and Deuce felt his heart almost burst out of his chest. “It’s a music box. I had Sam fix it up for me, so I’m checking if it works like before.”

Your smile faltered, replaced by a melancholic expression, as your gaze lingered on the tiny contraption. Deuce quietly sat beside you, who still stared at the music box. The frown on your face and the dull look in your eyes were something foreign to him. For some reason, Deuce didn’t like seeing you this way, much less feel this sad.

“My mom gave me this.” Your voice was nothing but a tiny whisper as your thumb traced a scratch on the box. “It’s the last thing I have of her, so… I hope it works.”

Deuce felt like he had been punched in the gut. The image of his own mother—dark circles under her eyes and calluses on her once smooth hands; crying into the phone about her delinquent son; smiling as she tells him how proud she is of him—flashed in his mind. His heart sank at the thought of a life without her. He can only imagine the pain and sorrow you felt at the moment.

“I’m sorry.” Before he could think about it, Deuce clapped a hand on your shoulder in an attempt to comfort you. His lips were pressed in a thin line as your eyes met his. What else could you even tell someone who’s grieving over a deceased loved one, especially when the wound was still fresh?

You stared at Deuce for a bit, then the corners of your mouth twitched into a small smile. You huff as your hand squeezed his, the one on your shoulder. Deuce noticed that you had a firm grip despite your unassuming demeanor. He admired your smile, lips moving to answer him with a heartfelt, “Thanks.”

Nothing else disturbed the peaceful silence between the two of you. Even though it was peaceful, Deuce felt restless. He wanted to talk more; wanted you to share more about yourself. That tidbit about your mother made his heart hurt, but he wanted more. All of your attention returned to the music box, and he didn’t know what else to say. That antique clearly meant a lot to you. He should leave you to it.

But, for some reason, Deuce couldn’t. He didn’t want to. Even if Riddle threatened to collar him right now, he’d choose to stay next to you.

“It works!” Your voice brought him back to reality. A lullaby, one that he heard of as a child, rang in the air. The wind-up key slowly turned as the music box played its tune. Then, Deuce’s attention drifted to you.

The grin that stretched across your face and the sparkle in your eyes made the former delinquent’s heart lurch. He couldn’t look away from you, even when you turned to look at him with that huge grin. The world seemed to fade away. Your voice was muffled, and your words seemed to go into one ear and out of the other. His cheeks burned the longer he looked at you. As you excitedly marveled about the music box working, Deuce only thought of one thing.

Ace was going to have a field day once he figured out that Deuce has a crush.

[run2seob]

txt with a mexican s/o

p: ot5 txt x mexican!reader g: fluff, bullet pointed head cannons w: written in spanglish notes — no soy mexicana , así q corríjame porfa ㅠㅠ request :: masterlist

SOOBIN

este conejito-

take him to the zoo y mira lo q hace: go straight to the bunnies

he's in his habitat jajaj

it would be so fun

peroo...

después de eso solo lo llamas conejito y no tiene ni idea

"conejito ven aquí!" cuando quiero un besito

or if you're tired y deprived of cuddles "conejitoo~"

you say it todos los días pero él todavía no sabe lo que significa

cuando el te preguntas, you'll be so surprised.. jaw para abajo y todo

"you didn't know..?"

"no :(" con la expression adorable

how could you not be absolutely in love cuando se ve así?

"conejito es un bunny" and you boop his nose afterwards

q lindo T0T

YEONJUN

he's so excited to meet your parents ><

you've been dating paraa... 2 años?

where it's not pushing "ey cásate conmigo" but you're still clingy and in love como las telenovelas

cuando llegues, he'll be smiling so wide :(

como el modismo "smiling ear to ear", he's doing just that

his teeth are shining through and it's so cutee

as soon as you step inside, your parents are attached to him

"ah sir-" "llámame papi" (o papa)

ai he's so happy afterwards, *especially* when the food comes out

ojalá q he doesn't get a stomachache from cuantos tamales que comio

he's smiling the entire time 😭😭

su amorcito

BEOMGYU

un mexicano at heart

si pones en un cuarto mid festival he'll fit right in

y sii, el no sabes NI español (save: hola y si)

pero if the times he's repeatedly yelling "sii!" whenever he's happy doesn't say enough that's he's trying

(or maybe that the chaos is so loud that even beomgyu puedes entenderlo)

then the fact that he's talking to your little cousins should prove it

"vas a casarte con yn?" (and yeah it's nosy.. but i mean can you blame them for asking? you two look way too cute together with your hand guiding him everywhere and smile being one he can easily find)

"i hope so."

TAEHYUN

he's always using pet names on you i'm heavy on thiss

"mi alma, what's wrong?" whenever you're crying

and he says it with such a soft tone q te recuerda a casa

his hands would come up to cup your cheeks softly, moving away your worries and your tears in one movement

he wouldn't kiss you just yet, as he wants permission

but you can see in his eyes, even without his lips against your face or lips how much he loves you

"mi amor.. you can tell me anything"

HE'S SO SWEET WITH IT (get me someone like taehyun if you can. please.

truly someone to court you just with two words. or one.

el es un magician

KAI

kai y amor joven >>>

lt's say you met… middle school? older or younger no se, es tu imaginación 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

anYWAYS

everybody is opening clubs in whatever year it is he's walking around with his overalls, his hair bouncing in each step because he's just so excited to promote robotics club

pero nadien really focuses on robotics… but he loves it a lot

y tu también, and when two people are the only two in a club.. 😻

jaja pero let's just say that the language barrier messed you up a lott so you only talked through code and making each other things through code

un corazón, por ejemple

y cuando you got separated and met again YEARSS later

you can finally show him the heart you never got to show him before and grow your budding love again

notes — i'm not sure if i'll make a full english vers. but lmk ^^

[seospicybin]

ONE PROPOSITION.

Seungmin x reader. (s,f)

Synopsis: Not only you frown on love, you don't date nice guys and Seungmin is both a nice guy and don't want less than love. A proposition is offered to you to see if he can change your mind. (10,2k words)

Author's note: a fluffy smut for a change. Enjoy! :)

Love is patient, love is kind.

Pfft... more like love is slowly losing your mind.

Love makes it okay for people to dumb themselves down for someone else or do silly things in public and everyone would deem it romantic.

You don't do love anymore because it's nothing but a sack of vile and utter nonsense.

What you do is short-lived infatuation, physical attraction, one-night lovers then you're free to move on to the next one without any sort of attachment.

To put it simply, love gives you the stomachache. Love is just... yuck!

Also, it's easier that way, maybe you'll do love when you're old and bored or maybe...

"Let's go on a date!"

You don't expect this from the smartest student in class, Kim Seungmin.

You let out a dry laugh then pick up your bag from your chair, "sure, pick me up at 8?" You respond with a nonchalant shrug.

He doesn't seem to get the joke because he isn't laughing or responding to your words, he's just staring at you with his brown eyes.

Your laugh dies down instantly when you notice the serious face he puts on, "you're being serious?"

"I am," he shortly replies.

You scoff in a perplexed way then hoist your bag strap higher on your shoulder and start walking toward the exit, it's best to get out of this awkward scene.

When you think you're already losing him, you see him walking next to you and ask, "What do you think?"

"Think of what?"

"Going on a date with me?" He asks again.

You laugh again because it's the nicest response you can give to him, he's alright and he probably asked it for a social experiment or something.

"But why?"

He matches his pace to catch up with your half-jogging since you're going to be late for your part-time job at the bookstore.

"Because I like you," he simply answers like it's so obvious.

But you are so oblivious to it, you don't even know he's capable of having this kind of feeling. You always think of him as someone who knows nothing but being the smartest person in the room. You laugh again because you don't know how to properly respond to someone who admits that he likes you out of a blue.

"Seungmin, I can't play along. I'm going to be late for work," you tell him while keeps walking in the direction of the bus stop near campus.

"I can drive you there," he offers, taking the car keys out of his jacket and jiggling them in front of you.

You calculate it in your head, even after you make it to the bus stop, you still have to wait for the bus then there's probably traffic, taking his offer can save you from being late to work.

The only information you have on him is so little that you have no idea he's been driving his car to campus every day. It's neat in there, unlike any other guy's car you've been in that's littered with trash or their stuff. His car smells nice and he drives steadily with one hand on the steering wheel.

"You haven't done that assignment for Professor Park's class, don't you?" He suddenly asks.

Your eyes widen in shock because no one knows except that he was there when you were being scolded by Professor Park in his office.

"How did you know?"

It takes him a few seconds to finally give you an answer, "we met outside his office but I guess you were too upset to notice."

You weren't just upset, you cursed at Professor Park right after closing the door of his office then kicked the potted plant nearby, sending the soil scattered on the floor. You were furious but Seungmin was just being nice by saying you were just 'too upset'.

"I don't see why you still like me after seeing that," you say with an awkward laugh.

"I just do," he says ever so casually like he just didn't admit to having a feeling for you.

Aren't you glad you're not like any other girl? Imagine hearing that and your heart starts to flutter.

"That's why I ask you on a date," he says again.

You take a moment to look at him, observing him and trying to see if he has any ulterior motives. Who knows? It's usually the quiet ones that are unpredictable.

He turns his head at you and stops you from scanning him further, "Let's go on a date!"

You have no problem with him, he's alright. Kim Seungmin is nice and smart, but that's also the problem, you don't date nice guys.

"No," you flatly reject him.

He doesn't seem to mind being rejected, he rather seems like he already expected this answer from you.

"May I know why?" He calmly asks.

And you like how curious he sounded, he probably thinks this whole thing is a mathematical problem that he can't solve and will keep on trying until he does.

"I don't date guys like you," you answer.

"Guys like me?"

"Nice guys," you give him a clearer answer.

"Ah!" He exclaims and calmly makes a turn to the parking lot of the bookstore you're working in.

You take it that he gave up already on his quest to date you but as you unbuckle the safety belt, he stops you from getting out of the car.

"I have a proposition for you," he says.

And you never heard any man saying that to you, a proposition? What does he think it is? A business deal?

"I'll help you work on your assignment for Professor Park," he offers.

You know there's something to that, "but…?"

He smiles at your word and it's the first time that you've ever seen on him, it surprised you that he has another expression apart from the serious and focused ones you always see on him

"But once the assignment is approved, I get to take you on a date," he finishes.

It's confusing already with him suddenly confessing that he fancies you, him of all people. Why would the smartest guy on campus like the most average student who only likes to fool around with guys?

But you must admit that he makes a good proposition, it's very tempting.

"Just a date? One date?" You ask.

He nods, "one date."

One date is not harmful, right? A nice guy like him is most likely to take you out on a dinner and perhaps a walk in the park after, a kiss or two at the end of the night. You can do that without having to involve any feelings whatsoever.

There's this tugging feeling though, maybe it's coming from your experiences with bad guys that always make you suspicious about everything they do.

Also, what if Seungmin is just playing with you?

"Can I answer this later? I'm late for work," you say.

"What time do you clock out?" He asks.

You act nonchalantly to not give him the impression that you will take his proposition that easily, "8 but I have to do some stuff beforehand. Maybe close to 9, I don't know."

He nods but not saying anything to you.

"Thanks for the ride, bye!" You abruptly end the conversation and get out of his car.

You forgot all about it when you have so many tasks waiting for you, there are just too many things to do that half shift of work ended so fast and you take one last lap around the bookstore to return the straying books to their shelves.

You clock out half an hour after eight and push through the back door, you just need to go to the bus stop and a fifteen-minute bus ride later, you'll be back at your small apartment and sleep and...

You hear a car honking at you from across the parking lot, you squint to see the car with the headlights shine right at you.

The car drives and stops right next to you, it's Seungmin.

"Come on, I'll drive you home," he says from his rolled-down window.

You lean down just enough to see him inside and lean closer to him, "Why are you still here?" You ask with pure shock.

"I'm waiting for your answer," he answers in the same deadpan manner.

So, Seungmin is serious about his proposition.

-

You work on the assignment together after you get off work and Seungmin would already there, waiting in his car for you.

He doesn't mind spending hours in your shoebox of an apartment, squeezing yourselves into the worn-out couch while he patiently guides you as you work on your laptop. He never overstayed and leaves before midnight, despite none of you having a curfew and being of age to do anything.

When you're not working, you do the assignment at a cafe close to your apartment building.

"Do you always do that?"

"Huh?" You turn your head at him.

"Touching your nose," he points at your hand touching one of your ears.

You didn't even know you were scratching your nose until he pointed it out and you have to consciously put your hand down, "it's a habit, I guess."

He sheepishly smiles at you before looking down at the book he's reading, "that's cute."

And you can say the same about him.

Seungmin likes to wait by his car for your last class to end and his face would light up when he sees you.

"How are you?" He would ask, it's a simple question but you like his smile more when he asks that, a smile that somehow resembles a puppy's.

One night, when you had to work overtime at work, he came into the bookstore and brought you food because he knew you'll be skipping dinner.

Seungmin is nice and he's smart, he's great but love is just... yuck.

-

You are back on your worn-out couch to work on the assignment for the last time.

Seungmin is intently checking your assignment while you quietly do the same to him. These past few days you have spent with him, make you notice things you haven't seen in him before. He used to wear his hair down, but tonight, he pushes his hair back which makes him look more attractive.

And when he's focusing hard like this, his stare is fierce and his jaws are clenched, he looks even more attractive because he's so unaware of it.

He wears a fitted shirt which only accentuates his slim figure and square shoulders.

"Do you play sports?" You blurt out because you're never the type to hold back when you're curious about something and most men like being asked about their physique.

"Baseball," he shorty replies without straying his eyes from the laptop screen.

"Let me guess, pitcher?"

He nods.

That explains the broad shoulders and your eyes lower to see his hands holding the laptops, he has nice hands and long fingers with evident veins on the back of his hands.

It's the first time you realize you have always been sitting in this proximity with him on your worn-out couch in your small apartment.

Tonight, the proximity feels exceptionally palpable and you start to notice the nice smell of his perfume.

Seungmin shifts on his seat to put the laptop down on the table.

"It's good," he says then takes a sip of his canned soda.

"Yeah?" You ask but your eyes watching his Adam's apple bob in his neck as he swallows his drink.

He nods.

"Do you think Professor Park will approve?" You ask but your eyes are looking at nowhere but his lips.

"Yes," he confidently says.

You swallow air and lean in close, a hand holds him by the shoulder as you press a kiss on his lips.

The kiss is fizzy and sweet like the orange soda that he just drank. His lips are soft and warm but you notice that he stiffens against your lips.

You hurriedly let go of the kiss, poor guy isn't ready when you hastily decided to kiss him.

"I'm sorry," you say. As much as you hate saying sorry for everything you do that you're not exactly sorry for, the words have to be said.

He stays quiet for a moment then lifts his hand to reach for your hair, putting it all away and putting it behind your ear.

"Can I kiss you back?" He asks.

You eagerly nod.

He slowly brings his face close to you and your eyes are closing out of reflex, you feel his soft kiss on your cheek. When you think he will stop there, he drags his lips to kiss you on each eyelid and your breath quickens as he continues sliding his lips down your cheek to your lips.

There, he kisses you again.

With his tongue, he cleverly parted your mouth open to deepen the kiss and you gasp as you let him taste you more.

Sensing that he wants this as much as you do, you get on his lap and he immediately sits back on the couch.

He curves his hand under your arm and splayed his hand on your back.

There's no way that Seungmin has never dated before, the way he twirls his tongue and brushes his lips over yours, it's impossible if he's this good at kissing and never dated anyone before.

And he knows his hand placement, he’s touching you in the places that usually make you uncomfortable but still, you like how he holds you in place and keeps you safe.

He's officially good at kissing and you wonder if he's good at other things too.

Keeping his mouth busy, your fingers working open the buttons of his shirt one by one but you ditch the plan altogether and decide to glide your hand down his front until you meet the waistband of his jeans.

He catches your hand before you can proceed and breaks the kiss, "not now," he mutters.

"Why not?" You ask and lean in to kiss him again.

He stops you there and smiles, "I haven't taken you on a date yet."

"Well, we can skip the date and just do it, you know?" You've never been shameless about being upfront about it. You know what they want and you know you have the same interest so what's the point of beating around the bush?

"That's not a part of the proposition," he says and he glances at the clock on your laptop screen, "and it's almost midnight, I have to go."

You scoff and reluctantly get off his lap, "this is why I don't date nice guys," you say with a heavy sigh.

Seungmin gathers his things and put everything back into his bag, he cracks a smile seeing your dissatisfied expression, "don't worry about the assignment, I'm sure it'll be approved," he says.

"Okay," you say with a shrug, feeling a tad bitter for being rejected by him.

He lowly chuckles seeing you pouting at the far end of the couch, "I'm going. See you at campus!" He says, waving his hand at you by the doorway before leaving.

Seungmin is nice and smart, he's great, he's a good kisser and has nice square shoulders but love is just... yuck.

-

You let out a long sigh of relief once you got out of Professor Park's office, your assignment is approved and you feel like the thing that's been weighing down your chest disappeared into thin air.

Seungmin waits by his car and you come up to him to deliver the good news.

"He approved!" You say with a giddy smile.

"Told you, you don't have to worry so much," he says with such coy.

"Thank you," you sincerely say to him with a smile.

He smiles back and unlocks the car, "Get in! I'll drive you to work!"

Okay, you have to give him that, he looks so cool looking calm and confident like that.

"So, you've done your part in the proposition... when can I do mine?" You ask, trying to make it sound casual but it's unusual for you to get nervous talking about it to him.

He gets quiet and you can't help but think what if he has a second thought about the proposition after spending these past few days with you?

"I'll call you to tell you when," he says.

And his answer only makes you even more nervous because what if he really is just playing a social experiment on you? What if he doesn't like you anymore? What if, what if, what if.

"You're going to be late!" He says with a hand gently squeezing your forearm.

You didn't realize that you have arrived at the parking lot of the bookstore, "Yeah," you stutter and quickly gather your bag.

You push the car door open but not getting out yet, "you don't have to pick me up after work," you tell him.

"Yes, I was about to tell you I can't pick you up. I have something to do tonight," he adds.

"Thanks for the ride!" You say before getting out of the car.

It's kind of boring when you get back to your apartment and have nothing to do when it's usually you and Seungmin working on an assignment together. It's clear that you don't miss the assignment, you miss having Seungmin around and listening to his weird ideas out of his smart mouth.

But you have to be the nice girl and wait for the nice guy to call for the date.

How long would it take though?

You start to think that you're getting karma from making all those men wait for your call and you've been dreading a phone call for a week now.

You still meet him on campus but it looks like he's busy with something or he's just straight up wanting to give you hell.

Kim Seungmin is not a nice guy after all.

If this how's he is going to do it then why don't you shift your attention elsewhere but to the cute guy you met in the library.

You don't know why you like cute guys nowadays, but he has dimples on his cheeks so you guess that's why.

"I'm in my second year," he says.

"Oh?" So that means he's younger than you and not that you have problems with age it's just taken you by surprise, also, that explains why he's so cute.

Your phone rings in the middle of the conversation, you ignore it by shoving it inside your bag but it keeps on ringing.

"I'm sorry but I have to take this," you say to your cute date with an apologetic smile.

"Sure yeah," he replies.

You pick it up without seeing the contact name, "hello?"

"Hey, it's me," he says from the other end of the line.

And you recognize the voice, it's Seungmin.

"Yes?" You try to mimic his nonchalant way of talking.

"Just letting you know that the date is tonight," he says.

"Tonight?" You ask in surprise and almost make your date choke on his coffee.

"Yeah," he confirms.

You clear your voice and clear your throat before speaking, "but that's so sudden," you meekly say.

"So... you can't go?" He asks.

Isn't this what you've been waiting for? Doing your part on the proposition?

"No, let's do it tonight," you calmly answer.

"Okay then, I'll pick you up at 7," he says and hangs up.

You put your phone away and look at it, can't believe that he ends the phone call like that after making you wait for a whole week.

Then you see that it's fifteen past four in the afternoon which means you only have less than 3 hours to get ready. You get up from your chair and take your bag.

"Where are you going?"

For a second, you are forgetting your cute date and shoot him a smile, "I have to go somewhere," you say.

But he just looks at you wide-eyed and confused.

Maybe it's time that you stop fooling around and this cute guy deserves someone better than you. You look at him and smile, "you're really cute and nice, I had a fun time but I really have to go," you admit with a grimace.

No matter how much you hate apologizing but you do owe him an apology for abruptly leaving him on a date.

"I'm sorry," you sincerely say.

"That's okay," he responds with a dimpled smile.

The next thing that gets in the way is the outfits, you have zero ideas about where Seungmin may take you tonight. What would a nice guy do on a date? Where would he take you?

Probably candlelight dinner somewhere romantic, that's pretty much the standard of a nice guy. You decide on a simple black dress because it's always the safest choice. It's not too short, it's appropriate, and it's giving a nice girl look with all of your hair down.

A few spritzes of perfume and off you go.

Seungmin's car is already waiting not far from the entrance of your apartment building, you walk there and get inside without waiting for him to let you in first.

"Have you been waiting long?" You ask, hurriedly looking for the seatbelt to put on.

He looks at you rather wide-eyed, a bit confused.

It makes you suddenly feel so insecure about yourself, "Is there something wrong?"

He gets quiet for a few seconds before shaking his head, "You look nice!" He says.

That reminds you to look at his outfits and he wears something casual, a black shirt with blue jeans and a dark jacket.

Great, you're overdressed!

"Thanks," you meekly say.

You clear your throat while Seungmin turns the key in the ignition, "where are we going?" You ask and try to sound coy about it.

"We're going to see your favorite band!" He replies.

Turns out, Seungmin did his research very thoroughly and found out that your favorite band is busking at the park tonight.

They're still setting up band equipment when you arrived, you choose to sit on the steps facing the stage but you're struggling to cover your legs since you're wearing a dress.

Seungmin is considerate as he always does. He takes off his jacket and put it on your lap, "Here!"

"Chivalry is not dead after all!" You beam and fix his jacket to cover your legs.

The steps start to fill with more people as the time for the show is getting nearer, "How do you know my favorite band?"

Seungmin was rolling the sleeves of his shirt when you ask, "I see your records collection at your apartment," he simply answers like it doesn't take a math formula to know it.

"But I have a lot!" You point out.

"But I see that you have a lot of records of them," he replies.

"But that could also mean I only like the album covers," you hypothetically remark.

He jerks his head with a scrunched face, "that's impossible! You own one of their rare records!"

That caught you off guard, you didn't think that he would do such detailed research to your liking, you're low-key impressed by him.

"You know there's a much simpler way to know everything that I like," you tell him.

"Yeah?"

You nod and look at him, "you can ask the person yourself," you say with a sly smile.

He sheepishly smiles and places his hand on his knee, "Can I ask you something then?"

"Sure!”

"Do you like me now?"

He caught you off guard again but this time you burst out laughing as a reaction, "We're hardly an hour into our date here."

"So?" He asks with a shrug.

It's that hint of nonchalant attitude that makes him stand out from the other guys you met and mingled with, possibly the most interesting nice guy you've ever met and you're aware of how they contradict each other.

"Ask me again at the end of the date," you say with a sneaky smile.

At the end of the show, Seungmin helps you get up from the steps and you put his jacket on since the night is getting cool.

"Where are we going now?" You always hated being so nosy but Seungmin has been keeping you on your toes by not telling you what his plans for the date are. So far, all of your guesses are missed.

"I thought you were hungry," he says.

"I am!"

He holds your hand and leads you to the other side of the park, "I'm hungry too so I'm thinking we should get somewhere to eat."

You start guessing in your head again, maybe this once your guess will land on the mark, that he would take you somewhere romantic like you expected in your head.

He takes you on a stroll and not hesitates to keep holding your hand wherever you go, somehow you don't feel uncomfortable at all.

There are so many couples taking a stroll in the park so you're grateful that you're not alone among all of these lovey-dovey couples.

"The exit out of the park is this way," you tell him as he keeps going straight.

"There are a lot of food trucks by the river," he says while keeps pulling you with him.

You snort behind him since the park is crowded with people taking pictures of the cherry blossom in bloom.

He looks over his shoulder and sees you laughing, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," you snort again, once again failing on your guess.

Seungmin is truly something.

"What do you want?" He asks as you stop at a food truck to order food.

"I want the cheeseburger but I also kind of want the bacon one," you answer, torn between the two.

"Then we'll order both," he concludes and orders it.

Sitting on the empty bench facing the river with your food in the space between you and him, you can't lie that you're getting hungry just from the sight of it.

"You want to try mine?" He offers.

You don't take the burger from him but take a bite out of it while he holds it, munching it with a grin on your face.

He lets out another smile, one that you like to see on him, the puppy one.

He doesn't wait to take a bite right after you and a dollop of ketchup gets on the corner of his mouth.

"You did that on purpose, don't you?" You say with squinted eyes.

"Huh? What?"

You take a napkin and wipe it clean for him, "there!" You hand the napkin to him after and continue eating your food.

"Did you do that on purpose too?" He suddenly asks.

You look up at him, "what?" You trace your mouth if you got anything on your mouth.

"You do this," he points out at how you always scratch your nose.

"I did?" You ask with eyes widened.

He nods.

Before you can explain, you unconsciously scratch your nose and stop when you're aware of what are you doing.

"I told you it's a habit," you persist and fight the urge to do it again.

"And I told you that it's cute," he says then shoves a few fries into his mouth.

You make another trip to the selections of food trucks and bought ice cream as dessert while taking a stroll back to the parking lot. The night is so warm the ice cream melts in your hand.

You throw the rest of the cone into the garbage bin before getting into the car, Seungmin pulls open the glove box in front of you and takes out a pack of wet wipes.

He pulls two at once and helps you clean your hands with them, he meticulously wipes the spaces between your fingers too. You smile looking at how he cares that much about your hygiene.

"I feel like a surgeon about to go into the operation room," you joke.

But he is unfazed by all of your fun takes on his treatments on you, "I guess we're going home?" he says.

You check the time on your phone screen, "but it's barely 10 pm," you say.

"Then... do you want to go somewhere else?" He asks.

You laugh because once you gave up guessing what he's going to do next, he runs out of plans for the date.

"Are you saying this is the end of the date?" You ask with disbelief.

He innocently nods.

You sit back and keep laughing, he did everything to get on a date with you but the date itself is... you wouldn't say lame, he’s just didn't prepare it well.

"Let's just go somewhere," you say before your laughs start to annoy him.

"Your place?"

"No!" You refuse rather too quickly.

If you went to your place then he would get to use the 'it's midnight time to go home' excuse on you.

"Let's go to your place," you say without looking at him, afraid that he would read your intentions.

He looks at you for a few seconds and you bravely look back at him, using all the force you have in you to remain calm.

"Okay!" He agrees then starts the car engine.

Seungmin lives quite far from the university while you live not very far, it's a mystery how he manages to always get there before you. Or it could be because you're just lazy.

His apartment building has an elevator that works and he lives on the eighth floor, can only imagine what kind of view he gets from his apartment.

"Come in!" He says as he pushes the apartment door open to let you in.

He doesn't have that much furniture in his place, everything is neatly placed and well organized. The door to his bedroom is slightly ajar, you can only take a little peek at what it looks like but you see his bed is made.

"Please, sit down!" He gestures to the long sofa that is unlike the worn-out couch you have at your place.

You sit in the middle and he hands you a blanket from the armrest of the sofa.

"Want to drink something?" He asks.

"Yes, please?"

"Water, juice or soda?"

"I'd like a glass of wine actually," you say in an attempt to tease him.

He turns around and heads to the kitchen, opening the cabinet to pull out a bottle of wine which surprises you that he really has one.

"I only have red wine, is that alright?"

"More than alright!" You reply with a smile.

You wait for him while taking off his jacket, gently placing it on the empty stool next to the sofa then unfolding the blanket to cover your legs with it.

Seungmin returns with the bottle of wine in one hand and two glasses in the other, you take them from him so he can open the bottle.

He carefully pours wine into both glasses and takes one from your hand, clinking your glass together to finally take a sip.

"Can I ask you the question again now?" he asks, putting his wine glass down on the table.

You finish your glass to make him wait for your answer, "but it's not the end of the date yet," you disagree with him.

You put down your glass and turn to face him on the sofa, "and you have to pass the basic interview first!"

"The basic interview?"

You shush him and think of a question to ask him, "first question: since when do you like me?"

He turns his head at you with an intrigued expression on his face, "ever since we took the same class together," he answers.

You trace back to the time you first met him in economy class and it was back to almost a year ago, you didn't know he's been liking you ever since.

"Second question: why do you like me?"

He takes his time to answer and turns at you to deliver it, "because you are smart but I'm obviously smarter," he begins.

"I'll take that as a compliment," you let out a snide comment at him.

"You're very honest in an almost rude way," he adds.

"I'll... also take that as a compliment," you comment.

"I said almost," he reminds you.

You roll your eyes at him in response.

"And you're very genuine, there's nothing fake about you," he concludes.

You raise an eyebrow at him, "maybe I do but you just don't know," you poke fun at him.

"I would have seen it if you had any," he says.

You chuckle at how confident he is of himself and move on to the next question, "What do you like about me then?"

"Everything!"

You groan at the typical answer, "how cliché!"

"You want me to name a specific part of you that I like?"

You nod.

"But I don't have any specific part of you that I like, I like every part of you that makes you, you," he explains and you hate to admit it but he did sound so cool when he said it.

Certainly not an answer you had in mind that you don't know how to properly react to that.

"I like you as a whole," he says with his doe eyes staring right at you.

You're not supposed to feel this way, right? But you feel the blood rushing to your cheeks as they start heating. You start to laugh because it's the only proper way you know to react to his words.

"Are you blushing?" He points out.

"No!" You deny his question rather too quickly again.

He chuckles at you and takes the bottle of wine to refill your glass.

"You know you don't have to say all that," you tell him.

"But you're asking," he coyly replies.

"I mean," you take the bottle of wine from him and put it away, taking his hand then taking the front of his shirt, "Just kiss me already!"

You pull him by the shirt you crumple in your hand and bring his face close to you, locking your lips with his, closer and closer until the gap is closing.

This is long overdue, you have zero patience left and Seungmin is a damn good kisser, you can't stop now, you're not letting it go.

You push him back against the sofa then gets on his lap, straddling him with your hands caging him in between, smirking as you're about to sink your mouth into his again.

Seungmin unexpectedly returns the kisses with such enthusiasm with his hands begin to touch you, tracing the curve of your body clothed in skin tight dress.

You keep kissing him, forcing his head to tilt upward, earning you access to deepen the kiss.

He lets out little whimpers every time you tugged his lips between your teeth like a little puppy.

He's probably running out of breath that he gently pushes you away, making a space between your faces yet he stays with his head resting back on the sofa.

His eyes easily find yours and stare at them, then put all of your hair away to take a better look at you.

His hands then trace the frame of your face, eyes, nose, and lips. He touches them so tenderly as if he’s touching flower petals.

It's the way his eyes light up when he looks into your eyes again that gets you, he brushes your hair to the side and softly smiles, then mutters, "you're really pretty."

You don't know how he did that but you believe that he's being genuine, Seungmin has been nothing but honest about what he says and does.

Then you feel something in your stomach, a feeling that was once familiar and only made you sick before. Your heart is beating faster and you start to think he could hear it so you kiss him again.

Seungmin slowly slumps down on his seat and the next thing you know both of your bodies are tangled on the sofa with his body weighing on top of you.

In the heat of the moment, he suddenly breaks the kiss and props his hand next to you.

"Why? What's wrong?" You ask because of how abruptly he stopped kissing you.

"It's getting late," he says.

You glance at the clock on the wall and the time shows it's 10 past midnight, you glare at him in disbelief, "don't tell me that you're going to send me home?" You wildly guess because it seems like the nice guy in him kicks in.

He lowly chuckles at you, "I'm saying we should take it to the bedroom," he says with a sly smile.

That means the nice guy in him is off for the night and that's exactly what you want, you want him bad.

He gets up first and holds out his hand at you which you eagerly take, walking behind him as he leads you to his room.

He turns around once you step into the room and says, "I have to check if you have something on you."

You tip your head to the side in confusion, "Huh?"

He lets go of you to put his hands on your shoulders, "do you carry anything dangerous with you?" He asks, patting the side of your body as if you're going through a security check.

You softly chuckle at him and hum while thinking of an answer, "not that I know of," you cheekily answer.

His hands stop at your waist then he slowly pushes you to the wall, "I have to do a full body check then," he utters to you with his body pins against yours.

He's so hot gleeful and sly like this, you're trapped in his gaze as he looks down on you and put your hands up, pins them above your head.

He presses his forehead on yours to softly kiss the tip of your nose and oh... these butterflies used to make you sick.

He drops your hands onto his shoulders and holds you close, burying his mouth in your neck, drinking in your scent.

Catching him off guard, you turn him around and have him pinned against the wall with your body, "what about you?" You ask with your finger hooks on the opening of his shirt.

"Do you have anything dangerous on you, sir?" You ask again with a loopy grin.

He slumps down just enough to be on the same eye level as you and throws his hands up, surrendering himself to you.

Your hands begin to pat around his body, feeling the firmness of his body against his shirt to eventually meet his stiff member inside its confine.

"Now, that's dangerous!" You lowly murmur to his ear.

Without warning, he wraps his hands around you to unzip your dress.

He doesn't wait to part it open and take it off you, until the piece of clothing pooling around your ankle. He keeps taking steps forward forcing you to walk backward until the back of your legs hit the bed frame.

Slowly, you sit on the edge of the bed and hold his hands before laying down, pulling him with you, sending him toppled on top of you.

With the room staying dimly lit with the only source of light coming from the bedside lamp, Seungmin's jaws appear firmer, prominent and he's just so fucking attractive.

There's no need to confirm how wet you are down there just from having his body on you.

His long fingers trace your jaw before lowering his mouth on you again, so slowly as if he's kissing something so fragile.

With the proximity, your hands work to open his shirt while he keeps your mouth busy with slow, deep kisses.

You impatiently rip his shirt open the second you succeed in opening the last button and Seungmin helps by taking it off of him, then throws it aside. You won't waste another second touching his body with your hands. He's not muscular but his body is firm and lean, and his skin is warm like the morning sun.

The hunger for him grows bigger as your hands go lower to unbutton his jeans open and Seungmin abruptly stops kissing you.

Your mouth is agape, panting and your eyes snap open to find his staring into you. You slightly got panicked thinking that you must've done something he's uncomfortable with, "Wha—"

He buries his head in your neck again even before you can finish your question, kissing you there, tasting your skin with his tongue. You gasp when he softly bites your ear shell and he drags his mouth down your chest.

A shiver goes down your spine as he gently kisses your sternum and leaves a wet mark on the skin, funny that it feels like he just sets your body on fire.

He continues his trail of kisses and not stopping even though his mouth is getting closer to where you wanted him the most.

You mewl the moment his mouth lands on your clothed core, his breath feels heavy and hot between your legs.

He looks at you as his hands start pulling your underwear down your legs and off of you, kissing your inner thighs after.

With his big hands rubbing up and down your thighs, his mouth once again closing into your heating core, he hasn't touched it but you feel the tingle already.

It feels soft and warm that you let out a delightful sigh, his mouth on your delicate flesh and you're taking in all these delights with your eyes closed.

Everything he does with his mouth is so subtle and smooth yet he presses on the right spots rather intensely.

You have nothing to say but let him take you higher and drown you in pleasure.

Then he suddenly stops and lifts his head to look at you, "you're so quiet," he says.

You look down at him, at his head hanging between your legs with disheveled hair.

"You don't like it? Want me to stop?" He asks again.

You look him in the eyes and ask, "Did I tell you to stop?"

You prop an elbow and your other hand reaches for his head, "do you hear me telling you to stop?"

He stays still for a few seconds then places his mouth on you to continue the deed.

"That's what I'm saying," you say as he twirls his tongue on your clit ever so slowly like licking an ice cream and it slowly melts under his tongue.

Your hand tangles in his hair and tug at it every time the pleasure feels too intense, another way to tell him that your silence doesn't mean that you're not enjoying it. It's the opposite, it's too good that you can't find anything to say but enjoy every second of it.

Your moans grow louder as your breath quickens, and the knot inside you comes to the point that you can't hold it in anymore.

Seungmin seems to sense that you're coming close to your high and continues what brings you the most pleasure using his mouth.

Your back is arching as you seek more even though you're on the verge of exploding and when you finally do, you try so hard not to clamp Seungmin's head between your legs.

You pull him by the shoulder to hover above you, "A nice guy who knows how to eat me out, huh?"

With your hand on his neck, you pull him close to kiss him.

"I think that's my new ideal type," you add with your lips grazing his as you speak.

He gets flustered by your words then kisses you again while you use the opportunity to taste yourself on him.

And maybe he senses how needy you are for him that he puts a space between your bodies, slowly pulling away from the kiss.

"Just a second," he says and crawls over to the side, taking something out from a drawer.

You take the time to take off your bra and put it away, sitting on the bed while waiting for Seungmin.

"I can help you with that," you say with a sly grin since he takes quite a long time to put on a condom.

"Are you that impatient?" He asks without looking at you.

You laugh at his remark and find him crawling back at you, crashing his body on top of yours, kissing you ferociously that when he finally lets go, you gasp for air.

He then shifts his focus to enter you, wetting the tip with your essence to slowly push it in.

You spread your legs wider the deeper he goes and draw his body closer, he feels so good inside that you feel like going to climax one more time despite you just had it a few minutes ago.

In the midst of it, he looks at you for any signs of discomfort on you.

"I can take you well," you assure him with a grin.

He lowly chuckles and kisses you again, probably to shut you up from making another playful remark at him.

Seungmin thrusts deep and slow, everything about it so sensual, his hair that falls around his face and the way his jaws clench and unclench.

You usually never cared much about who wants to please or get pleased, tonight exceptionally, you want to do the former. Holding him by the shoulders, you turn him over and have him under you, you take a moment just to look at him, at how gorgeous he looks underneath you.

You place your hands on his chest and start slowly rolling your hips, letting him feel how good it feels being inside you.

Feeling mischievous, you intentionally clench around him and watch how his face contorted in pleasure.

"You like that?" You ask him.

He sighs before answering you, "I'll let you know later," he pokes fun.

You glare and clench around him again, your teeth faintly biting your lower lip.

He groans with his hands gripping each side of your waist, overwhelmed by the pleasure.

Seungmin doesn't want to play along anymore, so he gets up and wraps his hands around you, holding you still without stopping you from moving on top of him.

You manage to break your hands away from his confine and put them around his neck, bringing your mouth close to his ear you say, "cum for me like a nice guy you are," you say with a giggle.

He looks up at you with eyes wide and dark with lust, then without warning, he lowers you down to the space between his legs on the bed.

He has you trapped under and between his arms, he intensely stares into your eyes like there's something so intriguing happening in them.

A hand wraps around your neck to angle your head for a deep kiss, he starts thrusting into you again so slowly but each thrust sends him deeper into you.

He hits you right on the spot repeatedly but you want to play it fair, you want him to cum first before you do.

It seems like he's not going to last long as his movements are getting sloppy, his breathing is ragged and heavy. You clung to him, wrapping your legs around his waist, and let him ram into you, chasing his high.

"That feels so good," you breathlessly mutter into his ear, not letting the pleasure goes unnoticed this time around.

"Seungmin oh..." you mutter with a broken moan.

That seems to work since he starts to pick up the pace, tirelessly moving in and out of you. He rakes your hands from around his shoulders, intertwining his hands with yours and pinning them on each side of you

For a second, you dare to stare back and feel the warmth of his brown eyes.

And this is the closest you've ever seen of him.

"Seungmin..." you unconsciously call for him like you need the assurance that you didn't dream all of this.

He tenderly kisses you in response to your call, summoning the butterflies to start flying around in your stomach.

And these butterflies used to make you sick but now these butterflies make you fly away.

Seungmin lets out a raw groan and stifles a thrust as he finally hits his high. Little did you know that you were cumming as well a moment after him.

He kisses your open mouth for a sloppy kiss then buries his head in the crook of your neck, panting so close to your ear.

Your arms are wrapped around him as you also try to rearrange your breathing.

"So, do you like me now?" Seungmin suddenly asks.

You're too tired to even lift your hand but you can't help but laugh at his question, how he is still able to ask you that question in a moment like this.

You turn your head to the side to look at him, "ask me again when you're not inside me."

-

You wake up the next day to the smell of coffee wafting through the bedroom door left ajar, you're still too drowsy to put on something so you wrap yourself with a blanket and drag it with you.

Seungmin is brewing coffee in the kitchen, pouring hot water with utmost concentration like he was doing surgery rather than brewing a pot of coffee.

"Morning!" You greet with a sleepy smile and sit on the empty stool facing the kitchen island.

He looks up and there's a faint, wry smile on his face at the sight of you wrapped in his blanket.

"Coffee?" He offers.

"Yes, please!"

He turns around and opens the top cabinet to get a mug, places it in front of you then pours the hot steaming coffee. Even just the smell of it awakens you almost instantly and you inhale more of it before taking a small sip.

"Are you working today?" He asks.

You nod since you're too busy sipping your coffee to provide a verbal answer.

Seungmin pours himself a cup of coffee too and wraps his hands around it, "what time does your shift start?"

You clear your throat and answer, "later in the afternoon. I'm working full shift on the weekend."

He carefully sips his coffee, "want me to drive you there?"

"Just drive me home. I can get to work myself," you kindly refuse his offer and sip your coffee again.

He nods and puts down his mug on the countertop, he looks so calm like last night left no impression on him whatsoever.

Is it normal that you feel a little disappointed with that?

"I need to shower," you blurt out and hastily take a sip of your coffee.

"New toothbrush on the second drawer and clean towels on the top rack," he informs.

"What about you?" You ask while holding the mug close to your lips.

"Huh?"

"Don't you need to shower too?"

"I've already showered," he says.

You scoff and sip your coffee for one last time, "of course you are!"

Once you put down your mug, you stop clutching the blanket and let it drop onto the floor. You ignore the goosebumps raised on your skin from being exposed to the cool morning air.

You boldly look at him but he stays unfazed, sipping his coffee while looking back at you.

You scoff in disbelief and get up from the stool, standing in front of him only in your underwear.

"It's your loss!" You say to him before leaving for the bathroom with your attempt to lure him has come to a failure.

There's a knock on the door as you're putting on your dress from last night, "Come in!"

Seungmin comes in through the door and sees you struggling to zip up your dress, "let me help you," he says, coming to stand behind you.

You put all of your hair to the side and let him help you, "thanks!"

Seungmin then sits on the end of the bed, "Come here! I'll help you dry your hair," he pats the space next to him.

Instead of sitting there, you sit on his lap and put your hand around his shoulder.

He sighs and reaches for the towel in your hand, putting them around your head to gently dry your hair with it. His eyes are looking somewhere else, he looks into your eyes then at your lips, and back to your eyes again.

"Don't look at me like that if you're not going kiss me," you say with your fingers lazily scratching the hair on the back of his head.

He pauses and looks at you, "who says I'm not going to kiss you?"

He lowers his hand to the nape of your neck and holds you there as he presses a kiss on your lips, slowly at first but the moment he puts his other hand on your waist, he kisses you harder, deeper.

His slick tongue invades your mouth to taste you more while your hand fisted the collar of his shirt.

If only you didn't need to breathe, you wouldn't have to gently push him away and break the kiss. He smiles when he looks at you and continues drying your hair with the towel like nothing has happened.

Seungmin lends you one of his hoodies for you to put on over your dress, he helps by putting it on you like you don’t know how to put it on yourself.

A grin rises on his face when your head pops through the opening of the hoodie, he is quick to fix your hair for you and put it behind your ear.

Something about it makes your heart pitter-patter, it's so unlike you to melt just from a simple gesture but you get the urge to peck his lips and so you did.

He stops the car by the entrance of your apartment building since you insist that you will get to work yourself.

"Want me to pick you up after work?"

You hate to ask him something and bother him with it but the idea of seeing him again makes it a little hard to resist, "I would love that," you beam.

He nods, "alright then!"

You unbuckle the safety belt and grab your bag, ready to leave.

"I'll see you later then," you say and reach for the lock of the car door.

He grabs you by the sleeve of your hoodie, "so, do you like me now?"

You stop on your track and burst into a laugh, he still won't stop asking you the question even though it's obvious what the answer is. You just know that he's merely curious and not faking it either.

You pull him by the front of his shirt and give him a long peck on the lips as an answer. He didn't expect that, that when you let go, his mouth hangs open.

"Bye!" You say, flashing him a smile before getting out of the car.

-

You're not supposed to feel this way, right?

Listening to love songs and they start to make sense. Nice weather makes you feel sentimental. You're mad when he keeps calling you on the phone but hates it when he doesn't. He looks at you all mushy and follows you like a puppy, strangely, you enjoy it.

Everything about it is so cute and you wonder how you didn't get sick in the stomach from all of that.

You get off work and Seungmin is waiting in his car, you break into a run like you can't wait to meet him again, at least you know that's a fact.

"How's work?" He asks the moment you sit on the passenger's side.

"Alright, I guess," you answer.

"Hungry?"

"Famished," you reply with a frown.

He takes something from the backseat of his car, and to your surprise, it's a bouquet of flowers. You can't help but smile, then burst out laughing when you realized that something like this would make you groan in disgust.

In reality, receiving flowers like this is kind of nice and they smell wonderful too.

"What is this?" You fake an annoyed pout at him, "I can't eat this!"

He chuckles and takes something else from the backseat of the car, a bag of food, and put it on your lap.

Your smile grows wider and you impatiently rummage inside to take out the food he bought for you.

"Eat well!" He says and turns the car engine on.

Every day for the past two weeks after the date is spent like this, apart from meeting you at the campus, he picks you up from work and stays over at your place after.

You both huddle on your small worn-out couch which will ultimately lead to a make-out session and time flies fast when you're spending it with someone you really like.

He slowly lets go of the kiss and pecks you on the lips. You take this as a cue that its midnight and he's going to leave soon, you heavily sigh before speaking.

"It's midnight and the nice guy has to go home?" You sneer at him with your hands fixing the collars of his shirt.

He hovers above you and brushes your hair to the side, you like it whenever he do that, you feel somehow admired and taken care of.

"It's midnight..." he pauses to peck your lips, "so it's time for bed."

Your ears perked up like hearing something so exciting, "huh?"

"We should go to bed and you must be tired too, right?"

You hesitate to ask but you need to know if he plans on spending the night with you, "Are you staying?"

"Or you prefer this nice guy to leave?" He asks back, getting back at you for all of your snarky comments about him.

You change into comfortable clothes, smirking when you catch Seungmin has been watching you through the reflection of the bathroom mirror.

You take a stand next to him and brush your teeth together facing the sink, you lend him the biggest t-shirt you have in your closet for him to wear to bed.

It feels nice when you finally lay down on the bed after a long day, it feels exceptionally nice that Seungmin is lying next to you.

Never in a million years, did you like having someone invading your private space like this but in the nicest way possible.

He kisses your forehead and says, "Goodnight!"

You turn to face him on the bed and pout, "We're just going to sleep and do nothing?"

He lowly chuckles with eyes closed, "yes."

You exhale a long breath while looking up at the ceiling, "this is so lame," you grumble.

"I am lame," Seungmin casually says.

"Very, very lame," you say but nuzzle your head into his neck.

As tired as you are, you can't fall asleep because your heart keeps beating fast like you just ran a mile instead of lying on the bed for the past hour.

You watch him sleep with his arm around you and you get to hold him close, smelling his musky scent that you like so much, and stare at his face as much as you want.

Love is some hocus pocus shit, got you completely bewitched.

Then you got reminded of something, you carefully get off the bed without waking Seungmin in the process and tiptoe to the kitchen.

The flower bouquet Seungmin gave to you is still lying on the kitchen counter, you hurriedly fill a pitcher with water and put the flowers in it.

They're so pretty, you touch the delicate petals and admire them, smell the floral scent that relaxes you.

You have a glass of water before returning to the bedroom, standing by the doorway to watch Seungmin sleeping so soundly in your bed and he's wearing your clothes, looking like he belongs there in the first place.

"Stop watching me sleep, creep!" He mutters without opening his eyes.

You giggle for being caught red-handed, rush to him to lie on top of him. He groans when you put all of your weight on him then pulls the duvet and put it over you.

"You know you're more attractive when you're quiet and still," you joke.

He puts your hands around you and holds you tight for a second, he manages to land a kiss on your head with his eyes closed.

"So.... do you like me now?" He asks.

Is that even a question? Here's an answer then.

Seungmin is smart, he's nice, and thoughtful. He can be mean but he's honest. He has a weird sense of humor. He not only has a puppy smile, but he acts like one too. He has nice square shoulders, is a good kisser, and knows how to eat you out. Seungmin is great and likes you so much but love is just...

Fuck! You think this is it. This is love.

-

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[mediocre-daydreams]

𝐭𝐰𝐨.    𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐞

remus lupin x animagus!reader

𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝: 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚢, 𝚒 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠

summary: you and the marauders find out about remus' condition. you tell remus you love him and he friendzones himself. despite remus' protests, the four of you plan on secretly becoming animagi.

notes: no warnings except a few swears and mention of werewolf attacks? use of y/n (i'm sorry i've given up it's so hard to write without using it), crackfic moments

w/c: 3.9k

･ﾟ⋆☾*･ﾟ.・。.*゜✭・･ﾟ✫・⋆。.

and if it were an open-shut case, i never would've known from the look on your face; lost in your current like a priceless wine

“he’s been like this all week,” peter grumbled to sirius. the two boys were spread out on james’ bed (he was at quidditch practice and the two wanted to take advantage of his lush jaberknoll feather comforter).

“if you mean bloody irritating, then yeah, for sure.”

“talking about me, are you?” a squeak of the door hinges alerted the two gossipers of their fourth roommate’s presence. remus grinned. “irritating, am i?”

sirius pinched the bridge of his nose. he sat up so he could face remus. “yes, irritating! you’ve been snippy and i still have a damn bruise from when you punched me!”

“you took my chocolate! the expensive stuff too!”

“in my defense, it was-”

peter rolled his eyes. “but seriously, remus. you don’t talk to us at meals, you run off to the library every time we’re all free, and you weren’t even excited about tuesday’s prank! you love transfiguring things!”

remus sighed, sitting atop his own bed. “i suppose you’re right. i’ve just been… stressed, that’s all.”

sirius perked up and he looked at remus sneakily. “what is there to stress about, lupin? your grades are fine. unless it’s not about grades, but something else that starts with a g…”

remus furrowed his eyebrows. “gastrointestinal issues?”

peter slapped his forehead. “no, you bloody idiot! girls.”

remus frowned. “well, for your information, madam pomfrey gave me this potion that really helps with my stomachaches. so…”

sirius shook his hands, similarly to how a stereotypical italian chef would pinch their fingers together and shout mama mia! “don’t be daft, lupin. we’re talking about y/n. now that’s a gastrointestinal issue if i ever saw one.”

“sirius… what are you on about?” peter looked revolted.

“uh, i dunno. it sounded better in my head. does she give you butterflies, or what? that could be… a stomach problem, yeah?”

sirius was saved from further mocking about his unfortunate comparison by the door slamming open to reveal a damp-haired james. james, who was holding his glasses in one hand, ran up to sirius and peter and shook his head, spraying water all over them. he slipped on his glasses to get a better look at his annoyed friends and smiled proudly.

“someone’s got stomach problems?” james hopped onto his own bed with a bounce of the mattress. “y’alright, remus?”

“seriously, i’m fine.” remus shot sirius a warning look before the latter boy could make a pun about his name. “it’s nothing.”

“it’s not nothing! we’re talking about y/n!” peter interjected.

james was surprised. “y/n? what’s she got to do with remus’ stomach problems?” james thought for a moment. “merlin, did she poison you or something?”

sirius jumped to his feet, wobbling slightly from all the shifted weight on james’ mattress. “lupin has a crush on y/n, you wanker! girl! problems!”

james’ confusion immediately bloomed into a smug set of raised eyebrows. “well, well, well, if it isn’t our new resident casanova.”

sirius was slightly offended.

remus blushed, his knee beginning to bounce rapidly. peter laughed at remus’ obvious discomfort.

james’s eyebrows raised as he remembered remus’ reaction to you sitting in his lap; the way he’d blushed when you whispered in his ear and how he stammered in front of you at the library. he leaned in conspiratorially. “so, tell me all about your relationship with the lovely y/n…”

--

“damn it!” you hissed, scooping up your dropped books as quickly as possible. you weren’t doing anything wrong, per se, but your plan for afterward was bordering illegality and life-threatening.

well, you thought, i’m living in a castle of blood supremacists amidst a potential war, so isn’t everything illegal and life-threatening these days? that was pretty sturdy logic, right?

“mugwort!” you all but shouted at the fat lady, who scowled at you. “sorry,” you tacked on as an afterthought. 

you clutched the books tightly to your chest, wary of dropping them or having somebody see what exactly they were about. bounding up the stairs two at a time, you banged on the the gryffindor boys’ dorm with a demanding fist.

james opened the door to find you, chest still heaving, with a look of determination so strong and furious that he had to take a step back. “woah, what’s goin’ on? y’good?”

you nodded impatiently, pushing james aside so you could walk into the room. “sirius, peter, i need- oh! remus! i didn’t- ha, what are you doing here?” you laughed awkwardly.

remus looked at you oddly. “i- i live here?”

you wanted to slap yourself. “of course, yes! whoops, i forgot about that,” you chuckled breathlessly. “my bad! uh, do you think you could… leave? i have to talk to peter, sirius, and james about something important,” you cringed. “alone.”

remus’s lips parted slightly and you could see the sadness flooding his eyes, though he didn’t voice it. he took a deep breath and pursed his lips into an uncomfortable smile, before nodding wordlessly. swinging his satchel over his shoulder, he left without a goodbye.

“what in godric’s great grandmother was that about?” peter huffed, eyes still on the door that remus had just exited from.

“i say this with so much love, but shut the bloody hell up.” you slammed three books onto the dorm’s floor dramatically. waving at the remaining marauders, the four of you gathered around the pile in a loose circle. patting the thick hardcover at the top of the stack, you cleared your throat. “boys, this right here is the culmination of three and a half sleepless nights.”

“and a half? how can you have half a-”

you glared at james. “what did i say? anyway,” you flipped open the cover of the first book, which the boys recognized as the book that remus had helped you find on the top shelf. “it’s newt scamander’s focused encyclopedia on transformative magical creatures! he does fantastic work, by the way; you must take a look-”

sirius opened his mouth to interrupt but you slapped his knee. “sorry, i’m focused again. right, so i was nearly finished with the book—just before the due date too—when i got to the second to last creature in the W section. werewolves.” 

peter squinted at you. “i don’t mean to- sorry, why are you showing us this?”

you groaned. “are you all stupid? read the damn page!”

you waited as the three boys skimmed through the scarce pages that comprised the werewolf section. well, you tried to wait. “do you see what i mean? it’s a little odd, don’t y’think?”

the three marauders were completely puzzled. “oh my godric, doesn’t that sound like remus?”

sirius burst into laughter. “are you- are you suggesting that remus lupin is a werewolf? that man won’t even kill a spider! he folds his damn socks! you think he’s a werewolf?”

you cracked your knuckles anxiously. “i’m not joking! don’t you see? things line up—he gets sick at least once every month, and it’s always around the full moon-”

peter studied you suspiciously. “how do you know that about him?”

you faltered. “i- i just pay attention. a lot. to people, in general. it’s not that i pay extra attention to him or anything, that’d be so creepy. i’m just observant, s’all.”

james shrugged, satisfied with your answer. “okay, but there have never been werewolf sightings on campus. how would that even work? he obviously can’t become a werewolf in our room, but it’s not like he can sneak out to the forbidden forest every month and not get caught. plus, there’s never been any mangled animals or anything. there’s just no proof.”

sirius nodded. “and even if he was a werewolf, there’s just no way he could hide it for 5 years. not if dumbledore’s around! the only way any of this could even remotely be true is if dumbledore knew about it, which he definitely doesn’t.”

you wanted to tear your hair out at your friends’ blind loyalty. “look, i’m not saying being a werewolf is bad, but dumbledore must know and he must be helping remus! dumbledore’s always been… unconventional, and if he trusts remus, then we should trust him too. i’m just saying, this all feels a little too coincidental, that’s all.”

peter exhaled loudly. the three of you turned to him sharply. “what? i’m just breathing.” he looked around nervously. “okay, fine. i hate to say it, but i agree with y/n. we can’t be sure for certain unless we ask him, but she’s right. this could actually be something.”

“have you asked him?” sirius stared you down, stone-faced.

you gulped. “uh, no. no, i have not.” taking another look at sirius’ icy glare, you threw your hands up innocently. “i’m sorry! i just put everything together, and my book is due tonight, so i had to tell someone before i returned it to madam pince, and you lot are his best friends so i thought that-”

“it’s alright, y/n,” james reassured, placing a hand on your shoulder. the pressure was comforting. “we’ll figure it out together. what are the other books for?”

you brightened, more than happy to share your findings. “this one is an autobiography of one of greyback’s survivors, and this is Level Five: XXXXX Ministry Classified Beings.” you flipped through to different pages you’d flagged, passing them around.

“this looks… where’d you get this? it looks pretty official,” sirius wondered, flipping through the second book with reverence.

“um… the restricted section?” you squeaked.

“nice!” james raised a hand to high-five you. you’d never been more grateful to be friends with boys who found toeing the line of magical legality as underage wizards entertaining before.

“see, it says that when not in werewolf form, the person could take on any characteristics. so it would be perfectly possible for remus the human to fold his socks and for remus the werewolf to howl, and whatnot. plus, the wolfsbane potion allows the person to retain their human memories during transformation! so if we asked him, he’d be able to tell us.”

“but should we ask him? do you really want to?” peter grimaced, sucking air between his teeth. “isn’t this slightly invasive? i feel like we’re reading his diary, or something.”

sirius, who’d been adamantly against the mere notion of remus’ possible lycanthropy, was surprisingly silent. you studied him, trying to gauge his thought process.

“remus is our friend. he’s a marauder. if he is a werewolf—if—we’d support him, right?” sirius’ gaze flickered through each of his friends’ faces questioningly, lingering a little longer on yours.

you nodded. “lycanthropy is painful and isolating and if he truly is a werewolf, wouldn’t it be better to have people on his side? people who could help and take care of him?”

peter and james nodded affirmatively.

looking sirius straight in the eye, you concluded. “i swear to merlin, i would never betray remus’ secret. i lov- i love him as a friend and i didn’t do all this reading for nothing,” you gestured to the books. “but i have to know. i- i’m going to ask him.”

--

“rem?” you whispered. you’d snuck out of the girls dormitory after your roommates had fallen asleep to sit on one of the common room couches in hopes of catching remus returning from his prefect patrol. a creaking of the portrait alerted you to his presence. “rem!”

“lumos,” remus muttered, moving his wand through the air to investigative. “y/n?” 

“yeah, hey! it’s me.” you patted the cushion beside you. “c’mere, i need to talk to you.”

remus’ heart began pounding in his ears. how did you find out about his crush on you coincidentally timed interest in magical creatures? hesitantly, he lit a candle and sat stiffly beside you.

please, remus pleaded, can we just get this over with so i can avoid you forever and mope in peace?

“sorry for keeping you up so late. i wanted to see you as soon as possible and i wasn’t sure when the next time i’d be able to catch you alone would be.”

oh shit, remus cursed. here it is. the rejection. she’s letting me down easily by doing it in private. godric, she’s so kind. even when she’s friend-zoning me…

“it’s alright, love. go on.” why did i call her- argh, screw me.

you broke his gaze, cheeks heating at the sweet nickname. “uh- you remember that book i checked out last week, right? the transformative magical creatures?”

remus nodded. how could i forget? you were going to read about class 5 beasts—me—and i accidentally suffocated you with my jumper. unfortunately, it was very memorable.

“right… so i was reading it, of course, because books were meant to be read,” you giggled nervously, fiddling with your fingers.

remus’ eyes jumped to your hands. nerves were either a good sign or a really bad sign. knowing his luck, it was probably the latter.

 “there’s this section on werewolves—it’s very brief, despite scamander being an absolute genius; oh merlin, he’s just incredible—sorry! i checked out a couple more because of… personal interest. and- fuck, i’m so sorry. this is going to be so awkward,” you fussed. “ack, alright. i just noticed that there are a lot of similarities in… lycanthropic symptoms and- and you.”

you couldn’t meet remus’ eye. he couldn’t tell though, because he wasn’t looking at you either. the two of you stared at the ground. you noticed that remus was tapping his foot again.

remus choked, only bouncing his leg faster. your face scrunched in concern and in an attempt to reassure him, you placed a gentle hand on his knee as an encouragement to relax. when you made contact with him, however, remus practically jumped from his seat and scampered away from you, creeping backwards with his hands in the air.

“no- no, i’m not- why would you? where did you get that idea?” he breathed, eyes big and terrified.

“i’m sorry!” you wailed. “i’m sorry, i don’t want to invade your privacy. you don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to. i just want you to know that… even if you had lycanthropy, i would still- it’s okay. i’m still here for you; i’ll always be.” you took a shuddering breath. “i love you lots, rem.”

remus bit his lower lip, tugging at the skin which had begun to peel there. what did he ever do to deserve such a loving friend like you?

“you- you don’t understand.” remus paced, tugging at the roots of his hair. “no, it’s not okay! i could fucking kill someone! you read those books, so you know just as well as i do that i’m a beast. i’m a class five monster.”

your eyes darted across remus’ face as his expression slowly sunk, realizing he’d inadvertently given himself away.

“fuck!” he hissed, collapsing into an armchair and burying his head in his hands. “fuck.” his voice came out watery and weak.

your heart cracked. “rem, can i- can i touch you?” you inched towards him cautiously, hand slightly extended. “please, i’m not going to hurt you.”

remus flinched away and you pulled back instantly. “i’m not scared that you’ll hurt me,” he murmured. “i’m scared that i’ll hurt you. you should be scared of me too.”

you pouted, crossing your arms. “remus lupin, damn you! damn you if you think i’d be scared of ya’, you ol’ softie. mr. gramps, who annotates his cookbooks and has a teddy bear. i’m sorry rem, but you couldn’t be scary if you tried.”

remus smiled nervously, peeking at you from behind his fingers. when he saw you staring him down relentlessly, he lowered his hands. “you have to promise not to tell anyone,” he whispered hoarsely.

you froze. “well, funny story…”

--

“absolutely not!” remus barked. then he winced at his own volume. “absolutely not.”

“but whyyy?” sirius whined, batting his eyelashes.

“don’t give me your damn puppy eyes, it’s not going to work,” remus huffed.

the four marauders were standing around remus’ bed, as if they were judges in a courtroom and remus was the defendant.

“because i said so!” remus rubbed his temples, wishing he’d paid more attention to madam pomfrey when she explained the spell she used to alleviate headaches.

“lupin, we’ve done dodgier things before. we’re making an illegal tracking map, for godric’s sake. that’s pretty damn illegal. this whole animagus thing is like a walk around the black lake,” james reasoned. he looked, in no way, disturbed by this conversation or the severity of the marauders’ plan. (well, the marauders minus remus.)

“i would rather give up chocolate than have the three of you gits get yourself killed.”

“really?” peter chirped. “i call the chocolate frogs then! i’ve got a good card collection going.”

sirius slapped peter’s arm.

james rolled his eyes. “alright, grumpy. someone’s been particularly moody of late. oh my godric—my astronomy homework!”

“what in the-”

“this is not the time-”

“the full moon is in five days! aww, is our little moony moody?” james teased, pinching remus’ cheek. remus did not find this very funny.

“moody moony! that’s a good one, james!” peter chortled.

sirius nodded slowly, an appreciative grin slowly growing on him. “moony. i like that. right, well here’s the deal, moony. we,” sirius waved at peter and james before pointing to himself, “are going to visit you in the hospital wing after every transformation—and i don’t want to hear any protests—and you are going to let us know how we can help you. we’re brothers; marauders. we’d rather die than leave you.”

peter steeled his resolve. “moony, i’d sooner die than betray you. your secret is safe with us.” he pressed his hand to his heart, and the other boys followed suit. remus turned his head to subtly wipe away tears that threatened to spill and turn into a full-on sob. though the other marauders noticed, they didn’t comment.

when remus turned back, he had a dark, intense look to him. “no matter what,” he muttered gravelly, “you do not let a single word of this slip to y/n. you tell her nothing about what we just discussed. it’s enough that she knows about… my condition. i don’t want her to get swept up in all your stupidity. she’s a smart girl—stubborn, though. i don’t want her doing something she’ll regret.”

sirius’ eyes jumped to peter, who seemed to understand. as usual, james was not on board. “but-”

“nothing. she’s to know nothing about this. i don’t want her coming to the hospital wing, knowing about the whomping willow, or the shack, or- or anything. do you hear me?” remus stood straight to his full height, which was greater than any of the other marauders. he appraised james with no trace of humor. “do you understand me?”

“yes, sir!” james smirked, saluting sarcastically.

remus sighed. it was just like his friends to turn a life-threatening affliction into another reckless display of comradery for the sake of this “marauders” title. he appreciated it, he really did. he just wished that the four of them could prove their loyalty to each other in a way which didn’t potentially end in remus murdering or mauling his brothers.

--

“y/n!” james yelled, waving his hands in the air to catch your attention over a sea of students rushing to their next classes.

“what?” you stood on your toes to catch sight of him. there, with his glasses crooked and arm around sirius, was james. “what is it? i have potions!”

from your distance, you could make out peter chastising james and sirius. james shook his head. you assumed peter had told him to shut up, or something along the lines of “save your theatrics for after the school day.”

“fine! meet us in… the library! don’t tell moony! i mean, remus!”

you shook your head, perpetually lost at their childish antics, and continued on with your classes as if nothing had happened.

the library was busier than usual. fifth, sixth, and seventh years were beginning to prepare for their exams and mock exams, which meant a scarcity of available seating and a crabbier-than-usual madam pince.

“over here!” sirius whispered loudly, beckoning you with huge arm movements.

throwing yourself onto sirius’ lap and knocking the air out of him, you stared at him pointedly. “what’s so important that you had to make me late to potions?”

james mumbled words under his breath, probably to mimic you. “you’re just as bad as mo- remus is.”

“oh yeah, and what’s up with ‘moony?’”

“uh… nickname!” james squeaked.

“really? and it has nothing to do with- wait,” you narrowed your eyes, scoping out potential ears. “it has nothing to do with his lycanthropy?” you whispered, so softly that you might as well have just mouthed it silently.

“alright, smartie. you caught us.” sirius mussed up your hair and you swatted his hands away. “so moony told us not to tell you this, so naturally, we’re telling you this. basically-”

james gasped. “wait, we’re telling her this? you never told me that!” peter punched himself in the head multiple times. “that’s the whole point of meeting here, james? godric, are you alright? i’m getting a little concerned at this point. ‘ave you been hit by a bludger? do y’have a concussion?”

james pursed his lips and looked at his lap, scorned.

sirius raised his eyebrows at you and mouthed “ignore him.” sirius hit his chest a couple times as if he was about to make an important announcement, but he kept his voice quiet as he spoke with his lips against your ear.

“the full moon’s in four days. the night before, remus goes up to the hospital wing and pomfrey takes him down to the whomping willow. there’s a secret passageway that leads to the shrieking shack—y’know, the one in hogsmeade. he stays there for the night and pomfrey brings him back in the morning.”

you frowned, swallowing thickly. “and he’s all alone? for the whole night, trapped in that dilapidating shack?”

peter tutted. “yup. however, we have a plan.” he waggled his eyebrows, and you knew you were going to be roped into the most outrageous plan you’d ever heard, regardless of whether you wanted to be involved or not. you didn’t need to hear what peter was going to say. if it was for remus—for moony—you’d do it in a heartbeat.

“animagi!” james exclaimed, wanting to be involved. he slapped a hand over his mouth, head whipping around to check if anyone had heard. sirius looked at him disdainfully.

“animagi? what do you mean, you want to ask animagi about their transformation rituals? mcgonagall’s an animagus, but i highly doubt it’s anything similar to a full moon transformation-”

“no, we’re becoming animagi,” peter stated factually.

your jaw dropped. “we? who’s we? you lot? or all of us, including me? ‘cos i dunno about you, but i don’t think the ministry’s going to take well to four underage wizards asking to become animagi for no apparent reason. they’re going to poke around; that is, if they even approve the process in the first place…”

james beamed. “and that’s why we’re not going to tell anyone about it!” your jaw dropped further. “you’re going to commit an azkaban-level crime?” the three marauders nodded confidently. you shook your head. “you’re all insane… i’m in.”

none of you noticed remus' figure pass by between bookshelves.

･ﾟ⋆☾*･ﾟ.・。.*゜✭・･ﾟ✫・⋆。.

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@yourallihave @cowboibeepbeep @im-a-slut-for-fluff @bambamwolf87 @emmaev

[ishouldbedoinghw]

You Can't Erase Me

One Piece fanfic, part 8

Previous parts are in my pinned masterlist.

A woman enslaved by the celestial dragons is found by a man with red hair. Angst and comedy ensues. (Y'all I SWEAR the funny stuff will come soon, I have so many ideas for shenanigans with the crew (Shanks) but I can't skip over the other stuff :/)

A/N: Y'all know the drill. Also certain foods not technically canon in One Piece exist now because I said so.

TW: discussion of trauma, medication withdrawal symptoms, going to the optometrist, self-deprecating language, mc gets made fun of by 8th graders, general angst

A/N: Gave up on the dash line divider thing cause it looks funny on mobile. But I digress.

Enjoy something a little more wholesome:)

It had been a week since Shanks and Hongo had sat me down, and a couple of days since my last episode. Hongo's theory that human touch could help had been correct, and now I was able to get some small amount of sleep while hanging onto some crew member's arm or leg.

It seemed that Benn felt guilty over our spat, as he was the one who offered up a limb most often. He'd tell me stories of the crew's journeys, explain different things about pirates, marines, or anything else I couldn't remember. I learned about different crews, the warlords, and different countries along the Grand Line.

It was also Benn that told me about the One Piece, and while he'd mentioned that Shanks had been on the crew of the late King of the Pirates, he never gave me any details, saying it was up to said captain to share that story.

Hongo kept me company too, although it was in part because he wanted to make sure I was eating and drinking plenty. It was a bit of comfort to hear him explain how my health was progressing, however. Yasopp, unlike Shanks, was good at making me laugh, and often made jokes about the crew to keep me in good spirits.

I probably could have written an essay or two on his son; when he wasn't talking about his own crew, Yasopp would excitedly tell me more about Usopp's adventures with his own crew. Usopp's crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, was a common name thrown around the Red Force, and Shanks loved telling me stories about their captain, Luffy. He especially liked telling me (bragging) about how he saved the kid from sea king that had then eaten his arm.

While I was grateful for the efforts of the crew, I couldn't squash any of the guilt that often bubbled in my gut. I felt like a chore, some kind of burden or part of some checklist they had to make themselves do. Every bump or lurch of the ship made my skin crawl, thinking that we'd made it to an island and they were going to finally be rid of me. I couldn't get it out of my head that whenever the door to the medbay was shut, every one of them complained about how annoying or whiny I was, and how they didn't understand why they had to take care of some girl that they didn't even want in the first place.

They didn't ask for someone that screamed all night, they didn't ask for someone who couldn't eat without it all coming back up. They didn't even ask for someone quiet and unassuming - without another choice, they just let me stay on board, and I'd caused problems ever since. I saw it in the way Hongo's brow twitched when I puked up my lunch again or the way Benn's jaw clenched when I woke him up at night.

Hongo said every now and then that no one on the ship minded me being there, and that they'd much rather help me than throw me out, but I knew that wasn't true. On the rare occasion I made it outside, no one outside of the senior officers wanted to be near me. I was sure the only reason anyone helped me was because they took pity on me, like I was some stray dog that didn't know any better.

At least a dog was cute.

-----

Things got better after I was able to eat, stand, and walk around without vomiting everywhere. The stomachaches hadn't ceased, and most of the time I'd have to sit down from the way my gut constantly twisted, but everything stayed where it was supposed to.

It also turned out Hongo did have a sense of humor after all, because there was a list tacked up on the medbay wall of any foods that upset me- and often those things were very specific.

Chocolate

Too much cheese (don't ask why we have cheese)

Sea king meat on a Thursday night after listening to Shanks sing

Anything past Benn's spice tolerance level (low)

Pop-Tarts - what even are these and why did Roux buy them

PB&J sandwiches, especially when she eats three of them

Homemade mac and cheese (????)

Fried chicken unless immediately followed up with fruit

And at the very end, in Shanks's messy (drunk) handwriting-

pussy>:)

There was also a list of things I could eat without little to no symptoms, and some of them were just as confusing.

Sushi, even raw

Canned Spaghettios - another Roux purchase, it doesn't even count as pasta, I swear this crew is INCOMPETENT

Boxed mac and cheese in small amounts

Copious amounts of chicken alfredo, WITHOUT garlic bread

And Yasopp's addition-

ATE UP Shanks's shorts, NO CRUMBS

As many times as Hongo tried to remove their additions to the lists, both the captain and the sniper would either rewrite what was already their, or in Shanks's case, write something worse. After I evidently couldn't eat "used pirate ass", the doctor just left it alone. Part of me wished he'd left it something a little less gross, like "Shanks's left arm".

----

We'd docked at a bustling island, and I could feel the ship occasionally shifting as the wind changed. I was holed up in one of the storage rooms, and having tried and failed to climb up into the rafters, I was curled up in a corner, keeping in the shadows. My hope was that if the crew never saw me before we left, they wouldn't find some place to leave me ashore. My newly returned hearing proved to be quite useful in times like this, and it wasn't hard for me learn how to pinpoint who was moving around outside the door or above me. I'd hidden like this a few times before, and no one had seemed bothered enough to look for me. I even almost relaxed, feeling confident in my ability to go unnoticed, when-

"Oi, girlie!" Hongo's voice echoed. "I need ya to come with me on shore!"

Fuck.

I stayed silent, trying my damnest to stay in the shadows of the corner, begging him in my head to just change his mind, that I wasn't going to be trouble any more.

"Come on, I want to get there sooner than rather than later."

Tears pricked the corners of my eyes. Was he that desperate to be rid of me?

"She's in the closet to the right, back left corner." Benn. A tear snuck down my cheek and landed with a soft plat onto the floor. I thought we'd made up. I thought he liked me.

There was a soft knock on the door. I stayed silent.

"I'm coming in, girlie."

Hongo pushed his way through the door and seemed to strain to look through the shadows in my corner.

"Damn, Jett, you're good at that disappearing act. The only ones who can tell where the hell you are are Benn and Shanks." He yawned, stretching some of the ache form his arms before he continued. "Alrighty, you're coming with me today to get some fresh air and-"

"Are you going to get rid of me?" I blurted.

Hongo stared at me like I had asked him to kiss Shanks on the mouth.

"What? No-" his brow furrowed, and his jaw clenched. "Did someone say something to you?"

"No," I said quickly, "I just thought that since- I-I've been causing so much trouble-"

"I'm going to stop you right there, girlie." He walked closer to me, squinting in the dim light. "No one here thinks you're too much trouble. You're someone who needed help and we wanted to give it to you. We want to be here for you because you don't seem to have anyone else, and we like you; it isn't because we just feel bad now and we'll dump you when we get bored or annoyed."

He held out a hand, waiting patiently for me to take it.

"No matter how many times you decide to upchuck Roux's shit cooking, or how many times you wake me up screaming like you'd seen Lime naked."

As much as part of me was screaming not to believe him, and to run and hide somewhere else, I laughed. I chose to laugh and take his hand and stand up.

"There we go," he said, patting my hand. Then he was back to his usual no-nonsense tone. "There's a pretty decent optometrist here, I'm thinking since your hearing has come back- which I want to test the limits of, by the way - that your vision should have come back by now. So, we're going to see if your problem is physical or purely neurological. Either way, it might be helpful to get you some glasses so you quit squinting at everyone."

I just nodded my head as he continued, watching some of the crew head off on their own errands. My feet felt a little unsteady as we hit the dry shore, now more accustomed to the rhythm and sway of the sea. Hongo offered his arm, but I waved it away, saying I'd be fine. He gave one of his small, rare smiles before continuing on about what Shanks had done to piss him off this week. Something about leaving his dirty sandals in the kitchen? I wasn't paying full attention.

I was wideyed at the busy city in front of us; people were everywhere and all of them seemed to be in a hurry. Most of them were yelling about various things - one couple seemed hellbent on getting a divorce because the husband's cooking was bad, a little girl was crying because her dog loved her older brother more because it didn't like its tail pulled, and someone else was talking about a warlord- there was a warlord here in the city? Did that mean trouble? Benn often said that there weren't many marine warships that would bother the Red Force, so had they sent someone more powerful after us?

I'd opened my mouth to ask Hongo when he turned to me and gestured to the large, shiny building in front of us. It was taller than it was wide, and the large red lettering on the front spelled "HOPITAL". Strange, but okay.

There was a large, red-faced man yelling at a smiling older woman at the front desk.

"We have told you, April, changing the spelling won't stop people who need a real hospital from coming in here-"

The woman, never ceasing her grin, waved us over. "Hongo, you old fart, I haven't seen you in forever!"

The man sputtered at her in indignation, clearly not having been ignored very often. "I ought to have you arrested-"

"For what, exactly?" The woman turned back toward him, her grin widening. "It doesn't say 'HOSPITAL' on my building, so you have nothing to complain about, Hank. Go bother someone else, I have an old friend to catch up with." She opened a door behind her, ushering us through, and shut the door in the man's face. I could still hear him squalling and cursing on the other side as April turned to us, her hands clasped.

"So, honey, what did you need?" Her eyes glimmered from behind her round spectacles, the bright blue irises almost transparent.

Hongo spoke. "I was hoping you could run a few tests on her. She's had-" he rubs the back of his neck and glances at me. "-a rough going of it and might have some brain damage that causes her vision problems."

"And you want me to prove that wrong, yes?"

He nodded. April sticks her hand out for me to shake, staring at me with fascination.

"It's lovely to meet you, young lady, and I'm sure this will be so much fun!" She dons a white coat, and hurredly starts opening doors, pulling out elaborate machines that get more and more comically large in size as she goes. My hand starts to sweat at the... unorthodox way this doctor ran her clinic, and wondered how close those machines were going to be getting to my eyeballs.

Hongo seemed a bit tense as well, but did his best to give me a reassuring look when he caught me looking at him. It didn't help much.

-------

An hour and a half of strange beeping, bright lights, and April telling me to 'Move your peepers this way, dear', Hongo and I were pushed out the door with a cheerful diagnosis. It didn't seem like the- whatever had been used on me had been the culprit of my most recent vision problems; I was simply 'Naturally blind!' as the doctor had excitedly told me. We had also been told to kill a couple of hours as she made my new glasses.

When she wasn't telling me to open my eyes wider than they could stretch, April had talked Hongo's ear off the entire time, evidently having known him as a doctor-in-training. I had to admit, it was funny trying to picture the gangly, nerdy Hongo she excitedly spoke of. He was a far cry from that now, having the same muscular build as most of the Red-Haired pirates, and from what I could tell, now sported no acne.

Said doctor was still a bit red-faced from that interaction as we wandered toward a small street market a few blocks over from HOPITAL.

He seemed to gather himself a bit as we drew closer, saying, "What all can you hear from over here, girlie?"

I tried to focus my hearing on the brightly-colored booths closest to us, and did my best to describe anything I heard.

"The merchant there is annoyed by his oldest. Apparently he was arrested for the-" I paused, trying to get an accurate number. "Seventh time for graffiti. And the woman buying from him isn't thrilled with the conversation." My eyes popped open. "Oh my shit, her wife is the marine that keeps catching him. Seems like she hears this story at home, too."

"Damn. You can hear all that from right here?" Hongo seemed to strain to try and listen too, but to no avail.

I hummed a mhm.

"You know, I wonder if your hearing overcompensates for your vision problems naturally, or if it's caused by your devil fruit." He seemed a little lost in thought at those prospects.

I tuned him out and focused on the booths now surrounding us, trying to catch a mention of the warlord I'd heard about earlier.

"I can't believe Shara would do that, she loves that man..."

"Are you wanting that scarf? Look, it's got a sea king tooth on the end there..."

"Look, Strawhat's bounty went up again, wonder what he did this time..."

"Woman, there is no way in hell you actually think Doflamingo is hot..." Oh, gross.

"The hottest warlord is Mihawk by far, I wonder what he's doing here..." There.

I went to tug on Hongo's sleeve, and he let out a grunt, still clearly lost in thought.

"Hongo, people are saying the warlord Mihawk is here, should we be worried?"

He seemed incredibly unbothered by this fact and shrugged. "No, the World Government isn't stupid enough to send Hawkeyes to mess with us. He's refused to fight Shanks since he lost an arm, anyway." He scratched his chin. "I wonder if he'll stay for a drink this time."

I'd heard of Mihawk and Shanks's past, but I'd gathered that the warlord barely tolerated our captain most of the time. I didn't love the fact that Shanks considered himself buddy-buddy with someone under the same government that considered me property, but I was often reassured by Benn or Shanks that he only held the title to keep from being disturbed, and often refused tasks the marines gave him.

I couldn't blame him for wanting that total freedom.

Continuing to listen to the girls' back-and-forth about which warlord they wanted to bang with mild interest, I started looking through a rack of bandanas that had caught my attention. I especially liked one with bright sunflowers on it, thinking it would look nice tied on my head to block my still partially-exposed scalp from the sun. Hongo, having noticed me eyeing it, snatched it up and bought it before I could protest.

"Pick out another one to wear out on the ship, you don't want that one getting too gritty or sweaty all the time." And he went back to looking at a few journals nearby.

He'd also bought the dark blue bandana I'd picked next, and I found myself excited to try them both on. It felt a little silly and childish to get so giddy over pieces of cloth, but I couldn't help myself as I snuck glances at the pretty colors in my bag.

We were contemplating getting Limejuice a t-shirt that said "piss is permanently in my Cheerios" when I heard giggling. It was a girl and boy, teenagers from the sound of them, and they were just far enough away behind me that I couldn't quite make out their faces.

"That's the doctor for the Red-Haired pirates, right?"

"Yeah, his name is Hon- Hongo, right?"

"Oh my God, he is so hot, look at those arms." I had to stifle a giggle of my own, and was about to whisper to Hongo that we were being watched when I heard-

"Who is that with him? You think that's his girlfriend or something?" Yeah, no.

"No way, her ass is ugly as hell, must be another crew member. I don't remember seeing her bounty poster anywhere though." What?

More giggling.

"Look at that ratchet-ass haircut, and that dumbass outfit."

Cackling, then a "Shhhhhhhhh, they'll fucking hear us."

"Wait, I saw her face earlier, her nose is so crooked, what the hell."

"And what kind of pirate is that skinny? And on a Yonko's crew?"

"Holy shit, do you think she's their who-"

My eyes watered, and I reached up to lightly touch the bridge of my nose before swallowing thickly, trying not to sniffle or let any tears fall. I tried focusing on any other sounds on the street, to the cats in the alleys nearby, to anything that could distract me from how badly my face was burning.

"Girlie? You spaced out for a minute, did you hear something?" Hongo leaned in closer and saw my face. "Jett? What's wrong? Do you feel sick-"

There was that damned giggling again, buzzing in my ears like a persistent mosquito. The two were getting closer, whispering about trying to get a peek of Hongo's ass, and was just within earshot of him when they pointed out I didn't have one.

"Oh." He straightened out, put on his "I'm going to murder Yasopp if he doesn't shut up" face, and strode over to the two. They squeaked as he got closer, and their excited grins vanished as he glared down at them.

"Did you know I've skinned grown men alive for saying nicer things than that to my crewmates?" A grin replaced his scowl, and I made a mental note to never try to make the doctor laugh. It was wider than April's, which was creepy enough, and nearly split his face in two, and his eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

The kids screamed and ran off, and I almost felt inclined to join them until Hongo turned toward me again, his face back to normal.

"What the fuck-"

He ignored my horrified expression and threw an arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer to him as we continued down the street.

"My secret weapon, girlie- the Doflamingo."

I decided to leave it at that.

------

Two hours, a long search for clothing that would fit me, and a pair of new glasses later, we were back on the ship, immediately getting harassed by our ginger captain.

"Oi, Spooky, lookie here-" he jabbered on about some bar he wanted to go to tonight, and I was thinking about laying in bed, not really paying attention.

"-and I hope you got some good digs, 'cause you're coming with us!"

Excuse me? I stared at him, waiting for him to say something else, that he was just joking and I could go.

"I'm- doing what?" I spluttered, shifting back and forth between Shanks and an approaching Benn.

"Coming with us! An old buddy of Benn owns this nice music club and I figured you could use some fresh air."

"But I just got some fresh air, and I'm tired-"

"Damn. Womp, womp. Go put some nice shit on, we're leaving after dinner."

Benn was the only one with the decency to look apologetic, but even he wasn't budging on the issue.

"You've got to get on your feet and out of that medbay at some point, lass." He smiles a bit. "This isn't one of the nasty places Shanks usually picks out, I promise you'll have some fun."

And that's how I found myself in a billowy white shirt tucked into a pair of flowy pants cinched tight at the waist. It gave the illusion that my figure was fuller than it really was- at least that's what I told myself. Nausea crawled its way into my throat, and I my face burned again thinking back to earlier that day.

Did everyone think that when they looked at me? Was I really so hideous?

Hongo had told me not to pay attention to anyone like those kids, and that I was plenty pretty, but I wouldn't be shocked if he'd said that just out of pity. I just wish he wouldn't lie to me.

I leaned forward closer to the mirror and scrunched my nose. It was crooked, like I'd broken it and it didn't quite heal correctly. I studied the bags under my eyes, and the way my cheekbones protruded just a little too much. My health had improved drastically since I'd arrived here, but I was still so scrawny and all sunken-in. My jaw clenched as I remember some of the women out today, their lips and cheeks full and dewy, eyes bright and curves- well- existing. I didn't have any sort of makeup to try and even out my skin tone; Hongo had offered to try and help but I'd had enough embarrassment for one day. Plus, it seemed stupid to have that kind of stuff on a ship.

"Spookyyyyy, dinner time!" Fucking Shanks.

I groaned and just splashed my face with water, patting it dry. The best I could do was put my new glasses on and hoped that hid the broken nose and buggish eyes well enough. The one thing I did like was the sunflower bandana I had tied carefully around my head at the base of my skull.

I grit my teeth as I emerged out on deck, ready to face whatever teasing Shanks or Yasopp were about to throw at me, or the stares I would get from the crew for my pitiful attempt at looking nice.

A low whistle greeted me from across the deck. I didn't even have to look over to know it was Shanks. I fought back the tears pricking at my eyes. Get a fucking grip, you aren't a child, you can handle-

"You look great, lass." Benn's heavy hand patted me on the shoulder before handing me a plate of steaming grilled chicken and vegetables.

At that remark I nearly vomited. Teasing I didn't particularly want, but pity was far worse.

"You feeling alright? Ya look a little green-" the damn captain again.

"Please shut up Shanks, you're already forcing me to look stupid in front of strangers tonight, at least try not to in front of the people I fucking live with." I snapped, earning a few snickers from the crew.

I wanted to slam that plate down over someone's head so damn bad, and just storm back down into my hiding place, throwing these stupid clothes I'm not pretty enough to wear overboard somewhere in between.

Benn's hand was on my shoulder again. "You don't look stupid, lass, I mean it, you look-"

"Don't." My hands shook. "Do not fucking lie to me Benn."

"I am the vice captain of one of the most dangerous crews in the Grand Line, lass. I haven't told a lie to save my own ass or anyone else's since I met this ginger jackass."

Fuck. I'd pissed him off again.

"Look," his voice was softer now, catching me off guard. "I don't know what goes on in your head, or how to live through what you have. But don't accuse us of being or doing anything we aren't. We aren't trying feed your ego or pity you."

I just swallowed and nodded, not liking the attention I'd brought to myself.

Benn settled beside me when I sat down to stab at my flavorless chicken. Fuck, I hated having stomach issues.

He started telling me about where we were going that night; a tavern run by a well-known pirate from Gol D. Roger's time. Evidently she'd retired after the Pirate King's execution, not interested in taking the One Piece for herself. I didn't understand what was so great about another old tavern, other than the history of the owner, until Benn mentioned that the former pirate was once world-renowned for her singing.

"Her music's considered a bit out of style now, but her voice is still as good as it's always been," he said, sneaking me a few pieces of spiced sea king when Hongo had his back turned. "People go to her place for dancing more than anything, but I've loved the music alone for the entire time I've been at sea."

Dancing? That caught my attention. I wasn't one for rowdiness or heavy drinking, but some dancing actually sounded fun.

AN: Sorry this one was so long, and honestly a little boring, but I needed this one to set up the next bit, which is a scene I've been planning out and looking forward to writing since I started this.

We may or may not be finally meeting our beloved goth warlord ;)

[velissiamemes]

♡  Multiverse of Madness Sentence Starters ♡

Quotes from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)! Feel free to adjust as needed.

I'm so sorry. This is the only way.

Did it have to happen that way? Was there any other path?

It was never gonna work out between us.

I always respected you for it, but I couldn't love you for it.

I'm just glad that you're happy.

You're gonna get a stomachache.

I left a very nice wedding to save a smartness kid from getting eaten by an octopus.

That thing was trying to kidnap me. It's like a henchman who works for a demon.

You can physically move from one universe to another?

I guess you're just gonna have to trust me.

It's witchcraft.

The hex was the easy part. The lying, not so much.

I know better than most what self-deception looks like.

You break the rules and become a hero. I do it and I become the enemy. That doesn't seem fair.

You have no idea just how reasonable I have been.

I'm not a monster. I'm a mother.

Find food. Preferably, pizza.

I didn't lose them. I killed them.

More complicated than being chased by a witch through the Multiverse?

I always suspected this day would come.

There is a spell contained within those pages. Corrosive to the soul. A desecration of reality itself.

We like ice cream like every child should... And if we get some ice cream, we promise to be good!

No one has survived the journey.

The Illuminati will see you now.

Didn't you guys chart in the sixties?

Does he have bad breath?

The building's been breached.

I have children of my own. I understand your pain.

I can do this all day.

Give me your hand. Do not make me regret this.

Where does that tunnel go?

We don't talk about that, do we?

I just want to get home.

I could use it. It could help me to communicate with my universe.

I don't mean to be callous, but, how much of a heavier toll is there left to exact?

I never meant for any of this to happen.

You ever had that dream where you're falling, as if you've been pushed off a tall building? 

This time, it's gonna take more than killing me to kill me.

You are gonna kick that witch's ass.

I'm their mother! Get away from them.

I would never hurt anyone. I'm not a monster.

I love you. I love you in every universe.

It's not that I don't wanna care for someone, or have someone care for me. It's just... I get scared.

Your parents would be proud. 

[mavkasilas]

Invitations. (pt.2)

Oliver is a little bit nervous waiting outside a pub, with hands holding two boxes of popcorn and a mysterious bag hanging on his arm. He keeps looking left and right to make sure he can spot Percy on time, in case that ginger boy gets lost in the crowd.

"Hey! Percy!"

Finally, Percy is now standing beside him after a long wait.

"Sorry, I'm late."

"It's ok, the show hasn't started yet. You hungry? I bought some popcorn, you want some?"

Oliver shoves a box of popcorn that is still warm to Percy. He knows this boy very well, so that's why he bought some food for him. Whenever Percy is in a rush, he will always forget to eat some, and then end up having a stomachache.

"Thanks."

In fact, Percy does feel hungry. He hasn't eaten since lunch, now is almost evening and his stomach is having a big protest.

"What's that?"

Percy noticed the bag hanging on Oliver's right arm. It's all black, looks ordinary but also mysterious.

"You mean this? Ah, hmm... it's nothing."

"Really???"

Luckily, the announcement from the show saves Oliver from the situation. He quickly holds Percy's hand and walks into the stadium just to find perfect seats with wonderful views of the fireworks show, while distracting Percy by keeping an eye on the bag hanging on his arm.

As soon as the show starts with the Weasley twins' gorgeous and spectacular specialized firecrackers, the atmosphere in the stadium hits the climax.

This is the first time Percy joining such a huge and enthusiastic event, everything is a little bit overwhelming to him. The noise, the smell and the bright lights make him feel slightly uncomfortable. He tried his best to hide it because he didn't want to ruin Oliver's mood.

He seems to enjoy the show very much.

This makes Percy feels happy too. He never put an eye on the blooming fireworks in the sky, but focuses on Oliver's eye. They look so bright and cheerful.

Then, the next second before Oliver turns his head to him, Percy moves away. Almost gets caught staring into someone's face until he loses track of time, what an embarrassing action.

"PERCY?"

"WHAT?"

"ARE YOU COLD?"

"HUH? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!"

"I SAID---"

Another huge firecracker cut off Oliver's words. Both of them shout to each other in the crowd so that they can communicate, although it's exhausting they feel awkwardly happy.

Oliver puts his hand behind Percy's back and leans into his ear so that he can make sure Percy can listen to every word clearly from him.

"I said, are you cold?"

The warmth of Oliver's breath makes Percy's brain goes blank. He couldn't think, couldn't move and couldn't talk, just sits still on his seat like a puppet.

Without any reason, Percy nods his head. He doesn't know what that means, just making moves out of his instinct.

The next second after Percy nod his head, he saw Oliver pulling out a sweater from nowhere.

"I KNEW IT, PUT IT ON THEN YOU'LL FEEL WARM!!"

Oliver looks so proud when he covers Percy with his Puddlemere's sweater.

"PERCY??!"

"WHAT!! STOP CALLING ME!"

"I JUST WANT TO TELL YOU, YOU SHOULD REALLY PAY ATTENTION TO THE FIREWORKS AND NOT TO MY FACE. I KNOW I'M REALLY THAT CHARMING, BUT I WANT YOU TO ENJOY THE SHOW!!!"

"I- I did not-!! WHO WANTS TO FOCUS ON YOUR UGLY FACE? NARCISSISTIC!"

That night after the show ends, no one knows what happens to Oliver's face. Seems like someone pinch his cheeks so hard that left a big mark on them.

But the boy looks very happy about it.

[dragonprincess18]

Happy Birthday

It’s funny, how you forget what it’s like to be a child once you’re not one anymore.

Once you turn six, you lose the understanding of what it’s like to be five, because you don’t realize how much can change in a year.

It was strange, basically being punted back to practically the start, that I hardly noticed the differences even from my past life as time rolled on.

After all, I’d always been a more sedentary sort of person who enjoyed reading and watching television in my free time, but that was a rarer sort of luxury in this new life.

I was always running after Kid, trying to stop her from picking a fight with the other kids or helping her gather parts for whatever she was building, or training in my Eevee form, or, once I had a better sense of balance, sparring with Kid and Killer in my human form.

By the end of every day, I was flopping onto a futon already fast asleep and cuddling up to Kid, who only grumbled a little before throwing an arm over me, and Killer too, once she felt comfortable intruding.

Was it any wonder I only noticed a year had gone by because of my birthday?

========================================================================

My old birthday had been in January, roughly a month after Christmas.

I stopped caring too much about it as I got older, since it was often forgotten in the aftermath of the holiday season and being hurt by the lack of acknowledgement wasn’t exactly productive, but I made a point of remembering Kid’s and Killer’s, which fittingly were January 10th and February 2nd.

We didn’t have much, but I saved money from running errands for older ladies and store owners to get Kid a vaguely-familiar dagger and Killer a nice set of cooking knives, which they both appreciated even if Kid had to be all grumpy about it.

Honestly, I completely forgot about my new birthday, more focused on preparing myself for a future that was likely to be pretty dangerous, if everything I remembered about One Piece was accurate.

So when I woke up that morning to Killer making pancakes, I was mostly confused.

“About time.” Kid huffed, and I couldn’t help but squeak when she lifted me off the futon and right into a rickety chair at the table. “Here.”

She shoved the whole stack of pancakes, filled with chocolate chips and covered in syrup, in front of me, and even knowing I’d end up with the world’s worst stomachache eating it all, my mouth was watering.

Anything sweet was few and far between, and my sweet tooth seemed to have followed me across universes.

“Breathe.” Killer teased, bringing another stack over for Kid that had bacon pieces. “It’s not going anywhere.”

“But it’s so good…” I mumbled around a mouthful of fluffy pancake and chocolate, glad that being young meant I could be at least a little rude.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Coming up for air, I took a moment to consider such an extravagant breakfast and eyed both Kid and Killer.

“...Did you guys kill someone and forget to hide the body?”

“Tori!” Killer scolded, but Kid just choked on a cackle and smacked herself in the chest to breathe through her laughter.

“What? You made pancakes, and Kid didn’t eat mine!”

“Don’t you remember what day it is?” She prodded, sounding very tired of us already, and I paused with the next forkful midair.

“Uh…Halloween?”

“Your birthday, genius.” Kid answered, kicking my chair hard enough I had to grab the table to rebalance. “You’re five now, congrats for not dying. Here.”

Dropping my forkful of syrupy goodness to catch the package she shoved at me, I peeled back the coarse paper to reveal a set of sharp-edged shuriken and kunai, the metal different shades of gray like an oil spill.

The thought of being a ninja sent a buzz under my skin, cheeks starting to hurt, and Kid nearly toppled back off her chair when I dropped her very dangerous gift to hug her instead.

“Fuck-Jeez, don’t get all mushy on me, punk!”

“Let her be happy, Kid.” Killer chided, and I twisted around to see she also had a package for me. “Happy birthday.”

My sister grumbled when I plopped down on her lap to accept the gift, ripping the paper to reveal a comic book, and my heart stopped at the cover.

“Seemed appropriate.”

I could have cried.

In that familiar stylized logo was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the designs and art style just like the old show I used to watch as a child in my old world…

“O-Oi, what’re you crying for?!”

“Shouting isn’t going to make her stop crying, Kid.”

[madara-fate]

I saw the ask of that other Anon and can’t help but laugh at it, saying that Hinata was the only one who accepted him is like being completely blind to the fact that when Haku told Naruto that if you’re protecting the person you care/love, you’ll become the strongest that you can be, and surprise; Naruto remembered how he summoned thousands of clones to protect Iruka. I don’t see Hinata anywhere even when Naruto told Gaara about the people who saved him from his loneliness. It was Team 7 and Iruka and no Hinata. Iruka was the one who raised him, scolded him when he needed it, accompanied him, and uplift him. Let’s not forget that.

Furthermore, why do people always act like Naruto even deserved to be liked by his peers back then? Most fans always think that Naruto was this good, heroic, completely void of sins, and filled with sunshine when he wasn’t. He was selfish (decided to make Sasuke look bad in front of Sakura so that Sakura wouldn’t like Sasuke anymore, tied Sasuke up to pose as him in front of Sakura so that he could know what Sakura thinks of him, would’ve ended kissing Sakura if it weren’t for his stomachache, blamed Iruka for failing when it was his fault and Iruka did nothing but try and discipline and watch over him, painted the faces of the Hokage monument and got the whole class suffer the punishment and he didn’t even felt apologetic and etc.) he’s also an attention-seeker, a troublemaker who does idiotic things and annoys everyone.

Even Sasuke himself doesn’t deny this, in Chapter 3 that haters/anti’s use so much to hate on Sakura— Sasuke tries to tell Sakura that the life she thought Naruto is living in (a life filled with freedom) is nothing but a fantasy by saying to Sakura that people who grew up with no parents/families always become selfish, not denying any of Sakura’s claims of Naruto and even confirms it or I daresay, justify it. Saying that Sakura disliked Naruto because she picked up what the adults have are people in-denial to the fact that Naruto can be dislikable. We finally get to see what Naruto’s peers think of him through Sakura because from the past 2 chapters we get to see how the adults see him. Hiruzen wasn’t wrong but Sakura isn’t either. Hiruzen thought Naruto’s peers only stayed away from him because the children did what their parents did, but on the other side of the truth— through Sakura’s lenses and even Sasuke’s we got to know that Naruto is dislikable and isn’t as innocent as people make him out to be, like are we just gonna forget how he introduced the Konoha 11?

Moreover, none of the kids even hate Naruto, yes they follow what their parents do but that’s because monkey see monkey do, it’s not because they picked up the hatred that their parents have for him because you need a reason to hate someone and the children have no reason to hate Naruto at all (dislike maybe but hate is such a strong word), and saying that Sakura is one of those children is pure reaching because Naruto would never like a girl that hates him, Naruto even grew to dislike the adults because of the way they look at him. Naruto only sees the hatred in the adults but never on his peers. When Sakura confessed her honest thoughts about Naruto to Sasuke (who’s actually Naruto) that she can’t stand Naruto and that he actively torments her, it even made Naruto realize why he loves Sakura.

Additionally, someone and that’s me, would like to say that words and good intentions that are not backed up by actions are as useless as those who never said anything. Hinata caring about Naruto didn’t stop Naruto from suffering. Just like to put it out there.

With regards to who Naruto thought of as his first true bonds, it certainly is true that Hinata wasn't among them, but to be fair, the point that Anon was making wasn't that Hinata always had a profound impact on Naruto's life from early on, it was just that she was among the few people in the village who never treated him poorly, and indeed she was, but she just wasn't unique in that regard.

With regards to Naruto's poor behaviour, again to be fair, he resorted to poor behaviour precisely because he was lonely and being shunned by people. So he desperately wanted attention, regardless of whether it was good or bad attention, because he was starved of it. So yeah he definitely wasn't a saint and he did a lot of bratty things, but there was an understandable reason he became that way. Now obviously, I'm not about to link Naruto's loneliness to something like him posing as Sasuke and tricking Sakura, because that was entirely different and I'm not even gonna try to defend or justify that, but I'm just attributing his loneliness to his general misbehaviour.

With regards to Sasuke's comments during chapter 3, I wouldn't say he justifies Naruto's selfishness as much as he understands it. I mean yeah he didn't deny Sakura's comments, but he got pissed off at her because she didn't know the first thing about the hardships that himself and Naruto had to experience due to being all alone. Naruto's poor behaviour was a product of this, and Sasuke knew that.

With regards to your final comment, I'll say that words and good intentions don't always need to be backed up by actions as long as the recipient actually hears them. Hinata's "Proud Failure" speech wasn't backed up by any actions, but her words alone were enough to restore Naruto's self confidence. Hinata's good intentions from afar were useless, but they did a lot when she actually spoke to him.

[hassiegfrieddoneanythingwrong]

I think the craziest pairing I've seen with him (I wouldn't really call it a pairing but more of a kink), is him/tentacles. Although that...fic...was more of a nonsense way by the author to free the Apocrypha copy of him from Gordes. Don't ask for details, I've scrubbed my brain of it in a hurry.

The second craziest being Siegfried/Sigurd and Siegfried/Siegfried (it's an au fic in Chinese so good luck). I swear I found the former somewhere on AO3, and only recall Siegfried viewing Sigurd as a better version of him from when I skimmed it out of morbid curiosity.

But the other pairings/interactions I've found with him that I do like are with Beowulf and Robin. All general and done by the same author way back in 2016. I would have never thought of such an idea (minus Beowulf because it's fun imagining how much he'd bellyache at him over Siegfried gaining powers with dragon blood while he died to dragon blood).

If you know how Robin handles himself in Extra, having Siegfried for a partner would be another drag for him because oh no another chivalry-soaked partner to deal with. But then also think about Robin in Salem, how he advises Ritsuka that no matter how hard they try, they can't save everyone. He cares in his own way. Bit of a shame Robin isn't the same Robin that had a friendship with Richard the Lionheart - otherwise I'd start making parallels if I wrote this pairing.

But man I do love the fic where Siegfried is dragged into a spice eating contest by Jeanne Alter and they win a vacation for it, in exchange for a stomachache. That one was funny.

Ah, but it is nice to speak about crack pairs involving Siegfried, especially since couple servants tend to make it difficult to talk about them without someone getting mad on behalf of a fictional couple who will never thank them for it. Thanks for that.

I've actually read the tentacle one before (back in '20 or '21, one of those years), and it's... definitely something. 😅 I think I've spent too much of my time on the internet to not be that squicked out on it, or something along those lines.

I'm curious - in a slightly twisted way - on the Siegfried x Sigurd ship, since I haven't seen it pop up before. Siegfried x Brynhild, yes, but not with Sigurd. And since they're counterparts to each other, would this be a variation of selfcest? 🤔 Great now I'm going to think too much on this

I haven't really seen Extra (have seen CCC, just not Extra), but I do know that Robin's deal in that entry is that his Master wishes to play fair and Robin... can't really do that as he is. So these two having an interaction, either as a ship or just in a platonic way sounds fun (Robin understands what Kriemhild and Master goes through on the daily 😔)

Ditto for Beowulf, that sounds like a really funny interaction (reminds me of how during the Apoc rerun I found it wild that in Siegfried's raid battle he would drop poisonous needles, like, "why are you dropping poisonous needles honey, is there something that you're not telling me???" lol).

I don't think I've ever seen the Jalter fic that you're talking about, but that also sounds really funny (they won the vacation, but at what cost?).

[subtletruamadumping]

An Encomium to Extraneous Holidays

______________________________________________________________

en·co·mi·um

a speech or piece of writing that praises someone or something highly.

Date Written: July 8, 2017

______________________________________________________________

What is the importance of July 8th? You don’t know? You don’t know what today is? How could you not know that wondrous holiday? A holiday among holidays is July 8th! Why, it’s Cow Appreciation day! How could you be blind to this most important day? I myself was moderately amused to learn of such a day. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t been aware of it for so long. Hurrah for Cow Appreciation Day! The festivities from yesterday shall bleed into today!

Don’t tell me you don’t remember yesterday’s most joyous holiday! Why, I’ll never be the same after learning about it! How could it? I can’t believe I was able to live my life unaware of Macaroni Day. Of course, I should have been expecting such a thing. The most noble food of macaroni is surely deserving of its own holiday. I am just as certain that Fried Chicken Day (the day before Macaroni Day) is of utmost importance. I know your life is forever changed because of these exalted days of very specific celebration.

Stay out of the Sun Day saved my life. Be Humble Day made me pause in reflection. Rocky Road Ice Cream Day gave me a stomachache. Talk Like a Pirate Day shivered me timbers, matey! King Tut Day had me walking like an Egyptian. Be certain not to confuse Tell a Joke Day with its cousin, Joke Day. Name Yourself Day confused my parents. Repeat Day nearly drove them insane. 

There’s a holiday for almost every day of the year. Unfortunately, tomorrow is one of those forlorn days with no purpose. No meaning. No ridiculously specific calling. However, in the joy found in today’s celebration, I will give it one. I hereby name July 9th Extraneous Holidays Appreciation Day! What could be more perfect than a day to celebrate these underappreciated days to celebrate?

[kimsohn]

song: i love you — treasure

idol: soobin — txt

genre: fluff

i hope i did the correct thing :/

chocolate pie . soobin x gn!reader about . 448 words, fluff warnings . none

after you became soobin's seatmate, he's been noticing you everywhere.

first it was in the lunch line, where you both almost grabbed the last cream puff and he reluctantly let you have it. soobin never gives up his food, but somehow his fingers refused to move, and his mouth refused to argue.

next it was at the cafe, where he went to study and catch up on his schoolwork, only to notice you working the counter with a bright smile on your face. all thoughts of work immediately flew out of his head, and he had to return home hours later with a stomachache from ordering too much food just to talk to you.

even his dreams are haunted by your laughter, your voice, your figure and your presence, and he's incredibly confused. you're merely just the person who sits next to him in chemistry, not a celebrity or someone popular at his school.

so why are all his thoughts about you?

and now, it's the empty hallway with soobin walking to deliver a stack of paper and you returning from the restroom. he could recognize your pretty hair and lopsided uniform blazer anywhere, and as your eyes shift up to meet his, he notices the drying tear stains on your normally blushy cheeks.

"hey, are you okay?" he asks, voice coming out in a whisper despite no one being in the hallway to hear your conversation.

"i'm fine," you grumble, clearly not in the mood to discuss anything about the disappearing evidence of sadness on your pretty face.

soobin mentally curses at himself for finding you even more beautiful.

as you start to walk away, head drooping low again, he stops you with an exclamation of protest, a stark contrast from his whisper a few seconds ago. you turn to stare at him, head tilted in confusion, and soobin pulls out the small chocolate pie he'd been saving for lunch and hands it to you.

"soobin, what—"

"take it. it always cheers me up, maybe it can help you too."

soobin thinks he's going crazy. why is offering food to you when he's clearly craving it? it's like his body has a mind of its own, because he outstretches his arm, pie in hand and stares expectantly at you.

he watches you take it, tucking it in your pocket and muttering a small phrase of gratitude before walking away. somehow, he notices you're not as slouched over, and a smile finds its way on his face at the realization that he's made you feel better.

he decides that he'd bring you a million chocolate pies a day if it made you feel even a little bit better.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hello Ms. Raven 😁 May I requests headcanons of Ace and Deuce on how would they react when their s/o has a habit of giving them food that they don’t like or can’t finish?

Curiouser and Curiouser...

Ace has a habit of bragging about your food and rubbing it in others’ faces. It comes off as proud, but in a bratty sense. “What, you made me some food again? Sweet! Heh, I’ll bet all the guys in Basketball Club are jealous that I get home cooked meals every practice. Sucks to be them!”

Ace has no concept of delayed gratification. He’s going to eat everything right away, beginning with his favorite foods first--and he’ll leave whatever he doesn’t like as leftovers.

If you try to make him eat those raw oysters, he’s not going down without a fight. Ace will whine and make a big fuss about it about it, just like a little kid refusing to eat their peas and carrots. “You can’t expect me to eat something so nasty! It literally feels like eating slime. Are you seriously going to make your cute boyfriend eat SLIME?!”

He doesn’t have the maturity to gracefully turn down your food. You can try all you like to spoon feed him those oysters, but all you’ll get is a stubborn pout as he wrenches his face away.

At some point, Ace realizes you won’t let up anytime soon and, wising up, he changes his strategy. Ace takes the oysters from you and swears that he’ll save them for later (“I’m not hungry right now, since I just ate a ton! You made way too much for one person.”).

... Then as soon as you’re out of sight, he palms the oysters off into the feed for the hedgehogs and flamingos kept at Heartslabyul. Ace doesn’t even know if those animals can digest oysters, but he’d still rather someone else take the fall for his stomach.

Ace justifies his actions by telling himself ‘what they don’t know won’t hurt’m’. This way, everyone’s happy—he doesn’t have to eat food that he hates, and you walk away still thinking that Ace happily ate his least favorite food for you. (... Now he just has to repeat his strategy every time you cook for him.)

Deuce is always appreciative when you bring him food, but he worries that it’s an inconvenience. He makes sure to earnestly show his gratitude upon accepting the gift. “This is for me? Wow, you really shouldn’t have...! I know it takes a lot of time, skill, and money to wake up early and make me meals so... Thank you very much! I’ll be sure to enjoy every last bite!”

If you made too much, that’s okay! Deuce won’t wolf everything down in one sitting. He can have the leftovers for a second meal later, or as a post-track meet snack. After all, he wouldn’t want to waste any food, or your efforts!

Deuce is sometimes so excited to chow down that he totally forgets about your habit of sprinkling in bell peppers into your dishes until he bites down on some. Bell peppers in fried rice, bell peppers in salad, bell peppers in omelettes (blasphemous, according to Deuce)...

He picks through his food as best as he can, trying to remove the bell peppers from the rest of his meal. It’s then that he remembers his words from before: “I’ll be sure to enjoy every last bite!”

“Grrrgh...! I said I’d eat everything, and I’m a man of my word! I won’t break my promise!! Just watch me...!! I’ll overcome this challenge even if it kills me!!” Deuce immediately dumps the bell peppers he had picked out back into his meal and, taking a deep breath, starts slamming down the food.

In between bites, he chugs entire cartons of chocolate milk (to drown out the taste of bell pepper). Deuce also does his absolute best to chew and swallow as fast as he can, just to be rid of that bad taste quickly. (He eats his leftovers like this too, which gets him weird stares from his classmates and club members).

In the end, Deuce manages to steel his nerves and consume your meals, bell peppers and all, at the cost of some stomachache and nausea. He’s still proud of himself for manning up and proving his courage to you, though! “Did you see that?! I did it...! Just like I said I would! You can always count on me to stick to my word!”