#sorry for sending out yet another quiz

[wannaeatramyeon]

Meeting Student!Gun Park for the First Time

G/N. 3.2k. Remember when Gun wanted to get his GED? Well. Stranger to~ Masterlists

"How old are you?"

"20."

Press X for doubt, you think, and that's the exact meme you send over on chat.

"20 like 20 or 20 like you're mid 30s and planning your mid life crisis 20?"

You know you're being rude and making a terrible first impression. It's the first day of a new school year, of a new school in fact, and for some reason the class is held on video call and you're all forced to pair off with a classmate for an icebreaker introduction.

It’s already cringe worthy and awkward enough, icebreakers must have been created as a form of torture. To add insult to injury, you're sure this guy is bullshitting you.

"I'm 20." He deadpans.

Momentarily, you’re stunned into silence. It stretches almost a tad too long before you manage to choke out, “My bad. Sorry."

Wow. You're torn between thinking that's a rough 20, this guy has easily got 40 years under his belt and oh no, when is your puberty and hormones gonna kick in like that.

And that's also the exact moment this 20 year old Gun Park takes a drag on a cigarette and you decide that it's definitely a rough 20.

"So what do you do for fun?" You probe, and you have the distinct feeling he might say something like alimony, planning his third marriage, investing in the stock market - whatever someone in their 50s might say but-

To your surprise and glee, his body language turns shifty. 

He likes to game he says, like it's a dirty little secret. Amongst other things. Mentions something about training and martial arts and you fight to keep a straight face as it turns out you were also right about investing in shares and the stock market.

Gaming, however, is what you latch on to.

"Cute. I bet I could kick your ass."

"Oh yeah?"

"Oh yes."

And this is how you ended up at 4am on a school night, playing Tekken with your new classmate and getting your ass kicked.

"One more!" You screech down the mic, after the KO sign appears on screen, mumbling something about cheating and how if you can time this combo just right-

There's a huff of laughter coming through your tinny headphones and an amused "Fine."

.

.

Dark circles under your eyes grow. It's been a week of straight losses.

You blame the sleep deprivation on Gun Park, though really you have your own stubbornness to blame.

He never tends to say much during the gaming sessions apart from the odd expletive and you rant enough after each of your defeats for the both of you.

Sometimes this will earn you a chuckle and he will snidely add that you asked for this, you were the one who was supposed to kick his ass. This would piss you off enough for another game or three in the hopes of defeating him and getting to gloat.

Which unfortunately has not happened yet.

With a sigh, you hope your camera quality this morning is bad enough and pixelated enough that your poor sleep habits don't show.

You scan over your classmates, the few that have their camera turned on and find him.

Gun looks completely fine. He looks completely fine in what must be 4k and ugh, you scrunch your nose up in annoyance.

You keep an eye on him through the class. Observe how he's usually paying rapt attention, scribbling and typing up notes every now and then.

It's impressive how studious he is.

In comparison, you're daydreaming. Thinking about lunch, other combos or characters to play to counter his own when you catch on to the back end of a sentence as your teacher mentions ‘this’ is something to pay attention to as it will be on the pop quiz.

Huh? You blink a couple times. What is ‘this’? Unfortunately she swiftly moves onto another topic.

You type out a direct message to the only person you know.

You: I missed that, what did she just say?

Gun: You should have been paying attention.

You: Fuck you man!

You see his eyes dip to the bottom of the camera screen, briefly moving as he presumably reads your message.

He smirks.

That night he kicks your ass again.

Then as consolation, reveals what will be on the pop quiz.

.

.

If Gun looked like that in 4k, nothing could prepare you for how he looked in real life.

You're setting up your laptop and notepad in the classroom, the first actual in-person session, when someone takes a seat next to you.

Initially you feel a surge of irritation that they could have sat anywhere else and chose to sit next to you, then you look at the offender and-

Hold on.

You double, triple-take-

Is that?

It must be.

Shit.

It's fucking Gun Park.

You don't entirely regret your initial comments on his looks because this guy definitely does not look 20 but goddamn he looks-

He chooses that moment, when your jaw is on the floor, to turn to you and give you a nod of acknowledgement.

"Y/N."

"H-hi." You manage, and even to your ears it sounds like a simpering fool.

He must have thought so too if the quirk of his lips is anything to go by.

The cherry on top is that you expected this guy to smell like stale smoke, instead all you get is fresh laundry and something faintly dark and heady like leather and cedarwood.

Fuck.

Control yourself, a disapproving voice in your head says. Even that sounds vaguely like Gun.

It does nothing to stop your wandering gaze, peering at him in your periphery when you think he's not looking.

After you have taken your chance to not so discreetly run your eyes up and down his form, the only thing that makes you feel better is his hair. Because yeah he might be hot, but holy shit that must be a gallon of hair gel in there.

.

.

The other thing, as it turns out, that makes you feel a lot better is that he doodles.

It’s utterly charming.

Someone like Gun Park doesn't look like he doodles, but in between lines of his chicken scratch (seriously, who can even read that), there's little stick figures.

Maybe all the time you thought he was being studious he was just drawing-

Wait. You squint at the picture.

Is this guy for real?

"Are they fucking?" You whisper, using your pen to point at the page.

He doesn't answer straight away. There's a moment of surprise as he reacts like this is another secret of his he has unwittingly let you in on before his nostril flares and his eyes narrow and you grin in response.

Your grin grows when he grits out an answer. "No. Fighting."

He doesn't call you a dumbass but you can hear it loud and clear tacked on at the end.

"Whatever, pervert." You counter. You guess if you squint even harder then you suppose they could be fighting. Although the way one is lying on top of another is very suggestive. You don't hesitate to point that out to him.

Gun closes his eyes and counts to ten.

.

.

Even without a seating plan, one forms.

Places taken by chance on the first day becomes a regular arrangement.

You exchange a few words with your classmates, familiarise yourself somewhat with their names and faces. Pieces of their backstory, why they're here studying for a GED but take your spot next to Gun regardless.

No one really talks to him, you've heard them saying he's menacing and intimidating. Yet when your first encounter of him was mistaking him as someone about to hit mid life crisis, how intimidating can he really be.

Besides, he still doodles his lewd figures that he insists are not in any way shape or form comprising sexual positions. So no, you don't find him intimidating at all.

.

.

Gun, as you have come to know, is a man of few words. He is also unsurprisingly not great at literature.

What you don't yet know is he likes to say what he means and mean what he says. His patience only extends to The Art of War, so all the flowery prose and poetry only serves to irritate him.

If Gun glared at you the way he's currently glaring at the textbook, you think you may either burst into tears or burst into flames.

Luckily you do neither of those things but you do take pity on him. Leaning over, you ask him quietly if he needs help.

He doesn't respond but the pen he's clutching in his right hand snaps in half.

Alright then.

Half an hour later, when the class empties out you ask Gun to follow you to the library.

He hesitates, and you add "if you've got time" to give him an out. In the end he doesn't take it and trudges obediently after you.

You very quickly learn that he really doesn't like literature. You're explaining and working him through the analysis and also mildly offended at the bored look on his face.

"This is a waste of time," he interjects and there's a sullen undercurrent to his words.

"Just memorise the analysis then." Exasperation tinges your tone, "That's all you need to do to pass."

He arches a brow at your words.

"They're testing your memory. So just remember what our teacher says."

There's an angry air of resignation as Gun nods, and you slide your notes over for him to copy.

.

.

Not long after, you have your first minor evaluation on the literature material.

You notice during the test that while the vein in Gun’s temple is prominent and he’s clutching his (new) pen tighter, there’s barely any pause as he fills in the answers.

A few days later, the graded papers are handed back. There's a sigh of relief from Gun.

He gives you a smile, small and genuine, eyes crinkling at the corner.

"You owe me one," you tell him jokingly though he takes it to heart and gives you a stern nod.

.

.

Gun repays his debt, with a coffee.

He places the paper cup on the desk in front of you. Logo of the coffee house to the side but still visible. It's new, expensive, and there’s regular lines around the block.

Of course it would be from there.

The issue is, who repays a debt with an espresso. He didn’t even ask for your drink of choice!

"Thanks for this thimble of coffee," you remark as Gun sniffs in distaste at your comment, placing his own matching cup in front of him and saying something about how it's the best untainted way to drink it.

Of course he would also be a coffee snob.

You tell him you usually like it with a bit more cream and a lot more sugar and he mutters that you sound like Goo.

You think that's an insult.

"Well, at least Goo has good taste," you snipe back with a grin.

Gun closes his eyes and counts to ten.

.

.

You: Are you doodling or actually writing notes?

You: Cos on camera you look very studious but I’ve seen your notepad

Gun: None of your business

You: Still drawing your disgusting pornographic stick men then

Gun: They are not-

Gun: Whatever

.

.

You: Ok, maybe that espresso wasn’t terrible

Gun: I know

You: Who’s Goo anyway?

Gun: …

Gun: No-one

You: Suuuure

.

.

You: Tekken tonight?

Gun: Aren’t you tired of getting your ass kicked?

You: >:(

.

.

You: Do you wanna go over the new lit material in the library this week?

Gun: Ok

.

.

Gun: Thanks for your help

You: :) 

.

.

Gun: You’re tired. You should game less.

You: Spoken like a coward!

Gun: Dumbass

You: Hey!!

.

.

Gun: I’ll bring you an espresso tomorrow. You need it.

You: Does it have to be an espresso?

Gun: Yes

You: …Thanks

.

.

To anyone else, the figure standing in the doorway is just smoking. To you, it suspiciously looks like they’re waiting.

It's not a crime. Gun Park can wait for whatever or whoever he wants.

What really throws you off is his smoking. You've seen him casually take one single drag before throwing the whole cigarette away. Even to you, it seems like a waste.

However, this time he smokes one all the way to the filter before stubbing it out. Then does the same to a second, and third.

Strange, very strange.

You approach him. Taking gentle steps, in case he might get spooked and bolt which is really a ridiculous notion for someone like him. Nevertheless, you keep your footsteps light, yourself clearly in view and you wander over to him.

"Hey," you say, with a somewhat forced smile. He doesn't acknowledge your greeting apart from a brief nod.

"... Everything ok?"

It's a perfectly normal question to ask but a vastly bizarre one for Gun. He doesn't look like the type of person where people casually enquire about his well being.

He must have thought so too if the look he gives you is anything to go by.

In response, he stubs out his cigarette (his fourth!) then asks, stilted and stiffly, if you want to come back to his for a game of Tekken.

At least that's what you interpret as he seems to be crazy cryptic.

"Are you interested in Tekken?"

"...Yes." You wonder what on earth this question is because did you hallucinate all those games you played together?

"Then meet me. After class." 

"Where? Here?"

"No. At mine."

"Where's that?"

"..."

He gives you another look, as if you're the one trying to coax a secret out of him despite him offering.

Gun dips forward, murmurs quietly into your ear his address and some vague directions like it's highly confidential information.

You nod along, thinking what is with this guy. 

.

.

So firstly, what the fuck.

Then secondly, what the fuck.

Don't think you hadn't noticed the designer brands Gun wears. If they're fakes, they're very convincing fakes. But you're almost certain they have got to be counterfeit when he brought you over to a junkyard claiming this is where he lives.

You've seen films like this. Granted, it's less in a junkyard and more in the middle of nowhere in America where college kids meet their gruesome ends in fantastical ways.

You never thought this would happen to you. You have sorely miscalculated. 

Is this Gun Park (if that even is his real name) going to butcher you and leave your body on top of a pile of scrap metal in the corner?

Instead of a night of gaming where you’re the one KO-ing him, he’s actually the one that’s going to chase you around wearing a mask and wielding a knife or axe?

"You’re here. Come in," Gun says, opening his front door just as your inner monologue begins to truly spiral out of control and you're considering doing a runner.

"Eh?" You grunt like an idiot, not noticing when the shack appeared nor when you stepped onto his porch, or the side eyes Gun had been giving you.

He gives you another look, likely regretting inviting you at all, and leaves the door ajar for you to either enter or turn back and go home.

.

.

"This is... nice," you lie, through the skin of your teeth.

Gun sees cleanly through your white lie and exhales a huff of amusement.

It's sparse. Peeks of luxury here and there - the extensive PC gaming rig, the entertainment system and consoles, to name a few.

Apart from that, it's barely a home.

"Take a seat." He offers, and it sounds more like an order. Obediently you sit on his sofa, feeling very much a guest.

"You're not in danger," he says, bemused at how awkward you are in his domain, how tense you hold yourself.

'That's exactly what a killer would say,' you think and when you hear a low chuckle, you realise that you said it aloud.

"Don't worry," Gun reassures and it doesn’t really help before he strides off to somewhere in his house and leaves you sitting alone.

He returns back minutes later as you’re in the middle of admiring his entertainment set up and going through his vinyl collection (because obviously someone like Gun has vinyls) with a coffee for you that looks much more milky and to your taste than the usual ones he offers. 

“Thanks.” you take your drink and return back to your seat.

Taking the first sip, you finally manage to relax. Sinking into a sofa that is much more comfortable than at first glance and you take in your surroundings a bit more.

Sort of. You actually take in Gun Park more. 

He’s casual, in a way you have never seen or even considered. Dressed in a t-shirt and grey sweatpants, hair floppy and the only styling is done with his hands running through his hair now and then to keep it back.

Even during the online classes, he is usually dressed up in an open collared shirt.

If you thought he was hot before, it’s nothing compared to now. There’s an air of domesticity, the drink he made for you cradled in your hands, and the distinct feeling that not many people have had the luxury to see Gun in his natural habitat, so intimate and vulnerable.

You wonder if this is how he looks all those nights you’ve been gaming together.

You catch his eyes, having been caught checking him out and he raises his eyebrows at your blatant staring. 

Blood rushes to your cheeks as he chuckles into his own espresso and takes a sip.

.

.

"Holy shit, I won!"

You're familiar with the KO screen. What you're not familiar with is being on the side of victory. You're usually a hair trigger away from rage quitting, from throwing a tantrum down the mic.

Finally. All your hard work has paid off. Time spent thinking of combos, attacks and defences (which would have been better spent studying) is coming to fruition.

You peer over to Gun, expect the controller he is clutching to maybe have been crushed into pieces with his freakish strength. Expected nothing except for a vein throbbing on his temple.

What you do find is-

Gun looking at you, fondness in his eyes. He's taking in your grin, letting your gloating slide.

Doesn't do more than roll his eyes when you perform a victory dance of sorts around him.

And when you get in his face to tell him that you're the winner, you're the best-

(More words are on the tip of your tongue but your gaze drops to his lip, drawn to the small smile he wears.

It sinks in.

The patience he has, the attention he gives, the way he has opened his home to you.

From the very first meeting, the even-handed way he has dealt with your insults, entertained you to the early hours of the morning on Tekken.)

Gun reaches out, tugs your hand and pulls you into his lap and agrees.

"Yes. The best."

You think it's a lie, an embellishment.

But the way he holds you - tender and precious, and the way he leans forward to rest his forehead against yours - soft, like you might break - can't be anything else but the whole truth.

[allforhee]

*ੈ✩ — 𝐌𝐘 𝐍𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝟏 𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓 𝐒𝐘𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐌. (BLURB) | SIM JAEYUN

୨୧ pairing — idol!jake x fem!reader

୨୧ synopsis — being jake's gf, you normally tag along everywhere. every concert, every fansign, every soundcheck. but with a heavy heart, jake has to attend another fansign without you. little does he know, you're in line with the other engenes ready to give him a little surprise.

୨୧ genre — fluff, cute coupley stuff, pouty jake

୨୧ warnings — trying not to show pda, suggestiveness, written on my phone so not proofread

୨୧ word count — 1,059 words (not proofread)

୨୧ author's note — hiya lovies! so sorry for the hiatus as i was going through a pretty bad of a burnout, and had little to no inspiration to write. but finally i had time to strike up a bit of inspiration to write this fic!! hope u all enjoy a bit of jake fluff :)

“right this way, ma'am.”

as you were escorted into the venue, your heart was beating out of your chest. unlike every other concert or fansign you’d attend, you’d normally be wearing a staff name-tag with access to backstage. but here you were, hand clasping an engenebong, a vip lanyard on, clad in jake’s favorite colors.

in your other hand was a small sign that read “sim jaeyun, send a flying kiss!”

sitting alongside with the other engenes, your plan ready to be set in action.

a few days prior, jake had initially invited you to the fansign, but you declined with an excuse that you had uni homework due.

“darling, i have a fansign in a couple days, you’ll be there right?” jake asks, as he sits on your couch, snacking on popcorn as you cook dinner.

“this saturday right?” you ask, thinking of what plans you have then. but then you remember. “i don’t think i’ll make it yunie, my professor wants to have a quiz for extra marks. i’m sorry my love.” you confess, turning off the stove before coming over to him and giving him a pat on the head as he pouts.

“really? can’t you just miss a couple marks?” jake begs, still pouting.

“i’m so sorry ikeu, i’ll have to miss out on this one. i’ll make it up to you next time, okay?” you try to reason with him.

jake gives a slight nod as he opens his arms to invite you into a hug, which you accept.

that was a few days ago. you found out your professor had moved the quiz a day earlier, which meant you had the whole day for the fansign. as you were thinking of a way to tell jake, an idea popped into your head.

you picked up your phone and dialed jungwon’s number, as you explained to him your idea.

he managed to snag you a last minute vip fansign ticket, where you are now.

with you and jake’s relationship not out in the open yet, you weren’t expecting anyone to notice you, other than the members. you were more scared on how jake would react to your surprise, rather than the fans.

as your hands pick on your cuticles (by habit), the members came onto stage. with jungwon leading the way and immediately spotting you, followed by a couple others like jay, heeseung, and sunoo. jake on the other hand, seemed out of the moment, but he was trying his best to hide his sad facade.

sunghoon and ni-ki were trying to cheer him up, before sunghoon took a glance in the crowd and saw you in the second row, holding your sign. he gave a knowing smile, as he signaled to ni-ki to look at where he was looking. he immediately spotted you as well.

as the members gave their opening greetings and interacted with the fans for a while, they sat down as the fansign begun.

the fans started making their way, and as you were in the second row, you had to wait a while to talk to the members.

you had one minute with each member, and jake being the last member, you had enough time to calm your nerves.

as your queue number was called out, you sprayed the last bit of perfume, before walking over to the first member, jungwon.

he gave you a high five and a wink, signifying that your plan went really well, “noona! you made it! did my ticket work?” he asked.

“well i’m here so yes it worked! i’m so excited but anxious to see jake though.” you sighed.

jungwon gave a smile as he was signing your album, before the staff had to escort you to the next member.

heeseung gives you a smile as he laughs at what you’ve done.

“you know, jake has been whining on and on about you not coming to today’s signing.” he laughs.

you giggle at his statement, “has he? well i’m as excited to surprise him today.”

heeseung smiles at you before signing a little smiley face at your album, and the staff calls you to move to the next seat.

as you move through the next members, jay, sunoo, ni-ki, with similar responses, as you were finally arriving at sunghoon, you were scared jake was gonna notice you.

sunghoon saw you and immediately gave a smile, knowing your plan. although jake was sitting next to him, he was too enthralled with keeping his mood up to notice you.

as sunghoon was signing your album, you whispered, “hoon, what should i say to him?”

sunghoon smiled and said, “just be yourself, you’re his girlfriend after all.” as your time ran out and you stood up.

the second you sat on that seat, you opened your mouth and asked “so, do you like holding all those girls’ hands?” as you lift up your right hand.

jake lifted his head up from signing your album, eyes slowly widening as he realizes who’s sitting in front of him.

“darling? is that you?” he asked, his voice nervous.

“yes yunie,” you assure him as you take of your mask, “it’s me.”

he takes your hand in his, as he puts it on his cheek, feeling your touch.

you laugh at the cute interaction, smiling the whole time.

“but you said you wouldn’t make it?” jake asks, his pout disappearing and a light blush taking its place.

“i have my ways.” you hint at him.

as you two were holding hands as jake was signing a heart on your album, the staff signaled that time was up, and that you had to return to your seat.

jake held your hand one last time, before he tugged you and whispered in your ear, “meet me after this, okay?” he winks, before letting you go.

you smile to yourself on the way back to your seat, as a couple fangirls call out to you, as you hear some things like;

“girl did he hold your hand the entire session?”

“no way what did he whisper to you?”

“how are you not fainting right now? are you okay?”

you walk past them ask you put your mask on, and sit down lifting up your sign.

jake immediately spots you and your sign, before throwing a flying kiss. you really were his number one supporter.

taglist; -

back to my masterlist?

© 𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐇𝐄𝐄, est. 2024 | do not plagiarize, modify, translate, or repost my works on any platforms.

[kay-elle-cee]

@jilytoberfest 31 Prompts: Day 1 || 689 Words || Read on Ao3 —

“Excuse me?”

Lily looks up from her phone, startled by the proximity of the deep voice calling for her attention. The volume of the pub around them necessitates close proximity for any sort of conversation, and she blinks as her eyes focus on a (very) attractive man sliding into the seat next to her. Quickly, her eyes dart around looking for Dorcas, who should really be on her way back from the loo any second now, to no avail.

“You’re here with Meadowes, right?” The man asks, a black eyebrow raising knowingly, something unspoken and humorous dancing on his lips.

Rolling her eyes, Lily leans back in her seat and drops her attention to her phone. This happens all the time. “You’re not her type, sorry.”

The man lets out a sharp laugh that draws her gaze up once more, and it lingers to take in the untamable curls that fall in front of square-rimmed glasses. “I’d say not.” At the raise of her brow, he shakes his head with a smile. “I’m James. Marlene’s friend.”

Lily sucks a breath through her teeth and reaches for her half-empty drink. “I see.” Taking a long sip, she sets it down and straightens out the napkin on the table, fixing this man—James—with a tired, knowing look. “And I take it Marlene also disappeared to the toilets about ten minutes ago, and has yet to return?”

“‘Gone to get us drinks,’ actually,” James replies, fingers quoting around his friend’s excuse.

“Wonderful. And here I thought Dorcas wanted to have a girls' night.”

“To be fair to Dorcas, I think she is.”

Lily just stares blankly at him. “Does that usually get a laugh?”

“An exasperated groan, actually.”

“Good,” she nods, taking another sip of her drink. “You don’t need the encouragement.”

James places a hand over his heart in mock-pain, a smile spreading on his lips. “So Dorcas lured you here under the pretense of a girl’s night? Marlene said we were coming to a pub quiz. Imagine my disappointment.”

“This is so messy,” Lily sighs, tracing the top of her glass. “The last time they broke up—”

“I know,” James sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Their schedules just really don’t line up. Maybe that’s why they pulled us into it—someone to hold them accountable.”

“Fat load of good that does when they don’t even tell us the reason we’re here. I have other things I could be doing other than sitting alone in a pub on a Tuesday night.”

“Yeah I’m a little peeved at McKinnon. I actually rearranged my schedule because she said they were down a member.”

Lily’s lips twitch. “You rearranged your schedule for a pub quiz?”

“I rearranged my schedule to help a friend,” he answers, aghast.

“Your friend should be more appreciative and not run off to snog her ex-girlfriend in the toilets,” Lily grimaces, finishing her drink.

He sighs, bringing his beer bottle to his lips (and drawing Lily’s gaze there as well). “It’s not the first time she’s done something like this. I’m afraid I’m rather gullible when it comes to my friends.”

“It’s Dorcas’ first time pulling something like this.” She clears her throat and tears her eyes away from his lips, a flush crawling up her neck as she sees she’s been caught. James quirks an eyebrow.

“Maybe we should teach them a lesson. Make sure they don’t do it again.” 

Her pulse quickens. “Maybe. They shouldn’t leave their poor, suffering friends alone in a bar.” Green eyes flicker down to full lips for the quickest of moments. “Do you have an idea?”

“I do,” James breathes, and he’s leaning in towards her. “But I’d feel pretty shit following through without even knowing your name.”

She honest-to-God blacks out for a second, before remembering the four-lettered thing. “Lily.”

“Lily,” he repeats, and the sound of her name in his mouth sends a jolt of electricity through her. “I’m James.”

Her smile is fleeting as she spots two figures heading their way, and she rushes her next words. “You’ve already said that, and they’re coming. Now shut up and kiss me.”

[finniestoncrane]

Jealousy

Rogues Headcanons request: rogues who are jealous of their crush with another partner. i'm so sorry anon this post got messed up by tumblr so i had to delete it and i've only now found time to rewrite it ;-; 💜 request info • prompt list • send me a request • kofi • masterlist minors DNI!! 🔞 cw: threats, posessive/obsessive behaviour, violence, yandere bullshit i guess

penguin

oswald cobblepot isn't the type to wait around for someone

someone who obviously doesn't see a good thing when it's standing in front of them

sure he'll pine for a bit

but anyone who doesn't have the sense to know he's the better choice in any situation is too dumb to be with him

however, for the right person (that person being you...)

he might be known to spend nights in his office, avoiding going home to his empty apartment

because it bothers him that you're not there, sitting beside him

curling up to him in bed, waking up to him in the mornings

all the little things that he's missing out on, that someone else now has

it's enough to drive a respectable businessman to some rather cruel efforts to get what he wants

poison ivy

pam likes to think of herself as "above it all"

she's just green, the hue has nothing to do with jealousy

but the sudden, unprompted, and rather intense development of a mini jungle outside of your apartment?

that has everything to do with jealousy

they can bring you a bouequet of flowers, sure, the decapitated heads of something that was once living trussed up in bows

but only she can build you a botanical garden wherever you please

something that keeps living and growing

just like her intense infatuation with you

and the dead weight your carrying around with you will definitely become handy

since they can be mixed into compost for her gardens

victor zsasz

how dramatic can he get? seems like the answer is "very"

new tallymark system: one scratch for every day he's not with you

although, if he really sat down to think about it

his talents could definitey see him go far here, e.g. his skill in the art of disposal

nothing extravagant or showy, no, this has to be secretive, stealthy, surprising

one quick shot to their forehead from a distance

or a pretend mugging, an oddly precise slash to the neck doing the trick

which method of ridding you of this new love of your life would cause you the least amount of psychological damage?

because he's not keen on the idea of waiting around for you much longer

so you have to get over this current obstacle pretty quickly once they've been dealt with

mr freeze

it's likely been a while since he last latched onto someone emotionally

so there's already a deep connection between you, even if it's one sided, and it's difficult for him to look past it

even knowing that you're with someone else

the thoguht of someone trying to take nora from him when she was there infuriates him

and yet here he is, considering doing the exact same thing

it's different though, because he deserves someone nice to love

he's owed someone to care for and to dote after, and to return the favour to him

he'd definitely opt for a romantic gesture to win you over

something magical, like freezing your idiot partner and scooping you up in his arms

and carrying you off to his lair to keep you isolated for decades in near mint condition

riddler

his proclivity for solving puzzles and knowing the answer to everything has kept him awake every night

why are you with someone else and not with him?

why would you ever choose someone else over him?

absolutely bizarre behaviour BUT you just need someone to show you the error of your ways

someone to teach you, to educate you, so you can make better choices in the future

and of course, he's willing to use force if need be

some of his best lectures have been given with a captive audience

sometimes it really is the only way to get people like you to listen

and perhaps, at the end, he'll offer up a little pop quiz, the kind where if you fail it, your head goes pop

how smart is that new partner of yours anyway, hm?

two face

everything comes down to a choice

you just happened to make the wrong one

now harvey might be willing to respect your choices

he's a reasonable man after all

but two face is not taking this absolutely shocking disregard of his feelings well

it's not even up for the coin to decide

it's rampage time

and no one is safe from his intense violence and rage until he has you in his arms

and if that doesn't work, he can always rely on harvey and his brains

that lawyer talk should come in handy when he's arguing his case for choosing him

harley quinn

ok first of all, rude

she's willing to forget about her true love, mr j, and give you a chance

and you're going to pick someone else

hey! it's not her fault she never got around to asking you out

you should have asked her out! you do the hard work, bub!

anyway, her jealous streak is based in a defense mechanism

you are 100% going to be her worst enemy

it's part of distancing herself from you

and a way to avoid any blame on herself for not being quick enough to snap you up

god forbid she's to blame for her own misfortune

mad hatter

jervis is entirely respectful of your choices

it's not your fault that you didn't see him, or notice his affections

and it's not really his fault that he wasn't brave enough to say anything before it was too late

it's just that the universe has decided that you don't quite get your happy ever after yet

every fairytale story requires a bit of drama

a plot twist, to make the sweet, perfect ending more satisfying

he has absolutely no doubt that you'll find your way to him

without the need for any dubious tea or fashionable hats that might alter your beahviour

and then it'll all be the way it should be, you with him

in wonderland together forever

scarecrow

that's fine.

no really, make your own choices, make the wrong choices

the fear of losing you is fascinating and he's fine to hold onto that

but he will be getting revenge, just for the fun of it

see how well your new flame protects you when you wake up from one of jonathan's nightmares

especially when those nightmares feature your new partner

tormenting you, haunting you, terrifying you

oh, wouldn't you like to find safety in jonathan's arms?

well, perhaps he might find the kindness in him to allow that

but you'll have to beg, and suffer sufficiently, first

bane

ok so let's face it no one is arguing with bane or fighting him for your affections

but he's just such a big soft lug

if he saw you, knowing you were happy

even if that meant you were happier with someone other than him

he absolutely would do nothing to disrupt that

his jealousy would be well contained, never cruel or mean-spirited

he just knows that he would love the opportunity to show you what you're missing

the minute he suspects you're unhappy though, he is back on his simping bullshit with you, not brave enough to just ask you out

and you better hope he never gets the idea that your partner is being anything less than wonderful to you

or he'll crush them with one hand

[wanderingaldecaldo]

Smutty Sunday

My brain is in full meltdown mode. In the span of 24 hours I have three new WIPs, including the start of this madness. Sorry not sorry.

The bald eagle avatar pops up in the corner of V’s HUD and the line chimes once before it auto-connects. 

Rosalind had assured V that her calls needn’t be set to auto-answer, and V cocked an eyebrow and answered, “What, and accidentally send PONUS to voicemail?” The president’s only response was the shift into the permanent hint of a smirk etched on her face, and V knew that even if she wouldn’t acknowledge it formally, Rosalind still approved of the loyalty shown. V tries not to think about how much that approval makes her tremble.

“Christ, this meeting is even more tedious than the agenda suggested it would be.”

V can’t help but smirk, thankful to be left out of the conversation for once as it’s a Transportation Budget Committee meeting. She checks the agenda; it’s the last official engagement on the calendar, and the evening is free of social events for once.

“Sucks. Looks like you’ve got another forty-five, at least. Remember you complaining about the Senator running his mouth.”

“Know what I’d rather be doing?”

“Sipping a whiskey in your slippers?”

“Bending you over this conference table. It’s the perfect height. Wouldn’t even have to leave my chair.”

V chokes and coughs, even more thankful she isn’t in the meeting right now. The President’s presence alone is still enough to set her on edge, and even her subtle flirting colors V’s cheeks. There’s no way she could survive this in front of her advisors.

“Cat got your tongue?”

She sits up straight on the couch in her “small” office, heart hammering. She clears her throat, thinking fast. She’s never been particularly adept at sexual wordplay but Rosalind’s constant banter has given her ample practice, and she falls back on a simple, crude rejoinder. “Just thinking about what your tongue’d be doing.”

Rosalind’s holo scoffs and smirks, and V wonders how she can pay any attention to the meeting playing out in front of her while simultaneously running this game. 

“Oh no, you wouldn’t be getting that just yet. I’ll need to warm you up first, I’m sure.” V can’t help the groan that slips past her lips.“Though maybe you’re already warm. You don’t need much, do you, V? I imagine I could slide two in right now, couldn’t I.” 

Her tone is smooth as silk, and V’s eyes flutter closed as she whimpers, unable to form a response as she feels Rosalind’s manicured nails trailing up the skin of her thigh.

“I should probably pay attention to this meeting before the Honorable Senator from Kentucky starts to quiz me on this nonsense. I’m sure you’ll be a good girl and can hold out another forty-five, at least.”

The line disconnects abruptly, the eagle flashing in place of her holo before disappearing from the screen.

[beringandwells13]

13 Hours of Bering and Wells Zoom Meetup!

Here's a more concrete timetable; sorry it took me so long!

If you haven't signed up yet, here's the form where you can do that; it asks your email address and I will only send the Zoom link out to that email address, so that we don't get brigaded.

We're starting at 11am CEST/5am EST/5pm MYT. I'll host for the first hour or so, and after that I'll leave the Zoom open but will have to step away so that my brain can wind down again.

In that first hour, we'll have some introductions (names/nicknames/fandom names, how did we get into W13/Bering and Wells, are we fandom creators in some way, what does Bering and Wells mean for us etc.). Then we can have a trivia quiz that I've prepared! I'm also working on a headcanon bingo; not sure if I'll get it done in time though!

After that, once I step away, I can queue up the Bering and Wells episodes, and leave the Zoom open so that anyone who still wants to can talk and hang out.

If you wanna be a host/moderator/someone who steers the conversation for a while during that time (between noon CEST and 7pm CEST), please contact me so that we can organize something!

I'll hop back on at 7pm CEST and we'll have another round of intros with whoever's there then, and maybe a reprise of the trivia quiz and headcanon bingo too!

At 8pm CEST/2pm EST/2am MYT, we'll have a writer's panel with @kla1991, @magicmumu2 and me. These are the questions we'll cover:

what's your fic writing process? (and if you're a published author too, does it differ between fic and originals?)

how do you make sure you keep your characters in character?

where do you find your inspiration for fic?

what, to you, is the pull of writing fic (for Bering and Wells/in general)?

what's the fic you're most proud of and why?

Plus any questions you wanna ask!

That'll probably take an hour; after that, I'll probably have to bow out again at some point, but will still leave the Zoom open. I have two offers from people who are both in EST to host at that time, so you'll have someone to steer the conversation, maybe have the quiz/bingo a third time for any newcomers, etc.

The 13 hours will be complete at midnight CEST/6pm EST/6am MYT.

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

My dad asked me if I wanted to do something tomorrow night, which is cool because I haven’t seen him in a while, and he and I are both not terribly social but sometimes like spending time being not social together. Music and British comedy being the main things we bond over - he introduced me to British sitcoms from the 70s and 80s when I was young (and other things like The News Quiz and The Thick of It, which remain among my favourite things to this day), I got him into panel shows as an adult, we both like a lot of the same stand-up.

So he asked me about tomorrow night, and I said sorry, I can’t, I have to watch a weird play by my favourite comedian and a guy you saw on Taskmaster. Yeah, Tim Key, and no you don’t know who the other guy is, even though we talk about comedy all the time and I just described him as my favourite comedian. He is actually a big deal, but it’s hard to explain. He chose a career as a public performer but he gets upset if people find out he exists. It’s a whole thing. Last week I had a post up about the livestream of this play he wrote on his own and performed with Tim Key, but I deleted it after two hours because I remembered how much he doesn’t like anyone ever being told about things he does. But now I’m making another post in which I mention it, and point out that there are still tickets available for two shows tomorrow and one on Thursday, which everyone, especially all the Tim Key Monday people on Tumblr, should buy if they haven’t yet. Because he did add an extra date after the first London show sold out, and then sent an email to remind people that there are lots of tickets for the NYC and Melbourne shows still available, and sending out that email suggests that for once he may actually want people to know about something. Oh, how am I watching something tomorrow night if it’s only showing in London, Melbourne, and NYC? Because that’s just code for GMT, AEDT, and EST respectively, anyone in those timezones can get tickets for a 7 PM start or even anyone outside those timezones if they can adjust the start time accordingly, it was just advertised as being in those three cities because Daniel Kitson is under the impression that Melbourne, London, and NYC are the only cities in the world.

...Okay, at some point in that paragraph I got a bit away from what I told my father and into explaining what this post is, but the first half the paragraph is basically the gist of what I said. But it turned out that he just wants to get out of his house for the night, as my brother’s been staying there and is having people over, so now my dad is coming over to my house and we’re going to hook up my laptop to the TV in the living room. I have literally never used that TV before, and very nearly never used that living room, because my roommate likes to take over the house so at home I never leave my bedroom unless I have to. I certainly never host people at my house, which I let my roommate turn into as much of a mess as he wants, and I deal with that by keeping my bedroom clean and staying in it all the time. But my roommate says he’ll be out tomorrow night, so the living room is free. My dad’s going to come over and watch a weird play with me, at 7 PM NYC time, which is also 7 PM our time and in many cities that are not NYC, but no one’s told Daniel Kitson that.

I’ve warned him that it may not be his thing. I genuinely have no idea how it’ll go over. I mean, he likes independent movies. He often likes independent movies that are too sort of esoteric for me, so a weird theatre piece might be in his wheelhouse. It’s hard to tell. It’s not normally my sort of thing either, but it is a very good play. People should buy tickets. I know a lot of people on Tumblr who should not be deprived of a chance to see Tim Key shout at a facsimile tree for 90-ish minutes just because Daniel Kitson doesn’t like people knowing he exists, hence this post, even though I deleted the one I made last week. I don’t know how my dad will feel about watching Tim Key shout at a facsimile tree for 90-ish minutes, but I guess we will find out.

He used to play me Alan Bennett monologues when I was a kid. Tim Key shouting at a facsimile tree for 90-ish minutes is basically the same as Alan Bennett monologues, right? It should go over fine.

[taestefully-in-luv]

Love Again | PJM (Two)

Summary: A friend of yours is eager to introduce you to her new man but what happens when Park Jimin, the man who broke your heart 5 years ago walks in through the door?

Pairing: Jimin x Female reader

Genre: exes au, exes to ???, fluff, angst, smut

Word Count: 14k

Warnings: swearing, alcohol consumption, kissing, mentions of sex

Notes: Sorry this chapter is a little long, hehe. Thanks for giving this story some love. I hope you continue to enjoy it. Love hearing from you guys<3 Send an ask if you want to be added to a tag list or just want to chat:)

Tag list: @yoongimentita7 @rjsmochii @aria-grace-scott @ravensading @shrimpmsg @phossmos @ceyoongs @btsis7okay @loljrau @ggukkieland @forever-once-gone @joyfullycrazypuppy @taejoonswifey @awseokjin @telepathytae @ssaltytears @main-bangtansmauyeondan

© taestefully-in-luv

Previous---Next

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

You are having a good time, you really are...you’re just…distracted. There is this thrilling ache gnawing at your body, a feeling so overwhelming and consuming that you are having a hard time giving Namjoon your full attention. You sit here, watching his words fall out of his mouth and you try to concentrate on each one. You think you caught the word ‘beautiful’ and ‘hungry?’ but you aren’t so sure since the only sound you are actually hearing is Jimin’s voice.

Despite Jimin’s smooth, mesmerizing voice—no, stop it. No need to actively think of a description for the sound of the voice of your ex-boyfriend—you still try to focus on Namjoon. Shouldn’t be so hard considering how handsome he is…How does one guy pull off looking so manly yet so devastatingly soft? The type of man who has beads of sweat rolling down the side of his face in the blistering heat while chopping down trees with an axe yet somehow also the man who plants trees in his spare time with a dimpled smile. Duality, you guess.

Namjoon slowly stops talking when he realizes how zoned out you seem…he chuckles as he tilts his head and gets a better look at you. You met Namjoon your third year in University, you two sat next to one another in some uneventful literature class. It was at 8 am so he was always seeing the view of you drag your feet into the lecture room with sleepy eyes, never speaking too much. But you both kept it friendly, always sharing notes and quiz answers. He saw you often around campus but you never really saw him.

There were a few times you both would meet in the library to quietly work on essays side by side and even one time when he went to your apartment so you could peer review. He remembers how cute you were back then—always busy with something and always complaining about your literature class despite how seriously you took it. When he went to your apartment for the first time it finally sunk in how your living spaces was littered with various items—men’s items. You apologized, quickly picking up stray hoodies and blaming your boyfriend for always leaving a mess.

It finally hits you that Namjoon isn’t even speaking anymore…he’s just gazing at you with a smile that makes your heart feel fuzzy. You need to snap out of it! You are on a date with your crush of two years! You try to quietly clear your throat before giving conversation a shot.

“Sorry,” You smile sheepishly, “What were you saying?”

Namjoon nods his head towards the man playing a breathtaking piece on the piano, the man’s fingers sliding over the keys creating a charming melody for the restaurants guests.

“Amazing, isn’t he?”

Amazing…isn’t he…? Suddenly, his words begin echoing in your mind…sucking you into the past.

“Amazing, isn’t he?”

“Huh?” You mumble, never taking your eyes off the front of the room.

“I said…he’s amazing, isn’t he?” The girl next to you asks again, “I really feel bad for whoever gets paired up with him.” She leans in closer to you, trying to lower her voice more, “I mean, as good looking as he is…I kind of want to do well in this class.”

You don’t even bother responding to her, your attention captured by the guy performing a monologue of his choice for the class. It’s your first semester of college and you had to get your hands on an Acting 1 class…you always enjoyed theatre in the past in school and you wanted to continue down that path…see if you really have the passion for it.

You have never seen someone so…mesmerizing before. You finally let the girls words process in your brain and you can’t help but laugh. Yeah, you also feel bad for whoever gets paired with him because he would just outshine them. Stealing the spotlight, stealing the show.

When the guy is finished with his piece, everyone claps and he makes his way back into the audience, taking a seat. The professor calls out the next student who is due to perform and you feel your heart beginning to race…it’s you. But your heart doesn’t race in nerves rather it races in excitement. You aren’t too worried, if you’re honest. Sure, that previous guy could make everyone cry and contemplate life but you? You could make them laugh. And you do.

The other students in the room clap for you, their faces still broken out in smiles as you try to find your way back to your seat when you catch the gaze of the guy who went before you…his eyes twinkled in amusement and you feel yourself grow warm.

Class is coming to an end and your professor finally starts listing off the students who will be partnering for the semester. You patiently wait until your name is called. You see students being paired off one by one as they make their way to one another, you sit here until it’s just you and a few others left.

“y/n…” Your name is finally said and you perk up visibly, “and Jimin.” He says while pointing at the both of you. Your eyes slide to the side as you eye him, you notice he is already making his way over to you and you feel yourself grow excited.

“Hey,” He says, pulling a chair next to yours as he sits. “I’m Jimin.”

“y/n.” You tell him, “You did a really good job, by the way.” You comment nonchalantly. “I don’t think I have the talent for crying on cue.”

“Just gotta think of those commercials with the abused dogs and cats. Instant water works.” He grins at you, “Yours was good too. You’re really funny.”

“Well, you know what they say.” You pull out a notebook from your bag, “The more tragic your life is the funnier you get apparently.”

“And your life has been tragic?” He asks, a brow raised with clear amusement on his face.

“Well…no, not really.” You admit with a shrug. “Unless you count the time I dropped my blueberry muffin on the way to class. Which felt really tragic, so I mean maybe.”

“The blueberry muffins from Claire’s?” Jimin gasps, a hand over his heart. “That is tragic as hell, girl.”

“See? I knew I wasn’t being dramatic.” You laugh, “So,” You place your notebook in your lap, your fingers clicking your pen in and out over and over. “Is this like your life’s dream? Becoming some famous actor in movies that makes everyone cry?”

“No, not really.” Jimin takes out his own notebook, “My real specialty is musical theatre.”

“Ah, so you can sing.”

“And dance.” He winks at you, “What about you?” He asks, “What brings you to Acting 1?”

“Still trying to figure out if I have any real passion for anything.” You admit with a chuckle, “So, what kind of duets were we thinking of?” You open your notebook, ready to take notes.

You and Jimin become friends rather quickly…the semester zoomed by and you felt yourself so undeniably drawn to him. This isn’t romantic or sexual—or so you think. You truly just admired him and his performances…but he was just as charming off stage as he was on it. Watching Jimin doing his thing solidified something for you. You weren’t passionate about theatre or acting…seeing Jimin you realized what true passion is. You fell in love with theatre though, he made it so worth falling in love with even if you weren’t directly involved.

Even after your class ended together, you continued to still hang out. You and Jimin were always smiling and laughing, playing pranks on each other and others. Always having fun. You wondered if it was bad to be this drawn to someone. But little did you know, Jimin was just as affected by you as you were with him. He could sit here and listen to you talk all day, never getting bored.

It was during your second year when Jimin finally made a move on you and you two decided to make it official. It surprised a grand total of zero people when you announced you were dating, everyone just happy to see their friends finally together. The flower that was you and Jimin was enchanted and could even be bloomed under the moonlight. You could live in this night forever.

You shake your head, getting out of your thoughts and try to focus on Namjoon again. He’s incredible, honestly. You do like him, you just wish your brain wasn’t so chaotic with thoughts of your ex-boyfriend. But who could blame you? It’s not your fault he suddenly showed back up in your life…especially in these circumstances.

“Hm, are you nervous?” Namjoon accuses you softly, “I can tell.”

You immediately feel your cheeks getting warm and you feel an ounce of guilt. It’s not really nerves perse…but you guess you’ll go along with it.

“Don’t feel bad.” He reaches over for his glass of red wine, “I find it pretty adorable, to be honest.” He brings the glass to his lips as he sips on the alcohol, his eyes gazing into yours with a hint of playfulness.

“Sorry.” You eventually blurt out, “I’m just…well, surprised we are out on a date.”

Now it’s Namjoon’s turn to feel an ounce of guilt. He sets his wine glass back down on the table and offers you an apologetic smile.

“Sorry, that’s probably my fault, right?” His sheepish expression relaxes you a little, “I had been meaning to ask you out. I just never really knew when it was the right timing…”

“Don’t apologize!” You rush to say, “It’s not like I was waiting, or you know…expecting you to ask me out.”

“Well, it’s not like I wasn’t aware of how you felt about me.” Namjoon decides to call you out on your crush and you want to set yourself on fire.

“Right.” You nod your head stiffly. “Totally, totally.”

It’s not like your love life could suffer even more, why not add in some sprinkles of “Your crush is aware of your feelings and probably pitied you.”

“Wait!” Namjoon chuckles, as if reading your mind. “I feel the same. I was just a little nervous myself. Every time I thought about maybe asking you out, I lost the courage because well, you were always getting ready for whatever date was next. You seemed…busy, so.”

Oh god, Lucy was right. You are a serial dater. You wish you could walk out into some traffic right now, your embarrassment only growing.

“Whatever date I …had next.” You mumble to yourself, becoming annoyingly self-aware.

“I’m not saying it like it’s a bad thing!” Namjoon tries saving as he observes how your facial features morph into like 7 different devastated expressions.

“Right.” You nod your head again, “Because going on disaster date after disaster date is a good thing.”

Namjoon can’t help but laugh, you’re so funny, he thinks. He finally composes himself and looks at you with a softening expression.

“Well,” He begins, his hand reaching over the table for yours. You immediately shoot your eyes towards him at the sudden contact. “Hopefully I can help you put an end to these disaster dates. You don’t have to stop going on like 20 dates a week,” He playfully jokes making you laugh with the shake of your head, “But maybe they can all be with me.”

“I would say tonight’s date is off to a good start.” You say this a bit shyly, “And you only have 19 more dates with me this week.” Namjoon thinks this is the first time he’s ever seen you smirk. “If you’re still up for it.”

“We’ve been friends for years.” Namjoon squeezes your hand, “You’d be surprised what I’m up for when it comes to you.”

You feel a little surprised by his words, maybe even his implication. His eyes turn a shade darker as he watches you, his lips curling up into a smirk of his own.

“Well, I guess we will have to go out more so I can find out.”

You and Namjoon stayed at the restaurant until closing time, lots of conversation and plans for a next time. It went so well, it didn’t even dawn on you that for several hours your mind was Jimin free, despite what a shock today was. You and Namjoon even linger outside of your cars in the parking lot, still chatting and giggling about something dumb your friends have done or said.

“Okay, okay. Seriously, it’s getting late. You should head home.” Namjoon tells you earnestly, “I kind of wish we wouldn’t have met here so I could have drove you home.”

“Well, lucky for you this isn’t a one-time thing. So, plenty of other opportunities.” You tease, sudden warmth on your cheeks.

“I kind of have a rule.” Namjoon steps a little closer to you, his feet bumping into yours. “But I kind of feel like throwing it out the window.” His laugh makes you smile.

“What rule is that?”

“I don’t usually kiss on the first date.”

Oh. You remember when you first started casually dating you had a rule like that but now with your seasoned experience in dating your rules have changed. You used to say “No kissing on the first date” but now it’s more like “Okay no swallowing on the first date” something about respecting yourself or whatever and making a man work for it. Too bad things don't even get that far though.

“Uh, yeah same.” You say with an obvious lying tone, making Namjoon chuckle. “But I would be willing to throw that out the window too.”

“Before I kiss you…” Namjoon teases you by leaning in closer, “You should know that I had a really nice time tonight and I look forward to seeing where this goes.”

His warm breath dances over your lips and you suck in a sharp breath before you’re feeling his lips over yours. His kiss is firm and safe. Like, he put a little feeling into it. Your lips stay over his for a few seconds before you kiss back a little harder and finally he’s moving his mouth over yours in a slow, languid mess. Your hands travel up his chest until you are wrapping them around his neck and pulling him in closer. His chest breathing against yours heavily when he finally swipes his tongue over your bottom lip and you give him access to the inside of your mouth. Feeling his wet tongue slip in to tangle with yours has you moaning out a little whimper, his hands gripping your waist when he hears you.

Much to your dismay, Namjoon brings his tongue back to his own mouth before peppering small kisses over your lips. His hands still grip onto your waist tightly while he catches his breath…his growing smile making you feel all the excitement of kissing rush to your lady bits.

“I only meant to give you a simple kiss.” He admits between a few breathy laughs, “But you don’t make it easy, do you?”

“That wasn’t simple?” You tease, leaning up to kiss him again. “You’re going to brunch tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Save me a seat next to you.” Namjoon’s dimples make an appearance as you feel yourself die and go to heaven.

He watches as you get inside your car and he doesn’t get inside his own car until he watches you drive out of the parking lot, his hands constantly gesturing for you to go on. You grin at him through the glass one last time before finally exiting the lot.

You are a giddy mess. You are high on life. You and Namjoon. Finally. When you’re at a stop light you clumsily pull out your phone and call Hoseok, you know he is probably pretty curious how tonight went. When his phone finally stops ringing and you hear his voice on the other side you immediately start gushing about your night.

“Don’t tell me all the details yet!” He begs excitedly. “Come over! I want the full run down of the date. I want every dirty detail too. I want—”

“Dirty? There aren’t really any dirty—”

“Oh, then never mind. Don’t come over, not interested anymore.” He jokes, making you giggle.

“I’m turning on Western Center, be at your place in a few.” You let him know, hanging up the phone.

You are more than giddy at this point! Not only did you have a great date with Namjoon but you also get to share all the details with your dear friend. You find a parking spot on Hoseok’s street…it’s Saturday night so it’s packed with visitors. You make your way to his front door of his cute little house and let yourself in.

“Are we ready!” You yell out as you slip your shoes off, “For a summary of a historical night!” You rush into the house, zooming down the hall until you find Hoseok in the living room.

“Hello, yes. My name is y/n and I officially know what it’s like to—”

“Hi y/n!”

“Oh.”

You don’t mean to say ‘oh’ like that…you know, your very obvious voice laced in disappointment.

“Hi, Lucy.” You mumble, eyes going to Hoseok who looks as cheery as always. “I didn’t know you were here too.”

It’s not that you have a problem with Lucy being here—no, not at all. It’s just seeing her is kind of a big slap of reality. Seeing her you are instantly reminded of…well, him.

“I thought you would be with Jimin tonight?” You ask, your eyes averting her gaze as you take a seat on one of Hoseok’s couches.

“He told me he was in the mood to chill at home…alone.” She breaks into a weird smile. “Which is pretty normal for him. He does that a lot.”

“Oh I see.” Well, that does not sound like the Jimin you remember. When you two were dating he was almost always with you, he would whine and pout when you two weren’t together. “Alone time is always nice.” You mumble.

“Yeah.” Lucy agrees easily, her smile relaxing before she gets excited. “Oh! But he wouldn’t stop talking about you!”

“Me?” You point at yourself awkwardly, “Uh, why?”

“He says you seem so cool and he can tell you two will become good friends for sure.”

That sly devil. You can only imagine how he said it…voice cool and seductive even. A hint of charm.

“He doesn’t have many friends right now, so I think this will be good for him.” Lucy continues grinning at you, “He kind of isolated himself until he finally started warming up to me.”

At this Hoseok groans, he looks over at you and Lucy and gives her a knowing look.

“Lucy, I hope this isn’t one of your projects.”

Projects? Oh right. Hoseok is referring to how Lucy tends to be drawn to men she thinks she can fix. Does Jimin need fixing?

“No! Well…” Lucy takes a moment to think but immediately shakes her head. “No! He’s fine. He’s fine.” She assures him.

“You always want to fix them...save them.” Hoseok narrows his eyes at her, “I guess at the end of the day you really are too good for this world.” He ends up smiling softly at her and she rolls her eyes.

“That’s not what I am doing!” She defends cutely. “Anyway, I think meeting y/n was a good first step. He seems more excited about meeting everyone else now. So what do you guys say? Friday is opening night. You won’t want to miss it, I promise you. I know I joke about how sexy he is but he really is so talented. It’s like he belongs on stage.”

You feel your heart clench uncontrollably in your chest because you know this. You know he belongs on stage. You are well aware.

“I don’t know…” Jimin mumbles into your neck, “I could totally blow it.”

Once again, you must believe in Jimin more than he believes in himself. He misses your warm smile with his face buried into the crook of your neck, your fingers rubbing his back softly.

“You won’t.” You assure him, “How many professors have told you that you should go for it?”

“They don’t matter.” He tells you, his breath hitting your skin. “Only matters what you think.”

“I think you’ll be amazing.” You whisper honestly. “Auditions are coming up and come on, musical theatre is your specialty isn’t it?”

“Yeah it is…I can’t help that I am amazing at acting, singing and dancing.” You can feel his widening grin on your neck, “But if I pass auditions I would get really busy,” He pulls himself off you, his arms still wrapped around your waist. “You know that, right?”

“I will be fine, Jimin.” You roll your eyes, “Plus, I would have more time for homework.”

“You’re cute if you think you aren’t going to hang around the theatre while I rehearse and also not attending every single show.” Jimin leans into you, his forehead bumping yours before he plants a kiss to your lips. “You know I need you there.”

“Who said I wasn’t already anticipating that?” You laugh, kissing him back.

Jimin knew the local theatre was a good place to get his career started…he knew it brought in a pretty decent audience and he needed the experience and exposure. With all your words of encouragement he finally auditioned for the lead of an upcoming production—go big or go home. He nailed it. Impressing Mr. Smith and other staff with his performance.

He spent a lot of time on the stage, rehearsing and rehearsing and even when he worked himself so harshly the only thing that brought him comfort was the fact that you were sitting in one of the chairs in the auditorium doing your school work. Your presence was everything to him. You were the cause for his daily excitement as well as the thing that relaxed him. He felt most as ease with you around as well as confident in his performance. When they started the shows, knowing you were in the audience was enough to make him feel like he could be a star.

No one has ever made him feel this way. Every side of himself that he is able to show you, the sides that even came out thanks to you, are some of his very favorite. He truly believes the version of himself that he is with you is his best one. You two really are attached to the hip and Jimin wouldn’t have it any other way. The end of your second year of college is nearing and Jimin wonders how he hasn’t told you just how impossibly in love he is with you.

And he does. He waits until it’s just you two in his apartment, eating ice cream while you go on and on about a new TV series you were into. You explain every character, every sub plot, ever hint of foreshadowing and you are so wrapped up in your own little world, babbling on and on. Jimin listens intently as he always does, asking the right questions that he knows will fire you up even more. He loves you, he thinks. Except it wasn’t just a thought in his head…he had accidentally blurted it out loud in the middle of your spiel.

Lucy is still speaking, her hands animatedly explaining just how amazing Jimin is. You blink at her as you notice your body feeling heavier and heavier…like the topic of Jimin is starting to overwhelm you once again. You suddenly stand from the couch, startling Lucy and Hoseok and announce you aren’t feel well all of the sudden but you’ll see them at brunch tomorrow before leaving.

You avoided Hoseok’s concerned gaze, knowing he will know that something is bothering you. You drive home in silence, not even a song by your favorite artist can help get your mind off things. Your place isn’t too far as you try to get home quickly. You know what you have to do—you have to talk to him. You two didn’t get a moment to talk just the two of you when you were both out with Lucy…but you need to discuss things.

Once you’re all changed and ready for bed, you make your way between your sheets and snuggle into your pillows. You eye your phone that lays next to you before you finally reach for it and open Instagram. You deleted Jimin’s number years ago but you think you remember his Instagram username—you stalked it once upon a time—but even if you didn’t remember, you could always check Lucy’s friends list.

Once you find his account, getting verification when you squint at his tiny photo to make sure it’s him, you press the follow button on his private account. You breathe out heavily, feeling jitters inside your nervous body. You click your phone off and throw it next to you again—you don’t expect to get any confirmation until tomorrow probably. But when your phone lights up, your quick hands scramble for the device. He accepted your follow request. And he requested to follow you as well.

Oh god, why is your heart racing? Why do you feel just as giddy getting a notification on Instagram from Jimin as your date with Namjoon? What the hell is wrong with you? You go to your Instagram messages and send him one. Although, there is so much you are desperate to know…you decide you feel odd if you were to ask any personal questions.

y/n 12:04 am

So…you’re back.

Jimin 12:04am

I am.

y/n 12:05am

I’ll be honest I don’t know how to go about this but we need to talk.

Jimin 12:05am

I knew you’d think so. What exactly do you want to talk about?

y/n 12:05am

Oh come on Jimin, don’t play dumb. You and me have a little bit of a history I guess you could say

Jimin 12:06am

A little bit? I guess yeah you’re right. You know, living together, planning a wedding, being in a super committed relationship where we were deeply in love hehe yes a little bit, you are right

y/n 12:07am

alright, I see you’re still a smartass

Jimin 12:07am

Not to mention all the loooooaaaadddds of sex we had LMAO

y/n 12:07am

Ok, I get it. ANYWAY

Jimin 12:08am

Texting through insta is annoying. Pass me your number.

You nibble on your lips before sending him a ‘fine’ and attaching your contact information. You guess you have to wait for him to text you now, your phone in your hands as you stare at the screen waiting for a text notification. But it never comes. It’s been like 10 minutes and still nothing.

Giving up, you slide your phone away from you and sigh out in annoyance. You decide maybe you will just go to sleep and deal with this another day…that is until your phone starts buzzing repeatedly having you shoot your eyes open towards it. You reach for your phone and stare at the screen. A number you don’t recognize is calling you.

It wouldn’t be….? You don’t usually answer your phone when you don’t know who is calling—like any other sane person—but you have a feeling…

“Hello?” You say after a beat of silence once you answered it.

“Hey.” Jimin.

“You know, no one talks on the phone anymore. People prefer texting nowadays.” You lay on your back, your head laying comfortably on your pillow as you look up at the ceiling.

“You love talking on the phone, y/n.” You can hear the eye roll in Jimin’s voice…if that is even a thing. “Unless you’ve changed that much?”

“No comment.” You can’t help but smile. His memory of you being absolutely correct. “So where were we?” You ask, wanting to carry on with your previous conversation.

“How was your date with…what’s his name again?” Jimin asks, his voice clearly teasing. “Namjoon, right?” He clicks his tongue. “You know, that name sounds so familiar.”

“It was fine.” You rush to say, “Now can we please talk about the little lie we have going on?”

“Oh that?” Jimin’s airy chuckle can be heard through the phone, “Well, I can see why you wanted to lie…pretending not to know each other in front of all your friends. Well, that should be interesting.”

“Shit, I knew this idea was messy.” You groan into the phone, “But it’s just…I think it would actually be worse if they knew the truth.”

“The truth? Oh you mean, our little bit of history?” Jimin starts laughing, his teasing making you feel warmer. “Yeah, it might be weird if they knew I used to tell you I loved you on a daily basis.”

“Can you stop bringing up the past?” You mumble, thankful no one can see how embarrassed you’ve become. “It would be the worst for Lucy. She’s like your girlfriend and I don’t want her to get worried or—”

“Girlfriend?” Jimin chokes on the word, “That’s now what she’s saying right?” He sounds genuinely concerned as he sighs out.

“Well, no.—“

“Thank god.” Jimin exhales a deep breath. “We’re just friends who have some fun together.” He tells you, his words all too knowing and suggestive.

“Either way it would be weird.” You point out, “So pretending to not no one another is probably the better option.”

“Hm.” Jimin hums softly, “So I pretend I don’t know you and you pretend you don’t know me…even though I know probably a million things about you.”

“It’s been 5 years, Jimin. I’m not the same person.” You respond blandly, “People change.”

“Oh I am well aware.” He hums again, “You are different I can tell…just like I know you think the same thing about me.”

He’s right. He is different. There’s something cold and distant about him that you don’t recognize…but you don’t tell him that.

“But,” He says a little softer now, the smile evident in his voice. “Even still, I think I know you.”

“Think what you want.” You scoff playfully, “I—”

“You know…” Jimin lowers his voice into the phone, a sound of seriousness taking over, “I never thought I would hear your voice again.” He tells you, “It’s nice.” There’s a drop of sincerity.

“Yeah,” You awkwardly clear your throat, “I uh, didn’t think the day would happen either.” You laugh.

“How’s it been y/n? These last five years? How have things changed?”

“To be honest…I have changed in some ways, ways you may not be familiar with but I guess at the core I'm the same.” You chuckle, “I guess our core selves don’t really change too much. And for someone like us…who knew each other at our cores…we might still recognize each other.”

“I’ll try not to recognize you too much then.” Jimin says with a smirk, “In front of others, I mean.”

“Yeah, we wouldn’t want to give it away that we know each other.”

“But I wonder how much we could get away with? Before people got suspicious?” Jimin can’t help but wonder out loud.

“Maybe we just shouldn’t talk to one another.” You point out, he can’t see you but he knows you’re grinning.

“Are you coming Friday?” Jimin changes the subject, “To the show.”

“Yeah. We plan on telling the others tomorrow. I’m sure everyone will be down.”

“Cool, cool.” He mumbles into the phone, “You guys can come back stage after the show.”

“Luckily, I remember the way.” You comment, “It’s been years though.”

“Hey…” You hear Jimin breathing softly on the line, “I know you said to not bring up the past anymore but…” He takes a deep breath before continuing, “Do you remember when we almost broke up? During third year.”

You’re silent for a moment, wondering why he is suddenly bringing that up.

“What about it?” You question cautiously.

“Can I ask you about…what you were feeling at that time? And how you got through it?”

“How I…? Um, okay.” You know exactly what he is referring to. During your third year in school you and Jimin reached a rocky point in your relationship. Nothing tragic had occurred between you two…no lies, no betrayal, no lazy love…but there was something that was holding you back. At the end of the day it was your own insecurities. You admired Jimin so much…even found yourself envying him…his passion for what he does.

“I told you at that time I was dealing with my feelings of envying you.” You begin telling him. “It was a slippery slope…loving someone who felt so…I don’t know. Out of reach.”

You can’t see him but Jimin’s eyes widen at those last words.

“But then I realized it was all in my head and I was creating problems.” You laugh to yourself, “You were never out of my reach, Jimin. And once you knew my feelings you always made sure I knew that. You always made me feel secure. And then I never had those feelings again. And we were fine.” You remind him, “But why? Why did you bring this up?”

It’s silent for a while but you know he’s still on the line, his quiet breathing just loud enough for you to know he’s still with you.

“Jimin?”

“Sorry.” He finally speaks up, his voice strained. “I…just something that had been on my mind. And I knew you were someone who could understand…It’s nothing.” He decides to laugh it off, his laughter sounding weird and forced.

“Jimin…” You want to ask him about New York. Why isn’t he in Broadway anymore? Why is he back home?

“Well,” Jimin coughs a few times before sighing out, “We agree to keep up this act of being strangers. I won’t tell if you won’t.” You can only imagine the wink he just offered you.

“Oh okay.” You mumble.

“I’ll see you Friday, y/n. And um, try to pick a seat where I can find you easily.”

“Find me eas—”

“Goodnight.” And then you are met with silence.

~~~~~~~

“Literally only here for the mimosas.” You murmur sleepily, “Or else my ass would still be in bed.”

“You’re here because you love spending quality time with your friends, y/n.” Jeremy points at you with his finger.

“Is that why you’re here?” You give him a pointed look.

“Oh fuck no. Literally just here for the drinks babey.”

“I wish my friends weren’t fucking alcoholics.” Naomi deadpans, “But I guess I can’t win them all.”

“I know right.” Hoseok chuckles, “Pretty ridiculous.”

“Oh please,” Naomi rolls her eyes, “Don’t like you aren’t one of them! y/n will find a way to pressure you into getting drunk before noon and because you never let her have any fun by herself you both will be wasted in the next 45 minutes.”

“She says that like she’s experienced it before…oh wait! She has.” Jeremy starts laughing to himself.

“You’re not innocent Jeremy. They might be wasted in the next 45 minutes but you’re trailing close behind, buddy. I give you an hour and 15 minutes.”

“So precise.” Jeremy gasps, “As expected from our Naomi.”

“I will only be wasted in the next 45 minutes if they stop putting so much damn orange juice in the glass. Like, I wanted a splash. Maybe I’ll just order the mimosa without the orange juice.” You nod your head at your great idea.

“That’s—that’s just fucking cham—you know what? Go for it.” Naomi shakes her head but she’s laughing. “Why don’t you just order a shot of your preferred liquor at this point.”

“Is there a rule that says I can’t do that? Quick, Hobi search it.”

“Can….you…order….liquor….at…10 am…on … a …Sunday….” Hoseok talks out loud as he taps away on his phone.

“Hi friends!” Lucy comes through the door to the outside patio where you’re all seated. “You guys haven’t ordered yet?” She asks as she takes a seat next to you but you just stare at her, blinking slowly. “What?” She asks, innocent eyes looking at you.

“Umm…Namjoon should be here soon and he asked me to save him a seat…next to me.”

“Oh!” Lucy gets the hint right away, “Of course! I would never stand in the way of true love.” She winks at you before moving over a seat. Closer to Hoseok…clearly making him happy.

“Speaking of Namjoon…” Hoseok tears his gaze away from Lucy as he puts his attention on you. “Hurry up and tell us about your date before he gets here!”

“True, dude. Spill.” Naomi gestures towards you. “Just tell me this…does he know how to use his dick? Just from glancing at him I can tell he probably does but—”

“I wouldn’t know.” You answer with a straight face. “It went really well though.” You say, immediately brightening. “If I remember correctly, pretty sure he has a crush on me too! He also said he wants to go on more dates with me and also yeah, we made out a little outside my car.” You grin deviously at your friends, wiggling your brows in the mix.

“Praise the lord.” Hoseok closes his eyes and starts shaking his hands in prayer, “Thank you god for finally, finally” he opens his eyes to look at the sky, “giving y/n a real man!”

“Oh shut up.” You laugh, throwing a piece of your napkin at him.

“Has it always been your goal to hook up with a pair of besties?” Jeremey asks and you just throw the whole napkin at him.

“You really shut up.” You glare at him before chuckling. “Anyways guys, I have a feeling the single y/n you all know and love—”

“Who says we love her?” Jeremy whispers to the rest of the group while they all snicker.

“—anyway,” you continue. “She is passing away soon. And a new y/n will be born. A girlfriend.” You nod your head affirmingly.

“I’m worried about girlfriend y/n…” Naomi admits with a sigh, “He will probably be like ‘babe we haven’t seen each other in 8 days’ and you will be like ‘you’re so fucking clingy’ and then dump him.”

“Oh my god, I would not.”

“Do you guys remember when she ended things with that guy who asked her if she got home safely? Because she felt like he was being too much.” Lucy adds in to the mix.

“Because I told him I would text him when I got home! And he texted me before I was even half way through my drive.” You defend.

“What about the time a guy asked her if he could sleep over and she said ‘not only should you go home but you should also never come back’” Jeremy includes his own memories.

“I said it nicely though! I never say these things like an asshole!”

“Sometimes I think you’re a little too obsessed with being independent.” Hoseok tells you…or more like reminds you, since this isn’t the first time he’s saying this. “You ever just…let a person in? And you know…depend on them? Could feel nice, y/n.”

You know he means well…but this is actually a sore subject for you. You want to continue to defend yourself but before you can get anymore words out, you feel a hand on your shoulder.

“Hey guys!” Namjoon’s voice booms attractively. “Already drinking? Please tell me this is just round one and I’m not about to sit down with a bunch of drunk people at 10 am.” He chuckles while taking the seat next to you. He glances at you and gives you a smile. Oh wow, he is handsome.

“Hi.” You whisper. His smile only grows before he surprises you with a kiss on the cheek.

“Behave children.” Naomi winks at you both, “Some of us are single or in a long distance relationship. Please keep it PG.”

“What the hell rating do you think a kiss on the cheek is?” You laugh, genuinely asking though.

“She���s thirsty as hell. A kiss on the cheek is rated R to her by this point.” Jeremy snickers while Naomi hits his shoulder. “What? It’s true.” He says, rubbing his arm.

“Yeah, well sexting can only get me so far.” Naomi groans dramatically.

“Told you guys long distance doesn’t count!” Hoseok rubs it in, “She is over here getting all hot from witnessing the most innocent cheek kiss I’ve ever seen.”

“How are things going with Jonathan?” You decide to pry, it’s been a while since Naomi gushed over her boyfriend.

“It’s…uh, it’s good.” She says, but none of you are convinced.

“Naomi….” Jeremy already has that accusatory tone and Naomi is quick to roll her eyes.

“I said it’s fine!”

“Actually you said good.”

This earns him another punch to his arm. Naomi looks a little uncomfortable, meaning there must be trouble in paradise. You help her out with a subject change.

“We can come back to that at another time.” You offer, “Lucy, now that everyone’s here…Friday?”

“Friday?” Jeremy asks, “What’s happening Friday?”

“Well, you all know I’ve been kind of like, seeing someone for the past few months.” Lucy smiles, a little blush on her cheeks. “Well, the production we’ve been working on is beginning. Opening night is on Friday.”

“Oh shit, that came fast.” Naomi nods her head, “But you’re asking us to go right?”

“Yup.” Lucy grins wider. “You guys can see the musical and also meet him after. Jimin already met y/n. He’s great, right y/n?”

“Yeah he—”

“Jimin?” Namjoon repeats the name. He knows this name…knows it well, he thinks. But from where?

“Yeah. That’s my guy.” Lucy smiles so hard her cheeks begin to hurt. “He’s really great guys. You will love him.”

“Okay, I’ll go. I mean…if it’s free…” Jeremy says, Lucy laughs but you, Hoseok and Naomi know how serious he is.

“Oh. You’re for real.” Lucy blurts, realizing. “But yeah, of course it’s free for us. Jimin is holding on to some tickets for us.”

“I’m invited too?” Namjoon asks and Lucy’s eyes widen.

“Oh my god, of course! You’re our friend too…plus you’re y/n’s….” She gestures between you two and you feel yourself grow warm.

“Friend.” You say with a tight lip smile.

“Friend?” Namjoon chuckles, “Do all your friends greet you with a kiss on the cheek?”

“Have you seen these 4 when they’re drunk?” You deadpan, gesturing towards your friends. “Their lips have found my face too many times to count.”

“On the lips too?” Namjoon asks, clearly amused yet surprised.

“If they did I would literally kill them.” You shrug, making everyone laugh.

“So where’s Yoongi?” Jeremy asks, “We invited him too!”

“Ah, he couldn’t today.”

“Oh, he already had other plans?”

“Plans with his bed.” Namjoon chuckles, “He’s not great at waking up early.”

“Amen sister.” You mumble, “But you’re more than welcome to tell him about Friday, if you want.”

“Yeah! The more the better.” Lucy says excitedly. “Jimin is going to be so happy to make new friends.”

“Are you sure it’s not you who is happy that he’s going to make new friends?” Hoseok accuses her lightheartedly.

“Oh stop that.” She shakes her head with a small smile, “You guys didn’t see him before…”

“I mean to be fair we’ve never seen him…ever.” Jeremy points out and you laugh.

“I’m serious.” Lucy’s features harden, “He was…so lonely. He didn’t talk to anyone. He just came to rehearsal and when it ended he would stay after and dance on stage for hours. Although it looked beautiful…there was something so sad about it.”

“So he’s a loner. What’s wrong with that?” Hoseok nudges her shoulder with his own, “You don’t have to try and be everyone’s hero, Lucy.” He says softly, mostly just for her to hear.

“No, it’s more than that.” She finds Hoseok’s eyes. “There’s…rumors about him.”

“What rumors?” You find yourself asking this before you realize.

“He doesn’t talk about it…but he’s big news guys. He isn’t just some guy that wanted to randomly audition. He’s coming from New York. He worked on Broadway. He was a huge deal, apparently.”

“Then why did he come here?” Hoseok wonders out loud.

You are wondering that too. Why did he come here? After 5 years? Why is he back? What the hell happened?

“But what were the rumors?” you ask again, too curious for your own good.

“Well, it’s all pretty confidential.” Lucy sighs, “I’ve tried googling him and see what is being said but many articles are protecting his privacy. But…” Ah, why didn’t you think of that? You could have just googled him this entire time…if something major happened it would probably be everywhere. “Unfortunately no one found anything interesting. Just the director at that time saying he had to ‘let him go’ but no one knows why.” Lucy continues, “But…a girl who works in sound said she has a cousin that works in Broadway and apparently there were a million rumors going around about Jimin.”

“Get to them then.” You urge her to continue.

“It’s not the most reliable source…but apparently he was showing up to rehearsals late, showing up drunk or not even showing up at all. Heard he tried fighting one of the crew members and even cussed out the director.”

“That doesn’t sound like him…” You say quietly…but then your eyes widen. “I mean, I’ve only met him once but he just doesn’t seem like the type, right?” You laugh awkwardly.

“I don’t know…the way he was before he and I started talking…maybe I could believe it. He wasn’t the most approachable.” Lucy mutters, her eyes finding Hoseok again. He looks a little tired, a little disappointed.

“Yeah, really seems like a stand-up guy, Luce.”

Annoyed, you speak to your friend, “Well, you don’t know him Hoseok. He…” You don’t mean to snap, defending Jimin so easily but it bothers you that Hoseok is so disapproving.

“You literally don’t know him either, y/n.” He snaps back at you. “Just because you met the dude one time doesn’t make you best friends.”

“Okay!” Namjoon cuts in, “I think we’re all probably hungry and ready to order, right?”

“Yeah, I am feeling some waffles.” Naomi grabs her menu, “Jeremy are you going to get an omelet? Should we go halfsies?”

“You fucking know it.” He grabs his own menu, ignoring the way you and Hoseok glare at one another. “What are you guys getting?”

~~~~~~~~

It’s on Tuesday when Hoseok sends you a text giving a little apology for snapping at you on Sunday. You honestly haven’t thought too much about it or let it bother you because well, you know him. And you know why he was snappy. But it’s not like you were much better. In his eyes you really were defending a man you barely know…not someone you used to know so intimately.

y/n 8:42pm

It’s okay, hobi<3 you know I love you, even when you act like a protective boyfriend over a girl who isn’t your girlfriend<3

Hobi:)) 8:44pm

You know I love you too<3 even when you’re so fucking annoying<3

y/n 8:49pm

glad we love each other so much<3 but also, next time say that to my face<3

Hobi:)) 8:55pm

Come over for a sleep over and I will<3

You laugh, holding your phone in your hands. It has been a while since you and Hoseok had a week day sleepover. You both always feel like the baddest bitches when you walk into work the next day, slightly hungover and arms linked letting everyone wish they had a bestie like that.

y/n 9:01pm

depends…is there wine?

Hobi:)) 9:01pm

Ew, you think I would invite you over here for a night of being sober?

y/n 9:04pm

I continue to love you more than anyone<3

Hobi:)) 9:05pm

Please hurry, want to start drinking already

Hobi:)) 9:05pm

Fuck it, I’m not waiting for you. Just know the longer you take the more wine glasses I’ll have had more than you:/

y/n 9:22pm

on my way, what glass are you on? 6?

Hobi:)) 9:22pm

Wow, what the hell y/n. Do you think im an alcoholic

Hobi:)) 9:22pm

But uh, 5…not 6. See you soon, ily

As per usual, you let yourself into Hoseok’s house. Jeez, men. They never lock their doors…apparently they think their exempt to serial killers who might just want to check for an open invitation.

“I’m here!” You yell out, slipping your shoes off. “And I am fully expecting my glass of wine to already be poured!”

“Come drink with me!” You hear your dear friends voice bounce off the walls as you make your way into the home. He’s sitting at the island in his kitchen, half glass of wine empty while another full glass sits next to him.

“For me?” you act surprised, a hand over your mouth. “You shouldn’t have!”

“Oh okay.” Hoseok slides the glass closer to him while you laugh.

“Nope, it’s mine.” You carefully slide it back on the marble counter, “I can imagine you’re tipsy as hell.”

“Tipsy was 3 glasses ago. I am borderline drunk.” He grins cheerily.

“Living the life?” you ask as you start chugging back your wine, wanting to catch up to him.

“Living the fucking life.” He grins wider, giving you a thumbs up. His smile is sincere, you know he’s telling the truth.

“Well, as long as you’re happy then I guess I can find joy in this life too.” You tell him genuinely, but Hoseok only laughs at your words.

“You’re so cheesy when you want to be.” He tells you, “But I know how sweet you really are under all that…” he motions towards you, “Uh, whatever the hell you got going on.” He starts chuckling when you give him an unimpressed look.

“If I have to be cheesy with anyone I guess you can feel lucky.” You start laughing too, “You are my dear friend after all.”

“Your absolute BFF?” He asks you with a slight slur.

“My absolute BFF.” You assure him with the nudge of your shoulder. “So, as absolute BFF’s…can you finally just be honest with me?”

“About what?” He asks, hands reaching in front of him for the chip bowl. “Wait…is this about Lucy?” He’s groaning like he usually does when you bring this topic up.

“Oh please, I get into some questionable dating situations and you laugh at me! Lucy brings a guy around that doesn’t pass your vibe check and you literally throw a fit.”

“Lucy is…” He focuses on grabbing a few chips before stuffing his mouth. He takes his time chewing…making you feel impatient.

“Spit it out dude.”

“Lucy…” he finally swallows, “She is like, I don’t know, I feel like she…you’re different.” He decides to go a different direction.

“I’m different?”

“Yeah, you’re tough. You can handle yourself. I honestly have no doubt you could probably kick some dudes ass if he seriously crossed you.”

“Lucy isn’t some damsel in distress, Hobi.”

“I know that. She just thinks too highly of people because she always wants to see the best in them. Even when she’s getting used or fucked over, she doesn’t even notice!” Hoseok grumbles, clearly annoyed.

Then he continues, “I feel like she’s always trying to be someone’s hero and—”

“—and you want to be her hero?” You cut him off, “God, Hobi, really? She’s a grown woman and I get that you care but you got to let her live her life…let her make her mistakes, learn her own lessons and all that shit. We can’t always protect the people we care about.”

“It’s just frustrating.” He admits quietly, “You are like this total badass and I wish she would just learn something from you.” Hoseok laughs a bit humorlessly. “But if you think this Jimin guy isn’t so bad…then maybe he isn’t. Maybe I am just being too hard because I know what some of these people that she involves herself with are like.”

“He’s…” You reach forward for the wine bottle and pour yourself another—generous—glass. “He seems…I just can’t imagine him being a bad person.” You mumble.

“Yeah, but you don’t know him y/n.” Hoseok says, growing frustrated again. “None of us do.”

“He—”

“What if he breaks her heart?” Hoseok asks, his head dropping low.

You wish you could tell him that he won’t break Lucy’s heart. That he is truly an okay person, that he’s nice, he’s hilarious, he’s the sweetest, kindest, most hard working, humble and incredible person you’ve ever known in your life. But you can’t say that. He is completely capable of breaking a heart. You would know.

“Hobi…” You squeeze his shoulder, “Anyone can be a heartbreaker. Even you or me. That’s life…there are some things we can’t control.”

“Yo.” Hoseok lifts his head and narrows his drunken eyes at you. “When you did you get so fucking insightful?” then he’s breaking out into his signature grin.

“Shut up.” You laugh, “I’m serious. You can act like Lucy’s protector all you want…trying to say it’s because you care a normal amount about her wellbeing, sure, we all do, but Hobi…just admit you—”

“Yeah, fine, I’ll admit whatever it is you think you want me to admit, if you admit why you’re so …you know, the way you are.” He’s laughing as he speaks, “You will never get a boyfriend for real at this point. Which is fine, if you want to be independent forever, all the power to you, sister. But I just can’t imagine that’s what you want…you actively put yourself out there. You try again and again with these loser men…but it always goes nowhere. Because even is the guy isn’t a loser—you still cut it off.” He frowns now, “I don’t understand why you do that dude.”

“Um…” You decide this is a good time to take your glass of wine and chug the entire glass in one go.

“y/n…I want you to be happy. Seriously…I know we’ve only known each other for a few years…we didn’t grow up together, or attend the same college but you genuinely are my best friend.”

“Oh fuck, I am not drunk yet. Can you wait to say all of this for when I am drunk? So I can truly enjoy it to my full capability.” You giggle and this earns you a slap to your forearm.

“I’m serious!” He groans, but his big smile stays on his face. “Let me in. I just want to know what goes on in your crazy little head.”

“My crazy…? You dick.” You burst out into laughter, “Fine, I’ll give you a little y/n history lesson but let me drink maybe 20 more glasses.”

“You’d be dead by then.”

“That sounds good to me.”

“I know we tell you this all the time…but you really are so dramatic.” Hoseok laughs, pouring you another glass of wine.

~

You and Hoseok are on his couches, snuggled up in blankets, glass number—you have no idea—in your hands, just sipping now. He eyes you, waiting for you to spill the beans. Or you know, giving him the y/n history lesson, as you called it.

“Okay.” You take a sip of your wine, hoping it will lend you a little courage. “Remember last week when Namjoon mentioned that I, uh, had a boyfriend?”

“Hm? Yeah? A while ago, right? Before I met you?” Hoseok tilts his head.

“Yeah. Uh, that situation may have had some impact on me.” You chuckle, “It was a serious relationship.” Your admission makes Hoseok look at you with a frown.

“How serious?”

“Met first year of college, dated until the September after graduation.”

“Oh shit…that’s a long time.” Hoseok mumbles, his lips finding his wine glass as he chugs some back. “But I mean, time isn’t everything right? For example, I dated a girl for 2 years once but I had relationship that lasted 9 months that was more significant.”

You gulp, your fingers tightening around the wine glass. You really can’t get into too much detail…but you feel like out of everyone in the world, you can at least tell Hoseok.

“It was significant. We…” You pause, not realizing you are having to compose yourself. Even if it has been five years…you haven’t vented to anyone. And this is really the first time and it’s starting to hit you. “Shit…” You gulp again, your eyes stinging with tears that you wouldn’t have noticed if it didn’t burn a little.

“You okay?” Hoseok leans forward on the couch, concern etching itself on his face. “y/n?”

“Sorry, yeah.” You clear your throat and try again. “I just uh, believe it or not I haven’t really…um, talked about this with anyone.” You laugh now, realizing how ridiculous this is.

“Well,” Hoseok sighs out, “Somehow I do believe it.”

“Anyway. We uh, we were very serious about one another. He loved me so much, I was well aware of that fact. And I loved him too. Also, so much.” You chuckle now, “We planned on being together for the rest of our lives. Before graduation things were so perfect but I guess things were too good to be true. He was hiding something from me—”

“Holy shit, he got another girl pregnant!”

“What the fuck Hobi, no!” You’re really laughing now, “No, he uh, he had…applied for a job somewhere far away. He didn’t think he would get it but he did.”

“Oh? So he moved somewhere far?”

“Yeah.” You nod.

“Why didn’t you go with him? If you guys loved each other so much…”

Yeah, that is the golden question. But at the time…it just didn’t appeal to you, you knew you wouldn’t have been happy making that move. But…if you had then…he…

“I don’t know. I loved him though and wanted him to follow his dreams. So, we kept quiet about his big move and didn’t tell anyone we were going to break up. We lived like that for a few months. It was hard but…anyway, we decided that once September came and he was leaving that we also would cut off all contact. We thought it may make things easier.”

“You two…didn’t reach out at all in all this time?”

“No.” you sigh out, “And Namjoon wasn’t lying. Me and J…my boyfriend, we really were attached at the hip. I didn’t know who I was without him.” your humorless laugh makes Hoseok pinch his brows together. “Without him…I felt empty. Like, I didn’t know how to navigate this whole new adult world on my own. And I realized how dependent I was of him.”

At this, Hoseok opens his mouth to release a long ‘Ah’ as realization hits him. He quickly gets up and walks over to the couch you occupy, plopping down next to you and giving your knee a squeeze.

“I get it.” He nods his head, a look of pity on his face. “But y/n…it’s okay to depend on someone a little. I know you felt like you lost yourself…but…love is beautiful and having someone to lean on is a part of that beauty.”

“It’s fine. That’s your history lesson for the day!”

“Are you okay?”

“Uh, I just made out with Namjoon a few days ago—I am great.”

Hoseok laughs at this, his head nodding in approval. You nod your head along with his in sync and you both drunkenly giggle. You admit, it feels nice having shared that—even though that wasn’t the full story. You left out some crucial parts—parts that impacted you the most.

“Shit.” Hoseok stares at you with eyes full of terror.

“What?!”

“It’s almost 3 am…and we have a meeting at 8. And I don’t know about you, but tomorrow I am going to feel the consequences of drinking this much.”

“Fuck our lives.” You laugh. “But at least we’re in it together.”

“Always.”

~~~~~~~~~

It’s Friday. A day you somehow have been dreading as well as have been so intensely looking forward to. It has been years since you’ve been back here. The theatre. It’s no secret this building is old…but that’s a part of its charm—at least, that’s what everyone says to themselves—to be honest, this place could use some renovations.

“Lucy said for us to come early so she can meet us out here with the tickets.” Hoseok tells you, his eyes on his phone as he texts her. “This Jimin dude better be the sexiest guy I have ever seen. You know musicals are not my thing.”

“He’s…he’s good looking.” You mumble. “Anyway, when is everyone else getting here?”

“Naomi kind of been going through it lately. Obviously her and her beloved Jonathan are having problems again.”

“Let’s try to cheer her up tonight.” You say, Hoseok looks at you and grins, giving you a thumbs up, approving of your idea.

“Jeremy said he’s on the way…you know, you could just look at your phone at the group texts to know this information.” Hoseok deadpans.

“I know, but I like making you work for me.”

“I just want you to know, I genuinely want to like, pull your hair sometimes.”

“Ew, Hobi. Save your kinks for someone else.”

“I swear to g—”

“Hey guys!” Namjoon and Yoongi jog up to you both, their hands in their pockets. “We’re not late right?”

“We’re literally all early.” You say. “But hi.”

Namjoon walks closer to you, his lips landing on your temple. You can’t help the heat that settles on your cheeks, only getting warmer when you see Yoongi smirk at you.

“Hey y/n.” He smiles at you, “What a coincidence meeting you here.”

“I literally invited you?”

“Ah, details.” Yoongi waves you off with his hand, “Just glad to see you and Namjoon finally…well, doing whatever it is you guys are doing.”

“Weren’t we supposed to go on 19 more dates this past week?” You glance at Namjoon with a sly smile, “I thought you were up for anything if it was with me?”

Hoseok looks over at you guys with a disturbed expression, “Somehow that feels really suggestive and I'm disgusted.”

“Oh, Jeremy is walking up.” You point at the man coming near you all. “Hey—”

“Don’t talk to me, still mad at you.” Jeremy raises his nose in the air, giving you the hand.

“Oh come on,” You chuckle, “You’re still mad that I ate the cupcake you supposedly claimed? That was 2 days ago. Time to get over it.” You pat his shoulder but Jeremy shrugs you off.

“I yelled out ‘THIS CUPCAKE IS MINE, NO ONE TOUCH!’ and what did you do? Fucking ate it!”

“I didn’t hear you, I must have been in the bathroom or something.”

“You were literally right next to me.” Jeremy says, his voice gone totally unenthused.

“Oh my god, you children never stop fighting.” You hear the click clack of Naomi’s heels before you even register it’s her voice speaking now.

You turn to face her and frown, “Isn’t it actually you two who are always fighting though?” You gesture between her and Jeremy.

“Aren’t we all fighting with Jeremy actually?” Hoseok jumps in with a chuckle.

“Fair.” Jeremy shrugs.

“You guys are all so…” Namjoon begins, “How do you guys get any work done at work?”

“We don’t.” You all say in unison with straight faces.

“Figures.” Yoongi laughs at you guys, “Are we all here? Are we waiting for something?”

“Yeah, when Lucy has a moment she’s going to come out and bring the tickets for us.” You tell everyone. “Hobi, check the group and see if she’s said anything.”

“I’m done working for you.” Hoseok stands his ground, making you giggle.

“Fine, fine.” You say as you pull out your phone from your pocket. You click your phone on, the screen lighting up as you eye your notifications…your heart suddenly starts pounding as you notice a text from Jimin. You quickly lower your phone to make sure none of your friends are peaking over your shoulder and getting a glimpse at your screen. When the coast is clear you lift the phone closer to you and read his text.

Jimin 6:23pm

Are you here?

It’s around 6:40 now…you imagine he’s busy getting ready for tonight’s show that starts at 7:30 but you decide to text him back anyway, just a simple ‘yes’. You are about to stuff your phone back in your pocket when it buzzes twice.

Jimin 6:44pm

Okay:)

Jimin 6:44pm

I look forward to being a perfect stranger to you tonight, don’t mind me if I seem interested in getting to know though…I love meeting new people ;)

You hurry to stuff your phone in your pocket again—quite aggressively. If anyone saw you were texting Jimin and what his messages said…well, it wouldn’t look too great for you.

“So?” Hoseok asks, “Did she say anything?”

“Uh, yeah. She will be out in a sec.” You swallow down some jitters. “Let’s just play the waiting game.”

~~~~~~

You shouldn’t be this nervous. You shouldn’t be this thrilled. Yet here you are, feeling both ways to a noticeable intensity. Sitting here, it really brings you back. You used to come all the time, sitting in this exact spot probably at some point, doing some homework assignment for a class. You also used to come here to support Jimin for every single one of his shows. Not even missing one. But that’s okay, because you missed his shows in New York, but you aren’t going to pretend like he wasn’t being supported there.

The lights dim and you swallow hard, the anticipation of seeing Jimin on stage killing you. You remember what it felt like to watch him perform, god, you were truly his biggest fan…he truly made your heart move. He was that exceptional. But the best part was seeing how much he loved it, it just made you love him more and more. You say this because…he loved you with that same intensity, that same passion that he had on stage. And you knew it was real.

It’s about 45 minutes into the musical and you are at a loss for words. You can’t tear your eyes off Jimin. You aren’t even paying any mind to the other cast. Jimin is….well, to put it simply—he’s wearing tights. You imagined you would come here and admire him—respectfully—but you had no idea you would be sitting here lusting after a man who broke your heart because of some fucking tights. You had never even thought about Jimin like that the entire last week. Your mind mostly on the past…sure, you thought he was gorgeous when you first saw him but hello, you have eyes.

His vocals, his dance, his acting…it’s all superb, honestly. You can see how much he’s improved (even though he was already so talented—unforgivably so) but you can see how he’s seasoned, how he’s got Broadway experience on his shoulders. You can tell the show is nearing its conclusion, a few scenes left until everyone will be bowing on stage.

Jimin is standing near the edge of the stage, his eyes dancing across the faces in the audience. You know he can’t actually see anyone’s faces…not with how the stage lights are shining in his direction but somehow he finds you and your eyes meet. You don’t believe he can actually see that it’s you but you don’t miss the very obvious smirk that plays at his lips and you know for a fact he saw and beyond that…he broke character even for a second just to offer you that smile from hell.

Jimin would never break character, especially on stage for an audience…but he always did say you are the only one who could manage something like that from him.

“Wow, that was actually pretty solid.” Hoseok says, “Literally obsessed with whoever played Tinkerbell. But not obsessed with the amount of songs.”

“It’s a musical? What did you expect?” Jeremy asks, “The songs are like the selling point.”

“I am equally as obsessed with Tinkerbell as well. She was too fucking cute.” Naomi chirps, gathering her bag from the ground while you all stand and begin heading towards a door to the side.

“I bet you really related with her.” Jeremy nods, “Needing attention or you might die.”

“Oh fuck off.” Naomi shoves Jeremy’s shoulder with hers, a laugh leaving her lips.

“What did you guys think?” Hoseok asks the rest of you.

“It was really good…but…ah, never mind.” Namjoon bites his bottom lip, chewing the flesh as he stays in his head for a moment.

“I agree. I really liked it. Lucy’s friend or boyfriend—”

“Friend.” You say quickly. “Uh, they aren’t boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“Oh really?” Yoongi nods, “Well, he was really good. They all were though.”

“Yeah. It was pretty amazing.” You say honestly, sighing out.

“Anyway, lead the way y/n. You said you used to come here back in college, so you know how to get backstage, right?” Hoseok gestures you towards the front so you can lead everyone.

“Yeah.” You mumble.

As soon as you make your way backstage with the help of some VIP looking tickets that Lucy gave to you guys, you all stumble in and wait around until someone you know recognizes you.

“My friends!!!” Lucy is pretty quick to spot you all, it wasn’t hard considering how out of place you all look. “How was it?! Did you like?! Jimin was amazing right?! And before you ask, yes, every costume you saw on stage was hand crafted with my blood, sweat and tears.”

“You know, someone should make a song called that…probably would be a hit.” Jeremy mumbles while Naomi agrees almost silently.

“Your costumes looked incredible, Luce.” Hoseok compliments her first, going in for a quick but tight hug.

“Yeah, you really outdid yourself.” Especially with choosing those fucking tights, you think. You lean in for a hug as well, as everyone greets each other.

“I think Jimin is changing but he should be coming out really soon!” Lucy grins, her excitement for this is completely evident. You glance around when your eyes land on Namjoon…he looks deep in thought. Like, he’s trying really hard to figure something out but having no luck.

“Careful, if you use your brain too much it might explode.” You bump into his side as you tease him. “You okay?”

“Hm? Yeah, I just…no, it’s nothing.” He smiles at you and you could probably melt at the sight.

“If you insist.” You return his smile with your own. “We—”

“Hey.” Suddenly, you are struck with a bolt of lightning as a new voice joins your friends. You know this voice all too well…it’s smoothness, it’s little rasp—you realize that is contradictory but it’s Jimin and he somehow manages to pull it off.

You turn to see him standing between Lucy and Hoseok and your eyes find his immediately…his eyes already on you. “Hi y/n, nice to see you again.” He smiles. That knowing fucking smile, the smile that the devil probably uses on someone to convince them to sell their soul. A smile that knows something that everyone else doesn’t.

“Hi Jimin.” And much to Jimin’s amusement, you smile at him with the same smile that he offered you. A smile that says you can enjoy the game as well.

“Wait…” You hear Namjoon croak out, you glance at him when you notice his paling face. His eyes going between you and Jimin over and over, his scrunched up brows relaxing as…well, as fucking realization is hitting him. And then realization is hitting you.

Namjoon, many years ago, has actually met Jimin. It was one of those times he was over at your place studying with you when Jimin barged in and made himself at home. Namjoon knew immediately he was the boyfriend that you were always with around campus.

This is about the time you begin to panic. You see Jimin narrowing his eyes at Namjoon when he’s also hit with the realization. Namjoon continues to stare between you and Jimin and then it hits him like a ton of bricks. He knew the name was familiar, sure, and he also knew he looked familiar on stage. It kept bothering him, why the hell did this Peter Pan look so fucking familiar? But now, without the stage make up and costume he sees it more clearly. But the real give away is seeing Jimin next to you. That’s when it really clicked. He points between you and Jimin.

“You’re—”

“Oh shit!” You yell out, grasping at your stomach, it’s pretty dramatic, you won’t sugarcoat it.

“y/n???” Lucy reaches for you, rubbing your back instantly. “Are you okay?”

All your friends start gathering around you as you stay hunched over, wincing in pain.

Jimin has to look away…he sees right through you and really, really wants to break and laugh.

“Yeah, yeah.” You try to stand straighter, “Stomach pain all of the sudden.” You lie, your eyes darting around everywhere nervously. “I think I just need some air. Yeah, air sounds good.” You whip your head in Namjoon’s direction. “Hey, mind going with me?” you ask him and poor boy looks so confused out of his mind. He’s still processing the latest revelation while also pooling with worry for you.

“Uh, yeah.” He clears his throat, his eyes still going between you and Jimin while his face twists into such hilariously confused expressions. You kind of want to laugh, but now isn’t really the time.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Naomi asks, clearly concerned. You nod your head repeatedly, trying your hardest to flee this situation.

You grab Namjoon’s hand and you give Jimin one last look before dragging Namjoon away, going through the door and reaching the auditorium.

“Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.” You chant over and over, feeling like a fucking idiot. How the hell did this slip your mind?!

“y/n!” Namjoon pulls his hand away from you, stopping you both from walking. “y/n? Are you okay? Do you feel fine?”

“Huh? What? Oh yeah, no, I’m totally okay.” You say in a rush, you look behind you to make sure none of your friends followed.

“Okay great.” Namjoon says stiffly. “Now that that’s out of the way, what the hell is going on?”

“Um, what do you—”

“Jimin.” He says bluntly. “Lucy’s boyf—”

“Not her boyfriend.” Your eyes slide to the side.

“Whatever. You guys…that’s Jimin. Jimin Jimin. Same Jimin you dated for all of college and—”

“Okay, what if we kept our voices down?” You try to shush him. “Oh my god, it’s only been a week and this is already biting me in the ass.” You say, mostly to yourself.

“Why are you pretending you two don’t know each other?” Namjoon asks, his jaw tense as he stares at you, waiting for an answer.

“I can explain.” You groan.

“That’s great. I am literally looking for an explanation.”

“Okay, well.” You gulp, trying to come up with some coherent sentences. “Oh fuck this is a mess. It’s already a mess!” You throw your hands up. “Namjoon I am literally going to ask you to do something that is probably against all your morals.” You set your lips into a firm line, “No one can know me and Jimin know one another.”

“Wh…” Namjoon stares at you in disbelief, a puff of air leaving his mouth as he continues to stare at you. “And why the hell not?” He finally asks.

“Lucy…she was so excited for this…” You begin explaining, “I agreed to meet her new guy or whatever and imagine my fucking shock to see my ex-boyfriend walk in through the door.” You grit through your teeth as quietly as possible. “I panicked, Namjoon.” You admit to him. “We knew if she knew or anyone knew the truth this would probably become too messy. I don’t want Lucy to feel worried or…I don’t know.” You bite down on your lip, “Can you…ah, is this making any sense?”

“You both agreed to this?” He asks.

“Yeah.” You nod nervously.

“Okay, so you’re both insane.” He takes a mental note, “But…shit…yeah, I guess I could kind of understand your perspective. Doesn’t make this okay though…lying to everyone. You’re even lying to Hoseok?”

You hate the pang of guilt you’re hit with.

“Yeah.” You tell him, “I just…this was all so sudden and…”

“Fine.” Namjoon doesn’t believe this is right, of course he doesn’t. But he is an understanding person, maybe even to a fault. He does feel a bit of pity for you…despite your crazy plan he wonders how you actually feel about this…your ex-boyfriend suddenly showing up and you find out he’s hooking up with your friend. That can’t feel too good, he thinks.

“Fine?” You mumble, looking into his eyes. They soften as he stares at you.

“Yeah. I’ll go along.” He tells you, “for now.”

“For now?”

“y/n…you honestly think you can keep this up forever? As they always say, the truth always comes out. In some shape or form. And I hope you are prepared for that.”

“I’ll deal with that when…or if that time ever comes.” You feel like you’re growing smaller and smaller the more he gazes at you. “I know I’m asking a lot of you and I completely understand if you don’t want to…see me anymore.” You bow your head, “Like romantically.”

Namjoon sighs out, a small smile painting itself on his lips, “I still have 19 more dates to take you on.” He chuckles, “I think you’re a little insane for all of this, not going to lie, but I’m here for you. Even when this backfires, I’ll still be here.”

“Thank you.” You say, your eyes filling with gratitude. You know this probably does sound insane…you get it. But it still excites you and you wonder how fucked up you must be in the head.

“Should we go back? They’re probably really worried about you.”

“Yeah.”

~~~~~~~~

“Nice to meet you, man.” Namjoon puts his hand out for Jimin to shake, “Sorry, I couldn’t introduce myself earlier when everyone else exchanged greetings.” He laughs, still waiting for Jimin to take his hand.

Jimin eyes him over before he’s settling his gaze on you, you give him a quick nod, urging him to take Namjoon’s damn hand.

“Uh, yeah. Nice to meet you too.” Jimin finally shakes hands with Namjoon and you feel like you can finally breathe again.

“You really are okay?” Hoseok whispers towards you and you wave him off.

“You know how dramatic I am.”

“I—well, yeah. True.” He shrugs, deciding to move on now.

“Are my eyes deceiving me?” You freeze. “Is that y/n?” You turn around to see a face you haven’t seen in years. Mr. Smith. Holy hell, okay, just another thing to prove to Namjoon that he’s right, this is totally going to backfire.

“Mr. Smith!” You say excitedly and equally as awkwardly.

“Wow, how long has it been? 5 years? You really disappeared on me.” He chuckles, bringing you in for a tight embrace.

“You know the director y/n?” Lucy tilts her head.

“Of course, she does. God, this girl would never listen to me. Always here. I used to tell her, get a job with the crew or something, but she ignored me and sat here every day anyway.” Mr. Smith laughs loudly, but further confusing Lucy.

“5 years ago? Oh my god!” She jumps in excitement. “Jimin was here around that time too! What if you two met years ago and have no idea?!”

“Met?” Mr. Smith looks between you and Jimin.

“Yeah, how crazy would that be?” You laugh, your eyes trying to tell Mr. Smith a thousand things. Luckily, Mr. Smith is observant. Also, great a taking a hint. And he also minds his business pretty well.

“Ah, yeah.” Mr. Smith nods along, “But I don’t think I’ve ever seen them cross paths. Here at different times and what not.”

Mr. Smith can be the god father to your future children. You release a long breath and you glance over at Jimin, who hasn’t said anything. And of course, he’s watching everything unfold with that glint in his eye. Motherfucker is enjoying this. Of course he is…unlike you, he doesn’t have a lot to lose here. Yet, here you are playing this dangerous game with him.

“Well, I’ll leave you kids to it. Go out, celebrate. Go wild.” Mr. Smith takes his leave, eyeing you and Jimin one last time before walking away. Must be one of their pranks, he thinks.

“I think that old guy has a solid point.” Jeremy speaks up, “I say we go out and celebrate and you know, party hard.”

“I’m down for that.” Yoongi glances at everyone.

“Aren’t we always partying hard lately?” Naomi whines.

“Girl…some mimosas on a Sunday don’t really count.” You nudge her, “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She’s quick to respond. But once again, you don’t believe her.

“So Diablos?” Hoseok suggests and you all groan.

“We only go on Thursday’s!” Lucy tells him, “I don’t even know if they have a deal on Friday nights?”

“They do.” Hoseok gives you all one of his best devious smiles, “Cheap ass liquor pitchers…any mixed drink for like super cheap in a fucking pitcher bro.”

You all think about it for a second before agreeing like the cheap bastards you are.

“Litty McTitties.” Jeremy gives Hoseok a fist bump.

“Hm,” you hear Jimin hum, “I think it’s only fair that someone buys my first drink.” He grins, “Lucy you were a part of the show too, so it’s not fair if it’s you. And I feel a little bad since I just met the rest of you tonight.” Then he’s locking eyes with you, his sly smile growing on his thick lips. “y/n, however, I have met twice now so I feel like she’s the fairest option.”

“Ah, I love it!” Lucy gushes, “It is only fair that the star of the show gets a free drink, he’s earned it.” Her goofy grin makes you smile.

“Sure.” You shrug, “Something tells me you’d be into a Long Island.”

“How did you know? Literally my favorite.” Jimin smiles, your eyes follow his hand that is wrapping around Lucy’s waist. “Should we go?”

Your eyes linger where his fingers meet her skin…her crop top riding up and exposing her but Jimin doesn’t seem to mind. It’s not going to bother you. It’s not.

“You really were amazing, Jimin.” Lucy gushes, but her voice is tamed and sincere.

“Well, I was able to look good on stage thanks to you.” He says to her and you feel like you are invading in on a private moment. Everyone else is talking amongst themselves but your eyes won’t tear away from them.

“Glad I could help.” Lucy giggles, leaning her face towards his and she closes the gap with a quick and simple kiss. But it felt like everything but quick and simple. It shouldn’t sting. You shouldn’t feel any way about it. Especially because this isn’t the first time you are seeing Jimin kiss someone who isn’t you. But unlike the last time, Jimin knows you’re watching.

[twistedmusings]

Petting Dorm

A/N: I petted my cat for a good thirty minutes yesterday while I was watching the translation for the camp event and...surely the Savannaclaw members must like at least some pets, right? Like they must really want some pets after a good long hard day. Warnings: None, just descriptions of petting and three very happy boys u wu

The Savannaclaw members watch on as Grim gets the petting of a lifetime, wondering when the hell it is going to be their turn.

“Grim you are acting so spoiled.”

“Nyaha~! I deserve to be spoiled today! I aced my test while Ace and Deuce failed and me and Epel got a good grade in the potions assignment today!”

Grim leans back into your touch as you rub all the way to the tip of his ears before going right back down again. He lets out a happy grunt as his little foot starts to twitch, your hands now massaging right under his ears and near his cheeks before scratching right near the nape of his neck.

“Fgnaa...go a little lower!”

“Here?”

“Ah~! I really needed this. This is the reason I made you my henchman, [Y/N]”

“Because of how much I’m petting you?”

You press a kiss to Grim’s face, the other complaining for a moment before smiling as your finger rubs right on the top of his head. The two Ramshackle residents keep talking as they sit in the middle of the Savannaclaw lounge, many eyes staring at them but three sets of eyes in particular glaring at the cat currently laying his entire body on one of their pillows.

“[Y/N]-san...” Jack speaks up first as he watches Grim’s leg give another twitch, his eyes not even looking at you but focusing entirely on your hands.

“Hm?”

“Did you…” the wolf man can practically feel a shiver down his spine as you rub right under Grim’s ears, “Did you...uh...did you bring the assignment?”

“I did.” you play with Grim’s tail before running your hand up and down his back, “I thought you said you wanted to start when Ace and Deuce got here though.”

Leona growls when Grim lets out another satisfied sigh, watching your hands go right back up to play with his ears as you press the tips of them together and then watch them go back to their normal place.

“What is even keeping them so long?”

You shrug and rub a little circle right on Grim’s forehead, Ruggie following the movement with his head as he closed his eyes.

He could almost feel it--

Another slow and agonizing five minutes later and you sigh, shaking the shivers out of your hands as Grim is finally asleep, leg up in the air as you pull away from him and pull out your phone.

“Knowing those two they probably forgot…” you shake your head and stand up, “I’ll go get them--”

“NO!”

All Savanna claw members stand up as they lean towards you, eyes wide with different emotions as you do your best to understand their sudden outburst.

“What’s...what’s wrong?”

“You’re not leaving.”

You blink and point to the exit.

“I’ll only be gone for a couple of minutes, I’m not going to take long--”

“Sit down.”

It was frustrating that you couldn’t disobey this man even if you wanted to. The way he did anything was just so annoyingly confident that you weren’t even surprised when you simply sat down on whatever chair was available before Leona plopped himself in front of you and put his head on your lap.

“You have a lot of nerve petting that raccoon in front of me.” he glares at you before closing his eyes and leaning further back, ears twitching expectantly as you look down at him in, well, rather justified confusion.

“I’m...sorry?” you put your hands up and look at Jack and Ruggie, “I honestly do not know what to do, what is he talking about?”

You can practically feel Leona’s growl against you as he grabs your hands and puts them on his hair, letting your fingers reach deep into the dark waves as he visibly relaxes and lets you go.

“Whatever the hell you did to that cat monstrosity you better do for me...and if it isn’t as good that it makes me fall asleep in five minutes then I’ll be using you as one of my pillows.”

What...the hell?

Your eyes look over at Ruggie and Jack but they don’t even seem to be paying attention to you, simply looking on as you start to do some of the things you remembered doing for Grim.

He smiles as the petting finally starts, his ears being played with gently before your hands rub the tips and press them flat on his head. They give a solid twitch as they pop back up, twitching once again as they pick up your slight chuckling.

Now he understood why the raccoon had been so vocal about this treatment. Feeling your hands reach right under his ears and scratch made him let out a happy groan, tilting his head back as he gave you more room to play with.

You scratch the back of his head with one hand while the other does little cross shapes on his forehead, Leona opening his eyes to watch you work so diligently on putting him to sleep.

“Is this something you do every day for that thing?”

“His name is Grim.” you say and go back to playing with his ears, “And no, not all days. Only when he does really good.”

Leona closes his eyes as he moves his head to the right as your fingers scratch one spot in particular.

“Is that all it takes?”

“Yeah...I mean it keeps him motivated.”

He stays quiet for a few seconds before speaking up again.

“I stayed awake during one of Crewel’s lectures.”

You stop scratching to look down at him, amazed at what he just told you.

There was no way that was true.

“Awake?”

“Uh-huh.”

“As in fully awake? Listening to the lecture awake?”

“Uh-huh.”

“...what was the lecture about?”

Leona yawns and opens one eye to look at you.

“Advanced Magical History.”

You frown knowing for a fact that you cannot quiz him on anything since you still weren’t in that class. The reason for him telling you this was lost on you for a moment before you looked down in surprise and realized what this really was about.

No way...

Had he told you about that...just to justify you petting him?

“That’s really good Leona-senpai” you test the waters carefully, running your hand through his hair as he tilted his head back so he could feel the pull of your hands a bit more. Your eyes widen when the dorm leader nods along to the rather shallow praises you were sending his way.

“I didn’t know you were such a hard worker.”

“Mmmhm.”

“Or able to stay awake for so long.”

“Mmhmm.”

“I always thought you were just a lazy lion who liked to sleep all day.”

“Mmmmmm.”

It takes your entire will of strength to not laugh at Leona’s face. This man usually had his guard up so much that no one could ever get a read on him but give him some scratches and he opened up like a kitten to a new owner?

You knew you had blackmail material in your hands but the prospect of using it was still rather terrifying.

Leona’s threats should never be taken lightly.

You finish by rubbing his ears and letting go, the dorm leader’s head lolling forward as you stand up and grab whatever cushion you can get your hands on and putting it under his head so that you can lay him on the ground softly.

That was...weird.

“...I’m going to get Ace and Deuce now. If we don’t finish this assignment we are going to be screwed."

“[Y/N]!”

What should he say? He had just called your name out randomly and put himself in danger of waking up Leona. Dammit think of something, Ruggie!

He seems to come up with an answer as his usual playful smile comes back, standing up and walking over to you as his tail wags slightly.

“I can go get them for you.”

You smile and take his hands, shaking them twice before plopping yourself down on another available seat.

“Ruggie-senpai you are so nice! I think they might be at Heartslabyul? Ace might have dragged Deuce in on a game of cards or they most likely got caught doing something they shouldn’t. If you have any problems just text--Ruggie-senpai?”

Blue gray eyes look up at you, Ruggie’s trademark smile shining up at you as he giggles.

“Shishishi...you really think I wouldn’t do this without a price, [Y/N]-san?”

He grins and grabs your hands again, putting them right under his ears as he closes his eyes.

“Ruggie-senpai our assignment--!”

“Five minutes! That’s plenty of payment for the walk I’m about to do all the way to Heartslabyul!”

“It isn’t that long of a walk!?”

Ruggie shrugs as moves his head so that it is at the most comfortable position on your lap.

“Hm, but I also will have to walk all the way back to Savannaclaw so maybe it should be ten…”

You should stop talking at this point or else the times were going to go up higher, your hands getting to work as you scratch right in between his ears, Ruggie’s grin melting into a satisfied smile as you dug your fingers into his hair and started to scratch right under his scalp which earned you a giggle.

This sort of petting was so different than the ones he would use to get in the Afterglow. Just some slum kids trying to give each other love and affection because in the end, they all needed it after a hard day. Petting someone like this was a sign of close friendship and even romance, if done with that intent, but Ruggie never thought humans would be any good at it.

Yet the way your hands rubbed small circles right on his forehead, the very action you had done to Grim, he was still surprised he was half awake and not falling asleep on your lap.

“Mmm...is there anything else that needs to get done, [Y/N]?”

You smile when you see him so relaxed, surprised at how comfortable he looked. This hyena ran around the school doing errand after errand and getting buck after buck. It was almost inspiring if it wasn’t for the fact that some of his dealing weren't necessarily...legal?

Not like you knew about law in Twisted Wonderland so you let it pass.

“Not really, not for me anyway.”

Ruggie pouts but still melts when you run your fingers through his hair, starting right at his forehead and working all the way to the back. His ears twitched as you rubbed the tips before pressing both of them together.

“Well I am not charging for the walk back but if you want me to wrangle up those two first years I should charge a bit more, so when I come back I want what Leona-san got--”

“Ruggie-senpai it’s been five minutes.”

Jack’s tail is curled around him while he looks away, his eyes only barely making contact with yours as he looked at Ruggie and then back at, well, nothing.

Ruggie clicks his tongue before standing up and shrugging.

“Fine. I guess I will take that as a down payment.” he grins at you, “I will take the full payment later!”

You want to ask just what kind of payment he was talking about but you decide to keep quiet because that man would find some way to convince you that, yes, you do owe him something and that your payment was going to not be your money but your time.

And you didn’t have a lot of that to be spending it all in one place.

He walks off and you lean back, smiling as your hands finally get a break. Grim’s fur was always so silky and if you were to compare it you would say it was the same as Leona’s hair but Ruggie’s was definitely a bit more rough. It wasn’t a bad sort of rough but you figured this was the difference between long haired and short haired animals.

Although since Leona was a lion wouldn’t he also have short hair? Or was his hair more like his mane?

And what about Jack?

You turn towards your friend, tilting your head as you catch him staring.

“I don’t know why but I always feel like I have to apologize for Ace and Deuce, Jack. Maybe it’s because I met them first?”

He shakes his head, “You shouldn’t apologize for their actions.”

“Well they are also my friends so...I figured I could do this much for them.”

You wiggle your fingers in front of your face as you send Jack a teasing smile, “Want me to pet you too?”

The wolf’s tail goes right up before Jack pushes it back down with a growl, his cheeks burning a beautiful bright red as he answers back.

“We should just wait for Ace and Deuce, I want to get this assignment done already.”

“Me too. But it’s going to be a few minutes before they come back.”

“Oi!”

You are already standing up when Jack complains, telling you that you really didn’t need to do any sort of things like that for him and that he was perfectly fine and didn’t want to get distracted--!

“You’re the only one who didn’t force me to pet him, Jack. Just relax and unwind!” you smile and sit right behind him and open your legs so that you could pull him back and let his head rest on your stomach. His neck now burns bright red as you scratch right under his ears which only served to make his leg bounce slightly while he slowly got accustomed to your touches.

He wondered if you would pet him when he was using his unique magic as well, although knowing him he would get on his back and present his stomach if it started feeling this good and he didn’t want Ace, Deuce or even you teasing him about it! It wasn’t that his was enjoying this to that point--!

It’s just that somehow you knew just what spots to scratch and for how long to scratch them that he was starting to feel weak.

“Hm. So you would be a long hair…” you mutter to yourself as Jack closes his eyes, pressing his cheek against your palm as you rub circles right on his temples, “I think I like your hair the most...but maybe I’m just playing favourites here.”

The wolf wants to ask you a bit more about him being your possible favourite from the Savannaclaw dorm but his jaw snaps shut when he sees his dorm leader start to get up, glaring at the two of you with a dry smile.

“So you’re the favourite, huh?”

Jack blinks as he looks back at you and then at Leona.

“Leona-senpai--!”

The lion moves closer as he presses his body right against Jack’s shoulder, grabbing one of your legs and putting it over his own shoulder so that you would fit both of them in between.

“Ow--! Owowowowow--I’m not that flexible, Leona-senpai!!”

“He got his turn and now I want another one. Get to work, herbivore.”

“Hey!”

The three of you look to see Ruggie pointing an accusatory finger in your direction.

“What are you hogging [Y/N] for! They still owe me! Move over!”

He shoves at Jack’s unoccupied shoulder, trying to make his way into the little nest as you feel your other leg being raised up--!

“Stop! What in the world do you think I am--and where is Ace and Deuce!?”

Ruggie blinks before looking around.

“Oh right...I was supposed to go get them.”

[father-time-and-baby-new-year]

alphabet boy II

SYNOPSIS: college AU. Armin, your brilliant tutor, invites you over to his house for some studying. Naturally, you're nervous and he seems to be giving you a reason to be.

PAIRING: SCUMBAG!Tutor Armin x FEM!Reader

WARNINGS: half edited, noncon/dubcon, fingering, non-penetrative sexual content. gaslighting, manipulating,

A/N: really need the motivation to write again and I've been slacking on my multi-parters so here's a somewhat highly anticipated one. Armin fuckers, this is for you. non-Armin fuckers, I hope this converts you

WORD COUNT: 2.0k

II. I.

“You’re not paying attention.”

You feel his voice right by the shell of your ear, and the proximity nearly makes you reel back in surprise but you manage to catch yourself.

“S-sorry” You apologize, wishing you didn’t stutter.

The thing is you’re just really out of your element. This is the first time you’ve been to Armin’s house for personal tutoring, and it was hard to focus on the material when his presence was so distracting.

It wasn’t like you were fantasizing about him or anything [well…]-you always tried to banish those thoughts as soon as it came. But still, being alone with an attractive boy with a disarming charm was causing some jitters. You felt like a shy middle schooler, on edge and jittery.

The last tutoring session in the library when he [basically] called you stupid plagued your mind. The memory of him feeling up your thighs lived in your head rent-free.

“Let’s take a break.” He sighs. Your heart drops at the noise of disappointment but you suppose it’s what you deserve.

You push your laptop lightly aside on the table, the bleak light straining your eyes, and ask for the bathroom. You just wanted to freshen up and be alone for a few seconds. The bathroom is meticulously clean, something even you knew was unexpected for a boy. You looked at yourself through the spotless mirror, scrutinizing every flaw.

You sigh, fiddling with your dress collar. Why you had tried dressing pretty for a boy so out of your league, he may as well be in Mars--you didn’t know.

When you return, there is a tall glass of lemonade waiting for you.

“Thought you might be thirsty.”

It’s a simple gesture that makes you blush so you thank him earnestly. Like the gentleman he is, he assures you it’s no problem. Not wanting to prolong the awkward silence, you compliment his apartment, “This is a really nice place. So much light and space.”

You’re babbling but he engages you regardless, and you two are mindlessly discussing the benefits of living at off-campus housing over dorming. His words are pleasant but there’s a sinking feeling within you as you notice he’s bored. Or maybe distracted was a better word.

“So, do you have a boyfriend? Or anyone you’re seeing?”

You nearly choke at the question uttered through a buttery voice.

“Oh um, not really.”

“Not really?”

You made a mental note to answer in definitives. Armin seemed the type to snuff out anything he reasoned as half-truths.

“No. I uh, don’t have a boyfriend.” And then you clarified a pin-drop later, “And I’m not seeing anyone either.”

The blond hums a playful tune that’s vaguely nostalgic.

“Have you ever had a boyfriend?”

You don’t understand the point of this line of incessant questioning, and can’t calm your heart rate.

“I-um, I don’t-“

Taking one look at your serious face, eyes rimmed with worry and cheeks pink, he laughs. It’s a startling sound like bell chimes.

“Relax. I just wanted to know if you had any experience.”

The sentence flies out of your mouth before you can even ponder it: “What do you mean by experience?”

It’s not his fault if he can’t hide the feral grin that crosses his mouth right at that moment. You can’t discern his expression as you’re staring at anywhere but him, so you don’t notice the uncontained excitement that glimmers in cerulean eyes.

“Let’s move to the couch. You’ll be more comfortable there.”

You think about saying that you’re fine wherever you are and didn’t really feel like changing positions, but he’s already striding towards the couch. So you start packing up the materials, before a clear voice calls out to you, “It’s okay. You don’t have to bring all that. Just bring your flashcards.”

You hoped that wouldn’t mean he’d quiz you, but that’s exactly what he meant to do.

“Law of diminishing returns.”

“Wait! I know that one!” You brightly exclaimed, “ Uhh..it gives way to the catch-up effect which means poor countries tend to grow more rapidly and they’ll one day essentially catch up with wealthier economies.”

The blond ran his hand through his hair before sighing. You could feel your heart drop. You were sure you were right. Was your answer wrong enough to cause exasperation?

“Stick with the formal definition next time. I didn’t ask for the theory based on the law.”

You pouted, and Armin couldn’t help but relish in how eagerly you sought his approval, like a puppy performing tricks to appease their master.

“You should sit closer. Can you even see the word?”

You moved closer to him, knees knocking into each other. He looks down at the completed set.

“Well, you didn’t do as bad as I expected.” Ouch. But maybe he meant it as a compliment?

“But,” the corners of his mouth curled, “I’d say you’re still struggling.” Never mind.

“T-this is a new chapter though. I don’t think we’ve even gone over it in class.”

Blue eyes narrow, and you wonder if he’s going to give the well-meaning spiel about how staying ahead was the only way to keep up. That mantra may work for someone with high ambitions and an extremely good work ethic but you were no well-oiled machine. You had other classes too!

“Why are you so defensive?”

Your eyes widen in surprise at the question, spoken so softly and casually, you almost miss the disdained lilt.

“Oh uh-“

“Listen to me. I quizzed you so I’m able to assert your skill level. And your response to my assertion is that it’s something you haven’t gone over in class yet. Do those things relate to each other at all?”

Meekly, you shift your attention to the rug.

“Answer me.”

“N-no”, you squeaked.

“And what have I always told you? The only way to keep up is to-“

“Stay ahead.” You finished, “I’m sorry, I just-“

“Did I say you could interrupt me?”

You could feel the blood rushing to your ears, unsure when the atmosphere had shifted. Your heartbeat was beating rapidly and you could feel your body go warm.

He sighed, and placed a hand over over your folded ones, squeezing your palms.

“You know I’m just looking out for you right? It almost feels like you don’t care-“

“No!” You exclaim, “I-I do.” Heat pools into your cheeks once you realize your grave mistake, “I-I’m sorry for interrupting you.”

The blond smiles radiantly and it nearly melts away all of your worries…until he opens his mouth to deliver another damning remark.

“You know, with your looks…you don’t really even have to graduate. Maybe choose an easy major and then get some rich husband to take care of you.” There’s a distinct lack of humor in his tone as if he wholeheartedly believed every word he was saying.

Your eyebrows furrow in blatant confusion, and in the back of your mind, danger signs are flashing at the back of your head. Your thighs are growing warmer. Oh no, this could not be happening right now.

“That’s what most girls’ dreams are anyways.” He inspects his spotless nails, “You chose this class because Ackerman’s attractive right? That’s why his class has such a high drop rate…silly girls join, not understanding how harsh of a grader he is.”

You open your mouth to defend yourself but the next inflammatory remark he spews almost sends you to shock, “Though I bet, if you got on your knees for him, you’d be getting an A on those finals.” He laughs as if he was saying something particularly amusing, an undercurrent of spite coloring his words, “You wouldn’t even need me as your tutor.”

There are a million things on the tip of your tongue but no voice to speak them out. You want to ask him why he’s been so weirdly invasive, what his weird hang-up with professor Ackerman was, and of course, the casual sexism was really throwing you in a loop. Still, you have no doubt Armin could beat you to a bloody pulp several times over in a verbal lashing, and your mind was too fragile to deal with this.

You’ll sign up for a new tutor or better yet no tutor. You’ll get over your social anxiety and join a study group. You’ll go to all of Professor Ackerman’s office hours. Anything had to be better than this. You’re giving yourself this pep talk in your head but there’s no denying that your legs feel warm, and the self-improvement speech is withering away in your mind as it seeks to instead process how Armin fucking Arltert is touching you right now.

He pins you against the cushions, one hand locking both of your wrists. You’re shaking but your pupils are blown out wide.

He smirks, “There’s an excellent stress reliever for studying you know.”

You limp in his hold but the cocky attitude behind his words brings you back. You thrash under him, earning an annoyed growl from the blond.

“I’ve been so fucking patient with you, you know? Planning out your study guides, sharing my notes with you, proofreading homework, going over the mock exams—don’t you think I deserve a little compensation?”

“I-I’m sorry.”

He's right. He's right. Armin actually has done so much for you. Maybe it was too easy to take for granted because of how efficient he was, and how he acted like it was nothing. But right now, nothing really was everything.

He smiles. Yeah, this is who you were. Add just a little bit of pressure and you crumble. That flash of bravery from before was nothing but a petulant outburst from a child who didn’t know any better.

Armin coos, “Isn’t it a little embarrassing to be a virgin at your age?”

With unbridled precision, while he’s still holding your lower body down with the weight of his legs, he unbuckles his belt and ties it around your strained wrists. Red fills your face, and like always, you’re struggling to find the right words to respond. To say anything at all. Most of all, you can feel a wetness building at your core.

“I know the way you look at me, you know.” He kisses the dip of your neck, slender fingers splayed from under your shirt, “I know you’re into this.”

And because he is a scientist who must have evidence to back up his hypothesis, his hands find themselves under the waistband of your floral skirt that you foolishly wore, pushing the cure pastel underwear aside. You’re writhing in his grasp but maybe not as much as you should be, but it’s not your fault your movements are sluggish right?

“You have such a funny habit of not deleting your windows and keeping your bookmarks open.”

You freeze.

“This entire time I thought you were some prudish virgin even though you dress like a whore. Someone with who I had to be gentle. But all that fucking porn you read? Nasty. Is that why you need help in this class?” He punctuates slowly, "Because you're wasting your brain for something else?"

Immediately, you remember how you left your laptop on the table. You remember how many times he used your computer to double-check the notes, and you trustingly let him, forgetting that despite deleting your tabs, the hidden windows of steamy erotica were not yet erased out of their existence. Embarrassment violently paints your body.

He doesn’t wait or care for your response as he starts a vigorous assault on your clit with his slender finger, rubbing up and down in a vicious manner. The second finger prods at your entrance, feeling a tight cavern despite the amount of slick collected. Your eyes roll back in pleasure-is this what being with someone is like?

Stop. Get a hold of yourself. Why are you so fucking horny right now? It doesn’t matter what Armin said about you or how he called you out for the fiction you’ve read, because this is real life. But Christ, it’s Armin, the boy you’ve had a crush on since the moment he explained to you what a marginal abasement curve was. Stupidly handsome Armin with a gentle voice and too-blue oceanic eyes. Stupidly handsome Armin who coerced you into being under him.

You’re so fucking warm and tight, and Armin can’t wait to sink himself inside of you, can’t wait to humiliate you further. With nimble fingers he untied the ribbons of your dress like you were a Christmas present, groping your soft mounds and marking up your collarbone with teeth and tongue. Crystalline tears roll down the side of your face. You really shouldn’t be crying when you’re this wet.

“So fucking funny how you can’t look at me in the eye when we have a conversation but you read the filthiest fucking smut I’ve ever seen.”

taglist: @candy-hime

[moemammon]

"I didn't mean it MC, I swear!" (Feat. Levi and GN!MC)

(Continuation of this!)

Levi

Leviathan knew very few people who could match his passion about the things he was interested in, and even then, they weren't as diehard as he was. Whether they met in online forums, game lobby matchups, before concerts, or at comicons, there was NO ONE Levi could say really understood him.

And you? You were no exception. It annoyed him to no end when he found out you were trying to learn more about the things he liked. He didn't know what you were planning, but he wanted no part in it. Levi knew you were nothing but a notice through and through, and a little studying on TSL wouldn't change that! You were a fake fan, and he’d never acknowledge you!

Or... that was the plan, at least. Somehow, you... annoying, normie, irritatingly human YOU... managed to get under his skin. At first it was subtle, in that annoying way you managed to "beat" him in that TSL quiz you initiated. Then it was the way you continued to try to learn about him and get him to open up, despite already forming your pact. If it wasn't the pact you were after, then what did you want?

There was no way you'd hang out with Levi because you WANTED to. "Why are you always coming into my room? Just because you know the password... that doesn't give you the right!" He couldn't believe anyone would choose to spend time with him so often without ulterior motives, and yet... you were doing just that. Sharing his hobbies with genuine interest, proclaiming yourself to be his friend...

But he wasn't used to this kind of attention! It was too much for his otaku brain to handle! So Levi had the tendency to put up his walls at random, and that often meant defaulting to calling you names as if he wanted to push you away. You were always "Stupid normie", "dumb human" "fake fan", and variations thereof.

Little did he know, he was sort of succeeding in pushing you away, because you were actually sensitive to his stupid insults. He notices when you asked to come to his room to play a game, and he questioned whether a "normie like you can even handle a game like this." You remained silent, choosing to quietly get up and leave without another word.

And boy did Levi fuckin panic. He knew he was being a dick, and as much as part of him wanted you to leave him alone, another, larger part couldn't stand the thought of having no one to enjoy things with. He didn't want that! All this time he thought he was better off alone, and yet when he was with you, he could ACTUALLY let loose! He couldn't even remember the last time he genuinely enjoyed another person's company to the fullest. And now he was pushing you away??

Levi frets for a LONG time after you leave. He debates texting you, calling you, sending you a dozen game invites.... He's never had to deal with something like this! Why did real life have to be so hard?! But... he read enough romance manga to know that love-... or, really strong feelings, was a complex thing. He didn't get it, but that didn't mean he wanted to risk losing you. So he settled for sneaking down the hall to your room, making sure he wasn't spotted as to avoid the "look who came out of their cave" jokes his brothers were bound to make.

He sheepishly knocks at your door, waiting for a long while before taking the initiative to enter. He finds you cursed up in bed looking a second away from crying, and the guilt immediately punches him in the gut. Levi scrambles over to you and grabs your hands before he can react to the embarrassing gesture. "YOU'RE MY HENRY-!" Levi yells out randomly, and a little too loudly. His face is beet red and he's clearly nervous, but the demon tightens his grip.

"You're... you're my Henry, so... that means you're important to me! I'm no good with irl friendships, or.. or talking about feelings and stuff, but I want you to know that you're special! I want to watch anime with you! I want to go to concerts with you! I want to talk about TSL with you!" Levi withdraws his hands, barely able to look you in the eye. "....Sorry for what I said earlier. I really don't wanna lose you. Do you want to come back..? We can play that game, and I'll let you be player one this time!"

[heliads]

We’ll Be Alright

Based on this request: “An imagine where Y/N is Buckys girlfriend and also part of the team but one time it happens she get accidentally shot by John Walker and nearly dies and Bucky gets furious about that”

masterlist

Few things can terrify like the sight of a furious super soldier. It’s not like he’s angry at you, per se, more just irritated. Bothered, maybe. Frustrated at the thought that you’re going to be risking your life yet again on some fool’s errand that he swears he can avoid. He trusts you, of course, he’s seen you come out victorious from enough tough situations to know better than to doubt your skills, he just doesn’t like sending you into something that could get you killed if there was another way.

However, if you intended to back down from this, you wouldn’t already be suited up and ready. If Bucky didn’t think there was any way the two of you were leaving this room without you by his side, guns drawn and ready, he wouldn’t be looking at you with that reluctant unhappiness. He knows you’re going, so do you; the problem is merely in getting him to acknowledge that it’s the right choice.

Bucky tries again for another tactic. “I don’t even know if you’ll be allowed to go. S.H.I.E.L.D. and S.W.O.R.D. are really strict with their agents, right? We’ve already gotten Sharon into enough trouble as is, I don’t want you to lose your job as well.” 

You fold your arms across your chest. “S.H.I.E.L.D. and S.W.O.R.D. are so desperate for agents that aren’t willing to double-cross them that I could threaten multiple world leaders and probably still be allowed into the office the next day. Sorry, Bucky, but you can’t shake me that easily.”

Bucky sighs. “I don’t want to shake you, Y/N, I just want to make sure you’re safe. We’re going up against what seems like an army of supersoldiers, and I don’t want you to die if there’s something I can do about it.” 

You drum your fingers on the table in front of you, watching the way the lights of the room reflect off of the metal of your boyfriend’s arm. “I’m not going to die, I promise. Besides, you have no problems with Sam going, and he’s not a super soldier either.”

Bucky spread his hands. “Sam is the one who needs the shield most of all, and he’s got a vibranium suit with wings to protect him.” 

You gesture towards the armor you’re wearing- S.H.I.E.L.D. issue, designed to save you from gunshots and energy beams alike. “I have a vibranium safety net, too. We’ve gone up against a lot worse together, Buck. I’m not leaving you on this one. Besides, you knew I was coming with you from the second I showed up at your door.”

Bucky groans, shaking his head, but he knows you’re right. You can still remember that day, when you’d been watching the news back in your own apartment. All of a sudden, you weren’t watching a regular weather broadcast but a video of John Walker, the new Captain America. It stung like a blade, watching this muscled blond take up Steve’s role. It was almost funny how much he looked like Steve, like if you squinted or saw him from a distance you’d think that Bucky’s best friend was back from the dead or retirement or wherever the aged Steve Rogers had gone to live out the remainder of his days.

They’d given him a new suit, the old shield, all of the modern trappings that the nation’s new hero would need. None of their promises went to Sam or Bucky, the men who had come the closest to knowing the true Steve Rogers. For all of the government’s oaths that they’d put the shield in a museum, honor Steve’s legacy, or have any scrap of respect for Sam’s new position, they’d been about as truthful as a ten year old trying to cheat off of a times tables quiz.

You had cursed silently the second you saw the broadcast, not even bothering to watch the remainder of John Walker’s introduction before you were grabbing your coat and keys, driving over to Bucky’s to try and stop him from giving in to his anger and doing something like challenging Walker himself. You had only knocked once on the door before it opened; evidently Bucky knew you would try to stop him from manslaughter or general theft of 40s era vibranium status symbols.

From the second Bucky opened the door, you knew you were right to come. There was an anger simmering behind his eyes, a tension in his shoulders and joints. He had stepped back into the apartment to let you in, and you had closed the door behind you, filing into the room after him. The news was still playing, and Bucky had gestured towards it with a slightly shaking hand, so different from the usual calm stillness typical of the soldier and marksman.

“That’s Steve’s shield. Sam’s shield. They gave it to that pretender as if it’ll do him any good.” 

You had walked over to your boyfriend, taking his hand. Flesh, not metal. Even after all of these years, he still hesitates upon letting you anywhere near his metal arm. Sometimes, you swear that he doubts the strength of the Wakandan’s work, like no matter how hard he runs, his past as a Winter Soldier will catch up to him again and he’ll be sunk back beneath the surface. 

He’s been better of late, not hiding it or letting the metal fingers graze your arm as he helped you with coats or purses. Today, however, Bucky is reminded again of how little say he has in all of this, how insignificant his voice seems as compared to the relentless tide of the government’s want for control over each and every one of their heroes.

You had glanced over at the news, then back to Bucky, taking in the reflection of that accursed shield in his eyes. “You want to take it back, don’t you?” 

Bucky hadn’t needed to say anything for you to know that he did, that he wanted to yank it from Walker’s grasp and knock the blond muscle down for daring to compare himself to Bucky’s childhood friend. 

You squeeze his hand once, finally pulling Bucky’s attention away from the still-blaring news broadcast. “We’ll get it. We’ll get Sam.”

Bucky had nodded harshly, the movement as jerky as if he was still pulled by invisible wires, still a marionette under someone else’s whims and wills. “Today. I can’t wait any longer.” 

You nod. “I have a job that needs to be finished. I’ll meet you and Sam later, if that’s alright.” 

Bucky nodded. “I’ll call.” 

You smiled faintly. “I’ll answer.”

Now, here you were, about a week later and no further in your progress with the shield than you had that day in Bucky’s apartment. In truth, you’ve stumbled even further back, what with the new development of the Flag Smashers suddenly in the works. You hadn’t counted on a group of super soldiers to contend with, although you can’t deny that this chance to get close to Walker might be exactly what you need to talk him out of his sudden promotion to Captain.

The only problem is that Bucky can’t lose you. You knew that he would be protective of you from the second you signed your heart away on his blue eyes and reluctant smiles, that when he looked at you he would always see someone a second away from becoming another corpse, another funeral. You can only witness the deaths of so many friends, some of them at your hands, before you become terrified to lose anyone else. 

As an agent, you understand that more than anyone else. There are nights when it’s not Bucky waking up in a cold sweat but you, your hands reaching for him and your eyes scanning the room to make sure he’s still there. Yes, you understand him, but that doesn’t mean him sidelining you is the right call.

So, you don’t chastise him, but gently lay one of your hands on his own. 

“I’ll be alright. We’re going to go in, find the Flag Smashers, get out. Sam’s going to talk to Karli first, right? He’ll do it after Donya Madani’s funeral. If we have to go in with guns blazing, we’ll do our best to avoid it. Besides, if you’re worried about me, I’m even more worried about you. I want you to have as much backup as you can if you’re going into what might be a trap.”

Bucky sighs. “I hate it when you have good points.” 

You grin, sensing imminent victory. “I bet you do. Come on, we have a ride to catch and a funeral to visit.” 

You step forward, pressing a kiss to Bucky’s cheek before spinning away towards the door. He catches up to you easily, but this isn’t exactly an ambush to avoid. If you’re a little late in getting to the streets and Sam on time, well, you can blame it on a certain super soldier’s want to soothe his nerves.

Unfortunately, you won’t be visiting the Latvian resettlement camp alone. You’re shortly joined by Walker and Hoskins, who walk beside you through the cobblestoned streets in search of a way in. Walker is as impatient as always, and you can’t help but direct amused glances at Bucky's direction to see how close your boyfriend is to simply hitting the upstart captain on the head. Perhaps unconsciousness would make the guy stop talking for once.

However, you manage to make your way into the resettlement camp without too much trouble, thanks to Zemo’s questionable child spies. Now Sam is inside, talking to Karli, while the rest of you wait outside in an adjacent room. You haven’t heard any gunshots or screams of agony, so you can only hope that it’s going well. 

You’ve been a soldier for a long time, so the waiting does not bother you. Standing silently in a room is not the worst of your troubles, especially when the alternative is a firefight. Yes, you’re perfectly fine with the waiting.

The same cannot be the same for John Walker. He paces up and down the cramped room, issues challenges to Bucky, questions you about your true loyalties. 

He’s only interrogated you for a minute or two before Bucky steps in. “Walker, I’m going to suggest that you back off. Y/N has served S.H.I.E.L.D. from before you even knew what it was. She was saving your ass while you were still figuring out how to fire a gun.”

Walker scoffs. “Yeah, S.H.I.E.L.D. What’s their track record like? How do we know that she’s not just another HYDRA mole?” 

This makes Bucky’s voice go icy, and he takes another step towards Walker. To his credit, the blond doesn’t move, although you can see the way his eyes flicker around the room as if he wants nothing more than to back up and put more space between himself and the super soldier glaring at him. 

“Y/N is not a HYDRA mole. Do you know how I know that? I know it because she hasn’t let me down, not once. She could have turned me in, turned any one of us in, a hundred times, but she hasn’t. I trust her with my life. If I were you, I would do the same.”

Walker swallows nervously, although you can tell that he’s trying hard for a brave face. Instead of answering this, he looks towards the door once more. 

“What about Sam? It’s quiet in there. Too quiet.” 

You snort. “They’re talking, John. Not something you’ll hear from across the hall.” 

Walker glares at you. “All the same, agent, I think we should check it out. You wouldn’t want Sam’s death on your hands, would you? That’s what might happen if we don’t intervene.”

In the end, Walker gets his way. There’s a flight into the room to check on Sam, a sudden appearance of the enhanced Flag Smashers. You’re not sure why you ever thought you’d get away without a fight, only that this is a hope that you should have banished long ago. Whenever there’s a chance that there will be a fight, it’ll happen. That’s just the way it works in your line of work.

However, even if you’d been hoping to keep the combat to a minimum, you can’t pretend that fighting isn’t one of your strengths. You’ve been kicking skulls and punching throats since you were young, and you are able to hold your own against the super soldiers, even if you lack their unnatural strength and agility. 

You’re used to working alone, so having the additional backup of Bucky, Sam, Walker, and Hoskins is nice. Maybe this is why you let your guard down a little too much. Or, you just weren’t expecting to be shot by someone who was supposed to be on your side.

One minute, you’re dodging under the blow of a super soldier. The next moment, you’re on the ground, hand clutching your side in agony. There’s a pain like a thunderbolt emanating from your chest, right near your ribs. You can’t tell a lot about the gunshot immediately, just that it’s bad. It’s too close to your lungs and heart, and to be honest, you’re not sure that you’re going to live through this. 

The thought scares you. You’re used to risking your life on a daily basis, but this? The realization that you actually might not be walking away? It chills you, making your blood pound sluggishly through your veins even as it spills out onto your palms.

There’s a sharp intake from beside you, and then Bucky is standing over you, eyes wide as he takes in the blood coating your form. You’d fought Bucky before, when he was still the Winter Soldier and the Triskelion was burning down beside you. 

Back then, he’d still been under the mind control of the HYDRA doctors and goons. There had been an almost animal glint in his eyes then, a blank nothingness punctuated only by a haunting rage that simmered underneath his every moment. This is the look that riddles his face, that circles his eyes until you’re almost sure that he’s been pulled under once more.

You know he’s not under mind control from his movements, the way he’s unwilling to take risks that he wouldn’t have considered before. His gaze, however, is terrifying. It penetrates everything in the room, scanning and searching with a wolflike efficiency until it lands on your shooter, the man who’s still staring at his smoking gun barrel. 

It is John Walker, the man who had been questioning you minutes before. Although you’d been attacked by the Flag Smashers, they seem to hang back now, as if knowing that to interfere with this would spell their ends. Either that, or they want to see your team tear each other apart. Either option would make sense.

Bucky stalks towards Walker, your blood dripping off of his fingertips from where he’d tried to staunch the bleeding. “You did this to her.” 

For some reason, the room is quiet, as if everyone is watching with bated breath to see just how badly Bucky will hurt your attacker. 

Walker is stammering, unable to stop himself from backing away. “It was an accident, I swear. I would never hurt her. I was aiming for them.” 

He points a shaking hand towards the Flag Smashers, who almost seem to melt back into the background. Clearly, they want no part of this. You can’t say that you blame them for it.

Bucky scoffs. “Looks like you need a little more practice with your aim, then. You know, Steve never used guns, not like this. You’re not worthy of his shield, of his title. You are nothing, and you’ve just hurt the one person who means everything.” 

He draws his arm back, the metal one. Bucky is usually right-handed, preferring to use the arm that is still his. Evidently, he’s furious enough that he would switch, reverting back to his winter soldier tendencies to finish this.

Sam is rushing over to him now, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Bucky, snap out of it. You have to get Y/N out of here. We’ll deal with him later.” 

Bucky hesitates a second longer, still wanting to beat Walker into misery, but at last he pulls away, running back to you. 

Walker exhales sharply. “Thanks, Sam.” 

Sam, usually someone you’d consider kindhearted, fixes Walker with a death glare almost as severe as Bucky’s. “Don’t think that I feel anything towards you but disappointment. You shot an ally. I’m not doing this for you, I’m doing it because Y/N wouldn’t want you dead.”

Bucky is leaning over you now, blocking out the rest of that conversation. He scoops you up gently in his arms, fingers brushing the blood away from your mouth and face. 

“Stay with me, doll. Please. I can’t lose you today.” 

He’s running now, doing his best to keep his steps smooth so the jog of each movement doesn’t shake you too badly. There’s a doctor waiting outside, an ambulance already arrived. Sam must have called one from Redwing. Bucky regards the paramedics with a suspicious eye, but at last he agrees to let them examine you. 

Even when he has to hand you over to them, he still keeps his hand on yours, as if the simple interlocking of your fingers will keep you here with him. You want to reach out, to say that you’ll be fine, but for some reason the words dry up on your tongue. Everything just seems so heavy, so tired. Wouldn’t it be easier to rest? You can hear someone shouting at you now, but it all seems like it’s coming from so far away.

You didn’t realize that you had closed your eyes until you’re opening them. This time, you’re not in a stretcher or surrounded by the sirens of an ambulance but lying down, surrounded by the pristine white walls of a hospital. There’s a man sitting next to you, the furrows in his brow so deep that he almost looks like his years have finally caught up to him, like he’s revealed for being the century-old man that he truly is.

“Bucky.” 

The word is quiet, cracked by a dry throat. It’s enough to make his head snap up, his eyes to return to you. You sit up, smiling. This is enough to make his worries quiet, for his face to smooth over so he looks young again once more. 

“Y/N?” 

It’s a question, no answer needed, but you nod nonetheless. “I’m here. It’s alright.” 

Bucky exhales shakily. “For a while there, I thought-” 

He doesn’t have to finish the thought. Instead, you reach for his hand, gripping it firmly. 

“I’m okay. Promise.”

Bucky sighs, although a relieved smile tugs at his lips. “You’re going to have to stop making promises like that. They never quite have the right results.” 

You raise your eyebrows. “Oh, because the last time I promised you I’d be alright I got myself shot? I guess.” 

Bucky nods. “Exactly.” 

You look around you, finally realizing what this means. “Is everyone safe? What happened?” 

Bucky’s jaw clenches. “We think Walker took the super soldier serum. Hoskins is dead, killed by a Flag Smasher. Walker went off the deep end and brutally murdered one of them. It’s all over the news, none of this good. I have half a mind to kill him myself.”

You reach forward, forcing his eyes back to you. “It’s alright. You’ll handle it, I know you will. War is never easy, is it not? You and Sam will get the shield. You have a reason now, something concrete. I’ll be back by your side before you know it. Actually, if you want help taking down Walker now-” 

You move to swing your legs out of bed, but Bucky stops you. “Absolutely not. You need your rest. If I have to get one of the nurses to lock you down, I’ll do it.” 

You laugh in spite of yourself. “See, that’s what I’m talking about. You’re already making jokes. We’ll be okay, right?” 

Bucky nods, a faint smile taking up permanent residence on your face. “We will.”

marvel tag list: someone i would want to have my back in a fight @underc0vercryptid​, @mycosmicparadise​

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 306: the beginning of the WHAT

Previously on BnHA: Nana and the Gang were all, “hey Deku, we can read your thoughts and feelings so we should already know the answer to this, but for some reason we want to quiz you on whether or not you’d be down to kill Shigaraki Tomura.” Deku was all, “um okay, well tbh, probably not seeing as Saving People has been my entire thing since literally the start of the series.” The Vestiges were all, “yes that makes perfect sense and again we already knew that, but well, good for you buddy and I’m glad we had this talk. Anyway I guess we should ask these two cryptic fuckers in the corner to finally turn around now before we run out of -- ” and then the chapter ended. Because OF COURSE IT DID.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “YOU DON’T NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, WOULDN’T IT BE SO MUCH BETTER IF I GAVE YOU A CONFUSING CHAPTER WHERE EVERYONE FINALLY LEARNS ABOUT OFA, AND GOES BACK TO THE DORMS, AND THEN THE CHAPTER ENDS WITH DEPRESSED NOMAD DEKU STANDING ON A PRECIPICE WITH GRAN TORINO’S TATTERED CAPE FLOWING IN THE WIND.” Everyone is all, “???????????” Horikoshi is all, “also the parents are moving to the U.A. campus, and Jeanist’s neck is two and a half feet long, for everyone that was wondering.” Everyone is all, “WHERE ARE KACCHAN AND TODOROKI AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WHO ARE THE SECOND AND THIRD USERS”, and Horikoshi is all, “:)” and fades away into nothingness like the fucking fae he is. Like a fucking imp who’s kept his end of the cursed bargain. What, the, fuck.

okay guys, so after the longest Thursday of my fucking life, during which I was secretly hoping that my spoiler containment net would be somehow be breached, inadvertently exposing me to theta spoiler radiation, so that I could be all “oh no... spoilers... there’s nothing I can do... I have no choice but to look” (which sadly did not happen), it is finally Friday and the chapter is finally out. so I’ve got my clown kit at the ready and other self-deprecating memes on standby, and I’m ready to go. and I should note that I’m also ready for Horikoshi to pull some absolute bullshit and be like, “oh you know what, we haven’t checked in with Rat Principal in a while have we” and spend the entire chapter on nonsense like that. I’M READY FOR FUCKING ANYTHING so bring it

(ETA: it would be nice if this man wouldn’t call my bluff every now and again.)

oh, right, we were due a color page! wow look at this

isn’t this supposed to be the future?? what’s with all of these staticky CRT TVs

anyway, so! is this the first time we’ve seen Tomura’s stylish finger prosthetic glove thingy in color?? because I didn’t expect it to be red. also, at some point you just have to give in and change your pants into cutoffs or something, Tomura. start a new trend of stylish villain capris

meanwhile Deku is dressed like he’s going on a journey into the desert to find a mystical oasis. actually this cape looks a lot like Gran Torino’s. I have to go back and see if Gran’s is all raggedy like this

(ETA: it wasn’t before but APPARENTLY IT IS NOW. I also forgot that Horikoshi had showed it sitting on a side table in the hospital a few chapters ago.)

lastly, AFO looks like someone’s thumb after they’ve been washing dishes for twenty minutes. you are just the ugliest dude in history, and as always, fuck you

HAHAHA SOB I KNEW IT

oh, Twowy McTwoface is finally starting to turn around? better CUT BACK TO DEKU’S HOSPITAL ROOM THEN. wouldn’t want to accidentally ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS or SOLVE ANY MYSTERIES, god forbid

well, whatever. whatever!! anyway so now someone’s knocking at the door. I say “someone” but we all know it’s Hawks

yep

they were actually standing outside the door for a while hoping they’d overhear another juicy plot conversation, but no such luck this time

lmaooo Jeanist wtf

acting all embarrassed, but you’re really just as curious as Hawks is. making him do all the dirty work for you huh

ARE YOU SERIOUS THIS IS AN INJUSTICE

so like two seconds after Katsuki gets dragged away you open the door for the rest of them!! well, fine!! I really want it to be a more private/personal moment between the two of them anyway so let the other kids check in on Deku first then

and in the meantime, time to see Hawks put the thumbscrews to All Might’s resolve lol

I wonder how much of it Hawks has already put together in the last five minutes. One for All is something connected to All for One that Tomura seems to want. Tomura was apparently targeting Deku. that’s more than enough to make a few deductions right there. I wonder how much Hawks knows about Deku’s quirk. he did watch the sports festival, and he ran into the kids interning under Endeavor that one time

okay well maybe he hasn’t put the rest of it together just yet, but Hawks is making a pretty reasonable pitch here to All Might

also this is a pretty spectacular view. is this a hospital or a hotel??

AHLKJLKJLKJ ARE YOU SERIOUSLY GOING TO TELL THEM

OH MY GOD HE IS?!?!

JUST LIKE WE ALL EXPECTED, THE NEXT TWO PEOPLE TO LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT OFA ARE GOING TO BE HAWKS, AND BEST FUCKING JEANIST

-- LFKLKKLDK ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS. ARE YOU --

( •̀_•́ )

[sitting cross-legged on the ground pulling up little clumps of grass and letting them fall from my fingers one by one] yeah. sure. okay. fine. sure

-- OKAY, NO. NUH-UH. NO

everybody better hold tight cuz I’m about to pick up this whole chapter and yeet it into the ocean like a fucking frisbee lol

HORIKOSHI I DON’T CARE ABOUT THESE PEOPLE SITTING HERE WATCHING TV WTF

-- OH

well okay then. proceed. though lord help me if they’re about to reveal the secret of OFA to the whole fucking world skdkj

oh snap

well, there it is. pretty much what I expected, but it’s good to actually get to see this moment with him taking responsibility

though at the same time, thank you Horikoshi for not forcing us to sit through the rest of that

their fucking faces omg. okay but seriously, what nation doesn’t secretly love a good scandal

the Endeavor Pamphlets, part two. thank you for giving the country something to opine about on twitter in these trying times, Enji

so now they’re asking about Hawks and Jeanist but I cannot even focus on anything all of a sudden because what?!

is Jeanist even a real actual human being you guys?! are we sure he’s not three kids sitting on each other’s shoulders?? are you related to that one guy with the really long neck from the Jedi Council?? are you Orochimaru, bro??

so now Hawks is apologizing for the murder of Twice, and for hiding the connection with his dad

the fact that he has to give this serious formal apology and beg forgiveness for the shameful crime of Having An Abusive Father is really something else, though. just. it’s realistic, but I still hate it

moving on now to the one thing he actually does owe the public an explanation for

not to go all “Hawks did nothing wrong” on you guys yet again, but seriously. 100% facts. fandom can (and no doubt will) debate this until the end of time, but if Twice had gotten away they wouldn’t be having this press conference right now because there wouldn’t be any heroes left to give one. anyways though, I’ve already said more than enough about that in previous posts

so now some severe-looking lady with the weirdest fingers I’ve ever seen is saying that her mother was injured during Machia’s rampage

and she’s basically all “a fuck lot of good ‘I’m sorry’ does us all about now.” true true

wow she’s really getting fired up

and now Enji is basically saying that he understands that an apology isn’t enough, and what they really need now are solutions. okay, well! SO THEN WHAT IS THE PLAN THEN

hmmfsdgh

this eloquent PEZ dispenser makes a good point you guys

wait, hold up

CERTAIN citizens?? um excuse me, what??

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh shit

holy shit. well, this will go over well

okay! so this tells me a number of things, though

basically the minute that Hawks learned about One for All, he realized that anyone connected to Deku (e.g. Inko) would be a target for AFO. AFO wants OFA, meaning AFO wants Deku, and one of the easiest ways to get to Deku would be to target his family

Hawks therefore realized that Inko needed to be placed into protective custody

but the fact that ALL of the hero course students’ families (and is it only the U.A. hero course, or all of the hero course students across the country?) are being given protection tells me that Hawks and co. don’t want to single Deku out as being important. so then it looks like they’re not going to tell everyone about OFA (or at least not the public. which, good). so rather than drawing suspicion by saying “we’ve got to protect everyone connected with this one kid”, they’re making it seem like all the U.A. kids’ families are getting this treatment

but since the heroes are now spread so thin, they can’t just send a protective detail to each and every family, so they’re bringing all of the families to the same place instead to better keep an eye on them

so that’s all well and good, and a very smart move. except that idk how all of this is going to go over with the general public, all of whom are probably feeling unsafe at the moment, and who will probably see this as preferential treatment -- basically just the heroes looking after their own and leaving everyone else to fend for themselves

(ETA: okay so @hanashimas​’ translation clarifies that U.A. is offering their services as an evacuation shelter for everyone who wants it, not just the families of the U.A. students. that’s much more appropriate so I withdraw my previous “wtf” reaction lol.)

anyway though here’s Mitsuki and Inko

can we take this as confirmation that the two of them really are friends? that’s one piece of fanon that I’ve always hoped was true, so I’m gonna go ahead and say it’s confirmed

(ETA: also this means that Hagakure’s parents (or maybe “parents” in quotation marks) will supposedly be moving in as well. sure am curious as to how that’s going to go.)

now someone in the press crowd is asking whether U.A. can provide adequate security, which is honestly the LAST thing I expected these people would be outraged about lol. shows what I know I guess

(ETA: again though, this makes sense if the “certain civilians” thing was just a translation error.)

LMAO DAMMIT ENJI

YOU CAN’T JUST ALWAYS PULL THE “JUST WATCH ME” TRICK AND EXPECT IT TO SHUT DOWN THE CONVERSATION EVERY DAMN TIME YOU ASSHOLE

-- OH MY GOD RED ALERT

TIME TO ANALYZE THIS BECAUSE OMG

WASH CAN’T BELIEVE HIS FAMILY GROUP CHAT IS STILL SENDING HIM FUCKING MEMES AT A TIME LIKE THIS. HE DOESN’T GIVE A FUCK IF THE DABI DANCE IS TRENDING ON TIKTOK, MOM!!

FOR A MINUTE I THOUGHT MT. LADY WAS HOLDING MIDNIGHT’S TORN-UP MASK, AND BY THE TIME I REALIZED THAT’S ACTUALLY HER MASK AND NOT MIDNIGHT’S, I HAD ALREADY CONSTRUCTED AN ELABORATE HEADCANON IN WHICH MT. LADY AND MIDNIGHT WERE SECRETLY DATING BUT HADN’T COME OUT TO ANYONE YET, AND THEN TRAGEDY STRUCK, AND NOW MT. LADY IS GETTING READY TO SET OUT TO SEEK VENGEANCE. AND WELL, NOW THAT THIS HEADCANON EXISTS IN THE WORLD, I’M NOT SURE IF I’M READY TO GET RID OF IT

MIRKO HAS GOTTEN HERSELF A PROSTHETIC (ROBOT??!) ARM, NOTHING ELSE THAT’S HAPPENING IN THIS CHAPTER IS EVEN SLIGHTLY IMPORTANT!!! HELLO!!!!!

AIZAWA WITH THE EYEPATCH GOOD LORD. THE WORLD ISN’T READY. HE LOOKS LIKE HE HASN’T SLEPT IN NINETY-EIGHT YEARS, BUT SOMEHOW HE MAKES IT INTO THE HOTTEST THING EVER AS PER USUAL

WHO THE FUCK IS THIS FUCKING GUY. ARE WE SUPPOSED TO KNOW HIM? IS THIS KAMUI?? WAS THAT THING WHICH I ALWAYS ASSUMED WAS HIS HAIR ACTUALLY A HELMET OR SOMETHING WHAT

LOL AND MEANWHILE

you tell me, Dabi! weren’t you the one who said that wouldn’t be enough to kill him? what even is your endgame here. I’m starting to worry about the villain brain cell supply you guys. I feel like Compress took most of them with him when he left

OH??

“when asked about One for All, Endeavor fucking lied through his teeth.” well, well, well

SLKDFJLSKGDJLKLKGJL THE DORMS

( ⁰ ⌂ ⁰ )

SLDKJFLKJWLKJLK

WLKDJSLKJFWKELKSDJLKHGLK

HDSMFLKGKL:GDSELK

OCHAKO’S HAND IS SHAKING OH MY GOD

THERE’S YOUR KAMINARI, EVERYONE!!

RHA’S SCANLATION TEAM REALLY THREW DEKU’S HANDWRITING UNDER THE BUS HERE HUH

HE TOLD EVERYONE!?

WHY THE FUCK IS HE WRITING IT AS A LETTER

(ETA: 9. also if he really wrote every kid in his class then that means the U.A. traitor -- or Hagakure as we like to call her around these parts -- also knows about OFA, and knows that Deku has run the fuck off and isn’t at U.A. anymore. so that’s just great!)

OH HELL NO

the hell does that mean, you must leave. leave to go where. son you are not up and leaving to go power up and lead us all into a timeskip. and I swear to GOD, if you left Kacchan too...!!

MY GOD I CAN’T PROPERLY ABSORB ALL OF THESE OCHAKO FEELS RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I’M TOO TERRIFIED TO SCROLL TO THE LAST FUCKING PAGE, FUCK

I JUST GOTTA DO IT. I JUST GOTTA SUCK IT UP AND DO IT. FUCK

FUCK

WHAT. THE. FUCK

y’all I’m not even gonna waste your time with more keysmashing, JUST ASSUME THAT I AM DOING IT NONSTOP, FOREVER. and let’s just jump RIGHT IN HERE

okay so here I thought that All Might and co. had taken him away somewhere to train, but that is CLEARLY not what’s going on here. this kid is standing here in his Apocalypse Aesthetic hero costume which has CLEARLY seen better days, with Gran Torino’s cloak (GUESS THAT EXPLAINS THAT, THEN?? SO DID GRAN FUCKING DIE EXCUSE ME WTF), and a fucking backpack. this little green idiot has RUN AWAY FROM HOME. this is the absolute LAST THING ON EARTH I ever expected to happen so PARDON ME WHILE I SCREAM CONFUSEDLY INTO THE VOID

he does not look okay. you guys he doesn’t look okay at ALL. he has NEVER looked like this. this isn’t just a “I’m sad because I’m leaving all my friends behind” kind of look on his face, or even just a “Gran Torino died maybe and I’m still having emotions over it” look. this is an EXHAUSTED, dead look in his eyes. something terrible has happened

WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR ARMS DEKU. THE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING DOWN WITH YOUR ARMS GODDAMMIT

love how this random building is just straight up collapsing, like that’s just a normal thing that happens every day now. lovely

APRIL MEANS IT’S NOW FULL ON SCHEDULED ALL-MIGHT-DYING-HOURS, BUT LET’S COMPLETELY IGNORE THAT THOUGH BECAUSE FUCK THAT NOISE

“THE SECOND USER? WHO KNOWS? CERTAINLY NOT ME” HORIKOSHI I SWEAR TO GOD

“BAKUGOU? NEVER HEARD OF HIM!” HORIKOSHI PLEASE

WHERE. IS. KACCHAN

did he go with Deku?? did he get a chance to talk to him before he left?? did he get his own private letter which he read and then promptly blew up in a fit of panicked rage?? is he going to go after him?? DOES HORIKOSHI KNOW WHAT HE’S DOING TO ME RIGHT NOW?? OF COURSE HE DOES, DON’T BOTHER ANSWERING THAT

omg. though actually the fact that we’ve already jumped a few weeks forward makes me hopeful that there won’t actually be another timeskip, or at least not much of one. I’m sure that’ll be the big debate of the week, but I don’t think we can jump too far forward here. for starters because of that All Might prophecy I mentioned. and also because TomurAFO isn’t just going to wait around for months. and also because I’m 100% sure that Deku’s running-away backpack is just filled ENTIRELY WITH NOTEBOOKS and this asshole cannot possibly survive more than 3 days on his own. UNLESS SOMEONE COMES TO HELP HIM THAT IS. OR SOMEONES, EVEN. OMG. omg omg omg. fuck this chapter lmao

[vendettaparker]

What a Dumbass [P.P]

Summary: Peter’s mistake leads to you being injured. 

Pairing: Peter Parker x Avenger!Reader

Word Count: 2.1K

Warnings: Swearing, like a substantial amount, suggestive content kinda, gun shot wound, and flustered!Peter 

a/n: I really liked writing this. I couldn’t stop laughing at some of the dialogue. and the mistake peter made to cause the whole set-up of the story is so funny to me. like i can legit see him making this mistake. also, i’m gonna make a permanent tag list, so please send me an ask or message me if you want to be on it! <3

        ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

     Peter Benjamin Parker is a fucking dumbass. All the time mostly. Most of the time his dumbassery leads to a lot of annoyed avengers, a lot of clean up, and a lot of spilled secrets. Hence why like three people who definitely shouldn’t know he is Spider-man do. But every once in while his idiocy can lead to an unexpected happily ever after, at least until he fucks something up again. 

     This particular fuck up has yet to be determined as a happy accident or your new 13th reason. It all started when that spider bitch decided it’d be a good idea to watch some explicit content on his laptop. Now, this wasn’t particularly an unknown activity for him to partake in, since we all know about his little impromptu purchase in Germany, but unbeknownst to this dork, his aunt was in the next room over working on a tear in his suit. And to make matters worse, he accidentally just so happened to purchase a subscription using said aunt’s credit card that was pre-setup in his laptop. 

     Now May is a very understanding woman. Very sex-positive, very loving, and inclusive; the whole shebang really. So when she happened to catch this idiot doing what he most certainly shouldn’t have been doing, she wasn’t mad, just thoroughly disturbed. Then she got the notification about the purchase. That was a bit more taboo in her eyes. So Peter was grounded from patrolling for a week and his laptop privileges were revoked for two weeks. That was fucking merciful compared to what this whole fuck up put you through. 

     At the school that following Monday, Peter spent the whole first, second, fourth, and lunch period trying to convince you to take over patrol for a week. Sure, you could definitely handle it, not to pat yourself on the back or anything, but you were significantly stronger than Peter, so it shouldn’t have been that big of a deal. But you just really didn’t want to. Peter had his ‘Peter Tingle’ to help him find danger, while you’d actually have to look. It just seemed harder for you to do than it would be for him. 

     “Why are you even grounded?” You sighed after Peter's 3rd time bringing up the possibility of you patrolling for him at lunch. 

     “He got caught watching and buying p—” Ned started laughing.

     “Ned! Shut up!” Peter yelled, slapping his hand over his friend's mouth. 

     “How has your identity not been leaked yet, Jesus Christ.” You mumbled, giggling. You flipped through your chemistry textbook, writing notes to prepare for Friday’s quiz. 

     “Yeah, and how come you didn’t know May was home?” Ned pushed Peter’s hand away. “Where was your ‘Peter Tingle’ then?” 

     “She’s not a threat, dude. But shit, I really wish my tingle detected her.” Peter groaned, a deep blush covering his features. “Please (Y/N). I really, really don’t wanna leave Queens without any protection for a week. I’ll try to convince May to let me go out on the weekend, so really it’s only five days.” 

     “I guess I could help you out, but you owe me. I should really spend this time studying for my chemistry test. Iron bitch is gonna have my head on a spike if I fail another chem test.” You said, highlighting more notes. 

     “Okay! Delmar’s for a week, anytime, anywhere.” Peter said putting his hand out for you to shake. 

     “Make it a month, I know my worth.” 

     Peter hesitated, but eventually gave in, “Fine, but you better do a good job.” 

        ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

     So now you were stuck patrolling from 8:30 to 11:00 every night. It wasn't bad per se, and nothing too eventful happened. You stopped a small convenience store robbery, gave a few kids some tips at the skatepark, ran some errands for an old lady, and saved a cat from a tree. Thursday night was the real kicker though. Your night had barely started and you accidentally got in the middle of a drug deal between some smaller mob and a real messed-up junkie. This should’ve been an easy takedown, only six people in total that needed to be taken out, but like was mentioned before, you don’t have Peter’s goddamn, stupid fucking tingle. So after taking all six of the perps out you started to walk away after alerting the police. Unfortunately, one of those assclowns had come to, and grabbed the gun a few feet away from him and shot it towards you. The bullet went through your thigh and out the other side. Screaming in shock and pain, you used your own throwing knives and knocked the gun out of the mobster’s hand, then you proceeded to knock him out again with a few good punches to his noggin, maybe a few more, just for good measure. But this wound would need to be cleaned and stitched up. And if you went back to the Tower, Steve and Tony would give you an earful about “watching your surroundings” and “being more careful”. So in a moment of pure adrenaline and desperation, you texted Peter. 

You: are you home

Spider-Dork: Yeah, why?

You: i’ll be there in 5 

Spider-Dork: What? Why? Is everything ok?

Spider-Dork: Hello??? (Y/N)????

(Y/N) declined (3) calls 

Spider-Dork: Answer my calls idiot. 

     Peter’s texting and constant calling was cut short from a crash in his room. 

     “(Y/N)? Is that you?” Peter called from the couch in the living room. 

     “Yeah, can I borrow a t-shirt?” You called, fumbling around accidentally knocking over another lamp. “Oops, sorry!”

     “Uh, yeah sure. In the closet!” Peter called back pausing his show, prepared to make his way over to you. 

     “And some sweats?” You called back, blood dripping all over Peter’s hardwood floor. 

     Peter got up to make his way to his room. “Yeah, second drawer on the left side.” He said as he made his way to his bedroom. Knowing you were in there, most likely changing, he knocked. “You decent?” 

     “Nope, not really. I need a pair of your boxers too, though.” You called through the door, now seeing that the blood splattered on your underwear as well. “Also, bring the first aid kit when you come in.” 

     ‘What? Why?” Peter said in a more stressed tone, pushing his way into the room, completely ignoring the fact that you were very much not decent. “Holy shit.” He said seeing you out of your suit, in your bra and underwear, blood dripping down your right leg, pooling onto the floor. Your hand, red and bloody, pressed onto what he only assumed was the wound and blood seeping through your fingers. 

     “Bring a mop too.” 

     Peter ran out of the room to grab the first aid kit, plus some extra bandages and a cleaning solution. When he came back in he found you in the same state, standing in the middle of the room, eyebrows furrowed in pain, clutching your right thigh. 

     “What the hell happened?” He gasped, motioning for you to sit on his bed. You hesitated, not wanting to mess up his sheets. He seemed to notice your thought process quickly adding, “I have to wash my sheets anyway.” 

     “Gross.” You mumbled, scrunching up your face in disgust and finally settling down on his bed. 

     “Move your hand and tell me what happened,” Peter said kneeling on the floor next to the bed, positioned right at your hips. You removed your hand, bloody instantly seeping onto the bed. Peter winced looking at the hole in your leg, quickly grabbing the peroxide and dumping heaps of it onto your leg, much to your distaste. 

     “I got shot.” You stated as he cleaned the blood around the hole with alcohol pads.

     “Well, no shit. I mean by who and how?” 

     “Mobster. Sneaky bitch got me while I was walking away.” You winced as Peter inspected the wound further. 

     “I need to stitch this up. Did it go all the way through?” He said lifting your leg to look underneath for an exit wound. 

     “Yeah.” Peter found the exit wound and held your leg up with one hand, pouring peroxide on the back of your thigh with the other. 

     “You have to be more careful, (Y/N)! This looks really nasty.” Peter scolded, setting your leg back down and prepping the needle and sutures. “What if this was in your chest? Or—or if you didn’t get here in time? You could’ve bled out!” 

     “Well sorry that I don’t have your stupid tingle to help me out when I’m being fucking shot at!” You yelped, gripping the bedsheets. 

     “You don’t need spidey sense, you need fucking common sense,” Peter mumbled, stitching his first suture.

     “What the fuck did you just say?” You looked at him incredulously. 

     “I— uh, nothing.” Peter huffed, focusing back on stitching you up.

     “This is your all your fault, to begin with!” You accused, shifting uncomfortably, due to the needle constantly being stuck into your leg. “You’re the one that begged me to go on patrol for you! You’re the dumb bitch that got caught watc—” 

     “Ok! Shut up! For God’s sake, you’re never gonna let me live that down.” Peter groaned, finishing up the last stitch. “Flip over.” He commanded, pushing at the side of your waist to help with the movement. 

     “Well, it was fucking dumb. Don’t you check to make sure nobody’s home? God, we all know you’re a vocal bitch too.” You said, fully situated on your stomach. 

     “What the fuck is that suppose to mean!?” He gasped, prepping another needle. 

     “You’re a sensitive boy.” You shrugged, wincing when Peter started his next stitch. 

     “I-I am not sensitive! I’m emotionally and physically staunch!” He defended, going in for another stitch. 

     You just raised an eyebrow in amusement. “Sure, whatever you say, babe.” You winked at him, blowing an exaggerated kiss. 

     “You're a jerk,” Peter mumbled, finishing up his stitching job. “A jerk with a fucked up leg.” 

     You hummed, quite amused. Peter got up and started to collect his medical supplies. He shuffled out of the room to put everything away. When he returned you were trying to get up and walk, wincing at every slight movement. 

     “Here, let me just—” Peter lifted you up, bridal style. A small yelp coming from you when a sharp pain shot through your leg. “Sorry.”

     “It’s fine. Can you help me get dressed?” You said as he walked you over to his desk and set you down in his desk chair. 

     “Sure.” Peter blushed, painfully aware of your lack of clothes. He picked out some clothes from his closet and drawers. He helped you into them, wallowing in the uncomfortable silence, taking in each whimper and wince from you whenever he brushed against your thigh. 

     “Fuck, I’m so sorry.” He sighed after you were all dressed. “This is my fault.” 

     You looked at his distraught face, feeling bad for initially blaming him for the events of tonight. “No, Pete. It’s fine. I should’ve made sure all of the guys were knocked out.” You put a hand on his shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze.

     “No, I should’ve been more careful when I was watching that stuff. I have my spidey sense, I would’ve been able to avoid getting shot. It’s not your fault that you didn’t get bit by a radioactive spider.”

     “Pete, really, I’ll be better by next week anyway. It’s fine.” 

     Peter shook his head, sighing. “I just feel so bad, I shouldn’t have forced patrolling on you.” You hugged him and rubbed his back soothingly. “It’s my fault you got hurt.” 

     “Peter stop. It’s just an unfortunate accident.” You mumbled, hugging him closer. “It could’ve happened to anyone.”

     “But it didn’t happen to just anyone (Y/N), it happened to you. And I caused it. I-I don't know what I’d do if something ever happened to you. What if it was worse?”

     You sighed, pulling away from Peter and cupping his face, seeing the regret and shame pooling in his eyes. Without much thought, you pulled him closer, slowly connecting your lips in a sweet kiss. Truly getting lost in the feeling of his lips against yours, the feeling of perfection. 

     Peter’s eyes widened in shock for a moment, before he was kissing you back, reveling in the feeling he’s been dreaming about for months. You finally pulled away to catch your breath. Peter flushed at your actions, unable to stop the wide smile crossing his features. 

     “Sorry,” You mumbled sheepishly, “just needed to shut you up for a second.”

     “Maybe I should talk more, just to see what happens,” Peter smirked, pulling you in for another shorter, but just as sweet, kiss. 

     You hummed against his lips. “I really like you. Even when you're a dumbass.” You sighed against his lips.

     “The feeling is mutual.” 

     “Rude. I’m not a dumbass.” You gasped in faux offense. 

     “You’re the one with a bullet wound.” he deadpanned 

     “You’re the one who got caught watchin—”

     “(Y/N)!”

[fandom-puff]

Guard

Pairing: Sandor Clegane x reader

Requested by: anon ‘Can I get literally anything with Sandor Clegane? Maybe reader is a highborn child of a lord, and the Hound is hired as their bodyguard. And reader is very flustered around Sandor and can’t help but try to seduce them nervously? And Sandor is secretly digging it but tries to remain stoic and scary. Did that make any sense? I hope that was coherent’

Note: I... got a bit carried away here lol, sorry it took a while to write. also the reader in this is Robert Baratheon’s eldest daughter :)

Warnings: drunk shenanigans, references to sex

Gif creds to owner

“Oh father, honestly. What need have I for a guard?” You sighed, setting your book aside as Robert Baratheon sat across from you. “I can barely leave my chambers without a swarm of mother’s little birds to watch my every move,”

“What good are your ladies maids against would be assassins, Hm?” Robert said gently, brushing your dark hair away from your face. “All they can do is tell your mother you’ve had your throat slit,” you didn’t grimace at his bluntness.

“Surely Joffrey would be the prime target?” You insisted. “He’s heir to the throne seeing as he’s the eldest son. And he’s an ass as well,”

Robert laughed, knowing of your disdain for your younger brother. “I know, my girl, I know. Still, I want you protected, especially when we set off for the north. It took a while to convince your mother but... well, she can’t deny her own bannermen will be the best to serve the job,”

“Lannister bannermen?” You asked, taking your father’s arm as he began to walk you to dinner.

“Aye. Don’t worry, I won’t let the Mountain anywhere near you,” he said, patting your hand gently. “But his brother, Sandor, is to be your guard,”

***

The journey north was... arduous, to put it diplomatically. Your mother was overbearing, Joffrey grew bored, Myrcella was travel-sick from the bumpy road and Tommen was dearly missing Ser Pounce.

When the parade of servants and guards and carriages and luggage stopped for dinner before sun down, you sighed, happy to stretch your legs and get away from the claustrophobic Queen’s litter.

After dinner, you followed your father and uncles to their own carriage, insisting you couldn’t bare another moment of your siblings bickering and your mother trying to get you to sew. Your father allowed it and you smiled as he helped you into the carriage, sitting next to him and across from your uncles. Tyrion smiled at you, asking about the book you were reading. You soon found yourself relaxing, under no pressure from Cersei, being treated as an intellectual equal. You even drank some strong wine (under Robert’s supervision of course) and soon nodded off to sleep against your father’s shoulder the way you used to when you were a girl...

“YN, wake up,” you jolted awake, blinking away your sleepiness.

“Are we at Winterfell?” You mumbled, rubbing your eyes. Robert smiled fondly.

“Almost, my dear. Your mother is going spare, says you’re to go to her litter right this instant and put your best gown on,” he grinned, nudging you as you rolled your eyes. “Clegane will escort you, he’s outside,” you sighed and nodded, slipping out of the carriage, almost colliding head on with the Hound.

“Princess,” he said, looking down at you and bowing slightly. “I’m to take to you your mother,”

You smiled sweetly up and him, nodding. “Thank you, Ser Clegane,”

“I’m no Ser,” he said firmly.

“Then what should I call you?” You asked, looking up at him expectantly.

“Well... your brother used to just call me Hound, or Dog, princess,” he said, frowning.

You stared up at him, locking eyes with him, taking in his scarred face and stoic expression. “I am not an ignorant arse like my brother. I’m sure your first name shall suffice, Sandor,” you said firmly and he nodded, helping you navigate the uneven ground to your mother’s carriage

***

Your stay at Winterfell was enjoyable, yet suffocating at times. You grew used to the cold rather quickly, donning furs the way the Starks did. You got on well with Sansa, let Arya show you how fast she could run, held Rickon on your hip when he raised his arms up, let Bran quiz you on the different creatures Old Nan had told him about, spoke politics with Robb. You even beckoned the bastard, Jon Snow over after Robb told you they were as close as real brothers. You admired how warm Lady Stark was with her children, and how Lord Stark was firm but fair with them, disciplining them when need be.

Of course, wherever you went, you had a shadow. Sandor Clegane followed your every move, standing just close enough so he could see and hear you, but far away enough to not stifle you. It was odd at first, but you soon got used to it, smiling softly when you found him waiting outside of your allocated chamber each morning. You couldn’t help but be curious about him. Many recoiled in fright when they saw his disfigured face, but you couldn’t care less. It intrigued you. He was... handsome. In a rugged, scary, gigantic way. At night you couldn’t help but let your mind wander... thinking about his strong arms and great height and low, rumbling voice... you often woke in a sweat, despite the frigid wind of the North, your entire body alight with desire.

It was wrong, you knew it was. He was your guard. Father would have his head if anything untoward happened, and your mother would surely condemn you to a life as a Septa. But still... there was something about his powerful presence that stoked the fire within you.

***

There was a firm thud at your door. “Princess, I’m here to take you to the feast,” Sandor’s gruff voice sounded.

“A moment, I’m just... is there a ladies’ maid nearby?” You called

“No, Princess. They are down at the feast with your mother and sister... should I fetch one? Or perhaps the Septa or the Maester, if it’s women’s troubles that are ailing you?”

You rolled your eyes and opened the door. “There’s no need for that, Sandor,” you said firmly. “I’m simply having difficulty trying to do up the clasp on my necklace. Would you...?” You opened your door a little wider, inviting him inside. Sandor hesitated for a moment before following you, his armour rattling with every step. He admired your figure as you walked; you had decided to wear the colours of your house for the Feast. A black gown, embroidered with twisting golden antlers. You stood in front of the mirror, holding out the ends of your pendant. Sandor’s hands brushed against yours as he took the ends, and you couldn’t help but shiver, goosebumps spreading over the swell of your breasts as you swept your hair aside. Sandor gulped, clasping the fiddly chain against the column of your neck, his knuckles caressing gently.

“There,” he said, clearing his throat as he felt your heated skin. “Come on... before your mother castrates me for making you late,”

You smiled gently, walking slightly ahead of him toward the noisy Hall. As you approached the head table, Ned and Catelyn stood, but you quickly gestured for them to sit. “Please, sit. This is your home,” you said gently, allowing Sandor to pull a chair out for you next to your mother.

“Thank you Clegane,” she said coldly, eyes narrowed. “You may leave us now,”

You turned to him and smiled shyly. “Stay,” you said softly.

“YN,” your mother said warningly.

“Sandor, go and enjoy the feast. Have some food and some wine, I’m sure Uncle Jaime and Uncle Tyrion can spare you some. Go. Make Merry,” you said gently and he nodded, bowing slightly.

“Of course, Princess, your majesty,” he said, before stalking away.

You ignored your mother’s disapproving look and engaged in pleasant conversation with Lady Catelyn, mainly about when you were to be wed, but your mother cut across.

“I believe Robert intended to betroth her to your eldest son, but we must consider Joffrey’s future first. He is after all to be king and needs to have heirs,”

“Of course,” Catelyn smiled. “I’m sure a suitor will come shortly,”

You nodded, although your attention was no longer on the conversation; your eyes had drifted to Sandor. For once he was smiling, looking at ease as your uncles poured him more wine, your father laughing jovially with a woman on his lap. “I’m going to see Uncle Jaime,” you said to your mother, who sighed but let you go.

“Ah, YN,” Tyrion smiled as jaime poured you a goblet of wine. “I see you’ve managed to escape your mother’s side,”

“Don’t,” you said, taking the wine and drinking it quickly, sitting yourself next to Sandor. Robert sent the woman on his lap go, frowning at you.

“Careful now, YN, that wine’s stronger than you’re used to,” he warned, but you reached over to clink your goblet with his. Sandor gulped, seeing the curve of your back as you swayed slightly.

“Oh, nonsense, father. I am your daughter after all... and my uncle is the drunkest man in the seven kingdoms. It’d be rather shameful if I couldn’t manage a cup of wine,” you smiled, sitting back down and knocking back another cup as the men roared with laughter.

Your father was right. A few cups of the strong wine later, you were rather giddy, insisting Jaime dance with you. He humoured you, your father and Tyrion laughing and cheering you on while Sandor smiled bemusedly. “Come now, YN... that’s enough for tonight,” Jaime said, helping you stagger back. “She’s drunk,” he grinned as you giggled, sitting yourself back down. Your fathered grinned, allowing you one more cup before smirking.

“Gods above, Cersei will have my head for getting you drunk...” Robert grinned, although he didn’t really look too worried. “Clegane, take her to her rooms and guard the door. Send for the maester if she’s unwell,” Sandor nodded and bowed, watching as you hugged your father goodnight, before taking your arm and guiding you out of the crowded hall.

As you walked through the courtyard of Winterfell, you shivered in the cold, leaning into Sandor a little more, trying to keep up with his wide strides. He helped you up the stairs to your room, rolling his eyes fondly as you giggled when you stumbled. “Come on, Princess, need to get you to bed in one piece,”

“I’d like you to get me in bed, Sandor,” you grinned, nudging him, fuelled by liquid confidence. He said nothing, opening your bedroom door, helping you inside before turning around. “What’re you doing?” You asked indignantly.

“Turning my back so you can get yourself dressed for bed,” he said lowly, gritting his teeth.

“I can’t undo the laces at the back... my ladies’ maid is still at the feast. Help?” You asked, already clumsily undoing your braids. Sandor sighed softly, cursing under his breath as he turned around. You had your back to him, holding your hair out of the way so he could unlace your gown. When you felt his strong hands against your back, caressing with the gentlest touch, you let out a little sigh, leaning back into his touch. Your gown pooled onto the floor, leaving you in your corset and chemise. His breath hitched, unlacing your corset. You smiled, turning around and he quickly averted his eyes- he could see your nipples through the fabric, thanks to the cold.

“C’mon, princess,” he said, clearing his throat, thankful his armour covered his cock; his trousers were feeling uncomfortably tight. “Into bed with you,” you nodded obediently, letting him help you up into the high bed. He pulled the blanket over you, and as he was straightening, you reached up to kiss him. He froze for a moment, before kissing you back gently, stroking your hair. His whole hand almost covered your head as he cupped the back of it gently. Slowly, he pulled away, much to your dismay. “Sleep, princess,” he said softly, pushing you down. You reached up, pouting.

“Stay?” You slurred, eyes already drooping as the alcohol caught up to you.

“I’ll be standing just outside the door, YN,” he said, blowing out the candles. “Can’t keep you safe if I’m in here, can I?”

***

Tags: @lotsoffandomrecs @zodiyack @rabeccablake @simonsbluee @wonderwoman292 @little-bit-of-randomness @doozywoozy

[moonlight-frittata]

I Don’t Need a Mechanic

Overwatch: Dva and Brigitte (a few others make appearances)

Word count: ~5500 

My take on when Dva meets Brigitte and the first month or so of them getting to know each other on base.

---

Six months Hana Song had been a part of Overwatch, and during that time she set a very strict precedent that no one, not even Winston or Athena the AI was allowed to touch her mech, Tokki. So seeing the back of someone inside the cockpit as she entered the Watchpoint Gibraltar hangar made her blood boil. 

“Excuse me!! What the hell are you doing??” 

The person’s body jerked, their head banging against the low roof of the cockpit ceiling they wedged their torso inside. Hana heard a short mumble of something incomprehensible and a long, thick ponytail of red hair retreated from the mech in a hurry. A very tall, buff young woman around Hana’s age emerged blushing with a sheepish grin.

“Ah! I’m so sorry, I couldn't help myself. I’ve always wondered what these Korean models looked like up close. But in hindsight I really should have asked first.”

Her accent was European, but it was hard for Hana to place with any real certainty. Could have been Scandinavian, remembering some of the players from Finland she competed against back in her pro days. 

“Yeah, you should have fucking asked.” 

The crimson hue on the tall, possibly Finnish trespasser’s cheeks faded and she held her ground, not scared off yet by D.va’s harsh tone.

“Right. Won’t happen again, I promise,” she said. 

Dva scoffed a bit and pushed past the buff intruder to look inside the mech to inspect if anything was out of place. A moment of stuffy silence passed between the two and Hana hoped the other girl would get the message and leave.

“I’m Brigitte Lindholm by the way.”

Hana let out an audible huff as a familiar freckled face appeared looking through the glass on the other side of her heads up display.

“Oh. Yeah, Fareeha warned me a new girl was joining,” Hana replied from inside the cockpit while she busied herself checking Tokki’s systems. 

“And you’re Hana Song, right?” Brigitte continued lightly, clearly unperturbed. “Or do you prefer to go by D.va?”

Hana paused at the mention of her gamer tag turned call sign. 

“It’s Lieutenant Song, actually.”

Brigitte raised an eyebrow at the curt reply, her smile fading to a neutral expression. It only dipped for a moment though as she extended her hand. 

It was an awkward gesture to shake hands from inside the mech, even though the front of the cockpit was partially open near the joysticks. Hana looked at Brigitte’s outstretched hand and gentle smile on the other side of the glass. Was this a joke? She pursed her lips and sized Brigitte up for a few tense seconds before reaching out. The grip was firm and Hana’s hand practically disappeared in Brigitte’s large palm.

“Lieutenant Song. It’s an honor to meet you.”

Hana sighed and rolled her eyes, a little of the bluster going out of her at the sincerity in Brigitte’s tone. Satisfied that no harm had come to the mech, she backed out of the cockpit.

“Just call me Hana. That rank doesn’t really mean anything here anyway. Lena will probably make fun of me if she hears you calling me Lieutenant.”

Brigitte walked back around Tokki to join her, a lingering hand tracing over the pink exoskeleton as she moved. “I’m surprised she doesn’t make you call her Captain.”

“Oh, she’s tried.”

Brigitte laughed. 

“Sounds about right.”

D.Va chuckled for a moment, briefly disarmed by the new stranger, before she remembered how this person was rudely poking around her stuff only moments before, and snapped back into her gruff demeanor. 

“Lindholm, you said? Like Torbjörn Lindholm?”

Brigitte sighed, clearly used to this connection.

“Yes. Genius engineer of Overwatch 1.0, founder of Ironclad Industries, husband to Ingrid, and father of way too many children, including yours truly.”

“So, you grew up in an Overwatch family?” Hana asked as her full attention focused on Brigitte for the first time in their conversation.

“You could say that,” Brigitte said. She picked up a silver ratchet resting on a nearby worktable, spinning the head around between her fingers and levering the handle back and forth, testing the weight distribution of the tool in her hand. 

Hana could tell there was more to the story than her new teammate seemed willing to let on. She found it interesting that Brigitte, who had been all candid smiles a moment ago when she was caught somewhere she shouldn’t be and oversharing to someone she just met, was now hand waving around the subject.  

Overwatch kids are pretty up their own asses about 1.0 normally. Wonder what her deal is...

This was what Hana was known for back in her pro days. Seeing a flaw in an opponent’s defense and breaking it wide open. But she needed to remember she only just met this girl, who would soon be her teammate. Maybe save that for another day. 

“Well, Lindholm. As long as you stay clear of my mech, I don’t see a reason we should have problems working together. What’s your specialty?”

Brigitte perked up at the change of subject.

“Support. Both base level engineering support and in the field. I've got my bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, and I’ve been working on Reinhardt’s gear for over a year now. Angela - I mean, Dr. Ziegler, is training me to be certified as a field medic.” 

“Tough job. Think you can handle the gore?”

A wry smile pulled at Brigitte’s lips, her head shaking back and forth in a small, bemused gesture as she placed her hands on her hips. 

“You don’t pull any punches do you, Lieutenant Song?”

D.Va crossed her arms, holding eye contact with Brigitte who matched her gaze with amusement. 

“The best shot caller in the world is just a loud piece of shit if her team isn’t up to the same standard. So yeah, I like to know who has my back and if she can handle herself.”

Brigitte regarded D.Va for a moment, her jaw working back and forth as if chewing on the approach she wanted to take in response.

“I’ve been patching up Reinhardt for a while now. If I’m honest though, I’m scared it’s not going to be enough one day. But that’s not what I need to focus on, and instead I’ll do the best I can to support the people here.”

The plain way Brigitte shared her apprehensions left Hana uncomfortable. She couldn’t imagine telling someone out loud she was afraid, especially on her first day. Though in truth, she herself felt scared shitless half the time while doing this work.

Brigitte’s smile was back. Did it ever leave that pretty face? It did suit her though, framed by the freckles and warm brown eyes. If this girl wasn’t built like a literal tank of 6 foot something muscle, Hana might have more apprehension about sending her out to fight Omnics and Talon. 

“Well Lieutenant Song, I think I’ve taken up enough of your time with my intrusion. Fareeha and Winston will be missing me very shortly for the rest of their planned orientation schedule,” Brigitte said as she carefully placed the ratchet she previously picked up back on the workstation, breaking the spell of awkward silence.

D.Va smirked, feeling tension leave her shoulders to match Brigitte’s playful demeanor. 

“Mmm, well now I understand why you were hiding down here.”

“Yes they are indeed quite enthusiastic and thorough with their material.”

She gave a wink and started to walk away, turning briefly to call over her shoulder.

“I noticed there was a small coolant leak under the left fusion cannon. Might get a bit sticky on the left hand.”

“Bye Brigitte, enjoy your 300 page orientation manual quiz.”

Brigitte waved once more and turned around, already so sure and familiar with the layout of the hangar and the base.

She’s just another Overwatch kid, and just another nosey engineer trying to get in my mech.

Hana lingered by her workstation, picking up the ratchet Brigitte had been fiddling with and thinking over their brief encounter again. 

Would this girl be a liability on the battlefield? Brigitte looked strong on the exterior, but then, so did Tokki. If you took away the mecha armor, inside was just a squishy human target bullets and fire could cut through like paper the second she was exposed and vulnerable.

Hana took a deep breath.

She walked around to the left fusion cannon and did indeed see the signs that a coolant leak was backing up inside the casing. Pretty subtle to spot with minimal visible damage to the exterior. 

Not bad, Lindholm.

D.Va pulled her headphones on, turning to her latest loop of pop songs to blast while she went to work removing the panels on the cannon to replace the broken coolant line. The task felt good, and helped her mind drift to thoughts other than her conversation in the hangar.

---

Hana didn’t see much of Brigitte the next few weeks. The new recruit was busy with training and learning mission protocols expected of field agents in addition to shifts with Mercy in the clinic to  fulfill the certifications Brigitte was required to complete. Hana would see her sometimes at dinner, often in a spirited conversation with Reinhardt or Lena. It seemed to take Brigitte no time at all to fit in amongst the old guard, but it seemed that’s what being the favorite niece of pretty much every person here would get you. 

Hana would half listen to their stories, always feeling awkward and out of place amongst their banter. Overwatch was like a family, but she was more like the stranger invited as someone’s plus one. Everyone seemed to have an ingrained familiarity with each other. A single word could trigger a whole series of anecdotes every person around had some personal insight to add on to. 

Remember this! 

Oh how is so and so?  

Damn, that was 5 years ago already? 

Even on her squad in Korea, she never had what they people here seemed to have. Dae-hyun was a close childhood friend and followed her into the MEKA squad, but the other pilots were a different story. There was always a bit of friction and distance with the rest of her teammates because of their history as pro-gamer competitors forced into an arrangement as teammates. It never really gelled beyond cordial coworker relationships. Hana’s celebrity status didn’t help either, only adding another barrier between herself and the others. The fame of D.Va closed her off in access to most people unless they were on the other side of a screen, and then they only saw a polished up version of herself. 

Not exactly the best way to get close to people.

Sometimes she was curious to learn more when she heard the Overwatch stories, but she always stopped herself before saying anything. It was easier to pull out her phone and queue up a game. Easy to pull back and ignore them, and usually they left her alone to do it.

She was okay with that. She was okay with keeping Hana and D.Va separate. She was okay with only polite greetings and trite platitudes. She didn’t need to know about the times from before, or what her Overwatch teammates did on the weekends. She just needed them to listen to her in the field and leave her room to make her plays. Like every time she started a new game, she didn’t have to focus on the past, or what others thought, she just had to focus on the objective in front of her. It’s what got the job done and what kept her alive.

---

Brigitte kept her word to stay out of Hana’s mech. She set up her own work station on the other side of the hangar where she worked on Reinhardt’s gear as well as her own. Hana would sometimes see the blue flash of a shield out of the corner of her eye over the hum of diagnostic scans or smell the burn of sparks from welding. 

One day curiosity got the best of her when she heard the loud, repetitive pounding of a hammer on metal and she wandered across the hangar. 

“You’re doing that by hand?”

Brigitte stopped working when she heard the voice behind her, the deafening echo silenced on the metal shoulder guard she was beating against.

“On this armor I do. Reinhardt’s gear is special from the time it was made. It has to be maintained with some older techniques.”

“Why?”

Brigitte looked at her surprised for a moment then laughed, loud and warm. 

“You know, I wondered the same at first. It’s a bit of the way this armor is made, modern techniques can be too harsh on it, interestingly enough. Too precise and it becomes too fragile.”

“That doesn’t sound true,” D.va said.

“Oh, questioning my methods huh? Well, maybe the truth is more I didn’t originally have the right gear out in the field, and Reinhardt didn’t have much modern tech either, so the only way to do it was by hand. But it’s nice actually to keep doing it this way, I like getting my hands dirty with it. Helps me relax.”

“See that I believe.”

“Well, I’m glad I have your approval, Lieutenant Song.”

D.Va rolled her eyes, but smiled a little.

“I told you before, you can just call me Hana. Although, I do like the respect of authority.”

“Lieutenant suits you.”

Hana smirked a little at the complement, turning to pick something up on a nearby table. She picked up one of Brigitte’s gauntlets, slipping it on her hand. Her arm sagged under the weight, the glove coming up well above her elbow.

“Is it exhausting wearing all this armor? How do you run around with it on? I can barely lift this thing.”

“There’s movement assist when the unit is turned on. But I mean, I think I can handle it.” 

Brigitte smirked as she made a show of flexing her well defined arms, and Hana couldn’t help but gawk a bit before she turned back to fiddling with the glove. 

“Um, yeah I uh, noticed you seem to be in good shape.”

“Oh yeah?” Brigitte was smirking, clearly enjoying the slight fluster she was causing in her new teammate. Hana put the glove back on the table and gave Brigitte a light shove on the arm.

“Oh give me a break, you know you’re buff. Do you even own a shirt with sleeves?”

“I’m very familiar with OW 2.0’s handbook, and the dress code is quite lax about on-base personal attire. But, mostly I just like hearing you complement me.”

Hana rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m glad you’re strong enough to move your ass around in this armor so you can protect my blindspots while I’m doing all the real heavy lifting.”

Brigitte laughed again. Hana couldn’t help but smile too at the warm sound. Brigitte’s whole face lit up, and her eyes crinkled around the edges. No wonder she was the favorite niece.

“Fair. I’ve seen your battle footage and some news clips when you were back in Korea. You’re so strong, I doubt you even need me.”

“Ah, another fan of D.Va. Well, who can blame you,” Hana said with a flick of her hair. She continued to walk around Brigitte’s workstation, picking up random pieces of armor. Brigitte didn’t seem to mind.

“Actually Reinhardt was the real die hard D.Va fan. We used to always have a stash of the instant noodles with your face on them in our rig. Great shelf life. I’m surprised he hasn’t asked you for an autograph yet.”

“Well he’s one to talk! Did you know, when I was a kid there was a Reinhardt special edition line of noodles? I remember I tried them once and they had such a weird flavor. It was like ketchup and curry powder or something. He had a pretty big fanbase in Korea actually.”

“Hah! I didn’t know that, but I’d believe it. There’s been so much Overwatch merchandise over the years, I’ve lost track. They were such celebrities back in the day.”

“Yeah.”

Hana knew a thing or two about having her image used for propaganda. She wondered for a moment what it was like for Brigitte, growing up amongst the same environment, but removed from the center of it. An image of her laughing in the cafeteria with the old guard flashed through her mind. She decided it must have not been too bad, and refrained from asking the question.

“Okay well, I’ll leave you to your meditative, hammer time. I need to get back to my mech anyway, I’ve got a mission tomorrow morning,” Hana said, turning to leave. Brigitte let out a long sigh, slumping into a chair. 

“Oh, it must be nice to leave the base.”

Hana stopped in her tracks, curious again, hearing such an outburst from Brigitte. She turned around and poked one of Brigitte’s large muscles near her shoulder.

“Oh come on, don’t be dramatic. You’ll be done with your training block soon. Fareeha is just, really particular before she lets anyone out on a mission. It took almost two months, and me breaking every score in the simulators for her to let me out in the field.”

“I know, I know. It just sucks sometimes feeling like everyone is being overprotective of me. I can handle myself, I’m not a little kid.”

Hana couldn’t help but give a little hmphf sound, her lips pulling down at the corners. 

“Yeah, I get that feeling. You can’t speed up time though, you just have to grind it out.”

Hana wasn’t normally one for listening to whining, but she thought Brigitte looked quite cute while she pouted, her arms crossed tight against her torso and her lip jutted out. It was hard not to laugh at the sight a bit, but Hana held her tongue. She really did know how it felt to want to prove yourself.

“Hey come on, there’s plenty of work you’re doing here that’s valuable. And when you’re ready, you’ll get called up and out there with the rest of us.”

Brigitte took a deep breath, seeming to blow out the negative feelings in one dramatic sigh. When she straightened up in her chair she seemed to be in better spirits, smiling at Hana again.

“You probably know better than anyone how to do that. Thanks Lieutenant, I’ll try. Let me know if my hammering gets too distracting. I can always go find something else to do.”

“It’s fine. I hardly noticed.”

“Well in that case, I’ll just be over here until dinner time.”

---

A few days later Hana almost threw her computer across the hangar. 

“Why is this piece of shit so useless!”

The MEKA diagnostic program she used to keep Tokki up to date was crashing every five minutes when she tried to run a scan of the system. It had slowly been degrading the last few weeks and after the latest mission it apparently decided it had enough. She tried every trick she knew, both from working on the mech for years and everything she could think of on her personal gaming rig, but she only had rudimentary coding skills and was vastly out of her depth.

“Everything okay?”

Brigitte’s gentle voice called out from a few feet away as she had stopped her own work to come see D.Va’s meltdown.

“Everything’s fine. Except I’m going to have to go throw this piece of crap, and then myself, in the ocean.”

“Sounds like a costly solution. What’s going on?”

“It’s fine. I’m fine, I don’t need anyone’s help.”

She could feel Brigitte’s sympathetic look burning into her cheek and hated it.

“Okay no problem. I’m around though, just let me know if you want an extra set of eyes.”

Hana stared at the email she had sent to Dae-Hyun the day before that still had no response. She knew her mech’s hardware inside and out, but he was the one who really handled all the intense computer program internals. She was out of her depth here and needed him to call her so she could get this thing working again, but he wasn’t answering. Maybe he was deployed somewhere or too busy with a social life now that she was gone. 

She had decided to come here for Overwatch. So maybe she should trust Overwatch.

“Brigitte, wait a minute.”

The other girl paused and turned, only having walked a few feet away from D.Va’s workstation.

“I could probably use some help here, if you’re still offering?”

Brigitte smiled, but it was more muted than her usual mega watt grin. Hana appreciated that she wasn’t making a big deal about it. 

God, why is this girl so nice.

“Definitely.”

Brigitte walked around the workbench where Hana set up her computer station and listened to the general description of the problems. As Hana started clicking through screens to show the protocol she usual ran, Brigitte held up a hand to make her stop.

“I understand what you’re saying, but looking at the text, I can’t read Korean. Does it have a translation setting?” “I doubt it. This thing was only meant to be used by the Korean MEKA squad.” Hana felt her stomach drop at how quick her hopes of getting this programming running were already dashed.

“Well lucky for us, Overwatch has some very robust translation tech we can utilize.” “Really? It’s not the AI is it? I’ve been so resistant to letting her in my computer.”

“That would be one possibility, but there are some more localized options we have. I’ve had to do this once or twice on one of my papa’s projects.”

“How long will it take?” “Don’t know! Could take a while, I’m not going to lie to you, especially with your program already acting buggy. But don’t worry Lieutenant, we’ll sort you out.”

Hana groaned, already having major doubts about letting Brigitte mess with her tech. But she didn’t have a lot of options, and this was probably the least embarrassing choice on the table at the moment. 

Brigitte moved back and forth between D.Va’s workstation and her own across the hangar, gathering cables and a laptop she would use to debug the system. Hana watched over Brigitte’s shoulder for a while, monitoring her work to get the translation program working on the MEKA diagnostic software. 

“Where’d you learn to do this type of thing?”

“Back in college. I had to learn a certain amount of coding for my major, but I helped out Winston some in his lab on campus and he taught me a lot of tricks too.”

“Jesus, is there literally anyone on this fucking base you don’t have some personal connection with?” 

Hana stepped away from the computer and dropped down into an empty chair with a huff, spinning the chair on its axis in erratic circles.

Brigitte stopped typing and watched Hana’s tantrum. “It bothers you that I’ve got a close connection to Overwatch?”

Hana did not reply, but crossed her arms and let out a frustrated sigh. Brigitte’s gaze held her for a moment but eventually shifted back to the computer screen as she seemed to weigh her thoughts on how to respond.

“Why did you leave the MEKA squad to join Overwatch?” she asked finally. “It doesn’t have the best history as an organization, you know.”

Hana stopped spinning to look at the side of Brigitte’s face, who’s eyes were still trained on the laptop screen. “Well it’s better to actually be in a fight than on the sidelines.”

Brigitte stopped what she was doing and turned to face D.va. “You’re the best pilot in the MEKA program. Why would you be sidelined?”

Hana let out a bitter laugh. “Best pilot? I was more than that. I was the face of the fucking Korean army! Which eventually meant I was too valuable to be an actual soldier.” Hana stood up walking to the end of the workbench, reaching out to touch one of her mecha’s guns. She couldn’t see Brigitte, but she could feel the other girl watching her.

“I got real banged up in a fight with the Gwishin. Like, probably should have died kind of banged up. I was out of action for months. After that, the army realized they couldn’t let the poster girl for their success stories die in an actual fight. So they moved me off the Busan base and deployed me to lead baby fights happening inland, but whose sole purpose was really just a photo op.”

Hana balled her fist in anger at her side, remembering how awful it hurt seeing images of herself on television in all those epic battle sequences, reporters singing praises of heroism, only to know the real truth that it was all a fabricated lie. She couldn’t stand it.

“So when Winston and Lena came to my apartment and asked me to join the new Overwatch, it was a no brainer. My piloting skills are too valuable to just be sidelined in a studio with a green screen.”

The MEKA squad team was fairly understanding when she told them. The same couldn’t be said for her commanding officers, but as D.Va, the amount of influence and money at her disposal proved sufficient for a smooth enough transition.

“I believed this was my shot to get back in the fight. So even if there’s some bad history there, this is a new chance for me, and I am ready to deal with any fallout.” 

Text whizzed by in the background of the computer screen as the console spat out a continuous stream of logs from the program Brigitte fired off as she listened in silence. 

“I never liked Overwatch. I still don’t,” Brigitte finally said.

Hana turned to face her, very confused. 

“Really? But, you’re like, one of the legacy kids.”

“All that means is I know more of the gritty details and seen firsthand the way people I love were chewed up by this place.”

Hana’s brow furrowed in thought, crossing her arms as she focused on Brigitte. Hana had been so taken in by all the happy scenes in the mess hall and around the base, she hadn’t even thought about the implications and complications that must have been a part of Brigitte’s life. She was so good at always putting on a bright face, how could she have known? 

Brigitte took a deep breath, looking weary as she took a moment to gather her thoughts. 

“When I was a kid, it was like I was one of those audience members you talked about. I was told all the best stories about heroes and villains, and it so happened that my family were literally starring as those heroes. But when I was a little older, I started learning more about history, and the other side of things. The PETRAS act. In fighting and war crimes. Blackwatch. Angela’s medical tech weaponized against her wishes, by my own father it turns out. Winston and Tracer buried under so much red tape, I’m honestly surprised they were ever allowed to leave a military base of their own free will. And Reinhardt... He’s a lot like you, I think. Brave, loyal, too stubborn to be just the face of a movement without putting his own skin on the line. Not when there’s something bigger than himself he believes in.”

A deep sigh, and an almost painful expression crossed her face.

“So no, I don’t like Overwatch. But I also can’t sit on the sidelines while they risk their lives, knowing I can help them. They’re my family. So here I am. Family can be complicated, ya know?” 

Before Hana could come up with something to say, the computer dinged behind them. Brigitte tapped on the keys, reading quickly when a smile crossed her lips. 

“Look at that, perfectly legible Swedish.”

“It’s fixed?” Hana hurried over to look at the computer screen.

“Well, the translation program is running. Now I need to actually debug your diagnostics program.”

“Ughhhh, I’m never going to leave this place.”

Brigitte chuckled. “Don’t worry, we’ll get it done. Feel free to go get some dinner if you want. This will take a while.”

“No way I’m going to leave you here all alone!”

“I promise I won’t touch Tokki.”

“It’s not...it’s not that, Brigitte. I just don’t feel right strolling off to dinner while you’re stuck here fixing my shit.”

Brigitte smiled.

“Okay. I definitely don’t mind the company.”

---

Hana tried to keep up with what Brigitte was talking about as she debugged the code. And she could follow along, for a while. Eventually she was way too lost to feel useful, and didn’t want to distract Brigitte while she was fixing the issues, so she retreated to a nearby futon against a wall. It was well past midnight, and Hana’s eyes were starting to droop. Brigitte drank one of the Dva branded nano cola energy drinks a while ago and seemed to be completely in the zone. 

The next thing Hana knew there was a strip of bright light in her eyes as the sun started to stream in through a window in the hangar. Hana stretched to pull out the discomfort her back protested with from not being in her bed, but it was really not that unfamiliar, considering some of the positions she’d fallen asleep at her gaming computer before. A blanket was draped across her body she didn’t remember picking up when laid down on the futon. She was all alone in the hangar and her watch told her it was just after 5am. 

“Brigitte?”

No one answered.

She sat up, noticing an unopened water bottle and energy bar laid out on the ground beside her futon with a little sticky note.

“Give it a go, Lt - Brig”

Hana scooped up the rations and dropped in front of the dark screen of her laptop. When she started up the terminal screen, her diagnostic programming kicked off like it normally did. All in Korean. 

The screen showed exactly where an electric circuit was tripping in the defense matrix grid of the mech, which had been glitching in the field the last few days. Hana noticed the parts and tools needed to complete the fix laid out on the workbench neatly, but when she poked her head in the mech, it remained untouched.

She smiled to herself.

“Kept her word to stay out of Tokki. These Overwatch kids are too much sometimes.”

D.Va pulled the panel off her mech and got to work.

----

At dinner that night, Hana spotted Brigitte in the mess hall with Reinhardt, Tracer and Winston. Brigitte gave her a wink when she noticed her. Hana got her meal and sat beside her, leaving her phone in her pocket for once.

“Thanks for the help with Tokki, Brigitte. Works like a charm now.”

“It was my pleasure, Lieutenant Song.” Brigitte’s smile was kind, her expression gentle and warm. Hana noticed this close up Brigitte’s eyes were lighter around the edges, and she had a few more freckles on her left cheek than the right.

“Did I just ���ear you call ‘ana Lieutenant?” Lena cut in. “She’s ‘Lieutenant’, but I can’ get none of you to call me Captain? Double standards round ‘ere, I tell ya what.”.

“Well, Hana was a more recent officer in her respective position, while you have been discharged from the RAF for several years now.”

“Who’s side you on Win!? Those ranks don’t expire!”

Brigitte chuckled, whipping her head around to look at Tracer’s shaking her hand dramatically in the air, eyes downcast in an over acted, scandalized look. Hana also let out a small giggle.

“Your rank on the flight simulator scoreboard sure did,” Hana said, poking her tongue out with a playful smirk at Tracer. Brigitte, Reinhardt and Winston all laughed.

“She’s got you there, Lena,” Brigitte said.

“The youth of today. Ruthless.” Tracer grabbed a fist over her heart as if shot in the chest by a bullet.

“You know, back in my days of Overwatch…”

Reinhardt started in on one of his specially tailored stories for whatever situation was at hand, this case a very detailed recount of the first time he granted a field promotion in the Crusaders. Brigitte sighed, correcting inaccuracies she heard along the way, giving a wink to Hana when Brigitte’s presence in the story was pulled into the story much later on.

Lena took up the torch after that, remembering a time she accidentally flew into restricted airspace and managed to sweet talk her way out of being shot down. They all took turns sharing more elaborate one ups from their time before Overwatch. Hana even volunteered a story, sharing the time she convinced Dae-hyun to set Tokki up to stream a battle with the omnics. She broke her single day subscriber count in under one hour.

They all laughed well into the night, and for the first time Hana really started to feel like part of the team.

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