#the day comes when you’re in that outfit and despite what it signifies | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sgwrscrsh · 4 years

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winter days: underneath the tree

☁️a/n☁️ this made my heart very warm to write even though i pulled an all-nighter to get it done because my time-management has gone to shit after finals. requested by @sachirou-senpai. thank you, ellie, for giving me a reason to bring back my boys. i’ve missed ‘summer on you’ so much. this can be read as a stand-alone or as a spin off of ending b, my fave. either way, merry christmas to my babes who celebrate! i have one more christmas fic for tmr and then i’m hiding away to plan + write an smau.

includes: female!reader, poly!seijoh four, post-timeskip (very minor manga spoilers), lots of domesticity, a little suggestive bit, a lot of eating and sleeping now that i realize, a christmas tree, matching pajamas, a very special christmas gift, makki slapping your ass once, a lil teary moment w tooru, homemade curry + pancakes (but not together), lots of cuddling, lots of love, happy holidays, 4.35k words

☁️masterlist☁️

shivering slightly, you unlock the door to the rather spacious apartment you shared with your four boyfriends later into the evening than you would’ve liked.

yes, four boyfriends. whom you love very much and are loved by in return.

living with four towering hunks has it’s ups and downs, but you wouldn’t trade tooru’s extensive skin care regiment sprawled across the bathroom counter; hajime’s bag of protein powder that he always forgets to put away; issei’s boots that you always tripped over when you came through the front door; or takahiro’s costco-sized box of cream puffs in the freezer that he insisted he would finish by the end of the month, almost half a year ago, for the world.

you made sure to stomp off the snow stuck on your boots before entering the building, but you couldn’t help but sigh at the warmth that greets you once you toe them off.

“ahhh,” you think. “thank goodness tooru convinced us to invest in heated floors.” another perk of having four boyfriends was that two of them brought in enough bank for you to seriously consider becoming their cute little housewife. snorting, you shake your head, though the idea of prancing around in a maid outfit to tease them seemed very appealing. “maybe we should make hiro dress up and clean the house since he still hasn’t found a new job yet.”

“what’s so funny, sweets?” speak of the devil. makki’s head pops out from the bathroom nearest to the front door, steam rolling out and droplets falling from his hair, signifying that he had just taken a hot shower. wordlessly, you stare at him, lost in thought imagining the water caressing his toned body, but a second later, he gets a better look at you and laughs. “you look like a wet dog!” your glare loses some of its edge when he takes in your own damp strands.

“did someone say something about a dog?” tooru comes bounding round the corner, and you could’ve sworn he drooped a little when he realized it was just you in the hallway sans dog. turning your icy glance on the setter, you open your mouth to complain about how mean the two of them were being to you when your prince charming comes in to save the day.

“you two, stop bullying the poor girl and let her take a warm bath before she gets sick!” iwa chides as he helps you unbundle the layers that protected you from the snow and sharp winds of the winter. pressing a sweet kiss to your forehead and promising to pick out comfy clothes for you, he ushers you into your spacious en suite where a steaming tub full of rose petals awaits you. hajime chuckles at the starry eyes you give him, heart warming at the love and appreciation shining clear as day on your face, before he leaves to grab a clean pair of underwear, one of issei’s t-shirts, and a pair of his own sweats, knowing you much prefer to wear their clothes at home.

submerged in the bath, you exhale contentedly, eyelids fluttering shut as you enjoy the product of iwa’s consideration and foresight. letting the stress of work and the chill of the outdoors melt from you, you stay in the water until it cools and your fingers prune. a lone thought of how much more you would’ve enjoyed the bath if the boys had joined you flits through your mind, but you jolt when you open your eyes and find issei sitting on the counter with a towel and your robe in his lap, some of the water sloshing over the side of the tub.

“oh thank god, i was scared you fell asleep and would drown or choke on a rose petal.” you giggle while he wraps you up in your robe before gently toweling your hair dry. “you can’t leave me to deal with the three of them alone.”

rolling your eyes, you retort easily, “if anything, i’d feel bad about leaving hajime to deal with the three of you alone. the poor man puts up with enough from his team, he doesn’t need you guys ganging up on him, too.”

“well i’ll have you know, sometimes he really enjoys us ganging up on him.” his cheeky quip paired with his wiggling eyebrows earns him a smack on the chest but regardless, you let him sweep you up into his arms and drop you on the massive bed the five of you shared. “get dressed, babygirl. as much as i’d love to spend more time with you naked, i gotta help haji finish dinner.” with a quick peck on your lips, issei leaves you to do just as he said.

emerging revitalized and relaxed, your mouth waters at the smell of homemade curry, distracted enough to not notice tooru’s arms wrapping around your shoulders and waist.

“hey, cutie, i’ve missed you,” he sings, face snuggled into the junction of your shoulder and neck. you spin around in his hold to slip your arms around his slim torso, relishing his firm lines against your soft curves.

“‘ve missed you too, tooru.” and you really did, grateful that all of you were able to take time off work and he was able to come home a week before the holidays, giving the five of you a whole month to spend together before he had to jet back to argentina for his next bout of training and practice games.

“hell yea! group hug!” makki comes running towards you guys, only for you to twist out of his reach at the last second, sending him straight into the sofa behind you. “oof, that was cold, y/n.”

you stick your tongue out at the strawberry boy. “yea, well that’s what you get for laughing at me when i got home. sucker.” still entangled in tooru’s embrace, you feel his body shake with mirth and bite the inside of your cheek to prevent yourself from dissolving into giggles when you see a pout take over hiro’s pretty face.

“dinner’s ready,” comes iwa’s call, beckoning the three of you into the kitchen before you could antagonize each other some more. once you all got your servings of curry, you settle into your proclaimed seats on the large sofa, your body comically small compared to their tall frames dwarfing the cushions. noting the way tooru threw his long legs over iwa’s and how mattsun and makki leaned against each other as they ate, you fold your legs to tuck your feet under takahiro’s thigh and dig in to your meal with some trashy reality show lighting up the tv screen, completely certain that the warmth in your chest was from the company of your loved ones more so than the piping hot potatoes in your stomach.

during breakfast the next day, you blearily rub the sleep out of your eyes before taking a sip of your coffee, a satisfied “ahhh” escaping your parted lips as you lean against the kitchen counter. slowly peeling your eyelids open, you notice all of their gazes were focused on you. “yes? can i help you?” you ask amusedly, awake now that caffeine had be introduced to your tired body.

“how are you still so gorgeous in the morning?” you blink at the dreamy look on iwa’s face propped up in his hands with his elbows on the surface of the island. looking around, you see the other three matching the athletic trainer’s pose and expression next to him. thinking over your messy bedhead, mysteriously stained pajamas, and almost impressively dark eyebags, you want to scoff, but the unfairly handsome men giving you their undivided attention despite all of that (“because of all of that, y/n-chan,” tooru would argue) make you blush instead.

“you’re one to talk, haji,” you opt to remark, hoping to divert their focus from you and your rosy cheeks. “and don’t look at me like that,” your pointed finger swinging wildly between the four of them like the needle of a compass. “you already know you guys are way outta my league, you don’t need me to tell you that.” with one last flourish, you wave your hand dismissively before grabbing your mug with both hands, palms warming against the ceramic.

“as wrong as you are, you can’t blame us for wanting to hear the love of our lives compliment us first thing in the morning as we admire her natural beauty,” mattsun grins once he sees the success his words have at deepening the flush on your face. tooru nods gravely in agreement, but it’s makki’s one-two combo of a wink and an air kiss that breaks you. you roll your bottom lip between your teeth to stifle a laugh but release it immediately when the playful atmosphere takes a heady turn. clearing your throat, you pay no heed to their hungry expressions, knowing full well that they all noticed your little action and how they would react to it.

“a-anyways,” you stutter, “i’m gonna go get ready ‘cause i have things to do today so-” you try to slip by, leaving your empty cup in the sink, only to get caught in your tracks by hiro’s long arms.

“ah, ah, ah, princess. and where do you think you’re going?” soon enough, you find yourself surrounded by your smoking hot boyfriends and heat up in anticipation of their next moves.

“this so isn’t fair,” you complain aloud, though you were just as eager as they were to get you out of your worn sleep clothes.

“tough shit, babygirl. guess you’re just gonna have to add four more things to your to-do list, huh?”

naturally, you leave your errands for some day later in the week when you’re able to walk properly again.

the opportunity comes when you rise earlier than the rest of them, a rare occasion where you found yourself graced with the freedom of sleeping on the outside instead of being sandwiched in the middle of the bed. tiptoeing about, you brush your teeth and get dressed, somehow managing to not wake any of the sleeping beauties. you scribble little love-filled messages on post-it notes and stick them around your apartment on your way out, but not without one last soft smile in the direction of the bedroom, the sight of the four of them cuddled together through the door left ajar renewing your motivation to accomplish your tasks and come home sooner.

with your laptop bag in tow, you set out for your first destination, settling into a corner booth at the coffee shop with a full cup and a pastry. once you finish your breakfast, you pull out your laptop and get to work, scouring the internet for the perfect gifts for your lovably imperfect partners. you rack your brain for any recollection of any moment where they would’ve let a potential present slip into conversation and light up when you come across volleyball print pajama pants. you check the availability of the sizes you needed and upon realizing that they were all in stock and would be delivered before christmas, you place your order without a moment’s hesitation. satisfied with your progress, you pull up the animal shelter’s hours before heading out of the cafe, the barista’s greetings and the jingling bells echoing behind you.

by the time you return home, it’s late in the afternoon and you’re greeted by a wall of warm bodies as soon as you step through the front door.

“where’ve you been, babe?” once again, takahiro is the first to meet your return, but this time he plants a sweet kiss on your lips with his long fingers encircling your waist after his inquiry.

“oh, you know,” you sigh, dazed from the saccharine embrace. “out and about.”

“busy day? hope it was productive.” you nuzzle into tooru’s chest, feeling the timbre of his voice through your skin, and nod.

“as a matter of fact, it was.” their eyes soften at the proud grin stretched across your face. but your grumbling stomach just had to ruin the moment, making the three of you stare at each other before bursting out in chuckles.

“you skipped lunch?” oiks asks, wrapping each arm around yours and hiro’s waists and guiding you into the kitchen. you rub the back of your neck sheepishly.

“i guess so? i didn’t really notice i was hungry until now.”

“good thing we saved your favorite from that chinese place down the street for you,” mattsun comes up behind you and lands a kiss on the crown of your head. you beam gratefully up at him and skip over to the fridge to retrieve the takeout.

“welcome home, love,” iwaizumi emerges from the bathroom to complete the set and gives you a once over. “you look tired.”

“gee thanks, hajime.” he rolls his eyes playfully at you while you wait for your food to heat up in the microwave.

“what time did you get up this morning?”

“uhhh,” you start, mouth full. at iwa’s stern glare, you swallow before answering, “seven-ish? earlier than i would’ve like for a vacation day but it was worth it.”

“hm, well i’m glad you had a good day at least.” you shuffle over to kiss his cheek before dropping yourself on top of where tooru and hiro were cuddling on the sofa, eyes drifting around the room to take in the holiday decorations adorning the space.

“thanks, haji. but you’re right, i am sleepy.” suppressing a yawn, you lean back against the broad chests behind you and tuck back into the paper container. “can we take a nap once i’m done?”

“sure thing, babygirl.” the innocent smile mattsun sends your way turns mischievous with his added comment. “we really tuckered ourselves out while you were gone.” you nearly choke but makki’s hand thumping your back helps you dislodge whatever food got caught in your throat. iwa shakes his head and looks to the side in an attempt to hide his face, but the reddening tips of his ears give him away. meanwhile, oikawa catches your eye and winks.

“how else did you suppose we keep ourselves occupied when our baby wasn’t home?” you get up to toss your now empty container, shaking your head as you go.

“i’m glad to see you at least got the christmas tree up before going at it. god, you’re all insatiable.”

“i mean, it’s hard not to be in this relationship,” hajime grumbles.

“aww, iwa,” makki pushes his lips into an overexaggerated pout. “you make me hard, too.” full-bellied chortles escape the four of you, ignoring iwaizumi’s indignant huffs.

“whatever,” comes his miffed reply, but you know he takes all your antics in stride. soon enough, he returns to the living room with a stack of blankets and finds you and issei added to the pile of limbs tooru and hiro founded. somehow, hajime situates himself to fit perfectly in your cuddle fest, blankets sprawled about to keep you warm.

one last yawn leaves your mouth before you mutter a sleepy, “night, guys. love you,” barely registering the quiet “love you”s you get in return as you drift off, the lights adorning your christmas tree twinkling above you.

christmas day, you wake up before the others again, this time more than willing to feign sleep and revel in the warmth of your shared bed. luckily, you don’t have to wait long for your boys to stir. sitting up, you stretch your arms above you head and begin to climb out of bed only to be caught by the wrist and dragged back down.

“haji, please,” you draw out. “we can finally open the presents under the tree!”

“i don’t care, it’s too early for you to leave me, princess.” you hum as he pulls you closer to him, revisiting your mental note that iwa is much more openly (and selfishly) affectionate in the mornings.

“oi, the rest of us are still here you know.” face buried against tooru’s back, mattsun’s muffled complaint gets hajime to loosen his hold on you.

“yea, yea,” he props himself up on his elbow to lean over you and kisses the former middle blocker’s temple. “unfortunately.”

“so mean, iwa-chan,” oikawa pipes up, stretching his arm across you to caress your boyfriend’s toned arm before lacing his fingers with makki’s. the pink haired man himself, still half-asleep, squeezes tooru’s hand before sitting up.

“hey, wait. it’s christmas, isn’t it?” takahiro’s question reminds you of the package you received a couple days prior, prompting you to spring out of bed before one of them could reel you back in. the four watch you rifle through the closet and resurface with the pajama pants you ordered.

“merry christmas!” you cry excitedly, tossing each boy their respective pair and eagerly awaiting their reactions. “they’re matching pj’s! look, i got one for myself, too.” thankful that you chose to go to bed in just one of iwa’s godzilla t-shirts and underwear last night, you rush to slip on your volleyball print pants. the boys take in your childlike joy, chests tightening at how precious you are. “hurry up, i want you to try them on so we can match!” at your insistence, they roll out of bed and dutifully don your gifts.

“oh these are actually really soft,” tooru murmurs thoughtfully, fingering the fabric on his thigh.

“right?” you pipe up, nearly bouncing off the walls. “i wanted to do something to commemorate our first christmas together in this apartment and i thought these were really cute since volleyball is what brought us together in the first place.” eyes meet each other as you all reminisce that special summer, grateful that you stayed close despite your individual journeys after graduation.

suddenly, the doorbell ringing catches your attention. a brief glance at the clock on the bedside table tells you it’s much later in the morning than you though, but you’re quick to answer the door.

“who could that be?” the boys are left wondering, wandering out into the living room in time to see you wave goodbye to whoever it was with a large gift-wrapped box sitting on the floor next to you.

“babe? who was it?” tooru is the first to ask the question on all of their minds.

“oh, just my best friend. they wanted to drop this off on their way to their parents’ house.” you gingerly pick up the box and bring it to where your boys were waiting for you. “go ahead!”

“go ahead?” hajime parrots.

“yea! open it!”

“it’s not for you?” takahiro ponders.

“well yes and no. c’mon just open it already!” you’re bouncing on the balls of your feet at this point. tooru finally takes the initiative to remove the lid of the box, eyes widening when he sees what it hid.

“oh my gosh,” he breathes. the other three nearly knock heads with how quickly they lean over the opening.

“is that-?” a furry little head pops up over the edge of the box, round eyes peering up at the four of them.

“a dog! yes!” you squeal. “he’s a shelter dog!”

“he is?” hiro is in awe, slowly reaching out to cradle the little guy in his arms.

“i met him the other day when i woke up early and ran errands without you guys. isn’t he just the cutest?” big hands dwarf the small pooch as they gently pet his head and stroke his fur.

“does he have a name?” tooru has the good sense to ask.

“mhm, the lady at the shelter said his previous owner named him ponyo.”

“ponyo…” issei whispered, eyes shining.

“i know we’re nowhere near ready to start thinking about kids,” you start, the topic of the conversation instantly drawing their attention. tooru even ignored ponyo’s little tongue lapping at his fingers. “but i thought we could use an addition to our family.”

“y/n, princess, we obviously all love him already, but we’re busy with work- well, most of us are. who’s gonna take care of him?” hajime questions, almost reluctantly.

“i mean, hiro is home all the time since he’s still unemployed (“i said i was looking, damn!”), but i actually got promoted so my schedule is way more flexible and i can work from home most of the time.” your voice trails off bashfully, but they give you no time to be embarrassed, swallowing you up in a huge hug.

“why didn’t you say anything sooner, baby? we’re so proud of you!” now you know how the dog felt being smothered by their affection, not that it was anything new for you.

“uhh, surprise?”

“fuck yea, surprise! god, you’re incredible. lemme make a list of things we’ll need to get for ponyo once the stores reopen tomorrow.”

“actually…”

“you didn’t.”

“i did, with help from my best friend.” going into the lowest cupboards in the kitchen, you show off the bag of dog food and water and food bowls you bought soon after visiting the shelter. “his bed and crate are in the other closet by the washroom.”

“how did we get so lucky?” takahiro asks aloud, making you blush as the others nod in sync, all of them blown away by your thoughtfulness.

“this is nothing. i just wanted to show you guys how much i love you.” you play with your fingers, a little overwhelmed now that the initial excitement has worn off. “oh wait!”

“there’s more?” tooru asks, shocked.

“but wait, there’s more!” mattsun and makki chime in simultaneously, making you laugh as you retrieve the last present. you hop over to where tooru was sitting on the sofa with ponyo on his lap, scooping the dog up and locking the two of you in the bathroom. a couple minutes later, you open the door to let ponyo scurry over to his dads, who coo softly once they see him come around the sofa.

“when did you have time to do this?”

“my pants were a little long, so i hemmed them one night after you guys passed out on the sofa watching your old volleyball matches. i kinda guessed ponyo’s measurements based on standard info i found on the internet, but it fits perfectly so i’m glad!” looking at the little sweater you made for your new family member out of the extra fabric from your pj pants, you couldn’t stop the pleased grin that broke out on your face. “now even ponyo matches with us!”

while your gaze was trained on the tiny dog that was exploring his new home, theirs were stuck on you, your resemblance with a proud mother struck something in them, giving them thoughts of you with their children. yes, children. but for now they shoved those images to the backs of their minds, meeting each other’s stares to confirm they were all in silent agreement.

“we’re gonna make breakfast, you just sit there ‘n look pretty while you watch ponyo, yea?” issei announces before pulling you into a searing kiss as he walks by.

“not that that’s hard for you,” iwa tags on, kissing your cheek and ruffling your hair following mattsun into the kitchen.

“but i’m always hard for you.” you yelp when hiro playfully slaps your ass, flipping him off as he trails after the other two with a loud hoot. tooru comes up behind you and rubs your sore cheek, spinning you around so that you were face to face.

“why’d you do this to me, y/n-chan?” you meet his frown with a confused look of your own. “now it’s gonna be even harder for me to go back to argentina.”

“oh, tooru,” you wrap your arms around his neck, standing on your tiptoes to bring him close. “you have the next few weeks to spend with us and our new baby.” as if he knew you were talking about him, ponyo pads over to sit by your feet, tail wagging. oikawa sighs melodramatically.

“a few weeks is nothing compared to the months i’ll be gone!”

“oi, shittykawa, you better not be complaining after everything this morning,” hajime hollers from the kitchen.

“love you, too, iwa-chan!” tooru calls back instinctively then he looks back down at you, his eyes giving away how much leaving will hurt him and it nearly makes you tear up with him.

“tooru, baby, it sucks every time you leave us, but you’re following your dreams and doing what you love. and we want to support you all the way, even if it means doing so from across the world. but with my new work schedule, i’ll be able to call or text you pretty much whenever. and just think how much sweeter it’ll be the next time you do come home to us. so don’t be too sad, okay, my love? we’ll all be here waiting for you.”

as the last words leave your lips, tooru has you pulled flush against him, arms wrapped tight around your body. his face was hidden, but you could feel the sobs in hot breaths against your shoulder. you guided him over to the sofa and let him cry, petting his hair and peppering kisses on his tear-streaked face until he tired himself out.

issei, hajime, and takahiro come out of the kitchen with stacks of pancakes and all the fixings, setting them down on the coffee table in front of you once they see tooru snoozing in your lap. iwa picks ponyo up before he could get a bite of your breakfast while you gently shake your boyfriend awake. mattsun and makki set up ponyo’s crate and bedding, leaving him with a toy to keep him occupied while the five of you filled up your plates.

sitting in the living room of the apartment you shared with your four boyfriends on christmas day, stuffing your face with fruit and whipped cream topped pancakes that they made, in matching pajamas with your new rescue dog scampering about, you couldn’t ask for a better gift underneath the tree.

taglist: @lovemeafterhrs @sachirou-senpai @honey-makki @kenmaki

#skye writes fluff #seijoh four #seijoh third years #oikawa tooru #iwaizumi hajime #matsukawa issei #hanamaki takahiro #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu #hq #haikyuu poly #haikyuu post time skip #skye writes a series #summer on you: the series

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wield-the-mighty-pen · 3 years

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Analyzing Marinette’s hairstyles

So, I’ve actually seen a bunch of different posts and takes of what Marinette’s hairstyles represent and symbolize especially in regard to the episode “Heart Hunter”, but I wanted to go through all the different styles of hair instead of solely focusing on the pigtails/hair down of that particular episode.

With that being said, in no particular order, here we go:

The Bun

This hairstyle is almost exclusively seen in the episode “Animaestro”. However if you’re paying close attention, you will see Marinette wearing this hairstyle, in the old class picture, featured in “Reflekta”. I find the fact that the show made this connection between these two (scenes? examples?) incredibly interesting and very telling. Putting the class picture aside for a moment, one must analyze Marinette’s behavior in the episode “Animaestro”. To be sure, it isn’t great. For the most part, Marinette acts foolishly and immaturely and her actions in this episode, indirectly lead to the akumatization. Marinette, in her jealous state, goes so far as to join up with Chloe (a person she despises), and attempt childish pranks on Kagami. In short, I think that the bun hairstyle symbolizes a sort of immaturity for Marinette. The fact that she wore this hairstyle when she was younger only goes to prove my point. Marinette is not a perfect character, but her actions in “Animaestro” are arguably some of her worst, and naturally when she has hit a low in her maturity level, she reverts back to a hairstyle of her youth.

The Braid

The braid can be easily shoved aside as not holding any symbolism, as just a way the design team chose to incorporate the tail in her costume. However, there were a number of ways the tail could have been incorporated into the Ladynoir costume, and as such the braid must be analyzed. Now, a braid can be considered an almost restricting thing, it carefully tucks back locks of hair and traps them better than an ordinary ponytail can. However, the Ladynoir braid almost has a ‘fun’ twist to it (pun not intended but appreciated). It is long (like really long), and we even see her flick it playfully over her shoulder. I think that the braid is supposed to represent that dualism between responsibility and fun that the job of superhero can have. I have heard a lot of people criticize “Reflekdoll” for its lack of parallels. In other words, Chat Noir learns something and better appreciates Ladybug, but the reverse isn’t true, and I would say that in many ways this is true, Ladybug is not privy to the lesson that Chat Noir is. However, I would argue that she did learn something. Ladybug learned that it’s okay for her to have fun and to joke around. Towards the beginning of the episode we see Ladybug chastising Chat Noir for his joking around, however by the end we see Ladybug embrace this approach and even make some jokes herself. The braid shows Marinette acceptance of balance, of the combination of enjoyment and responsibility within her life.

The Space Buns

This design as well can be attributed to the design team finding a way to show mouse ears, but I’m still going to try to analyze this. I have two different ways to possibly explain this hairstyle. The first being to draw parallels to the bun hairstyle as this is essentially the same thing but two instead of one. The correspondence between the two hairstyles could be seen through Marinette’s feigned naivety in front of Chat Noir. She “accidentally” reveals herself as Marinette and pretends to be less informed than she really is. The other way to translate this hairstyle is as a security blanket so to speak. I haven’t gotten into the metaphorical interpretation of Marinette’s pigtails yet, but I will briefly explain a part of it now (and go into depth a little later). The pigtails serve as a sense of security for Marinette, as a source of status quo. The space buns are that, but elevated. In the episode this hairstyle is featured, “Kwamibuster” (I don’t think I mentioned this before), Marinette is desperate to keep her identity a secret from Chat Noir and develops a convoluted plan (including Multi-mouse) to accomplish this. She wants the security of her identity and wants to use her comfort style at this moment. However, Marinette is trying to distance herself from Ladybug and as such she uses a slight variation of her pigtails in her alternate hero form.

The Ponytail

I’m gonna be honest and say that I can’t fully analyze this hairstyle as we have not yet seen the episode where this hairstyle makes its second appearance. So I’m just focusing here on the ponytail from “Optigami”. I might make another analysis on the ponytail after “Sentibubbler” comes out but it might make more sense to wait until after the whole season comes out, in case there are new examples of ponytails (or other hairstyles for that matter). I don’t want to say anything about Pegabug’s ponytail, because as I’m sure you know, Miraculous trailers can be very misleading. Anyways, after that ramble, I now focus on Ladybee’s ponytail. To be frank “Optigami” was a bit of a doozy. I watched that episode with a sense of dread that did not lighten by the end of the episode. This isn’t a bad thing, but it was intense for a typical episode of Miraculous, a show where my usual reaction is a mix of “oh this is cute” and cringe (to be fair I cringe easily). But what I like so much about season 4 is that we get more than that (I won’t go into this now because I’m straying from the topic too much). Ladybee comes at a time of great stress for Marinette, she gets stuck in an elevator with someone and is thus unable to transform (let alone the fact that that “someone” is Adrien), she is without the help of Chat Noir and most of the other heroes, and (unbeknownst to her for a majority of the episode) her friend has been replaced with a sentimonster. Yet, despite all of this, Marinette remains cool, calm, and collected. She, unlike Alya, does not fall apart and despair when Senti-Nino is revealed, she knows she has to get the job done. A ponytail gives an image of “getting the job done” of focus. Although the situation is dire and dangerous, Marinette displays her competence in crisis and the ponytail magnifies that trait. I have a feeling that the same will be true for Pegabug, but only time (and the episode coming out) will tell.

Hair Down

In the two episodes that we have seen Marinette wearing her hair down, they were both in connection with Adrien and her relationship with her. I want to separate the two examples because though they both wind up achieving similar goals in regard to their symbolism, they do it in different ways. Focusing first on “Chat Blanc” Marinette wears her hair down in part to distinguish to the audience the difference between the two timelines. Though the surface level explanation of her hair would be sufficient explanation, this choice of hairstyle also has a deeper interpretation. This being as a metaphor for Marinette’s vulnerability. She is allowing her feelings to be known to Adrien, she is allowing herself to be open and honest about her emotions and with that freedom she lets her hair free as well. It is also significant that she is free from her secret identity (albeit unknowingly) and as she allows Adrien to see the full spectrum of her personality, she frees her hair from its restraint. In “Heart Hunter” too, this hairstyle signifies vulnerability and freedom. In this episode we see Marinette having fun with Adrien and Kagami, without the worry of how she is being perceived by Adrien, without the stress about her feelings for him. It is of great significance that when she lets her guard down, when she “lets her hair down” (both literally and metaphorically), Adrien comments on her beauty. We already know, as viewers, that Adrien has fallen in love with Marinette’s personality as Ladybug. But as Marinette, Adrien has not been privy to her full personality. He has only been given glimpses, as in this episode, to the full extent of her persona. Marinette is seen later on in the episode to revert back to her old hairstyle once she is no longer comfortable, when she feels inadequate compared to Kagami. She puts back on her guise when she feels she needs the security. Which leads us to that source of security.

Pigtails

I feel a bit bad as I have simplified this hairstyle in earlier paragraphs to a symbol for security. While this definition is a correct one, this hairstyle has more than one explanation. As Marinette’s primary hairstyle, in both her every day and hero outfits, we see this hairstyle A LOT. Because of this, there is an array of interpretation as to what this hairstyle could mean. Starting with the aforementioned, this hairstyle works as a form of security for Marinette. The style required her to hold her hair back, to keep it in check, away from possible disasters and viewers (wind can tangle hair very easily). The pigtails are the antithesis of letting her hair down, a common symbol for freedom and relaxation. The pigtails therefore show that she is on her guard and is protecting herself. The pigtails also represent her quality of being a do-er. She likes to do things, she is an active person, she doesn’t stand aside or wait for things to happen, she works to make them happen. As a do-er she needs focus, she needs a restraint for her hair that could get in her line of sight, and the pigtails do that well. As Ladybug, the same is true. She is focused and determined to accomplish her goals, to succeed in her battles and she needs to tie her hair back to best accomplish this. There is importance in the fact that she chooses to focus herself with pigtails rather than the equally practical ponytail. This can be attributed to the child-like quality that pigtails have. Marinette, simply put, is still a child. Though as a whole she is particularly mature for her age, at times she can show a bit of immaturity. It is interesting to note that as the seasons progress, the more we see her with other hairstyles. As she matures she wears the pigtails less. The pigtails are also a girly hairstyle and show how Marinette is a girly-girl in a plain and easy way. Additionally, the pigtails give her the approachable, girl-next-door look. In simply looking at Marinette one gets the image of her sweetness and good nature. In visual media, it is important to make a connection between personality and visage. In cartoons especially, a character’s design should fit with how they interact with their world, and the pigtails are an immediate signifier as to Marinette’s character. This about sums up my analysis of her pigtails. I know that there are more ways to interpret them, and feel free to comment if you think of any other interpretations!

#mlb #mlb spoilers #spoilers #miraculous lb #miraculous ladybug #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #marinette #marinette dupain cheng #ladynoir #multimouse #ladybee

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tennessoui · 3 years

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oh my god literally every single prompt on that list is gold and i'd love to see your obikin take for all of them. hmmm... if i had to choose i guess first 13. co-stars au?? thank you lots of love !!!

ah bless!! thank you so much!! i'm slowly working my way through most of the prompts on that list so you might see many many more before I'm done with my ask box. I think after two more, I'll put em on ao3 to keep em more organized too. this has been soooo fun!!

13. Co-Stars AU(/7. Fake Relationship AU)(2.5 k)

“No.”

“Ani, darling, you can’t say no.”

“Don’t call me that. And secondly, I can. I just did. This is my personal life, the company has no control over that.”

“While you’re filming its movie and it’s giving you money, you’ll actually find that it does, Anakin.”

Anakin sits down heavily on the bench outside his trailer, leaning forward until he can put his head in his hands. He wants to run his fingers through the mess on his head, but they’re in between takes right now and the make-up department will definitely kill him if they have to fix him up again.

“Asajj, please. You know how hard it was to get to come out as bisexual. If the first person I date after that is a woman, no one will remember! It’ll just be completely erased, and I’ll be Anakin Skywalker, Playboy Actor again.”

“But you do like women,” Asajj points out. “So either way, you’d be confirming your sexuality.”

Anakin sighs and leans his head back against the metal of the trailer. “And it would be different if I was actually in love with Padme, but she’s just my co-star and--”

“Anakin, she’s your co-star. You’re in a blockbuster movie where you dramatically save her life and then kiss her as the credits roll. This is just business. You like her. You’re friends. Think of it less like dating, and more like going to grab lunch together. And coffee. Maybe a fancy dinner. Several times a week.”

“For how long?” Anakin asks, resigned and despairing and hating the fact that he ever got into acting.

Asajj sounds relieved. “Just until the movie’s out and sales are doing well.”

That could be months. That would be months. “And I have to?” he asks.

“Yes,” she says. “I’m sorry.”

Anakin doesn’t say it’s fine. It doesn’t feel like it is fine.

“They’re not looking for anything to be confirmed. If asked about your relationship with Padme, tell them you think she’s a great woman and you’re enjoying spending time with her. No comment on any sort of serious relationship.”

“Because a break-up afterwards might hurt the chances for a sequel?” Anakin asks drily.

“Exactly! We’ll get you a head for the business yet, Anakin. Okay, I have to go, but I’ll send you the information now, just so you know what you’ll be expected to do. We’re thinking a dinner tomorrow to start things off strong, and then slow afterwards!”

She hangs up before he can say anything else and he slumps back boneless against the metal trailer. God.

It’s not that he doesn’t like Padme. Ventress is right. They were friends before this project and Anakin knows they’ll be friends after as well. They genuinely get along, and it’s probably one of the reasons Anakin was cast in such a big name production: the chemistry between them when they’re acting is undeniable. She’s one of his favorite people in the entire industry.

“Anakin?” One of his other favorite people in the entire industry asks hesitantly from in front of him. “Are you alright?”

“No,” he says.

“May I sit?”

“Yeah,” he says.

Like he’d ever turn Obi-Wan Kenobi away.

“Are you wearing your costume?” he asks, without opening his eyes. Obi-Wan’s playing the villain of the movie, and Anakin has a hard time focusing on anything else when Obi-Wan’s around him wearing that skin-tight white turtleneck and cape combination, with his hair slicked back and fake glasses perched on his nose.

Obi-Wan sounds amused. “No, I’m finished for the day. Heading home now. You don’t have to see how silly I look today.”

Anakin smiles slightly, despite everything. In one of his better acting moments, he’d told Obi-Wan that his costume was distracting because it looked so funny on him. Really, it was just hot.

(Of course, Obi-Wan had taken his criticism seriously and gone to the director and the costume department. They had decided that it would make Obi-Wan’s character more threatening if he pushed up his sleeves in almost every scene to reveal heavily tattooed forearms. Anakin had hated himself and his big stupid mouth for days afterwards.)

“Is...there anything I can do to help, Anakin? I hate to see you like this,” Obi-Wan places a hand gently on Anakin’s knee, and Anakin has to fight a shiver at the touch.

They’d met at the script-reading for the movie, a handful of months ago. Anakin had set two clocks in his head the moment their hands grasped each other and Obi-Wan smiled charmingly up at him. “So you’re the one to kill me?” He’d winked. “Tall order.”

One clock signified the weeks it would take for him to fall in love with the older man. The starting number was pitifully small, but Anakin had been watching Obi-Wan’s movies and interviews for years before meeting him. He’d known something about the man, which of course had paled in comparison to knowing the man himself. They’d spent two weeks choreographing the steps of the final fight scene, just the two of them in a repurposed ballet studio.

Looking back, Anakin isn’t sure how he’d survived. And he had never wanted it to end.

Which is the other clock, still ticking down in his head. The moment filming ends, and they go their separate ways. They’ll probably keep in touch, but Anakin won’t see him constantly, won’t be able to lean into the weight of Obi-Wan’s hand on his shoulder, his knee, sometimes even on his cheek when he leans down in between takes to tell him how good of a job he’s done.

“Anakin?”

“Sorry,” Anakin snaps to the present. “Sorry. I was in my head. I. I don’t think so, no.”

“Oh,” Obi-Wan says, tensing his hand as if he’s planning to remove it, which Anakin wouldn’t appreciate in the slightest.

“My agent says that the executives want me to date Padme. To drum up hype for the movie. Because I guess people will think it must be good if the co-stars start fucking each other?” He runs a hand across his face. “Um. Sorry, excuse my language.”

“Anakin, I’m forty-one, I think I’ve heard someone say fuck before,” Obi-Wan sounds amused again.

“Yeah, I just. Don’t want to? I guess maybe--I mean you probably didn’t see, but I came out as bisexual a year ago, and I haven’t dated anyone since, and I just know the way the rags will write about me and Padme if we’re seen together. And it’ll be like I just. Never came out.”

Obi-Wan makes a sympathetic noise but doesn’t interrupt. It’s one of the reasons Anakin loves talking to him.

“And my agent just sent me this contract, or I don’t know, list of things I have to do because there’s no way for me to get out of this and it just makes me feel trapped. But they don’t even want me to confirm if we're dating or not dating, they just want to create rumors about it, but it’s my life. I want to do what I want to do with my life, date who I want to date.”

“Do you...have anyone you want to date?” Obi-Wan asks, hand stilling from where he’s been casually rubbing circles on Anakin’s knee.

“No,” Anakin says too quickly and then grimaces. Does he really get paid for acting? He’s always so terrible at lying.

Obi-Wan hums. “I could...take a look at whatever papers your agent sent you?” He suggests. “I’m obviously not really an expert, but I have been in the business a fair bit longer than you.”

“You’re not that old,” Anakin responds by rote, but hesitates, curious despite himself. “You wouldn’t mind?”

“I’ve nothing planned tonight except to have a glass of wine and pet my cat, Anakin. It would be a pleasure to help you any way I could.”

“Okay,” Anakin says, reaching out to lay his hand gently on top of Obi-Wan’s. He’s never done that before, never responded so openly to Obi-Wan’s touches. It’s an amazing thrill.

Obi-Wan flips his hand around until they’re holding hands, basically. In the middle of a public area. God, Anakin’s letting his crush get the best of him when Obi-Wan isn’t even gay. “Thank you,” he says, standing up and pulling away from the older man. It’s the right thing to do. The last thing he wants is for Obi-Wan to think he’s...predatory.

A harried looking crew member spots him as he stands and gestures to him to get back to the set. He smiles ruefully at Obi-Wan who gives him an unreadable expression but also a soft goodbye.

Later, in between takes, he forwards Obi-Wan the emails Asajj sent him, both the papers and the message at the top that says “dress nice for tomorrow at Delfino’s!” followed by a little smiley face he can’t believe she’d ever mean.

He knows nothing’s going to come of it, but. But he has to try.

----

Padme’s dressed to the nines in front of him. He’d compliment her outfit, but he’s already complimented her hair and her make-up, and he thinks she’ll scream if he continues to act as stilted as he’s being now.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs quietly after the waiter leaves with their drink orders. “I know I’m being--awkward. I just.”

They’re seated in the middle of the restaurant, and Anakin knows there’s two paps already outside, taking pictures through the windows. The rest will have arrived by the time they pay the bill and leave. It’s a circus and he’s the main event.

“I understand,” Padme responds, the angel that she is. “I don’t particularly want to be doing this either.”

Anakin presses his hand to his chest, jokingly wounded. “What are you trying to say, Padme, my beloved, my dearest?”

She laughs and he does too, but in the back of his head he can hear the sound of a camera’s shutter clicking. Everything feels fake, and he feels like he’s about to crawl out of his skin.

A hand lands on his shoulder with startling familiarity and for a second he thinks it’s a very brave member of the wait-staff, before Obi-Wan Kenobi is swinging into his field of vision, pulling up a chair from god knows where and sitting right in between Anakin and Padme, never once removing his hand from Anakin’s jacket.

“Sir--” someone says in distress, “This is a two-person table.”

Obi-Wan raises an eyebrow and looks down at the table. “Well it certainly can fit three, so I would go as far as to say that tonight it can be a three-person table. Anakin, what did you order to drink?”

“The house white,” Padme supplies when Anakin makes no move to respond, instead choosing to gape at Obi-Wan like a fish out of water.

“Excellent choice, darling,” Obi-Wan says, rubbing at his upper arm absent-mindedly. “I’ve never been here, tell me. Do you serve a good seafood dish?”

The waiter stammers. “We have an acclaimed oyster platter, sir--”

“Oysters?” Obi-Wan smiles at the man, all teeth. “The aphrodisiac? What are you trying to get these kids in the mood for?”

Anakin blushes. “Obi-Wan!” He hisses, aghast. Obi-Wan’s eyes cut to him for a second before he smirks back at the waiter.

“I’ll take the oysters for the main course,” he says dismissively.

Somehow it’s that sentence that tips Anakin off, more than anything else he’s done tonight. Obi-Wan spends hours talking to the people that run the crafts table. He would never be so cold or rude naturally. He’s...playing a character, one that Anakin recognizes as being the villain from their movie (although without all the blood and murder).

Anakin only recedes into personas when he’s nervous about something. Can the same be said for Obi-Wan?

Padme, at least, looks amused. “Hello, Obi-Wan,” she says. “I see you’ve decided to crash our very romantic date.”

“Well that’s interesting, isn’t it?” Obi-Wan replies, turning to face her but keeping his hand on Anakin, although it slides down to rest on the crook of his arm. “I had Anakin send me the paperwork, mild curiosity, you know how it is, and I realized the strangest thing while I was reading over it.”

“Oh?” Padme asks.

“It never states which co-star Anakin should be seen with, just that he must be seen with a leading actor. And I don’t want to focus on the numbers here, of course, but in the rough-cut of the movie, I have thirty-four minutes of screentime. And you, my dear, have thirty-two and fifteen seconds.”

“Tragic,” Padme says, taking a sip of her water. "You may be considered more of a leading actor than I am."

“Certainly,” Obi-Wan gives her a friendly smile. Anakin is still stuck on the fact that Obi-Wan is here, that he read the paperwork, that he’s arguing semantics for the purpose of--of--

“And I suppose you’re here to offer yourself as a replacement?” Padme asks, leaning her head on her hand as she watches the two of them.

“Only if Anakin wouldn’t mind,” Obi-Wan says, turning to face him.

Anakin isn’t sure what he’s thinking right now. “But you’re not interested in men.”

“I am,” Obi-Wan says.

“But...you’re not interested in me.”

“I am,” Obi-Wan says.

“You are?”

“Excuse me,” Padme says. “I’m going to go to the restroom.”

“We’ll wait to order until you come back,” Obi-Wan reassures her, without taking his eyes off of Anakin.

Anakin bites his lip and hesitantly brings his hand up to sit palm up on the table. Obi-Wan doesn’t hesitate to intertwine their fingers again, like they had been just yesterday.

“I’m a very private person, Anakin,” Obi-Wan says quietly, all traces of any sort of persona dropped from his voice. “I’ve never come out, never wanted to. But I was so proud that you had when you did. And I--well. I suppose. You already get to fake-kiss Padme on screen, I thought that perhaps you’d like to try to fake-kiss someone else for a change.”

Anakin ducks his head and gathers his courage. He can’t not ask. A fake relationship with Padme would be awful, but one with Obi-Wan? That would be torture. Cruel and unusual punishment. He’s still reeling from the information that apparently Obi-Wan does like men and apparently he likes Anakin enough to come out for him.

But does he like Anakin enough to touch him and mean it? He has to know. He looks up at Obi-Wan’s earnest face from beneath his eyelashes. “What if I want to real-kiss you?”

Obi-Wan blinks, and a smile breaks out across his face. “Then you don’t even need to have to ask, darling. Kiss me all you want, if you’re okay with a clingy old man in your bed.”

“Not that old,” Anakin argues, smiling so hard he’s afraid his face will crack in two. “But I don’t want to kiss you tonight.”

Obi-Wan turns solemn, although his grip on Anakin remains tight. “We can go as slow as you’re comfortable with.”

“Oh, you can have me later,” Anakin says, waving his free hand in the air. “I just don’t want our first kiss to be for the cameras.”

Obi-Wan catches Anakin’s palm and brings it up to kiss lightly. “You’re right, Anakin. That should just be for you and me.”

The rough brush of his lips over his skin causes Anakin to shiver. He’s never felt so on edge, as if his body is a live-wire. “Good thing you ordered the oysters,” he mumbles, blushing bright red as Obi-Wan laughs loud enough to fill the whole restaurant with its sound.

#asks #my fics #obikin #the next prompt is gonna be wayyyy more angsty so enjoy the fluff rn is all im saying #prompt fill

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dreamii-yume · 4 years

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OH SHIT YUME ITS THE TWEELS BIRTHDAY! We know that everyone is horny as fuck for the birthday boys so why dont we have some sweet crumbs to balance the spice? I give you all creative freedom and access to the sugar stock!

Yume is still crying in disbelief that she got the tweels birthday wrong omg

“Aah~”

Chewing on the piece of cake you innocently plopped inside your mouth, you blinked as Floyd suddenly leaned towards you, opening his mouth in anticipation. You were clueless at what to do at first, Floyd definitely looked like he was expecting you to know so it got you sweating a little bit. However, as his body childish swung from side to side and multiple glances over to the cake you’re eating, you got a rough idea. Scooping out another piece, you gestured this one to him and allowed him to take the bite. “Here you go.” You said, lighting up as Floyd happily took it.

“So yummy~!” Floyd said with his mouth full, cream left on his cheek as he excitedly bounced in his seat. Seeing how much of a child your senior is, it made you smile in a way as he actually looks rather innocent to you right now. “I don’t know what you’re doing but for some reason, everything that Little Shrimpy feeds me tastes so much more delicious~!”

“How do you do that, Little Shrimpy~? Tell me, tell me~! Is it magic?” Floyd cooed, leaning closer to you and opening up his mouth again. “More, more~! Feed me more~!”

“I don’t think it’s magic though? I can’t even use that...” You sweatdropped but proceeded to feed the excited twin more pieces of cake, enjoying the way his cheeks would move as he chew. You have no clue what he was trying to imply but you decided to go along with him for now. You grabbed a tissue nearby and wiped away excess cream near his lips which earned you a boyish giggle from the guy.

Floyd seemed a bit more energetic than usual, probably because it’s his and his brother’s birthday. You find it really cute actually, he was usually the clingiest one out of the two but today, he just seem like he wanted to be spoiled rotten. Of course, you don’t really have the reason to deny that kind of request so you didn’t mind at all.

“Floyd, you shouldn’t casually cling onto (Y/N)-san like that...” A voice far calmer than Floyd’s rung in the room and looking up met you face to face with his brother, Jade. He was wearing the same outfit as him, signifying that this day is not only special for just one person. Despite having the same face, Jade was much more refined than his twin, his signature smile still painted a smile on his face as he stepped inside. “You’re going to bother her in this case.”

“Eeh~ Don’t be a killjoy, Jade! It’s fine, it’s fine~!” Floyd said as he suddenly wrapped his arms around you, startling you slightly to the point that you almost dropped the plate of cake you were holding. “Little Shrimpy looks like she’s having fun too though~”

“How about you try to acting a little carefree too, Jade~? It’s our birthday, after all~!” Floyd suggested, laughing as he nuzzled against you. “Little Shrimpy thinks so too, right~?”

“Of course! Jade-senpai should just relax on his special day too!” Jade could only blink at those words, seeing as you smiled at him. He looked to the side, placing his hand on his mouth as if he was thinking deeply. He watched as you plopped another piece of cake inside Floyd’s mouth, his brother looking so ecstatic during all of it that it startled Jade for a bit. His brother had never been this close to someone other than him and Azul before, let alone a mere human like you. So, suffice to say that he’s caught off-guard, he always thought Floyd was just playing with you.

“...Well then, if you don’t mind...” Jade said, a smile gracing his features as he gracefully sat beside you and Floyd, his posture fine and well-trained. Your mouth couldn’t help but to open, dumbfounded as the usually serious and cunning Jade Leech turned to you and closed his eyes before opening his mouth. The slight blush appearing on his cheeks was proof that he wasn’t used to such actions.

You blinked as your mind went blank for a second, but a sweat dropped down your forehead. This was kind of...You can’t find the right words to say but seeing Jade with his eyes close and mouth open, looking all vulnerable like this without instructing you on what to do, it made your heart race. He looked quite erotic too, not that you’ll ever say it out loud. Meanwhile, Floyd shifted beside you, pouting. “Eh, what are you doing, Jade? If you want Little Shrimpy to feed you, you gotta wait for your turn!” Floyd whined. “Get your own cake too!”

However, despite the constant whines of his brother, Jade remained his position, patiently waiting for your move which only irked his other half. Because of this, you couldn’t help but to giggle, lifting up another piece of cake towards him. “Here you go.” You said, the fork reaching inside his mouth, the sweet taste of the cake engulfed his taste buds.

The taste actually captured Jade off-guard, it still has the same flavor as the cake he had before but somehow, it felt special. Opening up his eyes and seeing your gentle smile directed at him was magically adding more spice to the food. Floyd was right, simple food does taste better when you’re the one who’s feeding it to him. What a mystery, you even had Jade this stumped about it.

“Eh!? Little Shrimpy, you traitor! That was supposed to be for me~!” Floyd whined louder as he began to shake your shoulders. “You’re already cheating on me, that’s so unfair! Little Shrimpy~!”

You nervously giggled at Floyd’s outburst, slowly becoming dizzy on the way he was racking your body. “S-Sorry, I’ll give the next bite to you, okay...?” You said, just to calm him down but was met with nothing but puffed cheeks as response from the guy. You resorted into patting his head as the final line of defense, luckily, Floyd accepted such gesture and nuzzled closer to you, muttering about stuff.

Covering his mouth as he chewed the sweet cake, Jade had turned his eyes on your every move. “...It’s delicious.” He said, making you turn your head towards him. “Can I please have more?”

“No-“

“Gladly!” You said, scooping another piece and before the whining eel on your shoulders could complain about it, Jade already went forward and bit the cake off the fork. You felt bad for betraying Floyd once again but Jade genuinely looked happy being fed like this. He was less messier than his brother but somehow, just at this moment, he carries the same childish energy around him. It was endearing and you couldn’t help it.

...But then again, you felt the hands around you tighten which sent shivers down your spine. “...Little Shrimpy, you’re such a liar.” You heard Floyd right at your ear, his voice sounding a little less enthusiastic and you knew from past experience that it’s never a good thing. He puffed his cheeks, scrunching his eyebrows down. “I can’t trust you anymore! Hmph!”

“E-Eh...Floyd-senpai...?” Though he said that and looked away from you, he never let go of your body. It’s funny actually, it seems like he wanted to sulk but his body is just refusing to leave from yours. Anyway, it’s not good to keep Floyd in this mood, so you tried to shift your attention back to him again. You gestured another piece of cake in his direction but the guy just refuses to look back at you, pouting all the way. You sweatdropped, this was definitely going to be a challenge. “H-Here you go, this one is for you, Floyd-senpai~! Aah~!”

Jade smiled at the sight of the stubborn pouting Floyd as he swallowed the cake he received. “(Y/N)-san, if Floyd doesn’t want it then, would it be fine if I could have it?” He said, his smile suddenly contorting into a mischievous smirk which immediately got on Floyd’s nerves. “He doesn’t seem to be in the mood so-“

“Who said I don’t want it!?” Floyd yelled as he aggressively mauled the piece of cake before you could even react. “Arr eath whafever Wittwe Sswiphy fhed mmhe! Ifh ghod!”

You sweatdropped. “I didn’t have a single clue on what you said but you might choke, so eat slowly, okay?” You nervously giggled, patting Floyd’s head, feeling his mood getting lighter with the way he nuzzled back onto you again.

Jade gave a chuckle as well before scooting closer to you. You glanced at what he was going to do, only for you and Floyd to flinch when he dropped his head onto your other shoulder. “...I can see why Floyd is always wrapping his arms around you.” He said, closing his eyes in relaxation as if he was just at a warm fireplace. He turned to look at you, in which induced a small blush on your cheeks, especially when he gave a gentle smile. “You’re very warm.”

Ah, what a different side to Jade that you have come to see this special day. He was someone you were unable to read from the very first day, the only times his true emotions let out is when it’s so blatantly obvious that he was going to commit yet under shady business. But this time, you saw another side to him, an unexpected gentleness residing in him. It was your first time seeing how vulnerable he is, chuckling by your shoulders like this.

Dare you say that it was actually cute.

“What are you doing, Jade!? This is my spot, you know~!” Floyd puffed his cheeks as he wrapped his arms around your neck, almost to the point of strangling you. “Let go of my Little Shrimpy~”

Jade merely smiled as calmly as ever. “No, I don’t think I want to.” He said and wrapped his arms around your waist as tight as the arms around your neck. “You were the one who said that I should act all carefree just for this day, correct?”

Jade gave him the smuggiest smirk he could give, making his brother growl in response. “So, there’s no harm in having (Y/N)-san to spoil me a little too, right?” He said, tilting his head to the side with a close-eyed smile.

“U-Um...I-I’m kinda getting...” Ah, that’s no use. These twins are definitely in their own little world now, you know them well enough to know that it’s always been like that. The hands on your neck and waist are pulling you on two different directions, you actually feel like you gonna dislocate a bone or two. But ignoring these two’s silly little feud, they genuinely feel a lot more livelier than before and that’s the good thing. Knowing that knowledge alone, you were glad despite how suffocating it felt on your physical body.

Putting the plate of cake down on your lap, you pat the twins’ head, letting them off their steam. Honestly, it was the only gesture you could do without the risk of breaking apart in two. You kinda feel like a mother of two rebellious but lovable children, it’s troublesome but the outcome is just worth the risk. You just hope Azul wouldn’t be too surprise when he opens the door and finds these two eels exceeding over a hundred and ninety centimeter in height crushing on your poor little body. Three bodies are a bit of handful right now.

This fic includes a high risk of Tweels Diabetes! (΄◉◞౪◟◉｀)

#twisted wonderland #jade leech #floyd leech #Birthday Crumbs (Jade)#Birthday Crumbs (Floyd)#yume forgot to tag haha

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whitleyschn33 · 3 years

Text

Color in RWBY’s Designs

I’ve been trying to reblog this post for a good 10 minutes, and Tumblr just refuses to let me, and I don’t think I’m blocked, so @strqyr , have a reply

...

Okay, ignoring the out-of-left-field (hah) pivot to politics that cropped up in the comments -

I’m not an artist, but I do follow a few that discuss character design and have attempted some recolors myself, and when it comes to the various designs and colors of the RWBY girls, it’s not so much about the in-universe importance of color, it’s about the more meta principles of character design. Once again, I’m not the most qualified person to talk about this, so excuse me if I get something wrong or ramble.

In visual mediums, a character’s design, more specifically their silhouette and their colors, is what makes them stand out and memorable to an audience; in a lot of cartoons and anime, you’ll likely be able to recognize characters by their designs long before you remember their names, and even if you don’t know their names, seeing the silhouette or even color palette of that character can bring their image to your mind. For example, I haven’t seen an episode of Sailor Moon in my life, but show me Usagi’s silhouette, and I can tell you exactly who that is. I can show you this, and I would bet that 99% of you can tell me what character this is meant to represent despite it literally just being 5 rectangles.

(On a slight tangent, in action shows, colors and the smart placement there-of are doubly important, as they help with keeping track of a character as they move through a cluttered environment and interact with other characters, and keep track of how they move their bodies in that space. To use a specific example from RWBY itself, check out the Nevermore fight from Volume 1 - despite all the debris flying around the screen and the amount of wide shots, it’s easy to keep track of how the characters move around the screen. Yang’s gauntlets help direct your eyes to her punches, and the splash of red in Weiss’s collar makes sure she doesn’t turn into a white blob moving around the screen.)

RWBY specifically is a show that quite literally advertised itself and its character on the premise of color. The show is named not just after the main characters, but the main characters’ colors. The first trailers were the Red, White, Black, and Yellow trailers. Their original designs, while of course using other colors in the palettes, give an overall impression of red, white, black, and yellow, making the characters pop against the stark black, red, and white backgrounds of the trailers, as well as stand out against the background characters that were literally empty black voids of silhouettes. Their initial character designs are tied completely to them representing a specific color, and this color gimmick also makes the girls stand out as characters. Ruby’s red cloak and ruffles, Weiss’s white side ponytail and dress, Blake’s black bow and tuxedo vest, and Yang’s fiery yellow hair and gauntlets are instantly recognizable from a glance, and that’s a sign of good design that makes them distinct.

So, when you get to the later volumes and suddenly the characters are wearing less and less of their original, iconic colors on top of getting new silhouettes, it makes them start looking less and less recognizable as the characters they were originally designed to be, and more like completely different characters. Lets look at Blake and Weiss as an example. If you’d never seen RWBY, could you tell me if these were the same characters?

Alright, let’s fill in the details.

They look like two completely different pairs of characters. It’s not even the clothes themselves, but the colors and shapes of their clothes combined with the radically different hairstyles make the V7 designs look very much unlike the original designs. The girls got alternate outfits in V2, but they all fit the general silhouettes and color schemes of their typical outfits, and were still very much recognizable as the main team, just with new clothes. Such a drastic shift in what types of clothes and the colors they wear in V7, on the other hand, makes them look like different character designs. If you’re going to change what a character is wearing to something very different, keeping the colors consistent helps with keeping them recognizable as the character they are.

Now, changing the design of your character beyond the specific clothes they wear isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Characters change as they progress through a story, and in visual media, changes to character design can be used to signify how they’re changing or how they’re reacting to their environment and new situations. For example, in the S2 premire of Avatar, Zuko cuts off his distinguishing topknot to represent his fall from a Fire Nation prince to an outlaw on the run, and in season 3, the GAang don red Fire Nation clothes as a disguise, ditching their usual blue, orange, and green clothing. In the Owl House, Amity dyes her hair purple to represent her making her own choices rather than letting her family control her life (and I picked this up from gif sets, without having even seen the show). Design changes, even to hair and color, can be used to represent change - and RWBY has managed to do this fairly well in the past! For example, Weiss’s V4 design is very different from her original design - her sleeves and collar are tight rather than poofy, her colors are muted and overrun with greys and blues, her whites are mostly hidden and her red is nowhere to be seen. This works, though, because it represents Weiss’s current situation - she’s being controlled by her father, her individuality represented by her whites and reds being driven out, and her dress is mostly tight against her wrists and neck, like shackles and being chocked. It’s a good way of showing a character’s changed situation, while keeping her recognizable from her side ponytail and poofy skirt remaining the same.

The latest redesigns of Team RWBY, however, don’t do this. They change radically, in color, hair, and clothing shape, and there’s no clear reason why. Why do they change how they look so drastically? What prompted them to style their hair so differently, to cut it so short? Why have they decided to choose different colors to wear? To circle back to the initial post, what part of their character development has changed them from the color they were representing to the color they’re now representing?

For more specific question/examples - what prompted Blake to cover herself in a heavy white coat in V4, when she was heading to a tropical island to recover? Why does she wear a bright white coat for official Huntress business when she’s meant to be a ninja? Why does she cut her hair so short? Why does Weiss cover herself in blues and greys in V7 when blues and greys were used to show her unhappiness and imprisonment by Jacques, rather than returning to lots of whites? Why does she go from a sleek ponytail to a thick heavy braid? Why does Ruby replace her cape and start styling her hair differently? Why does she go from a poofy skirt with ruffles to a very sleek, low volume skirt? Why does Yang not wear any yellow anymore? Why do none of them seem to wear anything suited for the cold? None of these questions have real answers. We can speculate all day, but at the end, that would still just be speculation.

Why does Lillie in Pokemon change her hair and clothes? To prove that she’s not just something for her mother to control and dress up to her ideal of beauty; that Lillie can make her own choices and is ready to stand on her own two feet and do what needs to be done, rather than relying on Repels and the player character.

Why does Blake cut her hair and start wearing so much white? ....

Why does Persona 5′s Akechi’s palette switch from bright white, reds, and golds to dark blacks and purples? To show the tearing down of the Detective Prince façade to the true darkness underneath.

Why does Weiss start wearing so many dark blues and greys? ....

I could go on, but I think I’ve made my point. Things just change on RWBY, key aspects of their designs like their hair and colors, and for the most part, there just seems to be no reason given to change. I’m not saying things like colors can never change, clearly they can, but for character design, especially in a show so heavily focused on colors and how characters are represented by their colors, it’s not a thing that should be taken lightly; if a character has grown so dramatically that the manner in which they express themselves as a character has changed, like the original poster is implying it can, it should be clear to see why this character has changed in this manner.

Without a good reason for it to change, it feels unnatural, like the character isn’t the same character - so when RWBY’s colors seem to be changing without good reason, creating designs that don’t look right for the character they’re meant to be in the situations they’re meant to be in, it causes people to want to revert back to the original palettes. Not because they’re denying individuality of the characters, but because the characters are no longer designed like the individuals they once were, and artists want to bring that individuality and striking design back through the use of the colors these characters use to define themselves.

#rwby #art #long post #please my more artistic mutuals #please correct me if i'm wrong #i'm not an artist

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koskareevesismyqueen · 3 years

Text

Reunited at last

Pairing: Din Djarin x afab!reader

Word count: 2.8k

Rating: explicit (18+ only)

Warnings: oral sex (f&m receiving), piv sex, unprotected sex, breath play. Please be safe!

Summary: you were trying to get over ‘beskar boy’. That is until he walks into your local cantina and you’re reunited at last.

Author’s note: this fic has been written as part of the SL+ fic exchange for the amazing @louderrthanthunderr! I hope you enjoy having some Din time my love ♡

This, this was the way you enjoyed spending your evenings. Leaving work, coming straight to the cantina and spending an evening laughing and joking with your girlfriends. Talking about stupid shit, about the latest work gossip and who everyone had been hooking up with or at least talking to. You had no ulterior motive, no not at all. Not a beskar clad motive.

You shake your head, as if that’s really going to get rid of your thoughts, and take another sip of the non-descript, bitter clear liquid in front of you. You try to keep your face neutral, not allowing yourself to wince as the liquid burns the back of your throat.

“Well,” one of your friends asks as she looks at you from across the sticky, glass strewn table as she gives you a light kick in the shin with the toe of her boot.

“Huh,” you say as you meet her eyes, puzzled. You had definitely zoned out for way too long.

“Anything happened since beskar boy?”

You screw your face up, hating that you can’t refer to him by his real name when you’re chatting with your friends. You had insisted that they at least called him Mando, but beskar boy had stuck and you hadn’t changed their minds since.

“I told you, since the last time he was here I haven’t spoken to him. Anyway,” you say with the most faked nonchalant shrug you can muster, “I’ve forgotten about him.”

The table erupts into laughter and you roll your eyes in response.

“Forgotten about him? Really? Okay then, who have you forgotten about him with?”

Defeated, you let out an exasperated sigh.

“Right, I’m going to the ‘fresher. Don’t cause any trouble while I’m gone.” You wiggle your way out of the booth, glad you sat on the end, and squeeze your way through the gaps in the crowd surrounding the bar until you find yourself in the ‘fresher. Grateful for a break away from ‘beskar boy’ drama, you muse your hair, adjusting it so it sits just right. You reapply your lipstick, adjust your outfit then make your way back out.

You walk right past the bar, glad that there’s more of a path cleared for you than there had been on the way in, then slide back into the booth. Your table is uncharacteristically, no, scarily quiet.

“What?” You ask as you pull a face, suddenly feeling anxiety rising through your chest.

“Uh, did you fail to notice anything…different?”

“What, apart from you lot all acting like the mythical Luke Skywalker just walked in, no. I have no idea what’s going on.”

Your friend gently pokes her index finger into your cheek, forcing you to turn your head around towards the bar. You immediately snap your head back round, heart racing.

“Kriff,” you hiss, “has he noticed me?”

“What, going cold feet on beskar boy are you now? Go. Go and talk to him.”

You fidget nervously, the lines on the palms of your hands suddenly the most interesting thing you’ve ever seen. You can’t avoid him forever because he’s bound to see you at some point, then he’s either going to be hurt you ignored him and continue with his day or he’ll come and talk to you. At least if you go over, you’re in control. With a last deep, shaky breath you stand up. You smooth the creases out of your outfit and then stride over to the bar. You pull yourself up onto a bar stool a couple of meters to the right of Din and order your drink – something much less alcoholic. A little liquid luck had been necessary for you to get the confidence to come over by you absolutely didn’t want to have too much and embarrass yourself.

“Well well well,” you say with a smirk, the product of your false confidence, as you stir the drink the bartender had places in front of you, “I’d say look what the little green womp rat dragged in but I can’t see the tiny tyke anywhere?”

You almost hear the pain in Din’s next breath, despite the way you know he’s controlling it.

“He’s…gone to join other’s like his kind.”

You feel the way your eyes widen. “There’s a whole planet full of those little green aliens?” Half a question, half an exclamation. Din lets out a deep, soft chuckle in response and you feel the way your body quivers in retaliation.

“No. Other jedi. He’s gone off to train.”

You nod in response and place a hand on Din’s arm rubbing small, smoothing circles into the small space between his armour. You wonder if he feels the electricity run through him at the touch, despite how mundane and unsuggestive it is.

“I’m sorry, Din,” you say lightly, trying to read his emotions without much to go off. “I’m here if you need me.”

He turns to look at you and imagine the way his eyes look right into yours. “Actually, I’m really glad you’re here. I’ve been needing a distraction.”

“Oh?” You ask, suddenly realising that you’re shaking. Kriff, are you really this nervous to see him again?

“That’s if you’re up for it of course, Mesh’la?” You nod your head and Din wraps his fingers in yours, a strangely comforting gesture despite the barrier his gloves provide. He pulls you out of the cantina and you try your hardest to match your strides to him, but he’s taller than you and a trained warrior so it’s hard but you try your best anyway. He takes a sharp right out of the cantina and pulls you after him, taking the time to pull you in a little closer now. You’re never going to look like a perfect couple walking down the street with Din – him half dragging you after him as he rushes back to the Crest because he’s so desperate to fuck you is about as romantic as it gets.

Relief floods through you, alongside a fresh surge of heat, when you realise the Crest isn’t parked that far away. The ramp opens with a soft hiss of the hydraulics and closes the same way after Din pulls you in behind him. After the soft thud signifying the latches locking into place sounds, Din pulls you into him. You feel the way your breasts press between you against the hard layer of beskar, your nipples hardening at the thought of everything below his armour. He slowly pulls his right glove off then cups your cheek with his hand. You feel the way he strokes his thumb over your cheekbone and for a second you allow yourself to melt into his touch before he softly pulls his hand away.

You watch as Din slowly begins pulling off the pieces of beskar, undoing latches and buckles. He places them in a neat pile and the care he shows for them is obvious. He leaves his helmet and flight suit on, but the growing bulge is obvious and practically makes you drool. You close your eyes for a few moments as the familiar clunk of his boots over the metal floor clunk towards you, only opening your eyes when you can hear that he’s a few strides away. He pulls you back in close, the skin on skin contact so close it almost hurts, and wraps his hand through your hair. He pulls slightly, causing your head to tip back and he brings his head into the curve of your neck, his vocoder hovering next to your ear.

“Are you going to be a good girl for me?” He whispers, and you feel the way you clench in response, the dampness between your legs spreading. You nod your head, biting your lip to hold everything you want to say in.

Din steps away and you keep your eyes fixed on his visor. “Stand there. Don’t move. Watch me.” And you do. You watch as Din steps away and moves towards the little rickety bed. He sits down, then shifts his flight suit so that his cock springs free. In that moment you want to move, walk towards him, wrap your hand around it. Instead you bite your lip harder because you know you can’t move. You have to stay still.

You watch as he wraps his hand around himself, a bead of precum leaking from the tip as he anticipates everything. He slowly starts rubbing his hand up and down his length, occasionally pausing to gather the precum from his tip with his thumb, swirling it around to lubricate himself. You watch, as patiently as possible, but it grows harder and harder by the second. You feel the wetness between your legs, the way you feel yourself clenching at every slight movement. Din’s visor is fixed on your, your reaction, as you fidget around in an attempt to find some sort of friction.

“What did I say?” Din growls but you can’t help it now. You need to feel something, whether it’s Din or yourself. You start moving your hand and Din is there in a flash, thigh between your legs as grabs your hands, holding them aloft. You struggle a little but it’s all in good faith.

“I can be a good girl, Din. Let me show you,” you bat your eyelashes at him and bite down gently on your lip. Din doesn’t necessarily need a big show, but it doesn’t hurt to give one. You watch as his helmet gently tips, giving you the confirmation you needed, and you lunge at him claws practically outstretched. You kneel down on the floor between his legs – knees padded with a rough blanket he gives you – then wrap your hand around him. He looks big compared to your hand. You grip him tightly and begin moving your hand up and down, thumb pausing and smoothing over his head as you gather the slowly leaking precum, before you repeat the movement. You look up at him one last time, imagining the way his eyes – brown, you think – are hooded beneath his helmet as he looks down at you full of lust. You slowly dip your head down, opening your mouth to allow yourself to take his length. After a few moments you begin moving your head up and down, tongue swirling over him, hand gripping his base as you hollow your cheeks. You keep it up for a while, your other hand gripping the outside of his thigh, revelling in the way the normally quiet Din Djarin is slowly getting louder as he lets out a series of groans and moans. But eventually, he brings his hand to the back of your neck and slowly pulls you away. You release him from your mouth with a soft pop and look up unexpectedly, a mixture of drool and precum covering your chin. Din gently wipes it away and you try not to melt back into his touch.

“Enough,” he whispers softly, the deep bass of his voice echoing through the vocoder, “on the bed.”

He shifts himself out of the way and you take his place. You watch as he makes his way across the Crest, opening a draw and rifling through until he pulls out a couple of items. The first is the familiar blindfold that Din always puts on you when you’re together. He knots it at the back of your head, checking to make sure it’ll stay in place but also isn’t hurting you, then runs the tips of his fingers down your arm leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake. You let out a slight shiver, the beginnings of ecstasy starting to course through you.

The soft clink of metal on metal sounds out throughout the room and you realise that Din has taken his helmet off. He picks up your hands, holding them carefully in his, then softly runs his lips over your knuckles. You feel his soft breaths and rough stubble against your skin, a stark contrast to anything you have felt for a long time.

He parts your legs with his hands, a firm push, then you feel him shift into position. It shocks you a little when he buries his head between your legs like a man starved but the shock is good. Stars, when was the last time you had felt something this good? Not since you had seen Din last, months ago. He laps out you, long strokes of his tongue lapping among your folds, tongue diving into your core then focussing on your clit. Your head tips back in ecstasy as your mouth litters out a series of moans and curses of kriff and stars. You had forgotten how good it feels as the pressure builds and you feel the wave of your orgasm building and rolling over, your body suddenly becoming ultrasensitive as Din continues to lap at you as your hips buck and writhe beneath him.

He continues, only slightly pausing to adjust his position. He uses one hand to pin you down over your hips and you feel the sheets shift as he reaches his other hand out, grasping around, followed by a soft and familiar buzz.

Stars.

The moment Din pushes the vibrator to your already oversensitive clit your hips buck, their movements more frenzied and jagged than before. He continues dipping his tongue in and out of you as he moves the vibrator around in small circles on your clit and its not long before you’re crying out as the second orgasm washes over you. This time, Din pulls away although you note that you can still hear the muffled vibrations. Your lungs take quick breaths in and out as you take the brief moment of respite before the next part that you know is coming.

Din picks you up and pushes you further up the bed so that he can lie on top of you. You feel the warmth of his body weight, the soft tickle of his chest hair and the thin layer of sweat between you. He brings his lips down onto yours, the kiss soft and sweet to start with but he soon pushes his tongue into your mouth, deepening the kiss and pulling the both of you closer together. His hand trails over your curves and you arch your back, shifting towards his hand.

“Are you ready, mesh’la?” He whispers against your ear, his voice still gruff but softer without the vocoder altering it. You nod your head, a little pathetically as you feel the head of his cock teasing against your opening. You buck your hips up slightly to meet him, reaching down with your hand to spread yourself open as he steadily pushes into you. His mouth reaches down to your neck, kissing and sucking along your collar bone as he begins slowly thrusting his hips into yours. Ecstasy and pleasure course through your veins as he hits your G-spot with every thrust, making you cry out every time.

The two of you begin to settle into a steady rhythm, hips meeting thrust for thrust, breathy moans and gasps against each others skin. But just as it becomes familiar, Din grabs you around your waist and flips you over, bringing himself up so he’s leaning back on his lower legs with you sat on top of him, one hand reaching round press the vibrator onto your clit again and the other snaking around your neck applying light pressure. Your moans becomes faster and louder, slightly constrained beneath his grip as he pushes deeper and deeper into you, the feeling of him bottoming out making you see begin to see stars.

“Din,” you whisper hoarsely, “I-I’m going to c-c.”

“When you’re ready, sweet girl,” he whispers back before you feel his teeth grazing your earlobe.

Your vision goes white as the final wave of your orgasm hits, your walls squeezing around Din as his thrusts stutter inside you. The two of you sit for a few moments, his arms wrapped around your middle holding you close.

“I should go and clean up,” you say lightly as you slowly extract yourself from his grip. By the time you come back out of the ‘fresher, Din’s helmet is back on which at least means you can take off your blindfold. You stand at the door, looking down at the blindfold which is now in your hands, unsure of your next move. For a second, you’re thrown back to being in the cantina, unsure if you’re going to see Din again. But now you’re here, naked on his ship. Even though you’ve seen him again, you’re not sure if and what this means for the future. But for now, Din is lying on his uneven mattress, arms open and waiting for you.

Yeah, the future is uncertain. But you can at least make the most of the next few moments in Din’s arms, reunited at last.

♡♡♡♡♡

#sl fic challenge #din djarin x you #Din Djarin x reader #din djarin x female reader #din djarin x f!reader #Din Djarin #mandalorian #the mandalorian #the mandalorian x reader

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jisungsplatforms · 4 years

Text

Dahlia

Pairing: Hwang Hyunjin x gn! reader

Genre: angst; hanahaki au, non idol au

Warning: language, mentions of cheating, tiny tiny spoilers & allusions to some of my other fics if you squint hard enough. Some elements of Felix x reader (purely platonic tho)

Note: this does NOT portray Stray Kids’ true personalities. This is all purely FICTIONAL

*this is one of my longest fics i’ve ever written so sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.

(Based off of (G) i-dle’s “Dahlia)

(Page II)

Dahlia:

“Signifies a lasting bond and commitment between two people;

symbolizes elegance, inner strength , change, and dignity...”

Hwang Hyunjin is bad news.

He’s a player, he’ll leave once he gets bored of you.

Hwang is no good for you. You deserve so much better, Y/n.

That was all you heard ever since you started dating Hyunjin. Different variations of it, all with the same connotation. People warned you, left and right, whenever they saw you two together. But you didn’t care, you choose to love him anyways, despite the rumors you’ve heard about him. It was all...

...Blind love. Sure, you fall in love fast, and every single time, you’ve been cheated on; but you knew that he was different, you could feel it. You had faith in Hyunjin.

Today was your one year anniversary. You sighed at the calendar hanging on your wall, a vase with a single dahila (given by Hyunjin a few weeks ago) sat on a table beside it.

“Did you know back then, lovers used to gift their beloved dahlias as a sign of everlasting love and commitment?” Hyunjin said with a pretty smile, holding a bouquet of a dozen dahlias.

“Oh really now?” you giggled, taking the bouquet into your hands. “Are you trying to tell me something?” You tilted your head, your eyebrows raised playfully.

“Hmm. Only that I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” he cheekily said. “And that I will love you, and only you, even for the our next 100 lifetimes.”

You writhed in giddiness, touched by his words. “I can’t wait then,” you said, planting a soft kiss onto his plump lips, the two of you smiling into the kiss.

That was a year ago; 3 months into your relationship, probably the happiest year you’ve ever had. Every day with Hyunjin felt magical, like it was too good to be true. He was nothing but gentle with you. He held your hand as if you were glass. His eyes stared into yours as if you had the shiniest of diamonds for eyes. His beautiful smile always made your heart flutter, but his kisses was what really did the job. You thought that you could never had enough of him. You were his princess and he’s your prince charming.

But little did you know that the magic will soon wear off...

You stared at your phone in sheer disappointment.

Sorry, I can’t make it today. Something really important came up and I can’t miss it.

-was what was written on your screen, sent by your boyfriend. Bringing the phone closer to your face, you replied.

Really? You can’t skip it? Or even do it later?

Nope. Sorry, babe. There’s nothing I can do.

Oh...okay then.

Cheer up, babe. We’ll just go on a date on another day! I’ll make it up to you. Promise! :)

‘Go on a date on another day’ For some reason, reading that message shot a pang of hurt through your chest. To you, it basically implied that today was supposed to be just ‘another date’ for you guys.

Did he...forget that it’s our one year today? you thought sadly at the possibility as you put your phone down. Shaking your head, you tried to erase the negative thoughts from your mind. No no no, Hyunjin wouldn’t have forgotten. He was the one who even arranged the date! You held your cheeks in your hands. Sighing, you stood up to leave your bedroom to get a glass of water, feeling a heaviness to your chest. A million thoughts ran through your head as you made your way to the kitchen.

Is it possible that he really did forget?

Is he lying to me?

Am I just overthinking things again?

Or did he finally get...bored of me?

Looking back, you started to think about how lately, Hyunjin has been cancelling and rescheduling your dates. Every time you text him, asking him to come over, he’d reply with something along the line of “can’t i’m busy. sorry.” Of course you felt hurt, but you always told yourself, he’s a busy man. We don’t always have to be together.

And of course, you werent oblivious to how every month, the amount of dahlias Hyunjin used to give you slowly decreased. Once a dozen dahlias became only 8. 8 slowly became half a dozen. Then 6 became only 3. But you’ve convinced yourself that you didn’t need flowers to determine how in love you were, telling yourself how expensive live flowers actually are, so it makes sense he’ll end up giving less flowers. That’s it. That’s what you’ve conditioned your mind to think.

You’ve convinced yourself that Hyunjin truly is a good guy.

You didn’t even realize you were already in your kitchen until you felt yourself holding the cup to your mouth, the cool liquid making it’s way down your esophagus. You put the cup onto the counter, mindlessly staring at it. Maybe your were just overthinking things. That’s it.

Trudging back to the bedroom, you sat on the edge of your bed, sighing heavily, trying to contain the tears that were threatening to come out. Your lit up with a notification.

—

From Lixie Ramsay 🧑‍🍳🍽

—

Hey Y/n, are you feeling well?

Seeing a text from Felix, you grabbed your phone.

Not really. How’d you know??

Idk. I guess you can call it...best friend telepathy :D

You smiled, typing in another reply.

Well thank GOD for bsf telepathy cause I feel like shit rn.

Overthinking again?

Yes :(

Aww sorry to hear that dude :((

Wait. What happened with Hyunjin? Isn’t it your anniversary today?

Your heart ached at the message, the good mood you were slowly feeling again plummeted. Luckily, Felix noticed how long you were taking to reply to him.

Ah nvm... Anyways, I’m pretty much free rn so that meeaannnsss...I’ll take you out on a date instead!

Even though you were wallowing in misery, you couldn’t help but tease him.

You? Pass

How rude. And here I am being the greatest friend anyone could ask for, and you have the audacity to be picky?

Have fun with your pity party then, best friend

You sniggered at his reply. No no. I’m sorry I’m sorry, I’ll take up your offer LOL

Good. Be ready in about 20 mins. I’m coming over so we can go to the café together!

Okayyy :D

You got up and put on a nice, but comfortable outfit to go out in with your best friend.

You were just sitting on your couch, awaiting for Felix’s arrival when you heard a knock on your door.

“Y/n! It’s meee~!” came his loud, deep voice. You chortled as you got up from your couch, making sure everything was secured before going to your door. You opened it to see Felix’s bright smile greeting you.

You giggled, opening the door wider. “‘Sup, bro,” you nodded your head. Felix returned the gesture.

“‘Sup. You ready?”

“Yup! Let’s go.” Before you could get out of your house, Felix stopped you.

“Wait wait! I have something for you!” he lightly pushed you back inside. Only then did you notice that he was holding a single sunflower in his left hand. Your eyes widened a little, confused.

“What’s this?” you asked.

“A sunflower!”

You rolled your eyes at him. “Duh, I know that, but what’s it for?”

Felix beamed. “Well, I knew that you were feeling sad today, and I heard from someone that sunflowers are known as “happy flowers”, so I thought that I should give you one! To cheer you up!”

You looked at the flower in awe, incredibly touched by his gesture. “Lix...” you trailed off, feeling happy tears beginning to prick your eyes. You took the sunflower from his hands and stared at it, already feeling the positive vibes radiating from it.

“I know, I know. I’m the bestest best friend anyone could ask for. Now let’s go! I’ve been dying to try the carrot cake in that new café a few blocks down!” Felix said, sliding his arm to yours, “I heard that they have one of the best carrot cakes in town.”

You looked up from the flower to look at him, grinning. “Thank you so much for this, dude. I really appreciate it.”

Felix shrugged with a small smile on his face. “It’s the least I could do. Really.” He waited for you as you locked your front door, arms still linked, then making your way to go to the café Felix has been dying to go to.

The two of you walked together, catching up on each other’s current events going on in your lives, seeing how you weren’t able to for the past two weeks. Right now, Felix was telling you about a certain crush he has in one of his classes.

“Ooh, so, have you tried asking them out? Or even just told them that you’re interested or something, in the very least?” you wiggled your eyebrows. In response, he sucked in his breath a little. His face contorted in a slight grimace.

“I...tried to...” He said with his teeth clenched. You looked at him in puzzled.

“What do you mean ‘tried to’, Lix?” you asked. “It’s either you did or you didn’t.”

Felix sighed in embarrassment, his mind wandering back to the memory. “I sorta might’ve accidentally revealed that I liked them but sorta might’ve got embarrassed and accidentally took it back?”

“What?” you deadpanned.

“Okay okay. It’s dumb. I know. But they were so SO cute just talking, TALKING, and it just slipped out, I guess!” he said, exasperatedly. “I really couldn’t help it! Honest! So, I just panicked and covered it up by saying ‘I’m so lucky to have a friend like you'”

You looked at him blankly, slowly unlinking your arms. “Oh no,” you sighed, slightly shaking your head. “Oh baby nooo...”

“Yeah. I’m pathetic, I know.”

You hummed in pity, patting his shoulder. “A little, yeah, but it’s okay. Things like that happen, unfortunately. Don’t worry though, it’s not like it’s the end of the world,” you grinned, “You’ll have a lot more chances to actually confess in the near future.”

Felix nodded, crooning. “You’re right, Y/n. Thanks,” he said, giving you a hug as he gave you his well-renowned sunshine-like smile that you couldn’t help but smile back.

“No problem.”

Topic after topic, the two of you were so immersed in your conversation that you guys arrived at the café.

“Finally!” you cheered. “That was a surprisingly long walk.”

Felix sighed. “For real. But on the bright side: carrot cake!”

“Is the carrot cake even that good?”

“Dunno. Only one way to find out!” Felix walked a few steps ahead of you to open the door for you when he suddenly stopped. His whole body went rigid. In a blink of an eye, he turned around, gently pushing you away from the building. “Darn. What a shame, it’s full today. Oh well,” he frantically stated.

You glanced back behind him to check the inside yourself, only to see that it was only half full.

“What’re you talking about? There’s totally enough space for us. Let’s go.”

Felix’s face was full of dread. His body was stiff, his eyes shook a little as he maintained eye contact with you. He was nervous, and you could tell.

“You’re not okay. Is there someone in there you wanna avoid?” you said in urgency.

“Uhm. You could say that,” he murmured, looking down. Looking back up to see if there were any shifty looking faces that were in desperate need of a beating, your heart dropped in horror and dispair. Through the window, you saw Hyunjin, your boyfriend, sitting with a pretty looking lady. You watched them with woeful eyes as they smiled and laugh with each other. You couldn’t believe it, you didn’t want to. You wanted to believe that this was all a misunderstanding. You only snapped out of it when you felt Felix’s small, warm hands.

“Let’s-uh- let’s just go, yeah?” he said quietly. Nodding mindlessly, you let him lead to somewhere else. Anywhere but here. Felix rubbed your back, trying to give you any kind of hug he could give you as you walked away. You tried your best to push back the cough making it’s way to your throat. Good thing Felix was guiding you the entire way, others you would’ve fallen due to your blurry eyesight.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered into your ear. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

It’s okay. You have nothing to apologize for, is what you wanted to tell him. But you couldn’t, for if you do, you might end up breaking down in the middle of the streets. You breathed heavily, containing both your tears and the pressure down in your chest and throat.

You snuggled closer to your thick blankets, trying to assimilate the warm you crave for from it. Felix was by your side, rubbing soothing circle to your back. You guys never went to go to another café. Instead, he led you home, seeing how it wasn’t the right time for you two to go out. You appreciated his gesture. It makes you wonder why can’t every guy be like your best friend, your brother, your soulmate. Felix let out a long exhale.

“Man, I-I’m sorry you had to see that, especially on your anniversary,” he soft said. Felix was furious, not only at Hyunjin, but himself as well. He felt like he couldn’t protect you, like he failed as your best friend.

“It’s okay, Lix. I’m fine,” you murmured. “Actually,” you paused, “I’m not fine. But you don’t have to apologize for something like this. This had nothing to do with you.”

“I know,” he sighed. “Im just frustrated, you know. I’m mad that you’re hurting like this.”

“Yeah me too,” you said emptily. “I just hope that this was just a misunderstanding.”

“He better damn well make sure that it’s just a misunderstanding,” he grumbled. “Otherwise i’m gonna have to settle some things with him. Hope he knows that i’m a black belt in Taekwondo.”

You snorted. “Thanks, Felix.”

“I will have a ‘chat’ with him. Mark my words.”

You laughed at him. You could faintly feel the angst in your heart lessen, but not completely go away. Hearing your front door unlock, you stiffened. You tried your best to not look at it.

“Babe! I’m here!” Hyunjin’s voice rang at the entrance. You felt Felix’s hold on your form tighten. Hyunjin walked closer to you two.

“Hey, Felix,” he said flatly. “didn’t know you were coming here.”

“Hmm.” Felix nodded his head, not even trying to make eye contact with the tall brunette. Hyunjin nodded back in annoyance.

“Anyways, you can leave now,” he sneered with his jaw clenched. “Your job is done. Now it’s my turn to spend time with my beloved.”

Both you and Felix tensed at his words. He looked down to look for your approval. Seeing your unsure nod, he hesitantly let go of you, watching you as he does so.

“It’s okay,” you mouthed to him. He made a sharp breath as he stood up, still refusing to look Hyunjin in the eye.

“Goodbye,” Felix called out, more to you than the other. You felt a sense of foreboding when you heard the door shut. From your side, Hyunjin let out a harsh groan.

“Finally,” he said, sitting down as he wrapped his arm around you. You couldn’t let yourself relax in his arms like how you’d usually to. You just felt uneasy in his presence right now. “So? How was you day? Missed me?” Hyunjin asked. You couldn’t take it anymore. You couldn’t bring yourself to pretend anymore.

“Are you cheating on me?” you more declared than asked as you sat up straight. Hyunjin’s eyes widened for a millisecond, a flash of fear in his eyes, but he just played it off.

“How could you accuse me of something like that?” he said, defensively. “I’m your boyfriend. Don’t you trust me?”

You bit your lip nervously. “I saw you, Hyunjin. At the café.” His face contorted in panic but quickly masked it as disbelief.

He scoffed, “Well you saw wrong, Y/n. That was just a friend, I would NEVER cheat on you.” He shook his head disappointingly, removing his arm from you. “I can’t believe that you would ever doubt me, babe. I’m actually really hurt by this right now.”

You felt a wave of guilt rush over you.

“Oh...I’m sorry,” you muttered. “I just thought-“

“You thought what? That the rumors were true?” Hyunjin laughed sarcastically. “Man, and here I thought that you were different.”

Your eyes teared up even more as the guilt inside your chest increased. Was I really wrong? you thought. “No! I’m-I’m sorry, Hyunie! I didn’t know! I just felt hurt because today was su-”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s okay. Let me just, be alone for a while, Y/n.” Hyunjin quietly got up and walked out of your house. You walked as he slammed the door on his way out, wrapping the blanket tighter around you. You were starting to regret letting Felix leave. The air around turn colder in your empty apartment.

It was supposed to be our one year anniversary, you thought, finally letting your tears out. And yet again, you tried controlling the tickling down your throat.

“He told you WHAT?” Felix exclaimed, looking at you incredulously. You had to shush him when you noticed some of the other people in the coffe shop giving you both tiny glares.

“He told me that it was just a friend that he had to me,” you said, quietly. “And that he would never cheat on me. He also said that felt hurt that I didn’t trust him, so I felt bad cause he did looked super upset.”

Felix rolled his eyes as he let out a sardonic “ha”. “That’s rich. Coming from him?” You let out a tiny pout.

“I don’t know, Lix. He seemed like he was telling the truth though?”

“Yeah, seemed, Y/n. I don’t know if you should trust him anymore. And besides, it even sounded like he was trying to make you feel bad instead of apologizing.”

“Well yeah cause-” Felix cut you off, holding up his hand to stop you from saying anything else.

“That’s gaslighting, bud. A huge red flag if you ask me. He didn’t even remember that it was your anniversary!”

Scrunching your eyebrows, you pondered upon Felix’s words. You knew he was right, but you really wanted to give Hyunjin the benefit of a doubt. All of a sudden, you felt a pressure in your chest. In need of relief, you coughed into the juncture of your arm. Felix winced in pity.

“Ooh, sounds nasty. You good there?”

You nodded as you continued coughing, giving him a thumbs up. Once you finish with your fit, you cleared your throat a little, grabbing the water bottle beside you to drink.

“Mhmm, yeah. Just a tickle, that’s all.”

“You sure? You’ve started coughing since yesterday,” Felix stated. “Are you sure you aren’t getting sick cause of the weather or stress or something?”

“Uhh nah. I don’t think so,” you said. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

Felix hummed, totally unconvinced by your reasoning. He knew deep down something was wrong; he just didn’t know what. It was quiet for a while until Felix up at the window and let out a little gasp. You raised your eyebrows at this, silently asking him what’s wrong. He glared a little at the window before turning to you.

“Hate to do this but look. Behind you, don’t make it obvious.”

You slightly turned your head to see what he was looking at. Your eyes widened. You saw Hyunjin and the same girl from 2 days ago, passing by at the other side of the window, hand in hand. You watched in disbelief as the girl tipped toed to kiss his cheek while he giggles. You quickly turned your head in the other direction to avoid him as they walked by, feeling the pressure in your chest worsen. It hurt even more when you remember the small bouquet of dahilas in her hands. You felt your eyes burning with tears, sucking in deep breaths. Turns out that that was a mistake.

You calming yourself back-fired. You ended up having a coughing fit; but it didn’t feel like any cough you’ve ever had. It felt way heavier, like you were almost suffocating. Bringing a fist to your chest, you pounded on it as if it would help. You didn’t know if the tears in your eyes was from the couch or seeing your bastard of a boyfriend. You couldn’t even open them so you opted to just keeping them shut .

“Y/n?!” Felix yelled out in alarm. You felt him come up behind you, rubbing your back. “Oh shit...” you heard him breathed out. You slowly opened your eyes and turned to him. He looked frantic, but he wasn’t staring at you, rather on the floor. You looked back to see dahlia petals on the floor.

Huh? you thought in bewilderment. Last time you checked, there wasn’t any plants in the shop, aside for the plastic Swiss Cheese plants in the corners of the place, if they even count at all.

Felix noticed your gaze on the petals. “That shit’s from you,” he pointed out. “We need to get you to a hospital. ASAP.”

You looked at him weakly. “But-“

“NOW, Y/n.”

“I- what?” you gasped in horror.

“You’ve, unfortunately, contracted the Hanahaki Disease,” the doctor announced in sympathy. Felix rushed you to the nearest hospital after your little scene. When you arrived there and told the receptionist at the entrance, she immediately paged you to the emergency room. You were scared. You didn’t know what was so urgent to rush you to an emergency room.

“Hantahapki? What the hell is that?” Felix asked, coming out rather aggressively. He was horrified; who wouldn’t be if they witnessed their best friend coughing out flower petals.

“Hanahaki,” the doctor subtly corrected, “It’s a rare disease that makes you cough out petals. Not many people gets it.”

Your heart beak was fast. If it was rare, then who knows what could happen.

“Okay, Hanahaki. So do you know how Y/n got it?”

The doctor removed her glasses and put it on the desk beside her. “Well, though it is a rare disease, we do know enough about it,” she declared. “The Hanahaki disease, fortunately, isn’t contagious and is only produced from unrequited love.”

You let out a shaky sigh. “So it is true. He doesn’t love me anymore,” you muttered. You felt the familiar pressure in your chest so you relieved yourself, petals spewing as you coughed. Felix immediately rubbed your back in alarm.”

“Is there anyway to treat it, doc?” he worriedly questioned. The doctor nodded.

“Yes actually. One option is for the patient’s love to be returned by the recipient,” your heart dropped a little hearing this “-or the other is to undergo surgery.”

“Surgery?” you both inquired at the same time.

The doctor nodded again. “Yes, surgery, our safest option. However, doing so will result in Y/n loosing all feelings of love altogether.”

“So what you’re saying is,” you said slowly. “-if I do the procedure, I won’t be able to love again?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Romantic love that is. You can still love people platonicly, like your friend over here,” she said gesturing to Felix. “Family and friends, basically. You just can’t have romantic feelings for anyone else, even if you really wanted to.”

You and Felix looked at each other in sorrow. “I,” Felix started off, “really think you should do it.”

You bit your lip as you shook your head. “I don’t know. This is a pretty big decision. Can’t I just, like, think about it for a while? Before I really decide if I want to do this?”

“Of course you can, Y/n,” the doctor said. “Just don’t take too long making a decision, okay? Because it will kill you, if you don’t decide on time.”

The two of you looked up at her in horror. “KILL?!”

She winced a little at your loud voices, prompting the two of you to apologize. “Yes, kill. Those aren’t just petals coming out of no where.” She gestured to the pile between the tree of you. “They have to produce somewhere. At first they’ll start of as a little bud, that’s why as of now, you’re only coughing out several petals each cough, eventually getting bigger and bigger until the flower in your lungs fully bloom, which could end up bursting out of your chest.”

Felix turned to you in pure terror, slightly shaking you. “I REALLY think you should do the surgery today.” You brushed him off of you.

“Okay yeah, that’s terrifying, but I won’t be able to love ever again, Lix!” you countered. He look at you like you were crazy.

“You won’t be able to feel ANYTHING if you don’t!”

You contemplated on the situation. You didn’t know what to do. The doctor interrupted your train of thoughts.

“Don’t worry, Y/n you have about a few weeks minimum to make a decision. Luckily you came to us the day you started coughing out the petals. Otherwise, if it happened earlier and you kept it to yourself, you might’ve...you know.” You shook your head in acknowledgment.

“Yeah. Okay, thank you, doc.”

It’s been 5 days since you’ve been to the hospital; 5 days you’ve been diagnosed with the Hanahaki Disease; 5 days since you’ve last seen Hyunjin.

You still weren’t sure if you wanted to undergo the procedure. Felix said that this was the best option, but you didn’t want to listen. You still had hope in your heart that maybe, just maybe, Hyunjin still loves you deep down. You heard your phone ding from the table. You picked it up and saw that is was from your “boyfriend”.

Hey! Haven’t seen each other in a while. Wanna talk?

Your heart sped up. You didn’t know if it was from excitement that he finally contacted you, or fear that you might end up finding out the whole truth. Your fingers typed out a reply.

Yeah, come over today. I’ve missed you

Liar, you thought to yourself.

Sure! See you soon!

You typed out your final reply, burying your face into the throw pillows.

A knock was heard from your door, signaling Hyunjin’s arrival. You tensed buy quickly calmed yourself down. You got up to let him in. You were greeted by his big smile, which you knew now was fake.

“Hey, babe! I’ve missed you!” he cheered.

Fucking liar. Putting one a fake smile, you said a quick “miss you too” and let him in. Closing the door, you gave yourself a mental pep talk before going straight to the point. You turned around to face him

“You’re cheating on me,” you stated, emotionlessly. You didn’t even say it as if it was a question, you knew. Hyunjin looked panic before composing himself.

“Again, Y/n? I told you, it-”

“I SAW YOU, HYUNJIN!” you cried out, not even containing your emotions anymore. “I SAW YOU OUTSIDE OF THE CAFÉ. I SAW YOU HOLDING HANDS. I SAW HER KISS YOU AND YOU DIDNT PUSH HER AWAY. IN FACT, IT LOOKED LIKE YOU ENJOYED IT.” You walked quickly towards him to push his chest.

“WHAT’S WORSE WAS THAT I SAW THE DAHLIAS YOU GAVE HER, A FLOWER THAT YOU SAID WAS SPECIAL TO US!” you fell to the floor, sobbing. The jig was up, Hyunjin knew.

“I trusted you Hyunjin...I really did. I even convinced myself that you weren’t like the rumors said,” you said weakly, already too tired to scream. “I love you. How could you do this to me?”

Hyunjin watched as you broke down. He didn’t know what to say; how to comfort you. He couldn’t even lie to you anymore. He felt bad for you. But he could’nt deny that he’s lost feelings for you.

“I’m sorry...”

Hearing this made you cry even more, you cradled your chest as you sank deeper to the floor. He didn’t even deny it. He didn’t even try comforting you. You heard his heavy footsteps leave your house, closing the door behind him. Your heart lurked even more. So this is it, you thought.

It hurts.

It hurts so fucking bad.

You were used to being cheated and lied to, so why did it? You clutched your burning chest, trying to regulate your breathing. More tears spilled out of your eyes.

It was because you genuinely loved Hyunjin.

You couldn’t take it anymore, you started wheezing out the dahlia petals out of your chest. A bunch of petals flew out of your mouth. You couldn’t breathe. It was too much. You crawled to your phone to call Felix. It rang once, twice, before he finally answered.

“Y/n?”

You could’ve even speak anymore, the room started spinning, your vision started blurring.

“Lix...hospital...” you managed to let out before collapsing.

“Y/n? Y/n!”

You woke up to the sound of beeping. You looked around and noticed that you weren’t home anymore. You tried getting up, flinching when the IV bag connected to you stopped you.

Ah, I’m at the hospital.

You laid back down and relaxed, trying to relive what happened last time you were awake. All you remember were blurry images of you crying, petals, hearing Felix’s panicked voice, then nothing. You eyes shot open at the thought.

Felix?!

You looked around the room to finally see him sleeping in the corner. You could faintly distinguish the dried tear marks on his freckled face.

He must’ve been here for a while.

The door know turned to reveal the same doctor to diagnosed you a few days prior. “Hello, Y/n,” she greeted, standing by your bed. “Seems like you’re doing well now.” You nodded. You tried speaking to answer her, only to find that you couldn’t because of how dry your throat was. The doctor noticed this and shook her head.

“Don’t. Just rest, it’s okay.”

You bowed you head as a slight thank you. She walked closer to you to pat your head.

“Congratulations, the procedure was a success.”

You eyes widened at the implication. So that’s why you’re here. It all made sense now. You have her a smile as you gave a raspy “thank you.” She talked to you for a while before deciding to leave you to rest a little more. She announced you could be discharged from the hospital by tomorrow.

You felt a little disappointed that you couldn’t love anymore, but still overall glad that you’re still alive. You glanced at the papers the doctor left on the table beside you, grabbing it to read it a little just to see that is was just your information. Beside it, you saw that she also left a cup of water for you. You gulped it down, letting out a relieved “ah” went you finished.

You didn’t want to think about anything right now, and you sure as hell didn’t even want to think about your now ex-boyfriend. You closed your eyes to think about what went wrong in your life. Especially now that you have to live without loving anything the way you want to. You contemplated with an emptiness in your chest.

Our love is-

“...however, they do carry negative connotations;

betrayal, dishonesty, instability.”

-Dahlia

—————————————————————————

(Case #XX1-

Name: Y/n L/n

Patient: Cured; Discharged: XX,XX,XXXX at XX:XX)

——————————————————————————

(Back to Page I)

A/N: PHEW FINALLY DONE WITH THE FIRST PART OF THE SERIES. IVE BEEN EXCITED TO WRITE THIS FIC FOR A LOOONG TIME. (G) I-dle’s “Dahlia” is what inspired me to start the Hanahaki series so THANK YOU MINNIE

#stray kids #skz #stray kids fanfic #skz scenarios #skz imagines #stray kids scenarios #stray kids imagines #stray kids angst #skz hyunjin #hyunjin imagines #hyunjin angst #hyunjin x reader #skz felix #hwang hyunjin #lee felix #skz hanahaki au

145 notes · View notes

teaspoon-full-of-sugar · 4 years

Text

a flower for a flower

pairing: harry styles x reader

warnings: smut (i want to say pure smut, but i also ramble a lot, so it’s not just smut—close to it though), food innuendos and other cheesy things, fluff, harry in his pimp daddy outfit, oral (f & m receiving), exhibitionism (mentions of voyeurism), teasing, soft!dom feels, praising kink, a couple of good girls thrown in there

word count: 3.8k

synopsis: a walk on the beach leads to more

author’s note: hi, i hope you're doing well :) sorry the synopsis sucks, but you know what i mean! xx hope you enjoy

masterlist

—

She’d never been the type to like the beach.

Granted, she had never been to an actual beach, like the ocean kind of beach, until she was well into her twenties, but that’s beside the point.

Then, she met Harry.

Harry, someone who has nothing but kindness and love in his soul, open for anyone who’s willing to take him, scared her when they first met. She has always been anxious, riddled with insecurities and tension, and to meet someone who breathed and exuded nothing but unadulterated confidence was absolutely terrifying. At that moment in time, she thought she could never be with someone who was like that, thinking that it would be difficult to keep up with someone like him.

And she was never one to take risks.

She will be forever grateful for finding someone who is able to open her eyes and give her the opportunity to see and do things that she never even dreamed about. It definitely helps that he is the way he is. She doesn’t think she would have ever found the courage to be the woman she is today without him being just him, kind and patient.

Now, the beach is their safe place. The ocean is their escape from the world around them, a peaceful place for them to simply be with each other.

It’s a little past noon, the sun high in the clear sky, with only a couple of clouds shrouding the beautiful day. She’s been sitting on the sidelines underneath a fluttering umbrella, working on some unfinished assignments she has for her classes. She hasn’t gotten much work done, however, not only because she gets easily distracted in general but also because of the teasing looks Harry shoots her.

She watches him through large sunglasses, a chipping gold coloured wire surrounding fading pink lenses, as he sits at the table once again, setting down a plate of watermelon atop the terribly ugly tablecloth. He told her how important this shot was before when they were driving to the beach location. With jittery hands and giddy eyes, he told her about how it was going to be the teaser that would be posted a couple days before the big release. Getting the “perfect” shot hasn’t been going too well, especially since Harry knocked over the glass of orange juice in the very first take.

Despite his pleas and the biggest pair of puppy dog eyes, she declined his offer to be a part of the video, opting to sit and watch from afar. She has never been one to put herself into any situation that forced the attention more on herself than necessary. Besides, when their relationship is in the public eye (it’s, sadly, an inevitable part of their journey), she doesn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea about their relationship, that she’s simply using him to better herself.

The director calls for a quick lunch break before the next couple of scenes, and Harry took it as an opportunity to spend some time with her, having been distracted and busy for the better part of the day. He tugs her up from the worn chair, a brittle little thing that had been sitting in the patio of her rental house for what looks like centuries (she was honestly surprised when it didn’t crumble beneath her). Watching their footprints spread and sink and die beneath merciless waves as the tide rolls further and further in, they walk to a more isolated part of the beach.

A pair of green sunglasses, large and shaped like hearts, are perched on his head, pulling back the stray curls that always seem to fall onto his forehead, and the necklace she gave him for their anniversary sticks to the skin of his chest, just barely tucked beneath low swooping neck of a dark orange tank amongst an array of dozens of dangling charms and shells.

His eyes are crinkled form the blaring sun, but he still doesn’t move the glasses from his hairline; they don’t cover much of anything anyhow. His feet are still bare as he kicks through the sand, swinging their connected hands between them. The sun beats down on his freckled shoulders, and he savors the warmth. She stops suddenly and turns to face him, a faint smile creeping over her features as her nails tease across the green stitching of the tank.

“Ya know,” she begins, making him turn to face her. He has such a sweet little grin on his face, and she can’t help but melt at the sight. It never gets tiring being able to see Harry in his element.

He’s been beaming since they woke up this morning, especially since she told him she would be joining him at today’s shoot. While his other songs are very dear to him, they don’t hold a candle to Watermelon Sugar because it was made because of her; it was a culmination of everything he’s been through in the past two years, the highs and the lows.

It signifies his new beginnings with her.

When he met her, on that dry summer night, she made everything seemingly fall into place. And later that night, after a couple bottles of wine and a riveting game of twenty questions, he kissed her, her lips, soft and supple, tasting like cheap moscato and strawberries, and he felt like he was breathing for the first time; it was all very new and exciting and dangerous. He knew, after having just gotten out of a relationship, he shouldn’t put his heart so entirely on his sleeve, for fear of having it absolutely shattered. He fell for her hard and fast, despite his reservations and fears and common sense.

Looking back on it now, he’s glad he didn’t listen to his common sense. Then, he wouldn’t be walking with his soulmate on a beach now.

“You look really hot in this,” she says, her hands smoothing along his hips before connecting right above the curve of his bum. He cups her cheek, thumb tracing along the heated skin.

“Yeah?” His lips curl into a teasing smirk.

“Oh, yeah,” she returns the light tone, her nose just barely grazing against his. When she catches his lips, they’re sweet and sticky. She holds him steady by the cheeks, feeling the slight stubble. Hands grasped tightly to her bunched dress, he backs her up against a rock as her hands travel toward any piece of open skin she can feel, from his biceps to the tips of his fingers digging into her waist. She feels a rush of anxiety settles in her stomach as he hikes up her dress around her waist, his crotch grinding into hers.

While they used to fill her with dread, these nerves leave her eager and wanton, and she wants so badly to melt into him and have him take her however he wants, but that little voice, the one that always reminded her of every little thing that could possibly go wrong, is screaming at her to stop him. Harry, ever the pusher, who holds her hand and guides her through the things that she never thought she would before, would tell her to shove those fears back, that this is their moment to just be and live, just him and her, together.

Through her inner turmoil, she still focuses on her sensible side, and she hesitates.

“H,” she moans, tugging on his hair. He presses his lips to her neck, tongue dipping out to wet her skin, tasting, savoring her.

“Not that I’m not… loving what you’re doing, but—” Her voice breaks a little as he nibbles and sucks just below her jaw. “We could get caught,” she says breathily, and he pulls back, his hands still tucked in the hollow of her neck and her waist.

Despite the beach being very private, she can’t help but be worried that someone would catch them in such an intimate way, but he just gives her a comforting smile, their fingers interlacing at her hip, and she can feel her worries melt away. She still can barely believe that he can make nearly all of her nerves dissipate with just a simple look or touch.

“Isn’t that a part of the fun?”

Her heart jumps into her throat. Now, all she can think about how someone could catch them at any moment; all she can think about is how stupid and reckless it is for them, especially for him. It’s risky and nerve wracking, but her pussy still throbs in her underwear, wetness seeping into the already stained fabric. She could only imagine the person’s surprise if they rounded the corner to see him on his knees before her, her fingers tracing through his still wet hair as he works his mouth on her.

They’re hidden behind a set of pale rocks, plentifully dotted with dark moss. He nearly covers her, his thick arms resting on the rocks behind her, blanketing her in his shadow. He grinds his hips into her. She tucks a hand beneath the dark orange top, her thumb running along the fleshy meat of his hips, his sun kissed skin smooth beneath her touch. He spreads kisses down to that same weak spot beneath her jaw, still tender from his earlier ministrations.

“Okay,” she hums, finally sinking into him. Despite the heat from the burning sun, she embraces him, tugging and pulling him closer until they’re nestled close, chest to chest, his knee settled between her spread thighs, against the rock behind her.

“You jus’ gotta be quiet,” he mumbles.

That makes her chuckle.

“Me? I’m the loud one?”

Compared ot beginning of their relationship, she has learned how to be more expressive and emotive and assertive when it comes to sex, often telling him exactly what she needs, how she needs it, and when, but she still isn’t near as loud or talkative as he is. He could chatter her ear off about any just anything while he’s fucking her. Initially, it was odd; sex was never an experience she considered to be something that was really open or comfortable, if that makes sense. She always saw it as something that was supposed to be taken very seriously, and it was somewhat of a personal experience, despite it being between two people.

But, perhaps, that was just her anxiety telling her that it’s not a good idea, or it was because of her innermost fear of embarrassing herself.

However, it’s moments like these, where she can barely comprehend the world around her, only being able to move her head slightly, the words completely caught in her throat, that she’s glad that he talks her through everything; she’s glad that she can bear witness to the filthy words that leave his lips, words that make her tremble and quake with anticipation.

He cups her through thin panties, his nails tracing her swollen lips. His rings offer a different kind of friction, one she yearns for, rigid and relentless. She hooks a knee around his waist, and he cups the back of her thigh, the cotton of her dress pooling around his elbow. He pushes the panties to the side with his free hand.

“Your poor little peach,” he pouts teasingly, voice soft. He pinches her puffy clit, and her hips buck against the sudden, harsh touch. “So wet and swollen. ‘M sorry, babylove. If I knew you were feelin’ tingly, would’ve taken this walk earlier.”

He kisses behind her ear, fingers spreading her wetness over her folds, paying special attention to her painfully hard button, throbbing and aching from his faint brushes across her sensitive skin. She whines, head sinking against the rocks, eyes fluttering closed. He pulls her lips apart, until she’s full open to him, her tight, clenching hole seeping with arousal.

“What got you this worked up, lovie?”

Her thighs tremble and shake, her knees threatening to give at any moment.

“Was thinking about… you,” she admits softly, sweetly, and she can feel his bulge thicken just a little more against her.

“Me?” He has an incredulous tone, but the darkening edge to the laughter that punctuates it makes her thighs close around his hand. “Little ol’ me?” A flare of pink has started to form on the rounds of his cheeks, probably from the sun, but it looks cute on him.

“What were you thinkin’ ‘bout?”

“This,” she chokes out. That’s all she can really say at this point. With the pressured circles he’s kneading into her poor, swollen clit, she can’t think coherently. It’s not enough to make her come yet, but it’s enough to keep her satiated, just enough for her to teeter on the brink of insanity.

“Dirty girl,” he says, “thinking ‘bout me eating your pretty little peach out here, where anyone could see, your honey drippin’ down your thighs.” She clenches, aching and throbbing at his words. She can feel her arousal slip down her thighs. “Anyone could see us out here, sweetness.” He tuts, tapping the tips of his fingers against her poor bud, her hips buck at the slight friction, and she whines pitifully.

“Or is that what you wanted?”

He cocks his brow. He strokes his fingers along her swollen lips, nails slightly grazing the tender, pink inside, which makes her hips jolt into his touch. Breathing ragged, the meat of her thighs tense from his gentle touches, teasing and fleeting.

“Maybe you wanted someone to see us. You wanted them to watch me make you come with my mouth. Maybe they’ll think about those pretty noises you make while they come. Is that what you wanted?”

He sinks two fingers into her sopping pussy, stretching and filling her, and she cries out at the sudden relief. The burning ache inside her is quelled just a little bit more as he curls his fingers into her little spot. She slips, the rough rocks grating against the skin of her bare back; the pain lingers and heightens her senses, the throbbing pleasure from his movements sinking deep into her bones. He catches her before she can fall, knee still holding her up.

“Yes,” she whines, grinding into him. He sinks to his knees.

“So pretty, babylove,” he praises as he pulls back the hood of her clit. “Such a perfect little peach.” Suckling and nibbling at her swollen bud, her hips buck in time with his lips. He runs the flat of his tongue along the underside of her clit, her taste making his cock stir in his pants. Her walls clench around his fingers, sucking and pulling him deeper inside her. He pulls his lips back, his thumb pressing harshly into her bud, a stark contrast to the warmth from his mouth. He kisses the inside of her trembling thigh.

“Can you take another?”

She nods desperately, her hips grinding against him. He easily slips another finger, and he smiles as more arousal seeps down to his wrist.

“Never taken three, have ya? My good girl, so fuckin’ wet f’me,” he says, pulling at her swollen button with his free hand.

“What else were you thinkin’ ‘bout?”

She struggles to speak, her world still spinning and blurred from her impending orgasm. Her pussy tightens near painfully around his ring-clad fingers.

“Tell me,” he coaxes her, fingers fucking into her at a brutal pace, leaving her breathless and incoherent. She mumbles something through broken whines, her heaving chest stuttering. She can’t even keep her eyes open as she chases her coming high, her wetness squelching between his fingers.

“What was that?”

“Wanna choke on your cock,” she says through ragged moans. He smirks against her thigh.

“You want me to pull your hair back and tell you how much of a good girl you are while you take my cock in your pretty little mouth?”

“Yes, please,” she whines. She can actually feel her mouth water at the thought of shoving his cock deep in her throat with him moaning and claiming her and taking what he wants.

“Come for me, babylove, and then, you can have my cock,” he coos.

Her high takes over her with a burning fire, igniting every vessel in her body with ecstasy, sending waves of tremors and chills through her muscles, until it settles to smoldering embers, leaving her hungry and eager for him. She tugs him into a biting kiss, teeth tugging at his teasing lips. She wants to rip that orange top from him to feel his glistening skin against her, from the hardness of his chest to the soft little pooch that settles around his hips and stomach. She can’t now, but she’ll definitely have to play out that fantasy some other time.

He sits on his bum, the burning sand shifting and settling up around his thick thighs, but he doesn’t take much notice in that as she pushes his thighs apart, eagerly tugging his pants down. There’s a pretty red, nearly purple, hue to the head of his cock, precum slipping from the slit.

The fabric of his pants bunch up tightly underneath his balls, but it offers the perfect amount of pressure whenever his hips buck up. Her tongue traces along her lips, bitten and puffy, her eager eyes taking in everything he has to offer. His cock jumps a little under her gaze.

“Take it, lovie,” he moans.

And take it she does.

She licks the little divot of his balls, wetting the pliable skin before massaging her thumb into him, the way she knows he likes it. His eyes roll back. She presses the head into the soft skin of her cheek, making them puffed and protrude. She sinks further and further down, her wet lips tight and absolutely perfect against him.

“So pretty, baby,” he sighs, eyes fluttering closed as her throat tightens around him. Her teeth just slightly graze the throbbing vein on the bottom part of his shaft, making him twitch.

She grips tightly onto his pleated pants, twisting the thin fabric in little fists as she takes him entirely this time, choking her. Saliva dribbles from her lips to the swell of his balls, and he cups them, spreading the wetness over his sensitive skin. When she lets up, a string trails from her lips to the throbbing head.

“Such a good girl f’me,” he moans, brushing some wetness from her chin. He can feel himself twitch again at the sight of her, lashes clinging together with unshed tears, lips soft and plump and wet—she looks ethereal, absolutely divine. Her breasts are pressed tightly together, shifting slightly with every move of her wrist.

“My best girl.”

She jerks him in quick, wet strokes, the obscene sounds nearly muffled by the crashing waves nearby. A swell of wind brushes through, rustling his hair, and it sends chills down his spine, leaving his thighs quivering.

“Gonna come?” His sweet’s voice is raw and wrecked, and it makes him throb. She breathes sharply through her teeth, wiping her lips crudely with the back of her hand. She lets a thick drop of saliva slip past puckered lips and onto his swollen cock, and his hips jolt up as it trails teasingly down the ridges until it stops in her hand at the base of his cock, nestled tightly against the fine curls. Her other hand teases along the tip, just barely slipping it through her loose fist.

“Please, wanna taste it,” she whimpers, and he swears he could black out. His body is overwhelmed by his racing heart; he can feel it everywhere, from his ears to the tips of his toes, blood rushes through him, heating his skin. She wraps her lips tightly around the head, her cheeks hollowed, and she looks at him with hooded eyes, begging, pleading with him.

Her tongue suckles at that special spot on the underside of the tip that makes him see stars. With trembling hands brushing back the flyaways from her forehead and his face scrunching up, eyes closed, a toe-curling, all-consuming orgasm rushes through him and leaves his hips bucking and skin sticky. She laps at his cum, her pretty, puffy lips still wrapped around him to coax him through his high.

He pulls her up, his hands cupping the back of her neck, and she straddles him, his softening prick lying between them, still twitching slightly. He tugs her lips onto his, molding them together with swollen lips, saliva, and sweetness, twinged with salt and sex. He pulls their lips apart to finally catch his breath, but she continues to press her lips to his tender skin, her comforting kisses bringing him out of his euphoria induced lull.

A cute little purple flower catches the corner of his eye. It’s the only one sprouting beneath a heavy layer of sand, just barely peeking beyond the surface. He picks it.

“A flower for my flower,” he says sweetly, and she takes it, her eyes soft. She looks it over.

“I’m pretty sure this is a weed,” she laughs, rolling the stem between her fingers, and his eyes widen in offence.

“No, it’s a native wildflower.” He tries to defend himself, but she isn’t having it, soft billows of laughter falling from her swollen, wet lips. He pouts. “Fine, then, jus’ take my gift and completely squander it.”

Ever the dramatic one.

She stands up, brushing the sand that accumulated in the folds of her dress.

“Put your cock away. We should head back before everyone gets suspicious,” she says.

“After everything I do for you, you still make me put my own cock away,” he scoffs, teasing smile still curled over his features. He shakes his head.

“Last time I did, you said I was bein’ too rough,” she says, brow cocked and hip jutted. He concedes to her and tucks himself back into his slacks. “C’mon, sugar butt,” she says, pulling him onto his feet. He stumbles, standing more onto the heels of his feet to get used to the heat of the sand. She has the flower tucked behind her ear.

If anyone noticed their beaming smiles or their rumbled clothes or the scratchiness to her voice, they don’t say anything. They don’t say anything then, or when Y/N parts from him with a quick peck on the cheek and a pinch to his bum. They don’t say anything when he gives her even more teasing glances when he’s in front of the camera or when he stops by her after a quick wardrobe change and gives her a deep kiss, followed by a whispered promise of more to come.

—

#such a pretty title for such a dirty fic lol #harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles x reader #harry styles smut #harry styles one shot #ellie writes #ellie writes fluff #ellie writes smut #gif not mine #credit to owner

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childishfluff · 4 years

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Angel Milk and Bargaining Naps- [Little!Ranboo/CG!Tubbo CGLRE Oneshot]

Summary:

Ranboo flies all the way to Britain to meet one of his friends, Tubbo. The trip is tiring, but he jumps straight into a stream alongside his friend. He's tired and needs a nap, and a joke from the stream causes him to slip. Immediately following the stream, he falls into littlespace and just wants to play, despite his sleepiness. Luckily, Tubbo is understanding and prepared, with a sippy cup of angel milk and a cookie for the little. And lots of determination that goes towards getting the boy to rest, even if it's only for a bit. Some warm angel milk and a few convincing deals should do the trick. -- This is non-sexual, sfw age regression, dni if you're nsfw/abdl/ageplay/cgl/ect. If any of the creators included in this work say *anything* about being uncomfy with fan fiction/of agere content including them, I will take this down and/or modify it appropriately. If they have already said something that I'm unaware of, please let me know.

A/N: I'm gonna be honest, I didn't know if Ranboo lived with his mom or dad or whatever so I just assumed and made his parent figure (who literally doesn't have any lines she's just there) his mom. Anyways, this is just a soft fic that explores the friendship dynamic between Tubbo and Ranboo, because I really like it. This is about 3500-ish words, which is longer then some of my other oneshots, which is cool! I really hope that I wrote Ranboo well, I haven't seen much of anything for little!Ranboo yet and wanted to try it, y'know? I don't think there's any trigger warnings that I need to put, but lmk if there is something I missed. Enjoy the fic!

"Ranboo?"

"Tubbo!"

Tubbo ran up to the boy in the black and white mask, the other youtuber decked out in a simple outfit. The only thing signifying the presence of his online persona was the mask. Besides that little detail, just one thing so that Tubbo could spot him easily, he looked like any other person.

"You're taller then I thought you'd be," Tubbo muttered, looking him up and down as he came to stand in front of him. Ranboo stood in front of a car, his mother climbing out of the driver's side and going to the back.

"And you're shorter." Ranboo replied, flinching just a bit at the slam of the car door. He was going to be staying with Tubbo for a week, this was his first meet up. And face reveal. Even now, with his mask on, Tubbo had still seen more of his face then anyone else on the internet.

"Oh, how kind of you," Tubbo joked, rolling his eyes a bit and taking

"Shut up and hug me, you idiot," Ranboo said, opening his arms. "I flew in from America, I get hug." he repeated, almost sounding whiny.

Tubbo laughed, jumping into the embrace and melting into the hug. Ranboo gives good hugs, he decided mentally, not pulling away from the affection for a few long seconds. "It's so nice to finally meet you, This week is gonna be great." Tubbo said, pulling away and going to the back of the car, where Ranboo's mom was unloading luggage.

It was gonna be great, for sure.

Ranboo sat just off camera, his mask now off but sitting on his lap, as Tubbo rambled to the chat. "He's gonna be here for a whole week! Isn't that cool?"

Both boys had been pretty excited for the meet up, they had a lot planned. Tommy was supposed to come by for two days, the second one being a big event with Wilbur and Niki too, all later in the week. This was Ranboo's big trip to meet some of the people he made content with regularly, and he was pretty excited.

"Put on your mask and shit on and come here, Ranboob." Everyone in chat was asking to see Ranboo. This whole trip was kept secret from the internet and anyone not involved in it, it was a huge surprise to everyone.

"I'm not going to if you're gonna be mean," he said defiantly, crossing his arms and giving him a look. He did not appreciate the 'Ranboob' nickname, not at all.

"I'm not being mean!" Tubbo screeched, basically pouting at him. "Come onnnn." he whined.

The childish traits they were displaying were somewhat just played up for the camera, but they were both littles. They knew about one another, but they had managed to avoid talking about it so far, moving from bring Ranboo's stuff inside, straight into a stream.

"Okay, okay, hold on," Ranboo took a few moments to pull on his mask and sunglasses, before standing up. "Move my chair for me, I wanna make a dramatic entrance." he ordered.

"I'm not your maid," Tubbo declined.

"Dramatic entrance or I'm not moving."

"Fine."

Once Tubbo had moved his chair, Ranboo made his silly enterance, strutting over and taking his seat next to Tubbo. "Hello, chat. You can see me, that's different," he laughed a bit. "I don't usually use a facecam."

"Well, get used to it. We're gonna be doing lots of stuff with cameras this week."

They continued talking about some plans they had, videos to make, streams to do. They hopped on the Minecraft and Discord servers, jumping between voice chats and talking to everyone. Eventually, though, Ranboo started to get tired and whiny. He literally took a whole trip from America, the car ride from the airport, and then jumped right into a stream. He was sleepy, goddammit.

Maybe it was being sleepy, and also excited, but he seemed to be falling into littlespace unknowingly. Acting childish, even just for a joke, usually led to feeling childish.

"Tubboooo," He held out his words, interrupting whatever Tubbo was doing on the SMP. He leaned close to him as he spoke.

"Ranbooooo," his friend mimicked him in a teasing voice, not looking away from the screen as he made his avatar run around the minecraft server.

"End stream, nap." he requested, causing the other boy to laugh. "Please?" he added.

"You can nap, my bed's over there," Tubbo told him, pointing off camera. "But I'm not done."

Ranboo pouted under his mask. "You're mean, y'know." he claimed, earning a chuckle from Tubbo.

There was a lot of messages in the chat claiming that they were fighting like children, with all their whining and pouting. Neither of them took it in a mean way though, that's what they were going for. It was funny.

"Sure I am." Tubbo said, looking to him for a moment. He quickly paused to say, "We'll end the stream soon, promise. You can sleep after that." He spoke in a much softer voice then before, signifying that he wasn't joking or anything. He was catching on to Ranboo's little behaviors, past the bit.

Ranboo hummed, before looking back to the screen. Tubbo returned to whatever he was doing, and the chat was 'aww'-ing. Ranboo tried to focus on not completely slipping on stream, making sure that any childlike behaviors he exhibited could be passed off as a joke.

He didn't fidget with any sort of toy, or hold a stuffed animal, he just swung his feet under the table, which the viewers couldn't see. Tubbo noticed it, though.

Eventually, Tubbo said goodbye to chat, and ended the stream. Once he logged off of the minecraft server and turned off his computer, he turned his seat to look at Ranboo. He smiled softly, "Hi, buddy."

He re-greeted him, as if talking to a new person. He wasn't, but it was a way to show that he was welcoming Little Ranboo in a kind way. "Hello, Tubbo." he giggled at the nickname, smiling wide.

"How little are you right now?"

Ranboo thought for a moment, not replying at first. He was old enough to be talking, so far, not having many issues pronouncing things. He wasn't really that small, he regressed to this age by himself regularly. It was fun, and he could play, while still being just old enough to take care of himself.

"I'm five." he decided aloud, "For now."

"But that might change?" Tubbo asked in a questioning, curious tone. Unlike Ranboo, he was just pretending and acting childish on stream, now fading in to a very caregivery demeanor. His friend was obviously small, and he was there to help.

"I dunno."

"Hmm," Tubbo noted that that probably meant he would be slipping younger, even if Ranboo didn't want to admit that. Most of the time, if Ranboo had someone to watch him that he trusted, usually Tubbo or Tommy, he'd slip a lot younger. Because he didn't need to take care of himself, he didn't need to worry about staying big enough to care for himself.

"You said you were sleepy, right? You needed a nap."

"No, no, no," Ranboo denied, shaking his head. "Not sleepy anymore." he claimed, contradicting his previous request. He was sleepy, very much so, but now he wanted to play. Now that he didn't have any viewers to worry about, he just wanted to have fun.

"Oh, really?" Tubbo said, standing up from his seat and stretching.

"Mhm," Ranboo hummed, distracted with the task of stealing Tubbo's much more comfortable chair the moment he moved. He also got distracted with spinning around almost right away. Tubbo didn't stop him, a little amused with how easy it was to entertain him.

"You're not sleepy anymore, not at all?" Tubbo sounded disbelieving.

"Nope."

"Alright. Where'd you put your littlegear? Do you have a sippy cup?" Tubbo asked.

"Black bag," Ranboo replied, not even bother to stop the chair, spinning around and around. He giggled at the motion, stopping when he started to get dizzy. While he was distracted, Tubbo had managed to locate the little bag, pull out a sippy cup, and leave the room.

"Tubs?" he pouted, not liking being left alone. "Tubboooo," he whined, getting up from the seat. "Whoa!" he almost tripped and tumbled, realizing he was still dizzy, and therefore, more clumsy. Once he was standing more stably, he heard Tubbo.

"I'm in the kitchen, buddy!" he heard his friend's voice call out, immediately following it. He ran out of the room, making his way to the

He suddenly got shy when he passed his mom and Tubbo's at the table, talking to each other. He slowed down, walking straighter and trying to act 'big'. "They know, you're okay," Tubbo assured, giving him a soft look from his spot by the microwave.

Ranboo still didn't face the adults, going quiet as he went over to Tubbo, now walking instead of running clumsily. He knew that his mom was always supportive, but he still wasn't the most comfortable regressing around her, or adults in general. The only real exceptions to this was his youtube friends who were older then him, because he didn't exactly see them as 'adults'.

It wasn't like any of them were mature.

The two women seemed to notice his discomfort, simply continuing to talk to one another and not bothering him. If they didn't bring any attention to his childlike behavior, or pretend they didn't notice it, then maybe Ranboo wouldn't mind being childish around them. They didn't want to interrupt or make him feel invalid while he was having fun.

"What're you doin'? You left me." he pouted, suddenly realizing that he had yet to take off his mask and sunglasses when his jutted-out lip was met with fabric. He had spoke quietly, so only Tubbo could hear how little his voice was.

He pulled them off, stuffing them into his pocket and rubbing at his eyes. "I'm making you angel milk, I'm sure you'll like it." Tubbo replied, opening the microwave before it went off and pulling the sippy cup out. Ranboo immediately went to reach for it, curious about the new drink he hadn't tried, but Tubbo pushed his hands away.

He didn't usually drink milk, feeling like it was something for babies, not bigger boys like him. But he didn't reject the babying, Tubbo treating him like he was a little younger then he had claimed to be. He really didn't mind it.

"It's to hot for you, bud. Let's just wait a bit, yeah?"

"Oh." Ranboo seemed a little confused, and embarrassed. He should've known that it'd be to hot, it was just heated up. Simple forgetfulness like this made him feel so kiddish, and not in the good way. This was forgotten when Tubbo ruffled his hair, making him giggle a little louder then he would've liked.

"Do you wanna make a snack while we wait?" Tubbo tightened the lid of the cup onto it, before shaking the bottle and setting it on the counter for the time being.

"Please?" Ranboo confirmed, fiddling with the bottom of his shirt as he asked.

"Yeah, let's see what we have." Tubbo said, opening up cupboards and looking into the fridge, Ranboo simply following him around. Ranboo stopped him from closing a cupboard right before he did by pulling on his shirt, pointing to cookies that sat up in it. Tubbo chuckled, "I should've known you would've asked for cookies. You can have one, but only after eating something else, okay?"

Tubbo agreed to these rules, happy he was getting any at all. He watched Tubbo pull out a plastic plate for him, setting the promised cookie on the side of it. "We have fruit? Do you like grapes?"

Ranboo eagerly nodded, "The green ones?"

"Yep," Tubbo smiled, pulling them out. The next few minutes consisted of Tubbo washing the fruit, putting it on the plate, grabbing the milk, and leading them back to his bedroom.

"Can I sit in your chair, p'ease?" Ranboo asked politely as he shut the door behind them, Tubbo's hands to full to do so.

"Go ahead," Tubbo confirmed. "Good job on asking nicely," he added, earning a smile from the boy. Ranboo immediately ran over to the chair, sitting in it and spinning again.

"Be careful, sweetie. I heard you almost fall because you were dizzy," Tubbo reminded. Ranboo's face flushed as Tubbo continued, "I know you're a bit clumsy when you're small, I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

Ranboo didn't know Tubbo could hear that. He wasn't that clumsy, he thought. The stupid chair just made him dizzy.

Tubbo went over and sat in the chair Ranboo was originally in, not commenting on his blushing. "Have you ever tried Angel Milk before?" Tubbo questioned, changing the subject to avoid embarrassing him more, shaking the bottle again once setting the plate of snacks on the desk in front of the computer.

"Nuh-uh," Ranboo shook his head. "Is it yummy?"

"Mhm, it's warm milk with sugar and vanilla and cinnamon in it. It's really yummy," Tubbo confirmed. He tried feeling the outside of the cup, not being able to tell exactly how hot it was. He tipped it over once putting the tip against his finger, letting out just enough of the milk to know the temperature. "I think this has cooled off enough for you, buddy. Here."

Ranboo took the royal blue sippy cup in both hands. The cup part was clear, so you could see the liquid inside, and the lid was his favorite color. The cup was a little smaller then a normal cup, but it was shaped like one, so if there ever came a time where he had to hide that he was using a sippy cup, he could just take the lid off and probably get away with it.

He sipped it, liking the feeling of the warm, but not too hot liquid on his tongue. He drank a bit of it before saying anything. "Yummy," he decided, in just one word, speaking with a soft smile. He leaned back into the chair, continuing to drink it. He seemed calmer, softer, even.

"I'm glad you like it, little one. Maybe don't drink it all before you even start eating, though."

"Oh," Ranboo said, pulling the cup away from his mouth. "Mkay." he agreed, wiping at his lips with his hand.

"You eat while I get some more of your little stuff out, okay?"

"mhm." Ranboo only hummed, swinging his feet under him like he had done earlier. After a minute or so of eating and looking around the room mindlessly, he felt something get set on his head. He looked up, causing the item to fall. The stuffed toy fell into his lap as Tubbo came around the chair, sitting down, holding a few things. He set the stuff in his lap.

"Boo!" he giggled, holding the toy bear close to his chest. 'Boo the Bear' was his favorite stuffed animal, and it was the only on he brought with him, and he was glad he did. To some extent, he knew he'd slip during this trip at some point, that's why he brought all the little stuff. He just didn't expect it to be so quickly.

"I found him hiding in your bag," Tubbo joked, picking up something from his lap. Pajamas.

"No!" Ranboo immediately said, without Tubbo getting the chance to say anything. "Don' need a nap." he huffed.

"I think you do. Just for a bit, so you have more energy to play later!" Tubbo spoke in a mock-excited tone, trying to paint the idea of napping in a more positive light for the little.

Spoiler alert, it didn't work well.

"Noooo," Ranboo whined.

"Doesn't cuddling up with Boo in comfy pajamas sound nice, sweetie?" He tried again.

Ranboo thought for a moment, shrugging. He casted his eyes downward, taking another drink from his cup, suddenly realizing how sleepy the warm liquid made him. Of course, he didn't catch onto the fact that Tubbo did that on purpose, but he didn't really need to know that.

"I'll nap with you, if you want. I promise, I won't have any fun without you."

Ranboo looked up, "Just for a bit?" he asked, in his now babyish voice. Tubbo was doing a fairly good job of convincing him.

"I'll wake you up in an hour or two, promise." Tubbo confirmed.

Ranboo thought again, glancing at the cookie on his plate before coming up with another question. "Can I have more cookies when I wake up? And more milk?"

Tubbo was slightly amused by the fact that he was treating this like some soft of business deal, but he was gonna take what he could get. "Sure thing."

"Okay," Ranboo agreed, hesitancy seemingly gone. "You have to cuddle with me and Boo, though! An- and play with me when I wake up!"

"Deal." Tubbo chuckled, ruffling his hair. "Now, let's finish your food and then get ready for your nap."

Ranboo was able to finish his grapes and his cookie in just a few minutes, sipping the last of his milk before setting it on the desk with the plate. "All gone," he said, yawning a bit. He rubbed a his eyes, leaning back into the seat. He was a lot sleepier then he thought he was.

"Yep, good job. Now, what do we do next?" Tubbo asked.

Ranboo sat up a bit, tilting his head, "Comfy clothes?" he offered, earning and approving hum from Tubbo.

"Are you big enough to do this yourself?" Tubbo handed him a stack of clothes, Ranboo nodding as he took it. Yeah, he was a little younger then five, but he could pull himself a little older to get dressed.

He ran off to the bathroom, leaving Tubbo with the important job of watching Boo. While he was gone, Tubbo moved around the pillows and blankets on his bed so that he'd be more comfortable. Ranboo came back, standing at the door shyly, clad in pajama pants and a matching slight-oversized soft cotton shirt.

"Look at how cute you look! You're so adorable." Tubbo cheered immediately, once picking up on his nervousness.

He was complimenting the boy because he seemed to be nervous about wearing more 'little' clothes around him, because until now, he was wearing 'big kid' clothes and just feeling small. Now, he looked it too. The pattern on the clothes was a bunch of little gold crowns, on a black backdrop.

"T'ank you," Ranboo shut the door behind him again, coming over to the bed and climbing onto it. He took Boo from Tubbo when he offered him the toy, coming up by the pillows and trying to position himself. As he did that, Tubbo shut off the light, glad it was the middle of the day so he didn't have to worry about any 'scared of the dark' issues. "Tubs?"

"Hmm?" The mentally-older boy replied, grabbing one last thing from the bedside table and climbing into bed beside Ranboo, facing him. Ranboo was curled up, stuffed bear cuddled to his chest, content with Tubbo just being close to him. They weren't cuddling, but he was willing to settle with just knowing that he was right there.

"m' feelin' smaller," he admitted after a moment, shy about the confession, yawning again as he sunk into the comfort on the soft pillows.

"Yeah?" Tubbo asked, looking at him softly. "How small?"

"lots an' lots."

"That's so small!" Tubbo, again, was amused by his childish actions. "Do you need a pacifier, sweetie?"

Ranboo, if any bigger, would've protested against the idea of using a pacifier and being called a baby, but he just nodded a bit. His demeanor was softer, and shyier. And it was easy to tell that he had trouble talking now.

"Good thing I already pulled one out for you," Tubbo laughed, revealing the last item he grabbed. A white pacifier, simple and plain, stuffed into his bag just in case he needed it. Tubbo lifted it to Ranboo's lips, the little taking it in his mouth and suckling on it a bit before letting his eyes drift shut.

Later on, he'd be embarrassed about using a pacifier in front of Tubbo, but right now, he was to small and sleepy to even care. The rest of the day, along with the rest of the meet up, would be great. Ranboo would wake up big, and they'd record a video with Tommy and then they'd watch movies. It'd all be great.

But right now, neither of them were worried about the rest of the day, because Ranboo was small and sleepy. Before falling asleep, he mumbled his last words before his nap.

"Ni' ni', Tubs." Tubbo has to stop himself from cooing at his adorable sleepy mumbling. Tubbo was glad that this was something they could support each other with, that this was something Ranboo trusted him with. He was so lucky. He replied, in the simple soft tone that he'd been using all day,

"Night, buddy."

A/N: okay so they meet up for a week, and I also mentioned tommy, wilbur, and niki, so there's room for me to write another oneshot in this universe. So if that's something you want, then go ahead and request in the comments! I imagine that tubbo and tommy are also littles, while wilbur and niki are cgs.

You can also request in-the-smp fics or just another oneshot for anyone! I might not write it, but please, still request, because the worst that can happen is that I say no.

also someone recently tried to request a fic involving an abusive cg and I just wanna say, I will never write anything like that, so don't request it. The farthest I will go is a caregiver yelling a bit, *NOTHING MORE*.

anyways, please leave feedback in the replies/reblogs/my ask box, on what you thought about this oneshot. Your favorite scene, cutest moments, things that you'd like to see within this universe. Whatever you want, feedback helps! Thanks for reading!

#dsmp #dream smp #ranboo #tubbo #agere #cglre #dream smp agere #little!ranboo #ranboo agere #cg!tubbo #tommyinnit #wilbur soot #niki

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luffles424 · 4 years

Text

Dark Side (01)

☼ Pairing: Namjoon x reader x Jungkook

☼ Genre: Star Wars au, Sith!Namjoon, Sith!Jungkook, Sith!reader, fluff, (future) smut, bit of angst, e2l, magical artifacts

☼ Count: 16.8K

☼ Warnings: violence (there’s some fight scenes), minor unnamed character death, mentions of enslavement

☼ Summary: You end up in the wrong temple at the wrong time and you’re certain that it spells nothing but your death. Except, it doesn’t. Has everything you’ve learned about the Sith been wrong? Or is it perhaps just these Sith that are different?

(This takes place long before the movies, it’s based around the SWTOR game, so it takes place roughly 3500 years before the events of the movies.)

☼ a/n: This is just... so wildly different from what it was originally suppose to be (originally was just a pwp with just Joon) and now there’s so much plot I’ve had to split it into two parts because now its a monster. It was also suppose to be posted on Star Wars day and I’ve clearly very badly failed on that part. This is primarily inspired by Joon’s 2018 MGA outfit and then Kook’s look when he wears a giant hood and looks like a sith. (I’ve also got some pictures of all three looks if y’all are interested in me posting that (they’re just from a dress up game but I have zero drawing skill)) Let me know what you think! My ask box is always open ~ 💙💙💙💙

Part 2

You press yourself back against the pillar, the coolness of the stone seeping through your ragged clothes, a stark contrast to your heated skin. It’s too hot on this planet, even down in this tomb it’s too hot. You listen, hearing the scuff of footsteps against the sandy stones before they stop. They’re close. So close to you, it feels like your heart is in your throat as you wait and hope for them to leave.

Your gaze darts around and you spy your pack, too far away for you to reach without moving. And no matter how hard you try, you know what a futile attempt it would be to try to move with all the sand, even the slightest adjustment of stance would be audible. Because if you could hear this other person, they’d most assuredly hear you too.

It remains quiet for a few more moments before they let out an irritated sigh. “I know you’re there. You might as well just come out.” You remain frozen, you know they didn’t see you, their shadow gave them away before you would’ve been visible to them. There’s an annoyed growl. “You can either come out on your own or I can force you out.”

They put a weird emphasis on the word force, it makes something in you prickle at the overall command, something that sits just under your skin. You glance to your pack again. If you can edge your way out in front of them just right, you can get closer to your pack and subsequently, to your balster. It’s a shitty little thing. It’s probably not good for anymore than just one shot. But if you’re lucky, you’re only going to need the one shot.

You step out, shuffling a few steps towards your pack, as close as you think you can manage without the other growing suspicious. You know how you look, how you always look, a little dirty from scavenging, clothes torn and repaired, not necessarily with the steadiest of hands. Eyes hard from years of distrust. You let your shoulders slump, you know you can try to play up the runaway slave easily. You’ve done it before, it’s not entirely difficult given that you actually are one, but you’re far from that scared, timid girl anymore.

You keep your head down, but let your gaze wander over the man before you. His dark hair is longer than you’d expect of someone on this planet and its fluffiness is at odds with the glower on his face as his eyes rake over you too. He’s too clean and put together to be from around here, you know that much immediately. His clothes are dark, from the black cloak around his shoulders to the layers of black cloth and leather that cover him. The only thing that stands out is the red leather straps that accent his boots and the deep red fabric cinched around his waist, which draws your attention to the silver and black glint of metal hanging from his belt, signifying what he was. Sith.

Your stomach drops as your blood runs cold. Your chances to get out of here just got even lower, practically nonexistent. You were nothing to him and a sith would have no problem with getting rid of you should you be in his way, which given that you’re scavenging in a tomb, you probably are. You glance quickly to your bag, even if you die, if you were quick enough maybe you could still get your shot off. You certainly weren’t going to make this easy for him.

He follows your gaze and snorts. “Don’t even think about it.”

You’re going to die anyway. There’s no way you’re getting out of this, you have nothing to lose.

But you don’t even get a step before he’s thrown a hand out and you feel your oxygen cut off. Your hands scramble uselessly at your neck, but there’s nothing there for you to try to pry away to give you your breath back. He tuts at you, walking closer until he replaces the force choking you for his own hand. He tightens his grip and you claw at his hand, struggling to get away. You barely register his words as you try to get him off of you.

“Now then, little runaway, before I drag you back to whatever sorry hole you thought you could get away from, you have something of mine and I’d like it back now.”

He lifts you, until your toes are just barely brushing the ground. You don’t know what you could possibly have of his that he’d want, this isn’t even a sith tomb. Your mind races, you’re short on options at this point, held with your oxygen cut off like this. If you could just get to your bag. Your hands wrap around his forearm for lack of anything else to do. Then a small glimmer of a plan forms. It’s certainly not the best and if it even works then you’ll end up on your ass too. But it will hopefully serve as enough of a distraction for you to be able to grab your pack.

You tighten your grip as best as you can and look him in the eyes. He looks annoyed and you’re fairly certain that he’s said something else, but there’s a ringing in your ears now and your vision is starting to go black. You muster every ounce of strength you can and lift your legs, planting them firmly on his chest and push, relishing his brief look of surprise as your feet lift.

You expect him to maybe stumble, caught off guard enough that he releases your throat at the very least. What you don’t expect though, is for him to fly back 20 feet to slam into a pillar on the opposite side of the room. You hear his wheeze as his breath is knocked from him as he slides down to the base of the pillar to crumple in a dazed heap.

You hit the ground with a gasp, the air burning your throat and lungs as it floods your system. You take only a single deep breath before you’re scrambling closer to your pack and yanking your blaster free from the confines. You turn and point it at him just as he gets to his knees, hand outstretched to do… something. Something that you really don’t want to find out.

But there’s a shout of ‘enough’ that comes from neither of you that halts both of you. The power in the command makes you falter just slightly, end of your blaster wavering from where it’d been pointed at the other man. The other man looks equal parts pissed and nervous. You glance towards the entrance and watch the one who spoke enter. He’s dressed in a similar manner to the other. His hair though is shorter, blond, and more meticulously styled than the other’s. Fuck, just your luck, two sith. He waves a hand passively to the man you had been fighting.

“That’s enough, Jungkook.” His voice is soft spoken, but there’s an undeniable undercurrent of ‘or else’ that follows it that has you wanting to follow his order even though it wasn’t directed at you.

The man, Jungkook you presume, drops his hand and his murderous gaze turns to you. “She’s in the way, master,” he spits out.

Another hand wave and Jungkook slumps down, clearly upset that he’s not being listened to. The man approaches you, head tilted in curiosity. He flicks his hand and your blaster flies from your hand to smash against a pillar. You’re so dead now, you clutch your pack closer to you like a shield.

He reaches out a hand, unphased by the way you push yourself back. “You have the holocron I’ve been looking for. Will you hand it over?”

Your brows furrow, glancing from your pack back to this man. He must be crazy if he really thinks you’ll just hand something over that you could sell and get yourself off this blasted planet.

His face is disarmingly serene when he drops his hand after you refuse to respond. You don’t know whether you should be relieved or on edge. He studies you and seems to come to a decision. He turns and walks away, leaving you even more perplexed.

“Jungkook, bring her with.”

Twin shouts of ‘what’ ring out. Yours in confusion and Jungkook’s in anger and indignation.

“You can’t be serious!” he continues.

The man turns to him and you can see the fire in his eyes despite the fact that his face remains passive. “Do you think you know better than me, Jungkook?”

Jungkook shrinks under the look, murmuring a soft, “No, master.”

“Then take her to the ship. She may hold on to her bag if it makes her feel better.” He gives him a warning look. “It shall be handled carefully, we cannot afford for that holocron to be broken. It will set my work back years.”

The man leaves, ascending to the exit and leaving a heavy silence in his wake. You wonder if you could run. A scoff finally breaks that silence and you jerk your head to stare at Jungkook. He mutters something further in a language that’s unfamiliar to you and approaches, running a hand through his hair.

“I don’t know why Namjoon won’t just let me kill you or send you back to your little shithole.”

You glare at him, putting the strap of your bag over your head to let it hang, hand still clutching the strap tightly. His master may be willing to bring you with, but Jungkook clearly doesn’t share that sentiment and you wouldn’t put it past him to lie and say you tried to run. You straighten your back and make every attempt to look imposing.

“Listen here, you rockhead, you don’t scare me.”

His eyes widen in surprise, but you don’t give him a chance to respond, instead turning on your heel and following his master out of the tomb. You might as well milk his kindness while he’s got it. Before he changes his mind and you maybe end up dead in a sandpit somewhere.

You don’t really know how long the trip lasts. Once you exited the tomb, Jungkook seemed to have snapped out of his stunned surprise, quickly following so he could seize your arm roughly and drag you in the direction of a nearby ship. Not like you couldn’t have puzzled out that it was theirs, given that there was nothing around for miles. It’s nice, nicer than anything you’ve seen in a long while in this place. You’re surprised that it stands untouched given the sheer amount of scavengers on this planet.

Once drug on board, you’d been shoved into what you assume Jungkook is deeming your temporary prison. It’s too big to be such, and given the ship, you doubt that they actually had any sort of dedicated jail space on board. It’s a small room that looks more like it’s usual purpose is for storage. Containers are stacked neatly along the walls and there’s a cot in the corner as well. That’s where you take a seat for the duration of the ride.

When Jungkook had pushed you in, he’d looked you over in disgust, muttering out a warning about not trying anything and then the door was sliding shut and you heard the lock engaging. What did he expect you to try in a glorified closet? As far as you can tell, the things that are stored here would do little to help you. Although you do have to resist the urge to swipe some of the nicer looking spare circuitry, knowing how much you could sell it for.

So instead you sat and thought. Tried to figure out what this sith could possibly think about offering you that he couldn’t just do so in the tomb. Or why he didn’t simply kill you and leave you there. You wouldn’t have even been the first scavenger body left in that tomb. Anyone who found you would’ve just thought you to be another unfortunate scavenger. And there’s certainly no one who would’ve come looking for you or asking questions.

It makes you wary. Sith aren’t the paragons of trust anyway, but one that seems to want to take you to a place that you don’t even know the name of is a little alarming. You don’t think you could outpower him either. Jungkook, probably. Your scuffle in the tomb spoke volumes of the fact that you could maybe have taken him. But Namjoon, you definitely couldn’t. He’d wielded his power so easily and effortlessly when he’d talked to you that it looked like he hadn’t even thought about what he was doing, just something that was second nature to him, as easy as breathing.

You only know that you’ve arrived at whatever the destination is by Jungkook’s return. The glower is still painted on his face and he’s quick to take your arm again and pull you along. You blink as you exit the ship, eyes widening as you take in your new surroundings. You’ve never seen so many towering buildings in person before. The sky is clouded and you would think it night were it not for the fact that it’s clearly busy as if it were the middle of the day.

“Where are we?”

Jungkook scoffs. “Stars, seriously? This is Dromund Kaas. The seat of the Empire.”

He tugs you down the ramp, but you’re too distracted by the buildings around you. Everything gleams despite the low light and your eyes shine with wonder. Everything is so full of life. And once you exit the port into a more prominent thoroughfare, people move in large crowds, shopping and laughing. There’s stalls with food that others stop at. Your stomach growls at the scents that fill your nose but Jungkook pays it no mind, either not having heard it or, more likely, he doesn’t care.

He weaves through the crowd easily until you come to a large building and you’re led inside to a lift. You startle when it starts to move. You’ve heard about them before, but you’ve never seen one before, let alone rode one and the sensation is disorienting. When the lift stops, the door swishes open and Jungkook is moving before you can even blink. You pass by a window, freezing when you see how high up you are. Everything looks so small from up here. You’re stopping forces Jungkook to stop as well, both angered and perplexed that he can’t tug you along.

The city sprawls out below you, the view is both breathtaking and terrifying. You thought you’d be doomed to a life of sand and sun, but even if Namjoon decides to kill you to get what he needs, then at least you can say you’d gotten to find your favorite view. Jungkook tugs you roughly and you stumble towards him.

“Come on, runaway. You don’t want to keep Namjoon waiting,” he smirks then and it’s full of malice. “Or maybe you should keep taking in the view. I think I’d like that outcome much more.”

You glare at him and push him in the direction he had been headed before you stopped. You weren’t going to make it that easy for him. He sighs, like he had wished that you would choose to stay in place. Arriving at an innocuous looking door, Jungkook enters a code into the lock and the door grants you both entry.

He leads you through an opulent apartment, the colors are all muted but warm and while there seems to be a lot of metal used, it looks cozy. The most startling thing is the greenery. There are plants everywhere, the one point of color in the room that isn’t muted. They all look well maintained and cared for and you’ve never seen so much green in one place. Especially one so small. There’s more windows that you pass as Jungkook takes you down a short hall to another door.

He knocks once before entering, giving you a shove as he releases you and he moves off to the side to lean against a wall. You stumble and glare at him as you right yourself. You glance around, he’s brought you to an office, your gaze settling on the large ornate desk in front of you. Lifting your gaze, you realize this must be Namjoon's office, given that he’s sat behind the desk, reading through a datapad like he hadn’t just taken you from another planet and might be preparing to have to get rid of a body.

He pays you no mind for a while, leaving you to shift uncomfortably. Was this meant to be a ploy to get what he wants, make you make the first move? You won’t play into his game and you straighten and stare him down, expression carefully blank. You’ve certainly kept your face blank through worse, dealing with your old seller. Finally he looks up, looking bored. He glances over you, eyes pausing on your pack that’s still clutched close to your body. He looks back to the datapad before setting it down and folding his hands together in front of him casually, like this is an everyday occurrence for him.

“I have two options for you moving forward.” You wonder if one of those is death. “The first is, give me the holocron in your bag there and in return, you will receive 1 million credits and a ride to whatever planet you wish to travel to.”

You blink. Had you really heard him right? A million credits? And you get to leave, alive? There’s no way. He stands, moving towards the window in his office. How many windows did they have here? They were everywhere. You couldn’t really have windows back home, too much sand and solid walls kept the heat out better.

He paces for a few moments like he’s mulling over his words before he continues. “Or,” he stops, back facing you. “You give me the holocron and you can become a sith.”

Jungkook makes a noise of protest. “You can’t be serious! Her? A sith? That’s a joke, right?”

Namjoon turns, giving Jungkook a dark look that shuts the younger man up immediately. His attention turns back to you and he moves closer, circling you. You feel like you’re on a selling block being inspected. “You’ll become my apprentice, train under me, carry out missions, and rise through the ranks. You’ll gain unimaginable power.” He stops directly behind you, leaning in till his lips just barely brush your ear and you shudder. “Isn’t that what you wish for most? To never be as powerless as you were when you were enslaved?”

He walks away, going back to his desk and picking the datapad back up to read like he didn’t just offer you a new life on a silver platter. “The choice is yours. You may think it over for a while. But time is precious and I won’t wait long.”

With that, his attention is completely taken by the datapad in his hand. You see Jungkook fuming in the corner, clearly not liking the offer Namjoon has extended to you. You can’t even enjoy it, your mind is reeling from the deal.

A million credits. Even in your wildest dreams you never envisioned having that much. You could get so far away from your old life. You’d never have to worry about money again. Never have to worry about looking over your shoulder, waiting for someone to catch on that you’d run from your owners. You could live a normal life. The money makes his other offer seem so absurd.

You? A sith? Could you really do something like that? You know you’ve never been entirely innocent, stealing a regular occurance when you were just trying to survive. But sith are evil. Did you think you could be evil?

Namjoon must think you could be, you doubt he extended the offer for no reason. He must see something in you that makes him want to train you. You think about the power you’d gain. No one could control you again without your permission. You could defend yourself so easily. You’d wield power you never could’ve imagined.

You lick your lips. It’s so enticing. It’d be so easy to just say yes, to hand over the holocron and become his apprentice. He didn’t seem wholly evil. He offered you money or a new life. But appearances could always be deceiving. You have no idea if he would follow through with his side.

You reach into your bag, pulling the glowing pyramid out. You stare at it and you know your decision. You set the holocron down in front of Namjoon and he looks up expectantly.

“Train me.”

He smiles and for the first time, you realize he has dimples. They would make him seem sweet and innocent were it not for the holocron below, casting red across his face and making the smile seem far more sinister. He nods.

“Wise choice, little one.” He waves Jungkook over. “Take her to Korriban. Get her registered at the academy and started on her trials. You can work on your training there as well while you wait.” He glances over you from head to toe, lips twisting in distaste. “Take her to get more appropriate clothes as well. And her saber when she passes. Ensure that she gets anything that she needs.” He turns his gaze to Jungkook, expression dark. “Understood?”

Jungkook’s lips twitch. “Yes, master.”

Namjoon turns back to you, a pleased smile curling his lips. “I have a few things that will keep me here for a while so I won’t see you until you return. But you will have your hands plenty full taking your trials. You will be in excellent care while I’m occupied as Jungkook will also be there. If you need anything, be sure to contact him.” Namjoon seems to realize something. “Right, Jungkook, get her a communicator as well when you’re getting her set up at the academy.” He looks thoughtful for a moment before nodding. “That’ll be all. Jungkook, go ahead and take the smaller ship.”

With that, Namjoon’s dismissal of you both is clear as he turns his attention to the holocron. Jungkook storms out of the room and you hurry to follow after, knowing that he won’t wait for you in this mood. He angrily paces the living room for a few moments before he’s rounding on you, finger jabbing into your chest.

“I don’t know what Namjoon is fucking playing at, but you will not be his apprentice. That’s me.” He sneers. “You’re going to be eaten alive at the academy. Namjoon has lost his mind if he really thinks you have what it takes to be a sith.”

You tilt your head, smiling and taking a step closer to Jungkook that seems to throw him off guard. “Oh? Namjoon certainly seems to be confident in my abilities. I’m sure it’ll be no time before I take over for you.”

His tongue pushes at his cheek in irritation. “Stars, I can’t wait to watch you fall. Won’t be so fucking cocky then, will you, runaway?”

He turns and leaves, you trail along after him, smirk firmly in place. Even if you don’t make it through whatever training you’ve got coming, you’re certainly going to enjoy teasing Jungkook. Especially when he makes it so easy to do.

Once back down on the ground, Jungkook continues his pace. You’d think he was trying to lose you in the crowd but his pace is just slow enough for you to just keep up with him. You come to a large plaza and you look around in wonder at all the people and merchants here. There’s more people here just shopping than there was in the entirety of the village you grew up in.

You almost lose Jungkook, distracted by a stall selling shiny trinkets, but he doubles back to drag you away. You can feel the irritation rolling off of him and that just makes you giggle. He finally comes to a store, one that’s actually in a building, and shoves you through the doorway.

The walls are stacked high with rolls of fabric, from sheers and lace to leather in every shade you could ever imagine. You stand in the doorway, overwhelmed by the sheer amount of fabric in the room. Jungkook slips past you, craning his neck to search the shop.

“My, my! Is that my little Jungkook again!” A voice calls from somewhere among the stacks of fabric.

Jungkook’s cheeks flare red and he glares at you as you bite your lip on a snicker. A small, older woman finally comes into view, pulling on a pair of glasses. Her already wide smile widens when her gaze falls on Jungkook. She immediately prods his stomach.

“Have you been eating well, boy?”

Jungkook pouts, actually pouts, and gently pushes her prodding hands away. “Bhea, please. Not now.” He whines and oh, you’re so enjoying this. “I have work for you.”

The woman, Bhea, frowns at that. She steps back slightly to look over Jungkook’s figure, shoving his cloak off so it puddles on the floor at his feet. She tilts her head and gestures to the expanse of him and you can’t help the way your eyes trail along his figure, the thick red belt at his waist does wonders to accentuate his tiny waist. He may be a jerk, but he’s got a great ass.

“I see nothing wrong with what I’ve already made.”

Jungkook makes a face, quickly stooping to pick up his cloak and fasten it back around his shoulders. He shakes his head and gestures towards you. “Not for me. A… new recruit.” His face twists with the last word.

“Is that your way of saying you’ve got a girlfriend? My little Jungkook is growing up so quick.” She rests a hand on her heart and Jungkook’s cheeks flood red and he waves his hands.

“No, I- That’s… She’s not my girlfriend. She’s nothing to me.”

Bhea gives him a nod and smirk and you can’t tell if she said that to tease him or if she really thought that. But the reaction was certainly worth it so you can’t be too upset by it. She turns her gaze to you finally. “Oh my, what a pretty little thing you are.” She coos, stepping closer as she inspects you. “We’ll get you fixed up with something much more suitable. Not these rags here.”

Your cheeks heat in embarrassment. You knew your clothes were shabby, but you didn’t think they were all that bad. You did your best to keep them looking decent.

Bhea pays no mind to you, taking your hand and leading you towards the back of the shop. Jungkook follows behind. She leads you to a room where a droid sits, coming to life once she enters. She gestures to it.

“This is T43, he’ll take your measurements and then we can go pick out some fabrics and talk styles.”

She encourages you closer to the droid before turning and shooing Jungkook from the room. “You go, you don’t need to be in here for this.”

Jungkook splutters a protest but does nothing to stop Bhea as she pushes him out of the room and closes a curtain. She turns back to you with a smile, directing you so the droid can take all of your measurements while idly mentioning what sort of styles and colors would look good on you.

You barely get a word in as she happily rambles and you think that she’s mostly talking for her own benefit. Once you’ve been measured, she leads you back out to the main part of the shop and you see Jungkook looking over a stack of reds. You want to laugh at the predictability but Bhea is pulling you towards a stack of sheers.

Jungkook notices your return, frowning when he sees what Bhea is pawing through. “Those seem unnecessary.”

Bhea shoots him a look, eyebrow raised. Her gaze drops to his belt before dragging back up to look him in the eye. “Is it? Who says that a sith must dress boring in order to be a sith?” She taps her chin. “I would think Sith would be much more flexible in clothing given how simple the Jedi go. Am I wrong? You chose that belt when you didn’t need it.”

Jungkook pouts and you really wish you could get a picture for posterity. He might hate you, but he’s adorable when he pouts like that. “I suppose. Just… Make sure she can fight and move in whatever you make.”

She gives him a patronising smile. “What sort of seamstress do you take me for? She’ll be able to do anything in whatever I create for her.”

Jungkook bows his head, looking thoroughly chastised. “Of course, Bhea. I do not doubt your abilities.”

Nodding, Bhea turns back to the fabric, pulling colors out to hold against you before putting them back. She leads you around the shop, stopping at the leather fabric and linen as well. Finally, you’ve circled back to Jungkook where she waves you both out.

“Come back in 3 hours and she will have her clothes.”

“What? But-” Jungkook starts.

She holds up her hand before pointing out the door. “Go. Eat. I’m sure you’ve journeyed far today. Come back in 3 hours.”

Jungkook sighs but nods, turning and leaving with you in tow. He stands outside the shop, hands on his hips as he looks around.

“Where are we going?”

Jungkook’s face morphs into a scowl. “I’m going to get something to eat. I don’t care what you do.” He starts to walk away.

You follow, nudging his shoulder. “Namjoon told you to take care of me. So we’re going to get food.”

Jungkook opens his mouth, likely to argue but you catch the scent of something that makes your mouth water. You grab his arm to keep him still and inhale deeply. “Stars, what is that smell?”

You look around, eyes finally landing on a stall nearby that seems to be selling grilled meat. Your eyes alight when you see it and you immediately move towards it, dragging a protesting Jungkook with you. He can protest all he wants, it’s been so long since you’ve seen so much meat.

You stop in front of the stall, pouting up at him. “I want these.”

Jungkook looks at you like you’ve grown another head. “Then buy them.”

You look down, toeing at the ground. Maybe you shouldn’t have asked. Jungkook doesn’t seem likely to be sympathetic to the fact that he interrupted your attempt to get credits earlier. The silence stretches before Jungkook seems to realize the problem. “You don’t have any money.” It’s not a question.

“I would’ve if you two hadn’t shown up and taken what I was going to scrap.”

Jungkook looks even more perplexed. “You were going to scrap that? Do you know how much you could’ve sold that for elsewhere?”

“And how the hell would I have done that? Did you see any convenient places to do it while you were there?” You turn and walk away. Namjoon can tell him what to do till he’s blue in the face, but you know that won’t change Jungkook’s behavior when Namjoon’s not there to force him to be nice. “Do whatever you want. I’ll see you back at the shop.”

You wander the market for a little while. Trying not to stray too far and get lost. That’s the last thing you need, getting lost on an unfamiliar planet with no money and no place to go. You don’t walk for too long, fear of getting lost and hungry forcing you to head back to the shop, finding a bench nearby to sit on. At least sitting wouldn’t expend your energy too much. You watch people as they come and go in the market, thinking about how the future might end up.

You’re tired, but years of being on the run keeps you alert enough, knowing that this is the worst place you could possibly fall asleep. Even if you don’t have that much with you, you’d most likely just be sold off yourself. A shadow falls over you and you look up to see Jungkook. You close your eyes. You don’t want to deal with him picking another fight right now.

The smell of cooking meat fills your senses and you blink your eyes open to see a skewer of meat in front of your face. You look up to Jungkook’s face and he’s stubbornly looking away. You reach up slowly, afraid that this might just be some cruel trick, and take the meat from his hand.

Once you’ve taken it, he moves to sit beside you. “I guess I can’t let you starve if I want to see you fail the trials.”

You hide your smile by taking a bite. That’s a flimsy excuse and you both know it, but you let it slide. Jungkook produces a small box full of more skewers and sets it on the bench between the both of you and takes one for himself.

You eat in silence and it’s nice. You don’t feel quite as alone with him beside you as you did when you were here by yourself. Even if he does wish that you’d been left in a tomb on some backwater planet. It’s not friendship, but it’s something. It’s enough for now.

The time passes quickly, it gets marginally darker, but the cloud cover makes it hard to tell that any time passed at all. Jungkook stands and leads you back into the shop. Bhea is waiting for you both when you enter.

“Excellent. Everything is all finished. Come, come. Let’s get you changed.”

“Bhea.” Jungkook stops her and she glances at him in confusion. “We’ll take them to go. She can change on the ship. She should bathe first. It’s been a long day.”

You can’t tell if that’s a subtle dig at you or if he’s being genuinely caring. Or if he just wants to leave. Bhea purses her lips before she looks you over and tuts.

“Fine. But you still need to come with me so I can make sure you know how to wear everything.”

Jungkook’s brows furrow. “It’s clothing. Is it really that hard to figure out?”

You pat his cheek. “When it’s high fashion, if it’s not complicated, it’s not good.” You look over his clothes. “You probably wouldn’t understand.”

You turn around before you catch the way his face scrunches up as Bhea laughs. She leads you to the back room where she meticulously goes over each piece. Turns out you really do need her instructions, simply for the fact that she gave you options and she needs to tell you how to mix and match. Once you’re reasonably confident that you understand the different pieces to what is essentially your new uniform, she packs it all up for you.

When you take it, she folds her hand over yours to keep you in place and looks you in the eye. She nods. “You’ll fit very well.”

You frown at the cryptic words. Does she mean the clothes? Or is there something else to them? She releases you, shooing you out to Jungkook.

“I’ll send the payment request on to Lord Namjoon.” She smiles and waves.

Jungkook gives her a small bow and you do the same. You exit back to the market and Jungkook turns away from the port. You frown in confusion, following after.

“Where are we going?”

“You need a comm and it’s better to get it here than on Korriban,” he states matter of factly.

You let out a soft ‘oh.’ That made sense although you don’t know much about this Korriban. But you figure Jungkook probably knows the best place to get a communicator. You’re a little giddy. You’ve never owned one. They cost far too much for you to have ever afforded and you had no need for one when you were alone.

You only take a few turns before Jungkook is stopping at a stall where a person with soft mint colored hair is sorting through a box of electronics. The man at the stall turns before either of you say anything and he blinks sleepy, cat-like eyes at you before his gaze slides over to Jungkook. His lips part in a smile.

“Ah, Jungkookie. What can I do for you today?”

Jungkook flushes at the name, gaze darting to you before going back to the man before you. “Just need a communicator.”

The man raises an eyebrow, glancing at you. “Got something to hide from Namjoon?”

Jungkook flushes darker and glares. “No. It’s for her. Namjoon is paying for it.”

The man chuckles, holding up his hands in surrender. “Whatever you say.” He turns to you. “What kind of communicator do you want? I think I’ve got a few in stock right now.”

You blink, opening your mouth before closing it again. You look at Jungkook helplessly. He sighs when he sees your gaze, turning to the man.

“Just pull them out, Yoongi. She’s not going to know the technical differences. She can just pick whichever she thinks is prettiest.”

You bristle slightly at the words. Yoongi shrugs, tugging a few devices out from a drawer beneath the table and setting them in front of you. You look them over carefully.

Jungkook sighs again. “Just pick one. It’s not that hard.”

You glare at him before looking back at the items in front of you. “Just because I’ve never had one before doesn’t mean I don’t understand how electronics work.” You give him a look. “Did you forget how I made a living?”

Yoongi hides a chuckle and picks up one of the devices. “This is probably the newest I’ve got. It’s only one or two models behind what’s current.”

You take it from his outstretched hand, inspecting it carefully. “How did you come by this one?”

“Bought it off a guy.”

“Why did he sell it? What’s wrong with it?”

Yoongi smiles, looking pleased with your questioning. “Nothing’s wrong with it. The idiot got in debt to the wrong person and he needed credits quick. I was happy to oblige.”

You nod thoughtfully. “This is good then. I’ll take it.”

Yoongi nods, putting the other comms away. “You said to bill Joon?” He looks to Jungkook for confirmation.

Jungkook nods. “I’m sure I’ll be bringing it back soon though.” He says with a malicious smirk directed at you.

You smile sweetly up at him. “Aw, are you planning to buy me a better one once I pass my trials? That’s so sweet of you, Jungkookie.”

Yoongi’s laugh interrupts whatever Jungkook was about to say. “Oh, I think she’s going to do very well.”

Jungkook’s face twists as he spins on his heel to stalk away from the stall. “Let’s go.” He snarls.

You giggle, giving Yoongi a wave before jogging to catch up to Jungkook. You make your way through the city, trying not to stop and stare in wonder and hoping that you get to come back here when you can explore the place freely. Jungkook stops to talk to someone at the entrance to the port before he’s continuing through the doors. He walks past ship after ship, each one more impressive than the last.

Finally he stops in front of one that’s a little smaller than many of the previous ones but no less grand than them. He leads you up the ramp and gestures to the left. “There’s a bedroom that way with a bathroom attached. You can shower and change there. The trip to Korriban isn’t terribly long, but better to get ready now. It should be daybreak when we get there and you can be registered and sent to your trial right away.”

He walks the opposite direction before you can ask anything further. You watch him as he disappears around a corner before making your way in the direction he has indicated, hoping it’s easy to find the room he mentioned. Lucky for you, there appears to be only two doors in this direction, the first revealing a storage room and the second revealing the simple bedroom he’d indicated.

You set your things down on bed, running a hand gently across the bag. It’s the first time in a long while that you’ve actually gotten new clothes, especially ones that are made with such nice fabric. It makes you want to do good in the trial all the more. To prove to Namjoon, and even more so to Jungkook, that you deserve to have these. You sort through the different pieces, choosing what you want your outfit to be and lay them out on the bed.

You move to the bathroom, it’s small but still more hightech than anything you’ve ever used before. You strip in the doorway, leaving the shabby, dirty clothes from your old life on the floor as you step into the bathroom properly. It only takes you a moment to work out the controls for the water and soon enough, hot water is pouring over you as the small room fills with steam.

You groan, the water almost too hot to handle, but the way you can already feel the grim sliding from your skin makes it more than worth the slight sting from the heat. You stand under the spray and your thoughts drift again to what the future may hold. This is an interesting opportunity, you certainly never thought that you would end up with the possibility of becoming such a powerful being.

But on the other hand, could you be evil? You’ve really only heard of sith before, stories passed around the compound at night and things told to make a child listen. Meeting Jungkook and Namjoon was your first encounter with one ever and they weren’t quite what you’d come to expect. Did becoming a sith mean something different than what you had originally thought? Were they wholly evil?

Namjoon certainly didn’t seem that way, he could’ve just killed you, easily at that, and left your body in that tomb. No one would’ve known. But he didn’t. Instead, he offered you a choice, money or power. The two things you’ve never had, two things you’ve wanted for as long as you could remember. To have enough of either that you could be your own person. He offered you that chance, how could you say no? When everything you wanted was within your grasp.

Even Jungkook didn’t seem that evil. You really don’t think that evil people would get embarrassed and blush the way he did with Bhea. Or have such a clear respect for her the way he did. For all the anger he holds towards you, he doesn’t seem to be purposefully malicious. Maybe you could be a sith. Maybe they’ve only gotten bad reps because of the few incredibly powerful sith out there. The public ones, the ones that make names for themselves, that want to be remembered for millenia.

You look around, finding some soap and scrubbing yourself almost raw in the need to finally feel clean. Once you deem yourself clean enough, and with the idea that maybe you don’t have to be totally evil to be a sith, you shut the water off. You look through the storage cabinets until you find something to dry yourself off with and make your way back into the bedroom.

You dress slowly, relishing in the feel of the fabric against your skin. It’s so different from the rough material you wore before. You step up to the mirror, making a few final adjustments before you’re giving yourself one last lookover.

You have to give it to Bhea, she certainly knows how to dress a sith. The leather pants are soft and supple, you’d thought they’d be stiff, but you know you’ll be able to easily move in these. They blend in well with the black leather boots. The shirt itself is simple, just a plain black tank top in a soft, breathable fabric, but it’s topped by a short vest in a deep blue, strands of beads latching it closed across your breasts and joining the collar to close around your neck.

Bands of black metal wrap around your wrists and mid-bicep holding sheer fabric in the same shade as the vest, one large slit running the length to allow better movement . Your belt wraps around your waist, a mix of more blue fabric and black metal, panels of more sheer hanging down to your ankles in shifting shades of blue and purple and speckled with glitter, giving the impression of a galaxy.

You’d think that the skirt would make it hard to move efficiently, but a few experimental stretches show that the panels are put together in a way that they hold large slits to not hinder your movement. You run your fingers through your hair and smile. You feel like an entirely new person and you can’t help but think that maybe this would be a really good change.

You open the door, startling when you come face to face with Jungkook, who looks just as surprised as you. His gaze drops to your new clothes, eyes widening as he takes in the expanse of skin exposed on your neck and upper chest. You see him swallow before he’s jerking his gaze away, cheeks turning red and his tongue pushing against his cheek, though this time it seems to be for a reason entirely unrelated to being annoyed at you.

“I was just coming to make sure you didn’t break anything.” He mutters. “I see that you’re fine. I’ll be in the cockpit.” And he turns and walks away before you can say anything.

You hold in a snicker at his reaction, pleased at the way he tried and failed to hide the way his cheeks flushed. You dart after him, following him the short distance to the other side of the ship.

Your snarky comment dies on your tongue as soon as you cross the threshold, suddenly staring out into space. Your mouth drops open and you move closer to the window, gaze wide eyed as you watch the stars pass you.

Jungkook watchs you quietly, scowl softening at the way the starlight shines on your wonder-filled face. He clears his throat, shaking his thoughts from his mind, “You might want to sit down. Now that you’re done, we’re going to jump to hyperspace.”

You turn to stare at him, watching as he takes a seat at the controls and it takes you a second to realize what he said, scurrying to take the seat beside him before he decides to go ahead while you’re still standing. You watch in fascination at the way his hands flit over the controls, completely at ease and confident in his motions.

The ship jerks slightly and you turn your gaze back to the window as the stars turn into streaks of light, blurring by as you fly through space. You don’t know how long it lasts, it feels like you blink and the stars are starting to return to pinpricks of light as a massive red planet looms before you both.

Jungkook sets the ship down with minimal fuss before he’s leading you off the ship. The land surrounding the landing bay is arid and sandy and your nose wrinkles in distaste. You just came from sand and now you’re back. Why couldn’t they have built this somewhere nicer.

You trail after Jungkook as he moves inside, easily navigating the labyrinthine hallways of the building. He stops by what appears to be an armory, motioning for you to stay by the door while he goes to speak to the Twi’lek in there. They exchange a few laughs before the Twi’lek hands something to Jungkook that looks like a stun baton. He hands it to you once he’s close enough.

Frowning, you tentatively take it. “What is it?”

He snorts, eyes rolling as he starts walking again. “Well you can’t get a saber until you pass your trials. But you need some sort of weapon to take them. That’s a training saber. All acolytes use them for their trials. If you pass, then you’ll get a lightsaber.”

You give it a few practice swings, testing its weight, narrowly missing Jungkook’s arm. He gives you a dark look and you sheepishly drop your arm. You hadn’t actually meant to almost hit him, the balance hadn’t been what you were expecting. He makes a few more turns before entering another room. You linger in the doorway but Jungkook waves you to follow until you’re standing before a man sitting at a desk.

“Overseer. This is the… acolyte that Lord Namjoon would like to put into the trials.”

The Overseer’s brow raises, a playful smirk on his face as he eyes you over before he’s looking at Jungkook. “He looking for an upgrade?”

Jungkook’s shoulder tense, but his words come out friendly and joking. “Shut up. You know no one can best me.” He gestures you closer. “She’s all yours. I’ll be upstairs in the training rooms.” He pauses before an almost sinister smile stretches his lips. “Test her well.”

You bat your eyelashes up at him, lip jutting out in an exaggerated pout. “Aw, you’re not gonna stick around to watch me pass? I thought we were friends.”

Jungkook makes a face of disgust. “Like I would ever stoop so low for friends.” He snarls before leaving.

The Overseer laughs as he watches Jungkook’s retreating figure before he’s standing and beckoning you to follow him through a different door.

The room he leads you to is massive, but holds only a large table in the middle of the room. With a wave of his hand, the table comes to life to reveal that it’s a holo map. He walks the length of the table before stopping at an outcropping of rocks. He gestures to the ends of the table where you can see what looks like part of the building you’re currently in is sat then draws your attention to the area he’s standing by.

“That is the exit to the Valley. This is a tomb that holds a holocron full of ancient secrets. Retrieve it and bring it back here.”

You squint at him. That seems way too easy. “That’s all?”

He gestures to the expanse between the two points. “Well you have to get there on your own. And remember the way back. If you get lost out there, you’re on your own.”

“How long do I get?”

He snorts. “You just need to bring it back. Time doesn’t matter for this.”

You step closer to examine the map. It doesn’t seem too terribly far to the tomb, though there are a few twists and turns on the way and it certainly seems like it’d be easy enough to get lost. And getting lost on a desert planet is never good.

“Do I get supplies?” You look up at him.

“Do you need them?” He seems slightly perplexed, like he’s never been asked that before.

You walk around the table, tracing the best path to take. “It’s not very long. But given the unfamiliar terrain, weather, and day cycle, it could take longer than one would think. Also, once in there it could take a while. I doubt this would be some sort of trial if it were as easy as walking a ways to a tomb and retrieving a holocron.” You glance at the saber. “And highly doubt I would need a weapon for something easy. So, yes, supplies seem necessary.”

He nods appraisingly at you. “I can see why Lord Namjoon is interested in you.” He gestures behind you to a set of large double doors. “When you go through there, there’s a small requisitions area you can get supplies at. The room then opens out into the Valley.” He approaches you. “There’s one last thing before I let you go. ‘Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me.’ The Sith Code. That is your new philosophy. Learn it. Etch it into your heart because it is one with you now as much as the Force is.”

You nod, repeating the words in your head, feeling exhilarated at the rush of power that follows.

The Overseer nods and gestures to the table. “Take as much time as you need in here and begin whenever you are ready. You know what you must do.”

With that, he leaves, retreating back to his office. You watch him go before turning back to the map and looking over the path you want to take to the tomb. It’s simple enough but you go over it multiple times, committing it to memory and working out landmarks you can use to keep you from getting too hopelessly lost if you happen to get turned around out there. He said there was no time component but you can’t help but feel like you need to go at least a little fast. Something about the dismissive way that Jungkook thinks that you won’t pass makes you want to succeed and succeed quickly. Maybe also because you want to impress Namjoon, prove that you’re worth the chance he took on you.

Once you’re reasonably confident that you know the path, you go through the door the Overseer had indicated, met with a smaller room that opens to the outside. The building sits on a rise on this side, you can see the sand sloping away from the building and the way the maze-like canyon of tombs is laid out almost from above. The room for the most part sits empty, sand beginning to creep back into the building from the doorway to outside. One wall of the room is taken by a counter, behind which you see a Chiss woman working among some shelves.

When you approach, she looks a little surprised but pauses her work to meet you at the counter. “How can I help you?” She asks with a tilt of her head.

“I wanted to get some supplies for my trials.”

“For your trials? You think it’ll take that long?”

You don’t understand why they keep pushing like this is strange. There’s obviously more to your trial than what was told. Being better prepared means that you have an even better chance of survival. “Yes.” You gesture toward the door leading out. “You can’t predict weather in a place like this. Or what’s going to happen once you get into a tomb.” You knew that one painfully well. “If I want to survive and pass, I should make sure I’m as well equipped as possible, yes?”

Her lips curl into a pleased smile. “Of course.” She slides a small datapad over. “This is everything available to acolytes. Choose whatever you feel you need.”

You glance over the list, it’s fairly small, but you suppose they don’t want to give too much to people who may not return and they’d prefer to not lose things to the tomb when they already hold such secrets. That certainly won’t be you though.

“I’ll take a medkit, a couple of rations, a fire starter, flashlight, and a small blanket. Oh, and a shoulder bag.”

The woman nods and moves among the shelves, gathering the things that you noted. She slides them across the counter to you.

“You’re all set. Good luck acolyte. You certainly have more promise than some others I’ve seen venture out into the desert with nothing but their training saber.” She gives you a nod and turns back to the shelves.

You take the bag, arranging your supplies in it before slipping it over your head and adjusting it so it sits comfortably on your hip. You pause at the doorway, looking out over the Valley before you. You close your eyes and recite the code in your head again, smiling when that same heady rush of power fills you. Determination in your eyes as you open them, you set foot into the Valley.

You make it to the tomb relatively easily. You barely had to rely on your memory of the location, your body just seemed to know where to go and you trusted your instincts. You had one momentary hiccup where you had to fight a giant beast with tusks that were easily the size of your arm. You’d thought you’d be able to just skirt around it, but it seemed to sense you and once it’s gaze locked on you, it was relentless in pursuit. It was an ugly thing but fierce. Luckily it was so big that it wasn’t very nimble and you could easily navigate around it. You’ve fought big things before and know that if you can get on top that it’s all over for them. Especially when you have something as powerful as the training saber. You can’t wait to get your real one.

The entrance to the tomb is open but deserted and it leaves you instantly on high alert. You move slowly inside to see that torches have been lit and hung on pillars, casting a flickering glow on the walls. You pause, listening to see if you can hear anyone else, but there’s only the faint sound of the wind blowing through the valley behind you.

Moving cautiously, you creep further into the tomb. The Overseer didn’t tell you where exactly the holocron was going to be, but the tomb can’t be that complicated to navigate, at least given the previous one you’d been in. You check for signs of recent activity, but aside from the lit torches, there appears to be no signs of people having recently been in the antechamber.

You take a second to look closer around the room, noticing two halls that branch off from this room. Pursing your lips, you move closer to one side, trying to read the inscription beside the hall but it’s written in a language you don’t understand so it’s not particularly helpful.

You glance between the two ways once again, but something tells you that this is the one you need to go down. Your instincts haven’t failed you yet so you head down the hallway, careful to keep your steps light and soundless.

The path doesn’t branch, just twists and turns and it feels like ages before you come to another room. You crouch, because you hear voices echoing here. You peek around the corner, keeping yourself pressed as close to the wall as possible and slowly scan the room before you. It takes you a few minutes before you discover the source of the voices, a few figures tucked amongst some pillars and rubble and shadows.

You double check the rest of the room, ensuring that the only people here are those gathered in the small group. When you confirm the rest of the room's emptiness, you look for a way to creep closer, there’s too much echo and they’re speaking too lowly for you to hear what exactly they’re saying beyond that they are speaking. A downed pillar stretches out from the door towards the group and if you stay low enough to the ground, they won’t be able to see you.

Creeping along, you’re careful to avoid any loose rubble so you don’t alert the others to your presence. Once close enough, you stop and listen to the conversation happening.

“We’ve tried everything. We’re never going to pass if we can’t get in there.” One says, voice laced with irritation.

“I know that. But it’s clearly meant to be open. We just have to find the right key. What did the inscription say again?”

“The essence of life, the key to power, bathe the crystal to gain it’s knowledge.” You hear a third recite.

You didn’t see any sort of crystal when you entered. It must be further in then.

“That’s so stupid. Why do they always have to be vague?” The first one sighs.

You listen as the two begin discussing what they’ve tried and what the inscription could mean, missing that the second person hasn’t spoken in a while until their voice suddenly comes from much closer.

“Well, well. What have we here?” You look up with wide eyes as the red skinned man towers over your crouched form. You’ve never seen a Sith pureblood before, but you’ve heard plenty about them. His eyes shrewdly take in your form before he’s laughing cruelly. He glances over to his companions. “I think I’ve got a few new ideas to try to get that door open.”

He reaches for you but you quickly push yourself back and scramble to your feet. You see the other two have also risen to their feet and look startled by your sudden appearance. You put some more space between them and yourself. You look them over and see that they each have training sabers of their own. Acolytes. You knew it wasn’t going to be as easy as just walking into a tomb and retrieving a holocron.

The Sith approaches you slowly. “You know, there’s one thing that’s very vital to life. Something that just happens to be liquid and we can easily use to bathe a crystal in.” He muses and you feel your stomach sink at the implication.

The other two look lost for a moment before realization crosses their faces, replaced by matching smirks. One of them speaks. “Seems there’s someone looking out for us.”

Three blades are pulled out and your chest constricts. One you could probably take. Three at once? You’d think you’d have better chances at fighting a herd of those beasts from earlier. You roll your shoulders and pull your own saber out. You think of Jungkook and the smarmy look that would surely be on his face if you fail and let that rage fill you.

You smirk. “You can certainly try.”

The Sith steps back, letting the other two advance on you. You know there’s too much rubble where you were eavesdropping for a good fight, all too easy to lose your footing and so you back up towards the middle of the room where the rubble is more sparse. They follow, and you can tell by their snickering that they think you’re backing away because you’re scared. What a joke they’d make becoming sith if they can’t even think about their surroundings while starting a fight.

Your saber hums to life with little effort and you level the two with an eyebrow raised in challenge. The smaller of the two charges, saber held aloft and you easily deflect the intended blow. He’s sloppy in his movements, he clearly doesn’t have a lot of formal training weilding a weapon. Sabers and poles are vastly different but many of the principles are similar and that is going to give you an advantage over this one at the very least.

He lets out a frustrated cry and spins to try to attack again, but it’s another blow that you easily shrug off. If he was smart he’d work with his companions to attack instead of doing it alone. His next attack, you deflect and grab his wrist twisting until he drops his saber with a yelp of pain. Once it’s out of his hand you shove him roughly away and he stumbles and falls at his companion’s feet.

You stoop down to pick up his fallen saber, grinning at the three wide eyed looks you recieve. You twirl them both. “Well, are we doing this?”

The one who’s saber you took struggles to his feet, looking helplessly to his companions. The other leans over to whisper in his ear and then they’re both moving together, the smaller one circling behind you, while the other approaches you from the front. You listen carefully for the one you can’t see while keeping your eyes focused on the one in front of you.

This one seems a lot more calculating in their movements, slower and more careful to act than the first. They’ll be a little more difficult, but they still seem to underestimate you. They attack and you block with one saber while using the other to make your own attack while they’re distracted. They’re not distracted enough, just barely dodging your attack and moving quickly out of your range. You meet in a few instances of blows and parries before they manage to catch your wrist when you try to attack.

You're quickly seized from behind by the other, arms tight around your waist. You squirm in his hold but his grip remains firm. The one holding your wrist tightens their grip in a clear bid to get you to drop the saber but remembering your fight with Jungkook, you quickly lift your feet, taking advantage of the one holding you and kicking the one in front of you.

All three of you are pushed back, your landing cushioned by the body beneath you, leaving you less stunned than either of them. You turn quickly, slamming the butt of the saber into the side of his head and his head lulls to the side. You try not to think if it’s in unconsciousness or death. That’ll be something to dwell on later.

Panting, you push yourself to your feet, watching as the other struggles to their feet as well, blood dripping from their temple. They look furious and rush you, clearly past cautiousness and just wanting to be rid of you. Their fast and brutal attacks leave you struggling to keep up and block, a couple glancing blows leaving burns on your arms.

You can’t let this be the end. You didn’t run away from your slave life just to fail when your true freedom is within reach. You take a deep breath, steeling yourself, and let the force flow through you. You push back, forcing the other to take steps back or risk being hit. They get only a few steps before they trip over a piece of rubble, saber dropping from their hand.

You point one saber at their throat. “I would give up.” You warn.

They snarl at you. “As if I ever would. You’re weak.”

You press the tip of the other saber to their chest until they cry out from the searing pain. They spit something else at you, blindly reaching for their saber and you press the tip more firmly into their chest, it sinks half an inch into the flesh.

“Surrender.”

“I’ll die either way. Better in a fight than to be called a coward.” They push themselves up just enough for the saber to sink a little further in, crying out in pain.

You hesitate. Did it make you evil to kill them? It was self defense. Kill or be killed. Would they have been killed if they made it back unsuccessfully? You realize that the way the Overseer had spoken that yes, they were likely to be killed if they made it back without completing their task. Or worse, enslaved. This is a mercy, you think as you push the saber completely through their chest.

They splutter, blood dripping from their mouth as they twitch once before dropping, lifeless, back to the ground. You take a second to process, even when escaping enslavement, you hadn’t killed anyone. You blink a few times before jerking the saber out of their chest, ignoring the conflicting feelings you still have and turn back to the Sith.

He hasn’t moved since he discovered you, standing there passively observing your fight with his own saber drawn. He looks from one body to the other and shrugs.

“Well you saved me the trouble. But I’m afraid that this is the end for you now.”

You snort. “Good luck.”

He tilts his head. “Bold for someone untrained.”

“No, I just know what’s at stake and what I have to prove.”

He nods slightly, stepping close but stopping a few feet away from you. He doesn’t move further. He’s a lot more confident and most likely has had more training. You assume this was exactly what the Overseer was banking on since he didn’t seem confident in your return. He doesn’t even seem all that worried about the impending fight, stance relaxed, saber held loosely at his side. He looks more like he’s going for a stroll than a fight.

You flex your grip on your sabers. You’ve never fought two handed before, but having them in your hands feels right. It gives you the confidence that you can handle this fight.

He continues to stand in place and you assume he’s waiting for you to make a move, hoping to use whatever momentum you create against you. Meaning that you can’t attack first, you have to wait. It’s strange to stand there waiting to be attacked, but you won’t give in to his play.

He snorts when the minutes continue to stretch then his free hand raises and with a flick of his wrist, you’re pushed back; stumbling and tripping over some rubble. Your arm scraps against the stone, fine lines of red forming. You push yourself up, face hard. Against your better judgement, you charge. You have to, you have to get close to do any damage. Your control of the Force is severely lacking and that’s definitely come back to hurt you here. You just have to think a step ahead of him; if he knows what he’s going to do when you charge, you have to know how to counter that.

He sidesteps the attack and you turn, foot kicking out and connecting with his side. He slams into the pillar. He shoves himself off of it with a snarl. He seems to be done playing around, advancing on you slightly quicker than you had anticipated. You take a few steps back, feet shifting to give you a better bracing stance. You know his attack is going to be fast and brutal, giving you no easy way to maneuver so you need to be prepared now.

The first clash of his blade against yours has your feet sliding back an inch with the force of it. The impact vibrates your whole arm. You try to get an attack in with your other saber, but he quickly grabs your wrist, squeezing until it starts to hurt. You push with the other blade, just enough force to send him back and get him to release your hand. You only get a second’s reprieve before he’s attacking again.

Time blurs as you fight, it’s a struggle to keep up with him. He’s at an advantage, he didn’t have to fight 2 other people first. Your muscles ache but you can’t stop for even a second; it could be a matter of life or death. He gets a few hits in, nothing too bad, but you can feel the blood dripping from each wound, feel the tug of singed skin with each movement. You get a few hits in too; which seems to enrage him all the more.

He begins to get sloppy the angrier he gets; it makes his moves both easier and harder to predict. But you work out a tentative plan, if you can get him prone, you can win this. You’ve just gotta get him on the ground first. Your fight has moved you across a large part of the room and you manage to catch sight of some large loose stones behind him. You grit your teeth, forcing him further back, towards the stones. He deflects your attack and you are completely blindsided when his fist connects with your jaw.

It sends you stumbling, one saber dropping from your hand and you taste iron on your tongue. You spit, turning back and bringing the saber still in your hands down with all your strength. He stumbles from the force of the impact, taking a step back to brace himself but he ends up stepping on some rubble and he falls.

You stomp the heel of your boot into his wrist until his saber falls and you kick it away. His hand raises and you can feel the Force gathering around it. You mirror him, trying your best to draw the Force to you the way he is. The blasts meet between you both, each of you being pushed back a few inches. Sweat beads along your hairline as all your concentration and will goes into matching the strength of his push.

Pain blossoms in your head and you wince, but you push past the pain, ignoring it as best you can as you struggle to take a step forward. It takes a minute, but you manage the step and the small victory gives you enough of an encouraging boost to continue to slowly advance on the man. He seems mildly surprised but aside from the slight rise in his eyebrows, he appears unphased.

The pain in your head is excruciating when you’re finally close enough to him and something wet drips from your nose. It takes everything you have left to lift your other hand, the one that, by some miracle, still clutches your saber. You take a breath, gaze meeting his and you smirk in triumph.

He looks confused for only a second before you embed the saber in as far as you can. His hand spasms and a massive burst of energy erupts, sending you both flying. You slam into some rubble, wheezing as dust rises around you. Stars dance in your vision and you can feel consciousness slipping away from you.

Gasping awake, you stare at the ceiling. You hadn’t even realized you’d passed out; you also have no idea how long you may have been passed out for. It could’ve been minutes or hours, even a whole day or more is possible. All you really know is that everything hurts. And it’s a testament to how out of it you are that it takes you a moment to realize that the fact that you’re awake at all must mean that you succeeded.

You pant as you struggle to push yourself upright. You hurt and when you reach up to touch the back of your head, your hand comes away red and wet. That certainly explains the dizziness and the difficulty you have standing now. You have to take a moment standing completely still before you feel confident enough to move at all and even when you do, you stumble and trip the whole way to your pack.

You dig through it, pulling the medpac out once you find it and rifling through until you find the bacta salve. Your fingers slip when you try to open it and you nearly drop it. Wiping your hands off on your clothes, your second attempt is much more successful. Blindly reaching behind you, you rub some of the salve onto your head where it seems wettest; it leaves your hair feeling heavy and greasy. You have no idea if you actually managed to cover the wound with the healing salve but the lessening sting you feel seems to say that you at least got some of it close enough to get some of the effects. You spend some time spreading some across the rest of your wounds and the small container is quickly emptied. You can only hope nothing worse happens to you.

You slump against the pillar once finished. You feel like you could sleep for a week. But you don’t have the luxury of time here. Plus, you’re fairly certain that even if your current competition is dealt with, there’s sure to be more coming. You give yourself a few minutes though, taking the time to see if the medpac holds any sort of painkiller; which to your luck, it does.

You swallow the pills dry before you push yourself back to your feet. Shouldering your pack and collecting both your saber and the new one you’re now claiming as yours, one of which you have a hard time prying from the chest of the dead Sith, you move towards the only other door in this room, the one that the three other acolytes had been gathered next to. If you’d been the first one here, you probably wouldn’t have even realized it was actually a door. The whole thing was made of the same stone as the wall and pillars surrounding it, the seams barely noticeable. The only difference to the walls is the small plaque sent into the wall beside a recessed circle of stone just a little bigger than your hand, a small crystal set in the center of it.

You look over the plaque, but it does you no good because you have no idea what language it’s written in. It takes you a minute to recall what the acolytes had said it said. The essence of life, the key to power, bathe the crystal to gain it’s knowledge. They had seemed to have some idea of the answer when they discovered you. Essence of life? You glance at your hand, once again streaked with blood. Oh, essence of life.

Tentatively you reach out, smearing your blood onto the crystal. You step back expectantly. You frown when nothing happens, blood has to be the essence of life. Why didn’t it work? You think through the inscription again. You’ve got the essence of life… The key to power?

Oh. Oh, you need more than just the essence to open this. You step forward, you don’t have the slightest idea on how to do this, but you’ve got to try at the very least. The circle did seem pretty conveniently hand sized. The stone is cool against your palm, but the crystal feels oddly warm. The Force is the key to power, you just have to figure out how to channel it with no previous training. Closing your eyes, you focus on getting something to happen. But after a few moments where nothing changes, you open your eyes again with a huff.

You think back to when Jungkook had you by the throat and the power you felt gathering around you when you kicked him away, to all the occurences during the fight where you felt the force surround you like a cloak. But no matter how hard you try, there’s no shift in the air around you. You growl in frustration, shoving ineffectually at the wall.

Why was it so hard to get the Force to cooperate with you now? You hadn’t even been trying before. You think back through everything you’ve been told, which isn’t all that much, but you really hope that maybe there’s a clue hidden somewhere in someone’s words. But you woefully can’t find much of anything that might help, the only thing you really learned was the sith code.

You pause, the code. You know you might look stupid, but luckily there’s no one around right now to see that. You place your hand back in the circle, taking a calming breath. Then you recite the sith code, feeling power cloak you and slide down your arm. It connects with the crystal and searing pain shoots up your arm as lightning races across your skin.

You cry out in pain, jerking your hand away from the wall. The pain stops immediately but the door remains firmly shut. You chew your lip, looking down at your hand. It looks completely unscathed, you wiggle your fingers and aside from a slight tingle of discomfort, you’d have thought you imagined the lightning.

Had you done something wrong? The inscription seemed easy enough, there doesn’t seem like another component to it. You decide to try again, maybe you just weren’t concentrating enough. However the same thing happens when you try again. You need to do this. You need to prove that you have what it takes, you refuse to give Jungkook the satisfaction of seeing you fail and being right. You know you’re strong enough to be better than him.

Your eyes widen, strength. That had to be what you were missing here. With power, sith value strength, if you lack strength then you lack power. You stare at the wall, this isn’t going to be pleasant.

Putting your hand back into the slot, you steel yourself, gritting your teeth as the lightning starts as soon as you finish reciting the code. It hurts. You have to brace your other hand on the wall in an attempt to keep you grounded and from pulling your hand away. You think of how smug Jungkook would be if you never came back. You refuse to fail.

You don’t know how long the pain lasts; you feel slightly delirious from the crackle of power that traces your veins. But as abruptly as it came, it stops, leaving you breathless. There’s stone grinding against stone and the wall rumbles beneath your hands. You slowly pull away, afraid that it’ll stop and you’ll have to endure another round of pain. To your relief, it continues and soon enough the door is swinging open before you. The hallway that is revealed is dark for a moment before crystals lining the walls slowly come to life, swathing the length of the hall in a red glow.

You wait, making sure that nothing else is going to happen before stepping cautiously into the hall and making your way down it. Halfway down the hallway, an odd feeling settles in your gut and you find yourself stepping back. Your confusion at the action is short lived when a moment later, lightning arcs between the walls where you had just been about to walk. It looks much more lethal than what engulfed you to open the door.

You breathe a sigh of relief, thankful for whatever it was that tipped you off to the trap. You proceed carefully, hoping that there’s not anymore traps or if there are, that you can sense it before it’s too late. You safely reach the end of the hall, the room is small, barely wider than the hall. In the center of the room is a pedestal, about the width of your shoulders, on which sits a jet black pyramid, the top quarter of which is clear.

Approaching carefully, you look through the transparent material and can just make out the shape of the holocron within. You run your fingers across the surface of the pyramid, looking for anything that may open it, but the material is completely smooth, even where the two different materials join is seamless. You look around the room, hoping for any other clues, but the room is all smooth stone, no inscriptions or writings or anything. You walk a few circles around the pedestal, trying to figure out how to continue when something begins to glow in the corner, drawing your attention. A wash of blue fills the corner, quickly forming the shape of a woman. It’s hard to tell her race, her entire being is tinted blue, but she’s unmistakably a sith. There’s something about the way she holds herself and the thick black robes that shroud her form.

She gazes at you calmly, gaze trailing slowly over you and you’ve never felt more insignificant and scrutinized, not even when Namjoon looked at you. Her lips curl into a pleased smile and she gives a small nod. A soft click sounds and you turn to see the pyramid has opened, granting you access to the holocron within. When you turn back to the figure, whether to question her or thank her you’re not sure, but she’s gone once you look back.

You belatedly realize she must have been a Force ghost. You’ve heard the tales of them, but you didn’t think you’d ever encounter one in your life. She had looked almost… approving of you being here. You wonder who she was and, more importantly, why she had helped you. At least, you assume she helped you. There’s really no other explanation as to why or how the pyramid opened when she nodded. You quickly gather the holocron, tucking is safely away inside your bag.

You take the hall back to the antechamber, sparing a glance to the bodies that remain. You feel a little bad about just leaving them there. But you know if it were reversed that they’d have left you here to rot too. And, you reason, this is a tomb. Bodies are meant to rest here. It’s better than being left outside and rot away under the sun just to be torn apart and eaten by animals.

You continue through the ruins, retracing your path back to the entrance quietly, sure to keep an ear listening for anyone who may have come after you. You encounter no one though and you take only a moment at the doorway to outside to recall your route back to the Academy before you’re setting out.

You make it maybe halfway before the wind picks up. You freeze, sudden wind is never good. You take a look around, quickly locating the rapidly approaching wall of tan in the distance. Scanning your surroundings in the valley, you see no immediate place to take shelter and panic rises in you. You try to recall the map and if there’s something nearby, but you hadn’t paid much attention to other tombs and areas of the map. You really wish you had. You glance back to the approaching storm, you don’t have long before you get trapped in it. Quickening your pace, you continue on the path back to the academy, hoping that you can find shelter along the way soon.

The sand starts to whip around you and you grab a cloth from your bag to cover your nose and mouth to at least keep you from breathing in the sand now that the storm is practically on top of you and you’ve yet to find somewhere to hide. You’re about to give up hope on finding shelter when the slightest glint of metal off to your right catches your attention and you don’t even think twice before sprinting towards it.

You make it through the threshold just as the storm begins in earnest outside, the sudden gusts pushing you further inside. You double over, coughing, as you try to catch your breath and expel the sand that you managed to breath in. You wheeze for a moment before pushing yourself upright, glancing around to finally take in your surroundings.

You assume it’s another tomb, though this one appears far more modern than the previous one, given that this one is all polished metal. There’s signs that this has been explored thoroughly, which leaves you feeling a little relieved because that means that it’s unlikely that anyone will be here right now. Turning, you look out the opening to watch the sandstorm. You have no idea how long it’ll last, sandstorms are incredibly unpredictable and you could be here for only a few minutes to a few weeks. You just hope that it’s not the weeks option.

You set your bag down by the door before slowly making your way around the room, fingers tracing along the wall as you look at the different inscriptions and occasional graffiti. You freeze when your fingers connect with a section of wall that feels different. You take a step back, looking over the wall and trying to figure out what’s different.

It looks the same as the rest of the walls, but when your fingers touched it, you could tell there was something different. You put one hand on the section of wall that’s odd and one on the wall beside where it starts to feel different. It takes you a few moments before you realize what the difference means. This is a door. One that’s incredibly well hidden, blending in perfectly with the walls that surround it.

Leaning closer, you begin to look for a way to open it. Deciding to use some of your newly gained experience, you use a bit of the force to assist you and a panel slides open, revealing a crystal similar to the one from the other tomb. You’re leery of activating it, for fear of the lightning happening again, but also that something worse might happen. But the idea of finding something that had been missed sends a thrill through you and you smile at the image in your mind of gifting whatever you find to Namjoon. You wonder if he’d give you a dimpled smile again. You wonder how pissed Jungkook would be to see you hand something new over to Namjoon.

You squeeze your eyes closed as you touch the gem, willing a little of the Force into it. There’s a click and then the crystal is sliding away from your fingers at the door swooshes open. The room revealed is small; you’ve seen closets bigger than this. You step forward, there’s not much to see in here though and you feel dismayed that this has been found already.

There’s a small chest on the wall opposite the door and you pick it up to take it back out into the antechamber so you can keep an eye on the storm. You sit against the wall, watching the wall of sand outside before turning your attention to the chest. Opening reveals that maybe the room hadn’t been discovered because the chest is still full.

You pull the items out one by one; there’s an amulet, a bracelet, a ring, two scrolls, and a small black dagger. You feel a faint thrum of power from each of the items as you turn them over in your hands. You have no idea what any of them do or are for, but you know this seems exactly like something Namjoon would enjoy. At least you hope so. You don’t know a lot about your future master, but he seems the type to like knowledge. You tuck all of the items safely away in your pack, resolving to keep them hidden from the Overseer. He never said you had to turn everything you found in, just the holocron.

Setting aside the chest, you stare out the door for lack of anything else to do. It seems it’s going to be a longer one when one hour then two pass and the storm has yet to lighten up in any way. You eat, pace the perimeter of the room again, look over the artifacts you found. But nothing outside changes. You’re not even sure just how much time has passed, but you know it’s been a while because it’s nearly pitch black out, making the howling of the wind all the more eerie. Deciding that there’s nothing else you can do because of the storm, you pull out the blanket and your fire starter and create a small fire with some of the discarded items strewn about the room. You hunker down beside it, blanket wrapped around yourself. You’re just glad that you’re used to sleeping in uncomfortable positions, sleeping on this floor is nothing and you drift into a light doze soon enough.

Bright sunlight jolts you awake. You blink at the brightness, squinting as you look towards the door to see that the storm has cleared finally. You groan and push yourself up. Your whole body aches, the effects of the fight making themselves known. You pay it little mind, gathering your things and stepping back out into the Valley. It takes you a moment to get your bearings, but you see that the storm didn’t get you too far from the path you need to take. Confident that you can make it back to the Academy soon, you set out once again.

Lucky for you, you do make it back with no more issues and the cool metal interior of the Academy is the most welcoming thing you’ve ever experienced. The shop is shuttered so you limp your way through the room and to the map room. It also appears empty and so you make your way to the Overseer’s office and hear voices. You’re relieved that you won’t have to try to hunt for someone in this massive building.

You enter, realizing that the Overseer is actually talking to Jungkook. Well, it seems more accurate that they’re laughing and talking shit about you. Anger bubbles up in you and you stalk forward, digging the holocron from your pack as you go.

Slamming it on the desk between the two, they both startle, turning to look at you. You stare at Jungkook. “Your holocron, Overseer.”

“There’s no way-”

You wheel on the Overseer, expression hard. “Would you like to go see the corpses?”

He looks taken aback, quickly averting his gaze from yours to carefully take the holocron from you. He turns it over a few times before nodding. He looks apologetically to Jungkook.

“Congratulations. You’ve passed. We can continue on to less time consuming trials.”

You beam, turning back to Jungkook. “How lucky for me, hm?”

The rest of your trials go well and, in just a week, you’re back on the ship, headed back to Dromund Kaas, much to Jungkook’s absolute displeasure. The more of your trials that you passed, the more irritated you could see him getting. You take an incredibly long shower once on the ship, accessing the damage still prevalent on your body. After seeing a medic, you’re not as torn up as you had been. But there’s still some slight bruising and minor scratches you can see.

The shower does wonders to revitalize you after your trials, as does the knowledge that you’re on your way back to see Namjoon and you can present your findings to him, hopefully with Jungkook in the vicinity. You don’t spend any time with Jungkook on this trip, choosing instead to stay in the small bedroom, and he seems putout that he has to come find you so you can both leave.

Once you arrive on Dromund Kaas, Jungkook leads you to the Academy and towards the Artificer in the basement. There, you take great delight in learning and helping craft your two new sabers, happily clipping them to your belt once finished. You make note to come back here to learn more from the Artificer because this seems like an interesting skill to take up.

Jungkook rolls his eyes when he sees you have two sabers strapped to your belt. “Really? Need a backup just in case you fumble?”

You glare at him. “Hey rockhead, plenty of accomplished sith have used two sabers. At least it’s not a double sided one.” You smirk as your gaze drifts to his own saber resting on his hip. “Those aren’t even that useful in combat.”

You walk off before he can respond. You have absolutely no idea where you’re going, but you’ll be damned if you let Jungkook get the last word. If you really need help, you can always just ask someone to point you in the direction of Namjoon’s office. You hear the thud of boots and then Jungkook is beside you, gently directing you towards a lift. It doesn’t take you long to reach the office and Jungkook is quick to knock once reaching the door.

Hearing a soft ‘enter,’ Jungkook presses the door controls and they swish open before you. Namjoon doesn’t look up when you enter, deeply engrossed in reading something on a datapad before him. He only looks up when neither of you say anything for a stretch of time. He smiles and you’re a little dumbfounded to see his dimples again and that they make him look absolutely adorable without a sinister red light shining on his face, words you would definitely never mention to his face.

“Little one, you’ve returned.” His eyes trail slowly across your figure, taking in your new clothes and he pauses at your sabers, grin becoming impossibly wider. “I see you’ve passed. As I knew you would. I assume everything went well then?”

You go to speak but Jungkook cuts you off as he shoulders past you. “It went just great.” He grumbles, moving to stand beside Namjoon’s desk and faces you, a scowl firmly on his face.

You scowl back before turning back to beam at Namjoon. “I did. I seemed to impress a lot of people.” You step up to the desk, lifting your bag to rest on the edge as you quickly dig through it. “I had to make a small detour due to a sandstorm during my trial in the valley. But,” you give a smile of triumph as you pull the dagger, scrolls, and amulet from your bag and present them proudly to Namjoon, “it seemed to work in my favor. I found these.”

Namjoon’s eyes widen as he looks at the items in your hands. Jungkook looks just as surprised to see that you found something you hadn’t mentioned before now. Namjoon takes them from you, carefully inspecting each of them, his face inscrutable.

“What useless garbage.” Jungkook looks up at you as he takes a step, reaching out and roughly grabbing your arm. “How dare you waste Namjoon’s time like this, you ungrateful little-”

“Jungkook, enough. Let her go.” Namjoon cuts in.

Jungkook stares at him in bewilderment, grip tightening around your arm. “You can’t be serious, master. She’s just wasting your time with some useless trash that she thinks will get her into your good graces. You can’t-”

Namjoon’s hands slam on the table as he stands, startling both you and Jungkook. He looks far more imposing when he draws himself up to his full height. “I said that was enough, Jungkook. I believe it is for me to decide whether the items are of worth or not, not yours.” His gaze hardens the longer Jungkook continues to hold your arm until finally he rips his hand away from you. You definitely don’t envy him for being on the receiving end of that look. “You may leave now, Jungkook. You have training in the morning. I will send you the instructions later.”

Jungkook stands there, mouth open for a moment before he snaps it shut with a growl. He throws one last hateful look at you before storming out of the room. Silence descends on the room and you begin to nervously fidget the longer it stretches. Maybe you shouldn’t have brought anything back. It probably wasn’t anything that important.

Namjoon sits back down in his chair with a small sigh. “I’m sorry about him, little one. I don’t know what’s gotten into him, he’s usually much friendlier.” He looks up at you with a smile. “But we can deal with that later. I’d rather focus on your accomplishments right now. Not only did you complete your trials, which are incredibly difficult for even acolytes that have trained for it their whole lives, but you managed to find something extra.” His eyes twinkle with mischief. “And you snuck them out of the Valley rather than turning them in.”

He looks over the items again, much more at ease now that Jungkook has left. “Where did you find them?”

“I’m not sure. The tomb looked more recent than the one I went into for my trial and it seemed like whatever of importance was there had already been taken. I took shelter there from a sandstorm and while waiting I found a secret door and these were behind it in a plain chest.”

He purses his lips, carefully inspecting each of the items before setting them down on his desk. “I’ll have to take some time to carefully go over these, but they certainly seem like they’ll be fascinating to study. I’m quite proud.”

You feel yourself flush at the praise.

He stands and motions for you to follow as he leaves his office. “Now, I’ve gotten a place set up for you, it’s next to Jungkook’s and in the same building as mine, just on a lower floor. I can take you there so that you can get settled in before we start on your training in earnest. But first,” he grins as he steps out of the academy, arm wrapping around your shoulders. “I believe we should go celebrate such an accomplishment, don’t you think?”

#bangtanarmynet #kwritersworldnet #btsguild #hyunglinenetwork #thekimlinenet #magicshopnet #ficswithluv #bts x reader #namjoon x reader #jungkook x reader #namkook x reader #bts smut #namjoon smut #jungkook smut #bts fanfic #namjoon fanfic #jungkook fanfic #star wars au

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houndsofcerberus · 3 years

Text

Apotheosis Chapter 2

Summary: Techno and Theseus arrive to Nimius though the arrival is met with…mixed reviews

No CWs

https://archiveofourown.org/works/33386038/chapters/83133148

The rhythmic clopping of the horse’s hooves and the rolling of the cart wheels had become monotonous and boring by the time they finally reached their destination. The only change from the expanse of identical trees was when they had neared. Nimius was large but it’s capital, settled near it’s southernmost border, was a sight to behold. Nimius was known for its abundance, having been named for its wealth. This of course brought with it lavish lifestyle, but this wasn’t unanimous across the kingdom. The country had many smaller villages and hamlets, a great deal of the Nimian population was in fact farmers and ranchers. The land Nimius occupied was some of the best across the continent for farming, the soil was rich and fertile and the conditions were mild enough and the growing season long enough to have made Nimius an agricultural giant amongst the land.

Technoblade was of the opinion that no description could do the feeling of walking into the Nimian capital justice however. No story, nor poem, nor song could ever compare to the feeling of walking in. The royal family’s crest depicted a peacock, bright and fierce, and proud as all hell, signifying the wealth of the region. The crest was frequent in the city however it was more apparent around the castle. They were a proud people who showed their wealth happily. Techno hadn’t been in Nimius for quite some time, though as the cart rolled into the city it appeared not much had changed. The streets were well kept, clean and had planter boxes lining the cobbled streets, the stones were smooth and the buildings light in color. White and teal were everywhere, along with dull orange terracotta and faux gold shimmer. Murals decorated the walls of several buildings, well kept up and beautifully bright. It was like walking into a painting. Theseus was leaning forward, looking around, eyes wide as he took in the market smelling strongly of fresh bread and other delicious smells from the vendors in the street. People walked idly, moving out of the way of Techno’s cart and looking in curiously. Some frowned and watched Techno, though he didn’t blame them. He had accumulated many many battle scars from his adventures, and several were laid into his face, leaving him looking… rough to say the least. He pressed on, ignoring them and driving the horses to the castle ahead.

It was an architectural masterpiece, within its large gates it was covered in ivy and tile mosaics of trees, peacocks, and farmland. The things that made Nimius what it was. It was beauty and luxury in its purest form, abundance at its most bare and most extravagant. Technoblade had missed Nimius.

“Woah!” Theseus gasped, leaning so far forward Techno needed to grab his shirt and pull him back into the seat. “What are those?” he asked excitedly, pointing at a blue bird amongst several others, it’s tail long as it trailed behind the bird, folded. The feather’s were iridescent and there was a small crest on its head.

“That's a peacock, the monarch has an affinity for them,” Techno said fondly. As his dog passed the bird, clearing the path for the horses, several of the peacocks shook out their tails and Theseus’ eyes went wide once more.

“It’s got so many eyes!” he said, looking at Technoblade in wonder.

“It’s just a pattern, they use it to scare off anything trying to eat them.” Techno said, smiling lightly.

“They’re so pretty,”

“Very, but you can’t pet these ones, they aren’t nice. There’s one inside you could pet though.” Techno said. Theseus nodded excitedly as Techno stopped the cart in front of the castle, looking over each of the guards. As much as he loved it here he couldn’t be too comfortable so he kept his sword on him and stepped off, whistling to the dog and gesturing with a nod of the head to the cart. She jumped up and settled in the back as Theseus scrambled down off the cart, running to catch up. A young man had come out and paused in front of them as they both waited for Theseus.

“Eret is waiting for you inside. Just f-” The young man was cut off by another who had approached, staring at the sword.

“No weapons.” He said gruffly.

“I’m not stupid enough to kill a seer, let alone a monarch. Let me in.” Techno said flatly.

“No. Put the sword in your cart. And that whip too.” The man said stepping in front of Techno, arms crossed. He had a mask over the top of his face but Techno was close enough to see his bright green eyes and furrowed brows.

“And if I don’t?” Techno asked, smiling lazily.

“You don’t wanna find out.” came the reply as he went to draw his sword. Techno copied the move, hand on the hilt of his sword. Theseus grabbed onto Techno’s pant leg, and Techno chanced a quick look, seeing briefly the fear on his face. When his eye darted back up the man had relaxed slightly, eyes focused on the child for a moment before looking back at Techno and glaring twice as hard.

“Boys quit it,” came a new voice, familiar to Techno’s ears. Techno grinned and let go of his sword to smile innocently at Eret descending the stairs to the castle doors, accompanied by a woman a bit younger than Technoblade. Eret was… well Eret. Well dressed in beautiful clothes, somehow looking well dressed and casual at the same time, putting Techno’s outfit of his usual cape, shirt, pants and other gear to shame despite sharing the same style. She smiled and approached, shaking his head playfully.

“What? I was just playing around,” Techno said, laughing easily and relaxing. He bowed to them, head down in a show of respect before standing.

“You’re a bad liar. Come on, we have a lot to discuss with Puffy here, she’s my general that I told you about.” Eret said, gesturing for Techno and Theseus to follow.

“But my liege, he has weapons on him!” The man Techno had just confronted spoke up, looking panicked.

“As he always does. Sam it’s alright, this man has saved my life more times than I can count. If he wanted me dead he would’ve done so long ago. He’s as harmless as a pup.” Eret laughed, shaking their head. The man, Sam, stood there bewildered for a moment as Techno walked by, followed by Theseus who stuck his tongue out at the guard. They walked in through the large doors into a beautiful castle. Polished wood and marble was everywhere, large murals and tapestries of the gods and of old tales lining the entry hall beautifully. Techno felt out of place, dirty grungy clothing, scarred and unpolished, unrefined. Eret led them further, past the large throne room and into a further hall. Puffy opened a door, revealing a round, average sized table, six chairs around it, a teapot and snacks upon it. Eret took their spot and Puffy chose one nearby, Techno opting for one across from Eret, and Theseus clamoring up onto the chair beside Techno.

“You never told me you had a kid,” Eret said, smiling and placing a few sweets in front of Theseus.

“Sorry, I didn’t have much time, I came as soon as I got the letter,” Techno said.

“No no, it’s alright, he’s quite adorable. What’s his name?” Eret asked, smiling at Theseus who was currently enjoying a cookie that Eret had given him.

“Theseus,” Techno replied.

“I go by Tommy.” Theseus interjected, staring at Techno.

“You never mentioned that before.” Techno sighed.

“You didn’t ask.” came the reply. Puffy snorted and covered her mouth, trying to hide her smile. Techno took the moment to take her in. Her uniform was well kept, a deep indigo blue with gold accents. She had very long curly white hair, though it didn’t age her. She looked young, or at least seemed to be younger than Technoblade, though that wasn’t saying much. She had a scar, faint and light, stretching from her jaw to just under her eye. He couldn't decipher what from by the look of it, though it had obviously been taken care of considering it was so light.

“What’s wrong with your eyes?” Theseus interrupted Techno’s thoughts, loud and abrupt.

“Theseus!” Techno scolded, staring at him in disbelief.

“What?”

“You can’t say that!”

“Why not?” Theseus asked, crossing his arms. Techno sighed, frustrated.

“I’m so sorry,” He apologized.

“It’s alright, kids are kids, I take no offence.” Eret said. Their eyes which had previously been a bright and vibrant brown had slowly dulled over the years, as though there was a white film over them. Techno hadn’t mentioned it, he had only ever known Eret with the vague film on their eyes. She was a seer, it was a natural part of having Sight. “I have a gift. I can see the gods,” Eret said smiling and looking at Theseus patiently.

“Woah, that’s so cool! I wanna see the gods!”

“Well it’s not all good Tommy. My eyes look like this because it makes it so you can’t see after a while, it makes your eyes turn white and soon you can’t see anything.” Eret explained. Theseus frowned and tilted his head.

“So you’re blind?”

“Not yet. I’ve got some years ahead of me, I plan to enjoy them as much as I can.” Eret said, eyes darting to Techno who laughed.

“You did enough living for twelve lives back in the days.” Techno smiled fondly upon the memories of their journeys together.

“Never enough Blade, never enough,” Eret said, sighing happily at their own memories of the time. “We’ll need to reminisce some other time unfortunately. You’re aware of why I requested your help?”

“Yes, the letter told me all I needed to know.” Techno said, nodding curtly, smile fading.

“Lovely. As capable as our wonderful General here is, we'll need the help. They’ve been making bold moves. We need to be bolder.”

“Are you sure?” Puffy interjected.

“You have no ideas left either. We need him.”

“No, not that. Him. Are you sure about him? I did my research, I know what he sees as ‘bold moves’.” Puffy said firmly, glaring at Techno. Just when he thought he may be able to escape mistakes of the past, here they were yet again coming to bite him in the ass.

“Can we not discuss that? Not right now? I’d rather not defend those actions in front of a child.” Techno said sharply. Puffy looked between Technoblade and Theseus before nodding. “We’ll finish this later.” Techno added. “For now I need your files and information about it. As well as anything relevant to the situation, including border declarations. Anything Nimius and Ecren have both signed.”

“Of course. I have an office for you in the south wing and your room is ready. We can give Tommy a tour of the castle maybe and have some dinner, by then I’ll have a room for him beside yours.” Eret said, pouring herself a cup of tea, and then pouring one for Technoblade. “Puffy, can I ask you to gather the necessary documents while I catch up with my friend?” He asked kindly. Puffy nodded and gave a brief informal bow before leaving the room. “Maybe Tommy would like to go find Calypso in his garden,” Eret said, smiling.

“Who’s Calypso?” Theseus asked,

“You remember I mentioned there’s a peacock you can pet inside the castle? That’s Calypso. He’s a sweetheart, and has his own garden.” Techno said, smiling. Theseus grinned, turning to Eret and nodding quickly.

“Alright, give me a moment,” Eret said, standing and walking to the door. Eret smiled and gestured to someone. “Skeppy, are you on your way by Calypso’s garden?” She called.

“Yeah, gonna go visit Bad in the kitchens, see if he needs help.” came the reply, presumably from Skeppy.

“Lovely, we have a guest, come here,”

Skeppy stepped in, smiling and waving at Techno and Theseus.

“Can you show Theseus here how to get to the garden? He’d like to meet Calypso, maybe swing by and steal an extra treat for him when you go pester Bad hm?”

“I wasn’t gonna steal anything, just… taste test,” Skeppy argued.

“Uh huh. Grab him an extra bite,”

Theseus looked to Techno for permission to go this time. After the last time he went off away from Technoblade he didn’t seem keen to repeat the situation. Techno nodded and gestured to Skeppy.

“Go, I’ll come get you in a bit, kid,” He said reassuringly. Theseus ran off with Skeppy, following him into the hall excitedly chatting with Skeppy. Eret sat and they both waited until they could no longer hear them.

“So… you’re a dad.” Eret said, leaning back with their teacup in hand. “That's… unexpected for you.”

“Yeah. I didn’t plan to be.”

“Past few years must’ve been quite the learning curve for you then huh?” Eret chuckled. Techno froze, not looking his friend in the eyes.

“Well… I wasn’t around.” Techno admitted. “His mom had to track me down to tell me. And we had an agreement.”

“You didn’t…” Eret said.

“I didn’t abandon them… entirely.” Techno said, trying to defend himself. “She knew what kind of guy I was, she knew about them. I told her when she said she was pregnant. She agreed it wasn’t a good idea, but she couldn’t work with a child and no husband so… I’ve been sending her money over the years. Bought them a nice home, money for food and clothes, a repairman, and extra for savings. I made sure she could give him a good life. I swear I wouldn’t just leave, I just…”

“So why is he with you now then?” Eret asked.

“She passed. A few days ago actually. She wrote to me and had the message passed along urgently and when I got there it was bad. She told me to take him and take care of him. I figured I owe her that, but I… have no clue how to do this.” Techno sighed, shrugging and leaning back. He didn’t dare look at Eret, he didn’t want to see their look of disappointment.

“Gods above Technoblade, what a fine mess you’ve made for yourself. We’re a nation at war, why’d you bring him?”

“The other jobs were too dangerous. Tracking down criminals, on the front lines for weeks, assassination, murder, this was the safest. He doesn’t have to be involved in the war, he can stay and if we must evacuate he can go with. This war won’t be fast, Ecren is not going to give in, it’s more stable.”

“What makes you say that?” Eret asked. Techno sighed and reached into his pocket, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper and standing, leaning over the table to hand it to Eret. Eret took it and unfolded the paper. “They requested you as well?”

“Yeah. Offered me the position of General.”

“You didn’t take it. Why?” Eret said, frowning skeptically, eyes trained on Technoblade’s sword.

“I’d be on the frontlines, the pay was worse, it came after yours, and you’re one of my oldest friends. I’m a lot of things, but I am not a liar and I don’t go back on my promises. I told you I’d come back if you ever needed help. I’m here. I have no obligations in Ecren or interest in helping them. This was my home for a while too, I’m going to defend it.” Techno said.

“You never change. It’s nice to have you on the team, old friend,” Eret said, smiling and folding the piece of paper, tossing it back on the table and relaxing. “Like the old days.”

“Like the old days.” Techno agreed

Techno found Theseus in the garden, sitting amongst the beautiful abundance of foliage and flowers, Calypso sitting in his lap fast asleep. It was kind of sweet, Theseus was gently petting the bird, making sure not to wake him, looking around at all the butterflies fluttering above them from flower to flower. The garden was vibrant, it was as though you stepped into a forest, and though it was a bit warm it was comfortable. Theseus seemed at peace there. Techno walked over and sat on the bench near Theseus’ spot on the ground.

“Where’d the name Tommy come from?” He asked quietly, being careful not to startle the bird or the child.

“My mom. She always called me Tommy instead.” He replied in a whisper, transfixed on the bird in his lap. He seemed enamored with Calypso, fascinated endlessly by the brightly colored and well kept feathers. Enough so that he had finally stopped moving and talking for the first time since Techno had met him. He was a lively kid, probably even more so before his mother passed. He hadn’t been sleeping well, crying himself to sleep in the wagon, waking from nightmares. On the worst days when it seemed he truly realized he was never seeing his mother again he had refused to eat, and sat silently in the wagon. Technoblade was not someone experienced in grief, and he hadn’t had even the mildest clue on how to comfort a child who had just lost his primary caregiver, that was never easy, especially not after watching her suffer for weeks on end before dying. Techno hadn’t spoken with him much about it, unsure of how to approach that topic with an adult, let alone a child.

“Do you want me to call you Tommy instead?” Techno asked softly, voice still low to not wake the bird.

“No,” Theseus said flatly, shaking his head. Techno froze, and stared for a moment waiting for him to elaborate. No explanation came. He just left it there. Technoblade decided that it wasn’t meant to be rude, even if it sure did feel like something he should chastise him for. It wasn’t as though it was a big deal, it was just a name. Theseus had the right to say what he wanted to be called.

“...alright” Techno said after a solid minute of silence from both parties. “Dinner’s almost ready, we should head to the dining hall,” he added, gently patting him on the shoulder as he stood to get him to stand up as well.

“I don’t wanna go.” Theseus said. Techno took a moment and decided his curiosity took precedence over his ego bruising from the fact Theseus just outright refused,

“Why not?” He asked, crouching down. Theseus looked away, refusing eye contact. He looked conflicted and uncomfortable, but Techno just waited until he was ready.

“What if it’s bad? Mom always made good food, what if this is bad? And it's so big in there, the roof is so high, and everything echoes and it’s just too much. I don’t like it.” Theseus said, grimacing and glancing at the door back in. “I miss home.” He added more quietly. Techno stood and thought for a moment.

“Come with me,” He said, standing and holding out his hand. Theseus looked at Calypso and hesitated before gently picking him up and scooting him off his lap, standing and brushing the dirt off his pants.

“We’re going anyway?” Theseus asked, frowning.

“Nah, I hate the dining hall anyways, but you can’t just not eat kid. I’m taking you to the kitchens. Did you like Skeppy?”

“Yeah! He’s really funny, he told me about you!”

“...what’d he tell you?”

“That you sucked at the games he played with you!” Theseus said happily, smiling as he looked ahead.

“...huh… well I’ll have to get a rematch then. We can have dinner with Skeppy and the cook, Bad, in the kitchen instead, it’s much nicer there, not as fancy,” Techno said, taking Theseus’ hand and leading him inside, instead of going through the large extravagant halls he took a detour into a smaller homier feeling hallway. It was lined with pictures of the staff and their families, and of Eret and his parents, all the goofy pictures they wouldn’t be able to present in the front halls for guests to see. Techno looked at a few of them and got oriented to where they were. He had always preferred going through the staff halls anyways. The main halls were designed to be long, extravagant and force you to take in the wealth and lavish castle. The staff halls were shortcuts, small and much easier to navigate due to the fact that they didn’t look the same and had labels on all the doors so nobody got lost. Techno finally found the door labelled ‘Kitchen’ and pushed it open.

Beyond the door was a nice looking kitchen. It wasn’t fancy or covered in white and gold. It had a large wood stove that was next to an oven, as well as another separate brick oven in the wall. The brick oven was unlit and cold, and the wood stove looked as though it had just turned off. There were large windows that were wide open, letting in a cool breeze, and plenty of countertops littered in plates and dishes. The room was bigger than a normal home’s kitchen and much better equipped, even having a cooler to store food and a meat locker door off to the side, but half of it was occupied by a large oak table and chairs, a tablecloth spread over top. In the centre of the table was a vase with freshly cut flowers, and beside it was a basket of bread rolls. In the kitchen was a familiar face, Bad. Though Bad seemed occupied trying to get Skeppy to stop trying to eat the food before it was out on the tables.

“Skeppy, quit it!” Bad yelled, exasperated.

“Awe come on, I’m just testing it!” Skeppy laughed as he was chased away from the stock pot.

“You’re being a pest is what you’re doing,” Bad huffed, shaking his head and turning to smile. “You finally came back!” He cheered, smiling at Techno. “You come to visit or to steal food like someone else here,” Bad asked, glaring pointedly at Skeppy who had started creeping towards the other basket of bread rolls for the dining hall.

“But I’m huuuuuungryyyy” Skeppy whined. Techno laughed and grabbed a bread roll from the basket on the table, chucking it to Skeppy to occupy him for a while.

“Actually I came to see if me and the kid could eat with you and Skeppy tonight,” Techno said, smiling and gesturing at Theseus. Bad gasped and leaned over the counter to look at the kid, grinning brightly.

“Of course! Skeppy mentioned we had a little guest! I thought he was lying for an extra lemon tart,” Bad said, smiling.

“I told you he wash real,” Skeppy said triumphantly through a mouthful of bread, smiling smugly as he took another bite of the bread roll proudly.

“Yeah yeah, whatever.” Bad said, brushing him off with an eye roll and a dismissive wave. “I’ll let Eret know when we send out the food, they may join us but I doubt Sam and Puffy will let him out of sight while they have a chance to discuss things.”

“Speaking of what’s the deal with those two?” Techno asked, leaning forward against the counter.

“Ah not much, Sam is the newer one of the two, he takes his job very seriously, and Puffy is normally a lot more calm but everything going on has been stressing her out. This’ll be her first conflict as General, she’s been in the military for a long time but this time she’ll be calling the shots on the field so she’s just trying to be careful,” Bad said shrugging. “Nice folks, heart in the right place but you caught ‘em at a bad time. Why are you here now?”

“Same reason. Eret asked me to come as a strategist.” Techno said. “War needs experience, I guess that’s why she asked me to come.”

“What’s war? You guys keep talking about it and I don’t know what it means.” Theseus asked abruptly. Bad looked as though he had frozen to the spot and Skeppy was trying not to laugh at him but Techno just turned and looked at Theseus unbothered.

“Y’know how there are countries? Well sometimes they get into fights with lots of people on both sides. That's war.” Techno said flatly. Bad gave him an incredulous look and when Techno made eye contact he shrugged. There was no point in lying. This would be the kid’s life for a while.

“Oh. When will it be over?” Theseus asked, frowning. “It seems like a lotta work.

“I don’t know, kid, probably not for a few years.” Technoblade replied, shrugging.

“That’s a long time. I want it over now,”

“Me too, tell you what though, you and I get to live here with Skeppy and Eret and Bad until it’s over, so that doesn’t seem too bad right?” Techno asked, smiling ever so slightly and ruffling Theseus’ blond hair gently.

“I guess not,”

Dinner had gone well, Theseus ate all his food for the first time in ages, even telling Technoblade as they left the kitchen that it was “almost as good as mom’s” which seemed to be high praise for him. Techno was just glad he ate all of it. They had talked with Skeppy and Bad easily, and despite Eret not being able to join them it was a good time. Afterwards Techno had gone to the stables, Theseus trailing behind him. Someone had put away his horses and his dog wasn’t too far off from them. Techno checked what they had to eat and drink and after deciding it was good enough he grabbed his brushes from the wagon behind the stable. He would bring his books and Theseus’ things up to their rooms when they went back in. Theseus stood just inside the stable door, watching Technoblade brush the larger of the two horses meticulously.

“Why didn’t you name them?” Theseus asked, echoing his question from days earlier.

“I just didn’t.”

“Can I name them?” Theseus asked. Techno made the mistake of looking at Theseus, whose eyes were large and watery as he silently begged. Not even he could last against that look.

“...fine.” Techno conceded, sighing and shaking his head.

“Yay! This one is gonna be.... Andrew!” Theseus proclaimed proudly, looking chuffed with himself.

“That’s a good one,” Techno said, chuckling slightly.

“And the other one is gonna be Carl!” Theseus added. “Oh and the doggie! Can I name her? Pretty please?”

“Might as well,”

“Clementine!” Theseus cheered happily. The dog, who had previously been laying calmly, watching Techno and Theseus from outside the stall stood at that, walking over and wagging her tail at Theseus.

“Well she seems to like it. Nice job kid,” Techno said, smiling fondly. He continued brushing the newly named Andrew and Carl, meticulously picking out their feet and checking for any rocks before he finally let them be. Clementine, also pleased with the new moniker curled up in Carl’s stall, and Techno pulled out some dried meat from the wagon, promising he’d take her hunting the next day for some game. He knew she couldn’t understand but it gave him peace of mind at least.

He took Theseus to the wagon and grabbed his large box of books and other important trinkets within, buried under the pages, and helped Theseus grab his few things. The child frowned as he looked for something, not finding it.

“What’re you missin’?” Techno asked.

“My teddy bear, mom gave it to me, I had it hidden in my bag!” Theseus said, looking distressed.

“You think you forgot it at home?” Techno asked, frowning. His frown deepened when Theseus nodded, tears welling up in his eyes. “Hey, hey it’s okay kid.” he rushed, trying to think about what one of his friends would’ve said. Squid had always been better with kids, so he tried to think of what he would say. “Your teddy bear is.... Protecting your house?” He suggested. Theseus paused and sniffed, nodding slowly. It seemed to work. “He has to look after it cause you’re not there anymore.”

“...okay,” Theseus said quietly, nodding. He still looked sad but no longer like he was gonna cry, which Techno counted as a massive win in his favor. Maybe parenting wouldn’t be that bad after all.

They brought in the items, and Eret showed them to their rooms. Eret’s was at the end of the hall and Techno’s was a few doors down. Beside Techno’s room was Theseus’ room and both seemed good, better than the wagon had been. There was a fireplace in techno’s room, and he remembered the layout of it quite well. He had stayed there for some time previously, and chosen the room specifically for the fireplace and the small bathroom attached to it. It wasn’t as large and well furnished as Eret’s washroom or any of the others in the castle, but there was running water, a sink, a toilet and a bathtub. That was more than enough for Techno, who had long since grown used to mostly washing up in rivers. Techno let Theseus settle in his room and showed him where to go if he needed help before slipping into his room. He put his books on the empty shelves and the various treasures were hidden in the room. His jewelry box set on the nightstand.

He opened the dresser and found some clean clothes that he had previously left. That would also be nice, laundry wouldn’t be such a pain. He bathed himself and got Theseus to stop jumping on the bed long enough to catch him and wrangle him into the bath as well afterwards. He had protested heavily until he hit the warm water, sinking into it almost immediately. He still protested as Techno scrubbed the dirt off his face and out of his hair but it was half-hearted and he seemed quite happy afterwards, wrapped in a blanket and wearing clean pajamas donated by Eret from when they were young. They were a bit big but Theseus said they were comfortable. Techno got him settled into bed and blew out the oil lamp in the room, leaving him to sleep. Techno lit his fireplace and stoked the fire until it was roaring steadily, warming the room. He blew out his own oil lamp after grabbing one of his novels, deciding on an old hero tale he had been fond of. He settled into the rocking chair by the fireplace, opening the well worn pages and settling in to lose himself in the story.

He had always cherished the fact he could read, and he was thankful for the escape. Sometimes he found solace from everything around him in the pages of a good story. He particularly enjoyed adventures with a clear hero. He never saw himself in those pages, and though as strange as it may have seemed it was nice. He wanted an escape from himself, not a reflection of him on the pages. He was okay with the fact he didn’t see himself in the heroes, though all too often he saw himself in the monsters the heroes slayed. He wasn’t proud of it, and he’d never speak of those events aloud, he’d never admit to what he’d done to anyone who he cared for. Though he didn’t know how much longer he could ignore it when Puffy knew. He had no doubt Sam knew as well. The hatred and fear in his eyes as they had stood face to face earlier told him all he needed to know. He didn’t know if Eret would still accept his help if he knew, but he had to try to explain himself. Nothing would justify it, but he wanted to help people this time. Not hurt them. He paused, shaking away the thoughts, it would only encourage them to start up once more. He hadn’t gotten a handle on them just for them to pop up now of all times. He had become so wrapped up in his book that he hadn’t realized the door opened until he heard it click shut. He turned, almost expecting Eret, but instead seeing Theseus, blanket around his shoulders, sniffing and wiping at his eyes.

“Hey… what are you doing up?” Techno asked, tilting his head and closing his book, finger on the page he was on, holding it ajar.

“I couldn’t sleep…” Theseus said, sounding as though he had been sobbing. Techno frowned and gestured to him to come closer, and as he stepped into the firelight Techno could see his eyes. They were red and watery, bloodshot and puffy. His cheeks were tear-stained and he looked awful.

“Nightmare again?” Techno asked. Theseus nodded. Techno thought for a moment. He didn’t know how to comfort kids very well. “Is there something you want me to do?” He asked, figuring it wouldn’t hurt to just ask him.

“Mom would always cuddle with me…” Theseus said softly, not looking up to meet Techno’s eyes at all, but he got the message. He leaned forward and gestured him forward. Theseus took a few steps closer and Techno picked him up, placing him down on his lap. He shifted Theseus so the child was laying across his lap, leaning against his arm and chest.

“Does this work?” Technoblade asked, hoping he was doing it right. He’d seen other parents do this, but he wasn’t sure. Theseus nodded and rested his head on Techno’s chest gently. “You want me to read to you?” he asked, getting another silent nod. Techno flipped the book open to the first page, and started reading aloud off the first page. He felt Theseus cuddle into him, pulling his blanket closer around himself while yawning softly. Time escaped him, and what felt like minutes went by before he paused and looked down, to see Theseus fast asleep in his arms. He felt like he couldn’t move without waking him, and looked around to see if there was a way to take him to bed, but there wasn’t. So Techno resigned himself to sleeping in the rocking chair that night, gently putting the book down on the small table beside him. He sighed and leaned back, holding Theseus gently and closing his eyes. He smiled slightly as he felt Theseus grab onto his shirt tightly with his small hand. Maybe it was worth sleeping on the chair tonight if it meant Theseus slept soundly. It wasn’t so bad.

#dream smp #dsmp #mcyt #techno #bedrock bros #bedrock bros fanfic #dream smp tommy #dsmp tommy #dsmp god au #dsmp technoblade #dsmp fanfic #c!eret #c!puffy #c!sam #fanfiction #dadnoblade fanfic #technodad fanfic #technodad #dadnoblade

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aestheticseungmean · 4 years

Text

My Heart Wanted You- Seo Changbin

Changbin was dating a girl who was using him but he just. couldn’t. see. it. Unfortunately for him, he found out the hard way.

Requested by @hwangscorpio

Warnings: Cussing

3.2K words

Angst but mainly fluff

——————————————————————————

“Okay gentlemen, I’ll be waiting on your responses to join this groundbreaking evolution of technology. Have a great day!” A sigh left your lips as you stretched your fingers. Writing notes and comments all while evaluating what each of the men will decide, really takes a toll on you. As the men from other companies left the room, your boss bid them a farewell at the door before slumping in the seat. “Sir, you’re not supposed to sit like that. What would the others think?” You were his assistant which was never good in stories. But, you were respected and depended upon a lot. “_________. I think they would think I am a lazy boss. This is why you are my favorite asset. This company would be underground if it was just me.” Your boss was a young guy, thrown into this work way too early. “It looks like Hex Co. is excited to be in on this. The rest are unknown.”

“I would kill for something alcoholic. Run the notes through the database.” He sighed out, running his fingers through his current blond, moppy locks. “Will do, sir!” “Oh, one more thing.” You turned to look at him expectantly. “Stop calling me sir when we are alone. Makes me sound old.” You replied, “As you wish, master.” Knowing that that wasn’t what he had meant. He wanted you to call him by name. “_____.” A teasing smile graced your lips. “Sorry, Chan.” With your messy notes in hand, you walked towards your desk to input the data. When you first applied for the position, you were only going to do it to pay off student debt. Now, you loved your job, despite the aches and pains. Your boss was friendly, your coworkers were nice, lunch was always delicious. There was always something new to find in the office. One day it’s a pink door and another it’s a drone delivering notes before crashing into a wall.

Everything was perfect. Well, except your best friend Changbin. The thing was, he had a girlfriend. Which isn’t the bad part. No, the bad part was, she was manipulative and a pathological liar. For some odd reason, Changbin just couldn’t see it. The thoughts raced in your head as you inserted the info. “Hey, _____? Can you help me with my computer?” You stifled a laugh towards the younger male who looked at you with wide, confused eyes. “Sure, Jeongin.” It simply started out as just a few minutes until he asked you more and more. Before you knew it, it was time for him to clock out. “You know, I think Jeongin likes you.” “Oh, yeah? How do you reckon that?” You turned to face your boss who eyed your computer only seeing half the work done. “You don’t see those heart eyes he gives you? They’re bigger than that apple on your desk.” Chan let out a chuckle. “And you’re the master of love?” “Absolutely.”

You finished up your work while Chan spun around in the office chair he found. Clicking save, you turned to see your childish boss giggling as he spun faster and faster. “Chan stop, you’re going to get sick.” Eventually, he came to a stop and held his head in his hands, complaining about the world spinning so fast. “Hey, I told you so.” He looked up to find your smug face staring back at him. “You’re mean.” “Whatever, boss.” Walking beside him to clock out, you sighed happily as you left the building. The cold autumn breeze nipped at your cheeks and you thanked the gods that Chan wasn’t one of those bosses that forced you to wear business attire. In fact, that’s a reason he was so popular, he let people wear what they wanted as long as it was appropriate. You buried your face in the sweatshirt you brought knowing that it was in fact a chilly season. “Your sweater is wearing out.” “I know. I’ve had it for years but I still haven’t been able to buy a new one.”

The cool metal of the car door made you recoil, shivering in the process. “There’s still some daylight, come on.” Chan grabbed your hand. “Where are we going?” “To get you a new hoodie. I don’t know how you stay warm with all those holes.” From a distance, it would look like you two were a couple and that is exactly what happened. “_______!” You gagged in disgust at the fake voice you knew oh so well. “Hello, Lila.” “I didn’t know you had such a handsome boyfriend.” A protest started to leave your lips but Chan stopped you. “Yeah, I didn’t know you had such a handsome boyfriend, _______.” You watched as Changbin’s girlfriend batted her mile long, fake eyelashes at Chan. “Where is Changbin?” “Oh he’s busy.” She replied, not even taking her eyes off of the blond. Does she really think you are stupid? Changbin had no plans today and he wanted to surprise Lila with some chocolates. When she thought you weren’t looking, her fingers trailed up Chan’s arms. You cleared your throat and she dropped her hands.

“Have a good night, Lila.” The words were cold and harsh as you pushed Chan away from the girl. He spoke up after you made your way into the store. “She seems um, nice?” “She’s a bitch.” Heat fought off the cold that lingered on your skin. “Colourful words there. Is she really that bad?” You scoffed while scanning through the hoodie section. “She’s always flirting with other guys while she’s dating my friend. He deserves more than that lying, scheming, conniving bitch.” Chan huffed at the new information. “Someone like you?” “Exactly- Wait? What?” You abruptly turned around only to be met by a broad chest. “I told you, I’m the love expert.” He teased. You watched as he reached behind you to pull out a large hoodie. The cloth was shoved towards you expectantly. “You’d look good in this. Plus, it’s soft inside.” A million thoughts pummeled through your mind but you played it off. “So we’re going to ignore the fact that you are my boss yet giving me love advice.”

Chan chuckled, his dimples prominent on his face. “Just think of it as a friend giving another friend love advice.” Breaking your gaze off of his, you looked towards the hoodie he had handed you. It was a maroon color and was definitely going to be big on you but you liked that. You liked getting swallowed up by your hoodies, coats, sweaters, and sweatshirts. It offered you a sense of comfort and warmth considering you were unreasonably cold 24/8. “So we’re friends?” Chan nodded. “I’d like to think so.” “I like that.” He smiled once again and led you to the cash register. “Just these items?” “Yes.” The cashier looked unamused at everything. It made you happy because you don’t think you could handle another person fawning over your boss. “Have a good night.” “You too, miss.” Chan handed the bag to you outside of the store. Respectfully, he looked away as you switched hoodies which you found cute because you had on a shirt underneath.

“Okay, I’m done.” “Do you want to keep this hoodie?” You shook your head. “Then can I do the honours of throwing it away?” “How about we do it together?” A gleam in his eyes signified that he agreed to that. When you reached the familiar, pristine parking lot, the two of you walked towards the dumpster and threw away the tattered fabric. “Thank you, but I must be going.” “Have a good night and see you tomorrow!” You wished him a good night as well and entered your car. The silent rumble of the engine coming to life sent a rush of excitement through you. “I’m going home to sleep!” Except, it wasn’t that easy. The lights were on which was unusual considering you don’t have a roommate. “Hello?” A blanket was sprawled out on the guest bed and all that peeked out was soft brown hair that belonged to your best friend. “Bin?” The blanket shuffled and warm yet tired eyes peeked up at you. “I went for a walk today but it got too cold. I hope you don’t mind that I crashed here.”

“Of course not. You are welcome here all the time.” Changbin smiled a little and sat up, the blanket falling to his lap. “Have you eaten yet?” “No, I was waiting on Lila but she never came.” The nerve of that bitch. Anyone could see how much Changbin was putting into this relationship and she was throwing it all away. “Are you okay?” A shiver ran down his spine at the motherly look he was receiving. “I’m okay, I promise.” “Let’s go make some food.” You took his hand and dragged him to the kitchen to make macaroni. Sure it was midnight but it doesn’t matter. When the light hit his face, you could see his tear stained cheeks. “Changbin-“ “I can’t help it. I know she’s not in the relationship anymore but I love her.” You rested your head against his and sighed. “I know. I just wish you could see the others who love you more.” Changbin pulled away first and directed his attention towards making the food.

——————————————

The next day, Changbin was gone before you finished getting ready for work. It was disheartening but fair considering you pushed into his life. You topped off your outfit consisting of simple jeans, blouse and the sweatshirt Chan got you with a toboggan. The office was warm as you entered making you happy. “You look good today. Is that a new hoodie?” Unfortunately, you were not alone for long. “Yes it is, Jeongin. And thank you, you look good today as well.” The younger boy beamed with pride, ecstatic that you thought he looked good. “I brought a hot chocolate for my favorite assistant! Oh, Jeongin. You’re early. I’m afraid I didn’t get you one but if you want, I’ll give you five dollars so you can get one.” “It’s okay, hyung.” He went to work leaving you and Chan alone. “First of all, I am your only assistant. Second, give me the hot coco because I had a restless night.”

You took a sip of the steaming liquid and sighed. “What happened?” “Changbin crashed at my place because his fucking girlfriend stood him up. He cried. Cried. I hate that bitch.” The pencil in your other hand cracked under your anger. “Calm down. There’s only so much you can make someone see.” He shuffled a few things around on your desk to make room for him to sit. “I know.” “Here, let me take you to lunch today.” You nodded, allowing him to smile and tell you to make sure he has enough time to take you to get food. The hours leading up to lunch were monotone, filled with boringness except Chan occasionally pestering you. Your phone buzzed violently on the desk, you picked it up and answered the call without looking at the ID. “Hello?” “Can we go out to eat today? I want to be around someone.” It was Changbin. It hurt you hearing the amount of pain that was in his voice, signalling he was alone today as well. “My boss wants to take me to lunch but I’ll cancel so I can go with you.”

“It’s okay. I don’t want to impose.” “Changbin. Just come to my work and we will all three go. I want to be there for you. You know that.” A sniffle from the other side. “Okay. I’m heading that way now.” “I love you, Binnie.” A single sob let out before he hung up, getting ready to go see you. Banging your head against the desk sounded like an amazing option right now. Yet, you knew you wouldn’t be able to get away with it. “Hey, you're almost ready?” “I hope you don’t mind but Changbin’s in his way here and I invited him to tag along.” Chan giggled and ruffled your hair before motioning to stand up. “Of course I don’t mind. I feel like a proud dad watching their kid chase after someone. Don’t mind me.” Rolling your eyes playfully at his antics, you grabbed the hoodie that was discarded earlier and put off to the side. It was like you were two all of a sudden when you mixed up the holes. It was a sight to see when Changbin walked in. On one side, you had Jeongin trying to pull up the hoodie and on the other was Chan doing the same. “Put your hands up!” “I’m trying, Chan!” He scoffed and tugged at the material. “Try harder.”

Changbin laughed at the scene in front of him knowing that he’s been in the boys’ position. With Jeongin being able to free his side, Chan was able to slip his side off scrunching up the hoodie and put it over your head. “Arm.” You turned red as you saw Changbin watching you get babied by your boss. “I said arm. Are you not paying attention?” He turned to see what you were staring at and smiled. “Oh, your 𝑐𝑟𝑢𝑠ℎ is here.” You put your hand through the arm hole and shoved him. “Shut up.” Chan made a move to do the other side as well but you put your arm through it before he could. “No.” Changbin was taken by surprise when you hugged him tightly. “Please forget you ever saw that.” He smiled but shook his head. “No can do.” “Hey, go get your wallet and phone before we leave.” Your friend eyed your boss and felt you move away, immediately missing your warmth. “Okay, got it.” “HAVE FUN, _____!” Jeongin yelled at before you left and you waved at him and said “I will.”

The diner was a 60’s style diner with girls on skates. “I wanted to work here because they rode on roller skates.” The only catch though, you’d have to wear the outfits too. A tall waitress rolled up to you while pulling out her order sheet. “What can I get you guys to drink?” You looked at the drink names and snorted. “I’ll have the Groovy Ginger Ale.” The words were choked out as you continued to read the names. “I would like a Disco Dew.” Changbin recited, smiling at how easily amused you were. Chan was last. “I’ll take a Funky Fanta.” She clicked her pen and gave off the server’s anthem. “I’ll be back in a few minutes to get your order.” Chan nodded and thanked her. “Okay, I take it back. I wouldn’t be able to work here.” Changbin tilted his head confused. “Why?” “Imagine people saying Funky Fanta except it’s in different tones and voices.” Both of them shook their heads at the thought. Soon, the waitress came back to get the food order.

“I have to use the restroom real quick.” You and Chan nodded and watched Changbin walk away. The doorbell chimed and a familiar face walked in. Your eyes widened in surprise because she was with a boy. She noticed you right away. “Fancy seeing you guys here. Don’t you guys work or something?” “Yes, Lila. We are on a lunch break and who is he?” Lila flashed a smile over to Chan. “He’s my friend.” “Where’s Changbin?” You knew the answer but you wanted to know what stupid lie she was going to come up with. “I’m going to go find us a table.” The male placed a quick peck on her lips before she pulled him back in for a longer one. Behind them stood a crushed heart watching the whole thing. “L-Lila?” Her face dropped and she quickly turned around. “Binbin!” Changbin side stepped her attempt at a hug and a kiss. “Looks like he was a really good friend.” Lila pursed her thousand dollar lips which weren’t done well. “Bin don’t be this way, you haven’t returned my texts. I thought you didn’t love me anymore.”

The customers started to stare at the commotion, clearly feeling bad for the fake girl. “I didn’t return your texts?” You knew this was going to get ugly soon and clearly Chan did to. His body was tense next to yours. Changbin pulled out his phone and showed her the texts. “It was the other way around. I was the one texting you and you were off with other people. I should’ve listened to _____!” Lila’s face turned ugly as she became angry. “YOU MEAN THAT WHORE WHO’S CLEARLY FUCKING HER BOSS?” Changbin started to say something but you stood up. Her face smelled like cheap grandma perfume but you ignored it. “I AM NOT FUCKING MY BOSS. HE IS MY FRIEND OUTSIDE OF WORK. FURTHERMORE, IF I WERE TO FUCK ANYONE, IT’D BE WITH THE PERSON YOU FUCKED OVER.” Her mile long nails scraped your face as she slapped you. Seething, you punched her. Hard. You heard a crack and blood spilled from her nose. Still angry, you went back for more before Changbin carried you outside.

The cold air cooled you down and you focused on the male in front of you. “You told me you were okay! You promised!” He couldn’t keep eye contact, instead he cried. “I couldn’t force myself to do it.” “If you still love her, I can’t keep being the person you go to to cry. I love you but this whole hurting yourself is not okay.” You turned to walk back into the diner to get Chan only to see him walking out. “I paid and the lunch is here. We are not allowed back in there again.” “It’s okay.” The mood was tense as you guys ate in the meeting room. Changbin left only saying a small bye and thank you. “He likes you too.” “CHAN JUST STOP WITH THIS LOVE CRAP. I’M SICK OF IT ALREADY.” This time, you didn’t care if you hurt yourself. You slammed your head on the hard table and cried. Cried from the pain in your head, cried from anger, from your heart hurting. “I want you to go home early today. Finish what work you were doing and go home. Go to bed.” Chan’s voice wasn’t soft as usual. It was commanding. And, you complied.

The apartment was quiet save for the fish tank filter. You threw your stuff to the ground and noticed that Changbin’s shoes were set by the door. You walked towards the guest room to find him hunched on the floor crying. He was surrounded by ripped up photos of him and Lila. “Binnie?” Changbin looked up, the tears in his eyes making your heart ache. “If I asked you to stay, would you?” “Of course.” You sat down next to him and pulled him close before stroking his hair. “I’ve been fighting my feelings. I knew that deep down inside, she wasn’t right for me but I clinged onto her. But I realized today that she wasn’t the one my heart wanted.” He paused for a minute to wipe his nose with the sleeve of his coat. “My heart longed for the person who loved me even though I shut them out. I rejected their love because I was too scared to ruin the friendship.” “Changbin-“ Your fingers paused as you thought about what he was saying. “My heart wanted you.”

#seo changbin angst #changbin x angst #changbin angst #changbin fluff #kpop #stray kids #jeongin #changbin x reader #bang chan fluff #jeongin fluff #changbin x you #stray kids x angst #skz angst #skz fluff #skz fanfic #stray kids oneshot #stray kids fluff

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rpf-bat · 4 years

Text

To Join The Black Parade

Pairing: Gerard Way x Reader

Genre: Fluff

Summary: Written for Gothtober 2020, Day 11. Prompt: “Death Parade”.

You receive an unexpected phone call, from your old friend Gerard. He asks you if you’d like to play a role, in the upcoming music video, for ‘Welcome To The Black Parade’. But, when he sees you on set, something comes over him, that neither of you ever expected.

You sat in the studio, in front of a blank canvas. You glanced up at the diploma, hanging in on the wall, in the corner. It was proof that you had graduated from SVA, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. But, despite being certifiably good at art (on paper), you still felt like an impostor, on days like this, when you had no inspiration at all.

Your brush hovered over the empty white space, when, suddenly, you were interrupted, by the sound of the phone ringing. As soon as you saw who was calling, your expression brightened.

“Hi, Y/N,” greeted the familiar voice of Gerard Way. Simply hearing your old friend speak, was enough to make your spirits, instantly lift.

“Hi, Gee,” you smiled, moving the phone closer to your ear. “How have you been?”

Even though you talked on the phone all the time, you hadn’t seen him in person, since last summer. He had briefly returned to New Jersey, to play a Warped Tour gig. You’d hung out with him afterwards, backstage. It had been so fun - and yet, so fleeting.

“I’ve been good,” Gerard replied jovially. “I’m sorry for calling you so early, though.”

“It’s not early,” you chuckled. “It’s like, eleven o’clock.”

“Well, here, it’s only eight,” Gerard reminded you.

The East Coast was no longer his home base. He had moved to Los Angeles, a few years ago, when his band started to take off. This put him in the Pacific time zone, three hours behind you.

“How’s California treating you?” you asked. “Still staying in that weird haunted house?”

“Nah, we’re done recording the album now,” Gerard updated you. “We’re actually getting ready to film the music video, that’s gonna go with the lead single.”

“Oh, cool!” you said, interested. “What’s the single’s title?”

“It’s called ‘Welcome To The Black Parade’,” Gerard revealed cryptically.

“What’s the Black Parade?” you asked curiously.

“I have this concept for the video - well, for the whole album, really,” Gerard explained. “This guy is like, dying of cancer, and Death comes for him, in the form of his favorite childhood memory.”

“The memory is….a parade?” you guessed.

“That’s right!”, Gerard confirmed. “I kind of based it off, like, when my dad would take me and Mikey into the city, at Thanksgiving time, to see the Macy’s parade.”

“Oh, of course,” you nodded. As a fellow New Jersey native, only a ferry-ride away from the Big Apple, you had grown up going to the parade every autumn, too.

“So, this whole, like, procession of marchers, is gonna welcome The Patient into the afterlife,” Gerard went on.

“That sounds amazing,” you said honestly. “I can’t wait to see the video, when it’s finished.”

“That’s actually what I was calling you about,” Gerard confessed slyly. “We’re gonna have a lot of extras in this video shoot. Like I said, a whole parade of people. I was wondering, if you might want to be in it?”

“You want me to be in the music video?”, you repeated, eyes wide.

“Yeah,” Gerard grinned. “I just thought, it would be really nice, to see you again, and have you be a part of this whole art project with me.”

Art project. That was one way to describe it. Gerard was a big Hollywood star now, with fans all over the globe. But, he still talked about the album his band was working on, in the same way, that he used to talk to you about the comics he wanted to write. Deep down, he was still the same storyteller that you used to see in class every day.

“Gerard, I would love to,” you accepted the offer, immediately. “I’ve missed you. It’s going to be so great, to hang out again.”

“I can’t wait,” Gerard said happily. “Don’t even worry about the airfare, I can get the label to fly you out.”

“Thank you,” you said giddily. You couldn’t wait to see your old friend again.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The flight to Los Angeles was long, but uneventful, and the day of the video shoot, arrived before you knew it. You gasped, when you walked in, and saw the set. There was a huge parade float, surrounded by a desolate, gray landscape. You wondered how long it had taken the set designers to put it together. You felt nervous, as you watched the other extras milling about, most of them already in costume.

They’re real actors, you thought anxiously. I’m just some random person.

Your nerves eased, as soon as you heard a voice behind you.

“Y/N, you made it!” Gerard said delightedly. You turned to face him.

“Whoa!” you gasped. “Your hair!”

“I know, it’s a big change,” Gerard laughed, running his hand through his short-cropped, bleach-blonde locks. Last time you had seen him, his hair had been dark, and down to his shoulders.

“What do you think?” he asked, seemingly a little self-conscious.

“It’s very different,” you said honestly, “But, I like it. A new look, to signify a new era!”

“Exactly,” Gerard nodded. “See, I knew you would get it….I gotta tell the guys you’re here. They’re gonna be psyched, to see you again.”

“I’m psyched to see Mikey, and Frankie, and Toro again, too,” you grinned. They were all old friends of yours.

“Oh, but first, I gotta introduce you to the director,” Gerard remembered. “His name’s Samuel Bayer. He’s amazing - he’s the same guy that directed the music video for ‘Bullet With Butterfly Wings’, back in the day.”

“No way!” you gasped. ‘Bullet’ was your favorite Smashing Pumpkins song.

“I know, right?” Gerard grinned. “And just last year, he did some really cool videos with Green Day, like ‘American Idiot’. I’m so happy that we were able to get him to work with us, on this video. I think it’s going to be amazing.”

“You’re such a flatterer, Gerard,” said a dark-haired man, walking over to you. “Hi, I’m Samuel.”

“Hi, I’m Y/N,” you introduced yourself, shaking the director’s hand.

“I heard you’re an SVA grad, too, right?” Samuel smiled.

“Yeah, Gerard and I both graduated in ‘99,” you nodded. “You went, there, too?”

“Yeah, I was in the class of ‘87,” Samuel explained.

“Wow...small world.”

“For sure,” Samuel laughed. “Anyway, Y/N, are you ready to get changed into your costume?”

“What am I going to wear?” you wondered.

“Oh, you’re going to love it,” Gerard gushed. “We had Colleen Atwood design all the costumes for us. She’s incredible.”

“She’s the same lady, who designed the costumes for Edward Scissorhands,” Samuel added informatively.

“Whoa,” you gaped. This really was an all-star film crew. Did you really belong here?

“Here’s your outfit,” Samuel smiled, handing you in the garment bag. “Go ahead and get changed, we’ll meet you back here in five.”

“O-okay,” you gulped, suddenly unsure, if you could pull the role off - no matter how small it was.

“Don’t worry,” Gerard assured you. “I know you better than anyone, Y/N. I’m sure you’ll do great.”

“Thanks,” you said softly, calmed by his words.

“I have to go fake-sing for the camera,” Gerard chuckled. “I’ll see you soon.”

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

You took the garment bag into the bathroom, unzipping it, to reveal the costume inside.

The jacket, you noticed, was black, with a marching band style collar - pretty similar to what Gerard was wearing, when you walked in. The only difference was that yours was sleeveless. Instead of pants, your jacket was paired with a black skirt.

You hesitantly changed into the outfit. You flushed, when you looked at yourself in the mirror. The skirt was short - almost too short.

You didn’t wear things like this very often. You constantly got paint on your clothes, so you never wanted to wear anything too fancy. It would just get ruined. Most of the time, you could be found in oversized sweaters, and ratty jeans.

I can’t refuse to wear it, though, you told yourself. Even if it feels kind of uncomfortable….Gerard spent a lot of time and money to bring me out here. The least I can do, is play my role, without complaining.

You walked back onto the set, your legs feeling cold and exposed. Gerard and the band had just wrapped a scene on the float, miming playing their instruments.

“Cut!” Samuel called. “Okay, I think that was a good take!”

Done with his part, Gerard strolled back over to you.

“.....Wow,” he gaped when he laid eyes on you, his eyes widening.

“Wow, what?” you blinked, feeling self-conscious.

“Wow, you look amazing,” Gerard said, blushing. “I...I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wear something like this before.”

“Oh, you think it suits me?” you asked hesitantly. You hadn’t expected this reaction.

“Absolutely,” Gerard complimented. “Have you been...working out?”

“Oh, you mean, my legs?” you realized, blushing. “Yeah, I’ve been jogging a lot…”

He stared at your uncovered thighs, making your cheeks turn hot.

“Ah, there’s my Fear!” Samuel smiled, walking over to you.

“Fear?” you repeated, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, you’ll be playing the role of Fear,” Samuel explained, “and this young lady here, will be playing Regret.”

He indicated a petite actress, whose costume was identical to yours. “Regret” gave you a friendly wave.

“As soon as you’re done in the makeup chair, you ladies can do your scene with Lukas,” Samuel directed.

“Who’s Lukas?” you asked.

“Lukas Haas is playing The Patient,” Gerard explained. “He’s a great actor.”

“Oh, our main character,” you nodded. “Ok, I guess I better head over there!”

You were surprised, how Gerard’s eyes seemed to follow you, as you walked away. It was almost as if he didn’t want you to leave his side.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

“Ok, we’re going to start moving the parade float forward!” Samuel announced. “Processioners, I need you to start walking forward, beside it, okay?”

You stood in line, and at his signal, you and the rest of the ‘parade’ began to march forward, towards the camera. You tried not to glance up too obviously at Gerard, who was standing on top of the float, beside you. The guys were up there with him, in matching marching band jackets. You had to admit, it was a striking look.

Lukas stumbled towards the front of the parade, wearing his hospital gown and slippers. He looked confused, and sad - a befitting expression, for a character, who was supposed to be newly deceased.

“Ok, cut!” Samuel called out. “Gerard, you’re going to lean over the side of the float, and put the medal on Lukas, okay?”

“Ok,” Gerard nodded, dangling a military-ish cross on a chain. “Like this?”

“Perfect,” Samuel praised. “Now, I need my Fear and Regret, to come stand on either side of Lukas, okay?”

“R-Right,” you stammered, moving to the spot on Lukas’ right that Samuel was pointing at.

“Now, Fear and Regret are going to kiss The Patient on the cheek,” Samuel explained.

“They’re what?” Gerard frowned, his expression turning suddenly sour.

“It’s in the script,” Samuel reminded him.

“Just on the cheek?” you clarified.

“Yeah,” Regret confirmed. “You do one, and I’ll lean in, and do the other, at the same time.”

“Oh, okay,” you shrugged. “I can do that.”

Sure, it felt a little awkward, since you’d just met Lukas twenty minutes ago. But, at least it wasn’t on the mouth, or anything.

Samuel signaled for the camera man to start filming again, and you leaned over, in sync with Regret, and planted a peck on the actor’s face.

“Cut!” Samuel shouted. “Ladies, I’m sorry, I need you to do that again.”

“Why?!” Gerard demanded. “I thought that take was fine.”

“Because you were making a face in the background,” Samuel groaned.

“N-No I wasn’t!” Gerard denied, blushing.

“You were,” Samuel insisted. “You’re supposed to have a neutral expression, and be looking at the camera. But, you were looking down at them instead.”

“You were pouting, dude,” Frank teased. “Come on, let’s try it again.”

You repeated the take, leaning over, and kissing Lukas’ cheek again.

“Cut!” Samuel called again, looking frustrated. “Gerard, the rest of the band was looking at the camera just fine. You’re still staring downwards, with that surly expression.”

“I’m not surly,” Geraed argued. “I was making a totally normal face.”

“No, he’s right,” Mikey shook his head. “You weren’t looking, where you were supposed to look at all.”

“Let’s give it one more try,” Gerard sighed. “I promise, I’ll get it right this time.”

I hope so, you thought with a frown. How many times, am I going to have to put my lips on this guy’s face today?

“You know what,” Samuel shrugged, “why don’t we just take a break for lunch, and try again in thirty?”

This was fine with you - you were already bored, with the repetition. You wished you knew what was throwing Gerard off.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

You found Gerard by the craft services table, listlessly eating a handful of Cheetos.

“Are you okay?” you asked him softly, as you filled your own plate with snacks.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Gerard insisted. “Don’t worry about me.”

“What is it that you’re having trouble with?” you wondered. “I mean, all you’re doing in that scene, is standing still up there, right?”

“Yeah, it shouldn’t be this hard,” Gerard frowned. “I don’t know….something about watching you plant one on Lukas, is just getting on my nerves.”

“Why’s that?” you asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I….I don’t know,” Gerard blushed. “I just don’t want you touching him, for some reason.”

“You’re the one, who called me, and asked me to play this specific role,” you reminded him.

“I know I did,” Gerard acknowledged. “I just….I didn’t think it would bother me this much.”

“Why does it bother you?” you asked. “Like, what is it that goes through your head, when you see me do that?”

“I guess I feel…..jealous,” Gerard admitted shyly, dropping his voice, so only you would hear.

“.....Jealous?” you repeated, heart pounding. What was he saying?

Gerard’s whole face turned red, and he stared downwards, suddenly very interested in his shoes.

“....Gee,” you whispered, touching his arm. “Look at me...are you telling me, that you wish, I was kissing your cheek, instead?”

You two had been friends for almost a decade now, but he had never made a move on you, or given you any indication that he desired anything more, than a platonic relationship. But….the truth was, you’d always found him incredibly handsome.

Gerard’s hazel eyes glanced up, hesitantly meeting yours.

“As soon as I saw you walk out here, in that skirt,” Gerard confessed, his voice soft and husky, “I wanted to kiss you, on far more, than just your cheeks.”

“....You want to kiss me on the mouth?” you realized, your face and body going suddenly so hot.

“God help me, I do,” Gerard breathed.

“.....Do it,” you said breathlessly. Secretly, you’d wanted this, for years.

“But, there’s people all around us!” Gerard said shyly.

You looked up, and saw that he was right. Actors and actresses were starting to form a line around the table, eager to grab food to snack on.

“.....Come with me,” you said impulsively, and dragged him by the arm, into the powder room, where you’d gotten changed earlier.

“Y-Y/N, what are you doing?” Gerard stammered. “This is the girls’ room…..I’m not supposed to be in here….I don’t want to get caught….”

“Then be real quiet, then,” you shushed him, and pulled him in for a searing kiss.

His shyness seemed to melt away, as his lips crashed into yours. He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you tighter, as the kiss deepened.

“....Gee!” you gasped, coming up for air. You never saw this coming from him.

“Y/N, I want to make you mine,” Gerard panted, eager to taste your lips again. “Mine, and mine alone.”

You kissed him again. Your hands twisted into his newly short hair. You’d wanted this forever, but you never expected it to actually happen. He tasted so sweet, and his touch was so startlingly possessive.

“Honey,” you purred, grabbing him by his jacket collar, “I’m already yours.”

#gerard way x reader #gerard way imagine #gothtober

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happylittledrabbles · 3 years

Text

The Marriage Pact, Chapter 5

Fandom: Sk8 the Infinity

Pairing: Kojiro Nanjo x Kaoru Sakurayashiki

Chapter Word Count: 5K

AO3

–

Kojiro and Hiromi arrive at the afterparty, and Kojiro spots Kaoru, who looks...attractive? Alcohol creates a striking lack of inhibitions, which leads to some...situations.

–

Despite Kojiro’s need to erase Kaoru out of his brain, he had made a promise to try and connect with him as a friend. He spent most of his time getting ready in the morning staring at his phone screen and contemplating what he should text Kaoru, the blinking cursor in the text box a mocking reminder of how thoroughly confused and conflicted the man was. He left his toothbrush in his mouth, the toothpaste foaming and dripping down his chin as he glared at the screen, pleading for it to type something out itself so that he didn’t have to torture himself any longer. Finally, after enough staring, he sighed around the toothbrush, causing some toothpaste to spray out as he gripped his phone and pounded out a short and sweet text.

Hey. U good?

Great. Now that that was over with, he wiped his mouth and tossed his backpack over his shoulder, swinging open his door as a symbolic powerful start to his day. He nearly made it to class with a pep in his step until his phone vibrated in his pocket, and when he saw that the text was from Kaoru, he was crippled. He stopped instantaneously in the middle of the path, causing a guy to bump into his shoulder and cuss under his breath as he went around. But that didn’t matter; what did matter was Kojiro’s eyes scanning the text over and over again as if each read-over would give him a different answer. But each time, it was the same:

Yes. Thank you.

That was it? Kojiro couldn’t expect anything more after Kaoru explicitly told him to leave him alone, but it was still beyond disappointing. Kojiro needed that party to come a lot earlier than normal.

Hiromi would have been a great distraction had he not also constantly reminded Kojiro of his failed connection and the embarrassing and confusing way he kept pursuing him even though he wouldn’t even do the same for a woman.

“Why weren’t you at the race yesterday?” Kojiro asked as he picked up a chunk of beef in his curry rice with his chopsticks poised in his bandage-wrapped fingers. “I missed the infamous Shadow. He always makes the beef that much more entertaining, wouldn’t you say?”

Hiromi began to open his mouth, but Kojiro shook his head.

“Chew, then swallow, you heathen,” he grumbled, watching closely to see Hiromi’s Adam’s apple bob to signify that he had fully swallowed.

“You’re such a prude,” Hiromi groaned, putting down his sandwich. He grinned at the compliments and slicked back his hair, scratching at the shaved part underneath. “I do make things more entertaining, don’t I? Glad to hear you bitches missed me.”

He cleared his throat, picking a piece of wilted lettuce out of his sandwich. “Anyway, I was helping Shokichi answer emails complaining about the pact and deleting the ones that were obviously hate mail. When I looked at the time, I was already late. And you know how much Adam hates us being late. I figured he would notice my lateness more than he’d notice me missing. Did he notice at all?”

Kojiro shook his head. “If he did, he didn’t say anything. I think he was too caught up in showing off his new outfit to everybody and gathering compliments to care.” The mention of Ainosuke’s outfit transported him back to when he was hiding behind the bush, eavesdropping on Kaoru commenting on the same outfit. A pit settled in his stomach, one that was coal-like and heavy, and he found that the curry rice—even the smell of it—was making him nauseous.

“Classic Adam,” Hiromi said with a fond roll of the eyes.

That didn’t sit right with Kojiro. “You like him?” he asked quietly as if asking the question inaudibly would soften the blow of it.

Hiromi was taken aback, his mouth morphing into a tiny ‘o.’ “Um, yeah? I guess? I don’t know. He’s the president. All I know is that one day I’m going to beat him awesomely, and then I’ll be the president!” After his declaration, Hiromi’s attention returned to the question at hand, his eyes dropping to his friend. “Why are you asking?”

That was the one question Kojiro didn’t want Hiromi asking, and he couldn’t hide the annoyance in his body language as he shifted in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. He tipped his chin to the sky as if his pretend show of confidence would make Hiromi believe him anymore when it was actually the opposite. Kojiro was tired of people asking him questions and not answering his. He thought he liked people asking him questions, like The Marriage Pact, but the more this went on, the least he could tolerate a question mark at the end of a sentence.

“No reason,” he said with a shrug. “Bad vibes. But he’s the president, so we gotta respect him.”

Hiromi stayed silent, his eyes focusing on Kojiro’s closed-off body language. He took another bite of his sandwich before commenting on his food, effectively shifting the topic of conversation.

“Are you going to the party on Friday? After the beef?” Kojiro asked, leaning forward in curiosity.

Hiromi shrugged. “Why not. I’m a party master.”

“Mhm,” Kojiro replied sarcastically.

Hiromi narrowed his eyes. “How would you know? You can barely remember a thing after your third beer, which you finish off within twenty minutes of getting to Adam’s place.”

Kojiro chuckled and threw his hands up in resignation, giving a curt nod. “Okay, okay, you got me.” He lowered his hands, picking up a piece of potato and saying, “Great, I’ll see you there, then,” subsequently putting it in his mouth.

***

Friday couldn’t have come sooner, and the beef was nothing of note. With Hiromi and Kaoru back in the race, Kojiro dropped down to fourth, but his heart wasn’t particularly in it anyway. The curves of the tunnels seemed monotonous instead of treacherous, and the bruises on his shins barely hurt when Hiromi poked them to be an ass. He had to hear Hiromi talk his ear off about getting above him as they walked over to Ainosuke’s house, but the promise of cheap liquor was more than enough to not put Hiromi in a headlock and make him cry uncle.

Ainosuke’s house was nothing of note. The one important thing, though, was the fact that the nearest neighbor was down the street and that it had a basement for ultimate booming sound quality from the speakers. The basement, like the tunnels they race on, was full of graffiti, which juxtaposed against his actual home. His house was pristine and monochrome and full of abstract modern art like something straight out of Patrick Bateman’s apartment. He had no roommates since he was filthy rich thanks to his family’s dirty money, but it worked out in his favor since he didn’t have to ask permission before he threw a party nearly every weekend.

The party was already in full swing when they arrived at the front door, the lights from the open basement door projecting across the shadowy upstairs living room and the music vibrating the glass in the windows. He texted Ainosuke that they had arrived, and two minutes later, the man came stumbling to the door in a red robe and his usual eye mask (an interesting combination) and pulled it open, making a grand gesture with his arm to usher them in.

“Welcome to my humble abode,” Ainosuke proclaimed, bowing as the two entering men slipped off their shoes and held them in their hands.

You say that every time, Kojiro thought, but what came out was, “Thanks, man. It sounds like a rager.”

Ainosuke pulled out two bottles of beer from the pockets of his robe, holding them out for them to take. “It very much is. Now, shall we get started?” He giggled and cocked his head. “If you couldn’t tell, I already have.”

Kojiro and Hiromi shared a glance before reaching forward and taking the bottles. Thankfully, they were screw-on, and in a show of his absolutely formidable strength, Hiromi unscrewed both of their bottles and handed Kojiro his with a shining grin.

“Wow. Thanks.” Kojiro rolled his eyes and promptly took a long swig from the bottle, nearly half of it gone before he came up for air.

“Well, don’t just stand there! Come downstairs!” Ainosuke persuaded, turning on his heel and running downstairs. Even if he hadn’t said he was drunk, it was still very obvious from the way that he trekked onto his spotless floor with his party shoes, leaving specs of dirt along the way. The walk down to the basement was quick, and Kojiro didn’t know whether the alcohol was already hitting or the fact that he was so incredibly happy to be back in the party scene, but either way, he was enjoying himself thoroughly.

“The one thing I wish I could change about Shokichi is to make him more of a party-person,” Hiromi said, checking his makeup in his phone camera and swiping on another coat of purple lipstick. He pursed his lips together, looking over at his friend and lifting a hand to ruffle his hair. “He thinks that socializing in wood-shop is more than enough fun for a Friday night.”

Kojiro stood there and took the ruffling with a deadpan face before ducking his head and stepping away, running his fingers through his hair to fix whatever bird’s nest Hiromi created. “Well, you have me. So, let’s get this party started!”

He took another swig of the bottle as Hiromi cheered him on from the sidelines, holding up hand-horns on both hands and sticking his tongue out, shaking his head as the alcohol drained from the bottle and into Kojiro’s stomach. People began to gather around them to see what the commotion was about, and when they saw how quickly Kojiro polished off the beer, the empty bottle was quickly replaced with a new one, and a chorus of people chanting ‘chug’ started up, only doubling the adrenaline coursing through his veins.

“Fuck yeah!” Hiromi screeched as Kojiro downed another bottle, setting it aside and pounding his chest as an obscene burp slipped from his throat and assaulted the ears of anybody standing beside him. He blinked, his eyelids suddenly a lot heavier than before. His stomach was full and warm, the alcohol lighting a fire in his torso and creating a series of combustion reactions that made him want to dance as if he’d die tomorrow. He took Hiromi by the hand and waded through the sweaty bodies on the dance floor until they were in the middle of the pit, grinning wider than he had in nearly a month. It was strange to think that being sandwiched between multiple sweaty bodies constantly riding up next to him and bumping him forward and back would be freeing, but all the free time Kojiro had was like a prison since that one person had his brain in a vice grip and wouldn’t let go no matter how much he begged.

He felt a soft hand on his bicep, and when he turned, a woman with bleach-blond hair and a stormy glint in her eyes looked up at him with those heart-shaped lips in a smirk. She didn’t have to say a word—he got the gist. He turned to her, figuring Hiromi would find some platform to jump onto to crowd surf soon enough once the alcohol kicks in, his hands meandering in the air until they laid themselves on her swiveling hips. They followed every movement her hips made, happily going along for the ride as she wrapped her arms around his neck, a grin overtaking his lips.

“This your first party?” he asked, and she nodded.

“My friend Yua brought me here,” she replied, pulling Kojiro in by the back of his neck to line her lips up to his ear. She smelled subtly of perfume, and whatever it was, it was drawing Kojiro in and nudging her jaw with his nose. “I’m glad she did.”

Kojiro chuckled low in his chest, letting out a short grunt as one of her hands trailed down from the nape of his neck to the center of his naked back, tracing his spine with her manicured nails. “Are you having fun?”

The woman’s nose kissed the tip of Kojiro’s, their eyes on each other’s lips as if they were the most irresistible sight in the world. “More than you can imagine.”

Even though the sight of the woman’s lips moving, the gloss causing them to stick together between words, was mesmerizing and caused him to lean forward to feel those lips on his own, his eyes drifted away from her and over her shoulder. And there he was. The person he came to this party to forget, even for a few hours, because the memory of him, his presence, his smell, his everything, was far too painful for Kojiro to handle.

Kaoru stood with his weight on one leg, the other kicked up behind him as he leaned against the wall alone, nursing a cup with mysterious juice splashing inside every time somebody bumped into him. He looked like a child lost in a grocery store, his eyes searching the crowd desperately for any familiar face, his lips pulled into a displeased frown. He was wearing…something that wasn’t a yukata or a hakama. He had been wearing a turtleneck during their first meeting, but it was dark, and Kojiro wasn’t exactly focusing on his outfit but the fact that he was meeting the Cherry Blossom. No, now he was taking in how his body looked, slender and tall, in a white shirt that was much too tight for his style and a green flannel layered on top—not to mention how his legs looked fantastic in those tapered trousers.

Kojiro let out a heavy breath and stepped back, the woman’s grip on his chest dropping.

“Are you okay?” she asked, about to lift her hand up again to his shoulder, but he got bumped to the side in the nick of time.

“Bathroom!” he shouted before melting away into the crowd, becoming one with the jumping and flowing river of people. The river eventually spat him out onto the sidelines, only a meter away from Kaoru.

Either Kaoru was pretending not to see him, or he was simply too overwhelmed to focus on one thing; either way, when Kojiro stumbled up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, Kaoru’s short scream was heard over the music. A few heads turned but quickly went back to the party once they saw nobody was dying. Kojiro allowed Kaoru to catch his breath, apologizing profusely.

“You’re really jumpy,” Kojiro said as he watched Kaoru grip his own chest in response to his heart nearly somersaulting out of his throat.

“I don’t always expect to be touched from behind,” Kaoru replied, his voice inaudible due to the booming music.

“What?”

“Nevermind.”

“What?”

“I said—”

“You know what?” Kojiro bit by bit lowered his hand to Kaoru’s wrist, and when he was met with no resistance, took it into his hand and pulled him up the basement stairs. The music was still loud, the expensive glass sculptures looking as if they’d shatter or fall off their glass tables at any second. How Ainosuke was able to throw parties in here so often was beyond him.

“There. That’s better,” Kojiro finished, letting out a sigh of relief now that he could finally talk without having to get a headache. “Now, what were you saying?”

He turned to Kaoru, who was staring down at his drink with a blush on his cheeks. He tilted his head back and polished off the rest of his drink—which was a substantial amount—and wiped his lips with the back of his hand as he set the cup down on a less expensive-looking wood table.

“You…drink?” Kojiro asked, surprise evident in his voice.

Kaoru frowned and flipped a lock of hair over his shoulder. “Yes. What, do you think I’m an innocent teenager who can’t handle a few drinks?”

Either Kaoru was really drunk, or he was really pissed at Kojiro or both. Either way, the alcohol coursing through Kojiro’s veins made him that much more ignorant to tone changes because he snickered and said, “Yeah, basically.”

Kaoru scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Well, I’m not innocent.”

This moment was the first time Kojiro frowned the entire night, his eyebrows furrowing in concern. “Oh, yeah, I guess so with that whole Adam thing.” Before Kaoru could process exactly what Kojiro said, he continued, “So…did you two really hook up after the beef?”

Kaoru’s blush became full-blown, his face matching the red of the cup. He stuttered before stopping and gathering his thoughts, letting out a slow exhale. He crossed his arms, looking up to Kojiro from underneath his eyelashes, and if Kojiro didn’t know better (and wasn’t currently heavily tipsy) he’d think Kaoru was flirting with him. But no, he was just incensed. When wasn’t he when he was with Kojiro? Without any warning, he took off up the far too-clean stairs, leaving dirty footprints along the way as he made his way to the second floor.

“Kaor—Cherry! Where are you going?” Kojiro yelled, grabbing a pack of beer on the way as an apology if Kaoru didn’t kick his ass first. He lost sight of him, but when he saw an open door, he assumed Kaoru opened it and followed him inside.

It seemed to be Ainosuke’s room, which was as polished as the rest of the house, but something was even eerier about it. Perhaps it was the messy bedsheets and the open package of condoms on the nightstand that got Kojiro’s mind running and sobered him up just enough to make him angry. He shook off the thoughts of how Kaoru and Ainosuke were most likely why the bed was messy and that box of condoms was nearly ripped open. He turned his attention to the shutters of the main bay window thrown open and the chilled breeze blowing into the room. He walked over to the window, spotting that pink head of hair on the roof, and chuckled lightly to himself. He climbed through the window, shutting it behind him to hide any more signs that they were inside the club president’s bedroom and climbed carefully down the tile, sitting down a safe distance away from Kaoru.

“You gave quite a chase,” Kojiro murmured, setting down the pack of beers between them. “I brought these as an olive branch. For, uh, my drunken line of questioning.”

Kaoru’s side profile was aesthetically perfect. His sloping nose, his upturned top lip, his high cheekbones that seemed to be the optimal landing spot for the moon’s rays, and his pale skin drank up the moonlight like milk. Kojiro grabbed another beer and cracked it open, downing half of it to try and focus on anything other than how fucking pretty Kaoru was.

Kaoru turned his face, his eyes focusing on the pack of beer. He reached out and took one for himself, opening it and sipping at the can pensively.

“So what if I did?” he asked.

Kojiro paused his drinking and turned to face Kaoru, who was tracing circles into the roof tiles bashfully. “What?”

“So what if I did sleep with him?” he repeated. He looked up, meeting Kojiro’s bewildered gaze. “What are you going to do about it?”

Now it was Kojiro’s turn to look down in bashfulness. He shrugged and leaned back on the sloped roof, using his elbow to support himself as he turned to his side to give Kaoru his full attention. His lips felt looser, plumper. They felt heavy as if his bottom lip was being pulled down and somebody was reaching down his throat to pull the words out. The barriers in his mind that prevented stupid things from spilling out had been cracked and flooded by the alcohol, leaving him vulnerable to just about anything to exit his mouth.

“Nothing, I guess. I’m not your boyfriend. As you said, I shouldn’t even be asking. Just, uh. Be safe?” He laughed somewhat sadly, his smile not reaching his eyes. “I’m glad you’re getting something. God knows I’m not.”

Kaoru let out a sharp laugh, turning his face to the sky. “What?” He looked down to take in Kojiro’s surprise. “You’re not getting anything? Mr. Tanned Chesticles? Mr. Womanizer? Please don’t make me laugh.”

“Hey, listen, women don’t throw themselves at me, okay?” he exclaimed. “Sure, I get hit on and catcalled at beefs an alarming amount. But none of it really matters. It’s just sex. You get tired of it after a while. So, I’m on a cleansing kick.”

Kaoru stifled a laugh. “You’re cleansing yourself…of sex?” He tossed his head back and laughed again, but it was quickly cut off when Kojiro gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. Kaoru turned to see an uncharacteristic shade of red on Kojiro’s cheeks and cocked his head, an amused smile on his beer-soaked lips. “I’d sure love to see how long you last.”

“About a month now,” Kojiro replied nonchalantly. "Ever since I first met you, actually."

Kaoru made a surprised sound in his throat but quickly turned away his head, silencing himself with the tip of the beer bottle. “It must be difficult.”

“No,” Kojiro said. “It’s kind of freeing. To not want to constantly be worrying about another person. That’s why I thought The Marriage Pact was stupid and that it was a joke. I don’t really believe in…you know, soulmates. Being with one person for the rest of your life. Sounds boring, doesn’t it?” He stole a glance at Kaoru before dropping his eyes back to his beer and taking another swig. “Just a stupid fairytale.”

Kojiro was the philosophical drunk when he was alone, the party animal drunk on the best of days, and the depressed drunk on the worst of them. His mind was rolling through all the different theories about love: how it’s just a chemical reaction, how love is just based on the best mating characteristics, how humans aren’t meant to be monogamous. But when he looked over at Kaoru, it seemed as if he vehemently disagreed.

“How can you say that?” he asked in a small voice, his eyebrows furrowed and the corners of his lips downturned. “You don’t believe in love?”

It seemed as if Kaoru was the sad type of drunk. Kojiro sighed and scooted a few centimeters closer, and when Kaoru didn’t move back, he closed the distance until their hands were finger-to-finger and the beer had been moved up the roof and away from them. He didn’t know whether it was the alcohol or because Kaoru’s body was a natural heater—either way, his core was roasting, and he was aching to do something. He didn’t know what, but the energy was mixing in with the alcohol in his veins, his entire body thrumming. God, he was drunk.

“It’s like ghosts,” he replied eventually. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Kaoru’s shoulders dropped in resignation, his head hung low. “I was in love once.”

Kojiro turned quickly in disbelief, but the sudden movement made him dizzy, and Kaoru’s face was difficult to decipher. “What? How did you know?” He blinked. “Was it with Adam? Ainosuke?”

Kaoru shook his head, covering half his face in shame with his hand, his fingers digging into his scalp. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Hey, we’re already here and drunk,” Kojiro slurred and motioned with his hand, causing some beer to spill over and trail down the back of his hand to his wrist. “Just tell me. I probably won’t remember this tomorrow.”

He looked out into the dark horizon sliced with trees and populated by millions of stars—ah, the perks of living in the countryside. However, a swish of pink in his peripheral made him turn his head just in time to watch, his inebriated state slowing each second down to what felt like a minute, as Kaoru reached forward and gripped his wrist, bringing it forward and up to his mouth. Then, his tongue, as pink as his hair, slid out from between his lips and lapped up the nearly dry beer, trailing it down from the vein on the back of his hand down to the knob of his wrist.

“Let’s focus on something else,” he whispered, pressing a chaste kiss onto his knuckle, his eye contact unwavering. “And try to remember it.”

The reaction was immediate. Kojiro could have counted as sober with how quick his reaction time was as he leaned over and enveloped Kaoru’s slender body with his arms, bringing him near and closing that tantalizing distance that became too difficult to resist. The kiss was hot, heavy, feverish. It was paused for only a second when Kojiro separated to slide Kaoru’s glasses off his straight nose bridge, giving the tip of it a kiss before setting the glasses down behind him. He took in each swirl, fleck, and sparkle that decorated Kaoru’s irises, looking like two golden coins that dully reflected the moonlight. However, Kaoru cut the veneration of his eyes short by leaning forward and resuming their salacious kiss, and Kojiro gladly accepted. He could look into Kaoru’s eyes whenever he wanted after this. He wasn’t sure when the next time they’d kiss was. More reason to savor it as much as possible.

They were panting into each other’s mouths, their eyelids heavy and their visions blurry as they took in the sight of each other in their most uncontrollable states, where inhibitions were long forgotten and impulses were acted upon with reckless abandon. Kaoru swung a leg effortlessly over Kojiro’s hip, sitting pretty in his lap and cupping his jawline with two hands for dear life. It was wet, squelching—each time they separated for a much-needed breath, a puff of congealed air rose up from between them and into the cold night, cold except for the fiery forcefield the two men were creating around them.

Kaoru’s body was muscular and lean. Kojiro’s hands ran up and down his hips, sides, back, nape of the neck, back of the head. Everything about him was graceful. His scapula was sharp but fit into the palm of his hand perfectly. When he traced a line along the vertebrae in Kaoru’s spine, he groaned at the visible chill that ran through Kaoru’s body. A soft whine escaped his lips when he felt Kaoru’s svelte fingers trail down his chest, bumping as they went over his pecs and abs that were flexing with each shuddering breath he took. He was getting drunker not on beer but on Kaoru’s physique, his lavender scent that became overwhelming, the way his silken hair slipped between his fingers like spring water. The fact that Kaoru was a man escaped Kojiro. In his mind, he wasn’t making out with a man, somebody of the same sex, somebody that wasn’t a woman. In his mind, he was making out with Kaoru. He was making the Cherry Blossom feel good. The muscles under his fingers didn’t bother him, and neither did the growing hardness in Kaoru’s pants. It was simply something to get used to. And the worst part: he didn’t believe he was that drunk. All these thoughts were genuine and sober. He kissed Kaoru deeper to distract himself, and the way Kaoru clung onto his bare shoulders was the optimal distraction.

Kojiro started out as hungry, wanting to devour anything and everything Kaoru Sakurayashiki, but now, all he wanted to do was sit back and admire him. He wanted to drink in the way his eyes fluttered whenever Kojiro’s teeth grazed his jawline. He wanted to play on repeat his gasps and sighs when a new purple mark was left on his milky skin. He realized he wanted to hear and watch these things about him many, many more times. And the realization did not trouble him one bit.

“You’re so goddamn beautiful,” he whispered between hurried kisses. He massaged his thumbs into Kaoru’s hips before running them upwards, his thumb tracing circles onto Kaoru’s chest.

Kaoru, on the other hand, hesitated. He broke away from the kiss, but Kojiro took that as a hint to move on and attached his lips to Kaoru’s collarbone, causing the other to involuntarily arch his back from unexpected pleasure. “A-ah!”

Kojiro sucked in a deep breath and looked up at Kaoru from underneath his eyelashes, a proud grin on his bitten-up lips. “You’re gorgeous.”

Kaoru pressed his lips into a tight line, his eyebrows pulling into a frustrated expression. “Don’t…”

“Don’t what?” Kojiro asked with a chuckle. He licked the beginning of Kaoru’s collarbone before biting it playfully, delighting in the squeal that came out of the other’s mouth. “Don’t keep on making you feel good?”

“Stop! J-just stop!” Kaoru pushed Kojiro away, falling backward onto his rear as his chest sputtered to catch his breath. “Stop calling me beautiful!”

Kojiro was left at a loss, both in warmth and in logic. His hands that were just holding Kaoru’s torso were left hanging in the air, his fingers curling slightly at the suddenly empty space. His mouth was agape, his eyes searching the space in front of him until they settled on Kaoru’s defensive form. He had a few sober thoughts, and one of them was the comprehension that they were both still at least tipsy. Rationality was not something both of them could afford.

“W-what?” Kojiro spluttered, attempting to lean forward, but Kaoru backed up dangerously close to the edge when he did. He stayed put where he was, staring at Kaoru with bewilderment from afar.

“You keep calling me beautiful,” Kaoru repeated, his lips curling up into a snarl. “Listen, I know you have this whole ‘I’m not gay’ attitude going on, and maybe I shouldn’t have kissed you since you must be blackout drunk to be making out with a man, but treating me like a woman won’t make this a better experience for you.”

Kaoru was incredibly articulate for somebody who was supposed to be heavily tipsy at best. And incredibly emotional for somebody who was nearly sober at worst.

“I’m not treating you like a woman,” Kojiro explained, but his words fell on deaf ears.

“I tried to reason with myself as to why I was kissing a man who so vehemently denied liking men but did it with such enthusiasm. I thought it was another case of internalized homophobia, and I was happy to be your turning point. But I am not going to be stuck in an in-between.” Kaoru was speaking a mile a minute, spit flinging out of his lips as he pushed himself up to his feet. He was unsteady, but anytime Kojiro reached out to help him balance, he only stepped back further near the edge of the roof.

“I am not going to take care of another closet case! I cannot, I will not…” Kaoru trailed off, his eyes glazing over as he seemed to have lost himself in his own mind. He was trapped, and Kojiro and everything in their surroundings—most notably, the edge of the roof—disappeared. Finally, after the light in his eyes returned, his eyes flickered around before settling on Kojiro sitting below him. A fury crossed his face, and he gripped the hem of his shirt before lifting it up, exposing his flat chest.

He was crying at this point. “I’m not a woman! Can’t you see? Can’t you…look! I don’t have breasts! So stop treating me like I am one!”

“Kaoru…Kaoru, listen, I can see perfectly fine that you aren’t one,” Kojiro said, suddenly completely sober. “You’re a man. I was making out with a man, and I’m fine with it. Look.” He slowly got to his knees, flinching when Kaoru moved, but once they both stabilized, he reached his hand out and slowly rested the pads of his fingers on Kaoru’s chest, letting the heat from his fingers warm the frigid air settling onto Kaoru’s skin. It was not the alcohol's fault that Kojiro was saying these things. His lips were still loose, but they were honest. The words they formed were the truth, and nothing but the truth. “I still think you’re beautiful, man or not. You’re a man. And you’re beautiful.”

Kaoru’s arms were held out wide, unsure where to put them. Kojiro was sure he was getting through to him, getting Kaoru to believe what he wasn’t quite comfortable believing himself: that it didn’t matter that he was a man. He was sure that, with enough time and patience, they could both come to accept that fact together. However, his dream was ripped to shreds with a swipe of Kaoru’s hand, knocking Kojiro’s hand away.

“No! You’re lying!” Kaoru’s eyes welled with tears, his mouth pulled into a tortured grimace. “I’m tired of being treated like a secret! I won’t, I won’t—”

The gutter groaned. The tile of the roof broke. Kaoru’s heel fell with the tile onto the gutter, and the gutter fell, and the rest of Kaoru along with it.

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