#the pina colada au is one of my favorites

[garlicbreadbatstarion]

BG3 Companion Headcanons

🌈☔🌤️ Enjoying Their Favorite Weather 🌤️☔🌈

Lae'zel:

This gith loves a super windy day

It is invigorating and helps her feel physically present

Also she knows she looks deadlyyy with her hair blowing around her head, her eyes narrowed, and her head down as she walks against the wind

Halsin:

I feel like Halsin loves a rainy evening+dewey morning combo in the spring

Like the soft sound the falling droplets make as they splatter against his tent help him drift off to sleep and dream of ducklings

And the next morning he loves to walk through the forest when the sun is coming up so he can watch the mist slowly rise as the light reflects off the wildflowers and the spiderwebs sparkle in the trees

Karlach:

I'm convinced she's a tropical beach kinda gal so hot, sticky, and sunny all the way

Any other companion in my head is usually wearing their starting outfits when I think of them, but Karlach? Shutter shades and a pina colada served in a pineapple

She's also on fire all the time, so the heat doesn't bug her at all!

I feel like the beach was made for her; rainbow sunsets, the crashing waves, the vastness of the ocean, hot sand between your toes, sandcastles, bonfires...like she would love everythinggg about it

Astarion:

Idk if it's bc there's so many cute fics with Star in snow, but ughhh it melts my cold, dead heart

Like the absolute stillness of flakey snow falling heavily in the night would make him feel at ease

And the way the snow sparkles in the moonlight inspires him to be creative (I am personally a big fan of thinking one of his hobbies post-epilogue is jewelry making. The little details keep his hands busy while his good taste and imagination help him design some of the coolest jewelry in all of Faerûn)

Also, like Karlach, the cold doesn't bother him nearly as much as it does most others

Gale:

We love an unstable king which is why I think Gale loves big storms with lots of wind, thunder, and lightning

AU storm chaser Gale?? I think I'm onto something here truly

And also it gives him great opportunities to conduct experiments and run tests! It's aliveeee!!!

Shadowheart:

Our broody queen loves mist and fog

It makes her want to snuggle up with a book and some tea by the window to just enjoy the peace and quiet

Also likes to be a mischievous, little gremlin and scare her partners/friends/roommates by waiting around the side of the house, knowing it's obscured, and then jumping out and grabbing them

And you want to be mad for how bad she scares you every time, but it's so hard bc she wrinkles her cute lil nose when she laughs and ughhh

Wyll:

Wyll loves space change my mind

He adores a clear, warm night so he can be out all night stargazing

And ooooo a meteor shower? This man is giddily kicking his feet, he is so enraptured by the magic of the night sky

He also loves to point out the constellations, and he's so good, even Gale is astounded by how many astral entities he knows

[bulkyphrase]

Identity Porn Rec List

Some of my favorite fics that deal with the difficulties and complications of having a secret identity.

Identity porn is a mainstay of Stony fic, but there are also some gems from Stucky, SamSteve, and whatever the ship name for Steve/Matt Murdock is.

given you a number, taken away your name by janonny (@awesomelifechoices) (Stony, General Audiences, 4,520 words)

Summary: As Tony behaves more erratically, S.H.I.E.L.D. sends in Steve as an undercover agent in S.I. to be Natasha’s back-up. Except Steve is really, really not cut out for this undercover business. - Before the lift’s doors closed, Stark suddenly grinned and said, “Call me Tony. Have a better rest of the day, big guy.” Awkwardly, Steve lifted his free hand and waved as the doors slid shut between them. What...what was he doing? Why was he waving? Steve hurriedly put his hand down and turned around sharply.

How to Woo the Winter Soldier by writeonclara (@writeonclara) (Stucky, General Audiences, 21,570 words)

Summary: “I think I’m ready to date again,” Steve said. “What,” Natasha said. “What?” Clint said, lowering his binoculars. He blinked at the dumbstruck look on the Captain’s face, then followed his gaze to where he was staring dopily at—at the Winter fucking Soldier. “Steve, no,” Clint groaned. Or: Steve courts the Winter Soldier. Also available as a podfic read by Akaihyou (@akaihyou)

I (created from fantasies) exist solely for you by Mizzy (@mizzy2k) (Stony, Teen And Up Audiences, 62,917 words)

Summary: Six years ago, without the Avengers Initiative there to save the day, scientist Dr. Eric Selvig sacrificed himself to save the world, the almighty demi-god Thor was lost to a terrible storm, and vigilante Iron Man – spotted with a nuclear weapon trying to take advantage of the situation – was forever labelled an enemy of SHIELD. This is a comic book office AU, where Steve is defrosted a year too late, Thor has forgotten who he is, and no one knows Tony is Iron Man. Also includes: office pranks, inappropriate post-it notes, and superheroes who like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain. Also available as a podfic read by badfinch (@read-by-badfinch)

More below the cut!

Love Is A Masquerade by Mizzy (@mizzy2k) (Stony, Mature, 12,010 words)

Summary: *loudspeaker noise* Please present your tickets here for your trip on the Steve/Tony Fantasy Trope Land express. On your left we have Masquerade Balls and Identity Porn; on the right we have Steve's Thirst for Iron Man's Thighs and Dramatic Balcony Kissing. Please keep your arms and legs within the ride at all times, thank you. Also featuring Classic Iron Man armor, Identity-Porn-Without-Porn, and Boys-In-Tights. You will need to leave your expectations for plot at the entrance to the fic; be kind and please pick up your trash before you go. Look, it's unrepentant fluff and crack, don't look at me like that, you're the one still reading this summary. [aka] When the Avengers are invited to attend Tony Stark's Annual Masquerade Ball, Steve's hoping Iron Man will be there--after all, he can wear a mask and keep his identity secret. So when Steve recognizes Iron Man's distinctive thighs, Steve is SO sure he's found Iron Man's pilot... He's right, but not in a way Steve would ever have guessed... Also available as a podfic read by paraka (@paraka)

Masked and Anonymous by panickyintheuk (@shiningredandgold) (Stony, Explicit, 4,236 words)

Summary: "When Mr. Stark opened the door, he had his shirt untucked, and no shoes on. It was evening, and it was his own apartment, and Steve was dropping by unannounced, so that was all really fair enough, but it was also the least put-together Steve had ever seen him." Steve drops in on Avengers benefactor Mr. Stark, but it seems that Mr. Stark was expecting him.

Not Just Anybody (Help) by kototyph (Samsteve, Teen And Up Audiences, 9,349 words)

Summary: Sam meets a homeless veteran with a famous name.

Straight on till Morning by Sineala (@sineala) (Stony, Explicit, 109,848 words)

Summary: Tony Stark resigned his commission in Starfleet five years ago, after a disastrous away mission, and he swore he'd never go back. He just wants to be left alone to build warp engines in peace. But the universe has more in store for him than that, as he discovers when Admiral Fury comes to him with an offer he could never have expected and cannot possibly refuse: first officer and chief engineer aboard the all-new USS Avenger, a starship of Tony's own design. What's more, the Avenger's captain is Steve Rogers, hero of the Earth-Romulan War. Believed dead for over a century, Steve is miraculously alive... and very, very attractive. But nothing is ever easy for Tony. As he wrestles with his secret desire for his new captain and his not-so-dormant fears, another mission starts to go wrong, and Tony becomes aware that Steve has secrets of his own -- and the truth could change everything. Also available as a podfic read by M_Samro (@msamro)

Super Villain Dating Tips - Or How Steve Won Over Tony Through The Art of Kidnapping by forgetmenotjimmy (Stony, General Audiences, 46,265 words)

Summary: Steve isn't evil, he's just trying to do the right thing whilst hiding from an insane General who's out for his blood - literally - but when he is forced to kidnap Tony to help him escape the cops, his plans to take down the Secret Division that experimented on him, well, they get put on the back burner. How does a villain date a hero? More kidnapping of course!

The Blind Leading by SkyisGray (Stucky, Explicit, 43,034 words)

Summary: Steve is specifically told not to fraternize with the independently contracted Winter Soldier.

The Corruption of Captain America by the Villain Tony Stark by ladililn (@ladililn) (Stony, Explicit, 50,344 words (WIP))

Summary: Iron Man paused. “Oh my god. You thought I was a robot.” “No, I—” Steve felt his face flushing. “I…considered the possibility,” he admitted. “You thought I was a robot who’s been hitting on you.” “Is that really so crazy?” Steve felt an inexplicable need to defend himself. “In the forties, I fought a Nazi with a skull for a head.”

Think of This as Solving Problems (That Should Never Have Occurred) by Sineala (@sineala) (Stony, Teen And Up Audiences, 35,216 words)

Summary: No one knows Tony is Iron Man. Then Tony gets amnesia, and literally no one knows Tony is Iron Man.

To Make Much of Time by Sineala (@sineala) (Stony, Teen And Up Audiences, 16,114 words)

Summary: When Iron Man rejects Steve's romantic advances, Steve is disappointed, but of course he understands -- Iron Man's secret identity is important. But when a portal opens and Tony Stark crashes into their midst from twelve years in the future, Steve starts to suspect that there are more secrets here than he can even begin to comprehend, and neither Iron Man nor Tony are providing any answers. Also available as a podfic read by paraka (@paraka)

What Lies Behind by kdm103020, xinsomniac1101x (@kdm103020, with art by @xinsomniac1101x) (Stony, Teen And Up Audiences, 63,364 words)

Summary: Four months after the Battle of New York, Steve Rogers still hasn't managed to find his footing. The new century is strange and upsetting, and he appears to have no purpose in it. But when SHIELD sends him to liaise with the director of Stark Industries, his life starts to change in ways he could never imagine. Or, the MCU-rooted AU, in which Steve and Tony both still maintain their secret identities.

with liberty and justice for all by ria_green (Matt Murdock/Steve Rogers, Teen And Up Audiences, 14,020 words)

Summary: Steve and Matt's relationship is basically a romantic comedy. Except for one minor complication - they're both hiding their superhero/vigilante identities from each other.

[flamevbirdv]

my favorite podfics: stevetony ❣️

Out of all the ways fandom creates transformative works, one of my favorites is podfics, so I want to rec some. I'll start with stevetony because these were the ones that started my love for podfics. Enjoy!

I (created from fantasies) exist solely for you by Mizzy, read by badfinch (Badfinch1): MCU

Six years ago, without the Avengers Initiative there to save the day, scientist Dr. Eric Selvig sacrificed himself to save the world, the almighty demi-god Thor was lost to a terrible storm, and vigilante Iron Man – spotted with a nuclear weapon trying to take advantage of the situation – was forever labelled an enemy of SHIELD. This is a comic book office AU, where Steve is defrosted a year too late, Thor has forgotten who he is, and no one knows Tony is Iron Man. Also includes: office pranks, inappropriate post-it notes, and superheroes who like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain.

Do It Over by Sineala read by miss_marina95: 616

The last words your soulmate says to you are written on your skin, and you won't know who they are until they die. The thing is, Steve and Tony die a lot.

I Always Have to Steal My Kisses from You by blue_jack read by Annapods: MCU

Okay, so Tony probably hadn’t realized what he was doing. He’d just had a near-death experience, and the kiss had been a way to . . . reaffirm his life. Deal with his emotions. Release some steam. Something like that. Nothing to be concerned about, and it’s doubtful that it’ll happen again. The fact that they risk their lives on a regular basis isn’t worrying at all.

Four (Or Five) Reasons for Kidnapping Tony Stark by scifigrl47 read by Hananobira: MCU

There are four reasons for kidnapping Tony Stark. Tony's sick of all of them. Well, there's potentially a fifth, but it's highly unlikely that Captain America will suddenly fulfill THAT fantasy. Tony's deeply disappointed about that. Steve Rogers, as always, is oblivious. At least, that is, until someone who isn't him kidnaps Tony. Then he's just pissed.

The Most Amazing Things (Some Terrible Lie), by copperbadge read by cookiemom6067: MCU

Tony's decision not to reveal his identity as Iron Man to the world was shrewd and calculated. Too bad it's about to backfire on him like a Jericho missile.

Never Too Late For Love by Sineala read by Cathalinareads: Ultimates

Steve has always believed that a soulbond is a blessing -- a rare and beautiful miracle, joining the thoughts and feelings of two people forever, from the first time they touch. Steve knows he's not going to be one of the lucky ones. He knows Gail isn't his soulmate. But he loves her, even if they're not soulmates, and he's going to do right by her. After the war's over, he's going to marry her, and they're going to settle down. They'll buy a house. They'll have children. He'll see his family again. Maybe Bucky will live next door. It's going to be a good life. He doesn't need a soulbond. He'll be fine without one. Then Steve wakes up sixty years in the future to find that his wonderful life has moved on without him. His family is long dead. His fiancée married his best friend. And the only purpose he has left is leading the Ultimates, a misbegotten team of superheroes with flaws too numerous to count. Steve hates everything about the future -- but most of all he detests Tony, flashy and flirtatious, who embodies everything Steve hates about a world he never wanted to live in. And, oh, yeah, Steve has a soulmate after all: Tony fucking Stark.

Bonus:

Robot Trip by copperbadge read by blackglass: MCU

Steve Rogers & Tony Stark background Tony Stark/Pepper Potts

"Tony is driving from Malibu to Manhattan with a robot in the back seat and Captain America riding escort at Pepper's behest. What could possibly go wrong?"

[tradetobest]

hello user cats0p... long time lurker but only recently back to tumblr.com because i HAVE to ask more about your golf au and after my anon q was well received i just. i need to know more. here are some of my thoughts:

1634 my faves... i'm so caught on your vague deliberation between auston just being Rich Guy or Auston Matthews because:

regular guy is interesting bc it's so approachable and unassuming... like, he's just some guy. which isn't, like, unapproachable or unreachable by any means, even if he is really big and hot and presumably makes enough money to be spending his evenings at a country club and not at work and kinda feels like he's being flirted with but surely not because... this guy probably has a wife and kids?? but he's always eyeing mitch up and trying to tip him even when mitch isn't even supposed to take tips like that

but hockey auston is like... mitch is in overdrive bc [jennifer lawrence voice] what do you MEAN mitch's favorite leaf and savior of the toronto maple leafs is trying to chat him up at his cart?? i feel like this avenue would be WAY more overwhelming for mitch because he doesn't know how to approach it and isn't sure what the norms are... like is he allowed to tell auston that he played like crazy on sunday and it was so sick, or that he threw his hat at the game against florida two years ago when auston got a hat trick, and not to mention it makes mitch that much MORE dubious to believe auston is flirting with him or that he'd ever have a chance w him...

like both are so so good to consider on all fronts but i'm so enchanted by the idea of auston like... purposely fucking up his drive just to be like oop mitch... sorry you know what a klutz i am i fucked up the green over here again. and auston's friends are all loitering by the cart/ordering drinks and he's the one standing over mitch asking how he even ended up doing something like this and if he likes it and what he's doing over the weekend... and sweet mitchy is so oblivious but excited to talk to him as he patches up whatever hole auston has carved out of the green. his golf score is suffering (as is his wallet seeing as loser buys dinner) but he can't say getting to talk to mitch isn't worth it...

2. i cannot get over little server boy tz... just imagining him in his little tan cargo shorts taking drink orders and letting people's moms do shots with him... i know he dropped so many cocktails when he started serving people. passing his disposable vape of the day to the bartender and trying to get them to make him a drink that tastes like mago blue tropical razz ice or whatever other ridiculous flavor he's trying and failing to be subtle about sucking down that day. lamenting over the blue eyed hottie who is always around his family (and therefore very hard to hit on) who orders virgin frozen pina coladas (and come on, trevor could do SO MUCH with that if he just had time to get one line laid on him without his mom watching)...

3. i don't really go here but... all of the golf course/country clubs i've ever been to have had pools/gyms/kids clubs and... have you considered spin class instructor matthew knies OR kids club employee joseph woll... i know kniesy would be cougar nip but also that woller would be irresistible watching over a bunch of kiddos while their parents are out getting drunk by the pool/on the green...

apologies for the length but i'm in love w this little world you've made and i'd love to hear more about it!!

HIII OH MY GOD YOU DONT KNOW HOW HAPPY GETTING THIS MADE ME I LITERALLY SCREAMED!!! AAAA HELLO!!!!

i think while reading this i mustve said "you get me" fully out loud at least 12 times while reading this because like. you just get me... you Understand....

the 1634 dilemma is so real... like normie but rich auston trying to slip mitch a 20 and mitch going "oh like turf people dont really get tipped" and auston going "no its for you" and mitch smiling and going "aww thanks!! :D" and just Not getting it and auston is trying SO hard

but also Leafs Auston is soooo compelling to me when you wrote it out like that idek.... mitch going internally "oh god can i tell him i know who he is" and saying "yeah uhh,,, good shot. as usual haha" after auston takes a drive and being all nervous meanwhile auston is like "oh my god he knows who i am do you think hes impressed by me" and outward is like "thanks man." and claps him on the shoulder. and is like "oh my god i touched him."

auston on the tee box like "oh man mitch i mustve pulled something last night exercising my big strong muscles can you help correct my swing" and mitch going "sure (dying)" and coming up behind him and auston like slightly leaning over into him and mitch like. dies. passes away. rip mitch marner. and then for the next like 5 times he sees auston he blushes IMMEDIATELY. very cute

2. tz is absolutely obsessed w jamie like thats so real.... always talking abt him and everything... jack is so sick of his ass but jack "just doesn't get it, dude, he's so hot. look at him. sitting there." and jack looks over and jamie is wincing bcs he got brain freeze from his fucking virgin pina colada that he orders every time and jack just has to look over and watch trevor pop another zyn and say nothing. save him nico. nico save him.

3. OOO thats so smart and cute actually i love that!! my club didnt have that probably because the clientele were mostly older but like... having that is Smart. and like... a gym and classes open up So Many More job possibilities,,,, a sweaty just-out-the-gym kniesy like going down the hall and knocking lightly on the kids club door and hearing a "COMING!" and woller opens the door and he has like. a heart sticker on his cheek and his hair in pigtails and a little bit of marker on his forehead and kniesy feels his heart grow like. ten sizes. maybe woller takes the kids out to the pool and kniesy can see them and jsut... eyes. he purposefully books a water fitness course so that maybe woller can watch him in the pool too..... thats SOOOO REALNESS oh my god

please forever continue to send me little ideas abt this no matter how short or how long i love them all like i literally have been thinking abt this All Day and its been making me so happy..... RAHH like. THEM!!! THEY!!! im so happy you like my silly lil au that basically came out of me going "oh my adhd ass loved this job im sure mitch would love it too!!" ilysm thank you for sending me another ask about this

[starlitfunkster]

Wanna make Gifts?

Simple, follow the rules and then draw the OC's that I have! You can draw them with my favorite characters if you want…

No NSFW or art meant to harass those in minority groups.

Don't ship the Child OC's with canonically adult characters, because that's gross.

There is no third rule. Have fun!

Sonas: They can all be viewed here! They also may not be up to date.

U.B. Aigul Ari???? Cookie Amelia Starson Neapolitan Cookie Agent Angelika "Angel" Deuces Ann "Arianna" Mellodee Aria the Otter Strawberry Jam Aria (PT) Eclipse Arianna (Osomatsu-san)

DA Sonas: Ann (FNF) (Minus) Shooting Star Annabelle Rose Alia / AllofUs (Not posted yet for suspense) Sylvia / Syrus Bloom (Still not designed yet, folks) Bonbon Brione the Seal (WARNING OLD ART) Citrus Bum Berry the Leprechaun

Cookie Run OCs: I'll only show the ones that are on the DA gallery! There's too many otherwise. Lava Cake Cookie Milk Choco Cookie Mystic Cookie Gumdrop Cookie Ruby Cookie Honeydew Cookie Moonshine Cookie Choco Chip Cookie Konpeito Cookie Gelatin Cookie Diamond Cookie Nightshade Cookie Chai Honey Cookie Cleric Cookie Powder Sugar Cookie Sandstorm Cookie Gouda Cookie Sugarsnap Cookie Cherry Soda Cookie Tangerine Cookie Hypno Cookie Blueberry Cookie Cherry Bonbon Cookie Jelly Imp Cookie Fire Agate Cookie Spider Onyx Cookie Ghost Pepper Cookie Honey Barbecue Cookie Chili Oil Cookie Mewberry Poptart Cookie Yakisoba Cookie Pina Colada Cookie Biscuit Bunny Cookie Sugarheart Cookie Peanutbutter Cookie Orange Creamsicle Cookie Wispy Ramune Cookie Cherry Tiramisu Cookie Blueberry Float Cookie Orange Bonbon Cookie Warabimochi Cookie Honey Cake Cookie Ligonberry Cookie Fizzy Monarche Cookie

OSC OCs and Sonas: Just linking to the gallery because I have so many. Ace o' Spades Bixbite Blooddrop Card Board Bubble Bottle Tulip MePhone 5S+ Crowberry Bamboo Weather Dolly Hydrangea Yogurt Jellybean Kiwi Scarf Honey Bear Pluggy Choco Bar Sketchbook Sweet Heart Will-o-Wisp Cat-Bell Dime Stylus Cakepop Sparkler Shardy Dividy Star Lamp Maki Lemonade Flan Mochi Cakey Gachapon Capsule Lotus Sugar Cookie Log Urn Amethyst Popcorn Mop Organic Milk White Wine Grater Scythe Candle Waterbowl Cup Canned Tuna Pillow Oil Red Velvet Cake Mug Frozen Yogurt Gelato Pineapple Smoothie Jello Wizeria Pyramid Caboodle Starsong TV Sun Moon Clipboard Rocket Sunhat Bowtie Rachel Tanner Bubble Tea Citrusy Melody Torch Fiddle Silver Trophy Harold Mana Pierre Theodore Willow Antennae Bonba Cerissa Caramel / Mal Picoso Charlie / Cherissa Star Bailey Carrot Cake Sarah + Sleipmir Mahou

Newgrounds OCs: Quartz Ice The Dragon Tic-Toc Angi Strum Flora (Starcatcher + Minus) Mizuiro "Skye" Blue

Bomberman OCs: Yureibon Sister Bomber Prose Bomber Creature Bomber Spark Bomber Archer Bomber Lilac Bomber Lily Bomber Seabon Hydro Bomber Adne

Misc. OCs: Divaer Foreet Xoxiph Boxaer Erasi Muggy Citrus C. Acetate Marshmallow Cotton Candy Orange Juice Salmon Doughnut X Starla (+.EXE counterpart) Myra SINNERZ Various HSR OC's (Mandy, Xero, Mr. Wobbles, Armstrong Dasher, Gladseed the Flower, Dhalia Dog, Chick, Prince Foof Cat II, Juno, and King Cobra) Sushi Pack OC's (Ika Ura, Ado Cado, Nori Umi, Ebi Ura, Teri Sauce, Soy Sauce) Sir Adne Maxwell Ink Sugar + Pop Chai Teacup Twisty Parka the Red Panda Lost.FLA Baritone.MP3 Lantern Woman Water Lancer Soleil + Luna Mika the Usamimi Infernoct Spectra Locke The Yasu Sisters Ora Fluke Ingenua Yoddle Rumble Triviatopia OCs (Hana, Marty, Alyx, Michaela, Perditta, and Botch) Zodiacs (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces) Golden.RE Arianna (Southpark Sona) (I only have her Mystical AU set up. I need to make the others that people pay attention to..)

[onekisstotakewithme]

67) Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

68) What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

72) What order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

-ypq

67) Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

Both? Either?? Idk my brain is very stubborn and doesn't like being told to do things but sometimes challenges can be fun! (I did Yuletide for the first time this past Christmas and it took a while to get into the groove of the challenge, but I think I got a good story out of it!), but prompts are a little looser - I enjoy them. But also my brain is WEIRD and I really like the things that come out of it sometimes ('the pina colada song but make it poly', for one. 'the triad but frame it using dictionary definitions' for another. framing a whole story around a funeral, etc.). So both, slightly more on the independent side.

68) What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

Music, scribbling in my notebooks, watching relevant episodes... definitely watching relevant episodes. In my previous answer, I mentioned watching Trick or Treatment 12 times in 48 hours to finish a smut piece THAT I NEVER PUBLISHED, and another example is I recently wrote a story set during the last season of the west wing. So the whole time I was writing/editing it, I was only watching + rewatching the last season to keep myself in the mindset. It's dedication, stubbornness... idk.

72) What order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

I write in chronological order, with occasionally jotted down dialogue snippets and ideas on the side (notes app on my phone, my beloved), because every time I've tried to write out of order, my brain has just given up. (yessir that's our baby au, i'm so sorry...). So it has to be chronological, I wish that it was not the case, but it is the Attention Deficit.

[purplesauris]

Frankly I'd love to hear about any of those WIPs if you'd like to talk about them. Is the Shapeshifter Ball connected to your other shapeshifter AUs? Why do the random thoughts rank an angry face? Who gets to be the vampire? Is the Pina Colada offshoot a sequel or a prequel? (Speaking of, curse you for making me invested in a series named after one of my most hated songs. XD ) Or anything about one of the others if you'd rather. :D

I would LOVE to talk about them!!

-So the shapeshifter ball is connected directly to my shapeshifter AU, and is set after they get together! It's just a bit of fun family time at an event none of them want to be at <3

-Random thoughts get an angry face because it was too angsty/standoffish for the fic so I scrapped it and now it sits, waiting to be used 😤

-Luke gets to be the vampire ;)

-the pina colada offshoot is a sequel! It's Din and Boba getting their respective flower tattoos from Luke 🌺💉

(the joke about the pina colada AU actually didn't come from me, you can blame the bobadinluke server for THAT beauty <3)

-As for snippets, I'll give a little vamp AU under the cut ❤❤❤

He finds out on the fifth day of his imprisonment that his cellmate has been hungry for far, far longer than he thinks when he catches the vampire watching him with pure, unabashed hunger written in every line of his face.

“Did you- I-” he gestures to the pitiful meal brought to him- some kind of coarse porridge left unsweetened and so thick it threatens to seal his jaw shut.

“No,” the man whispers, voice hoarse. He doesn’t talk much, doesn’t do much of anything at all besides his occasional shuffle to the latrine or away from the door. “I don’t eat.”

Din thinks back to his son, with a sharp grin and bright eyes and a love of pancakes Din can never sate. “Why not?”

The man’s face twists in agony then, brows pinching and lips trembling, and Din feels like his foot is on top of a landmine, and one wrong move will make it blow. Eventually, when the shaking stops and his companion takes a deep breath, he murmurs, “it doesn’t help.”

“But you can eat?”

Hesitating, the vampire nods. “Yes.”

Din takes one last bite of his food and another sip of water before he stands, walking closer than he ever has before to hold the bowl out. “Eat.”

[dadr0ckmusic]

stranger things headcanons because i said so (fruity four + billy)

basically them in my dr

steve harrington

does restaurant challenges unironically. like he has to eat a big wet daddy burger in an hour just for a plaque on the wall and a pic with the owner smh

calls his car babygirl

modern au where he texts the girl he likes at 1:11, 2:22, etc just to get her hopes up

loves madonna. you can't tell me otherwise

he does yoga. and if you catch him he'll threaten your life

calls his house 'the love shack'

if you were just becoming friends with him he would listen to your music or do your hobbies with you just to make you happy

would totally rock out to stacy's mom

he gives off lactose intolerant vibes. i do not make the rules.

would definitely have playlists called "alt songs that make you drink monster" or "sad vibes" or "coronavirus got me like"

would've fucking KILLED on grindr

would love twilight. he's on team jacob

laughs at minion memes

robin buckley

the literal queen of your mom jokes

she would totally say "who up wonking they willy rn"

would work at spencer's

she had a ton of hamsters that died the most traumatic deaths when she was a kid and they're all buried in her backyard

loooves poop and fart jokes

she still sleeps with the same stuffed bear she had when she was little (and we are NOT judging)

says "oh my goodness gracious" at the funniest possible times

would literally FUCK at rainbow loom

her childhood room was purple and steve picks on her for it

cannot use chopsticks to save her life

one time steve made her mad so she literally WENT OFF THE GRID and he didn't see her for a whole week and he was freaking the fuck out

was a bug girl. worms? fuck yeah. roly polys? best buds. what the fuck is that thing? it has a terrarium now.

literally is the most caring person on the planet. she's always worrying about you and what you're feeling and what you're doing

only eats the marshmallows out of lucky charms

is scared of bees

billy hargrove

he bakes. he bakes cookies, cupcakes, you name it. if you ever catch him he's FORCING you to taste whatever he's making

an AVID reader. he's got books all over his room, stolen library books in the glove box of his car, and he's reading the hawkins post every morning no matter what

his mom taught him how to sew. lets say after a mishap with the whole 'different dimension' thing, you're bummed cause you got a hole in your favorite shirt. billy would be like "i can fix it for you" and you're like "what??" but he just gets mad and goes "just give me the fucking shirt" and then the next day he's bringing it to you good as new

hates cooked carrots

can fall asleep anywhere. couch, car, at a party, you name it. he will find a spot to fall asleep

he was actually very interested in supernatural stuff when he was younger. and then when max started telling him about everything billy was like "wait. i read this about... blah blah blah" and max is just so surprised

he can totally make a mean cocktail. you want a pina colada? whipped up in seconds. craving a margarita? he's got the salt ready. feeling like an old fashioned? liquor's already in front of him.

he never wears sunscreen. not a single spf anywhere on his body.

calls girls broads and you can NOT tell me otherwise

totally thinks metallica was at its best in their thrash era. sorry bud i'd hate to break it to you

hates the fourth of july cause of y'know.

i feel like he would totally get into dog rescue after he leaves hawkins.

would totally kick ass at mario kart. like he's THE BEST and he always chooses bowser

would totally bash you for your music taste if it was different than his. "what the hell is a beatle?" "mick jagger is not hot." "queen? aren't they gay?" "zeppelin? who taught you that?"

a literal GOD at making mac n' cheese

nancy wheeler

so so so stubborn it's actually annoying.

call her 'einstein' and you're six feet under the floorboards

the tom cruise poster in her room has stared her in the face ever since robin commented on it

nancy's actually amazing at rollerskating. like even mike was surprised because when did she get good at that?

she has nightmares about what happened to barb multiple times a week :(

please know that if you're really close to her she would kill someone for you. no hesitation.

she's super literal? like when someone asks a hypothetical question she's like "when would this happen? why w-" and then immediately get cut off

has a tonnn of notebooks/journals just filled with random stuff like doodles, school notes, reminders, and little ramblings

has plants named after each of her friends and when something's wrong with one of the plants, there's always something wrong with the friend.

is a feminist (slay)

she saves every birthday card given to her and keeps them in a box in her closet

she's a morning person. up and at 'em before 9 every morning and it pisses the gang off when they all sleep in the wheeler's basement. "nancyyyyy..... close the curtains i beg of you..." "it's such a beautiful day, don't you think?"

she's actually amazing at shoplifting.

eddie munson

is allergic to peanuts

when i tell you this man is spontaneous... think 100x more. he'll pull up to your house at 11pm and declare that he planned a road trip while sitting in detention earlier that day and that you're going with him. "eddie what are you doing here? it's so late." "we're going to ohio. we're gonna stop in columbus for like five minutes and drive back." "what the hell."

has cried to sweet child o' mine and will keep that fact to his grave

owns multiple pairs of boxers with superhero logos on them.

definitely has 10 in 1 shampoo that he uses for everything.

ate dirt as a child

if you ever smoke pot with him, just expect him to say the weirdest shit while he's doing whatever. "do you think steve is thinking about me right now?" "yoooooo...... uh.... yo..... um...... i forgot....." "i want to get a cat." "shut up eddie."

he's just,,,, so oblivious,,,,, to sarcasm, flirting, jokes, etc

has ADHD, no doubt about it.

just like billy, he'll bash you on your music taste no matter what. even if you like the same music as him. "that's your favorite tool song? god, you could do way better than that." "c'mon, you know that dio sang better than ozzy." "munson, you're lying straight through your teeth and you know it."

will make you friendship bracelets and you KNOW you're wearing them till you die.

modern au where you're facetiming him and he takes SO MANY facetime pics of you and sometimes makes them his lockscreen. he thinks he's THE SHIT for that.

he giggles. a total giggler.

he flicks dustin in the head all the time.

[jimilter]

▸ writing desk;

(✿◡‿◡) Please do NOT reproduce my works onto any other platforms without my permission.

© bangtae-sohotddaeng + jimilter | 2023 | CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

— Welcome to my masterlist! Hope you enjoy your stay, now that you’ve stumbled across this space. 💮

NOTE: PLEASE DO NOT READ FICS THAT ARE NOT APPROPRIATE FOR YOUR AGE.

Seriously, guys, the ratings are there for a reason. Get into a pg-15 rated fic only if you are 15 or above. Please, pretty please, get into m (18+) rated fics only and only if you’re actually 18 years old. I know it’s tempting – trust me, I’ve been there, too – but it’s really not worth it. Prematurely exposing yourself to things that aren’t meant for your age causes psychological hinderances in your growth (self-esteem issues, social anxiety, self-consciousness issues, to name some). Believe me, I know what I’m talking bout. Be responsible, kids. 🧡

— All the graphics are mine, kindly do not repost them. — All my reader characters are female, unless otherwise specified. — Updated: Feb 26th, ’23

 — Legend: 

⚡ - angst  🔞 - smut 🍭 - fluff 🎉 - humor 🌋 - horror 🎥 - drama

🌟 - personal favorites!

Fill out this form to be added to my permanent taglist!

— cyanide on my bedsheets (m) | 🔞⚡ | friends with benefits!au | 8 k

↪  You didn’t voluntarily choose to have feelings for your best friend of over a decade. But you did voluntarily choose to fall in bed with him, knowing he didn’t feel the same. And now, every encounter with him is just another push at the knife he has permanently lodged in your heart.

— reflection (m) | ⚡🎥🔞🍭 | strangers to lovers!au | 18.6 k | 🌟  

↪ When his muse ran dry, his publisher suggested Namjoon to change sceneries in order to regroup his creative spirit, and he left the big city to land in this tiny restaurant on the beach. In his quest for inspiration, he has interacted with hundreds of travelers and realized that on the beach, every life’s a movie – some he connects with, some he likes, and some leave him confused. You fall into the last category, confounding him with your sad eyes and quiet smiles; and with the way poetry flows out of him when you’re around. But what happens when things start to careen towards intense feelings, and both of you have vastly different lives to go back to? Heartbreak.

— riptide (m) | ⚡🔞 | established relationship!au | 25 k    ↳ 💟 #2 | youth 💟

↪ It takes a foolishly trivial incident to unravel how astonishingly little of each other you and Seokjin actually understand. It has you questioning your relationship, and him? Well, he’s questioning his whole life.

— birthright (m) | ⚡🔞 🌋 🎥 | vampire!au, historical!au | 18 k | 🌟

↪ Slowly making peace with the one singular purpose your life served, you were grateful for the solace you didn’t anticipate within the cold walls of the Briarwood Manor in a handsome stranger who kept your heart warm with his gorgeous smiles and a vast collection of books. However, you couldn’t escape the eerie inkling that you knew him better than you realized. Not when assaulted by dreams in which Kim Seokjin’s charcoal black eyes turn as red as his lips had been the first night you met him.

coming soon

— bolna: say it (pg-13) | ⚡ | established relationship!au | ~700

↪ based off a bollywood song “bolna;” some lyrics for reference:

i want to hide you in my heart and not open it after that. even after dying, i won’t stop loving you. say, oh my beloved, please say (something).

— pina coladas are for wusses (pg-15) | 🎉🍭⚡ | brother’s best friend!au | 1.3 k

↪ “I might punch you just to prove that I’m not a wuss,” you say, stroking your chin with a finger while your eyes seem to size him up. Yoongi chuckles. “Stop going cross-eyed at the sight of Pina Coladas, and I’ll reconsider.” “They’re not a cowardly drink! They have rum in them!” “Yeah, but they also have coconut cream in them. Sounds kinda wussy to me.”

— little princess (m) | ⚡🔞🎉 | fwb minus friends!au, forbidden romance!au, age gap!au | 3.9 k

↪  In his defense, his trysts with you and his job at your father’s office were initially non-mutually exclusive.

— won’t you love me back? (m) | 🌋🔞⚡ | friends to lovers!au | 7.6 k

↪ Hoseok has always been envious of people that can catch your attention with the blink of an eye, while he has been trying to get you to look at him as something more than a friend, for years, and failing. So now, when you’re suddenly getting a bit too close to this one student at your dance academy, so much so that you have given him Hoseok’s place as your partner for your yearly dance performance, it should be justified why he has to take matters in his own hands.

— booby traps (m) | 🔞🎉🎥 | exes to lovers!au, pwp | 5k — ❥ 𝐍𝐄𝐖

Jung Hoseok was told the building would be laced with booby traps. All he encounters are your boobies – but they have always had him trapped.

— ain’t real cherry (m) | 🔞🎉🍭 | college!au, roommate!au | 24 k

↪  Not to be too sickeningly romantic, but his wank bank needed a desperate overhaul if he was ever going to stop being pathetic. He was done envisioning his roommate in positions he would never actually get to see her in. And maybe, just maybe, this exercise would get him back in the game and he would actually be able to fuck people without your face in his head to push him over the edge. 

— the prince’s cinderella syndrome (m) | ⚡🔞🍭 | supernatural!au, strangers to lovers!au | 39 k | 🌟

↪  He shows up at Halloween, every year, dressed the same, and leaves at midnight like some Cinderella. You would think he was a prankster if his eyes didn’t look like they contained all the sadness in the world. You don’t know him - no one on campus does. You don’t know why he appears only once a year. You don’t know why he never smiles. But you can’t help falling in love with him. Even if he breaks your heart when he abandons you at midnight, again.

— captivity (m) | 🔞🎉🍭 | strangers to lovers!au, mafioso!au, kidnapping!au | 11 k

↪  Maybe you shouldn’t be so attracted to one of your kidnappers and maybe you shouldn’t give in to his advances – but Park Jimin is way too irresistibly sexy and persistent in his pursuit of you for his own good.

— feel your touch (m) |  🔞🎉⚡🍭 | camboy!au, strangers to lovers!au | 28 k | 🌟

↪  You have always known yourself to be a sexual switch in bed, flipping between exercising and submitting control according to different situations and partners. And this camboy you are addicted to, one that seems to kinda reciprocate your interest, submits so beautifully that you just want to command him. But when things progress to levels you never anticipated, you end up discovering pleasant surprises that might just change your life.

— what it’s like (m) | 🔞🎉 | college!au, rivals to lovers!au | 5.6 k

↪ You’ve always heard great tales about how good the infamous fuckboy on campus, Park Jimin, is in bed, and wondered if there could be any truth behind these claims when the guy looks like an angel with his cheruby cheeks and precious smiles. So when a new gossip starts to circulate about how ‘hard he hits’, you have had enough of the suspense and decide to finally sample him yourself.

— relax for me (m) | 🔞🎉🍭 | massage!au, established relationship!au | 13 k | 🌟

↪  You came home from a tiring workday and your boyfriend offered to give you a massage to relax – which you didn’t think much of because Park Jimin is known to be selflessly kind while also being a pervert, the exact two behaviors a massage would exemplify. But maybe you should think more about how skilled his hands felt… almost extraordinarily skilled. Is your boyfriend hiding something from you?

— put it on me (m) | 🔞🎉 | modeling!au, pwp | 8 k

↪ When you signed up to model your cleavage for a jewelry commercial, no one bothered to tell you it wasn’t gonna be a solo shoot. It’s unfair being blindsided and you want to protest, but A-list model and flirt extraordinaire Park Jimin’s steel-cut abs have you kinda tongue-tied. And then you get kinda too busy thinking of other ways in which you’d like him to shut you up.

— nugatory (m) | 🔞⚡ | college!au | 3 k

↪ Park Jimin is many things. Park Jimin is a responsible, smart, handsome and musically talented Taekwondo black belt. Park Jimin is Kim Taehyung’s best friend. Park Jimin is a good friend. Park Jimin is a compulsive matchmaker. Park Jimin is many things – but he is not the guy you should be sitting in a car with, right now.

— flirt buddies (pg-15) | 🎉🍭 | college!au, frenemies to lovers!au | 1.4 k

↪  A mean girl pestering you is what it takes for you and Jimin to move further with the flirting going on between you two for months now. Who would’ve thunk?

— on the borderline (m) | 🔞🎉🍭⚡🎥 | friends to lovers!au     ✒ current: 26 k

↪ Park Jimin has been your buoy, your anchor and the ship of sanity that guides you to shore amid storms of self-doubt, nearly all your life; as have you been his. That is not to say nothing has ever brewed beneath the surface of platonic friendship, or that the two of you have never been victims to mistiming. Regardless, you would never risk the friendship you have with him now for anything. Even if you have to hurt him – or even yourself – in the process.

— tripping on skies, sipping waterfalls (m) | ⚡🔞🍭🎉 | college!au, established relationship!au | 19 k     ↳ 💟 #1 | youth 💟

↪ One drink too many at Hoseok’s Halloween party, and you’ve blanked out on the entire night that followed. Now, who’s gonna fill you in when Taehyung looks one second away from breaking into tears when you bring it up with him? From running across the university campus in remnants of your vampire outfit, to dealing with your downtrodden boyfriend’s disappointed stares - you’re left with one hell of a day, and zero recollections. 

— mine to claim (m) | ⚡🔞🍭 | werewolf!au, friends to lovers!au | 13 k

↪ You are in love with Taehyung, your Alpha. But he just sees you as the Omega bitch that helps him relieve stress by letting him use her body however he likes. And you’ve come to be okay with that, because you know you are no good for him. But now with your heat coming up and the pressure on Taehyung to find a Queen increasing exponentially, will your ties with him severe forever? Or will they bloom into something else?

— happenstance (pg-15) | 🍭🎉 | slice of life!au | 7 k

↪ Kim Taehyung is having the worst luck with romance. Every date he goes on blows up in face, one way or another. He’s on his way back from one such disaster when he spots someone that looks a lot like you, his crush from high school – and a series of coincidences follow.

— holding you like this (m) | ⚡🔞🎉 | exes to lovers!au | 18 k | 🌟

↪ Taehyung didn’t anticipate seeing you tonight, least of all with a date by your side, but he guesses it’ll be okay because it has been over five years since he last saw you and he has moved on. But the air is far from cleared between you both. So when confrontations start to happen, all of the pain from his past he thought he had overcome makes itself known, unwelcome.

— the odds on us (m) | ⚡🔞🍭 | exes to lovers!au | 15 k

↪ It would all be easier if you just believed in fate; you could say meeting him was destiny and the odds of fate were just against your union. Too bad you don’t. Too bad it was Taehyung that wasn’t serious about your future. Too bad he won’t leave you alone even a year after your break-up. Too bad you want to kiss him when you have a date with someone else tonight. Too bad you’re still in love with him.

coming soon

— we’ll be counting stars (nc-17) | HIATUS | ⚡🍭🎉 | idol!au, publisher!reader      ✒ current: 15 k

↪ You’d sworn off love and relationships forever. You were here to do your job - work with the biggest boyband of the world. Not forge friendships and… and whatever it was that you and Taehyung were building up with these sneaky glances. It was, to be very fair, your Chief Editor’s fault that you’d landed in this mess. Maybe you should quit your job? Maybe you should quit life - Oh, he was staring again, and did he freaking lick his lips?

— to know you is to love you (m) | 🔞🎉 | fantasy!au, strangers to enemies(?) to lovers!au | 21 k

↪ If going on a bloodthirst-fueled rampage and ravaging almost half the city when you are a whole adult vampire of three-plus centuries was somewhat embarrassing, being on the run from the Supernatural Interpol is making you want to walk into a field of garlic and asphyxiate to death out of mortification. So it should be quite understood why this sudden meeting with a creature you’ve only heard myths about, in a dingy freaking hiding place, is shaping up to be the most humiliating moment of your life. It doesn’t help that he’s handsome as hell. Or that every other sentence out of his mouth is a freaking line. Or that he has decided to accompany you on your absconding adventures. Or… that you’re actually kinda okay with it Yeah, you’re massively screwed.

— strong enough (m) | 🔞 | established relationship!au, pwp | 3.7 k

↪ You’re strong enough to protect yourself – Jungkook is strong enough to take you against a wall. Unrelated claims that are both proven to be true on an unsuspecting Thursday. The common denominator? A bunch of losers that leer at you and ask you about your boyfriend’s sexual prowess.

— disaster management (m) | 🔞🎉 | chaebol!au, enemies to lovers!au | 17 k      ↳ #3 | td&hk

↪ An important investor wants to withdraw from a future project at Jeon Security, and you, the company’s President, are to handle things before they blow over. A task that would have been easy despite the meeting’s location being the investor’s daughter’s wedding.  Only – the presence of your unruly CEO, Jeon Jungkook, by your side the entire night when paired with alcohol… may lead to way bigger disasters than what the two of you can manage.

— make-believe it’s hyperreal (m) | 🔞⚡🍭 | chaebol!au, fwb!au | 20 k — ❥ 𝐍𝐄𝐖     ↳ #4 | td&hk

↪ The Chairman of Jeon Security has finally decided he needs a Vice Chairman to shoulder the responsibilities. You know you’re the only one at the company who deserves this post, so if everyone thinks the promotion should stay in the family? Well, fuck that shit; you’re gonna get engaged to your frenemy-with-benefits, Jeon Jungkook, and join the damn family! Or, at least – you’re gonna pretend to.

— knight in distress (pg-15) | 🎉 | chaebol!au, enemies in denial!au | 2.5 k | 🌟     ↳ #1 | td&hk

↪ You hate him so much. And you also hate God for gifting him with such a delectable body when he literally has a peanut for a brain. Life is so unfair.

— damsel in shining armor (pg-15) | 🎉 | chaebol!au, enemies in denial!au | 4.8 k     ↳ #2 | td&hk

↪ Earth has completed a little over a revolution around the sun since Jeon Jungkook was brought onboard as the company’s CEO, but what does that change? Not a thing! You’re still his babysitter, he’s still an uncontrollably chaotic toddler, you still hate yourself for finding him hot, and he still needs you to save him from a crisis. Life is still so freaking unfair.

— youth | ⚡🔞🍭🎉🎥 | college!au     ↳ 7 fics ft. each member x a different reader.      💟 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 💟

↪ A glimpse into the lives of a group of seven brother-like friends as they encounter love and its different faces, while meandering their way through college and early stages of employed life.

— nameless reactions #1 | ⚡🍭 | idol!au | ~500 words

↪ An impromptu analysis of how each member would react in a situation where someone close to them (not necessarily a partner) were going through anxiety.

— drop me a word if you got thoughts! 

[winchest09]

Lights Out - Chapter Seven

Pairing: AU!Dean Winchester x F!Reader

Word Count: 3857

Summary: Y/N was different from the rest; living in a quaint lakehouse, on the edge of one of the most rich and prosperous towns in America. She was surrounded with the elite, the wealthy and people who never took responsibility for their actions. Money gave them everything, while in turn, it had taken something from her. In result, she kept her distance, never wanting to get involved with high society, until one fateful night changed her life…forever.

Rating: 18+

Warnings:  Angst, slow burn, sex talk, sex language, swears.

A/N: Guys, I am severely sorry this is late. I had a severe migraine that started late Friday night and last all the way through till not long ago. I couldn't look at screens or anything. Bleugh. Don't get them often but they SUCK! Anywho, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Sorry again!  I also want to say a massive thank you to my wonderful @deanwanddamons​​​​​ for being my wonderful beta, and for kicking my ass where needed. __________________________

Get five weeks ahead on Patreon! __________________________

Lights Out Masterlist || Main Masterlist || Let me know your thoughts!

Letting a long sigh pass his lips, Dean stared at his reflection in the mirror as he straightened out his suit, and the black mask that rested upon his nose. It covered his face from just above his brow to the top of his cheekbones, his shaped stubble and cushioned pink lips being the only features on show. He couldn’t really describe how he was feeling at that moment as his emotions were a cocktail of different things. If he was honest with himself, he wished he was still standing on the old fisherman dock, enjoying the sound of peace and quiet instead of the party ambience that he would soon be surrounded with.

Once he returned from his trip to Singer’s Salvage Yard, he had managed to dodge his cousin and the event coordinator while heading to his room to shower. He was not in any kind of mood for more scolding, especially from his cousin. Just the thought of it was getting him all riled up again, causing him to roll his shoulders under his shirt as he turned away from his reflection. This was his event and he was in control, Dean was not having anybody telling him what to do in his own home. If that happened again, he would be more than happy to throw Christian out himself, knowing he would take great satisfaction in seeing the disgruntled expression that would be undoubtedly staring back at him.

Pulling him from his deliberations, was the text tone that rang out from his pants pocket. Without hesitation, he retrieved the device and looked at the bright display screen that was glaring back at him to see a message waiting to be read.

Sam: Good luck for this evening, and with dad. I’d be there if I could.

“Yeah, of course you would Sammy,” Dean muttered, a little chuckle leaving him as he replied back and let him know his thoughts. “Sure you would much rather be here than on the beach drinking your pina coladas.”

After he pressed send, he couldn’t help but smile slightly. It was times like this, that he truly missed his little brother. They made a good tag team, and no-one ever questioned his motives or authority when both Winchester boys were together. He got lucky; scouting Thailand for new properties was something that sounded like a lot more fun than hosting this event. His sibling had a beautiful woman on his arm that loved him dearly too which was basically the icing on the cake.

Was Dean jealous? Maybe. He had never really thought about falling in love and having the fairytale romance that Sam had, and didn't really think that he was worthy of it. Besides, all the women that have been around him have always been after his money, or his cock; never his personality, as cliché as that sounds. He had never been with anyone who remembered what his favorite band was, or noticed any of his little quirks. Hell, he didn’t even know what his quirks were, no one had ever told him. Still, he didn’t like to dwell on that, never spending no longer than a few minutes wondering. He had his business, his house, his car; what more could he need? He was happy, he had money, he had friends, there was a constant supply of sexual interest; he didn’t need somebody to play with his hair after a long day, or cook him apple pie because it was his go to desert. No, he was fine just the way he was.

“Mr Winchester, the event is about to begin.” The loud, Scottish interruption was accompanied by a few strong knocks on his bedroom door and he could only let out a deep sigh as he began to walk in that direction.

“I’m coming, Rowena,” he fired back, double checking he had what he needed before he opened the wooden barrier to reveal the strong willed redhead that was waiting.

“This isn’t a function where tardiness will be ignored,” she stated harshly, a clipboard in her hand that was being held tightly against her chest, her own eyes glaring at him through her mask. “Your father–”

“--I know what my father expects,” Dean interjected, slamming his door behind him before he began to walk towards the stairs. “I don’t need you to tell me about my own family.”

“With all due respect, I am merely trying to advise you on what awaits,” Rowena argued, attempting to keep up with his large strides, her feet moving as fast as her long black velvet dress would allow. “This isn’t my first Lights Out Masquerade.”

“Neither is it mine,” he argued, stopping in his tracks to turn and face the woman who was hounding him. “Now please, do your job and make sure my staff are in position.”

“That means I need you in the main hall,” the redhead stated, tapping her forefinger against the paper on the clipboard, giving him a pointed look.

“And I’m going,”  Dean told her, rolling his eyes before he began to continue to move further down the hall.

“Oh and by the way,” Rowena shouted after him, “your girlfriend has already entered the building, she didn’t want to wait in line.”

“My girl–” he started, before cutting himself off, rubbing at his brow when he realised who she meant. “Bela,” he muttered, taking a deep breath in preparation of greeting her. “Great, thanks.”

He tried not to sound too resentful when he answered, but the idea of the brunette already standing in his main hall, waiting on him because she didn’t want to stand in line, was an irk that was already irritating the shit out of him. That and the fact that people kept assuming that they were official. He had never mentioned anything about being exclusive, had tried to make it very obvious that the only time they would ever be together was when they would be within the sheets. He needed to make it very clear to Miss Talbot that he was only interested in her mouth, and the honeypot between her legs; nothing more. If the speculation continued, then he would have to find himself a new woman to roll around with. Dean Winchester would not be tied down.

As he descended the stairs, passing waiters and other staff on his journey, his gaze landed on the lonely woman who was standing in the middle of the hall. Her brown hair was curled and bunched off her shoulders, her eyes covered by a silver mask that contrasted wonderfully to her silver and black gown she was wearing. Yet, before he could reach her, his stride was interrupted by a voice that sounded from behind him.

“So he finally makes an appearance,” he heard someone snark, and turning to look over his shoulder, he was met with the smug face of his cousin. “How was your afternoon adventure? More important than this event?”

“Fuck off, Christian,” Dean warned, his voice low and authoritative as he stared him down, he did not want to deal with his shit right now.

The other man got the message pretty quickly, turning to walk back down another hallway as the green-eyed Winchester let out a small sigh. If his whole evening was going to be filled with shit like this, he didn’t know how long he was going to last sober. It was then that his thoughts then wandered to Joanna Harvelle, the little slice of normal he had as the ace up his sleeve. She wasn’t part of their society, she was unaware of all the rules and strings attached to this event which made her the perfect escape. He would be able to have a conversation with her without having to wonder just what he could offer her in return. He was worried that with his invitation would mean she would be initiated into it all, but that was a bridge he could cross at a later date.

Pulling out his phone once more, he traversed the last of the stairs as he opened the text message application and typed out a quick sentence to send towards Jo. It was just something simple and to the point; he could only hope that his friend would see it and respond.

Dean: Looking forward to seeing a familiar face. Well, half of one at least. Let me know when you’re here and I'll come find you.

His loud footsteps upon the polished wood floor was the sound that alerted the waiting woman in the room to his presence, and within seconds, he heard her sultry tones echo off the walls. “Well I must say the place, and the host, looks exquisite.”

“Bela,” he greeted, forcing his lips into a smile as he watched her walk closer towards him. “How did you get in here?”

“Through the kitchen, told security how I needed to be on the arm of my man for his big night,” she almost sang, stepping ever closer before she slid her hands up his chest, resting her fingers upon shirt.

“Hm,” Dean hummed, looking between her eyes as his thoughts whirred.

Had she been the one that was telling all she could that they were official? The ‘my man’ comment certainly made it seem like it was so and he did not like that. The idea of this woman making a decision about his future, without consulting him, was a major red flag. One that he could add with the rest of them that he had collected ever since he had met her. He needed to be smart about his next move, had to work out how to let her down gently and inform her that they weren’t a thing without rocking the boat. Her father was pretty important in this town and he knew his father would never forgive him.

“Dean!”

The deep, gravelled shout of his name caused his focus to shift, and land on the couple that were now moving ever closer towards him. Within seconds, he recognised them as his parents. John and Mary Winchester. Speak of the devil.

“Dad,” Dean greeted, holding out a hand for him to shake before turning to the blonde. “Mom, you look lovely.”

“Thank you, honey,” Mary replied, leaning in to kiss her son on the cheek before she rested herself back against her husband's arm.

“Are you not going to introduce us to the enchantress beside you?” His father spoke aloud, his gaze on the brunette at his side. She was currently looking up at Dean with the biggest puppy dog eyed look he had ever seen, and that was saying something considering his brother did the same thing all the time.

“Er sure,” Dean spoke, a little hesitant. “Bela, these are my parents which I’m sure you know.” He placed his palm in the middle of her back while the other stayed lodged inside his pocket. “This is Bela.”

“You never told us you had a girlfriend!” His mother gushed, playfully slapping the chest of her son before her attention fully focused on Miss Talbot.

“She’s no–”

“--it’s all fairly new,” Bela cut him off and it took all the strength he had to not shout out the truth there and then. Yet before he could rectify the situation, his father had already ushered him away from the gossiping women, and towards the bar that was waiting to be used at the other side of the room.

It had been kitted out in true lights out fashion. There were standing candelabras, a string quartet, a fully stocked bar as well as servers waiting with their silver trays in which they would offer appetisers. The food would be served in the adjoining space, where large round tables were waiting with a lantern filled centre. He had to say, he was proud his home was able to be transformed into something so elegant, but at the same time, he hated it.

“Have to say son, the place looks good,” John complimented, as he glanced around the space they were currently standing in.

“I told you I had it under control,” Dean muttered, looking anywhere else but at his father as he waited for the reply. He was trying to bite down his annoyance, not wanting to fall out with the paternal figure in his life.

“Really?” His dad scoffed, shaking his head as he signalled for the barman. “Because Chistian told me you did a disappearing act this morning.”

“I had to sort something out with the Impala,” the green-eyed Winchester stated, standing his ground as he tried to swallow down the fury that was bubbling like lava in his stomach. “Everything was fine here.”

“Dean, you are part of a legacy, and that legacy has a reputation to uphold,” John continued, signalling to the staff member he wanted a bourbon. “You want to keep your status, your money, your privileges? You need to step up like your cousin did.”

That statement threw the younger of the two men, a frown creasing on his brow upon hearing his dad’s word. “What?”

“He took over the preparations, worked with Rowena to get this night arranged,” John explained, eyeing up the tumbler that had been placed in front of him on a fresh white napkin.

“That’s bullshit!” Dean exclaimed, his voice deep and resonating as he stood his ground. He was ready to erupt, wanting to find Christian before beating seven rounds of hell into him. That fucker.

“Is it?” His father shot back, licking at his bottom lip before he took a sip of his drink. “I can’t hold your hand through this, Dean. I have relationships I need to withhold. So I need you to stand up straight, put a smile on your goddamn face and make this night a success. You got that?”

Sure, Dean could argue. He could stomp his feet, scream from the rooftops and plant his fist in his cousin's face but he knew that wouldn’t achieve anything at this moment in time. If anything, he would be blamed for bringing shame to the Winchester family. So instead, he bit back the comments, and fought against his instincts.

“Yes sir.”

“Oh and before I forget,” John added, just as he was about to turn and walk back towards where his wife, Dean’s mother, was standing with Bela. “Keep Miss Talbot happy and on your arm. Her father and I are in the midst of securing a merger. She’s an attractive young thing, surely won’t be too hard for you to keep her satisfied. Don’t mess it up.”

Before he could put across his opinions on his fathers choice of woman for him, one of the security detail from Dean’s team had come marching towards them, one finger on the earpiece in his ear as the other stayed in position in front of his stomach.

“Sorry to interrupt sir, but the guests are entering,” he informed the green-eyed Winchester and Dean could only nod in acknowledgment before turning back to his dad.

“Good,” John smiled, his silver grin clear through the edge of the glass he was holding to his lips. “Let’s have an amazing evening shall we?”

“Yeah,” he muttered in response, taking a deep breath before his father slapped at his upper arm.

“Get a drink, son,” John urged, “You can do this.”

Could he? As he watched the paternal figure walk back over towards his mother, he had to question himself. There were always all these expectations, always these unwritten rules that he had to follow and now he was being told to continue to ‘date’ the woman he wanted to pull away from. Still, as he watched his father wrap his hold around Mary’s side, he could only think of everything he had to thank them for. Not going hungry as a kid, being given a career which had allowed him to buy his own home, having a car that felt like an extension of himself. The least he could do was play happy with Bela if it meant his dad could secure more business. It wasn’t all bad, at least the brunette knew how to satisfy him and he could definitely have some fun while waiting for the merger to go through.

So, doing as John had suggested, he forced his lips to upturn as he watched how the young woman came sauntering towards him. He began to fall into his role, already beginning to play into his role as he extended his arm for her to slot right into his side.

“Here they come,” Bela smiled as she looked towards the main entrance where guests were walking in, the music of the band now beginning to play. “I always forget how many people are a part of our little society.”

“It might do you some good to network, strengthen your connections,” he advised, his fingers gently squeezing at the skin under his fingers. “You’ll never know when you’ll need them.”

It was the truth, the whole purpose of this evening was to do just as he had suggested. The society was a key part in remaining in a good social standing, to getting the best properties and the most excellent healthcare. To have the best lawyer in your pocket, or even the most exquisite table at the top restaurant in town. It was a membership which could only be renewed by attending these events, by socialising and ensuring your name was still well known within their small community.

“Can we not just skip straight to the good part?” Bela returned, her tone sultry as she looked up at him from under her lashes. “Head downstairs?”

“Patience Bela,” Dean chuckled, a smirk now pulling at his mouth. She was always so needy. “Good things come to those who wait.”

“Is that a promise?” Her hand began to snake around Dean’s hip, her fingers dancing along the hem of his pants as her pupils widened.

“Only if I get good things in return,” he almost growled, lowering his head towards her ear as placed a gentle kiss just below her lobe. He knew exactly how to play her, could push all the right buttons that would allow her to melt in his palm and do exactly as he said. This was one of them.

“Oh don’t you know it,” Bela purred, arching her body against his as her words left her in a breathless manner. Delicately rubbing his stubble against her cheek as he pulled back, Dean gave her a grin before he manoeuvred her against the bar next to him.

“Get yourself a glass of champagne,” he almost ordered, staring at the barman as he signalled his head towards the brunette by the side of him. “Start this night as we mean to go on.”

“Alright,”  she replied softly, before threading her fingers through his hair as she pulled him down to meet her mouth. He couldn’t say he was surprised, but his eyebrows raised all the same. Her tongue was teasing at his lips, but he was in control here, not her.

“I’m going to go greet everyone,” he spoke against her lips as he pulled back, and she could only nod in response. He’s still got it.

Turning away from his faux girlfriend, as Dean refused to call her the real deal as he had no deep interest in her, his eyes scanned the growing crowd for any familiar faces. Of course, one by one, he noticed some of the most important figures in their society. Crowley, the valley's ruling judge, had just walked in with a woman on his arm. The green-eyed Winchester didn’t need to ask for his name, the bald spot on the back of his head, and the short stature gave him away entirely. Then there was Zachariah, the family and the rest of the society's lawyer. The way the light was shining of his crown, and the small pudge of his stomach were his giveaways.

The rest, he couldn’t really put his finger on and that was where the networking played a massive part. He hoped to catch a few of the guests before they headed down to the lights out floor, knowing that a few wouldn’t emerge for the rest of the night if any of the rumors he had heard were true. So, he planted a wide grin on his face as he began to disappear within the crowd. He held out his hand for the men to shake, and he politely kissed the backs of the women who had offered. Of course, he had told them who had asked who he was, wanting them to know he was the host and if something wasn’t to their full approval, to let him know immediately. However, so far, so good.

After about fifteen minutes of greeting, laughing and drinking the one glass of champagne that was given to him by one of the attendees, he felt his phone vibrate against his leg. He excused himself politely, and eagerly discarded the flute full of half drunk alcohol to the nearest surface as he grimaced. The sooner he got a beer or whiskey inside of him, the better. Pulling out his cell, he was greeted with a notification of a reply from Joanna and he couldn’t help but feel the small wave of relief that flooded through him.

Jo: We’re here. I’ll stay close to the main doors. I’m the one in black sequins.

Automatically, Dean craned his head and looked in that general direction. He was curious as to who the blonde meant by ‘we’, knowing that he had added a plus one to the invitation. A part of him had thought she would bring her mother along, but that was something he would find out in due course. Once his gaze locked onto his target, he grinned and began to weave through the bodies that were still walking towards him. But he wasn’t anticipating having his attention stolen by the woman who was currently striding off towards the bar, her body covered in long red dress, the silk hugging every curve, rippling across her body like the waves of a gentle sea.

Like a moth to a flame, a hummingbird to the sugar water, he was drawn to her. It was almost as if everyone else in the room became blurry and she was the only one in focus in the entire room. He swallowed hard, his palms already clammy as he willed his body to move towards her. Enchanted, his eyes were pinned to her movements, almost as if he was scared to lose her at any given moment.

Well fuck, he wasn’t expecting her.

——————————————– Chapter Eight ——————————————– A/N: Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. I can’t wait to share the point I’m at now with writing it! I hope you enjoyed this one, thanks so much for reading! <3 Tag list is open! If you want to be step into the darkness with me, then let me know HERE :)

Tags will be separate <3

[ghostalservice]

okay so i just posted this over on twitter but I thought I’d make a post over here too with the twitter fics I’m currently absolutely fixated on!!

I’m enjoying the medium a lot because they’re mostly epistolary, but in a really interestingly multimedia way. It’s been interesting to see how different creators balance prose with art and artifacts!!

Here’re the ones I’m following SUPER closely - there are a bunch of other great ones I’m reading but these ones own my soul at the moment and the ones I’m so into that i don’t get them mixed up with others in my head. All WIPs and all absolutely fantastic!!

1. The Camera Loves You, Baby (Director Stede/struggling actor/delivery driver Ed): my #1 favorite!! Everybody’s doing their best (except the Badmintons). Ed doesn’t want to like Stede so much but he can’t help it! An entire movie as set dressing! Phenomenal multimedia and a deliciously slow burn! This is the one I take fake bathroom breaks at work for when it updates.

2. Breaking the News (Newscasters): gloriously done coming-out for Stede! Absolutely sparkling tension! Deep trauma (on both sides) handled gorgeously! Twisty turny news plots! A Badminton gets punched! REALLY good spicy bits, with Izzy/the Swede that actually??? works really well??? 

3. Liquid Gold (Beekeepers): the Softest (with a bit of intrigue!!) AU! Featuring bee-allergic beekeeper Stede because he is, in every universe, a lunatic (Ed likes it). Fantastic small-town drama and a particularly well-written Lucius.

4. Angle of Attack (Plane Crash Investigators): A field I have never even considered the existence of!! The author OBVIOUSLY knows so much about the setting, which is my favorite kind of AU. CJ starts off dead! Early days but I LOVE IT SO FAR.

5. Mismatched (Matchmaker Stede/Romance Novelist Ed): truly glorious airport meet-cute, A+ refusing-to-talk-it-thru Stede (who’s a matchmaker who doesn’t believe in love!!). Really captures the way these two weirdos instantly click!!

6. Home Sweet Home (Tiny house builder Ed/rich, still married Stede: Stede is a whirlwind of last-ditch secret-vehicle disaster and I am LIVING for smitten Ed!! Featuring plans for the largest tiny home ever built! The text conversations in particular are A++++. This one is also just starting but I am fully fascinated.

7. Bootlegged (Theatre bootleg recording makers): a profession I know nothing about! A fantastic famous Ed reveal!! Awesome crew antics!!  Obsessed with this low-stakes criminal activity AU, because I adore when people take very small, non-dangerous crimes and treat them DEADLY SERIOUS. Also features Ed taking risks to add excitement and Stede being an absolute disaster of a man.

8. Whereever You Go, There You Are (Canonverse!): This just started and is only a few tweets in, but it’s SUPER NEAT because it’s got no prose and is only through letters and artifacts? I’m real into it.

9. I am obviously also reading Pina Coladas (80s thru 2000s AU) which was what made me make a fandom twitter in the first place. It continues to murder me daily.

PLEASE tell me if you’re reading any of these and yell with me! I hate twitter and would much rather yell about fandom here, where I know my mom isn’t!

[writersrealmbts]

If You Have Half a Brain

Description: Part of the summer #btswritingbingo, hosted by @bangtanwritingbingo! For the Pina Coladas prompt. You’ve been a bit down on your luck, until one of your customers, who is definitely drunk, strikes up a conversation with you and offers you a job. 

Warnings: Mentions of death, drunken antics (mild), mild language, mentions of blood/injuries (very briefly)

Posted: 06/04/2021

Tags: Hoseok x reader, business au, 

Slice of Life/Angst/moments of fluff: 11,698 words

A/N: I think it’s been over a month since I posted a story, so here’s over 10k words. Enjoy! Thanks to @kerikaaria​ for beta reading this

“Sir, you ordered a virgin.”

“Whoa, no! I didn’t even know that this was that kind of place, I mean, kudos on the confidence and I mean that in the best way because you shouldn’t be ashamed—“

“Your drink,” you interrupted, rolling your eyes. “It’s non-alcoholic. You ordered a virgin drink.”

“What? No I didn’t, I ordered a pina colada!”

“No, our menu doesn’t offer pina coladas. What you ordered was our Niño colada, which is from our non-alcoholic menu. I apologize for any inconvenience, but if this is you with a little bit of alcohol, then I think you should stick to sobriety.”

He stared at you, slack-jawed and blinking. “Why don’t you have pina coladas?”

You sighed. “We don’t stock rum.”

He made a choked sound. “The…rum…is gone?”

“Yes. The rum is gone.” You had a sinking feeling that you knew exactly what he was going to say.

“Why is the rum always gone?!” He exclaimed, flopping onto the table.

“From your behavior, I’m going to assume you’ve consumed every last drop of it, Captain Sparrow,” You replied dryly. Well, your boss was right. You were not cut out for this job. “Now, if you’re not going to order something else, I’m going to go turn in my apron and start job hunting again.”

“Wait! Wait! Do you like piña coladas?” He asked, catching the pocket of your apron.

“I swear to God, if the next words out of your mouth are anything along the lines of ‘and getting caught in the rain’ I will murder you without regret.”

His teeth clicked shut. His eyes darted over your face. “But do you?”

You took a deep breath. “I can’t stand coconut.”

“You…don’t like…coconut?” He looked horrified. “Then…coconut chicken?”

“Ew.”

“Coconut ice cream?”

“Waste of sugar and time, a lot like this conversation. I don’t like coconut. I hate it when people cook in coconut oil because saying it’s tasteless is Bull.” You crossed your arms. “New drink or what?”

He stared at you for a while, then smiled softly. “You’re too good for this job, anyway. You should work for me.”

“Excuse me?”

“Come work for me.”

“Repeating that doesn’t tell me what you’re saying.”

“I own a company. I need someone who can deal with trash like me and keep them away from me. You do not have to be polite to the trash either.” He leaned his chin on a propped-up fist. “Your job would quite honestly be saying what was on your mind and telling me and anyone else off.” He looked and sounded surprisingly sober compared to before.

“Please tell me you didn’t use piña coladas to test a potential hire.”

He grinned. “Not intentionally.”

I folded your arms, trying to gauge whether or not he was being serious. “You’re not saying this because you’re drunk, are you?”

“I’m not drunk!” He argued, eyes wide. “I’ve only had one glass of wine!”

You cringed. “At least tell me it was a large one.”

“N-not particularly.”

“Oh dude, either your acting is pretty on point, or you’re a serious lightweight and should stick to the non-alcoholic menu.” You shook your head.

His already flushed cheeks turned more red. “Wha—“ he huffed. “Do you want the job or not?”

You considered it, a little surprised you were even considering it, and shrugged. “Not sure I believe you still.”

He huffed and fumbled to pull out his wallet, fumbled more, then handed you a business card. “That’s me. Call or show up or anything. My personal cards are like golden tickets.”

You took the card warily.

The side of the cards facing you had a phone number in shimmering gold lettering, and the other side looked like a splash of summer colors—Bold black lettering spelling out his name and the name of the company.

“Hoseok Jung, CEO of HopeWorld Incorporated,” you read aloud, a little…skeptical. “If you are this person, what the heck do you want me for?”

“Honestly…I need someone sensible who won’t just try to stay on my good side. I need someone who will risk their job to threaten anyone that is being ridiculous with murder. I’m bad at that. I need a spiky person cause I’m just…I have things I’m strong on, but there are times when I just need someone to say things like they are. No bull.”

“And based on our interactions here, you think that’s me?”

He nodded. “I only played up the antics a bit.”

“Do you often hire your waitresses?”

He grinned. “No, but I have found most of my best people by chance. One other waiter, but I knew him before.”

“Your best people?”

“You’ve heard of my company?”

“Who hasn’t?”

“Then you’ve heard the names Suga, RM, and V.”

You paused. “Yes.”

“Suga and I met at a club. RM and I met in a museum, and I met V when I was at an animal shelter.” He shrugged. “We had a good rapport. I offered them jobs. My friends over there are also part of my inner circle. It would have been better if you liked piña coladas, but you should still be okay with them.”

You stared over to where his friends were goofing off in the pool. Those idiot men were part of the inner circle of one of the biggest companies ever? The company that….

Two screeched as they went into the water, losing the game of chicken.

“They are part of your brain trust? Is the one even old enough for alcohol?”

“Yeah, he just tends to pick people up when he’s buzzed.”

“So, scandal prone.”

“No, no, I mean physically lift them. Usually just us. He’s not really a social person. Just us.”

“Ah.” You weren’t sure what to make of that.

“Actually—“

“Y/n! I’m not paying you to stand around!”

“With all due respect, sir, I’m done after I finish discussing our menu with this gentleman, Sir.” You called back, then turned to Hoseok. “How much would I be paid?”

“To start...how about $16 an hour?”

You stared at him. “$16 an hour?”

“Plus benefits, we have an excellent benefits program.”

“$16 an hour?” You repeated, a little shocked and numb. Plus benefits, even if you only worked there for a week, you’d be able to cover all of your expenses.

“Alright, okay, fine, $18 an hour—but no more than that until we know if it will work out. Then we can discuss raises. Deal?” He stuck his hand out.

You considered it for a moment, then shook his hand. “Right. Okay. When do I start?”

“Tomorrow, 8 a.m.”

You nodded. “Business dress?”

He shrugged, “If you like. Just dress nicely.”

You nodded. “Fine. Okay. See you then. I have a job to quit.”

He nodded with a smile. “I look forward to working with you.”

———

If you had thought that your means of obtaining this job had been strange, nothing had prepared you for your first day working there.

You had dressed well, wearing your favorite interview outfit because it was the nicest outfit you owned and you would be shopping later today so you knew what you needed to buy.

You entered the sleek looking building, and went to the reception desk. “Hello, I was told to come in today.” You pulled out the business card and showed it to the secretary.

Her eyes widened. “Whoa. You met Mr. Jung?”

“Uhm, yes. Yes I did. And he told me to come in today, at eight.”

“Right, okay, um, let me get you a temporary I.D.so you can get around today, and you’ll have to talk to H.R. later about your permanent one. Take this, and then head up to the top floor, he’ll want you to report straight to his office. At least, that’s what protocol states.”

You nodded, absorbing the information easily. “Top floor, his office, report to HR later for a permanent ID. Return this at the end of the day?”

“Yes, thank you, and good luck on your first day!” She practically sang, going back to her computer.

You slid the ID necklace over your head and went straight for the elevator, hitting the button for the top floor.

The way she spoke was almost like she had never met the CEO, which seemed unlikely to you, but maybe you were just misreading it.

The top floor was as quiet as the rest of the building, and you had a feeling most employees didn’t start until 9. But there was faint music coming from the biggest office—the CEO’s office.

You took a breath to steady yourself and then knocked on the door.

“Come on in, y/n!”

You shook your head slightly and did as told, walking into the office.

Entering the building, you had been pleasantly surprised by the way everything seemed light and airy, with bright splashes of color in appropriate amounts in the appropriate places, making it feel less like an office and more of a...you weren’t sure what it felt like, but it felt nicer than an office.

Entering Hoseok Jung’s office had a similar effect. There were knickknacks, but they weren’t overwhelming, and splashes of color were all throughout the room, but was balanced by a sort of modern elegance of his sleek office furniture and the immense natural lighting.

“Do you like it?”

You considered it all. “It’s not to my taste, but it is well balanced and I can appreciate the aesthetic.”

He grinned. “See, you’re already doing better.”

“The receptionist acts like she’s never seen you before.”

“Oh, well, most people only see J-Hope, one of the senior workers who reports directly to Mr. Jung. That’s how I got into the business to take it over from my father.” He shrugged. “Eventually, they’ll find out that J-Hope is me, but for now, J-Hope is well-liked. My ‘brain trust’ as you called them, will be here in about half an hour, which gives us time. Come on, I’ll show you to your office. Remember, it’s not your job to make friends, it’s your job to call things as you see them.”

You shrugged. “And if that means holding my tongue?”

“Then I trust you to say something later, when you deem the time to be right.”

“You know this is crazy, right?”

He grinned. “I know that you think it’s crazy, but I’m glad you’re telling me.”

You shook your head as you followed him out, noting that he wasn’t wearing a full suit. More like slacks and a shirt that wasn’t a button-up, but also wasn’t a plain t-shirt? Very loose-fitting, possibly a few sizes too big. His slacks weren't even slack, not really. Just grey, loose-fitting pants.

“You don’t dress much like a CEO.”

He chuckled. “I know. Jimin tells me that all the time, trust me, I do when I have to. But J-Hope likes loose clothing.”

You shook your head a bit.

“This will be your office.”

“It’s right next to yours.”

“Well, you are going to be my left-hand person. Left hand office.”

You followed him into the office that was way too good to be true.

“Obviously you can decorate it as you like, outside of the desk. The desk chair you get to choose from a magazine that we use for office supplies. We also ask that you don’t break any walls or windows.”

“I have a balcony,” you breathed.

“Yeah. There’s actually a door out there that connects our balconies, my side is pretty much never locked, but you can lock your side as well.”

“Like in hotels.”

“Yes.”

“So, if I'm your left, who’s your right?”

“Suga. Yoongi. You’ll like him, I think.” He picked up a random sticky note, looking amused. “Last guy didn’t clean out very well, sorry.”

“Shouldn’t a janitor have made it in here since?”

He paused. “Oh. Yes.”

“Which makes me wonder when the last time anything up here has been cleaned.” You ran a finger over the desk, nose wrinkling in disgust at the dust on your fingers.

Hoseok’s eyes widened. “Oh no. Oh no no no.”

“I need to wash my hands,” You said, feeling a little contaminated. “Bathrooms.”

“This way.”

The bathrooms on the top floor were actual bathrooms, as in, one toilet and sink per room instead of the public bathroom style. There were three of them, mostly the same size, but one also had a larger vanity area with drawers under it.

“Oh, sorry, didn’t mean to follow you in, but this bathroom is one that we usually keep locked, so if you want to keep makeup or other things in here, no one uses the third drawer over right now.” He tapped it. “You’ll be getting a key to it later today, so you can put it in later if you need to.”

You nodded, wrinkling your nose at the smell of the soap. “Oh, you’re kidding me. Piña colada soap?”

He chuckled, scratching his neck. “You can also bring in your own soap. Yoongi does. He just hasn’t replaced his yet.”

You shook your head. “Right.”

“If it helps, it’s only that during the summer.”

“What is it in winter? Eggnog?”

He shook his head. “Cinnamon rolls.”

“Are you all trying to psychologically torture yourselves?” You asked, drying your hands. “Piña coladas when you have to work, cinnamon rolls to make yourself hungry….”

Hoseok shrugged.

You sighed. “Alright. Where to now?”

“Morning meeting.” He waved for you to follow him, and led the way down to a conference room. “Jimin and Tae bring coffee and pastries and we go over our agendas and projects. Today that will include introducing you. I do have one thing to ask, and it might be inappropriate so if it is you can just hit me—“

“Or you could just not ask it.”

He hesitated, then nodded. “Right. Yeah.”

You helped straighten the chairs, seeing the frown on his face at how disheveled the room was. “So, what will I be doing today, besides accompanying you to fire the janitor.”

He cringed. “Well, tour the company. Stop by HR. Meet the security team. Talk to the janitorial staff and threaten firing them to improve their work ethic. Then if that doesn’t work, yes, you will be there to help me fire people.”

“Sounds good. I’ll be the bad guy. You keep your J-Hope persona.” You sighed. “Really? No one caught onto you being the CEO with the name J-Hope?”

He just grinned again. “Best disguise is right under your nose.”

“The best disguise is an effective one that actually exists.”

“I’m glad I met you,” He responded with a light laugh.

“I’ve been criticizing you since I arrived.” You actually felt guilty about that, but only slightly. You weren’t about to lose sleep over it.

He just smiled. “You’ve been honest. I…I really missed honesty.”

“Your inner circle aren’t honest?”

“They are…but they’re…it’s different. Sometimes you need to shake things up. I think we all need shaking up.”

You frowned. “Okay. Level with me: what happened?”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“What happened to make you think that things need to be shaken up?”

His face relaxed, eyes seeming to glaze as they shifted to the meeting table. “I…uh, I lost someone I cared about. You know that cruise ship disaster?”

You nodded. “HopeWorld donated a whole lot of money to cover the bills of those injured, and help cover funeral bills for others. Some people wondered if you guys had some sort of stock in the cruise ship or had been involved in the explosion, but you were just being kind. Plus by helping them out financially they could stand up to the cruise company.”

He shrugged, but also nodded. “And I needed a reason to be there. Looking.”

“Girlfriend or boyfriend?”

He choked out a laugh. “Yeah. And my sister and her husband. And my parents. I was supposed to join them at a different port.”

You felt like you’d been sucker-punched. “Oh my God.”

“Didn’t lose all of them. My dad is still in the hospital, Mom is home but she visits him everyday.” He rubbed his neck. “My sister's husband went back to work just a week ago, and he’s not having an easy time of it, but he’s pushing on. My sister hasn’t woken up yet, but we’re still hopeful. I hope she wakes up soon. She’s the other person I always relied on to be honest with me.”

You slowly nodded. “And your…significant other?”

“Idiot died. One of the lifeboats got stuck on release. Climbed out and cut the rope. Snapped back.” He shrugged again.

“Could have been worse,” You murmured, clenching a fist. You knew that description. You gave that description.

“Ok, this is one time when maybe you shouldn’t be honest.” He rubbed his forehead.

“Hey, my step-dad died because he thought he could swallow a golf ball and decided to try when no one was home. My younger brother tail-gated a semi. My father died from a sliver after saving eight school-age children.” You shrugged. “There are all sorts of ways to go out of this world. Doing the right thing…the heroic thing, that counts for a lot in my book. But there is such a thing as stupidly heroic.”

He stared at you wide-eyed. “A…golf ball?”

You shrugged. “I believe I implied that he wasn’t intelligent.”

Hoseok snorted and then started laughing. “I-I’m sorry!”

You smiled. “Good. Your brain trust will be here soon.”

“Did he…did he really…?”

“It was a little more complicated, and there was booze involved, but essentially, yes.”

“That’s terrible.”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t sound so heartbroken.”

You shrugged. “Life goes on.”

“What does it go on from?” A new voice asked.

You turned to see one of the boys from the pool yesterday.

He looked you up and down, and offered a slight smile and his hand. “Hey. You must be the waitress that Hobi got so excited about hiring yesterday. I’m Taehyung, or, as the media knows me, V.”

You shook his hand. “Y/n. Nice to meet you.”

“Do you like Pina Coladas?” Taehyung asked, setting the box of what you assumed were pastries on the table.

“No.”

He froze a bit. “Really?”

“Really.”

“But...why? Wait...oh no...you don’t like them?” He stared at the box of pastries.

You looked at the box. “Let me guess, non-alcoholic pina colada donuts.”

“We don’t normally get them, I just saw them and I thought it’d be fun….” He looked completely dejected. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. I ate breakfast anyway. I had an omelet, and I have a chocolate muffin in my packed lunch in my office. So, if you would like, I can get that and you can pretend you got it specially for me because I got it from the same shop.”

He gasped. “Their chocolate muffins are amazing.”

“Do you want me to pretend?”

He considered it a moment.

“He doesn’t want everyone to be eating and not you,” Hoseok chuckled. “He’s sweet like that.”

You nodded. “Did the door to my office get locked?”

Hoseok shook his head. “I left it open so that you could get in and out without your keys, and so we could send a janitor in after the meeting. Maybe put your things in our breakroom for now.”

You nodded sharply.

“I’ll get it, if that’s okay with you?” Taehyung said.

You shrugged. “Whatever floats your boat.”

He bounced a bit as he raced out.

“Good job, offering to lie on your first day.” Hoseok looked amused.

“He looked like a kicked puppy. I’m honest, not abusive and heartless. Besides, it’s more to make him feel good. Most people would figure it out, right away.”

Hoseok nodded. “I guess so.”

“It doesn’t breach my not-yet-existing contract to lie, does it?”

He shook his head. “No. It doesn’t.”

Both of you fell quiet as Taehyung came back and slipped the muffin into the box of donuts (carefully).

Then several men arrived at about the same time.

“Hi, y/n! I’m Jimin, and I wasn’t sure what you liked so I got you a chocolate crème frappuccino. Is that okay?”

You nodded, smiling. “Sounds good. Thank you.” You took the cup and studied where they were sitting before taking a seat yourself--at the left hand of Hoseok--when he indicated for you to sit there.

“For the future, what do you normally drink?”

“This,” You answered, smiling. “I try to limit my caffeine intake.”

“Great, I’ll add it to my list and we can discuss alternatives later.” Jimin opened the donut box. “Tae, what have you done?”

“Pina colada donuts,” Tae answered, grinning. “And a muffin for y/n.”

Half of the boys had already grabbed a donut, or were in the process of doing so, but all seemed to freeze a bit.

“Why a muffin for y/n?”

“I don’t like coconut,” You answered, shrugging.

“Wait...at all?” One of them asked, eyes wide.

You sighed. “Nope. That is possible, you know. Just like I’m sure the odds are in my favor that at least one of you doesn’t like seafood. One of you probably doesn’t like coffee, one of you probably doesn’t like tea, and a few of you probably don’t like mint ice-cream.”

They all seemed to be surprised and yet also guilty.

“Well….”

One huffed. “Why did you hire her again? She doesn’t even like pina coladas.”

“Not everyone does,” Hoseok replied easily. “Shall we start our morning download?”

You studied the others as they dug into their donuts, wondering where the odd obsession with pina coladas came from--not for the first time. But they weren’t the only people you’d ever met with the obsession, and you doubted they would be the last.

“Besides, it can’t hurt us to look at things other than pina coladas.”

“Please,” One of them grumbled. “I don’t want to get sick of them.”

“Fine. Then let me ask this,” the huffy one asked. “Y/n, what is your beverage of choice?”

You met his gaze evenly, calculating all of the answers he could expect and all of the answers you could give him. But one stuck out as particularly perturbing for someone like him and a situation like this.

You leaned forward, smiled slightly, and answered, “Water.”

His eyes widened and he spluttered. “Water?”

“Water,” You confirmed cheerfully. “If I have to choose anything, I choose water.”

“Great, you can be the designated driver,” Taehyung joked, amusement sparkling in his eyes.

Huffy sat down, looking like he lost five years off of his life. “No way can we do a water theme….”

“If we could get back to what we’re being paid to be here for, that’d be great,” You said, in a tone that was too sweet to be honest.

Hoseok chuckled a little. “Right. Y/n is here to keep things...possible and practical. Her job is to be bluntly and brutally honest about things. After she gets a feel for this place, I’m sure she’ll feel more comfortable giving us all a piece of her mind. She’ll be shadowing me as J-Hope, and I’m not going to announce her job title for a while.”

“Because you don’t know what to call my job?”

“Pretty much. Anyway, as you guys know, we’re...running a little thin right now, and that’s on me. We’re going to be tightening up the ship, and making sure we’re running properly. Jimin, I need finances from across the company. Tae, I need all of the reports from HR. Jin and Jungkook, I want a list and summary of all of the projects we’re working on right now. Yoongi and Namjoon: keep working on that one project. Anything I need to know right now?”

“We have that event tomorrow, with the food trucks, and we need to decide on the judges.”

“Okay, so, we let everyone who wants to judge put their name on a list, then we’ll draw names from a hat. Jimin’s on the judgement panel as well.”

“I am?”

“You’ll eat anything, the rest of us are too picky. And Jungkook will be filming.” Hoseok made a couple of notes. “I have to talk to our janitorial staff, and y/n will be with me. They haven’t been cleaning up here like they’re supposed to. Y/n’s office was disgusting, and this room was a mess.”

“Uh oh. Firing anyone?”

“He wants to see if talking to them will fix the issue first,” You said dryly. “Which, in my experience, is a waste of time. There’s always someone dragging their feet and I bet if we looked through the HR reports, or even sent me in under cover for a few hours, we’d be able to pinpoint the weak link and remove it from the chain.”

“She’s got a point. I could take her down and tell them she’s doing some work in each department. We’ve done that before, for people who were actually working for one of the departments.” Jimin clicked his pen a couple of times.

Hoseok considered it a moment while he worked on a bite of his donut, then nodded. “Alright. Then we’ll do that. You might need different clothing. If it takes more than a couple of hours, don’t worry about it. If this works, we’ll put you in different departments as though you were experiencing everything. Because I think we need a spy in the HR department as well. Plus anything you find about employee welfare and happiness, that’s always a good thing. We’ll say you’re one of Jimin’s random hires. Get it done.”

Jimin nodded, then checked you over. “They’ll give her a uniform, so we don’t need to worry about her clothing. Maybe just fix your hair so that you look more like ‘random girl’ instead of  ‘sophisticated lady’.”

“Did you just call me a lady?”

“Have you seen yourself?” Jimin shrugged.

“Anyway, finish things here, then y/n dress down and we’ll discuss your work later today. You’ll eat lunch with us, Jimin, make sure to mention that.” Hoseok wrote a couple more things down. “I’ll be in my office, reviewing things. I’ll let you know at lunch what the real plan is. We’re gonna change things.”

“Okay,” Huffy said firmly. “That’s that then. Donuts done, coffee drunk, work to do. Off we go. The sooner we work, the sooner we finish, the sooner we can get a drink.”

That seemed to be the signal for everyone to get up and get moving.

You followed Jimin out, letting him lead you to the bathroom. “Sophisticated lady?”

“Make your hair more casual, maybe remove some of your makeup. And lose the jacket.”

You sighed and did as you were told as he disappeared for a moment, returning with a different shirt and a sweater.

“Try these.”

You looked at them, a little concerned.

“They’re clean, trust me. And they’re more casual than what you’re wearing.”

You waved him out of the room again, changing into the new shirt and sweater, a little disturbed at how well they fit. “Where did you get these?” You asked, opening the door again.

“Someone left them behind. Can’t remember when, can’t remember who, just remember they didn’t work here.” He checked his own hair while you switched your hair from a bun to a nice-looking pony-tail. “Can’t even remember why her shirt and sweater were left behind. Think she borrowed one of mine?”

You stared at him. “Did you sleep with this girl?”

He turned back to you with a half-smile. “No. I was drunk, but no. My boyfriend at that time wouldn’t have been too thrilled.”

“Do you have baggage about said boyfriend as your friend does about the significant other that he lost?” You asked, studying the impish man in front of you.

Jimin’s smile died a bit. “Told you about that, did he?”

“More or less. Focused more on the ones that survived rather than the one that died. So, baggage: yes or no?”

Jimin came and stood right in front of you, then moved closer, reaching and closing the bathroom door, locking it.

You clenched a fist, just in case.

“Baggage...yes. Same ship. All of us, the whole board, everyone in there. My boyfriend...we were at the point of breaking up anyway, so I feel guilty about that, because he wouldn’t have been there if I had. Hoseok was going to propose. Namjoon’s childhood friend. Yoongi’s girlfriend was paralyzed, and her brain...she only recognizes her family and she’s...not doing well. Two of Taehyung’s friends. Jungkook’s brother. Seokjin’s whole family, except his nephew. He jokes about drinking, but he really just wants to get to the daycare at a decent time. If he knows he has to stay late, he has a babysitter that brings his nephew here. Hoseok feels a lot of responsibility because he was the one who suggested we have a board retreat and invite family and friends. Seokjin, Taehyung, Namjoon, and Jungkook were all there when it happened. Myself, Yoongi, and Hoseok were delayed because of an emergency on a project we were heading up.”

You nodded slowly. “Got it. So, this company is being run by seven people who have undergone a whole lot of trauma and grief in the past six months. That doesn’t sound at all like a recipe for disaster.” Eight, a little voice whispered, eight if you’re included.

Jimin nodded a bit. “Right. What did you lose in that accident?”

You held his gaze steadily. “The will to please others with false actions and honeyed words.”

Jimin’s head tilted slightly and his eyes narrowed just a bit.

“My older brother worked on that ship, one of the engineers. He’d been filing reports like a good little worker bee about some of the issues they were seeing, but the reports were being ignored. He was threatened, and told to keep quiet if he wanted to keep his job. He told me, I told him to fight, to make sure no one got on that damn ship.”

“But he didn’t,” Jimin whispered, gaze shifting away from you.

“But I gave the people suing that company everything they needed to win their case, especially with HopeWorld providing the financial means for everyone to fight. It was serious neglect on their part, but even I was too pliant to do anything about it. So I’m done. I’m done trying to please others and put up with their crap and if you don’t unlock that door, I’m sorry, but I might punch you.”

He unlocked it. “Right. Sorry.”

“I’ve been dealing with too many thugs from the cruise company. That’s why I was job hunting. That’s why I got that job at the bar. It was a favor that a friend called in from the owner, but they both thought I was a bad fit. I was just desperate. And then Hoseok came in drunk on one glass of wine and complaining about a virgin pina colada.”

“That’s why he wouldn’t stop talking about virgins,” Jimin muttered. “He kept saying something about virgins being confident, and that he wished he was that confident, and that he was joking about not ordering virgins and it was all weird.”

“He should not be allowed to drink.”

“Well, normally he’s a sober and sleepy drunk, so, yesterday was a bit of an outlier. Happiest I’d seen him in a while, though. Especially after he met you.” He was studying you again.

“If you have something to say, then say it. I told you, I’m not waiting around for BS.”

“You’re not like the person he lost, I can tell that right away. But you’re the first person he’s shown...interest in. I guess I’m just curious about what he saw that intrigued him so much.”

“My winning personality and barbed words,” You answered, then grabbed your wallet from your purse and tucked it into your pocket, shoving the purse into the empty drawer that Hoseok had pointed out earlier. “What was the person he lost like?”

“Soft, a little...out-there, artistic, wild dreamer, adventurous, spontaneous,” Jimin listed, then shrugged. “Different.”

You paused to look at Jimin again. “When you said he’s taken an interest in me, did you mean….”

“Possibly romantically. Not definite, but there’s always a few different paths interest in other people can take us, isn’t there. If you’re anything like I’m assuming you are, you’d actually be a good match for him.” Jimin walked out. “Now, come on. We’ve got work to do.”

-----

-----

You were undercover in HopeWorld for a week before you finally were able to return and start moving into your office--having turned in a twenty-page report on your findings while working undercover.

And it was spotlessly clean this time, and there was a computer there. It was even sporting a nice, new plant in the one corner with a card that read it was from all of the other board members.

The winky-face said that Taehyung had been in charge of delivering it and writing the note.

So you set to unpacking the small box of office supplies that you were bringing in.

You were getting a corkboard and a whiteboard later, plus two more chairs so that anyone else in your office could sit down (or you could switch seats through the day if you needed to), and you definitely planned on bringing some more plants here since it got more sunlight than your tiny flat did.

So you unpacked a couple of empty binders, sheafs of paper, a few notebooks, your new pens and pencils, and your pen and pencil holders. You set a photo-frame on your desk. You pulled out a bottle of lotion and put it in one of your desk drawers.

And that’s where you found the photo of Hoseok with the person that had to be his lover.

“Of course,” You murmured, sighing, then you set the photo aside to return to him at your meeting later.

In the past week, you’d gotten a pretty good read on most of the boys, even Yoongi.

But Seokjin was distant, and kept you distant. He didn’t stick around on the days you were in what was technically his department, instead finding an excuse to be elsewhere.

Taehyung and Jimin had both shrugged when you told them that Seokjin was avoiding you.

“Don’t see why he would,” Jimin said, and you knew he was being honest.

It was fine. The boys weren’t your job anyway. Your job was to look at things practically, find problems or potential problems, and present them to people who could fix them. Your job was to question everything so that every eventuality is considered and the best product of the workers' time is produced.

“That’s not a very big box for such a big office.”

You jumped and dropped the stapler, but jumped back so that it wouldn’t staple you on accident (something that had, unfortunately, happened before). “You trying to give me a heart attack?”

Seokjin shrugged, strolling in casually and picking it up. “Not my intention.”

“Then what is your intention?” You asked, wondering what could have brought the illusive man to your office before the morning meeting. According to the others, and your own experiences, he was always just barely on time for the meeting.

He just looked at you carefully. “Can I ask you a question, and get an honest answer?”

“Fire away,” You replied, lifting an eyebrow curiously.

He moved closer so he was looking you in the eye. “Why did you take this job?”

You frowned a bit, stepping back and trying to figure out why he was asking that. But also, how to answer.

“Please answer honestly.”

“Jimin told you about my brother, the cruise ship?”

“Yes. He told all of us, Hoseok too. Hoseok had his suspicions. I don’t think they know that you were on the ship as well.”

You huffed out a laugh and leaned against your desk. “Good. I don’t need any of that nonsense.”

He nodded. “You were answering my question.”

You took a deep breath and then released it, looking at the ceiling. “Desperation. Have to pay the rent. And he seemed...optimistic.” There was something appealing to that optimism. Something familiar and comfortable. Refreshing.

“What did he tell you your job was going to be?”

“Dealing with trash that tried to get near him.”

“What’s on your resume?”

“Nothing to make me qualify for this office. And if you think I’m here because I’m taking advantage of his kindness...I can’t say that you’re wrong, but I’m also just curious about what he intends for me. Don’t think that I enjoy saying that someone is dead weight. They’re people, and they need to make a living somehow, but they need to make that living honestly. THere are people who want jobs, who need jobs, who are actually willing to put in the work.”

“So, going undercover…?”

“It was a solution that would alleviate the feelings of guilt that our boss might have felt if we hadn’t fully investigated and ended up firing someone. Besides, he strikes me as a bit of a neat freak, so I figure the janitorial staff should be top-notch. I did hear a rumor that J-Hope had liberated a cleaning cart and taken it to the top floor, though.”

Jin sighed, shaking his head. “He really hasn’t trusted the cleaning staff since your first day.”

“Lovely. Did he clean this office?”

“Gotta admire his work ethic.”

You shook your head. “So, I’m not the only person who’s almost completely in the dark about what my job actually is, am I?”

“I think he keeps rethinking what he wants for you.”

“And you’ve been avoiding me because…?”

He shrugged a bit. “I haven’t. It’s been a bad week for my nephew. I’ve been in and out of the office all week. Plus I’ve been working with Hobi.”

You both jumped as someone banged on your office door.

Hoseok threw it open with a grin, then halted, surprised. “Oh, hyung.”

“Hey, Hoseok-y. Y/n and I were just talking. I’ll leave you two to discuss y/n’s job. Because I think we’re all confused about it.” Seokjin took one of your paperclips and left.

Hoseok looked after him in confusion. “Did he ask if he could take that paperclip?”

“Um, no, but it’s just a paperclip. You read the report?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Good work on that. Sorry you were thrown into it so soon after starting.”

“You mean my first day.”

He chuckled. “Yeah. Your first day. So, I’ve figured out what your story is going to be.”

“My story?”

“Whenever a higher-up is brought in, they’re presented to the company. There are already rumors about a higher-up being brought into Mr. Jung’s board, and it’s extremely unorthodox for us to not present you within the first two weeks. So, we’ve got a couple days leeway to get you settled into your actual job.”

“I’m pretty sure that was part of my actual job.”

“Right. Anyway, I thought we might tell people that you’re the eyes and ears of Mr. Jung, and that one of your jobs is ensuring that we are at top potential.”

“Ok.”

“Which is basically what we already said, but I want to make it clear that you are in direct communication with HR and all reports go to you at the end of the day. I’m just having trouble coming up with your title.”

“Quality manager?”

He paused. “Ok, you’re really good. How have you not worked in a job like this before?”

“Hard times, big sacrifices. So, if I’m understanding things correctly, you want me to look through the reports on behaviors and such and make sure they’re looked into and that we’re paying attention, but also you want me to check in on projects and make sure we’re asking all the right questions.”

“Exactly. Quality manager is an excellent way of describing that job. But also, your job is to keep people from trying to see Mr. Jung. Mr. Jung has enough on his plate.”

You nodded. “I can do that. Shall we practice? I read through the notes on that memory core device.”

He grinned. “Sounds great. But first, the morning meeting.”

You nodded. “Thank you for cleaning my office, by the way.”

He just smiled back. “I can’t stand messes.”

“I gathered. You’ve got a pretty big one downstairs, though.”

“Yeah, I’m kind of dreading firing people though.”

“Then let me handle it. You can be there as a known authoritative figure and I’ll do the talking.”

“They might get mad at you for spying.”

“Then I trust you to handle their subsequent anger appropriately. I’ll try to keep things professional.”

“Thanks.”

“For?”

“Even offering to do any of this. I wasn’t really ready to take on the boss position. But I can’t sit by while people abuse their place in this company. I have to deal with the messes. My family didn’t build this legacy for me to let it fall apart.” His gaze was darker, but held determination to continue forward. A sternness to see things through.

The side of J-Hope that was the CEO of HopeWorld.

“I think once you get over the first trials you’ll be just fine.”

He looked at you in surprise. “You think?”

“I believe,” you amended. “I believe you are capable of being a great leader. I believe even though you are generous and compassionate, you will be able to handle the harder parts of this job for the good of the many employees who are doing their jobs to the best of their ability. Because that’s what it means when people are fired. The waste they accumulate is returned to the company and those that are still with it can benefit, or others who need the job take it and actually accomplish it. You’re improving efficiency, which makes the company prosper so you can do more for your employees.”

He slowly nodded. “That makes sense.”

You nodded. “Look at me: I could actually afford a new work outfit.”

He grinned, looking you over. “And it’s a great outfit.”

Okay. You hadn’t expected that.

“Are you implying something inappropriate?”

“Never. I just think it’s a very appropriate look and that it is very good at accentuating your good looks. You’re very good at shopping.”

You weren’t. Not really. Taehyung and Jimin had tagged along and helped you shop because you weren’t sure what would be best for the job and position. You had picked the items out, but Jimin and Taehyung had helped you style them together and decide on them.

“Sounds inappropriate to me.”

He chuckled. “Can’t you just take the compliment? It’s early.”

“If you compliment me, people might think that you’re showing favoritism.”

“Let them,” He answered easily, shrugging and holding the door open for you.

“Are you drunk again? I told you, you really shouldn’t drink.” You folded your arms.

He just laughed. “In. We’re late.”

“If we are, it’s your fault,” You replied, walking in and waving to the other men.

“Yes, of course. I wouldn’t dream of blaming you. Morning, everyone.” Hoseok took his seat. “What’s the day look like?”

“Same as yesterday, except whatever you and y/n are up to. My project is almost ready to present, Seokjin’s coming to help me today.”

“I do have my nephew today, he’s having a bad day,” Seokjin said quietly, making notes.

“That’s fine,” Hoseok said firmly, Namjoon merely nodding. “People like seeing him, and we’ve always said that kids are welcome as long as they don’t disturb others.”

“And he can come to my office anytime,” Taehyung said with a fond grin.

Seokjin nodded. “I have a meeting with my division just before lunch?”

Taehyung grinned. “We can color!”

Jimin rolled his eyes. “Work, Taehyung. He can color, you can design.”

“Right. Right. That.”

“I need Yoongi-hyung’s help on the memory-core project.”

Hoseok looked mildly intrigued, glancing at you.

“I can head down after I check on my project. Might be an hour or so.” Yoongi checked his watch.

Hoseok nodded. “And we’ll be there in about two hours so that Y/n can look things over as my second set of eyes.”

Jungkook looked like a deer caught in the headlights. “O-oh, o-o-okay.”

The others looked mildly surprised, but quickly moved on.

“I’ll be on phone meetings to organize that event most of the morning. Our employees really enjoyed the food truck war, and it’s summer, so I think it’s best to try and have enjoyable events as frequently as possible during the weeks we can’t give them 3-day weekends.” Jimin twirled his pen as he spoke, looking over something on his planner.

“I’ll leave it in your hands, just don’t go over budget.” Hoseok jotted a few things down. “Okay. Y/n and I have to deal with some unsatisfactory employees, then we’ll be down to see how things are going with the memory core. Not sure about our afternoon, but I might leave that for her to settle in. How does that sound to you?”

“If ‘settle in’ means looking over reports, then that sounds fine.”

He nodded, flipping his book closed. “Alright. Then off we go.”

You got up and followed him out, and into the elevator.

“It’ll be best to go to them since it would draw a lot of attention to bring them up. We need the head of janitorial service with us as well, and I want to apprise her of what’s going to happen before we do it. You were smart to record the conversation, I’ll present that to Chiseul.”

Chiseul had been in charge of sanitation at the company for eight years, she was kind, but firm and had no patience for slacking. When you’d worked under her, even for a day, you could tell she expected the best. She had put who she thought were her best people in charge of cleaning the top floor, but instead they had been doing very basic cleaning and actually stealing from the company.

Her reaction to finding out was silent fury. “Are you sure you don’t want me to fire them?”

“We believe that it’s best for us to handle it, that way others will know that they can’t pull anything. I’m sorry we deceived you,” You said respectfully, because you did respect her. You’d put in your report that she should get a raise.

Hoseok nodded. “We will be implementing a system to keep people accountable soon.”

She accepted that with a sharp nod and then went to call those who would be fired into her office.

Hoseok groaned as soon as the elevator doors closed. “That could have gone better.”

------

You held the ice to your face and shrugged. “Could have gone worse. Security stepped in at the appropriate time. And I didn’t fight back, which means I can’t be charged with assault should they try anything like that. There were also multiple witnesses.”

“But you got hurt,” He argued, rubbing his face. “You got hurt.”

“So, I’ll have a black eye. I walk to work, so it’s not like I’ll be driving while mildly impaired. We got ice on it pretty quickly, and I don’t think it will end up being too bad of a black eye.”

“You got hurt,” He whispered.

“And I’m fine. Hoseok, we’re on our way to look over a major project in your company. Pull yourself together.” You reached over and straightened his collar. “It’s a bruise, not a fatal wound.”

He caught your wrist, holding you in place so he could move the ice pack with his other hand and see, the whole time his expression holding worry and what might have been nausea. “Why would they attack you? I was there too. Why would they only attack you?”

He wasn’t asking. He wasn’t listening.

“Betrayal,” You answered anyway, sighing a little and forcing the ice-pack back to your face.

“Uh, you two coming out of there or do you need another moment?” Yoongi asked, an eyebrow raised as he looked between you, not seeming to care that he’d startled both of you since you’d been too busy looking at one another to realize the elevator was open. But his gaze stuck on the ice pack. “Shit, they hit you?”

“Don’t you start too,” You groaned, exiting the elevator.

Hoseok stopped you, pulling you back so he could look at your eye again. “Hyung, look at her eye.”

Yoongi frowned a bit more, but complied. His eyes widened a bit. “Uh…infirmary.”

“Thought so.” Hoseok pulled you back into the elevator.

“Oh, come on,” You groaned.

Yoongi just shushed you. “Your eye looks bloody.”

“Oh.” Well, that was special. It didn’t especially hurt, but that might be because you were numbing the area.

But Hoseok ended up taking you to the hospital for evaluation.

As the two of you walked out of the hospital, you sighed for the fortieth time. “Told you I was fine.”

“That’s not what he said.”

“He said that I should be fine and to come back in if my eye gets worse or I start having other issues. It was probably her ring that got me.” You glanced at your watch. “Man, I’m not going to experience a regular workday, am I?”

His head dropped. “Sorry.”

“Not your fault. I’d probably get bored if it got too quiet. And feeling sorry doesn’t do any good. You didn’t hurt me, so you’re wasting energy by being sorry.”

“I know, but I got you into this job—“

“Are you thirsty?” You asked, stopping.

“What?”

“Are you thirsty?” You asked slowly.

“Um, I guess?”

You nodded and pulled him into the restaurant, dragging him to the bar.

“I don’t think you should have alcohol—“

“Hi, can I get a water with lemon and a Piña colada?” You asked the bartender, ignoring Hoseok. You had no intention of drinking, but Hoseok was so tense it was making you tense.

He stared at the piña colada. “What?”

“Drink. You’re driving me crazy. You need to relax and I doubt you’re going to do it on your own. I’ll make sure you don’t end up in a back alley.” You patted his hand.

“So…if you could drink, what would it be?” He asked.

“Probably a gimlet, with extra lime. But like I said, my preferred drink is water. I like to keep my head clear. There’s less golf-ball swallowing.”

He snorted and choked on his second sip of his drink.

You patted his back as he tried to recover from choking, and he was laughing in between coughing which wasn’t helping at all.

The bartender was looking concerned.

“His wife left him for his sister and his brother in law confessed his love to him, it’s a royal mess,” you told him, rolling your eyes.

Hoseok died a little more. “Stop,” He gasped, finally just laughing.

“It’s not my fault he thinks your butt is cute.”

He collapsed off of the stool, thudding to the ground and laughing harder.

“Man, two sips and you’re already drunk. You better not ask me if I like that nastiness again.”

He got up with your help, starting to calm down. “I won’t ask that.”

“Good. But seriously, I’m cutting you off. You’re too much of a lightweight.” You settled the bill with some extra for the bartender, then guided him toward the door.

But both of you stopped at the door.

“It’s raining?” Hoseok asked, still a little breathless.

“It would appear so.” You looked up at the sky.

“Do you like getting caught in the rain?” He asked quietly, holding out his hand.

You laughed softly, taking his hand. “I actually really do.”

“Really?” He smiled as he laced his fingers with yours.

“Really,” You confirmed, looking out at the rain with a little excitement.

“You might ruin your clothing.”

“Clothing washes, as do I.” You tugged and pulled him out into the rain, giggling as the rain started soaking into you.

He laughed as well, looking less comfortable in the rain, but like he was willing to let you lead him through it.

No.

Like he would follow you into anything.

“Why did you offer me the job?” You asked.

He met your gaze with surprise.

“Why me?”

He smiled at you, stepping closer so he could be heard. “I couldn’t say goodbye.”

You tilted your head.

“I couldn’t say goodbye to you, not at that time, and I don’t know why, but I’m trying to figure it out.”

You could work with that.

Hoseok touched your cheek, then moved in.

You knew your eyes were a little wide.

He gave a slight smile and then leaned in to kiss you.

You allowed it, and you didn’t regret it as his lips met yours. It was…new. Different. Right.

Except for one tiny detail.

You pushed him away gently. “Okay. But you need a new go-to drink because I forgot to mention I’m actually allergic to coconut, so, I’m gonna take some allergy meds now.”

His eyes widened. “I like mimosas and daiquiri.”

You nodded, swallowing an allergy pill. “Great. We won’t kill me, then.”

“How allergic are you?”

You shrugged. “I should be fine now.”

“Okay.”

“So, if you want to kiss me, we can do that again.”

He met your gaze, smiling. “That sounds like a bad idea.”

You rolled your eyes, then pulled him in. “Kiss me.”

He grinned. “Man, I love your honesty.”

And in the rain, you kissed your piña colada man, ignoring what might happen in your future.

“Might not be a permanent job, my judgement might be clouded. I might show favoritism.”

“Then call me a consultant pending permanent employment and depending where this takes us we’ll…let the others decide my fate.”

“Works for me. Let me walk you home. Where do you live?”

You gestured vaguely. “That way. About fifteen minutes from your building. Work. Place.”

“When you said you were a virgin—”

“I never said I was a—walk. We’re getting soaked standing here like idiots and I hear thunder.” You started walking, keeping hold of his hand. “That or I start reevaluating what parts you really need.”

He laughed. “You know what’s funny?”

“No.”

“When you’re actually being honest, your hands relax, and when you’re bluffing, they get all tense.”

Huh.

“What is your biggest concern with the memory core?”

You considered it for a moment. “It could just be a matter of wording.”

“That’s still important.”

“The proposal suggests imprinting all of the memories of the player onto the memory core so that full immersion is more stimulating.”

“Right.”

“But it’s wording makes it sound like the game is replacing their memories. Imagine someone overwrites the data: what happens when the player tries to re-immerse themselves?”

He was quiet for a while. “That…could be….”

“Disastrous. This machine is supposed to work with your brain, but corrupted files could shut the brain down or damage it. It is incredibly dangerous if I’m understanding it correctly.”

“It could hurt people. We have to tick every box. And come up with fail safes.”

“To me, it’s not worth the risk. But that’s why I wanted to talk to them, to make sure I was understanding things.” You gestured to a building. “This is me.”

He nodded, only following when you tugged on his hand. “Are you sure you want me—”

“We’re soaked and the wind is picking up, and—” lightning flashed through the sky, “the storm is getting worse. We’ll call you a cab or something.”

“Right. Inside. Good idea.”

You ditched your shoes the moment you got in, rushing to the bathroom to grab towels so the two of you didn’t drip all over everything. “It’s a bit hot in here, sorry, my AC broke.”

“Just means we’re not going to get chilled,” He answered, taking the towel and looking around. “It’s nice.”

You glanced around as well. You’d opted for minimalism since that was the only way to make the place not feel claustrophobic. “It does the job.”

“So, you’re allergic to coconut?”

“Mostly the consumption, but I do have mild reactions externally as well.”

“How’d you find out?”

“Coconut hair treatment with my friend when I was fifteen. They had to cut my hair off because my scalp blistered and broke out and it was…traumatizing. But that was because it was coconut oil right against my skin for over an hour, undiluted. My daily allergy meds help if I happen to use, I don’t know, soap with coconut in it.” You put the kettle on the stove since you were feeling kind of chilled. “Tea?”

“Sure.” He started examining the photos on your wall (all three of them). “So, if I hadn’t been the last straw for that job, where do you think you’d be right now?”

“Dumping a scotch-neat on my boss’s head, if not down his pants, after quitting and looking for a job with less drunk people. My boss was drunk, my coworkers were drunk, everyone was drunk, except me. Do you know how surreal that feels?”

“And yet you accepted a job from me, someone who was drunk?”

“So you admit it,” You pointed out.

He rubbed his neck. “I usually only drink in the evenings, it generally makes me sleepy.”

“You had caffeine with your alcohol, then.”

“Accidentally.”

“That would explain the whole ‘why is the rum always gone’ debacle.”

He was very red looking in profile, but that could have been the lighting. “Yeah. I was embarrassed as I did it and yet I didn’t stop. Stupid.”

“If I hadn’t been having a terrible night, I probably would have enjoyed the reference, honestly. But, as you put it, you were the last straw. I would probably be applying to fast food right about now if it hadn’t been you.” You watched him studying your photos far longer than they were worth studying. “Are my photos that interesting?”

“These three were the ones you consciously decided to display, which means they mean something to you.”

You thought about that for a moment, thinking about all of the photos of families that the people you’d worked under while spying had shown you. Always the kids, always the wife, always the beloved pet.

But Hoseok had no photos in his office.

“You don’t keep any photos visible in your office, and office photos are, arguably, the ones that provide the most insight into people,” You countered, sitting on the floor with the tray of tea on the coffee table.

He joined you on the floor. “It’s a precaution. I keep the photos in J-Hope’s desk, the locked drawer. I’m surprised you noticed, though.”

“I wouldn’t have, but people kept shoving their photos in my face and if they weren’t, then I was redirecting their attention to their photos so I would get away with my snooping. People like to talk about themselves.”

He was watching you, a soft smile on his face. “You really are something else.”

You shrugged. “Don’t know what to tell you there.”

“We could hide it, you know. Us, whatever we are?”

“Professional flirtation,” You guessed, holding the mug and surprised at how cold your fingers had been. “Workday dalliance?”

“Wow, um, anyway, we could just not tell anyone about us.”

“9 to 5 lovers,” You quipped, trying to come up with more.

“Are you purposefully ignoring me?”

“Ye-es,” You dragged out, trying to think of another thing to call it.

“You don’t think we could?”

“I think the boys would figure it out before the morning meeting ended.”

“Oh, right, I didn’t mean from the boys.”

“Oh, ok, please continue.” You leaned on your hand and watched him.

“We stay away from anything unprofessional at work, with the exception of in private, and we make sure no one catches on. Then, when I officially take my position...we reevaluate where we are and adjust accordingly.”

“Officially take your position?”

“Technically, I’m not yet the CEO, my father is, but I’ve been acting CEO for about three years.”

He didn’t add that they had been the most prosperous three years of the company’s history, but maybe he was trying to stay humble.

“So, once he’s better and we finish a few things, he’ll hand over things to me officially. In front of the company.”

“Revealing that J-Hope is actually his son and everyone’s boss.”

He nodded. “Which would also be revealing that you have been working for me.”

“All of which could be potentially disastrous.”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “I bet you’d say I should have been open about it the whole time.”

“Not at all. I think this was the best course of action. Everyone respects J-Hope, they like him. They like his work ethic, they like how he listens, and they like how he cares. They like how bright and cheerful he is. They don’t know if they can trust their CEO, but they know that the board has been taking care of them and the CEO has been allowing it. They’re curious, and a little apprehensive.” You remembered all of the conversations you’d had over the week.

But one stuck out to you.

You’d been getting coffee with one of the employees in the marketing department, discussing the company and it’s leadership.

“I don’t know about the CEO. Or, well,” She flustered for a second. “I don’t know why he feels the need to hide from us. His father never did, but maybe there’s a plan. Every now and then, they have someone who sort of...scopes things out. They had me in project development for a couple of weeks so that I could tell them what I thought of the person that was testing the projects. That person was Mr. Jeon.”

You’d tilted your head, confused.

“Jeon Jungkook, he’s one of the board members, the youngest board member. He’s really good at catching on, which makes him a prime test subject for things that are about to be released. We can’t bring people in, not often, because information tends to get leaked. He’s been a godsend to the company. Mr. Jung found him, too, he’s found just about every top employee, and all of the board members--except J-Hope. He worked his way up through the company, and then impressed Mr. Jung Sr. and was given a job on the board. He looks after employee welfare and we’ve had an amazing increase in our benefits program ever since. It’s a shame Mr. Jung Jr. didn’t start out like J-Hope.”

“What’s that look for?”

You jumped a bit, refocusing on him. “All of the things that J-Hope has done are your accomplishments. You’ve improved the benefits program, upgraded the retirement package, made sure that everyone has received pay increases, and you worked your way up through the company. Your intellect lies in people, and your devotion to your job as their employer has inspired loyalty to you. I’m not saying you should go out tomorrow and reveal that you’re Mr. Jung Jr.”

“Do they really call me that?” He cringed.

“But you shouldn’t fear...telling them who you are. Yes, it could cause problems, but only momentarily. Until then, you want me to help you deal with trash and question everything so that the ship is running tightly when the official transfer happens. Right?” You asked, sitting up straight. “That way if anything happens with stocks, or the market, the company is running smoothly and will stay afloat.”

“You have a business degree, don’t you?”

“I never graduated,” You corrected easily. “But I did study some business, yes. This is what you want from me, correct?”

“Yes. I need you to tell me to suck it up when I hesitate.”

“Okay. Did you read my report on the other departments?”

He nodded slowly.

“Then I suggest you decide what should be done to those employees, and what you’re actually willing to do. Because I outlined my suggestions for each of them, but ultimately, it is up to you. You want to run a tight ship, you need to get rid of excess crew, which sounds terrible, but it’s true. If they’re not doing their job, they have no reason to be on deck. And some of them were on the wrong decks.”

He nodded. “I’ll review it once more, but we’ll probably go with your suggested actions.”

“Okay. Glad we understand each other.” You grabbed your phone, checking it. “Taehyung wants to know if I’m alive, and if I’m alive, is Hoseok alive as well.”

“Crap,” He went into his pocket. “Oh. They just wanted to go drinking. Taehyung is our usual designated driver. He’s not a big drinker like Jungkook and Jimin. I’m going to ask him to swing by and pick me up. If that’s okay.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t know how you felt about where you lived. You’re kind of hard to read.”

“I live here, I pay the rent, it’s small, but it’s mine. Or were you referring more to a bunch of men knowing where I, a single woman, lived?”

“The latter.”

“Ah, sweet of you to be concerned, but Jimin’s already seen my place.”

“He has?” Hoseok frowned.

“He dropped me off after we went shopping. None of the stores had bathrooms. Nature called.” You shrugged.

“I don’t like that,” Hoseok muttered, obviously more to himself.

“You don’t like that he had to use the bathroom? Or that we went shopping together? Because, technically, he was the only board member I was allowed to be seen with as one of his employment experiments.” You pointed out, waiting for him to pull himself together and continue texting Taehyung. “Also, you might want to text him before it’s too late.”

“That he saw your house.”

“Interesting. Text Taehyung,” You instructed carefully. “Before you have to pay for a cab.”

He did, but he was frowning the whole time.

You rolled your eyes. “Jimin was here for all of five minutes. I doubt he could even tell you what color the walls in the bathroom are.”

“Color,” He muttered, getting up and heading to the small hall.

“Um….”

“Purple. Walls are purple. Take that.”

“Oh my god, there is no way you’re even buzzed, why are you acting weird?”

“Purple. Blue. White. Three pictures.”

You rolled your eyes, and shook your head. “Weirdo. I mean, I knew that, only weird people like pina coladas--”

He caught you and kissed you again. “Don’t let Jimin in. He’s a minx. He’s a fox. That magic trickster fox that seduces you. A succubus.”

“Incubus,” you corrected. “Which is a sort of demon. Magical fox thing is a kitsune. You’re mixing your mythologies.”

“You’re so smart,” He said, but he said it in a sort of happy, sighing way while looking at you so softly and gently and adoringly….

You believed him.

He touched your cheek, then quickly pulled his hands away. “Alright. How about a rule?”

“Depends on the rule,” You replied.

“You have good judgement, and self control,” His gaze shifted to your eye, and his fingers brushed the edge of the bruising with a feather-light touch, “So, I want there to be a rule that at work, any...personal things between us are initiated by you. Which means you can shut me down at any time, anyway you feel necessary.”

“You mean, like asking you about your ex?”

“Ouch,” He muttered, looking down. “Yeah. Sure. What do you want to know?”

“Am I replacing your ex?”

He shook his head. “Not even remotely.”

“I’m in their office.”

He looked up, then shook his head. “No, you’re in my mom’s old office. Yesuel never worked at HopeWorld. Too much of a free-spirit.”

“But you loved them all the same.”

“I did. I thought I did. Love is...tricky.”

“Are you ready for another significant other?” You asked.

He met your gaze, holding it. “Do you like getting lost in the rain?”

You smiled. “You know I do.”

“Then you know I am,” He replied easily, fingers resting under your chin. “Are you going to be okay, with your eye like that? They did say it could get worse, and if it does….”

“Are you asking if you can stay? Because you’d have to borrow clothing, or live in a blanket until your clothing is dry. I don’t have much that would fit you.”

“I’m worried about you. I’ll stay on the couch.” He touched a strand of your still-damp hair. “Eye injuries are dangerous.”

“Didn’t you already tell Taehyung to come pick you up?”

He shook his head. “I was just going to walk down to work and get my car and pretend that Taehyung picked me up.”

You hit him lightly. “And if you got struck by lightning?”

“My company would be in good hands,” He answered, shrugging slightly. “But I would miss out on a few things. But you can get hit by lightning and live.”

“Not well,” You argued, frowning.

He gently ran a thumb over your eyebrow, as though to ease away your frown. “Besides, I was already struck by you. I don’t think anything could knock me off my feet like that, I don’t think anything ever has. You’re new and unique. And I want to know everything I can about you. Even if you don’t like pina coladas. Even if you are a virgin.”

You rolled your eyes. “You’re ridiculous.”

“And you’re addicted to it,” He replied easily, smirking at you.

And yes.

You were.

It was crazy, but you were completely addicted to the banter with him, the way he smiled while you were grumbling, the way he asked what you thought of things and actually listened. You liked his gentleness and compassion.

He brought hope back to your world.

“I agree to your rule,” You whispered.

Hoseok grinned and kissed you.

Your future was going to be crazy...but maybe the consistency of his smile was enough to get you through.

[catharrington]

Beef chow mein.

“Let me take you out to dinner?” Billy begged, his hands up in a prayer over his chest while he walked backwards.

Steve huffed a laugh, continuing to push down the street. Continuing to try and ignore the man in front of him. “You know that’s not a great idea—,”

Billy rolled his eyes, growling, but his feet never wavered as he kept walking swiftly and backwards. “Don’t care, babe! Just two cats having a drink. No one would notice. Come on? Pina colada on me? You like fruity shit, right?”

With a ghost of the October wind catching and turning, Steve caught himself at a street corner. He turned to look both ways, clutching his briefcase to his chest. Billy was stopped with one foot planted in the busy street. Like he couldn’t be moved. Like his leg was strong as iron. A smile growing over his face.

“Two cats?” Steve asked.

“Expression,” Billy rolled his eyes. His hands shrugging before shoving into his long black jacket pockets. “Two wolves maybe, Wall Street wolves just enjoying some Chinese food? Please, Stevie boy?”

Steve sucked his lower lip into his mouth in thought. Chewed the plump, pink hard until it hurt. Until blood flushed cherry under the skin. Noticed with an electric current of excitement how Billy’s blue moon eyes followed the movement.

“Dinner?” He asked.

“Dinner,” Billy replied breathlessly.

Steve lifted one brow. “And you don’t care that this could loose the deal, loose your job?”

Billy grinned again, a bloodthirsty wolffish thing that looked so damn appealing on his handsome face. He shrugged one shoulder. Didn’t flinch as a truck rushed past him quick enough to blow the tail of his coat into the wind. “Your company, babe, would be worth a thousand trade jobs. In a hundred years. I’ll regret every penny if I don’t get a shot at you?”

A blush grew over Steve’s cheeks. He wanted to hide it, scrub it from his face, but Billy’s eyes seemed to know where to look before it even began. Like he could smell it out. “You really are just a sweet talking wolf, huh?” Steve muttered.

He sucked in a deep breath, exhaled through his nose. “Dinner,” he whispered under the roars of the city around them, Billy still seemed to hear every word, “but on the condition you take me to my favorite place, and you pay for the food!”

Billy leapt back onto the sidewalk, clutching Steve’s hand not around his briefcase handle and holding to his chest. He spun them around in a quick dance, Steve felt the air leap from his lungs quick as his heart wildly thumping in his chest.

(Modern au! Steve’s just trying to do his job on Wall Street, keep his curse hidden, maybe make some extra money. Billy smells him the second he walks in the door. Still tan and fresh and beautiful from California. His fur smells like sea salt from the ocean. Steve can’t stay away for long.)

[hlcreators]

AUTHOR REC: louistomlinsons / @adoredontour 

Be sure to show some love by leaving kudos and comments!

this town’s just an ocean now (31k)

“I have really great friends. Do you remember Louis? You guys were always hanging out when you were growing up.” Harry remembers Louis. Harry remembers Louis. Suddenly, his throat feels way too dry, despite the ice cream he keeps licking at. He chokes a little on a chocolate chip before saying, “I, uh. I remember Louis.” Her face brightens. “We have dinner every Sunday. He owns the house now. His parents moved further north, and he wanted to stay here, so they just gave it over. Now if you want to worry about someone being lonely, that’s who I worry about.” inspired by watermelon sugar, featuring picnics on the beach and boys being dumb

daydream about me (21k)

“Anything else going on for you at the moment?” she asks, leaning forward on her elbows across the table, mindful of the radio equipment in front of her. “What about you and that Louis Tomlinson?” Harry sputters, mouth moving but no words coming out. She can feel her cheeks heat up, darkening with embarrassment. “It’s not, Louis and I, we don’t—” Harry can’t finish the sentence, tongue heavy in her mouth. She takes a deep breath, thankful they’re not being videoed, and tries again, “We’ve never even met, actually.” alternatively titled 'harry styles does not have a crush on louis tomlinson and other lies she tells liam payne'

robbers and cowards (33k)

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d almost think that you’re enjoying yourself.” The familiar voice immediately gets Louis’ blood boiling, shoulders tensing as he calmly spins around, trying not to draw any suspicion to the pair. “You don’t know me at all,” Louis spits, managing to maintain the polite smile he’s been wearing all evening. “You’re just some asshole who always ruins my nights.” “If I keep ruining your nights, why do you keep going home with me?” Harry asks, taking a sip from his own wine glass. “I don’t go home with you by any choice of my own,” Louis says. “I think you’re annoying and I have no idea how I keep ending up in your bed.” “You end up in my bed because you knock on my apartment door at two in the morning.” Louis wants to punch the smirk right off of his face. “Maybe you should move,” is what he says instead. or a modern day robin hood au where louis and harry (don’t really) hate each other but they hate greedy billionaires more

I’m a Rocket Man (47k)

All he could hear were the faint sounds of Pina Colada coming from the radio and his own heart beating erratically against his chest.

“Oops,” he heard coming from the other side of the front window. He quickly pushed the grey rubber towards the back of the car, the rubber of the thing groaning and squeaking as he did so. Finally, after wrestling the thing away from him, Harry came into view, face pressed against the other side of the window.

“Hi.” Louis smiled, looking towards Harry, eyes curious. He almost got lost in the way Harry’s face was so cutely pinched, green eyes glowing in the sunlight. He was brought back to reality when Harry tried to move, causing the grey whatever it was to push against Louis again. “What the fuck is this?”

“Uhh... it’s Randy?”

or, Niall is an investigative journalist, Liam is his biggest fan, Zayn is just along for the ride, and Harry probably isn’t an alien. A roadtrip au no one asked for.

sip it slowly and pay attention (12k)

“So I’ve got a guy I think you might like,” Louis says. He’s standing in the doorway of Harry’s office, drinking from what is most definitely Harry’s mug. “You’re going to set me up?” Harry asks, rightfully wary. He can’t imagine that this could end well. “Don’t look so afraid.” Louis takes a sip from his mug, wincing as it burns him. Harry rolls his eyes. He’s always warning Louis to be more patient before he loses all his taste buds. “I know you better than anyone else. Who better to set you up on dates than me?” “I guess you’re right,” Harry says, still slightly hesitant. It’s not that he doesn’t trust Louis, but. He doesn’t trust Louis’ taste. Louis has about the same track record with men that Harry does, if not quite as extensive. or, harry is a guidance counselor, louis is an english teacher, and harry just wants to go on one successful date

i hope that you won’t slip away in the night (13k)

He turns back to Maybe Jessica. “Who’s going to be here?” “Harry Styles,” she says. “The one-” “I know who he is,” Louis snaps. “Who invited him?” “Uh, you did, sir.” Louis didn’t think that was serious. When he had responded to Harry’s cheeky tweet about the gala with his own cheeky ‘You should come - I’ll put you on the guest list’ he hadn’t expected anything to come of it. Least of all for Harry to show up. or the one where louis is a prince and harry is a popstar

feels like we’re finally free (13k)

louis just wants to write a breakup novel. falling in love was never part of the plan, but the cute barista at his favorite coffeeshop makes him think otherwise.

who’s that girl? (13k)

“So, do you want to tell us a little bit more about why you’re here?” “What do you mean?” Harry asks, furrowing his eyebrows together. “I’m here because I need a place to live and you guys need a roommate.” “I guess let me rephrase that,” Leo (or maybe Liam) says. He taps his pen twice against the notepad, drawing Harry’s attention away from a large hole in one of the walls. “Why do you need a place to live?” “Oh, that’s easy.” Harry sits up straighter in his seat. “I walked in on my boyfriend of four years banging my boss. I couldn’t very well keep living with them, could I?” harry is canadian, louis owns a bar, zayn comes and goes as he pleases, liam's just trying to keep everyone alive, and nobody knows what niall does. a new girl au.

we’re not who we used to be (30k)

“Harry…” Louis’ voice catches in his throat, thick with tears threatening to fall out, so he coughs to clear it before trying again. “Harry is Liam’s best man?” “You didn’t know?” Harry is standing at the entrance of the garage, mouth slightly open and face pulled together. He sets his bag on the ground and puts his hands on his hips. When he does that, he looks just like the Harry that Louis remembers (and loves, he thinks with an aching heart). “I’m sure I mentioned it,” Liam says, but Louis can tell he’s lying by the way he chews on his lower lip and twists his fingers together. “You’re all a bunch of dick heads, I’m getting in the car.” Louis isn’t sure if he’s being unreasonable. He has no idea what the protocol is when your ex-boyfriend shows up after three years and nobody bothered to give you a heads up. He’s pretty sure he’s allowed to be upset about it, even if it’s only for a bit. or an exes to lovers canadian roadtrip au

old macdonald had a farm (5.1k)

Louis is a hedgehog, Harry is a fish, Niall is a parrot, Liam is a golden retriever, and Zayn is Zayn. It’s a crazy twenty-four hours.

or are you giving it to someone else (3.3k)

“Dude, last night I couldn’t tell if he was being murdered or having the best sex of his life,” Louis said, taking a sip of his beer. He tried to say it as quietly as he could in the loud pub, worried about who may overhear him. “Is this your neighbor?” Liam asked. He was newer to the group, and therefore, newer to the situation. He had only heard a handful of the stories about the strange things Louis heard his neighbor doing, as opposed to the book Louis could most definitely write about the man. In the hallways, he seemed perfectly normal. He would smile at Louis and sometimes make polite conversation. He didn’t seem like the type to be having loud, kinky sex every night at the craziest hours of the day. But he was. or, louis hears his neighbor having loud sex through the walls and it's not a problem until it is

The F Word (23k)

When Louis finds himself at a party for the first time after his boyfriend cheated on him, the last person he expects to meet is Harry. They hit it off immediately, conversation flowing all night. Louis finally thinks he’s ready to jump back into the dating scene, when a wrench gets thrown in his plan.

Harry has a boyfriend.

Or, a movie AU based on the F word

tonight’s not over (come over and stay) (16k)

Zayn doesn’t say anything for a moment, pausing and worrying at his bottom lip. Finally, he asks, “Have you heard that Cox guy is coming out with a new song?” Louis freezes, fingers hovering over his keyboard where they had been typing his password. “No, I hadn’t,” Louis says truthfully. “Where did you hear that?” “Tell anyone this and I’ll kill you, but I’d consider myself a big fan,” Zayn says. His face doesn’t change in expression, completely serious as he admits this to Louis. “Big fan? Like run a blog and everything?” or, harry is a famous singer and louis is a student who just wants to write his novel

honey, honey (7k)

another sorority au that no one asked for - featuring squirt guns, copious talks of marriage, and more useless lesbians.

fall in love with the moon (and everything beautiful) (10k)

“It’s adorable that you think you can compromise with me on this,” Louis says. He places his hands on his hips and tries his best to look intimidating. “But I am not budging on this. Every book pun you say will result in one quarter in the jar.” “What jar?” Harry asks. He furrows his eyebrows together. Louis rolls his eyes. “Like a swear jar, but now I’m going to make yours ‘Harry’s dumbass pun jar.’ Maybe I’ll have you put a quarter in for every pun you say, not just the ones about books. Niall was right - you tell the worst jokes.” “One time Niall told me I’d never said a funny joke in my life,” Harry says casually. “Funny. He told me that too.” or, louis and harry work in a bookstore together and harry tells dumb jokes and they fall in love

get a little bit nervous (14k)

Liam goes to say something, probably something dumb, but he chokes on his spit, coughing loudly. The man in front of him is one of the prettiest people he’s ever seen in his life; he’s got thick eyelashes that fan out and frame his dark eyes and tanned unblemished skin. Liam forgets all of his previous thoughts. “You okay, mate?” he asks, concern filtering into his voice. “Yeah, yeah,” Liam says, still choking and coughing. “Sorry.” “We all reacted the same way we saw Zayn for the first time,” Niall says from next to him, laughter evident in his tone. “He’s a god, isn’t he?” or, ziam farmer's market au where liam, louis, and niall work at the produce stand, harry and zayn work at the bakery stand, and nobody's straight

i’ve heard it both ways (26k)

“I, uh.” Harry is scrambling, trying to think of something believable on the spot. He remembers the woman from reception and her phone call and says the only thing he can think of. “I’m a psychic.” Everyone stills. Zayn laughs, Detective Edwards looks confused, and the officer holding the door open looks mildly frightened. “A psychic?” Zayn gets out between his laughs. “I’ve heard it all. You’re definitely spending the night in the holding cell now. You’re wasting all of our time here.” an au based on the tv show psych where harry is shawn, louis is jules, liam is gus, niall is mcnabb, and zayn is lassie.

i just know you (got to taste like candy) (3.9k)

Harry seduces the cute cell phone repair girl with her phone's wallpaper.

i just want you to dance with me tonight (7.6k)

The sorority au no one asked for. Featuring a prank war, Lirry friendship, and useless lesbians.

beautiful wreck, colorful mess (4.4k)

Harry's been desperate to try out the toys she bought for her and Louis.

she says she doesn’t love me (don’t believe her) (17k)

Harry is a disaster gay who works in a coffee shop and Louis doesn't want to admit she's in love.

only you know me (4.5k)

“It’s just unfair.” Louis can’t help her complaining. “You always get these opportunities I would die for to throw parties. I’ve got, like, a billion siblings, so I never get the house to myself. You’re home alone at least three times a semester. Your parents wouldn’t even be mad or anything.” “That’s not even the point,” Harry says, calmly and evenly. Sometimes it’s frustrating to Louis just how easily Harry keeps her calm. “And what is?” Louis asks, throwing a goldfish cracker in Harry’s direction. It misses. “That I don’t want to.” - Based on the prompt, "Nothing really specific just a harry/Louis sleepover while Harry's parents are out of town involving sexy lady times? "

[onekisstotakewithme]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love ❤️

Ha, I meant to answer this a few days ago, but... better late than never? 💜 this is very self-indulgent but hopefully without too much overlap from other things I've shared when I've gotten this ask (this was a hard choice, I have like 209 fics, somehow??)

ye who are weary, come home (M*A*S*H) - this is the most basic bitch answer, and also it's one of my 'favourites' in that I'm proud of the technical achievement and the story I was trying to tell... but it was also a major pain in my ass to actually write it. Ensemble pieces, I tell ya... First 4077 reunion, canon pairings, fun cameos, and triad buildup. What more can you ask for?

Butch & Sundance (The West Wing) - this one is cheating a lil bit, because it's not one fic, it's a fic series? The gist is that I accidentally predicted a major theme for CJ/Danny, and then I ran with it. But I love these fics sm.

shizukana yoi ni, hikario tomoshi (in the quiet of the night, let our candle always burn) (M*A*S*H) - THE most self-indulgent wacky fake dating AU that my bestie and I ever came up with. The quasi-spies, modern AU with all the fake dating, and also on the page ace rep. This fic <333

the love that you've looked for (M*A*S*H) - silly little self-indulgent AUs... in this case, one based on "escape (the pina colada song)" except poly :D

Cosmo's Symphony (Singin' in the Rain) - this is a short but sweet look at the mind of the REAlL star of the movie... Cosmo Brown. Idk I'm just soft about it.

And bonus, even though it's not done, it's peak self-indulgence...

An Idea, Whose Time has Come (The West Wing), aka "CJ Cregg runs for President"!

[writteninvisibly]

5 11 20 21 + pick one to answer?

5. What are your fanfic pet peeves? Do they have a huge effect on whether or not you decide to read something?

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok if I find a fic and it’s either in first person or if there aren’t separated paragraph breaks I physically cannot make myself read it. First person is fine in original fiction, but idk what it is, I just Can’t do it in fanfic.

11. How do you come up with your fic titles?

Usually it has something to do with the content of the fic or what inspired it. So, I’ve got a couple fics that have song lyric titles because that song was the inspiration for the fic/the lyrics are in the fic

20. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

To be honest? The feedback. I love it when people comment on my stuff or tell me what they thought, etc

21. What’s your least favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

When I can’t figure out how to get from one place to the next. It’s so frustrating when I’ve got two different scenes and exactly zero way to connect them lmao

4. Link your three favorite fics right now.

:) I’m pretty sure these are all going to be @not-close-to-straight fics because um. I am Absolutely obsessed with her stuff, if I had to pick one fic writer to read for the rest of time, that’s who it would be No hesitation.

First one is probably Pirate’s Heart it’s a Stuckony pirate AU that’s 240k+ and. God it’s just So good

Second one is cheating because it’s a three fic series, but the All The Time in the World series it’s not quite stuckony, it’s stucky and stony separately, but it’s fucking. time travel and God I love it so much

Third one is probably um Pina Coladas because it made me watch The Proposal finally and that might be my new favorite movie actually. So.