#these were supposed to be practice sketches but I got carried away

[shrews-art]

He's the only man ever actually

[issamultistan]

fuck the attitude. | park sunghoon

paring: highschool!sunghoon x fem!reader

wc: 2,905 (two thousand, nine hundred, five)

warnings: nsfw content, cursing, mentions of alcohol/drugs and the use of them, not proofread

contents: dom!sunghoon, brat-ish!reader, partygirl!reader, (at first) shy!sunghoon, mean!sunghoon, sunghoon has four fwbs, mentions of hyung line and txt's yeonjun, dirty talk, degradation, oral (f receiving), overstimulation, creampie, unprotected sex, dacryphilia, nipple play, spanking/slapping, fucking in a strangers bed???, use of “sweetheart” , “slut”

notes : INSP BY THIS??? CAPTION??? HELLO D-D SUNGHOON WAS TO HOT PASSING AWAY I NEED HIM OHMYGOD. this was supposed to be a horny thought but i got carried away... LMAOOO

also the way this a year old 😭😭 sorry i disappeared on y’all fr … I ALSO FORGOT TO ADD EVERYONE IS LEGAL 18 OR OVER 18 !!

“what?” sunghoon questions when you abruptly disturbed his concentration.

“c’mon it'll be fun, hoon!” you smile at the male. sunghoon grimaced when he heard the endearment, were the the two of you that close?

well, no.

it all started back in the beginning of senior year, only a few months ago, where you first met sunghoon in your sketching class. he was very quiet at first, too quiet for your tastes. i mean, you were the school renowned party girl. you could be seen at any party that your high school held, no matter if you knew the hosts or not. on the other hand, sunghoon was very different from you. he kept to himself, only having a few close friends, yet still was known as the “pretty prince on ice.” after all, he was amazing at figure skating. your personalities were so different; at least at first.

when you asked sunghoon to attend a party with you, sunghoon nearly wanted to run out of the classroom and never talk to you again. why would you want sunghoon to tag along some stupid party with a bunch of horny and drunk adults?

“okay, no. i am not going to a stranger’s party.” sunghoon drops his sketching pencil to look straight at you. “i don’t wanna go.” he finalizes.

you groan quietly, “why can’t you have some fun? i’m sure heeseung, jay, and jake are gonna be there too.” you smile at sunghoon when you mention his friends. he knew you were going to drag them in soon enough.

“i told you, y/n. no. besides, i have practice.” park sunghoon was lying straight out of his mouth. he only had practices sunday through thursday, but of course, you didn't know that. closing up your notebook you took a good look at the boy across from you.

“no wonder you’re a virgin.” you say, barely above a whisper.

“excuse you?”

a slight laugh exits your mouth, “i mean, if you never go to parties, you surely have never dicked a girl down before. if you have, you’re probably terrible at it and you probably haven't even drank or done drugs.” you chew on your bottom lip as you see sunghoon’s face contort from disgust to anger.

park sunghoon was mad. like really mad.

before the boy could say anything, the school bell rang throughout the campus building, cutting off any words that could've left sunghoon’s mouth.

when you packed up your stuff, you lean against your shared table, “i saw how you got mad, if you wanna prove me wrong, pull up to daniel choi’s house. i wanna see you there, hoonie.”

a slight smirk appears on your face to the point sunghoon wanted to smack it off. the fake sweetness that laced your words got him even more annoyed too. oh, he’s going to prove you wrong.

he’s sure of it.

after the small conversation you had with sunghoon, you wondered why he got so mad. like of course he would since you insulted his sex status, but what made him nearly yell at you? it surely couldn't have just been he was a virgin, right? or the fact he didn't drink or do drugs? it was genuinely the first time you saw sunghoon experience another emotion other than just neutral. even if it piqued your interests, you simply swatted it off your mind.

“hey, y/n!” a voice calls out from you down the hall. you look back and you see jake sim, a friend of yours and sunghoon.

“oh hi, jake! what's up?” jake rarely ever talks to you, even if the both of you had the same calculus class last period.

“hoon’s mad at you.” a slight downturned smile hooks his mouth as he says his words.

you rolls your eyes at him, “i wonder why.”

jake sighs, “he won't say what got him so mad, he just kinda said it was your fault.” the boy shrugs his shoulders as the two of you enter into class.

as the two of you sat down to whatever seat you wanted, you purse your lips, “all i said was he was a virgin because he never went to parties.”

the blond boy stares at you weirdly, as if you said something offensive. “you said what?”

“it’s not that big of a deal, he just can’t take a joke. like if i said that to you, you’d take it lightheartedly, right?” you look at jake expectantly.

“y/n, it doesn’t work like that… besides, what do you know about hoon?” jake scoffs at your previous words.

“let’s see, he’s quiet, ice skates really well... and that’s it. he’s really plain.” you laugh at your own words.

“yeah, and if you were closer to him you’d know he has like four girls on his dick right now.”

what.

“sunghoon? park sunghoon. mr. pretty prince on ice? no way.” your mouth twisted a bit at jake’s sentence. was he really being serious?

“you didn't know? he has a lot of friends with benefits type relationships. all of the girls he’s fucked always say he’s like a sex god.” jake whispers as he sees more students enter into the once empty classroom. “if you don’t change your attitude, he's probably gonna fuck it outta you.” jake jokes before the class bell rang, signaling classes were slowly going to go into session.

for the rest of class, you couldn’t think of a single thought about calc. all you could think was sunghoon.

four friends with benefits? fucked many girls? a sex god? he’d fuck your attitude out of you? what other secrets did sunghoon hid from you? well, you didn't have to take long because just in a few hours, you’ll see.

the clock strikes 21:35 (9:35 pm), meaning daniel’s party would start soon. daniel, or previously known as yeonjun, was an alumni of the current high school you were attending. you first met him in year 9 (freshman) year when he was in year 12 (senior). he quickly became the older-brother-type friend that you would become closer to as the years pass. even though daniel was committed to his college courses, he still had that high school wild party side in him. so every once in awhile, he’d host parties at his (insanely large) house.

as you take a look at the time, you start to get ready, texting your friends now and then, deciding what to wear. once you finished getting ready, you take a glance at the clock again. 22:18 (10:18pm). perfect.

you finish yourself up and met your friends outside as all of you drove to daniel’s house. even if you were already having fun with your friends, a particular someone stayed in your head. butterflies were swarming your stomach as you kept on thinking of jake’s words, “if you don't change your attitude, he’s probably gonna fuck it outta you.”

what were you thinking? it’s not like sunghoon was going to fuck you... unless?

the smell was just putrid. sex, alcohol, drugs, sex, alcohol, did you say sex yet? it was only half an hour into the party and yet you can see multiple people passed out on daniel's living room couch, a bunch of horny teenagers trying to suck their faces off, a group trying cocaine for the first time, park sunghoon looking so fucking hot, and— park sunghoon? didn’t he have practice?

too dumbfounded by the way sunghoon looked, daniel spotted you. “y/n!” you nearly knocked daniel down by jumping into his arms and hugging daniel. “you’ve grown so much! how’s been senior year?” he asks, trying to stabilize himself from nearly falling back first.

“it’s been great, danny.” the nickname brings a wave to nostalgia as he gives you a red solo cup of some random alcohol you could care less about.

time passes and you surprisingly haven’t drunken much nor did any lines of coke, smoked a blunt, touched molly— you get it. instead, you kept an eye out on sunghoon. as said he has specifically four girls he has his hands constantly. what a player. you internally roll your eyes at the man only a few feet away from you in the kitchen. sure, he was attractive. it’s not like he could pound you until your brain is fucked out in the best way, making sure his cock is brushing so deep in your pussy— what the fuck.

daniel thankfully interrupts your stupid thoughts by pushing you another cup of alcohol, “drink?”

you smile at his completely drunken state, “thanks, danny.”

“i think that should be enough for tonight, sweetheart.” the deep voice made you flinch, making your back hit the person’s chest. it's none other than park sunghoon, in the flesh, looking obnoxiously hot.

“who are you to decide how much i drink?” you quirk an eyebrow at the taller boy, taking a liking to the nickname.

“i just think that some people shouldn’t drink too much.” sunghoon says nonchalantly.

before you can properly retort back something witty, daniel stands on the kitchen counter. “i’m just gonna say this once because i’m probaby gonna be wasted soon but let’s do a cheers because i say so!” daniel was wacked out of his mind but, it was a funny kind of wacky. you raise your cup along with everyone else in the room and cheers with daniel. you take a glace back at sunghoon and instantly regretted it.

as he rose his cup, he bites his lower lip attractively, making his dimples become prominent to the eye. he then downs his drink in one fast gulp, sighing from the alcoholic drink afterwards. “you’re staring too hard, sweetheart.”

“i’m not.” this time you were the one lying out of your mouth. “why would you care? didn’t you have practice to attend? or your little girlies?”

a scoff comes from sunghoon, “sorry i lied, sweetheart. i don’t need them either, i have better things to do.” he presses a hand against the counter next to you, practically caging you in his body.

“like me?” you joke at first.

“yeah, like you.” a smirk appears on his face as he looks down at you. sunghoon knew too well what he was doing. the eye contact was unbearable, your breathing became ragged, and your drink moving around in your cup due to how shaky your hands have gotten. you bit your lip to silence yourself of saying anything more embarrassing.

“where’s that little y/n that teased me for being a virgin, huh? because all i see is a little slut just begging for my cock in her.” sunghoon playfully moans in your ear as he says the word “begging”.

gluping down the nervousness you try to think of something to say, “i’m not begging unless... you... i don't know... fuck the attitude outta me.” you mock sunghoon by moaning “fuck” and restating the words jake told you earlier.

“oh, i will.”

sunghoon immediately pulls you to a random room upstairs in daniel’s house and pushes you towards the bed, making you bounce lightly on the mattress.

“i’m gonna fucking ruin you.” and that’s what sunghoon did. stripping you from your jeans and panties, he latches his lips over your clit, sucking harshly at the bud. your hands find his black roots, pulling him closer to your cunt.

“so fucking needy, aren’t you? you’re so cock hungry for me, huh? haven’t even done anything but sucking on your stupid clit.” sunghoon mutters against your labia. his voice vibrates against you in the best way possible.

“fuck— yes i am— only for you!” you weakly murmur, unable to create full sentences with the amount of pleasure sunghoon provided. his strong arms wraps around your thighs, pushing you down to the mattress. your legs also find their way around his head, making his tongue fully insert itself into your hot cunt. lapping at your juices, in just a few minutes, sunghoon’s face became all messy. your voice raises in pitch as you sputter out, “coming— sunghoon!”

even if your high came crashing down, sunghoon smirks against your cunt, “yeah that’s right, come for me, say my name when you come.” a smack against your ass rippled through your veins as sunghoon kept on devouring you whole. with that, sunghoon bores his eyes into your as he flattened his tongue right on your cunt. you couldn’t look away. it was too much, you were so close coming undone over sunghoon’s tongue again.

“no— sunghoon— too much— want your cock.” your voice trembled but you tried everything you could to at least sound coherent enough.

“hmm? too much? don’t you mean too good? you’re gonna take everything i give you, got that?”

you felt like you were on cloud nine. even if sunghoon was just eating you out, he looks good doing it. a little too good. a smug smile as he eats you out, his nose and mouth all up in your pussy, and his strong arms hooking under you to make sure you don’t move. everything was so attractive.

with one last flick of his tongue, you came for the second time that night. you weren’t the one who would have multiple orgasms but, you might just have to try it because of sunghoon.

in such a short amount of time, you came twice. all from sunghoon eating you out. jake wasn’t joking around. sunghoon is like a sex god.

your thighs immediately clamp up after sunghoon removes himself from your pussy. he raised up to take off the layers he had on him but he laughs at you once he sees you trying to regain breaths, “awhh, is my tongue too much for you sweetheart? i didn’t even finger you. this stupid little cunt just loves coming, huh?”

one of his hands fiddle with his jeans, taking them off, while the other slides to your slick cunt and slaps it a few times. each time more and more of his saliva and your cum splats on his hands, causing him to get impossibly harder.

“i’m gonna fuck you, gonna fuck you so hard you’re crying for me to fill you up.” sunghoon grunts as he presses his tip on your opening, gaining the wetness on his cock. you simply moan back, you wanted his cock. you wanted to go dumb on his cock. that was all you needed.

once his cock fully slides in you, he takes no chance and starts roughly thrusting into you. it didn’t take that long for you to start moaning his name again. the bed was rocking to his motions, your hands on his chest trying to have some balance while his hands are secure on your thighs; pushing them along to his pace.

“ngh— sunghoon, fuck! more please, please sunghoon i need more—!” you mindlessly babble. you were experiencing so much pleasure, you didn’t even know you wanted more. your brain and your heart were jumbled up together.

“yeah? more? you want more you needy slut? alright, i’ll give you more.” hoon starts peeling off your top and bra, fighting the urge to just rip them off. he then grabs your sensitive nipples and twists them. the shocking pleasure has you nearly screaming for sunghoon. there’s so much happening, you couldn’t care if anyone could hear you outside.

“does it feel good, y/nnn?” slurring his words near the of you name. “look at you shutting your eyes, you love this!” sunghoon laughs as he kept on having a stable pace. his cock is so loose in you and the tip is practically abusing your cervix over and over.

sighing, moaning, groaning, grunting, whimpering was the only thing left in the room. along with sunghoon’s cock in you, of course. you were at the brink of that knot completely snapping in your stomach. it was so close; it was right there. tears even start dripping down to your cheeks, not in sadness or pain. but in delight.

the waves of pleasure were crashing down soon. they were waves crashing slowly. you needed those waves where they’d crash down fast. third orgasm was even better than the first.

“sweetheart, you’re crying? crying on my cock? fuck— you’re desperate to come.” sunghoon grunts as another bead of sweat starts dripping along his hairline. he was on the edge too, he needed it as much as you. a barely heard “mhmm!” escaped your lips as a response.

“god— sunghoon! use me— wanna have your cum in me— please!” you creak out. sunghoon laughs at your poor attempt of talking.

the warm, nearly silky feeling of my white strings of his cum was all in your pussy. snug, full, and filled. sunghoon’s arms gives up and falls right besides you.

“don’t ever say i’m a virgin again.” sunghoon groans as he takes his thrown off t-shirt to clean off yours and his cum off of you and him.

“i was just joking! hoon— fuck. you are a sex god.” you can’t help but laugh a bit.

“sex god??? who told you that.”

“… jake.” you reply.

“whatever, at least i got to prove it to you that i’m not a virgin.” hoon rolls his eyes at you.

“yeah but, i sure don’t think we can still be friends after this.” you sigh, looking at the ceiling above you.

“who said we were?”

“what?”

“who said we were just friends?”

who knew sunghoon wanted to fuck from the start?

kpop masterlist !

© issamultistan | tumblr

[lotusbeom]

glimpse of us

pairing: choi beomgyu x gn!reader, choi yeonjun x gn!reader

genre: angst, some fluff, based off joji's song glimpse of us

word count: 1.6k

synopsis: yeonjun is the best boyfriend anyone could ask for but then why do you find yourself lost in memories of what could have been?

warnings: lowkey emotional cheating (but y/n doesn’t realize til the end)

note: i’m so sorry yeonjun ;-; he is done so dirty and i feel so bad like y/n just love him back please <3

ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ

“Come on, Y/n! It would be so much fun!” Yeonjun excitedly runs past you, grabbing your hand in the process to pull you towards the front of the arcade decorated with claw machines. 

After spending the entire afternoon with your boyfriend, competitively playing games like Dance Dance Revolution, air hockey, and basketball, the two of you nearly had enough tickets to get the large fox plush the two of you have had your eyes on ever since you walked in.

You and Yeonjun head towards the machine with bundles of tickets as the prize. The look of determination on your boyfriend’s face makes you smile a bit, being one of the things you love most about him. 

“Junnie, you know claw machines are rigged!” you laugh trying to pull Yeonjun away, but he has already swiped the game card and the shiny, red five pops up, showing the number of attempts left before having to use more game swipes. 

“Watch and learn, Y/n,” he smirks as he confidently places his hands on the knob to control the claw. “I used to win every time I came with my friends back in high school.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” you murmur under your breath. The countless times you recall coming to the arcade, only a few times had you ever won anything. 

Yeonjun positions the claw above the roll of 150 tickets before pressing the button center of the dashboard to release the crane. The side of the hook catches onto the roll before lifting it up and carrying it to the box it was supposed to be dropped into.

Jumping in the air and clapping loudly, “ Did you see that Y/n? And you had no faith in me.”  he says smugly. 

Your boyfriend is really good at everything, ranging from taking care of you when you are ill and Dance Dance Revolution. When you two had first met, you were surprised that he was on your university’s dance team, but after watching him in the practice room after a long day of studying, you understood why. Dance was his spark – you wish you had something that inspired you that much.

Inspiration is a fickle thing. In the past, you would have said you were passionate about millions of things, like photography, sketching, and reading, but your courses often came in the way of things. Or at least that’s what you tell yourself. 

You especially loved taking photos of pretty things, but that passion quickly subsided the moment you lost the person in front of the lens. You lost a lot of your inspiration that day.

“Y/n?” Yeonjun pulls you out of your thoughts as he waves a hand in front of your face. “Are you okay – should we go home? You were spacing out on me a bit there, and I got worried.”

“No, no I’m fine Junnie. Sorry, I guess I was just lost in my own head for a bit,” you smile. “How many rolls did you win?”

Holding three bundles of tickets up to his head, smiling so widely, he shows you his accomplishments, “I was thinking that you should try!” 

“Oh god, I’m so bad at this type of thing,” you laugh and shake your hands in a motion that suggests your boyfriend should continue.

“I can’t carry all of the weight of our team. I’ve already won eighty-five percent of the tickets,” Yeonjun pouts.

“Hey now! I should have won that last game of air hockey, but someone was a bit too aggressive and slammed the puck into my hand, causing me to lose,” you huff in exasperation.

While Yeonjun giggles, you take him up for the challenge. Offsetting the claw a bit to the right of the tickets you have your eyes set on, you release the crane down. The claw hooks around the tickets, but right as they are about to make it to the box, the roll slides off the claw.

“Did you see that?! I told you this machine is rigged! I’m hopeless at this,” you sigh, unable to prove Yeonjun wrong, burying your face in the palms of your hands.

“Baby, do it like this.” Yeonjun guides your hands using his own, showing you where to place the claw for optimal chances of winning. You can feel him lightly breathing against your neck but for some reason you can’t focus on the game in front of you, instead your mind is flooded with thoughts of someone you thought you were over two years ago. 

“You know how bad I am at claw machines, Beomgyu! They literally scam me everytime,” you laugh in denial of your boyfriend’s request. The two of you have spent far too many game swipes on this damn brown bear plushie, but you’re in too deep now to give up.

“I’m sorry to tell you this, but I don’t think it’s the claw machine, Y/n.  I think it’s yo–” Your boyfriend’s remark has him ducking for cover as you’re about to smack him in the back of the head. Quickly putting his hands up in the hair as if he is innocent in this scenario, he laughs at you before you point your attention back to the game. 

“Last time I checked, Choi, you haven’t won the bear either. So, looks like WE’re both products of capitalism,” you scoff before positioning the claw directly above the bear. 

Before you can release the claw, Beomgyu’s fingers lightly graze the top of your hands before putting them back onto the knob. 

“What are you doing? Are you insane??!? Didn’t you learn anything in your physics course last semester?” Beomgyu sighs before slightly offsetting the claw from the bear to hook around the torso. Your breath slightly hitches and you’re no longer focusing on the bear anymore, rather you slightly turn your head to look at Beomgyu. He has sparkles in his eyes before looking down and softly smiling at you. 

“And release the claw!” Before he is able to press the button, your hands slightly jerk, moving the claw a bit too far to the right, completely missing the teddy bear.

“Y/N!! How could you let this happen to us?? The claw was in the perfect position, and it slipped through our fingers,” your boyfriend is sulking on the ground, looking up at you.

“Sorry, Gyu. I guess I was a bit distracted,” you apologize profusely. Beomgyu just watches and laughs at your antics as you go on and on about how probability says that the bear was probably too heavy to be picked up by the claw anyway.

“I guess you’re forgiven. I mean what better thing to be distracted by than me!” 

Your jaw drops and look your boyfriend, cheeks reddening, “Gyu, you are unserious right now.”

“By the way you’re not rejecting my statement, I’m going to assume I’m one-hundred percent right!” he boasts. Unable to speak, you quickly speed up and walk away from the giggling boy.

“It’s okay – next time we’ll win the bear!” Before rushing off to catch up with you a soft “cute” is released from his lips.

The two of you couldn’t wait to come back to the arcade together, but unfortunately the two of you parted ways and that day never came. 

“And release!” Yeonjun presses the button and the claw successfully drops the tickets in the box. He wears the biggest smile on his face, beaming from ear-to-ear. “Wait, this is the first time you have ever won anything, and I got to experience it with you!” 

Coming back to reality, you chuckle at your overly proud boyfriend. He goes on and on about this moment becoming a core memory for your relationship, but for some reason, this victory doesn’t feel as sweet as it should. 

ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ

At the ticket booth, you and Yeonjun trade in all of your hard work – 1,200 tickets – in return for a giant fox plushie. Much to your boyfriend’s disdain, you name the fox Jun because of the resemblance between Yeonjun and the fox. 

“But you already have me…why would you need another one?” Yeonjun pouts.

“Don’t worry, Junnie. You’re still my favorite,” you smile warmly. 

As the two of you pass the front of the arcade before leaving, something catches Yeonjun’s attention. 

“Oh look at that! You didn’t tell me you got the teddy from this arcade – that is so cute! Now whenever you see the bear, you will remember this moment too!” he joyfully pats your head. 

“I guess I did,” a bittersweet feeling washes over you. You know that comment shouldn’t affect you, especially when you’re the one who unexpectedly ended things with Beomgyu. 

You know you’re being unfair to Yeonjun and you should love and cherish him to the fullest, but then why do you get glimpses of the relationship you used to have? Why hadn’t things turned out differently, and why are you still lying to yourself? If you were really over your two-year relationship with Beomgyu, why did you come back months after you had broken up to win the stupid bear plushie time after time? Maybe it was for closure, or maybe it made you feel like you were closer to him again, filling the hole left when he was gone. But  in the end, it was your own fault.You ended things – not Beomgyu

Falling asleep tonight feels a bit different. Yeonjun sleeps by your side as always, but you can’t help but feel like something is wrong. Yeonjun showers you in nothing but love and adoration, and you know you don’t deserve it, because in the back of your mind, you wonder what could have been. You decide to hold the bear a little tighter tonight. 

[crypticjackal13]

Mk x shy GF Reader, with the Mk clones? set during the episode Duplicatnation where Mk is dealing with the fact he accidently got carry away with making clones, but not only that, he has to now deal with them fawning all over his girlfriend in their own ways and getting her EXTREMELY flustered and embarrassed, And are our poor boy is getting REALLY jealous.

“Too Many”(1244 w.c.)(Romantic one shot)

MK/Clones x Shy!Fem!Reader

pronouns: she/her

CW: slight possessiveness

One second, y/n was enjoying some quiet time at Pigsy’s because hey, there was a little too much chaos in her life at the moment, and the next, she was apparently texted to meet her lovely boyfriend at Sandy’s boat. This she didn’t mind. Sandy was such a sweet guy, and she’d be lying if she said spending time with the therapy cats wasn’t one of her favorite things to do. 

It was what happened when she got there that was a problem.

The boat was not only a new color, but she could see that familiar red bandana and messy brown hair hard at work painting it. She smiled knowingly, hopping up onto the deck to greet him. 

“MK, hey!” She went to hug him like she always did, but when he turned around, something was terribly off. His eyes had a crazed fire dancing in them as he wielded a paintbrush. But he still returned her affection.

“Y/n! Good, I was hoping you would be fast! I want to paint you!” He explained. She wasn’t opposed to the idea, but she certainly was thrown off by his mannerisms. 

“Like, right now? I’m not sure—“

“All you have to do is sit and be pretty. You’ll look perfect at any angle!”

Even if he was a little unhinged, she was still blushing at his comment. She went and sat on the stool across from a canvas he’d set up, choosing a simple pose that wouldn’t take long—theoretically.

“Beautiful! Yes, you’re the perfect muse!” He beamed, getting to work on an underpainting. Her heart was racing and she felt her face grow hot at his compliments. She held as still as she could, out of worry for what might happen if she shifted even a little. A solid half hour must have passed by now…But her arms were getting tired in the position she was holding them, so she mustered up the courage to say something.

“Hey, can I just take a quick break? Have you got a sketch down?” She asked. The artist stepped away from the canvas, humming while he looked at her. 

“I suppose…just hurry back, okay? This will be a masterpiece as long as you’re here.”

She hopped off of her seat and gave him a quick kiss as she exited the boat, choosing to head back into the city and get something to eat, maybe even stopping at the arcade…Mei was there, right? They hadn’t gotten to hang out lately.

Walking into the building, she could tell once again that something was wrong. But she pushed that feeling aside and continued in, getting some tokens and enjoying some of the games at the front by the entrance. But the music was muffled, like it was only coming from the back of the building, so y/n went to the back and saw two tall guards in front of the door. Once they saw her coming, they immediately opened the door for her, and she hurried past them with a quiet “thanks”. 

Gods, being in that space was already overwhelming—it smelled like soda pop and smoke machines. The music reverberated through the floors that lit up with each beat. And it was crowded past capacity, most likely. Someone was yelling from the DJ booth, but she couldn’t make out the words. 

“Y/n, thank goodness. You need to talk to your boyfriend.” Mei emerged from somewhere in the crowd, taking y/n by her arm and practically yelling to get her point across. 

“But I was just with him on the boat!” She yelled back.

“Then who’s the guy wearing leopard print sitting in the booth?!” 

The two girls got to the front of the room, and lo and behold, there was MK. Y/n was beyond confused. If he was here, then who was the artist she’d just spent time with? He peered through his slitted neon glasses at her, reaching over the turntable and yanking her into the booth with him. It was only a little easier to hear.

“Aw yeah, the life of my porty is here! It’s good to see you showed up!” He exclaimed, giving y/n a kiss. 

“Porty? MK, what are you talking about? What about the painting?”

“Huh? What painting, yo?” He shook his head with a smirk. “Whatever, anyways, c’mon, join in! Let’s make some sweet tunes to get these guys moving!”

“No, hang on, how long have you been in here?” She stopped him, trying to figure out exactly what was happening.

“No idea, babes, all I know is I’m throwing the best porty this arcade has EVER seen!” He put one of the headphones over his ear, before pressing some buttons that changed the music and got things going again. Now that y/n could see the whole crowd, she could also see that they all looked like zombies…some were slumped on the floor, others were trying to keep dancing but stumbled and dragged their feet. Some were even hiding from MK’s sight. Mei was standing by the entrance to the booth, and she didn’t look too hot either. 

“MK, you need to chill out a bit, okay? Let’s go play some games, just you and me.” Maybe if y/n played her cards right, she could get him to be distracted long enough that the crowd could disperse. 

“Not right now, sweet cheeks. After this set, definitely!” He responded. 

“What do we do? He’s lost his mind!” Mei took y/n’s hand again to get her away from the crazed DJ. Y/n shrugged, racking her brain for solutions. 

“Let’s get out of here! There has to be an exit!” She said. 

“Sorry, sweet heart. No one’s leaving this porty!” The DJ came up behind the pair, yanking them both deeper into the booth.

Hours passed as Mei and y/n were stuck inside a giant claw machine. On the plus side they weren’t stuck on the dance floor, but on the downside they were trapped in a much bigger problem than before.

That is, until the skylight broke. Their saving grace was here, hopefully the REAL one. They couldn’t make out what Real MK and Porty MK were saying to each other, but y/n was just overjoyed that MK was okay. What scared the crap out of her were the countless evil clones that were trying to fight him and how she couldn’t really tell who was where doing what. Golden light was everywhere, and before they both knew it, y/n and Mei were out of the claw machine and out of harm’s way. But they were back in the booth, standing behind Real MK. 

“Wait, how can you tell who’s who? He might be the porty clone!” The DJ said. 

“It’s ‘party’!” Mei said.

“Aw man, I played myself.”

And then he disappeared. Y/n was still comprehending the fact that all of that just happened, but of course the explanation was three simple words: “mystic monkey business”. 

“Y/n, are you okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he?” MK approached y/n, pulling her into a hug that she recognized as his hug. She leaned into him, trying to calm down a bit.

“No, I’m not hurt. Just…frazzled, I guess. Promise you wont make any more clones, okay??” She pulled away from him, grabbing his arms and shaking him back and forth. He laughed the whole time.

“I promise, I promise!”

[dream-meister-translations]

ADEL - VOICE COLLECTION

━

"Looks like you are hard at work. Take this gift as a reward."

"Time is finite. Let's do this quickly."

"The true culture of a country is expressed through it's clothing."

"It's time to replenish my calories…"

"If there are any unique fabrics, I would like to stock up on them."

"Hmm… Quite the assortment. I'd like to restock my embroidery threads and buttons. Do you have any in stock?"

"Defeat is not something to be ashamed of. It is a way to grow. When we are both prepared, we will take on the challenge again."

"Rookie, let me tell you something right off the bat. My workshop is a battlefield. You must be prepared before you step into it."

"After three all-nighters, you'll begin to feel this strange sense of satisfaction. Haha, we can still keep working!"

"I just finished an order. I feel better than ever. So yes, I'll take you up on your proposition to chit-chat."

"Get a needle and thread!"

"Is that an additional request?"

"I don't have enough nutrients!"

"Perhaps it's time for a temporary retreat?"

"I don't know why I've felt so good since you arrived. I hope you didn't mix anything strange into the food you made for me."

"Both as a guild keeper and as my personal partner, I'm not giving you up."

"At first, I was prepared to push you out of my workshop if you got in the way. Now, I think I'm taking it for granted that you're right here next to me."

"The best job requires the best partner. Which means you're stuck with me for the rest of your life."

"Let's put the finishing touches on this one-of-a-kind piece. It's the only one in the world. That makes it fit for a king."

"You're going to be my very own personal assistant. It will make my job so much easier."

"At first I thought you were going to be an unskilled rookie, but you've got a great attitude. Keep up the good work."

"Fools do not deserve fine clothing."

"I can't wait to see how my tailoring will change your future."

"We've got a lot of work to do when we get back!"

"Phew. I got my breather. Let's get back to work."

"Is this your attempt at small talk? Nothing out of the ordinary here, it's just a barrage of delivery dates after delivery dates.

"If you are asking me about my work, it's going great. You're a total amateur if you can be swayed to rest by something as silly as physical health."

"Huh? You think I've been pushing myself too hard? Why are you so insistent about this…?"

"Alright, get the hell out of my workshop. You should know my leisure time is precious."

"Merry Rose is a delight. He's always getting into trouble, though. I'm not quite sure what to make of him."

"Canaan is…Hmm…He may be wishy-washy, but he's also talented. There is no doubt about that."

"Everyone in the Dream Weavers guild has their quirks you say? Hmm.. I suppose that's true."

"We are the ones who make the king a king. That's the Dream Weavers philosophy. There is no room in this guild for mediocrity."

"You may only be a rookie now, but there's something special about you. I'm counting on you."

"Cleaning my glasses is a necessity. When I'm upset, polishing my monocle calms me down a little bit."

"I carry my sewing kit with me at all times. It's practically a third limb. I can't relax without it."

"These candies I carry revitalize my calories. Merry Rose ate them once. He got mad that they were honey flavored."

"I'm just sketching out the design for a new outfit idea."

"The moment you saw my newest design, your eyes lit up. It's obvious you're a fan."

"If you plan to keep coming in and out of my workshop, I require you study up on your knowledge of clothing and train your eye for aesthetics."

"How dare you approach me so closely? You've got guts. I'll give you that."

"Most who get close to me are doing so to steal my designs or use my talent. In your case, it doesn't seem to be for that purpose."

"The color of your eyes are like the shade of a decorative button I saw the other day. Hey, why are you suddenly looking away?"

"It's been days since I've been out of my workshop. When I'm absorbed in my work, I lose all sense of time."

"I just finished a job. I'll join you for a change."

"I just got an idea for a new outfit. I need to go back to the workshop to work on it."

"Give me a call when you get a chance. I'll spend time with you when I can."

"You put vegetables in there, didn't you? Why would you go to all that trouble to make something so bitter and low in calories? Wait, I didn't say I wouldn't eat it!"

"All right, I'll relax and eat. As long as I'm getting my calories in, that's all that matters."

"Your cooking is actually very addictive. I can't stop eating."

"…….You've been in my workshop for a fair amount of time. Do you really dare broach the subject of holidays?"

"There is no such thing as a perfect holiday. I don't remember the last time I took a day off in years. Hey, what's with the sad face?"

"Sometimes I go to art exhibits and plays at the theater. There is plenty of inspiration for new garments."

"No matter how many times you ask me about holidays, my answer won't change."

"These days most of my time off is spent with you. So you're the best judge of how I spend my days off. Hey, don't smirk like that."

"Why are you staring at me like that? Are you checking up on me again? Stop nagging me."

"You've been looking at me strangely for the last few minutes. If you have something to say, say it. If it's your advice, I won't ignore it."

"Come on, you're distracting me!"

"Observe all you want, but please get it over with quickly."

"That's not the reaction you were expecting? Well, if you're trying to upset me, you'll have to try harder than that."

"It's always a good idea to keep your guard up. It's not good to be vulnerable."

"I used to think outings unrelated to work were time consuming and pointless. This is not so bad…"

"Take my arm. I am offering to escort you. Or do I have to teach you manners?"

"Well, that was fun. I never thought I could stop thinking about my work for even a second. You make me forget the time."

"That's enough! it's time for me to get back to work!"

"Don't assume that I'm not getting enough sleep and need to rest. I rest plenty. I'm fine."

"I'm a little thinner than I used to be? Maybe that's because of my nagging assistant wasting my work time."

"You're still concerned about the dark circles under my eyes? Stop worrying so much it makes me uncomfortable."

"No, "uncomfortable" isn't the right word…Is it? It's more like an itchy feeling that I can't scratch. I can't get used to it."

"Hey! Stop that! If you want my attention, say it with your mouth!"

"People tend to tickle others where they are the most ticklish. You are exposing your weaknesses to me."

"Don't get all red in the face at just the slightest touch. Stupid girl."

"Why are you holding my hand like that? Are you into palm reading? Hmm.. I don't get why you would enjoy something like that."

"You think I have beautiful fingers…? I have no compliment to give in return, but it's not bad to hear you say that."

"I have to keep my fingers in tip-top condition for my job."

"You seem very preoccupied at the moment. It's not me you're fond of after all, it's my hand."

"I'm only joking. Though, the hand is a part of a human body."

"As your elder, let me tell you something. Trust is good to have, but always be on your guard."

"You're looking a little flushed. If it isn't a cold, is it a sign of embarrassment? Or perhaps nerves?"

"You want to give me a massage? Is that even part of a Guild Keeper's job? All right, let's see how good you are."

"Your hands are warm…You're only touching my skin and I already feel some relief."

"I have shoulders like rocks? It's unavoidable when you work as hard as I do. Don't hurt your hands."

"I don't usually get massages. I don't like to be touched by other people. But with you, I don't feel any discomfort. In fact, it feels good."

"When I eat your cooking I am more efficient at my job. It satisfies more than just my hunger."

"I don't usually get the opportunity to say this, but I do appreciate you."

"I'd also like to add that your face when you are embarrassed is goofy and adorable."

"I don't like when you pet my head. It messes up my hair."

━

ADEL : What is with that look on your face, Merry Rose? You're up to something again, aren't you? I'm busy, don't drag me into it. MERRY ROSE : Damn. You caught me. Something made me a little angry, so I wanted to play around.

━

ADEL : Come on, learn to control yourself you pleasure-seeking black fairy, I don't have time for this! GIN : Adel's passion for his work is almost like another form of greed. Well, whatever it is, it's interesting.

━

ADEL : Your jewelry can truly be the work of a genius. But, the quality is all based on your mood. Can't you do something about that? CANAAN : I don't think so, Adel. Maybe if you and I both work on the jewelry I'll get more done.

━

[5sosfanfictioncatalogue]

Teacher!Luke (2) Masterlist

part one

50 Seconds of Sketch or 50 Shades of Luke (ao3) - FullmetalAkatsuki luke/calum M, 1k

Summary: Luke is teaching Psychology at an American University. He notices that Camille, one of his students is not as knowledgeable as he thought she was. He offers her extra credit.

Even Mountains Crumble Into The Sea (ao3) - spacepixie luke/calum, michael/ashton E, 18k

Summary: I got the idea off one of those tumblr prompt things in which two students are in detention and are forced to sit together and then they fall in love etc etc. Except i liked the idea of using two teachers stuck together doing detention duty because i feel that grown up 5sos are extremely attractive. This was meant to be a one shot but i got a bit carried away oops.The title is from San Francisco.Any feedback is appreciated either here or on Tumblr (midnightbi) *I don't own any characters or lyrics used in this work*,Enjoy

Hot for Teacher (ao3) - FayeHunter michael/luke T, 1k

Summary: Michael doesn’t want to be up this early bringing his niece to school. At least the teacher is hot

it's so simple (ao3) - bellawritess luke/calum T, 5k

Summary: Morning sunlight filters through the windows. In the air, the citrusy scent of lavender and lemon cleaner mingles with dust particles caught in the rays. It’ll be a mess by the end of the day; the kitchen is, after all, the epicentre of activity in the Hood-Hemmings household. Fluorescent lights illuminate stacks of used dishes and dirt-stained skirting boards indiscriminately, but they can never quite capture the versatility of the room. At any moment, the wood countertops and checkerboard tiles might transform into a lively dance floor, a charming cafe, a paper-strewn study.

This is more than just a kitchen. It’s a storybook with walls.

i want to teach you a lesson (in the worst kind of way) (ao3) - softirwin michael/calum, luke/ashton T, 5k

Summary: “Who’s that, sir?” Lily asks, jabbing at the window.

“The new PE teacher,” Michael says.

“He’s cute,” Sarah says, and a couple of the girls nod vigorously.

“He’s also twice your age,” Michael says. “Go on, off to your practice rooms.” The girls groan, but one by one pull themselves away from the window and start to wander off. Michael stays by the window, one eye on the girls to make sure they actually go where they’re supposed to and one eye on the new PE teacher, who’s dividing the class up into groups and handing out footballs. He is kind of hot, Michael supposes, if you’re into muscular guys who are clearly good at sports. Which Michael most definitely is.

Lay Me Down (ao3) - stelleshine luke/calum, michael/ashton E, 101k

Summary: Calum is the one thing Luke has as his world falls down around him.

Like We Were Schoolkids (ao3) - punchinginadream  Michael/Luke NR, 2k

Summary: It was hard to say what exactly led Michael and Luke to each other. If you asked Luke, he would say it was fate. But if you asked Michael, he'd simply say it was because his son doesn't know how to tie his shoes.

Pt. I - Limit of Passion (ao3) - orphan_account michael/luke M, 1k

Summary: Michael's a horny student and Luke's his hot new teacher.

Teacher's Boy (ao3) - MukeOnTheRocks calum/ashton, michael/luke M, 10k

Summary: After getting detention for a week Calum falls for the teacher of least favourite subject, Mr. Irwin, while the teacher tutors him.

Does that make sense? I hope so.

Teach Me (wattpad) - asdflkjhg5sos luke/ashton 40 parts

Summary: in which, after two weeks of detention a relationship blooms between a teacher and student

the only gift I want to see under the tree (ao3) - allsassnoclass (brightblackholes) luke/ashton, michael/calum T, 3k

Summary: Ashton knew he was screwed the moment he picked Luke’s name out of the hat for Secret Santa.

tongue tied by words (ao3) - strxngersagain luke/calum G, 4k

Summary: 5 times luke stole calum's clothes, and 1 time calum stole luke's

[blue-jisungs]

you’re an artist ♡

a/n. "the swing" has to be one of my fav paintings <33 shoutout to all my artists and drawing enjoyers :D

i got a little bit carried away with this one (maybe bc i like drawing as well hehe) but i wanted to thank you yet again from the bottom of my heart for 200 followers!! this is a small celebration post (yeah i know it's late but i was too tired to write it earlier). so enjoy and again - thank you for everything!!! <3333

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ bang chan — chan turned around when he noticed you haven't made a noise for some while now. soft smile formed on his lips as he saw you fell asleep. "aich, y/n, should have told me you're tired" he sighed and stood up with intentions to put a blanket over you. his brows furrowed in curiosity as he saw your opened sketchbook. "so that's why you wanted to go to the studio with me...?" chan asked himself, putting away your pencils and then gently took the sketchbook. his eyes wandered on the page that was full of sketches... of him. even though he felt bad he just couldn't resist to take a look on the other pages. his smile grew bigger and bigger each time he saw a drawing of himself. most of them had small titles like my love, bang chan in action, sleepy bean bang chan. he put it away in safe place and kissed your temple. aich, you're so adorable.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ changbin — he knew about this hobby of yours but he never really saw any of your drawings. one day, he was teasing you about him being your model. "i know you love me, y/n but don't try to hide my handsomeness" he kept on smirking and flexing his muscles. while you drew him, he adored your focused face - slightly knitted eyebrows, poking the tip of your tongue out, eyes fixated on the paper just to take a glance at him after a while. after way longer that he imagined, you stood and came up to him. "come on, show me!!" changbin wiggled in place and pulled you closed by your waist with one hand and took the sketchbook with his other one. his jaw dropped. "do you like it?" you asked quietly, noticing how silent he went not for long though "i tried to do it 1:1 but you're just too handsome" you added. "YAAAH Y/N" changbin yelled, pulling you onto his lap with the biggest smirk ever "i love it. i'm going to keep it on the wall above my bed. you're so talented!!". from that moment, he's your model

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ lee know — "aich, y/n, why are you so quiet?" lee know tsked, putting his hands on his hips. you swung your head up and slammed the sketchbook. "me? i was thinking--" you started and saw this mischievous spark in his eyes "minho, no-!". too late. like a predator, he jumped onto you and grabbed the sketchbook. with a victorious smirk he plopped down and flipped the pages. his teasing look on his face was quickly replaced by awe. "you drew this?" lee know asked, still looking at the drawings. you nodded. "all of them?" he asked yet again and finally saw the drawing you were doodling moments ago. he looked up and even though the shit eating grin formed on his lips again, he couldn't hide the respect and admiration in his eyes. "yaa, should have told me you want me to pose for you" lee know teased, taking a quick glance of your sketches of him during practice before you took your property back. "would you agree?" you hummed. "hmm... no" he giggled but you both knew that his answer was a lie.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ felix — felix heard a grunt and turned back to take a glance at you. "is there something wrong, angel?" he hummed, putting down the bowl with cookie dough. "no!" you yelped quickly and turned off your phone. but felix knows you way too well. he came up to you, sitting on a couch with your legs on it, knees bent and something leaning on your thighs. "well...?" he asked, laying his chin on your knee. "it was supposed to be a surprise but... i wanted to draw you but this photo is so blurry..." you mumbled and threw your phone over to him. "i'm literally right here, you should have asked" he giggled, flicking your other knee softly. "i know but... you're busy plus as i said... it was supposed to be a surprise." you sighed and looked up "that's a good angle you're in right now, actually". "see? now, you can draw me as long as you want. you can give it to me later, so it still remains as a surprise. deal?" felix hummed and you nodded. when you drew him, felix couldn't prevent a huge frin forming on his lips. you were so passionate about it and so focused!! he couldn't wait to see the drawing.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ han — "...so i thought, why not? also i need to pee really, like reaaalllyy, badly. be right back!" han announced and before you could giggle, he was gone on his way to the bathroom. you weren't on a date in public for ages and so far it was going so fun. to kill your boredom, you took out your sketchbook and a pencil and started doodlng random objects. this task absorbed you so deeply that you didn't even notice that after 45 minutes han was back. "yah, y/n! i was gone for so long and you didn't even notice?! what if someone kidnapped me?" han sighed dramatically and sat on his seat, taking a glance at your sketchbook. "well, did they?" you giggled and put down the sketchbook on the table. "no. but i did struggle with the sink and met some stays over there" he smiled "by the way, what got you so busy?". you looked at the sketchbook and scratched your neck "i was bored without you". "may i-...?" he asked, pointing at it. you nodded and drank the rest of your tea while jisung's face turned serious. "what?" you asked and your heart skipped a beat when you remebered that you had some sketches of him in your sketchbook. "what? y/n this is... this is art! i'm amazed! wait... that's why you sometimes get so quiet all of a sudden... woah... i'm really impressed!" he said and you could see it written all over his face that he's telling the truth "and hey, if you need a model - i'm down!"

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ hyunjin — "hey, hey... we all know i'm the best artist here!" han puffed out his chest and grabbed the crayons. maybe planning a small activity for them that included drawing wasn't the best idea. "han i can't focus. stop talking" hyunjin grunted and with that everyone got to work. as expected they were finished pretty soon - only you and hyunjin still working. "that's so boring. i'll go grab a coffee" seungmin sighed and left. lee know rolled his eyes, knowing he has to stay since he volunteered to be the model. "what's taking you so long?" he huffed. hyunjin was about to announce he's done when he took a glance at you. full on focused, lips slightly parted... and your drawing. he let out a yelp and you looked up, confused. "y/n?! since when you're so... good??" he asked which caused lee know to walk up to you. other members came back and saw the curious glances of hyunjin and lee know on your work. "you're grading already? that's not fair, we weren't here-- woah!" han stopped talking when he saw your drawing "okay, i know who won!". you blushed and looked at hyunjin who was fighting his best not to grin. he was so proud of you and shocked at the same time. but hey, now you two can draw together!

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ seungmin — "can you go to sleep, please?" seungmin suddenly mumbled and you let out a yelp "what are you even doing up so early? or should i say- late?". "sorry, gosh. i thought you wouldn't wake up. i'm finished already, don't worry!" you said and put down the sketchbook on your desk. "that doesn't answer my question" he grunted and frowned. "well uh,, i was drawing you. i couldn't sleep and you're just--" you started but weren't meant to finish. "show" he said with closed eyes and hand raising from under the duvet. you handed him the sketchbook while he put on his glasses. as you slowly returned back to the bed and buried yourself under the duvet, he analysed your work. "what?" you asked. he shook his head and put down the sketchbook along with his glasses. "nothing. you're very talented. it's very nice. a bit weird to draw me while i'm asleep but it came out great. just..." he yawned and turned off the light, laying back "... don't do it at night. you're gonna ruin your eyesight". "will do. sorry. love you, good night" you chuckled as he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you closer.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ i.n — i.n fell was playing on his phone while laying between your legs. you were doodling something, he was focused on his game = silence. the members got confused by this silence so han was sent to check up on you. he did it so quietly that you two didn't even notice. he took a picture and sent it to the groupchat, running away from the room. i. n checked it instantly and frowned, zooming on you. you looked so focused and yet so passionate. "hey, can i see your drawing?" he asked and turned off his phone, raising his chin up to meet your eyes. "why-? i mean, sure." you chuckled and gave it to him. while jeongin was flipping through the pages with curiousity you started playing with his hair. "woah, y/n... your drawings..." he sighed and you noticed he stopped on that one drawing of him while he was sleeping "they are so cool, what the heck?! do you have more of them? and why i didn't know about them?!" (while i. n was hyped about your skills, bang chan in the other room was crying over how adorable you two are)

[ masterlist <3 ]

[slasherhaven]

Slashers with a short curvy reader

The Slashers with a short, curvy S/O:

Thomas Hewitt 

His guilty pleasure is how much shorter you are than him. He feels like it’s wrong but he absolutely loves how much taller he is than you. He loves how he towers over you and you have to crane your neck to look up at him. Normally his height and size is a cause of intimidation with other people, but you aren’t scared of him, you love him, you’re gentle with him. He also likes when you can’t reach things and he has to get it for you, he doesn’t really know why he just thinks it’s adorable.

Adores your curves. He has a hard time not touching you. He just loves having a hand on you, on your hips or your thighs. Your so soft and warm, he can’t help it. Whenever you wear tightfitting clothes, he has to tear his gaze away from you, he is extremely flustered under that mask.

Scared of hurting you. While he loves how much smaller you are than him, it worries him at the same time. He’s scared that he’s going to hurt you. He could crush you! So, he’s very gentle with you and needs some reassurance and encouragement to be a little more firm handed with you at time.

Michael Myers

Finds you adorable and absolutely unthreatening. You’re tiny, and he will pat the top of your head to remind you of that. But he genuinely think you’re adorable, the way you can’t even wrap your arms around his shoulders without him having to lean down.

When you’re angry you remind him of a mad puppy. You can cross your arms, stomp your feet, glare up at him, or shout all you want. You just make him think of an angry Chihuahua.

Loves that he can just pick you up. He likes that he can just throw you over his shoulder or move you out the way when he wants too. And he just finds it amusing whenever you huff about it.

Jason Voorhees 

He’s extra protective over you and extra careful. He doesn’t mean too but he subconsciously connects your height with being fragile, at least compared to him. It could be so easy to accidentally hurt you and that thought terrifies him. He would never, ever, want to hurt you. So all of his touches are very careful and gentle, almost frustratingly so. He gains more confidence with enough reassurance and encouragement though.

Loves your curves. Jason does absolutely love your curves, they were a cause of plenty inappropriate thoughts before he was comfortable with those feelings. But now, he’s not ashamed of his love for your body and you’re aware of it. He loves just resting his hand on your waist, your hip, your a thigh. It’s not even a sexual thing and you know that, he just loves how soft you are.

Brahms Heelshire

Loves how short you are. You’re just adorable, absolutely precious, and he does like how much taller he is than you. He likes just looming over you, giggling at how short you are. It can get a little annoying but it’s not that bad. He thinks it’s cute when you can’t reach things and he likes being the person you ask to get something for you, he loves the praise you give him afterwards even more.

Will drool over your curves. He can be a bit of a pervert but that shouldn’t be surprising, you catch him staring at you all the time. He’s often staring at you, watching you move, but he’s also always touching you. He’s handsy and will grope you almost constantly unless you establish that he can’t just do that.

Bo Sinclair

Tries to intimidate you with his own height. Bo is relatively tall man but seems a whole lot taller when compared to you, and he likes that a lot. He’ll move into your personal space, forcing you to look up at his face, liking that it makes you look submissive to him.

Finds you near irresistible. He likes having a hand on you most of the time anyway but your curves make it almost impossible for him to resist, he often has a hand on your hip. When at home, he likes having you sit on his lap, a hand resting on your soft thigh. As I’m sure you suspect, it never just ends with an innocent hand resting on your thigh.

Vincent Sinclair 

Extra protective over you. He just thinks you’re so precious and he just can’t see you being able to defend yourself against an escaped victim, so he just likes to make extra sure that you’re safe. This also results in him being pretty gentle with you. He’s relatively tall but seems so much taller when compared to you, he just wants to be gentle and loving with you.

Can’t get enough of you. He loves your curves and your body. He’s always sketching them, even when he doesn’t realise it until it’s finished. Whenever he’s touching you, it’s like he’s worshiping you. Just in awe of your body and how you feel under his palms.

Honestly, just loves hugging you. Vincent loves how you fit in his arms, how your head only comes up to his chest, and how he can practically engulf you with his embrace.

Lester Sinclair

You’re the sweetest thing he’s ever seen. Lester isn’t a particularly tall man, he’s shorter than his brothers, and he’s used to most people being about his height, give or take a few inches. You make him look tall in comparison though. He really doesn’t care about his height, he’s never had a problem with it, but he has thoughts on your height. He thinks you’re just adorable. You’re height and your soft curves makes you the sweetest thing he’s ever seen.

Unlocks a whole new protective side of him. Him seeing you as such a sweet thing, and being a person that he loves so dearly, a new protectiveness is awoken in him. Ambrose is a dangerous place and he doesn’t like the idea of you having anything to do with it.

Tries his best to keep his hands to himself. If he had it his way, he’d be touching you all the time, innocently or not. He actively makes sure to stay respectful, until you notice and assure him that it’s okay, that you don’t mind, that you even want him too. Then he will be touching you all the time.

Bubba Sawyer

Gosh, you’re adorable. Bubba likes cute things and you’re just the cutest of them all. All he wants is to love you and be loved by you.

Wants to protect you. The house is very dangerous and his brothers are very boisterous, he just wants to keep you safe from it all. He’s very protective when his brothers are around. Nubbins and ChopTop never mean you any harm but Bubba doesn’t want to risk them dragging you into any danger. His protectiveness when it comes to Drayton is a little more justified I suppose.

Loves cuddling with you. You’re so soft and you fit in his arms so well, he loves the feeling of you cuddling into his chest as he holds you.

Billy Lenz

Cute little piggy. That’s the name he gives you over the phone, more fond and affectionate than what he calls anyone else that answers the phone. That’s because you’re his favourite, you have been since he first laid eyes on you.

Can’t keep his hands off of you. Of course you get a whole lot of perverted comments but that’s nothing new with him, but he also can’t stop touching you. You’re soft and warm and loving, he just can’t help himself if his hands wander!

Loves cuddling with you. You’re soft and comfortable and you fit in his hold so perfectly. Of course, this is the perfect chance for him to let his hands wander over your curves, stroking and squeezing without even realising that he’s doing it for the most part.

Asa Emory (The Collector)

He just has to have you. As soon as Asa sees you, he knows he has to have you. He doesn’t really have an eye for cute things, his interests are a little darker, but he doesn’t think you’re adorable. The height, how short you are compared to him, and your soft curves. Why wouldn’t he want you?

Thinks your height makes you just precious. The way you have to look up at him makes you look submissive to him, and he loves that more than anything.

His touches can be surprisingly gentle.

Jesse Cromeans (Chromeskull) 

Adores that he towers over you. He towers over most people but he really towers over you and he loves it, but so do you.

Likes to tease you. He’s a tall man and he’s much taller than you. He just finds it amusing when you try to give him a kiss or wrap your arms around his neck but simply...can’t. He can’t help but chuckle at your frustration before leaning down and giving you what you want.

Has a thing for picking you up or having you on his lap. It’s just so easy! He’ll pick you up so that you wrap your legs around his waist, it’s so easy for him to just carry you around, and he thinks it’s pretty cute. Even when you’re sitting on his lap, you look small compared to him, he enjoys that.

Is always touching you. He doesn’t need an excuse to touch you, whether it’s protective, possessive, or affectionate, it doesn’t matter. He’s always got a hand on you.

Otis Driftwood

Lot’s of teasing, lot’s of pet names. It’s mostly based on your height and it’s always with a fondness and affection, but he just loves messing with you. He loves getting you flustered, he thinks it’s adorable.

Always has a hand on you. It’s those curves of yours, how can you expect him to keep his hands off of you when you’re just so enticing?

Loves having you on his lap. If he had it his way, you would always be on his lap. Having you resting against his chest, his hands on your thighs or on your hips, being less than subtle about it.

Baby Firefly 

Just thinks you’re the cutest. She will throw an arm around your shoulders, pulling you into her and kissing the top of your head before smiling brightly down at you. And when you blush? She just loves it. No matter how much you tell her to quit teasing you, she just can’t.

Always teasing and complimenting you. If she isn’t playfully teasing you about your height, she’s complimenting you on your curves. Oh she adores your body and makes sure to tell you that every day.

Yautja (Predator)

You are tiny compared to him. Since the majority of Yautjas are at least 7 foot or taller, you are just tiny in comparison. This makes you even more precious to your mate but he also becomes a whole lot more protective over you.

It all makes you even more adorable. He does just think you’re adorable and is very honest about that but he takes so much pride in you being his mate. He’s well aware of his strength so he knows how to be gentle with you, and he is very gentle until he becomes comfortable that you aren’t as easily broken as he may have assumed.

You’re so small and soft. It’s not something that Yautjas are typically used too, you’re so small compared to his imposing stature, and softness is so foreign to him. It makes him love you all the more, he’s absolutely obsessed with it.

[forzalando]

Flustered | Fred Weasley

Pairing: Fred Weasley x F!Reader Word Count: 2.5k Warnings: mentions of underage drinking and alcohol, tickling, making out Summary: Your flirty friendship with Fred Weasley comes to a resolution after an argument surrounding the Yule Ball that took place all those years ago. 

A/N: hi friends! this is a Fred Weasley fic based on a tik tok i saw last night (all credit for the bolded line goes to the creator of the tik tok). also thank you to @gcdric for discussing this with me very late last night, i hope it turned out well omg i’m NERVOUS. anyway! off we go. please let me know if you’d like to be added to my taglist! i’m updating it since i was on hiatus for awhile! love you guys!

As you sat on the couch of the Burrow, your eyes fixated on the many pictures in the Weasley’s living room, your mind began to drift off with thoughts of the freckled, red-headed boy sat in front of you giggling with his siblings.

There was something extraordinarily special about your friendship with Fred Weasley. After ten plus years of him being the most important person in your life, ever since your first day at Hogwarts when he tripped over your robes as you and your fellow first years hurried into the Sorting Ceremony, you couldn’t imagine life without him.

You had been through so much together; every Hogwarts experience there was to be had, first kisses, first heartbreaks, the Second Great Wizarding War, he was by your side through everything.

“What’s on your mind, Y/N? You look to be thinking entirely too hard for my liking,” Fred sassed, breaking you out of your trance.

“Too hard for your liking?” you retaliated. “What do you care what I’m thinking about?”

“It’s supposed to be a relaxing weekend! You’re much too deep in thought to be relaxing, so of course I care.”

“Well, if you must know, I was thinking about you, Freddie.”

“Carry on then, love. I’ve always wished for your thoughts to be consumed by me.”

With a cheeky wink, Fred went back to a game of exploding snap and you didn’t need to watch to know that Ginny was absolutely kicking his arse. However, you didn’t miss the sly smile that George gave you when Fred’s attention was diverted from you.

It wasn’t uncommon for the two of you to flirt with one another. In fact, you would dare to say it was the most predominant form of communication between the two of you. There was the occasional time or two where you thought that maybe, just maybe, he felt the same, but he’d always look away quickly or press a kiss to your cheeks instead of your lips, laughing it off as the two of you caught up in a moment that would cross a line that could never be crossed, though you so desperately wanted to.

After another round of exploding snap, Ginny said her goodbyes and apparated back to her flat, but not before promising that she wouldn’t miss anymore family dinners for quidditch practice, which you knew would happen inevitably but smiled nonetheless at her enthusiasm. You’d been a regular appearance at the weekly get-together for as long as you could remember, you were practically part of the family so you could say with appropriate accuracy that Ginny definitely missed dinner more than all of her siblings combined due to her busy schedule.

“Well, I suppose it’s time for us to head back as well,” George mused, eyeing the leftover pies in the kitchen. “Are you staying at ours tonight, Y/N?”

“I’d love nothing more. Besides, I didn’t get to play Fred in exploding snap and I want to knock his ego down just a little bit more.”

George linked arms with you and Fred, laughing about his brother’s awful skills as you apparated to their flat above the shop.

You’d spent many a nights at the twins’ flat over the past couple of years. After the war, you had moved in for a while until you found a job and managed to rent your own place. But, they never got rid of your bed that took up a large corner of their living room, which came in handy after weekly Weasley dinners when you just wanted to spend a bit more time with your favorite boys.

“I’m absolutely knackered,” George said once the three of you had settled on the couch. “I think I might go to bed now, if I’m honest. Besides, I want to be up early to work on those new design sketches for the storefront.”

“George Weasley, you have never gotten up before 10 o’clock on a Sunday in your entire life,” you scoffed.

“There’s a first for everything, Y/N. Goodnight to you and Freddie!”

As George turned away from you both, he faked a yawn and when he was sure Fred wasn’t looking, winked back at you to further confirm your suspicion that he wanted you to be alone with Fred.

He had just about had enough of the tension between you both and took every chance he got to get the two of you alone, by any means necessary.

When you heard George’s bedroom door close, you noticed Fred scoot closer to you on the couch until your legs were touching. He slung his arm over your shoulders and you swung your legs up to lay across his lap.

“What were you thinking about earlier? While Gin and I were playing by the fireplace?” Fred wondered aloud.

“Oh, I was looking at all the pictures on the walls at your Mum and Dad’s. I saw one from you and George’s first day at Hogwarts and I was thinking about how we first met.”

“Hmm, so you were thinking about one of the most embarrassing moments in my life?”

“Please, you’ve done much, much worse. Remember that time in our sixth year when you tried to outdrink George after we won the Slytherin match and you – ”

“Ah, ah, ah, I thought we agreed to never speak of that incident again,” Fred said as he visibly shuddered.

“I was just pointing out that I can think of quite a few moments that were far more embarrassing than tripping on my robes.”

“You’re one to talk! Don’t you remember our fifth year when you and George were running from Filch and you knocked Wood to the ground? Bloody broke his arm, you were so lucky Madame Pomfrey had him fixed up before our next match or he would’ve had a heart attack.”

A loud laugh escaped your lips as you covered your face in embarrassment; that was the year you had followed Oliver around like a lost puppy, although your schoolgirl crush paled in comparison to how you’d felt for Fred back then and now as well but neither twin would ever let you live it down.

“Do you remember the Yule Ball? When Flitwick caught you trying to spike the punch and you slipped and fell in the middle of the dance floor?” You chuckled at the memory, even if the Yule Ball was an event you had tried to forget.

“You were so mad at me that night and the whole week before, I was terribly distracted. If we had been on good terms I would’ve gotten away with it and the slipping never would have happened.”

“Well, it’s your own fault we were fighting! I still can’t believe you didn’t ask me to go with you.”

“Oi, it’s not my fault when you never said you wanted me to ask you.”

“I thought I had made it painfully obvious when I asked you every morning at breakfast if you’d found a date yet and told you that I didn’t have one either.”

Fred threw his head back and laughed, the thought of your shocked face when he had asked Angelina was too priceless a memory to ever forget.

“You were so jealous,” Fred mumbled.

“Jealous?!” you screeched. “I wasn’t jealous, I was annoyed that I had to spend all night with some Durmstrang tosser stepping on my toes. We’ve had this argument literally a million times.”

“No, you were definitely jealous. You shot poor Angie daggers the whole night and she’s such a lovely girl.”

“I shot her daggers because she hogged you and I didn’t get to dance with my best friend a single time at the only Ball we ever had at school.”

“I would’ve asked you to dance if you weren’t mad at me, and you know she was only dancing with me to make George jealous, even if he was oblivious.”

You smiled at that; you knew Angelina only had eyes for George and that going with Fred was some elaborate ruse. Shockingly, it ended up working, and he and Angelina have been together ever since.

“Still think you were jealous,” Fred challenged, poking you in the exact spot on your abdomen that he knew you were ticklish.

“Fred Weasley, for the last time, I was not jealous,” you emphasized as you poked him back.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish, love,” he said lowly, a daring glint in his eye.

Never one to heed warnings or follow directions, you poked him again and within seconds he had you pinned underneath him on the couch, his fingers trailing up and down your sides as you couldn’t help but laugh boisterously beneath him.

“Fred – ” you gasped. “Freddie, please, I actually think I might pee on your couch.”

“Not until you admit you were jealous that I asked Angelina!”

You shook your head, the combination of laughter and trying to catch your breath kept you from firing back a witty remark.

After a few moments, you simply couldn’t take anymore and shouted out, “FINE. Fine, you win.”

“What was that, lovey? I couldn’t quite hear you.”

“I said, fine, I admit it. I was jealous that you asked Angelina when I wanted you to ask me,” you grumbled, struggling to catch your breath in between words.

“See, now that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

You glared up at him and moved to push him off of you when you realized just how close his face was to yours. If you concentrated hard enough, you could count each individual freckle splattered across his nose and cheeks. Almost instinctually, your eyes flickered down to his lips, but you wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of staring, so you quickly looked away.

Fred noticed that you couldn’t take your eyes off of him and, in true Fred Weasley fashion, couldn’t resist a flirty joke.

“You really want to kiss me right now, don’t you?” Fred chuckled.

“Yeah,” you sighed, “yeah, I do.”

Surging forward, you pressed your lips to his and immediately wove your fingers through the hair at the base of his neck. You were so tired; tired of the constant flirting and feeling as if you would forever have to love him from afar while he lived his life blissfully unaware of how much it hurt you to hide how you felt.

His arms wrapped around your waist and pulled you closer to him; the raw emotion in the way he desperately kissed you left little doubt in your mind that he had wanted this for as long as you had. His hands slipped under your shirt and his fingers blazed a trail of fire up your spine; a breathy moan escaped your lips but Fred swallowed the sound with his mouth, deepening the kiss and pulling you even closer.

A scream from behind the couch caused you to jump apart, chests heaving and hair sticking up every possible way. You sat up to look over the back of the couch to see George Weasley, looking visibly shaken and guilty, with his hands covering his eyes.

“Oh my god, I leave you alone for thirty minutes and you’re about to shag on my bloody couch. Jesus, ok, let me just, uh, well, I’ve probably ruined the mood, haven’t I?”

“George,” you hissed. “What are you doing sneaking around, I thought you were going to bed?!”

“Yeah, I said I was,” he said sheepishly as he uncovered his eyes, “but I might have been eavesdropping on your conversation. When I heard it go all quiet, I thought I’d come out and see if you two fools had fallen asleep, but clearly, that was not the case.”

“Eavesdropping? I swear to Merlin, George, you’re a ten year old boy. I can’t believe you! Of all the immature and invasive things to do, my God.”

“Well, pardon me, I just wanted to see if my idiot brother would finally grow some balls and tell you he’s in love with you!”

“I’m not sure what you’re on about but that doesn’t mean you can just sneak up on people,” you chided.  “Fred, would you please back me up here, what is wrong with you – ”

You turned around to pull Fred into the argument only to find him sitting on top of the coffee table with a dazed look in his eyes and flushed cheeks.

“Fred, are you alright?” you asked worriedly.

He slowly lifted his head and looked into your eyes; you could see just how flushed his face was now that he wasn’t staring at the floor and good Godric, he was as red as the hair on his head.

“I…I…You,” he stammered. “You kissed me?”

“Yes, I suppose that is what happened,” you muttered sheepishly.

“Y/N Y/L/N…you…you kissed me?”

“Freddie, what the hell is the matter with you?”

George burst into laughter and you whirled back around to glare at him, however, this time, he didn’t hush up like he usually did.

“Like I said before, he’s in love with you, and now he can’t even form a coherent sentence because you kissed him, this is golden. Ol’ cock sure Freddie, a pile of mush because of a little makeout sesh, I’ve got to send an owl to Lee…” George trailed off as he turned and rushed back towards his bedroom.

You took another look at Freddie and smiled at the lovestruck look on his face. He was shaking his head in his hands and you saw the redness on his neck as well, which only happened when he was well and truly flustered.

“This is so humiliating,” he groaned as you sat down next to him.

“I think it’s rather cute, if that makes you feel any better,” you said as you chuckled and placed a hand on his thigh.

He removed his head from his hands and looked at you adoringly, the giddy smile on his face ignited butterflies in your stomach and your heart beat wildly in your chest.  

“All the times I imagined how this would pan out…it definitely wasn’t supposed to happen this way. I mean, not that I’m mad about it, it was incredibly sexy how you just grabbed me and kissed me, but I wasn’t supposed to be a bumbling fool afterwards.”

A moment of silence washed over the both of you as Fred intertwined your hands and steadily held your gaze.

“George was right, you know. I am in love with you. Have been for quite a long time, if I’m being honest.”

“Well, in the spirit of honesty, I guess I should say that I’m in love with you too.”

“Bloody brilliant,” he sighed as he leaned in to kiss you again, but you stopped him just before your lips touched.

“You’re not going to pass out or anything if we kiss again, are you?”

“No promises, love, but I’ll try my best.”

taglist: @theweasleysredhair @hufflepuffbaby9 @theboywhocriedlupin @swellwriting @fortisfiliae @thoseofgreatambition @wildfire-whizbangs @woakiees 

[dollslayer]

Artistic Intention

Artist!Steve x Reader

Summary: Steve's doing well in his life drawing class, but a new muse throws him for a loop in the back supply room.

W/C: 2,374

Warnings: NO MINORS, p in v smut, unprotected sex, public sex, breeding kink if you squint, swearing

A/N: Hey! I wrote this for @buckyownsmylife 1st anniversary challenge! I love me a good AU so I chose Artist AU+ exhibitionism. Happy tumblr-versary! I made Steve a shy boi in this lol. If you liked this fic pls reblog/comment!! Check out my other fics too! Cheers!

Main Masterlist

It’s 1:45pm and Steve is desperately trying to weave his way through the crowd of people before him. His art folio hits everyone and thing as he makes feeble attempts to apologize to everyone for the bulkiness of the case. He can’t be too apologetic though, he’s running late for his 2pm life drawing class and if he doesn’t make it the professor will close the door in his face.

This is the longest 15 minutes in Steve’s life, he figures. He finally makes it up the steps and jogs up the stairs. His folio hits his leg, he winces but doesn’t stop, he’s only got a few minutes to make it up to the second floor and get himself situated behind an easel. He’s nearly out of breath when he makes it to the second floor and he’s trying to check his watch while running for the door. Two minutes.

Steve bursts through the doors and exhales loudly, he’s not sure he’s ever felt so relieved. His feeling of relief is short lived and quickly replaced with embarrassment as he realizes every pair of eyes in the room is on him. Every pair except for one. The new model for class this week, you slowly turn your head to reveal sharp eyes and a coy smile. He feels himself blush under your gaze and mutters an apology before getting settled in an easel directly in front of you.

He tries his best to focus on getting his paper and charcoals set out in an effort to shrug off the mixture of humiliation and lingering anxiety he had about being late. He feels his heartbeat begin to steady and he lets himself relax a little bit.

“Good afternoon, everyone. We have a new model in class this week, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. She’ll be keeping her current pose for one hour and repositioning for the second half of class. Mr. Rogers, since you had no problem running late I assume you’ll have no problem staying late as well. You’ll clean up after class.” The professor concludes with a short nod.

Steve sighs but nods his head in acknowledgement. He catches you smirking in amusement again at him and he can’t help but to blush all over again. He feels just like he did in high school, embarrassing himself in front of pretty girls. He sighs and picks up a piece of charcoal.

Steve decides to get a proper look at you and almost regrets it when he chokes on his own breath. You’re gorgeous, you’re coy and charming, you’re a muse. He’s still blushing because you’re naked, and beautiful and the feeling of humiliation hits him even more. He’s been in this class before, he knows the models will be naked but none of them had ever caught his attention as more than a subject, none of them were you.

He takes his time admiring your natural curves and appreciates your figure. You are so full of natural beauty, your bare face is perfectly flawed and the sun shining through the window highlights your skin tone. He can see why you were chosen to model for class, you’re perfect. He has to discreetly adjust himself and shuffles his jacket into his lap as he feels his pants tighten. He’s flustered all over again and realizes everyone else is already ahead of him. He puts charcoal to paper and gets to work.

____

As class goes on Steve’s sketch is coming along nicely. He can’t bring himself to look at you for more than a few seconds at a time for fear of getting hard again. When he sends furtive glances your way he catches you looking back at him with that smile of yours. He swears at one point you raise an eyebrow at him like you’re amused by him. He brushes it off and keeps drawing.

Class comes and goes much faster than he anticipated. He wants to pack up and get out as quickly as he can when he remembers that he has to clean up the room. He lets out a groan and waits for everyone else to leave. Now it’s only you, him, and the professor who are left in the room.

“Mr. Rogers I’ve got to get out of here, I trust you can put easels away without incident?” The professor asks. Steve nods and the professor turns to you. “Thank you for your work today, you can collect your pay from the front office. I look forward to having you as a model for this class.”

You smile and nod, waving goodbye to him. By now you’ve slipped on a robe and are reaching for your bag but it feels like you’re lingering. It’s just now that Steve realizes the two of you are alone. He swallows thickly, trying not to pay attention to you out of the corner of his eye. He begins to pack away his own drawing but not before giving it one final assessment. He can’t help himself from his own critical eye, analyzing mistakes and appreciating triumphs.

“Is that supposed to be me?”

Steve jumps in surprise, you’re peering right over his shoulder. He’s caught off guard by your presence and also by your voice, do you always sound this sultry?

He swallows and nods before taking a deep breath. Wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans he turns to face you.

“Uh, yeah. Yes it is. I don’t think it’s very good but I’m trying” He anxiously starts making excuses, assuming you hate it.

But you don’t. You just smile thoughtfully at him and nod.

“It’s good. At least, I think it is.”

“Th-thanks, thank you.”

“Do you always cut it that close or were you just hoping to stay late with me?”

Steve sputters at your boldness. He has to remind himself that he’s not that scrawny, measly kid he used to be. But he can’t help but feel like he is with his sweaty palms and short breaths.

“I, I um, I didn’t realize there’d be a new model. Was kind of expecting the old one. Not- not that there’s anything wrong with you, of course! I, sorry I didn’t mean to imply that, you’re- you’re beautiful too, you’re perfect really, I just. Oh jesus.” He spews the words out faster than his brain can keep up and he’s making a complete fool of himself.

He can’t bear to look at you, so he starts closing up easels and stacking stools. He doesn’t notice you ogling his muscles through his tight t-shirt.

“You think I’m beautiful?” You ask innocently.

“I-, um, yes. I think you’re very beautiful, if you don’t mind me saying so.” Steve answers honestly.

He moves some stools to the large supply room in the back of the classroom and you follow him.

“I think you’re beautiful too. And cute. You’re practically falling all over yourself, it’s sweet”

Are you talking to him? He still sees himself as he was back then, having a hard time thinking that anyone would look at him and find him attractive. It’s why he’s so beside himself now. You’re so completely beautiful and self-assured, there’s no way you’re talking to him. He sets down the stack he’s carrying and realizes you’re much closer than he thought. You’re inches away.

“What do you like the most about me? Is it my body? Don’t think I didn’t notice you readjusting your pants at the beginning of class.” You move even closer and Steve thinks you must be able to hear his heart beat because it’s about to come right out of his chest.

Your hands are on his chest and you have to lean up on your tip-toes for your lips to meet his ear.

“What do you say? You and me in this supply room? There’s hardly anyone here. Come on”

Steve feels like he’s dreaming, he has to check if he is. But then your hand reaches for his dick through his pants and he nearly doubles over from the sensation. He’s never been with anyone so brash and confident, your touch leaves a burning trail on his body.

“But- but what if someone comes in and sees?” He says, using every last bit of coherent reasoning he has.

“Isn’t that what makes it so fun?”

Oh, God. You. You. Smiling that devilish smile at him. He was weak in the knees and you took the opportunity to push him backwards onto a spare desk. You pulled him by the shirt collar to meet your lips and he let out a noise of surprise. Steve pushes his tongue into your mouth and lets out an obscene moan. You feel so good. He knew you’d feel good but not this good.

Steve’s large hands come to your waist and venture lower until he has a handful of your ass and grabs. You let out a little moan and nudge your knee between his legs and he grinds against it. You pull back to catch your breath when your hands go to the ties of your robes.

“We’re a little overdressed, don’t you think?”

Steve doesn’t need to be asked twice as he pulls his shirt over his head. Jeans have never felt so uncomfortable and he’s frantically trying to get himself down to his boxers. He swears he goes slack jawed when he looks back up at you. He’s already seen you naked, he just stared at you naked for hours, but you’re just as gorgeous as before but it’s the way you’re looking at him. Like he’s desirable, almost like he’s a piece of meat. It makes him feel wanted and reassured and he feels himself grow harder.

Your hands slip beneath the elastic of his boxers and slowly slide them down his legs. He can’t help but flush when you let out a small gasp at the size of him. He doesn’t want to get too big of an ego with it but he’s always known he was… gifted.

Before he can let anything go to his head he lets out his own soft gasp as you stroke him languidly. He can’t control his hips as they cant up into your hand. You grab his hand and quickly lead his fingers to your dripping pussy. Steve nearly melts when he feels how wet you are and slides two fingers in easily. He’s pumping them in and out and you let out tiny mewls as you kiss his neck.

There’s no more time for preamble though, you two need to be quick if you don’t want to be caught by some unfortunate custodian. You remove your hand from his cock and he takes his fingers out of your pussy and swears you whine a little. Feeling brazen himself, he makes direct eye contact with you and sucks his fingers clean. You bite your lip and squirm while he revels in the taste.

Reluctantly he takes his fingers out of his mouth and gets up to situate you so you’re sitting on the desk. You spread your legs wide for him and he takes in the sight, committing to memory. Maybe he can draw you like this some time. For now he takes a step closer but falters, remembering one fatal flaw in this whole plan.

“I… don’t have a condom”

You don’t look let down at all, you look excited in fact. Shaking your head, you explain to him.

“Doesn’t matter, ‘m on the pill. I wanna feel you cum inside me”

Steve might pass out before he gets the chance, the way you keep talking with that mouth of yours. He wastes no more time and positions himself at your entrance. He has one hand on his dick and the other on the back of your neck when he looks you deep in the eye and impales you fully in one go.

The moan you let out is pornographic and Steve uses his newly freed hand to cover your mouth.

“We have to stay quiet. Can you do that?”

You nod silently and he removes his hand, opting to grab your hip instead.

He pulls back and begins to start pumping into you. He’s steady at first, trying to keep himself from cumming too quickly. Slowly he starts increasing his speed and the force that he uses is causing the legs of the old desk to scrape against the floor.

Your hand reaches and grabs his ass, pushing him deeper into your pussy. You feel so tight wrapped around him with no barrier and he doesn’t know how much longer he can hold out. You’re trying to keep your moans quiet when he kisses you to silence them all together. He’s trying with all his might not to cum before you do.

His fingers find your clit and he starts rubbing it in tight circles. You have a harder time keeping quiet and you’re squeezing him like a vice. The friction on your clit and his dick hitting your G-spot perfectly is causing your eyes to roll in the back of your head.

“‘M gonna cum, please. Please don’t stop” You beg. Steve feels a wave of power surge over him now that you’re the needy one.

“Go on then, I’m not far behind ya. Wanna feel your pussy cum on my cock.”

With a few moments more he has you seeing stars and you claw at his back and pull him close to you. He continues on in his movements and starts pounding into you in earnest chasing his own release. All you can do is hold on for dear life.

Steve makes one final thrust before he’s cumming deep inside you. The rush of warmth is welcome to you and you kiss his jaw as he tries to catch his breath. The only sound being both of your heavy breathing. Hopefully no one heard you.

Steve can’t believe what just happened. He met a gorgeous girl and she propositioned him in a public place all in the span of two hours. He realizes just how far he’s come from who he used to be. He looks down at you, your noses touching.

“So, what’s your name?”

[babymilkawa]

an inaudible bridge between us

bakugou katsuki

gn!reader :)

angst

word count; 1755

Ever since Bakugou had turned completely deaf, you had gotten a lot busier. Bakugou himself was still trying to get used to the changes happening around, unaware that you had to go through the same thing. During the day, you went to school as usual and took notes during class. Except your notes had to be much more detailed and clear for Bakugou to understand. You could no longer explain them to him verbally if he ever missed class. He now relied on your little sketches and written explanations. Then during lunch, you’d meet him at the rooftop, away from the noise of the cafeteria. For the first couple of days, the two of you barely talked. A lot of times you’d forget that he couldn’t hear you and you’d say “Oh, remember when I told you about-” you’d see his face lift up expectantly only to have your own face fall when you remembered that he couldn’t hear you. 

Then, you started to take JSL lessons during the night. Bakugou himself had been enrolled in a class that he’d take while he was away from school, leaving you responsible to provide his school work. Before any of this had happened, you had sat in a meeting room with your teachers and Bakugou, discussing solutions on how to meet his needs. It was decided that y/n would aid him with school since their class rank was high enough. They would be able to help him without falling behind themselves. It wasn’t until you had started taking sign language lessons did you realize the new life you had to get used to. Bakugou would sleep in your dorm more often now and didn’t know at all about your night lessons until he woke up from a nightmare one time to find you huddled at your desk, a small lamp turned on. He could see the small hand gestures you were making and how exhausted you looked. He could feel his heart clench. This was because of him and your stubborn nature. You had insisted on looking after him on top of your own stresses. Heart heavy, Bakugou rose out of bed and lightly tapped on your shoulder as to not frighten you. You turned around and upon seeing him, immediately stood up to push him back into bed. He took you by the arms, however, and dragged you along with him, trying to get you to sleep. You tried struggling out of his grasp, but he wouldn’t let you. You had to rest. Only then did he know the weight you were carrying and that he caused it. 

When Bakugou had gotten his hearing aids, they took him some time to get used to for the first couple of weeks. It felt like it had been forever since he last used his voice. You were there for him, though. The two of you practiced speaking and getting used to the hearing aids. 

The very first time he put them on, he had been excited. The first thing he wanted to hear was your voice. Your cheery, soft voice that he loved to hear. You weren’t there with him when he got them, however. He had walked straight to your dorm, hoping to see you first. He noticed that you were in the shower and quickly put them on, knowing that you always sang in the shower. But when he got them situated, his ears were met with the sound of just the shower running. He could hear you moving around, but no singing voice. The blonde was confused; why weren’t you singing? Did something happen? 

He decided to wait until you were done to try again. But when you stepped out of the shower and saw him, your greeting felt..grey. He had held up his hearing aids to show you and your acknowledgment didn’t feel like it came from you. Something was wrong and Bakugou could sense it. He was determined to figure it out. After you changed, he led you to your bed and signed to you, what’s wrong?

You signed back with a smile that didn’t reach your eyes, it’s nothing

You quickly changed the topic and turned your attention to his new gadgets. The two of you spent the rest of the night practicing his speech.

Bakugou had started going back to school, seeing as he had passed his JSL course. Getting used to the loud sounds of the classroom definitely took him some time. Teachers were always cautious, though. They always reminded others to be mindful of their voices. Bakugou hated it. Even though, it hurt when he heard loud noises, he didn’t want anything to change. He could already sense his relationship with you changing, even though you saw each other every day. 

After a month or two of using his hearing aids, Bakugou started to take them off in short intervals. The weight of them left his ears aching and it felt nice to have some peace and quiet sometimes. When he’s with you, however, he never took them off. He had tried to get you to start talking to him again. Sometimes even practicing your JSL. But you noticed his discomfort whenever he wore his aids. So before the two of you went to sleep, you’d gently take them off when he’d lie on your lap and he’d protest a little. He wanted to hear your voice and this was the only time he could. But you refused and instead, starting to softly rub around his ears. Then his temple. You could feel each of his muscles relaxing. 

Bakugou then signed, can you hum?

You gave him an ok and started on a simple melody. Bakugou instantly melted even further into your lap. He could hear the vibrations of your voice and he felt that this was better than nothing. 

Now that Bakugou would often take his hearing aids off to relieve his ears, he noticed that you would always check if he was wearing them if you guys met up in the hallway or outside. Your eyes would immediately go up to his ears and through that, you’d know whether to talk to him or sign. 

There was a time when Bakugou offered to go out to buy groceries for the kitchen but you weren’t there to volunteer to accompany him so he left alone. You had been walking back to the dorms after your internship when you saw Bakugou walking straight into traffic. 

“Katsuki!” You ran towards him, pulling him back just in time.

He wasn’t wearing his aids and you, forgetting that you were supposed to check, said “What were you thinking? Why didn’t you go to the cross walk? You could’ve been hit!”

All Bakugou could do however was stare back at you, dumbfounded. Your forehead was creased and months of exhaustion, worrying, and stress were all evident on your face. 

Bakugou felt a sudden guilt in his heart. He shouldn’t have taken his aids off. What was he thinking? Why couldn’t he stop causing you to worry? It felt forever since he had last seen your smile. The two of you barely shared any kisses or hugs anymore. What was happening? 

Walking back to the dorms, Bakugou had come to a decision. He realized that he could no longer be the cause to the unhappiness that you were clearly experiencing. It wasn’t his fault that he was deaf, but he knew that letting you go would be better for you. Your absence would leave him in permanent pain but he couldn’t bear the fact that you were no longer smiling because of him. If he really loved you, he would let you go. 

One evening, Bakugou called you back to his dorm. You thought it was odd since the two of you usually hung out in your dorm. He sat you down on his bed, while he pulled his desk chair out to sit on. Bakugou took his aids out and reached out for your hands. 

Then he tried to speak, “Y-Y/n”

Even after months of practicing bringing his speech back to normal, Bakugou couldn’t help but try his best to make his words clear for you to understand. His voice came out hoarse and hesitant, unknown by himself. 

You nodded for him to continue, sensing that he had something important to say. 

“I think you need...to go”

Your face twisted slightly in concfusion. You signed, what do you mean? go where?

“You have to leave...me”

Finally understanding what he was trying to convey, you started to frantically shake your head. Bakugou tightened his grip on your hands and tried to calm you down. Your face crumpled up and your eyes started to water. 

You signed desperately, but I don’t want to!

Hating the sight of you crying, he pulled you to his neck. Although he couldn’t hear your sobs, he could feel you shaking in his grasp and tears started to form in his eyes as well.

He knew this would be hard and doing it right now made him want to turn back. But he knew he couldn’t. Bakugou couldn't watch you suffer any more. He could only see himself as a nuisance to you. You shouldn’t have to spend your life looking after him. The thought that he couldn’t even protect you anymore struck him harder. You needed someone better. He hoped that letting you go would allow you to get some rest and to focus on yourself. He hoped that you could finally be the y/n he fell in love with.

Bakugou tried to pry your fingers off his shirt but you wouldn’t let him. You signed, do you not love me anymore?

Oh, how you were wrong. 

He signed back, it’s because I love you. 

This caused you to refuse even more. No way were you leaving him. You understood why he asked you of this, however. You knew that he knew. Every time you looked at him with pain in your eyes, his own mirrored the same emotion. You only wanted him. He had to understand that.

Finally, Bakugou was able to separate the two of you. He took one final look at your face. Even with your eyes swollen and puffy, your hair tangled in knots, you still looked beautiful to him. You would always be his sweet angel, he would never forget you.

Then he left.

a/n: aaah I hope you liked it! Requests are open :)

bnha masterlist

[pixla]

Listen [part two]

(Tommy Slater x fem!plus-size!reader)

[part one]

Warnings/disclaimers: nobody dies au, Alice never breaks her leg, nobody bleeds on the bone, Sarah was buried under the tree, violence, cursing

Word count: 500

Request for: @btsarmygirl417

As expected, carrying a 5’11 grown man through the woods proved to be fairly impossible, especially when all that man wants to do is rip your throat out with his bare hands.

You groaned, dropping Tommy’s leg that you were supporting previously. “Nope! I’m done! This is impossible.” You groan. “Where do we even start? We have no clue how this curse even started let alone how to stop it.” You buried your head into your palms.

“Well,” Alice murmured, pulling a small book from the waistband of her shorts. “We do have one thing.” The old thing was practically falling apart at the seams. You sighed, taking the book from her hands. You run your thumb along the edge, flicking through the pages. “I read it, it said until her hand is reunited with her body she will ‘keep her grip upon the land’.”

You looked up at her. “Well where the fuck are those?”

“Hold on, I was just getting to that.” Alice rolls her eyes, pulling something else from her cross body bag. “Look what I found.” She smirks.

You freeze “Is that I fucking hand?!” You step back as she practically shoves it in your face. “Not just a hand, Sarah fucking fier’s hand!” She exclaimed. “I found it in the caves with Cindy, the devil's stone remember, it’s in the caves!”

“Holy shit.” Arnie mutters under his breath.

“Yeah but there’s still one part missing..” you lead on before Alice interrupts. “Don’t assume I didn’t think about that one too.” She scolds pointing to the book you still held firmly. “I assume you know the old tale of Sarah fier. There’s only one place she could be buried.”

“The hanging tree.” You realise, looking down. “But what are we supposed to do with Tommy?”

—

You hauled Tommy into the supply closet tying his ropes around a naked pipe. You guys figured the mess haul would be the best place, away from everyone who was currently playing colour wars.

“He should be okay in here, there’s no way he’s gonna get out.” Alice reassures locking the door.

You look over to both of them. “Let’s find that witch.”

—

The soil was moist and easy to dig as Arnie wielded a shovel. With a small clunk Arnies digging stopped. “I’ve hit something.” Arnie threw the shovel to the ground to help you uncover the remains. Your finger sunk into the ground searching. “I’ve got it!” You held a thick lock in the palm of your hands. Across the top ‘Fier’ was sketched in rough letters. “It’s her.”

You looked up to Alice as she handed you the skeletal remains of Sarah Fier’s hand. “For Tommy.” You placed the hand amongst the soil, clenching your eyes shut.

[lunar-wandering]

Lanterns and Lies

surprise!! here we go, the sequel to Glamours and Gauze!

Word Count: 7k

Read on Ao3

-

Macaque had lied, when he said the shadow lantern was gone.

When the Lady Bone Demon had caught him, she had made a specific note of needing the lantern.

And, well, Macaque wouldn't let that happen.

So he'd shattered it, again, and during the Lady Bone Demon's momentary shock, he'd taken the opportunity to gather the broken pieces and run.

One of her minions had cut him with the cursed knife while he was running away.

That didn't matter now though, his injuries had been healed, and the Lady Bone Demon had yet to make another move. For now, sitting on the roof of the noodle shop, he was safe.

He starred down at the shattered pieces of the lantern in his hands.

With a sigh, he carefully extended his magic, putting the pieces back together again, reforming the lantern. He held it gently in his hands as he looked around the roof.

Now where was he gonna hide this-

"Macaque, I brought plums!"

Macaque startled upon hearing MK's voice, he'd been so distracted focusing on putting the lantern back together, he hadn't even heard the other climb up the ladder to the roof.

The.....lantern....

Which he told MK was gone....

In a rush to avoid MK seeing the lantern, Macaque did the first thing he thought of.

He shoved the lantern into himself, letting it mix into his own magic. Not the smartest way of storing it, it was a highly magical item, who knows how it would act while in direct contact with his magic, but it was the first thing he could think of, and this was only a temporary measure, so it should be fine.

....Probably.

"Hey bud, what's up?" Macaque asked, turning around to face MK, who was setting a small bowl of plums on the ground. "...What are the plums for?"

"You said that if I brought you some plums, you'd tell me about the time Monkey King walked into a tree." MK said, "And I fully expect you to keep your end of the bargain."

"Yeah, yeah, okay." Macaque said, grabbing the bowl of plums. "Well you see, what happened was-"

-

"That had to be the stupidest shit you've ever pulled, Wukong." Macaque said, breathing heavily as he leaned against a tree. Wukong for his part, just smirked.

"I didn't see you try to stop me." He said, laughing as Macaque glared at him.

"I did try to stop you. Multiple times. But you didn't listen." He said, "You really need to stop picking a fight with every random person you meet."

"You're no fun at all." Wukong said, yawning as he stretched. Macaque rolled his eyes.

"Whatever." He said, "Anyways, we should probably head back to the cave, get some rest-"

"I'm not tired." Wukong said.

"You literally yawned a few seconds ago."

"Doesn't mean I'm tired. Besides, there's still more stuff to do." Wukong said, turning and walking off further into the mountain's forest, Macaque trailing behind him. As they walked, Macaque noticed Wukong start slouching, little by little. He didn't say anything though, knowing that Wukong would only deny it if asked.

It would be better just to watch and deal with the consequences when they came.

And oh boy, did the consequences come: in the form of Wukong turning a corner and immediately walking directly into a tree. The tree snapped in half, falling to the ground, with Wukong tumbling down after it. There was a loud thump, as dust and leaves were sent flying into the air. A few nearby birds called out in concern.

"Timber." Macaque said, a smirk on his face, walking over and crouching down beside where Wukong now lay on his back with a dazed expression on his face. "So. Not tired, huh?"

"Shut up." Wukong hissed, sitting up, pulling dirt and leaves out of his fur as he did so. "The tree just. Got in my way, that's all-"

"You're expecting me to believe that a tree got up and put itself in your path?" Macaque asked, "Wukong. I'm not stupid. Let's just hurry up and go back to the cave to rest already."

"I'm fine." Wukong said, moving to stand up, but wobbling a little, tipping backwards again-

Macaque caught him, keeping him from having another close encounter with the ground.

-

"I ended up having to carry him all the way back up the mountain." Macaque said, making little images with his shadows in order to give MK a better visual of what happened. "He ended up sleeping for like, 3 days. Took him still being tired when he woke up again for me to realize he'd gotten cursed. Wasn't hard to break it afterwards, but boy did Wukong protest the whole time. Practically had to tie him to his bed."

MK scribbled in his sketch book, and Macaque, out of curiosity, moved closer, looking over MK's shoulder to see a sketch of what Macaque had just described.

"....You're drawing this?" He asked. MK nodded.

"Yeah! I've got a lifetime goal of illustrating all of Monkey King's adventures!" MK said, pausing his sketching to show Macaque a quick flip through of the rest of the book. "...You got any other stories?"

"Lots." Macaque said, leaning back. "But you're gonna have to bring more plums if you want more stories. I'm not just gonna hand this info out for free."

"Of course, of course." MK said, standing up and walking back over to the ladder, mumbling to himself as he climbed back down. "I'm going to have to permanently add plums to my shopping list...."

Macaque stayed where he was, waiting patiently until he couldn't hear MK anymore, before letting out a relieved sigh.

That had been close.... No matter what, he couldn't let the others know that he still had the lantern. Revealing that would probably cause the others to push him away, they wouldn't trust him anymore, and he really couldn't have that. Hanging around them was the most advantageous position for him to be in right now, and he wasn't about to give it up any time soon.

...He still needed a place to hide it permanently, keeping it inside of himself probably wouldn't be a good idea in the long term. With that thought in mind, he mentally reached inwards with his magic, shadows starting to surround him as he prepared to take the lantern out-

"Hey, Macaque!"

Macaque startled again, the shadows that had condensed around him vanishing as though they'd been popped like party balloons as he whirled around to see-

Mei, who giggled at his shocked expression, holding up her phone and taking a quick picture of him before pocketing it.

"Would you two stop doing that?" Macaque asked, sighing as Mei circled around him.

"Hey, it's not my fault you didn't hear me coming." Mei said, giggling at the expression on Macaque's face. "Seriously, with all those ears you have it's a wonder you didn't-"

"What do you want." Macaque growled, "You wouldn't be here if you didn't want something."

"Wouldn't I?"

That. Wasn't a question Macaque felt that he could answer. He honestly couldn't think of a reason why any of MK's friends would want to be around him, but they hadn't really been pushing him away either....

Mei seemed a little concerned with how he'd suddenly gone silent though, so it was probably best to quickly change the subject.

"Ah, anyways, I have some stuff to do, so I don't really have time for you." Macaque said, walking past Mei and over to the edge of the rooftop. Distantly, he noted a weird tingling sensation come over him, but he ignored it, figuring it wasn't important.

"Oh, now that's a lie." Mei said, a smirk on her face. "You never do anything other than lounge around up here."

"Do not." Macaque said, crossing his arms. "I do plenty, you just haven't noticed."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

Macaque pondered for a moment on how best to answer-

And that was when his foot started sinking into the shadow underneath of him.

Outwardly, Macaque remained perfectly calm, not letting Mei in on the fact that anything was amiss.

Inwardly, he panicked.

That was definitely not supposed to be happening, why was it happening it shouldn't be happening why was he l o s i n g  c o n t r o l-

He was snapped out of his panic when he heard the sound of an engine starting up behind him. Subtly looking over his shoulder, he could see MK, ready to drive off, probably to deliver some noodles.

Macaque made his decision in a split second.

Turning and pulling his foot out of the shadow it'd been sinking into, Macaque jumped off the roof. Ignoring Mei's shout of "Hey, wait!", he slipped into the shadow of the tuk tuk, just before MK started to drive away.

-

Macaque hung out in the shadow of the tuk tuk for about 15 minutes before he actually bothered to wonder where exactly MK was going.

MK slowed down a bit as he turned a corner, and Macaque figured it was as good a time as any to ask.

Carefully, he materialized on the back of the tuk tuk, then, after making sure there wasn't anything around for MK to accidentally hit should he swerve, asked;

"Where are you going?"

MK's foot slammed on the brakes, the tires screeching and Macaque almost falling off from the sudden inertia. As soon as they were still, MK whirled around, staring at Macaque, shocked.

"How long have you been there?" He asked, and the expression on his face genuinely made Macaque laugh.

"Oh, not very long." Macaque said, "I was riding along in the shadow for the most part."

"...You can do that?" MK asked, "You probably save like, so much money when traveling then-"

"Bold of you to assume that I have any money at all." Macaque said, "Anyways, you didn't answer the question. Where are you going?"

"Why do you want to know?" MK asked, crossing his arms. "And why are you here anyways? Usually you just stay on the roof, what changed?"

"Nothing! What, can't I just want to go for a ride once in a while?" Macaque said-

And his hand started sinking into the shadow beside him. Swiftly, he pulled it out, rubbing it to get rid of the remaining tingles. MK watched this happen with a look of suspicion.

"...Uh-huh, sure, like I believe that." He said, tone as dry as the desert. "And anyways, I don't think you'd want to-"

And then he paused, looking as though he'd just been hit with some kind of realization.

"Actually-" MK started, "I think it would be good if you came with me."

He turned back around, taking his foot off the break and turning back onto the road, speeding up a little.

"You still haven't told me where we're going." Macaque said.

"Oh, you'll soon find out."

Macaque had a feeling he wasn't going to like this.

-

He was right. He hated this.

Staring up at a temple that quite obviously belonged to Sun Wukong, Macaque regretted every decision he had made in his life that had led up to this moment.

He regretted it even more when the monkey himself opened the front gate.

"Ah, there you are kid!" Wukong said, "I was beginning to think you'd never show up!"

"I'm only 2 minutes late..." MK muttered, and Macaque couldn't help but laugh a bit at that.

Sun Wukong was not, exactly, known for being very patient after all.

"Oh, I see you brought... an audience." Wukong said, finally noticing that Macaque was, in fact, also there.

"Audience? Please, if anything I'm the lead actor." Macaque said.

"Yeah, sure, keep telling yourself that." MK said, and Macaque would've hit him where it not for the warning glance Wukong gave him.

-

Macaque ended up being dragged to MK's training sessions with Wukong, again and again. Some days it was because MK himself forcibly brought him along, and on other days it was because Macaque was simply avoiding Mei. (He denied the accusation that he was avoiding her when asked...and then almost tripped as his foot sank deeper into the shadows. Luckily he'd managed to blame it on a stray tree root, but he wasn't sure how long he could keep it up...) 

Over the course of said days, Macaque had tried multiple times to find a better place to hide the lantern than within his own magic. (He'd long since figured out that the lantern was reacting whenever he lied, thus messing with his own magic. He had no idea why it was doing this, but the why didn't really matter so long as he could find a way to stop it.) But of course, since karma was apparently out to get him, he was interrupted by someone every single time, forcing him to keep the lantern within himself, lest the others find out about it.

Honestly though, he was shocked that Wukong hadn't noticed, considering his golden vision and all, he should've been able to see the fact that the lantern's magic was contained within Macaque.

(Macaque had nearly panicked when, on day 2 of him following MK to his training, Wukong had leaned close to him with a contemplative look on his face.

"...Why are you so close to me?" Macaque had asked, and huh, how long had that slit been in Wukong's eyebrow? Had it been there for a while and Macaque had just never noticed or-

"I'm checking to see how much of the glamor you're wearing." Was Wukong's response, as he studied him. "You're still recovering, you probably shouldn't be using magic to cover all of it."

So....Wukong was concerned about him. Macaque couldn't really imagine why, but still-

"You didn't need to get so close to me- can't you obviously see I'm wearing it?" Macaque had asked, gesturing at his own face. Wukong, surprisingly, winced at that, finally backing up a bit.

"Well, I guess you seem fine." He'd muttered, turning away, "Don't know why I was even worried."

And Macaque should've been relieved, but for some reason-

For some reason he felt like something was wrong.)

-

Macaque relaxed in the shade of a tree, watching Wukong train MK. It was almost soothing to watch the mentor and student trade hits as they sparred.

But of course, being relaxed didn't mean that Macaque didn't notice things.

Like how Wukong was a full 2 seconds slower in blocking MK's attacks than he'd been when Macaque had stolen MK's powers. Which wasn't really something that would normally raise concern- he probably just wasn't being as serious as he would be when encountering an actual threat, but.

Something about it was making the alarm bells that had been constantly ringing in Macaque's head louder. (Something he, obviously, didn't appreciate. Loud sounds, even mental ones, weren't very pleasant for him).

Macaque, of course, was never one to miss an opportunity to call Wukong out.

Which was why it was so surprising when MK beat him to the punch.

"Monkey King, are you okay?" MK asked, and Macaque sat up straighter, paying more attention, because oh, he wanted to hear this.

"Of course bud! Why do you ask?" Wukong said, and despite the fact that his back was to Macaque, the shadow monkey just knew that the other was lying.

"Well I don't know, you've just- seemed off, is all." MK said, shifting back and forth as he seemed to contemplate what to say. "Like, a little slower maybe? And I haven't seen you use your cloud in days, which is kinda weird, since you normally seem to use it-"

Wukong stiffened, and it was at this point that Macaque got genuinely curious, deciding that he had to see what kind of expression the other monkey was making right now. So, he slipped down into the shadows of the tree, and reappeared out of MK's shadow, startling the both of them as he slung an arm around MK's shoulder. 

"Kid's right y'know." Macaque said, putting on a smirk as he looked at the other. "Even I've noticed, and I've barely even been paying attention."

That was a lie, and he barely kept himself from wincing as he felt the tingle of magic flow through his body.

Only for nothing to seemingly happen. That was...mildly concerning, he'd felt the flow of magic, so something had definitely occurred, he just couldn't tell what.

...Well, whatever. If he couldn't notice it then it probably wasn't important.

Macaque refocused back in on the subject at hand, studying Wukong's expression. Nothing he hadn't expected, the usual nervous smile and look in his eyes that indicated he was lying where all there.

Or, well, most of it was expected.

The slight twinge of fear was new.

"I'm telling you, there's nothing wrong!" Wukong said, taking a slight step back. "I'm fine, really!"

Both MK and Macaque rolled their eyes in sync.

"If you're so fine, then explain to me why you keep waiting until MK is almost right in front of you before blocking him?" Macaque asked, MK nodding along as he spoke. "Seriously, it's like you can't see it unless it's close-"

Both Macaque and MK froze, coming to the same conclusion at the same time. Wukong, seeing the expressions on their faces, scratched his cheek nervously, avoiding their gaze.

"Oh my heavens." MK said, "You need glasses."

"I do not-"

-

Tang had been having a peaceful day at the noodle shop.

Having, being the key word.

Because suddenly, said peaceful day was interrupted as Macaque appeared out of nowhere beside him. Tang barely kept himself from startling out of his stool. (He'd started to grow used to the shadow monkey's sudden appearances, but that didn't really make them any less startling).

Macaque, for a moment, looked confused as to where he was, looking around in surprise, before taking notice of Tang and schooling his features into something unreadable.

"Oh." He said, "Uh. Hello?"

"Hello to you too, Macaque?" Tang said, a little confused, before finally taking notes of one important fact.

Macaque's eyes were fully purple.

"...Ah." Tang said, "Not Macaque."

"Hm, smart man." 'Macaque' said, leaning back, "Nope, I'm not the original. Just a shadow clone, that's all I am."

"Why are you here? Is there trouble?" Tang asked, worry seeping into his voice. The clone just shrugged.

"Dunno." 'Macaque' said, "One minute, I didn't exist, the next, I'm here."

"How can you just not know?" Tang asked, blinking in disbelief.

"He probably created me on accident." 'Macaque' said, almost as casually as though he was reading out a morning newspaper.

"That can happen??"

"Well, not normally, but in certain cases-" The clone started, then paused, eyes narrowing. "Well, actually, if that's the case, he probably doesn't know I exist right now..."

"Shouldn't you... tell him?" Tang asked, and watched as the clone contemplated it.

"Well I mean, not telling him would be kind of funny." He said, before shaking himself out of it. "No- no, you're right, I should probably tell him."

The clone proceeded to go completely silent, and Tang watched him with thinly veiled concern. After about 2 minutes of silence, with the clone making increasingly dramatic facial expressions, Tang decided to comment again.

"...Are you actually contacting him right now?" He asked, and the clone broke out of whatever state he was in to glance at him.

"Hm? Oh- yeah." He said, "Mental connection, y'know?"

"Then how come MK doesn't ever-"

"Cause he doesn't know it exists."

-

Of course. Of course the lantern had made a clone.

That certainly explained why there hadn't been any obvious reaction after the magic tingle.

Although, it was weird that the clone had ended up in the noodle shop. Why on Earth would it have formed there?

(In all honesty, it was probably because, once again, Macaque felt safe there. But he never planned to admit that fact, not even to himself, so he slid that thought back into the deepest part of his mind.)

As it was now though, Macaque sat back under the tree, head in hands, mentally communicating with the clone as MK and Wukong continued to argue about whether or not the Monkey King needed glasses.

"C'mon!" MK said, stomping his foot on the ground, "Just admit that you're nearsighted already! It's obvious!"

"I don't need glasses!" Wukong said, hopping backwards as MK tried to tackle him. "I can see just fine!"

This statement was contradicted, as MK suddenly moved backwards, distancing himself from his mentor. Macaque could see Wukong squint, something he wouldn't normally do-

And then MK moved forwards, with a speed Macaque honestly hadn't seen him use before (and wasn't that funny, that somehow this argument was actually causing MK's speed to improve) and managed to tackle Wukong to the ground.

A roll of parchment fell out of one of Wukong's pockets.

"Oh?" Macaque said, standing up, temporarily blocking his shadow clone's messages out of his mind (it was fine anyways, it seemed to have gotten distracted), he walked over, picking up the roll of parchment. "What's this?"

"Wh-Hey!" Wukong said, looking up from his position of being pinned to the ground by MK, squinting his eyes as he focused on Macaque. "Don't- give that back!"

"Well now, if you're so pressed over it then I kinda have to look, right?" Macaque said, slowly unrolling the scroll despite Wukong's protests. MK, surprisingly, kept Wukong pinned, watching with curiosity as Macaque looked over the parchment's contents. "....Huh."

"What is it?" MK asked, and Macaque turned, holding out the unrolled parchment so that MK could see it. Wukong, at this point, stopped struggling, simply laying on the ground face down.

"Tell me, Wukong, why exactly do you need a map?" Macaque asked, crouching down in front of the other. "You planning on going on vacation again or something?"

"You're going to leave me again?" MK asked, and maybe Macaque was just hearing things (rather unlikely....) but there was almost a note of panic in MK's voice.

Wukong must've picked up on the panic too, as he quickly jumped into reassurance.

"Woah, hey, I'm not- I'm not vacationing any time soon." He said, attempting to shift around a little, before sighing. "...Could you get off me now, please?"

MK scrambled to get off his mentor, Wukong slowly sitting up and stretching a little. Macaque rolled his eyes at the display, shaking the map a little to draw their attention back to it.

"Hey, I'm not letting you off that easily." He said, "Explain the map. Now."

Wukong sighed again, avoiding both Macaque and MK's eyes.

"...Fine, so maybe I.....wasn't exactly on vacation...." Wukong muttered, "I was...searching for something. A weapon."

"...To fight the Lady Bone Demon, right?" MK asked, and Wukong looked at him in shock.

"How'd you-"

"Maybe leaving your successor alone when there's a powerful demon on the loose isn't the best decision, Wukong." Macaque said, rolling up the map and putting into his own pocket, before lightly rubbing his arm, a few specific... memories running through his mind. "Seriously, be glad she still hasn't gotten everything she needs."

"What do you know about what she-" MK started, then cut himself off, looking at Macaque as though he'd been given the answer to everything. "She's the one who hurt you."

Macaque didn't respond, turning around and walking away.

"Hey wait- where are you-" Wukong started-

"I'm going back to my spot under the tree." Macaque said, "You two can sort through whatever your 'vacation' was about on your own."

-

"...Huh." The shadow clone muttered, eyes closed as he seemingly listened in on whatever was happening to the real Macaque. "That's.....interesting."

"What is?" Tang asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"Nothing really important." The clone said- and started melting slightly. Tang looked on in confusion as the clone suddenly panicked, stumbling over his words. "Wait- no I mean- it, it is important, but not really something I should be the one to tell you about?"

The melting stopped, the shadow clone returning to normal as he let out a sigh of relief.

"Does that....usually happen?" Tang asked.

"No." The clone answered, but didn't elaborate. Tang figured he'd just have to ask the real Macaque about it later. "...Anyways, do you think you could help the real me out with something?"

"Depends on what said something is." Tang said, crossing his arms.

"It's nothing bad, I promise." The shadow clone said, chuckling. "But, would you happen to know where I could buy a pair of glasses?"

-

"This is dumb. I look stupid."

"Aw come on Monkey King, I think you look cool!" Mei said, MK nodding along with her. "The glasses suit you just fine!"

Wukong sighed, sitting in the noodle shop with his arms crossed, leaning on the counter.

"What's with the sudden need for glasses anyways?" Pigsy asked, sliding a bowl of peach slices over to the monkey. Subtly, he also handed a bowl of plums over to Macaque, who was sitting slightly off to the side in the shadows.

Wukong stiffened, pausing for a moment before opening his mouth to answer-

"And don't lie to me." Pigsy added, and Wukong slouched a little.

(Macaque had to admit, it was kinda fun to watch the Monkey King basically get reprimanded like a child.

The only reason he didn't comment on it was that he was sure that if he did, he'd get the exact same treatment.)

There was a moment of silence, before Wukong groaned, laying his head down on the table, and muttering something that was too quiet for the others to hear, but nearly made Macaque choke on the plum he'd been chewing on.

"What?!" He said, in pure shock, "You- you're losing your powers?!"

Almost instantly, there was pandemonium.

"What do you mean you're losing your powers!" MK practically screeched, "That can happen?!"

"I don't know, but it's the only explanation I've got!" Wukong said, throwing his hands up into the air. "I can't use my golden vision or my cloud anymore- and I don't know why!"

"How, exactly, does this relate back to you suddenly needing glasses?" Pigsy asked, completely ignoring how the others where in varying states of a mental breakdown.

"I- I usually just use my golden vision to make up for it." Wukong said, "Like, magic contacts, you know?"

"...And now you can't do that anymore." Tang said, "Because you can't use your golden vision."

"......Yeah." Wukong sighed.

"Is there...anything we can do to help?" Sandy tentatively asked.

"Well, I was planning on going out and finding.... something." Wukong said, turning to look at Macaque. "Speaking of which, you promised you'd give me the map back once I got glasses, and I'm wearing them now so-"

Macaque tsk'd, pulling the map out of his pocket and tossing it over to the other monkey, who caught it and placed it upon the counter. 

"It's not like I can go and get it now though." Wukong said, the others staring over him to look down at the map. "Since I can't use my cloud anymore..."

"I have an airship." Sandy said, and Wukong turned to look at him in confusion. "We could use that, to travel there."

"What- no. No. Absolutely not." Wukong said, jumping up onto the counter (ignoring Pigsy disapproving glare), and staring down at the others. "In case you don't remember, you guys have something called mortality. I'm not going to just bring you guys with me-"

"Like you have much of a choice." A new voice said, and Macaque barely kept himself from startling as he suddenly noticed Red Son beside him.

"How long have you been there-" Macaque hissed, but was ultimately ignored.

"You coming too, Red Boy?" Mei asked, despite Wukong's faint protests that nobody was coming with him, thank you very much-

"I have nothing better to do." Red Son said, shrugging. "My parents went on vacation a little while ago, I've just been hanging around since then."

"So, we're all going?" MK asked, glancing over at Macaque, who, realizing he was being stared at, sighed, standing up and stepping closer to them, in the light.

"Fine, whatever." He said, "If you guys want me to go, I'll come, but I'm not happy about it."

The others stared at him, with a mixture of confusion and shock.

"....What?" Macaque asked, already dreading the answer. MK slowly pointed behind him.

"Has your shadow always moved like that?" He asked, and Macaque didn't even bother to look, instead immediately slamming his back against the wall to cover it as he threw a glamor over his own shadow. He wasn't sure what it had been doing that the others saw, but he absolutely refused to let it be seen any longer.

"...Whatever it was you saw, forget about it." He said, and while most of the others simply shrugged, accepting it as just him being weird, looking away-

The look in Mei and Wukong's eyes did not promise good things.

-

The first day on the ship, everyone was mainly focused on settling in, making sure all their stuff was where it needed to be, choosing rooms, so on and so forth.

And so, for the most part, Macaque was free from whatever Wukong and Mei were planning.

The second day on the ship, however.

The second day on the ship made Macaque wish the airship had a plank so he could jump off of it.

It had started small.

"Hey, Macaque?" Mei asked, grabbing his attention before practically shoving her phone into his face. "What do you think about this?"

Macaque could barely register the image in front of his face, but eventually parsed it out to be a picture of- a kitten??

"I hate it." He said, instinctively, and almost immediately started sinking into the shadow beneath him. Mei, being so close to him, immediately noticed, confusion flashing on her face for a brief second, before a smirk took over.

"If you say so." She said, and backed off, turning away as Macaque hurriedly pulled his feet out of the shadows before he could sink any further.

Some part of him hoped that would be the end of it.

As soon as he ran into Wukong though, he instantly knew that this wasn't over by a long shot.

"Macaque." Wukong said, leaning against the wall, and Macaque instantly noticed that his glasses were missing.

"You owe Tang 5 cents." Macaque hissed, it was well known that Tang had made the Monkey King promise to pay him whenever the monkey was caught not wearing his glasses. Macaque, of course, didn't really care, but he was looking for some way to distract Wukong from whatever he was planning to do to him.

"I'll pay him later." Wukong shrugged, and Macaque mentally cursed. "So. How'd you sleep last night?"

Macaque wasn't going to be led into the trap this obviously was.

"How did you sleep last night?" He shot back.

"I didn't." Wukong said, perfectly honest. "I did see you walking around for a bit though, so I'm curious as to whether or not you slept. You need it more than I do, remember?"

That.... was true. Macaque did need to sleep more than Wukong did, but-

"I slept just fine." Macaque lied, sighing as he felt the glamor over his ears fade away. Wukong crossed his arms, a concerned look on his face, but Macaque ignored it, choosing instead to walk into a nearby shadow to teleport to another location on the ship, throwing his glamor back on as he did so.

(He, in truth, was in the same boat as Wukong, both literally and figuratively. He hadn't slept at all, instead laying awake all night, worrying.

Wukong was losing his powers. MK was not nearly close enough to being ready. The others, outside of Red Son, might have some powers or abilities, but they are no where near close enough to being capable of beating the Lady Bone Demon.

He'd have to rely on the unknowns of this weapon Wukong was seeking out.

Macaque didn't like relying on unknowns.)

He emerged in the ships engine room-

And very nearly fell right on top of Red Son.

"Watch where you're going!" Red Son huffed, dodging out of the way and angrily brushing non existent dirt off of his jacket. "Seriously, what is with you guys and trying to knock me to the ground?"

"Maybe you just look very squishable." Macaque muttered, not really intending on giving Red Son a proper response. He actually didn't want to interact with anyone right now, especially not Red Son, so he turned, moving to leave the engine room-

"Not so fast." Red Son said, stopping Macaque in his tracks by grabbing hold of the back of his scarf. "I've got some questions for you."

Hm. That didn't bode well.

"What makes you think that I have any answers?" Macaque asked, only to be met by a deadpan look that promised-

That promised fire if he didn't co-operate.

If there was a list of things Macaque strictly didn't want, fire would be number one, at the top of the list.

"...What do you want to know?" He asked, slumping a little in defeat.

"Why you stayed." Red Son said, elaborating when Macaque only looked at him in confusion. "Your wound healed. You were perfectly free to go. And yet.... you stayed. Like you were....trying to protect something."

"Uh, yeah, myself, obviously." Macaque said, shrugging. "Hanging out around the Monkey King and his successor is the safest place to be after-"

"That's not it." Red Son said, and Macaque froze. "Sure, staying around them while you're weak makes sense, you'd need someone to protect you. But after you've recovered? Once you're strong again? Sure, I can understand you getting attached, but always staying around them is a little strange."

There was a glint, in Red Son's eye, and Macaque suddenly remembered a moment, yesterday, where Mei had dragged the fire demon off to the side to have a little conversation. He'd thought nothing about it at the time, but now-

"You say that you're protecting yourself....But at this point, somehow, you're mostly protecting them, aren't you?" Red Son asked, "Whatever it is you're hiding, you're hiding it to protect both yourself and them."

Macaque didn't answer, instead staring at the floor.

Whatever Mei and Wukong had been planning, Red Son was in on it.

And he was very clearly not as interested in taking a subtle approach.

"Your powers have been on the fritz lately." Red Son said, almost like it was an afterthought to his whole theory. "Don't think that we haven't noticed. It's different from Wukong though, in that you're not losing your powers, if anything, it's like they're getting stronger, almost as though they're being drawn from a different source-"

Macaque didn't want to stay here any longer.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He lied, and didn't resist as his powers fluctuated in response, letting himself completely fall into the shadow behind him.

-

He ended up falling out of a shadow on the ceiling.

Luckily, it was in his own room, so no-one else was there to witness it.

Didn't mean it didn't hurt though.

"...That's gonna bruise later...." He muttered to himself as he slowly pushed himself off the floor and stood up.

For a moment, he just stood there, slightly dazed.

And then he started pacing.

This was not good, the others were onto him, he wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer.

Not to mention the lantern, it's influence on his abilities was getting stronger the longer he left it inside himself. There was literally no telling how far it's influence would go.

(He'd already started noticing some strands of his fur turning purple. It wasn't anything that couldn't easily be covered up by a glamor, but the fact it was happening at all was incredibly concerning.)

He had to find another place to hide it. But where-

And suddenly, Macaque was struck by an idea. A rather bad idea, honestly, there was sure to be consequences from this, but it was the only idea he had right now.

-

The ship's clock struck 4 am.

Macaque slipped into MK's room, holding the faintly glowing lantern.

For a moment, he stood there, beside MK's bed, letting the lantern hover over top of him, thinking.

Maybe......maybe he shouldn't do this. He could probably find another way, something more reasonable than a hastily made, sleep deprived, decision. After all, the lantern had proven that it came with side effects, who knows how it'd affect MK?

Well. If he's actually being honest, he was hoping that the Monkey King Magic MK had would effectively cancel out the lanterns effects.

...He had no way of proving that it could do that though.

After a few more minutes of standing there, mentally debating, Macaque finally came to the decision that, yeah, this wasn't a good idea, he should just go back to his room and try to sleep for the few remaining hours of the night, come up with a better plan tomorrow-

A loud sound clanged from the engine room, and Macaque startled, barely keeping himself from squeaking as the sudden noise surprised him, squeezing his hands on instinct-

And snapping the lantern in half, the bottom piece falling and merging into MK's magic.

For a moment, Macaque just stood there in shock.

Then MK curled up, letting out a small noise of pain as little golden and purple sparks started shooting across his body, and Macaque panicked, reaching into MK's magic and hurriedly pulling out the other half of the lantern, shoving both pieces back into himself as MK started to stir.

By the time MK was sitting up, blinking his eyes open, rubbing his arms and looking around the room in confusion, Macaque was gone.

-

The next day, Wukong practically broke down Macaque's door, MK in tow.

"Mine explaining to me why there are traces of shadow magic all over MK?" He asked, before pausing as he registered the scene in front of him.

Macaque was curled up under his blankets, a pillow over his head effectively hiding him from view. The only part of the other monkey that Wukong could actually see was his tail, which was dangling over the side.

This wasn't really that weird, Wukong fully remembered that the other monkey was in no way a morning person.

...It was slightly more weird due to the fact that it was lunchtime.

"Is he...okay?" MK asked, leaning over his mentor's shoulder.

"You tell me." Wukong said, "You're the one with the golden vision right now."

Macaque's tail, which had been swinging idly, froze, and suddenly there was a mad scramble as he tried to pull all the blankets off of himself and sit up at the same time. Essentially, he ended up rather tangled, and was far too late to stop MK from using his golden vision.

-

At first there was nothing MK hadn't already expected. The bags under the eyes, the mussed up fur, the six ears and the scar. These were all things he knew that he'd find.

The purple streaks in Macaque's fur was surprising.

But not nearly as surprising as the lantern that lay intermingled with Macaque's own magic.

"What do you see, kid?" Wukong asked, and MK watched as Macaque sat up straighter, finally managing to pull the blankets off of himself.

"Nothing! He sees nothing! Right, bud?" Macaque asked, a panicked twinge in his voice, and-

MK could see the lantern flare, the magic traversing Macaque's entire body, before condensing around his arm.

Which proceeded to sink into the shadow on the bed.

"...Well." MK started, staring as Macaque pulled his hand out of the shadow and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "That's not something you see every day."

-

"So I was right then?" Red Son asked, "He's been storing the lantern within himself?"

"How'd you even know about the lantern..." Macaque muttered, from where he sat at the kitchen table, leaning back with his arms crossed. His glamor had been taken down, allowing everyone to see the purple streaks in his fur.

The lantern sat on the table in front of him.

"I have my sources." Red Son said, looking overly proud of himself. Macaque huffed, looking away.

"I thought you said the lantern was destroyed?" Mei said, using a spoon to lightly poke the lantern, almost as though it would grow legs and run away.

"Yeah, like, I saw you break it-" MK started, and then was stopped mid sentence as Macaque raised his fist, before harshly crushing the lantern, breaking it into pieces. A few of the others jumped. "What did you do that for-"

Macaque simply raised his hand, letting his magic call out, and letting the pieces slide back into their proper place. By the end of it, the lantern looked as good as new, as though it'd never been broken. MK watched the display with wide eyes.

"I did break the lantern." Macaque said, "It's just not that hard to fix."

"Regardless-" Wukong started, grabbing the lantern out of Macaque's hand, the lantern switching from it's usual purple to a soft golden glow as he did so. "You seriously should've told us that you have this. It would've saved you so much trouble."

"Would you have trusted me, if you knew I still had it?" Macaque asked, only to be met with silence. "...Yeah. Thought so."

There was a moment of silence as Macaque sat there, looking down, not meeting anyone's eyes. Then Sandy softly placed his hand on Macaque's shoulder.

"It's not that we wouldn't have trusted you." He said, gently. "We would've just taken a bit longer to come around, is all."

"Uh-huh, sure, keep telling yourself that." Macaque said, still looking at the floor, and thus missing the entirely silent conversation everyone else shared.

They all agreed they probably weren't going to get very far with this issue any time soon, by the look of things. (That didn't mean they wouldn't bring it up later, though.)

"If you thought we wouldn't trust you if we knew you had the lantern, then why didn't you just, I don't know, throw it away?" MK asked, and Macaque sighed, slouching down in his chair.

"...Lady Bone Demon wanted it." He muttered, and everyone immediately stood up ramrod straight.

"What?" Wukong hissed, staring down at the lantern in his hands as though he was seeing it in a new light. "Why- what could she possibly want with-"

"Don't know, didn't stick around long enough to find out." Macaque said, shrugging. MK and Red Son both looked horrified.

"That's how you got injured." MK muttered, "She must've captured you because she wanted the lantern...."

"The Lady Bone Demon has a cursed blade..." Red Son said, under his breath, only Macaque hearing him.

"Yeah yeah, I got captured, I got injured, whatever, it's all over with now." Macaque said, waving a hand around as though he wasn't making light of something horrifying. "Anyways, anyone else got any bright ideas on where to hide the lantern?"

"....Was that a pun." Wukong asked, "Seriously. You reveal that the Lady Bone Demon is after both you and the lantern and then you swap topics with a pun?"

"You got a problem with that?" Macaque asked, a smirk on his face. There was a moment of tense silence as the two of them stared at each other.

Wukong set the lantern back down on the table.

And then tackled Macaque out of his chair and onto the floor. Macaque let out a startled yelp as they went down, before quickly switching to clawing at the other as Wukong easily pinned him to the ground-

And then suddenly Wukong's grip weakened, and Macaque easily reversed their positions, pinning Wukong to the floor. For a moment the Monkey King looked confused, before a look of nervous realization appeared on his face.

"Uh- guys?" He said, nervously giggling as Macaque and the others stared at him in confusion. "Um. I think I just lost my super strength?"

[suspicious-whumping-egg]

🍽 from the comfort list!

🍽A special treat of their choice

Have a short drabble! Only content warning is manipulation.

Alec drummed his fingers on the armrest of the bench, his other hand squeezed tight in Raina’s grasp. His cane rested against his throbbing legs, its chrome handle shining in the sunlight. “Anything?”

She nodded, dropping his hand to wrap an arm around his shoulders and hug him close. “Within reason, yes,” she replied, reaching down to rest her hand on his thigh and relishing in her captive’s flinch. “You’ve been so good for me lately, and Hadley was a bit too hard on you when I handed you over. Think of it as something to even that out.”

Trying to buy my affection like a lover after a fight, he thoguht bitterly. Although it wasn’t as if he had the energy to resist her as it was. Other than the little jerks away from her touch when he couldn’t put up with the constant intimacy, he was well practiced with staying frozen when he wanted nothing more to run.

“Alec?” Raina asked, her tone sharpening.

”Thank you,” he responded quickly, starling at the sudden reprimand. “Sorry, I’m just, uh, trying to think of what to choose.” He reached up to fix his hair before remembering Raina had done it in an elaborate braid— he’d most definitely be punished for touching it. He dropped his hand awkwardly to his side, noticing an odd look he got from a runner passing by. So he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, his jaw clenched tight to hide his disgust.

Floods of people were walking past the bench like nothing was wrong, uncaring that his turtleneck covered the countless wounds he’d been given. She tortured me, doesn’t anyone care? Someone help me, PLEASE... don‘t just leave me with her… he thought desperately. And as it was with every time, his pleas went unanswered. It was for the better, he supposed— Dorian’s life was on the line, after all.

He tried to think of something Raina would agree on, something she’d allow. “I— I had some stuff, from my old house. Before— before I got kicked out. Dorian probably has it now, in his dorm. You don’t even have to let me see him— I couldn’t bear lying to him again— just if you could maybe tell him to bring it over? I could make you a list?” He sighed, trying not to get his hopes up.

“Kicked out?” She asked coolly. “No wonder you were out on the streets, hm? It was truly fate that brought us together, dear.

Alec winced. “Just get the stuff,” he muttered, his face flaming.

—

Alec sat in his room, wrapped in a blanket and sketching his latest wounds. Every new torment got its own drawing— the lash marks, the broken leg, the piercings, the burns— and he knew he would run out of paper long before Raina would run out of ideas.

The door clicked open, and Raina waltzed in carrying a cardboard box. “Dorian dropped these off,” she said casually as she set it on the hardwood floor. “You’re welcome, love. I hope you’ll realize that I really don’t hate you… you just don’t understand how I show my love. We could be happy together, if you let yourself be happy. I’m trying so hard for you.”

Before Alec could even respond, she was gone. By some miracle, she hadn’t stayed to manipulate him any longer. As soon as her back was turned, he flipped her off. Dorian’s the one who loves me, asshole. Yet he couldn’t help but consider her words. He was locked in this house, chained up or drugged whenever he resisted, and forced to accept her love. Couldn’t he at least make it easier for himself by pretending along with her? He twisted the ring through his eyebrow, fidgeting nervously as his mind ran through the possibilities. Enough, he snapped at himself. I hate her and she’ll never change how I feel.

He began rifling through the box, a sob building in his throat as he saw the old blue penguin stuffie on top of the pile. “Quincy—“ he squeaked out pathetically, burying his face in the soft material and hugging it tight. He’d thought he would never see the battered plushie again.

He placed it on his bed, the ghost of a grin on his face, and continued to look through everything else Dorian had brought him. I’m going to get out, he vowed to himself. I’m going to get out and see Dorian again and thank him for this myself.

It was a foolish dream, and he knew it, but he couldn’t let Raina take away his hope. Not yet. I’m going to see him again.

[rumblelibrary]

The Diary of Doctor Laszlo Kreizler

Chapter 1  -  Chapter 2

Synopsis: Alienist’s notes are private, sometimes gruesome, secrets of others and of himself.Those pages belongs to secrecy and decadence, have a glimpse to this world made of drafts, notes, accidents and reflections. Or maybe it is you the only person that should ever reach for it.

While you read this imagine Laszlo mostly at the end of his day, scraping the ideas and the thoughts, adjusting previous notes with additions, closing the day behind himself with a couple of sentences while sitting in his evening robe, a good glass of whiskey and his glasses bridged almost at the tip of his nose. Or maybe imagine yourself, you sneaky thing, reach for it from a far shelf.

Word count: 3.5k

Warnings: listen, this is the set of ideas and confessions of a man living in the 1890’s. Most of them will be outdated, rough, even deprecating in some analysis of the roles of men, women and social status, religion, etc.So be prepared, my point is to make Laszlo reflect upon those topics, but to be as faithful as I can to his time. Mention of death, mutilation, self harm and sex. Psychologically troubled young children ahead! Author’s note: The story is placed between season 1 and season 2. Thank you for everyone that encouraged me to keep going. I have to wait for my local drop of serotonin to get fully Laszloed to go through this.

Lyra’s Contellation, Illustration taken from Uranographia by Johann Bode

Routine. Routine is comfort. Habit stabilises the character.

If you follow a routine, you won’t ever be victim of imprudence, of evil jokes of fate. The stability earned through calculated and repeated actions brings a sense of fulfilment that forbids other thoughts to come bashing in, breaking rules, breaking hopes that a solid scheduled routine forbids to have. I take my time to begin this week, I planned the things to do, the next steps for the case, the people to meet, the resources I am allowed to contemplate. I feel good, I feel back to myself and the events of the weekend seem far from me and my own perception. I probably got ahead of myself, carried by some instinctual though and random rush of emotion, to be always in contact with the same people and mostly kids probably doesn’t help my stance in the presence of other adults. I feel silly now reading back the last page, I felt tempted to tear it off, but to keep it there should be a small memento of not losing my temper so easily. I read it over and over and I know I am not as charmed as I thought I was. I am just lonely. I have always been and it is normal to face ups and downs even for a man of my age who is more accustomed to it.  To desire a partner is a natural instinct, to find somebody attractive is meant by nature, it is the body calling for the natural fulfilment of the reason we are put on this very Earth.  But even in a state of nature my own condition would be forbidding me to be part of the natural process of growing my own kind. I am the type of male that would be excluded because of his impossibility to give the protection to the pack, therefore it is just more reasonable to me to adapt to my condition. No matter what my Potentia generandi might be (the ability to procreate).

With all the smugness that characterises him, Niki showed off that he passed my challenge. But to be really of an help to his antics I didn’t show any kind of surprise. I treated him like he did the bare minimum, like he didn’t prove me any kind of superiority. He has a natural attitude toward challenging the figure of power, he is trying to overpower me, but I won’t satisfy his need. I have noticed he has a very technical brain, he finds ways to solve problems in ingenious way and not by throwing himself into the task. I proceeded giving him to work on a clock, an old broken one we had in the institute, one of the kids hit it with a ball years ago and nobody ever worked on repairing it. I gave him the clock, a couple of screwdrivers and a book. He called me a number of German names I won’t transcribe, but it gave me a certain amount of satisfaction. If my intuitions are right, I am sure the clock will be repaired by next week.

Analysis of the victim’s body through John’s eyes. The drawings and sketches are as detailed as I requested, all of this thanks to you joining him. I deal with art critic section, I am used to notice these things. You assure me, you play yourself low and I wonder why, nevertheless you did notice things neither John or I did, which pleased me. It fooled me, distracted me from my purpose to not give in to your witchery, as I leaned closer watching your pale hand move across the pages tracing this or that line, showing how this must be done with the killer on this side and not that side, with words so deliciously elaborate, your way of composing your speech is compelling, you could sell the drawing of a kid like it was a Botticelli. I noticed the shape of your hands, the way you move them, I wonder if you play an instrument, or played, some habits just stick with you through life. I focused on taking notes, your ideas and instructions giving me a new point of view, a new stimulus. What if that is the only way the killer can communicate? Or what if this is the communication that works for him? Could our killer be mute or deaf? Or that’s how society made him feel? This man, or woman, needs a listener and I am afraid that now, since he got our attention and the public’s, he won’t stop. Another killing could be just as close.

Scheduled: meeting with the parents of Alex Garel for new admission, Monday next week at 11 am. Love at first is a fetish and like all fetishes it is based onto an object that hides a deeper meaning, like gloves mean hands, to love at first sight means to see somebody that you think, and think only, to have the chance to share not only a sensual kind of bond, but an intellectual. Love at first sight is based onto not knowing someone well enough, but having the time to idealise most of that someone. I can see why I feel this attraction, using a particular phrase that Sara often mutters when investigating: you tick all the boxes. I know you do, your beauty is everything but conventional, you’re the kind of face that painters would paint and musicians would write hymns about, but any animal on the street would never be allowed to see. You have the grace of the body and the fire in the eyes, and then you speak. When you speak, I realise, you could bring the world to its knees. Also, you never speak out of context, and if you do it is to ease somebody’s position. You do it often with John or with Stevie, you say something really silly in order to put them back to a place of comfort. Some women would call it self deprecating, but I see that you only pick wisely your fights and your wins. You don’t need to earn your peace and quiet by neglecting, but by lifting up the others. I wonder if you do it with me too, if your silences are just you allowing me to be in a better place while instead your judgment is tearing me apart. I shouldn’t care, but I keep wondering, sometimes I take my time to answer you, I analyse every shade, every peculiarity of your question, I am looking for sarcasm, for a condescending voice, for something to hang on and bare you open. To prove myself you’re not perfect. But deep down I know that you do, you judge me and you do well.

Mother never said so. That’s what one of the girls in my care said today. Ursula. She is tough. Skin as thick as an alligator and the tendency to pull her own hair at night or when under a massive amount of stress, enuresis alongside erratic episodes of mutism. I tried the soft approach, it didn’t work. She is too accustomed to be indulged. Therefore today I pushed her a bit overboard, I teased her over opinions on the female body, the female role, she is only 12, but she is soon to bleed, she knows, I can tell from the way she clenches to her skirts, from the way she looks at me as a threatening figure. I am the incarnation of danger to her. Under her steady silence, I pushed a bit more, asking how her mother taught her to be nice and submissive. Does her mother tells her she is going to be a good wife? The phrase, which I reported at the top of the page, surprised me.  What is her mother teaching to her then? What closed her so much, locked her soul away, making a small bird like this choose the silence and the retirement of self inflicted pain over, what? Mankind? Or just Men? Is that even a curse? Should I cure her from a truth that her own mother whispered to her ear one night before bed and made a child decide that the world wasn’t a place to share her time with? Am I the man supposed to teach her that men are worth of trust? In the eyes of modern society, who measures its own value over the modesty of the women, she would be a champion, but at what price? I can’t in any way let her parents bring her back home after our recent meetings. Nevertheless, I have to make up my own mind on how to give her troubled soul ease without making her believe in fables. I, as a man, regard myself not worth of any of the trust they expect me to teach her.

In all of my years practicing with people’s feelings and traumas, I challenged myself to find those same traumas within my own mind. It is a tricky game, terrible, anguishing at times. But it straightens me, the pain of others, the pain of kids mostly, so unadulterated and pure, breaks the curtain between me and the lies that I often surround myself with. Pain is made of method, you can open it up, you can scrutinise it, part it piece by piece dividing it in sectors and, partitions, centre part, side part, heart of the problem. Pain is reliable. Happiness is not. It is random, cruelly sudden, unexpected, it washes over you in such deflecting way only to leave you alone a moment after ashamed and alone. I saw you again today. You were in a table full of what I could only guess as your former university colleagues, I saw pain in you, not heavy but constant. Annoyance, a bit of sadness. Your head titling on side and your eyes drifting on the left, you’re imagining something away from them.  A place? An object? Or maybe someone? Your hands play circles at the bottom of the flute of your drink like kids do, your smile only one sided. I don’t see you speak at all, only listen.  What could keep your voice down? I almost gulped down my own breath as you looked up and I realised how I must have looked. I was having lunch on my own, in a very private table and even entertaining myself with a newspaper on the side. I wish you didn’t, but you came over, your eyes shining.  Did I save you? Or maybe I was just a good excuse to leave that painful meeting behind. Don’t be so nice to me, it is not healthy. Don’t look at me like you expect anything more from me than me listening. I won’t smile back at you, I won’t give you care, attentions or thought. I won’t lean for your perfume, I won’t obsess over that dress you wore, that pin that adorned your neckline keeping your undershirt in place, a silver robin, I remember. I won’t remember the number of the buttons on the side of your glove, three. I won’t observe the little moles just under your ear. A small constellation, I later realised, hidden between your ear and the beginning of your neck. I don’t need to check in my books. It is a constellation. It is Lyra. Why? Why you must be like this? Are you the Lyra? Are you the instrument of Orpheus come to me to drag me out of Hell? The Tartarus holds my soul and you should know already, I am not worth the quarter part of Eurydice to be saved and she never came back anyway. I won’t be now recollecting the way your teeth sunk in the inner side of your cheek when you apologised for the annoyance.  You apologised twice, I ignored you both times with a raised hand to request peace and silence. I am not letting you in.

Reserved: Tickets for Wednesday’s evening Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi. The guest female lead promises a beautiful show.

Leonardo, as I am learning through Paul Valery essay, is who I would define as a figure of projective identification of the Subject or, to better explain it, of the knowledge of the Subject that formed and grew through the use of sketches in the experience of the Artist. I have always thought that the finest form of art was the representation of knowledge duly undressed by any personal identification. Leonardo, instead, proceeded to represent the figure through the essence of the artist, a representation technically unlimited on objects and symbols and that keep expressing the transformation and development of Leonardo’s own being.Some artists are testimony of the destruction of the world, of the loss of eternal beauty over decadence. And then you have Leonardo, who creates an art that is the gravity of the world’s system, of the nature, of thoughts and abstractions. I wonder if our killer does the same, if the way they presents the victim through their own personal view, if what we can read there it is their stories, their pains, their needs. Their happiness and troubles. What are they trying to tell me?  I need to know, I need to know to save a life, of course, but I also need to know to be able to sleep at night. Hair, hair are the epitome of femininity in any era. I keep studying Ursula and her habit to pull the. I took notes on it: she picks them by the bottom, slowly separates them until she gains an amount her mind defines satisfactory and then she rolls her finger and pulls, she does it until her finger is empty and there are no hair left. I find her process incredibly interesting. In men’s case the display of physical attributes is not as vital, a beard can be appreciated but does not modify the power of seduction of a grown man. On the contrary, for women hair are a vital part of their attractiveness toward the opposite sex, society sees the hair of a woman as part of their vital characteristics, also in ancient times for a woman to cut her hair or have her hair cut was a sign of deep separation from the society. Only heroines or whores wore that mark and the association of the two is so rooted into the way society always parted the role of a woman in two that it is nauseating to think of. I am still fearing to let Ursula go away, the repulsion that she is showing toward her own body makes it difficult even for me to crack her shell open as a man, but my deepest worry is when that hate will take a scarier and deeper tool on her. How a girl with such  a fear of what her body can do, like sex or pregnancy, can endure in the future to have an husband? Or even to be courted by anyone?

John is helpless and I admire him for that. He doesn’t hide it, he just is. He is vulnerable and exposed, he is an open well bursting with doubts and feelings and troubled waters. He is genuine in a way I could never be. Maybe that’s why I despise even more him talking about you, how he sees you every morning, how you greet everybody, how you behave even with interns, how you like your coffee.  Your talents, your wits, how you said this and acted like that and reasoned through him. How you forbid him to drink even when he felt tempted. How you stayed late over to help him collect all the informations I requested him to get. To him. Not to you. The evil demon of envy scratching in the back of my head screaming like a siren out in the sea, he demands to be heard, he demands to be allowed a part in this game. I won’t allow him that. I won’t allow myself any of that. This is a pure game of chess, if I give in a pawn now, I will lose my knight, and I know it. I advice him to not be so closed minded when he praises you, only to get surprised by the charms of a natural logical mind. I find a way to hurt him, he is an easy target, I look at him as his eyebrows twitch and he summons his patience on me. He lost the plot about you already, his bruised pride taking over. You won’t come into my life.

“Un dì, felice, eterea, mi balenaste innante, e da quel dì tremante vissi d'ignoto amor.”  (“On a day, happy and ethereal, you appeared in front of me and from that day, trembling, I lived on an unknown love”)

The words of Alfredo in the first act of the Traviata keep running through me, a chant that won’t let me go, almost painful. The Opera House, that was my hiding place, a place where in plain sight I could let out myself, unleash. The catharsis of the characters involved running through me, I didn’t need anything but their voices and those musical instruments to let out my fears, doubts and anger. When Alfredo came to the scene tonight, the lights were strong and slightly pinkish, the performer bursting out of the seams with passion. My eyes diverted only to see you there. Alone. Those blinding lights gave you the the radiance of a vision singing the notes of greek myths and heroes, that dark blue evening clothing rang through my eyes like it was a bright yellow, the little shiny details that adorned you so clear against the heavy lighting to look like transparent pieces of water collected to adorn your beauty. I wasn’t me, but Alfredo, and I was helpless against you sitting so far and yet too close from me. I was naked in front of thousands. I am aware of the effect you have on me and our last conversation was barely regarded as one. This is infatuation, this is the pure work of a lonely mind and not something worth of any of all the words that I am dissipating here. Yet. I saw you cry at the climax of the opera, Violetta, the protagonist, heartbroken falling on stage consumed by pain and regret for her lost love and ultimate sacrifice. Your eyes shone as you tried to hide the tears and collect yourself. Through my binoculars, I saw your throat tremble and gulp down something more than just a sigh of pain. Your jaw clenched, your gloved hand moves to hide your shaking lips. I reckon, I have never seen such sad lips look more inviting. You look at the wall on your side breathing through your nose and not even that can save you by the strength of the voice of the soprano. You’re defeated and so you brought a fine silk handkerchief to your eyes, your shoulders bent inward in self defence.  The Opera won. It won you like it always wins me. I wonder if you felt like this because of a past lover, somebody that broke your heart and made you feel wrong in any way.  And because of that little wonder it is even more clear to me why I am a man worth of no trust. Because for a moment, I know, I wished to be the one that broke your heart. That gave you just the pain you’re inflicting on me so mercilessly by offering intoxicating kindness and beauty.  To own your thoughts, tears and shame. To be the one man you have to look away from. I want to own all of that and, maybe, I will be freed of you the day you’ll be just another human being that hates Dr Laszlo Kreizler.

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[wakeupflawless]

#7 and #11 please. Bring on the angst.

College Brio!!!!!!!!!!

They go through the same line at security. Rio’s flight isn’t for another four hours, but he came with her anyway.

The day had been a blur of packing, moving and driving, she had so much on her to-do list she was able to force herself to forget that they’d be separating by the end of it all. But now - as she toes off her shoes to step through the x-ray machine, holding her hands up and feeling silly - the reality of the situation crashes down around her. She barely hears the TSA agent saying “please step out for me.”

Beth watches Rio go through next with that casual confidence of his. The TSA lady, who’d grumbled and groaned at every other passenger, actually smiled at him and called him “sugar.”

And she’s not jealous of a middle aged TSA worker. She’s not crazy. But she knows in Los Angeles there will be hundreds, if not thousands, of much younger, much prettier girls calling him pet names. It’s LA. The land of models and celebrities and the rich and famous. Her name would be lost to him, especially once he starts playing for the Dodgers, because every girl wants a hot baseball player, and…

“You good?” Rio asks, eyeing her knowingly as he grabs their carry-ons off the conveyor belt. Beth blushes, she’d let their bags just sit there as she stared off into the distance.

“Yeah,” she chirps, snatching her converse and lacing them up around her feet. “Let’s find my gate?”

Rio rolls their luggage toward Gate A. Her plane hasn’t even arrived yet, that’s how early she is, but better safe than sorry, right?

It seems like just yesterday Rio had plopped his lanky frame down next to her in their English 15 class - the class every freshman has to take - even though there were several empty seats around her.

“This seat taken?” he’d asked with a knowing grin, not even waiting for her to respond, just grabbing his laptop out of his backpack and setting up camp at the small desk.

She bitched and moaned about “that annoying asshole who insists on sitting next to me!” almost every day to her roommate. Until one day, about a month into the semester, Ruby cut her off with a huff. “I swear to God, Beth. If you don’t just fuck this dude out of your system....”

And well, Ruby is a wise woman. That’s all Beth has to say about that. Because a week later Beth and Rio were banging like bunnies on every surface of their respective dorm rooms. And the library. And classrooms. Even in an (empty) 300 person lecture hall. Right in front of the giant projector.

They were inseparable the past four years. English was the last class they’d shared together, because of their wildly different majors (Rio in business and Beth in fashion) And Beth had her fair share of Student Council duties, while Rio was the star center fielder for the school baseball team. But they always made time for each other. Sometimes Beth would sit in the bleachers and watch his practices as she sketched out some designs. Sometimes Rio would attend a “student body” meeting just so he could watch Beth command the stage.

But college ended in the blink of an eye. And Rio had been drafted by the Dodgers (the freakin’ Dodgers) and Beth scored an entry level designer job at Tory Burch in New York. She’d probably spend most of her time getting coffees for higher-ups than actually designing, but it was a start.

So here they are. Sitting at Gate A in the Detroit Airport. The clock ticking on her flight to JFK. After all those years together they’d never been at a loss for words. Always found something to talk, discuss or argue about. But they’re silent now. Sitting in the uncomfortable blue chairs, Rio’s arms slung around her shoulder.

They watched a movie on Rio’s iPad, laughing at the funny moments, frowning at the sad. But neither really paid attention.

At boarding time Beth stands up, rolling her shoulders back, double- checking her ticket for the millionth time. She won’t cry she won’t cry she won’t cry -

“Hey. This isn’t goodbye.” Rio says, the water works begin.

She sobs into his chest all the way til they call Group 9 - her group - and Rio has to usher her to the counter. The American Airlines agent gives them a sympathetic smile, scanning Beth’s ticket.

She’s the last to board the flight, the doors closing right behind her. She presses her face against the small airplane window, tears rolling down her cheeks. She listens to their song over and over on repeat. Tennessee Whiskey. It’s cliche. It’s every couple’s favorite song. But she doesn’t care.

When she touches down in New York the tears have stopped. She texts Rio when she lands, but it doesn’t go through, he’s on his own flight. But he’d sent her a message.

About to take off. Love you always.

---Two Years Later---

There’s a knock at her door. Beth groans. It’s eight in the morning. On a Saturday. She flips over, burying her head in her pillow.

The knocking persists.

She groans. Flinging her covers off and marching the six steps it takes to get from her bed to her front door (studio apartments are just the best) Whoever’s on the other side of the door is about to get an eyeful, because she’s wearing a thin cami and tiny sleep shorts. Her apartment’s AC just keeps dying, and summer in the city is hot.

She doesn’t even check the peephole, just rips the door open with a huff.

It’s Rio.

Her annoyance evaporates and the remnants of sleep clear from her eyes. She squeals, positively flinging herself into his arms. He laughs, catching her easily.

“What are you doing here?!”

“You always answer the door dressed like this?” he asks with a playful raise of an eyebrow, pretending to look all concerned.

She giggles, pressing her lips to his in a flurry of kisses. Their next visit wasn’t supposed to be for another three months.

“I got you a present. Had to deliver it in person.” Rio says, carrying her inside the apartment.

He sets her down, slinging the backpack off his shoulder and grabbing something within. Beth watches him with a stupid grin, still recovering from the shock of seeing him.

He pulls out a baseball hat.

A Yankees cap.

“What- what’s this?” she asks, her mind not catching up.

But then he smiles, slow and big. And Beth realizes.

“No way. No way. The Yankees?”

“I’ve been traded.” he informs her. “It ain’t official yet, but the paperwork is done.”

Beth screams. Neighbors be damned. She tackles him onto the bed, pressing kisses all over his face. Soon tears are leaking down her cheeks.

“Don’t cry.” Rio thumbs away the wetness on her cheeks.

Later, Rio shows her his new contract. Beth stares at his phone, jaw dropped.

“That’s… that’s a lot of zeroes.” she stutters.

Rio grins. “I ran to LAX as soon as the deal went through. Had to tell you in person.” He looks around her tiny apartment. “Start boxin’ up your staff, mami. Time to get a bigger place.”

“Together,” she whispers.

He nods. “Together.”