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#we should be able to go to work and make art without stressing over barely paying for rent and how much the month's food costs
treba-neco-napise · 4 months
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i hate having four fucking ads on a 20-minute podcast episode.
(it's a rant, enjoy.)
no, i don't want to get your shitting plus subscription, i don't even pay for 95% of the films and shows i watch online. stop fucking begging for patrons, it's not our problem you want to do this full-time. good for you if you do it but it's not somehow our duty to get you there just because you're a creator. not everyone can afford 60 fucking subscriptions. instead of people getting the minimum to at least get by as a basic human right, i bet like 85% of creatives online are making elite clubs on patreon and shit for those who have spare money. i get that you need it, but so many people (especially PDA neurodivergents) are extremely put off by being asked to pay and won't do it (like me) just because of that. i've encountered art that had the option to pay without requiring it, and I did. because they deserved it anyway, and they understood the classism and capitalism ingrained in the internet creative culture and that a lot of people don't have the means to become members of the club. i'm planning on starting a podcast, been wanting to publish fiction in paper since i was a kid, and i still want to make all that 100% free with the option of payment, because i believe that knowledge, stories and art should be accessible to anyone, regardless of financial situation (what do you think libraries are for, hm?????). when it's not, that's when elitism starts to rise and i'm just too tired for that shit. the empty snobbery culture around modern art alone is driving me insane.
Starkid has been recording their performances for years and guess what - they're massive, they sell out, people attend their live plays for the experience, but those who can't are still able to be a part of the fandom (as opposed to broadway musicals that get shared through bootlegs, hm) and they don't expect their fans to be responsible for their means of living. people who want to see a live performance, to buy your book in a bookshop professionally bound and keep it, to thank you for making your day by buying you a coffee will do so of their own free will. don't beg them to pay for your groceries if you made the choice to put your art out there. it's the system that is responsible for taking care of your basic needs, not your fans.
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winterfireice · 2 months
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Chapter 2 has been posted of stinex/sokeefe fic hope you enjoy!
I don’t know if people want to be tagged for future chapters so let me know if it’s annoying: @frizzle-mcshizzle @doodle-do-wop
Full chapter under cut
“So Verdi is fully out of her pen at this point and running wild,” Edaline is telling Keefe and Sophie, “Grady and I have to chase her through the woods and the only way we got her back into her pen was to lure her through the trees with snacks,” Eda laughs with Grady who couldn't stop smiling at his wife,
Family dinners in the Ruewen house were pretty rare due to Sophie’s busy schedule and the fact that the animals at Havenfeild were constantly causing trouble, luckily the family had all adjusted to the craziness of their lives and tried to have at least two family dinners a week. A development from the last few years was Keefe being a regular member at least once a week.
Those days usually included a lot more epic stories of Verdi's escapes or other rehabilitation disasters. Sometimes one of Sophie’s parents even tried to slip in a Sophie story, which made her immediately blush and send Keefe a wave of embarrassment.
“How long did it take you guys to secure her?” Keefe asks with a bit of amazement in his voice. Sophie always loved her parents' stories but watching her boyfriend love them too was a different type of enjoyment,
“Hours, I still think the only reason she was able to be tricked back to her pen was that she was about to miss dinner,” Grady says still laughing,
“Makes sense, I am also easily persuaded by food. I mean these dinners are definitely what keep me going through the week,” Keefe half-jokes,
“Well you know you are always welcome here, even if Sophie is busy,” Edaline winks,
Dinners without Sophie rarely happened but were not unheard of. Once Sophie had been so busy with Mr. Forkle that she didn't have time to text Keefe or her parents that she was going to be late. When she did finally get home she found a very stressed out Keefe sitting at the table with her dad. Edaline was apparently also busy with one of the animals so the two of them spent the rest of the night laughing at their retrospective partners' inability to maintain conversions with each other.
“Thank you, it means a lot,” Keefe says barely above a whisper, “Ironic timing though because Elwin wants me home soon, so I should probably leave you Rue-Wins for the night,”
“Oo that was not one of your best babe,” Sophie responds standing up with him, “But I appreciate the effort,”
~~~
At this point, Sophie is starting to believe that her life revolves more around homework and documents than it does about anything else. She was sitting on top of her bed with books laid around her and was trying to finish a paper about the treaty between elves and ogres which Sophie found both hilarious and boring.
During her seventh imparter check (just to see if anything interesting enough was going on so that she did not have to keep working) it actually started to ring.
Stina’s face filled the screen and it seemed like she had just gone for a run or something because her hair was tied back and there was sweat all over her face,
“Were you serious before?” Stina’s voice fills the room before Sophie’s hand even leaves the accept button,
“I am going to need more context before I answer that question,” Sophie responds,
“When you said I could call you about the… thing,”
“Oh,” Sophie signs out of realization, “You mean the, having a huge crush on Dex thing?”
“I never said huge,” Stina snarks, ‘But yes that thing,”
“Then yes I was serious, super serious,” Sophie adjusts and practically throws her notebook to the other side of the bed, only somewhat overestimating her strength and sending the book toppling over the edge and to the floor,
“What was that sound?” Stina asks alarmed,
“My patience for distractions crashing, go back to Dex,”
“I don’t know! He just is always there, on my mind there, in the room there just always there,” Stina grumbles, “and you want to know what is also always there? His dimples and those should not be as cute as they are,”
“Why do you sound so angry about this? Isn't this a good thing?” Sophie smiles,
“No, It's awful I hate this feeling,”
“It gets better I promise,” Sophie reassures her while chuckling,
“Stop laughing! This is not funny,” Stina says starting to laugh, “Ah, I hate feelings and emotions,”
“You’re literally an empath,”
“And you are the only person who has hand-picked abilities,”
“I had no control over that. I also feel like we are losing control of this conversion, we should go back to Dex and his dimples,”
“You are the worst,” Stina grumbles,
“Stina, you are the one that called me,”
“Well I regret it,” She mutters half-heartedly,
“No, you don’t, admit it you’re happy you have someone to talk to about this,”
“I will not admit it, but I won’t deny it either,”
“I knew it!” Sophie exclaims, “You should tell Dex though, the two of you would make an adorable couple,”
“I don’t even know how I would go about talking to him about this,”
“Well I do not recommend doing what Keefe and I did which is dance around your feelings until you’re so confused you start to believe it’s platonic,” Sophie advises
“Trust me, you were the only one that thought it was platonic. The two of you were very obviously falling in love with each other,” Stina says, “Oh shoot, I have to go, one of the unicorns is trying to escape again,”
“Again?” Sophie asks, the question gets no response though as Stina’s image flickers away from the screen,
~~~
“KEEFE! KEEFE! KEEFE!” Silveny, screams in Sophie's mind, causing her eyes to crinkle together a little,
“She screaming already?” Keefe asks noticing the discomfort in Sophie’s face,
“Isn't she always? It's fine just takes a minute to adjust to it,” Sophie says to him before transmitting to Silveny, “Yes he is here, but I need you to be a little bit quieter so I can also be here,”
All she gets is more “Keefes” but they are at least quieter and make Sophie laugh,
“Hey I think she may be trying to beat me in the ‘who loves Keefe the most’ game,” She says as Keefe brushes his hand down Silveny’s mane,
“Well I’m sorry Silveny but I think I know who I want the winner to be and it's not you sweet girl,”
“You are the only saying that because we are on a date right now,” Sophie jokes,
“I will never tell, think of it as a fun way to add mystery into our relationship,” Keefe tells her playfully,
“I think we have enough mystery in our lives, I mean I was literally a mystery to the Lost Cities for a while,”
“Yeah but you're my favorite mystery,” he tells her blushing,
“You are adorable and a flirt,” Sophie says while she also blushes, “Anyway, how was your day? We haven't talked since dinner last night,”
“Pretty boring,” Keefe responds, “I’m not saying I miss school but life is not as interesting when I don’t have a girlfriend to bug or teachers to torment, but I am enjoying being able to torment Nobles at Slurps and Burps,” He says as they sit down in the flower field which was today’s date night destination,
After Keefe graduated Foxfire Kesler offered him a job for as long as he wanted. His job was usually just putting elixirs away and coming up with creative names for new ones but every once in a while, Keefe was allowed to make some which left very few people with injuries by the end of the day.
“I did have an interesting phone call with Dex yesterday though,” he smirks,
“Oh,” is all Sophie responds with, trying to keep her face calm,
“You know you just sent me a wave of excitement right?” Keefe says smiling, “What do you know?” he questions,
“I don’t know anything… unless you know something,” Sophie says smiling just as big,
“Well, how do I know if I know something if I don’t know what you know?”
“I don’t know,” Sophie says,
“Is it just me or does the word ‘know’ now have no meaning to you?”
“It’s not just you,” Sophie reassures him, “Okay I can’t tell you what I know but I can tell you that last night after you left I also had a very interesting conversation with someone but it was not Dex,”
“Was it Stina?” Keefe tries
“It was,” Sophie says as both of their smiles get bigger
“So you do know what I know,” he smiles,
“I think I do, or at least I know a part of something you know,”
“This is amazing, I mean they are not at all a pairing I expected but I am already imagining their wedding,”
“Keefe I love how excited you are but Stina and Dex are not even dating yet, you need to slow down just a little,” Sophie says after her eyes widen, “By the way I want to know how you found out,”
Dex called me after I got home after dinner, and he just told me. He said that out of everyone I would know how he was feeling when crushing on one of your friends. How did you find out?”
“Stina has been talking to herself in French about how she feels about Dex for weeks after Team Vailent meetings, she seems to be pretty bad at remembering I can understand every language that exists,” Sophie laughs, “I finally told her I knew what she was saying and she called me about it last night. I think she may still be in a little bit of denial about her feelings,”
“I remember what being on the other side of that feels like,” Keefe jokes which earns him a handful of grass being thrown at him by his girlfriend, “Hey cease fire, cease fire, I was just telling you the truth,”
“It still deserves grass throwing, but I will also apologize if needed,” Sophie grins,
“Well the grass was very sharp, I could have been seriously injured, I think I deserve compensation,” Keefe says
“What kind of compensation?” Sophie asks,
“I think I kiss would cover it,”
“Deal,” Sophie says leaning towards Keefe,
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mochipon-vt · 5 months
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so here's the deal...
i really really really hate coming on anywhere and fussing, ranting or lamenting about things but… i'm extremely stressed, frustrated and upset.
my main pc is fucked, apparently. for the past 3 months, i've been working off of my old, dinosaur aged pc (it's 10+ years old, barely works, has trouble booting etc) ever since my newer pc started having serious issues. over this past weekend, i was finally able to take it the shop and get it looked at. they informed me a day later that one of the ram sticks was bad (as my partner had already suspected) and i was charged 100 bucks for this discovery, that i had to borrow from my parents.
they voicemail that i had received informing me of the issues found, that if i wanted repairs, it would cost 40 bucks alone for install + whatever price i chose to spend for new ram stick(s), however, once i visited the store to actually SPEAK to someone (their phone system is trash and no one would answer/return my call), i was told any parts install would cost SIXTY bucks instead and offered new parts costing from 100-120 in range, which would ultimately make the total cost + the 100 for diagnosis, close to 200 bucks.
my partner says that's a ridiculous price to pay for something that can be popped in and out to replace but unfortunately, i'm not very knowledgeable about hardware and hardware installation so i don't feel confident in going in there myself and replacing it/them even if i got my hands on new parts and we are also long distance so he's not able to do the install for me.
what i thought should be 'thankfully', the shop took out the 'bad' stick and i was told i should be able to bring my pc home and use it RELATIVELY normally without replacing it at this time, it just would not be able to run at the same capacity as it could have if it had both sticks of ram installed. at this time, it's worked for a total of.. a day and a half normally and without issue before having the same major issues again; web browser/tabs crashing, apps fully crashing or not operating (discord is currently a blank/grey window for me right now and i have to use the browser app to even use it), inability to install anything and finally, a full blue screened pc crash; so now i'm assuming BOTH sticks were bad and the brand installed is trash. (i do not know the brand of any parts installed in my pc as my ex purchased them all months before our relationship ended)
so what's the point i'm trying to get to?
i'm in desperate need of some money. i'm a disabled, unemployed person who my parents basically resent for needing their support for survival and i've been trying VERY hard to work towards making ANY kind of income from my creative skills in order to start saving up to attempt to move out of my parents' home and across several states to live my partner as, after being kicked out and left by my ex, has landed me in yet another home that doesn't respect or treat me fairly and takes a toll on my mental health/stress and motivation/focus on a daily basis. the added daily stress of not knowing if my (EXPENSIVE) devices are reliable and functioning has made it extra difficult to stay focused and motivated to keep moving towards my goals.
i currently have no financial nor food security as my parents often (intentionally) leave me out of meals, don't allow me any cash to go shop for myself and tell me to get a job, on the rare occasions i do happen to ask for 5-10 bucks for some dinner, same as they did when i asked for them to help me repair a device that COULD be a job for me if i could just get it back to working condition.
i am VERY new to doing commissions and i understand it does take some time to establish a good work flow + trustworthy reputation as a commission artist but i am determined to work hard and as efficiently as possible to provide clients with the best possible work i can produce. i am NOT, however, new to the art market world as i've had many mutuals and friends who have had commission shops or have gone on to produce their own physical merchandise so i've had many years of observing the processes and progressions.
at this current time, i'm considering setting aside my plans for vtuber development i had for this year which would have included working on small, 'mini' debuts leading up to a larger, legit debut as i progressed to learn to make my own environment overlays and assets + relearning live2d skills to rig my own model, to solely focus on constantly making art to showcase my skills for hire. i am also considering, after polishing up my commissions page more, including smaller, bonus arts with larger piece purchases as a small thank u for people helping me gain work and funds for my needs.
i'm just.. really drained and tired of prolonged issues taking a toll on me, both general life things i've experienced most my life and now these frustrating tech problems that i hope would have been non-existent with a newer pc as i had been experiencing many troubles with my old pc for years (this new pc is only a year old). i'm ready to be able to have peace in my life and to focus on things that are fulfilling to me and bettering skills that bring me joy.
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klainesheilen · 2 years
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04.01.2023
Updates on my life and my tumblr blog
Hey besties,
I hope everyone had a great start into 2023. I want to get right to the point of this post: I created this blog to use tumblr as an active member (meaning to actively post stuff instead of only reblogging it like on my main blog). My goal was to focus on my English skills, motivate myself to study and share with the internet my progress of healing. Weeeeeeell *Gen z move of putting my own hair behind my ear*. I'm getting chaotic with what I post. First I thought that's bad because I need a theme / an aesthetic to stick to, but then I realized that this is my blog and I do this for myself (and that this here is tumblr dot com where we don't function like other social media sides/apps) so I will keep on doing whatever I'm doing right now.
Still, one thing that I would like to change or to do more often are these longer post. I'm lazy, I'm always telling myself I don't have time to sit down and write anything to post but then I'm scrooling mindless on tiktok or watching youtube videos so I don't have to hear my own thoughts. I want to get more into book review writing so it seems that one goal of 2023 will be to post every once in a while a more serious book review on here. I ducking reorganized my reading notion page so I ducking hope that I will use it now. Another thing I really want to do is getting back into making art more regularly (and then also posting it?). I loved drawing and art and then I thought it would be a career thing, but it turned out to only burn me out so I dopped that and since then I barely enjoy doing art. I'm still in this mindset of comparing my work with others, of judging my WIP before it's even finished and so I want to change it into doing art for myself even if it's "bad art". Sure this won't happen over night or by saying "I'm doing this just for me", but I still hope that something will change at the end of the year with my thoughts.
K, guess that's everything about my tumblr update. So here comes a life update:
Nothing really chnaged. lol. Still going to university, working part time as a barista, being in a relationship. But there are thoughts and realizations on some topics. Lets start strong with university. I enjoy some of my lectures and some drain the shit out of me. Sometimes I think to drop out, because I can't imagen actually getting a job with this dagree so why continueing with all the stress and money investment? But at the same time I enjoy the experiencec, I enjoy my lectures, the discussions, the studying. Is it stressful? Yes. But in a paralel unniversum I'm already working a job that as well is stressful sooooo is the problem really university itself or how I stress myself over the thiniest things because my anxiety forces me to do so? Then I think "I can finish university and if I don't get a job with this dagree I do just a job to finance living" and then I'm again like "But then why not skip the unversity part and go right to working?" and everything is followed with a "But what will _____ think/say when they here that of me?". In all I can say it doesn't matter what I'm doing or what I plan to do I will always be unhappy and wondering "What if...?". To solve this I should go to therapy. Yea, it's easier to say than to do. I'm telling myself for so long to call the numbers that hang on my wall and I still haven't done it. I gave myself a deadline by last Monday and here I'm with no calls. At this point I really think I self-sabotage myself, because it's better to stay where I'm in my messy chaotic comfort zone instead of working on myself. But. but. BUT! I see progress in myself which is mostly linked with my boyfriend. Just last week we both pointed out that I've made great progress in communicating my feeling and thought and stuff. It began with him pointing stuff out and just then I talked with him about this situation/feeling/thought. But slowly, really really slowly, I'm able to point stuff out by myself without him starting the conversation on a topic. Most of the time I still tell myself "He doesn't need to know this, I'm probably overreacting anyway"/"If I tell him this we only start to fight (because that is what happend in earlier relationships most of the time)" you know stuff like that. So yea, I'm still (take a shot every time you read still in this post) working on my cmmunication skills but I've also got better. That isn't the only thing that changed. My mindset starts to changing as well. From "I'm a failure" "I have to be nice to them because what if they don't like me?" "What if they don't agree with my opinion?" etc to "This doesn't define who I am" and "I don't even like them so who cares" "I can have my own thoughts on stuff"etc. Sure, there a still huge backlashes, but as I said slowly making progress.
I think that's it. Sending love to you bestie <3
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fett-djarin · 3 years
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Stress Relief
Here it is! This is entirely self indulgent and filthy! Im a wh*re for the croissant guards
Also I headcanon Fox looking like how amikoroyoaiart draws him. her art is so good!
Commander Fox x f!reader
Crossposted on ao3
Rating: 18+
Length: 3.9k
Warnings/Tags: Oral (m receiving), that good sloppy toppy, office sex, cursing, light grinding, making out
NSFW BELOW THE CUT
Bringing the Guard their morning caf had become a tradition, of sorts. You knew the caf in the mess wasn’t good--in fact, it was barely even palatable. When you first started as a new secretary, it had been your timid way of offering friendship to the imposing troopers who worked so hard to keep the planet safe. They warmed to you quickly. Thire was the first to remove his helmet in front of you, plonking it down on your desk and taking a long pull of caf barely a second after you handed it to him. At your stunned look, he had just raised a brow and said, “Long patrol last night,” with a shrug.
As the others had become more comfortable with you, you had seen most of them without their buckets at some point--except for Fox. He always took his caf with a polite “Thank you, ma’am,” and retreated to his office. You knew it was against regulation for them to remove their helmets while they were on duty. But even when you dropped off the caf in his office, he was at his desk with his helmet on.
“He keeps it on so you can’t tell if he’s actually asleep,” Thorn told you one day. “I suspect he even does it while we’re standing guard sometimes.” You laughed aloud at that. The serious Commander Fox, asleep standing up. He was right though, you never would be able to tell.
The first time Fox removed his helmet in front of you, you hadn’t expected the gray dusting his temples, but honestly you weren’t surprised. The poor man was stressed beyond belief and worked half to death. You were more surprised that he finally did it in the first place. Fox sighed, running a hand through his unruly curls, before taking the caf and giving you a tired smile. He thanked you by name that time. You tried to ignore the butterflies in your stomach.
From then on, he had been without it more when you went into his office. You even caught him sleeping once--head resting on his folded arms, bucket set next to him--and had done your best to deliver the caf without waking him. Maker knew he needed the sleep more than he needed hot caf--if Thorn hadn’t told you he snuck naps with the helmet on, you would think he ran off caf and stubborn will alone.
One morning, after you had passed out caf to the others--and a little cup of whipped cream for Grizzer--Fox hadn’t made an appearance, so you made your way to his office to drop it off. You knocked lightly on the door. “Come in,” his gruff voice called, and the door slid aside. You smiled at him, noting the way his shoulders visibly relaxed at seeing it was just you. You set the cup down on his desk. You had just turned when a touch on your wrist stopped you.
Fox was looking up at you, helmet cocked to the side. “You know you don’t have to bring us caf every time you work, right? The boys better not be nagging you for it.”
“I know,” you said. “I enjoy doing it. And it’s the least I could do.”
“The least you could do?”
“You all work so hard. You deserve more, even if it’s just better caf.”
He squeezed your wrist gently. “You don’t owe us anything. It is our duty to the Republic--”
“I know, Fox,” you tried to hide your grin, and failed. “But you’re also my friends.”
That seemed to surprise him, hand falling from your wrist as he sat back in his chair and regarded you curiously. You made your way back to the door, pausing in the entryway and looking back over your shoulder.
“Have a good morning, Commander.”
“...You as well, ma’am.”
The door slid shut behind you. Fox slipped his helmet off, setting it on his desk and staring hard at the door you had disappeared through. His eyes flicked to the paper cup of steaming caf, brows furrowed.
It was the first time you had called him by his name.
Friends?
----
After that day, Fox seemed to be trying to talk to you more. Instead of taking his caf and running off, he would stay, either to chat or just hang around for a minute with you and the other Guards. Stone nudged Thire, who nudged Thorn, and they all looked over to where Fox leaned his hip casually against your desk and you were laughing at something he said.
“Did someone replace Fox while we weren’t looking?” Thire questioned under his breath.
“I’ve never seen him so...cheery,” Stone said.
You smiled up at Fox, worrying your bottom lip with your teeth. They watched as your fingers grazed the back of his hand where it rested on your desk. “Think something’s goin’ on between those two?” Thorn asked, gesturing vaguely over towards you and Fox with his cup.
“Absolutely.” Thire didn’t hesitate to answer.
The three quickly snapped to attention as Fox excused himself, heading their direction. You gave them a small wave. Thorn was about to wave back before Thire thumped him in the arm.
“Don’t you have duties to attend to?” Fox grumbled as he passed them, heading to his office. “Get to it.” You hid your laugh behind your hand seeing the three Commanders scramble to disperse.
Evening rolled around, and you cocked your head side to side, stretching your neck and shoulders. You had been going over forms all day, datapad after datapad, organizing reports and requests for the Chancellor and the Senate. Your shift was almost over, and you were getting ready to go home for the night.
Various members of the Guard had come and gone, leaving and returning from patrols. Senators and representatives had filtered through; less and less as the evening progressed. You were just getting ready to leave when Fox stalked through, back from his rounds, tense and practically vibrating with irritation. He didn't even spare you a glance as he disappeared into his office. If the doors weren't automatic, he likely would have slammed it shut.
You knew he had a thankless job--a job he had no say in having, either. Usually it was something to do with the Chancellor that got him so worked up. Half the time you thought Fox would strangle the man himself if he could. Maybe you should take Fox out to one of the cafes nearby, just for a second to breathe and not carry the weight of the Guard on his shoulders. Was that against regulation? It might be better to invite him back to your apartment. Or did that imply too much?
You pushed yourself up from your chair, mind made up. He could always say no. You wouldn’t be offended.
You paused outside the door to his office, listening carefully. You couldn’t hear anything from the other side. So, you knocked.
“What.” Fox’s biting tone surprised you, but you didn’t take it personally.
“Commander? I...It’s me,” you said hesitantly, and then wanted to smack yourself. Confidence. “Is everything alright?”
No response. You took the silence as a sign that he wasn’t interested in talking. That was fine. You didn’t want to impose if he needed time to himself. The door slid open just as you had stepped back, intending to leave. Fox sighed, jerking his head to direct you inside.
The door shut behind you, and Fox sat heavily in his chair at the desk. Another deep sigh, and his shoulders slumped. He pulled his helmet off, setting it aside, and you caught a glimpse of the dark circles under his eyes before he put his head in his hands.
“Commander Fox?” You took a tentative step forward, so you were close enough to reach out and touch his shoulder.
He looked up at you. There was still tension lining his shoulders, hands flexing into fists and then relaxing. Stress. He opened his mouth to say something, frowned, and then closed it again. He cleared his throat. “Did you need something?” You could tell he was making an effort to soften his voice, likely as to not snap at you again.
“I just wanted to check in, sir,” you said, coming around the desk to stand next to him, leaning your weight against it. “It looked like something was bothering you.”
He waved his hand in the air vaguely, brows pinched. “You don’t have to call me ‘sir,’ you’re not one of my men.” He looked like he was debating saying more, so you waited patiently, quietly, hoping he recognized that you were here to listen if he so needed.
“As you likely know, there’s a gala coming up. Senators, politicians, ambassadors, Jedi….” Fox huffed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “It’s going to be a security nightmare. And the Chancellor,” he spat, venom in his voice, “has been on my case about patrols and the Guard. Always demanding more. We’re spread too thin, and not getting the support we need--” he cut himself off. He was getting himself worked up again.
You placed your hand over his where it was clenched into a fist on the desk. It relaxed under your touch. Fox heaved another sigh mixed with a groan. “I’m behind on paperwork too,” he glared at the stack of datapads sitting to the side. “I don’t know where I’m supposed to find the time to do everything.”
“Hmm,” you reached over and picked up one of the datapads, skimming through it, hopping up so you were now sitting on the desk. It was just a patrol report that needed Fox’s signature before being filed. “What’s your CC number?”
“CC-1010,” he answered instantly, then regarded you with suspicion. “Why?”
You signed the bottom of the form: CC-1010, “Fox,” and submitted it.
“What are you doing?” his voice seemed to have kicked up an octave.
“Helping you with your work. I deal with paperwork and holoforms all the time,” you said, picking up another datapad and scanning through the information. “Most of the time it’s to make sure there’s a document trail. Most of these probably don’t need an in-depth review, they’re not important. They just go in the archives and are never looked at again.”
“I--you--that’s illegal,” he sputtered. But he seemed more surprised than serious.
You raised a brow at him, signing his designation and name once again before submitting the next form. “Are you going to arrest me?”
“No,” he didn’t hesitate. Interesting. Then he had a thought. “Your handwriting doesn’t even look like mine.”
“Doesn’t it?” you showed him where you had signed. It was almost identical to his scrawling script. His eyes flicked between the form and your face, incredulity on his features.
“How…?”
You shrugged. “It’s something I’ve always been good at. Saved me a lot of trouble as a kid when I needed my parents to sign for something at school. Especially when it was a disciplinary note.” Fox barked a disbelieving laugh at that and you couldn’t help your sly smile. “Even if I didn’t mimic your signature, no one would notice. Or care. You could mark the lines with an X and it would go through; it’s only the acknowledgement they care about. You can even draw a loth-cat face and have that be in the archive forever as a signature.”
“Don’t you dare,” he threatened with a chuckle. “Some of these aren’t just patrol reports though. I actually have to read through the more important ones.”
You handed him a holopad as you picked up your third. “How’s this: we work on these together; if I find one that has important information or requires more than a signature, I’ll give it to you.”
He regarded you for a long moment, debating your offer. Some of the weight had lifted from his shoulders; he looked less tense, less overwhelmed, even less exhausted. Then he slowly nodded. “All right,” he said. “But you have to let me buy you coffee for once.”
“You don’t have to do that--”
“We’re friends. Right?”
That stopped you short. You did consider him and the other guards friends, but to hear him say that he also considered you one...it was nice. It made a pleasant warmth flutter in your stomach, and you couldn’t help your shy smile at his words. “Right,” you agreed. The soft upturn of his lips made your breath hitch. He looked so young when he smiled.
The two of you worked in companionable silence, steadily making your way through the stack of datapads. You had been correct--most of them were unimportant; standard reports and forms that required a signature purely for protocol. Every once in a while you handed one over to Fox for him to read through. Slowly, your free hands had crept together, and Fox hoped to the Maker that you didn’t notice how warm his cheeks had gotten. 
Your thumb rubbed soothing circles over the back of his hand, and he didn’t notice he was staring at the way your fingers moved rather than reading through the form you handed him until you cleared your throat. “Fox?” you asked quietly. His gaze landed on your lips. He wanted you to keep saying his name, he wanted to hear it again and again--
You brushed a stray curl back from his forehead. A tug on your arm had you stumbling forward off-balance, and you would have fallen if strong arms had not wrapped around you and pulled you into an armored chest. Heat rushed to your face at the new position you found yourself in: sat in Fox’s lap, his hand still entwined with yours.
Then he kissed you.
It was gentle, soft. His lips pressed to yours chastely, far more gently than you expected him to be, and you felt the datapad fall from your hand. The sharp clatter of it hitting the ground made Fox pull back, but then you grasped the back of his neck, twining your fingers in his curls, and pulled him back to your mouth. He tossed his own back on the desk with a groan as your lips met again.
You licked the seam of his lips, and he opened for you. Fox was content to let you lead. His hand gripped your hip, and he sighed into your kisses, melting from your affection. You don’t know how long the two of you stayed like that--tasting, breathing each other in, sharing languid kisses full of pent-up desire.
His wild curls were soft in your fingers, and he all but purred when you lightly scratched your nails along his scalp. The hard plastoid of his thigh plates was uncomfortable underneath you, and you shifted your hips slightly in an effort to find a more comfortable spot. The breath hissed out through Fox's teeth, and your face flushed with warmth realizing you had brushed against his codpiece. His fingers tightened on your hip and thigh, pulling you towards him, encouraging your hips to roll against him again.
It was an awkward angle, with you sitting with your legs thrown over his lap, but from the hitch in Fox’s breathing it was doing something for him. You hummed into his mouth before pushing yourself up, holding onto his broad shoulders for support as you swung one leg over so you were now straddling him, chest to chest.
“Better?” he rumbled, nipping your bottom lip before soothing the sting with his tongue. You squeaked as his palms cupped and squeezed your ass, tugging you closer. Both of you basked in each other's eager little breaths and soft noises, hungry and wanting for more.
"Mhmm." The new position allowed you to feel the firmness of Fox's codpiece against your center when you pressed your hips into his. Fox really appreciated the new position, with your tits against his chest and free access to grope your ass. He almost whined into your mouth at the steady slow grind you started against him.
You wanted to hear that noise again. An idea struck you. You wanted to taste him. One more deep kiss, then you shimmied back off his lap. Fox made a noise of protest and tried to pull you back to him, but you just grinned and shooed his hands away. The floor was cold on your knees as you settled between his spread legs.
“What are you--oh,” he cut off with a harsh breath as your deft fingers unclasped his codpiece and tossed it away. Immediately, your palm cupped the warm bulge at the front of his blacks. He shifted in his seat, and you noticed his cheeks and ears had flushed a shade darker. How cute.
“Commander,” you purred, slowly stroking him through the fabric.
“Y-yes, cyare?” His hands flexed at the arms of his chair. He was struggling to not reach out and pull you back on his lap. Normally so composed, Fox now looked wrecked with his lips slightly parted, kiss-swollen, and hair mussed.
“Will you let me suck your cock?”
Fox spluttered and fumbled at your bluntness. You bit your bottom lip, looking up at him from beneath your lashes, still slowly stroking him over his blacks. You could see him fighting with himself. Maker, he wanted it. He wanted to see your pretty lips wrapped around his length. But he also didn’t want you to feel like you had to--he also desperately wanted to pleasure you.
“Please?” you leaned forward and mouthed at his clothed erection, letting your spit soak the fabric. Your eyes locked with his, looking up at him with your best faux-innocent look, like you had no idea what you were doing to him. But Maker, you were hungry. You wanted him.
“Fuck,” the word sounded as if it had been punched out of him. His pupils were blown wide, black swallowing the rich brown of his irises. “Fuck, yes--”
You wasted no time in tugging the band of his blacks down. A shiver worked its way through him; seeing you on your knees in front of him was a dream--a dirty little fantasy he would never admit to. Many nights alone in his quarters or in the showers he had roughly fisted his cock to the thought of you in situations that were most definitely unprofessional, biting the back of his hand to keep his noises at bay. And now here you were, the sweet secretary, making his dreams become reality.
The sliver of warm skin revealed to you made you instantly want more, and you couldn’t stop from pressing a light kiss to his hip. Then you eased his leaking cock from his blacks. Fox hissed in a breath through his teeth as your hand loosely wrapped around him, pumping his length slowly. The precum that dribbled from the tip slicked your grip. He was thick and firm in your hand, like velvet-wrapped durasteel.
The first stroke of your tongue against his cock made him curse. You licked slowly, working your way from tip to base and back, tracing the pulsing vein that ran along the underside. Taking the head of his cock in your mouth, you tasted the salty tang of the precum that leaked from him. When you hummed around him, his hand shot to your hair, fingers winding through the strands. He didn’t push you down or pull you away; instead, he merely just...held on.
Fox’s breathing kicked up watching you worship his cock with your tongue and hands. You enjoyed watching him try to hold himself together, slowly making him fall apart piece by piece. Your head bobbed up and down his length, each time taking more of him. Your hand continued to pump and work the rest you hadn’t fit in your mouth. He breathed out a string of words in a language you didn’t understand, but from the tone it sounded like he was praising you.
All his little noises were making the heat coil in your core. Wetness pooled between your legs, and you clenched your thighs together for the slightest bit of relief. You closed your eyes to concentrate, focusing on the weight of his cock on your tongue, the heat of his body. You slowly took more of him in your mouth until you felt his tip bump the back of your throat. Breathe through your nose. Fighting off your gag reflex, you swallowed around him.
“Shit! Shit, mesh’la--” Fox cried out above you, feeling your throat constrict around his length. He tugged gently on your hair, and you pulled off him with a gasp. “Fuck, if you keep doing that I’m gonna cum in your mouth.” It was meant to be a warning, but he sounded too breathless for it to carry any weight.
“But Commander,” you looked up at him, enveloping the tip of his cock in the heat of your mouth and gently sucking. His thighs twitched under your hands, cock throbbing, and you pulled off with an obscene pop. “That’s the best part.”
You were messy, letting saliva drip from your mouth and down his cock. You sucked, licked, and kissed every inch of his length until it was sopping. When you ducked down to take his balls in your mouth, his breath hitched, hand tightening in your hair, and a low moan came from him.
“Gedet’ye, mesh’la, gedet’ye--” Fox choked out.
“Hm?” You pulled back, hand wrapped around his cock and continued to pump him tightly. You twisted your wrist when your hand brushed over his head. He was panting lightly, and looked deliciously wrecked.
“Gedet’ye,” he said again, “please.”
You smiled at him, and he felt his heart jump. You looked filthy, lipstick--Coruscant guard red?--smeared, lips and chin wet with spit. “I want you to cum in my mouth, Fox.” Then you brought your mouth back to his cock and sucked, laving your tongue over the sensitive head as one hand stroked the base. The other came up to cradle his balls, and he was done for.
Fox cursed up a storm in both Basic and Mando’a, nearly doubling over as his orgasm was wrenched out of him by your clever mouth. You kept your gaze connected with his, eyes hazy and half-lidded. Warm spurts of his release filled your mouth and you eagerly swallowed it down, milking his cock until he had nothing left. Subtly, you rubbed your thighs together, so turned on it nearly hurt. Seeing Fox fall apart for you stoked the fire of arousal in your core.
He had an arm thrown over his eyes as he slumped in his chair, chest heaving for breath. “Stars above, you’re going to kill me,” he said. You giggled, hands running soothing motions over his thigh plates, even though he couldn’t feel it through the plastoid. He looked boneless and sated, which was exactly your intention--well, part of your intention.
Then he was guiding you back up, cupping your cheek and kissing you hard. It was desperate, deep, filled with so much emotion that you couldn’t decipher it, you only knew that you felt the same. You moaned into his mouth. He broke the kiss, and you noticed the glint in his eye and his sly grin before he kissed you again, standing and guiding you back to sit on his desk.
“Now it’s my turn.”
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nightwishesworld · 3 years
Note
Oh, I have a request! How about the daughters (who love the reader very much) always taking the reader and practically stealing her every time she’s with Alcina? (Cuz we need more daughters and reader interaction 🥲) And maybe to the point of our precious big dommy mommy gettin ya know ya know jealous? ;)) HAHGSHAHAHAHA, that would be hilarious to see. Anyways, hope you’re havin’ a great time~ ✌🏻till next time!
I’m so sorry this took me so long anon! I’ve gotten more requests than I ever thought I would and I’m starting to get behind. This was a really sweet one to put together though- really enjoyed it!
Slight Gore warning for Cassandra! Nothing too detailed but it is referenced. If you don’t like it just skip her
Bela
Being the eldest sibling has made her the most level-headed of the three. After decades of ending squabbles between her younger sisters, she’s discovered the pleasures of retail therapy. 
She takes great joy in popping off to neighboring villages for a few hours perusing the various aromatherapy shops.
And she takes even greater pleasure bringing you along. Dragging you, really. Even if you’re otherwise busy. Sometimes she’ll buy you a few scents or lotions that catch your eye.
She calls it “compensation for being dragged away from Mother,” but really she’s just happy to spoil you
Also loves asking you for literature recommendations. As vast as the castle’s library is, Bela had read through most of the literature over her lifetime
Is absolutely fascinated by modern day novels. 
She takes you on a day-long shopping spree visiting five surrounding villages just blowing through money buying almost every book that peaks her interest
Most of your time together is spent relaxing in the library talking about your novels. 
Eventually you’ve collected enough books to make an entirely new section in the library just for the two of you.
Even when cuddled up with Alcina in the library, there is simply no escaping Bela when she’s looking for recommendations or simply someone to talk to
At the end of the day, you really didn’t mind. You were more than happy to spend time with all the girls and happy they wanted to spend time with you. 
You knew as annoyed as Alcina got when interrupted she found it incredibly sweet that her daughters will go out of their way to be with you
Cassandra (Cassi)
Suffers from middle child syndrome hardcore
She’s a bit too old to understand Bela’s interests, but too old to join Daniela in her delusional fantasies. So naturally, she tries to cling onto you.
At first she tries to convince you to enter the basement with her so she can show you her “Art Gallery,” but Alcina forbade it. So things between you and Cassi went quiet for awhile
Alcina says Cassandra is an artist of some sort and all her work is done in the basement
After about a month of silence Cassandra came barrelling into your private study with some kind of canvas in her hands
“I’m sorry I haven’t been around much, y/n, but I’ve been working really hard on your gift.”
You gush, “oh Cassi, you didn’t have to make me anything. That’s so sweet of you.”
She eagerly flips over the canvas to reveal her painting of a human heart.
It was beautifully detailed, the heart really jumped off the page against the black background...but something was off about it. It took a minute for you to realize it but once you did, you couldn’t stop staring. The heart was painted with blood.
You were lost for words. 
“Well?” Cassi, asked with a broad smile on her face. “Do you like it?”
All you could do at first was nod you head. “Oh Cassandra, its gorgeous. You really made this?”
The girl’s eyes were rapturous. “It’s my favorite hobby! But this particular piece was my first try at observational painting. I hope I did a good job...”
“Are you kidding Cassi? It’s beautiful! I’ve never seen anything like it. Can I hang it on my wall?”
She lunges at you, wrapping you in a suffocating hug. “Thank you, y/n. I made it a heart so you know how much we love having you here with us.”
Tears were starting to prick your eyes. “I love you guys, too.”
You looked up lust long enough to see Alcina walk in your study, roll her eyes and walk right back out.
Daniela (Dani)
Being the youngest Dimitrescu definitely has its advantages and Daniela knows how to use every single one.
Gets away with absolutely everything and anything under the sun. Even things her older sisters could only dream of getting away with and it irritates them to no end.
Daniela is definitely the most daring of the three. Always pushing her boundaries with her mother and will go out of her way to annoy Alcina just for funsies.
Is comfortable (and has) appearing in your bedroom while your, erm...busy with Alcina. Literally grabs you by the arm and swoops you away in a swarm of moths giggling the entire time. You hear Alcina shouting obscenities as you’re taken away.
You’re both thoroughly embarrassed.
Daniela seems to be, just like her mother, very needy. Attention starved if you will. So of course, she’s in need of your presence every hour. Sometimes more. 
And for the dumbest freaking reasons!
“Y/n come quick! Look at the birds in the garden. They’re so pretty!”
You laugh at her excitement “They’re crows, Dani. We see them every day.”
Other times she will drag you to her room and pull out her vast collection of weapons and tell you different stories associated with each one. You loved hearing how passionate Daniela was about her collection.
On a few rare occasions, she even gifted you a set of daggers, or crossbow, or whatever your favorite weapon is.
“You don’t own any y/n, which means you’re vulnerable to attacks. One day I’ll teach you how to use them.”
BONUS: Alcina being absolutely done with her girls not sharing
Late hours of the night are Alcina’s favorite time of day
She gets to relax in bed with you all to herself while shedding away all the stresses from the day. 
More often than not she’ll lazily sip a glass of wine and reread her favorite novel to you while you’re nestled in her lap.
It was the only time of day she knew she had you all to herself
...usually...
One night all three of her daughters barged in your bedroom arguing who you would spend time with first. Alcina tried shouting over them to take control of the situation, but none of them were even paying her attention.
Situations like this call for drastic measures.
Alcina covered your ears and shouted at her girls from the top of her lungs. Once she knew she had their attention she reached over to the nightstand and pulled out a...spray bottle? They were about to laugh at her before she explained that the spray bottle contained holy water.
That scared them enough to make them back up a few steps. Daniela even hisssed at her, baring her fangs like a feral animal.
“I am tired of you three stealing away my y/n and I’ve reached my breaking point. This is the one time of day I’m allowed exclusive time with them and I will not have you getting in the way of that.”
You couldn’t process what was happening before you. Was Alcina really prepared to spray her own daughters with holy water just because she wouldn’t get her cuddles tonight? Really?
Daniela felt bold tonight. “As if you would actually do it. I bet that’s not even holy water.”
Alcina only arched a brow. “Well you’re more than welcome to come see for yourself, Daniela. By all means.”
The redhead was about to do just that until Bela pulled her backwards. “I guess we can wait and see y/n tomorrow. Goodnight, mother. Goodnight, y/n.”
As soon as Alcina knew they were gone she fell back onto the mattress, pulling you with her, peppering you in kisses. 
“Darling,” you ask. “Is that really holy water?”
She chuckles into your neck. “No, it’s not, and they should have known that. If it were I wouldn’t have been able to hold it without it making me feel ill. But they’ll figure that out eventually and once they do they’ll be back.”
“What then?”
“Pelting them with fake silver should do the trick.”
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xcrystalzero · 3 years
Text
finals never end
summary: as finals approach, i would like to imagine that there is something more to college than studying alone in a box for 14 hours a day. so, here's a modern au of the genshin boys as college students.
Characters included: Diluc, Kaeya, Childe, Xiao, Zhongli
Diluc:
- Who are we kidding, this bitch is a legacy at some pricy Ivy League. Hates when people bring it up though since he just wants to be his own person and not rely on his family name to get through things.
- Majors in business because of course he does. Rushed a business frat because it seemed like a good idea. Didn't get a bid and has since boycotted greek life.
- Eventually people find out who his father is and he starts to get bombarded by people who just basically want to use him for networking. Gets approached by girls (and sometime guys) after class like literally every day, asking if he wants to study with them sometime or just "hang out" both because he's hot and because he's rich. He never gives them the time of day but that never stops them.
- Goes to the same school as Kaeya but ignores him every time he tries to talk to him or just come back into his life. Kaeya usually takes it in stride but every else is super confused about how the two of them actually know each other.
- Walks you home from class when it starts to get darker earlier, apparently only because he doesn't have anything better to do. A gentleman through and through.
"Don't you have a meeting right now?"
"You staying safe is more important right now. They'll understand."
Kaeya:
- You know that one guy who is always out partying and who you never see studying but somehow makes the Dean's List every single semester without fail? Yeah, that's Kaeya.
- He's probably like an engineering or hard science major too and all his friends are absolutely pissed when he fucks up the curve every single time.
"You got a 98 on the orgo final???" "What, like it's hard?"
- Not as much of a hoe as everyone thinks he is. He definitely has his fun but he's not that guy who has slept his way through his entire major.
- Surprisingly enough, he's not actually in a frat, he just always knows where all the parties are. He's that guy with a snap score in the millions because everyone and their cousin hits him up every Friday night to ask where the parties are at.
-Generally seen as a really easy person to talk too. Also really good at seeming open with people without actually ever opening up and sharing anything about himself.
- With his very few close friends however, he has some strange hobbies that he's always happy to have someone to share with.
-Will take you on a picnic date about a mile off campus where you guys each way too much cheese and crackers, drink about a bottle of wine each, and watch the stars come out as the sun sets. Give the boy some love. That's all he really wants.
Venti:
-Your local friendly performing arts major who you never find without a huge iced coffee and cuffed jeans.
- He's super involved in a bunch of student organizations from improv to a few music clubs and the like. He's that person that everyone in his major knows and comes to for recommendations about new things that they should try out.
- He's in a band! They play indie songs at rotating bars every Tuesday and Thursday night and go to conferences once a semester for aspiring artists. Also sometimes will randomly perform on the Quad and serenade the random people passing by just trying to get to class.
-Offers to play at an event a club you're in is hosting as long as there's free snacks.
- Kind of an alcoholic? Not a partier in the traditional sense, but at least twice a week, he'll host a hangout where he and anyone who decides to show up get wine drunk and watch a shit ton of Gilmore Girls. BYOB of course because there's no way he could afford it on his own. Has shown up to class still drunk before but he's cute so everyone forgives him.
- Impromptu photo shoots all the time with him. Whether its a cute random flower patch, the soft neon signs outside of a boba shop, or graffiti painted onto a building wall, everything is an insta opportunity.
Xiao:
- That mysterious kid sitting in the back of your lecture wearing all black who is both undeniably hot and also exceedingly intimidating.
- Either an animal sciences major because animals are just better than humans, or he's like like history/english and spends a lot of time reading.
- He's that guy who stops communicating after the first day of your group project and you're really worried that they're just not going to finish their work but they end up sending it to you perfectly complete like a week early. Also, will talk/text you one-on-one but dislikes group meetings and group chats.
- He's in a band too! They actually play with Venti and his friends a lot and even though he admires him a lot, he's never gotten around to actually talking to Venti.
- Doesn't let people come over because then his frighteningly large collection of Funko-Pops and anime merch will be revealed.
- Also a dancer! He's not on a team or anything since he had some bad experiences with teams when he was younger, but he heads down to the studio at least 2 times a week just to move and let out some stress. If he offers to teach you sometime, that means he really really likes you.
- Asked if you wanted to go see the Demon Slayer movie with him and then showed up in a black mask and sunglasses because he didn't want anyone to recognize him.
Childe:
- Idk why but he kind of gives off athlete vibes??? Maybe like a basketball player or something?
- A bit of a campus celebrity just in that basically everyone, even if they aren't in the same major or aren't into sports, or just basically have no connection to him, still somehow know about him.
- He's a PR major and that charm is no joke. Some people kind of despise him because of the way he is literally able to effortlessly win over all of the recruiters and just random people he meets. He's extremely well-loved and he knows it.
- He's in a frat but outside of like mandatory events, doesn't spend all that much time with them. When he does party though, he goes hard.
- Doesn't actively flirt with anyone but he's just so charming and amiable that sometimes it comes across that way. Girls are always like "he's so respectful and nice I'm in love with him." He never feels the same way.
- Extremely competitive. Like the most competitive person you have literally ever met. He has to win everything and if he doesn't, he'll just keep trying and trying until he does. Literally the worst person to play beer pong with because he's not letting you go until he wins.
- Asks you to come to his games even though you barely even know the rules. If he does see you in the crowd, he gets way too hyped but plays the best he has all season. Make sure you take the credit for it.
Zhongli:
- That guy in your required philosophy class who argues with the professor. Not in an annoying "I'm smart and want an excuse to mansplain" kind of way though. He's actually just absurdly well-read and wants to discuss things instead of just listening to someone talk.
- People get annoyed with him because he's kind of disrupting class but if you actually listen to what he's saying, his ideas make a lot of sense and are kind of a mind-fuck at times.
- Has an extensive collection of plants at home and somehow manages to keep all of them alive and thriving. Also collects antique tea sets and goes to great lengths to make sure that they are taken care of.
- Probably actually a philosophy or anthropology major. Always has a new book recommendation and he's a darling who actually reads from every genre.
- Spends his free time going to museums in the area or visiting historical landmarks that are close enough to the university. Loves walking everywhere so that he can just take time to enjoy scenery and the like.
- You mention that there's a new exhibit at the local art gallery and he says that he's actually going there that evening if you would like to join him. And I mean, why would you refuse?
A.N. I'm gonna go back to studying now! Hope you enjoyed!
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hiddennerdworld · 3 years
Text
MHA Couples Dynamics with art by @leecheedoodles| Too Cool for Skool x Keener (Reader x Iida)
Tumblr media
Masterlist
Warnings: none, all fluff stuff
A/N: eeeee I’m so excited about this. I saw this art and immediately was inspired. I would really like to do a series based on these. This is all thanks to leechee doodles here on Tumblr. They are v talented so check them out! I’ve seen others use their art, but if they don’t want me to I can always take it down. Enjoy :)
You and Iida definitely got off on the wrong foot
You guys didn’t hate each other per say, but you annoyed each other for sure
Iida just wanted his fellow classmates to be successful and tried to encourage you as class rep. And you just wanted to only take part in the aspects of hero work that you actually enjoy
In your own ways, you both stressed each other out
Iida would give you lectures any time you ditched class, saying you needed to be responsible in order to be the best hero you can be
You just stood and rolled your eyes the entire time with your arms crossed over your chest
Eventually, one day Iida just said fuck it (he didn’t actually phrase it that way bc he doesn’t use the bad words) and picked you up and carried you to class.
The whole time with you kicking and screaming, which doesn’t affect him bc he’s a fucking tree
This became routine. Iida was with you almost 24/7, keeping you in line. This caused even more tension between you guys
“I don’t need a babysitter!”
“Well you wouldn’t if you stopped acting like a baby and attended to your duties!” *snickers* “You’re gonna tell me you’re not a baby when you can’t even not laugh at the word ‘duty’?!!!”
The bickering wouldn’t stop and it was driving EVERYONE crazy
So as Aizawa solves all problems, he paired up the duo with pent up frustration for their final exam
You guys were rolling your eyes when you saw you had to work together but weren’t surprised tbh
It seemed like you guys weren’t gonna make it, but at the last second you were able to distract Cementoss and give Iida an in to dash up and capture him
You guys cheered and high fived when you realized you’d passed, the negative feelings towards each other forgotten
Afterward you guys had a talk.
“Good job out there today, Iida. I’m impressed on how you came up with a strategy so quick. I guess studying so much does actually help, huh.”
“Thank you, L/N! I appreciate the kind words, especially coming from someone who has such good control over their quirk like yourself!”
The whole time both of you were staring at the ground, blushing to hard to look at the other person while complimenting them. Iida still did the hand waving tho lmao
Afterwards, Iida still kept an eye on you always bc he thinks you have a lot of potential and wants you to do well
And you don’t find him as annoying anymore, so don’t really try to avoid him
This ends up with you guys basically just hanging out rather than him chaperoning you.
Training, studying, making food, you guys are together a lot
You and Iida occupied a table in the dining area for your studies for the millionth night in a row. The other students know better than to disturb you at this point. Yes, you guys are friends now, but you still bicker like an old married couple.
“I could really go for some ice cream right now,” you said while leaning back in your chair.
“L/N! You know that stuff isn’t good for you! Why do you wish to consume such sugary content?! Why don’t you eat an apple instead?!”
“I don’t think that’s how cravings work. Besides we have training tomorrow and always so I will still be keeping myself in shape. It’s one treat.”
“L/N, we are studying to become the best heroes! We need to be responsi-“
“But that’s just it! We are always going to be working to be the best we can be. You need to be able to enjoy yourself. Life isn’t all about work, you know?” You said standing up and grabbing his arm, “We’re going out. Come on!”
“Absolutely not! It is after curfew! It would be dangerous and-“ Iida lectured on and on until you guys were basically in front of the ice cream place. He tried to get you to stay back, but you were surprisingly strong when you were determined. (Also, he probably wasn’t resisting as much as he could’ve).
You guys went in and ordered. You got cookie dough with some chocolate syrup on top, and Iida got a scoop of vanilla on a cone, only because you insisted he get something. After you got the ice cream you went to a nearby park and sat on a bench.
“Mmmmmm this is so good. Totally worth it.” You say as you take your first bite, eyes closed while enjoying the delicious dessert.
“I’m not sure if it was worth breaking the rules, but as long you are enjoying yourself I guess it’s alright.”
“That’s because you got the most boring flavor. Here try some of mine.” You said raising a spoonful up to him.
This caused his face to go red and he stared at you with wide eyes for a few seconds before speaking. “No, L/N! I appreciate the offer but it would be inappropriate. Mine is perfectly fine and-“
As he was rambling, you shoved the spoon in his mouth, making him blush even harder. “L/N! You could’ve choked me.”
“But was it good though?”
“Yes, I suppose so.” He said at almost a whisper.
A shit-eating grin grew on your face, “Told ya so. See, Iida look.” You gestured over to the sight in front of you. There were people scattered throughout the park enjoying their night, and you could even see the glowing city in the distance. “We are a part of what makes this all possible. There wouldn’t be people out here living their lives if we didn’t keep them safe. It may not be too often, but we still get to relish in the world we created too. It reminds us why we do what we do.”
Iida couldn’t help but just stare at you for a hot minute. You looked gorgeous under the moonlight while you looked around in awe. You were more wise than he ever gave you credit for. He had always thought you were carefree, but actually you just had cared about things differently than him and he failed to realize.
“You’re right, L/N. We should be able to enjoy this more often.”
“We?”
“Of course. Why would I do something fun without you?” Now you started to get all flustered. Feeling heat rush to your face, you covered it with your hands and looked toward the ground. “Are you alright? Sorry I didn’t mean to say anything that would upset you.”
“No, don’t worry. You didn’t upset me. I would love to spend some time with you.”
So you guys did. Well you already spent a lot of time together already but now you guys would go out and do something fun if you had free time
Like instead of training on the weekends, you guys sometimes walked around the park.
And every time you’d go, you guys would also visit the ice cream shop you guys went to that one night and try a new flavor
You also were participating more in class. You’re grades were getting better from the beginning of your guys’ relationship, but now you actually were invested.
After a test, you would show Iida your grade and thank him for all his help, and he would be so proud and excited for you
Of course, your classmates started to catch onto you guys being more and more friendly with each other
Hagakure snuck up on you guys one day while you were studying. “Alright, when did you two start dating? We all thought you hated each other but now we know it was all an act to throw us off, so spill the beans.”
“Oh, no we’re not dating.” You replied
“Well..” Iida started to talk and your eyes darted towards him
“I mean now that someone has said it, I wouldn’t be opposed to dating you, L/N. I really enjoy my time with you and think you’re a great person. Could I take you on an official date?”
“Y-yea I would really like that.”
“Awwww that was so adorable! I can’t believe I just help you guys get together!” She skipped out of the room, on her way to tell everyone her accomplishments
“Sorry, L/N, that probably wasn’t the best timing.”
“Call me Y/N”
“O-oh okay… Y/N. I’m looking forward to going out with you.”
“Me too, Tenya.” You said smiling and grabbing his hand.
Barely anything was said the rest of the time, but you guys couldn’t stop smiling and you didn’t let go of each other’s hands. Safe to say no information was retained from this study session
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iamnmbr3 · 3 years
Note
Hey! This is a bizarre ask but hopefully a welcome one after *gestures at the destruction and fire*. I’m completely new to the Loki/thorki fandom, having essentially come in via the exit door by watching the Loki tv series first. I was honestly just watching it for junk value to have something in the background while I knit. However, when I realized that I didn’t understand anything by the middle of Ep. 1, I went back to watch Thor 1 so I could get what was going on. And HOLY SHIT I was utterly captivated by Loki’s character in the original movie, as well as by the Loki-Thor and Odin family dynamics. I’ve now watched through the films and have been increasingly disappointed by the portrayal of Loki (since Avengers 1 frankly) save a few glimmers of good characterization here and there.
I can’t believe that I’m getting myself into another queer coded (and now more than coded wtf) “villain” with a tragic backstory who’s done dirty by the fandom at large, but here we are! I’m also super into thorki because goddamn… they sure do have a Dynamic™.
So I guess my question is, what is actually good here? I feel like I’ve been trying to fight my way back to Kenneth Branagh!Loki, and have been largely unsuccessful within canon content. Do you have suggestions for a newcomer re: fics, fanart, and meta that actually treats Loki seriously? (and thorki as well?)
Hey! Welcome! Sorry about the mess *gestures at the garbage fire that is the TVA Show The Larry Show The "Loki" Show*
And this isn't a bizarre ask at all. It was really nice to receive actually! And yeah! I'm so glad you went back and watched the originals. The TV Show character is a completely new character played by the same actor who has nothing in common with the original character (who yes is absolutely fascinating and captivating and multilayered). Honestly I just think of the tv character as Larry, Loki's dumb lookalike cousin bc they have nothing in common lol. So glad the show led to you discovering good content...and thorki. And yeah Thor 2011 is amazing! It's so underrated. If you want meta relating to that and also just gushing about the film you can def check out my Thor 2011 tag.
My thorki tag of course has thorki stuff including art etc. I've also got an art tag which has both thorki and non-thorki works. If you want fic recs you can look in my fic rec tag which has a bunch of good stuff both thorki and gen.
Also here are some good thorki fics to start out with that I've really enjoyed. Most are ones I read early on when I just discovered the ship. Also @illwynd has a great thorki blog btw that you should def check out (and also their sideblog @throwbackthorki). Edit: I’ve also added some gen fic recs.
Thorki Fic Recs:
Chaos War by astolat (words: 34,203 | rating: E)
It was never easy to find Loki when he wanted to hide, but he wasn't doing a particularly good job of it at the moment. Probably he didn't think anyone from Asgard would be wasting their time hunting for him while the shining ones churned their way steadily through all the realm.
Loyalty at Any Price by seidrade (words: 22,663 | rating: E )
“This whole time, I’ve been searching the Nine Realms— alone— for answers to questions I barely know how to ask. I thought Heimdall at his watch, our father upon the throne, and most grievously… I thought you lost to me forever.” Thor’s resurgence of anger gives way to something like despair. He can’t tell whether he wants to pummel Loki into one giant bruise, or hold him and weep like a child.
When Thor returns to Asgard and exposes Loki’s deception, his demands for answers and Loki’s reluctance to give them soon bubble over into a cathartic confrontation.
Born to be Kings by Kadorienne (words: 66,618 | rating: T)
When the princes of Asgard made their ill-fated jaunt to Jotunheim, Odin arrived to fetch them before the frost giant grabbed Loki's arm. Odin was able to carry out his plan to make Loki his puppet king of Jotunheim. But how long will Loki remain an obedient puppet?
Yidrigar by epistolic (words: 5,174 | rating: M)
Sometimes I am envious, but never doubt that I love you.
The Heavy Crown by orphan_account (words: 10,024 | Rating: M )
Odin is dead. Loki must take up the mantle of King even as war threatens Asgard, Thor remains bereft of both Mjolnir and his immortality, and stress coupled with the knowledge of his heritage drives Loki to the brink.
No Common Thing by ravenbringslight (words: 8,283 | rating: E)
Loki follows Thor to a brothel and gets the shock of his life.
On the Eagle's Wings by illwynd (words: 2,975 | rating: T )
After Loki falls from the Bifrost, Thor begins to write him letters every day.
How long we were fooled by Ark (words: 28,227 | rating: E )
Loki is not a good man, he knows; there is something rotten in the core of him; and even a much better man might let Thor kiss him, since Thor still tastes of sizzling lightning, like gathering rain, like a desire so fierce and so awful to him that when released it could bring Asgard to its knees.
sunshine by thorvaenn (words: 18,257 | rating: E )
A post Infinity War fluffy piece.
Thor and Loki are among those who are trying to pick up the pieces, but must first fix each other.
Edit: And Some Gen Fic Recs too:
lose my idols to find my voice by Lise (words: 1,548 | rating: T)
This is no homecoming.
monstrare by Lise (words: 1,174 | T )
Loki is Asgard's second prince, brother to Thor, son of Odin and Frigga.
Isn't he?
farewell hope, and with hope farewell fear by Lise (words: 3,113 | rating: T)
Loki and the terrible, horrible, no good, very long delayed reckoning.
Five Times Loki Could Have Been A Villain by Kadorienne (words: 3,344 | rating: G | Character Death)
Five AUs where Loki is not a mere antagonist, but an actual villain.
He would have acted very differently.
When It Sings, When It Lies by dreamsthebirds (words: 14,145 | rating: G)
Thor AU, based on an awesome norsekink prompt for a scenario in which Heimdall doesn't open the Bifrost to Jotunheim, Odin doesn't ride to the rescue, and Loki is forced to take matters into his own hands.
Interdimensional journeys, shattering emotional revelations, and walking trees ensue.
Ichor in Violet by tirsynni (Words: 14,574 | rating: T)
When Thor learns that Loki can travel to other realms without Heimdall seeing, of course he convinces Loki to take them both to Jotunheim to hunt Frost Giants. There an accident unravels centuries of lies and threatens to unravel Loki, too.
The Sinking Feeling of Anticipation by JaggedCliffs (words: 8,624 | rating: G)
When Æsir come of age, they receive a gift from their parents, one meant to aid them in their adult lives. When a prince of Asgard comes of age, their gifts are not just for themselves, but for the realm.
Loki watched Thor receive Mjolnir at his coming of age ceremony – one of the greatest weapons in the realms, for one of its greatest warriors. Now, it's Loki's turn, and he knows Odin will grant him something just as magnificent.
Won't he?
Exsanguination by Lise (words: 8,610 | rating: G)
exsanguination /ex·san·gui·na·tion/ v.intr. To be drained of blood. (And all the rest.)
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hypnomicimagines · 3 years
Text
For Honor [Samurai!Yamada Ichiro/Reader] - Chapter 5
(this part contains nsfw, afab reader)
Ichiro practically tossed you over his shoulder as he carried you to the wagon, telling you he refused to do anything of a dubious nature out in the open.
Your body was to be properly cherished, if he was about to do something like this then he wanted to take his time. He wanted to unwrap you like a delicate present, laying you down on the blankets you had been using as a makeshift bed and slowly beginning to kiss the exposed parts of your body. You were thankful you had worn the least complicated outfit in the world, able to slip it off in one fell swoop so your body was bared to the man you had fallen for. Ichiro seemed just as thankful as he kissed your skin, smiling as you giggled about him kissing your thigh; it seemed you were rather ticklish which he seemed quick to take advantage of, his fingers lightly grazing your inner thigh before he spread your legs apart.
You knew about sex, at least the most basic things you could, but you’re surprised when Ichiro’s face is suddenly buried between your legs. There’s a spark of jealousy that ran through you when you considered the fact other ladies had likely gotten this treatment but your mind goes blank as his tongue starts to trace over your folds, lips brushing against your clit in a teasing manner. This was an entirely new sensation for you, your body revealing a new sensitivity as you let out another moan when Ichiro’s tongue came out to flick the sensitive bud. All you could think about was him, your responsibilities, your mission, the fact you could’ve been killed just a few hours earlier, none of that mattered right now.
Ichiro’s mind was in the same sort of place, soaking in your moans as he did all that he could to make you feel good. He was almost obsessed with the thought of making you feel good yet there was a logical, nagging part of his brain that told him his lack of professionalism was going to be his ruin. He was defiling a princess of all people, someone who he was meant to protect, but he would stop the second you objected to any of his actions. His thoughts aren’t entirely lewd in nature either as he also keeps thinking about how he wanted to plant kisses all along your skin, starting from your legs until he worked his way to your mouth. He wished he could’ve taken his time with you but there was a sense of urgency in his body telling him if the moment wasn’t seized the chance to be intimate with you would be lost forever.
“Ichiro…” He pulled away in an instant, carefully covering you up once again before he came face to face with you. You seemed a little dazed, eyes drifting to his lips once he was properly positioned in front of you. “That was nice… but there’s another part of you I’d like.”
“…I have to ask again, princess. Are you sure it’s me you want?”
There was no fairytale ending waiting to happen here, nothing would suddenly change should you have sex with this lonely samurai. It would be easy enough to pretend to be a virgin for your future husband, tonight was simply a one-off, an attempt to work out the stress of the days events. But even he wasn’t delusional enough to believe he could chalk it up to stress, his feelings for you ran far deeper than he wished they did; he wished he could’ve kept that barrier up but you seemed almost too adept at knocking down walls. All those shared conversations, the genuine interest you took in him and his brothers, it had won Ichiro over before he knew it.
“I’ll be gentle,” Ichiro whispered his promise in your ear, kissing the side of your head before he rearranged the wagon. You watched eagerly as he removed his clothing but are disappointed that the sliver of moonlight offered you very little of a view. You would have to view him in the light of day if you expected to truly memorize each detail of his muscular form but you at least get to see him up close and personal as he fit himself between your legs, grabbing your hands and leading them to his dick.
“I-I…”
“I don’t expect you to touch me, princess. I want you to feel… what will be inside you shortly.” You might be a virgin but you knew a beautiful dick when you saw one and Ichiro had it; thick but not overly veiny, skin pale but smooth, you nearly moaned at the thought of having such a beautiful thing inside you. His promise to be gentle and slow was fulfilled as he pressed at your entrance, mumbling something under his breath that revealed his own nervousness. Perhaps he was more of a virgin than you first assumed…?
You gasped as Ichiro’s dick pushed inside you, your bodyguard tensing as your fingers dug into his shoulders; he pressed soft kisses to your neck, an apology for any pain that he might be causing you. It was a new sensation to be so thoroughly filled and as you leaned back, teeth digging into your lip as new sensations began to wash over you. It was clear no man would ever stand up to Ichiro; there wasn’t a chance you’d find such a noble, kind-hearted samurai who would treat you so delicately. How often had you been looked at like some piece of meat by your suitors?
Yet this man, this man who was not bound by the laws of nobility, treated you more like a person than the noble ever had.
Part of Ichiro was still feeling guilty, even as he pressed deeper inside you.  
You were a client, someone he was supposed to protect, yet he was sure his feelings for you weren’t so fair-weather in nature that he was simply taking advantage of you. The things you managed to do to his heart in such a short amount of time were unheard of, he had never been so fascinated and infatuated with a person before in his life. Did the forbidden romance aspect of it attract him? Did the fact the two of you would never be allowed to be a happy couple attract him even more? Perhaps this was simply karma coming back for all the atrocities he had committed, dangling this shiny treasure in front of his face knowing he couldn’t resist the temptation, leading him forward like a dog on a leash into a hole he would never be able to crawl out of.
But you wanted him, too.
He felt it with every hurried kiss you pressed to his face, leaving a trail along his jaw as you tried to get his full attention back on you. He smiled, your face matching his as you started to move your body in rhythm with his own. His body was close enough for you to see and you were admiring him like he was a piece of art while he pleasured you, fingers trailing along his scars in quiet admiration before a sudden thrust sent a powerful shockwave of pleasure tearing through your body. You fell against him, head buried in his chest, whimpering his name as he soothed you.
When you began to feel a tightening in your belly you mentioned it to Ichiro, who told you to relax and allow him to do the work. His hand dipped between your bodies once more and he toyed with your clit again, carefully watching your face to assure he wasn’t overstimulating you. It was exactly what you needed and you came with a cry of his name, Ichiro quickly smothering out your cries before it could attract any unwanted attention. He’s sure the movement of the wagon was suspicious enough but he wanted to lower the possibility of being found in such a compromising condition for your sake more than his own.
When he pulls out of you, cleaning you up as thoroughly as he could, there was only silence. While you were still coming down from your high Ichiro was suffering with the guilt he felt, his brain no longer clouded by pleasure. He would like to say it was worth it but through no fault of your own he knew he had only hurt himself more than anything. He would never have you again, never get to feel your touch, never get to hear how sweet his name sounded when it came from your lips, these things were not for him to have.
They were for your future husband.
Ichiro went to exit the wagon but is stopped by your hand on his arm, looking at him with a pleading look that said ‘stay with me’ but he had indulged himself too much already. He silently shook his head and hoped you would take this answer without more questions, but even with the short amount of time he knew you, he knew it wouldn’t work that way. You were stubborn and curious and direct; there wasn’t a chance that Ichiro would get out of this one without hurting you.
“I don’t want our time together to end, Ichiro. You are the best man who I’ve ever had the chance to meet and I’m sure I’ll remember you for the rest of my days. Please… Please come lay with me.”
“…Go to sleep.” Ichiro turned away from you, stepping out of the wagon without a second of hesitation. “We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”
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witchie-writings · 3 years
Text
{Blooming Blood Petals - ARBITER HANAHAKI; PT. 1}
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Warnings: Mild blood mention
Pairings: Arbiter/Reader
Word Count: 816
From the Author: Hi guys! I'm super sorry you've been waiting so long for me to post halo content again (or any content in general). I don't mean to disappear off the books for so long, it's mainly just my motivation and the tug of war I'm having between art and writing - but I read your guys comments, and seeing as I'm soon going to college to take a creative writing major, I thought this would be a perfect time to warm up my skills! I'm a little rusty so this beginning story is a little all over the place, but I'll be doing short fanfics (likely 2-3 parters) of all requested characters for Hanahaki. Without further of due, let's get to reading! :)
To think that a sangheili such as him could process such raw emotions was a bewildering concept. The boiling passions swelled within the tattered ruins of his heart, rushing through his body and soul. He grew dizzy with the sudden influx of foreign yet familiar substances; flashes of [Y/N] filed through the inner workings of his consciousness, followed by an odd, bubbling feeling. All of the memories slowly blurred together into a coherent mass… soon, he was able to make sense of the chaotic mess his mind left him with. Piece by piece he picked them apart to discover them meaning until he was able to come to a conclusion… a conclusion that he surely thought was beyond the reaches of possible.
A sudden shot grazed his torso, snapping his concentration into reality. The Arbiter, who now realized the density of his situation, quickly ducked his head to avoid incoming enemy fire. However even as he took cover behind a jarring pillar, he couldn't cease the bellowing cries that resonated from the darkest crevices; ‘Will this end in my demise?’.
A simple question that should pose a similarly simple answer, but it refused to be so simple. Dozens of throrns connected to each other like a thinly strung web, each thought making him wonder if he truly wished to perish on the blood soaked battlefield in the name of honor.
For once, he believed that there was more to his life than this, more than listening to the grueling tales of glory and death.
He wished to be by [Y/N]'s side, the soldier that he grew to admire for so, so long…
Yet, why was his heart pounding with uncertainty? Why were his lungs tightening up, strangling him to where he could barely breathe?
“ARBITER!”
A sudden clash of armor rang out from the raging Hell; Thel ‘Vadam found himself colliding violently with the rugged ground, narrowly avoiding a sudden explosion that sent debris flying to the Heavens. His nerves screamed as he felt stones dig into his exposed skin, causing him to let out a pained groan. But he couldn’t linger long, as he felt a figure hastily grasp his hand and tug him up to stand.
“This isn’t time to think, Arbiter!” The voice yelled over the crying of gunfire, shoving his weapon harshly against his chest. He didn’t even register that his rifle fell from his very hands.
“We must go, this outpost is overrun by the humans. We have no choice but to retreat and regroup our forces.”
He remembered now, despite the misty fog clouding his thoughts... [Y/N].
“[Y/N]-?”
A missile interrupted him mid-sentence, and [Y/N] growled in a rising frustration at the Arbiter's distant gaze. “Let’s go!” With hasty feet the opposing Sangheili darted towards the direction of the evac, using the cover of broken shelters and barricades to their advantage.
Thel ‘Vadam followed suit after his fellow sangheili, using the same coordinated path to narrowly dodge bullets to his gut. As he retreated, the demons began to chant in a victorious manner. To them, the sight of an enemy retreating was a cause to celebrate, which racked the Arbiter's nerves.
Thel' Vadam quickly reached the docked Phantom, being aided by [Y/N] who pulled him into the carrier while providing cover fire. Once on board the pilot ignited the engines and took off, leaving behind the last remains of a Covenant Outpost. The humans tried to use their artillery rounds, but it was no use; they were out of range. Thel 'Vadam stared blankly as the land mass grew smaller the farther they rose, till the distant blue faded to a glossy faded space. It was entrancing….
“Arbiter, have you gone mad!?”
Thel ‘Vadam tore his sights away to land on [Y/N]. His thoughts remain far off and loose, causing the warrior to grumble in irritation.
“Arbiter, are you even listening?” Their voice rose again, gaining a few looks from some of the grunts that managed to hitch the ride.
"My apologies, [Y/N]."
"Your apologies mean little when during the battle, it looked like you were a lost child."
Perhaps it was the keen edge in their words that made his pride recoil, or how their gleaming orbs were brushed over with an aggrieved coat that sent his heart plummeting down. It was as if he was being scolded by his family, but this time, it was colder than the metal of a steel dagger.
A crushing force gripped his lungs and forced him to inhale a large breath while his hand reached for his throat; once, twice, three times the Arbiter coughed and gagged. An alarmed expression morphed onto [Y/N]'s face… wisps of confusion added to their stress as specks of blood came from Thel 'Vadam's mouth, followed by scarlet stained petals with a pitch black hue.
“... Arbiter…”
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robininthelabyrinth · 4 years
Note
I've got a HC that could be a prompt if you're interested? Due to grinding his teeth & holding all his stress in his jaw JC's jaw just totally locks up for from a few hours to a day or so. Obvs he tries to hide it from everyone, but it always happens at inconvenient (ie stressful) times. (Cultivation conferences, every time he makes up his mind to go to Gusu and finally hash things out with WWX, when he really wants to shout at JL for something stupid & can suddenly only mumble, etc. Whatever)
Living with Lan Wangji had taught Wei Wuxian the many different flavors of silence.
After all, his husband was not an especially emotive man – it was all in the microexpressions, the curve of his eyes or the tilt of his brow – and yet he conveyed his meaning clearly, even without saying a word. Wei Wuxian learned to cherish the comfortable silences, to interrupt incipient brooding, to entice during the times when his husband was most definitely not thinking about his work…
Perhaps it was that experience that makes him realize – possibly for the first time in his new life – that there was something wrong with Jiang Cheng.
Wei Wuxian had been extremely self-absorbed as a young man, in his first life, but he’d still known to keep his eye on his too-quiet, too-intense shidi, who usually locked his feelings away deep inside but not deep enough that Wei Wuxian couldn’t see. Even after their estrangement, he had been able to read him as easily as any book – every flinch and every start, every swallow, every shift of weight, a hundred stories of discomfort and confusion that he hated himself for not being able to assuage. For not being willing to assuage, because he, in his arrogance, had thought that through his silence he could keep Jiang Cheng from suffering even more pain.
In his new life –
Well. Wei Wuxian had long ago lost the right to hold the key to unlock the secrets of Jiang Cheng’s heart.
And yet, he was certain something was wrong. Jiang Cheng was glaring and scowling as always – possibly worse than always, because he didn’t have a choice about coming to the discussion conference even if it was in Gusu, even if that meant Wei Wuxian would be there – and he looked as immaculately put together as he always did in this strange future where the kid Wei Wuxian remembered dunking into ponds just the other day had turned into a cold-faced man who was feared instead of loved, but still. Something was wrong.
Something was very wrong.
It was his silence, Wei Wuxian decided. Jiang Cheng was staying quiet even when there was something that Wei Wuxian knew he cared about, not even greeting Jin Ling with more than a huff – though Jin Ling didn’t seem to mind – and it wasn’t a calm quiet, a content quiet, the contained and controlled quiet that Lan Wangji was.
It was wrong.
So maybe Wei Wuxian just happened to meander by the guest quarters for the Jiang sect on his nightly walk. It was totally accidental, even if it had never before happened while Jiang Cheng was in residence as a visiting sect leader. After all, Wei Wuxian had only lived at the Cloud Recesses a few years – anyone could get turned around.
“– should have said that it was getting this bad!”
That was Jin Ling’s voice, Wei Wuxian observed, and he “meandered” closer while keeping his tread as light as possible. It was late for Jin Ling to be here instead of back in the rooms reserved for the Jin sect; he should be getting some sleep in preparation for a busy day the next day.
Jiang Cheng should be telling him to get some sleep.
He wasn’t.
He wasn’t saying anything.
Wei Wuxian peeked through the window.
Jiang Cheng was sitting on the bed, Jin Ling crouched beside him, chattering angrily like an angry monkey as he applied a cold compress to the side of Jiang Cheng’s face.
“Don’t know what you were thinking,” he said mutinously, even though Jiang Cheng glared at him. “No, stop that – no glaring, no yelling, you heard what the doctor said. Did you take your medicine?”
Jiang Cheng nodded.
“And it’s still this bad? That’s not good, jiujiu.”
Jiang Cheng turned his head, a sudden jerk. He looked frustrated. He looked like he wanted to say something – but like he couldn’t.
Wei Wuxian felt something drop in his stomach.
“I know you already know that,” Jin Ling said, interpreting the silence as easily as Wei Wuxian used to, and then hesitated. “And I know you said you didn’t want to consider…you know the doctor says that the surgery would help a lot.”
Jiang Cheng shook his head furiously.
(Wei Wuxian’s gut churned. Surgery? Some necessary type of surgery, something was wrong, and Jiang Cheng refusing to fix it - was it because of him, what he’d done, back in that past life? Would Jiang Cheng recoil from all surgeries because of that one time when he didn’t have a choice about it, and in so doing cost himself his life - no, that Wei Wuxian’s actions would cost him his life, that Wei Wuxian would at long belated last drag him into the grave the way he had everyone else?)
“Listen, you might not have a choice. This is getting really, really close to another serious flare up, okay? And we don’t want one of those,” Jin Ling argued. “Do you remember when you couldn’t eat anything? For weeks? Because I do. It was awful. Everyone thought you were dying –”
“He’s not, is he?” Wei Wuxian asked, finding himself inside the door before he even realized he was moving. “He’s not dying?”
“Senior Wei!” Jin Ling exclaimed, surprised, and – yeah, maybe it hurt a bit that Jiang Cheng was jiujiu and he was Senior Wei instead of shishu even after all the night-hunts they’d gone on together, but Jiang Cheng wasn’t the one who’d played a part in robbing Jin Ling of his parents so he was going to just shut up and not complain about it – but that wasn’t important right now.
“He’s not dying,” Wei Wuxian insisted, his voice a little shrill. “Whatever’s wrong with him that’s bad enough that he needs surgery – why can’t he talk? What’s keeping him from talking?”
Jiang Cheng had half-risen to his feet, but Jin Ling pulled him down again with a glare of his own. “Don’t you dare move yet,” he hissed, pressing the compress into his uncle’s face even harder. He glanced back at Wei Wuxian. “Maybe you can talk some sense into him – it’s his jaw.”
“His jaw?”
“It locks up,” Jin Ling explained, and – yes. That was the missing piece, the thing he hadn’t known; that was the problem. “Really badly, to the point where he can’t move it at all. He can’t talk except through mumbling, and in the really bad times he can’t even open it enough to eat – he can only drink soup.”
That sounded awful.
“What causes it?” Wei Wuxian asked, deciding to be as bold and careless as everyone always claimed he was and to come over and help hold the compress in place.
Jiang Cheng didn’t strike him dead for it, as he’d almost expected him to.
“The muscle at the top of jaw, right under the ear, gets all swollen and fixed in place. Teeth grinding and stress aggravate it, and it aggravates them, and it’s all a horrible cycle…I’m applying cold right now, but next it’ll be heat. In really bad times, like now, we might even use acupuncture and Zidian to try to shock the muscle loose –”
That sounded painful. Wei Wuxian didn’t like to think about Jiang Cheng being in pain.
Especially not from stress.
Stress that Wei Wuxian had always aggravated, rather than eased; the stress of being a sect leader all alone, the stress of being abandoned, left behind, the stress of chasing after Wei Wuxian who held himself far away –
“Can I help?” he asked.
“Yes,” Jin Ling said, even though Jiang Cheng tried to shake his head no. “Anything you can think of we’d welcome.”
“I’ll look through all the libraries,” Wei Wuxian promised. The focus of his research – even in his new life – had tended to focus on demonic cultivation, simply because it was new and interesting, but he was a genius; if he put his mind to it, he was sure he could come up with something better to help fix Jiang Cheng’s jaw before it needed to be cut open with a knife just to let him eat something. “I’ll help.”
Jiang Cheng caught his hand and tugged, unable to speak – but his silence said Why so plaintively that Wei Wuxian’s heart lurched in his chest.
“Because you’re Jiang Cheng,” he told him, unable to explain it other than that. He couldn’t say that he wouldn’t leave him to suffer – he had – couldn’t say he wouldn’t do anything to hurt him – he had – could barely even say he put Jiang Cheng’s well-being as one of his highest priorities, even though it was. There was no reason for Jiang Cheng to believe him about any of that. “Let me help. Please.”
Jiang Cheng stared at him for a long moment.
After a while, he put down his hand and looked away, pretending the moment had never happened, and that was as good as agreement when it came to Jiang Cheng.
Wei Wuxian smiled in relief, and started planning out his first attack on the healing arts section of the Lan sect’s library.
375 notes · View notes
avengerscompound · 4 years
Text
Until the End of the World - 19
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Until the End of the World: A Captain America Fanfic
Masterlist PREVIOUS //
Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers x F!Reader
Word Count:  2174
Rating:  E
Warnings: Descriptions of giving birth
Synopsis: Four years after Steve and Bucky got to the bottom of the HYDRA conspiracy that had led to you and your son being hunted for the first three years of his life, you, Bucky, and Steve have carved out a nice life together.  Things are calm and you feel like a family unit.  When Geo starts calling Bucky and Steve ‘dad’, a decision is made to try and add to your family.
Things aren’t as calm as they seem.  When your pregnancy hits the papers, HYDRA rears its head once again, and Steve and Bucky need to track you down to protect the family they had created.
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Chapter 19
Bucky was having a lot of difficulty hiding his panic.  There were a lot of emotions coursing through him right now.  Fear, excitement, stress, confusion, happiness all surged through him, mixing to make him a highly anxious mess.  He welcomed those feelings.  He normally shut down so much while on a mission and retreated into his ‘winter soldier’ headspace that he felt nothing at all.  Seeing you in that hall with Viper attacking you, he’d reacted on instinct, firing his gun before he even considered all the ramifications of it.  It would have happened anyway, when he was the soldier he assessed risk quickly and acted without question.  Seeing you had just increased the urgency of it.
As Viper dropped to the ground the actual reality of what was happening crashed down on him, thrusting the soldier back into the dark and dragging Bucky right into the driver's seat again, and now he was crouched on the floor of what looked like an office, in a secret underground HYDRA base, cradling his son, and a crying infant, while you were on all fours giving birth to his daughter.
“Okay,” he said to himself as he tried to soothe the two crying children.  “Okay.  I’ve got this.”
“Bucky,” you wailed.  “Bucky… I don’t know what to do.  I can’t do this.”
“It’s okay, babe,” he said and rubbed Geo’s back.  “G, I need you to be really brave for me buddy.  I need some help.”
Geo shook his head and pushed his face a little harder into Bucky’s neck.
“Geo,” you said.  “Your sister’s coming.  And your mom needs me to help get him out.  I can’t do that if I have to hold you and the baby.  You think you can help me out?”
Geo raised his head a little and wiped his eyes.  He gave a small nod.
“Thank you.  I promise as soon as I can, I’ll pick you up, and you can sit right here if you want,” he said, as he put Geo down.  “Now I know this baby is crying a lot, but I need you to hold them okay.  You want to sit down and I’ll give the baby to you?”
Geo looked at you and scrambled back against a wall.  Bucky carried the crying baby over and crouched down again.  “Can you do this, buddy?”  He asked.
Geo nodded and Bucky put the squalling infant into the little boy's arms.  “I know it’s not fun,” he said and took his earpiece out and put it into Geo’s ear.  “Here, you can talk to your dad, or FRIDAY to distract you.  But I need you to be gentle and just hold the baby like that.  And when your dad is at the door, you can let him in, but don’t let in anyone you don’t know, okay?”
Geo nodded and Bucky pressed a kiss to the boy’s brow.  “You’re doing so well, I’m so proud of you,” he said.
Bucky didn’t feel great about leaving Geo with the baby, but there wasn’t much choice.  He returned to your side and knelt behind you.  “I’m here, honey,” he said, gently massaging your hips.  You hadn’t changed position since he’d left you - you were still on your hands and knees, but now your arms were bent and you had your forehead pressed on your forearms and your ass popped up in the air.  “You comfortable like that?”
“No,” you whined.  “But it’s the best I can get.  Bucky how is she?”
Bucky shook his head.  “I don’t know, babe, but I can see her hair.  She has your hair.  I bet she’s going to look like you.”
“Do I push?”  You asked.  “I don’t know if I should be pushing.”
Bucky chuckled. “I don’t know, honey.  Do you feel like you need to?”
“Yes,” you whined.
“Then push.  I’m right here.  I’ll get her,” he said, hoping he sounded more confident about this than he felt.
You moaned as you strained and more of the baby started to show.  Thankfully Bucky had paid attention to the birthing videos in class, because this had to be the weirdest thing he’d ever seen, and he’d seen some pretty weird things.  It was blood and messy and it looked like she was about to tear you in half.  “You’re doing great, darlin’.  Keep pushing.”
You strained again, bearing down and the baby’s whole head slipped free.  Bucky used his fingers to pull her chin free, and tried to get her shoulders into a better position.  “Looking good, honey.  Nearly there.”
The door opened and Bucky barely heard it over your moans and the cries of the infant with Geo.  Geo’s voice grabbed his attention though.  “Daddy!”  Geo said.
Bucky whipped around, first looking at Geo who was sitting in the corner with the baby and then to the door where he was looking.  Steve stood, filling the frame, his shield in hand, and standing in a defensive position as he surveyed the situation in front of him.  He quickly put the shield on his back and strode inside.  “Honey, are you okay?”  He asked, crouching by your head.
You nodded.  “They gave me something…” you said, sounding almost apologetic.
“It’s okay.  We’ve got you,” Steve said.
You winced and strained again, pushing.  Bucky helped wiggle the baby’s shoulders free and she slipped right out.  As soon as her body was free her tiny newborn wails joined the other baby’s cries.  “She’s here,” Bucky said, holding her in his arms and lifting her for you to see.  “You did it.”
You rolled onto our back and started to cry, and Bucky carefully put the infant on your chest.  With all the things he’d done in his life.  All the lives he’d taken, he had never been responsible for bringing life into the world.  It felt good, even under these insane and tense conditions.  He only took a moment to appreciate it before getting up and going to Geo.  “Okay.  You did so well,” Bucky said, taking the baby back from the boy.
Geo got up and scrambled over to you and Steve, crashing into Steve’s side.  Steve picked him up and put him on his hip.  “Did you help?”  Steve asked gently.
Geo nodded but didn’t say anything.  Bucky wondered how long it would take before Geo would be able to shake any of this off, or if he’d ever be able to.  How much can a kid go through before it does permanent damage?  “What happened?  Who’s baby is that?”  Steve asked.
“Can you help me sit up?”  You asked.  Steve helped you into a sitting position and let you lean against him.  “They’d been keeping other people here.  From the tests.  I don’t know if they’d had them from the start or if they only bought them in recently… but… they … they were breeding them, Steve.  Like they were animals. Trying to replicate Geo.  That baby… I don’t know if there are more, but his mother asked me to look after him.”
“Okay,” Steve soothed as you, babbled to him.  “It’s okay.  We’ll figure it out.”  He paused and held his hand to his ear.  “Tony… she just gave birth, we’re going to need a medivac… Alright… page me when it’s clear.”
“What’s happening?”  Bucky asked.
“They’re still rounding up the last of them,” Steve asked.  “Geo, can you tell if there are any other exits that our friends didn’t come through?”
Geo shook his head.  “I didn’t let ‘em out,” he mumbled into Steve’s neck.
“Good boy,” Steve said.  “You’ve been so brave and done so well.  You know that?”
“Steve… Steve…” you said, shaking your head.  “Steve we need to say he’s ours.”
“What?”  Steve asked, confused.
“There’s no record of him being born,” you said.  “No one will know.  We need to say he’s ours.  That I had twins.”
“Sweetheart,” Steve said, gently.  “You’re not thinking straight.”
“She made me promise if anything happened to her…” you implored.  “Please, Steve.”
Bucky looked down at the tiny infant in his arms.  He could pass for Bucky’s if not anyone else’s.  He was a little bigger than the little girl now on your chest, but barely.  Though, with the fact she was still attached to her umbilical cord, Bucky wasn’t sure how easily they could fake it.
“We’ll work it out,” Steve promised.  “I swear, he’ll come home with us.  You won’t break your promise.”
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It was another hour before the site was secure and a medical team managed to come and collect you.  In that time, you had passed the placenta too, and Steve had sent one of the legion down to the med bay for a clamp and he’d clamped off and cut the umbilical cord.  You and the two infants were taken by ambulance back to the tower and to the medbay.  The facility was state of the art and it meant that the baby - Gal - could stay with you because anytime that it was even hinted at that he be taken away, you would start to panic again.
Geo wouldn’t leave your side and he didn’t particularly like it if Bucky or Steve went anywhere either.  He stayed on your gurney on the ride out of the HYDRA facility and all the medical checks that you and he had to do, had to be done in the same room.
You, Geo, and the two infants were finally sleeping.  Geo was sleeping in the crook of your arm on the hospital bed, and they’d set up two more for Steve and Bucky to use because Geo didn’t want to have anyone separated.
Steve had used the opportunity to go sort out some of the legal paperwork and make sure that every i was dotted and every t crossed.  When he returned to check on everyone, he looked tired and frazzled.
“Still sleeping?”  He asked as he sat down next to Bucky on the couch in the corner.
Bucky nodded.  “They’ve been through a lot.  “It’s going to be a while before they get over this.”
Steve frowned and nodded.  “We should have been more careful.”
Bucky nodded.  “Can’t do anything about that now,” he said.  “We’ll be more careful from now on.”
Steve sighed and let his head fall back against the wall.  Bucky took his hand and linked their fingers together.  “It occurred to me while I was talking to Ross, we haven’t named our daughter yet.”
Bucky smiled.  “Yeah.  I guess that’s what happens when you take the ‘wait to meet her approach and then meeting her is an unmitigated disaster,” he said.  “It can wait.  She’s here and safe.  That’s the main thing.”
Steve nodded and let out a breath.  “Yeah…” he turned and smiled at Bucky.  “Look at you, choosing the positive side.”
Bucky laughed softly and shoved him.  “Jerk.”
The two men remained silent for a moment, just watching as the rest of their family slept.  “What are we going to do about Gal?”  Bucky asked eventually.
Steve shook his head.  “I’m not opposed to adopting him.  You know biology isn’t important to me.  But what if he has family out there?  And I mean that really… what if?  They have a right to know and they would have been grieving over his parents.  But if they want to raise him, what if they’re not set up for it?  And what if he has no family?  We’re having enough trouble trying to adopt Geo, and that’s with his biological mother’s permission.  What if they deem us unsafe?  And who could blame them, look what happened?”
Bucky frowned.  “What are you saying?”
“I don’t know… I guess…” Steve said.  “I guess I’m saying, maybe we should just lie about his birth.  Say they are twins.  We were the only ones there for her birth.  Who’s going to argue?  Some imprisoned HYDRA agents?”
“You’re seriously considering it?”  Bucky asked.  “That’s … kind of illegal, Steve.”
“Because I’ve never broken the law when I thought it was necessary,” Steve snarked.  “Did you forget I was a war criminal?”
 Bucky chuckled. “Well, if you’re serious, I’ll support it, but you better decide one way or the other.  Because it needs to be done when we fill in the birth certificates, and we’re going to need to convince some doctors to back us up.”
Steve nodded and ran his thumb over the back of Bucky’s hand.  “I know,” he said.  “I have FRIDAY discreetly searching for his family based on what we know.  It’ll be easier to decide if we know either way.”
Bucky nodded and smiled a little.  “Be good having a great big instant family though, wouldn’t it?”
Steve let go of Bucky’s arm and wrapped his arm around him.  Bucky leaned into the embrace as Steve pressed his face into Bucky’s hair and inhaled.  “We’ll figure it out,” Steve said.
Bucky sighed.  He knew they would, it was just that there was so much.  He hoped the choice they made was the right one.
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// NEXT
162 notes · View notes
finiteuniverse13 · 3 years
Text
home is people, not a place 2/?
Part 1
Summary: Clay gets attacked on base. DEVGRU finds an issue in that.
TW: Blood mention, physical assault, canon typical violence
Tag: @rebelwrites @chibsytelford @bravo-four-seal-team @velvetcardiganbucky @supervalcsi @abby-splace @itsonautopilot @thegirlwhoisalwayswriting @pinkrockstar19 @softi92 @mrsmarvelous1995 @jayhalsteadfan-2417
Lisa is pissed. She has every right to be. Clay had been attacked in the Bravo cages.
She’d watched the kid go from a strap who couldn’t stay in his own lane to an operator who could lead Bravo – and Tier One, for that matter – into the future. And then he’d been attacked in his team’s cages, in his own cage. Blackburn was still at the hospital – he’d found the kid in a pool of his own blood; Lisa wouldn’t blame him if it took an apocalypse to separate him from the kid – making sure that the kid got appropriate care.
She pushed open the door to Bravo’s briefing room, not that it actually had any members of Bravo in it. Alpha, Charlie and Delta were all there, waiting on her brief on the situation. Echo would have been there, if not for them being halfway through their first deployment as a team. There had been hesitation about deploying Echo – the loss of the last Echo line-up still sat heavily in the Tier’s mind.
The three team’s Master Chiefs and 2ICs had sat in Bravo’s usual chairs. Full Metal and Derek sat in Jason and Ray’s chairs, respectively. Beau and his second in command had taken Sonny and Trent’s, while TJ was sat in Brock’s. Delta Two had distinctively chosen not to sit in Clay’s seat, instead sitting in a chair usually used for either Cerberus or a support staff member, depending on the op.
(It was very funny to watch Brock and Clay push a wheely chair with Cerberus on it between the two of them, and they’d pretty much mastered the art of doing it in the last few months. Cerb had found that if he allowed it to happen, he’d get belly rubs and treats, so he was unbothered about it)
The other seats had a random assignment, seemingly first-come-first-serve. The ones unlucky enough to have not found seats stood tensely, arms crossed and grumbling under their breath to each other.
Nobody sat in Clay’s seat.
All 18 operators looked up when she walked in, attention snapping to the person with the most information. As she walked in, her gaze caught on the table space in front of Clay’s chair. Clay had left his book on the table. It’s about as thick as a brick, and Sonny would probably take a glance at it and tell Clay it was as dry as one. The embossed cover didn’t read English, and Lisa had a feeling that there would be very few, if any, people in the room able to read any part of the book.
She stood at the front and pushed her emotions down. These operators were here for information, not emotion.
“At 0145 this morning, 4 Green Team members entered Bravo’s Cage room. At 0157, they left, and returned to the Green Team barracks. 0204, Lieutenant Commander Blackburn entered the Bravo cages. He dialled 911 and was assisted by Alpha Four-”
She cuts herself off for a few seconds, as various operators slapped Jordan on the back, mumbled thanks spreading through the room as they reassured themselves that one of their own had helped their kid.
“Assisted by Alpha Four at 0207. Ambulance arrived at 0215. The Green Team members were apprehended by Alpha and Delta at 0248.”
She pauses again as a ripple of thanks goes through to room, Alpha and Delta thanking their Master Chiefs and each other and Charlie thanking both teams.
“Petty Officer Spenser was admitted to hospital at 0224, and was assessed as having a concussion, a broken nose and 5 bruised ribs.”
Alpha, Charlie and Delta’s medics all take note of this. They’re probably going to be on Clay’s ass for the next few months about this, right behind Trent.
“Bravo arrived at the Hospital at 0243. They are all with him. Hayes has asked that he is included in any appropriate punishments.”
Full Metal snorts. “Bet he didn’t word it like that”
A series of chuckles and grins echoes around the room. He did not word it like that. There was much more swearing, and much, much less formal language. He’d implied murder no less than 5 times.
Lisa allowed a smile to pass through the stony calm façade she had up.
“Command has delegated these appropriate punishments to be carried out within DEVGRU and have stressed the importance of leaving an impression on future graduates. This cannot be a recuring event.”
TJ pipes up first, almost before she’d finished talking. “I say we let Metal work his magic, make sure nobody finds them.”
This gets mixed responses, but Lisa isn’t surprised when none are wholly negative. They all had a younger brother in the form of Clay, and they had all trained for years in the art of killing their enemies as swiftly and efficiently as possible, and these candidates fell wholly and completely under the title of ‘Enemy’.
Metal gives a faux hopeful look to Lisa, and Lisa can tell that he’s not entirely dismissed the possibility, even as he does a terrible job at pretending to still consider it an option that Lisa could authorize. Lisa plays into the joke – god knows that Tier One needs some light in this disastrous day – and gives him the look mostly used for when Bravo (usually Sonny) suggests a stupid idea that shouldn’t had even crossed their minds. Blackburn jokingly referred to it as her “bad dog” look, and it worked for its purpose, making the operators put their tails between their legs. A few faces form smiles, and a few look to be wavering on the edge of smiling.
“No murder, and no death.”
This gets her grumbles, and not all of them are joking. Clay had gotten all of them out of sticky situations. Every operator in Tier One had a handful story where Clay had needed to be briefed on their op, and all of them had at least one where he’d taking calls at 2am to translate over a connection that he could barely hear English through. He’d never berated them for waking him up, and had often taken time to teach various operators key phrases, if he knew they were deploying somewhere where he knew the language.
Beau goes next, possibly the most level-headed of the Master Chiefs – both in the room and not. “Advanced SERE?”
Now this, Lisa can work with. Something about her posture must change, a twitch in her face, because the room suddenly erupts in sound. Charlie Two, Delta Five and Alpha Three all are in close enough range to clap Beau on the back, and they do so in quick succession.
“Gentlemen.” She raises her voice to be heard by the room. There’s nothing gentle about the looks on their faces.
“I’ll leave you to figure something out. Report to me with a plan of action.” And with that, she gives them a single nod and begins to leave. Her turned back does not block out the whispers of violence, but it does hide the vicious smile that’s stretched itself out along her face.
Nobody would even think about hurting their kid. Ever again.
+
As Clay blearily opened his eyes, he realised that he’d succumbed to pain-med-induced sleep. A few hours had probably passed since then, based on the fact that sunlight was now filling the room. Sonny was sat on his right side, gaze focused on the room’s TV screen, which was showing a play-by-play of a football game. The volume was cranked down, and even as Clay becomes more aware; he can only hear every other word.
“Son?” The word passes his lips without him meaning it to. Sonny’s head snaps over to Clay, so fast that Clay fears he may have given himself whiplash.
“Hey Bam Bam, how ya doin?” The toothpick moves hypnotically. Stop looking at the toothpick. Stop it. Stop it. Sonny’s casual expression is betrayed by the slight waver in his voice, a sliver of raw emotion that Sonny couldn’t fully supress. Clay gives him a strained smile in lieu of answering and reaches his hand out. Sonny catches the hand before it moves very far, holding it in a tight grip.
Sonny’s thumb absently runs across Clay’s unblemished because he hadn’t even been able to fight back knuckles, and his spare hand turns off the TV, leaving them in silence.
“Kid.” Clay’s eyes widen slightly, and he almost pulls his hand out of Sonny’s grip at the softly spoken word. He tries to get in the apology, the explanation, before Sonny can tell him that Jason is punishing him for being unaware.
“I should have being paying attention. I know I should have been paying attention, I was just so tired.” I’m sorry I’m so sorry don’t kick me out please
Sonny freezes. What?
“Clay. Stop. Stop-” he has to cut himself off before he says something that includes those really touchy-feely-emotions he’s feeling. Thankfully, Clay doesn’t take the pause as an opportunity to continue. “Stop trying to defend yourself. None of us blame you, Blondie. You were on base. You should have been protected. We won’t fail you again.” Sonny gives him facts, because he knows that if he tries to do anything else he’ll make it worse.
“Son?” Clay recalls a voice calling through the dark, through the black water he was floating in, a voice he’d recognised; “Did Blackburn find me? He- he had blood on his hands”
For a moment, Sonny curses Clay’s blessings as a sniper. He’d always been able to notice the little things, the things none of them would notice. “Yeah, he was checking that none of us were sleeping in the cages.”
Clay nods, and then his brows furrow. He breaks eye contact with Sonny and frowns in the genal direction of his feet. His face makes what Sonny calls his ‘Brainiac’ Face, and Sonny can only assume that he’s thinking about what happened with Blackburn, not rationalizing with himself that the beating was somehow his fault.
“Son, can I talk to him?” Sonny doesn’t want to think about whatever that conversation is going to be, so he nods and begins to gather his stuff. His cap is hanging precariously from one on the bed’s corners, his phone on the bedside table. He stands and ruffles Clay’s head, laughing despite the stink-eye he gets for it. Clay doesn’t mind it, and he has the feeling the next few weeks, if not months, are going to be filled with various forms of physical contact to reassure his teammates that he was still with them.
And now he’d asked Sonny to get Blackburn. God what do you even say to the guy who had found you beaten? ‘Hey Boss, I’m sure that what you saw was horrifying, but I’m alright now?’ God help him. Sonny hadn’t given him a weird look, so he’d probably been expecting Clay to ask at some point.
Clay’s train of thought is interrupted when a soft knock sounds on the door. There’s a second of pause before the door opens. Clay can’t think of a time when Blackburn’s looked worse. There are dark circles under his eyes, and a vaguely haunted look in his eyes. His eyes have a red tinge, and Clay can’t tell if that’s from sleep deprivation, or something else. His hands are rubbed red and raw, and Clay can tell that Blackburn had taken extra care to get every fleck of blood off his hands. He’s in a jacket that looks too big for him, and Clay suspects that Trent had a hand in that. Since the injured person – Clay – wasn’t someone he could immediately care for, Trent had gone for the next best thing, a shaken Blackburn. Under the jacket, he’s still in his fatigues, and by the time he’s finished the assessment of Blackburn’s top half, he’d moved close and sat down, hiding everything below his waist from Clay’s view.
Blackburn reaches out, putting a palm on Clay’s forearm, Clay’s hand mirrors it on Blackburn’s arm, and tension bleeds from Blackburn’s figure. His shoulders slump slightly, and he leans forward.
“How are you feeling?”
Clay considers lying, considers saying that he’s not in any pain, considers easing Blackburn’s mind. He decides against it. Blackburn had found him in a pool of blood, it’s the least he can do to tell him the truth. “My ribs hurt. But I’m, I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad you were there.”
Clay is the sometimes literally bleeding heart of Bravo, levelling out Sonny’s emotional constipation, and the admission is the balm of some of the burns on Eric’s soul. Eric leaned forwards, shuffling closer to the bed, trying to hide the blood on his knees. He hadn’t been home to change, a call to his wife at 8am had told her that he wasn’t going to be home for a while. She, like the amazing wife she was, had been understanding, and then grumbled at him to let her sleep. They’d both laughed and exchanged ‘I love you’s before his wife ended the call. Clay didn’t need the stress of knowing that Eric had knelt in his blood. Nobody needs that.
“Gave me quite a scare, gave all of us quite a scare.” Eric doesn’t tell him that he’d spent the last half hour scrubbing his hands raw, that Jason had needed to strong-arm him into the waiting room, that Trent had given him one look and offered up his jacket, that he’d had his head in his hands until Sonny had come into the room and told him that Clay wanted to talk to him. Doesn’t tell him that he’d stood outside for nearly a minute before he’d knocked, that he’d needed to barrel in before he lost the nerve to speak to his operator. He usually prides himself on staying calm, on being collected, but Clay had been attacked in one of the few places on earth that he could honestly and without reservation call home. That scared Eric. If he couldn’t keep his operators safe on base, where would they be safe?
“Davis is talking to command about adding locks to the cage room doors, make sure this doesn’t happen again.” If she wasn’t already talking to command about it, she would be soon.
Clay nods. He shifts and grimaces in pain.
“Do you want me to get a nurse?” It’s a safe question, one that doesn’t involve the emotions in the room.
Clay ignores the lifeline. “I’m alright as I am. Did you get the guys?”
Eric nods. Breaking the news to Bravo had been the highlight of his morning. “Command is letting DEVGRU work out how to punish them.”
Clay grins. “I bet Metal is having fun with that.”
It’s Eric’s turn to smile, and a soft chuckle makes its way out. “Davis is under strict orders to not accept a plan that involves murder. I’m sure Alpha’s disagreeing with that.”
Alpha was most likely to deploy with Bravo, and all were in line with their Master Chief’s ‘Bury-first-questions-second’ policy when it came to Clay. Eric had a feeling it wouldn’t take much convincing to get Delta and Echo behind the plan, and that Charlie would only argue on principle.
Tier One was a brotherhood that didn’t take kindly to injury, as the world would learn.
+
Echo One – Zack Greer – a newly promoted Delta Two, wasn’t a very outgoing man. One and Twos were meant to both complement and contrast each other, a precarious balancing act honed over years of living out of each other’s pockets. TJ had needed a level head, so his Two was calm in the face of crisis.
Echo Two, on the other hand. A Floridian man, Elliot Howe, promoted from Charlie Three, who was under strict orders to never drink unsupervised with Sonny Quinn, lest they empty a bar and then burn said bar to the ground. He’d chaffed under Beau’s tight ship, so when the opportunity to move to form Echo had arisen, he was hard pushed to say no.
Together with Echo Three (Alpha Three), Echo Four (Delta Six) and two Green Team graduates as their Five and Six, they’d created a tight brotherhood.
Echo Five, Dan Wilder, a multilingual K9 handler, had initially been lost at DEVGRU, not quite fitting in. He’d reached out to the youngest operator – Bravo Six – in order to get some advice. What he didn’t know at the time is that their languages had overlap. Together with Clay and Ares – his K9 – he’d been able to find someone to practice with.
Echo had long since lost count of how many times Clay had come into their cage room, with a well-loved book, offering it to Dan with a brief explanation of how it would interest him. The book was never in English, and neither was the explanation. For all they knew, Clay could have spent the last few months giving Dan anything from Harry Potter to The Anarchist’s Cookbook (he’d actually only given Dan one of those, and Dan was under strict instructions not to tell them which, and Dan had been recommending others back).
Sonny, on the days when they were hanging out after work, sometimes tagged along to these exchanges. He’d joked about a book club, and Echo Two had picked up on the joke immediately, and since then the pair had resigned themselves to the nickname.
Between Clay’s frequent interactions with Dan and the fact that all of DEVGRU was deadly protective of Clay, it was no surprise that when Echo had heard the news, they hadn’t been happy. Command had fought a battle with Echo to keep them deployed, and Echo had nearly won. Dan had been on many rants, talking to empty space in Pashto – Four only caught a few words, and those were all along the lines of murder and death. Ares was giving out a low, constant growl. Both of the DEVGRU K9s were as protective as their owners, it seemed.
The door to their dorms slammed open and Zack marched in. Echo looks up in sync, and if it weren’t so serious, Zack would be amused by how much his men look like Meerkats. “Got word from Virginia.” This sets his men on edge, Howe half-steps forward, and his shoulders visibly tense up. “They found the green team rookies. We’ve been asked to approve the plan of their punishment before it gets sent to be approved by command.” Malicious smiles break out among the barracks.
They may be 7000 miles away, but they wouldn’t let anybody off the hook because of it.
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jewishjon · 3 years
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His Father’s Son
A/N: I am so excited to finally be able to put the first chapter of this fic for the 2021 Grishaverse Big Bang (@grishaversebigbang) fic out into the world. Thank you so much to my incredible artists whose art you will find linked below and my amazing beta reader. You can find me on tumblr here or twitter @/vespabuddy and I will be updating on ao3 every Tuesday and Saturday until the 25th of September. Enjoy!
Beta Reader: @z-the-zebra
Artists: @hivertoautumn @wellwatersurprise @jsperfhey @lucentcorrigan (I’ll link their art soon, I’m making this post before it’s uploaded)
Summary: At fifteen, Wylan meets Jesper at a formal University event, falls for him, and never sees him again. Four years later, his father orders him to take down a criminal gang called the Dregs.
Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33741277/chapters/83866909
Read the first chapter below the cut!
The morning of the grand opening of Ketterdam University’s Van Eck wing, Wylan’s father threatened his life.
The day began like any other. He woke to the clattering of carriages in the street below, the delicious smell of the servants preparing breakfast, and felt a sinking in his stomach at the thought of the dreaded event scheduled to take place that evening. He got out of bed and was helped into a tailored black suit by his valet. When he reached the dining room, his father was long gone, likely having been in his study since the early hours of the morning, and he was forced to endure the company of his father’s new girlfriend as he ate.
“Are you excited about the party?” asked Alys, a stupid smile plastered on her face as she watched Wylan. She was so young she could easily be Wylan’s sister.
“Really excited.” murmured Wylan dryly into his eggs. He was already stressed from the thought of enduring the rest of the day. He didn’t have the energy to deal with Alys.
Unfortunately, instead of leaving him alone, her upper lip began to wobble. “Do you not like me, Wylan? What did I do wrong? You know, I try so—” Alys gulped, “So hard to be a good mother to you.”
A mother? Wylan had known Alys for three weeks, and already felt he had years of maturity on her, and he was only fifteen himself. 
Still, he felt a wave of guilt. Alys was trying her best, having been raised to believe her only worth in life was to marry a wealthy man, and his father was as wealthy as they came. Wylan may be set for a successful career as a mercher, but he knew well what it was like to be unable to fulfill the simplest task expected of him.
That was the thing about Alys. No matter how idiotic she was, she was always trying her best. So, Wylan caught her eye and mumbled a simple;
“I’m sorry.”
He fought back bile as she reached her hand across the table and squeezed his until he began to feel woozy. She wasn’t squeezing too hard, and Wylan was sure she had no intentions of anything but kindness, but the feel of her too-smooth skin against his was inexplicably as painful as any blow dealt by his father’s hand.
“Don’t worry, Wylan, honey. I love you despite all your imperfections!” Alys smiled sweetly. “All your imperfections.”
Somehow, that didn’t make Wylan feel any better.
As he was heading back to his room, hoping to use his free time to practice his flute or scream into his pillow about the pains of existence, he was stopped by his father’s assistant. Mieke was a middle-aged man with as little personality as he had hair on his balding head.
“Come to your father’s office. He wishes to talk to you immediately.”
“Of course, Sir.”
Fear festered in Wylan’s stomach as he followed the man down the long corridors of the Van Eck mansion. Surely he would have been told already if there were any changes to his role in the party that evening. Furthermore, he had no memory of having done anything wrong since he’d last seen Jan Van Eck, although his father always managed to find something. 
Even the thought of the beating he’d received last time was enough to nearly make him turn and run as fast as his legs would take him.
Mieke opened the gilded wooden door leading to Jan Van Eck’s office, and, ever so slowly, Wylan entered. His father’s study had always been a source of intimidation, and not just because of the man who inhabited it. The walls were decorated with certificates celebrating his father’s many achievements, a massive painting of himself in his youth hanging above the table, stacks of paper in neat piles throughout the room. They all lead to the man sitting at the desk, looking at Wylan with a scowl on his face. There was no beating stick in view, but Wylan had learnt to never underestimate the power of his father’s fists.
His father made a gesture beckoning Wylan to come forward, and he approached the desk until he put up a hand signaling for him to stop. Wylan stayed silent, having been trained long ago to never speak to his father unless spoken to.
“Wylan.” said his father. “I’m glad you came.”
Wylan nodded in acknowledgement. They both knew well that he had no choice in the matter.
“You know, when I woke up this morning, I thought ‘Maybe I should kill Wylan today.’” 
Kill. Kill Wylan. 
Kill Wylan.
It took a few seconds for his father’s words to unscramble in Wylan’s head. The world became unfocused as the simple sentence’s weight hit him.
“‘End his suffering once and for all. It’s not like he has anything to live for.’”
Wylan let out a choked, strangled noise. His father’s next words flew past him without registering. He had to be joking… right? His father couldn’t have wanted to kill him. This was all some cruel new trick to manipulate him. Another one of his father’s endless strategies to bend him to his will. He told himself over and over that it wasn’t true. Even the continuous stream of his Father’s words failed to break his trance. Yet, as he replayed it in his head in the hope of finding any kind of meaning behind the threat, something about the tone of his father’s voice, or the knowledge of how he had treated him for all these years, told Wylan that his words weren't empty.
“Oh, don’t look so shocked. I didn’t do it, of course, or you wouldn’t be standing here right now.” He sighed. “You must have considered that now I have Alys, I soon won’t have need for my insolent, defective son.”
Wylan blinked, and realised tears had been slowly streaming down his cheeks. 
All he’d ever wanted was to be enough for his father. He’d thought that despite all the beatings, all the insults, every time he was locked in his room until he could read a single sentence of a children’s book, his father still loved him. A tiny part of him, the part that had kissed his mother and read to him as a child and tucked him into bed, still cared.
“I’m sorry.” whispered Wylan. His voice shook as he spoke, barely loud enough to be heard above the clatter of his thoughts. “I tried, Father. I tried so hard.”
His father scoffed. “I should have known you’d react this way. You’ve always been too emotional, Wylan. You may as well leave now, make yourself respectable before this evening. Just take this as an incentive. Be better tonight and all nights afterwards, or I will go ahead with that threat.”
When he reached his room, Wylan punched his drawer over and over until his knuckles were cracked and blood stained the wood. He didn’t feel a thing.
***
The ballroom of Ketterdam University had been filled with professors, wealthy students, and the entirety of Ketterdam’s elite to celebrate the opening of the new university wing that Jan Van Eck had so ‘generously’ funded. His painting had been hung prominently in the ballroom, illuminated by the numerous glass chandeliers, and his name engraved on a large plaque outside the new building. Wylan could tell that he was loving every single second of it.
Under normal circumstances, Wylan hated parties. The bright lights, the hordes of people talking over one another and his father’s constant grip on his arm were usually enough to drive him to hiding in a closet by the end of the night. 
After this morning, he just wanted to get it over with.
He knew he should be terrified. If his behaviour at this event didn’t please his father, it could lead to his demise. The constant threat of death hanging over his head would scare anyone else into unquestioning submission. But, inexplicably to even Wylan himself, he felt so numb. Since his meeting with his father, he’d been drifting unthinkingly through the day, the usual fear blocked out by an overwhelming, horrifying lack of feeling. A sadness that stole away every drop of hope he had left, that told him to give up, that whispered that he had never mattered to anyone anyway. He had no choice left but to believe it.
So, Wylan could barely find it in himself to care about his potential upcoming death. He couldn’t find it in himself to care about anything but the hatred in his father’s eyes as he stated his intention to end Wylan’s life. 
Even now, his father looked so remorseless. So cold. As Wylan followed him through the university campus, he couldn’t see a single drop of emotion on his face. He’d always believed it was a result of being a mercher for so long that he’d become a master at faking indifference. He was beginning to suspect that perhaps his father truly didn’t feel anything.
When the Dean noticed Wylan and his father being let in by a guard at the doorway, he rushed over to greet them. Wylan’s father gripped his arm far too tightly in a clear warning.
“Welcome, Mr Van Eck and…?”
Wylan’s father’s expression briefly soured. “His name is Wylan.”
“Welcome to our university, Mr Van Eck and Wylan Van Eck. Everyone here is incredibly grateful for your donation, and we hope this event will show even a small part of our thanks.”
His father smiled, an action that made Wylan’s stomach automatically churn. “Thank you. I’m very glad to be able to help the next generation of merchers that are being taught here.”
The Dean gestured to the guard and he threw open the doors, making the party guests immediately stop talking and turn to stare at the new arrivals. Wylan’s eye was caught by a dark-skinned Zemini boy, deep in conversation with a professor. He looked as if he was Wylan’s age, maybe slightly older - far too young to be attending such a prestigious university. After a few seconds, he gave the drink to the professor, seeming to end his conversation temporarily, and left the room in the direction of the bathroom. 
“Please welcome Mr Van Eck of the Merchant Council, and his son Wylan! Mr Van Eck is the reason we can be here tonight, as his extremely generous donation enabled us to build our new wing. Of course, it was only fitting to name it the Van Eck wing in his honour. We hope you and your son enjoy the party.”
The crowd clapped politely, a few merchers rolling their eyes at the praise directed towards Jan Van Eck. Once people had turned back to their prior conversations, he and Wylan entered the overcrowded ballroom. Wylan tried to head for the food table in hope of a temporary respite from the noise, but his father grabbed his arm again and steered him in the direction of a group of merchers.
“This is my son, Wylan. One day he will replace me in the Merchant Council… if he plays his cards right.” The merchers laughed as if Wylan’s father had told the funniest joke they’d ever heard. “Go on, Wylan. Say something.”
His chest tightened. In all the time he’d had to prepare for this event, he’d forgotten to decide what to say if his father forced him to make conversation with other merchers.
“I… Uh… Hi. I’m- I’m Wylan.”
Wylan’s cheeks blushed a bright shade of pink at the ensuing chuckles, and he tried to avert his gaze from the clearly amused merchers. His father put his hand on his arm in seeming reassurance and, almost imperceptibly, pinched the skin on the side of his arm until he had to stop himself from crying out in pain. There would be a large purple bruise by tomorrow. 
Stumbling over his words in public was a rookie mistake. He should have known better, but parties always put him on edge. The social cues he’d practiced over and over in the mirror had been completely snatched from him.
At least he felt something again. His head was beginning to spin, his breath coming short, a growing sick feeling in his stomach. The noise of the people scattered around the room became increasingly louder until Wylan winced in pain. When he did so, the previously beautiful chandeliers became blinding pillars of lights, and people began to talk more and more, as if they were laughing in his face.
“Have you decided whether to invest in the new stock coming in from Ravka this month?”
“Can you comment on the instability of the Ravkan economy?”
“How long do you think it will be before you tie the knot with your new girlfriend?”
“What are your thoughts on the growing economic power of that gang from the Barrel - the Dregs?”
Everything was so loud.
Stop. Stop. Please. Stop. There was so much noise. Too many people talking at once. It was so loud. Stop. Stop. Stop. Please could they stop they needed to-
“Stop!” yelled Wylan.
Every mercher in the group turned to stare at him. A look of fury flashed on his father’s face before he forced himself to smile, his eyes still twitching in concealed rage.
“I’m afraid my son has been feeling… not very well recently. I’m sure he just needs some time alone.”
Before his father had time to grab him, Wylan ran. He pushed through the crowds of people, his vision blurring, until he reached the corridor that led to the bathrooms. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his father take a deep breath and turn back to the other merchers. He was far more concerned about maintaining his public image than helping his son. 
Wylan leant against the wall, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Whilst he was glad to be away from the party, the new environment had done nothing to quench the panic threatening to overwhelm him.
The bathroom door opened just as Wylan was about to enter, and it hit him square in the face. His head spun, and he was still trying to process what had happened when a figure came running out of the bathroom and slammed into Wylan. He jumped back as fast as possible, rubbing his injured nose, and gaped. 
“I’m so sorry!” he blurted.
“Why are you sorry? I’m the one who slammed a door in your face! I should be sorry!”
Wylan looked up and began to splutter, unable to bring himself to say anything. The person he’d bumped into was the Zemini student from earlier, the boy who’d looked far too young to attend the university. From closer up, Wylan could see deep calluses on his hands - it came to Wylan suddenly that Novyi Zem’s primary source of income was jurda farming - and piercing grey eyes that were staring at him with concern. He was extremely, impossibly handsome. 
“Are you okay? Because I’d never complain about a pretty boy staring at me, but it’s not usually after I’ve hit him in the face with a door.”
“You… you think I’m pretty?”
The boy raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think that’s the part we should be focusing on, Pretty Boy.”
In-between the embarrassment he felt at the compliment, Wylan realised he may be correct. It definitely wasn’t a good sign that the boy’s figure was swimming in front of him, or that his head was still relentlessly pounding. Whilst he wasn’t sure how much of that could be attributed to the door and how much to his ongoing panic attack, it would probably be best if he at least sat down. 
“I- I’m not usually like this.” Wylan swayed a little. “You should come back and talk to me when I’m not dying… Oh wait…” He giggled. “I’ll be dead tomorrow anyway…”
“Okay, we’re definitely going to sit you down.”
The boy gently put an arm around Wylan’s back and helped him onto the corridor floor. They sat beside each other, slumped against the wall, in silence.
“I’m Jesper. I’m a student here. I didn’t want to go to this party anyway, but my professor made me come. Apparently I’m one of the ‘top students’ and they need me to ‘represent the university’ as their ‘youngest and most promising student’. I think there could be much better uses of my time than attending a party for some rich jerk.”
Usually, Wylan would have defended his father, but today, something in him was enjoying hearing him be insulted. Besides, he had a feeling that Jesper didn’t know his true identity, and if he did, he probably wouldn’t want to sit beside him anymore.
“I’m Wylan.”
“How many fingers am I holding up?”
Jesper shoved three fingers in Wylan’s face, and he pushed them away, rolling his eyes.
“That’s not an answer!”
“You had three fingers up. I’m not concussed, you know.”
Jesper was silent for a while, until he noticed Wylan’s still-wet eyes.
“You do look like you’re about to cry, though. I’d like to think I can help with that too.”
It was nice of Jesper to try, but nothing he could do would prevent the inevitable punishment Wylan would face when he left this corridor. He needed to head back. The sooner he returned, the lesser his father’s wrath would be. He glanced back at the party - the loud voices, the crowds of people, his father engaging calmly in conversation as if nothing had happened - and found himself beginning to hyperventilate again. 
He was going to die. His father hated him and he was going to die and Wylan would be dead and no one would mourn him because everyone hated him anyway and it would all be pointless in the end and—
Wylan felt soft arms wrap around his chest, holding him tightly. Someone was hugging him. Jesper. The pressure was just right, the other boy’s hands resting against his ribcage, and Wylan let himself lean into him. He buried his head in the crook of Jesper’s neck, letting the tears that had been building up for so long fall. Perhaps it was because Wylan hadn’t hugged anyone since his mother died, perhaps it was because he was the first person in months who’d treated Wylan like a fellow human, but Jesper felt like home.
When Wylan’s breathing returned to normal, he let himself pull away, but Jesper didn’t take his hands from their grounding position on his waist. 
“Wylan, do you want to get out of here?”
“What do you mean?”
Jesper smirked. “You’ll see.”
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Accidents and artwork (Jongho/Smut)
Ateez Masterlist                                      Group Masterlist
A/N: So basically, I wrote this from an artists perspective. I wrote it with my experiences and processes I have seen so bare with me. 
Also the smut in this story is definitely not the main focus at all, it’s a whole story
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Tags: Fem reader x Jongho, Highschool au!, Wrestler x art student, Teenagers being awkward, cute letter confessions, scatterbrained artist, stress relieving, pretty soft sex, pretty vanilla, just wholesome teen romance? virgin reader x Jongho, fingering, praise
Word count: 9520 words (longest thing I’ve ever written) 
Week 1
How Jongho ended up in the art room surrounded by paint covered canvases and confused students, he didn’t really know. He didn’t understand how such a big mistake could be made, wrestling and art class were very different things. However here he was at art class and not wrestling like he should have been. 
“Take a seat, Mr. Choi. You’re late.” The teacher said, snapping him out of his thoughts as he scanned the room. “Ah, I’m sorry. There was a mix up and I was in the office. I will only be here temporarily until a spot on the wrestling team opens up.” Jongho explained, the other students in the room scanning him up and down. 
Everyone had heard about the athlete prodigy that was transferring to your school, how a mix-up like this could happen was really baffling. But it happened and you were now sitting in the corner, watching him look at the empty seat next to you. 
“Temporary or not, you’re going to need a seat.” Your teacher said sharply. Mrs. Kim always was sharp of the tongue. You watched him bow politely and make his way to the stool next to yours. 
Jongho had only been at school a few days but had already gained immense popularity, being the new kid and the star athlete really helped. This popularity was intimidating to you, not ever really being one for wanting the spotlight per say. It took a certain type of person to enjoy the popularity, not that that was bad, no it was just different. You had respect for all types of people around your highschool, everyone was just trying to make their four years work... some more successfully than others. 
“Now as I was explaining, this duo project will be worth 75% of your semester grade. There is no theme, I just want to see harmony between two artists in the piece.” Mrs. Kim explained. That was something you admired about her teaching method. There was never a box to be put in, she allowed artists to be artists and it was refreshing. 
One by one you and Jongho watched your classmates find partners, silently. “Ma’am, I won’t be in this class long. I wouldn’t want to not be able to finish a project and leave a student hanging.” Jongho explained, voice incredibly sincere. He would hate to think that someone would fail because of him. “That will just have to be something you figure out with your partner. Is Y/N your partner?” Your name coming out of her mouth caught you off guard and you looked up. 
Jongho looked at you and looked at him, before looking back to your teacher and back to eachother again. An awkward silence was definitely lingering in the air as he tried to find the words once he noticed you didn’t have a partner. “Only if she wants to be... I would hate to be a burden.” His voice was soft as he looked at you, anxiously awaiting your response. 
“It seem Ms. Y/N doesn’t have a partner so she doesn’t quite have a choice. You two will work together, it’s settled.” There goes that sharp tongue again, you cursed mentally. 
It wasn’t that you didn’t want to work with Jongho, not at all. He seemed like a sweet guy but you already felt like you were at a disadvantage before hand. Your art seemed to be lacking as of late and you were questioning what direction you were going in, it was an internal struggle that left a negative mark on your art. Now you had the possibility of having to help someone alot and not to be rude, it was a disadvantage. 
“Everyone start planning your projects, quietly though. No need to give me a headache before noon.” Jongho pulled his stool closer to you and smiled slightly. He knew you probably didn’t want him as a partner and he could understand why, Jongho knew he had 0 drawing/painting experience. 
“I’m sorry.” Jongho said, making you look up at him. There was an apologetic look on his face and you could tell he felt bad. But he had no reason too, this wasn’t his fault. You could work through it, like you mentioned before: everyone was just trying to make their four years work. 
“It’s really okay. Let’s just work together and make something cool. We’ll manage.” You comforted him in the best way you could, because you were nervous yourself. If he was already apologizing before even really doing anything, how was this project going to turn out?
“Uhm, do you have any art experience or anything similar?” You asked, hoping that he might have a grain of visual artistic talent. “I’m sorry, no. I know that isn’t what you want to hear.” He looked down, cursing the fact  that he never felt the urge to draw when he was a kid. “It’ll be okay, I’ll figure something out.” You replied, more reassuring yourself than him. “Thanks.” He said softly, feeling comforted by your words. “I was reassuring myself.” You justified with a laugh and he chuckled with you. “Fair enough.” 
Jongho walked through the cafeteria with his bag, finding his friends pretty easily. They were a rowdy bunch after all. 
“There he is. How was art class?” San asked and clapped the younger boy on the back as he sat down. “I still can’t believe that they messed up your schedule like that.” Seonghwa said and Jongho shrugged. “It could be worse. At least I have a cute partner.” Jongho said without thinking about it.
Yeah, he thought you were cute. He also thought there was a worse way to have to spend art class. 
“Cute partner? I don’t think I know anyone in the art class.” Wooyoung commented, popping a grape into his mouth. “Her name’s Y/N and she’s kind of stuck with me as a partner for something that takes up a huge chunk of her grade. I feel bad.” Jongho said and perked up once he noticed you had entered the cafeteria. You had a quiet nature, avoiding bumping into people as you walked to an empty seat. You looked clumsy and cute, it made Jongho smile. “I’m assuming that’s her.” Hongjoong said, taking note of the way Jongho had gone quiet. 
You had been racking your brain ever since class had ended. No offense to Jongho but you were stuck with him and it was making you anxious. You wanted to deliver something you could be proud of and you really had to think hard about it. 
Jongho was a physical person, he liked physical activity and you could work with that. Slowly an idea started forming. 
“Jongho!” You called as you saw him in the hall by his locker. You walked over to him, seeing his group of friends all close to him. “Hey, what’s up?” Jongho asked, swallowing before speaking. “I had an idea for the project, something that I think would work for the both of us.” You explained, eyes locking with his for a moment only for you to look away again. “Well, you’re the boss. When do you need me?” Jongho asked, his words flustering you slightly. 
“Uhm we can get started this weekend if you’re free, at my place? I have a canvas that’s ready to go and paint.” You said with a soft smile, hoping the blush on your cheeks would die down a bit. Jongho was undeniably attractive and you weren’t used the attention. 
“That works, I can come by on Saturday if you text me your adress.” Jongho said, trying really hard to ignore Wooyoung and San’s whispering next to him. You heard the whispers too, feeling uncomfortable as you felt they were about you and you looked to the floor. Jongho subtly jammed his elbow into Wooyoung’s stomach while pretending to adjust his shirt and they shut up. 
“Perfect...” You started to walk away, awkwardness taking over before realising you forgot to say something. “Wait, I forgot to mention. Bring some clothes you don’t mind getting paint on, it could get messy.” You said, catching Jongho off guard before walking away again. How could you be so awkward out of nowhere? 
You had managed to set the whole thing up... or at least step 1 of your project. It was easy, it was fun and it was creative. This project was going to help you let go a little and through out your week you were starting to see the positive side to this whole thing. You followed rules when it came to art and art didn’t have rules, you wanted to have fun with this. 
“Did you find it okay?” You asked, leading him into your house. Jongho couldn’t help but be taken back by your appearance at first. Your shorts and huge what used to be white t-shirt, now covered in a rainbow of paint splatters. Your hair was messy not having bothered doing anything to it because it would get messed up anyways, but Jongho thought it was cute. 
“I know I look like a crazy person but this is what I wear to paint so disregard that.” You added on, your sock covered feet padding over the wooden floor of your house. “It’s fine, it somehow suits you. You look comfortable.” Jongho commented, following you through the house. 
“Uhm, what are we doing for the project. You never really told me.” Jongho said stopping in your living room and you turned around and looked at him. “Oh my God, you’re right.” You said covering your mouth and starting to laugh at your own stupidity. Jongho must’ve thought you were in an idiot. 
“You must think I’m crazy. I get really scatterbrained when I start a project, I’m so sorry.” You explained and Jongho just watched you, grinning softly. He could tell your mind was going a mind a minute and he couldn’t help but wonder if this was what it was like to be an artist. Sticking his hands in the pockets of his old jeans and just took you in. He didn’t think he was going to enjoy this experience that much at first, but that was slowly changing. 
“So basically, I thought you don’t have painting or drawing experience so what can we do. Then I had another thought, you like being physically active and you’re probably good at throwing things too.” Jongho was starting to get concerned at your words, the concern being very visible on his face. “Throwing things?” He thought to himself.
“Don’t worry, it’s a good idea. I think... I was just thinking we should have a good time either launching waterballoons filled with paint at a canvas or we could tape the paint filled balloons to a canvas and throw darts at them. That’s up to you though.” Jongho’s concern quickly went away as he heard the rest of your idea. It sounded so fun and it was definitely something he could do. “I do believe you are a genius ma’am.” Jongho said and bowed jokingly. 
“Really?” You asked, your voice sounding so hopefull. You let out a breath of relief as your concerns were wiped away. Something about Jongho was so incredibly refreshing and different from what you had expected. It was nice. 
“I think launching the balloons at the canvas is the safest bet. Darts seem, dangerous.” He said as you walked into your yard together. You hummed in agreement, knowing he was probably right and knowing your aim. The last thing you wanted was Jongho going to the emergency room because you can’t throw. 
“That seems fair, don’t want to accidentally hurt you.” You said and gestured towards the canvas. You had filled the balloons beforehand and placed them in a bucket. Your mother was going to be upset at the fact that her grass would be splattered with paint, but you knew this would be forgotten if you told her it was for school. 
“How did you come up with this?” Jongho asked as he picked up the bucket from next to the canvas and brought it a safe distance away. “ I don’t really know. I guess I was kind of forced to think outside of the box a little. I kinda have to  thank you for that.” You confessed and gestured for him to have the first throw. “What do you mean?” He asked and launched a waterballoon at the canvas. It splattered bright orange against the crisp white and you couldn’t help but smile widely. 
Jongho felt really good watching the color splatter over the canvas. It felt so good to do something like this. 
“I mean, my art was starting to feel stiff. Repetitive. This was something I needed.” You explained and threw your own balloon, missing drastically and launching the blue paint over the grass. You covered your mouth in embarrassment and to hold back your laughter. Jongho tried to hold back a laugh but failed miserably and handed you another balloon. “The canvas is over there.” He joked and you hung your shoulders in feigned shame. “I’m not good at sports.” You confessed, throwing another balloon and barely clipping the canvas. Though hard enough to cause red splatter near the orange. 
How your mannerism’s could be so endearing, he had no clue. You weren’t the type of girl Jongho normally gravitated too, but then again he was never really thrown into a situation like this before. He found himself enjoying this whole situation, immensly. 
“So you’re friends with San and Wooyoung right?” You asked as the canvas gradually filled with more and more colors and splatters. Turning to Jongho, you noticed how the light was capturing him and his beautiful skin tone and for a moment you swore your heart started pounding faster. Tearing your eyes away, you fiddled with the hem of your paint stained shirt. 
“Yeah, I am. Why?” He asked, noting the fact you were avoiding eye contact. “No reason really, they really are mood makers in class.” You complimented. Friendship was something you missed, you always found yourself too scatterbrained and busy to maintain them. Sure you had people you were friendly with at school, but not really someone you could call your friend. 
“Yeah that’s true. Wooyoung can be so loud sometimes though.” Jongho chuckled to himself as he threw a balloon really hard against the canvas, nearly knocking it over. “Who do you hangout with?” Jongho asked and ran to the canvas, adjusting it back to it’s original position. You were hesitant to answer his question, you didn’t want him to pity you. 
“No one really.” You admitted, your voice sounding oddly cheery. He looked at you confused at how you could sound so okay with that. “Really?” “Really.” You responded and sat down in the grass, your arms feeling tired from throwing and wanting a break. Jongho joined you, deciding he deserved a break as well. 
“I’m bad at maintaining friends.” You said with a small laugh at your own self pity. “Ahh.” was the only sound to be heard from him. You both sat quietly for a moment and you leaned back to look at your project. “It looks really good. I think phase 1 is complete.” You nodded in approval and Jongho smiled widely, his nose crinkling in the cutest way. 
“This was a lot more fun than I thought it would be.” Jongho admitted, not remember the last time he felt joy in a project that wasn’t sport related. “We should let this dry... do you want to watch a movie or something?” Your proposal caught Jongho off guard and yourself. You weren’t expecting those words to come out so smoothly, or to come out at all. It was all incredibly impulsive. 
“I actually want to ask you something.” Jongho started and you looked at him with mildly scared eyes. “I was actually wondering if you would show me some of your art and maybe teach my how to do some stuff. I liked this alot more than I thought I would. It would be cool to know how to draw or be even a little helpfull to you in this project.” You were completely surprised, not sure how to respond. This was cool, this was amazing. It put such a big smile on your face you couldn’t help but cover it with your hand. 
“I would absolutely love to teach you! Come on let’s go to my room. I have my art stuff up there.” He was surprised by your enthousiasm but it also warmed his heart. You were just so bubbly when it came to art, it was your happy space. 
“I’m going to take a guess that this one is your room.” Jongho said and stood infront of your door. It was painted on a sweet little mural and made his smile grow even larger. “Lucky guess.” You said and looked away. You got bashfull for a moment, no one had really been up to your before, let alone a guy. 
“This is so cool. It looks so amazing.” He ran his fingers over the painting. It was amazing to him that he could feel the brush strokes. “Thank you.” Your voice was small suddenly and Jongho looked back at you. “Like really amazing.” He never considering that art had texture, that was really cool.
 Letting him in your room, you gestured for him to sit at your desk and grabbed a sketchbook and some pencils. “What do you want to learn?”  You sat down next to him after placing the sketchbook in front of him. “I don’t know. What do you want to teach me?” Jongho asked leaning towards you with a cheeky smile. His actions flustered you and you looked away for a moment, making him giggle. 
“You’re cute.” He stated, flipping your sketchbook open and slowly turning through the pages. How he could just say something like that? “Maybe teach me how to draw you.” He added on as he looked at the paper, trying to hide his giggly response to your reaction. 
“How about I just teach you with what I started with? How faces work, if that’s okay.” You evaded and brushed your hair out of your face. You taught Jongho the lines on faces basic lines to follow and just let him draw to get an idea of what he could do. This was just for fun afterall, you didn’t do it completely seriously and neither did he. Jongho just wanted to spend more time with you and thought this was fun. 
A silence crept over you both as he drew and you watched. You admired the pencil strokes and soft sound of the pencil on the paper, you also admired his hands. He had such nice, beautiful, tan skin and very nice hands. You couldn’t help but wonder how such nice hands would feel holding yours. 
“Jongho...” You started, still just looking at his drawing and hands. He turned his head to you but you avoided eye contact, just looking at the paper. “Hmm?” “Can we be friends?” Your question caught him very off guard, it just wasn’t what he was expecting. “I mean, I kind of thought we already were.” 
Week 2
Jongho had been thinking nonstop of his Saturday with you and he couldn’t help but think about how fun it would be to work on “Phase 2″ of the painting. This joy dragged on through the week, before he even really shared a class with you. He found himself doodling in his notebooks and even though they weren’t necessarily good in his opinion, it made him happy. 
“So how was painting? I forgot to ask earlier.” Hongjoong asked as he greeted Jongho one morning. It was still early before class and students were slowly pouring in as the group of boys stood in front of the school. Jongho instantly smiled at the question, lovely thoughts filling his mind at the mere mention. 
“It was a lot of fun. I kinda know how to draw now. Watch out I might become the next greatest artist.” Jongho joked and tucked his hands into his pocket. “Ah so you had because of art, not a certain partner?” San questioned, eyebrow cocking in Jongho’s direction. However someone caught Jongho’s eye, you. 
“Y/N!” He called softly, waving at you. You were caught by surprised but waved back, adjusting your bag over your shoulder. That was when Jongho gestured for you to come over and your heart dropped a little. You had never really talked to his group of friends, ever. You were convinced they didn’t know you existed. 
However you did it, you walked over there. Over the weekend you had made some decisions, some life decisions. One of them was inform your parents over the paint throwing in the yard BEFORE you did it and the other was go outside of your comfort zone more. Not only with your art, but also with your life. Making more friends was a little step in the right direction. 
“Goodmorning.” You greeted in a singsong voice, making Jongho’s ears turn pink slightly. “Goodmorning.” He greeted back and saw how your arms folded over your chest, noticing some dried green paint by your elbow. “I’m Wooyoung. Do we have classes together?” Wooyoung asked and his question stung a little, you had a lot of classes with him and he just never noticed you. 
“I know, we have quite a few classes together actually.” You laughed, brushing it off because you knew he meant no harm. This made Jongho frown, how could Wooyoung not know that? 
“Have you been painting?” Jongho asked, changing the subject. “Oh, yeah I have been. Why?” You asked, being confused at his sudden question. “You have some green paint on your arm.” He smiled and reached out rubbing the paint mark gently with his fingers. His touch made your cheeks burn bright red, especially as you had an audience. You simply looked down at the ground as he took care of it. “There, I think I got it all.” He stepped back, eyes trained on your burning red face. You had never felt so relieved to hear a school bell. 
He didn’t mean to fluster you like that, though he had to admit he thought it was ridiculously cute and you had never been flustered by a guy like that before. You liked it, you liked Jongho and it happened really fast.
Mrs. Kim noticed the chemistry that week, the chemistry between you and Jongho as you sketched out ideas and guided him when he drew. This was what she had hoped for, this was what she wanted. It was nice to see you smiling in class and it was nice to see someone who was thrown into an unlikely situation, run with it and make the best out of it. 
“Okay but why are the eyes all the way up there?” You asked with a small laugh, your face by Jongho’s shoulder. “Look not everyone’s anatomy is the same.” He clarified, trying to hold back his laugh. You shook your head and grabbed your own pencil, doodling a little cartoon nose under horribly realistic eyes and making the whole drawing even funnier. “I guess you’re right about anatomy.” You sighed and rested your head on his shoulder for a split second. You didn’t know what came over you it was something you did unconsciously, you were comfortable.
Jongho felt his heart pound in his chest at your small action but didn’t respond, not wanting to make things weird. However he did notice something, something sweet. When you moved your head his nose filled with the scent of flowers and sweet hardcandy and he loved it. “Do you have time this weekend to work on the painting? If not it’s fine, but - nevermind.” You were going to say, you really enjoyed spending time with him but held it back. Jongho frowned, he couldn’t that weekend. He had to cover someone’s shift at the convenience store he worked at. 
“I can’t this weekend, but next week I definitely can. I’m all yours.” He explained and your smile fell. “That’s too bad. The last time was fun. Like, really fun.” You said and turned away to your sketchbook. Jongho would’ve rather been with you than at the store, but work was something he couldn’t have just missed. With a sad smile, Jongho put his arm over the back of your chair to get your attention. 
Your cheeks were pink when you looked at him and your lips were pouting slightly, he was suddenly completely willing to skip work. “You’re cute when you pout.” His words came out before he could catch them and watched as your cheeks turned even redder. Where did these things come from? 
Week 3
The keychain was tucked carefully in Jongho’s hand as he waited for you in front of the school with Hongjoong and Seonghwa. He had seen the keychain on his way back home from work that Saturday. It was a small, stuffed, multicolored patchwork teddy bear on a rose gold keychain. When he saw it he thought of you and came to the conclusion, this was the way he was going to ask you out and break the sad news to you at the same time. 
“Let me read the note again.” Seonghwa asked Jongho and the younger boy shook his head. “No, she should be here soon.” He was on firm lookout for your figure approaching the school. 
Hongjoong tapped Seonghwa on the chest and whispered to him. “He seems to be nervous.” The statement was blatantly obvious and Seonghwa had to do everything in his power to not roll his eyes. “There she is.” He pointed out and Jongho quickly rolled the note up and slipped it inbetween one of the small loops on the keychain. 
“Hey, Y/N.” Hongjoong said and waved at you. You walked over with a soft smile and greeted the 3, looking at Jongho a little longer. He looked uncomfortable and fidgeted with his hands under your gaze. 
“So, how was your weekend?” Seonghwa asked, trying to distract you as Jongho moved by your backpack. “Pretty standard. Nothing really interesting.” You admitted and thought back to how boring it actually was. “How was it for you guys?” You asked and felt a little tug on your backpack from behind, turning your head you saw with his hand on your bag. “Sorry, you had a bug on your back. I think I flicked it off harder than I meant too.” He lied straight through his teeth, but  the keychain was on your bag. “Oh, thanks.” You said, shaking your head slightly at how odd he was acting.
 You looked at your watch, noting the fact that you still had to go talk to Mrs. Kim about a personal project. “I have to go talk to Mrs. Kim about something, but I will see you guys later.” You said and waved to them before starting to walk away. “Hey Y/N.” Jongho said after you, making you turn to look at him. He had a soft smile on his face and his ears were pink. “You look pretty today.” He said loud enough for not only Hongjoong and Seonghwa to hear, but the other students entering the school. 
You covered your mouth to hide your smile and quickly turned away to go to Mrs. Kim. Jongho giggled at your response only to garner funny looks from his older friends. “You are completely whipped.” Hongjoong said, still in shock at what he had just witnessed. “So what if I am? She’s cute when she’s flustered. Besides she might not like me much once she finds out I’m not in the art class anymore.” Jongho grabbed his bag off of the ground. “I doubt that, she likes you too. It’s blatantly obvious.” Seonghwa shrugged and headed inside of the school. “It is?” Jongho asked himself, wondering how he didn’t pick up the signs. 
“Y/N, good morning!” Mrs. Kim greeted as you entered her classroom. “Goodmorning.” You said in return and took a seat by her desk, laying your backpack in your lap. 
“So things with your semester project have been going well?” She asked, looking at you with a smile. “Yeah they’ve been going really well...” Your voice trailed off once you noticed the colorfull trinket on your bag. “Sorry what was that?” Your head snapped up at her question and you tried ignoring the keychain. “Sorry, it’ been going great. Jongho is really fun to work with. I think he’s teaching me more than I’m teaching him.” You said, fingers now fiddling with the little teddy bear. 
“I’ve noticed your not being so strict on yourself with drawing. It’s refreshing to see. It’s also refreshing to see you smiling in class.” Your fingers glided over the patchwork fabric, before moving to the chain where you noticed a rolled up piece of paper. “I have been happy.” You admitted, not being to contain your little smile. “Jongho does you good. Let’s pray he’ll be there to finish the project with you.” Mrs. Kim said, realising you were distracted in obviously happy thoughts. “Go to your first class, Ms. Y/N and get your head out of the clouds... in a few minutes.” She dismissed you and you smiled even wider. 
You left her classroom and leaned against the wall in the hall. Unrolling the note that was now clutched in your hand, you read it to yourself. 
“Hey Y/N, 
  I know this is kind of weird. But I guess that’s kind of fitting to our friendship, weird and something we both didn’t expect. Anyways, I saw this Saturday on my way home from work and it put a smile on my face. Naturally, the fact that it made me smile made me think of you. So please take this as a little gift, as a thank you for taking me under your colorful wing and making me smile.
This is also a sorry, the wrestling coach called me a few days ago and told me a position opened up on the team. So I won’t be in art class anymore. But I promise I will help you finish our project because, well I’m enjoying myself a lot and I want to spend more time with you.
That leads me to my next reason for this little gift. I was wondering if after this project, you would like to spend even more time with me? Maybe let me take you out on a date? If not, I would like to be friends, just let me know.
Also this bear’s name is Sunshine, take care of him well.
- Jongho” 
You had to cover your mouth and remind yourself that you were in school and not home in your room. Jongho liked you too, Jongho liked spending time with you and it felt surreal. You hadn’t had a crush in a long time, let alone one that liked you in return. 
Tucking the note in your pocket, you looked at the little teddy bear. “I’ll take care of you, Sunshine.” You said softly before scrambling for your class, noticing you were going to be late.
“You look happy.” Wooyoung commented as you past him to get to your seat. “I do?” You asked, not even attempting to hide your smile. “Yeah, you have that energy that says you got asked out.” Wooyoung was cheeky, you knew that but you didn’t know how much your demeanor could change from a simple confession. Yet here you were. 
“How did you know that?” You asked him and he Wooyoung started laughing. “You both are blind. He was so nervous this whole week about asking you out and felt horrible about not being able to work on the painting this weekend. Jongho never shuts up about you.” He shrugged and casually unpacked his things from his bag. “He really likes you.” Wooyoung added on and you quickly made your way to your seat as you noticed your teacher had arrived. But class was far from your mind. 
Jongho’s figure was recognizable from behind as you saw him walking in the hall. Broad shoulders, muscular figure and very soft looking hair, he was hard to miss. Taking a deep breath, you stepped forward trying to catch up with him to tap him on the shoulder. This wasn’t something you yelled out through the crowd. 
He turned around, instantly greeting you with a giant smile and his nose crinkling in the cutest way. “I found your note and your little gift.” You smiled just thinking about his sweet letter. Jongho’s cheeks turned bright red as he felt incredibly nervous to your response. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you in person. I have a hard time talking about my feelings sometimes. I hope it didn’t make you uncomfortable or anything.” His apology caught you off guard, could he really not see that you liked him too?
Grabbing his hand, you pulled him to the side and a bit away from other people wandering in the halls. “I would love to go on a date with you Jongho.” You blatantly stated, your hand still holding his. “Really?” His eyes went wide with disbelief, you liked him. Your fingers laced with his now and you started laughing. “I feel like we’re both horribly oblivious. Yes, really.” You were both quiet for a moment, thinking about how nice the other’s hand felt. 
“So, we’re gonna try and finish this weekend? I want to take you out on that date.” He quickly said, making you laugh. Jongho didn’t realise how eager he sounded until it came out, but he didn’t care. You didn’t say anything and wrapped your arms around him, pulling him in for a hug. 
Jongho reciprocated the action, arms wrapping around your waist gently as he hugged you in return. His face tucked into your neck and he took a deep breath. You smelled nice, like flowers and sweet hardcandies and as if Jongho needed anymore convincing that he liked you.
The weekend rolled around fast enough, yet you found yourself in a slump. The ideas you had regarding the project seemed less and less appealing as the days went by and surely enough you hated your idea. You were so inspiration blocked that you had reverted to spending your Saturday morning sitting infront of the paint splattered canvas, hoping to get an idea. 
“Y/N, you’re partner is here. I’m going to go to run some errands and then go out to dinner with friends. Have fun!” Your mother said from your bedroom door and you turned your head to her. “Alright mom, thanks.” You said and watched Jongho awkwardly enter your bedroom. 
“Hey.” He said softly, taking note of the fact that you weren’t in your paint clothes but dressed quite cute. Short denim overalls and an oversized striped shirt underneath, very simple and cute but completely fitting to you. But you didn’t look that happy, as a matter of fact you looked distraught. 
“What’s wrong?” Jongho asked and sat down on your bed. “I have no idea how to finish this. I had one, but now I hate it. I don’t know how to continue.” You explained, pulling your knees to your chest and looking at Jongho. He had a concerned expression, nose crinkling as his eyebrows furrowed. “Hmm.” He hummed and turned around to look at the paint splatters. 
“Scoot over.” He said, kicking his shoes off and sitting down next to you at the top of your bed, back leaning against the headboard. The side of his body pressed into your comfortably as he settled down to stare at the painting. “How long have you been doing this?” He asked, glancing towards you and taking note of how incredibly close your faces were. 
“Too long.” You mumbled, resting your head on your knees. “Entirely too long.” Your voice was soft as you continued to look straight ahead. Art block was the worst feeling. 
“Distract me a little. How was your first wrestling practice?” You asked, genuinely interested in the topic. You craned your head to look at him, also taking note of how close your faces were. “It was really nice to be back in a familiar space again.” He started and you watched him speak. He looked happy talking about his passion and the made you feel mushy on the inside. Was this how he felt when you talked about art? 
You couldn’t help but giggle at his happy expression, he was ridiculously cute and he didn’t even know it. “What was that for?” Jongho asked, leaning into you a little more with a soft smirk. “Happy is cute on you. Can I come to a match of yours?” You asked, burrying your face into your arms a little more. The question was surprising but Jongho loved it, you were slowly taking initiative. “I would love for you to come to a match of mine.” His voice was hushed suddenly, not feeling the need to speak loud. Even though it was just the two of you home, he wanted this moment to be private. 
You both simply looked at eachother for a moment, the project at hand being far away from your thoughts. Jongho’s hand moved to yours and you let him take it. His thumb drawing shapes over your soft skin. 
“Can I kiss you?” His question caught you completely off guard, but not in a negative way at all. He realised the question was kind of out of the blue, but your naturally pink tinted cheeks, pouty lips and soft expression were too much for him. He really wondered if your lips tasted like the way you smelled, like sweet candy. 
You nodded and lifted your head from your arms, your heart pounding in your chest as his hand gently moved up your arm. You leaned further into him and smiled as his hand finally reached your cheek, cupping it gently. He was watching you and admired the way your eyes fluttered shut, the soft smile playing on your lips and the deeper pink tint on your cheeks. 
He finally leaned forward and pressed his lips to yours, fingers moving under your chin. His lips were pillowy, soft and incredibly gentle against yours, not wanting to hurt you in any way or form. To him, you tasted exactly like he thought you would. Sweet like candy and he absolutely loved it. 
You didn’t realise it until you pulled away, but your hand was on his chest gripping his t-shirt. “Sorry.” You mumbled, letting go only for his hand to catch yours and keep it there on his chest. “It’s okay.” His voice came out as whisper as he locked eyes with you. You gripped his shirt again, now using it as leverage to pull his lips against yours again. This time catching Jongho slightly by surprise. 
This kiss was different, the soft, careful demeanor being a lot less present as he pulled you into him. His hands were on your waist and you moved to sit on your knees, lips not seperating once. As his lips moved against yours, you hummed as he squeezed your waist gently before threading your fingers through his silky hair. 
“You taste sweet.” He mumbled against your lips and wrapped his arms around you fully. Jongho laid down, making sure to pull you with him and allowing you to rest on his chest. He looked at your flushed cheeks and smiled, pressing his forehead to yours. “God you’re so cute.” He commented, revelling in the feeling of your fingers in his hair. 
You tugged slightly and watched his eyes close, long eyelashes catching your attention. Jongho was pretty enough to draw. What you weren’t expecting however, was the low groan the emitted from his throat. 
You kissed him again with a total new feeling to it. The way he looked, the way he sounded, it was too much. Jongho could feel it too, the way your breathing had sped up, the way your chest pressed against his, it was all just completely natural for him to get worked up. 
As his tongue glided over your bottom lip, gaining more access to your mouth, his hands grabbed your waist and moved you where he wanted you. Straddling his waist now, you could completely feel the effect you had on him and a wave of nerves hit you. “Jongho...” You started, sitting up slightly and only placing your clothed core over his. A moan came out before you could finish what you were saying and the heat on your cheeks flooded back. 
“I’ve never done this before.” You finished, your hands on his chest as he looked up at you. “That’s okay, we don’t have to.” He said quickly, not wanting to make you uncomfortable at all. He wouldn’t want you to do anything you would regret. “That’s not what I meant, I just wanted you to know. I want to do this, if you do.” You said, smiling softly at his gentle words and hands coming to find yours. Your finger’s laced together and you looked at how well they fit.
“I do. I really do.” He said, sitting up so that his face was inches from yours again. His movements made his hips buck into yours, shooting relief through your body and making you squeeze his hands. Jongho was loving your little reactions to minor movements. 
His lips attached to your jaw, lacing light kisses over the skin and keeping his eyes on you. Your eyes were closed and you were loving the feeling of his lips on your skin. His finger tips danced over the skin of your arms before holding the back of your neck tightly. Lips moving down over your neck, you let out a gasp as he nipped at your skin. “You sound so pretty.” Jongho praised and his words went straight to your core. 
“If you want to stop, just tell me.”  He said between kisses on the base on your neck. “Please don’t.” Your words came out as a whine even at the thought. He felt so good. 
You toyed with the hem of his t-shirt, hoping he’d take the hint that he would take it off. “You’re eager.” Jongho commented and pulled his lips off of your skin. You thought your eagerness had killed the mood and were about to apologize, when he swiftly pulled his shirt off over his head. 
His skin looked soft like satin and you found your fingers wandering over the newly exposed skin before moving to the clips of your overalls. You took a deep breath and undid them swiftly, tugging your shirt off and discarding it with his. This amount of exposure was new to you and you felt incredibly shy, the simple white lace of your bra not seeming nice enough for the occasion. You looked down, breaking eye contact with him. 
“You’re so beautiful.” His comment made your heart flutter and you looked up again. “So beautiful.” He repeated and you took the plunge, pressing your lips to his harshly and pushing him back. Jongho found that he quite enjoyed the weight of your body on his and that he really enjoyed the feeling of your chest against his, no he loved the feeling. “So soft.” He complimented again as his fingers ran over the skin of your back. 
“Stop complimenting me.” You giggled and let out a yelp as he flipped you both over. His hard on was now directly pressing against your core, harshly and your hair was splayed over your pillow. “Why should I stop?” Jongho asked and kissed over your collarbones, his tongue peaking out to lick at your skin. Moving down further, his mouth was at the edge of your bra and his hands moved to undo it. “I mean every word, you know.” He said and watched you slide the item of clothing off of your arms. 
“Why are you being so sweet?” You asked as your arms covered your now bare chest in slight embarrassment. Your question was very surprising to Jongho, he didn’t have a reason not to be. He felt incredibly lucky to be in the position he was in and he was going to let you know that, you deserved that. 
“Because I feel lucky. You’re trusting me, you’re letting me do this with you.” He explained, odd kisses being placed around your lips. “I feel lucky too, lucky I’m doing this with you.” You admitted and your arms moved away from your chest, feeling even more comfortable with him. 
Jongho allowed his hands to move to your chest, squeezing your breast slightly as he nipped at your skin. The kisses became more intense as you felt him suck on your skin, he wanted to leave marks. You hummed when his tongue moved over your nipple, licking the nub before wrapping his lips around it. Moaning, your nails moved over his shoulders and he hummed, vibrations somehow moving through your whole body. 
His lips lazily moved over your skin to reach your other nipple, to give it the same attention as his hands moved down your torso. He pushed your overalls down and you helped him pull them off, but not wanting his mouth off of your skin. Your breathing picked up as his hand rubbed over your clothed slit and he bit down on your nipple slightly. All of this was just so stimulating, you couldn’t help but already feel something starting to bubble up in your stomach. 
“Jongho~” You moaned, nails digging into his shoulders again. He was loving the fact that he could draw these reactions from you. He pulled your underwear to the side, making you gasp as his index finger ran over your bare slit and gathered your arousal. “Let me know if you want me to stop.” He said again as he knew things were getting more intense. Jongho looked at you as you bit your bottom lip, him pushing his finger into you slowly. You mewled and shut your eyes, accepting the new feeling and loving it. His finger curled and he repeated his actions. You were so tight around him, making his mind wander to how you’d feel wrapped around him. 
His finger’s picked up with pace, curling his finger every now and then before adding another. It was a bit of a stretch but nothing uncomfortable, the opposite actually. You were a moaning mess, the coil in your stomach tightening rapidly with each thrust of his fingers. 
Your hand shot up, covering your mouth as a particularly loud moan left you, your other hand grabbing his hair. Jongho could tell you were incredibly close to cumming, walls tightening around his fingers and he watched your face. Your cheeks were flushed and your eyes were shut, but your hand was still covering your mouth.
“Let me hear you.” Jongho pleaded, lips moving by your ear as his pace picked up even more. “Cum for me, please.” He mumbled, kissing the skin softly as you tried shutting your legs instinctively. His hand prevented that and you pulled his lips onto yours as you released, back arching of the mattress. He kept pumping his fingers through your orgasm as you kissed him deeply and moaned against his lips. 
You whined, moving to push his hand away because the feeling was too much. “Too much.” You whimpered and Jongho pulled his hand away. “You did so good.” He mumbled into the skin of your neck only for it to be cut off with a moan. Your hand had found his bulge and you palmed it gently. It wasn’t fair that you were getting all the attention. Jongho burried his face in the crook of your neck, feeling your hand grip him through his jeans. 
A wave of nerves overtook you as you felt how big he was, but you weren’t backing down now. You wanted him. 
You undid his jean and he helped you pull them down, laughing slightly at the awkward movements. But it didn’t kill the mood at all, as a matter of fact the small giggles put you more at ease. As he stripped himself of his jeans and boxers, you pulled your own underwear off and threw it to the ground. 
Jongho sat on his knees inbetween your legs, cock standing against his lower stomach. He looked thick and you couldn’t help but feel the heat pool between your legs again. Before you did anything else you reached towards your nightstand and pulled open the drawer. You had a small box of condoms stored there for a rainy day and today it was pouring. 
He watched you, running his hands over your thighs as you went to pull a condom out. Something about the action was so innocent, especially when you handed it to him with wide eyes. Smiling, he grabbed and leaned forward to kiss your lips lightly. You watched him tear open the foil packet and roll it on, the action being very intriguing to watch. 
“You’re still okay with this right?” Jongho asked as one of his hands found your hip. “I am. I promise.” You said softly and found that for some reason you weren’t nervous anymore. You felt so cared for and comfortable, you didn’t have a reason too. 
Using his hand, he raised your hips and guided himself towards your slit. Running the tip over your slit and gathering some of your wetness before pressing into you. Jongho made sure to lean forward and hold you close as he looked for any signs of discomfort or pain. But it didn’t hurt, the stretch was a little uncomfortable but there wasn’t any pain. You wrapped your arms around his neck and pulled him closer.
“You okay?” He asked, kissing your lips gently before bottoming out completely. You let out a small gasp at the full feeling and your walls clenched in response. He felt so good. You nodded and looked up into his eyes, allowing your body to adjust to him. “Please move.” You whined slightly, any discomfort you had being completely gone and now just being very needy. You bucked your hips making Jongho chuckle before drawing his own hips back.
He started off slow, his hands moving down to hold your thighs and wrap your legs around his waist. Hips drawing out and in gently. The way your body was angled made him hit all the right spots and making the feeling even more intense than it was with his fingers. “Jongho, you feel so good.” You choked out as your fingers toyed with the hairs on the back of his neck. 
“No baby, you feel good. You look so good for me.” He commented into your neck before looking at your expression. Your cheeks were the pinkest he had ever seen and you’re lips were swollen, eyes hooded as you looked up at him with a moan leaving you as you did. 
“So beautiful.” He remarked, saying it more to himself than anyone else. His hips picked up the pace, causing your nails to dig into his shoulders and a small cry came from your mouth. You were so close again and Jongho could feel it. Your walls squeezed him tighter and tighter with each move of his hips and he couldn’t help but let out a groan at the feeling. His hand moved inbetween your legs and gently rubbed your clit, feeling that he was on the edge of cumming as well. 
“Come on, beautiful. Cum for me.” He mumbled, moaning through his own sentence as his hips stuttered and stilled completely. Your own orgasm following not far behind, making your legs tighten around his waist. A small cry left your mouth as you felt your legs shake slightly and Jongho rubbed them soothingly as he came down from his own high. 
He allowed himself to rest on top of you with a small laugh and you pet his hair, breathing heavily yourself. “Thank you for being so sweet to me.” You whispered softly, barely being audible. Jongho lifted his head to look at you, smiling before getting off of you and laying next to you. “Thank you for being you. It makes being sweet easy.” You couldn’t help but cover your face in embarrassment and he started laughing. “We just had sex but that embarrasses you? You’re a beautiful surprise everytime I’m with you.” Jongho chuckled and turned over onto his side to look at you. His fingers started tracing over the bare skin of your stomach and he just admired you. 
Jongho felt like he was head over heels for you and he had never felt that way for anyone before. 
You were watching his expression, taking note of how happy and giggly he was. His eyes were sparkling and that was something you never really noticed before. That was when an idea came to you. 
“Oh.” You said, sitting up suddenly and catching him off guard. “Oh? What’s wrong?” Jongho asked and followed your body as you quickly pulled on clothes. “Nothing’s wrong, I have an idea for the project.” You smiled at him and he shook his head in disbelief. Your mind was fascinating to him. 
You tugged on your painting shirt and placed yourself on the floor infront of the paint splattered canvas. In all honesty, you were done looking at the thing but you had to take inspiration when it came, even if it was an odd time.
Jongho moved to put his jeans back on, not feeling the need for his shirt just yet as he sat behind you on the ground. He pressed his chest to your back and watched you grab a white chalk pencil. “Why a white pencil?” He asked, genuinely curious as to what you were doing. “Because white shows up better on the colors of background than a regular pencil would.” You explained and leaned back into his bare chest. 
“Oh.” His voice was soft as he spoke by your ear, sending goosebumps over your body. You giggled slightly and just started sketching, glancing back at him to get a general idea of his eyes and their shape. “What’s your idea beautiful?” He asked and you smiled. “I’m going to paint you. Well, just your eyes. Because I can and you opened my eyes to trying new things.” You explained and started mapping out his features. Jongho fell quiet at your explanation pressed his lips to your shoulder, just feeling greatfull.
Week 4
Walking into the cafeteria, you stretched out your back and adjusted your bag. Painting was doing a number on your posture but you loved how it was starting to look and so was Jongho. He knew he didn’t do much when it came to the project itself but he still felt proud, of you and of the work he had done. 
You spotted Jongho at his table with the other’s and smiled. You hadn’t seen him since that Saturday and were wondering if things were going to be awkward, they weren’t over text. But in real life things could be different. 
He obviously hadn’t told any of the others about that Saturdays’ actual events, it was too private and too sacred to him for that. Eventhough he hadn’t seen you since that day, you were the only thing running through his mind. At wrestling practice, in class, at work and at home. His head was in the clouds and he absolutely never wanted to come down. 
Catching a glimpse of you, he couldn’t help but wave you over. When you saw him standing, smiling and waving to you from his table you realised you were worried about nothing. 
“Hey beautiful.” Jongho said, earning a deep blush from you and surprised looks from the others. “That’s new.” San commented and Jongho smacked him on the shoulder, before grabbing your hand. He sat back down and pulled you down with him so that you were sat on his knee. It was intimate and it garnered looks from people who didn’t know what was going on between you two, but you really couldn’t care. You were although embarrassed, incredibly happy. 
“Project needs to be turned in a week. Think we’ll finish it on time?” Jongho asked softly and you nodded your head. “I think so. I have to present it too. But you have wrestling practice, so you focus on that. I can handle the rest of the project.” You assured, allowing your hand to come up to his cheek. Jongho could feel his ears turning pink at the sudden affection, not used to you being the one to make the first move. 
Your thumb stroked his cheek gently and you quickly pecked his lips. You were feeling brave. “What was that?” He asked while giggling and you shrugged. 
“Just another new thing I’m trying out.” 
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A/N: This took too long to write and it is all over the place. This is also the biggest story I have ever written so if you actually take the time to read this... I’m sorry? 
Sorry it took so long as well. A lot of stuff has been going on in my brain lately. Anyways, feedback is kindly appreciated and encouraged. 
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