#wearing your colour and then surprising your lover with theirs

[homochihuahua]

Dick going to meet Jason and he decides to Snap and upload a pic

*pic of Dick standing over the bathroom mirror, wearing an oversized blue hoodie. Holding his phone with one hand he takes a bunch.*

The pic caption reads "going to meet up with Daddy. What he sees"

Then swiping to the next pic with Dick pulling his hoodie up with the hand not holding the phone, revealing a full set of red lingerie "VS what he's getting later ;)"

[prettyoatmeal]

hiiiii! i have a request for bimbo reader x simon?? (totally feel free to ignore this if ur not comfortable) like the 141 guys go out to a bar and simon's a lil tipsy so he calls his gf to pick him up? (ofc the guys dont know he has a gf) and she's like the exact opposite of simon 😀 and maybe she's not the sharpest tool in the shed ((:

love! - 🦷anon

Warning!! Fem reader, she/her pronouns used A/N: Anon i love you for requesting this. Bimbo reader owns my heart. I wrote this super quickly so please bear w me. Masterlist here!

It wasn't uncommon for Simon to be dragged along to the pubs with his mates. Have a few drinks alongside maybe a nice schnitzel or pie, just the usual normally. Though, not for Simon these days, knowing full well your cooking will bring him more satisfaction than the bistro's kitchen ever could.

After so long of service, all he wanted was to collapse on top of you and hear you squeal. He wanted was to hear you giggle that he's too heavy and 'Simon, get off! You're squishing me!' then eventually fall asleep to you cradling his head to your chest.

When the group begged him to come along, for 'old times sake' as if they don't go every time they're back from deployment, he reluctantly agreed even if he desperately wanted to get back to his girl. Though he couldn't deny the lingering feeling of being a little more homesick than usual.

They didn't know of course, but that wasn't to any fault of theirs. It wasn't a secret, nor public information. You just hadn't come up in conversation yet, and he wasn't one to spill his life anyway.

It was a miracle you two had clicked so easily, Simon always thinking he'd prefer a more reserved lover than you were. But he was enamoured with you, your bubbliness complimenting his silence.

He loved that you found so much happiness in your lifestyle, happiness in your appearance, wearing pink and short skirts and your wrists jingling with each step from all your bracelets and bangles. You were a stark contrast to his dull appearance, instantly brightening him up whenever you stood by his side. You didn't mind though, you were happy to be the one wearing bright colours for the both of you.

And when you, out of all people his team figured Simon's love interest could've been, they were surprised.

He found himself a little too tipsy, a little too dizzy to walk himself home, he was a little nervous to call you. Not because he was ashamed or anything, but just that he knew that he'd never hear the end of Johnny and Kyle's endless playful teasing.

With an old fashioned in his right hand and his cell in the left, he almost didn't want to put down the phone, struggling to not melt in his seat from the sound of your sweet voice talking to him over the phone.

While the boys were chatting loudly about how good the food is tonight, you were all he wanted. He couldn't help it when he was so used to you talking him to sleep about your day, the new shoes or purse you bought, what you ate for lunch.

Hearing you say "I'll see you in a bit, Si. Love you!" was only making him get more and more butterflies in his stomach by the second.

Walking into the pub, you stuck out immediately to the mostly male attendees. With your usual short dress that hugged your curves perfectly, a fluffy jacket and knee-high boots to match (which you obviously took off and put on again so you could properly press the pedals). You needed keep yourself warm SOMEHOW.

Looking around to spot Simon, he couldn't be happier once making eye contact with you. So when you walked up to him, Gaz, Price and Soap all exchanging looks, thinking you were perhaps lost. That was until their eyes darted to Simon as he stood up from his stool.

"Ride's here. Gotta go, lads."

"Did you say goodbye to your friends?" You asked him in a small voice, giving them a little wave and smile as your first introduction to them. And as he stood up, you wrapped your arm around his waist. Course, you wouldn't have really been able to keep him upright if your life depended on it, but it was the thought that counts.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Soap pipes up, a shit eating grin on Gaz's face as he spoke, Price more sceptical with an eyebrow raised, "who's this bonnie lass here?"

"My girl." His response was short and simple, "pretty one, isn' she?"

More and more questions come flooding from them. How long have you two been together, how come he's never talked about you before, how on earth did you two meet? Their curiosity had been peaked.

You happily answered their questions, obviously loving the attention they were giving you, though not without a few confirming looks from Simon, careful to not share anything he wasn't comfortable with. As you chatted with his teammates, his friends, the nerves he felt at the beginning had faded away into nothingness.

They loved you right off the bat, finding your outgoing and cheerful attitude endearing. Giving his friend a few cheers and comments, it was almost time to leave.

"Don't know how you scored such a beaut, sir."

"Aye, dinnae think you were the type."

"Take care of her, Simon." Price gave him a proud look that he could easily recognise even through his drunken state.

They were all proud of him, wide smiles on their faces, as they watched your smaller figure getting into the drivers seat of the massive land cruiser you two shared... and maybe a few laughs and snickers as you somehow managed to bump your head on the side while getting in, realising you weren't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.

After making sure you were alright, his stomach settled. He was finally home with you, a warm feeling filling him.

[missingartist]

May I put in a request for a moon knight where the reader is a rival moon/night/something like that, from idk what pantheon, that is rencarnated and finds out that Marc and Steven are the avatar of Khonshu (enemy to lovers/friends idk)?

I researched into this the Goddess recently and fell in love- hope its okay, just a silly little idea I have had in my head lately.

Inanna[a] is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess associated with love, beauty, sex, war, justice, and political power. She was originally worshiped in Sumer under the name "Inanna", and later by the Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians under the name "Ishtar".[b] She was known as the "Queen of Heaven" and was the patron goddess of the Eanna temple at the city of Uruk, which was her main cult center. She was associated with the planet Venus and her most prominent symbols included the lion and the eight-pointed star.

Ishtar and the Moon Knight Part One

Possible to a part two if people are interested ❤️

Blood poured from the wound on Marc's side, his almost neon white ceremonial suit now stained a pink from the gash across his side. The last lance through him had proven more damaging than he anticipated, ripping his suit almost in half, which meant that healing was somewhat problematic. He had no idea how the sceptre of Ra had been allowed to be stolen, and why it was up to him to retrieve it was anyone's guess.

‘Fuck, we are gonna die wearing a Halloween costume.’ Panic rattled through Steven’s voice as  Marc slid down the wall while trying to apply pressure to the gaping wound.

‘We are not going to die, Steven. Just let me think….’ Marc winched as he poured through the first aid box, straining to stand upright. ‘Khonsu…a little help.’

‘The suit is so badly damaged it cannot heal you.’ The stoic voice called out from the corner of the room, hunched over to fit under the low ceiling.

‘Oh bloody hell…we need to call an ambulance.’ Steve stuttered, pacing in the reflection of the tv, glancing as his body drained of colour.

‘No ambulance, the gang…will be…’ sagged against the table, slumped in a semi-conscious puddle on the floor. ‘Khonsu…’

‘There maybe someone who can help….if they listen.’ And with that, the god disappeared in a swirl o dust and sand.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

You peered down at the crumpled body as the skin slowly knitted together with only a passing grunt of pain.

‘I thank you, Ishtar; Ra will be pleased to recover his property.’ Khonsu's loud booming voice carried over the large room.

‘Theirs the same Khonsu, I remembered. Uncaring and unfeeling, I’m surprised you cared enough to repair this one, not just move on to the next.’ You spat, pulling the covers over the man.

‘I am surprised that you even remember my dear little Ishtar; it was so many reincarnations ago.’ Khonsu mocked.

‘I haven’t been your dear little Ishtar in almost 2000 years; there is nothing but me here’, You spat towards the grim-looking beast in front of you.

‘You’re rather a pale imitation.’ Khonsu snapped, disappearing before her eyes.

‘Oh, no wonder she hated you, you big beaked creep. Disappearing and leaving me with a broken avatar.’

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It took three days for Steven/Marc to wake up, three days of Khonsu haunting you like some evil Casper. Which at least meant you had a chance to do a little research. Hathor’s avatar was particularly helpful. Your contact with the American government meant that you had a very unflattering picture of Ishtar’s former lover interested; it made you more thankful you could remember some grizzly details.

Steven found himself in the battered body on a soft, crisp bed when they woke again. Instead of the fermented white paint and mouldy curtains of his dirty motel room, he was greeted by a rather opulent bedroom of soft pastels and billowing material that danced in the pleasant breeze.

‘Careful worm, you are among friends, for now…. Mind your tongue with Ishtar.’ Khonsu appeared crouching at the foot of the bed, settling himself up comfortable against the cushions. ‘Ra is waiting for his sceptre; we must meet him at the pyramid…give Marc back the body. We have no time to….’

You rolled your eyes as you slid into the room, perching yourself on the slide of his bed. He looked better; the colour had returned to his bronzed skin, and the skin had neatly forged back together, leaving only a soft silver scar. Some of your best work, not bad for a former goddess of war.

‘Oh, you’re awake, and you’re here. Hello Marc, or is it Steven?’ you smiled, brushing his curls from his eyes.

‘Wait, you can see him?’ Steven grunted as he sat up too quickly.

‘Of course, I can, and your little alter too, hello sexy.’ You grinned, waving into the reflection in the mirror. You didn’t know who was more handsome, the puppy dog eyes of Steve or the smouldering eyes of Marc.

‘Careful of this one…she is dangerous. Not to be trusted.’ The god hissed.

‘But when you and your avatar are in trouble, I am a trusted ally. Oh, shut up; I allow you to come into this temple as a sanctuary.’ You snapped as, almost on cue, a scanty clade woman dragged another two men along the corridor as the sounds of ecstasy vibrated through the walls.

‘You call this flesh pot a temple. This is a den of sin.’ The prime crisp words cut through the air.

‘Am I in a brothel.? Oh, my days, I’m in a brothel. Marc, I am in a brothel; get me out of here.’ The shrill British accent cried across the air as you glared at the creature looming over you.

‘Calm down. Just like my Greek counterpart, Ishtar was the patron goddess of prostitutes. It’s a perfect place to hide. Plus, it’s not a brothel. It's more of a …. Have you seen Love Island? It is more of a free for all.’ You glared across at the god, soothing your hands over the mans twitching shoulders.

‘Marc controls the worm.’ The spirit roared, slamming his rod on the floor.

‘That’s it; you need to go.’ You snapped with a wave of your hand; the figure departed with an angst scream.

‘That is so much better. No wonder Ishtar hated him, such an arrogant arse.’ You growled.

‘Is he like dead?’Steve Panicked voice caught your attention; he looked so adorable in his frantic state, a wild mass of curls and shape cheekbones  

‘No, I don’t have that power anymore. I am more of an echo. But that doesn’t matter really, not right now. I have a proposition. How would you like to get one over on Big Bird?’ You purred with a devilish smirk

[5thmarauderwrites]

The Thin Line Between Loathe and Desire — James Potter x Reader [Part I] | Request.

Requests are: OPEN.

Requested by Anonymous: “Could you do a James x gryffindor reader where they have a sort of rivalry because she keeps going around to ruin the marauders pranks since she doesn’t believe in Slytherins being ‘evil’. 💖💖 “.

Pairing: James Potter x Fem!Gryffindor Reader.

Word Count: 4,9K

Warnings: Just cursing.

A/N: i LOVE a good enemies to lovers trope and i REALLY got carried away with this request lol i’m still finishing up the next part but since it took me a while to write this and the nonnie who requested it is basically waiting forever now, i decided to release the first part nonethless. hope you all enjoy it! :)

A delicious and inviting smell of food was coming from the Great Hall as the four Marauders crossed the main hallway of the castle in the direction of the door on the right side of the Entrance Hall, which guarded the stone steps that descended deep into the dungeons, where their destination, the Slytherin Dungeon, laid. The sun had already set and the thousands of corridors that made up the imposing fortress of Hogwarts were now empty and silent as the students lodged inside their own Common Rooms, resting from the exhausting day of classes and not so patiently waiting for the last and welcomed meal before they could tug themselves into their comfortable beds.

“The feast is starting soon,” Remus nagged as the boys tiptoed their way down the stone steps, feeling the air get a little chillier the deeper they went. As much as Remus loved his friends and not-so-secretly enjoyed playing harmless pranks in the other students, he couldn’t deny that James was taking things way too far this time.

“Yes, Moony, that’s exactly why we’re heading down into their nest right now!” The boy with untidy black hair that stuck up at the back retorted with an extremely pleased smile. “We’ll caught the snakes off guard by surprising them whilst they’re leaving their hole and L/N won’t be there to ruin our prank this time.”

“And here we go! Took you long enough to bring the name of your lover into our conversation Prongs,” Sirius teased with a lopsided grin as he eyed the darkness ahead of them. Remus and Peter both barked a laugh at Sirius’ words.

“Sod off, would ya Pads?” James growled, narrowing his eyes as he glared in Sirius’ direction. “It’s not my bloody fault that this – this – annoying, pretentious human being keeps ruining our fun repeatedly!”

“Oh mate, she doesn’t ruin my fun, quite the opposite actually,” Sirius grinned as he winged a brow at his best friend. “It’s extremely amusing to watch you two together.”

“I’ll have to agree with Padfoot,” Remus said as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his trousers and shrugged lightly, a playful smile playing across his lips.

James pursed his lips and chose to ignore his best friends as the boys arrived at the end of the long staircase, facing a vast and gloomy stone corridor hedged with detailed stoned pillars and armours ahead of them. He despised Y/N L/N with all the strength he could muster, ever since she ruined what was supposed to be the Marauders’ most epic prank on their first year at Hogwarts. Just the mere thought of the y/h/c girl made his blood boil inside his veins and his heart pick up its beating pace. How could a smart, daring and sassy Gryffindor like herself stand up for Slytherins with such enthusiasm to the point of fighting with her own housemates? James could never understand how Y/N could possibly reckon that “not all Slytherins are evil” when the majority of you-know-who’s followers emerged – and keep emerging – from this very house. The boy had spent countless nights thinking about it, but that was something he would never admit aloud.

“Mate, are you listening?” Sirius’ hand rested on James’ shoulder as the latter blinked repeatedly, trying to focus on his surroundings as he was slowly snapping out of his thoughts.

“Yeah,” James mumbled, realising they were now standing in front of the blank stone wall that led to the Slytherin Common Room. “Where’s the bucket? Wormy, do you have it?” He asked with a firmly and more confident tone of voice.

“I do, Prongs!” Peter smirked mischievously whilst lifting a bucket filled with a silver, enchanted paint that shone alluringly despite of the dim light.

James and Sirius’ features lightened up at the sight, a feeling of pure excitement washing over their bodies as their minds anticipated in a very vivid picture what was about to come. Remus, however, wasn’t as nearly as pleased and happy as his friends; his face held a deep frown and the disapproval was crystal clear in his eyes as he shook his head negatively, severely glaring at his three best friends.

“Do you really think this is necessary?” The brown-haired boy asked, trying to dissolve the boys from their terrible idea one last time.

“Seriously, Moony? This is our best prank yet, we’re making history here!” Sirius exclaimed with a scolding tone, bouncing his hands in the air.

“History?” Remus asked incredulously, winging his eyebrows whilst his eyes widened. “How is writing ‘Death Eater Wannabe’ in people’s foreheads history?”

“We won’t be writing it Moony, we’ll be painting it,” Peter mockingly corrected him, a lopsided grin on his lips.

“Indeed, Wormy!” James wrapped Peter’s shoulders with his arm. “Besides, their faces will be painted with the Gryffindor colours first; the phrase that shows their true selves will only appear if they try to wash the scarlet and gold away.” He shrugged, a proud grin on.

“Sure, because a Slytherin would definitely wear their rival house colours with pride,” Remus scoffed, rolling his eyes. “It’s only obvious that they’ll try and wash it immediately!”

“Now that is not our fault, is it?” Sirius barked a laugh, earning a glare from Remus. “Lighten up a bit, would ya Moony? The paint will only last three days, the snakes will be fine.”

“Pad’s right! It’s just a fun, harmless prank; you don’t have to go full L/N on us, alright?” James grinned as he pushed his glasses higher up the bridge of his nose, shrugging lightly in the process.

“Mate, that’s the second time you talk about her in less than ten minutes, are you really sure you loathe the girl at all?” Sirius teased, squeezing James’ shoulder playfully and wiggling his brows.

“Fuck off, Padfoot!” James hissed as he shoved Sirius’ hand off his shoulder. “Let’s put our plan in motion.”

Sirius nodded, a glint of teasing still in his eyes as he stared at James with a playful defiance. After a while, he turned his attention to Peter. “Did you manage to squeeze their password from that twat Slytherin that was in detention with you yesterday?”

“I did!” Peter answered proudly and gave the raven-haired boy a small nod, clearly satisfied with himself. “I just had to brag about Gryffindor having the most creative and unobvious passwords and he quickly told me theirs and rambled about Slytherin’s cunningness.”

“Wicked, Wormy!” James bumped his fist against Peter’s shoulder in a congratulatory way, a wide smile on his face. “Very good! I think you should do the honours.” He added, winking mischievously and pointing to the stone bricks in front of them.

Peter grinned and straightened his robes as he solemnly stood in front of the wall, clearing his throat in the process. “Pure-blood” He said and a stone door concealed in the wall slid open, revealing a long passage that led to the Slytherin Common Room.

The boys hurried to carefully shut the door close before any Slytherin student could notice them lurking. From the quick glance they took around before that, they felt the room held quite a cold atmosphere, with all the flickering green lights coming from the greenish lamps that hung on chains.

“That’s quite a scary place,” Peter said weakly as a terrified frown took over his features. He was clutched at the back of Sirius’ robes.

“That’s just a Common Room, Wormtail,” Sirius said, shaking his robes so the boy would let go of it.

“A Death Eaters’ Common Room,” James shrugged, scrunching his face.

“Godric, you three are unbelievable,” Remus shook his head as he lowered it down a bit, massaging the bridge of his nose with his fingers and closing his eyes for a slight moment.

Smirking, James flickered his wand at the bucket filled with enchanted paint that Peter had put down on the floor. “Wingardium Leviosa!” The bucket flew graciously above their heads and stopped itself carefully right upon the Slytherin Common Room door. James’ devilish grin grew wider as he eyed his doing proudly.

“Come on! Let’s hide behind that pillar,” the Gryffindor Quidditch captain nodded to a carved stone pillar on their left that provided a wide viewing from the entrance of the Slytherin Common Room.

The other three Marauders signalled their agreement by nodding at him and quickly ran into hiding. James soon followed them, his wand still carefully pointed to the paint bucket. The boys – except from Remus – leaned forward expectantly, eagerly watching the door and waiting for their first victim to cross the portal.

“And,” Sirius sang, glancing at his watch whilst bouncing on his toes. “Any minute now.”

When the door swung open and the four boys eyed the little Slytherin crowd ready to make their way out, James promptly straightened himself up, waiting for them to cross the doorstep before he could turn the bucket upside-down and, therefore, maximize the casualties. At the perfect moment, the boy with hazel eyes and unruly black hair lowered his wand as quickly as he could; ready to watch the Slytherins being bathed in the magical paint. That, however, didn’t happen. The bucket stood still, floating above the door as the students passed by below it, marching in the direction of the Great Hall.

“What’s going on? Why isn’t the bucket moving?” Sirius frowned.

“I don’t know!” James answered exasperatedly, wielding his wand to the bucket and mumbling each and every spell he could possibly think of, but nothing seemed to work.

Remus did his best to suppress a laughter as James, Sirius and Peter hopelessly watched the last Slytherin student crossing the portal, closing the door behind him and waiting until it disappeared into the wall to walk away. Like the others that passed through the doorstep before him, he didn’t seem to have noticed the suspicious bucket that floated above his head.

“What the bloody hell happened?” James asked incredulously at no one in particular, coming off from behind the pillar and stopping underneath the bucket, angrily glancing at it.

Before anyone could say anything, a wicked cackle echoed through the now empty dungeon corridor and the bucket turned upside down, spilling its entire content on James, who unsuccessfully tried to shield himself with his arms.

A loud, amused laughter grabbed the attention of the Marauders as Y/N L/N emerged from behind an armour. “Nice job Peeves!” The girl exclaimed at the school poltergeist, her arms crossed across her chest whilst she leaned against the wall.

“Always a pleasure to ruin Potter’s day, L/N!” Peeves bowed theatrically, his wicked, dark eyes twinkling and his wide mouth curling up into an evil smirk.

The initial shock wearing off, Sirius barked a laugh as the poltergeist flew off the dungeons and sang cursing verses to James in the process. James glared at the raven-haired boy before turning his attention to Y/N, his fists clenched and his body – covered in the glowy enchanted paint that was slowly turning scarlet and gold – trembling with anger.

“You!” James hissed, narrowing his eyes at the y/h/c girl as he slowly started to walk in her direction.

“Me!” She teased with a grin, tilting her head back in a defiant gesture and winging her eyebrows.

“What in the bloody hell are you doing here, L/N?” He spat, getting closer to her.

“What do you think? Stopping another one of your stupid, reckless actions,” the girl retorted, pursing her lips and clenching her fists as she met James halfway.

The two stared intensely and angrily into the other’s eyes, noses and bodies almost touching as their features and shoulders tensed up with the proximity. Their fists tightened their grips as Y/N’s perfume invaded James’ nostrils and the smell of his shampoo and shaving lotion flooded her sense of smell. James could feel her hot breath dancing across the skin of his face, making it tingle and flooding him with its warmth as he did his best not to break eye contact and, therefore, lose their little battle for dominance.

“Oh, the sexual tension!” Sirius exclaimed after a while of steamy silence and James and Y/N could hear the satisfied grin in his voice. “That’s hot!”

“Sod off, Black!” The girl hit back in an outraged tone, still not backing away from James and his intense stare.

“Excuse you? Now you’ve wounded me!” The boy answered, theatrically leading his hand to his heart.

Y/N and James ignored Sirius as they seemed to be lost in each other, fuming with what they’d describe as mutually rooted, profound loathing.

“How did you know about this?” The hazel-eyed boy asked, breathing heavily. James could feel the air becoming heavier and harder to be inhaled.

“How could I not? Your big ego and self-gloating aren’t exactly discreet, you arrogant twat,” Y/N frowned deeply.

“I am an arrogant twat? I?” He cried out, getting closer to Y/N, his nose brushing against hers.

The girl jumped slightly with his sudden move but quickly recomposed herself, making sure he wouldn’t notice it. “Well, obviously.”

“I’m not the one walking around thinking that I’m so much better than everyone else, sweetheart,” he spat in response.

“Do I think I’m better than everyone else? No. Do I think I’m better than you? Definitely,” the Gryffindor girl took another step toward him, and now not only their noses were brushing against the other, but their bodies were almost glued together. James felt a tingling sensation on the back of his neck.

“Are you two going to kiss?” Peter asked confusedly, blinking repeatedly as he looked back and forth between Y/N and James.

“NO!” The two rivals groaned in unison, turning their heads in Peter’s direction at the same time and unwillingly backing away from each other.

“It definitely seemed like you would though,” Remus smirked, amused, as he tilted his head.

“Oh, fuck you, Remus John! I’m way out of this daft dimbo’s league,” Y/N rolled her eyes at her sandy-haired friend.

“I’m the one way out of your league, L/N!” James frowned, poking his tongue slightly into his cheek, clearly offended.

Y/N glared at James from head to toe with complete disdain. “I suggest you go clean yourself up, Potter. Or maybe not, if you don’t want to have Death Eater Wannabe written on your forehead,” the girl laughed before turning on her heels and walk up the corridor in the direction of the staircase, leaving a huffing James behind.

“That girl is a fucking genius,” Sirius said nonchalantly as he eyed the y/h/c Gryffindor climbing up the steps.

“Genius? She’s a nosy know-it-all who thinks she’s above everyone else!” James spat in response.

“Oh come on, Prongs! Even you have to admit that your girlfriend was bloody brilliant using Peeves to prank you with your own prank,” he grinned lopsidedly.

James in fact agreed with Sirius, but he would never admit that. “She’s not my fucking girlfriend, would you stop with that?” he gritted, clenching his jaw.

 /////////////////////////////////

 James massaged his forehead with one of his hands, rubbing the place where the phrase Peeves Rocks was written in shimmery gold, mentally thanking the damn poltergeist for having changed his original spell a bit, as he laid in his bed. He much rather having this written down than Death Eater Wannabe, that was for sure. Actually, he preferred to have succeeded with his plan and having his forehead clean and normal, but thanks to L/N that wasn’t possible. Once again, strong emotions took him by assault as the girl crossed his mind for the hundredth time in the past hour.

“I can’t believe her, seriously. Did you see the satisfied smirk she had on her face when Peeves dropped the paint on me? She’s so bloody infuriating!” James frowned, steading himself on his elbows so he could glance at his friends, who had been chatting about something he wasn’t paying attention to.

The boys rolled their eyes, immediately knowing that that would be a very long rant. “And here we go again,” Remus groaned, covering his face with his pillow.

“Who does she think she is? She’s no queen of the enchanted land of Hogwarts,” James pursed his lips as he went on.

“Bloody hell Prongs, just ask the girl out so you can both relieve that sexual tension that has been tormenting you two for years now and move the fuck on,” Sirius grinned, as amusedly as he always did when teasing his friend about the topic in discussion.

James aimed for Sirius’ face and threw his pillow with all the strength he could muster, but the grey-eyed Black boy dodged it easily. “Fuck you.”

Sirius barked a laugh and soon, Remus and Peter joined him, all of them teasing their hazel-eyed friend. James flashed his middle finger at the three boys, an annoyed frown on his face.

“She’s extremely nice, you know,” Remus said nonchalantly as he crossed his arms behind his head. “And quite similar to you.”

“Not to mention she’s bloody hot,” Sirius shrugged, winging his brows.

“Why don’t you date her then?” James asked grumpily.

“Oh I’ve tried mate, but sadly, that girl never fell for my charm,” Sirius answered thoughtfully. “Besides, I would never go for my brother’s girl.” He added with an innocent smile and a wink as he climbed off his bed and hurried to the bathroom door.

James quickly followed his steps but Sirius was faster, getting inside the bathroom and locking its door before the hazel-eyed boy could catch him.

“I swear to Godric that the next time you imply I’m interested in her in the slightest I’ll bloody hex you, Padfoot!” James shouted, smashing one of his hands rather strongly against the wooden door.

“Well, truth hurts, doesn’t it Prongs?” Sirius’ muffled voice teased him from behind the door.

“Padfoot, I’m warning you…” James bumped the door once again amidst the loud sound of laughter coming not only from Sirius but from Remus and Peter as well.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You’re late, Mr Potter!” Flitwick scolded a breathlessly James as the boy opened the door of the Charms classroom after clearly running through the hallways trying to make it to class in time.

“Sorry, Professor,” the boy answered, glancing around and noticing that the only available seat was next do Y/N L/N. He immediately rolled his eyes.

“Come along,” Flitwick motioned for James to come in. “We're experimenting with Nonverbal Spells today, we've already divided into pairs – you can sit next to Miss L/N and work with her.”

Knowing it was pointless to argue with the Professor, James nodded and dragged himself with a shuffling gait to the table he was assigned to, not bothering to hide his unpleasantness.

“Hi, Potter!” The girl teased, a wry smile on her lips, as James seated next to her. “Glad to see you’re feeling well! Heard you got a nasty food poisoning that took you off classes for the past three days.”

James’ face was immediately taken over by a profoundly annoyed frown, Y/N knew very well that she was the reason he had been unable to attend classes. “The only poisoning thing in this castle is you, darling.”

Y/N laughed and faked a pout at him before turning her attention back to Flitwick, who was explaining how the pairing would work in this specific lesson.

“For today’s lesson we’ll be using the Mending Charm!” Flitwick exclaimed excitedly. “This charm, as you know, repairs broken objects. You have a shrunken desk in front of you with four broken legs. Each one of you will be responsible to mend two of them and you’ll compete against your own pair. Let’s begin!”

The class hurriedly started to work on their legs, everyone eager to be the first to succeed. Y/N straightened herself in her seat and graciously grabbed her wand from the table.

“This is going to be a piece of cake!” She said cheerfully, purposefully wanting to annoy James.

“You think you can beat me, L/N?” The boy quirked a brow.

“I don’t think I can, I know so,” Y/N gave him a skewed smile.

James huffed in response whilst rolling his eyes. There was no way he was going to let her win.

Non-verbal spells were very difficult and required a good deal of practice, concentration and mental discipline, which made performing them successfully particularly even more difficult for teenagers. The entire class was noticeably having a hard time; even Lily Evans, who were one of the brightest students from their year, was looking like she was constipated due to the amount of effort she was putting into her attempts.

“You alright there, Potter?” Y/N asked sarcastically when she noticed a swelled vein popping on his forehead as he tried for the umpteenth time to repair the legs of the shrunken desk.

“Would you mind your own business? At least I’m trying to do something here, unlike you,” James hissed in response. “Have you given up already?”

Y/N just smiled wryly at him and turned her head to the little desk, flickering her wand. The two broken legs on her end clicked together and half of the desk was standing again, two of its legs perfectly fine.

“Look, everyone! Miss L/N successfully performed the first non-verbal spell in the class! Well done, Y/N!” Flitwick clapped his little hands excitedly.

“You were saying?” Y/N teased James with a triumphant look on her face.

“You obviously cheated!” The hazel-eyed boy spat in annoyance.

“Excuse you? It’s called talent; I don’t need to cheat to beat you!” She retorted, offended.

“Yeah, right! You used some non-verbal spell that we weren’t supposed to just so mine wouldn’t work, admit it!”

“Oh, sod off Potter! Stop being a sore loser!”

“Here we go again,” Marlene McKinnon sighed from her seat, rolling her eyes like the rest of the students.

Y/N and James engaged on a fiery argument for the short rest of the class, much to the amusement of Sirius and to the dismay of Flitwick and the majority of their classmates. The two Gryffindors seemingly missed the ring of the bell that announced the end of the class and also the students leaving the classroom one by one, as once again they were too wrapped on each other to be aware of their surroundings.

“Should we tell them the class is over?” Peter asked Flitwick unsurely, as they eyed Y/N and James from the Professor’s desk, Sirius and Remus with them.

Flitwick sighed, shaking his head in defeat. “No, let them be,” he answered, starting to walk away from the classroom and motioning for the boys to follow him.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The full moon wasn’t gentle in the slightest with Remus. He had a particularly rougher time last night and his whole body ached with deep, fresh scars. Clotted blood covered the scratches and cuts as he laid on a bed in the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey had cleaned his scars and applied a potion to help with the pain and the healing process but the boy was still suffering nonetheless.

“How is he?” Y/N stormed in, asking no one in particular as she clutched into a piece of the bed curtains, frowning worriedly.

“Hey, Y/N/N. I’m ok,” Remus answered weakly with a smile on his face, trying to sit up.

“No, no, no! Stay still!” The Gryffindor girl hurried to stop him. “Godric, I was so worried! I was waiting for Sirius’ note to know if you were okay but it never came.”

“Sorry about that, he had a rough night and we couldn’t leave his side. This full moon was particularly hard on him,” Sirius apologized, rubbing her back gently as he tried to comfort her.

“Wait, does she know about Moony’s condition?” James scrunched his nose incredulously.

“Of course I do, you twat. He’s one of my closest friends,” Y/N glared at James with despise.

“Please, would you two behave yourselves and try not to fight this time? Your arguments are more painful than all of these scars combined,” Remus joked, groaning in pain as he tried to switch his position.

“Oh, come on, Moony! They’re quite fun to watch,” Sirius grinned lopsidedly, offering his hand to Remus so he could help him.

“I do agree myself,” Peter laughed, mockingly shrugging his shoulders and pouting.

Y/N rolled her eyes and waited until the boys were chatting distractedly before walking over to James, who stood a little further to them. She had a thoughtful expression and her brows were furrowed as she approached him, fiddling with her fingers furiously. James had been studying her every move curiously and noticed Y/N was uncommonly anxious, finding it strange that the overly confident girl was displaying such an unusual behaviour. The boy with unruly black hair widened his hazel eyes in shock when she suddenly leaned in the direction of his face, his figure becoming painfully aware of their proximity. An involuntary electrical current awakened his now tensed body whilst a lump started to take form in his throat, but James brushed the odd feeling with a quick shake of his head.

“What? I’m not going to bite you,” she grimaced impatiently at the flustered boy.

“Well, you leaned in out of the blue, I’m sorry if I was surprised!” He retorted with embarrassment, rubbing the back of his neck and hoping that the heat he felt on his cheeks didn’t mean he was blushing.

Y/N furrowed her brows at his response, but her features slowly relaxed and a playful smile took over her lips as his words sank in. “James Potter, did you think I was going to kiss you?” She quirked her brows amusedly as she teased him, crossing her arms across her chest. “Not even in your wildest dreams, sweetheart.”

“As if I would ever dream about you,” he huffed, rolling his eyes. “What do you want?” He asked in a cold and harsh tone of voice.

“We need to talk,” she said, once again looking anxious. Y/N grabbed his arm and dragged him to a distant bed, closing the curtains that surrounded it and turning around to face a very confused James.

“Have you ever heard of the Wolfsbane Potion?” Y/N almost spat the words as she fiddled with her fingers, gazing at the floor.

“Wolf what?” James frowned in confusion, tilting his head a little.

“Why doesn’t it surprise me?” Y/N rolled her eyes, the confidence seemingly returning to her snarky self. “The Wolfsbane Potion, it’s a relatively newly formulated potion that relieves, but does not cure, the symptoms of lycanthropy.” She explained, this time staring into James’ eyes.

“Meaning?” James shrugged crankily, crossing his arms across his chest. He had no idea what she meant discussing potions with him after a long and tiring full moon. Maybe this was a prank of some sort?

“Godric, are you really that daft?” She grimaced incredulously. “Meaning that the transformation wouldn’t be as nearly as painful for Remus as it currently is. This potion will allow him to hold on to his mental faculties after becoming Moony.”

“Hold on, are you telling me that Moony would be a werewolf but still think and behave like himself? That would be awesome! I didn’t know that it was possible!” James’ features lightened up. “He would finally stop beating himself up for things he can’t control.”

“Exactly!” She smirked, nodding excitedly. “He deserves that more than anyone I could ever think of.”

“For once I agree with you, L/N,” James winged his eyebrows, a lopsided grin on. “How do we brew this?”

“I’m sorry, we?” Y/N frowned, the smile slowly fading from her lips. “This potion could be extremely dangerous if incorrectly concocted so, I’m sorry, but your average Potions skills aren’t fit for this task.”

“Average?” The boy huffed, displeased. “And I suppose yours are?” He asked with despise.

“Precisely,” Y/N shrugged, the ends of her lips curling up in a wry smile. “I received an Exceeds Expectations in my O.W.L.s.”

“Oh, yeah, because you’re so much better than the rest of us plain mortals,” James sneered in a mean tone of voice, his face completely disgusted. “Tell me, is this potion even real or did you just thought it would be fun to prank me by using one of the people I care about the most to humiliate me?”

Y/N frowned in shock as her mouth fell open and James felt bad almost immediately, noticing the hurt clear in her y/e/c eyes. “Do you think I’d ever toy with Remus’ life like that? He is my best friend too you egocentric – arrogant twat!” She spat, pursing her lips and clenching her fists with a slow, disbelieving head shake.

“Look, I‘m- I’m sorry ok? I know you wouldn’t,” he heaved a sigh, massaging his forehead as he let his head fall into his hand. “How can I help?” He added after a few minutes of silence, shoving his hands into his pockets and staring into Y/N’s eyes.

“I’ll accept your apology, only because I’ll need you to help Remus,” Y/N said, lifting her chin up as she glared displeased at James. “First, we’ll have to enter the restricted section of the library.”

James nodded thoughtfully as the two of them unsurely eyed the other.

[jeongjaebae]

No mistletoe required

⇢ Jaehyun x reader  ⇢ 9.3k | AO3 ⇢ a cute and funny holiday college AU (lowkey enemies to lovers)

To your utter surprise and dismay, there's your neighbour. The one directly across from you who keeps turning the decorating into a competition, who happens to be setting up the next batch of lights on their door at this very moment. And that kind of ruins the previously good mood you were in, so you open the door to give them a piece of your mind. 

Why are you still here? Why are you still putting up decorations? Why are you turning this into a competition that I never asked to join— 

"Why are you shirtless." 

Or: There were three things you did not expect to encounter this holiday season. The first was to have someone else staying on campus over the winter break with you. The second, to have this person as your neighbour who tries to one-up you in Christmas decorations. The third, that this said neighbour would be hot.

Not going home for the holidays really wasn't the worst thing in the world. In fact, part of you was looking forward to doing whatever the heck you wanted without your roommates in the dorm, and not having any extended family members around to lie about having a good GPA or significant other to. Not that your GPA wasn't good, but the significant other category might need some work. Either way, you were excited to be able to finally bake Christmas cookies, decorate the entire apartment, and marathon your list of Christmas movies all while wearing your comfiest (ugliest) clothes and being sufficiently inebriated. There would be no one around to judge you while you screamed the lyrics to All I want for Christmas is You while dancing around in your pajamas. There would be no one around you for miles as even the RAs go home for the holidays.

It was like a dream come true.

"Today's going to be the day the rest of the door decorations go up," you announce to no one in particular. That's definitely another benefit of being all alone in this residence building—you could talk to yourself without sounding crazy. "They are long overdue so let's get this party started!"

There really weren't too many decorations left in your possession. You'd brought only a few things from home when you first moved in, like the cute ornament that looked exactly like your dog back home, a bow (for your hair but holiday decor takes priority right now), and a string of fairy lights that was originally for decorating your room but will now be taped onto the front door because you refuse to lose this unspoken decorations contest to the neighbour directly across from you.

This contest had begun a couple of weeks ago when you and your roommates had first put up a wreath on the door. It was already December at that point, so it wasn't exactly too early to start with the decorations, but with finals coming up none of the other students had decorated their doors. You'd thought the wreath that your roommate Rose brought was such a nice touch to remind everyone that the holidays were coming soon and that you'd all pull through with finals. Just a sign of hope and love and all the warm and coziness that you loved about Christmastime.

So when you opened the door later that afternoon and saw an identical wreath on your neighbour's door, you were stunned. You almost thought they stole it at first, but then seeing how yours was still there, that made you question some things. Maybe it was just a coincidence that they happened to have the same wreath, and they only put it up when they were reminded by seeing your wreath.

That was the first time, anyway.

A few days later, your roommates had brought out some pretty Christmas lights to wrap around the wreath. Again, it was just to lift the spirits of everyone during the dreadful time that is finals season. So you guys wrapped the lights carefully around the wreath, making sure that no one would trip on extension cords or anything like that. It ended up looking really nice and you were kind of proud of your festive door.

Until you saw your neighbour's door that also had an added string of Christmas lights.

Even worse, theirs did not simply wrap around the wreath like yours did but framed the entire door instead. It was as if they drew around the door frame with a highlighter because now all the attention would go straight to their door and leave yours completely drowned out.

The third time it happened was with the ornaments. You'd put your dog ornament on the wreath along with the other objects that your roommates had brought, some of which were pretty questionable (Rose's sparkly bottle cap, Jihyo's homemade felt gingerbread man, and Miyeon's earring?), but the overall vibe was still nice. It made the hallway feel more Christmassy than before and you knew that your copycat neighbour would not be able to mimic this.

But somehow they did.

You'd been trying to catch a glimpse of this lame neighbour through the peephole of your door all day, but the moment you stepped away for a much needed bathroom break, that's when their ornaments went up. You had come back from your under 30 seconds of a break and looked through the peephole and gawked at those twinkling ornaments—proper Christmas ornaments! The neighbour had hung them on the string of lights framing the door so that the lights bounced off and looked even brighter, shinier, warmer.

It also made you want to punch a wall.

That had been the week before finals. Your roommates were out of decorations at that point and you wanted to channel your anger into studying, so nothing had been done about the decorations. Unsurprisingly, your neighbours also did not add anything else to their door decor, which definitely squashed any chance of coincidence.

But now that everyone has gone home for the winter break, you were determined to put up the most extravagant decorations and have your neighbours come back to their defeat. The fairy lights in your room were ready for the world to see as you blasted a playlist of Christmas songs at decibels much higher than normally allowed. You had the tape in hand and were ready to go into battle. The door still had a ton of space below the wreath, so you started there and created a Christmas tree shape with the lights, taping them at every corner with the little battery holder acting as a base of the tree. Your bow hair accessory went at the very stop as a makeshift star, and you ripped out a sheet from your spiral lab notebook and cut off the ripped side to use as tinsel for this makeshift tree. It looked nice and cute and was definitely cooler than any traditional decorations.

"Okay, now that that's done I can finally get on with the Christmas cookies," you say to yourself.

The rest of the day was spent on baking some cute sugar cookies using Miyeon's cookie cutters of various non-holiday shapes, and some red and green food colouring which turned your icing into pink and green. So much for Christmas vibes. They were still cute though.

But just after you put the cookies in the oven, that's when you hear the creaking of a door and some shuffling sounds. You even turn down your music the slightest bit to hear what was going on because who could possibly still be here in this building? You had been certain that everyone would be going home and you hadn't heard a sound in days.

To your utter surprise and dismay, there's your neighbour. The one directly across from you who keeps turning the decorating into a competition, who is setting up the next batch of lights on their door at this very moment. You watch for a few seconds through the peephole as this mysterious competitor adjusts the lights on the door just slightly below the wreath, so all you could see was a hand.

And that kind of ruins the previously good mood you were in, so you open the door to give them a piece of your mind.

Why are you still here? Why are you still putting up decorations? Why are you turning this into a competition that I never asked to join—

"Why are you shirtless." You eye him up and down, the sight in front of you temporarily distracting you from the long speech you were planning on bombarding him with. "Um, that's so rude? You're basically giving everyone totally unsolicited naked pictures of you and your...abs, embedded into their minds forever."

That doesn't seem to startle him at all, as he simply stares back at you without missing a beat. "And," he looks at you up and down too, "your ugly Christmas sweater will be ingrained into my mind forever."

"Excuse you?" You weren't even wearing an ugly Christmas sweater though; this was just one of your regular cozy sweaters. "Well, is it hot in here or is it just you?" you spit out, the words dripping with sass.

Wait. What.

That came out totally wrong and was not at all how it sounded in your head.

He pauses for a second too but just breaks into a chuckle. "Why, thank you."

"I meant hot! In your apartment! You're the only one feeling the heat since you're clearly hot enough to be shirtless in the middle of winter!"

The corners of his lips raise the slightest bit along with an eyebrow, and that's when you knew he caught on to the last bit of what you said. "I'm hot enough to be shirtless?"

"You are not hot, okay? Like, opposite of hot. You're so freezing cold that I am going to leave before I get hypothermia" you lied through your teeth. Anyone who could say that he's not hot would be lying but that doesn't mean you'd ever admit it.

"So I'm too cool for you?"

"Bye, boy."

And with that you slam your door shut and collapse right against it.

That's the neighbour who's been secretly competing against your holiday decor? You hadn't pictured anyone in particular when you thought about the lame neighbour putting up decorations on their door, but this guy has got to be the farthest thing possible from anything in your realm of expectations. Even though you spent most of that interaction avoiding looking at him at all, you definitely saw enough. More like too much. But surely a guy who looks like every girl's quarterback frat boy crush with muscles like The Rock couldn't possibly be interested in being less than five feet away from Christmas decorations? And what was he still doing here anyways, away from all the friends and family back home?  

On top of that, now you had to continue this dumb contest for the rest of the break since you refused to let someone like that win at this.

***

The next day consisted of waking up to a drained laptop battery, your list of Christmas movies marked as complete, and no memory of having watched any of them because you'd fallen asleep near the beginning of the movie marathon. Cookies were left half eaten on the plate with crumbs everywhere and your mug had stains from the dried remnants of hot chocolate. It takes you a minute to collect yourself and for a good while, you'd forgotten about the awkward encounter with shirtless neighbour.

Until you hear him singing.

It wasn't a song that you recognized but that didn't matter because you were dazed. Firstly, that boy could sure sing. Yesterday his talking voice hadn't left any impressions on you probably because he hadn't said much and you were too busy noticing the insults that came out of that mouth, but his singing voice today is a whole different story. It's fairly deep but somehow still soft, and its timbre fits perfectly with the smooth R&B song he's singing. Of course you'd never admit it, but this was such a turn on and you did not know how to handle this information.

And secondly, it turns out the walls were not as soundproof as you thought, which meant he probably heard everything from your high notes screaming session to you talking to yourself about beating that dumbass neighbour at this stupid decorating contest. It was embarrassing, to say the least, but on the other hand, if he'd heard you through the walls then maybe he would know better than to sing and risk having you hear. Well, unless he's turning that into a competition too which may be a good possibility given how competitive he seems.

After eating an abnormally late breakfast at 3pm, you went to take out the large pile of trash that was overflowing the garbage can. It was long overdue but had just become an object in the background as everyone went through finals in the past few weeks. In short, it stank and was ruining your holiday mood.

There was something else that was ruining your holiday mood though. The first thing you see when you open the door to go take out the garbage... was your shirtless neighbour. Only he wasn't shirtless this time; he had a tee on but was still exposing those toned arms as he was, to your disbelief, still putting up some more decorations on their door. It seems like he actually did not copy your fairy lights idea yesterday because today he's taping up Christmas gift wrapping paper on the door. As if his apartment was a gift to anyone! You were sure that was a fire hazard or something but there were no RAs around to even report this to.

He freezes when you open your door and makes the most awkward eye contact with you for a few seconds too long.

"Wow, nice to see you in a shirt today," you say with heavy sarcasm dripping off those words. "Feeling kind of cold?"

"Nice to see you too." He doesn't take the bait but entirely changes the subject, a neutral but inviting expression on his face. "Hey, are your roommates here too?" And the dimples. Ugh, you could not look away from the dimples.

"What?" You pause. "Why?"

"Oh it's nothing, but I just keep hearing you talking to someone."

That's when it was your turn to freeze like a deer in headlights.

The thin walls. The singing this morning. Was it all so that he could make fun of you talking to yourself?!

"Excuse you? Just so you know, I still have more decorations that are much better than your corny wallpaper here. You aren't a gift, boy."

He simply chuckles but then gives you such a blinding smile. You hadn't paid attention to his face yesterday but with the shirt on today, it was a little easier to observe this competitive neighbour. And his smile, wow. "I'll be looking forward to seeing those."

Then you close the door and completely forgot about taking out the trash. Not the way this happens each time because of how much he infuriates you! But now it was too late to go out there because you'd be forced to run into him again, so you decided to wait until after he was done his door.

***

The video call comes at a good time as you'd finished a couple of Christmas movies and your fancy homecooked dinner of mac and cheese. It's not unexpected as your best friend and roommate, Rose, probably has some updates for you after her wild family gatherings.

"Hey, girl! How's it going?" You pick up on the first ring. You were surprisingly glad for the human interaction after being alone for nearly a week, but you suspect that her main motive for calling was to sneak away from her family holiday party.

"Wow, look at you all dressed up in festive pajamas!" She squeals. "They're so cute!"

"Thanks girl! Gotta be festive around here." Maybe you'd be embarrassed if it were anyone else on that video call, especially if they were all dressed up like Rose today, but she's been your best friend since middle school and you've all seen each other in plenty of embarrassing outfits on the daily. "How's your holiday going?"

"It's been good but pretty tiring. You would not believe the amount of drama my cousin has been trying to start." Rose breaks out into a chuckle. "But how have you been surviving there all alone without us?"

"Christmas movie marathons and cookies all day! It's been so nice to finally get a break from school and people, you know? Oh, except there's this annoying neighbour still here who keeps trying to compete with me for best decorated door or something." You roll your eyes. "Can you believe it? Who would do such a thing?"

"Oh, he's still doing that?"

"Yeah, unfortunately? I keep running into him too, like every time I step out—wait. You know him?"

She stares at you for just a second too long before responding. "W-what do you mean?"

"You asked if he's still here, but I hadn't even mentioned this neighbour's gender or anything yet."

"Oh nah," she brushes it off, "I didn't mean anyone specific but... Y/N?"

"Yes?"

Her voice drops down to a whisper as she leans in towards the camera. "Are you talking about Jaehyun?"

"Jaehyun?"

"You know, the one who looks like he should be walking the runway even in sweats and a tee."

You don't say anything but shoot her a questioning look.

"Oh come on. Broad shoulders, toned arms, probably has abs. Dimples and a nice face to top it off?"

"His name is Jaehyun?" you say lamely. "Wow, I was expecting something cooler. Like even Jay or something."

"So he is who you were talking about? Isn't he so hot?"

"Well," you hesitate. You would never admit that you actually saw the abs that she was imagining. Or that he does indeed belong at a photoshoot way more than he does in front of his door hanging ornaments. "He's okay I guess?"

"Just okay?"

You nod slowly. "Why? Don't tell me you... like him or something."

"What? No, Y/N, of course not! He's in my bio tutorial and we happened to bump into each other while walking back to the dorm one day, but that's it. Nothing to worry about."

"Okay, sure?" you say, unconvinced.

"Seriously! He's interested in someone else, okay?"

"You guys are close enough for him to tell you that?"

"I—" Rose stops and turns around to look behind her. "Shoot, my cousin found me. Sorry Y/N, I gotta go! Bye—"

Then the call ends. Even though you definitely did not see her cousin in the background.

It was nice to talk to your best friend again, but that conversation leaves you feeling strange. You're confused as to why she would word vomit about how hot Jaehyun was, then immediately try to convince you that she didn't like him in that way. You've all had crushes throughout the years and told each other eagerly about them, so why was she adamantly denying this one? If this had been a conversation in person, you'd probably be able to tell whether she was telling the truth or not based on the appearance or absence of stars in her eyes, but it was difficult to tell since it was a low quality video call after all. Maybe you'll grill her about it once she gets back.

That wasn't all though. There was a feeling you couldn't quite pinpoint, but it wasn't positive. Maybe you were slightly bothered by the fact that Rose hadn't told you about this crush? Or maybe you were feeling left out because she somehow knew this rival neighbour really well while you were left in the dark, trying to figure out who kept copying your Christmas decorations. That's probably it—you were disappointed that Rose hadn't told you that she knew the culprit all along!

Then another thought hits you when you're least expecting it. He's single. It's something that never even crossed your mind since you just started assuming that hot people at this age were all off the market and you'd die all alone. Not that him being single has anything to do with you not dying alone, but maybe Rose has a chance now if she really liked him. Nah, she's too good for a cutthroat Christmas decorator like him.

After washing your stack of dirty dishes in the sink, you finally take out the trash but not before checking for enemies through the peephole. Luckily enough, shirtless neighbour, Jaehyun, was not there. Unfortunately enough, his door actually looked quite nice with the wrapping paper on it. He chose one on the simpler side so that it wouldn't clash with the ornaments but it matched with the lights on the doorframe so well that it made you feel warm and fuzzy inside for just a second until you remembered whose door this was.

And then you remembered the bluff you so confidently stated earlier today.

So now you find yourself staring at the storage box at the top shelf of your closet because of that bluff you'd made so confidently earlier. The reality was that you weren't sure if you even had anything useful in this storage box but had to check for the sake of that bluff. You refused to lose to him at decorating, but even more than that, you refused to admit that he was right. So up the step ladder you went, standing so carefully as to not tip over and fall while dragging down everything with you. The top shelf was still quite high despite your height boost and tiptoes were still needed to reach the big cardboard box. You hoped that it was at least light but don't quite remember what you'd packed in there, so you grabbed it by the two sides and began slowly shifting it towards the edge of the shelf.

The last thing you register was hearing your own voice. Screaming very loudly.

Adrenaline coursing, blood roaring, heart pounding. You don't feel the impact as you hit the carpeted floor, nor the step ladder and the storage box and all the other items in your closet tumbling after you. It becomes a big mess on the floor of your room, looking like the closet vomited out half its contents. Unfortunately, most of it was on top of you so the clothing did nothing to cushion your fall. You would probably be feeling the ache tomorrow but for now, there was something even worse to deal with.

"Are you okay?" a voice suddenly asks. You nearly scream again. "What's going on?"

"I—um." The state of shock was still affecting your mind, so you simply decided to point up for your not-shirtless neighbour to see. "Spider."

And there it was, all of its eight legs attached to your wall right beside the box you were getting. You could've touched it! Your hand totally could've brushed it! The thought of it makes you squeeze your eyes shut and suppress a shiver.

"Wow, a big one," he says as he looks around and finally decides on some random tissue you had lying on your desk. He kills it in one swift motion, making sure not to leave any of its... bodily remains on your wall. Then he goes to dispose of it as you sit there wondering if this was all a dream and that someone actually dealt with your spider problem and made it look so easy.

Despite the rivalry between the two of you, at that moment, there was nothing more attractive than a guy who could kill bugs for you. The abs were just a bonus.

"All gone; nothing to worry about now." Jaehyun reaches out a hand. "But are you okay? That sounded like quite the fall."

"Yeah, just fine." You gingerly take his hand as your head is still spinning and he pulls you out of the giant pile. You're thankful for his firm grip but what you notice instead is how soft and big his hand is.

He catches you when you stumble. "Careful," he puts his arm around you and guides you to the bed. "Wait, you're bleeding."

"What?"

"Stay right here. I'll go get a first aid kit."

You sigh as he leaves, suddenly feeling exhausted and actually glad to be taken care of for once. The thought of Christmas decorations leaves your mind and is replaced by the feeling of his arm around you, the faint smell of his body wash, how he reached the spider so easily without even stretching too far and certainly without using the step stool. And now he's getting a first aid kit for you? This definitely must be a dream.

"You didn't hit your head, right?"

Oh. Right. That was probably why your thoughts are all strange.

Jaehyun settles into the chair opposite you, alcohol wipe and cotton swab in hand. "This cut must've been from the corner of the box. Might sting a bit."

You hardly paid attention to anything he just said because suddenly there's the way he leans towards you so, so closely. The rest of the world starts to blur into the background as you feel his hand gently brush your skin, the worry and care in his eyes so genuine. Any feelings of self consciousness seem to melt away, the close distance between you not uncomfortable but rather perfect for slowly leaning in and—

"Ow!" you hear in your own voice again. He'd started cleaning the area on your left cheek with the alcohol wipe and it was the sting that seemed to jolt you from the strange thoughts.

Maybe you really did hit your head because what was all that?

"Sorry," he flashes a smile and has the audacity to laugh at your pain. "Need to make sure this won't get infected."

"You brought this first aid kit from your place?" you ask dully.

"Well, didn't know where you keep yours so..." He opens a tube of ointment and squeezes it carefully onto the cotton swab.

"Wait, how did you even get here in the first place? No, why did you come here?"

The smile on his face only grows. "Your door was unlocked, obviously. And I heard you scream followed by several loud thuds. Is that good enough?"

"Yeah, but why did you come here? I would've been just fine."

"I had to make sure that my lovely neighbour wasn't dead, alright? Otherwise who's going to continue our little holiday contest and lose?"

"Okay, first of all, you would lose. Second, you should've left me for dead," you grumble. "No one wants to participate in your stupid contest."

"Oh, come on. I thought you were enjoying it since you promised to show me all the decorations you still have." He opens a bandage and places it ever so gently on your cheek. "All done."

"I could've done that myself you know."

At that, he raises an eyebrow at you, grin still plastered on his face. "You really would've killed that spider that caused all of this?"

"How dare you—I might've? But you caused all of this actually. If it weren't for that dumb competition then why would I be up in my closet looking for that box of stuff?"

It was true enough. You wouldn't have looked for this box and you wouldn't have seen that spider. And he would absolutely not be here dealing with you battle scars.

"Oh." Surprisingly enough, that smile he had on disappears and he actually looks kind of guilty. "I'm sorry."

"Right."

"No, really. I feel bad that this happened because of something so silly. Let me make it up to you; no more competitions, no more decorations."

You almost heave a sigh in relief after hearing those words. It was like a dream come true as you've wanted nothing more than to have this decoration obligation off your back, though not if it was because he assumed you were going to lose.

So you're still suspicious.

"And how exactly are you going to do that?"

"Hmm. Let me treat you to a meal?"

You look him up and down. "I'd rather stay in."

"We can stay in and get takeout or delivery?"

"I'd rather eat alone."

"Oh come on." He has the audacity to pout at you now. "What's the point of spending the holidays alone?"

"Well, actually I've been having a lot of fun on my own."

"But doesn't it get... lonely?"

Maybe. You shake your head. "Not really."

He heaves a dramatic sigh. "How about just one night? And if you really hate it that much then I won't bother you again."

You sigh too, equally as dramatic. "Fine. But only because I'll get to beat you at whatever games you have planned."

"I'd love to see that." The grin is back on his face in full force, dimples and eyes both seeming to twinkle.

"But why do you even want to spend time with me?"

"Well, we're the only two people on campus and we happen to be neighbours?"

You stifle your laugh at his goofy expression. "Okay, fine. Please don't make it weird though."

"Weird how?"

"You know, those apocalyptic stories about the last two people on earth having to do you-know-what in order to survive and procreate and all that."

If he had a drink in his mouth, you're sure it'd be sputtering out by the way he half laughs and half chokes.

"Um, no. I have not heard of anything like that, but I think we can confirm that I'm not the one making it weird right now."

"Hey, you were the one rude enough to go walking around shirtless!" ��

"I'm just kidding." He smiles that dazzling dimpled smile again. "No competitions, no decorations, and no weirdness. Deal?"

You purse your lips. "Deal, but also, shirts are a must. And pants. Don't you dare pull anything funny."

"Deal. Oh, but before I forget," he pulls out his phone and unlocks it. "I hope this isn't considered part of the weirdness."

"Hmm." It's the 'add new contact' page on his phone that he hands you, of course. "I'll let you off the hook just this once."

You add your name and number as well as a description of 'your amazing neighbour who's better at decorating' before handing it back to him.

"Nice to meet you, Y/N. I'm—"

"Jaehyun."

"You remem—you know my name?" His eyes widen, an eyebrow raised.

You shrug. "Yeah, Rose gave me your name."

"Rose talked to you about me?" Eyes flicker briefly and the corners of lips settle into a sort of frown. "What else did she say?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because—why were you guys even talking about me?"

"She literally called to say that there is absolutely nothing going on between you guys." You roll your eyes at just remembering that strange conversation. "But in any case, I'll have you know that I think she's way too good for you."

"And I'll have you know that there's absolutely nothing going on between her and me," Jaehyun crosses his arms, eyebrows furrowed. Yet at the same time he somehow looked relieved, body slack against the wall and not tense like a moment ago.

"Whatever you say," you shrug. "Oh, but she did mention there's someone you're interested in."

"What?!"

You definitely save his name in your phone as 'stupid shirtless decorating neighbour'.

***

The next few days consisted of some simple exchanges through text. The hangout was planned for Christmas Eve which was still a few days away, and as much as you didn't exactly want to be talking to him, you find your gaze wandering to your phone whenever it lights up with his name flashing across the screen.

Yes, it was just a hangout, not a date. You'd be staying in, acting casual, and there would be no weirdness involved as the two of you had agreed. Besides, you didn't even like him. At this point you could only bring yourself to admit that he was quite attractive and that your annoyance with him might've died just a little when you watched him save you from the spider and treat your wound. But now there was a new annoyance stemming from how rudely this guy was showing off all of his perfection (all six feet of it!) right in your face. Who does he think is he? You just know that you're lucky he isn't in any of your classes because this competition might've started way earlier with test grades or whatnot.

The point was that you couldn't wrap your head around why he would suddenly want to hang out with you. Based on his previous actions, it was to probably beat you in various video games or in something that should not even be a competition.

You decide to video call Rose to ask her for advice on how to better prepare you for this war.

"Did I interrupt?" is the first thing you say when Rose's face comes on the screen. She seems to be at the table in the middle of a meal, but it didn't look like a restaurant nor did you recognize it as anywhere in her house. "I can call back later."

"Nah, it's fine! How are things going on your side?"

Before you could answer, you see a guy walk into the frame. And recognize him immediately. You lower your voice, "Are you with our TA?"

"Um..." She only shrugs at you but you could see her flashing a smile at the guy who walks out of the frame. Who you're sure is the TA of your psychology class.  

"Rose, are you on a date with our TA?" you whisper.

"Sorry, I'll be right back," she says to him, before the background changes and you could see her walking to a different room. "Okay, yes, you caught me."

"How long has this been going on for?"

"Not long at all! It's a long story though and I'll tell you in person first thing when I get back. But hey, didn't I tell you that there was nothing going on between me and Jaehyun?"

"That's the first thing you decide to bring up?"

"Well, I just wanted to make sure you knew." She rolls her eyes. "Anyways, how are things going over there?"

You sigh deeply, ready to launch into the drama that is your life. "I may or may not have a hangout with him in a couple of days."

"What?!" she shrieks, making you nearly throw your phone. Her loud voice also invokes an 'are you okay?' from your TA, which you still could not wrap your head around. "Wow, that was quick."

"Calm down, girl, it's just a hangout. And yes, it's way too quick because I don't even know him? Don't know why he would want to hang out but I'm guessing it's probably to turn everything in a competition."

"Just because of that thing with the door decor?" She laughs. "I think you're reading too much into it. Just enjoy the holidays with some company! Besides, how do you know he doesn't want this to be a date?"

"Well, we agreed that there would be nothing weird, and also, doesn't he like someone already? So it'll just be chill and casual."

"Where are you guys going for this?"

"Literally nowhere," you stifle a laugh at the thought, "just his place right across the hall."

She snorts, "Oh man, good luck to him cleaning that up."

"Why, is it like super messy or something?" You wouldn't be surprised as it's a boys' dorm after all.

"Y/N, it's a next level mess in there, and nothing sparks joy. Trust me, Marie Kondo would definitely lose her mind seeing that mess of a place."

"You've been over to his place?"

"For a bio project! You'd think he could've picked the library or something but no, I had to trip over multiple piles of clothes lying around." She rolls her eyes, a smile on her face. "Sorry, I shouldn't be talking to you about all this. Don't worry! It'll be fun."

"I sure hope so?" You raise an eyebrow at her.

"Well if you really want to keep up with this contest of yours, I have an idea. I mean, only if you want to get back at him for the decorating thing or whatever stunt he pulls. Just in case."

"Um. I'm listening."

She leans closer to the camera, looking ready to spill some big secret. "You guys should make it a formal event. Get all dolled up—don't give me that look; I know you've missed dressing up since before finals. Anyways, get your fancy dress and makeup on and see who can clean up better. I know you've got some skills, so this is something you'd definitely win."

"But we're not even going out," you whine, "it's literally going to be twenty feet away."

"It's just an excuse to dress up, Y/N. Besides, if it's at his place you won't be freezing in your dress."

"I don't know—I feel like this kind of violates our 'nothing weird' rule."

She shrugs, "Well, it's only a competition if you're winning." Then she flashes you one of her hundred-watt smiles. "Just ask him. Okay, I gotta go. Talk to you soon?"

"Yeah, sure."

***

Jaehyun agrees to it, to your surprise.

You're not sure what kind of reaction he had as it was all done through text, but he didn't ask anything and just went along with it.

When Christmas Eve finally comes around, you pick out the most glamorous dress in your closet with some pieces of jewelry to match with it. The silvery material shimmers and glitters, bouncing light in so many directions it seems to make you radiate a type of confidence you could only wish you had. It was something you've never even worn before because of how revealing it was, but you'd brought to college with you in case of special events. And well, even though this was definitely not a special event, it still turned out to be a good decision because maybe you'd be able to beat him at his own game of so rudely showing off.  

But the moment you knock on his still gift-wrapped door is when you knew that these contests never go very well for you.

"What. Is. All. This." were the first words out of your mouth as you stood there in shock. In fear. In awe.

"Hmm? You said you wanted it to be a fancy event, so I just made it fancy...?"

"I—"

You had no words for this.

The lighting was dimmed with only the flickering candles on a tabletop and fairy lights swirling right above it creating a soft glow in the room. There was a beautiful red tablecloth with expensive looking plates ready to be served with whatever food was behind the delicious smell remaining in the air. A bottle of red wine and empty wine glasses. His apartment was spotless and not at all what you imagined it to look like, especially after Rose's spiel the other day about how messy it was. You don't doubt he spent a lot of time and effort to clean the place and set all this up, but this was way beyond anything your imagination could've thought of.

And lastly, there was him. If you'd just expected him to simply have a shirt on, he definitely went above and beyond the low expectations you had. Here he was standing in a white dress shirt tucked into black dress pants. Sleeves rolled up. Hair gelled up and slicked back. There was no ounce of imperfection in him or in this entire set up, and suddenly the outfit you picked out seems so insignificant. You could already taste the disappointment of losing a battle you'd had all intentions of winning.

Another thing that worried you was that this didn't look like the setting for a hangout. This looked like the type of place rich people eat at, where proposals happen, where anniversaries are celebrated, where you might even run into a celebrity. You definitely shouldn't have listened to Rose's advice because now it just seems like you played yourself.

"Do you not like it?"

"No, it's fine but Jaehyun, it's just—a little weird."

"A little weird? Yeah, I thought so too." He looks down, leaning against the wall as if unsure where he was supposed to go, what he was supposed to do. Not that far from your own situation.

"I shouldn't have asked for this fancy hangout," you say under your breath, then quickly change the subject before things continued down this slippery slope of awkwardness. "Anyways, I don't see a tree in here. What happened, Mr. I-have-better-decorations-than-you?"

"No tree this year, but I do have a gingerbread kit?"

"And what, were you going to put that on your door too?" You roll your eyes at him. "Let's put it together it right now."

"It was definitely an option but you're the one who wanted the fancy date." He shrugs at you innocently.

"I just wanted a chance to dress up, okay? You can't possibly comment on this," you gesture at the dress, "the way you made fun of my sweaters."

There's no expression on his face as he gives you a glance over then quickly looks away. "You look...good."

"Thanks, I know." You do a hair flip in his face just for emphasis. "Okay, let's get to it! And would you turn some lights on already?"

It turns out, decorating a gingerbread house became a lot like decorating the door to your apartment. Unintentionally. It's not like you were highly competitive by nature, but there's something about his calm demeanour, his laidback gaze, and the way his lips curl at the corners that irks you because you wanted to break down those walls and see something real. Who does he think he is, looking and acting so perfect on your supposedly casual hangout?

Besides, it wasn't your idea to see whose side of the gingerbread house looks better.

"We must look so silly doing this," you comment. "Two people all dressed up in fancy clothes just to build a gingerbread house."

"It's totally part of today's itinerary of fancy activities. Just look at how fancy my side is?" He turns the tray so you could see it. "It's looking like a mansion over here."

You resist the urge to roll your eyes at him but you'd expected nothing less. "Then I guess it would suck if someone decided to ruin it."

Holding his gaze as if a challenge, you take the tube of pink icing in your hand and squeeze it generously all over his side of the gingerbread house. It was like a thick coat of fluffy pink clouds on the roof, in the yard, and all over the windows.

His jaw drops. "You. Did. Not."

"I think I did," you tease, the biggest smile you've worn in days on your lips from just getting a reaction out of him. "And I'll do this too." He definitely does not expect it when the huge blob of the pink icing on your finger gets dabbed onto his cheek.

"You're not getting away with this, Y/N." That's the last thing Jaehyun says before he starts chasing you down with a tube of blue icing in his hands.

Then it becomes a game of running around the apartment in circles, occasionally getting close enough to place another wad of icing on him but also for him to cover you with it. Until you decide to grab the icing sugar and use that as your next weapon.

The first pinch of it lands on his face and coats it like a foundation far too light. The image of him— stopped in his tracks, lips pursed and trying to blow the sugar off, blinking with disbelief—was enough to supply you a year of happiness so that's when you let your guard down and pause to wholeheartedly laugh at him. But that's also when the icing sugar came flying at you.

In the end, both of your fancy clothes and tidied hair ended up being coated with icing sugar, as well as the apartment he'd put so much effort into cleaning. And you didn't mind at all for it worked in giving you a glimpse of someone real behind the mask of perfection that he had been wearing in the few times you'd seen him so far. Someone who isn't just abs and a pretty face, nor just competitions and winning.

Basically, someone you could like.

Dinner passes by in a breeze with delicious foods and surprisingly easy conversation. Maybe it should've felt like an awkward first date with how little you knew about each other and how you've barely seen each other before this point, but it wasn't like that at all. It was hard to define because it wasn't quite like talking to an acquaintance, yet friendship would be too tight of a term to describe this relationship. He felt familiar, like an old friend that you knew you could share everything with despite knowing him no better then a stranger. But perhaps that was from the amount of wine you both drank; while it wasn't your drink of choice, it was definitely helpful in facilitating a lot of laughter as you kept breaking out in giggles and he definitely couldn't keep a straight face.

Time was slowing as the two of you collapsed on the couch afterwards, satisfied from a hearty meal. You found yourself suddenly dreading the inevitable end to your time here, though the warmth of the wine pushes that thought away.  

"If we were outside, that would've totally been a snowball fight," you mention, looking out the window where fluffy snowflakes started to float through the air. It seemed like a Christmas miracle for it to be snowing so unexpectedly but maybe this year will give you a beautiful white Christmas.

The corners of his eyes crinkle when he smiles so brightly even with the dim lighting of the room. "Then we could've also been making snow angels or a fort."

"Sorry for dirtying your floor though." You couldn't help but giggle. "It was so clean before all this."

"Don't worry, this isn't even as bad is it usually is," he confesses with a laugh.

"Yeah, Rose told me all about that."

"She did? Oh I'm so going to kill her."

The two of you burst out laughing at that, leaning over in a way that has your hand lightly brushing against his.  

"It's not all terrible though. It almost looks like it snowed in here too," you say, admiring the sprinkles of icing sugar scattered all across the floor that looks nothing like actual snow, but it's nice to think of it that way. "Icing sugar everywhere."

Everything you look at seems to glow and sparkle with the heat of the wine still swirling through your body, heart racing, cheeks hot, the world spinning just slightly. And it's not like you were completely drunk, but instead it felt more like you were drunk on life with small, happy thoughts bubbling through your veins—how cozy this place was, how it's the holidays, how you actually enjoyed spending time with Jaehyun and how things turned out much better than you could've possibly imagined. It was nothing like the image of competitive gaming with the frat boys that Rose had put in your mind; this was the most romantic thing that anyone's ever done for you even if it wasn't intending to be more than a casual hangout.

Then there was how attractive Jaehyun looked as he's seated right beside you, hair dishevelled from earlier, a faint pink dusting his face, shirt unbuttoned just low enough to expose the top of his chest. Icing sugar at the corner of his lips where a faint smile rests.

When you look back up, his eyes meet yours and you have to urge to quickly look away, cheeks blazing from knowing you'd been caught staring a moment too long. But instead, a sudden stroke of courage compels you to hold his gaze, perhaps to see a reaction, perhaps as a question silently lingering in the room for much of the night.

"Mhm, it's beautiful," he says softly, still not moving his gaze from where it rests on you. "You still have some right here," he says softly, leaning in slightly as his hand brushes across your heated cheeks. Everything seems to happen in slow motion when he reaches your bottom lip, thumb grazing gently.

And suddenly it was like a repeat of what happened just days earlier. When he meets your eyes again this time, his dark pupils are twinkling in an answer to your question, luring you into their gravity until you're sinking, eyes closing, slowly getting lost in him.

Sparks fly at the slightest brush of his lips on yours and that's enough to abruptly drag you out of the moment you were swept into.

"Wait, Jaehyun—we agreed not to make things weird."

As much as you wanted to just kiss him right then and there, there was still some part of your mind that was telling you to stay away from this slippery slope. That things will be different after the rose-coloured lenses of alcohol and lust fade, that the weird that you both had tried so hard to avoid would end up happening and ending badly.

"Um, right. Sorry." He looks away, refusing to meet your eyes as his cheeks redden, unrelated from the wine. "Y/N... it's just that I've liked you for so long."

Out of all the things you thought he would say, this was nowhere near any of it. His words catch you totally off guard and seem to immediately sober you up.

"What? What do you mean?"

He sighs softly, a hand running through his hair and a hand on yours, tentatively.

"I'm not sure if you remember but we went to the same middle school." Jaehyun pauses, his eyes searching yours for a reaction but you don't dare breathe, waiting for him to continue. "I know this was so long ago and it shouldn't even matter anymore but middle school wasn't really a good time for me."

You take his hand in yours, encouraging him to go on.

"Kids could be so cruel back then, you know?" He smiles sadly. "But you were the only person who showed me such kindness. I could never forget that, Y/N."

"Middle school?"

He confirms with a small nod and that's when you think back. Middle school wasn't a good time for you either and it probably wasn't for anyone, but nothing in particular stood out in your mind. You had a small group of friends back then and got good grades. You were in the school's band and might've been teacher's pet one year. There wasn't exactly anyone bullying you, but there was one girl who was mean and made up rumours about you and some guy you didn't even know. That guy turned out to be really nice though, and the two of you ended up as good friends as a result of that rumour. But all that ended when his family moved right before high school and you never saw him or contacted him again.  

"Sorry, I don't really recall. Were you in my class? There really weren't any boys in my life back then, like the only guy that I can recall is Hyunnie." You smile just thinking about the memories. "He was a good guy. Not sure what happened to him but I kind of liked him."

Jaehyun says nothing but you could see a hint of a smile that he was trying to hold back.

"What, you also know Hyunnie?"

He still remains silent, this time shrugging his shoulders the tiniest bit as he bites his lips.

"Then? Wait—" You gasp when it hits you. "Wait. We all called him Hyunnie but... Hyunnie. Jaehyun. That's—no," you shake your head, "there's no way. That's impossible."

"Y/N," he weaves his fingers with yours.

"You're joking." You stare at him to try to put the pieces together. The Hyunnie you remembered was a small, chubby boy with glasses so big they seem to cover his whole face while his bangs would cover the rest of it as if seeming to hide him from the world. Maybe initially you just wanted to support him as the rumours tied the two of your together, but after getting to know him better you realized he was very kind and genuine. And that's when your admiration for him started.

"Remember the secret code names we had? And the glow in the dark watch? And our mad minute competitions?"

"You're Hyunnie," you breathe, still shocked.

"Yeah," he whispers.

"But—why didn't you say anything at the time?"

"Because I knew you wouldn't feel the same," he looks away, not meeting your eyes. "I thought moving away would help me get rid of my feelings...but it didn't work."

"Why were you so sure about that? Why wouldn't I feel the same?"

"Is it not obvious? I—wasn't exactly someone you would be proud to be with. You were so sweet and popular and gorgeous. You had so many people wanting to be with you, and I—I was nothing.

"Don't say that! I was so happy that you were one of my closest friends." You pause. "Also, how could you be so wrong?" You roll your eyes at him, at all the silly things that once felt like the end of the world but are now so trivial when looking back.

"Was I wrong?"

"Yes! I liked you too, okay? I don't care what you look like. Jaehyun, you don't know how hard it was for me after you left without a trace."

"I'm sorry. I can only promise you that it will never happen again." Then he pouts. "Also, I worked so hard for these abs just to hear you say you don't care what I look like. Wow, I'm hurt."

That makes you burst out laughing. "They're definitely nice, but you are worth so much more than what you look like. And don't think that I wouldn't like you for who you are."

He brushes a strand of hair behind your ear, leaning in just a little closer.

"Okay."

"Never think that you're not good enough."

A hand cupping your cheek, tracing your jaw. Even closer.

"Okay."

"And don't ever leave me like that again."

His lips hesitate just for a moment.

"Okay."

Then they're crashing on yours, the electricity between you crackling so loud it blocks out the rest of the world as your mind is only filled with Jaehyun, Jaehyun, Jaehyun. His lips are sweet like the cotton candy you had back in seventh grade, lingering on your teeth at the amusement park, turning his tongue bright blue. His touch is gentle, ebbs and flows like the ocean during the eighth grade beach trip, water gently lapping at your feet, sand between your toes and between entangled fingers. His scent surrounds you like a warm hug on a cold day, like a hoodie too big to fit your shoulders while sitting outside of the school after the dance. All the memories flooding back make your mind spin; the things you've forgotten, the ones you've buried, and the fragments that he'd taken when he left, now brought back to their rightful place.

As the clock struck twelve, there were only whispered words of Merry Christmas in between lingering kisses, racing hearts, brushes of bare skin.

It wasn't weird like you were afraid tonight would go. What you once thought to be awkward and strange turned out to be so right, so perfect. Sure, it might hurt to know that there was all this lost time between you, but now you could make up for that by spending the rest of it getting to know each other again. Learning and relearning each other until there was only a seamless connection between the past and the present, an invisible red string tying the two of you together.

And maybe you did lose all these competitions to him but they never really mattered to you anyways especially when you gained back an old friend, a first love, a soulmate.

[voltagesmutter]

Zen x MC - BodyWorship.

Pairing: Zen x MC (F).

Fandom: Mystic Messenger.

Prompt:  Body Worship || Masks || Formal wear. 

Warning: Mirrors, Body-worship, loving-fluff smut, oral (Female and male), vaginal sex.

Day 1 of @alloveroliver​ amazing Kinktober event/prompt list.

Amazing thank you to @crystal13unny for being my beta 💛

“To you my love,” She toasted, raising the flute of champagne, colours of gold filled with bubbles swirling in the glass. 

“Jagiya, you spoil me,” Zen meeting her movements, the ringing sound of glasses meeting filling the hotel room. The paleness of his skin was tinted a slight red, bashfulness taking over him as she gushed over his latest performance. A rarity to see the phenomenon flustered, but when it came to her, Zen was an array of emotions.

“You were truly wonderful Zen, I think that was by far my favourite performance ever ,” A pause followed as she brought her glass to her lips, a redded lip mark now staining it with a perfect print. Zen’s eyes fixed on her movement, she’d purposefully worn his favourite colour just for tonight. “You were beyond captivating,”.

Zen had a leading role in a local production, shining brighter on stage than he ever had done before. Partly due to new talent scouts were sat in the audience, but mainly because the love of his life was sat front and center with their friends. Admiring and savouring every line he spoke. While she attended dress rehearsals before, this was the first production of his she’d ever been too. Her eyes unable to be torn from his ruby ones as he delivered his lines of proclaiming love to the audience. And whilst he was saying them aloud in the play, he spoke everyone to her, pouring all of his emotions into them as if he was speaking to her directly. While the others were incredibly moved by his speech, she felt her eyes swell up with tears to watch him. He delivered it with such rawness of emotions, making it believable that he was pouring out his heart to a lover rather than reciting dialogue or reciting lines. So elegant and poised, charming and loveable, the brightest light on the stage. 

After the excitement of it, there was a flooding round of applause from the audience crying out for more. Then came the meet and greets with different cast members and producers, Zen keeping an arm tightly wrapped around her and close himself to the whole evening. Refusing to be apart from her for even a second longer. The scouting talents gushed over him, promising to be in touch concerning signing and as they said ‘Putting him on the map’. They smiled, chatted, laughed and conversed with others, swiftly moving from group to group until finally they taking their leave.

She’d booked a room at a swanky hotel nearby as a surprise for all his hard-work, toll of the sheer effort he’d provided to his work was evidently clear, but only to her; Zen kept up a mask of his perfect appearance, only letting it fade away in the comfort of their home. Exhausted, fatigued with muscle aches, yet always wearing that loveable grin that could make anyone swoon. She wanted to use tonight to help him relax, to focus a night of pure attention on him. Seeing him performing on stage like he was born to do lit a fire within her, to see her man living and breathing his passion. She wanted to show him, love him, make him feel just as vibrant off stage as he did on stage. Tonight she would do just that.

“Jagiya,” He took their drinks, placing them upon the glass table to cup her cheek, pulling her face up close to his. He kissed with a passion, one that knocked the very wind out of her lungs as their tongues sought comfort in each other’s mouths. Red nails seeking purchase amongst his white ponytail, angling his face down to deepen the kiss. The picturesque background of the city fading into the background as they held each other. 

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you on stage,” He whispered between kisses, moving them down to her jaw and neck. His hands restlessly rubbing her sides, fingers itching to pull the hem of her skirt up.

“I couldn’t take my eyes off of you, you looked so gorgeous up there Zenny,” Gently tugging his hair with a slight gasp as he playfully nibbled the sensitive patch of her neck.

“I hope not, I couldn’t bear for your eyes to wander,” His face coming up to nestle against hers, noses gliding each other as their lips met once more. Expert fingers quickly found the zip at the back of her dress, unzipping it, letting it fall to the floor in a puddle. 

The growl that fell from him, the expression on his face was like a child’s at Christmas seeing a wide variety of presents beneath the tree, causing a faint blush on her cheeks. The crimson underwear she wore, matching the colour of his eyes, sat beautifully as lace rested upon her skin.  His pupils blew wide, like they always did when he saw her undress. His look wasn’t just lustful, it was praising, loving and admiring. 

“Jagiya I need you,” His voice a low baritone hum against her neck once more, hands skirting across her body to rest upon the top of her underwear, thumbs rubbing in circles upon her hip bones. The hardness in his jeans pressing against her to prove to her how she affected him.

Zen always made the effort to indulge in her first, burying his head between her thighs for what could feel like hours but tonight was her turn to repay him, to give him the divine pleasure he always gave her.

“Do you want to know why I picked this hotel?” She teased, pulling away from his hold but he kept his arms encircled around her, rutted his hips against her causing a small whine to fall from her lips.

“The bed?” Eye’s glancing over to the almost double king-size, much bigger than theirs at home.

“Nope,” She shook her head, it was a right answer but not the one she was looking for. “Come with me,”. She stretched out her hand and intertwined it with his, leading him into the bathroom where a claw foot bath rested in the middle of the room, big enough the two of them to comfortably fit it. Lavish mirrors from ceiling to floor stood behind it. Leaning over the tub she turned on the hot tap. As water began to fill it the feel of her lover grinding against her again caused another sigh, her eyes catching his in the reflection.

“You're teasing me, dressed so deliciously, bending over like this,” His teeth gently bit the shell of her ear, “Are you trying to lure out the beast?” turning in his arms whilst pushing gently to create some distance to see a confused look upon his face. Whilst she loved when Zen let go and just mercilessly fucked into a mess on the spot, that was not the aim of this evening. 

“Actually tonight,” She gently pushed him backwards, taking a step forward as her fingers messed with the bottom of his t-shirt, “We’re going to do something different,”.

“Oh?” He questioned, raising an eyebrow. He couldn’t deny his first thought went straight to anal, a conversation they had had many of times.

“Tonight my love is all about you,”. Her fingers tickling his lower abdomen as she lifted his shirt off of him, licking her lips to the beautiful sight beneath. Pale skin with ripped muscles, broad shoulders that narrowed down his waist where a defined six pack lay. She wasn’t in love with Zen for his looks, she loved him for his personality but the body, and sex drive, were much appreciated bonuses. 

“Have I told you recently how lucky I am to have you?” Her lips pressing softly to his as she ghosted her fingers down his chest, teasingly running over his belt.

“Jagiya I-“ He swallowed the bob of his adam's apple clearly visible as she undid his belt, slowly pulling it through the loops. 

“Shh baby, let me take care of you tonight,” Her words were met with no protest, Zen almost crumbling on the spot as she kissed down his body, “I want to make you feel so good,” dark red marks standing strong against his pale skin as she slowly made her way down. A few loitering kisses upon his racing heart, one pressed over his hardening nipples before a trail moving downwards over the taunt of his abs.

“My beautiful Zen…” Her lips pressed to his belly button as she popped the button on his jeans.

“My handsome, incredibly talented sexy man,” Tugging at his jeans until they fell to his ankles, his erection straining against his boxers as she dropped to her knees. All Zen could do was stare in awe, biting his lip in bated anticipation.

“My real life Adonis,” A red stain pressed just above his boxers as she tugged them down, his cock springing free. Fully erect and pulsing with need, a pearl of precum visibly leaking from the slit of his head, “My wild beast,”.

“Fuck…” They both cursed, her at the sight, him at the feeling of her hand wrapping around him pumping him slowly.

“You have no idea what you do to me Hyuan,” Her breath ghosting over him caused a heavy groan from him, his cock twitching at teasing warmth.

“Jagiya… you drive me crazy,” Head rolled back slightly as she pressed wet kisses to his delicate skin, his balls coated in red marks, a stunning contrast of red on white upon his skin. She circled around his base, more prints left upon him before pulling back. Just as Zen went to speak she wrapped her lips around his head, giving him a harsher stroker. 

Zen feared he may just snap in the moment, to melt into a puddle on the floor as she ran her tongue up and down his length, whispering words of admiration for his body, for his cock, for his soul. Leaning back he pressed one hand to the wall for support whilst the other threaded through her hair. Low groans echoed off the bathroom walls, reflecting off the tiles and flooding their ears. Catching a glimpse whilst his eyes fluttered open and shut in the mirror, his body decorated with her mark, it was a sight that would forever be burned into both of their minds.

“Agh.. Jagiya,” He panted when she parted, a strand of saliva visible connecting her smudged lips to his throbbing head. 

“The bath,” She whispered, standing up and turning around, switching off the tap as hot water filled it up just over half way. He couldn’t help but wrap a hand around himself as she slowly peeled off her bra followed by her panties, damp and stuck to her folds with the sheer arousal. He almost came from the sight, the smell of her flooding his senses from when she stood as she spread her legs to get into the water, beckoning him over with a finger. He sat opposite her, the water rising slightly with them both in, gentle waves crashing half way up her abdomen. Leaning forward she crawled to straddle his hip, kissing him as she wrapped a hand around him again, continuing her movement from moments ago. His cock stood solid, up out of the water. The light tuff of his white pubic hair and balls lying just beneath the watery surface. 

Using her thumb she spread the new bead of pre-cum over his length, thighs tensing over him from the moans that fell from his mouth. His eyes twinkled from the reflection of the water and light, illuminating them as they glossed over. He wasn't used to being teased, relishing in the way she leaned down to take him into her mouth once more, nothing but pleasure taking over his body. 

Admittedly, performing such an act in the bath wasn’t the greatest of ideas. Water caressed her lips each time she worked lower down his shaft, small waves rising each time he bucked into her touch. One hand wrapped around the base of him, the other cupping his balls in the palm of her hand, a gentle squeeze every now and then that made him twitch in her mouth. The moans that fell from his mouth were heavenly, peeking up beneath her thick lashes to savour him falling apart in-front of her. Chest rising and falling as his head rolled back over the edge of the tub, shoulders broad and expanded as he rested them on the sides, fists gripping over the edge to keep himself grounded as she continued to work over him. Red lipstick stains trailed from lips, across his jaw and neck, down the toned planes of his abdomen. Where the water had risen over his body she was unable to see the following red marks. Red stained over his albino skin, pressed to the base of his cock and up over it, perfection of art upon skin. He was a vision of sheer beauty, a man being brought to the highest points of pleasure from his lovers mouth. And he was all hers.

“____…” Almost so quiet she didn’t hear it, one hand now moved to intertwined in her hair with a gentle grasp. The way she felt him begin to throb against her tongue, the higher pitched whimpers that fell faster and faster was a sign he was close. Hollowing her cheeks, applying more pressured suction as she pushed down further, exhaling from her nose as she moved her hand, rouge lips firmly pressing to the bottom of his cock to take him fully into her mouth. Her free hand pressed to his hip to stop him from bucking into her mouth, waves splashing across her cheek from the movement. He cursed heavily to feel the smooth velvet of her tongue running against the throbbing vein of the underside of his cock, the action proving to be his undoing as he pulsed against the back of her throat. Her head moving up slowly to push down whilst his release filled her mouth, ensuring to ride his orgasm out the best she could before his pleasured moans fell into softening whimpers.

She felt herself clench over nothing at his moans, craving for him to fill her but it needed to wait, Zen was her priority tonight not her own needs. One final brush of her lips to his softening cock before she pulled off him, swallowing his plentiful release as she sat up, pressing her hands to rest on his chest. Zen lying in a blissful glow, skin glowing with sweat as he took a few moments to regain his breath. Both of them counting their blessings to be so lucky to belong to each other. 

“I love you so much ____,” Finally breathing at a normal rate, sitting up to hold her to his chest. One hand cupping her cheek and using his thumb to wipe away the saliva that pooled in the corner of her mouth. “Let me show you how much,”.

Whilst his sweet words were tempting and she would love nothing more for him to pin her to the bed and pound her into the mattress, tonight was all about him. 

“Later Zenny, but let’s shower first, the water's getting cold,” She whispered, pressing a delicate kiss to his lips before rising out of water. Not bothering to wrap a towel around she walked straight into the shower, letting the warmth of the water envelop over her. It took a mere few seconds for Zen to be running in behind her, his hands holding her waist from behind as his lips found her neck. They showered together, every attempt Zen made she shot him down with “After, I promise, let me take care of you,”. As much as she throbbed and ached between her thighs, she needed to wait, knowing the release she would have later would be worth it all.

She washed his hair, sinking her fingertips into his scalp and letting the water massage the bubbles out of it. Zen relaxing against her in a tranquil state, love, love and love pulsing from one body to another as they washed each other. The red paint on his skin now fading away down the drain, sweet nimble kisses shared as she washed away the soap on his skin. Sighing softly to feel the flex of his muscles as she ran her fingertips over them, enjoying his tender vulnerable side, that was only for her.

Zen had spent his life trying to prove he was good enough, that he was the best he could be and yet when it came to her he felt he would never be good enough. In his eyes she was a goddess, a laugh and smile that poured light into his life, someone so pure and caring. The words of his monologue were a reflection of how he felt about her, practically giving her his heart on the stage.

It was a trial to make it to the bed, lips locked together as they pawed at each other’s body’s. Stopping every few feet until finally he couldn’t take it anymore and held her in his arms, carrying her to the bed. He lay her down on the mattress, following suit without breaking the kiss. He parted her thighs to settle in between them, lips peppering down her body until she stopped him with a tug of his hair. She knew exactly what he was about to and where them lips were heading, turning her night of passion for him into one for her as well. Rolling them over, she straddled him, keeping her hands tightly on his chest to stop him flipping the positions again.

She sank down onto his cock with delicate mewls, no need for foreplay, much to his protests, from how wet she already was from seeing Zen so undone for her earlier. He was always the gentleman and ensured she came atleast once before sex, either with his tongue or hand, normally both. 

He found himself thanking the heavens over and over again in a silent prayer as she rocked in his lap moments later, slow grinding movements with sweet proclamations of love to each other. Only once she’d climaxed twice did he search for his own, thrusting up whilst pulling her down, her body slightly spent and overly sensitive. ‘Oh… Hyun,’ she repeated over and over, thighs tensing with her fingers running down his chest, leaving red wakes in their way. The pulse of her sensitive walls over his, the way she moaned, the bounce of her breasts in front of his face was enough to bring him to the edge of climax faster. They came together, with each other's names on their lips. Her thighs trembling as she descended from her highs, collapsing onto his chest.Two strong arms encircled around her, a pair of lips pressing to her sweating forehead as he whispered to her how much he loved her, how lucky he was to have her, how much he worshipped her.

Once her thighs stopped quaking, he rolled them over so she was lying on her back. Mimicking her actions from earlier, pressing kisses down her body and repeating the words of praise she has used, to let her know he was just as crazy about her as she was him. He parted her thighs and settled between them, eyes glistening as he looked up with a smile.

“My love, earlier you compared me to Adonis,” He placed her legs to place on his shoulders, tilting his head to press kisses from her knee down her thighs, “But whilst I might be him, I hold nothing compared to you, my real life Aphrodite,”. He didn’t give her time to answer back, his mouth already pressed against her lower lips and using his tongue to part her folds. Zen believed at one point that he was the most beautiful creature to walk this planet but he came to realise he was wrong the first day he set eyes upon her. Her face sculpted by the hands of the gods, a living breathing masterpiece that he got to indulge in and praise everyday.

Their actions speaking for their words of love as they continued to cherish each other’s body’s, melting in pleasure and passion into each other’s arms as the sun rose outside. Two lovers expressing their adoration for each other with entwined limbs amongst the tangled satin sheets.

Kinktober masterlist here.

[barkkletshunt]

Those Worth Fighting For Part seven

Part one          Part two

Part three        Part four

Part five           Part six

Part Seven (You’re here)       Part eight 

Taglist:

@ladybug-182 @fruit-snacc-ace @miraculous-simmer7 @lavenderjunes 

@use-flamethrower @fan-written @all-mights-asscheeks @birdie-posts

Sorry if the tags aren’t working, I tried and I’m not sure where I went wrong with it? 

If I have time the next part will come out with some art! Don’t expect the art to be any good though lol

“So then, I go to the window and there is Adrien on Kagami’s front lawn with a big sign that says prom on it, and by the way neither of us knew he was going to be in France at all. It was a total surprise. So I’m so shocked my mind completely blanks out and I shout down to him that yes, I’ll go to prom with him. He yells back ‘tall Kagami’ and I turn around and just ‘your boyfriend just asked to go to prom with me.’ Without skipping a beat she leans out of the window and tells him he’s too late, she already asked me.” Marinette laughed, wiping a stray tear from her eye that began to form from how hard she was trying to not burst into a fit of giggles until the story ended. “In the end the three of us went to prom together.”

The four around the table shook their heads. “Mari, dude, if you can’t get through that story without laughing how are you supposed to do your toast?”

“I’ll just practice it a lot until it’s no longer funny to me, simple. I’m not even going to worry about it anymore.” The blue haired girl shrugged. When she was younger she would have worried about that, but she was long since past that. At least, she hoped she was. She had done enough interviews with Alya in her teen years, and then enough speeches as Ladybug to fill her with a confidence she lacked as a teen. She was nervous, but instead of the all consuming nervousness that would make her fumble and trip over her words it was now an excited nervousness. She was excited about it. 

“I think you’ll do fine,” Felix winked at her, his face never changing from the impartial look he had on since he came into the restaurant.

They all had made their way back to the same place after the amok, even if Felix was late once again. The blond had made his excuses of needing to take care of some errands that he had forgotten, but it hadn’t mattered much to any of them. Marinette had saved a seat next to her for him and he was more than happy to take it.

“Why not talk about the moment you realized those two were perfect for each other?” Nathaniel asked, playing with the straw in his drink. “I know you have a million stories about that.”

“Something like Adrien saving Kagami from a bully, or a dance of just the two of them where they lock eyes and suddenly the whole room disappears?” Marc hummed, their author brain going into overdrive at the thought of romance. “Maybe you saw him protect her against an akuma or amok?”

Marinette thought for a moment. What was it that made her realize that they belonged together? After all those years fawning over Adrien, it was Kagami’s love for him that made her step down, but what was the exact moment? 

“It was at Chloe’s fifteenth birthday party.” Marinette started, recalling the time before Hawkmoth had lost and her world began to fall apart and fix itself simultaneously. “Adrien’s dad thought it would be a good idea for Kagami to go with him and keep an eye on his son, and they started the evening miserable because the paparazzi outside the hotel told them that they always looked so perfect that it made sense that they would be perfect together. I only got to spend a few minutes with them before being pulled away by Chloe, but when I went to find them and bring them some hot chocolate they were on the roof ruffling each other's hair and talking about anime, and goofing around like I hadn’t seen either of them do before.” 

“They saw that the other understood their background and chose to help break out of that image with each other and just be kids.” Felix’s words surprised her, but he understood exactly what had happened. 

“They were so embarrassed when they saw me that I challenged them both to hot chocolate drinking contests to ease the awkwardness. They didn’t even realize I didn’t have one for myself before chugging theirs and burning their mouths at the same time.” Her two messy friends meant the world to her, and she knew no one would understand them like they understood each other. Both of them had strict parents that would only let them escape and be kids when they were with the other, and they took those opportunities and made every moment count. They were what each other needed, and then when they got their freedoms they were still the ones they chose. “I think that’s also when they stopped acting perfect in front of me. Adrien really started to bug me to watch anime so he could talk about it with someone other than his girlfriend, and Kagami soon demanded to be my dress up doll because she never got to do that growing up. They became my best friends and honestly, I think I’m better for it too.”

“How romantic.” Marc swooned, leaning against Nathaniel who caught his significant other with a laugh. “Childhood friends, to rivals, to lovers. 50K slowburn.”

“Once there was an akuma trying to hurt Adrien and Kagami picked up the nearest weapon she could find and just went at ‘em and I have never seen Adrien’s face light up like that. The boy just wants to be loved and protected.” Nino joined in. “Alya and I were shocked, we both had our money on Adrien ending up with someone else, but we’re both happy about it. Speaking of which, I gotta update her on what’s going on here. She’ll flip.”

Felix shifted in his seat, catching Marinette’s eye as Nathaniel and Marc continued talking about Kagami and Adrien’s relationship. He wasn’t there for all those moments, he wasn’t a long term friend of everyone so he didn’t know Alya or Chloe and she wouldn’t doubt it if he had felt out of place in the conversation. 

“Pst,” she scooted herself over, getting closer to him and leaning over to whisper at him. “You look nice today.”

Felix blinked in surprise. Within seconds his face was growing warm and he used his hand to cover the lower half of his face as inconspicuously as possible. “Aren’t I the one who’s supposed to say that, Miss. Dupain-Cheng?”

“I’m afraid I beat you to it, Mr. Graham De Vanily.” She whispered back. “But it’s okay, you might get me next time.”

How long had it been since she was able to flirt with someone without losing herself in the what-if’s and teenaged anxiety that had plagued her? How had one battle fighting side by side with Ryuko, Alley Cat, and the others given her so much confidence that she hadn’t had even during the fight itself? Was it that damned cat’s words? He had unknowingly complimented her to her face and she was still beaming with pride over being called brilliant. Being complimented on her looks was nice, but the way he had complimented her on her mind was something else. She supposed that was what did it, after all. Being told that she was great because of who she was and not because of how she looked filled her with a pride she didn’t even want to describe lest it dampened the feeling inside her chest. 

“Well then, until next time, you look wonderful. You’re outfit choice is on point, as always.” His comment hit straight to her heart. There it was again. A comment on something she chose being good. “And although you are trying to start a fire with my face, I am enjoying this time with you away from colour pallets and order forms. I like seeing this other side of you, Marinette.”

“I’d like to say the same thing, but it has come to my attention that you seem to only wear suits, Felix. This is the same side of you I always see.” She couldn’t help her grin. There was a strange formal banter between them that she found exhilarating. In it’s own way it made her feel like part of the aristocratic world that he and Adrian and Kagami belonged to, without having to deal with the fakeness that the latter two often complained about. “Dare I say, I don’t believe you own anything that isn’t a suit.”

“I’d hate to inform you of this, but you’re incorrect on that front.” Felix moved the hand that was covering his face to let himself rest his chin upon it. “I do, and I’d prefer it if you don’t go to the press with this, own a few sets of pajamas.”

“And are they silk and made to look like a suit?” She asked, now leaning against him to softly poke at his arm. “I bet you had them custom made so that you would never appear unprofessional.” 

“Well, well, aren’t you curious to see my pajamas? Shame you won’t get to see them until our fourth date.” Felix leaned his head against hers, and her heart began to race. 

“So, are you two actually a thing?” Nino’s voice broke them out of their moment. Marinette and Felix realized how it must have looked to the others and immediately sat straight in their seats. 

Nathaniel elbowed Nino in the ribs. “Dude!”

“What? I’m just trying to clear things up for my daily Alya report.” Nino tried to defend himself from the onslaught of hands trying to hit him from Marc and Nathaniel. “It gets complicated sometimes and you know my girl won’t let anything rest until she has all the info!”

“If Miss. Dupain-Cheng would like to, as you put it, actually be a thing, then I would be honoured to.” He said it so simply that Marinette wasn’t sure why she had hesitated before. He did like her. 

“Only if you wear your pajamas to our next late night planning session.” Marinette wasn’t willing to let the pajamas slide. “I have to see you out of a suit before we get all lovey dovey. It’s a rule.”

“Did you make that rule just for me?”

“Of course.”

“Well, don’t I feel special.” Felix thought to himself, making a bit of a show of it as he tossed his head side to hide. His braid that previously rested on his shoulder now swinging back and forth behind him, looking like a cat's tail as it got ready to play. “I think I have room to negotiate here, so if I may I am going to put the added condition that you must also wear your pajamas.”

“I don’t think this is supposed to be a business transaction, dude,” Nino tried, but Marinette held her hand up. She could negotiate. 

“I’ll accept those terms on the condition that you buy coffee, and we get to watch a movie together with some popcorn.” Marinette raised her brow, daring Felix to try to get a better deal out of her. 

“If I am purchasing coffee, popcorn, and a movie, then I will push for some baked goods from your parents bakery.” Felix held out his hand. “Well?”

“You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Graham De Vanily, but I accept your terms.” Marinette took his hand and shook it. That was the most fun she had ever had while figuring out plans for a date, and she knew she’d have more fun watching the movie with Felix than she just did. “A movie date in our pajamas with snacks it is.”

“I’ll pick you up friday night at eight?” 

“I can’t wait to see your suit pajamas.”

“I bet you have frills on yours.”

“And you don’t?”

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 207 prt 1

207

Lotor was still a sack of shit. Keith managed to get him pinned, then the arsehole had pierced his side with his nails, fangs bared and irritation in his eyes as he stared down at Keith. The pain causing him to shift back, Lotor finding it amusing in causing him to yield, but he’d get him back. Dragging himself to the showers, the amount of blood running down the drain was alarming. Keith really wasn’t used to these kinds of wounds not being fatal. It was tiresome to have to spar in cheap shorts because the moment he shifted his clothes were ruined. Lance had taken him op-shopping. Proud that he was getting the hand of letting the shift happen. Keith didn’t think he was getting the hand of it. He only seemed to be able to shift when he was training... and then it’d taken days to be able to do it again after his first wilful shift... that he didn’t remember.

Leaving the shower, still bleeding, Keith nearly had a heart attack at Krolia sitting on the bench in front of his locker. His mother were a concerned look, that took a long moment for Keith to work out. A hot shower on top of blood loss was a silly idea. Instead of feeling clean, he felt faint

“Mum?”

Lifting the first aid kit beside her, his mother was creeping him out with her concern

“I thought you could use some help with your wounds”

“Oh... uh, they’ll heal”

Krolia sounded almost disappointed in him as she pointed to the spot next to her. He wasn’t getting out of this

“Humour me”

Be fussed over by his mother was different to being fussed over by Shiro or Lance. Lance kissed his wounds, before he cleaned them up and told him he was proud that Keith was making progress, even if he hated seeing him coming home bleeding. Shiro went to fretting and wondering if he needed stitches. Krolia went to the alcohol wipes that made him yip

“Sit still you big baby”

“Stop poking at them. They’ll heal”

“You’re very lucky you’re a wolf. You’d be dead if you were still human”

Rolling his eyes, he knew that. He knew that a hundred times over. The fact his body healed was so damn weird

“Tell me something I don’t know”

Dropping the wipe she’d been assaulting his right hand side with, his mother pulled him into a hug that left him still. He didn’t move to return the hug, nor did it feel like a nice loving hug... No. This was the kind of hug he’d gotten from Lance after his accident. The “I’m worried about you” hug that made his heart race

“Mum?”

“I want you to stop training with Lotor”

She what now? Blinking half a dozen times, Keith wrinkled his brow

“Mum, you know I’m okay...”

“I know, but I can’t stand it. I’ve been watching your training sessions with him... Keith, it scares me. I don’t want that kind of violence for you”

“We’re training...”

“You’re fine the way you are. I know you’re a skilled hunter, but every time I see you covered in blood, it hurts. I know it hurts Lance too. He called me in tears the first time it happened. He’s very proud of you, and he’d never tell you not to train. I’m very proud of you. But I think you need to take a break for a little while. You can go on patrol with Shiro, just... please... I know you heal, but I’m scared you’ll go too far”

Keith was shaking. He’d worked his arse off for this. He had yet to actually beat Lotor, but he was getting to know how his wolf. He was getting to be less scared about what he was now. Now Lance was having secret conversations with Krolia, while telling him to his face he was proud of him... and his mother was telling him not to fight? She’d fought every day of her life in more ways than one...

“I don’t get it”

He simply didn’t. He was strong. He was fast. The wounds healed. And his ego agreed with him. They could do this

“Keith... I overstepped. Just... I want you to be careful. You’re my son. I am so proud of you”

Why did it feel like there was a “but” to that?

“But?”

“I know I was never a good mother. I guess seeing your father again reminded me of a time when I didn’t have to fight... Let me finish cleaning you up”

“Mum, I’m okay. Training with Lotor is helping. It means I’ll actually know my limits in the field and be able to protect Shiro and Curtis”

“But who’s going to protect you?”

He didn’t have an answer for that. His ego said he didn’t need protecting. That they were better than those humans. The thought upsetting him as soon as it crossed his mind. Shiro was his brother. His pack. He has his back more times than Keith had hot dinners. Maybe... maybe he was getting too cocky? Maybe... he was being mean and didn’t know it? He and Lance hadn’t been very intimate since he’d started training with Lotor... Was Lance thinking he didn’t want to touch him?

“Keith?”

“I’ll think about it. You don’t have to worry about dressing the wounds. Lance will take care of it at home”

He wanted to go home to his fiancé and talk this out. He thought Lance had been proud of him. Not running to his mother because he couldn’t face him. Lance said he understood Keith’s fatigue... He’d said he was proud... Honestly, Lance not being honest upset him far more than Krolia telling him to stop

“About that. Yeah, Lance isn’t at home right now. I picked him up earlier and now he’s with Curtis and Shiro”

Had he fucked up? Why wasn’t Lance at home

“What do you mean he’s not at home?!”

“You don’t need to yell. Rieva was a little worried about him, and I wanted to borrow him anyway. He’s fine. Rieva couldn’t very well to his future mother-in-law needing to borrow him, not when I said I’d bring him to Platt”

“Mum!”

Rieva was Lance’s babysitter. He’d lapsed back into barely being able to keep his eyes open again. The female werewolf was sure labour would be coming on soon, Lance cut her down by saying he was exhausted from her and her birthing plan. Keith was exhausted from hearing about the birthing plan... and he wasn’t the one doing any of the hard work. Frankly she was slightly scary

“Again with yelling!”

“You can’t go stealing Lance”

“I didn’t steal him. Anyway, he’s safe. I needed to borrow him for the afternoon, actually, I needed to borrow both of you. Preferably for the night according to Matt”

Matt couldn’t go kicking them out their own home. Frankly Keith had enough to deal with. He wanted to hurry up and buy Lance the engagement ring already, but the engagement ring had to be the right ring. It had to match his plans for his replica of Mami’s ring. Lance never mentioned it, but he’d noticed that his fiancé had had a sad look on his face as he looked at Rieva’s new bling. They still hadn’t told anyone... and for Keith, the novelty had started wearing off. He wanted to scream and shout they were engaged... but until he got a ring for Lance, they’d only cop judgment from their friends.

“He can go fuck himself”

Three werewolves were not meant to live together when they were all worried over Lance. Matt had ever started trying to feed Lance, sacrificing his precious food to Lance who only felt worse and worse each time he did

“Don’t be like that. He’s planning Lance’s surprise baby shower. Pidge is in charge of the entertainment and drinks. Hunk and Shay are doing the catering. Rieva is decorating, and Matt is providing the muscles. Allura and Coran are going to drive down in the morning. Thankfully I had a valid reason for needing the both of you, so it all worked out rather nicely”

“Do I get to know what this reason is?”

“I think it’s better I show you rather than simply tell you”

His mother was enjoying this. Keith huffing at her in annoyance. Now his talk with Lance would have to wait, and his stupid ego would be all bent out of shape as it did. He really missed being a human.

*

Krolia sprung another surprise on him. He’d thought his mother had her own apartment in a seperate part of the city. Not her own apartment a floor below where Shiro’s apartment was. Confused at why they’d gotten off a floor early, the only thing that kept him huffing about it was subtle traces of Lance’s scent in the hallway. Lead down to one of the anonymous doors, Krolia took delight in opening it

“Welcome to my apartment!”

The place was decorated the same as theirs. The same primary colours, accented with black and white. Her sofa was black, instead of red, but for the most part it was disorientatingly similar. Sitting on the sofa, Lance was asleep against next to Curtis who had his arms around the vampire’s shoulder

“Hey, Keith. Come on in. Lance’s been out for about half an hour now, and Shiro’s upstairs”

Curtis’s familiarity with the apartment annoyed Keith. As Krolia’s son, he didn’t understand how he was the last to know she lived right below him. He didn’t want to deal with her shit

“Fuck this. I’m going to get my bike”

As he turned, Krolia sidestepped. Grabbing him by the wrist, he was propelled into her apartment and the door closed behind the pair of them. The look in his mother’s eyes told him he had to stay, no matter how he might feel about it

“Thanks, Curtis. I’ve got it from here”

“No worries. You know, you could have told us you actually lived her”

Kroli shrugged, smug as she did

“I would have, but none of you thought to ask”

Why did he keep letting Krolia do this to? He’d never understand her sense of humour

“Mum, you... why do you do this to me?”

“I’ve got 20 years of mum jokes to make up for. I can, and will, have this. Can I get something you something to drink?”

“Can it be alcoholic?”

Something strong. Something that burned on the way down. Something that’d make him forget his weirdo mother’s excess of weirdness and soothe his annoyance with the situation. Krolia laughed far too hard

“Keith, you my son, are a funny one. Go save Curtis from Lance and I’ll whip up something up to go with our drinks”

Taking Lance from Curtis, Lance barely stirred. Slurring his name, he smiled at Keith as if he hadn’t seen him in years, not a few hours. Snuggling into him, the vampire sighed in content. Lance wouldn’t lie to him, Krolia had to have misunderstood. Stretching, Curtis shot them both a smile. Keith not matching it as his lover smelt too much like everyone else

“He’s had some blood from a bag. He felt a bit warm earlier, so I don’t know if he’s coming down with a fever, or if he’s just super tired. One moment we were discussing our show, and the next he’d fallen asleep”

“He does that. Thanks for watching over him”

“It’s fine. He seems a bit stressed about what’s happening at home. When you’re done here, come on up. I’m going to grab some blood bags before I go home”

“Thanks. That’d be handy. How big is the party going to be?”

“Not that big. Pidge has been warned against loud noises. Hunk was having a nervous breakdown over the cake, but I think he’s got that sorted now”

“As long as he doesn’t go overboard”

“With three werewolves to feed, I don’t think even Hunk can over cater. I’ll give you our gift when you come up”

“Nah, save it until tomorrow. Lance will get suspicious if you’re suddenly giving us gifts”

“Provided he can stay awake long enough. Is he okay to be sleeping?”

“Yeah. From what we can tell it’s a pregnancy thing. I’ll keep an eye on him and call Coran if he does develop a fever”

“Okay, then I’m off. I’ll see you tomorrow, Krolia!”

“See ya, Curtis!”

Left alone with Lance in his mother’s den, Keith stroked his fiancé’s hair. Fresh blood would help perk Lance back up, but his mother seemed uncomfortable when he fed him, plus he’d kind of lost a fair bit thanks to Lotor. He could imagine Coran in there scraping his blood off the training room floor for testing, the werewolf’s nose wrinkling at the thought of it all. Lance could have told him if he’d acted out, or if his ego had been being mean to him. He could have told him if he was scared of who, or what, Keith was becoming. He’d nearly given up, then Lance had encouraged him to keep going... Maybe it was a hormone thing? Like when Lance had cried over the puppy in a TV commercial the other day...

Attempting to be civilised, his mother brought him out of his thoughts by placing down a serving tray with two coffees, a tea, and an unopened packet of biscuits. Squeezing herself onto the sofa, Krolia slung her arm over Keith’s shoulder

“This is nice, isn’t it?”

“That you’ve been hiding you’ve been living here? Or that I’ve got no idea what’s going on?”

He and Shiro might be hopeless decorators, but they’d managed to make the apartment feel like theirs. Krolia’s apartment lacked all the personal touches he’s become used to... plus there was a disturbing lack of fur over everything

“Both. Both is good. Now, I know I’ve ruined your plans, but I’ve got something to show you”

“It better be good. Lance should be sleeping in a proper bed”

“You can put him in mine, if you want”

“Lance is fine right here with his Keith”

Poking Lance in the side, Keith kissed Lance’s hair as he did. Mumbling Lance was a sleepy Lance

“You’re supposed to be sleeping”

“I am... can’t you tell?”

“Oh, yes, babe. 10 out of 10, best sleeper”

“I feel sick... you smell like blood”

Lance must have felt too sick to praise him for his monster dick. Thank god they weren’t having that conversation in his mother’s apartment

“Lotor got me again”

Lance huffed, nosing into Keith’s chest right near where Lotor had got him in the left side with his thumb nail

“He sucks... get it, because he’s a vampire and a wanker”

“I get it. Do you want to wake up for me? Or do you want to sleep some more?”

“Cuddles and awake”

“Okay. You going to sit up?”

“Nope. Sorry for interrupting you”

“You’re fine, babe. Mum was about to cut the crap and tell me what she wanted to show me”

“Oooh... I wanna see. Can I see?”

Krolia tried to crane past him to see Lance, Keith shifting slightly to angle his back more towards her as a barrier between the pair of them

“I thought it best that you were to see it with Keith. Are we ready?”

“Yes, please”

“Hiiiiiiii, Keith. Hey, mummy’s big boy... Hello my love. Joe, he looks just like you. Look at him. He’s got your frown. Aw, Keith. It’s okay. Daddy isn’t very scary. No, he’s not”

“Krolia, I think you’re scaring him with the camera”

“You shouldn’t have let me buy it if you didn’t want me using it”

As his father laughed, baby him let out an unhappy cry. His father rushing to hush him as Krolia’s laugh crackled.

Bundled in his father’s arms on screen, Keith had to keep blinking away the tears in his eyes. His dad. His dad was there... The camera footage was old and grainy. He looked thoroughly unamused at Krolia poking the camera so close, but... it was him. Him and his dad. His dad...

“H-how...?”

“After Lance had cleaned I managed to find these in Joe’s closet. They were down the bottom in a box without any labels. I didn’t know what was on there until I dropped the tapes in to be put on DVD... You always hated having a camera anywhere near you when you were a baby”

“Dad...”

“They could only recover footage from two of the tapes. I kept the lot, in case one day they find some way to pull the videos off... You were such cute baby. You never liked having your nappy changed. The moment the cloth touched your balls, you’d scream and scream as if I was trying to murder you”

“You would too if someone was putting a cold cloth on your balls. I didn’t know you and dad had a camera”

“It was a gift. Nothing fancy and certainly not new... I’d forgotten about it. I didn’t see it at the house, so I’ve got not idea what happened it to. Things weren’t like they are now. We didn’t have video cameras in our palms”

He and Lance agreed to keep photos of the twins off social media. Lance had seen a really messed up case during his last time through university. How the law failed parents who posted photos of their children online where they could be seen by less than desirable people. The thought revolted him

“How old was I?”

“I’d say you’re about a month or two. You got a lot more photogenic as you got older. The other video is when you’re 4”

The first video was only 5 minutes long. A really silly video of his dad trying to settle him while Krolia laughed at all his fussing.

“Keith. Hey, Keith, what are you doing?”

Younger him gave the camera a toothy grin, missing his front two. He was so small. His eyes as purple as ever

“You came off your bike and knocked them out. Joe rushed you to the doctor. You were more concerned with not being able to have homemade lemonade than about losing your teeth”

“Keith, I’m talking to you”

Young Keith was as done with Krolia’s crap as he was. Holding his purple hippo, he was twisting himself back and forth, showing off for the camera as he whined directly at the lens

“Mum, I’m waiting for dad!”

“You’re waiting for daddy? But he’s at work”

“I know he’s at work. I’m not dumb”

Huffing, young him pouted, stomped his foot and crossed his arms.

Lance snorted at him, his hand squeezing Keith’s gently

“You haven’t changed one bit. You’re so adorable”

“Wasn’t he? He loved that hippo so much...”

“Guys, I’m trying to watch the video”

He didn’t want to watch himself, but he did hope his dad would be in it. Having been warned, Lance and Krolia shut up.

“I didn’t say you were. You can do just about anything, and I think you should take me on a tour of our house so I can show daddy later”

Young him huffed again

“That’s dumb. Dad knows where everything is, mum. He’s not like you”

He was a vicious little shit

“You’re really mean to me. Don’t you love, mummy?”

“Not when she’s asking stupid questions...”

Oh god. Keith’s cheeks were flaming with embarrassment. Krolia laughing on the video

“Okay. Okay. Mummy obviously doesn’t know best. Why don’t you do a dance and I’ll film you?”

To his horror, young him shook himself out and danced on the spot. Lance laughing at his “dancing”. Finishing, he stared up at the camera, when Krolia didn’t say anything, he did it again. Parents shouldn’t be allowed cameras

“That’s my boy. Are you sure you don’t want to show me around?”

Pushing his finger to his cheek, he twisted it on the spot as if he was thinking “seriously”

“Are you going to get lost if I don’t?”

“I might”

Sigh dramatically, young him rolled his eyes heavily

“Fine, but you’ve got to remember this stuff, mum. I can’t remember everything for you all of the time. It’s too much”

Young him took them on a tour of their home. Bragging about his dad being a firefighter who rode in a huge truck. His favourite toy being his hippo, but he also loved his toy cars and had kicked a hole in the wall of his room when he’d been put in a time out. He sounded like the spawn of Satan. He definitely had far too much sass for a four year old. Krolia repeatedly scolded for her questions, laughing at him every time he got cranky with her. Seeing the house lived in, he could see the love. His things were everywhere. His “art” pinned to the fridge. Krolia slipping on his discarded skateboard, swearing loudly as she caught herself, young him happy to parrot the bad word then question why it was a bad word if mummy was saying it.

As young Keith concluded his tour, the door to the shack opened. Krolia forgotten

“Daddy!”

Rushing to his dad, the camera was placed down, the video slipping sideways as his father scooped him up.

Keith’s heart ached. His dad was everything he’d hoped he’d be. Everything he’d said he was as he passed from home to home. Yet he barely remembered him. The sound of his voice filled with so much longing to reach through the screen and hug his dad.

“Hey, kiddo! Did you have fun with mummy today?”

“Mum said “Fuck””

Young him giggled at the word as his father huffed

“I’m not surprised. Hey, hun. I see his fever went down, he’s still a bit a warm”

Krolia entered the video, his father wrapping his arm around her and kissing her on the top of her head

“Yeah. You wouldn’t have known he sick last night”

His father hiked him up on his hip, kissing Keith’s forehead

“He takes after you. Don’t you, kiddo?”

“I wanna be like daddy. Mummy is weird”

His father laughed, Krolia moving away from them

“She might be, but if you keep saying that you’re going to make her cranky”

“She’s scary when she’s mad...”

“I can still hear both of you. I think this means no dessert for either of you tonight”

Krolia moved back to the camera, the last shot was of him throwing up on his dad and bursting into tears.

A long moment passed into two. Lance grunting as he wiggled himself forward on the sofa

“Babe?”

[sparrowwritesforop]

How about KRS sfw for Katakuri!💕💋

Since you were one of the first ones, there will be the full alphabet for Katakuri💕🌹

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

The sweet Commander cannot show his feelings openly. It´s just not his style, but it´s completely different when you´re in private. As soon as he can be sure that the two of you are alone he´ll be an affectionate cinnamon role. Of course he is going to take a while to open up to you, but as soon as he does you can look forward to kisses, hugs and sweet words.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

It propably started because of Donuts. Cliché but we all know that Katakuri bonds over these sweet treats. So you probably worked in a bakery, making the giants favorite desserts. He would come by more often and you´d engage him in small conversations, until he orders his Donuts to his home. As soon as you delievered them he´d spent the day with you. And thus a great friendship is born.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

If he is comfortable with you, he´ll take his time to exchange affection with you. Due to his size it would be most convenient to cuddle. You´d sit on his lap, his arms around you and your Hands intertwined. If you´re in bed, the two of you would spoon, you being the small sponn of course, though Kata wouldn´t complain if you decided to hug his broad back from behind from time to time.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

Since he is a romantic guy, he thought about that at one point, but since he never actually was confronted with housework and all of that he needs to learn everything about it. And he will try his best, because he does not want to burden his s/o with all of the work around the house. Now for setteling down: He´d be sure that he chose a person he wants to spent the rest of his life with, no questions need to be asked.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

It would take a lot for him to break up with he person he fell in love with, it is more likely that he´ll seperate from them, because he thinks that it´s the best for them. Katakuri is not convinced yet that he is the best choice, because of his face for example.Katakuri could never end it face to face, since he´d overthink it as soon as he saw their face, so he´ll break up through a letter, not the best way ( he knows), but the only way for him

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

Big Mom would insist on marriage right at the start and Katakuri would never  complain first because he got raised from a mother that always told him that marriage is very important, second because he wants to satisfy mon and last but not least because Marriage would be a prove for him that his s/o will stay with him. It would be relaxing to him to know that he and his S/O are bound together.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

At first he was grumpy, said hurtful things sometimes without noticing it...mostly. Sometimes he just tried to keep his crush away from him and his face.As soon as they are an item he´ll be gentle and loving. Not teling them about his feelings with his words but rather with his actions. E.g putting things in places where they can reach them, leaving his shirts for them to sleep in, hugging them if they are stressed. All in all he is very observative when it come to his love.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

Oh damn...this man needs some love. It would be awkward for him st first, because he rarely got any hugs from his family...Brulee hugged him sometimes, but that´s it. He will need time to get used to it, but that will not take as long as anticipated. After that he´ll be addicted to physical affections, always making sure to give his s/o plenty if they are in private.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

Very long...probably during the wedding or honeymoon. But he will make sure that you know about his feelings from the start through actions. He´ll voice his feeling later, but eventually he will.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

Jealousy has a lot to do with lack of confidence. We know that he has a lot of issues with his own body, so he will be jealous sometimes. Since Katakuri does not show emotions openly it´ll not be likely that he´ll throw a raging fit in front of the person that came a little bit too close to his s/o for his liking. He´d take his lovers hand and pull them to a place where they have privacy to prove to them that he is the better choice.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)He is always scared to hurt you with his teeth, so his actual kisses are always gentle and careful. Sometimes he likes to give you eskimo kisses (touching the tip of your nose with his) to give you a little bit of affection.His favourite places to put his kisses are your neck and your shoulder.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

He had room to practise. He has many younger siblings and knows how to treat them, so it will not be surprising that he´d be a decent father someday. But he´ll never want to have as many children as Big Mom has, because as a child he felt neglected sometimes. There was never enough time for everybody in his family.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)Katakuri is an early bird, if the two of you get the chance to sleep in it will be likely for you to wake up in his arms, with him holding a book in his one hand while holding you tohis body with his other hand.He is sucker for morning kisses and long breakfasts.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)Aside from deep talks and....adult actions there will be also movie night and cuddle sessions. If the two of you watch a movie, be prepared to answer his questions. Katakuri will definetely ask you why certain characters do what they do and you of course have no damn clue what to answer,

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)Getting details out of him will take a lot of time. At first he´d avoid questions, but as soon as he fully trusts you he´ll answer to you if you ever ask about something. The only time he´ll talk about his inner thoughts on his own accord is during one of your night deep talks.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)Katakuri is laid-back man. He would never get angered easily.The nly triggers he has are jokes about his face, people that mock his family and the risk of losing you.A fight i your relationship could be caused by you doing something reckless. He´d try to be as calm as possible, but if he is really angry he just cannot hold back. There might be afew situations that escalated and in the end he´d feel extremely guilty about some hurtful tings he said, so he will definetely be the first one to apologize.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

He remembers EVERYTHING. Really, even things that you didn´t say out loud. If you for example look at a flower or something along the way, it will be on your bedside table the next morning. He also remembers even the smallest things you told him. The name of your first pet, the haircolour of kindergartenfriends brothers best friend....everything.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

The wedding. He will remember this moment with a special joy in his heart.But the most precious memory for him will be the one in which he showed you his full face for the first time. You didn´t run away, weren´t disgusted. It makes him feel loved and respected.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

The sweet commander is used to fighting to protect his people, the island the family and you. He knows that there are a lot of enenmy that would never stop in front his innocent S/O, so he´ll be wary if the two of you are outside. Katakuri will alway watch out for you, if you like it or not. Should you go outside alone, he´ll send a bunch of soldiers to watch over you without you knowing ( he does not want you to feel constrained in any way.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

A lot, he actually has a book in which he writes down little details about you and your interests. He always plans a lot before giving something. Always thinks verything through to make sure thta you´re 100 Percent happy.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

His anger can get the better of him sometimes, he can lose control and hurt people he loves verbally (never physically of course)

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

We know him and we know the issues with his body, he is concerned about his looks so he wears the huge scarf to make sure that there is a barrier between the harsh world and his greatest weakness.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

When he is on missions you cannot attet due to safety reasons, he´ll feel kinda lost. Katakuri just misses his favourite person and they way they get him. He got used to having them around to talk to.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

His favourite colour is baby blue, because it reminds him of beautiful sunny days. He never had such trivial things like favourite colours before he met you, since he could never associate things with colours or songs or anthing. His life was dull and tasteless until you came along the way, colouring his life with your gentle touch, positive view of the world and kind words.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

He´d hate his partner to be snubby or arrogant. He needs a kind person that is open for many things.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habits of theirs?)

Kata actually rolls around a lot in his sleep, but this changes, when he shars his bed with you. He is subconscously afraid of crushing you.

I sincerely hope this suits you 💖❤💕🌹

[p4nkow]

You take my breath away - part III

I had so much fun writing this part! Enjoy and please let me know what you think 

Part I, Part II

As usual while reading this fic you need to pretend that Dominique was given much more space on the storyline, just like to the other love interests of the boys. Of course it is just fiction, even though I tried to make it as realistic as possible. I know it might seem a bit confusing so if you have any questions or if you’d like to let me know what you think of it just know that my DMs and Inbox are always open :) 

Summary: reader has always dreamt of being an actress and she gets the chance of a lifetime when she’s cast as Dominique Beyrand in the infamous biopic about the legend himself, Freddie Mercury. But what will happen when she gets to know better the man who plays his love interest in the movie, Roger Taylor? Will Ben and Y/N’s story be as lucky as the one of characters they portray or will they be starcrossed lovers? Because it happens that things might get complicated because of Ellie, Ben’s long-term girlfriend.

there are a few visual evidence ;)

South London - December 21st, 2017

Being busy helped you not to think about Ben. You’d been foolish to think that he might actually be interested in you, his co-star. Because that’s all you were — his fictional love interest. And you had to get over it.

You tried to fully enjoy your free time with your family and friends after wrapping on BoRhap. “Did you already write your letter to Santa?” Your six-years-old nephew was sitting on your lap, his head resting on your chest as you gently rubbed his back.

“Yes, mommy helped me out with it.” You smiled by hearing his soft, sleepy voice.

“And what did you ask Santa for?”

His answer made your heart sank and melt at the same time. “A drum set, just like the one that’s in your movie, auntie.”

You remembered facetiming your sister while being on set. That day Ben had tweaked his drums – why didn’t it sound like a news to you? – and Gwil was mocking him for that. Your nephew had popped up on the camera just when you were filming Ben, who was trying to fix the mess he made. 

He had given Francis the biggest of the smiles, but the kid’s eyes were all for the magnificent drum set. And that’s the reason why his request to Santa didn’t surprise you at all.

While Francis was falling asleep on your lap, you managed to get your phone, opening the Whatsapp group you had with the rest of the cast and which you hoped no one ever sees.

      You: How to react when your nephew asks you Roger’s drum set as a Christmas present? Asking for a friend.

You bit your lip as you waited for them to read, but you didn’t have to wait long — Joe was already typing.

     Joe: Just buy him a bass, woman

You tried not to chuckle at his answer in order not to wake the baby up. The rest of the boys joined the conversation.

     Lucy: You’re doomed

     You: I guess I am

     Gwil: Try on Wikihow

     You: 🤦‍♀️

     Rami: I’ll pretend I didn’t read that

And your heart speeded up when you noticed Ben was typing, too.

     Ben: they boy has good tastes 😉

Your smile grew wider by reading his reply and just for a moment everything seemed normal between the two of you. No Ellie, no kissing, no feelings. Just you and Ben. Your phone buzzed again as you got other messages.

     Joe: don’t act like it isn’t your fault, man

     Lucy: lol just don’t tell Roger

     You: no way

     Gwil: Alexa play Money, money, money by ABBA

Aaaand Ben was typing again – which was pretty normal, given that you were in a group chat. But that didn’t stop your heart from racing in your chest.

     Ben: I’m afraid I can’t take credits for that

Actually it was because of him but there was no need for him to know that.

     Allen: what’s going on??

     Rami: just Y/N’s nephew asking for Roger’s drums

     Allen: I thought kids still played with Lego’s?

               Oh and before I forget

               I’ll see y’all in a couple of days, right?

Crap. You’d forgotten that Allen was getting married and you were all invited to the ceremony, which happened to be in California. The bop of the phone brought you back from your thoughts.

     Lucy: sure thing

And shortly after she sent a picture of her and Rami with their thumbs up. Theirs were the biggest smiles you’d ever seen. Gwil did the same, sending a picture of him with his fist raised and a warm smile on his face. You couldn’t help but notice he was wearing a Wales shirt, his favourite one. “I’ll be there!”, he texted right after sending the picture.

You decided to send one too right after seeing Joe’s one. He was clearly jogging, given his messy hair and the fact that he had his headphones on. He was wearing a shirt of a bright pink and he was standing right next to a flower of the same colour. “Count on me”, He texted, adding shortly after “I’ll match with the flower.”

You took a picture of you and Francis – who was still asleep – but it took you a few moments to decide whether to send it or not. There was a tight smile in your face as your cheek rested on Francis’ head, his angelic features relaxed while sleeping. You were looking straight at the camera and after giving it a better look, it became your favourite picture.

But you tended to overthink on everything, even on pictures you were supposed to send to your friends. At the end you sent it anyways, adding a text. “Ofc! Hopefully he’ll wake up by then.”

Lucy replied to your message with the heart eyes emoji and you were about to put the phone away when you got another message.

It was Ben’s pic; the first thing you noticed – aside that he was handsome as hell – was that he looked tired. You didn’t see the typical sparkle that usually lit up his eyes. If you had to be completely honest with yourself you missed seeing his beautiful face in the morning or spending whole nights in his company.

Santa Ynez Valley (CA) – January 5th, 2018

“This damn thing”, You heard Joe say under his breath in front of the mirror. You turned towards him with your brows narrowed just to see him struggle with his tie.

“Maz, wait.” You sighed deeply and walked towards him. You’d given him that nickname after watching Undrafted together, the movie he’d directed and produced, and somehow it just stuck to him.

You moved away his hands from the tie, stopping him from trying – and fail again – to do a decent knot. You gave him an amused look right when he looked at you with gratitude, starting to do it for him just like your mom had taught you to do.

“Ties are the devil’s tools.”

You chuckled at his words, moving your gaze to him just for an instant before turning your attention back to the tie. “Don’t be overdramatic.”

“Oh, you know I am.” You grinned at him and just when you finished your job someone knocked at the door.

“Mate, are you ready?” Ben’s deep voice came crystal clear to your ears. Your heart started racing in your chest and by the look Joe gave you, you knew he suspected something.

“Yeah, coming!”, He replied and while he walked towards the door you adjusted the folds of your dress, giving a quick look at your hair through the mirror just to make sure it was fine.

You were so bloody nervous that your hands began to get sweaty. Joe gave you a quick look from above his shoulder before opening the door. Ben didn’t notice you at first so you had the chance to give him a better look.

You weren’t surprised to see him in a black suit, but that didn’t mean he didn’t leave you speechless. He had his hair back and it was oddly in order but it highlighted the shining of his green eyes, which seemed even more clear than you remembered.

“I was sure to see you with your tie undone, buddy”, He said in an amused tone, nodding towards the know you’d made. He peeked out his tongue as he used to do and in that moment you wish you could kill the butterflies in your stomach.

He’s not your man, you kept saying to yourself. 

Joe softly laughed at his words, pointing at you with a thumb. “Y/N was here to save the day.”

And that’s when Ben’s gaze moved to the back of the room, looking straight at you. You felt his gaze raking your body before meeting your eyes. His lips were a bit parted in surprise and he slowly raised a corner of his lips in a tight smile. “Y/N.”

He pronounced your name like if it was a praise and you shyly smiled at him. “Hey, Ben.”

You heard Joe sigh and you were pretty sure he rolled his eyes at the two of you. He murmured something under his breath before saying out loud “I’ll see you downstairs.”

Ben didn’t seem to pay him attention when he walked past him and shortly after you heard his footsteps walking down the stairs. You forced yourself to move your gaze away from him, grabbing your purse and giving a last look at the room to make sure you weren’t forgetting anything.

When you joined Ben in the hallway, closing the door behind you, his gaze was still on you. “You still blush?”, He murmured in an amused tone and you wondered if he’d ever stop asking you that.

“Oh, shut up, Jones.” He giggled at your words and the two of you, one right next to the other, started to walk towards the stairs. In the hallway you crossed two or three people and given that they were all dressed elegant you were pretty sure they were heading to the wedding, too.

“You look gorgeous.” You bit the interior of your cheeks at his words, giving him a look with the corner of your eyes.

“You look good, too. But you know that exist other colours beside black, right?”

“Don’t sass me, wifey.” You grinned at him and you gave yourself a second to appreciate his presence next to you. You had bloody missed him and now that you were together again, that night at the pub seemed to be forgotten. Seemed, because you couldn’t forget how humiliated you felt when he left you.

Ben was looking at you with a grin, his gaze raking your body once again. You felt flattered by the fact that he couldn’t stop looking at you and you couldn’t help but smile in victory. He even tried to place a hand in your back while walking through the hallway and if at first you couldn’t bring yourself to move his hand away because of the shivers his touch sent down your spine, subsequently you pulled your arm back and gently moved it away.

“Hands off, Jones”, You said with a half-smile, meeting his gaze. “I don’t want to be chased by any angry girlfriend.”

He let out a small laughter and even if by now you were in a dangerous ground, you felt pretty confident. “At least take my arm, I don’t wanna see you roll down the stairs.” And by saying so he offered you his arm, which you gratefully accepted.

As you focused not to stumble over the stairs with your heels, Ben’s tone suddenly changed. “There isn’t any angry girlfriend.”

You suddenly felt a knot in your throat and you didn’t look at him, afraid that if you did you’d loose your balance. “Yeah, like for the last time.” You didn’t mean to say these words but now the damage was done.

He turned his head towards you and you could feel him staring at you; thankfully you were at the last step of the stairs. “For real this time.” You were about to let go of his arm but you couldn’t bring yourself to do so when meeting his eyes, looking at you like you were the only woman in the room. And maybe that’s how he saw you.

You looked away from him when you heard Allen drawing the attention of those presents from the garden where the ceremony would take place, so you murmured “We’ll talk later.” And he just nodded at you.

The whole ceremony was touching and you had to admit you even teared up a little, gaining some amused looks by Joe and Gwil. It was an emotional moment to see a person you cared about making a move that important – and besides, Lucy had teary eyes, too.

The whole crowd cheered up by hearing their “I do” and right after the ceremony you and the boys went to congratulate with them. Their smiles were unbelievably contagious and they just couldn’t stop looking at each other.

The alfresco ceremony started shortly after ad it took place in the amazing garden of the resort. Among the rest of the guests you spotted a few popular faces such as ‪Lea Michele‬ and ‪Darren Criss‬, who started to sing shortly after.‬‬‬‬‬‬

You were taking a sip of your champagne when you suddenly realised you were alone. Rami and Lucy were already on the dance floor, her arms around his neck as the slowly followed the rhythm of the music. Gwil was dancing with his girlfriend, too, and Joe and Ben were having a chat near the buffet table.

You were about to take a seat in one of the closest tables when you noticed someone approaching you. “Hey.”

You raised your gaze just to meet a handsome ginger. “Hi”, You replied hesitantly.

“I’m Seth”, The man said, extending you a hand. “I’m the brother of the bride.” He could’ve been two or three years older than you and you couldn’t help but notice that he looked good. “Oh, right. I’m Y/N.” You shook his hand, giving him a big smile.

“Are you Allen’s friend?”, He politely asked and you nodded your head ‘yes’ at his question.

“Yeah, we met on set.”

“Of Bohemian Rhapsody?” He seemed amazed and surprised by the fact that you were an actress. Well, who wouldn’t? Your face wasn’t exactly well known.

“Yeah”, You said once again and you felt your cheeks turning rose. He noticed your reaction and his smile grew wider.

“I’m sorry, I’m just trying not to freak out. I’m surrounded by actors.” You let out a small laugh and you nodded in comprehension, giving a look at the rest of the guests. You noticed Ben looking at you, probably even not paying attention to what Joe was telling him. You quickly looked away, focusing again on Seth.

“We’re not aliens, y’know”, You replied in an amused tone and he gave you an apologetic look.

“Oh no, no. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound rude. It’s just… never mind. What d’ya think if to make up for it—”

But Seth never finished his sentence because the two of you were interrupted by a new voice. “Hey, babe.”

You looked above your shoulder just to see Ben standing behind you, an arm surrounding your waist as he looked at you with a smile. You narrowed your brows, looking at Seth first — who was staring at Ben with a confused look — and then at him. “Hey”, You simply replied, not knowing what game he was playing.

He nodded towards the dance floor, saying without paying the smallest attention to Seth “Shall we dance?” And you gave an apologetic look at the ginger before following Ben at the centre of the floor.

“What was that?”, You asked him in an amused but confused look. He placed both his hands on your hips, pulling your body closer to his. You hesitantly surrounded his neck with an arm, placing the other hand on his chest. You could easily feel his heart beating as fast as yours.

Lea Michele and Darren Criss — who had kindly offered to sing when the band that Allen hired couldn’t play because of the weather — were still playing in the background one of your favourites song: My Eyes by ‪The Lumineers‬.‬‬‬

“What?”, Ben asked with a brow raised. You raised your chin to meet his eyes – the last time you’d been this close you ended up kissing. And for as much as you liked it, you weren’t going to do it again. Not when he was still thinking about someone else.

“You literally dragged me away”, You managed to say as he lowered his gaze to your lips. Your breath become heavier under his staring gaze and the way he was gently caressing your hip with his thumb didn’t help at all. “Ben”, You whispered, almost begging him to stop. But you didn’t want him to.

His eyes were again fixed on yours when he spoke again. “I’ve broken up with Ellie. For real this time.”

You sighed deeply, looking at his green eyes while thinking at his words. “Sometimes breaking up doesn’t mean not to be still in love with someone.”

“She’ll always be important to me. I mean, we’ve been together since we were like nineteen, but it’s over now.” And he seemed sure of his words. You bit your lower lip, looking away from him in order to think clearly. And you couldn’t do that with his eyes fixed on yours.

You placed your forehead on his chest, taking deep breaths as you could feel your head fighting with your heart. He took a deep breath, his chest rising and lowering under your forehead. Ben surrounded your back with one arm, placing his cheek on your head. It took him a few moments to speak again. “I’ve missed this.”

“I missed it, too.”

London - February 7th, 2018

Plenty of big, rectangular screens had been placed in every wall of the room, in which were projected old pictures of the band and new stills of the movie. There was also a small stage in where a band was playing Queen songs.

You never thought you’d spend the BoRhap wrap party — also called BoWrap — singing Queen songs at the top of your lungs between a drink and the other. But thanks exactly what you were doing.

“Y/N, come on up here!” You bursted into laughter by hearing Lucy calling you through the mic. You raised your arm in the air, letting out a little scream of excitement before finishing your drink in one gulp and starting to walk towards the stage.

You grinned at Clara and Rachael while walking past them on your way to the stage and you grabbed the hand Rami was extending you to join them. Somehow you ended up holding a microphone and singing — or better, shouting — the words of Radio Ga-Ga alongside with Lucy and Rami.

From the stage you could easily see the rest of the room, which was illuminated with a pink light. Everyone was there — every member of the cast and crew, even Roger, Sarina, Brian and Anita.

But you were looking for one person in particular — Ben was standing in the front row, a drink in his hand and a grin in his face. He was already looking at you and probably for the first time ever you didn’t blush. Ah, the power of alcohol.

“All we hear is radio gaga, radio goo goo”, You sang to the mic, trying to clap with your free hand. Lucy moved closer to you and started to sing, too before the two of you bursted into laughter. Joe and Gwil were also singing, clapping their hands by following the rhythm of the song.

“He can’t take his eyes off you”, Lucy murmured in your ear, pushing away the mic from you. You quickly turned towards her with a surprised look, your lips parted as you met her amused gaze. “Lucy!”

“What? It’s true!” She couldn’t have been more obvious by the way she nodded towards him. And the thing was, she was right. The way Ben was looking at you sent shivers all over your body.

When he noticed you were staring at him he raised a corner of his lips in an amused grin to which you replied with a big smile. The song wasn’t even over yet when somehow you managed to get off the stage without stumbling. He was standing there, not so far away from you, in his dark jeans and grey sweater. 

“Hey, stranger”, You said when you moved closer to him, giving him a tight smile. 

“Didn’t know that hidden talent of yours”, He replied, nodding towards the stage. You let out a soft laughter, shaking your head.

“That’s nothing.” His green eyes were fixed on yours and he gave you a look you couldn’t read. You didn’t like the things his stare made you feel and you looked away from him, when you spotted something at the corner of the room. “Is that...” You started to say in excitement, gaining a confused look by Ben. “A photo booth?”

“What?”, He asked with a small laugh, following your gaze to that spot. You grabbed him by his hand, his gentle touch once again on you. “Please, please come with me.”

Maybe it was the look on your face, maybe it was your excitement, but somehow he agree on coming with you.

“‘right, fine”, He said with a big smile and you were about to clap your hands when you noticed he was still holding your hand. “C’mon”, He added, and you followed him through the crowd.

You waited for him to insert the coins and while doing so he gave you an amused look by noticing your excitement. “You’re cute.”

You narrowed your eyes at his words and it might’ve been silly or you, but you just couldn’t stop smiling. “Thanks?”

I want to break free was playing in the background as the two of you entered the booth. It was small, though, and one could barely move in there.

“Uhm.” Ben was giving a look around him and you could easily see the inner workings in his brain try to find a solution, but you both had too many drinks to think clearly.

“‘kay, how about you sit in my lap? I’ll behave, I promise.” You narrowed your brows at his proposal, looking at him while he took his seat. You nodded in agreement — probably because of the alcohol — and you took a deep breath before doing so. You noticed the bin of his Adam apple and by the look in his eyes you could tell he wanted you just as much as you wanted him.

“It’s gonna be so much fun!” He smiled at your words, his arm surrounding your waist and yours was around his shoulders. Your cheek was right next to his and that’s when the first photo was taken.

“I wasn’t ready!”, He complained and you looked at him with a big smile. 

“C’mon, Ben. Don’t be so serious.” You turned again towards the camera and you pulled out your tongue for the next picture.

Ben in the meantime was mouthing ‘God knows!’ as the song played in the background and that’s why he was all so pouty in the next picture.

For the third one you parted your lips and it captured Ben’s hand on his way to your face. And for the next one Ben placed a kiss on your cheek, your smile bigger than ever. You’d been taken aback and that’s why you turned towards him with a surprised look “Ben!” 

Man, if you thought you’d been taken aback a few moments before, thanks because you didn’t know what was waiting. Ben’s hand was still on your cheek when he crushed your lips into yours. You immediately kissed him back, placing a hand on his chest. You both forgot about the pictures the moment you felt his tongue asking for permission to deepen the kiss, and you let him. His hand moved to your hip and he gently caressed your bare skin given that your shirt had lifted up a bit.

The little, hot moan that escaped his mouth made you crave for more, if it wasn’t for the curtain of the booth that swung open.

“Shit!”, Joe said, immediately closing in again. You backed away from Ben’s lips and you giggled.

“Go away, Maz!”, You shouted and you didn’t have to wait for long for him to shout back “Go get a room!”

And that’s when Ben said in an amused tone “Shall we follow his advice?” Just the idea left you speechless and that’s why it took you a few moments to answer. “Oh, shut up.”

Ben giggled but despite your words, you were considering his proposal for real and Ben noticed it by the look in your eyes. Oh man, you were doomed.

Taglist: @caborhapch @ohtheseboysilove @classy-fangirl @royalblueviper @rogers-weirdo @geek-and-proud @mrsbenhardyx @julessbrown @the-little-warbler  @bouncingjoe @benders-diamond-earring @radiob-l-a-hblah @luvborhap @mrsmazzello @orchideax @gardengirl-18 @dearestdeaky @brianandthemays @ixchel-9275

If you wanna be added in the taglist just tell me!

[thecardssayfuckoff]

Meet My Apprentices.

It’s the time, finally, and theirs. Let me just say to things, quickly:

First one, these aren’t finished, but I know that I won’t end them in the near future for school and so, and I’m impatient and want to talk about them already, so I’m throwing them here. They look… decent. Not good, just, decent. (Side note: If some colours look a bit weird, like their eyes, it’s because my pc got kind of fucked up so it doesn’t show the colours exactly as they should look).

Second, this is going to be lengthy. I’m gonna talk about them in their lore (?), and then about them individually. I also don’t know if there’s like, a format for when you publish your apprentices, so I’m going by heart. Fight me or teach me.

I really hope the damn “read more” works. Gonna post the drawing here to get some attention, and then the read more. Please work.

Now, the girl to the left is Crystel, and the girl to the right is Vitali. Let me give you some context: My best friend and I can’t work separated apparently, so after getting her to play the game, we (I) totally started to work in the story. Crystel is technically her apprentice, and Vitali is mine, but they share the story. What I mean is that one takes the place of the MC and the other would be kind of a side character, but not really. Just listen:

Crystel is the apprentice. She’s the one that dies and then revives, and gets involved in all the stuff. Vitali is her sister, who also gets involved in everything. I’m planning on writing a formal fic about this, but I’m lazy, so I’m just gonna be throwing things and facts and surely a lot of spoilers for said still-not-written fic.

The thing is, they’ll follow kind of Julian’s route, until they separate to Muriel’s (for Crystel) and Lucio’s (for Vitali). Crystel will end up with Muriel, that’s for sure, but to be honest I’m not entirely sure about Vitali. Neither of us is.

I screech Julian, she screeches Lucio, and I agree to this, but then she likes Julian more, and then Valdemar comes into play (we don’t give a fuck they’re aro/ace, it’s our story and we want them to shag), and so on and so forth.

Back to what I was saying… I tried to do kind of a, summary I guess, but I’m really bad at it so I didn’t feel like it was good enough to add. We’ll have to let things there for their story. I’ll proceed now to talk about them individually now. We starting with Crystel.

♡

Full name: Crystel Rhodes.

Nickname: Crys.

Gender and pronouns: Cisgender female, she/her.

Height: 1.72cm.

Body complexion: Normal really, but rather strong.

Familiar: Not designed yet.

Love Interest: Muriel.

Talent/type of magic: The same as the canon apprentice of course, although she has a thing for fire magic.

Arcana: Not sure, probably The Magician. We know nothing about this.

Personality: She’s a ray of sunshine. Easygoing, kind, has a good heart and a strong sense of ethic, justice, and morals. Extremely protective and caring. However, she’s kind of quick to lose her temper, mostly with people she dislikes. Very in contact with her emotions and feelings. Intelligent, although sometimes distracted.

Description (which I’m adding since I surely couldn’t capture it in the drawings because I’m bad at drawing): Has shoulder-lenght purple/reddish hair, bright blue eyes with long, curly lashes. Almost always wears a smile. Has little pigmentation on her lips, but her cheeks are naturally flushed, giving a more appealing look.

What would other characters describe her as: A beauty. Not only physically, but mentally.

Clothing: Not designed yet, probably something similar to Asra.

A curiosity: Her hair gets fuzzy when she’s angry.

Now let’s talk about her story, in a more freeform manner:

Crystel, as the apprentice, has experienced all the things the original apprentice has. She knew Julian and Asra, Julian failed to save her, she died, revived without memories, and all that jazz. When it comes to her backstory, however, things get better.

She’s older than Vitali for a couple years, but the other one is who took care of both of them since their parents had fallen ill because of poverty, which meant feeding badly and having poor living conditions; and latter on, they died because of this. It was hard for Crystel, who wouldn’t ever be really able to get over their death. She had no more option than to obey Vitali’s orders, who managed to find a place to live and a work for both. This all happened when she was around eight or ten.

They grew near the docks, and after some years, for reasons I’ll talk about in Vitali’s description, she separated from her, but maintained contact. She moved to a new place, and throughout more years, established a friendship with Julian. Her fascination for magic, though, lead her to also met Asra, and because of Vitali’s work, she met Nadia and Lucio. She became friends with all of them, excepting Lucio, holding a deep disdain for him.

Then she died, end of story.

♤

Full name: Vitali Worth.

Nickname: Vits.

Gender and pronouns: Genderfluid, and doesn’t give a fuck what you use to address her (although I mostly write about her using she/her).

Height: 1.80cm.

Body complexion: Thin, but has a slightly worked abdomen.

Familiar: Astaroth, a black fox.

Love Interest: Not sure, but has had encounters with Julian and Valdemar.

Talent/type of magic: Blood magic.

Arcana: Not sure, maybe Death.

Personality: Cold, methodical, stoic, and a tad of melancholic. She always chooses head over heart. Doesn’t really have morals, or ethic, but she’ll peruse truth to the end of the world. Easy to annoy her, but really hard, almost impossible, to get an expression out of her face. Mostly quiet and lost in thoughts. Extremely intelligent, observant, and sly. A bit malicious, too.

Description: Short, curly and puffy blonde hair, with pink ends. Deep green eyes, and death-pale skin. She uses makeup to make her lower lashes stand out more. Has a lot of pigmentation in her lips, making them catch one’s attention. Also, freckles!

What would other characters describe her as: An ice cube.

Clothing: Not designed yet, but mostly formal, yet not fancy.

A curiosity: If you learn to read her eyes, she’s kind of an open book.

Story time (warning for some strong things, kind of):

Her story begins the same as Crystel, but from her point of view, there was nothing to be sad for when her parents became ill and the died. The fuckers weren’t even good parents, not even before becoming so poor. On the contrary, they were abusive. Her father would beat them often and on one memorable ocassion, he almost raped Vitali; her mother, on the other hand, would punish them in horrible ways, like starving Vitaly for days or locking Crystel in the small trap door under their hose all night long, knowing that she was scared of darkness. So when they died, Vitali was happy. Crystel could’ve forgiven and forgotten, but she wouldn’t.

Hate would only lead her to nothing though, so she pushed herself to find a way of surviving.

At around fourteen, owning already a little house for her and Crystel, Vitaly began to learn about and practice magic. Forbbiden magic. The Red Magic, to be more specific. Magic fueled by blood. Vitali loved it. She didn’t care how much blood had to be spilled, either hers or some else’s.

But Crystel didn’t like this, and after a heated argument, she parted. Vitali didn’t stop her. She wouldn’t force her to like her things, but also wouldn’t change for her, so she waved goodbye and from time to time, they’d write letters to each other.

Sometime after that, having mastered the Red Magic, Vitali’s endless curiosity was pinched by science. The Red Plague was becoming more and more dangerous, and she wanted to know everything about it. So she became kind of an apprentice, learning from Street doctors until she moved on to doctors with license. At some point she was known by most doctors on Vesuvia, and after a little while,the Palace asked for her.

Working in the dungeons, she met Julian. They became fast friends, and she was a bit surprised when she found out he’d been freinds with Crystel for quite a while back.

And in there, she also met Valdemar. They established a solid and strong work relationship, since Valdemar took her under their wing, fascinated by her attitudes and fast learning brain. This evolved to a strange friendship, and then culminated in a stranger romantic relationship. However, this turned out to be a bad thing. Not beacuse they didn’t work as a couple, but because Vitale became an even worse workaholic. Trapped between her work, her thirst for knowledge, and her lover, Vitali was oblivious to Crystel’s illness.

And the Crystel died.

At the exact momento she did, at her house after a long night of work, Vitali suddenly fell asleep, and didn’t wake up until a couple of months later, barely remembering who she was. She did remeber clearly two things, though: One, her parents; and two, her Red Magic.

But deep down, below the headaches and fevers, her mind, or perhaps her heart, tried desperately to reach a forgotten memory, until it finally pushed hard enough: her sister.

♤

And there you have it. I hope I didn’t let any important info out, but I surely did lol. Not the end of the world though as I’ll be posting more about these two soon. Feel free to drop and ask about them if you’d like to know more. Also, reblogging would help a lot. I want them to be popular and cool, unlike me, lmao.

And be prepared for even more terrible art.

[toumakibangs]

Lost in this moment

Prompt: “You’re going to take all of me, I don’t care if it’s too much.”

Jules’ Notes: This is a direct continuation of myfirst piece: “Feels like I’m all the way back where I belong”, but can be read on its own. Btw I think that my greatest talent lies in taking a prompt and turning it into something it was probably not meant to be at all.

That said: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JINPACHI!!! =ç___ç=

Very few experiences beat the sensation of utter bliss that comes with lying on the tall green grass of a hill, under the sun, shoes forgotten and a bottle of fresh water. After a terrific climb, and with your sworn rival sprawled beside you.

Especially when your sworn rival is also your long-term boyfriend, whose birthday you are celebrating in a way that is equally maudlin and idiotic. Much like your relationship as a whole.

- The Inter-High route, Yuu? Really?

It’s our Inter-High route, Makishima thinks as he fans himself and looks away, and I hoped you of all people would have appreciated the sentiment. But maybe it was just wishful thinking – maybe Toudou doesn’t care about these things anymore, after all; maybe this year’s competition of theirs, this thing they do of finding the best way to celebrate each other’s birthday every time, is meant to end with a clamorous and disastrous defeat on Makishima’s part. Maybe he’s just overthinking things, as usual, because Toudou is already poking his side and rising up on his left elbow to look at him.

- I’m right here. Pay attention to me instead of disappearing into your own head.

He’s puffing his cheeks and pouting like he did when they were kids, and Makishima is glad to be reminded that even though they’ve changed, there’s still something of the people they were in them: that hairstyles come and go, and faces wrinkle, that even your attitude shifts and adapts to the flow of time, but every person does indeed have an immutable core that’s theirs alone. It’s reassuring, when melancholy hits too hard, to catch a glimpse of it in Toudou’s everyday gestures.

Makishima raises his hand to smooth the line between Toudou’s eyebrows.

- Stop frowning, you’ll get wrinkles.

Toudou pinches his nose.

- Stop brooding, you’ll miss out.

- …on what?

Toudou bends down and kisses him lightly on the lips.

- On this beautiful day you were so lovely to organize.

Makishima grits his teeth and puts a bony hand on Toudou’s  face, pushing him away.

- Don’t make fun of me.

He makes to sit up but Toudou pulls him down again and keeps a palm on his chest. Makishima looks up at him: his features are more defined, his hair is longer, his shoulders filled out – but from this perspective, in front of the light and wearing his old Hakogaku jersey, Toudou really looks like his old self. Makishima knows the same can’t be said for him: he might be dressed in Sohoku’s yellow uniform and still be lankier than the average person, but his green mane is just a memory right now, his hair needing more resting time, nowadays, in between heavy bleaching and dying sessions. He likes to have it done before he goes home, usually, but this year it wasn’t possible. Toudou didn’t give sign of having noticed, and Makishima wonders when it happened, that he became the one in this relationship more obsessed with memories, anniversaries and appearances. Maybe when he left his homeland and decided to live his life in between continents, and holding onto the few certainties of his past became a necessity. Because if everything went on and changed while he wasn’t there, if he came back to a home that had left him behind, where he was supposed to fit?

Toudou’s voice shakes him out of his thoughts, and his index finger running on his cheek distracts him enough to prevent him from falling back into them.

- You’re doing it again.

- Doing what.

- Over-analysing something very simple. It was a wonderful surprise. I had lots of fun, even if you let me win because it’s my birthday.

- I didn’t. You won it fair and square.

- Then we’re really getting old, because that time was abysmal.

Makishima chuckles, and Toudou lies down at his side, caressing his arm.

- What I mean is: I’m happy to be here, with you. And I admit I felt very emotional the whole time it took to climb up here.

- Maybe that’s why your time was abysmal.

Toudou pokes his side and he squirms at the tickling sensation.

- Yours too, smartass.

*

They stare at the horizon, naked feet on the grass and an impromptu picnic improvised with the few things Makishima was able to order and have delivered at the top of the mountain, right on time. Toudou chuckles at the delivery van as it starts its descent.

- Always the high-end treatment, uh?

Makishima rolls his eyes at him as he spreads out a blankets that was included in his boxes and lays out a few fancy looking, sealed bowls.

- As if you didn’t enjoy being spoiled rotten.

Toudou shows him his tongue.

- It’s my birthday. I’m allowed to indulge myself today.

*

The banquet is small, but colourful and tasty and a true delicacy after the physical exertion. It’s also reasonably balanced in terms of nutritional values, a coincidence too fortunate to not be deliberate. There is also cake, with a symbolic candle to blow out, but Toudou doesn’t comment on it except to say how much he loves it and how good it tastes.

A light breeze lifts up after lunch, and they watch white clouds run after each other on the clear blue sky – heads touching, fingers intertwined.

- Thank you, Maki-chan.

Makishima blushes.

- I-Idiot.

Toudou turns and stares at him with the kind of gaze that has always been able to make Makishima weak in the knees.

- I mean it. I had fun.

Makishima closes his eyes. So many years and he still hasn’t learned to be honest with his boyfriend while looking him in the face.

- It’s not kaiseki ryori.

Toudou scoots closer to kiss his cheek.

- No, although it’s us all the same. Mountains and bikes and rivalry and all that teenage drama, but also leisure time and comfort and…

Makishima turns on his side, interested.

- …and what?

Toudou moves a few stray hairs out of his face.

- Stability.

*

- So…

- So?

- …are you going to spill the beans and make me emotional for real, or what?

The best thing about Toudou is that he’s always been able to read him like an open book. Makishima has never really opened up to him, or anyone, so Toudou’s talent for entering his lover’s head like it was his own has always been less than a lucky coincidence and more a sign of the universe telling them they were supposed to stick together. So far, it’s been right. Makishima knew he should have prepared some kind of speech. Toudou likes speeches, and strong declarations delivered with fervour. But he’s never had the social skills necessary to hold his own with crafty words and charisma, always preferring to show what he felt, more like describing it. In his opinion, there are things worth not mentioning: feelings are much more easily and effectively conveyed through colours and music and sincere gestures, for example. But there are also moments and occasions in which words are necessary. He’s aware of it, and so is Toudou who, although he has clearly understood what Makishima meant with today’s celebration, is deliberately playing dumb in order to hear Makishima saying it aloud. And since it’s Toudou’s birthday, and he has promised himself long ago to always do his best to give Toudou what he wants and make him happy, Makishima complies. Also because Toudou doesn’t know everything.

- I could have picked the route of our first climb, couldn’t I? The one I won. Or the one where we made our first promise. It would have been quite meaningful as well. They were all obvious choices, but this one was the most obvious of all, and you know how much I hate being obvious.

Toudou hums in agreement. The day a critic will deem Makishima’s creations as anything but out-of-the-ordinary, his boyfriend will quit the fashion industry forever.

- I chose this route because even if I had already fallen in love with you by the time we entered our third year of high-school, it was in this moment of my life that I realized I didn’t want to let you go. Despite my dreams, despite England, despite everything.

He points at the hairpins that are only partially visible from their position, at the road covered by the high trees and then at the one downhill.

- There is where I considered ditching my team for a last chance to ride with you. My sense of responsibility won, and I kept my position, but it took all my self-control, and the knowledge that I could have been capable of acting so selfishly just for the sake of a climb with you shook me real hard. That is where I caught up to you, and I think I will never forget the way you looked at me when I reached you.

- Neither will I.

- There is where you told me you were grateful for what we’d had. And I remember having the clearest epiphany of my life, and a voice in my head telling me to not give up and hold onto you, do everything in my power to not lose you, because I couldn’t have afforded it. And I couldn’t stand it either, the idea of you not being part of my life anymore.

Toudou looks at him with misty eyes.

- And you didn’t, did you? Let go, I mean.

Makishima laughs drily.

- I latched onto you like vine.

- All the while making me believe I was the pressing one.

- You were quite insistent yourself.

- Touché.

Makishima takes a deep breath and leans back on his hands, hair flowing in the wind.

- Jinpachi.

- Yes?

- We came back here after more than ten years since those days, and this place still gives me the same vibes.

Toudou’s voice gets stuck in his throat.

- W-What do you mean?

Makishima looks up at the sky, lopsided grin in place to testify he’s restless and slightly nervous.

- I mean that earlier today, much like ten years ago, I raced up these hills with you, crossed the highest peak with your name on my lips and my brain yelling at me to not dare let you go. But we’ve already been together this whole time, so there isn’t much I can do to make my intentions and commitment clearer. Unless…

Toudou speaks in a higher octave.

- Unless…?

Makishima brings a hand to the back pockets of his jersey and rummages into it for awfully long seconds until his fingers find their target and he fishes out a couple of silver bands, simple enough to be discreet, fancy enough to show personality. Toudou doesn’t have to look to know what date is carved on the inner side of the rings.

- Unless you accept to climb this new mountain with me?

The answer is a heavy body slamming into him and sending them both toppling down the slope until they hit the bottom and Makishima finds himself squashed under his apparently dead boyfriend.

- Jinpachi g-get up. You weight too muc-

Toudou doesn’t listen to him and shuts him up with a kiss that has nothing to do with the chaste pecks they’ve been exchanging the whole day. It makes Makishima dizzy in a way that feels surprising, given for how long they’ve intimately known each other. Toudou pulls back only when absolutely necessary, but doesn’t move a muscle, staying pressed against his lover and looking down on him with a dark face.

- No way. You’re going to take all of me, I don’t care if it’s too much.

Makishima stares at him, dumbstruck, and Toudou stares back, serious – it doesn’t last long, and they start laughing soon after.

Of course I’m taking you, Makishima thinks in between heated kisses, it’s the least I can do, since you’ll have me.

[elizabethrobertajones]

I don't know if you have noticed, but they have some serious clothing issues in season 12. Seasons 1-11 we just had Sam and Dean. But now that there's Mary, they can't all wear plaid. Because there would be too much flannel with three Winchesters. I'm being serious. I've rewatched season 12, and there's no episode where all three Winchesters wear plaid. One of them always has to sacrifice the hunter look.

Yeah, they don’t all wear it all the time anyway - Dean’s always had a bunch of stock shirts which are so boring he can wear them all the times he’s going to get killed or whatever gets him covered in blood to the point that he can’t use it any more :P Sam has slightly more variety, I think, because he doesn’t wear as many block colours in general, wears his shirts buttoned up so Dean can get away with wearing a block colour shirt and t-shirt, and Sam’s on the wrong side of the self-imposed class divide so doesn’t wear henleys either, all adding up to him needing at least subtle stripes on his shirts a lot of the time… Sam wearing boring grey in 11x22 should have been a warning something pretty horrific was going to happen to him because that’s Dean’s choice of colour for “I’m about to have a bad day and I don’t know it yet” which he at least also mixes into his regular wardrobe to add the element of surprise :P

Buuut yeah I bet there was at least 1 time they had a moment where they did all wear plaid and looked at each other and had to work out who had to go change immediately.

Anyway since we have a whole season now, let’s look at Mary because I like looking at Mary :D

12x01:

generic hunter jacket, jeans and boots (workman boots halfway between Sam n Dean’s). Shirt doesn’t look like much of anything she likes wearing, never did find out where Dean got this from for her, because finding perfectly fitted jeans at dawn in the middle of nowhere within apparent walking distance of the bunker?? There’s a weirdo gap where he stole clothes for his mom off a clothes line or something. I think the point was it was white and a little lacy at the top, mimicking the nightgown as a shirt, upgraded for hunter Mary. Easing the transition along :P

12x02:

she’s so SMALL.

At some point Dean also found her fluffy slippers. These are modern fluffy slippers because they don’t match ones we’ve seen him wearing around the bunker which I assume are period authentic ones.

Dean wears grey and black, I guess to match Sam’s nondescript colours, while Mary cracks out her first plaid, AND with a white henley underneath 

she’s still wearing white because mom, and Sam hasn’t seen her yet, but the plaid is the sign of hunting, and she’s officially dressing more like Dean right now. Dean wore red n blue and achieved balance in 11x23 and Mary is immediately the next one to wear it as the next plaid on screen since. I think it’s a sort of family integration theme since Sam n Dean often are red v blue coded.. I like this shirt because it has an XOXOXOXOX pattern embroidered on it. The mumsy version of their plaid :P

Cas is not wearing plaid. 

I noticed a couple of episodes further down the line that she almost always wears her shirt untucked on the right side, and I guess I thought she was just rumpled because of the fight but she already does it in both main outfits this episode.

Sam has swapped into plaid, but Dean and Mary are dressing identically except for the colour schemes and Mary’s untucking habit.

12x03:

Mary’s wearing the ring prominently for I think the first time, and of course is wearing her shirt tucked in like that (I think this is where I first noticed it) and is the outfit she cuts her hair in, so having her in 1 pale layer quietly mimicks her show-long look for a final time before she ditches it for having a much broader and more practical wardrobe. She’s wearing this to mourn John and read the journal, and also her conversation with Cas. Looking like a default Mary, as she “should” in the saint!Mary image influences Cas to feel he has to leave because she belongs or should feel she does and he wants her to bond with her sons, but she begins breaking away immediately after this.

Aaand Sam’s still the only one wearing any sort of pattern, and Mary is dressed like Dean (but belt, no untucked shirt) and Dean is wearing grey so he doesn’t step on anyone’s toes…

Mary also keeps wearing the red maroon of family, in a one off, no one else ever wears anything remotely like it, sleeveless jacket, which she wears exclusively in the car or in the dark so no screen shots

I think this is a lovely sweater, tucked into the left side, a tank top underneath it, which is like in 12x14 where she’ll be wearing a blank tank top similar but without the fashion layer on top, and her ring very obviously displayed. Going from white because mom to black because mourning, both her entire family, and in these conversations, the old way of hunting. She’s moved I guess from shock and non-stop action to the next step of grief.

At the motel Sam wears green and purple plaid, and Dean wears a denim shirt.

Look what you are doing to your sons, Mary.

12x06:

Mary is introduced boots first (the cowboy boots seen in her room in 12x02?)

This outfit is truly unflattering and practical - she’s swimming in the coat, but she’s also wearing a belt again like 12x03, which was the other way to distinguish how she wears her shirts, and on the family unity theme not only wearing red n blue plaid again, but has it half buttoned half unbuttoned, bridging the gap between how Dean and Sam wear theirs. She exists in a lot of spaces between - half-tucked, or half-buttoned.

Dean once again wears plain grey, and Sam wears grey plaid.

12x09:

White because Lawrence, plain blue shirt in closeness to Dean’s outfits, and wearing *dark* grey-green because she’s in mourning still. She’s not wearing plaid or family colours because she’s on her rejecting her living family tour in exchange for moping about the dead.

Swaps to red to yell at Cas for not wearing plaid. She’s angry, and she’ll later still be wearing this for getting Alicia’s call and going off on the path of distracting herself with hunting, a la Mark!Dean with random vampires, when Dean got really into wearing a red shirt of a similar hue. You couldn’t see the ring in Lawrence but it’s on top of her clothes again here. Maybe she just couldn’t bear to expose it while sitting in the same place she had her first date with John? Winchester repression and all.

Cas is not wearing plaid, and this is the epitome of ‘hey we’re gonna wear boring grey shirts to lose in 12x08 and boring grey jumpsuits all of 12x09’ for the Winchesters to keep them out of it, but Mary has the same under layers as at Mulroney’s but instead of dark grey-green she’s wearing her tan jacket, the Cas colour scheme because they’re bonding, and hilariously (or not >.>) the colour Sam is wearing in 12x21 in the letter scene… Dean has a plaid in these colours too which he wore in 12x13 to see Gavin reunited with his lost love, and first wore in 10x14 at the very end, so I’ve got it lodged in my brain as the Colette/pining set of colours on others. 

I guess in Mary’s case here it’s not about dead lovers, but an upgrade to focusing on a now problem instead of a past problem, and also of course is part of the huge Cas n Mary web of parallels, of which this episode visually doubles down on with the Cas missing Dean paralleling Mary in 12x03 missing John sitting at the table in the dark in the Bunker thing. Actually missing Sam n Dean, she sits at the kitchen table, the private family space, to avoid any cross-contamination of visual images, and links to the bacon scene in 12x03 where she and Cas both refused to engage with Dean’s happy family breakfast…

In the first scene Mary’s wearing this we get introduced by ANOTHER pan up from her boots (her… 3rd? maybe? already) this time again showing she’s wearing Dean-like boots, and her more killing-things friendly belt choice, and dark red plaid (so dark you can’t see it well >.>) and dark pink shirt, all of which screams Mark of Cain and Dean parallels.

Cas is still not wearing plaid.

this is the most generic Winchester plaid she has so far rather than one that yells mark of cain or the family balance and integration themes - everything from “what you needed most” to Dean n Sam getting to a better understanding re: all 12x22 did for them as well) but fits in the TFW plaid from earlier, with tan and blue (Dean is wearing his original tan plaid in that scene in 5x13 although not the first time he wears it - it goes back to Nightshifter and for some reason my brain always tells me he didn’t have the plaid until 8x01 at which point I briefly clip out of reality every time he first appears in it in season 2 :P) Anyway 5x13 is aaaall about Mary and their family destiny/curses (I say curses because it’s about the apocalypse but Michael throws in the Cain and Abel thing for free)

Since Sam n Dean didn’t get a chance this episode (and were purposefully wearing non-memorable clothes in 12x08 so nothing important got lost) she’s covered the whole plaid thing for them. She’s making the choice to work with the BMoL here and wearing Sam-like plaid in a Dean-like way - note the sleeves too - but ultimately this arc does fall on Sam.

Anyway she is acting as the representative head of the family here making the decision for them.

12x12:

ANON YOU ARE WRONG. All 4 Winchesters are wearing plaid, because my brain just clipped out of reality while I had it paused like this: 

and my brother who is coincidentally here on the other side of my monitor and I forgot was in the room because he’s listening to podcasts, stretched, and his plaid-covered elbow appeared behind Cas and I thought it was his.

(I’m very tired, it’s been a loooong day)

Anyway Sam’s wearing blue and white, Mary is wearing blue and black, Dean is wearing Burger Date Plaid which is more important for the diner scene than the rest of the episode, and Cas is at least going to have the decency to nearly die on the plaid sofa the same-ish pattern as Dean’s shirt next episode.

I suppose when 3 Winchesters get together all wearing plaid, Bad Shit Happens, so if all FOUR of them wore plaid at once, reality might fracture, and considering season 13 looks like reality is going to be having some serious fracturing issues anyway… Yeah. Bad idea.

Even Wally is wearing plaid…

Much luck it gave him.

Anyway Mary’s generally having some more dark arc stuff, with a blank henley and the evil version of sam’s plaid, and a nondescript pale green jacket over the top. The ONLY reason Mary has this many plain nondescript jackets of varying hues is for symbolism. In this case green is kinda toxic and since she and Sam have negative versions of each other’s plaid and connect over the yellow eyes thing, I think it’s more about her guilt.

This all transforms at the end to the 3rd version on a simple outfit, of the one from 12x09 but this time with pale blue to make her even more Cas-like, but these colours could honestly just be associated with bad decisions, given the context here… I mean, not like Cas isn’t a freakin beacon of them :P

She also blends nicely into the diner, with its blue and beige tones. Compared to Ketch in his fancy suit. She also isn’t wearing plaid for this, going under the table with this as it were.

12x13:

Sam, Dean and Mary aren’t all in the same scene but Dean is wearing dark grey/puple and Sam a dary grey/blue with thin red lines - Mary’s wearing the opposite again, white with thick red outlined in blue.

She’s also untucked on the same side again.

Sam and Dean swap into the generic red plaid for Sam and the TFW/Cas plaid I mentioned for Dean - beige, white and blue, which he wears the rest of the episode while dealing with the MacLeod family drama.

This is their most plaid intensive episode, then as all of them get a costume change and all opt for more plaid. They’re working on family loyalty stuff so it’s quite important.

Mary’s next one is for the very monotone scene with Ketch, where she’s wearing grey and brown, and her shirt isn’t tucked interestingly or anything.

I think that’s about as much as you need to say about this episode :P

12x14:

Ooops I forgot 12x13 fed into this episode. In my defence it’s a bad idea to split a 2 episode cliffhanger by cliffhangering like 3-4 minutes before the end of the episode, even though the next episode is going to start immediately where you left off with what of all of the things happening in your cluttered episode is the main plot thread… Ah well. 

Mary shows up in a cream henley, under a strawberries and cream plaid - although pink is a baaad sign on this show, I guess she may have been aiming for cute and mumsy again, but not wearing the cute XOXOXOX family integration theme plaid from 12x02 when it looked she might have a hope of doing that before draaaama hit.

Sam is wearing all black (keeping out of the way in the fight and thematically) and Dean is wearing a non-pink and much more tightly patterned shirt (he’s drawing those family lines closer together) in the same broad colour category as Mary’s, but does sort of link them - they have a fight that gets thiiis close to dealing with Dean had to be the mom all their lives not Mary, because Berens and all, but they don’t get close enough and it has to wait until 12x22 after this, but it aligns them in a different way to how Sam and Mary have been having night and day versions of each other’s plaids, just as her blue n red plaid is so similar to Dean colours, but not the ways Sam wears it.

We then cut to her wearing her black tactical gear, and in an alarming move for a Winchester, later just a tank top. Incidentally they should all do this more often, Mary right through to Cas. She however is not bearing all, because her texts just aren’t laying out the whole problem and I don’t think she can see it, because she brings sam to meet her, and gives him the pitch as soon as he gets out the car.

The main day of the action, Dean wears a red shirt, Sam wears blue, white and beige plaid (They own a LOT of these colour-combinations) 

Mary is wearing red and black plaid I think the same as 12x09’s main action, which aligns her with Dean (for the Ketch seduction parallel?) and sets her at odds with Sam so they’re not too conspicuously wearing night and day versions of each others’ clothes. They ARE both wearing hunter plaid (as Dean says, to do the job you put on a flannel…) while dealing with the hunter specific arc of the season, while Dean is wearing a plain red shirt, which he uses to face inner demons. Mary’s colour aligns her with Dean, the pattern with Sam, and he wears a red plaid shirt more often than Dean these days. For Sam and Mary it’s an episode where they’re doing their thing together. Especially as it deals with repercussions not root causes - their lives branched, and Mary’s giving Sam the speech about a world without monsters like he can reclaim what life he lost, but he is on the path to lead the hunters and all his MoL stuff, so the TFW/bad decisions colours are appropriate? Mary’s on a dark arc which the actions make clear but the red plaid is always a nice reminder of when it’s channelling Dean… Sam wears his with impunity.

12x17:

Another episode where Mary and Sam n Dean are separated for the most part so can get away with them all having at least worn plaid in the same episode, though 12x12 remains the only one they all wore it TOGETHER (see above: look what happens >.>)

I’m still bothered by the way Buckleming often write Sam and Dean as a total matching unit and I never managed to put my finger on it until this episode when they give Mick the “so yeah Lucifer’s baby is a thing” speech because it combines multiple other scenes they’ve written in the past to finally just make SamandDean a stock exposition unit. I probably have another post to write about this and how they helped contribute to an overall weird feeling with both sides of the fandom stanning for 1 brother and some who love both feeling their fave/s was totally sidelined this season - done right Sam n Dean as passive viewers to the story is a great device (11x14!!) and this season did it a lot as a way to lighten the load on dudes who managed to have 3 babies between the two of them this year in the space of a couple of months, but also to broaden the story to give Cas and Mary development and to follow some other threads beyond what the Winchesters see and know just because the show has grown so far out of its original bounds… But anyway this wardrobe moment the morning after makes Sam and Dean literally dress identically to talk to Mick, and the show knows the theme, it just wasn’t well-done here, and I love the use over all in the season but this episode made me really side-eye the execution.

The wardrobe in the Mary stuff was good though. She wears her XOXOXOXOX plaid with the red n blue blah blah family integration theme - Dean’s wearing his About A Boy plaid up there, incidentally, which is red and BLACK lines - Mary’s one was her uniform for saving Sam at the start of the season and she’s at a cusp of things here. She’s in a comfortable pattern working with Ketch, but I think lets her guard down to sleep with him, and though she puts up emotional walls immediately and there’s all the stuff with her ring and mourning and wanting to have both hunting and family (a GOOD side of the red n blue theme in other places) she’s really putting herself on the path that leads to her mini demon!Dean arc in 12x21/22 as the inevitable result of this Mark of Cain arc stuff since midseason.

12x20:

Grey jumpsuits, for her and Ketch, which now I’m looking at the costumes for season 12, should have been an even more obvious clue after 12x09, although honestly the fake out introduction to Mary in this episode with the shifter in captivity with her face > the end of the episode with Mary captured, was pretty telling without throwing in the obvious prison uniform imagery that this jumpsuit transforms completely depending on context; Mary in the chair or Mary out the chair.

Sam n Dean off on their side of things has Sam in the 12x12 light blue shirt, Dean in his off-brand demon!Dean shirt which isn’t a demon!Dean shirt at all, but one of coping and better decisions and trying a better way. But looks a whole lot like the old ways on the surface :P

Mary, meanwhile, is wearing grey plaid again. The prison jumpsuits thing is making me wonder belatedly if wearing grey this season has been about imprisonment, metaphorically or not - Sam wore it in 12x01 etc, and Kelly had a grey coat she wore a lot.

this one is darker, and with her black coat, her henley buttoned almost all the way up. Mary is defensive and secretive and beginning to be very suspicious about what she got herself into, investigating or interrogating in all her scenes except for the one where she kicks Ketch in the nuts aka the best thing Mary did for like all of 2 more episodes before she was like “I wanna punch the Devil in the face” because after killing Ketch she needed new goals :P

12x21:

Bearing in mind how MANY times she changes her clothes, including swapping out jackets and all, once she’s under the BMoL’s control, she has a freshly laundered set of exactly what she was wearing in 12x20 and no changes. It’s out of her control to decide now.

She starts dressed jacket and all, then is down to the plaid in the next scene and finally stripped down to the henley and a single layer as the BMoL metaphorically strip her inside too.

Then, new DARK jacket, I think a looser shirt, but the SAME grey plaid at the end. Untucked, on the wrong side.

Incidentally if you want bad things happening when all the Winchesters are in one room in plaid, Sam’s in a generic Sam shirt, Dean in his red and black checked plaid which is aaaalmost exactly like both Sam and Mary’s version of it, but not like the About a Boy one or other variations he has on the theme.

12x22

Hey guess who is now wearing grey plaid with RED AND BLUE in it under the black jacket? Aka Mary is imprisoned (we’re going with this, pls ignore how I’ve decided like 50% of the themes AS I analysed it :P) but has family back in her plaid - a sign she can be brought back, and a reason to hope at this point, and by the end of the episode, what she’s wearing for FAMILY REINTEGRATION :D

Hey look they all wear plaid :D

This may or may not open a rift in reality.

12x23:

Mary is back in white but in a wearing comfy plaid way, and it’s got blue and red in it. She’s mom again, but now updated and upgraded to being a hunter in the GOOD way not the way in 12x01 where she wore a white lace shirt just to hastily make her practical for one day of action, but she’s comfortably being Mom Winchester in the new understanding of what their family is.

Sam and Dean are in red and blue-ish colour coding although Dean’s actually in grey and you know what fuck them wearing grey. Take that shirt off right now.

nothing happens to Dean but he does kind of get shattered at the end of the episode and we don’t know what would happen to him next, so like I said maybe just avoid on principle.

Anyway the whole family looks all comfy and soft, at least until Dean and Mary put practical jackets over theirs, and Sam stacks the orange jacket over the brown-red plaid.

Cas continues to not wear plaid and pays the ultimate price. Get with the picture, buddy.