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ageofpiracyrp · 9 months ago

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NOTE: This is a version of the biography for a character that has been dropped.

Sca’Va’Thi "Scout" Velul

Pronouns: she/her

Role: Engineer

Age: 39

Romantic and/or Sexual Preference: Demiromantic/Pansexual

Species: Far'Ly'Dae

Home Planet: Kor’Sel’Koo

Faceclaim/Humanoid Appearance: Stephanie Nogueras

True Appearance: Her subspecies is known for being very tall, standing at about 190cm, with beautiful dark oak skin that feels like a soft, polished wood. She has a beautiful head of bright pink and green Caladium leaves. She maintains the bright hues with adequate UV lamp exposure and hydration but when she has to conserve chlorophyll, the pinks become muted, some turning white with the edges turning a light shade of brown. Her eyes are white with a few flecks of blue and pink. Her Sformed appearance has light pink hair with some streaks of green, mid-back-length, styled in a soft, bushy shape. Her eyes appear more blue when she is trying to blend in with the humanoids.

Backstory:

[TW: Genocide, Ableism, Non-consensual Medical Procedure, Maternal Death]

The Lee’Lo’Wakei was a gerontocracy that lived on a reservation in the mountains of Volowale on the planet Kor’Sel’Koo. They only speak old Vrav Kol and primarily communicate in mouth clicks. They follow a polytheistic religion that values selflessness, modesty and obedience. They lived off the land as it was blessed with alluvial soil which was enough to sustain the entire community. They also raised livestock in order to sell their goods at the town market, while also maintaining the fertility of the soil for their own micronutrient needs that they absorbed into their roots. Their subspecies are only capable of reproducing sexually, and they can only produce one child every 3 years, and conceive them for 2 years. Marital unions are always overseen by the elders to produce strong and functional offspring for the community. Any Lee’Lo’Wakein that was deemed unworthy were often delegated to menial tasks and given less privileges like not being allowed to reproduce so as not to replicate their poor genes.

The government has been trying to encourage their people to undergo mainstream education to assimilate them into society. However, the elders were vehemently opposed to the idea and threatened to ostracize anyone who tries to leave the reservation. They also refuse to accept any modern health care and would much return to the land from which they came.

Ze’Var’Bi Velul had always accepted the elders’ word as law, as they had lived to lead and to serve. She had no qualms about forming a union with someone she went to school with but barely knew. After all, they were benevolent and had a direct line to the gods. She had seen what they had done to her sister, and it had been 12 years since she had seen her. Vi’Da Velul had all but taken off and ran away with an Erkuss girl at the market named Java Been when they were both 16 and never returned. They had called her traitor, but Ze’Var’Bi just couldn’t understand what compelled her sister to defy the elders like that. Her sister hadn’t told her anything, and they had always been thick as thieves. She had felt so betrayed.

Her sister had been trying to reach out to her for years, telling her that there was more to life than what the elders had been telling them. Maybe she had been brainwashed her whole life. There was really no way to truly tell, but was it so bad to just live here where life was simple, and all you had to do was listen to what the elders told you to do? Not everyone wanted more out of this life than what was provided. All she had to do was follow whatever they say, and then she could be an elder one day and call all the shots.

It was easier said than done until she had a child of her own that she had nurtured from seed to sapling. Sca’Va’Thi was truly a gift from the gods; creative, intelligent and so full of energy and wonder. There was nothing like raising one of your own, and she truly believed that it took a village. She was grateful that everyone had doted on her daughter, and took turns taking care of her and teaching her how to walk, talk and absorb nutrients from the ground. Everything seemed to be in order under her Affinity ceremony where they put her through a series of tests to ensure that she was developing at par with her age and to know which profession she had an affinity for in order to work towards that particular role and contribute to the community.

As expected, the five-year-old did well in rope weaving and problem solving, even exceeding expectations. However, she had trouble localizing sounds and had poor spatial awareness. The longer she had spent with the elders, the more distressed her mother had become. They were finding more flaws that she even realized her daughter struggled with. By the end of the exam, they noted that she was profoundly deaf on her right ear and hard of hearing on her left, the first hearing-impaired citizen in the village.

They would later come to find that big companies had been slowly disposing of teratogenic, chemical wastes by burying them along the perimeter of their land. Sca’Va’Thi, along with other Lee’Lo’Wakein children born around that time developed deformities and disabilities as a result. While Far’Ly’Dae were known to be able to regenerate their body parts after a few years, these children couldn’t seem to despite countless herbal treatments. Her mother begged the elders to give Sca’Va’Thi a chance, but the law was the law, and these children were then delegated as the lowest class citizens of the community. Her husband merely accepted the decision without much argument as it was the way.

For the first time in 20 years, Ze’Var’Bi contacted her sister and informed her about her daughter via letter. Without hesitation, she heard back from her immediately and said she was happy to take her daughter in. In the dead of night, she packed up what little belongings that they had, and wrapped up her daughter on her back, making the trek to the next city where her sister was residing; knowing full well that this act would cause their ostracization. Before long, she was enrolled in a special public school where they taught her Eein. It was the first time that she had truly felt heard and developed a sense of identity.

When Sca’Va’Thi was 10, they began advertising that the nearby teaching hospital was rolling out charity surgeries to help the less fortunate but also to teach their residents. Sca’Va’Thi didn’t have any say in the matter when her mother signed for her consent on her behalf, and she was taken away without so much as an explanation as to what they were going to do to her. Her mother had an insecurity complex and hoped that if she could just show the elders that her daughter could be normal, then maybe they’d let them back in. She fought tooth and nail at the hospital until they knocked her out with a sedative. Next thing she knew, she was awake in the recovery room and strapped into the bed. She felt her vocal cords vibrate as she screamed and yelled, crying as her head began to pulsate. They had to sedate her again for a few more days until they could take off her bandages.

When she finally came to, she still felt a bit groggy, but she was at least able to comprehend and answer questions. She felt someone snap on some things on her head and told her that they were going to start slow. It turned out that they had fitted her with cochlear implants. The learning curve was rather steep, and there had been more bad days than good where she would constantly feel overstimulated, have angry outbursts and throw her implants away. She hated the sound of her own voice, and speech therapy proved difficult since she was already much too old and had grown used to communicating in sign language. While she refused to speak, she found that resting her hands on someone’s neck to feel for the vibrations and reading their lips proved to be a useful skill.

She developed a deep resentment for her mother for the violation of her autonomy. This also drew a rift between her aunt and her mother. Ze’Var’Bi was always so calculating and controlling that even with her aunt’s interventions, Sca’Va’Thi always felt so suffocated. Nothing was ever good enough for her mother. She grew more close to her aunt, Vi’Da and her Erkuss wife.

Over the years, she always struggled with her identity as neither being truly hearing nor completely deaf. While she had deaf and hearing friends alike, there were just some instances where she felt alienated for being somewhere in between. She has been approached by people at the bar or at school due to her striking appearance and asked out on dates, but they never worked out. She was always described as too blunt, too forward or too robotic. It was good riddance, she supposed. It was better that she weeded out the poor communicators and the high maintenance ones. She had to stay focused and become the best that she could be, to prove that she wasn’t less than because she was deaf.

Her mother had always been set in her ways, and that included refusing modern health care when she contracted a very preventable and treatable parasitic infection. She had to take a year off to take care of her mother. She had become delirious, combative, and highly dependent before the woman eventually succumbed to sepsis.

She felt like such an ungrateful child for feeling like a gigantic weight had been lifted off her shoulders. While her mother sacrificed her dreams and aspirations for her daughter and gave her all the opportunities to be successful, she was also the reason why Sca’Va’Thi was always so self-critical of herself. She was hard-working, methodical and practical, but she would spend days on end barely eating or sleeping to get the highest marks. She was terrible at making friends, and she wasn’t very good at working with others. She took after her mother and kept all her emotions in check, always thinking about others and what others might think of her. At her mother’s funeral she was quiet and stood at the back. The woman didn’t have a lot of friends, so the ceremony was kept short. She had felt so numb that day, like she had long since mourned for her mother over the last year, and only now did it seem more permanent.

Ze’Var’Bi wasn’t one to encourage any more time being wasted, even at her expense, so Sca’Va’Thi immediately got to work thereafter and got a scholarship at the capital’s prestigious university. She got into the Computer Engineering program and gained top marks, garnering the nickname “Scout” for always finding the errors in programs. She gained a newfound purpose, like the new nickname was a foreshadowing of who she could be–who she could become. She didn’t have to be a refugee from an obscure reservation, or the deaf/mute girl, or the girl with a dead mom. She could start fresh as Scout. She then pursued a Master’s Degree in both Computer and Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Applied physics.

After graduating, she did some company jobs where she did cybersecurity tests for large scale databases and cracked into the system to find all the lapses in security and essentially taking control of the entire thing. While the routine was comforting, she felt she needed something more in life. It didn’t help that everyone else who was able-bodied seemed to be getting promotions or a pay raise when she was pretty much the top performer in these companies. Not that she knew the first thing about being a manager or leading groups–heck, she couldn’t even maintain a relationship since she wasn’t the best at communicating. She would have at least appreciated a pay raise for the years and effort she had put in.

As luck seemed to have it, she came across an engineering ad online with a rather vague description of the legalities of their line of work. Scout had been a little hesitant about the job offer, but she had been with her previous company for a while now, and her contract was almost up. She figured that this might’ve been the sign that she was looking for, and filed in her application after a few days. This would be new territory for her, and a new routine, but she’ll figure it out. She always did.

5 years in, and she now has a new-found family in The Prosperity. She loves her job, and her unofficial job as a lip-reader and translator. She has made strides to make the entire ship accessible to the different species on board and all their different abilities. There were ramps or portable step-stools situated in almost every area, as well as clickers by the entrances of the bay area, engine rooms and boiler rooms to alert the blind. She set all the doors to have blinking lights that activate whenever it opens and closes, blinking at different speeds to differentiate them. Her communicator also vibrates and flashes to let her know that she has messages when she takes off her cochlear implants. She also programmed haptic gloves to verbally convey her signing into 5 different languages, depending on who she was talking to, through a small, waterproof speaker she has hooked only her cargo vest.

At first glance, she can appear quite intimidating, standing at almost 2 meters tall. It doesn’t help that she is very quiet and doesn’t talk unless spoken to first. When she does sign, she is still a woman of a few words, but when she talks, it’s usually to let out a teasing remark or snarky retort. She’s a very good listener, and always puts others’ needs before her own. She finds it difficult to work with others because she is very neurotic about how she does her work. She likes to have her things lined up, do things her way, and isn’t very flexible when it comes to shifts in her plans. She’s not a big fan of change and is often quite set in her ways. If someone were to insist on helping her, she’d just let them and then redo the whole thing her way when they left in order to be polite.

Skills: The

She has Master's Degrees in both Computer and Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Applied physics. She "dabbles" in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and user interface development.

Scout is very skilled at engineering, and is always working to improve the quality of life on the ship and for herself.

She is a skilled lip reader and is often pulled out from work by her captain to review security footage or take part in missions.

She is a natural improviser, and works on the fly to come up with solutions when anything in the ship's inner workings go awry

She has an Earth meme for almost any occasion.

While she doesn't talk, herself, she is very quick to come up with witty one-liners or comebacks in the group chats. While they don't always hit the mark, she likes to think she's quite funny.

She is well-versed in Eein, Skevvitae, Flagruu, Gevit, and English, with some basic knowledge in a few other languages. She finds that she has a knack for picking them up easily, unless they are purely spoken languages only.

Played by Kimi; 26; she/her; GMT+8

#character: scout velul #farlydae #death tw #genocide tw

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continentalblue · 2 years ago

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10+ headcannons for Eleanor honey bear! (Or rather canons in this case)

sorry for not replying!! i was studying for a test lolol

Her favorite color is green! Particularly pastel green or mint green.

She was inspired from a woman I saw in an Ulta ad.

She also came from a scene I had to write from my drama class last year.

She likes switching out her hair for braids and twists! With a simple change in her code, her hair immediately changes to whatever style she wants it to be.

She was programmed in Python.

She doesn't like Java. She's trying to learn it, but it kind of frustrates her sometimes.

She really likes animals! Especially rhinos.

She was activated on August 14 (which makes her a Leo).

She's really fond of older literature! "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin is one of her favorites.

She adopted a small calico kitten that she calls "Teeny."

She can speak over 247 languages fluently.

She was designed to be a friendship robot, which is why she's fairly gregarious.

She kind of slips into a Southern accent when stressed, which is weird because she's never been to the South. She'd like to visit Louisiana, though.

She loves her family so much !! And she loves having movie nights with them.

She doesn't sleep, per se, but she uses nighttime as a way to update her systems and protect herself against killware.

She loves seeing depictions of robots and AI in media, even if they're inaccurate.

She likes babies and kids; she'd like to adopt one someday.

Her favorite scent is lavender.

She can eat very limited quantities of human food, but doesn't really like it. It's the equivalent of a human eating Styrofoam for her.

She can charge in a variety of ways. She has a few solar panels attached to her roof which she plugs into every night to regain power. She always make sure to not let it go below 90%.

#honey bear #blue's eleanor #blue's ocs #robots #ai #blue's ask games

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violetthecreature · 6 days ago

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for my first post for this blog where i discuss stuff about things i make, i present a redesign

the old design is the odd one out, the new design is everywhere on the page

princess mako is the heir to a monarch in a non-descript plant-like kingdom. the kingdom's duty to preserve and maintain a giant tree which houses the kingdom as a whole. due to an incident concerning ancient artifacts and a dog-cat kleptomaniac (unrelated to the kingdom but to the wider world instead), she takes it upon herself to join the band of misfits which includes said dog-cat creature, a bat thief, and the last surviving child of an extinct species, to solve the problems caused by the misplaced artifact

now, its not that there's something inherently wrong with the original design, moreso that theres nothing about it thats any interesting. its a dryad-like creature that wears leaves for clothing and a makopa (java apple) on its head acting like a crown of sorts.

as a matter of fact i wasnt even planning on redesigning her until i tried drawing her from memory and then that drawing on the bottom left came out of it. then the ideas kept flowing and i came out with that design. while the second design doesnt really tie her into her role or into her story, it actually does try to aim for something more than just "green human"

her head is a fruit-like bulb and everything branches out from the bulb. the overgrown leaves on the top act as her hair. the tendrils that sprout out from the bottom hold tight to the sticks which act as her legs and let her stand up in some way. vines irl use any sturdy object to let them off the ground so the sticks being used like walking aides feels natural if not a little tacked on

the makopa crown and the leafy shawl do still stay from her original design because i saw no reason to change or remove them

and that was my thought process for redesigning one of my old ocs! i may make a third design because the second one does feel like something is still missing for me to consider it complete. the sassy look from the original got scrubbed off in the new one but I'd honestly argue that it was an accident on the original. its a princess from a closed off kingdom of large tree, why would she appear as anything but "prim and proper". she can still be sassy in attitude when she joins the misfits and gets a taste of control for the first time. thats all i have to say sooooooo seeya

#my art #my ocs #violetthecreature #stuff discussion

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ridwanguide · 2 months ago

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Adventure Beyond Borders: South Korea & Singapore Meets Indonesia

Smiles, sweat, and stories — that's what happened when three amazing travelers from South Korea and Singapore joined our Volcano Hiking & Jungle Trekking tour near Jakarta! They came for nature, but left with memories of sunrise hikes, deep green rainforests, hidden waterfalls, and the warmth of Indonesian hospitality. Thank you for trusting Ridwan Guide's Team to lead you through the wild beauty of West Java. You came as guests, but left as friends. Sampai jumpa lagi!

IndonesiaTravel #JakartaDayTrip #VolcanoHikingIndonesia #BogorAdventure #SouthKoreaToIndonesia #SingaporeToIndonesia #TravelIndonesia2025 #ExploreBogor #JungleTrekkingIndonesia #NatureTripIndonesia #IndonesiaNatureLovers #VisitIndonesia #JakartaGetaway #KoreanTravellersInIndonesia #SingaporeTravellers

#explorebogor #indonesianature #naturelovers #localguideindonesia #exploreindonesia #hikingindonesia #ridwanguidebogor #indonesiabucketlist #visitindonesia

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glassboxdiaries · 2 months ago

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1‑Year‑Old 40‑Gallon Jungle Aquarium Transformation 🌿🐠

Checkout the full long form YouTube video here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh2Jz5VCBdU

Welcome to my living jungle: a 40 gallon tank that has grown from bare glass into a lush Planted aquarium over the last twelve months. I set out to prove you can build a gorgeous community fish tank without pressurised CO₂ or stadium lighting, and this diary is the proof. Every branch, root and leaf went in slowly, with long pauses for biology to catch up; if you enjoy the slow‑motion drama of a Planted tank settling into balance, read on.

I laid Fluval Stratum for long‑term nutrients and gentle buffering, then bonded spider wood together with tissue‑and‑glue tricks before locking the structure with black lava rock and Seiryu stone. A few weeks of “dark‑start” cycling let good bacteria thrive so their colonies could support the tanks bioload. Lights stayed off and livestock stayed out, so no fish or plant ever saw a toxic spike.

When the water cleared I planted a carpet of Helanthium tenellum ‘Green’, attached Java fern, Anubias, Bucephalandra to the wood, and let Rotala rotundifolia climb into the skyline while planting Echinodorus plants in the substrate. Duckweed and water lettuce now raft across the top, soaking up stray nutrients.

First onto the payroll came the clean‑up crew: Amano shrimp that bulldoze filament algae, horned nerite snails that polish glass, and a mixed colony of orange, yellow and red cherry shrimp that patrol for every crumb.

For schooling movement I added fifteen Cardinal tetras, fifteen harlequin rasbora and three Pearl Gourami. The gourami were rowdy, so I re‑homed them and brought in honey gourami—calmer, smaller and shrimp‑safe. A squad of cory catfish (Corydoras) now sweeps the substrate, while a flash of neon tetra and tiny chili rasbora glitter mid‑water. One juvenile Siamese algae eater joined but quickly developed a taste for Cory eggs instead of algae.

Month four brought the Black Beard Algae Apocalypse. Amanos and nerites ignored the coarse tufts and my tests showed phosphate off the charts. The culprit: a clogged canister filter packed with six months of mulm. A deep clean, a shorter photoperiod and lighter feeding starved the BBA; within three weeks the tufts turned pink, then ghost‑white, then vanished as shrimp finally found them chewable.

With nutrients balanced, life exploded. Corydoras now spawn almost weekly, rasboras scatter eggs at dawn, and the shrimp colony has multiplied into a shuffling confetti storm. A short potassium dip punched pinholes in the Java fern; a potassium supplement and the occasional spinach leaf fixed that in days.

One year in, this 40 gallon tank practically runs itself. I feed twice a day, trim Rotala tops fortnightly, and spend more time day‑dreaming than working. Visitors lose track of minutes watching neon tetra shimmer through red Rotala leaves or cory catfish kick sand into tiny dunes while the cherry shrimp clean up the mess.

If you’re tempted by a community aquarium on a budget, let this setup be your green‑lit go‑ahead. Start slow, cycle thoroughly, pick hardy species, feed lightly, honour your water changes and the tank will answer with colour, movement and endless moments of calm. Drop questions below and bookmark this clip—I’ll be back at the two‑year mark with another deep dive into my underwater forest.

#aquarium #fishtank #fishkeeping #plantedtank #plantedaquarium #neontetra #corydoras #40gallontank

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ratralsis · 7 months ago

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I will always love Dragon Warrior 3

Dragon Quest III has a new HD-2D remake. I don't love the HD-2D style, if I'm being honest. 2D sprites on a 3D background never look right to me. They looked bad all the way back when I played Xenogears over twenty years ago.

In fact, I googled it: Xenogears came out on PS1 in 1998, so it was actually over twenty-six years ago. Pretty old fuckin' game, Xenogears.

Anyway.

I'm a big Dragon Quest fan. In 2018, I went to a Java One conference in San Francisco for work where I met a developer who worked for Square Enix. He'd just given a presentation discussing their use of Oracle technologies in some Final Fantasy mobile game or another that I'm sure has shut down by now. I approached him and his interpreter afterward to tell him that, because of the company I work for, security is our #1 priority when it comes to our data. How does Square Enix ensure that their databases are secure? Do they do automated testing? That kind of thing.

I got a pretty vague answer, but I wasn't unsatisfied with it. I shook the man's hand and told him, "実は、ドラクエのほうが好きだけど、" and he and his interpreter both laughed.

I'd just told him, "The truth is, I prefer Dragon Quest games, though," using the Japanese abbreviation "Dora Kue" instead of "Doragon Kuesuto." That way, he'd know I was actually a fan. Because I am, and that was a true statement. That's the kind of weird shit you learn when you spend time living in Japan. You can also learn it from the internet, of course. Maybe you just did, from me, earlier in this paragraph. I would be alright with that. Learning things on the internet is fun and easy and cool.

The first Dragon Quest came out in the US when I was very young, though it was called Dragon Warrior, of course. I was too young to be any good at it, because I lacked patience or a mind that could understand how to strategize even in a game where there was only one playable character. My dad played it, though, and I watched him. He played on weekends, because he didn't have time during the week. He named his character "Punky," as in "Punky Brewster," because he thought that was funny. It took us (that is, him) weeks to finish the game, but we (that is, he) eventually did.

I remember being terrified at the final boss battle. The Dragon Lord, the ultimate villain of the game, offers you half the world if you join him, and a Yes/No prompt actually appears.

Now, earlier in the game, you rescue the princess from a green dragon, and she asks you to take her back to the castle. You get a Yes/No prompt there, too, and if you say "No," she says "But thou must!"

"But thou must!" has become a cliche in the world of gaming for this reason.

So my dad assumed that the same thing would happen if you agreed to take half the world from the Dragon Lord. Thing is, it doesn't. Instead, he kills you, and the game ends. Decades later, that ending was used as the basis for the Dragon Quest Builders games, but, as a kid, it terrified me. Keep in mind that the game came out in August of 1989 in the US. Thirty-five years ago. I was five years old then. I might have been six by the time my dad played it, but come the fuck on, that's still pretty young.

We never played Dragon Warrior 2. We never had it. It wasn't until I was a teenager, and NES emulation was possible, that I played it. I never finished it, though, to be honest.

Dragon Warrior 3, though. That came out in 1992. I was eight. I already had an SNES, and Final Fantasy 2. But even at eight years old, Final Fantasy 2 was too much for me. I played it, but I didn't get very far. I literally couldn't find the entrance to one of the game's early dungeons. I won't say which one, because it's kind of embarrassing. It wasn't until I went back to it a couple of years later, at age 10, that I pushed through and finished the game.

I remember very clearly that I was in fifth grade, aged 10, because there was a snow day and I was all dressed to go to school when we found out about it and I went back to the TV to play Final Fantasy 2 instead. I was in the underground, going to the dwarven fortress.

Anyway. I didn't beat the first Final Fantasy game, on NES, until much later, too. I just wasn't good at RPGs when I was that young.

But in 1992, Dragon Warrior 3 was right up my alley. It's a simple game. It's a stupidly simple game. It has a plot that goes so far beyond simple that it's just plain stupid.

You start off at home, sleeping in your full armor, with sword and shield in hand, when your mother wakes you. She explains that it's your sixteenth birthday, and the first time that you'll go to the castle.

You go to the castle, and the king tells you that he's heard about your dad, who died, and how you're going to go die, too.

"It is said that the father Ortega met his end when he fell into a volcano's crater at the end of a battle." "We do hereby accept your petition to follow in the footsteps of your brave father."

He further tells you to get allies at the "eatery," hands you some money, and sends you on your way to kill Baramos, the archfiend, whose name most people don't know, and who is, somehow, going to conquer the world, I guess. And so, off you go. You can recruit three random dipshits from the "eatery," if you want, and you go save the world.

That's the plot.

There are a couple of twists once you kill Baramos. It turns out that there was a bigger Archfiend, Zoma, but he doesn't exist in this world. You have to find a big hole to jump into and find the world of darkness where Zoma lives, and then, once you're there, you find and kill him, too.

That's the end.

At eight years old, though, I loved it. The game came with an incredible manual that contained a walkthrough all the way to the ending, and a giant poster that showed illustrations for every single piece of equipment. I used to spend hours as a kid dreaming of how cool it would be when I finally had the best equipment for all my characters. I would try to find, looking over the poster, what all the best equipment even was. For example, the Zombie Slasher was the best sword for a Sage, as far as I could tell. Better swords existed, but Sages couldn't use them. And the Iron Mask was the best helmet for the hero. And the Magic Bikini was a surprisingly good piece of armor despite clearly being a joke armor.

You can find the poster at https://www.woodus.com/den/games/dw3nes/posters.php if you want. It's fucking excellent. My personal favorite is the Giant Shears, a weapon only Soldiers could equip, because of the utter (dare I say, sheer?) absurdity of imagining a character coming at an enemy with big scissors. Good luck finding the Giant Shears in the later re-releases! Someone realized how fucking stupid they were, I guess!

As a child, I struggled a lot with the game. I took a long, long time to get anywhere. I would grind and level up for hours. I tried a few different character classes, but I decided to take the advice from the manual and used a Soldier, a Pilgrim, and a Wizard as my main party.

The Soldier was Adan. The Wizard was named Matthias. Those were their default names. I named the Pilgrim Joel, after someone I knew from school. It was an all-male party, so I never got to use the Sword of Illusions or the Magic Bikini on my main party.

The hero? Oh, he was named for myself. I hated seeing the first four letters of my name, which is longer than four letters, in the battle menu. Matthias simply became "Matt," but Adan and Joel were untouched.

Adan leveled up faster than the hero did, which made me feel like he was the strongest in the party, and so he stood in the front for most of the game. It wasn't until much later, when I started swapping out characters to level up others, that the hero caught up. But when I first went to the town where you have to send a character solo through a dungeon, I sent Adan. That was a bad idea, it turned out. Adan, as a soldier, couldn't cast any kind of healing spells, so he just couldn't last long enough to make it through that dungeon. The hero could. The hero's meant to. You're meant to send the hero through there. I wound up sending the hero through it enough times to get him to the same level as Adan. I wound up going back later to do it again.

There's a point early on when the king of Romaly insists that you take his crown and become king. You can't refuse him. You have to do it. You have to track him down once you're the king and demand that he take his crown back, which he will, because it's an order from the king, that is, you.

You can go back and become king again later if you want. There's no point. You can't leave town when you're the king. You can't even access your inventory when you're the king. There are little joke responses to every menu option when you're the king that say you have no need to check your inventory or your status because you're the king.

But I was a little kid, and I thought it was funny as hell to go back and tell the king I wanted to borrow his crown and walk around being the king every so often. The only thing I could find that was of any use was that there's one NPC who will tell you that you can use certain weapons in battle to cast spells for free. He won't tell you that normally. Only when you're the king.

I remember visiting the home of a friend of mine and bringing Dragon Warrior III over. I don't remember how old I was then, but I met that friend in sixth grade, so it has to have been when I was, at the youngest, eleven years old. I'd been playing the game off and on for three years by then. I'd probably made it to the end of the game, but I'm sure I hadn't beaten it yet.

We killed an entire afternoon at the monster arena in Romaly, gambling on monster fights. It was fun. We probably lost more than we won, but I didn't mind. It was trivial to reset when we lost too much, and save when we won.

About a third of the way through the game, you unlock the ability to change the classes of anybody other than the hero. There aren't a ton of advantages to doing this in the original game.

Okay, let me break it down. There's the hero, but only one character, your starting character, can be the hero. The hero can't change classes, and nobody else can start as or become a hero. So let's not consider the hero any more when discussing class changes. In the original, there were six character classes you could pick from at the eatery when recruiting random dipshits:

The soldier: High HP, very strong, levels fast. The best at fighting. People often say that the soldier has the disadvantage of being expensive to equip, but that's stupid. Invaluable. You should have one.

The fighter: You'd think the fighter would have some kind of advantage over the soldier, but not really. People often say that the fighter's big advantage is that you don't have to spend so much money equipping them, but that's stupid. Later versions of the game included many more weapons and armor for the fighter that would close the gap between them and the soldier, but in the original, the Iron Claw was the best thing you could give the fighter to use as a weapon.

The merchant: Complete garbage. Can't cast magic, and isn't as strong as a soldier or a fighter.

The pilgrim: one of two classes who can cast magic. Casts healing spells and some buffs/debuffs. Can eventually revive dead characters. Invaluable. You should have one.

The wizard: the other class who can cast magic. Casts attack spells and some buffs/debuffs. Can eventually cast the "open" spell, rendering all keys meaningless, and the "day/night" spell, allowing you to make it nighttime whenever you want instead of having to fuck around walking outside. Invaluable. You should have one.

Goof-off: a joke character. Weakest in every way. Sometimes spends turns doing nothing. No value whatsoever. I mean it. None. Nobody can change to a goof-off, not even someone who used to be a goof-off and who leveled up and changed classes. You should never use a goof-off.

There comes a point later in the game when you need to bring a merchant to a place called New Town and abandon them there forever. They permanently leave the party. They never come back. That's the only use for a merchant as far as I am concerned. Some people will tell you that merchants are actually quite strong in the early game, and thus you should use one until you reach the temple where you can change their class into something else. I am telling you not to do this. I am telling you that there are exactly three good reasons to change a character's class.

One: you have an extremely high-level wizard or pilgrim who has learned every spell, and now you want to make them into a soldier. This will let them keep all of their spells, even though they will be terrible at casting them. See, changing your class cuts all your stats in half, so the new soldier's MP will only be half of what it was, and their spellcasting stats will be, too. They'll be bad at it.

Two: you have an extremely high-level wizard or pilgrim who has learned every spell, and now you want to make them into the spellcasting class they weren't. That is, you want your wizard to become a pilgrim, or you want your pilgrim to become a wizard. This will allow them to learn spells from both classes, and their spellcasting stats and MP won't be utter shit.

Three: you have a pilgrim or a wizard of any level and you want to use the one and only special book that exists in the game to turn them into a sage. The sage is a class that nobody can ever start as. They can learn every wizard and every pilgrim spell, and they can equip more weapons and armor than either wizards or pilgrims. They are the best class in the game. Choose wisely. My suggestion is that you turn your pilgrim into a sage.

Some people will tell you that there is a fourth good reason. Let me explain something to you. They were wrong.

They will tell you that you can level a goof-off to 20, the minimum to change classes, and then, when you go to change your goof-off's class, the option will be there to change them to a sage. This allows you to have as many sages as you want. This is stupid. Don't do this.

Here's the thing. Goof-offs don't gain MP when they level up, but they do gain intelligence, the stat which determines MP gain. See, when you level up in Dragon Warrior 3, the game looks at your character's level and determines, based on their class and their level, what their stats "should" be. If their stats are already above that level, they only gain one or zero points. So your level 20 goof-off becomes a level 1 sage, but has the intelligence of a level 10 goof-off. Until they surpass that point, your new sage won't gain intelligence.

But that means they also won't gain MP! Characters ONLY gain MP when they gain intelligence in Dragon Warrior 3! So your sage will NEVER have as much MP as they would have had if they'd started their life as a pilgrim or a wizard. They'll be a shitty sage.

You might think, well, it's better to be a shitty sage than no sage at all! And to that I say, FUUUUUUUUUUUCK YOOOOOOOOOOOOOU

As a kid, I never knew that goof-offs could become sages. Nobody tells you that in the game. You're just supposed to figure it out, or read a guide online, which I eventually did, many years later. I thought goof-offs were just fun little dudes. I created one and named her Goofus, because I thought that was funny.

I leveled Goofus to something like level 40. Because she was the only female character I regularly used, she got all the female-only equipment I found: the Sword of Illusions, the Magic Bikini. That kind of thing. I loved Goofus! She was great! Especially once she put on that bikini, because it actually changed her character sprite to make it look like she was suddenly a sexy bikini babe!

Sexy!

As a high schooler, I got access to the GameBoy Color remake via emulation. That was basically a crime, but hey, let's pretend it wasn't.

The GBC remake included a lot of new features. Among them, the merchant and goof-off classes got new spells that only they can use, and the new thief class was added. This means that, if you want a character who can cast every spell, you can't just use a sage.

There's only one thing you can do. You have to become a goof-off, then a sage, and also a merchant and a thief on top of that. Obviously, this is the right and good thing to do. It's the only smart thing. Doing anything else is simply dumb as hell, and you shouldn't do it. Also, all your characters should be female. There are female-only equipment items, but there no male-oonly equipment items. Your hero should be female, and so should all your party members.

They should end as thieves. Thieves increase the chances of items dropping from enemies, including the stat-boosting seeds, which means that you can, with a little patience, have a team of four level 99 characters, all of them with maxed-out stats, three of them thieves who can use every single ability in the game.

This is the only smart thing to do. This is what I did. Twice. Once on the GameBoy Color ROM I had as a high-schooler, and again as an adult on my Android phone when playing the mobile release.

Doing that makes the final bosses, even the postgame superbosses who didn't exist in the original game, pretty easy to beat. That's really what it's all about.

Some people might say, hey, that sounds very boring. You don't need to do that. You could beat the game with a merchant and a goof-off in your party if you want. You could beat the game solo if you want. But that's not the smart thing to do. The smart thing is to max yourself out.

I haven't played the HD-2D remake yet. I'll get my copy tomorrow. I wanted to wait until it was out for a few days before I ordered a copy. I honestly kind of wanted to wait even longer, until it was cheaper, because I don't have a lot of money right now. But I love this game.

I've loved it many times over the years. I credit it with my lifelong love of RPGs, and, honestly, a big part of my love of fantasy in general. Final Fantasy, the original game on NES, included warp cubes and robots and a fucking War Mech who could attack you with an ability called "NUKE." It was fantasy, but only on the surface. It eventually became sci-fi. But Dragon Quest never did. It stayed fantasy from start to finish.

You rummage around in a horse field in Dragon Warrior III to find the material you need to sell to a merchant so that he'll forge the Sword of Kings for you. It's the strongest sword in the game. Only the hero can use it. It didn't exist already. You have to make it exist. And then you go and you kill the strongest bad guy with it, and that saves the world.

There's a twist, at the end, that I didn't see coming as a kid. Maybe you know about it. Maybe the fact that Dragon Quest 3's remake is coming out before Dragon Quest 1 and 2, due to the fact that Dragon Quest 3 takes place first chronologically, gives you a pretty big fucking hint. As a kid, though, I didn't know that. I thought that it was really cool that I could go around gathering, and creating, my own legend as the strongest fucking guy around, even if I also had three other guys with me.

As an adult, I wonder what happened to those other three guys. I guess they didn't get to be legends. They just died in obscurity. So it goes.

But tomorrow, I'll play the game again. I'll name my female hero Nester, because Nester can be a girl's name, too, and because I made a promise 30 years ago to always name the main character of any offline game I play "Nester."

I will never explain this beyond what I just said.

My other three characters will be a Monster Wrangler, a Priest, and a Thief, because that's the best party I can think of. I could potentially make a Wizard instead of a Priest. Wizards can do more damage, but Priests can heal more damage. When I can change character classes, I'll make the Priest/Wizard into a Sage.

Eventually, they'll all become Gadabouts, and Merchants, too, to get all the abilities in the game. That's the goal. That's the only smart thing I can do. I'll have to find out if they all need to become Monster Wranglers, and decide if I want to have all of them end as Thieves or if I want one of them to end as a Monster Wrangler while the other two end as Thieves.

There's only one smart thing to do, and I'll find it, and I'll do it.

The game itself? Dumb as hell. I love it. I'll always love it. I have a sad feeling that I might play it again in another twenty or thirty years, when I'm an even older man, or retired.

The idea of sitting down at seventy years old and starting up the newest version of Dragon Quest III and naming my hero "Nester" honestly sounds kind of nice. I hope it happens.

I don't think anything I've said here would convince anybody in the world to play this game, but I wanted to explain myself when I had this rare opportunity.

#ratralsis writing #ratralsis plays #rpdq3

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newmusicradionetwork · 1 year ago

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Griefcat Announce The Release Of Late Stage Capitalism Out April 19

Annie Nardolilli and Louisa Hall, the masterminds behind DC duo Griefcat, are set to release their brilliant album Late Stage Capitalism, April 19. They’ve been compared to Flight of the Conchords, Tenacious D, Norwegian duo Ylvis, and Garfunkel and Oates by fans but Griefcat brings their own unique voice to the genre. The nine tracks on Late Stage Capitalism range from flat out hilarious to unexpectedly thought provoking, each with a unique sound, beautifully blended harmonies, and brilliant lyrics all with an unpredictable twist. The musicianship stands out on its own too; traditional instruments abound but you will also hear slide guitar, ukulele, trumpet, trombone, violin, and cello peppered throughout the album. Says the duo, “We are overjoyed to finally share these songs with the world! We’ve been working on this album since 2020, and it has been a labor of love to bring our full vision to fruition.” Late Stage Capitalism explores how unbridled capitalism has invaded every facet of modern life, from workplace politics to interpersonal relationships, and even our most private moments. They came up with the title in early 2020 when they wrote arguably their most well-known song on the album to date, “Revolution (Poop At Work),” a song about how even the smallest acts of defiance can be revolutionary, catapulted the duo to viral infamy and a strong following with over 25 million organic views of their videos, more than 15 million of those views for that song alone. Even Questlovecommented on the song, saying “LOL I feel seen, I see my version as a political act.” They’ve also received likes from SZA and actor Alan Tudyk for their posts, among others. Other songs on the album include “I Just Want To Get Inside (Your Bank Account),” an unanticipated, ‘90s-style love song with a hilarious contradiction between two women looking for two different things when it comes to a new relationship. Are they looking for love or money? It also shines a light on dating culture and how much sensitive personal information we share online every day. “Crytpobro” is a traditional country tune with all the makings of a hit song. It’s a melodic, catchy, and current, and a breakup song about losing love, in this case to the cult of Cryptocurrency and the church of Elon Musk. The opening track, “Benevolent Billionaire,” featuring standout vocalist Jarreau Williams along with many of DC’s brightest musical talent, is loosely based on ‘80s supergroup charity singles like “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and “We are the World.” “Love The Sinner” was written while Annie was working as a deputy sheriff and was inspired by two narrow-minded coworkers she didn’t get along with. All these songs would never have existed if it weren’t for the mind melding of the opposites attract duo. Annie, from Arlington, VA is a Mormon and former sheriff’s deputy while Louisa, from Alexandria, VA (now lives in Reston VA), is a long-time lapsed Catholic and a career tech employee. That dichotomy in perspectives has been the key to the duo’s success both in songwriting and in their friendship. They met at a DC-based variety show and were the only musicians in a group of comedians performing that night. They scheduled their first rehearsal, wrote a song about vaccines and egg rolls, and the rest is (recent) history. Now, with Late Stage Capitalism, Griefcat has all the potential to be more than just a musical act. With each live show, they invite their audience to step inside their world, creating a fun and exciting atmosphere that becomes a universally shared experience for all. Tour dates are listed below, more to be announced soon. Griefcat Tour Dates: Feb 08 – Pearl Street Warehouse, Washington, DC Feb 29 – Jammin Java, Vienna, VA Mar 16 – The Pocket, Washington City, DC Mar 21 – The Heist, Bowling Green, VA Griefcat Website Instagram TikTok Spotify YouTube Facebook # # # Read the full article

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fishbreedsblog · 2 years ago

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Guppy Breeders Overview & 7 Things You Should Know!

This guide has everything you need to know about Guppy Breeders. Find out about their appearance, how they act, what they eat, common diseases, and more.

A Quick Look at Guppy Breeders

Guppy breeders, also known as "Fancy Guppies," are a popular and often-bred type of freshwater fish. People know them by their bright colors, interesting patterns, and long, flowing fins. Aquarists and people who like fish like guppy breeders because they are pretty, easy to care for, and have interesting ways of reproducing.

In this essay, we'll talk about different things about guppy breeders, like where they come from, how they look, what they eat, how they breed, common health problems, and special care needs.

Details about everything

Where it came from

The scientific name for guppy breeders is Poecilia reticulata. They are native to the fresh water of Venezuela, Guyana, and Brazil. They were first found in the middle of the 1800s, and by the late 1800s, aquariums were selling them. Since then, careful breeding has allowed guppy breeders to offer many different colors, patterns, and types of fins.

Size

On average, male guppy breeders grow to be 1.5 to 2 inches (3.8 to 5 cm) long, while females grow to be 2 to 2.5 inches (5.4 to 6.4 cm) long.

Length of life

Most guppy breeders live about two to three years. But if they are well cared for and live in the best conditions, they can live up to four years or even longer.

How people act

Most guppy breeders don't bother other fish because they are calm. Because of this, they are good for public aquariums. Because they are social, they can live with other small, peaceful fish species. But it's important to think about the size and personality of possible tankmates to make sure they get along.

How it appears

Guppy breeders show off a wide range of colors, patterns, and fin shapes. Their bodies are long and skinny, and their backs are slightly arched. The males are brighter and more showy. They have bright colors like red, blue, green, yellow, orange, and purple, and they often have complicated patterns and spots on their bodies.

On the other hand, the females have less bright colors and a rounder stomach. Most of the time, they are gray or olive. Males have long, flowing tail fins, while females' tails are shorter and rounder.

The colors and kinds

Guppy breeders have been breeding for different traits, which has led to a wide range of types and colors. Some of the most popular types are Cobra Guppies, Moscow Guppies, Mosaic Guppies, and Delta Guppies. People who like to breed guppies have a lot of choices because there are many different colors and patterns within each type.

Feeder Guppies: Everything You Need to Know

Needs a home and a tank

Nature's Home

Guppy breeders live in streams, rivers, and ponds with fresh water in South America. Most of the time, these places have a lot of plants, slow-moving or still water, and warm temperatures.

Size of Tank

For guppy breeders, a tank should be at least 10 gallons (about 38 liters) in size. But bigger tanks give the fish more space to swim and more stable water conditions, which can be good for their health as a whole. When choosing the right size tank, you should think about how many guppies you want to keep and how many other fish you might want to keep with them.

How much water there is

Guppy breeders are adaptable and can live in a variety of water types. The best water temperature for guppies is between 22°C and 28°C, or 72°F and 82°F. It should be between 6.8 and 7.8 on the pH scale. This means it should be a little bit acidic or a little bit basic. It is very important to keep the water clean for their health and well-being by filtering it well and changing it often.

Set up tank

A guppy breeder's tank should have the right decorations, substrate, and hiding places for the fish. Live or fake plants like Java moss or Amazon sword can give guppy fry places to hide and feel safe. To make it look like their natural habitat, it's best to have both open swimming areas and areas with lots of plants.

The base can be made of fine gravel or sand. Also, make sure the tank has a lid or cover to keep the guppies from jumping out.

Putting food in

Diet

Guppy breeders eat a wide range of foods and aren't picky. They aren't picky eaters and will eat a wide range of foods. If you want to breed guppies, you should feed them high-quality flake or pellet food made just for tropical fish.

You can also feed them live or frozen brine shrimp, daphnia, or bloodworms to give them the nutrients they need and make them more colorful. It is important to offer a variety of foods to make sure that nutrition and health are at their best.

The way they eat

Guppy breeders eat several times a day and need to eat small amounts of food each time. This keeps the fish from eating too much and keeps the water in the tank clean. They tend to eat quickly, so it's important to keep an eye on feeding time and take away any food that isn't eaten after a few minutes to keep the water clean.

Having babies

To make copies

Guppy breeders have live fry instead of eggs, which means that they don't lay eggs. They are known for being able to have a lot of babies, and hobbyists breed them for their unique color and fins. During mating, male guppies move sperm from themselves to the female using a special anal fin called a gonopodium.

Needs for having children

For guppy breeders to be able to have babies, they need to do and think about certain things. It is important to keep the water at the same temperature and pH level. To keep the pregnant female and her fry safe, you can set up a separate breeding tank or a well-planted area in the main tank.

The act of giving birth

Guppy breeders have to find each other, get together, and then take care of their babies. To attract females, male guppies show off their bright colors and complicated mating dances. After being fertilized, the female carries the growing fry in her body for about 4 to 6 weeks before giving birth.

When a guppy gives birth, the fry are usually left to take care of themselves, since guppy breeders don't usually take care of the babies. To make it more likely that fry will live, keep them away from adult fish or give them lots of places to hide, like plants and rocks.

Most Often Seen Health Issues

Health problems that happen often

Most of the time, guppy breeders are hardy fish, but they can get sick. Common health problems include fungal infections, bacterial infections, parasites, and diseases like dropsy or swim bladder disorder. Bad water, stress, being too crowded, or not getting enough food can all cause these health problems.

Things to do to stop it

If you want to avoid or lessen health problems, care and maintenance are very important. This means checking the water parameters often, keeping the water clean with filtration and regular water changes, feeding the fish a balanced diet, and not putting too many fish in the tank.

Keeping diseases from spreading can also be helped by putting new fish in a separate tank before putting them in the main tank.

Things to consider

Getting along

Most guppy breeders don't attack other small fish and can live with them. But it's important to think about the personality, size, and needs of potential tankmates to make sure they'll get along and avoid aggression or territorial fights. It's best not to keep them with fish that bite their fins or larger fish that eat them.

Extra Care Instructions

Guppy breeders need a stable and clean place to keep their fish. It is important for their health and well-being to check the water parameters often, keep the tank in good shape, and feed them a balanced diet. Also, giving the fish places to hide and plants to grow can help them feel less stressed and safer.

Limits set by the law

It is important to find out and understand any laws or rules about owning or breeding guppy breeders in your area or country. Some countries or regions may have rules about bringing in, sending out, or selling certain kinds of fish, like guppy breeders. People who own and breed guppies must follow these rules to make sure they do so in a responsible way.

In the end, guppy breeders are pretty and interesting fish that have caught the attention of fish lovers all over the world. They are a popular choice for both new and experienced fish keepers because they are easy to care for and have bright colors and patterns.

Guppy breeders can do well and make their owners happy by giving them a good place to live, a balanced diet, and the right care. People who want to see how they have babies are also interested in how they breed and how many babies they have.

Guppy breeders are calm and get along well with other small fish, which makes them a great addition to community aquariums. To make sure that owning and breeding these beautiful fish is done in a responsible and moral way, it is important to learn about their specific care needs, common health problems, and any legal restrictions.

#freshwater fish

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kedreeva · 6 years ago

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I thought you'd like to know that you gave me some useful info that helped me pass my animal science test! when asked what an example of a phenotype is (genotype + environment, im sure you know), I referenced how in peafowl, they can have the genotype of barred wings, but the sun (the environment) bleaches the bars to a lighter color, thus combining genotype and environment to make a phenotype. thanks, really helped a girl out!

MOST excellent! If your teacher doesn’t believe you tell them to call me.

#asks #incredibly-ineffable #peafowl #good things #personal #also congrats on passing your test!!#I am proud of you!!#I actually usually forget the environment definition #because I'm used to genotype = the actual genes #and phenotype = the expression of those genes #there was actually a huuuuuge dust up in the peafowl community like a decade ago #because people were using a bird's phenotype #to describe their genotype #when it came to java greens #they were using the term Emerald (which means 75% GENETICALLY green)#for any bird that LOOKED like it was 75%+ green blooded #but that's SUPER bad because the way the green blood affects the blue blood #can result in a bird that LOOKS super java #but genetically isn't very high %#and now no one is allowed to use the term Emerald at all #we're all on word time-out #anyway it was a mess #drama in the peafowl world what can u do

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xiaojunsmintchoco · 2 years ago

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Cold brew - Na Jaemin

pairing: barista!jaemin x barista!reader

genre: fluff, angst; enemies to lovers, coffee shop au

synopsis: at the coffee shop you work at, there's always this regular who comes and orders the same cup of cold brew coffee every morning without fail. you end up having a rather rude interaction with him one morning when you accidentally spill his coffee on him before his job interview – which turns out to be for the very same coffee shop you're working at. it doesn't matter to you that he got the job, but the fact that he's always on the same shift as you never fails to get on your nerves. Will the two of you sort out your feud, or will the both of you continue to brew these cold feelings towards each other?

a/n: this is a very VERY long overdue fic for @hcsarchive ! i’m really really sorry for the long hiatus y’all, and for the decline in quality of writing and banner design :”) but to star, i genuinely hope you enjoy this fic that i churned up at 2 in the morning, and that your life will be filled with joy and many many good things! it’s been great having you as my friend, though we haven’t interacted much </3 I promise i’ll try to be more active here <3

"One venti cold brew for Na Jaemin!" you call, voice ringing out through the coffee shop amid the clinking of mugs and cutlery and cool jazz music playing in the background. As expected, a young man clad in a mint green hoodie and jeans rushes up to the counter. His soft, ebony-black bangs fall over his coffee-brown eyes as he claims his drink from you with a muffled "thanks" before scurrying off again, black backpack hanging from his back and laptop case in hand.

"He came again?" Lia asks, popping a pastry into the oven and setting the timer.

You nod in response. “Na Jaemin. Here every morning, at the exact same time ordering the exact same thing”.

"Aren't many of our customers like this too?" Lia questions, uncertain as to why you suddenly brought up this particular customer.

"Yeah, but they're not always here at the exact same time every day – sometimes they come a few minutes earlier or later. And even if they have regular orders, they sometimes order different things. This guy is here at 7 am on the dot every day without fail, and he always, always orders a venti size cold brew. I don't recall him having ordered anything different," you explain to Lia as the timer on the oven goes off, and you take the croissant out.

"Wow, how are you so observant towards these details outside of his regular drink order? It's as if you're specifically keeping your eye out for his arrival. Are you?" Lia questions, raising her eyebrows at you.

"What the hell, no!" You hurriedly deny.

"But he's your ideal type, is he not? Brown eyes, black hair, pretty cute," Lia replies with a smirk as she gets to preparing a latte, and in that moment you regret the day you'd spoken about your ideal types to each other.

"I mean yes, but we don’t even know each other! We’ve barely exchanged any words apart from him mumbling his thanks to me when I pass him his drink,” you protest.

“So? He comes here every day, you’ll sure have a chance to get to know him better,” Lia insists.

“One grande caffe latte for Kai!” you call out, placing the drink on the counter and flashing a smile at the customer, who says a “thank you”, picks up the drink and casually saunters off, in contrast to how Jaemin had practically flown out the door after collecting his order from you earlier. “I don’t know. Compared to all our other customers, he seems to be in a constant rush. He’s like the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland!”

Still, Lia remains adamant. “Trust me, if he’s your destined soulmate, there will be a way for you both to get to know each other. Really”.

You shrug, getting to work making a java chip frappuccino. “Nah, I don’t think he is. He’s probably just the eye candy who comes into our shop every morning for his daily cold brew”.

Lia simply hums and turns around to take the next customer’s order, while a mild pang of longing settles in your heart. Yes, you knew he was really just eye candy to you, but a part of you wished that you’d at least be able to interact with him a little and get to know him as an acquaintance at least.

»»————-　☕️　————-««

Your wish comes true the next day — or at least the first part of it. You finally get to properly interact with him, past the muffled “thank yous” he would give you whenever you passed him his cold brew every morning.

But was it pleasant?

Far from that.

It’s about 2:30 pm in the afternoon, and the cafe is way more hectic than it should be at this time. Throngs of people flood the cafe, leaving all of the baristas overwhelmed, yourself included.

“I thought people drink morning coffee, not afternoon coffee!” Lia complains, practically sprinting to the other end of the counter, carrying a customer’s order on a black tray. “One blueberry muffin and one vanilla sweet cream cold brew for Shanice!”

“I know right. Suddenly everyone’s ordering their coffee in the afternoon for some weird reason!” you exclaim, hurrying to save the pastries in the oven before they burned to a crisp.

Your already-divided attention is briefly stolen by the sight of a familiar face coming in through the door — it’s none other than Na Jaemin. Weird, he already came in the morning, you think to yourself, already moving towards the cold brew machine out of instinct. You can’t help but notice he’s changed out of his usual hoodie and jeans into slacks, a white long-sleeved collared shirt and a blazer, more formal than the casual attire he normally dons, which leads you to think that he has something important on. As soon as you place the pastries on the counter, you head over to the register where Jaemin is to take his order. “Hi, what can I get for you?” you recite the standard phrase.

“One venti cold brew, please,” he states.

“Alright, I’ll get that for you. Na Jaemin, right?” you ask, picking up a venti-size cup and a marker, scribbling the name on as he nods.

You put some ice in the cup, and then stride over to where the brewed coffee is stored before dispensing enough to fill the cup. Just as you’re bringing it to the collection point, a voice calls for you. “Y/n! Hurry, there’s more orders!” one of your colleagues yells.

“Okay, coming soon!” you reply back, calling out Jaemin’s name and order, passing the drink to him and preparing to hurry off.

Only, you’d been too fast in handing the drink to him and had let go before his hands were properly around the cup, resulting in the cup falling from your hands and spilling coffee all over his shirt. Your jaw falls to the floor along with the cup as you watch his white shirt turn coffee-brown and prepare to offer multiple sincere apologies, maybe even offer to pay for his shirt to be cleaned.

But before you can do that, he hits the roof. “Ugh! I have a job interview, you idiot! Why are you so careless?” he exclaims, clearly livid. Veins bulge out visibly from his forehead, a clear sign of his fury. Heads snap in your direction as the commotion distracts customers from whatever they were doing previously.

Annoyance at how Jaemin had unnecessarily blown up at you, coupled with stress from the already overwhelming shift began to take over you, and you had to use every fiber in your being to maintain your professionalism and not hurl the best insult you could think of back at him. “Sir, I’m extremely sorry”. You murmur repeated apologies as you get several wet tissues for him. “I’ll be willing to pay for the cleaning costs, just let me know how much it costs when you next visit us”.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to appease Jaemin. “That’s not the point. I don’t have spare clothes, you know! Now I might not get my job!” Jaemin exclaims, eyes boring into you accusingly. Unsure of what to say, you remain silent, your mouth opening and closing like a goldfish’s. “Thanks a lot, I suppose,” he spits, making sure his sarcasm came across clearly. With that, he takes his half-empty drink cup and stalks off.

Meanwhile, you’re left with a taste that's even more bitter than the cold brew in your mouth from the encounter. “Wow, that was pretty rude of him,” Lia comments, coming up beside you. “Maybe you should have ensured that he was actually holding the cup before letting go, but that was still out of line on his end”.

You sigh, shaking your head and turning back to the cash register, preparing to serve the next customer. “Whatever. Let’s forget that this happened”.

»»————-　☕️　————-««

A week has passed since the incident, and you’ve all but forgotten about it, the incident almost having been cleared from your memory completely.

Until you see a familiar face coming in at 2:30 pm — none other than Na Jaemin, the customer who’d yelled at you rather rudely that day when you’d made an honest mistake. “Lia? Can you take this next customer? I’d rather not interact with him again,” you whisper to your co-worker while glaring daggers at him.

To your surprise, Lia shakes her head. “I don’t think he’s here to order, actually. I think he’s here for his first day on the job”.

You narrow your eyes at her as a sense of foreboding comes over you. “What do you mean?”

“He’s our new barista, and he’ll be working here part-time. Did no one tell you?” Lia explains, wiping the counter top. “The job interview he mentioned last week — it was for a position here as a barista”.

“No way. Please tell me you’re lying”. You feel your eyes grow to the size of the saucers in your hands.

She shakes her head. “I’m being for real here”.

You watch as your supervisor comes out to meet Jaemin and they exchange greetings, before she passes him a set of uniform and he heads to the restrooms. “Oh, my gosh”. Your hand comes up to your forehead, and your lips form a thin line as you feel your annoyance levels peak again. “No way I’m sharing shifts with this guy”.

Lia shrugs. “Maybe it won’t be as bad as you think. Hopefully he forgot that it was you who spilled coffee on him last week,” she says while placing a hand on your shoulder, in an effort to appease you.

At that moment, your supervisor comes out of the store room with Jaemin in tow and approaches you and the other baristas. “Everyone, this is our new employee, Na Jaemin,” she says, introducing him to all of you. “Some of you may know him, as he’s a regular at our cafe. He’ll be working the afternoon shift from Monday to Wednesday. I hope all of you look after him well, and show him the ropes”. She then takes her leave as Jaemin comes to join all of you behind the counter.

“Hello everyone,” Jaemin greets, his pearly whites appearing as he gives all of you a small bow. So cute! You internally squeal as you greet him back. It was the first time you’d seen him properly smile, as every time he ordered coffee from you, his face had this permanently exhausted look on it thanks to what you can only assume to be the university student life. You return his greeting, relaxing as you realise that maybe Lia was right and he’d forgotten about the incident.

Or…maybe not.

“Aren’t you the barista who spilled my drink on me last week?” Jaemin questions as he pours milk into a blender, eyes narrowing into slits as he stares at you. “How do you still have a job? You can’t even serve a drink properly”.

Okay, that does it for you. First day on the job and he’s already being so rude?

“Can you just forget about it? You got the job in the end, didn’t you?” you snap, making your annoyance clear as you somewhat aggressively spray whipped cream onto a customer’s drink. “Also why are you showing disrespect to colleagues on your first day here? How did you even get hired?”

Jaemin shrugs, and you feel a vexation prick at the back of your neck at his nonchalant attitude. “Bold of you to talk about respect, considering you were pretty disrespectful to me last week by spilling my own drink order on me”.

"Shut the fuck up, will you?" you hiss, trying to keep your voice from rising to fever pitch, in order to not attract unpleasant attention to the both of you.

Jaemin opens his mouth to retort, but Lia steps in. “Enough, you two. Let’s just move on from the incident, shall we? I’m sure she didn’t mean to do that”.

Shooting her a grateful look, you move over to the shelf to grab a tea bag to prepare a customer’s order. “Not quite your ideal type anymore, huh?” Lia whispers from next to you as she washes a mug.

Cringing, you shake your head furiously. “Appearance wise, still yes. Personality-wise, definitely not”.

»»————-　☕️　————-««

Ever since Jaemin joined the team, it was almost like you couldn’t have a peaceful day at work, especially since you and Jaemin always shared the same shifts. Both of you were constantly at each other's throats now, even over small things, and today wasn't any different.

“Y/n! You didn’t heat this up long enough!” Jaemin hollers, gesturing to the chocolate chip cookie on the counter top.

Rolling your eyes, you turn around to address him. “You didn’t serve it on time and it’s cooled down, you idiot. Also, Seungkwan asked for an extra espresso shot, which you didn’t add in. Who’s the one who can’t do his job properly now, huh? I hope the boss fires you one of these days”.

As a look of hurt flashes across Jaemin’s face for a fleeting moment, you feel a small pang of guilt hit you. Jaemin covers it up by rolling his eyes at you and muttering “piece of shit”, before moving over to add the extra espresso shot as you shove the plate with the cookie on it into the oven again. At that moment, his ringtone sounds out, and he takes his phone out of his apron pocket. Colour drains from his face at the sight of the caller ID, and he hurriedly excuses himself to the storeroom, leaving you to man the counter yourself since both Lia and the other barista weren’t able to make it to work today. “Hi, what can I get for you?” you inquire, plastering a smile on your face and turning to face the customer, who asks for a cappuccino.

You open up the mini-fridge below the counter, only to find that there’s no more milk left. No big deal, you could always get more from the bigger fridge in the store room. Heading over to the store room, you push the door open and prepare to step inside when Jaemin’s voice stops you in your tracks. “…what? The surgery costs that much? I thought it was cheaper…”

Peeking through the door slightly, you’re greeted by the sight of Jaemin pacing around the small room and clutching onto a handful of his black hair. From his tone and demeanour, it was evident that he was in a clear state of stress. "Yes, I got the job, but I don't think my earnings from the shifts I'm working currently can cover the costs". Another pause. "It's alright. I'll just ask the supervisor if I can work more shifts. It's more important that grandma gets well. Okay, bye. Send my well-wishes to her".

Jaemin turns around and you dart back out of the room to avoid being seen, but you still catch a glimpse of the tear drops falling from his eyes, sending a pang to your heart. Sure, you both argued all the time at work, but it didn't mean that you had no empathy for him at all, now that you had an idea of his circumstances — even if it was a vague one. You recall when he lashed out at you for spilling coffee on him just before his interview, and now you're able to better understand his reaction, thanks to the newly learned information about his grandmother’s situation. Yes, his reaction was still rude and unnecessarily harsh, but he was going through a stressful time himself. Guilt floods you suddenly as you think of all the times you'd flung harsh words at him for no reason.

As Jaemin emerges from the store room, you enter and get the milk and start preparing the customer's drink, all while this question replayed in your head: what could you do to help him?

"Y/n!" a clear voice sounds from the cash register, and you recognise it to be your regular customer and best friend from junior college – Chaewon.

Enthusiastically returning her greeting, you inquire about her order. "Chae! What would you like today?"

Chaewon scans the menu and makes her decision. "I'll get a tall strawberry frappuccino, no whipped, takeaway".

"No problem!" You answer, and prepare the drink for her as she goes to the side to wait. "One tall strawberry frappuccino for Chaewon!" you announce, and your friend skips up to collect her drink.

"Thank you! Here's a tip for you – you deserve it," Chaewon adds with a wink as she stuffs a wad of notes into your hand before sauntering away. "See you in class tomorrow!"

"See you Chae!" you call back. You head into the store room, intending to keep the money in your wallet, until the sight of Jaemin's wallet peeking out of his backpack catches your attention. A thought then hits you: why not give the tips I get to Jaemin? He needs it more than I do, anyway.

Without a second thought, your hands are already pulling the wallet out of his bag and stashing the tip Chaewon gave you into the wallet. Putting the wallet back where it was, you stride out of the room again as if nothing happened. Yeah, I'll keep doing this. Hopefully it helps to ease Jaemin's financial burden, you think to yourself.

Thankfully, the rest of the day goes by without a hitch. “Y/n! Good job today, just finish the last order and then you can go,” your supervisor comments, giving you a small smile. “Here’s today’s pay. See you tomorrow!” she finishes, passing you an envelope which contained your day’s earnings.

“Thank you so much ma’am! See you tomorrow!” You reply, calling for the last customer and then heading off to the store room to collect your bag. Peeking inside, you catch Jaemin gawking at his open wallet, prompting you to just stay outside and observe his reaction for a while. "No way. I don't remember receiving any tips. So how did this cash appear?" he asks himself, opening and closing his wallet repeatedly – even slapping himself at one point. "Oh my goodness. Whichever supernatural power provided me with this, thank you," he whispers, putting his cash into his wallet before shutting it again and placing it in his bag. His stressed expression melts away, and is replaced by a smile – one of relief and hope. The sight makes your heart rate increase faster than you'd like to admit, but you ignore it and exit the coffee shop, glad that you were able to do something to brighten up Jaemin's day.

»»————-　☕️　————-««

Jaemin had gotten the green light from your supervisor to work extra shifts, so over the next few weeks you both see each other more often as all his shifts coincide with yours. Though both of you are still rather cold towards each other, you argue less with him as you force yourself to hold your tongue whenever you're tempted to spew unkind things at him, knowing that he was going through a rough time.

And of course, you continue with your plan of secretly giving him all the tips that customers leave you – whether it was sixty cents or fifty bucks.

Today's just another day at work, and you overhear Jaemin on the phone as you're busy whipping up drinks for customers again. "Oh my gosh, no way".

Though you know it’s technically wrong, the saying “eavesdroppers never hear any good about themselves” leaves your memory momentarily as you prick up your ears to listen to the conversation, hoping that it was news about his grandmother. As his voice raises in pitch and grows increasingly excited, you feel your heart begin to beat faster as well, like the wings of a bird about to take off. "We only need $50 more and she can get surgery? That's fantastic news!"

Your heart swelled with joy, so much so that you thought it would burst right there and then in the cafe. Jaemin's grandmother would be saved! Though you didn't know the elderly woman, hearing the news still made you nearly melt in relief.

"Thank you, see you again!" you flash a bright smile to a customer as you hand them their order.

"Thank you! Here's a tip for you!" the customer replies and hands you some cash. Accepting it gratefully, you take a peek at it, and your heart leaps even higher than before at the sight. It's a fifty dollar note!

"Just what Jaemin needs!" you whisper to yourself, stashing the note in your pocket and making a mental note to put the money in his wallet when the day was over, since it was a very busy time at the cafe right now.

As promised, you secretly stash the note in his wallet again after your shift is over. Hopefully, this covers the costs of the surgery, you think to yourself as you pull the wallet out, unclasp it and stuff the money in.

“Wait, it’s you?” A familiar voice sounds from behind you, making you jump and whip your head around at breakneck speed as his wallet falls out of your grip and onto the floor with a clatter.

“Jaemin?” you blurt out dumbly, stunned by your colleague’s sudden appearance.

“Y/n? It’s you who’s been giving me the extra money?” Jaemin responds, seemingly even more astonished by the whole situation than you were.

It’s at this moment you realise there’s no point hiding it from him any further — he’d already discovered the "culprit" behind the extra money appearing in his wallet. “Yes, it’s me,” you sigh, handing his wallet back to him. “Look, I'm really sorry about this, but I happened to overhear your phone converstion with someone one day, and you were saying something about there not being enough money to send your grandmother for some kind of surgery or something like that. You seemed so sad and I just couldn’t bear to see it because I know it must be so stressful, having a family member who’s severely ill and not having financial means to get them treatment. So I thought I’d just quietly help you by giving you whatever tips customers left for me — I don’t really need the extra money right now. I did all this secretly, because I was worried you’d accuse me of purposefully eavesdropping or pitying you if you knew what I was doing. Also, it’d be awkward if I were to suddenly start intervening in your family matters since we’re both not really on good terms right now,” you explain, attempting to clear the air of confusion by explaining your intentions.

For a few moments, the only sound in the store room is the drone of whatever machinery is keeping the old fridge running as Jaemin slowly processes what you'd just told him. Finally, he speaks up. "Y/n, you have absolutely no idea how much that means to me. I was so, so worried when I found out the actual cost of the surgery, and that we might not be able to pay for it on time for my grandmother to survive. For so many nights, I couldn't sleep for so long because I was so worried," he explains. "But thanks to your kind donations, we'll be able to pay for it before she gets it today. Words alone can't express my gratitude to you. Really". He looks up and meets your gaze, and his eyes are moist with emotion.

Your lips curve into a gentle smile. "I'm glad I could help, Jaemin. I hope your grandmother's surgery goes well, and for her to have a speedy and stable recovery," you answer.

"I'm going to the hospital to visit her now, so I'll convey your well wishes to her. See you tomorrow, y/n". As he leaves the store room, he shows you a genuine smile, the first one he'd shown you ever since you both became coworkers.

Your heart melts at the sight, like the marshmallows you used to top orders of hot chocolate. "See you tomorrow, Jaemin". You return his smile, and continue to pack your own things as well before you leave the cafe. As much as you don't want to admit, for some reason this much more pleasant interaction has you using every single ounce of your willpower to stop yourself from squealing out in joy.

»»————-　☕️　————-««

"Y/n!" A familiar voice calls out to you as you start up the coffee machine next Monday morning.

"Oh hey, Jaemin!" You reply calmly as said boy comes up to you, looking much more relaxed and confident, compared to the usual worried and downcast expression etched on his face that had been the norm for the past few weeks.

"Excuse me," he murmurs, reaching out for the coffee machine and dispensing some into the plastic cup in his hand that was half-filled with ice, before calmly sipping on the beverage. "By the way, my grandmother's surgery was a success, and the doctor's prognosis for her looks good," Jaemin reveals, officially putting your worries about his grandmother to rest.

"Really? That's awesome!" you exclaim, sharing your coworker's joy over the good news.

Jaemin nods, a radiant smile forming on his face as he continues. "On behalf of the rest of my family, thank you so much. I know this probably isn't much, but please, let me treat you to a meal one day".

Though you initially refute his suggestion and say it's not necessary, arguing that you were simply helping him out in his time of need, you eventually give in to his insistence. "How is she now? Is she recovering from surgery well?" you inquire as you pile marshmallows onto a cup of hot chocolate.

"Yes, when I visited her yesterday, she had regained some of her appetite, and though she still seemed quite tired, she had slightly more energy than before, which are good signs," Jaemin replies, blending a matcha frappuccino. "Actually, do you want to come with me to visit her after work today?"

"Why not? I don't have anything on today, so I should be able to come," you reply.

"Alright then!" Jaemin grins, before turning and calling for the customer to pick up their order.

You return your attention to the drink you were making, totally surprised by your exchange with Jaemin earlier — much more pleasant compared to the interactions you’d had prior to this day. Maybe the saying your teachers had drilled into your head since elementary school was true. A small act of kindness could turn a situation around — in this case, it helped Jaemin’s family afford a life-saving surgery for his grandmother, and helped you and Jaemin warm up to each other.

»»————-　☕️　————-««

Before you both go to visit his grandmother, Jaemin insists on treating you to a sumptuous burger dinner. Which is how you both end up at a restaurant, with the juiciest chicken burger you've ever seen in your life, along with fries that have been fried to crisp golden brown perfection and a cup of iced lemon tea.

“How’s life been?” Jaemin asks, tucking into his own burger.

“Oh, it’s been quite chill. I just finished my graduating exam not long ago and am waiting for my results to come out, so I don’t really have much to do. That’s why I took on this job — to earn some money and pass my time,” you explain, picking up a few fries and popping them into your mouth, savouring the crunch that followed. “What about you?”

“University’s been kicking my ass,” Jaemin groans. “The professors have gone ham on my class — who gives their students freaking five essays to finish in a week? On top of that, I’ve got frisbee practices after school and also this job. Luckily my grandmother’s condition has stabilised, or else I’d have even more stress to deal with,” he adds.

“Oh my, that sounds tough. All the best,” you grunt empathetically, knowing exactly how he felt. Though you had never studied in a university, you’d just finished junior college, and had experienced days where the onslaught of homework seemed never ending, leaving you feeling as if you were going to suffocate to death under the workload that only seemed to get heavier and heavier each day. “Oh yeah — speaking of your grandmother, what exactly happened to her? If you’re not comfortable sharing this with me, please don’t feel obligated to do so,” you hurriedly add at the end. You were aware that this was a very sensitive topic, and that Jaemin might wish to keep such matters to himself.

“About that…” Jaemin’s voice trails off, and he scratches his head as he contemplates whether to tell you or not. “Okay. I’ll tell you, since you’re the one who basically saved her life,” he decides, before beginning his story. “It was cancer. Stomach cancer. She lost her appetite, and often complained of stomach pain. Initially, we thought that it was simply a stomach bug, and we took her to the doctor who just prescribed her some medication. But she didn’t improve — if anything, she got worse. The day she began vomiting blood, we knew that something was terribly wrong. A check up at the hospital revealed that she had stage 3 stomach cancer”.

“Oh gosh, that’s horrible,” you muse, brows forming a furrow in the center of your forehead.

“It was. Our whole family was devastated, especially knowing that she wouldn’t have any chance of survival unless she went for surgery. But at that point of time, my dad had just been laid off, meaning that we weren’t able to afford to pay for the operation. Hence we began scrimping and saving, with my dad taking on three jobs in order to try to earn some money. My mother took on two odd jobs, while also having to look after my younger siblings at home. I was really anxious about my grandmother, and I felt terrible seeing how exhausted my parents were. So, I decided to do whatever I can to help, which is why I took on this job, thinking that the salary I’d earn would be sufficient. But the hospital called back to say that the cost of the surgery would actually be more expensive than we initially thought, since my grandmother’s case was extra complicated, and it sent me back into a panic because I knew that even with extra shifts, the money I earned might not even be able to cover the costs. Gosh, I’m so glad it’s over,” Jaemin finishes, breathing out a sigh. The tears that had welled up in his eyes, now pouring out like rain, spoke volumes just how bleak that period had been for Jaemin.

The sight of him tearing up made your heart ache. “I’m so sorry you guys went through that,” you murmur, reaching over to rub his shoulder to comfort him. “That must have been so tough. Fortunately, you guys were able to afford the procedure in the end. You're so strong".

Jaemin nods. “And it’s all thanks to you”.

“Now I know why you were so worked up that day,” you add, thinking back to the day when you’d had your first proper interaction with Jaemin.

A quizzical look comes upon Jaemin’s face. “Which day?”

“The day you came to the cafe for your job interview. I spilled your drink on you, remember?” you remind him, a sheepish smile gracing your features.

Jaemin's brows furrow as he searches his brain, trying to recall the moment you had mentioned. His eyes widen, and he snaps his fingers as the memory returns to him. "Oh! Right! Oh my, I still feel so bad about it, jeez," he exclaims, his palm meeting his forehead. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that over such a small thing. I think that's why our relationship has been so sour".

"No, no, it's fine. That was in the past, was it not?" you say, reassuring Jaemin that you don't hold any grudges against him over past events. “I’m sorry too, for saying that I hoped the boss would fire you, when it was a time when you needed this job most”.

“It’s alright. Honestly, I don’t even have any memory of that incident, anyway,” Jaemin chuckles, popping the last of his fries into his mouth. “You done? Let’s go, then,” he decides as you nod.

At the hospital, you get to know Jaemin’s grandmother. She took the chance to express her thanks towards you for donating the money that went towards her life-saving surgery. "Jaemin told me all about it," she mentions. "Thank you so much. Make sure to treat her to something nice," she adds, directing her comment towards Jaemin.

"He already has, and besides, there's no need for it," you chuckle. "I’m just happy that I could help".

Your evening ends with you and Jaemin spending an hour chatting with the affable elderly lady over the happenings in your lives, who was a pleasure to talk to. "Thank you for coming over to visit! I hope to see you again, y/n. You're coming again tomorrow, right?" she confirms with Jaemin.

"Yep, that's right. See you tomorrow, grandma. Have a good rest," he replies, giving his grandmother a hug before leading you out of the ward and shutting the door.

The walk out of the hospital is silent, but this time it's a comfortable silence and not one that's permeated by a frosty, cold atmosphere. "So…coming tomorrow?" Jaemin asks, breaking the silence.

"I think I can come," you reply. "I should be free. If you and your grandmother are okay with that, of course," you hastily add.

Jaemin snorts and chortles at your answer. "Of course I'm alright with it! Why would I ask you if I wasn't? And plus my grandmother literally just said she hopes to see you again," he replies.

"Alright then, I'll come," you confirm, laughs pouring out of your mouth as well. From relentlessly firing abrasive remarks at each other to being able to laugh together, you and Jaemin's relationship sure had come a long way.

»»————-　☕️　————-««

In the days that follow, you find yourself tagging along with Jaemin to visit his grandmother more often whenever you're free after work, and having dinner with him after. Through these interactions, both of you grow closer, and the fluttering in your heart whenever he cracks a joke or pulls a silly antic increases in frequency, which you often try to suppress. As much as you try to deny it, you’ve grown fonder of him as the days go by, as he shows more and more of his true self to you.

It's also no surprise that now the old lady sees you as her own granddaughter, and often treats you as such. You came to trust her with whatever was on your mind as well, sharing with her deeper things that were on your heart and mind and taking the sensible advice she offered. She would also humour you with many different stories, from both her own and Jaemin's childhood.

Today, however, was slightly different. You had gone to visit Jaemin's grandmother by yourself, since Jaemin had to attend a project meeting with his group mates after work. So here you were, seated in a chair beside her bed and laughing out loud as she let you in on some of the embarrassing things Jaemin had done in his childhood.

"You know, Jaemin used to be so shy to talk to girls when he was a child. Last time, he'd come and hide behind me whenever girls tried to talk to him. I would have to coax him out just to say hi!" she explains, chortling as she relates the memory to you and your eyes go wide. Jaemin seemed so comfortable around you, you'd never have known that he was so shy as a kid.

"Really?" you ask, letting the surprise sink in.

"Yes, really," his grandmother confirms. "And whenever he liked any girl he never ever made any move to confess. He simply kept his feelings to himself and only ever spoke to me about them".

"Wow, I didn't know," you laugh.

"Yeah, Jaemin was terribly shy as a child. Come to think of it, you're the only girl he's been this comfortable with," she adds. "I actually think he feels a certain way towards you, but he doesn't want to say anything," she adds.

"How would you know?" You inquire, brows furrowing in surprise. Surely she was wrong?

"He's always bringing you along on his visits, if you're available. And when you're not, it seems to make him feel a bit sad," the old lady begins explaining. "Every visit, he has to mention at least one thing about you – even if it's as small as the smile you gave him when he arrived at work".

"Oh…I see". You falter in your reply, unsure of how to process what his grandmother had just told you.

"And when I tried asking him about it, he tried so hard to deny his own feelings for you. But I can read my grandson, you know. He likes you more than a friend, but he doesn't want to say anything. He's too shy, and he’s scared that he’ll spoil the friendship between you two," his grandmother adds, before shooting you a question that catches you off guard. "Do you feel the same towards him too?"

"Well I- I…" you stutter even more, unsure of your response. "Okay, maybe I do. At first it was purely due to his looks, because I always saw him order from us during my shifts and found him really handsome. But as I got to know him better, I found things about his personality attractive too. Like how he loves his family so much, he'd willingly sacrifice more of his limited time to work extra shifts to provide the money they need. And how gentle he is towards the people he cares about. There's more, but if I were to list them all I'll be here past visiting hours," you joke, while at the same time voicing your true thoughts and feelings about Jaemin.

His grandmother nods, processing your answer. "I see. From my previous interactions with you, I can tell that you're a sensible, compassionate young lady as well, and I think you'd be a good match for my grandson. Now that you know he feels the same way towards you, will you be bold and take the first step to tell him your feelings?" she asks, looking up at you with hope in her eyes.

“I…” you trail off, not knowing if you should accede to her request. On one hand, you had come to terms with the fact that you fancied Jaemin more than a friend, and what you felt was probably not just a fleeting crush, and you badly wished to get these feelings off your chest. On the other hand, you were immensely worried about what would happen if you told Jaemin these things.

That he would see you differently.

That he’d reject you, and you’d have to deal with the sting that would come after.

That the friendship between both of you would be affected.

There was just so much to worry about!

“Y/n, I know what you’re thinking. I know you’re worried about his reaction,” Jaemin’s grandmother drawls understandingly. “But trust me, he’s thinking the exact same things as you, and because of that he’s not willing to make the first move. So, now the ball is in your court. Are you willing to take that risk?” She asks, her gaze on you unmoving.

“I…I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it,” you answer honestly.

His grandmother nods, grunting in understanding. “Alright then, if you wish. There’s no pressure on you to do anything, really. The choice is really yours. But believe me — it would make his day”.

That day, you left the hospital in the biggest dilemma you’ve been in for a long while.

»»————-　☕️　————-««

It doesn’t take too long for you to make up your mind.

“I’m gonna do it”. You declare, striding out of the store room as you tie up your apron. It’s a monday morning, and you’re back at work again.

“Do what?” Lia asks, a quizzical expression coming over her.

“I’m gonna shoot my shot”.

At this, Lia lets the plastic cups in her hand clatter to the floor. “You’re what?”

You move quickly to help her pick up the cups. “I said what I said. I’m shooting my shot today”.

“Yes, yes, I heard you, but with who?” Lia speaks quickly, looking as if she’s just heard the most ridiculous new in her life.

“Na Jaemin, duh,” you answer, stacking the plastic cups up where they should be.

“You’re- no way.”

“Yes way. I’ve decided I’m gonna take my chances today, and if it doesn’t go as planned- oh well, what’s the worst that could happen? At most, I get rejected and I lose a friend,” you reason, explaining your thought process — though more so to try and calm your nerves than to appease Lia’s curiosity. Truth be told, you were becoming extremely jumpy, and you felt like you were going to begin bouncing off the walls any moment.

“Are you insane? There is no way on earth he’s going to reject you!” Lia exclaims, staring at you incredulously. “If he rejects you, it means the sky’s gonna fall down tomorrow”.

“How are you so sure?” you question, narrowing your eyes into slits as you stare at her.

“It’s so obvious, duh. I can practically see hearts in his eyes whenever he looks at you!” she answers as she gives the countertop a quick wipedown with a cloth. “Bet he’s too shy to speak his mind, though”.

You shrug in response, arranging a few more mugs on the countertop. “I don’t know. But I’ll see how everything goes”.

“It’ll be more than fine. Trust me,” Lia declares. “But anyway, what’s your plan?”

You whisper your plan into her ear, and her brows furrow disapprovingly. “That’s it? That’s so basic, y/n!” she groans.

“Hey, basic isn’t always bad!” you exclaim, shoving her playfully. “If it works, it works, okay!”

“Whatever”. Lia rolls her eyes jokingly. “But just know I’m rooting for the both of you”.

Fortunately, Jaemin shows up to work punctually, meaning that your plan can be put into action.

“Psst, Jaemin,” you whisper, waving your hand in front of his face. “Earth to Jaemin”.

“Sorry, what?” Jaemin responds, snapping out of his momentary trance.

You can’t help but laugh at his stunned response. “Looks like the mid-afternoon coma is hitting us both — I feel it too. So, I was thinking we make each other a coffee of our choice, just to perk ourselves up. What do you say?”

“Why not? I need the caffeine fix real bad right now anyway,” he reasons, standing up from his chair and moving to where the cups and mugs were placed. “Hot, iced, or ice blended?” he asks.

“Surprise me”. You simply respond, flashing him a grin. “And I’ll surprise you too”.

With that, you both begin whipping up drinks for each other.

You decide to make him a venti vanilla sweet cream cold brew, since his usual order is a cold brew, but you also know that he’s been obsessed with iced vanilla lattes recently — so why not combine the best of both worlds? Being aware that he enjoys having a stronger coffee taste in his drinks, you make his drink a little less sweet.

This is where your plan comes to life. Picking up a marker, you write this on the cup, taking care to write where the vanilla cream is visible:

Be mine?

▢ yes

▢ no

Now, all that’s left to do is to wait for Jaemin to finish with yours, pass him the drink, and then wait for his response.

It sounds so simple in theory, so why do my hands feel heavy as lead now? You question mentally as Jaemin reappears, looking slightly sheepish. “Y/n? I’m done with yours, are you finished with mine?” he asks softly.

“Yes, of course! Here you go,” you exclaim, pass him the cup of cold brew and take your drink, trying to hide how your hands are shaking as if a 9.2 magnitude earthquake is taking place on them.

The sight of your drink sends a new wave of butterflies flying right through you, while at the same time causing a laugh to bubble up in you, which you fight to keep down.

Jaemin had made you a classic latte, but with a hilarious yet heartwarming twist. He’d clearly given his best shot at latte art, as shown from the words on the drink which have now almost dissolved into illegible, messy foam streaks. Fortunately for you, you’re still able to comprehend it.

It’s the exact same thing that you wrote on his cup.

You peek in Jaemin’s direction and catch sight of him gawking at the writing on his cup. “Y/n…” he trails off, his facial expression a clear giveaway of the shock he’s feeling. “I can’t believe we were thinking the exact same thing!” he exclaims, before bursting into guffaws.

“I can’t believe it either,” you respond, now laughing your head off along with him. “Gosh, and to think I was so afraid to do this!”

“So was I!” Jaemin chuckles, sipping on the drink. “If only I knew you had almost the exact same plans as I had”.

“Well…I guess our answers to each other are obvious then,” you giggle. By now, you’re smiling so widely, the corners of your mouth could reach your ears, and you feel as if your whole chest is going to explode with how fast and hard your heart is pounding.

“Well then, cheers to our newfound love for each other,” Jaemin declares, raising his cup and pulling you in for a side hug, all while gazing at you lovingly.

“Cheers,” you respond, bringing your cup to his as you lean closer to him, resting your head on his shoulder as you soak up the warmth of his embrace.

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talesfromsiteredacted · 2 years ago

Text

Random Things Dr. Iceberg Has Said While Hunched Over His Desk Asleep

Dr. Julian Iceberg is many things. Touchy, sarcastic, a fan of bad ninja movies, a sucker for good pecan pie, and... kinda funny as a sleeptalker. Since he's really gotten up a lot of noses, and Dr. Gears likes me, it's our frosty sourpuss's turn to get teased. Big Boss spilled plenty of iced tea on the subject.

"Wait... since when do we have whoopee cushions as part of our kit?"

"Big banana boy." Repeated ten times, we have no banana anomalies of any kind, as far as I know.

"Silk hose? Really? This the modern age, or the pirate age?"

"I'm gonna keyhaul him right into a volcano."

"No, no, no. No. No. Nein, nyet, non, not happening. I do not get paid enough to paint 682's nails. Ask 053, he likes her. Oh? Why didn't you just ask to borrow my blue polish?"

"For 343's sake, Bright! Naked yoga is an in-quarters only activity! O5 told you this!"

"Dyo. Wash. Your. Bits. I'm getting blinded by your blinged-out dong."

"Why are they green?"

"You're gonna need a bigger gun, Alto." A pause. "Bigger. Like an AC 130 big. Well, don't ask me then. Sheesh."

"Since when did lasagna get on the menu?"

"You have a choice: put on clothes, or get the hose." Long pause. "Gender appropriate clothes. No one wants to see you in a miniskirt."

"Run. Faster. Go faster. Clowns are coming, must go faster."

"Choke on a Deagle, Insurgency bastard!"

"I WILL SHOVE YOUR HEAD SO FAR UP YOUR ASS YOU CAN WATCH ME BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF YOU! DON'T CALL ME 'JULIE'!" No idea where that came from, but that was at 3 am on a Monday. When Iceberg.exe crashes, he crashes hard. He was there for hours, I heard.

"Hey, 076? Settle a bet, please? You wear the loincloth because it's cooler than pants, right?"

"My feet are NOT happy."

"For the ninth and final time, PUT ON SOME PANTS! I want to see a dong, I'll call Dr. Bright."

"Huh. This a cupcake, or the stone 073 used to kill 076-2 the first time?"

"WHO PUT CLOWN MAKEUP ON THE KETCHUP PUPPIES?!?"

"Pffft. So you got a jar of dirt. We have literal God and Foundation funding on our side, my good sir."

"Finally, something Mabel made that doesn't taste of Styrofoam." (aggressively chews file folders) "These hotcakes need some syrup."

"There is no Dr. Iceberg, only Zuul!"

"Dad! Bruce is sitting on me. Again."

"Jack. Get YOUR head out of MY ass."

"No... not the pink snowball suit! I'll be good, Boss, I promise! I don't want to be a snack cake!"

"You don't scare me. I've seen Dr. Gears angry."

"Fish."

"Do I look like I know what's going on?"

"No. Grape. Soda."

"Uh... didn't think Jello shots involved firearms, but your party, Alto."

"This is the weakest coffee I ever had. This isn't even coffee, it's the ghost of Java past. If I set this down and walk away, I bet $100 4999 pays it a visit."

"Eat this, you big ugly undead asshole."

"Leather pants? Hope you powdered yourself, otherwise... ouch."

"Duck. I mean... Duck!" A pause, then laughter. "And now you have literal egg on your face. I told you there was a duck."

"I'm allergic to peanuts. I'll skip "Peanut Butter Jelly Time", thanks."

"Uh... why is there A GIANT FREAKING BUTTHOLE in the Astrophysics Labs?"

"Bugger off, it's my panini."

"Leggo my Lego, Bright! That's my bloody X-Wing, I built it fair and square!"

"Touch my boots, I'll freeze your hands off."

"Coffee. Black. Never mind the mug, I'll drink it straight from the carafe."

#scp foundation #tales from site redacted #dr iceberg #funny grumpy ice bastard

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outercrasis · 4 years ago

Text

Sessions

Pairing: College!Din Djarin x F!Reader

Word Count: 2.6k

Warnings: None (let me know if I missed something!)

Summary: Everyone is talking about the mysterious new guy on campus

A/N: I had a ton of fun writing this extremely self-indulgent AU and I have plans to keep writing more about these two. It won’t be an actual chaptered fic, but at some point I’ll throw together a masterlist with a chronological order to things.

Series Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Introductions

The semester had only started four weeks ago and he was already a legend around campus. Almost everywhere someone could be found whispering about him. You'd even heard faculty speculating, wondering about the rumors they overheard their students sharing.

You first heard of him in your literature seminar, some of your fellow classmates discussing a recent rumor about the now fabled man. Something about a motorcycle and a child caught your ear, prompting you to interrupt and the girls in front of you who they were talking about.

The looks you received from the pair were incredulous at best. “You mean you haven’t heard about him?”

“Heard about who?” you asked, genuinely confused. It had only been the first week of class at the time and you were too caught up with your own busy start to check in on the rumor mill.

“Mando, obviously. He’s all anyone is talking about.” From there the girls had happily filled you in on all the latest sightings and rumors.

Mando, as they called him, was shrouded in mystery. He'd popped up on Corellia University's campus when the semester began and no one knew a thing about him. He hadn't gone to Corellia before, internet searches turned up nothing, and even the skull-like symbol on the back of his leather jacket wasn't familiar to anyone. Any information on him was conjecture at best and there was plenty to go around. Once the rest of the class caught onto what you three were discussing, theories began to fly.

People discussed how he’d been spotted downtown, beating on some guys in a back alley. He’d also been seen uptown the same night though, strolling through Basalt Park. One girl was nearly certain that she’d gone to elementary school with Mando, but he’d mysteriously disappeared one day without explanation. Someone else was confident he was just a cop trying some weird shtick to go undercover. Then one person insisted he had a kid with him sometimes while another was trying to explain that he was actually a murderer. The rumors only became more ludicrous from there.

By the end of the discussion you only ascertained two things for certain. He went by the name Mando and he wore some kind of special helmet. Information you could have gotten by watching him pick up a drink at the Java Hut. Not nearly enough to warrant this level of fervor in your opinion.

From there, hearing about Mando was inescapable. You got home that night only to have your roommate and best friend, Layla, launch into theories about him. Within the week someone set up a social media page to try and track his location around campus via DMs fellow students sent in. That had struck you as invasive and unsettling, but the messages about him kept flooding in.

By pure chance, you had yet to actually see him for yourself. There weren't even any creep shots for you to look at. People had been trying to take photos of him, but he was like a ghost. In the time it took them to pull up their cameras he'd disappear.

There wasn't even more concrete information about him beyond what you'd learned that first day. Just more and more speculation, a good amount of it made up purely for the shock factor. Another week slipped by, the semester picking up, and Mando news became standard in your day. There was always something new going around about him and as much as you tried to avoid it and focus on your studies, you couldn’t help but wonder about him yourself.

Who was this guy? Was this all some stunt or ‘social experiment’ that would be revealed by a sociology student at the end of the semester? Or was he a legitimate peculiarity, doomed to stick out like a sore thumb? You weren’t sure if you should hate him for making a big deal out of himself or pity him for all the unwarranted attention. Either way, you were sure that whenever you met this enigmatic Mando, you’d know.

×××××

You grumble looking at the submission form. The name and student ID information is blank again. You told Todd last week those fields needed to be made mandatory. How else were you supposed to know who to email when you end up with a no-show for the hour?

Looking further down you're pleased to note that they're at least a grad student. Despite the unfinished form, graduates almost never skip sessions like these. You're thrilled to have the opportunity to discuss something other than freshman composition for once. It's fun helping the wide-eyed freshies, but you can only go over basic comma rules so many times before you start to lose it a little.

There's a knock at the study room door and you look up only to be rendered speechless. It's him. Mando. With a kid on his hip. So Alissandra hadn’t been lying when she told you about the toddler she saw with him. Interesting. Continuing to take him in, you can’t help but focus on the obvious - the only thing you knew about him other than his supposed name, the helmet.

It’s unlike anything you've seen before. You're fairly certain it's a motorcycle helmet, but it's been modified. Rather than the typical rounded shape, his is all sharp angles and flat at the front. It’s colored a sleek, shining chrome that gleams under the washed out fluorescent lighting. Most arresting is the way he's changed the face of the helmet. The cheeks dip inward at a sharp angle, creating deep, curved contours. His visor is a T of black glass in the center, entirely impossible to see through. It's intimidating and… kinda hot?

The little boy he's holding starts to wiggle in his grasp, physically demanding to be set down in the study room. Once his feet touch the floor, he immediately runs over and climbs into the chair next to you. He's a welcome distraction from his father’s? brother's? guardian's? commanding presence in the room.

The boy can't be older than three, smiling up at you with a wide toothy grin. His hair is covered by a green beanie with large floppy ears sewn onto it and he's wearing a little brown jacket with a sherpa collar. Maybe a bit too heavy for the early autumnal weather, but if the rumor that the kid rides on a motorcycle with Mando is true, it’s perfect. His eyes are large and brown, shining up at you with a slightly mischievous glint.

"Hello, what's your name?" you ask, smiling back at the child.

"Grogu," comes the reply, not from the kid, but from Mando.

You arch an eyebrow at him. He can't be serious with that name. "Grogu?" you ask.

He shrugs, placing his bag on the table. "I came home one day and he told his babysitter that was his name now. He won't respond to anything else. So, Grogu."

You look back to the bouncing toddler. He's still grinning, nodding along with what's been said about his name. They must not be lying then. Either that, or it was some elaborate prank between them and you would never be in on the joke.

"Well okay, Grogu it is."

You extend your hand out to Mando, offering your name alongside it. He offers a leather clad hand in return, giving you a firm handshake. You're pleased when he only gives your hand a gentle squeeze, not crushing it like so many other students have done. His gloves are unique as well, black with orange fingers, the leather well worn in. It's warm to the touch, his body heat radiating through the thick fabric.

"Mando," he says, officially introducing himself as he takes the seat on your other side, across from Grogu.

"Mando," you repeat, cementing it as a truth from the rumor mill. "Got any other names?" You hope that comes across as casual and not intrusive. He hasn't even gone to remove his helmet, telling you he isn't a man who cares much for people prying into his business.

"No. Why?" Mando cocks his head slightly as he asks, the helmet adding an exaggerated look to the movement. He reaches into his bag, pulls out some crayons and a pad of paper, pushing them over to Grogu.

You shrug, trying not to think about how you heard his name might be David from someone in your composition course. "Just thought I'd ask. One hears many things around campus and it's hard to tell what's true or not."

"What do you mean?"

That question makes you pause. Surely he knows. Part of you is still convinced he’s doing this act on purpose, trying to gain notoriety for some reason. The way he asked though, something about it tells you that the poor man is clueless about the buzz he's caused.

"Mando, you're like the talk of the town right now. We only just met but I've heard plenty about you," you explain. It's hard to tell with the helmet on, but you're fairly sure he's shocked underneath. Grogu ignores you both, excitedly scribbling away on his paper.

"I'm fairly sure most of it's just rumor and speculation, but still. You're like a thing around campus," you add.

He's quiet for a moment, his laptop only half out of his bag. "Oh," he finally says. "I didn't know."

Grogu gives a happy shriek not a second later, breaking the awkward tension that had begun to creep into the room. He's beaming, holding up his crayola masterpiece. On the paper there is what appears to be a hastily drawn frog using every color in the box.

Mando returns to himself, pulling his laptop the rest of the way and continues to get set up. "Great job, kid. It looks good."

Most people would have said that dismissively, a platitude to get their child to stop bothering them. When Mando says it though, the authenticity is palpable. He said six words and you can hear the pride lacing them all together. It’s sweet, the obvious affection this clearly private man has for the toddler.

You can’t help but wonder what his connection to Grogu actually is. The way he spoke just then, if you had to put your money on it, you’d say father. The kicker then though is if he’s biological or not. And if not, then how else does a grad student get strapped with a three year old? Thinking about all the potential scenarios is enough to make your head hurt.

You’re also left wondering where all the more violent rumors about him are coming from. His tenderness is so readily on display that it’s hard to imagine the man before you choking someone because they cut him in line at the local froyo shop. He’s mysterious and gives off a vaguely dangerous vibe, sure, but less than five minutes around him and the kid and it’s obvious he’s no threat to you. He’s just a guy trying to get his assignments done for class, same as everyone else.

Your stomach still catches in your throat as Mando starts unexpectedly tugging off his gloves. From what you’d heard, he never takes anything off: not his jacket, not his gloves, and certainly not his helmet. All anyone knows of his true appearance on campus is that he’s obviously male with rumors flying around about everything else including simple attributes, like the color of his skin. Now, here he is, casually revealing this groundbreaking information to you.

His hands move fluidly, pulling off each glove in just a few easy tugs. His skin matches the heat you felt from them just minutes ago, a warm golden tan, with a few faded lines of scars worn in. Watching him type, pulling his paper up for you to discuss, you feel a deep and sudden ache to have his hands touch you again. A simple handshake is no longer enough. Every stroke of the keys is measured, deliberate, and leaves you wondering how he would use those fingers on you.

“This is what I have so far.”

His voice snaps you back to reality, a quick wave of shame washing over you. Where did all of that come from? It was just a man’s hands for heaven’s sake, certainly not something you should be horny about at two in the afternoon. Not to mention that he came in here looking for your help, not wanting you to start fantasizing about his hands expertly working you over.

You clear your throat and tear your eyes away from the offending appendages. “Great, let me just read the introduction here so I can get an idea for what you’re writing about.”

You settle into working with him easily. His paper is already well-written, just needing tweaks here and there to bring it to the next level. It’s nice working with him. He’s attentive, clearly listening to everything you have to say and taking it into account. He doesn’t even try to challenge you as some of the more macho male students are wont to do. By the end of the session, you can’t help but wish all of your time as a tutor was that easy.

“Thank you,” he says sincerely, tucking his laptop away. “You really helped.”

You smile at him, thrilled with his genuine complement. “Of course, that’s what I’m here for.”

He finishes packing up his and Grogu’s things, with you silently lamenting as his gloves slide back on. It still feels like a ridiculous thought, but he really does have beautiful hands. There’s a small tap on your arm and you look to your left to see Grogu patiently waiting. He’s offering something to you, paper outstretched in his little hands.

“Thank you,” you say, taking the sheet from him. You look at it to see a frog carefully drawn on the page. It’s not the same as the first one he showed you and Mando, this one more deliberate and thoughtful. The colors are still just as varied, but it’s obvious he took more time to think about where he was using each one. You can’t help but smile at his small masterpiece.

“It looks great, buddy. I’ll keep it forever,” you tell him. Grogu beams at your praise, excitedly looking over to Mando.

Mando nods at the kid. “Yeah kid, I heard her too.” He turns his head towards you. “Thank you again. I’d take good care of that drawing. He’ll never forgive you if he finds out you got rid of it.”

“Does that mean I’ll be seeing you again?” Your own boldness takes you by surprise. You have no idea where that came from, how those words spilled without a second thought. Part of you is already cringing at Mando’s potential reaction.

He surprises you once again though, holding a hand out for Grogu to take. Shouldering his backpack, you hear an amused huff of air from under the helmet. “Yeah, mesh’la, I’ll see you around.”

There isn’t a chance to reply as Mando turns, escorting his tiny charge out of the room with him. You’re a little dumbstruck, now equally surprised with him as you had been with yourself.

And what was that name he just called you? Mesh’la? You don’t even know what language that could have been, much less the meaning. Something about his tone when he said it tells you it’s a good thing though, that he’s not secretly calling you rude names in some unknown language. You can’t help but wonder if you’ll ever get to find out.

taglist: @honestly-shite

#din djarin x reader #din djarin x female reader #din djarin x you #college!din #college!mando #the mandalorian fanfiction #pedro pascal x reader #mandocrasis fic #sessions

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