#years down the line they look back at all the drama surrounding their getting together

[razzle-zazzle]

Ramble about more Dion x Morris x Gisu plz

Okay okay so. In my other post I mentioned having a lot of thoughts on how they get together.

ahaha this got longer than i expected it to so under a cut it goes

So. We've got Dion and Gisu making googoo eyes at each other. They've kind of discussed what's going on between them, and they've kind of just mutually hooked up without really talking about it because they're both interested and soft romantics and dumb teenagers. Morris and Gisu are friends, and Morris is becoming friends with Raz and Queepie; this creates plenty of opportunities for Morris and Dion to interact.

It takes a while, for Dion and Morris' idiot rivalry to crystalize into a friendship. Takes a while for Dion's annoyance and Morris' dares to turn into camaraderie, for their challenges and arguments to become a way to let off steam and break away from their responsibilities. But once they do, they start hanging out in more casual settings, start interacting on more even ground.

It starts when Dion's going through a routine, and Morris decides to catcall him, knowing that it'll annoy Dion to no end. He's right. He's so right about how much it annoys Dion that he does it again the next day, whooping and hollering obnoxiously.

"Oh, you want a piece of this, Martinez? Not my fault if I'm making you swoon!"

...Dion responds in kind. It throws Morris off for a second—but only a second before he shoots back with a "Well why don't you come over here, and show me up close?"

Gisu finds the fake flirting hilarious. She's laughing. Dion and Morris are trying to one-up and fluster each other in the most obnoxious way possible and she's laughing. She lives for the chaos, lives for banter and bickering and fighting that isn't serious in the end. And it really isn't serious—it's two idiots reciting sappy poetry and posturing like peacocks in an effort to one-up each other. It's Gisu occasionally pitching in a comment of her own about something sweet Dion did for her just to needle Morris. It's amusing to everyone else to watch these two idiots be idiots.

But Morris and Dion are not good at deescalating. They're not good at really knowing how to stop, once they get going. Not yet. And this isn't the kind of contest with a conclusive ending.

The shenanigans continue, along with all of the other stupid dares that Dion and Morris get up to—they're not doing the fake flirting all the time, and are generally just spending more time together as friends. The fake flirting has got a definite "Oh you wanna kiss me so bad it makes you look stupid" feel to it. But ironically. Completely ironically, they swear. The other junior agents get annoyed after a while, but similarly write it off as a dumb little challenge that'll peter out eventually,,,,, hopefully,,,,

And then it isn't ironic. It hits Morris suddenly, the realization that Dion's voice makes him want to throw and kiss the acrobat in the same breath. It hits him suddenly, in the middle of an unrelated conversation, his brain making the connection.

It takes Dion a little longer to realize. A little longer to have his "oh god I want to punch him in the mouth,,, with my mouth" moment. When he does, it hits him like a truck.

This is the part where things get awkward. Oh, sure, it's hilarious that Dion & Morris essentially bamboozled themselves into Having Feelings For Each Other, but let's not forget Gisu! Morris doesn't want to ruin his friendship with her, Dion still has feelings for her and doesn't want to just break it off with her just because he went and fell for someone else at the same time. He may be a dumbass, but even he can recognize that that's a jerk move.

So. We hit the awkward awful drama part. The part where Dion and Morris both hit upon the conclusion to just. ignore the fact that there is a mutual romantic attraction between them. Except now their interactions have become stilted, awkward, edging into bitter, their bickering sliding into genuine arguments because they're angry with each other and themselves over the whole situation. Because they're teens who aren't sure how to interact with each other now—they're making a bigger deal out of this then it really is, but it still is a substantial shift in their dynamic that they're not sure how to handle.

As for Gisu? Oh, it was hilarious in the beginning. She was living for the chaos. But now it's just... awkward. The guy she likes to hang out with and impress and kiss and her best friend can't talk to each other without getting in a genuine argument or shutting down. It's no longer fun for the three of them to hang out together, and Gisu can't stand it.

She pulls Dion aside because if there was ever a time for a serious talk, this is it. He affirms that he still likes her, and Gisu's still interested in him, but—

She wonders if maybe they should just try to settle into being friends. Maybe it'd be better if the three of them all shelved romance for now. After all, she's pretty sure that her and Dion being all sappy and trying to impress each other is just going to be a summer fling in the end, right? The Aquatos will leave to travel again, and Dion will run into some other pretty guy or girl and try to impress them.

But Gisu's a romantic idealist at heart, so she just kisses Dion and tells him she'll talk to Morris. And then he and Morris will talk, and work out whatever is going on between them. And everything will work out, because Gisu would much rather everything work out.

Gisu talks to Morris. He doesn't want "whatever I've tricked myself into having for Dion" to get between them. He just wants to get back to his radio station and put all of the drama behind them.

And it looks like it'll work! The three of them hang out—it starts out awkward, but then Gisu brings up how much she wants to try skating atop the Motherlobe, and suddenly Dion and Morris are encouraging her and helping her plot her way up there and Morris mentions he'll bring the camera and it's almost exactly like how the three of them interacted before all of this drama. It's great, and Gisu's having a good time—

She doesn't quite catch the exact moment it all fell apart. In hindsight, she'll remember that something Dion said must have rubbed Morris the wrong way, and Morris snapped back a sly little insult, and it must have devolved from there. But in the moment, it felt like Gisu was on top of the world one second, and then Dion and Morris were at each other's throats the next.

Gisu intervenes. It devolves into a three-way shouting match; Morris and Dion are shouting at each other, Gisu's shouting at them both for being immature, they're yelling at her to get out of it. Dion ends up going back to his family's camp angry and bitter. Morris' shoulders are hunched, his thoughts a low, jarring static to Gisu's senses. Gisu huffs and leaves to go skate her frustration off.

But Gisu's an idealist, like I said. She's stubborn, and she doesn't want to just give up just because things got a little heated. So she goes to Otto for advice. And then Milla. And she takes the time to think, and plan, and comes to a conclusion two days of Dion and Morris outright avoiding each other later.

"Right." Gisu drags them both out to a quiet little spot in the Questionable Area. "I'm not dealing with your awkward bullshit any longer. None of us are leaving this spot until we've worked," She gestures vaguely at all three of them, "this out. So. Start talking."

And that's where it starts. The conversation meanders, at first, with Morris and Dion dancing around the real issue until Dion caves and outright says that he likes both of them. A lot.

"And shit, I'm sorry for screaming at you." Dion adds, his eyes locked on the ground as he cringes. "I don't want to be fighting with you all the time. Not like that."

And Morris returns the sentiment. He's happy so long as he's got K.L.O.B. running, so long as he's still got his friends.

"But enough of this sappy junk." Morris waves a hand dismissively. "K.L.O.B.'s not going to run itself." He shrugs, affecting as casual an attitude as he can manage. "I'm fine with losing out to Gisu on the romance front anyway—that ship has clearly sailed."

"But what if romance didn't have to be a two-player game?"

Ah, yes, Gisu's sappy little heart and it's sappy little idealism.

Dion makes a soft noise somewhere between an inhale and a squeak, looking at Gisu with a look she can't parse. Morris blinks, equally caught off guard.

Gisu wonders if maybe she should backtrack.

She doesn't.

"I mean, I like Dion, you like Dion, and—and romance is just love and communication, right?" She shrugs. "So maybe we could..." She's not sure where she's going with this, but her mouth is moving faster than her brain can keep up. "Maybe it doesn't have to be a two-player game."

Dion makes a soft noise. “So we just all date each other? The three of us?”

“Maybe not all three of us.” Morris offers. “Maybe me and Gisu both date you? We could probably work out a timetable.”

And that's how it starts :]

Obviously they're not perfectly aligned right then and there—they spend some more time talking, trying to figure out what they want. Dion and Morris go on a date atop the waterrise ("first one to the top wins!" "oh, you're on."), and then Gisu drags Dion off for a "skatedate." Morris and Gisu request permission to go out to town and then go watch a movie together, trying to figure out if they're even interested in each other. The three of them hang out like they normally do, any awkwardness lingering in the air disappearing as they settle into a comfortable dynamic.

They don't tell anyone what's going on, not right away. They're all still trying to figure everything out themselves, sort-of sort-of-not dating while trying to get their bearings. Gisu and Dion do research on polyamory at the local library together. Morris subtly (read: very unsubtly) broaches the topic to Milla, asking her what she thinks of it. Milla correctly intuits what's going on and reminds Morris that "communication and consent are the basis of a healthy relationship."

So everyone (except Milla) initially assumes that Dion & Gisu are still dating, and whatever was going on with Dion & Morris has been worked out. Everything's back to normal, no need to worry about the rest of the junior agents being dragged into the drama.

Morris and Gisu and Dion slowly settle into a relationship. They have a few small fights, early on, a few disagreements as they slowly work out their new dynamic. Every time, they return to the same spot in the Questionable Area to hash it out. They're not perfect. But they're willing to work for it, all three of them.

They're still working out how to go about announcing it—Dion does want to tell his parents, he's still looking for the words—still working out how to explain it, when Norma, looking for Gisu to get her help with an assignment, finds Gisu and Morris having a picnic together, unambiguously making out.

It goes about as well as you'd expect.

[bwambiee]

𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐢

this lil’ drabble is inspired by the lovely @zeijias ♡ her drabble of isagi being a perv while pretending to be a goody two-shoes just scratched my brain so right i had to add on to the agenda! pls check out her works they’ve got me blushin’ ૮꒰/ฅ//ฅ//꒱ა

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 : 𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐢 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦! 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

warnings ꒱ྀིა smut ⸝ drabble ⸝ fem! reader ⸝ isagi being a perv ⸝ mean isagi agenda ⸝ aged up chara’s (21+) ⸝ dirty talk ⸝ mentions of face-sitting

campus crush yoichi is just the sweetest boy in your psychology class, who you just found out is an exercise science major and he’s got the prettiest sapphire eyes you’ve ever seen. classmates turned best friends came easily to you two even if sometimes you both could see that the line is slightly blurred from how impeccably close you two are. after spending every waking moment together in freshman and sophomore year, it’s like muscle memory for you to run to him at even the smallest ounce of juicy gossip, tugging his sleeve as you look up into his eyes and nuzzle into his arm as you explain the drama of a recent friend, or how you complain over your classes whilst wearing his hoodie. but who could blame you? he was sweet and understanding, and felt like home. but it was clear that you two had something. and the both of you didn’t have the guts to act on it yet.

of course you only see what’s on the outside, goody two-shoes isagi who sometimes walks in late for psych, who always always opens the door for you, who covers your drink at parties when you need to use the bathroom and even bends down so his ear is at level with your face so he can hear you over the booming music, who always buys you your favorite drink or snack before your morning classes start because you stayed up a little later than normal and he knows you haven’t had breakfast yet. he was just so pure and flawless you could never guess that he was secretly eyeing you like the last piece of candy at a sweets shop. especially when you wear that miniskirt that can most definitely show what color panties you're wearing and the curve of your ass if you weren’t careful.

isagi freaking loses it when you stroll up to him all casually, your eyes looking up at him while you bat your eyelashes and flash him that sweet smile, your soft hands tugging on the sleeve of his hoodie as you lead him towards the library so you two can study for an upcoming test. yeah . . . ‘study’. what he’s really studying is how good your legs look when you cross them together, how good they’d look resting over his shoulders when he pounds into your pussy without mercy, growling into your ear about how fucking tight you are, or how good your shoulders and neck would look covered in marks he’d purposely leave on you so that the boy in your statistics class would get a hint that you weren’t meant to be shared with. nothing drives him wild as his thought run amok, dreaming of your plush thighs surrounding his head as he imagines you sitting on his face, pretty pussy dripping honey onto his tongue as you let out soft mewls and whines of his name when he sucks your clit just right, gripping onto your ass cheeks so he can move you back and forth on his tongue as you hold onto his headboard for dear life.

he inwardly groans as he imagines sinking into your pussy, sticking his whole cock into you in one hard thrust as he robs you of every single slither of oxygen when you gasp and do nothing but hold onto him tightly. he’d destroy you, the frustration of playing cat and mouse with you when really he just wants to play house and stop fucking around. the need for his true feelings comes out slightly when he sees you bite the top of your pencil, slightly groaning as you lean in close to him, not-so-subtly showing off how good your tits looked in the top and mention how the barista that had made your latte was cute and he grips his mechanical pencil tightly, digging it into his notebook when he stares at your lips, pursed in concentration, smiling about that stupid fucking barista.

damn tease.

his mind wanders again, thinking about how you’d claw his back as he imagines your tight, velvety walls gripping his cock as he makes you see stars.

“such a tight little pussy YN. All for me, yeah?” he’d pant against your ear. “you think you can keep up this innocent act around me, mhm? you don’t think i can see the little game you’re playing? you can mention another guy’s name in your mouth, but it’s my cock you come all over, and it’s my name you fuckin’ scream.” he growls, gripping onto your hips so he can bully that sweet spot in you and you would let out the most prettiest cry.

“n-no more—nnh!” you would moan. “it’s too much y-yoichi!” you’d whisper pleadingly, watery eyes hazy as your mind would be too fucked out to even form a coherent sentence. he’d do nothing but grin at you and just leans forward, folding you in half.

“t-too much y-yoichi!” he’d mock you with an insufferable smirk, one hand sneaking up to grip your tits and the other on your tummy so he can feel his dick move in and out of you lazily, pussy throbbing around him as his fingers slowly tease you clit in slow, deliberate movements, grunting since he can feel you squeezing him so fucking good.

“don’t be a quitter sweetheart.”

and fire would spread across your oversensitive body, writhing and spasming as isagi robs you of an orgasm that’s sure to send you over the moon.

well of course, you’d feel that euphoric feeling if you’d stop playing cat and mouse.

[kjwaikiki]

Joffron ahead, au idea where Joffrey and Daeron grow up together:

He hadn’t been paying attention.

Joffrey thinks that he can be forgiven for forgetting where he was and trusting in his family’s ability to overlook him when he actually needed them to. His family often forgot about him when he wasn’t in their direct line of sight.

He isn’t bitter about that fact, has had 18 years to come to terms with the fact that while his family loves him they usually have something else taking up their time. Luke’s relationship drama, Jace’s latest achievement, Baela’s latest stunt, Rhaena’s infrequent updates from the Vale, or even just the latest childhood milestone with Aegon and Viserys.

Joffrey loves his mom, his siblings, and his stepfather but being the middle child with an age gap between each set of children means that Joffrey often was left in a weird space where he was either too old or too young to participate in what his siblings were doing. It often left him with a lot of free time and little supervision and with the constant drama his family’s life has been since he was a toddler his parents are too busy putting out fires to ask why he was out so late or why he was wearing a high necked blouse in June.

Which is why he is so disgruntled that his parents freaked out over what he deemed to be none of their business. Joffrey has been ….. involved with Daeron since he was 14 and while nothing happened until he was 17 that was more Daeron’s decision than his. Joffrey has always had to coax and nudge Daeron into doing anything beyond cuddling and a few chaste kisses which might be why they are in this mess in the first place.

Joffrey hadn’t stopped to think about where they were or who was watching when he tugged Daeron into a spare room in the Red Keep after a disastrous family dinner. All Joffrey could think about was how the light from the candles and torches bounced off of Daeron’s wavy hair or how his eyes softened whenever he caught Joffrey staring at him. The need to kiss the man he loved was like a physical ache under his skin so he hadn’t stopped to scan the room to see who was looking before he pulled Daeron away.

This was a mistake as both his parents, his older siblings, uncles, and Lady Alicent all barged in on them as Daeron was working the ties to his shirt open. Joffrey had long done away with Daeron’s shirt by tearing it down the middle and casting the sides away and was kissing his lover’s neck when they were rudely interrupted.

Joffrey didn’t quite realize just how poorly his parents would take the whole event due to the aforementioned lack of supervision. He figured Daemon would rant about him being with a Hightower and mother would make threatening eyes at Daeron as she used her son’s relationship to have another fight with Lady Alicent. Instead Joffrey was greeted to stony silence and his stepfather tugging him up off of Daeron rather harshly.

He was rushed out of the room, out of the Red Keep quickly after that, barely able to get a single glance back at Daeron sitting on the ground surrounded by the Greens before Daemon and mother hustled him through the hallways and to the dragon pit. It wasn’t until they arrived back at Dragonstone that Joffrey got the first inkling that he was not going to be able to maneuver his way out of this situation.

Joffrey had always figured that when his parents did find out it would be in the midsts of a crisis that eclipsed any misgivings about his relationship with Daeron. He figured he would have to avoid and subvert the conversation for a week or two before the next family drama inevitably pulled their focus away.

This was not the case now. The family dinner had not gone well but there had been no real crisis to demand his parents attention. Standing in front of Daemon and Rhaenyra Targaryen now with his older siblings lining the walls like pale spectators at a tourney Joffrey felt the need to reevaluate how he was going to tackle this problem.

Of course Daemon didn’t give him the chance.

“How long has this been going on?”

As soon as the word were out of his stepfather’s mouth Rhaenyra whipped her head to stare at Daemon in mute shock.

“Surely this has not been going on long.”

It was not a question so much as a desperate grasp for confirmation and even as his mother stared at her husband Joffrey knew it was addressed to him.

In this instance Joffrey decided discretion was the better part of valor.

“We have been intimate with each other since I turned 17.”

Something flickered behind Daemon’s eyes as he stared at him. Joffrey fought the urge to fidget.

Surprisingly the next person to speak wasn’t either one of his parents but Jace.

“Aegon told me that you are Daeron used to disappear together, as far back as when you were 13.”

Joffrey stared at his brother, the firm set of his jaw and scanned the rest of his siblings. They had all lined themselves behind Jace as if they were soldiers heading to battle with Baela and Rhaena on either side of Jace and Luke slightly behind his older brother’s left shoulder.

There would be no getting out of this now/

“We’ve been …. involved since I was 14 but nothing ….. drastic until I was 17.”

Everyone turned their eyes to him at that and Joffrey struggled to keep his eyes fixed on the way his mother’s braid trailed over her right shoulder the ends almost touching the red embroidered dragon by her waist.

“You’re too young.” His mother’s feeble voice caused him to glance at her eyes. The worry and even slight regret inflamed Joffrey’s temper that had slowly built on the the journey back to Dragonstone into a roaring fire.

“I am a man grown,” he grit out, and before he could stop himself spat “it is far to late to start meddling in my affairs now mother. Maybe 5 years ago you would have been successful but not now.”

His mother stared at him with a deep hurt swimming in her violet eyes, but before she could utter a word Daemon voice chilled the room:

“You would pick that Hightower runt over your family.”

His next words came out closer to a dragon’s roar than anything human.

“HE IS MY FAMiLY! When the squires would wait after training to ambush me Daeron was the one who saw to my bruises and showed me how to fight back against multiple opponents so they would never get the better of me again! When that Pentoshi merchant made remarks about how I’d make a fine bride and tried to force some foul ale down my throat Daeron was the one to threaten to geld him should he ever so much as look at me!”

With each sentence his parents and siblings seemed to shrink and press away from him to the outskirts of the room, but that only added fuel to the fire as more words burst forth.

“He was the one who came up with me on my first flight with Tyraxes. Daeron was the one to sneak me sweets and insist I take the maester’s concoctions when I was sick three winter’s ago. Daeron was the one to”

“ENOUGH!” His mother’s voice pierced through his tirade:

“Enough Joffrey.” Her voice was worn like a pierce of cloth made translucent after too many washes. She was crying, and suddenly Joffrey realized he was crying too:

As his mother approached him with hands outstretched towards his wet cheeks it all became too much. Joffrey felt outnumbered and overwhelmed like he had stood too close to the Sept’s bells as they rung and now his whole world was vibrating.

Before his mother could touch him he turned and fled through the hallways and back to his typical quarters in Dragonstone. He barred the door and pressed his shaking hands to his face and he sun down to the ground.

Joffrey stayed there on the ground as his family came and banged on his door. He heard his mother shouting for the guards before Daemon convinced her to let him be. Eventually his family petered off after there was no response from Joffrey for hours.

Eventually a single bright line came in the guise of a letter slipped under his door before the hour of the wolf. He broke the blue wax seal embossed with two twirling dragons. He scanned the letter quickly before standing up and casting it into the fire. As the parchment was consumed by flames Joffrey wondered if mother and Kepa’s Valyria wedding robes were still in the trunk in his mother’s solar.

[bookishtheaterlover7]

How Long Could We Be A Sad Song?

a/n: Well, it's here! The fic that I'm most anxious to write and post. Honestly, I wrote this and got inspiration when I was in my most upset and angsty mood. Which was a few months ago, and it's been sitting within the pages of Maddie (my writing notebook), and my drafts. And somehow through a very frustrating bout of Writer's Block, as well as, the fact that I was reminded and paired my own feelings to "Taylor Swift's You're Losing Me", put it into a moodboard and boom! This fic was born.

Normally, I'd dedicate this to a special friend. But this time, I'd like to deviate, and dedicate this to myself. Weird, I know. This time though, this fic will remind me that every emotion, and every feeling is valid and if vented properly, can and will flourish into something productive and beautiful.

Alright. That's enough talk from me. I hope you all enjoy the fic. And I also hope I didn't crush you, cause well... it's angst, what else can I say? 😆

Chris Evans x Secret Girlfriend!Reader

Requested: No

WARNINGS: Panic Attacks, Angst, Established Relationship, Relationship Drama, Sad Chris, Sad Dodger

Heartbreak Divider by @firefly-graphics

Enjoy!!!

*Y/C/F/M = Your Close Family Member

Outside, the night was quiet, and peaceful. The crickets calling into the night air, frogs singing in unison, adding to the ambiance. Even the noisiest neighbor seemed to have taken some time off from being the thorn on everyone’s side. But while the world seemed almost frozen, Y/n sat in her living room, her heart pounding in her ears, and a knot forming in the pit of her stomach after she told the Love of her Life that she wanted to end their 6-year relationship. The sad part was, Chris seemed so lost as Y/n’s words hung in the air.

“I-I don’t understand...” He finally said, looking up at her from resting his head between his legs, across their living room. The space feeling more like chasm the longer this dragged on.

“I know you don’t, Chris.” Y/n sighed, getting up from her chair, and kneeling beside Chris, before taking his trembling hands in hers, hoping to give him some comfort, knowing that he could spiral into a Panic Attack in his fragile state. She knew because, if she didn’t do it for herself, she’d do the same.

They let the silence of their built home surround them, like a warm blanket. Both knew that they were only delaying the inevitable, but they selfishly wanted to hang on to what little time they had left together.

Time felt like it slowed, as Y/n’s gaze remained focused on their joined hands. Taking her back to a time years ago, on a bench, when Chris first saved Y/n...

She had been touring New York with her family, unfortunately, the crowds were too overwhelming for her, and while they were forming their lines to enter the theater of some play, Y/n couldn’t focus her breathing long enough to look at the marquee, and her chest felt tighter and tighter, as she told *Y/C/F/M that she’d like to grab a bite from the stall she saw near a bench, a few ways back, and left before he/she/they could protest.

She took advantage of the open air, and tried to regulate her breathing, by taking slow deep breaths, before arriving and collapsing on the bench. Resting her head against the back of it and feeling and inhaling the passing fresh breeze. The tightness in her chest was still there, and she continued taking deep breaths in order to regulate her breathing, not even noticing the handsome stranger, standing next to her.

“Uh, hi! Excuse me? Miss? Ar-are you okay?” He greeted, his blue eyes gleaming, as Y/n took a big breath before answering.

“Huh. Yeah. Yeah. I’m fine, Sir. Just feeling a little overwhelmed. Is all.” She laughed, wiping her cheeks. Just noticing that there were tears running down them.

“I get that. No matter how many times you do this, or come here, it can still get overwhelming... May I?” The stranger asked, gesturing to the empty space next to her. To which she nodded and scooted over a little to give him some room.

He put his bag down between his legs, opened one of the pockets and pulled out a couple of tissues, before handing them to her. That Y/n gratefully accepted, dabbing at the corners of her eyes.

“The city is actually quite beautiful, but I’d prefer it if it didn’t have so many goings on, you know?” She said, breaking the comfortable silence that settled over them.

“Oh, I definitely know. It’s places like this right here, though, that helps.” He said, admiring the way the bench overlooked a cluster of buildings in the most picturesque way.

“Is that an invitation to meet here again?” Y/n laughed.

“Maybe... Are you going to take me up on it?” The stranger laughed, his face expressing hope.

“I might...” She smiled, holding her hand out, now being able to breathe easier.

“Y/n.”

“Chris.” He replied, taking it and shaking it.

It wasn’t until Y/n returned to the theater that she realized WHO she had just met. And it definitely took her a while to shake it off, and, even if it seemed like a fluke at the time, she was pretty sure that Chris winked at her from the stage that night.

She was thankful for how he helped her. And it just became a thing for them to do the other, even a couple years later, when Chris was presented a way to possibly earn money during the pandemic.

Y/n focused her gaze on the mantel, her mind wandering to when she and Chris first made this place into their home. Moving things around, deciding which items gets put on display, what color the walls are gonna be... Back when everything was possible.

“How time flies...” She trailed off.

“Y/N/N. Baby...” Chris cried, his voice breaking at the end. Which caused Y/n to swallow a sob too.

“How can I make this better? I can fix this for us.” He said, hopping down from the seat onto Y/n’s level on the floor.

“That’s the thing, Chris. You can’t.” Y/n cried, pulling her hands away, and wrapping them around herself, in an attempt to give herself some comfort, as well as ground her.

“This is the most cliche thing that I’ve ever said, but it’s not you, it’s me. I can’t handle it... It’s getting too much for me, and the sad thing is, it’s not even your fault, because it’s my own feelings, and you’re just doing your job...” She ranted, her heart going a mile a minute, her chest feeling tighter.

“Hey. Hey.” Chris said, gently taking her hands, placing one on his cheek, and cupping her cheek, allowing her to follow his breathing, slowing hers down.

They let time pass, just holding the other close. Letting the other’s presence bring their calm. Like always.

Chris has just realized how much of a colossal fuck up he just made. How the fuck did he not notice?! That Story went from wholesome to “What did I just do?!” in just a few hours.

His heart was racing a mile a minute, and he felt like he couldn’t catch his breath. Pacing back and forth on his balcony, the fresh air rendered useless in relieving him.

“Hey. Chris, everything’s going to be alright, okay?” Y/n said, putting one hand on his shoulder, getting his attention on her.

“Deep breaths. 2 seconds in, 3 seconds out. C’mon, Babe. Do it with me.” She smiled, helping him breathe through his attack.

Some time later, Y/n helped him onto their couch. Dodger hopping on next to Chris, allowing him to pet the little guy. She had left the room to grab him a glass of water. Which after handing it over to him, she sat down behind Dodger, hand on Chris’ knee, letting her presence and silent assurance say what words may fall short on.

“We can do this, Baby. We can work through this, fight it.” Chris said, pulling back to look at Y/n’s eyes, determined.

“No, Chris. We can’t. I can’t.” She said, pulling away, and standing so that she was facing away from him, the view from their window her only comfort in this moment.

“I know that you want to make this work, because you’re you. But I can’t let you. Do you really want to stay, when I feel like a ghost in my own relationship? I literally could send you the biggest most obvious sign, and I don’t think you’d hear me.”

“But I’m here, Y/N/N. I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere.” Chris pleaded.

“Yeah. What happens when you need to go, Chris? When they need you to do something, again. And I have to see pics of you and her, knowing full well that that’s supposed to be me. On your arm, announcing our love and our relationship to the world. Taking on every comment, every hate, every piece of scrutiny, together. Instead, the world believes in that sham, because they don’t know I exist in your life.” Y/n cried, turning towards him, not even bothering to hold her tears back anymore.

Chris tried to reach out for her, but she took a step back. Not letting him hold her, knowing full well that if he did, everything will feel right, and she won’t be able to do what she needed to.

“This is just temporary, Baby. It’ll soon end, and at some point, we can walk out of those doors, and be able to show everyone.” Chris said, tears shining in his own eyes.

“You’ve been saying that for years. And honestly, you don’t even know when will it end exactly. And it’s destroying you. I know that you only did this to help your family, but it shouldn’t be at the expense of your own happiness.” Y/n said with conviction, her gaze filled with so much intensity, Chris avoided it and made his way to their room.

“You know, I’m right, Chris.”

“Well, has it ever crossed your mind, that maybe, I’m doing this for us? That maybe, it isn’t just for myself and my family? But for our future together?” Chris yelled, exasperated.

“And you know, that I have never cared about any of that! I don’t care if you’re some world-famous actor, or some rich gazillionaire, or whatever. I care about you, Chris. I don’t know why you could never see that.” Y/n sighed in disbelief, turning away from Chris, heading out the door to grab her bags and leave, forever.

“Wait. Baby, please wait.” Chris said, grabbing her wrist, and holding it gently, not wanting to hurt her, but make one last stitch effort to make her stay.

“I love you, isn’t it enough? I’m all yours. No part of me is ever not going to be yours. We just need to hang in there a little longer.” Silence filled the air, Y/n remaining silent for what felt like hours, until she finally spoke.

“You know I will always love you, too, Chris. But I can’t stay and end up hating you as a result. I wouldn’t be able to survive that. I’m sorry.” She said, looking at his gorgeous eyes, committing them to memory, before pulling away, and continuing her short walk to the door.

She had one foot out the door, when she felt a small tug on her pant leg. Looking down at a sad Dodger, whining, begging her to stay.

“Hey, Bubba. Don’t be sad. I will never not love you. And I need you to make sure, your Daddy remembers that too. Can you do that for me?” She said, kneeling down and petting him while smiling through her tears, as Dodger barked in reply, licking her face.

“Alright. That’s my good boy.” Y/n said, giving him a final pet before nudging him away from the doorway, and closing it behind her.

The silence wasn’t as comforting without her there. Even as Dodger assumed his duties, nudging against Chris, as he petted him. He felt numb, like a huge chunk of himself was removed and no way to fill the hole.

“It’s just you and me now, Bud... Just you and me.”

a/n: You guys still good? I hope it wasn't too bad. I may need to write something to balance out the angst, but that'll be a while... 😬

Special thanks to the best girls in the world for encouraging me, and getting me through my panic attacks to finish this. I couldn't have done it without you. Love y'all! 🥹❤️

And I'm also pretty sure that this'll be the only Chris Evans as himself fanfiction I'll ever write or post... We'll see.

But will this be my last Taylor Swift x CE/Character song fic? Definitely not 😉

Until the next one! Stay safe and sane, Everyone 🫶

❤ Booky

Main Masterlist

Chris Evans Characters Masterlist

Taylor Swift x CE/Characters Songfic Masterlist 😉

Taglist: @nescavaneck @jiyascepter @royalwriteroftheuniverse @femefetalelevelingup

[ariesqueencobra]

what we used to be | XVll

Pairing: Eli Moskowitz x Fem!Reader

Summary: The morning after Moon's party and the first day of junior year. Things go nothing as expected...

Warnings: dojo rivalry, extreme violence, major injury, swearing, it's the school fight y'all, you know what happens

Word Count: 2.1k

A/N: Uh-oh, drama....

Thank you to those who already reblog and comment, I see you and I love you all for it!

I don't consent to this work being copied, translated or reposted.

You woke up the next morning, unaware of your surroundings until you realized you were in Eli’s room. Memories of last night flooded your mind and your heart wrenched at the kiss you shared with him. Brushing your finger over your lips, you felt more pained at the lack of regret from the action.

A knock was heard at the door and you turned to find Eli, dressed for school already. He greeted you with a smile, gaze running over your freshly woken-up state. You grew self-conscious but part of you felt that he wasn’t thinking anything negative.

“My mom texted your mom you crashed here,” he explained. “She dropped your bag off and a change of clothes on her way to work so you don’t have to go,” he gestured to the overnight bag in his hand along with your backpack.

“Thanks,” you smiled, getting out of bed and running a hand over your head. 

“Seems like your ankle is feeling better,” he grinned, noticing you were walking on your own. 

“Yeah, thanks again,” you smiled before walking into the hall and grabbing the overnight bag from him. 

After brushing your teeth and getting ready in the bathroom, you walked back into his room, feeling refreshed. You found him at his desk, packing his bag before he turned to you. 

“My mom made blueberry pancakes since they’re your favorite,” he smiled, walking up to you.

“Aww, that’s so sweet of her,” you cooed, turning to grab your backpack and make sure everything was packed. “I’ll probably leave the other bag here, pick it up after school,” you placed your hands on your hips.

“Sounds good,” he took a step closer. 

You felt your face heat up at the proximity. “Ready?” You nodded towards the kitchen. 

“Wait, just one thing,” he smirked, grabbing your wrist and pulling you towards him. It was instant, his other hand flying to your waist and his lips crashing on yours. 

You pressed a hand to his chest, feeling dazed as you moved your lips along his for a moment before you managed to remember what was going on. “Eli, what are you doing?” You stepped away, placing a hand to your mouth. 

Your heart was beating out of your chest.

“Last night,” he trailed, brows furrowed. 

“It was one kiss,” you said, licking your lips.

“Right,” his jaw ticked, glancing down. “My mistake,” he brushed past you. 

You hated the change in his demeanor. The moment you told him off and he didn’t want to be around you anymore? You should be glad though, you needed the reminder.

If breakfast was awkward, the car ride to school was hell. 

You kept quiet but the tension of having Eli being so cold was odd, unnerving.

“Thanks again,” you fidgeted with the straps of your bag as he parked. “I guess I’ll see you around school,” you pressed your lips in a thin line.

“Yeah, see you around,” he didn’t bother to look at you as you made it out of the car.

You shrugged your backpack over your shoulders, Demetri’s frame coming into view and you cocked a brow at his shocked expression.

“Did I just see you with Eli?” Demetri asked. “Did he hurt you?” His eyes widened at your slight limp.

“No,” you blew out a breath, walking in together. “I sprained my ankle.”

“And how does this lead to him driving you to school?” He asked.

“After the party, which hey, thanks for abandoning me,” you shot him a look. “I tripped and he helped me. Since my parents weren’t home, he took me to his place,” you explained. “My mom dropped off my stuff this morning.”

“He took you to his home? Were his parents home? Y/N, read the red flags,” he emphasized with his hands.

You blew out a breath. “Demetri, really?” You cocked a brow. “He was just helping,” you shrugged.

“Did anything happen?” He glanced at you expectedly, almost as if he already knew something did.

You felt ashamed, face heating up as you thought back to last night. 

“We talked,” you shrugged. “And we kissed,” you sighed. “Just one kiss,” you felt guilty for admitting it. “You should’ve seen him, Demetri, he was himself again and I gave in, I still love him,” you dropped your head. “And this morning he kissed me thinking we got back together,” you pouted. “I've never been kissed like that before,” you emphasized.

“You have because you’ve only kissed him,” he cocked a brow at you. “But I guess I understand, it’s not easy watching him change. I’d do anything to have things be normal again,” he shrugged.

You sent him a sympathetic look, realizing he lost his best friend too. “If only he wasn’t an ass.”

“Hey, maybe someday in the future, we’ll be the three musketeers again,” he patted your shoulder. “Now, c’mon, we’re going to be late for AP Bio,” he wrapped his arm around your neck, loosely.

His change in tone lightened the mood. 

You were grateful you still had Demetri.

“Remind me why I decided to take that class again?” You asked.

“Blame your mother,” he joked, making you laugh.

~

The class announcements were sounding off through the intercom when there was a commotion going on. The announcer was struggling and you glanced at Demetri, curiosity spreading across both your features.

“Sam LaRusso, you know what you did,” Tory’s voice rang. “I’m coming for you, bitch,” she spat then feedback was heard.

The room grew in hushed whispers before everyone bolted up when the disturbance grew in the halls. 

Sending Demetri a look, you followed him, confusion all over your face until you approached a huddle, Sam and Tory facing off. 

“I saw what you did at the party, you kissed Miguel,” Tory seethed. 

Sam was speechless, glancing at a hurt Robby.

Your heart ached, not able to imagine Eli cheating on you or you on him. As much of an ass he was, you don’t think he’d ever hurt you in that way. 

Too caught up in your mind you almost missed when Tory swung first, repeatedly hitting Sam.

Your friend protected herself from the hits, trying to escape but Tory caught her, kicking her in the back. 

Sam went flying, being caught by Eli and his buddies. 

The group cackled as Eli shoved her back into the fight. 

Your heart wrenched. 

This should be stopping.

Deciding it best, you ran towards the girls much to the dismay of Demetri. You were about to grab onto Tory’s shoulder when hands squeezed your arms, pushing you against them.

“Stay out of this,” Eli gritted, grip tight before he pulled you along with him, holding you back as the fight ensued.

“Get off of me!” You batted at his arms and he listened, but he didn’t let you interfere, arm blocking your path.

Robby did though, pushing Tory against the lockers. That’s when Miguel joined in and the two boys began fighting. 

All hell broke loose.

Eli pushed you off to the side as he punched two students, screaming through the halls. You backed into the lockers, keeping yourself safe.

You watched as everyone paired off, Miyagi-Do vs. Cobra Kai. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Moon pleading for everyone to get along. Eyes widening, you hurried over, pulling her out of the way before she got body-slammed into the lockers. 

A scream escaped her as the guys hit the lockers, barely missing her.

“Are you okay?” You asked her.

She nodded, backing into the crowd. 

The fights continued, Tory pushing Sam down another hall and the crowd pushed you to follow as the fight broke out at the school entrance by the stairs. 

Demetri came through the doors with a teacher but after seeing his co-worker get hurt by a student, he walked out. Then Eli caught sight of Demetri before he ran after him.

The fury in his eyes made your heart raced and you knew you needed to go after them.

Picking up your pace, you turned down the hall, losing sight of them and you weren’t sure if they had gone left or right. You shouted for Demetri, hoping you’d find him before Eli but it was hard to catch your breath, the pain radiating in your ankle was slowing you down, and panic set in.

You shouted for him again, your heart raced at the idea of what Eli would do to him. Turning back around, you bumped into someone. 

A familiar face came into view and you recognized your old friend, Rickenberger. A student of Cobra Kai. 

“You’re cute if you think I’m gonna let you get past me,” he snickered. “Your little friend deserves what Hawk will do to him, same as you,” he stared you down. 

“I’m not here to play games,” you scoffed, backing away. “I don’t want anyone getting hurt.” 

“Can’t let that happen, traitor,” he held your shoulder, stopping you. 

“So, what? You’re gonna fight me?” You sneered. “You’re insane,” you bumped shoulders with him. Your brows furrowed as you passed him but they raised in shock the moment he pushed you, sweeping your legs out from under you.

You screamed in pain, the impact hurting your ankle as you landed on the tile floor.

“You could’ve been on the right side, but no, you had to join Miyagi-Do,” he squatted down, pinning his hand to your back and kneeling on your arm to prevent you from getting up. 

“Why are you doing this?” You gritted in pain.

“Because you’re a traitor,” he spat. “You leaving Cobra Kai affected us all, we wanted to get back at you for what you did,” he gritted. 

“We?” Your heart broke at the thought that Eli would want to hurt you physically.

“Don’t get all teary-eyed, Hawk didn’t want us doing shit. Why do you think I’m taking my chance now that you’re all alone? No boyfriend to protect you,” he snickered.

His teasing sent anger to course through you and you yelled, taking him off balance, and punching him square in the face. 

He fell to the side, face touching his cheek before he spit out blood. The stare he sent you wasn’t friendly but you were already on your feet, ready for whatever he threw your way. 

Charging at you with a raised fist, you remember wax on, wax off. Ingrained in your memory you managed to block his hits, sending a powerful punch right in his chest. 

“You think Hawk’s gonna like you hurting me?” You spat, you pushed your hair out of your face. 

He chuckled. “He’s not going to know a thing.” 

Swinging his leg, he threw you off guard, landing a kick to your side.

You faltered, your weight falling on your bad ankle and you hissed in pain. The stress placed on it made your limp more noticeable compared to before. You were at a disadvantage.

He struck again, this time sending a punch right in your face. 

You flew back, clutching your nose and you saw blood. Then he threw another and another. You blocked the last, using your good leg to kick him away. As he fell back, you tasted blood and the adrenaline found its way back into your body. Standing a few feet from you, he watched you with such mockery. You began running towards him, ignoring the pain in your ankle. 

He couldn’t think before you engulfed him, using your momentum to spin him into the air and crush him to the tile. He groaned out in pain as you stood over him.

“We shouldn’t be fighting,” you heaved, that move taking it out on you. 

He stared up at you, face contorted in pain. He didn’t say anything, almost contemplating and you thought you had him but he grabbed your bad ankle, sending you to the floor. 

You couldn’t process it until he grabbed you under the arms, hoisting you up like a child. You stared at him in shock, your feet brushing the floor. You used your free arms to punch and push at his face but it was no use, he wasn’t budging. You tried so hard to fight him back, the pain in your underarms becoming evident. It was uncomfortable. You couldn’t get the upper hand, it was useless, at the end of the day he was stronger and you were injured. 

He had fury in his eyes as he screamed and threw you against the lockers with all his might. 

The ringing of the impact filled your ears and immediately, a sharp pain was felt on the side of your head. You fell to the ground, limbs limp. Your vision was blurry, your mind was confused about why stars were shining inside the halls. Something warm and wet dribbled down the side of your face as he said something.

“No mercy, bitch,” he spat. 

That was the last thing you heard before all the noise rang out and everything turned black.

[child-of-the-sky-people]

hi Ali! im looking for a new narrative podcast to get into, what's your current rec list? :)

Oh god it’s so long 😂

Horror:

Human Error - this one is mine so of course I’m recommending it 😂 it’s about a found family of survivors going on a road trip during a zombie apocalypse 12 years after the world ended!

We’re Alive - also zombie horror and was the show that got me into audio dramas! It’s very long and looks overwhelming but I promise it’s good!

Darkest Night - anthology horror where you find out how people died but each case is actually related and there is a bigger mystery and this show lives in my head rent free lol

The Waystation - found footage style show about a group of people on a space station that all died (the story is trying to piece together what happened). It’s along the same lines as The White Vault

DERELICT - a research group are studying a door at the bottom of the ocean, and then shit goes sideways. I binged this series super fact and I need season 2 immediately lol

The Eleventh Hour episode called The City of Statues - I made this! It’s about a group of survivors trying to make it out of a city filled with statues trying to hunt them down 👀

Someone Dies in this Elevator - mix of horror and thriller I think. It’s an anthology series where every episode someone dies in an elevator 👀 I composed for a few episodes and it’s v fun 🤩

Thriller

The Liberty Podcast - made by the same folks behind The White Vault and VAST Horizon. It’s an anthology series of stories taking place within and surrounding a tower where a civilization lives. Some episodes might lean more towards horror but I personally consider it more thriller

The Walk - made by the same folks behind zombies run! In this show you the listener are the main character, an individual making their way across Scotland with a package they were mistakenly delivered. I love this show so much omg

Primordial Deep - scientists are finding extinct dinosaurs alive and well under the ocean and they’re trying to figure out what the fuck is going on. I fucking love this show omg

Spines - woman wakes up in the middle of a cult ritual with no memories and is trying to figure out who she is and where she came from. Also there are powers!

Mirrors - same person behind Spines! Three women from three different centuries (who are all related to each other) discover they can communicate with each other through ghost like figures. It has a bigger mystery and the ending made me cry it was so good

InCo - a woman finds a prince from a world that shouldn’t exist floating in space. This show is a delight and is a micro series and I love the humor within it so much omg

Where the Stars Fell - the Antichrist is roommates with their guardian angel and they’re trying to stop the rapture

DUST - anthology series about science fiction and technology! Season 3 is definitely my favorite as it is one story but the entire show as a whole is very good

Feel Good/Light Hearted Shows

Unseen - this show lives in my head rent free and I ache for it to be real. It’s about magic existing in the real world and is an anthology! It’s made by the same folks behind Wolf 359

Joy to the World - holiday series I helped produce! It’s about an astronaut named Joy talking with different people on Earth about the holidays! It’s an anthology and v warm and I highly recommend it as a holiday series

Sidequesting - a person who is totally not the hero is avoiding the main plot and going on a bunch of side quests! It’s charming and lovely and made by the wonderful Tal

Back Again, Back Again - a woman is retelling her stories of his magical world she was transported into and about the prophecy she became involved in

If none of these are your jam lmk and I can suggest some more! If you tell me what you like to listen to/what kinds of stories you enjoy I can make a more personalized list

[chiiyuuvv]

birthday present 🎁 p. junmin

you get a life sized teddy bear for your birthday

childhoodbestfriend/idol!junmin x fem!reader 0.5k words angsty

▸ 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺?

You could hear a voice that reminded you of your childhood, each one of your steps down the staircase light with hesitation yet curiosity, careful not to press down on the wood too hard for it would leave a creak, potentially alerting the others that may be downstairs you were awake. You could get a small glimpse of a silhouette, supporting your delusions that maybe it was him, but you still felt uncertain, anxiety running through your veins as this still could be a dream, you’d never know for sure. 

Maybe it was your childhood best friend, but you doubt he’d come back for you after so many months. You were sure you left his mind as soon as he took the final step on the train, waving goodbye to his hometown while waving hello to the dreams he had sought after for so many years, adapting to the new environment he would be surrounded in, and who knows, even a girlfriend. You were sure his head was up into the clouds of fame and fortune, and although you missed him, you were still very proud of his accomplishments, thanking whoever was up in the sky for their blessings that made your friend so successful. 

Your mother notices your disheveled stance at the end of the staircase, a fond eye smile being sent your way as everyone else follows suit, your father sending you your morning wave that you would have responded to per usual, if it weren't for the mysterious boy that sat facing your parents direction. You notice how the ball of hair was dyed in a different color, the shoulders more straight and defined, yet you still could tell who was sitting there, you were certain of it.

It felt like your life had shifted to a K-drama, the boy turning his head slowly for effect, a gasp leaving your mouth as you meet the familiar pair of eyes that you missed dearly. It was in fact–

“JUNMIN!!” You shout, imitating the scene junmin had created when he learnt he was going to be a trainee under KQ, the exact same waterfall leaving your eyes as you cry of surprise and joy, making your hindsight blurry from the water. You didn’t know junmin’s arms – which were so muscular than how you remembered –  were already out until you sprint head-first into them, jumping up to wrap your legs around his waist for an enormous hug as he spins you around, beaming from ear to ear that this was no longer some cruel fantasy he could only dream of when he was alone.

“Did you really think I would forget about your birthday?” His voice cracks, a deep chuckle erupting from his throat as he puts you back on your feet, bumping his forehead into yours so he could look you in the eyes, his strong hands cupping your cheeks, the thumbs wiping the tears that escaped your eyes. Junmin felt incredibly homesick, ignoring how his cheeks created rivers just so he could console you, bringing you closer for another hug. “I missed you so much,” he whispers, pressing a kiss against your temple as he pushes your sobbing face into his neck, not caring about how wet he got from your tears. All that mattered was he was here, you were here.. You were finally here, together.

︴bonus! idea from @marw-lilia and ironically, it's my birthday!!

▸ taglist 🎧 @hyunukitty , @cake1box , @mars101 , @yuniniverse , @hunchan444 , @s00buwu , @cherrycolaberry , @hakyunz , @wonootnoot , @pinievsev

🎬 navi

@chiiyuuvv on tumblr . do not steal works/headers/line dividers

[spotsupstuff]

If it’s alright with you, I’d love to hear more about your version of Chasing Wind! I absolutely love the idea of half the city being inside their can, and all the cool stuff in the surrounding area, and her design!

awww shit i don't have MANY Wind thoughts she's mostly in the bg. but i'm gon try n scramble for smth for u, captn

to her design, a few small facts! they are the iterator who's design has probably changed the least since i've first made one for them two years ago

her design is HEAVILY inspired by @/inkycorvid, especially the earrings!!! praised be the elder sage for big brain design thoughts

her current outfit is based off of the Rattanakosin dress of Thailand! (simplified to hell n back cuz gods i do have to limit myself Somehow with this kinda stuff else my hand goes caput 🙏. i still have yet to really get the outfit down properly tbh)

the city being half within them and their citizens genuinely loving them lead to Wind becoming SOMETHING of a teacher to the side of her main jobs as an Iterator. this is mostly the case because i sent this vid to shkika sayin "my Wind vibes" and she replied with

so now i'm fucked up about it, because this fucca -points at the screenshot- is SO right about that, that WOULD happen. Wind is SO fuckin excited about teachin kids funky stuff like that. Full of Energy

their holy characterization formula is "good-looking jolly young teacher in either kindergarten or first few years of elementary school who knows martial arts" she looks like an absolute sweetheart but can put a man into an involuntary nap with singular karate chop. like she's still a pushover but at some point the hands start flyin

a city within the iterator is practically unheard of

Wind LOVES their interjections. like every other sentence is gonna have an "oh!" "ah!" "hah!" or smth of the like in it. i didn't headcanon this on purpose she just started doing it herself in her dialogue so i guess that's her Thing now

their positive attitude towards everything ever and their love of kids brought them close to Nish. these two together in one room is like LED headlights on a car. they are so fucking bright you're gonna go blind within seconds

nobody knows how- least of all Suns- but Wind ended up growing very fond of and close to Suns. they converse theory and go through simulations together a lot, when Wind's communications aren't down because of the tornadoes. if this was one of those AUs where the iterators, as their puppets, just hang around, those two would be like constantly at each other's hip. often subconsciously. they are like that one fuckin char dynamic meme

[some nasty stuff under the cut. you have been warned- it's nothing Particularly graphic but the imagery is Not Fun]

Wind is like the only iterator who took Suns' degression into their Hot Girl Summer arc ""well"" cuz she's just tryin so so hard to be positive to the point of blinding herself to bad things completely later down the line. even Nish was wigged about The Hot Girl Summer arc. The Hot Girl Summer arc is Not A Good Thing

ignoring Suns' drama: Wind's voice gets shot at some point and as result it becomes reverbated. the reverbs get worse when she's in distress

[c4ndytr4p]

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄: 𝐌𝐘𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐄

songs used: adagio by secret garden and clair de lune by claude debussy

the day he lost his parents, was the day he would have revenge and answers. for one, yes, someone else would ask questions surrounding their parents death. but alphonse? he wanted answers, even if he would have to force it out. his “godfather” rested his his hand on his shoulder. the two stayed at alistair and allison’s graves for awhile. “your parents were good people, it’s a shame they passed away.” alphonse’s godfather said quietly. “i knew that… but they fact they died mysteriously… i-i can’t say anymore, im sorry.” younger alphonse began to shed a few tears. he was only… 14-15 at the time. so it was difficult for him to process. he stayed in his parents home, to clean up the place and make sure it’s nice. he tidied up his parents bedroom as well… a somber look on his face. he finished, and left for his “godfather’s” home, which was quite nice. his nose caught a whiff of something, he was probably cooking. from there… his life would change. for the better and the worst

timeskip, a year after college

alphonse had his after college life jam packed down. moved out of his godfather’s place and decided to meet with an old friend, felicity. with all the surrounding drama he had going on back then, he didn’t want to get her involved, but she got stringed up at a bar fight. did she win? and fuckin’ did. “Well! Wasn’t that fun?!” She laughed on the way back, r&b music playing in the background of her playful banter. while al had his lips pressed into a thin line while driving, he was probably upset. “felicity, that wasn’t fun. You could’ve gotten injured during that bar fight. And you were screwin’ around with you know who’s goons.” alphonse said, stopping his father’s old car. they arrived back at their apartment to kick back.

better yet, alphonse was still thinking about who or what killed his parents. he told him that there was a house fire, al believed it at first…. but as he got older he saw through that. there were three (possible) theories on how they died. they were the following:

murder (no death certificates, no police reports, no coroner’s report, no murder weapon)

house fire (proven false, house is intact, no coroner’s report, no death certificate or any other evidence)

natural causes??? (ie: stroke, heart attack, seizure. no medical reports, no coroners report, no hospital records)

foul play (no murder weapon, just a few bottles of alcohol lying around.)

he had a cork board in his room, with all the stuff that he had put together, but he couldn’t focus on that now, that was the past.. or is the past coming back to haunt him? i would say yes… but at the same time… no. but i believe if he were to go looking a bit closer in his parents room, then that’s what i would think would tie everything together…. but he’ll wait and see what’s in store for him and his friends. as well as their futures. as he stayed with felicity, he noticed that he would stay up all night…

(a/n: @p0pp3t ITS HERE BABES :D)

[limmastyles]

Someone has asked the question why Harry is all of a sudden being so hated on and it’s because he’s very over exposed at the moment. Harry hasn’t really had a big scandal in his career and I feel like it’s coming very soon. With him releasing the album, all the drama surrounding don’t worry darling, his relationship with Olivia Wilde and it being either a stunt or a relationship that started off an affair, his overpriced and underwhelming beauty line and now with him not being a very good actor. Harry has way too much going on in the media. This is the most we have seen Harry do since the One Direction days. He just has so much going on and the fact that he’s on tour he is being seen and is very Isabal and it’s not good for him. If you think of Taylor Swift not long before the Kanye West situation happened in 2016 she was over exposed. She was everywhere and people hated her for it. Her relationships, her friendships, her being on tour her remarks at her and starting herself an issue that she’s had nothing to do with her. I feel like after the stunt with Olivia is over or maybe sometime before there is going to be something that comes out about Harry and it’s not going to be very good. My thought is it’s going to send her around what really happened on the don’t worry darling set. After the movie is out of theatres and a couple of months has gone by I want to say towards the end of the year we are going to hear from the people who worked on that set. The NDA’s are going to expire and people are going to start speaking out. I don’t believe that a lot of the crew were aware of the stunt bites they are going to talk about what they saw. And it’s going to look like Harry and Olivia had an affair while she was still with Jason. There are pictures of her and Jason up until September 2020 looking like a couple. There are also videos on Olivia‘s Instagram story of her and Jason with the kids and hanging out and they were still living together at that point. Olivia lied about the timeline of her and Jason‘s break up. They did break up in 2020 but it was in November. So what’s going to happen is the crew are going to start talking receipts are going to get dropped and it’s going to make hairy look very bad. I do think as well Olivia‘s going to do a big interview a while after the break up. She will do some sort of sit down or a magazine where she talks about the relationship. I do think to make herself look better she will try to shift the blame on to hairy. We all know that she signed it NDA so she’ll never be able to truly talk about him but she will insinuate things. So with the don’t worry darling crew speaking out about what happened and Olivia as well it’s not going to look very good for hairy. A hairy downfall is on its way and the main cause of that will be Olivia Wilde. Will he be able to bounce back from it yes well Olivia be able to bounce back from it probably not but it will hurt him. Just like it her Taylor when the whole Kanye West situation happened it’s going to fuck him up for a little bit. And he has nobody to blame but himself because he decided that he wanted to get involved I saw the signs of how much of a shitty person she is and continued with this. The Kanye West, Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift situation was so bad for Taylor but she went into hiding for a year. No one physically saw that girl for a year. And it was over some fake videos. Imagine what would happen if some real receipts and Tea were put out? Also I want to know what happened between Harry styles in Florence Pugh. I wanna know the beef that happen between the both of them. Because we all know the Florence of the person in the wrong. All I’m saying is this seems very familiar and it’s due time for hairy to have a really big scandal and it is coming. As much as I hate to say it I don’t feel bad for him because this is all something that he could’ve avoided if he didn’t get involved with Olivia or cut things off a lot sooner.The Shia situation was the perfect opportunity for him to get out and he didn’t and he has himself to blame

 

[dailyaudiobible]

1/8/2023 DAB Transcript

Genesis 18:16-19:38, Matthew 6:25-7:14, Psalm 8:1-9, Proverbs 2:6-15

Today is the 8th day of January, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible, and welcome to week two. We have completed our first full week of this year and our first full week moving through the Scriptures together, day-by-day and step-by-step. So, here we are at the threshold of a brand-new, shiny, sparkly week. And we walk into this week together. And I'll say it many, many, times as we come to the beginning of a new week. This is a fresh start, we’re still just starting our year and so we got a fresh start in the year, but this is a fresh start, a brand-new week. Week number two, which means we have a reset, we can regroup, we can move forward together. And so, let's do just that. We will read from the New International Version this week, and obviously picking up right where we left off yesterday, leads us back into the story of Abraham in the book of Genesis. Abraham and his wife Sarah have been promised to have a son, a promised son. Only problem is that like Abraham's 99 years old and Sarah's like pushing 90, and so, seems like unlikely that they're going to have a kid, but who knows maybe they will. We’ll get to that soon enough. We’ve got a little drama that precedes that. So, let's dive in, Genesis chapter 18 verse 16 through 19 verse 38 today.

Commentary:

Okay, so, like yesterday, we have some very poignant things going on in the gospel of Matthew, coming from the lips of Jesus, that we cannot possibly ignore. And out right here at the beginning of the year, we need to observe what they are and incorporate them into our lives and simply watch what it might look like if we obey. But before we get to that we need to go back into the book of Genesis, because we encountered a story today that probably left most of us going wait a second here. What is going on? So, we have this story of…of Abraham discussing with the Lord, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and kind of negotiating. Really, really interesting, “really if they’re 50 people there will you still destroy it’, ‘no, if there are 50 I won’t’, ‘well, what about five less,’ then I won’t if there's 45’, ‘well, what about 30’, it's really, really interesting to watch a human being, Abraham, talking to God and they’re talking back-and-forth. Abraham’s looking for this clarity and he’s negotiating the number down. He gets it down to 10, I’m not really sure why he doesn't like continue to go down to one or whatever, maybe because 10 people is Lots household, that he knows of. And he's just making sure that his own family that's living down in the Jordan Valley will be saved. Nevertheless, there’s this conversation that is taking place between God and Abraham, and God assures Abraham look, I’m not going down there to indiscriminately do anything. I'm going to check things out, and if there's righteousness there then we’ll find it, and if there is only evil there then we’re going to do away with evil because evil is destroying creation. So, this all takes place and we find ourselves down in Sodom, the Angels go home with Lot, they’re surrounded by the men of the village, they want to have sex with the Angels, although they don't know that they are angels. And it's pretty clear that's the Lord is going to bring destruction. So, they spirit Lot away, they’re running for their lives. The girls have been offered up to the mob. So, they’re running away wondering about their value. Although were in an extraordinarily patriarchal culture at this time. Their fiancés have stayed behind and are now dead. Their mom is running with them, but she looks back and then she's gone. And so, all that's left are these two daughters and their dad, and their hold up in a cave. And the daughters decide to sleep with their father to see if they could become pregnant by their father to continue their family line. We see a story like this in the Bible, at least it's been my personal experience, we see a story like this the Bible and go, what in the world? What is this doing in the Bible? And the immediate judgment is like against God. Ironically, like stories that are disruptive in the Bible that make us go, wait a minute, what? What is going on here? They're doing what they're supposed to do. Like, that's what the narrative is supposed to do, we’re supposed to be unsettled. And then we’re supposed to enter in and wrestle with, and observe and look at what's going on in this story? So, it’s so funny how we can read a story in the Bible and then blame God for everything. When, if we you look at the story, God didn’t do any of this. He went to destroy evil, but He did not enter the minds of the daughters and tell them to have sex with their father and see if they could get pregnant. There’s this entire cultural context going on here that reveals to us that these girls, this isn’t like, they weren’t like, yes, a romantic night with dad. Right, like anybody. They were in a situation where the only way, seems to be the wrong way, like there's no good choices. Here they are, foreign women, they had been betrothed. They are no longer engaged; their mom is gone. Their father is aging. They are foreigners and, in this culture, there needs to be a man to claim them, to continue the family line. So that the women will be spoken for and protected. And like there's no way for this to happen. They've lost everything, like their dad who had once been wealthy, is living in a cave with his daughters. They lost everything in this. And so, he can't buy his way out of stuff and he's not going to be able to defend himself. If they’re like moving through the mountains or they’re moving through the plains and they're just trying to stay low to the ground, but people come upon them and here's two beautiful girls and their dad. Pretty easy to take the dad out and steal the girls, like they really don't have a lot of options. Could they flee to their ancestral homeland? Could they go back to wherever their family is? Could they get there by themselves? Probably not, they’re gonna get captured along the way and what will be the outcome? Very likely, they'll be human trafficked, very likely. They'll be prostitutes. And so, they make the choices that they make, believing that this is the only choice that they have. Why they didn't flee back to Abraham, we…we don't know. What we do know is from the text, that there were no angels that appeared to Lot and his daughters, suggesting that the Lord Almighty had put them in the cave because it was His will that they could do this. There were no instructions about any of this from the mouth of God, commanding or inviting any of this. These were the choices that were made, and this is what happened because of those choices. And we can often blame God for the choices that we make, as well. When He had nothing to do with what we decided to do. But if we go back a few days and remember Abraham and Lot standing on top of the lookout and Abraham telling Lot, you pick where you want to go, and I’ll go in the opposite direction. Lot chooses selfishly. Abraham remains steadfast and the stories play out. Which invites us to wrestle with our own lives, the choices that we make are leading somewhere, will end up somewhere. Do we want to end up somewhere where the only way is the wrong way? Or might we consider, being steadfast and believing in the promise?

Then we flip over into the gospel of Matthew and Jesus begins by telling us that essentially, we’re spending more time worrying than is necessary. And were worrying and anxious about things that God is already aware of. And then He's kinda giving us the remedy, seek first the kingdom of God. Seek first like, before your worry and anxiety for all of that, first seek God's kingdom and the righteousness of God. Do that first and all these things will be given to you as well. Don't worry about tomorrow, it’ll take care of itself. What an invitation. Like that’s what Jesus is suggesting that we do, like what if we do that this week. But if before the anxiety and before the sleepless nights, what if first seek God's kingdom and His righteousness. Like, what's the downside to trying it this week? But while we’re doing some trying, Jesus said something very poignant. Yesterday, we’re talking about Jesus right after the Lord's prayer telling us that forgiveness is not an option in God's kingdom. It's like the way of God's kingdom and we need to have that as a category and begin to think about that. Jesus tells us additional information today, and I quote, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way, you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” That is pretty big and a very important piece of information to know on our faith journey. That we are setting the bar for our own judgment, by the way that we choose to judge others. Like that is something to ponder. And so, you can head right back into Matthew chapter 7 and wrestle with it yourself. Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use it, it will be measured to you. And then Jesus goes on to talk about specks and planks being in eyes. Why are you trying to take the speck out of somebody else's eye, when you got a log in your own eye. Get the log out of your own eye and then you can help the other…other brother or sister get the speck out of their own eye. That's his illustration for what He’s saying about judging. And we could parse this and have all kinds of debate about what it actually means to judge. Like, what are we actually talking about here? Each of us should wrestle with that in our own lives, what does that mean to us? What does that mean to the way we conduct ourselves? What is the Holy Spirit leading us to become aware of? Because if Jesus is telling the truth, and I believe He's telling the truth, like our lives as Christians are centered around this person, like this is the one who came to rescue us, He didn't come here to like lay down the commands, He came here to show us what freedom might look like, how we might live in such a way that will bring us freedom. And how backward we actually live to the way we were intended to live. It’s really easy for us to get judgy. It’s really easy to watch people do things differently than we would do them and have an opinion. And it could be big and it can be small, but we do it all the time and what is it actually doing? Like, aren’t we just continually trying to create comparisons that let us feel superior? And is any of that real? Like do we have any say in any of it? What we've been given control over is ourselves. Can we even handle that? Why do we think we can handle everybody else's life and why do we think we have to have an opinion about everything and why we think we have to post every opinion about everything, all of the time in such highly judgmental ways? I guess, here we are in week two, and were going to find that we learn a lot in the Bible about a lot of things, but the Bible is going to be relentless about confronting us in certain areas, because they will lead us into bondage if we cannot understand what's going on. So, let's wrestle with it, as we move through this week.

Prayer:

And Holy Spirit, we invite You. Wrestling with these things and trying to improve ourselves in our own strength, by brute force. We have tried and failed and tried and failed. And so, we will only fail at any of these things without You coming and revealing things to us and transforming us from within. And we’re getting a good picture from Jesus that we spend an awful lot of time on our exterior lives and most of our energy, when we’re ignoring what is true. Life from within. So, Holy Spirit, come. Help us with the way that we carry around unforgiveness, help us with the way that we can be so judgmental toward each other. Help us to understand that we’re setting the bar for our own selves. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Good morning DABers. This message is especially for God's Chosen and child. Thank you for putting a smile on my face and joy in my heart as I started my day, today. I call myself the Potter's Clay and am the mother of a 31-year-old medically fragile and totally dependent daughter. Your worship and song gave me the energy and encouragement, I needed to start my day. God bless you and God bless that precious little girl of yours. Thanks again.

Hey this is Shawn, I’m from Nicaragua. Just want to shout out. I’ve been here with the Daily Audio Bible for a year now and I’ve seen God work in my life. I just want to thank you Brian, for always being there and just keep up the good work, man. We just thank You Lord for Brian and his family. That he may keep doing the will of the Lord. Bless his heart, dear Lord, in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

Hi friends, my sisters and brothers in the Lord. I am sitting in my living room; my youngest girl is watching cartoons. And I just listened to the Daily Bible reading. And this is just my day number two. I just downloaded the app, just before new year. So, I’m amazed by this app, but this community is amazing. Able to send prayer requests, able to pray for other people. I just want to say, just like were told every day here, you are loved, and I want to say that I love you. Praying with you here. And really hope that you have a wonderful day. And then especially those of you who struggle with depression and stillness and yeah. That God may lift you up or yeah, that He will strengthen you. And I ask people to pray for me yesterday because I have had depression before and have felt a little bit again now. This last half year. It would really help if you pray for me. I can feel a difference today. I feel more at peace, so that’s wonderful. So, praise the Lord, and thank you. Happy New Year to all of you.

Hello, I’m Hudson. My brother has diabetes and it’s been tough for him. I need your prayers please. I’m Hudson. Hope you all are doing well.

I’d like to give a praise report. Thank you, Brian and family. What a blessing. You’ve really, really help me beyond what words can say. I can read but I really struggle around it. So, two-fold, when COVID first came, in the UK, I was in a bad way when I first fell down. And it was only listening for people asking for prayer, it actually snapped me out of it cause I realized it’s not just me. I’ve got four children, so I’ve been on my own for years. It can be a horrible place at times. Anyway, thank you. I had a lung infection. I couldn’t breathe. There can’t be anything worse than not being able to breath. Anyway, I put it out on the Prayer Wall. And within a couple of hours of putting it out on the Prayer Wall, people were praying for me. And I loved it, absolutely loved it. So, thank you and I really do appreciate it. God bless you all and keep you all safe. Amen.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family, this is Shantay calling from the Treasure Coast of Florida. And there was a call from John 3:16 that just had me in tears in a bittersweet, to put it that way. Because I believe that we each …shore. I am still grieving over the loss of Pelham. You know, it was just all so sudden for us. I just so related to his call. It’s like, he said he felt like he didn’t convey how much he meant. And I feel that way too. I was even ___ I didn’t really chat with him that much like I could have, you know. But I know, I know he knows how much we cared for him. I just know that. We’re a family and you can’t fake this, you just can’t. It just, although my first time when I heard Brian and he you know, he read the Bible and that at the end he said, I love you. Now, I was thinking to myself, now that’s a little, okay. Uh, you know, it was my first time listening and I’m like okay, you know, whatever. But as I continue to listen and listen and listen that feeling just overwhelmed me of love for this community. Of love for Brian. Of love for what we have here. And yeah, there’s no denying it. So, I’m just grateful. I’m grateful for each and every one of you. And on most of my calls I end with, I love you, because I truly feel that. And yes, we will definitely grief for Pelham. Praise God he’s with Jesus right now. It was just all so sudden, it really was. But God’s timing is His timing, it’s perfect and we have to…  

[uozlulu]

Fic. IwtV AMC. The Grief We Face. PG-13.

Character(s)/Relationship(s) Armand, Daniel, Lestat, Louis; Loumand, Loustat Genre Drama/Horror/Vampire Rating PG-13 Word Count 1,605 Disclaimer As this is fanfiction, I do not hold copyright to the source material(s) nor do I claim that I do. This is for free entertainment purposes only. Summary In 1950’s Paris, Louis finds an apparition waiting for him in a courtyard behind Théâtre des Vampires. In modern Dubai, a similar apparition still haunts him. For the I Can’t Wait for Season 2 event week 2: Scenes and Lines. Warning(s) spoilers for Interview with the Vampire, brief spoilers for The Vampire Armand, imprisonment, aftermath of a major character death, fire, immolation, murder Notes When I saw IwtV Daily’s tweet, I immediately started brainstorming. I decided to do one fic per prompt and make them a series. I’m not sure I’d say I want all the little details to happen in the show, but the bigger things I want to happen were my inspirations for each fic.

The second week’s theme was Scenes and Lines. I wouldn’t say I want things to go down exactly as presented in this story, but this was the best way to combine elements that I want to see together in a way that would make a concise and coherent story. I also wanted to do something that would nod to the eventual week four story at the end. Also, since it’s been almost twenty or so years since I read the book, this is one of those “my memory is terrible thank goodness this is the memory is terrible show” kinds of fics.

AO3 link

or read below

         The Grief We Face      

Louis woke in a casket, his body almost healed from its ordeal. He clawed at the wood only to find brick underneath. He pounded on the brick, but it held firm. He thought about calling out to Armand for help, but since the ordeal began, he had not been able to communicate telepathically with anyone.

An indeterminate time ago, Louis said goodbye to Armand before dawn and found himself kidnapped and confined in the catacombs underneath the Théâtre des Vampires not even an hour later. Louis tried to call out to Armand for help and out to Claudia to warn her, but he received no response from either of them as if something blanketed his brain and made it impossible to communicate. After a long time, the troupe paraded him onstage to stand trial for Lestat’s murder. The audience booed, hissed, and hollered. Louis looked to the wings and saw Claudia as if in a dream where her head was on the wrong body, her eyes filled with terror. If she said anything, he could not perceive it. Santiago cast him into a coffin and set it on fire. Louis lost consciousness.

In the darkness of the casket hours after his trial, Louis slowly became aware of a voice whispering in his mind. He blinked and asked, ‘Armand?’

‘Louis!’ Armand answered.

‘Armand! I’m trapped!’ Louis pounded on the brick, but his fists were weak.

‘I can hear you,’ Armand said. ‘I’ll break the brick.’

Louis flattened himself against the back of the casket and covered his eyes with his hands against splinters and debris. With one strike, the brick seemed to fall away and the stale air of the catacombs rushed inside the casket.

Louis grasped Armand’s arm and Armand pulled him out of his tomb. Lamps lined the narrow passages, placed where torches once hung. Louis’ legs struggled to find balance. He kept a weak grip on Armand’s arm.

Armand looked around and listened to the air. “No one else is here. We must leave.”

“Not without Claudia,” Louis said. “We have to get her. They must have buried her too.”

“We have no time,” Armand said.

“We have time!” Louis hissed. He let go of Armand and managed to keep his balance. His eyes darted about their surroundings. Thirst gripped him. His mind seemed to spiral as quickly with urgency as it stagnated from lack of blood.

Armand offered his arm. “Drink. I’ll search for her location.”

Louis drank until the thirst subsided. Armand’s blood always seemed thicker and more potent than Lestat’s blood ever did. Louis’ thoughts were clearer. The hum covering his mind was gone. He called out to Claudia, but received no answer.

“Come. I’ll take you to her,” Armand said and led Louis out of the catacombs and into the night air. They stood in a moonlit garden behind the theater. City lights illuminated the shrubbery and roses perfumed the air. Louis’ eyes searched for Claudia. His gaze settled on a lone figure in the courtyard. If Louis needed to breathe, his breath would have caught. His eyes widened and all sound seemed to disappear around him.

Lestat knelt in the center of the courtyard beside two sets of chains and two large piles of ash. He clutched something to his breast as his shoulders seemed  to shake and a sob escaped his lips. His hair hung like dingy string, obscuring his eyes. His once impressive Mardi Gras outfit was now all but rags hanging from his much too pale body.

Louis’ eyebrows drew together. It was not the first time he saw such an apparition. Lestat’s transparent form was there at the docks when Louis and Claudia left the United States and was there at the docks in France when they woke from their slumber across the sea. Lestat’s disembodied face stared at Louis hollowly in the eyes of the mindless hoards searching for brains and blood on abandoned battlefields across France. Lestat’s shadow lurked around corners in villages and behind trees on the roads. Two weeks after Louis arrived in Paris, he spied the same apparition of Lestat that he saw now, opaque and broken, biting into rats in the streets near the Théâtre des Vampires. This apparition appeared at Louis’ trial unable to look at him, barely speaking. Never once did Louis believe any of these visions were Lestat.

“Are you satisfied?” Armand asked.

“With what?” Louis looked at him.

Movement drew Louis’ attention back to the center of the courtyard. Lestat stood on shaky legs and slowly turned, revealing a scorched yellow dress in his hands. Lestat’s eyes widened when he saw Louis and then his gaze shifted to Armand. Lestat let out a shaky, sorrowful affirmation. He tucked the dress over his arm, scooped up handfuls of ash, and scattered the ash as much as his weakened body would allow.

Louis’ eyes lingered on the yellow dress. It was the color of goldenrod with matching buttons down the front and matching belt. There were two pairs of high heels with their soles scorched amongst the ash as well as a blue dress with flowers scattered across it just as scorched as the yellow dress over Lestat’s arm.

Claudia wore that yellow dress when she declared she would move in with Madeleine and they would leave Paris soon. Louis did not know much about the woman who made dolls across the street, but he knew Claudia lit up when she looked at and spoke of her. He heard them laughing from the rooftops together many times. It was such a contrast to the time Claudia shouted in frustration in their house in New Orleans, afraid no one would ever love her. It was such a contrast to the terror in Claudia’s eyes as she waited as a captive backstage.

A numbness spread across Louis’ body, pooling in his stomach as his fists tightened. The numbness began to burn within him as if ignited by Armand’s blood in Louis’ veins. Louis turned away from the apparition of Lestat and the remnants of Claudia. He lunged forward and grasped fistfuls of Armand’s shirt. “Why didn’t you do anything?!”

Armand did not free himself from Louis’ grasp. His expression remained impassive and his voice remained an even tone. “I was asleep. When I woke, I thought that you closed your mind to me. I had no duty to the stage, so I went for a hunt. When I returned, it was almost dawn. When I woke again, your mind was mine again and full of chaos.”

“You didn’t notice anyone in the courtyard when you returned?” Louis searched Armand’s face.

Armand did not blink. “Not before I went to coffin.”

Louis let go of Armand roughly. He turned towards the theater away from Armand and the apparition of Lestat.

“There’s nothing left here,” Armand said. “We should go before they discover your absence.”

The audience cheered inside the theater, their glee muffled by the walls. Louis licked his lips. The fire within him felt so real as if he could simply will it into existence with a mere thought. Louis stared at the back exit and the exterior wall around it. Slowly it began to smoke and then it began to burn. He imagined the fire spreading across the exterior of the building, and the flames seemed to dance at his direction. He imagined it surging forth to consume everything.

Shrieks and screams mixed with the sound of cracking wood and crashing stage fixtures. The flames seemed to thicken and the smoke seemed to grow. Louis did not blink. He did not look away. He all but forgot Armand and Lestat behind him, but he did not forget the ash and he did not forget the casket. The building burnt to the ground before the firefighters could arrive. Everyone inside perished.

In modern Dubai, Louis’ voice trailed. He stared off at something behind and beyond Daniel. Slowly he became aware of Daniel speaking to him.

“…Lestat was transparent and disembodied before you arrived in Paris, but once in Paris, he looked different,” Daniel said. “Are you sure the Lestat in Paris wasn’t actually Lestat himself?”

Louis frowned, rose from his seat, and went over to the windows to observe the city. “Lestat loved himself. He would not neglect his hair and clothes. The Lestat I saw in Paris was my own suffering. He disappeared from my vision that night when my rage subsided.” Louis’ gaze shifted to a residential tower nearby. His ears noticed music playing from one of the units. “Even now, he finds ways to haunt me. Sometimes I hear him singing songs of my own invention.”

“Or he’s out there recording new songs.” Daniel’s voice modulated to imitate quoting someone, though the sentence was his own invention, “‘The Vampire Lestat, an immortal rock god who drank from the same fountain of youth as Cher.’”

The song Louis seemed to hear from the nearby apartment ended and the next song was not worth his attention. He turned away from the window. “If that were so, certainly you would know his music.”

“My daughters might depending on how new the songs are. I’ve not been to a rock concert since the Eagles had their Long Night at Wrong Beach.” Daniel paused and then lowered his voice though his words were likely not private, “Besides, you said Armand was in your head. How much of this is distorted?”

Louis held Daniel’s gaze a long moment and then said, “We left off at the death of the coven, didn’t we?” He returned to his seat and his story resumed.

   The End  

[scarlettriot]

Along for the Ride PT 7

Pairing: KirishimaxF!Reader

Summary: The wedding has arrived, and with it, a bunch of drama and feelings.

Contains: Kirishima and Reader both come from very well-off families. Plus-Sized Reader with dyed hair. NB OC. Fluff. Hurt/Comfort. Angst. Anxiety Break. Swearing. Both Kiri and Reader get a little defensive over each other in their own ways.

Warnings: TW: Manipulative Family Relationships. TW: Body Image Issues. TW: Anxiety Problems & Self-Doubt. 18+ ONLY, minors, leave.

A/N: It feels like it's taken me so long to get to this point in the story but IT'S FINALLY FUCKING HERE! There is also a little gift for you all at the very end of the story ❤️ also I didn’t do much editing and I’m so sorry!

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six

Tags: @falling4fandoms @buckybearbabe98 @kunaigirlx44 @bakucumsackslut @lastroseofspring @black-bhabie-2000 @meadow-arts @sarahschance @otomesunshine @mistyfoxsong @ace-of-books @georgettesand @sleepynaya @requi-escence @silverhairsimp - Thank you so very much for sticking with me through this!

W/C: 8,478

The night prior to the wedding you didn’t try to put up resistance when Eijiro suggested you sleep in the same room, you didn’t want to fight it, not tonight when you needed some really good sleep.

You let him hold you close, buried your face against the crook of his neck, and shut the rest of the world out of the remainder of the night because morning would be there before you knew it. And with it, sheer chaos.

Rays of morning light had you waking up before your alarm started going off. Stirring in Eijiro’s arms and trying to use his chest as a shield. He moved wordlessly at first, tugging the blankets up over both your heads like it would fend off the day.

“Don’t get up just yet,” His arms coiling around you made it seem like you didn’t have much choice in the matter, “stay just a little longer.”

When he sounded like that, like you weren’t quite sure if he was really awake, you had no willpower to even think of arguing with him. Only settle down again, soaking in a few more precious moments.

By the time your alarm let out a noisy second warning, you knew you had to start getting ready regardless of how warm and cozy you both were. There was some whining and a flash of a pouting lip that you nearly kissed but crawled out of bed before any more of those ideas stirred inside your brain.

You’d completely taken over the secondary bedroom downstairs, makeup strewed out over the bed, trying to decide what look you wanted to go for while a variety of hair products and tools lined the bathroom sink.

Eijiro had it far easier. He’d shaved away the dark stubble, braided the sides of his hair neatly back off his face, and put on most of the ebony suit but leaving the jacket and vest on the hanger until it was time to leave. He was ready to go before your makeup was halfway done which was exactly what he’d planned for because he had a dress to ruin.

10:00am

When you were taking your shower the night before he stepped out on the balcony to consult with Mina. He had to make sure the plan he was cooking up wasn’t completely insane and, maybe Mina wasn’t the best person to consult but she was far better a choice than Katsuki, who really wouldn’t care what he was trying to do, or Denki who would have come up with something much more theatric.

Together they ironed out the details perfectly, all that was left to do now was execute it.

“I think we can both use some caffeine to get through today… want your usual?”

He had to keep himself physically rooted to the spot in your doorway. Surrounded by palettes and brushes, you sat in front of the floor length mirror in just a bra and leggings with your hair haphazardly pushed away from your face. It was a usual combo, one he was accustomed to seeing over the years, and yet it always managed to make his heart skip a beat.

“That’d be great. Thanks!” You tossed him a quick smile, looking at him in the mirror before returning to the task at hand and unknowingly, starting his as well.

There were forty minutes left until you were expected to be at the ceremony. Technically there was an hour but Eijiro wanted to factor in time to show up a bit early to appease your mother. He assumed the line at the little cafe would be long and he’d been right.

He found his way to the back of it, behind a couple with puffy vests and snow pants. In front of them was a group of five women in pale blush dresses, all matching, even their hair was done up the same way. Bridesmaids. They had to be. But, there was more than one wedding happening this weekend, there was a chance these weren’t the bridesmaids for the wedding you were attending.

“Hide me, please.” A small voice squeaked from behind him. He looked down over his shoulder and could just barely see the top of Avery’s head poking around him and staring at the group of girls, “I just wanna tea but they’re gonna tell me how cute I look and I don’t wanna be told how cute I look because then they’re gonna say I look better in dresses and-“

“Hey,” Eijiro turned around, his large frame making it easy to still block Avery from view, “Breathe for a second, okay?” They took a few deep inhales. “Good! Now, tell me what kinda tea you want and wait for me by the elevator.”

“You’d really do that?”

“Of course I will.”

The order was simple, just a green tea with honey, and then they were weaving their way out of the shop.

Another ten minutes had passed before he could place his order, and then he was lingering in the back again waiting for everything to be ready. Eijiro did his best to keep to himself but, he got the odd glance as well as the occasional flirty grin. Unfortunately, the grins happened to be coming from a certain group of pink clad women. Two of which decided to approach him.

“Hey there. Sorry to bother you but, you look familiar for some reason.”

He was used to people recognizing him in Japan but in America, it was still new to him.

“Yeah, you totally look like that one movie star,”

They probably saw him in passing on the news. “Not a movie star. Guess I’ve just got one of those faces.” And thankfully, before anything else could be said, his name was called and he was excusing himself. That should have been the end of it but apparently, they were persistent.

They decided to follow him out. “You hide the accent pretty well, seriously, your English is amazing.”

Now he was just getting annoyed. “Are you here for a big business meeting or a wedding maybe, or do you look this good all the time?”

“I am in town for a wedding, yes.”

“Well, maybe we could keep you company, show you around afterward.”

They batted long lashes in time with each other, fucking creepy. “Thanks but, I’ve got all the company I could want. In fact,” he held the tray of drinks up, “Should get this up to her.”

He could see Avery holding the elevator and darted for it with a curt nod. “Thanks.”

“My sister can be a real persistent pain, sorry.”

“Your sister?”

“Yeah, see, I’m the baby. Caroline is the oldest and she’s the one getting married tomorrow. Then Jocelyn is the middle.” They took a sip of tea, “Joce is the one who said your English was good.”

“Better be, I’ve been speaking it for as long as I’ve spoken Japanese… do I really have an accent when I talk? I thought I got rid of it years ago.”

“Barely. You speak it better than most American’s. Hey, why are you popping off the lid?”

Damn, he should have waited, “Letting the steam get out.”

“Kirishima… I might be a kid but I wasn’t born yesterday. That’s cold brew.”

“Riight…” Why was thinking fast never one of his strong points!

“You’re planning something.” A devious grin spread across Avery’s face. “Can I help! I’m really good at plotting!”

“As nice of an offer as that is, I think it’s best you stay outta this one. Might piss some people off and I don’t want you in the middle of it.”

Avery frowned as another floor ticked by. “Are you pissing Y/N off? That’s really not cool! She’s super awesome and you shouldn’t-“

“Take it easy! It’s not her! Well…”

“Well!”

“She might be a little mad at me! But it’s for her own good! If you saw the dress her mother wants her to wear compared to the one she brought with her-“ Avery held up a hand.

“Say no more.” They gestured to their own outfit, “Do you think I want to be wearing this? Heck no! I packed this navy pantsuit but then I got here and my mother made me put this on.” Their eyes went wide, “You-you’re gonna ruin her ugly dress. Pour the coffee on it like an accident! Then she’ll have to wear the pretty one! That’s genius!”

“You think so?”

“I think Y/N is gonna go into a panic so I hope you’re ready for that but, yeah, it’s a pretty solid plan. More believable if you have a witness though…”

He narrowed his eyes. “Are you offering to be my accomplice?”

Their face scrunched, “I don’t like the word accomplice, but, the chance to be Red Riot’s partner for the day? You bet I am!”

The doors slid open and Avery stepped off first. “She’s in the bedroom around the corner, you know what to do?”

Avery nodded and ran off yelling your name with an added, “Your favorite cousin has arrived!” They made sure to kick their shoes off on the other side of the island. Eijiro got both the drinks out and carefully placed the loose lid on one of them, while Avery pulled you from the bedroom.

He almost didn’t have to pretend to accidentally drop the coffee when he looked up and saw you in that dress, it nearly slipped from his grasp from shock alone.

Pretty sure you could wear a potato sack and as long as it’s on you I’d love it. He remembered telling you those exact words less than 24 hours ago and this dress… it made a potato sack look like high fashion. Burnt orange with puffed out sheer sleeves and a collared neckline that looked like it was trying to choke you. Spilling coffee on the thing might actually be an improvement!

“Okay, I won’t say anything else about my dress, you’ve got it so much worse.” Avery was laughing and you looked so damn defeated.

“About that coffee,” You looked over to him with pleading eyes, “I hope you got the biggest one they’ve got.”

Eijiro sucked in a quick breath, now or never.

“’Course I did!” He was careful not to squeeze it and walk right in the path of Avery’s shoes, tripping and letting the drink slip from his hand to catch himself on the counter at the last second. He heard you gasp, and then swear, and then saw the liquid drip into a puddle on the floor.

Avery was giggling, asking if you two were alright, and that probably was what sold it.

“I’m alright for now but I’m not gonna be! I don’t have time to get this out! Mom’s gonna murder me! Like, this is it for me. I should flee now.”

“Y/N I’m so sorry, that was totally my fault.”

“Actually, I think it was mine.” Avery piped up, “I think it was my shoes that made you fall.”

You closed your eyes and took in a slow deep breath. “It’s alright. Accidents happen. Yeah…” You started walking back to the bedroom, “I don’t have time to fix this so I’ll just wear the one from Tetsu’s wedding and-“

“NO!” Eijiro shouted, “I, I just mean, what about the red one… you know, you like it so much and if you can’t wear this one then you should wear the one you really like.”

“Doesn’t matter what I like. Tetsu’s fits the theme better anyways.”

Eijiro crossed the room you to, holding both your hands in his, and spoke quietly with a serious edge, “Do not make me go get that other cup of coffee off the counter. I will.”

You blinked up at him, quickly figuring out his plan. “You did this on purpose?”

“I wanted you to have the chance to wear what you wanna and now you do. Doesn’t really matter how it happened, does it?” He gave his best cheesy smile and thankfully it was enough.

“I should be really mad at you. I’m probably gonna catch a whole lotta hell for this.”

“It was an accident, I tripped, we even have a very reliable witness!”

“Avery was in on it too!”

He rubbed at the back of his neck while you started to undo the little buttons at the base of your neck. “They wanted to help… speaking of help, you look like you could use some.” You were tugging at the zipper, “C’mon, don’t be stubborn, turn around and let me help.”

You spun around and he could see the layer of tulle stuck in the zipper. He tried being careful, lightly pulling but nothing seemed to work and your wiggling was making the whole process much more difficult than it should have been.

“Stop moving for a sec-“

“Can’t help it. You’re pulling so tight it’s choking-“

“’M sorry but it isn’t budging-“

He heard the tiniest rip, your heel snagging some of the fabric in your scramble and so he stopped for a second, pressing you against his front. “Relax for me,” He could still see the rapid rise and fall of your chest but you stilled, “Good.”

“Eiji, please, just tear the damn thing. Get it off me. I don’t care.”

His quirk wasn’t even needed. One good yank was all it took to come apart. The sound filling the room almost masked your little gasp but Eijiro heard the breathy little noise leave you. It brought back vivid memories of other times he’d pulled that sound from you, his cock stirring at the thought. There wasn’t time for that now though.

“Aren’t you guys supposed to wait until after the wedding to rip each other’s clothes off?” Both of you spun around to see Avery leaning against the door frame, drink still in hand and grinning like a cat.

Eijiro cleared his throat, politely asking if you needed help with anything else before abruptly leaving you to get changed with Avery following him out.

“So,” Avery swirled the tea around, “you and my cousin…”

“We’re just friends.” Eijiro stuck to the story.

“Yeah. I don’t think so.”

“Hate to break it to you, kid, but what you think doesn’t really have much to do with it.”

They shrugged. “Maybe not. But, if you are just friends, you shouldn’t look so in stupid, silly, sappy love with her all the time. It really gives you guys away.”

But that was the problem, Eijiro was in stupid, silly, sappy love with you. And it was written all over his face the moment you stepped out of the bedroom in that red dress again. Stealing his breath away just like you’d done the night before. His eyes lingered over your curves, the way your shoulders were left bare only to have your arms covered to the wrists and the dainty pearl buttons there. Even though it was velvet, the tiny bits of glitter made the dress shimmer when you walked, sparkling in the sunlight coming in through the windows.

“You two are hopeless.” Avery muttered, “Alright love birds, time to go.”

“Avery, you go ahead. We’ll follow you in a sec.” He saw your quizzical stare but you still urged Avery to head out.

“It’s alright. We’ll be right behind you.”

“Better be! I don’t wanna hear auntie throwing a fit. Mom said I’m not allowed to have my headphones until after the ceremony.” They complained until the elevator arrived, “BE QUICK WITH THE SEX.”

You both shared a laugh once the doors closed before turning back around to Eijiro and asking him what was wrong.

“Nothing,” He quickly said, and pulled out a small paper bag from where he’d stashed it in the cupboard earlier that morning, “I just wanted to give you this.”

He watched as you opened the pale blue bag, pulled away the silver ribbon, and reached in to pull out the slender box. You lifted the lid and peeled back the crate paper. “Oh… Eijiro, this is from that shop in town, I saw it yesterday!”

“I know you did,” He chuckled and motioned for you to spin around, “You circled back to it like five times.”

“But, when did you have time?”

“Before I met you at the sweets shop.” The latch slid easily in place, settling at the base of your neck. “And people say I can’t be sneaky.” You spun in front of him, the gemstone between your thumb and forefinger. “You still like it, right?”

“I love it. It’s my favorite color. I didn’t even think to get it though.”

“I figured. You’ve been a little preoccupied worrying about a bunch of other stuff. I thought you deserved something for yourself.”

His cheeks warmed when your lips pressed against them. “Thank you, Eiji. I love it.”

He slipped his hand into yours with a goofy grin. “Let’s get this wedding over with.”

10:50AM

For being a last minute wedding, there had to be nearly two hundred people in the hall when you and Eijiro arrived. People were taking their seats, chatting amongst themselves while soft music swayed around.

“Do you need to be up front with family?” Eijiro leaned down to ask you.

“My mother didn’t tell me I had to,” you quickly looked around and found a few seats open near the back, “this way we can leave faster.” He just chuckled and let you pull him along, both of you ignoring the lingering looks you were being tossed. Except there was one set of eyes you couldn’t avoid, your mother’s.

Furious. They were dark and full of anger watching you take a seat in the back of the hall. “Remember, the dress is completely ruined, there’s nothing you could have done.” His hand was on your knee when she started walking forward only to be stopped by her sister, shuffling her away.

“Crisis averted, for now.”

“I’ll try to keep her off your tail.” You hadn’t even heard the wheelchair by your side, turning to face the silver haired man and giving him a hurried hug.

“Gramps!”

“Hey there, kiddo. ‘S good to see you.” You’d spun to face him. He had a few more wrinkles than you remembered but his smile still remained youthful somehow. “Gonna introduce me to this handsome man or am I just supposed to guess his name?”

Eijiro was quick to reach his hand around you with an introduction on his tongue. Your grandfather shook his hand with a great deal of enthusiasm. “Must be a real good friend to fly all the way here with my granddaughter for this shit show.”

Eijiro choked on a laugh. “Grandpa!”

“What! They wanna kick me out, fine, let ‘em. I got far better things I could be doing.”

“Dad,” You looked up to see Avery’s mother taking the handles of his wheelchair, “you need to be nice today. Come on, we’ve got you a seat right up front so you can see Caroline in that beautiful gown.”

The elderly man grumbled while he was pushed away, your aunt not even acknowledging your existence. “See you, kiddo!”

“Well, I thought he was plenty nice.” Eijiro was still laughing after they’d left.

“My grandfather isn’t one to take shit from anyone. Been a little harder since he has to be in that wheelchair now but it doesn’t stop him from speaking his mind.”

You could have shared hundreds of funny tales about the old man but then the music changed, rose to a swell in signal for everyone to quiet down, the bride had arrived.

11:10AM

As much as it pained you to admit it, your cousin, Caroline, did look beautiful in her wedding gown of pure white but, you couldn’t think of a time the woman didn’t look stunning. She practically glided down the aisle on her father’s arm, and, even though you tried really hard, you couldn’t spot a single sign of her baby bump.

Caroline took her place beside her husband-to-be while the crowd was seated and the ceremony could begin.

Five minutes ticked by, and then ten, pretty soon a half hour had passed and all the words were starting to just mush together. They hadn’t even gotten to the vows yet. You pulled at Eijiro’s sleeve again to see the time on his watch, nearly an hour of this.

“Can you just wake me when it’s over?” You whispered making him smile and put an arm around you.

“Never understood what takes so long. Like, welcome everyone, thanks for being here, these two people love each other, kiss, it’s official, let’s eat. Why can’t it be that simple?”

“I like the way you think.” You sighed and looked on at the bridal party. The men in their dark suits with blush ties to match all the bridesmaids. “Man, my cousin is already glaring at me. I haven’t even seen her and she’s already got an attitude.”

“You’ve got a lot of cousins, which one?”

“Avery’s middle sister, she’s the bridesmaid third from the end.” His eyes lifted to the row of women, “Oh, I met her earlier.” You looked at him then, “When I went to get coffee. Her and the one to her left came up to talk to me.”

You didn’t know the other woman he mentioned, probably a sorority sister, if you had to guess. Still didn’t make sense why she’d be shooting daggers at you though. “What’d she say?”

“Just small talk…” You narrowed your eyes at him and he folded like a deck of cards, “They asked if I was here for the wedding and if they could keep me company. I said I was already with someone though.”

Great. So, you had something they wanted. It was bad enough as children when you had a game or a toy they wanted… you could only imagine how it would be with an actual person.

12:35 pm

“Finally!” You groaned dipping out of the hall just after the bridal party had gone by. Taking to a corner of the lobby with Eijiro by your side. “I think I need another coffee just to stay awake.”

Before you could suggest making a stop by the cafe, the shrill snap of your name had you frozen to the spot. You can see the shift in Eijiro’s posture beside you, it’s a reflex by now to start to guard the moment he or a friend is threatened, even if that threat is your own mother.

“Just what do you think you’re doing? You’ve had your fun, now get back up to that room and put on the dress you were told to wear. Now.”

You swallowed thickly, ready to speak and explain what had happened but when you opened your mouth, Eijiro cut you off, “It was my fault, ma’am.”

Her frigid eyes turned on him then, “You?”

“Yes, Y/N had nothing to do with it. I tripped this morning and spilled something on it. Coffee to be exact.” Eijiro explained with his head bowed. “We couldn’t get the stain out in time. I’m very, very sorry.”

“It’s true!” Avery ran over, colliding with your legs, “I saw it happen, auntie! He tripped right in the kitchen.”

“I’d be more than happy to reimburse you the cost of the dress since it’s my fault it’s ruined.”

Your mother scoffed, “As if you could afford what it cost.” Avery chuckled, knowing more about Eijiro than they probably should thanks to their love of heroes, but your mother only continued to make assumptions, “Probably spent all your savings just to get that penthouse thinking that would impress my daughter. Silly boy, Y/N has never appreciated the finer things in life, so, a bit of advice; don’t waste what little finances you’ve got left on her.”

Eijiro’s jaw was set tight, and you knew he was biting his tongue, probably hard enough to draw blood. But, when he spoke, his words were calm and carefully selected. “You’re right, the penthouse didn’t impress her, money doesn’t impress her at all! Y/N has always loved the simpler things in life, like when her favorite song comes on the radio or when she’s driving with the windows down on warm summer nights. She can find beauty in the simplest things and I think that’s amazing.”

“Wow…” Avery voiced the word that caught in your throat but, your mother was less than impressed, she wasn’t even amused, just rolling her eyes letting them settle back on you.

“Well, it’s obvious you won’t be in any of the family photos looking like that. You don’t match and it would ruin everything. Just, go to the cocktail hour and try not to embarrass me anymore. Avery, you’re expected to be out front in ten minutes for the shuttle to take us to the photo location. Do not be late.”

“Do not be late.” They mimicked when your mother was barely out of earshot.

“It’d be really unmanly of me to punch your mother, right? Like even if she is being a raging cu-“ You clamped a hand over Eijiro’s mouth before he could finish the word.

“Yeah, Ei, it would be, but thanks though.”

1:00 pm

The cocktail hour was held in a beautiful atrium, surrounded by vast windows looking out to the slopes blanketed in white. Tall heaters with enclosed golden flames chased the chill away. A spiral staircase climbed up and around a vast tree to an overlook, overflowing with greenery and flowers of beautiful shades.

It wasn’t long before the main floor was flooded with guests and people started taking to the outdoor balcony. Family friends you barely recognized did a double take when you walked by but no one stopped to say a thing to you.

Arm in arm with Eijiro you navigated around the pretty tables, making a b line for the staircase. He took the steps slowly, mindful of the way you gathered your dress in your free hand to avoid any incidents.

“I actually remember this project,” He told you once you’d reached the top. His hands ran across the wooden finish of the balustrade, fingers catching in the tiny leaves and vines that had been carved into the whole thing, “My mom asked me what pattern I liked better. It was between this and some little birds. I didn’t have a clue what it was for though.”

You had the opportunity to see a few of the buildings Mrs. Kirishima had designed over the years, more so you’d seen the blueprints and mock ups littered around their home when you visited but actually getting to see and be inside the finished projects, each of them were a work of art.

“It’s obvious she loves what she does, Eijiro. Everything about this place is beautiful, right down to the tiny little leaves.”

His eyes crinkled with a grin, accepting two drinks that were offered while you kept looking around. “Is that a tunnel?”

“It is, yeah! I think it’s just supposed to be more walkway that looks down on the floor below with these little windows. I don’t know if it’s blocked off though…”

“Do you remember the blueprint well enough to get to it?”

There was a twinkle in his eye, just a little bit of mischief that you adored, and he was taking your hand. ‘Cuse me’, and, ‘Pardon us,’ left his mouth when he weaved around bodies, leading you behind flowing shrubbery, grabbing a couple finger sandwiches off a tray you passed.

“Think this is it.” He mumbled and pulled back a curtain of vines. It wasn’t off limits per se, just well hidden.

“Alright. It’s official.” You declared, “Your mother unknowingly saved me tonight and I’ll be hiding up here for the rest of the evening.”

Looking back at him, you noticed he couldn’t even stand to his full height in here. “Gonna leave Avery to fend for themselves all night… no backup?”

He knew just how to guilt you. You peered out a window carved into the faux wooden tree trunk of a tunnel. It provided you with a perfect view of the doors leading into the atrium. “I can keep an eye out for them from here… might need to slip out for more drinks though.”

“And these sandwiches,” He popped a whole one in his mouth, “They’re delicious but so small.” He handed you the last one, “I’m gonna grab a couple more. I’d tell you not to go anywhere but there’s really no point.”

He was right, there wasn’t. You stayed in the tunnel, lit with hundreds of warm yellow lights that reminded you of fireflies with the way they pulsed, light slowly dimming only to glow bright a few seconds later. You slid down the smooth wall, opting to look out the window obviously meant for a child, and noticed even more of those little carvings Eijiro had pointed out. They framed the windows, twisting all around the lights. Flowers and birds, you even spotted a fawn and a little raccoon.

You heard voices on the other side of the vines and quickly scrambled back to your feet just as Eijiro walked back in… a bridesmaid, trailing behind him giggling. In the dim light, you saw him mouth ‘sorry’.

He handed you one of the drinks and you had to restrain yourself from downing it in one go.

“Oh! You’re Caro’s cousin, right! I thought all the family left for photos. We bridesmaid's already got all ours so… here I am.”

Her whiny voice made you wanna stick your fingers in your ears. “Here you are, yeah.”

Suddenly your peaceful little tunnel was full of awkward air. “Isn’t this place so pretty? It’s really romantic too. Don’t you think?” Her hand was on Eijiro’s chest, looking up at him in a way that had your stomach churning.

“I can see how you’d think that, yeah.”

“So, like, how’d you two meet?”

“We went to school together.” You answered bluntly.

“Oh, so college?”

“High school.” Eijiro corrected. “Been close ever since. We work together now too.”

She nodded giving him all her attention, hand running down his torso. “What do you do?”

He shot you a look like he was surprised this woman didn’t know what you did if she knew who you were. “We’re both Pro Heroes in Japan.”

The woman furrowed her brow, “Really?” Her fingers pressed slightly against Eijiro’s abs making him take a step back, hitting the curve of the tunnel, “I mean, that makes total sense for you, but, you?” She finally looked in your direction, “What even is your quirk?”

You sucked in a deep breath, trying to keep a lid on your emotions. Eijiro gave you a quick nod, one that you knew well enough from years of working together. Get outta here. I can handle this. You always felt like shit doing so but it beat making a scene this early in the event.

“I’m really great at getting outta places I don’t wanna be.” And with that, you blinked and were back on the first floor. Tucked away under a part of the stairwell.

“Y/N?” You looked up to see Avery’s mother had come back already. An itinerary in hand because she had to be in charge of everything. “Using your quirk? You know that isn’t allowed. You’re not licensed here.” She rolled her eyes in exactly the same way your mother did. “You always were careless, I don’t know why I’m surprised.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be one of their sidekicks over there?” Your uncle chimed in, putting a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “I thought you’d know basic rules.”

“I’m a pro hero over there actually.”

He laughed and you could already smell the bourbon on his breath. “Well, that’s worse than, isn’t it!” But, then his dark eyes narrowed. “Don’t do it again. Or I’ll call whatever little agency you work for and have you suspended. You’re not ruining my daughter’s wedding day.”

A part of you really wanted him to call, really hoped it would be Katsuki on the other line, scream at him about how you were licensed internationally. But, you only nodded your head. “Good.”

It was a few minutes later that Eijiro had found you, still under the stairs.

“I told her I was with you, I was your date.” He quickly blurted, “I know we said just let people think what they want to but I didn’t like what she was thinking. So, I kinda just told her I was with you and then left… really fast.”

You wound your arms tightly around him. “I don’t care, Eiji. Thank you.”

He stayed glued to your side for the rest of the cocktail hour. Afternoon getting later and later, more of your family arriving back. Avery found their way to you, telling you how you were so lucky to miss pictures. It was cold and how hungry they were. It was only then that Eijiro left you, just to get them something to eat.

4:00 pm

Everyone was ushered back into the hall the ceremony had been held in only now it had been transformed for dinner and dancing. Tables with tall floral centerpieces surrounded the large wooden dance floor. Soft pink and purple lighting illuminated the walls. It was really a shame it was for such a bitter human because the atmosphere was breathtaking.

By some stroke of luck, seats were not assigned, leaving you, Eijiro, and Avery to find a table in the back with a few random strangers.

But, it was on your way back from having a word with your grandfather that you heard the first whispers.

He’s projected to be in the top ten by next year!

Did you know his mother made this hotel?! I overheard him talking and googled it! His family is loaded!

He didn’t even need to be a hero.

He certainly doesn’t need to be here with her…

Your head turned hearing the final voice, your aunt again, looking right at you as she said it.

You just shook it off and found your place at the round table between Avery and Eijiro. Fiddling with the shimmering tablecloth, you put everyone else out of your mind for the time being. You just needed to get through dinner and then you could run back to your room and put this day behind you for good.

But, dinner consisted of relatives you hadn’t seen in you couldn’t remember how long, stopping to talk to you. Asking where you’d been, how you were doing, all the basics.

“It’s kinda weird how little your family actually knows about you,” Eijiro said, slicing into another bit of steak.

Maybe to him it was but you were used to it by now. “Out of sight, out of mind.” You shrugged. “I didn’t do anything my mother could be proud of. I didn’t fit in. She was happy when I got into UA because that meant she didn’t have to deal with me anymore.”

Avery put their silverware down and hugged onto your arm. “’M sorry.” You hugged them right back because if anyone knew what this was like, it was them. You hated seeing the struggles they went through, knowing perfectly well what it was like to be the odd duck of the family and wanting nothing more than to just be accepted.

“It gets better.”

“You should see her when she’s not around all them,” Eijiro grinned, “When she’s got people around who have her back and know how wonderful she is.”

“I already know. I see you on the news all the time. You look so happy and badass.”

“I am happy and badass.”

“Could have fooled me.” Caroline stood in her gorgeous white dress across the table with the ugliest scowl on her face. “Do not go putting any ideas into my baby sister’s head about running off and being a hero. You got lucky, really, really lucky getting into that program, had to go all the way to a different country just to find a school that would take you. The chances of her getting that lucky are practically zero.”

Avery shrank in the seat beside you and Eijiro threw his napkin off his lap but you stood first. “They can do whatever they put their mind to. Your sibling has one hell of a quirk and if they decide to be a pro hero then the world will be lucky to have them. I won’t have you tearing them down like you tried to do me all those years. Not all of us wanna be some trophy wife. Get over yourself.”

“Like anyone would ever want you as a wife.” Her eyes glanced over to Eijiro, “Bet he’s just here out of pity. Number one on the most eligible pro hero bachelor list and he picks you, yeah, I don’t think so.”

“Number one?” You looked at Eijiro and he shrugged.

“Izuku is officially off the market now since him and Kat went public, bumped me up to first I guess.”

“Congratulations!”

“Thanks!”

Caroline groaned and finally walked away.

“Thank you,” Avery mumbled and you pulled them into your lap.

“Just gotta ignore her if she refuses to see you for who you are, remember?” They nodded. “I know it’s hard.”

“’M gonna go to UA just like you did. Gonna be a hero too and get away from all of them.”

Eijiro had a hand on their back. “We’ll do whatever we can to help you. Maybe if we bug Aizawa enough we can get them in on a recommendation.”

Their eyes lit up. “Eraserhead!” And then you were telling them about all the different teachers you had up until the newlyweds were called to the dance floor for their first dance.

5:15 pm

More people were called to the floor to join them, couples soon filling every corner of the floor and Avery was not-so-subtly nudging Eijiro with their foot under the table.

“Would you like to dance?” Eijiro asked you with a grin, holding his hand out like a perfect gentleman.

Avery began pushing you even after you agreed, hurrying the two of you on the dance floor.

It was crowded enough that you weren’t even on the wooden floor but that didn’t stop Eijiro from pulling you close like he’d done in the penthouse last night. The movements were smaller, kept in a tight swaying circle between two tables. You could feel his thumb brushing the bare skin of your back where the dress dipped low.

“Thank you… for everything.”

“You don’t have to thank me.” He smiled, “all things considered, it hasn’t been that bad. So, today has been kinda rough but, I had a great time with you yesterday and we can make the most out of tomorrow too.”

“We’ve got brunch.” You reminded him and he scrunched his nose.

“Do we though? I’m sure they make great food here but I’d be down for hitting that diner again!”

Skipping it did sound really appealing. “What happened to not leaving Avery?”

“Kidnap them for the day!”

“Right! My uncle already threatened to try and have my license suspended once tonight, I’m sure kidnapping his child will go over great!”

“HE WHAT!”

The music changed, sped up as you explained the interaction with your aunt and uncle making him shake his head and spin you around, jumping with you to the beat.

Pretty soon you were waving Avery over to join you. The songs all blended together, you could hardly tell where one ended and another began. The exception being the slow numbers where Avery now rocked back and forth on the tops of Eijiro’s feet between the two of you.

You pulled him aside after the cupid shuffle when sweat was dripping from both your brows and he had to abandon his jacket, even his vest came off. A plan was formed; he and Avery were gonna get drinks at the bar while you split off for a bathroom break.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise based on everything else you had seen of the resort but even the bathrooms were stunning. You admired the curved design of the ironwork on the stall door as you adjusted your dress when a group burst in. A wave of blush and white flooded the room, the bride and her maids, you could see the bottoms of their dresses under the stall door.

Caroline and two of her maids went for the handicap stall. They needed all the room they could get with the size of her dress, still shouting and gossiping enough that you wanted to stay in the stall until they cleared back out.

“I think the blonde groomsman really likes me!” One of them was going on, “He had his hands on my ass for like two whole songs!”

“His sister is really cute! I might shoot my shot with her! She looks so fine in that tight dress!”

You nearly smashed your head against the door.

“I still like that pretty redhead hero.” It was that same damn girl from earlier, you knew that stupid whiny ass voice.

“Just go for it then!” Caroline called from the stall. “He’s just with Y/N, he has to know he can do so much better.”

“Right! And I am so much better! Look at me!” They all cheered. “Imma show him how good he could really have it!”

Jocelyn rallied her friend, “Get him, girl! He’d happily take you over her, plus, you’re a bridesmaid! That’s like, every guy's fantasy, right? To fuck a bridesmaid!”

That was all you could handle. Enough was enough. You slid the lock on the stall door and stepped out to a bunch of little shocked gasps but no one said a word, only Caroline asking, “what the fuck is going on?“

You washed your hands, pumping the lavender soap into your palm, and letting it suds under the water, taking your time while they watched you in the mirror. “Seriously! What the fuck is happening!”

When you were drying your hands, your eyes made contact with the woman from the tunnel, and something possessed her to walk forward, right between you and the door.

“He might be your date, but, I’ll be leaving with him.”

You took a breath to calm yourself. “You’re really bad at listening, aren’t you?” She looked at you like you you were growing a second head. “I’m good at getting outta places I don’t wanna be, remember?” Except you didn’t use your quirk this time, you merely brushed past her. “Oh, and good luck with Eijiro. You’re gonna need it.”

An indignant whine followed you out of the restroom and you knew it wouldn’t be long before you were followed. That’s why you went straight for the bar, eyes scanning the group of people until you found your person.

He’d been with Avery still, talking with his back towards you and you didn’t think as your name was being called by a very angry bridesmaid. All you did was tug on his arm like you’d done on the airplane, whirling him around to face you but this time, you didn’t jam a finger into his chest. This time your fingers curled around his tie and you yanked him down, kissing him, hard.

“Y/N!” Your name was called again but you kept your lips on Eijiro’s, a hand on his cheek while Avery ran around you both.

“Y/N’s a little busy right now. You can come back later. Bye now.”

You still had a hold of his tie but needed air, breaking apart for a moment, panting. “Not that I’m complaining but, uh, I thought we weren’t doing this until we talked… until Sunday.”

“I got jealous.” You had no problem admitting.

“Jealous?”

“Things were said in the bathroom, she wanted to try and sleep with you and, and, I, I didn’t-“

He cradled your face in his hands and crashed his lips back against yours, not needing any further explanation. His tongue slid easily into your mouth and your eyes drifted closed loving every bit of it. It vaguely crossed your mind that there were at least a few onlookers, maybe more but, when he moved, bent you into a dip to make a show of the whole thing, you didn’t care a single bit.

“C’mon.” He breathed heavily, pulling you back out on the dance floor to get away from the group, not giving a damn about the screaming bridesmaid looking like a fool.

Eijiro had you back in his arms, kissing you and moving to the music perfectly. “Ya know, you don’t have anything to worry about right? You’ve got all my attention. I know we said we’d talk about everything, and we’ve been blurring lines these last few days, but I wanna make it perfectly clear right now that you’re the only one I’m interested in. The only person I want. Here at this party, in the whole fucking universe,” He had his hand on your cheek making sure you were looking right at him, “I don’t know how to make it more clear. Only you.”

“Screw Sunday,” You muttered and kissed him again, slower this time, wrapping your arms around his neck.

Then someone was clearing their throat and you heard comments about making such a scene.

“Let’s get outta here for a bit.” Eijiro took your hand and his coat and whisked you out of the hall.

7:35 pm

Maybe a little part of you was let down that he didn’t lead you off in the direction of the elevator but rather to the front doors of the resort, sliding his jacket over your shoulders instead of his own. In a way, this was better. The cool air cleared your head, felt great against your heated skin.

“So, screw Sunday?” He chuckled, keeping an arm around your waist when he saw the little patches of ice on the ground.

“I think we both know what we want, Eijiro. I don’t really need to wait until tomorrow to confirm that.” It had only been growing more and more painfully obvious to you over the last couple of days. “Still, there’s a lot of history between us to just go diving into things…”

He slowly nodded his head and you guys talked about it. All of it. Everything was brought out and into the open.

The fact you both had crushes on the other in high school, “Tetsutetsu liked me! Seriously!”

“Yeah!” Eijiro laughed, “Like, a lot! He told me he was gonna tell you and ask you on a date, I’m not sure why he never did.” You weren’t sure either but you could take a guess it had something to do with Kendo.

“And you didn’t tell me about your crush on me because of him…”

“And you didn’t tell me about yours on me because of Katsuki…”

You told him how it damn near broke your heart watching him fall in love with Katsuki but how it scared you, even more, the thought of losing him as a friend. That even after they broke up and you knew you still had feelings for him you were still too scared to admit it, not wanting to ruin your friendship.

The two of you had walked down a path, snow dusted but lit with lamplight and moonglow. “I’m probably an ass for saying this but, you’ve always meant more to me than Katsuki ever did. I spent three years with the guy, I was in love with him, but it took him breaking my heart and explaining what he felt for Izuku for me to realize I felt the same thing for you.”

He took your hand but still couldn’t quite meet your eye. “I wanted to tell you that night him and I split. I didn’t know how, there was a lot goin’ on in my head and fear got the better of me. I didn’t know what was gonna happen with my friendship with Kat and if you didn’t feel the same and I lost you too…”

“Eijiro,” you stood on tiptoes, only able to reach his jaw to kiss, “Not that it matters much now but I’ve always thought I couldn’t compare to what you had with Katsuki.”

“That’s because you don’t compare. You’ve always meant more to me, even when I didn’t know it.”

There was a buzzing in your head when he brought you up to a kiss, damn near dizzying when mixed with his words that you were still processing as cold fingers cupped your cheeks. “I want this,” he mumbled between another kiss, “I want you,” and then another,

“Even after you met my crazy ass family?” You chuckled and he caught the infectious laugh.

“Yeah, they don’t scare me.” He pushed your hair back behind your ear. “Admitting all this was the scariest thing I’ve ever done.”

You seriously doubted that will all the villains you two had faced but you definitely knew what he meant. But, now that the air was clear, intentions laid out, the fears that had been suffocating you for years were hardly there, banished to distant corners of your mind. You were confident that if they ever dared show themselves again, Eijiro would just chase them away.

And so you pulled him down to you, “I want you too, Eiji.”

“Heh, you’ve had me for a real long time now.”

Nearly an hour had passed before you walked up the path again back to the resort. Snow had started to fall in thick clumps now, clinging to both your hair and clothes. You could see the lights of the wedding still going on inside and even though you really didn’t want to head back there, you at least wanted to see Avery and your grandfather again before the night was over.

“Hell, look at that car, they’re driving like a jackass.” Eijiro shook his head watching the car driving towards you both, speeding and swerving horribly, nearly hitting two parked cars in the process.

“Drunk or texting?”

“Either way we should do something, right?”

Before you had a chance to answer, a person stepped into the crosswalk, flashing yellow lights that should have signaled the car to slow down, they didn’t though… but your whole world did.

Illuminated in the headlights was Avery, headphones in their ears, looking down at the game in their hands.

“GO!” Eijiro shouted knowing you could get to them faster but you were already gone.

A/N: I wanted to do something special for this chapter and draw Y/N's red dress. But, because it's a Reader Insert, I didn't really know what to make them look like... so, I let google decide! I wrote down a punch of physical traits and let google randomly select what the Reader would look like for this particular artwork. I hope you all like it ❤️

[pastelpaperplanes]

Big Ol Ask Post Pt. 3 I think

I haven’t drawn anything other than cursed or plain technical stuff w him 😔😔 have these for now but expect more soon!

anon a way back asked what he’d look like next to Overlord being already so big compared to Megs, that’s why you see Lordie if you’re wondering why he’s thrown in that line up!

by the way I have a voice claim for the big purple simp— Jenner from NIMH, he’s so awful but that suave baritone oh it fits too well >:] it’s the ‘humble servant’ line that got to me

Yep! Pharma is absolutely in this AU—as well as the CFau and Crack one too—and in all, he’s still an estranged medic long since booted from any legal work back on Cybertron.

He lost his credibility and more all those years ago when he found himself willing to do his fair share of cutting corners and hastily concealed malpractice to expedite his dream of getting his name down in the medical books—ultimately impressing his dear Mentor Ratchet, finally, in perfecting long-since banned risky experiments and surgeries—not to mention cruel and unusual temperament with the (supposedly) taboo practice of non-medicinal mnemosurgery.

His ambitions and aggression always got the bet of him, this hasn’t changed since he found himself working in freelance outposts. Light years away from Cybertron, he’s made a name for himself as a Good Doctor—but to his under-the-table black market part-dealing clients, he’s just about as bad as a Crooked Medic can get.

Bounty hunters and Arms Dealers like him for his business, a certain DJD member likes him for the occasional berth company and seemingly never ending supply of fresh T-Cogs—but no one actually likes him for his nasty temperamental personality, save for a young and naive Ratchet once upon a time.

Pharma is a roamer, as of recent he’s been a hard to reach mech—seems as if he’s found a little project to keep himself pretty occupied in the last few decades—something about a breakthrough for aiding the Decepticon Energon Crisis :] him and a small, horrifyingly cheerful surgeon are well on their way to completing their first trial batches, it’s safe to say that their little synthetic mixture will have it’s users sated and compliant.

they’ve got that amazing ‘new car smell’ those first few weeks, and instead of chittering like an Insecticons or vibrating their wings like a seeker—they beep and squeak, sometimes even honk a horn depending on the baseline altmode coding, to get their Creators’ attention before their vocalizer truly starts to kick online

It’s cute, but loud

Much like a seeker sparkling, they have to reach a certain ‘age’ (upgrade) to be able to transform completely, in between then they’re still able to rev those engines as a warning should they need it, as well as spin their wheels should they need a getaway HEELIES IF THEYRE LUCKY WOOHOOOOO—for seekers they can hover on their thrusters!

Crusade is actually pretty formal with Megatron. But yeah as a kid, Megs was always known as Carrier, but as Sadie got older and more aware of their surroundings—they definitely came to learn the true weight of that title and the fact that they were the progeny of the faction leader, a fact they should have really held onto with more pride. Not wanting to draw more attention to the already blatant favoritism (and nepotism) Crusade made a switch to addressing Megatron as Sir, My Lord, Lord Megatron, —ect. to better fit in with their fellow troops.

It bothers Megatron more than than he lets on. Crusade shouldn’t have to hide their high ranking as his child, the heir to the faction. Megs is their Carrier and can only order them around for so long, as their Leader however—pulling rank may just allow for their infuriatingly stubborn sparkling to listen to them should a day come where even a Carrier’s plea is dismissed.

Crusade does slip up every now and then and a ‘Carrier’ will slip—often hushed and annoyed though as Megs does like to tease every now and then, gotta remind them that they’re still his baby every once in a while :’)

Optimus however—whenever him and Crusade should truly reunite, will never be called Sire by Crusade, which they so heatedly established early on—Crusade never needed one and they don’t need one now, better to not let the title trigger those long-suppressed emotions. Sure enough though Optimus will get his moment.

actually no lmfao so you’re good! Eh, I haven’t mentioned much plot w them outside of them and Megs, plus bits of potential interactions with Optimus—so the rest of Team Prime is free game :D

For what I (hopefully will have) planned, their interactions with team Prime will be eh,,,interesting to each their own to say the least. Some more stressful than others BUT let’s not get into that until I’ve worked it out—for now I’ll just mention what they’re dynamics would be like when the drama of Oh Shit Boss Bot You’ve Been Hiding a Kid For HOW LONG has died down.

A usually touch-wary Crusade actually is the one to initiate a hug with Bulkhead, he’s the biggest and warmest and somehow is always happy to see them. Plus he tells cool recaps of Earth films and gifts them strange blobish paintings every now and then, all of which Crusade doesn’t exactly understand, but at least the colors are pretty.

Bee is annoying,,,which is what Crusade would say if confronted if they actually liked all the shenanigans Bee suggest they pull together, prank wars to the max, sparring for fun, video games?, DOUGHNUTS and RACES in the fortress halls??? Ahem. they are a super serious soldier, not a hooligan. But honestly, Bee is the one they seek out the most should they need an adventure, they missed out on a lot of this ‘fun’ growing up on the Nemesis—Bee seems to know how to balance a day of soldiering and dumbassery. sometimes.

Ratchet reminds them a bit too much of their Carrier than they’d care to admit. The medic is an old soul to his very core, perpetually tired but quick to snap into work mode, and sweet if you reallllllly squint. Sadie has been taught from day one to always respect medics, Ratchet obviously takes the cake on I’ve Seen Some Shit and for that alone Crusade both fears and admires Ratchet. Again, growing up on the Nemesis they didn’t have too many bots willing to talk much with them—but Ratchet (after he’s gone through his own lot of therapy, him AND Arcee. good lord) has a never ending pile of stories to share with them. Ratchet may throw in a few more colorful curses than necessary—which is SURPRISING bc Crusade thought they’d heard them all back home, but he’s entertaining and tells Crusade how it is, no sugarcoating. For that Crusade is grateful, there’s been too many half-truths thrown about to them in their recent years :’)

Ghost Prowl freaks them out—why does he deliberately have to be so sneaky?? Crusade has only met Prowl a fleeting handful of times (visits from the Allspark come with meaning, you know) and each time Crusade has been given nothing but odd riddles and poetic nonsense. Kidding. Prowl does like his wordplay’s but his given advice is always well meaning—the most firm and direct message Crusade has been passed though was probably most definitely “ Get those two cowards for mecha you call your Creator’s to stop fooling around with each other and SPEAK—at this rate it’s physically paining me that they haven’t begun Ritus and they’re not getting any younger”

Team Prime adores Sadie, they ask Megatron to see their sparkling photos every chance they catch him. And Crusade. hates it.

:) have

We’ve been here before, haven’t we?

[rwrights]

OVERDUE | WANDA.

pairing : emo!wanda x fem!reader

summary : after three years of perseverance and having to deal with her boyfriend, it only took five words for her to crack.

contents : fluff, high school!au

word count : 2.5k

warnings : cursing, I USED GOOGLE TRANSLATE SO THE RUSSIAN SENTENCES ARE MOST PROBABLY WRONG, vision being poopoo, EMO WANDA YES

NOT PROOF READ.

a/n : emo wanda will be the death of me

laughs were surrounded around ms. harkness’ classroom, being the lesson right before lunch break. “alright, alright, settle down, lovelies.” she began, setting her books down on her desk. “we’re gonna get started with a recap on romeo and juliet!”

her sentence caused students to let out groans and comments of disapproval. “oh, come on! this is a classic! this story is beautiful.” she argued, making wanda laugh in response. this caught her attention as she raised her eyebrow, “do you have anything to add, miss maximoff?”

wanda turned to head towards her teacher before sitting straight, “well, yes. other than having read it in the seventh grade - i may or may not disagree.” she simply said, miss harkness urging her to elaborate.

“dear, i’m aware you’ve read this years ago – but the reason i’m making you go through it again is because you’re all now very observant and opinionated. i want to know what you got from the book this time and how you felt about it.” she explained, with a smile on her face nevertheless.

“well, it’s obviously debatable, you find it beautiful, i find it dull. most people think that this is a romance between two lovers, but they seem to leave out the fact that Juliet isn't even 15. yes, there was family drama, but not one character in this book makes a single logical decision throughout. the two families realized their mistakes, at the end but at what cost? yes, Shakespeare is a good writer and his legacy continues on, but was it really that great? the whole concept of the book was rather tiring to read. but of course, this is just my opinion.”

wanda’s rant left the class speechless and a huge smile on miss harkness’ face.

“i appreciate your point of view, wanda. i’m very proud of you for being able to read between the lines and understand - or feel the book differently than others.” she grinned, surprising wanda, but she accepted her kind remarks.

you stared at her in awe with your jaw basically slacked on your desk. miss harkness continued going on and asking people for their opinions while you gawked at the girl next to you. she felt your eyes burning through the side of her head as she turned to you, giving you a knowing look.

“what?”

“you’re so smart,” you replied simply, making her furrow her eyebrows in confusion. “uh.. thanks?” she shook her head slightly before looking back at miss harkness. you weren’t going to lie to yourself and say you didn’t adore the girl next to you, because, holy shit. you adored her.

you’d known her since sophomore year and you’ve been enticed by her ever since – although she hasn’t made it all that easy for you. years spent on sharp remarks, long glares, cold shoulders, but eventually she gave up and decided to be your friend. you two belonged in a decently sized friend group, consisting of seven other kids.

steve rogers, tony stark, bruce banner, clint barton, natasha romanoff – seniors.

wanda maximoff, pietro maximoff, vision and you – juniors.

you shared almost all of your classes with your fellow, yet older juniors, and unfortunately vision. wanda’s boyfriend.

you envied the man for reasons you could not explain – well actually, just one reason. wanda. they’d been together for a total of four months and you’d been flirting with wanda for over three years. you weren’t going to lie and say you weren’t hurt and shocked when hearing she was in a relationship when you were so sure she reciprocated your feelings, but you were happy for her either way.

the rest of the gang babied you to no end, making you feel better - or trying to anyway. you were the youngest amongst them, leaving them to think it was their role to take you under their wings.

45 minutes later, the lesson ended on a good note as you packed your things up and stood by the entrance of the class, waiting for your three other friends. you scowled slightly as vision swung his arm around the sokovian girl. you groaned as pietro did the same with you, messing up your hair. “you’re adorable, malyshka. your little face scrunching up when you see them is priceless.” you felt him laugh beside you, “you are just so adorable, y/n/n.”

“you mocking me will just cause you to lose your pudding.”

“wha–”

“shall we get going?” vision suddenly asked, smiling as he played with the ends of wanda's hair. you glared at him slightly before pietro dragged you out of the classroom, “let’s go!”

you met the seniors halfway to the cafeteria and saw how the four guys and girl were grinning at you. “not a word..” you sternly spoke, tony bringing his hands up to his head in surrender, the grin not leaving his face. “alright, go get lunch, kiddo. we’ll get the table.” steve replied, taking your bag as they walked to your usual lunch table. natasha linked her arm with yours, smiling. “how you feelin’, kid?”

“don’t kid me, nat. can’t believe i’ve put up with you for three years..” you grumbled, getting your food on the tray in front of you. “give me your pudding and i’ll forgive you.”

“yeah, i love you, but not that much. pudding’s mine.” nat replied, taking hers greedily before rushing off to your table. you quickly followed after her, immediately digging into your food. “wanda, y/n still bothering you?.” clint asked cheekily, chewing on his fries. “no, she’s not.” you quickly replied, glaring at him. “yes.. yes, she is.” wanda replaced, rolling her eyes playfully - or you hoped so.

“i do not!”

“you were staring at me the whole english lesson, it made me fidgety.” she replied, drinking from her bottle. “do i have that effect on you, maximoff?” you asked, smiling slightly.

“y/n.” vision warned, glaring at you. you rolled your eyes before digging into your food again. “it’s only a matter of time until your girlfriend falls for my tactics, vis.” you chewed, tony cheering you on while steve shook his head, eating his burger.

“oh, in your dreams, l/n. three years of your tactics and look where that’s gotten you.” he retorted. you froze and looked up at him, squinting your eyes. “you’re on thin ice, vis. since when were we on a last name basis? i don’t even know your last name? what is it?”

“okay, okay! enough. y/n, stop it.” wanda cut in, giving you a warning look. “wha- but i-?” she gave you a look, getting the words stuck in your throat. you slumped into your seat, leaning into pietro’s arm as he held you, amused. “ay, sestra. you’re so mean to y/n.” he teased. “tell your girlfriend to stop staring at me all the time then, hmm?”

“his wha-”

“my wha-”

“girlfriend?!” you both questioned at the same time, turning to each other before laughing. “wanda, my girlfriend was just flirting with you! do you not get it?” pietro managed to let out in between wheezes. “look, pietro-” vision started, causing you to cut in. “vis, you’ve gotta–”

“gosh darn it! no more fighting! i’m getting a headache and i just wanna eat my damn burger.” steve scolded, glaring at all of you, or the four of you. “yes sir..” you all muttered, quickly silencing. bruce let out a laugh as he flicked steve’s temple, “grandpa.”

the rest of the break, you all mingled amongst yourselves, you - to no surprise - were staring at wanda most of the time. pietro’s arm was wrapped around you, his eyes focusing on wanda as well, not to admire her - but to read her. you couldn’t see the way her eyes twitched whenever pietro pulled you closer, but he could. very clearly.

“you alright there, wands?” he asked, squeezing your arm as he smirked at his sister. “what? yeah, no, i’m fine.” she croaked, tearing her eyes off you. “babe?” vision called out, bringing his arm around her. “it’s nothing, vis. drop it.” he let go of her, clearly taken aback by her tone. he cleared his throat, scooting closer to her as if nothing happened.

moments later, the bell rang. alerting all of you that it was time for class. “alright, kiddos. have fun.” bruce let out, hitting the back of pietro’s head. he clicked his tongue as he picked your bag up. “let’s go!”

“piet, i think y/n can carry her own bag.” wanda hissed, walking alongside him. “yes, i think she can.” you replied, grabbing it from him and slinging it over your shoulder. “aw, i was only trying to be nice, sestra.” he pouted.

“can we just get to class?” vision asked from behind his girlfriend. wanda grabbed his hand and dragged him along to your next class.

“piet, you have got to stop.” you cried out, leaning into him. he chuckled as he threw his arm over your shoulder, “i know, but it’s just way too funny seeing her face.”

––––––

a few days went by, your flirtatious trials with wanda ongoing, vision scolding you for trying it with his girlfriend, pietro continuously keeping you close to him, wanda subtly sending you daggers.

“y/n/n~” pietro whined, digging his head into your shoulder. “okay, fine! you can have my pudding, you man child.” you groaned, sliding it towards him. you felt him smile against your shoulder as he kissed your cheek. “ah, moya lyubov, you are the best.”

“pietro, lay off.” wanda hissed from the opposite side of the table. “wanda?!” vision retorted, causing everyone else at the table to laugh. “careful, sestra. if i didn't know any better, i’d say you were jealous.”

“Пьетро, ​​хватит (pietro, that’s enough)” she warned, natasha and pietro giggling to themselves, leaving everyone confused. “ты не можешь отрицать это, не так ли? (you can’t deny it, can you?)” pietro shot back. “успокойтесь, ребята. (settle down, children.)” natasha joined in.

“everyone just smile and nod,” tony joked. wanda backed off as vision angrily whispered something into her ear. she waved him off, going back to eating her lunch.

you said your goodbyes to the seniors as the four of you headed off to social studies, or as you liked to call it - free period.

“yeah, alright, do your own work, just don’t disturb anyone outside of class.” mr wilson said, leaning back into his chair and placing his feet on his table, mindlessly scrolling on his phone. you, vision, pietro and wanda were sat at the back of the classroom. you in the corner, pietro next to you, vision in front of him and wanda in front of you. pietro leaned towards you in his chair as vision was sat in place, but was positioned where he could see all of you. wanda turned to face you as she straddled her chair. (you know where like bad boys in movies sit with the back of the chair in front of them. OMG)

pietro was telling a story, but you couldn’t tear your eyes off of her, vision noticed it too. “hey, eyes off, l/n.” you turned to look at him as you rolled your eyes, “you’re so lame, vis.”

“hey, hello! i was getting to the good part!” pietro complained before he went back to his story. he ended it with laughs, the three of you following suit. “you’re an idiot, but i’m sure you’re aware.” wanda replied, smiling slightly. “you’re so pretty, wands.” you told her, causing her to look up at you. “yeah, i know. you’ve told me a lot, y/n.”

“okay, whatever.”

the four of you took turns telling stories and just sharing conversation. it was wanda’s turn as she started talking about a funny thing that happened in a vinyl shop nearby. “and they literally tipped everything over and the owner lady started yelling at them in italian!” she laughed, causing the three of you to do the same. she continued talking, but it seemed as if you went deaf for a solid minute - you were too focused on the way she smiled and laughed as she recalled the event. she looked so pretty talking about whatever it was she was talking about and she kept playing with her hair after every sentence. you finally snapped back into it as you heard wanda call your name. “hey! earth to y/n! did you hear a thing i said?”

silence, you stared at her for thirty seconds before-

“do you wanna make out?” you practically yelled, not breaking eye contact. you didn’t miss the way she blinked in shock and her cheeks turned into a light shade of pink.

“y/n!?” vision scolded, glaring at you as he looked at his girlfriend, protectively. pietro laughed out loud as he watched the whole event unfold and snickered at how his sister froze.

you weren’t expecting a response until she said,

“well, yeah, i wouldn’t oppose it.”

“wanda?!” vision asked in disbelief as he kept his eyes travelling in between the both of you. “finally!” pietro cried out until the bell finally rang. “saved by the bell,” he groaned as he stood up and packed his things. vision was scolding the both of you, but everything went in one ear and through the other. you smiled at wanda before grabbing your things and walking out alongside pietro.

the day went by and all you could think about was wanda’s response. that was the first flirty - if you could even call it that - reply you’ve gotten from her in four months. you leaned against your locker as a girl from your chemistry class was telling you about your upcoming project. wanda was watching from afar, unknowingly sending daggers to your head. “hi wands, what ya lookin at?” pietro interrupted, swinging his arm around his sister and realizing what was happening. “ha! you’re jealous!”

“what?! no, i’m not! i just–”

the girl leaned in towards you as she told you what she was excited about and it set wanda’s buttons off. she clearly misread the situation, but the only thing she could see was how the girl was too close to you. she stormed into your direction and gripped onto your arm. “wha–” you started, you turned around and apologized to your classmate and told her you’d talk to her later.

wanda dragged you into the girl’s washroom and pushed you in before shoving you against the door. “wanda?!” you gawked, scared about the way she was looking at you. “well- i’m, uh, w-what’s up?” you asked, trying to hide the fear that was clearly written in your voice and on your face.

“you asked if i wanted to make out right?” she questioned as if it was nothing. “well, yes-”

“alright,” she replied before she pressed her lips against yours. you melted against her as her hands gripped onto your waist and as your hands travelled to her shoulders. three years, you’ve dreamt about this very moment for three years and it was so much more magical than you imagined. other than the fact that you were in the girl’s bathroom at school. she reluctantly pulled away from you as she pushed the hairs that stuck to your face away from it.

“w-what was that for?!”

she shrugged, “i guess it's been three years overdue. and that's cruel, even for me.”

[sluttyten]

the cinderella search

summary: you’re a staff member at SM, and during the annual Halloween party, you go dressed as Cinderella. Enter Johnny as Prince Charming. You talk, you flirt, he falls in love, but you forget to tell him your name before the night ends, and thus begins his Cinderella Search.

length: 10,615

tags: near-strangers to lovers, bed sharing, fingering, dry humping, fluff, light on the smut compared to some of my other works tbh

Growing up, Cinderella had always been your favorite fairy tale. You just really loved the glamor and romance of the story, the idea of dressing up all beautifully and mysteriously, going to a ball to be noticed by the Prince. 

And once you grew up, you still had that fantasy tucked away in the back of your mind, made more real when you entered the idol industry by joining SM Entertainment as a staff member. You were just a minor staff member, not important enough to be a manager (though that was the dream), but you were around idols so often that the fantasy was there, prodding you in the back of your mind.

There were days when you dreamed of being swept up in a Cinderella-style romance with one of the idols in the company. 

“I can’t blame you one bit,” your close friend Jiwon tells you one day. She’s a makeup artist for the company; she’s seen their bare faces, seen them up close and personal, and having worked there for longer than you, she knows various artists under the company better than you do. “I won’t disagree with you at all that a secret romance with one of them would be amazing. Just like a drama. I want Kyungsoo to be my prince charming.” She sighs dreamily. “I can’t wait for the Halloween party.”

That’s exactly what you’ve been talking about almost non-stop since you first heard that it was happening this year. With the party not having happened for a few years now due to one thing or another, this year it’s come back with a bang, and when the memo was put out that every staff member was invited to come in costume as well, just as a celebration for how hard everyone’s worked, it’s all that pretty much everyone’s been talking about. You’re excited that you get to go, that you get to dress up as well, and what caused Jiwon to start gushing about D.O. is you mentioning that you wanted to go dressed as Cinderella.

“Promise we can get ready together?” She asks you. “I really, really want to do your hair and makeup, I can already picture it.” Jiwon holds her fingers up, framing your face between them. 

It helped that you already had the dress to wear for your costume. You’d spotted it a few years ago in a thrift shop, and because of your pure love for Cinderella, as soon as you saw the dress, you knew that you had to have it. Sure, it had been collecting dust in your closet for a couple years, but now you had found the perfect use for it at last.

The day of the Halloween party, Jiwon comes over just as she’d planned, taking as much of the day as she possibly can to make you up and style your hair to make you look like the Cinderella of her imagination. She’s just going simply, wearing all black with some cat ears, some whiskers drawn on her face, but most of her attention to detail is poured into her work on you. 

By the time she finishes the last touch, you’re ready to leave. Already you’re going to be cutting it close to showing up late, so as she drops her brushes back in the bag she brought, you grab your phone, and make for the door.

“Oh no, you’re not finished yet.” She snakes her hand around your arm, bringing you to a halt. Jiwon tuts at you. “Cinderella can’t go to the ball without her mask.” 

Like a true fairy godmother, Jiwon pulls a beautiful mask out of the makeup bag. “I saw this when I was shopping for my costume, and I knew it would just be perfect. You can’t be Cinderella and have everyone know who you are, that goes against the point of being Cinderella, right?”

She carefully sits the mask on your made-up face, ties the ribbons around the back of your head, trying not to disturb the work she put into your hair.

“Can we go now, fairy godmother?” You ask. “Before midnight, preferably.”

The fairytale vibe of the night truly hits home once you arrive at the party’s venue. Everyone’s in costumes, and at first it’s overwhelming because you can’t immediately distinguish the idols from the staff from the higher-ups in the company. As you and Jiwon step inside, you can only make out a few distinct people. 

Red Velvet’s Irene is dressed like an actual goddess, complete with an array of stars in an arc around her (an interesting choice that definitely makes sure no one gets too close to her). You spot Chanyeol standing tall over the group of people he’s talking with too. And then you see him.

Prince Charming.

Johnny Suh. 

He looks breathtakingly handsome, wearing a white uniform adorned with golden tassels and medals. His hair is gelled back from his face, and he’s in the middle of laughing at the princess beside him, though her back is to you. Johnny literally looks like a prince with his face full of sunlit radiance, and in that moment your heart yearns. You wish you had a Prince Charming, but it’s clear that this one already has his princess.

And then she turns around with a flip of her long, dark wavy hair.

You burst out laughing so loud that Jiwon hits your arm to make you quiet down. 

Hendery is dressed as a princess, clinging to Johnny’s arm as Jungwoo and Ten stand there with them, both of them laughing along with the costumed couple.

There are several other princesses you soon realize. Staff members and female artists have both dressed as princesses, and the more of them you see, the more you think that you’re not the Cinderella of this ball. There’s others that shine with more glitz and glamor than your thrifted dress ever could. So you mostly stick to yourself, seated at a table in the corner, sipping at your drink to avoid talking to a drunk coworker when he stumbles into his seat at the table.

You just watch the party, suddenly no longer feeling it because the best looking man here tonight is clearly Johnny Suh (which you’ve thought that numerous times before, but especially so tonight) and it’s obvious that everyone else thinks so too. He wins a prize. He has people coming up to him all night, fawning over him, running their fingers through the tassels on his shoulders.

“Stop pouting,” Jiwon tells you as she drops down into the seat beside yours. She sits a fresh drink down in front of you. “Just drink this down and come have fun with me. We can mingle and actually get the chance to speak to some of these idols we never work with.” 

You know she has her eyes on D.O. who’s standing in a clear line of sight from where you’re both sitting, holding an audience of a few people captive with his story.

“You go.” You nod toward him. “Here’s your chance, Jiwon.”

She frowns at you. “I didn’t spend so long making you look like Cinderella just for you to sit all glum in the corner. You look fantastic, darling, and if you don’t get up and show off that lovely dress and your beautiful face, then we can’t be friends anymore.” She folds her arms in front of her and pouts. 

“If I go get some more drinks, does that count?”

“It’s an improvement at least.” She sighs. “I’m going to try to talk to him. While I’m gone, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” She eyes your coworker who’s slumped over in his chair now, starting to snore. “And make sure he doesn’t puke on himself.”

You have no intention of babysitting a guy who takes every opportunity to steal credit from you, so you definitely leave the table as soon as Jiwon walks away. 

You’re standing at the bar area, waiting for the man behind the counter to make the drink you’d requested, when someone comes up beside you, just a figure in the corner of your eye. It’s only when he speaks that you look up to see who he actually is.

“I think you dropped this,” Johnny says, and he’s holding up one of the satiny blue gloves you’d worn tonight. You’d taken them off while you ate, and you forgot you’d tucked them in the ribbon around your waist.

“Oh, thank you.” You incline your head and reach for the glove, but when your fingers brush Johnny’s, you pull away with your whole hand tingling. “I probably dropped the other one somewhere too.” You look around, searching the floor.

Johnny chuckles. “No, it’s still right there.” 

You feel a blush rising to your cheeks, and you’re grateful that you’re wearing the mask that hides most of your face. The other glove is still safely tucked at your waist, and as Johnny tells the bartender what he’d like, you pull both gloves onto your hands.

“Here’s your drink, Princess.” The man behind the counter winks as he says it, pushing the drink toward you. “And yours, Prince Charming.”

You take your drink and start to walk away, planning to head back to your comfortable corner to drink alone in peace, but then you notice Johnny just a step behind you. 

“I think you’re the only person dressed as a princess tonight that hasn’t come up to talk to me tonight.” He says, “Which is unfortunate, since I saw you the moment you walked in, and I wanted to come talk to you then, but Hendery wouldn’t let go of me. I think you deserved best costume; I’ve never seen a better Cinderella.”

His flattery works wonders on melting what nervousness you have in talking with him. Johnny’s all but a stranger to you. You don’t work closely with NCT, but on the few occasions you’ve gotten to work with them, Johnny was always such a large personality, so nice and funny and handsome. Maybe you definitely have a ridiculous crush on him. But it’s always been foolish and far-fetched.

This is the first conversation you’ve ever had with him, and you don’t quite make it back to that table in the back corner. Johnny drags you down to sit beside him at his table, and even though you’re surrounded by the other members, the way he’s looking at you as you talk makes it feel like it’s only the two of you in the whole building. 

You finish your drink, lose track of time, and by the time that the party’s really and truly ending, you’ve forgotten everything but the way that Johnny looks at you, the sound of his voice, and how much that you have in common with him. Maybe it’s ridiculous to form such a deep connection with someone at a party, especially when tomorrow you go back to being just a lowly staff member and he’s a world-famous idol. 

But Princess Hendery is the one to break up this intimate conversation. His hand lands on Johnny’s shoulder, and Johnny’s head snaps around. 

“Hyung, your ride’s about to leave.” Hendery pats Johnny’s shoulder, and then points down the length of the table to a man you recognize as an NCT manager. A tipsy Jaehyun walks by, his fingers twisting in the neck of Johnny’s uniform, and he leans in to whisper something in Johnny’s ear, his fingers slipping down to get a better grip on Johnny’s uniform, and then he’s dragging Johnny out of his seat, pulling him away out the door with their manager before you can get another word in.

You look around then, somewhat dazed at being pulled back into non-Johnny reality, and also slightly buzzed from your drinks, and you realize that the room has emptied out around you, only a handful of people remain. Including Jiwon. She’s bright red and grinning from ear to ear, leaning on a man in costume.

You refuse to let her make any drunken mistakes tonight, so you make your way over, loop your arm around her waist. “Come on, fairy godmother, it’s midnight and we need to get home before the spell wears off.”

Jiwon moans and groans, reluctantly letting you lead her out of the party at last, taking her home to pass out on your sofa.

And it’s a bit later as you fall into bed fresh from your shower with all the makeup washed away now, as you look happily at the photos you’d taken with Jiwon and some selfies you’d snapped several times throughout the night, that you tragically remember that you never gave Johnny your name.

By tragedy or fate or something else against you in the universe, you don’t get to see Johnny again before your position in the company takes you overseas. Not long term, just for a month. But during that month you build a lot of experience toward achieving your dream of becoming a manager for a group, getting your hands almost within reach of that prized promotion. 

And as for your Cinderella moment, you try to put it out of your mind, just as you’re sure Johnny’s done. Over a month has passed since the Halloween party, and you doubt he even remembers the Cinderella he spent the night talking to. Even if he does remember, you feel that any chance has long since passed for you to find him and tell him it was you.

On your first day back within the building, you’ve barely made it inside before Jiwon finds you. 

You hear her slippers slapping against the ground as she runs toward you, and then she loops her arm through yours in a vice. “Come with me. We need to talk,” she whispers conspiratorially, dragging you into the elevator with her.

“I didn’t want to tell you this while you were away dealing with everything, but,” she says excitedly in a hushed voice so no one overhears, “As your self-designated fairy godmother, I thought I should definitely give you a little heads up. Johnny’s been looking for Cinderella.”

Your heart thuds in your chest. “What?”

“Everyone’s heard him asking around casually about who’d been Cinderella that night, but you sneaky thing!” She pinches your side. “How did you manage to go the whole night without telling anyone who you were?”

Had you? You’d definitely talked with several other staff members at the start of the night, including your supervisor. At least one of them must have recognized you, right? But looking back now, maybe you hadn’t talked in particular about anything that would have given away who you were, and you don’t remember any of them calling you by name or even acknowledging that you were in their department. 

You’re still trying to wrap your head around it when the elevator doors open, and Jiwon walks out, still arm-in-arm with you.

“Look, it’s even a company-wide kind of meme.” She points at a bulletin board nearby where normally notices about events and deadlines and everything are hung. But now there’s also a sheet of paper with the word WANTED at the top, a badly pixellated image of the Disney version of Cinderella beneath that, and below that LAST SEEN: SM HALLOWEEN PARTY. In tiny font beneath contact NCT Johnny if you have any information. 

“What the hell?” You look around to see if anyone else is looking, and then you step forward and tear it off the bulletin board. “What are people thinking? What if this shows up in the background of a video?” Idols pass through here semi-frequently with cameras on them for one reason or another. You can only imagine the chaos of fans reacting to such a notice as this Cinderella one.

Jiwon laughs as you crumple the sheet up and toss it in a nearby trashcan. “At this point, everyone’s started assuming Cinderella was just a random party-crasher or a ghost since she hasn’t come forward.” She pats your shoulder comfortingly. “One of the aespa girls almost confessed to him that it was her.”

A flare of jealous heat sparks to life in your belly. “Well, it definitely wasn’t!”

“Of course not! She was dressed like a princess too, but not anything remotely Cinderella-esque.” Someone walks into the elevator area, so Jiwon drops her voice to a whisper once more as she tries to urge you, “You should go tell him that you’re his Cinderella! It would be so cute!” 

“Are you kidding?” You hiss, glancing over at the man waiting for an elevator. “Look at me, Jiwon. He’d take one look and laugh that I couldn’t possibly be Cinderella. I don’t look anything like I did that night.” You gesture at the very casual outfit you’re wearing, your drastically less made-up face, and just everything about you. You’d truly experienced some kind of magical transformation that night courtesy of the woman beside you. “I couldn’t tell him. Plus, it’s been over a month. Is he really still looking for Cinderella? I’d have given up by this point, like you said, just thinking it was a random party-crasher or something. Plus, if this is like an actual Cinderella moment, it’s not like anything romantic can happen between him and I. It’s against policy.”

Jiwon shakes her head, disappointed. “You’re such a party pooper, darling. And, you’re right, this isn’t a fairytale, okay? I get that. It’s real life and there’s actual consequences, so I won’t blame you if you don’t tell him. But come on, the risk is well worth the reward here, I would think. This job or Johnny? The choice is obvious to me.”

Maybe once you would have agreed. Choosing the literal man of your dreams (because Johnny has been showing up in your dreams with some amount of frequency ever since Halloween) would have been an easy choice before you’d actually landed a position in SM Entertainment. Even then, it wouldn’t have been a crazy choice in your mind. But more recently things have changed.

“They’re promoting me.” You shake Jiwon loose so you can face her properly. “That’s what the whole point of me being overseas for the last month was. Training me up, seeing if I had the potential to really be a manager. And that’s my dream job, you know. I don’t think the risk is worth the reward in this case. But damn,” you sigh, catching sight of a screen showing a clip from one of NCT’s music videos, Johnny’s face filling the screen. “I wish it was possible.”

To give up your dream job just for the possibility of a romance with an idol seemed far-fetched and stupid. 

So you ignore the Cinderella search. It’s not like you ever even see Johnny, so it’s not a problem at all.

Until the day comes when you officially receive your promotion. 

“You’re being promoted,” your supervisor tells you, “NCT needs a new manager, and you’re best qualified for the job.”

Your stomach feels like it drops to the floor. “What?”

You’d been expecting that you were going to get to help manage a new group, or at least maybe aespa. You didn’t think they’d throw you to the wolves that was the confusing mess of NCT’s schedules. So it was a nightmare wrapped in a thin layer of a dream, and right at the heart of it all was Johnny Suh.

You were so nervous on your first day as a manager (because of course, you couldn’t manage one of the other units, you had to be assigned to 127) that Johnny would recognize you on the spot, call you out on being Cinderella, and make a scene. But you were equally as nervous that he wouldn’t recognize you at all.

The latter turned out to be the truer though not entirely accurate.

When you were introduced to the members, Johnny gave you a kind smile, and then said, “Hey, I recognize you.”

Your heart stopped and then started beating at what felt like double-time. “You do?”

He nods. “Yeah, you’ve worked with us before, right?”

Ah. Your heart rate slows back to normal. “Yeah, yes, I have. Just a few times.” 

Then he repeats your name back to you as if making sure that he’s got it right, and an hour later you’re still thinking about the way that your name sounds from his lips.

That feeling doesn’t pass, not for a while. 

Slowly you grow more comfortable and relaxed in your role a manager for the group. You get used to the stunning presence of the handsome men. You get used to the sound of Johnny’s voice and his laugh. You get used to driving the members around, shuttling them to and from schedules, getting them what they need, managing them and managing your feelings.

And best of all, you never hear Johnny mention Halloween or Cinderella, which makes it much easier to put it all from your mind. Well, somewhat easier. Jiwon refuses to let you forget; she calls herself your fairy godmother all the time, calls you princess, teases you when you mention stories that involve Johnny, which is most of them because within several weeks of you becoming a manager for the unit, you and Johnny have actually grown quite close.

“Oh, come on!” Jiwon exclaims one evening as she stretches out on your bed. “I’m tired of all of these cute, funny stories about Johnny! I want gushy romantic, hot stories.” She rolls over onto her stomach and looks at you. “God, let me tell you, one time when I was doing their makeup the stylist had to make an alteration on his pants, and that man whipped off his pants with no shame and stood there in his underwear for me to do his makeup. Babe, I know you’re already mentally going through hoops to avoid thinking about him, but trust me that you would reconsider if you had seen his--”

You slap your hand over her mouth. “Don’t.”

“No need to sound so pained about it.” She pushes your hand away. “I don’t know why you’re fighting this so hard. Yeah, you’re a manager, but you and him are fully grown adults. This is a stupid policy because from the stories you’ve told me, if you and Johnny were just alone for like an hour together, you would probably end up together.”

You roll your eyes. There have been times you’ve been alone with Johnny, driving him to or from a schedule. It wasn’t like there was undeniable sexual tension in that van or anything like that. And even if Jiwon means totally alone in a non-mobile setting, you doubt anything like that would happen, but you’ve never yet had the chance to find out.

When the first winter storm hits, you’re driving Taeyong back to the dorm from a solo schedule he’d had that had run long. It’s very late. Taeyong dozes in the passenger seat, you’re yawning every other minute, and as you enter the city limits you realize that it’s starting to snow large, fluffy flakes that are coating everything they touch.

The city’s been extremely cold lately, so you’re not surprised that the snow isn’t melting, just piling up, making it hard to see at times. 

By the time you reach the dorm, the roads are slushy and slick. Snow blows across the streets in waves.

Taeyong’s schedule had been a three-day event, so he has a few items to unload, and due to the sharp cold breeze and how deep asleep he’d been just moment before, you help Taeyong unload and carry his belongings up to the dorm. Your shoes squeak on the floor, and by the time you reach the door of the dorm, you’re both still shivering.

The door opens with a chime, and as you come inside, you see Johnny’s sitting at the kitchen table playing on his phone and eating cereal. Taeyong mumbles something, toes off his shoes, drops his bags, and just stumbles off to bed, too sleepy to even do anything else.

Johnny’s watching you as you let out a big yawn and sit what you’d been carrying down beside the rest. 

You run your fingers over your hair, brushing away the last snowflakes that cling somewhat intact to your hair. “It’s snowing pretty good out there. I haven’t seen snow like this in years.”

Johnny glances over at the large window of their living room. The puffs of snow float by, lit up by all the city lights, and he stands up, walking over to press his face to the glass, looking down at the street below and the rooftops around their building. Everything’s already covered in a pretty decent amount of snow. 

“It’s beautiful out there.” Johnny is pressed to the glass, looking out at everything. 

Before you can register what’s happening (it is very late and you’re half-asleep on your feet, so excuse you if you’re a little slow at the moment), Johnny’s walking back past you, grabbing his coat from the back of a chair with one hand, and taking your hand with the other. He guides you along by the hand down through the building, out into the falling snow. 

“What are we doing?” You ask, folding your arms around yourself as Johnny releases your hand once you’re outside. Shock at the situation kept you silent until then. “You shouldn’t be out here. You’ll catch a cold.”

Johnny laughs. “I’ll be fine. Come take my picture.” He walks out into the snow-covered street, tilting his head back to the sky, arms held out. The streetlight just down the road casts Johnny and the snow in a silver light, and he’s so beautiful in that moment that you’d be crazy not to take a photo, so you pull out your phone and start taking pictures of him. 

This photoshoot goes on for several minutes before you pause to check a photo you just took, and for your efforts of trying to be a good photographer, you get a snowball right to the shoulder. Johnny’s laugh is loud in the muted silence of the falling snow, and he only laughs louder when you shove your phone into your jacket pocket and duck down to form a snowball of your own.

The snow fight lasts until you’re both pink-cheeked, sniffling in the cold air, and neither of you can feel your fingertips anymore.

“I’m t-too cold to keep this g-going.” Johnny laughs and shivers, tucking his hands into his armpits as he walks toward you. 

“I - I should get going anyway.” Your teeth chatter together. “I still need to get home, and it’s late.”

“Come up for c-coffee,” Johnny suggests, his eyes lingering on you and the snow caught in your hair, wreathing your face. “You’re clearly tired and cold. You need some coffee.”

Damn your heart and Johnny’s good intentions. You follow him back up to the dorm, and while you shuck off your coat and wet shoes and damp socks, Johnny starts making you both some coffee. And minutes later, you’re still shivering as you clasp a warm mug between both of your hands, sitting next to Johnny while he swipes through your camera roll to check out the photos of him you’d just taken.

You know that you should leave. It’s not appropriate for you to just be hanging out at the dorm. You should put your coat and shoes back on, take the coffee to go, and head home so you can get some sleep before you have to work tomorrow. Just as you’re about to say something along those lines, your phone buzzes against the table and Johnny makes a soft, oh.

“What?” You lean closer, sitting the mug down on the table.

“It’s a weather alert.” Johnny looks up at you, and for a moment neither of you speak or move or breathe. You’re so close together right now. You can see all of the little water droplets stubbornly clinging to his eyelashes from the snow. You can smell the coffee on his breath and something a little sweet too. But then Johnny snaps his mouth closed and leans back a little, just putting some distance between you and him. 

He clears his throat, then says, “It says the roads are really bad, that it’s just going to get worse. You should probably just stay here tonight, and I feel like you’re going to argue with that, but honestly, it’s for your own safety. Roads are dangerous, plus you’re already cold and tired. That’s a bad combination. You’re just going to have to be back here in a few hours to pick us up anyway since hyung is gone.”

You’d forgotten about that. The manager that normally stays at the dorm with them is gone for the week. That’s why you had to be the one to take Taeyong to his solo schedule, and why you were going to have to be up earlier than normal for work tomorrow. Maybe Johnny has a good point.

Johnny looks away from you, back down at your phone, and he swipes away the notification, then makes a little frown. 

You look down as well, and there you see that your phone has gone back to the screen showing all of your photos, and there, just barely visible at the top of the screen, is a photo you’d taken of yourself in the Cinderella costume on the night of the Halloween party.

Johnny inhales and the silence as you wait for his exhale seems to last an eternity.

“You were--”

You push back from the table, already reaching to pull your shoes back onto your feet, forgetting entirely about your wet socks. “I’d really better leave.”

You’re halfway to the door, hopping on one foot, struggling to get your second foot into it’s boot, when Johnny loops his hand at your elbow, helping to steady you as you’d nearly just tipped over onto your face. 

“Please don’t leave.” He pleads.

You look up at him. Your foot thumps heavily down onto the ground. “Johnny.... please. I shouldn’t stay here, I could get in trouble with the company.”

His eyes are softer than you’ve ever seen them before. “Please stay. It’s dangerous out there, I’ve said that already. If anyone has a problem with you staying here overnight for your own safety, then I’ll vouch for you. I’ll make the others vouch too.” His hand slides from your elbow down to your wrist, holding loosely now that you don’t seem to be in such a rush to leave. A slow, crooked smile appears on his lips. “And anyway, Cinderella, you’re supposed to leave a shoe behind, not your wet socks.”

You roll your eyes, but you smile as well. “I didn’t want to tell you.”

“That you’re the Cinderella I’ve been looking for for months now?” Johnny’s hand slips even lower on your wrist until his fingers are just clasping your hand. “Why didn’t you want to tell me? I had so much fun talking with you that night, and after we left I realized I hadn’t even found out who you were.”

You shiver now that your feet are back inside your wet shoes. 

Johnny clicks his tongue disapprovingly. “Take your shoes off. You’re staying. Go on. Sit right there.” He points at the chair beside the table. “I’ll be right back. Don’t you dare leave.”

His voice is so commanding, you wouldn’t dare leave now. He walks out of the kitchen, and when he returns a moment later, he’s carrying a change of clothes for you from his own closet. 

“I know it’s your job to worry about us,” he says, holding out the clothes to you. “But please let me take care of you too. Don’t catch a cold. You can go shower in the bathroom off my room, put these on. You’re staying here tonight.”

You nod, accepting the sweater and slick basketball shorts. 

When you emerge from the shower several minutes later, feeling much more thoroughly warmed, the lights in the dorm have all been turned off, but Johnny’s sitting on the sofa now with his phone lighting up his face. It’s very, very late. He looks as if he could nod off right there, but as you walk closer to him, he blinks up at you. A smile breaks across his otherwise sleepy expression.

“What?” You ask, sinking down onto the sofa with him. There’s a blanket draped over the back, and Johnny immediately pulls it down over your shoulders. You clasp the edges of it together in front of you. “Why are you smiling like that? Are you feeling feverish or something?” You lift a hand and immediately check his forehead with the back of your hand, but he doesn’t feel warm.

Johnny, still smiling, reaches up to lightly bat away your hand as he sighs and rests his head against the cushiony back of the sofa, staring at you. “No, like.... It’s just, I can’t believe you’re actually wearing my clothes.”

“You gave them to me.” You reply, amused at the dopey look on his face. 

“I know.” Johnny whispers. “You just look really good in them.”

Your heart flutters in the way that you know you shouldn’t let it. This is Johnny. You’re his manager. This is inappropriate to be feeling this way about him. It’s definitely inappropriate to be sitting on a sofa in the dark with him, wearing his clothes, having just showered in his shower using his shampoo and body wash. But it feels good.

You lean your head against the sofa’s back too, draw your knees up toward your chest, and you look right back at Johnny in the same way he’s looking at you. You whisper, “You should go to bed. We all have to be up in a few hours.”

He bites his bottom lip and then stretches out a risky hand to touch yours. When you don’t pull away or tell him not to, Johnny keeps going, turning your hand over, pulling it into his lap. He touches your palm, caresses your fingers, treating you like you’re fragile and delicate like a little princess.

“Johnny,” you whisper a few moments later when he’s still just holding your hand, making no effort to go to bed. “Go.”

“There’s so much snow out there.” He says after another few seconds. “There’s no way that we’ll still have our schedules tomorrow. By the time morning really comes, we’re going to be buried in. I was looking at the weather while you were showering, and it’s not showing any sign of stopping before at least tomorrow night.”

“Banking on your schedule being cancelled doesn’t mean you don’t have to go to bed.” Your hand shakes slightly as you lift it, trembling with the risky nature of what you do next. Johnny’s hair is soft and his face is pleasantly warm as you push a few loose strands away from his face. 

Johnny exhales at the feel of your fingertips just barely brushing his skin. “Come to bed with me. Haechan’s not here. He’s upstairs tonight.”

You noticed that as you crept into Johnny’s room to use that bathroom. Both of the beds were empty. 

It’s tempting to give in, to follow him into that bedroom and let the door close behind you as you get into bed with him. You’re sure that sharing a bed with Johnny would be very warm and comforting in this snowy cold night. But you can’t. 

“Johnny.” Your voice trembles ever so slightly. “I can’t. I’m your manager, and it just.... I could get in trouble.”

“You’re still shivering from the cold,” he argues, “Basically hypothermic. I’m just trying to keep you healthy, trying to save you from freezing. No one would know but us. If the others ask questions, I’ll make excuses.” He smiles, and that almost does it for you.

You shake your head, close your eyes, turn your head away from him so you’re not faced with the temptation. “No. I’m serious. You should go to bed. I’ll stay right here. Just here.” You pat the sofa. “I’ll be comfy and this blanket’s warm.”

“Fine.” Johnny sighs, and he stands up, still holding your hand. “But don’t think that you can sneak out, Cinderella. Okay?”

You squeeze his hand lightly. “I’m not going anywhere, Johnny.”

He leans in so quickly that there’s no time for you to even protest before he’s pressing a kiss to your cheek. And then he’s gone, vanishing into his bedroom as you sit frozen on the sofa, looking after him.

It takes a long time to fall asleep after that. Just you lying there in the dark with the blanket tugged up to your chin, listening to all of the unfamiliar sounds of the dorm, watching the snow drift by outside the window, shivering in the chill air.

After nearly an hour of silence and cold and overthinking, you sit up, gather the blanket around your shoulders, and you tiptoe across the living room to the door of Johnny’s bedroom. 

When you reach the door, you stand there in hesitation, your knuckles hovering just inches from the door. You’re being silly. Ridiculous. You’re putting the future of your career in jeopardy by just standing here before his doorway and contemplating going inside. You shift your weight uncertainly, drop your hand to your side, consider turning back and walking to the sofa, but before you can move, the door swings open and you’re faced with Johnny’s chest.

You lift your gaze slowly to his face.

“I could almost hear you thinking through the door,” he says with a smile, and then he steps aside, “Why don’t you come in?”

“It’s just cold out there,” you mumble as you step inside, pulling your blanket tighter around your shoulders. “I was going to ask if you had another blanket.”

Johnny hums in a way that tells you that he doesn’t buy your lie one bit. He closes the door behind him, his back braced against it as he faces you. “I can’t believe that all this time you’ve been my Cinderella.” He shakes his head, gaze wandering over the shadowy shape of you.

His room is dark but your eyes are adjusted just enough that you can see him fairly well in the faint light coming in through the window. So you can see as he pushes away from the door, as he steps toward you. Your body tingles in anticipation, your fingertips go numb so you curl them into fists in your blanket, and Johnny stops right in front of you.

“It’s well past midnight, Cinderella,” he whispers. “The ball is ended, the magic spell is worn off, and you’re still just as beautiful and fascinating and enchanting as you were that night.” His hands come up to the blanket wrapped around your shoulders, fingers tucking underneath. Your grip on the blanket loosens even as Johnny starts to move the blanket.

It falls away, pooling at your feet.

“Johnny.”

His thumb brushes along your jawline. Your body feels on fire, your fingers burn with the desire to touch him too. So you do, curling your fingers at his hips, his skin warm under yours, and Johnny takes a shuffling step just a bit closer to you, his bare toes bumping against yours.

“Johnny,” you repeat his name, lifting your chin to look him in the eye. “Kiss me?”

He doesn’t wait for you to ask him again. Johnny leans in and catches your lips in a kiss. His palm rests against the side of your neck, his thumb still stroking at your jaw. When you try to press closer, to deepen the kiss, Johnny backs away.

“Don’t stop,” you whine, clenching your hands at his sides. 

Johnny chuckles, dipping forward to kiss your forehead. And then he kisses you again. He takes a step back, you follow, and another, and then he’s sinking down onto his bed, his hands moving to your hips to guide you to straddle his lap, not breaking the kiss as you do.

Making out with Johnny Suh is certainly not what you imagined you’d be doing tonight when you brought Taeyong home from his schedule, but here you are, sitting in his lap in his bed, his hands on your hips, and your mouth on his.

“Wait,” he mumbles, pulling back momentarily. “Let me put some music on or something.”

You don’t want to move from his lap, but you let him lean away, reaching back across his bed toward the pillows to grab his phone. He taps at the screen for a few moments, and then music—soft enough to not wake anyone but just loud enough to mask any sounds the two of you may make—begins to play over his Bluetooth speakers.

As Johnny sits back up, leaving his phone tucked beneath his pillow, you admire the sight of him. His abs. His chest. His arms.

You’ve seen Johnny shirtless before in dressing rooms, for photo shoots and video shoots. But seeing him like this, in the half light of his bedroom with the tingling reminder of his lips on yours, is a completely different experience.

Like a magnet, he finds you again. His mouth on yours, kiss unrestrained under the cover of the music, letting out tiny little moans as he kisses you. Each sound brings a smile to your lips, and after a few moments, you’re grinning into the kiss, twisting your fingers into his hair, and Johnny smiles as he fits his hands under your borrowed sweatshirt, his fingers chilly on your heated waist and belly.

His fingers shift higher and higher, and your breath hitches as he caressed your breast.

“Alright?” He murmurs, giving you a moment to answer while he kisses the corner of your mouth, skimming his lips over your jaw, down your throat.

You shiver, twisting your fingers a little more tightly in his hair, shifting just that much closer to him. You can feel every inch of him against you, your body burns and tingles, your heart racing in your chest.

“So good,” you moan softly, tugging lightly on his hair to bring his mouth back to yours.

Johnny smiles into the kiss, his thumb drifting attentively over your nipple. Slowly he eases backwards until he’s flat on his back and you lie against his chest, still just kissing him and yearning to feel his hands touching you everywhere, not just your breast. You shiver against him again, and Johnny is gentle as he rolls you under him, as he tugs the blankets up over your bodies.

“Still cold, Cinderella?” He teases, his nose bumping against your cheek.

You push a section of his hair back behind his ear, spend a few seconds lingering there, your thumb against his face. He’s so handsome, and you being here beneath him in his bed, it’s unreal. Like a dream. Like a fairytale Cinderella moment you never thought you’d have because he’s an SM Prince, and who are you? Hardly any better than a servant.

Johnny shifts to the side, looking down at you. “What are you thinking about? You’ve got that expression.” He lifts a finger and traces the furrow between your eyebrows.

“I’m just thinking how I don’t belong here.” You sigh, looking away to the window. Your hand is on his arm and you absentmindedly stroke over his sunflower tattoo, mirroring the movements of his thumb moving back and forth on your waist beneath the sweatshirt. 

Johnny’s lips touch against your throat, pulling a sigh from your lips, to which he asks, “What do you mean you don’t belong here? And don’t tell me again that it’s because you’re a manager.”

But that’s exactly why. 

“Stay here. With me.” Johnny withdraws his hand from beneath your sweatshirt. “If you feel like this is moving too fast, we can stop here. We can go to sleep. Just sleep.”

He moves back an inch or two, just as much as his narrow twin bed will allow, but you don’t want him to go far. You scoot closer again, still gripping his arm. Johnny smiles at that. You sink your head onto the pillow, look up at him. “I’ll stay.”

“Good.” Johnny brings his hand up, tracing his knuckles lightly along your cheek in a way that makes your heart pound and your toes and fingertips tingle in delight, in the need for reciprocation, to touch him and hold him too. But you bring your hands up to your chest, clench them into tight fists inside the sleeves of the sweater, will yourself to not touch him because if you do, you’re pretty sure you won’t be able to stop yourself from going further. 

“You promise you won’t run away after I close my eyes?” Johnny asks. 

“I promise.” You watch as Johnny stands up from the bed, and he hesitates then for a moment, looking down at you, his hands on his hips. You think, for a moment, that he’s about to tell you goodnight and sleep in Haechan’s bed instead. But he takes a deep breath, his thumbs tracing along the waistband of his sweatpants. 

“So, normally, I do sleep in my underwear. I get hot at night, so it’s just a lot more comfortable for me.” He explains, glancing away as he admits this. You have a feeling that he might actually normally sleep naked, but given that you’ve both agreed to draw the line at making out and some light touching tonight, being naked in bed with you might be a bit more than you wanted. 

You appreciate his unspoken question, a request for you to consent to him stripping to his underwear to sleep in bed with you. But it’s his bed, in his bedroom, in his apartment where you still feel you don’t entirely belong. You’re the intruder here. And besides--

“I like to sleep in my underwear too,” you tell him. “So it works out.” 

Beneath the blanket, you shimmy easily out of the silky basketball shorts Johnny had lent you, and as you drop them out over the side of the bed, you watch Johnny swallow, his throat bobbing even as he smiles a little. You watch too as his thumbs tuck under the waistband of his pants, and then he’s pushing them down, kicking them off, slipping back into the narrow bed with you.

You keep the sweater on, but the bare skin of your legs, from toe to hip feel so free beneath the sheets, and when Johnny’s knee knocks into yours, you feel it from the point of contact all the way through your body. You’re hyper-aware of him, more than you’ve ever been with anyone else probably.

And then you lift your leg a little, draping it over one of his so your knee rests between both of his. You prop yourself on your side a bit, a hand tucked under the pillow. Johnny faces you too.

“Goodnight, Cinderella,” he whispers. 

“Goodnight, Johnny.”

You don’t remember falling asleep. One moment you were listening to the music softly playing still from the speakers, to the even sound of Johnny breathing. And then you’re woken by the sound of your phone ringing while the sky outside is still a dim shade of gray.

Your phone’s in the pocket of the shorts on the floor, so you fumble around for a moment before finally fishing them out of the pocket. You stab at the button to answer the call, squinting against the brightness of the screen.

“Hello?” You mumble into the phone.

Johnny shifts beside you, his hand sliding over your belly where the sweatshirt has ridden up through the night. His thumb touches the lacy edge of your panties. You close your eyes and focus on breathing, on listening to whoever’s interrupted your sweet sleep so early in the morning. 

“I’ve got some good news.” It’s your boss, the one who makes all of the big calls. “Schedules are cancelled for the day, that’s the official news. The city’s snowed in, so you can stay home today.”

You can’t believe Johnny was right about that. You’ve never had a day where you heard of their schedules being cancelled because of the weather like this, but you accept it, thank him for calling to let you know, and when you end the call, you lie there in the silent darkness of the bedroom.

At some point in the night, the music has ended. It must be very early, with the sky still so dark outside the window, but even in the half-light you can still see snowflakes drifting by. 

Johnny’s fingers twitch on your belly, his pinky finger stroking along the top edge of your panties. You turn your head to look at him.

His eyes are still closed, but you can tell that he’s awake.

“Who was that?” He asks after a few moments, his voice soft and rough at the same time, drenched with sleep. 

“You were right. The day’s schedules are cancelled.” You lay your hand over his. You’re half-tempted to move it just because it’s driving you to distraction, but at the same time you don’t want him to stop touching you like this.

“Mm, perfect.” Johnny opens one eye to look at you. “Now we can just sleep for the rest of the morning. Stay in bed.”

You want that. There’s nothing you want more right now than to stay here in bed with Johnny. “I should probably go let the other boys know. Tell them to turn off their alarms. To stay inside today where it’s warm.”

The tip of his pinky makes it just beneath the edge of your panties. Your nipples are hard, and you’re glad you’re wearing the sweatshirt so he can’t tell how just this tiny touch is affecting you so greatly. But it’s something in the way he’s looking at you right then--his bottom lip caught beneath his teeth, his eyes on your parted lips--that tells you that somehow he already knows how aroused you are.

You almost close your thighs, squeeze your legs together to do something about that burning need rising between your legs. But your one leg is still draped over Johnny’s, your calf against his. And when you move it just a little, the friction of your skin against his has Johnny breathing more deeply.

There’s a buzz running under your skin, zipping through your veins, and in the moment you forget everything else but that feeling and Johnny making you feel it. 

Your hand covers his on your belly, and you apply just the lightest amount of pressure. His fingers slide so eagerly into your panties.

His breath sounds unsteady, and you’re sure yours does too.

“I’m gonna be so honest right now,” he tells you, his voice barely more than a breath. “I’m so hard, baby. The second you made that little whimper, shit, I felt lightheaded.” You don’t know what whimper he’s talking about, but you don’t care. His fingertips are edging lower and lower inside your panties and in a second he’ll be touching your clit and that’s all you want right now. You almost buck up into his touch.

You grip his wrist before he can, and Johnny freezes. “We don’t have any music,” you tell him. 

Johnny smiles. “Guess you’ll just have to try to keep quiet then, won’t you?”

“Guess you should kiss me again then.” You reply, and Johnny’s only too pleased to satisfy that request.

The moment his mouth is on yours, he’s dipping his fingers lower, his middle finger touching your clit, and he gasps lightly as he feels the heat of your wetness coating his fingers. You can’t believe you’re doing this with Johnny.

He rolls closer, and as he does you can feel his erection against your thigh. 

“You want me to finger you, baby?” His words flow over your lips, swallowed right down by your eagerness. You nod. “I want to hear you say it.”

A new wave of heat bursts in your belly at Johnny’s dominant tone. “I want your fingers, Johnny.” 

He smiles as he kisses you now, pressing his long middle finger inside you in a way that would have you loudly gasping except for his mouth sealed over yours. Johnny curls his finger just right, his palm smoothly moving against your clit as he thrusts his finger inside you, soon adding a second then a third. 

You’re openly panting and moaning into his mouth as he fucks you on his fingers. His other arm is wrapped around your back, bracing you against him as he works you quickly toward an orgasm. His erection is against your thigh, and occasionally you notice him grinding against you, thrusting forward to help with what he needs. But most of his attention is on you, making you feel good.

It’s still some time before dawn when Johnny brings you tumbling over the edge of your climax. Your thighs close around his arm, his fingers still pumping inside you, and you bite his tongue as you cum, and that just makes him moan. 

You’re still shaking from the ecstasy when you break the kiss to drop your head to his shoulder, your breath coming out in shaky puffs.

Johnny kisses your forehead, his damp fingers pull out, slipping out of your panties to rest against your thigh, the other hand strokes your lower back, a relaxing weight keeping you resting against him. You try to move a hand down, wanting to touch him too, but Johnny makes a noise.

“You don’t have to.” His damp fingers close around your wrist. “I’m fine.”

“You’re still hard.” You raise your knee a little so your thigh brushes against where his dick is still full in his underwear. 

His eyes flutter for a moment, his hips grinding forward. 

You lift a hand to touch his hair, tugging lightly to bring his lips to yours as you tilt your head back. “Let me make you feel good, too, Johnny.”

Johnny slides his body over yours smoothly, his body bracketed perfectly by your thighs. You tangle your arms behind his neck, kissing him like your life depends on it as he grinds against you through your panties. 

You can feel him very clearly now. Every inch of him. You wish he was inside you, stretching you wide open, filling you deeply with his length. You kiss him and trace all of those desires against his tongue. Your heart pounds with that desire, breath racing and your nails rake down his back as he picks a good rhythm. You’re going to cum again, you already know it.

“Fuck,” Johnny mumbles into the kiss. “I wish I could cum inside you.”

“Then fuck me.” You gasp back. “Where are condoms?”

His lips slide from yours, over your jaw to your throat. He groans. “In the drawer over there.” But you can tell from the tightness in his voice, from the broken staccato beat of his movements that he’s close, that he probably won’t be able to hold back much longer. Why wait? Why risk putting a pause on this if it might just ruin his orgasm?

You shake your head, tangle your fingers in his hair, guide his lips back to yours. Next time. He can fuck you next time. Right now you just want him to cum; you want him to get you to cum a second time.

A hoarse groan builds in the back of his throat, and Johnny thrusts one last time before he freezes, his cock twitching in his underwear, right against you. You can feel the wet heat of him spreading through the material right against you, and you buck your hips up, chasing your own orgasm even if it means grinding against Johnny’s sensitive cock as he comes down from his high.

Johnny’s mouth feels so soft against yours when you kiss this time as your orgasm crashes through you. Lazy kisses, bodies intertwined. Johnny doesn’t move from between your thighs, just holding himself above you, kissing you slowly and softly.

Morning is breaking outside, though with the heavy winter weather, there’s not too much of a difference visually. 

Eventually Johnny moves away, his hand slides up under your sweatshirt, just touching your bare skin as you both tuck yourself against each other and catch your breath. 

It’s still early. You could roll over to fall back asleep, but even as you consider that, you know it’s too late, you’re already wide awake. Johnny knows it too, so after a handful of moments, he kisses you and then sits up.

“I’m going to shower.” He stands out of bed, tugging uncomfortably at his underwear. You can see the damp spot spread over the front of them, and you hide your smile in his pillow. You made him cum in his pants. It’s cute. You close your eyes and replay that moment, Johnny pressed against your like that, the way he’d moved, the way he’d sounded as he came.

When you open your eyes again, he’s gone. The bathroom door is closed, only a thin sliver of light beneath it and the gentle patter of the shower turning on indicating that Johnny’s behind it.

The dorm is still thick with the sound of sleep, so you’re quiet as you redress and creep out of Johnny’s room. You stand to look out the window in the living room. The world outside is covered in thick snow that continues to fall. Your breath fogs the glass.  

Taeyong’s the first one up, stumbling out of his room in just shorts and a tshirt, shivering as he walks into the kitchen. He pours himself a glass of water, and when he turns around, he spots you and nearly drops the glass. He swears viciously before realizing it’s you.

“Fuck, I’m sorry.” He covers his mouth. “Did you stay here last night?”

You nod. “The weather got worse and I was really tired, so Johnny insisted that I stay.” Taeyong makes a face that you can’t quite decipher before he hides it. “Your schedules are cancelled for the day, by the way. We’re snowed in.”

Taeyong nods. “In that case, I’m going back to bed.” He disappears back into his bedroom, and once more the dorm falls silent.

A shiver works its way down your spine as you yawn. You’re so tired, but you know you can’t go back to sleep, so you go make yourself a strong cup of coffee, watch the snow and think. You think about how what you did with Johnny was a mistake--it was great and you loved it and you can’t truly bring yourself to regret it, but it was a mistake nonetheless because if it gets out, if this becomes serious or ends badly, then it will reflect horribly on your career, and all of your dreams will be flushed away. 

You want Johnny. You love the way he makes you feel. But you know that you shouldn’t indulge. 

And for the next several minutes you sway back and forth on that dangerous line of thought--you want him, but you shouldn’t want him. Maybe you should just leave today, go home, and the next time you see him pretend that the events of last night and this morning never happened. Maybe he’ll forget you’re the Cinderella he spent months searching for.; maybe that was all just a fun game for him anyway, and he’ll lose interest now that he’s found you.

By the time the coffee finishes brewing, you hear the sound of movement in Johnny’s room as he leaves the shower. You pour yourself a mug, another one for him, and then you knock carefully (to not spill the coffees) on his door before opening it.

Johnny’s sitting in bed again, but when he sees you, he sits up and runs his fingers through his hair. 

“Feel better?” you ask him, standing there beside his bed as you offer him one of the coffees. He nods and sips at his coffee, and you look over at the window again, at the steadily falling snow. "I guess I still need to figure out some way to get home.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Johnny murmurs into his coffee. “You can stay here. Stay right here.” He lifts his face out of his mug just long enough to grab your hand and pull you down to sit on his bed. He doesn’t let go of your hand.

You say his name in a warning tone, but it just makes him smile. 

“What?” His thumb rubs gently over your knuckles. “Cinderella kept running away from the Prince because she was scared of her stepmother and stepsisters, right? Well, the Prince found her and they lived happily ever after. I like you. I liked you before I knew you were my Cinderella from Halloween. Finding that out last night or this morning or whatever, that’s just a bonus. I like you in case what we did earlier didn’t make that obvious, and if you like me too, well we can find a way to be together even if our wicked company tries their best to keep it from happening.”

You feel very warm all of a sudden, possibly its the coffee or the bulky sweater Johnny had let you borrow, or it could very well be that he’s confessing to you. Confessing in such a cheesy manner, too. He has feelings for you. For you, not for the Cinderella fantasy version of you. 

You push the sleeves of the sweater up your arms, trying to cool down some.

“Johnny.” You know that nothing good can come of what he’s suggesting.

“Don’t say my name like that,” he says softly. “Don’t say it like it’s a no. Don’t say it like you want me but you can’t. We already started down this path, so don’t turn your back on this, please. Say my name like you agree with me, like you like me too.” 

“Johnny.” This time you put your longing for him behind those two syllables. You try your best to make it sound like a yes. 

You want Johnny. You want this to work. And if he believes in it, then you want to too. But you won’t let this affect your dream. You’ll have Johnny and you’ll have your dream job too. You can figure it out as you go.

Johnny grins. “Yeah, that sounds much better.” He takes a drink of his coffee again, watching you over the lip of the mug, then says, “I can’t get over how a few months ago I wanted to learn your name and now you’re having breakfast with me in my sweater.”

“Coffee is hardly breakfast, Johnny. Please tell me that you know that.” You groan, prying the coffee mug out of his hands.

He shrugs and grins, watching as you sit his mug and your own on his bedside table. And then he reaches for you, pulling you into his lap so you’re face-to-face. Johnny kisses you slowly, deeply, and when he pulls away, he murmurs, “All I know for now is that you’re my mysterious Cinderella, you’re wearing my sweater, I can still smell you in my sheets, and we have no plans for the rest of the day. If you’d like, I’d love to make you cum again.”

Oh God, you think to yourself, what have you gotten yourself into?

a/n: so months and months ago back when I was accepting requests based off a prompt list, someone sent me a prompt for Johnny to use both “No, like…. It’s just, I can’t believe you’re actually wearing my clothes.” and “I can’t get over how a few months ago I wanted to learn your name and now you’re having breakfast with me in my sweater.” and thus this was born

I wouldn’t have taken so long to write this, and I’m really really sorry to the original requester (especially since I know I’ve messaged them and let them know it would take a while, but damn I don’t think either of us thought it would take this long, and I checked and they haven’t been active on their blog in a while, so now I feel bad) but I got distracted with writing the next part of the poly series (which was Adore You) and then forgot about this for a brief time, and then once I remembered I was deep into working on the poly finale, so I had to focus on it. But now I’ve finished that! And I’ve finished this too, so if the original requester is still around and sees this then I’m sorry it took so long please forgive me! I would tag them, but I’m not entirely sure if they wanted to be tagged in this or not!