#yes it's low scoring but it's still great to watch and see these girls growing and developing

[fazcinatingblog]

That game was INSANE I'm still thinking about it holy crap

[amphxtrite]

cedric diggory x fem!reader

part two: Dreamiest Boy in School.

warnings: smut, shower sex, swearing, oral (female receiving), masturbation.

If you are not comfortable please do not read.

summary: Cedric’s been in love with you for years. What will he do when he catches the reader moaning his name after a quidditch game in the prefect’s bathroom. Fluff at the end.

a/n: characters are 18+ and it is fully consensual.

word count: 4.2k

enjoy<3

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Cedric first met you in his fifth year when he’d first been appointed captain of the hufflepuff team, it was your first time trying out despite also being in your fifth, but it was no secret that it wasn’t your first time on the pitch. You were a natural, blocking quaffles with ease, letting none enter the goal. Your movements were smooth, elegant, but forceful, effectively getting the job done, but truly showing off the art of flying. Cedric had to forcibly pinch himself after you touched down. 

Today was a rough game against gryffindor, It went on much longer than it needed to with Ms. Pink Toad calling random people from the pitch and ‘hem hemming’ every time someone managed to score a goal. When Cedric had eventually caught the snitch, he had to deal with a ten minute long speech from Umbridge speaking of his bravery and strength, he cut it short after she began to run her hands over his face.

Now came Cedric’s favourite part of the game, his friends had already congratulated him on the win, but he was close by you and your friends as you touched down from the goal post. You were distributing high-fives to everyone, even throwing Cedric a quick thumbs up before running to your gym bag and taking a long sip from your water bottle. Here it comes, your pupils glance from side to side, scanning the area before grabbing the hem of your jersey to dab at the sweat running down your face. No one on the team cared you did this, but you still felt weird randomly pulling your jersey up to clean off your face. You did this after every practice and game, and although he didn’t mean to intrude Cedric found himself gazing at you often.

Cedric takes his bottom lip into his teeth as he looks to the grass beneath him, his thoughts running wild. He pictures what it would be like if he was the one pulling at your shirt, slowly pushing it up your gorgeous body as you beg him to take it off, rolling your hips desperately against his. The seeker’s pants were starting to get a little more constricting at the thought.

Ever since his first time seeing you at the pitch, he’d find himself thinking of you this way a lot. His name spilling from your lips, mouth agape, legs quivering. It kept him awake often, thinking about you. Imagining the feeling of your lips pressed to his as he rocked his hips in and out of you. He didn’t appreciate the sinful thoughts encasing his mind every time he saw you, it drove him insane. Any time you licked your lips, shook out your hair, smirked or even simply laughed, he’d have to excuse himself to rid of the heat from his face.

It was even worse the two of you had become close friends in the last two years, you were the person to help and train him for the triwizard tournament, working out with him often and supporting him through his challenges, also being his unofficial ‘date’ to the ball. You pushed him well, preparing him for the physical challenges that lay ahead in the contest, but only having his crush grow as you worked by his side and hugged him good luck. After he won, you were one of the first people he went to after his father. You had jumped into his arms and held him tight as he recounted the story of how Voldemort had stunned him and Harry had saved his life. Upon finishing  the story, you had kissed him on the cheek and whispered.

“I’m so glad you’re okay. I don’t know what I’d do if you were gone.”

He knew then that he was never going to let you go.

Cedric did his best to put your friendship first, reminding himself of your platonic status and your great history. He couldn’t jeopardize it all, even if he fancied you. Running himself a cold shower after stripping down his robes in the prefect’s bathroom, he tries to place his thoughts in a different headspace. He ignores his surroundings as he tries to rid himself of the dirty images, letting the cold water stream onto his face. It was practically useless, his mind drifted back to your lips pulled between your teeth or how your lips felt against his cheek after each hit of cold water. With one small thought, his arousal and need grows.

Sighing quietly and shutting the tap off, the hufflepuff head boy wraps a towel around his waist as he picks up his bag to begin getting changed. Halfway to zip open his bag, he can hear a shaky voice calling, not to far away.

“Oh f-fuck Ced.” 

Body immediately going rigid, the wide-eyed boy regains his train of thought and remembering where he is, glancing around the showers. The voice was so familiar, close.

So... dream-like. Sifting through his memories to match the voice, he thinks of people close to him that were also prefects or head girls, the only person to came to mind was you, but that was impossible. What were you doing saying his name so beautifully.

“Faster, please.” The voice rang out again in a softer mewl. The brunette’s cheeks light on fire as the voice finally registers in his ears, no doubt it was your soft cry. Despite his better judgment, Cedric needed to check this out. To make sure he wasn’t just imagining your voice begging for him.

As he approaches the shower he hears the voice from, he can hear a heavy pant and a shower getting louder. Standing before the closed curtain. His hand hovering over top the thin material, he mentally debates this, perhaps he was wrong. He might’ve misheard, and the he’d be barging in on a random girl. Pulling his hand away he turn to leave, but another moan perks his attention.

“F-fuck Cedric, I-I’m gonna c-cum.” A quivering whimper, cries his name again.

He’d heard you say his name about a million times, cheering him on, talking to him, laughing out his name. That was you inside, about to cum to his image.

Not able to take it anymore and he rips open the shower curtain, his cock springing up under the towel and pure desire taking over his senses. There you were, damp hair streaming down your shoulders, leaning against a wall with one hand on your breast and the other deep between your legs, pushing in and out at a rapid pace, practically sobbing for release.

“Are you masturbating?”

You barely register the soft question, but as your eyes open they instantly flash with horror and you immediately pull your hands away from your body, meeting gazes with a wide-eyed Cedric. A flood of embarrassment consumes you, he must have heard you. Merlin, you felt disgusting.

“Oh my gosh Cedric I’m so sorry!” You apologize frantically, rushing to grab your towel and cover yourself as tears of self-consciousness begin to well in your eyes. “I didn’t- I’m so sorry.” You try and push him out of your way, but Cedric will not let you pass, his grey eyes still staring holes into you. Agonizing seconds pass as he simply looks you down, your head swiveling around to look anywhere but his stoic gaze. 

Finally smirks in amusement, Cedric reaches over and takes your chin in between his fingers, forcing your head up to meet his eyes, you ready yourself for a lecture, or maybe screams, but it doesn’t come.

“I like the way you said my name.” Cedric teases, pushing you back into the running shower.

“Hands between your thighs and on your breast, were you thinking about this?” Cedric purrs, pushing you against the smooth wall and pressing his chest against yours, slowly rocking his hard on against your sensitive clit with the rough towel around his waist. 

“Imagining me taking you in the shower, fucking you against the wall and whispering dirty thoughts into your ear?” He continues in a low voice, continuing the gentle rock of his hips.

Your mouth drops open at Cedric’s reaction and the waves of pleasure clouding your senses. “Answer me.” Cedric growls, pushing harder against you and encasing you in his arms, his elbows by your head and his forearms against the wall. “Y-yes, I-I was.” your soft voice breathes out. “Yes, who?” Cedric grins, his eyes growing dark with lust as he watches you writhe beneath him. “Yes Cedric.” You moan as the toned hufflepuff continues to roll his hips slowly, an approving smirk spreading on his lips. 

 “You don’t know how long I’ve wished to do this love.” Cedric begins to nip at your neck, sucking and kissing around until he finds the spot that makes your breath hitch. You bite your lip to suppress the upcoming moan.

“Stop.” Cedric’s needy voice growls at you. “The only one who’ll be biting those lips is me.” He states, desire lacing every word.

Roughly pushing his lips against yours in a heated kiss, his warm tongue swirls around your mouth, drinking in your intoxicating taste and gliding his rough fingertips up and down your body, memorizing every curve before coming to rest on your hips. Your teeth clash, pleasure and heat travel to your core, fueling your arousal as a hard member prods at you from under Cedric’s dangerously low towel. 

“Besides, I want the whole castle to know you’re mine.” The grey-eyed hufflepuff bucks his hips into yours again making you squirm. “C-Cedric!” You cry out, wrapping your arms around his muscular shoulders and digging your nails into your champion’s back, the steam in the shower clouds your perception even more, all you could sense was Cedric’s body against yours, every muscle every scar. Cedric’s teasing lips pull up again as you begin to ramble.

“I-I need you.” you beg nervously, grinding your hips against the soaked material of Cedric’s towel.

“Would you like my fingers or my tongue love.” Cedric’s cool digits brush the inside of your thighs, you nearly jump at the feeling. “Both.” You manage to whimper out as Cedric’s hard stare bores into you.

“Dirty girl.” He smirks teasingly, his voice smooth as satin and dark as sin. “Beg for it.”

You could feel your arousal growing at Cedric’s words. You’d never seen him as the type to wish his partner to beg, but Merlin you weren’t complaining.

“Please Cedric, I need you. You make me feel so fucking good, please don’t stop, let the whole castle know who I belong to.” 

Your champion’s eyes go from a piercing grey to almost black as lust and arousal course through his veins. He slowly lowers himself to the ground, pressing kisses all the way down to where you needed him most. Cedric takes his time spreading your legs apart and kissing up your inner thighs and blowing on your clit, sending shockwaves up your trembling form. He looks back up at you as he leans forwards and licks a stripe through your folds and begins to swirl his tongue around your clit. Your thoughts run cold, all that consumes your mind was the ecstasy running through your veins, Cedric flicking his tongue around your sex, fucking you with his tongue and lapping hungrily at your sweet juices.

“Oh fuck Cedric, please don’t stop.” Your mewling voice begs needlingly, breathing heavily to keep yourself from falling over. 

Cedric smiles into you and slowly teases his fingers around your entrance, tracing along the edge of your slit before sinking two long digits into your wetness. spots flash in front of your eyes as your head falls back against the wall. Cedric pulls and pushes his fingers in and out of you at a quick pace, twisting them around and bending slightly as your walls grow tighter around him. He uses his body to keep your legs from doubling over in pleasure and continues to ravage you with both his tongue and fingers. flicking and sucking at your bundle of nerves while thrusting his fingers in and out of your core. A familiar knot begins to form and you dig your hand into Cedric’s damp hair, pulling him closer to you and desperately rocking your hips against his face, desperate for any more friction he could give you. Cedric chuckles at your moaning form. Sending even more delicious vibrations to your sensitive clit, as moans mix with longing cries of your lover’s name. Cedric pulls his mouth away, bringing himself to a standing position, still burying his fingers in you, replacing his tongue with his calloused thumb to massage your throbbing bundle of nerves.

“You don’t know what you do to me darling. How does it make you feel that you give me a hard-on every time you lift that shirt up to wipe your face? Every time you bite that gorgeous lip, or flip your hair you’d have me wanting to bend you over and fuck you senseless.”

You try and respond, but the pleasure Cedric was giving to you was all your mind could take. The sound of his fingers pounding into your wet core and Cedric’s deep pants were driving you insane. You can only moan in response and crash your lips against his again. You can taste yourself as Cedric dips his tongue against yours, nibbling on your lip and picking up his pace with his fingers. A familiar knot forms in your abdomen and you have to pull away from Cedric’s lips to moan and arch your back even more, you can feel your walls clenching tighter against the rough fingers pounding in and out of you.

All at once the knot snaps and waves upon waves of euphoria washes over you and consuming your vision in white. Crying out Cedric’s name over and over again, the brunette helps you ride out your high, continuing to pulse his fingers in your clenching hole and kneeling down again to lap up your juices as you moan out and rock your hips gently, Cedric’s cock begins to twitch like mad watching he waves of cum spill from your core, but he takes his time, savoring every drop of your sex.

Cedric is practically beaming with pride as he stands again, holding the back of your head in his large hand. 

“So sweet love.” He smirks, wiping a drop of your cum off of his bottom lip with his thumb and licking it off slowly, keeping direct eye contact with you. Your face was red, your legs quivering, and deep breaths sounding from your lips.

“I’m not done with you yet darling.” Cedric drops the towel from his waist and boxes you in his arms again.

“You won’t be able to walk when I’m through with you.” The toned seeker teases in a dark voice.

Feeling his length against your stomach you bite back a moan, fuck he was big. You were unsure what to do, but taking his twitching cock into your hand, you pump his length experimentally, receiving a soft moan in return. Picking up the pace, you spread the precum on his tip as a lubricant. Working your hand against him, he reconnects your lips, a soft whimper flowing from Cedric’s lips. You keep using your hand to pleasure your champion, but Cedric can’t take it anymore.

“I need to be inside of you darling.” Cedric rasps, reluctantly pulling your hand from his throbbing tip and wrapping his arms around you.

“jump.”

Without hesitation you leap up and wrap your legs around Cedric’s hips and he presses you against the wall for support.

“Ready Love?” Cedric smirks, his hands squeezing your ass and cock teasing your soft folds.

“Shut up and take me Diggory.”

Cedric wastes no time sinking into you, slowly at first, letting you adjust to his thick shaft, small grunts sounding from your lips as Cedric sink deeper.

“You’re taking me so well darling, f-fuck.” Cedric groans, sticking his head in the crook of your neck, nibbling on your sensitive skin and squeezing your hips.

Tears prick in your eyes as Cedric bottoms out in you, burying your hand in his wet brown curls you whimper at the feeling of being so full.

After a couple moments the pain turns to pleasure and you shimmy around motioning to Cedric it’s okay to move. The brunette begins to thrust in and out of you, slow at first, but soon finding a rhythm, pulling in and out of you in a quick pace, thrusting out to almost his tip before burying himself to the hilt inside you once again.

“Faster Cedric.” your pleading voice gasps and pleads.

Cedric obliges, snapping his hips back and forth to the point you see spots in your vision and you’re dragging your nails down your champions back. Cedric frantically presses his lips against yours again as he groans loudly. You swallow the moan in the kiss and cup your hands around Cedric’s defined jawline, pulling him closer and clenching your core in surprise as he pushes his thumb to your clit.

Your reaction pulls another breathy moan from Cedric, but his thrusts don’t stop. He continues to pound into you, his desire out weighing any tiredness that should’ve been.

Your loud moans only egg him on further. Your sinful, desperate pleas for more drive him insane. Arching your back and rolling your hips, Cedric pounds even further into you.

“Fuck Cedric, right there.” Your loud beg cries out and Cedric smirks, slamming his hips into your spot over and over again. Screams of pleasure and sighs of satisfaction fill the air. Wet sounds of skin on skin ring throughout the large bathroom as Cedric sinks deep into you with each needy thrust.

Parting your lips, another choked moan is pulled from your lips and your vision goes blank once again as your coil snaps and your grip tightens on Cedric. Your champion doesn’t stop, his thrusts are still merciless and needy, but as your slit clenches his cock in a tight hold, his thrust becomes lazier and he can feel his release coming soon.

“You make me feel so good Ced, I’ve had my hand in between my legs thinking about this for so long, o-oh fuck.” You moan in a teasing voice against the brunettes ear. You can feel Cedric’s upper body go rigid as he uses the last of his strength to snap his hips into yours like his life depended on it. Your dirty talk making him imagine your naked body lying on your bed, moaning out his name, probably only a hallway away from him. Years of lust and love fuel his next thrusts. Every time he’d painfully gotten hard because of you, every time he imagined you underneath him and making you scream his name in ecstasy was all coming true and groaning your name into the crook of your neck he snaps his hips in a desperate thrust one more time before releasing all over your tight walls, his body pulsing in euphoria sending shockwaves of pleasure through his entire being.

Your eyes roll back and your legs jolt at his powerful stream, thanking Merlin you had taken the potion to help with cramps not too long ago. You begin to roll your hips lazily to help Cedric ride out his orgasm, your core practically numb with pleasure and your entire body exhausted. Cedric is panting heavily, his hand buried in your hair and his other still supports your body. He gives your bum a small squeeze, your body still against the wall and his still pressed to yours in support, letting the warm water from the tap relax your tired muscles and wash the proof of your pleasures off of your legs, while still intimately connected.

Cedric smiles as he looks deep into your eyes, still panting heavily, but now with nervousness and a slight anxiety. He couldn’t keep his true feelings from you any longer.

“You know I love you right?” The hufflepuff head boy confesses, running a hand down the side of your face.

“I’d hope so, considering you just fucked me senseless.” You giggle and wrap your arms around Cedric’s toned shoulders. 

Your giggle dies down to a grin and a pink blush makes it’s way onto your face as you look down to see the two of you still connected

“I love you too.” You smile earnestly, a smile playing on your lips and you press a kiss to Cedric’s pink cheek. “I’ve loved you since those days in fifth year when I trained with you, you don’t know how relieved I was you survived, and with Umbridge around I thought I might never get the chance to confess.” Your emotions come through and Cedric has to blink the pure happiness from his eyes to respond.

“I’ve loved you since the moment you came rushing into my arms after the maze, I had a crush on you before, but i’ll never forget when you said those words, I knew I’d never let you go.” Cedric’s smile falters a bit as your stare drops to his lips.

“C-can I kiss you?” His face grows closer to yours.

“Didn’t ask for permission while you were cumming in me.” You tease, peppering kisses all around Cedric’s handsome features as his face grows hot in embarrassment.

“I-Is that a yes?” He murmurs hopefully, your soft lips trailing down his jawline.

You smile and press a kiss to the corner of Cedric’s mouth.

“As long as I can be your girl.” You giggle.

Cedric immediately pushes his lips to yours in a more delicate, but wanting kiss. Taking his time now to show you his adoration and care for you. The sounds of your lips molding together sounding through the large shower. Cedric runs his tongue through your mouth again, slowly this time, sighing at the taste of your after-game drink and the light taste of strawberry chap stick that remained on the inside your lips, begging to be found and appreciated.

As Cedric continues to ravage your mouth you run your hands up and down his chest and abs, taking deep breaths of his autumn like scent. Campfire, vanilla and honey were the most prominent, while his aftershave also offered a sharp, wood like smell.

“I love you y/n, so much. It would be an honor to have you as my girl.” Cedric sighs against your lips, placing one final peck before pulling away and grinning like a little kid. A smile begins to form on your face.

“Hey, did you think you could, you know.” You awkwardly motion down towards where you were still intertwined. “My legs are kid of sore.” Cedric’s eyes widen in realization and he nods frantically, apologies spilling from his lips as he slowly pulls out of you with a small ‘pop.’ Cedric lowers your feet to the ground and begins to back up, but the sudden weight removed from your body made your legs forget how to move and you crash into Cedric’s chest again.

Your legs felt numb and you couldn’t get them to move properly without falling. Cedric does his best to hide his pride as your lips pull into a frown, but a small smirk emerges as he bites his lip to stop it. He glances down and also notices the small purple love bites littering your neck and he almost beams.

“I hope you’re happy with yourself Ced, I can’t walk.” You roll your eyes at his useless attempt to stop his smile.

“I am, and I must say you look absolutely ravishing sporting my love bites darling.” He grins darkly, but a light chuckle breaks free.

“Alright let’s get you dressed, come on.” Cedric turns the tap off before leaning over again and catching your legs in his arms, carrying you bridal style out of shower, grabbing your towel and gym bag on the way out.

Placing you down on a bench, he grabs his own fluffy, white towel from his bag. Using it to pat your hair and body dry, making sure to get every inch of your body, and being careful around your intimate parts as you winced often. Grabbing another school-provided towel, he pats his upper-body dry before tying the cloth around his waist. Shaking out his damp hair, he grabs your bag and places it next to you.

“Do you think you can do it yourself darling?” His voice is filled with concern, but you nod and zip open your bag. Cedric turns to his own clothes and after tugging on a pair of boxers and sweatpants, wipes his hair dry before throwing on a t-shirt.

He turns to see you in a black sports bra, tugging on a pair of black tights, but unable to get them up your bum. Cedric smirks, walking over to you and pulling you up, holding you against him as a support while you finally get the leggings on. He sits you back down before pulling a jumper out of his bag and slipping it over your head.

The sweater seems to swallow you whole and it takes a moment to find the holes for your arms. You thank Cedric and sigh at being engulfed in Cedric’s sweet scent, pulling the jumper over your nose and smiling in content.

“You look better in my clothes than I do.” Cedric smirks happily, pulling you up again and interlocking your hands.

“Well in that case I guess I’ll keep it.” You grin, slipping on your sneakers and following Cedric out the prefect bathroom to the best of your abilities, having to stop often due to the aftershock of Cedric’s desperate pounding. Finally resorting to Cedric carrying you once again. Thankfully Dolores and her goons seemed to be missing from the scene.

Finally making it back to the hufflepuff common room, Cedric sneaks you into his dorm and closes the canopy around his four poster bed. Breathing out in content, The head boy cuddles you into his chest and wraps his arms around your torso.

“Can’t believe you’re actually here on my bed with me, I’ve only dreamt of this.” Cedric murmurs giddily, leaning down to press a quick kiss to your nose.

You snake your arms around Cedric’s broad chest and cuddle closer to him.

“I’m never letting you go, you know that.” Your champion teases, kissing your hairline.

“I’m not going anywhere.” You reassure, closing your eyes tiredly and slowly drifting off, exhaustion from the day's activities getting to you.

Cedric peers down at you a happy smile resting on his lips as he too yawns and relaxes into his pillow. This day couldn’t have gone any better. He won the game, fucked you in the shower and now he’s cuddling you in his bed. His blush reappears onto his cheeks as your breathy moans engrave themselves into his brain, but pride takes over as he reminds himself it was him who made you moan like that. Peppering kisses on your forehead he finally closes his eyes and replays your evening with a small smirk.

This is my first time writing smut so tips would be appreciated!

[vixenpen]

Dabi smut with a teacher. Like in some quirkless au or something (He’s scarless but hella pierced and tatted), he had to pick up kid!Shoto one day and he sees his hot black teacher (Sis got thickness and curves for days, even in simple clothes) So he consistently picks up Shoto (even when he doesn’t have to) just to hit on her and when he finally scores a date with her, he’s at his limit after seeing her in casual wear and how amazing her personality is.

I LOVED this request. I had so much fun writing it and the details were amazing! I hope you enjoy

Hot For Teacher (Dabi x Black Reader) Quirkless AU

“Ah, come on kid,” Dabi sighed, expelling a stream of smoke as he waited at the curb for his baby brother to get out of school.

He rolled down the window to air out the car and watched the stream of middle schoolers burst through the double doors and head to their respective busses or cars.

“Shooo,” Dabi groaned, “where are you? I got shit to do, kid.”

He enjoyed hanging out with his youngest sibling, and he had no problem picking the kid up, but he also had a business to help run. If he didn’t get back to the shop in an hour and a half like he’d promised Hawks, he’d get an earful about responsibility and time management and blah, blah, blah.

He leaned back in the driver seat, deciding to give Shoto another fifteen minutes before he texted the kid.

Just then another wave of kids exited the building, Dabi’s bright blue eyes scanned them before landing on the finest woman he’d ever seen in his life.

Her cream colored silk blouse popped beautifully against her rich brown skin and a pair of slacks hugged her wide hips. Her makeup made her dark eyes sparkle and red lipstick painted her pouty mouth.

Dabi sat up, turquoise eyes running up and down that beautiful body of hers as the sexy teacher strutted past to talk to parents and wave good bye to students. When she turned around, his eyes slid down to the fattest ass he’d ever seen and he licked his lips.

Damn it must be hard as hell for her students to concentrate in class.

She turned again and began walking back towards the school. Fuck! If he didn’t stop gawking he would miss his chance. He couldn’t let that happen.

Holding his cigarette between his lips, Dabi quickly stepped out of the car and took leggy strides to catch up with the teacher.

“Excuse me.”

She turned around, her big dark eyes landing on him. Immediately Dabi knew she was sizing him up and wasn’t impressed. She gave that same disapproving teacher look Fuyumi gave whenever she was put off by someone.

Regardless, he flashed her his most charming smile. He may not be a goody two shoes like these other khaki wearing dads out here, but he knew he looked damn better than any of them.

“Sorry to bother you ma’am. I was just hoping you could help me out.”

“Sure,” she smiled back, showing off a pair of pretty white teeth. “Let’s start with that cigarette. It’s against our school policy to be smoking on the premises so if you could.” She cocked a brow expectantly.

Dabi cocked his own pierced brow back in response, but quickly stubbed out his cigarette on a nearby janitor’s cart and threw it away in the accompanying trash can.

Her smile widened. “Great. Now, how can I help you?”

Dabi chuckled. “Well, ya see, I just got this new phone and cleared out all my old contacts. Ya know, new year, new me and all that,” he shrugged, “anyway, my contacts are pretty empty now. So, I was wondering if I could get yours.”

She let out a little snort of amusement.

“That’s your pick up line? How many Girls have had the misfortune of hearing that one?”

“You’d be the first,” Dabi smirked back. “Figured the usual ‘hey beautiful, what’s your name’ line wouldn’t exactly help me stand out.”

“Trust me, you don’t need help standing out.” She replied, eying him again.

“Then that means I’m ahead of the game, right?” He held out a hand, “I’m Dabi.”

Tentatively, the teacher shook it. “Ms. Y/n.”

“Ms. Y/n, huh...” Dabi repeated slowly, his eyes ran over you with a barely masked longing. “Not ‘Mrs’?”

“Not yet.” You replied.

“How soon are you looking to change that?” Dabi asked, his smirk growing a bit smaller and more intimate.

“Who said I was looking to change it at all?”

“Certainly not me,” he replied, “that’s why I asked. I would love to talk more about how much you don’t want to change it over dinner sometime though.”

You fended off a smile. You were not about to give this over confident asshole any encouragement.

“Sorry, but I make it a point not to date my student’s parents.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I’m not a parent then.”

“Oh? So you just like to stroll on the campuses of random middle schools and hit on the teachers for fun?”

Dabi chuckled again.

“I’m here to pick up my little brother. Ah, hell, speaking of which, I actually could use your help with that. Kid hasn’t come out yet and I’ve already been here over half an hour.”

Your pretty face immediately crumpled with worry.

“What’s your brother’s name?”

“Todoroki Shoto.”

“Oh!” You looked surprised. “Shoto. I think I saw him headed towards the baseball field. I think the team has practice today.”

“Dammit! Really? Well, I better go say hi to the kid anyway. You mind, uh, leading the way?”

“Sure.” You shrugged.

Turning, you took the lead and guided Dabi towards the baseball diamond behind the school. You could feel the man’s eyes on your ass the whole way, and couldn’t help but put an extra switch in your hips as you did. Much to his appreciation.

You had to admit the man was fine as hell. The black undercut with lines cut in the side, his multiple piercings and even the colorful tattoos you saw peeking from under his fitted black tshirt were hot as hell. However, you had long since given up on bad boy types. You preferred nerds. Still a little light flirting wouldn’t hurt anything, right?

“There he is.” Dabi stated once the two of you verged on the field. He held up his hands to his mouth and called out: “Yo, Sho!”

The boy looked up, heterochromatic eyes widening in surprise.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had practice today you little half and half?”

“Why don’t you ever check mom’s texts?” Shoto shouted back. “She told you to come later.”

You snickered as Dabi pulled out his phone and checked his text messages.

“Huh. Well I’ll be damned.” He muttered to himself. “Alright, kiddo, I’ll be back in an hour!”

“Can you stop shouting and leave now?! I have to concentrate.”

Dabi laughed before turning back to you.

“Anyway, thanks a lot for your help Ms. Y/n.”

“Just doing my job.”

“Still, I would love to thank you properly. Maybe over coffee.” He said, sounding hopeful.

“Before it was dinner.” You quipped, playfully.

“I know. I‘m just planning for future dates.”

You giggled, shaking your head. “It was nice meeting you, Dabi.” With that you turned and strutted off.

“I hope you know I’m gonna keep trying until I get a yes or no.” He called after you.

As you entered the school’s back entrance you could hear Shoto shouting: “Can you please stop hitting on my teachers? I have to see them everyday!”

Unfortunately for Shoto, his plea seemed to go in one overly pierced ear and out the other because almost everyday since then, Dabi made it a point to stop and talk to you when he came to pick up Shoto.

“Hey there, Ms. Y/n. My contacts are filling up fast. You sure you don’t wanna reserve a spot?”

“Sorry Dabi, but my no dating policy extends to immediate family members as well.”

“I hated to cancel our reservations, but you’re left me no choice, Ms. Y/n.”

“Nobody told you to make reservations, Dabi.”

“Dinner was lonely the other day. If only I had a beautiful black queen to keep me company.”

“I’m sure There are plenty of black queens out there that would have loved to accompanying you to dinner.”

“Yeah, but they wouldn’t have been you.”

Dabi was unrelenting. Always complimenting how amazing your outfits looked on your skin tone, how flattering your make up was, or if you wore a new hairstyle or new jewelry.

You couldn’t lie. The attention was both flattering and refreshing. Since becoming a teacher, you usually only got hit on by studious academic types. Attractive yes, but straight laced and all the same with their game

Unfortunately a disturbing amount of married dads also tried their luck with you.

But Dabi was different.

He may have been a far cry from your usual type, but he was always perfectly respectful and even funny. Not to mention he was much closer to your own age than other men that came on to you.

He must have started bribing Shoto for help or asking him about your interests too. Because sometimes when he would see you, he’d have a new book to give you or your favorite iced tea from a cafe you always frequented. Which, admittedly, was pretty damn cute.

The tatted up alt boy was actually growing on you. So one day, when both of you least expected it, you finally agreed to give him your number and go on a date.

That was the first time you ever saw him straight up smile. Not smirk or grin. He actually beamed. Just like a little boy who’d been told he could have a puppy.

Ok, ok. You admit it—he was cute.

Hopefully, that charm would extend over to dinner.

When the big date came, Dabi cleaned himself up. Opting out of his usual dark attire for a deep blue fitted Ralph Lauren polo and skinny khakis. He even took out some of his piercings in an attempt to look more presentable. He thought he cleaned up pretty nice if he did say so himself, but it was nothing compared to what you strutted in wearing.

Dabi had gotten used to your stylish but conservative work attire. He was so used to your hot teacher look, that he forgot you probably had some regular clothes in that amazing wardrobe of yours.

And damn did you pick out the most show stopping dress you had. You wore a wine colored dress that cut low in the front showing off those juicy tits of yours and stopped above the knee. The heels you wore made your thighs look even yummier and your ass was jiggling out of control with every step.

Down boy. Down boy. Down boy.

He scolded himself.

“Well, don’t you clean up nicely, Dabi?” You teased.

“I’m Touya tonight, beautiful.” He struck a pose like a GQ model. You laughed. “Dabi was that guy that kept hitting on you, Touya’s the guy that’s gonna try not to screw it up.

“Oh,” you ran a manicured finger along his solid chest, “well, I agreed to a date with Dabi, but I guess Touya could be fun too.”

Dabi licked his lip, and your eyes fell on his tongue piercing, hungrily.

“Depending on how well the night goes, you might see Dabi come out later tonight.” He replied, suggestively.

You rolled your eyes, but could feel your cheeks (and your pussy) warming.

“Boy! Come on.”

Dabi as Touya opened the door to the restaurant and ushered you inside.

The restaurant he took you to was definitely a high end place; complete with soft candle light, a jazz quartet, and a maître d’.

The chemistry the two of you had definitely translated over dinner.

Dabi was just as funny as he always was and he was genuinely interested in getting to know everything about you. He hung on to your every word about the funny things your students did in class. He enjoyed hearing your college stories. He even knew some of the books you enjoyed reading and could talk literature easily.

You discovered that he was the co-owner of a tattoo and piercing shop. He was the oldest of his siblings. And he enjoyed traveling and learning new things.

Dabi enjoyed vibing with you. He loved that your personality and sense of humor was just as amazing and substantial as that body he wanted a piece of so bad.

Dinner rolled into drinks and lasted well into the night. By the time the two of you were done it was damn near four A.M.

From that night on, you and Dabi became practically inseparable. He picked you up from school right along with Shoto for dinner after work, swung by with coffee, bought you any and everything you wanted (he does come from money after all) and after a year of dating, you became more than just a ‘Ms.’

Pt.2

[arcadianmoonshadowjedi]

ROTT Thoughts

I know that there's a lot of heat in the TOA fandom and mixed opinions on the ROTT ending and other parts of the movie. Honestly I'm totally cool with everyone whether they enjoyed or disliked all of it, or parts of it, but here are some of my honest opinions. Most importantly, I do NOT condone any attacks on the team that created the movie or anyone with a different opinion.

⚠️ Spoilers and a LOOOOONG post below!

Ok so I'll be completely honest, for the most part, I enjoyed the movie until the very end. I loved the animation and the score and the overall plot with the titans. I loved all the fight scenes with the titans and seeing Nari being a badass!

And of course all the characters arcs minus Mpreg Steve (that was super creepy and ruined Staja in the movie) and I also feel like Eli barely did anything. It just felt like reverse character development for them esp after seeing them grow in the TOA series.

Everyone else was great! I loved seeing Jim lose his confidence after reverting back to a human and no longer having Merlin's amulet and seeing him grow to see himself as a capable hero. Claire was a total badass with her shadow magic! Ofc Jlaire was amazing as always!! I loved seeing Douxie with his cool magic. And the Gun Robot giant was AMAZING!! And the Excalibur scene was fantastic!!

Now I'll get to the death scenes. Each and every one made me an emotional mess! Especially since Nomura and Strickler started out as antagonists and grew so much! And I was excited that Strickler and Barbara were finally getting married (I thought the movie would end with their wedding 😭💔). And Toby's death hit me so hard! I absolutely loved his scene where he went to disable Bellroc's magic! And him dying in sacrifice was so beautiful and emotional.

Now to the end. I absolutely hated it and pretend it never happened. For me it felt like a slap in the face. For me, the TOA series were perfect for the most part! There was so much character development, magnificent plot, lots of adventure, romance and friendship, such an amazing story. And with that ending, it just felt like it threw everything out of the window. Like Jim's the only one who remembers everything, like apparently all TOA was just his dream. But what about everyone else? Like Claire? Their romance and her devotion to Jim? Her growth from a popular girl who tries so hard to please her parents and watching her grow and mature throughout the series and become a badass with shadow magic? Steve growing from a bully to a creepslayer and being with Aja? Eli growing from being bullied to Earth's ambassador on Akiridion 5? Aja and Krel coming to Earth and joining the gang? Douxie joining the gang? Jims friendship with Blinky and Draal?? Toby's friendship with Aaarrrgghh and his beautiful sacrifice to save the world?

Speaking of Toby, I strongly disagree with the whole 'he was nothing more than comic relief an a sidekick to Jim' rhetoric in the fandom. Yes he maybe a comic relief sidekick but he rocks his war hammer and has helped Jim with alot of missions. He helped Jim kill Angor Rot, he found the birthstone, he destroyed the shadow staff, and he shined a lot in 3below too! These are a few of the things he's done but honestly he's the best sidekick and best friend I've seen written in fiction and got so much character development leading up to his sacrifice in ROTT. Yes there are points for improvement but that doesn't deny that he's a badass character! And the ending erased all of that too! I get that him becoming the trollhunter seems 'Toby rights' but I feel that with how the entire show was written, it just went against both Toby and Jim's characters.

Like why would Jim throw all this load on his best friend? Especially after accepting his destiny and responsibility as trollhunter? Why would he throw away his relationship with Claire after all they've been through? There was so much loss throughout the series, like Jim losing Draal, Aja and Krel losing their own parents, Douxie losing Merlin who was his own father-figure?! They were extremely painful but each of them had to move on and grow while still honoring their lost loved ones. I know Tobes was super important to Jim but I feel like he should've been able to grow and move on and honor his friend for the rest of his life. Or for writing purposes, for a happier storyline, maybe the kronosphere could've been used to save Toby and maybe even Strickler and Nomura as well without resetting the whole entire timeline of TOA. Since ROTT was finale for all of TOA, maybe a fast forward to when they rebuilt Arcadia and are finally living happier adult lives would've felt so satisfying, it would symbolize growth and happiness even after the worst apocalypse like the one they were in (Even irl people grow after a war or natural disaster, despite the trauma). But the problem with ending we got was that it not only erased all the events of TOA, but it left us with an indefinite plot hole which was completely unsatisfying and feels like a reverse growth. It left me feeling bitter and empty rather than saying goodbye to my faves on positive note.

Hopefully this clarifies why I (and perhaps others in the fandom) feel very negative about the way it ended. If you've read this far, thank you much for taking the time to read my opinion and rants, and excuse any typos I might have, I typed this on my phone on low sleep lol! 😅

[tothemeadow]

Oh yes my time is now! the standard pillar girls with a fem reader vs the boys playing splatoon 2’s tower control. Once again they lose(that’s becoming too frequent 😭) and the punishment for them is that they have to wear a typical anime sexy bunny costume, the reader is shy cuz she got small tiddies and the boys keep trying to peel the top part open to look at them 👀 and she’s like 😳(not to mention I got sensitive hips so everytime they hold her hips she’s just like 😳😳😳)

I need to get my ass moving on these requests 💀

‘tower troubles’ / Pillars x Reader

warnings: spicy

words: 1,383

(a/n): Muichiro is 18+ in this!

-

“Come on, ladies! Give it your all! We won’t let those fuckers take this land!” you yell.

“Right!” Misturi exclaims.

Shinobu nods her head, a determined expression on her face.

Across the screen, it’s a complete mess of teal and yellow ink. You’re hanging on by strings, too stubborn to give up your position on top of the tower. You wish the damned thing would move faster so you could win already!

“It’s funny that you think you’ll win so easily!” Kyojuro chirps. Compared to what the other guys usually say, his “taunts” are usually nice.

“Knock them off already,” Obanai sighs. “This is getting old.”

“Who do you think you’re talking to?!” Mitsuri yelps. “If you want to take over the tower, you’ve got to try harder!”

And yeah, it does seem a bit ridiculous. Three against seven? Seriously? They should be slaughtering you, but, well, it’s not working in their favor, is it?

You shouldn’t think that way.

There’s a loud boom and then the tower is covered with yellow. You’ve just got splatted! Whoever scored a hit on your character is dead meat. Off to the side, Muichiro snickers. You hastily throw a glare at him, murderous intent in your eyes.

“Do you want to die?” you hiss.

“I do,” Giyuu mutters.

“Jesus, man, lighten up,” Tengen throws at him. “Besides, if you die, you’ll miss out on the flamboyant punishment!”

The mere idea of the planned punishment sends a shiver down your back. No, you mustn’t lose. You can’t. Not if you want to save your dignity, anyway.

“I’d rather him be dead them ogle at me,” Shinobu breathes.

Why is everyone so hellbent on killing Giyuu today?

Wait – no, take that back. In your damned moments of distraction, the timer on the top of the screen runs out for the opposing team. They’ve… they’ve won. The guys won.

“Son of a bitch!” you curse, tossing your Switch down. “This is bullshit!”

“There’s no need for violence,” Gyomei rumbles. He bows his head apologetically. “A fair match is what it was.”

Sanemi cackles. “Fucking right – seven against three. That’s fair alright. I like it.”

Tengen excitedly rubs his palms together, a look of pure mischief blooming on his face. “Alright, boys, now it is time.”

Mitsuri audibly gulps. “I want to go home.”

“I’m afraid not!” Kyojuro exclaims, drawing himself to a stand. He seemingly pulls out a paper grocery bag out of nowhere; crossing to you girls, he thrusts the bag into Mitsuri’s hands. “I think you should get the punishment out of the way, don’t you think? There’s no use in putting it off!”

“I swear to god…” Shinobu trails off.

Getting up from the couch, the three of you shuffle out of the room and into the bathroom, promptly shutting and locking the door behind you in the process. You reluctantly tug off your clothes, a mixture of nervousness and embarrassment creeping up your spine. Your skin feels too hot, the hairs on your neck and arms coming to a stand. This is not going to be fun.

“Hey, could one of you zip me up?” Mitsuri asks, her voice shy.

Turning to her, you nearly choke on your own spit. She’s already in the one-piece uniform, her bare back on full display. Holding her arms to her chest, she keeps the uniform steady so it doesn’t fall. Stepping over to her, you brush her long ponytail to the side and pull the zipper up. She looks too tempting like this, curves perfectly showcased by the costume, legs wrapped delicately in fishnet stockings. A pang of jealousy hits you in the stomach.

Glancing at your own chest, you sigh inwardly. You aren’t a brickhouse like Mitsuri; hell, even Shinobu has a bigger chest than you and she’s smaller than you are. As you look over to her, you can see her clasping the bowtie around her neck, a bored expression written on her face. She looks amazing in her uniform, so unbelievably sexy….

And then there’s you.

You shyly pull your costume on, careful to keep your breasts hidden from view. Mitsuri helps zip you up, her touch soft against your skin. Slipping the cuffs onto your wrists, you look at your reflection; the punishment consisted of the losers wearing sexy bunny costumes, Playboy style. You look like you belong in an underground cocktail bar.

“This is ridiculous,” Shinobu says, perching her bunny ears on top of her head. “I’m going to castrate Tengen in his sleep for coming up with this shit.”

“I think we look cute!” Mitsuri chirps, although her face is a bright red.

“Yeah,” you mumble, running a hand over your chest, “we look great.”

With a collective groan, the three of you emerge from the bathroom, the hardwood floors cool beneath your stocking-clad feet. Upon returning to the living room, the reaction you receive is instantaneous. Tengen, Kyojuro, Muichiro, and Sanemi all give you a round of applause, shit-eating smirks on their faces; Obanai chokes on his own spit while Giyuu casually crosses his legs; Gyomei simply gives a nod of approval.

“Meow,” Tengen purrs, clawing at the air with his fingers. “You ladies look divine.”

“I’m actually impressed,” Sanemi drawls. He waggles his finger in a come hither motion. “Come over here, bunnies.”

Shinobu curses underneath her breath. Either way, the three of you stalk over to where the others sit; you wring your hands, unease eating away at your insides. Sanemi promptly grabs onto your hips, urging you to sit in his lap. The simple touch is just enough; heat rushes across your skin, squeezes at your insides. He is stepping into some dangerous territory.

Sanemi’s a wild card – always was. Sure, he’s not outright coquettish as Tengen or Kyojuro, but he’s not completely innocent either. His fingertips dance up and down your hips; it’s like he knows the effect he’s having on your body. Well, it doesn’t help that you’re squirming, but still.

“You almost look cute like this,” Sanemi murmurs. Running his hands up your sides, they drift across your stomach, inching up further and further. Your entire body stiffens as they slip over your breasts, your breath catching in your throat. “Well, well, well,” Sanemi continues in a low voice, “sensitive, are we?”

You feel a wave of hot breath fanning over the back of your neck. “Lemme see,” Muichiro’s voice speaks up. You jolt as his hands roam your body, slipping down the curve of your spine, making you arch into his touch. “You’re not as well endowed as the others,” Muichiro murmurs into your ear. “But that just means they’ll fit in our hands better.”

“Oi, Giyuu,” Sanemi snaps, turning his head and glaring at the one sitting next to him, “are you gonna just sit there and watch?” He clicks his tongue. “Pathetic.”

The blush on Giyuu’s face darkens at Sanemi’s words. So far, he hasn’t done anything, but that’s fine with you. You don’t think you could handle another man’s touch right now. But no, Sanemi’s words spur him on; shuffling closer, he presses his hands to your thighs, his fingertips tracing over the lines of the stockings. “You look really pretty like this,” he grunts.

Heart fluttering at his words, you open your mouth to say something in return – to comfort him – but then an abrupt squeak comes out. Muichiro’s hands squeeze your breasts again, eager to have you make another noise like that.

“See? What did I tell you?” Muichiro purrs. “Perfect fit.”

“Don’t hog it all to yourself,” Sanemi growls. He quickly pushes Muichiro’s hands away, taking his turn at grabbing your breasts. He smirks at your reaction, at the little breathy groan slipping from your lips. “There we go, bunny. Just like that.”

Giyuu’s hands grow braver, bolder. He kneads at your luscious thigh, at your hip; you squirm in Sanemi’s lap, teeth clamping down on your bottom lip to control yourself. Why must you be so sensitive?

“Let us see, come on,” Sanemi urges. Seemingly getting the memo, Muichiro’s fingers tug at the zipper of your costume just the slightest bit. “Let us look at those cute little tits.”

Wait – what?

“Please?” Giyuu murmurs.

“Bunny,” Muichiro says with a giggle, “give us a real treat.”

Oh, fuck.

[babiesdreams]

Johnny x Mark threesome alt ending. 

Before reading this, read the context in here. People voted for an alt ending where there was a threesome and also, another one, that might be coming soon, where Johnny simply watches. Also, sorry for not posting today, I had a lot of classes and I got no time at all.

Johnny’s voice says: “It’s been 5 minutes already” Marks pulls off the kiss for a split second saying “Truth or dare?” Before pressing his lips against yours again. “Dare” He says in the distance. “Go upstairs and fuck that girl you liked” Mark says in a serious tone, before he, again kisses you heatedly.

“No” Johnny demands. Mark pulls off the kiss, this time for real. “What?” His serious tone and his deadly glare are no joke. “I won’t go upstairs because the girl I wanna fuck is right here” He says looking right into the younger boy’s eyes. 

“Dude, she’s mine” Mark says getting closer to Johnny. “I think she gets to decide who she wants to fuck” Johnny answers. “Truth or dare” He asks inmediately after to you. 

“Truth” Your voice changes into a scared tone. “Do you like me too?” You look at Mark and then at him, analyzing his perfect body, and how good he looks like that. “Yes” You say as a whisper. 

“What?!” Mark’s expression looks really disappointed, almost like if you said something offensive. “She just told the truth dude, don’t take it too personal” 

“Don’t take it too personal??? You know I like her since a long time ago dude, what the fuck?” Mark shouts at Johnny, getting closer and closer. 

“I’m just being selfish for once, Is it so bad? Huh? Is it?” Mark looks at Johnny, trying to understand this random and sudden situation. “Fine” He finally says coming back to you. His kiss is now angry, letting you feel the worst type of jealousy ever.

Johnny also gets closer to you and you pull off Mark’s kiss. “I didn’t agree on this thing” You say looking at both of the boys. “You just assumed I wanted to?” Both of the boys back up a little, scared of your reaction.

“First of all, I like both of you, but having a threesome is a whole different thing. And, you wanted to have sex in here?? Anyone could see us” Your figure slowly stands up, walking through the stairs and climbing upstairs.

“Are you not coming?” You ask already from the upper floor. The boys don’t really answer, as they simply follow your steps to an empty bedroom. You get your shoes and clothes off, leaving only the underwear covering your body. 

Johnny copies your moves fastly getting on top of you. His lips kiss yours, softly. Meanwhile, Mark is still trying to understand the situation. His shiny eyes keep on looking how Johnny’s hips keep moving on top of yours, while you both make out, looking pretty needy and horny.

He slowly gets closer, getting his shirt off, convinced how you are paying no attention at all to his moves. But your little moans surprise him, as the name you let out is not Johnny’s but Mark’s. 

Johnny also looks surprised for a second, before he chuckles slihtly at the situation. “Come here, man” He says to the younger boy, who climbs over the bed, getting right next to you. 

“Touch her” Johnny whispers into Mark’s ear, getting off you. “W-what?” Mark asks confused. But Johnny only answers with a slight head move. You look att him with a smirk. “I know you want it” You say in a low voice. 

Mark then obeys the older’s words, getting his fingertips to brush over your clothed cunt. You can tell he’s nervous by the way he touches you, the way he looks at you... The situation just seems to be something the boy never had in mind.

“Eat her out” Johnny says with a serious tone. “Dude what?” The panic in Mark’s voice is almost cute. “You always talk about how much you like eating girls out” Johnny says smiling and the panic in Mark’s expression grows.

“Dude, when did I... No. I- Um Fuck” his voice lets out just a bunch of words that don’t really make sanse. But still he obeys every order that comes out of Johnny’s lips.

Johnny’s hands are constantly caressing different parts of your body softly, while Mark thrusts into you like it was the last chance he would get to fuck. Johnny is actually so far from the picture you had about him. The boy was really soft in bed, even with his little dom games and dirty words, he was still a soft lover.

Mark came inside of you after a couple of your own highs, filling the room with a mix of differently pitched moans. And the Johnny took action. His length felt really different to Mark’s, as he had more control over himselft unlike the younger desperate boy.

Johnny’s thrusts were far more soft and slow, allowing you to feel every little detail of his hard dick as he stretches your insides. His expression, the sounds he makes, everything is way softer and slower. It allows you to enjoy it in different ways. Even if Mark was good, Johnny was just what you needed at the moment.

But what kills you is his soft voice, while the upcoming climax sensation brushes your body. “You did great babygirl” Yet he doesn’t cum inside of you, he pulls out, getting your belly painted of a nice shade of white. 

The warm and recomforting sensation of both boys lying down next to you, hugging and caressing your body as you calm down from your high must be one of the best feelings you’ve ever experienced. 

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

Masterlist –requests open– How to request?  Check out your score.

[all-hallows-evie]

Chapter 1: Marooned

Rating: T, for language, Canon Typical Violence/Action. Honestly, this chapter isn't that bad, the T rating is just in case I forgot about something lol

Wordcount: 3,776

Warnings: Canon typical violence and adventure, female OC with name × Tech slowburn, but not too slow lol, NOT BETA'D, because if I have to stare at this first chapter again I'm not going to post it.

A/N: HAPPY TECH TUESDAY, LOOK I'M FINALLY POSTING SOMETHING, WHEEEEEEEEEEE

There were bad ideas, really bad ideas and then there was this.

The ship hums under her feet as it trudges through the far corner of the mid rim, chugging along on it’s route without any sign of trouble or disruption from it’s preplanned course.

It should have been a routine pillaging, something she had placed firmly in the ‘great ideas’ list but instead it had turned into a routine mutiny and finished the day as a routine marooning. She sighs as she lays her head back against the seamless panel behind her.

Fucking pirates. 

She has been stranded on the old freighter for at least two moons, but it was hard to say with certainty. The droids that man the ship have no need to eat so more often than not they forget to pass along anything to keep her mounting hunger at bay, adding along to the lack of any kind of panel to the outside world, getting her bearings is proving to be more difficult than usual. 

She hisses a swear to drown out the low growl of her belly and focuses her gaze on the far corner of the room. Another day, another chance to count the diamond shaped tiles above her cell, she swears the number changes every other time she counts. She doesn’t get farther than eighteen when the door of the maintenance room blows open. 

The dust fills the room, hiding everything under its grimy shadow. The grit in the air crackles as it’s pushed against the red of the electron walls that keep her prisoner with the ships cooling coils and a water filtration unit that has calcified and has never been fixed.  

"Well look at that, we found it! Lucky break!"

"Luck had nothing to do with it, if you had studied the schematics of this cruiser like I had asked-"

"Yeah yeah yeah." The first figure, a hulking shadow in the doorway brushes off the smaller one as he stomps into the suddenly too tiny room.

"The memory core should be at the end of the-" the smaller of the two figures stops in front of her cell as the big one charges towards the end of the room without stopping. They launch themselves into the piles of junk thrown haphazardly inside, "That's concerning."

"Concerning? You see someone in a cage and you go with ‘concerning’?" She replies as she pulls herself up to standing. She takes in his armor, modified clone armor from the looks of it painted pale with a bright red stripe down his chest, his eyes slightly magnified by the goggles on his face, the rest hidden by the elongated helmet.

"According to the intel we were provided there weren't supposed to be life forms aboard." He seems irritated to see her.

"Good old Republic intel, still living up to its reputation."

The other clone approaches, he rips open the metal box in his hands and yanks out the core as if the casing was made of thick flimsy and nothing more, "I've got the thing, time to go!"

She watches, dumbstruck for a moment as her ticket out starts to head for the gaping maw that used to be a door, "Wait, you're taking the old database?" The two of them stop and turn, "It's not complete! It's missing pieces of the coordinates!" Firefek she didn't want to sound desperate but she was.

"Likely story-" The big one chuckles.

"I was trying to steal it too, I almost got all of it before my crew turned on me!"

"A mercenary or a pirate? No matter, I trust you even less now."

She had never wanted to punch anyone's face as hard as she wanted to punch his, "Check the core Goggles, I swear to you! It's missing pieces!" He hesitates and in that baited pause she knows she has him, "Please, just let me out and drop me off wherever you dock next. You can have my data chip. No harm, no foul, just get me out."

The one with the goggles glares at her, the yellow tinted transparisteel of his visor snapping downl before he turns to the bigger man. Klaxons ring all around as he scans the core with a handheld device, but it's taking up time they do not have.

The two clones share a look, silently deciding her fate.

The bigger one caves first, "Aww c'mon Tech, we can't leave her! You saw what's on this ship, she'll be a goner on some mining planet!"

"Under normal circumstances I might agree but she's caged for a purpose, and I'm disinclined to put any trust in her."

"How much damage can she do? She’s smaller than you are!" 

Tech, the one in the goggles, sighs before he turns back around to face her, "If we spring you, you play by our rules. You follow our orders, no complaints, no rebuttals and if you put one toe out of line-"

"Out the airlock, understood." She nods furiously, hands pressed against the panel as she watches Tech short out the electron wall holding her hostage, the panel shudders and then it spews sparks on to the ground as the red fades and she's finally able to step through. 

"Lets go shortie!" 

"Wait, let me just grab-" She scrambles to the other side of the wall, trying to pull at something from the top of a shelf. The bigger clone reaches over and tosses the crate to the floor. She throws open the top and snatches out a bantha leather bag and a helmet.

"Run!"

Tech doesn't have to tell her twice, the three of them bolt out of the door and into the corridor, the lights above flash in time with the klaxons. There is a low rumble that joins the hum of the hyperspace engine, as whatever security droids are on board begin to activate.

"Back to the ship, short stuff!" 

The three of them book it down the darkened halls, ducking behind walls and crates as the first cluster of security droids pass through.

She tosses her bag across her shoulder, slinging it against one side of her hip, clipping it into place with snaps sewn into her jacket. They watch three more droids pass them by before she speaks again, "My name's Nox, by the way." 

"Doesn't sound like a girl's name." The big one chuckles, so deep and rumbling it almost feels like a growl.

"Well it's the only name I've got. My parents named me a bit of a mouthful, Nox just works better."

"Clear." Tech calls out and they continue on their way heading to the service hangar where their ship hopefully was waiting for them.

"How'd you end up out here?" The big one asks, with every flash of light above them she can see more of the large scary face painted roughly on his helmet, lines thrown on haphazardly only to be scraped away by carbon scoring.

She is about to answer when she is shoved back into a corner by Tech. He slaps a hand over her mouth before she can yelp, the leather slightly singed, it smells of electricity and grease.

“Wait.”

"I'm getting tired of all this sneaking around, I say we blow our way outta here!" The big one growls.

"We’re almost there Wrecker, it would be pointless to try now."

She shoves Tech's Hand away, "Blow your way out of here, are you insane? With the amount of baby on board you'd blow us into the next dimension!"

There are a few beats of silence before both helmets turn towards her.

"Baby?" Wrecker repeats but is shushed by Tech.

"You don't mean baradium-"

"Bisulfate? I absolutely do! There were containers of the stuff in the holding bay."

"This Imperial ship is headed somewhere to mine thorilide?" He repeats, tone stressed over every syllable in the word ‘Imperial’.

"That or some unlucky planet is about to be wiped from existence."

"The location of the Republic thorilide mines have been kept under the utmost security for ages, not even the Jedi Council was ever advised of its location."

"Can’t say I blame them, I barely trust them with those glowy sticks of death." She murmurs, making lightsaber sounds with her mouth as Wrecker snickers.

"Stop that. Do you know where this ship was heading? Do you have a copy of the manifest?"

"What, your amazing Republic recce didn't get you that information shiny?" He glares back at her, brows pinching together behind the dark frames of his goggles, "Maker! Did those cloners take your sense of humor? Yes, I know where this ship is going."

"Bet Cid’s contact would pay more for that bit of info." Wrecker’s grin can be heard even through the plastoid of his helmet.

Tech meanwhile has typed something to a com on his wrist, "Hunter, there's been a complication."

"What kind of complication?"

"There is more on board this ship than just the republic database-"

"What do you mean?"

"This ship is a mining vessel, out to mine thorilide."

Tech’s wrist comm goes silent, just quiet static while the voice on the other line thinks, "Ordinance?"

Both clones look at her, she nods emphatically, "Ordinance, med supplies, if there was coaxium on board I wouldn't be surprised, this place is the motherlode."

"Quite a bit of supplies on board, it would seem."

The comm goes quiet again for a few moments, "We don't have time for this, it's only a matter of time before they realize that your cruiser is stolen. Grab what you went in for and leave."

Tech shakes his head, it's so tiny and quick that if she wasn't looking at him in that moment she would have missed it, "Where is it being kept?" 

"Up, five or so floors unless I've miscounted."

"Tech, Wrecker, Get out of there, now!" The voice on the other end grows more and more irritable as they stand around in silence.

"We'll be out as soon as possible." Tech replies curtly as he cuts the comm. He makes it sound so easy like they were stopping by the nearest market to pick up fruit, instead of about to hijack high quality explosives from Imperial custody, "Lead the way."

"What? Just like that?"

"Are there, or are there not these items on board?"

"Yes." 

"You swear?" Wrecker leans in close, hovering over her.

"Yeah."

Tech nods, "Vital signs are stable, no signs of heightened stress-"

"What if I'm just a really good liar?"

"You can try all you want my dear, but the data doesn't lie."

"Does he do this to you too? I'm finding it a bit creepy-" She asks Wrecker as her eyebrow raises.

"You get used to it."

"Weird, so weird…" she mutters to herself as she turns and peeks around the corner. She looks around for anything that is familiar, when she sees a maintenance lift at the very end of the hall to the right. She motions them forward, and silently they sneak their way closer to the lift. She turns her attention to her side as she digs in her bag, her fingers grasp at the odd collection of junk in her pockets until her hand finally wraps around the cool metal of her code cylinder and she can finally stop holding her breath.

Tech's hand on her shoulder pulls her back to the task on hand as he drags her back a few steps. The catwalk above them from here to the lift is no more than a shoddy looking set of grates that creak as a group of security droids march along their patrol, oblivious to the three of them below. 

“The maintenance lift?" Tech sniffs as they come to a stop at its doors. He raises hand to push his goggles back into place, "Perhaps you have failed to notice but none of us are maintenance droids, the moment you try to access that panel they will -”

“They’ll what?” She asks as she jams the cylinder into the port, the lift clicks open silently and she steps inside. 

“The alarms-”

“What alarms? According to this," she snaps her code cylinder from the panel and drops it back into her bag, lost again to the chaos of the random junk held within, "I'm a maintenance droid doing routine inspections. How stupid do you think I am?”

"Hey hey, this one's pretty smart huh Tech?!" Wrecker is thrilled.

"Pirate." She reminds, "You don't see many my age that aren't intelligent and I'll give you one guess as to why."

The doors silently click open and before they can step out a team of at least half a dozen well armed sentry droids roll past. 

They all leap from the inside of the lift and fall into a crouch behind a stack of supply crates. They wait for a few moments before Tech quickly peeks over, "They don't seem to have spotted us."

"Fuck, there weren't this many when we tried this the first time." She swears a few more times under her breath.

"We should do this my way." Wrecker offers.

"What's that mean, what does he mean?!" Nox looks nervously over to Tech, "He doesn't mean-?"

"Explosives and violence? He absolutely does," Tech sighs, “ and I'm afraid we are running low on options and even lower on time. Wrecker, what does your ordinance look like?"

“But you said I couldn't bring any?”

“Yes, and when was the last time you actually listened?”

Wrecker, the fun if not absolutely homicidal one, pulls out a couple of detonators, a roll of plastic tape, a half dozen hand grenades and three droid poppers.

“Great, nice to know you could have turned us into a small sun if I hadn't told you about the baby on board.”

"Everything save for the poppers is far too dangerous to use around those crates." Tech hisses, "Any more of those brilliant pirate ideas floating around in your head?"

She chews on her lip for a moment, wracking her brain for anything else that might be useful as she ignores Tech's sarcastic tone. Apart from the crates on this floor littered with treasure, there didn't seem to be anything of any use...except for the busted water filter. “How big of a distraction do you think it would take to get all those sentries away from the haul?”

“It would need to be something quite large or destructive enough to threaten the integrity of the ship.”

“The water filtration system on board is completely calcified, I don't think it was ever fixed since there are only droids on board. If you could flood that with enough pressure the entire pipe should burst-”

“And flood the entire floor, along with the engine room, that might just do it.” He’s on his data pad before the words are even out of his mouth, he scans the room all around and matches it with the wireframe schematics on his screen. He stalks his way backwards until he finds the panel he is looking for. He pops it open easily and then begins to slice into the mainframe of the ship, “On my count, take Wrecker to wherever the baby is, let him handle it. You get your hands on as much of the medical supplies as you can, the security onboard is a little tighter than I would have preferred so I will have to stay here and continue to flood the filter.”

“Oh, easy.”

“Think you can handle all that tiny?” Wrecker’s thundering chuckle threatens to give away their location even with the steady moan of the alarms overhead.

She grins, Wrecker is back to being the fun one, “Try and keep up.”

There is a sound of roaring water all around them as tech funnels every liquid on the ship into the filter, then a sound like an explosion a couple of feet below them rocks the ship like a lightning strike. 

The sound of the alarm overhead changes as every droid on the floor turns away and heads to a lowering platform, all instructed to assist with the burst pipe.

“That’s our cue!” 

She shoves Wrecker forward playfully before they both break into a sprint toward the storage rooms where their bounty is being held. She points to one of the rooms as they approach, "This one's your big boy!"

The door is sealed shut, but not for long. Wrecker doesn't slow, instead he hunches low, bringing his shoulders down and tucking his chin into the collar of his armor before he barrels straight through, punching a hole through the doors with enough force to make even her teeth rattle.

She dips into the storage room across the hall, thanking the stars that her haul wasn't locked away like his was. She rips open any crate within arms reach, tossing open the tops and letting them scatter around the room wherever they land. She snatches bacta patches and hypos by the handful and packs the crate as full as she can, slamming her entire body weight against it to get it to close. She drags it out into the hall, placing it by the door before she bolts into the room right beside the one Wrecker is standing in. 

Wrecker watches her disappear into the room, the four small crates of explosives tucked carefully under his arms, “Wait, where are you-”

His question is answered as another crate hits the floor beside him. She comes running out of the room, grabbing this second crate by the handle and yanking it along, “Perfect! Not a single explosion! Love that for me!”

Wrecker bends down to offer her a hand but she has already snatched up the first trunk and is flying down the hall with them. She's faster than Wrecker would have believed she would be capable of with the two crates almost her height. She almost trips over herself as she stops and with a swift kick, the second crate lands at Tech's feet, “Come on 20/20, cut her loose, let's go!”

“What’s in that- I specifically ordered you to only carry medical supplies.”

“Yeah well, it sounds like you are used to not being listened to so, ship. Now!”

Wrecker races past, hopping off of the side and down to the level below, the halls are empty as all hands are called to help with the floor that is flooding. 

Nox peeks over the side, she watches as Wrecker sets the small boxes of baby down beside him, "Toss your crate!" He calls up. She nods and yanks the crates handle, flipping it up and off of the edge with a nudge from Tech. 

She helps him in turn, as they gingerly haul the crate full of ordinance over the edge before tossing it below. 

Wrecker sets the crates to one side before turning back to catch Nox, but she's already climbing down. Her fingers dig into spots on the wall where she should not be able to have any grip. She finds her own way down and with a little hop, lands right beside Wrecker as Tech lands beside her. The clang of his boots echoes down the empty hallway. "We'll need to make our way through the flooded floor of the ship in order to get back to the hangar." Tech types away at his data pad again before picking up the side of his crate.

Nox follows close beside the two clones, tossing the crate up onto her back to avoid making any unnecessary scraping sounds as they get closer to the flooded area, the sound of pouring water gets louder and louder with every floor. The next floor they walk through has the water barely deep enough to wash over the toes of their boots, but it rises rapidly after that. By the time they are on the same floor as the hangar, the water has risen up to their knees and Nox has a harder time trying to distract her mind from where all of this stagnant water has been hiding this whole time.

“Holding out ok over there tiny?” Wrecker chuckles. 

She turns to answer, when everything becomes...not alright. Her next step slips out from under her and she goes flying forward, crashing face first into the dark disgusting water, the crate on her back keeping her under the surface as she struggles to pull herself back up to standing. 

A hand at the back of her collar pulls her back up into fresh air, slimy water pours from her mouth and nose as she gags. She doesn't need to clear the water from her eyes to know what the dark figures that are starting to line the hallway are. Tech and Wrecker are on either side of her, blasters raised as the sentry droids file in.   

“I'm hoping you can fight better than you can swim.” Tech calls over as Wrecker leaps over them both and charges straight into one of the sentries.  Tech keeps a few of the others at bay, clipping them with bright bolts from his twin deecees, but it's not enough. She rubs the slime from her face and charges right behind Wrecker, using her entire body to check a droid in her path, she grabs the blaster from its hands as it goes tumbling backwards and into the water. Techs shots ring out around her as he stays behind, watching over the crates behind him. Wrecker tears through any droids that get within reach, sparks flying on to the water before they sizzle and die. She concentrates her fire on any droids Tech misses until the hall is clear.

"There'll be a second platoon on their way, we better get a move on." Tech calls back to them, she tosses the almost empty blaster into the water beside her.

"Are you always just, you know?" She makes growling and ripping sounds at Wrecker.

He laughs, "Not often enough." 

She stifles her laughter behind her hand as she walks back to where Tech is to retrieve the case of medical supplies, for a brief moment the last couple of days are forgotten and even the slime on her skin is the last thing on her mind. For a brief moment she was back with her men, waiting for that score of a lifetime, but when she grabs the handle of the crate and looks back it’s the clone armor that reminds her she is in fact alone. The sudden quiet of sadness doesnt last long as the doors behind them open and a new series of drods begin their march towards them. 

“Incoming!”

-----

Tag list: @themarvelbunch @agentwhiskeysdarlin @pascalisthepunkest @ashotofspotchka

[cosmiclatte28]

Baseball (Jeno x you)

a/n : the setting is similar to the previous Jeno story (Single), but the plot and the people are different. Don’t get this mixed hahaha

for @neopalette and all Jeno stan out there! Enjoy this semi angst semi fluff friendship to lover Jeno (hopefully to lover, you got to choose)

casts : Jeno, Renjun, Yuta (just a cameo), (y/n)

“Ready for today Capt?” Your teammate nudges your ribcage and you toss a glance to her.

No you're not ready, the final game in winter quads, the final game where your team have strived so hard to reach this point. Your heart is not okay but can you tell that to your team members? No.

With a professional lie, you nod and pat her shoulder “We can do this, we'll try our best!” You smile and turn away.

It's the final round of the regional baseball game, your team has wonderfully played along the winter and this is the last game with the toughest enemy. You know your team doesn’t have a big chance, but seeing them trying their best, you play your part as a captain nicely.

“Good luck!” Yuta, the school's favorite leader of the men baseball team, pats your shoulder when he passes you on his way to watch the game.

“Oh Yuta-senpai.” You bow a little to honor him (using senpai because he came from Japan) and he smiles “(y/n)-chan, you're a great captain okay? Show them what you got!” he ruffles a bit of your hair and if this was last year, you'd melt into a puddle.

No, your heart no longer desires Yuta. He is just too hard to reach, wanting Yuta means fighting with all the girls in this neighborhood.  Yes neighborhood!

Your steps bring you to the familiar field. You wait for your turn while daydreaming. Someone has been bothering your mind lately. Jeno Lee, the school’s favorite athlete who sadly is no longer playing in the games because he shades the other players’ talent. Jeno Lee, your childhood best friend, your neighbor, your eternal bestfriend. He’s been distant lately, with his new hobby. Painting, Jeno Lee doing arts is something you never thought of, but all of this happened since he met Renjun.

Is Jeno not going to cheer on you? He never missed your games, but lately he’s so caught up In the art room with that new talented painter, Huang Renjun.

“It’s your turn (y/n)! You’re our last hope. Please score one to tie, or we’ll lose.” Your team all root for you but you’re caught in a daydream.

“Don’t worry guys, I got this.” You smile at them and walk to the base. Your heart beats faster the second you run your eyes through the audience.

“Fighting (y/n)!!” Jeno screams to you with his painting apron still attached on his uniform as he waves and smiles to you.

Your heart was beating fast because of him, not from the pressure of the game. So, Jeno did not forget you after all-

You spoke too soon, of course Renjun has to be there. There next to him, Renjun comes shouting for you too and rooting for you. Why must it be Renjun and Jeno, why. Out of all your friends, why Jeno and out of all possibilities of snatching Jeno away, why Renjun. It’s annoying how Renjun can talk about painting with Jeno heart to heart. You did not even realize Jeno is fascinated about arts that much! Unlike you who’s like a misfit, they both look like a fitting puzzle piece when they talk about arts.

The whistle is blown, your first strike.

You hold your bat tighter, you never miss a pitch, what’s wrong with you.

“Strike 2!” the referee blows the whistle again.

Jeno shoots you a concern look, but you did not miss the third shot. It’s not the best shot, you could do better but you run. Your emotion is burning your passion to run and run and ignore all the pain chasing you whenever memories with Jeno comes flooding your mind.

It was you who usually make him laugh, it was you who sits on the bench during lunch together. It was you who watched all of his games but now all he has in his schedule is Renjun and Renjun and Renjun!

You pass the first post, your legs still bring you to the second post and without having a clear mind you make your final run. Wouldn’t it be cool to finish with a home run?

“Stop!” your friends screamed at the top of their lungs but your ears are closed.

“Lee Jeno, let me show you who I am.” You grit your teeth as you make a slide to the home base only to bulge your eyes when you see the ball already touched the ground first before your leg did.

“I make our team lose.” Was all that is ringing in your head.

“Ouch that must hurt.” Renjun closes his eyes when he sees the dramatic ending and how you fall on the sledding process.

Jeno gulps, he knows something is not right. You were training for this super hard and he knows you’re the best player. What is bothering you today?

--

“It’s okay, we had great memories. Don’t be too hard on yourself.” One of your teammate consoles you when both of you are walking down the street to go home.

You nod your head “I am sorry for making the team lose.” You bow a little bit to her, she shakes it off

“Don’t worry, people make mistakes.” She smiles, then taps your shoulder “I can go home by myself from here,” she sounds rushed, you try to stop her “Your boyfriend is waiting.” She juts her chin to the dark road ahead of you and you can see a silhouette walking to you. Who could it be? You’re single

She runs quickly to the other path, leaving you alone in the empty street to wait and see the street lamp shining on the man’s face.

“Why are you walking home, your ankle is swollen. Babo-ya” Jeno squats and you’re frozen in track.

“Jump, I’ll carry you home. You did  this once for me in elementary when  I fell and you brought me home while also crying because you’re sorry for me.” He smiles to you sincerely “Let me pay you back.”

You jump into his back, and Jeno takes off your right shoes. “I have ice, hold the cold okay?” he wraps an ice pack to your swollen ankle and your eyes can no longer stay dry.

You cry, cross it out brawl like a baby who just got their candy taken away.

“How did you walk that far in this swollen ankle? You don’t want to play baseball again?” Jeno asks you as he walks down the starry night with a crying mess on his back.

“I lost! The team lost because of me and I am now carried on your back with a swollen ankle crying. I am such a mess Jeno.” You cry harder into his shoulder and he just laughs a little bit “When was the last time I see you cry? Maybe it was that night you carried me on your back because you accidentally pushed me down the monkey bars. I remembered I twisted an ankle too and you carried me home.”

You smile in your crying state, touched that Jeno still remembers what you did to him as a child. And now he is doing this to you, like a payback. Though you sincerely did that for him.

“You were doing great on practice, what’s wrong?” Jeno questions when he hears your sniffling slowing down.

You hit his back “It’s because of you!!”

“Eoh? What did I do?”

You bite your lips and cry again when you remember how happy he and Renjun always look together.

“You forgot me and hang out with Renjun all the time.” You pout knowing you sound so silly right now, but you’re sad.

Jeno chuckles “So, you are jealous?” he hoists you up his back when he feels you’re slipping off.

“I am not.” You deny it though you clearly is jealous.

“Fine. You’re not jealous. If you’re not jealous why did you lose focus earlier and hurt yourself?”

“I- I was distracted.” That is embarrassing.

Jeno smirks “Ah yeah distracted by me and Renjun standing on your side cheering for you.”

You smack his shoulder “Babo, that’s wrong!” “Whatever, are you alone at home again?” Jeno asks when your house is already in sight.

You nod “Yes everyone is away, they’re working hard for me.”

Jeno knows that, he knows your parents are too busy with their careers and you’re left alone in the house. He wonders how you can feel okay with living by yourself. If that is Jeno he’d already beg to join them instead.

“Why are you still here then?” Jeno mindlessly asks as he brings you to his living room and helps you sit on the sofa. He greets his mom, and you also know her like your own mom.

She lets you have your time with Jeno and Jeno returns after a short moment with a first aid kit.

You ask yourself why are you still here? You could’ve joined them and leave this small town, but here you are still seated in the same house of the neighbor you grew up with!

“You ask me why? Well this town has many memories to me Jeno.” You wince when he presses some soothing cream to your ankle

Jeno smiles when you start to ramble about stories of the younger days, embarrassing one like how Jeno and you were caught red handed trying to bring a cat home when both your parents forbid you. Cute memories like how you accidentally kissed Jeno’s cheek when playing around. Touching one like when you carried Jeno all the way back from the park to the home. Annoying one where he teases you when you had your first crush on the school’s prince; Na Jaemin. Everything always include Jeno in your story, or at least the ones you remember by heart.

“We sure do have lots of memories together! Is it me that makes you stay?” Jeno throws this question as a joke, but you think of this seriously. Yes, he is actually the reason why you stay here.

“I guess that is almost true. I stayed for you, my best friend, technically the one who saw me grow up and share memories with me.” You glance to your nicely bandaged foot, he put on some herbal powder there you didn’t know the name, but Jeno is an expert in sports injuries.

“There, tomorrow it’s going to turn blue, but you can use it a little.” He takes a seat next to you.

You watch him takes care of you, for you this is romantic but does he also feel it that way?

“JJa- take care of yourself better next time. Don’t hurt yourself again.” He ruffles your hair, but when you see his eye smile, you suddenly remember the conversation that has been haunting you for the past month.

--

Flashback

Renjun and Jeno were in the art room, talking in low voice as they paint a vase of flowers.

“So, I see you’re very close to (y/n),” Renjun said

Jeno smiles, the same eye smile he always gives whenever he is thinking about you, “I mean figuratively and literally. We’re neighbours.” Jeno glances to the window, it’s almost noon are you done with your practice? His mind wonders.

“Then she really means a lot to you right?” Renjun asks once again.

Jeno pauses and thinks, after a while he shrugs his shoulder “She’s a little sister I should take care of.”

You happen to be eavesdropping them and for once you hate yourself for eavesdropping. You know you should never eavesdrop, now you are the one in pain right?

With that, you leave them and walk home by yourself for the first time.

--

You go back to your house after Jeno’s mom feeds you a proper meal. You meet his sister when she enters the house and you’re leaving. She looks surprised to find you there, it’s been awhile since you visit their house despite being their neighbor.

You just say hi and quickly hide in your room, why? To cry of course. Because of the game, because of Jeno’s sweet actions, and the truth that he sees you up to “friends” only.

You tried to encourage yourself and think that there is a small chance… but the cynic side of you won and you sleep with a wet pillow that night.

But when he picks you up the next day with his bike, and helps you go up the stairs to reach your class then bids you farewell and picks you up for break times…. The flowers In your heart blooms again and the butterflies are filling your stomach.

If this is the feeling of falling in love with Jeno, you’d do this over and over again even if it means pain or it means happy ever after.

end

[slipping-through-my-fingertips]

Klaine it up! 2, 7, 12, 21, 50

Okay...I got this. PROMPTS FOUND HERE

2 - you accidentally sprayed them with yogurt when you open the lid the wrong way. 

This was not Kurt Hummel’s first time opening yogurt but it might’ve well have been. He was sitting at a picnic table in Central Park on his lunch break from Vogue.com having just picked up a BLT, sweeten iced tea, and strawberry yogurt from his newfound favorite sandwich shop. It just happened to be two blocks down from the Vogue offices too. 

After eating half a sandwich, he found himself watching three young girls practicing their hula-hooping skills. Of course, while entranced by the colorful swirls of plastic, Kurt grabbed his low-fat yogurt and pulled at the lid, and the minute he did another man was being dragged by his golden retriever over to Kurt’s table. 

Before he could stop it, a splash of light pink yogurt was splattered across the front of a bright blue polo. 

“Shit, I am so sorry,” they both said. 

Kurt had a lap full of puppy and the man covered in yogurt. 

“She’s really friendly and has a fondness for bacon,” the man said, gesturing to the sandwich. “And who can blame her.” 

With that comment, Kurt pushed his meal away slightly. Out of reach of the dog’s mouth. 

“I usually am way more careful with my food,” Kurt said. 

The handsome man only laughed, “it’s no big deal, do you happen to have a napkin?” 

“Oh yes!” Kurt reached into his bag to grab one. 

“Thanks,” he said, “come here, Lacey.” 

The puppy sat right at his side and waited. Kurt stood up to wipe the yogurt away while the man kept Lacey still. 

“I can...” he started to say but Kurt was already pulling away having cleaned it up the best he could. 

“Lacey and I also share a fondness for cute boys but I don’t suppose...” he trailed off, blushing. 

Kurt still wasn’t used to being flirted with but this wasn’t small town, Ohio. 

“And who can blame you,” Kurt replied, already grabbing a pen and paper from his bag to write on. 

THE REST OF THE PROMPTS CAN BE FOUND BELOW THE CUT

7 - you both do the side-to-side dance when you try to pass them in the grocery store aisle

Kurt told his dad to pick up an extra heavy whipping cream three days ago when Burt asked if Kurt needed any other ingredients for Thanksgiving dessert. He told him. 

“I only need 3 things: dark chocolate, heavy whipping cream, and almond extract.” 

Burt had gotten everything but Kurt needed whipping cream for both the chocolate mousse itself and the whipped topping he planned to make. Now he was at the crowded grocery store one day prior to Thanksgiving. Exactly where he didn’t want to be. 

 Of course, every grocery store made you walk all the way to the back of the store for dairy products. I’ll just grab milk and eggs real quick, you think, then suddenly you have a cart full of snacks you didn’t need. 

Kurt found the red and white carton fairly quick. He backed up and started to make his way to the self-checkout. Before he could think about the temptation of potato chips, he was stopped by another body. 

They both stopped and shifted their feet to make way for the other. From right to left and back again for several seconds before both falling into pits of laughter. Kurt looked into deep hazel eyes that twinkled at him. He wondered how long he could do this dance just to stare at them some more. 

“That’s my fault, I came around the corner too quick,” he said. 

Not quick enough, Kurt thought, we could’ve fallen to the floor. You on top of me would be quite nice. 

“No, it’s all me,” Kurt replied, “I should’ve been watching where I was going.” 

He fumbles into his pocket for a business card. Isabel’s one-month anniversary gift. 

“If you’re in town longer than tomorrow, I’d love to buy you some coffee as an apology,” Kurt said, handing the card over. 

“Oh.” Kurt watched him scan the card, flipping it over in his hands. “I’d love to, Kurt.” 

A shiver ran down his spine. Maybe he should thank his dad for forgetting the cream. 

12 - you kick a ball and your shoe flies off, hitting them in the back of your head

Blaine used to hate having an older brother. Growing up, he felt constantly in competition with Cooper’s larger-than-life personality. Now that Cooper had settled down in LA with Lisa, his wife, and had two wonderful kids, having an older sibling didn’t seem too bad.

It was summer break, Blaine was free to leave the confines of his NYU dorm room. He was trying to get lost in the sunshine of California to forget he was about to start his final year of college. Time with his niece and nephew was sure to put any nervousness out of his head. 

They were playing soccer in the park when it happened. It was bound to. Everyone in LA was hot. It was like the law. 

Cute boys and Blaine’s non-existence coordination weren’t a good mix. 

Blaine went to kick the ball and caught sight of a bicep. An unusually pale bicep. A rare sight in sunny Los Angles. Arms, Blaine fantasized, he’d love to see wrapped around him or possibly pushing his legs apart. 

He was sure he tighten his laces. This is why Blaine Anderson didn’t wear sneakers. Missed the ball by an inch but the force of his kick sent something flying through the air directly towards the cute guy: a sneaker. 

It happened so fast, Blaine heard the yell of surprise before realizing his sock was exposed. Once he realized what happened, he rushed over to the man. 

“Fuck, I am so sorry,” Blaine said. “Can I do anything?” 

“Well, an aspirin would be great,” the man teased. 

Blaine sat in the grass and chuckled. Still extremely embarrassed. 

“Not exactly the fairytale I always dreamed of.” 

“Fairytale?” Blaine asked, scrunching up his nose in confusion. 

“Cinderella,” he said, like it was obvious, “a lost shoe as it were.” 

“I’m not Cinderella,” Blaine told him, “sorry to say. I’m more of a Blaine.” 

“Kurt.” 

“It’s nice to meet you.” 

“I do believe this is yours,” Kurt said, handing over the shoe. 

21 - Almost spilling a drink because you met their eyes and got distracted thinking how cute they are. 

His dad always said pour your drinks yourself. Blaine became that friend who grabbed drinks for everyone for this reason exactly. He wasn’t sure what the occasion was exactly but his study buddy from his songwriting workshop invited him. It was at some loft in Bushwick but Blaine didn’t mind the adventure. 

Until tonight he had no reason to venture to this part of the city. 

“Blaine!” Elliott exclaimed, pushing a solo cup into his hand, “Drink up, karaoke at eleven!” 

Then he disappeared into the crowd. Blaine headed straight for the kitchen and poured the toxic mixture down the sink. He found a new cup and started reading the labels of the bottles spread out across the counter. Mixers and any alcohol of your choice seemed to be available. 

Rum and coke sounded good. He went into the fridge for a cold soda first. Blaine was happy the kitchen was empty he wasn’t quite ready to start making friends. As far as he knew, Elliott was the only friendly face here tonight. 

He poured the rum in for some semblance of tracking his alcohol intake. The last time he got drunk, he dialed the professor he TA-ed for, who thankfully overlooked that incident. Blaine cracked open the coke and while he poured surveying the living room. 

People were dancing to an upbeat pop song that Blaine strangely didn’t recognize and others were mingling in doorways or sat on scattered sofas and chairs chatting. He caught a pair of blue eyes in the crowd. 

The man they were attached to was stunning. If he hadn’t blinked, Blaine could’ve mistaken him for a marble statue carved by the gods. They didn’t lose eye contact as he walked towards the kitchen. It wasn’t until the man stood on the other side of the counter that Blaine noticed his hand was covered in soda. 

“Papers towels are behind you,” the man offers. 

Blaine set the now empty can down and spun around for paper towels to clean up his mess. 

Just great, he thought, make a fool out of yourself. That’ll score you some points. 

He cleans up his hand before wiping down the puddle of bubbling coke on the counter. 

“I don’t think we’ve met,” he continues, “and this is my party so I like to know all my guests.” 

“Your party?” Blaine stutters. 

“It’s my birthday.” 

“I’m Blaine,” he introduces. “Elliott invited me. We have a class together.” 

“Oh, you’re Blaine. From songwriting workshop.” 

“That’s me.” 

Elliott’s obviously talked about him before to this man. This gorgeous, completely out of Blaine’s league man. 

“God, he’s relentless,” he says. “I’m going to kill him.” 

“Um, might I ask why? I can leave if there’s an issue.” Blaine knows when he isn’t welcome. 

“No, no,” he replies, “don’t go. It’s just he’s been trying to set us up for months now.” 

It all clicks.

“Oh god, you’re Kurt.” 

“That’s me, the birthday boy. and you are Elliott’s idea of the best gift ever.”

Blaine blushes. “I don’t know if I can I've up to that but if I can have the next dance I can try.” 

Kurt nods. “I’d like that, Blaine. A lot.” 

50 - getting paired up on an amusement park ride that requires even-numbered riders

All of Kurt’s friends hated rollercoasters. Rachel didn’t like heights, Elliott refused to do anything with loops, and Santana, well, she was too caught up in her new girlfriend to be bothered. 

“I only wanna hear screaming tonight,” she told him. 

So, Kurt waited in line himself. Some fun day at Coney Island this was turning out to be. He was so glad he was spending the day with friends. Kurt rolled his eyes. 

The woman directing the ride gave Kurt his row number and moved down the line. Behind him someone tapped on his shoulder, Kurt turned around and found himself looking at a curly-haired man around his age. 

“Guess we’re both odd men out then, I’m the single rider in my group today.” 

“Oh, um, no, my friends were too chicken to even ride,” Kurt said. 

“I’m really surprised Wes and David are good to go. They both hate being upside-down.” 

Kurt smiled.

“I'm Blaine, by the way.”

“Kurt.” 

The ride emptied out and Kurt crawled over to the far seat. They buckled themselves in and listened to the instructions to keep all body parts inside at all times. Then, the bar came down and the ride launched. 

After the ride ended, Blaine and Kurt were chatting all the way down. Wes and David trailing behind them.

“That second loop really threw me,” Blaine was saying. 

“I saw,” Kurt exclaimed, “I thought you were going to fall out of your seat.” 

“Downfalls of being short and compact.”

When three more people joined their day at the park, no one questioned it. 

[personasintro]

My Tiny Secret | 17; Wine & Pride

𝑴𝒚 𝑻𝒊𝒏𝒚 𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒃𝒍𝒆 | 17; Wine & Pride

⏤𝒔𝒚𝒏𝒐𝒑𝒔𝒊𝒔; Pretty face doesn’t make it up for an ugly personality. And Kim Seokjin is the perfect proof of that.

⏤𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈: seokjin x reader

⏤𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆: angst, smut, mistress au, unexpected pregnancy au

⏤��𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔: strong language

⏤> 𝒇𝒊𝒄 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒙

buy me a coffee?♡

a/n: this is a continuation of the flashback from the previous chapter!

“Tell me something about yourself.”

You're done eating, empty plates already out of your sights as you hold a glass of red wine in your hand, the other one gently leaning against the table.

Curious is what you are. Curious, why the man in that expensive suit with bank account bigger than you could ever imagine, is so interested in you. The ordinary woman that gets to spend her free time with some rich CEO, who seems to be too good for everyone. He barely shows any signs of happiness or something that could make him look in better lightening. Is he doing it on purpose? Is he hiding himself from everyone, or is he just being emotionless man?

“Why? I'm not that interesting person to talk about.” Your frown is switched to a puzzled look that you give him, noticing him licking the corner of his mouth.

“I'm quite intrigued in you, Ms. Y/L/N.” he says slowly, your mind processing his words as you feel a weird lump in your throat.

“Is it because my father owes you money?”

Seokjin has grown used to your bluntness, even if it's been a short time since he had the pleasure to talk to you. Nobody has ever thought about talking to him this way. You give him an attitude, testing his waters with each sentence that flows out of your mouth so naturally. But he has seen it. Him talking about your father brought an emotion on your cold face. Even though you showed the hatred that you feel towards one of your parents, you still care.

So you turn cold, letting him know that you don't care about your pathetic father that turned out to be a scumbag. Not only a thief that had the audacity to steal money, steal from the one and only Kim Seokjin, but a scumbag that left his wife and daughter.

He sees right through you, and in a way he can relate to you. Although, he's pretty much aware how of a big asshole he truly is. You're both different, yet he can see himself in you. Not entirely though, you're much more pure even with your sharp tongue and look of distaste.

He chuckles lowly, shaking his head. “No,” he answers. “I've never met someone like you.”

Even if it's unattractive, you snort in front of him, obviously not believing him. “Are you saying this to every woman you lay your eyes on?” you bite back, noticing a sly smirk appear on his juicy lips.

“Not every woman's father steals my money,” he points out, noticing the way your eyes flutter, glancing away from him in shame. “So, be a good girl and tell me about yourself.”

You gulp, heart shaking at him calling you a 'good girl'. No one ever talked to you this way. Unsure whether he's just being cunning or if it's his very interesting dark persona, you take a sip from the red wine instead.

He watches you with full attention, eyes not fluttering even for a split second as he patiently waits for you to talk. He's very persistent without using an actual words.

“I'm just a woman, working in the office and in the coffee shop during weekends. Woman that's too low for your standards.” you wave your hand off, taking another sip as a bitter taste of it makes the connect with your tongue.

You're usually not a wine drinker, especially if it's bitter and sour, but this fine expensive wine tastes different than the ones that Hoseok buys.

“Let me decide if you're up to my standards, would you.” he chuckles, shaking his head at you once more while you raise a brow at him.

“I'm not going to be your plaything, Mr. Kim,” you tell him bluntly, not paying too much attention to a small smirk appearing on his lips at you putting some distance between you two. “I believe you've got much more suitable women for that.”

There's no way a man like him is alone during nights. He surely has hookers to make him some company during nights or whenever he pleases. If he's not taken, you don't believe he doesn't have the urge to have sex. Every man does.

He's young, in the best age to start or have something without commitment.

“Nobody said anything about you being my plaything. And I believe they're plenty of other women who'd much more appreciate this dinner but I don't blame you. But I think you shouldn't think about yourself that lowly.” he leans comfortably against the chair.

“Oh, how charming,” you scoff, not believing him a single word. “I don't think about myself lowly. You don't know me, I could have a husband at home.”

He chuckles, the same dark and mocking way only he knows. “You don't.”

The confidence behind his statement sparks a realization inside of you. He knows much more than you knew, starting from the way he knows where you work and know that you've no husband at home. Also, you've got your last name. Maybe you shouldn't think into it too much, maybe he's just smart.

Or, he was testing you.

A triumph grin stretches on his lips, noticing the way you hesitate before you stare in a silent shock at him.

“Maybe I've a fiance.” you murmur, growing annoyed that he figured you out that quickly.

“Hmm, maybe. I'm sure he wouldn't be very fond of you having a dinner with another man.” he muses.

“Don't flatter yourself, this is strictly professional.” you remind him, hinting of the whole purpose of this dinner.

Deep inside, even though this man irks you in many ways, you're enjoying it. One half of you is torn between you thinking this whole dinner was a bad idea, but the other one is enjoying this. You're intrigued with him. He's different than anyone you've ever met.

“I've never said it wasn't,” he responds, irking another wave of annoyance. “Although, I'm not sure if any man could truly handle that mouth of yours.”

One second you glare at him, the other one you're a coughing mess after you've choked on your spit. You straighten up yourself, ignoring his amused eyes dancing on you before you lick your lips.

“I can assure you, I've had enough partners that could handle me.”

You've this urge to prove him that you're not some lonely woman with no actual experiences. It's hard to guess what he thinks all the time, and you're not sure why you just told him what you did. Maybe it's the way he looks at you. As if you were just some innocent woman that is desperate for any attention.

Enough partners. Maybe your one ex-boyfriend that didn't last long, until he had decided to dump you. But he doesn't know that.

And again, he chuckles mockingly at you, digging a knife into your pride.

“What? You don't believe me?” you press, frowning at the man that seems to have the time of his life at your previous comment.

“It's not important what I believe, Ms. Y/L/N. I just don't see you as the type whose life involves around men. I don't think you let that many men get close to you.”

Whatever the fuck he means by that, your puzzled look is an answer for itself.

He doesn't know you and the basic information that his people managed to found out about you, are just that. Basic and plain. He has no idea who are you, yet he sees easily through you. Just as he told you, he doesn't think you're desperate for attention or men in general. Surely, you're both from another worlds with different priorities. Even the way you push him away from you, you're still sitting on the one side of the table, with him at the other one. You want to be here, not just because he's your drive home. You could easily catch a cab or something.

“If I want any man close to me, I let him.” you tell him eagerly, watching how his eyes trail down onto the table, eyeing the shining glasses before he looks back at you.

“Mhm, I'm sure you do.”

And there he is, back to his mocking tone that even stupid person could recognized as his way of meaning the opposite.

And you're going to prove him wrong.

Just as the young waiter comes to your table, asking if you're interested in desert, you politely decline. He looks younger than you, politely asking Seokjin the same thing with timid eyes. You know guys like him, freshly out of college wanting to commitments. He thought he's being subtle when he eyed you whenever he passed the table. His hungry eyes set on you whenever Seokjin's attention was elsewhere.

It's a great opportunity to show him that he's wrong.

But it's a fucking bad idea, considering it's your second glass of wine. You don't usually get this tipsy so quickly and easily. It makes you wonder what kind of wine that is.

However, you're pretty aware of what you're doing when you pull out a pen out of your purse, writing something onto the white napkin. You glance at Seokjin, just as you're putting the pen back into your purse, noticing his eyes settled on you in a slight frown. He can see the outlines of numbers, his gaze darkening as he watches you shooting a confident smile to the young waiter.

The guy's eyebrows shoot up, covered by his fringe as he eyes the napkin that you delicately hand him. His cheeks gets red right away, along with his neck as you open your mouth.

“Call me.” you tell him, licking your lips as he glances at Seokjin, but he's staring at you with hardened gaze at the other side of the table.

Still, he takes Seokjin's lack of reaction as a green light, nodding as an obedient child that's ready to yell in happiness. His mouth ticks as he tries to hide a huge grin, before he coughs.

“Is there anything you'd like to order?”

Even his voice flatters, trying to hide the enthusiasm that he just managed to score a woman, without actually talking to her.

Just as you're handing him your empty glass, you're ready to order another one when Seokjin cuts you off way before you can utter a single word.

“Yes, she'll have a glass of water,”

You frown at him, but he's staring at the younger male. “And I'd like to have that.” he adds, pointing towards the napkin that's clutched in his hand.

The poor guy looks like someone just slapped him into his face, hastily hanging the white napkin with your number on it. You watch Seokjin scrunching it, raising a brow at him before he quickly scurries away, not even glancing your way.

“You proved your point.” he tells you, tossing that crumbled napkin on the table.

“I wasn't trying to prove anything,” you grumble, knowing how fucking wrong you are. “And I'm not drunk.”

It's true. You're not. You're completely fine, although that wine definitely gave you more courage but you feel like you've been more riled up by Seokjin himself.

“Oh, I know you aren't,” he says. “But you'd slowly get there, if you continued.”

Rolling your eyes at him, you're not surprised when a different waiter comes to bring you your glass of water. You can't help it but glance at Seokjin when that happens, but his eyes are focused on you, showing no emotion or reaction. He's aware that he probably scared that poor guy.

The dinner is over, right after you drink all of that water with Seokjin looking at you. You barely put your glass down, before his voice resounds.

“Come on, I'll drive you home.”

And for the first time that night, you actually feel disappointment pang in your chest, for unspeakable and unreasonable reasons.  

taglist: <is in the comments> comment on the most recent chapter to be added to the taglist

[hotpinkhoshi]

kiss it better | four

pairing: mark tuan x reader

genre: angst, smut, brother’s best friend au (sort of)

warnings: age gap (nine years), cursing, explicit sex, slow burn

word count: 4k

summary: you were off limits for more reasons than mark could count. but everything changed for him the day you walked into his tattoo shop with those big innocent eyes and a laugh like his favorite song. he couldn’t. he wouldn’t. and yet…

a/n: hellloooooo my loves! thanks for your patience with this update! please let me know what you think about the update :) 

✩ index here ✩

The last time you went bowling, you were eight years old. 

It was your birthday, and you’d declared that the one thing you’d wanted was for the whole family to spend the day together. Lately, Taehyung had been focused on graduating and you’d barely seen him around the house. Your dad was always working, and your mom offered little to no comfort. 

So it had been your birthday wish to have just one day that you could be a family. 

For the first time in your life, you’d had a perfect day. Even Taehyung had put his responsibilities aside and come along, which had been the best part. 

You didn’t win, of course. You had little to no hand-eye coordination - but you’d had more fun than you could ever remember having with your family. The one time you bowled a strike, Taehyung grabbed you and put you on his shoulders, doing laps up and down the lane while you giggled until your cheeks hurt. 

When you entered the bowling alley, you tried not to remember that day. It would only bring you sadness and make you long for something you could never have again.

Instead, you honed in on a different feeling in your bones. You were meeting Mark’s friends for the first time, and it had been a long time since you’d been in such a large group. You couldn’t help but feel nervous. It made you want to steal the leather jacket Mark was wearing and let yourself be swallowed up by the heavy material. 

College had been a learning experience, to say the least, and one of the most prominent lessons had been that it was easy to lose yourself in situations like these. When drinks were flowing, music was blasting, and people were laughing - you didn’t have a great track record. 

Nonetheless, you let Mark lead you back to his friends after grabbing the right shoes, anxiously shoving your hands into the pockets of your shorts. 

“Look who showed up!” Dahyun exclaimed once you joined their group, standing up from the cushioned seats in front of the alley. 

She brushed right past Mark to embrace you in a tight hug, squeezing your shoulders and briefly rocking you back and forth. 

“Damn, hello to you too,” Mark murmured. He shook his head and greeted the rest of his friends, exchanging one of those dude handshakes with a tall, lean guy with shaggy black hair. 

When Dahyun let you go, she linked her arm through yours and brought you over to the group. “Everybody, this is Y/N.” 

“Hi,” you responded with a shy wave. 

The tall guy reached out his hand. “Hi, I’m Yugyeom.” 

He had a face that made you feel like you could trust him, a smile that seemed more innocent than anything else. You couldn’t help but to return his smile and grasp his hand. 

“Hi,” you said again, before Dahyun was pointing to the next person. 

“This is Jackson,” she said, gesturing to a guy leaning coolly against the booth, chestnut brown hair swooped away from his face to reveal his sparkling smile. 

You recognized him as the male you’d seen on that first day, the one that asked Dahyun for napkins. He was wearing a muscle shirt again, revealing the sleeves of swirling lines on both of his toned arms. 

After shaking his hand, Dahyun led you to the next person. Instead of pointing at her, Dahyun wrapped her arms around the short haired blonde and slapped a kiss on her cheek. 

“This is my other half, my bae, my lady. Or, you may call her Chaeyoung.” 

Chaeyoung crinkled her nose and wriggled out of her girlfriend’s grasp with a giggle, reaching forward to shake your hand. “Hi, nice to meet you.” 

Although they were all older than you, you didn’t quite feel the age gap as you thought you would. Yugyeom had a young soul and you felt comfortable as he helped you choose a bowling ball with the right weight. 

Jackson was friendly, too, claiming you for his team before anyone else could get the chance. He said he got a good feeling from you, that you’d be his lucky charm. All you could do was blush and send Mark a shrug. 

While Mark typed in everybody’s name into the machine, transferring them up onto the screen above your heads to show the scores, you accepted the cider that Dahyun slipped into your hands. If anything, perhaps it would loosen you up. 

-- -- --

“If looks could kill,” Dahyun said as she slid into the booth next to Mark. 

Mark brought his beer bottle to his lips, sending a side glance to his friend. “Huh?” 

Dahyun just laughed, tipping her own beer back as she followed Mark’s line of sight. There was Jackson, dancing with you to the techno song playing over the speakers. You were laughing so hard your cheeks were pink. 

“If looks could kill, Jackson would be six feet under,” she finished, nudging his shoulder. “You got a thing for Y/N?” 

Mark scoffed, a bit too quick, and shook his head. “No. No, she’s my friend’s sister.” 

Dahyun snorted. “Okay, and? Chaeyoung was my coworker. Are we just stating facts?”

She didn’t get it. Mark didn’t blame her - she didn’t know the full story. When he was younger, your parents and Tae were the closest things he’d had to family. It would have been downright betrayal to look at you as anything more than a friend. 

But he couldn’t help staring, narrowing his eyes as he watched Jackson adjust your shoulders and hips before you bowled your first shot. He was sure that whatever he was feeling, it wasn’t jealousy. Something curled in his gut, though, when he watched Jackson’s fingers brush against the flower on your shoulder blade, the tattoo Mark had given you himself. 

And for fuck’s sake, did you have to be wearing shorts? It was hot outside, sure, but… 

He shook the thoughts out of his head, realizing that he was the one staring at your legs, not Jackson. Dahyun must have noticed as well, because she nudged him once again and giggled. 

“You’re screwed, dude.”

I’m aware, Mark wanted to say. Instead, he knocked back the rest of his beer. He couldn’t bring himself to look away from you, half out of protectiveness, the other half was something else entirely, something he couldn’t identify. 

-- -- --

“Oh my god!” you exclaimed, watching as your bright pink bowling ball knocked down six pins. It was the most you’d gotten in one turn in the whole duration of the game. You were really bad at this, somehow even worse than you had been when you were eight. 

“You did it!” Jackson yelled happily, pulling you into his arms and lifting you off your feet. You’d had a couple of ciders already, making you feel light and happy as the older man spun you around. 

Jackson was cute. More than just cute - he was handsome enough to be a Disney prince. And he was funny, too. You could tell he was kind. He made you feel special when he laughed at your little quirks during the game, but you knew it was dangerous. 

It wouldn’t be the first time you fell for a hot guy with a charming smile and kind eyes, and you’d told yourself you never would again. So even though he made you laugh and you liked the way he placed his hand on the small of your back, you were cautious. 

Mark was quiet. When it wasn’t his turn, he was mostly brooding in the corner nursing a beer or chatting quietly with Dahyun. You wondered why he wasn’t talking to you, or even looking at you. 

For a moment, you wondered if he was angry with you. He hadn’t spoken to you much, not that he was a man of many words, but you had been getting along so well lately. And he’d wanted you to come, right? 

It occurred to you that maybe he hadn’t, really, and he’d just invited you to be polite. The thought made an unpleasant feeling coil in your gut. 

“Last turn, you know what that means!” 

A female voice called from behind you and you turned to see Chaeyoung carrying a tray of shots - at least a dozen, probably more - to your table. Your eyes widened. This wasn’t for one person, was it?!

“Yes!” Dahyun pumped her fist into the air and skipped over to her girlfriend, helping her set the tray down on the table. 

“Shit, we’re still doing that?” Mark asked, his voice full of annoyance. 

The girls ignored him and Dahyun turned to you. “The rule is, on your last turn, however many pins you leave standing - you take that many shots. It’s a tradition.” 

You blinked a few times, staring down at the tiny shot glasses which were full of a caramelly brown liquid - probably whiskey or bourbon. Not that you had experience with either, but your old roommates always had half empty bottles laying around. 

“You don’t have to,” Mark said low in your ear. You jumped, not knowing he was next to you. When you turned to him, he was giving you a dark look, like he was trying to tell you not to do it. 

Suddenly, you were reminded of your brother. Taehyung was still texting you every day, telling you to go home to your parents, to grow up. He meant well, deep down, but you hated the way he thought he had a right to give you orders. 

Instead of giving in, being the obedient naive girl your brother wanted you to be, you turned from Mark to Dahyun. 

“Oh, no. I’m definitely doing it.” 

-- -- --

“Ohhh, look at your grumpy face. You look like an old man,” you said, poking your fingertip into Mark’s cheek. “Silly.” 

He should have stopped you. Mark had watched as you took five shots, one after the other. In all honesty, you’d knocked them back like a champ with hardly a grimace. But it was a quick downward spiral from there. 

After tearing you away from Chaeyoung and Dahyun, who you were claiming to be your new sisters, Mark led you out of the bowling alley. With your arm around his neck and his arm stabilizing your waist, he felt like he was dragging a dead body with how helpful you were being. 

Now that you were in the backseat of the Uber, you seemed to be gaining a second wind. You were leaning towards him, batting your eyelashes at him with the most infuriating, adorable smile he’d ever seen. 

“Are you mad at me?” you asked, grin dropping into a pout. 

Mark sighed. He was used to being the one to take care of his drunk friends - Jackson wasn’t always as good at holding his liquor as he was now. Not to mention all the trouble he and Taehyung used to get into in their teen years. 

“I’m not mad.” 

You blinked a few times, scrutinizing his features. “It feels like you’re mad.” 

“I’m not,” he insisted, licking his lips. “I just feel like I should have been more responsible.” 

You furrowed your brow and huffed, deflating back against the seat. “I’m not your responsibility, Mark. You don’t have to take care of me.”

“Yes, I do,” Mark replied. “Someone has to.” 

It appeared you didn’t like his answer. You crossed your arms over your chest, tearing your eyes away from him to stare out the window. 

“I’m not a kid,” you said, almost a mutter under your breath, but Mark heard you. He chewed at his lip, staring at you for a moment before he exhaled. 

“I know,” Mark admitted, voice low. “I know. Look, I’m sorry, I know you’re an adult. I just…” 

How could he put it into words? Something about you made him want to protect you, and it wasn’t just that you were younger, that you’d been so sheltered growing up and deserved to have someone shield you from the scary world. There was something else pulling him, and he couldn’t put his finger on it just yet. 

“We’re friends, Y/N. So I wanna make sure you’re safe, okay? And I should have been looking out for you tonight, and I feel like I wasn’t,” he said. 

Mark had been so broody, sitting beside himself while he watched you drink cider after cider that was handed to you, his eyes following every move you made. Until, of course, you looked at him, and he made sure to appear as uninterested as possible. 

He watched you swallow and consider his words before you turned back to him. Thick silence hung between the two of you and he wasn’t sure if it was because he’d said you were friends or because he’d admitted that he had been a dick. 

“I wanna live,” you said, and Mark almost thought you were sobering up, but your eyes still appeared glassy and unfocused. “I moved here to live. And… and I felt like I could, tonight, because you were there.” 

Mark ignored the way he felt his heart pound in his chest, hard against his ribs. 

Luckily, he didn’t need to form a response because the driver had pulled up to the apartment building. Mark thanked him and helped you out of the car, noticing the way you shivered once the cool night air hit your bare skin.

“Here,” Mark said, shrugging his leather jacket off of his shoulders and draping it over yours. “You have goosebumps.” 

“Thank you,” you said. Your cheeks turned pink, radiating all the way up to your ears. 

With a steadying breath, Mark led you back into the building, his hand placed on the small of your back the whole way. 

Once you finally made it into the apartment, you’d seemed to regain some of your wits. Though you stumbled once or twice on thin air, your intoxication at least seemed to be at a steady level.

With Milo on his heels, Mark grabbed a bottle of water for you, handing it to you with strict instructions to sip it slowly, but to finish the whole thing before you went to bed. You pouted and saluted him sarcastically before giving Milo a goodnight kiss and heading off to your room. 

Mark watched as you disappeared down the hallway, each step careful as if you were trying not to appear drunk. You’d had five shots and god only knows how many ciders, you were definitely still drunk. But he admired your effort, at least. 

“What am I gonna do with her,” Mark said to Milo, shaking his head and picking the tiny dog up. Milo offered no wisdom in return, just kissed his face until Mark had to cut him off and set him down. 

Despite Mark’s worries, he attempted to go about his night just as he normally would. He heard you opening and closing dresser drawers, probably a bit louder than you intended, signaling to him that you were at least capable of getting yourself changed for bed on your own. Thank god for that. 

Mark himself changed into his usual sleepwear, a pair of basketball shorts and a muscle shirt, then proceeded to wash his face and brush his teeth. He felt like his ears were perked, waiting for any sign of trouble so that he could come to your rescue. It was a strange, pathetic feeling. 

He glimpsed your figure out of the corner of his eye while he was mid-brush, purple toothbrush sticking out of his mouth. You had your toiletry bag in your arms, your previous outfit swapped out for a pair of leggings and an oversized college shirt. 

“Can I?” you asked, nodding with your chin to the empty space at the sink. 

“Mm,” he murmured in response, holding up one finger to signal you to wait a moment. He quickly finished brushing his teeth and rinsed his mouth, then took a sidestep to make room for you at the sink. 

He tried not to stare at you and instead pretended like he was checking the shelf above the toilet for something, though he paid attention to the way you sat your bag down and unzipped it, sifting through it until you pulled out a bottle of clear liquid and a cotton pad. 

You seemed a bit unsteady, wobbling a on your feet just standing still. You were holding the cotton pad and makeup remover in each hand, biting hard onto your lip. 

“Y/N?” Mark asked. “You good?” 

With a sigh, you shook your head. “Don’t feel good.” 

“Well, that might have something to do with the liter of alcohol you drank,” he remarked with a smirk. 

You whined and turned to Mark, surprising him by holding the items in your hands out to him. “Help. If I have to stare at myself in the mirror, I’m going to throw up.” 

All he could do for a moment was stare down at your hands, the objects that were basically foreign to him. He’d never touched a bottle of makeup remover in his life, and the only time he used cotton swabs were for sterilization at the shop.

“I… what?” he stuttered. 

“Just pour this on this, then wipe my makeup away. It’s easy.” 

Mark blinked a few times, torn between telling you to do it yourself or just walking away. But the way you were gazing up at him with glassy eyes and the most pathetic frown was what made him reach for the cotton pad and makeup remover. 

“Okay, just, close your eyes. And you can’t be mad at me if I do it wrong.” 

You smiled, then, turning your body to lean back against the sink. Mark stood in front of you, popping open the cap of liquid and pouring some onto the cotton round. You gave him a nod of approval at the amount he used, then closed your eyes. 

He slid the cotton pad over your eyes, overly gentle at first to a point where nothing was removed. So he went over again, until he was sure that he got the hang of it. He watched as all your mascara and eyeliner was wiped away, not that you’d had very heavy makeup on to start with. 

“Mark,” you whispered, after he’d gotten your eye makeup off. You opened your eyes and Mark realized just how close to you he was standing, but he didn’t make any effort to move away. 

“Yeah?” he replied, just as quietly. 

“Why haven’t you asked why I’m not talking to my parents?” 

Mark swallowed, his hand dropping from your face. “I figured you would tell me when you felt comfortable.”

You nodded. “I feel like I should tell you.”

“You don’t have to,” he replied, shaking his head. “Not if you’re not ready.”

Your bodies were so close together, he could smell the lingering perfume on your skin and he tried so hard not to inhale too deep, not to notice how good you smelled. 

“I dropped out of school,” you blurted out. “When I told my parents, they…” you blew out an exhale, your eyes staring out over Mark’s shoulder as if you were remembering how it all happened. “They told me I could go back to school or get out of their house. They didn’t ask why I dropped out, or if I was okay, they just wanted me gone.”

Mark didn’t respond, although he had a thousand questions begging to be answered. But he wanted to give you the time, the space to share more if you wanted. 

“I hated school. My grades were fine, they were excellent really, but I was miserable. I ended up… doing something really stupid, and it was the last straw.”

When you didn’t continue, instead locking eyes with Mark again, he swallowed and chose his words carefully. 

“I’m sorry. No matter how I feel about your parents, that’s… it’s messed up. You deserve to have their support,” he said quietly, slowly bringing his hand back up to your face. 

He swiped the cotton pad across your cheek, taking your makeup and a stray tear with it. You nodded and sniffed once. 

“It’s okay. But that’s why I’m here,” you told him, voice quiet. “They forced me out. And I wanted to have a life, so I came to the city.”

“And?” Mark asked, trying to lighten the mood. “Is it everything you ever dreamed of?” 

You laughed, soft and breathy. “It’s not so bad. I’ve got good company.” 

When your eyes met, Mark felt that grip on his heart again. The way you looked at him made his mind foggy, like he had been the one to take five shots of whiskey. He hadn’t been looked at like this in a long time, maybe ever. 

“Close your eyes,” Mark said. His voice came out deeper, more gravelly than he intended. 

After you obeyed, he slid the cotton pad over your other eye to remove the makeup there, at least grateful to be free of your overwhelming gaze. 

“Why don’t you have a girlfriend?” you whispered, catching him off guard. 

Mark was used to this question. At the age of thirty, he was expected to be in a serious relationship, if not already married. So when people found out he’d been single for years, they were shocked. 

“Uh, well-” Mark stuttered, his fingers pausing as they brushed against your cheek. “I… I don’t go out a lot. And I guess I like being alone. I’m comfortable like this.”

“What about me?”

There it was again, that thumping in his chest. 

“You’re different,” he whispered. He didn’t even notice he had dropped the cotton pad, leaving nothing between the soft skin of your cheek and his hand. 

Your eyes fluttered open - clear, and so, so close. It stirred something in him, a feeling that had remained dormant for what felt like his entire life. 

Then your lips were against his. It happened so fast, he didn’t even know who leaned in first. He was pretty sure you’d kissed him, but he had felt so drawn to you in that moment that he couldn’t be sure. 

It only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough. Enough for you to tilt your head, slip your tongue past his lips. God, it’d been so long… 

Mark surged back a step, his shins colliding with the tub behind him. He inhaled sharply, his lips tingling from your kiss. 

“Oh, god,” you said, your eyes flying open. “Oh my god. Mark, I…” Your hand came up to cover your mouth as you stared at him. 

“Shit,” Mark muttered, running his fingers through his hair. “Shit. It’s okay.”

He couldn’t look at you. He was looking anywhere but at your face as he rubbed his neck, trying to process the last ten seconds. 

“I’m sorry,” you said. You turned from him, grabbing your bag from the sink and scurrying out of the room. 

Mark watched you leave, listening for the sound of your bedroom door shutting behind you. He groaned quietly to himself, leaning his palms onto the sink. 

“Fuck. Shit. You’re so fucking stupid,” he told himself in the mirror. 

He closed his eyes and counted to ten. Once, twice, three times. He had no explanation, no excuse for what had just happened. You’d been the one to initiate the kiss, but he’d kissed you back. 

He knew better. Despite the circumstances, he knew better than to look at you like that, as anything other than a friend. A little sister, even. 

With one deep inhale and a long exhale, Mark made up his mind. He would do the right thing, no matter how hard it was or how much you’d hate him for it. 

He grabbed his phone off of the sink, browsing his contacts until he found the name he’d been looking for. It was his new number, but he hoped he would answer. 

Holding the phone up to his ear, Mark listened as the phone rang three times. He almost hung up, deciding that maybe it wasn’t worth it. Tomorrow, he could tell you to call him yourself. 

The ringing stopped. “Hello?”

He cleared his throat. “Taehyung? Hey, man. It’s Mark.”

“Mark? Shit, it’s been a while. What’s up?”

Mark kept his eyes on the mirror, making sure he got a good look at himself as he flipped your world upside down. 

“Look, this is probably unexpected, but… I need to talk to you. It’s about your sister.” 

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

One quick question, why do you hate Before the Storm? I actually really liked it. It could be because I'm a hopeless romantic, but I just want to see your opinions on it

Oh boy, where to even begin...? I cannot stand bts... it actually hurts my insides to think about how much I hate this game haha.

[note: yeah hi uhhh... this is long because of course it is, it's coming from me but listen, my feelings for this game are not nice and I have a lot to say so.... my bad]

One of the bigger reasons, though not the biggest, is Chloe... I'm not exactly a big fan of Chloe. At all. Not in the first game, nope. I understand that so many people love her and they have their reasons for that, that's fine, she's just a character who doesn't appeal to me. If anything, she pisses me off because I can see the foundation for such a compelling character, but it all gets thrown away for the sake of bullshit.

So then they plop bts in front of us with Chloe as the playable protagonist in a prequel story about her and Rachel Amber. This is an opportunity to expand on her character, to tie into the first season and make me feel more positive feelings about her character, to do what the first game failed to do..... and to be fair, they DO have a few of them sprinkled in... but then they're overshadowed by the garbage.

It's just... the ideas are there, and they're ideas that I like but they're executed so poorly. I want to like Chloe Price, I can see that there's something good here.

Like okay.... lemme do a thing:

Chloe Price. She's going through some serious shit after her dad dies. He died unexpectedly in a car accident, something Chloe had zero control over, it's not fair, and even though it's not like the universe singled her out and said "fuck you," it feels that way to her.

On top of that, her best friend who she adores? She moves away. Not something that's in either of their control, they're kids at this point. However, Max stops contacting her and that hurts Chloe. Chloe tries to stay in contact, but eventually Max stops responding.

Then you have her mother, who's also grieving after losing her husband and dealing with her daughter pushing her away and on the wrong path. She meets a man and falls for him after realizing she still has a long life ahead of her and that's too long to be miserable over her husband's death, William wouldn't want that, and David is a source of comfort for her... something she's not getting from her daughter. The problem is that David and Chloe don't get along in the slightest... which leads to Chloe feeling like her mom is trying to replace her father by moving on, not understanding why Joyce's timeline of grief isn't the same as hers, y'know?

Oh, and can't forget that Chloe has fallen onto a not so great path of drugs, booze, bad grades, lying, staying out late without letting her mom know where she is, pickin' fights, making friends with drug dealers, stealing money and other items, all that. She's bitter, angry, unable to understand most of her own complex emotions and that only makes her even more upset. She's unable to express them in a healthy way, she doesn't ask for help, and denies it whenever offered.

So... Chloe's starts out as an extremely entitled, rude, obnoxious character. She insults the bouncer in the cringiest way possible because these adult men writing her don't know how teen girls talk, she steals money and a t-shirt from a dude who works for the band because $20? how dare? even though bands don't make a lot of money and a lot of profit comes from their merch but who cares about supporting artists you like, right? Chloe sure doesn't. She probably buys some weed from Frank because yeah, she's got a dependence on the stuff now. She gets into a fight with a couple of dudes after spilling beer on them.... but what's this?

Oh look, it's Rachel Amber. Y'know, the pretty, popular, talented, smart, perfect, charismatic girl from Chloe's school?? yeah, she's at the concert and saves Chloe from the dicks who attacked her, and the two girls spend the rest of the concert together.

Now, for some reason, Chloe isn't sure but Rachel has taken a special interest in her. Rachel is flirty, she wants to know who Chloe is, she asks her to skip school with her, and the two take a ride on a train to a park and... honestly? pretty romantic, and it plays into that escapism fantasy thing of having the pretty girl who everyone likes single you out, making you feel special.

Over time, the girls grow close. Rachel has some family problems and seeks comfort in Chloe. They spend nights walking together down empty streets at night, holding hands. They hang out and talk about the stars, they discuss Shakespeare and what it's like to actually be your true self, if there's actually such a thing. They get tattoos together, and Rachel helps Chloe color her hair. They have a special hideout they decorated together in the junkyard. Rachel spends the night at Chloe's enough that she ends up leaving a lot of clothes there. They daydream about running away together, long road trips and living big in LA.

Chloe starts to see Rachel as her angel because for the first time since Max, she feels like she has someone she can be open and honest with. Rachel almost seems too perfect to be true, y'know?

And hey, over time Chloe actually starts to kinda get her life on the right track, if not in an unconventional way. Sure, she's still dealing with losing her father. that's not something she'll just get over... but she does start making an effort with her mom, and yes, even David after he told her about his time in the army and gave her that photo. They both know they'll never be friends, and they'll still have arguments, but they'll at least keep the peace for Joyce's sake.

It's not all perfect, though. Chloe's still smoking and Rachel isn't always the best influence. They get into trouble here and there, but nothing super serious.

She dropped out of Blackwell so that her mom didn't have to keep paying her tuition and because she's fixated on this fantasy of running away with Rachel. Chloe's feeling good about herself, about her future, for the first time since her dad died.

Until Rachel disappears.

And everything goes to shit pretty quick after that. Rachel's gone, she's not answering calls or texts, and everyone keeps saying that she probably ran away, but Chloe knows better. She knows Rachel wouldn't leave without her, so something must've happened. She makes posters and puts them everywhere, but things only get worse.

Money is tight. Joyce isn't making as much as she needs at the diner, David isn't making enough as a security guard, and hey... they might lose the house... the house that was once Williams, that's a piece of him he left behind. Not only that, but where will they go?

Chloe doesn't want them to lose the house, or for her mom to be this stressed out over food and bills. Chloe borrowed money from Frank in hopes of using it to run away with Rachel, but with her missing... Chloe decides to give it to her mom in order to save the house. Joyce is alarmed that she has this much, but Chloe manages to lie her way out of it to give her mom some peace of mind.

Except now she has another problem- she can't pay Frank back and he's getting more aggressive about it as the weeks go on. Rachel's still missing, Frank's breathing down her neck with threats toward her mom, money is still an issue at home, and she's not in a good place. Chloe's desperate enough to steal... so when she makes it into a bar that doesn't card her and she sees rich boy Nathan Prescott drunk off his ass and flashing bills, she thinks it'll be an easy score. It's wrong to do this, it's dangerous, but Chloe justifies it to herself. She needs that money.

She didn't expect Nathan to drug her drink, and she wakes up to him taking pictures of her. She manages to get the hell outta there, but she still has no idea what the hell happened to her. Like.... that reeeally fucks with her, it doesn't even feel real. She can't tell anyone, she can't tell her mom, and the police won't do anything since they're under the Prescott thumb.... and well, she decides to blackmail him.

And we all know how that goes.

So... we have the highs and lows of Chloe Price. She's flawed, even starting out as unbearable, but over time she becomes more nuanced and you're invested in what happens to her. You want to see her better herself, you want her to work through her grief and get help, you understand why she hates David but when you see him and Joyce happy together and him make an effort to be better, you want to see them make amends. You know David doesn't want to replace William, hell HE knows no one ever could.

You want Chloe to keep going, to find purpose in her life and realize her own potential. You saw her at the beginning when she was broken, when she was lost and didn't see a future for herself, and it's satisfying to see her come this far to where she knows she has a future... something that becomes all the more tragic when you remember her fate in the first game.

You're invested in Chloe and Rachel's romance, you get giddy watching them flirt and do dumb, romantic, cliche things, and you're just as compelled by Rachel as everyone else. No, she's not perfect, she's not a stereotype, she's much more layered than that and it only breaks your heart when you realize that she's killed later on, that of course she's going to go missing... you already know that! So you're watching Chloe, who has gotten pieces of her life back together and is genuinely happy.... fall back down the pit, fall back into the habits she had at the beginning, and you know it will lead to her downfall.

.....TOO BAD BEFORE THE STORM DID FUCK ALL WITH THAT RIGHT?

Nope, you don't get any of that. Well, except Chloe being cringy. You get a lot of that.

No, no, we got edgelord, flanderized Chloe who thinks her wit is much greater than it actually is, whose terrible moments outweigh the good, and who doesn't grow or change no matter what influence you try to have over her.

Rachel could be replaced with a literal barbie doll and little would change. She has no charm, she's nothing like what she was described in the first game, and she's just so fucking unlikable. When she finds out that her mom isn't actually her birth mom, she claims that her whole life is a lie and her parents aren't real and she wants to meet her druggie mom who chose drugs over her for 15 years because she's the one who actually squeezed her out.

Which, by the way, WHY is this the goddamn plot?? Why did they feel like they had to shove in this "oh hey Rachel's dad is the bad guy, oh wait now this drug guy is the bad guy because he stabby Rachel, no wait now her dad is the super bad guy because he put a hit out on Rachel's REAL mom, oh no wait it's fine because Frank murdered drug man off screen" WHY YOU DO THIS??

You have three episodes. THREE. And in those three episodes, you have the opportunity to explore Chloe as a character, and her relationships with Rachel, Joyce, and David. But instead of dedicating the story to that, something you could've created a compelling narrative out of, you threw in this dumb mom plot and fire-

HOW THE HELL DID I FORGET THE FIRE????

What- why did- does she have- Rachel just- RACHEL SETS THE FOREST ON FIRE??? WHY THOUGH???

I get it, "Rachel is the fire" yeah yeah and it's dumb.

Oh and because we didn't have enough going on, here's a side mission where you gotta deal with getting money from this other kid who's running drugs for big bad drug man because he wants to help his dad who lost his job.

But WAIT, there's more- In a series where several girls were drugged by Nathan and Jefferson, forced to pose for pictures, and some even killed or driven to try and take their own life? something taken so seriously...? Victoria gets drugged and it's treated like a joke. Even worse, there is a path that has Rachel drugging her, and no one cares.

ALSO.... Rachel cheated on Chloe with two adult men, remember? One of which fucking murders her?? and we're just... we're just not gonna do anything with that??? Nothing??? Maybe a little stinger at the end but that's it????

I just..... I hate this game so much.

It had so much potential. Not only that, but it had the first game to look at and learn from. Learn from the mistakes that game made and improve upon.... but instead, they fucked up even worse. It's just a game of fanservice that has way too much going on, is trying to do too much, and loses focus on the most important things.

Three episodes could've been enough to explore different points of Chloe's character before the events of the first game. They could've crafted a story that gave more insight into her life that make sense of the choices she made, that turn her into the Chloe we see in the first game. You don't need a forest fire, you don't need evil lawyers. I know the first game had the storm and time travel and big dumb Jefferson, but you wanted to tell a story that's grounded without shit like that... y'know, before the storm.

I could probably go on and on if someone doesn't stop me, so I'll stop myself here... I hate bts because it's potential was there, I could see it in a few key moments, and it was wasted.

The romantic ideas fall flat because being pretty and gay isn't enough for me, I need more than that. I don't care if they kiss because I don't care about their relationship, and frankly, they've done very little to make me care about them as individuals.

UGH

.......does that answer your quick question? haha sorry for the not so quick answer, but like I said, this game makes my brain mad and once I get going, it's hard to stop.

[aiikawarazu]

Hourglass Chapter #21

Title: Winter Flower

Rated: M

Summary:  The times when she was confined to her prison of hourglass was long gone, she had broken free from it now. And even if it was just to live in the moment with Eren, this was the only time Mikasa ever felt real. This was the only time in her life when she knew what she wanted to do. And for sure she didn't want to waste any single moment with him worrying about anyone – or anything else. She wanted to be with him, she wanted to be by his side. For now, Eren was right there beside her and for Mikasa, that was more than enough.

FFNet here || AO3 here (AO3 is late update)

Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

"That witch!"

Ayako let out a bellow, followed by a loud thud when her small fist hit the wall with tremendous force. The other three people in the vicinity jumped from their seats and looked at her, startled.

"W-what's going on?" Armin asked. In his surprise, he had spilled the hot green tea inside his cup, the scalding liquid now burned ferociously against the skin on the back of his hands, but Armin's attention was much taken by Ayako's rage that he was completely oblivious to the pain. On the seats across him, Eren and Mikasa were also watching their friend with great attention – Mikasa's brows furrowed, Eren's mouth gaping slightly, both seemingly as surprised and puzzled as he was.

As usual, the four of them were rounding up in the empty Home Economics classroom during lunch period. It was early March, and though weather was beginning to get warm, none of them was brave enough to challenge the cold and go to the school rooftop for lunch. They were talking about the TV show last night when suddenly, Ayako – who was standing by near the large window on the side of the classroom, surprised all of them with the sudden yell.

"Ayako, what's wrong?" Mikasa asked again, as Armin's question was left unanswered. But Ayako wasn't looking back at them. Instead, she looked at something outside the window, down on the school courtyard, her long brown hair disheveled across her face, which bore the look of frustration and outrage. She seemed like she was too preoccupied, or too angry, to put anything into words. Curious, the three of them exchanged looks. Then, seeing as Ayako clearly wasn't going to answer anything, they quickly slipped out of their seats and joined her, eager to catch a glimpse at the scenery that's suddenly plunged her into this state of rage.

Mikasa didn't know what to look for at first. But Ayako nudged her ribs and pointed exactly at two figures on the bottom right corner of the courtyard, near the entrance to the soccer field. A boy and a girl were standing there, facing each other, the girl slightly tilted her head up to look at the boy. From up here, they looked just like any ordinary couple who had gone out to the court for their lunch, but Mikasa recognized the side figure after a mere few seconds.

Jean and… Mikasa had to narrow her eyes to be sure of the girl who was with him, but she saw her everyday – surely she couldn't be mistaken. It was Nanako.

She frowned, then turned to face her friend.

"I don't understand…"

"Neither do I," Ayako replied, her teeth clenched. "What is that wench doing out there with Jean? Surely she is up to no good again."

"What's going on?" Eren seemed like he didn't understand a thing. "Why are we talking about that Horseface?"

"For your information, Yeager," Ayako cut in impatiently, "That person right there in the field," she jabbed with her finger to the figures of Nanako and Jean, "With Jean… is the likely person behind all those incidents targeting Mikasa, and you."

"By the way, she's a girl from your class," Armin supplied helpfully, "In case you don't remember."

"I can't even remember what I ate for lunch," Eren said simply, and peered out of the window with curiosity. Mikasa gave him a disdainful look. "I told you about this," she reminded him. "There is a girl in our class who likes Jean, and she hates me for rejecting him." Eren gave out a low whistle.

"Now I remember. That is the stupidest thing I heard, even including the all the school gossips combined." He continued watching out the window with great interest. "I don't know why you think this is a bad thing… sounds like that chick has scored herself a pretty nice goal then, she and Horseface look awfully chummy." The couple were now sitting together on a bench near the soccer field, and unpacking their lunch boxes. Eren was right, they seemed to be having a good time. "Bet my whole lunch this week they'd be fucking each other before March ends."

"You said that because you didn't know her!" Ayako yelled in frustration. "Nanako is a vicious snake! And whatever down there she's doing with Jean, and everyone knows the story between Mikasa and Jean – is going to have something to do with Mikasa in the end… and with you!" she looked even more exasperated now. She played nervously with her fingers and drew a deep sigh, her rage had subsided and instead was replaced with anxiety as she bit her lips in silence, brows furrowed, still looking at the couple with deep concentration.

"Oh, if only I could prove that she was behind all these," Ayako muttered in desperation. "Stalking Mikasa and everything… I'd drag her out in the open, but she would just deny everything…"

"I think," Mikasa said quietly, "That you lots have become somehow more absorbed in this than me. I know," she added quickly when she saw Ayako was about to protest. "I know you did this for me. And I'm grateful, really. But I don't want my friends getting in a lot of trouble because of me," she made a heavy emphasis on the last word, and paused for a while.

"Trust me… compared to what I used to face in my house… this is nothing."

There was such a dark tone in Mikasa's voice that made the three others immediately exchange looks. The atmosphere seemed to suddenly grow heavier with her words. Ayako shifted uncomfortably in her place.

"I don't really care," Mikasa continued, "If they mark my desk with a flower, or throw away my books every day, or accuse me of sleeping around with boys. I said this before, and I'll say it again – I can endure it. I don't mind to endure it, and for me, silence is the best option to their child-like pranks." She walked back to the table where they sat before they all ran to Ayako's side near the window. Then, she picked up her cup and stared absent-mindedly at it for a while. "And I think you forgot," she put the cup down with a small thud, now turning to face the three, who noted with relief that she was now smiling, albeit just slightly.

"I'm stronger than you all are," she said this with a hint of arrogance, but it was such matter-of-fact that none of them could argue further. "I can take on all these people. And as long as you are on my side… then I'm not afraid of anything."

She seemed like she was addressing the three but in the end, her eyes shifted slightly to where Eren was standing. She was looking directly at him. Her smile grew a bit wider, and her expression had changed into something a lot softer. Wordlessly, Eren mirrored her smile. He had never become bored observing how pretty she was, how magnificent… He knew he had been looking at her for a long while, but it's not enough – he could look at her all day – and every time he saw her, there's a certain familiar feeling of warmth that seemed to wash over him.

"Nanako can turn the whole school upside-down if she wants to," Mikasa continued again, this time looking at Ayako and Armin. "In the end, it's me she wants. If it's really her behind all of these, then… when the time comes… she'll go for me. Until then, just stay out of trouble, Ayako." Mikasa now pinned the brown-haired girl with her sharp gaze. "And you too, Armin. Don't waste your energy on her. She is not worth it."

***

It wasn't easy for Armin to find an excuse to talk to Jean.

For one, they weren't in the same class, or in the same extracurricular club. And though they both had people they knew in common – Mikasa and Ayako – this time Armin had to approach Jean without their help, which made the task more difficult for him.

It also didn't help that the only time Armin ever spoke to Jean face to face was during him and Mikasa's failed date attempt last year, in which Mikasa deliberately drag him to her date without previously informing him or Jean. Armin could never forget the murderous look Jean had on his face that day. He looked at Armin as though the blonde boy was some kind of disgusting pest he wanted to crush under his feet, and Armin had to spend several agonizing hours fearing for his life lest Jean would murder him out of spite.

To tell the truth, Armin wasn't planning on approaching Jean by himself. Mikasa had made a fair point to stop them from meddling in her affairs with Nanako, but Armin wasn't convinced. He had never seen Nanako in person, never conversed with her – yet he had a pretty good idea about this person from the way Ayako and Mikasa described her. If he was right, and usually he was rather good at deducing people's personalities… Nanako was not just interested in destroying Mikasa. Yes, Mikasa might be her end target, but Mikasa was wrong if she thought Nanako would just go straight to her in an attempt for revenge. From what Armin knew by words, she was foul enough to also extend the damage to anyone else she saw associated with Mikasa Ackerman.

And that, of course, also included Jean Kirstein.

That was the sole reason Armin wanted to find out the nature of relationship between Nanako and Jean, but first things first, Armin really wasn't sure on how to approach him. He had spent the whole day yesterday, diligently stalking Jean and trying to find an opening that he could use. These days it seemed like he was gradually getting used to stalking and hunting, Armin noted to himself with a bit of wonder. And what surprised him even more, was the fact that he actually enjoyed the thrill. Maybe he had been looking for some interesting events to distract him from the boring school life, after all…

And today, Armin waited in the corner, tense with anticipation. He finally decided that the best time to approach Jean was a few minutes nearing the end of the lunch break – he saw Jean heading down the stairs to the ground floor, toward the row of the vending machines installed near the inter-building corridor. Armin saw Jean put in his coins to the drink vending machine, pressed a few buttons, then bent down to retrieve his canned drink. Jean was alone, thank God, it will make things easier…

Jean finally retrieved his canned hot coffee, bent up again, clicked his can open, and after a sip, began to walk to where Armin was hiding.

Armin counted carefully, inside his head, taking care to act only with the most precise timing. Then, when he finally reached five, he drew in a deep breath and emerged abruptly from the corner. Quite naturally, Jean, who was walking fast to the opposite direction, didn't have enough time to dodge him. He tried to stop in the last second but a collision was unavoidable. They collided, Armin fell to the floor, Jean let out a loud yell, and his canned coffee came crashing to the floor with a loud clank. From the scorching sensation on the front of his shirt, Armin knew that he must have spilled some of the liquid on his uniform. Not wasting any seconds, he proceeded to his next act with ease.

"Sorry! I'm so sorry!" he said. "I was in a rush.. didn't see where and I'm going… and I spilled your coffee too… sorry, I'll buy you a new one… wait here."

He handed a piece of handkerchief to Jean, who was wildly confused, still processing what's happening.

"T-that's alright," he stuttered a bit, taking the handkerchief out of Armin's hand, and watched wordlessly as the blonde boy hurriedly made his way to the vending machine, and came back a few minutes later with the exact same drink.

"Sorry again," Armin said, handing over the coffee to Jean. Jean thanked him out of courtesy, and began to observe the boy more carefully.

"Aren't you Ackerman's friend?" he asked, taking the canned coffee from Armin a little mindlessly.

"I'm Armin Arlert," he said, opening his own can of coffee and slipping in casually beside Jean. "We have met before."

"I remember," Jean replied in short. That event might be last year but the disastrous date with Mikasa was still fresh in his memory.

"I – I want to apologize for that time," said Armin quickly. "I really had no idea what's happening… Mikasa just told me to come along with her, so I agreed. And…"

"All good," said Jean. "It's not your fault. The look on your face when you knew what you got yourself into… it was quite amusing, though."

They exchanged short, awkward smiles for a while, and Armin felt Jean began to tense less at his presence.

"Things haven't been calm around Ackerman lately," Jean remarked after a while, seemingly trying to find topics to continue his conversation with Armin.

"Certainly," Armin replied, sighing. "Somebody's really got grudges against her. And decided to bring the whole school into it."

Jean stared listlessly into the distance. "Figured. But Ackerman's been a good feed for the rumor mills even before all of these. People scrutinized every aspects of her life no matter what she did. Maybe not a day has ever passed peacefully in her life…"

"Tell you the truth," said Armin, "She's quite happy people's been ignoring her existence these days. Helped her to keep a much lower profile." Jean looked at him, rather surprised. "Was that really what she said?"

"No, but I know Mikasa," said Armin, looking back at Jean, smiling slightly. "She's about tired being in the center of everyone's attention for well over a year now."

Jean regarded this point carefully. "Whoever's doing this must be not so happy now," he said after a while, voicing Armin's thoughts out loud, and Armin remarked how notably sharp Jean was. "Ackerman's not exactly playing on their favor."

"She doesn't," Armin agreed. "All the more reason they might try something different… and more desperate, soon."

"Yeah," Jean grinned slightly in frustration. "Anyway… I have to go, thank you for the coffee…," he made a start to get back to his own classroom but paused, flicked a glance to Armin and hesitated for a while, before speaking.

"Is she really dating Yeager? Not that I'm being nosey about it –" Jean added quickly. "I'm just… just curious."

That was a poor excuse, and even Armin could tell Jean's real intention. But the boy responded in kind.

"I don't know," he said honestly. "Mikasa never really talked much about her personal affairs. But they've been really close lately, and out of us all… I know that she trusts Eren the most."

Jean's heart sank even further at this revelation. "I see," he mumbled under his breath. Armin watched in silence as Jean looked pointedly at his toes, shifting uncomfortably for a while. Then Armin started again, "I'm sorry to ask, but… are you still… you know…"

"Huh," Jean seemed to have lost his focus. "What?" he asked to Armin, and the boy, turning a bit red now, repeated his question.

"You still have a crush on Mikasa?"

Jean looked embarrassed with Armin's straightforward way of asking it. But he looked even more embarrassed as he tried to answer it.

"Maybe," he muttered vaguely, "I don't… I could… yeah, maybe."

"Sorry," said Armin immediately, "I – I shouldn't have asked."

"That's about the fiftieth 'sorry' for the day, Arlert," Jean replied, with more genuine humor this time, and Armin looked relieved. "It's just that… I've seen you around lately with this girl," Armin admitted. "I just wonder… maybe…"

"With a girl?" Jean seemed to be thinking for a while. "Oh, you mean… Toda. Yes, I've been spending time with her." He looked back at Armin, who nodded. "I don't know her name… but I know she's Mikasa's classmate… short brown hair, rather small build?"

"Yeah, that's Toda alright," replied Jean. "She's in the drama club with me… nice girl, she is… we had good times… she gave me lots of advice on life and helped me make my homework. She –" he stopped when he saw Armin's expression slightly changed. The blonde boy suddenly looked a bit sick, like he was forced to watch people throw up in front of his face. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," Armin lied. His expression was quickly back to normal. "I just thought, maybe… maybe you got over Mikasa already."

"Honestly, I never stood a fair chance against her," Jean remarked flatly. "And if she's happy with Yeager… so am I."

Jean waved to Armin. "See ya later, Arlert." Armin kept his cheerful face until Jean was safely out of sight, then returned to his own classroom, his expression full with worry.

***

"Things have been really weird in this school lately," Ymir remarked crassly as she sat together with Historia one day at their club practice. The petite blonde girl looked up from their next drama script which she had been reading intently and regarded her friend with an inquisitive look.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "Things look perfectly normal to me."

"For one, Horseface's been screwing around with a new girl," said Ymir, and Historia looked a bit reproachful. Ymir knew she shouldn't have used that kind of language in front of her, Historia's got a refined taste after all – she's part of the Reiss household, easily one of the richest family in the entire Japan. She used to receive strict education in a private all-girls college in Tokyo, one of the best in the country, until some inner conflicts overtook the Reiss family, and she was forced to split from her parents. She lived in Shiganshina now with her sister Frieda, a much more modest life than what she used to have. She was better in every aspects now, one could say she was cruder, but much closer to a commoner lifestyle than when she first arrived in Shiganshina a year ago.

Historia's friendship with Ymir was the primary driving factor behind this change. Ymir was unquestionably crude, crass, with a no-nonsense kind of attitude that was sometimes considered as rude, and a mouth that would have been better remain shut since it had, more often than not, landed Ymir in various difficult situations when she opened it without thinking. As rude as she was, Historia loved her friend dearly, for Ymir had been the one who had been in Historia's side when she was lost and tried desperately to rebuild her life. For a confused girl at the age of fifteen, she was craving that best friend figure to help her through things, and Ymir was, and continued to be, that person for her.

"I still don't see why that's something weird, Ymir," Historia sighed, closing her drama script. "It's a good thing if Jean gets over Ackerman."

"I would say that… if only that girl who's been all over Horseface doesn't happen to be our newest member. You remember her, Historia… the one who suddenly joined after the new term started."

"Oh," Historia seemed to give it a thought, "Yes, bit of a strange time to join a club…"

Ymir scoffed. "A bit? She joined this club because Horseface was here. She was never interested in drama. Have you ever seen her paying any attention to practice? Or stayed behind voluntarily to do chores? Do you realize that she's only stayed behind when it was Horseface's turn to do club chores? And when he's not in practice, she never attended as well. She's all over him, it makes me sick." Ymir looked disgusted. "I don't know why Horseface is even considering her. If she ever breathed a word that's not a lie… I'd go ahead to Mr. Shadis and offer him a piece of steamed potato during class…. like our idiot Potato Girl did."

Historia giggled unexpectantly. "That was mean, Ymir," she said, but she looked rather amused. "That alone made Sasha our school legend though."

"You know I'm not good at reading atmosphere, but she's even worse," Ymir reproved. "She's thick."

"Not thick, just innocent," Historia defended her. "Sasha has this… childhood innocence on her. You just can't bring yourself to hate her."

"The same childhood innocence had her run thirty laps around the school court, Historia," Ymir reminded, and Historia looked glum.

"Oh yes, Mr. Shadis wasn't too nice with that… Sasha nearly collapsed out of fatigue. Good thing we found her on time," she recalled. "She's almost passed out. Miss Ral wasn't too happy when we brought her in… started saying all things about improper punishments at school and how she'd bring this to Headmaster Erwin… Oh, look… speak of the devil…"

Historia stopped just as Sasha Braus entered the sports hall. She walked straight for the stage where Historia and Ymir were sitting side by side, chatting. She waved at them, looking very excited, her hands are full of something, which, as she went nearer the stage, Ymir and Historia recognized as countless packages of chocolate puddings.

"Historia! Ymir! Look what I got for us! Puddings!" she said, and proudly put down the dozens puddings on the floor, some of them rolled to where Historia was sitting, and she picked it up and gave the object a suspicious look.

"Umm, Sasha," she tried to make her point as carefully as she could. "Where did you get these?"

Historia did know that these puddings were, in fact, best-selling items in school cafetaria, and it was unlikely Sasha could have obtained these many using any normal means, considering it was limited to two items per student, and was almost always sold out during the first ten minutes of lunch.

"Nevermind that now," she said, and Historia noted that she'd almost never seen anyone with such greedy looks on their face. She and Ymir exchanged quick looks, Ymir's eyebrows slightly raised, and Historia knew exactly what Ymir was going to say.

What was that about childhood innocence?

"Well if you don't want to tell –" Ymir said, and picked up a container. "Lets just say… that you found these."

"Yes, I found these. When I was done with my Archery Club duties and I made my rounds here… I found these lovely packages of pudding waiting for me in my locker. They're from… my secret admirer."

Historia was going to say something, but Ymir gave her a quick look.

"You know what… I guess… I'll have a dig. Finders' keepers," Ymir said casually, twirling the package in her hands.

"Finders' keepers," Sasha agreed, and began to scoop a mouthful.

Historia gave a sigh, and opened her own pudding container. If there was anything weird in this school, it's definitely Sasha Braus and her monstrous appetite, and how she never seemed to gain weight even though she kept eating.

"Come on, Historia. This pudding isn't poisoned, you know."

The petite blonde girl lowered her spoon and began to scoop a little of the gelatinous chocolate substance. If you can't beat them, join them.

***

She was unexpectedly witty.

Jean loved her humor. She was that kind of person that seemingly just clicked with him. Jean didn't think it was possible before, they rarely had any opportunities to talk. But now that he knew her, every time they conversed, he found that she could draw him right in.

They wandered along the school, spent their free hours together. She brought him lunch box from home, and they chatted about everything. He told her casual things about his life, where he lived, where he used to go to school, stupid things he did when he was younger – all kinds of unimportant things that he wanted to share just because he absolutely enjoyed spending time with her.

She was like a fresh breath of air to Jean. For once, he felt like his efforts actually meant something. For once, it wasn't only him – chasing emptily on someone's back who's never turning to him. With Mikasa, everything was… difficult. She had too high of a wall, too deep of an ocean to transverse. When they were together, it was almost impossible for Jean to guess what's on her mind, she was quiet, she kept to herself, and not a minute pass by between the two without Jean trying uncomfortably to find a topic to talk. And still, their conversations never lasted long.

Nanako was the exact opposite. She was… no other word to describe her – fun. She had interest in almost everything Jean had to say, she laughed at his jokes, and she seemed to like having his companion. Time seemed to fly when he was with her, and Jean regretted why he never knew her earlier. They could have had a good few months, a good year even, and instead of the pain of rejection he constantly felt toward Mikasa when again and again she turned him down, and again he waited for her heart to accept him, but his time never once came. For once, Jean now learned how it felt to have someone actually accepting him. And maybe, just maybe, after all of his bad luck was spent – maybe now life was going to be better for him.

And this one, he articulated to Nanako.

"I wish I'd known you sooner," he said to her one day when they were alone. "I mean all this time…," he said, "All this time you were that close to me. And I never knew… I wish I'd met you sooner but… I'm glad I met you now."

She turned slightly pink at his blunt honesty, then muttered indistinctly.

"I'm just glad you think of me that way, Jean," she said. "I'm glad I met you too."

She was silent for a long time, as they continued walking through the deserted school garden. The bitter cold were biting heavily into their cheeks and almost made Jean's fingers numb – it had been a week of bad weather in Shiganshina, snow was again falling heavily, despite February already coming to an end. Hurriedly, Jean tightened his scarf and put his hands inside his pocket to reach for his pocket warmers to keep his hands slightly warm. School regulation didn't allow students to wear overcoats or any other piece of clothing on top of their school blazers except for scarves, and in winter, sometimes it became so freezing cold Jean wondered how they could survive without an extra layer of clothing. Jean always thought it was a silly rule to not even allow students to dress warmly, and there were times he wished he'd graduate soon so he could go to college where regulations about clothing wouldn't be as strict. But for now, he knew he'd have to make do with another winter, before obtaining his freedom as early as spring next year.

Beside him, Nanako made a brief stop. Jean halted too. He was about to ask her what's wrong, when he heard her suddenly murmured "Oh I wish – I wish I could…"

Jean heard a hearty sniff which made him frown, and he turned to find the girl who stood beside him had, in fact, started crying. Beads of tears were falling down her face from her red eyes, trickled down her cheeks, and down to the front of her winter uniform.

"I'm sorry," she said, in uncontrollable big sobs, that left Jean gaping slightly. "Sorry… I'm so sorry…"

What exactly was she sorry for, Jean could never know. He felt surprised at the sudden turn of events, but at the same time thoroughly miserable. He didn't expect this, he didn't like tears. And especially when a girl cried in front of him it always made him wonder what he did wrong. He didn't know what to do, he wished she would just stop crying. He continued to stand there like an idiot while she was crying sobs after sobs that made her shoulders tremble, until he finally approached her, in his desperate attempt to put an end to this sooner, and awkwardly asked.

"Nanako? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said and Jean couldn't help but point out that nothing could possibly be not wrong the way she was crying like this.

"What's bothering you?" he asked again, hoping desperately that, at least he would sound less awkward than the last time.

"It was just….," she swallowed thickly. "I never… never imagined I would have heard you… I would have heard anyone… saying that to me. Nobody ever loved me… at home, anywhere. And I can't bring myself to love them. I'm just this invisible, unwanted person. It never made any difference whether I lived."

"No," Jean heard himself speak before he could stop it. "Please… please don't say that. Don't say anything about yourself like that." He felt pitiful. He had started this day feeling so happy – he had expressed to her how he was glad to have known her, he'd never have thought things would take their turns this way.

Nanako gave her a sad smile.

"Coming here to school has been my only source of joy. It's been the only times when I feel truly… happy," she sniffed, her voice hoarse with tears. "I'm glad to hear you say that you're happy to meet me, to be with me, but in the same time, I'm afraid… I'm really afraid…." Her face contorted and tears started pouring down her face again. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed, harder this time, Jean had never seen anyone cry with such intensity before – actually, he'd never seen anyone cried in front of him at all, his mind went blank, he didn't know what to do…

"Please," he heard Nanako speak in between her sobs, "P-please… at least… at least say that you wouldn't leave me alone."

Nanako was looking straight at him now, her eyes were puffy, the tip of her nose was red due to cold, she looked so sad, so miserable, and yet… she was the definition of pretty in his eyes. Jean couldn't bring himself to look away, it was as if he was captivated by her, and time had halted to a complete stop.

"Jean…," she said again. "If you leave me alone, I wouldn't… I wouldn't have anyone."

Jean shook his head and swallowed, feeling his words gradually left him. He couldn't find anything to say, and even if he did – it seemed like his brain and his mouth just wouldn't cooperate.

"Jean…"

She had moved closer to him, she was too close now – Jean could see the streaks of tears on her face, her damp eyelashes, the tip of her nose, and her pale, quivering lips…

"Please don't leave me alone."

***

Darkness had never quite left her.

Eren could feel it when he kissed her lips, when they made out, when she, for the briefest moments, albeit with a lot of doubts at first – allowed him to undo the buttons on her school uniform, one by one, until they revealed the beauty of her milky-white skin underneath. It was an inviting sight of beauty that otherwise would have been perfect had it not been for the marks of old scars here and there, traces of abuse that she used to endure during the years of mistreatment she spent in her house growing up.

The first time Mikasa let him undress her, he had been too stunned at the view, and certainly not for a good reason. He had seen her of course, that first night she was on his house, she let him treat her wounds as she told him her story. But that time he had seen only her back, and now that he'd seen her, almost naked, from the front, he could really comprehend how utterly brutal her life was. He paused for a few seconds, his attention completely taken by the dark marks, the old scars, and she, who had been anticipating his move, understood immediately. Hurriedly she clutched the front of her shirt which had been unbuttoned loose by him, trying to block her body from his view.

"They're ugly, aren't they?" she asked, seemingly ashamed at her state, and he couldn't bring himself to say anything. He didn't stop because they were ugly. He didn't give a damn if they were ugly, they couldn't have stopped him from wanting her. No. He stopped because these scars suddenly made him feel like there was something burning inside his stomach, and he felt a rising desire to punch something to release his anger.

"Wounds will heal, but scars will remain," she muttered slightly, more to herself than to anyone else. "Were you shocked to see these, Eren?"

She didn't sound quite sure, it was as if she was half expecting him to reject her, to call her ugly, as if he could ever do it. But he couldn't lie to her either. Gently he wrapped his fingers around her hands, which had been immensely clutching her shirt, and gave them a squeeze.

"I am," he replied quietly. She looked nervous, sad, and hurt. For a moment she looked like the girl who appeared in front of him that night on Christmas amidst the falling powdered snow. Lost and confused, trying to cling desperately to her one sense of reason. "I was. But it doesn't matter to me. You survived it. These scars are proof – that you have been there, that you endured it, and you came out of it… It's the proof that you are human. You have won your battle. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

She looked at him imploringly, but he only gave a wordless nod. You are not ugly, he said, and she relented, she put down her hands, letting her shirt hang around her body loosely once more. She was dressed in plain, simple white underwear – something of her taste, really. Somehow Eren knew she'd have preferred these than the frilly things, not that it mattered to him, her body was so beautiful, he could have enjoyed looking at her all day. He put his hands around her carefully like she's a delicate piece of artwork made of glass, she put her arms around his neck, pulled him close to her, and planted him a deep, long kiss. Something intoxicating, something endearing, something with a sense of longing. He was reduced to his very basic senses when he was with her, all kinds of reasoning had gone out of his brain while his instincts simply took over.

It was always right with her. They way she moved, sometimes she started with gentle kisses on his lips, sometimes she embraced him as she sat on his lap, kissing him fervently, and he returned with the same fervor, gradually growing more heated as she ground against him, hungry for his touch. She could caress him in a deeply sensual way that made Eren wonder whether she really was a first timer, he almost could feel all the screws inside his brain melt when she touched him, undressed him, and stroked him all over. He hadn't felt this good in a long, long time. He hadn't had sex once ever since he met her, couldn't find his release, and somehow, he knew that any kind of release would have been pointless when he wanted her all along.

The first time they were both naked in each other's presence, Eren was half expecting her to be clumsy, but she wasn't – she was experimental, maybe, she traced her fingers on his chest, stroking his back, seemingly getting herself familiar with the naked body of a man. Then she gradually went lower, found his length, and took it inside her delicate fingers. Soon, Eren found himself laying on the hard floor of their empty classroom, eyes on the ceilings as she put her lips around his hardness in such a natural way, caressing him in her warmth and ran her tongue over it, her hair swaying and her lips moving diligently until she heard his pleasurable groans. She was too good at this. She moved again, even more restlessly now, he didn't try to fight it and sure enough, he came.

She was panting slightly, her eyes looking at him now, satisfied that she brought him to his climax. He cleaned up, then they embraced for a long while. Her body was slick with sweat, her hair was sticking to the side of her face. They didn't say anything, just held each other closely in their arms as the sky outside the window was gradually getting darker.

They took turns satisfying each other's needs, soon it was her lying on the classroom floor, he was pining her down and planting kisses to her body, cupping her breasts in his hands, sucking her nipples gently and exploring her slowly, taking his sweet time to tease her nonstop, enjoying moans after moans that escaped her lips. He slipped his hand between her thighs and felt her through her panties. She was moist and wet, and he knew hecould make her feel even better… He slipped her out of her panties and dropped down and started to use his tongue. She gasped, and tensed at first, but he caressed her inner thighs, wordlessly told her to relax. She relented, giving in to him to do as he pleased with her. He licked, and teased, and kissed at her wet opening. Slowly at first, playfully, teasingly, but that grew more intense before long. He couldn't see her face but her shuddering breaths, her pleasurable squirms, and the way she moaned was more than enough for him. She seemed to enjoy it a lot, and so did he – she came not long after, her hands tensed beside her, her cry was the most satisfying sound of orgasm that he ever heard. Breathless, he emerged from between her legs. "Had a good time?" he grinned, but she was too weak to offer anything in retort.

They were being reckless, Mikasa knew that. She also didn't know what's going on in her minds. Especially since she knew how difficult their situation now was – they were being stalked once, they could be more than likely still being followed and monitored now. And if anyone was trying to spread scandals of her through the whole school, then this would be the perfect opportunity.

But there was a part of her that just didn't care – if Nanako or someone else wanted so desperately to show the whole school how she was far away from the perfect girl Mikasa Ackerman image she used to build, then by all means she would let them have their way. She didn't want to maintain that image any longer, she just wanted to become an ordinary person – she wanted to be put down from the pedestal where people used to admire her. The times when she was confined to her prison of hourglass was long gone, she had broken free from it now. And even if it was just to live in the moment with Eren, this was the only time Mikasa ever felt real.

This was the only time in her life when she knew what she wanted to do. And for sure she didn't want to waste any single moment with him worrying about anyone – or anything else. She wanted to be with him, she wanted to be by his side. For now, Eren was right there beside her and for Mikasa, that was more than enough.

***

People laugh for a variety of reasons. Mostly it was to display a sense of positive emotions: joy, mirth, or happiness. Other times, it could also display less than comfortable emotion: nervousness, sarcasm, or people might choose to laugh out of courtesy.

However, nothing might compare to the laugh that came out of a bedroom in a comfortable two-story house occupied by Toda Nanako and her family, as she explained to her friend Akiyama Emi what happened that afternoon, laughing in obvious satisfaction, for a cause that certainly was not a good one.

"You should have seen his face, Emi! I told him, don't leave me, don't let me go, Jean and he just stood there like some kind of idiot! He completely believed everything I told him!"

"And… and then you kissed?" Emi said, looking unconvinced.

"Of course we did! I gave him a looong and nice kiss that he wasn't able to deny! I've got him now, I know I've got him! Oh, this is going to be so good now…"

"But I thought…," Emi frowned slightly, beaming at her friend. "I thought you like Jean, Nanako. Why are you doing this? I thought it's Ackerman you hate."

"Oh, I like Jean alright," Nanako said cheerily. "He's tall… he's handsome… and he's so pathetic with his obsession with Mikasa. People like him are so easy – he's been chasing Mikasa for so long that he forgot how it's like to have somebody actually liking him back. Just use that against him and voila! He's on the palm of my hands now. I know exactly which buttons to push! Isn't this so amazing?"

"You'll hurt Jean, you know," Emi said carefully, "If he finds out about all these…"

But Nanako gave an obvious scoff.

"You're an idiot, Emi! That's not how it's going to work! See – that bitch Mikasa doesn't seem to care anymore about her reputation, and that Yeager bastard is putting a stop to all the bullying because people are too afraid of him. So I'm going to strip Mikasa off her power, one by one, until she has nothing left! Don't you see why she could act all indifferent, still coming to school with her straight pretty face, as though nothing ever happened?"

Emi shook her head.

"That's because… she had a damn good support system that continued ruining my plans!" Nanako carefully lined up four chess pieces on the table.

"That slut Ayako…"

She put down the rook

"That son-of-a-bitch Arlert –"

She put down a bishop piece

"That bastard transfer student, Eren Yeager –"

She put the knight piece on the table

"And… of course that bitch Mikasa herself."

She put the queen piece in the middle, surrounded by all three chess pieces.

"They're all different, but they're just as troublesome," she sneered. "Arlert and Ayako's been snooping around, sticking their nose in every places – almost caught Tachibana last time but he was clever and he informed me. Such a bad move for people who are trying to keep everything discreet… Now I have no choice but to take down one…," she flicked the rook piece and it fell sideways on the table, "… by one…," another piece fell, this time the bishop, "by one." The knight piece also fell, it clattered on the table and now there was just the queen piece standing tall in the middle of its fallen comrades.

"And where does Jean fit in all of this?" Emi asked wonderingly, and Nanako gave a small tut and a concerned look.

"Just picture this in your head, Emi… just as Mikasa was slipping lower, and lower, and lower… Jean's going to be more and more heartbroken, and lost. He's going to be confused, he's going to need someone… And what else does he need, if not for a person beside him, to comfort him, to tell him that she loves him, and it doesn't matter how long… she will wait for him." Emi regarded her friend with a surprised look on her face. "Brilliant, isn't it?"

But Emi didn't answer the question. Instead, there was a long, heavy pause before she finally muttered. "You have changed, Nanako…"

"Oh no, Emi dear, no…," she said, shaking her head and chuckling to herself. "I didn't change. You just started to know me better."

***

One ring. Two rings. Three rings.

Ayako stirred sleepily and reached her hand to her bedside table, mumbling quietly to herself. She had been woken up by the sound of incoming chat messages from her phone. Not even halfway awake, she looked at her phone clock and it showed 32 minutes past one in the morning. Who was chatting her in the middle of the night? She unlocked her phone and read the incoming message, suddenly her face was lit up with a grin.

From: xxx

Operation Urd successful

Begin Operation Verdandi

El. Psy. Congroo

[kinktae]

bitchin’ || pt. 4 (M)

↳ PART OF MY REWIND SERIES

The 80s were a time of choices. Which perm was right for you? What color neon would you wear next? None of these choices, however, were more questionable than a certain deal you made with Jeon Jungkook.

pairing: fratboy!jungkook x reader

word count: 5k

genre: 1980s au, eventual smut, e2l

warnings: multiple smut scenes, science talk, banter, jealousy, alcohol & LOTS of colorful 80s slang lmao

A/N: This fic was inspired by To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. Thank you to @junqkook for letting me use her likeness!

OFFICIAL PLAYLIST

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10

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PART FOUR

“Ouch! Watch it, Yara! You’re stabbing me!”

Yara released her grip from the striped material of your sweater, letting it fall back down against your torso.

“I’m sorry… Is your personal tailoring experience not luxurious enough? Did you want some sparkling water? Some Crystal Light, perhaps?” The petite girl quipped, eyes narrowing.

You pressed your lips together, holding back the snarky remark that was wanting to come out from between them. You really weren’t in any position to complain. Yara had gone to the trouble of coming up with both your and Jungkook’s costumes, not to mention the fact that she was missing her scheduled viewing of Saved By The Bell just to help you get ready — truly honorable act on her part.

Shutting the pair of scissors with a sharp snip, your best friend placed them down onto the bathroom sink decisively, clearly satisfied with the holes she had carved into your oversized red and green sweater.

“What do you think? I can smear some more brown eyeshadow on the sweater if you want.”

Turning towards the mirror, you let your eyes fall over Yara’s handwork.

When Yara said you were going to be Freddie Krueger you should have expected that there would be no half-assing on her part. Jungkook was right in his assessment that the two of you were similar. Yara, although sometimes indolent, was absolutely unstoppable when she set her mind to something.

“It looks great. You went above and beyond as always.” You flashed her reflection a smile.

Reaching for the hat that sat on the counter, Yara plopped it onto your head, a satisfied grin finding her as she took in the completed look.

“So are you ready?” She inquired. “Tonight’s the big night. You nervous?”

“A little…” You confessed, shrugging. At your words, Yara adjusted your hat slightly.

“Don’t be. We went over the game plan last night, remember?”

Keeping still until your best friend’s creative vision for your hat was completed, you let out a sigh.

“Yeah.”

It should be easy; smile, hang onto Jungkook’s arm as if he was your life support, and be sure to kiss him somewhere everyone could see. Piece of cake. Totally.

Sensing a weight behind your tone, Yara offered you an encouraging smile, her hands finding yours.

“You’re gonna have a totally kick-ass time, I’m sure.” She enthused.

“As long as Jungkook doesn’t sneak off to go bang his ex and leave me alone. I don’t know anyone who is gonna be there.” You sulked, before tapping a finger against your chin in contemplation. “Then again, it wouldn’t be the worst thing ever. If he and Kiri get back together, I can finally stop pretending to date him.”

At your words, Yara’s eyebrows furrowed as if to tell you something you had said hadn’t sat well with her. Before she got the chance to express what that was, however, a loud series of knocks rang out.

“Speak of the devil and he shall appear.” You mused dryly causing Yara to laugh.

“I’ll go let him in, you stay here and try on the socks.” She ordered as she walked out, slamming the bathroom door behind her, leaving you without a choice.

You were curious however, ears tuned into the greeting that was just outside the door as Jungkook came in. Slipping on one of the socks, you brought it up to your knee, tugging at the fabric until it was no longer bunching around your ankle.

“What the hell? You cropped the shirt yourself, didn’t you? I told you I was gonna cut it for you.”

“Chill out. What’s your damage? I’m pretty sure I’m allowed to cut my own shirt.”

“Yeah, nice going, dipshit. It’s fucking crooked!”

You let out a sigh.

Your best friend and fake boyfriend could not be left unattended for even a minute without needing you to play referee, it seemed.

Pushing the bathroom door open, you poked your head out, “Children, children, let’s play nice–”

Jungkook’s head turned to you, expression softening from the irritated glare he was offering Yara just moments ago. You hardly noticed, however, too captivated by what he was wearing to pay the gentle way he looked at you any mind.

He was in a cropped white jersey, the number 10 plastered across his chest in blue just above the ragged seam of where the shirt ended, exposing inches of the lower half of his firm stomach, causing your face to flame.

Low on his hips was a pair of blue sweatpants, the ends of them tucked into his high top Chuck Taylor’s that were similar, if not the same, to the pair you had been planning on wearing.

Johnny Depp would surely be proud of Jungkook’s rendition of Glen Lantz, you decided. He even wore the same pair of silver headphones around his neck.

You cleared your throat, finally pulling your eyes away from your pretend lover’s torso.

“Wow… that’s crooked.”

“Hah! Told you.” Yara pressed, pleased at your assessment.

“Remind me why I put up with the two of you again?” Jungkook frowned, crossing his arms over his chest, unaware of the way it caused his already short shirt to ride up further.

Pulling yourself from the bathroom altogether, you walked over to the couch, plopping down onto it as you began to put on your other sock.

“Sick costume, nerd.” Jungkook praised, eyes fixated on you as you moved. “You’d make a hot serial killer.”

“Yeah, well, don’t cream your pants.” You teased, flashing him a grin.

“I can’t promise anything tonight. I’m a frisky drunk.” He winked back, causing you to roll your eyes.

“Ugh, barf me out. You’re the first on my list when I finally crack and go full homicidal.” You informed him, causing him to chuckle.

“Pleasure and pain. You really know how to get me going, Y/N.”

Yara was leaning up against the kitchen counter, quietly watching the two of you with increasing intrigue. Taking in the way the sides of your eyes creased in amusement as you continued your banter with your so-called fake boyfriend, she suppressed a smirk.

“Well…” Yara finally spoke up, a sly look on her face, “as endearing as I find your warped, semi-abusive way of flirting with one another... I have a show to catch so if you both could just hurry it up—”

“Woah, woah, woah, we’re not flirting.”

“Get real, as if I’d be flirting with him.”

Yara could only laugh at the way you both denied her accusation immediately, words overlapping with one another in unison.

“Whatever. I’ve got fake blood in the bathroom. Jungkook follow me.” She brushed the two of you off.

The costumed boy flashed you a funny look before ultimately trailing after your best friend.

Chewing on your bottom lip in silent contemplation, you let yourself ponder on your best friend’s words.

That wasn’t flirting, was it? No, that was just you and Jungkook’s usual playful banter. Sure, maybe the two of you had gotten more comfortable with one another as the days have ticked by, but it wasn’t as if it was anything more than that, right?

Lately, you had been catching yourself growing somewhat excited about seeing Jungkook, even though you saw him nearly every day. Somehow having the messy-haired boy in your life had become routine.

Having Jungkook by your side felt normal as if you wouldn’t mind it if things were always this way. And that scared you.

Shaking your head, you began to put on your shoes, tying up your laces solemnly.

The moment you held your event and Jungkook and Kiri were back together, things would go back to the way they were before. You didn’t want Jungkook to be someone you were going to miss, but it seemed like with every lopsided grin he threw at you he was cementing himself into your life more and more.

This business venture of yours was looking out to be more costly than you initially anticipated.

But as Jungkook and Yara walked out of the bathroom chatting excitedly, Yara’s hands stained and Jungkook’s jersey now smeared with fake blood, you couldn’t help but feel like you’d be willing to pay the price if it meant that this warm feeling in your chest would last just a little while longer.

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Jungkook asked you, hand gripping yours tighter.

You tried your best to meet his eyes. It was difficult considering how dimly lit the room was. Fitting though, considering this party was Halloween themed.

“Yes. You’ve asked me that four times now.” You told him loudly, trying to be heard over the loud sound of Michael Jackson’s Thriller playing throughout the house.

“I dunno, you’re not saying anything. It’s, like, freaking me out.” He admitted.

“I’m just… observing.”

“Observing what?”

He watched as your stare fixated itself on the beer pong tournament that was occurring across the room, excited shouts coming from several people as one of Jungkook’s brothers scored a point.

“Gorillas.” You said, finally. “In their natural habitat.”

Jungkook laughed, enjoying the way your nose scrunched up at them.

“Hey now, did we say before we got here?” He tutted disapprovingly, waging a finger at you. You followed the digit with the frown.

“Yeah, yeah, I promised no judging the common folk. This is how the intellectually lesser entertain themselves, I remember.” You sighed out, gaze flicking up to catch the amusement in Jungkook’s eyes.

The costumed boy nudged his shoulder into yours; he liked it when you joked around with him like this. It made him feel like you were comfortable around him and that you might even enjoy his company.

“Do you know what you need?” He began happily.

“I do not but my answer is already no.”

“A drink.” He continued, ignoring you.

Suddenly, you were yanked forward, Jungkook leading you by the hand towards where you assumed the drinks were.

You hadn’t been at the party for very long, but already the social interaction had exhausted you. Jungkook was far more popular than you had previously concluded; the two of you could hardly take two steps before running into someone who wanted to say hello to the frat boy attached to you.

It was daunting in a sense – the concept that every person that came up to him was going to leave the interaction with the impression that you were Jungkook’s girlfriend. Perhaps guilt wasn’t the right word, but something about the way the party’s attendees glanced down at yours and Jungkook’s intertwined hands caused your stomach to flip and neck to grow hot.

So you kept to yourself mainly, letting your socially confident boyfriend do all the talking. You didn’t mind, really; it was somewhat remarkable the way Jungkook could handle himself in a social situation. He had a way of acting like every person that stopped to chat was important.

As Jungkook and you made your way into the large fraternity house’s kitchen, you wondered if it wasn’t acting at all and if he was just that nice of a person.

“Righteous costume, JK!” A disembodied voice called out from somewhere, clearly directed at Jungkook.

You hardly had time to decipher where the voice had come from before an outrageously good looking boy draped in a white toga came forward, pulling Jungkook into a hug.

“You finally cut your hair. Looking good, Tae.” Jungkook laughed back, patting the handsome man’s back affectionately.

You watched their interaction with interest. This wasn’t acting, as far as you knew. Judging by the way Jungkook’s laugh has grown higher in pitch, something you had noticed occurred when he was genuinely happy, you knew you were witnessing genuine friendship, not just polite socializing.

“And who is this lovely lady who, might I add, looks killer? Pun totally intended.” The model man mused, eyes flashing your way.

You felt heat prickle at your cheeks.

“Taehyung, this is my girlfriend Y/N, Y/N this is Kim Taehyung. He’s head of our finance committee.” Jungkook introduced the two of you, causing your eyes to grow wide.

So this was the guy Jungkook had told you about. The guy who could help you throw your event.

Taehyung let out a scoff, “Seriously? That’s how you introduce me? The finance guy? I’m also your favorite brother, could’ve opened up with that one.”

“Taehyung’s my Big. He’s taken me under his wing or whatever.” Jungkook explained, running a hand through his dark hair.

A nervous giggle escaped you, taking Taehyung’s extended hand into yours to greet.

“Nice to finally meet you, Y/N. I’ve heard a lot about you.” The mulleted man grinned, causing one of your eyebrows to quirk up in surprise.

“You have?”

Taehyung put his hands up defensively, not noticing the way Jungkook’s expression had fallen beside him, “All good things, don’t worry. The kid talks about you nonstop—”

“Hey! So Y/N has been thinking about throwing an event here on campus, isn’t that right, babe?” Jungkook interrupted suddenly.

The arrival of the new pet name caught you off guard for a moment, before remembering that you and Jungkook were meant to be a couple after all.

“Oh yeah, Jungkook mentioned something like that to me. Tell me about it.” Taehyung said.

You stood silent for a moment, realizing that this moment was the one you had been anticipating all week long.

Relaxing your shoulders, you grinned at him.

It was now or never.

“Yeah! So the event is called STEM for FEM. I’ve got all kinds of games and pamphlets prepared. It’s basically meant to show girls that no matter what people think, there are in fact opportunities for us in the more traditionally male-dominated fields. It may be a steep road, but it’s one worth taking. And they’re not alone. There are programs out there that girls can reach out to. They offer all kinds of support; emotional, educational, financial—“

Jungkook reached for a cooler that sat by his feet, pulling out a beer. You didn’t need him for this. This was precisely what he had watched you practice into the mirror over and over; you were ready.

Popping open the can, he took a small sip, a small smile creeping on his face as he watched the way the fire in your eyes spread, your pretty lips wrapping around the words that you carried in your heart wherever you went.

“That’s radical, girl. It sounds like you’re really passionate about this stuff, huh?”

Jungkook caught Taehyung’s reply once he walked back over to you guys. He had gone off to make you a drink, figuring that cranberry juice and vodka would ease any sales pitch nerves you might have.

“Yeah, I am.” You smiled. “I’m a biology major myself.”

You tore your eyes away from the blond boy to take the red solo cup he was offering. Bringing the cup up to your nose, you sniffed it experimentally.

“Do you have a sponsor?”

You were grateful that you hadn’t taken a sip of your drink yet as had any liquid been inside your mouth you surely would have choked on it.

“Oh, uh! Not yet!” You squeaked out, causing Jungkook to fight down a chuckle.

“Because Beta Tau Sigma happens to be under our campus philanthropy quota and we’d love to support a cause like yours.” Taehyung offered, causing your heart to soar.

“Really?” You gaped.

“Sure! Just swing by anytime this week and I’m sure we can work out the details.”

This was happening. The event you had poured your absolute heart and soul into planning was actually going to happen… holy shit.

“Wow, that’s just… wow!” You replied, breathlessly. “Thank you! Thank you so much, seriously. I can’t even begin to thank you enough…”

Taehyung shook his head, clearly amused, “No need to thank me, it’s a worthy cause. Besides, think of it as a thank you.”

“A thank you? For what?”

“For dating my brother. You’re the reason he comes home every night grinning like an idiot after all.” He grinned cheesily.

A smile broke out onto your face despite yourself, but the good atmosphere didn’t last for long, as a hand finding yours caught your attention.

“Alright, alright, enough sappy shit.” Jungkook urged, cheeks tinted ever so slightly pink.

Much to the blushing boy’s chagrin, Taehyung reached over to rustle Jungkook’s long looks.

“I’m just teasing.” The blond laughed. “By the way, any chance you’ve seen Hobi?”

“No, why?”

“Dude is totally wasted. Heard someone say he was gonna jump off the roof into the pool.”

“The house doesn’t have a pool?” Jungkook blinked.

Taehyung flashed him a look as if to say ‘exactly.’

“Anyway, it was nice meeting you, Y/N. We’ll talk soon, yeah?” Taehyung asked.

“Absolutely.” You nodded.

“See ya later, man!” Taehyung called out through a crooked smile before slipping back into the crowd of people that lay just beyond the kitchen.

An excited squeal erupted from you, your hands reaching out towards Jungkook as he reciprocated your enthusiasm and embraced you in an elevated hug.

You let out a laugh, carefully holding onto the cup in your hand so as not to spill it before he set you back down.

“You did it!” He cheered.

“We did it.” You corrected.

“I didn’t do anything?” Jungkook looked at you in bewilderment.

You shook your head, “Not true. I would have never met Taehyung if it weren’t for you. Thank you, meathead.”

Jungkook looked at you warmly for a moment, knowing that despite the cruel nickname, your sincerity was genuine.

“Cheers, nerd. To a deal well done.” Jungkook said decidedly, holding out his beer.

Bumping your cup into his can, you took a swig of your drink, grimacing as the overwhelming taste of vodka made its way down your throat.

“Taehyung was awesome.” You began once you had downed a few more sips of the liquid poison. “I don’t know why I was expecting some ape-like barbarian.”

“Probably because of those gorillas you just saw over at the beer pong table.” Jungkook joked. “Yeah, Tae’s great. He’s a Legacy too, so everybody here loves him.”

You stared at him blankly, clearly not understanding the term.

Jungkook sighed, “I mean he comes from a long family of Beta Tau Sigma alumnae. His older brother Seokjin graduated last year—”

“Wait, Seokjin? You don’t mean… Kim Seokjin… our lab professor?” You furrowed your eyebrows.

“Yep.”

“No way! But he’s so…” Your eyebrows furrowed, struggling for the right word.

“Smart?” Jungkook assumed flatly.

You fought back a smile, “I was not gonna say that.”

“Mhm, I’m so sure.”

“Anyway,” You smiled, poking a finger into Jungkook’s chest, “I had no clue you liked me so much.”

“What do you mean?”

“You talk about me? I’m the reason you come home grinning every night?” You recalled Taehyung’s words.

You watched in amusement as Jungkook visibly tensed.

“W-Well, duh. You’re my fake girlfriend, I mean, it would be weird if I didn’t do any of those things...” Jungkook defended, eyes narrowing at you suddenly. “Quit gloating.”

“I’m not gloating.” You smirked.

“Yes, you are. I can see it in your face. You’re a gloater.” He said decidedly, moving to make himself a drink.

“How very dare you! I am nothing of the sort.”

“Admit it, Y/N. You relish in my misfortune.” He poured some cranberry juice into a cup, clearly moving to recreate your drink.

“The fact that I relish in your misfortune has nothing to do with this.” You waved off quickly, sending the two of you into giggles.

You somehow managed to down your cup, flashing Jungkook a grateful smile as he began to make you a new one.

You were admiring the way Jungkook’s shoulders filled out his jersey when another voice made itself known, pushing its way into the kitchen.

“Kookie, is that you?”

It was Kiri. The way Jungkook jerked around immediately, eyes as wide as saucers, told you that much.

Turning to where Jungkook’s eyes were fixated, you came to find a tall and leather-clad girl, her curled hair unmoving as she strutted forward. You couldn’t hear anything over the hum of the music playing throughout the house but you’d imagined you would hear the sound of her bright red heels rapping against the tile floor if it were quiet.

Her top was black and off the shoulder, and it dawned on you that she was dressed as Sandy from Grease.

You watched in silence as Jungkook nodded at her, a grin on his face.

“Haven’t seen you in a while. Thought you were avoiding me.” Kiri smirked, teeth on full display.

“Avoid you? Never.” Jungkook teased.

Suddenly, a weird feeling bubbled in your stomach as you watched the two interact.

Strange. Must be the vodka.

“I’ve just been busy, I guess.” He shrugged, clearly trying to play it coy.

At his words, Kiri’s eyes flickered to you, causing you to freeze.

“So I’ve heard.” She said simply. You smiled at her awkwardly.

Clearing his throat, Jungkook jumped into action, “Y/N meet Kiri. Kiri meet Y/N, my girlfriend.”

“Y/N L/N, right? I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.” Kiri admitted, eyes shaded with something you couldn’t quite decipher.

“You, uh, have?”

“Of course!” She smiled, although it didn’t quite meet her eyes. “I like to keep tabs on all the girls in Greek life… or I guess in your case, have had Greek life in them.

You blinked.

Jungkook eyes quickly moved to you. Crap. He knew Kiri well enough to detect a catty comment from her no matter how innocently she presented it. You were smart; he was sure you had caught exactly what she was implying.

For a moment, no one said anything. Jungkook gripped his cup tighter, wondering if he should say something to ease the nearly palpable tension.

However, before he got the chance, you smiled, cocking your head to the side.

“No worries, I get it. You wanted to scope out your ex’s new girlfriend, right?”

Jungkook let out a breath, realizing that you weren’t looking for any kind of conflict.

You could tell you words pleased Kiri with the way the side of her painted lips turned upward.

“So, Jungkook told you about me. How flattering.”

“Actually, he hasn’t said a word.” You smiled.

You took a step forward; it wasn’t anything aggressive or confrontational, but it was enough to capture Jungkook’s attention.

“Let’s just say I also like to keep tabs on things involving those that go inside of me.” You lowered your voice, sending Kiri a small wink.

Jungkook must know you pretty well too because he also knew that your comment wasn’t nearly as lighthearted as you made it out to be. He fought back a grin.

Kiri straighten up suddenly, “So what are you two dressed up as? A dumb jock and dirty Waldo?”

‘Well, she’s certainly not being subtle anymore.’ Jungkook thought dryly.

“Freddie Krueger and Glen Lantz. Like from Nightmare at Elm’s Street.” Jungkook answered, no longer bothering to uphold a pleasant tone.

“Is that so? I don’t watch horror movies.” Kiri shrugged.

“I know you don’t.” He reminded her.

“So did you come alone? Or is there a Danny Zuko somewhere that you’re matching with?” You asked casually, not liking the way your insides churned every time Jungkook and Kiri spoke to one another.

“He’s over there by the booth. He’s in charge of the music.” She replied, polished finger directing you where to look.

Sure enough, across the room on an elevated platform was a DJ booth, the man who was operating the device sporting a leather jacket and greased hair.

A gasp fell through your lips as you took him in, recognizing him immediately.

“That’s—” You cut yourself off immediately, turning away from him. “...so cool! Him being a DJ and whatnot.”

Kiri nodded cautiously, clearly catching on to the way you had changed your tune suddenly.

“You know what, I think Jungkook and I are gonna head over to the dance floor. But it was really great meeting you, Kiri.” You told her, reaching for Jungkook’s hand.

Your fake boyfriend sensed your urgency and took your hand comfortably.

“Nice seeing you.” Jungkook called out to her breezily as the two of you began to walk away, not bothering to give Kiri another glance.

Your heart was pounding but you tried your best to look nonchalant, knowing Kiri was probably watching the two of you leave.

As you reached the dance floor, you allowed yourself a sparing glance around to make sure that Kiri was out of ear’s reach before you wrapped your arms around Jungkook’s neck and began to sway your hips.

Bringing your mouth to his ear, you spoke, “Kiri is dating Eunwoo.”

Jungkook sent you a look, “Yeah. I know.”

You shook your head as Jungkook’s hands found your waist, keeping up with your pace.

“You don’t understand. Eunwoo is Yara’s ex.”

“Wait– Really?”

You nodded.

“Great. So he’s banged two of my girlfriends then. I swear to god, Y/N, if he tries to get into your pants next I’m gonna kick his ass into the next decade.” Jungkook grunted. You laughed.

“I just don’t understand. I swear he was in love with Yara just last week. He used to slip love notes under our door for her, you know. I even didn’t know he was in a frat?” You frowned.

“He’s a new member. He was just initiated a little while back. Fucking prick.”

That made sense. From what you had gathered tonight, everyone within Jungkook’s fraternity seemed quite friendly with one another— it didn’t make sense that an active member would betray Jungkook like that.

“You handled that very well, by the way.” Your pretend lover spoke suddenly.

“What? Kiri? Whatever, I’ve dealt with worse girls in high school.” You shrugged easily, hand finding itself running in Jungkook’s hair.

He had mentioned once that he needed a haircut but it seems as if you had successfully managed to talk him out of it. You like his hair like this.

“She was trying to use an intimidation technique that Gamma Alpha Tau uses on possible pledges.” He explained. “I promise you she’s not always that…”

“Snarky? Judgmental? Standoffish?” You offered, quirking up a brow.

Jungkook rolled his eyes, “I just mean she’s usually better behaved than that.”

“Right. Well, either way, this is a good sign.”

“What is?”

“Her hating me. Just means she’s jealous and then we’re one step closer to closing your half of the deal.” You enthused.

“Speaking of the deal, I believe you owe me a kiss, Freddie.”

Jungkook’s words took you by surprise and as much as you wanted to wipe that slick grin off his face, you knew he was right.

Humming, you let go of his hair, moving closer so that his nose was brushed up against yours.

“Your move, meathead.” You urged, letting your bottom lip brush against his teasingly.

Pressed up against him like this, you could feel a low rumble erupt in his chest.

“You teasing me?” He mused lazily.

“Didn’t you say you liked your pleasure with some pain?”

If Jungkook had a reply, you didn’t catch it in time as his mouth found yours, distracting you from any trivial thoughts weighing you down.

Something was intoxicating about the way Jungkook kissed you; he wasn’t rushed or in any hurry, but the way his mouth moved against yours made your chest pound as you brought your fingers up to pull at his hair.

Maybe it was the alcohol, perhaps it was the sound of Rick James in the air, but when his hand found your jaw and his tongue ran itself along your bottom lip you happily obligated, whimpering as his tongue moved against yours with the same fervor as the kiss you shared on your bed.

Jungkook was trying his hardest to hold back, he really was, but with the way your fingers pulled against his scalp, he felt himself start to grow greedily, grinding his hips against yours.

A whimper left your mouth and before you could make left from right, Jungkook broke the kiss and turned you around, pressing his chest into your back.

Heat rocketed to your face as you were suddenly reminded that you were in a room full of people, kissing Jungkook like this.

Your worries were soon eased as he began to press a trail of kisses down your neck, causing you to sigh.

“Wanna blow this popsicle stand? I’ve got a bottle of Malibu in my room with our name on it.” He murmured into your neck.

For a moment, you wondered if you should say no. If Jungkook kept touching you like this, especially with alcohol in your system, there was no guarantee what you’d do.

You let out a squeak as Jungkook’s tongue found your neck, the hot muscle dancing against your skin.

Letting your eyes roll over the room, you froze as they met a familiar pair.

Kiri was stood by the DJ Booth, eyes fixated on you two, her stare cold and unmoving.

Suddenly, a feeling came over you. It felt hot and not in the nice way Jungkook had been making you feel. You hardened your stare, holding her eyes. Was this why Jungkook kissed you? Did he know Kiri was watching?

Sensing the way you had tense against him, Jungkook pulled away from your neck.

“Something wrong?”

Fine. If Jungkook wanted to put on a show for her, then you were happy to assist.

Instead of replying, you turned your head and answered with your mouth, kissing him in a way you knew Kiri wouldn’t be able to ignore.

“Let’s get outta here.” You breathed as you broke the kiss.

Jungkook’s eyes were dark, eyelids low as a positively devilish smirk crept over him.

Following him as he lead you out of the room, you couldn’t help but glance behind you, the sides of your mouth curling up as you met Kiri’s glare once more.

[mooosicaldreamz]

We obviously need your song by song analysis of evermore please!

i got asked to do this about four times so here it is.....much anticipated. i know. please note that when i say that i hate her or despise her i don’t actually mean that. but i do

EVERMORE

OK LETS GO

WILLOW - ok, groovy first time you hear it, right? has a strong rumbly wiggle. let’s VIBE. the low of the verse, the high of the chorus…oh my goodness! what is she doing. she’s just out there! wow. “wherever you stray i follow” is a banger. “life was a willow and it bent right to your wind” with the overlay oof let’s go.!!!! a shockingly strong first entry of the record…best one since “welcome to new york” maybe!!! let’s just say it!!! for some reason “i come back stronger than a 90s trend” throws me off though…i don’t know. it’s just so moody pop, no one is doing it like her!!! i hate her

CHAMPAGNE PROBLEMS - every time i listen to this song i listen to it four times. not a joke. it’s perfect. i don’t think i need to convince anyone! it’s perfect!!!!! what are you doing? taylor swift, the most dramatic bitch, has been writing dramatic bitch songs since she was fourteen and yet, somehow, she contrives to write even more dramatic things as she ages. this song is a JOKE. there are not ENOUGH songs about denying proposals! it’s just simple and sad. oh my god. it’s insane. the fact that she wrote this with her boyfriend (i have a running theory that they are married, we are going to refer to joe as her Perfect and Glorious Husband from now on) …… come on. the ENTIRE BREAKDOWN. “YOUR MIDAS TOUCH ON THE CHEVY DOOR / NOVEMBER FLUSH YOUR FLANNEL CURE / THIS DORM WAS ONCE A MADHOUSE / I MADE A JOKE WELL ITS MADE FOR ME / HOW EVERGREEN OUR GROUP OF FRIENDS / DON’T THINK WE’LL SAY THAT WORD AGAIN / AND SOON THEY’LL HAVE THE NERVE TO DECK THE HALLS THAT WE ONCE WALKED THROUGH” ……. concluding with that absolute stabby killer “what a shame she’s fucked in the head” oh my god……….. and the song resolving in a very adult “you’ll find someone else” god

GOLD RUSH - ok so like this song is like ok it’s got the same groovy high /low that’s happening on willow but it’s so different! it’s so good! the pulse of the beat propelling the whole thing through and then the falling apart “oh what must it be like to grow up that beautiful”……………..ok. the visceral image of “my eagles t-shirt hanging from the door” …………. i admire very much taylor’s oncoming gift of moving through high/low imagery…… i love her so much? it’s so HARD. “my mind turns your life into folklore” beautiful! BEAUTIFUL! also i have some belief in me that this is about karlie kloss but i shall not dive into that hole.

TIS THE DAMN SEASON - oh so i’m supposed to LIVE with this song EXISTING. WHY!!!! HOW……..oh my god………..taylor was like, yes, i’m going to write a song about a famous girl going home and banging her high school flame for a week and jack and aaron were like oh ok. “i parked my car between the methodist and the school that used to be ours.” she is such a joke. “you could call me babe for the weekend” like ok emo!! emo!!! OK. I LOVE THIS SONG

TOLERATE IT - taylor really gave us the most depressing track 5, but it’s absolutely a banger and i love her! she is just vibing! oh my god. what a specific emotion to pinpoint with this song….it’s such a gift. no one is hitting this space

NO BODY NO CRIME - this song has no business being on this record but in the BEST WAY, like how daddy lessons mysteriously appears in the middle of lemonade. oh my goodness. this is just pure country revenge song. taylor was like oh actually i haven’t forgotten my roots and i hate men more than i ever have. and she got haim to sing with her. and it’s so good. the low “i think he did it” oh my goodness. this song is a joke. how is it real? it’s just a perfect radio song. it reminds me very much of “before he cheats” but it’s a lot more sonically calm

HAPPINESS - similar to “tolerate it” and i think “champagne problems” this song is beating on an emotional bush that is really really hard to hit the head of. like, so she collabed with the national and bon iver on this record and previous obvi, and i LOVE them, but their music can often be very………impressionistic? perhaps? is how i might put it. it’s sometimes hard to get a note of specificity from it. imo. but taylor loves a fucking story bro. and she has figured out how to tell made up stories. she can’t be stopped now. like…this space of a breakup and knowing that it’s for the best and being sad in this way? name a pop star who has a song this nuanced. for real! god. i despise her. “across a great divide / there is a glorious sunrise”

DOROTHEA - the other half to the far superior TIS THE DAMN SEASON and a banger all the same. it has the bouncy joy of the most buoyant national songs. in the same vein as the also far superior BETTY, she has her sweet dumb boy slurry and less intelligent voice. i love that she paints these narrators this way, it’s just nothing she would have ever reached for ever before this period. she has a Perfect and Glorious Husband now and she has begun to understand teenage boys, FINALLY.

CONEY ISLAND - i have upon many occasions opined that i love the national VERY MUCH. i once went to a festival with my gf and her sister to see them even though i was expressly not invited and you know what despite the fact that it caused a lot of angst, i got to see the national play TERRIBLE LOVE in the middle of the night and I SCREAMED IT. so like, listen. what is matt berninger doing here, to me, specifically????????? i was somewhat hesitant about how their voices might blend, but it works astonishingly well. and i think that it’s so wonderful, i can’t. the imagery of a dreary coney island…..”sorry for not winning you an arcade ring.” as taylor always proves, the bridge is spectacular. “were you standing in the hallway / with a big cake / happy birthday”……”and when i got into the accident / the sight that flashed before me was your face / but when i walked up to the podium / i think that i forgot to say your name” sorry to yOU calvin. she had ISSUES. and now she has a Perfect and Glorious Husband. also “sorry for not making you my centerfold” ok kaylor

IVY - this song is about emily dickinson and i DARE you to tell me that i’m wrong. I DARE YOU. I DARE YOU. you’d be wrong! embarrassing for you. taylor finally writing a probably legitimate queer song and it’s about fucking emily dickinson is so on brand…..it’s dripping with poetry and groove and she’s so fucking dumb i hate her so much. her narrative of ivy and poetry and the lakes district…….ok taylor. i know. i know you watched all the dickinson things that came out and you identified with her. the gentle sway of the “oh, goddamn” and the “oh, i can’t”……i CAN’T EITHER TAYLOR !!! i CAN”T TAYLOR!!!! “oh goddamn / my pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand / taking mine but it’s been promised to another / oh i can’t / stop you putting roots in my dreamland” TAYLOR. and then she says, “oh you didn’t realize this wasn’t gay?” “i want to know the fatal flaw that makes you long to be magnificently cursed” like @ emily yourself taylor “he wants what’s only yours”……TAYLOR. give me the entire catalogue of emily dickinson songs!!!!! i can’t do this. “springs breaks loose / but so does fear” “i’d live and die for moments that we stole / on begged and borrowed time / so tell me to run / or dare to sit and watch what we’ll become / and drink my husband’s wine.” taylor if you see this post, a, i love you, b, i need you to tell me about ivy, and c, PLEASE can i have tickets to your next tour in the year 2025 or whenever because my gf never buys me any to your shows……….i love this song if it isn’t clear. i think i’d love it if it wasn’t gay

COWBOY LIKE ME - ok this will sound weird and if you’ve read this far i’m going to assume that you don’t care about me being weird…but this song reminds me of the fanfiction STAY THE NIGHT by lynnearlington (maybe u’ve heard of it). please reply if you think about this and feel the same. “never wanted love / just a fancy car” “you had some tricks up your sleeve / takes one to know one / you’re a cowboy like me” the opening line re: the tent-like thing reminds me very strongly of the fourth of july at our family’s country club and they set up a tent over the parking lot and this song just makes me think of that vibe????? i don’t know. i have vibes. i love this song a lot, which is impressive because it follows after the gay euphoria of IVY. perhaps this is because it gives me its own gay euphoria. “now you hang from my lips like the garden babylon” ???? is one of the most gay, seductive, brutal lyrics i have ever heard. she wrote that down and was like, oh yeah, vibez, hundo p. she did that to me

LONG STORY SHORT - this song is an honorary sequel to I FORGOT THAT YOU EXISTED from the lover era (honestly i’m still in the lover era). but i actually think this song is better! so we are taking that. “actually i’ve always thought that i looked better from the rearview” ok taylor let’s access that feeling! “no more keeping score / i just keep you warm” is like, stupidly sweet.  rip to calvin but now taylor has a Perfect and Glorious Husband.

MARJORIE - made me cry, simple and beautiful. one of the more personal songs on the tracklist! and something that i had never considered that she would write about, but i think the quarantine period has allowed a lot of us to dig into our feelings, so….vibez. we’re vibing!

CLOSURE - this song’s production sounds a lot like bon iver’s recent productions, very tech-y and repetitive and spare. rip to karlie kloss but taylor has a Perfect and Glorious Husband and karlie’s legal last name is kushner so who really won? hmm? i love “i’m fine with my spite / and my tears / and my beers / and my candles” the inclusion of candles is just. vibez. there are four candles lit rn in our apartment!

EVERMORE - i think this song is very intriguing and i’m still puzzling with it! the simplicity of her depressive gray November phase and then the very ebullient and bold bon iver interlude……..really has a manic/depressive, sad/angry vibe???? it feels so on brand for this pandemic quarantine…..and it works shockingly well, except for that i’d rather listen to the bon iver part for 10 minutes more. “all my waves are being tossed / is there a line that i can just go cross” and then taylor’s sort of call and response with his interlude……should just be the whole song.  but it’s still good. that’s how annoying she is

[imtryingthisout]

I’ll cut away me Bonny hair, let no man ever think me fair

Fandom: Descendants

Ship: Fem!Harry Hook x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 3,415

Content: It’s a self insert fic inspired by @descendantofthesparrow check out their series and art if you like this. I’m not sure about any warnings, but there is references to British Imperialism and just The Isle of The Lost in general. Ask me to tag anything if you come across it.

———————————————————————-

It was a calm night.

The push and pull of the tides was a mighty sight, but their temperament was overall sedated. Waves of drowsy titans swaying on their feet. There were ships that lined the shore, vessels of varying shapes and sizes and degrees of being intact. Some had their ribs ripped open by thieving hands, cannibalized by their captains and left to rot tethered to their anchor. All empty husks of rot wood and former glory, that rocked like cradles in the breeze. Dipping lower and lower till their cheeks brushed the ocean, before rising upwards to repeat the cycle once more.

Pirate’s Port was a town that was seldom silent, in fact it had quite the reputation to the contrary, yet as the fog rolled in from the sea, sinking low and to the ground, reaching its long and heavy hands around the bases of driftwood shacks and other buildings, not a whisper could be heard amidst the streets. The few people who lingered in the Night Market took one good look at the creeping white mist and quickly fled into their houses. Curious children who mustered the will to stick their heads outside the window frames or from the corner of doorways were hastily ushered inside by their guardians. One young girl nursed a busted earlobe, that her Mother had yanked so fast and hard to get her to move indoors, that it now sported a dark red bruising.

A single man walked along the streets. Stumbling along the cobblestone path till he came to the end of the seaport. He stood there for a breath, as fog swirled around the old wooden pole beside the street. The remnants of a great mast, now left to crumble by the sidewalk. Old barnacles, moss and other things stuck to the sides of it poked against his back as he rested his weight beside its frame.

The clothes he wore, if they could be called that, were tattered and ragged and hung off his frame in great sheets of cloth. They might have fit a different man, once. Grains of salt stuck to his beard and hair, catching the reflection of the water like stars in a blackened and oily sky. His fingers were wrapped in stained cloth and bound with a myriad of dirty copper and golden rings.

Those fingers were wrapped around an old harmonica, silver, clean, with the likeness of twisting vines and waves etched into the frame. Hours of craftsmanship decorating its borders. His grip around it was so tight, it drew the skin around his knuckles white, as he held the instrument to his cracked lips and let out a mournful tune. His song the only echo in the darkness.

“I dreamed a dream the other night, lowlands, lowlands away, my John. I dreamed a dream the other night, lowlands, lowlands away~”

There was no moonlight on the Isle of the Lost, even now, for on the rare occasion that the moon dared show her fair face, the omnipresent storm clouds that plagued the land marred her, obscuring her smiling figure. There was no moonlight on the Isle of the Lost, nor was there starlight, or streetlamps.

Night time was an abstract shadow here, where reality seemed twisted and fearful. The only thing illuminating the dark streets and alleyways, was the light emitting from the crevices and cracks of house windows, as well as the occasional fire pit, but tonight the windows were shut, the cracks stuffed with cloth, and every barrel of flame doused with water and ash. There was no moonlight on the Isle of the Lost.

But the sea, who so loved the moon and her light, would never deny her glory, so for the lonesome ship who drifted, not by the shore, rather in the heart of the tide, their deck was basked in a pale luster. As well as the two figures who sat beside each other.

You have one hand burrowed deep into the inky black curls of Harry Hook and the other on the handle of a knife. The shine of the blade catches the silver light burning from the moon above the two of you, the silent observer whose gaze watches as you move the blade closer and closer to the flesh of the neck. A flash of heat runs down your spine as you-

“Hurry it up would ye, I’m starting to get a crick in me neck”

-slice upwards through your handful of hair. Watching absentmindedly as some rogue strands flutter down and are carried to the sea by the breeze. “This would be a lot faster if I had proper scissors” you mutter low beneath your breath. Not low enough apparently, because the next thing you hear is Harry replying “It’s not me fault I got hair growin’ thicker than tha soup at Ursula's Slop”

You angle your knife and get to work cleaning up the final few edges. “It wouldn't be so hard if ya didn’t insist on cutting it every time it gets longer than a butter knife’s blade. I swear- would it kill ya to grow it a bit longer? Let ya curls show?”

“And let people compare me more to me Da? Walking around like some great fop, nah, me name is bad enough, don’t wanna be walking around lookin’ like a pale shadow of that bloody English fool”

“Oi watch it” you say, bringing your blade playfully closer to nicking him before correcting it at the very last moment, “Don’t forget my Mother is of English blood”

“Ha! And you’ll ne’er catch a englishman claimin’ her!” Harry exclaimed, kicking a foot out to mark the punctuation” I swe’r the day that Elizabeth Swann is called a sassenach is the day the barrier breaks”

Her movement causes you to accidentally slash a bit too close to her skin, making the hair fall awkwardly. You bite your tongue to keep from scowling, and get to work correcting the cut. “Quit squirming- I still have to clean up this last bit fore’ ya can be back to moving about”

“Ughhhh- whyyy, I’ve been sittin’ he’re for ages” Harry groans, you can practically hear her pouting expression. Even so she stops, reluctantly, sullenly, she keeps her body as still as the statue, not even twiddling her thumbs.

“You know, when someone has a knife to your neck, you could stand to talk to them a bit more politely” Harriet Hook, whose name invokes such wrath that even her own father calls her Harry, turns to look at you. The grin that sails across her face is nothing short of wicked. “Of course, how rude of me to forget me manners. After all, it isn't every day one gets to rub elbows with royalty” She says, drawling out the word royalty with a flourish. You would be lying if you said that something in your heart didnt flutter at her voice, but you would be damned if you let her score an easy victory over you. You roll your eyes to the moon and back. “Oh stop that nonsense Hook'' you say, giving a stray lock of hair a quick tug. “Ain't no royalty on the Isle, no matter how The Fair Folk of Bargains Castle want to pretend otherwise”

“Aye but that's where you’re wrong Miss Swann.” You snip away the final strand. “The way I see it this ship has got not one, but two! Two whole members of royalty gracing us with their presence” Harry slides away from you like water in a strain, spinning around your waist and forcing you to turn around to follow her movement. Her voice is loud. Loud and full of delight, the very definition of boisterous. “First off we have our very own Captain- The Queen of The Sea!” she laughs with her arms extended upwards and to the sky. And something, you cannot say what, in you relaxes. Harry’s love for Uma was a familiar sight. It was a eternal spring that you could feel laced around every word that fell from her lips. Harry stands radiant in her adoration. “Oh but let’s not neglect our Dear Miss Swann, whose Mam ruled over fleets of ships- an armada! And dared to claim the Pirate King’s Crown”

Your fingers furl themselves around the hair in your hands. A part of you wants to braid it, hide it in a locket and keep it close to your heart forever. “How long must I remind you Hook, my name is free to say?”

“At least once more Miss Swann”, she says and takes your hand into hers “For I do so love it when you plead”. She bows, slowly, deeply in a way that would make your Mother’s old governess cringe at the impropriety- and kisses the back of your hand.

(Her lips are warm and rough against your skin, the chapness tickles slightly as she lingers. Looking up at you with eyes paler than riverstones and twinkling with mirth. Second stars to the left and right, stolen from the sky and embedded in her sockets.)

Your knife hits the wood with a clang and a thud, a faint part of you redisters the noise, but the whole of your head is swarming with heat and air. The goosebumps on your arms stand still and tall and you can’t say it's from the cold. Your bones feel hollow, your spirit barely tethered, you are a mind outside of your body outside of yourself and you wonder if this is what pixie dust feels like.

(Harry Hook’s lips are still pressed against your hand. Her eyes fixed onto yours. At first her expression is playful- cocky. All wiggling eyebrows and the crinkles of laughter, but as the silence stretches on it shifts. Confusion blooms with the tilt of the head. A wordless question written in the furrowing of the brow. Then, suddenly, her eyes widen and grow wild with realisation- before hardening into something else. Something more akin to victory.)

“Why Miss Swann-” Harry says moving forward, lacing both of your fingers together and closing the space between you, till you can feel the sting of her grin burn across your cheek. Her laughter rings like toll bells in your ear, sealing your fate. “Do you fancy me?”

You should take your hand back, you know you should take your hand back.

You don’t want to take your hand back.

A retort bubbles in the back of your throat, with that thought, its rough and scratching and feels just like the lock of hair curled around your fingers. You don’t want to let go. There is saltwater roaring behind your back as the sea dips the ship in a lover’s embrace. Harry’s hand grips your hand is gripped to your chest. She’s waiting. You can see it in the corner of your vision, expecting eyes that seem so blue, they shine silver in the night air.

So you answer, in the only way you possibly can. “What’s my name?”

“What?”

You run your free hand through her hair, balling a fist near the center of the scalp and pulling hard- taking her face off of yours and forcing your eyes to meet. “What’s my name Hook, I want to hear you say it” you say, it’s not a question anymore, not a plea, but a command.

And Harry Hook will always heed a command.

“Cassandra Swann” she whispers, the words fall clumsily out of her mouth and into your heart. You smile beneath her chin, using the leverage to pull yourself higher. You growl against her flesh “Again”

“Cassandra Swan”

A shrieking laugh escapes your lips, “Again!” you scream “Again! Again! Again!”

Harry loops her arms around you, killing the space between the two of you. “Cassandra” she says, “Cassandra, Cassandra, Cassanra Swann” With every reprise her words get smoother, and soon “Cassandra! Cassandra!” flies effortlessly from her mouth, as if she had always longed to say it, as if it was always meant to be there. Harry lifts your body into the air and spins the two of you around the deck all the while murmuring into your hair “Daughter of Elizabeth, Prince of Pirates, Daughter of William, Heir of The Flyin’ Dutchman”

The tips of your boots graze the floorboards as Harry’s momentum lessens and lessens, slowing to a stop near the center of the deck. Your head is pressed firmly to her chest. Here, in this place of comfort, you can hear the frantic beating of her heart, the rise and fall of her breath, the rush of blood beneath her flesh. You feel the storm that rages inside of her. And still she holds you close.

You linger there for a breath, hands clinched around the fabric of her shirt, while the two of you sway with the breeze. You’ve danced before, danced atop this very deck even, but nothing can compare to the silent watz the two of you share here and now. Just you and your love and the Moon. Harry’s touch is firm and soft and oh so gentle with you. If this were anyone else you would say it was hesitant, but that thought was absurd- Harry Hook was never hesitant, you weren’t sure she even knew the word. If she saw something she wanted, she took it. If she saw something she hated, she destroyed it. Love, rage, sorrow, desire, she bore them all proudly before the world, without shame or modesty. Harry Hook lived a life without restraint.

There is shifting under your fingernails, you are gripping her so, so tightly, as if you’re afraid she is not but a visiting dream, a girl made of moonlight and shadow, a passing specter doomed to fade away come dawn.

A strikingly strong gust of wind sends your hair flying outward and towards the sky. Waves of sun-kissed and flaxen strands twist and knot in the air, creating an arch of golden color above your head. You, with your father’s skin and days spent working out at sea, and Harry, with hair darker than the space between stars and skin so fair it put the moon to shame, the two of you were quite the contradictory pair.

Then the wind abides and Harry laughs as your hair falls in front of your face.

“Oh ha-ha hook,” you say, blowing a gust of breath up to get the threads up and out of your eyes, which only makes her chuckle louder. You do not pout, you don’t, you scowl like the very fierce pirate you are and you won’t hear any word to the contrary. “I mean really what’s so funny about--”

You are interrupted by Harry shoving a finger on top of your mouth “Sssh” she says, looking out and over her shoulder, “Do ye hear that?”

Hear what? You try to ask, however it comes out sounding something like “Hrrwat?” with Harry’s finger still covering your mouth. You strain your ears to listen, and sure enough you hear something on the wind, but the noise was far too muddled to make out anything further than a melody.

Luckily, a melody was all you needed.

“It’s a song” Harry says, her voice barely a whisper.

“It’s a shanty” you correct, and a very familiar one at that. No matter how time changes, or what variant of the lyrics become popular, you would be dead in the grave before you didn’t recognize a seafarer's lullaby, sailing along waves of wind and water and air.

You slowly raise your hand to Harry’s pale cheek, careful to give her time to see the motion and accept it. Her skin is chilled against your touch, as you pull her face away from the Isle and all its troubles. You both can feel the weight of the full moon at your backs as you begin to sing. “I dreamed a dream the other night, lowlands, lowlands away, my John~”

What it is, you could not say, but something inside of Harry relaxes when she looks at you. The crease between her eyes vanishes and a part of the frantic energy tensed into her shoulders, lessens. The heavy gaze of the moon lessens slightly.

You rarely ever see her like this. This calmer, tender side of her, that she hides away from the world. How wonderful it is to witness, to share vulnerability, how beautiful she looks when she joins the chorus, your two voices becoming one. “I dreamed a dream the other night, lowlands, lowlands away~”

Taking a step to the side, you begin to lead Harry and your bodies in a proper waltz. Well, as proper as a Pirate waltz could be, at least. You are so focused on your dancing that you almost miss Harry’s voice singing. “I dreamed my true love came all dressed in white, lowlands, lowlands, away me John, I dreamed my true love came all dressed in white, lowlands, lowlands away”

“She sat by my bed when I was asleep, lowlands, lowlands away my John, she sat by my bed when I was asleep, lowlands, lowlands away”

“That’s wrong,” Harry tells you, very seriously, you can’t help but giggle “I’ve heard this sung a thousand times, with a thousand different tongues and a thousand different ways. If the rhythm is right then what does it matter?”

Harry nods her head, “Aye, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s wrong”

“Well if that’s the case Miss Hook, then why don’t you show me how it’s really done?”

“Gladly Miss Swann” Harry grins, puffing her chest up proudly as she sings, her voice so deep and genuine it brought tears to your eyes. “She sat by me bed and did nothing but weep, lowlands, lowlands away my John, she sat by me bed and did nothing but weep, lowlands, lowlands away”

“Cold water soaked her skin so fair, lowlands, lowlands, away my John, cold water soaked her skin so fair, lowlands, lowlands away”

A warm hand runs itself through your head, racking fingers wander as Harry counters, “An’ the salt-sea weed it was in ‘er hair, lowlands, lowlands away, me John, an’ the salt-sea weed it was in ‘er hair, lowlands, lowlands away”

The wandering comes to stop on top of your ear. Her tumb is nestled under your eye, cradling the side of your face. You feel the heat of the touch, burn past your skin and set your blood a boiling. “She made no sound- nor word she said, lowlands, lowlands, away my John, she made no sound- nor word she said, lowlands lowlands away”

For a second time stood still as two souls shared the same thought. Harry moves to rest her forehead on yours, and before you could even think to give a command, your body rose up to meet her halfway.

“That’s when I knew my love was dead, lowlands, lowlands, away my John, that’s when I knew my love was dead, lowlands, lowlands away” you harmonize with each other, voices barely a whisper drowned out in each other and the beating of your hearts.

“I dreamed a dream the other day, lowlands, lowlands away, my John. I dreamed a dream the other day, lowlands, lowlands away”

Up beside the horizon, where the water meets the sky, the first blaze of sunrise streaks along the border. There is a brief moment, when the light is just right, that the entire ocean ignites in a pale blue splendor. The exact shade of your love’s eyes.

“Then I awoke to morning’s keen, lowlands, lowlands away my John, then I awoke to morning’s keen, lowlands, lowlands away”

Miles away from the ship where you and Harry Hook stand, frozen in time, the fog retreats back into the sea. Windows are unplugged, fire restarted, the air begins to be polluted with the shouting and the everyday noises of life.

Inside a small wooden shack there is a Mother, carefully applying cream onto her daughter’s ear. She does not apologize, not openly, not when she doesn’t regret causing it, but she does gather her daughter close in her arms and opens her mouth to sing her favorite lullaby. A song about a distant and beautiful land, far away and low by the sea.

And of course, beyond the two lovers and the mother and daughter, there is an old man standing by the sea, and singing. “Now I’ll never see my love again, lowlands, lowlands away, my John, now I’ll never see my love again, my lowlands, lowlands away~”