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#-> everyone has to deal with what i held back for past half year
saltlog · 9 months
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The First Man
In most situations, when shit hits the fan, it's Lucifer you call. Lucifer the oldest, Lucifer who knows what to do and how to do it, Lucifer who thinks clearly and rationally in any situation.
Except, when it comes to MC.
When MC first arrived, half of what they did either confused or terrified some poor demon or angel. They weren't used to a human who hasn't been immersed in magic and demons and angels for years. Solomon was not a good standard to start with, everyone found that out the hard way.
MC takes in the world with wonder and without restraint. When that lack of restraint gets them in trouble, it's not Lucifer they call.
It's Mammon.
Mammon's the one Asmodeus calls when MC wanders off during a shopping trip and he can't get hold of them. He's the one Levi calls when MC drops suddenly off a call while walking home, the one Solomon calls when MC fails to arrive on time to an appointment.
It's become a source of...pride, for the second born, no matter how much everyone may call him scummy, or unreliable, or irresponsible, when it comes to the human, his human, everyone is second to him.
Even after MC forged pacts with each of his brothers, even after Lucifer's pact-mark painted their skin, still people looked to him, now it's for other reasons.
MC forgot their homework? He knows where they keep it.
Satan wants to buy them a suit for Diavolo's next fancy shindig? Mammon knows their exact size in every store they like.
Barbatos wants to surprise them with dinner after a rough week? Mammon knows their comfort foods and their current cravings.
No one knows his human better than he does, Mammon tells himself that whenever doubts creep in, he's reminded of it every time they smile at him, every time MC calls him their partner in crime.
Still, when his phone lights up with his older brother's name, he's expecting everything but what came next.
"MC has had an anxiety attack." Lucifer's calming drawl betrays the urgency of the situation. "I have brought them to the meeting room. They are staring off into space...I do not know what to do."
Mammon is off at a ground-eating pace immediately, pushing past demons in the bustling halls of RAD. It's the middle of the day, after all.
"I'm on m'way, just keep 'em somewhere quiet. They've been havin' a bad week for that anxiety crap."
"They appeared calm this morning."
Mammon chuckled sadly. "Yeah, I know."
"I see...I will wait here. Do not be long."
The call fell silent, and Mammon broke into a run, shoving people aside if he had too until he burst into the meeting room, finding MC sat in his usual seat at the table, curled up with their chin resting on their knees, staring off into nothing with glassy eyes.
Lucifer stands in unusual insecurity beside them, shoulders sagging in relief as soon as Mammon enters the room.
It wouldn't hit Mammon until much, much later, how much of a big deal it is that LUCIFER, called him, called him for help.
He couldn't think about that now, right now, he quietly slid into the seat beside his human, gently brushing the hair away from their forehead and watching their eyes slowly focus in on him.
"Hey human. Need a break?"
MC blinked, nodding slowly as they leaned into him. Non-verbal.
Mammon didn't make them speak, merely held out his hands and let them cling to his arm while he cast Lucifer a meaningful look. The eldest smiled gratefully.
MC shut their eyes, pressed their head against Mammon's shoulder and let him lead them home.
MC likes to do things with their hands when their anxious, once back in the safety of their room, they curl up around a colouring book, Mammon always close by if they need anything.
"Lucifer was worried." MC muttered, leaning into the demon's side was they cradled the hard-cover book against their knees.
"He'll live." Mammon whispered, reassuringly running his fingers through their hair. "Wanna tell me what's been on ye're mind?"
MC's eyes didn't wander from what their hands are doing, even as they softly share whatever comes to mind, talking without a filter. They don't need one, not with Mammon. He'll listen to whatever they have to say without judgement, always.
He can always be found, loyally at their side when they need him most.
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tqmies · 2 years
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REEL | Lee Jeno
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Description. The annual camping trip that your friend group held every year was rapidly approaching. Jeno, dateless, enlists your help in catching him a date. If only it were that simple, but unfortunately, nothing is ever that simple.
Pairings. Lee Jeno x Female Reader (Slight Sungchan x Reader) 
Genre. Romance, Smut, Comedy
Warnings. Curses, Sexual jokes, Drinking, Unprotected Sex (Always wrap it before you tap it!) , Oral (F. and M. Receiving), Semi-public, Creampie.
Word count. 10K
Note: MINORS DNI! It makes me uncomfortable. Also this is my first time posting smut on this blog :) Please let me know how you all feel about it. PLEASE leave feedback I’m really nervous about this one hehe. Ok ok, enjoy!!
“IT’S ALL JUST A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT.” Were the first words that floated through the air.
“I agree, but the rest of us have already completed that right of passage.”
“Haechan goes through them like Pokemon cards.”
You walk into the scene, bewildered by what the boys are discussing. “Please don’t tell me you’re talking about virginity.” You gag.
“Pftt, virginity? Like Jeno can even get a girlfriend.” Jaemin responds, jabbing his finger towards the aforementioned boy. 
So that’s what this was about? This was always a popular topic of conversation with you guys. What could you say, he was an easy target.
Your friend, Lee Jeno, has had yet to have his first girlfriend. Now this isn’t a big deal, but seeing as he was friends with boys who have had at least nine girlfriends before, it definitely made him stand out. 
“Look I just don’t get why it’s a big deal.” Jeno reconciles. 
“You don’t get a lot of things. Like girlfriends.” Haechan says causing Mark to snicker. 
“Leave him alone.” You say, “Not everyone want’s to date half our town like you did.”
“Oh she got your ass!” Jaemin giggles.
“Shut up, you dated the other half.”
This throws Chenle into a fit of laughter, “You gonna let her talk to you like that? Personally if it was me-”
“Your girlfriend treats your dog better than you.” You warn. 
Chenle stops in his tracks as his jaw drops, he scoffs as he pretends to be hurt by your comment. 
“Damn, you’re out for blood today.” The group laughs again. 
“Oh no, she always gets like this when it comes to her little Jeno-weno.” Haechan teases, using a nickname that you hadn't called Jeno since you were kids.
You push him away as you scrunch your nose, “You guy’s are so annoying.”
“Yeah, yeah, you love us.” 
The boys delve into another conversation as you continue to think about the previous one.
I mean, you had wondered about it for a long time. Why didn’t Jeno have a girlfriend? He surely had the looks, not to mention how sweet the boy was. Though, you just chalked it up to him not being interested. He did just brush off every girl who tried to make advances. Maybe he wasn’t looking for anything.
You knew he pulled, he had his secret little hook-ups now and then, but he never was one to commit. The boys liked to deduce that it was the girls who just didn’t want to date Jeno, but you digress. 
Your attention is drawn back to the conversation when Jaemin mentions something about the camping trip that was approaching. It was a little trip you guys had planned every year, and for the past two it had been a success. Though, Jaemin being Jaemin, wanted to switch things up a bit.
“A couple’s camping trip?!” Mark had asked in disbelief. 
“Yeah think about it! Everyone comes in a pair, we share tents, and play games, and maybe even get some action.” Jaemin responds, wiggling his brows at the suggestive comment. 
“Gross, I’m not interested in hearing Haechan and his ‘girl of the week’ doing it in some tent.” You add on, because let’s be honest, his girls were rarely ever quiet. He was rarely ever quiet. 
“Why? You jealous? You know, all you have to do is ask.” He says, leaning closer to you as you put your palm to his face. Jeno looks at you two warily.
“In your dreams.” You state, removing your hand in disgust as he licks it. Punching him in the shoulder as you yell at how gross he is.
“She has a point though,” Renjun speaks up. “I’m not interested in having my tent next to Jaemin and that chick.”
“That chick has a name!” The aforementioned replies, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Not like we would know, you keep her locked up.” Chenle interjects.
“Rightfully so! She’d run for the hills if she knew you guys.”
“Yeah like you’re any better.”
This starts another little spurt of endless bickering as you roll your eyes.
“I just think it’s be weird, you know? To introduce like six new people to our group at once?” Mark comments, you and Renjun nodding your heads in agreement.
“Also it’s gonna be hard to find someone who’s down to go camping in the middle of the woods with a bunch of strangers.” You reason.
“Awe, scared you’re not going to find anyone?” Haechan smirks, the facial expression seeming to be permanently etched across his face.
“I’m more worried about Jeno over there.” You snicker, noticing the boy had been quiet.
“You too?” He groans, throwing his head back in defeat.
You just laugh, sure you’d always defend him. But you were definitely not above poking fun at Jeno every now and then.
After finishing your lunch and bidding the boys goodbye, you’re walking away when you hear your voice being called.
You turn to see Jeno following behind you as he makes it to your side. “Come to walk me to class?”
“Yes..” He starts. “and no.”
“Uh oh, what do you want?”
“Why do you assume I want something?”
“You always do,” You shrug. “That’s just how you are Lee.”
He frowns, “I need a favor.”
“No I won’t be your camp date.”
“Damn! Why not?” He pleads, he was so sure you’d agree. And he wasn’t too far off.
Sure, you’d love nothing more than to be cooped up in a tent with your hot friend, but that’d be crossing too many boundaries. So as nice as it sounded, you had to refuse.
“It’d be too weird.”
“How?”
“Cause we’re friends.”
“Geez, I’m not asking you to sleep with me. I’m just asking to share a tent and maybe like, I don’t know, sit by me? We sleep in the same room all the time.”
“And you just assume I don’t have someone I plan on bringing?” You ask, sporting a smirk.
“You do?”
Of course you don’t. Truth be told, you were so busy that you hadn’t dipped your foot in the dating waters for months. The only boys you ever even talked to were the ones in your friend group.
Though, you were nothing short of options. Surely you could pull some random boy along with you, just for the trip. One Instagram post and your direct messages would be flooded. 
“That’s for me to know, and for you to find out.” 
He just scoffs at your response before looking away, “What about Yoo Jimin?”
“What?”
“I should ask her to be my camp date.”
“There’s no way in hell! Yoo Jimin only goes for older guys. Like graduated guys.” You explain, opening the door to enter your classes building. 
“What? Really?”
“Yes, you’re telling me you really didn’t know that?” 
“No.. I mean, I just thought maybe she wasn’t interested in any guys here.”
“Geez Jeno, you really know nothing about girls.” 
“All you guys do is make fun of me! What about actually helping me?!” He explains, stomping his feet like a child. 
“Yeah, nothing could help you out there.” You sigh.
“Please help me! I’m begging!” 
“What?!” You raise a brow. 
“Help me get a date!”
“Why should I spend my precious time helping you?” You tease, knowing you didn't have much else to do. 
“Please?!” He begs, and you, with your horrible inability to resist, give in.
You tell him to meet you at his place after your last class of the day. Having no idea what was in store for you. And just like you said, you were at his place right on time.
Flopping onto his bed, you scroll through your phone as Jeno stares at you from his desk chair.
“What?” You say, placing your phone down as you raise a brow.
“I thought you were gonna help!” He whines, turning around in his swivel chair. 
“I am helping!” You defend. “I’m…I’m scoping Instagram for potential dates!”
“You’re a horrible liar.”
“Whatever,” You sign, turning your phone towards him.“Look, shes really pretty. She goes to our university too. Why don’t you try and message her.” 
Jeno looks very caught off guard, “That’s Yiren.” 
“Ok? She seems cool, she likes to travel, and she’s pretty!” You say, scrounging her profile intently.
“Looks aren’t everything.”
“Did you not hear everything I said before that?” You groan. “At least try.”
He nods, picking up his own phone and typing in her username. Going quiet for a couple minutes, he finally puts his phone down. “Okay, I messaged her.”
You squeal, “Now we wait!” 
He just smiles, “Wanna order some food?”
“I thought you’d never ask! I’ll pick a movie?” 
And so, after picking the scariest movie you could find, (And the heaviest blankets), you settle into the couch with your takeout box.
You two are engrossed in the film, when Jeno’s phone loudly dings.
Shuffling to sit up, you smile, “Is that her?”
The smile fades from your face as you read the message.
@_WangYerin: Ew...
You look dejectedly at Jeno.
“Yeah no, this is not gonna work.” He opens his mouth to speak again.
You interrupt him. “There’s plenty of fish in the sea. I’m sure we can find you one girl in time.”
-
“Jeno.”
“Yeah?”
“What the hell are you wearing?”
He looks down to his outfit, raising his brows in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Jeno, I don’t even know where to begin..” You pause, your eyes drawing over his clothing.
He was donned head to toe in fishing gear. Loose cargo shorts and a floral printed shirt. Completed with the floppy hat and reel. He looked like a tourist.
This was truly ridiculous. He was standing in your living room, dressed like he was in some swamp marsh in Florida. (Even then, he’d still be overdressed.) 
“There’s plenty of fish in the sea.” He references, wiggling his brows at you. Gesturing to his outfit, “Chicks dig this right?”
“What?!” You exclaim, your face donned with confusion. Is that what he thought girls liked? It took everything in you not to burst out laughing.
“I’m starting to think..” He trails, “That’s not what you meant.”
“You’re hopeless.” You announce, resting your palm against your chin. 
How were you going to fix this? Not to mention that you only had about two weeks to do it. “Ignoring the poor choice of outfit, let’s talk about something else.”
He just nods as you scrounge your brain, “So as you know, you don’t have the best reputation preceding woman..”
“What do you mean? I love woman!” He proclaims, as if he couldn’t believe what you were getting at.
You sigh, “If only they loved you.”
He scoffs before rolling his sleeves up, “Look at these bad boys. The ladies can’t resist.”
You swear your eyes could roll of your head. “Be real Jeno, it takes more than some muscles to get a girlfriend.”
“Damn.” Is all he says as he pulls his sleeves down. Trying to ignore your judging eyes.
“I’m starting to think this is damn near impossible.” You speak.
“You’ve barely even helped yet!” 
“And I’m already failing!”
Looking around your apartment, you feel as if a light bulb went off in your head. “We’re not going to get anything done in here. We need to be outside, scouting you some girls!” 
And with that, you grab his wrist and drag him out through the front door. Pointing at the keys in his pocket, “You drive, its the gentlemanly thing to do.”
“Yeah okay,” He scoffs, “You’re just lazy.”
He unlocks his car and you pile in, relieved to be in the passengers seat for once. “I could get used to this.” You speak, reclining your seat.
“Oh I didn’t know they could go back that far.” He says, genuine amazement donning his face. You cringe at his words.
“Are you kidding?” You laugh. “Don’t let Haechan hear you say that.”
“He already knows I get no action. I’m sure he won’t be surprised.” He grumbles.
“Okay, here’s another tip.” You announce, sitting up. “You need to have more confidence.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say I don’t.” 
“No I know, but girls love men who seem sure of themselves, you know? They don’t want someone who’s muddling around proclaiming they have no game.”
He takes you in your words but shakes his head, “I don’t know..”
“C’mon Jeno,” You say, turning to meet his eyes. “You’re young, you’re hot, you work out! And you’re super sweet. Not to mention you’re like crazy smart,” 
You continue on rambling as you fail to notice Jeno’s growing smirk. He was going to relish in every compliment that fell from your tongue. And surely tease you about it later.
You only stopped when you notice how quiet he got. 
“Hello? Earth to Jeno?” 
“I’m here,” He responds with a smile.
“You’re so annoying.” You roll your eyes.
“Where to?” He speaks, ignoring your comment. 
“The park! The one by campus. There’s always tons of people just hanging out there.” You proclaim. 
You always took note of the various groups that were there at all times of day. Studying or having a picnic, but you were sure you were going to run into at least one group of girls. And if they had any sense, they would eat Jeno up. 
As the sun starts to set on your day though, you realize they were definitely not eating Jeno up. In fact, every time Jeno approached a girl, they seemed to dodge it the other way. Half-assed excuses donning their lips, and that was if they were nice. Some of the girls just blatantly ignored him and continued on their way. 
Yet, Jeno didn’t let up. He didn’t even seem the slightest bit discouraged. 
Even as he got shot down by another girl. One claiming she ‘Wasn’t in the mood to get her heart broken.’ 
Though you digress, you knew that girl, she was in your Econ class. And if her on and off relationship with Choi Yeonjun was any indicator, she was just trying to save face. Or at least that’s what you told Jeno as you walked back to his car.
You knew what the girls thought about Jeno, likely that he was just trying to pick himself up a weekly girlfriend. They probably didn’t want anything to do with him. He had gained himself a reputation. 
Many girls pegged him to be a heart breaker, seeing as he rejected any girl who asked him out. But that was nothing personal, he just didn’t want to be a in relationship then. He didn’t mean anything by it, and he certainly didn’t want to hurt the girls. 
But not everyone is as understanding.
“Okay new plan,” You speak. “Neighboring university area!” 
“Huh?”
“Dude, everyone here like runs when they see you. Lets go somewhere where no one knows you!”
“Okay but if they don’t know me.. how will I get them to come camping with me?!”
He makes a valid point. 
You lean your head back into his seat and groan. Beating your brain, you decide to take a breather. “Lets go eat lunch, there we can converge a plan.”
“Why did you say that last part so weird?” He laughs. “Mad scientist vibes.”
“Shut up.” You retaliate, punching him in the arm. “Just for that, I get to pick where we eat.”
-
Shoving the roll into your mouth, you bask in the glorious taste. “This is so good.” 
“Slow down there, you might choke.”
“Okay mom.”
He laughs at your comment and stares at the menu, trying to get his order ready by the time the waiter comes by. 
“Jeno?” You hear, causing you to look up from the basket of bread you were admiring.
You’re met with a girl, probably around your age, smiling widely at Jeno.
“Sumin? Is that you?” He asks, returning a smile. 
You look between the two of them confusedly. You were sure she didn’t go to your university. How did Jeno know her? 
“Uh, This is Sumin. We met a couple years ago at camp.” He explains. Then going to introduce you to Sumin as his friend, to which you nod at, offering her a smile.
You suddenly reminded about when Jeno’s parents used to send him off to camp every summer back in high school. Rendering you to spend your summers full of Jaemin. You’re not sure why Jeno went anyways. Something about keeping him out of trouble. Though if there were girls as beautiful as Sumin there, you’re sure he got into more trouble. 
As you let them talk, you notice Sumin seems to be leaning into Jeno a lot. That’s like a surefire sign of attraction. 
Then a light bulb pops into your head. “Sumin, you two met at camp? You must like the outdoors and such then?” You interrupt.
“Oh yes!,” She smiles. “I loved sleeping under the stars, and kayaking! Oh, and the random games they used to make us play!” 
‘Well,” You start, looking at Jeno. Hoping he knew where you were going with this. “We’re actually going camping with a couple of friends soon.”
“Oh, really?” She says nodding.
You look to Jenos face, hoping to gauge a reaction. He doesn’t look uncomfortable or anything, so now was your chance.
“We actually are looking for a couple more people. You should join us!” 
The statement hangs in the air as she thinks, “Oh I don’t know, I can’t intrude!”
“No no, you wont be intruding! You can even share a tent with Jeno.” And you turn towards him, silently hoping he’d encourage her.
It seems he gets the hint. “Yeah, I don’t mind. It’ll be like old times.”
You smile. “Give her your number so she can ask about the details!”
Thank goodness you were here to help. He really did suck at this.
The two bid each other goodbye soon after, Sumin promising to text him later. You just grin widely at his success. “We found you a girl! And its only been a week!” 
He just stays quiet. “Hooray for us.” 
“Whats wrong?” You ask, finding his quietness odd. 
“I don’t know, Sumin’s nice.”
“But..?”
“No but’s, shes nice.” And with that the waiter arrives. Leaving that to be pushed to the back of your mind as you focus on what you’re going to order.
The plan was a success. That much was sure. Especially when you went and showed all your friends pictures of Sumin. You spilling how she looked more stunning in real life, and how Jeno would be bringing the prettiest girl to the event.
To which prompted Haechan to object, “Whatever, wait till you see my date.”
“Who are you bringing?” Mark perks up, genuinely curious. 
Haechan gestures towards you, throwing his arm over you shoulder. To which you aggressively shake off. “Nice try, find someone else.” 
“Why? It’s not like you have anyone to bring.” 
You stay quiet, smirking.
“You found someone?!” Haechan presses on. “Who is he?”
It’s a surprise, is what you say. 
They roll their eyes at you, not believing your words for one second, even as you press on that its true.
Though you know truthfully, you have yet to find anyone. You were so wrapped up in your determination to get Jeno a date that you had forgotten to get your own. In fact, today had been weird that you hadn't been with Jeno the whole day. You liked spending time with him. But now the focus was on you.
You had time though, so it’s not like you were worried.
Jeno doesn’t know why, but hes dying to know who you’re bringing. He’s also relieved to see that you’re not falling into Haechan’s advances. But whoever you’re bringing could be undoubtedly worse, so he tries not to get his hopes up.
“Oh also, Jaemin mentioned to me that we need to go shopping for supplies soon.” Mark states, looking down to put his fork back into the salad he was eating.
“I’m down, just let me know when.” You nod, shopping with the boys was always fun anyways. Even if it meant spending two and a half hours in a Bass Pro Shop.
“Yeah well make sure you ask your date if he has any particular request for food.” Renjun speaks, taking his attention off his food for a second. 
“I’ll do you one better, I’ll bring my date.”
Okay, maybe you shouldn't have said that. But what was with the boys and insinuating you didn’t have a date?
You were going to make them eat their words.
“Great, can’t wait to meet him.” Haechan smirks.
-
And just like you thought, it had come back to bite you.
Instead of having a week left, you now have to obtain a boy by this weekend. (And somehow drag him to a camping store with you.) 
So, out of defenses, you hesitantly asked your co-worker Sungchan.
You two were friends, having grown accustomed to long shifts together and defending each other from the occasional shitty costumer. Plus, you’d much rather take him then some random guy you caught on Tinder or Instagram.
“Camping? Is it like a weekend thing or?”
You nod, hoping he’ll agree.
“You want me to spend two of my precious days off, in the middle of the woods? With a bunch of strangers, bugs, and canned food?” 
Your shoulders deflate, pursing your mouth into a thin line. “Yes?”
“I’m down.”
“What? Really?”
“Yeah, sounds like an adventure.” He shrugs. 
You clap excitedly, “My precious Sungchan, you also have to come to Bass Pro Shop with me.”
He groans, “Whatever, I already agreed.”
And he makes good on his promise, picking you up from your place and coming to the store. 
Jaemins the only one there at the designated time, saying something about the others being on the way. So you just make small talk as the rest gradually arrive. Jaemins quick to fall into conversation with the other, which is a good sign.
Jeno and Haechan arrive together, the latter making a commotion of your date.
“So this is the one?” Haechan says, not-so-subtly scanning over Sungchan’s body.
“Quit checking him out!” You whine. Noting how Haechan was trying to feel up on Sungchans arms. Looking like he was about to snatch him for himself.
You weren’t dumb, you know Sungchan’s good looking, he’s never been shy about saying it either. And you can tell the boys were astounded he even showed, not to mention how undeniably attractive he was.
But you don’t expect him to get along with everyone so well. Thirty minutes in and he was already on Mark and Jaemin’s good side. The two aren’t particularly difficult to please, but you were surprised to see that he had won over Renjun and Chenle.
The rest of the boys got along with him fine, minus Jeno.
He was acting really weird about the whole thing. The least friendly to Sungchan, and just overall had a short fuse with him. He had probably sensed something off about him, which you found to be weird.
So in the middle of the fishing rod aisle,(You guys didn’t even need one), You pulled him aside from the rest of the group. Wanting to get down to the root of the problem, because you weren't the only one who had noticed. Jisung had even remarked how Jeno seemed to be in a bad mood, but he was talking to everyone else just fine, so it seemed Sungchan was the problem.
“Is everything ok?” You ask, eyes full of worry. “You’ve been shooting Sungchan dirty looks the whole time.”
He stays quiet, pretending to be interested in some product on the aisle end cap. “I don’t know what you mean.” 
“Don’t act stupid Jeno.” You warn, “What’s wrong?”
“Just not a fan of him.” He shrugs, turning to walk back towards the group. 
You just shake it off, it wasn’t you problem. Jeno was your friend yes, but if he was going to act indifferent about this, then so be it. You had your own things to worry about. 
Going back to Sungchan’s side, you tap his shoulder. He was listening to Mark ramble on about a fishing line, you once again point out how you don’t need any type of fishing gear. Mark just ignores you and starts shoving reels in Renjun’s face, much to the latter’s displeasure. 
“Your friends are cool.” Sungchan speaks, “They seem to like me.”
“Told you they were fun!” You tease, glad he was making a good first impression. If things kept going good, maybe you could invite Sungchan around more often. He did always mention that he’d like more friends. 
Jeno’s face sours as he watches from afar. You leaning into Sungchan, had you always been so touchy? He shakes his head and turns away.
About thirty minutes later, you’re all ready to head to checkout. Thankful you had another set of arms to help carry the cooler and sleeping bags you were buying. 
Placing the stuff down, you laugh. “This much for two days?”
“Haechan’s sleeping bag caught on fire last time, remember?” Chenle comments. You do remember, it was not pretty. 
Sungchan looks confused and you explain, recalling that Haechan was laying too close to the fire long after everyone else had gone to bed. Remembering that it wasn’t just him in the sleeping bag as well.. 
Haechan stops you from recanting the whole thing, saying how he’d beat you up if you boyfriend wasn’t right there. You scoff at the accusation and Sungchan laughs. But everyone catches on to how you two don’t outright deny it.
You weren’t thinking too much, not even noticing how neither of you had said no. Sungchan was cool, and sure you had thought of him that way before, but he was definitely not your boyfriend right now. You didn’t shy away from the prospect though, and it seemed like he didn’t either. 
Jeno’s brows furrow, you two were a thing? He thought you guys were just friends, he turns away, not wanting to look at you two any longer. He didn’t know why, but he felt somewhat possessive of you. And he definitely did not like Sungchan. 
You all walk out of the store, proud of your successful trip when Renjun suggests you all go out to dinner. You nervously smile, “Sungchan and I were actually planning to watch a movie at my place.” 
“Nice,” Haechan smiles, “Let’s meet at yours then!” 
You groan, and the others just teasingly smile at you, knowing that was not what you had meant. “As long as someones buying snacks cause I don’t have shit.”
“On it!” Jaemin responds, already in his car. 
That’s how you find yourselves all back at your place, an improper movie night to commence after Jisung and Chenle stop fighting over what movie to watch.
Heading to the kitchen for some chips, you’re met with only Jeno in there. Digging through a bag of Jolly Ranchers for his favorite. 
“I ate all the cherry ones.” You say, poking at his shoulders, knowing he loved those as much as you did.
He smiles, not responding. Until he pulls out one, a cherry one. You perk up at that, you thought you had eaten all of them ages ago.
“Oh, for me? Thanks.” Sarcasm donning your voice, but still going to reach for it anyways.
He snatches it back, “Go ask Sungchan for one.” Jealousy seemingly apparent in his voice, confusing you.
“You suck.” You state bluntly, until he unwraps the candy and places it in front of your mouth. 
“Want it?” He asks, gesturing it more towards you, eyebrows raised.
You narrow your eyes, “..Yes.”
“Open wide then.” 
You scrunch your nose, he wanted to feed it to you? ‘No thanks.” Is all you say before walking away.
But then you feel a hand clasp around your wrist, turning you back. Jeno stares at you blankly, then repeating. “I said open.”
Curiously, you open your mouth slightly. Just enough to get the candy. Jeno brings the cherry flavored candy to your lips. He smirks, grabbing your chin, he holds you in place. “Wider,” He commands, and you follow. 
He slips the candy in, along with two of his fingers, and you close your lips around them. He stares at you, and you look down at the floor. You had never seen this side of Jeno before, the Jeno you knew always carefree and smiling, far different from the one in front of you. You were a bit scared but you’d be lying if you said you weren’t a bit turned on.
With newly acquired confidence, you shove his fingers farther into your mouth. His eyes widen and you gag, the candy hitting the back of your throat. But you progress, slowly sliding your mouth off his fingers, releasing them with a pop.
Swirling the rest of the candy in your mouth, you smile. “Mm yummy.”
Though your hearts beating like crazy, shivering at the close proximity between you and Jeno. He walks forward, backing you into the counter. You two just stare at each other, and you swear he’s about to lean in. Until the sound of approaching footsteps is heard.
You and Jeno separate, you going back to your mission for chips and him to pour a glass of water. Trying to steady your nerves and not give away to the person what the two of you were doing.
Sungchan pokes his head into the area, “Hey we decided on a movie, I left you a spot next to me.”
You grin, “Okay, let’s go.”
Watching you leave the area with your hand around Sungchan’s bicep, Jeno wants to puke.
In fact, his urge to vomit only gets stronger as he continues to watch you cuddle up to the other boy all night. After the little display earlier, you still had the nerve to hang onto Sungchan? 
The movies a devastatingly long one, some of the boys filtering out before its even ended. Mark mutters something about how its getting late, wanting to leave before he passes out on your tiny love seat.
And just like that, only four of you remain. Jaemin’s strewn out on the floor, fast asleep, as is Sungchan on the arm of your sofa. You and Jeno are the only one’s still awake, though you’re unable to move as Sungchan constantly stirs in his sleep. 
The last thing you want to do is wake him, but his phone does just that. Vibrating in his pocket, he lazily opens his eyes. Seeing the time as well, he shoots up, “Shit, I have to go.” He says, eyes widening as he heads towards the front of your place, grabbing his jacket and searching for his shoes. 
He bids you goodbye and you make him promise to text you when he gets home safely, to which he agrees with a smile. “Have a good night.” He says, kissing your forehead before heading out the door. 
You grin at the kiss, watching as he makes his way out. 
Jaemin’s snoring knocks you out of your trance, closing the door behind you.
Jeno appears in the hall, “I can drag him home.” He suggests.
Shaking your head, you look over at him. He did seem rather comfortable on your floor. “He seems fine. I’ll get him a blanket.” 
Jeno nods and fishes for his keys on your counter. “It’s late, I’ll head out.”
“Jaemin’s staying, why don’t you just stay too?” You ask. It was a completely normal thing for the boys to stay over, they were all welcomed to any time. You know the others left just from desire to sleep comfortably in their own beds.
Jeno and Jaemin were no strangers to staying the night either, the three of you hung out often late into the night. You don’t know why Jeno was in a hurry to leave anyways, he would normally just agree to crash on your couch.
“I don’t know..” He trails. 
“Why not?” You sputter, confused as your patience for his attitude began to grow thin. “You’ve been acting weird all day! What’s got you all hot and bothered?!” 
“You really wanna know?” He asks, condescendingly. Like you should know what you did wrong. 
“Do I? Yes I would like to know what has had you being an asshole all day!”
He just laughs at that, only causing you to get more annoyed. Contemplating if to tell the truth or not, he watches you grow more impatient. 
“I just don’t like Sungchan.”
“Well no shit,” You throw your hands up. “You already told me!”
He shrugs in defeat, like it was no big deal he had been so rude to him.
“I just wanna know why!” You speak again.
“I could tell you.” He says, inching closer. “But I could show you a lot better.”
“What?” You’re cut off by Jeno pulling you into a kiss. Completely surprised by the turn of events, but you welcome it. His hands finding their way into your hair.
You pull away, “Jeno, what are we doing?” And you meant it. What was this sudden behavior? Would this ruin your friendship? Could you two be normal after this? Was he even going to go all the way?
“Tell me to stop.” He whispers indifferently. “Tell me you don’t want this.” 
“Jaemin’s in the living room.” You caution, scared to wake him, though you ignore Jenos statement. “But I want this.”
“Then we better take this to your room.” 
And the moment you nod in agreement, he pulls you away to your bedroom. You two stumbling as he attempts to kiss you on the way there. He closes the door behind you, pushing you against it as he meets your mouth again.
It’s messy and uncoordinated, his sheer desire for you taking over. Teeth clashing and tongues strewn. He pulls back from the kiss and begins fervently attacking your neck.
“Please Jeno,” You whine, aching for him to continue. “Need you.”
“To what?” He teases, lifting up from your neck.
You want to scream. Of course he was going to make you say it, this was Jeno you were talking to. And he truly wanted nothing more than to hear the words slip past your mouth.
“Touch me.” You beg, wishing he would cut it out with the teasing.
“Where?” He continues. Moving his hands down your body, “Here?”
You shake your head, “N-No.”
You grab his hand bravely and place it on the front of your pants. He begins rubbing you through your jeans, the fabric roughly brushing up against you.
“I wanna hear you say it.” He smiles, “That you want me to touch you. And not Sungchan.”
You roll your eyes, he was still on about this? Sungchan was the last thing on your mind right now, the first being your aching wetness and Jeno’s stubbornness to relieve it. 
“W-want,” You stutter as he begins to unzip your pants, “Want you to touch me.”
“Mhmm,” He nods. “Because you’re mine.”
You whimper at the contact of his hands rubbing you through your panties. Attempting to suppress a moan from falling past your lips. His possessiveness was such a turn on to you, and you didn’t even know why.
“So wet,” He comments, “Just from a little kissing. Are you sure I’m the one who’s never been in a relationship?”
Annoyed, you turn away blushing, “Shut up.”
Jeno just chuckles as you press against his shoulders, signaling for him to stop. “Wait, don’t wanna do it against the wall. Want to be on the bed.”
“So demanding.” 
And with that, he moves you to lay down on your bed. He beings kissing you again, tugging at the hem of your shirt and you raise your hands to let him remove it off you. Although you had taken note that Jeno was still fully clothed. 
“Not fair, you should take off your shirt.” You pout, and he rushes to take it off, revealing his chiseled body to you. You gawk at him in his shirtless glory, upset you hadn’t thought to see it sooner, well at least you were seeing it now.
“Close your mouth, you’ll catch flies.” He teases again, going to kiss you before you can spout some smart remark.
He recedes back, lowering himself down to be met with your dripping cunt. He slides your panties down, slowly pulling them off your ankles with his teeth. You prop yourself up on your elbows to see, and you had to admit, its hot.
Jeno nibbles on your thigh, eliciting a yelp from you before he starts rubbing his thumb over your folds. “All for me.” He smirks proudly. 
Sticking his tongue out, he licks a thin stripe on your clit, you letting out a loud string of moans. “Jeno- Please.” 
He moves to stick a finger in, you clenching harshly around it. 
“So tight.” He hisses, adding another finger in. Causing you to wail out in pleasure. It felt so good, you hadn’t been touched in a while. 
He continues like this, whispering praises into your ear as he seems indifferent, “You’re doing so well, sucking my fingers into this pretty cunt.”
You’re feeling the coil in your stomach, embarrassingly close to cumming at the brutal pace of his fingers inside you, when he slips them out. 
“Want you to cum on my tongue.” He explains before you can even protest.
Nodding, you’re met with his mouth back on your clit, his tongue harshly lapping against you. You unconsciously reach for his hair, pulling strongly on it, causing him to let out a moan against your heat. 
“Pull harder.” He demands, and you oblige. One hand in his hair and the other gripping your sheets. Your hips start to lift off the bed in pleasure, as he holds you down by your legs, your shaking form struggling to stay still. 
“Jeno, Please, please I’m so close,” You plead as he continues to eat you out like a starved man. 
“Do it baby, cum for me.” He assures, and you moan at his words. The affect he had on you was insane. You had never been so shaken up over getting head before.  
You reach your climax shortly after, a wave of white washing over you as you let out a final string of moans. Jeno’s movements barely even faltering as you finish on his face. 
He pulls away, moving to stand up and goes to wash his face in your connected bathroom. You’re a bit put off by his sudden change in mood, but you calm your breathing and start searching for your bottoms on the floor, as well as your shirt.
Jeno emerges from the bathroom and you silently hand him his shirt, when you notice he’s sporting a complete boner. 
“You look like you could use some help.” You announce, smirking. 
He shakes his head though, “I can take care of this at home.”
Huh? What was he talking about? 
“Let me return the favor.” You state, “I’m eager to please.” 
But he remains the same, “It’s fine.”
And he walks past you, opening the door out of your room. Leaving you more than just a little confused. Was he regretting what happened? Why wouldn’t he accept your offer to touch him? What kind of guy turns down head? 
You avoid eye contact. “Oh.. Ok. Have a safe trip home.”
You want the earth to crack open and swallow you whole. He nods and makes his way past a sleeping Jaemin and out your front door. 
Not wanting to be alone, you sit on the other couch opposite of your friend. 
That’s when he sits up. “You two are so gross.”
“You were awake?” You ask, mouth agape. 
“You guys woke me! Maybe try and keep it down next time!” He scolds, until he notices the look on your face. “Is something wrong? Did you not want to do it?”
You wave your hands, “No! No, I did. It’s just that when I offered to do something for him, he rejected me. I don’t know- I feel gross.”
He shakes his head, “Jeno’s like that, he doesn’t know how to express his feelings, I’m sorry he made you feel that way.”
You just nod, “Please don’t tell anyone about this.” And he agrees, swearing to not say a word, and you couldn’t have been more grateful. 
-
You ignore Jeno for the next couple of days, purposefully. Whether it was to save yourself from embarrassment, or from your feelings? You didn’t know.
You wish you hadn’t acted so carelessly, to let yourself get carried away in his bliss, knowing you could never have him in the way you wanted.
You were also unsure of how Jeno would react to being around you after that. You didn’t even know if you would be confident in your actions around him. Would you be able to look him in the eye? Or even worse, what if he had told your friends? What if Jaemin had, despite his swearing to secrecy? 
Haechan would be a nightmare.
But you push those thoughts to the back of your mind as Sungchan calls for your attention. You two were at your place, packing for the trip. Water bottles and his awful trail mix bars being shoved in your backpacks.
You were leaving today, you breathe in. A weekend you were looking forward to how now left you unsure. But if worse came to worse, Sungchan would be there.
Over the past couple of days, you had done a lot of thinking. Not just about you and Jeno, but about the other boys as well. 
You realized that you and Sungchan were nothing beyond a clingy pair of friends, and that’s all you felt for him, a sense of friendship. Whatever uncertainty you had was gone. You knew he didn’t make you feel the way Jeno did. And it wasn’t just because of the interaction either.
You had feelings for Jeno, that was certain. 
You assume you’ve had them for a while too, it wasn’t until you sat down and acknowledged that you would consider a relationship with him, did you realize. 
But it was all too much, too fast. 
Engaging in those activities with him, knowing he likely only saw you as a friend? Too much to bear. So you knew you had to keep your distance from him as far as possible. You knew these feelings were likely to pass too, you just had to wait it out. 
Because if there was something else you realized, it was that he didn’t feel the same. And why would he? You weren’t anything like the girls he’s gone for. You weren’t anything like Sumin. Not to mention his reluctance to let you touch him, (which was the root of your embarrassment), after he had eaten you out. You understood he just wanted to have a little fun with you, nothing more. 
Plus, if his past record of no girlfriends meant anything, it was that he couldn’t be bothered to be tied down. So you weren’t going to begin to feed into the delusional idea that he could be your boyfriend, it would only just end up hurting you that much more.
Sungchan pulls you from your thoughts as he announces its time to leave, and you smile. He helps you pack your things into the car and you two shake with enthusiasm during the entire thirty minute ride. Though you’re not looking forward to hiking the rest of the way to the campsite; A necessary evil.
Sungchan doesn’t complain too much though, smiling as he reads off the printed map for directions. You didn’t get much service out here, and you weren’t going to take any chances getting lost. 
It didn’t help that you two were late, noting that all your friends had arrived by the time you reached the sites with your tents and backpacks in tow. 
You see Jaemin and his girl sitting on logs, whispering something into each others ear as they giggle. Her legs resting over his lap. 
To their right is Renjun and Chenle arguing over something random, with their respective dates behind them, both looking extremely confused.
Mark is setting up a tent with his date, Jisung and his date helping them hold the poles steadily. Mark stumbling as he trips over one of the mounts.
Haechan emerges from his tent upon the others announcing your arrival, saying something about his date being passed out in their tent. 
Jeno and Sumin are no where to be found, and you try not to ask about it. 
Though, Jaemin approaches you the minute Sungchan leaves your side. “They went exploring. Whatever that means.” He speaks, and you don’t even have to ask him who he’s talking about. 
You just nod and ask him for a drink. “You’ve been here for five minutes!” He recoils, like he can’t believe you asked him that. 
“Well its unfair of you to expect me to tolerate Haechan for an entire weekend without a drink.” You tease, the aforementioned male coming to whine.
Sungchan returns with two drinks in hand, you thanking him as he passes you one. He then places his hand on the small of your back, the boys in front of you not missing a beat. 
“Woah, did you two hook up or something?” Haechan speaks, never one to censor himself.
“None of your business.” You mumble, though you know the two of you hadn't.
“Oo, don’t let Jeno see!” Jisung warns as he passes by.
“Jeno?” Sungchan perks up, “What about him?”
Haechan and Jaemin just look at the each other, “Nothing.”
And with that, the boys leave you and Sungchan. 
The two of you deciding to go sit on logs of your own before you have set up your own tent. The silences of the trees swaying overtaking you.
“So,” He starts. “You wanna sleep with me this weekend?”
You almost spit out your drink. “What?”
“We don’t have to!” He retracts. “I just figured.. maybe you’d want to?”
“Sung, we’re friends and we work together. Won’t this make things weird?”
“It doesn’t have to happen again if you don’t want it to. Just thought I’d put it out there.” He shrugs, like it was all so simple. “You’re hot, I’m hot. We’re both single. Both sexually frustrated. So why not?”
You look to the ground, “I don’t know..”
“Actually, I’m sorry I asked, I don’t want you to feel pressured.”
You didn’t feel pressured though, and Sungchan was somewhat right. You did invite him out here with a inkling of hope that maybe you could bed him. Who wouldn’t want to anyways? You hadn't had sex in a while, and your attractive friend was ready and willing. So what if you had feelings for Jeno? They would pass. You should have a little fun. Fuck it. 
“Okay,” You speak. “I’d like that.”
He smiles, “Perfect.”
You’re about to respond when you hear the crunching of leaves behind you, Jeno and Sumin emerging from the bushes, hand in hand. 
Were the two together? You feel your smile falter a bit before you look away, Jeno didn’t owe you anything. And you knew the type of guy he was, who was to say he was going to even commit to Sumin? 
“There you two are!” Renjun says walking towards them. “Thought you’d gotten ravaged by a bear!”
“Oh, Jeno ravaged something..” Haechan comments, suggestively. 
Jeno shakes his head at the insinuation, Sumin eyes flickering over to you. “Hey! You made it!” 
“Yes!” You say, moving to hug her. Then you notice her eyes landing on Sungchan, and she starts practically eye-fucking him proudly. And he looks somewhat into it? You see that Jeno notices too, as he wavers his attention. 
“This is Sungchan.” You say, as she moves to introduce herself to him. 
“I’m Sumin! Jeno’s friend.” 
The air grows heavy as she says that, Jeno looking dejected and everyone else looking confused. So they weren’t together then?
You just shrug, going to bother Mark and his date, who still can’t get the tent up. “Need help?”
Mark’s date looks at you in relief, “Please! Mark told his other friend that we could do it.. but we’re having a hard time..”
“I got you,” You speak, noticing something off. “He’s doing it wrong.”
Mark sighs, “Damn,” He looks down. “You had to call me out in front of my date. I’m gonna go tell Sungchan about the time you threw up in Renjun’s mouth.”
“Don’t you dare!” You say, moving to chase after Mark as he begins running in the opposite direction, tent long forgotten. “You’re lying!” 
“No I’m not! Haechan was there too!” 
“I was where?” Haechan yells, wondering what all the commotion is.
You and Mark stop, hands on your knees as you pant out. Tired from chasing the boy around in circles, you try and catch your breath. 
“Don’t,” Pant. “Listen,” Pant. “To him.”
“Remember that night we played spin the bottle?” Mark begins, still breathless.
The others begin to gather around, drawn to the scene by Haechans loud voice. “Yeah I do.” He starts. “When you and I kissed?”
“You what?!” Jaemin exclaims, “Wait, why was I not invited?”
“Haechan and I did not kiss!” Mark laughs, and you giggle, knowing full well that he was lying to save face.
Haechan shrugs, “Whatever you say.”
“The point is that Renjun got thrown up on.” 
Renjun cringes, “I don’t like to think about that.”
“Wait by who?” Jeno asks, not amused.
“By her!” Mark says, wagging his finger at you. “Damn near threw up in Renjun’s mouth, she pulled away just in time.”
“You kissed Renjun?” Jeno asks, surprise evident on his face. 
You ignore him, what was the big deal anyways? It was spin the bottle, you were all drunk, and it landed on you and Renjun. Who cares?
“Mark that happened months ago!” You protest, “I didn’t know my limits.”
“It should’ve been me!” Haechan whines, faking a wound to his chest.
“You wanted to get thrown up on? Or to kiss Renjun?” Mark asks, and it was definitely a necessary question but Haechan just flips him off as he walks away.
The others just laugh and you turn to walk away but are stopped by Jeno pulling you aside. He drags you a few steps into the trees, far enough from everyone else that you two could have a private conversation. 
“Who all have you kissed?” He asks. 
“Huh?” 
“Answer the question.”
“No, I don’t want to.” You state, confused on his attitude. “You’ve got some nerve to come over here and ask me that, considering how bitchy you’ve been.”
“Me? You’re the one who’s acting childish and ignoring me.”
“So what?” You spout. “And why do you care who I’ve kissed anyways?”
“I don’t.” He says, “I guess I just thought I was the first one of us to kiss you.”
“Oh,” You say, fire rising in your chest. “So that makes me worth less to you? Knowing I’ve kissed Mark, Renjun, and Jaemin before I kissed you?”
“No it doesn’t.” He replies. “But it does make me jealous.”
You scoff, “Jealous? You have no right, especially not after you left me all confused the other day! You made me feel like I did something wrong.”
“What are you talking about?” 
“You just walked out. Was I that disgusting that you didn’t want me to touch you? You made me feel like shit when you left like that. I don’t deserve to feel that way.” 
“Woah woah,” He stops you. “Back it up, disgusting? You’ve got it all wrong.”
“Well what was I supposed to think?”
He’s silent for a moment as he tries to think of what to say. “That’s not why I walked out. The truth is, I didn’t want you to feel pressured, and I felt like I was pushing boundaries and-”
“I said I wanted it, I wanted nothing more than to touch you after that and you just blew me off.” You state. “It’s like you pulled me in to just push me away.”
“I’m so sorry,” He apologies, “I had no idea you felt that way.”
“Jeno,” You start, here goes nothing. “I have to be transparent with you, okay?”
“Okay..” He trails.
You couldn’t do this anymore, you couldn’t pretend. 
“Please don’t lead me on anymore. I have feelings for you, and it hurts for you to act like this with me.” Your chest weighs heavy and you await his response.
“You have feelings for me?”
“Don’t make me say it again.” You mumble, unable to make eye contact with the male beside you. You had thought it was completely obvious.
“I do too.”
You look up at him, “What?”
“Why do you think I asked for your help in the first place?”
“Because you needed a date?” You ask, confused.
He smiles, “My plan was never to get another date. I was hoping maybe at the end, I could just ask you. But then we ran into Sumin, and you found Sungchan and it all happened so fast, I just lost hope.” 
“I’m jealous knowing that our other friends have kissed you before, because I always imagined I’d be the first. In a world where I wasn’t too much of a pussy to ask you out.” Jeno continues, crunching sticks beneath his feet. “Instead I thought this stupid idea could get me somewhere. I was an idiot to think you wouldn’t have a date in the palm of your hand awaiting your call.”
You stay silent as he gathers his thoughts. He leans against a tree, “I’ve never had a girlfriend because I’ve been waiting for you, all the guys know and that’s why the tease me.”
Your head is spinning, that was why? He didn’t date other girls because of you? This couldn’t be true, how had you not seen it all this time?
“Well, more like waiting for me to grow the balls to ask you out. ‘Cause the time never felt right. But now, seeing you with Sungchan, seeing the way he looks at you. It felt like if I didn’t do something now, I’d lose you. But I acted even worse, and I made you think I didn’t like you in the process. I’m sorry, I’ve acted like a total jerk, but I won’t you let you go another minute thinking I don’t want you.”
You’re speechless at his confession, everything made sense now. Why he was so reluctant with Sumin. Why he really didn’t like Sungchan. It all fell together.
“Jeno,” You smile. “Just kiss me.” 
And he does, but it’s different this time. It’s slow and passionate, like a kiss is supposed to be. It’s not messy and needy like before, no it’s the opposite.
But it felt right, it felt better. 
“Tell me honestly,” He says as he pulls away, going to stroke your hair. “Am I a better kisser than Jaemin?”
Mood ruined.
You hit his chest, “Are you serious? You finish kissing the life out of me and then you ask me that? Romance is dead.” 
He laughs, but you can tell he’s still awaiting your response. “In all fairness, I can’t really say. That night was embarrassing. I took his shirt off and then we cringed and vowed to never speak of it again.” 
“So you’re not in love with Renjun, Mark, or Jaemin?” He asks, for clarification. 
“No, I swear.” You tease. “You’re the only idiot I’m dumb enough to like. But who’s to say that you’re not in love with Sumin?” 
“Sumin? How much do you want to bet that her and Sungchan are hooking up right now.” Jeno asks, and you had completely forgot about Sungchan.
“Oh no! Sungchan!” 
“What?”
“Sungchan expected to come out here and get laid.” You pause, nervous of Jeno’s reaction. 
But he seems understanding. “I had the same agreement with Sumin.”
Before you can respond, his eyes widen. “But you’re not going to anymore right?”
“No!” Rolling your eyes you look away. Though you smirk as you tug on his belt loop. “But do you plan on letting me get your pants off tonight?”
“Wow, you’re horny.” 
“Shut up!” You pout, “Come on, lets go out there and hope that our dates decided they like each other more than us.” 
Jeno nods his head and follows suit, the two of you returning from the trees to find some of the boys building a fire. 
“It’s not even dark.” You quirk an eyebrow.
“No but Chenle has an app that says sunset is in an hour.” Jaemin responds. Poor boy never knows what’s going on. “Anyways, where are yall’s dates? I thought you were with them.”
“No?” Jeno questions, furrowing his eye brows. 
“Oh, well they disappeared like twenty minutes ago.” 
You and Jeno look at each other, mentally celebrating. You’re glad that Sungchan had found some way to get laid this weekend, maybe not in the way he expected but, a win is a win. “You two look suspicious, whats going on? Please try and keep it down if you two decide to get freaky again.”
Jeno looks shocked at that, “You know?”
“I was there, and you two weren’t exactly quiet.” Jaemin deadpans, nose scrunching as he recalls the nights events. “You were all ‘Mmm yes so tight.’ I wanted to die.”
Oh god, he had heard all that? Why didn’t Jeno look embarrassed? You wanted to melt.
“Well,” Jeno says, pulling you closer to him by your waist. “There’s more where that came from, maybe try and wear earplugs.”
Your face grows hot as Jaemin starts complaining, “So what, are you two together now or?”
And a glint of hope appears in your eyes, “I’d like to be your girlfriend, you know. Your first.” You tease.
Jeno grins, “And I’d love to be your boyfriend.”
Jaemin gags at the scene, “Quit being gross and come help me start this fire.”
Your now-boyfriend Jeno moves to help Jaemin, Haechan approaching the three of you. “Woo! I heard from back there! Congrats Jeno!”
Chuckling, Jeno looks over at you, proud to know that you were officially his.
Though Renjun approaches the scene, “What about the others? Sungchan and whats-her-name?” 
“Sumin.” You correct. “I don’t even know, they ran off apparently.”
“Wait, just to clarify.” Jeno speaks up. “We’re kicking them out of our tents right?”
“Duh.”
-
The night comes shortly after. All of you, including your former dates, gathered around the campfire. And you’re glad to see Sungchan looks smitten with Sumin, you shooting him a thumbs up as he sees Jeno’s hand on your thigh.
He knew the entire time, he wasn’t stupid, he was just waiting for the two of you to realize. 
Seems like you were the only one who didn’t know of Jeno’s feelings for you.
The boys steadily trickle out, retreating to the comfort of their tents. Tired and red eye looking, but as you hear noises out of Haechan’s tent, you know they’re doing anything but sleeping.
You and Jeno bid the others goodnight, him helping you up and into the tent he so graciously put up himself. 
You giggle as he attempts to slip into his sleeping bag, “You don’t actually plan on sleeping do you?”
He looks at you like a deer caught in the headlights. “What do you mean?”
“I mean,” You say, grinning slyly. “You still haven’t let me see what’s under the belt, baby.”
To be honest, you were really turned on by Jeno right now. Especially now, upon finding out he sleeps shirtless, you needed him so bad. Your mind couldn’t even think straight with him like this.
You’re cut from your daze at a loud moan that rips through the air, presumably coming from another tent. “Freaks.” You scoff, acting like you’re different.
A smile happens upon Jeno’s face. “I bet we can be louder.”
Grinning back, you feel yourself getting wetter. “Challenge accepted.”
He starts kissing up on your neck, making your arousal leak out even more. You’re set in his lap, grinding against him, and you can feel him hard under you.
You had to get those sweats off. 
You were a little shaky undoing his pants, his cock pretty in the light. Long and with a bulging vein on the underside. You moan at the sight of it, not wanting to wait to get it inside you. 
And there’s not a single regret donning your tongue as you lap up Jeno’s thick cock. Precum was gathered at the base, pink and glistening. And it looked so good, too good even. 
He moans out in ecstasy, truly not caring who heard. He thought this was the hottest thing ever, he had dreamed of this for so long, and now he was allowing himself to have it. To revel in you and you pretty eyes that looked up at him as you gag around him. All of it was nearly enough to finish him.
“No no, stop. Don’t wanna cum yet.” He pleads, but you barely let up. His hands resting on your head, unconsciously pushing it down. Until he gains strength to pull you off, bringing you up to meet his mouth.  Jeno had waited too long for this for him to cum without being inside you first. 
He pulls you into a messy kiss, tongues clashing and saliva dripping out. He fondles your breasts through your shirt, then moves to pull at the hem.
“Off.” He begs, and you oblige. His mouth immediately lands on your nipple, latching his hand onto the other, twisting and sucking fervently. 
“S-So good.” You let out, loving the way he was treating you. But you were impatient, and you had enough of the teasing.
“Need you in me Jeno..” You whine, pouting as he ignores you. He stays how he is for a few more seconds until he releases you from his mouth. 
He quickly goes to remove his bottoms fully, as well as yours. And you felt your wetness pooling by the second. “I can’t wait anymore, need to fuck you.”
And you’re glad, as you watch him line up his pretty cock with your entrance, you were sure you could finish from the sight alone. 
“Fuck..” He moans out, throwing his head back in pleasure as he slips into you. Wet and warm, he never wants to leave. He bottoms out, tip hitting your cervix as he asks for permission to move and you nod your head, desperate. 
You loved the way he stretched you out, unable to hide the string of moans that left your mouth. He felt so good inside you as his tip kissed your g-spot with every thrust. 
He rubs his thumb on your clit as you moan even louder. “Yes! Don’t stop! Mm.”
“It’s always been you.” He chokes out. “Always wanted you under me like this.” And you can’t deny the heat that it sends straight to your core, causing you to clench around him. “Better than I could have imagined.”
He doesn’t let up, desire taking over him as he bullies his cock into your cunt at a brutal pace. He was truly unlike anyone you had ever been with before. 
He rubs his thumb on your clit as he thrusts into you, bringing you the most pleasure you’re sure you’ve felt in your life. 
He silences your moans with a kiss, swallowing them into his mouth. Your arms clawing at his back, which was sure to leave marks. He slows his thrusts and you can tell hes getting close. 
“It’s okay, I’m close too. Cum, cum inside.” 
His eyes widen as he hears your words, this was a dream come true. 
“I-” He sputters, shaking his head.
“I’m on the pill.” You interrupt. “Please Jeno, please, need your cum in me.”
You moan out that you’re close and he’s right behind you, spilling out his seed into you as you orgasm. Your climax coming on strongly, and you can feel your legs trembling. He bites his lip, grunting as he finishes as well, filling you to the brim. 
You and Jeno just heavily breathe, him laying on top you slightly before getting up to remove himself. If it were up to you though, you’d keep him in you all night. Though, Jeno was a man of good hygiene, first and foremost. 
You let out a wince as he slides out of you, the empty feeling settling over you. 
He grabs a water bottle and pours it into one of the towels in your tent, and you smile, thankful he was going to clean you up. He wipes around your sensitive areas and slips your bottoms on, you still out of breath. You get both of your clothes on and sorted, ready to sleep now.
You’re sharing a moment of silence when your tent starts shaking rapidly, the shadow of two people appearing as you realize its your friends messing with you.
“Could you two be any louder ?!”
“You’re disgusting!”
“Tent’s have thin walls, you know?!”
You just bury your face into Jeno’s chest, laughing at the commotion.
“Leave my girl and I alone!” Jeno shouts out playfully, caressing your head.
My girl?
You could get used to that. 
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eyeless-cunt · 1 year
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(srry if i already asked this- i have shit memory 😀) what are your kidnapping headcannons for yandere ej ? like how would he kidnap the reader , what would the first few days/weeks together be like , and how would he treat the reader ? tysm <3
Interesting thing to think about. Ej is an entirely different monster than any other yandere I write for. If he knows he can't make you fall normally for him...
CW/TW: Yandere Themes, Kidnapping, Drugging, Severe Manipulation and Medical Abuse. Heavy Derealization.
He would kidnap them while they were sleeping, of course. Ej's a cautious and calculated man, and he knows that no matter the method, the fear you experience will be the same. So he finds it kindest to do while you're unable to panic and sadly attempt to fight back. It's a quick but methodical process that he uses to get you home and situated. He'll think about bringing you some harmless objects from your previous home–things he thinks will get you more comfortable here faster. Your blankets, pillows, the clothes he watched you wear more often. The stuffed animal your grandma got you for your graduation years ago and your favorite red pen maybe. But unfortunately they all must be left behind along with any other objects you held close. The reasoning behind this is simple–he wants you to eventually forget about your past life entirely. If even the shirt on your back will help you remember then it has to be burned.
Jack wants to make you forget in the nicest and softest way possible, but memory in a healthy person isn't easily lost, especially if they're unwilling and missing what they had before. He mulls over the idea that he can make you willingly leave it all behind for him. The idea that he'll be so good to you that you never yearn to go back. But he's not stupid. He knows a strange eyeless creature wont win your love. Not after being kidnapped and locked up. Maybe if he didn't have grey skin he would have approached you in public first, trying to win your friendship and affections. But there's no guarantee in forever in that situation, and even if there was it simply wasn't possible. You can't hide sockets like these without a mask. Even with normal unmarked skin.
There are no doubts in his mind that you'll be terrified and confused when you wake up to find yourself in a small room with no windows or visible exits. So Jack does what he knows he's good at. Putting people to sleep. He continually uses a low dosage of the substance he concocted himself to keep you sleeping and unaware. As it works it's way through your body safely he thanks his millennia of bored research and testing. He had been planning to take you for a few years now, and so by the time he was ready to finally retrieve you he already had everything he needed for your stay. Of course by the end of his meddling in your head you may not remember the use of half the items he collected for you, but relearning wasn't going to be hard.
Your first few weeks will be spent drifting in and out of consciousness. He wants to make this process as quick and easy as possible. Jack spends this time mulling over all the small details in his carefully crafted plan. It may be a bit late now, but it's better than forgetting to iron out the smallest detail and having to deal with the repercussions when it's already far too late.
When he's finally ready for your eyes to open you'll be in a room that he's laid out to look like the average human hospital. The more believable his original lie is the easier time he'll have molding you into what he needs. Of course he understands how cruel he is. How devastating this loss will be for everyone who knew you and how you'll mourn their loss for years if he messes this up. But he won't mess up. He won't drop the ball on something this important. And when you awake to a tall man covered head to toe in white you'll be confused yes, but he can pretend to be a doctor well enough to ease the panic in your eyes.
He can tell you that you were in an accident. That you lost your memories and made up new ones to deal with the trauma. He can make up useless and random medical jargon for long enough that you just zone out as you cope with the loss of what you now can't tell are your real memories or not. Jack will tell you he knows they seem so real, he understands what you're going through, he has patients like you all the time. And he'll "prove" to you that these people in your memories don't exist. He'll even help you try to regain your 'real ones'. Enrolling you in 'therapy' and avoiding the question of, "Why does everyone I meet wear a mask," with, "Pardon? That's a question I'm unsure of how to answer. Perhaps speak with your therapist about the topic."
So you agree to speak with a therapist. You agree to weekly sessions and you agree to everything that your strange doctor suggests to you. If you can't agree you'll simply scream. You have no idea what's going on but at the very least you understand that you're insane. What person just makes up a whole other world in their head? When the reality is you belong to a different one. One that seems to have a much...smaller population. A world where everyone wears masks. You don't understand how you could have conjured up a world that's so completely different. There are so little similarities between the two. You couldn't believe it, even when everything he said made some sort of sense. Even when he showed you proof. It was unbelievable and unbearable.
Where are the fast food places, the internet, the cars and tvs? At most you've seen three people outside this room at any given time and you only leave this room a few times a day to go to the bathroom. The people in the halls don't move much or talk to you at all. You're afraid that if you tried to speak to them they'd... well you're not sure what they'd do. You don't know anything anymore. You don't understand how you made so many things that don't exist up in your head. Any hard questions you ask the doctor get unanswered with a simple, "Pardon?" And a few more words that all typically involve the idea of a therapist.
A therapist. So you didn't make those up. You didn't make up doctors. The trip to the office isn't far at all. In fact it seems to be in the same building. Your strange doctor and two very odd looking people in white coats with plain white masks led you there in a wheelchair. You're perfectly capable of walking but he insisted. Did you make up windows? There are none here. No sunlight. It's cold. "Do you know what the sun is?" You don't know who you're asking but the doctor responds anyways.
"Yes." That was a first. "It exists?" That question hangs in the air as he opens a wooden door, pushing you into a warmly lit room. Is this your life now? Weekly visits to a therapist because you're crazy? You didn't have any family or friends? Not even people you knew? Why hasn't anyone visited you?
"Just take a seat. He'll be out shortly." You can only stare, your body seemingly moving at a different time than everyone else here. You looked different–no mask. The only similarity was your clothes. What was really going on? Were you really just crazy? Was it that simple?
The door you entered from opened again, a man dressed similarly to the door but in brown tones walking in. His mask was plain. Simple. Just a flat black. Why couldn't you seem to ever find eyes behind these masks? Even the doctor's white mask should yeild some space, enough to see what lays behind, right?
"May I sit?" You nod, swallowing as he takes a seat on the other side of the table across from you. He asks you simple starter guestions, like how you're doing and settling in here since you've woken up
"I don't know if I'm fine. Or settling in here. I don't know what here is. I'm sorry, I can't answer any of these questions." Saying it out loud brings tears to your eyes, the emotions you're feeling bubbling to the surface too quickly to process.
"I understand. This must be very hard. I hope you don't mind, but your doctor gave me some notes on your condition. Is it still true that you don't remember your life here?" You nod. "I understand. And...is it true that you have memories of a different life? One that didn't actually happen?" Shaky now, you nod again. Cotton in your mouth prevents you from speaking.
"Okay. What's your name? Is it the same in both "worlds"?" I shake my head. "No. My name here was my middle name there." He nods, humming as he scribbles down something you can't make out.
"Do you think maybe that was the 'you' in that world trying to remember the real you? The you that is here now? Maybe you were giving yourself reminders. Or it was perhaps just your subconscious remembering. The same way someone you know will show up in your dreams?"
"Maybe. I don't know."
"Okay. Tell me more about this world you dreamt of. How similar or different was it from this one?" You didn't even know where to start. You told him about things you liked to do for fun, your family and friends, the music you listened to and how it was nothing like the world you lived in now. How this one was... depressing. Bleak.
"That does sound incredibly different. I think what happened was also a stress response. What I'm reading from your files is that you have no family here. I'm not sure about friends but I'm sure when you get home you'll find some mail from any friends or partners that might be worrrying about you. Maybe you felt depressed having no family to speak of, and so your body took the coma as a chance to make one. It's a strong possiblity."
"Home? Where do I live?" You didn't even think of that yet. What was outside this hospital? What friends would be sending mail to me? Partner?
"The address is listed here in your file, although you won't know where this is. Would you like to look? Might jog some memories." You looked. Nothing came up. It was just...numbers. They made no sense to you.
"It was worth a try. This session is over in five minutes. I have something for you before you go though." This grabs your attention.
A box. "Here you are. Go on and open it. They retrieved this from your house." You opened it, excited to finally see something that belonged to you in this strange world. Ah. A mask. A simple...black mask.
"It's quite strange to see someone without one here. I was quite taken aback upon meeting you, but I understand you've relearned cultures from a different sort of 'world'. Here, in this place it's extremely uncommon to see a person without one in public. Typically the only people who see your face are your immediate family and your life partner. You've shown many people your face since being here, so your potential partner at home may be a bit upset if you come home without one." That last part was said as a joke, but you found more questions in it. Did you have a 'life partner'? Was that marriage?
"Go on, see if it feels familiar. It wouldn't be a good idea to travel now without it on."
The inside of the mask is cold. It feels lifeless. Was this how your life was? Is that why you had to create a happier one? Now as you sat with it's loss, you wished you had never dreamt it up in the first place.
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eirenical · 20 days
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Hey, MLCB fandom. We've been bombarded with some amazing photoshoots today, and I've been losing my entire mind over them all day, so GUESS WHAT. You all get to suffer with me.
For reference, the photoshoots and edits that inspired this post: [Cheng Yi in white] [BTS video of Cheng Yi in white, starring the photographer arm that sent this whole thing down a difanghua path instead of just a fanghua path] [@difeisheng 's edit/compilation of Cheng Yi and Zeng Shunxi's parallel photoshoots] [@la-muerta's edit of the photographer arm that made that vision a reality]
I don't have extensive context for all of this, but Di Feisheng, Fang Duobing, and Li LIanhua have gone to an event of some kind.  Maybe it's Di Feisheng' gallery opening.  Maybe it's Fang Duobing unveiling a new invention at a huge conference.  It doesn't matter.  What matters is that they all go, and they all have to get dressed up, and the event lasts all evening and long into the night and they don't make it home until well after dawn.
They get home and Fang Duobing has been in these clothes for far too long now and he desperately needs to get out of them and shower off the excitement of the night.  There's too much of a buzz under his skin and he's been talking everyone's ears off the entire ride home and he's losing patience with himself, so surely the others must be losing patience with him as well.  He needs a chance to let the buzz of energy die down a little bit before he irritates the others past the point of being able to deal with it, so he heads off to the giant bathroom to do just that.
Li Lianhua is quiet.  Mellow.  He didn't get drunk, per se, but he's somewhere in the slightly buzzed vicinity; enough that he's floppy and tired and half in love with the world and just wants to be petted and held, something he'd gotten plenty of on the drive home, but he still wants more.
(If pushed, he might admit that he doesn't handle crowds well, that he hasn't done since his days as a child prodigy fell far behind him.  Crowds do nothing but intimidate him now, bring back memories he'd rather leave far in the past, but he wants to support his partners, even if he has to blur the world a little to get through doing it.)
Di Feisheng has been rigidly well-behaved and contained all night and remains so even after they get home.  He has his own childhood traumas and handles crowds as well as Li Lianhua does.  He doesn't appreciate being touched by strangers, even accidentally, but crowds are a necessity in his line of work, sometimes, and there's nothing to be done for it. Now that he's home, he should be able to relax, but he can't.  He won't be able to until the hypervigilance fades.  So, he doesn't really want to be alone, but his choices… he could join Fang Duobing, let that inane chatter wash over him along with the water from a hot shower, to take the edge off his nerves.  But he doesn't want to be naked right now, doesn't want to be that vulnerable until his he's no longer twitching at every errant sound. So he stays with Li Lianhua.  To make sure he doesn't do something stupid while impaired.  It wouldn't be the first time.
But Li Lianhua is just... wandering around the room.  He's wandering around the room and slowly undoing the buttons at his cuffs… his neck… all the way down his chest to reveal the half-sheer singlet underneath.  He's wandering the room, undoing his clothes and gently touching things like it's the first time he's ever seen them, in spite of having lived in this room already for nearly three years.
And something about that soft wonder on his face relaxes something in Di Feisheng, finally releases him from the coil of tension he's been wound around all night.  So he does what he always does when a moment means something more than it should.  He pulls out his camera and begins taking pictures.
Li Lianhua notices, of course, and his gentle meanderings start to become a little bit of a performance.  Not a true dance, he hasn't done that in years, not since—  Di Feisheng cuts off the thought before he can dwell on it for too long.  They'd both lost too much in the accident that had ended Li Xiangyi's career and turned Di Feisheng into a fugitive for a decade.  Tonight isn't about them.  It isn't about that.  It was about their Xiaobao's accomplishments, about realizing the dream they'd helped him bring to fruition together.  And right now, it's about Li Lianhua, and a dance that isn't a dance.  Here in this room is the one place Li Lianhua allows a spectre of his former self to rise, allows himself to enjoy being noticed, being watched.  Because it's them.  Because he enjoys when the two of them watch him, focus on him, blocking out everything else but the safety of the space they've carved out here together.
And so, Di Feisheng takes picture after picture: Li Lianhua at the window, staring out into the garden, Li Lianhua in the hallway, hand settled gracefully on the railing as though at a barre, Li Lianhua in bed, rolling around and rumpling up the sheets, half asleep already the moment he's supine among the blankets and pillows. 
And he sends each one of those pictures to Fang Duobing.
Even Li Lianhua manages to take one very shaky selfie of himself sprawled in their bed, rumpled and bleary-eyed and barely awake.  Di Feisheng sends that one, too.
It isn't more than a minute later when Fang Duobing comes sprinting down the hall, clad in nothing but his boxers, wet hair half in his face, as droplets of water drip down his chest.  He's holding his phone in front of himself like a talisman, eyes narrowed accusingly at Di Feisheng.
Di Feisheng simply smiles and slides onto the bed to pull Li Lianhua into his arms for a kiss.  By the time it's over, Li Lianhua is draped half in his lap and whimpering, pulling at the sleeves of his shirt as he tries to peel it off and mold himself around Di Feisheng's body at the same time.
Di Feishing looks back up… and smiles wider.  "I didn't want to you miss the show."
Moments later, he has a armful of very wet Fang Doubing toppling them all over into the blankets.
It's undignified.  It's clumsy.  It's ridiculous in so many ways—more giggling fits of laughter than moans of pleasure.  And Di Feisheng wouldn't trade it for anything.
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stvrchaser · 2 years
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( pairing ) : ben hargreeves x reader
( about ) : inspired by s3ep8 — ben wants to know what was so special about the old ben. the reader lets him know that they’re not so different.
( warnings ) : some angst, profanity
( words ) : 1800
( note ) : i wanted to write a multichapter fic but i literally can’t commit to anything so here’s one if my fav ben scenes this season! hope you enjoy! (and i’m really sorry if it’s a little specific for an x reader. i haven’t written anything in about a year and i used to strictly write x oc fics. but appearance-wise, there aren’t any descriptions, so feel free to imagine whomever you’d like)
It’s weird to see Klaus all chummy with Reginald. They’d always had so little in common, so you wonder how messed up the timeline has to be for the two of them to suddenly form this weird bond. It seems like a lot of things are different here, but that’s not your main concern right now.
Klaus is on a mission. You’ve watched him strike up a conversation with nearly everyone in the room and, not only is it killing the mood, it’s also alarming. If there was anything you learned about him growing up, it was that he couldn’t be stopped once he’d made up his mind about something. And, so far, he seems dead set on convincing everyone to accept Old Reggie into the family.
It’s a lot easier said than done.
Your eyes follow him as he walks over to Ben, alone at a table now that Allison has abandoned him. He’s sulking, more so than usual, with a plate full of shrimp and a half-empty bottle of wine. Even from across the room, you can see his brows furrow and his bottom lip jutted out. It was a classic Ben expression, very predictable considering he was at a party. He never did like big events. It’s small similarities like that you find endearing.
You watch him and Klaus bicker back and forth for a few minutes, a sense of nostalgia setting in. They used to do this all the time. You could almost pretend that this was normal, that Ben had lived until this moment, to attend Luther’s properly-timed wedding as if you aren’t waiting for the world to end. Again. It isn’t until Ben throws a shrimp at Klaus that you decide to intervene.
“Play nice, children,” you tease.
“Y/N!” Klaus claps, like some kid exited to meet a favorite celebrity or hero. “I’m so glad you could join us!” He nudges Ben’s foot under the table, a gesture he most certainly does not appreciate.
“What are you up to?” You narrow your eyes suspiciously.
“Oh, we’re just taking a stroll down memory lane. My memories, of course. Our new buddy-roo seems pretty interested in our lovely, lovely brother. You know, his more pleasant look-alike?” Ben looks like he’s about to explode.
“Klaus, play nice,” you remind him. “We’re at a wedding.”
“Oh, you’re no fun! You’re not even drunk, Y/N!”
“Well, someone has to keep you kids in line. Can’t have you setting the Hotel on fire just as we’re sucked into some weird black hole, can I?” Klaus whines.
“Okay, okay! But if I can’t have any fun, you can deal with Bitchy-Benny over there. I don’t think I’m drunk enough to deal with him for the rest of the night.”
“Well, you can’t just leave.” You try your best not to sound panicked because you do not need to be left alone with an overly-intoxicated Ben right now.
“Eh, I’ll see what Vik is up to, maybe congratulate the newly-weds some more. Oh! Maybe Five will let me sing another duet with him!”
“No, no. Klaus, please—“
“Have fun! Don’t do anything I would do!”
“You son of a—“ Your voice trails out as Klaus continues his… well, whatever he’s doing. You force your eyes away from him, ending up face-to-face with very irritable company.
Ben glares at you through half-lidded eyes, his face held in his hands.
“What?” you snap. “Is it past your bedtime?” You look around the room, hoping for an opportunity to escape. Maybe you could clean up that table over there, or help with the music selection. Five already downed half of the champagne, maybe you should get more—
“Why do you hate me?” You turn your head back so fast you think you might have pulled something in your neck.
“Why do I… what?”
“All you idiots talk about is the other Ben and how he’s sooo much nicer. You all act like he’s the best. What about me? Why don’t you like me?”
Oh, God. This isn’t happening. He couldn’t honestly be asking you to compare them, not now. Not when you’ve managed to bottle up every nasty thing you have to say about him. This was supposed to be a fun night.
“Are you serious?”
His jaw shifts and his lips press into a frown.
Oh, it’s happening.
“Well, you’re an insufferable bastard.”
“Okay, but you like the other Ben.”
“Yeah, we love him.” He whines, unsatisfied with the answer. It’s like arguing with a child who asks too many questions.
“Why? What was so special about him?”
“He wasn’t an insufferable bastard.”
“But Klaus said he was a know-it-all.” You hum in agreement.
“A smartass.”
“A scold!”
“Worse than anyone I know.”
“Like— like a dark cloud on a perfectly sunny day.” You figure he’s quoting Klaus. The description sounds weird when he says it, like imagery shouldn’t be his preferred method of expressing things. That’s unexpected, considering the old Ben loved to draw. He could see the world differently, through the eyes of an artist, something you never really understood.
“Yeah, he was always a bit emo. I don’t think he would have ever outgrown it, honestly. I mean, look at you.”
“So what’s so good about him? All of those sound like bad things.”
“Yeah, but they looked great on him.”
“He sounds like a jackass.”
“Well, you have that in common, don’t you?”
“So how come I don’t deserve what he gets? Why is it so easy to like him but not me? If he was so insufferable, what makes him any different from me?”
He’s upset. Well, he always is. But this is different. Ben sounds vulnerable and panicked. His voice sounds hurt and it feels wrong. Asshole or not, in this universe or the next, seeing Ben fall apart is just wrong.
“That was just how he was.”
“So he’s just naturally an asshole but everyone loves him anyway! How is that fair? Dad thought I was good enough to be Number One. I’m so much better than him! Why do you still like him better than me?”
Underneath the part of him that isn’t so desperate to claw his way to the top, you find something familiar. You hear the old Ben who, as a kid, was so eager to find his place — the one who hated missions with so much passion but obeyed every order Reginald had to give. It’s heartbreaking to watch him fall apart all over again when you couldn’t even do anything to help him the first time.
That’s when you feel every bad thing you’ve ever thought about him dissipate. Reginald Hargreeves is tearing Ben apart again, and you’ll be damned if you make the same mistake twice.
“It’s because you’re not Ben.”
“I know that! Everyone’s always telling me that.”
“No, I mean you’re not… you.”
“But I am! You just don’t think I’m good enough!”
“Ben Hargreeves, get that bullshit out of your head,” you say, fuming. “Nobody decides whether you’re good enough or not. Nobody but you. I meant, you’re not yourself because you’re too busy trying to be Number One. You’ve spent your entire life doing every single thing Reginald tells you to do, and you think you have to keep it up all the time. News flash: you don’t.”
“That’s easy for you to say. You have a family.” His voice gets quieter. “The academy is all a have.” Your head leans to the side, subconsciously challenging the statement. You don’t mean to, but it’s almost an instinct to prove him wrong.
“Is it?”
“Yeah, or it was. Because now they’re dead. All that’s left is Sloane and Dad, but you stole them. You… it’s just me, now.”
“They haven’t been stolen from you. They’d just rather find people who care about them than be alone. You know, you’re welcome to do the same.”
“No, I’m not. They hate me.” He mumbles. “They didn’t even invite me to that stupid bachelor party.”
“They don’t hate you. They love you. It’s just… this isn’t you. You’ve been so busy proving yourself worthy of being Number One, you stopped being Ben. And we want the real Ben, not the one who’s constantly forcing himself to be someone he isn’t.”
“But I’m not your Ben. It wouldn’t matter if Dad was here or not because I’m never gonna be your Ben.”
“You are,” you assure him, and you believe it. “You’re always going to be my Ben.”
“We’re not the same.”
“You don’t have to be!” you say, louder than you meant. “I don’t need you to be a shitty dancer or to sing in the shower like you want to shatter the bathroom mirror.”
“Good! Because I don’t!” he shrieks, outraged. Undoubtedly offended. You laugh because you know he’s lying.
“I don’t need you wipe my tears away after a bad day or let me clean the blood off your face after a bad mission. I don’t need you to buy me souvenirs every time you sneak out with Klaus or try to play every song I like on the piano by ear.”
“He did all that?”
“Yeah. He did. But I would have loved him anyway, if he didn’t.”
“Why?” His voice is desperate, pleading.
“Because there isn’t a single thing that wouldn’t make me fall in love with Ben Hargreeves.”
The silence hangs in the air, thick with tension. Ben frowns. You think the moment will end there. Maybe he’ll be offended, or worse, maybe he wouldn’t care at all.
“I would have done the same.”
He looks into your eyes, dark irises swimming with something you’ve never seen before. Not it this Ben, at least. It melts your heart just enough to flood your body with warmth. It’s like the sun peering through dawn.
“If I was your Ben, I would have wanted to do those things, too. For you.”
You let your heart bask in the moment, afraid to let go. This was, and is, Ben Hargreeves. He was the soft patter of rain above an empty house, the whistle of the wind across an open field — the reminder that life holds more than you and the isolated path you tread.
Ben Hargreeves is everything lovely about the world, and it’s a shame he’ll only grace it for the next few hours.
It is, perhaps, the greatest loss the universe will ever know.
You choose to make up for lost time right then and there, coaxing the corners of your lips into a smile. You unravel the knots in your heart and watch his face relax, a new day on the horizon.
Ben Hargreeves will spend the day getting to know love, the world be damned if you didn’t make sure if it.
“I think I would have liked that.”
2K notes · View notes
milaisreading · 6 months
Text
Isolation
Fandom: Hetalia
Characters: Y/n, Denmark. Mentions of Russia, Iceland, and Norway.
Warnings: Reader uses she/her. Requests for Hetalia stories are open
🌍Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya🌍
Sometimes in the middle of the 19th century...
"(Y/n), this is getting ridiculous! You have been stuck in your room for the past 3 centuries! You need to start going outside and meeting new people." The northern country's boss, who was an elderly and exhausted man, said in exasperation. The man was meant with silence at first, but the said country opened the door just enough for the man to see half of her face.
"That's not true! I do go outside. Just yesterday I was in the garden!"
"You know that's not what I meant. I meant for you to go into the world again and make allies. You have been isolated for so long, and the neighboring countries would like to make proper trade deals again-"
"No! I am not going outside or meeting anyone!" (Y/n) yelled back, watching as the man facepalmed, trying to calm down. This was the 4th time they had the conversation this week.
"Please, nobody will hurt you. The countries are very nice and kind."
"What about that silver haired one?! You know the one with the creepy smile and kept telling me to 'become one with him?!" (Y/n) panicked as she remembered the man. The last time she saw Russia was exactly 300 years ago. He scared her enough to go into a complete shut down.
"I don't and can't risk it. Besides! Everything I need, I have here." The country tried to reason with her boss. The man was about to start lecturing her again, when an assistant of the country ran towards them, panicking ad he held a piece of paper.
"Miss (C/n)! We have got mail today! It says that a country will visit us tomorrow, they already set sails and everything!"
"What?!" The woman asked as she got out of her room.
"What do you mean? Give me that paper, please." The assistant handed her boss the paper and backed away a little as the duo read it.
'Dear (C/n),
my ship already set sail and we will be arriving at your place in about three days! I figured that this surprise visit will make it easier for us to reconnect! Haven't seen you for the past 300 years, my dude... Anyway, my greatness will bless your place very soon and we can work! Prepare some beer and food to celebrate this occasion.
Signed by the king of Northern Europe,
Denmark'
"King of Northern Europe?! I didn't know he raised to that status." (Y/n) muttered, vaguely remembering Denmark from her memory. She didn't realize she missed out on so much. Her boss glanced at her and then looked back at the assistant.
"Well then, prepare everything they need. We will host our guests witht he finest food we have."
"What?! Why?! Can't we tell them to leave?" (Y/n) protested as she watched the assistant leave, but shut up when she saw the man give her a strict look.
"(C/n), I know you don't like to hear it, but times are changing. Your isolation will not help you or your people in the long run. You will eventually need allies to trade with. Please just try opening up a little, if you really don't like it, you can reject Denmark as a possible ally. I won't force you to leave your room anymore." Surpringly, the man had a much softer voice now. (Y/n) looked at him for a moment, thinking over his words before slowly nodding her head.
"Alright..." The man's eyes widened in surprise and then smiled at her softly.
"Chin up, (C/n). Not everyone is Russia." He joked a little, patting her back a little.
"R-right..."
The next day (Y/n) woke up earlier than she was told. The night prior anxiety has haunted her over talking to another country again.
"It will be ok..." She muttered to herself while playing with the hem of her military uniform. The country was standing in front of her boss's desk as the man was sitting on his chair. The office was silent for a moment as (Y/n) looked away from the door and at her boss.
"You think they are late-"
"Woo-hoo! The king of Northern Europe is here to make the day better!!" (Y/n) and her boss flinched at the loudness as the door slammed open, revealing the Danish country. (Y/n) looked at the blonde man for a moment, surprised how he barged in.
'Right... he was always loud and brash. Surprisingly enough...he didn't change much physically.' (Y/n) thought, observing the grinning Dane. Same blonde hair, in the same style, same blue eyes, same loud personality, just that he is taller.
"(C/n)!!! I didn't see you in so long!! You got tall, but not as tall as me!!" The Dane yelled, pulling the girl into a hug. She was frozen for a moment, then turning red in embarrassment.
"What is wrong with you?! You can't hug people at random!" (Y/n) yelled as the Dane laughed.
"You are still as shy as you were- Ow!" Denmark stopped laughing and let the shorter country go as he felt someone hit his head. Looking back, the duo saw Denmark's boss glaring at the country before turning to look at (Y/n).
"I am very sorry about him. Thank you for hosting us even though we informed you late." The older man said apologetically as her boss chimed in. The duo watched the two men talk as (Y/n) sighed, already feeling drained from so many people. Denmark looked away from them and at her with a huge smile.
"Come on! I want to see what you do for fun around here." Denmark said while grabbing her hand before she could protest, dragging her out of the room.
"Your place is so much colder than mine! I am freezing my balls off." Denmark said, breaking the awkward silence. (Y/n) looked at him in confusion, ignoring the weirded out stares they were receiving from other people walking by.
"Denmark, you know I am located far more north than you, with a lot of snow. What did you expect?"
"I didn't expect it to be this cold!" The Dane pouted as he kept on hugging himself, causing (Y/n) to sigh in defeat.
"You are as much of an air head as you used to be back in the day." (Y/n) rolled her eyes as they walked down the road, the girl showing him different small shops where he could eat of buy clothes.
"No offense, (Y/n), but this is all kind of boring. Don't you have something cooler to show me?"
The girl held back another sigh as she looked at the blonde.
"We have restaurants, ice rinks, and playgrounds-"
"Do you have any placed that sell beer?" Denmark suddenly asked, looking at the girl with puppy eyes. She had to pause for a moment, the look was pretty cute on him.
'Same old Dane...' (Y/n) thought, a part of her happy he kept the same personality for so long. She then snapped herself back to reality, realizing the country was still waiting for an answer.
"What is that?" (Y/n) asked.l, never having heard of that one.
"You don't know what beer is?! It's just the most delicious drink in the world!" Denmark yelled, looking offended for a moment.
"Damn... you really did miss out on a lot. That's so sad." The blonde fake-sobbed as (Y/n) blinked for a moment.
"But, don't worry! Your good, old friend Denmark is here to introduce and teach you about the new things! I will even bring you books of my writers, you will love those stories they made. And we also can make some..." The country kept on rambling before (Y/n) cut him off.
"Wait, you will come back? How do you know I will let you come back? I have been isolated for 300 years by now, why would I change that?" (Y/n) challenged him. Denmark stopped talking and blinked at her, confused by all the questions.
"Of course I want to come back. You were one of closest friends back in the day, I missed you." The taller answered, surprising (Y/n) with how genuine he was.
"I was pretty bummed out when you left, and I want you to open up again. The world has now many new interesting countries to meet. They are not as interesting as me, of course, but I am sure you will like them."
(Y/n) kept silent as Denmark finished his speech, she really had nothing to tell him in return. Sure, her and Denamrk were close back then, but she never expected he would miss her. Much less admit it.
"You... you don't have to do it all at once, you can start off with just the northern parts of Europe. If you want, I can help you. I am pretty close with the guys now." Denmark said softly, offering her his hand.
"You are?"
"Yep! Especially with Norge and Iceland, they will appreciate the coldness here when they visit one day." The blonde joked, still holding out his hand.
"What do you say?"
(Y/n) kept quiet, still not comfortable with the idea of letting new people in.
'What if they will backstab me and vage a war. My military isn't as strong, and I have basically no experience in fighting.' (Y/n) gulped, looking up at Denmark now.
'But... Denmark always kept his promises to me, and my people might end up suffering in the future if I don't start doing something.'
Sighing, she nodded her head and put her hand in Denmark's.
"Fine. But don't leave me alone with them for now."
"Of course! You have a promise there!" The Dane grinned as the shook hands.
"By the way, you said I never changed? Did you think of me all this time?" The Dane teased her. (Y/n), oblivious to the teasing, nodded her head.
"Well, you were my closest friend back in the days. So of course I would think of you from time to time." She said flatly.
"Ah... You really did..." Denmark blushed at her words, a soft smile appearing on his face.
Days later, (Y/n) and her boss were at the port, watching the Danish ships sail away. Denmark was waving back at them as he yelled.
"I will be visiting you soon! I will bring Norge and Iceland with me next time!! And I will bring beer. There is no way to live without it-"
His boss bonked him on the head before he could finish his sentence. The older man was clearly embarrassed by his behavior.
"You agreed to meet 2 new countries?" Her boss asked her in surprise.
"Norway and Iceland aren't new to me... Denmark used to mention them a lot when we were younger." (Y/n) shrugged her shoulders, still keeping her eyes on the ship Denmark was on.
"And besides, you told me to open up more... Maybe it won't be so bad." (Y/n) said, not noticing the relieved smile on the man's face.
"Miss (C/n)! Mr. (B/n)! We got another letter!" The two looked at a man running their way.
"It's from Mr. Russia! He wants to visit us!"
As hee boss went to check on the letter, (Y/n) felt her soul leave her body.
'Why did I agree to this?'
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jpitha · 4 months
Text
Between the Black and Gray 13
First / Previous / Next
Gord seemed to know exactly where to go. He led Fen around the promenade, past shops and what she could only assume were restaurants. The different lighting and coloration of everything due to the different breathing gas mixture gave everything an otherworldly look and made it hard for her brain to settle into a rhythm. Gord seemed to have no such trouble and strode along with long, confident steps.
"Gord, where are we going?" Fen worked hard to not have to jog to keep up and settled for kind of a fast striding walk, like someone who was concerned - but not worried - about missing their train.
"I have - had - a contact here. I think they can help us get some parts. Remember, the Innari use a reactor tech that's similar enough to humans that they did a tech transfer when we first had Contact."
Fen didn't remember, but she trusted Gord enough to not say anything else. They walked deeper into the strange station, and as they walked, there were fewer and fewer oxygen breathers around until they were the only suited individuals around. Fen noticed that people were watching them as they passed and tried not to meet their gazes, but Gord didn't seem to be bothered by it.
Eventually, they made it to a small shop in a back corner of some place deep in the station. Without Spyglass' help, Fen was sure she couldn't make it back on her own. There was a sign out front in the Innari's script and Spyglass helpfully overlaid the translation: "Uumar Pin, parts bought and sold."
Gord pushed the door open and strode in. The shop was... Fen could only describe it as run down. The counters had scratches and worn places from decades if not centuries of people leaning on it, the screens and pads all looked like they had been left running for longer than she has been alive, and the corners were piled with dusty boxes. Fen had a moment of surprise. Of course there would be dust. Just because they're not breathing oxygen does not mean that things would magically stay clean. Gord walked up to the counter and his helmet cleared. "Uumar? You in?"
"Yes, one moment please, Sapient." A musical voice rang out from behind a partition. There was a bustling as some tools were put down, and Uumar stepped out.
Like most Innari, Uumar was feathered. Almost like a cross between a bird and a human, they had this fluffy look about them. Their faces ended in a sharp beak and their feathers were iridescent. Fen wondered if Uumar would be heavy. She assumed they were probably very light. Without looking up they started to reply "Yes, what can I help-" They finally looked up at the two suited individuals. "Gord? Is that you Gord? I haven't seen you in-"
Gord held up a hand. "Yes, it's been a bit, hasn't it. How are you doing Uumar? Keeping busy?"
Uumar's feathers ruffled. Spyglass indicated to Fen that meant they chuckled. "That's one way of putting it yes. Ever since we did the technology transfer, our drives have been sought after by just about everyone in our sector. What in the name of the Watcher are you doing here Gord?"
"I need some reactors. I'm in a bit of a bind, but I- I found a Starjumper. Spyglass. Was sitting in a Gren station for a couple centuries languishing. That was the only way she had survived the Empire. In the intervening years she had lost all her printable mass and all but two reactors. I managed to get one reactor going, but she needs six to be at full power. I'm printing parts, but replacing the reactors will take more than that. I'm hoping you can help me out."
Uumar ruffled their feathers again and crossed their arms - a very human gesture - "Gord, you don't do anything by half measures do you? I want to manage expectations. There's no way I can sell you four reactors, even if you had the Stars, which I assume you don't. I could probably sell you one and enough parts to make your broken one working. That would get you up to three and you could wheel and deal for the other three down the line. Three would get you powered up enough?"
Fen watched Gord. He made a big show of hemming and hawing, looking around, looking unsure. While he did this he sent an icon over to Fen's readout of a cartoon version of his face, winking. "Yeah, I think I could make that work Uumar. How much would I have to put down in order to secure the reactor, and how long would it take to install?"
Uumar blinked. Spyglass indicated that his body language indicated surprise. "Uh, If you gave me one thousand Stars and four day cycles, I could get you a reactor and install it. Balance of another thousand stars due upon completion."
Now it was Gord's turn to be surprised. "You have a human compatible reactor in stock?"
Uumar's feathered arms flapped once "Mostly. It's a core return for an upgrade to a Uumari transport, but it just needs an overhaul. A few fresh parts - one day cycle's work - and it would be ready to go."
Gord smiled broadly. "That's better than I had hoped. Fen, please pay them."
They both turned to face Fen, and she squeaked. "What?"
Gord shrugged. "You're the one with the money. You did take Tam'itarr's money right?"
She had taken it, both hers and Ma-ren's share. It had wound up being almost exactly two thousand Stars.
"Gord, can I talk to you for a moment?" Fen clicked her radio over to the suit-to-suit channel. "What are you doing?" She hissed.
"Getting us a reactor Fen. One isn't enough. Uumar here has a whole other reactor that they're willing to sell us plus parts to make our broken one work. We'll go from one to three. Three means we get our Stardrive, the wormhole generator and the weapons. Three is far better than I anticipated. I assumed we were going to be able to just buy parts for our broken reactor and have to use up all our printable mass building a reactor from scratch. We need this Fen. Tam'itarr was going to kill you and take the money back, what are you going to spend it on?"
On the one hand, Gord was right. Fen hadn't given any thought to the money after she grabbed it. On the other hand, she hadn't even really begun to mourn Ma-ren's death and now Gord was demanding he spend their - her - money on his starship. On the third hand, if they didn't get Spyglass fixed they'd be stuck here for who knows how long. Two thousand Stars was more money that Fen had seen all her life, but what was she going to do with it? All Fen wanted was some time to mourn and think and she wasn't going to get that if they were stuck here.
Sighing heavily, Fen touched her pad and cast the deposit to Uumar's device. "Received." He chirped. "We'll have the reactor refreshed and sent down to the docks first thing tomorrow."
"Wonderful!" Gord clapped Fen on her back. "Come on Fen, let's see what this place has to offer oxy breathers like us, and we'll head back to Spyglass and await the installation."
Fen and Gord said their goodbyes and walked out. As they walked, Gord clicked the suit-to-suit. "Thanks Fen. I appreciate it. I know I sprung it on you, but spending that money on Spyglass was the only way we were going to get out of there."
"I wish you had told me ahead of time what was going on, Gord."
"I hadn't planned on it Fen, but when Uumar said they had a whole reactor almost ready to go, I had to jump on it."
Fen didn't say anything as they made their way back up to the rest of the station.
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paimonial-rage · 2 years
Text
telling them off - ayato, venti, & xiao
synopsis: in which the reader unanimously decides that enough is enough
characters: ayato, venti, xiao
notes: ranging from platonic to barely romantic
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ayato
“With all due respect, my lord, please put that back.”
Though you kept your expression passive, you could feel irritation crawling up the back of your neck.
He laughed his ever-composed and noble laugh.
“You’re not even facing this way. I wonder what it is that has you so concerned…”
You placed back the tanuki keychain that previously captured your attention. While he was always a hassle to deal with, he enjoyed taking it to the extremes when visiting souvenir shops during business trips.
“I’m sure you know what I am talking about, my lord. You know just as well as I do how I feel about what I know you’re about to do.”
“Ah, do I? You may need to refresh my memory,” he mused without turning from his spot.
Years of experience kept you from gritting your teeth.
“With all due respect, sea urchin flavored natto will not be a suitable souvenir for Thoma. He will not like it.”
Ayato hummed under his breath. You didn’t even have to turn to know he was examining the box containing the culinary horror even more.
“Is that so? He didn’t say anything the last time I gave him something similar.”
Was this your punishment for offending an archon in your past life?
“That is because Thoma’s loyalty to you extends even higher than the gates of Celestia, my lord. He would never offend you by refusing a gift, even if that means encouraging your sick– ah, I mean concerning pleasure in his discomfort.”
And yet again, you did not have to turn to know he was picturing it in his mind with a twinkle in his eye and an amused smile on his lips.
“Ah yes, it is quite entertaining. I wonder if he is even aware of the faces he makes...”
Sometimes you were amazed at how you managed to keep a neutral expression hearing the rude things he says.
“With all due respect, this habit of yours is why all the marriage meetings the Kamisato elders set you up with have failed. You have a terrible– ah, I mean difficult– ah, I mean unique personality.”
He chuckled.
“I do love how you preface your cruel words the way you do, as if that will make what you say any less disrespectful.”
“I apologize, my lord. My current master does not train me well. I shall strive to improve so as not to put him to shame.”
When he didn’t reply, you went back to perusing the keychains. Perhaps a kappa would be better…
“Perhaps it will get those old men off my back if I marry someone who knows how I really am,” he mused.
You did your best not to snort. Your expression did not betray your thoughts.
“With all due respect– ah, I mean, I beg your pardon, my lord, but I’m sure everyone that has found out your true nature has run away by now.”
He was quiet for a few moments.
“Hmm, I can’t say everyone has.”
And then you felt it. The hairs on the back of your neck stood. Turning around, you saw his eyes were on you. He was smiling with that twinkle in his eye and held your gaze for as long as you held his. And then it sunk in.
Oh.
Your expression finally broke…
… into abject and utter disgust.
And when he clutched his stomach with one hand and covered his mouth with the other to hide his laughter, that expression only grew.
“With all due respect, my lord, I would appreciate it if you didn’t joke about such horrifying things.”
And after he composed himself and wiped the corners of his eyes, he nodded.
“My apologies, First. Let me purchase these items and then we may leave.”
You sighed.
“My lord, please put back the natto.”
venti
You didn’t know why you were accompanying Venti on a trip to Wolvendom. No matter how much you asked, he simply grinned or gave his signature “ehe!” While it was tolerable at first, after a day and a half of dealing with it, your nerves were getting run down real low. It was the hottest summer Mondstadt had in years, perhaps even decades. Despite his (what you considered to be) warm clothing, he was marching along as normal. You, on the other hand…
You wiped at the sweat that run down your brow as you trudged behind him. You were glad Wolvendom had no villages. The last thing you wanted was for anyone to see how utterly disgusting you looked. You didn’t even want to see the mirror when you finally got back home. You were positive the fabric under your arms were stained with sweat, your hair was a greasy mess, and your skin looked as if it was covered with a layer of grime.
At first, you were supposed to take this trek on your own. That’s what Venti intended, but you refused. You refused to feel guilty either. Within the past month after discovering his identity, you were sent on various tasks for him that took you from one end of the city to the other, and even to Liyue Harbor to drop off a bottle of dandelion wine with a funeral parlor consultant. Sure, you wanted to prove your devotion to Barbatos, but this was really getting too much!! So instead, he roped you into coming along with him for the journey.
You found yourself regretting agreeing when the day finally came. Though it was a day long journey with possible skirmishes with hilichurls to deal with, he brought nothing with him. So, you had to run home to prepare another bottle of water. You assumed food would be fine as you both could eat lunch in Springvale, but when you got there, he didn’t have any money on him either!
Still, on some level, you were glad to be around him. Being the Anemo Archon, Venti always had a nice breeze surrounding him, but you had to admit you wanted more. Sure, he may be the weakest among the archons, but surely he was strong enough to bring some solace to Mondstadt by directing the Dragonspine winds to the city. But unfortunately, he had other plans.
“Ahh, while I love the cool air of Wolvendom, I have to say that the smell is not something I’m very good with,” Venti mentioned wryly.
You frowned and sniffed the air. You couldn’t smell anything. You were too tired to smell anything, but you had to agree that it was getting cooler. However, seeing that you were walking a constant uphill, it only negated the effect.
“I don’t smell anything. Are you talking about the wolves?”
He laughed.
“Yes. Wet wolves and an old friend. That’s who we’re going to visit. Oh! But don’t stand too close to me when he comes out. He may not be happy to see me…”
You frowned when he laughed nervously at the end.
“Why wouldn’t he–”
“And we’re here!”
You gasped as a large arena finally came into view. Though Mondstadt was home to many adventurers, it wasn’t often they chose to come around here. The Wolf-King of the North was a temperamental god and didn’t always take kindly to outsiders. And somehow, you didn’t think he would like Venti very much either…
“Andrius, are you there, old friend?” Venti called as he hopped down into the arena.
Though fear wished to stop you, you rushed after him. You were dead exhausted, but perhaps you could still put up a bit of a fight.
“Wait, Lord Barbatos, I don’t know if this is–”
“Why are you disturbing my sleep, Bard?”
You immediately froze in place. Venti, however, broke into a big grin and ran forth to meet the forming Wolf-King.
“Aw, don’t be like that! I’m only here to visit you, old friend!”
The wolf’s snout curled in disgust.
“Stop wasting my time. You only come when you are in need of something.”
Venti laughed.
“Haha, you got me. Well, I’m sure you’ve noticed the rising temperatures in Mondstadt, right? I was wondering if you could help us out with that. You are the King of the North Wind, after all!”
So… he was asking another person to do something for him.
Hm.
You felt something snap. And then, you broke out into a beautiful smile.
“Lord Barbatos, there are stories of you moving whole mountain ranges into the ocean, but bringing a simple cold wind is too difficult for you?”
Venti took a step back nervously.
“W-Well, there’s no shame in asking, right–”
“After making me run all over Mondstadt and Liyue this past month, you dragged me, in this sweltering weather, up a mountain only to bother the Wolf-King of the North to do something you can do with a snap of a finger. Haha, have you no shame, Lord Barbatos?”
“W-Well–”
“It’s been a lovely day, but I’m going home. Have a nice day, Lord Boreas. Lord Barbatos.”
With that, you tilted your hat to the Wolf-King, glared at Venti, then turned and headed home.
It was a few moments before one of the two remaining spoke.
“If this is one of your citizens of this day and age, I have hope for Mondstadt’s future.”
“Why are you always so mean to me?”
xiao
The last thing Xiao expected when he phased into the Wangshu Inn was someone flying at him with speeds high enough to decapitate someone. Still, it couldn’t be said that he was surprised. So ingrained fighting was within him, though, that he easily caught the perpetrator and slammed them to the ground, spear pointed at their neck. Even upon seeing that it was you, surprise didn’t register across his expression. Instead, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
If it were anyone else, no doubt they would be terrified to be in such a position. Xiao was the Conqueror of Demons, the last of the Yakshas. All it would take is a bit of pressure and your throat would be punctured beyond repair. That paired with the dangerous glare on his face would send anyone crying to their mother. But your mama didn’t raise no wimp. Instead, you matched his gaze, completely unfazed.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
You shrugged innocently.
“I’m trying to see what will get you to talk to me. You always disappear before I’m able to get a word out, so I’m glad to see attacking you is an option I have at my disposal.”
He scowled as he pulled himself back.
“You attempted to attack me, a Yaksha that has participated in countless massacres, just so I would listen to what you say? Do you have no respect for your life?”
You snorted and lifted yourself up.
“Well, I thought that you, as someone that has participated in countless slaughters, would certainly have enough skill to stop yourself once you realized I wasn’t an enemy. I wasn’t wrong, was I?”
He scoffed.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I am the last person you should be testing if you value your life.”
You rolled your eyes.
“Well, maybe I wouldn’t have to put myself in such a position if you just listened to what I had to say before teleporting off to gods know where!” You exclaimed in fury. “I can’t even get one word in before you leave! I do actually have things you need to know, you know!!”
He sighed.
“Then what is it you need to tell me this time?”
You held your hands behind your back and rocked on the balls of your feet.
“Hmm, I don’t know. You know, I think it’s about time that I leave, actually.”
It took everything out of you not to grin smugly when he gritted his teeth in irritation.
“Don’t waste my time. Just state your purpose.”
“Well, Ganyu requested your assistance with training and asked to know your schedule. Cloud Retainer asked if your spear needed maintenance. She said you can visit the next time you are free. Smiley Yanxiao downstairs wishes to know if the Almond Tofu recipe needs to be altered. Verr Goldet is concerned about visitors seeing the aftermath of your battles and asked to see if you could be more gentle. Oh, and last week, the venerable Rex Lapis asked to see you–”
He growled in frustration.
“Why didn’t you tell me that first!?”
“Well, because–”
Before you could continue, darkness enveloped his body and you found yourself speaking to the air.
You took a deep breath.
And let it out.
Another breath.
Another exhale.
Another…
You were okay. You were fine.
You’ll just let Xiao find out on his own that Rex Lapis wanted to meet next week.
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sunflowersoldat · 1 year
Text
All is Fair~ Dead-ends & Devotion
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Chapter 26: Dead-ends and Devotions
Main Master List
Series Master List
Series Summary: Family is important, but so is the Family business. Everyone has secrets, some are deadly. Your the best in the business, but no one knows who you are. Tensions are high, will you raise the stakes or fold under the pressure?
Series Warning: 18+! Mentions of blood and violence, bad language words, smut, manipulation, gaslighting, death, trauma, please follow the warnings for each chapter.
Chapter warnings: 18+ Only! Major Character Deaths! Violence, Bad language words, mentions of torture, existential/identity crisis.
Pairing: Mob!Steve x Assassin!Stark!reader
Word count: 3K
A/N: Its been a while since I posted for this story, sorry March is kinda a shitty month for me, and I had to make sure this was perfect before posting it! Including this chapter there are only one and a half chapters left! I hope you enjoy the chapter!
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Numb.
That wasn’t quite the word Steve would use for how he felt right now. Broken, dismal maybe. Incomplete.
Lost.
In all his years, he’d never seen anything like this, never heard of anything remotely close to this happening in the past. His mind was muddled, foggy, he could barely focus as he, Zemo, Sharron and Natasha, made their way into the main lobby of Stark Tower. 
He was merely going through the motions, there were so many voices and people, he had half the sense to order Sam and Ronin, who had only just arrived, to slip Conquest, whose name they’d learned was Fandral, out the doors and into their vehicle. They would deal with him, on their terms.
He scanned the lobby, catching Tony’s wife, Pepper and one of their men as they received the news. It was truly heartbreaking, she clung to the gurney, the man gently pulling her away, trying to comfort her.
All this chaos, all the death, for what? A goddamn title? Power? He shook his head, there was no amount of power worth all of this.
Scanning the lobby again, his eyes caught a familiar head of white hair dashing out the side door, it had to have been you. He bolted after you, if he could just talk to you, maybe he could convince you to let them handle it; at the very least allow them to help you.
Shoving his way through the crowd and onto the busy sidewalk, he caught another glimpse of your hair in the sea of people, keeping it in his sights, he pushed farther, a paramedic shoved into him, spinning off track, but Steve shoved forward. When he made it to the spot you had been in, you were gone. He cursed, not a single trace of you was left behind. The crowd of people jostled him as he tore his hand through his hair, stepping forward— a scraping crunch met his ears, he jumped back, looking down.
On the ground, covered in blood spatter, a familiar skeletal mask lay broken. He knelt to pick up the pieces, fingers brushing lightly over the white surface, the curves and edges that mimicked bones.
He had to stop you, at least try to reason with you. Reaching for his phone, he dialed you, silently praying you’d pick up on the other end, then, just maybe he could save you.
But as the line rang… 
And rang…
And rang, the hope he held onto disintegrated.
Finally the line died, a deafening silence settled in his heart.
A bone deep chill shuddered through him.
Steve leaned back in the hospital recliner, his eyes heavy as he watched over Bucky in the hospital bed, he lay sleeping, his shoulder wrapped in bandages. He had almost lost his best friend, all because he couldn’t see the damn answer staring him in the face. Too much bloodshed, too much death.
The door squeaked open as Steve scrubbed his hands over his face, looking up. Queens hobbled through the door, a bandage wrapped around his thigh, he propped himself against the wall taking a deep breath. He looked like hell, “Aren’t you supposed to be resting?” 
Queens shrugged, screwing his lips to the side, “Got restless, besides Wade finally left my side.” He smiles softly, “It wasn’t by choice though, his boss pulled him away, otherwise I think he’d still be attached to my hip.”
Steve huffs a laugh, “How’d he find you?”
Queens gave him a sad smile, “Ace, she had found me before…”
Steve nods knowingly. Of course, you cared for Queens like he was your own blood, it only made sense for you to send someone you trusted to take care of him.
“She’s something else…” Queens pauses as Steve meets his gaze, “I mean… Have you ever seen her in action? I don’t even know how to explain it, it's…”
“Mesmerizing?” Steve offers. “Yeah, I’ve sparred with her, she’s… something else.”
Queens nods, a silence settles, after a moment, he breaks the silence again “Have you heard anything?” He asks tentatively.
Steve drops his gaze shaking his head, “No. She’s disappeared, without a trace.”
Queens sighs limping towards Steve, pulling something out of his pocket, he reaches out, placing the small box into Steve’s hand. The black velvet soft in his rough hands, he already knows what it is. Steve inhales deeply, “Thought I lost it…”
Queens gives him a sad smile, “I found it in your penthouse office, buried in rubble… Were you really gonna ask her?”
Steve works his jaw, his chest constricting uncomfortably as he stares at the tiny box, he doesn’t have the heart to open it and look at the ring; what he could have had.
What he will never have.
Bucky coughs, moving to sit-up in the bed, his face screwed up, “Ya never asked her, Punk?”
Steve turns to him, shaking his head, “Never had the chance…”
Bucky reaches for it, plucking it from Steve’s grip, “Don’t worry pal, you’ll get to ask her.”
“I doubt that, she’s gone Buck, even Zemo can’t find her—”
“Steve.” Bucky cuts him off. He turns again, Bucky is staring into the box wide-eyed.
“What is it, Buck?”
Bucky’s eyes flicker between him and Queens, turning the box so he and Queens can see it. Bucky’s voice shakes, “It’s gone.”
Your breaths were sharp and ragged as you stumbled through the safe house door, your hand holding your side, desperate to keep your blood inside your body. Thor’s men had been waiting for you, they weren’t his usual help, these men were trained, lethal. Heimdal, the only commander he had left, knew you were coming, they put up a valiant fight, in the end it didn’t matter only one survived. But you had let your guard down, let your anger and emotions get in your head, now you suffered the consequences. 
Settling on the couch, you began the dirty work of patching yourself, the vodka next to you only dulled the pain, clouding your mind. Groaning, you poured the little amount left onto your side. You hissed, teeth clenched from the sting of the alcohol.
A throat cleared in the darkness of your ramshackle safe house, slowly you reach for your pistol, aiming into the darkness, your hand slightly shaking. A chuckle floated in the air,
“Come now Peladora, we both know you’re a shitty shot after you drink.”
Jake.
“I still coulda hit ya, wouldn’t kill ya, but it’d hurt like ’ell.” You relax, placing the gun back where you’d retrieved it. You continue patching yourself as Jake makes his way toward you, kneeling by your side.
A small smile curves his lips, “We have to stop meeting like this Peladora.” Batting your hands away, he takes over patching your wound. 
Wincing you lean back so he can assist you better, “How’d you find me?”
He sighs deeply, eyes lifting to meet yours, “I’m always there when you need me.”
“You won't stop me.”
He can see the determination in your eyes, the wildfire burning bright, “I don’t intend to try. Didn’t try to stop you when we began this journey, why would I now?”
You shrug, breaking eye contact, “Do you regret it?”
His brows raise, “Saving you?”
If he didn’t have a needle in your side you would’ve punched him, you roll your eyes, “No…”
He nods knowingly, “But, I think about it sometimes… What you would have become if I refused to train you.” He cuts the stitching, pulling your shirt down to cover you, “I don’t think it would have prevented anything. I think though you have become something you despise, it was necessary.” His hand brushes your hair from your face, “Do I regret what you have lost? Yes, but the losses would have been far greater without you. Sometimes we must become the villain to do the things that are against the heroes’ code”
“One good deed is not enough to forgive my lifetime of bloodshed. Have you seen the paper? They’ve pinned the blame for everything on the Ace of Spades.”
“Did you expect anything different? Is it not better to have blood spilt from those who desire to harm the innocent than for the innocent to bleed for nothing? Thor would have slaughtered everyone, without you. Zemo’s family, your family, Steve and his men… and anyone else who tried to stand in his way. Besides, did you really think Thor would take the blame?”
It hurts, the truth, the undeniability of the monster you’ve become. You knew deep down a normal life was no longer in the cards for you, but it cut deep nonetheless. You’d known someone would have to be the scapegoat, you figured it would have been Loki, but it only made sense to blame the one who no longer exists. You purse your lips, “Tony’s Death was my own fault, and my family is still dead. Loki didn’t deserve his fate, neither did Peggy, or Tony, or my parents.”
Jake sighs, sitting next to you on the couch, situating you to where your feet are propped on his legs, he nods slowly, “Power can be dangerous, it turns even the best people into rabid dogs. Many lost their lives, most of them didn’t deserve it, but you know better than I, no one's hands are clean in this business. But your niece and sister-in-law will live full lives, without fear of Thor and his men.” he pauses to take a deep breath, his hand patting your ankle, “Peladora, you cannot blame yourself for what happened, you didn’t know how it would end. Even if you did, would you change it? If you could trade Steve’s life for your brother’s, would you?”
You snort, burying his questions. Truth be told, you don’t know if you could make that decision. To choose your brother over Steve, or Steve over your brother. It wasn’t a choice that day, but instinct. You sigh, now wasn’t the time to wallow in self pity or mourn, there was work to be done. “Thor is still alive.”
He turns to you, eyes hard, jaw muscles working, “For now. I have a feeling that will change…” he merely lifts a brow at you, “After all he has no one else to hide behind, his commanders are dead, Heimdall was his last defense.”
You hum and slowly rise to your feet, heading into your makeshift room, Jake follows, watching as you repack your bag, pulling out your clothes and weapons.
He turns to leave, but stops, snapping his fingers, “Oh, I almost forgot” —he pulls a small pouch from his pocket— “Wade wanted me to give this to you, says not to open it until you're done.”
He tosses the pouch to you, catching it, you scowl, “What is it?”
He merely shrugs, “Probably some weird ass good luck charm, you know how Wade is.”
You nod, putting it into your pocket. 
“Was it worth it?” –Jake gives a pointed look to your side- “Did he give Thor up?”
You shake your head, “No, but I have my own ways of finding him.” You pull paperwork from your bag, a list of property and other holdings under Loki’s name. Thor wasn’t dumb enough to use his own property as a hiding place.
He frowns, raising his brow, “I don’t have to tell you he’s dangerous, Peladora.”
“I know.”
“This could be our final goodbye.”
You stop packing, swallow thickly and drop your gaze, “It could be, it could not be… but when I get pulled into the depths of hell, I’m taking him with me.”
It had been over a week since Ace had gone missing, the underground uncharacteristically quiet on the topic, Bucky felt bad for Steve.
It was almost like you had died again, but Steve was better at hiding his feelings this time, but Bucky knew better. He stared at Steve from the passenger’s seat, “How you doin pal?”
Steve side-eyed him from the driver’s seat, “Fine, Buck. Why?”
He pursed his lips, glancing back at Peter in the back seat, raising a brow. Peter rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “Riiighhhtt… how are you really?”
Bucky watches Steve’s jaw work as he chews his lip, “It sucks. It’s almost worse than when I thought she was dead…” his knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel, “At least dead, I knew for sure. But now I don’t know if she’s alive or bleeding out somewhere…”
Bucky swallows, twisting his mouth to the side, “You know, I never did apologize to you, Punk…” he sighs as Steve eyes him, “I’m sure she told you her side, how awful I was… But—“
Steve shakes his head, “Don’t worry about it Buck, it doesn’t matter anymore.”
“But you see, it matters to me. I know everyone thinks I just had a hard-on to kill her, like I was just set on not letting her get away…” he pauses, clenching his shaking fist, “Look, it may have started out like that, it hurt, she betrayed all of us that night we caught her, more so you, but it hurt nonetheless.”
Steve slows the car, parking it at one of their warehouses. Shutting off the ignition, he turns in his seat towards Bucky, he can feel the weight of his stare going in the side of his head. Behind them, he can feel Peter waiting to rebuttal. Bucky didn’t hate you, he hated what you stood for. What you had done. What you were willing to do.
Taking a deep breath he continued, “That night I followed her, picked her up at some gas station… I didn’t intend to kill her.” His heart is roaring in his ears, his palms are slick with sweat, he isn’t sure Steve believes him, but it's the truth. “I had every intention to scare her off, get her to leave, not only you, but the city. Then she opened her damn mouth and I… I—”
He closed his eyes, shoving at the memory as it surfaced in his mind; you sitting bloody and broken in front of him. He could lie and say there was no fear in your eyes, but if he was honest with himself, he saw it. He saw the lie in your eyes, the false bravado you paraded in front of him. When you realized you had pushed him too far, “She threatened you again… Promised to make you beg for her to kill you. Swore she would make me watch…” he looked to Steve, expecting him to be angry, but he wasn’t. Steve was staring at him in understanding, sorrow swimming in his eyes. Bucky clenched his jaw again, “I promise, never, not even once did she lead me to believe she loved you… if… if she had, I wouldn’t have—“
He breaks off as the memory of you clawing at the dock skitters across his mind. He knew he had gone too far when he had gotten home, he could feel the guilt and remorse eating away at him. But he had to tell himself it was to keep Steve safe, for his own sanity.
Steve’s hand grasped his shoulder, “I understand, Buck. I know her tactics, the way her brain works… That's how I know I’ll never see her again. The look in her eye when she left to chase Thor, it was a goodbye.” Steve sighs deeply, “Whatever was simmering in her veins beneath the surface, whatever was caged and locked away, held at bay by those four little words. It’s out now, and it's after Thor. She’s not the woman we knew, she’s something else entirely. Something dark and dangerous and it's out for blood.”
Peter walked with Steve and Bucky deep in the warehouse, where they were keeping Fandrel or Conquest is what the underground calls him. Ronin had his turn, so did Sam, trying to get Thor’s location and allies from him. So far nothing has worked, and their list of possible leads keeps getting shorter. 
Ace has been cutting through the list of Thor’s people too fast for them to keep up, they have been three steps behind her this entire time. They had found Heimdal and all his security dead last night, and then today multiple buildings on the outskirts of the city were burned down. They need to find Thor or you quick, if they didn’t, Peter feared they would lose you for good.
They came to a stop, whimpers and cursing could be heard on the other side of the door, muffled by the thick metal. Steve took a deep breath, nodding towards the door for Bucky, “Do what you do best Buck, we need that information, now.”
Bucky nods, Peter moves to join him, but Bucky stops him, “Queens. Sit this one out, let me handle this.”
Peter scowls, “What? I can do this Bucky, let me help, I wanna find Ace too.”
Bucky shakes his head, “Not for this kid. I need you out here. This fucker and his friends were the ones who attacked you, I wasn’t able to protect you then, lemme make it up to you now.” Bucky’s eyes met his, his blue eyes so full of pain and anger, he was doing this for him. 
Peter nodded slowly, he understood, he said a silent prayer when the door closed, please, just let us find her…
Weeks of recon, months. 
You finally had the bastard, there was nowhere else for him to go.
As you stared into the mirror, the eyes that stared back weren’t ones you recognized. A fire burned so deep and hot within them, you thought they would scorch you with a single glance. You knew it was yourself staring back at you, but you couldn’t recognize yourself and what you had become. 
No mask or contacts this time to hide behind. You wanted Thor to look you in the eye when he took his final breath, to understand and feel what you felt. 
You could almost taste the freedom on your tongue, only hours away.
Only two things left to do.
Kill Thor.
Lose yourself.
Finally, finally, they found you, if they beat you they could accomplish two things–
Kill Thor.
Save you.
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@dontbescaredtosingalong @texan-tazzy @tianamontag @daiseychaindisaster @silently-killing-you @buckyfan12 @leyannrae @justlovelifeblog @austynparksandpizza @capson-of-coul @betareader7 @vicmc624 @bigphattygyal @calwitch @buckysteveloki-me @curlyladylazarus111 @talesofadragon @trudy-shams
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every1sno1fangirl · 8 months
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Happy Hifuumo Friday everyone!
I'm sorry this is late by a day. The week has been kind of rough on me once again. Nothing in particular happened after the party (Which was fantastic and I'd rather talk about that) but depression is what it is.
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It was really nice getting to see people I have been missing for what has to be half a decade now? Not one of them had seen me since I transitioned, since they live pretty far away. This party especially is one I have been missing since the last time I was there.
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My uncle's ranch is a place that I associated with some really good memories. Ones with my dad in them. I haven't heard much from that side of the family for that reason in fact; Their relationships were with him, less so than with me and my mom.
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And I know it's been painful for them to reach out and try to talk to her. Even if they were very happy to see us (Many of them remarked that they had never seen me as happy as I am now, which was really nice)
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But another uncle of mine has been the only one to really do so.
My feelings about him are complicated. He was a 'bad man' for many years. He's also the only person who really reaches out to my mom and talked to her.
And he's changed a lot. So much I can't believe it.
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He apologized to me about the things he had done and he's a totally different person now. The first thing he did when he saw me was give me a family heirloom that he had held onto for 34 years because he didn't know anyone else better to give it to.
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It's a very nice necklace. I won't be sharing pictures of it here, but it was something he got for his mother before she had died and she gave it back to him. It's just a gold 'P' with a star on it. My deadname was borrowed from hers, my name still has the 'P' initial.
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It was a very sweet gift. It's sitting in its old box on my desk right now. Being at a party like this, even if it was in a familiar place, was a lot. Being able to sit there with my uncle for hours and talk and make plans (We'll go to the zoo) really helped keep me.
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Honestly, I didn't intend for this post to be so solemn on what was a very happy occasion, but it was something that couldn't leave my mind nonetheless, both during the party and after as I've typed away at this for the past few days.
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I've always been depressed, it's been more of a struggle to deal with it recently. Probably because It's coming up 6 years now of him being gone from my life when the 29th rolls around. (So...a week from now. Sorry if I don't do anything next week)
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It's just hard to ignore. It's messing with my mindset and how I handle things.
I had a good time. I'll be having even more of one next month. I should worry about that instead of brooding, shouldn't I?
I love you all, I hope you have a good day/night!
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meggie-stardust · 8 months
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20 Questions for fic Writers!
Tagging myself via @lucky-bishop because I'm half bored, half a bit loopy on benadryl... And same suggestion; if anyone else wants to do this, say I tagged you <3
1. How many works do you have on AO3? 73?! Wow that surprised me.
2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 403,636
3. What fandoms do you write for? These days, mostly Teen Wolf, but I've written a lot for Merlin, Percy Jackson, BBC Sherlock, Gundam Wing, and assorted others over the years.
4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? 1. Acts of Man (Merlin/Arthur, Merlin): On the morning of their Annual pre-Christmas Dinner, Merlin is shocked to find out that Gwen thinks his boyfriend, Arthur, isn't good enough. But after a glimpse into Merlin's quirky flat, Gwen realizes that she might not have the whole story. 2. Nightmares (Jason/Percy, PJO): Percy feels lost and alone after returning from Tarartus. And if that's not bad enough, he can't sleep without having horrifying nightmares. Luckily for Percy, Jason is the one person not avoiding him, and the one person that has offered to help. 3. Looking for the Thing We Lost (Stiles/Peter, Teen Wolf): But the thing is that Stiles had already been forgotten by everyone. 4. Here I Am (Stuck in the Middle With You) (Jason/Percy, PJO): Percy and Jason's mission gets derailed when they find themselves trapped in a room with no way out. Luckily, they find a way to pass the time… 5. Know How A Man Becomes a Beast (Stiles/Peter, Teen Wolf): Peter took a steadying breath and stepped into room. He held up his hands and walked forward slowly, the way he would approach any wild animal. “Stiles. It’s gonna be ok.”
5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Yes, I try to, even it take a while -- at least on my newer fics. I haven't gone back to things from like 10 years ago to reply to old comments that I missed, but I try to keep up. I want people to know I appreciate the time they've taken to read and react to my fic, and you never know if you're going to connect with someone new and make a new fandom friend.
6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Give Me Pure Energy (Stiles/Peter): the alternative season 2 where Stiles craves some normalcy and befriends a new kid in his econ class, only to realize that maybe they both want more from each other than just a simple friendship. This is a super darkfic anyway, and has the kind of ending that's happy only if you're ok with all the awful things that Peter does during the fic... but generally, I like my angst with a happy ending so this is the best I can do.
7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Oh gosh, so many of my fics have happy endings... that's how I like em... uhhh. I'm going to go with one of my all time favorites:
Stuck Between Stations (Stiles/Peter): the one where Peter and Stiles are stuck in a time-loop inside The Wild Hunt.
8. Do you get hate on fics? I have been so lucky to not get much hate. If people are talking about my work behind my back, it's not getting back to me. And aside from an odd comment or two, I've gotten through about 20 years of fandom without having to deal with random hate.
9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? yes. I've written m/m, m/f, f/f, and, I think an m/m/f once... but I'm into all sorts of things and have fun writing about it
10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I have in the past; a Harry Potter/BBC Sherlock x-over that got abandoned. I've also done a few prompt challenges that lead to crossovers/fusions like SPN meets MJN Air, etc.
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? god, I hope not!
12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes, I have been so lucky to have a few of my fics translated into different languages. It's always such an honor, and I give full permission for people to translate my work as long as they connect it back to mine on AO3.
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? I have but it's been ages. And I think there may be someone *cough*@punchedbymarkesmith*cough* that would be great to collaborate with if an opportunity presented itself...
14. What’s your all time favorite ship? Steter it would seem. I've been reading and writing it since 2016...!
15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I fully intend to finish It's Only Forever, but I've used some of the ideas for it in other things, so I know it will be hard to get back into where I was going with it. I don't want to abandon it, but it's been a few years... le sigh.
16. What are your writing strengths? I think I'm pretty good with dialogue, especially banter. I think I'm also great at taking a small detail from canon and using that to world build something different.
17. What are your writing weaknesses? Oh, that's easy: action and mystery. I really wish I could write a good casefic or mystery plot, and I just can't. I have to distract and misdirect at the end... I have to do the same with the action, too.
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I don't trust myself. I might confer with someone who speaks that language if it was really needed, but I would probably do something like:
"Wow, I can't believe you survived that helicopter crash," he said in Spanish.
19. First fandom you wrote for? Gundam Wing, followed my Newsies and Harry Potter.
20. Favorite fic you’ve written? I already gave a call out to Stuck Between Stations above, so I'm going to have to go with:
At This Truth We Have Arrived (Stiles/Peter): Five years after the death of Laura, Peter returns to Beacon Hills only to be confronted by the truth that the pack has moved on without him. But the fact that everything he once knew has changed isn't necessarily a bad thing; not when there is someone like Stiles who is so full of possibilities.
OR as my WIP notes for this fic say: "Peter is curious. They do something. Murder murder. Sex sex."
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chevelleneech · 6 days
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Still on the finale, because of course I am
And as such, I must say
…what the hell was going on!?
Bobby was in a coma for barely half the episode, after being dead for 14 minutes. Sergeant Athena I’m-not-a-corrupt-cop Grant accosted a man her husband nearly killed, at gun point, threatening to kill him because she decided he set her house on fire. Chim and Maddie became foster parents in the blink of a fucking eye. Buck had no real point this episode other than to be present in scenes that the audience aren’t meant to view as meaningful, despite the repetitive nature in which he is always present for his male bestie with whom he was assumed to be dating. Tommy was just there, as always. They spent too much time with Amir and the Cartel, when quite frankly, that should have been the cliffhanger at the very least. And lastly, Eddie had the most near sensible storyline this episode, with Chris not talking to him then wanting to leave, and him not wanting him to go, yet even that was sullied by it being given a lack of importance.
Eddie and his parents should have been going back and the entire episode about this, because it’s that important. Isolating Chris to his bedroom, was ridiculous. I understand Gavin may not be entirely capable, perhaps, of committing to emotional scenes the way this would have required, but that just means Tim and co should have written it in a way that allowed us to see Chris’s grief as a child who has the same disabilities and potential neurodivergence as Gavin, seeing as he’s playing very close to himself anyway. But I think the episode would have benefited from the audience hearing from Chris as we’ve done in the past with lighter emotional topics.
Outside of that, this was the most pointless and anti-climactic season finale of any show I think I’ve ever watched. Yes, Gerard is back and that’s a big deal for what it will mean for the characters next season, but… was it a surprise? No, because they had him at the ceremony for no reason. I guess anyone who isn’t chronically online would have been shocked, but everyone on here is as overly invested as I am so like, it’s whatever, but damn.
I wish something was unexpected. Although, I guess technically it was the BT date, because no one thought they’d have Buck sit down after all that emotional stress to have a date night type meal, but that was the writers way of making Tommy the man Buck goes home to, even though they refuse to commit to them in a serious way. They ended them with a joke that was funny but contextually inappropriate, and that was that, as is every BT interaction has been the entire season.
Anyway, I really hope season 8 will regain the magic the first few seasons held. Seasons 2-4 especially, and imo, plenty of episodes in 5 and 6. Because I truly do not understand what happened. I know ol girl took over in 5 and 6, but Tim coming back made the show worse. So was it the network execs who actually saved the earlier seasons? For real, who was around to keep things flowing as well as they once were? We need them back. I mean, I completely understand and was in full support of the strikes, and I know Tim chose to change Buck’s storyline at the last minute, but him changing one character should not have dragged down every one else’s too.
Chimney getting sick was the best episode of the season by far, and honestly felt as thought out as the cruise arc. So I’m assuming Tim had it at least partially drafted, and Kenny Choi delivered as he always does. But honestly, they even had Angela coming across as stiff with some of her dialogue, and Mother is truly one of the greatest to ever do it. Someone just seriously missed the mark this year, and after all the hoopla about it being a top rated series and deserving its renewal compared another series… it didn’t prove itself, I’m sorry to say.
If we get 18 episodes back, I really hope Tim and co figure things out and try to realign with what fans enjoy about the series and with what he wants to say. Because at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter about ships, it’s about the story. It’s about making us fear for these characters lives, even though we know they don’t plan to kill anyone off. It’s about giving them calls to respond to, that puts them in harms way the entire time only for them to either prevail or fail. It’s about the guest stars who play the citizens in need, who break our hearts and make us smile just as much as the 118 does.
This show had something so special, because it’s found family genuinely felt like family. Their hurt was our hurt, and their love was our love. Until s7. Now, they seem like damn near every other procedural drama on tv where the cast chemistry is there (for almost everybody), and the acting is solid for what’s being given, but the spark isn’t entirely there. I want the spark back.
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The Dark Defender - A Dexter Fanfiction (Part 1/6)
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Story Summary: Meg Winters has a perfectly normal life and a wonderfully perfect boyfriend. Until she stumbles across a perfectly dark secret… and now her very life is in danger. No, not from the Bay Harbor Butcher whose waterlogged body of work has just been uncovered. But from something much closer… Desperate for help, Meg reaches out to a new hero in town, The Dark Defender, dealer of deadly vigilante dirty work. However, once Meg puts out a plea to The Defender, she must deal with the consequences, both bad AND good.
Author’s note: I wrote this story out of frustration with how I thought the Dark Defender from season 2 was SUCH a cool idea. I felt the fact that the Bay Harbor Butcher only killed other killers was something everyone just kind of slept on? It was only mentioned in passing a few times by civilians and only spurred one really shitty copycat. Personally, I think someone with such a strong moral code and harsh form of punishment would have developed SOME sort of cult following. And the Dark Defender would have been a good jumping off point for that. It would have been so cool for Dexter to have his darkest secrets revealed, only to turn around and discover that a huge group of people are ROOTING for him and that they think he’s actually doing the right thing. Definitely something I think he’s always craved, but never expected to find. Ugh. Okay. Enough rambling. Onto the story.
Wordcount: 2,189
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Meg Winters had a perfectly normal life and a wonderfully perfect boyfriend. She had been dating Zach O’Connell for nearly a year now, and they lived together in a small cottage in Miami.
The past year had felt like a dream to Meg. She worked in a bookstore. Zach worked in a retirement home, caring for others just as he cared for her. But it had been at the bookstore where they’d met. He’d come in looking for something to read, and she’d helped him find what he was looking for. And then he’d come back. He’d come back again and again. He had insisted it was for the books. “Your recommendations never miss,” he had insisted. “I can never put them down.” But it was never books they’d talked about.
Zach seemed to Get Meg in a way no one else ever had. He shared nearly all her interests, turned up whenever she needed him most, and somehow always knew what to say. When he’d asked for her number, she’d given it readily. When he’d asked her out, she couldn’t say “yes” fast enough. Things moved quickly then. Within weeks, they had A Song, they had A Spot, and then they were looking at A Place. Before they had even reached their half-year anniversary, they had moved in together.
There was tragedy, of course. Not long after they had settled into their new home, Meg’s best friend, Stephanie, had gotten into a terrible accident. Struck by a car while she was out running in the early hours of the morning. The driver had never been found, and the paramedics had said Stephanie was lucky to still be alive. Well, almost alive. Stephanie was in a coma, and no one knew when, or if, she would ever wake up.
The accident had very nearly destroyed Meg. Stephanie had been her closest friend since childhood. They’d done everything together. Meg couldn’t imagine a world without her.
The only thing that had kept Meg from falling apart completely was Zach. For some reason, he and Stephanie had never really gotten along, but after the accident, he’d pushed all that aside for Meg. He’d held her through every sob that wracked Meg’s body. He’d stayed up with her during every sleepless night. And he’d gone with her to every bedside visit in Stephanie’s hospital room. He’d even taken turns with Meg, reading all of Stephanie’s favorite books aloud. The doctors had said it was possible she could still hear them and that speaking to Stephanie might help guide her back to consciousness.
The ordeal was more painful than anything Meg had ever been through, and consequently, it had brought her and Zach together in a way she had never experienced with anyone before. They hadn’t even known each other for a year, and yet it felt like they had been together for a lifetime.
Meg really thought she had found The One. She was prepared to spend the rest of her life with him. They were perfect for each other. They could weather any storm together. Nothing could possibly tear them apart.
Or at least that’s what Meg had thought.
Until she found the box.
Living in Miami meant living with constant heat. And living in constant heat meant that any fault in the house’s air conditioning was a problem to be addressed immediately.
She had work off that day while Zach, on the other hand, had a full day at the retirement home, and though she wasn’t needed at the bookstore, she couldn’t stop herself from curling up in bed with her nose in a book. She was so absorbed in her reading that she didn’t notice how unusually warm the room was until a drop of sweat rolled down her nose and landed in the middle of the page.
She blinked, staring at the small soaked spot in confusion. Then she looked up. For the first time in at least an hour, she took stock of her surroundings. Everything seemed normal except for the uncomfortably stuffy temperature. Meg strained her ears and picked up the telltale hum of the air conditioning unit. Well, that was odd.
She marked her place in her book before closing it and getting out of bed. She wandered over to the bedroom vent, tucked almost under the bed itself, and put her hand over the grate. A measly stream of cool air poured out. She frowned. Was something blocking it?
She bent closer and peered through the grate. In what little light penetrated the vent, she thought she could see the silhouette of something in there.
She slipped her fingernails under the edge of the grate and worked to pry it free. Soon enough, she had loosened it enough to jam her fingertips underneath and pull it completely off. She set the grate aside and plunged one hand into the vent. She was half a forearm deep when her fingers brushed against something smooth and angular. She froze, grabbed ahold of it, and pulled.
She sat back at she looked at the small box in her hands. It was plain and made of finished wood. Her heart pounded as she hesitated at the latch. She felt like she had just stumbled across something she wasn’t meant to view.
Finally, steeling herself, she flipped up the latch and opened the box.
Her stomach sank at the sight that greeted her. Sitting on top was a bra. One of her bras. Her nose crinkling in distaste, she pulled it out and set it aside only to uncover more of her things beneath. Socks, underwear, a diary she had kept in high school, a diary she had kept in middle school. There were CD’s Stephanie had burned for her, old postcards addressed to her, even a USB drive she recognized as her own from her college days. She felt like she was going to be sick.
This was Zach’s box. It had to be Zach’s box. In fact, some sixth sense told her it was undoubtedly his. But why? They lived together, there was no need to keep a stash of her things, especially things this… personal. Why this invasion of privacy?
But still, something deep inside told her Zach had started this collection long before they’d started living together. It felt like some strange profile he’d put together, something to understand her.
She thought about how Zach had sometimes seemed to know her better than she knew herself, and pieces of a puzzle she didn’t even know existed started clicking into place.
She kept digging.
At the very bottom corner of the box, tucked away like they were the most secret thing of all, were what appeared to be… clumps of hair. Meg’s stomach turned as she pulled one out and examined it. It was short, brown, and bound by a thin rubber band. She set it aside and began pulling out more clumps, each tied together with another rubber band. As she pulled them out, a sense of unease began to weigh more and more heavily in her gut. There was something about the samples of hair that felt almost sacred, like there was a sense of pride behind each one. They almost felt like— like… Meg stuttered mentally over the word that rose so damningly in her mind.
They almost felt like trophies.
She pulled out another clump of hair and came to a halt. For the first time, the hair she held looked familiar to her. She sat unmoving, staring at it, willing herself to remember where she had seen it before. Then it came to her.
David.
David was one of the bookstore’s regular customers. Or at least he had been. He was a tall, handsome fellow with bright green eyes and ridiculously curly, pale blond locks. She’d recognize them anywhere. She’d spent plenty of time staring at them whenever David came into the store and leaned uncomfortably far over her counter, chatting about increasingly personal subjects with her. Every once in awhile, he’d gain enough nerve to ask her out. She’d politely turned him down each time, but David seemed to be under the impression that she’d change her mind if he just wore her down a bit more.
Once Zach had started coming into the store, he and David had encountered each other only a few times. Zach would walk in to find David bent over Meg’s counter like a vulture. Then he’d look at Meg and Meg would give him a “please help me” look, to which Zach had always obliged with gusto. Without a moment’s hesitation, Zach would barge into the conversation, leaving no room for David’s unwanted advances. After a few minutes of quiet frustration, David would give up on his pursuit for the day and leave in a huff.
After this had happened a couple times, David had stopped coming to the bookstore entirely. Meg assumed that, with Zach in the picture, David had finally accepted defeat. She couldn’t say she missed him or his patronage. But now, as she turned the curly bundle of pale blond hair in her grasp, she began to doubt it was as simple as that. A cold dread began to creep up her spine as his disappearance suddenly felt a lot more nefarious.
Her skin prickling with revulsion, she dropped the bundle of hair into the discard pile and picked up the next one in the box. She froze as it came into sight. The cold dread rose into a white hot rage.
She did not need to think about where she had seen this hair before. She recognized it immediately, knew it as if it were her own. The chestnut brown with the red highlights. It was Stephanie’s.
Meg’s hands shook. Her vision turned scarlet. She wanted to scream. She wanted to tear something apart.
Zach. This was all Zach. Zach had done this. He had never really liked Stephanie. Of course, he had done this. He had been the one to hit Stephanie with his car. He had been the one to put her in this awful coma. This was a fact that Meg now knew in her very soul.
She wanted to fling the box away. Destroy it and everything inside. She wanted to run all the way to Zach’s place of work and beat him with her fists until there was nothing left.
But Meg did neither of these things. Instead, she reverently set Stephanie’s hair down next to David’s and reached for the box of horrors once more. There was still more inside and she knew she had to see this through until the end.
There were only two clumps of hair left, both blond and both similar enough to Meg’s own hair color and texture that, for a brief moment of terror, she thought they belonged to her. But then, no, they were most definitely not hers. That one was too dark and the other one was too curly. Unlike the other samples of hair, these two were not held together with a rubber band. Instead, they had each been tied up with a beautiful bow of ribbon, one a deep, midnight blue and the other a sleek, crimson red.
Meg stared at them, trying to figure them out. There was something special about these two samples, that much was clear. But what?
Once more, she felt the pieces of this new puzzle clicking together, and that’s when she knew.
Zach had mentioned before that he’d been in previous relationships. In fact, he’d been in two rather serious ones, but whenever Meg had asked about his exes, he’d clammed up. All she knew about them was that things had been perfect… until they weren’t.
“They just changed,” he’d told her simply. “And I knew that we’d never be able to work things out.”
And that was that.
Meg had tried not to pry. Zach had always been so quiet about his past, and she had never pushed him to say more than he was comfortable with. From what little she’d heard, it didn’t seem like the kind of stuff someone would want to relive. But now she wished she hadn’t been so understanding. She wished she had squeezed every last detail out of him.
She looked down at the hair in her hands again. This was all that remained of those two mysterious exes now, she was certain of it. And as she had this thought, another certainty settled over her, one that made her head spin and her stomach twist into knots.
She was next.
Meg sat unmoving for a long while, clutching the remains of her predecessors. Then, like a switch, she came back to life. Mechanically, she began putting everything back in the box, taking extra care to arrange it just as she had found it. She closed it, latched it tight, and slid it back into the open vent. She took time to make sure the box was positioned so the air flow was unblocked, then she replaced the grate, climbed back into bed, and pretended the whole thing had never happened.
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saltygilmores · 2 years
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Thoughts While Watching Gilmore Girls: Season 1, Episode 17 ("The Breakup Part II")
What happens in this episode: In the previous ep, Dean dumped Rory because he is a barrel of smelly expired coleslaw. Rory eats two giantic beach pails of ice cream over it. Lorelai continues to dole out questionable relationship advice to her daughter. Rory goes with Lane (?!) to a massive Chilton party. Rory takes a can of Parmasean cheese into her bedroom and Lorelai doesn't blink. Rory throws Dean's pointless shit in a box and Lorelai has been throwing pointless Max shit into a box as well. Rory and Diet Logan share an unnecessary kiss. Everyone is boinking everyone except our eternal virgin girl scouts Rory, Lane, and Paris. It's a boinkfest with sprinkle cheese on top. Strap in. 9 episodes to go until a breath of fresh air arrives in Stars Hollow and everything goes to hell in a different way. (talking about Jess).
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OK THIS IS NOT CUTE OR HEALTHY LORELAI. ESPECIALLY NOT FOR A TEENAGER. LG: "Have you seen the cover of his notebook? It's one step away from stalker material." NOT CUTE! Lorelai is so stunted when it comes to dating that she is passing this unhealthy shit down to her daughter. Why is Lorelai only tolerable when she's not getting involved in Rory's love life? The scene: Rory throws everything Dean ever looked at or touched including The Quarter on A String bracelet into a box. RG: Dean gave me this sweater. He saw me in it and he liked it. LG: Well, he's got good taste. RG: He said it bought out the blue in my eyes. LG: Then he's gay. Early 2000's tv writing, everyone! LG: In the future you might regret that you don't have those things anymore. They're 16 fucking years old. It's not like they were getting married. Half of what she threw in there were some old books Dean pretended to read. I think she'll live. I need to come up with a headcanon about what Rory put in her Jess Box. Ideas, people. I need ideas. Rory asks Lorelai to burn the box, throw it in a dumpster, get the box out of the house, etc etc. Lorelai agrees but just hides it in a closet under some blankets. If that were Rory's Jess Box, Lorelai would definitely have burned it.
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Some guy out there selling nuts on the street at like 7am. I respect the hustle. Thought it was going to be another festival. Guess Taylor ran out of funds to embezzle. For now. Rory doesn't want to go to Luke's because Dean might be working next door at Doose's. Luke is unbothered by their frequent boycotts because the Gilmore Girls never pay him for their food anyway.
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Now we can't go past the high school either because if he happens to be off from work he'll be playing football. Are these the same "Friends" Jess "played football with"? I need to see these guys, okay? I don't believe they actually exist. I guess Dean is a jock again. Lorelai is panicking because Rory won't go near Lukes. Just dump her off at the Nut Cart and go there yourself. Cut the cord, Mamma. You'll both live. Does Luke put crack in his Folgers? Is he dealing Lorelai drugs out of the stock room? Mamma is SWEATING. They take a detour through a back alley that I don't remember seeing again and enter Luke's through a back door #ThatsWhatSheSaid
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I have to share this amazing accidental screen shot.
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Let's place our bets on whether or not Rory is too naive to realize why Rachel is wearing Luke's shirt.
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Heh heh. They had sex. Rachel is working at the Diner because why not. Luke hires literally everyone in town at some point except for Rory. Who never held a single job throughout all of high school & college except for swiping meal cards at Yale for one day (she slept through it). The only thing Rory contributed to society was picking up trash during her community service. Anyway where was I...
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The boinking was good huh? Tomatos Sign spotting!
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Luke has got a real post-boinking smirk going. Luke: I knew that kid Dean was trouble. Does he think he can do better than Rory? Well, Lindsay seemed pretty nice, other than having questionable taste. #JusticeForLindsay
Luke spots Dean trying to come in and he runs outside to kick his fucking ass! LD: "Do you see a smile on this face?" DF:"No, but what's so different about that, you're not exactly the town crackup."
KICK HIS ASS LUKE! KICK IT!
Babette: "I can tell Rory about how you have to go through a lot of bad relationships to get to the good one." Ah yes. The Jack Pearson burnt pancake theory. "I can tell Rory about all the horrible men I've known in my day, really, truly awful men. I was pushed out of a moving car once." #ILoveHer
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A paper invitation. How quaint. #Giraffes?
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Rory pulls out a can of Kraft Parmesan cheese and retreats to her bedroom with it. Lorelai does not question it. As if this is a regular occurence. I know Rory is going through a breakup but this may be a cry for help. I need answers. You know what else I need answers to? How Lane was allowed to go out to a Chilton party with Rory and leave the house in a spicy red low cut blouse AND she has a midnight curfew?
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Oh stick a fork in my eye. What is this? It's either A Max Box or a Christopher Box? That she keeps in the same closet as the Dean Box? That closet needs an exorcism. (it is never directly said, but it is likely a Max Box). Overwhelmed with emotion over her Box Of Max Shit, Lorelai first stops at Sookie's house where Sookie is interfering with Jackson's cooking a romantic meal. Lorelai then makes her way to Max's doorstep without any prior notice and the first words out of her mouth are "Rory and Dean broke up." And then she starts one of her rambles. Max looks reasonably befuddled and then invites her inside. Figured he'd shoot his shot with an emotionally vulnerable Lorelai just like Christopher did a few episodes back. Just like with Christopher, it worked. This is a first and probably a last: Lorelai actually admits she's a hypocrite. She uses the words "I'm a hypocrite." That's refreshing. She is the BIGGEST hypocrite. You know what it means when Lorelai starts rambling to a man? They're gonna have sex. They had sex. Still no answers on how Lane was allowed to go to this Chilton party. Besides being in awe of the size of the house she seems comforable and unfazed at this massive party that should be wayyy out of her element (same for Rory), but maybe that's just my own social anxiety talking.
Here's a Dork Hall of Fame worthy quote from Rory to Paris: "Can you show us the way to the soda?" Such a good little girl scout. Lane, not to be outdone: "All this soda is French!" I never drank in high school or even much after that, so there's nothing wrong with drinking soda whatsoever, but they still sound like absolute fucking dorks and it's kinda cute. Although there are people walking around with red Solo cups, there is curiously no alcohol mentioned or visible at this massive unsupervised teenage rager run by a pair of Bad Girls (the show had no issue with depicting an underage keg party in season 3 but I guess they needed time to build up to that or in season 1 there were censors up the writers' asses or something) In this episode Rachel and Luke boinked, Sookie and Jackson presumably boinked, Lorelai and Max boinked, Madeline and Louise presumably had an orgy with their 30 year old looking hookups with frosted hair, and Tristan has an argument with a girl named Summer who boinked some guy named Austin in a bathroom. Rory, Lane and Paris remained unfucked soda-sippers who bring books to parties. I want to see Rory and Jess tucked away at a table reading together in the strip club.
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#StepCousinSoulmates Lane and Henry dancing at the party is one of the cutest moments of the show. Lane has got some moves too. Later, Lane explains to Rory how Henry has all of the qualities her parent (s)?? would love but she doesn't want to date someone her parent(s)?? would actually approve of. I thought this is where we'd hear Lane's panic set in when she realize she'd have to find a lie to tell Mrs Kim. How would she explain to her Mom that she met this perfect boy at an unsupervised high school party at a mansion with a pool table and soda in plastic cups? But no. Still no answers about Lane's presence/escape. Lorelai and Max are making out awkwardly. Max pulls away. MM: We have to get a grip here. LG: I thought that's what we were doing. Lorelai you dirty bird! Diet Logan (Tristan) is attending this party and he's being mopey and annoying. Rory, being the ever sweet and thoughtful soda-sipping girl scout that she (currently) is, decides to talk to him and see what's bugging him.
Tristan (aka Diet Logan): "Think you'll get back together with Dean?" Rory: He was pretty set in his decision. Narrator: Neither Rory nor Dean were "pretty set in their decision". Diet Logan pretends to empathize when Rory tells DL that Dean dumped her and "apologizes" for bullying her. Whatever. Then just like Max did to Lorelai in this episode, DL takes advantage of Rory's vulnerable emotional state to kiss her. DL says "did I bite your lip?" after he kisses her and Rory looks like she's about to cry. All I can think about is the time Rory told Logan he bit her lip after he kissed her. I want to jump in my time machine and tell her to be patient because someone who actually knows how to kiss without mangling her mouth (Jess) is going to arrive soon. The dynamic between Rory and Tristan (and also Paris and Tristan) continues to be utterly confusing. I still don't know what purpose Tristan was meant to serve.
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I have never seen such a huge plastic beach pail of Ben and Jerry's like that before in my life. Plus there are two of them and one already appears to be empty. Slow down, kid. Don't waste the good ice cream on Dean. ESPECIALLY not Cherry Garcia. The best flavor. Can we get another shot of this pail? Holy moly. That must be a Costco-sized tub that's meant to feed an entire birthday party.
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OMG. We STILL haven't gotten to one of the worst advice speeches Lorelai ever gives Rory (besides the one she just gave about how stalking is so cute). It's already two or three episodes further into the show than I remember it being and still hasn't happened. If you don't know which one I'm talking about you hopefully will soon and this misery can end. The Good: Actually not a lot of Dean in this episode. Luke kicking Dean's ass. Henry and Lane are adorable. Rory and Lane being dorky. Lorelai admits she's a big fucking hypcorite. New Headcanon: The content and fate of the Jess Box. The Bad: Lorelai's usual sketchy advice. Men taking advantage of vulnerable women. The Confusing: No answers are given on how Lane ended up at a Chilton party either without her mother noticing or without revealing what lie she told Mrs. Kim to be allowed to go. Just like Jess, Dean claims to have friends he plays football with when we know he has no friends. A man is selling nuts at 7am. Rory eats two buckets of ice cream by herself and lives to tell the tale. WHAT DID RORY DO WITH THAT PARMESAN CHEESE?
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sharpaymichelle · 6 months
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VOGUE meets with sharpay evans to discuss her life and family!
interviewer : you're known as a triple threat. a singer, dancer, actress - what can't you do!
sharpay evans : yeah, it's definitely been amazing having the recognition for all my hard work ... but i can't cook. i literally almost burned down my kitchen once, fun fact.
interviewer : before we talk about your rise to fame, you lived in albuquerque, new mexico briefly. what was that like?
sharpay evans : i did. when i moved there when i was sixteen and was there till i graduated from high school.
interviewer : what made you end up in new mexico?
sharpay evans : my past really isn't super hidden. i was just hanging around the wrong crowds and getting into trouble in my early teens. everyone thought it would be best that i just get a break from the nepo scene so was sent to live with my uncle vincent, aunt charlotte and cousin tiara.
interview : you boomed into the spotlight at the age of eighteen with your debut album, the new classic, and became known as the pop princess. what was that like?
sharpay evans : you know, i grew up in this industry. my parents really guided me every step of the way once they knew i was serious about my career. i'm really appreciative of my fans and even being given that title is such an honor.
interviewer : speaking of your parents, you're the daughter of hollywood actress derby evans and musician and producer vance evans?
sharpay evans : does this count towards one of the questions?
interviewer : yes, i guess it does, haha. what was it like being raised by them?
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sharpay evans: my mother, oh my mother. she is an amazing human being and dealt with so much between me and ry. again, i caused a lot of trouble for her and she wore my trouble on her sleeves while still being a famous, well-known actress providing for us. growing up, she would take us to set with her and we'd be playing on the lot or in set school. if we were lucky, we were able to watch her scenes and i still remember being constantly fascinated by everything she did. if you didn't know, there's an indie film she did once where she had to have a kid casted and my mom advocated so hard to have me play her daughter because she knew i had the talent to be an actress even at such a young age. my mom has always believed in me. i won't lie about the fact we went through a rough patch during my teens and briefly after i broke up with my ex but i admire who that woman is every single day. i mean, there's a reason i wrote don't tell my mom on heartbreak/her and included one of her voicemails. if i ever have kids, i hope to be half as patient and loving as she is. i also just hope i don't have menaces like i was, haha.
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sharpay evans : now my father, he is the reason i developed such a passion for music. looking back, i was so in awe of his life touring and him making music in the studios. i don't know how but like my mom he just saw a natural talent in me. i mean, he was gone a decent amount growing up but that was his career and he did what he needed to do to provide for us and i think that also took a toll out of him especially once i started rebelling. i remember when i came back from new mexico essentially a new person he just held me for a really long time and cried. mind you, this is a rock singer who i don't even think i had seen him cry before that very moment. my dad struggled with his own demons for years because of the industry but never really talks about it even with me till this day. i think for us, we just have a mutual understanding that, no matter what, we're here to lean on one another for support and that at the end of the day we're family. he has guided me in so many ways in life and that memory is probably, if not, my favorite of ours. i know he is proud of me.
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interviewer : do you think there was anything they could have done differently?
sharpay evans : i think they did the best with what they were equipped to do. they were first time parents dealing with a kid who liked to party and you know... participate in not so great things. i struggled sharing my parents with the world as i got older and really was having a hard time understanding the nepo scene even though i grew up in it. my dad constantly was on tours or my mom was filming movies so the attention was diverted away from me and ry. i now know i should have probably just verbalized my problems rather than defaulting to some ... illegal activities. although i don't necessarily agree with some of the choices they made, i don't hold them at fault for it.
interviewer : at least you're honest! well first, i hope your twin brother, ryan, is doing great! how did he handle all of this?
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sharpay evans : he is actually! he's currently doing some acting gigs on broadway right now. if you didn't know, he is actually older than me by one minute. but to answer your question, he took everything pretty hard. he came with me to new mexico for about a year but i told him to go back home to california. he found me on the floor one time after a situation and rushed me to the emergency room. like i think i traumatized him and i still feel so bad about it till this day. he's my heart that's walking on the outside of my body and the fact i hurt him so bad was devastating. ryan genuinely means everything to me. he suffered together, cried together, laughed together. we talk every day and even now, not living in the same state as one another is literally so difficult. he's just such an amazing person who dealt and cleaned up so much of my mess. i genuinely love him more than life itself.
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interviewer : if we can back track to new mexico. you mentioned an uncle, aunt and cousin , what were they like?
sharpay evans : oh they're everything i hope to have in a relationship. my cousin well... lets just say i understand.
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sharpay evans : my uncle vincent, i don't know if you know, was a child actor way back when but he met my aunt at a relatively young age and from what i'm told, knew from the very moment he laid his eyes on her that was his soulmate. she was just a waitress in los angeles living paycheck to paycheck wanting nothing to do with the celebrity lifestyle. when they turned eighteen, they got married but she was wanting to leave california and without hesitation, he followed her anywhere and left his career. he's now a criminal defense lawyer and is actually really happy doing it. crazy enough, the second i got to his front step i rolled my eyes at him and he literally locked me outside in the rain for twenty minutes and i had to sit on the curb until my aunt came home from work realizing what he had done. he was a strict man with me but i think i needed that type of role in my life. he wanted me to have structure and rules to know that every action and decision i made had consequences. i guess that was the lawyer in him. my uncle vincent really is such an amazing man and i'm really lucky to have a role model like him.
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sharpay evans : my aunt charlotte, again she was just a waitress when first meeting my uncle but now is a transplant coordinator at a hospital. i have never in a million years met a more down to earth and genuine human being before. we weren't really raised around my aunt or uncle and it wasn't because of any bad blood but really because of time scheduling. i mean, it worked out because i built a relationship with everyone on my own accord but i can genuinely say that my aunt charlotte is like a second mother to me. there's also a reason why her voicemail is on heartbreak/her. she was concerned about my well-being just as much as my mother and not hearing from me was extremely concerning. she knew i was okay but still wanted to hear from me. it was actually my aunt who convinced me to try out for drama club, get into choir and re-enroll in dance classes while i was in high school just to keep out of trouble and keep me pre-occupied. she always had my best interest at heart and knew that i needed compassion along with compassion.
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sharpay evans : tiara is my younger cousin. she is relatively ... similar to me in my personality. i think that's why we tend to buttheads frequently. i get it - i took a lot of her parents attention away when i moved to new mexico. it was exactly the problem i was facing with my own parents and hollywood. we just ran into issues when she constantly was trying to sabotage my life and that's not me being dramatic. she literally tried to steal my role in my play on opening night. thankfully, i managed to put a stop to it and we talked it out but i think when i left she was just excited to finally have her house back and be considered a single child again. i love her, i really do and i want her to have the best life possible but i hope she grows into herself just like i did at some point.
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interviewer : wow. it seems like new mexico really helped you, huh?
sharpay evans : honestly, i think i'll always have a deep appreciation for my aunt, uncle and even cousin. they molded me into who i am today. without them, i can genuinely say i don't think i'd be even here doing seventy - three questions with vogue.
interviewer : and what's it like being in the spotlight now compared to then?
sharpay evans : i wasn't prepared back then. i was literally a kid and the tabloids were absolutely ruthless towards me. i had no business being in the spotlight when i barely was in any projects and hadn't even released any music yet. thankfully, now, i have such an amazing support system between my mom, dad, ryan, my uncle vincent, aunt charlotte and even tiara and my pr team. everyone's primary goal is making sure not only myself but my image stays protected and safe. i feel so much more confident now being in the celebrity spotlight between making music and acting compared to back then.
interviewer : well, thank you so much for sharing yourself, your family and your house with vogue. is there anything else you want to share?
sharpay evans : yeah, stay tuned for my next album! now get out!
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