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paterson-blue · 3 years

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Shadow of the Sea: Chapter 1

Summary: Kylo is used to being alone. It's how he's survived this long, in the cold ocean depths. He can take care of himself. Other creatures--other merfolk--are dangerous; he has the scars to prove it. Humans, however, are the worst of all. But one day, Kylo finds he has no other choice but to turn to one for help. The human he meets is nothing like he expects, and all he knows is he wants more. Is he willing to pay the price?

Word Count: 4,394

Warnings: fem!AFAB!reader, plot set up, kylo ren needs a hug confirmed, non-graphic descriptions of violence & bodily harm, brief mentions of blood & wounds, very vague medical descriptions lol, minor character death (happens off screen), oh but there's also one that happens on screen but it's brief, big time ocean nostalgia from your dear author— let me know if I need to add anything else!

A/N: Thank you @paper-n-ashes for beta reading! Icon behavior tbh.

Prefer AO3? I gotcha!

Kylo prided himself on his independence—his ferocity, his ability to fight his way out of every corner. His body was scarred and battle-hardened, but that didn’t matter. It was proof he was a survivor, and it’s not like he had anyone around him to care about his appearance. Most creatures he saw took one look at his massive form and ran.

He was intimidating, all muscle, his fins torn from previous fights. While his skin was pale, his scales were an onyx color; it made blending into the ocean depths easier. He couldn’t understand why merfolk’s standard of beauty was a brightly colored tail; didn’t it make camouflaging more difficult?

He guessed most merfolk didn’t care about that. They lived in large groups, colorful and cheerful and busy amongst other plant and animal life. Not many delved into the cold, murky areas Kylo had made his home. But he’d been there as long as he could remember, and there was no sense in changing things. He wouldn’t be welcome in the warmer waters anyway. They didn’t want him, and he didn’t want them.

So he kept away, and no one dared bother him. Those that did quickly learned not to. He had killed many creatures, and while it was all in defense, his reputation still preceded him. After all, he’d once fought one of the most dangerous predators the ocean knew, and he’d won.

He’d killed a human, after they’d captured him in their net. He’d overpowered them easily, yanked them from their boat into the water; he hadn’t even flinched when their little fishing knife plunged into his side. He’d watched with a furious gaze as the air left their lungs, their pathetic struggling eventually ceasing. Then he’d calmly cut himself loose from the netting. The knife wound had scarred over, but it was just one more to add to his collection.

Yes, Kylo prided himself on his abilities. He had no fear, no weakness; he never ran from a fight.

He was running now.

He’d been foolish. He should have realized why his normal hunting grounds had been so devoid of fish for the past few days—he should have seen the signs, should have been more careful. But hunger makes you desperate; makes you stupid. He hadn’t been paying attention, too focused on the singular fish he’d found.

It seemed to happen all at once. A sudden blow to his head that left him reeling, pain shooting through his skull as he whips himself around in attempts to find his attacker. A searing burn in his side the exact moment he feels a sharp pinch at the back of his neck. His head starts to spin with confusion, the scent of his own blood in the water.

He spots a figure out of the corner of his eye, and his heart leaps into his throat. It was a human, and they had some sort of weapon pointed right at him.

Kylo doesn’t think—he just bolts. They don’t seem to follow him at first, and he doesn’t understand why until he starts to feel the first symptoms of whatever they’ve injected him with. It makes him dizzy, makes his vision start to blur as a sickening metallic taste fills his mouth.

No, he thinks. I won’t let them do this.

He pulls strength from deep within and pushes himself to swim faster, farther. He hears a muffled shout from behind, and oh, they’re pursuing him now.

He swims frantically, skirting around rocks and through kelp forests, desperately trying to lose them even though he thinks he might hear the dull thrum of a boat motor over the thudding of blood in his ears. Kriff, he was so tired. It would be so easy to let the human magic overtake him, to sink to the ocean floor.

Was this death? A dreamless sleep that crept over your senses until you had no choice but to succumb to it? Kylo doesn’t want to die, not like this. Not where they can get to him, at least.

He doesn’t know where he’s going, doesn’t even know where he is until he catches a quick glimpse of a familiar rock formation. His mind is in shambles, drugged and panicked, lacking oxygen as his gills burn with the strain of his labored breathing.

A cove. Not too far from here. Too shallow for a boat, too rocky for humans. A cave to shelter in. Go, swim, fast, now, now, go.

The voice in his head doesn’t feel like his own—it’s frantic, urgent, thoughtless. Usually he was so composed, controlled. The threat of death had turned him into nothing more than an animal; he’s never felt so small.

He ducks and weaves as he swims towards the hidden cove, trying to convince himself he’s doing it on purpose and not just fading in and out of consciousness. If he can just stay awake a little longer, if he can just make it to that kriffing cave, he can die with dignity. Alone and cold, drugged and bleeding, but away from the humans trying to hurt him.

Kylo nearly loses his speed when he breeches the shallow waters of the cove, his mind wanting to shut down now that he’s made it. He forces himself to keep going despite his nausea and lightheadedness. His lungs are screaming, muscles aching; he scrapes his tail against the rocky outcroppings as he searches frantically for the mouth of the underwater cave.

It’s here, it’s here. I know it’s here, I’ve seen it, I mapped it. Where is it?!

His hands snag against an opening, just barely big enough for him to squeeze through, and he darts into it. It’s a tight fit, and for a brief second Kylo is terrified he’ll get stuck and pass out from whatever the humans hit him with—he’ll die, trapped, never to be found.

But then, quick as a flash, he’s through to the other side. The small tunnel opens up into a larger cavern, protected from the elements and decorated with several pools of varying depths. He’d explored it once, curious, thinking it would be a nice place to hide. It was a little too close to humanity for his comfort, but then again he’d never seen this area very populated. He’d figured he’d keep it in the back of his mind for later.

Turns out later was now.

Kylo pulls himself to the edge of the main and deepest pool, looking around urgently through spotty vision. There was a pool in the corner, half hidden by rocks—it looked shallow, but just deep enough to be submerged. Exhaling fast, he hauls himself up and out of the water, coughing and choking as his body tries to adjust from using his gills to his mouth and nose to breathe. It was never an easy transition, and he hated doing it, but right now it was what he needed.

He growls to himself as he pulls his heavy body along the rough stone cave floor, his normally nimble tail a dead weight. If he wasn’t about to faint, he thinks he’d be a bit more graceful. By the time he rolls unceremoniously into the shallow pool, his palms are all scraped up and bleeding. He doesn’t care; barely feels the sting. He’s not really feeling much of anything at this point, head spinning out of control.

Laying like this on his back, head propped up against the ledge of the pool, Kylo gazes up at the jagged rock ceiling. His lungs crackle as he heaves in breaths, heart still pounding loudly. It’s hard to hear anything else, and he wonders again if his attackers are closing in on him. Does it even matter? His dying mind questions. He doesn’t have an opportunity to think of a retort before his body finally breaks, and he succumbs to the drug induced sleep.

—————————————————————

You wake to the familiar sounds of distant crashing waves, whistling wind, and calls of seagulls. After years on the island, the noise was a comfort.

You’d grown up here, in this same cottage by the sea--been raised fishing, hunting for mussels, searching through tide pools. You and your siblings would bike into town to sell your wares at the local market before heading down to the pier to watch the boats come and go. It was a simple life, sometimes a little isolated, but it was good nonetheless. You loved the island and the ocean, and held great respect for them both. If you honor them, they will honor you--at least, that’s what your mother always said.

Your siblings grew up and moved to the mainland, but still you stayed. Got yourself a little apartment in town above the local grocery, worked at the marina as a clerk, and visited your parents on the weekends. When your mother passed, your father followed just weeks later—a broken heart, everyone said. Suddenly, your beloved little slice of heaven—of home—belonged to you.

So you moved back into the cottage you grew up in, a place haunted by the ghosts of memories and the sounds of the sea. If you’re being honest with yourself, you wouldn’t trade it for the world, no matter how many times you pretend to entertain your siblings’ urging to rent the place out. Think of all the money you’d make. It’s the perfect vacation spot.

Maybe so, but you don’t care. You don’t want strangers in your home—not those tourists who come to fawn over the village, who eat up the landscape with cameras without really seeing it, who gawk at the fishermen, who laugh at the prices at the market. They would probably call your cottage quaint and cute. You could picture them tittering over your family photos on the mantle, over the door frame where heights had been marked over the years.

Tourists, who both long for and pity an isolated life on the ocean. Oh, they have it so easy here, away from the stress of the city. Oh, could you imagine living this way, barely scraping by?

No, you didn’t want them in your home, a place so sacred. You didn’t care what money you were missing out on—you got by fine with your pay from the marina, and picking up shifts at the local cafe. You loved your cottage—savored every creaky floorboard, every leaky windowsill. The drip of the bathroom faucet, the howl of the sea wind through the chimney—these were the sounds of familiarity, of safety. No one would appreciate them like you did.

Twisting around in bed, you turn your gaze towards the open window that was letting in a fresh, salty breeze. It was early, the light still dim and grey, the air a little chilly. It makes you want to curl back up under your covers, catch a couple more hours of shut-eye. It was your day off, after all; you could afford to sleep in.

Except.

You sigh, scrubbing your hands over your face as you remember what your yesterday brain had planned. You’d told yourself you’d get up in order to gather mussels at low tide. There were plenty of tide pools around, especially in the caved area of the cove. It was your family’s little secret—the hidden grotto was all but invisible from the outside. The only reason you even knew about it was because your brother had been too adventurous for his own good as a child, always getting into places he shouldn’t.

Mussels, clams, seaweed, probably fish in the deeper tide pools—maybe some sea urchin you could sell at the market. Your stomach growls.

Well, that’s that.

Groaning, you haul yourself up and out of bed, wincing at the cold hardwood on your bare feet. You bounce on your toes, shivering, goosebumps appearing on your skin as you pad over to close the window. Despite growing up here, you were always surprised at the temperature. You stubbornly let in the breeze at night, all bundled up under your covers, pretending when you woke it would be nice and warm.

But nope, not here; even in the dead of summer the mornings were chilly. Sometimes you dreamed that you lived on one of those big, luxurious, heated beaches—hot sun and white sand as far as the eye could see, no craggy cliffs or rocky shores. Eh. You probably wouldn’t like it much anyway, too used to your own environment.

Glancing at the clock, you quickly throw on some warm clothes, half-assing your regular morning routine before grabbing your tide-pool hunting essentials: a flashlight, knee-high waders, a large bucket, and your trusty fishing knife. You take a deep breath at the front door, bracing yourself for the chill. Just think of the feast you’ll have later. And you can reward yourself with a hot bath and long nap.

It’s not too long a distance from the cottage to the rocky shoreline, and while the low tide has revealed the tempting sand leading towards the rolling waves, you head towards the jagged outcropping to the left. Years of following the same path means it doesn’t take you long at all to find the hidden entrance and carefully make your way into the cavern.

In the middle of a sunny day, light shone in through various cracks in the ceiling, glinting off the water and creating flickering reflections against the stone walls. Sometimes you came here just to think, or to take a dip in the largest pool. The water was always warmer here, protected from the full power of the currents by the rock face.

Now, however, it was dark—only the dimmest bit of grey morning light trickled in. You flick on the flashlight, humming softly to yourself. The melody echoes off the stone walls, and you set your bucket down at the closest tide pool, readying yourself to hunker down and get to work. The beam of the light scans the various pools as you turn to get your knife from its holder, and something catches your eye. It’s not much, and honestly if you weren’t so familiar with the cave you probably wouldn’t have noticed the dark shape in the far corner pool.

At first, you do a double take, eyes sweeping over the little red-tinged puddles on the floor. Blood. You grip your knife, mind racing with possibilities. Was there someone in here with you? Surely not. No one ever came out here. Swallowing hard, you take a couple steps towards the corner, torch in one hand and knife in the other. As you get closer, your gaze tracks the diluted blood trail into the pool, and at first all you notice is the black scales and fins of a fish. The grip on your knife loosens just a little, the fear of a possible threat fading.

It's a big animal, you can tell that even as you make your way over, and you wonder idly how it got in. You knew, logically, that the cave connected to the ocean somehow, but you can't imagine the tide being so high for a fish as large as this one to find its way into the back corner. You’re focused on this conundrum as you round the ledge that’s been shielding the animal from your full view--so much so that it takes you more than a couple moments for your mind to compute just what it's seeing.

The tail is thick and muscular, decorated in obsidian scales that lead to delicate looking fins at the bottom. There were smaller, fan looking fins on the sides of the tail--they were all ripped up, as if they had been torn in previous fights. Your brain clocks all of this in seconds but doesn’t dwell, because it’s focused on the top half of the animal--creature--merman.

Merman. A fucking merman.

The ebony scales at the waist fade seamlessly into pale skin and lean muscle, revealing a long, firm torso. If you weren’t so aware of the tail, you might--might--think he could pass for human. Well, except for the webbed fingers and razor-sharp nails adorning each of his hands. He’s half submerged in the water of the pool, dark hair covering part of his face so you can’t see it.

You stand there, frozen, staring, not quite knowing what to do. You weren’t… scared; weren’t even very surprised aside from the initial shock of seeing him. You’d grown up hearing stories, traditions, tales—it was more than folklore here on the island. Some of the elders believed in merfolk more than ghosts, more than aliens, more than god.

Mr. Mackenzie told tales of mermaids luring in his shipmates as prey, drowning them. You always thought they were just stories designed to scare children away from dangerous tides—and maybe they were. But other accounts, you weren’t so sure of.

It was the wonder on Ms. Fraser’s face when she recounted the long-ago memory of swimming along sandbars with a girl who could breathe underwater. It was the quiet reverence of Mr. McDougall’s voice when he whispered about removing an old fish hook from a merman’s tail. It was the tears in Mrs. Buchanan’s eyes when she insisted merfolk rescued her husband from a fishing boat wreck.

You believed them. You always had, even if you’d done it silently, bashfully. You knew those who still made offerings to the ocean and to the beings that dwelled within the depths. Your island community believed in things not seen, but passed down through generations of storytelling. It was your history, kept alive despite first hand encounters becoming few and far between.

Except, here it was—your own little slice of history, right in front of you. If you took a couple more steps, you could reach out and touch it.

Is he breathing?

The little voice in your head brings you back down to your body, and a sudden fear overtakes you. You can’t let him die—if he was even still alive to begin with. You glance nervously at the pinkish trail of blood leading to the pool; the sight makes you reach some sort of resolve.

Hyper-aware of the claws on his hands, you kneel down beside him, hesitating only briefly before you settle your hand on his large bicep. He doesn’t stir, and your stomach twists unpleasantly. Your hand slides down to his wrist, and while you can admit you aren’t an expert on merfolk anatomy, surely you’ll be able to feel a pulse from the spidery blue veins under his pale skin.

Relief washes over you in a wave when you do, indeed, find a pulse—slow, but strong. Okay, not dead then. Still, he doesn’t move, so you take it upon yourself to move his damp hair out of his face, curling it behind his prominent ears.

He’s handsome.

You feel yourself flush, immediately chastising yourself for the thought. This was—best case scenario—a complete stranger who was wounded and in possible danger. Worst case scenario… you didn’t want to think about. Needless to say, it was no time to be thinking about his level of attractiveness.

You force yourself back into action, cupping his head as you hold your hand under his nose. His breathing is steady, and you gently lay his head back where it rested on the rock ledge. Your fingertips brush against something, and you frown as you realize he has a lump on the back of his skull—as if he’s been hit. You can only hope it hasn’t done too serious damage; it wasn’t like you could really take him to the hospital.

Your attention moves down his body, and you make yourself bypass the gills in his neck in order to properly gauge his wounds. Minor cuts and scrapes littered his skin; from the number of scars decorating his form, you figure these aren’t a big deal, no matter how nasty they look. Not compared to the gash on his side, at least.

You wince when you see it, the delicate flesh torn open and ragged. The cut makes you think it’s from some man-made weapon, and you shake your head in disbelief. Who would want to harm a merman? Around here, it would be blasphemous to do such a thing.

Blood no longer seeps from the wound; you hope that’s a good sign—and that the salt water has somewhat cleaned the area. You think it may have needed stitches, but you’re no doctor with the ability to do such a procedure. If you're being honest with yourself, it’s probably far too late for stitches anyway. The wound would be another nasty scar, likely similar to the one marring his face, but the area isn’t red with infection. That’s a good sign, right?

You sigh, feeling helpless. You want to do something for the creature. There’s only one thing you can really think of. Chewing on your bottom lip, you study his face again. He still seems unresponsive, and you can only hope he stays that way a little longer.

The short trek back up to your home feels the longest it’s ever been, and your legs and lungs are burning by the time you rush through the front door, having run the entire way. You heave in breaths as you pack some supplies into a bag. It wasn’t much, but you should be able to use the waterproof gauze and antibiotic ointment to dress the nasty-looking scrapes on his hands and chest.

You hesitate for a moment before going into your bathroom and grabbing the waterproof pillow you had in the tub. Maybe it was silly, but you hated thinking about him lying on the hard ground for fuck knows how long. You almost grab some food for him—maybe the fish currently thawing in your fridge—but you decide not to. You weren’t sure what he ate, and there was no telling when he’d wake up anyway.

Your breathing has just settled back to normal by the time you’re jogging back to the cave, careful not to slip on any of the wet grass and rocks. The sun starts to peak out of the morning clouds, letting pale beams of light warm the grey morning. The cavern is illuminated slightly better when you enter; you find you can lay the flashlight at a distance and see just fine.

The merman is still asleep, and you feel a little relieved. You aren’t exactly sure what will happen when he wakes up—for all you know, you’ll return later in the day to find him gone. As it is, you plop down next to the pool he was in and get to work patching him up the best you can.

Taking the towel you brought with you, you dab at his scrapes, trying to dry them a little before applying the ointment and then carefully using the gauze to cover the wounds. His palms are so torn up that you wrap them completely, your brows knitted the entire time. It must hurt, but still, he doesn’t stir.

Finally, you’re left with the gash in his side. You debate with yourself as to whether you should cover it or not—if you even can. The front of his torso was out of the water with the way he was laying, but that could change at any second, and any real pressure on his body would cause him to sink into the pool.

Your urge to help him wins out in the end, and you decide you’ll try to bandage it to protect it from any further irritation, despite knowing water would seep in regardless. You lean forward, extra careful not to lose your balance as you pat at his pale skin with the towel once more. It’s an awkward angle and slow work, you trying your best to be gentle with him.

You add as much ointment as you dare to the bandaging, not wanting to put too much onto an open wound, before fixing the gauze to his torso with some waterproof medical tape. There. Sure, it wasn’t going to work a miracle but at this point you weren’t sure what else to do.

He’ll be okay, you tell yourself. He’ll be okay.

You take a moment to watch the rise and fall of his chest, reassured by the movement. Your gaze again drifts to his tail in fascination—you hope that, maybe, you’ll come back later and he’ll be awake. Maybe he’ll be friendly, maybe the two of you can talk. It’s illogical, you know. This wasn’t some fairytale, this was real life. You honestly just hoped he didn’t try to rip you to shreds on sight.

It’s with this thought in mind that you shift away from him, telling yourself you can’t sit and watch him all day. You have several other pools to collect mussels from, breakfast to cook, chores to do. You’ve done enough, and you have to trust that his body will do the rest—you refuse to entertain the idea that he might not make it.

Sighing, you pull yourself further away, but then remember the pillow you’d brought along. You grab it quickly before shuffling back towards him. He’s got a large lump of seaweed shoved haphazardly under his head in what you assume was a desperate attempt to soften the rock face underneath.

His damp hair is surprisingly soft when you gently lift his head to clear the ground of debris. You can’t help but run your fingers through it gently, brushing it behind his ears, almost trying to soothe his subconscious. You settle the small foam pillow in place, and slowly let his head and neck rest against it. You hope it makes some sort of difference, though you know it might be a childish thought.

Your task finished, you force yourself away from him once more, even though you suddenly ache to continue touching him. Picking up your things, you continue on your mission of prying mussels from each tidepool. You move slower and quieter than you normally would, shooting the merman furtive glances every few seconds.

By the time you’re finished with the last pool, you can’t find an excuse to linger any longer. He was as safe as he was going to be. The only thing left to do now was wait. You spare your new charge one last lingering look, then grab your things and head back to the house.

______________________________________________________________

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#kylo ren x reader #kylo ren x fem!reader #kylo ren x afab!reader #kylo ren #kylo ren fic #merman!kylo #merman au #multi chapter #tori writes #feedback always welcome & appreciated!

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blouisparadise · 4 years

Photo

Upon request, here is a rec list of bottom Louis fics with everyone’s favorite trope - sharing a bed! We hope you enjoy this list. Happy reading!

1) Just Like Live Wires | Explicit | 5427 words

Harry climbs into Louis' bed when he's cold. Louis pines.

2) Been Gone Way Too Long | Explicit | 8836 words

“This can’t be happening,” Louis says, banging his hand against the window. “This seriously can’t be happening right now.”

Things like this only happen in the movies. Things like this don’t happen in real life. There’s no way that he’s seriously been snowed in. There’s no way that the heating is broken. There’s no way that it’s going to take upwards of twenty-four hours and probably a lot longer for the storm to break and someone to come and rescue them.

“Just sit down, Louis,” Harry sighs from somewhere behind him. He sounds miserable, like he’s already feeling the cold.

Louis whirls around and points a finger at him. “Did you plan this?” he demands a little hysterically. He regrets the question as soon as it’s out of his mouth, but he thinks he’s got a valid point. It’s not like this storm just came out of nowhere - it has to have been on the news for a couple of days, at least. Plenty of time for Harry to have canceled this excursion.

3) I'm Trying Not To Make A Sound | Explicit | 10452 words

Louis thinks he could die right there. He can’t feel anything but the tingling sensation all over his skin. He’s throwing away all his past thoughts on trying to be straight and denying his reactions towards other men, he just wants more of this numbing feeling. Everything else is a long lost memory, can’t think of anything else besides, wow, this feels incredible.

4) Enjoy The Ride | Not Rated | 11103 words

The one where Louis, an omega more than tired of being treated as lesser than alphas, is forced on a road trip by his beta besties only to meet Harry who might just be the alpha he never knew he wanted.

5) Cuffed | Not Rated | 15254 words

What would you do if you were handcuffed to your enemy for 48 hours?

6) Up For It | Explicit | 18223 words

The one where Liam is Mr Organised, Zayn is too perceptive for his own good, Niall is a compulsive matchmaker, and Harry and Louis might just have the surprise to shock them all.

7) Holiday Greetings (And Gay Happy Meetings) | Not Rated | 18417 words | Sequel

Note: This fic has no smut, but it has omega Louis. The sequel has smut.

The one where Niall's dead car and and a foot of snow conspire to force Louis into spending time with an alpha he hates.... or does he?

8) The Aurora Zone | Explicit | 19633 words

The one where Harry is busy crossing off his bucket list while Louis is busy falling for the guy he's supposed to hate.

9) I Wanna Be More Than Friends | Not Rated | 20721 words

The one where Harry’s an alpha with no sense of smell, Louis’ an omega who isn’t allowed to scent his best friend, and that’s all they’ll ever be. Obviously.

10) Etched In Salt (Is A Cathedral Of The World) | Explicit | 24417 words

Note: This fic has BH mentions. It is also locked and can only be read by AO3 users.

Louis asks for very few things in life, and they are: to solve cases, to keep bad people from doing their bad things, to get good coffee, to go home to a spacious apartment with nobody else in it, and to manage his stupid telempathy powers with minimal interference. And now he's stuck in a tiny cabin in a snowstorm in the middle of god-awful-nowhere with Harry Styles. Because of course he is.

11) Like A Siren In The Night | Explicit | 25868 words

“There is an infestation in my home,” Louis hisses, righting himself quickly and pushing his way past Harry, heading directly for the kitchen. He’s rather haphazardly dressed himself, a coat thrown on over a loose flannel shirt and black pants, slippers on his feet.

Harry resists the urge to sigh, closing the door and trailing behind him slowly. “What kind of infestation?”

For all he knows, Louis is going to claim that there’s a ghost infestation. Harry has no idea what the end game is here – all he knows is that Louis has found at least three complaints a week to bring up since he’s been living on Harry’s property, and he’s been living here for six months.

It’s way too many fucking complaints, is what Harry is saying. Especially when most of them are ridiculous to start with.

12) Always Come Back To You | Explicit | 28682 words

“I’ll do it,” Harry offers brightly. No one even blinks. “I’ll do it?”

Louis sighs irritably. “Shut up,” he orders, tossing a pillow in the general direction of Harry’s face. This is a terrible time for jokes, especially Harry’s lame, old people ones.

Not that it was an old people joke. Just that most of the time Harry’s jokes consist of knock-knocks or terrible puns. The type of jokes old people like, Louis’ pretty sure. His nan always finds them hilarious when Harry tells her one.

Harry bats the pillow out of the air without even blinking. “Be reasonable, Lou,” he says in his most reasonable voice.

Louis is perfectly reasonable, thank you very much, and he’s also frustrated and upset and tired and he really wants to punch something. Maybe he should have held on to that pillow a little longer.

“You’re not gonna fucking do it,” he snaps. “That’s the last thing I need.”

13) We’re Not Who We Used To Be | Explicit | 30611 words

“Harry…” Louis’ voice catches in his throat, thick with tears threatening to fall out, so he coughs to clear it before trying again. “Harry is Liam’s best man?” “You didn’t know?” Harry is standing at the entrance of the garage, mouth slightly open and face pulled together. He sets his bag on the ground and puts his hands on his hips. When he does that, he looks just like the Harry that Louis remembers (and loves, he thinks with an aching heart). “I’m sure I mentioned it,” Liam says, but Louis can tell he’s lying by the way he chews on his lower lip and twists his fingers together. “You’re all a bunch of dick heads, I’m getting in the car.” Louis isn’t sure if he’s being unreasonable. He has no idea what the protocol is when your ex-boyfriend shows up after three years and nobody bothered to give you a heads up. He’s pretty sure he’s allowed to be upset about it, even if it’s only for a bit.

14) Blind From This Sweet, Sweet Craving | Explicit | 31170 words

"So, I guess we'll go?" Louis asks later, when Harry has calmed down and eaten his weight in Chinese food. He plays with this chopsticks, spearing another piece of chicken and pops it in his mouth. "I mean, I wouldn't mind. We could make it an adventure."

Harry observes him, watches him seated across from him on their old living room carpet, with a container of food on his lap. He's fidgeting, avoiding meeting Harry's gaze–he probably knows that Harry's mad at him for ruining the one chance they had to get out of this situation. And he's not wrong, Harry is definitely very mad. Harry wants to strangle him and castrate him and smack him upside the head.

But he's also Harry's best friend, and despite everything, despite all the fuck-ups and the plot twists and everything just not playing out the way it should, he'd still rather be stuck in this situation with Louis than any of the other boys. He's got Harry's back, and in a weird, abstract way, he knows they'll be able to get out of this situation, together.

Harry sighs. "We're going," he says resignedly, his shoulders slumping.

Oh well. There are definitely worse ways to spend the weekend than pretending to be engaged to his best friend.

15) Welcome Back From The Friend Zone | Mature | 32584 words

The one where an idea to create a fake wedding with the sole intent to receive gifts from billionaires took a turn no one, but also everyone, saw coming.

16) Let Me Feel Your Heartbeat | Explicit | 34572 words

Harry is 98% sure Louis hates him. So he feels like his bewilderment is justified when the omega offers to help him through his rut.

17) Close To Nowhere | Explicit | 34589 words

Louis and Harry are psychics who kind of hate each other. They go to Tennessee to investigate a haunting.

18) Playing To Win | Explicit | 36732 words

Big Brother UK alumni Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles are selected for the UK vs Australia All Stars series with a massive one million dollar prize in the offing. They’re both fit and smart and would make a great alliance... if only they can stop their feelings from getting in the way.

19) If I Stay | Mature | 37226 words

Harry and Louis agree to a temporary arrangement that Harry can't seem to walk away from no matter how many times he tries.

20) The Space Between | Explicit | 39917 words

Harry Styles is the alpha rockstar who can’t sleep and doesn’t know why.

Louis Tomlinson is the omega PhD student who helps him figure it out.

21) Strangers In Love | Explicit | 42207 words

Louis wakes up to find himself in a marriage with the last man he thought he'd ever end up with.

22) Tangled Up In You | Explicit | 45152 words

Harry blinks once. And blinks again. And says, his voice dangerous: “Niall, did you get me a mail-order bride?”

Because what the actual fuck. It kind of looks like Niall’s just purchased a person. For Harry.

Niall blinks back at him for a few moments, before throwing his head back and howling with laughter. Harry throws a pillow at him. Hard. “No, what the fuck, Harry.”

“A prostitute then?” Harry also doesn't want a prostitute.

“Of course not!”

“A stripper?”

“No!”

Damn, he’s running out of ideas. He settles for launching another pillow at Niall’s head. Niall bats it away easily, still laughing. “Stop!”

“What did you get me, then?!” Niall must hear the tinge of hysteria in his voice, because he’s pulling himself together, trying to stop himself from laughing.

There’s still a big grin on his face, though, when he says, “I got you a professional cuddler.”

A professional…what. “What?”

23) No Going Back | Explicit | 56102 words

Sales reps Harry and Louis are bored with their jobs and their lives. After meeting at a conference in Cardiff they hook up, have a few too many drinks, and jokingly apply to become remote lighthouse keepers. Six months, just the two of them, looking after the southernmost lighthouse off the bottom of Australia. It’s not like their applications will be accepted. Right?

This is the story of how one choice - a left instead of a right, a go instead of a stop, a yes instead of a no - can change the future forever and that sometimes, taking that leap of faith, is worth the risk.

24) Waiting For The Tides To Meet | Explicit | 59873 words

Soulmate AU. Everyone is born with heterochromia — one eye is their own eye colour, while the other is the colour of their soulmate's. It's only when they meet their soulmate for the first time that their own eyes match properly. After a hazy night at a frat party, Louis wakes up to blue eyes and the shocking realization that he had met his soulmate, without any sober recollection. Seven years pass where Louis comes to terms with the fact that he'll never know who his soulmate is. Then one fated summer, a beautiful green-eyed photographer arrives at Louis' workplace, with promises of endless laughter and a familiar feeling in Louis' heart.

25) Swallow The Knife | Explicit | 76158 words

“You came,” Louis says, still breathless, clinging to Harry, uncaring that his sweat is getting all over Harry’s presumably clean dad shirt, or that he’s making Harry hold up all of his weight.

“Of course I came,” Harry says. He shifts, one arm curled underneath Louis’ arse, the other spreading wide in the middle of Louis’ back. “If I ignored you every time you pissed me off we would have stopped being friends a long time ago.”

Louis already knows that, of course. It doesn’t do anything to stop the pleased squirm in his belly every time Harry proves it, though. They fight like nobody’s business, both of them too stubborn to pull their punches when they’re arguing, and it used to get them in trouble, but they always make up.

Adrenaline makes Louis loose-lipped, and they both know it. He tightens his arms around Harry’s neck, buries his face in his hair. “I missed you,” he confesses, quiet. “Doesn’t feel the same up there by myself.”

26) Waiting On You | Explicit | 76584 words

“Vampires,” Louis says with disgust, glaring over at the vampire who is noisily slurping from the woman’s neck nearby.

Zayn gives the neat fang marks on Louis’ neck a meaningful look.

“Can’t live with them, can’t live without them,” Louis finishes, ignoring Zayn when he rolls his eyes.

Louis takes a long sip of his milkshake, presses his fingers against the marks on his neck, and definitely doesn’t think about the vampire who left them there.

27) Perfect Storm | Explicit | 80230 words

What do you do when your best friend asks you and your (now) ex to be the best men at his destination wedding? You can either tell him the truth, tell him you’re not together anymore, and deal with the consequences, or you can pretend you’re still together and roll with it, just pray you don’t spiral. Fake it ‘til you make it. You know, for the sake of the wedding.

Harry and Louis choose the latter.

28) Nothing Worsens, Nothing Grows | Mature | 102528 words

Another roadtrip AU featuring Harry as the misunderstood hipster, Louis as the bitter psych major, Liam as the one with the secret boyfriend, and Niall as the one who just wants everyone to be happy.

Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.

#bottom louis #top harry #larry #fic recs #sharing a bed #blp #blp fic recs

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not-reagan · 3 years

Text

milf: man i love forests

pairing: deforester boo seungkwan x frat boy mirror demon han jisung (side pairing reagan x rainbow)

genre: crack, strangers to friends to lovers, non-idol au

warnings: cursing, brief supernatural elements, i don’t know if this applies but all lcase, and i listened to christmas music and abba while writing this

word count: 2.7k

authors note: happy birthday @miyuuraiura !! i am so sorry about this monstrosity being your birthday gift but you asked for it so it's your fault entirely. i was gonna include some context on this story for those who are not rainbow and i but actually i don't think i will.

seungkwan did what he could to get by. he loved nature, he really did, but sometimes you have to make moral sacrifices to survive. he was a college kid strapped for cash, and when he saw a sign reading “GET RICH QUICK, INVEST IN DEFORESTATION” in the summer going into his freshmen year, he jumped at the opportunity. sure, he would have rather been a freelance singer, hired for bar-mitzvahs and children's parties, but that job market was flooded at the moment.

jisung, on the other hand, had no care for nature. actually, he didn't care for any human things, apart from “banging parties, booze, the boys™, and bitches”. he hated quite a bit about earth, the worst of all to him being college. as a demon, he had no reason to attend university, but after he was summoned in the bathroom of a frat house by the school’s power couple; rainbow and reagan, he felt obliged to follow the two around and keep them company.

for seungkwan, his main job rarely required in person work. he usually just chose plots of land to demolish, and sent plans to local managers. the only time he actually had to knock down any trees himself was during his summer break. he has a part time job of course, but it didn't provide him enough cash to survive. for someone with a job as a deforester, he truly did do what he could to save the environment. he joined his schools environmental club, becoming vice president his sophomore year because of his work with them. he kept his job a secret, not even telling his parents where the influx of cash was coming from. he kept a low profile and went through the motions of life. he didn't have much of a social life, with his small amount of friends being from the environmental club.

han jisung found joy in witnessing his professors and fellow students lose their minds over his lack of effort in class. he did the bare minimum and still passed with flying colors. most of all, it angered his seatmate in earth science, who happened to be none other than boo seungkwan. seungkwan was a hard worker in everything he did, particularly in school. he didn't get the best grades, but by no means was he the worst. averaging a steady B+, seungkwan spent most of his nights studying or working, rarely going to parties and enjoying himself only through one person karaoke rooms.

this fact upset jisung. he didn't know why, but seeing seungkwan so tired every day made him feel sad(? jisung wasn't sure what it made him feel. it was an emotion he had never experienced before. rainbow told him it meant he had a crush. to this he threw an empty soda can at them). not to mention seungkwan’s upsetting karaoke addiction, which he knew all about the danger of because of reagan, who spent most of her weekends drunk and singing. jisung didn’t know why he took such a liking to seungkwan. what he did know was that he was ecstatic to find that they would be paired together for a project. a project that required quite a bit of teamwork, and a lot of after school work sessions.

seungkwan liked to think that he didn’t hate anyone. he hated evil people, like hitler and stalin and jyp, but he didn’t really hate anyone besides the worst of the worst. that was until he experienced jisung. he wasn’t sure why jisung always talked to him when he was trying to take notes in class. he especially wasn’t sure why he was so excited to be partnered up together for the project that was worth 25% of their grade. seungkwan was less than happy to have to cooperate with jisung for an extended period of time, and he was not looking forward to letting him into his dorm room, or going anywhere near jisung’s frat house. seungkwan had no idea what he was pushed into.

they planned to meet at the cafe on campus at 5:00 pm after class. seungkwan was less than happy. jisung was thrilled. when jisung arrived seungkwan was sitting at a table drinking an americano and working on an english essay. he wasn't sure how to approach him, slowly walked closer before tapping on his shoulder. seungkwan jolted in his seat.

“jesus fuck jisung. you scared the crap out of me,” seungkwan gasped. jisung’s ears flushed as he brought his hand to the back if his neck.

“sorry,” he started, pausing for a second before starting again, “why don't we get started?”. he swung his bag down to the ground as he took a seat. seungkwan offered a small, non genuine smile before pulling out the project’s guidelines.

“let's try to finish this as quickly as possible. im pretty busy and don't have much time to fool around.” seungkwan said. jisung felt his heart drop. did seungkwan really think that little of him? granted, he always dozed off in class but he got his work done on time and in an orderly fashion. he felt his mind begin to wander. if seungkwan felt this way about him now, how would he feel when he found out that jisung was a demon. would seungkwan start to like him if he knew him better? jisung couldn't figure out why he cared so much about how seungkwan perceived him. he had never had an issue with others opinions of him before, so what made seungkwan so different? for some reason, jisung felt the need to connect with seungkwan. if not for himself, then at least to help him let loose.

after working silently on each of their portions of the projects for 3 hours, jisung finally spoke up. “do you want to maybe come to my party next month? well, it's not my party, it's for rainbow’s birthday. i know you're not one for social interaction but it would be cool to see you there. i’ll give you the details if-”

“i’d love to go,” seungkwan cut off jisung’s rambling. to be honest, he wasn't exactly sure what he was agreeing to, but he knew it would shut jisung up, and seungkwan valued his peace and quiet. part of him also just felt downright bad for the other. he seemed to be trying awfully hard to become friends with seungkwan, and he wouldn’t admit it, seungkwan had started to warm up to the boy. he really wasn’t as much of an issue as he had thought before, and was actually really respectful of seungkwan’s wishes. maybe i’ll give him a chance, seungkwan thought before going back to his work.

over the next month, jisung and seungkwan continued meeting to work on their project. seungkwan was less short with the other, and jisung was still red faced every time seungkwan decided to talk to him, which became quite frequently over the next few weeks. jisung was starting to realize that the feelings he had for seungkwan were not simply platonic, and that he didn’t just want to be friends with him. with the help of rainbow and reagan, he had come to the conclusion that he really, really liked seungkwan, and that he was going to do something about it. remembering that he had invited seungkwan to the party, he devised a plan to not only tell seungkwan about his whole “i’m actually a demon” thing, but also about his true feelings. it wouldn't be easy, but it was what he had to do.

a month later, seungkwan still wasn’t exactly sure why he had agreed to go to jisungs frat house at 9:00 pm on a saturday night. yet there he was, standing on the front porch of a large house, wondering if he should bite the bullet and walk in, or spare himself and leave right then. he didn't get a choice, however, as rainbow and reagan stepped out of the house giggling while clutching onto each other. both stopped in their tracks when they saw seungkwan. the couple and seungkwan stared at each other for a good minute before seungkwan shook himself from his trance.

“hey rainbow!” seungkwan started, “and reagan too. i know we aren’t super close, but jisung invited me and i thought i’d just drop by and wish you a happy birthday.” he passed her a birthday card filled with $50 bucks and then turned to leave. “i’ll leave you guys now. have a great birthday!” before seungkwan could get very far, however, rainbow grabbed him by the arm.

“hey, i’d love if you’d stay! at least go say hi to jisung. i’m sure he’d like to see you,” she said, silently making note to have jisung pay her back for being a great wingwoman.

“he’s probably hiding in the second floor bathroom. if you don't see him in there, just say his name three times in front of the mirror. he’ll appear.” reagan explained. seungkwan thought she was joking. how wrong he was.

following his entrance to the house, he had to refuse not one, not two, but three different people who were looking to give him bottles or cups of something which seungkwan presumed to be various types of alcohol. navigating through the house was difficult, reaching the stairs to the second floor only after running into numerous people borderline fucking on two large couches in the living room, a smoke circle taking place in what seungkwan assumed to be a dining room, and a very aggressive makeout session against a wall. once he finally reached the second floor, he had some difficulty finding the bathroom, accidentally walking in on reagan and rainbow, who had miraculously made it upstairs faster than he had.

“if you don’t stop shitting constantly i am going to break up with you! also, stop taking feet pics! it’s weird!” he heard rainbow shout.

“at least i can eat seafood! how does it make your head hurt? you’re the weakest link! that fucking seafood platter was delicious. and you know what, i’m glad i didn’t have to share it with you!” reagan responded. seungkwan quickly shut the door, not wanting to get involved in whatever drunken argument was going on there. after a bit more searching, he finally stumbled across the right room. knocking first to see if anyone was in there, he entered, and to his surprise, nobody was there. jisung was nowhere to be seen. seungkwan reviewed his options. he could a) leave the party, or b) continue to look around the packed house. but there was another option. he thought about it for a second.

“what's the harm in trying,” seungkwan thought out loud, before staring directly into the mirror.

“han jisung, han jisung, han jisung.”

nothing happened. that's what seungkwan thought, until a minute later the lights in the bathroom flickered off and the mirror began to glow. “what. the. fuck,” seungkwan managed to squeak out before falling backwards into the tub. first a leg emerged, then two arms, and finally the rest of jisung’s body.

“i feel like the genie in aladin every time i have to get into a fucking mirror,” jisung complained before seeing seungkwan toppled over. to that view, he jumped down off the counter and moved to help him up. seungkwan, aside from falling, seemed to be reacting well to the whole situation, at least in the sense that instead of freaking out he seemed to be in a state of shock. jisung took this as a good sign, and lifted the motionless body up onto the toilet seat.

“hey seungkwan, you there?” jisung waved his hand in front of seungkwan's face as he slowly came to his senses.

“what kind of twisted party trick was that?” seungkwan asked, pretty seriously. jisung just laughed.

“you summoned me from the mirror. i’m like a funny version of michael jackson except i'm a demon and not a man in the mirror.” jisung explained. seungkwan just stared. “are you ok kwan? do you want me to get you some water?”

“it was… kind of sick.” seungkwan stated. he didn't know why he wasn't scared. under any other circumstance like this one, he probably would have shit his pants. for some reason he felt comfortable around jisung. he felt warm. he felt seen. it was something he hadn't felt before. that's when he realized. he wondered why it took himself to long to figure it out. he never hated jisung. he just didn't know what to do with the fact that he made him feel special, and that he felt as though he belonged when they were together. it had hit him why he was so nervous the whole night, why he had wanted to make such a good impression, and why he was willing to embarrass himself by calling out jisungs name as opposed to just choosing to go home. it was because he loved him.

“can i tell you something?” both of the boys said at the same time. jisung giggled and seungkwan flushed red. **authors note! bonus starts here**

“you first,” seungkwan offered. he wasn't exactly sure he would be able to make it through a sentence without getting any redder than he already was.

jisung took this opportunity to finally get his true feelings out into the air, “i like you… uhh like, i like like you. i have since we first became seatmates. well, i think that's when i've liked you since. i knew whe-”

“you're rambling again,” seungkwan told him. jisung flushed a dark shade of pink. “it's a habit of yours. i think it's cute actually.” seungkwan wasn't sure where his sudden surge of confidence came from, but he was glad it came. he was standing up now, holding jisungs hands in his. jisungs heart was racing a mile a minute as he looked down at their intertwined hands and them back up, catching seungkwan looking directly at his lips. “can… can i kiss you?” seungkwan stuttered out. jisung couldn't find his words, so he opted to just nod.

when their lips connected, seungkwan could have sworn he heard fireworks. he did later find out that someone was setting off a firework in the back yard, but it was the thought that counted. their lips melted together perfectly, and seungkwan wondered why it took him so long to admit his feelings to himself. he could have been kissing jisung for a month before this.

once they finally parted, seungkwan spoke softly, “i like you too. i think that's pretty obvious now but just in case you didn't know.” jisung had the dumbest, most confused face on, and seungkwan had the brightest smile he'd ever had. seungkwan had rendered jisung speechless, for once in his life. not long after, they started kissing again, content with their emotions and their new relationship.

seungkwan was never one to believe that good things were permanent. he was overdramatic, stubborn, and hated interacting with people outside his small social circle. that was until han jisung came along. he was starting to think that maybe, just maybe, he could let someone else into his life.

jisung was a simple man. well, not a man, but he was simple nonetheless. he liked banging parties, booze, the boys™, and bitches. well maybe there was one more thing he liked. he knew for sure he liked boo seungkwan. maybe he loved him. maybe seungkwan even felt the same way.

-fin

**BONUS**

reagan and rainbow leaned up against the door to eavesdrop on their matchmaking work.

“holy shit!” reagan gasped.

“what is it?? tell me what happened. you're hogging up the door!” rainbow hissed.

“our boy is so grown up,” reagan pretended to cry. “put your goddamn ear up here.” rainbow felt her ear connect with the cold door just as jisung confessed his feelings.

“i like you… uhh like, i like like you. i have since we first became seatmates. well, i think that's when i've liked you since. i knew whe-” his next words were cut off on the girls side of the door as reagan squealed.

“shut your mouth! seungkwans saying something!!” rainbow said, obviously annoyed that reagan was obstructing her ability to hear the exchange.

“can… can i kiss you?” they heard seungkwan say. both looked at each other in shock.

“oh. my. god.” was all rainbow could say.

“i think we should give them some alone time,” reagan suggested as she tugged rainbow down the hall.

“i think we need some alone time for ourselves,” rainbow said as reagan pushed her into a random room and locked the door behind them.

#kpop #seventeen #stray kids #svt #skz #fanfic #guys i am so sorry #seungkwan #jisung #boo seungkwan #han #han jisung #a birthday gift #miyuuraiura #for you 💕#han jisung x boo seungkwan #jisung x seungkwan #han x seungkwan

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ramp-it-up · 3 years

Text

Fresh Squeeze, Ch. 5

Pairing: Daveed Diggs x OFC Linden Marshall

Set in 2023, post-pandemic

Warnings: Cursing, Angsty Angst, drug and alcohol use, surprise flights, Anthony Ramos. Lots of Plot.

Word Count: 3.5 K

Plot: Linden Marshall just finished law school at Columbia University in NYC. Daveed Diggs is still creating magic with his platonic life partner Rafael Casal in the form of their Blindspotting musical, Bay Boys. Linden’s boyfriend WAS Mark Monaco, star of the superhero movie series Invincible. They were together for years, and her trauma and his addictions were toxic. She knows now that wasn’t love.

A/N: Keep in mind that this the same AU as Arrivals, with Holly Woods, but is BEFORE Rafa and Holly get together. And don’t come for me about Anthony.

Read the Previous Chapter.

===================

NYC, May 2023

Jasmine was blowing up your phone as you were trying to get dressed. You had to search for it under the pile of clothes on your bed.

You had procrastinated getting ready, trying to finish one of your applications for a summer internship at this law firm in Harlem that you were excited about.

You wanted to finally relax after finishing Columbia law in the top 10% of your class. You just wanted to relax and enjoy this weekend.

Craig, your mom and your uncle were the only ones to attend your graduation. They knew you didn’t want any fanfare, so your famous friends didn’t attend, and they had a show to do, but they’d sent you tons of well wishes.

We're coming up, get decent!

You chuckled and shook your head. Anthony usually raided the refrigerator when he came over. This time, you told him to bring his own snacks..

You slipped on what you were wearing for the night. Craig was in his room getting ready and you had volunteered his place, so you were playing hostess. You were surprised that he was so chill about it, actually.

“Pika Pika,” you said to yourself in the mirror then ran to answer the doorbell. It was almost 6 pm.

You opened the door for Cookie Monster and Big Bird. You burst out laughing. But you stopped when you saw Anthony's face. He had like five bags from Whole Foods that he was juggling in his blue arms.

"Jazzy!!!! There's my girl. Hey Ant! leave the food and your girl. We may run off together."

Anthony came in the door loaded down with bags and kissed you on the cheek.

“I love you Lindy, but fuck you man.” You punched him on the shoulder.

“Ow! Time to get this party started!”

Linden heard Jazzy’s Brooklyn accent turn into a London lilt as she started play fighting with Ant. They felt like family at this point.

=================

Ever since the launch party in January, Jasmine had pursued you as a friend persistently. You normally didn’t let anyone in because of the circumstances of your life, but Jas was oblivious to your awkwardness with normal human beings.

“Girl, you are fucking DOPE, and you are NOT gonna deny my love. I know your life has been a trip, and you don’t have to tell me all of it, but I’m not gonna let you shrivel up and be a little retiring wallflower. Life is to be lived.”

Jasmine telling you that during a Saturday brunch date in February was the key to your heart. She drew you out, and you didn’t see what value you added to her life.

But she loved you anyway. And you loved her, and of course, Anthony was part of the package.

He was beautiful, loud, talented, and reckless, but he reminded you too fucking much of Dell to be annoyed with him very long.

Your circle had certainly widened from just Craig. That was one thing for which you could thank Mark. You were working on him being a distant memory. He hadn’t lasted too long in Bay Boys, quitting soon after the musical opened in March.

Daveed’s hands and feet had ‘slipped’ one too many times during the scene when he was stomping his ass on stage. Mark cited health reasons, and publicly spiraled a bit. He was currently in rehab.

Again.

You had not heard from him and that was absolutely fine with you.

Because Jasmine was in Bay Boys and that was her life, the cast and crew became yours as well. Rafael was the type of chaotic creative genius that fascinated you; you could listen to him talk for hours.

Things with Daveed were more tricky. Ever since that awkwardness with him after the launch party, you’d kept your distance, but you hung out a lot, so you were trying to be friends.

When you and Jas and Ant and Rafa hung out and talked, Daveed was there, smiling shyly and sneaking glances at you, throwing in pearls of wisdom every so often.

He was so dope and so talented and intelligent and so freaking hot, but you were trying to get yourself together. You were convinced that night in January had been a mistake.

You needed some space. And time. Law school was no joke, and you were in therapy so entanglements was not what was up.

Daveed sensed your hesitancy and decided to stop pursuing you. But he couldn’t stop how he felt.

You were both a little wasted and keyed up the night of the launch party, and despite the way you were beautiful and intelligent and sexy as fucking hell, he was not going to press you.

Daveed was sure that you two could be something special if you would give it a chance, but he didn’t want to chase you, but he was so gone for you, that if you just nodded your head at him, he would be at your feet.

The attraction was undeniable. There was a crazy little dance you two did that everyone recognized and respected. This group seemed to know you were fragile, and that you didn’t need to be pushed too far.

But the more they persisted, the more you came out of your shell. The more you trusted, the more the old Lindy came back.

Craig noticed first soon after you started hanging with the crew when you were trying to find a place to live. He went to one showing with you and sat you down for a talk.

“Girl, I love the light in your eyes. I haven’t seen this Lindy since…well in a long time. Stay with me for as long as you want. I know you need to get through this last semester of school, you don’t need one more thing to think about. I’m proud of the work that you’re doing on yourself, Linden.”

You were grateful to Craig. His place on the Upper West Side was super convenient to Columbia, and not having to think about finding a place was so clutch. Third year was kicking your ass.

“Besides, I wouldn’t have this place if it wasn’t for…”

“Hush, I don’t want to hear that. Dell would have wanted this. I love you cuzzo.”

=================

Craig came out in a Sully onesie and immediately dragged Jasmine into a conversation about the Met Gala that had happened a few days ago.

You approached the kitchen where Ant stood, food all around him on the counter. You were whispering. He smiled a secret smile at you.

“I’m so proud of you doing this for Jasmine. It’s good for you all to get away. I’m glad that she got a little break. She deserves it all.”

Anthony had arranged for this little get together to be a surprise for Jasmine. This was going to be a kickback weekend.

The show was on a four day hiatus while the set was moved to a bigger theatre. It was a hit and was destined for a long run.

Ant’s green eyes lit up as you kept talking about Jasmine.

“Yeah, she does. And the woman of the hour deserves all the happiness in the world.” He lifted his beer to you.

They way he said that was weird and you were about to ask him what was up with that when the doorbell started ringing, you went to answer it and were stuck there for a few minutes as people started coming in.

The food and the drinks were flowing while all kinds of characters came in.

Now they also had Jack Skellingtom, and a Care Bear in the house to add to Big bird, Cookie Monster, Pikachu and Sully. It was an odd cast of characters who were jamming to 90's rap, eating chicken wings and basically tripping like only friends could do.

Then there was Toni, some tag-along chick who showed up with Rafa. She had on a plain gray onesie. What a downer.

You’d pegged her for a star fucker who only hung with Rafa because of who he and his friends were. The girl was too much in everyone's business.

"Sooooo. You and Mark ARE broken up for real for real. The tabloids say y’all are back together! I told my friend Susie you weren’t, but she wouldn't believe me."

You just smiled and didn't confirm or deny, treating Toni like the paparazzi. The girl was oblivious to your hate and just kept talking.

Daveed rescued you.

"Hey, Toni, show these folks how you can blow. They're setting up the karaoke machine over there. Show us what you're working with. Someone might hook you up with a gig."

Toni perked up and hurried over to Anthony and Craig, who were setting up the lyrics on the big screen to match the karaoke music. Some Bad Boy joints were up.

Rafa was behind them screaming, "Dylan, Dylan, Dylan!"

They were a scene. You breathed and relaxed a little.

"Don't stress. She's not coming with us to the island."

You looked up at the tall, fine Grumpy Care Bear who was nursing some of your special 18-year-old Chivas Regal that you had gotten for graduation. His beautiful smile shined out of his brown face and beneath the curls tumbling out of his hood.

“I’m not pressed. I’m chilling. You can do what you want. With who you want.”

“She’s not with me. Rafa brought her for the ride to the airport. And it’s not entirely true that I can do what I want. With who I want. Because what if who I want to do doesn’t want to do me?”

You knew what he meant. But you eyed his drink instead of looking at him. It wasn’t that you didn’t want him. That was far from the truth. You didn’t want to get lost in him. And you could see that happening.

Daveed saw your wheels turning. You were over analyzing again. He’d spent three months observing you every chance he got. He felt like he knew your anxieties. So fucking smart, but here you were thinking too much.

"Hey Genuis Ass. Want some?" Daveed’s voice was softer as he grinned and offered you some of his drink. “Or, I could go make you something?” For some reason he wanted you to get loose.

"Nah, I'm good Diggs.” For some reason you needed to stay in control. You played it off by changing the subject.

“I still can’t believe y’all call me that.”

Daveed just smiled and nodded, chuckling a little. He craned his neck and looked at it, having to dodge a smack upside the head.

“That ass is genius, you know. That’s the one thing He Who Shall Not Be Named was right about. And you’re one of the smartest humans I know.”

You had to look at him then. The flecks of gold in his eyes tho. But you could tell from the slight redness that he was a little zooted. He didn’t get that way around you a lot, but you knew for the stories that he partied occasionally.

He and Rafa and that Toni chick must have pre-gamed. You remembered the last time you two were tipsy together.You cleared your throat and looked away.

“Why did you lie to that girl? She can’t sing.” You were shaking your head, scowling at Toni’s screeching from the karaoke machine.

He winked at you. D was well on his way to getting LIT.

"What? She can blow.” Daveed sipped his drink and watched her.

“She’ll suck your soul out and spit it back in your mouth." Daveed was loose. And so was his mouth. But he didn’t care.

Your mouth was hanging open at Daveed as you wondered what Daveed had done with Toni, what Daveed AND Rafa had done with Toni...

Shit, you were just going to ask.

"How do you know that she..."

"AWWWW SHEEEIIIITTT! THAT'S MY JAM! REMEMBER THIS LINDY??"

“No, I was like, negative 5..”

You raised your voice as he traveled away from you, smiling. He was not slick.

“Well you missed out being tardy to the party…”

He was backing toward the mic, knocking it out of Anthony’s hand and starting the rap. Rafa joined him, trading verses.

Now as the record spins around, you recognize this sound,

Well, it's the underground,

You know that we're down with wutchyalike

Yeah, with wutchyalike, yeah

And though we're usually on the serious tip, check it out:

Tonight we're gonna flip and trip and let it all hang out tonight,

We're gonna say what we like.

'Cause, yo, yo, we want to know how many people in the flow,

Would like to just let yourselves go

And doowutchyalike,

Yeah, well tonight's your night.

Just eat food, try not to be crude or rude,

Kill the attitude, chill the serious mood,

And doowutchyalike,

Yeah, and doowutchyalike,

Everybody doowutchyalike

Everyone was dancing and Daveed had effectively deflected your question. But you would never forget.

By 8 o’clock, Craig grabbed the mic and motioned for Jasmine to come with him. You had enjoyed some cocktails finally, and just figured they were going to duet Wind Beneath My Wings just like they always did.

You were actually moving to the music and feeling good.

"Ok guys, whew. I'm hot. Is it hot in herrrre?" Craig was fanning himself.

“Whoooo! Nelly!”

You yelled and everyone laughed.

Craig took his hood off and started to unzip his onesie. Jasmine did the same.

You kept dancing nervously, not realizing it, looking around at the others who were also disrobing. You did a double take as D’s abs came into view. What was going on?

Craig continued.

"Lindy, I just need a minute to talk, can you stop whatever it is you're doing?" He grinned at you from across the room. "You're still moving Lindy."

You blushed and stopped fidgeting.

"Ummm, Craig, what the..."

One by one people dropped their onesies, all except Toni, who had no clue what was going on. Soon, everyone was standing in Craig’s condo in their swimsuits, looking fine as hell.

You just looked around, then in your cup wondering if you were too drunk and hallucinating.

“Lindy, you’ve worked real hard, and this past few months have been crazy, so we wanted to do something special for you this weekend, for your graduation, and for your birthday, WHICH IS SUNDAY!!”

Everyone cheered as Jasmine took the mic. “You think this party is for me. Well the joke’s on you bitch, because you have been hosting your own party!”

You opened your mouth, squeaked a little, then spoke,

"But why?.. Everybody? But what..."

Daveed moved close.

"Damn, you fine," you whispered.

Your hand flew to your mouth when he smirked in response. Everyone was rolling because turns out, you didn’t whisper.

Daveed cleared his throat. "Thank you. You’re fine yaseif. Anyway, Anthony and Jasmine have a house there, and we’re flying out of JFK tonight. In about two and a half hours in fact. So we gotta get going.”

You still had only a part of a clue of what was going on. But you couldn't resist all of this.

"Okay? But... I don't have any clothes. And I don’t have a ticket..."

Craig came from the storage room off the kitchen with one of your suitcases. Others started getting their bags as well

"Everybody's shit has been in my house for a week. And girl, you know I got your information. It ain’t nothing but a thang. Your ticket is ready and waiting. Just sent it to your email.”

Your mouth dropped open and you stared at Craig as everyone pulled their onesies back up and got their bags together.

Your eyes filled with tears that you hurriedly brushed away. Craig came over and hugged you. Then every else joined in for a group hug.

"You deserve, Lindy. Let us celebrate you."

You looked like you didn't quite believe it, but you went along. You laughed, visibly deciding to go with the flow.

"I'm down!"

Toni was nearby. When the hug broke up, she started asking questions. Your patience was wearing thin.

"I don’t believe that all these people really roll like this. Y’all wild. Susie won that bet."

You just continued to look at this fool.

"But isn’t this dope? All these famous, successful men being so fearless with their love and appreciation for Black women, of all people. Who woulda thunk they didn't want white women?"

Toni just kept saying the wrong thing. It was the "of all people" for you.

You stared daggers at your houseguest. Toni caught the look.

"Wait, are you mixed?"

You narrowed your eyes and said, "Black mixed with Black."

Toni clutched her pearls.

"Oh wow. Didn't mean to offend. I just mean everyone knows Jasmine is mixed, with her dad and all, as black as can be. But her white British mom saved her from his skin tone. I mean, she has braids in now, so you can see it, but all she has to do is blow her hair straight and she can pass..."

Toni jumped when Rafa spoke. She didn't know he was there.

"Toni. Not Jas. She's the homie."

The look in his ice blue eyes could burn.

"And you are a Black woman, so you know how dope they are. Why would anyone NOT worship at your feet?"

Lindy just sipped her drink as Craig entered the chat. "Amen!"

"Maybe it is time for you to get going, honey. I might call you when I get back."

Rafa led Toni to the door as she protested.

"But I was going to take you to the air..."

"And I APPRECIATE you Black woman, but we'll get there. See you later."

Then Rafa shut the door in her face. Linden discovered she loved him eternally at that moment. She was rolling.

No one mourned Toni’s departure as arrangements were made for cars to take everyone to the airport.

"You and Daveed can ride with us, Rafa." Ant to the rescue.

"Yeah, Jasmine loves to look at my profile." Jas pinched him so hard he jumped.

“Fuck!”

Ant was screaming as he, Jasmine and Rafa went out the door.

"Peace! See you at airport security. If you get nabbed by TSA, you on your own!”

Daveed lingered. “I don’t know if all of us and our bags will fit in one car. Can I ride with you and Lindy, Craig?”

Craig smirked at Daveed, but didn’t say anything. “Of course...you good with that Lindy?”

You tried to keep it light.

“Sure.. no biggie,” you cleared your throat and headed to the bathroom to make sure you had everything you needed.

=================

By the time you got to your Uber, the traffic was horrible. It took over an hour to get to the airport. You felt both anxious about missing the flight and keyed up about sitting next to Daveed in the car.

His thigh and side pressing into yours in the dark in the back of an Uber Black brought back memories of that reckless night.

When he put his arm up on the seat behind you, “For more room,” he said, in that voice and flashing that megawatt smile, you were enveloped more into his scent and warmth. You had to control yourself not to melt into him.

Craig was sitting on his phone, sneaking glances at you and smirking the entire ride. He’d insisted that you be in the middle because you were so tiny.

The whole world was against you, you thought, as you and Daveed both stared straight ahead, both flashing back to that January night.

You were the last three people to run through the airline gate just at they were about to close it. All your friends in first class cheered when you took their seats, and Rafa popped a bottle of champagne.

"Talk about cutting it close," Ant commented as Rafa gave Daveed a high five.

Daveed looked at you. You shook your head at him. Somehow, you were sitting next to him. You just decided to let it be and have some time.

“Just make sure you don’t molest me under this blanket, Ms. Marshall,” Daveed intoned when you were settled and given amenities for the night.

The flight attendant had to tell y’all to keep quiet as the cat calls went up.

Welp, you thought. This will be the vibe the entire weekend.

You weren’t mad at it. You loved these people. And you were safe. You just smiled, settled down, and looked out of the window to watch the lights of New York fade away.

=================

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Tagging: @braidedchallah @einfachniemand @sillyteecup @commandersmiley @ohsoverykeri-blog @theselilwonders @theatrenerd86 @sebastianabucknettastan @imatyoursurrvicesurr @riiyy @ivycomet @lonelydance @jbrizzywrites @id-do-it-for-free-babe

#Daveed Diggs #daveed x reader #daveed diggs x black reader #daveed diggs x ofc reader #Daveed diggs x ofc black reader #daveed diggs x you #daveed diggs imagine #daveed diggs angst #daveed diggs fluff #anthony ramos #jasmine cephas jones #Rafael Casal #Hamilfam #blindspotting #Daveed x Linden

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lifeofa-fangirl · 3 years

Text

I don’t want you like a best friend

Pairing: Tom Hiddleston x OFC

Summary: Taylor Swift causes OFC to put her friendship with Tom on the line

Word count: 3.3k

Warnings: A few swear words, a tiny bit of angst maybe? Mostly fluff

A/N: I was stuck on my Damiano David x Reader piece, so I decided to take a break and finally finish this one. I have nothing against Taylor Swift, just used her as a plot piece to move the story along. As always, likes, comments and reblogs are much appreciated!

‘Please come to the BAFTAS with me?’

Lauren scrunched her nose together in slight confusion when a text from her best friend appeared on her phone. The words were simple enough. It was a plea to hang out, similar to the ones where he insisted that he needed to come to Edinburgh again soon. He was constantly begging her to keep the guest room ready, so he could hop on a train and come visit. It had always been too long in his opinion. She never disagreed.

They knew each other a little over a year now and Lauren was still surprised how they’d grown so close so quickly. She always felt like she still hadn’t fully recovered from their first night out together.

Thinking back at how she’d actually gotten to meet Tom, it still felt like a dream. She still didn’t get how she of all people had gotten lucky enough to win the Omaze raffle that Mark Ruffalo had done. The winner was flown out to LA to hang out with Mark for the weekend and attend the Thor Ragnarok premier. By some lucky strike from the faiths, that had been her.

She also still didn’t know the exact details of how or why the faiths had written Tom into the story. But the fact was that she had reminded Mark of Tom, he’d introduced the pair, insisting that they would click immediately and they should walk the red carpet together. Lauren still suspected him of setting this up on purpose to distract the press from any spoilers that he would almost definitely be giving away by accident.

It hadn’t helped Mark much, as he had practically live streamed 20 minutes of the movie, but he hadn’t been wrong on the other front. Lauren had never heard or read a story about Tom that had anything bad to say about him. Charismatic, funny, intelligent and so very kind, was the vibe that clung to him. Lauren had been nervous about meeting him, she believed in never meeting your heroes, and had been scared that he wouldn’t live up to the picture she had painted of him in her mind. But Tom turned out to be exactly as amazing as all the stories deemed him to be. And Lauren had taken an immediate liking to him.

Mark had also been right about the press attention. When Tom had showed up with a date on the red carpet in the first time in forever, the press had had a field day. The constant flashes and questions, all the attention on her, Lauren hadn’t liked it one bit. But Tom had been the perfect gentleman. He constantly had had an arm around her to keep her steady and make her feel safe. He had handled all the questions with patience and grace, never once making her feel uncomfortable.

And in the end, all the attention had been worth it. They had a lot of fun at the premier, so much that Tom and her had spend most of the reminder of their time in LA hanging out together. As the faiths would have it, they had even been on the same flight back to England, on which he definitely hadn’t boother her up to first class and she definitely hadn’t fallen asleep on his shoulder.

Lauren had always felt like there could have been something more, but they both had busy lives and had gone their separate ways after the plane had touched ground in London.

They had, however, exchanged phone numbers early on during their stay in LA. To arrange any practical details of whatever they were going to do together of course, no other reason.

But in the year that followed, the exchange of numbers had led to an almost constant stream of texts. Tom would share snippets of the stuff he was working on, cute pictures of his dog or just something beautiful he had come across on his daily run that he insisted made him think of her. She would vent about the trouble she came across during her shifts in the hospital or send funny pictures of her deeply loved godson.

They had become quick friends, but after twelve months Lauren still wasn’t sure what exactly they had going on. Whether they were bound to stay friends or if there could be something more on the horizon. Every now and then, Tom’s texts would take a flirty turn. But even though she always tried to send a cheeky return, she wasn’t sure what it meant. She knew that, even without realizing he was doing it, Tom tended to be a big flirt with everyone.

And nothing else had ever happened. She had gone to London a few times, but mostly he came up north to Edinburgh whenever he had the time. She had quickly come to realize he liked how peaceful it was compared to buzzing London. They would hang out in their little cocoon and that was that.

Every now and then some pap shots would appear of them. Walking Bobby, going for a coffee or grabbing dinner. Friends would always tell her they looked like a couple, the way they stood huddled together, how he had his arm around her lower back or hers was linked through his. But that’s what friends did, right? They hung out together and that’s all there was to it. They were imagining the extra sparkle they claimed to see in his eyes when he was looking at her. Because there was no way Tom was returning the feeling she told everybody she definitely hadn’t developed for him.

And strangely, most of the time she was content about that. Because she wasn’t seeking any attention and she definitely didn’t want to be known just as ‘Tom’s girlfriend’. And Tom knew that. He respected that and liked it. Because it also meant that in return, with her he could be just Tom, instead of the A-list superstar. They had their own little safe haven together. It was the reason Tom had never asked her to attend an event with her again. And it was the reason she was confused that he was asking her now.

‘Pretty please? Put your loving hand out baby, I’m begging. Begging you.’

Another text brought Lauren back to the present and out of her thoughts. She snorted when she noticed he gave her a taste of her own medicine. Working lyrics into a text or conversation was her specialty, but apparently Tom had taken to drastic measures. She was still confused as to where this was coming from, but also knew she couldn’t say no to Tom, especially not when he was begging.

“Sure, I guess that could be fun,” she agreed. She pushed away all thoughts of this being a bad idea and decided to try and just make a fun night of it.

And fun she had. She accompanied Tom to the red carpet, the preshow dinner and the public ceremony. And while she hadn’t expected it, Lauren ended up having a phenomenal time during all of it. She cheered along with Tom when Guillermo De Torro won best director. She got to meet the wonderful Karen Gillan and Tom introduced her to Hugh Laurie, whom she had adored ever since watching Black Adder as a kid.

And she finally found out the actual reason why Tom had begged her to come along with him. Tom had insisted that he’d just wanted her there and wanted to have a good time and that it was time the world got to know the fabulous person Lauren was. But the moment they were on the red carpet and she saw the look on his face when he saw his ex girlfriend step into the spotlight, she knew.

It had been almost 18 months since Tom and Taylor had broken up, but surprisingly it was the first time they attended an event together. Tom managed to give Taylor a polite nod when she passed them, a motion that Taylor didn’t bother to copy. Lauren was suddenly very aware of the cameras around them and she deeply hoped they captured the once over that Taylor gave her, which ended in a look of disgust. Tom certainly had, as Lauren felt his arm slip around her waist to pull her closer to him and felt his lips press a quick kiss on the top of her head. She did her best to ignore the beat her heart skipped.

Things went back to normal, or as normal as the red carpet of an award show could be, after Taylor entered the venue and was out of sight of the cameras. Tom relaxed again, did his best to be his charming self for the interviewers. They enjoyed the show, loved Stephen Fry’s jokes while presenting and overall had fun together. It was a great night. Until Taylor arrived at the after party they were attending.

Much later she would learn that Taylor’s most recent boyfriend had called it quits a day or two before, but the night itself Lauren just knew there would be trouble the moment she spotted Taylor. The singer clearly was more than a little tipsy and despite the loud music, Lauren could almost hear her snarl the moment she spotted Tom, whose arm was hanging loosely around Lauren’s shoulder.

She should have warned Tom, because he hadn’t noticed the singer walk in yet and was happily chatting to the friend besides him. Instead, Lauren felt slightly hypnotized as she watched Taylor. They stared at each other for a moment and in the next, Taylor was walking up to the DJ booth with determination in her step. Lauren watched her greet the man. She shot him a fake smile, gave him a hug and then told him something. The DJ nodded with what looked like a loud laugh and gave her a thumbs up.

As Taylor walked away, Lauren immediately got a bad vibe. She turned her attention to Tom, wanting to inform him about his ex girlfriend just walking in and how she thought she was up to something. But before she could get a word out, the DJ’s voice boomed through the speakers. “Next up we have a request from none other than miss Taylor Swift herself. She asked me to pass along a message. So here it goes: this one is for you, Tom!”

It took a few moments, but when Taylor’s voice sounded through the speakers and she murmured, “No, nothing good ever starts in a getaway car,” all heads in the room seemed to turn in Tom’s direction.

Lauren was still staring at Taylor, her mouth slightly agape, when she realized Tom’s friends around them had started fussing. She turned around to get a glimpse of Tom’s reaction and found him red-faced and clearly embarrassed.

Nobody around them seemed sure how to handle the situation and Tom’s face now seemed to drain from all color rather fast. In a split second Lauren decided she needed to distract him and did the first thing that came to mind. She grabbed him by his suit jacket to pull him closer and get his attention and yelled, “Well we’re just a wet dream for the webzine!”

Tom’s face immediately told her the tactic had worked. It scrounged up in confusion. He stared at her for a few long moments and then he yelled back, ”What?”

“It’s a Panic at the Disco song,” Lauren explained, doing her best to be heard over Taylor’s song still blasting through the boxes. Straining her voice, she continued, “It goes: Well we’re just a wet dream for the webzine, make us it, make it hip, make a scene.” She let out a small snort when she realized, “Coincidently the song is called London Beckoned Songs About Money Written By Machines. It continues: Or shrug us off your shoulders don’t approve a single word that we wrote. And then the next verse goes-“

Before Lauren could get out any of the next verse, Tom interrupted her. “You really have a song for every occasion, don’t you?” he wanted to know. He was smiling and seeing him happy again made Lauren’s heart jump more than just a little. She felt so proud she was the reason he was smiling again.

She did her best not to give away what Tom’s reaction was doing to her by simply shrugging in response. “It’s kind of my thing I guess,” she allowed him. Then, not able to help herself, she continued, “As I was saying, in case you are interested, the song continues: just for the record, the weather today is slightly sarcastic with a good chance of A indifference or B disinterest in what the critics say.”

Her words caused Tom to let out a loud laugh. “You’re more than a bit crazy, you know that?” he told her. But his words didn’t carry any venom to it and his actions confirmed that he was more than happy to have her around: without another word, he pulled her into a hug. “Thank you, love,” he whispered, loud enough for only her to hear.

Lauren’s heart made another jump when she felt Tom press a light kiss against her hair and the smile that was already present on her face only grew wider. ‘Mission accomplished,’ the voice in her head silently confirmed.

Tom’s smile considerably lifted the mood of the people surrounding them and the rest of the night Lauren and Tom spend dancing with their friends and having a good time. And Lauren couldn’t help but feel a little bit proud about the fact that every time she looked at Taylor from the corner of her eye, she could see her staring at them green with envy.

Quite some time after midnight, Tom and Lauren were both still high on adrenalin from the evening, but the party had started to die down and they too decided to call it a night and drive home.

Not completely ready to quit the party just yet, Lauren plugged her phone into the sound system and put a playlist of her favorite songs on shuffle.

They had just jammed out to Fleetwood Mac, pulling out their best carpool karaoke moves, when a new song started and a too familiar voice filled the car. “I don’t like your little games, don’t like your tilted stage, the role you made me play -“

“Shit, sorry, sorry!” Lauren grabbed her phone and stopped the song as soon as she heard the first lines, but it was already too late. Tom had obviously recognized Taylor’s voice. The mood in the car went from ecstatic to ice cold in three seconds flat.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Tom’s voice was void of emotion, his knuckles were white from tightly gripping the steering wheel and Lauren could easily tell he was angry. She couldn’t blame him either.

“I’m sorry, I really am,” she apologized. She switched to another song in a desperate effort to change the mood again. “I should have thought about this.”

“Well clearly you didn’t,” Tom answered in a flat tone. “I cannot believe you actually have that CD.”

Lauren understood why Tom was mad, of course she did. After tonight she didn’t blame him. But the whole Taylor story had happened before they knew each other. The record came out before they met and started caring about it each other. Back then it had just been good music to Lauren and she hadn’t really cared what the inspiration behind the songs had been. “I got it before we met,” she tried to explain. “Back then I just thought there were some good jams on there, that’s all.”

Tom scoffed. “Well, if you like it so much, maybe you should play Getaway Car again?”

Lauren was sure a little crack had just appeared in her heart from all the ice in his voice. She blinked a few times in an effort to keep the tears at bay. “You know that song means nothing to me!”

She cringed at the desperation in her own voice. But it hurt to see him angry at her and she needed Tom to understand that this had been a stupid accident and she would have never played a Taylor song to him on purpose.

Emotions threatened to overwhelm her. She needed an outlet for them and she almost literally felt her brain to mouth filter short-circuit. And before she realized what was happening, she heard herself say, “Besides, if we are talking about Taylor Swift songs that remind me of you, let me tell you that Getaway Car was never it for me. There’s a whole other song on that album that I link to you. That I can’t get out of my head when I’m with you.”

“And what would that be?” Tom sounded skeptical, as if he couldn’t believe they were having this conversation.

“Dress.”

“Dress?” Lauren could hear the confusion in Tom’s voice. When he briefly glanced over at her, she noticed a frown on his forehead. “Isn’t that the one that is supposedly about Ed Sheeran?”

It seemed like the surprise of Lauren’s confession had calmed Tom down a bit. The effect she had hoped for, but at the same time, it also meant he wanted an explanation. He deserved one.

Lauren closed her eyes for a few moments and took a deep breath. She realized that this was it. She just ruined their friendship. And she wasn’t sure if it was in the worst or the best way possible. But she did know there was no going back now.

Another deep breath and there she went, diving of the deep end and changing their friendship forever. “I don’t know. But… earlier tonight you asked me if I have a song for every occasion. And well, I guess that maybe I do. And this is the one I have for every occasion I’ve spend with you.” A small pauze as she figured out how to best continue. “I think… maybe you should just listen to the song.”

Lauren could tell Tom had a hard time dividing his attention between her and the road when she felt the car swirl slightly. The movement only made her nervousness worse. She fumbled with the controls of her phone until she finally found the song.

Neither of them said anything while the song played and they drove through the darkness. Only when the chorus played for the last time, Lauren somehow, somewhere found the courage to sing along. “Say my name and everything just stops. I don’t want you like a best friend. Only bought this dress so you could take it off, take it off.”

The silence that filled the car after the song stopped was deafening. It felt like the longest couple of minutes in in Lauren’s life. When she risked a glance at Tom, she could tell his grip on the steering wheel had tightened again and he was staring at the road ahead with a blank expression.

“Are you not going to say anything?” Lauren eventually needed to know. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she needed a reaction from Tom, good or bad.

“I’m trying to find a spot to park this car.” For one fleeting moment Lauren was sure she had ruined everything. Tom was going to stop the car and throw her out. And then he continued, “Because I desperately want to kiss you right now, but I don’t think driving and kissing at the same time is a very good idea.”

And Lauren had never been more grateful than that moment that her superpower was having a fitting song lyric for every occasion.

#Lore writes #tom hiddleston #tom Hiddleston fluff #tom hiddleston x ofc

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olivinesea · 3 years

Text

Off Souls

a/n: Today we’re college Emily and we are sad. Tried for some plot this time though it doesn’t really appear til the end. Actual tw substances (lots of drinking), tw rape (not descriptive). I have a thought on continuing this but we’ll see. ~4.3k

Sorry Emily.

Emily Prentiss had her first drink was when she was eight years old. Someone handed her a half-glass of champagne as the clock counted down to midnight and a new year arrived. She wasn’t sure she liked the sharp, sour flavor but the bubbles tickled her nose. She also liked holding the pretty glass delicately between her thumb and middle finger, imitating the guests in their bright, shiny fabrics. No one noticed as she crept around the party, seeking out abandoned champagne flutes. She picked each one up, practicing a fake laugh and gesturing to invisible companions. Each imaginary conversation ended with her tilting her head back and draining the glass.

She noticed that the champagne was getting flatter but also that the taste was improving as she worked through the rooms of the ambassador’s residence. She was too young for anyone to pay attention to, the adults were wrapped up in their own affairs and feelings of excitement. Her body grew heavier and she thought she might like to sit down for awhile. She didn't know what time it was or whether it was the new year yet. She climbed onto a bench pushed against the wall. It had become a home for abandoned coats and bags.

It was hard to understand what she was seeing, objects seemed to be trying to escape. She looked at something only for it to slide away. She refocused, telling herself tables didn’t move on their own, only to have the thing slip away again. She tried closing one eye, then the other. The ground seemed to tip which didn’t make sense but maybe explained the moving furniture. She sank down onto one side, the back of her hand pressed against her mouth. Maybe being sideways would help correct the tilt of the world. It didn’t change much and she let her eyes close completely. Even with her eyes closed, the world continued to spin unpleasantly. She whimpered, weakly calling for her mother, already faintly aware that she wouldn’t appear.

Her face felt hot and she worried she might roll off the bench. Too tired to go far, she got down and pressed herself into the space underneath. Closed off from the world in most directions, she felt a little steadier. She tucked her face into the bend of her elbow to block out the remaining light. Her free hand found its way to her mouth again. She was too old to suck her thumb but it was still comforting to feel the pressure there. She found herself biting the skin around her nail beds. The acute sensation tethered her to the earth and the disturbing spinning slowed. She didn’t notice when she fell asleep.

No one found her there and it was light outside when she finally woke up. Cold and stiff from sleeping on the floorboards, she slowly slid out from under the bench. Moving carefully towards her room she tried to listen for sounds of other people in the hallways. She was afraid her mother would scold her for ruining her dress. She needn’t have worried. She threw the dress, now ripped and stained, into the trash in an effort to hide it. No one noticed that either.

By the time she entered high school, she considered herself an expert at drinking. She knew which alcohols were the easiest to mix. She knew which bottles would be noticed if they went missing (only the wines). She could forge her mother’s signature to get out of class when the afternoon looked a little too long. She could even mimic the housekeeper’s accent when the school called to confirm that she was out on an excused absence. In a fit of inspiration, she had substituted her number for her mother’s on all her school forms. That move had paid dividends over the years.

Every weekend she either had a party or went to a party. She didn’t see that as a problem. Drinking socially was fine. Maybe a little questionable at 15, but fine. The drinking that she secretly knew was wrong but continued anyway was the kind where she added gin to bottles of sparkling water and drank it throughout the day. It stung the back of her throat but she came to associate that feeling with a pleasant detachment. She could ignore her mother’s criticisms with the buzz of gin in her ears. She could ignore how lonely she felt when wrapped up in the warmth of the friendly bubbles.

She went through high school becoming more and more attached to alcohol. There were other things to try, different drugs filtered through the prep school community. She didn’t mind them but she always returned to drinking. Drinking was familiar. Drinking made her comfortable. She didn’t see any reason to mess with a good thing. She never noticed how her mood swung in tandem with her access to alcohol. She never noticed how she drank more after fighting with her mother. For her, drinking and feelings were separate. Feelings were messy and embarrassing. Drinking conquered feelings and she wanted nothing more than to conquer those permanently.

~~~

By the time she met Aaron Hotchner, she couldn't remember the last time she went more than a few days without a drink. Sobriety was a state to escape from. Sobriety meant clear thoughts and clear thoughts meant the harsh, criticizing voice in her mind reminding her of all her failures. Better to drown than to listen to that. Her grades might have been slipping but she’d have to feel to care and she was in the business of not feeling. Meeting someone else so deeply committed to avoiding their feelings was a gift from the universe.

She liked that he was smart and she liked how his face looked when he was surprised. She liked it when he frowned at her because even displeased she could tell that he enjoyed spending time with her. She couldn’t name a single other person who genuinely enjoyed her company. She had never had any close friends. People she partied with, certainly. It was easy to be popular with a rich, absent mother and no curfew. But none of those people had cared about her as a person, nor had she cared about them. They were all just using each other to satisfy their own needs.

He was different. He asked her questions and listened to her answers. Sometimes he was incredulous at her responses and sometimes she embellished her stories just to watch him get worked up at the idea of taking the embassy jet to Norway for her 13th birthday (she flew commercial) or hiring a full-time zookeeper for her spotted genets (she had to pay the housekeeper’s nephew to feed her cat when they went out of town).

When he first suggested that she might want to drink less she laughed at him and finished the bottle of wine she had been drinking from. When she turned up hungover to class the next morning he didn't say anything but she was annoyed with him as if he did. He didn't tell her she was wrong for drinking but he gave her tired looks when she talked about Margarita Monday or Thirsty Thursday. He never accepted the drinks she offered him. Just shook his head and when she pressed him about it he told her alcohol made him sleepy.

He only got angry about her drinking one time. She had convinced him to come over after a party. Her roommate was out of town for the weekend and she didn’t feel like being alone yet. While she was waiting for him she found some leftover booze and mixed it with whatever pink juice was living in their mini fridge. When he got there she kept trying to push the cup up to his mouth. He brushed her off and she ended up dropping it and spilling it on the both of them.

“Now look what you did, idiot!” She reached up to jab him playfully in the forehead. He moved fast, grabbing her wrist and holding it to the side. Reflexively she tried to swat at him with her other hand but he grabbed that easily as well.

“Stop it.”

His voice was low and dangerous. Her vision swam as she tried to focus on him. His dark eyes burned and she felt like maybe she shouldn’t be standing so close. She backed up and had to tug a little before he released her. They stared at each other. He tried to regain control of his temper, fingers curled tightly into his palms. He shouldn’t have grabbed her but touching his face like that was a step past what he could tolerate. She was always loose with her contact, even more so when she was drinking. She didn’t know how it put him on edge because he would never tell her, would never admit to that weakness. She might have noticed on her own but it never crossed her mind that it was a problem. She just thought he was a bit stiff and needed some affectionate rough housing from time to time. Still angry, he bit back the cruel words he knew would damage their friendship. Words they both had heard directed at them before: reckless, immature, hopeless. She was watching carefully as he struggled with himself. She’d never felt unsafe with him but this moment had made her very aware their relative sizes. She waited for him to say something else.

He sighed. “Where are your paper towels?”

She had completely forgotten about the spill. She shook her head, thoroughly sobered. “I’ll clean it up.”

Normally he would argue with her, insist on helping, but the sickly sweet smell of whatever horrid drink she’d mixed was making him nauseous. He decided the best move was to call it a night and muttered that he’d see her tomorrow as he stepped around the mess and out the door.

~~~

Like most people, she was clumsy when she drank. Unlike most people, she seemed to take a sick pride in the bumps and bruises she acquired while stumbling around. It had always fascinated her to watch how her body was able to heal itself. To watch bruises darken and then fade. To study scabs as they formed over scraped knees and the shiny, pink skin that developed underneath. She got an even bigger kick out of it when she discovered Hotch’s tight-lipped disapproval of this behavior. Sometimes she would send him photo updates of particularly gruesome wounds.

“Emily!” he shouted indignantly after her latest upload, a burn from the hot plate courtesy of late-night grilled cheese.

“Shhh! We’re in the library!”

“We’re in a study room! You should be studying!”

“I am,” she said, innocently.

“You know what I mean. Please, please, for the love of god, stop sending me pictures of scabs.”

“Well, I guess if you don’t care about me…”

He threw his hands in the air and kicked back from the table. “I’m getting coffee.” She looked up at him hopefully. “No, I won’t get you any.”

She pouted but when he returned he was carrying two cups as well as some Neosporin and bandaids. She reached for the cup but he pulled it back.

“You have to let me deal with that first.” He nodded at her arm.

She looked at the bandaids distastefully.

“I don’t want to have to look at that shit anymore today,” he said firmly.

“Fine,” she muttered, watching as he set her coffee just out of reach. She was a cooperative patient and he worked quickly.

“What the hell? Why did you put like six bandaids on me?”

“Because you’re just going to peel them off and I want to have at least a few hours without having to be exposed to your organs,” he said cheerfully as he pushed her coffee towards her and swept up the paper litter.

She smiled as she sipped her coffee and waited until they left the library before removing the offending bandages.

~~~

They had been going back and forth about her drinking for several months. She had promised to stop drinking on weekdays if he would come out with her occasionally. She was able to keep her promise for the most part. She believed there were exceptions to everything and was sure to find at least a few instances where she justified a drink or two. He would get annoyed but not angry because he knew she was trying. That wasn’t what caused the problem.

It happened partway through the winter quarter. They had just turned in important papers for their history class. Hotch wanted to start studying for the econ midterm coming up but Emily, already in a bad mood, wanted to be done for the day.

“Please, can you just chill for once in your life?” she begged, leaning her head back and staring at the ceiling. She was draped across one of the lounge chairs, legs up on one side, arms thrown over her head.

He shook his head. “This is important to me.”

“Oh, and it’s not important to me?” she bit back. She shifted so she was sitting up, feet on the floor, glaring at him.

“Sorry Em, I didn’t mean it like that.” He frowned, not sure why she was having such a big reaction.

“I just can’t with you, Hotchner. I can’t fucking win.”

“What are you talking about?”

Instead of answering she got up and left the room. They had been sitting in the common room of his dorm. It was generally quiet at that time of day since most of his neighbors were athletes and had practice in the afternoons.

He waited for her to come back. He was learning that was something people did. He still didn’t fully understand it but apparently some people were able to get mad and then get over it without any major consequences. When she didn’t reappear, he shrugged and opened his laptop to start working.

She stalked angrily down the hallway, heading for her room. Halfway there she realized she forgot her bag but didn’t turn around. She wasn’t ready to see Hotch yet with his stupid apologetic face and his stupid understanding eyes. Why had she let him convince her to try? In the fall she had been checked out and could blame her abysmal grades on that lack of effort. Now she was going to get her grades back and see that she was in fact not as smart as she thought. Everyone would see it. Hotch would see it.

She had always gotten good grades growing up. Partly because she was intelligent but partly because high school wasn’t that demanding intellectually. She could skate by on a minimal amount of effort and charm her way into enough extra credit to keep her grades high. She’d only cared about grades in that she didn’t want her mother looking too closely at her school reports. A’s kept her free to misbehave as she pleased. College was turning out to be different.

It felt bad to put significant effort into something only to get lukewarm results. It felt like she was confirming her deepest fear—she really wasn’t exceptional at anything. She was so afraid and she hated it. And Emily had exactly one coping mechanism for fear—drown it. She’d left her phone in her bag too but she didn’t need that to find a party. She knew exactly where she could go for free alcohol and loud music and strangers she didn’t have to worry would find out how stupid and worthless she really was. She went to her room to change.

A couple hours later she walked up to a frat house, hair freshly washed and straightened, dark make up matching her black bodysuit. There were people spilled all over the lawn. Several tables of beer pong were set up. A kiddie pool filled with melting ice and piles of canned beer occupied the walkway. She smiled. She could always count on people to be drinking at a frat house. She saw a guy she met in the fall at one of the tables and headed in that direction. When he saw her it was obvious he didn’t recognize her but he smiled anyway. It was easy to make friends at a frat house when you looked like Emily Prentiss. She accepted the offered ping pong ball and easily made her first shot. Someone handed her a beer. As she sipped it she finally felt like she wasn’t fighting with herself. This was familiar territory. This was where she belonged.

The afternoon quickly became evening and the party moved inside. The music was loud and insistent. She felt lightheaded—she hadn’t eaten since that morning which was probably a mistake. But she was already mostly drunk and the thought floated away quickly. She took the red plastic cup being passed to her without asking what was in it. It was sweet and orange and much tastier than the beer she’d been drinking. The guy from before, she thought his name was Steven, was leading her towards the courtyard dance floor. He guided her with a hand on her back, bare skin exposed by the low-cut. She loved dancing and didn't notice anything unusual when her head started to swim. That was the feeling she had been looking for wasn’t it?

Things started to get patchy. She thought time had passed but she wasn’t sure how much. She was being led up a staircase but she wasn’t sure if the hand she was holding was Steven’s or someone different. She thought his hair had been brown but maybe it was just dark blonde. It didn’t feel particularly urgent to find out.

She was being pressed against a doorway, hands on her waist, a mouth covering her mouth. It was a kiss. She liked kissing so she kissed back. She tried to open her eyes to see who it was she was kissing but it was dark and her eyes wouldn’t focus. Suddenly there was nothing solid behind her and she fell backwards.

“Woah there!” A hand caught her arm at the last moment and pulled her to a wobbling upright position. “Careful.”

She didn't recognize the voice though it felt a little familiar. She didn’t like this room they were in. It was too dark. She could barely hear the music. She tried to push past the voice, speaking but not hearing anything coherent.

“Hang on, not so fast.” The voice was between her and the door and was very solid. The little light that had illuminated the room disappeared when he shut the door. Why did he shut the door?

“letmego.” It came out as all one word but she was happy with it. She was sure he would understand what she wanted. Instead she heard a laugh. It’s not a nice laugh like when Hotch was listening to her spinning tall tales and laughingly told her she was ridiculous. She wondered where Hotch was. He was her favorite person, why wasn’t he here with her now?

The person moved closer and she knew he was laughing at her. Fear burned through her and she screamed at her body to react. But everything felt slow and sticky. She swung at him but missed. She tried again and he caught her arms. She twisted violently, panic stealing her breath. Roughly, he pushed her backwards and she stumbled only to land on something soft. It was a mattress and it smelled. It smelled like beer and cigarettes and vomit. She kicked at him but it did nothing to stop his advance.

“Shhh. Just be good now.”

She cried. She couldn’t help it. She was so confused about how she got here, about where here even was. She tried to fight back but her thoughts were muddy and everything felt so heavy.

“nononostop,” she screamed but she could barely hear herself.

It was over quickly. Or maybe not quickly. Her sense of time shrank and expanded with each breath. All she knew was at some point she found herself alone. The door hadn’t closed all the way so she could see a little light coming in. She stared at it from her place on the bed, blinking slowly, trying to gather enough thought-power to figure out the next step. Something was wrong, she knew it. This wasn’t her bed or even her dorm building. She needed to find Hotch. He could fix everything. She didn’t think she was injured but it was so hard to move. She rolled to her side and ended up falling off the bed completely. She wasted several moments trying to catch her breath. The impact helped shake off some of the heaviness in her mind and she was able to push herself up off the ground. She found that she was only half dressed and, while she wasn’t completely sure why that was, a sob escaped her as she pulled the straps back up. She lost a shoe and it was too dark and complicated to find it so she kicked the other one off instead. She stumbled to the doorway and leaned against it briefly, making one last effort to collect herself before heading out into the world. This walk wasn’t going to be easy.

In a frat house full of drunk people, one drunk and disheveled girl wasn’t noteworthy. She wasn’t even the only person shoeless at that point. No one stopped to ask her if she was ok. No one questioned when she walked out into the night alone and clearly unwell. She focused all her energy on making it back to the dorm and to Hotch. The walk was about half a mile back through the city streets immediately surrounding campus. She tripped and fell more than once, skinning her palms and ripping holse in her pants. Only one person asked if she needed help, concerned by her lack of footwear. She waved them off, slurring that she was going home. The good Samaritan shrugged and headed off in the opposite direction. If a person insisted on helping every drunk college kid who thought they could handle themselves better than they could, they’d never make it home.

She did make it back and thanked whoever might be listening that her keycard was still in her pocket. She hadn’t considered it until the very moment she needed it. She got into the elevator with only one destination in mind. She had no idea what time it was or if he was mad at her and that was why she was alone but she is going to find Aaron Hotchner and let him deal with whatever this mess was she had made.

She knocked and knocked again when he didn’t answer.

“Hotch!” Her voice was hoarse and not very loud. She raised her hand to bang on the door again when it opened. He stood in the doorway, hair sticking up from sleep, blinking at her. He looked irritated and she wasn’t sure what she did wrong but she’s willing to atone for it. She held up her hands, trying to sort out her words.

“Hotch, I—“

“Go to bed, Emily.” He sounded tired more than anything else. He had answered this late night knock many times and tonight he didn’t want to play along. He didn’t want to deal with her drunk affections, he didn’t want to make her the snack she insisted she deserved, he didn’t want to make sure to switch out her pilfered beers with waters for the next couple hours. He just wanted to sleep and deal with this disappointment tomorrow. He turned away and she started to follow him but he just grabbed her backpack from his desk chair. He pushed it into her arms, propelling her back through the door.

“Go to bed,” he repeated. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

With that he closed the door, quietly but firmly. She knew he wouldn’t answer if she knocked again. She hugged her bag to her chest. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. But if Hotch wouldn’t help her, it must have been her fault. She stumbled down the hall to her room. She didn’t want to lay down in the dark. Just the thought of doing that made her heart race. She felt dirty so she went to the bathroom to take a shower. After she turned on the water she looked at herself in the mirror. She didn’t blame Hotch for sending her away. She was a mess. She wouldn’t want to deal with her either.

She was far too tired to take her clothes off. The adrenaline that got her home had faded and everything was beginning to hurt. She climbed into the shower fully dressed and sank down to the floor. With her knees pulled up to her chest she pressed her face into the bend of her elbow. She chewed on the skin around her fingers, finding it as comforting now as when she first discovered it. But the comfort was not enough and she found herself crying without knowing the exact reasons why. She cried until the water turned cold and then for awhile after that. Finally, worried that someone would find her, she cut the water off and got out. Shedding the wet bodysuit, she threw it in the trash before wrapping up in her towel. It was all she could do to make it into her bed. As she laid down she saw the sky was getting lighter and she felt relieved that at least she wouldn’t have to be in the dark now.

~Part 2~

#criminal minds #emily prentiss #aaron hotchner #college hotchniss #tw substances #tw rape

36 notes · View notes

smileyjaeminies · 4 years

Text

Of point shoes and interviews

Synopsis: How can your very first interview as a dancer turn the tide between you and the cute journalist?

Word Count: 3,2 k

Genre: ballet dancer reader x journalist Jacob, fluff

Warnings: slight mention of counting calories

Member: Jacob

A/N: In celebration of The Boyz’s comeback ‘Stealer’, here is some Jacob fluff. This was inspired by a ballet gala I watched some weeks back, so I hope you guys like it!

Applause. Roaring applause. A standing ovation, for you. The lights are blinding you, so you are not able to meet eyes with the audience, but the look of adoration is clear in your stare. A huge smile is dominating your face, and it’s not one of the fake ones you maintain while performing, no, this one is as real as can be.

You take a bow, again and again, Eric beaming at you by your side, squeezing your waist as a way to offer his comfort. You take his hand again after another bow and ultimately, the Primas start to make their way back, so you follow them. One day, that’s going to be you.

Your white tutu is ruffling around you as you move further backstage, your hand still tightly holding Eric’s. He screams excitedly at you and you start jumping to meet his excitement. More of your friends join you and somehow, you find yourselves in a group hug, laughing and screaming at your successful opening night. ‘Swan Lake’ was no easy feat, yet all of you had done well. Your heart beat rapidly inside your chest, your hands shaking from stress and exhaustion. Your mind grows hazy at the thought that you’re going to do it all again tomorrow, your feet longing to stand on stage again. You were anticipating the reviews with the paper tomorrow morning, your stomach turning in a funny way at the thought.

People are everywhere, backstage is a mess of hugs, smiles and excited chatter. Your best friend Mina has a hold on your hand, so you turn to meet her eyes. They are shining, stars twinkling behind them and yet you can tell that she’s dead tired. Discreetly, you lead the both of you to your shared dressing room, to collapse on the shitty fold out chairs and pry the point shoes off your feet. After a few breathless moments, smiles grew on both of your faces, lighting up the room. In no time, you were rambling on about your performance and trying to get rid of your makeup, hands moving quickly for a well known routine, mouths moving even quicker in excitement. A knock on the door made your conversation die down, making you exchange a look with Mina.

“Are you expecting anyone?” you asked her.

“No. You?” she asked back.

You shook your head and shrugged your shoulders. Mina was only half done with removing her makeup so you got up, opening the door and peeking your head out of it. You were surprised to meet a man before you, handsomely dressed in a suit, hair swept back and a big smile softening his features. He was almost hiding behind a big bouquet of colourful flowers, moving his weight from one foot to the other in anticipation. As you opened the door, you saw a glint of recognition pass before his eyes, making him smile even wider.

“Miss Y/L/N, hello! My name is Jacob Bae, I’m a journalist for THE BOYZ magazine and I was wondering if we could schedule an interview with you!” Jacob rambled on, taking you aback.

He pushed the flowers in your arms, their strong aroma filling your senses and making you overwhelmed.

“You want to interview… Me?” you asked in astonishment.

“Yes! I’ve heard all about you! You’re somewhat of a miracle aren’t you? A prodigy child that did a 180 turn and packed up to go to Juliard? I bet you have a lot of things to say!” Jacob said.

“I… I don’t know honestly. What magazine did you say you write for?” you asked.

“THE BOYZ magazine. It’s all about things young people should keep their eye out about, whether it be small businesses or upcoming stars!” he explained.

Frankly, you had never heard of the magazine and the way he was selling it didn’t seem all that appealing to you. But his kind nature, big smile and the bright flowers were enough to get you thinking.

“I… I’ll see what I can do. But this will have to wait until Monday. No work during the weekend besides dancing” you explained.

“Of course! I understand.” Jacob said.

He fumbled through the pockets of his suit, taking out a small notebook and pencil and scribbling down some information. He then handed the paper to you, making you shoot him a quizzical look as your eyes scanned the words.

“That’s my phone number. I also gave you the address of one of my favourite cafes in town. Small, quiet and discreet, a good place for an interview!” he explained. “Would 11am suit you well?”

“Yes, I guess that’s fine” you answered.

“Thank you so much, Miss Y/L/N! Enjoy your night! By the way, you were amazing on stage today” he said.

A blush rose on your cheeks at his words. It wasn’t the first time you had been complimented, but somehow his praise made you bashful.

“I… Thank you, Jacob. I guess I’ll see you on Monday” you told him.

He beamed at you, turning and walking away. You stood at the door of the dressing room for a few moments, watching him maneuver through the crowd of people to the exit. You smiled to yourself and to the flowers in your hands and walked back inside. You placed the flowers in front of the mirror and sat down in front of them, only then noticing the small envelope attached to one of them.

You opened the envelope to reveal a white piece of paper, scribbled in black ink with a few words. “I can’t wait for the day you stand with the Primas. You are phenomenal. Forever your fan, Jacob Bae”

“Oh my God” you whispered.

“Are you going to tell me or..?” Mina asked from beside you.

You turned to her, handing the card wordlessly as you stared at the flowers. Oh, how the plot thickened. You felt as if you were dancing in a ballet of your own, the excuse of an interview becoming the bait for something more.

“Well, was he cute?” Mina asked.

“Mina!” you called, reprimanding her.

“I thought I’d ask! Don’t be so uptight Y/N” she joked, hitting your shoulder slightly.

You shook your head at her before saying, “We scheduled an interview on Monday”

“You did NOT!” Mina said, placing a hand over her heart, feigning shock.

“Oh, shut up, you’ll be asking for details within seconds!” you joked, making both of you laugh.

“You are not wrong, friend. But first, today we celebrate us! Boys can wait!” she said giggling.

You nodded at her words, agreeing completely. You started changing into your regular clothes, leaving your tutus to hang in the dressing room, waiting for you, waiting for tomorrow. Mina decided to step out first, trying to find all your friends and gather them outside. You hoisted your bag on your shoulder, ready to follow her out when you remembered something. Turning back quickly you retrieved the small envelope and Jacob’s note, throwing them somewhere in your bag. You would have time to think about it later.

The air was cold outside, making goosebumps rise on your exposed arms. With one hand draped around your shoulders, you and Mina waited for some of your other friends for a night of mild partying. You still had a long way to go, so you couldn’t afford any mishaps happening to any of you.

Some hours later, with your belly filled with food and sugary cocktails, you opened the door to our apartment, cursing as it creaked loudly. You changed quickly, collapsing on your bed without much thought, the exhaustion catching up with you. Your day had been beyond successful and your mind was light and airy from everything.

You remembered the envelope, stacked somewhere in the bottom of your bag and smiled. Such a random thing to happen. And who could tell where it would lead?

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

Monday morning came quicker than you expected as the weekend flashed by in a whirlwind of prep, dancing and applause. You hated Mondays. Why did the exciting weekend come crashing every Monday? Unfair.

When your alarm woke you up, a low groan escaped your throat as you rushed to turn it off. Your body was sore, having been overworked for three days straight and was now urgently trying to gain your attention. You knew you'd be in for some exercise later this afternoon, although you didn’t look forward to it.

You walked out to your kitchen, opting for some quick breakfast to save you time. You stared mindlessly at your closet for too long, finally figuring out an outfit out of jeans and a loose sweatshirt. You pulled on some comfortable shoes, remembering you had to run some errands after your interview and after grabbing your keys and locking the door, you were off.

You decided to catch a taxi, as the cafe Jacob had chosen wasn’t far, yet you didn’t feel like walking today. The sky was cloudy above you, even though the clouds were white and not heavy with rain. You tried to make yourself brighter. This opportunity could mean a lot to you, and as your friends would say ‘Any publicity is good publicity’.

You paid the fare, climbing out of the taxi to find Jacob standing in front of the cafe, a single rose at his hand. He smiled seeing you arrive and you mirrored his expression.

“Good morning, Miss Y/N!” he greeted you warmly

“Good morning! Please don’t call me Miss… It makes me feel old. You’re probably older than me anyways!” you chirped back.

“Of course. Y/N then. This is for you” he said, offering you the flower.

“Thank you” you said, feeling your cheeks heating up “And thank you for the flowers on Friday. I don’t think I ever thanked you properly, they were very beautiful.”

“It’s really not a big deal. I’m glad you liked them. Shall we go inside?” he asked.

You nodded at his words and he smiled at you. He opened the door for you and you giggled at his extravagant gesture. Leading you to the counter, you scanned the items, trying to find something to your liking.

“I’m getting the most extra thing today. Pay is up to the magazine. I would urge you to do the same. Have you had breakfast?” he asked.

His suggestion made you laugh, but it also got you thinking.

“I think I’ll just have some tea.” you said.

“What?? Don’t you want to treat yourself? I bet you had a tough weekend.” he said.

“That’s true, but I also have a calorie count. I ate some pretty shitty breakfast, so now I’ll have to deal with the consequences” you explained.

“Are you serious? You count calories on everything you eat?” he asked, clearly shocked.

“Well not everything. But I have to be careful or else I’m going to make Eric’s life hell. Eric is my partner by the way. He’s the one who lifts me and swirls me around” you explained.

“If you put it like that… Tea it is. But I’m still getting the extra thing” Jacob joked.

You laughed at his words, shaking your head at his shenanigans. After placing your order, you moved to wait for your things as Jacob paid. The barista smiled politely at you as he placed your cup in front of you. You nodded back at him, muttering a small thank you.

“I bought cookies!” Jacob announced excitedly, showing you a packet of cookies.

“Ohhh, they look yummy!” you said.

“One cookie wont hurt, right?” Jacob said, sending a wink your way, making you chuckle.

Once his drink was ready, he led you to one of the nearby tables. You settled in, taking a sip of your tea and collecting the sleeves of your sweatshirt to your elbows. Jacob was settling in opposite you, placing his phone neatly in the middle of the table and you noticed that it was already ready to record. He took out the small notebook you had seen a few days back, ready for his notes. You watched his actions, studying his face as it relaxed, the easy smile falling from his lips as concentration on the task at hand took over.

“You ready to begin? I promise I won’t keep you long” he assured you.

“Ask away! I have all the time in the world” you told him.

The smile on your lips landed on his as well and you could almost see him change before your eyes. He became professional, dropping the small talk and teasing, to replace them with well structured questions that helped introduce you, your background and your work to his audience. He allowed you to talk freely, making sure you had said everything you wanted to say before moving on to the next question.

You had just finished telling him how you were good friends with both Eric and Mina even outside of work and how your relationship with Eric needed to be pretty steady for both of you to dance well. Jacob kept nodding at your words, only pointing out things once or twice and scribbling notes down on his notebook.

“Are you single?” Jacob blurted out suddenly.

You were just taking a sip of your drink and you almost choked at the sudden question. You tried to compose yourself, drinking another sip of tea to give yourself some time. You placed the cup on the table only to find Jacob’s wide eyes shifting from you to the notebook in front of him. His cheeks were starting to burn, you could tell and he kept fumbling uncomfortably in his seat.

“I… I’m so sorry, Y/N. I don’t know what to tell you, my editor-in-chief put that in, I thought I had crossed it out. I’m so so sorry” Jacob apologised, his eyes avoiding yours.

You smiled a little at his flustered state, realizing you were watching yet another side to Jacob. The thought made a warm feeling spread in your chest as you took your gaze off your cup to meet his eyes.

“Off the record, yes. On record, I will not answer this question” you reply with a smirk.

Jacob let out a sigh, still keeping his eyes down. You deliberated what you could say to lighten up the atmosphere, or at least comfort him. A smile? No, he wasn’t looking at you. A joke? What if he felt even worse? Your inner turmoil came to a stop when Jacob spoke up.

“Can we just… Forget this happened?” he suggested.

You wasted no time to nod, sending him what you hoped was a comforting smile. He still seemed preoccupied, asking you the next question without the layer of interest you were accustomed to. However, you replied to the best of your ability, hoping that the flow of your words would help Jacob relax.

Indeed, he seemed more present for the next question, going back to nodding and keeping notes. The awkward moment was forgotten and you were soon back in the routine you had created. He finally asked you to send a message to his readers as the final question of your interview. You paused for a few moments, collecting your thoughts before answering.

“I guess I would just like to tell people that it’s never too late to discover your passion. It’s also okay to lose it for some time, to struggle, to question it, to change your mind. There are infinite possibilities and all of them lie in your grasp. Choose a path and if it turns out to be the wrong one... Well that’s life. It’s okay. I know you’ll figure it out, I know you can do it” you finished.

“Wow, Y/n, that’s very inspiring” Jacob said, stopping the recording on his phone.

“Is it? How did I do? I hope you were content with my answers!” you said.

“You were phenomenal! All your answers were really good, I really enjoyed watching your thought process unravel! And the way you talked about your colleagues? That was heartwarming!” he told you.

You couldn’t help looking down, his praise making you shy. That was the second time it had happened, and even if you weren’t a bashful person by nature, you weren’t about to complain. Moments passed in silence as Jacob tidied his things back in his bag. You weren’t sure if you were supposed to go yet or not, so you waited patiently for him to guide you.

“Okay, last question” he said, turning to face you.

“I thought the previous one was the last question?” you asked, cutting him off.

“Well this one is off record, if that’s okay” a nod from you urged him to go on, so he asked, “What are you doing after this?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” you asked back.

“No, no, remember this one is off record. Also, I’m the one asking questions here” he said, a joking manner to his words.

“Well, if you have to know, I have to buy some new point shoes and ribbons and then maybe I’ll grab lunch somewhere” you told him.

“Marvellous!” he exclaimed, getting up from his chair.

“Are you leaving?” you asked him.

“Well yeah, we have to buy you point shoes, ribbons and lunch!” he stated matter-of-factly.

“Who said I want company?” you teased him.

“Oh, this isn’t just keeping you company. It’s a date” he announced, sending a wink your way.

You had to keep your jaw from falling to the floor. As taken aback as you were, you wouldn't exactly say you were about to deny his offer. On the contrary, you had been attracted to Jacob from the moment he appeared outside your dressing room. But, Jacob didn’t know that. So you decided to tease him further.

“And if I refuse?” you asked.

You were still in your seat, Jacob standing above you, ready to offer his hand to help you up. You watched doubt flash in front of his eyes, but he composed himself very quickly. A gentle smile adorned his features as he told you,

“Then I will let you go on your merry way. I would never force you.” he said, his expression stern, deprived of all the joking mannerisms.

You were very satisfied with his answer. He had passed the test, if your teasing could be counted as such. But, as much as the acts of chivalry were cute, you were more than capable of doing things yourself. You decided to let him know that by pushing your chair back and getting up.

Now, you were up, you were almost at eye level, Jacob’s eyes searching for yours. You saw his hand fall to the side of his body, almost defeated. Just as he was about to say something, you reached for his hand, locking your pinkie with his.

If he was confused, he didn’t say anything, opting to just look up from your hands to your face. You beamed at him, only to then say,

“Shall we?”

Jacob smiled back at you, taking the lead to walk out of the cafe. At that moment, you decided that this Monday would get a pass.

#kafenetwork #deobinet #the boyz scenarios #jacob bae #jacob bae scenarios #the boyz #tbz #the boyz jacob #tbz jacob #jacob bae fluff #tbz scenarios #the boyz fluff #tbz fluff #kpop scenarios #journalist au #ballet dancer au #alex writes #the boyz stealer

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xsugarysweetsx · 4 years

Note

I was wondering if you could do a Toya/Dabi x reader.Like the reader is childhood friends with Toya and is good friends with the Todo kids in general. So when their mom goes to the hospital, the reader kinda steps in and sorta kinda fills the role of mom. Reader is really close to Shoto.(Toya and reader are in a quirk marriage)But then stuff happens.Toya becomes Dabi.Reader became a teacher @UA and goes to the training camp.Then Dabi accidentally almost kills the reader by putting her in a coma.

You’re really good with plot Anon! Also I AM SO SORRY THIS IS SO LATE! But thank you for your patience❤️ please enjoy ❤️❤️ I added in something extra hopefully you like it!

Children never see the bad in the world. They’re innocent and want to always see the goo in people and the world. As a little girl you always thought going to the Todoroki’s house meant a play date. You would spend time with all of them and even Shoto.

For whatever reason it was your father always wanted you to spend time with Toya. He was the eldest and was usually quiet and kept to himself.

One day you had come and Shoto was hurt, with a patch over his eye. Rei wasn’t home either, they told you she had gone away. She was away and wouldn’t be back for a while. Being around the same age as Toya you felt the need to fill in the role for the younger ones.

You would help them with homework, and cleaning up after themselves. Almost like an elder sister or a mother. You were all close and created your own bond together. Almost like your own little family

As time passed you were both in your teens attending school together. At the time you were both best friends, knowing each other inside and out. One day when you were at his house doing homework, your father and Enji walked in.

His father always scared you in all honesty. Not only was his size intimidating but his aura just wasn’t pleasant. Toya always knew how you felt. He had the habit of holding your hand whenever he'd come into the room comfort you.

“What is it old man?“ Toya resented him after finding out what he had done his mother.

“Well“ you father spoke up “We’ve talked i over and believe that it would be best if you both-”

“You’re both getting married and that’s final“ Enji cut him off “You both have exceptionally powerful quirks and will make better children“

“What?!“ you both reacted

That’s right they were forcing you both into a quirk marriage, without any explanation to you both. If anything your father basically sold you, he was known for getting into debt despite having his own business. The Todorokies had money and everyone knew.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to marry you. Truth was, he had feelings for you for very long time but you didn't want to ruin your relationship. on top of all that he didn't want to bring you into his method of family and possibly make your life impossible. You were too good for him, for filling the role he never knew he needed or his siblings included.

At the time you were both 16 and were to marry at 19. But that day never came, Toya had gone missing. Nothing was left about his whereabouts. When your wedding day came, it marked 3 years of him being missing. They had decided to mark him under dead, since there was no trace of him.

Even to this day you still think about him. You didn’t want to forget his face or his voice, or anything.

============================

You stop visiting the the house hold, you called every now and then to check in. Sometimes you would visit Rei at the hospital and it gave you some tranquility.

You grew up to be a teacher at UA high school, helping students to become heroes. You heard even Shoto got into UA a well, and went to visit him. You always told him how proud you were of him, turns out even he grew as much resentment towards his father as Toya did.

This weekend you were at the training camp with the students. Everything was going well, they were training, learning and even cooking. You look out your window and see that Bakugou was extremely good at cooking, which confused you a bit. But everyone to their own.

You were giving extra help to thos when fisoed the test with Mr.Aizawa. Everyone would always tease about how you thin had a secret thing going on. In all honesty you both acted the same towards it and brushed it off as a joke but soon it became true.

You both had a thing for each other. You didn’t believe you would have feelings like this again. The last time you did, he had disappeared from your life, like he never existed. But with Shouta it felt differnt, he made you feel like he wouldn’t leave.

Sure he never seemed to be the type to but he would hold you close and tell you as many times as you needed to what it

“I would never abandon you, ever” it was something small but it made your heart flutter. You never forget about Toya, but he would want you to be happy right?

As you walk down the hall to the class you oda by a window. From the corner of your eye you saw a tall dark figure at the window and instantly turned. You were alert and ready to defend yourself. You look around the hall and too the window. You didn’t even realize you were holding your breath as you approached the window and looked outside.

Looking form side to side there was nothing and the student were outside as usual. Maybe you were seeing things. A hand landed on your shoulder which made you jump and shriek

“Hey It’s okay, it’s just me” it was shouta “are you alright you seem a little jumpy” he said in his tired husky voice

“Y-yeah im down, I just...never mind let’s get to the class” even when you walk with him you still felt uneasy, it wouldn’t leave you.

About only half hour into the lesson crashes and yelling was heard. Looking out the window your eyes widen to see blue flames swollowing the trees around you.

Blue flame....but you haven’t seen blue flames since....

“I’m going to check what’s going on. Y/N Stay here with the students” Shouta said as he ran out of the class

“Me.L/N, whats happening? Shouldn’t we go an help?”

“No, lets all stay here it’s best if we don’t split up.” All the students gathering around you. You did a headcount to make sure you age everyone. Aizawa ran back into the room on high alert

“Everyone we need to love to the next room over-“

The wall came crashing down to reveal a member of the League Of Villans. Instances kick in you step forward to protect your students. You were trying hard to concentrate but something about this man, was so familiar.

“Step aside princess, before you get hurt”

“I’m not a princess and you’re going to have to go through me first” you took your defensive stance. He hurled his blue flames at you but you block using you quirk. With all the strength you could muster you were able to push him back far enough that it was only the two of you.

Whatever it was something had stopped you from making your next move.

“What’s wring princess? Too tired to fight back?”

You didn’t answer and went for an attack, the hit would have been direct and affective but you stop.

You realize now why you know him

“Toya....” you whisper to yourself. But why was he attacking? Didn’t he recognize you? You turn to him

“Toya is me y-“ you were hurdled back into a tree by his flame. The aching throb making it hard for you to focus, crimson ran down to your chin. He came closer and kneeled in front of you.

He braved yourself for the worst to come but all you heard was a gasp

“Y-y/n....?” He said in the softest smallest voice he could. “I-is....”

“Took you long e-enough.:.” You forced a smile as your world started to spin. Not only did the impact do damage but you were loosing blood. He was hesitant to touch you, he’s down so much damage already

First leaving you so abruptly, and now this? He saw your eyes finally fall and you fall limp

“Y/N? Y/N?!” He gathered you in his arms and started to run, he didn’t know where but he was running. He eventually found Twice

“Hey bud whatcha go there” he said in his quirky attitude

“That’s doesn’t matter she’s bleeding out I need you to help me” he laid you by a bush and ripped a part of his shirt and wrapped it ape under your head.

“I need you to take her some where no one else will harm her, but make sure it’s some where one of these punk hero’s can find her” he said putting you into the arms of Twice.

He nodded and ran off, Dabi furiously wiped tears that ran down his face. He can only hope you were found and tended to. He may be who he is now but, you didn’t deserve to suffer for his decision.

————

After drawing back and leaving, Dabi stuck around for a while to make sure you were found. Aizawa was the one who found you and cradled you in his arms. Like he did at one point, he watched as you were whisked away to an ambulance. You were rushed to a near by hospital.

He would hang out by your window some night, sometimes he would break in and just sit in the chair.

He had managed to put you into a coma. At least he didn’t kill you in all but still.....it was the same you. The same one from all those years ago. The one who truest knew him. Who even recognizes him after so long.

You’ve become so beautiful over the years. He didn’t dare touch you, afraid to cause more damage. He would think...think about who thinks could have been differnt. What if he stayed and married you? Who would he be if he never left?

One night you started to stir and your monitor had started to speed up. You were waking up! He wanted to stay and hold you and apologize for everything...but he couldn’t. He heard footsteps running down the hall. He stroked your cheek one final time and ran for the window.

You skin was so soft and warm, he wanted to savor it longer. But if he did stay he would have no chance to even glance your way again.

As he was about to jump out he looked back once more to see your E/C staring at him.

“T..oya...” you said weakly. He shit his eyes and made his way back into the cruel world. Tears pores out of your eyes as you watched him leave, once again.

Maybe, just maybe you’ll meet again......

I kinda like it :). But I hope this is what you were looking for! And I’m sorry this was so late!

#dabi my hero academia #dabi x reader #bnha dabi #bnha x reader #my hero academia x reader #my hero academia #boko no hero academia #fanfiction #anime #anime x reader #dabi #toya todoroki

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noxtms · 3 years

Photo

MARCH 15TH, 2021. it’s two days before the planned st patrick’s day parade ( and evening celebrations ), and the spring festival is in full swing. the joint events have been as huge a success as they always have been : local business has boomed, and to those that care, it’s a pity that arcanum wasn’t back up and running in time to cash in like so many other stores had.

the building that had once been both life’s work & ancestral home of the trelawney’s had lay empty for the best part of two decades, and unfortunately, it showed. structurally sound though it was, near everything within required replacing - be it from water damage caused by several large holes found in the roof or destruction that had been caused by the innumerous break-ins over the years. magic could only go so far, especially when one was working alone. since the purchase of the building had gone through the month before, sybill had taken to apparating to london each weekend, working room by room. a vinyl of celestina warbeck’s greatest hits played loudly from a vintage turntable was her only company as she bustled throughout the building, early morning to darkest evening. it was slow going, and the work had grown monotonous, over time - but she had never expected anything else.

the fifth floor - containing two mirrored bedrooms sybill intended to invite cassia & oriana to personalize - was the first finished. she was making her way top to bottom, slowed even more by the onslaught that was memory. this was the birthplace of cassandra trelawney, the originator of their family status. this was where sybill had spent formative years, walking thin corridors, climbing spindly stairs, learning to read tea leaves at a shaky table in a now dusty kitchen, recording her dreams in a leather bound notebook she had kept on bedside cabinet in the room she had now reclaimed. this was home, and she had been gone from it for far too long.

the lower shop level would be the last to be tackled, working as she was, and so, the bell above the main entrance remained broken. this would join the long list of things to be blamed for why sybill did not hear anyone approaching - scrawled somewhere between the loud record that they’ll find scratching at it’s end & the happy crowd beyond grubby windows that did not remain so, for long. the truth is that when the ministry finds sybill, they’ll only be able to make a guess at what truly happened.

they will theorize that it was unlikely she had any forewarning ( a uniquely ironic phrase, given the woman’s status as a debated seer ). she probably knew her attacker, though it’s hard to say - there is no sign of struggle, and the killing curse does not leave a mark. even if she had realized in time to have a defensive instinct, her wand - nine and a half inch hazel, with a unicorn tail hair core - was found on the floor above her, resting on a rickety coffee table and so very far from reach. they will say she died before it happened, and there’s no reason to think that she felt any pain, or that the situations were connected.

the formal report will lodged by overworked aurors some hours later will not have certain details. there is no witness to the woman with wild hair & hooded eyes, nor her two companions, who apparated into the lane behind the building and entered through unlocked door. no one saw her look of fear, when throat cleared behind her & she turned on heel to see them looming in the doorway. there was no need for a silencing charm. sybill, unable to understand the position she was in, never called for help. bellatrix wasn’t there to interrogate her, and thus, didn’t give her much of a chance, anyway. their time together was short & sweet. the green light went unnoticed, and the loose cannon that was a seer with potential to urge foes in right direction against them was taken off of the playing field, with ease. conspiracy theorists in the future, inclined to look that bit deeper, may get a closer approximation of the truth than those aurors ever did.

but then again : it wasn’t their first priority.

it was such a lovely day. the sun, not quite beating down upon the heads of everyone bustling through the alley, still shone with more strength than it had all winter. the lack of brisk breeze made even the long shadows cast by mismatched buildings almost warm. the wwn predicted rain later that evening, and mothers ushering their children along stole glances every now and again towards the sky, waiting to see the telltale sign of dark clouds rolling in.

the first indication that anyone has to something being truly amiss was actually the sharp drop to the temperature, and the rolling fog that fell over them all, thick enough to hide anyone - and anything - more than a few feet away. thick enough to blot out the sun. the shadows grew longer. they stretched outwards. when the first scream pierces the air, only those nearest are able to see what’s causing those notes of fear.

it doesn’t take more than a moment for everyone else to realize. as the alley explodes into pandemonium, the dementors descend onto them all.

ROUNDUP OF INITIAL FATALITIES & INJURIES ( AS OF THIS DROP ):

sybill trelawney is very, very dead. as brutal as this’ll sound - that isn’t very relevant to this plot drop as a whole, so don’t worry about it ! she’s not.

OUT OF CHARACTER:

rather than transition the on dash event threads towards this plot drop, we’re going to do things a little differently with everyone’s current needs in mind. on dash will remain the period of time that is the start of the month through to the 15th ( which will make things a little less intensive as we begin the next part of the ooc noxtms ~ celebrations ~ ). off dash, and on the discord, several channels covering a number of businesses have been established. they each have a character cap of seven to make things less confusing, and can be used for plot drop rping !

as always with a plot drop of this nature, the discord announcement will include the allowance for injurys. there’s a smaller cap on these than usual, since the dementors themselves are sort of .... 0 - 100, and the injuries themselves will have to be discussed as happening in the chaos rather than from the dementors. that is, unless you uhhh ... really want your character to get a little kiss kiss ! that can be arranged !

the galleon system list has also been updated and now includes a reward of 250 galleons ( per character it’s completed for ) for a 250 word minimum drabble / self para, written with the patronus charm & it’s much-needed usage during this plot drop in mind. if this were english class, the prompt would probably be something to the effect of : write a detailed description of your characters happy memory, or what their experience is about to be, conjuring their patronus in this specific situation. you have a LOT of freedom on it, and can write it in any way you see fit. please feel free to use the tag nox.task on any posted to the dash !

there was never any intention of having a st patrick’s parade / party event. sorry for bamboozling you all, but i think it’s safe to say that after this disastrous ides of march, those events will have been cancelled ! once you’ve read this post, please give it a little like !

#nox.plotdrop009 #nox.important #nox.event013 #hehe #i mean.#rip!

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extra-salt · 3 years

Text

The Growing Height, Feelings, and Distance (Tsukishima Kei x Reader)

Title: The Growing Height, Feelings, and Distance Pairing: Tsukishima Kei x Reader Genre: Fluff, very light angst? A/N: Hi there! I've been listening to several songs on my playlist in hopes of getting some inspiration for a story and I did, BUT, I don't know how to put them into plots and words. I only managed to write this one out and this has been sitting in my drafts for a week or so. I wanted to finish writing it but work keeps eating my time sad noise .

This story is loosely based on a song called 20cm by Tomorrow x Together (lyrics here). When I started getting inspirations from the song, I immediately tried to find a character that will go with it and I chose Kei (one of the things that this song explicitly talks about is the height, so yea, that's how I really decided for it, there ya go). I love Kei, but I'm not entirely confident of how I wrote him in this one :(

(Also posted this on AO3.)

Let me know what you think~

Masterlist

—

“Am I missing something?” Kei questioned as he went downstairs to the dining table only to see a lot of dishes being served.

“I’m home!” Kei heard from the entrance.

“Kei, can you put this inside the fridge please?” His brother handed him a box containing a cake. A strawberry shortcake.

“Are we celebrating something I’m not aware of?” he asked.

“The L/Ns are coming over for dinner. They just moved back from Tokyo and they’re staying for good this time.”

That means…

Akiteru gave his little brother a teasing grin. “That means Y/N is back and that cake is not all yours. I got that flavour because you two liked it so much.”

—

It’s been 4 years since you and your family moved to Tokyo to look after your grandparents and also for your father to take over the family’s business as your grandpa decided to retire. Your families lived next to each other, and as your parents put it “you and Kei have known each other since you were in diapers”. When you left for Tokyo, you shed some tears while bidding goodbye to Kei who only teased you for being a crybaby.

You would come back to Miyagi during your summer breaks. The first time you went back for a vacation, to say that you were surprised is an understatement. It had only been a few months but it was very much visible how he grew taller and his voice was a bit deeper than what you were used to. Let’s say you didn’t let him live a day without teasing him about it.

Even if you would often annoy the hell out of each other, it was needless to say that you got each other’s backs, even in as kids. You were there for him when he discovered his brother’s secret and he got you when your parents were going through a rough patch.

Things got busy for you when you entered middle school. Your family got busier in handling the business as well so there wasn’t really a chance for you to go back to Miyagi even for a short vacation. You and Kei remained connected through emails and occasional phone calls for a few months until you’ve never heard from each other again.

—

The family dinner started and you two were sitting across each other while the older ones are talking and with Akiteru chiming in from time to time. You and Kei were quietly eating your dinner, not finding the right time to strike up a conversation any time soon. Kei excused himself first from the table after finishing his meal. After a while, you stood up to excuse yourself as well, but Akiteru called for you from the kitchen counter. You can see him getting a cake from the fridge and settling it down on the counter and then goes to get small plates and utensils. He proceeded to slicing the cake and placing them on the small plates and pushing two to your direction. “One for you, and the other one is for Kei. He's at the backyard, will you please bring it to him?"

"Sure," you replied. "Thank you, Akiteru-nii."

"Be sure to catch up with each other. As much as I hate how rowdy you two were back then, I kinda miss it."

"Just say you miss me and go," you replied with some sass and earning a laugh from Akiteru.

"I was so sure you lost your words and sass somewhere in Tokyo when I didn't hear anything from you back at the table."

"I think it only comes out when I talk to an annoying Tsukishima sibling?"

"That ain't me."

—

You went to the backyard and as what Akiteru said, Kei was there with his headphones and sitting on the porch.

You put the other small plate down beside Kei and quietly took a seat in the opposite direction with your own slice of cake. He must have felt your presence as he removed his headphones and noticed the slice of cake beside him. He muttered a thank you and started digging in. You rack your brain for whatever topic or question that you could use to strike up a conversation. All the questions that you wanted to ask seemed to have evaporated. Think! Think! Come on…

"Kei, how much have you grown since we last saw each other?” you asked awkwardly, mentally slapped yourself for it. You were not expecting an answer for it really, but Kei did anyway.

"Last time I checked it was around 188cm."

“That’s around 20cm! You’ve grown so much!”

"Duh, of course. It was several years ago. Do you really expect me to remain a shorty just like you?"

His last statement ticked you off, but you can't help but smile as you slowly felt the atmosphere between the two of you go back to how it was. Seeing that faint shit-eating grin on his face is enough proof.

"I'm not a shorty! I grew up too!"

"Really? Let's see then," he challenged. He stood up from his spot, you followed him, and stood right in front of him to compare. "Alright, stand still--" you said, holding on both of his arms to make him stay still and when you looked up, blush crept up on your faces at the close proximity. Before you completely drown yourself in his golden-brown eyes, you pushed him out of panic and lost your balance. Luckily, he managed to catch you before your clumsy ass hit the ground. He pulled you up and you steadied yourself. “Sorry about that.”

While you were trying to collect yourself, he flicked a finger on your forehead causing you to yelp in pain. “What the hell?! I said I’m sorry!”

“Ah, sorry. You’re so annoyingly clumsy, I can’t help it.”

“Damn you beanpole!” He then walked back to his previous spot and picked up the now empty plate. "Leaving already?"

“Yeah. I got things to do," he casually replied. You wanted more time to catch up with him but he already marched back inside. "I guess that's enough for today?" you thought.

The previous scene was still playing in his mind as he went back inside. You were standing too close to each other that he can smell your shampoo scent. He had the urge to pat your head, run his fingers through your hair and graze them lightly on your chin, but he managed to hold it back. Where did these urges even come from? He doesn’t understand. He never did, and it annoyed him.

—

Monday came and you were surprised to see Kei outside your house in his school uniform. Damn, he’s just wearing a gakuran but he sure makes it look like he’s gonna be on a runway. “Your mom asked me to accompany you to school, transfer student.”

“Sounds like a very troublesome task. I like that.”

“If you don’t hurry up, I’m gonna leave you behind.”

The walk to your new school was rather silent. You two bicker a lot but you also used to have moments where you enjoy the comfortable silence. But right now, there's nothing comfortable with the silence between the two of you. “We really drifted off, didn’t we?” Those thoughts were never meant to be spoken out loud. Kei saw your mouth moved as he was sneaking glances at you, but he was not able to catch what you said. “Sorry, what was that—?”

“Good morning, Tsukki!” From behind, you can see Yamaguchi Tadashi running to your direction. “Y/N is that you?!”

“Good morning to you too, Yamaguchi,” you greeted. “Yes, it’s me. The one and only.”

“When did you get back?! Oh, you’re wearing Karasuno’s uniform, does that mean—“

“Shut up, Yamaguchi. We’re gonna be late,” Kei interjected.

“Hehe. Sorry, Tsukki!”

When you arrived at school, you parted ways with the two guys and went to the teachers’ office to get your class schedule. You got introduced to your new classmates and immediately hit it off with your seatmate, Yachi Hitoka, who was willing to show you around and accompany you on your first day. During lunchtime, you two were on your way to the cafeteria and saw Yamaguchi and Kei who seemed to be headed to the same location.

“Yamaguchi—!”

“Kei—!”

You and Yachi called out at the same time, earning the two boys’ attention. “You know them, Yachi?”

“Yeah, they’re members of the school’s volleyball team. I assume you know them too?”

“Ah, I remember you mentioned that you were one of the managers.”

Yamaguchi and Kei made their way to the two of you. “I’m friends with them. Kei and I are childhood friends, and I met Yamaguchi through this blonde beanpole.”

Yamaguchi and Yachi can’t help but snicker at the way you talk about Kei. “You two must be very close if you’re on a first-name basis,” Yachi commented.

You suddenly felt Kei’s arm on your head and moving it to mess up your hair. “Yeah, we’re very close,” Kei replied in a mocking voice. Once you were able to get his arm off of your head, you held onto it as he was still attempting to bring it back on your head. “You never told me you were in the volleyball club.”

“You never asked," he replied nonchalantly. It kinda stung, but you buried it at the back of your mind. You used to tell each other everything even if you didn't ask.

“Well I wanted to catch up with you during the weekends but you declined. So much for being friends.” You felt him trying to lift his arms up again in an attempt to further mess your hair but you somehow managed to get away from him and run behind Yachi and Yamaguchi.

“Anyways! Can I come to your volleyball practice later, Yachi?”

“I think you can. I’ll go and ask permission from Takeda-sensei and I’ll let you know.”

“Nope.” Kei objected. “There are already enough bothersome people in practice. Don’t try to add more by coming over.”

Do you ever listen to him? Nope, so after class, you went with Yachi to the gym. "Keeeiiiiiiii!!!" you called the moment you saw him enter the gym. He was visibly annoyed by your antics but you're pretty much used to it.

You also got to meet the rest of the Karasuno team that afternoon. They found it amusing that there’s a girl who can actually talk back to Kei and get away with it unscathed. For the rest of the practice, however, Kei did not pay you any attention at all. During their breaks, he would rest somewhere away from where you’re sitting, making it clear that he doesn’t like having you here in their practice. It didn’t faze you though. When they were done with practice, you went up to him to say that you’re gonna wait for him to clean up and you can go home together.

“You looked really cool today, not gonna lie.” You kept your eyes on him as he wiped away his sweat and removed his training bib. No response. “Let’s go home together! It’s a bit late already.”

“I told you not to come here.” He places the towel on his shoulder and turned to your direction, displaying his annoyed face. “You could’ve gone home earlier and it would save me the energy to walk you to your house.”

“Did you really expect me to listen? Duh. And you said I never asked about you playing volleyball so I went to see you play,” you retaliated. “And our houses are literally next to each other, stop overreacting.”

“Don’t come again.”

“Not gonna happen.” And it never really happened. You’d always go to their practice after class hour like it’s your normal routine that Shimizu even considered getting you as a manager, an idea that Yachi rooted for. You declined, saying that Kei might disown you for good, which is half true.

Kei still doesn’t talk to you whenever you’re there, but you still go home together. You can already feel yourself running out of patience. The unanswered questions have been plaguing your mind ever since you went back to Miyagi but you never even got a chance to bring up one of it.

“Tsukishima Kei!” you yelled from behind as you two near your houses.

He was clearly taken aback with your use of his full name that he immediately looked back. “Why the hell did you stop talking to me back then? Did I do or say something wrong?” You asked with a pained expression. “Did you get tired of me?”

Kei remained unmoved. The distance that you felt between the two of you seems to grow further as he remained silent. He has been trying to avoid this moment ever since you came back because he doesn’t really know how to answer that question. But the look on your face when you asked if he got tired of you seemed to tug some strings on his heart.

“I’m sorry. What was I thinking?” You continued. “You did get tired of me. I’m sorry, Kei. I won’t bother you anymore.”

You walked past him, but he was able to grab ahold of your arm and pulled you to his chest. “I would never,” he whispered. “I would never get tired of you.”

“I’m not good with words when it comes to expressing my feelings. Heck, I didn’t even understand them.” He wrapped his arm around your shoulder and you snuggled closer to his chest. You felt him lean his chin on the top of your head and heaved a sigh. “My brother used to tease me a lot because we kept in contact to the point that he got so annoying. So to spite him, I stopped contacting you.”

“What a lame-ass reason! You got me overthinking and feeling sad for years just for that LAME. ASS. REASON!”

“I know! Stop rubbing it on my face! I wanted to reconnect but I was thinking that you already either hate me or have forgotten about me. I never had the courage to speak to you again but I cannot find it in me to let the thought of you go. When you came back, you asked me how much I’ve grown. I don’t think it’s just my height. My feelings may have caught up with it as well.”

You pulled away from his hold for a bit and looked up at him. “Then why did you ran away from me that night?”

For the first time since you came back, you saw him looking at you fondly. The same look he’d use to give whenever you render him speechless when you’d never back down when bickering with each other or whenever you manage to throw a good comeback to his snarky comments. “I was unsure..of what I exactly feel, of what you feel towards me.”

“I forgot how dense you could be.”

“Now you’re just being annoying.”

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alexanderstarhero · 4 years

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Day 05: “Pass the Salt”

Dear Journal

As you know, I knew some pro duelist personally... well morel ike we know them cause they visited us a lot. Or more like, they tried to find Mister Judai on their days off, when they heard he was staying.

It happened often enough that we saw them thrice a year at the very least. Mister Andersen and Mister Judai also tell us some stories about them, so we know a few embarrassing facts about them.

One of them came up to mind this weekend, when Ebon dueled a girl using an Ojama deck.

During the third year of “The Thunder”, a name he insisted all us call him, he tried to take a shortcut through pro dueling as a meme duelist.

There are some meme duelist still around that are quite good, but the whole thing back then is that they loosed on purpose to make a fool of themselves and the game.

During that time he was forced to use an Ojama deck which had spirits.

It was very awkward for him since he didn’t tolerate them at all, he gave up soon after. Although not because of the spirits, but because he didn’t like soiling his pride as a duelist, he even won the match with the Ojama.

But he came back soon after with his iconic dragon deck.

Decoy teased him for days and Armed was very happy to be back in business with Chazz.

I personally don’t like the Ojamas design. and while I haven’t personally met the spirits, the way The Thunder described them doesn’t sound pleasing.

Oh also, Ebon lost, so he doesn’t like the cards either XD

Gonna go to sleep now, thanks for listening.

Signing out.

...

Okay Let’s begin with the headcanons and changes to the original plot.

Get rid of the Ojamas and change it to other spirits for Manjoume He didn’t even liked them from the start, and they don’t contribute with the plot over all. Their whole gimmick was that they were gross, but it wasn’t even funny once. I propose giving him Decoy Dragon and Armed Dragon LV 3 as his main spirits.

Draw or Win for Manjoume during the duel when he comes back from as representative of North Academy I know Judai is the main guy, but I think it would have been a better character development if he had refused to follow his brothers plan even after he had a draw or better yet, a win. Even defending the Duel Academy from their comment or something. We do have a follow up but it doesn’t count for me.

Let Judai move dorms or give us a good reason to keep him Red SO maybe some of you might not aggro on the first option, but he stayed as a Slifer for 4 seasons? I don’t believe it. Even if his writing part were bad, at that point he is the strongest duelist on the island, he should be Ra Yellow at least for the skills alone. Unless he losed more times during the first and second season I don’t believe it.

Let everyone else duel and don’t relay solely on Judai I think the battle of Zane against Camula proves it the best, sure he didn’t have any way to save Syrus, but either way, it seems like the show didn’t let anyone else shine or take the spotlight over Judai. Heck, during the last season, when Asuka, Jun, Fubuki and Asuka lackies are the last one in the academy, you know what they said? WE SHOULD WAIT AND HOLD ON FOR JUDAI TO COME AND SOLVE THE PROBLEM!!! The hell? Chazz can see spirits, you have someone capable and you can just say no to the duel or use violence, I would have done it.

Some unfinished plots... Johan has the Trapper, but it seems his problem was solved very quickly, also what was the deal with him, he lost the connection? How did that happen? Did he wanted to use the spirits for energy? If he lost the connection, shouldn’t he be unable to interact with the spirits at all? What about Atticus girlfriend? you know, the Gravekeeper Assassin, who apparently Judai got a crush on. She was there because of Darkness as far as I understood, but why wasn’t she in the Dark World like Fujiwara, or why she doesn’t appear ever again or mentioned? So much potential and yet...

Fate of Zane Trusdale So, I have seen several videos about GX and his story telling, but something that probably would have done good, even if the possibility broke my heart, was for Zane to actually die from heart attack, rather than being revived along side the others, and that the Cyber Dark deck was the responsable. It would have made for an emotional episode when the Jinzo user came after Zane and later Syrus.

I think that’s all, I’m very tired now, but I’ll be back with more.

Thanks for reading

#gxmonth2020 #yugioh gx #yu gi oh gx #manjoume thunder #jun manjoume #judai yuki #johan andersen #zane truesdale #headcanon #day 05 #pass the salt #decoy dragon #armed dragon lv3

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nattikay · 4 years

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Some musings on Jim and a “normal life”

One of the most common gripes I see with Jim’s transformation is that he can no longer lead a “normal” life and, therefore, his life is ruined. Sometimes this mindset even extends to before his transformation with the concept of him being the Trollhunter at all, because after all the Trollhunter is set up to be “Merlin’s champion” and Merlin Bad™.

It brings to mind Jim’s monologue at the beginning of Unbecoming:

“Is this what you wanted? To hurt everyone? To ruin my life? Why did you choose me? Huh? I wish I’d never picked you up in the first place. You made a mistake.”

So that proves it, right? Jim’s life has been utterly ruined by becoming the Trollhunter and he regrets ever picking up that amulet. Case closed!

Except....not really.

Using this quote to prove that Jim’s life is ruined kind of completely ignores the rest of the episode. Let’s put it back in context.

At the moment he made that statement, everything seemed to be going wrong, wrong, wrong for Jim. His worst fear has been realized: saving Enrique allowed Gunmar to escape. He is now imprisoned by the Tribunal and faces the potential of literal execution. That’s terrifying. Of course he’s gonna be rethinking the events that lead to it. Of course a normal mundane life is gonna sound a heckuva lot better than “I screwed up so badly that the Big Bad has escaped and will probably bring about the end of the world and also I’ve been arrested and might be executed this weekend”.

All that in mind, Unkar’s spirit makes an appearance to give him the chance to do exactly what he so desperately wants in that moment: to go back, ignore the amulet, and live that normal life. After the initial confusion of trying to figure out what the heck just happened, Jim embraces the normality--he’s doing well in school, he doesn’t have to keep secrets from his mom, everything seems to be going perfectly...at first.

But gradually, his attitude begins to shift. Logistically things are much easier now...and yet, he’s lost something too. He’s lost his relationship with Claire. He’s lost his friendships with Blinky, Arrrggh, and Draal. He’s lost his sense of purpose. We see him kind of sinking into a depression; sitting alone and quiet for hours, becoming distant, loosing his appetite, desperately reviewing the moves Draal taught him in another life.

He’s safe, but he’s empty.

The thing that breaks him out of it is re-discovering Strickler’s plot with the bridge. At this point, he has purpose again--stopping Strickler and co--and suddenly his depression is replaced by a grim determination and he hops right back to business.

He faces yet more hardships--some of the worst yet, honestly--and ultimately comes to the conclusion:

“I am the Trollhunter, amulet or not.”

Back in the main timeline, Usurna asks if he’s willing to give up the amulet in exchange for freedom. Here it is! That chance for that normal life again that he begged for in the beginning of the episode!

But no. He’s changed his mind and is ready to face his title with a renewed determination. “I'm keeping my amulet,” he affirms, and when a nervous Toby asks if he’s sure, he confidently replies: “Yeah, Tobes. Never been more sure.”

“That’s all well and good,” I hear you say, “But surely the only reason he was depressed during the vision was because he remembered the good things from the other timeline! If he never had those experiences to begin with, there would be nothing to miss! He could be perfectly content!”

I agree...to an extent. Certainly I don’t think he’d have become quite so depressed with a normal life if he had no memories of being the Trollhunter. But....let’s go back to the very first episode, before all the craziness started.

Jim is frequently wishing for “excitement”. We only see him do it once, but based on some of Toby’s other lines ( “You’re always saying how you want your life to be more exciting, right?”), we can concur that this is a fairly regular sentiment.

Jim clarifies: “I don’t mean just, you know, exciting. I mean…more. I just need to know there’s something more to life than high school.”

Later, when Barbara discovers his secret and expresses her worry, he tells her “I think this is what I was meant to do.”

No, Jim does not have a “normal” life. Definitely not now that he’s half-troll. But honestly...I don’t think he wants one. Not really.

Jim has always, on some level, been looking for something more fulfilling than the mundane. Trollhunting provides that for him. Normal certainly sounds like a welcome break when things get stressful (and boy do they), but ultimately I don’t think he would’ve been satisfied with “normal”.

Jim is the Trollhunter.

Amulet or not.

#trollhunters #jim lake jr #long rambly post is long and rambly #not having a ''normal'' life is not necessarily nor automatically a bad thing #just some thoughts

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bts-fantasy · 5 years

Text

The Boy Next Door

Genre: Thriller AU

Characters: Yoongi, Hoseok x Reader

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You woke up in the early morning to the sound of brids chirping. Yawning loudly you got up and opened your blinds to let the morning sun shine into your room looking at the clear sky your mood got lifted even more after being woken up by the peaceful sound of nature. You had a feeling that today was going to be extra special.

Suddenly you heard a loud bang outside and a deep voice shouting curse words. Your eyes shifted to the guys standing in the driveway next to your house one of them trying to lift up a heavy-looking box.

„Ah, shit! I hope you didn‘t break anything“, the guy shouted, who seemed like the older brother of the one who’d dropped the box on the road. He kept carrying one box after the other into the house next to yours while the younger was staring at the box in front of him as if it was a math problem.

His thin figure was slightly struggling to hold the heavyweight up for too long and he put it down once again with an annoyed expression looking around to check his surroundings as if he wanted to make sure no one was looking his way. His hair was tousled and black as ebony his clothes that were loosely hanging over his body were all in the same color palette of dark grey, black and blue.

Soon his eyes darted up staring directly at you catching a glimpse of your gaze right before you disappeared from your window.

Your heart was beating rapidly inside of your chest for being caught staring and you quickly moved to your bathroom to get ready for school. You put on a black turtle neck sweater with white pants and went downstairs where you could hear your mom fidgeting with the mixer already.

„Mom, are you baking a-“, you stopped as soon as you walked into the kitchen spotting your mom cracking eggs into the batter.

„...cake, for the new neighbors.“

You smiled at her as she nodded. It was a tradition for you two to welcome a new neighbor with your mom’s homemade cake.

„Yes. I saw them arrive this morning and introduced myself to them. They seem to be very nice people.“

You hummed in response taking a bite of the pancake that was already set on a plate on the table.

„Mhmm... delicious! Thanks, mom!“

A bashful smile spread across your mother‘s face since she still struggled with compliments despite the amount she received.

„I‘m glad you like it Y/N. Now hurry up or you‘ll be late for school!“

Finishing your breakfast quickly you left the house after saying goodbye to your mom and ran up to the bus station just in time to catch the bus.

A few minutes later you walked through the big wooden doors entering your school where you were met with the loud noises of students talking and lockers smashing. You walked to yours taking out the textbooks you needed for your classes as you got tackled by someone from behind.

„How was your weekend, Y/N?“, Hoseok‘s loud voice startled you and you turned around with wide eyes that shut him up immediately.

„Sorry, I know you told me not to yell at you first thing in the morning.“

He averted his gaze with a pout but you couldn‘t help but giggle at the adorable expression. It was funny how your friend was sensitive to loud noises but was the loudest one himself.

„It‘s okay. My weekend was so much fun! And with fun I mean I‘ve been working on my assignments non-stop and I haven‘t seen sunlight in two days“, you faked a smile as Hoseok looked at you as if you‘d gone completely crazy. He bent down to meet your eyes studying your face carefully.

„Yep. It‘s clear. You need help.“ He nodded earning a playful punch from you in return as his loud laugh filled the hallways. The bell rang and the hallways emptied quickly everyone walking into the classrooms and you and Hoseok started your day with a good mood.

„Is he hot?“, Hoseok whispered after a few seconds causing your eyes to grow wide looking at him. You‘d just told him about your new neighbors and the embarrassing incident, feeling the heat rise to your cheeks once again at the thought of it. Hoseok kept staring at you with expectant eyes waiting for your answer but you simply didn‘t know what to say so you just shrugged averting your eyes.

Hoseok sighed shaking his head at your response clearly disappointed he shifted his attention back to the teacher in front of you and so you continued the rest of the classes for the day trying hard not to fall asleep.

„Mom, I‘m home!“, you yelled the sweet smell of freshly baked cake engulfing you as soon as you set foot into your house.

„Oh, perfect! Can you please bring this over to the new neighbors? I have an important video conference with one of my clients.“

Your mom‘s eyes were sparkling at the mention of her client. She worked as a full-time artist and selling your artwork was a difficult business and it was always great news when she got a new client who was ready to buy one of her beautiful paintings. So you nodded taking the cake that was carefully packed in a tin and made your way over to your new neighbors. You heard your mom shout a ‚thank you‘ behind you as you closed the front door already dreading the encounter in front of you. You were hoping that his older brother would open the door since you were still too embarrassed to meet the one who‘d caught you this morning.

Walking up the few stairs, you finally stood in front of the black wooden door fixing your hair before pressing the bell right next to the brass sign that read ‚Min Brothers‘. You held your breath as you heard the loud bell sounding through the entire house and someone shouting inside.

„Open the door, Jae!“, a deep voice shouted inside.

„Get your ass up from the couch and get it yourself!“, you heard another voice shout that you recognized as the older one. After a few curse words you heard slurping footsteps nearing the door automatically causing you took a step back as a precaution. The door opened revealing the older brother whose eyes widened in surprise to see you standing there.

„Oh, hey...“, he spoke lowly as you tightened the grip around the cake tin. His black hair was almost covering his eyes which made it hard for you to read his expression. You couldn‘t tell if he was annoyed by your visit or not.

„Uhm... this is for you. My mom made it as a welcome gift“, you spoke rapidly only wanting to disappear but you soon saw his lips pull into a shy smile as he accepted your gift with a bow. He ran his fingers through his hair to get the strands out of his sight so he could look at you properly. His gaze wandered up and down your face examining your details in a calm manner but it made you freeze in your spot your mind racing with thoughts about what to do or say next.

„Thank you...“, he dragged his words implying for you to introduce yourself which you‘d completely forgotten in the heat of the moment. As if you were stung by an adder you realized how dumb you were acting in front of your new neighbor and you quickly introduced yourself with a nervous laugh.

„Sorry, my name‘s Y/N. I live in that house over there“, you pointed towards your house but stopped to look back at the guy when you heard his chuckle.

„Yeah, I know.“

Your eyes widened immediately at his words and he noticed your gaze before he quickly added: „I saw you this morning when you ran to the bus station.“

Your cheeks turned red but you were glad that he didn‘t mention the window incident as you nodded with a shy smile.

„I‘m Min Yoongi, by the way. It‘s nice to meet you, Y/N.“ Your name rolled off his tongue so smoothly it made you shiver and you nodded with a timid smile.

„Uhm... I think I should head back home...“, you said after a long pause stepping down the stairs ready to leave but you stopped when you heard his deep voice speaking up again.

„I‘ll see you around.“

Before you could reply the door got closed and you quickly left as you felt like an intruder standing all alone on their front porch.

Finally, back in your room, you turned your laptop on to work on your homework for the next day as your phone suddenly rang with an incoming message. You furrowed your brows at the unknown number as you opened the message only to feel your blood freeze in your veins.

You tossed your phone away standing up so fast that it knocked your chair over with a loud crash. Looking around your room panicked you moved to your window to see if there was someone outside but all you could see was an empty street illuminated by the lamp posts surrounding your little neighborhood. You closed your blinds quickly trying to calm yourself down as you stood in the middle of your room staring at your phone that laid upside down on your desk, too scared to pick it up again.

„Y/N? Is everything alright?“, you heard your mom‘s voice coming from downstairs startling you again. She must‘ve heard the loud crash of your wooden stool and you knew how scared your mom was of loud noises after everything that went down with your dad. You composed yourself quickly holding onto your elbows to prevent yourself from shaking as you replied to her.

„N-no mom, don‘t worry it was just my chair.“

You walked over to pick the knocked over furniture up again your eyes shifting to your phone as you kept staring at it. Only one question haunted your mind the same words repeating over and over again in your head.

Who was it?

A/N: It‘s finally out! The first part of my halloween series!👻 I sat down with my roommate today to work out the plot and I gotta say that I‘m very, very excited for this one!!🥳

I hope you guys enjoy reading this and comment your thoughts and also if you want to be included on the taglist!😁👍🏽

Stick with me until the end because you don‘t wanna miss it I promise🥺

Thank you all for reading, I purple you!💜

(Btw don‘t get confused when you see my main acc respond to your comments (@thedreaming-poet))

Masterlist

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lesceriises · 4 years

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hey hey hey i really don’t feel like writing starters just for them to sit there without any replies sooo i’m really interested in the plots bellow (yes there’s lot of them, i like to have options). striked means the plot is already taken. if you’re interested in anything please don’t be shy hmu and i’ll write you a starter. i’m always down for writing several plots with the same person too!!!

misc

honestly i want more supernatural plots, plots with asoiaf-ish elements (i don’t write canons but i don’t mind writing plots based on canon stories), or plots with lots of magical realism. i don’t have any ideas in specific but if you’re interested and want to bounce ideas off lmk.

really want a mob doctor plot for callie, and a plot where carlota gets her heart-broken.

actual plots

“you can’t even take care of yourself how are you going to take care of a baby?”

[a] has finally confessed their feelings to [b]. everything is fine and dandy... until the next day wen they kiss [b] on the lips and [b] is very confused.... turns out [a] confessed their feelings to [b]’s doppelganger.

[a] was somehow transported into another world or reality. [b] has spent years looking for them... now the they have found them... [a] doesn’t want to go back.

(annihilation vibes) [a] and [b] are a couple / exs / almost dated. they are assigned to go on an exploration - one [a] had gone in before and which ended earlier than expected. during their exploration they are forced to face the nature of their relationship, their past shortcomings, and also the fact that there’s something awfully strange going on in the surroundings around them.

(tomb raider vibes) [a] and [b] are on the same side at first, but when the bad guy is defeated [a] wants to keep the magical artifact that could literally change the lives of millions of people... [b] thinks the artifact should stay where they found it.

(historical) [a] went to war and was presumed dead, against all odds and to everyone’s shock he returns to his family and bride [b] months/a year later, but [b] is quick to realise that something is off... when is it a good time to tell your future wife you made a deal with the devil?

[a] and [b] are very close/in a relationship and their job is to hunt down supernatural beings... and then [a] is turned into one. will [a] kill them when they find out?

(historical) [a] is a skilled nurse. [b] is their patient. somehow they click. alas there is a pretty big witch hunt going on and oops turns out [a] is one of them.

a plot where muse a has been pretending to be a fortune teller/psychic and has become a really skilled liar. then one day muse b comes along. muse a bullshits their way through muse b’s reading… only literally everything they say it’s going to happen to them, happens to them.

based on princess diaries: (a) and (b) are good friends who may or may not have a massive crush on each other. (b) just found out they are royalty.

princess diaries 2: based on mia x nicholas

loosely based on bella x mortimer goth (this is so niche but hello sims lovers!!!). (a) and (b) are childhood sweethearts who get married and have a family. one day (a) vanishes and it shatters (b)’s heart. it takes months/a year but eventually (a) returns, although there’s something... different about them.

‘we’re childhood friends who grew apart because i moved away and now im kind of famous but anyway i’m back in town for a holiday and you lied to your family about dating someone because they’re always annoying you about being single haha oh man that wasn’t very smart of you you’re such a mess… wait you want me to pretend to be your s/o?”

(until dawn vibes) hanging out in a cabin in the woods for the weekend with their friends, [a] and [b] almost dated but the night things nearly took off an awful prank was played on [a]’s sibling, who vanished and was never found. a year later the friends are at the cabin again in some sort of homage ([a] could have asked them to come, it could have been [c] - someone who had an interest in [a]’s sibling, or it could be unknown who did it). odd things start happening and the group splits, soon realising that they are not alone. in the middle of all of this, [a] and [b] are stuck together, navigating their personal feelings, dealing with the guilt of what happened the previous year, and trying to stay alive.

for all their problems (a) has managed to make a nice life for themselves, they even got engaged to their hs/college sweetheart, (b). they never wanted to be part of the family dubious business and thought they were out. but for some reason they were dragged back it, which deeply unsettles (b).

stranger things / anything horror-ish. (a) and (b) were low-key close growing up, not really in the same circle of friends but they just understood each other even in silence. a couple years ago when (b) was home from college they finally hooked up and it was supposed to have turned into a relationship but (a) got cold feet. a year later (b) met (a)'s step-sister at college and the two hit off and as far as (a) knows they have been dating for the past couple months.... now (a)'s step-sister has gone missing and (a) is paying (b) a visit at college.

muse a and muse b went were set up on a date. it... didn’t go well. the conversation was painful and not going anywhere so they kind of just ended up having sex. about a month later muse b starts getting texts from muse a. they think muse a wants to give it another go. muse b agrees to meet up with them to let them down gently... then muse a tells muse b she’s pregnant.

modern or historical. (a) and (b) recently got engaged and went on a short vacation to a charming cabin where they had a staff of two at their disposal. they got snowed in… which would have been fine if (b) wasn’t secretly a vampire and needed sustenance. bad things followed.

jumanji inspired aka “we played a game years ago and you vanished but now you’re… back? am i losing my mind?”

muse a and muse b are staying in a hotel for some reason - separate rooms. the hotel is haunted. when weird things start happening one of them wants to leave but oops, it’s snowing really hard and they can’t go anywhere.

muse a has always had very vivid dreams. one day they dream that they are in a ship during a storm, someone holding heir hand. something rolls down the deck hitting muse a in the left ankle. when muse a wakes up they feel normal until they swing their feel out of bed and try to stand, a sharp pain coming from their left ankle. when muse a looks at it, it’s bruised.

based on black chalk (book): a game of consequences, of silly forfeits, childish dares to be played by best friends in their first year at Oxford University. but then the game changed: the stakes grew higher and the dares more personal, more humiliating, finally evolving into a vicious struggle with unpredictable and tragic results. (optional: now, fourteen years later, the remaining players must meet again for the final round.)

a painful friends to lovers with a lot of history that’s a combination of a combination of: https://mocnlighted.tumblr.com/post/620129653361950720 + https://mocnlighted.tumblr.com/post/619204367325822976/sunciity-give-me-best-friends-who-harbor

https://ofginjxints.tumblr.com/post/619308606843666432/a-plot-where-two-old-flames-go-to-a-class-reunion

https://cvrnalsin.tumblr.com/post/187345277017/give-me-a-plot-where-its-the-1920s-and-muse-a-is

https://decadenceprone.tumblr.com/post/173055032578/okay-so-what-about-a-dude-he-doesnt-necessarily

#indie rp #indie starter #indie supernatural rp #indie oc rp #indie horror rp #open rp #open starter #indie fantasy rp

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shipping-receiving · 5 years

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Fictober 2019 JB Ficlet Project: Round-up 2/3

[Round-up 1/3: Days 1-10]

Here’s my favourite lines from my ficlets for Days 11-20. Well, I say ficlets, but the Office AU—which still has no plot beyond ‘woman punches man, they fall in love, sometimes office’—grew into a monster and the last instalment was 4,000 words.

Day 11: “It's not always like this.” (Modern AU) read on Tumblr / read on AO3

Admittedly, she might have been less agitated if Jaime’s road trip entertainment of choice hadn’t been all eight episodes of a true crime podcast. A true crime podcast about a couple who had been murdered in a very romantic lakeside cabin. Brienne is feeling quite jealous of the couple for having a cabin in the first place. May they rest in peace.

Day 12: “What if I don't see it?” (Office AU Part 1) read on Tumblr / read on AO3

Jaime Lannister is beautiful. She knows this. She was born with eyes. Unfortunately, she was also born with ears. And it felt like she was hearing about it all the time. One day, it just—happened. She said those fateful words. And she would find herself wishing, eventually, that she hadn’t been born with a mouth.

Day 13: “I never knew it could be this way.” (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse AU) read on Tumblr / read on AO3

“My body—it was always strong,” she muses to the sky. “All muscles, and brute force. That was how I had always moved. Always fought. I was strong, but I was also… dragging this huge weight around. I learned to use that weight to my advantage, but it still hung heavy on me, you know? Then, this happened.” She lifts her arms up, looks at them like she is seeing them for the very first time. “Suddenly my body has this agility, this—this lightness to it, that I’d never thought I’d feel, in a body like this.”

Day 14: “I can’t come back.” (Office AU Part 2) read on Tumblr / read on AO3

“Maybe he thinks mixing with the plebeians is good for office morale.” “Oh for fuck’s sake, Brienne,” Margaery says, but Brienne had swung her chair back to face her computer before Margaery could continue, and insistently began typing again. She could feel Margaery rolling her eyes behind her.

Day 15: “That’s what I’m talking about!” (Childhood Friends AU) read on Tumblr / read on AO3

Brienne feels slightly offended by his comment. “Of course I know that, Jaime.” Who does he think she is? Just some average eight-year-old who doesn’t spend every other weekend looking at weapons in the King’s Landing Museum?

Day 16: “Listen. No, really listen.” (Office AU Part 3) read on Tumblr / read on AO3

Brienne tries her hardest not to formulate any opinions on how the wind is having its way with Jaime’s loose white button-up shirt, although he seems to have forgotten that those first three buttons aren’t just for decoration. He’s rolled his sleeves up past his elbows, and she tries her hardest not to formulate any opinions on his forearms, either.

Day 17: “There is just something about them/her/him.” (Zombie Apocalypse AU) read on Tumblr / read on AO3

“We’ve almost died about fifty-five times each in the past six months. I do think at some point we may not just ‘figure it out’.” “I think you’ll find, B, that the tally is forty-six for me, and fifty-nine for you.” He still hasn’t even so much as turned around, but she can just imagine his self-satisfied smirk. “And about seventy-five for Podrick in the three months since we picked him up. Check the board.”

Day 18: “Secrets? I love secrets.” (Office AU Part 4) read on Tumblr / read on AO3

Brienne had learned, long ago, how not to cry in the face of cruelty. She had learned it by walling herself away—from everything, even from things and people that were not cruel. She may have even learned it by inflicting cruelty on herself first, before others could do it to her. But kindness—the kindness Margaery has shown her with just a few words, the kindness Margaery is asking her to show herself—that is another matter altogether.

Day 19: “Yes, I admit it, you were right.” (Modern AU) read on Tumblr / read on AO3

He’s working up to actually kissing her on the lips, but it took so long for them to go from ‘we go to the same gym’, to ‘we arrange to go to the same gym at the same time’, to ‘sometimes after our workouts we hang out at each other’s apartments’, to ‘we’re just very touchy-feely gym buddies okay, mind your own damn business’.

Day 20: “You could talk about it, you know?” (Office AU Part 5) read on Tumblr / read on AO3

“I heard that Brienne thought I looked average,” he mumbles. Gods, this is embarrassing. “No,” Tyrion exhales, all exaggerated dismay, and puts his hand to his chest in mock outrage. “You? Average? Say it ain’t so, Jaime.” “Oh, shut up. She doesn’t think that, anyway, I found out later. But I insulted her, and… she punched me. Gave me a black eye. She has a mean right hook, actually.” “Gods be good, I love her already,” Tyrion exclaims, as he takes his next glass from the waiting bartender. “When’s the elopement? Please let me be at the ceremony. Do it tomorrow, I’m still here tomorrow.”

#fictober19 #jaime x brienne #braime #my fic

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