#Im living a dream compared to just a short while ago

[doebt]

I am so grateful for the state of my life right now even if there is this overarching dissatisfaction and grief present...so thankful for my job and my apartment and certain parts of where i live. ie my astronomically cheap rent and the relative walkability of my neighborhood

#Im living a dream compared to just a short while ago #and its more than a dream compared to even longer ago #Tbh i never thought i would be here #getting to this point is just allowing me the freedom to confront more existential feelings #and really im grateful to be able to feel the sadness Im feeling rn #because it means im surviving...If you know what i mean then you know what i mean. and if you dont then Im glad

[cynettic]

Kissing Genshin Characters before you Die

Summary - Kissing the Genshin Characters one last time before you enter the battlefield.

Pairings - Reader x Albedo / Barbara / Bennett / Beidou / Chongyun / Diluc / Eula / Kazuha / Kaeya / Ayaka / Ningguang / Childe / Venti / Xiao / Zhongli

Warnings - Angst, death mentions

Tips - I wrote this listening to ‘Lovely’ and ‘Listen before I go,’ so it might make it better if you listen to both those songs while reading this :’) Both are by Billie Eilish btw, both reverb and slowed down songs for the extra angst

A/N - Im so tired, so so tired of human interaction and having no motivation to talk to people. Its like my social battery simply does not recharge, and I'm stuck writing about interactions I wish I could have, even if it's angst. Burying myself in the delusion that being in a different reality would change everything, burying myself in little imaginations and dreams of a love that doesn't exist.

Also yes, if you did notice the song lyrics playing at first are from "If the World was Ending," used to listen to that song so much. Thought it would fit this :)

“If the world was ending you’d come over right?”

It was absolute chaos, flames crawling up the wooden buildings and spreading smoke through the nation of Teyvat. Everything burned with the scorching heat, children crying, men and woman trying to run from the unescapable flames. Terror etched into citizens faces when encountering the monsters who appeared unaffected by the destruction.

Hilichurls and ruin guards smashing past people, till there was nowhere to run. And it was the mere decision of whether being beaten to death or burnt crisp was a better way to leave this world.

“You’d come over and you’d stay the night.”

But there you were, weapon in hand as you stood up against the blaze. Strong against the unblinking inferno in front of you, unwavering as you stood in front of the monsters that eagerly rushed towards you. Cut and obliterated in seconds, your eyes held nothing but a sickening disgust.

You slowly turned back to your s/o, relief quenching your heart when they were safe in the little location you’d found for them. They were injured, they wouldn't be sitting on the sidelines otherwise. And holding your weapon up again, you claimed the role of protector against the hoard of monsters.

“Would you love me for the hell of it?”

Their voice broke past your focus, a ragged sound that was suffering. It only took you a few strides till you reached them, crouching down to face them fully. Your faces were mere inches away, and you could see the frustration on their face. A deeply rooted feeling that fueled the action as they curled their hand around your head. Pressing your lips against theirs, one last kiss before you assumed the role of predator against the monsters.

“All our fears would be irrelevant.”

Both hands coming to hold their face, you pressed forwards into their kiss. Grasp tight against them, clinging onto them as if they were your lifeline.

“If the world was ending you’d come over right?”

You kissed them as if the world wasn't a aflame, like it was just you both sitting there. Hands grasping for their skin, for their lips, for them. Because without them you couldn't live in this smoldering world, a bright light that cocooned you in its comforting warmth. Nothing like the blazing flames that surrounded the two of you.

You kissed them like they were the only thing that mattered.

“The sky’d be falling and I’d hold you tight.”

But you felt the shake in their hands as they pressed their hand against your back, scared to let you go, scared to lose you. Scared to let this kiss end and have to face the scorching reality.

“And there wouldn't be a reason why.”

You pressed one last kiss to their forehead, basking in their embrace once more between you broke away. The look on your face was confident as you faced them one last time, softened by their teary eyes. Whispering soft words to them, you could only watch as they broke down, a tight feeling in your chest urging you to do the same.

But no, you had to be strong. For them, for yourself, for all of Teyvat. You slowly turned to the flames and monsters, holding up your weapon, screaming one last battle cry as you let your weapon lead your actions. As you let death become your only objective in a flurry to protect your partner.

“We would even have to say goodbye.”

Sobs wretched out of their throat as they watched you crumble, watched you fall the ground and collapse. Till the movement of your chest came to an abrupt stop, and monsters pooled at your sides.

They were forced to watch, unable to move.

“If the world was ending you’d come over right?”

Their cries turned to whimpers, until they couldn't hear the noises that spilled form their lips. Until they didn't care. What they cared about was thrown on their battlefield, beaten and ragged, torn and broken.

Dead.

“You’d come over… right?”

_-_-_-_-_

Albedo

He takes his time, hand on the back of your neck pushing you so hard against him till he’s woozy. Memorizing the feel of your plush lips against his, molding them into memory with every kiss. He’ll break away from your lips, pressing soft pecks up your face, along your nose, to your forehead. Infatuated with the way your hands gently hold his face, careful, delicate. He doesnt want to let you go, and with one final peck right between your eyes, he’ll close his eyes, whispering a goodbye as you leave. He doesnt open them when you die, he doesnt open them when the monsters reach him. No, he dies in your embrace, even if its not real.

Barbara

Desperate, oh so desperate. She doesnt know what to do with you when you press your hands to her face, tearful. You’ll have to be the one to initiate the kiss, muffling her cries with a short lived sweetness between the two of you. She’ll have her hands all over you, unsure of how to hold you, how to press you against her. She wants to stay like this forever, and even if her kisses are sloppy and messy, she’s crying too much to notice. She won’t break away, you’ll have to tug your way out of her grip and press one last kiss to her forehead. Her voice is angelic, even when she cries. You remind yourself that this is what you’re protecting as you enter the battlefield, giving it your all.

Beidou

Oh she knows, knows how this will play out. The kisses shared between the two of you are strong and compassionate, its more intense than any other kiss you’ve both shared before. Because she knows. She knows what’ll become of you and her, that this is the last kiss she’ll share with you, that there's nothing she can do about it. She lets herself indulge in you, her strong hold on you never letting go until you vocally ask her to let you go. You make her promises she knows you can't keep, but simply smiles, telling you to come back to her.

Bennett

Awkward, his hands will grab your shoulders when you approach him, pressing for a kiss immediately. He misses his mark, accidentally pressing his lips to the edge of your lips, noses bumping against each other as he tries to shift his face. You chuckle, holding his face as you adjust the angle, till you can fully reach his lips and press him against you. Like Barbara, he’ll cry, letting himself melt into you. He doesnt resist when you back away, whispering to him. Just sitting there he’ll cry, sob through it all, vision blurry with tears. But its better that way, he can picture you better when everything is fuzzy.

Chongyun

Everything was smoldering hot, too much for Chongyun who has so much yang energy trapped in him. He’s going through one of his rushes when you get to him, eager to tuck you into his arms. His kisses are sporadic, like he’s trying to kiss you but he cant. Like no matter how much his lips meet yours, it isnt enough. He wants more, he wants the promise of your forever embrace ingrained in his head. And when you break away, he’s left empty, the kisses he’d given you the only warmth on his lips. Suddenly everything was cold, so cold, and he only wished for you.

Diluc

Too rough, mashing your lips against his until you couldn't breath. Dizzy with the lack of oxygen, he didn't stop. You were ‘his,' right here right now, no one could take you away from him. You belonged alongside him, crouched in front of him, pressed into his arms where he could keep you safe. He wouldn't let you go, strong arms pulling you to his chest so firmly that you couldn't escape. He wanted to be selfish, he let himself indulge in the promise to himself that you weren't going anywhere. You’ll have to physically break out yourself, pressing back his hands as he tries to make a grab for you, tears brimming.

Eula

You were her everything, and she’ll tell you it through her kisses. She’ll run her hands along the curve of your back, holding you tenderly against her. She doesn't wish for vengeance for all the soft kisses you’ve stolen from her good days long ago, no, she’s willing to forgive you for everything as long as you’ll ‘stay.’ She promises that in all honesty, she loves everything about you, even if she denies it sometimes. And when you leave, she tells you to come back. That its the one and only thing she’ll hold against you if you don't.

Kazuha

Soft, so incredibly sensual with every touch. Kazuha was always filled with words, filled with lovely compositions made for you and only you. But now, he couldn't think of anything, no haiku he’d written in the past that compared to what he felt right now. Metaphors and hidden meanings couldn't compare to the raw pulsing throb he felt in his chest. “I love you,” he whispered, plain and simple. It held so much affection, he was afraid even those words weren't enough to express what he felt, but he settled with it either way. “I love you,” he repeated, brushing your lips against his before he said it again. “I love you.” He said it again, even as you left, entering the battlefield. He didn't stop saying it, not when he saw the monsters take you, not when they approached him with the promise of death. “I love you.”

Kaeya

He doesnt kiss you, because kisses to Kaeya are a sort of affection that brings the sense of normalcy. He likes the way your lips feel against his, but holding you against him is more special. He doesnt depend on kisses to express what he feels, instead pushing your head to his chest, sighing when your own arms come to wrap around him. No kisses, no touches, just you and him. Offering each other your last shreds of hope, because in the end, you only need each other.

Ayaka

“Look at me.” Her hand cups your cheeks just as you do to her. Now you both simply stare into each others eyes, love and adoration filling hers. She loves you, oh she loves you so much. But she understands duty better than anyone, the urge to protect you almost consuming her. When she kisses you, its soft, butterfly kisses. She doesn't rely on the contact to keep her grounded, no holding your face is a gift enough for her. To stare at you, even for one last time, is all she needs. You’ve given her so much, she would follow you to the ends of the world if you asked her to, and that's why it hurts her so much to watch you fall. She closes her eyes, noticing that she’d follow soon after and perhaps see you in the afterlife. No, she would, that's a promise she makes to herself.

Ningguang

Ningguang has delt with loss before, the concept isnt foreign to her. But you… you’re more than the jade chamber, more than any possession she has. You’re precious, like she sold a piece of her heart to you that she could never gain back. You took it from her, and you plan to take it with you to the battlefield. All she can do is press her lips against yours. Kiss you and the world beside you both becomes meaningless, until air becomes a chore instead of a necessity. Because without air she'd kiss you forever.

Childe

Details, in the case that Childe himself cant fight alongside you, he’ll hold you and repeat the details in his head. The way his hand feels on your hair, how soft or rough your lips are against his. How you fit against him, how badass you look out in the battlefield. He won’t stop you from leaving him, because he knows that if this case was reversed, he’d want you to let him go too. So he presses intimate kisses, slow ones that dont consist of a fight for dominance like they usually do. No, he wants to tell you how much he loves you, one last time.

Venti

He doesnt know what to do, pressed against you firmly. He presses soft kisses, but theres no emotion, he doesn't know how to express himself here. He’s lost a lot, lost so much in his existence, but nothing prepared him for this. Only after a kisses will he ask to cry, and when you tell him yes he’ll press his head against your shoulder. He’ll sob, hands gripping the fabric of your shirt as he does so. And then he kisses you while tears stream down his face, mashes your lips against his until his face grows numb. And he’ll continue to feel numb when you leave, when you die, when he dies.

Xiao

He doesn't know what to do, Xiao has never felt so utterly useless when you crouch to him. Form battered and bruised, when you embrace him he feels whole again. You’re his world, he doesn't care about the blazing inferno just beside you, the monsters that threaten all of Teyvat. You are his everything, what he strives to protect and keep safe. Kisses with him are breathless, both of you passionately pulling each other closer. He cant get enough of you, he wants all of you, every single piece. Molded into his embrace until you cant get out. When you break away, he tries to pull you to him, but he finds himself only able to move in the slightest. But Xiao is a protector, he is ‘your’ protector. He follows you as you head to the battlefield, dragging his limp body in a crawl to get closer. He doesn't stop when he sees the monsters overtake you, no, he continues. Just until he reaches your body, grabbing you and holding your corpse into his chest. He numbs out the monsters that attack him, knowing sullenly that he's going to die. But death doesn't seem so bad, not beside you.

Zhongli

As someone who always has control over the situation, Zhongli will be able to adapt quickly. But he doesnt want you to suffer, admiring you for being so strong when everything presses against you. He wishes to relieve the weight if only a little bit with a few kisses. Sensual and intimate, he wants to support you, and if he cant do it on the battlefield he’ll do it right here. Hold you close and promise you that he’ll always be there for you. Only after you die does he allow himself to cry, not wanting to have burdened you with his tears.

#genshin impact xiao #genshin #genshin impact #genshin impact headcanons #genshin impact hc #genshin impact oneshots #genshin impact fanfiction #genshin impact angst #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact albedo #genshin impact barbara #genshin impact beidou #genshin impact bennett #genshin impact chongyun #genshin impact diluc #genshin impact kaeya #genshin impact eula #genshin impact ningguang #genshin impact ayaka #genshin impact kazuha #genshin impact childe #genshin impact zhongli #albedo x reader #bennett x reader #chongyun x reader #beidou x reader #barbara x reader #eula x reader #kaeya x reader #childe x reader

[nakamoto-aesthetics]

Skin | n.yt

synopsis: about a girl who is self conscious of her skin color. she thought yuta would leave her for a girl who has paler skin and a curvier body but yuta didn’t know this. he thought you were crazy; that was up until now.

pairing: boyfriend!yuta x poc!femalereader

genre: piles of angst, some fluff to make it up

warning: this is a very touchy subject, read other works if its too much.

inspiration: Malcolm & Marie (you guys really should watch it. (it’s on Netflix.) the movie is still on my mind despite watching it hours ago)

word count: 2.2k

“your fucking delusional that’s what you are”

“I’m delusional? how yuta, how am I being delusional please inform me” you pace back and forth while he sat on the bed with his head in his hands.

“she was an interviewer I don’t even know her. it was just two strangers exchanging a hug and that was all that was it.”

“wrong it wasn’t just a hug. did you see the way she looked at you, stroked your hands and chest while you both talked, and the way she hugged you? god, the way she hugged you..” you say almost as if you were talking to yourself. you shake your head thinking about it for the millionth time that night. “she was rubbing all her lady parts on you and guess what you did? just take a fucking guess” you stop in your tracks and look at him.

“I did nothing”

“e-fucking-xcatly. you did nothing, you just stood there and smiled at her. do you have any clue what that feels like to watch? it feels like a knife is piercing my heart,” you walk over to him and bend down to his level. “but you wouldn’t know what that feels like huh?” you say slowly.

“I know what it feels like” he looks into your eyes. his eyes were filled with hurt and anger. you’d done this far too many times, yelling at him for petty things but he never knew the root of your madness.

“oh do you really?” you scoff and look away.

“yes I do, you think I don’t get jealous when other guys are around you?” you chuckle at his words and stand up again, walking away from him.

“you sure don’t act like it bothers you” you reply.

“that’s because I don’t make a huge deal out of it because at the end of the day I’m sleeping in the same bed as you and they aren't. that’s how I get over my jealousy, maybe you should use that advice to your advantage.” he gets up and walks into the connected bathroom; taking off his dress clothes and jewelry.

“it doesn’t work like that for me” you slip off your dress, letting it fall to the floor only leaving you in stockings.

“and why doesn’t it?” you hear the shower water running. you pause for a second trying your best not to cry.

“because… it’s much deeper than that. what I’m feeling is not just jealousy yuta” that’s all you say before you hear him step in the shower. you sigh and put your hands on your face before taking off your stockings. you walk over to the walk-in closet and pick out a loose shirt and some underwear, that were of course yours.

you put it on and walk into the living room. you pick up your phone and put on some music. you felt the music instantly calm your spirit.

you danced around the room letting yourself drift into the mood. you closed your eyes memorizing your steps until a choreography formed. you repeated the steps, they were light and soft. it could’ve been compared to a ballroom dance, only you were dancing alone but you didn’t mind that. you let your mind dream for once as if you were in another land. it was peaceful and calming, you let your mind drift to a whole other universe. you wish it were real, that you were there in this moment, happy, content, satisfied, all those you wished at this moment.

you danced gracefully to the music so lost in the zone to even realize that a pair of eyes were watching you from afar. he watched your every move and the way your feet bounced of the ground delicately, it was refreshing for the both of you. music was the only thing filling your ears, no more yelling, or shouting. just peacefulness.

you ended in a final stance as the song ended. you stayed there for a little bit, too lost in your world. everyone was standing up and clapping for you. you felt happy for once, this was all you wanted, that was it.

arms wrapped around your waist and kisses were planted on the soft skin of your neck.

“that was beautiful princess” he trails kisses down to your shoulder. you opened your eyes slowly, trying to come back to reality.

“mhm” you say and lean against his chest.

“are you okay now?” he asks softly.

“yes” you smile softly and kiss his cheek.

“good” he grins and picks you up over his shoulder. your scream and protests get mixed in with his laughs. he smacks your butt and drops you on the couch. he pecks your face, making you giggle and push him away.

“don’t try to fight it” he pecks your neck and jaw. “I love you,” he says, the words sinking into your skin and running through your veins. they filled you with life but you weren’t gonna let them stay there.

“mhm,” you hum biting your lip. you hear his phone ring from in the other room.

“hold on princess I'll be right back, lets keep it like this please, happy thoughts only” he kisses your temple sweetly before speed walking to his phone.

you sighed and rolled your eyes. ‘fuck him’ you thought. it was so much deeper than jealousy, so so much deeper. a tear ran down your cheek swiftly but you didn’t wipe it, wanting to let yourself suffer.

you hear footsteps treading back to the living room.

“can I ask you something? and can you please answer truthfully even if it might hurt me?”

“yeah..” he answers slowly stopping in his tracks.

“do you think she’s prettier than me?”

silence.

that was all you heard after you asked the question. tears fell down your face, your mouth trembling as you gripped the couch.

“why would you ever ask something like that,” he pauses and shakes his head. “I thought everything was okay now? what happened?” a million thoughts were running through his head at this moment, you had his mind twisted right now.

“I fucking lied, that’s what happened. you thought everything was gonna be okay after a few wasted kisses and worthless words? well think again yuta”

“I’m so confused, why would you lie and say everything was okay, literally what was the point? you intentionally try to be exhausting on purpose; this is exactly why I think you're mental now because you do shit like this-”

“shut the fuck up!” you shout you couldn’t take any more of his words and chucked a glass cup sitting next to you at the wall. a loud sound was heard as the glass collided with the wall, it fell to the ground and broke into tiny pieces.

“what the fuck is your problem?” his voice booms throughout the whole house and he storms over to you. you turn around and look at him with tears dampening your face.

“what’s my problem? you really wanna fucking know?” your voice gets a little shaky.

“yes I do” his face expresses the way he’s feeling. he was past angry, he was infuriated at this point.

“my problem is that- I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I'm insecure. I’m really fucking insecure yuta and you wanna know why?”

“why?” he says in a hushed tone as his face starts to relax, his eyes softening up a little bit.

“because I’m black that’s why. it’s not that I hate myself because I don’t… it’s because I think you're embarrassed to be with me-“

“y/n-“ he says softly cutting you off.

“I’m not done,” you sniffle. you’d been waiting to get this off your chest for a while, so you were gonna get it all off your chest. “I think you think you would be happier with someone who has lighter skin, and a curvier body. I mean look at me yuta. I’m flat, my boobs, my ass- I mean just fucking look.” you turn to the side and he looks down at your body with hurt in his eyes before looking up at your face.

“I even considered getting plastic surgery because of you. I never had this problem before I met you, I was confident in my body and then the second you popped up it all fell apart. I’m so insecure now and that’s why I’m so jealous because I feel like you’ll leave me for them. After all, they’re pretty, curvy, and Asian; that maybe you’ll connect with them because they’re Asian or because she's Japanese and can understand you when you speak in your native language.” you shake your head. “they’re everything I’m not yuta” you say in a hushed voice as tears soak your face. it was like you were standing outside in heavy pouring rain, that’s how much you were crying.

“babygirl why didn’t you tell me you were feeling like this?” yuta says softly unlike his tone just a few minutes. his eyebrows were relaxed, his jaw softened and most of all his eyes had softened. they were now filled with worry.

“I’m s-sorry” you look down and start to cave in on yourself, sinking to the floor and hugging your knees. he sighs and looks down at you. he sits down on the floor and pulls you into his arms.

“that’s not how I think or have thought ever. I wouldn’t have dated you if I didn’t think you were beautiful inside and out. I always got angry because I couldn’t possibly understand why you’d get jealous over stupid things like that but I get it now.” he caresses your back as you sob into his shoulder.

“y/n you’re the brightest shining star in my galaxy so when you scream at me for stupid shit like hugging other girls or smiling at them. I look at you like your mental because, and I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’m deeply in love with you, I want to breathe you, kiss you, love you only, not them. I am beyond obsessed with you.” he pauses and sighs.

“but I guess I didn’t do a great enough job of showing you how much I love you. Im sorry for not catching on earlier baby, you're beautiful y/n, so fucking beautiful. I love your skin color, your nationality, your hot ass body, your short curly hair, the language you speak, the way you think to the way you walk, every little fucking thing that makes you who you are, drives me insane y/n and I love all of it. I love all of you and who you are from the bottom of my heart” he strokes your cheek and kisses your head.

“and no I don’t want the Japanese girls because if I did then I wouldn’t be here with you in my arms. I would be with them but at this moment right now Im not because I don’t want them, I want you and only you. y/n don’t worry yourself over a silly little hug that lasts for 1 second and a smile that means nothing to me because when I hug you that hug lasts 10-20 seconds and when we smile at each other it makes my heart pound and my stomach fill with butterflies because i’m so in love with you and that’s the wholehearted truth.”

the atmosphere was filled with your light sniffles until it was filled with complete silence. both of you listened to the sound of each other’s heartbeats. it was so peaceful.

“I have a question” yuta whispers so low that you almost don’t hear him.

“yeah,” you said in the same whisper.

“is that what all of our arguments have been about this whole time?”

“…yes” you close your eyes and grip his shirt.

“did you not think I loved you?” he keeps the same soft tone.

“in all honesty, I’m not sure. I thought you were embarrassed to be with someone who wasn’t as pretty as the other, lighter-toned, and Asian girls”

“no that’s not true and you are pretty, scratch that, you are fucking stunning. you’re the hottest girl I have ever been with in my life and I mean that 200% percent,” he said in a normal voice tone. you laughed at the statement and he did too. the atmosphere was now a lighthearted one.

“get out of here” you laugh and sit up.

“what it’s true, don’t be mad because you can’t have skills like me,” he says playfully.

“oh really?” you laugh loudly.

“mhm now, can you give me a fashion show, please? I want to see all the new dresses you bought” he pulls you in for a quick peck.

“but I wanna cuddle” you pout.

“hmm okay but I want that fashion show tomorrow y/n” he holds your hands and caresses them.

“okay okay, I’ll do it tomorrow. now can we please cuddle? I’m tired”

“your wish is my command princess” he stands up and picks you up bridal style. you squeal and hold on to him.

“we’ll get the glass up later,” he says. there was still glass shattered on the ground from when you threw it at the wall earlier. he walked into your shared room and laid you down on the bed gently before crawling to the spot beside you, and finally, he pulled you into his arms.

finally, for a change, you were happy and content. yuta kissed your cheek and forehead occasionally; uttering sweet nothings into your ear as he drew circles on your skin. your smiles and laughs fill the room as they mix

everything was perfect now.

#nakamoto yuta #nct fluff #nct imagines #nct scenarios #nct 127 #nct angst #yuta imagines #yuta x reader #yuta angst #yuta fluff #yuta fanfic #yuta #nct x reader #yuta x y/n

[weheirsofdurin]

Random thought

What if, the boys’ father (who I’ve named Vili cus of rhyming reasons) was not a dwarf?

Now hear me out. I spent like ten minutes on this thought okay it might have been most of last night.

Anyway, what if Vili was of the race of Men? This is mostly in reference to the movies and considering the looks of the boys in the movie verse. Whish is how I portray them with some scenes that were removed from the book.

I got distracted, where was I? Oh yeah, Vili.

He could even be elf, but that’s pushing it. Because they ahve more human esc traits than elven. ANYWAY, onto the ted talk!

Okay so we all know the movies and that the boys look quite different from the rest of the dwarves. Like even Ori’s bear is longer than either of theirs. Lets dissect the boys one at a time, yeah?

Fili

Fili does have his Uncles looks, that scowl is apparently very much inherited from that side of the family. But he’s got this cocky playful smirk a lot too. Not something you really see upon the rest of the cast and not even Gimli in LOTR gets that expression. The rest of the dwarves are a fun bunch but the boys were the ones to instigate, we could say it’s their age, but again, Ori was there whom is younger and still more reserved than the boys. Might be because Ori is a book nerd but that’s not the point of this discussion.

Fili and Kili are not affected by the gold in the least. In fact Fili even gave up on this quest for his brother. He forsook what they had dreamed of since childhood, that had taken them a year to accomplish, what had almost cost Kili his life. None of the rest even considered staying behind when Kili was sick and dying. But Fili dropped everything for his brother. If Thorin had told them that to stay meant they were disowned, they would have still stayed. 

Dwarves are all about family yes, but they are corrupted by greed too. It’s an inherent trait that causes most to be filled with gold lust. Even if it’s not potent and only just a small inking of it, just the want for a shiny pretty gem is considered part of the inherent greed. Most would not turn away from what was literally a mountain of gold, honor, and a quest they had spent their entire live dreaming of. Fili’s human side reared it’s head at the thought of losing his precious brother. 

The ability to step back and cast off everything, to forsake who he thought he was, because of love, is a very human trait. Something that Dwarves are not very known for. Sure they love and the mourn but they are a ahrdy race and loss is known among them, from cave ins in mines, to war losses, they mourn then they move on. The are greedy and hold grudges. But Fili gave all of that up for his brother.

When I think of Dwarves I think of dark russet hair, blacks, browns, and even reds. But Blonde is more a trait of man and elves. When you think blonde character in Tolkien’s verse you think Legolas, Thranduil, even Eowyn, you don’t automatically think Dwarf. But Fili is very much a blonde, I’m sure if he took a bath with soap then his hair would be an even brighter color. He has dark highlights from his mother and the Durin’s blood in him but he is super bright compared to the rest of his known family. 

His beard is barely grown in (even if he has a really dope moustache) and it is against dwarven culture to cut it unless in mourning. He lost his father so long ago he is not in mourning anymore. Thorin doesn’t count because he refuses to grow his beard until he gets the mountain back. Not this discussion either. He’s fairly happy as one might be able to tell through the quest, always laughing and joking and willing to play with others. I’m not going to discuss depression here or how it can be hidden by such as what I’ve said. So we would not think of him in a mourning phase. Since the loss of his father while young he has not had much loss. The lack of beard growth can be attributed to his human father.

Summary of Fili

Humanesk expressions

Lack of Greed

Unbreakable Loyalty

Giving up on a mission for Love

Blonde

Short beard

Kili

Kili looks quite human in his face for sure. Even his hair. But hair is its own section. Looking at him and seeing that he’s not nearly as large as other  dwarves (could be age) though the line of Durin is quite thin in comparison to a lot of others. Overall if it wasn’t for his height, ears, and hands; he could easily be mistaken as a man. 

His height is another indication of his human heritage. He is tall for a dwarf. He is taller than Fili for sure, standing half a head higher than his brother. Thorin - 4 ft 10.5 inch. Fili - 4 ft 5 inch. Kili - 4 ft 8 inch. He’s in the taller percentile of height range. Thorin is just a giant, along with two or three others on this quest. Not to mention as he’s a ‘young adult’ he can still grow some. He likely wouldn’t make it passed 5ft (at most). 

Also moving on from the subject of looks, he does have a dwarven nose, ears, and hands, but he had very human like inclinations. Like using a bow compared to axes, hammers, or even swords. He likes the ranged weapon while most dwarves would never even touch it. He is proficient with it and I think he took to it like a fish to water, he was a natural with the bow which is how he became so good while being trained by men and dwarves who were not very proficient.

His own personality is like a dwarf wannabe sorry Kili, but he doesn’t seem like the kind of person to care about half of what dwarves do. Gems, weapons, gold, forges, mining, none of that seems to be very Kili like. Don’t get me wrong he does like gems and gold, but there’s things he likes more. Finds more beautiful. The most dwarvish thing he likes, are pretty rocks.

Liking elves. Enough said there. Okay but really, it took until the end of LOTR for Gilmi to admit to Legolas that he wouldn’t admit fighting and dying by a friends side, not an elf but friend. Kili fell in love with Tauriel faster than I drive. And im a maniac on the road. If Thranduil hadn’t imprisoned them I’m fairly sure Kili would have been filled with questions, pestering the elves for an eternity. His curiosity alone would have driven Thranduil to toss them out. Also there was that bonus scene of Kili flirting with the elven harpist (or whatever instrument).

Kili summary

Looks human 

Tall Boy

Likes Bows

Doesn’t act very dwarvish

Likes Elves

There’s more but I’m getting long winded and Loki is insisting to nap on my mouse so it’s time to take a break.

#Headcanon #out from the void #legit shit

[barnesandrogersfanfics]

Saving Grace - Part 8

Summary: Steve leaves you and your son to go back to Peggy unaware your pregnant.

Your heartbroken and struggling without Steve until Bucky Barnes steps up to help you out. With you and Bucky growing closer everyday will he be your saving Grace?

"Steve....."

"Hey sweetheart" he said smiling at me and all i could think was...."That fucker is actually smiling at me as if i should be happy to see him!!!".

"You girls okay out there?" I heard Bucky call through teasingly, unaware of what fresh hell we were about to face.

"Is that Buck?....." Steve asked trying to look around me into the house.

"No Buck everything is not okay out here...." i called back shaking my head.

"Ain't you gonna invite me in? Or give me a hug a least?"

"Are you out of your fucking mind???!" i said quietly so Harrison wouldn't hear me "why would i ever do that???"

"I thought you'd be happy to see me..."

"Hey doll, whats wrong?" Bucky came marching through from the kitchen but stopped when he saw his old best friend stood in front of me "What the fuck....."

"Hey Buck"

"You have got some fucking nerve showing up here Steve" Bucky said stepping in front of me at the door.

"I just wanted to see my family..."

"The family you left you mean?"

"I made a mistake...."

Before i even realised what happened Bucky lunged towards Steve punching him in the face, it took Steve by surprise so much that he fell back on his ass.

"I would've done that sooner but i couldn't hit an old man"

"Okay.... i deserved that" Steve nodded getting to his feet brushing himself down "Y/N.... please can we talk?"

"I've got nothing to say to you Steve"

"What about Harrison? I wanna see my son"

"Tough shit! You need to leave, you shouldn't have come here Steve..... haven't you hurt us enough"

"Baby I'm so sorry, please..." he reached for me but i shoved him back as hard as possible.

"Don't!....don't you touch me. And don't call me baby!" I said through gritted teeth as i poked his chest "you should go before Wanda gets here, trust me when i say Bucky went easy on you compared to what she'll do"

"Too late" Bucky chuckled seeing Wanda pull into the driveway.

"Oh shit..." i heard Steve mumble under his breath as the red haired woman practically flew out of the car.

"What are you doing here!!!!.... you have got some nerve Steve Rogers!"

"Wanda i just wanted my family back"

"YOUR FAMILY!??..... you mean the family you abandoned for some piece of ass you liked a 100 years ago?!!!"

"I know. I know i fucked up...."

A flash of red suddenly hit Steve in the chest sending him sprawled across the lawn.

"Wanda.... Wanda stop" i said stepping up and taking her hand "his not worth it, go inside and see the kids"

"Your not wanted here" she said to Steve looking at him in disgust before disappearing inside.

"Just go Steve" i said shaking my head as i turned to go inside.

"She said kids....what did she mean by that?...."

"Nothing that concerns you"

"Peter told me you were pregnant" Steve said quickly making me turn to face him again "is it mine?"

"No she's not"

"She's mine" Bucky stepped up pulling me into his side to hold me close.

"What?? Are you telling me you two are together???" Steve asked sounding winded by the blow he received from Wanda.

"Yeah we are"

"How could you?! His my best friend!!....Bucky you went after my girl?"

"I cant even deal with you Steve...... you have no right what so ever to get pissed at us!! YOU LEFT US!!!" I yelled.

"Mama?" I heard Harrison say from behind suddenly, followed by Wanda who was holding Grace "Sweetie come back inside please" Wanda said to him but he was stood staring at Steve.

"Wow.... his got so big.... hey pal" Steve smiled at his son who was clutching his dinosaur teddy close "Why don't you come give your dad a hug huh?"

"No!" Harrison said before rushing to Bucky who scooped him up in his arms.

"Its okay buddy, lets go inside" Bucky rubbed his back gently. Steve looked heart broken at the rejection of his son but it was no one else's fault but his own.

"Go home Steve" Bucky said before leading us all back inside.

I was pacing the kitchen feeling the rage coursing through my body, Wanda was sat with the kids in the living room while Bucky stood looking out the kitchen window with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Is he still out there?"

"Yep, just leaning against his car" Bucky grumbled "i just wanna go out there and smash his face in!"

"I know but its not worth it Buck" i said walking over to him, i pulled at his arms making him unfold them so i could wrap myself around him, his arms automatically pulling me against him.

"You okay doll?" He asked pressing a kiss to the top of my head.

"Not at all.... but being in your arms helps" i sighed "Opening that door and seeing him looking like that.... was like a punch to the face"

"I bet, i can't believe he had the nerve to show up here unannounced expecting you to be happy to see him.... always was a punk" he said as his hand stroked up and down my back.

"Somethings never change huh?"

"Well, somethings do.... how does he even look like him again anyway?"

"If i had to guess? The Quantum Realm...."

"But how? I thought they used that for time travel"

"Yeah but when they were first trying to work out how to travel back in time, before Tony showed up and saved the day, Bruce got it wrong.... ended up pushing time through Scott instead of Scott through time. Its all really complicated trust me.... long story short he turned Scott into various different ages"

"Wow...."

"Thats the only thing that makes sense to me"

"But why now...Why has he only done this now?"

"Because Peggy died?.... his all alone again.... maybe he wants to see how different his life would be with us now his experienced his dream life with her!"

"Maybe" he nodded suddenly looking more concerned than angry.

"What is it Buck?"

"Its just.... Steve's back now and i..."

I looked up at Bucky and smiled, reaching up on my tiptoes i kissed him.

"I love you Bucky, him coming back doesn't change anything with us"

"You sure doll?.... what about Harrison and Grace?"

"You saw Harrison's reaction to seeing Steve, he run to you Buck. And Grace is yours remember" i shrugged "i wont let Steve tear this family apart"

"Me either".

After sharing a deep and passionate kiss i reluctantly pulled myself out of Bucky's arms to go check on the kids and Wanda while Bucky called Sam to get him to come get Steve. Harrison was sat next to Wanda on the sofa watching his cartoons while Grace was sleeping in her arms.

"Hey Wan, thanks for watching them" i smiled at my friend sitting down in the armchair next to her.

"Its not a problem, how are you doing sweetheart?"

"Okay considering" i scoffed "why couldn't he just stay away? Does he enjoy messing with my head?"

"I don't think Steve even knows what he wants" she said sadly.

"Thats the problem really isn't it, its always what Steve wants. He wanted to be with her....so he left us. Now He wants us so he turns up expecting a warm welcome???.... I'm so angry Wanda. I think I'm more angry now then when he left us"

"Thats understandable"

"Things are so good with Bucky at the moment as well.... i can see his worried that I'm gonna go running back to Steve now his back" i said wiping a tear from my face "id never do that, i really do love him Wan. I thought i loved Steve but what i feel for Bucky.... god its so much more.... and thats even before the sex"

Wanda chuckled "i honestly love the two of you together. Your relationship is stronger on an emotional level, but im guessing your looking forward to the physical stuff huh?"

"Wanda!" I laughed gasping in shock.

"What? Have you forgotten what you told me that day at the BBQ....not only did you tell me but i got a look inside that dirty mind of yours Y/N....and let me just say, wow!"

"Believe me i haven't forgotten!" I threw my head back with a moan "Its so much worse now!"

"Oh really?"

"So much worse!" I laughed looking over at her "I'm so glad your good with the kids because as soon as I've recovered from giving birth, you are babysitting so i can have some alone time with that man of mine"

"Just say the word and I'm there!" She smiled.

"What are you ladies gossiping about now?" Bucky came walking into he living room and perched on the arm of my chair.

"Nothing...."

"Oh really?" He raised his eyebrows teasingly making me blush.

"You heard all of that didn't you?"

"You bet your ass i did, i didn't mean to its just I've got good hearing"

"Hmm okay"

"I want to hear more about what happened at the BBQ though"

"I'll tell you later"

"You better!" he smirked before reaching down to kiss me.

"Fine. So is Sam on his way?"

"Yep he wont be long"

"Good, i want him gone. Its weird that his just standing there, I'm not letting him in so I'm not sure what his doing".

"Probably hoping you'll feel bad for him and let him in" Wanda said rolling her eyes.

"Not gonna happen!" I scoffed, why would i feel sorry for him.... he made his bed now he had to deal with consequences.

Tagging: @jennmurawski13 @kenzieam

@captainchrisstan @s-t-r-i-k-e-us

@lets--be-honest @ms-betsy-fangirl

@damnaged-princess @farfromtommy

@disneylovingal @lbuck121

@billweasleey @rynabarnesrogers

@heathens-takeitsl0w @lacontroller1991

@supervengerslock @barnesandrogersworld

@mariswritingforfun @perpetually-tuned-out

#bucky barnes #chris evans #steve x reader #bucky x reader #sebastian stan #steve rogers #saving grace

[chimswae]

BTS Caretaker CH23

Summary: She may think she has Bangtan Sonyeondan wrapped around her fingers. She may think it is easy to love the members equally without hurting any soul. She may think the boys wont fall head over heels for her. She assumes it is okay to show a little love and affection towards the boys, what if she gets it all wrong? What if it only brings more complication to her already complicated life? Can she survive their charms? Will she be able to resist them? What if they just wont let her go?

- Pairing: BTS x Oc ( Yoongi x OC, Jungkook x OC)

- Genre: Fluff, Slight Angst, Romance, Idol!au

- Word Count: 4, 330

- Author Note: So im late, i will do double update! so please check on next chapter too~ :) thank u for whoever that read my cliche story HAHAHA i have no words to describe how im embarassed i am AHAHHAA anyways ~ 

Previous | Next

Chapter 23

Promotional month embarked the start of everything.  Hectic schedule, unreasonable amount of sleep time in a day, the most would be 2 hours and not to mention the studios and practice rooms would be their second home for the time being. The boys had been practicing non-stop these past few days until their official comeback early in February. This time their popularity soared higher than their previous comeback. It felt like a dream, but the boys did it. Their album sales make it digital or physical had risen drastically in comparison to previous sales.

The impact of Bangtan Sonyeondan to the industry was no joke. More people showed their support and their fanbase grew two times bigger than before in the blink of an eyes. Phenomenal indeed. Overwhelmed by the support, the boys promised to work harder this year to repay Armys’ love. Entering the last week of their You Never Walk Alone promotion, the boys were ready to start their Wings Tour around the globe. Unlike before they went to few continents depending on the demand of the respected country however this time their schedule was utilized for the first half of 2017.

Seul massaged her aching muscle and sunk on the couch with sulky face. The dorm was quiet and cold since none of the boys were home at this time.  They would only be home around dawn to get short nap before heading to their next schedule early in the morning. Following the change of their schedule, Seul would take an evening shift and went to their place right after her shift. So, she could prepare advanced breakfast for them. It became her routine to come around 2 in the morning and stayed for two hours or more, making sure the boys got a proper breakfast despite their busy schedule.

Mrs Hwang on the other hand was well informed pertaining to Seul’s unusual activity and she would make Hoon, more like force his son to pick her sister up every day from work. World is a scary place, she did not want to risk Seul’s life though that girl was the one who insisted to change her caretaking schedule out of sudden.

Glancing on her phone screen, she decided to call it a day since it was already 3 A.M and surprisingly she managed to pull her work within an hour. Seul had informed Hoon in advance so the younger guy would not pick her up considering he had exam the next day. She did not want to be blame for his bad performance later on.

“Should I watch Tae’s drama to kill time?” grinning to herself, Seul made up her mind to catch the latest episode. As she expected, the boys had recorded every episode up till the latest one.

What a supportive boyfriend!

It took Seul a moment to remember the last episode she watched, then it came to her realization she was following the drama diligently every week. Seul never missed any episode since she watched this with her mother. Of course, her mother would watch it, we were talking about her so-called adoptive son on screen.

Satisfied with her choice, Seul sat with her leg cross on the couch gleefully. She was excited to see different side of Taehyung on screen. A side which could only be seen on screen. Indeed, BTS V nailed it so perfectly. There were times Taehyung would give her a call as soon as his drama aired that particular day just to hear her opinion. She couldn’t understand why her opinion matter in this anyways.

 “Seul-seul! Did you watch?” Taehyung’s voice croaked in happiness. Apart from his members comment, Taehyung anticipated Seul’s point of view every week caused him to automatically give the girl a call after a new episode aired.

Seul laughed softly at Taehyung’s weird antic “I watched it Tae” he hummed. “So how was it this week?” he chewed his lower lips knowing how bluntly honest she could be. Taehyung valued her honesty even though sometimes Seul would never leave her sassiness behind, he didn’t care. He basically grew up with Min Suga’s sarcasm so to hear something similar from Seul, he was already immune to it.

“Hurm.. do you want to hear the good one or the bad one first?” she poked fun making Taehyung pouted in his seat.

“I want to hear good one first” Seul could imagine Taehyung’s pouty lips as a protest whenever he was forced to make a complicated choice.

Pressing her lips together to suppress her laughter, Seul regained her composure to have a decent conversation with him “You are certainly better if we were to compare with the episode which you first appeared. You look natural and comfortable with your character now. As I mentioned before, I like how you portray your emotions through your deep eyes. It is not a joke. How did you do that?” she professed earnestly.

Her compliments flustered him “Urm…Thank you..You are flattering me”

“I am not..You really did well Tae. Don’t tell me you are blushing” she teased.

“YAH I AM NOT! Alright, I am ready to hear the bad one” Taehyung murmured under his breath with hope it was not as nasty as her first comment back then. “Listen carefully Kim Taehyung, I am about to say something that might hurt your heart” the tone of her voice was stern and cold.

“Ji Seul you are scaring me! Stop sounding so serious”

“I am trying to, okay give me a moment” he heard her heavy breathing at the end of the line as if she was in the middle of night work out. What was on her mind?

“Tae-ah..I think you are too adorable for me to handle. Shouldn’t Hansung be manlier?”

Taehyung gasped “Is that an insult?” her small giggle tickled his heart. “Or is it your way complimenting me?” he pressed. There were times he craved for this kind of attention from Seul, made him feel normal guy around his age. To have a simple conversation with a friend gave him tranquillity.

“Will you take that as an insult since you really hated cutesy stuff nowadays?”

“Armys think I am cute. I will live with that if it comes from Armys and you. Yah, I am serious. Tell me right now what is my flaw?” he insisted.

Seul shook her head “Couldn’t find it. You are a rookie, but you are doing great. My mom thinks your acting is real and she really into it. Don’t ask me who is her favourite character, because she is choosing you over Minho. Aren’t that too much that she’s giving extra attention on you?” Taehyung beamed.

“Why? Are you jealous that Ahjumma favours me more than you?”

“I am used to it, Bangtan boys this, Bangtan boys that. You can take my mom’s love, I have Eodeng and Eomuk to love me” he cringed at the response. “Ew, that simply means you have Jin hyung’s love. Those two brats are the mini Kim Seokjin” she rolled her eyes in process.

She retorted sarcastically “Who are you calling brat? You are the brat!”

 She found herself smiling at the memories, being with Taehyung made her comfortable. Something that she could feel whenever she’s with Jin and Hoseok. Returning her attention back to the screen, Seul watched the drama and clasped her hand excitedly.  A silly smile would appear on her face every time Taehyung appeared on screen along with small awe in between.

Few months ago, she ridiculed the power of Bangtan Sonyeondan on her now as time passed it slowly turned her into a fan. Guess, she was being supportive of her friends.

Yes, supportive sounds fitting.

 ------------------

“Sejin hyung quick quick my bladder is about to explode” Jimin whiney voice filled the emptiness of the hallway. Other members stood sleepily behind him. Meanwhile, Jimin was getting impatient to finish his business inside. “Gosh, why are you so whiney” he pressed the button hurriedly, entering the password.

As soon as Jimin heard the beep, he squished his small body between the door and Sejin and ran inside ignoring the older guy that were already pressed against the wall.“That kid!” Sejin hissed while shaking his head. He gave a soft pat on Jungkook back, making the maknae moved inside with a big yawn “Get some sleep everyone, you need to be ready in 4 hours” he ordered.

Jungkook screeched softly feeling his muscle stiffened at the sight before him “Seul?” he stared in disbelief. Sleeping peacefully on the couch was Seul with Hwarang still running in the background. A soft smile spread across his face since the last time he saw her was two weeks ago. He almost lost his balance when he felt someone crashed against his body from back, Kim Taehyung groaned in frustration.

“Yah, Gukkie why are you blocking the way” his bangs were poking his eyes making it hard for him to see the obstacle in front of him. Furthermore, in this sleepy state everything appeared irrelevant to him except for his comfortable bed. Confused, Taehyung’s eyes followed Jungkook and upon it landed on Seul’s figure, his eyes widened in sheer surprise.

“Seul? Seul is here?” he spoke lowly fully aware that their manager was still there.

“What should we do? Sejin hyung is here!” Jungkook started to panic. The hyungs made their entrance with questionable look but soon they gawked at the scene in front of them. It would be a huge trouble if their manager found out about Seul. The chances of her being fired was high.

It is 5 A.M why is she not home? Yoongi cursed, taking a glance at Sejin whom thankfully still at the doorstep gathering bags in process. Everyone was trying to come up with ways to hide Seul or to face Sejin’s wrath in a minute. Without wasting any time, Taehyung marched forward taking Seul in his arm casually surprising everybody in the room.

“What are you doing?” Yoongi inquired with concern look.

“We need to hide her”

“Yes, but where?”

“Lets just bring her to my room” Taehyung suggested earning a low protest from Yoongi and Jin. Nonetheless, they followed him afterwards.

Seul stirred in her sleep a little and snuggled her face at the crook of his neck, liking the familiar smell and warmth. Even in her sleep, she knew how to play with his heart. Taehyung tried to control himself from smiling foolishly as his main concern right now was to hide Seul from Sejin.

“I will distract Sejin hyung” Jungkook blurted out and quickly dashed to the main door followed by Hoseok behind. Namjoon and Jin assisted Taehyung to his room, opening the door for him so he could move Seul to safer place.

 “Hyung I forgot my headphones!” “Me too I forgot my-my game console!” Hoseok and Jungkook hollered in unison causing the older guy to eye them suspiciously.

He wiggled his finger to his headphone which hang loosely around his neck “That is your headphone Hobi and as for you Jungkook, I didn’t see you play any games today let alone having your game console with you” closing the door behind him, he placed the bags on the floor.

Hoseok gulped nervously exchanging nervous look with Jungkook “Urm…Sorry I seem to forget, but really I forgot something in the van!” he tried his luck one more time to convince Sejin. They knew it was not easy to lie on his face since he could read them so easily. Their manager knew when the boys were hiding something, like right now.

“I smell fear and lies. What are you hiding from me?” he quirked his brows prying answers out from the two boys before him.  

“Nothing, nothing” Jungkook palmed his hand against the wall awkwardly with a sheepish smile. He heard the commotion behind him meaning the hyungs were doing something about Seul, though he had no idea how much time they needed for him to stall their manager.

“If it is nothing, why are you blocking my way? Is there something that I shouldn’t see?”

Hoseok held both his palm out while cracking a nervous chuckle in between “Jimin.. I mean Jimin peed in his pant and it is disgusting. We have to clean the floor first. It is dirty, you can’t walk” Hoseok facepalmed at his idiotic ideas. It sounded ridiculous.

“YAH WHO PEED IN PANTS?” clueless Jimin exited the bathroom as his eyes threw daggers at Hoseok way. Hoseok grinded his teeth together chasing Jimin away from the scene but of course he would not budge even an inch. Park Jimin was persistent to begin with. He never let anyone taint his name.

Jungkook rubbed the back of his head in frustration ‘Jimin-ssi, can you be a little cooperative. Why out of all time’ the manager did not buy the boys lies so he forced himself inside. Being tall giving him advantage to dominate the boys. His eyes scanned the empty living room with suspicion whilst Jimin, Jungkook and Hoseok were having their secret banter behind.

“The caretaker came to clean the place?” he noticed the cleanliness of the place as he made his way to the kitchen. “I guess…” Hoseok murmured silently.

“Jimin-ssi, Seul is here we are trying to stall him! You are ruining the plan” Jungkook whispered under his breath making the shorter guy gasped realizing his own mistake. When he dashed inside, he didn’t catch a glimpse of anyone in the dorm. If and only he realized it sooner this thing could be prevented. The three musketeers kept their eyes on the manager hyung whom busy inspecting every corner of their place.

Namjoon, Jin and Yoongi exited Taehyung’s room as their eyes spotted the three boys stood in line with their hands neatly together, they shot them a bewildered look “Yah are you crazy! Don’t act suspicious, hyung might find out!” Namjoon scowled lowly afraid that the older guy overheard him.

“Get into your room now and act naturally” Jin mouthed them. The three musketeers scurried off almost bumping into each other before each of them got into their room without trouble. The sound of heavy footstep alarmed the remaining members, and they decided to avoid their manager at all cost.

 On the other hand, Taehyung had already changed into his pyjamas in order to appear more convincing in case their manager decided to appear magically in his room. From time to time he threw a nervous glance at the door feared to witness an unwelcoming sight. Judging from the message in their group chat, Sejin was inspecting every nook and cranny of the dorm started from Jungkook. Taehyung’s room is a room away from him that scared the shit out of him.

He stared at Seul while trying to find perfect way to hide her from their manager. “Screw this” caressing his fluffy hair out of frustration, he turned off the main light and slipped under the cover beside Seul. Taehyung bit his lower lips, apologizing non-stop since he was about to initiate something inappropriate. The girl was unconscious, and he was literally touching her without her consent.

She will understand, she will. Taehyung prayed in his head that Seul would not wake up until this nerve wrecking scene ended.

“Fuck” his eyes rounded upon seeing the shadow behind the creak of his door. Using his long hand to reach the lamp on his night stand, he switched off swiftly. Taehyung pulled the cover under his chin, wrapping one of his arm securely around Seul’s waist. His heart pounded due to the proximity and it doubled when he heard Sejin’s footstep approaching his room.

His body froze when he felt Seul making a slight move in his embrace. On the bright side, she’s not awake however her face was buried deeply in his chest. The heavy lump on his throat caused his breath to hitch.

Ji Seul, what are you.

“Taehyung-ah, are you asleep” Taehyung snapped out his thought, and brought Seul’s body closer to him. He shut his eyes tight pretended to sleep with hope they wouldn’t get caught by their manager today. Not today, they couldn’t risk losing Seul.

Sejin twisted the door knob, poking his head inside. He squeezed his eyes to adjust to the darkness “Guess, he is asleep. That was fast” he mumbled. Taehyung’s mind overloaded with negative thoughts and his heart thumped crazily that he swore the eerie silence in his room adding the tension. The sound of the footsteps sounded so close yet unclear. He was sure it was just few steps closer from his bed. Like a reflex, Taehyung tightened his arm around Seul’s keeping her close.

Exasperating a soft sigh, he was relieved when the sound of the footsteps faded away. The soft slam came from the door convinced Taehyung that his manager had left the room, yet he did not want risk getting caught, so he stayed like a statue for few minutes. Taehyung grinned upon hearing Sejin’s faint voice behind the door “Park Jimin, I told you to sleep. Why are you still standing there?” Sejin frowned.

Jimin cleared his throat awkwardly “Is..Tae asleep?”

“Yes, his room is dark, and I bet he is asleep”

“D-d-dark what?” Jimin continued to curse something vulgar in his head. After finding out Seul was in Taehyung’s room he couldn’t help but to worry. It triggered his protective instinct and jealousy. He couldn’t let his guard down just because Taehyung is his best friend even though Tae was never vocal about his feelings for Seul, his man’s instinct could not be wrong. Something bloomed whenever they were together.

The older guy snapped him out from his deep thought “What is wrong with you? Go sleep and stop worrying about Tae. Clock is ticking Jiminie, you don’t want to miss even an hour worth of sleep” he exclaimed.

“Fine, I am sleeping” his lower lips puckered out of habit.

“I will be here around 10, make sure everyone is ready by then” Jimin nodded obediently and threw a final glance at Taehyung’s door. Everything will be fine, Jimin convinced his racing heart.  

 ----------------

Groggily, Seul forced her heavy lids to open and that when she realized the unusual warmth behind her. Seul squinted her eyes one last time in order for her foggy brain to function properly. A small light from the curtain illuminated the dark room but was not enough for Seul to get a clear view of it. On top of all, she was beyond relief that her outfits were still intact, remain untouchable. Meaning no funny business happened. At least, she was not kidnapped by some sasaeng fans, she hoped.

‘I swear I was in the living room watching Hwarang’ she grew frustrated of her failure in retrieving her memory. Seul couldn’t recall whether the boys were back home or not. Shrugging her unimportant thought away, Seul fisted the sheets under her gathering her courage to face the individual behind her.

Seul, move slowly don’t wake up the tiger.

Shifting under the sheet, she changed her position slightly to face Taehyung. In 3,2,1 she was ready to see whoever beside her but to her surprise, someone was cradling her head halting her earlier intention to catch the culprit.

“Seul, you awake?” his voice trailed off. She recognized that voice.

Seul touched his hand “Jungkook?” she whispered in daze.

His low yet squeaky chuckle made her smile “Yes, it is me. Come on let’s get up quietly. We don’t want to wake Tae hyung” Jungkook stroked his hand down to her waist, slowly sweeping her off from the bed.

Setting Seul down on the ground, she inquired “Tae? I am in his room. How?” Jungkook let out another adorable giggle, embracing her tight. “You fell asleep while watching hyung’s drama. Let’s talk outside” while keeping Seul in his embrace, they exited Taehyung’s room at ease.

She pulled away making an abrupt stop facing the giggly maknae, why was he in good mood today. “Tell me why I am in Tae’s room? I thought I was kidnapped!” she pursed her lips in annoyance.

“Sejin hyung was here, so we had no choice but to hide you”

“Hiding me in Taehyung’s room? How clever” she wheezed.

“Then you wish to be in my room instead?” Jungkook look amused as playful smirk spread on his handsome face.

She squirmed under his intense gaze “I didn’t mean it that way, you could wake me up. I can hide in the closet and leave afterwards” he sent a disapproval glare at her way.

“No way we are making you walk alone at that time, now stop complaining” he took few steps forward, pulling the sulky girl into another tight hug. Jungkook nuzzled the top of her head, exhaling a low sigh “I miss you” he murmured.

Her heart did the weird dance again, “You woke up early today, I thought you were not an early riser” she wrapped her arms around him, returning the hug with equal passion. “You think I can sleep knowing you’re sleeping on the same bed as Tae hyung?” he said sulkily.

Seul giggled “Are you jealous? Then, I blame it on you for letting Tae got into the way” her tease making the visible frown on his forehead two times thicker. She looked up “Aigoo, you may develop wrinkles at this age” her hand smoothed his eyebrows, giving it a soft caress along the shape.

Closing his eyes with a soft hum, Jungkook let himself drown under Seul’s magic touch “You are losing your baby fat again. I don’t like that” she gave his cheek a soft stroke with a slight frown.

“Don’t worry I will earn that back after our promotion ended. Besides, I had a good breakfast every day thanks to you. Did you come late at night for your work just to prepare those meal for us?” he pecked her fingers, interlacing it with his.

“You guys are barely home so I thought it is wise to change my caretaking schedule a little. On the bright side, I can prepare breakfast for you guys. I bet Jin had no time to prepare proper food for all of you, I don’t want to wear him out” her eyes glimmered in concern. The mere thought of filling seven empty stomach washed away the worries in her.

Jungkook protested “But that’s mean you will be walking home alone, and it is not safe”

“About that, my mom made Hoon picked me up from work every day. Don’t worry, I will be fine. Worry about yourself, you need to eat healthily. Stop skipping meals” she cringed. “I saw your Vlive, all of you look dead tired. And, I am sorry I couldn’t make it to your Wings tour last week. I had to fill in for Sera” she sighed.

His hand skimmed, featherlight, over her shoulders “It is okay, it is just the opening tour this year, I will make sure you attend the next one. Hobi hyung and Jin hyung were not happy that you couldn’t make it to our concert. However since you bribed them with food the day after, they lowkey claimed that it was okay for you not to attend as long as you prepared yummy food to make it up to them” she chuckled at their silliness.

“As expected, how easy it was to persuade those two. Don’t remind me the long ass text that they sent to me showing off their protest and resentment” Seul’s face scrunched a little at the vivid memories. Jungkook laughed along and the couple continued their conversation in the kitchen. Seul reheat the food for the boys to savour when they woke up with Jungkook’s help.

“I think I need to go before your manager come. Oh, say hi to everyone” she hung her apron carefully and gathered her belongings. Meanwhile, Jungkook continued to sulk behind, “Can’t you stay for breakfast? It is still early, hyung will be here around 10” his voice was a little more than a whisper but in cutesy way.

She flashed him a soft smile “I can’t Jungkook maybe next time. I have an errand to run” he watched her back as she made her way to the entrance. “I want to meet you again before we fly off to America next month” Jungkook leaned against the wall with one hand inside his pocket.

She saw the disappointment in his eyes, so she walked up to him. Dazed Jungkook set his eyes on Seul as the girl tiptoed a little giving a soft peck on his lips “There. I will see you around, don’t miss me too much” a sweet rush of embarrassment coursed through Jungkook.

“O..kay..” his eyes sparkled causing Seul to chuckle. Jungkook might be a little blunt in showing his affection towards her, but whenever she initiated the skinship first, the guy would turn into a total baby.

Seul was about to push the door getting ready to leave but only to be greeted by Sejin’s confused face. She felt an extreme fear in her system, was she caught for real now? Fuck, she muttered.

“Who are you?” he pushed the door wider to see Jungkook stood frozen behind Seul with an extremely disturbed face.

“Hyung…You are urm.. early?” his voice broke into a small shriek.

Quirking his eyebrows, the older guy stepped inside closing the door behind him carefully “You have a long explanation to do Jeon Jungkook. To the lounge now. I want everyone in the room. 5 minutes” his voice was rough and Seul felt like pissing in her jeans.

Seul swallowed a heavy lump on her throat “When I said everyone, that includes you Miss” he pushed the glass back on the bridge of his nose, leaving astounded Jungkook and Seul behind. Jungkook made eye contact with Seul and they exchanged looks of panic and questions.

   This work belongs to  Chimswae © 2020. All Rights Reserved

#btscaretaker #bts fic #bts fanfiction #bts fanfic #taehyung x oc #yoongi x oc #bts x oc #jungkook x oc #bts fluff #yoongi romance #bts romance #jungkook fanfic #bts idolau #bts series #suga x oc #jimin x oc #hoseok x oc #jungkook fluff

[yoddream]

The Price to Pay | n.jm

pairing: jaemin x fem!reader

summary: when you’re given your dream job, what will happen to you and Jaemin?

warnings: ANGST, bad writing lmao, depression (not specifically mentioned but it’s obviously there), a shit ton of crying, jaemin being kind of an asshole ngl, mentions of hockey (only because there might be some things that don’t make sense idk maybe they do to somebody who doesn’t watch it), VERY INACCURATE INFO ON BECOMING A TRANSLATOR

notes: here’s part 2 to New Beginnings! idk how to link it lmao im sorry im really bad at this also im iffy on how this came out but at this point whatever i wrote a lot. I’m gonna try to do the bold for korean again (cuz new beginnings on the app is fucking jacked af but on the full website it looks how it’s supposed to) but like just assume that everything the OCs are saying are in Korean and whatever the Dreamies say that aren’t to English speaking people are in Korean

“Please put on your seatbelts as we will begin our descent to Los Angeles, California.”

You did as the flight attendant asked and looked out the window. The ground slowly got closer and closer, and your heart raced with excitement. Despite how you’d felt a year ago, you couldn’t wait to land and start the next chapter in your life. You could still feel the exhaustion from it being in the middle of the night in Seoul, but that was so little compared to all the emotions running through your body.

Once you were out of security, you pulled up FaceTime on your phone and called Jisung. It rang and rang, and you almost gave up when he finally answered the call. He was out of breath, as if he’d just run to get his phone. His face lit up when he saw yours.

“Y/N! You landed safely!” he said. Your parents appeared in the frame, which made you smile.

“I did! I’m heading towards pick-up now, so hopefully I’ll be on my way to the rink,” you told them.

You’d decided you wanted to be an English-Korean translator, so you had been hired as a translator for a new NHL prospect. He was born and raised in Korea, and he knew very little English, so you were going to help him during prospect camp, translating and teaching him English. You expected to be in America until September, but if he made it past both prospect and training camp, who knew what your future held?

“Oh honey, I’m so proud of you,” your mom said.

“We both are. You’re gonna do great, we know it,” your dad added.

You looked around and spotted your name on a sign that was held by a man with a driver’s cap. You told your family you had to go and hung up before walking over. He greeted you with a smile and grabbed one of your bags, heading to the parking lot. You shot a text to the boys, letting them know you’d landed. The drive to the rink didn’t take long, and you were escorted by a security guard through the hallways to an office.

“Ms. Park is here,” the security guard announced before heading back to his area.

“Y/N, it’s very nice to meet you. I’m Rob Blake, the general manager,” a very tall man in a suit said. He held his hand out to you, which you shook. “We’re very happy to have you here. Chi-won Han’s translator from last year has a new job, so we’re glad you can stay for longer.”

“Thank you, Mr. Blake. I’m very excited for this opportunity,” you stated with a wide smile. “So, where should we start?”

Mr. Blake’s assistant gave you multiple papers to sign before bringing you to get your ID made. You proudly hung it around your neck, even though your picture looked absolutely horrible (you just got off an eleven-hour flight). Then, Mr. Blake himself brought you to a conference room where the prospect, his agent, and the coaches were.

“Everyone, this is Y/N Park. She will be Chi-won’s translator.”

You bowed and said, “Han Chi-won, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Park Y/N.”

The boy bowed as well. “Thank you for flying here, Y/N. You have to idea how appreciative I am.”

You then introduced yourself to the agent and the coaches, dropping your bags to bow and shake hands. You told them about your exact role and how to contact you in case you were needed last minute. You’d been given a phone for work with everyone’s contacts in it, along with a rental car since you still had a valid driver’s license. You were then handed the keys to your apartment, which you would be sharing with Chi-won and one of the Kings’ players, Tyler Toffoli.

“Y/N, do you own any skates?” Marco Sturm, one of the assistant coaches, asked.

You shook your head. “I’m not very good at skating, but I’ll definitely do my best.”

“Have Tyler and Chi-won take you shopping for a pair. We really need you on the ice for drills.”

You translated for the hockey player when his head perked up at his name. He nodded shyly, his eyes darting to the floor. You couldn’t help but feel bad for him; he had no idea what anyone was saying, so for all he knew you could’ve been talking poorly about him. None of you would do that, but he didn’t know any better.

“Camp doesn’t officially start until tomorrow. We just wanted you to meet before then so that you can get situated. before the madness,” Mr. Blake explained.

“I appreciate that. It’s past midnight in Korea, so I’m pretty exhausted,” you replied.

“You guys are all set for today. We’ll see you bright and early tomorrow for day one.”

You turned to Chi-won and asked, “You wanna get food?”

He nodded vigorously, saying, “Tyler and his wife were making breakfast when I was called down here.”

Grabbing your bags, you said your farewells to the men before heading out, Chi-won hot on your feels. When you clicked the key fob for the rental car, a new SUV lit up. You let out a low whistle and popped the hatch, tossing your suitcases and duffel in. You and Chi-won then climbed in and decided on a local diner. The car ride was mostly silent, the radio playing softly in the background. When you walked into the restaurant, his eyes widened in fear as the waitress spoke to him. You ordered juice for the both of you and then started translating the menu with ease, watching his shoulders relax at the sound of a language he knew.

The two of you ate in silence for a couple minutes, simply enjoying your food. You checked your personal phone for any messages, but there was nothing. You weren’t surprised, though. The boys were supposed to be asleep, so you expected there to be nothing, but it still hurt to see that you hadn’t even heard from Jaemin. Then again, you probably should’ve expected as much.

“What?” Jaemin asked quietly.

You’d shown up at the dorms, wearing one of your boyfriend’s sweatshirts and a pair of shorts. Your hair was a mess from stressing out, so you had the hood up. He had to know what was going on, and you were out of time.

“I’m going back to America,” you repeated. “A major sports team contacted me last month to help one of their prospects. He doesn’t know much English, so I’ll be translating for him during camp.”

“When you do leave?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?!” You flinched at the sudden rise of his volume, the sound bouncing off the walls. There was no way the other Dreamies hadn’t heard him. There was no way the other Dreames hadn’t heard him, and you started to panic. This was definitely not how you expected this to go. “You’ve known for a month, and you’re just telling me now?!”

“I was going to tell you sooner, but since you’re working on your comeback, you’ve had to cancel dates! I didn’t have a choice but to tell you now!” you argued.

“Oh, so now it’s my fault?”

“I didn’t say that, Jaemin. I’m just explaining that there wasn’t a good time, so that’s why you aren’t finding out until the day before my flight. I’m sorry it wasn’t sooner.” Your hands were wringing in the kangaroo pocket, but it was hidden by the island in the kitchen.

“How long will you be gone?” When you didn’t answer right away, his jaw clenched. “How long, Y/N?”

Scared by his tone, you said, “I have no idea. Prospect camp is for a few days, but they’re expecting him to continue on to training camp in September.”

“Are you even coming back? What does that mean for us?”

“I don’t know, Jae!” you snapped. Your voice reverberated off the walls, and you could hear shuffling down the hall. “I don’t know.”

There was a heavy pause. He then asked, “You don’t know if you’re coming back? Or you don’t know what will happen with our relationship?”

“Both.”

“You’re very young to be a translator,” Chi-won stated, snapping you out of your thoughts.

You wiped your mouth with a napkin, giving you time to think of your answer without revealing too much. “My step-dad is from Korea. He and my mom got married when I was nine, but he and my step-brother had to stay there while my mom and I live here. We would visit whenever there was a vacation for school, so I learned it over the years.”

“Do you live in Korea now?”

“Right in Seoul. I moved after I graduated high school last year.”

Chi-won was silent after that. After you paid the bill, you plugged in the address for the apartment building and made the quick drive over. Parking along the street, Chi-won grabbed your bags for you and led you to the apartment. You used the key to unlock the door and walked inside. A man and a woman looked over at the same time from the kitchen and smiled.

“You must be the translator. I’m Tyler, and this is my wife, Cat,” the man introduced.

You shook their hands and said, “It’s nice to meet you. My name’s Y/N Park.”

“Come right in. I’ll show you where your room is,” Cat offered.

You followed her down the hallway to a room that had grey walls, dark wooden floors, and a matching wooden dresser. There was a queen-sized bed with fresh sheets on it and a cream armchair in the corner. Identical nightstands stood on either side of the bed, and there was a bathroom attached to the bedroom.

“Make yourself at home. You look like you’re about to fall asleep standing up,” she joked.

“Yeah, I’m gonna take a quick nap, if that’s okay?” you asked.

“Go ahead.”

Cat closed the door behind her, leaving you alone. You collapsed onto the bed and checked to see if any messages had come in before you’d left the diner’s WiFi, but still nothing. Sighing, you put your phone on the nightstand and let your eyes close, the heaviness becoming too much to fight against.

When you woke up, the sun was high in the sky. You groaned as your arms stretched above your head. According to your phone, it was a little past noon, so you rolled out of bed and headed to the kitchen. Luckily, the password to the WiFi was on the refrigerator. As soon as your phone was connected, it started blowing up with messages and snapchats. The sudden sound made you jump, definitely waking you up. You took some time to respond to the boys and your parents, and it took you a few minutes to notice that none of the notifications were from Jaemin. Sighing, you shoved your phone into your pocket and went looking for Chi-won. You found him in his room, looking at an English book with furrowed brows.

“I’m not starting lessons until after prospect camp,” you said.

The boy jumped, clearly unaware of your presence until you announced it. He closed the book and placed it on the nightstand before looking around the room, avoiding your eyes. Sighing, you sat at the desk that was by the window.

“What’s on your mind?” you asked.

“What if I don’t make it past this camp?” he questioned.

You let out a deep breath and said, “Then you go back to your team in Korea, continue to train and practice, and then next year, you’ll come back. The exact same thing as what you went through last year.”

“What will happen to you?”

“I’ll go back home as well. I’m currently under contract with the team, so if you’re not here, I’m not needed. They’ll let me know when I am. You’re stuck with me.”

///

You and Chi-won walked into the practice rink the next morning, a fresh pair of skates in the duffel bag on your shoulder. You’d gone out with Tyler and Chi-won after dinner to buy them, just like Coach Sturm had told you to. The thought of being on the ice with a bunch of hockey players and falling on your ass was terrifying, but you didn’t have much of a choice.

You headed to the weight room and sat on a bench. Skating wouldn’t come until after they were done for the day, so your bag was simply dropped to the floor. You then pulled out your phone and looked at the last message you’d sent to Jaemin.

You: I know you’re upset, but I would love for you to be at the airport tomorrow.

He never showed up. Everyone else had, but he’d stayed at the dorms. The way the conversation had ended left the status of your relationship up in the air, and you were too scared to ask. Your anniversary was supposed to be in a little over a month, but you didn’t even know if that was something to be celebrated anymore.

The sound of the door opening behind you caught your attention. The players started filtering into the room, shooting odd looks your way. You stood up when Chi-won walked in, moving to his side for when the head strength and conditioning coach started talking.

After a speech, the coach came over and introduced himself, apologizing for missing the meeting the day before. When you assured him it was fine, he transitioned the conversation to the first test he wanted Chi-won to run through. You translated everything as you followed them to the bikes, not missing a single beat. You watched as he pedaled and pedaled, sweat dripping down his face as his leg muscles rippled from the rapid movement. You could hear the cheers of encouragement from the other prospects as they watched the others that were running through the tests.

When there was time for a break, Chi-won took the water bottle you handed him, draining it fairly quickly. He then grabbed the towel from your shoulder and wiped his face and neck, tossing it in the hamper in the corner. He looked around at the other prospects, watching them talk and laugh with each other. You felt bad knowing he wouldn’t take that first step. It was understandable, though. You’d gone through the same thing when you started making trips to Korea; you’d been surrounded by people who understood you as much as you understood them, which was not a lot.

After a few minutes, it was time for more testing. You followed the group around the weight room, mostly watching but translating when needed. Everyone’s eyes were on you whenever either of you spoke, but all your attention was on him and whoever was talking to him.

At the end of the day, Chi-won looked like he was about to drop at any moment. You decided to skip the skating and brought him back to the apartment, using the work phone since it could connect to data. He dozed in the car, his face finally relaxed. You’d never noticed how much tension was there until now. Between the stress of getting past this camp and not knowing what anyone was saying, his head was probably spinning.

When you entered the apartment, Chi-won immediately headed to his room to nap. There was a note from Tyler and Cat that they’d gone to run errands, leaving you alone. You tried to FaceTime your parents, but neither of them answered. You knew the others were rehearsing, so you called Mark, but he didn’t answer either. Feeling dejected, you headed to your room and sat in the armchair. You looked out the window and watched the world below, a sudden flashback to the day you and Jaemin were sitting in the mall’s food court. Your heart ached at the thought of one of the happiest days of your life, knowing there was a chance it was all over.

///

It was the last day of the four-day camp for prospects. You wobbled onto the ice as you tried to skate closer to Chi-won. He looked over and rolled his eyes before skating over, grabbing your arm, and dragging you to the group. A few of the players laughed, but you didn’t care. You would be laughing too if you’d seen it.

Yesterday, they’d run drills, so you got to see Chi-won on the ice for the first time, and you could see why he was their first-round pick the year before. However, the true test was the scrimmage scheduled for today. Drills could be run over and over until you got it right, but in a game if you made a mistake there was no going back.

Once the teams were split, Chi-won helped you to the bench. You could hear your personal phone ring with a FaceTime call, but you ignored it. It was most likely Jeno, calling to talk to you before he finally went to bed. He loved to call you before he went to bed, which annoyed Jaemin whenever you were on a call with your boyfriend. You wished you could answer, since you hadn’t had much interaction with anyone. You mostly translated back at the apartment, leaving you craving to talk to someone, but you felt too awkward talking to Tyler and Cat.

The scrimmage was exhilarating to even just watch. Chi-won was fast, despite how large he was. He wove through players, making fantastic plays. His stick work was quick, and he seemed to know where his teammates were, making passes without looking. There was no doubt in your mind that they were keeping him, but seeing the looks on the coaches faces made it that much better. Chi-won played fairly, probably too much; he always passed the puck for a goal instead of taking a chance himself.

During a break, Coach Sturm was going over a couple plays to Chi-won’s team. You translated as fast as you could, trying your best to make it sound clear and right. Hockey pretty much had its own language, so you assumed it was working when he nodded along. As he was about to head back onto the ice, you grabbed his attention.

“Shoot the fucking puck, man. You’ve made plenty of great passes. They want to see what you’re capable of.”

His eyes widened, but he nodded and bumped your held-out fist before skating back to the face-off. You watched the puck drop, and the game was on. Your eyes never left the player you were there for, his form zipping across the ice with a breakaway. He was denied, but you could tell there was a fire lit under his ass. There were still amazing passes, but he was taking shots on goal more. The goalie was just unbelievably good at his job,

There wasn’t much time left in the scrimmage when Chi-won was skating towards the goal, him against two defensemen. His feet moved in a way you couldn’t explain, and he slipped past the opposing players, taking a shot on goal. You nearly jumped with joy as it flew past the goalie’s shoulder, and you didn’t miss the smile on his face as he celebrated with his teammates.

At the end of the day, Chi-won was asked to dinner with some of the other prospects. He nodded his head with a grin, so they told you the restaurant. Your phone connected to the Bluetooth as you were typing it into the map, and “My First and Last” immediately started playing through the speakers. Chi-won sent a look your way but said nothing.

The other players made sure you and Chi-won had seats next to each other so you could easily translate for him. They asked him questions about his life in Korea and his teammates. He talked about his family, his girlfriend Eun-ji, and his friends. You were learning more about him by doing your job rather than conversing with him yourself. You could feel something heavy settle in your chest as they all talked to each other, only looking to you when you translated.

When you were back at the apartment, Chi-won collapsed onto the couch. You sat in an armchair and stared at the ceiling, thoughts of Jaemin running through your head. It’d been five days since you last heard from him, and you were still hesitant to reach out. He was probably in the same boat, but what if he didn’t want to hear from you? What if your relationship was over and you didn’t know it? You hadn’t talked to the other boys about it, not wanting to drag them into your drama.

“You’re thinking too loud,” Chi-won complained.

“Sorry,” you said quietly. “How do you think camp went?”

“I think I did well. My whole body hurts, though. I wish Eun-ji was here. She gives amazing back massages. I would be in constant pain if it wasn’t for her. I’m definitely the luckiest guy in the world.”

That’s what Jaemin tells me. “Is she gonna be starting college this fall?”

He nodded. “She wants to study sports medicine, so she’ll be studying at Seoul University. I’m so proud of her.”

You looked at the time on your phone before realizing that it was your work one. Your personal phone was still in your duffel, which was in the car. Cursing under your breath, you rushed downstairs and grabbed your phone from the bag.

Jaemin💕: 3 missed FaceTime video calls

Shit. Just in case your relationship wasn’t fragile enough, you’d missed three calls from him. It was the first time either one of you had tried reaching out since you stormed out of the dorms in tears. Worried, you headed inside and returned to the apartment as fast as possible. You tried calling Jaemin back, but he wasn’t picking up. It was about ten in the morning where he was, and he never slept in too much no matter what time he’d gone to bed, so you knew he was ignoring you. Trying again, you cursed and swallowed around the lump in your throat. He finally picked up, and he was not happy.

“Hey,” you said as you moved to your room.

“Hey. Where were you?” he asked.

“We were at camp, and then we went to dinner after,” you explained.

His eyebrows raised. “You went to dinner?”

“Yeah.”

“Was it a date?”

Your eyes widened in shock. “What the fuck, Jaemin? Of course it wasn’t a date! Why the hell would you ask that?”

“I mean, you did say you didn’t know how this would affect our relationship,” he snapped.

“That doesn’t mean I would cheat on you. God, do you really think that low of me?” You could feel the sting behind your eyes of tears forming, but you tried to hold them back.

“I don’t know what to think anymore, Y/N. You waited until the day before you were leaving to tell me about it—”

“I didn’t have a choice, and you know it!” you exclaimed. “You know what? I’m done. I can’t do this right now.”

You hung up and threw your phone across the room, muffling sobs into your hands. Being here, having the job you’ve worked towards the past year, it was supposed to be exciting, yet you were dealing with possibly the worst heartbreak yet, and you didn’t even know if there was a relationship to salvage anymore.

Your phone was ringing with a FaceTime call from Jisung, but you ignored it. He couldn’t see you like this; even though you were partially in the wrong in the fight, he would completely lose it and attack Jaemin. You didn’t want to be the cause of something happening to NCT Dream. It would have to stay to yourself, just like everything else about your life.

///

You’d been in America for two weeks, and you were absolutely miserable. You didn’t talk to the boys as much, ignoring some of their calls so that when you did answer, there was too much to talk about for you to think about Jaemin during the calls. You hadn’t talked to him since your last argument, and you didn’t know what to do. Jisung didn’t now, but it was clear he was suspicious of something. You just wanted to go home, but Chi-won had to stay in California for more training and practice. He’d been invited to training camp in September, so it was easier for him to just stay here until he knew his future with the team post-camp.

Chi-won’s English was improving a little, but it was clear he wasn’t confident in himself. Learning a language was hard, and English was one of the most difficult. From conjunctions to words sounding the same but being spelled different to even the sentence structure, you didn’t blame him for feeling self-conscious and frustrated. You had talked to Jisung, and he’d agreed to speak with Chi-won.

“Chi-won, can you come here for a minute?” you called out.

He walked into the living room, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He looked at your phone, jaw dropping when he saw Jisung on the screen. You held it out and said, “My brother wants to talk to you.”

He took the phone, sending a glance your way before looking back at Jisung. You moved to the kitchen to make breakfast, giving the boys some privacy. You could hear Jisung’s laugh through the tiny speaker, and it made your heart ache. Not seeing him every day felt like torture. You were so used to talk to him every day, but the both of you were too busy with your jobs, not to mention that you were still unsure of what the others knew about you and Jaemin.

As you were making some fried eggs, Chi-won joined you, holding your phone out with Jisung still on the screen. The hockey player sent a look that told you there would be a conversation later, and then he disappeared to his room. You looked at Jisung and smiled, asking him how it went. He said it went well, that Chi-won seemed to really listen to what he’d had to say. A door had opened behind him, and Chenle walked into the room. His face lit up when he saw you, and he ran over and jumped on Jisung’s back.

“Y/N! I haven’t talked to you in so long,” he said, suddenly pouting.

“I know, I’m sorry. Prospect camp was crazy, and I’ve been busy with teaching Chi-won English,” you replied. “I wish you guys were here. You’d love it.”

“We’ll have to visit sometime. Jisung, we gotta head to bed. We have practice tomorrow morning,” he said.

“Sleep well, you two,” you said with a smile.

“Love you!” they shouted, and then the call ended.

You finished breakfast and called for Chi-won. He joined you in the kitchen, taking his plate from you without a word. The two of you sat at the breakfast bar, eating in silence. Tyler and Cat were in Canada for a wedding, so you were alone with him. You waited for him to say something, anything, but he didn’t. Instead, he washed the dishes and went back to his room. He returned a few minutes later in workout clothes, so you changed into your own outfit and silently followed him to the gym downstairs. He started out on the bike while you went to the treadmill, starting a light jog.

After a few minutes, Chi-won said, “So, your brother is Park Jisung.”

“Yup. Has been for ten years,” you panted.

“I didn’t even know he had a sister.”

“No one does. It’s too dangerous.”

“That must suck. I can’t imagine keeping my sister a secret,” he said.

“Seeing him live his dream makes it all worth it. Besides, once I’m living here permanently, we’ll be able to tell everyone who I am.”

///

Getting out of bed was harder and harder as each day passed. You could feel yourself settle into a deep and heavy depression. and it seemed like the people you were living with were concerned. You never felt hungry, you were having trouble finding the motivation to shower, and you were ignoring every call that popped up on your phone.

There was a knock on your door before Cat poked her head in. You glanced at her before turning your attention back to the window. She sat in the armchair and leaned on her elbows, sending a smile your way.

“So, Chi-won and Tyler talked to the team, and they decided that if you want, you can go back to Korea until it’s time for training camp,” she told you.

You sat up slowly and asked, “What?”

“We can all tell how homesick you are, and Chi-won said that you had an argument with someone that sounded like your boyfriend. They have a back-up translator, so you can go home for a little bit,” she explained.

“He told you all that?”

“Well, he used an app to translate, but yes.”

Leaping out of bed, you hugged her tightly, mentally thanking yourself for having showered that morning. She laughed and hugged you back before telling you to start packing. You started throwing your things into suitcases and your duffel bag as she left, and tears started streaming down your face in happiness.

You hugged Tyler and Chi-won in thanks before rushing to the airport, not wanting to stay in America any more than you had to. You called your parents and Jisung once you had a ticket purchased, and they promised to keep it a secret. Jisung was practically vibrating in his seat once he heard the news, and you couldn’t wait to hug your family again.

Somehow, you managed to sleep on the flight. When you landed, it was about three in the afternoon. You raced towards your family as soon as you spotted them, leaping into Jisung’s arms. He lifted you up and squeezed tight, as if you would disappear if he let go. You then hugged your parents, not afraid to let the tears fall down your cheeks.

“I missed you guys so much,” you sobbed.

“We missed you too, sweetheart,” you dad said.

When you were home, you took a couple hours to settle in before taking Jisung with you to the dorms. Not only did you have some boys to surprise, but there was a certain boy with blue bangs you needed to speak to. Jisung seemed to be excited to be on the other end of the surprise.

As you walked into the building, your stomach twisted into a giant knot. You didn’t know how Jaemin was going to react. Before you could dwell on it too much, Jisung opened the door to the Dream dorm. Jeno and Haechan were playing video games in the living area, but they stopped immediately when they looked at you.

“Sunshine!” Jeno shouted. He threw the controller on the couch and ran over, scooping you into a bear hug.

“What are you doing here?” Haechan asked as you managed to pry away from Jeno to hug him.

“They let me come back home until training camp starts,” you explained. “Where are the others?”

“They’re in their rooms. Jaemin’s napping, but Renjun and Chenle are playing PUBG,” Jeno explained. “It’s good to have you back. Jaemin’s been moping every since you left.”

So they didn’t know. “I’ll go see Renjun and Chenle first. Jaemin must be really tired if he’s napping.”

You walked down the hallway and quietly stepped into Renjun and Chenle’s room. They were too busy looking at their phones to notice, so you sat by Renjun and asked how he was doing. He glanced at you and then did a double take before tackling you to the bed. Chenle complained, but when he looked up a screech left his mouth instead as he piled on top. They started asking you a bunch of questions at once, but you shushed them and explained why you were home. Chenle didn’t want to let go, but you explained that Jaemin didn’t know yet.

Jaemin looked so peaceful as he slept. You could just stand there and watch until he woke up, but the conversation needed to be had sooner than later. Quietly closing the door, you walked over and sat on the bed as gentle as possible. Your fingers carded through his hair, pushing it away from his forehead. He sighed in his sleep, melting under your touch. You called out his name lightly, but he didn’t stir. You tried a couple more times, and his eyes finally opened. He stared at you for about ten seconds before grabbing you. You were suddenly thrown on the bed, and he pinned your arms down before kissing you.

Kissing Jaemin felt like a dream, especially after what you two’d been going through the past few weeks. He pressed kiss after kiss to your lips, finally pulling away with a frown.

"I’m really sorry for how I acted the past couple times we talked. I trust you, and I support your career,” he said.

“I forgive you. God, I forgive you. I’ve been so miserable the past few weeks. I should’ve tried harder to tell you sooner than when I had.”

“Let’s just forget this, okay?”

“Deal.”

He leaned down to press your lips together again, not leaving any space between your bodies. He trailed kisses down your neck, sucking a mark into your skin at the base of your throat. When he moved back to your face, he whispered, “I love you.”

That was the first time either of you had ever said those words. Whenever the two of you were together, there was a good chance another Dreamie was with you, so actual dates were rare, which meant that neither of you felt like it was the right time to say them. However, the past three weeks, had proven that it didn’t matter how much time was spent alone.

“I love you too.”

It was about half an hour before you two emerged from the room. The others made fun of the hickeys that were all over your necks, but in that moment you didn’t care. You and Jaemin were more than okay, and that was all that mattered to you.

#nct #nct dream #nct imagines #nct dream imagines #nct imagine #nct dream imagine #nct scenarios #nct dream scenarios #nct jaemin imagines #nct dream jaemin imagines #nct jaemin imagine #nct dream jaemin imagine #nct jaemin scenarios #nct dream jaemin scenarios #jaemin imagines #jaemin imagine #jaemin scenarios #na jaemin imagines #na jaemin imagine #na jaemin scenarios #nct jaemin #nct dream jaemin #jaemin #nct na jaemin #nct dream na jaemin #jaemin angst #na jaemin angst #new beginnings series yo-ddream

[the-second-circle-ffxiv]

Cocoa and marshmallows

Iris cursed under her breath, as she made her way through the snowy streets of Ishgard towards Silke’s apartment. The midday was knocking on the door, as the women had finally left the Blacksoul manor. Silke had a day-off, true... but if she had left her apartment already, there would be no way Iris and Eva could find her from the city of size that Ishgard was.

The library, Jeweled Crozier, Second Circle... too many chances. Too many places to go looking from. All Iris could do was hope her friend had slept long, and was still at home. High stiletto heels knocked merrily against the stony walkway, as the two arrived to the apartment building. Silke’s small, lowly flat was located up on the third floor. “...The heckin’ stairs tend to be slippery at dis time o’ a day, Cinnabun... So watch yer heckin’ steps. I’m not gonna catch ya, if yer to fall and break yer neck, just sayin’.”

Iris looked up at a narrow stairway, leading up on the outer wall of the building, and with a sigh, she gathered up her long, black dress, and started making her way up, Eva following just couple of steps behind her. The morning had been warm, and the ice on the stairs had melted away, making their climb that much easier, and in no time, the two arrived onto Silke’s door.

Iris listened for a moment, trying to hear if anyone was home. The walls were like paper around here anyway, but she couldn’t pick up any noises. A lonely dog was barking somewhere in the distance. The voice was too deep to come out of Silke’s little puppy, Laurence. Giving a quick side-glance towards Eva, Iris knocked onto the door.

“‘Ey! Silkee! Blackbird, yer ‘ome?! It’s mi! Open tha door, mi ass is freezin’ ‘ere!! Silkeee! Darlin’!”

Silke flinched awake when she heard knocking on the door. “It wasn't me I swear!” she yelped stupidly, before realizing she had just been dreaming and she was in fact in her own apartment, alone. She rubbed her eyes and glanced at the clock. It was nearly midday. Cursing silently, Silke flung her blanket aside, stepped into her moogle slippers which had been waiting next to her bed and was already about to dash towards the door. Then she remembered she was wearing only tiny panties and black, short nightgown, which barely reached her buttocks and was made of some thin fabric that showed more than she would've wanted to.

The garment actually belonged to Lareine, or Iris, who had left it behind sometime. Silke had ended up wearing the thing after deciding to be effective and washing all of her laundry at once, before noticing she had mashed her both own nightgowns into washings and thus didn't have anything to wear during the night. Luckily her pink morning gown with brash turquoise carbuncle patterns hadn't been among the laundry, so she grabbed it from the sofa and wrapped it around her while hurrying towards the door. Her long, straight, ash black hair was messy but she couldn't have cared less. The damn thing was so thick and slippery it was a mission impossible to try and keep it braided during the night. She was equally indifferent about her dark circles. If someone hadn't seen dark circles by now then it was about bloody time.

“I'm poor and I'm not buying anything!” she announced at the same moment she flung the door open. A wide smile spread on Iris’ black lips as her friend opened the door, wearing her silly carbuncle morning gown and the fluffy moogle slippers. Even when not trying to, Silke looked dashing in Iris’ eyes. The mess of a black hair, like that of a demon from eastern tales just enhanced the effect.

“...And Im not sellin’ anythin’, mi star on da night sky!” She stepped up to the woman, wrapping her arms tightly around her, giving her a squeeze, and breathing in the familiar scent of ink and gunpowder... the scent of home.

“...Fockin’ ‘ell, I was afraid ya ‘ad left da buildin’ already! I missed ya, gal!” Iris released her friend, quickly fixing her round glasses, which the hug had tipped on the side, which together with her messy locks, made Silke look bit like she had just survived an explosion. “...I just ‘ave to tell ya everythin’! Ya wont believe whut’s ‘appenin’ back at tha manor... A major shitestorm. I guess... uhh... someone finally dropped a match onto the fockin’ barrel o’ gunpowder dats been sittin’ casually between Grumpy and Lucy... Oh...”

Iris stepped aside, giving some space to Eva, still standing behind her on the narrow stairway. “...Dis is... Evangelin’! I stumbled upon ‘er in tha church, ya know... She was comin’ to look for a goddess, and she found mi instead! Which... in tha end is not too far as a heckin’ outcome, or whut do ya dink? Aniway, we are kinda ‘avin’ a deal... Guess Grumpy is hirin’ her, so she can pay mi for company... ‘Er gal left ‘er to fock ‘round wid sum random lad somewhere, so I’m kinda ‘elpin’ ‘er to fock dat said gal outta ‘er head!”

Then she turned back to Evangeline. “Cinnabun, dis is Silke! Mi heckin’ fallen angel... Isn’t she just dashin’?” A sly smirk played on Iris’ lips, as she glanced towards Eva, before quickly moving her attention back to the viera at the door. “...Ya ‘ave dat tea of yer’s still, darlin’? Guess who’s been almost heckin’ sober for a month!” Iris was chattering up a storm. Though Evangeline hadn’t known her for long, she knew that this had to be unusual for the sarcastic, abrasive woman she had just met a few days ago.  Around everyone else Iris painted over herself a veneer of prickly indifference that kept most, if not all, at arm’s length.  Even Arsene, who she seemed to be most accustomed to, or at least the most comfortable with, was still held at quite the distance. This though... this was different. Evangeline couldn’t hope to compare to this. Iris was beaming, ecstatic to see this woman... a jumble of words exiting her mouth at neck-breaking speed.

She was almost tripping over her words trying to tell Silke anything and everything she possibly could. Somewhat dazed, Evangeline inspected Silke as Iris spoke, half-tuning out what the slight viera was saying. The woman in the doorway was undeniably adorable. She was clearly frazzled, having probably just woken up to the sound of someone at her door. She seemed bookish, from a combination of her round glasses which sat slightly askew on her nose, her frame, and what Eva could see of her dwelling... which seemed to be crammed wall-to-wall with literature.

This was about to be a long conversation... a visit between Iris, the woman who had Eva wrapped around her finger, and Silke, the woman with whom Iris seemed to be very much in love. At the thought of the word ‘love’ the little green monster struck at Evangeline’s stomach. Its spines were particularly sharp today... Eva didn’t know how much of this she could take. She tried to hide her pensive expression with a smile, waving slightly to Silke as Iris mentioned her name. Evangeline watched with mounting horror as Iris kept talking, though... explaining not only everything that had happened after the incident at the church, but also mentioning what exactly had happened during the incident... namely the carnal encounter the two of them had shared, and the fact that Eva was paying for Iris’ company. She supposed it had been foolish to hope that Iris wouldn’t delight in telling every living soul of their arrangement, but it was still painfully embarrassing. She looked at the ground, her face hot to the point that she thought she might be pressing it against an oven. She could barely extract words, but managed to anyways.

“G-good morning... p-pleased to make your acquaintance”, Evangeline was able to squeak, and accompanied it with a modest curtsy, hands gripping tightly at the skirts of her dress. She was unable to bring herself to meet eyes with Silke, instead choosing to inspect the steps upon which she was standing, waiting for her to laugh... or respond... somehow. Iris let out such a sudden flood of words that at first, Silke, who was still half asleep, couldn't do anything but stare her eyes wide and mouth slightly ajar. She clumsily patted Iris' back while she hugged her.

“Me? Nooo...”, Silke gave a laugh. “If I, for once, get to sleep late, then hells yeah that's what I'm gonna do. I wonder whose voidspawn's ingenious idea it was that everyone should get up while it's still dark? Purely idiotic, if you ask me. Messes up our natural circadian rhythm and probably causes a whole lot of heart attacks and such, geez...”

When Iris started to talk about the drama between Varg and Lucian, Silke couldn't help but lick her lips greedily. She was usually allergic to drama, but that certain one was like straight from some really bad soap opera. Silke had never truly understood people who were too interested in others' business and loved to gossip, but because of this one case she had perhaps started to understand them on some level.

Silke let out a frustrated sound. “You must tell me immediately if something happens, Iris”, she pleaded. “I'm having lots of exams coming up and I'm very very busy, but I'm still willing to halve my cramming time if it means I can witness the outcome. Make your way into my school if you have to, aight? Rather early, so we can grab some popcorn.”

When it was time for Iris' introduction of Evangeline, and description of what they had been doing together, Silke felt an unpleasant sting of jealousy. She had been so absorbed by the delicious news Iris had brought, that she hadn't paid much attention to the other viera until now. Evangeline seemed like complete opposite – at least externally – to Silke. She seemed somewhat older, her body was toned and her face radiated health. Her dark skin and flaming hair reminded Silke of a torch or pyre.

'And the most important thing, she wants to fock', a little voice in Silke's mind reminded.

Its goal had probably been to upset her, but instead of pushing it away like usual, Silke just let it linger there, agreeing with it. Indeed, this woman was able to give Iris what I can't, she thought to herself.

What in the world was going on in Iris' mind, though? Why was she telling her this? Silke was aware of Iris' occupation, but still this wasn't the kind of information one just blurted loudly around like that. Silke both hated and loved her imagination, which was able to paint pictures, like works of art rich in detail in her mind. It helped tremendously with studying. Though, in situations like this it burned some truly unwanted images on her retinas forever. Besides, now her neighbors knew as well. The other two could see very pale pink splotches appearing on her cheeks before they vanished almost instantly.

“That's... interesting?” Silke noted and nodded politely at Evangline, trying to shoo away the mental image while looking at her. Immediately Silke rebuked herself. Who the heck said 'interesting' after someone had been just describing in detail about their intercourse? Well... herself, apparently.

“I mean, um... nice”, she corrected, smiling – while hoping it didn't look too much like a grimace - and slapping her hands together. “I'm glad to hear you're having a good time with each other.”

Silke rebuked herself again. 'Nice' sounded even more awkward.

“Um... yes, I have tea”, she answered Iris, while stepping aside so that the other two could enter. “And cocoa too. Come in, come in. I want to hear more.” 'Oh. My. Gods', she thought. “Like, IN GENERAL.” Silke was acting weirdly, Iris thought to herself, as she stepped past her friend, letting her hand brush against Silke’s rear as she entered the house. Well, Silke was the type who usually acted weirdly, but this? Even for Silke, this would be considered weird. Iris had noticed the slight blush rising on her friend’s pale cheeks, yet fading away as quickly as it had appeared, like a dream you suddenly wake up from. Had it even been there?

Silke did blush, but in the end, it was very rare for the woman. Such thing sometimes occurred when Silke was angry and confused... or wanted to take something cute home. But right now? This was different. Was... Silke jealous? Silke? Jealous of her?

Well, if the situation was so, it was just as Iris had planned it in the first place! But why did she feel a sting in her heart? Like someone was pushing an icicle through it.

Pale viera walked up to the sofa, and threw herself down onto it, next to Laurence who rose his head, giving a quick glance at her, before curling up once again. Iris gave the dog a gentle rub behind his little orange ear. The shiba seemed like he had mostly forgiven what Iris had done back in the day, but still had some mistrust towards her.

“Ohh, cocoa would be just frickin’ lovely...”, she was about to add if Silke could top it with a sliver of rum, but realized it was not the best idea, after she had just told her friend about the month sober... Or well, sober was maybe not the right word to describe it, as Iris still drank. A month without drinking herself under the table, maybe?

All in all, Iris knew Silke never had alcohol at home. The ghostly viera had a bad habit to grab a bottle under stress, and that’s what Silke definitely had with her studies... Stress.

Iris followed Eva, as her companion walked in after her. Keeping her eyes locked onto woman, she gave a quick, meaningful nod towards the armchair, with a blue carbuncle plushie laying on its armrest. The icicle was digging its way into her heart, and having Eva sit down next to her on the sofa, would bring on the hammer, that would smash the icicle right through.

“...Its a fockin’ all out war back dere at tha manor soon, I tell ya...”, Iris started, crossing her legs, while still giving some affection to the shiba inu. The soft fur of the dog helped to ease her nerves a bit.

Keeping her eyes locked on Silke, working on her small kitchen of a kind, Iris went through everything that had happened. From Lucian finding her and Eva from the church, to their arrival into the manor, and from Varg possibly hiring Eva, to Arsene bringing in the hitman couple to guard the property.

“It’s a heckin’ powder keg back dere, sweetie... Dat ding only needs a fockin’ spark, and it’s gonna blow up, wipin’ tha city off tha map.” Iris’ black lips curled up into a devilish grin. “I’ll make sure to keep ya informed of every heckin’ turn, Blackbird... Because dis shite will end up to tha fireworks of a fockin’ lifetime, I tell ya... Blacksoul is pissed off like a heckin’ hog in a heat. Lucy’s gonna eat ‘is meals wid ‘is arsehole for a good while, if he’s to shows his fockin’ smug face in tha manor..” Evangeline ascended the stairs behind Iris, still trying to avert her eyes from Silke, who seemed to have ignored at least some of the comments entirely. She seemed so very different from Eva had thought she would be... in a lot of ways, Evangeline had pictured that Silke would be... much like Iris. Another rough-around-the-edges, prickly dancer that would have loved the opportunity to have a laugh with Iris over Eva’s embarrassment. Not someone who, for every intent and purpose, appeared to be a scholar.

And yet here they were, wandering into the home of someone who probably possessed more intelligence in her little finger than Evangeline had in her whole body. That was... an odd feeling... was she intimidated? Was this the sort of thing that Iris truly wanted? Scholarly discussions? Perhaps that was why Evangeline was so thoroughly bound to the often referred to position ‘second fiddle.’ What an odd sensation... she wasn’t used to feeling like this. Intimidation came in the form of combat prowess, no?  Eva hadn’t felt intimidated by anyone in years... Even Andreas, the man who had swept Solenna away, hadn’t intimidated her. Over seven fulms tall... strong as an ox... but Eva had been sure that she could have placed his face squarely in the dirt had he come to fight her. This, though... this was different.

Eva entered the room, taking a seat in the armchair at Iris’ behest. Silke certainly liked... what were these things called... the little green aether pups that she had heard some of the other soldiers in her regiment discussing on occasion. Eva did think they were rather cute... but they must be difficult to hug, given that they weren’t... solid? Or were they? Evangeline looked to Silke again, standing there... damnably adorable still, in her half-awake state. She seemed to be waiting for something.

“Oh... um... tea, if you don’t mind. Thank you for inviting me into your home.”

She managed keeping her best straight face. Her eyes drifted across the bookshelves, packed with literature, with knowledge. Knowledge that Evangeline couldn’t hope to touch... not in a thousand years. She enjoyed reading her history books... but that was another thing entirely. It was just stories of battles and who won them and why. It wasn’t... whatever this was.

Study of aether...of magic, perhaps? That would explain the near ubiquitous presence of carbuncles throughout the apartment. Evangeline’s mind fell back through time for a moment though... to Iris in the church. Mentioning magic. Almost spitting as she did. She seemed so displeased by the practice at the time... so why would Silke be studying magic? Perhaps this was something different... chemistry... biology... who could guess?

“Wh-what is it... that you study, if you don’t mind me asking?” Stuttering again... damn. Why was this woman so intimidating?

Evangeline could hardly stand it, feeling this way. Stammering and stuttering around Iris was one thing... Eva had thought her a special case. She clenched her fists, looking around the room again to try and distract herself when... she saw… A puppy. An adorable little... Evangeline didn’t know the name of the breed... but it had a cute little pointed nose and triangular ears and orange fuzzy fur and it was laying next to Iris and it completely derailed Eva’s train of thought. She looked at it for a moment, sitting there and enjoying scritches from Iris, before blurting out the first thing that came back to her mind.

“C-can I pet your dog?”

Silke shivered slightly when Iris' hand touched her butt. The hells was she first bragging about her intercourses with Evangeline and then right after touching Silke's arse? Sure, Silke and Iris weren't in a relationship and Iris was free to do whatever and with whoever she wanted. Silke had already – bitterly – accepted it. But the thing that baffled her right now was that Iris just had to rub it in. Why? Silke couldn't even imagine being capable of doing something like that to the people she cared about the most. Silke had been having an impression there hadn't been any bad blood left between herself and Iris. Had she been wrong the whole time?

For a fleeting moment Silke felt an urge to yell 'You know what? Fock it!' and kick Iris out again. Maybe even speed up her departure with some carefully aimed lightning bolts. She got a hold of herself almost right away, though. She could never become a revered archmage if she behaved like some wretched punk or let her feelings get a grasp of her.

"Hot cocoa and tea - coming right up!" Silke announced after closing the door and turning around, smiling widely this time. The gesture was forced, perhaps, but at least she felt it wasn't as stiff as it had been earlier. She was getting good at this. Perhaps she should've become an actress instead. "I have whipped cream and marshmallows to put into cocoa, and milk and sugar for tea. Which one do you guys prefer, or would you rather drink your stuff completely without?"

"I'll take frickin' both, sweetheart!" Iris answered. "Like a heckin' mountain o' whipcream... and couple o' marshmallows... Whut ever ya wanna stick onto it, go for it."

"Milk and honey if you have it... or, um... milk and sugar if you don't. Thank you...", Evangeline scratched her jawline reservedly, immediately regretting requesting honey. It was a common food in Gridania, but probably was more of a delicacy in Ishgard.

At least Evangeline seemed like a civilized case, Silke thought. The dark viera didn't seem to enjoy the situation as much as Iris did, which meant she probably hadn't even known about Silke – or Iris' occupation for that matter – before she had agreed to... whatever they had going on right now. Silke had heard the saying 'opposites attract', but had never truly understood it. She still didn't. Silke had had many relationships with very different people than herself and all of them had ended into a catastrophe.

Silke filled a pot with fresh water and threw some firewood into the stove. A bright flame appeared from thin air just above her fingertip, and Silke blew it into the stove, igniting the firewood. While waiting for the water to boil she was digging her messy cabinet and trying to find the damn whipped cream and marshmallows. Meantime, Iris was explaining in more detail what had occurred lately. When Iris started to talk about the incident in the old church, something happened that felt like gods themselves would've decided to spit in Silke's face just for laughs.

She had found some godsdamned huge jar of jam from the cabinet, lifted it with her other hand, and noticed the marshmallows behind it. Keeping an eye on the water, listening to Iris repeating things Silke wouldn't have wanted to hear about, and trying to reach the marshmallow package from the cabinet that looked like an aftermath of some imperial mana bomb, had apparently been too much for her concentration to bear. Her grip slipped and the jar crashed into the sink, making a noise that was probably heard at the other side of the block of flats.

"Shiteberries!" she blurted with passion. "It's all good, no biggie!" she yelled towards the living room. "I've got it under control!"

The jar had broken into three huge chunks. Luckily there didn't seem to be any shards in the jam. 'I must save it!' was Silke's first thought after recovering from the worst wave of annoyance. 'One does not simply throw away food. No, no.'

"Black magic and summoning!" Silke yelled towards the living room again over the sound of boiling water, while grabbing an empty jar and starting to spoon the jam from the sink into it. "And pet ahead, if he lets you, miss Evangeline! He tends to be suspicious towards strangers and warms up slowly!"

Lucian had always given Silke the creeps. That was the main reason she liked to make fun of him. The things one feared tended to lose their power if one was able to make jokes of them. Despite Silke holding up her cheerful facade, and simultaneously containing her rage, a tiny glimmer of genuine amusement dug its way through it all while a mental image of the highborn elezen eating his meal with his arse had formed in Silke's mind. She bit her lip so that she wouldn't have laughed aloud.

"Thanks. Now I can't unsee that one either", she mumbled while spooning and having a race against time: how much jam could she save before it was all dripped down the sewer? “Isn’t she just a fockin’ dashiest piece o’ ass ya ‘ave ever seen?” Iris laid back onto the sofa, legs crossed and one hand rubbing Laurence’s neck. “If the gods are real, dey were fockin’ horny as a rat when dey made dat gal. And I bet dats why dey made her a heckin’ bookworm in tha first place. To keep ‘er all for demselves! Selfish fockers...”

Silke was still acting weird though, and it drove Iris crazy. She knew her friend well enough to tell when something was amiss, and now there definitely was something. Silke’s smile had been forced... faked even. It was the smile Silke had on her lips, when she was in a very unpleasant situation, and just wanted to get through it fast. Eva also, had started to act weird after entering the apartment. What was wrong with everyone today?

Deep inside, Iris noticed she started to regret bringing the two into the same room in the first place. What had started as a perfect plan in her head, had suddenly turned into a weird dream, where she was locked into an apartment with two beautiful women, who she... for different reasons cared for? Yet those women were but a couple of meatsuits, which some creature had possessed.

Iris wanted to wake up. Though, if she had truly been in a dream, a loud crash echoing from the kitchen at the halfway of her story would have waken her up.

“Yer okai back dere, Blackbird?!” Iris shouted towards the kitchen, after hearing Silke’s loud curse, startling Laurence from his sleep in the process. "It's all good, no biggie!" answered Silke’s voice almost instantly.

Iris gave a quick glance towards Evangeline, rising her brow with a shrug, and finished the story, finally getting up to the point where they had left the manor. Silke was still in the kitchen. The sound of a boiling water had rose to company the weird sound of scraping metal on metal. It seemed like Silke had no intention on moving the pot off the flames though.

“Fockin ‘ell, I’ll go see whut the fock is ‘appenin’ back dere... Dats not like ‘er... at all.”

Iris stepped past Evangeline, brushing her cheek with the back of her finger while going, and headed into a kitchen. The sight before her eyes made Iris’ jaw drop for a moment. Silke, scraping jam out of the sink like her life depended on it, and a teapot, boiling over on the stove, sending steaming hot water down on the flames with an angry hissing that sounded like a pit of snakes.

“What tha fock, Silke?!” Iris finally blurted out, as she got back her voice all of the sudden. She rushed to the stove, moving the pot off the flames, but while doing so, her hand slipped on the handle, sending the lid flying off and spilling boiling hot water onto her arm. “Shiteclippers! Fockin’ ghhh...”, her curse turned into a shriek, but she still somehow managed to place the pot onto the table.

Her arm was on fire, and the pale white skin had started to gain pinkish tint and couple of blisters where the water had hit. “Silke, whut the ‘ell is wrong wid ya, sweetheart?! Ya did not get ani water on ya, did ya?!” With the heat still radiating up on her arm, like thousand little needles, Iris took a grip of Silke’s shoulders, turning the woman around, and wrapping arms around her.

With Silke’s affirmation, Evangeline slowly approached the cute little dog and extended her hand to him, hoping he would be okay with her lightly scratching behind his ear. She was as gentle as she could be, carefully extending her digits towards his nose, when a loud crash from the kitchen caused her to start, feeling like she jumped almost a yalm into the air.  Her heart rate picked up and she looked around, hoping for something weapon-adjacent to be present in the room somewhere.  She settled on the poker by the fireplace, reaching for it slowly, when Iris shouted back to her, seemingly unperturbed by what could’ve been the shattering of a window.

“It’s all good, no biggie!” Silke’s voice sounded off from the kitchen.

Evangeline relaxed slightly, a bit less worried of an intruder now. She wondered how Iris could be so blase-faire about the whole deal, given that she seemed to have more than a few people that would happily see her dead. Iris finished her story regardless, wrapping it up and muttering, “Fockin ‘ell, I’ll go see whut the fock is ‘appenin’ back dere...  Dats not like ‘er..at all.”

As she walked past Evangeline, heading towards the kitchen, she brushed the dark skinned viera’s cheek as she passed, causing her heart rate to quicken once more. Evangeline sighed and went to turn her attention back to the dog, when she heard further exclamations from the kitchen, followed by a shriek from Iris. Before Eva could think about what she was doing, she was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, poker in hand, just in time to see Iris throw her arms around Silke.

The pot on the table filled with still-bubbling water and the splash on the ground told the story of what had happened, though. Though Evangeline’s emotions battled in her mind, coming to a head in the face of the two women embracing, it was as if someone had flipped the switch in her head, finally, that said ‘high pressure situation’.

Her emotions dulled, and the world grew grey around her, as her body took over. She took the pot, placing it on a potholder with ease, to ensure that the table wouldn’t burn. Placing the poker in the corner, she moved to Iris, who she assumed was the most injured. Stepping around the two, Evangeline assessed for injuries, quickly noticing the blisters rising on Iris’ forearm and asked: “Silke, do you know how to dress a wound?”

"The hells would I know? Do I look like some damn white mage?" Silke cried out, sounding both frustrated and shocked, but still clearly more of the former.

“Right... very well. I know little of burns, but I will go find someone who does. Run cold water over the burn, and I’ll go find an apothecary for proper bandages and whatever else we need. There is one near here, isn’t there?”

Evangeline stepped back from the two. She didn’t touch Iris. She didn’t touch either of them. It wasn’t like Iris wanted her here, anyways... this was all she could do. Perhaps she could be useful, and the two could be left to themselves. At Silke’s response, she turned and walked from the room, out the door and into the chilly Ishgardian air. Silke twitched slightly when Iris hugged her, but she still wrapped her arms timidly around her, shocked that Iris had just gotten boiling water on her. Silke wasn't squeezing like Iris did, though. The heck was she getting all close and personal so suddenly?

"What's wrong you ask, princess?" Silke repeated, slightly aghast. "Everything was just fine before you came and started throwing the pot around! I accidentally dropped some godsdamned jar, which appeared to be heavier than it first seemed, into the sink. I would've taken care of the pot in a moment! ...And... no, I didn't get any water on me", she added a bit more calmly, when they let go of each other.

Then Evangeline, too, arrived into the kitchen. These two dumbasses were like some damn knights trying to save a damsel in distress, Silke thought sourly. While Evangeline was examining Iris' burns, Silke stared at the two, gritting her teeth. There she was again, with her older and more mature companion, who - without a doubt - already had some renowned career behind her.

Silke took a quick glance at herself; her carbuncle morning gown and moogle slippers. Were they the reasons everyone insisted treating her like a child? Because she liked cute things? Or was it something in herself? Something about her behavior, perhaps? Her absent-mindedness? The farther she got with her studies the more sceptical people seemed to be about her fending. First Asagi, then Silke's school'mates', and now even Iris.

When Evangeline asked did Silke know anything about taking care of wounds, she couldn't help but cry out: "The hells would I know? Do I look like some damn white mage?"

She could put a bandage on paper cut but that was pretty much it. The yell had already left her lips before Silke remembered she had just made herself a promise to be more sophisticated and controlled. Before she got her mouth open again, Evangeline was already on her way and had stepped outside.

Silke stared at the door for a while. At least Evangeline had had a good reason to go, but it also annoyed Silke, that every single time, when she and Iris were spending time with other people than each other, Asagi or Arsene – which was very rare – sooner or later their company vanished somewhere, leaving Silke and Iris alone. Why, why did it always happen? Of course Silke enjoyed spending time with Iris, but she was also craving other friends. She didn't want to be depending on only one person. Yet it was either her or Iris - or worse, both of them - who managed to drive away other people. As Eva had left the building, Iris looked at the blisters on her aching arm, and walked up to the sink. What was left of the jam, was now lazily making its way down the hole. It was unlikely that cold water would do any good at this point, but Iris opened the tap anyway, letting the ice cold water run for a while, washing away the jam, before sticking her arm under it, grimacing.

“Yeah, guess I heckin’ overreacted. The damn pot was throwin’ water around like a frickin’ volcano, and I freaked out, as I thought it boild over onto ya...” Iris  looked at her arm, still holding it under the running water. It was not looking pretty, but could have been worse. Maybe it could heal without leaving a scar.

“Just look at mi, Blackbird. I keep destroyin’ thin’s, no matter whut I do. For fock’s sake, I hated mi mother, for being a damn useless wreck she was. And now? Shite. Its almost like tha heckin’ apple surely wont fall far from da tree...”, she gave a quick glance towards her friend, before closing the tap, and carefully drying her onto a towel. “...I’m heckin’ joyful yer alright though. Dink we could still make dat cocoa?” Iris walked up to the pot, peeking inside it, and coming to the conclusion it was still half-full of water. Maybe it would do for three smaller cups.

The burning pain on the arm started to return soon after she had dried it up, but, biting hardly onto her lip, she more or less successfully hided the fact from Silke. “Sssshite...”, viera hissed under her breath, feeling like someone had been spanking her arm with a bunch of nettles for an hour straight.

Years back, when she was still living on the streets of Limsa Lominsa, the guards had caught her from pickpocketing, and rolled her in a huge bush of nettle for it. The feeling on her arm, brought the old memory to life in her head.

“...W..Whut ya gonna drink, Blackbird? Tea maybe? C... Could s...share a cocoa wid ya too... Ya know whut dey ‘ave in dose fancy heckin’ restaurants... Dose straws dat go whirly around each other, and ya can share a drink all heckin’ romantically and shite. We could get one of dose. ‘Aight?”

This was one of those moments Silke found herself once again wondering: how the hells did Iris do it? At one moment she was all sweet and thoughtful, then a couple of minutes later a complete arsehat. And then a moment later sweet again, and so on. Or perhaps the most important question was: why? And which one was the real one?

"I'd rather drink all of my cocoa by myself", Silke explained after a short pause, with a hint of formality in her voice. "I should probably start drinking from a barrel or something anyway, since regular mugs or glasses seem to contain way too little for my tastes."

“Well...”, Iris shrugged, knocking the pot with her fingernail. “Dis thin’ is ‘alf empty, so wont fill a barrel wid dis, but... We should all still get a heckin’ mugful...”

Iris’ voice lacked the energy it had a moment ago, suddenly sounding rather tired. Her gaze traveled in the room, from the door, to the flames still dancing on the stove, and to a carbuncle clock, hanging on the wall. She could not look Silke in the eyes. She very well knew she had once again let down the woman she loved. And that love burned in her chest, hotter than the flames on the stove... harder to ignore than the burning sensation on her arm. Yet why was it she could only bring misery into Silke’s life? Time after time after time.

“...I’m gonna find dat whipcream and candies, if ya mix tha cocoa, okai..?” she finally sighed, moving up to the cabinet, starting to go through the foodstuff Silke had stored. Soon she pulled out a small back of marshmallows, waving it in the air, in front of Silke’s eyes. “Lookie-look whut I found! Lets just stack a mad pile of dese onto tha whipcream! It will be fockin’ beautiful... Like a heckin’ tiny snow castle... ‘Aight?”

*** Evangeline walked briskly down the steps, her goal clear in her mind. A chill sat in the air, the same that seemed to sit permanently in Ishgard, regardless of the time of year.  Eva could see her breath, just barely, a vaporous cloud that was constantly being remade and dispersed as she exhaled and strode through it. She wore a wry smile, unsure of what exactly she should be feeling right now. She had time to walk, time to herself, time with her own thoughts. Though this, to her, felt like a punishment worse than death, perhaps she could straighten this whole thing out in her head.  Find out where she stood.  What she should do next.

Very well... let’s look at the facts, she thought, releasing a sigh inwardly.

Fact: Iris and I just met.  We have formed an odd sort of arrangement that has her spending time with me for compensation.

Fact: Iris and I slept together. I enjoyed it and she seemed to enjoy it. Evangeline moved slightly out of the way, angling her body to the side so that she could fit between a merchant’s stand and a heavyset man that was moving in the other direction.

Fact: I pulled Iris from a breakdown. She seems to struggle with another personality of some kind. She seemed expectant that I would leave after finding that out. I did not. Also, she fell asleep in my arms. It doesn’t seem like the sort of thing she usually does. She wiped her nose. It must surely be red at this point, with how chilly it was outside.

Fact: She has shown some level of interest in me. She dreaded stating this next one to herself.

Fact: I have... fallen for Iris. Against my better judgement in every way. She has a pull over me that I haven’t truly experienced before, and I can’t fight it.

F-fact... Iris... I-Iris is in l-love... with S-Silke.

That thought was what did it. That was the one that set the tears flowing. Eva kept walking, her goal still clear in her mind, but with tears pouring down her cheeks. How had she done this to herself... jumped straight from one failing relationship into another one. She had left Solenna... sweet, wonderful Solenna...for this? A pale, thin viera woman... so thin that she seemed malnourished... who could barely manage to give her the time of day if she asked?

And on top of all of that... she was so clearly in love with Silke. The woman was all over her! Iris did nothing but praise Silke... her perfect little angel. The apple of her eye. This begged the question, though... why weren’t the two of them together? Was it Iris? Her refusal to be tied down? Or was there something about Silke that Evangeline didn’t know…? There’s no way...no way Iris wouldn’t have said something.  She must have confessed her feelings to Silke.

Evangeline turned a corner, tears still stinging at her face. She wiped at her nose again, and then her eyes, wiping them first and then rubbing at them, hoping that she didn’t look to be too much of a mess. She sniffled, and continued walking, seeing the Apothecary’s sign in the distance. Perhaps she should just excuse herself, and return to the manor. Maybe the two of them wanted time alone.

But... if that was the case, why had Iris invited her? She had seemed fairly eager to bring Eva along... despite her outburst in the bathroom. It was just... so damnably confusing. Did Iris want her?  Did Iris not want her? Was she a substitute for Silke? Or was she something different?

All of these questions went unanswered, though, as Evangeline stepped through the door to the Apothecary. She must have looked quite the sight, 6 fulms, 2 ilms of musclebound viera, ducking under the doorway to keep room enough for her ears as she did. Flushed from the cold, tears clinging to her cheeks... not something you would normally see on the streets of Ishgard. She stepped up to the shopkeeper, clearing her throat.

“G-good morning…”, she sniffled again, wiping at her nose. “Do you have anything that would help with a burn?  And some clean bandages?”

The merchant, a rather young looking miqo'te man, took a moment to first absorb the sight of Evangeline, and then another to process what she was asking for.

“Uhm... er.. .y-yes. The aloe lotion, over in the corner on the second highest shelf. And we have bandages right here at the counter. Just... apply the lotion, it should help with the pain. Wrap it in bandages, and change them every four hours. You’ll probably want to reapply the lotion when you change them.”

Evangeline nodded in thanks, and efficiently collected her goods, paying for them with gil from a small pouch she kept tied around her waist.  She took her leave, waving at the young man, who looked as if he wanted to say something as she was leaving, but decided not to.

She exited the shop, back into the cold air. It was starting to feel a bit more punishing, and Eva could see a few snowflakes starting to dot the sky in the distance. She would be back soon. She almost wanted to drop off the bandages and then leave, but... maybe she should stay a little bit. See how things played out. Maybe she could get a little bit more understanding of the situation... because she refused to let go of Iris without being sure she wasn’t wanted. She kept moving forward, upset, angry, sad, and tired...but a bit more determined than she had been a few minutes ago.

***

Silke gave Iris a small nod, before grabbing a pouch of cocoa powder and starting to spoon it into the cups. She was working near the small kitchen window, glancing at the gray inner court every now and then, and her back turned to Iris.

Overall Silke saw herself as a positive person. She didn't truly hate anything, although she often joked about it. Hate was such a powerful word. But if someone had asked her to point just one thing she could say she truly hated, it would've been mixed signals, messing with her. Most people tended to mess with her in one way or another, and at least with her inner circle Silke wanted to feel safe enough to lower her defenses. Keeping them up constantly was tiring and it ate her from the inside.

'It was supposed to be over', she thought. 'We had our misunderstandings and arguments, we overcame them and we were just fine. Why did she have to continue it? She could've done her thing with Evangeline, heck, even bring her here. But why rub it in? I'm too tired for this shite.'

When Iris found the marshmallows and said they'd make the cocoa toppings like a snow castle, Silke felt tears trying to come out. Stubbornly she pushed them back while biting her lip, before glancing at Iris over her shoulder, smiling and agreeing lightly:

"Sounds fancy. Just the thought of it makes me almost feel our blood vessels blocking up." She turned around and started to stir the drinks. "But still, oh, so delicious. Why must everything unhealthy be so delicious?"

Silke glanced outside again, towards the gray sky. After the exams of this month were over, the students could choose a place to go study more how things worked in practice. So far they had been mostly studying theory of all general subjects, and only doing some smaller and safer experiments while their teachers had been watching them closely. Now was the time for action, and the beginning of specialized studies. Silke was about to dive into the studies of a battle mage and destructive alchemy. She pondered to herself which post could possibly be the farthest one away from Ishgard. “Why? Because tha world is a heckin’ unfair place, Blackbird”, Iris said. “In a damn perfect world, we would be livin’ in a frickin’ castle somewhere in tha mountains. ‘Ave a damn barrel o’ cocoa, a bath’ouse and a fockin’ basement full o’ blastin’ powder and booze to play wid.”

Iris rolled a single marshmallow between her fingers, squeezing it down, and watching it  slowly buff back up, as she loosened her grip. “...Yet ‘ere we are. In a fockin’ apartment flat, in a city filled with damn arseplucks who dont get us. Like fockin’ birds in a cage...”, she flipped the candy into her mouth, turning to Silke, who was still working with her cocoa mix.

Silke was so beautiful. In her own, rather curious way, she was stunning. After a while, Iris caught herself staring at her friend, the marshmallow still lingering on her tongue. Viera shook her head, picking up another candy from the bag, and reaching it towards Silke, holding it an inch away from woman’s lips. Silke’s spoon stopped moving, and she placed it down on the table. Carefully, she took the candy from Iris, holding it for a moment, and placing it into her mouth.

Oh, how much Iris had hoped for the woman to pick the candy from her fingers, using her lips. She had almost seen it happening in her mind, but then again... Silke would never do such a thing. What was she even thinking? Most likely nothing. The tears were burning her eyes, almost masking away the burning sensation on her arm, but she kept them in, flipping another candy into her mouth. She missed though, the soft candy hitting her on the cheek, and falling onto the table.

“...I’m workin’ mi fockin’ ass off to make sum cash. It’s... gonna take some time, as yer sissie has cut mi shifts to ‘alf lately, but... I’m gettin’ dere, Silke... And... And when I ‘ave got sum savin’s, I thought I could... Ya know... Get sum own place sumwhere, and I thought...” A sound of door opening interrupted Iris in the middle of the sentence, and she hissed a curse under her breath. “...We are in tha fockin’ kitchen, Evangelin’!” she shouted towards the doorway, her long, sickly fingers gripping the bag of marshmallows spasmodically. Evangeline slid the door open, a paper bag of medical supplies clutched in her hand. She had tried to wipe at her eyes and her nose as much as possible, and though she had cleared them both (or so she thought) she could only assume that her smudged eyeliner and her most likely running mascara would display that she had been crying. She supposed that she would deal with that when the time came-for now, at least, she wanted to focus on the task at hand. Iris’ arm needed to be bandaged... she must be in incredible pain right now. Eva’s feelings could wait.

She startled at the sound of Iris’ shout. She seemed upset... which stood to reason with a burned arm. Eva stepped briskly into the kitchen, noting the two vieras seemed to be casually conversing. Iris must have an impressive pain tolerance... ran through her head as she saw how Iris was standing. When she met Iris’ eyes, though, she was a bit taken aback by the other woman’s expression.

Had Eva done something wrong? Offended her somehow? She shook her head, trying to clear out the stray thoughts. That would be a question for later…

Evangeline moved to the sink, excusing herself as she moved past Silke, and washed her hands. Water, soap, water, towel. She picked up the bag from the side of the sink, wandering over to Iris and removing a roll of bandages, a roll of medical tape, and a small metal container from the bag. She gestured to Iris to show her arm.

“We need to put this cream on your arm. It will calm the burn and lessen the pain. Then we wrap it in this bandage, and change it every four hours until it’s not causing you as much pain. Would you like to sit down so I can get it wrapped up?”  Evangeline looked at Iris and gave the brightest smile she could muster. “I’m fine, Evangelin’! It’s just a heckin’ small burn... Will... ‘eal on its own by the damn mornin’...”, Iris looked at her burned arm, which was visibly shaking, like dead leaves in a breeze. She felt the burn, like it was creeping into her bones. On top of that, the arm had started to ache, sending arrows of pain up towards elbow, and down to her fingers, still holding onto the bag of marshmallows.

“...Fockin’ ‘ell, fine! Do whut ya wish... But change every fourth ‘our, ya say? Ya ‘ear dat, Silke? Yer gonna come over to sleep wid mi, and change mi bandages, and kiss da pain awai, hm?” Iris took one more candy out of the bag, before placing the back on the table, right next to Silke, and making her way to a tiny dinner table, which was loaded with books on a dangerously unsteady pile. Viera sat down onto the chair, placing her elbow onto the table, so her arm was hanging on air. “...Do ya mind, if I smoke, darlin?” Why in the seven hells does she keep talking about 'us', Silke thought, stirring the cocoas even more furiously, although the powder had dissolved into the drinks ages ago. Iris was truly hopeless. Silke had explained to her in words of one syllable why it just wouldn't work, and how it would only cause them both more pain. And despite it all here they were again. Should she draw some godsdamned diagram about it next? It probably wouldn't work either. Iris' skull was apparently too thick for receiving information.

Silke felt, oddly enough, somewhat relieved when she heard the door in the hallway and realized Evangeline had returned. At least now she wouldn't have to listen to all this sweet talk, which made Silke remember all the good moments she and Iris had had together, and which were now like acid poured into her reopened wounds. She grabbed the whipped cream container from the table and squeezed so much cream into every mug, that the cocoas ended up looking like soft ice served in mugs.

Meanwhile Evangeline was tending Iris, Silke took one of the mugs and sat on the other side of the table, opposite the two others. She was observing them closely, while poking her spoon into the cream, taking a full load of hot cocoa and cream, poked it into her mouth, into the cream again and so on. Silke noticed Evangeline's reddish eyes. She had probably been crying. Silke had had somewhat mixed feelings towards her, but right now she was mainly feeling sorry for her. Iris was probably just playing with them both.

Silke couldn't help but frown at Iris' comment. For a moment she froze to stare at her in disbelief. 'Are you focking kidding me?!' she was tempted to ask, and to slam her mug onto the table with full force to give her words some more spice. Then she noticed the mug was one of her favorites: a pink one, that had two black eyes, a snout and a little pigtail on the other side of it. She quickly let go of it, and yanked her shaking hand into her lap.

"I'm not going anywhere", she announced in a steady voice. "I have places to be tomorrow morning. And I doubt you need me to tend you, Iris. I'm sure your other hand is working just fine, and you can do it yourself." She scooped a couple of spoonfuls of whipped cream into her mouth, before adding: "No smoking allowed indoors, they say. The stench gets absorbed into the structures. And if they'll find something to complain about this apartment when I'm about to move, guess who gets to pay the expenses?" “Fine... No smokin’ indoors...”, Iris stuffed the pack of cigarettes back into her pocket with her free hand.

She glanced towards Eva, seeing woman’s red eyes and smeared eyeliner. Of course Eva had been crying. ‘What else I do these days than make people cry?’ Iris thought to herself.

Her gaze traveled from Eva to Silke, sitting on the other side of the table with her pink piggie-mug. Her dearest friend. The girl she loved... the only girl she had ever truly loved... sat there, so distant. Acting almost like she did not even know Iris anymore. There was no snow castle of mashmallows on her mountain of whipcream... And that’s when the storm that had been raging inside Iris broke the dam. She coiled forward on the bench, as the tears started running down freely on her pale cheeks. Dripping onto the burn, like a salty summer rain. Evangeline had been doing rather impressively at holding herself together, she had thought. As she applied the cream very gently to Iris’ arm, she quietly listened to the other two talk. Iris doing her level best to whisper sweet nothings to Silke with a megaphone, and Silke seeming... cold. She sounded even less inclined to put up with Iris than when they had walked in the door.

Iris put away her cigarettes at Silke’s behest, and, with a quick glance around the room, seemed to finally give way to the tension that had been building in her this whole time. She huddled over and burst into tears. Evangeline looked up, shaken by the sudden change in mood, and turned her eyes to Silke, ‘what do I do?’ written across her face.

Silke’s eyes, at first, were locked on Iris, seeming shocked by the outburst. They glazed over with sadness for just a moment... so quickly that Evangeline would have missed it, had she not been searching desperately for an answer on the viera’s bespectacled face. The sadness faded, though, as quickly as it had come. She retained control of herself, and took another drink of cocoa, faster now than she had before.

“Ahh...I-Iris…”, Evangeline said, unsure of how to handle the situation given her companion’s preferences. Iris had specifically said that she didn’t want to be hugged. She didn’t want that kind of relationship with Eva. Evangeline wanted nothing more than to take the woman in her arms and be there for her. But that wasn’t what she wanted. Iris wanted... Iris wanted companionship without the relationship. Because the relationship she wanted eluded her, somehow.

For some reason, her and Silke didn’t work. Eva didn’t know what it was, but there seemed to be a mountain of hurt between the two. She didn’t know what could be done to fix things for these two... and... she hated to admit it to herself... but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to fix this. It felt horrible, and selfish to think of. She wanted Iris to be happy. But she wanted Iris to be happy with her. Wanted Iris to fall into her arms. Wanted Iris to come home to her. Maybe Iris didn’t love her now... but maybe she would. Someday. Maybe... maybe it was best to go with the safest option here.

“Iris?  C-can... can I touch you?” Eva hoped desperately that she would be able to embrace the woman. That she wouldn’t run. That she wouldn’t disappear. She couldn’t just sit here in silence, though. Silke didn’t seem inclined to do anything about this. Eva looked at Silke again, wondering if her temperament had changed. As she did, Silke finished her cocoa, stood up, and walked out of the room. While Silke marched into the living room, she cursed from the bottom of her heart they were all in her place. Normally she would just leave situations like this, but where could she go now that she was already at home? She couldn't fall apart while there were guests around. She was so tired of crying. She felt she had cried for at least ten or more people lately.

Laurence was still sleeping on the sofa. Silke was tempted to hug him, but she decided to skip that as well. She knew if she hugged something right now, she couldn't probably hold it in anymore.

Silke had been waiting for the damn dinner so much. It was supposed to have been a new beginning for them all. If Asagi and Varg could've just started behaving like normal, functional adults around each other, it would've made everyone else's life easier. Now Silke was no longer certain did she even want to go. If Evangeline lived in the estate nowadays, no doubt she'd attend the dinner, too. And Asagi had announced Ainu, who had just arrived to Ishgard, would join them as well. Silke thought it was a terrible idea. The lalafell was a focking sociopath. And Asagi was delusional if she thought she could cure her with motherly love and care. That case was beyond help.

And if Iris thought she'd make Silke's heart melt by crying, she couldn't have been more wrong. Silke kept repeating 'self care' like a manta in her mind, hugging herself and squeezing her arms with her nails, while looking outside from the window, although there was absolutely nothing interesting there. Iris was just like the rest of them. For a moment Silke had hoped she would've been wrong, but it was all the same shite in the end, just wrapped in a slightly different package. “Don’t touch mi!” Iris screeched through her tears, while cradling herself back and forth on the chair. “Don’t ya fockin’ touch mi! W-We had a d-deal, is it so frickin’ ‘ard to u-understand?!”

Still, somewhere deep in her heart, Iris wanted Evangeline to hold her. She wanted Silke to hold her. The woman she had once been, on the streets of Limsa Lominsa, would have given anything in the world, to have someone to wrap arms around her, telling her everything would be alright. That the morning would come, after the stormy night, and it would be beautiful.

Yet that woman was trapped, deep below the layers of fear, hatred and agony. From the corner of her eyes, Iris had seen Silke emptying her cup of cocoa, and walking out of the room. The sight was the executioner, wearing a dirty, black hood, and pulling the lever, which finally dropped the heavy blade down, splitting Iris’ heart in two.

“I... I just w-wanted to build... a heckin’ castle...”, her voice was barely audible. “Wanted to build a damn castle for... for us to l-live in...” Iris got up, her head feeling dizzy.

It was like time in the room had suddenly stopped onto its tracks. The spring inside the clock had broken, freezing the pointers on the same dead moment for ever and ever. She made her way to the cup of cocoa, still resting on the counter. Her long, pale fingers, reached into the bag, picking up a single marshmallow, and placing it on the huge mountain of whipped cream. After looking at it for a while, she reached for another, and another, carefully piling them on the mountain, with her shaking hand.

“...A-And dis is where dey lived...”, she muttered, while balancing the candy onto drink. “...A h-heckin’ beautiful castle, on a mountains... dat rose above t-tha forest, like clouds... Damn lucky bastards... A poet and ‘er muse. I-I bet ya ‘ave never seen such beautiful woman...” Iris paused for a moment, to wipe away tears that were running free over her cheeks, like small, salty rivulets.

“...Yet da poet had a s-secret... ‘Er words were poison. Drippin’ from ‘er mouth, every time she opened it to weave words. Why? ...Because tha poet was... a frickin’ monster... A creature, which was in love wid tha gal, and ‘ad taken a form o’ a poet to be wid ‘er... Yet tha mask on ‘er face did not keep tha poison from drippin’... And all tha words tha poet weaved for dat gal? Dey just tainted ‘er. Made ‘er sick... And when da gal finally withered awai? Tha castle on clouds came crashin’ down, buryin’ tha monster alive...”

As Iris stopped, the pile of marshmallows on the whipped cream had grown into an unstable little mountain on its own. She picked up a spoon, her hand shaking, and scooped up most of the whipped cream and candies. “...Fockin’ crashin’ down...” She placed the spoonful into her mouth, and the sweet taste mixed with the saltiness of her own tears. Evangeline sat, listening to Iris weave her story.  A fairy tale... Eva wondered if this was some sort of response to trauma. Iris’ other self seemed to be lost in a dreamland, so fully steeped in fantasy that she couldn’t recognize any part of reality. This... this seemed to be Iris teetering on the edge. Wavering between reality and fantasy. Because... because she couldn’t bear... to lose Silke. Damnable, adorable Silke.

After a few minutes, Iris’ story ended, the monster that represented her crushed under a mountain of rubble. Evangeline stood up, hoping that she could figure out how to handle this one. Hoping that she could pull Iris from the edge, and not hurl her off of it unintentionally. She took a step forward... and then another. She felt as if her shoes were lined with lead. She reached up, placing a trembling hand on Iris’ shoulder almost instinctively, her mind ceding to her body once again. Iris winced as Eva touched her shoulder, but didn’t seem to react any other way, still poking at the cocoa with her spoon, eyes fixed on the horizon, where dark clouds were gathering.

“Iris…”, Evangeline said quietly. “I may not be much... but I’m not going anywhere. I know I’m not h-her... but I am yours. I’m right here... by your side. And you’re... you’re right here with me. I couldn’t i-imagine how you’re feeling right now... but I’ll stay with you through it. I’m not running away. I...I don’t want to restrict you... or keep you... I just want to be with you…”, she trailed off, biting her lip.

Gods this was difficult. Finding words... she felt like she was just repeating things she had already said. “I-I like you. A lot.” She blurted out. “You’re att... att…”,  her mouth couldn’t find the word, caught in her throat as it was. “Att… attrraactive to me for a lot of reasons. Y-you’re strong...and p-perseverant... you’re beautiful… but I want you to be free, still.”

The tears were welling up in her eyes now... wouldn’t be long before she couldn’t hold them back any more. She thought briefly of offering to talk to Silke... but she was feeling a little too selfish to do that right now. Maybe if Iris asked her... “I want to touch you... to hold you... b-because I think it might help... but I don’t want you to feel trapped…”, she said, her breath catching in her lungs as she did. “C-can you let me? I’ll let go... I’ll let go the moment you ask me to.” Silke heard the other two talking something in the kitchen, and as time passed, she became more and more convinced she either had to get rid of them, or she had to get out. She glanced once again at Laurence sleeping on the couch.

That's right. She hadn't taken him out yet. A perfect excuse. She hurried to her closet and rummaged through it, trying to find some clothes that hadn't been amongst the laundry. The fancy dress Iris had given her was there, but right now Silke would've rather walked out naked than worn it. There were also both of her party dresses. They were all black, but the other one was long and fancy, and didn't have sleeves. Silke had planned to wear it during the dinner. The other one was festive as well, but compared to the first one, way more casual. Its hem reached her knees, it had tight, long puff sleeves, and it didn't reveal as much. That would do, she thought.

Silke quickly changed into it, hoping the other two wouldn't surprise her meanwhile. They didn't. They seemed to have much to talk about.

Simultaneously Silke took off her tiny panties and revealing nightgown. She had used them only for one night, so they hadn't gotten dirty yet. She'd return them to Iris before they left. Silke didn't have to go out without pants, since she also managed to find some old leggings that had gotten short for her. She didn't mind. Nobody would notice their length while she was wearing her high heeled, leathery thighboots.

Silke combed her hair hastily and tied the long, thick ponytail on her crown. Her bangs were somewhat messy, but she didn't bother to do anything to them. Meanwhile looking at herself from mirror she pondered maybe she could go to store too. That would prolong her trip to the city, and Iris and Evangeline would've hopefully focked off by then. Though, Silke was too tired to see too much effort for her make-up. She took a black eyeliner and drew even darker circles on the ones already existing. She painted her lips dark pink, so that she wouldn't look like a corpse.

"Laurence? Are you awake, boy?" she asked in a tired voice, while crouching next to the sofa, gently petting the sleepy dog. Iris heard Eva’s words, but it was like they were coming from somewhere, really far away, behind a veil of fog, even though she knew the woman was standing right behind her. Y-You are not well... s-something is wrong... Iris shook her head, trying to make the voice go away... It didn’t.

I... I want my knight... my knight in a shining armor, where is he? I have... I have lost my knight!

“Shut up!!”

T-The castle, it’s... its crumbling. What is happening..? Help me... please...

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!!”

Iris closed her eyes tightly, fingers on her temples, long, clawlike nails, digging in and drawing blood. She took a step back, walking into Evangeline, and leaning back against the woman’s chest.

Evangeline tensed up for a moment. The other woman was struggling, that much was obvious. Eva hoped that she could calm her down. She was digging her nails into her forehead again. Without even thinking about it, Evangeline gently placed her arms around Iris, not holding her back, or restricting her movement, but cuddling up against Iris' lithe frame.

"Iris... Iris you're here with me, okay? It's just you, Iris. Just you and me. You are Iris, nobody else. It's going to be okay... everything is going to be okay. Listen to the sound of my voice... follow me back..."

“...All I wanted to do, is fockin’ build a castle... L-Look at dat!” Iris waved her hands towards Evangeline’s mug, still resting on the counter, untouched. “Dere is no fockin’ castle... W-Where is my knight? I... I want my... I want mi Silke... Cinnabun? I’m.. I’m so...”

Iris felt the arms that were wrapped around her, like a cradle, everything else was hidden behind the deep fog in her head. What was this place? Who was she? And who’s arms were these? She did not really care anymore.

She felt numb, and when the fog finally parted, she was standing on a shore. A shore of white sand, like ground bones reached as far as the eye can see on her both sides. And in front of her? There was a ocean. A black ocean from where the calms waves rolled in to shore, to caress it like a lover’s fingers for just a moment, before falling back into the embrace of the ocean.

Iris took one step... and another. Her eyes caught the arm, where the burn had been only a moment ago. Yet now? There was nothing. The burn was gone, same with the pain it had brought. Tilting her head, Iris poked the skin couple of times, then pinching it between her fingers, and pullin. No pain. Nothing. She kept walking.

The black waves were calling her with a voice she knew, but could not place to who it belonged to. She stepped into water, walking on, until it reached almost to her knees, when she heard another voice from behind her, and turned around. On the waterline, veiled by the fog, she saw three figures. A Three pairs of long ears.

A tall warrior, a woman with long, ghostly hair, and a sickly, corpse-like woman, standing between them. The panic washed over her... she had to walk back, what was she doing? Yet, when she tried to move her legs, they felt like something was holding them from the bottom of the ocean.

Oh gods... You sound like a vulture... They are my favourite birds...

It’s going to be okay... Everything is going to be okay...

S-Something is not right...

The panic washed over Iris, and she jerked her leg again, but instead of getting it free, she lost her balance, falling back into the embrace of deep black. Iris gasped in Evangeline’s embrace, opening her eyes.

Her burned arm looked horrible. Like someone had been ripping out skin from the burned area. She sighed deeply, moving her fingers on top of the burn, and mumbling words under her breath. A faint light, mix of black and shades of purple started dancing around her fingertips, slowly sewing shut the worst of the damage, even though the arm still looked burned and blistered.

“Seven hells, how did this happen?" Iris’ eyes were closed. She seemed stuck... wrapped in a dreamlike state, twitching involuntarily as if she were sleeping. Evangeline’s heart rate rose, as fear gripped at her, clawing at her arms, her legs... she held Iris, still as gently as if her arms were wrapped around the finest glass vase the world had ever seen.

How was Iris suddenly so precious to her? Why did she feel the need to protect her? Some people had baggage...but Iris had wagonfulls. Cities filled with baggage. The smart move would be to walk away from this mess. To set Iris gently down and leave this place... run far away from Ishgard and never return. Maybe she could win Solenna back.

She barely entertained the thought, though, looking at Iris’ face. Pained and thin, weak and scared. Beautiful, pitiful, and now...alone. Eva could leave her no more than she could leave her own legs behind.  She would just have to figure something out.

As Iris opened her eyes, gasping for breath as if she had been drowning, Evangeline’s heart leapt from her chest, relief pouring through her veins. She was about to say something... to thank the twelve that Iris was back... but she watched as Iris sighed and healed her arm.

”Seven hells, how did this happen?” ...What? That... that wasn’t Iris’ voice. Iris couldn’t heal herself. This was wrong. Something was wrong. This wasn’t the other, either. The one who called herself ‘Lareine’ didn’t speak like that.

Evangeline felt herself tense up again, her relief pulled out of her body like air from a drowned person’s lungs. Still keeping her arms gently around the body of Iris, she whispered quietly to the not-Iris:

“In response to your question... you spilled boiling water on your arm. It was burned, and I was caring for it. I have a question of my own, though, if you don’t mind... what is your name?” ‘Burned my arm..?’ the pale viera thought to herself, as her eyes caught Evangeline’s arms, still wrapped around her. ‘Must have been wild evening’.

She had no idea where she was. Nothing in this place seemed in any way familiar to her. She had no memory of burning her arm with boiling water... and the whole idea sounded so foolish in her head. And on top of everything. Who the hell was this woman, embracing her, and tending to her injury? The burn would leave a scar by now... Why did she not tend it with magic herself it in the first place?

Maybe this was all just a twisted dream, and she would wake up sooner or later. The not-Iris reached out towards the counter, picking up the cup of cocoa, and brought it on her lips, taking a sip.

“Well, considering the fact you are asking for my name, I guess you are not my mate... So my second guess would be... One-night stand? Either way, I would be grateful, if you removed your arms from me. As much as this looks like some ending scene on a romance novel, with whole kitchen and hot cocoa... Having a complete stranger just hanging on your ass is rather... obtrusive.”

Placing down her cup, the viera studied the arms that were holding her. Strong... hardy... the woman was either a soldier, or maybe a smith. A farmhand was unlikely, considering the overall cleanliness or the arms and nails. ‘Must be a soldier of some sort’.

“The name is Irene... Irene d’Espair... and I guess this is a pleasure. For now.” The other two could hear a silent snapping against the floor, before Laurence appeared from the living room, stretching and yawning, and wearing a red leather collar, decorated with silver colored, heart shaped staples. A black leather leash had been tied to the collar, and soon Silke appeared from the living room after the dog, holding the other end of the leash, and her high heeled boots snapping the floor as well, though more loudly.

"Guys?" she said, smiling warmly with her narrow lips that resembled a rosebud. However, her turquoise eyes were faded like a corpse's, and devoid of any emotion. "I just remembered the last time I took Laurence out was yesterday evening. I need to go. And I'm going to fetch some groceries too, so don't bother waiting for me. This is going to take a while." Irene turned her head towards the voice, as much as she could with Evangeline’s arms around her. The woman was so tall, Irene could barely peek over her shoulder, but when she did, she saw another viera woman on the doorway. Now this was... curious? How many people were there, calling this lousy hole ‘a home’?

The newcomer was a complete opposite to the viera holding her. Pale skin... straight hair pulled up on a thick ponytail, and dead eyes behind those round glasses smeared with black. The overall impression of the woman was apathetic, even with the beautiful dress and red-painted lips. A junkie most likely... and by the looks of it... a prostitute.

“Well... good morning to you too...” Irene said. At this point, Silke's expectations of the other two and especially Iris had sunken so deep one would've needed a shovel... or no, a digger, to dig them back up to daylight. However, this was the new low. This was the peak of insolence. First Iris had the nerve to strut here, bragging about her fock partner, and now she was behaving like Silke would've interrupted their affectionate moment in her own kitchen.

Instead of giving the lingerie to Iris, Silke squeezed them into her leash free fist and hurled them onto the floor, next to their feet.

"Oh for fock's sake!" she could no longer remain polite. "You two damsels better drag your asses out of my place before I return if you value those pretty faces of yours!"

With that, she flung the door open, marched out with the excited shiba, and slammed the door shut behind her with such power that it made the windows jingle. Irene stared at the viera’s sudden outburst, wincing, as the door was slammed shut. Her gaze traveled from the door to the rather slutty lingerie on the floor, and up to Evangeline. “Your wife, I presume?” Evangeline removed her arms the moment it was requested. She was almost immediately overwhelmed by just how much everything had come crashing down in just the last few minutes. Crying... heartbreak... she could deal with that, and take it in stride. Maybe. For now.

But she had thought...she had thought there were only two of them. What in Halone’s name was she supposed to do now…? She could only hope that what worked last time would work again. As Silke left in a huff, Eva called out to her, hoping she would stop, but she was already well on her way down the stairs, the sound of the door slamming most likely preventing Silke from hearing her regardless.

“Wait, Silke! She’s not…”, she trailed off, realizing how fruitless it was to say ‘not Iris’ given that Silke was long gone already. She was upset... not just upset, but fuming. Evangeline hoped she could do something... but for fuck’s sake if this wasn’t more important right now, she didn’t know what was.

Evangeline was taken aback at not-Iris’ statement, wondering how those dots in particular had decided to connect in her mind.  She blushed slightly, mumbling: “N-no...she’s...she’s your best friend.  You brought me here to introduce me to her.”  She shook her head slowly.

“More to the point…”  Eva looked into not-Iris’ eyes. Once again... it was so alien. So not Iris. The spark, the flame that sat beneath the lakes of purple was unusual. There wasn’t a hint of Iris left.

“Iris... are you there? Can you hear me? Come back to me...please…”, she pleaded, hoping desperately that it would work. She was afraid of what would happen... Iris had left because of Silke. Evangeline wasn’t enough. Just like she had always been... not enough. Insufficient. Irene kept her purple eyes nailed onto the viera infront of her. This situation was absurd. Quite intriguing, but absurd... ‘This woman is mad as a cuckoo clock’, she thought to herself, while following the other’s pleas, calling for someone named ‘Iris’. Oh, how she wanted to open this lady’s head, just to see what was going on inside it... And if this was Irene’s dream... would the red-head even mind a little poking around her brain? Such an intriguing case...

“Wait, wait, wait...”, Irene said finally, her voice calm, like a surface of a lake after a storm had ended. “...First of all... I dont know who this ‘Iris’ is... I also have no idea who the woman who just walked out was. I have never seen her before. What I think, girl, is that you are going through a mild case of psychosis... most likely triggered by your wife, finding us together. My name is Irene... And I have never been here before. Honestly? I still believe this is some mindless dream, but in case its not... I’m willing to help you out... If I can, that is.”

A weird smile played on Irene’s lips. A smile that did not reach the eyes. The eyes were cold, and lifeless, except the small foxfire looming behind the purple pools. She placed her hand, or Iris’ hand onto Evangeline’s shoulder. “I think we should go, before your loved one returns. Seeing her now, might just mess your little head even more than it already is.” Iris’ eyes didn’t change. She didn’t wake up... or gain control... like she had before. Usually Iris was desperate to fight to the surface. She had such a strong will. Which meant... which meant this time... she didn’t want to come back. Eva wasn’t enough. She was never enough. She was never what anyone wanted.

Her breath came fast and ragged, such that she was almost hyperventilating. Trying desperately to contain herself, she listened to the not-Iris speak. Offer to ‘help’ her. Flash her a lifeless, lightless smile. A not-Iris smile. Evangeline couldn’t help herself anymore, and burst into tears. Sobbing into her hands, she was able to squeak:

“Y-yeess... w-we should g-go…”

Nodding her head slowly, she gasped for breath, trying to see the other woman through the tears. Maybe this was the best way to do things... she couldn’t let the not-Iris get away from her. Maybe she could get her back to house Blacksoul, and seek help from its lord, or at least Arsene.

“I... I have a place... a p-place we can go…,” she whispered between whimpers. “J-just give me a moment t-to... com-compose myself…” Irene reached for her small incredient pouch, but it was not there... Thinking about it further, these were not even her clothes. The style was rather decent, so she could have very well picked them, but... it was not what she would usually wear. Quickly she went through the pockets of a jacket she had over the long black dress, but the only thing she could find was a pack of cigarettes, and a lighter. No sign of her pouch.

She had hoped to give the weeping woman something to calm her nerves, but it was no use. ‘What happened to me anyway? Something does not sum up...’ The pale viera ended up to offer the pack of smokes towards Eva.

“These are yours? ...Wait a moment.” Irene lit a cigarette, drawing from it deep, and muttering words, her eyes closed. The words were barely audible, and did not sound like any language Evangeline understood.

Smoke was running over her lips with the words, and soon it gained a very faint glow. Irene leaned towards Eva, blowing the glowing smoke right into her mouth.

Evangeline was struggling to think straight. She didn't have much control over herself... her emotions were too much to contain right now. So intense were her feelings that she barely even noticed Irene take a drag of a cigarette and blow a lungfull of oddly colored smoke into her mouth. Her breath halted, and she immediately felt her lungs constrict, unfamiliar with the new sensation she was experiencing. Instinctively, though, she took a deep breath in, accepting the strange smoke into her body without realizing it.

Immediately, she felt a strange calm wash over her, as if her fears and worries had been constrained to a place just below the surface of her mind.  She could still feel them beating at her, trying to break down the door, but they were restrained for now. She shook her head, and wiped her eyes.

"Whaat... what was that? What did you just do...? And how did you do it? Iris didn't have... she didn't have any magic."

“I still dont know who this ‘Iris’ is, who you keep talking about, but I have few tricks up my sleeve”, Irene reminded. “Just try to stay calm. The effect is rather light, especially as I did not have my own incredients. But at least you are breathing again. Thats good.”

Irene picked up the mug of cocoa, and emptied it, before finishing the smoke. The cold, dead smile was still lingering on her lips, as she threw the pack of cigarettes to Eva, and walked past the woman, and towards the door, Silke had slammed shut only a moment earlier.

“Dont cry for your girl... She will come back to you, if its meant to be. Now shall we?” she nodded towards the door. “You have not told me your name yet.” Evangeline caught the cigarette pack. She felt falsely calm. It was such an alien feeling to her. That she should be so heartbroken and at the same time so controlled in the face of it was highly unusual. Her thoughts moved through her mind, tasting it and testing it as one would test a cut in one’s mouth, touching it with their tongue to see if it hurt. So enthralled was she with her sudden state of being that she almost forgot to answer the not-Iris’ question.

“Hello... my name is Evangeline. Evangeline Cross. Thank you... for whatever that was. As it seems that I have failed, and that we may be together for a time, perhaps I could do my best to furnish you with some information. Let’s... let’s walk and talk, shall we?”

Eva wandered towards the door, already starting to feel the despair creep back into her heart. She needed help... she needed Silke. She needed Silke to help her get Iris back. The viera was certainly gone for now, but perhaps Evangeline could return on another day. She would find a way to bring Iris back to her... she had to. She just hoped that it would be soon.

Eva opened the door, letting in a draft of dry, cold air. She motioned for the not-Iris to exit the building ahead of her, and stepped through the doorway behind her, shutting it behind her with a soft click.

With @lareine-kira​ & @evangeline-cross​ :3c

#final fantasy xiv #ffxiv #storytime #silke doomflare #iris ymir #evangeline cross #viera #rp

[trashyslashers]

Im not sure if i requested this but can i get the slashers reacting to their S/O almost dying and them nursing them back to health

I just did the main 4!

I misread this at first and thought you were asking for the Slasher almost dying and then their s/o helping them and wrote a whole thing oops but I fixed it

Also for Freddy’s… I know that dreaming really doesn’t happen in comas and I doubt that those dreams would do much to you physically, but for the sake of simplicity we’ll pretend they do.

———————————————————————————————————–

Michael Myers:

It had been almost a month since you and Michael had seen each other - and he couldn’t help but get a little angry. Had you left him? Had you run away? Were you finally fed up of him and his issues and were getting the police to go after him? It’s the first time in a long time Michael’s felt genuine anger. 

But that wasn’t the case, which Michael soon found out. Being as silent and unnervingly stealthy as he was, he managed to track you down - to the small local hospital. You were awake, you were alive - but apparently severely injured. You’d gotten hit by a car, and the doctors were just barely able to bring you back from the brink. 

Of course, after much protest on your end, Michael decides that the hospital is no place for you - you need to be with him. Michael can be remarkably selfish and it shows during times like this; after you argued with his silence, a few days later you were able to discharge yourself AMA once the doctors decided you weren’t in such terrible condition anymore. 

At home, Michael doesn’t want you to leave the house. The world’s too dangerous out there - wasn’t the accident just proving that? Someone could hurt you again. He’s super protective of you; any time your’re in pain he’s pulling you to him and looking over you to make sure none of your injuries are worse. 

Michael is much more affectionate with you now. He tries to be gentle - a hand ruffling your hair, he’s much more willing to pull you close to him and let you cuddle up to him. He’ll keep you close - did I mention he’ll try to keep you from going to school or work too? With enough pressing from you he’ll let you, but don’t be surprised if you glance out the window and you see him lingering in the shadows, watching you. 

He’s willing to get you whatever you need - pain meds? Food? He has no qualms with stealing from the local discount or grocery stores for you. It’s one of the rare times that Michael’s doting side comes out - enjoy it! 

Jason Voorhees:

The rage Jason felt when he entered the cabin and saw you sitting on the flood, bleeding profusely from god knows where as you cried to him about someone coming into the cabin and attacking you was comparable to the rage he felt when he “saw” his mother get killed all those years ago. 

Of course, the first thing he does is wrap you up tightly as you explain to him in messy, tearful words what happened and what the perp looked like. The wound wrapped in old gauze, wrapped even tighter with whatever kind of tourniquet he could find, setting you on the bed and pressing gently on your shoulders to communicate “Stay here and rest”. After that, he’s out. He’s hunting down whoever did it - according to you they didn’t leave too long ago, so he has no trouble chasing them down.

Jason won’t leave your side after the event. He’s not the greatest at caring for huge injuries - he’s used to his own, and even then it’s not like he’ll die from them. He just remembers what his mother would tell him - keep pressure on the wound, keep it clean, get rest. It didn’t look like you needed stitches - it was probably too late for them anyway. 

He’s hanging over you, sitting by the bed and watching you sleep. He won’t leave you be after that. He’s almost kind of suffocating - though he means well. He doesn’t want to lose you. He’ll bring you anything nice he finds outside to keep you entertained, and will be stern about it if he thinks you need to rest more. The only time he’ll ever leave your side is if you need food and he has to go somehow get some - and even then, he makes sure he’s gone for less than an hour. The cabin is barricaded on both the inside and out. 

Once you’re better physically, he gets much more touchy with you. Long hugs and cuddling; lots of him pulling you into his lap, up against him. He wants to keep you safe - and to him, the best way to do that is to keep you right there with him.

For the next several months, any campers/trespassers are treated as an immediate threat and Jason wastes no time in going after them and either killing them or at least scaring them off. He’s never risking your safety again.

Bubba Sawyer: 

A soon to be victim manage to bust themselves out of the room under the stairs, and of course you were the only one they could find in the house - Drayton was long gone at the gas station with the others, and Bubba somewhere outside. The incident was a quick, but painful one. You were struck over the head with some sort of blunt object and had the life almost strangled out of you. You couldn’t remember exactly what happened, but you remember being able to scream for help only once before you couldn’t breathe. That, and coming in and out of consciousness and watching Bubba appear from no where and tear the girl off of you. Your head was spinning, your vision fuzzy and it felt like your throat was crushed as you laid on the floor gasping, before you passed out. 

Drayton said that Bubba managed to call them at the station - while he couldn’t word what happened, it was evident by the tone of his whimpers and crying that something was wrong. By the time everyone got back, you were barely breathing. 

Man ,if you thought Jason was overly doting and concerned? Bubba is absolutely fretting over you and will not leave your side. He doesn’t care if Drayton gets on his case and yells at him, he’s sitting at your bedside and watching over you until you’re back to normal.

Bubba is actually really good at taking care of someone who’s injured! That is, when he can thinking clearly and isn’t absolutely losing his mind over the situation. He can’t help but blame himself - you didn’t do anything wrong, you didn’t deserve to get hurt when you were innocent. He feels it was his fault, too: he shouldn’t have been outside, he shouldn’t have left you alone… but he won’t let you know any of this. 

Any sign of discomfort from you is greeted by a jumpy Bubba, ready to get you anything you need or want. Water? Food? Be careful with solid food - you might not be able to eat properly yet. Sleep? Bubba will sleep with you to make sure you’re alright in your sleep. Fresh air? Sure, but you can’t walk anywhere, he needs to carry you. 

Even once you’re back to full health, Bubba’s still all over you. He won’t leave you alone in the house if any victim is still living, he doesn’t trust anyone aside from himself and his brothers around you. He’s not going to let anything happen to you ever again.

Freddy Krueger:

You may have thought Michael was the champion of awkwardness, but Freddy takes the crown. While he absolutely is worried to death, he’s shit at showing it.

You were in a car wreck - an awful one. You were tboned while crossing an intersection, the the force of it all led to you hitting your head off the window. Paramedics didn’t expect you to make it - but your body fought. As time went on, your vitals and body improved, but you had slipped into a coma - it had been almost a week since you were last conscious. The doctors did expect you to make it and wake up, but they weren’t entirely sure when.

When you die, you’re dead. There’s no sleep. There’s no dreaming. By no means is Freddy a super emotionally intimate guy, he can be kind of a jerk at times and sometimes seems totally incapable of being decent, but he does love you. And with that love came the fear that you may die - and considering his career of murdering people while they sleep, for him to worry that that may be what happens in your case speaks a lot.

In your dreams with him you’re whole and healthy, but that doesn’t get him off of you. Awkward pats on your back as he asks if you’re okay, he seems a touch more cuddly. It’s these small actions and changes in his behaviour that make you realize how actually concerned he is for you.

He can’t do much for you in the physical world - he doesn’t have that ability. At least, that’s what the two of you thought. Turns out, in the physical world - the course of your dreams were effecting you physically. Minimal increases in heart rate, on a few occasions in your dream when you were holding hands with Freddy doctors noticed in small twitch in your hand - a few times they’d ask you to squeeze their hand so they could determine how conscious you were exactly and a handful of those times you actually managed to comply. 

Eventually, though - you do wake up. You do manage to make a fairly full recovery, and return to life as normal. Freddy, though not obvious about it, is nothing short of relieved. In your dreams, Freddy’ll tauntingly tell you to not get in another car wreck (”Like it was even my own fault, Fred”), but he is relieved, even if he wasn’t able to do much for you. 

#request #slasher headcanons #slasher x reader #slashers x reader #Michael Myers #michael myers x reader #jason voorhees #jason voorhees x reader #bubba sawyer #bubba sawyer x reader #leatherface #leatherface x reader #freddy krueger #freddy krueger x reader #holy FUCK this is longer than i thought it would be

[abthepoet]

So Id like to mention that COVID19 has put a lot of things into perspective.

My industry of experiential marketing was literally one of the first to go about a week ago when stores began banning all live demonstrations. I work in the natural and organic food industry doing live events and cooking recipes on site to sample brands to customers at grocery retailers.And because sampling tables are good places to spread germs, my demos all immediately came to a stop. I'm also an in home, private Music Teacher to kids of various ages and needless to say if schools' on hold, so is teaching. and so is income. My Venmo is :ABBlas22

Which sucks, a lot because the majority of my work is independent contractor based. . . .and there's no health care, paid leave, unemployment, or sick time. Why do I still do it? Because I love the industry, the opportunities it affords me, and the pay is solid. Except come tax season. The Government likes to fuck you if you work for yourself. . . .even tho I pay for all my own equipment and car repairs to get me from job to job. My Venmo is ABBlas22

However, amid the panic, I havent felt this calm in years. The constant anxiety and pressure of having to make money and go to work and be on time and make my schedule and drive from this city to that city for this demo and that demo, has subsided. I finally wake up and I'm not staring at the clock counting down how long before I have to leave which triggers an anxiety fest about leaving my dogs home alone because my one dog has such severe separation anxiety she destroys her crate, escapes, and then ruins the house(we are actively working on it) . . .so I'm up early and nervous about, "ok I have three hours I have to walk the dogs for at least one of those hours, feed them, get dressed, brush teeth, try to eat, clean the house, stuff their Kongs, make sure I have everything I need, and then try to sneak out before the dog starts freaking out." followed by "did I book enough demos this week, if I have to execute 16 for the month where can I put another demo, should I give myself a day off? nah, i need the money, let me check my Google calendar for the 65th time this morning and stare at all the blank dates I should be booking demos instead of doing anything else because no matter how much I work, it is never enough. So I spend an hour worrying about plunging my family into financial ruin. . . . better get online and start digging thru emails and brand Ambassador groups to make sure I've got enough work. Oh what's that? the sound of my entire family and partner telling me to get a *regular* job even though the idea of punching a clock and working for someone else makes me physically sick. . but I go and do it anyway because its a W2 position so you think well maybe I'll get health benefits at least and then come to find out that this bullshit retail job doesn't give part timers benefits of any kind, but I keep the job anyway because everyone said a normal job was best, but it pays $6 less an hour than my demo gigs and is a total waste of my skills and professional experience and eventually is cutting into my income because its taking up so many weekly hours but pays significantly less that I start calling out to go do demos instead and then the same people who were like "get a regular job" turn around and go "no, not That job, try This job."

and I'm over here ready to fucking scream because I've Been very clear about wanting to be in business for myself. I have tried many things, including testing an extremely beta version of what eventually became Uber Eats. . . I could be a millionaire but my parents thought it was a stupid idea and once I used up my resources trying to drum up business, that was it.

also, this is the worst part about being a millennial. I went to college for music because they said be anything and follow your dreams . . .but then I graduated into recession (2006) and got the first job I could,at a deli, which . . . .isn't exactly a degree holding position. For years we said,"I'm just grateful I Have a Job right now." and we got bitter, broke, and depressed as a generation. We're in our 30's now and it's just as bleak an outlook for our generational future. At least until the boomers die out and free up some of that wealth, if they don't all leave it to the cat and state first just to spite us.

So yea, people are freaked out with COVID19 but for the first time, I dont feel pressure or anxiety to rush out the house or make money because everything got cancelled. All I want to do is work super hard on my own online store via Shopify and grow from there. I love to work and I love the discipline of hard work. I would rather spend 18 hours in a day working on my own business and hustling my ass off to make it work using over a decade of marketing and sales experience to promote my brand for once.

But that's hard to invest time and money when I live paycheck to paycheck and have a partner and fur babies who depend on me. Everytime I excitedly talk about dropshipping through shopify and all my plans for it, it's met with a nervous "I believe in you but dont fuck us financially." "I believe in you but doesn't that take time." "I believe in you but why don't you just work here, they pay decent."

I love that the #Coronavirus hit and suddenly human rights are easy to hand out. I love that Coronavirus got us to halt economies on a scale so massive that will actually help us fight climate change. Capitalism has destroyed our planet and our species.

I want to always remind everyone that we are a species first. Not countrymen, not race, not religion. . . we are all dancing flesh bags, given different corporeal conduits with which to experience life and then later compare notes with one another.

"What's life like in that short skin suit?"

"Not bad but I can't reach anything."

"Good thing I got one of these tall skin suits." *grabs top shelf items*

"Thanks!"

It's to help us come together, understand similarities thru differences and use them to gain new perspectives while helping our species and our planet thrive.

This insane notion that everyone needs to have a job needs to go. Our species was Not made to do slave labor all day long for an invented wage that keeps us stuck fighting for basic survival when we have the potential to completely alter our lives.

The Earth is a hostage who's not allowed to feed her own kids. They locked up every fruit bearing tree, enslaved every animal, poisoned the soil, polluted the water and then held your life at gunpoint and demand you hand over hours of your life to work that does a disservice to your potential for greatness just for a chance to get a taste of what should be your birthright.

Basic needs of survival that all humans will die without shouldn't be prizes for who can work themselves to death the fastest.

Im using this time as an opportunity and am taking what little resources I have to work on my online store and sell off and flip what I can to make start up money on Ebay. (I dont even have WiFi and my apartment complex has locked the business center for CoronaVirus) . Using my phone for everything is really fucking tedious, especially because I've had it for 4 years and it doesn't always cooperate, but I'm grateful I even have one to use. If you want to invest in me, even just $5 I will 100% be using it to get a business off the ground. I've got most of the basic work done and market research, but with no income I cant even afford the basic Shopify plan at $30 a month, I'm hoping they pass a moratorium on evictions because how do I pay rent with no job to go to!?

My Venmo is : ABBlas22 and I do reward!

#coronavirus #corona virüsü #virus corona vũ hán #covid19 #quarantine #welcome to 2020 #2020 #pandemic #economy #society #sociology #sociolinguistics #social networking #corporate social responsibility #social anxiety #anxiety #mental health #mental heath support #class warfare #income #working class #ethics #politics #news

[jongdality]

me thinkin' about how i've grown up with exo and watched as they lived and learned and developed as professionals and humans, overcoming the struggles of a poor debut concept and scandal after scandal with their tenacity and love for each other

Then thinkin' about how Kyungsoo, a somewhat aloof, awkward and weird boy who decided to be bold and try out for SM after old people at karaoke competitions told him to and he made 8 brothers for life who love him dearly and support him and his antics and his acting career and call him cute no matter how much he says he isn't good at anything and that he's boring and Manly and how he has starred in a full-ass movie and is partially credited as breaking the "idol-actor" stereotype and writes love songs with chanyeol on the DL that chanyeol reveals on his lives and wrote the lyrics to a lovely, comforting song for us before leaving to join the military so he can become an even bigger star in multiple films once he gets out

Then thinkin' about how bbh, an outgoing boy who flicked lights on and off to make his friends giggle, met a friend for life, kjd, on the very same day they both were to audition to get into a group that was about to debut, how he worked hard to break down barriers in the group and became the moodmaker, and how people thought he was bad at dancing because he hadn't had time to train but actually every solo dance he's been given he's slayed to the point that he became the CENTER FOR CBX, how he worked hard to learn piano in a very short amount of time to play The Answer for his EXO-Ls, how even after an early scandal in which is privacy was invaded he still looks at us with such love and protection and is NOW an amazing solo artist who texts the exo group chat saying he misses them so much

Then thinkin' about Suho. Kim frickin' Joonmyeon. The underdog of the entire group. Born rich, charismatic and well-educated, could have been ANYTHING but CHOSE to train for SEVEN YEARS due to his love of music. You guys. When Baek and another member got into trouble for cussing while playing video games sometime in 2012-2013 and a sasaeng threatened to reveal the voice clips of them cussing purportedly to apink members, joonmyeon texted her personally, so cold, so professional, "are you blackmailing us? If you release the clip you won't be forgiven" big fuckin dad energy, worked so hard on his singing and dancing yet still asks not to be given too many lines or placed center too often, gives up his seats for his members ALWAYS, accepted their first awards show win alone stoic and professional as the boys broke down in the back room after the news of kris leaving broke, now has multiple solo songs and acts and is literally set to be higher-level management at SM due to all his hard work, definitely puts out that goofy mom energy but is actually extremely intelligent, protective and the go-to guy for all the members and this para has no point i just think kim joonmyun deserves everything

Remembering that chanyeol has a famous sister and is a multitalented instrumentalist that didn't actually need to become an idol, but he did because he wanted "brothers", how he skyrocketed an entire foot from debut til now, how he's all teeth and ears and big anime eyes and legs and he's confident and happy after years of struggling w his weight and self-image, makin music and writing lyrics and modeling for tommy hilfiger and riding scooters in paris and despite the fact that he can't dance he tries, despite the fact that he didn't audition to be a rapper he became one of korea's best, how he turns into a little kid every time he's around any small animal and just tries to cuddle and feed it as he coos in his Low Man Voice, his tough raps but then his soft exo station song SSFW, and now exo-sc with his bestie and ACTING!!!

Thinkin' about Xiumin. Xiumin who came in as a vocalist and ended up being one of the best dancers in the group (even tho he hits the highest notes!!!). Xiumin who is the oldest and wisest but is still willing to throw that ass back to havana to make cbx laugh. Xiumin who is korea's pick, who kids and ahjummas alike fall for. Xiumin who is beautiful and quiet and humble and supports his brothers from the sidelines, who is so loving and caring, who released an adorable solo that matches him so well and is now winning fckn awards in military training for being so goddamn amazing. Xiumin who attends TVXQ concerts and supports all of his fellow celebrities. Mark's dad. Amazing man. Says he has no friends outside of exo but literally everyone loves him. Dedicated his formative years to the group even when he wasn't spotlighted like he deserves to be and-

Lay. That's it. That's the paragraph. He came in not speaking Korean and is now one of the top-grossing musicians in all of China. Breaking barriers. Learning languages in a matter of months. Solo albums out the wazoo that he composed. Coming back to wish Kyungsoo goodbye even though he hasn't been on a stage with them in years. Didn't leave, although I'm sure he was mistreated just as much as the members who did. All of exo loves him so fucking much.

Kai. Kai who could have been a professional ballet dancer, could have been a full-time model, debuts as the SCREAMO BOY in mama. Gets made fun of for his skin complexion. Is shy and embarrassed for the first 2 or 3 years of exo interviews, and is still pretty shy and introverted. But boy became the fucking IDOL'S IDOL. FANCAMS GOING VIRAL LEFT AND RIGHT. SUSTAINING INJURIES, CRYING WHEN HE MESSES UP AN EXTREMELY DIFFICULT DANCE ROUTINE TO "I SEE YOU". Is such a perfectionist to the point of pushing himself into constant injury, and besides that has had his personal life broadcasted all over the news MULTIPLE times even though he's so shy and withdrawn irl. People cry to meet him, now. Front and center of every exo dance. A dancing god and the reason half of NCT auditioned. I cannot emphasize how proud I am of Kai, who is only a few months older than sehun yet has had to grow up so fast as the face of the group. Solo during the olympics with plantar fasciitis. Model who stuns at every Gucci show in new and experimental designs.

Sehun. Oh fuckin' Sehun. Ran away from recruiters because his mom told him not to talk to strangers, and now he's modelling for every major fashion campaign, is on the cover of vogue, has his dream dog and certifiably has the biggest dick of all exo members. Became a main dancer through hard work and practice even though nobody ever talks about how hard osh works bc he's sort of overshadowed by kai. Insecure about his singing voice but makes crowds go wild every time he even croons out one beautiful, dulcet line. Babied by junmyeon, kissed and coddled by all the exo members, still has Big Baby Energy but is debuting in a group with his fellow chaotic neutral yeol and looking all sexy with his swooped back hair and his 0 follows on insta. Sings in We Young and raps his little heart out. His solo during concerts still shake my very uterus and im pretty sure he's gay. That's how powerful ohs is, and he can only go up from here.

And finally my baby boy kim jongdae. Chanyeol once said Jongdae is so nice that he comes off as stupid and that is absolutely positively true. Boy is the manifestation of the john mulaney quote "you could pour soup on my lap and id apologize to you". Is a ray of fucking sunshine whose only goal as he was singing in that video from high school was to "become a singer". It's his passion. It's the reason he LIVES. He prays to jesus before every concert but worships music. One of THE best vocalists in the game with the cleanest and most controlled voice, sings in the shower, sings in the car, sings while walking to pet some deer, sings because he loves it and now he's a soloist with his own album out and another in the works, and not only that, he dances his feet on fire in CBX and exo routines and remains steady to hit those high notes. Duets abound because everyone loves him. Will tell a bitch to back off when talking about his private life bc he's probably a husband with 6 happy, healthy children at home. Started out as the nervous boy chasing a dream on that fateful day with bbh and became the nation's pick, sings CONSTANTLY, yet is still so humble he opens up a yt channel just to cover other artists' songs. MCs for Baekhyun's solo and shows up to all his performances to monitor. Heart of gold. Smiles when he's hurting. Deserves this solo career and deserves the happiest life this world can provide him.

Words aren't enough to express how grateful I am for these men, how proud I am and how much I just want them to know that we know how hard they've worked to get as far as they have. Compare them to any other group, even other SM groups, and it's clear that their passion, drive, skill and professionalism is unrivaled. They are all born artists and musicians down to their core, and with that, they're all kind, sweet people who are who they are because they debuted as 18, 19, 20, etc year old men 7 years ago and have grown up together, suffered together, celebrated together and loved together. They've switched up sounds, concepts, gone experimental, have created some of the most beautiful ballads and harmonies music has ever seen, and they strive for nothing but the best. ALWAYS. They have never disappointed me, and they never fail to inspire me every time they show the fruits of all their labor (as well as multiple creative people and teams that come together to create EXO) onstage as one.

Exo we are one, saranghaja.

#im just in my feelings #exo #rant #mobile isnt letting me put photos where they need to be so this is the post

[harringtonexperiment]

fifteen questions, fifteen mutuals

① ARE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE ? my actual name is georgina and both of my grandads were named george so

② WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED ? oh man i mean like how many tears is crying?? bc like? 2 or 3 leaked out today but other than that like really cried? yesterday at 3am when i got my first ever nose bleed lmao

③ DO YOU HAVE KIDS ? nah

④ DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT ? i use it so much irl and i try 2 use it here but i always worry that my sarcasm is gonna come off too serious online so i dont tend to use it too much

⑤ WHAT’S THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE ? i notice peoples height, hair and teeth really quickly bc they’re the things that kinda define how i see myself rn? like i am. Short so i always notice everyone being taller, i shaved my head a while ago so w girls especially i admire peoples hair and my teeth are actually dentures so im always looking at other peoples teeth to see what they look like compared to mine

⑥ WHAT’S YOUR EYE COLOR ? blue

⑦ SCARY MOVIE OR HAPPY ENDING ? look i. am so easily scared. i had nightmares for months after paranormal activity and thats not even scary. but i ? adore the horror genre and honestly happy endings kinda bore me lmao which? i think probably really comes thru in my writing 

⑧ ANY SPECIAL TALENTS ? i can twirl fire/firestaffs which is p cool? but i dont consider myself super talented tbh

⑨ WHERE WERE YOU BORN ? new zealand, ab 10 minutes away from where i live now

⑩ WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES ? writing is a big one even tho im super inactive, i genuinely non-ironically play a lot of minecraft, i love to read but again i dont do it, i act in my spare time uhh i love doing escape rooms? and i rlly like messing around in photoshop and making gifs

⑪ DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS ? yeah!! i currently have 2 cats: archie (2yrs) and cib (~9mnths) in the past i had? so many more. i had a cat named scrapper from when i was six till just before my 21st birthday she was the love of my life and i miss her every day. at one point i had 18 cats cause all 3 of my cats had kittens at once lmao one of them was named fluffybutt cause every other kitten escaped the little area we had them in but fluffybutt’s butt was so big that he couldnt actually jump high enough to get out

⑫ WHAT SPORTS DO YOU PLAY/HAVE YOU PLAYED ? i played netball in the past and hockey and tennis and badminton but i dont play anything now, i miss netball tho

⑬ HOW TALL ARE YOU ? 5′4.

⑭ DREAM JOB ? i really wanna be an actor or a writer

⑮ FAVORITE SUBJECT AT SCHOOL ? i always loved drama and english

TAGGED BY : @mrbisected TAGGING : look i dont know that i can name 15 mutuals so just. if u see this and we’re mutuals u gotta do it i dont make the rules ://

#「 i — ooc posts 」 #also kate? ur so fuckin tall wtf #i mean next to me everyones tall but

[2ptonpt]

You Look Happier

Masterlist 

This work is technically part five of a seven part series based on songs from Ed Sheeran’s album, Divide. This chapter and “I was Happier with You” can be read without the other chapters though.

Rami x Reader

Word Count: 3,120

Thirty days. Thirty days, twelve hours, and fifteen minutes since he had watched you walk out of your shared apartment. He tried not to recall the exact second you walked out. How utterly defeated and ruined you looked as you turned away broke his heart, but he didn’t have the courage to try to fix it.

He’d been walking down the street to O’Reilly’s for a couple drinks with some old Mr. Robot cast-mates when he looked up from his shoes and noticed you and Joe about thirty feet ahead of him. Joe had his arm wrapped around your waist, hand in your back pocket. Where his used to rest. Rami chastised himself briefly before shifting his eyes from your jean-clad back pockets to the rest of your frame. He couldn’t see your face from his point of view, but he could tell from the way you carried yourself that you were in a much better state from when he last saw you. You looked happier.

He realized too late that you and Joe were headed into O’Reilly’s as well. He slowed his steps, making sure you two didn’t see him. He skidded to a stop as Joe pulled at your back pocket with his hand, throwing you into a quick spin as he captured your lips in a quick, chaste kiss before he opened the door for you. You laughed loudly, the laugh that made Rami’s insides melt. That sharp, bark of a laugh escaped from you when you found something obnoxiously funny; like the pocket spin. How many times you had mentioned to him that you were in love with that scene from that movie your cousin was in. He had been listening, always planning on trying it with you, but never got the chance. 

Joe pulled out a chair for you at a table for two at the far corner of the bar. Rami watched from the doorway as a waiter came and took your orders. As he left, Joe leaned over and whispered something in your ear. You covered your mouth with your hand to cover a blush and Rami couldn’t help but notice the pale line wrapping around your ring finger where his ring used to sit. You removed your hand before he could dwell on it any longer and the two of you shared a smile. You and Joe giggled for a moment before erupting in loud laughter, grabbing the attention of some of the other patrons. You both looked so God damned happy. He was trying to remember the last time you and him had looked that happy, but was having a hard time at the heaviness taking over his fond memories of your long relationship.

How could he have hurt you like he did? He didn’t mean any of it. Honestly.

~*’*~*’*~*’*~

Bohemian Rhapsody star Rami Malek; a CHEATER??

Marvel actress YFN YLN stays quiet about the Malek/Boynton affair.

Malek neither confirms nor denies allegations of affair with Bohemian Rhapsody co-star, Lucy Boynton.

Lucy and Rami seen together shopping at CARTIER. Where is YN???

@ighandle1: I can’t believe he would do this?! He seems so sweet! Lucy a lil hoe.

@ighandle2: She needs to dump his ass. She can do soooo much better.

@ighandle3: I doubt Rami would do this, he’s too sweet and Lucy and YN seemed like they got along from their instagrams. He and YN are perfect for each other. I hope you can work it out @ramimalek @itsyagirlynn

@ighandle4: With YN’s reputation before she started dating him I thought she’d be the cheater. But I’m not surprised. People suck. Karma’s a bitch, @ramimalek. @itsyagirlynn im single ;)

You were physically sick just looking at your phone. You always knew that being an actress would have its trying times with the press and social media, but you never thought that you’d be caught up in a disaster like this. You figured you’d accidentally leak a Marvel secret like Mark or Tom. There was the short-lived rumor between you and fellow co-star Sebastian Stan; but honestly, you two had been quick to shut down those nasty rumors.

Even Cam - Sebastian’s wife and fellow Marvel actress - had released a statement, tagging you, Rami, and Sebastian, stating that every single rumor was false and no one could convince her otherwise that one of her best friends could or would cheat on her with her own husband. And how obviously in love you and Rami were. The picture she posted was of you and Rami behind the scenes of your engagement photo shoot.

You had been very outspoken during the whole Sebastian rumors, responding to the earlier rumors with satire. A cheeky, clearly staged photo of you and Seb hugging tightly as Cameron glared at the two of you with her arms crossed over her chest in the background. You were all in your respective outfits for the Marvel Short you were filming for that day. Rami wasn’t a part of that particular impromptu photoshoot, but made sure to comment an equally funny response to your caption.

@itsyagirlynn: miss steal yo man! @imcammystan Americans do it better! Aussies stink!

@ramimalek: Baby, @itsyagirlynn why you do me so cold?  Though tbh how could I compare to THE Winter Soldier? @imsebastianstan, @imcammystan I warned you about her! She’s crazy!

@imcammystan: What ever will I do?! :’( Guess @anthony_mackie will have to keep me company from now on.

@imsebastianstan: Can’t everyone just get along. There’s enough of me to go around. Except for you @anthony_mackie, you get none of this.

@anthony_mackie: I mean I won’t say no @imcammystan. Ya snooze ya lose @imsebastianstan. @itsyagirlynn, why don’t you come to the real winners here?

You blew air out of your nose, recalling how much Rami and your co-stars had laughed that night at dinner after you were done on set. The media and fans were having a field day with it. Your small smile faded from your lips after a few breaths. That had been over year ago. Things were different then. Rami had just been called back for the casting of Freddie for Bohemian Rhapsody. The fans and media knew nothing about the movie yet. Things had been simpler then. You had been engaged for about a year, with no wedding date set in stone due to both of your busy schedules but that hadn’t bothered either of you.

Of course you knew that the allegations were false. Rami would never cheat on you. You would never cheat on him. Hell, you had admitted to feeling sick every time you had to kiss someone on camera. To your relief, Rami had the same reservations about on-screen romances. Not to mention, Lucy had quickly become one of your closest friends while you tagged along on the set of Bohemian Rhapsody; your contract for Marvel easing up a bit until twenty-twenty.

You thought fondly about all the beautiful memories you had of everyone involved in your life during the past year. Late nights with Rami, Ben, Joe, Gwil, and Lucy that turned into mornings… Impromptu jam sessions with the Roger Taylor and Brian May… Naps with Joe, Gwil, and Ben as Rami and Lucy shot their Mary and Freddie scenes. It was probably one of the best years of your life, besides the year that Rami had nervously admitted his feelings towards you. You’d made new friends, and learned a lot about one of your favorite bands. It was heaven. That was, until it wasn’t.

About halfway through the press tours for your fiancée’s newest movie, rumors had started circulating about Rami and Lucy. You knew they were just that - rumors. But what had bothered you most about the whole thing was the absolute silence coming from Rami. In private, behind closed doors and between friends, he was very vocal about the fact that Lucy and he were just friends. You had no doubt in that; but on social media and during interviews Rami was very tight-lipped and shy about the whole ordeal. To be honest you were a little miffed about his whole persona in the public eye.

You had been very vocal all over social media and the press interviews about how absurd the rumors about you and Seb had been. Why couldn’t he do the same? You knew his anxiety got the best of him sometimes, but he usually was good about supporting you and backing you up with anything; press-related or not. The fact that Rami had been quieter than normal was unnerving.

You had voiced your concerns to Joe, since he had kept in contact the most since the boys had finished press tours. He only lived a few blocks down from you and Rami, so he was over at your apartment often. You had known him for years, you’d met during your sophomore year of high school after you’d moved from Brooklyn to California for your dad’s job. You had stayed in touch over email and phone ever since, reconnecting when you moved back to Brooklyn after you finished filming your first Marvel film. In fact, he’d been the one to introduce you to Rami on the set of The Pacific years ago.

He’d been very supportive of you and Rami, if not a little reserved about the whole ordeal. He didn’t believe that Rami was cheating, but agreed with you on the opinion that he should at least deny any rumors. You took his opinion to heart, especially after what happened with his ex and his best friend; he didn’t take cheating rumors lightly. Lucy had been quiet about the whole ordeal too, but you didn’t want to bother her. She was dealing with her own husband and getting ready for her first child at the moment.

You had tried to talk to Rami multiple times about how you felt about his silence on the matter, but he always repeated that he didn’t really feel comfortable talking about rumors to the public. It wasn’t really their business. You had agreed at first, but the itching feeling at the back of your head as to why he wouldn’t even post something small about it - personally dispelling the rumors – wouldn’t leave you alone.

You were hurt, as much as you hated to admit it, that Rami wouldn’t stick up for your relationship like you felt he should. Weren’t you worth it? You had some anxiety as well about dealing with the short comings of being famous, but you felt like you handled them well. You would never dream about letting someone you loved deeply come under back lash about any nasty rumors. Yet it seemed Rami didn’t feel the same way.

It had been six months since the rumors started, and your phone was still exploding with abhorrent comments and tags about the whole thing. You couldn’t take it anymore. You had already asked Joe and Seb for help. Cam had wanted to assist, but she was out of town filming for an Agents of SHIELD episode. The boys had quickly moved all of you essential belongings out of your shared Brooklyn apartment that you had shared Rami for the past seven years. He was at a photo shoot for Hugo Boss that morning so you’d had plenty of time to pack up.

You’d left any framed photographs of you two, including your engagement photos adorning the hallway walls leading to your master bedroom and study. You couldn’t bear to take them with you. Despite what some would think, the last thing you wanted to do was leave Rami. But you couldn’t be with someone who wouldn’t stick up for you. It just wasn’t healthy. You two had been through a lot together. You shared more happy times than sour; but no matter how many times you’d argued about this the last six months, you couldn’t come to terms with each other.

Joe and Sebastian had left you alone at your apartment about twenty minutes ago. You had passed the time scrolling through your social media accounts and returning emails. Eventually you heard the door unlock. You stood abruptly from the couch and smoothed your baggy t-shirt before stepping into Rami’s open arms. The stiffness in your posture immediately notified Rami that something was wrong.

“Baby, what’s wrong? What happened?” He dropped the folder of printed contracts he had received after his photoshoot and gripped your shoulders soothingly, pressing a hard kiss to your forehead. His strong hands ran over your shoulders, up your neck, before tangling in your hair. You squeezed your eyes shut at the contact. You didn’t say anything as you twisted your engagement ring off your finger and pulled his hands away from your shaking shoulders. You pressed the ring into his palm before forcing his tanned hands to close around it.

“I can’t do this anymore Rami.” His shoulders sagged with defeat. He didn’t need to ask you what you were talking about. He knew. He wished he hadn’t seen it coming. Wished he hadn’t hurt you this badly. But he had, and he didn’t know for the life of him why he let things go this far. You pressed a sorrowful kiss to his pouted lips before letting go of his clenched hands and backed away. You grabbed your purse and walked to the door. Opening it, you waited with a bated breath for him to say something – anything - to try and stop you from leaving. But it never came. You couldn’t stop the gut-wrenching sob that forced its way up your throat and past your lips as you closed the familiar oak door.

~*’*~*’*~*’*~

He clenched his eyes shut as he leaned against the doorway of the bar. He felt a warm hand on his shoulder and blinked his eyes back into focus. It was Carly. She had a heavy brow and a slight frown marring her lips. Her eyes followed to where Rami’s had been when she’d caught him frozen in the doorway from her seat.

“We can meet another time, Rami. It’s no biggie.” She waited for Rami to reply, but all she got was a slight nod. He didn’t make eye contact as he shuffled his way out the glass door, but Carly had not missed the unshed tears that were gathering in his green eyes. She glanced over toward YN and Joe at their corner table, giggling softly at Joe’s phone. She wished she knew what exactly had happened between those two. Rami and YN had so clearly been head over heels for each other when he took her on set of Mr. Robot. She didn’t think that Rami was at all capable of cheating, but he was very tight-lipped about anything regarding his personal life and the tabloids that she didn’t know what to think one way or another.

Rami had stopped by the liquor store a few blocks from his apartment before making himself walk up the stairs to what used to be YN and his home. He was trying to prolong the inevitable – that he didn’t want to return home. Home. He didn’t even really consider his apartment home anymore. The only thing that had made it home was YN. Before he even removed the keys from the knob, Rami had twisted off the cap of the handle of Jack and took a long, burning gulp of the whiskey. He tore the keys out and let them fall to the floor, flinching slightly at the loud slam of the heavy front door.

Taking another drink, he flopped onto the black couch and cradled the Jack in his arms. He found if he kept perfectly still with his eyes closed, he could almost ignore the mournful voice in his head trying to comfort him. The voice wasn’t a familiar one, rather a compilation of all his friends’ voices over the past month trying to reassure him that everything would be okay. That he would move on with someone too, eventually.

Truth was he didn’t want to move on. He hadn’t even taken any of your old things to the Women’s Shelter yet. All of the photos of you two together or with groups of friends and family still adorned the walls and shelf spaces throughout the house. Your engagement ring still sat on the coffee table in front of him; he had placed it there the day you left. He had been looking at it every night, trying not to recall the night he proposed with it, but just like every other night, today was no different. He couldn’t help the flood of memories wash over him as he recalled the night about a year ago when he had asked you to be his wife.

~*’*~*’*~*’*~

You two had been snuggling on the couch nearly all day; before the couch, it had been your bed. You’d gotten home from filming last night and hadn’t left Rami’s sight since he picked you up from the airport. You were on your fourth Disney movie – and Rami’s favorite – which happened to be Beauty and the Beast. You were almost asleep when your favorite scene came on. You found yourself singing along to Tale as Old as Time softly with Rami whispering it in your ear.

After the first verse, Rami shifted and stood, pulling you up with him. He started the all too familiar dance in the middle of your living room, humming and singing into your ear the whole time. His hands found their way to your sides halfway through the song. You’d stopped singing; choosing instead to bask in the sweet I love you’s and You’re perfect’s that Rami had been whispering.

As the song ended you pulled away slightly. You were sure if anyone had seen you, dressed in an oversized t-shirt and baggy sweats, they would describe you as making heart eyes at Rami. He blinked a couple times before reaching behind the couch cushion and pulling out a small black box. Your heart jumped out of your chest as he stepped closer to. As he started opening the box and went to bend down, you grabbed his shoulders and pulled him to you, smashing a sloppy, tear-filled kiss to his lips.

“YES! Rami, yes!”

“I didn’t even ask anything yet!”

“I already know what you’re gonna ask! And the answer is yes!” Rami smiled and laughed, not even bothering to kneel down. He slid the perfectly sized, simple princess cut diamond on your left ring finger and kissed you, the salty tears from both of you intermingling over your connected lips.

He loved you so fucking much. He was positive no one else could ever love you like he did.

#2ptonpt #Rami Malek #Rami Malek x reader #Rami x reader #Rami Malek reader #Rami Malek imagine #borhap #bohemian rhapsody #bohemian rhapsody imagine #ed sheeran #divide #happier #you look happier #joe mazzello

[oppapi-tae-blog]

insomnium - 01/??

insomnium: dream, bad dream, vision, wakefulness

demon!yoongi vampire!taehyung

"don't underestimate us darling.. for we are the spawn of satan himself. ."

warnings: eventual smut

   *yoongi and tae will be speaking in latin for this first part ♥

this is for one of my bestest of friends Americus,, ily💕

"What a pretty sight.." the eyes of the creature skim over my face and body. He speaks in a language I can't understand and calls out a name. His pitch black eyes travel to a figure behind him. "She's all yours. Have your drink."

Another man steps out, just as pale as the other and he smirks. "My pleasure." It comes out, almost hiss-like. He opens his mouth to reveal his fangs and runs his tongue over them.

I stand frozen, too scared to move. I try to open my mouth to speak, but it's almost like my body is no longer under my control. All I can do is stare.

The creature with the fangs comes over to me in the blink of an eye, arm wrapped around my waist, lips against my neck. My heart skips a beat due to fear. "Don't worry darling.. It'll only hurt the first 5 seconds," His voice sent shivers down my spine. "I promise." He smirks and pierces his teeth through my skin.

I wake up to a phone call in a cold sweat. I glance around the room and find myself in the same place I always find myself after that same exact dream.. on the floor, huddled up in a ball-like form. I reach up to my neck to make sure it's okay and I let out a breath of relief when I feel no marks.

The breaths I take are sharp and short-lived. I sit up slowly and grab my phone and answer. I take a deep breath and try to forget the dream.

•

"What the fuck?" I make a face of disgust and push my bestfriend, Emily, away from me. "What?" Emily laughs. "They're good I swear! Just try it! C'mon Liz, they don't look that bad. They're good brownies!"

"This is what you called me at 3am for? Emily, it looks like actual dog shit, why would you ask me to try this? I thought someone was dying." I shake my head and turn to walk away. "I'm going home, I'm tired."

She called me and told me that there was an emergency and that someone was going to die. Being a good bestfriend that I am, I got out of bed, at 3am to be exact, and came over. If it was any other person, I would've told them to fuck off and deal with it themselves, I'm not in the mood to save lives right now, sorry.

It's not really a problem that she called at 3am, because it wasn't like I was sleeping anyways, just taking a nap. I was fine with that, but what ruined it was her shoving her plate of dog shit in front of my face as soon as I walked in.

"But I need to make sure they actually taste good by tomorrow or my boss will fire me," Emily frowns. "Pleaassee?"

"No, goodbye. Ask your, so handsome boyfriend, Hoseok, to try them, I'm sure he'll lie and say they taste good to make you feel better." I smile and wave goodbye. She waves back, still frowning. "Love you, Emily." I blow a sarcastic kiss that she responds with a flipped finger and many, many "naughty" words, ready to spill out.

"Thanks for nothing!" She yells out and I laugh.

She shuts the door and I walk to my car to go home.

Once I'm in my house, I immediately feel a strange air around me. If I were feeling like my normal self, I would freak out and leave that house and call the Ghostbusters, but for some reason my mind decides to convince me that it's nothing and I go upstairs to get my laptop from my room.

entry #26 To say I'm an asshole is an understatement. Assholes are dirty, smelly, unpleasant, disgusting, and weirdly shaped? I consider myself more like.. a sarcastic-toe. Here's why: I don't take things seriously, which tends to make the sarcastic side to myself come out regularly, (I know when to make a joke and how to be serious when I need to) and toe because.. nobody likes them. They're kinda just there to keep you balanced, but they're ugly. They're also almost always covered by socks and shoes. You don't see them much, but they're there. Get it?

It's weird to compare myself to a toe and I'm pretty sure nobody calls themselves one. Especially a sarcastic one.

Of course, people use it to insult themselves, I do too. Anyone could. But I bet you can't tell me anybody who has described themselves the way I just did with a toe.

Can you?

•

After I'm done typing I get a text from my friend Jungkook.

up for an early morning ghost hunt? ;)) - 4:07am

wtf jk go to sleep im not abt to get possessed at 4am - 4:08am

thanks tho - 4:08am

u wont get possessed i promise - 4:09am

i have the equipment to save u if u do anyways - 4:09am

no. - 4:10am

:( - 4:10am

Jungkook was always really weird and liked to chase demons down, even after I told them they didn't exist. I told him this up until I started having those dreams. Now, I'm not so sure.

I go onto Youtube to kill time, and watch Degrassi. I grab my headphones and I'm about to put them in until I hear a glass breaking in my kitchen.

I groan and frown. "Rivada, what the FUCK are you doing?"

I wait a couple of seconds until I get a reply.

"I was thirsty!" She yells back.

Rivada is the girl I've lived with for 6 months in this house. She's one of the most understanding, loving, kind person I've ever met. But, she's also extremely dumb and slow. Of course, this doesn't make me love her any less.

I mumble, "Dumbass."

"I can hear you Liz." She walks in and plops herself beside me and takes an earbud.

I blink at her.

"What are you doing? I'm about to watch Degrassi, go back to your room. "

"No, the fuck, you're not my mom or my dad. I'm gonna watch with you." She smiles and puts the earbud in. "Fine. Just don't ask questions or say anything while we watch ,you know I hate that. Also, JK texted me a little while ago."

"He texted me too. He said he was going to go to this ugly ass cemetery and asked if I wanted to go, but I said nah because last time I did something like that with him I almost lost a finger so."

I nod. "He asked me if I wanted to go too, butI just didn't feel like getting possessed tonight."

She laughs. "He wouldn't let you get posses-"

Three obnoxiously loud knocks cut her short and I groan. "It's literally 4am, why is everyone up right now." I get up and go to the door.

"Who is it and what do you want?" I raised my head up to look through the hole thing, but saw nothing.

"Assholes." I turn and start walking back until I hear another knock. "I swear to fucking Gobble if they knock again I'm kicking somones crotch."

I put my hand on the knob and I yell, "Go away."

Again, three knocks. That's it. I yank the door open, yet there's no one. I poke my head out and look both ways. My eyes drift to my drive way and I see two people. I squint to see better.

No, no, no. Fuck this shit. I shut the door and lock everything. I press against the door then I jog over to the living room. "Rivada? Where are you?" I look over to the couch, and she's suddenly not there.

Okay..

I make my way over to the kitchen. Not here either. "Stop. Don't play games with me right now, Rivada it's not funny, you know I get scared easily around this time." I start to freak out when she's not in the kitchen.

I check on all the bathrooms to see if the light is on. The one in my room is on and I go to knock and see if she's in there.

"Rivada? You in there?" No one answers and I let my hand travel to the door knob and I open it. My mirror is broken and the water is on in the sink. My heart rate picks up and I run out of the room to hers.

I'm shaking as I go up to her door and I slam it open.

She's laying over her bed, not breathing. I walk over to her and shake her. No response.

"Haha, so funny, Rivada. You can stop pretending now." I speak half jokingly and half not-so jokingly.

She takes in a sharp, long breath. "Oh thank God you were only kidding." I laugh. "C'mon, we have to go though, there's people outside who I really don't trust."

Her eyes are still closed, but she giggles. "I'm being serious, we NEED to go."

"No.. we stay." Her eyes snap open and they're entirely black.

My breath gets caught in my throat. I push away from her as fast as I can. I glance over at her window that has the perfect view of the driveway and I see no one.

She slowly starts sitting up and I step away. "Liz, you know I wouldn't hurt you, why do you walk away so suddenly?" Her voice and dialect change. She speaks as if she was born thousands of years ago.

My blood runs cold and the color from my body drains.

Her body starts changing in size and it deforms and becomes one of the men I fear most. "Please wake up. Wake up." I tell myself. "Stop. Whoever you are. Leave me alone. I just want to leave." I step back until I find myself pressed against another body.

"Why leave so early darling? We just got here.. why don't you treat us?"

AYYE I FINALLY POSTED IT IM SORRY AMERICUS I LOVE YOU

#bts #btssmut #demon yoongi #vampire taehyung #kpop #btsau #jungkook #jimin #im sorry its trash #ff #I APOLOGIZE #love yourself #btsff #taehyung #yoongi #namjoon #seokjin #hoseok #vampire #smut #fanfic #au #reading tags are you ;))) #hello #why are you reading this lmao #hey tho #im mina

[softforimjaebum]

1. sweet raspberry lemonade in summer

Im Jaebum x Reader

Word Count: 2k

Genre: Fluff

Author’s Note: This is the first in the series inspired by this post. I finally finished this today, listening to You Are on repeat. Hope you enjoy my sappy feelings for Jaebum and thank you for reading!

Music Recommendation 

moodboard made by yours truly

It felt like a dream to Jaebum. Here he was, on an impromptu trip to Jeju Island with his best friends and the girl he was madly in love with. You were cuddled in his arms, concentrating on the movie playing in front of you, but all Jaebum could think about was how lucky he was to be here.

Something about the sun setting in the distance and the beautiful day you had spent with each other made him really sentimental. He hadn’t told you he loved you yet, he never felt the need to do it. Jaebum believed in showing you his love rather than give you empty words so this need was foreign to him.

He never understood people’s need to tell the ones they loved that they loved them. He was a man of actions, lesser so of words. But he couldn’t help it. All the times he had scoffed at his friends saying ‘I love you’ to their significant others or making a big deal about the first time they said it seemed so petty now. Call it a strange turn of events, but he understood them.

Jaebum wanted to put it out into the universe that he was so madly in love with every single cell of your being, so much so that those words were bursting out of his seams.  He wanted to scream it from atop the highest mountains. He tightened his arm that was around your waist just a little more, pulling you as close as he possible could to his own body and you looked up at him when you felt it. You scooted back, angled your body so it fit with his. You smiled up at him and he could swear his heart actually melted. Placing a quick kiss on his lips, you turned your attention back to the movie, leaving him just a little breathless.

The kids, all five of his grown up kids, had demanded for time off of their schedules to spend some time as they saw fit. And as soon as the managers notified them that the company had agreed to give them a couple of days off, Jackson had made a few calls and booked them a beach house.

And off they all were to Jeju, along with Jaebum, Mark and Yugyeom’s girlfriends and a couple of their friends. They had reached the house late in the evening, none of them actually having any energy or the want to do anything but freshen up and laze around in their respective beds the rest of the day.

Jeju was a small place compared to what they were used to, and less populated too which was a welcome factor. The second day they had gone for a short hike along one of the many hiking roads in Jeju, all the boys wearing hats, masks and clothing that covered every bit of their skin, even in the summer heat in fear of being recognised by the people.

They soon realised they didn’t need to go through that much trouble, that a simple mask would suffice in the small city. It had made the rest of their trip a lot less anxious. If anyone recognised them, especially in moments they were with their girlfriends, it would get everyone in a lot of trouble seeing as in their chosen careers, announcing that you had a girlfriend wasn’t seen as beneficial.

After the hike, all of them had sat by the private beach that was a part of the beach house. Jackson had clearly shelled out for the privacy of a personal beach, and Jaebum for once wasn’t complaining about it. You and Jaebum had both been too tired to go in the water that evening, so both of you sat just a little farther up the beach looking over the rest of yours friends. That was the first evening you had seen such a beautiful sunset with him by your side, and when Jaebum saw you soaked in the red and orange hue of the dusk, a realisation dawned upon him.

He wanted to spend his life looking at sunsets with you. No matter where you were, which city or which country, he wanted to be by your side and he wanted to see the awe on your face seeing the sun set. You had told him long ago about your love for sunsets, but he hadn’t ever seen one with you. And consequently, he had missed out on how beautiful you looked this way.

The next day had been spent on the beach. They had all gone swimming multiple times in the day, whoever got tired had soaked up some sun on the beach while the rest were still in the water. Pizza had been ordered late in the evening, and Jaebum had gone out with Jinyoung to buy them some alcohol.

Their days in Jeju had passed quick, the next night would be their last here and they had an early morning fight the morning after that.

They decided on having a cozy night in, maybe catch up on some movies they had inevitably missed out on due to to their schedules. The sofas were not enough to hold all of them so they had moved the spare mattresses to the living room. Whoever fit on the sofas sat there, and the rest were huddled on the floor.

Jaebum tried to drift away from his thoughts and concentrate on the movie, everyone was laughing at something that had happened, and Jaebum just couldn’t keep up no matter how hard he tried. In the end, he gave up on it and opted to cuddle with you instead. He lightly nudged you away from him, sliding down until his head rested on your shoulders instead. You noticed this, straightening up for him, intertwining your hands with his when he rested his kissed your shoulder before resting his head there.

You were still keeping a keen eye on Jaebum. He had been awfully quiet and distracted the entire evening. But you had refrained from asking him about it, thinking that if he wanted to tell you he would. Besides, everyone was allowed to have their moments without being questioned about it. Now, however, seeing him so distracted from a Studio Ghibli movie (which he had once confessed were his favourite) made you seriously worry.

You leaned down just a little, and spoke quietly enough for only him to hear.

“You okay there?”

“Mmmhmm just…thinking”

He angled his face upwards to place a quick, messy kiss on your lips before telling you to not worry about him.

You knew pushing Jaebum was never a good idea so you turned your attention back to the movie, or tried to anyway.

Jaebum breathed you in, you smelled strangely similar to a drink that he was known to drink a little too much mixed with something that was so you; sweet, fresh, lemony. He couldn’t ever put his finger on it. He moved his head so his lips could place light, feathery kisses along your neck. He kissed up your neck, traced your jaw, and then began retracing his steps.

“Babe, you’re very distracting” you whispered, without removing your eyes from the T.V in front of you.

Jaebum didn’t respond, but he knew you could sense the lopsided smile that played on his lips before he went back to kissing your collarbone. He let his teeth lightly graze over the tattoo there, making you shiver involuntarily.

You let out a breathy laugh before shaking your head, adamant at not letting him distract you. But Jaebum felt needy, and needy Jaebum gets what he wants.

Unknown to you both, Jackson had noticed Jaebum’s little ministrations and he sighed loudly.

“Guys…you have a private bedroom for a reason you know!?” he exclaimed, drawing everyone’s attention firstly to him, and upon following his eyes to both of you.

Jaebum refused to let up, just resting his lips on your neck when everyone looked at the two of you. You could feel your cheeks heating up, slightly moving away from Jaebum’s lips.

Everyone just laughed, much to Jackson’s disappointment, and didn’t really say much else.

“If you’re going to cuddle like that in public, you may as well let me join” he whined. Jaebum just raised his eyebrows at him, and Jackson rolled his eyes before turning away both of you.

The whole scene made you chuckle, you had cuddled Jackson numerous times; much to the distaste of Jaebum. But here he was, still being grumpy about him.

“Come outside with me”

This time it was Jaebum who whined, just for your ears.

Needy Jaebum got what needy Jaebum wanted indeed.

You nodded, and he was instantly on his feet, dragging you along with him to the patio outside the living room overlooking the setting sun and the ocean that had now turned a deep orange.

Jaebum led you to one of the lounge chairs, pulling you down to sit on his lap facing him. You put both your legs on either side of him and got comfortable. This was usual for you; when Jaebum got needy he wanted you as close as he possible could. You knew it wasn’t even sexual, he was just needy for you.

As soon as you settled down, he pulled you into a lazy kiss. You cupped his face with both your hands, thumbs grazing his soft jaw, fingers tracing down his neck and then back up. His hands were wrapped around you, needy and tight, wanting to never let you go. He kissed you softly, like he was suddenly afraid you could break if he kissed you too hard.

You smiled into the kiss before breaking away from him for a second.

“You should know by now that I won’t break if you kiss me harder” you said, still smiling.

He opened his eyes, smile identical to yours.

“I know” he said simply before pulling you in for another kiss.

You were still smiling into the kiss, he made you feel like a teenager; in the best ways. You felt the thrill and the excitement of young love, yet there was a certain stability with him that only came with something deeper than a teen love.

Jaebum wished he could freeze this moment in his memory forever, steal these moments away from time. He opened his eyes momentarily to look at you still kissing him, to take in your sun soaked face, and suddenly he was the one breaking away from the kiss.

You were visibly confused, slowly opening your eyes to look at him with glassy eyes full of love and lust.

And just like that, he wasn’t even thinking about his words.

“I love you”

He saw your eyes widen for a second, taking in his words, before a wide smile broke out on your face. Seeing you smile made him relax and sheepishly smile up at you.

“You have excellent timing, Im Jaebum” you teased.

Of all the times he could have said this, he chose today when the two of you were surrounded by such beauty. Its almost like he had planned this, but you knew him too well to know that he would never plan for something like this.

He pouted at you. “You’re supposed to say it back, you know?”

“Am I now?” you wondered out loud, loving the incredulous look on his face as he heard your words.

“Yes! Babe come on, you’ve left me hanging here”

“Do you even have to question it? I’ve been madly in love with you ever since you almost burned down my kitchen trying to bake me a cake”

He smiled widely at the memory. It wasn’t his fault, really. He was just trying to be a cheesy boyfriend for you and got a little too excited about it.

“That is what made you love me? You’re weird”

“You’re lucky I’m weird, Im Jaebum, because you are by far the weirdest nut I’ve known”

“But you love me anyway?” he said, his eyes gleaming up at you.

“I do” you said. “More than I could ever put into words”

#jaebum #jaebum fanfic #jaebum scenarios #jaebum imagines #jaebum fluff #im jaebum #im jaebum fanfic #im jaebum scenarios #im jaebum imagines #im jaebum fluff #got7 #got7 imagines #got7 fluff #got7 scenarios #got7 jaebum #got7 jb #*

[cursed-saphire-hart]

One of my better earlier stories ♡

(An old pic Im still proud of)

-

Title: If We Had Met In Another Life

Chapter: N/A

Au: 20s

Word Count: 1,853

Rating: T

Summary: N/A

She had been riding awhile, it was morning when she left, and now as she was sitting in the seat of the train, the cool morning, turned into a warm afternoon. Hours passed, and she had fallen asleep under her fathers old jacket, it smelled of pine wood bark dust, and cigar smoke, it made her feel less afraid and lonely as the train traveled further from her home, the vibrations from the wheels below had rocked her to sleep, and the soft music playing lulled her into the world of dreams, as the soft cushions of her seat held her body in place. For a dream that seemed like only minutes, more hours had passed, and the announcers voice over the intercom awoke her.

The train stopped at its destination with a screech as metal on metal slid to a stop, and the announcement along with the sound of the train whistles, and the patter of feet echoed through the station as a young girl stepped off the train. With her, she carried a suitcase and an old carpet bag, both in which had experienced years of use during they're previous owners travels. As she walked through the area, which was all so new to her, she bought a paper which was dated July 1st, 1924, Friday. Thneedville, only 3yrs ago it was named Greenville, and was now a big city, music poured out of every building and shop, all so wonderful, all the bright colors and lights, with the scent of baked goods, grilled food, and perfume to fill the air as it road the soft breeze that flowed through the buildings and streets, it was like a dream.

That's why it was this girls destination, she was 18, and out of house for the first time. As she walked through the town that was as bright as day in the middle of the night, the young girl read the news paper, she had always loved reading the daily paper, on the front page was vibrantly colored print announcing the grand party that would be held on the forth of July. This was defiantly a first for the girl, the papers back home were all black and white, was everything in this city just that amazing, it was defiantly catching her attention, that was for sure.

When she did manage to look up from the paper she saw how many girls were wearing colorful small dresses and expensive furs, while she was wearing plain brown pants that were baggy and hid her other wise pencil thin figure, they were pulled up to her waist and were held by black suspenders, she even wore a plain white baggy button up shirt with the too long sleeves rolled up to her elbows with worn black boots.

She was a lovely young bae, but she stood out among the other flappers in her fathers old clothes. But she liked it that way, she didn't have the need to show off her figure, if she had one, so she wore any clothes her father would hand down to her. Her long hair was tied back and was at least 2 feet past her shoulders, while all the other girls had there's cut short in a bobcut, long and pulled back was just the way she always liked it, with a bright red bandana to hold her thick locks.

Instead of feeling like an outcast, she fallowed her mother's words and held her head high, and walked through the streets, proud to be the girl she was. Now why is a small town girl like her in a big city, you may ask? She was working on a book of course, and the bae had two years to get it done, if it was good enough, it would be published, that was deal she had made. They said she had talent and creativity, but she lacked the writers experience, and if she could write a good novel in a 2yr time period, she would finally be living her dream.

As happy as the girl could be in the big city, all the walking around was getting tiring, the small town of Green Meadows was nothing compared to this huge place. The young bae soon found a place to rest for a moment, and was well relieved, the girl walked through the doors of the club, and took a seat at the bar seats, finally able to set down her bags, and rest her aching feet.

She sighed softly and leaned forward on her arms, she closed her eyes, and took in the smooth music, the soft spoken words between people as they chatted, and the soft pitter patter of feet against the tiled floor.

The old clock in the lounge struck 8 pm, and its loud gong like sound vibrated through the air, just as the soft jazz music did as it was played skillfully by a colored group. It was peaceful, and soothing to the young girl, she finally had a moment to calm herself from all her excitement. Her heart was still pounding in her chest like a drum, and her hands where a little twitchy, this town had so many new things, and so much inspiration, anyone of them could be her writing muse, how was she going to pick just one..?

She let her mind clear, and soon a new sound flowed through the air, it's soft ring, it could only have had been the bell of the door.

She could hear someone walk closer to her, for reasons unknown to her, she drowned out everything else, she focused only on that other person. The bae didn't open her eyes, she didn't move. She took a deep breath, letting go of the breath she had been holding, she could smell whine, cigar smoke, and perfume, but there was something else, something sweet. It smelled like freshly made cream, honey, and wild flowers, the only thing she could compare it to, the only title it could go by, and suit it well enough, was the sweet scent of butterfly milk.

"Can I buy you a drink Miss?" said a calm, mesmerizing voice, with a sly tone.

The girl opened her green eyes and her heart skipped a beat, her cheeks bloomed with a soft blush. Sitting next to her was a tall man, at least 7 foot 8, he had a young face, and peach colored skin, he couldn't be more then 25.

"Oh uh.. sure... I-I suppose.." she squeaked out blushing more, she really hoped he hadn't noticed her staring. "What would you like?" he asked resting his chin on his gloved palm with his elbow rested on the bar table. "Uh... Dr. Pepper I suppose... I don't drink..."

"Alrighty," The bar tender took a bottle of Dr. Pepper out of the ice chest and popped the cap off before giving it to the green eyed girl. She was so nervous to take a drink, she could feel him watching her behind dark blue tinted lenses, "What's your name..?" He asked sitting up right, he reached into his green tailcoat, and pulled out a cigar box and a golden cigar cutter, this man had money to burn. "Desiree Evergreen," she told him gripping the cold bottle in her hands. The fizzy elixir inside was ice cold, cooling her already clammy hands. Her heart was racing, and her face felt so hot, but at the same time, but her blood felt so cold, a new feeling swelled in her heart as it drummed.

"Desiree... sounds kinda French..." he said lighting his cigar, "It is... it means to be desired... and is also the name of a pink potato..." the man tried to suppress a laugh, he balled his hand into a lose fist and held it to his lips as a failed attempt to keep the laugh from escaping his lips,"So... your a desired pink potato?" he teased letting out a small laugh, Desiree pouted, she wasn't nervous anymore, just a little mad, she didn't really like being razzed, especially by a guy like him. "Mind if I call you Desi?" he asked adjusting his tall top hat that was placed over a mop of ebony black hair. "...I suppose," she said finally after taking a swing of her soda. "So what's a girl like you doin in a place like this, an all alone..?" he asked taking a long draw from his tobacco stick, "I mean, you look more like a country hay seed instead of a city slicker," the smoke poured out of his mouth a he talk, and Desi had to wave her hand to fan it away.

"I just got to this city actually," Desi said with a small hope filled smile, "I'm here because I wanna be a writer, and the publishers are giving me 2yrs to write a good novel, if its good they'll publish it." she gripped her soda, with a hopeful glint in her big green eyes, he could see how brightly her green eyes shined even through his tinted lenses, so much hope and wonder, so innocent, he blew the smoke out of his lungs, and sighed.

"Sounds like they're pulling your leg," her smile fell when he said that, with a blunt tone. "Heh... maybe..." she chuckled at the thought, it was there pushed to the back to her mind, the thought that they weren't really serious, or the possibility they might not live up to they're promise. "Then why are you going through with it...?" he asked blowing out more of the tobacco smoke. "Because..." she said sounding ready to cry, the thought hurt like a bunch of needles stabbing her heart like a pincushion, "I wanna believe that it's possible they'll publish if its good..." why was she saying these things to him? Why was she about to spill her heart to a stranger, she didn't even know his name, "I wanna go through with it because..." and yet, "...Its my dream..." she felt like he would listen, and he would care. So much self doubt filled her heart, and threatened to overflow into tears. "... If I cant at least have my dream... what else could I do...?" tears trickled down her cheeks are they burned hot, her throat tightened and she held back the need to cry out.

The mans face softened, he brought his gloved hand up to her cheek and with a gentle stroke, wiped away the hot tears, "Now now, and young girl like you shouldn't cry..." he smiled at her gently, and she couldn't help but smile back. Desi felt her worries begin to melt away, this man, he was like no one she had ever met. He was gentle, and kind, and she had only just met him, but he was being so kind to her, and this man dressed in green, was going to be her inspiration.

#an old ass story #20s au #truffulaseedlings #onceler