#and the film is nothing to sneeze at

[kirbyddd]

ITS FINALLY GONNA BE AVAILABLE

#YOU GUYS HAVE NO IDEA THIS IS A WORK OF ART FOR ALL TIME #i caught the limited showing in summer IM SERIOUS YOU CANNOT IMAGINE HOW WORTH IT IT IS #the stills on the website dont even scratch the surface theyre all closeups just wait til you see the whole stage in motion #it brings the concept of the film to life better than the film itself did #and the film is nothing to sneeze at #a stageplay working in the limitations of real life surpassing animation in bringing a bathhouse of spirits to life is nothing short of Art

[wh0reforcoriolanussnow]

Hey! I absolutely love your writing! could you maybe write something about Tom x reader. Where she’s working with Josh on a new film? So him and Rachel go to visit on set and he’s a fan? I feel that would be so cute 🥹🫶

Little Visit || Tom Blyth x actress!reader

A/n: look at these lil cute gifs I made of Tom, Josh and Rachel 🥹 I love their friendship. And thank you Anon for this request! I imagined them filming Lady Chatterley’s Lover !!! Reading this back, it’s adorable. 3/4? Fics I’m planning to post today!

Warnings: none :)

Wc: 695

Divider by @pommecita

“Andddd cut!” The director calls out as you let out a sigh of relief, stretching your body as a loud groan escapes your lips. After an exhausting day of non stop filming of your solo scenes, all you felt doing was crashing into the comfort of your bed in your trailer and face time your boyfriend Tom.

As you pack up your things that your brought along with you, Stacey, your assistant, comes up to you. “You have a few visitors,” She says in a sing song voice as you immediately furrow your eyebrows.

“Really?” You say as she hums. You sling your tote bag over your shoulder and follow her as you put your hair into a hair clip. From afar, you could see two guys, one with familiar hair.

You immediately smile knowing who it was as you hurriedly walk to them, a bounce in your step. You open your arms as you squeal seeing the two of them. “Hey sweetheart,” Tom says as you engulf the two in a tight hug.

You wrap your arms around Tom and Josh’s body as the wrap theirs around your frame, both of them rubbing your back knowing how much you love it when people do that.

Although you saw Josh practically everyday because you two were the main characters to the movie you were filming, you were still so happy to see him after a day of not hearing his jokes.

And of course, you were beyond happy seeing Tom again. The last time you saw him in person was 2 weeks ago when he came down to set to visit. Although you were absolutely tired and wished nothing but to shower and lay in bed, seeing your boyfriend and best friend was even better.

You rock the two side to side as you all laugh. As you pull back, you hear a feminine voice call out. “Y/n!” The boys look back as you look in between them. Your eyes lit up, “Rachel!” You squeal as you both run to each other. You had not seen Rachel in the longest time, probably 2 months after the world promo tour came to an end for tbosas.

“She looks happier to see her than us, huh?” Josh jokes as Tom laughs, digging his hands in his pockets as he watches the two of you embrace in a hug, nearly falling over in the process as Josh snaps a few photos of the two of you.

~

You walked hand in hand with Tom to your trailer, Josh and Rachel behind the two of you. “I’m going to shower, I’ll be back,” You announced as you kiss Tom’s lips before disappearing in your bathroom. The hot water immediately relaxed your bones as you let out a light moan at the feeling.

You came out in your silk pyjamas as it was slowly turning dark outside. The four of you chilled in your trailer, catching up with things before Rachel and Josh decide to go back to his trailer for the night.

“I’ve missed you,” A slight pout makes it your lips as you go on your tippy toes, hooking your arms around Tom’s neck as he breathes your scent that he missed in. “I know, I missed you too,” He mumbles in your hair.

You sit on your boyfriend’s lap as the two of you go through your camera roll from past month or so since you started filming the new movie with Josh.

You tell him the stories behind the pictures as he would watch you intently, a smile on his lips at the sight of you so engrossed in it. “Oh and this one, I was sneezing so much that my eyes were becoming watery so the director decided to start filming the sad scenes,” You laugh as you recall the daisies that Josh would present to you made you highly allergic.

Tom smiles at you lovingly, thinking how lucky he was to have you. “What?” You shyly smile, feeling his stare. “Nothing, you’re just so adorable,” He admits, pulling you to his chest as you let out a small giggle as he kisses your forehead.

#tom blyth #fanfiction #tom blyth x actress!reader #josh andres rivera #rachel zegler #tom blyth imagine #tom blyth fluff #tom blyth x reader #tom blyth x you #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #tom blyth fanfiction #social media au #social media #lucy gray x coriolanus #the hunger games #coriolanus snow fanfiction #coriolanus snow #coriolanus snow x reader #the hunger games the ballad of songbirds & snakes

[my-writings-and-musings]

The always awesome @stratofall006 and I did an art/fic swap and I asked for Earthspark Bumblebee with a sparkling strapped to his chest. I was not disappointed to say the very least LOOK AT HIM!!!

I was so inspired, in fact, I just had to write a short little something based on the image. Set sometime after Season 1 where Bee and Breakdown have had a bitlet and our beloved Scout is trying to teach his students. I couldn't think of a name for the bitty so just use your imagination.

---

"Kids, my optics are up here."

The five Terrans seated before him in their makeshift outdoor classroom all shrunk upon being called out, but Bumblebee was hardly angry even at the umpteenth interruption. He couldn't blame the kids for struggling to focus, as the tiny bundle strapped to his chest was taking up a sizable chunk of his own attention as well, and they were all struggling to return to the old routine now that he was no longer carrying. Most of his negative emotions were bound up in how delayed Optimus had been in informing him that Breakdown would be needed for a field mission today, leaving him to multitask between teaching and parenting with almost no forewarning...

"Sorry, Bee." Twitch apologized sincerely, big orange optics bringing a soft smile to his face as she tried not to look at the sparkling.

"We really are trying!" Thrash added just as emphatically, making his teacher chuckle in appreciation. If nothing else, their commitment meant a lot to him. The bitlet on his chassis stirred at his laughter, compelling him to look down as her tiny servos flexed for the sky and her stubby pedes kicked in amusement.

"She's just sooo cute!" Hashtag spoke up, saying what they were all thinking. Bumblebee couldn't deny he and Breakdown had produced one of the cutest bitlets he'd ever seen, and that in her harness said cuteness was on full display, rounded frame bouncing in the straps as her optics continued to look around her audience. He was about to try and redirect his class when Hashtag squealed once more at the adorable antics. "Look, she's sticking her tongue out!"

Blowing a messy raspberry for no particular reason, the bitlet quieted when he directed her stubby servo to her mouth, compelling the little one to nom on it. Trying to get the class back on track, the Scout turned teacher turned parent remembered where he'd been interrupted and got back to teaching.

"I know she's cute, but we've got a lot to get through today. Back on topic; the key to remaining undiscovered is to focus-"

"How precious, she's waving at me!" Nightshade interrupted as they clasped their servos together, once more bringing attention to the sparkling. Bumblebee couldn't deny the way they flapped their arms was beyond amusing, and he began to wonder just how on Earth he was supposed to get through his lesson as Nightshade returned the gesture with a polite wave of their claws. "Hello there, little one!"

"Kids-"

"She's waving at me now!" Jawbreaker gushed as the bitlet swapped arms to wave in his direction, compelling Bumblebee to sigh as he completely lost control once more. Not having the energy to keep this up much longer, he considered telling Optimus that unless he wanted the Terrans to fall even more behind on their training, the big bot would start planning to schedule a babysitter when he pulled bots for mission duty. He already knew Breakdown would be handling most of the sparkling related chores tonight...

A tiny sneeze against his chassis brought him out of his dissatisfied quiet, instincts compelling him to check over the sparkling even though he found she had merely had a tickle in her nose. To his students, however, each new action was the most adorable thing they'd ever seen. Their glowing optics told him that a sneeze was no exception.

"Oh my gosh, I got that on film! Let me share it to the group chat!" Hashtag proclaimed as she rapidly tapped away on her tablet, sharing the video with everyone in their circle as the group once more descended into chaos. Sighing as he briefly dipped into the background, the Scout offered a digit to his sparkling and allowed her to chew on it as his students all vied for her attention. Not having the energy to handle much more, he decided to cut his losses and accept that the lesson was done for the day.

"Alright, everyone, let's just... enjoy a day off for now. We'll take it from the top tomorrow." he announced over the din of five excited Terrans, who were now focused on going through the digital album of pictures and videos they'd put together of his sparklings short but precious existence. Not too put off by the chance for a well earned rest, he sat down on a broad stone and allowed the bitlet to continue nomming on his digit, glad that at least one bot was focused on him.

#transformers #maccadam #earthspark #transformers earthspark #tf earthspark #transformers: earthspark #bumblebee #earthspark bumblebee #breakdown #breakbee #transformers sparklings #sparklings #tf #tfe #tfes #bumblebee x breakdown

[undercover-horn-blog]

Caretaking that is casual. Caretaking that's domestic.

You're sick, but it's just a cold. You're exhausted and sleepy, but it's nothing too serious either, so there's no need to worry.

So you're on the couch, sipping tea, trying to read, ending up just lying there, huddled under your blanket, drowsy and halfway to sleep.

Meanwhile, your partner is sitting next to you, also reading. Or playing a video game while you are watching, blinking tiredly but happy to be entertained in this way.

Or it's your friends. They're chatting, talking about their days. Watching a film. All reading. Studying. Playing cards.

And you're just sort of... there. They ignore your sniffling, don't mind when you blow your nose. They don't think you're gross or annoying. Occasionally, somebody might walk by and absent-mindedly pet your head. Squeeze your shoulder. Without even really looking at you.

"You okay?", somebody says, half-amused, when you sneeze forcefully.

"Fine", you mumble, closing your eyes again.

"You want tea?", somebody asks, but it's just an afterthought. They were already on their way to get tea for themselves.

"You warm enough? Want my jumper?", somebody offers. But it's only because they just took it off since they felt too warm.

You're literally just... there. Like a pet. Still part of it even though you can't do much. And you're so happy to simply be around them, feel included. Know you are cared for even though the illness is not that bad. Know you are loved without having to do anything for it.

#sicknario #sickfic #sicknarios #whump #whump writing #caretaking #snzblr #snz kink #snz #snzfic #idk why but this is such a fantasy of mine #and in fiction also casual caretaking is so damn hot to me #feel like i might be in the minority?? #but yeah... the casualness... it gets me <3

[maeby-cursed]

i just personally believe that izuku midoriya would freak out if his s/o got sick. 

he’s watched his mother carefully throughout his life, hysterics are ingrained in his genes. 

he paces back and forth as you take your own temperature with a thermometer and whips his head around when you confirm it: you have a fever.

a fever.

his face drains of all color, and suddenly he’s gone. you just shake your head, confused but not surprised by your boyfriend’s antics.

he comes back half an hour later, arms filled to the brim with blankets, cushions, two thermoses, his favorite hoodie and a stack of films.

he drops it all by the foot of your bed and you pick up one of the cases.

“dvds? really?” “what if all streaming services shut down all of a sudden?” he asks, frantic, his eyes wide, “you’d have nothing to distract yourself with! it’s not right, i won’t allow it.”

you chuckle softly, too tired to engage in banter.

“whatever you say, ‘zuku.”

he dedicates the next few days to taking care of you devotedly. he visits you after classes – leaving the extra notes he took for you on your desk – and again after training. he makes you chicken soup, after begging and, ultimately, bribing, bakugou to share any tips on broths and other warm foods to make you. he also spends most nights during the week you’re sick in your dorm room.

“you’ll end up catching it, izuku.”

“that just means extra time with my partner, i don’t know why you’re so worried.”

he calls his mom once or twice to make sure he’s doing everything in his power to help you. 

at one point he sets an alarm every thirty minutes to make sure you’re hydrated. it’s a bit smothering but you can’t complain.

he cares, you think after he drops a fourth blanket on top of you, after he calls you seven times in the span of twenty minutes, after he sends all might to check in on you while he’s in class. 

and finally, when you’re healthy again and he begins sneezing, you get to show you care just as much.

#˙⋆ 𓂃 ࣪ch. thoughts ! #can you tell i want this? #izuku x reader #izuku x you #deku x reader #deku x you #deku fluff #izuku fluff #bnha fluff #bnha imagines #mha imagines #mha fluff #mha x reader #bnha x reader #izuku midoria x reader

[whorbidmore]

okay, so, I've fallen victim to the leon kennedy brainrot steadily overtaking me, following me from Tumblr to Pinterest, to Instagram and even the absolutely fucking dreaded application of TikTok. I don't even use it that often??? and the algorithm is just like 'wow, yeah, this little fuckers gay as hell send in the 40 year old meow meow!!' and having watched Death Island fairly recently, I'm gonna have my opinions on what this dude would be like. Cus my brain loves to rationalize shit and think ab 'what if this mf was someone real?' so... fuck it.

Leon Soft Kennedy Headcanons

SFW

accidentally bigoted. - im sorry but let's be so fucking real here. he's a 40 something year old man who spent the majority of his life in either the military, a police training academy in the 90's, or otherwise working under the U.S Federal System with minimal/no time between missions to unpack absolutely everything he's got going on... the guys gonna have some problematic tendencies. Obviously that doesn't mean he means any of that or is incapable of change, etc. etc., but I know for damn certain this dude would laugh a little at Bill Burr's borderline to blatantly misogynistic material and has probably chuckled unironically at the attack helicopter jokes. But, he's not a complete dick, and would definitely become more critical of those kinds of jokes if it's pointed out to him.

honest to God, Dad Without Kids™ - it's not simply enough for me to leave it at 'but it's the vibes!!' so, I'm gonna break this shit down. Leon is absolutely Gen X incarnate. I can fucking guarantee you that on his off days he accidentally ends up dressing as an undercover cop; I'm talking cargo shorts, light blue button up, those fucking standard issue boots cus "they're perfectly good shoes" and those stupid ass sunglasses... you know the ones I'm talking about. Let's say you're living with him, right? And you're... you, and you wanna watch something on TV. This dude would strain himself getting up like a turtle fallen backwards on its shell, stand up, walk right in front of the TV screen and stand there with his hands on his hips. It doesn't matter that he had to piss, he needs to get a better look of what's happening! Does those really loud, obnoxious coughs and sneezes, absolutely blows his back out doing one at least five times a year.

Only watches British Reality TV - Considering he's canonically a film buff, I'll say that this is purely for whatever he gravitates towards on general streaming services. I honestly don't see him being the type to regularly tune in to standard American cable TV, or only does so under specific circumstances like American Ninja Warrior or maybe Forged in Fire if there's absolutely nothing else. It's not something that's exclusive to Americans, — I'm from New Zealand and I do this too, — but Leon absolutely falls into the category of watching British Reality and Game shows purely because of the accents. I'm talking Jeremy Kyle, The Big Fat Quiz of Everything, Taskmaster, The Great British Bake Off and so on and so forth. It doesn't matter that baking isn't his forté or a passion of his, if Josephine curdles her buttercream by over mixing, his hands are in his hair in utter disappointment. 100% tries to mimic their accents too. We all do it, don't lie.

Has... very dated music tastes - I don't know if you could guess, but the last paragraph included me calling myself out and name dropping some shows I watch anyway or grew up watching, and I'm just saying that this is gonna be no different. If anything? This'll be worse! Since I'm very passionate about the music I listen to and have the inability to keep my interests separated from the other, of course my love of particular bands will bleed over into my interpretation of Leon's character! Anyway, all that for me to say that Leon fucking LOVES 90's grunge musicians, specifically Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, as well as early nu metal bands like Korn (their dubstep phase did not happen.), TOOL, and Rage Against the Machine — and no, he unfortunately doesn't see the irony of him being a fed and listening to Rage, — but would also have a soft spot for psych rock, post-punk and shoegaze. My man's definitely laid awake at night, sobbing without expression as he struggles to accept that Ada never really wanted him like he wanted her while listening to fucking Slowdive. My hottest take here is that he doesn't really listen to Deftones. Like he'll occasionally blast My Own Summer, Change, Bored or Rosemary, but anything outside of those? He just didn't listen to 'em. My second hottest take is that he does NOT like Slipknot, which kind of pains me 'cus I do, but I fucking bet you this dude would actually adopt one piece of "Gen Z lingo" or whatever just call them cringe. Though admittedly he would've been jamming the fuck out to Psychosocial and The Devil in I when they came out. Went off the deep end in Vendetta, obviously, and drunk-cried himself to sleep on the couch listening to Linkin Park.

Very confusing spending habits - On one hand, we all understand that Leon came from money, — he was implied to have been born into a mob family from my understanding? And I doubt he'd ever really had to worry about being fully, irrevocably broke, — but I'm sure that growing up in the U.S Foster Care System made him at least a little more cautious of where his money comes from, where it's going, what he's spending it on, etc. So, on the one hand, he's apprehensive to spend recklessly, particularly on perishables. But also, if he can drop over $100,000USD on a motorcycle that got absolutely fucking cheese grated into the road, and spend a perceived, metric fuck ton of money on designer leather jackets and massive watches, it's gonna be hard for me to call him 'financially conscious'. On one hand, he gets apprehensive on spending more money than he needs to on food since he's "just gonna shit it out later", but if he sees a cool watch or a nice suit in a shop window? Money's suddenly not an issue! Not because he's materialistic, but because the one thing he really maintains a sense of control over in his life are his possessions and the way he dresses. The D.S.O can call him in for another months long mission whenever they please, and all he can realistically do is allow the government to tug on his leash and put him where he's needed. He may as well spend their money on things he wants!

Gets out... enough? But also, not really? - So, personally I've pegged Leon as more of an introverted person, — amateurly typed his MBTI as possibly ISFJ? — so he doesn't really feel the need to go out and meet new people or really hang out with anyone. If somebody invites him out? Sure, he'll go. Otherwise, it rarely occurs to him to meet up with friends or colleagues at a cafe or anywhere. I think he'd prefer to just go there alone, mostly for the sake of having somebody else cook for him as opposed to actively seeking out the atmosphere. It's pure convience in his mind. And remember when I said in the beginning about him accidentally being at least a little misogynistic? Yeah, that was me trying to say that he regularly tries to hit on younger waitresses. Not because he actually wants anything to do with them, but simply because it's an ego boost. He likes that he can make girls half his age blush or offer him their numbers, because it tells him that he's still desirable, and ultimately, that gives him the power to reject them politely and go about the rest of his day. If they don't reject him first, of course. Admittedly, Leon's audacity towards women peaked during Infinite Darkness.

Since I'm planning on posting more NSFW headcanons for this guy, — and more NSFW kinds of posts, — here is the obligatory Minors DNI attachment. For your own safety, I don't care if what I have to say is tame so far, you can hold it off I promise.

#leon kennedy x reader #leon kennedy #leon kennedy fanfic #resident evil #resident evil leon #leon kennedy headcanons #babyfangs.txt #fangsfic #idk man im literally talking out my ass on all this 💀

[reve-writes]

— a rush, a glance ; dan heng.

╰‧₊˚✩ॱ˖ honkai: star rail — dan heng — 3k words. ╰‧₊˚✩ॱ˖ summary — you might have fallen at the first kiss — well, technically, CPR — and you couldn't grapple with the fact. but perhaps the struggle went both ways. ╰‧₊˚✩ॱ˖ content — awkward pining for each other, like a lot of being awkward, trailblazer reader, lots of blushing, allusions to dan heng's past, reader is such a simp, kissing.

When you came to, you felt a foreign weight on your lips — soft, warm, and candy-like in that it was sweet. Your eyes fluttered open and you were gazing into a pair of blue-green irises, harbouring a ceaseless depth you could see yourself getting lost in. In a rush, your senses fully came back to you and you inhaled sharply, felt his nose graze yours, felt the heaviness of his palm on the side of your face, tilting it towards him.

When you tried to speak, your lips brushed against his. His body tensed, and like you, his limbs were those of a statue, stubbornly still, cast in place.

So, this was what a kiss felt like.

A higher-pitched voice shocked you back into sobriety. Drunk on the feel of him against yours, everywhere he had not touched felt colder, and the points of contact were molten. "You're awake! Dan Heng, your CPR actually worked!"

The second figure pulled him off of you, air rushed into your lungs immediately and you let out a sigh. Dan Heng cleared his throat, throwing his gaze to the side. The apples of his cheeks burned red.

He was beautiful, almost otherworldly so.

He sighed often.

You picked up on it early on. Dan Heng sighed a lot when March uttered something outlandish, before tasting Himeko's coffee, or as you barged into the Archives to browse through his notes. He didn't have to be in a certain mood to sigh and you began to be able to differentiate between exasperation and contentment and neutrality. Sometimes, he sighed affectionately, out of amusement.

And sometimes, you were the root of it, and it had you feeling like a feather, like you could be a pair of wings soaring through the star-littered cosmos.

"You would think—" A sneeze. "—that with a Stellaron in me, I should at least be immune from a cold."

He sighed, shaking his head. Was it empathy? No. His lips were pulled into a tight line, an attempt to conceal — Amusement. You pouted even as your insides felt warmer, lips tingling with the memory of pressing against his.

"Let's go back to the Express for now," he said, supplied with a worried glance. "We'll find something for your ailments."

Jarilo-VI was a snow-blanketed planet, showered by constant snowfall. The perpetual cold was biting and cruel on the Trailblazers, particularly you. From the moment you landed, you hadn't been able to breathe through your nose.

"We shouldn't," you protested. "I'll be okay once we get to the city. With the stellaron crisis, I should be the least of our concerns."

Unconvinced, Dan Heng lingered even as you had already trudged onwards, snow crunching underneath your boots. You abruptly came to a halt, tilting your head back and he assumed you were anticipating another sneeze, but you continued to follow through, falling backwards. He dashed to catch you before you fell to the ground, calling your name in a low, worried tone.

"I'm alright," you said, even though you were fully leaning against him for support. His hand was warm and solid as it held your shoulder, pressing you to him to keep you from lurching as you were unsteady on your feet.

"Can you hear me?" His voice sounded far away, as if you had a film over your ears. You could barely open your eyes, the white brightness of everything was a blinding stab to your vision.

You hummed in confirmation, but the next sentence he spoke fell as incoherent mumbling in your ears. Dan Heng's face scrunched as he took your temperatures, his cold hand stung by the heat of your forehead. "You're burning up."

"You're just really cold."

Then there was nothing. You didn't remember much — if anything, you had no recollection of what happened after. When you came to, there was a familiar weight on your hand and a familiar scratch of your sheets against your skin. Your eyes, though bleary, could gather that you were back in your room on the Express. You moved to pull your hand to rub your eyes; all it did was stir Dan Heng's sleeping form, sitting at the side of your bed. His grip tightened, long-fingered hands locking around yours.

"Dan Heng?" Your voice scratched against your throat, coming out in a hoarse croak. "What happened?"

Dan Heng buried his face into the crook of his elbow, letting out a soft hum. Not fully awake yet, he stayed clutching your hand, which was getting sweatier by the second. It was too casual; you didn't touch each other this way. Every time you did, it felt as if your stomach was flipped inside out, bleeding acid into your veins.

Your free hand reached to touch his head, nudge him awake, but the moment you made contact, you couldn't resist brushing your fingers through the black strands. So soft, too soft. To your delight and horror, he leaned into the touch, like a nuzzling cat. With a content sigh, he slipped into a shallow slumber once more.

You sat up, leaning closer to let your gaze rampant on his features: the long lashes fanning his cheeks, the hook of his nose and his lips. His lips.

"We're back!" March's voice echoed from the other side of the door. You jolted backwards, falling over the other side of your bed to the ground with a loud thud. Dan Heng sat up, startled. Your door slid open as you were scrambling to get off your butt. "___. Dan Heng. How has it been without me?"

"___?" Dan Heng's voice had deepened into a sleepy rasp. "What — Have you recovered? You are on the floor because...?"

March chuckled, muttering something about your silliness as she circled around your bed to help you up. Your cheeks flushed, going lightheaded from standing up too fast and being throttled by acute embarrassment.

"I was startled and fell down," you protested. "Thanks to you, March."

"How is that my fault?" March pouted.

"I need to check your temperatures," said Dan Heng. He paused, clearing his throat, hand hovering hesitantly. "May I?"

You leaned your body forward, over your single bed, and he reached over to press the back of his hand on your forehead, on your neck, before dropping back to his side. His phantom touch remained, causing you to crease your brow. "Hm, I think the fever has gone down."

"That's good news," said March. "We were all worried sick. Dan Heng hasn't been sleeping much. He won't even leave until Mr. Yang dragged him out."

You turned to look at Dan Heng. He stared back, like he was caught doing something he shouldn't, and briskly looked away.

Clearing his throat, he said, "March, is everyone back? I need to talk to Mr. Yang about the... mission."

March waved her hand. "I'll go! I'm glad you're all better now, ___. The Express was too quiet without you."

"That's not—" Dan Heng started, but March was already retreating, the door slid shut behind her. "—necessary."

You wrung your fingers together. "I'm sorry for causing a lot of trouble. Thank you for taking care of me."

Dan Heng hummed as he stretched his neck, tilting his head towards his left shoulder, and then right. "I would not have let you freeze down there. March is correct in that it has been a bit quiet since you fell ill."

"She's livelier than the both of us combined. She doesn't need me to cook up a ruckus," you joked.

"You're not wrong." A fond smile appeared on his lips.

Out of curiosity, you asked, "Did you carry me all the way back?"

"To the best of my abilities, yes," he replied. "I'm just glad you are well. It was quite a scare. You've been in-and-out of consciousness for two days. Himeko, Mr. Yang and March had gone ahead to investigate the stellaron disturbance."

"I'm sorry," you apologised again. "Why do I always fall unconscious when you're around?"

"There's no need to apologise," he reassured. "And as for your question, I have been wondering as well."

His sighed, lips quirking into an amused smile. You were a feather, you were soaring.

"Do you have an entry about me?" You wondered, face hovering over his shoulder as he navigated the Data Bank, tapping and swiping at the screen with his long fingers.

"It is a work-in-progress," he replied. He was skimming through the data he had gathered about the Xianzhou Alliance, but you were hardly paying attention. You tilted your face to the side slightly, taking in his profile, noticing the smudged red under his eye, the intricate swirls of his earring. Oblivious, he asked, "What else would you like to see?"

"What's your favourite entry?"

"Well—" A mistake. He turned his head to the side, ending up face-to-face with you. Breath ghosting over your face, he stiffened, hand gripping the edge of the desk. You were stunned frozen in place, not unlike the ice statues littering the snow plains of the Jarilo-VI.

His eyes were blue and green and clear, the unbroken surface of a lake.

"You're really pretty," you blurted out. Your eyes widened as you straightened up, placing your palm over your mouth. Dan Heng pursed his lips, pink dusting his cheeks. "Shit—sorry. I don't know why I said that. Sorry."

"No, it's — it's alright," he said, quelling your sputtering. "That was flattering."

"Oh."

"I do find you... to be 'pretty' as well."

"Oh." What does that mean? You laughed, the sound off-kilter, borderline disorienting. The stuffy atmosphere in the Archives must be getting to your heads. "I think I need some air, don't you?"

He frowned. "We can leave the door open, if you wish."

"It's okay!" You were already stepping backwards, stumbling over the steps. You pointed at the door with your thumb without turning around. "I'll just—I'll check on everyone at the parlor."

Desperate to leave, the small square of his room was closing in on you. Your chest constricted, squeezed by a slither of not-so-unpleasant emotions. You felt full. You felt empty. You felt like lurching out of the window to gaze directly at the stars, or running to your room and scurry under your bed.

You found yourself face-to-face with the door and tried sliding it open, failing to do so.

"Is it locked?" He asked, chair scratching the flooring as he stood. Before you could reply, his long legs carried him towards you in an instant. You felt him behind you — around you. The brush of his arm was electric through your clothes as he pressed the dial of the door to unlock it.

You could have done that yourself.

The door slid open smoothly, but you stayed rooted in place for a beat or so. Until he called your name and your entire form seized up, like a startled squirrel ready to bolt. Everything was warm, your face, your neck, the tips of your ears.

As you dashed out of the Archives, you thought you might be coming down with another fever.

The night before your planned arrival at Xianzhou Luofu, you were unable to sleep. Trailblazing expeditions had a way of lighting your nerves, turning you into a bundle of nervous energy and anticipation. Sleep evaded you, or perhaps you were driving it away with all the tossing and turning.

To your surprise, your phone lit up — an unmissable flash in the dark interior of your room. You stretched your hand, reaching out to your nightstand. Your heartbeat thumped wildly at the name which appeared, hand sweaty as you tapped your screen.

Dan Heng

Are you awake?

Should you ignore it? You had been avoiding being alone with the Xianzhou native as of late. Not to his fault. You were the weirdo, this much you were aware. Gnawing at your lips, you typed out:

yes

Would it be an inconvenient time to talk?

not at all

should i find you at the archives?

No. Give me a moment.

A moment passed, there was a knock at your door. You called out for him to come in. Your door slid open with a loud rumble — perhaps not so loud during the day, but the early dawn hours had a tendency to distort one's senses.

"Hello," you greeted. He was briefly illuminated by the light flooding in from the hallway before your door slid back to a close. His hair — usually a perfect fall of jet black strands, had pieces sticking up. His bangs were swept up as well, revealing his forehead. He had shed his robes and tunic for a sleep shirt and trousers. It was the first time you'd seen him so unkempt, as if he was peeling back a layer of himself, showing you a part not meant for just anyone.

"Hello," he said, not knowing what to do with himself as he stood by your bed.

Obviously you were not going to invite him to bed. You didn't have that kind of friendship where you could lie side-by-side on a bed too small for two and be fine. At best, your palms would sweat and shake just from your shoulder being pressed against his. At worst, your heart might palpitate and burst.

"We can sit down," you suggested, pointing at the window seat, a few steps from your bed. It wasn't like March's, crowded with stuffed toys and yards of blankets. You hadn't had the time to find things to fill it, only a cushion with a couple of pillows in one corner.

He hummed and followed you as you sat down, crossing your legs, facing out towards the glass. He joined you, leaning against the backrest, legs stretching across the floor as he looked into the darkness of your room.

You could hear him swallow.

"You wanted to talk?" It was so quiet that you spoke in hushed tones — as if the whole universe was asleep, and you were the only ones awake. A thrill sizzled in your blood. The air was crackling with something like potential.

"Since you're departing in the morning," he said, sighing — Distress. "The Xianzhou... I'm afraid you will discover things about me that would alter the way you, and everyone, view me."

You could feel his gaze on you even when you were so intent to avoid it, opting to trace patterns connecting the stars outside.

"Alter how?" You asked.

"Who knows? At worst, you might find me abhorrent."

"Whoa, that is a strong word." Naturally, you were curious. What had he done? Theft? Mutiny? Murder?

"Appalling? Horrid? The adjective hardly matters." He leaned back, staring up at the ceiling. His voice was unapologetically bare, a vulnerable thing. "I find myself dreading that prospect."

Finally, you turned to look at him, studying the far away look he had. It tugged at your heartstrings. You reached for his hand, which was pressing against the cushion, propping himself up. "I could never hate you."

His head swiveled, there was bewilderment in his eyes, either from your admission or the sudden contact. You couldn't tell.

"There is little truth in that."

Despite his skepticism, he sat up straighter, turned his palm over to hold your hand in his and squeezed.

"You underestimate just how much I like you, Dan Heng." His eyebrows hiked upwards. Abruptly, cautiously, you added, "Just how much everyone likes you and appreciates you for what you do here."

He sighed — Unreadable, this time. "I guess we will know when the time comes. I suppose I should leave you be now."

He withdrew his hand and with it, his vulnerability, as he stood up, brushing himself off. You scrambled, turning around to face him fully, hands desperately clutching around his arm before he could leave. During the day, you weren't sure you could be so daring. But it was past midnight, the world caught between dreams and truths. Your breathing picked up as you spoke, trying to seize the chance before the moment passed. Word after word tumbled out of your lips in quick succession.

"I mean what I said. I think whatever it is you did, I will somehow justify it in my head. I like you too much, in a way that's foolish enough for me to do everything I can to keep liking you. If that makes sense. Even if the entire world makes an enemy out of you, I'll always have an excuse for you."

He looked at you — really looked. His scrutiny was so intense that you averted your gaze to the floor. It didn't last long before he placed his fingers under your chin, coaxing you to look up gently.

"And that is the truth?"

You nod. "Nothing but the truth."

"You like me," he repeated, breath fanning your face. The closeness with which you were staring at each other was thrilling, like the disorienting lurch of the Express during a warp. "In what way?"

"Whichever way you would accept."

His hand was shaking as much as yours. "Then what would you accept from me?"

It felt like a cresting wave, like the ringing silence between an explosion and the sound, the empty seconds between lightning and thunder. You held the key to let it crash and strike, indulge yourself in it.

And so you did.

"A kiss, for starters."

The floodgates opened, waves crashing, a pleasant relief in your heart as he leaned down and gave you what you asked for. His lips — warm, soft and candy-like in that it was sweet — moved over yours. You were full and heady, the simultaneous familiarity and unfamiliarity gave you a rush. He did not let up, pressing forward, hiking a knee on the cushion, between your thighs. His hand slid up your waist, brushed the side of your ribcage, settling at your jaw. The other braced himself on the windowsill as he hovered over you. Your hands tugged at the hair on the nape of his neck. You felt him sigh into your mouth — Content.

You wanted him, all of him, and you knew that you needed to only ask, and he would give it.

dan heng maybe makes me a little breathless. maybe a little bit. just maybe a tiny teensy bit. i tried to keep him in character as much as i can but i kinda suck at that so im sorry. thank you for reading ♡ im trying to build my ruan mei nowadays bc i impulsively pulled for her

#—ki writes #dan heng x you #dan heng x reader #honkai star rail x reader

[yyunari]

CHESHIRE ! — Nishimura Riki

SYNOPSIS. Y/N Cheshire lived her life carefree. Being the daughter of the Cheshire Cat made her more inclined to not take anything seriously and to just have a little bit of fun in everything she does. Whether it was pulling pranks, sneaking up on people, or making jabs at her friends- Y/N kept a Cheshire’s smile on her face. Because of that, she just couldn’t take Chaehyun Cupid seriously when she claimed that Y/N had a crush on Riki Wonderland.

PLAYLIST. listen to cheshire’s soundtrack while reading!

PAIRING. Kitty Cheshire! Y/N × Alistair Wonderland! Riki

(not shipping kitty and alistair !)

GENRE. Ever After High AU, High school AU, Fluff, Slight Angst

WARNINGS. bad parental relationship, ooc riki, angst

WORD COUNT. around 18k

NOTES. ITS OUT!!! i’ve been working on this fic for months and i finally finished it😭😭💗 thank u @muhwaa my best friend my soulmate for life and my twin flame for motivating me to finish it <3 this is my first long fic so i hope i did it well !!!

1. Naps and feathers don’t mesh.

The lights around her felt brighter than usual, though Liz Lockes found herself in the starlight once again. It wasn’t that she was complaining- in fact, she rather enjoyed it. She felt a sense of solitude as the rest of the world seemed to fade as nothing else mattered.

Liz didn’t mean to fall asleep in the Enchanted Forest. While being in the forest didn’t freak her out much, as the Daughter of Goldilocks, it still felt like an absurd place to sleep. But she had an episode for her MirrorCast news show featuring some of the pixies that reside in the forest, and all the preparation along with the actual filming had made her rather sleepy. She thought that it wouldn’t be too harmful if she took a little rest by a tree. That rest turned into an hour long nap and although it was an accident, the nap had felt just right. Though, it wasn’t just right when she was awoken by a feather being wiggled above her sensitive nose.

How was that possible? She couldn’t see anyone actually holding the feather- was it some sort of a spell?

Liz felt her nose twitch ever so slightly before she finally sneezed. This caused the feather to fall onto her face, before she threw it onto the ground next to her. Barely awake, Liz didn’t feel it in herself to question what had just happened, so she stood up from the spot where she took her impromptu nap and began to leave the forest.

As she made it near the front, however, she spotted Y/N Cheshire curled up on the branch of a tree playing with a ball of yarn.

What was Y/N doing in the forest so late? Weird.

Liz found herself quite fond of the Cheshire Cat’s daughter and decided to make some conversation.

“Hey Y/N!” Liz waved. “What are you doing here?”

Y/N, who gazed at Liz with her cat-like eyes and unsettling smirk, let out a giggle. “Oh, I’m about to take a small catnap.”

A nap? At 9 P.M?

Liz thought it was interesting how alike Y/N was with her mother. Although most Ever After High students found themselves copying the mannerisms of their parents, there were the bunch that preferred not to follow their destinies and created personalities and hobbies for themselves. The latter, known as the Rebels, was a category that mostly students destined for evil or misfortune chose to fall into. But really, Rebels were just anyone who refused to follow their storybook ending. As someone who has a relatively simple destiny, it made sense for Y/N to be keen on following hers.

The blonde snapped out of her thoughts and turned back to Y/N. “That’s funny, I was just leaving from taking a nap of my own! Do you sleep in the forest often?”

“You could say that,” Y/N threw her ball of yarn onto the ground. “I enjoy coming here at night. The stars are really pretty, aren’t they Liz?”

Liz smiled. “They are! Especially in the forest, they just look so stunning.”

“You should come here more often then, I’m sure we’ll get along just right.”

Liz raised an eyebrow at the suspicious tone she had in her voice. Of course, it was known that Y/N enjoyed pulling pranks in her free time… and even when she was busy. Liz had even covered Y/N in one of her MirrorCast episodes.

That was slightly difficult, considering how evasive the girl was. But being the star reporter of Ever After High, Liz prided herself in her ability to make a story out of anything. Even when the subject was hard to work with.

Before she could ask any questions, she realized what Y/N had meant as she observed the girl take a feather out of her pocket.

The same kind of feather that had woken up Liz from her nap.

Really, there was no stopping her mischievous feats. Y/N acted on her own accord, convinced by no one but her mother. There truly was nothing she took seriously in life. The cat girl lived her life treating everything as if it were nothing, so it was only natural that how people felt about pranks wouldn’t affect her, Liz assumed at least. She brushed it all off and waved Y/N a goodbye.

After all, it wasn’t that serious to begin with.

୨:୧┈┈┈ · · ┈┈┈୨:୧

2. Cupid knows best.

“Hey Y/N, why do you always prank Riki?”

Y/N felt herself let out a snicker as her friend, Chaehyun Cupid, daughter of Eros, asked her a question. It was a silly one, really.

“What do you mean? I prank everyone- it’s kind of my thing.” Y/N pointed to the small cat hat that rested on her head.

Being the daughter of the Cheshire Cat, Y/N felt lots of pride in fulfilling her destiny. As such, she turned pranking people constantly into her niche. Riki Wonderland, son of Alice, was no different.

Chaehyun just rolled her eyes, leaning against Y/N’s locker. “You’ve pranked him 8 times this week already! There’s tons of people in this school so why are you targeting him specifically?”

Ningning Swan, daughter of The Swan Queen, pursed her lips. “Chae is right, you know? You’ve been pranking Riki too much recently. According to Beomgyu he’s getting pretty tired of it.”

Beomgyu Hood, son of Robin Hood, was Riki’s roommate. So if he claimed that Riki was getting annoyed then it was probably the truth.

But Y/N didn’t care much for what they were saying. Why should it matter if he feels burdened by her pranks or not? They were only in good fun, after all! She only pulled silly, lighthearted pranks. Y/N didn’t see the issue in that.

“Hey, why so serious guys?” Y/N put on her signature Cheshire smile. “I’m just here to have a good time. Whether or not I prank Riki most of the time is none of your business. Plus, Beomgyu is an idiot who lives in the woods and plays music for a living. His destiny is to be a thief. I wouldn’t trust anything that guy says.”

Ningning gave a soft smile. “He’s not that bad. He’ll be a thief who gives to the poor.”

Chaehyun turned to the swan girl with a knowing look, as the latter brushed it off and continued.

“As your closest friends, it is our business.” Ningning stated.

Y/N giggled, her movements laced with insincerity. “You’re my only friends.”

“Still makes us your closest! And don’t forget you have your Wonderland friends, Y/N.”

At that, Y/N shrugged, still adorning her wide and mischievous grin. It was true that Y/N didn’t have many friends. Naturally as someone who seeks chaos and disharmony in all she does, it was fit that people didn’t bother to get to know her. Being a rather secretive person, Y/N didn’t find herself too bothered by it (as she liked to convince herself). However, she was rather close with the other Ever After High students from Wonderland. Soul Hatter, son of the Mad Hatter, Giselle Hearts, daughter of the Queen of Hearts, and Rei Blanc, daughter of the White Rabbit. They all grew up together and were each other’s closest friends in childhood. The only other student missing from that list was Riki.

There was never a specific reason as to why the two never got close. Perhaps Riki disliked Y/N. Perhaps his mother had told him to avoid Y/N and her staple chaos. Perhaps Y/N had been subconsciously avoiding him. Whatever it was, Y/N and Riki remained civil with one another but never became friends.

There was, however, one instance that made Y/N feel slightly closer to the boy. One night that they had spent together… had he forgotten? She tried not to think much of it and figured he didn’t think about it either.

All the more reason as to why pranking him often wasn’t a big deal. They weren’t friends (as far as she was concerned) and were barely acquainted with one another past the basis of where they lived- so why was Chaehyun suddenly questioning it?

The bell rang, alerting students to get to their next classes.

“Y/N, you totally like Riki!” Chaehyun suddenly squealed. “I can see it in your eyes when you talk about him. You like him. Pranking him more often than others just means you’re deflecting your real feelings by acting like you don’t care about him. It’s very common when people have crushes.”

The thought made Y/N burst out into laughter. After all, come on. Her? Having romantic feelings for Riki? The same boy who peed his pants the first time they went from Wonderland to Ever After? Not a chance. She could care less for the cute blush on his face afterwards, or the way he laughed it off and acted like it wasn’t a big deal (it was, he had to run into a random house in the woods to clean himself up and that’s where he met Beomgyu). She would never admit that she only knew that because she had turned herself invisible and followed him. Y/N could say for sure that she found none of that appealing. Nothing about him in the slightest.

Even the notion that Y/N would have romantic interest for anyone was absurd.

But as an avid enjoyer of all that is lawless, Y/N just shrugged with a nonchalant expression. She wasn’t one to express herself. “I could tell you, but…” She trailed off in a fake train of thought before continuing. “Where’s the fun in that? Chaos is keeping people guessing, and that makes this kitty purr~”

Her friends deadpanned at her nonspecific phrasing. It was rather hard to get anything out of the shielded girl who embodied certain traits of a cat. Of course she acted as her own person and didn’t rely on her background or her mother to force her one way, but that was just the thing. She was only raised in that way so perhaps it was all she knew best.

Chaehyun smiled, knowing well that Y/N was in a state of denial. It held up- Y/N wasn’t the open type. Cats are feisty, after all. “Sweetie, I’m the daughter of Cupid. I think I know a thing or two about love- and most things in general.” All she needs is a little push.

Y/N smirked. “Most things, really? Because Yujin Hood is a wolf like her father but so far I’m the only one who’s seemed to notice.” Yujin Hood, daughter of Little Red Riding Hood. “It’s funny because she’s really obvious about it but somehow no one has caught on. I mean, why does everyone think she acts so shady and disappears often? She’s obviously hiding a secret.”

The two girls gasped at the news. Really? The thought of Yujin being a wolf felt so… bizarre. But it definitely explained her weird habits. “That’s cheating! You can teleport and turn invisible. You spy on people all the time.” Ningning said.

“You’re right, I can! Speaking of which… Headmaster Grimm is coming this way so I’m going to head to Home Evilnomics before Baba Yaga notices I’m not there. Toodles!” Y/N waved to her friends and let her mouth spread into her Cheshire smile, before her body vanished into thin air- the last thing Ningning and Chaehyun saw of her was that damn smile as it hovered in thin air and lingered ever so slightly longer than the rest of her body.

“Why aren’t you two heading to class?” The familiar voice of the headmaster made the two girls shudder. That man truly had a terrifying aura. “Hurry along, don’t want to keep your professors waiting.”

Deep down they wished they had Y/N’s teleportation ability.

୨:୧┈┈┈ · · ┈┈┈୨:୧

3. Riki’s mixed feelings.

Riki couldn’t figure out why Y/N seemed to hate him.

It wasn’t as if he’d done anything to her, right? In fact when they were children, he considered her as a friend. Sure they didn’t speak to one another much, but every Wonderlandian was considered his friend. After that night they had spent together back in Wonderland, he figured they at least had an understanding of each other.

He had even found her pranks and unserious personality to be endearing!

That was, until she had made him the target of her pranks. Constantly.

Y/N didn’t prank him much when they were younger. It was only when they started attending Ever After High that the pranks would amp up and become more of a frequent thing. They first began small- switching out his shampoo for hair dye, throwing ice cream at his face on a roller coaster, replacing his croquet ball with yarn, etc. All pretty juvenile stuff. He didn’t mind it and honestly found it funny.

But even Riki had to admit that getting pranked more than twice each week was overkill! It got to a point where he would leave classes and try to go under the radar, in hopes that he could avoid Y/N at all costs. Though, it didn’t help that they had a lot of the same friends. So when his best friend, Soul Hatter, would attempt to get her attention, Riki would groan internally as her cat eyes found their way to his form.

However, nothing gets past the Mad Hatter’s son so he asked Riki about it one day- while the two were hanging out at the Mad Hatter’s tea shop in the Village of Book End.

All sorts of typical Wonderland madness went on in the tea shop, such as teacups being used for the shop’s outdoor design, clocks that tell the wrong time, portals, and objects that float on occasion. It all made Riki miss Wonderland more and more each time he went.

A squeal could be heard from inside the shop as the tables began to float. An unassuming Bahiyyih Charming feared for her life as she felt her feet lift off from the ground. Though for Riki and Soul, they were used to it so they proceeded with their conversation. “I just feel like she hates me! There’s no way you can prank someone that often without feeling negative feelings towards them.” Riki stated with a downcast look on his face.

Soul took a sip of his favorite Earl Grey tea before responding. “More like there’s no way she hates you. I don’t think Y/N hates anyone, in fact, she’s a rather peaceful person.”

At that, Riki raised an eyebrow. “Really? The Cheshire Cat’s daughter is peaceful?”

“Well she does love discord, but she cares a lot for her friends, even if she has trouble showing it. I would know- I’m actually friends with her.” Soul said.

Suddenly, a top hat appeared next to their table.

“Dad? Is that you?”

A boisterous laugh was heard as the Mad Hatter popped out from inside of the hat.

Soul beamed at his dad and the two did their handshake, which they had made back when Soul was a toddler. “Whistle, cradle, up top, down, sideways-“ Riki just smiled at this and waited for them to finish.

“-and to the moon! To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you two today?” The Mad Hatter asked, as he poured himself a cup of tea.

“We were just talking about how Riki thinks Y/N hates him.” Soul elbowed his best friend in a teasing manner.

The older man tapped his finger on his chin in thought. “Y/N? Well that girl could hardly hate anyone! I’d find that very hard to believe.” Soul gave Riki a knowing ‘I told you so’ look.

“So then why is she always pranking me?”

The Mad Hatter gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Perhaps it’s her love language.”

“Love language? She’s not really close with anyone besides the other Wonderland kids.. and Ningning… and Chaehyun.” Riki spoke, as he recounted Y/N’s friends. It wasn’t very hard.

Before his question could be answered, a ring from the bell at the counter alerted the Mad Hatter to get back to work. To which he did, but not before giving his son a new box of Earl Grey tea.

“Do you think she likes you?” Riki snapped his head to Soul because of what he said out of the blue. “Maybe Chaehyun would know something about it.”

It didn’t take a second thought for Riki to shake his head in disagreement. “No… no way. We’ve barely spoken, why would she like me?”

Soul shrugged. “I’m just throwing out ideas.”

“Well, your idea sucks. There’s no way Y/N could possibly like me.”

It just made no sense. After all, who would want to prank their crush? Wouldn’t it just make them avoid you more? The idea itself was baffling to Riki.

By the end of their hangout, Riki was sure of one thing. He would officially befriend Y/N.

That would surely get her off of his back.

But secretly he knew that he didn’t mind her pranks as much as he thought he did.

୨:୧┈┈┈ · · ┈┈┈୨:୧

4. Castleteria encounter and unwanted realizations.

It was lunchtime at Ever After High, and students of all different fairy tale backgrounds found themselves spending their down time together in the Castleteria. After Karina Queen, daughter of the Evil Queen, normalized people not wanting to follow their destinies, it became less taboo for Royals and Rebels to interact with one another. Headmaster Grimm was still hesitant on the idea, but that didn’t matter. All of the students agreed with one another that they would work on being less cliquey. Wonyoung White and Yujin Hood were seen laughing about something they were watching on the MirrorNet. But about two years ago, Snow White’s daughter and Little Red Riding Hood’s daughter would not have been together at all.

Chaehyun, Ningning, Y/N, and Sullyoon Ella were eating together that day. Y/N wasn’t typically friends with Cinderella’s daughter, but she found her incredibly attractive and alluring to be around. Sullyoon had just finished showing them her new shoe collection when Chaehyun pulled out a book and flipped to a page that was titled-

“True Hearts Day?” Ningning asked, with an eyebrow raised. “What’s that?”

Chaehyun giggled in excitement. “It’s an old holiday where people spellebrated following their hearts! Isn’t it so cool? I’m going to throw a True Hearts Day dance! As a future Cupid, I need to uphold traditions such as these.”

“And Headmaster Grimm just let you?” Sullyoon asked. “He’s not the biggest fan of people following their hearts.”

Chaehyun bit her lip. She wasn’t quite sure how her friends would react to the news but she wanted them to know first. “That’s the thing- he didn’t. I asked him last night and he shut down the idea.”

The three other girls waited for her to continue, as she took a pause to gain courage. “Which means I’m going to do it in secret!”

“And just how would you do that?” Y/N asked, as she flicked food from her spoon in Jay Huntsman’s face. The son of the Huntsman gasped in part annoyance and part shock, before proceeding to speak to the Charmings. Y/N snickered at his disgusted expression. Gotcha.

Chaehyun pulled up a map on her MirrorPhone. It displayed all of the Fairy Tale World, from Never After to the Mirror Realm. She zoomed in on the Enchanted Forest, and pointed at a random spot in the woods. “There’s a place here that I know would work perfectly! I just have to make all the invites, plan what food will be served, set up all the decorations- oh! and I have to make the music mix.”

“Are you sure you don’t need help?” Sullyoon made a sheepish expression as she realized Chaehyun had taken up a lot on her plate, perhaps more than she realized. “I run a shoe store so I’m pretty good at managing.”

It was true, Sullyoon ran a shoe store in the Village of Book End. The Glass Slipper Shoe Store is what she had named the place, and it was a nice store with various kinds of shoes (it was really just heels, but there were many different kinds of heels).

Needing all the help she could get, Chaehyun nodded. “Do you mind handling the decorations? I’ll do everything else.”

Y/N listened silently as the girls began discussing their plans for the True Hearts Day Dance. She considered helping her friends, as she did care a great deal about them, but she wasn’t exactly good at being helpful. It was much easier for her to mess things up rather than fix them.

However she found herself bored by the topic, so she scanned the room to see who she could pull a prank on next.

Yuna Rose? Oh no, she’s fallen asleep again. What about Jake? He’s the best Charming to prank- never mind, he’s talking to Karina. Maybe…

Y/N glanced towards Riki, who she could see leaving the Castleteria. A grin widened across her face as she let her body disappear from her spot on the table- the grin once again being the last part of her to disappear.

Riki, who was frantically walking back to Professor Rumplestiltskin’s classroom in order to turn his paper in on time, tripped over what seemed to be thin air.

But it wasn’t, and that was clear when Y/N suddenly appeared next to him.

“Seriously? Again?” Riki asked, though his tone was slightly playful. He didn’t want to cause an argument- despite the fact that he was feeling slightly annoyed.

He wasn’t too fond of being pranked all the time. But Riki couldn’t blame the girl too much, she was just doing what she had always done. That much he understood about her, having grown up together.

“This is like, the 4th time this week.” Hopefully she could pick up the hints.

“Hey, I had to! The opportunity was just purrfect.” Y/N made a clawing motion as she said that. “You’re not butthurt, are you?”

Riki found himself chuckling at that. She was really funny, that was one of her features that interested him. Not that he was interested in her, but rather sometimes he found his eyes wandering in her direction he found her intriguing. Besides what she portrayed on the outside, what did anyone really know about Y/N Cheshire? Nothing, truly. The more he thought about it the more he wanted to know. “No, I could never. You’re really funny, you know that?”

Y/N’s face faltered for a second, but it was barely noticeable before she held her carefree expression once again.

“Don’t you have a paper to turn in? We wouldn’t want Rumplestiltskin to mark you down.”

“Oh yeah, I should probably go…”

“Catch you later, Wonderland.” Y/N teased, before disappearing once again.

Riki looked down on the essay in his hands before he snapped out of it and went back to turning it in.

Meanwhile, Y/N found herself back on the branch of her favorite tree in the forest. It was the place she would go to when she needed some time for herself.

And time for herself was needed after what had just happened.

Pranking Riki was something she figured wasn’t a big departure from her normal everyday life. She often crossed his path, so it made sense as to why she would choose him as a target. It wasn’t as though she was seeking him out on purpose, or waiting for him to pass by her locker so she could see his adorable expression. Or hear his voice, which she often heard in her dreams. In fact, it was so unlikely to happen that it didn’t. Y/N could barely even recall what his voice sounded like- that’s how uninterested she was in him. She didn’t even remember his name.

Yes, Y/N could care less about Riki. He was barely a thought that crossed her mind. A small, singular speck of an idea that didn’t hold any substance or weight in her world. She couldn’t waste her time with silly little things like love- after all, how could someone like her be worthy of being loved? All she knew how to do was ruin people’s days.

How could she even like him? Y/N barely even knew the boy. All she really knew was that his birthday was on December 9th, his roommate is Beomgyu, he loves riddles, and misses Wonderland, a lot.

Though, she couldn’t forget his tendency to be overly curious like his mother Alice. Or that he started a chess club with Rei due to his smart nature! Or even his eyes that seemed to glisten with a deep passion every time Y/N would look into them. His pink, plump lips that seemed too soft to be real…

Maybe she knew more than she let on.

But that didn’t mean she liked him! It was only because of her observant nature, and the fact that she can easily turn invisible. That makes it easy to people-watch.

Riki wasn’t even worth watching. So really, he was just obvious about everything. Because how else could Y/N know all those facts about him when she didn’t like him at all?

Y/N pulled out a ball of yarn to crochet and get her mind out of the gutter. Her shaking hands picked up the hook- wait, why were her hands shaking?

It was then when she finally felt the warm blush on her cheeks, which she just realized had been sitting on her face since the Castleteria.

Could she be sick?

No, it was something entirely different. Y/N realized it all now.

Each encounter with Riki left her redder than Yujin’s cloak, and her heart racing slightly faster than normal. It was so simple to see, but she had been in denial for so long.

Y/N had a crush on Riki.

Despite the realization, the idea made her feel weirded out. How could she let that happen?! Ever After High wasn’t the place to fall in love. With the majority of the students following their destinies, it wasn’t a shock to discover that Riki would as well. But Y/N could never amount to what he was worth- she was just a side character in his fairy tale. After their storybook ending, he would leave Wonderland and remember all his adventures as a dream. Plus, falling in love was too serious and committing for Y/N. She couldn’t be serious about anything.

But as she spotted her beloved in a faraway distance, she decided to get closer. Inconspicuously, of course.

There he stood as the spring sun shone down on him as if he weren’t real. Riki was only conversing with Beomgyu after turning in his essay, but he seemed to be the most ethereal being Y/N had laid her eyes upon. At one point he had thrown his head back in laughter, which sounded akin to a melody of angels singing in Y/N’s eyes. Everything about him was purrfect.

In a way, maybe falling in love didn’t sound so bad.

୨:୧┈┈┈ · · ┈┈┈୨:୧

5. Staring. Again.

Scratch that, it was a horrible thing to happen. How could she act around Riki the same if she had found out it was because she liked him all along?!

For Y/N, it was just easier to brush her feelings aside and continue doing what was simplest. Despite her love for chaos, she never meant to be truly evil or cause any problems. It’s all done in good fun and everyone knew that. Something as problematic as love was an issue that she never expected she would encounter while attending Ever After High.

But she couldn’t help how she felt and therefore had to come to terms with it all.

“You’re staring… Again~”

Y/N turned around to see Chaehyun giggling at her with a teasing smirk. Although she didn’t specify what exactly Y/N was staring at, the cat girl knew what she was talking about- even if she didn’t realize she was staring until that point. But Y/N would never admit that Chaehyun was right. “Staring? At what?”

The future cupid girl pointed at the object of Y/N’s attention for the past few minutes- as much as she would deny it she knew it was true. “Your future boyfriend!”

“Boyfriend?” Y/N stifled a laugh. “No way, I was just thinking about how to prank him next.”

Chaehyun sighed. She knew Y/N was stubborn but she wasn’t aware of just how stubborn the girl could be. Anyone with eyes could tell that Y/N looked at Riki with nothing but love in her eyes- so why did she deny it?

Chaehyun had no doubt it had anything to do with her feelings on her destiny.

Her eyes flitted over to something behind Y/N for a split second before she looked back at her.

“Oh! That reminds me, I have to go set up some things for True Hearts Day. I’ll see you in class, yeah?” Y/N lazily waved at her friend and watched her walk off. Just as Chaehyun had left, Y/N felt a hesitant tap on her shoulder.

Not liking the idea of someone being behind her, she quickly evaporated and appeared once again right behind the person who had tapped her. It was Riki.

“Riki Wonderland?” Y/N had teleported so fast that Riki had heard her voice behind her before even seeing her disappear. “What, cat got your tongue?”

The boy rolled his eyes at her corny joke. “Very funny. I just wanted to give you these.” Y/N looked down at his hands and saw a freshly baked batch of cookies. Had he… made them for her himself? For some reason, the idea of Riki spending some of his own time in the kitchen baking cookies especially for her made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. “My mom sent me some from back home and I wanted to give them to the Wonderland kids…”

Oh, yeah that made sense. For a moment, it almost felt as though Riki cared about her. Y/N wasn’t sure why she let herself get her hopes up so easily- what was happening? The sight of Riki made her feel so… so giddy. Perhaps realizing her feelings wasn’t such a smart move after all. She found herself acting out of character and thinking all kinds of thoughts.

“Hello? Y/N?” Riki waved a hand to her face, which snapped her out of her thoughts. She could only hope that her attraction wasn’t obvious from her facials.

Y/N slowly grabbed a cookie from the plate. It was soft and warm- it felt like home. “Cookies, for me?” Her gaze moved its way upwards until it found itself on Riki’s face. “Are they poisoned or something?”

“Is it so hard to believe someone wants to do something nice for you?” Riki said jokingly as he sighed. Grabbing a cookie from the container, he took Y/N’s hand in his own and opened it up to place another cookie in her hand. “Just take it, Y/N. After all, we’re friends aren’t we?”

Just for a second, Y/N could feel her carefree facade fade into his presence. Friends? Had he really considered them friends all along? But just as quickly as it went, her guise had come back. “Are we, Wonderland? I don’t know if you knew this, but we never even talked to each other before this year.”

“Well, you never really seemed to be fond of me. For whatever reason that is, I like to think of it as water under the bridge.” Riki smiled. “After all, I’ve considered us friends ever since we were young. Even though we didn’t talk back then, I still feel that we gained an understanding of one another after that night we spent together. Don’t you remember?”

So… he does remember?

Just as Y/N was about to ask the reason as to why they never spoke often after that night, the night that had felt special to her, she stopped herself. She didn’t want to come off as overly curious, even if that was what she truly was.

And besides, she preferred not to hear him say that she was the problem all along.

Satisfied with their newfound status of friendship, Y/N gave him a smile. A genuine smile. Her first real one in such a while. “You flatter me, Wonderland. Hopefully my nature doesn’t make you change your mind.”

The boy nodded and gave her a smirk. “I’ve grown accustomed to how you are so whatever it is you think would drive me away is something I’ve mentally prepared for.”

Wanting to mess with him for a bit, Y/N stepped slightly closer to Riki. “Oh, really? You think too much of yourself and too little of me.”

Riki bent down while maintaining eye contact with the girl. His height was truly impressive. “I don’t think you’re as threatening or scary as you think you are.”

As besotted with the boy Y/N was, she didn’t take it lightly when people underestimated her. It was something her mother did often and something that she was tired of feeling used to.

Y/N knew very well how capable she was of more than what she let on. She just hadn’t utilized it yet.

So the cat girl found herself formulating a plan in her head to prove it all wrong.

After all, Y/N Cheshire was a rebel. Stubbornness and pride were her best virtues.

She quickly teleported behind Riki and whispered a ‘boo’ to startle him- and startled he was.

“And I don’t think you know as much about me as you think you do.”

“You’re staring, Riki.”

The son of Alice left his train of thoughts as his best friend snuck up behind him. It was a week after he had officially befriended Y/N and the boy found her on his mind quite often. His curiosity of her shone brighter after she had challenged him. Of course he knew it was all in good fun, and they had been talking more casually ever since that day. During classes, during passing periods, and occasionally he would sit with her during lunch. They discussed many topics, just about anything that crossed their minds at the time. The two found it easy to fall into step with one another.

Y/N even found herself calming her catty personality when she was with Riki. It was surprising, because she hadn’t even done that with Ningning or Chaehyun. Why did she act in such a way with a boy?

As much as she wanted to deny it, Y/N knew Riki was the last person she wanted to think badly of her. Because of that, she had slowly stopped doing the small, petty pranks on him. She figured that the more she did them, the more annoyed he would get with her. Y/N decided that the prank she was planning for him would be the last one she would do. Ever.

It begged the question, why had they postponed this friendship for so long? They definitely had a connection with one another and found it very simple to get along. Conversation came easily. It made no sense as to why it had taken 17 years to get to the point where they stood currently.

Riki knew it was something on both ends. He could tell that not just one party was to blame. Because he did make efforts to speak to her on occasion, but at the same time she did as well. It was just that when a conversation was started, the other would have trouble continuing it. Perhaps it was some sort of subconscious fear.

Whatever it was, that was all in the past. It was the current day and Y/N Cheshire and Riki Wonderland had become friends.

“Riki?”

The boy brought himself out of his thoughts once more as his best friend waved a hand in front of his face. “You zoned out again. Why do you keep staring at Y/N?“

That was the question Riki kept asking himself. “It’s not on purpose. At least, I don’t think. Maybe she just happens to be there.”

“You sound unsure.” Soul said in a thoughtful manner. The cogs in his head began to turn. “Maybe… Oh my gosh- do you like Y/N?”

The thought was baffling. “Like? Of course not! I just find her… interesting.”

“Right, that’s why you’re friends with her now. Because you find her interesting.” Soul teased. That was one thing that Riki disliked about his best friend, that he was so determined in his ideals that he had to see them through each time. “How did you even come to like her? She’s not exactly your type.”

“Well that’s just it I’m not sure how-“ Riki began, but then stopped once he realized what he was unconsciously admitting.

Soul smirked. “Go on.”

Riki let out a sigh and finally let his guard down. “I don’t really know how it started. My interest in her, that is. I’m not too sure if I would classify it as a crush or anything of that sort but I guess one day my eyes just started to drift in her direction?”

He sort of lied. Riki knew that it was because of that night when they were 11, ever since he noticed something different about her. When he listened to her talk, he could tell that she had some sort of sadness about her that she could never quite talk about.

It made him curious.

A wistful breath came out of Souls mouth. “How romantic. I love unlikely romances, they’re very interesting. I suppose it was about time you found someone you were interested in.” He patted a hand on his friends back in congratulations. “Are you going to do something about it?”

“No, definitely not. At least- not until I figure out if what I’m feeling is really romantic or just a friendly interest.”

Just as Soul was about to respond, someone tapped on Riki’s shoulder. “Hey!” They both turned around to be faced with Chaehyun.

“Okay so keep it hush, especially to Headmaster Grimm, but I’m setting up a dance to spellebrate True Hearts Day. Everyone’s invited!” Chaehyun handed them both envelopes. The envelopes were lathered in pink and had their names on it. “True Hearts Day was a holiday where people spellebrated following their true hearts desire, and Headmaster Grimm has banned us from even knowing about it.”

“That tracks. Ever since Karina did what she did last year, he’s been trying to silence us now more than ever.” Riki stated.

“Exactly. Which is why this dance is a secret from him and will be held in a location he doesn’t know about.” Chaehyun smiled. “Will you be there?”

“Of course!” Soul nudged Riki. “We’ll both go.”

A cheer emitted from Chaehyun’s throat before she went to pass out more invitations.

For Riki, he knew what he had to do before the dance. He would have to discover how he felt about Y/N.

Because if he had a crush, then he would ask her to go with him.

On the other side of the lockers, Y/N stared at the concoction in her hands. It was nothing less than ugly. But it was beautiful work, and ideas bloomed through her mind as she thought about what to do with it.

“And you’re doing this… to prove a point?” Ningning asked, as she recounted what Y/N had told her moments prior. “Isn’t that a bit… far?”

“It’s just a little prank! I’ve done far worse to him before.” Y/N rolled her eyes. “Besides, do I need a reason to prank someone? I’m the d-“

“-daughter of the Cheshire Cat, I know. But do you need to be so proud of it?”

Y/N raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Ningning sighed. “All I’m saying is… you could at least know when to draw the line.”

Y/N gave it a bit of a thought. Draw the line? It wasn’t that simple for her. Y/N was just doing what she had always done. No one had ever told her when to stop, and no one had ever told her how to behave otherwise. How could she ever know otherwise? And at the end of the day, it was all just for a good laugh!

Of course, she knew Ningning had a point. She wasn’t an idiot- she could tell that people weren’t too fond of her. Though they never stated it outright, Y/N knew that her fun had stained people’s impressions of her.

But it was all she was good for.

And besides, wouldn’t Riki laugh at a prank such as this? He always did get a chuckle out of her mischief. The idea of making him laugh with that infectious laugh of his burned through Y/N’s mind.

“I’ll draw the line when I want to draw the line.”

With that, Y/N disappeared- leaving Ningning to stare at the spot where she once stood and sigh.

This is going to take a lot of work… I’m going to need to-

“Hey Ning!”

Ningning looked behind her to see Chaehyun approaching with an armful of envelopes. “Have you seen Y/N? I need to give her one of the invitations as well but I haven’t seen her around all day.”

“You just missed her, but I can hold onto the envelope and give it to her when we’re together.” Ningning smiled at her friend who she had just noticed had a troubled expression on her face.

“Cool! While we’re together, I need to talk to you about something.”

“Me too. Can we talk somewhere private?”

“You read my mind.”

୨:୧┈┈┈ · · ┈┈┈୨:୧

6. He was a star, and she was anything but.

Y/N wished her mother didn’t call as often as she did.

The two were having one of their weekly calls through the MirrorPhone, and Y/N wasn’t sure if she could take one more second of her mother’s incessant nagging. Usually she could handle it, but for some reason she seemed to be more overbearing than usual.

And most of the time, she only called to see what pranks she was pulling and not to actually talk to her.

“You’re only pulling baby pranks, darling.” The Cheshire Cat spoke while filing her nails. “You should be able to do better. After all, this is all you’re good for anyways.”

This is all you’re good for.

It didn’t help her self worth when her own mother pressured her in that way.

Y/N sighed and bit her tongue. She couldn’t speak up to her mother, not when she was one of the only people she could trust. “But I can’t really do much when I’m at school, mother.”

The woman paused her nail filing to give her daughter a slight glare. “Then that means you’re not good enough.”

Y/N felt her words get choked up in her throat. “I’m trying my best!” Attempting to hold back tears, Y/N disliked how her mother spoke to her oftentimes. She figured she could handle it since it was her mother, but at some point it just became too much.

“Try harder sweetie.” The Cheshire Cat gave her a sickly sweet smile. “Be honest, is a boy distracting you?”

Yes.

“Of course not, mother.” Y/N stated.

Though, one thing she had forgotten about was her tendency to lick her lips a bit more than usual when she lied. And one thing her mother did right was notice the small things about her.

The Cheshire Cat gasped. “There is a boy!” She pondered on this idea for a second, examining her daughter through the MirrorPhone. She had made it a point to Y/N that boys would only get in the way and that romance shouldn’t be on her mind throughout high school, and she would stand by that point no matter what. But perhaps what her daughter needed was a push in the wrong direction. “Tell me, who is he? And how did it happen?”

Y/N knew she couldn’t lie anymore to her mother, so she decided to come clean. Despite their strained relationship, wouldn’t it feel nice to be able to discuss her feelings with someone?

Her mother was harsh and cruel, but she wasn’t a monster. Surely she would be able to help.

The only problem was that she didn’t know where to begin. After all, she didn’t even know where her feelings began. Was it that day by the front of the school where she realized she liked him? Or was there a time before then that she had caught feelings without even knowing? As someone who didn’t receive much love growing up and had never liked anyone else, it was hard to tell.

She thought back to all the times she had interacted with Riki. Perhaps there was a common denominator between each moment, one that could pinpoint a beginning.

It was then that she realized that there was a certain moment that stood in the back of her mind whenever Riki was around (or when she thought about him).

It was after a fight Y/N had with her mother when she was 11. At one point, she became too stressed with all the expectations the Cheshire Cat had on her, and certain feelings began to bubble up within her. It came to a stop when her and her mother had blown up on each other and things got too tense for Y/N to stay at home. Without her dad present, it was tough having to live with someone who both expected so much of you but also didn’t believe you were worth anything.

Due to her conflicting feelings, she ended up running out of the house in an attempt to find somewhere to calm down. Though in Wonderland, there weren’t many options. No matter where you went there was bound to be chaos.

So Y/N ran. She found herself running and running until she could find somewhere to sit peacefully and stay unbothered. It was just too much for her 11 year old brain to stay in such a place that fostered a toxic mindset.

And eventually, she found a spot. It was nearby the portal between Wonderland and Ever After, so perhaps part of that world was seeping into Wonderland. Whatever it was, she had found a hilltop so hidden from the rest of Wonderland that there was practically no noise. It was so high above the world that one wrong step and Y/N would be falling to her death. From where Y/N was curled up within the trees, she could see the stars.

Y/N loved stargazing. It was something that she couldn’t do often but loved doing while she could. With all the pressures from her mom and herself, something she could count on to be a constant was looking at the stars. The way the shimmer of the stars starkly contrasted the gloom of the night sky- she felt that she could easily get lost in its beauty. Not only were they beautiful, but there was something about the way the stars twinkled that made her want to shine just as brightly. Each star perfectly had its own place amongst the sky… could she be like that too? Was there somewhere she could have her own place in? In another world, Y/N was a star. She wanted to be able to contribute to a bigger picture, and not just be a side character in another’s story. Perhaps when she died, she could be reincarnated as a star. Was that even possible?

Until then she would stay down on the ground, waiting to take her place amongst the stars.

Y/N was so entranced by her own thoughts that she didn’t notice a figure slowly come into her view.

“Is there any more room up here?” The voice said.

Out of instinct, Y/N gasped and quickly disappeared. It was a defense mechanism that had become a habit when she learned to control her powers.

But as her vision started to focus once more and she reappeared, Y/N realized who it was.

Riki Wonderland.

Confused, she raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing. This is my spot.” He said in such confidence. “I found it years ago and I’ve been coming here to stargaze ever since.”

Riki stargazed? Y/N couldn’t see that as something befitting of his character.

“I just wanted to get out of the house, I guess.” Y/N shrugged. “So, you stargaze?”

“It’s just something I realized I enjoyed after the first time I did it.” Riki stated, a small smile placed upon his face that Y/N had never seen before.

Not wanting to be a nuisance, Y/N sat up. “Well if you’re here now, I might as well just leave. Have fun with your stars, Wonderland.”

Before Y/N could disappear, Riki grabbed her arm. “Wait,” the girl looked into his eyes as she decided to hear out what he had to say. “you should stay. It’s not like I own this place anyways.”

It wasn’t that she disliked Riki, and in all honesty she found him rather cute. But wouldn’t it be awkward if it was just the two of them? Y/N didn’t have an easy time socializing with people either way, but with Riki it would be even harder. It was awkward knowing that they were so close to being friends but it had never happened. But with the pleading look in his eyes, how could she say no?

There was something about him that made her soft.

Y/N sighed and slowly agreed. If Riki wanted her there, perhaps she should stay. So the two laid on opposite sides of the branch together, and silently looked up at a world they could only dream of being a part of.

After some time, Riki opened his mouth. “I know I already asked this earlier, but why did you come here? You know, to stargaze.” As if he wasn’t satisfied with her answer.

He was right in thinking that her answer wasn’t what she truly wanted to say, but it just felt awkward to give an exact reason. Her relationship with her mom was something she could barely tell her only 3 friends about, let alone someone she barely considered an acquaintance.

But Y/N knew Riki was a reliable guy; she had heard it often from Soul, Rei, and Giselle. And maybe for once she would let herself put faith into another person.

“I’ll only tell you if you tell me why you like stargazing.”

Riki blew out a breath in thought. “Hm… I don’t know if I can give an exact reason for that. I was just bored one day and ended up coming across this place. That’s what made me stargaze, but something about it just felt so comforting to me that I wanted to do it more often.” He answered, a soft smile gracing his lips. “But that’s not exactly a good reason.”

“I think it suits you.” Y/N whispered out. “I’m sure you have your own stresses with being the son of Alice in Wonderland. It would make sense that having a hobby like this to come back to is something you enjoy.”

He pondered on it for a moment. Maybe she was right. He then chuckled at this side of her he had never seen before. “You’re a lot more poetic than you let on. Anyways I answered your question, can you answer mine?”

Y/N considered answering it, she truly did, but as much as she wanted to open up there was the side of her that wanted to keep everything inside. Her mother had always told her that vocalizing your feelings does nothing good and only makes people pity you.

One thing Y/N despised was being pitied. It only reminded her of how her mother referred to her as a ‘pitiful girl’ and how she would amount to nothing.

So she slowly shook her head. “No, I don’t think I can.”

Riki felt himself beginning to sit up to look at the girl. There was something off about her. The way she spoke to him and the way that she carried herself… she wasn’t acting as she always had. Normal Y/N would be more playful and even mischievous. But now, there was a certain sadness in her entire being that seemed to be throwing her off her rhythm. And it only made Riki more and more curious about her.

“Okay, I get it. You don’t have to tell me.” Riki smiled, before continuing. “I just hope it doesn’t take away your chaotic spirit. You know, I kind of like that about you.”

A sigh left Y/N’s lips at his words. “You don’t mean that, Wonderland.”

“I mean every word, Cheshire.”

Y/N could only roll her eyes before slowly evaporating into the night, using her invisibility and teleportation to finally go back home.

Left lingering in the air was her Cheshire’s smile, which disappeared last and left Riki staring at the wisps of where she had sat only moments prior.

Maybe it made sense that Riki enjoyed stargazing. In a way, there was something about him that was made of the stars. No matter what he did, he always seemed to shine brighter than all the others. There was something about Riki that felt that he belonged up in the sky, giving life to the night and adding a certain glimmer to the auras.

Riki had his own place amongst the sky, and she wished she could be like that too. But after speaking to him, maybe there was nowhere she could have her own place in. Y/N could only wait for the day that she could contribute to a bigger picture, and take a larger part in his story. After all, she had always wanted her own place within the stars.

But for now, all she could do was hope she would become more than just the Cheshire Cat’s daughter.

Y/N carefully recounted her memories from that night, and how it had stuck with her and unknowingly fostered her feelings for Riki. As she told the story, she didn’t seem to notice the Cheshire Cat don a mischievous smile.

If her daughter wasn’t going to improve on her own, then she would have to make her improve.

୨:୧┈┈┈ · · ┈┈┈୨:୧

7. “You…r opinion?”

Liz had a habit of expecting the worst out of most situations. Perhaps it came from the fact that her destiny involved bears… big scary bears… but it was understandable. Bears weren’t known for being the most gentle creatures, after all.

So when she noticed a suspicious vial of liquid in Y/N’s bag during their Advanced Ballet class, Liz’s mind raced with negative thoughts. What was she up to? Did it have anything to do with pranking? Or maybe it was for a class assignment?

Liz truly didn’t mean to think the worst of Y/N, but she couldn’t exactly help it. Being kind wasn’t exactly in her forte and Liz was too much of a paranoid person to ignore seeing that vial.

But she also didn’t want to profile the girl for doing something that she wasn’t going to do in the first place. Liz knew that doing so wasn’t just right. So she looked around the room to see if anyone had seen her internal battle. Deciding that it had gone unnoticed, Goldilocks’ daughter let out a shaky breath and continued to practice her jetés.

“Are you still going to-” Ningning said, but paused when she realized she was being a bit too loud- especially considering the subject of the conversation was in that very room. Why was he there anyways? He didn’t even take Advanced Ballet… “Are you still going to prank Riki?” She continued in a hushed whisper.

Y/N giggled at Ningning’s apparent stress. Although she disliked making her friends upset, it was still sort of funny that she had that effect on them. “Well, I don’t see why I shouldn’t.”

Ningning frowned. “Well first of all, it’s rude.”

“Hey, if you’re not funny just say that!”

“Be serious…” Y/N made a hand movement indicating that she was shutting her mouth. Ningning then continued with her list. “It causes unnecessary problems. And besides, Riki isn’t going to like y-”

“What about Riki?”

Y/N and Ningning’s heads swiftly turned to face the voice- it was Beomgyu and Riki. Y/N could see Ningning get a little shy for reasons she decided to ignore. Beomgyu? Really? You can do better Ning…

“Don’t think you’re all that, Wonderland.” Y/N grinned. “We were talking about Ricky Jester.”

Beomgyu groaned. “Ugh, I hate that guy. He’s so annoying, I mean, we don’t care th-” His rant was cut short when Riki pressed a hand against Beomgyu’s mouth. “Thanks man, I forgot he’s in this class.”

Ningning chuckled. “Don’t be such a hater, Beomgyu.”

Ningning and Beomgyu proceeded to start their own conversation, with Beomgyu whispering to her all the things he found wrong with Ricky. Y/N felt happy for her friend in that moment, and let a small smile show on her face. It wasn’t intentional, and in fact she hadn’t even noticed it was there. But someone else noticed.

Riki couldn’t deny that he felt a certain emotion bubble in his stomach when he saw the genuine happiness on Y/N’s face. Y/N, the same girl who was often cold and didn’t show any of her softer emotions. Something about that made her happiness reflect onto him.

It was odd. He enjoyed seeing her in such a state, but he figured he felt more than he should have in that circumstance. Why did he feel like that?

No, Riki wasn’t dumb and he wasn’t the type to lie about his feelings. He could tell exactly what it was.

But was he pleased with the outcome? Riki wasn’t sure. Though he told himself that he would come to terms with whatever decision he made about his feelings on Y/N, it was easier said than done. After all, he knew that being romantically involved with the girl would come with work. A lot of work. He was also worried that everything was too rushed, and that he wasn’t thinking straight. Maybe his thought process was clouded with what he thought he wanted to happen.

Once again, the H/C female was left to her own thoughts- which obviously drifted to the boy next to her. She couldn't help it. He made her rather stable heart go all crazy when he was around.

Thoughts of confessing were brought up, but then immediately shut down because of how ridiculous it sounded. The idea of Riki having mutual feelings towards her seemed so out of the ballpark. After all, it was her. She was someone who had trouble facing her own feelings, and put up a front to hide all her troubles and insecurities. Riki always seemed put together. How could a guy such as himself possibly think about dating her?

At the same time of Y/N having doubts in her head, Riki had finally come to a conclusion. He pondered on it for a while, and he knew it was too obvious to ignore.

Riki liked Y/N.

It made him wonder, how long had he felt that way? He couldn’t help but think of the possibility of his crush starting even back then, on the day that he and Y/N shared under the stars.

He wondered if being hyper aware of Y/N and all that she does was because he liked her, or because he was a naturally curious person. He also wondered if him noticing the way her hair fell behind her ears was also because he liked her.

“Hey Riki, I have a question.” Y/N started, her cat-like eyes closing to a slant. “Why are you in our class today? I didn’t think someone like you would take Advanced Ballet. Don’t you dance hip hop?”

Snapping out of his thoughts, Riki considered the question. Why was he there? The simple answer was because Beomgyu, who actually did take the class, invited him to join since Riki had a free period.

But he thought back to the moment that Beomgyu asked, and what he said that got him to go.

“You know a lot of people in that class, actually.” Beomgyu said before listing off the people he could recall. “Liz, Ricky, Yuna, Wonyoung, Jake, Ningning, Y/N-”

Of course, Riki remembered. All the other names seemed to fade as he heard that last one.

“It was because of you-” Riki blurted out, without even thinking. He had to save himself before Y/N could catch onto his mistake. “-your opinion. I.. wanted to get your opinion on my outfit today since you’re very straightforward.”

What?! Why did I say that?

Slightly disappointed at his answer, Y/N looked at the boy up and down. Her opinion? He looked cute. As always.

“It’s hideous.”

A smirk made its way to Y/N’s face even though she didn’t agree with what she said. Though she usually acted calmer around Riki, teasing him every now and then didn’t do any harm.

“Hideous?! Hey, it’s really not that bad.” Riki chuckled. “It’s literally just an oversized jacket and baggy jeans!”

Y/N raised an eyebrow. “Um, don’t forget that you asked for my opinion, Wonderland.”

“And your opinion is wrong.” Riki said. “Also why do you call me Wonderland all the time?”

Beomgyu looked over at Y/N and Riki. He noticed the way they conversed, and how Y/N’s expression seemed softer than normal despite her mischievous jabs. He also picked up on Riki’s facials, and how his eyes seemed to sparkle in a certain way that Beomgyu had never seen before. It was interesting to see how his aura changed in the slightest when he was with Y/N.

Without realizing, Beomgyu was staring at Y/N while thinking about how glad he was that Riki found someone he liked.

He glanced over at Ningning to see if she had seen it as well, but stopped his trailing eyes when he noticed Riki giving him a weird face. Did he do something wrong?

Under the impression that Beomgyu was staring at Y/N because he was interested, Riki felt a wave of jealousy wash over his system. He never considered himself the possessive type, however, he had just realized his feelings for Y/N. It made sense that his brain was scattered and his emotions left him rather vulnerable.

For once in his life, Riki felt himself getting jealous of one of his friends. It wasn’t an instance that occurred often, as Riki knew he was a rather fortunate guy and that he had a lot to be grateful for, but he couldn’t help it this time.

Falling for Y/N Cheshire, Riki knew, came with a lot of work. He knew she had a lot of mental troubles she would need to work through, and Riki himself needed to navigate through these unfamiliar emotions.

It was work, but Riki was willing to put in the work for Y/N.

Amongst all the newfound realizations and bubbling emotions, one girl snuck away from her spot next to the group. She had been eavesdropping on their conversation for longer than intended, but what really stuck with her was what Ningning and Y/N discussed in the beginning.

Y/N… pranking Riki again?

Maybe it wasn’t anything to worry about. After all, she did prank Riki rather often. It was well known amongst the student body.

But she couldn’t shake the unsettling feeling that came over her body when she thought about what Y/N could possibly do, and the guilt that she would feel if she didn’t at least try to stop it.

Though she held a certain degree of respect for Y/N, one thing the girl stood heavily for was justice. As soon as she was far away from the group she pulled out her phone and went into Riki’s contact.

“Hey Riki, it’s me. Liz.”

୨:୧┈┈┈ · · ┈┈┈୨:୧

8. You make everyone miserable.

During the day time, it was common for Ever After High students to meet up at Hocus Latte. It was a common hang out spot between friends, though oftentimes if a girl asked a guy or vice versa people would assume it was for a date.

That was why Riki felt conflicted when he read Liz’s text.

‘I need to talk to you. Meet me at Hocus Latte at 3 p.m for a quick chat’ He reread to confirm the meeting time.

On one hand it made sense, because Yuna Rose worked there and the two were rather close. But did she not think about the message she might have accidentally sent? Riki tried not to think about it too deeply because he doubted Liz had a crush on him.

As he sat inside Hocus Latte waiting for Liz to arrive, his phone vibrated indicating he had received another text.

‘Actually I might be running late because there were some technical troubles for my MirrorCast show, but I sent over one of my friends to keep you company. Sorry about that!’

A wave of nervousness washed over his body as he read over her text. Who did she send? Riki didn’t usually find it hard to get along with others, but not knowing who he was going to have to hang out with gave him an unsettling feeling. His mind racked through the roster of Liz’s friends, and who she was most likely to send.

It’s definitely not Yuna because she’s working right now, maybe Jake? But he works for her MirrorCast show and if they were having technical troubles then she probably would have him help. What about Wonyoung- actually no, he could only hope it wasn’t her. The daughter of Snow White was someone he found rather intimidating, despite how nice she genuinely was.

As Riki pondered over the possibilities, he noticed a familiar form come into his view.

“You look stupid sitting here alone.”

Riki looked up and noticed Y/N’s signature Cheshire grin, something he hadn’t seen since they had become friends but he surely missed. He enjoyed the calm(ish) side of her that she had been presenting to him as of late, but he couldn’t help but miss the side of her that interested him in the first place. Though whatever side Y/N wanted to show him was one he was willing to accept.

He felt his heart pick up its pace as Y/N sat in the empty chair. His entire mind had been consumed by her, thinking about her almost every waking hour ever since he realized his crush on her. But despite that, he hadn’t actually expected to see her. They were good friends but the silly, fluttery feelings he felt for her still made being around her both exciting and difficult.

“Did Liz send you here?” Riki asked with a raised eyebrow. “I didn’t know you guys were friends.”

Y/N giggled. “Oh yeah, her and I are like this!” She crossed her fingers to indicate that they were close. “She loves me so much she made a MirrorCast episode about me!”

Riki remembered watching that episode, perhaps more so than he should’ve. Looking back on it, the signs that he had feelings for her were obvious. He just didn’t notice.

What happened is in the past. Now that I know I like her, I’m going to pursue her.

“It makes sense, I mean, you are a likable person.” Riki said, before taking a sip of her drink. Before Y/N could vocalize her confusion, he spoke once more. “Do you want a drink? I can order you one.”

“Oh, I’m good.” Not dropping her smirk, Y/N winked at Riki. “I already ordered one anyways.”

As Riki was about to ask what she meant, she had already turned herself intangible and disappeared. Moments passed with Riki just looking around and waiting for Y/N to come back, and eventually she did.

With a drink.

“How did you get that?”

“I ordered it, duh.” Y/N wore an expression that read ‘obviously’.

If anyone bothered to look in the back of the cafe, they would see Yuna in the kitchen covered in water and the drink she just finished making gone from her hands.

For unrelated reasons, of course.

Riki could tell that she hadn’t just ordered the drink, but he wasn’t about to point that out. He knew that Y/N could be annoying at times, but he knew she would never cross the line. He trusted her not to do that because he knew deep down, despite everything, she was a good person.

“Did you finish your Chemythstry paper?” Riki asked, changing the subject. “I heard from Jay that Rumplestiltskin is grading it harder than our past papers because he wants us to fail. That way if we ask for extra credit, he can punish us and make us spin straw into gold for him. Isn’t that sick in the head?”

Y/N stifled a laugh as she thought about their professor. “Really? That’s kind of funny, actually.”

Rolling his eyes in a teasing manner, Riki smiled. “Right, I forgot that’s pretty on brand for you. Just wait until he asks you to do it, maybe it won’t be funny then.”

“Please, Rumplestiltskin loves me.” Y/N said, emphasizing the ‘love’. “And even if he tried to fail me I would just turn it into a passing grade without him seeing.”

“I remember when you fell asleep in his class and he just let you sleep. If that were any one of us, he would’ve yelled in our faces.” Riki reminisced.

Y/N stuck her tongue out at him. “It must suck not being the favorite.”

“I’ll have you know Pied Piper loves me.”

“That’s not a flex… Everytime he plays the trumpet, rats fall from the sky. And for some reason he keeps doing it??”

“At least my professor is taller than 4 feet.”

“At least mine doesn’t like classic rock.”

“Isn’t your mom friends with Pied Piper?”

“So? That doesn’t mean I have to like him…”

The two went back and forth for a while, though it was all in good fun. It felt nice to be able to banter and tease each other and know that neither of them meant any harm by it.

Riki enjoyed speaking to Y/N, because he thought she was fun. Y/N enjoyed speaking to Riki, because she felt that she could be herself around him.

Though, all good things must come to an end. Y/N felt one of her senses pick up suddenly, and she realized her time with Riki was one of those good things.

She had to leave before Liz noticed she was there.

“It’s been fun, Wonderland, but I have to dip.” Y/N said. “Duty calls, you know?”

Before he could utter out a ‘bye’, Y/N had already disappeared and was out of his sight.

Moments after, Liz finally arrived.

“Hi Riki! Sorry for running late, there was this whole thing with the routers and Jake kept accidentally breaking things and-”

Riki waved it off before she could continue to ramble. “It’s alright! Thank you for sending someone to keep me company, it was fun.”

Liz smiled knowing that she did something helpful. “I’m glad, Chae was excited even though I asked her last minute. Weird, right? I didn’t realize you guys were friends.”

As Liz continued on about how Chaehyun was willing to drop what she was doing to accompany Riki, he paused. Did she say Chaehyun?

Didn’t she send Y/N?

“Wait, Chaehyun?” Riki asked, hoping he hadn’t heard the name incorrectly.

Confused, Liz stopped what she was saying to clarify. “Yes? She was the one I asked. Did she not tell you that?”

The pieces finally clicked in Riki’s head, and he felt a bit dumb for not noticing it sooner. Suspicious behavior was all a part of Y/N’s character but she hadn’t been acting in such a way as of late. For her to come and suddenly revert back to that was something that Riki should’ve thought about. That paired with her leaving so suddenly…

But one thing didn’t make sense, why did Y/N come instead of Chaehyun in the first place?

Before Liz could comment on Riki’s prolonged silence, he awkwardly laughed. “Sorry, yeah. Chaehyun mentioned it, I just thought you said Chaewon and I wanted to clarify.”

Whatever the reason was for Y/N to lie, he figured outing her to Liz wouldn’t be helpful.

“So, what did you want to talk about?”

“Oh right!” Liz jumped up, almost having forgotten why she wanted to meet with Riki in the first place. “I overheard something during Advanced Ballet, and I just wanted to tell you about it because I think you deserve to know.”

Advanced Ballet? Oh right, Liz was in Y/N and Beomgyu’s class. He recalled seeing her for a brief moment that day when he crashed their lesson.

The way she was putting everything made Riki slightly nervous, but he could only hope it wasn’t anything too bad. “Okay, what is it?”

“I saw a weird vial of liquid in Y/N’s bag, and I overheard her talking to Ningning about wanting to prank you. I know she pranks you often, but I just didn’t feel right seeing all that and not doing anything about it.”

Riki let out a laugh at what she said. “Thank you for being concerned, but she always does this and I’m okay with that. I know she would never cross the line.”

“That’s good! I just wanted to let you know so you could prepare if anything.” Liz smiled, glad he had taken it so well. She knew that Riki and Y/N were decent friends so she didn’t feel particularly worried about the fact that he was alright with her. “I also know Beomgyu was mentioning to Ningning that you were sick of getting pranked, so I wanted to make sure it wasn’t anything-” She paused what she was saying when a memory popped into her head. “Wait, I just remembered something. Did you know Beomgyu has a crush on Y/N?”

Riki felt his heart stop when Liz said those words.

Beomgyu had a crush on Y/N? His Y/N? How could he!

Of course Riki never vocalized his crush on her, but he had hoped that Beomgyu would be able to notice.

“O-Oh, does he really?” Riki nervously laughed, trying not to let his disappointment show. It would be embarrassing if Liz found out Riki felt the same. “He never told me that…”

“He never said it explicitly, but when he and Ningning were talking I saw him look over at Y/N a lot. He was probably asking Ningning for help on how to ask her out, since she’s one of Y/N’s best friends.” Liz chuckled. “Isn’t it so cute! I think they fit each other well. Don’t you? Maybe he’ll ask her to the True Hearts Day dance!”

No, they don’t fit each other at all. Beomgyu was annoying and stupid, and Y/N was funny and smart. She was far too beautiful on the inside to be with someone who often stole food from the Castleteria.

Riki didn’t care that Y/N also stole food. To him, it was only alright when she did it. Everything in his eyes was alright when it was done by Y/N.

But regardless, Riki didn’t want Y/N to be stunted by being with Beomgyu. He loved his friend, but he knew that he had a lot of room to mature before he gave his heart to another.

At the end of the day, Riki knew one thing and that was that he was the only one fit for Y/N.

Because he liked her. No, maybe even loved.

Though, he couldn’t admit that. Not now. “Yeah, they would look great.” He said through gritted teeth.

After wrapping up their conversation Liz and Riki decided to walk back to Ever After High together. It was getting late, and Riki was worried about Liz getting back safely.

And as much as he tried to be present in whatever Liz was saying about how to make the best porridge, he just couldn’t pay attention. All he could think about was Beomgyu and Y/N being together. The thought made him sick to his stomach. The idea of them holding hands… whispering sweet nothings into each others’ ears… kissing- It was all too much. He couldn’t stand thinking about it, yet he was addicted to the thought. He kept thinking up different scenarios that would occur if the two ever started dating.

While distracted, Riki felt a gust of wind blow behind him. He tried not to think too much about it but it felt a little unsettling.

He brushed it off, and tried to pay attention to what Liz was rambling about.

“-and then you have to drizzle it with honey! But the honey you get has to be just right, it can’t be too sweet but it also can’t be too flavorless. So that’s something you have to think about.” Liz stopped for a moment when she noticed that Riki wasn’t exactly paying attention. “Hey, are you okay?”

Riki was about to respond, however he was interrupted when he heard a familiar giggle fill the air. Suddenly, he felt a hole open up underneath him until he eventually fell through, falling for about 10 feet before he landed on hard rock.

“Riki, are you okay?!” Liz shouted from above. She looked around where she found a rope on the ground next to a tree, so she picked it up and threw it down to Riki to help him up. “What the hell happened??”

Still shaken up, Riki brushed the dirt off his clothes as he climbed up the rope. “I… I have no idea. One moment I was standing and all of a sudden I was on the ground.”

Once he got back onto the surface, the adrenaline eventually went away and he could finally feel the pain shoot up his ankle.

A giggle was heard from a distance, the same giggle that Riki had heard moments prior to falling. It was a little too familiar for his liking, and he hoped that it wasn’t who he thought it was.

“What happened to you, Wonderland?”

Riki and Liz looked to the side and Riki felt his heart drop for the second time that day.

There Y/N stood, looking cute and innocent as ever, as if she wasn’t causing a storm to brew within Riki’s heart.

Was she the one who made him fall?

“Why are you asking when you’re the one who did this?” Riki muttered, hurt shown on his face.

The previously lighthearted expression on Y/N’s face slowly shifted into a confused one. What was he talking about? “Well, I’m flattered you think I’m capable of something like this but I don’t even know what happened to you.”

“Don’t lie, don’t you think it’s weird that I fell into a hole and a few seconds later you show up?” Riki said. “I thought you were better than this, I mean, I could’ve seriously injured myself!”

It was then that Y/N realized Riki wasn’t in the best mood, and that worried her. She didn’t enjoy him being angry at her, not one bit. “Riki, it wasn’t me. Truly.”

“So you’re saying Liz was lying about how you’ve been planning on pranking me?”

Riki didn’t mean to bring Liz into it, but he couldn’t help it.

“I can’t believe you… I thought we’ve been getting closer. Then you go and do this?”

“I’m being honest, it wasn’t me!” Y/N voice raised to a yell. She felt hurt that he was blindly accusing her, though she couldn’t blame him. After all this time, she knew people only expected the worst of her. And with how she’s treated Riki in the past, it was only right that his mind would think of her to do such a thing.

But she thought he would know she would never intentionally hurt him. That’s why she only pulled small pranks. “I care about you a lot, Riki. Even though I considered pranking you in the past, I stopped myself from doing it because I want to better myself for you.”

Riki felt his heart swell at what she said, but he still couldn’t get the information he learned about Y/N and Beomgyu out of his head.

“Are you ever going to take anything seriously? I mean, aren’t you tired of acting like this?”

“Acting like what…?”

All the jealousy he felt and the anger he felt towards himself… seeing her made all the negative feelings that Riki had been feeling bubble up, and before he knew it his mouth was moving faster than his brain.

“Aren’t you tired of making people feel miserable all the time!?” He yelled, with shut eyes.

But as soon as the words left his mouth, he felt regret all around. He didn’t mean to say anything really mean, he was just upset and he had accidentally taken it out on her.

“Um, don’t you think that was a little too far?” Liz whispered, surprised that Riki of all people said that. “I think you should apologize, I mean, she really might not have done it.”

Wasn’t Liz the one suspicious of Y/N in the first place?

Before he could take back his words he looked back up at his crush, only to see hurt and shock written on her face. And Riki knew he messed up.

“I make people feel miserable…? Alright, I get it.”

The smile Y/N put on was different from all the smiles she had given him in the past. It was filled with mixed emotions- sadness, hurt, and disgust. But at who? Disgusted at him? Or maybe even herself?

That was the last he had seen of Y/N in a few days.

Riki looked up at the sky and for some reason, the stars seemed to be dimmer than usual.

୨:୧┈┈┈ · · ┈┈┈୨:୧

9. Locker chats.

It was two days before the big True Heart’s Day dance that Chaehyun had been planning, and Riki couldn’t feel more stressed.

“You said that to her??”

Soul couldn’t hold back his shock as Riki recounted his previous argument with Y/N.

It had been some time since then, and Riki knew the girl was evading him. But why? He knew he had hurt her, but didn’t he deserve an apology too? After all, she did cause him to hurt his ankle.

“She could’ve killed me, Soul.” Riki frowned. “I don’t think I’m in the wrong for being concerned about my safety.”

Soul face palmed at his friends’ obliviousness. “Has it ever occurred to you that she might not have done it? Ever since you guys became close, you know Y/N has been trying to change her nature. She wouldn’t do anything to hurt you, and especially not something that drastic.”

Riki let out a sigh as he remembered something he had been trying to push to the back of his head. “But that’s the thing, what if she doesn’t care about me as much as I thought she did?”

“Bro what-”

“Liz told me that Beomgyu likes her.” It hurt Riki’s heart to think about that fact. “What if she likes him back?”

Soul was about to voice his disagreement when his eyes trailed past Riki’s shoulder. Before he could tell him not to look, Riki was already turning his head to see what caught Soul’s attention.

But the sight was one he had been dreading to see. Beomgyu and Y/N were walking to class together, and they seemed happy to be together.

Since when were they friends? Was it because Riki hadn’t been by her side? And why hadn’t Beomgyu said anything about their new friendship?

Riki’s mind raced with the possibilities of how Y/N and Beomgyu had become friends. But no matter how they had gotten to that point, it didn’t matter.

Beomgyu was talking to Y/N. His Y/N. How could she stand there, and laugh, and look so beautiful?

How could she look so well when he was struggling so much internally?

Riki would never know just how much sleep Y/N was losing over everything, or how she had already planned out her apology.

“Maybe they’re just friends?” Soul suggested, not wanting his best friend to be upset. But even he couldn’t deny the seeming chemistry between the two.

“Don’t worry about Beomgyu, he’s not a threat.” Ningning’s voice was heard as she approached the two Wonderlandians. “Now Riki tell me, what did you say to Y/N? She hasn’t been herself these days and I know you have something to do with it.”

Riki was hesitant to tell Y/N’s best friend about what had happened, but maybe Ningning could clear some things up for him. So he described what occurred between the two of them that night in great detail, making sure Ningning was able to get the full picture.

Once he finished, he could tell the swan girl was about to slap him for what he said to her friend.

“Are you being serious right now?” Ningning scoffed. “I can’t believe I ever thought you were smart because you’re actually kind of dumb…”

Riki frowned. “Okay rude.”

Soul had to stop himself from laughing. “She kind of gagged you there…”

Ningning sighed. “Riki… Y/N was telling the truth, she didn’t do it. Her mom did.”

“...What?”

“You stupid hoe, I can’t believe you didn’t try to hear her out.” Disappointment could be heard all over Ningning’s tone, but Riki wasn’t paying attention to that.

All he could think about how he seriously messed up.

“Her mom thought you were a threat to Y/N’s success so she tried to get you out of the picture. But when Y/N found out about it, she yelled at her mom. Can you believe that?” Ningning said incredulously. “She’s terrified of her mother, but she yelled at her for you.”

He realized that he shouldn’t have gotten so defensive and just trusted his friend, after all, she had been showing that she did want to change. He should have trusted her and not let his emotions take over.

But after hearing about Y/N and Beomgyu possibly being together was just too much for him to think about, and he projected all that anger onto Y/N. The things he said and the way he acted were all uncalled for.

“Is she going to class right now?” Riki abruptly said, the only thought on his mind was that he needed to apologize.

“She’s kind of busy these days because she’s helping Chaehyun prepare for the dance, so I don’t think it’s a good time to approach her.” Ningning said. “Maybe try talking to her on the day of the dance?”

He didn’t want to wait for two more days but if Ningning thought that was best, he would trust her. Riki would wait for as long as he needed if it meant he could have Y/N back in his life.

Because more than anything, he missed her and her silly pranks.

୨:୧┈┈┈ · · ┈┈┈୨:୧

10. I’ve always loved you.

“You look pretty, Y/N.”

Y/N snapped out of her staring contest with the mirror as Ningning entered her peripherals. The daughter of the Swan Queen, who usually wore her ballet style clothing, suddenly adorned a lilac dress that was shorter in the front and longer in the back with silver details sprinkled throughout. It resembled a forest design, which was befitting of her character since she was a swan after all.

Y/N, on the other hand, wore a darker purple dress that was of a similar length and had black lace around the top. Her voluminous hair was styled into pigtails and part of it was made to resemble cat ears. Her accessories complimented the outfit perfectly, and she felt good about herself for once in her life.

A sigh left Y/N’s lips. “Thanks Ning. You look beautiful too.”

Ningning frowned. “You’re still upset, aren’t you?”

And she was right.

True Heart’s Day. It was a night many people looked forward to, and a memory they all knew would solidify within each others’ long term memories. The aspect of getting dressed up and attending a formal event was a luxury that the attendees basked in for even days after the original event. The luminescent lights, the high energy music, the romantic atmosphere— it was all too exhilarating. Although the event wasn’t intended to be a romantic one, many students had made it out to be one. Being the daughter of Cupid, Chaehyun didn’t know if she was satisfied with that outcome or not.

But for Y/N, she hadn’t even wanted to go anymore. After her fight with Riki, being in such a romantic atmosphere only made her more upset than ever. It reminded her that no matter how much she tried to change or how often she attempted to prove that she was more than what the general public made her out to be, she would never be seen as who she really was.

And that made her feel like more of an outsider than ever.

“It’s nothing. I’m excited.” Y/N smiled at Ningning, in hopes that she would stop worrying. “Is it almost time? We should go before it’s too late.”

Ningning groaned, as she remembered where they were going. “Remind me why we’re doing this again? Dances aren’t exactly my type of scene.”

Y/N chuckled. “Because we have to be there to support Chae. She’s counting on us, you know?” She paused, and a sad expression made its way onto her face. “And I don’t want to disappoint anyone anymore.”

Ningning looked at Y/N with an expression on her face, feeling sad for her friend.

She could only hope True Hearts Day would go over well.

After walking around the forest for 15 minutes, Y/N could tell that Ningning didn’t know where she was going. Why would Chae organize the dance to be so far away from the school? She knew they were keeping everything on the down low, but still.

“You have no idea where we’re going, do you?” Y/N giggled as her best friend struggled to figure out where they were going. “Why don’t we just call Chae-”

“No!” Ningning shouted. “I mean, we can’t disturb her. I’m sure we can figure it out on our own.”

Y/N doubted Ningning’s words but didn’t vocalize that.

They wandered around for a few more minutes, when Ningning spotted someone in the distance.

Bingo.

“Beomgyu! Are you guys heading to the True Hearts Day dance?”

Y/N hoped that the other person with Beomgyu wasn’t who she was hoping it would be. But unfortunately, she rarely got what she wanted.

As she looked where Ningning was, Y/N could see Riki in all his entirety. It had been a while since she had fully looked at him, and she felt her heart stop. He was just as beautiful as he’d always been. Y/N couldn’t deny that despite being the one to cut off contact, she had missed him more than ever.

Maybe there was a part of Riki that missed her too?

No, that couldn’t be the case. He said it himself, she only made people miserable.

Deep down Y/N had been pondering on that possibility for years. But hearing someone verbalize it out loud and say it to her, especially someone she liked so much, was extremely hurtful.

But she knew she needed to hear it. Because now more than ever she’s felt sorry for her actions.

Though, did Riki have to be so rude about it?

“Yeah, we’re on our way right now.” Beomgyu answered Ningning’s question while Riki and Y/N had an intense staring contest. “What are you two doing here? Isn’t it in the other direction?”

Ningning facepalmed at her stupidity. They had been going the wrong way. “Oh yeah! I definitely knew that. I was just… making sure you guys would get there safe.”

Chuckling at her denial, Beomgyu smiled. “Right, because that makes so much sense.”

Y/N could see Ningning getting shy. “Well since we’re all here, should we just head over together?” Ningning suggested looking at Y/N to get her approval more than anything.

Although she had been avoiding Riki, Y/N really didn’t want any more bad blood between the two of them. Even if he would never like her back, she missed her friend and would do anything to fix everything. “I’m alright with that. But let’s go faster, because we’ll already be late enough as is.”

The four began walking together, the atmosphere silent but not awkward. They were lucky that they were decent enough friends with each other that being together wouldn’t be an issue.

However with Y/N and Riki too cowardly to apologize to one another, there was a slight tension in the air that was too thick for Ningning and Beomgyu to handle. The two made subtle eye contact, and nodded.

“Hey Y/N,” Beomgyu started, as he approached the distracted girl. “You look pretty.”

Y/N appreciated Beomgyu and his kindness, but she had wished those words were said by a certain someone instead. But she didn’t want to let her disappointment show, so Y/N did what she did best. Hide everything under her teasing personality. “You don’t look too bad yourself, Hood. I mean for once, you don’t look like you just finished rolling in dirt.”

“Oh please, says the girl who sleeps in trees.”

Riki frowned when he heard Y/N and Beomgyu bantering. Did she normally joke around with him like that? How often did they talk to each other? How long had they been friends?

He couldn’t help but feel himself getting jealous that Y/N teased other guys that weren’t him. Though, he should’ve expected it. After all, she teased everyone. Riki was never an exception. Although, he often wondered if her calling Riki by his last name was something she reserved for him or used on others.

But a thought crossed Riki’s mind. Perhaps he wanted to be the only guy that she teased.

“You’re sooooo jealous right now, aren’t you?” Ningning snuck up behind Riki and whispered in his ear. “She might need a little more than a push in the right direction.”

“Ningning wh-”

Ningning put a finger to Riki’s mouth as he was a little too loud for her liking. “Y/N. Be honest, do you like her?”

“I do.”

Before, he would hesitate before saying that he liked her. But at this point, he was too far down the ladder of love to even want to deny it anymore.

Riki Wonderland was in love with Y/N.

“I love her, Ningning. I always have.”

Ningning smiled. “Tell her that. She needs to hear it now more than ever.”

Riki looked past Ningning to where Beomgyu and Y/N were talking. They were a little in front of him, but far enough to where him and Ningning’s conversation would be inaudible. He admired the way she seemed to skip out of excitement, the way the sun made her look ethereal, and the way she made all her movements seem graceful. He glanced at the way her hand dangled on her side, lonely as ever.

He wanted to be the one to hold it.

After some time, the quartet arrived at the venue. Chaehyun had done amazing with the preparations; Y/N and Ningning couldn’t help but feel proud of their friend for what she did. It had taken a long time of planning, but the dance was finally fully fleshed out. It was truly an amazing feat she took up and she executed it beautifully.

There were pink and red hearts scattered around the room, as well as pink and red falling from the ceiling. The punch and snack table was well decorated with various kinds of snacks and spanned from one side of the room to the other. In the middle, there was a dance floor where Yoon Piper was stationed as the DJ. The room was already packed with most of the students in Ever After High, all high off the adrenaline of doing something so risky.

Beomgyu led Riki to meet up with some of their mutual friends who they spotted in the distance. Jungwon Croakington, Jake Charming, and Sunghoon Winter waved them over when they made eye contact. The group was situated near the punch bowl.

Y/N and Ningning went to find Chaehyun, who was sat alone at a table.

“Hey gorgeous,” Ningning complimented Chaehyun. “What are you doing over here alone?”

“After all the preparation I’m kind of tired. Isn’t that funny? I spent so much time making it perfect that I can’t even enjoy how it turned out.” Chaehyun bitterly laughed. “I was with Sullyoon earlier after she helped me set up, but I didn’t want to dampen her mood so I left.”

“But you look too good tonight not to enjoy it!” Y/N put her hand on Chaehyun’s. “Why don’t we go dance so you can loosen up a bit?”

Chaehyun shook her head. “Maybe later, I don’t think I’m in the mood right Besides, I think someone wants to talk to you right now.”

Before Y/N could ask what she was talking about, Chaehyun nodded her head over to where Liz was standing with a sheepish expression.

“Hey, Y/N.”

Y/N knew part of why Riki had lashed out at her was because Liz said something to him, she wasn’t dumb. But in all honesty, she didn’t hold it against the girl. After all, Liz had never acted maliciously towards her. She definitely had an explanation for what she did.

“I just wanted to say sorry for what happened with Riki.” Liz sighed with an apologetic expression. “I was under the impression that you were going to do something that was going to hurt him, and I was just doing what I thought was right. But I should’ve talked to you about it first and not just made assumptions.”

Y/N put on the most genuine smile she could muster to convince Liz she wasn’t upset with her. “It’s okay, you were just trying to be helpful. It’s my fault for acting this way in the first place. If I didn’t, then people wouldn’t have a reason to suspect me of doing bad things.”

Liz frowned when she said this. Did Y/N really see herself in that way? “But you’re more than just that! Throughout our time at Ever After High, I’ve always admired you.” Y/N’s eyes widened when she said that. “I mean, you’re already ready to sign the Storybook of Legends. Even with all the people who don’t like you, somehow you’ve always seemed to have everything together. And I think that’s really strong of you.”

Hearing that from Liz, knowing that there was someone out there who believed there was more to her than what she displayed, it was relieving.

Because it meant that there was the possibility for her to redefine her legacy.

“Thanks Liz, that means a lot to me.” Y/N gave the blonde a hug. “And… I’m sorry for waking you up from your nap that one time.”

Liz chuckled at the memory she had long forgotten. “It was getting late anyways. Maybe I should thank you instead.”

Once the two had finished their discussion, Liz left to go greet Yuna who had just arrived. That left Y/N… alone? She hadn’t even noticed that Ningning and Chaehyun left during her conversation with Liz. But where did they go?

Y/N’s cat eyes trailed to the side of the room and surely enough, she saw her best friends talking to Beomgyu and some of his friends.

Though, Riki was nowhere to be found.

Despite how scared she was to talk to him still, her conversation with Liz had given her a boost of courage and confidence in herself that she wouldn’t have had otherwise. There was something in her that told her she needed to go find Riki and clear the air, because she was tired of the pettiness.

She wanted Riki back.

Y/N needed to find him, but he was nowhere to be found inside of the venue. She looked all around and asked all the people who could possibly know where he was, but nothing was of any help. That’s when it clicked in her brain and she realized that she knew where Riki was all along, and she just hadn’t thought about it.

Before the night could end, Y/N went outside so she could find Riki.

Just as she had hoped, she had spotted him sitting on the branch of a tree, looking up at the stars. Y/N could notice his bed of fluffy hair from anywhere.

She tried to ignore the incessant racing of her heart while she thought about what she was going to say to him for the first time in a week.

“Is there any more room up here?”

Riki looked down when he heard her voice, the voice he had been waiting to hear all night. Memories from the night they spent stargazing when they were 11 filled his mind, as he shook his head. “I was just coming down.”

Riki climbed down the tree as fast as he could but not too fast to where it would ruin his outfit. He still wanted to look good for Y/N even if they were going through a tough time.

“Are you enjoying the dance so far?” Riki asked once he was on the ground and him and Y/N were facing one another.

There was a slight awkwardness in the air, but it was washed out by the fact that they were just happy to be speaking once again.

Y/N nodded. “Chae did a really good job with everything, even if I haven’t been able to enjoy it all yet.”

“What do you mean?” Riki could tell where she was going, but he wanted to let her speak before he made assumptions.

Swallowing her pride, Y/N looked into Riki’s eyes. Those eyes… she had missed them. There was an unreadable expression on Riki’s face that Y/N could only hope meant he wanted her just as much as she wanted him.

She didn’t know that he wanted her more.

“I’m sorry Riki, for everything.” Y/N finally let out. “I’m sorry for pranking you so often, and I’m sorry for crossing lines that should’ve never been crossed. I just found you the most fun to prank, but I never wanted to do it so often to the point that it would make you uncomfortable. But I’m trying to get better at noticing those things.” Riki smiled at the fact that she was finally being vulnerable with him. He had waited years for this to happen. “I don’t want to keep secrets from you anymore. That day when we stargazed together, I ran away because I had a fight with my mom. She told me that I wasn’t good for anything, and that I should’ve never been born because I could never continue her legacy anyways. It got really tense between us so I ran away.”

As happy as he was that she was being open with him, he did feel upset with the reasoning. Not because he didn’t like it, but because he was upset it had happened and he couldn’t do anything to take away her pain. To think that she was carrying something so heavy for so long… All Riki wanted to do in that moment was take her pain away.

Riki gave her a sad smile and slowly raised his arms so they would be around his shoulders.

“May I?”

Y/N gave consent and Riki leaned into a hug. It was the first time they had truly been intimate, and it gave both teens a slight fluttery feeling in their stomachs. Faces red and heartbeats synced, the rush of young love was one too overwhelming to bear.

They unknowingly felt themselves succumb deeper and deeper into the feeling of loving one another, both itching to feel more of that lovestruck feeling they always felt when they were together.

“I have one more secret I haven’t told you yet.” Y/N whispered. She was too nervous to use her full voice, as she was afraid that it would come out shaky.

“What is it, Y/N?”

Y/N lifted her head from off of Riki’s shoulder and came face to face with him. Their faces were extremely close but neither wanted to change that. They stared into each other’s eyes for a short moment, though that moment felt longer than it really was.

“Riki, I love you. I always have.” Y/N confessed. “Ever since we first met back in Wonderland, I’ve always found myself drawn to you. And even though I never told you, you helped me a lot that day when I fought with my mom. I only became more infatuated with you from then on, and that’s why I pranked you so much.”

At her confession, Riki felt a wave of relief wash over his entire being. The fact that she felt the same way for so long made him even more giddy on the inside than he already was.

The feeling of having one reciprocate your feelings is something that can’t be replicated elsewhere.

“I love you so much and I don’t know how to handle it. What should I do?” Y/N finally felt comfortable voicing out all her thoughts that they were running out of her mouth like a water stream. She could only thank Riki for that. “How do I fix these feelings?”

Riki mustered up whatever courage was left within him to brush his hand against her lips ever so slightly. “Kiss me.”

After a moment of hesitation, the two leaned into each other until their lips met in a kiss. Both could feel a shock of electricity rush through as their lips melded together like they were always meant to. It only felt right and at that moment, they both realized something.

Perhaps it was all written in the stars.

Though both were inexperienced, so the kiss had ended just as quickly as it started.

“I love you too, Y/N.” Riki realized that he never explicitly stated his feelings to the girl, and he intended on doing so as passionately as he could. “I’ve loved you ever since the first time I saw you pull a prank on someone when we were 8. I’ve always been so interested in you, because you were always an enigma to me. But as we eventually got closer, I felt myself falling deeper in love with you as I learned something about you every day.” Riki was glad to get everything off his chest. “I love you so much that when you got closer to Beomgyu, I lashed out and took it out on you. Because I want to be the only guy you give your attention to.”

“I want to be the only guy you tease.”

Y/N was glad that they were shrouded in the darkness, because her face was burning up more than ever at his words.

She rarely got shy in front of people. But with Riki, the possibilities were endless.

“But I’m sorry for everything I said that day, I was just upset. You don’t make people miserable.” Riki apologized.

“Well I would hope not.” Y/N said with her signature grin, in order to lighten up the mood.

Even though nothing she said was particularly funny, the two found themselves bursting out into laughter. They were running on the emotional high they had gotten from the confessions. But now, knowing that their feelings for each other were felt by the other person, there was nothing left to hide.

Y/N was ready to show every side of her, good, bad, and ugly. Because for once in her life, she noticed that she was more than just the Cheshire Cat’s daughter.

Right then, in that moment, Y/N was capable of being loved for who she really was.

As the night came to a close, they could hear Yoon announce that a slow dance song would be played next from inside the venue.

Riki didn’t have to say any words for Y/N to know what he was going to ask her.

Once the music played, Y/N laid her head on Riki’s shoulders as he led her into a slow dance, their first slow dance as a couple.

Y/N sighed happily into Riki. “You know, you remind me of the stars.”

“Why, because my shirt is blue?” He retorted, referencing the blue top he had worn to the dance.

“No, stupid. I didn’t know why before but I think I figured it out.” Y/N giggled. “The stars are make up the night sky, and they have a place built for them. They’re beautiful. And to me, you’re all of that.”

Riki smiled with nothing but love in his eyes, and kissed Y/N’s forehead. “If I’m the stars, then you’re a constellation. Just like how the constellations connect the stars and make them whole, you do the same for me. You make me feel whole.”

No matter what, Y/N would always look up at the stars and think about Riki. They represented every part of him in his entirety, and she couldn’t get enough of it. Funnily enough, the stars seemed to be shining brighter than usual that night.

The two continued to slow dance into the night, both blinded by the wonders of young love. Being encapsulated by the giddy feelings and speaking sweet nothings to each other was the perfect way to end their story.

Ningning felt her heart swell with pride as she admired the newfound couple. After all the heartbreak Y/N had gone through in her life, it was refreshing to see her genuinely happy for once. She couldn’t help but wonder if she could experience the same soon enough. But that was a problem for another day. This was Y/N’s story, and she was glad to have contributed to her happy ending. She looked between Beomgyu and Chaehyun and nodded.

Chaehyun was relieved to know that Riki and Y/N ended up together. When she looked outside to see for herself if it was true, she let out a long sigh. It was about time.

The future Cupid winked at both of her friends, signaling that their plan had worked.

Perhaps she was better at matchmaking than she thought she was.

authors note. chaehyun beomgyu and ningning best plotters!!!

cheshire taglist. @thesassy-mia @oldjws @enhacatalog @hoonpalettes @star-ism @lprww @asteria-wood

permanent taglist. @muhwaa @hoori @yizhoutv @ja4hyvn @carayat @one16core @enhacolor @haerinz @soobin-chois @en-boyz @ohmy-fandoms @yjwonz @yunki4evr @strwberrydinosaur @duolingofanaccount @iichaeyj @eundiarys @ineedaherosavemeenow @chaerybae @bubblytaetae @w3bqrl @xiaoderrrr @jaeyunnsworld @rikizm @teddywonss @gweoriz @dimplewonie @jennaissantes @kivrio @kaykay11sworld @itsactuallylina (if u requested to be on my permanent taglist and u didn’t get tagged it’s bc i cant see ur acc, but pls dm me if u want to be in it !)

#enhypen x reader #enhypen riki x reader #nishimura riki x reader #riki x y/n #enhypen nishimura riki #riki x reader #enhypen niki x reader #niki angst #niki fluff #enhypen x y/n #enhypen #niki x reader #riki fluff #ni ki enhypen #enhypen x you #enhypen x female reader #rn #enhypen angst #enhypen imagines #enhypen oneshots #nishimura riki #enhypen riki #riki imagines #enhypen niki

[madameaug]

3D || JJK x Black OC

Pairing: Celebrity Jungkook x Non-Celebrity Jennette

Feature: Jack Harlow

WC: 900 ish

Context: Things are going smoothly on the second day of filming for Jungkook's solo '3D' with Kentucky rapper Jack Harlow. But tempers rise when Jack takes a flirtatious approach to Jungkook's girl.

Jungkook naturally had a positive attitude. He got a full nights rest and he had a tasty American breakfast. He was on set for the second and final day of filming for his single '3D'. It would be his second solo song with the new direction and image he was launching.

Seven was just a tiny drop in the pond for the full extent he wanted. He was tired of the 'baby' and 'maknae' cape he wore for the many years he was a part of BTS. Of course, he couldn't deny the fact that he was the youngest member of the group, but he was twenty-six. He was a grown man and he was entitled to his sexuality. He wanted to express how raunchy and nasty he could be is. I mean he was in a long term relationship with his girlfriend, fans couldnt' have thought that he was just holding hands with her. They would be delusional.

Currently, Jungkook was sitting in his trailer rubbing the soft fabric of the neon pink romper Jennette was wearing. She laid down on her stomach, scrolling through her phone. Her legs were across his lap, giving unrestricted access to her plump behind. What she it lacked in size, it overcompensated in weight. Any time she walked there was a jiggle that caught Jungkook's attention.

"Bug look at this." Jennette turned showing Jungkook a video of Jack Harlow's story. "He's here." The Kentucky rapper had tagged the singer in a Instagram story showing that he had arrived on set. The diamond crusted shape of Kentucky reflecting off the sunlight.

A sequential knock on the trailer could be heard. A slight groan Jennette moved off of Jungkook allowing him to stand up fully. Opening the door Jack Harlow had a big smile on his face. He dapped Jungkook.

"What's poppin."

Jungkook returned the same enthusiasm. Using the English that he knew. He was now at a conversational level thanks to Jennette and could better articulate himself. Jennette just look at the two men conversing with each other. Unaware at the secret glances to she was receiving from Jack.

Jack immediately noticed the feminine fragrance in the trailer. The scent couldn't belong to no one other than the beauty sitting on Jungkook's leather couch. Her legs were crossed over one another, and he could see the pure white color she sported on her toes. Two gold hoop piercings hanging on each nostril, elevated her look. Baby hairs were laid, with lips dewey and glossy. Her hair was shaped like a cloud, and not in its usual protective style.

Jungkook wasn't an idiot and watched the glances Jack made behind him. He was probably just curious about who Jennette was. Thinking nothing of it, Jungkook formally introduced the pair.

"Jeanie come meet Jack. Jack this is 'Jennette', Jeanie this is Jack."

Jennette smiled with simple wave.

"Had I known there were going to be gorgeous models like her I would have gotten here earlier so I could get to know her." Jack lifted Jennette's hand bringing it to his lips.

"Oh that's not necessary." Jennette dryly laughed, pulling her hand away. Once it was behind her back, she discreetly wiped any trace of his lips on her back.

"Jeanie was it?"

"ACTUALLY it's Jennette." Jungkook stepped in the middle of the two.

Thinking fast, Jennette bawled up her face appearing to sneeze. She turned behind her before letting out the fake sneeze.

"My allergies must be acting up. Let me go blow my nose." Jennette excused herself, before leaving the trailer. Before closing the door behind her. In another moment of disrespect Jack turned his head to watch Jennette leave the trailer. He bit his lip, before tucking his hands in his pocket. He rocked on his toes, before whispering a 'damn' to himself.

Jungkook found himself outside of his body. He saw himself wrapping his hands around Jack's neck. Shaking common sense into his thick skull. How dare he make a clear pass at his girlfriend, in front of his presence. His eye twitched at the lingering thought.

It took alot for Jungkook to get out of character. Having fame at such a young age taught him how to grow thick skin and how to let some things roll of his back. He was good at picking which battles were worth fighting over. And his relationship with Jennette was always one worth fighting for.

Jennette was one of the best things to ever happen to him. He trusted her and developed a deep love for her. One day when he will be courageous enough to get down on one knee and ask her to spend the rest of her life with him. He could see the day happening any time soon. A future with Jennette was his endgame.

And collaboration be damned, Jungkook wasn't going to let Jack get away with that.

"Don't disrespect me or my girl like that." Jungkook's tone was sharp and cold. His eyes narrowing in on Jack's face. He was watching every thought cross his mind. His eyebrows furrowed, at the drastic demeanor change.

"Your girl? I was just being polite-"

"Polite? Yeah right, you were clearly flirting with her in front of me."

"I didn't know she was your girl, my bad bro."

"Damn right. Don't try that again."

Jack noted putting both of his hands up backing away slowly. Sheesh

#bts x black reader #jungkook x jennette #jungkook #bts #jungkook x blackreader #black oc #black fem reader #jungkook imagines #jungkook 3d #black kpop fans #jack harlow

[tanadrin]

Then you have those who legitimately had no idea what gender was even because we grew up in a tiny Irish village in the early 2000s, and because the one book they had was ‘Noughts & Crosses’, and the one film they had was ‘Men In Black II’, they didn’t know what racism was either, thinking America was ruled by black people. Like I was a pasty 9 year old with three sisters. When I was 7 one of my sisters decided to become my brother, then went back to being my sister a few years later, and I didn’t think anything of it, I thought that was accepted, that you could be whatever whenever you wanted. I got another brother the same year (this one born); to date my sister is still my sister, although she occasionally goes back to being my second brother when he feels like it. I thought my aunts in London were married for years, and my uncle got divorced when I was twelve, but no one explicitly told me so I didn’t find out for another twelve years. I have a cousin who became mute after brain damage and claims benefits but I know he can still talk because he swore me out when I was teaching him how to swim, he just doesn’t like his mothers. Now my other cousin also has stage four cancer but has never mentioned it any time we have hung out, I had to find out from my mother, and another cousin of mine died of a brain aneurysm but no one told me until a month later. I am agender, asexual, and aromantic, but don’t often tell anybody because it doesn’t come up. Which has led to me accidentally having to go on dates a lot: my sister who went to Australia to be an architect for a year but never got to be says I have ‘unbelievable rizz’, like I’m so oblivious to romantic tension that I seem interested when I’m just trying to be a person. Like I told someone she had a ‘perfect sneeze’ once and she tried to bring me into a throuple. And I had to stay a while since I was too socially awkward to say I didn’t want to be there. Same thing happened when a friend was moving to Poland and I made my way across the country to see her off. Then when I was going to the cinema last year someone lit a tram on fire in front of it so they gave me three months worth of free cinema, and pretty much anyone I asked to go with me thought it was a date, and I had to say yes because like you can’t turn someone down if you accidentally ask them out. Then afterward I went to the bank and accidentally found a secret door to a speakeasy next door with a password and 70% absinthe drunk out of lemons. And the guy from ‘Django Unchained’ was there, he’d been shooting a game show with his daughter (who was also there) in the country (this was not America), so we drank for a bit until he was done. He was a little annoyed that I didn’t seem drunk before seeming impressed when I mentioned I can’t really get drunk due to some weird genetic thing, the most I get being that I feel like if someone asked me for the truth about anything I would tell them, so basically truth serum, although I don’t really have secrets, so there’s nothing to tell. The most I’ve done is leak television pilots or films I’ve found access to on the internet, that people didn’t know had been leaked. Or spot plagiarism. Like I have the script for the new ‘Nosferstu’, I put it in my bag I carry around all the time, then like the next day my lecturer was talking about the original ‘Nosferstu’ and I said “Oh I have the script for that would you like it?” and he said “Yes.” so I pulled it out and he had expected me to be taking out my computer or something to share a PDF of the old film’s script, not for me to just hand him the new film’s script, and the look on his face had me go “wait.” I have surprised you? And anyway that same day someone tried to pass off a short story of mine I’d shared anonymously in Cork two years prior as their own, and this was Dublin, I didn’t know them, so I was more amazed at the circumstances of my merely being there than annoyed by the plagiarism (like if he’d asked I’d have let him, but he didn’t even know I was the writer, so he was just a massive coincidence). I am 23.

thumbs up emoji

[sturniolotrip-samandcolby-lover]

Chris sturniolo fanfiction -first time

Smut 18+ no minors beyond this point thanks .

Word count 2k

Summary -you stay with the triplets as the house is infected with COVID ,while you spend all day every day with your boyfriend and important event happens .

Warnings - smut , mentions of COVID, honest first time experience, mentions of blood,oral sex female recieving, penetrative sex chris X reader.small age gap (20 and reader being 22)

No y/n

Not proof read

If I've misses anything please let me know

Well my trip to see my boyfriend and his brothers didn't go the way we expected .Nick , Chris and Matt went to do their weekly car video and poor nick coughing like no tomorrow I stayed at their house catching up on sleep .I was woken up when they returned at 2:30 am hearing nick telling his younger brothers how bad his throat feels .I hear Chris suggest "why don't you do a COVID test , you know just incase ?" I heard nick snigger with him believing that he couldn't possibly have COVID .

5 minutes later all I heard for a chorus of the 3 of them all saying shit , I jumped to the conclusion that nick had received a positive result ....I knew then that Chris and I would be spending alot of time alone all of a sudden .I was brought of of my sleep daze when my perfect boyfriend walked into the room with a COVID test in his hand , he was surprised to see I was already sat up in bed awaiting for him .

" Bad news nicks got COVID , Matt has tested negative and so have I but we're all going to stay in our rooms to stop it spreading , I'm gonna need you to take a test too .Even if it's positive you can stay with me baby " he said the last part so sweetly knowing i have a fear of sick and illness.

I do the test finishing it with a sneeze as Chris gets ready for bed .We wait 3 minutes to see that I'm negative too , Chris sends a quick message to his brothers telling him the news .

We both settle down in the covers while we put on a film , Chris lets me pick it this time knowing that I will most likely fall asleep early into it meaning he can change it over shortly.I pick the film 'after' , we're half way through the film and as the characters finish at the wedding they return home and begin to have sex with it being the girls first time and the guy having experience .I shift uncomfortably as I imagine myself and Chris being in the same situation with me still being a virgin and Chris having experience.I was very open with him about this when we started dating , he has always been understanding about it and never rushed me .

Chris notices my sudden shift as I press my thighs together, I then start yawning more frequently my sudden awakening earlier now catching up to me ."shall we go sleep now love" I hear Chris whisper to me assuming that his brothers was asleep already ."ye-" I begin to respond yes when I'm cut out by yet another yawn .He laughs at this and begins pulling me into him so I can lay my head on his chest as he aims to hold me until i fall asleep .

We're silent for 5 minutes,I can't get the picture of Chris and I being in the position of the characters out of my head .I assume Chris has fell asleep as I'm caught up in my own thoughts to notice how his soft snores haven't started yet.

"Baby I noticed earlier when the film was on how you was when the sex scene came on, what's on your mind?" His soft voice brought me out of my train of thought.I frozen trying to think quickly of what to say feeling all of a sudden very embarrassed at his mention.I stay silent "it's nothing to be embarrassed about babe just tell me and we can talk it through and see what can be done " he says comfortingly.

I take a deep breath and a quick pause "okay ...well it's been playing on my mind recently ..." He hums in response, I pause again "just say it baby " he whispers as he stroke my hair trying his best to comfort me ."I've been thinking about us having sex , im ready i swear im just scared" i waffle onto him .

He pauses for a second " why didn't you tell me love,we can do it whenever you're ready , I'm going to be honest it's not going to be like the films it could be painful, there could be blood .I've looked it up but it'll be okay baby , I'll make it as comfortable as possible for you baby I swear I'll take care of you "

As each words fall out of his mouth I couldn't fall more in love with him , I have no response to him i just lean up and give him a passionately kiss ."i love you " i whisper to him , he responds with a simple "i love you too " he looks so beautiful as his skin is lightened up by his red led strip lights around his bed .

I decided in that moment that I wanted to be with him , connected to him in anyway I can .I show him this with yet another passionate kiss , "are you sure you want this baby?" He asks concern in his eye."I'm 1000% sure I want to be with you in every way right now " I respond.He shifts from under me leaving with a quick kiss and he goes to the bathroom, he returns with a towel and some little tea lights that he had already lit and had placed on either side of the bed as he lays the towel in the middle of the bed over the sheet and he returns back to the bed I move onto the towel allowing space for Chris to get back on the bed , he kisses me with more passionate as he moves on top of me I naturally open my legs so that they can rest on his hips and he can lay between my legs .

The kissing continues with more passion as I grab at his shirt , he takes my hint and takes it off he quickly returns a quick kiss to my lips .His finger tips brush slightly against my waist just in my shirt ." Take it off ... please" I whisper against his lips .He pulls back and takes my oversized shirt off , I'm left in just my underwear feeling exposed I quickly reach to cover my chest but I'm stopped by Chris's fingers drawing shapes on my hands "don't do that baby , you're beautiful"

He says admiring me .

I remove my hands as he kisses down my neck , he looks up at me quickly " just say the word girly and I'll stop"I nod my head quickly in anticipation on waiting for what is about to happen I've thought about it so much but to actually be in it now feels surreal.

He leaves sweet kissed down my neck and to my breasts , the kisses so light they tickle against my skin .He reaches my nipple and takes it in his mouth as soon as he has it I'm over taken by pleasure I never thought was possible.With his hand massaging my other breast he continues to swap between each breast and nipple .

His free hand subconsciously finds it's way to the hem line of my underwear he feels me tense up lightly surprised by the roughness of his fingers .

"Sorry" he replies quickly , I shake my head ."take them off please" I say to him , he looks me in the eyes looking for a change of my mind .He removes them so quickly and throws them to the floor he looks down "so beautiful" he whispers to himself I blush at his comment.

He starts to kiss down my stomach going over my stomach and kissing my hip bones .I already know that the site of him I'm soaked and by the smile on his face , he knows too .

"Can I " he asks I nod my head in response " I need to hear you use your words princess" he says against my hips."yes" I respond blushing at his new nickname for me .As soon as the word falls out of mouth his mouth is wrapped around my bud and when his mouth isn't sucking on my sensitive nub , his tongue is running up and down my slit collecting any wetness my body has created .Im a moaning mess and glad to know that his brothers bedrooms are on a different level.

After endless minutes of pleasure purely by Chris's mouth he looks at me "I'm gonna use my finger , is that okay baby" he asks I return a breathy "yes" in response.Again as soon as the word falls out of my my his pushes one of his slender fingers into my heat , he continues thrusting his digit into me and the slight uncomfortable feeling is overwhelmed by the immense pleasure I feel building in my stomach and his tongue works just as fast in my clothes as his finger is with my heat .

I pull his hair and feel him moan against my heat cause my orgasm to rip through my body I'm a moaning , shaking mess and Chris continues to ride me through my orgasm .I open my eyes to see him hovering over me ,his lips wet with what's left over of my orgasm.

I noticed the tent that's in his boxers nerves and excitement ripping through my body just like the orgasm beforehand .I reach down to pull them down and his size springs up and slaps him on his stomach ."are you ready baby you can still say no" he says concern evident in his voice ."yes im ready" I whisper with a kiss he quickly leans over to open a condom wrapper .The more I look at his member the bigger it seems to grow by the second , he rolls it down his cock and lines it up with my entrance .With one look again to ask consent i nod my head and rest my hands on his broad shoulders .

As soon as he pushes in the instance stretch and pain shoots through me , my grip tightens on his shoulders and my eyes closed with my face contorting in pain ."breathe through it baby just breathe" he kisses my lips so sweetly until I nod to him so he can move , he starting thrusting in and out of me as the pain quickly becomes pleasure im moaning into Chris's mouth and he does the same to me .In minutes he's thrusting into me at a inhumane speed , he quickly rubs circles on my clit .His lips so close to mine he moans "cum for me baby , on 3 we cum together" he suggest to me , I nod my head .

"1.......2........3" he whispers and we're both moaning messes and I fell myself come undone yet again around his cock and I feel him filling up the condom inside of me .We both open our eyes , still connected and he kisses me as he pulls out leaving me wincing at the slight pain it causes.

We spend minutes naked , catching our breath in comfortable silence ."we should go and cleaned up baby" he breaks the silence as he takes the condom off and places it in the bin .

He picks me up bridal style , both naked and carries me to his bathroom.He leaves me to go toilet and the instant burn is beyond uncomfortable, he returns back with a pair of his jogging bottoms and a sports bra of mine , he brings me fresh underwear and pulls out a sanitary pad .

He hands it to me getting down to my eye level " how you feeling baby" he asks "sore I say but so happy , what's that for" I ask nodding to the pad ." You bleed abit babe" he says with sorry in his eyes .I go red in embarrassment " it's perfectly normal baby just pop this on and we can go cuddle and sleep " I obliged and once I'm done he carries me again bridal style back to bed .

We get comfy again "I'm so proud of you baby , I love you so much" he whispers to me as I drift to sleep in his hair .

This took forever guys but I hope you like it , please like comment and follow if you can

Xoxo hj

#chris sturniolo #fanfiction #nick sturniolo #sturniolo triplets #mattsturniolo #the sturniolos #matt sturniolo fanfic #sturniolo smut #sturniolo #chris sturniolo imagine

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

The Pigeon Feather Thing

Every time I see someone mention Adrien's allergy and call it a brilliant bit of foreshadowing for the senti twist I have to physically restrain myself from going into a lecture on how good foreshadowing works because I don't think the feather thing was foreshadowing at all. If it was, then it's terribly done and the writers need to relearn the basics of story telling. But I don't think that's the case. They used foreshadowing perfectly fine with the wedding rings once they either committed to or came up with the senti plot at the end of season four. When we consider that vs the feather thing, it becomes obvious that the feather thing was never meant to be anything more than a joke.

For starters, an allergy to pigeons is not good foreshadowing of association with a peacock!

Yes, as best I can tell, it's specifically a pigeon allergy. It wasn't initially called that, but it IS mentioned multiple times in Mr. Pigeon 72 where Adrien was fine with filming around birds until the species was mentioned:

Mr. Ramier: You can count on Edgar! No animal's more obedient than this sweet little pigeon. Bob Roth: Dove! They're doves! Adrien: Hang on, I'm allergic to pigeons. If they get too close- Bob Roth: Nothing is gonna happen because they're doves! Bob Roth: Your pigeon isn't up for the job! He's not supposed to come back with the rose! Mr. Ramier: The sneeze frightened him. Adrien: I told you, I'm allergic to pigeons! Plagg: Happy to see you again, Adrien. So still allergic to pigeons?

If anything, this reads like them hammering home that this isn't a general feather allergy when it previously might have been. Almost as if they were telling sentitruthers "hey, pigeons, not peacocks, let the theory go!"

I don't think that was the goal here, btw, it's just interesting that this episode is right at the start of season four and does everything that it can to separate the allergy from the senti stuff instead of leaning into it to better setup the reveal later in the season. That's normally how this type of foreshadowing works! You have the initial hint (Mr. Pigeon), the reminder (Mr. Pigeon 72), and the payoff (the reveal). But the allergy plays no part in the reveal and Mr. Pigeon 72 separated the allergy from peacocks, so in what way is it actually foreshadowing?

This is extra true because other sentimonsters were never shown to have the same allergy and good foreshadowing would have absolutely done that! Mr. Pigeon should have had a sentimonster who couldn't go near his pigeons or Sentibug should have sneezed around them or Kagami and Felix could have mentioned having the same allergies. Anything to imply that it was a standard issue for sentimonsters! They had four seasons (and most of season five) to give us those moments and they never did.

As-is, the feather thing is more of a point against the sentiplot being planned because why would anyone make their designer child allergic to pigeons? Sentikids are supposed to be "perfect" after all and we've been given nothing to indicate that the one exception to this rule is a pigeon feather allergy. Did Gabe and Emilie just have a really messed up sense of humor or a weird desire to make sure that Adrien stayed away from pigeons? What's the logic here?

Imo, the feather thing is what I like to call "forced foreshadowing." It's when the audience is so desperate to justify bad writing that they try to force connections that aren't actually there instead of accepting that the thing was a retcon or just poorly set up. At first glance, the feather thing sounds like a really cool way to foreshadow the twist and - to be fair - it would have been if it did. But since there's nothing in the text that actually treats it as foreshadowing it's stupid to call it that. The fact that it associates Adrien with a bird means nothing unless you think that Marinette's constant association with flowers would justify a twist that she's secretly a tree.

#ml writing salt #ml writing critical #senti salt #the pigeon thing

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV S2 Ep3 - Random Musings (Spoilers)

This was the best S2 ep by far; they're just getting better & better. I have so much to say; I can't even keep up. This is just the random stuff I don't have AS MUCH to comment on (yet).

AMC, we GOTTA get some flashbacks of Papa DPDL. We know so much about Les' folks, but nothing about Lou's pops. :(

Not "Real Rashid" going bar for bar vs Sartre abt morality & evil!? 👏

"Wolf Wrangler," I hate this effing show so much, please stop it.

SANTIAGO BACKSTORY LFG; we're finally being fed!

Ohhhhh.... Francis "Santiago" Naughton, I see~! They're definitely leaning into the Sant-"iago" of it all from Othello--nice touch!

1921--Santiago's a BABY vampire. (And omg he loved Annika's "performance" so much that he incorporated it into his regular lineup! Sickos! XD) I saw the Siophmedia review call it the Mimic Gift, which I love--expanding the AR lore.

Thoughts & prayers to this dude, being stuck for all eternity as an old man; relegated to backstage work with the noob stuck for all eternity as a little girl. (Hilarious how this is in blatant violation/disregard of Marius & Rhosh's Great Law #2 about beauty.)

Vampires sneeze?! 😂 Estelle is the ONLY Theatre vamp I like, bless!

ROTFLMFAO. Humor on this show comes from the WILDEST of places; I love it.

Someone's saaaaaaltyyyyyy~! 👀👀👀👀

Welp, now we know where Louis'll spend "ETERNITY IN A BOX," when they drag him in that burlap sack.

Louis' a strong independent man don't need no coven! 😤👏 Especially not you WEIRDOS. Monsieur LDPDL would NEVER allow anyone to make him act like a clownish BUFFOON on some stage, or write/film creepshows everyone points and laughs at, are you crazy?

Louis said SKILL ISSUE. 💀

Don't act coy now! XD You go and OWN your bussypowers, Louis of Troy! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I am STUNNED this trash liar won a Pulitzer for investigative journalism. Truly a dying industry.

Armand, my love, you have no idea. 👀

Deflection & misdirection, as usual with these vamps.

SHADE.

Roget the "FIRST" eh?... 🧛🏼 This completely removes Nicki as the founder of the Theatre, but I guess it makes sense that Armand would be the one communicating with Roget, cuz lord knows Nicki wasn't "fit to pick an apple off a tree in his current state...." 👀👐 Louis, Armand's fed you a crock of lies; don't be fooled by his pretty doe eyes! You were SET UP, my guy; he was SICK of that coven for hundreds of years; WAY b4 Lestat AND YOU showed up!

Then he hangs Lestat's portrait on the wall as a shrine and says he's their co-founder, while breathing not a word about how Lestat gave the Theatre TO NICKI, NOT ARMAND. Where's Nicki at, Armand!? 👀👐 Where's Claudia at, Armand!? 👀☀️ Why do all of Lestat's fledglings go missing under YOUR supervision, Mr. I Could Not Prevent It? I swear, those 🥺👉👈 eyes are lethal weapons!

STUNT QUEEN. Behind every gay man is a gayer, more evil man!

And he took that PERSONALLY.

Siri, google when butt-plugs were first invented.

Armand's FACE! 😭 Yeah, Lou don't make a lick of sense sometimes. Thank god he's pretty! But for every ounce of pretty there's another TONNE of mental trauma. If I were Armand, I'd've cut my losses and left Lou's arse to "Bruce" right then & there. Now look at you!

Incredible episode. 👏

Preview for Ep4:

I hate it here. 😱

I'm sorry, but I simply CANNOT with Loumand, knowing what's coming. I never have, and at this rate I NEVER WILL! Armand, I don't care what weird dynamics you & Lou are always up to, but by putting your hands on MY daughter!? DISHONOR!

Armand, Louis is right: you just earned yourself a spot on my hit list.

I'll rant about Loumand specifically in a separate post--this ep was A LOT, omg I'm exhausted.

#interview with the vampire #iwtv season 2 spoilers #iwtv tvc metas #must see tv #the hype is real

[chestcongestion]

Demon-to-Demon Ch.4/5: Ha//zbin Ho/tel

Warnings: Contagion, Mess (a lot of mess this time), Plot thread might be too close to current events for comfort even if it has nothing to do with current events

Word count: 7,312

This one managed to get away from me, I got a little too excited but this is definitely going to be 4/5 I think, and 5 might be even longer than this one. Thanks again for all of the support, this has been incredibly fun to write. Hope you enjoy ^^!

“G’Mbordi’g Pentagramb City… Ih’pshiEWWW… I’b Katie Killjoy,” the usually well-put-together anchorwoman for 666 News delivered her introductory line without an ounce of energy, her voice hoarse and her consonants butchered by her clogged sinuses. 

Instead of filming the daily news from the 666 News station desk, Katie was tucked up in bed, wearing a lilac nightgown with her hair clipped to keep it out of her face, and was recording herself delivering the day’s news by using a slightly out-of-focus camcorder and a VoxTech Television Network intern’s laptop. 

“I’b live frob mby… Yihh-hihh’TschiEwW!...Ih’TSHiEWWW…mby house to update you all on day number 24 of ‘The Red Spread’,” Katie said, her fingertips twitching as she fought back the urge to pull her blankets up to her chest, “Statistics are sayi’g that… SnFF!... arou’d 93% of the Pentagramb is currently infected. So far there have been no recorded complicatio’ds or deaths… and activity across the city has come to a halt …Ih’TschiEWW! ‘Tshhiew! ‘TSHIEWW!”  

“93% of the Pentagram…” Vaggie muttered to herself as she peeked at the television from behind the sofa, “It’s been almost a month now… how are so many people getting sick?” 

“I think a better question would be why we ain’t gettin’ any better,” Angel croaked, dabbing at his drippy nostrils with a tissue, blowing his ‘nose’ into the tissue with a quiet honk, shivering slightly under his blanket. 

“Iih’pzZshIEW! Ih’pshuue! Ih’pshew!” Niffty sneezed from her bundle of blankets on the floor, drowsily running the back of her wrist across her face to swipe at the dense mucus leaking from her sinuses, “That’s disgusti’g… IH’PSHHIEW!”  

“Bless you!” Charlie said enthusiastically, nervously handing Niffty a package of wipes so she could clean off her face, “It could be worse… at least nobody’s in any serious danger.” 

“Yeah- snrK!- worst thing we’d ndeed ta’ worry about is runnin’ outta tissues,” Angel scoffed, tossing a soggy tissue into the trash can near the sofa, looking in front of him and smiling at Husk, who was sleeping peacefully while draped across his body. 

“It’s still concerning, this has never happened before, and then out of nowhere something incredibly contagious manages to tag almost the entire city and clings to them for weeks?!” Vaggie pondered, “I dunno, it just feels like trouble.” 

“You oughtta go out and investigate, since you’re immune,” Angel proposed- almost sarcastically- while stroking Husk between his ears, “A-ah… Ah’kshieww! Ah’kzxhhtt! Ah’kzZsChew!...’Shhew! ‘SHIIEW!” 

“Bless you,” Charlie said, brandishing the thermometer and holding it out for Angel to take, watching him slide it under his tongue, “It is kind of worrying, but maybe everyone’s finally turning a corner!”  

The thermometer beeped, and Angel squinted his eyes at the reading before sighing and handing it to Niffty, “Sti-i-ihh…Sti-IiH’Kshew!...snff! Still got a fever… 102,” he said, swallowing harshly against his throbbing, achy throat, the sudden pain making him cough. 

Niffty pulled the thermometer out of her mouth and sighed, “Still 101,” she said, emptying her packed sinuses with a gurgling blow into a handful of tissues. 

Angel quietly grabbed the thermometer off of the coffee table, shooting a glance at Husk, “Kitty Cat… wakey-wakey, we gotta take your temperature, and if you don’t get up we gotta do it vet style,” he whispered playfully, scratching behind Husk’s left ear. 

Husk let out a hoarse cough, “You are not stickin’ that thing up my ass,” he grumbled, opening his mouth and letting Angel slide the thermometer under his tongue, removing it thirty seconds later once it beeped. 

“102,” Angel announced, leaning forward to kiss Husk’s forehead. 

“Okay… only one left,” Charlie said, turning and brandishing the ear thermometer, looking at Alastor’s curled up, unconscious form on the loveseat. Alastor’s breathing was noisy, the phlegm sitting in his chest rumbled on every inhale and crackled on every exhale. 

Carefully, Charlie slipped the ear thermometer into Alastor’s right ear and pulled it out without disturbing him from his slumber, “104,” she sighed, pressing her cool palm against Alastor’s burning forehead, “I don’t know why his fever keeps getting so high… we’re all out of medicine.” 

After a brief silence, Alastor’s breath audibly caught in his chest, a bubble of sputum popping at the top of his windpipe and tickling his throat. 

Still asleep, Alastor began to cough- a wet, chesty cough muffled by his clenched teeth that were still forced into his trademark grin. The crackle of mucus in his chest grew noisier and noisier as congestion got trapped at the bottom of his trachea, strangling him and rousing him slowly from his sleep. 

Angel held back a gag, “Oh that is nasty,” he whispered, shuddering at the sound. 

Husk’s ears twitched, and he held a hand over his mouth, his lungs aching out of the sliver of sympathy he felt for his boss.

“I don’t know how to help him… it sounds like he’s choking,” Charlie muttered, biting her fingernails. 

“I got it,” Angel said with a dense sniffle, getting up from the sofa and swaying on his feet, feeling deeply lightheaded but determined to help. Kneeling down next to the loveseat, Angel shook Alastor until he was completely awake. 

Alastor stared at Angel with vacant red eyes, the rumbling in his lungs quieting down as he channeled all of his focus into breathing through his nose.

“Smiles, up here, can you see me?” Angel asked, waving his hand in front of Alastor’s face, noticing that Alastor’s pupils followed his hand on a slight delay. 

Alastor nodded, a rough inhale through his nose making his clogged sinuses squeak in a way that sounded painful. 

“I’m gonna help you get that crap outta your chest so you can breathe, okay?” Angel asked, pinching Alastor’s face and turning his head upwards until their eyes met. 

Alastor nodded, still noticeably drowsy, blinking rapidly as his eyes watered and a weak cough echoed from deep in his lungs. His eyelids drooped slightly and his pupils wandered, desperate but exhausted as his body went slack to conserve energy… and oxygen.  

Angel pulled Alastor upright by the collar of his pajamas, and sat behind him, one hand firmly cradling the radio demon’s quivering chest, one wound back with a splayed hand, and the other two holding onto his thighs for stability. “Okay, open your mouth- snff!- breathe in, as deep as you can,” he instructed. 

Alastor choked back another coughing fit, taking a deep, wheezy, desperate inhale upon Angel’s request. 

“Good,” Angel said, roughly clearing his throat, “I’m gonna pat your back, all you gotta do is focus on coughing that shit up, got it?”  

Alastor nodded, held up his handkerchief to his mouth, and began to cough, the fit sounding infinitely more productive with the help of Angel patting his back. His eyes watered and his throat felt raw, and he was taking short pauses in between coughs to gasp for air, but Alastor could feel it working, the burdensome weight on his lungs was leaving. 

After six long minutes, Alastor let out a final wet cough and spat into his handkerchief, his airways feeling a million times clearer and his handkerchief damp with sputum. 

“There we go,” Angel sighed, wiping sweat from his brow and staggering over to the sofa, getting comfortable again, “Fuck, that was a workout…Ah-Hah-Hahh’ksheww! Hah’kshieww! ‘Ksheww! Ha-aah’Kshiewww!” 

“Thank you,” Alastor croaked in a hushed voice, wiping off his mouth and reclining on his loveseat, his breathing still slightly heavy and his face still flushed. 

Charlie stared at Angel, admiration shimmering in her eyes, not only at the lanky spider’s selflessness, but at the impressive skill she had never seen anyone perform in her 200 years of living, “How did you do that? That was amazing!” she cheered.

“Don’t mention it,” Angel replied, “Somethin’ I learned back on Earth that I never thought would come in handy.”

“Could you show me? I wanna be able to help,” Charlie requested, bouncing on her heels. 

“Sure,” Angel said with a shrug, “I just cleared Fancy Pants out for a while-” Angel paused, pressing a hand to Husk’s back and feeling the low rumble of congestion trapped in his lungs, “-but Husk’ll do fine.” 

Husk sighed, too drowsy to resist whatever Angel was plotting, letting the spider adjust him until he was sitting upright in Angel’s lap. 

“It works just fine if they’re on their stomach or lyin’ down, but I do better when they’re sittin’ up,” Angel explained, “You hold ‘em up by their chest with one hand like this, and either get ‘em to take a deep breath, or just start whackin’ until you knock somethin’ loose.” 

Angel stuck out his tongue, narrowing his eyelids to focus, and began patting Husk’s upper back softly, one pat after the other in rapid succession, as though he was attempting to speed through burping a baby. 

Suddenly, Husk’s eyes widened and he held a hand up to his mouth, letting loose a productive-sounding cough that snowballed into a coughing fit as Angel’s gentle thumping slowed down. 

“You just keep goin, not too fast that you tire yourself out-” Angel paused, swallowing against his sore throat, “- but not too slow, until-” 

Husk let out a particularly nasty cough and plucked three tissues out of the box on the sofa, spitting out whatever Angel had managed to unearth and tossing the soiled tissues in the trash, “Didn’t even know that was in there,” he muttered, “HhD’TschHUHH! HrR’SCHUHHH!” 

“There we go, it’s pretty easy,” Angel said with a triumphant smirk, nestling back underneath his blanket and repositioning Husk so the bartender was reclined along the length of Angel’s body and tucked under a second blanket. 

“You make it look so easy… but I think I’ve got it… where did you learn to do this, anyways?” Charlie asked. 

“Eh, my Pops burned through a value carton of smokes a day, if ya didn’t whack the crud outta him he’d choke on it,” Angel said with a yawn, fighting back a violent shiver as he curled up against Husk for warmth, “Ah’T-SshhiewW! H-hah’TSHHHIEW!... fuck…snff!”

“Bless you! Okay, on that note, I’m gonna go out and get you guys some more medicine… Vaggie, d’you think you’ll be okay keeping an eye on them while I’m gone?” Charlie asked.  

“I’ll be fine, just be careful, Sweetie,” Vaggie replied, kissing Charlie on the cheek. 

“I will,” Charlie said with a reassuring smile, “Anyone need anything specific?” 

Angel reached into his chest fluff and pulled out a wad of folded-up bills, handing Charlie $100 in $20 bills, “Popsicles, please… snff!... my throat’s killin’ me,” he requested, running his soft fingertips along the length of his neck and swallowing harshly. 

Charlie hesitantly took the money and stashed it in her pocket, “Gotcha, I’ll be back soon, see you guys later!” she said with a smile, waving the group goodbye and rushing out of the hotel’s front door. 

Vaggie sighed, “I need to check on something, behave yourselves while I’m gone,” she said, turning on her heel and leaving the parlor. 

“Can we watch Cannibal Cooking with Jeffrey Dahmer?” Niffty asked, kicking her feet, “I’m bored- snff!- I’d clean but my legs hurt every time I try to stand up.”  

“You always-” Angel paused as his hoarse voice fizzled out, forcing him to roughly clear his throat, “- always wanna watch weird shit. I didn’t thig’k anybody watched that show.” 

“I like it,” Alastor piped up from the loveseat, wrapped tightly in his blankets and attempting to suppress a shiver, “it’s one of the thi’gs on televisio’d I can tolerate…snff! Snff-snff!” 

Angel rolled his eyes, changing the channel and leaning back against the arm of the sofa, massaging Husk’s ears with his slender fingertips, “Blow your nose,” he said to Alastor, tucking Husk underneath his blanket and stifling a yawn. 

Alastor noisily blew his nose into his handkerchief, the release of air triggering a dense, congested-sounding cough, “Uch… H-heh-Ep-shiewww! Hehh’Tshhiew! Heh’ktshiew! Hehp’TshHieWW!” 

“Y’know… snff!...this is the longest I’ve been off work,” Angel paused, swallowing harshly against his sore, scratchy throat, “Which completely sucks… I can’t do anythin’ cause I can barely stand up without fallin’ over.” 

“Could be worse,” Husk commented from underneath the blankets, his face buried in Angel’s torso, “HrR’SHUHHH! Hnn’KTSHHOO! Huh’kTSshEWW!” 

“That’s true,” Angel said, nestling into the blankets and cuddling Husk tighter, his eyelids drooping, “You two enjoy the show… I’b gonna take a nap…” 

Angel quickly fell asleep, his and Husk’s heavy snoring creating peaceful background noise for Niffty and Alastor as they watched Cannibal Cooking together. 

“Iih’pshuu! Ih’pshew! ‘Scuse be… SnFF!...Look, he’s scoring the flesh on the leg before he massages in his dry rub, that’s amazihh…ihh…IH’PSHEW!” Niffty whispered, staring at the screen in complete awe while blindly grasping around for a tissue to wipe her face. 

“It is amazi’g isn’t it?” Alastor replied, rolling onto his stomach and kicking his legs, ignoring the deep rumble of congestion in his chest that was jostled by his sudden movement, “It’s such a big leg… I wonder where he gets themb.”

‘Rosie loves this program… I wonder how she’s fairing, I haven’t had the chance to speak with her… I miss her,’ Alastor thought, letting loose a wistful sigh that quickly became a heavy cough. 

On the Southeastern side of the Pentagram, Charlie strolled cautiously through the empty streets, a reusable bag of medicine and groceries slung over her shoulder. 

“I think I took a wrong turn on the way back to the hotel… I’m too far south… in fact, this place seems familiar,” Charlie pondered, looking at the red mist that filled the air, the particles tickling her nose, “Snff!... this stuff smells like flowers! Wonder what it is…” 

Continuing on her walk, Charlie smiled upon finding a familiar sign, “Ohhh! I’m in Cannibal Town, I almost didn’t recognize it with this red fog… weird,” she said to herself, listening to the harsh whistle of the wind echoing through the empty roads, “Since I’m here… I kind of wanna see Rosie.” 

Tucking her shopping bag away behind a bush, Charlie began the short walk to Rosie’s Emporium. 

“The streets are so empty… nobody’s gonna take it… it’s kind of creepy how there’s no one outside, actually,” Charlie whispered to herself as she knocked on the emporium’s door, jumping slightly when a short robot answered, “H-hello!” 

“Rosie’s Emporium is on temporary hiatus from any business inquiries, can I help redirect you to other resources?” The robot asked, blinking at Charlie with a sweet expression.

“I’m actually here to visit Rosie… not on business, just as a friend,” Charlie said, leaning down to get on the robot’s level, “Can I see her?” 

The robot paused, before nodding, “Follow me,” it said, letting Charlie inside and leading her up two flights of stairs and down a long hallway, eventually leading to two ornate double doors that were decorated with roses- the door handles were even designed to look like thorny rose stems. 

“i-Ih…IH’PSHEWWWW! Ih’pshhhiew! Ih’PssHEW!” squeaky sneezing could be heard behind the door, followed by a long, damp sniffle. 

Charlie frowned, she knew from the news that it was more likely than not that Rosie caught the Red Spread virus like everyone else, but hearing her suffering- no matter how mild- still hurt. 

“Miss Rosie, you have a visitor,” the robot announced, knocking on the double doors. 

“Cobe idd- SnFFF!- Euch… Ih…I-ihh…IH’P-shiewww! Ih’psheww! Ih’psSHIEW!” Rosie croaked, her voice noticeably hoarse and her consonants garbled. 

Charlie pushed open the double doors to Rosie’s bedroom and found the overlord in question tucked into bed with her duvet up to her lower ribcage. Rosie’s gorgeous satin bedspread was littered with used tissues, and the trash can next to her bed was absolutely overflowing with them. 

Rosie sat up in bed, the robot rushing to her side to prop her up using some of her pillows, “Thag’k you Roland- SnFF!- such a ndice boy…IHH’PSHHIEW!” she croaked, patting the robot’s hair with her slender fingers before she noticed her visitor, “Charlie! Oh isn’t this a pleasadt surprise- snrkk!- you’re a sight for sore eye sockets, girl- snFF!- I’d idvite you to cobe sit but the last thi’g you want is to catch this… IHH’KSHHIEW! Ih’pshhuhh! Ih’psheww! ‘Tshhhieew!” 

Charlie blinked, “Oh no, it’s fine, I’d love to… I think I’m immune somehow, if I’ve managed to beat out almost the entire city, I think I’ve got good odds,” she laughed. 

Rosie’s feverishly jovial expression drooped, and she raised a curious eyebrow, “I’b sorry… wha?” she asked. 

“Yeah, only 7% of Pentagram City is still healthy, everyone else is sick… they’re calling it ‘The Red Spread’ on the news,” Charlie explained calmly, “Did you not know that?” 

“Wh- Uhb… No?!” Rosie replied, gesturing to the wall opposite her bed, where a beautiful replica of  ‘A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte’ was hung in place of a television, “I’b ndot exactly the kinda gal to keep up with the ndews-snff!-” Rosie pinched a tissue to her face, blowing her ‘nose’ and tossing the tissue on top of the pile surrounding her trash can, “It mbust spread fast… it’s ondly been a few days.” 

Charlie let out a nervous laugh, suddenly realizing that Rosie’s bedroom had no windows, “About that…” she began. 

Rosie’s grey skin practically turned white, leaving nothing but the vibrant unnatural flush on her cheeks, her ‘nose’, and the undersides of her puffy eyelids, “Charlie… doll… what day is it?” she asked.  

“It’s… the 27th,” Charlie said, reading the calendar on her phone. 

Rosie tugged at her slightly-messy hair with her manicured fingers, giggling nervously until her laughter devolved into a hoarse cough, “I started feeli’g sick on the 3rd…” she muttered to herself, “The overlord mbeeti’g was on the 1st.” 

Charlie cautiously inched closer to Rosie, wrapping the cannibal overlord in a hug, wincing internally at the heat radiating from Rosie’s body- especially her face- and the feeling of her exposed skin, which was clammy and damp with sweat, “I know this has to be frightening… are you okay?” she asked, rubbing Rosie’s back with a splayed hand. 

“Everythi’g started getti’g fuzzy,” Rosie whispered, her voice still noticeably hoarse, “I’ve just been sleepi’g and talkin’ to that damn robot… for almost a month.” 

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Charlie asked.  

Rosie quietly wiped a few stray tears away with her thumb, inching away from the hug and composing herself, “Help mbe get outta this bed,” she chuckled, swinging her slender legs out from beneath her duvet and sheets, “I’b starvin’ and I ndeed to be somewhere with a window.” 

Charlie grabbed hold of Rosie’s hand, gently pulling her onto her feet as she staggered upon leaving her bed, nearly falling to her knees before bracing herself against Charlie for support, “There we go, careful,” she said with a reassuring smile, helping Rosie walk out of her bedroom one step at a time. 

Eventually, Charlie got Rosie all the way downstairs into her kitchen, sitting her down at the counter, “There we go, now you can see outside,” she said. 

“I didn’t realize that red shit made it all the way over here- snff!- wonder if it’s gotten a’dywhere else,” Rosie pondered, scrubbing at her face to stave off a building itch, “Iih’pshhhIHH! Ih’PSHHEW! Ih’SsHhiEWWW!...Shit, I forgot to bri’g tissues.” 

Charlie opened her mouth, about to offer to get them for Rosie, only to pause as Rosie whistled, summoning the little robot that greeted Charlie at the door. 

“Can I help you, Miss Rosie?” 

“Such a polite little thi’g- snff!- so helpful,” Rosie crooned, petting him on his head, “I ndeed a box of tiihh…IH’TshhIHH! IH’TShhiEww!...tissues, Roland.” 

Roland zipped out of the room, returning promptly with a box of tissues, setting them down on the counter next to Rosie and waiting patiently at her side while she blew her ‘nose’, soiling three tissues in the process. 

“Do you need anything else?” Roland asked, a dutiful look in his glowing eyes. 

Rosie shook her head, waving Roland off with a smile and slowly pushing herself onto her feet once he left the room, her knees trembling underneath her black satin nightgown, “Huh… this bug took more outta me than I thought… I can barely stand on my own two feet,” she croaked, letting go of the counter and taking a deep breath as she slowly inched towards her sink, filling up a tea kettle with water and putting it on the stove. 

“You probably just didn’t notice because you’ve been in bed resting for so long,” Charlie proposed, wincing when Rosie let out a hoarse cough, “While we’re waiting for your water to boil… maybe we should take your temperature.” 

“Probably… but if I sit down I’m nervous I won’t be able to get back up,” Rosie chuckled, her nervous laughter quickly devolving into a coughing fit that left her winded, “Phew… sorry.” 

“We can take it while you’re standing,” Charlie said, nearly jumping out of her skin when she noticed Roland had silently appeared next to her, holding a mercury thermometer with a kind smile, “Thanks, Roland.” 

Roland nodded in silence before disappearing into the other room. 

Rosie gently removed the thermometer from Charlie’s hands, giving it a good shake before placing it under her tongue, swaying on her heels and sniffling occasionally, desperate to squash a furious tickle in her sinuses that was threatening to turn into a sneeze. 

By the time the thermometer was ready to be removed, Rosie was desperately scrubbing at her face to keep from sneezing and launching the thermometer across the room, quickly turning away when Charlie pulled it out of her mouth, “I-iih-IHH’PSHHHIEW! Hih’TSsCHHIEWWW! Ih’psSHiIEWW! Ih’pshhiew! ‘TssHIEW! I-IH’pSHHHEW!” she sneezed rapidly, unable to cover the germy spray with her hands paralyzed by the fit. 

Charlie squinted to locate the stopping point of the mercury while Rosie noisily emptied her sinuses and groaned at the friction hurting her raw nostrils, the sensitive skin becoming red, chapped, and shiny with moisture from the slow trickle of mucus. 

“Well, dond’t keep mbe id suspense- snff, snFF!- what’s it say?” Rosie asked, “SnfF- ih… I-IHH’KSHHEWW!...’Scuse be.” 

“Almost 103,” Charlie announced, pressing the back of her hand against the side of Rosie’s neck, and then resting it against each of the overlord’s slightly bony cheeks, feeling the searing heat radiating from her skin, “You definitely feel hot… and that would explain why you’re so weak and dizzy.” 

Rosie shrugged as she moved her whistling kettle away from the heat, “Can’t argue with that,” she croaked, bracing herself against the counter and grabbing a mug from her cabinet, setting it down next to the kettle and pawing around until she located a box of tea bags, placing two at the bottom of the mug. 

“So… when did you hire Roland? He seems sweet,” Charlie piped up randomly, attempting to make conversation as Rosie sniffled and prepared her drink- adding a generous squirt of honey, a bit of lemon juice, and a refrigerated vial of blood into her mug before filling it up with hot water. 

“Oh I didn’t hire him, he was a gift… I let a few of these little incubi come to Cannibal Town to do a few polls for a month, and when they left I got a big package in the mail from their boss… apparently these robots are popular for-” Rosie paused, letting out a guttural barking cough and rubbing her throat, “-sorry… popular for other purposes, but I’m not that kinda girl, so he mostly did little errands up until I caught this bug. He’s been very helpful.” 

“Oh! I thought he looked a little familiar! He’s one of the robots a friend of my dad makes! You took off his little hat,” Charlie giggled. 

“Thought he looked nicer without it,” Rosie replied, taking a few big swigs of her drink and sighing with relief, turning away to cough, the cough still sounding dry and deep, scraping against her raw throat, “Sorry-” another cough, “-think all this talkin’ is wearin’ my throat out.” 

Charlie frowned, watching Rosie’s legs begin to wobble, and approaching Rosie to offer a supportive arm when it looked like she was going to collapse, “I think you should get back in bed,” she proposed, “You look tired.” 

Rosie opened her mouth to object, but vibrated from an intense shiver that seemed to come from her core, her sharp teeth chattering and the flush on her cheeks practically glowing, “I am tired… a-and I’m cold,” she replied, her voice almost a hoarse whimper as she leaned against Charlie for support, her legs shaking harder than the rest of her, “I don’t w-wanna go back to bed… don’t wanna lose track of time again.” 

Charlie nodded, “Let’s get you set up on your sofa,” she offered, walking Rosie out of her kitchen and into her den- the room in her residential space attached to the emporium that actually had a television instead of a giant painting. 

Rosie collapsed onto the large velvet sofa, still vibrating with chills as Charlie helped move her into a more comfortable reclined position, propping her up with a few pillows and draping a heavy throw blanket over her shaking form, “Th-thank you,” Rosie sighed, relaxing slightly as the soft blanket brushed against her sensitive skin.

“Of course, I’m happy to help,” Charlie replied with a smile, finger-combing Rosie’s sweat-dampened locks away from her face, “I’m sorry you’re so sick… do you have any medicine?” 

Rosie sniffled, “I think I have some fever reducer from when one of my teeth got infected,” she said with a yawn, whistling for Roland, who whizzed into the den holding a bottle of colorful pills. 

Roland gently shook the pill bottle after popping off the top, sliding two pills out into his hand and letting Rosie pop them into her mouth, swallowing them without water, which made her cough. 

“Thank you, Roland, you’re very helpful!” Charlie said, gently petting Roland on the head before he rushed away, leaving the room and coming back with a freshly-filled hot water bottle, setting it down in Rosie’s lap underneath her blanket, the warmth making Rosie relax. 

“Mmm… that feels good,” Rosie yawned, her eyes beginning to droop as she hid a hoarse cough behind her wrist, “I think I’m gonna take a nap- ihh-Ih’PssSHIEW!- I’m exhausted, but I appreciate you visiting, Charlie.” 

“It was my pleasure, I’m glad I was able to help, I hope you feel better!” Charlie cheered, giving Rosie a reassuring pat before she fell asleep, turning on her heel and leaving Rosie’s Emporium with a spring in her step. 

Grabbing her shopping bag from its hiding place, Charlie began the trek back to the hotel- this time in the right direction- while taking deep breaths to enjoy the pleasant scent of the red mist hanging in the air in Cannibal Town. 

“I’ve never smelled something this nice before… it’s like perfume,” Charlie said to herself, “Snff!- it’s such a pretty color, too.” 

Absent-minded and focused on getting back to the hotel before the popsicles she’d purchased melted, Charlie swiped the back of her hand underneath her nose, sniffling infrequently as a slight tickle began to build in her sinuses. 

Thirty minutes had passed by the time Charlie arrived at the hotel, opening the front door with one hand and scrubbing at her nose with the other, “I’m back!” she announced, setting down her reusable shopping bag on a nearby table. 

“Welcome back, Sweetie,” Vaggie greeted in a hushed voice, hopping on her tip-toes until her face was at level with Charlie’s neck so she could pepper the area with affectionate kisses, “You were gone for a while, was the store busy?” 

“Nah, I just got lost and realized I was in Cannibal Town, decided to pay the leader of the cannibals a visit- snf!- she’s sick too,” Charlie sighed, “Have any trouble holding down the fort while I was gone?” 

“Nope, they’ve all been sleeping like rocks since you left, Niffty even tired herself out, look,” Vaggie snickered, gesturing over to the parlor, where Niffty was sprawled out on her back in her nest of blankets, snoring softly and holding a purring KeeKee as though she were a stuffed animal. 

Angel was curled up on the sofa, snoring quietly, occasionally letting out a hoarse, throat-scraping cough or two before settling back into his comfortable slumber. Husk could be heard snoring like a busted lawnmower from his comfortable hiding place underneath the blankets and nestled between Angel’s legs, his clogged sinuses vibrating with every inhale. 

Alastor, from his position on the loveseat, was fast asleep, his usual grin diminished to a slight smile, and his lungs rumbling from congestion once again. 

“Oh- snff!- I got this,” Charlie whispered, leaning over the back of the loveseat and bracing one hand against Alastor’s chest before using the other to quietly pat his upper back. 

Two minutes later, Alastor- still asleep- opened his mouth to unleash a crackling wet cough, swallowing the sputum that he’d managed to bring up…much to Charlie’s chagrin and Vaggie’s violent disgust. 

“Euch,” Charlie muttered, fingers twitching near Alastor’s head, wanting to give the Radio Demon a reassuring rub between his fluffy ears, but ultimately deciding to respect the fact that if he wasn’t subdued by fever, Alastor would hate being touched, “At least you coughed it up… snff!” 

Vaggie turned to face her girlfriend, “Charlie… you okay?” she asked.

“Mhm! Why do you ask?” Charlie asked, her pale cheeks flushing pink. 

Vaggie glanced at Charlie, looking at the stream of moisture trickling down her girlfriend’s face, “Your nose is running…” she said, handing Charlie a couple of folded-up tissues. 

“Oh! Thanks for telling me- snff!- it’s a little itchy,” Charlie rambled, wiping off her nose and wrinkling it to fight off the building itch. 

Vaggie focused her eye on Charlie’s nose, watching her wrinkle and wiggle it like a rabbit in between wetter and lengthier sniffles. Charlie swiped and scrubbed at the trickle of cloudy fluid leaving her nose until she gave up and pinched a few tissues over her nostrils instead.

“I-snFF!- I think I’m gonna take a shower, I’ll be back,” Charlie said, vanishing upstairs, leaving Vaggie to her own devices once again. 

“Well, I don’t feel like waking them up to give them the medicine yet… or staring at them while they sleep,” Vaggie pondered to herself, pulling out her phone and scrolling through some of her text messages, opening a link to a recipe and smiling, “I know something I can do to help… if I hurry I can be done before Charlie’s out of the shower.” 

An hour later, Charlie- freshly showered and in her pajamas- entered the parlor to find that Angel and Husk were awake, and that a heavenly smell was wafting into the parlor from the kitchen. 

“Eyy, look-” Angel paused to cough, “-look who it is, welcome back…Hah’TssHIEW! A-ah’TsSHHEW!” he said, his voice noticeably rougher-sounding. 

“I’ve been- snff!- back for a bit, you guys were asleep, though,” Charlie chuckled, leaning over the back of the sofa and sneakily grabbing two tissues, wiping the underside of her nose, “H-hihh- how are you guys feeling?” 

“Like shit,” Angel replied, stroking the back of Husk’s head from underneath the blankets, raising a fist to his mouth and letting out a heavy barking cough. 

“Oh! I a-ahh… almost forgot about the medicine,” Charlie cheered, rummaging through her shopping bag and handing Angel a bag of cough drops, “These should help.” 

Angel nodded, “Thanks,” he said, unwrapping a purple cough drop and sliding it into his mouth, sucking on it and smiling as the soothing solution coated his throat. 

“Hh’kzzht! Hh’Tshhh! Hih’ptshh! Hnk’tsh!” 

Husk popped his head out from underneath the blankets Angel had draped over them both, “Gesundheit,” he said, still a bit groggy. 

“I didn’t sneeze, Pretty Kitty,” Angel laughed. 

“Hhnk’Tshh! Hh’Ddtsh! Hnk’zZt! Hhnk’tchew!” 

“You didn’t, but somebody is,” Husk muttered, his sensitive ears twitching, “You alright over there, Princess?” 

Charlie sheepishly moved her hands away from her runny nose, clasping them behind her back, “Me? Yeah, I’m fine! I didn’t sneeze, I’m okay!” she said, bouncing on her heels and struggling to ignore the moisture leaking from her nostrils, “Hh’Ktshh! ‘Tshh! ‘Kzxhtt!” 

Husk’s ears twitched again, “You sure you didn’t?” he asked, staring at Charlie with a knowing expression, noticing that the princess’s hands were clasped over her face to cover her nose, “Why’re you coverin’ your face?” 

“Uhb… just… felt sombethi’g id mby teeth, that’s all… ndothi’g e-ehh… Eh’pchiew! Eh’pshhiew! Eh’KSsHIEW! ‘Kshhew! ‘KshHiEWW!” Charlie said, doubling over from the fit of damp sneezes, dragging the back of her wrist under her nostrils when she finished, “Euch… snRKK!” 

Husk smirked, “There we go,” he said, pleased with himself as he repositioned his head against Angel’s chest, “Gesundheit again.” 

Angel raised an eyebrow, quietly offering Charlie his box of tissues, “You alright?” he asked, his throat feeling considerably better after his cough drop finished dissolving. 

“Oh y-yeah, I’b fide!” Charlie lied, biting her lip and rubbing her upper arms, “Just…just a little chilly- Snff, snff!- satin isd’t the warbest fabric for PJs a’dyway.” 

“You sure? Cause it sounds like you got a serious traffic jam up here,” Angel said, his tone teasing and jovial to avoid stressing Charlie out, tracing a circle around his ‘nose’ with a slim finger. 

Charlie held up a finger to indicate pause, pinching a few tissues around her nostrils and letting loose a heavy, gurgling blow that soaked the tissues almost instantly, “Euch… I dunno how I got so stuffed up so fast,” she groaned, scrubbing at her nose with the heel of her palm, “E-Eh’DdTshhHEW! Eh’KSHHEW! Eh’KkzZshhiew!” 

Angel stared at Charlie’s friction-reddened nose, her papery flushed cheeks, her watery eyes, and her streaming nostrils, “Maybe you should sit down, Dollface… you’re not lookin’ too hot,” he suggested. 

Charlie nodded, walking over to the armchair and sitting down- fitting in it comfortably due to it being made for someone closer to Alastor’s height, “I don’t feel well,” she mumbled, her eyes welling up with tears and her sinuses clogging, “I thig’k I’b getti’g sick…” 

“The words ‘think’ and ‘gettin’ are both doin’ a lot of legwork in that statement,” Husk said, “Sounds like you’re plenty sick already…” 

Charlie sniffled, hugging her knees in her seat as she attempted to suppress a shiver, “Where’s Vaggie? I ndeed a hug,” she whined, dabbing at her watery eyes with a tissue before blowing her nose. 

“She’s in the kitchen around the corner I think… whatever she’s doin’ in there smells amazing,” Angel said with a sigh, “I’d get up and give ya a hug but last time I stood up I was so dizzy I nearly split my skull open on the coffee table.”  

“If I can walk over to you, will you hug mbe?” Charlie asked, her eyes pleading and a smile spreading across her face when Angel responded with a nod. Quickly, Charlie sprung to her feet, struggling to ignore the fact that she felt slightly disoriented. 

After a few careful and deliberate steps, Charlie collapsed onto her knees next to the sofa, wrapping her arms around Angel and melting into the hug, “Angel… I really don’t feel good,” she complained, “Is this how you guys have beed feeli’g- snff!- for almost a month?”  

“Pretty much,” Husk replied with a yawn. 

“It’s hittin’ you like a ton ‘a bricks,” Angel remarked, slipping one of his arms out of the hug and pressing his palm against Charlie’s forehead, lowering his eyelids upon realizing why he felt no noticeable difference, “Forgot I won’t be able to tell cause I’ve got a fever.”

“If I don’t have one now- snff!- I probably will later,” Charlie groaned, slowly pulling away from the hug and walking back over to the armchair, collapsing into her seat and hugging her knees again. 

“Alright, everyone sit up, it’s been too long since any of you had something other than drugs in your stomach so before you take any medicine, you’re gonna eat,” Vaggie instructed, walking into the parlor with five ceramic bowls in hand, setting them down one by one onto the coffee table. 

Angel and Husk slowly removed themselves from their comfortably warm tangle of feverish bodies and blankets, sliding onto the floor in front of the sofa and sitting in front of the two bowls they’d claimed so they could sit together. 

Angel reached over into the nest of blankets on the carpet and shook Niffty, who quickly woke up and began frantically looking around, sweat trickling from her hairline, “Relax, Niff, come sit… we’re eatin’,” he said, smoothing out Niffty’s bangs with his fingertips. 

Niffty quickly dusted off her nightgown and joined Angel and Husk on their side of the coffee table, briefly turning away to cover a hoarse cough with her wrist. 

Charlie- whose energy was quickly losing the battle to febrile fatigue- stood up from her curled position in the armchair and walked over to the opposite end of the coffee table. 

“Alastor, get up,” Husk muttered, his adorable feline nose twitching, “hH’RRSCHHUH! HrR’SCHUHHH! H-huhh…HNK’TCHOO!” 

Alastor stirred, peeling his head off of his arms and slowly leaving his reclined position on the loveseat, fever rouging his cheeks and exhaustion leaving dark rings under his eyes, “Mmm? What timbe is it?” he croaked, sliding off of the loveseat and joining the group on the floor, “I feel hot…” 

“Mbe too,” Charlie remarked, leaning against Alastor and sniffling. 

“Good, everyone’s awake,” Vaggie said, Razzle walking behind her and holding a large pot as she brandished a ladle, spooning a portion of something hot, fragrant, and red into each of the five bowls, “Dinner time… I’m using a soup recipe that a friend texted me once, hopefully I didn’t fuck it up.” 

“EhH’KSHHEW! Eh’TsShHIEW!- Thanks Vaggie…SnFF!” Charlie said in a far more drowsy version of her typical cheerful voice before turning away to blow her nose. 

“Of course, happy to help,” Vaggie replied, leaning down and kissing Charlie’s warm forehead before gently brushing her blonde hair out of her face, “pobrecita… I’m sorry you got sick.” 

“It’s okay- SnFF!- I’ll be fine,” Charlie replied, rubbing at her left eye before picking up her spoon and taking a cautious bite of her soup, humming with a smile on her face. Warm broth washed down Charlie’s throat and the complex spice mixture made her sinuses leak, moisture trickling down from her nostrils that she had to swipe at with a folded-up tissue. 

Alastor- a bit too loopy and out of sorts to feel comfortable using a spoon for fear of biting the metal- grabbed hold of his bowl and tilted it upwards, taking careful gulps of broth and pausing to chew on the spice-laden vegetables and shrimp without spilling a drop. Setting his half-empty bowl down onto the coffee table, he licked his lips.

“Mmm,” Alastor hummed, rocking back and forth as his mind wandered away from the present moment. 

Savoring the spices on his tongue and the comfortable warmth filling his stomach, Alastor felt himself drift away until he was surrounded by the familiar smells of his childhood home. Sitting in a squeaky chair at a wooden kitchen table and massaging his sopping wet nest of curls with a towel, Alastor silently cursed himself for the visible flecks of blood and dirt on the ankles of his drenched slacks. 

“Hh-Hih’KsSHEWW! Hih’TshHHuh!” Alastor pawed around on his person for his handkerchief- still lost in his own memories, he scoffed and attempted to fold the cloth over, wiping his runny nose on the side that wasn’t stained with someone else’s blood. Suddenly, a cool hand on his cheek made the scene feel so much more tangible, Alastor leaned into the touch and stared at a familiar figure with fever-lacquered eyes. 

‘Silly boy, I don’t know for the life of me how you’ve grown so big and so tall and so smart without a lick of good sense… be lucky all you got from rootin’ around the forest in the rain was a cold. Alastor, it’s huntin’ season… I don’t want one of them hunters to hear you step on a twig and mistake you for somethin’ they can mount as a trophy,’ 

“Mm… sorry,” Alastor mumbled, a half-whimpering apology to the blurry visage of his mother that faded away in an instant, leaving his hellbound comrades in its place. Gathering himself and blowing his nose into his handkerchief, Alastor finished eating, “This is delicious,” he said to Vaggie. 

“It’s amazin’,” Angel said after swallowing the spoonful that was in his mouth, the warm almost-too-spicy broth bringing him back to shivering in his childhood home on Long Island, his puffy winter coat hung over the radiator and a blood-soaked baseball bat leaned against the wall.

“Mmhm,” Husk muttered in agreement, savoring his last spoonful as he drifted into the comfortable memory of relaxing at his dining room table after a day of shooting loaded dice, the soothing feeling of warm broth coating his sore throat making him smile as the mirage of a familiar hand adorned with faux-jade bangles reached up to press a palm to his forehead. 

“I’ve never had someone else make something like this for me,” Niffty sniffled tearfully, not nearly feverish enough for a familiar flavor to pull her head-first into her memories, but feeling sentimental enough to swallow a spoonful of broth and remember sneakily polishing off a bowl of soup in her old kitchen to clear her sinuses and soothe her throat before erasing any evidence of illness away with makeup and traipsing into the living room to do her due diligence as a wife. 

“I’m glad you guys liked it,” Vaggie said, collecting the empty bowls and handing them to Razzle, who hurriedly took them to the kitchen and set to work washing them, “Alright, medicine and then I’m leaving you to your devices while I head to bed.” 

Thirty minutes later, all five patients were back in their respective lounging areas of the parlor, dosed up with apple-flavored fever reducer- except for Niffty- and ready to doze off. 

“Alright, see you guys in the morning, crossing my fingers that things finally turn a corner, G’night guys!” Vaggie said with a friendly wave before vanishing up the stairs. 

“‘Night,” Angel remarked, his voice drowsy as he shut his eyes, still unconsciously massaging Husk’s head from under the blankets even as he fell asleep himself. 

“Goodnight,” Alastor yawned, tugging his blanket up to his shoulders and curling up tighter on the loveseat, feeling more comfortable without febrile chills threatening to rouse him from his slumber. 

“Nighty-night!” Niffty cheered, burrowing into her nest of blankets and shutting her eye. 

“G’night Vaggie…Ehh’TsHHIEW!... I love you,” Charlie whispered, sprawling out in the armchair until she found a comfortable position, quickly falling asleep once she shut her eyes, snoring softly. 

“I love you too,” Vaggie whispered from her spot leaning over the second floor balcony before turning away to tug at her face in frustration, “If things don’t get better soon I’m gonna have to get to the bottom of this, aren’t I?” she asked no one in particular. 

“Yes, yes you are,” a familiar voice teased as it leaked out of a decorative radio that sat on a table in the hallway. 

“Go to sleep, Alastor,” Vaggie scoffed, tapping the radio with her spear on her way down the hall. 

“Way ahead of you,” the voice responded, the radio shutting off with an audible click as Alastor stirred in his sleep with a mischievous smile. 

Vaggie rolled her eyes, walking into her and Charlie’s bedroom and shutting the door behind her, leaving the hotel dark, still, and quiet save for congested snoring and the occasional hoarse cough from downstairs. 

Things weren’t exactly improving, but they were at least under control. 

#snz #snz kink #snz fic #illness kink #ha/zb/in ho/tel #gingey.rtf

[goldenempyrean]

sick reader and scarlett with “Okay Ms I’m-not-sick, tell me why you sneezed five times in the span of an hour.” and “I don’t get colds.” where reader is super sneezy but in denial as they try to shoot some movie scenes

By Your Side

〚 Notes - Okay I know Im posted less then usual, that'll probably be the case until my exams are over! Anyway, enjoy :) (also, have I even bothered to edit this? No of course not, so excuse the errors) 〛

〚 Summary - You're obviously getting sick, wether you want to admit it or not. And its obvious your girlfriend wasnt about to let you work for long once she found out. 〛

〚 Wordcount - 10023 〛

〘 Check Out My Masterlist! 〙

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As the cameras rolled, the set was buzzing with energy. The crew was rushing around, trying to make sure everything was perfect for the next scene. The other actors were getting into character, preparing themselves for the performance. Then there was you, playing the lead role in the newest hit rom-com that was predicted to break box-office records, and were you excited for the day ahead? Nope. You definitely were not – not with those aching sinuses and the constant need to sneeze looming at the back of your nose. 

Atleast you had Scarlett with you though. Your girlfriend had been hired as one of the leading producers for the film so the two of you were able to spend a lot of your time together. As you readied yourself for your scene, she took her place, giving you an eager thumbs up before ‘action’ was called.  

You tried your best to ignore the tickle in your nose and the pressure building in your head as you delivered your lines with enthusiasm. But then, in the middle of your monologue, you felt a sneeze coming on. You tried to suppress it, but it was no use – your body took over, and you sneezed loudly, causing the other actors to pause their lines and the crew to stare at you in surprise. 

“Bless you!” You heard her voice call out, causing you to look over in her direction offering a small scrunch of your nose as you mouthed a ‘thank you’ 

You tried your best to focus on your lines and immerse yourself in your character, but your body had other ideas. You’d only managed to get some take done before your nose grew annoyed once more. You could feel the tickle in your nose growing stronger with every passing moment, and you knew it was only a matter of time before the inevitable sneeze came. 

Sure enough, a few minutes into the next scene, you let out a loud, explosive sneeze that echoed throughout the set. You froze instantly, looking around to see if anyone had noticed. Scarlett shot you a concerned look from behind the camera, but you ignored it, determined to push through. But your sneezing didn't stop there. You sneezed again, and again, and again, each time feeling more and more drained. Finally, after what felt like hours but was probably only a few minutes, the scene was over, and you collapsed onto a nearby chair, coughing into your elbow whilst trying to ignore the worried looks of your colleagues. 

Suddenly there was a hand rubbing against your back. “You ok, my sweetheart?” You felt Scarlett’s warm hand against your back as she rubbed it affectionately, “Something bothering that nose of yours?” 

You tried to give her a reassuring smile, but it came out more like a grimace as you cleared your throat - though it did little to hide your obviously raspy voice, “It’s nothing, I don’t know why that keeps happening.”  

 “You getting sick maybe? There has been something going round.” Scarlett worried, that worry only increasing when you turned away to cough into your elbow, exhaustion plain on your face. 

 "I don't get colds," you replied defensively, trying to mask the stuffiness in your voice. 

Scarlett raised an eyebrow. " Well, you're definitely sneezing a lot for someone who doesn't get colds. Why don't you take a break and rest for a bit? I can handle things here." 

"No, it’s fine. I really don't get colds," you repeated stubbornly, trying to shrug off her touch when she brought her palm up to your forehead, "It's probably just allergies or something." 

Scarlett gave you a skeptical look, but she didn't push it further. Instead, she went to talk to the director, explaining that you were feeling unwell and needed to take a break. Luckily your director was a kind soul and was more than understanding. Infact, he ended up telling Scarlett to just take you back the trailer – it was better than you accidently infecting anyone else with the cold you totally didn’t have. 

As soon as she was given the go ahead, Scarlett quickly ushered you to a quiet corner of the studio, where she sat you down away from the looming eyes of you colleagues and brought over a glass of water along with some tissues. "You're not fooling anyone, you know," she said gently as she sat beside you, handing you the tissues. "You're clearly sick, and I know you don’t get sick often, I know but you are right now, so you need to starting taking care of yourself more baby. This isn’t good for you sweetie.” 

You went to respond, ready to brush off her concerns but instead your nose spoke for you, “iishiew! Hih’tshoo!” 

"Bless you. Look, I know you're trying to tough it out, but I'm worried about you. You need to rest," Scarlett said as her palm touched against your forehead once more, her thumb brushing against your eyebrows this time as she used her hand to shield your eyes from the harsh lights, "You're really burning up." 

You groaned, feeling defeated. Scarlett was right - you were feeling worse than you wanted to admit. Maybe it was time to stop being so stubborn and take a break. "Okay, maybe you're right. You leaned further into her touch, feeling the coolness of her hand against your clammy forehead. "Okay, fine," you said, your voice a little hoarse now, "Maybe I do need to take a break." 

Scarlett smiled, looking relieved. "Good. Let's get you back to the trailer and make you some soup or something. Whatever we do we’ll get you tucked up in bed and have you feeling better in no time I promise sweetheart." 

As Scarlett led you away, you couldn't help but feel grateful for her support and concern. Even though you were stubbornly trying to ignore your illness, she was there to remind you that it was okay to take a break and take care of yourself. Maybe you weren't as invincible as you thought, but with Scarlett by your side, you knew you could get through anything. 

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[t-305tv]

Robbie Shapiro is a disgusting person

Robbie is such a disgusting human being especially to Cat and Tori.

God knows what he did to Cat when they played pirates, that makes Cat freak out everytime he mentions it. Has cardboards cutouts of Cat for whatever reason and refused to say why or where he got them from and it was without Cat knowing that which freaked out Cat when she saw them.

He admitted to spy on Tori and literally has a video on the slap where he filmed her in her house. And he did spy on her after she told him he can't watch her date with Ryder.

The video:

https://youtu.be/mWjh2vDrXsk?si=2R6xm9lhQeTi7SE8

When Sikowitz told them to do an acting exercise Robbie didn't stop giving Tori CPR after she said she doesn't like it and was literally uncomfortable. Then he sneezed in her mouth then went it's fun.

The video:

https://youtu.be/6L73OckqgTA?si=P4fpsTeq3fRsVyXB

In another one he crashed to her house without being invited and keeps pressuring her to continue with his video after she said that the voice he was doing was freaking her out. He literally had to pay her to let him stay.

The video:

Crashed Tori's parents anniversary cuz he didn't want to go to his house and invited the others over like it was his own house.

Kept saying he is Tori's boyfriend just because they got pair to pretend they are dating for a game show. Gave her car batteries so her phone would be charged and didn't tell her that they might electrocute her. Then was like the worst thing that could happen is that the batteries could give you a minor shock.

Made her help him massage his grandmother's feet then promised to pay for her lunch then he left his wallet in his locker making them stuck at Nozu. And when he broke the dishes he had the audacity to make Tori stay there with him to pay for the broken dishes.

Literally Andre and Beck had to hold him down to stop him from using phone so he can see a fake picture of Tori's butt and was so mad that they didn't let him see it. (I know they didn't let him because of the bet but I'm sure if it wasn't for a bet they still wouldn't let him see the picture)

When he got paired with Trina and she had to kiss him as part of the auction he kept on harassing her thinking she loves him despite her keep telling him she isn't interested in him in any kind of way.

Put Trina in the hospital because she hit Rex, who is a lifeless piece of wood, then tried to blame Cat for it.

The whole Robbaratzi show what a nasty person he is, that would exploit his friends and make lies about them on the Internet to get fame. Then acted like he done nothing wrong and they were making a huge deal about it.

Got everyone else in prison when they were trying to get Tori out because he decided to look at the octopus and killed it. (I would had left him there not take him back)

Went to give random kids ice cream and got upset that the kids' mothers beat him up, like what did he expect as a random stranger coming to the park and offering ice cream to kids. Of course he would get beaten.

Order caviar and let Tori get the blame, the tried to blame his puppet.

Drunk the rest of the water when their where stuck in Beck's RV.

Forced Cat to come with him to his grandmother after she told him she doesn't want to be there, and let his grandmother be rude to Cat without defending her.

He deserves every punch, every hit and every insult he got. No wonder his parents don't want him. His mother literally moved out on him and he said that his dad is embarrassed of him.

And yet people have the audacity to hate on Tori when Robbie literally exists.

Robbie is disgusting

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