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hanniiesuckle17 · 3 years

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Chapter 7: The Library

A/n: so this chapter has been long-awaited by some and i hope you guys enjoy it! the series will really start moving after this so i would love to hear what you guys think of the chapter! Sorry about any typos- i didn't have time to edit this with all my schoolwork this week! Tag List is Open <3

Tag List: @woodiegochile @mini-meanhoe @leggomylino @hanstagrams @desertofdessert @hoes4hoseok @jeonqqin @geminirules @mrsunshine999 @jisungsjheekies @hannie-squirrel00 @cotccotc @kodzu-ken @konenichi @yangs-jeongin @binniebutter @orangegyu @little-precious-baby @raethethey @sofie296 @hongjoong-a-holic

RBTL Tag List: @bluejayboys @wonderlandless @introverted-stay24 @sunfics @deputyjuyeon @studioreader

Warnings: Cursing

WC: 2.9k

Summary: True love has never come easy; life makes sure of that. From unrequited love to missed timing, does anyone have any hope at finding success- let alone pass History at the same time? All these questions leave young people wondering….will they still love me in the morning?

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Third POV

Y/n’s eyes grew tired as words about some minuscule event in history floated off the page of her textbook. She closed her eyes, stretching her neck-the bones cracking softly as her stiff neck rolled back. The odd silence drew her attention. Curious, she took the headphones from her ears and listened. All she could hear was the sound of raindrops falling against the large windows of the library.

It became quickly clear to the girl that she was alone and the only light in the room was coming from her little desk. “Hello?” She called out. Her voice echoed out from the second floor and filling the open building. When she heard no response, she shrugged and began pacing up her things to head home.

Though there was no response to the girl’s call there was in fact one lone soul left in the university’s library. One floor directly below Y/n sat a tall and slender boy, books piled high on his desk. Changmin twirled a pen between his fingers before checking his phone. His eyes widened seeing the time. Quickly he stuffed his journals into his bag, leaving his bag only half zipped. Red tuffs of fake hair stuck out as his doll was pushed towards the top of his bag.

The boy did a backtrack wondering if he should put his books away but decided against it knowing if he kept Chanhee and his friends waiting much longer then he might not live to see the midterm. Instead, he turned around and headed for the door- backpack on his shoulder and adjusting the glasses that were falling down his nose.

It seemed fate was entirely focused on these two tonight. Only the storm clouds had a view of the girl walking down the stairs just in time to meet the boy as he stepped onto the main floor. The two shared a brief look- shocked to see another person at this hour, but continued their way to the front doors wordlessly.

Just the sight of the girl had Changmin’s hands starting a nervous sweat. He tried to focus on anything but how pretty he thought she looked with the dim light from the streetlamps outside casting streams of light over her face. As the two students grew closer to the door the sound of the storm outside grew louder. It was also easier for them to see as they neared the larger windows.

Y/n reached out for the door. Surprisingly, she found resistance as she pushed. Again the girl tried, sending an awkward smile to the boy behind her. After pushing multiple times she gave up with a sigh. “I- uh....I think it’s locked.”

“Locked?”

Changmin stepped forward and tried his hand at the closed entranced. He pushed and pulled until retreating, brows furrowed. “What you didn’t believe me?” The girl asked with a breathy laugh. Changmin’s eyes widened as he turned to face her.

“What- no! No, not all! I- I- I just...”

“I was just joking, don’t worry.” A timid smile quirked up the corner of the boy's lips. He watched as she shed her bag- placing it against the nearest row of shelves. “Should we try together?” His head moved faster than his mind could process Y/n’s words. He shed his backpack next to hers and the two turned towards the sealed doors.

In his mind, he knew that even with both of their strengths pushing, the industrial locks on the university doors would not break. “I’m Y/n, by the way.” Instead of looking at the boy, she readied herself at the door, palms pressed against the metal bar.

“Oh- I’m..uh...C-Changmin...”

“Well C-Changmin, push on three?” He nodded, finding Y/n’s smile, though small, even more enchanting up close. “One, two, three!”

The two of them pushed with all their might but to no avail. Y/n looked defeated as she pulled her phone out of her back pocket. Her delicate fingers pushed the button but the screen refused to light up.

Changmin had a similar idea. He reached for his own phone. Both of them smiled as it lit up showing the time and 11% battery left. The grin quickly fell as he realized there was absolutely no signal. Using his long limbs to his advantage he reached up searching one measly bar.

Y/n ran a hand through her hair. This was the absolute perfect way to end her already stressful and torturous day. She reached for the lamp on a nearby desk but a huge roll of thunder resonated through the building and it suddenly became even darker.

“Well, this is the beginning of a horror movie if I’ve seen one.” Changmin joked, kicking the door with a grin. His smile fell as he turned to see the fearful look on Y/n’s face.

“Dude- why the fuck would you say that!”

“I don’t know! I’m sorry!” He mentally hit himself over and over. Why did he say that? There was no need to break the silence. The silence was his safety net right now. If he was silent there was absolutely no way he could appear like some weird Freakazoid to her. He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, casting brief glances over at the pretty girl he had liked for so long.

The two gradually gravitated towards each other. There was really nowhere else to go. Y/n enjoyed the sound of the storm outside, letting it calm her ever-growing nerves. Changmin resisted the urge to engage in embarrassing small talk.

A bright crash of lightning brightened up the room in sheets just as Y/n’s eye fell on the two backpacks several feet away. Her scream echoed off the ceiling as she caught a glimpse of the Chucky doll peeking its head out of the boy’s bag. Instinctively, she grabbed onto the closest thing- which happened to be Changmin’s hoodie.

Heat flooded every inch of his face and he wasn’t quite sure where to put his hands so he settled for keeping them up in the air. Inside his heart was beating faster than he ever thought possible. It was like all of his senses were heightened the moment she touched him.

“What the hell is that?”

“Oh...umm...he’s my Chucky.”

“Your what?” She pulled away from him and Changmin instantly missed her touch. The girl all but laughed seeing the blush on his cheeks and his arms still raised in the air almost in surrender.

“My Chucky. You know- like from the movie...”

“Yes, I’ve seen the fucking movie!”

Nervously he adjusted his sweater before shuffling over and gently tucking his doll safely pack in his bag- out of sight from the still shaken girl. “Why are you carrying that around anyway?”

The scare had seemed to lessen the tension between both of them; though Changmin was still very aware of every word and action towards Y/n. “I was headed to a thriller marathon at my friend’s apartment after I finished some studying.” She nodded but in her mind, she wondered how if he had been studying for as long as she had, he did not have tears running down his face and a massive migraine. “I guess I just lost track of the time.”

Y/n couldn’t help but smile a the boy’s lopsided grin. She found it endearing how one side was always high than the other. The more he smiled at her the more she wanted to take a picture of his little quirk.

Another weighted silence fell between them. Against his better judgment, Changmin began to speak. “I don’t mean to pry...but what were you doing here so late?” For a moment Y/n had forgotten all about her troubles that had been following her for the past month and a half. A visible heaviness pressed down her shoulders.

Her back pressed against the bookshelf and she let herself slide down to the floor. “I gave up on finding a tutor last week. I was hoping some miracle would happen if I read that stupid book long enough.”

At that moment she wasn’t just the girl he had been pining after since he was in braces. Changmin saw the exhaustion. He saw the complete lack of hope. He moved his backpack- which she had sat down next to and took its place.

“What book?” He didn’t need to ask but saved her the embarrassment of telling her that he had been in the room for her lecture with Professor Jeong. Wordlessly she pulled out a book, her hand dipping in the air from the significant weight. “Ah,”

“Good ‘ah’ or bad ‘ah’?”

“I’m not sure which the situation calls for?” He said pushing up his glasses with a little smile.

Changmin’s grin grew a little wider as he heard her laugh. Even sitting in the dark, her smile seemed to fill the room with a warm glow. “At this point, I think I’m just useless.” She pressed her forehead against the cool cover of the book.

She wondered why she found herself so comfortable with this stranger. It felt easier to talk with this boy she had known for twenty minutes than to talk with her closest friends- even her parents. A small shock of something she could only describe as electricity, raced up her arm as the boy’s hand brushed hers. He reached for the book, gently taking it from her hands and opening it to the tabbed page.

“You aren’t useless, Y/n,” His words gave her comfort, wrapping around her like a warm blanket fresh from the dryer. Changmin chuckled, turning the page. “However, one might find it useful to highlight only the useful information and not the entire page.”

He found it cute looking down at Y/n’s textbook. Most of the passages were marked with yellow highlighter- easy to see even in the growing darkness. Some lines were underlined in red and there were circled statements with question marks all over the page. It was evident that she was in fact trying. Actually, her notes were in more detail than his.

“I just don't understand it.”

“What?”

“All of it.”

“All of history?”

“Sure- let’s go with that.” She shrugged leaning her head back on the bookshelf.

“I think history can be confusing sometimes too.” Changmin let her textbook rest on his lap. The two of them looked out the huge windows in front of them, watching the storm rage on outside. Occasionally, a flash of lightning would light up the library. “You know, I’m in Professor Jeong’s class too.”

“You are?”

Chanhee was right. She had no idea he existed until now and unless he played his cards right, she would forget about him the moment she left this building. “Yeah...I sit two rows behind you.” He watched her eyes widened a little as if she was trying to recall every face she had seen in that classroom. “Actually...to be fully honest...I knew who you were before tonight.”

Her brows furrowed, creating a small crease in the middle of her forehead. Everything about her fascinated Changmin, even down to her smallest expression. Getting a little nervous, he started rummaging through his backpack. As he chose his next words carefully in his mind, Changmin pulled out a half-full plastic water bottle and portable charger he forgot he carried.

Interested in the boy’s previous statement, Y/n watched him with intrigue. “I-uh....” His hands shakily turned on his phone’s flashlight after plugging his phone into the charger. “We went to the same high school. You and I have shared classes since grade nine.” Her jaw dropped a little at his words.

“I feel....like such a bitch.”

“Oh no-” He stuttered, trying to balance the water bottle over his flashlight- creating a makeshift lantern.

“Oh my god, I am the biggest asshole! I’ve never once noticed you in seven years? You must hate me!”

His heart warmed, seeing how bothered she was. He felt a little pride swell in his chest knowing that Sunwoo and Chanee were completely wrong about Y/n. “No, not at all! I just think we had different friend groups that’s all.”

Shrouded in the light from their little water lamp the two of them exchanged old high school gossip that Changmin never quite understood from the outside. “Wait so Miyoung stole Yeonu away from Hajoon?” Changmin covered his mouth in shock, his eyes widening in a cute way.

Y/n smiled and nodded, hand falling on his knee. “Yeah- I know right!”

“And Yeonu was the guy who-”

“Yeah who sold Class 4B the midterm answers!”

Changmin let loose a huge sigh. “Damn- I missed so much in high school by just studying and playing games.” This time a comfortable silence fell between the two students on the floor. By the way her eyes were drooping, Y/n assumed it was about three am.

“Nah you just missed....a whole lot of drama.” She yawned shaking her head to stay awake.

It was then that Changmin’s willpower gave in to the weariness of his body. His brain no longer had control of his mouth at that moment. “What if I tutored you?”

A sleepily smile slid onto Y/n’s face. She turned her head against the shelf to look up at the boy next to her. His hopes fell as she laughed a little. “I need more help than just History.”

“What else?”

“Math, Physics, Psych...”

“I can help you with all of that too!”

Changmin hated how eager he sounded. “What are you? Some kind of genius?” She smiled even though her back was getting sore and the sound of the rain was lulling her to sleep.

“No, just a mathematics major whose parents paid for top tutors until he was sixteen.”

The girl stared at him. Her expression was unclear. In her mind, she knew there had to be some catch. No way was this guy going to tutor her in all the subjects she needed for nothing. “What’s your rate, Genius?”

“Like money?

She nodded, turning to fully face the boy. Y/n waited for some terrible number that was hellbent on destroying her bank account. Changmin on the other hand was panicking trying to decipher what number was high enough to get her to say yes but not low enough to make her think that he wasn’t serious. “Um.....$8?”

“An hour? For four subjects?”

“Yes...”

“DEAL!”

Once again Changmin was frozen as Y/n threw her arms around him in a hug. His hands returned to their familiar place- up in the air, shaking, and far away from her.

The pair spent the next hours with textbooks sprawled around them. Changmin patiently assessed where Y/n was in each of her subjects, surprised how someone of her intelligence was struggling. He found that she was indeed very bright- but simply not understanding the information the way it was being given to her.

Neither of them noticed the rain stopping or even the sun rising with a pink and orange glow coming over the horizon, morning light sliding across the marbled floor. They didn’t even notice the sound of keys being turned in the front doors hours earlier they tried so hard to open.

“What are you kids doing here?” The two students looked up to see one of the librarians standing in the doorway, keys in hand.

They looked at each other before scrambling to grab their things and running out the doors. The warm, wet morning air greeted them as they stumbled outside. The sun was just peaking over the buildings and Y/n smiled at the dew clinging to the bright green blades of grass lining the sidewalks. It was a new day and a new hope filled her chest. “We’re finally out!” Changmin cheered, jumping up and down adorably.

Y/n found it precious that someone so tall and graceful looking could be so clumsy and cute. “Changmin, I can’t thank you enough. I don’t think anyone could have explained the Joseon Era principles better.”

“Oh- i-it was nothing.”

“Here,” Taking a pen from her pocket she reached for his right arm and rolled up the sleeve of his hoodie. He took the moment to once again appreciate her beauty up close while the girl wrote her number on his arm. When she was done she placed the pen in his large hand and looked at him expectantly. “Aren’t you going to give me yours?”

Changmin vigorously nodded his head ‘yes’ and internally screamed at his brain to remember the numbers to his own phone number. With anything but steady hands, he wrote his number on her forearm and basked in the glow of the smile he received.

“So-uh..I’ll call you? You’ll call me? We can talk about times that work?”

“Yeah! Dates....and what not...Study-dates I mean! Tutoring! Yes.”

“Awesome! I can’t wait! Thank you so much, you have no idea how much you are saving my ass.” Y/n cheered as she started to back away towards her dorm.

“So you’ll call me?” He called after her. His feet were planted firmly where he stood for he feared if he moved an inch he might float away.

She laughed, her smile even brighter in the growing daylight. “Or something, yeah!”

“Okay!” He watched Y/n unit she rounded a corner before letting all the joy explode from his body in a fit of jumps, hollers, cheers, dance, and maybe what some might consider singing.

The sun basked in the boy’s glee as he danced and jumped his way down the sidewalk screaming “YES! SHE KNOWS WHO I AM!” His body was no longer sore and his mind was no longer tired. Instead, he ran all the way back to his apartment with a grin that the sun could not compete with.

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onlyfreds · 3 years

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Hugs and Kisses | F.W.

Title: Hugs and Kisses

Requested: Yes/No

Summary: Y/N is not a big fan of physical contact and Fred finds out why.

Warning/s: mentions of abuse, violence, mentions of physical abuse in the past, mention of a gun, bruises

Flashbacks are in italics.

Like everyone else, I have a pet peeve.

Mine was physical contact. Not that I didn’t like touching others, I was fine if someone rested their elbow on my shoulder, but hugging, holding hands, putting an arm around someone’s shoulder/waist. No thanks.

I was walking out of the library with Angelina when I suddenly felt an elbow rest on my right shoulder.

I breathed in the familiar scent of cinnamon and firework powder.

“Hey Freddie.” I said, turning to ginger by my side.

“Hey Princess.” He said, keeping his elbow on my shoulder as George appeared next to Angelina and the four of us started to head towards the common room.

Butterflies flew around in my stomach at the nickname, hopefully the blush on my cheeks wasn’t that visible.

“You guys remember the first time Fred attempted to put an arm around Y/N?” George asked, out of the blue, causing Angelina, Fred and I to laugh.

“Oh yeah.” Angelina said, “That was so hilarious.”

Snow lightly dropped down from the heavens. Painting the ground white and letting out a small chill into the air.

The twins and I were building a snowman outside, very innocent and calm from the usual chaos and havoc we caused, but who doesn’t enjoy building a snowman?

But that peaceful atmosphere was soon destroyed when George threw a snowball at Fred. Thus, the peaceful activity of building a snowman soon transitioned into a huge chaotic snowball fight.

“Oi!” I scolded as a poorly aimed snowball from Fred hit my shoulder.

I scooped up some snow, it was time to join the fun.

“Okay! Okay! I give up!” George said, both hands up in mock surrender as he came out from behind the tree he was hiding.

A smirk grew on Fred’s lips, “See? You can’t beat the dream team.” He teased as he put an arm around my shoulder.

Out of instinct, I immediately pulled away, looking up to see Fred and George both taken aback.

“Sorry.” Fred immediately apologized, “Did I make you uncomfortable or anything?”

I shook my head, “No. You could never make me uncomfortable. It’s just, I’m not a huge fan of physical contact.”

The twins looked at each other, probably using their twin telepathy to communicate.

“Any type of physical contact?” George asked.

I shrugged, “Not all. I suppose that there are exceptions.”

Fred then stepped forward, cautiously resting his elbow on my shoulder, “Is this okay?”

I nodded, giving him a reassuring smile. “It’s okay.”

“Fred’s face was absolutely priceless.” George said, aiming a teasing smile at his twin, “He looked he’d been given an electric shock.”

“Maybe he couldn’t believe that the prettiest girl he ever laid eyes on would react like that.” Angelina added.

I rolled my eyes at the both of them, “Piss off you two before I smother you two with the nearest deadly object I find.”

Angelina scoffed, “What? Don’t tell me you don’t agree.”

I tried to stop the blush that was rising up to my cheeks, “Oh for Merlin’s sake, give me a break Angie.”

I sat on the couch by the common room fire, the clock had struck one a few minutes ago but I can’t seem to put down the book I was holding.

The quiet rustling of the page being turned mixed in perfectly with the soft cackling of the fireplace.

Just as the climax was put in motion, the tension between the two lovers was growing with each passing moment, and just as if Merlin had a grudge against me, the book was suddenly snatched out of my hands.

“Hey!” I complained, looking up at the culprit to see the grinning face of a certain Weasley.

“Fred!” I whined, crossing my arms over my chest, “Why?”

He chuckled, taking a seat next to me as he took the bookmark from my hands and placed it on the page I was reading before closing the book and placing on the table next to the couch, “It’s already one in the morning and you’re still reading.”

“So?” I huffed, “Just because you have never read a book in a day of your life doesn’t mean I can’t.”

He laughed, “Shouldn’t you be sleeping instead of waiting for the two lovers to just suck it up and kiss at the ungodly hours of the morning?”

I smiled, “That’s because I need answers. Besides, I could ask you the same thing, shouldn’t you be sleeping instead of bothering me?”

Fred laughed, playing with my hair, “When did I bother you?”

I shrugged teasingly, “I don’t know. Perhaps now.”

The two of us laughed before falling into comfortable silence, his hands still playing with my hair.

“Darling, can I ask you a question?” Fred suddenly said, breaking through the silence.

I looked up at him, “Sure.”

He combed his hand through his hair, “This might be kinda sensitive. But why aren’t you a big fan of physical contact?”

I bit my lip, avoiding his gaze, contemplating whether I should tell Fred the truth or not.

The smashing of glass that came from the kitchen could be heard even from the closed door of my bedroom.

The yelling from another one of my parents’ argument echoed through the walls of the house.

Then there was a thud, causing me to wince. He must’ve hit her again; it’s being going on for years. He made her promise not tell, he swore that if she did, he would kill me.

So, she never told anyone. She covered every single evidence up with makeup and kept a smile on her lips at every family gathering we attended. No matter how many times she told me that it was okay, I knew that she wasn’t.

I took in a shaky breath as I heard nothing but silence. I slowly opened the door of my bedroom, the creak probably being the loudest sound in the house.

I was about to head to the kitchen when I was that the door to my parents’ bedroom was opened ajar, I took a peek to see my mum stuffing her clothes into a gym bag.

Her shirt was riding up a bit, exposing the almost-black bruises that was littered across her back and, as far as I knew, the rest of her body.

“Mummy?” I said, the fear inside me growing with every passing minute.

She turned to face me, quickly wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Hey sweetie.” She said, her voice a little hoarse as she stooped down to my height, “I want you to pack every important belonging you have. Okay honey? Just like we practiced.”

I nodded, running back to my room as I took the small gym bag I hid under my bed and stuffed every essential thing I could.

My mum held my hand tightly as we tiptoed through the living room, our freedom from this nightmare was just around the corner.

I looked around the living room, it looked like a storm had just passed by. Shards of glass was shattered everywhere, random things that have been thrown laid on the floor. Picture frames that once hang on the walls rested on the cement floor, shattered, broken, just like their promise of forever.

What once was a place of comfort and safety, a home, turned into a place of fear and pain, turned into hell.

Mum was just about to reach for the door handle, the only thing separating us from freedom.

“Where do you two think you’re going?” A cold, furious voice asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Mum asked, turning to face my father as she clutched my hand tighter, “We’re leaving.”

My father gave a humorless chuckle, “Acting all tough now huh? What if I don’t let you.”

Mum stepped in front of me protectively, shielding me from my father, “I don’t give a damn on what you think anymore! I had enough and we’re leaving whether you like it or not!”

Before mum could reach the handle, my father pulled her away by the back of her shirt then smacked her across the face. The force had been enough to knock her over to the coffee table.

I stood there, frozen in fear, thinking for a moment that the force was enough to kill her. Once I realized that she was alright, I immediately ran to her side.

I shot my father a death glare, and did what I thought was pretty brave (or stupid) for a toddler, I ran towards him and tried to push him away. Which, obviously, had no effect.

He looked down at me with burning rage, pulling me by the hair as tears started to stream down my cheeks. Next thing I knew, a gun was pointed to my temple.

“I dare you. Walk out that door.” He threatened, tightening his grip on me, “I promise you that your daughter won’t ever be able to see another light of day.”

“Darling?” Fred’s voice pulled me out of my flashback, “Are you okay?”

I looked back at him, not realizing the tears that were dripping down my cheeks.

Without a word, he was about to put his arm around me when he stopped in his tracks. He looked at me for a moment, silently asking me for permission.

I nodded, scooting closer to him as I rested my head on his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat.

I hated physical contact. But Fred was an exemption to that rule, or at least for now.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked softly.

I sniffed, wiping away the remaining tears from my eyes, “My dad used to physically abuse my mum. Whenever she made a mistake or talked back to him, he would hit her brutally. He made her swore not to tell anyone or else he’ll kill me. One day, my mum had enough so the two of us were supposed to escape but he caught us. He hit my mum then pointed a gun at my head. I really thought that I was going to die. Luckily for us, our neighbor suspected that something was wrong and called the police. They arrested him then my mum and I lived at my grandma’s house. Since that day, I knew that I hated physical contact.”

Fred rubbed my back comfortingly, stunned with my confession, “I’m your best friend and I didn’t know that you went through all that.”

I sniffed, “No one did.”

“But,” Fred continued, “Not every physical contact would hurt you. If you want, I can show you.”

I gave him a hesitant smile, “I don’t know Freddie.”

“Look, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. But, if you want, let’s try it for a week. If it still makes you uneasy, then just say the word and we’ll stop.” He offered.

I licked my lips, “Okay. Let’s try it.”

It was a Saturday morning, Angelina, Alicia and I were eating breakfast while discussing Alicia’s recent date with Ravenclaw keeper, Roger Davies.

“He is just absolutely amazing.” Alicia said, obviously swooning over the guy.

“I call dibs on the maid of honor!” Angelina suddenly said.

“Hey!” I complained, taking a sip of pumpkin juice, “You already called dibs on maid of honor for my wedding you can’t call dibs on Alicia’s wedding too!”

I then pointed a finger at Alicia, “I call dibs on maid of honor.”

“What’s all this talk about weddings?” George asked with a teasing grin as he sat down next to Angelina.

“Oh nothing.” I said as the older twin took a seat next to me, “We were just planning Alicia’s future wedding.”

“Wedding huh?” Fred teased, putting an arm around my shoulder, causing me to tense up at first before relaxing into his touch, “Didn’t think of you three as wedding planners.”

No answer or retort came as George, Angelina and Alicia stared at Fred’s arm that was around my shoulder, their mouths slightly agape.

“Fred.” George tried to say, thinking his twin had done it accidentally.

“Don’t you remember?” Angelina and Alicia said at the same time.

He gave them a small, reassuring smile, “Don’t worry guys. Y/N and I talked last night and she willing to give this whole thing a try.”

I nodded, “I told him the reason why I wasn’t a big fan of physical contact and he offered to show how good it is.”

“So, what’s the reason?” Alicia asked.

Fred and I exchanged a look, then he said, “I think that would be a secret between Y/N and I for now.”

His answer was met with the overlapping chatter of the group.

“What?”

“That’s no fair.”

“Why does Fred get to know but we don’t?”

Fred put both his hands up, palms facing outwards, commanding silence, “Look, I’m sure that she’ll tell you the whole story once she’s ready. But for now, we should respect her decision.”

The group nodded in agreement.

Fred clapped his hands together with a small smile, “Great! Now going back to Alicia’s wedding planning, who’s the groom?”

Fred and I were hanging out by the courtyard, watching the sunset, his arm resting across my waist.

For the rest of the day since breakfast, Fred would frequently put an arm around my shoulder or waist.

At first, it felt a bit weird to feel his arm around me but by the afternoon I was used to it.

I had to admit, it felt nice.

“You okay?” He asked.

I nodded, giving him a small smile, “Yeah.”

“Are you sure your fine with this arrangement? Because if your uncomfortable we can stop.” He said.

I giggled, “Honestly Freddie, I’m fine. It actually feels better than I expected.”

He grinned, “Oh darling, just wait until I spoil you with hugs.”

His tone then turned serious, “Thank you for trusting me with your secret.”

I smiled up at him, “I’d trust you with my life Freddie.”

Over the next few weeks, Fred every physical contact as possible.

He was right, not every touch would hurt me.

I enjoyed every single one of his hugs, whenever he would place his arm around my shoulders or waist. He always seemed to find an excuse just to hold me close to him. I had to admit, there was something comforting about being so close to him, that I regretted not trying this out sooner.

“Penny for your thoughts darling?” Fred asked, wrapping his arms around my waist.

I turned around to face him, “Nothing much.”

“So, how does you feel about physical contact now?” He asked with a sly smile.

“I’m loving it.” I said returning the smile, “Thank you so much for showing me how good it is.”

He laughed, “Well I think that there is another form of physical contact you might like.”

I raised a brow at him, “Oh yeah? What is it?”

He slowly leaned forward and connected our lips together in a hungry and desperate kiss, all those years of pent-up feelings being poured into that kiss.

His hands rested on my waist as I cupped his cheeks in my hands.

Even if it was happening right in the moment, I still couldn’t believe that my best friend, my crush ever since first year was kissing me.

We pulled away for a minute before he reconnected our lips together again, this time it was slow and sloppy but full with passion.

Once we pulled away, Fred rested his forehand against mine, both of us breathless and cheeks painted a deep shade of red.

“I liked you for such a long time.” He whispered, “I have never met anyone so cute, so stunning, so intelligent, so funny and so damn hot and sexy. I have never been so in love and wanted anyone more than you. So, will you be my girlfriend?”

I smiled, “Please tell me that I’m not dreaming.”

He chuckled, tracing a finger over my arm, watching the goosebumps erupt from it, “I’m positive that you’re not dreaming.”

I giggled, “Then I would absolutely love to be yours. I would love to be able to hug you, hold your hand and kiss you. Thank you for showing me how it feels to be loved by someone so perfect.”

𝚃𝚊𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝:

@lumosandnoxwriting @gostupid-godumb @fandomhideout @nova-darling @gaycatlord-stuff @pandaxnienke @escapingrealitybyreading @catching-the-train-to-hogwarts (Send a Message/Ask or fill out my taglist form if you want to be added!)

#fredweasley #fredweasleyfanfic #fredweasleyimagines #fred weasley fluff #fred weasley angst #fredweasleyoneshots #fred weasley smut #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley x y/n #fred weasley x you #hp imagine #hp one shot #fred weasley fanfiction #weasley imagine

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marshmallow-phd · 4 years

Text

Between the Pages

Genre: Vampire!AU

Pairing: Taemin x Reader

A/N: This one was fun. And writing for Taemin is making me what to do it again!

The library was quiet – as it should be. Despite the dozen or so people scattered about in the evening hours, you were able to drift in and out of the aisles without any problems. Occasionally, you would stop and inspect a spine that caught your eye, making sure it was in its proper place before moving on to the next shelf. You had a small pile of books in your arms that were needing to find their homes again. Motivation to do much else was lost on you at the moment. As much as you loved your job, your mind was more preoccupied with what was waiting for you afterwards.

“Do you know where the Shakespeare books are?”

“Shoot!” you squealed way too loudly for a librarian. The familiar laugh made you whirl around. Taemin was leaning up against the shelf of books, arms crossed and a smirk on his lips. You, however, did not find it as amusing. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

The vampire shrugged. “Last I checked, this wasn’t sacred ground.”

Rolling your eyes, you turned back to your work. “Whatever ground you walk on is immediately de-sacred-fied.”

“I may not be as smart as you, but I’m sure that’s not a word.”

You looked back at him over your shoulder as you tried to hold back a laugh you knew would be breaking the volume rule. “You’d think a three-hundred-year-old vampire would be extremely intelligent.”

Taemin pushed off the shelf and stalked towards, his hands now behind his back. He came close to you, enough to make your own shoulder blades bump into the innocent books behind you. “Sorry,” he said without an ounce of sincerity. “I spent my time practicing other… things.”

You could already feel the heat exploding in your cheeks and your heart speeding up in your chest from the embarrassment. You hated when he did that. It was all on purpose, toeing the line of innuendoes. He said he did it because it reminded him of how human you were; the reactions your body had to his presence drew him in – not to quench his everlasting thirst, but to explore the meaning of being human himself again.

There were times he made you feel as cliché as the heroines in the supernatural section: the unassuming female lead, quiet, unadventurous, nose always in a book. You were a librarian, for Pete’s sake. And not even the cool Noah Wyle-type where you went around the world finding ancient artifacts and saving humanity from an evil villain (usually scared or tattooed) who wanted to use the artifact for his own nefarious purposes.

Instead, you were the protector of plastic-covered books and keeper of late fees. (Yes, there was much more to your job than that and you absolutely loved it, but that was beside the point.) Compared to the extended life Taemin had lived… you were a little boring.

“Come back,” his voice whispered in your ear, making you jump. He chuckled at your startled expression and you resisted the urge to punch his arm. It wouldn’t inflict any level of pain on him anyway. “You were doing it again,” he teased. “Spacing out.”

“Sorry,” you murmured. It tended to happen, your mind wandering down paths and blocking out reality at the most inconvenient times. Taemin, however, was used to it by now.

He shook his head at you. “Don’t be. You’re cute when you do that.”

You narrowed your eyes. “You say that about everything I do.”

“Because it’s true.” Locking you in with his gaze, he leaned in until the tips of your noses were just a hair’s breadth apart. His voice was low, almost to the point of in audible as he said, “Come with me.”

“No,” you said back with almost no fight. “I can’t just leave work.”

“You won’t be leaving building.”

Oh, no. You knew that look. That gleam in his eye compared with the smile that was just a little too innocent. His mind had already conjured up a scheme that you would be against before he could get one word out.

“Taemin, no-”

Too late.

He already had you scooped up in his arms and blurring by the bookshelves. The “employees only” door near the back of the library didn’t hinder him at all, making it through with a quick swipe of your badge that hung from your waist. He continued up the stairs even as they turned from polished marble to rickety wood under his feet, his steps so light they hardly made a sound. In the span of perhaps thirty seconds or so, he’d taken you from the first floor non-fiction section all the way up to the bell tower balcony outside.

The wind was stronger up here, less hindered by the other buildings of the city. Low in the sky, the sun continued to shine on the orange and blue canvas. Taemin set you back down on your feet, but you still clung to his side with as tight of a grip you could muster. As beautiful as the scene was, you had a horrible fear of heights. Taemin knew this about you, yet he still brought you all the way up here.

“It’s okay,” he giggled. “I won’t let anything happen to you.” Why did he always find your scared moments so amusing? Was it a vampire thing?

“Why did you bring me up here?” you asked out loud.

“Because I wanted you to see the sunset.” With his cold hand he took ahold of yours while wrapping his other arm behind the small of your back. For a moment, you thought he was going to start waltzing with you though there was no music, but he didn’t move. He kept staring out at the small strip of sun still visible on the horizon.

This was the only time of day that he could be out, the only time where the sun’s rays wouldn’t disintegrate him into ash. Out of all the myths about vampires that weren’t true – the garlic, the mirrors, the coffins – you really wished that one was on the list. You wanted to see the world with him, see it through his eyes, but during the day, where you believed it was at its most beautiful. But he could never do that. Not without risking goodbye the forever kind of way.

“I’ve seen it before,” you sighed.

“But I want you to really look at it.”

Turning away from it completely, you looked Taemin in the eyes. They were bright red, telling you he’d recently fed. “Why?” you demanded. “What’s so important about it?”

“Because I want you to know how I see you.”

Your breath hitched in your throat. He was hardly ever serious, at least not with you, not in the time that you’d known him. Even on the night you’d met, despite how scary it had been for you, he was smiling and joking in an effort to put you more at ease.

Letting go of your hand, he reached out and caressed your cheek with his cool thumb.

“You’ve been crying in your sleep lately,” he confessed. “At first I thought you were having nightmares about him again.”

You shuddered at the memory of the vampire who’d decided to make you his next meal. That was back before you knew about the supernatural, back when it all was still fairytales put to paper. Taemin had saved you that night, but even if you felt secure and protected with him, he couldn’t frighten away the nightmares. Thinking back, though, you hadn’t dreamt about him in a long time. You shook your head, “I don’t understand.”

“You started talking in your sleep,” he explained, a sadness filling his eyes that broke your own heart. “Saying things like not being good enough or being unworthy. Once you asked me how I could stay with you.” Closing his eyes, he came forward and nudged your nose with his own. “You silly little creature. How could you not see yourself as I do?”

“But-”

Taemin stopped you with his ice cold lips, pressing them into yours to push back the argument that was brewing inside. He pinned you in between him and the brick wall of the tower. While he usual kisses with you were softer, gentler in fear of accidentally hurting you, this one was more aggressive, releasing all that he normally held back. He broke away from your lips to move down to your jaw and then your neck. Against your skin, you felt his fangs grow long and sharp. You accidentally let out a squeak, stopping him. When he pulled away, you bit your bottom lip guilty.

“Sorry,” you whispered.

“Don’t be,” he smiled as he cupped your jaw with his hands. “I got a little carried away, that’s all. But do you see it now? How worth it you are?”

No, not entirely. There was still that seed of doubt, but you were sure it would always be there. There was an imbalance between you and Taemin, the kind that could only be fixed in one way. And you were nowhere near ready for that step. There were too many human things you wanted to do, too many days in the sun that you weren’t able to give up yet. But, for now at least, you could push that all away. You nodded reassuringly at him.

“Good,” he beamed, happy to see you smiling up at him. “Because you’re mine. Forever.”

#shinee #shinee imagines #shinee scenarios #lee taemin #taemin x reader #shinee vampire au #shinee vampire!au #Between the Pages

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jennifercrowart · 3 years

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D&D Diary - The Yawning Rodent, 15

Refresher: Our adventurers Lugs (grung barbarian), Lurk (grung rogue), Aelia (tiefling cleric), and Valas (drow sorcerer) with tagalong Deku (ratfolk cleric) fought Belak, his giant frog, McKennedeigh, and Bradley in Belak's grove. While Belak was taken down fairly easily, his death caused McKennedeigh and Bradley to go in a frenzy, drinking the blood from his body and becoming stronger. After a tough fight, the party managed to kill Bradley, and tie up an unconscious McKennedeigh. Lugs and Lurk grabbed the ruby red fruit of the Gulthias tree before it was set entirely ablaze, filling the cavern with smoke. The party took shelter in what seems to have been Belak's study.

Sunless Citadel spoilers!

Now in Belak's study, Lugs sits at his desk and tries to mime doing work with all the papers. He finds a candle in a candle holder, and deduces that it had been burning several hours ago - someone must have been here recently!!! Thinking hard, he takes the candle stick and eats it.

Aelia finds a few spell scrolls, as well as a mantle of some more valuable items; gemstones, Belak's stash of gold, a glove with a rune design on the back of the hand, and a silver circlet inlaid with a sapphire. Meanwhile, Deku goes through the bookshelves, and finds several titles placed closer to the desk that look more heavily used. One is called Born to Die, a book in Common about the Druidic theories of the life and death cycle. There's also Treasures of the Fire Lords, a collection of ancient journals written in Elven, and, finally, his stolen library book Cults Around the World.

Cults Around the World:

True to the title, it details several cults around the world. One such cult is called the Cult of the Dragon, also known as the Keepers of the Secret Hoard, who lived in the Sunless Citadel for 1400 years until the Cataclysm. The citadel was once called Maetrine Keep, home to a powerful vampire called Illythia. The cult took over, but were a secretive and shadowy group. It's said that a huge red dragon could be seen about the citadel during the cult's reign. The cult is said to have perished when the Sunless Citadel - along with other citadels across the continent - sunk beneath the earth during the Cataclysm 800 years ago.

Although he recognises the popular language the script is written in, Deku passes the old diaries to Valas, who can read Elven. Deku assumes, with disgust, that they're Belak's journals regarding his experiments.

The Vampire Diaries:

Written in Elven, this appears to be a collection of journals kept by an old, experienced, and powerful vampire woman called Illythia. It talks about her building a large citadel for herself called Maetrine Keep, in which she ruled over the nearby lands with her army of vampire spawn for approximately 300 years. The land Maetrine Keep stood over is described in the journals as a large and dense forest with a winding river running through it from the ocean, and seems to be set pre-Cataclysm.

Valas flips to the most recent page of the unfinished final diary. The last pages tell of Illythia's army and of the threat of an encroaching army - led by Ashardalon - but doesn't end. Interspersed throughout the journals are much more recent slips of parchment, with a different handwriting and notes taken in common on vampire biology and magic.

Next, Deku tries to read Treasures of the Fire Lords. As he opens it up to the second page, a warding glyph on the paper lights up, activating an icy explosion that fills the room. On instinct, Deku immediately throws the book away from himself before hiding inside his oversized armour like a turtle, and Valas - unable to take much more pain - uses his last spell slot to cast Absorb Elements on himself and take just a quarter of the damage. Wounded from their previous battle, Lurk and Aelia take the full brunt of the explosion, slamming them against the study's walls with ice before they slump to the ground, unconscious. Lugs, brawnier than most, is able to absorb the hit, and he rushes over to his brother's body to start helping him. He tips water from his barrel into Lurk's mouth, filling up his cheeks like a balloon.

Deku comes over and pushes Lugs out of the way, complimenting him on his good work, before gently compressing Lurk's chest so the water squirts out of his mouth like a fountain instead of drowning him. With his cleric knowledge and his medicine kit, he's able to stabilise both Lurk and Aelia. The still conscious party members make some space on the rug for Lurk and Aelia to rest and sleep it off, Lurk propped up on a bed of books that Lugs made for him.

The Treasures of the Fire Lords book is worse for wear now, but what remains seems to be writing in Common matching the annotations in the vampire diaries - Belak's writing, all research notes on his experiments on Chadley, McKennedeigh, and Bradley. It mentions that Chadley was experimented on differently to the latter two, and Valas and Deku are concerned to hear this, unsure if Chadley is currently ok at the Rat's Nest.

Lugs beckons his fire snake to sleep against the storeroom wall outside the study, and the snake does so, as Lugs seems to have had good luck with befriending the creature who's still full on the goblin he fed them. They bring McKennedeigh's tied-up body inside the study so they can keep watch over her, and wedge the doors shut with pitons in case of intruders. Secure, the party takes a long rest for the rest of the day, which passes by without issue.

They have the chance to inspect some of the potentially-magic items they'd picked up recently. The gold circlet with metal woven into flames and a ruby in the centre is called the Circlet of Ignition, which lets the wearer cast the 2nd-level spell Flame Blade once per day. The silver circlet with delicate weaving and a sapphire is the Sojourner's Circlet of Rituals, giving the wearer advantage on maintaining concentration during ritual spells. Lastly, the butler-looking glove is The Master's Glove, which can be used to cast Unseen Servant spell once per day. On the inside of the Sojourner's Circlet of Rituals are etchings in Dwarven, which read, "Made in the Glitterhame caverns of Khundrukar. Quality assured!"

Later, Deku checks up on Aelia and Lurk as they wake up. McKennedeigh has also woken up, and is writhing around, hissing and spitting in a vicious fury. Lugs gives her a few bonks with his club until she passes out again.

Aelia eagerly claims the Circlet of Ignition, Deku takes the Sojourner's Circlet of Rituals, and Lugs takes The Master's Glove.

The party leaves the study and heads back towards the remains of the Gulthias tree, intending on investigating it further now that the fire has gone out. Everyone else stays very far back as Lugs goes on ahead to crack open the burnt husk of the trunk. Inside is a lot of empty space, with burnt vein-like structures twisting all the way down from the outer shell of the tree towards its base, where it all comes together and twists into a wooden stake that's been jammed into the torso of a skeleton with enough force to break several ribs. Just the torso of the skeleton is visible above ground, never having had a proper burial. Lugs chuckles to himself, and uses The Master's Glove to have the unseen servant - an invisible, mindless force - puppet the skeleton's torso while he steps back and feigns surprise and fear. The performance is so overblown and shoddy that it doesn't fool anyone, and the brittle, ancient skeleton begins to break apart as it's manipulated and no longer pinned in place by the stake.

They think this is Illythia's skeleton - the corpse of the slain vampire who initially built this citadel before the Cult of the Dragon moved in.

Lugs breaks off the stake from the rest of the tree that grew from it, while Deku also takes some samples of bone and bark just in case they want to study it later. With nothing else of note, the party begin heading back to the well shaft so they can leave the Sunless Citadel.

Aelia tries to come up with a plan on what they'll say to Yusdrayl when they get back to the upper floor, as they obviously aren't returning with Calcryx like they kept saying they would. She points out that she and Lurk still bear the marks of ice burns from the glyph explosion before their rest, and hopes to use that as proof that they fought Calcryx down here, at least.

They reach the well shaft that is their only known path to the upper level of the citadel, and Lurk climbs on ahead to scout. Lugs takes a barrel and some chains from the laboratory they passed through, combining them with rope to make a big bucket his fire snake can climb into while he carries them up. Unable to carry both the fire snake and McKennedeigh, however, he opts to leave his heavy water barrel behind for the time being, and offers Aelia (the second strongest party member) 100 gold to help him carry his fire snake, which she hesitantly accepts.

When Lurk's about 30 feet from the top of the 80 foot shaft, he hears Yusdrayl's voice calling out to him, asking him how their search went and what happened to Belak. Above him, Yusdrayl is leaning over the lip of the well, her big golden eyes peering down. Panicking, Lurk doesn't answer her question, and instead asks if she has a bathroom he can use. Dumbfounded, Yusdrayl says that the Kobold Gang often just goes out in the Underdark, away from the citadel. Lurk keeps insisting that they must have a bathroom and that he needs to use it, and Yusdrayl asks him why he doesn't just go on the lower floor, which must be empty of threats if they defeated Belak. Lurk gives in and climbs back down, to do his 'number 3s'.

When he gets to the bottom of the shaft, he tells the rest of the party what happened, and that Yusdrayl is on the lookout for them. Unsure of what else they can do, the party climbs up, and hears Yusdrayl calling back down to them again when they're about halfway.

Yusdrayl demands to know where Calcryx is, but Valas asks if they can answer her questions once they're done climbing up the shaft, as they're exhausted and don't want to fall. Yusdrayl says that they better answer her quickly, then. Indignant, Aelia starts arguing with her, confused as to why Yusdrayl has stopped trusting them. Ignoring Yusdrayl's warnings, Aelia continues climbing up the shaft, though she stops when Valas notices Yusdrayl's elite guards leaning over the lip of the well with their slingshots trained on the party.

Valas tells Yusdrayl that they did find Calcryx with Belak as they theorised they would, but that the white dragon was not yet loyal to the druid, and she fled into the Underdark soon after the fighting started. Unable to ignore Belak, the party had to stay and fight him instead of give chase to her. Yusdrayl wants proof of their story, but Valas tells her that they can't have proof because Calcryx is gone. The Kobold Gang leader relents and allows the party to climb up to Durnn's chamber, but on the condition that she'll be sending some of her bandits down to look for any traces of Calcryx to verify their story.

The adventurers climb to the top of the well, and find that they're surrounded by the Kobold Gang. Amongst them is Durnn, grinning sadistically. Yusdrayl explains that she's grateful that they took care of the Goblin Gang for her, but that Durnn had eventually come back to tell her about the party betraying her, saying that they took Calcryx from the Goblin Gang days ago but still never returned her to Yusdrayl. She was convinced that Durnn would just be trying to get her to turn against them, but resolved to see if the party would finally return with only excuses and no white dragon one final time.

Durnn tells her that, if Valas' story is true, Belak's grove and study - where Durnn says the druid would've been - is very far away from the one exit to the Underdark on that floor, which is very close to the well shaft. Valas says that a new rift opened up in the grove, which is where Calcryx escaped, but Durnn just comments how convenient that would be for their story.

Instead of climbing up with the rest of the party, Lurk had instead climbed back down the shaft. Yusdrayl demands to know where he's gone, and Aelia says that he wasn't done 'with his number 3s' yet. 'Number 3s' sound like a truly horrific burden to bear. Yusdrayl sends down two of her bandits as well as an elite guard to the lower floor to investigate for signs of Calcryx, and they pass by Lurk on his way up as they climb back down.

When Lurk reaches the top, he telepathically communicates to Aelia and Valas (as he can only do so with 2 people at a time) that he set his two hunting traps at the base of the shaft. He tells Lugs that in Grung, so the bandits around them don't understand. When the bandits and guard reach the bottom, those up top hear pained screams. The elite guard yells from below that it was trapped, and that one of the bandits is badly hurt. Having used this to wipe out even just 3 of Yusdrayl's followers from the battleground, the party readies to fight her as their betrayal is revealed!

#dnd #dungeons and dragons #DM diaries #dnd diaries #dm diary #dnd diary #the sunless citadel #the yawning rodent #dnd 5e

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korra-the-red-lion · 3 years

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Unnatural Affairs. Chapter 19: A Witch is Needed.

(Lyn + Michael)

Lyn

I was flipping to the next page when I felt Ally shift next to me. I paused and looked down at her. Her face was relaxed, but I could the rawness around her eyes where she had been wiping at them last night. I wondered what had triggered her, but then I thought maybe that this had been slowly building up. She had been absent for most of the week. I saw her every now and then, but it was always brief. She hadn’t really been speaking to me or Michael. I asked her about one night, and she just said she and her roommate weren’t talking to one another. Finally, Michael figured out what happened and let me in on it. On top of all the crap that’s been going on with the ghosts, she was having alive people drama too.

The bruises were fading, but I could still see the finger imprints. It caused a burning feeling inside my chest of anger and shame when I saw them. I saw when Fredrik shoved her under the water, and Michael stabbed the dude with a bloody knife, and I tried whacking him off with my bat. But that’s about it. Next thing I knew, I was outside, and the gang is telling me I was possessed. Add that to the list of ‘Lyn’s traumas of her second year at MSU.’ And they say third year is the toughest year.

I put my book down in my lap, staring up at the ceiling. This whole thing was crazy, absolutely bonkers. I can’t believe that most of my semester has been taken up by all these crazy events. But it’s not like Ally’s presence called all this to the forefront. Was there always something going on, but I couldn’t see it? It was a strange feeling, lemme tell ya. I would say I felt a bit jealous that I couldn’t at least sense them like Michael could. It made me feel useless when it came to the actual ghost hunting. But if I couldn’t see them, then how was Fredrik visible to me? Huh, I never really thought about it before.

And it turns out that the ghost that Ally has been getting a lot of information from was a dead family member. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that, honestly. I didn’t see my dad’s family all that much. I saw old pictures of great grandpa George when he was young after he passed away. Him and his sister looked very similar, I remember thinking at the time. Both had the same slender faces and big ears that my dad had. Both of them even had the same freckles. But whereas my great grandpa looked very serious in his family photos, his sister had this amused smile on her face, as if she was in on a joke that no one else was. It was said that he really lost himself when she died, and he became a bitter person who blamed the justice system for never figuring what happened to her. He was the only one who thought something bad happened, while others thought she just ran away from home because she didn’t want to marry the man they set her up with. Hey, I could totally relate to that, homegirl.

Ally shifted again, knocking me out of my thoughts. She pressed right up against me, causing a smile to flutter onto my face. It just felt nice to have someone you cared about seeking you in their sleep. I lightly brushed my knuckles against her face, pushing the hair out it. A small smile appeared on her sleeping face.

Something warm bloomed in my chest as I stared down at her. Have I ever felt this way before? I tried to think about all my previous partners, but I couldn’t ever remember having a warmth like this. It was a…a weird feeling.

I turned my attention back to my book when I heard Ally groan as she woke up. She stretched her arms before snuggling back down. I could see her hazel eye peeking out from under the covers, watching me. I picked up the bottle of water from the floor and handed it to her. Ally took it gratefully. She cracked it open and took a small sip as she sat up next to me.

“How are you feeling?” I asked, watching her.

Ally took another sip, nodding as she did. She set it down after putting the lid back on it. “I feel better. Sorry about that…”

“Hey, don’t apologize to me,” I said, reaching over to tuck her hair behind her ear. “That’s something you should never apologize for.”

She looked embarrassed but nodded all the same.

“Did you want to talk about it?”

“Um…” she sighed, raking her hands through her hair. “I just…I dunno. Everything sort of hit me at once, I guess. I feel like I’m so close to figuring this all out, but there’s just something I’m missing. Then I also realized how far behind I was in all my schoolwork, so that didn’t help. Oh, and I had this horrible dream where I watched all of them die again.” She brought her knees up to her chest, looking defeated.

“Ally.” I bonked her lightly on the head. She looked over at me in surprise.

“What was that for?”

“You’re not doing this alone,” I said, cupping her cheek and rubbing my thumb against her skin. “Michael and I are helping you every step of the way. We, not you, are going to figure this out. Together. So, stop stressing about it so much, okay?”

She stared at me before sighing again. “I know, I know. It’s just- ugh, it’s just that sometimes my brain goes into overdrive, and I can’t stop it. Like, logically I understand what you’re saying, but my brain disagrees otherwise.”

“I get it,” I said. “I don’t understand it on a personal level, but I get it. Just remember that we’re here for you. I’m here for you. You’re not doing this alone,” I repeated firmly.

“Okay…thanks,” she smiled shyly.

“You’re welcome,” I kissed her on the forehead before resting mine against it. “Now, are you hungry or anything? We could go get breakfast.”

Ally said nothing as she stared into my eyes. Slowly, she nodded, rubbing our foreheads together. I made no effort to move, however. Neither did she. I felt her breath on my face as her breathing slowed down. Ally closed her eyes, her lips lightly brushing against mine. But just before she kissed me, I pulled away, stifling a giggle as I said, “Okay, let’s go then!”

Ally opened her eyes in confusion. “Did you just-? Did you seriously just tease a kiss?!” I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the incredulous tone of her voice.

“Me? Teasing? I would never dream of it.” I couldn’t supress the broad grin that was growing on my face.

“You’re a horrible person, you know that right?” she grumbled as she crossed her arms.

“Maybe,” I teased with a smirk, “but I’m your horrible person.”

Ally fell back dramatically into the pillow. “You know what? I don’t want breakfast after all. I’m just going to lie here with Pickles. He’s the only one who cares about me.”

I laughed loudly as I bent over, kissing her on the lips. “Come on, you need to eat, you dingus.”

“I need one more to be fully charged, otherwise I can’t move,” she said seriously. I kissed her again, a bit longer this time before pulling away with a soft smile. She smiled back and nodded. “Okay, I’m good to go now. Thanks for the charge.”

“Anytime, luv.”

XXX

It was later that day that I sat with Michael in the library with newspapers, old articles, and messy notes spewed all around us. Trying to figure out what the fuck happened to Jeremiah Kinkly was driving us both to the brink of insanity. So far, despite hours of looking, we’ve found basically next to nothing.

Michael groaned as he crumbled up another note and dumped it in the bag we designated for that purpose. “I just don’t get it, it’s like this dude doesn’t even exist.”

“Maybe he doesn’t, and the universe is fucking with us,” I said dryly, not looking up from my laptop.

“That sounds like something the universe would do.”

Despite our joking, it was starting to feel hopeless. I told Ally she wasn’t allowed to help us with this today because she needed to catch up on schoolwork. She was sitting nearby and kept sneaking glances our way, but we both had put our foot down. She grumbled and complained but we stayed strong. I could feel her eyes on us now, but I ignored her. I didn’t want her helping at all. The whole thing was overwhelming her right now, and she needed a break from it for a little bit.

Michael sighed as he dragged over a book he took out. It was supposed to help with our Fredrik problem, according to him. Because we weren’t sure that he would disappear if we captured the killer, it was a precautionary measure. Except for one tiny problem: we had no idea how to do a spell. Michael had read through the book several times yet couldn’t find any solution that didn’t involve a witch. I mean, we already had half a dozen ghosts roaming around, so why not add a witch to the mix? Absolute insanity, that’s what this was.

He did mention heading down to the weird bookstore later and talking to the owner. Michael claims that she was basically a witch, so she might be able to help, or at least give us pointers. I’ve never stepped foot in that store, but I trusted his judgement. He was a good guy with a steady head on his shoulders, so he wouldn’t suggest it unless he thought there was a chance it would work.

Another few useless search results and I was starting to get annoyed. How the fuck was there nothing on this stupid man? You would think that someone who died on this cursed campus would show up somewhere. Michael was right, it was like he didn’t exist. But we had the DNA results, which meant that there should be proof somewhere that he was a real person.

We wanted to avoid asking Professor Kinkly about it. We didn’t know who this guy was, and we didn’t want to drag anyone else into this mess. Of course, that was a huge pain in the ass. I bet we wouldn’t be dragging our asses like this if we could ask him. Jesus Christ, I was about to murder someone.

I threw my head back, closing my eyes in annoyance. It felt pointless to keep looking, we’ve been at it for hours at this point. Maybe we should just cut our losses for now and move on to the next problem instead. Hell, that was what Michael was doing. I ran my hands down my face before adjusting myself back into searching position. The open Google tab looked as if it was mocking me. What a bastard.

I crossed my arms as I stared at the blank search box, racking my brains to figure if there was something I was missing. I tried every word combination I thought of. That hadn’t worked. I even tried to look him up in obituaries, but it seemed like he never got one. How could a man whose DNA just not be anywhere at all? It didn’t make sense. God, I wished I was a hacker, then I could go into a hospital or police database.

“You guys look like you need a break,” said Ally as she approached our table.

“Hey, you’re banned!” Michael pointed his finger at Ally. “This is blasphemous!”

She rolled her eyes playfully. “I just noticed how beat you looked. It might be worth it to stop for awhile, maybe even go for a walk.”

“That’s very ironic, coming from you,” I remarked. “You know?”

Ally held her hands up defensively. “It was just a suggestion. Maybe we could go to the store that Michael had mentioned?”

“What’s this ‘we’ stuff?” Michael raised his brows. “I literally just said you were banned. Weren’t you listening?”

“Hey, I need a walk too,” she laughed. “Plus, I’ve made great strides. I finished both my English and Psych work.”

“Damn, we’ve been doing this for a long time then,” I groaned, throwing my head back again.

Michael rapped his knuckles against the table. “Alright, we go to the store, then come back here. Ally’s not wrong, we’re pretty done. Maybe a change in scenery is something that we need. And,” he grinned at Ally, “since you did get a bit of work down, you can come.”

Ally gave an adorable fist pump as she grinned at me victoriously. I rolled my eyes, keeping my own smile off my face. “Just know I didn’t agree to this.”

“Good thing I didn’t ask you,” she snarked playfully.

Together, we quickly packed up our things and headed out.

XXX

Michael.

The bell didn’t tinkle when we walked in. I looked up in confusion and saw that it was taped down. That was strange.

The other strange thing was Talia wasn’t anywhere in sight. Maybe she was just in the back? I walked towards the counter, surprised to see someone else sitting there instead. It was Talia’s daughter, the one with a mane of black hair and spiked bracelets that looked like they belonged in Hot Topic. Actually, they probably were from there.

She was sitting on the stool with her elbows propped on the counter, reading a book of some sorts. She glanced up when I approached the counter, sighing as she closed the book.

“Can I help you?” she asked flatly.

“Uh…I was wondering if Talia was around, actually.” I looked around and saw Ally and Lyn staring at the petrified doll heads with curiosity and apprehension, respectively. “We just needed help with something.”

She looked around before saying bluntly, “Huh, looks like she’s not here. Have a nice day.” She went to open the book again.

“Well…it’s Katherine, right? Can you just tell her we stopped by? Oh, and I’m Michael, by the way.”

Katherine looked at me with a mix of annoyance and exasperation. “Yeah, I will. Goodbye now.” She went back to reading with a shake of her head.

I was about to leave when I noticed that she wasn’t just reading a regular novel. She was reading a spell book! That’s a very odd reading choice, but I ain’t judging. Instead, I put on my best smile and cleared my throat.

There was murder in her eyes as she looked up again. At this point, Ally had made her way while Lyn was looking at the stuffed bear head in confusion. She stood next to me as Katherine glared daggers at me. Her eyes flickered between the two of us before she heaved another great sigh.

“What do you people want? I already told you that mom wasn’t here,” she snapped.

“What are you reading?” I asked, gesturing to the book. Ally stared at it, her eyes bright with interest.

“A book.”

“But that’s not a normal book.”

“Why do you give a shit?”

“I just was wondering if you knew anything about witchcraft?”

She stared at me silently, her eyes narrowed. Oops, maybe that was too forward of me. After a few minutes of very tense silence, she dropped her shoulders slightly.

“Why?” Katherine crossed her arms, still glaring at me. “Why do you want to know?”

“Because,” Ally spoke up, “we’re trying to send a spirit back to wherever it’s suppose to be, and we need someone who understands spells and witchy stuff. We thought that asking the woman who owns this store would be our best bet.”

Doesn’t Ally respect that she’s banned from engaging in this stuff today? Clearly not, sheesh. I nodded in agreement, and added, “She’s been kinda helping us this whole time.”

Katherine pinched the bridge of her nose before sliding off the stool to stand. She leaned against the counter and appraised us both. Ally stared back, not breaking off eye contact while I maintained it the best I could.

“You’re crazy, the two of you,” she shook her head. “Mom is out of town for the day and asked me to watch over the store while she was out. Sorry, but she won’t be back until then, maybe even longer depending.”

I couldn’t hide the disappointment on my face. An extra day wasn’t that big a deal, but it still sucked that we came here for nothing. I was ready to leave when Ally got a strange look on her face. I looked at her with a frown, but she was still looking at Katherine. Lyn walked over, eyes flickering between the two women.

“What’s going on?” she whispered to me. I just shrugged my shoulders, not really sure myself.

Ally suddenly gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. She shook whatever that was off and said, “Well, why don’t you help us then?”

My jaw dropped open as Lyn frowned in confusion, having missed most of the conversation. Katherine looked just as surprised at the suggestion before she burst into laughter.

“That’s insane!” Katherine had a small smirk on her face until she saw Ally’s determined expression. “Wait, are you serious? You actually think I can help you?”

“Well, why not?” Ally said with a shrug. “I doubt your mom would have put you in charge of the store unless you could at least understand half the stuff in here. Plus, you were reading that spell book when we came in, and I’m guessing you’re not doing that for fun.”

Damn, Ally’s observation skills were on point yet again. Lyn looked silently impressed, wearing a smirk as she nodded her approval. Katherine still looked surprise, and maybe even a little unsure. She tugged at the end of her hair, staring at Ally warily.

“You are asking something of me that you can’t even prove,” she said slowly. “Who ever said magic is real?”

“Ghosts are,” said Ally bluntly, “and one of them was brought here somehow. Please, I wouldn’t be asking if I wasn’t sure.”

Katherine looked skeptical as she worked her fingers through her hair. “Well…that’s definitely a point. What is it you actually need from me?”

Ally beamed as she turned to me, indicating that I could do the explaining. Quickly, I tried my best to explain the whole Fredrik thing without going into too much detail, because at this point, we could write a novel with everything we had going on. Katherine listened, her face pinched with nervous energy. After I finished, she looked away, her expression contemplative.

“Okay…” she glanced back us briefly before diverting her attention again. “I need some time to think about it. That sounds really stupid and really dangerous. I’m not about to put myself in harm’s way just for some strangers. Now get out, I need to be alone right now.”

We left, making sure the door was closed behind us tightly. Katherine immediately locked the door behind us, flipping the sign to ‘close’ before heading back to the counter. We walked a little ways away before I whirled on my heel, staring at Ally in awe.

“How did you do that?” I asked in wonderment.

Ally shrugged as she reached for Lyn’s hand, interlacing their fingers. “I just guessed, honestly. There was something…hmm, strange? I’m not sure how to say it, but there was something strange about her… you know,” she waved her other hand around widely.

“No one knows what that means,” remarked Lyn.

She rolled her eyes in response. “I just felt something around her. I can’t really explain it. I think she’s going to help, though.”

“I hope you’re right,” I said. “I tried looking for other options, but I couldn’t figure out any other ways to send him back. It’s not great that we have to ask other people for help, but I think it should be okay. Just a quick spell and poof! He’s gone, hopefully back to where he belongs.”

Lyn pressed her fingers to her temple, messaging it lightly. “I can’t explain how happy I’ll be once this craziness is all over, you know? This whole thing just keeps unraveling more and more. It will be nice to hang out with you guys when it doesn’t involve murder and hauntings.”

Ally laughed, pressing her lips to Lyn’s knuckles. “Listen, you signed up for this. Ghosts are an everyday part of life for me.”

“I was also thinking of starting up a ‘Spook Searchers’ business after this case is all said and done,” I joked.

“You better change the fucking name, then,” said Lyn. “Because no offense to either of you, it’s terrible!”

We both gasp in mock indignation before the three of us burst into laughter. It felt good to laugh about all this. There have been some really heavy times for us, but so far, we’ve made it through it okay. I have to admit, the day I decided to share my umbrella with Ally was one of the best things I ever did. I really liked these girls, and I was happy about our friendship. I left all my friends and family back home in Victoria, so finding two people I really got along with was awesome.

XXX

We were back in the library, our energy renewed. Lyn ordered us pizza to share, though she put her foot down on Hawaiian pizza (even though it’s the most delicious). Well, I wasn’t going to argue too much, since most pizzas were delicious, and I was starving.

We ended up banishing Ally back to her old table, despite her protests. It wasn’t until the threat of no pizza was issued did she comply. Now she sat alone, grumbling under her breath as she worked on something for her Anthro class. She would be fine.

Us, on the other hand, might not be. Frustration was setting in again as we made barely any headway on the JK case. Lyn’s tapping was getting more aggressive as she searched up a bunch of things, glaring at the screen as if that would help reveal the secrets. Meanwhile, I was stuck on paper duty, and it was super boring. The only thing about a Kinkly that showed up was when Prof Kinkly got his job here at Mount Seamus. That was literally all I could find. Not very helpful at all.

A thought occurred to me, and it was a long shot. Lamar had gotten the results from somewhere. I glanced at the email again, wondering if maybe they had something we could work with. I sent the person who sent the email to Lamar with the results a message, asking if there was any photographic evidence of the DNA results. Maybe it would go nowhere, but it was better than doing nothing.

I bit my thumb, chewing on the nail as I flipped through other useless articles. I found my focus waning as I stared at the same sheet of paper for several minutes unmoving. My mind wandered to the ghosts. Would they just leave after we figured out who killed them? Probably, hey? It would be strange to not have Amelia in my thoughts anymore. I felt bad for her and the others too. It was a horrible thing to even imagine, being stuck in the place that you died in. I shuddered at the thought.

My mind then drifted to Katherine. She didn’t agree to help us, but she also didn’t say no. I mean, why though? It just seemed really weird that she didn’t outright refuse. And what did Ally mean by saying there was something strange about her? I didn’t notice anything out of the norm. Maybe she was picking up on something ghostly that I couldn’t sense? I think that would be a first.

Was it warm in here today? I felt warm, sitting here in the library chair. I looked over at Lyn, who was staring at her laptop screen with a look of pure resentment, as if she couldn’t believe the answers weren’t just popping out in front of her. The intensity of her stare used to unsettle me slightly, but I’ve grown used to it at this point. I don’t really remember much about her sister, the one who picked us up, but I wondered if she harboured the same intensity. It made me nervous to think of her parents.

I sighed, putting my arms behind my head. Maybe it was better to just call this night off now. Neither of us were getting anywhere, and I had zero focus suddenly. I wasn’t even sure Lyn was focusing. Ally was working away on her assignment, or so she claimed. Maybe she was sneakily lookin’ stuff up too. I smiled, thinking that is something she would do. I wish she would take a bit more care of herself, considering all the crap she’s been through as well.

I jumped in my seat when Lyn scrapped her chair back. She stood up and cracked her back and shoulders before looking at me. “I need to walk around a bit and grab something to drink. Do you want anything?”

“Mind just grabbing me a water?”

“Bottled water?” Lyn made a face. “I guess so.”

“What’s wrong with that?” I asked incredulously.

“Everything. Everything about bottled water is wrong,” huffed Lyn before shaking her head. “No, don’t do this, Lyn. Don’t get into it, it’s not worth it. Ally, do you want anything?”

Ally’s tired face looked up from her laptop at the sound of her name. “Maybe a hot chocolate, if you don’t mind.”

Lyn nodded. “Sure thing. One hot chocolate and one destroyer of the planet, coming up.”

“Hey!” I protested. “I bet those coffee cups are just as bad!”

She stuck her tongue at me as she grabbed her wallet and headed up the stairs. I shook my head in disbelief. Ally caught my eye and chuckled under breath, her shoulders rising in rhythm.

I leaned back in my chair and frowned at Ally. “I think we should stop for the night, honestly. We’re literally getting nowhere.”

“What’s this ‘we’ stuff?” Ally said in a tone that mocked my voice from earlier. “I thought I wasn’t allowed to help, since you banned me and all that jazz.”

“Stop be so dramatic,” I said with a laugh.

“I will never, ever, stop.” She smiled at me before slumping down in her seat. “But in all realness, I agree that you should stop if you feel stuck. It’s probably just so much garbage to sift through. Maybe a good night’s rest will be just what you need.”

“Maybe.” I ran my hands over my face. I hated the bristles that were growing out slowly on my chin right now. Movember was a great cause but man, was my face itchy. Curse my Asian heritage and its inability to grow facial hair in comfortable way. Wait…did anyone grow facial hair in a comfortable way?

Lyn came clomping back down with the drinks in hand. She tossed the bottle of water at me, then set Ally’s drink down softly in front of her. Ally thanked her with a smile while Lyn sat back down, a tea in hand. She took a small sip, giving out a sigh of contentment.

“I needed this,” she groaned.

“We should stop for now,” I suggested. I cracked open the lid and took a swig.

“Probably,” she amended. “I felt like I’ve gone in circles tryna find anything on this idiot.”

I nodded in understanding. We had been at this literally all day, except for a little break. Maybe it was just a matter of not looking in the right spot or something like that. Whatever it was, it was driving us both up the wall. There was no point in continuing if we were just knocking out heads against the table.

But just before we started to pack up, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I took it out and noticed it was a response from the people who sent the results. I opened the email and saw that they included an attachment. Suddenly my hands were shaking in anticipation and excitement as I clicked the file. What I saw nearly made me drop my phone.

“Michael?” Ally asked puzzled. “Is everything okay?”

My words were failing me as I nodded slowly. Lyn got up and looked over my shoulder and her jaw dropped in surprise. Finally, Ally had enough and came over to see what all the drama was about. She took the phone from my hand and stared at the picture. Her face paled as her eyes widened in shock.

“No way…” she whispered. She put the phone face up on the table, so the man in the photo was looking up at us with a charming smile on his face. The photo must have been taken in the ’50s or something, but it was hard to say for certain. But it wasn’t the age of the photo, it was the person in it that was shocking us all.

Jeremiah Kinkly looked exactly like Robert Kinkly, our drama professor.

#unnatural affairs #ua #ally holland #lyn hart #michael yamamoto #katherine howard #ghosts #murder mysteries #romance #paranormal #wlw romance #sapphic lead #original story #orginal work #writing

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silvcrlining · 3 years

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founder’s day festival: finley’s entry

Though Finley never stops by the Pelican Town’s Founder Day Festival-- can’t really bring themself to--, that doesn’t mean they didn’t submit an entry for the art display. It was a decision they had made long before everything that went down in the Valentine’s Dance; plus, after a year of living in the valley, they had accumulated a hefty amount of photos. They wanted to do something good with them. So their entry hangs up in the exhibition: a series of portraits, with a plaque beneath them all that reads Faces of the Valley.

The sun is just rising over the trees in Cindersap Forest, over the top of a familiar van, and Sloane is caught mid-smirk, a teasing glint in faer eyes as fae reach faer tea cup out to clink it against the photographer’s cup, barely visible in the lower left-hand corner of the photo.

There’s a lone piano in the airport. The giant windows in the foreground are blurred, but the raging storm outside is visible. Even then, it’s easy to miss when the subject of the photo seems to capture all the attention: Ben, sitting at the piano bench, hands frozen over the keys. He doesn’t seem to notice someone’s taking his photo, and the look on his face is peaceful, calm.

Any picture of Koa in Finley’s reel is more often than not barely catching his blurry form. At the summer extravaganza, however, you bet he wants his knight costume to be immortalized through photography. He stands near the stage, chest puffed out, grinning wide, striking the most heroic pose he can (Finley made sure to add an extra shine to his suit while editing). In the back, Lizzie is trying to jump into the frame, waving at the photographer in her poofy princess dress.

Lizzie gets her own portrait, though. It’s after one of her and Finley’s training sessions. Her ponytail is slightly disheveled, cheeks flushed from running, but it seems like she set a new best running time, because she has her arms thrown in the air, eyes wide and mouth curled into a bright smile. She barely looks tired.

Some of the valley kids gather in front of the library after a day of school. Some stick their tongues out, others flash toothy smiles; meanwhile, Alex crouches behind them to level their height differences out, the look on his face somewhere between content and amused at the kids’ antics.

It’s nighttime, deep in a small clearing in the forest. There’s a scattering of camping tents set up in the background. In front of them, Henry sits on a log, a thick blanket wrapped around his shoulders, a cup of cocoa cradled in his hands. The campfire in front of him washes him in warm light. Although tired, the light shows in his eyes, which shine as gently as the shy smile on his face.

Kiran sits under a tree by the town, a picnic blanket splayed out beneath him and a sketchbook propped up on his lap. It seems like he was previously entranced with whatever he was drawing before Finley made him look up. His gaze is focused on the camera lens, a brow raised slightly, but the corners of his lips are raised slightly, pencil still pressed to the page.

The next portrait overlooks the ocean by the pier. There’s a lone boat floating along the water with two figures sitting inside. Willy, the fishing shop owner, isn’t paying attention to the camera; he has his fishing line tossed over the edge and is staring intently at the water in heavy concentration. Jemma, however, is not as focused; she practically leans over the boat, frozen in mid-ecstatic-wave towards the photographer, mouth open as if she was yelling out a greeting.

Matty stares at the screen of the only working arcade game in the Saloon, a picture of utter focus, his hands slightly blurred from whatever quick movement he was doing along the controls of the game. There’s a half-empty Joja Cola can propped up precariously beside the controls, and yes-- that is the renowned Pizza Slut hat sitting proudly on his head. Kiran is visible in the back, playing a game of pool with Malia-- though he seems more focused on Matty than anything else.

Malia isn’t looking at the camera. Instead, her head is thrown back in a laugh, an arm spread over the back of her couch. Her other hand is petting her cat, Salem, who is curled up in her lap. There’s a bottle of wine on the side-table and the sun is just beginning to set, the golden hour rays peeking in through the windows, casting the house in yellow light. For a moment, the house doesn’t look like a museum of memories; it just looks like a home. Malia looks happy.

Anya looks like an absolute natural on stage. The light from the disco ball glitters beautifully against her as she looks out at the crowd, clad in her skates and a charming smile. Behind her, her proposal for a roller rink is projected. Even if it wasn’t the winning proposal, the portrait makes it hard to ignore how easily she can capture anyone’s attention.

Art... really likes apples, huh? Did anyone else know that? His portrait is the definition of happiness, the grin across his face endearing as he reaches out towards the apple the photographer is holding out, visible at the bottom of the frame. The farm looms in the background behind him. Lizzie once again tries to sneak into the photo from a distance.

Sofia tilts her head at the camera, a small simper on her lips as she stands behind the counter of the library, hands placed neatly on top of its surface. Half of her hair is tied up in two buns on either side of her head. In front of her, there’s a notebook scribbled to the margins with words and, beside it, there’s a stack of books. Are they reserved for someone? There’s a sticky note on top that reads: for Elaine.

Sasha’s portrait is probably the most professional-looking, if only because it’s the only one that was planned-- she needed photos for her Instagram, and Finley needed more pictures in their portfolio. It was a begrudging agreement. Sasha leans back against a fence that overlooks the wide open space in front of the farms. The sun is shining, wind blowing gently through her hair as she looks off in the distance. Even if she’s posing, there’s an unmistakably pensive look in her eyes.

Dakota crouches on the forest floor, a wooden sign near them warning passerby's not to tread near. Their brows are creased in concentration, though it looks like they’re almost trying not to notice the camera-- which is exactly what had happened. “It’s for a festival entry! Just... act natural! Study the dirt or something, you know-- look academic.”

It’s after the General Store has finally reigned victorious over Joja Mart. Elaine is in charge of helping prepare the store for its reopening, but she’s taking a break at the time the picture is taken. She sits on the back of her ✨ truck ✨, the remnants of her finished snack beside her. She seems to be entranced in a book, a rare look of contentment washing over her face as her eyes dart across the pages. It’s hard to make out the cover of the book-- something by Stephen King.

Archie stands outside of the Saloon, leaning against one of the walls as a cigarette hangs from her lips, her bag slung over her shoulder. One of the outside lights shines down on her, given that it’s already well into nighttime. The look she gives the camera is dull, unimpressed. Finley must have said something really charming at the right time, however, because there’s a hint of something lighter coloring her features-- a gentle amusement.

The flower shop takes center stage... almost. Thalia commands attention, though; the small girl is almost a blur of movement as she’s caught mid-skip towards the camera. There’s a lemonade stand behind her, and she no doubt has a practiced script to get Finley to buy some. Gabe waits by the stand, hands tucked into his pockets, his gaze focused on his daughter; the love in his eyes is clear as day.

Finley doesn’t know Arden that well, but they find her outside of the General Store, and the light is hitting her just right, so it’d be a shame not to capture the moment. Arden only notices the camera after the photo has been taken. in her portrait, she’s too busy looking through the flyers pinned up on the bulletin board. Finley knew that look she wore all too well-- looking for a brand new start.

Iris had just finished pinning up a paper up on the bulletin board when Finley asked to take a photo. It seems like Iris had been almost too happy to oblige. In her portrait, she strikes a practiced pose, hip jutting out, a hand on her waist, head cocked to the side with a smirk. She’s wearing a puffy jacket and sunglasses perched atop her head, a combination that truly makes no sense, but her confidence radiates through the photo enough that it almost works.

Even if she’s new, Zola seems to fit in just fine at the Saloon. It’s an odd contradiction, though, because with the sweet smile stretched across her lips, she manages to stand out against the rest of the regulars loitering in the back. She seems to be in a conversation with the newest bartender, who looks sheepish but excited as she watches Zola, who’s in the middle of tossing an ice cube in the air and catching it within a shot glass. Sick moves.

Adria stands in front of her office building, smiling brightly at the camera. It had only been a few days after she arrived and was officially open for business, and that much is noticeable on her face. Her eyes are bright and enthusiastic, her smile warm and inviting. She looks hopeful. It’s the kind of hope the valley desperately needed.

There’s a softness to Jillian in this portrait that feels rare. It seems like it’s just another normal day of work at the General Store. Jillian is in the middle of organizing jam jars on the shelves, but her head is turned towards the camera. The photo captures the last remnants of what was probably an exasperated and/or annoyed glare before it was replaced by something much more simple, but just as loud-- a tiny smile.

The final photograph is the only one that has the subject facing away from the camera completely. It overlooks the ocean once again. The sky is a gentle, cloudless blue with silhouettes of birds scattered across; the water is rippling with lazy waves; the pier is empty, except for one person. At the end of the deck, Finley sits staring at the ocean, their back towards the camera, their shoes beside them. Their hair looks a lot shorter than it is now-- it was taken on their first week in the valley, when they found this spot and decided it might be worth staying here for a while.

#dewtask011 #OK ONE DONE #i did not look over it so ignore any mistakes <3 #i tried to capture each character bc i love them all sm and i want to do them justice #but if i didn't roast me in the comments :)#anyway ily all and all of ur characters sm <33333333333 #also sorry fry but finley literally Doesnt Know Who You Are so u dont get a pic but we luv u anyway

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woundarks · 4 years

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A Film Student and an Athlete Walk into a Bar

(Also on Quotev)

Aran Ojiro finds himself dealing with a woman that could almost rival the Miya twins' annoyance scale.

Aran Ojiro doesn’t consider himself a procrastinator. He exercises regularly, he turns things in on time, and Aran never rushes through his homework. He’s always the second, or sometimes third, one to show up to his volleyball practice too. He does not consider himself lazy in any way, if anything, he was considered responsible in every way among his peers. His importance to his team was greatly admired too, if he wasn’t there then who would check in on the infamous Miya Twins? Who would calm down Ginjima from his overwhelming overprotective attitude? Who would encourage Riseki into a positive mindset? Who would convince Akagi that he’s not getting fatter and it has to be muscles? Who would take care of his friends, his family, even strangers if he wasn’t there? He was admirable, strong, and most importantly, hard-working.

That was until he got into college.

College was as fast-paced as one of his games. Aran didn’t have time to stop by the park on the way home from practice anymore. He was a fast thinker, that was something his classmates, teammates, and teachers praised him for. He wasn’t stupid or anything, it’s just hard to find time to study in his already packed schedule.

This is what led him to ask his coach for a day or two off from practice. Although he truly did love the sport, Aran needed to pick his grades up more than he needed to work on his receives.

He was in a bigger town than what he was used to. It wasn’t as big as Tokyo but compared to his own town it was huge.

The street’s traffic lulled by with each hour. Aran’s thumb swiped through the various playlists he had on Spotify before finding his most boring study music. He tapped on the mix and was immediately greeted with an ad. What was up with Spotify and their ads? Like jeez, you had thousands upon millions of customers yet you still need to have an ad every other song?

Finally, a song began to play in his earpods and the smallest smile slipped onto his face. He wondered what that girl in the thumbnail was studying. Was she going over Paul Dirac and how he introduced the Perturbation theory too? Probably not but it was nice for Aran to think about.

Aran pocketed his phone into his sports jacket before finally cracking open the first book. The clock ticked by as the pages were turned one by one. It was around sunset when he had finally experienced his first interruption outside of those pesky ads.

“(L/o)-san? Right?” He asked, taking out his earpods.

The sucker was swiped out of her mouth and replaced with a bright smile. She wasn’t someone he was close with, hell he only talked to her a total of three times in his whole college career. During all the times their paths had crossed, he had never once seen her not doing something childish; whether it was a simple candied treat or a whole entire teddy bear dressed head to toe in pastels. Out of all the people in the school, she seemed to him like the oddest. This was saying something since this school was known for its freakish film students.

“Close, it’s (L/n),” She popped the sucker back in and gave it a loud crunch. Aran nearly visibly cringed at the sound. A few students glanced her way. (Y/n) openly acknowledged them for a mere second before her eyes reached his once again.

“Ya shouldn’t eat in a library,” He whispered. He glanced down at her shoes for a second before his whole entire head reared down at the sight before him.

“Why are y-” He stopped himself from even asking why she was wearing bunny slippers in a public place. She sat on the table before him and chewed on the sucker's stick for a moment.

“I mean- I live here, my dad owns the place,” She pointed at a plaque on the wall. The plaque spelled out her last name in golden letters. How convenient that the library closest to his apartment is home to her.

“No offense, but could you-” He was cut off by (Y/n) slapping his back.

“Oh my god! Chill out! I just recognized my favorite peer!” She slapped his back again before settling her hand back at her side.

“Excuse me, favorite wha-” He was cut off once again,

“I’m kidding! I just recognized you dude! Oh my god don’t get so angry!” She laughed loudly into the air, a student far away slammed his book in anger before suddenly starting to pack up. An old man looked up from the counter and glared at Aran and (Y/n). He bowed to him once before uneasily looking back up at his acquaintance.

“I’m not angry. Keep it down, you’re bothering the customers,” He began to wrap up his earpods, sensing as if he would have to deal with her for a bit longer than he liked.

“Nah, they love me. Whatcha studying?” She picked up a random note he had in one of his many piles. Aran quickly took it from her and placed it back in its respective pile. (Y/n) stuck out her tongue as if forgetting the sucker stick in her mouth. Aran watched as the stick fell straight onto his list of references. Why was this woman so annoying?

“Oh shit, my bad dude,” She quickly picked it back up and looked around for a trash can. Aran took a deep breath and held it for a second.

“Could you please leave?” He finally breathed out. (Y/n) glanced back at him.

“Sorry,” She started, finally realizing how annoying she must’ve been. “I just sorta thought you were hot. My bad dude,” (Y/n) nodded to him once before standing up from the table.

“No, no, it’s fine. I’m probably just a little frustrated from studying.” (Y/n) moved down to properly look at what he was reading.

“Who’s Albert een-stin?” Her eyes squinted at the paper. Aran stared at her for half a second before shaking his head to stop himself from even registering what she had just said.

“I could probably ask my friend or my dad to help tutor you,” She offered, “My dad’s pretty smart, he used to like.. Do things... and stuff...” Aran could feel her limited vocabulary begin to surface. Although Aran thought this woman was a bit annoying, he liked the idea of getting a tutor.

“Could you give me the contact info of your friend?” (Y/n) pulled out her phone and unlocked it with a few quick swipes.

“Uh, yeah hold on.” (Y/n) tapped on her phone a few times before placing her phone on the book Aran was studying from.

“If she like asks you to go to her house, say no. She will try to peg you if you’re in literally any private setting.” Aran hesitantly brang his phone up and entered the woman's number. Was her whole friend group as odd as her? “...Thanks,” He smiled gently at her. (Y/n) retrieved her phone and tapped it a bunch more.

“This is mine.” She placed her phone back on his book.

“...Thanks...” He politely smiled once more. In all honesty, he didn’t really want it. This was college. He didn’t have time to mess around with someone as loud and annoying as the Miya twins. He didn’t have time to get to know her and her friend which would lead to him leaving practice early to help fix a mistake they had made. Aran didn’t want to jump to conclusions but she was obviously not in the right group. Christ, she had an ear full of earrings.

“I’ll get going now, see ya whenever.” She awkwardly bowed.

“Yeah, bye,” He bowed back and watched as she stuffed her phone into her pocket, left the library, then reentered to throw her sucker’s stick into a nearby bin. Aran watched the door for a second before sighing out loud. A few customer’s shoulders collapsed in comfort for her departure.

After she had surely left, Aran looked at his new phone number. (L/n) (Y/n), a childish film student known for being great friends with most of his school’s staff. (L/n) (Y/n), a woman who wore an ear full of piercings and hung out with other women who owned strap-ons that knew every hole of the male and female body. (L/n) (Y/n), the library-across-from-his-apartment-building’s daughter yet also the same person who never heard of Albert Einstein. (L/n) (Y/n), a definite idiot seeing as she had just gone out into the streets wearing literal bunny slippers. (L/n) (Y/n), the third most annoying person to ever enter Aran Ojiro’s life, gave him her number. Usually, someone holding all these odd titles wouldn’t get the chance to stay in his phone contacts for longer than a minute, and yet something stopped him from deleting her number. She had called him cute.

#aran ojiro #ojiro aran #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu!!#inarazaki #aran ojiro x reader #ojiro aran x reader

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jbbuckybarnes · 5 years

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Stranded in Manhattan

Description: You are stranded inside of the building your publishing agency is housed in. A snowstorm hit New York without warnings and you can’t leave for a few hours. What sounds like a boring afternoon ends up being quite the ride. Prompt: Stranded somewhere due to inclement weather (Seb x Reader) Length: 2,6k+ Warnings: Reader is written as someone with a skin tone that makes blushing visible. Just shoot me an ask if you want me to write something specific with a WoC reader. Always open for that.

M A S T E R L I S T

You had just finished your meeting for the next magazine. Writing articles for a lifestyle magazine was your favorite part of being a freelance writer. Well, not completely freelance. You were kind of part of the main team but not with a permanent contract. A look outside of the window had you roll your eyes and grumble. “You shouldn’t go outside for the next 2-3 hours. There is a warning out.” a female colleague outside of the meeting room looked at you. “Great. I’m just gonna draft my article in the foyer then,” you muttered before saying goodbye with a few kind words.

In the lobby of the building, there already were a lot of people waiting for the storm to calm down. There was only one couch left that wasn’t already occupied by at least one person and you let yourself fall onto the soft furniture with a small sigh. Laptop opened, the document opened and there you went writing the magazine article for next week already. At least you had WiFi in here and could research for your draft. Every ten minutes one or two new people came down in the elevator and sat down beside someone else. After an hour there were only 5 seats left in the entire lobby and you would probably be one of the next ones.

“Excuse me? Could I sit here?” you heard an oddly familiar voice and looked up. “Sure.” you smiled and pushed your bag to the side. There was a long moment of silence and you staring at your screen before you finally said something. “What were you here for?” you asked with a little smile and got one back. “My acting agency is here. Meeting.” he shrugged, “You?” “Publisher meeting with the magazine I write for,” you answered. “Sebastian.” he held out his hand. “I know. Y/N.” you smiled back at him. Contrary to your belief he didn’t change much after you told him you knew him. “Which magazine do you write for?” he asked curiously. “Flow magazine. Lifestyle, personal development, mindfulness. That kinda thing.” you blushed a little. It always made you nervous to talk about your job with people that weren’t writers. His natural cuteness didn’t help. “That’s cool. And what are you currently writing about?” he looked at your hands on the laptop that was half-closed. “Mindful Dating. It’s pretty weird to research and hard to not make it sound hippie.” you opened the laptop again to show that you had written half a page for your 2-3 page spread on the topic. “I assume it starts with mindfully picking the right person to ask out.” he chuckled and picked his water bottle from his backpack. “Actually starts with finding out what you even want and where to find it but that’s definitely a part of it.” you smiled a bit awkwardly. “This sounds so cool compared to my few pages of script that I currently have to get into.” he sent a shy smile back. “Does it become less fun to get into a character when you do it longer and professionally?” you ask to steer the conversation away from you. “Sometimes. Especially when I don’t have a lot of backstory for my character to get into.” he shrugged his shoulders. “I always loved doing plays in high school.” you looked away in thought about your high school years. “What did you have?” his head dipped to the side a little in curiosity. “Romeo & Juliette, Beauty & the Beast, some play local college students wrote and the last one was...Cinderella.” you counted them. “Any big roles?” he smiled with shimmering eyes. “I had the main role in the college student one.” you giggled. It was a really dumb play and your memories of it are really chaotic. “God, I’d love to see videos of that. You definitely seem like you could pull off a lot of different characters. I mean, the appearance.” he got a bit unsure at the end if he worded it right. You couldn’t help but giggle a little, “Yeah, could pull that black wig off better nowadays tho.” “Um, what plans did that blizzard ruin for you? Never asked,” he said with a one-sided smile while scratching his neck. “Not much. Wanted to go write in the library or meet a friend but that clearly won’t happen,” you shook your head looking outside of the window before your head went back to him, “You?” He played with the strings on his hoodie, “Technically the rest of my day was finally a free day. So only ruined my Netflix marathon.” He saw you smile when he looked up from the strings again, “Well, I have WiFi and this building probably has a more chill area. We technically COULD watch Netflix.” Another unsure smirk from him with an almost apologizing smile coming back from you made the short silence weirder than it needed to be. “Sure.” he shrugged. If somebody would’ve told you, that you would be in an empty meeting room with one of your Top 20 favorite actors, watching Netflix because you were snowed in, you would’ve flipped them off. You were both sitting on the table beside each other and had spread out the food and water you had with you. Weird circumstances called for weirder actions in response. The Netflix logo popped up, then your name with a Jessica Jones icon staring at you and after that the list of movies on your big list. “What do you wanna watch?” you looked up at him and he was already looking at you. “You can choose whatever you want. It’s your account.” he held his hands up. “Brooklyn 99 it is.” you nodded and clicked on the next episode you needed to watch. You were a few episodes in when you just needed to let go of the thought, that you had held prisoner in your head for two episodes. “You're the perfect mixture between Jake & Boyle,” you mumbled. “Definitely more Jake,” he mumbled back, his eyes darting to look at the smile that had formed on your lips. You didn’t notice. And then Jake came in with his legendary guitar scene full of screaming. “Jep, definitely more Jake.” you laughed. He lightly nudged you with a small laugh. You weren’t wrong. Another 2 episodes went by and you checked your phone for the time. It’s been 2 hours now. Maybe you could go soon. “Another one?” he asked with a big smile on his face. “Of course.” you put your phone away and jumped over the outro to the next episode.

“It’s been over two hours. Let me check the warnings in Manhattan.” you took your phone after another two episodes and stopped the show with the other hand. Your weather app was showing an orange warning instead of a red one. “Well, orange should be enough to get home, right?” you looked up at him. “Depends where you live.” he smiled one of those half smirk, half innocent smiles. “Queens,” you muttered. “That’s quite a long ride in that weather.” his right brow went up. “I definitely don’t wanna stay in this uncomfortable and way too air-conditioned building,” you said neutrally. “I live 4 blocks away and there is a café on the ground floor we could stay in.” now the smirk turned into a real smirk. “Are you flirting with me?” you raised your eyebrow. “Been trying for almost three hours. Thanks for noticing.” he laughed lightly and saw you get a little flustered. “Umm.” with a shy expression on your face you put the laptop into your bag. “Don’t leave me hanging here after I asked you for a date.” he pouted playfully. You opened your mouth at the mention of a date but closed it again after no sentence your brain formed came out. “Sure,” you said with the biggest blush on your face after a few seconds. With a smile on his face and you biting your lip you both stood up and slowly left the building through the lobby that was much emptier now. An arm found its way around you, making you flinch a little. “Did you always live in New York?” his voice was harder to hear with the big jacket on. “No, moved here from Y/C.” you answered and got a soft smile in response while you held the hood of your jacket to stay on in the wind. “God, I hate this weather.” you stomped in the snow on the sidewalk like a child having a tantrum. “You kinda look like you enjoy it though.” he laughed at your attempt at kicking the snow. “I love winter. I hate that it gets so ugly and depressing so fast. I’m just here for the snow.” you pointed your tongue at him. If he had voiced his feelings at that moment, he would’ve probably told you that he wanted to pick you up and carry you the rest of the way for you to stop complaining about the wind. “Do that again and you have that snow flying at you,” he said trying to pinch you. “Don’t you DARE!” you played into it. “Watch me do it.” he smiled picking up snow and you started running. “He’s fast, strong, had snowballs.” you quoted laughing and a snowball hit your back. “The Winter Soldier is coming for you.” he made himself bigger but had a snowball landing on his chest after a few seconds. You looked at him innocently and he blinked before running for you and catching you with a growl that made you squeak. “Help!” you said giggling at this absolute dork moment you just had. “Target acquired. Bringing it to drop off location,” he said near your ear and started giggling like an idiot with you. The bell of the café door had the waiter in the almost empty room look up at the both of you. “Hello, Sebastian.” the man smiled at the tall brunette beside you. “Hey, can you make us two hot chocolates and two pieces of the chocolate cake, please?” came back at the waiter. Having someone help you out with getting out of a jacket felt weird. You weren’t used to gestures like that anymore and mumbled a small “Thank you.” You sat down on one of the tables and he leaned forward with a, “I won.” “There never was a competition, Stan,” you said putting down your bag.

“Didn’t mean the snowball fight.” he winked and watched you blush. Before you could say anything mugs and plates were set down in front of you. “Tell me about yourself.” he gave you an encouraging smile and you started talking. About your creative roots, what else you wanted to become when you were younger and how you felt about the things you did now. Some sentences had a vague political orientation in it and your stances on social issues. “Sorry, I’m talking a lot.” you noticed yourself rambling and looked down at the half-eaten cake. “No, I like listening to you.” he picked up the mug. “I’d like to know more about you too.” you smiled with some confidence from what he just said. He started talking about what he was currently doing, his mother, a bit about his roots and what his future plans were. He was good at this whole talking on a date thing. “You like astronomy?” he asked out of the blue with his fork pointing at you. “Yeah.” you grinned. “What’s the coolest thing about it?” he asked. “Nebulas. And I recently learned about hot Jupiters. Super interesting.” you mentioned the article you recently found while researching for a personal project. “A woman of class, I see.” he chuckled before taking his last bite of the chocolate cake. “No, a woman of space,” you smirked and got warm laughter back. You checked the phone again. The warning was on red again and a look outside of the window checked out with it. He noticed your look outside, “You can stay at my apartment. If you...want.” he said a bit unsure himself. “Uuuh.” you didn’t really know how to answer this. “Not in a weird way.” he distanced himself a bit from the table into his seat. “I guess I wouldn’t have another choice, even if I wanted to say no.” your soft expression had him visibly relax. You stood up, he gave the waiter on the counter the money and then you both made your way to a pair of elevators. “This feels mildly awkward.” you spoke out what both of you felt. “Doesn’t have to.” he smiled, snapping out of it. The moment the elevator opened you snapped out of it too. You knew there wasn’t anything to be afraid of. Yes, this was weird because you just met him but the circumstances were not in your hand. He was respectful, and if he wasn’t you knew how to kick his ass. Everything was fine. Even with both of you not talking in the elevator there was still a comfortable silence. That was until fingers started searching for yours and capturing your hand in a gentle manner. It’s not that you didn’t want this but it was very unusual and sudden. Like everything else today. Sure, you didn’t mind holding hands with pretty much anyone you knew but this wasn’t just anybody. This was someone you just had a proper date with and that kinda had your brain go in circles. “Relax, I’m not trying to get you into my bed.” he gently nudged you and locked down at you with a soft smile. “Sorry, I’m just not used to this...normality.” you tried to find a word for it, immediately shaking your head a little at choosing this particular word for it. “Welcome. Make yourself comfortable.” he said while you walked past him holding the door open. “Nice couch.” you pointed at it. It was one of those expensive, big, soft ones that everybody secretly wanted. You let yourself fall on it. He let himself fall next to you after throwing his jacket and yours over a chair. “Almost too conveniently placed.” you squinted at him beside you. “Hey! Don’t judge!” he laughed. “Too late. I judged.” you giggled before noticing his stare. “What?” your brow went up. “Nothing.” his eyes went away from your eyes and lips and looked at the ceiling again. “What are we going to do the rest of the evening now?” you asked. “More Netflix?” he returned a question. “Fine. But I only accept documentaries.” you grinned. Of course, the documentary he put on was about space and you both just absorbed the information you got. You didn’t even notice the arm around you after a while or the gentle pull towards him that had you cuddled up by the end of the documentary. “You’re a sneaky little asshole.” you said sleepy. “Only with pretty women.” his hand went through your hair. You looked up at him “Thank you for making this day much less boring.” you smiled and caught him staring again. “Can I kiss you?” he whispered so close to your face, his hand going from your hair to your jaw. With rosy cheeks, you nodded and had soft lips on yours a moment later. A normal thing to happen after a date but you still weren’t used to it. The thumb going over your cheek got you out of the overthinking again. Right now, all you wanted to concentrate on was those soft lips and that slightly scratchy skin. The hand cupping your face, the arm pulling you closer and the tongue brushing against your lower lip. Everything is perfect right now, no need to overthink it.

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loki-hargreeves · 4 years

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Loki’s 12 Days of X-Mas - Snow

Author’s Note: This is the 1st fic of my ‘Loki’s 12 Days of Christmas’, which is a written advent calendar with Christmas/winter themed Loki x Reader fics. Summary: It’s snowing! You show Loki just how much fun a little snow can be, although it can get cold outside. Word Count: 2,1K Warnings: This is pure fluff for once, enjoy! :)

Third POV

Perhaps living on Midgard wasn't all that bad. After all, Loki had met Y/N and against all doubts, he had fallen for that mortal woman. They got along very well despite their differences. Eventually, Loki had moved in with her, further away from the densely populated metal jungle. It was just them in a warm house in New Asgard. The nearest neighbour was a few streets away. When their duties called, it was still easy to get to places on time.

It was perfect.

One morning, just as many others, Loki had woken up before Y/N. He looked out the window and saw snow - loads of it. For him, it just meant there was shovelling to do. Loki didn’t think much about it as he went to prepare breakfast. It was a habit Y/N helped him develop and Loki had quickly learned that he felt better when he ate in the mornings.

As he waited for the coffee to brew, Loki realized it was cold inside. It didn’t bother him at all, but he knew Y/N would feel it. So, Loki decided to light up the fireplace. He lit the dry wood with his magic and watched as the flames grew. It didn’t take long until the heat radiated on his skin and spread throughout the house.

“Loki?” A sleepy voice caught his attention. Never in a million years had he dared believe someone’s voice would make him that happy.

He stood up and saw Y/N by the door frame. Her face was still covered in sleepiness and she was wearing one of Loki’s green robes. In his eyes, she was adorable - even with her messy hair. “Good morning,” he smiled and then rid his hands of ash by wiping them on his pants. He’d wash them anyway, so it didn’t matter.

She shuffled closer to him and hugged the god she had fallen in love with. Loki realized she was cold because she was shivering, so he closed his arms around her. “Did you notice it was snowing?” Y/n muttered. She was still tired, which breakfast could probably change.

“I wondered how long it would take. In the 11th century, Midgard was covered in snow by now,” Loki reminisced on the days he visited Viking Norway. The snow seemed to come later and later these days.

“Watch your mouth, Loki. Winter can last long up here. Besides, a little snow is nice, isn’t it? We could build a snowman,” Y/N suggested something happily, almost jokingly.

A snowman?

“What are you talking about?” Loki wondered as they parted from the hug. The coffee was ready and absentmindedly the two of them walked over to the counter to grab their morning cups.

“A snowman, Loki. We just roll snow together and form a person,” Y/N explained. She had gotten used to this. They grew up on different realms, of course, there were things they didn’t know about.

The Trickster god took a sip of his coffee and let her words sink in. Why did mortals do that? He had no idea, but if it made Y/N happy, he’d be willing to try it out.

A couple hours later, breakfast had been eaten and the house was finally warm. Y/N had showered and made herself ready for the day. Loki had changed into his warmer Asgardian attire, which still made him look presentable as a Prince, but they also suited the wintery world around them. So far, he hadn’t heard from Thor nor Brunnhilde, so he assumed he had a day off from royal duties. Not that New Asgard had many duties anyway. Life was calmer these days.

“Are you ready?” Y/N walked into the small library they had in their home. Loki had been reading a book by the other fireplace they had. Their house was much smaller than a castle, but it was large enough for a prince and his lover.

He finished reading the sentence he was on before taking his eyes off the pages. “As ready as I’ve ever been.”

They got dressed in their coats and boots and other accessories that kept them warm. Loki was a frost giant, he didn’t really need all those clothes, but Y/N had gotten them for him, and he didn’t want to upset her by not wearing them. It would just seem ungrateful. Besides, he found them cute, which he wouldn’t admit right away. They were from her and he treasured that.

The couple walked outside, stepping into the soft, fresh snow. It sunk beneath their shoes and made that swoosh sound Y/N liked. The sun was trying hard to shine through the icy clouds, giving just enough daylight to make the white ice powder appear glittery. Their garden was large. All their plants were now covered in snow and even their gate was hardly visible now. Trees – mostly pine trees -surrounded their haven so no one could see in and no one could see out.

“Okay, I’ll show you what a traditional snowman looks like,” Y/N said as she grabbed her phone. She had to take off her mittens to do so and it didn’t take long until her hands were cold. Loki looked at her phone screen and saw a pile of snow, which looked like someone put three snowballs on top of each other and decorated it with vegetables and clothes.

“That’s...special,” Loki tried to comment on it without being rude. Mortals had some strange traditions.

Y/N put her phone away and hurried to slip her hands back into the warmth her mittens gave her. “I know it’s a bit odd, but it’s fun! Trust me. It’ll look nice in front of the house,” Y/N explained excitedly.

As Loki stood there and saw the pure joy on her face, he knew he couldn’t say no to that. Although it was silly, he wanted to make her happy. “Let’s start then, shall we?”

Y/N almost squealed in delight, but she managed to keep it to herself. Just like that, she began to demonstrate an old tradition. “So, you begin with a small snowball,” Y/N grabbed fresh snow and rolled it into a ball in her hands. Loki took her instructions very seriously. Poor thing, he didn’t know it was a careless activity, mostly for children. Y/N thought he was adorable. It was her little secret that it was a children’s activity. “Once it’s big enough, you just start rolling it around the ground until it’s big enough. How about I make the bottom part and you make the middle part? We can make the head together,” Y/N suggested so innocently and then got down on her knees on the ground.

“Sounds good,” Loki gave her a sweet smile and got to work. He was tempted to use his magic, but it didn’t look like Y/N needed anything else but her hands. So Loki got down on the cold ground, feeling a little bit frivolous, but in a good way. He was happy to do something with Y/N that didn’t require any serious measures.

After a few minutes, Loki looked behind his shoulders. Y/N was nowhere to be seen but he saw where she had gone by following her trail on the snow. She had rolled her part to the side of the house. Eventually, she yelled out his name. “Loki! Can you please help me?”

Was she alright? Loki was worried and quick to get up and see what was going on. Y/N stood by her big snow pile with a grin on her face. Before Loki realized what was going on, she threw a small snowball at him that hit his chest. Loki looked down at his chest that had snow on it now. “What are you doing, my petal?” A mischievous smile spread on his face when he saw her run away with laughter. Someone was happy about the snow...

Y/N hid behind a bush that was covered in snow. “You’ve never been in a snowball fight?” She wondered.

Of course, Loki had been in a snowball fight. All sorts of fighting games had been popular on Asgard when he was a child. But she didn’t have to know. As Loki bent down to grab snow, he spoke “I can’t reckon, darling. Care to explain?” He smirked. He had formed a loose snowball in his hand and he just had to wait and aim.

Y/N popped her head and torso away from the safety of the bush. “Oh, you see-“that’s all she could say before Loki threw a snowball back at her. He remembered to be gentle with her. The ball hit her shoulder and she let out a surprised scream, followed by laughter. “Loki!”

“Two can play this game, love,” Loki teased her and decided to be a bit of an ass, just for a moment. He used his magic to pick up snow and he formed several snowballs that now levitated in the air.

Once she saw that her eyes widened in surprise, but Loki saw that her smile never faded. She tried to run away, but Loki was merciless. Besides, it was hard to run when her feet sunk into the snow with each step. Loki let her try for a while, but they both knew he caught her. “I must’ve realized there was something different about me as a child when I beat everyone in this game.” Loki thought out loud as he began to throw them at her – still taking into consideration that she was a mortal and he had superhuman strength.

A few of them hit her back with a gentle thud, which she reacted to with more of her sweet laughter, it was like music to his ears. “L-Loki! This is unfair!” She giggled as a few more snowballs hit her. She tried to bend down and grab snow, but that’s when she stumbled. Thankfully, the soft snow caught her so no damage was done.

“Are you alright?” Loki wondered and let go of his magic, making the snow fall back on the ground. He hurried by her side. She was stuck in the snow by her bottom and honestly, it was kind of amusing.

“Apart from freezing my ass off, I’m good, Loki,” Y/N answered him happily. “You won this time! Next time I’ll be prepared.”

He offered his hands to her which she grabbed. “I can’t wait for that, love,” Loki admitted as he pulled her up from the snow. Despite being defeated, Y/N wasn’t bummed at all. She wrapped her arms around Loki’s neck and pulled him into a loving kiss. He responded to it happily, smooching her back gently which offered her warmth in the middle of the snowstorm they were in.

As they parted, Y/N walked back to her snowman bottom. “How about we finish building this snowman and then make I’ll make hot chocolate? It’s cold out here!”

Loki liked that idea very much.

Loki had never built a snowman before. He didn’t know how big it was supposed to be, so it surprised him when Y/N tapped on his shoulder with a big smile on her face. “What?” He wondered and looked at his snowman part that easily reached Loki’s waist.

“That’s huge, but in fact, that’s good. I’ve always wanted a giant snowman,” Y/N admitted to him. “Perhaps this is the bottom part then, okay? My part should be a good middle.”

“Whatever you say, darling,” Loki chirped. He was happy she didn’t judge him for not knowing any better like many others would do. She adapted to their differences and never judged him. He knew it was one reason why he could be so comfortable around her.

It didn’t take long until they retreated inside. There was now a large snowman in their front garden, welcoming anyone who would visit them. Loki had used his magic to sculpt a snow hat to the snowman since they didn’t own a hat large enough for it. In Y/N’s eyes, it was perfect. Even with its large branch arms and tiny carrot nose.

Now they could simply cuddle under the soft blankets Y/N had gotten. With hot chocolate in their hands, they quickly found warmth. It didn’t mean they wanted to let go. There was something magical about cuddling by the fire with hot chocolate on the side. As Y/N rested her head on Loki’s chest, she found herself falling asleep. Loki didn’t mind it at all. As she slept on him, he could read his book and every once in a while, look at her peaceful face. He was so lucky to have her.

Author’s Note: I cannot believe I wrote this much fluff. It’s so out of my element, but I hope you liked it! :) It’s good to write about happy!Loki.

#Loki #Loki's 12 days of christmas #Loki fluff #Loki x Reader #Loki x Y/N #Loki x You #Loki imagine #Loki fanfiction #TOm Hiddleston Loki #Marvel fanfiction

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ladyfl4me · 4 years

Note

what other writing inspires you? like other fics or stories?

Hmmmm. I haven’t been doing much new reading lately, outside of stuff I do for my coursework. That being said, there are a lot of works I like to return to. (Sorry about this long, long infodump on my favorite works, but boy howdy do I love these. I’m probably forgetting about five million other things, but those are the ones that come to mind right away.)

As far as fic goes, I used to read a lot of MCU stuff; I even wrote a few in my day, before mainstream fandom got too exhausting/the franchise went to shit and I was swept up by TAZ. I always cite @miamaroo‘s Northern Migration as the fic that inspired me to take the leap into long-form intricate TAZ AUs. I also adore Seven Raptors by DragonWrites. If I hadn’t discovered these two stories while on a Balance fic binge last year, I definitely wouldn’t have written The Moth who Came In from the Cold. @morganeashton‘s fic Running Home is also a stunning work that I regret not reading sooner. The chapters are short, but each one blew me away. Morgie paid incredibly close attention to even the most minor characters, fleshing them out in quick brushstrokes of dialogue and action that made me fall in love with the characters in brand new ways. I highly recommend reading it.

Outside of fic, there are three books that I always keep on my desk when I’m looking for inspiration, or just trying to find something to model/use as a guide:

American Gods by Neil Gaiman. This is a big one. I keep a copy of it on my desk to page through when I have trouble with dialogue, and balancing inner character monologues with external events. It’s also a good book for me to read while trying to work out The Children of Sylvain; I have a lot of moving parts in it, much like American Gods does.

Salamander by Thomas Wharton. I read this one and was like, you can do that?? With words???? Damn, son. It’s about a 18th century book printer who makes novelty books; he gets hired by a duke who’s obsessed with puzzles, to the point that he rigged his entire castle to rearrange its own fucking floor plan like an architectural Rubik’s cube. I’m talking beds leaving their rooms to zip around the castle on rails, in the middle of the night; moving walls; entire bookshelves leaving the library to make loops around the building. Some serious steampunk shit. This duke hires the printer to make a book that never ends, and this quest leads him on a journey across the world to gather the materials to print and bind his book. It is not as boring as it sounds, I promise. I mostly remember it for the lesbian pirate who liberates slave ships, but also for the really good prose, which is one of the reasons why I keep it on the desk for reference.

Sabriel by Garth Nix. Amazing worldbuilding, excellent prose, great characters and relationships, an incredibly compelling narrative and a protagonist on the front cover (of my edition) that I’m very gay for.

[ID: the cover of the book Sabriel, by Garth Nix. The cover art shows a young white woman, from about the knees up. Her eyes are hooded and pensive. She wears a flowing blue overcoat with white trim, patterned with silver keys. Twelve small bells in protective leather pouches hang from a bandolier across her chest. A scabbard hangs from a belt around her waist; across the bottom of the picture, just barely visible, she holds an unsheathed sword with arcane symbols carved into it. She holds one small bell in her hand. A blurred, formless black shadow with glowing orange slits for eyes reaches towards her shoulder with a gnarled hand. The woman looks slightly over her shoulder, eyes hooded and pensive. End ID.]

The titular protagonist is part of a divine line of necromancers sworn to make sure the dead stay dead. She’s forced to journey from her current residence - a country like WWII-era Europe, except everyone can do magic and has a sword - across the border into the Old Kingdom, when her father goes missing and dead things everywhere start rising. I keep this one around for help with basically everything.

Other passive sources of inspiration for me include:

Lord of the Rings. My first fandom and one I’ll always return to. It informs so, so much of how I structure arcs and characters. It’s a good thing that most of the friends I bounce things off of/write for aren’t super familiar with it, because they’d be able to guess the plot of TCOS in like 5 minutes if they did.

TAZ, of course

the MCU, before the franchise went to shit and I developed critical thinking skills

the Pendragon series by D.J. MacHale (more of an elementary-middle school inspiration for me, which convinced me to take a leap into novel writing. I still have 3 or 4 of the books from this 10-book monolith)

video games:

999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors

Beyond Good and Evil

Myst, games 1-3

I’m also subscribed to the Poetry Foundation’s poem of the day newsletter, which often sends me something that fucking Gets Me. At the moment, I’ve been really taken with the poems of Catherine Pierce; she came to do a reading at my college recently, and we read her collection The Tornado is the World for my poetry workshop course. I can’t recommend her enough. She’s got a gift for saying a lot in a frank, arresting way. Here’s an excerpt from “The Mother Warns the Tornado,” which is from that book (time to see if tumblr fucks up the formatting):

I will heed the warning

protocol, I will cover him with my body, I will

wait with mattress and flashlight,

but know this: If you come down here—if you splinter your way through our pines,

if you suck the roof off this red-doored ranch,

if you reach out a smoky arm for my child—

I will turn hacksaw. I will turn grenade.

I will invent for you a throat and choke you.

I will find your stupid wicked whirling

head and cut it off. Do not test me.

If you come down here, I will teach you about

greed and hunger. I will slice you into palm-

sized gusts. Then I will feed you to yourself.

Good shit. Reminds me a lot of Mama. I highly recommend giving The Tornado is the World a read! Not every poem in the book is quite as visceral as “The Mother Warns the Tornado;” some are melancholy, some are brash and cocky, some are sad, some are sinister, some are overcome with joy. It’s a beautiful anthology, and I found it very easy to read and relate to. I annotated my copy to hell and back and I’m definitely keeping it for years to come.

I’m going to regret this later, probably, but! If anyone has any recommendations for books, TV shows, podcasts, whatever, send me an ask! I’ll make a list. Or, knowing me, a spreadsheet. Have at thee!

#asks #jennifero77 #thanks jenn!#long post #recs

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softspaceboibrian · 5 years

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Journeys End in Lovers Meeting (Chapter 3)

Pairing: Professor!Gwilym Lee x reader

Summary: Reader is a new student at Harvard University and, on her first day, she does something she might regret. Or maybe not.

Warnings: mention of a stroke

Wc: 2212

A/N: guys, this chapter is very descriptive. hopefully you won't think it's boring or stuff. don't worry! in the next chapters more is going to happen!!

Previous chapters: 1 - 2 - 4 - 5

Taglist: @tegan-eva (ask if you want to be added)

On the other hand, you were pretty different, thing that Gwilym grew to love more than he expected himself to. At first, he didn’t notice the peculiar shade of your eyes, or the constant rosy colour of your cheeks. Gosh, he could look at those eyes the entire day if he could; you had intelligent eyes, and whenever you laid them on him, he knew you were thinking about something, you were studying him, noticing the smallest detail that even him had never noticed before; like that time when you walked up to him after the lesson finished and started off with a “Did you know you look a lot like Brian May? You know, the guitarist from Queen”. That made him laugh, at first, but when that night he found himself in front of a mirror, he started staring at his traits and noticed that you were right, as always. You had a beautiful mind that was always working on some new, fresh idea, that would surprise everyone. If you remained silent for a little too long, he would always ask you what you were thinking about and you would probably start answering by saying “What if…” or “Have you ever considered…”. And those amazing ideas usually came with a big dream. “I want to travel to Rome, visit Keats’ house and see his headstone, then do an essay on the impact that his poetry, his works and Romanticism in general is having on modern day culture.” You said one day, out of nowhere, while you were re-reading one of his articles; you were alone in his office, as every other afternoon, he was drinking black coffee, no sugar, just a little bit of cream, while you had your usual mug filled with tea. You changed the tea every couple of weeks: at first, you started with black tea, then, when autumn came, you moved to chai tea. But now the office was filled everyday with the soft smell of mint and honey, fresh and warm at the same time. Just like you, he thought. He also found out he loved to make you laugh: you had a loud laughter, the type that fills the room with joy, that contagious laugh that you cannot hear and stay serious. Your voice, on the contrary, well, your voice was soft, warm, so pleasing to listen to that he would often make you read his essays and articles aloud just to hear it. You loved scented candles, that’s for sure. You even bought an orange chocolate scented one for his studio, just because you thought he might like it. But in general, there’s no doubt you are a poet. You were quiet, your steps were gentle, just like a fairy’s ones. You were quiet because you were always thinking, analysing things and finding in them the smallest, most peculiar details that no one else would notice, taking time to organize your thoughts and ideas, but still struggling to find the right words. That’s probably the main reason why he has often walked in on you reading the entire dictionary for the umpteenth time. You had so many beautiful ideas, and you would always talk about them as if they were your children. “I’m afraid that I won’t be able to express what I’m thinking, to put it into words on paper, and I don’t won’t to ruin it.” You said to him many times; in fact, it had happened more than once that you could not be productive for days, weeks even, and then suddenly write six poems in an hour. But then, there’s this one thing that he read in one of your poems, one thing that stuck with him. «I wish to be enough, someday.» How could someone like you think that you weren’t enough. You were far more than enough. At least to him.

It was the beginning of December, and the first flakes of snow where starting to shyly cover the gardens and sidewalks, there were no longer leaves on the branches of the trees, it was finally that time of the year when he was able to turn on the fire in his little chimney in the evening. And, in fact, you loved spending the evenings over at his place, sometimes crushing on his couch just to enjoy the warmth of the fire. Or maybe you just enjoyed his company over anyone else’s.

The weeks went by and you got to know each other pretty well during your ‘meetings’ or your coffee breaks. Apparently, he was in fact of Welsh heritage, even though he was born in Bristol. He studied English Literature at Cardiff University and then moved to the USA. But, most importantly, he was the most genuine person you had ever known. You liked to look at him when he was busy working. His hair was long, but not too long, and sometimes little stands of hair would fall in front of his face, distracting him for even just a moment. When he was thinking, he would start doodling on the side of the page or on a spare paper. He collected playbills from theatre shows and museum’s pencils. He always had kind words for everyone. His earbuds were always tangled, and it would take him a good minute to untangle them. He always took artsy picture of everything, his dog, the school library, the first fallen leaves from the tree in front of his office’s window. He loved history, learning intriguing facts about historical figures. He liked to always have an open window, unless it was too cold outside. When he smiled, his eyes would brighten up, the corners of his lips go up, little crinkles show up around his eyes. He was also exactly how one would expect a writer to be: his notebooks a mess, full of notes and doodles, and his desk exactly the same, little reminders scattered all over the wooden surface, an empty pen holder, pens and pencils used as bookmarks. And his head too: he always had so many ideas, he was always thinking of a new article, a new story he could try to write, but that he never actually managed to finish; and you noticed that, sometimes, he would scribble stuff that he needed to remember on his hands and arms. He was definitely a night owl: it had happened many times that she would wake up to a text from him that had been sent at three in the morning. He was so passionate about everything that he liked, like that time, during class, when he was explaining Queen Elizabeth I’s Tilbury Speech, he was basically praising not only Queen Elizabeth herself, but her tutor, Roger Ascham, too. You found it adorable. He knew pretty much everything, except for his own limits. He was the kind of person that would try to make flowers bloom, even during heavy storms. But the things that stuck with you the most was the fact that he always found the good in everything.

“Love” That’s how he had been calling you lately, even around school, not really caring about what people would say. “They are doing Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night in a theatre just outside town and they want me to review it” He explained, showing you the email on his phone.

“Well, that’s amazing! When are you going?”

“We are going tonight. The play starts at 7:30, but we have to be there at least half an hour before the beginning of the play, because I have to meet the woman who has to give me the tickets at the reception.”

“Wait…” You stopped him, visibly puzzled “We are going?” You had talked about that many times before, Shakespeare was by far your favourite dramaturg and one of Gwilym’s favourite authors in general. You had often found yourselves debating whether it was Hamlet or Macbeth Shakespeare’s best play, discussing about every detail that made one’s favourite the best one and not the other’s.

“I got two tickets for free and I thought that you might have wanted to come with me. I mean, it’s Twelfth Night. You love it, it’s one of your favourites, isn’t it?”

You were speechless. You didn’t expect that to happen, not at all. Maybe that was the reason you immediately put your arms around him and reached for his cheek to leave a soft kiss, realising only afterwards that you weren’t at home or somewhere else. You were at University and there he was a professor and you were a student. You couldn’t act like that. So you instantly pulled away, your cheeks turning crimson, but he didn’t really seem to mind it.

“It’s a 45 minutes long drive, so I’ll pick you up at 6:00, so we have a few more minutes in case traffic is a mess. We can have dinner afterwards.” He smiled, his eyes on you, finding that look on your face extremely adorable. “Oh and wear a pretty dress.” He laughed while walking away.

Once you were left alone, you could feel the eyes of numerous girls on you, probably whispering to each other, already making assumption about the two of you. All you did at that point was walk out of the building, almost running towards the bus stop, to escape those curious looks rather than to actually get home early.

It was 5:45 and you were already sitting on the couch, a book in your hands, waiting for the man to send you the text saying that he was waiting for you outside. Wear a pretty dress, he said; and that was what you did. One could rarely see you wearing a dress, or anything a little more daring that a simple jeans and a nice blouse. But that time you decided that you could actually wear something different, maybe one of those dresses that your mother had bought for you years before. It was nothing too special, a simple bodycon dress with blue, burnt orange, mustard and white horizontal stripes. Obviously, not wanting to look too formal, you just paired it with a simple blue cardigan and white converse. Furthermore, you had no one to impress, it was only Gwilym, you professor, and in a way, your boss too. Yes, well, he was still really handsome, charming, and you too often found yourself daydreaming about those ocean blue eyes, that made you feel like you didn’t have to worry about your ponytail being perfect or your laugh being too loud. Whenever you were with him, you felt good, you felt as if that was the place where you were meant to be. And that was not good. You could not feel that way about him.

[from James] Hey love, I’m outside. Whenever you’re ready.

You didn’t even reply. You just put your jacket on and sprinted out, forgetting to say goodbye to Rose, who looked at you wondering whether you were acting like that because you were excited to go see one of your favourite plays or because you were basically going on a date with the man you had been talking about non-stop for the last few months.

You and Rose met the first day you came to Cambridge. She knew a new girl was going to live in the room next the hers, but she didn’t expect you to be, well, like you were. At first, you were reserved, she could barely see you outside of your room, but she could easily understand whether you were home or not, because you would always be playing those old records. One day she even caught you singing a little tune, but as soon as you realised she was watching you, you immediately turned red and shut the door. It took her a while before she could actually get to know you, even just a little bit. At first, it was small talks at dinner, random facts that popped up during movie nights. Then you spent a whole day around town, just the two of you, in which she showed you all the nice cafés and libraries where you could go and study without any problem, the restaurants where you could eat without spending too much, the shopping district, even the pretty places you could go to take pictures or take someone on a date. That day Rose found out some of the most important things about you. You were sitting on a bench in JFK Park and the brunette started talking about all times she had taken her parents there whenever they visited her, the things she used to do with them when they still lived together and how proud they were of her. But your response left her speechless. “My mother died two years ago. Stroke.” Your voice was cold, distant, your eyes on the water in front of you. “And my father is so proud of me that he is paying my tuition so that he doesn’t have to see me around the house anymore.” Rose didn’t know what to say, how to act, so she just stood up and offered you to go and eat ice cream. “I know a place that makes the best mint chocolate chip ice cream in town. It’s your favourite, isn’t it?”

#journeys end in lovers meeting #jeilm #professor gwilym lee #gwilym lee x reader #gwilym lee x you #gwilym lee #professor!gwilym lee #softspaceboibrian writings #softspaceboibrian

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theparanormalperiodical · 5 years

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The Haunting of Borley Rectory - The Most Haunted Places in The World #1

Essex is home to many frightful things: Southend Airport, the cast of TOWIE, and most contestants of Love Island to name a few. Yet amongst the thick accents and the eyelash extensions is something nearly as terrifying as a death stare from Gemma Collins herself: Borley Rectory.

Unfortunately, this rectory will never be quite as famous as the GC herself.

But among paranormal fanatics, no #diva can ever take the place of the most haunted building in Britain, or rather, what has even been deemed one of the most haunted places in the world. And sure, this touristic trope is slapped on the websites of most historic places, but today’s post is dripping in real ghost stories, and the most famous paranormal investigation in UK history.

This label was applied by the investigator, Harry Price, himself, yet due to the sheer volume of stories relating specifically to this period of the rectory, his investigation will receive its fair share of attention in a later post.

So, if you clicked for Price and his official investigation, be sure to follow this blog and be updated when that is up for discussion.

Today however, we are going to just be talking about the haunting of Borley Rectory.

In 1939, Borley Rectory was burnt down.

Well, I say burnt down: the damage was so significant it was eventually abolished 5 years later, concluding its short life. Built only 76 years prior to this, its history has been ingrained – or rather, trapped – within its walls for what is rumoured to be centuries.

It might not match the ancient ages of the typical haunted houses clogging up the IMBD horror pages, but it is thick with historical tales which certainly contain the real ghost stories we are so interested in.

And it is one of these tales that gave birth to the first recorded haunting of Borley Rectory.

This tale takes us back to 1326, 500 years before its construction: it was rumoured that a nun and Benedictine monk had a secret relationship together, a relationship that was obviously forbidden. Upon discovery, the monk was executed for his sins, yet I’m afraid the nun suffered a far worse fate.

She was bricked up – alive - in the walls of her convent.

However, as the stories go, the nun’s afterlife was a little more mobile than her final moments.

It was a warm July evening in the year 1900 when she was first seen. The daughters of the rector were enjoying those summer nights (think more dead clergy-people, less John Travolta), and saw a figure make its way across the lawn. They tried to talk to it, to get closer to whatever this thing was, yet it disappeared the closer they got.

But this would not be the only time they witnessed the ghost of the nun.

One June afternoon they claimed they clearly saw a figure resembling a nun make the same journey across the lawn, even though she had only ever been witnessed during the night. One of the three sisters there ran into the rectory to find her fourth sibling to confirm this apparition, and all 4 of them were sure that she slowly walked across the lawn, disappearing as she finally reached the trees.

More than 20 people have expressed similar claims, with one man who had no prior knowledge of the rectory’s reputation inquiring about the nun wandering outside of the house.

It has even been said that she was once again witnessed mere weeks before the rectory found itself reduced to ashes.

This is possibly the most famous apparition of the haunting of Borley Rectory, but allow me to make one thing very clear: this was not the only ghost to lodge there.

It is here that we turn to the family in residence for the Rectory’s first 30 years: the family of Reverend Henry Bull.

The first paranormal activity was reported a mere year after they first moved in, but it wasn’t actually from those that lived here. Locals recall hearing footsteps behind them whilst near the house, and even stated that phantom coaches being pulled by headless horses was a frequent sighting.

But despite the various haunted horses galivanting in the moonlight which certainly fit the bill of one of the ‘most haunted places in the world’, footsteps were a key component of the haunting of Borley Rectory.

The son of the reverend – who spent most of his years at sea and thus would have limited knowledge of the claims – on many occasions matched such stories of footsteps outside of the house, often hiding in attempt to catch the perpetrator.

However, the perpetrator was never to be found.

Eventually, the local villagers refused to walk past the house after dark, particularly if they were alone.

Nevertheless, the hidden figures would also make their way inside the house. Footsteps were heard all over the rectory, but mainly in the bedroom passages. It is claimed they would reach a door, pause for just a moment, produce 3 sharp taps, and move on.

And even though invisible figures clearly made the rectory their home, there is also a smattering of visible figures.

The reverend often told his family, perhaps while at dinner, or in letters to his son overseas, that he had once again seen the Little Man.

He claimed a dwarf-like figure of an old man would appear on the lawn. He would then raise an arm over his head, and run towards the drive, disappearing as he rushed away into the distance. His wife even went on to confirm this particular sighting.

These real ghost stories clearly took a toll on the family; a dining room window was even boarded up due to reports of an apparition peering in during meals.

Indeed, it appears each individual member of the family would have their own dealing with the dead at Borley Rectory, for example, one of the daughters awoke to a slap on her face several times in the many nights she spent there.

But the haunting of Borley Rectory went far beyond the things you could see.

The groom-gardener and his wide often heard rattling in the house, with knocks and breaking crockery sounds echoing down the halls of the rectory nightly. And despite the shattering sounds, nothing was found to be broken or even cracked in the morning.

After 3 years of these incessant disturbances, they left.

Yet they would not be the only residents to have unfavourable memories of their home – Reverend Henry Bull stated the years residing at the rectory were ‘the darkest years of their life’, a claim not impossible to comprehend given the sheer volume of hauntings noted.

As is clear from the majority of reports made of the paranormal activity, noises were a prevalent occurrence, and were found to be either in all rooms at the same time, or following the residents about. Nevertheless, it is claimed that the sounds were incessant in the room just over the kitchen, or the blue room which just happens to overlook ‘the Nun’s Walk’.

Reverend Henry Bull died in 1927, and he died in the Blue Room. As did his wife, and his son.

The following residents – the Smith family – did not have to wait long until the paranormal visitors welcomed them to their new home.

Shortly after moving in (before they’d even finished unpacking their boxes), Reverend Guy Eric Smith’s wife opened a cupboard to find a brown paper bag.

And inside this bag? The skull of a young woman.

After the skull was found, the paranormal proliferated, with lights appearing in windows, or servant bells ringing into the silent nights despite not being connected to anything. The footsteps also began once again.

The reverend’s wife even recalled witnessing a horse drawn carriage as she peered out the window one night, a sighting we have already discussed.

Following these events, the Smiths decided to take matters into their own hands, and contacted the Daily Mirror, asking for assistance from the Society for Psychical Research. It was in 1929, on a warm June day, that a reporter arrived at the rectory and made his case for the haunting of Borley Rectory. This was to be one of first of many articles to be published on the goings-on.

This is also when Harry Price – a paranormal researcher – turned up, and made his first visit to Borley Rectory. This would not be his last.

The reverend made many claims to Price, most notably that the noises proliferated in the winter months, and occurred more frequently at night, and obviously claims that are easily dismissible and seem to turn up in cases all too frequently.

Yet despite this, the wide berth of activity still needs to be considered.

Keys, for example, were frequently picked up and placed in the locks by unseen forces, or moved about the room from which they were kept. The key to the library was a victim of this, and was often found at the foot of the stairs or several feet from the door. It was even recorded that an hour would elapse before it was once again found on the floor.

And on this, unlocked doors were often found to be locked to the chagrin of the residents. On one occasion, one of the observers who was residing in the library even heard a click, only to see the door was locked from the inside.

It was also common for keys to go missing, and such keys were not to be found again.

The library seems to be the seat of some of these real ghost stories, and I’m afraid it doesn’t end with the key in the lock.

The Smiths told the investigators that the heavy wooden shutters to the French windows were often pulled together by invisible forces. These shutters – as they were 6 feet high and 3 feet wide – were clearly quite a feat to close, even by those with who were, you know, alive. They had even been sitting in the library when it once occurred.

Yet it appears one of the most curious and prevalent paranormal occurrences, even after the Smiths left the rectory, was the tapping of Mrs. Smith’s dressing table mirror.

They deduced it came from the back of the mirror, and it was only after they moved out of the house and lived on the east coast of England that the tapping finally stopped. Yet after Price visited the family in their new home, the tapping began once again.

Following this event, Mr Smith died after falling seriously ill, an occurrence often found of those that were once the reverend of the rectory that contained so many real ghost stories.

The following owners – the Foysters – would be the family at the centre of the paranormal investigation lead by Harry Price, and it was after their departure in 1937 that Price rented out the rectory for his own personal study of the haunting of Borley Rectory.

This would feature as one of the most famous – and hotly contested – paranormal investigations of one of the most haunted places in the world.

#borley rectory #the haunting of borley rectory #most haunted #uk haunted #uk ghost stories #real ghost stories #ghost stories #borley rectory now #borley rectory 2019 #hill house #most haunted places in the world #true ghost stories

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glossgf · 6 years

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;sealed with a kiss (m)

Pairing: Jungkook x reader

Genre: 1950s au, highschool au, fluff, smut

Word count: 7,617

Summary: you and jungkook have crushes on one another but it takes some light (or perhaps heavy) encouragement from your friends for things to move along...

You fold the page of your book as to not forget the page number with that one word that you just can't make any sense of, making a mental note to look it up in the dictionary. You become more oblivious to your surroundings and more immersed in your book as you continue reading. However, that one word is still aggravating you. Perhaps it's best if I stop reading and head to the school library, you think. You would hate to forget about that word, you needed to know what it meant, and needed to know now.

Placing your bookmark between the pages, you turn left heading back to the school building. This was a mistake. As soon as you take the turning, you collide into the back of someone. This causes you to lose your balance, and you fall to the ground with a thump, your book following shortly after. The other person also loses his balance but regains it before falling down with you.

If the grass you had fallen on wasn't wet you would have been glad of it cushioning your fall. However, this is not the case. Due to the heavy rainfall last night, the grass is left wet and muddy, the mud caking the grass blades that were poking you through your dress.

From above you hear shuffling and voices — two perhaps? You try not to focus on the wetness that is starting to seep through the skirt of your dress, and on the voices instead.

“Are you alright? Can you get up?” It's a boy’s voice, deep and filled with concern. You assume he must be the one you bumped into. His hand comes into view, outstretched so that he can help you up.

You take his hand even though you don't want to get up. You know that you'll be left with a wet patch on your clothing and you don't have any spare. If only I had had gym today, you think to yourself, wanting that class more than any other for the first time ever. With one pull you're on your feet again, supporting yourself on the boy’s arm as to not lose balance and fall again.

Still supporting yourself on his arm, you look up and are met with his wide eyes. A blush forms on your cheeks as you realise how close you are, and you quickly remove your hand from his arm and look down at the ground. Your hair falls in front of your face, for which you are thankful for as you can feel the heat travelling across your skin, and your hands cross gently over your front. “Th-thank you”, you stutter out. “I’m sorry about that", you manage although you're voice is so quiet you're surprised he even heard you.

“You don't have to be sorry, it’s not your fault. I should be apologizing to you for knocking you over.”

Huh? Your head shoots up so that you can see his face. His eyebrows are furrowed in confusion. “That’s not true", you argue. “It was me who should have been paying more attention to my surroundings”, you say honestly. If you hadn't have been reading your bottom may not be wet and muddy at all.

“Well, she does have a point”, another voice agrees, “although I’d say it's both your fault”. You turn your head to the right and see another boy. His brown hair is parted down the center but pulled back so that his eyes are visible. “Hi! I’m Jimin, I don't think we’ve met before darlin’. The guy who you bumped into is Jungkook. And he’s also the cause of this—”Jimin pulls his hand from behind his back to show you your book that had fallen with you. The bottom half and several pages inside are caked in mud.

“Oh, thanks", you mumble unsure of what to say and taking your dirty book from him. Jimin just laughs, “why are you thanking me?” You raise an eyebrow, confused, “uhm….”, you start stuttering out words hoping you're making a coherent sentence.

Saving you from your uncomfortable situation, Jungkook takes the book from your hands. “I’m really sorry about this...”, he starts, flicking through the pages, looking at the mess he caused. He glances at the cover taking a mental note of the title before handing it back to you.

You shake your head, a smile forming on your face. “Really it’s not your fault. Please don't blame yourself. We should blame each other like Jimin said.” You're still smiling looking up at Jungkook and this time you take in his appearance. His dark hair is parted to the side, slightly obscuring one of his eyes. This, along with the scar that cuts through his eyebrow and his sharp jaw makes him appear intimidating at first. Yet his smile is soft and gentle— like his voice. He’s handsome, you think, how come I’ve never noticed him before?

He rubs the back of his neck, a slight blush creeping over his cheeks. “What’s your name?” he asks, his smile never leaving his face.

“Oh! Sorry, I should have introduced myself earlier. I’m ____.”

“A pretty name for a pretty face”, Jimin states whilst he winks at you.

“Knock it off Jimin. Anyway ____, use this to tie around your waist.” He shrugs off his jacket and hands it to you. For a second you're confused as to what he means, but then you remember— your wet behind!

Yet again your face heats up so you busy yourself with tying his jacket around your waist directing a “thank you" towards Jungkook. “Uhm, can I give this back to you tomorrow? I can meet you at the entrance before school starts?” You don't want to go home with a muddy bottom so you wonder if it will be okay if he can have it back tomorrow morning.

“Ye—”, Jungkook starts but Jimin interrupts him. “I have a better idea!” he beams. “How about you join us at lunch tomorrow? It’ll be nice to get to know you better.”

“Oh, uhm", you're once again left unsure on what to say. It was a nice offer, but you weren't so sure. You had already embarrassed yourself in front of them today, what if you do something worse tomorrow? You can't help worrying and so you play with the hem of your dress trying to think of an answer.

“What do you think Jungkook? It would be nice to make a pretty new friend right?” Jungkook is back to rubbing the back of his neck.

“Well, uh, it’s really up to you. I don't mind meeting you at the entrance if it makes you feel more comfortable.”

“Uhm, if it's okay I'd like to meet at the entrance.”

“Yeah, that’s fine”, Jungkook nods just as the bell rings signalling the end of break. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.” He smiles turning towards the building.

“Yeah, it was lovely meeting a pretty new face. Bye!” Jimin waves as Jungkook elbows him in his side at his comment.

For the rest of the day you couldn't stop thinking about Jungkook. You were noticing him in the corridors more and more— smiling at each other as you passed— even though you can't recall ever seeing him before.

The next morning, you’re outside waiting for him. His jacket had served his purpose and you were thankful for it. However, you were a little nervous about seeing him again.

The first bell of the day rings, and there is no sign of Jungkook. What if something’s happened? You panic, standing up and walking in the direction of your first class. You try reassuring yourself that everything is fine and that perhaps he just couldn't find you. Perhaps we should have settled on a more specific area, you think, trying to calm your panicked thoughts.

Lunch time came and there was still no sign of Jungkook. Your only option was to find Jimin and return the jacket to him instead. Despite your nervousness at the thought of seeing Jungkook again, you were a little sad about not seeing him at all. You probably won't speak to him again after this, so this was your last chance.

You walk into the cafeteria, hoping to easily find Jimin. However, this proves difficult. You had forgotten how many people attend your school, your thoughts solely on Jungkook for the past 24 hours. You sigh and sit at a table by yourself. Perhaps he'll find me instead, you hope.silently.

As time goes on and people start to disperse, you hope to find Jimin much more easily but yet again you can't. You glance at the clock, only ten minutes left. You stand, gathering your things and making your way towards the exit.

As you turn the corner you feel someone tug at the ribbon in one of your pigtails. You look sideways to see a beaming Jungkook. “Hi, _____. Sorry about this morning I got held up.”

You turn so that your whole body is facing him. “That’s fine. Uhm, here's your jacket”, you say, opening your bag to pull it out, and to make yourself not have to look him in the eyes. There’s a strange sensation in your stomach, a fluttering that had started once you saw him.

“Did you find it useful?” he chuckles as you nod in reply.

“Thank you again. I don't think anyone noticed so yes, I found it very useful.”

“What class do you have now?” he asks, as he realises that lunch is nearly over and he doesn't have much time to talk with you. “I’ll walk with you".

“Are you sure? I have French and it's quite a long walk. I don't want to make you late for your class.”

He laughs, “I haven't been in all morning, I’m sure being late for my afternoon class will be fine”. You're not really sure what his point is but you smile at him anyway.

You carry on your conversation as Jungkook walks you to your class. He seems a lot more different than yesterday, more confident perhaps. The more he speaks to you and asks you questions, the more at ease you feel with him. The fluttering is still there but you feel more relaxed.

You round the corner of the corridor where your class is and stop just outside the door. You don't want to end the conversation, it was nice speaking to him even if you had only been speaking for five minutes. “My class is down this corridor. I'll see you around?” you ask, smiling at him.

“Wait, _____”, he brings his arm to rub the back of his neck— just like yesterday. You assume it's a habit of his. “Wi—will you meet me by the entrance at 3?” he stutters out.

He wants to meet me? Your mind is running with all sorts of questions and worries. You're happy that this isn't the last time you'll speak with him but your nerves that were starting to relax have come back. You agree to meet him, and your breath catches in your throat as he smiles. It’s the smile that softens his features, the smile that you couldn't stop thinking about since yesterday.

“I’ll see you later then. I'll be outside by the reception area.”

You nod thankful that he specified where to meet. With that said, he turns back around and walks off. Your heart is beating so fast, you try to calm it, thinking about your French work instead. But who were you kidding? You could barely stay still. You didn't know if it was nerves or excitement. You decided on both. However, when 3 o’clock appeared your heart began to race again. Even more so when you see him sitting on the wall.

He's leaning against the wall with his hands behind his back, smiling to the people who wave goodbye at him. You sit down next to him with a more enthusiastic “Hi!” then you had expected, and cringe at yourself.

“Hi!” he returns your greeting with just as much enthusiasm and you both laugh at each other. “Here", he pulls his hands from behind his back to reveal a brown package.

“What’s this?” You raise your eyebrow in confusion.

“It’s for you. Open it.”

You rip open the package revealing a bookmark and a book. The bookmark is embellished with lace, and the book is the one you had been reading yesterday— the one that had gotten dirty.

Your eyes light up at the kind gesture. “Thank you! Really, thank you so much but you didn't have to do this.”, you say looking up at Jungkook who has a slight blush along his cheeks.

He just shakes his head. “I didn't have to but I wanted to. Do you like them?” he asks shyly.

“Of course I do.” you beam. You feel like you should pay him back but the whole point in him giving you these is because he feels responsible for what had happened. “But, I feel like I should do something back. You really didn't have to spend money on me.”

He shakes his head again, “I didn't pay any money— wait that sounds bad, i didn't steal anything”— his eyes widen and you giggle at him. “My aunt owns a bookstore so I had it from her”, he says quickly as if to dispose of any bad assumptions you might be thinking of.

At the mention of a bookstore your eyes light up and a wide smile appears on your face, “really? Where?”

Jungkook finds your interest in this cute, and it is now his heart that’s beating at a rapid speed. He tells you that the store is in the next town over, and you seem so excited about the new discovery that he asks if you would like to go with him there. You agree instantly, excited about a new bookstore and spending more time with Jungkook.

The rest of the week you spent break and lunch with Jungkook. Jimin had been extremely pleased, introducing you to everyone. You found out that he's courting Yubin— the girl in your French class. You had spoken to her a few times, you found her pleasant enough and you quickly became friends with each other.

You had started talking to Jungkook with less worry but the butterflies were still there whenever you thought about him. He had told you he would pick you up at one today to take you to the bookstore.

You were extremely nervous. This isn't a date, right? You weren't sure about your feelings towards Jungkook. They confused you.

Even now as you sit in his car, you are unsure of what this exactly is. I’m probably overthinking things, you tell yourself. But this is the first time he and you are spending time together just by yourselves.

Your nerves subside once you begin to engage in conversation with him yet the fluttering in your stomach never ceases, especially when his hand lightly brushes against your knee. Instead, you concentrate on what he’s asking you. You had babbled on about your favourite books for most of the journey, not even realising that you’re here until you glance out the window to see that you’ve stopped.

“— oh! We’re here? Sorry I was jabbering on.” Shyly glancing at him, you notice the smile that is plastered on his face.

“I enjoyed listening to you speak. We have to walk a bit of the way there but you can carry on, I want to know what happens in the story you were telling me about.”

So you do, you tell him about your favourite story until he stops outside what you assume to be the bookstore.

Jungkook watches you as you step inside, the twinkle in your wide eyes not going unnoticed by him. “It’s so big!” You hadn’t expected it to be so grand.

He chuckles, “you really do love books.”

“Yea—yeah” you reply, head lowering and a blush travelling across your cheeks.

Jungkook notices your change in expression. “Ah wait, I, uh, I meant it’s cute how you— ah.” He rushes but stops after realising what he just said. His hand rubs at the back of his neck as a blush now finds its place on his cheeks.

You giggle, a hand coming up to cover your face in an attempt to muffle them. “Come on, let’s go over to the historical section.” You pull at his arm, trying to concentrate on what you came here for and not on the fact that Jungkook just called you cute. “You’re going to have to help me with all the books I’m planning to buy, I won’t be able to carry them all.”

Eleven new books later, you were back in Jungkook’s car. “Did you find everything you wanted?”, he asks, staring at the pile of books situated on your lap.

“Yes. Although, I was only expecting to bring home a few but I just couldn’t help myself.”

Jungkook laughs softly. “I hope those books don’t take up all your time. I’d like to hang out with you some more.”

The butterflies in your stomach return at his words, he wants to spend more time with me? “Well, it depends on how addictive these books are”, you grin at him.

The rest of the journey home is spent humming along to the radio, in an attempt to stop thinking of Jungkook like that, especially when he’s sitting so close to you.

“Thank you, Jungkook. I really enjoyed today”, you tell him once he stops outside your home.

“I’m glad you did. Here let me.” He takes half the books from your lap, walking with you to your door. You place yours near the door, and tell him to do the same, in order to find your house key easier.

Both of you stand there in silence, Jungkook rubbing the back of his neck and you fumbling to get the key in the lock.

“___—.”

“Finally!” You turn towards him. “Oh, did you say something?”

“Ah, no, well yes”, he stutters out. “See you Monday!”

“See you Monday! Thanks, again, for today!” He smiles at you before walking back to his car.

“So, how was your date?”, is the first thing Yubin says to you when you sit next to her in class.

“It wasn’t a date!”, you hastily reply, feeling your cheeks heat up. Yubin hums at your reaction, smirking at you as you cover your face with your hands turning away from her. “Yeah right.”

“It wasn’t!”, you pout. “He just took me to a bookstore and took me home.”

She hums, an eyebrow raising. “Is that really all you did? She jokingly gasps, a hand coming up to cover her mouth. “You didn’t do anything else with him?”

“What?” You drop your hands from your face, turning in your seat to face her. “What are you even implying? We didn’t do anything.”

“Awww, ____, you know I’m only joking.” She smiles, tugging at the ribbon in your hair. “You look cute today”, she compliments. “I wonder if it’s for a certain someone…”

You’re about to tell her she’s wrong, but your teacher walks in causing your conversation to cease, so instead you roll your eyes at her.

Since then, whenever you hung out with everyone, you were always with Jungkook. At lunch the only spare seat would be next to him, whenever you were with eachother out of school you and him would end up together, and somehow the nights always ended with just Jungkook and you. At first you had thought nothing of them but as time went on it was becoming increasingly obvious as to what was happening.

You had thought that the small crush you had for Jungkook would disappear with time, but upon spending more and more time with him your small crush had developed into a much larger one. Whenever you were with everyone you couldn’t help but think about him— your mind seeming to constantly wonder back to thoughts of him. Even when it’s just the two of you, your mind wanders to thoughts of him and you together.

Even now, as you sit at the lunch table with your cheek resting in the palm of your hand, you can’t help but think about him. It’s silly really, you think. We already spend so much time together… But you can’t help yourself. You want something more between Jungkook and you, you’re just unsure of how to start it.

You frown, thinking of different scenarios where you confess to him, but each one ends with a rejection. Your thoughts are interrupted when you feel someone tugging gently at the ribbon in your hair. “Huh?” You blink, still in your daydream world turning to find Jungkook looking at you with concern.

“Are you alright?”, he asks.

“Jungkook? When did you—”

“We’ve been here for awhile— well, Jimin and me, Jungkook just arrived. But are you alright?” You turn, seeing Yubin sitting directly in front of you, her voice full of concern just like Jungkook’s.

You lower your head as you feel the heat rising to your face. “I’m fine", you manage although you wouldn’t be convinced if someone else were to say it like that.

“Are you sure?” Jungkook shifts in his seat peering once more at your lowered face.

You nod your head, lifting it to look at him. You smile at him hoping to ease his obvious worry. “Really, I’m fine. I was just a little distracted is all.”

He returns your smile, tugging once more at the ribbon in your hair. His hand lingers there for a moment, his eyes never leaving yours. You draw in a breath once you feel his fingers softly brush over your cheek.

Yubin clears her throat, “are you forgetting that we’re here too?” Jungkook’s expression mirrors your own, eyes wide as he pulls his hand from your face to rub at his neck turning away from you. Covering your cheeks with your hand, you pout at Yubin. She’s sitting in front of you, her fingers laced together and a smirk on her face.

“Anyway, we should all go to the pictures soon. Perhaps Saturday?” Your eyes light up at the suggestion. You had been wanting to see Sleeping Beauty since its release last week, hoping that you could see it with Yubin.

“Go to the pictures with you? Why?” Jungkook asks, seemingly confused. “You never invite me to come with you. Don’t you only go there to make-out in the back anyway? Why would you want us there?”

“Yeah, baby. Why are we inviting them? I thought going to the pictures was our thing.” Jimin pouts, appearing just as confused as Jungkook.

“I thought it would be fun if all of us went. I can’t remember the last movie I watched.”

“Yeah that’s because you focus more on Jimin than the actual movie.”

Jimin smiles at Jungkook’s remark, shrugging as he says, “what can I say? I’m clearly more interesting than some movie.”

Yubin rolls her eyes. “Anyway, what do you say Jungkook. Wanna come?”

“I’ll only come if ____ comes too. I don’t wanna be ignored the whole night.”

“Well ____, what do you think?”

“Uhm”, you shift in your seat. “What’s on?”

“Hmmm, Pillow Talk, Some Like it Hot, uh, Sleeping Beauty… I’m unsure of anything else.”

Shifting in your seat once more, you fix your gaze onto the table. “Uhm, well, I was going to… I was going to ask Yubin if she would come and see Sleeping Beauty with me…” You trail off, the idea of suggesting such a movie appearing rather childish to you now.

“Is that the one with the foxy witch in?” Jimin questions, his tone serious. Everyone raises an eyebrow at him. “What? If she were a real life lady she would be a complete fox. I say we all watch that one.”

And so, it was settled, you were all going to see Sleeping Beauty.

You were still deciding on what shoes to wear when you heard the knock on your door soon followed by a call of your name from your mother. Deciding on your slip-ons you grab your coat, doing it up as you rush down the stairs.

“Oh! I left my bag upstairs!”, you declare once you’ve reached the door. You rush back upstairs, retrieving your bag and slinging it over your shoulder. “Okay, I’m ready”, you say once you're downstairs again.

Jungkook chuckles once you shut the door behind you. “Here”, he lifts his hands up to smooth down your hair that you assumed turned messy from running up and down the stairs. The action is enough to make your heart beat rapidly against your chest— a reaction you thought you would have become accustomed to but clearly not. The drive to the theatre is spent in comfortable silence, the humming of the radio acting as your background noise.

Once parked, you decide to wait inside for Jimin and Yubin, simply because it’s too cold in the car.

“Do you really want to watch this movie?”, you ask Jungkook once you’re inside.

“You think a guy can’t enjoy a princess movie?” He arches his eyebrow, side smirking. “I didn’t know you were so sexist.”

You roll your eyes, “coming from a man. And I am not a sexist, I’ll have you know. You just don’t seem like the type to be into princess movies.”

“You’re right. I’m not really into that but if you want to watch them then I’m more than happy to join.”

Heat rises to your cheeks. Glancing around the room, so that he doesn’t notice, you ask, “are they here yet? What’s the time?”

Jungkook chuckles, “we’ve only been here for five minutes. Is someone getting impatient?”

“I just want to sit down.” You groan, earning another chuckle from Jungkook.

“Come on, let’s go buy the tickets we can meet them in there. You want some popcorn?”

Jungkook and you both decided to split the price for popcorn, although he had eaten most of it before the movie started.

“Jungkook, stop eating all the popcorn.”

“Why?”, he pouts. “If we eat it now, there won’t be any crunching noises during the movie.”

“‘We’? You’ve eaten more than half already!”

He glances down at the bucket that rests on his lap. “Oh, oops. Sorry”, he smiles.

You jokingly huff, looking around the auditorium. There’s about six people there, Jungkook and you, and two mothers with their daughters. More people arrive as time moves on but there’s no sign of Jimin and Yubin. Even when the movie starts, there’s no sign of them. However, you found yourself forgetting about Jimin and Yubin, even forgetting about Jungkook sitting next to you, as you become immersed with the movie.

It’s not until Jungkook jumps a little, at the dragon breathing fire, that you remember he’s beside you. You try stifling your giggles, hand coming over your mouth to muffle them, at his cute reaction. He glances at you, flaring his nostrils and contorting his mouth into— well, you’re not exactly sure what he’s doing but it’s enough to make you giggle again, and this time they come louder than expected. Biting your bottom lip, you turn to focus on the screen again, attempting to ignore Jungkook.

Jungkook chuckles softly from behind you as you hum along to one of the songs from the movie. “So, you enjoyed it then?”

“Of course!” You beam at him. “ Jungkook, it was so wonderful. Everything— the art, the music, the story— everything was so beautiful.” You continue to babble on about the movie, Jungkook nodding along as he listens to you, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards.

“— and the princess is so— oh.” You had been following behind Jungkook, telling him your favourite scenes, not realising that he’s walking towards his car.

“Jungkook.” He turns at the sound of his name. “Why did you stop telling me about the movie?”, he asks, hand resting on the car door handle.

Playing with the hem of your dress, your gaze drops to the floor as you think about what to say. “Uhm, well, it’s just that tonight’s been such a lovely night. And, well, we didn’t get much of a chance to speak, you know being in a room where you’re not allowed to and all. Could we— could we— maybe— go for a walk or a drive somewhere…”

“How about we drive somewhere? It’s cold outside.”

You nod your head, stepping closer to the car. “I would like that." Maybe tonight will be the night I tell him.

Despite your earlier words, the drive is spent in silence. You had tried starting a conversation but every time your throat would dry up. So, instead, you continued playing with the hem of your dress.

Jungkook had sensed that there was something not right and decided to stop the car.

After a few moments more of silence, he decides to speak. “Is everything alright?”

You blink, opening your mouth, ready to speak but you just can’t find the right words to say. Several more minutes of silence pass between you, neither of you speaking.

“Look—

“Look—”, you both say simultaneously.

“Oh, you first.” You glance up at him, if he speaks first I can gather all my thoughts and decide what to tell him.

Jungkook shifts in his seat so that he’s facing you. You watch as he takes a deep breath before speaking again. “Er, I...I’ve been wanting to tell you for quite some time now. And seeing as Yubin and Jimin planned this date-thing I guess it’s best if I tell you now.” He nervously glances at your face, before continuing.

“Well, I was just thinking that, uhm, maybe we…”, he squeezes his eyes shut. “Maybe we could do something like this again. Like just the two of us and, maybe— if you want to of course— more often too?”

He’s asking me to date him? Your heart begins to beat rapidly against your chest. The thoughts you had been trying to gather become miss matched again.Taking your silence as a rejection he rushes to say, “please, forget I said any—”

You lean in, and before you have time to overthink anything, your eyes are fluttering shut and your lips are met with his. He doesn’t move instead he stays perfectly still. You open your eyes to find that his are still wide open and you pull away from him, your hands coming up to conceal your now red face. “ Oh god! I’m so sorry. I thought...I thought that maybe— I thought you were asking me— oh! This is so embarrassing.”

“No. It’s okay. I just… I just…” He sighs, wrapping his hands gently around your wrists. “Will you remove these from your face, please? I would like to see you.” Slowly, you remove your hands from your face but your gaze remains on the hem of your dress which peeks out from under your coat. “_____, please look at me.” His hand cups your cheek as you raise your head, your eyes meeting his.

He doesn’t speak but instead just touches you. His fingers running across your face; over your eyelids, along your jaw, outlining the shape of your lips. You stay like that until you notice his gaze fall from your eyes to your lips. “I want to kiss you— Christ! I’ve wanted to kiss you for so long. Can I kiss you?”, he whispers, finger falling from your face. You swallow before whispering a ‘yes’ and then, his lips are on yours once more.

Your eyes flutter shut as you press your lips harder into his. You’ve wanted this for so long, often picturing what his lips would feel like against your own. They’re soft, just like all the times you had imagined them to be. You stay like that for a short while, appreciating the feel of each other’s lips pressed together. It’s not until his hand that cups your cheek is being used to tilt your face, his mouth parting as his tongue runs over your bottom lip, and it’s your turn to pull away.

“Jungkook", you whine, shifting in your seat. “There’s hardly any room to kiss you like this. Can we get in the back instead?” He blinks, his eyes slightly blown out. He nods, reaching for the handle of his door before jumping out and opening your side. Once outside, the cool air hits you and you pull at the lapels of your coat hoping it will warm you up a little.

Jungkook opens the back door, stepping to the side and gesturing with his arm. “After you, Miss.” You giggle at him as you step into the back. Jungkook follows straight after and as soon as he shuts the door you waste no time in joining your lips together. This time you’re able to touch him more comfortably. Your hand glides over his chest, allowing you to feel his hard flesh under the fabric of his top. Kissing Jungkook feels good, yet it’s still not enough. You need more. You’ve been dreaming of this exact moment for so long and now that it’s happening you crave more. You need to taste more of him— feel more of him.

Resting your hands on his chest, you pull back from the kiss slightly, so that your lips brush his lightly, and with a single movement you’re sitting on his lap.

“Woah, baby", he breathes, eyes widening although you’re unsure if it’s because of you or what he said. You pull back from him, tilting your head and arching an eyebrow as you meet his gaze. “Baby?”

“Ah— shoot.” He runs his hand through his hair, gaze shifting to the side. “I didn’t—”

“Jungkook, it’s alright. I...I liked it”, you whisper, your own gaze falling to your lap as your cheeks tinge a shade of pink. His hands grab at your waist, a yelp leaving you as he pulls you closer against him. Your eyes widen when you feel his tongue draw a line down your cheek and across your bottom lip. Instantly, you part your lips and close your eyes as his tongue slides into your mouth.

His left hand moves up from your waist to find its way just below the curve of your breast. He stays like that, unsure at first, his tongue flicking across the roof of your mouth as he tries to taste each and every part of you. But it’s not enough, he needs to feel more of you as well as taste. So, when you tangle your fingers through his hair and shove your hips closer against his, he moves his hand further, finding his way beyond the lapels of your coat to cup your breast over the material of your dress.

His other hand awkwardly opens up the three buttons of your coat but he doesn’t remove it. Instead, his hand rests below your chest, feeling it rise and fall with every inhale and exhale you take. You feel hot, your skin prickling under the material where his hands are. You pull away, breathing heavily as you strip out of your coat and throw it to the side.

You stare at one another as you both catch your breath. His cheeks are flushed, and you bring a delicate finger to brush over the hot skin, giving him a shy smile. You watch him swallow before he speaks, his voice raspy as he asks, “do you want to continue?”

Smiling, you lean in to place a soft kiss to his lips before peppering his jaw and neck with equally as soft kisses. His hands move up to rest on your shoulders as you feel him shift from under you. You lift your hips up moving your legs so now you’re sitting beside him, knees brushing together. Carefully, he pushes you down onto the seats, making sure to not bump your head on the car door.

Once he’s satisfied with the comfortable position his lips are on your neck, kissing and sucking, his teeth grazing over the flushed and sensitive skin. Gasping, your hips buck up into his as he groans, head falling into your shoulder.

Taking his hand in yours, you guide it to your breast squeezing over it before he takes the lead, caressing the soft flesh. He continues to kiss your neck as his free hand travels down your chest. His fingers fumble with the buttons of your dress, exposing more of you to him, the cold air hitting your bare skin. His lips hover over the newly exposed skin. “You’re so beautiful", he murmurs, his breath tickling your skin and causing you to wriggle beneath him.

“You good?”, he asks, hands moving from your chest to stroke your stockinged calf.

“Yeah, it just tickles.” He beams, eyes crinkling before his lips return to your skin. You run your fingers through his dark tresses as his fingers move to lightly draw circles on your inner thigh.

Your breath hitches as you feel his fingers come closer to your core. Jungkook brings his face up to yours. “Can I?”, he murmurs, fingers inching closer to your centre. You nod instantly and he hooks his fingers through your stockings and underwear, dragging them down your legs.

The cold air hits your core before it’s replaced by Jungkook’s hand. You gasp as he slowly drags his digits over your slit, his gaze falling from your face to your core. He can’t see much of you, the streetlamp outside gives little light, yet despite this his eyes still glaze over and his breath quivers. His fingers travel to your entrance but he doesn’t enter, instead he drags them back over your slit, the pads of his fingers catching your clit. He repeats this several more times before you shift under him, wanting more, groaning slightly.

That’s when he realises that he’s teasing you, his eyes glimmer as he repeats that action one more time before slipping a finger inside of you gently and slowly. He begins dragging his digit against your walls and the small moan that falls from you doesn’t go unnoticed by him. His eyes travel back to your face, taking in each sign of your pleasure that is etched on it as he continues to pump his digit into you.

You feel his middle finger rub at your entrance before he slides it inside of you. The moan that you release is muffled as Jungkook recaptures your lips. You thread your fingers through his hair, pulling slightly, as he grunts into the kiss.

He curls his digits against your walls, eliciting a moan of his name from you as you grip his shoulders. “You sound so beautiful, baby”, he praises, before nibbling on your earlobe. Shivers run up your spine as his laboured breathing tickles your skin. He’s enjoying this as much as you, the thought adding to your pleasure, but you want more, you want to feel him inside of you.

Placing a hand on his forearm, you grip onto him, firmly saying his name. He ceases his movements, looking at you wide-eyed.

“Don’t you like it? Did I— did I hurt you?” His mind races with worries, thinking about how he most probably messed up all his chances with you.

Shaking your head, your hand comes up to stroke a finger along his cheek as you smile at him, hoping to reassure him. Shutting your eyes, you inhale deeply, trying to ease your nerves before you gaze up at him once more. “I want to feel you inside of me.”

His mouth hangs open, as if he has something to say but he’s not so certain. “You—”, he begins, voice hoarse, swallowing thickly before he continues, “you do?”

You feel the heat rush to your face and you’re thankful for the little light that seeps through the car. “I, uhm, only if— only if you want to. I—” your words are cut off from Jungkook’s lips pressing into yours once more. But before you can kiss back, he removes himself. “God!”, he breathes, “of course I want to.”

In his haste to be inside you, he forgets where he is, his head hitting the roof of the car with a loud thud as he sits up.

“Oh, Jungkook!”, you sit up as his head lowers, hair falling in front of his face, as he rubs at his head. Your fingers stroke through his hair before you remove his hand and kiss where you assume he hit it.

“You okay?” Despite the situation you let out a small giggle. He nods his head, a shy smile tugging at his lips.

“You have condoms, yeah?”, you ask, still stroking at his hair.

“Uh, yeah, they’re in the cubbyhole.”

Removing your stockings and underwear so that you can move more easily, you climb over the front to open the cubbyhole. Due to the darkness you have to feel around. Your hands come in contact with a rectangle shaped tin, perhaps? You pull it out and lift it to the window, squinting your eyes in order to see better. Here! Pulling out one of the condoms you climb back, sitting sitting next to Jungkook.

Sharing a smile, your hands stroke his thighs over his trousers. His breath hitches as your hands inch closer to his crotch. Unbuckling his belt and buttons you drag his trousers, along with his underwear, down his legs, freeing his length. You run a finger over his shaft, feeling him shudder from your touch.

“_____", he pouts. “Please, I want to be inside you now.” You roll the condom over his length before, once again, sitting on his lap.

His gaze is firmly planted on your core, tongue running over his bottom lip as he waits for you. You lift up the skirt of your dress as you sink down onto his length. He groans, head falling back against the headrest. You stay like that, getting familiar with the feel of him inside you. “Does that feel good?”, he asks, a hand coming up to push your hair behind your ear. “Yeah, it feels good”, you breathe out.

Resting your hands on his shoulders, you lift your hips up before slowly sinking back down. You repeat this action, building a steady rhythm. His hands grasp at your waist, nails digging into your skin over the material of your dress.

You pick up the pace, bouncing on his member as soft moans leave you. “Shoot, ____. You feel so good.” His hands move from your waist down to your hips, holding you as he thrusts inside of you, meeting your own movements. This causes a new sensation to flow through you, your head falling into the crook of his neck as his name escapes your lips rather loudly.

You kiss up his neck and along his jaw. Cupping his cheek, you tilt his face upwards before pressing your lips to his. Your tongue slips past his lips, tangling with his as he stops thrusting, enjoying the kiss and the feel of your velvet walls pulsating around him. His hands roam over your body, caressing your thighs and gently squeezing the soft flesh.

You grind your hips against him, becoming impatient as you crave for more. “That feels so good", he grunts against your mouth, hands travelling up your body to your face. He pulls you in closer, noses smooshing together, as you breathe each other’s air. “Keep going.”

As you continue grinding into his hips you feel a new pressure build between your bodies. You can’t help the sweet moan that leaves you which, in turn, makes Jungkook groan out loud.

You pull back, breath shaky as you look him in the eyes, squeezing his shoulders. “Are you okay?”, he asks, tone thick with arousal.

“Y—yeah", you stammer. “I think—”, your breath hitches. “I think I’m going to…”

His eyes widen, “really?”

You nod weakly as he gasps in disbelief. His hands move down from your face to your hips, where he grips, rocking your hips faster against his as you chase your high. Jungkook watches your face, as the pleasure builds up and up. His eyes are glazed over, mouth hanging open, and strands of his hair stuck to his forehead due to the perspiration. The air in the car is hot and heavy, the back window steamed up behind him, making you feel somewhat embarrassed with the thought of someone walking by and knowing what was going on inside.

With one last rock of your hips, you fall into Jungkook’s chest as waves of pleasure travel through you, walls squeezing around his length as his name falls from your lips.

He shudders at the feel of you clenching around him, eyes squeezing shut as he thrusts into you, desperate for his own release. He lets out a groan of relief as you feel his member throb inside of you.

His head falls into the crook of your neck, hugging you against him as he catches his breath.

“Wait", he lifts his head up as you peer up at him through your hair. “Does this mean you’ll be my girlfriend?” His tone is taut and it makes you giggle. Using your hands on his shoulders to support yourself, you lift yourself up so that you’re gazing directly in his eyes. You brush the strands of hair away from his face and place a soft kiss on his forehead.

“Of course I’ll be your girlfriend.”

#jungkook fluff #jungkook smut #jungkook fanfic #jungkook scenarios #bts fanfic #bts scenarios #hghjjhjb bleh

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heathcliffdt · 5 years

Text

The Leviathan

summary: in which armin worries for mikasa’s wellbeing, mikasa suffers anxiety and trauma, and eren swears he had seen mikasa before

a/n: special thanks to isayama for providing angst i.e. ch. 112 wheee i miss e.m.a and eremika so much so here’s a college coffee shop cliché with a dash of u_u 🌸

Armin Arlert worked part time in a coffee shop near the university campus. Lucky for him, his boss was understanding. His schedule for work and his classes were conducive for him to get things settled and done. And to be honest, Armin actually thought Levi was kind and considerate enough to allow him to do short-notice exchange of shifts should his academics call for it.

His shift in Levi’s coffee shop was usually in the evening till early in the morning. Despite a flexible schedule, Armin could not deny how physically tolling things were. It was a tedious evening. He was on his third hour of his shift, an ample amount of customers seated in the small tables (they were probably students in front of the buzzing light of their laptops or books laid open atop of a book stand). The entrance’s small bell chimed indicating the entrance of a prospective customer. Armin straightened himself and approached the counter.

It was just Mikasa.

Routine dictated that Mikasa approached a small table and placed her tote bag on the opposite seat.

“Hey, Mikasa,” Armin greeted as Mikasa approached the counter.

“Hi, Armin. How are you holding up?”

Armin shrugged. “I’m tired as a bull.”

“I told you. You shouldn’t be that hard on yourself.”

Armin sighed. He was used with the pestering mother attitude of Mikasa. This was her language, and for the years he had been friends with her, he knew that it was her way of showing care. Anxiety. Worry. “Mikasa, we are not going through this again.” Armin offered her a gentle smile.

Mikasa looked down and clasped her hands. “I know. Sorry.”

“Besides,” Armin placed a warm yet reassuring hand on her shoulder. “I’m more than thankful for your cousin offering me a job. I couldn’t just resign, you know.”

Mikasa scoffed. “Yeah, right. Levi makes a hefty sum, Armin. This coffee shop is merely a dot in his income. It’s not like he depends on it!”

“He likes it here. It’s quite his destressing place. So, are you going to order or not?”

Mikasa pursed her lips and fished some change through her wallet. She did not need to say another word because Armin quite knows just what she wants. She orders the same thing, and she would never be the one enticed to try the specials during certain holidays.

Truth be told, Armin’s friendship with Mikasa is what biology refers to as interspecific cooperation.In simpler terms, it is mutualism. The bees get the nectar from the flowers as they hover around and above them; in return, the bees, for the love and care for the flowers, would give pollens in exchange, a token of gratitude. While they were so much younger, Armin had a hard time making friends. He was too limp and lame of a sheep, and Mikasa was the creepy kid no one ever wants to befriend. Neither him nor Mikasa anticipated the start of a wonderful friendship between two outcasts.

The cycle goes like this: the bees receive first, then the flowers receive next. Mikasa would worry her ass and head for Armin, she went as far as asking her cousin to help him find a racket to make income, just so for Armin to be able to fend and fund his allowances for college. On his part, it started off because they were friends when they were kids, but now, his reasons run deeper.

Armin noticed. During their teen years, Armin started to make other friends, he discovered different hobbies. He excelled in school. Mikasa on the other hand, continued being resigned.

“You can’t keep doing this to yourself, Mikasa. You need to have different friends. You need to meet people. It’s not forever you’re going to tail on me,” it came out as a plea.

She would just turn her back against him. Not in the rude way, because Mikasa was only rude to Levi and never to him or others. “I know, Armin. I know.”

“Then why can’t you? Maybe you’re not exerting much effort,” at this point Armin was getting exasperated.

For a split second, the lenses in Armin’s eyes shifted. He was not sure if Mikasa flinched or froze.

“Just because you’re handling things better than I am does not mean I’m not trying, Armin.”

And that was when Armin understood Mikasa.

He was ashamed of his words, and his apology took the form of actions.

That was when he knew.

And what really puzzled Armin was despite the fact that he had started to understand the silent turmoil of Mikasa, she radiates when she talks with a roguish-haired boy from his philo-anthro class.

That day, Mikasa waited for Armin outside of his classroom. She had offered to wait up on him so they could go back to their dormitories together. It was on their walk home when Armin popped the question.

“Who were you talking to earlier, at the library’s lobby?”

“Hmm? Oh, him. You noticed?” Mikasa sheepishly tucked strands of her hair behind her ear.

“Yeah, actually. Quite a couple of times that I have seen you hanging out with the guy. He’s in my philo class, I think.”

“He’s no one.”

“No one?”

She nodded her head. Armin looked at her quizzically.

“This is great, Mikasa,” he said, placing a hand on her warm shoulder.

“Huh? What is? What do you mean?”

“This might just be a new friend. It would really be refreshing if you meet new people, and here we are!”

“Armin, I told you. He’s no one.”

Armin knew that was when he should drop the conversation. He never pushed Mikasa; not anymore after he understood her. He trusted her enough that she would come about her demons; silently, Mikasa appreciated this gesture. They walked side by side, silently. He had grown comfortable with this kind of situation when it was just the two of them. There was no pressure to stir a small talk.

“I guess you’re right,” Mikasa said quietly.

“Huh, Sorry? I was dozin—”

“I guess you’re right, Armin. About meeting new people, I mean.”

Armin stopped at his tracks and looked at her at an even more confused state. He could swear he saw a twinkle in her eye visible only for the slightest second.

Mikasa met Eren at Levi’s coffee shop while waiting for Armin. On that day, Armin changed shifts for the morning. Mikasa found herself in a small table shaded by an umbrella over it outside the establishment. It was like those Parisian street café, only this one was shabby, frequented by broke college students and was, well, apparently, not situated in the Mediterranean.

The northeast monsoon left a bitter wind-kiss on her cheeks. The seats were quite cold and damp; luckily, her coat was warm enough for the tough dew.

Mikasa was majoring in political science—for what would that be of use, she was not quite sure. Her cousin Levi worked for the military and had encouraged her to maybe take something different but not distant to his field. Perhaps international relations or something, he suggested. She did not have any big plans for herself, so she eventually heeded Levi’s words. She brought out her copy of Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathanwhen Eren pulled the chair opposite her.

She looked away from her book and studied the being in front of her.

The boy inhaled deeply, exhaled heartily, fog forming before him.

He seemed somewhat her age. Perhaps also a college student in the same year studying in the same university. She shook her head and proceeded to her reading.

Consciously, Mikasa heard a small shuffling and ruffling of clothes as the boy fished for something from inside his pockets. He put a cigarette in between his lips and lighted it.

“Please don’t smoke in front of me,” Mikasa said, placing Hobbes on top of the table.

The boy raised his eyebrows and looked at her. He seethed a long inhale off his cigarette, took it off his lips, threw it on the asphalt and stepped over it. “Sorry,” he said.

“Not that I mind, but my cousin does.”

“So? Is your cousin even here?”

“He owns the place.”

He shook his head stubbornly, “I asked if your cousin is here.”

“He’s inside. The one behind the counter.”

The boy looked behind his back toward the direction of the building and squinted his eyes. “Oh! You mean the small runt over there? That’s your cousin?”

Mikasa nodded. “Yes. The small, er, runt.”

The boy chuckled. “Seems like no one’s ratting on me then.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I just told you to not smoke in front of me.”

“My bad. I’m Eren, by the way,” he offered his hand to her. Mikasa took it.

“Mikasa. Are you drunk?”

Eren smirked. “Maybe.”

“It’s ten in the morning. How are you ‘maybe’ drunk?”

“It’s a part of man’s virtues,” to this Eren tapped his index fingers at Mikasa’s copy of Hobbes.

Mikasa snatched her book, fanning through the pages. “Man’s virtues? What are you even talking about?”

“If we’re talking about Thomas Hobbes, then man’s virtues would be something that issolitary, poor, nasty brutish, and—“

“And short. How do you know this?”

Eren chuckled again. “I take up philo.”

“Really?” Mikasa raised her eyebrows at this.

“Uh huh.”

“Is it your first time here? At Levi’s place?”

“Not really, no.”

“It’s the first time I see you, I think.” But not really, she thought to herself. In her mind, or in a different universe, maybe she had met him much earlier.

“Funny, I think I saw you before somewhere. Or maybe you just look like some acquaintance of mine. Or maybe you sported short hair before? Are you sure we haven’t met before?”

Mikasa gave him a weird look. “What are you talking about? I have never cut my hair short before.”

“Oh.” Eren stared at his surrounding. It was getting pretty cold, and his head was pounding so hard, it hurt so much. It was the hangover, and his empty stomach. It was a quiet morning. If it were a painting it would be bleak and dull, perhaps a modern take on the romantic’s painting of Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog.

He stared at the girl in front of her. He did not want to blame the vestiges of alcohol, but surely his neurons bagged some of it transmitting it to his brain and causing him this dizziness. Surely, surely, surely, Eren thought to himself, I know her.

He had seen her somewhere. Maybe in the fields, maybe in a pink nightdress, maybe in the face of death with both of their lives at a threat, maybe when they were caged like birds, maybe in bittersweet friendships, maybe in the future nights he’d be sleeping at her dormitory, maybe upon his discovery of her scarred past.

He shook his head off of the abominable fantasy. What the fuck was his mind even doing to him? He stood up from his seat. Mikasa looked up at him. He walked away from her and the café.

Just as he headed off—to where, Eren was not sure—he stopped at his tracks and went back to the table where Mikasa was seated.

“Hey,” he said, his breath increasing in pace.

Mikasa, once again, put her book down and looked up at him. “Hi, Eren. You’re back.” It was a shame that Mikasa’s last words were muffled as a warm red piece of cloth was sloppily draped around her neck.

“Stay warm,” Eren said.

He walked away from her. This time not looking back at her direction. Meanwhile, Mikasa felt the remains of Eren’s warmth travel through her body, upwards to her eyes, she could swear his kindness made her cry.

#eremika #arumika #ereminkasa #shiganshina trio #ema #snk #scribbles

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jennifercrowart · 3 years

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D&D Diary - The Yawning Rodent, 15

Sunless Citadel spoilers!

Aelia finds a few spell scrolls, as well as a mantle of some more valuable items; gem stones, Belak's stash of gold, a glove with a rune on the back of the hand, and a silver circlet inlaid with a sapphire. Meanwhile, Deku goes through the bookshelves, and finds several titles placed closer to the desk that look more heavily used. One is called Born to Die, a book in Common about the Druidic theories of the life and death cycle. There's also Treasures of the Fire Lords, a collection of ancient journals written in Elven, and, finally, his stolen library book Cults Around the World.

Cults Around the World:

True to the title, it details several cults around the world. One such cult is called the Cult of the Dragon, also known as the Keepers of the Secret Hoard, who lived in the Sunless Citadel for 1400 years, until the Cataclysm. The citadel was once called Maetrine Keep, home to a powerful vampire called Illythia. The cult took over, but were a secretive and shadowy group. It's said that a huge red dragon could be seen about the citadel during the cult's reign. The cult is said to have perished when the Sunless Citadel - along with other citadels across the continent - sunk beneath the earth during the Cataclysm 800 years ago.

The Vampire Diaries:

The Treasures of the Fire Lords book is worse for wear now, but what remains seems to be writing in Common matching the annotations in the vampire diaries - Belak's writing, research notes on his experiments on Chadley, McKennedeigh, and Bradley. It mentions that Chadley was experimented on differently to the latter two, and Valas and Deku are concerned to hear this - unsure if Chadley is currently ok at the Rat's Nest.

They have the chance to inspect some of the potentially-magic items they'd picked up recently. The gold circlet with metal woven into flames and a ruby in the centre is called the Circlet of Ignition, which lets the wearer cast the 2nd-level spell Flame Blade once per day. The silver circlet with delicate weaving and a sapphire is the Sojourner's Circlet of Rituals, giving the wearer advantage on maintaining concentration during ritual spells. Lastly, the butler-looking glove is The Master's Glove, which can be used to cast Unseen Servant once per day. On the inside of the Sojourner's Circlet of Rituals are etchings in Dwarven, which read, "Made in the Glitterhame caverns of Khundrukar. Quality assured!"

Aelia eagerly claims the Circlet of Ignition, Deku takes the Sojourner's Circlet of Rituals, and Lugs takes The Master's Glove.

They think this is Illythia's skeleton - the corpse of the slain vampire who initially built this citadel before the Cult of the Dragon moved in.

Lugs breaks off the steak from the rest of the tree that grew from it, while Deku also takes some samples of bone and bark just in case. With nothing else of note, they begin heading back to the well shaft so they can leave the Sunless Citadel.

They reach the well shaft that is their only known path to the upper level of the citadel, and Lurk climbs on ahead to scout. Lugs takes a barrel and some chains from the laboratory they passed through, combining them with rope to make a big bucket his fire snake can climb into while he carries them up. Unable to carry both the fire snake and McKennedeigh, however, he opts to leave his heavy water barrel behind for the time being, and offers Aelia 100 gold to help him carry his fire snake, which she hesitantly accepts.

When Lurk reaches the top, he telepathically communicates to Aelia and Valas (as he can only do so with 2 people at a time) that he set his two hunting traps at the base of the shaft. He tells Lugs that in Grung, so the bandits around them don't understand. When the bandits and guard reach the bottom, those up top hear pained screams. The elite guard calls up that it was trapped, and that one of the bandits is badly hurt. Having used this to wipe out even just 3 of Yusdrayl's followers, the party readies to fight her as their betrayal is revealed!

#the yawning rodent #dnd #dnd 5e #dungeons and dragons #dnd diary #dnd diaries #dm diary #dm diaries #session diary #session diaries

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