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#but since it takes place in winter I guess it’s not great to make ur protag depressed the entire time the quest is happening ggrhrbtkfndk
bakedbananners · 2 years
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Magnus should have been canonically bipolar but whatever
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yourmcu · 3 years
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Mesmerized
Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x fem!reader
Request:
@lostaurorax​ said:
hii!! i love ur writing i was wondering if u could write a natasha x reader fic were reader is part of the guardians of the galaxy and they come to the compound and natasha is just starstruck but reader plays kinda hard to get and then just a bunch of fluff !
Word count: 1,388
A/n: sorry it took a while! I really hope this turned out ok I’m so nervous lmfaosdkdk
Warnings: none
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
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gif not mine! credits to the owner^^
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Natasha’s outside the compound by the landing zone, taking light sips on her beer occasionally. The Avengers are having some sort of gathering or low-key party inside to celebrate their victory against Thanos a while back.
They never really had time to gather everybody just after the battle, but Tony contacted everybody for this special night. Natasha just wants to take a break from the games and conversations for a minute.
Speaking of conversations, she rolls her eyes at the thought about something Steve said. Because the tables have turned; if she was the one bugging Steve to date a few years back, he's now bombarding her with names of single people they knew, one of them being Bucky.
“He wouldn’t mind going out to dinner with you sometime.” Steve suggested. But Natasha knows the Winter Soldier and herself are better off as friends.
Natasha gets up when after the guardian’s ship lands smoothly against the grass meters away from her. She moves a few strands of her hair from her face to get a clear view of Thor striding out of the ship as soon as the door opens, along with the other guardians.
“Ah, Romanoff!” The god of thunder grins, patting her on the back. She’s never seen him this happy. Probably because it's all thanks to him the whole universe was free from mad titans – at least for now. “How’s life? Oh, yes, I’d like to introduce you to my friends here… of course you already know rabbit, and tree…”
Greetings and hand shaking fills the friendly atmosphere for a moment. Then you finally catch up with them, nudging Thor’s side and thrusting the large barrel of Asgardian ale into his arms.
“You must be the Black Widow,” you breathe out and offer a warm smile to the redhead, your hand outstretches. “Thor’s told me awesome stories about you guys. Y/N, by the way.”
Natasha nods, slightly breathless like you are but because of... well, you. She returns a smile and introduces herself as well.
“Everything’s pretty tech-y now, s’mazing.” You muse, entering the compound side by side with Natasha. The rest are walking in front of you, chatting among themselves. “I missed this planet.”
She glances sideways at you, “when’s your last visit?”
You chuckle. “I honestly don’t remember when but, it was a brief visit to my hometown and everything looked old fashioned, I think these huge compact disks were all the rage that time, vines- no, not vines-“
“Vinyl records?” Natasha raises an eyebrow, smiling. You laugh, which she finds adorable, and nod. “You and Quill are related, then?” She proceeds to ask since you look like a normal human, no antennas or any odd space stuff you could’ve inherited.
“Oh, no, we’re both half human though,” you shrug. “What about you? Tell me about yourself.”
She hesitates to tell a bit of her story at first but you seem nice and - accepting, like you’d never judge her. But she does leave out a few parts for another conversation.
Natasha retreats over to Steve who is behind the bar counter when you receive a big hug from Peter and Tony greets you with a “How’s it going, fireball?” and a pat on the back. She figures you want to meet the others, so she sits down across the super soldier to steal glances at you from afar. 
“Finally, I was starting to think he wasn’t gonna show - hey!” Steve raises his champagne at Thor and he does the same gesture before hurrying after Bruce. “Is it just me or did Groot get taller?”
You're still joking around with Tony, pretending to hit the still-bandaged wound on his chest, Rhodey laughs along, then Wanda offers you a cocktail and you accept it, thanking her.
Steve’s now going on about Wakanda, also sharing the stories from T’Challa. Natasha’s barely listening but occasionally hum and nod.
“Nat, if you don’t close your mouth you’re going to drool.” He laughs lightheartedly, averting his gaze from her to you. “I guess we have a winner, then?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Natasha gets up to grab another beer from the cooler. Steve continues to laugh, having a stupid grin on his face. “Oh c’mon, what’s her name?”
Even saying your name she feels out of breath. There's no point in pretending she isn’t into you now. “This isn’t normal. I just met her tonight and I shouldn’t be feeling this way.”
“You’re infatuated, it’s-”
“Hi,” you sit on a stool across from the two avengers, holding an open pack of marshmallows. Natasha lamely excuses herself to fetch a bottle opener. Steve straightens up and extends a hand which you take. “Nice to finally meet you, I’m-”
“Y/N.” Steve says. “Natasha’s been telling me about you.”
“I just thought you seemed nice,” she quickly recovers but her heart is still pounding.
You raise an eyebrow at her and giggle. “I’m flattered. You’re not so bad yourself, Natasha.” It’s true, you think she ‘seemed nice’ too. Sure she sounded so badass when Thor tells you stories but tonight she looks so cozy with her sweater and her hair braided to one side.
“Being surrounded with people like you guys is great but now I just feel like a party trick.” You take out a marshmallow while scanning the room (Steve is now playing pool with Sam, you notice, and you're alone with the redhead).
“What do you mean?”
You hold the marshmallow between your fingertips, igniting it out of nowhere for a second so it roasts just right, then pop it in your mouth. “Pretty useless, right?”
“Maybe if you only used it for something like that, but no,” Natasha smiles softly. “Fire conjuring, bit scary if you ask me. What if you randomly lit something up?”
“I was born with it. I remember having to wear gloves all the time as a child when I first set a houseplant to flames,” you both laugh. “I’m in full control of it now though.”
“S’that why Tony calls you ‘fireball’?”
You let out a laugh again. “Yeah. Or he might’ve forgot my actual name.”
“Y/N! I took the liberty of putting your stuff in the room you’ll be sleeping at.” Thor butts in, grinning from ear to ear, patting you on the head.
“Oh, right. Thanks buddy.”
“You’re welcome!”
Natasha turns to you, “you’re staying?” In her head she's coming up with ways on how to talk to you again once the party’s over and you return to space with the guardians. This just makes it a whole lot easier to get to know you even better.
“Yup, Thor is too. We both agreed on staying for a few weeks to catch up on stuff.” You reply. “I might actually turn in now, ‘think those cocktails are kicking in...”
“I’ll walk with you.” She says without giving it much thought but you nod and smile appreciatively.
“Perfect. It’s the guestroom beside your room.” Thor claps his hands together and walks away.
-----
“Can I ask you a question?”
You zip your bag and hum before looking up at her.
Natasha's leaning on your doorframe, hesitating. Is she going to fast? Is it too soon to ask? She fiddles with her hands, “do you have any plans tomorrow?”
This is fine. If you say yes or say no then decline her next question, she’ll just forget any of this happened.
“I don’t - well, I think Thor wanted to go out for breakfast but that’s it. Why?”
“Do you... maybe wanna go out?” Natasha asks silently, looking at anywhere but you. “To, you know, catch you up on some of the things you missed. Only if you want to, no pressure.”
But your eyes light up at her words. You kind of expected it, she was showing signs that she likes you all night. And you actually made the Black Widow nervous. “Natasha, I’d love to.”
“Oh,” she sighs in relief, feeling the beat of her heart return to a normal pace. “Well I’ll - I’ll see you tomorrow.”
You walk over to her and place a hand on her arm, then lean over to plant a kiss on her cheek. “Good night.”
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kuroos-moon · 3 years
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「vi. Deal pt. 2」
warning/s: angst (just a lil bit)
a/note: for this smau, like my previous one, there will be numerous chapters wherein they aren’t text chains or necessarily smaus just like this chapter and the prologue. If that’s not to ur liking, or for any reason at all, pls feel free to tell me u wanna be removed from the taglist 🖤
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He skeptically looks out through his window, and just like you had texted him a minute ago, there were no more reporters outside. Finally, he thought, not really expecting you to be telling the truth. Honestly, why do you mess with him so much? 
Also, he’s been wondering ever since your reunion if you deliberately went to the gym for him or if that was pure coincidence and you’re spontaneously messing up his life right now. The moment he opens his door, he’s adamant on avoiding you because he just knew the person you were now is adamant on driving him insane by doing things like popping out of nowhere to pester him. 
Speaking of which, what the hell are you doing in front of his doorstep? “Sakusa Kiyoomi!” You brightly smile, eyes lighting up at the very sight of him. “Nope.” He pulls the door close but you put a hand to stop him. He tugs on it, making you chuckle, but you stubbornly refuse to let him shut you out. 
“Get out.” He snaps. “I’m not even inside, Sakusa Kiyoomi.” 
Seriously? Saying his full name like that only ticks him off. “Don’t call me that.” He tugs harsher on his doorknob but you successfully grip the door with both hands now. 
“Shall I call you love then?” You tease despite finding it extremely hard to keep the door open. It may now have dawned on to him that this was pointless as he lets go, though he’ll never admit that he’s actually afraid of accidentally shutting the door on your fingers—he knows he easily could. 
“What do you want?” He sighs. “We need to talk.” 
“About what?” How you left me? How you had the audacity to walk back in my life like you didn’t trample all over me before? 
“Our relationship,” you grin. He chokes. “Our what now?” Laughter erupts from your throat, and it was bittersweet. You’re so carefree and mesmerizing—your eyes angelic and genuinely alight. But more than that, you’re ruthless and despicable, he knows that all too well. 
“Won’t you invite me in? It’s cold y’know,” you place your hands inside your pockets. “Then freeze,” he narrows his eyes. He absolutely hates you, here he was slightly worrying he’ll go soft and easy on you because one could never control the heart yet you so easily reminded him of why you were the bane to his existence.  
“Yup, figured walking in your home wasn’t gonna happen,” you mutter to yourself with a small smile. He hates it. Don’t act like you know him, because at some point you did, but you don’t deserve to have him etched in your memory. 
“Tell me what you want so we could get this over with.” 
“Right. Yes sir. Yes love,” you chuckle, not even minding that he remains unamused. “My manager has already arranged a live interview this afternoon.” 
“You should’ve started with that. So, you’re here to ask me what you should say?” He asks, unintentionally looking down on your hands you’ve rubbed together for friction. It was indeed cold, you brought this upon yourself though. 
“No, I’m here to make a deal with you. My statement for my interview later on depends on your response.” 
He rolls his eyes, leaning his shoulder on the doorframe because talking to you definitely tired him out; sucked his soul out of him. “And by this lovely deal, what exactly are you proposing? Not that you have a leverage over me now or anything.” 
You smile, stepping closer to him but he couldn’t bring himself to pull away. Instead, his feet remained planted to the ground, self-aware of how much his heart was racing right now and the only thing—albeit pathetic—he could do was glare at you. 
“Befriend me for a month, that’s it.” That didn’t sound half as bad compared to how devilish you’ve been these past few days. “Go on,” he mutters, stepping back and away from you. “You can’t block my number and you have to reply to my texts.” 
“Aren’t you ashamed of how pathetic and selfish you are right now?” He lowly says. You look up at him in surprise, there was faint hurt and vulnerability in his voice that wasn’t there before and you can’t help but feel guilty for it. 
“I like you, I don’t know why, I just do.” Pain visits him like an old friend. Casual, embracing, and mind-numbingly heartbreaking. You look up at his eyes and could tell right away the discomfort in them, but it wasn’t just discomfort, there was agony too—perhaps. You could never be too sure, you think, looking down on both your shoes. 
“I don’t know why you’re so hellbent on avoiding me, it felt like you hated me the first day we met, and I didn’t like the way you hated me for no apparent reason, much so because I happen to like you.” You’re rarely ever serious or this openly truthful with anyone other than your friends, it was only normal that it embarrassed you. But this didn’t feel exactly foreign either. It felt like he understood you somehow—your words and the thoughts you haven’t exactly expressed. 
“I hated you the first time we met?” He repeats and you look at him, surprised at the surreal softness in his voice. “When… was the first time we met, y/n?” 
That’s the first time he’s said your name. It made your cheeks flush warm and your eyes widen a fraction. This moment was temporary and fleeting, it was easy to see, because he certainly doesn’t call your name like that so naturally and so right—he certainly doesn’t look at you with the absence of resentment as he normally would. 
“Three days ago, outside your gym,” you respond unsurely. As if you’ve reminded him of something utterly annoying, he had closed off himself once more, his eyes unreadable and brooding as they stared back at you. 
“And this is why I hate you,” he chuckles humorlessly. You’re still pretending you didn’t know him, as if those years together were something you could so easily erase. “I don’t care what you say in that damned interview. Saying yes to that excessively self-centered deal of yours would lose me my self-respect, you know that.” 
He finally steps out the door, closing it behind him as he walks past you and all the way to his car. He hopes this would be the last time he sees you; he desperately hopes so. The last thing he needs is a repeat of the emotional wreck he’s been when he was at the lowest point of his life after you so selfishly left him behind.  
“Sakusa Kiyoomi!” You call off, and he stops in his tracks, clenching his teeth. You’re clearly overestimating his patience. “I don’t know how befriending me would lose you your self-respect. Hell, I am so irritated at you right now, hard-to-understand-breathtaking-stupid volleyball player!” You grit your teeth, he scoffs, finding your impudence unbelievably out of this world. 
He wanted to bring up your past, to shove it right in your face that you had no right to be angry with his hostility considering everything you’ve done. But he can’t, it’s foolish to bring up history you insist you’ve forgotten. “You better watch my interview later on.” 
“Oh?” He mockingly says, turning to look at you, “just what are you going to say?” He admits it is out of character for him to banter off with you like this, if you were someone else, he’s long gone inside his car. Maybe this was his way of saying goodbye to you for good, allowing himself to talk to you like this before moving forward with his life that’s anti-you. 
“I’m telling them we’re the bestest of friends but we might marry!” You stick your tongue out at him before running off, you don’t even notice him freeze up. His heart fell to his stomach, he unconsciously held in a breath. No, he didn’t just hold in a breath, it’s getting harder and harder for him to breathe. 
There it is again, his old, life-long friend. Crippling pain, anxiety, and resentment bundling up and turning into one heavy-ass anchor, pulling him deeper down than he’s been before. The stability he’s built and worked on by religiously avoiding you for years all went down the drain with those silly words of yours. 
Just what kind of ridicule or twisted teasing are you pulling off? 
“Wow, I’m surprised you guys put up with Oomi.” He hears your voice, lips tugging upward a little before he realizes what you had just said. Finally entering the gym, he sees you sitting in a circle along with his teammates. 
He narrows his eyes at the back of your head. You should be in your winter uniform by now, he bets you forgot. One thing he hated about being a year older than you is that he goes to a different school now that he’s in highschool while you’re still on your last year of middle school, you just can’t seem to take care of yourself enough. 
“Yup, Oomi’s really great, he’s the best, I guess that’s why you accept how cold he is sometimes huh,” you snicker, your enjoyment short-lived when you’re engulfed in a jacket and Sakusa’s scent. “Stop giving me backhanded compliments just because you think I’m not around,” he bitterly tells you though there’s a ghost of a smile on his lips. 
“Oomi!” You rise up to your feet immediately and flung yourself at him. He catches you with no hesitation of course, guessing that you’re here again because you missed him. The rest of his teammates except Komori are surprised. 
“Sakusa-kun, didn’t know you had a middle school girlfriend.” 
“Ew, she’s not my girlfriend.” He bites back a smile though when you punch his shoulder. “What’s with the ew? Not that I like Oomi that much—he’s an ass,” you send him a pointed look, “but we’re the bestest of friends,” you grin. 
“And we might marry someday, right Oomi?” 
His face falls. “Can you not make me cringe like for a week or two, thanks.” 
You scowl, “oh, so what, you don’t wanna marry me?” At this point, he blushes, you’re always so blunt and shameless, you could at least tweak it down a bit. He only scoffs, walking past you to pick up a ball from the ground, “didn’t say anything like that.” 
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mikaze-discord · 3 years
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Love letter project ♡
Sooo to celebrate the 4th anniversary of Shining live, I put together a project! I basically got a bunch of people to write a love letter for their favourite boy. Things like, why they like them, how they got to like them and what they like about them were all accepted!
The event was supposed to have 2 fans for each boy but unfortunately I was unable to get two for some of the boys. 
Under the cut will be the love letters for all of Class A!!! Please enjoy~ And thank you for all the people who participated in the event and taking the time to write the love letters out. 
CLASS A
OTOYA ITTOKI
From @ponzu-penzui:
Hello world! My nickname is Yuki, and I’m here to tell you about the sunshine boy that is Otoya Ittoki. The redhead of the series, Otoya is your seemingly a-typical sunshine in a mascot boy character. But, as we all know with these types, the sunshine isn’t as, well, sunshine as they seem. Or, if you didn’t know, well… spoiler alert I guess. Go watch the anime, or play the otome games, then come back here. Anyways, let’s get started on our journey, shall we? Through the rabbithole that got me here in the first place!
Otoya immediately became my best boy the second I saw him. I’m not quite sure what immediately got me at first, whether it be his red hair and eyes, his voice, or his immediate friendliness, but here we are. I should also mention that UtaPri was my first idol anime, so I was completely unaware what was going to hit me later. And, if you’ve watched the entire anime, you know where I’m going.
Season 4 was an emotional wreck. I cried at least twice. Did I have a newfound appreciation for Otoya after all that heartache? Definitely. Without spoilers, it was incredibly painful for me to watch, but I don’t regret it.
After watching the anime, I soon found out about the existence of Shining Live. So, with no other UtaPri content to binge, I started to play SL in late 2018. After playing for a little more than a year, I tiered in my first Otoya event (Heartwarming Snow Festival), and achieved my first top 200. Ever since then, I’ve tiered in every Otoya event, getting top 200, then top 100.
But, why do I like Otoya Ittoki even to this day? Well, I guess this is the time where I say that, after a certain point, I started to see bits of myself in Otoya. This led me to start to RP him, and, as you probably know if you’ve ever roleplayed a character before, I started to look at the miniscule amount of translated game content (many thanks to the Ohayaho Translation Team) for, well, more content. And content I did receive. Long story short, this only served to solidify Otoya as my favorite boy of not only UtaPri, but from all anime/manga/game content I’ve ever seen/watched. His cheerfulness may have been the first thing that got me in this rabbithole, but his backstory and how he managed to grow up pulled me in even further. And, I don’t think I will or want to get out anytime soon.
Next one from; Anon
As much as we all know our Otoya for how sweet and kind he is, there is so much more to him than just a precious smile. He is uplifting, cheerful towards everyone he meets. He has empathy and goes out of his way to make sure his friends are happy. Even so, Otoya has feelings that aren’t always happiness and smiles. He can feel sad and angry just like anyone else.
The reason I care and love Otoya so much is because he has shown me that I don’t have to always put on a smile. It’s nice to show off your pearly whites, but sometimes, it’s okay to be sad too. There are times in everyone’s life when they feel out of place and that they don’t belong. Otoya also felt this way and that’s perfectly okay. He’s still being the best idol he can be: The idol that Otoya loves the most.
MASATO HIJIRIKAWA
From Anon: 
Masato Hijirikawa. Why do I like Masato Hijirikawa? I like him to the point that it feels weird for me to even question why I do. He's just- a good boy. A great boy. I love him. As a joke, I'd usually say that it was his weirdly pretty, bowl-cut hairstyle that drew me to him, or I'd say that he caught my interest when I read that he was "very good with his hands" (wink wonk) in his Shining Live description, and while both of these reasons are still true, it wasn't until I started role playing him in an old server that I really started to appreciate his character more.
Masato, despite his aloof and almost "perfect" initial image, is a very relatable character. When he first arrived at Saotome (in-game) he wasn't necessarily seen as someone with a lot of talent to become an idol, which he acknowledged with grace and worked hard to make up for. He's humble despite his privileged upbringing and is incredibly self-aware of his flaws, which are sources of insecurity for him sometimes (a lot of times). Though it should be said that most of this insecurity stems from not having a lot of control over his early life, which is why it felt so gratifying to see him break free of his metaphorical chains to pursue his happiness without any doubts. He's a hard worker and is willing to accept criticism with open arms, not only for himself but for the people around him. Despite his traditional upbringing and nature, he's very receptive to change as long as it benefits both him and STARISH. He values the people he cares about more than anything, which is why he constantly strives to be a better version of himself every day, not only for himself but for the people around him.
Though his stoicism sometimes makes him seem plain or even "boring" to some people, he hides a warm, hidden passion within that's just as bright as everyone else's. Like the springtime bloom of cherry blossoms after winter, Masato shows his passion and love with no restraint to anyone who takes the time to understand him, and I can very much attest to this. I love him a lot and I hope to see more content of him, STARISH, and the others for more years to come.
NATSUKI SHINOMIYA
From uh....me:
HELLO I’m Z~ also known as the mod of the mikaze-discord/utapri-hcs tumblrs, as well as the organiser for the event! But enough about myself, let's talk about Natsuki Shinomiya.
When I first watched the anime as a youngin, I had already known about the games and their plots but had decided to try out the anime as well since I had nothing better to do.
Natsuki was actually one of my least favourite characters in the anime just because of how they presented him. I just...didn't care for him at all. He was just some random tall guy who loved hugs and almost murder…. Yeah.
I’m sure like most, I had a changing point. Originally, I was a Tokiya rper but...I was just unhappy with how my Tokiya was, I wasn't as experienced in rping with that server being my first rp server i was ever in. I didn't feel like I matched up with the others. I felt my Tokiya was just lacking something, substance maybe. Another person actually had a similar feeling and had changed their character from Camus to Syo and since we already had an Ai, I had just decided to go with the flow and complete the rest of the cute team. Best decision of my life. I’m so grateful for Natsuki and everything I associate him with. Without him, I probably wouldn't have made my tumblrs, I wouldn't have stayed in that server, I wouldn't have gone looking for other servers to rp in. I don't think I would be the same without Natsuki. I just find him so endearing now, he is just a lovable giant who happens to be able to be a disney princess. He is just so darn cute damn it. , just look at his Christmas card, his King card, quite literally just half his Shining live URs. Also, just like his songs just slap. Natsuki to me, is just serotonin. He gave me so many opportunities that I could have missed. I don't even think I would have started this love letter project without him if I’m being completely honest. I genuinely enjoyed all the memories I made as Natsuki. Thank you to Natsuki and to the Mikaze-discord for basically starting me off.
From Luke:
Natsuki was actually the very first character I encountered before I got into utapri. A friend showed a photo of him and told me that I'd probably be into this guy. She sure was right! After installing shining live for the first time and having a familiar face on the screen, I grew curious of him each day and just had to find out why was so attracted to him. The fact that I've seen him so many times in the past was haunting me, telling me that this man actually watched me grow up from a distance without even knowing his name. It sounds weird but I find it rather comforting for someone who doesn't want to be protected but isn't strong enough to defend myself alone.
The thought of having him there was enough to get me through the day and gave me enough reason to wake up to the next. I admit I may have adapted some of his habits after looking after his account for a year but that isn't a bad thing if it means that it would turn me into a much better person than I am now. I guess you could say we've grown together now in a sense, preserving the feelings and just living through the moment no matter how happy or sad it is. What's important is that we're not alone in all things we do and in everything we feel, there will always be someone there to keep us moving when we feel like giving up.
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Come Home
Prompts: Omg ur twins series has given me the seratonin I didn’t know I needed ;-; love ur fics!!! can I request maybe a one shot where Merlin confronts hunith about his birth parents, and they have a wholesome talk about it? Also bonus points for Merlin coming to terms with the fact that uther is his father and Morgana is his half sister (everyone notices now that they share similar features) - anon
ahhhh i loved the second installment of the twin series, the ending makes me yearn for more no matter how much i reread it *prompt idea* brotherly love pleaseeee, you've built so much hype 😭 some overprotective arthur over his younger brother, maybe some asshole noble treating merlin like shit because he grew up peasant, a merlin-arthur talk about feelings and new revelations, merlin-morgana-arthur talk (maybe?) take as long as you want really, no pressure i know it'll be worth it but a bit longer third installment please 💘 - anon
I have a very simple request oh ruler of the angst town. You've been graciously filling the stomachs of the Sanders Sides fandom but the Merlin fandom requests one thing: More, please, oh good lord. Thank you - alittletoo-obsessed
SO MANY OF YOU WERE SCREAMING FOR A PART THREE SO HERE YOU GO
Read on Ao3
Warnings: none, babes.
Pairings: it's found family hours
Word Count: 4574
The twins come home.
After a long, long time, the twins come home.
For Arthur, home is that empty space just over his shoulder, always there when he turns absentmindedly to talk to someone he never thought he’d see again. Home is someone to curl up with when the nights get cold and lonely, dark hair brushing under the tip of his nose as he wraps them in his arms. Home is someone else to see what’s happening, to stand as a silent vow of I’m here, I see you, I’m with you, I’ve got you.
For Merlin, home is someone who knows he’s not crazy, who catches him when he flies too high on the wings of his magic. Home is someone who wraps firm, solid arms around him, smelling of slightly spiced fruit and afternoon sun. Home is the space the magic curls about, searching for something to hold onto like an anchor as the world spins faster, faster, faster.
They leave the hall where Uther still sits, thunderstruck on his hollow throne, back to Arthur’s chambers. They don’t part when they get inside, stumbling across the room to the bed, somewhere they can sit and look and look at each other where there is no one else can see. Arthur reaches out to run his hand through Merlin’s hair.
“I always thought your hair would be dark,” he mumbles, losing himself in the way his fingers card through the strands. “Just had a feeling.”
“Mum’s hair was never dark enough to be mine.” Merlin closes his eyes as he feels Arthur’s hand go through it. “And—and Balinor, he—he wasn’t the right magic.”
Arthur’s hand stills. “Balinor was your father?”
“He was married to Hunith, he—but—“
Arthur’s arms are suddenly around him, warm and perfect and real and it feels like something else slots into place. Arthur’s breath warms the top of his head and Merlin feels his fingertips start to buzz.
“I’m sorry,” he realizes Arthur’s saying, “I didn’t—if I’d’ve known, I would’ve—“
They will come to find that they don’t need words. Merlin just buries his nose in the crook of Arthur’s neck and breathes in the smell of home.
“I kept the blanket I was taken in,” he mumbles, “and it smelled like this.”
“Like—like me?”
Merlin nods. “Fruit. Sunlight. Warm.”
“Warm doesn’t have a smell, Merlin.”
“Sure it does.”
“What does it smell like, then?”
“Warm! You don’t explain what apples smell like, they just smell like apple.”
“Sure you can, they smell tart, a little sweet, but it’s a thin smell, it’s not rich.”
“Where and why do you know how to describe smells so well?”
“Morgana went through an alchemy phase, dragged me into being her test subject.”
Merlin snorts, nuzzling deeper into Arthur’s warmth. “I imagine you reeked of an awful assortment of perfumes.”
“Oh, it was an excellent way to get out of court duty.”
They laugh together. Then Merlin quiets, burying his nose in the smell of home and willing his magic to help him come up with something.
“…it’s barely noticeable,” he says quietly, “but it’s…it’s there. It’s slightly, um, it smells a bit like old leather, or old wood, but it’s…it’s earthier.”
Arthur’s quiet for a moment, then Merlin feels his head turn and bury into Merlin’s hair.
“I always thought you’d be colder.” His arms tighten slightly, as if he can feel how Merlin’s magic is trying to pull him closer—and hey, maybe he can. “I—you used to get really strong on winter nights. I used to imagine that you’d—you’d be cold and it was my job to keep you warm and if you were warm, you’d—you’d stay.”
“I’ll stay,” Merlin says immediately, “I’ll stay.”
“You’d better.”
For Arthur, it’s finally seeing that figure sprinting ahead of him, goading him to chase faster and faster. It’s hearing about how cruel bullies were and sternly promising that if anyone ever tries anything like that again, he’ll kick their arse. It’s hearing a mumbles admission of crying while angry and promising that he’ll never judge Merlin for crying, not when he’s here to protect him.
For Merlin, it’s his magic finally having both of them to wrap its blanket around, someone else to hold him firmly when it can’t do the job itself. It’s hearing about how lonely life as a prince can be and vowing that he’s just going to sit next to Arthur and damn all the customs. It’s hearing about the cruelty of a king that didn’t know how to be a father first and muttering that Uther would see what the bloody hell he was doing wrong.
It’s home.
——————————————
News that Uther has another son spreads like a sickness in the castle. Servants whisper that the long-lost boy has returned, that the curse of the dead queen has lifted because her son is back, that finally, finally, Uther will stop the hell-path he’s wrought upon the kingdom.
Servants whisper that the nobles won’t like this. That they’re sick of having to put up with Arthur already, that if there’s another son, they’ll have another obstacle in their path.
Some nobles are clever.
They know that if Uther has a peasant son, he’ll have to make the boy a noble or denounce him completely. Or, and this is not a very likely option, he’ll have to accept that he has one royal son and one peasant son.
Some nobles aren’t clever.
They think that if Uther has another son, it doesn’t matter.
The nobles that know the knights know that they won’t be able to get within ten feet of Merlin. Many of them don’t want to. They’re not quite sure what position Merlin holds in court, but it’s not a manservant’s. They know that the boy who came to Camelot and managed to get the prince to shut up for once is a good one. Some of them hold the opinion that if Uther is what he made his son into, he might actually listen to the boy as well.
The nobles that don’t know the knights are stupid.
One such noble decides that it doesn’t matter whether or not the boy is of royal blood, the king hasn’t claimed him, and thus he is still a peasant.
He decides, in his infinite wisdom, to humiliate the boy by dousing him with wine for forgetting to thank him for giving him an order.
Merlin has been covered with wine before, this isn’t new to him. What is new is that he has a brother that takes great pleasure in dragging the unsuspecting noble to the front of the room and publicly shaming him.
“Have you so little sense of yourself that you must stoop to the humiliation of others for your own amusement? Perhaps if you spent more time thinking of what to do with your words you wouldn’t be so intimidated by the confidence of someone else. I would be surprised to learn if you had a mind since your only defense is to sling wine all over someone’s front. You are a disgrace to everything you proclaim to be and I would be ashamed of you if you were one of my men.”
It’s not the most direct way to banish someone and strip them of their place in court, but it is one of the more entertaining.
Of course, when a noble is demoted to a knight, he ends up at the mercy of the elder knights on the training field. It’s one of the only times Gwaine shows up promptly for a training session.
Merlin mumbles that Arthur didn’t have to do that, that he’s had worse, but later in the privacy of their rooms, Arthur says that he’s making up for the years where he wasn’t there.
“And it wasn’t just for you, it was for the knights too.”
“How noble.”
——————————————
It’s in the way Arthur still tries to turn into the tower corridor that first tips Merlin off. It’s the way his hands still twitch toward an old sword hanging on the wall. It’s the way he turns to his other side, not where Merlin always stands, expecting someone to be there. It’s the way he looks at the other side of Uther’s throne, expecting there to be another one.
It’s the way Merlin knows what feels like to miss another half of yourself.
“I want to find her,” he says quietly after a long day, “she’s your sister.”
Arthur pauses, fingers faltering on the edge of a cabinet. His head bows low.
“She is, Arthur,” Merlin says, standing, “and she’s mine too.”
“I know.”
“There’s still good in her, Arthur, I know there is.”
“I know.”
“I—“ Merlin swallows. “I’m to blame for what she’s become, I’m the one who poisoned her.”
“I’m the one who drove her away from the start,” Arthur says, a rueful smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, “I’m not blameless either.”
There’s a pause.
Arthur glances at Merlin. “There was a time when I thought you were her. That the—the person I was missing was her.”
“She’s magic too, it makes sense.”
Arthur nods, staring into space. “But she wasn’t you. Her—I guess I didn’t know it was magic, then, but her—her magic never felt right.”
He turns to take a hunting satchel down from the hook.
“Do you know how to find her?”
“Yes,” Merlin says, “but you’re not coming.”
“What?”
Merlin holds his hands up. “She’ll try to kill you, you know it. She won’t listen to you. Not at first.”
“And she won’t try to kill you? You poisoned her!”
“I have magic. She can’t beat me.”
“Merlin.”
“I’ll be safe!”
“When have you ever been safe in your life?”
“Like you’re in any position to judge!”
The bickering continues until Merlin grabs Arthur’s arm and tells him that he needs to do this. That it has to be him, only him, that he knows how to reach Morgana in a way that Arthur can’t.
Arthur lets him go with a strict promise to be back in a fortnight, no more.
Merlin knows how to find Morgana. Arthur’s connection to magic isn’t like his, but he is born of the stuff. And so is Morgana.
There’s a tingle in Merlin’s fingertips non-stop when he’s in Camelot, his magic tugging him towards Arthur and the magic in him. But Uther’s blood flows in both of their veins, so if he focuses, he can find Morgana.
His travels lead him to a forest home, modest and slight, but secure enough that he knows he can’t just walk in. There are half a dozen places where she could be hiding nearby, half a dozen more where traps could be. So he picks his way carefully through the undergrowth and knocks on her door.
He expects to be knocked out and strung up. He doesn’t expect her to raise an eyebrow and try and bind him with a curse.
He bats the curse away without trying to hide the way his eyes glow gold.
Morgana’s eyes widen and she stumbles back. He raises his hands and weathers the spitting, the curses—just cusses, this time—of his betrayal, how dare he, and apologizes.
“You were the vessel,” he says as his only defense, “I didn’t think there was any other way.”
“And what if you told me?” She draws herself up, looking every bit the queen she was born to be. “I could’ve helped! Perhaps I would’ve taken it of my own free will, you had no right to strip me of that choice.”
“I know. And I am sorry. For all of it. For not telling you, for trying to kill you, for—for everything.”
She evaluates him cooly. “Well, I suppose that’s that, then? You want me to accept your apology and toddle back to Camelot?”
And the thing is…he can see it now.
He and Arthur don’t share that many features, but he and Morgana…
It’s the angular jaw. The way the nose slopes slightly to the right instead of the left. The way one eye is a little bit longer than the other. The dark hair, wavy but not too wavy. The slender build, the sharp shoulders.
The way their magic curls about their fingertips before the spell is cast.
Morgana seems to notice him staring and frowns, snapping her fingers in front of his face.
“Sorry,” he manages, still marveling at how he never noticed, “sorry, I just…”
“Just…what?”
His magic thrums in his hands, telling him to let it go, reach out to their sister, help her see. He obeys, opening his hand and letting the magic swirl up, into the air. Morgana’s eyes widen and she takes a step back, preparing a defensive spell of her own only for her jaw to drop as her magic touches Merlin’s.
It doesn’t feel like coming home, not like finding Arthur did, but it feels like something.
“What…how is this possible?”
“I’m your brother,” Merlin whispers, peering through the lattice of magic, “I—you’re my sister.”
At the word ‘sister,’ something in Morgana’s magic flinches. Merlin frowns, peering closer, eyes widening when he notices a dark patch, almost as if the magic is bruised from being constrained. His own magic touches it carefully, recoiling in shock.
“What is that? Morgana, what happened to you?”
She rubs her wrist absent-mindedly, her face contorting into a scowl. “The last person to call me ‘sister.’”
Merlin’s eyes widen. Morgana retracts her magic, burying it deep inside herself and taking a deep breath. When she looks at Merlin again, she looks almost like the woman Merlin met in Camelot.
“So. That means Arthur’s your brother too.”
Merlin nods. “I was…we were born of the same magic.”
“And that makes Uther your father.”
Merlin's face contorts in rage and Morgana snorts.
“Yes, that was my reaction too.”
“Balinor was my father,” Merlin says firmly, curling his hands into fists, “Uther is not.”
“But you have his blood,” Morgana says quietly, not meaning to hurt, just to inform, “and you are bound to him. Just as I am.”
Now it is Merlin that has to look desperately at Morgana, hoping for it to be anything other than the truth.
“You can’t have Arthur without Uther, Merlin,” she murmurs, “you have to accept that. You can’t have Arthur without Camelot. You can’t have your brother without your father.”
“And what about my sister?”
Her smile is sad. “I had neither for a long time.”
“I just got my sister,” Merlin says firmly, “I’m not letting her go again.”
“Oh, and that’s your decision, is it?”
Merlin blinks. “Um—well, I mean—if—if that’s okay with you—“
Her laugh is high, like pealing bells, and it makes him smile to hear it. “How you manage to switch between those two will always astound me. No wonder no one else ever figured out you had magic.”
“Excuse you, I did a perfectly good job at hiding my magic.”
“Gaius used to scream about it with the door open, Merlin, that’s not exactly subtle.”
“How is that my fault?”
She giggles and oh, is this what it’s like to have a sister?
Their laughter ends and Morgana crosses her arms, head bowed as she thinks. Merlin lets his magic flutter around the room, cleaning up, until she raises her head again.
“Do you think Uther can change?”
Merlin sighs. “I don’t know. But I do know we can change the minds of everyone else.”
“Starting with Arthur, I presume?”
“Arthur. The knights. Most of the council. The servants.”
“Got a plan for this, do you?”
“…not really good at plans.”
“Well, no, not if most of them involve poisoning sisters.”
“Hey!”
Morgana laughs again, then her smile softens and she rushes forward to wrap her arms around Merlin.
“Your magic feels warm,” she mumbles, “not like Morgause’s. Maybe I’ll enjoy being your sister.”
“And Arthur’s?”
“If he can pull his head out of his arse, we’ll see.” She lets him go and walks toward the front of the house.
“Wait! Where are you going?”
“To see if we can both pull his head out of his arse, it’s so big we’ll need the two of us.”
“Right now?”
“Unless you think I should wait?” There it is. The tiniest hint of vulnerability in the way her voice wobbles at the end.
A question of whether Morgana would actually be welcomed back into Camelot, a question of whether Arthur would want her back. A question of how true this fantasy really is.
Merlin straightens. “No,” he says firmly, “let’s just hope the two of us can do it together.”
——————————————
Arthur never thought he’d see his sister again.
But the instant Morgana walks into his chambers, looking as if she’d never left, she barely has time to open her mouth to deliver a snappy remark before he’s rushing across the room and wrapping her in a hug so fierce it makes Merlin laugh.
Morgana laughs at him with some incredibly clever quip but he isn’t listening. He’s too busy hugging his sister. Who’s finally home, who’s finally here.
“…oh, alright, you big softy,” she mumbles, wrapping her arms around him too, “there. Are you happy now?”
“‘Gana.”
“Yes, that’s me. Is your head alright? Merlin, what did you do to him?”
“He’s happy to see his sister, Morgana.”
She sighs dramatically. “Oh, don’t both of you go all sappy on me.”
Arthur just pulls her closer, burying his nose in her neck. “‘Gana.”
There’s a pause. Then: “Oh, Arthur, I missed you too.”
It’s too much. He sticks out his arm and grabs Merlin’s tunic, yanking him closer. Merlin makes a noise of surprise as Arthur bundles them both into the hug. Morgana makes a slightly affronted gesture as she makes room for the two of them, pulling her hair out of the way as Arthur buries his nose between their shoulders.
“I certainly don’t remember him being this clingy, are you sure this is the same Arthur?”
“His head’s certainly big enough.”
“Well, yes, but that’s not exactly the most reliable thing to go on. He’s always been utterly obnoxious.”
“Don’t have to tell me.”
And they’re bickering like siblings and it’s right and it feels right and their magic is here now and he can feel both of them and it’s warm and it makes his chest tingle and—and—
“Oh, oh dear,” he hears Morgana murmur, “Arthur, are you—are you crying?”
“Shh, shh, it’s okay, Arthur, it’s okay.”
“Come, let’s sit down, if you fall over you’ll take the two of us with you.”
“Just try and breathe, it’s okay, we’re not going anywhere.”
Arthur can’t bear to let them go. Not even for an instant. Morgana stays with him, her arms wound tightly around his neck, her fingers scratching lightly through his hair. Merlin sits at his back, his chest warm.
“Come now, you silly man,” Morgana says, trying to keep the tears out of her own voice, “there’s no use crying over this. No man is worth your tears, remember?”
“You’re not a man,” he mumbles, “you’re my sis’er.”
“He’s got a point.”
Morgana sighs. “Oh, Arthur…”
He registers how long’s been crying only when he feels his head start to ring from how stuffy his nose feels. He hooks his chin over Morgana’s shoulder.
“Go on.”
“What?”
“Go on,” he mumbles, “tease me. I know you want to.”
“…I’m not going to tease you, Arthur.”
“Really? All this material and you won’t?”
“Not today,” she murmurs, sounding a little hoarse herself, “not—not today.”
She holds him tighter.
“Not when I’ve just learned I have two brothers.”
He can live with that.
She does tease him later, when he says that he hasn’t missed her at all—a blatant lie, that, and they all know it—or that he’s always been a model of a knight. Of course, she doesn’t have to train with him alone, anymore, she has her pick of the knights. And Merlin.
Because Morgana has magic.
Merlin has magic. Is magic, if the stories are to be believed. And Morgana has always been a quick study.
So sometimes, Arthur will just…watch them. But it’s always that. Just watching.
Merlin is the greatest sorcerer to ever walk the earth. Morgana is a High Priestess of the Old Religion.
What is Arthur?
“You’re pouting, Princess.”
Arthur barely flinches as Gwaine plops down beside him. He does raise an eyebrow as he feels the rest of the knights sit down around him.
“I’m not pouting, Gwaine.”
“Sure you are.” He flicks Arthur’s arm. “You’re pouting.”
“Am not.”
“Are too.”
Arthur sighs. “And what is it you think I’m pouting over?”
“The fact that you now have to share Merlin with Morgana.”
“That’s not—“
“You’re bright red, Princess, you know I’m right.”
“Enough.”
Lancelot lays a hand on Gwaine’s arm. Gwaine hushes. Percival glances around to make sure there aren’t any other knights near and nods.
“What’s troubling you,” Lancelot asks quietly, “and how can we help?”
“There’s nothing you can do.”
“I don’t believe that for a second.” Elyan sits up a little more. “There’s always something we can do.”
“Not with this,” Arthur mumbles, still watching the two magic users train, “not with this.”
Leon follows his gaze. “Impressive, aren’t they?”
“Mhm.”
“Do you wish you had magic too?”
Damn you, Leon. Damn you.
“…no.”
Leon chuckles softly. “Come now, sire, no need to lie to us.”
“I just—“ Arthur sighs, scrubbing his face with his hands. “It’s fine.”
Leon lays a hand on his shoulder.
“…they’re both…incredible—don’t tell them I said that,” Arthur says sharply.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Gwaine lies.
Arthur sighs again. “I just…I know I was born of magic, but…”
“You don’t have any,” Leon guesses, “not like they do.”
He shakes his head.
“Eh, you don’t need it,” Gwaine says, leaning up against Arthur’s side, “you’re plenty fine without it.”
Arthur’s head whips around to stare at him in shock. Gwaine raises an eyebrow.
“What? You are.”
“Since when do you give me compliments?”
Gwaine shrugs. “’S not about compliments, it’s about the truth. You’re able to do a shit load of things perfectly fine on your own, you don’t need to have magic for it.”
“He’s right, sire,” Lancelot adds, “your skills are a testament to you, not to whatever magic brought you into this world.”
“I’d follow you with or without magic.” Percival stands tall. “Just so happens you don’t have it. Doesn’t make a difference to me.”
“You’re our commander,” Elyan agrees, “that’s that.”
Leon’s hand on his shoulder rubs soft circles, brushing away his protests. He’s not sure if he believes them entirely, not just yet, but maybe…
Maybe one day he will. After all, he thinks with a smile, he’s got some people to help him with that.
He never thought he’d see his sister again.
——————————————
“Mum?”
Hunith turns around and smiles.
“Merlin, come here.”
Merlin rushes forward, wrapping his arms around her in a warm hug.
“Why didn’t you send word you were coming,” she scolds gently, “I would’ve gotten everything ready.”
“I wanted to surprise you!”
“Well, I am surprised. Sit, sit, tell me everything.”
Her son sits, idly toying with his hands. She frowns.
“What’s the matter?”
“I, um…I have a question for you.”
“What is it?”
“Where…where am I from?”
Oh.
Oh.
Hunith smiles and tells him the story. Tells him of how Balinor arrived one night, a little babe clutched in his arms. How he told her how the queen had two children, one that had to be kept safe away from Camelot. How his magic had reached out to her once she held him, wrapped around them as he fell asleep against her breast.
Merlin listens, tears in his eyes, as she tells him that she loved him from the moment she saw him, that he would always have a home here.
“You’re my mum,” he mumbles, wiping away tears, “and I—you’re always gonna be my mum.”
“Oh, Merlin, come here—“
She holds her son in her arms and thanks the magic of the world that gave him to her.
——————————————
Uther responds about as well as you’d expect.
As in, not at all.
At least, not until he realizes that there are three children who are about to make sure he does what he promised Ygraine he would, and if he doesn’t, they’ll do it for him.
He tries to deny having another son, one that was raised as a peasant, no less, only for Arthur to stand up in court and publicly acknowledge Merlin as his brother.
He tries to deny that Morgana is his daughter, only for Morgana to stand tall and proud by Arthur’s side as they declare their intent to rule as brother and sister.
He tries to deny that not one but two of his children have magic, only for Arthur to open talks with the druids by using his brother and sister with magic as ambassadors.
He tries.
He fails.
He wants to think that he still has his loyal knights, but Gwaine and Percival decide that they’re Merlin’s bodyguards, and Leon and Lancelot won’t leave Arthur’s side. Morgana doesn’t need her own bodyguards, but Elyan and Gwen are never far from her.
He wants to think he still has the support of the Council, but Gaius had stood and given a speech about being so happy to see Ygraine’s children home again and his words had been frozen before he could say anything.
He wants to think he’s still the king. But everyone is starting to look to Arthur, to Morgana, not to him.
Once, and only once, he considers getting rid of the boy.
When he wakes from a terrible nightmare of drowned children, burned houses, and Ygraine’s immortal disappointment, he doesn’t think of it again.
Uther isn’t dragged kicking and screaming from his throne, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t many who’d love to if he gave them the opportunity.
He’s not worth lingering on.
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qawsslate · 3 years
Text
newbies
another nct drabble, short story, one shot, scenario? 
genre: fluff probs
tw: none
pairing: Renjun & reader
a/n: idk bro read at ur own risk, i used google translate for a thing but im hoping it makes sense in the context, feel free to interact :)) 
____
"Renjun-ah it’s fine. You, of all people, know how forgiving she is.”
“Ya! Haechan, don’t say it like that. Renjun-ah it looks really nice she’ll love it.”
Haechan and Jeno were gathered in Renjun and Jisung’s shared bedroom attempting to calm the nerves of the older Dream member. He had just finished a painting he had been working on for the last month in prepation for Valentine’s Day. He knew you weren’t expecting anything as in Korea, the traditional practice was for the girl in the relationship to give the guy chocolates, but neither of you were big on the specifics of things like that. You both shared the sentiment of holidays but were also practical in the ways you gave gifts to each other. Last Christmas, Renjun had given you a new winter coat since the one you’ve been using since your teenager years had begun to literally tear at the seam. You often brushed off his nagging of buying a new coat with protests of the coat still doing its job. 
“Renjun, the coat is fine. I’m still perfectly warm” 
“Y/n, I can see the thread that’s keeping the arm sleeve attached to the rest of it hanging off. I bet if I pull it the whole thing would fall apart. Here let me show you.” 
He reached down and pretended to yank the thread which prompted you to gasp in amused disbelief.
“Ya! Don’t you dare! Did you really pull it off?”
You looked down at your arm trying to assess if in fact the fabric on your body was still a piece of wearable clothing.  
He laughed and just embraced you in a hug.
He had followed up the new winter coat with a flower plushie you had commented that was cute a week ago in a shop, his favorite scented candle so you could be reminded of him when he was away on a schedule, a neck massager because he thought you spent too much time at your desk, an insulated bottle so you would drink more water and not coffee, a polaroid camera for the memories and random Chinese snacks you really liked. He was very practical yet considerate, and it made your heart swell. You almost cried thinking all of it was too much and he had to hold your face in is hands and make you look at him so he could tell you that you were worth it. 
What you didn’t know that he also wanted to gift you with a necklace but second guessed himself too much to the point where he took the small box out of the pile of gifts only minutes before he gave you the heap of presents. Mark was the only member he told about the necklace beforehand but Renjun unfortunately had forgotten to inform his loveable hyung of his inaction, a problem that presented itself the morning after Christmas.
“Y/n! Merry-day-after-Christmas! How was Christmas with Renjunnie? Did you like the necklace?”
You, Mark, and Renjun had been sitting at the Dream dorm kitchen table eating leftovers from the small dinner Jaemin had made at 3am. Thankfully the rest of the boys were still asleep so the damage could still be contained. Renjun choked on the green tea he had been drinking but quickly recoverd.
“Neck massager hyung. The Korean word for neck massager is 목 마사지기. Ahhh, it’s because he’s a foreigner.”
Renjun laughed a little too forcibly and tried to signal to Mark as much as humanly possible without bursting a vein that the necklace gift was aborted. By some Christmas miracle, Mark had somehow picked up on the hint and quickly corrected himself. He even added a white lie to support the neck massager fib, quickly sputtering that he had helped Renjun pick out a neck massager with the recommnedations from his mom, his aunt, his grandmother, and his cousin who was some sort of professional massager. You answered honestly that you had yet to put it to use as you forgot to charge it last night. You weren’t sure if it was the happiness hangover or lack of sleep after Christmas Day that made you think Mark and Renjun were acting strange, but you became distracted from dwelling on their behavior as Haechan and Jisung came into the kitchen. The mood quickly shifted and Renjun felt like he could breathe for the first time in what felt like an hour. You had become preoccupied in helping Jisung follow a recipe on how to make American style pancakes and scolding Haechan for handing the gullible maknae wrong ingredients. After a few minutes Renjun had excused himself to check on Jaemin and Jeno, and Mark announced he had to use the bathroom. Once out of earshot from the mess in the kitchen Mark turned to Renjun,
“You didn’t give it to her?”
“No, hyung, honestly I got too scared. What if she didn’t want it? What if she thinks I’m going too far? What if it’s too serious all of a sudden?”
“Well, don’t you want to be serious with y/n?”
“Of course. More than anything. I just don’t know what I’m doing.”
“Renjunnie,” Mark placed his hands on his shoulders, “you are doing great. Do whatever feels right to you. But if you’re only doubting yourself I think it’s still a good idea to give her the necklace.” 
Renjun still looked conflicted and mindlessly opened the door to Jaemin room then Jeno’s. 
The four proceeded back to the suspiciously quiet kitchen to find Jisung sat at the table and Haechan and you making the rest of the pancakes. When Jaemin asked what happened, Haechan responded,
“We wanted to make sure you guys still had a place to live.”
The necklace matter had been dropped and about a month later all those repressed emotions Renjun had came back. It was two nights before Valentine’s Day and both just wanted a quiet evening. Renjun planned to cook a dinner at your apartment and the whole thing felt innocent until he thought about how you guys hadn’t even been officially together for more than a year. He suddenly felt the pressure, the implications, the underlying tone of something like giving you a piece of jewelry. His plan was to just give you a painting. He had carefully recreated the scene of the park where he first saw you. You had been pushing children on the swings. He had thought you were a babysitter of some sort until you waved to the kids goodbye and saw the nearby adults scoop them in their arms and walk away. Then he saw you swinging by yourself. He never revealed this to you during your first official encounter as he didn’t think it would be smooth to open up with, “I’ve been watching you swing by yourself at the children’s park.” He also hadn’t been initially sure if you were the same girl he had wistfully observed, but you had once planned a park date at your favorite spot.
“It’s actually quite near your dorm, we could walk there if you’re up to it? Sometimes I play with the kids. It’s gotten to the point where some of the mothers have recognized me.”
Renjun immediately knew you had been that girl he had observed in what felt like a lifetime ago. He knew that one day he would really have to treat Chenle to a meal for introducing you both. Renjun also knew if he had admitted this to Chenle now he would never let it go and it would somehow inflate the size of that kid’s head even more, but he added it to the list of things he loved about his younger member. 
Renjun had carefully recreated the details from his memories of those days, paying particular attention to that coat you refused to give up on and he had just finished the painting when Haechan decided to burst into his room.
“Renjunnie! Have you ate? Let’s eat.” 
Renjun had been so absorbed with his doubts that the sudden interruption almost made him fall off his chair. Renjun almost gets as easily startled as Jisung, but the magnitude of his reaction made Haechan take a step back and immediately set off his signature mischief.
“Ya, is the innocent and pure boy doing something naughty? You know you should really lock your doors Renjun-ah”
Renjun scrammbled to find something to cover the painting. His tidy desk space provided no aid and his next move was to flip the whole thing over deciding to deal with the consquences of the still wet paint later, but Haechan moved quickly and pulled Renjun’s arms up away from the canvas.
“Ya, what’s this?”
“Nothing. Heachan, please.”
Renjun sighed. He had no problem in any other situation to fight the boy who always tested his limits, but with the awkward sitting position he was in, Renjun knew that there was no logistically sound way to physically fight Haechan at the moment. 
“Oh, it’s just another painting. Why were you so freaked out- YA! Is that y/n?!”
Haechan dropped Renjun’s arms, his first mistake, as Renjun took the opportunity to lunge towards the painting. Haechan proceeded to yank the back of the wooden chair -- his second mistake -- and he called out for reinforcements.
“JENO-AH!”
Jeno was not surprised that the bickering quickly took place, but was also concerned with the intensity of Haechan’s scream. Jeno regretfully entered the space of what would ultimately disrupt the otherwise peaceful morning and listened to the chorus of Renjun’s mild curses and death threats and Haechan’s shameless happy teasing although he was the one in the headlock.
“Ya, you two. Can we just go eat?”
“Jeno-ah, grab that. QUICKLY.”
Curiosity took over and Jeno obeyed. Renjun knew that although Jeno lacked in the desire of fighting members, he made up for with his physcial strengh. Renjun was quite aware that Jeno could quite literally pick him and Haechan up to stop the sqaubble. Renjun gave a frustrated sigh of defeat and sat back down at his desk while Jeno and Haechan sat on the nearby bed to fully observe the art piece.
“Is this y/n? It’s really good.”
“Our Renjunnie is growing up so fast. It’s cute to see you in love.”
The casualness of Haechan’s sentiment in dropping the L word set off alarms in Renjun’s brain but curiously not his heart. He quickly pushed off whatever deer in headlights reaction he showed and calmy took the painting back from Jeno. He decided to just tell the two that it was for Valentine’s Day and mumbled that he wasn’t sure if you were gonna like it. 
"Renjun-ah it’s fine. You, of all people, know how forgiving she is.”
“Ya! Haechan, don’t say it like that. Renjun-ah it looks really nice she’ll love it.”
Haechan sensed it was the right time to get serious. 
“Renjun-ah. Honestly. It’s a really good painting. She’ll love it. That girl loves everything you do.”
Jeno hummed in agreement.
“Injunnie, it will be okayyy.”
Jeno’s speciality in dorm-only aegyo gave Renjun comfort. It almost brought back a sense of normalcy in Renjun’s emotions. He was also grateful to Haechan although no matter how much the boy made it a sport to annoy him, he could still be mature when it counted. He thanked God that the necklace had been safely hidden in a drawer and considered the many ways the situation could have escalated if the two boys saw that the painting gift was not the main source of his anxiety.
Renjun thought it would be best to change the subject from his insecurities about his love life. Love, he thought, there was that word again. 
---------------
hi i have a tendency to not end my fics well, lemme know what yall think
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ask-jokeboi · 4 years
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The Party
Hope everyone's having a great holiday season so far! This time of year isn't always easy but thankfully friends and a good distraction can make things easier. 
I drew these pic’s to pair with a moderately long fic I wrote to follow up the aforementioned party from earlier, it’s below the the cut! Read it if you want! Either way, Happy Holidays! 💜💚💛
Words: 4,142    Relationships: Harlivy /Harley & Joker friendship / Batjokes (mentioned)     Universe: Mine / Lego Batman
A/N: sorry for any typos or weird grammatical stuff, I'm good at art, not writing
Summary: Joker’s felt a little down since Batman’s been out of town, will his best friend Harley be able to cheer him up?
Warnings: Alcohol use, implied depression
_____________________
"C'mon Jay it'll be be fun!" Cheered Harley, mustering all the enthusiasm she could in an attempt to persuade Gotham's former clown prince of crime to pull himself together 
"I don't care!…. Go bother your girlfriend or something. Leave me alone…" He was currently piled under several layers of blankets, sunk deep into the ball pit he called a bed
"Nuh uh, I'm not haulin' my butt outta this room 'till you haul yours. You can stay in that pit and cry all ya like, but it won't fix nothin', you gott-"
"I don't GOTTA do anything!" Jay snapped. Throwing his blanket aside and revealing his less than kempt appearance, his face twisted into a frustrated glare
Harley, already familiar with Jay's usual harmless outbursts only sighed as she looked her long time friend up and down, taking in his surroundings with a curious eye
It'd been a month or two since Batman left the scene and his absence was definitely beginning to take a toll on the poor clown.
She could tell it'd been a while since he'd done anything to care for himself…. His hair, which was usually swept back into a flawless green pomp, lazily draped his face. The dull forest black of his roots beginning to seep back into the rest of it. Same could be said for the state his room which, due to his erratic nature, was always a bit untidy  but had recently fallen into a state of near disrepair. Bags of half eaten junk food and empty bottles of all sorts of things lay strewn across the floor, particularly around his half deflated bed.
Despite the mess, he still seemed a little...thin… more so than usual to be honest… his ribs visible beneath the loose shirt he wore, arms comparable to sticks despite the muscle.
most of all though, he just seemed... tired. Jay always looked tired out of makeup. It was one of the first things she'd managed to take note of when he'd first entered her office years ago…. But right now the purple rings beneath his eyes that never seemed to go away were deepened to a point that made it clear he wasn't getting much sleep or doing much for himself in general...
Seeing her best friend in a state like this was hard to witness… and although her partner, Ivy, didn't have much but mild disdain for Jay, Harley couldn't find it in herself to leave him like this… which is why she thought a party might lift his spirits a little 
"C'mooon! You love parties!! It'll just be a small one anyway!" It was actually much bigger than she was implying but Jay liked big and she didn't wanna scare him off too soon… 
"Yeah, like that'll make things any better… who did you even invite?? A good half of the rogues don't even like me…"
"Sure they do!"
Jay only looked at her, bereft and unimpressed. 
"I mean ok you and Riddler don't always get along and it took a lot a beggin' ta get ya un-banned from the iceberg lounge but still!!"
"Uhg whatever! It doesn't matter! I don't need those bozos seein' me like this anyway..."
"Like what?" 
"I don't know!  I'm just…... I'm not in the right… mood for something like that right now.... You know how this works… they'd see right through me. "
Back when Jay was still her patient they'd end up talking a lot about masks…Batman's would come up more often than not but every now and then he'd end up discussing his own…. Or more specifically, the metaphorical one he'd put on every time he picked up a brush and painted himself a new face…..
"Jay, sweetie…  you don't have to pretend to be okay… they won't think you're weak or nothin', you know that right?..."
Jay gave her an incredibly tired look before turning away.
"What happened to the Jay that wasn't afraid to let people know how he's feelin' huh? The one that turned every emotion into a show….?"
He kept his head down, shoulders stiff, before speaking...
"....Cause I'm not just sad this time…. " As he looked up slowly an emotion that was rarely seen on the mans face showed itself, flooding his eyes. 
"W- when I'd talked to Robin and Batgirl that last time and asked about Batman they gave each other this look and…. Something's wrong… he's in trouble or something I… I can feel it…..  W-what if he doesn't come back and he leaves me here all alone an-" 
Harley put a polished nail up to Jay's lips and smiled warmly.
"Shhhh…. You're worryin' too much puds… ur big dumb brain is just an overdramatic liar… don't listen to it okay?" 
Jay sniffled, giving her an understanding nod.
"You still got me an' your crew an' Bud and all the other little silly things that make ya days good doncha?"
He smiles halfheartedly. "Y-yeah…. But still… he was..."
"I know… he's special….but do you seriously think anything out there could actually kill Batman? THE Batman? C'mon now….  He's luckier than any bastard out there and you know it…"
"Yeah…. Yeah I guess ur right"
"Of COURSE I'm right!… now come on…" she offers her hand and helps her friend stand up. "Let's get that hair done and those nails shined up  so you're brain can take a break from making all those nasty thoughts" 
Jay smiled a little wider this time, forever grateful he had a friend as great as Harley around… he really didn't know what he'd do without her sometimes...
"Right…. Also… uh…. Harley?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for….uh…. Bein'... around… I guess…" Jay practically mumbled...
Harley smiled knowingly, amused with his poor attempt of gratitude
"No problem, Pud's….." she gave him a peck on the forehead leaving a black smudge behind 
"now enough mush...Let's clean this mess and get ya fabbed up"
________________
A few hours later, Jay stood outside the titular iceberg lounge in his best winter fit, a long boa around his shoulders and a pair of unnecessary sunglasses obscuring the mascara he'd only half ruined on the way there…. 
He truly, honestly, did not feel like socializing with anyone at the moment, but who was he to refuse a doctor's orders?....
Taking a deep breath of the cold winter air, Jay stiffened up, smoothed the wrinkles from his vintage memphis style sweater and entered the lounge, heels high and head high as he could manage 
____________
When the doors swung open with a swirl of winter snow, Jay was greeted by a surprisingly full and stunningly silent room. Christmas music cut through the tension like a knife as everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to Joker's fashionably late arrival.
He didn't know if it was because of his natural ability to demand attention or the fact that he hadn't been seen in nearly 3 weeks, but for some reason the room seemed slightly on edge. worried he'd come with another Joker brand surprise perhaps. Thankfully, Harley, who'd left his place a little earlier to get everything ready, noticed who'd finally arrived.
"JJ!! YOU MADE IT!!" she leaped off her stool and came running to grab him, The rest of the room taking it as a cue to un-tense and to go back to their festivities, the lounge lighting up  with warm greetings and laughter.
" Hey…" said Jay as Harley put an arm around his shoulder and escorted him to the booth she was sitting at….  
"So… is all of this for me or…?"
"No, did she tell you that?" Ivy who was sitting at the booth with his other less than fond acquaintance, Catwoman and someone else he didn't seem to recognize, gave a snide smile, Jay suddenly felt he should probably sit someplace else
"IVY!! SHHH" Harley shushed
"What? He was gonna find out out eventually…. It was supposed to be Penguin's annual winter ball" 
"Uh,It still is tho…?" said Kat, mouth full of shrimp 
"Well, yah…. Difference is we had to 'finesse' Penguin into letting HIM in" Ivy explained, disdain in her voice
"And you... helped with that?..." asked Jay, surprised. Ivy sighed
"for Harley's sake, yes. not yours" 
Jay smiled, amused. "well how charitable of you, here's to hoping you won't regret it"
Ivy rolled her eyes. "As if I don't already" she said, taking a short sip from her drink, Harley sitting down next to her give her thank u peck on the cheek.
"Hey, why'd you get banned from this dump anyway?" Asked Kat, eyes squinting curiously 
"I have no idea…." Jay shrugged 
"He put a coke and mento bomb in the fountain!" Harley interrupted 
"Oh yeah…." He'd totally forgot
"Ha! Awesome…" 
"Right uh, anyway, who the hell are you?" Jays attention suddenly turned to the woman sitting opposite of kat. She had light blue skin, bright white eyes and hair that made her look like a human lighting rod.
"Name's Livewire." She said, voice sharp as her appearance 
"She's from Metropolis" explained Ivy. Jay rose a brow.
"Metropolis huh?? How'dya like dealin' with boy scout full time over there?" He quizzed 
"Sweet!…" she exclaimed enthusiastically "Big blue aint got a thing on me! 'sides, dweeb's been outta town for months now! metropolis might as well be my personal playground"
The mentioning of Superman's absence made something in Jay's chest twist. He'd known their neighbor hero had been MIA for even longer than Batman, Supergirl taking over the workload just like Batgirl had in Gotham. but still… the reminder was enough to worry him. I mean… if superman was taking so much time up there, what chance did Batman have against whatever it was they were so busy with??
Trying his best to shake off the uneasiness building in his stomach Jay took a breath and snapped back to reality, offering Livewire his hand
"Well, uh... Livewire, i'm this city's head honcho while the bat's gone so welcome to Gotham and try not to wear it out" 
Harley and Ivy exchanged looks as Jay smiled slyly and took Livewires hand…
...Only for his usual gesture of hospitality to be met with an equally shocking grip that sent blue sparks flying in every direction.
"DAMN, what the- !! " Jay yanked his hand back and held it in pain, hot needles running up his arm.The new addition to Harley's crew laughed crudely and smiled
 "why do you think they call me 'LIVEWIRE' genius?" 
Jay stayed silent with defeat as the table went up in hysterics "Yeah fine, okay, I shoulda saw that one coming" he sighed and smoothed out his hair which had sprung up to stand on end, his face ever so slightly red "anyway, you ladies have a nice time… i'll set up shop somewhere else and let you guys… idk… flirt with each other or whatever..." without much fanfare he slunk off to sit someplace else.
After the table had settled down completely though, Harley noticed Jay making his way to the bar looking somewhat dejected.
"Aw Jay…." 
The rest curiously turned their attention to the direction of Harley's gaze.
"You're not going after him are you?" Asked Ivy after a beat.
"Well… yeah…?" Harley shrugged.
"Uhm, why?" Asked kat, dipping more shrimp into her cocktail "like if he's not in the mood for a joke that's kinda his problem…?"
"Yeah, but still…. I've never seen 'im like this for so long…. He's usually so funny and animated, it's like somethin' drained all the life out of 'im…." The concern on Harley's face was very apparent. Ivy brushed back a few strands of her hair and tried her best to reassure her.
"Look i'm sure he'll get his second wind when Batman comes back at some point… but ‘til then it's not your job to take care of him…" 
Harley sighed silently. "I know but… he's still my best friend… and if I hadn't met him, I wouldn'ta met you!" She squished close to her spouse with a smile, Ivy suddenly unable to hold back a small one herself.
"He helped me outta my slump all those years ago, least I can do is help 'im outta his..."
Ivy gave her a soft look before reluctantly caving "Kindness has always been your best and worst trait, silly bee…" she said with a smirk "fine, go ahead and do your thing, I've got plenty of company over here in the meantime…"
Harley smiled happily and gave her one last kiss before running off to join Jay at the bar.
____________
Jay sat alone at the bar in silence until he was suddenly startled by Harley's arrival.
 "What's shakin' grumpy gills?" She asked pulling up a stool.
Jay didn't answer as the bartender slid over a funfetti martini topped with the works, Jay lazily catching it and drinking deeply.
"Those guys didn't get ta ya did they? I know they seem mean bu- "
"Ah… I don't care about them…" said Jay dismissively  "we're all villains here right? I'm sure they got their reasons… sides, Livewire's pretty fun even if she did fry my Joy buzzer" He said regretfully…
"So what's up then…?" Asked Harley, head tilted 
Jay looked down at the table with a frown, fingers anxiously scraping the side of the glass in his hand….
"What she'd said about metropolis…. And… superman…."
"Oh…"  Harley nodded "well…. I'm sure they're together wherever they are…. Right? Him and Batman? And I mean, with Superman around, he's bound to be okay….." 
Jay had a hard time matching her enthusiasm but that logic did comfort him some. "Yeah… yeah I guess so"
"C'mon Jay, you gotta get that stuff off your mind for a minute! Go mingle! Go dance!… look at everyone who came this time! Turn-out's never been so big!"
As Jay's looked around the room, Harley did have a point, usually these get-togethers only managed to scrounge up about half the gang, but it looked like almost all the rogues in town had come this time. Even D-listers like Polkadot man, Killer Moth, Crazy Quilt ect. Had managed to show up, plus people he didn't seem to recognize…
For example at the bar sat Scarecrow and a… Oddly scruffy looking man he looked to be sharing a drink with. He'd heard from Riddler over the phone some time ago that crow had found himself a friend and that the two were "in cahoots".  whatever that was supposed to mean. He supposed that must've been the "friend" in question…
A few tables down sat another unfamiliar  in a polkadot shirt and a pair of cracked thick lensed glasses. He had a peculiar looking puppet sitting on his lap which made J raise a brow, but he didn't judge. Looking at his woefully nervous face he guessed it must it must've been a security thing anyway… 
Despite the big crowd though, Jay did notice one person missing of whom he hadn't seen in quite a while...
"Yeah I guess everyone is here...  except uh, Lex I guess…?" Jay considered himself friends with metropolises king of corruption, even if the feeling wasn't always mutual. Seeing so many crooks he knew in one place made him realize how rare it was to see the mal hearted mogul at these things.
Unfortunately, Harley could only shrug with defeat. "Ah I tried to get Lex but you know how he is… nobody's seen that shut in for ages".
Jay's eyes narrowed at that "How long is ages…. ?" He pressed
"I dunno… a few months guess???  Livewire said he's been quiet lately, probably off in one of his labs making some over convoluted instrument of destruction I guess"
The growing list of missing big shots was beginning to piece something together in Jay's head… what on earth was Lex up to? Where was superman?? Why did the league need Batman's help? How did it all connect?? After a moment Harley noticed Jay slipping into his thoughts again and shook his shoulder lightly to pull him out of it.
"Hey, don't worry about that egghead. he'd only kill the mood if he were here anyway" 
Jay couldn't disagree, the billionaire was kind of notorious for being a giant stick in the mud.
"If you're really worried about what's goin' on with those guys, you can come up with a plan Tomorrow…. right now we got a' open dance floor, unlimited drinks and a Karaoke competition that's about ta kick off in ten"
The word 'Karaoke' was enough to snap Jay back to reality. "Did you say Karaoke?" 
"Yes, I did."
"Do they hav-"
"Yes, they have Queen" 
Jay nearly looked as if someone had told him the best news of his life. "Oh thank god" maybe Harley was right. Worrying would have to wait. 
_____________
The rest of the night went on with few hang ups. Drinks poured, music played and poorly screeched lyrics kept the mood upbeat.
The Karaoke stage hosted performance after performance, some more enthusiastic than others. Some painful, others surprisingly pleasant. Jay's teetered off the edge of both categories, but when "somebody to love" burst through those speakers, he'd sung it with his whole chest. The best performance by a long shot though had to be Ivy's who's affinity for 50's ballads lent to her beautifully rich voice and her's was closely followed by the Dent's who'd decided to attempt a duet with no chorus which everyone found somewhat impressive.
Emotions did flare up once or twice though, as they tend to do when it comes to villain gatherings. Ed and Jay got into a fight about something stupid and unimportant, both obviously enjoying themselves, Bane and Croc engaged in an arm wrestle that woefully ended in a tie, and Jay inevitably got worked up about Batman again, this time with a crowd of eager listeners somewhat entertained by his rambling, giving questionable advice here and there.
At the get-together's height, the dance floor had filled to the point where Penguin was just about ready to call the whole event off until Riddler dragged him on to the floor himself.
After another hour or so the party wound down some more and the night devolved into quiet discussions between friends, everyone either ready to leave or half asleep. Eventually Jay and Two-face of all people were left alone. Once Ed, Crow, Hatter and the rest had gone home.
Jay always liked Harv, for someone known for his temper he seemed to have a lot of patience and Jay found both of his selves uniquely interesting in their own ways. Harvey the "handsome" one was always very nice, easily flustered, and had a sadness in his eyes that was hard to ignore. "Dent", the one famous for all those 2 themed crimes, was a bold individual and one of the most brutally honest people he knew. That night though, even he seemed a little sad. He admitted later that it was because it'd been a while since he'd gotten to talk to his old pal Bruce, someone Jay was mildly familiar with of course, and they spent the rest of the night discussing Batman and wayne and how they seemed so similar until it really was time to head home. 
 sometime after midnight, long after everyone had either left or found someplace to pass out, Harley broke up with her girl gang again to come get Jay who'd fallen asleep in an empty booth.
"Wake up clown" she said loudly, nudging him a bit. Jay giggled quietly in response, turning over after a moment and opening his eyes.
"Oohh what's up??"
"Time to go." 
"Aw…" Jay huffed disappointedly, then did his best to sit up straight, his head slowly spinning as he did so "ah jeeze…"
"Don't worry I called one of your guys, he's waiting outside." She explained "I dragged you here, might as well drag you home" 
"You did that for me?" Jay smiled "That's so nice…."
"Mhm" carefully, she took his hand got him to his feet, doing her best to keep him up straight. As they headed out they met up with Ivy at the door
"Taking pennywise home?" She asked 
"It'll only take a minute" Harley assured 
"Alright… don't take too long…" she turned to leave but before she could, Jay suddenly spoke up.
"H-hey, Wait!" 
Ivy turned around, brow raised "You have something to say to me?"
"Uh… yeah? I mean… sort of? I just, uh… wanted to say i'm sorry for…  messing up your garden all those times…." 
Ivy blinked "Why are you telling me this now?"
"I just thought you shud kno….  And that um…. Maybe you'd hate me…. A little less... if I said sorry for once..." the frown on Jays face was absolutely pitiful, Ivy could only roll her eyes.
"I don't hate you… Joker"
"Oh?"
"I just think you're annoying…."
"Oh…." Jay couldn't really tell if that was any better but at the moment he was too drunk to care. "Okay…"
With that ivy turned around to join Kat and Livewire
"Thanks for the apology though I suppose…Take care of yourself…. And, Harley don't take too long… it's only 1:00am we still have plans."
"Don't worry Ive's  i'll catch up." 
after one last look, Ivy went back on her way and Harley continued walking J to his car.
As they went Jay hummed to himself, swaying slightly, until a certain thought made him go quiet again.
"....Harley….?" He asked suddenly.
"Yeah, J?"
"Am I a bad friend?" The question just as out of the blue as his apology to Ivy…. 
Harley looked at him, concerned "Why do ya ask?"
"I just…. Please?" He pleaded. Harley hesitated for a long moment but decided being honest was probably best.
" not exactly but… maybe sometimes"
"Hm…" Jay decided he'd have to work on that
"But I also know ya don't really wanna hurt anybody…. That you try your best everyday ta make people happy and that you've been through just as much any of us….  A few mean comments an' dumb pranks ain't gonna make anybody think you're the devil or somethin'….not me or any of the other guys... "
Jay had to smile at that, Harley always had something smart or nice to say no matter what. still, her answer only made him feel worse about how he'd been earlier when she was just trying to help… he really, honestly, didn't deserve her…. But the least he could do was let her know he was glad to have her...
"Harley…?"
"Yeah, J…"
"Thanks for being really, really great all the time… and… y'know… around… " Harley smiled as she secured his arm around her shoulders. 
"Thanks J..." 
"also sorry for sucking sometimes..."
She sighed. "It's fine Jay…."
carefully, she hauled his ragdolling body a few more feet and shoved him into the back seat of his car. J grunting as his head hit the leather seat.
"Now go home an' try not to get lost on your way to the door" She said sternly. Jay gave her a lazy wink and a pair of wobbly finger guns.
"Gotcha." 
with that,Harley slammed the door shut and the J-Mobile's engine roared to life. One his lackeys sitting in the driver's seat.
"Where to boss? HQ?"
"Yup… ah, sorry t' call ya out so late…"
"S'alright boss…. Don't worry about it"
As the car lurched forward, street lights shining in through the windows as snow fell ever so lightly over Gotham like a dusting of fresh powdered sugar, Jay did inevitably start thinking about Batman again, wondering when he'd come back, desperately wishing he knew anything about where he was right now….
The thoughts were hard to ignore and when he got home he knew he'd be surrounded by the same walls he'd spent the last month trapped with them in….  even so, the world felt a little less washed out than it had before he left, and it wasn't just because of the alcohol swirling in his blood. 
He may not have had Batman... But today reminded him he wasn't alone.
He had friends… real friends… In a way he'd always considered them such… but deep down there was always doubt. I mean sure he got along better with some than others, but after knowing people so long he shouldn't have been so dumb to think they hated him as much as he thought they did. 
When you're a villain in Gotham sometimes all you have are other weirdos in the same boat as you to help keep you and everyone else afloat. People need people in more ways than one…  and as Jay drifted off to sleep in the back of his gaudy getaway vehicle, laying in a position that was just barely comfortable, he pushed his worries aside and made sure that was something he'd never let himself forget.
~ End ~
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robinrunsfiction · 4 years
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A Long Way Home - Part 2
Part 1
Pairing: Gerard Way x Female Reader Rating: General Requested By: Anon Word Count: ~7900 total, about ~4450 in part 2 (minus the song lyrics used) Author’s Note: The song featured is Audience of One by Rise Against, it can be found in the playlist, here. I hope you enjoy the conclusion to the story!
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As the tour rolled on, (YN) started to wonder if maybe there was a chance that the crazy commenters online were right about the possibility of her and Gerard being something.
It seemed like he always made time to see them perform now, and talked to her when he got the chance. It was never overtly flirtatious, but she couldn't help but wonder and hope that he was trying to get closer to her.
Unfortunately the tour had reached the halfway point and that meant saying goodbye to Taking Back Sunday. (YN) felt so thankful that she could now count Adam, John, Shawn and Mark among her friends.
Now Crystal Lake Cemetery had joined the tour and the overall vibe shifted. There had been such a welcoming camaraderie at first, but the new band didn't seem to want much to do with anyone else, returning to their own bus after their set was done. Rebecca and Jake took their lead, leaving Liam and (YN) to hang out with My Chem whenever the opportunity presented itself.
Now it was finally one of the rare days where there was enough time between shows to get a night in a hotel. Everyone appreciated the chance to get a decent shower and sleep in a real bed.
Everyone except (YN). She found herself on a couch in the hotel lobby after going out for dinner and drinks with Liam. He had started chatting with a guy, and ended up bringing him back to the hotel. All she could do now was wait for him to let her know it was ok to come back to the room and scroll through social media.
Up in his room, Gerard was doing the same when he noticed the square icon at the top of his phone. He smiled to himself when he saw that it was a notification that (YN) had updated her story.  He opened it up and saw it was a selfie of her pouting dramatically. With the caption "i havent been sexiled from a room since that semester i went to college 😫"
‘Where are you?’
The DM from Gerard surprised (YN), not only because he saw her post, but how quickly after posting it he responded.
‘Lobby. Liam brought a guy back, so I'm waiting for the all clear to go back up.’
‘Wanna hang out in my room?’
(YN) felt her heart rate shoot up. ‘Sure’ she replied as casually as she could with shaking fingers.
‘529′ he replied moments later and she jumped up, hurrying to the elevator. The ride up felt like it was moving painfully slow. She tried to keep her pace casual as she walked down the hall and smiled at Luke and Will, two of the members of Crystal Lake Cemetery who were talking in the doorway of the room across the hall, before knocking on Gerard's door.
“Hey,” he greeted her with a smile and she tried to keep from letting her knees go weak.
“Hey, thanks for inviting me up. I was getting kinda bored in the lobby,” she laughed as she walked in.
“Of course. Umm, wanna watch a movie?" Gerard asked as he made his way over to the couch.
"Sure, whatever's on," (YN) replied as she sat down next to him. She couldn’t help but wonder who designed the layout of the room with the couch not actually facing the tv as she found herself sitting sideways.
"Looks like The Martian is about to start, have you seen it?"
"Once when I was in a hotel room in Rochester, but I had taken so many cold meds that day, I'm pretty sure I thought I was a martian," she laughed. "I was so sick that tour. I hate when they schedule shows in the winter."
“I agree, those are always kinda miserable, seems like everything is always cold and wet. Oh, do you wanna stretch out?” He asked when he noticed how she was shifting uncomfortably.
“Sure,” she laughed a little nervously as she stretched her legs out over his lap. It wasn’t much later that her eyelids began to grow heavy and the next thing she knew, she was waking up as the end credits were playing, and her head was against Gerard's shoulder. Then she realized his arm was around her, his other hand on her shin, rubbing small circles, almost absentmindedly. "I guess I'm never gonna see this movie," she mumbled, feeling a little awkward.
"That's too bad, it was pretty good," Gerard laughed.
(YN) picked up her phone from where it had slid to the floor and saw that Liam still hadn't messaged her. "Damn dude," she muttered.
"Hmm?"
"Oh, Liam still hasn't given me the all clear. I guess him and this guy really hit it off.”
"How are things with the other two? They never seem to be around much."
"Weird. I dunno, something is going on and no one is talking about it. Well no, they're talking about it, but not to us. Liam overheard Rebecca telling Jake that I’m selfish and I care more about the band as a concept than as four people making music together," she sighed. "And I do see it now that it's been pointed out."
Gerard shook his head. "I get it, I was the same way the first time round. I wanted everything to be the way I envisioned it in my head, I had that goal that I was working toward and that was all I was focused on. Though, for what it's worth, I think you're pretty great."
"Stop," she replied, covering her face with her hands to hide the fact that she was blushing.
"I'm not kidding," he said tugging at her wrists. When she looked up, he was smiling softly at her.
She shook her head. "Anyway, can I crash on your couch tonight? I'm not sure the staff would appreciate a rock star sleeping in the lobby."
"You take the bed, I'll sleep on the couch," Gerard replied.
"Gee, no, I'm the one who is invading your space!" She said getting up.
"I invited you," he replied, getting up as well.
"Share?" The word tumbled out of her mouth before she could even realize what she said.
Gerard looked a little caught off guard. “Oh, umm, yea-”
“I’m sorry, you don’t have to. Again, I’ll sleep on the couch.”
“No, (YN), it’s fine,” he shook his head. “Please don’t worry, we can share.”
She nodded. “Ok, fine.”
~
The next morning she woke up and Gerard was still sleeping peacefully next to her. That was a sight she felt like she could really get used to and had to restrain herself from reaching out and brushing the hair from his face. He looked so peaceful and it warmed her heart. She rolled over and checked her almost dead phone, and found Liam had finally messaged her.
‘Ok, you can come back now’
‘Yooooooooooooo where are you i wanna talk to you come back’
‘For real text me back, i’m getting worried, if ur dead an its my fault im gonna be so mad at you’
She tried not to laugh out loud and wake Gerard. ‘I’m fine, found another room to crash in, we’ll talk soon 😁’
“Hey,” Gerard mumbled sleepily next to her.
“Hi. Thanks for letting me stay here last night,” she said as she rolled over and smiled at him.
“Anytime. I really like hanging out with you (YN).”
“Same. We should do it more often," she offered with a shrug.
"I'd love that," he replied softly.
"I should get going, Liam sent me about 100 texts," she said shaking her head. She got up and gathered the few things she had brought with her to Gerard's room. "Thanks again," she said. She didn't realize what she was doing when she held her arms out for a hug.
He smiled and got up and wrapped his arms around her. Her heart was pounding so hard she worried he would notice, but he was so warm and smelled good, she quickly forgot her worried.
Eventually she pulled back, and gave him a wave before heading out. When she opened the door, she noticed the door across the hall quickly close. She shook her head in confusion as she headed back to her room.
~
From that day on, things began to get strange. Garden of Woe's gear and wardrobe carts were moved into different rooms, their dinner orders were cancelled, and at a soundcheck Liam and Rebecca both found their instruments wildly out of tune, despite the guitar tech claiming he had tuned them before any of the bands came in.
“It feels like someone is fucking with us,” Liam said shaking his head as he and (YN) hung out with My Chem’s in their dressing room.
“The only thing that’s different is Crystal Lake Cemetery is here now,” Mikey said cautiously.
“Why would they be messing with us though? Are they hazing us?” (YN) asked. “I’ve never experienced anything like this, and we aren’t close enough to them for this to be okay.”
“I’m gonna have the tour manager talk to them, it’s not right that this is happening to you,” Gerard said from his spot next to (YN).
“Thanks,” (YN) smiled up at him appreciatively.
“Of course,” he replied looking back at her fondly. They were again oblivious to the looks being exchanged by their friends around them.
The talk must have worked, as nothing further was done to mess with the bands stuff, but what (YN) didn’t know was how the rumor mill was now working overtime.
~
“I can’t deal with this, I fucking can’t deal with this. Fuck this, fuck you, I can’t believe it,” (YN) snapped before rushing out of the dressing room. Tears stung at her eyes, blurring her vision so she couldn’t see who she ran into. "Fuck, sorry."
“Woah, (YN) what’s wrong?” She heard Gerard ask. She just shook her head in response and looked up at the ceiling, trying in vain to keep the tears in place. She felt Gerard taking her arm and leading her into another dressing room for privacy. But as soon as the door was shut behind them, she couldn’t hold it in anymore.
"It's over, it's all over," (YN) sobbed.
"What is? What's going on?" Gerard asked, concerned, rubbing her arms.
"Rebecca and Jake are leaving the band at the end of the tour."
"What?! Why?"
"They're gonna go have a kid and be a family and leave us behind," she wailed, the tears coming harder again. Gerard pulled her in tight and let her cry on his shoulder.
(YN) had no sense of how long she had been crying when she finally felt herself calming down and her tears slowing. "I'm so so sorry. You don't need to be bothered by my stupid problems. You're like the most important person here and I'm nobody. I’m nobody with no band anymore," (YN) said pulling back and wiping her eyes. She was thankful she hadn't put on her stage makeup yet, or his olive jacket would have been ruined.
Gerard shook his head, his eyes soft and full of sadness for her. "No, you’re important to me. And yea your band is gonna change, but you’re so talented, so is Liam, you're gonna do amazing things.”
“You think?” she asked looking up at him and he nodded. “Thank you for helping me calm down.”
“Anytime.”
She realized his hands had settled on her waist, and she looked back up at him as she clung to his jacket, to find he was still smiling down at her softly. This was the dream for her. Well, not the part where she found out half her band was leaving, but being held by Gerard Way while on tour together. The fan fic was practically writing itself in her mind until she felt her phone vibrating in her back pocket.
“Ugh, I gotta go deal with this,” she replied when she saw the text messages rolling in from Clark in all capital letters with many expletives and exclamation marks.
~
Garden of Woe's show that night was not their best, but no one spoke of it, mainly due to none of the band members speaking to each other at all. The bus ride to the next town was silent and when they arrived, Liam and (YN) found a private place to talk about the situation alone.
"I can learn drums, and play and sing like Don Henley. Or we could call Dallon and Ryan and see if they wanna form a supergroup? I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND Garden of Woe?" (YN) suggested.
"Genius," Liam laughed. "But (YN), we're gonna be fine. We'll figure this out as we go along. Well take a break and maybe they'll even change their minds."
"Jake maybe, but I doubt Rebecca will. She's been on edge for a long time, I just don't know if this life was ever for her. Maybe she's doing exactly what she needs to."
"What was it she called you?" Liam smirked.
"Scene whore," (YN) laughed darkly as she shook her head.
"Yea, that was something else.”
"I don't wanna talk about this anymore. I got my call with my therapist in five minutes."
"You doing ok?" Liam asked, concern crossing his face.
"This whole situation just reminded me a lot of what my mom did. Bailing on us to form a new family and all that."
Liam nodded thoughtfully, remembering how betrayed (YN) had felt when her mom left. "I get it," he replied as (YN) got up. "But hey."
"What?" (YN) stopped in her tracks.
"Remember what got you through back then?"
A smile fought its way across (YN)'s face. "Listening to hours and hours of My Chemical Romance?" Liam shrugged with a smug smile. "I'll give it a shot," (YN) laughed.
That night as she stood off stage (YN) felt like she was going to puke. The crowd was already so loud and the lights hadn’t even gone down yet.
“Ready?” Liam asked.
“Not at all,” she shook her head. “But fuck it, let’s go.”
The duo walked out on stage, where two stools and microphones were set up, a spotlight shining down. “What’s up California?!” (YN) shouted and the crowd cheered. “We are half of Garden of Woe, unfortunately Rebecca and Jake are both feeling under the weather tonight, so we’re gonna do a short acoustic set for you and then Crystal Lake Cemetery is gonna be out here to do an extra long set to get you hyped up for My Chemical Romance!”
The crowd cheered, albeit less enthusiastically than before. (YN) felt like shit lying to the audience like that, but Rebecca and Jake couldn’t be convinced to come off the bus, and it was either they do a modified set, or give up their time on stage altogether. The duo started with a couple of their best songs that sounded good while being played acoustically.
“Ok, we have one more song for you, it’s a cover of a song that means a lot to me by Rise Against. It’s called Audience of One. Thanks again guys you’ve been amazing,” (YN) said and Liam started playing. (YN) knew that it would take a miracle to make it through the song without breaking down.
I can still remember The words and what they meant As we etched them with our fingers In years of wet cement The days blurred into each other Though everything seemed clear We cruised along at half speed But then we shifted gears We ran like vampires from a thousand burning suns But even then we should have stayed But we ran away Now all my friends are gone Maybe we've outgrown all the things that we once loved Runaway But what are we running from? A show of hands from those in this audience of one Where have they gone? Identities assume us As nine and five add up Synchronizing watches To the seconds that we lost I looked up and saw you I know that you saw me We froze but for a moment In empathy I brought down the sky for you but all you did was shrug You gave my emptiness a name Then you ran away And now all my friends are gone Maybe we've outgrown all the things that we once loved Runaway But what are we running from? A show of hands from those in this audience of one Where have they gone? We're all okay, until the day we're not The surface shines, while the inside rots We raced the sunset and we almost won We slammed the brakes, but the wheels went on We ran away And now all my friends are gone Maybe we've outgrown all the things that we once loved Runaway But what are we running from? A show of hands from those in this audience of one Where have they gone?
The tears streamed down (YN)’s face as she finished singing. She didn’t know if the crowd could see it or not, and she didn’t know if she cared either way. She waved with Liam at the crowd and retreated off the stage. As soon as they were out of sight, he wrapped her in a tight hug and she cried against his shoulder.
After calming down and washing her face, (YN) and Liam went out to the merch booth to sign for fans but not many turned up. As they headed back through the corridors of the venue, they spotted Clark heading toward them.
"If it isn't my favorite PR nightmare," Clark said, annoyance clear in his voice.
(YN) and Liam looked at each other. “Oooh, Liam’s in trouble,” (YN) sing-songed with a smirk.
“Not him.”
"Wait what did I do?" (YN) asked, eyes going wide, as Liam snickered.
“In here,” Clark said, nodding toward the dressing room door, shutting it behind them. "When did you start hooking up with Gerard?"
"What?! We haven't done anything, where did you hear that?!"
"Apparently just about everyone else on the tour is talking about it. They’re saying you've spent  nights with him, you’ve been spotted ducking into abandoned dressing rooms with him."
"Well yea, I mean I stayed over in his room when Liam was hooking up with that guy in Texas, but we just hung out! And the dressing room thing, I don't even know when that would be other than that time I ran into him and he was comforting me when I was upset about Rebecca and Jake. Who would make something out of nothing?"
“People love starting rumors, especially about big names,” Clark shrugged. "If this gets out of just this bubble, people are gonna think-"
"Yea, yea, I know what people are gonna think," (YN) waved him off.
"We have enough problems coming up at the end of this tour, can you at least make sure this isn’t one of them?" Clark sighed before leaving the room.
Liam let out a long sigh as well. "I'm sure he's making a big deal outta nothing, don't you think?"
(YN) didn't answer, she had her head in her hands, staring at the floor. "What if Gerard thinks I started those rumors? What if he never wants to hang out with me ever again because he thinks I read too much into when we've hung out and think there's more to our friendship than there is? Now even if we ever had a chance at something more, it's ruined."
~
The last few nights of the tour dragged by, but they were finally back in LA for the final four shows at the Forum. The bands were given the option of staying in a hotel near  the venue, but (YN) just wanted to go home. She was tired of going out of her way to avoid everyone, especially Gerard, and she wanted some peace and quiet, even if it meant dealing with traffic.
(YN) unlocked the door to her apartment and walked in, dumping her luggage just inside the door. She breathed in the stale air that filled the apartment from being closed up for two months. She felt like she was going to be taking on the world when she left, and now she was home feeling utterly defeated.
She wandered over into the kitchen and opened the fridge. It was filled with nothing but condiments that were very possibly expired. She checked the pantry and found a stash of canned soup and spaghettios. She got a pot of spaghettios heated up before moving on to her laundry.
As she threw her clothes into the washer, she wondered what she’d wear to the show tonight. Did it matter? These were the last four shows that the band would be performing together and she had to pretend like everything was fine. Should she really live it up, or give up? (YN) trudged back to her kitchen and started eating her half warm lunch straight out of the pot. Was this what her life was about to become? Miserable and alone?
That night when she arrived at the venue she hid in the dressing room until sound check. She continued to avoid everyone except Liam until the show started. After, she went to sign for the fans and for the first time she didn’t hurry back to see My Chemical Romance play. Her heart broke as she heard the first notes. She wondered if Gerard noticed she wasn't there. She wondered if he was glad she wasn't bothering him anymore.
As she laid in her bed the morning of the last show, staring up at the ceiling, she couldn’t help the tears that rolled down her cheeks. She had barely slept the last few nights, her mind racing, and she felt like shit. She dragged herself out of bed and down to the kitchen, starting a pot of coffee and staring at her still bare pantry, the last can of spaghettios staring back at her. She sighed, the feeling of defeat over everything hitting her harder than it had yet.
Her doorbell ringing made her jump, pulling her from her thoughts. For a second she considered not answering. But when it rang again she decided to check who was interrupting her self-pity fest.
"Gerard? What the hell are you doing here?" She asked when she opened the door. "And how do you know where I live?"
"Liam told me.”
"Has he told you my blood type and social security number as well?" She sneered, but held the door open for him to come in.
"I was worried about you, (YN)," he said softly, his eyes filled with worry.
"Gee," she started running her hands through her hair frustratedly. "How could you possibly care about me? I am useless damaged goods! I'm barely functional! I've been eating spaghettios for the last four days because I can't bring myself to go to the store. My band is about to break up, and meanwhile people think I fucked my way onto the tour of a lifetime. Everything is," her voice started to crack as she sank down on the couch. “This was supposed to be the best thing ever, and it was at first, but now it’s ruined and you should hate me.”
“Why?” He asked as he sat down next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
“Don’t you think I started those rumors about us?” She looked up at him.
“No!” he replied. “God no, I know you better than that (YN). And I know those assholes from Crystal Lake Cemetery. Now I wish we never had to bring them along on this tour because it meant that I’ve had to spend time away from you these last few days.”
(YN) was dumbfounded. “Do, do you mean that?”
Gerard nodded. “Mikey told me like the second day of tour just to ask you out, but I didn’t think I’d have a chance in hell with you. And then I got to know you even better and I, I knew I was falling for you, but I still don’t believe you could feel the same way about me.”
“How could I not?” She asked, astonished.
“Because you’re this amazing up and coming star, you’re beautiful, and funny and could get any guy you could possibly want and I’m older than you, I got an ex that everyone knows and still brings up and a kid. Because I got this grey hair, and I look like this,” he said gesturing to his body as he looked down forlornly.
“Gerard, stop it,” (YN) snapped. “I will not tolerate you being so mean to someone I love.”
His head shot up, eyes wide. "(YN), do you mean that? Do you really want me?"
"More than you could ever know," she whispered, not breaking eye contact.
Gerard leaned in and kissed (YN) hard. She immediately responded by grabbing his jacket to pull him closer before reaching up to run her hand through his hair. His hands were on his waist as he leaned into her. She took the lead, pulling him back so he was laying over her on the couch. He deepened the kiss as she let him move his tongue against hers.
When they came up for air, Gerard brushed the hair out of her eyes and she laughed lightly. “I missed that sound,” he said quietly. “God, I love you (YN). Fuck what anyone says, I wanna be with you, if you’ll have me.”
“I thought that kiss made it pretty clear I do,” she laughed softly again and he blushed. “Because I love you too, everything about you.”
He leaned in and kissed her again. “Would you like to go get lunch before we gotta be at the venue?” He asked when he pulled back.
“I would love nothing more than to not eat another can of spaghettios and get lunch with you,” she laughed.
They grabbed lunch at one of Gerard’s favorite spots, finding a secluded corner where they could talk away from any fans who might just happen to stop in. (YN) had been spending so much time with Gerard before Clark told her about the rumors that she felt like they had so much to catch up on after just a few days apart.
“So how was this for a first date?” Gerard asked after they finished eating.
“Perfect,” (YN) nodded contentedly. Gerard was looking at her with a soft smile on his face. “What?” she laughed.
“I’m just really happy,” he said, taking her hand.
“For the first time in quite a while, I am too,” she agreed.
When Liam saw Gerard and (YN) walking into the venue together, he sighed in relief. “Hey guys,” he said tentatively. “Everything good?”
(YN) nodded. “Yea, we got it all sorted out,” she said glancing up at Gerard, who was smiling back at her.
“Good because tonight should be the best show of the tour, and I could not put up with any more of your moping (YN),” Liam laughed.
“Thank you for your support in my time of need,” (YN) rolled her eyes.
“Gerard, there you are, you’re on for soundcheck,” the very tired look tour manager called from down the hall.
“I’ll see you later,” he said leaning in and gave (YN) a quick kiss before heading down the hall.
“So when you said sorted out,” Liam started.
“We’re together,” she blushed.
“My god, your 16 year old self must be dying right now,” Liam laughed.
“Stop,” (YN) shook her head before heading back to their dressing room.
When Garden of Woe took the stage for the last time, everyone played well, and the crowd was going crazy, but (YN) was struggling to act as if nothing was wrong. Her heart felt heavy until she glanced to the side of the stage and saw Gerard leaning against a crate, giving her a nod and a smile, reminding her that everything would be okay.
“Are you ok?” Gerard asked, wrapping her in a hug after the band took their last bow.
“Yep. Things change, but I think everything has ended up exactly where it needs to be,” she nodded before leaning in to kiss him again.
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parkaiur · 4 years
Text
Snowy Days - Jihoon
❀ genre: college life + romance + a dash of angst 
❀ word count: 5491
❀ a/n: just read the tags below but if ur too lazy to basically: don’t expect lots of updates and i just wrote this as a form of therapy for me. i guess i missed writing and needed to rant /shrugs/ 
also this title sucks but idk what to do with it either LMAO 
❀ ❀ ❀
It was a quiet, winter evening; the snow was gently falling outside and the laughter of college students filled the dorm hallways. 
I, on the other hand, was curled up in a ball on my bed, reading a book. The soft sounds of my hand turning the pages lulled me in a dreamland of swoon-worthy boys. 
Suddenly, I heard a loud bang. 
I flinched and jumped up on my bed to see what had dropped. 
“Sorry! Just dropped my pan, how’s it going?” I sighed thankfully, realizing it was just my roommate, Naeun. Naeun was a freshman like me; we hadn’t talked much before rooming together. We got along most of the time, but being around people just irked me sometimes.
I pointed at the book, trying to hide the girlish daze in my eyes. 
“Just reading, like usual.” I kept my words short, hoping she would get the hint that I wasn’t in the mood to talk. It wasn’t like I was mad at her or anything, but I need my breaks with all the socialness of college. I don’t think people understand how tiring it is for introverts to have to be “on” all the time; “on” meaning social. 
She nodded. “What book?” 
“It’s called ‘Win Some, Lose Some’ by Shay Savage. It’s a really amazing novel about a boy who was Autism and a girl who ...” I trailed off when I realized she had her back towards me. The sound of her pots and pans flying into her drawer was distracting. “A girl who befriends him basically. How was your day?” I asked politely. 
I braced myself for her long winded answer. Most people just say “good” or “it was pretty alright” but not Naeun, she pops off and talks about things no one really needs to know, and no one really cares. 
“It was okay. I saw one of my friends on campus and I waved to her because it’s so weird, right? Seeing people you know on such a large campus. And then I walked to English and my professor was just such in a good mood today, she’s so nice, I love her.” 
I smiled carefully, hoping she doesn’t realize how much I do not care about who she waves at or how her professor looks. 
“Then, I went to the library and did some of my math homework and I got started on the next chapter. And then I started to do my English homework which I got kind of stumped on. Anyway, all I could think about is this big burrito when I was studying.” She took out two large burritos and plopped them on a blue plate. 
I nodded and told her I was going to go back to my book. She nodded and right as I was about to plug in my earbuds to drown out her voice while I read, she stopped me with her voice.
“Hey, I’m bored, do you think Ahyoung and Somi are busy?” I took out my earbuds once more and shrugged. 
“Probably not.” 
“Hm. Is it cool if I invite them over? I mean, you don’t have to say yes if you just want to be alone, I know how you get like that.” 
I forced an awkward smile. “Um, I actually want to just chill and be alone, but you can always go to their rooms... they live in the same building.” I tried not to let my annoyance show in my voice, but it was rising. 
She furrowed her brows and sighed. “Yeah, but they’re so far...” She whined. 
Don’t roll your eyes. Don’t roll your eyes. Don’t roll your eyes. 
“I mean, they always come to our dorm, maybe go to them today?” I really didn’t care what she did, I just wanted to be alone. 
I turned on my music and opened my book so I didn’t have to hear her complain. She went back on her phone and I was content reading in peace. 
Five minutes later, I heard loud knocking on the door. 
What? She did not just...
“Oh, hey, Ahyoung! How’s it going?” 
No way, she did not just invite people over after I told her not to. 
I felt my blood boil, but I tried to keep my calm. I was not going to make a scene, especially since Ahyoung was my friend. 
I locked eyes with Naeun, who I visibly glared at. 
“It’s chill, y/n, you don’t have to talk we are just gonna hang a bit and then go watch some TV.” 
I bit my tongue to not snap at her. Her insensitivity was rubbing me the wrong way, but I didn’t want to blow up. We were all adults here, I didn’t want to seem like a child who got irritated when they were forced to socialize with their mom’s friends. 
Soon, I heard another knock. 
“Hey, Sooyoung! Come in, we are picking a show to watch.” 
I tried to calm down and read my book, but when I say I want to be alone, I really mean I want to be alone. 
I felt myself boil over in anger as I could still hear them over my earbuds. Their laughter and constant chatter couldn’t be tuned out. 
“Ok, we are gonna go to the lounge and watch TV. High five!” Naeun held her hand right in front of my face and I hit it just to make her leave. I swear, I’d rather hit her face instead. 
As soon as I heard the door slam shut, I pulled out my earbuds and went to rinse my face. 
How insensitive of her! I explicitly told her not to invite anyone over to the dorm, and there she goes. She can’t walk up one flight of stairs to see our friends?? So fucking rude. 
Living in the dorms as an introverted person was terribly hard. I don’t even know if introverted is the right word for it anymore if I want to go days without talking to people. And it sucks when no one truly understands me and doesn’t take my words seriously. 
I groaned and stared at myself in the mirror.
“Just two more quarters and you’re free for the summer.” 
I sighed and wiped my face on my towel. 
College was hard. 
I had found my group in college, but unfortunately, I had made the same mistakes as I did in high school. First, I stayed connected with some friends from high school who I had planned on cutting off. And most importantly, I put too much time and effort into people who disrespect me and don’t care for me. 
And now I live with someone like that. 
It angered me to feel so out of place, so alone in the dorms even when I had friends. Whenever I wanted to escape, there was no where to go. All my friends were here. 
I clenched my fist. 
All of a sudden, I couldn’t just sit down and read. I glanced over in the corner of the room and saw the camera from my photography class sitting there. 
I looked outside my window and saw the soft snow falling down. 
I quickly pulled on a warm, puffy jacket, jeans, and headed out to take some photos with my trustworthy camera. 
-----
The air was colder than I remembered. I felt my nose crinkle as the wind blew snow into my nose. 
The city was beautiful; it was painted in white sparkles. I snapped a few photos and took a deep breath. 
I loved being outside and having no one notice me; this was one of my favorite things about living in the city and college in general. I snapped pictures of groups of people walking across the street. The blur of the street lights combined with the softness of the snow captivated me. 
“Some nice pics you got there.” 
I jumped at the voice and almost dropped my camera; thankfully, it’s always wrapped around my neck.
“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t think you’d get so scared.” 
I looked up and saw a boy around my age staring at me. And dang, was he cute. 
I thanked God for the weather because my cheeks were already red. 
“Uh, um, it’s fine.” I fibbed quickly. I felt awkward because I didn’t know how to act around guys my age, especially ones as cute as him. 
Be friendly, be friendly. He just wants to be friends.
“Um, I’m y/n by the way.” I took out my hand to shake his. He chuckled and reciprocated the action.
“Jihoon, Park Jihoon. You live in this building too?” He pointed at the building next door to me. I shook my head and watched as the snow fell onto my shoulders.
“Oh no, I live in this one.” He nodded. “Are you a freshman?” I asked. 
He laughed heartily. I liked how he didn’t hide his emotions. “Oh no, I’m a sophomore this year but I’m an RA in this building.” 
I made an “O” shape with my mouth. “Ah, a resident adviser. I’m applying to be one next year, kinda nervous but hopefully I’ll get the job.” 
His eyes widened. “Oh really? I rarely meet people who want to baby a bunch of freshmen.” I laughed at his comment. “But hey, it’d be cool if we were in the same dorm next year. You could teach me to take such pretty pictures.” I laughed and flipped through the photos on my camera out of habit.
“Don’t get your hopes up, I haven’t even been accepted for the job yet. Also, I’m taking photography 101 with Professor Lee Miyoung, I’m sure she’s a better teacher than I am.” I teased. 
He shrugged. “Well, I doubt she’s as pretty as you.” 
My heart froze. 
W-what? Did he just flirt with me? Oh god, what do I say now? How do I flirt back? I-
“Sorry, was that weird? I wanted to call you pretty but I didn’t mean to lowkey talk about a professor’s beauty either.” He looked mildly embarrassed when he shook out his hair full of snow. 
I gave him a small smile. “Um, no, not weird, it was actually kind of smooth. I don’t really know how to respond to flirting.” 
Oh my god. I just said that. 
His eyes lit up mischievously as I tried not to blush even harder.
“Oh flirting? Is that what we are doing?” He teased.
“Technically, that’s what you are doing.” He laughed loudly and his voice echoed throughout the streets. I only hoped to have that loud of a voice as an RA. 
“You got me there.” He then looked down at his watch and frowned. 
“What’s wrong?”
He looked up at me with his soft brown puppy eyes. I swear this guy is too cute to be real. “Um, my shift is starting soon.” He then took out his phone. “I know we just met, but you seem pretty cool-”
Before he could finish, I took his phone and typed in my number.
“There, now you can teach me how to be an RA and I can teach you how to take photos.” I said as confidently as I could. 
He seemed a bit surprised at my voice, but nodded.
“Sounds great, see you later.” He waved to be as he walked away, but slipped on a patch of snow. 
“Ah, be careful!” I shouted. He gave me a small smile and walked back into his dorm.
Well, at least this day ended on a high note. 
-----
“Hey, where’d you go last night? We were wondering where you were at.” 
I’m an adult, I don’t have to tell you everywhere I go.
I bit back the words and forced a small smile. “Oh, I just went to take some photos for my photography class. The snow looked really pretty last night.” I left out the minor detail that a cute boy started to talk to me. I wanted to keep the giddiness to myself. 
“Oh cool. I just came back from the gym. I saw a really cute boy in there. He was really fit, dark skinned, dark hair. And he smiled at me and I smiled back. We didn’t get to talk because I was so out of breath, but I hope he’s at the gym again.” She went off without me asking her too. 
I understand that I’m being a bit tough on her, but she irritated me first by inviting people over when I told her not to. People always talk about communication in college, but sometimes people just don’t listen to you. 
“Cool, hope you see him again.” I said nicely. I have to put on a nice face with my roommates, as I don’t want to be in an awkward living situation. 
“Yeah... how was your day today?” 
-----
“And then she just invited you guys over, disregarding what I had just said before! Isn’t that rude?” I voiced to Ahyoung, my best friend. I’d known her before going to college, well, I’ve known her since we were 8. 
She looked a bit hesitant on what to say. 
I went on about the situation. “I’m not saying I hate seeing you guys, but you know how I get when I want to be alone. I...I just want to be alone and it makes me crazy when I see people. Plus, I told Naeun I wanted to chill out and be alone and then she just invites you guys over, without telling me?? I’m not crazy.” I ranted. 
Ahyoung sighed and took a sip of her coffee filled with milk and sugar. 
“I mean, she did say she was inviting us over in the groupchat.” 
I glared at the younger girl. “Excuse me, I was sitting right next to her, she knows I didn’t check my phone. It’s rude to not tell your roommate you’re inviting people over, and it’s even ruder when we just talked about how I didn’t want her to invite people over. It’s not like she forgot within the five minutes.” 
“True. That wasn’t nice of her.” I noticed she hesitated on saying anything bad about her. We were all friends, but I was the one who had problems with friends in the group, as usual. I didn’t like very many people, but I was civil and nice to everyone; that’s what being an adult is all about. 
“Yeah...” I trailed off. I don’t know when it got so weird between us, but it felt like I couldn’t talk to my best friend about things in my life. I didn’t even tell her about the cute guy who flirted with me. Deep inside of me, I knew she didn’t deserve to know these things about me when she didn’t want to hear the bad parts of my life. 
It felt like everyone wants to be around me when I’m laughing and joking, never when I’m serious and want to talk about my feelings. No one wants to listen when I want to rant about real things in life, yet they love when someone rants about some “dumb” thing a girl did in the hallway. 
I didn’t get why they judged people before they knew them. I always tried to talk with people before I made judgements, yet people think it’s weird when I judge people I talk to. That’s the way you’re supposed to judge people... when you get to know them personally. Duh.
As I was talking, I saw her eyes focused on something far away from me. 
I turned around and saw her crush standing there. She stopped listening to me as he waved at her. I saw her eyes bright up when she saw him and I grew annoyed. I was telling her about something that was bothering me, and then she chooses a boy over me. Not cool. 
“Hello? Earth to Ahyoung??” I teased. She shrugged me off. 
“He’s so cute. I know he doesn’t like me, but I can’t help myself.” 
I snorted. “Yeah, he doesn’t like you and actually, he only dates white girls and you my friend, are not white.” I knew I was being harsh, but I hear about him every single second and it angers me when I want to vent about something in my life and she doesn’t think I’m as important as her crush.
She flinched at my harsh words. 
“You just wouldn’t understand, you’ve never had a crush before. You’ve never been in love before.” She said matter of factly. 
Ouch. 
This was all true, but it hurt when she said it like that. I’ve never felt romantic love, wow, thanks for reminding me. Maybe I’m too busy taking care of my dumb friends who don’t care about me. 
Maybe.
-----
“Bye, see you later.” I waved her off as we both went to class.
As soon as I turned around, I saw a familiar face. 
Jihoon. 
I fixed my hair and prayed none of my mascara had smeared on my face. 
Be confident, make friends. 
“Hey, Jihoon.” He turned around with a confused look on his face. I felt a leap in my heart when he smiled at me.
“Oh hey y/n, it’s weird to see you without a camera.” He joked. 
I felt my heart skip a beat when he said my name; I was so used to people forgetting about me. 
“Hah, well it’s weird to see you in the daylight.” I joked. When I saw him left an eyebrow, I knew I said something wrong. 
I felt my face burn up at my own words. 
“Not like that.” I blubbered out. He let out a light laugh. 
“Well, I mean, you’re right.” He took note of my embarrassed state and changed the subject. “So, what class are you headed to?”
“History of the Ancient Greek and Roman worlds, how bout you?” 
“Woah, what an interesting class. I’m heading to choir practice actually.” That made me stop in my tracks.
“Wait, you sing?” 
He chuckled. “Yup, that is what you do in choir.” I felt a bit embarrassed at my statement. “I’m joking, I’m joking, but yes, I do sing. Have been doing so for my whole life.”
“I did choir up until high school, I didn’t feel good enough for college. I still don’t know how to read music and it’s been years.” 
“It’s hard, but you get used to it. You should give it a shot if you really want to though. Or come watch one of our performances.” I smiled at him.
“One day.” I stopped walking and pointed at the building in front of us. “This is me. I’ll see you later?” 
He nodded and smiled. 
“I’ll see you later.”
-----
Two weeks had passed and I hadn’t seen much of Jihoon. We waved to each other in passing, but it was midterms soon, and exams were the only thing on my mind. We sent each other memes daily though and we just got each other’s humor- that was rare. 
I was filling out my history study guide until I heard my roommate, Naeun, walk in.
“Hey, y/n~ Ahyoung, Sooyoung and I saw you talking to a boy yesterday~ Oooooooo what’s his name?” 
She sat right in front of me, not giving me any personal space. 
I tried not to blush but honestly, my face was turning red because I was so annoyed at her.
“His name is Jihoon. He’s an RA in the dorm next to us, we met at an RA informational meeting.” I lied. I didn’t want to tell her I ran out of the dorm because I couldn’t handle her and people.
“He’s cute, nice body too.” I felt a an overwhelming sense of jealously and protectiveness wash over me. I hated it. I didn’t want to be this person. I probably only felt this way because I didn’t like Naeun right now. 
“Yeah, you can have him if you want. I’m not into him.” I lied. 
She raised a brow. “Really? Don’t be upset if he falls for me then.” I knew she was joking when she flipped her hair dramatically, but I wasn’t into it. 
I felt my buried insecurities rise when I stared intensely at her face. Her eyebrows were neatly plucked, which I was always too scared to do. Her skin was tanned and even, not blotchy and red like mine. Her fashion was trendy and most boys liked her because of her socialness, on the contrary, I was awkward and mean to boys, unintentionally. 
I just went back to doing my homework, shaking off the comparison. 
-----
Later that night, I saw a message pop up in my texts which was weird because I usually mute everyone.
‘hey midterms are killing me and i dont understand anything... want ice cream?’ 
I tried not to laugh even though both my roommates were at the library. 
‘uhhh shouldnt u be studying if u dont understand anything?? mayb??’ 
‘LOL thats not how it works young padawan’ I rolled my eyes. He thinks he’s so much older than me. 
‘also I don’t eat ice cream, i don’t eat dairy’
‘... aight imma head out’ 
I snorted and tilted my head back in laughter. 
‘ok, no ice cream... what DO you like?’
You. I like you. 
... Definitely not sending that.
‘UMMM i like hot chocolate?’ 
‘okay, i’ll be at your dorm in 5. what is your room number again?’
‘303′ 
‘aight’ 
I looked down at short shorts and tank top and then at the harsh winds outside. I threw on a pair of cute leggings and a heavy sweater. I put on a black jacket over it and placed a beanie on my head. 
I did my brows and put on a few swipes of mascara. I carefully applied my lightly colored lip balm and sprayed face mist to look dewy and cute. 
Is this a date? Or is this just two friends being adventurous? 
Whatever, I want to look cute at least.
Seconds after I finish, I hear a knock at my door. I took a deep breath.
This isn’t a date. This isn’t a date. Calm down.
I opened the door. 
He was wearing a puffy jacket and dark black jeans that outlined his thigh muscles. Yum.
I also noticed he was wearing a gray beanie... which was identical to mine.
“Cute hat.” I noted. He grinned and tugged on my beanie. 
“Same goes for you. Ready for some hot chocolate?” 
“Yes, where are we going to get said chocolate caliente?” 
Jihoon gave me a weird look. “Chocolate what?” 
I stared at him, stunned. “Chocolate caliente. Caliente means hot in Spanish. Therefore, hot chocolate. You didn’t take Spanish in high school?” 
He shook his head. “Nope, I took Japanese because I’m a weeb.” I snorted. 
“Wow, I should be surprised but I’m not.” He pushed me playfully and I tried not to freak out over the warmth of his skin. 
“You’re telling me you don’t watch any anime?” 
I rolled my eyes. “Of course I watch some anime. But am I full blown weeb... no.” 
He narrowed his eyes at me. “I can change that, don’t worry.”
“You still didn’t tell me where we are going.” My fingers felt crisp from the cold air. It wasn’t snowing tonight, but the ground was still white. 
“Aha, we are going to my favorite cafe called ‘Pink Heart Cafe’. It is decked in pink hearts.” 
“As expected from a Pink Heart Cafe.” I joked. In the near distance, I noticed a sign that had a baby pink heart that wrote ‘Pink Heart Cafe’ in cute lettering. 
I crinkled my nose from the cold air. “What, you don’t like pink?” 
“No, no, I love the color pink actually. It’s just kinda cold out here.” He nodded. 
“Maybe it would be warmed if we held hands... maybe.” 
For the first time, I felt comfortable with someone’s flirtatious comment.
I smirked and hooked my hand with his. I felt my heart beater faster. Much faster. And I loved it. 
I saw him smile widely and hide it with his hair. 
“I’m a lucky guy.” He whispered. 
We walked into the cafe. 
“Hi! Welcome to Pink Heart Cafe, for here or to go?” 
“For here, please.” The woman nodded. 
“Please take a seat. We will come take your order soon.”
We took our seats in the corner, next to the pink fairy lights. I was in love with the aesthetic. 
“Cute place. And fancy it seems, they come take our order at the table.” I sang a bit of Twice’s Fancy. 
“Oh gosh, you love Twice?? Me too!” I shrugged nonchalantly. 
“I mean, I like them, their songs are cute and catchy but I’m not a diehard fan.” 
He frowned. I can change that too. 
I sighed and rolled my eyes dramatically. “Wow, it seems like there are a lot of things you want to change about me. What do you even like about me?” I teased. 
He smiled harder and I noticed a blush on his face. 
“Uhhh, that’s a good question. I like... I like how you’re honest with your emotions. I like how you’re good at photography. I like that you want to become an RA because of the money and--” I gasped and pushed him on the arm.
“That’s not the only reason! Yes... the pay is good, but I like helping people.” 
Our laughter died down as he gazed at me intensely. 
“You like helping people? Tell me more about that.” 
I paused. No one had asked me that before. 
“Um, no one’s asked me that before. I guess I just like to see people happy. I like appealing to people’s emotions and most times, I’m pretty good at making people like me.” I said honestly. I saw his face light up at my words. “And I also want to be a teacher after I graduate, so being an RA would help improve my social skills and teach me how to interact with those younger than me and work through their problems. I don’t know, people say it’s hard and that it can be tough if kids come to you with suicidal thoughts and feelings of anxiety and depression, but I mean, I just want to do it and give back to the community somehow... I don’t know. ” I mumbled off, feeling like I said too much.
His gaze was so serious, I was scared I bored him to death.
He leaned closer to me and I freaked out. I held my breath, waiting for what was next until he spoke. 
“You’re so awesome.” He finally said. 
That... that was surprising.
“Um, thanks?”
“I’m serious! That’s so amazing why you want to be an RA. Honestly, I took up this job because it pays well and I’m good at talking to people, but sometimes I couldn’t care less about my residents. I like how you’re so kind to people.”
I laughed, “I’m not that nice.” 
“Yeah right, you were nice to me the first time we met. And I could’ve been a creepy dude and I almost made you break your camera.” 
“Well, I was nice to you because you are a cute boy.” He choked on his drink at my blunt words. I grew shy all of a sudden and laughed with him. 
“Jesus, give a boy a warning before you say such words.” He was pink in the face and I felt my heart warm. 
“It’s true, you are attractive. But it is also true that I’m not nice. My roommate is irritating the heck out of me and I have to tell myself every time I talk to her to say nice things and not hurt her feelings ‘cause she’s so damn sensitive.” 
He paused for a moment. I was nervous he would think I was a bad person. Which... technically is what I’m trying to convince him of. 
“Wow, you just got ten times nicer.” Now it was my turn to choke on my drink. 
“What? I just told you I have to force myself to be nice to my roommate even though I just want to snap at her all the time.” 
Jihoon leaned back in his chair with a smug look on his face. “Exactly! Most people would’ve just called her a bitch and moved on! Moved out or from what I’ve seen, some girls do mean shit like throwing another girl’s clothes out of her closet or flirting with her boyfriend. You... you just be nice when someone is mean to you.”
“She’s not mean, just rubbing me the wrong way.” Jihoon rolled his eyes.
“See? You are still defending her even though I’m sure she’s putting you through more than other people would take.” 
I shrugged. “I don’t know, most people don’t take me seriously when I talk about it.” 
“Try me.” 
I hesitated at first, but when I saw his open and honest look, I spilled.
“Well, I’m quite an introverted person so I need my alone time. And when I told her, this was actually the night that I met you, um, I told her that I wanted to be alone. And then she invited people over to the room and yes, they left soon, but when I’m in my isolation mood, I just... I just don’t even want to look at people.” 
He stared at me with a curious look so I rambled on. “I know, it’s dumb-”
He placed a gentle hand on top of mine.
“No, that’s not dumb at all. She should’ve respected your words. I would be so mad. Give me more!” He pounded his fist on the table for dramatic effect. 
I felt my heart lighten when he wanted to hear more of my words. I was so used to people ignoring me and brushing over my concerns.
“Uh, well, just... well not just Naeun, my roommate, but some of my friends in the same dorm as me. They are just really judgmental and the negativity just pains me. I don’t like judging others before getting to know them, so hearing them talk bad about random people they don’t know just pains me. And I’m no saint, yes I judge people, but I make sure I talk to them first and get to know them before I make judgments.”
Jihoon smiled. “You keep getting better the more I get to know you. I do the same thing, my friends think I’m crazy when I say ‘hey that dude looks kinda mean and no one likes him, i’ll be friends with him’!” 
My eyes widened. “Oh my god, that’s how I met most of my friends!” 
We laughed as we bad mouthed our friends and the people who have hurt us. 
“Why do you stick with such crappy friends? No offense, you deserve so much better.” 
I shrugged. “I mean, everyone says that to me and truly, I don’t even know. I just feel so connected to them now and they have their good moments-”
“Good moments aren’t enough if they consistently hurt you.”
“I know, I know! I just... maybe I’m not that good of a person then if I stay with them. Like people say, you are who your friends are.” 
“That’s bull, you’re a good person, I know that. And your friends don’t even care to listen to you rant, I can tell I’m the first person you told all this stuff too because you have flames in your eyes. You deserve friends you can trust and are able to rant to. I promise.” 
I bit my lip, thinking of what to say. 
“Thank you, I guess I just think I am helping them by staying with them. I don’t want to hurt their feelings.” 
“Just know that you have me now, and if you ever need to rant or vent or whatever, I’m here for you. You have me now.” 
I felt a wave of emotion wash over me. No one’s ever said that to me before and meant it. I know he meant it, it was written all over his face. 
I nodded slowly, accepting the moment we were having. 
We sat in a moment of silence until the waiter came for the check.
I dug through my pockets to get out the ten dollar bill I stuffed in there. 
“Hah funny,” Jihoon chided when he whipped out his card before I could do anything. I gasped. 
“Ah, Jihoon, I brought money!” 
He tsked and stood when the waiter gave him his card back. “Yeah right, I’d never let a girl pay on the first date, that’s like... illegal.” I rolled my eyes, until I realized what he had just admit.
“Date?” I questioned carefully. 
He looked away from my gaze, like he didn’t mean to say the word. 
“Yes... date. Do you have a problem with that?” 
I grinned.
“Nope.”
91 notes · View notes
justablobfish · 3 years
Text
Giving subtle hints of what one would like to get for Christmas
Day 7 of my Advent Calender. A new drabble or oneshot everyday until Christmas, following the Continent’s favourite found family and what they’re up to in the winter season. Based on this prompt list
Read on AO3
Day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
______
"What ya got there?" Jaskier asked on that fateful day a week ago as he carelessly dropped himself into Geralt's lap. And that's how it all started. With a letter and Jaskier’s unquenchable curiosity. 
"Summons from the Prince of Attre," Geralt answered, a fact he much regrets by now. "He's got a contract for me." 
"Ooh, it's made out 'To the White Wolf'", Jaskier beamed as he shamelessly skimmed over the letter. "You're famous enough now that people request you personally! I'm a genius and you're very welcome!" 
"For some reason the prince wants me to catch the Ur alive, though. I'll be needing Yennefer's help to put it down without killing it," Geralt pointed out. "So you'll have to stay here and watch Ciri. We'll prepare and set off in a few days." 
"Ugh, fine," Jaskier whined. "But don't complain when the house burns down again. What noble did Yennefer mind control that we can stay here again? I'm sure they won't mind having to redecorate a little!" 
"I know what you're doing, Jaskier, and it won't work. With Yennefer's portals we won't be gone for longer than two days. I'm sure you'll manage to control yourself and the little menace till then." 
"See, darling, that's what I love about you. Despite much evidence to the contrary, you never stop believing in my abilities." 
Geralt snorted at that. 
"Wait a second, though, the Prince of Attre. That means you'll be close to Cintra, right?" 
"Hmm," Geralt confirmed, and then added the one little word he still regrets uttering to this day: "Why?" 
And Jaskier had told him at length about this flower that supposedly only grows in the region near Cintra. When Ciri appeared to drag him off to sword training, he had been more than relieved to escape the lecture. 
Unfortunately, that wasn't the last of it. From then on out, Jaskier used every opportunity he could find to gush about this stupid flower. It's unparalleled beauty, it's lovely aroma, the intricate symbolism connected to it. Geralt started dreaming about the damn thing, his mind producing a perfect picture of the stupid weed from Jaskier’s descriptions alone. 
He wasn't the only victim, either. One night, when he headed back to his room after he had taken advantage of their luxurious temporary home and enjoyed a lengthy bath, he nearly ran into Yennefer, bursting out of the library and clearly agitated. 
"If I hear one more word about that stupid flower I'm going to murder him!" she snapped as she disappeared around the corner. "And now I'm running late for my lesson with Ciri!" 
And yet, now that he and Yennefer are actually on the trail of the beast they were hired to catch, he can't help but look out for those little white flower buds Jaskier described. 
"What even does he want with that stupid thing?" Geralt mumbles under his breath. 
Yennefer seems to have heard him, though. She clicks her tongue in annoyance and replies: "I hear it works as an aphrodisiac. Some people use it in perfumes." 
"Great, " Geralt deadpans. "As if we didn't have enough problems on our hands. I haven't seen Ciri smile in weeks for some reason and all Jaskier can talk about is some weird sex plant." 
"It's the winter solstice that has Ciri in a bad mood," Yennefer explains, her voice going soft. "For most people it's just a day of amplified magic, but in Cintra it's traditionally a celebration to honor one's family. She misses them a lot and it only gets worse around this time of the year." 
"Fuck," is all Geralt can think to reply. He wishes he had some sort of solution, some way of cheering Ciri up. Usually he and Yennefer turn to Jaskier for help with the emotional stuff, since they both don't deal with such topics all too well. But when Jaskier has his mind set on a project, it's hard to get him to focus on anything else. 
Geralt brushes aside yet another curtain of leaves, still dripping wet from last night's rain shower, and suddenly finds himself at the end of the monster's trail. 
Glowing red eyes stare back at him. Despite standing on four hooved legs, the Ur is at eye level with Geralt. It's huge, even for its kind. Thick skin covered in short black fur stretches over a massive bulk of muscle. The forward protruding horns are easily as long as Geralt's forearm and Geralt has no doubt that his armour will be of little use if the creature decides to gore him. 
For a moment, they stare at each other in equal surprise. Then the monster lets out a puff of hot breath and charges at him. Geralt quickly dodges out of its way, pulling Yennefer to safety with him. 
"Keep it distracted while I cast the spell!" Yennefer orders as he spins around to face the beast again. 
Easier said than done. The monster has turned back around as well and is pawing at the rain-slick ground with its hoofs, ready to pounce. 
That's when he sees it. Smack in the middle between the angry Ur and himself there's a tiny fleck of white sitting between the lush greens of the forest. One of Jaskier’s dumb plants. And the creature is just about to race over it. 
Geralt curses and throws an Aard sign in the direction of the monster, just as it comes running at him again. 
The bulky mass of muscles is unimpressed by his weak spell though, and doesn't slow down in the slightest. Geralt barely manages to throw himself to the side and avoid being trampled to death. 
There's nothing he can do for the flower though. And as if that weren't enough, his evasion manoeuvre landed him smack in the middle of a mud puddle. Just great. 
Merely a heart beat later, there's a loud crash and a tremor that shakes the earth. 
Alarmed, Geralt jumps to his feet, brushes the mud-greased hair out of his eyes and tries to make out the source of the disruption. 
It seems his Aard sign had some effect, after all. It has thrown the Ur off course enough that it collided with a nearby tree with so much force that it split the thick wood in half. 
His task is taken care of. The monster lies at the foot of the tree, dazed and unmoving. 
"Good thing you brought me along!" Yennefer sighs, exhausted. 
Geralt turns around, ready to snap at her that being caked in mood isn't how he had planned to finish this contract, when he notices that Yennefer's attention is neither on him nor the beast. 
He follows her gaze until his eyes fall on the little white-petaled flower that still stands in the middle of the forest, surrounded by deep, heavy hoof prints in the mud, but the flower itself is untouched. 
A bubble of crackling energy glimmers around it for another moment, before Yennefer drops the spell. 
It seems that no matter how ridiculous Jaskier’s requests are, neither he nor Yennefer can deny the bard his wishes. 
"I don't suppose he told you what part of the damn thing he actually needs?" Geralt grunts. 
At Yennefer's "no idea" he sighs and uses his dagger to remove the entire plant from the ground, roots and all. 
They deliver the knocked-out monster to the prince, who takes one look at Geralt's muddied appearance and the thick carpet he's dripping on, and practically throws them out of his estate. 
He does pay full price though, and even a little on top, so Geralt certainly won't complain about not having to exchange pleasantries and about getting back to their temporary home a little sooner. 
When they return, the house is still standing, despite Jaskier’s threats. 
The bard comes to meet them in the hallway and squeaks delightedly at the sight of the flower Geralt is carefully holding cupped in his hands. 
A moment later, Jaskier is gone again, vanished through one of the many doors in a colorful swirl of silk even Geralt's eyes barely manage to follow. He gapes at his now empty hands, where only a layer of grime and earth remains. 
"What the fuck was that?" Yennefer curses. "We go through all this trouble and he can't even muster a thanks?" 
"Hmm," Geralt replies as he slowly lowers his arms. "He never actually asked if we could get it either." 
"Oh, that little bastard! When I get my hands on him I'm gonna…" 
Yennefer doesn't specify what exactly she intends to do to Jaskier, though the way she trails her finger over her throat speaks for itself. 
"If you can wait till I've washed this all off myself, I'll be happy to assist you," Geralt grumbles. 
"Fine," Yennefer sighs dramatically. "I guess I should check on Ciri anyway.” 
An hour later, when Geralt is finally clean, dry and warm again, they meet up to go on search for the bratty troubadour. 
He's not in his room though, and not in Geralt's either. Furthermore, Geralt's alchemy tools seem to be untouched. If Jaskier wants to use the plant for some weird sex perfume, wouldn't he need the alchemy tools to prepare the plant? The mortar and pestle are clean, though and haven't been used recently. 
"Think he's hiding?" Yennefer asks after glancing over his shoulder. "He's gotta be somewhere. Let's keep looking." 
But Jaskier is not in the library or the study or Yennefer's room and in the dining room they only find Ciri, perched over a thick tome and looking as miserable as the days before. 
"Why are you studying here?" Geralt asks, confused. "Isn't it more comfortable in the library?" 
"Jaskier told me to wait here," Ciri replies without looking up. "Said he has a surprise for me." 
In that moment, Jaskier enters, through the door to the kitchen, of all places. 
He doesn't look at all like he just created an enticing perfume. The checkered apron with frills on the rim Jaskier wears is the last thing Geralt would describe as sexy and his hair is lined with strands of white. It takes Geralt a moment to realise that Jaskier hasn't aged ten years in the past hour, but that there's flour stuck in his hair. 
"Ciri! There you are!" Jaskier calls out and holds out a small, round box made of sheet metal. 
Curios Ciri inspects the contents of the box. 
"Are those Cintran winter solstice stars?" she gasps. "Oh, Jaskier, you shouldn't have!" 
"You mentioned eating them at the solstice with your grandmother the other day, so I just had to make you a batch," Jaskier returns with a self-satisfied grin. "Go on, have one!" 
Ciri picks out one of the cookies, which are indeed star-shaped, and carefully nibbles on it. Then her eyes go wide with surprise. 
"They taste just right! How did you do that?" she exclaims. "I bought imitations in nearly every bakery on the Continent during our travels, but they never tasted quite like they did at home!" 
"Well, you see, there is a secret ingredient," Jaskier offers. 
"I know!" Ciri blurts out. "It's love, isn't it?"
She presses a quick kiss to Jaskier’s cheek as she wrestles the box from his hands. 
"I'm not sharing, they're all mine!" she yells and darts past Geralt and Yennefer and out the door. 
Geralt doesn't miss the bright, happy grin on her face, though. The first of its kind in weeks. 
"So, what are you two doing here?" Jaskier asks as he runs a hand through his hair, further spreading the flour. "And why do you have that look on your faces like I'm in trouble?" 
"Oh, you're in trouble, all right," Yennefer purrs as she launches herself at the bard. 
"Ugh, what did I do to deserve such terrible treatment?" Jaskier huffs, his voice muffled by Yennefer's embrace. 
Geralt scoops up a stray bit of cookie dough that found its way to the tip of Jaskier’s nose and tastes it, before he joins in on the hug and wraps his arms around Jaskier and Yennefer. The dough tastes very sweet, though not at all like sugar or honey. 
"Thanks for getting me the vanilla plant, by the way," Jaskier chuckles. "Ciri really needed that reminder of home." 
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swellwriting · 4 years
Text
tagged by @kabeswaters​ and @fortisfiliae​ love u both sm <3 <3
1. on a scale of 1-10, how excited are you about life right now? it fluctuates but right now -1 
2. describe yourself in a hashtag? #anxious
3. if you could do a love scene with anyone, who would it be? JAKE MOTHERFUCKING GYLLENHAAL 
4. if your life was a musical, what would the marquee say? i dont know what that is hah
5. what’s one thing people don’t know about you? i guess some people don’t know i’m type one diabetic??
6. what’s your wake up ritual? uh phone, animal crossing, fruit loops, weed
7. what’s your go to bed ritual? I watch asmr videos cuz im usually high as fuck and they knock me out lol, or i watch tiktok or pillow talk with my bf nick.
8. what’s your favorite time of day? like 9 pm?
9. your go to for having a good laugh? my boyfriend always makes me laugh no matter how angry or upset i am so i’d talk to him uwu
10. dream country to visit? FRANCe specifically Paris oui oui with my french candian bullshit
11. what’s the biggest surprise you’ve ever had? when they announced 5sos was touring with one direction and i had tickets, never screamed so loud in my LIFE
12. heels or flats/sneakers? sneakers duh
13. vintage or new? vintage babey
14. who do you want to write your obituary? ME from the great beyond, the only other person who knows me well enouhg is nick and i love him but he is very stupid.
15. style icon? uh harry styles, devon lee carlson, halsey, bella hadid, tyler the creator some normal people whos style i LOVE  from insta are rebeccaramsdale , kehllie , kikalateefff , yourgirlneens , lilxmg !
16. what are three things you cannot live without? phone, insulin, art, music
17. what’s one ingredient you put in everything? probs vanilla or hotsauce, the only two flavours.
18. what 3 people living or dead would you want to make dinner for? my dead brother DJ, kurt cobain andddd ryan dunn from jackass what a weird mix.
19. what’s your biggest fear in life? loosing my senses, loosing control, the fear that i am not actually real and ... oh spiders.
20. window or aisle seat? window 
21. what’s your current tv obsession? think its gonna be adventure time again
22. favorite app? instagram or discord so i can talk to my friends uwu
23. secret talent? i can speak french and giberish
24. most adventurous thing you’ve ever done in your life? camping i guess?
25. how would you define yourself in three words? anxious, empathetic, creative
26. favorite piece of clothing you own? my vintage star wars shirt
27. a must have clothing item that everyone should have? blank tees, good quality blank tees!!! white black grey mhmhmh
28. a superpower you would want? i’d wanna be spidergirl
29. what’s inspiring you in life right now? nothing at all :(
30. best piece of advice you’ve received? my grade six teacher telling me that i was very empathetic as i was sitting at the back of the class crying because of the movie we were watching, she told me not everyone is empathetic like i am but its okay to be soft. but not to expect that from everyone else.
31. best advice you’d give your teenage self? teenage me was a mess but not messy enough that i’d change anything. i’d just say, things get better but im currently back in the state teenage me was in so...i’d be lying. maybe that wanting to kill yourself does not count as a personality trait - and start reading comics earlier cuz u really like them.
32. a book everyone should read? i read wack books, everyone on tumblr should read fangirl tho
33. what would you like to be remembered for? something i created
34. how do you define beauty? self expression and individuality 
35. what do you love most about your body? wait people love their bodies? not everyone was severly damaged by online diet culture and thigh gap era tumblr? weird ok
36. best way to take a rest/decompress? weed or bath or a movie
37. favorite place to view art? there is an art gallery in saskatchewan that i love, i was suposed to go there this summer before corona took over :(((
38. if your life was a song, what would the title be? either something short like “mellow” or fob style like “im so anxiuos all the time and nothing ever feels real and i dont know what im doing but somehow im doing pretty good while feeling prety bad and laughing through my tears lol.” or i’d steal “teen idle” by marina and the diamonds.
39. if you could master one instrument, what would it be? guitar or piano because im lame at both.
40. if you had a tattoo, where would it be? i want two moths above my knees rn
41 dolphins or koalas? neither
42. what’s an animal that represents you? im more of a pokemon, i think id be jigglypuff
43. best gift you’ve ever received? whenever nick buys me clothes from stussy or maybe infinity on high on vinyl.
44. best gift you’ve given? i bought nick the entire sin city comic series in one giant book.
45. what’s your favorite board game? monopoly
46. what’s your favorite color? yellow
47. least favorite color? that weird pinky purple
48. diamond or pearls? pearls
49. drugstore makeup or designer? colour pop and fenty
50. pilates or yoga? yoga
51. coffee or tea? tea
52. what’s the weirdest word in the english language? pumpernickle is my fav one.
53. dark chocolate or milk chocolate? MILK
54. stairs or elevators? stairs
55. summer or winter? summer, canadian winters are brutal.
56. you are stuck on an island, you can pick one food to eat forever without getting tired of it, what would you eat? ur asking someone who has very specific comfort foods so i already do this - cheese bagel toasted with cream cheese and then toasted again to melt cheddar cheese on top. with a diet coke thats very important.
57. a dessert you don’t like? cheesecake 
58. a skill you’re working on mastering? im crazy so this is a lot but - writing , drawing and painting, polymer clay, sewing, resin art and pottery.
59. best thing to happen to you today? nothing
60. worst thing to happen to you today? the line at starbucks was too long and i had to get wendys instead, and a few other things i won’t mention.
61. best compliment you’ve ever received? whenever my mom says i remind her of my brother dj, when people say anything nice about my art or writing style. when people ask about my clothes. when my friend jess called me a “known softie” uwu
62. favorite smell? lavender
63. hugs or kisses? hugs
64. if you made a documentary, what would it be about? i’d talk about star wars for hours on end 
65. last piece of content you consumed that made you cry? of mice and men made me ball my fucking eyes out
66. lipstick or lipgloss? chapstickk
67. sweet or savory? sweet
68. girl crush? Zendaya
69. how do you know you’re in love? idk ive just always been in love with nick (since i was 15) before i even really knew what love was, i guess if the other person feels like home, you know ur doing something right.
70. a song you can listen to on repeat? nine in the afternoon by p!atd or a match into water by peirce the veil, over my head by fleetwood mac
71. if you could switch lives with someone for a day, who would it be? harry styles that mysterious fucker
72. what are you most excited for/about this time in your life? currently not looking forward to anything becase my life is super uncertain right now ha.. maybe the release of the chaos walking movie whenever that decides to happen.
tagging: i assume yall have been tagged in this already but just incase @beskarjedi @woakiees @bluemadcnna @carolinesbookworld  @theseuscmander and anyone else who wants to do this consider urself tagged.
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beanie-bottom · 5 years
Note
saRA au where all the characters are housemates and live in the same building. Chaos ensues. No one ever sleeps, gin is often found in various closets or on top of places he shouldnt be able to reach. Sou is almost always doing something cryptic or ominous w keiji on his tail bc What if he breAKS SOMETHING- and sara is the Peace keeper which never goes well. What r ur thoughs owo - jouminecraft
*cracks knuckles* lets d o t h is (but under a cut bc l one)
first of all the apartment complex belongs to mishima because to me he honestly seems like a landlord (but the nice kind)
nao is the one who’s lived there the longest, then sou and keiji and after that everyone joined until the newest residents sara and joe
both reko and alice and sara and joe live together (and nao has her own room in mishimas apartment because she’s basically his daughter anyway)
mishima only rents apartments to people who really need one and don’t have much money, and he personally arranges prices with each one, to adjust it to the amount they’re able to spend
for example, nao is a struggling student, gin’s mom a single mom etc.
he’s really nice and all the residents love and adore him (and so should you)
yea so, gin’s mom obviously left his dad (as she should in any good au) and their life isn’t exactly perfect, gin still has nightmares about his dad and while physical scars may have faded the ones left on the soul will take time
but everyone helps them and is there for them so all’s well that ends well
kanna lives with her dad. her parents divorced without any complications, they simply decided it wasn’t working anymore and it would be better to go separate ways than life together and have the kids sense the uneasiness. initially they agreed that the mom would take both kanna and her sister with her,but kanna didn’t want her dad to be all alone so she decided to go with him
both her mom and sister were sad and tried to convince her otherwise but her mind was set. they still regularly meet up tho
nevertheless kanna still misses her sister a lot, that’s probably why she instantly latches onto sou
sou is like ???  when that sweet kid latches onto him and basically follows him around 24/7 and looks up to him and he’s just;;;; constantly scared of fucking up
keiji constantly teases him about ‘his little puppy’ but also encourages him that he’s doing great with her
naos an art student and works part time at a flower shop, reko and alice have their band (bc yesh), aara and joe art first years in uni and work part time at a coffee shop, keiji is uhhh well he SAYS he’s a policeman but-, q-taro is the same as canon, kai is a semi-famous chef and honestly who the fuck even knows what sou does
(as one of those peeps that get paid for intentionally hacking into company’s security to expose weaknesses, but if u honestly think he doesn’t leave a loophole for himself then you are a fool-)
actually both keiji and mishima know what he does for a living but they think it’s fun seeing everyone guessing (it’s one of the nine mysteries of the mishima apartment complex)
actually speaking of keiji and sou, literally EVERYONE, including nao, who’s lived there months BEFORE either sou or had keiji moved in, think the two are dating
are they tho?
who the fudge knows, they sure as hell don’t
(mishima does tho)
gin INSTANTLY latches onto sara bc he accidentally ripped his cat plushie the first time he met her and she instantly repaired it, without hesitation
stuff like that leaves an impression on a boy
and joe producing ice cream out of nowhere does, too
basically everyone is understanding of kanna’s dad’s and gin’s mom’s situation and someone’s always there to babysit them if the need arises 
kanna and gin basically establish a greater bond with each other than even sara and joe
except if it comes to whether sara and sou is better bc then:
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sometimes they meet up in the hallways and just run through all the floors anyone they know lives on until someone just lets them in
they insist they’re not doing it on purpose, that they’re just bored, but they’re a little TOO satisfied while eating the snacks they get offered
reko and alice had their fair share of problems in the past, but both of them have been trying very hard to rebuild their broken relationship and moving in together has been a good choice for that
alice does everyone’s hair! he always styles it for the band and it’s fun, and he makes the craziest hair styles. kanna and gin are always awed at his creations
reko tried to teach both kanna and gin the piano, but after a while it got obvious that kanna had more of an affinity for it. but gin’s always rooting for her and the first one to listen while she’s practicing
sou has two cats. they’re outdoor cats so for the longest time everyone saw them but didn’t know who they belonged to, until sara finally notices what looks suspiciously like cat hair clinging to sou’s clothes…..
the cats are very friendly and outgoing and whenever someone falls asleep one sou’s couch they immediately cuddle up to them
and with cuddle up i mean lie on your face
no one has the heart to remove them though
since sou has the biggest apartment (seriously, WHERE does he get the money for it? and all that fancy stuff? sara’s going mad not knowing, especially since he’s always at home!! sometimes he doesn’t even get his own groceries, he just sends gin and kanna to get them - telling them they can get themselves sweets ofc, but that’s not the point!!) kai usually invites everyone over for dinner at sou’s at least once or twice. sou always complains why no one ever asks him for permission, but all of them see that he enjoys kai’s food just as much as everyone else so there’s that
joe and sara actually live together because joe didn’t want to burden his family any longer and also wanted to be independent and sara just… went along with it because why not. could be fun. they’re actually pretty good roommates, everyone does their part (most of the time, at least - sara will never let Joe forget that one time she asked him to wash her pantyhose and he didn’t and she had to go out in socks and a skirt during winter)
jsjef ok so I think that’s enough for now bc I don’t want it to be.. heh..to m much.. haha but i still have more ideas, and you can always ask me about this au! (or any of my other aus, honestly)
@jouminecraft
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uniformbravo · 4 years
Text
a bunch of winter 2020 anime first impressions from Me
Koisuru Asteroid / Asteroid In Love
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ok ive already professed my love for this one so i wont get too much into it but basically it’s Extremely cute & im way invested in the two (HOPEFULLY romantic) leads bc their relationship is so sweet so far aaaaaaa
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like do u SEE this shit im actually tearing up hgnfhrognfghdjfnjg
this show is Pretty and Cute and Space-Themed and Probably Gay what more do u Need. i love it 10/10
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Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
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so fucken good, this is the one i was most excited for based purely on the art style/animation and god did it deliver, everything is such a treat to look at i fuckin LOVE a setting w/ just as much personality as the characters
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and My Goodness the Characters, 3 distinct girls w/ strong designs & personalities that aren’t like super moe/catered to cishet dudes heLLO
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we Love a gremlin protag & her chaotic neutral best friend & the “fuck you dad i want to make anime” dreamer they meet........
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also HELL YEAH it’s about making anime and they don’t even use that as a gimmicky set piece, the art is a huge part of the story and the detail with which it’s explored in the first ep gives me high hopes for the rest of the show aaaaa so excited to see where this one goes after that BANGER of a first episode
Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun
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switching gears to a less great one lol..... so the thing is this show’s visual aesthetic absolutely fucking slaps in a way that’s so rare to see in a sea of samey anime art styles, like the character designs are unique and everything is so damn colorful, the backgrounds alone blow me away w/ how fuckin Pretty they are??? LOOK at this shit
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and just. this show has a lot of stylistic flourishes that make it like 100/100 Certified Good-To-Look-At Anime
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which makes every other aspect of the show that much more disappointing lmaoooo like ok i can deal w/ a mediocre story if the visuals slap, which they Do, but also these characters look 10 & we’re doing the whole sexualizing minors thing which fucking BLOWS it’s so uncomfortable to watch........... i feel like it’s one of those things where they’re trying to justify it by being like “o well hanako’s like a thousand year old spirit or whatever so he’s not REALLY underage” but fuckin. fuck off he looks and sounds like a Young Boy yall know what ur doing ugh
it’s not a thing that happens Constantly throughout the episode, really just a few moments here and there, but it is in the op pretty prominently so i feel like it’s gonna be a Thing that keeps happening so idk if i’ll stick w/ this one in particular which is a Damn Shame bc it really is such a gorgeous looking show im mad
number24
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ok ngl just from the character designs alone i rly didn’t think this one was gonna make as good a first impression as it did??? i guess the huge ensemble cast of pretty boys reminded me of last season’s actors: songs connection, which uh. was Not great,
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so i went into it totally expecting it to be all shitty but it rly surprised me, i found it so intriguing? the characters are actually really endearing so far...... i love how it doesn’t try to shove the entire cast in our faces in the v first ep but instead starts out w/ a small handful and lets us spend a lil time w/ them while only giving assorted Hints and passing impressions of the others, that was nice
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also love how very not “generic sports anime” it is right off the bat by dropping us right into the middle of these characters’ story instead of doing the whole “bright-eyed first year joins the team and fights his way to the top” sorta deal- which you’d think would be a confusing and awkwardly paced approach but in this case is handled surprisingly well, especially because it seems like it’s gonna have a lot more elements of a character drama than a straight up classic sports anime (which i am Super here for)
(there is a lot of rugby in the op though so we’ll see how things go, it’s only been 1 ep after all)
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the air drop into the characters’ established lives makes introductions a lot more organic as well; since the characters are already familiar with each other we don’t have to sit around watching everyone introduce themselves to the protag, we get to infer their relationships and general opinions of each other through their various interactions & it’s a thousand times more engaging imo!!
i mean we do have this other first year joining as a manager and our protag did deliberately say he learned everyone’s names/info after deciding to become a manager so im sure we’ll be getting those character introductions anyway, but well. we’ll cross that bridge if/when we come to it
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also i believe this takes place in college rather than high school?? i couldn’t pay attention to every detail but i definitely got that kind of vibe in which case Hell Yeah another welcome deviation from the norm babeeyyyy (i just checked and it Is college yeehaw)
basically what im saying is im tired of tropes & number24 just no clipped past the first 25 chapters of the sports anime formula and also it’s set in university AND it seems to be character-driven & im living thanks thank u
Pet
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ok ill be honest i completely forgot that i watched this one lmaooo (which should give u a hint as to what i thought of it *thinking emoji*)
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the art style’s whatever and the animation’s whatever, nothing special there. the show is like, dark?? more stupid than dark idk it feels a little bit “welcome to my twisted mind” but the twist is homophobia w/ a mild side of ableism, and also an entire episode of suspense wondering if im gonna have to watch this black side character die (he doesn’t, so there’s that at least)
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honestly i cant even remember what drew me to this show enough to put it in my plan to watch, i guess the premise sounded interesting enough (something about controlling minds and erasing memories?), but mature psychological shows usually aren’t really my scene, especially when they’re executed.... Like That. i did kind of enjoy the twist at the end, mildly, though i feel like it was pretty obvious in hindsight and the only reason i didn’t see it coming is bc i can be astoundingly shortsighted when it comes to things like that (aka im DUMB)
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since it took until the very end of the episode to Really introduce our dynamic duo tho, i feel like this ep was more of a prologue than anything and the Real show is gonna begin in ep 2, which is great n all but uh. idk if i care enough to give that a watch tbhhhh. i might just to see what the show has to offer but really truly honestly cant see myself sticking this one thru to the end lmao rip
--
hate to end on a bummer note like that but hey that’s all i got for this post ! i have more shit to watch so i’ll probably end up making like a part 2 w/ more impressions but this is getting long enough that it’s becoming kind of a pain to keep adding more so thats it for now boiyoeiyeoii
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likeshipsonthesea · 5 years
Note
If you're doing prompts, 19 and 24 for nurseydex
for au mash up 19. Summer Camp AU and 24. Soulmate AU
okay so in this universe, as per any soulmate universe, soulmates are A Big Thing. the way that soulmates work–let’s have some fun here– when you touch your soulmate for the first time, they leave a color in the spot they touched you. it has to be skin-to-skin. this will become important later.
so in this world, since soulmates are such a big thing–almost everyone finds their soulmate, the only typical cases that don’t are people that die young or people who are aro, though there are platonic soulmates and poly and such, bc we’re inclusive here boyos– but because they’re so big and common and everything, there are a lot of industries around them
psychics and palm readers have specialized skills to tell you what your soulmate is like, bio-medical companies sell drugs that tell you how long it will be until you find your soulmate (sketchy, but people are desperate) and the weirdest one, imo, is the send-away summer camps for children to find their soulmates young.
yeah. weird.
there’s science to back it up, saying kids who kind their soulmates at younger ages live longer, healthier lives, and the matches between those soulmates is much stronger and, now, with the advent of social media, kid soulmate findings always go viral
so now onto our story; nursey’s parents all have very big work summers coming up (his parents are one of the few poly soulmates in the world, his dad is aro and platonically bonded to nursey’s mom and mama, who are v gay and v in love, and they all live together happily in a beautiful brownstone) so they ask him what he wants to do for the summer and he shows them the brochure for the Summer Soulmate Camp in the rural part of maine.
why did nursey choose this one? he’s a romantic and thinks the greenery is the perfect place to fall in love, it won’t be too hot for the summer, he can go swimming, and they have a hockey rink. it’s perfect.
(also, sidenote, i imagine he’s about ten or eleven here, dex is the same)
so though nursey’s parents are a little hesitant, they also want their son to be happy, so they buy him all the gear he’ll need, drive him up to maine, and kiss him goodbye on the first day of camp.
nursey takes to the camp immediately–the food isn’t great, very bland, but the people are so nice and there’s so much to do and he can’t wait to find friends, even if he doesn’t end up finding his soulmate. his roommate is a great guy–named chris, but goes by chowder– and he’s so enthusiastic and he tells nursey he plays goalie in hockey so when the day comes to join the hockey group on campus, they both head down to the rink, bouncing and excited.
this is, of course, where dex comes in.
dex, a sullen, tiny, perpetually frowning little dude gets matched up with nursey for d-man. despite nursey’s initial hesitation at such a little guy being a d-man, dex soon shows his worth by checking the opposing forward hard.
“will, buddy, we’re not checking in this league, okay?” the coach, a well-meaning woman with smile crinkles next to her eyes.
dex stares up at her. “if i’m not checking anyone why am i even here.”
there may or may not have been an expletive in there somewhere. we’re not going to mention it if you won’t.
and you might be wondering, “hey why is dex being such a dick” or maybe you’re just like “mm in character” (ur wrong but whatever) but here’s the story. these summer camps are usually reserved for people who have the money–there’s only so many spaces and aside from the soulmate thing, they still have a bunch of amenities and it’s for the whole summer. by all rights, dex shouldn’t be here.
but then last winter happened, and he fell down during hockey practice, and the doctor explained to the poindexters–little mama p standing tall, resolute, her husband holding onto her waist in support, dex’s older brother j, finally not wearing an asshole’s smirk– that dex was sick. badly.
and see, dex is fine. like, the chemo sucked and his hair falling out sucked and everyone looking at him like he’s a weak little useless fucking– it sucks. but that was months ago, and it’s sort of in remission now, and though the doctor says it’s probably going to come back and they’ll have to do another round of chemo– dex is fine okay. the buzzed hair doesn’t look too bad and he’s stronger now, he can play hockey again.
but the cancer scared his parents, and his extended family, and though they all believe in the natural meeting of your soulmate, they all silently agreed that dex didn’t have the time to wait. the only thing sadder than dying young was dying without a soulmate.
so they scrounged up the cash through all the branches of their family tree and sent dex to Summer Soulmate Camp, and now here he is, angry and isolated and ready to check any rich prep kid that looks at him funny on the ice.
as you can imagine, nursey and dex don’t get along well at the start.
dex isn’t much into soulmates and doesn’t keep his opinion to himself, and nursey is so wholeheartedly romantic that he can’t imagine not thinking about your soulmate every day. “they’re the one person who can make you the best you can be,” nursey says, one day after practice, and dex scoffs.
“if you’re not good enough on your own, how the hell is your soulmate being chained to you gonna make it any better?”
they also argue about money things, but mostly brand names that dex doesn’t know, or international trips nursey doesn’t realize is a luxury. to be fair, none of the other kids know this either–nursey at least tries to listen
(he’s too young, really, to understand how his blackness has affected him in a similar, possibly more visible way. later on, he’ll read books about slaves “given permission” to marry their soulmates from masters, the interracial couples that ended in mobs driving the black man out of town–or worse– and the history of black soulmates being restricted and demeaned and made to feel less than. now, now he only notices being the only mixed boy in the room some of the time. now, at least, is a calm before the bliss is broken.)
but the thing that comes along with all of nursey and dex’s arguments is that they come to know each other better than anyone else at the camp. even chowder, who tags along with them all the time when he isn’t following after the girls’ volleyball team (he hasn’t touched farmer yet, so he can’t know, but he really likes her smile and she’s the best at doing handstands), even he doesn’t know how nursey feels about books the way dex does, after the late-night talk around the bonfire when nursey got rambly and giddy and dex just.. listened
and it takes a while before dex talks about the cancer. back home, everyone knows, but here he could pretend. nursey doesn’t tell everyone–dex almost expected that he would, but that was more on him than nursey– but he listens and nods and doesn’t pity dex, respects him maybe, cares, but no pity.
and that night, sitting on the end of the dock in a rare unsupervised moment, nursey nearly reaches out to hold dex’s hand in comfort, and dex nearly hugs nursey when he says, “fuck cancer” in the most emphatic, simple, comprehending way dex has ever heard, but neither does. they’ve learned, in this culture, the importance of touch, and both boys are too scared to find out, to break that last barrier. this could be enough. this should be enough.
the rest of the summer is spent in a haze of friendships and salt water and trees and scraped knees and laughter, and all of them swear that they’re gonna text, call, facetime, whatever. they’re going to keep this up. they’re going to be friends forever
they’re not allowed phones at the camp, so they write down each other’s numbers– just dex’s, actually, because he’s the only one who can remember his home phone number– and nursey and chowder swear to call when they get home and give dex their number (chowder also has farmer’s number, now, and her mark–smudgy and bluish purple on his shoulder from where she tackled him trying to spike the ball in a game on the beach last week. his, teal, is on her palm almost in the shape of a heart)
on the day of pick up, dex’s family shows up first–closer– and he and nursey are forced to say goodbye. “i guess this is it,” dex says, hefting his duffle bag strap onto his shoulder.
“no it’s not,” nursey insists. “i’ll call you. i will.”
“yeah right,” dex says, but he’s smiling anyway, and something about the moment–two boys, from such different worlds, somehow so similar in all the important ways, stand in front of each other, having never touched but knowing every little thing– something about the moment makes it so, suddenly, being soulmates doesn’t matter.
they’re friends. no matter what their colors say, that can be the most profound relationship they ever have.
“see you, nursey,” dex says, impulsive, and reaches his arms up to hug nursey close. nursey, startled, wraps his arms around dex. the hug is so unexpected, so quick, that neither of them feels dex’s forearm brush against nursey’s neck, neither of them notice the spread of green–on dex’s arm– or orange– nursey’s neck
later, after dex’s dad pulls in the driveway of their house, dex shoves open the door he’d slumped against when he got in the car and absentmindedly goes to wipe off the mossy-green stuff on his arm only to see it and freak
nursey, since his is behind his head, isn’t the one to notice his mark. it’s only when he’s going up the stairs in front of his mama that she yells something about “papito why didn’t you tell us you found your soulmate?” and nursey drops all of his bags and races up the stairs to the bathroom to try to use a hand mirror and the bathroom vanity to see the sunset dex left on his neck
but here’s the drama, right, nursey goes for his bag to find dex’s number and call–and he can’t find the paper it was written on. he scours his stuff to no avail. his parents call the summer camp, but they legally can’t give out information, and nursey doesn’t know the name of dex’s town and– you get where i’m going. they can’t find each other. they lose touch.
and both boy wonders what could have been, dex wonders why nursey didn’t call (probably develops a complex, whatever) and nursey wonders why dex never tried to look him up, and nursey hopes that dex’s cancer didn’t come back and dex hopes that nursey is still the romantic he’s always been, but they don’t see each other for another seven years.
what happens then? well, these hockey nerds go to take a tour of this cool college called samwell and, well. the rest i’m sure you can figure out from there.
(excerpt from the aftermath; a frequent fight
“i can’t believe you lost my number”
“i can’t believe you gave me a mark i can’t even see”
“i can’t believe you wanted to go to a summer camp to find your soulmate when you were ten”
“i can’t believe you didn’t–”
“nursey, dex, please can we just pick a place to eat and go?” poor baby chow
boys; “well, i had cancer, so i think i should get to pick–” “hey, you can’t pull the cancer card every time you want to eat at the grill, it’s not fair!” “i lost my hair, derek!” “so? you shave it all the damn time–”
chowder’s stomach rumbles. he texts chowder frowny faces and she sends back a cry-laugh and a wink. he gets no sympathy for his plight.)
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Text
Hot Chocolate | kyh
KangYounghyun/YoungK/BrianKang Oneshot
Genre: fluff
Warnings: Language?? But it’s pretty PG.
When you walk into the coffee shop, you're immediately hit by the warmth. You notice the dimly lit lights, the empty tables, the soft indie music playing quietly over the speakers. You notice how it's the complete opposite of the bustling life outside in the cold November weather. You also notice the smell of hot chocolate brewing behind the back counter.
“Be with you in a second,” the barista behind the counter yells without looking up from his order. You stand at the register patiently, opting to pull out your phone to make the wait go by faster. After a few minutes you hear a “What can I get for you?” causing you to look up.
And when you do, you're floored.
Shit, he’s beautiful, you think. The most beautiful, fierce, feline eyes are staring at you expectantly. Don't just stand there, give him your order!
“Uhm, I'll get a small hot chocolate please,” you say, rather shakily. “Alrighty,” he replies while scanning the screen in front of him. While he rings in your order, you can't help but stare. From his carefully styled raven black hair to his perfectly pointy nose, he was perfection.
You almost don't hear him when he gives you your total, brought back down to earth when his sharp eyes meet yours. You stand there for a second before realizing he’s waiting on you to pay. You hurriedly look down and start digging into your wallet for your card. When you look up again, he's looking at you with a quizzical brow and an upturned smirk, almost knowingly. You give him your card while keeping your eyes down, not daring to make eye contact.
After swiping your card and giving it back, he turns to the various stacks of upside-down cups and gets started on your hot chocolate. While he's making your drink, you get lost in his features once again. God, how can one human be so gorgeous? Honestly, what normal person has hair that nice? Does he use mousse to get those waves? And that body? How can someone look so angelic and so sinful at-
“You don't have to wait at the counter,” you quickly avert your eyes from his ass and to his face to find him already looking at you. “I can just bring it to your seat,” he says with yet again another smirk.
Shit, he knows. Shitshitshitshit.
“Uh, I- Uh, I actually just wanted it to go,” you stumble out.
Saved by the bell, the machine in front of him dings and he brings his attention back to your drink. He pushes the button and starts filling your cup with the brown liquid and you're saved for a few seconds. For the first time since you walked through the cafe door, you're not focused on the gorgeous barista and instead focused on the delicious smell of hot cocoa. After finishing your drink, he puts a lid on your drink and turns to walk back to the register you’re standing opposite of.
“Here you go” he says with a tight-lipped smile as he holds your drink out to you. You grab it and hastily turn on your heels. “Have a good day” you squeak out, walking like hell for the door. You're just about to break free when you hear a “Wait!” over your shoulder, making you pause in your tracks.
You take a deep breath before slowly turning to see the cute barista leaning with an elbow against the back counter and- you guessed it- another smirk spread across his lips. His eyes are mischievous this time, and you anticipate that what he’s about to say is going to ruin you.
“On a scale of one to ten, where do you think my ass falls?”
Your head falls back with a slight chuckle and he stands up straight, walking around the counter towards you. “Cause honestly, I’ve always thought I had a strong seven, maybe an eight on occasion, but I don't know. I've always thought of myself as a Kim but maybe I'm just a Kendall.”
He’s only a few steps away when he stops, towering over you. The way he’s looking at you, with his small crescent eyes and blindingly bright smile, you could faint. You break free from his trance, turning towards the door and feigning annoyance by rolling your eyes with a smile on your face. Before turning the knob, you’re stopped once again when he says lowly, “My name’s Younghyun.”
This time when you turn, he’s only a few inches from you, smile much softer, but still there. You can hear your heart pounding, and you're pretty sure he can hear it too.
“Y/N,” you reply. He repeats your name and lets out a breath, still sporting that beautiful smile, still sporting that twinkle in his eye. You could get used to this, you think.
Your moment is broken by the door opening, a man outside the threshold silently begging for you to let him into the warm shop. Younghyun greets the man and quickly walks behind the counter while you're blurting apologies, both of you equally flustered. After apologizing a hundred times, you rush out of the shop and back into the cold.
You curse as you walk down the street to your apartment, trying to keep your winter coat as tight to your body as possible and taking sips of your drink every now and then. When you get to your building, you carefully use your free hand to pick your keys out of your purse and let yourself into your apartment. You plop straight down on the couch, studying the hot chocolate in your hand and thinking about the cute barista, Younghyun.
Younghyun.
You spin the cup in your hand round and round, thinking of the fairy lights wrapped around the menu board, they way they brought out the hues of brown in his eyes, the way his hair shined in them. You're snapped out of your reverie when you see writing peeking out from under your  fingers placed on the cup. You move your hand around to the back of the cup and bring it closer to your eyes. On the cardboard gripper wrapped around the cup reads:
495-5633
You immediately sit up straight. He was into you? You didn’t make a complete idiot out of yourself? Oh my god, stay calm. He's just a guy, right. Just a nice, funny, beautiful, guy. No pressure, right? Noooo pressure at all.
You pull your phone out of your coat pocket with shaky hands and unlock it, tapping the new message button. Your thumb hovers of the screen. It's not like you don't want to, that's quite the opposite. Is he pitying you? Has he changed his mind by now?
God, just do it already.
You finally type his number in and take a deep breath.
Great, now you just have to type a message. What do you say?
'Hi! This is Y/N, how are you?’
You think on it for a second before backspacing. Too basic. Ummm funny! Try funny.
‘if you were a coffee, you'd be a cutepaccino.’
You immediately backspace. Okay, what the hell was that? After going through a million different options, you eventually settle on something.
495-5633 [Sent 7:13PM]
9.
You stare at your phone for the next ten minutes before placing it on the couch cushion beside of you, deciding to forcibly put your mind on something else. You walk to your bedroom and start doing your night routine, trying to distract yourself. After changing into your pajamas and washing your face, you'd done nothing but watch TV, not daring to overthink the text. The minutes turn into hours and you start to lose hope. Maybe you should've just sent what you’d typed first. He’s probably changed his mind about you.  It's when you're staring out the window and drinking your nightly tea that you hear your phone buzz.
The nerves that had been long gone are coming back in an instant. You run to your phone, stargazing long forgotten. You pick your phone up, though it almost slips from your sweaty palms. Your phone is lit up with only one notification.
1 message from 495-5633.
You unlock your phone and stare at the text displayed.
495-5633 [Received 10:01PM]
Can I ask what that means??
You [Sent 10:03PM]
On a scale of 1 to 10, its a 9. i'd give it a 10, but i don't want to rub your ego any more than I already have.
Younghyun [Received 10:07]
Hahah I'll take it 😂
Sorry I took so long to reply, I just got off work 😭
You [Sent 10:12PM]
Ew. Ur an emoji person.
Its fine, i've only been a nervous wreck for the last 3 hours, nbd.
Younghyun  [Received 10:15PM]
Emojis are staying. Take it or leave it.
You [Sent 10:17PM]
Ugh, fine.
So, do you give your number to every girl that comes in your shop?
Younghyun  [Received 10:20PM]
Haha honestly, no. I know i probably sound like a douche but I just wanted to get to know you and I didn't really have the courage to ask for your number
You [Sent 10:25PM]
Oh, but you had the courage to call me out for looking at your ass earlier? A man of mysteries.
Younghyun  [Received 10:28PM]
Woooow. You know, you're pretty mouthy for someone who couldn't say three words to me without blushing a few hours ago.
And I had reason! You were staring me up and down like a piece of meat. I am a human being you know?
You [Sent 10:31PM]
A man with jokes too! Goodness, you're a Jack of all trades.
Younghyun  [Received 10:35PM]
…. So are you not gonna acknowledge the topic.at hand here or…?
You [Sent 10:37PM]
Absolutely not.
Younghyun  [Received 10:38PM]
Noted.
Care to acknowledge it over lunch then? Tomorrow at 1? The sandwich shop next to my shop is really good
You [Sent 10:42PM]
Lunch- yes. Talking about my embarrassments- no.
Younghyun  [Received 10:45PM]
Fair enough. I’ll take what I can get
Younghyun  [Sent 10:47PM]
LOL i'm gonna go to bed. See you tomorrow.
Brian [Received 10:50PM]
Sweet dreams.
You [Sent 10:53PM]
… Bring hot chocolate
You break your intense attention away from your phone and clutch your mug to your chest, mind going a hundred miles an hour. You set your mug down in the sink and head to your bed, ready to get under the sheets (although you probably won't sleep at all tonight).
The next day when you arrive at the sandwich shop, ten minutes early, Younghyun is in the corner, already seated. Your eyes find his, already looking at you. You're greeted by a hot chocolate and a gorgeous smile, and that smile doesn't leave for the rest of the date. You guys talk about books, movies, how he's a bassist in a band with his best friends, and how you're in love with the stars in the sky, though neither of you know you’ll also fall in love with the ones in his eyes. And when it's time to leave, he walks you to your apartment and leaves a sweet kiss on your lips. He does the same thing the next time you meet. And the next. And the next, until it becomes a regular routine. Until his kisses and hot chocolate become as normal as taking the bus every morning or looking at the sky before drifting away every night. And even after winter is long gone and summer brings it’s sunny skies and warm weather, his sweet kisses and hot chocolates are still a constant.
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gcrifin · 5 years
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getting to know Lulubelle!!
tagged by: @devilslcg​ GET YOINKED tagging: Who you think
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Name?       ❝ Lulubelle Elsemore!! ❞ What was this, role call? ❝ My friends call me Lulu. Or, if you’re after my neck, ‘Loyal’ Lulu ! ❞
Are you single?       ❝ Yeah. But are you really single when you’re having such a good time ?? ❞
Are you happy?       ❝ You know what they say: you can always be happier ! ❞
Are you angry?       ❝ I don’t think so. ❞ A thoughtful hum. ❝ I am a little bummed I don’t have anyone to hang out with, though . ❞
Are your parents still married?       ❝ Of course!! At least, I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t be. I haven’t seen them in a long time ... ❞
              NINE FACTS –
Birth Place?       ❝ San Faldo, in Paradise. Liveliest place you’ll ever see !! ❞
Hair Color?       ❝ Blonde . ❞
Eye Color?       ❝ Green . ❞
Birthday?       ❝ December 8th . ❞
Mood?        ❝ Everything’s been okay, so I guess I’m doing okay too ! ❞ 
Gender?       ❝ Female . ❞
Summer or winter?       ❝ I like both, but I guess summer! I don’t like wearing extravagant costumes in the summer but it’s perfect for comfy clothes! Winter is great for balls, though. Walking through snow in a fluffy gown makes me feel like a noble ! ❞ 
Morning or afternoon?       ❝ Afternoon comes just before the night life, ❞ a wide grin, ❝ and nothing beats the night life! Nobody likes waking up hung over, anyway . ❞
              EIGHT THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE ? –
Are you in love?       ❝ Mm, that’s a nice thought, isn’t it? Being in love ? ❞ A tap of the lower lip. Kittenish smile, twisting quickly into mischief. ❝ Wouldn’t you like to know, nosy ? ❞
Do you believe in love at first sight?       ❝ A lot of stranger things happen. Fairy tales are a reality in the New World. ❞ being able to transform into a monstrous griffin, Lulubelle can attest to that statement. ❝ I suppose I do . ❞
Who ended your last relationship?       ❝ Do affiliations count? Because I’ll be damned if I let the navy step all over me again. ❞ Or the captain responsible for causing her so much grief, for that matter. ❝ Also, their soldiers keep saying they won’t back off even when I invite them out! Can you believe that? I’m not even a pirate !! ❞ Yet. She mumbles deeply into the fabric of her cloth, ❝ I bet if I made a deal with a Warlord they’d listen to me ... ❞
     Or try to kill her of their own accord. But at least it would be more fun than scaring off novice marines. That was starting to get taxing. It had been a fairly long time since she felt genuinely threatened by anything or anyone . 
     ❝ Oh, it has to be romantic? ❞ she purses her lips. ❝ Well, I haven’t really had anything to end, so ... ❞
Have you ever broken someone’s heart?      A soft bite of the lip and a concerned expression. ❝ No. At least, I really hope not . ❞
     Her parents’, maybe, when she left and considered never coming back .
Are you afraid of commitments?       ❝ I make commitments all the time! Do you know how many parties I’ve planned? The kind of people I’ve put up with? Plus I’ve been out to sea for years now and ── ❞ It’s as if there’s a list a mile long as to why she’s more than capable of handling commitment . 
Have you hugged someone within the last week?       ❝ Sure! People are starting to get less friendly, though. It’s kinda hard to find people okay with it when most of them are holding a knife to your throat saying they’re gonna claim your bounty. ❞ She laughs a little, the happiest smirk cutting it short. ❝ They wish . ❞
Have you ever had a secret admirer?       ❝ Have I? It wouldn’t be very secret if I knew, now would it ? ❞
Have you ever broken your own heart?      She says nothing. The only semblance of an answer is a slight nod .
              SIX CHOICES –
Love or lust?       ❝ Love, obviously! But... ❞ a coy smile. No Lulu, ❝ you don’t kiss and tell, right? ❞ Damn it, Lulu .
Lemonade or iced tea?       ❝ Both if I can put vodka in them. ❞ A wide, all-knowing grin .
Cats or Dogs?       ❝ Where are all the wild choices? Birds, reptiles, amphibians?? My own devil fruit can’t even pick which animal it wants. ❞ A joke, albeit a terrible one. ❝ But I guess since the king of beasts is in my blood now, cats . ❞
A few best friends or many regular friends?        ❝ Can’t I have both ? ❞
A wild night out or romantic night in?       ❝ Come on!! Do I always have to pick between all the fun stuff? ❞ An audible pout and a puckered lower lip, which she quickly retracts. ❝ Obviously I like having wild nights out! I grew up in the Carnival City! ❞ She presses a hand to her face, a wistful expression in her eyes. ❝ But who says no to a party of two ? ❞
     It’s difficult to discern whether Lulubelle is an actor or a dancer at this point .
Day or night?       ❝ The night life !! ❞ 
               FIVE HAVE YOU EVERS –
Been caught sneaking out?       ❝ It was only one time. I didn’t do it again after that because my mother threatened to stop taking me with her to her bigger parties. In hindsight, I know she was lying, but little me wasn’t taking any chances on missing out . ❞
Fallen down/up the stairs?       ❝ Of course not. Who does something silly like that ?? ❞
     Lulubelle does. Multiple times. Especially while drunk. Nothing quite like a night of celebration to really bring out the idiot in a young, wild heart .
Wanted something/someone so badly it hurt?       ❝ I wanted to be free, once. ❞ It was a tender subject. A shame she hadn’t the motivation to explain any further .
Wanted to disappear?       ❝ ... Yeah . ❞
              FOUR PREFERENCES –
Smile or eyes?       ❝ Both! What good’s a sharp smile without a sharp pair of eyes ? ❞
Shorter or Taller?       ❝ Oh, taller... like a protective wall to wrap their arms around you! Or maybe simply intimidate your enemies. ❞ There was something about sheer intimidation and strength that really caught the griffin’s attention. Then again, there was something sweet about the meek and small. ❝ But short is sweet . ❞
Intelligence or Attraction?       ❝ Why not both? I can’t imagine anybody that’s made it all the way to the New World lacking in either . ❞
Hook-up or Relationship?       ❝ Relationship. Duh. But if you ask nicely, maybe I’ll follow you home . ❞
     A playful flick of the tongue, naught more than the tip . 
              FAMILY –
Do you and your family get along?       ❝ Family is everything! It doesn’t matter what kind of family you have or plan to make! Of course we get along !! ❞
Would you say you have a “messed up life”?       ❝ Maybe. But it’s not living if everything feels like an impossible dream made into reality, now is it ? ❞
Have you ever ran away from home?       ❝ I didn’t get very far, ❞ she admits sheepishly. ❝ I came right back home because I got hungry and I was too young to get into any of the night parties by myself . ❞
Have you ever gotten kicked out?       ❝ I had a bar kick me out once because the keep said I was beating up all his patrons, ❞ an exaggerated incredulous look. ❝ It’s not my fault people have egos the size of their over-inflated heads! I make bets, I win, and then their big boy prides get bruised and they start it. I like having a little entertainment while I eat. I just wanna have a little fun!! Is that so bad ?? ❞
     A pause. ❝ Oh? No... my parents would never kick me out. Why do you ask ? ❞
              FRIENDS –
Do you secretly hate one of your friends?       ❝ Why on earth would I hate a friend? Kinda defeats the purpose of a friend, doesn’t it ? ❞
Do you consider all of your friends to be good friends?       ❝ I don’t see why not . ❞
Who is your best friend?       ❝ Salohn. ❞ She tries not to chuckle but does so anyway. ❝ He knows just about everything you could ever know about weapons. I guess he kind of saved me once, too. He was in the navy a lot longer than I was. Really fun guy. Really good tactician, too. People think he’s an idiot because he’s so fun-loving and oblivious but he doesn’t really mess around when it comes to strategy. Haven’t seen him in ages, though. ❞ A curious scratch of the scalp. ❝ I wonder what he’s up to ... ❞
Who knows everything about you?       ❝ My parents. ❞ Possibly. There was a lot of memories being made that she hadn’t had the time to share with anybody. But they knew her better than just about anybody else. ❝ I guess Salohn reads me like a book, too. To be fair though, he reads everybody like a book. That’s kinda just how he is . ❞
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