#i've done this with like. furniture and stuff in the past | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

vinetae · 1 year

Note

Jimin as our chiropractor and there's heavy tension, after a few sessions with the short clothings and the sound y/n makes jimin loses his control

Pairing: Jimin x Reader

Genre: Chiropractor!AU, Smut, Old Friends.

Word Count: 4.4k

A/N: I don't think I've ever read a chiropractor fanfic before. XDD Thank You for this request, and I hope you enjoy! Let me know if there are some things in it that you would like me to change/modify.

I'll call thissssssss

"Flames of Us."

Enjoy!

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"and, done!" You shut the screen of your laptop, throwing yourself back against the cushioned office chair. The wheels roll back a bit from the sudden weight.

"Now all I have to do is send this in to my editor-" The doorbell sounds, as it is quickly followed by a loud crash that echoed outside of your door.

You quickly run down the stairs of your two story house that your aunt has been letting you rent out for the past two semesters while she's away in Bora Bora on retirement. The door opens to reveal a smiling young boy that's around your age. His jet-black locks fall Infront of his face, blocking his vision but making a cute look that others would admire. He flashes a shy bunny-toothed smile as his arms swing nervously back and forth while holding his pillow in hand.

"Uh, this is the right place, right?" You glance down, seeing a small suitcase hiding behind his built frame. Smiling, you lean against the door frame while crossing your arms.

"I presume you're Jungkook, correct?" He quickly nods at your question, as his sights travel down to where you'd been looking. The small black shiny little suitcase that had a few Avenger stickers on the front. The navy blue handle attached along with it.

"Yeah. My other stuff is in my car. I just didn't wanna get it all out and find that this is the wrong address.." He shyly smiles, as you widen the door gesturing for him to join you inside. He carefully walks in, admiring the beautiful pieces of artwork your grandmother had gifted your aunt before she died as he makes his way through the house entry.

"Wow.. Is that Italy?" He questions, eyebrows knitting together in focus.

"Sure is. It's a whole set, actually. My aunt got them before my grandma died. They both shared a love for weird stuff but I never really got into it." You lean in close, creating an eerie ambience of silence before whispering in a hushed tone.

"I sometimes actually think it's haunted.." His eyes widen at that. You burst into a small fit of giggles at his cute expression.

"Ah, I'm just teasing you! Nothing here's haunted, promise." You reach your pinky out for him to grab. He hesitates, but soon joins your finger with his own. You pull away, stretching your back while glancing out the front door's big glass window at his tiny packed car.

"So, shall we get started?"

Well one thing's for sure. His personality defiantly didn't match his looks. The black inked tattooed sleeve had cover almost all of his right arm. He had removed his leather jacket a while back to reveal a sleek back T-shirt underneath. His prominent biceps had no trouble in making that 200 pound dresser look easy to lift. If you had one word to describe Jungkook so far, it'd have to be black. He straightens up, as you watch him twist and pop his back before shaking an imaginary chill-like feeling off, getting ready to get back to work. You'd helped him move the small stuff at first. Testing your own rusty strengths with each piece of furniture.

First, it had been the pillows to his bed.

Next, a few boxes full of knickknacks.

Third, his huge box that held all of his gaming equipment. Now, you two had been halfway up the stairs with his bedframe that had been so kindly dropped off by one of his acquaintances by trailer, You'd been leading, and he was supporting.

His black steel bedframe had been a lot different to haul than his measly little nightstand.

"Okay now swing it your way- wait!" You quickly stop, making sure your side doesn't make a dent in his wall. He panics at your sudden voice, and immediately stops.

"What what?! Did we hit something??" You shake your head, picking your side of the board up once more.

"No, I've got it. I just had to re-adjust. Alright, keep going." He nods and lifts his side as you both continue to share the equally back-breaking weight of his steel headboard. Finally, you'd made it to the top of the stairs. Once in his new bedroom, you set your end down. His follows in suit as well. You take in a deep breath, quietly admiring all of your hard work.

"Alright, seems like that's everything." He looks around the room with crossed arms, mirroring your expression with an accomplished smile.

"So, wanna order something?"

___

Once the food had arrived, it was time to stuff your faces after a long, hard day's of work. You'd both been enjoying the peaceful small chatter while the television played in the background. The To-Go cups and bowls spread all around your coffee table as you both chow down on some well deserved munchies. It had been extremely relaxing, until a loud beeping noise had started blaring outside. You look to Jungkook who'd been mid-bite with his egg roll. He shrugs as you both quickly stand to go look out the window. His eyes light up in realization.

"Oh, I forgot! My parents were stopping by to bring my old dresser. It's been in my family for generations."

___

Jungkook had originally planned for his brother to come and help him move it up the stairs into his room, but his parents had said that his brother had an emergency with his girlfriend, so they brought it to him instead. However, soon they realized that Jungkook's father hadn't been up to the task when he threw out his back trying to lift one side of the dresser. Now, you'd been mid-haul as you both had stopped to take a break on the flat deck of your staircase. Your breaths had matched in a labored pattern, as you watched his one fluffy jet-black locks now greasily slick back with how much sweat his body had been producing from all the moving earlier.

"Alright, you ready?" You nod, getting in position to pick up your weight again. He does the same, and takes in a deep breath.

"Don't drop it on your toes, okay? And lift with your legs! If not, you'll throw out your back like my dad" He chuckles before you give him a go-ahead nod. Everything had been going smoothly until you felt a searing pain shoot up through your back.

"Fuck!" You curse out, quickly dropping your side to sooth your aching arche. He stumbles a bit but finally lets down his side safely, before rushing over to your aid.

"Shit- what happened??" You groan in pain as the gunshot-like spikes stabs you repeatedly in what had felt like your spine.

"Ah fucking shit!" He quickly helps you to your bum, rushing to your fridge before returning with an ice pack.

"I'm so sorry- I should've just waited for my brother to come by tomorrow-" You shake your head trying to shut his victim card up.

"No, it was my fault. I should've lifted with my legs like your said" Your head hits the stairs softly as you groan out in pain. He reaches into the deeps of his jean pockets before pulling out his cellphone.

"I have a friend that could help. When I dislocated my shoulder during my wrestling years, this guy had popped it back into place in no time." He dials the number to hold it up to his ear. You chuckle, quickly stopping yourself as it had made matters even worse.

"It's fine Jungkook, I just need to walk it off-" You sits you back down with one arm before you even had the chance to deny. "Trust me, he's amazing. Better than any masseuse I've ever gone to even."

___

Somehow Jungkook had convinced you to go. It was getting pretty late out, but his friend said that he could keep his office open a few more hours because he'd already been in the middle of paperwork anyways. Jungkook had helped you into his car as to make sure not to break you even more. -His words not yours-

The man had already been at the entry door, holding it open as Jungkook carefully lead you through the doors. The man flashes you a smile, as Jungkook helps you up onto the table that stood in the middle of a tiny room. The baby blue colors with gray ash tones had suited Jungkook's friend's persona perfectly. It had been like any other chiropractor's office you'd been too. Those visits weren't for you, no. But you aunt had always had some kind of problem with her bones for some reason. The florescent light shine brightly as the man had carefully shut the door before making his way over to the table you'd been laid down on. Jungkook sat in the corner, tapping his heel against the cold tiles of the room, watching as to what exactly his friend does. The strange man flashes you a short smile, before stopping in his tracks.

"Y/n?" Your eyes widen, as does his.

"You... remember me?" He chuckles at your question as he sets the clipboard he'd had in his hands down. He slouches a bit before leaning up against the counter's edge.

"How could I not? You're the reason we had to put 'Do not lick' stickers next to our salt lamps." He chuckles as a light pink tint creeps up on your cheeks from the embarrassing moment. Jungkook's ears now tune into the conversation.

"I was only 13, let it go!" He chuckles, shaking his head at your cute angry face.

"You two know each other?" Jungkook asks while glancing back and forth between the two of you. A confused expression plastered his face. Jimin nods before taking a seat in the adjustable circular chair before rolling over to you.

"Her aunt always had issues with her hips so she came in here a lot. How is she anyways?" He reaches over to grab black plastic gloves before slipping them over his digits. "She's good. Great even. She's in Bora Bora right now for her retirement." He smiles, scooting his chair close.

"That's awesome. She always loved her beaches, huh?" A slight smile tugs your lips at his comment. Jungkook is about to interrupt when he feels his phone vibrating in his jacket's pocket.

"It's my mom, I have to take this. You good, right Y/n?" You nod as he steps out to take the call. Now, it had just been Jimin and you. His silvery ash tone hair had sat perfectly against his forehead. The darkened roots had been coming in nicely, which had someone made him look even more handsome. His once frail and thin body had bulked up, as you see the prominent lines from his T-shirt rough the fabric.

'So, how've you been?" He asks, while flashing you a small smile.

"Good, well- other than the reason I'm here." He chuckles, sending you a little pout.

"Aww, not trying to catch up with an old friend?" You laugh nervously at his remark.

"Not today, anyway." He nods, catching your eyes to lock with his. "So, why are you here today?" You sigh, trying to lift up to meet his gaze but fail as you quietly groan in pain. He's quick to help, as he sets you back down gently.

"I hurt my back while trying to help Jungkook move in." He nods while standing from his chair.

"Oh.. are you and him like..?" You chuckle at his assumption.

"No way. I offered for him to stay at my place because I needed someone to help out with the rent." He nods, and continues what he'd been doing before. A slight mumble could barely be made out as he silently huffs.

Changing the topic, he decided to become Mr. Park once more.

"So what kind of pain is it?" You sigh, taking small breaths as to not feel the needle-like pricks as much.

"It's like knives" You groan out, trying to get your sentences to make sense.

"Ah, I see." He stand over your frame, looking down to meet your eyes. "Do you mind if I remove your jacket?" You nod as he starts to unzip your thin light weight jacket as you remember what you'd been wearing up under it.

"Actually-" You grip his wrist before chuckling at the sudden gesture.

"I'd rather keep it on. It's kinda cold.." He looks around before walking over to his thermostat, turning the heat up. This works best with tight fitting clothing. Although, Jungkook did say this was an emergency," He walks closer until he's once against towering your figure. This time, he had a different aura to him. One of a more, dominating tone.

"It'll just be for a few minutes. The loose fabric gets in my way" Your mouth dries at that sentence. His way??

"O.. okay. Yeah, sorry." You lift up with what little energy you have left, and carefully remove your jacket, throwing it off to the side. You pause when his eyes widen at your lacy purple bralette you'd chosen to wear. Hey, you weren't planning on going anywhere tonight, alright??

Soon he clears his throat, tugging at the tightened fabric that had engulfed his lower throat. "Alright. So, the pain you described is like knives, correct?" You nod. "Well," He leans in closer, the tip of his finger brushes all along the exposed skin of your back.

"Is it your upper or lower?" You shift a little, feeling the pain intensifying which lets you know what level it's on.

"All around? It all feels like it's on fire." He leans back, catching your eyes with his own. A smile creeps his lips.

"Well make up your mind, silly. Is it knives of fire?" He chuckles, before helping you to flip onto your back. You do so, as the warm heat had finally made it's way around the room. Still, a cool chill brushes your exposed skin as his gloved hands run along the pains of your back. You carefully turn your head to be able to speak with him.

"Actually- do you have to have the gloves? They're really cold.." He shakes his head before quickly discarding the plastic hand coverings.

"No, I just thought it looked professional." You let out a small giggle at his comment. Still the same dork you always used to hang out with as usual.

"Alright, so I'm going to just basically pop your back. You'll feel a little pain at first, but it should subside. Let me know if it doesn't okay?" He leans over to look at your facial expression. You nod, giving him the go ahead. You feel the warmth of his hands run along the curves of your back. Each dip he discovers makes you shiver. Not from the cold, but just from the touch. Just imagining his hands running down the fronts of your body instead before dipping into your soaked panties. His digits tugging lightly at your roots as your sink down onto his girthy le-

"You ready?" His voice pulls you from your thoughts. You swallow a huge lump that had mysteriously formed in your throat before croaking out a 'huh?'

"I said are you ready." You nod, as he shifts in his stance. His right hand had come to rest upon the nape of your neck as he lightly massages the area. "Deep breath for me, love." Your eyes widen at the sudden nickname. "Wait what?"

He raises an eyebrow at your pause. "Did throwing out your back also throw out your hearing ablities?" He chuckles, as you relax your shoulders at the harsh words he'd chosen.

"It's just a joke, Y/n. Just relax. Take deep breaths. It'll all be over soon."

You nod before taking a slow but deep breath before you hear a crack echo through the room. You uncontrollably moan out in pain at the relief he'd given you.

"Good, now I'm going to do the other side. Deep breath, baby." There's that damn pet name again.

You're probably just hearing things.

You take in another big gul of air before it's let out in a high pitched whine and a good 'oh fuck' to go along with it. "Good girl." You can feel the wetness your legs start to pool your underwear. You nervously rub the ends of your feet together as he moves onto your lower back.

This is all professional, Y/n. It's not anything sexual. It's just a good back cracki-

"Oh fuck, baby. That was a good one." You quickly sit up as your motion makes him back away. "Okay what the hell, Jimin?" His eyebrow raises in confusion. "What do you mean 'what the hell'? I'm trying to do my job?" You shake your head. "No, what the hell was with all of those names?" His expression calms to a more assertive one. "What 'names' do you mean?" You roll your eyes at his comment. "You know what I'm talking about." He chuckles, taking a seat in his chair before crossing one leg over the other. "I don't know what you're on about, but do share with the class." You scoff at his attudide.

"You know what I'm talking about. The 'baby' and 'good girl'?" You watch as a smirk tugs the corner of his lips. His eyes narrowing to only focus on you now. "Do you have a problem with that?" You can feel the back of your throat going dry. The look he now possesses had been deadly. You can barely get the words out.

"Uh well yeah I..I do." He stands up, looking dead-straight into your eyes. His once soft chocolatey eyes had now turned stiff and assertive.

Forget the knives in your back, this man looked as if he was going to kill you with the daggers in his eyes.

"And.. why do you have an issue for me calling out the obvious?" You swallow a gulp as his figure stalks your own before resting between the open space of your thighs.

"B.. Because.." Your words trail off as his lifts a finger to grip your chin.

"Because.. ? I'm not a mind reader, love. Use your big girl words. Come on~" You whimper at his touch.

You fucking whimper.

"I-I.." It's as if this thief not only stole your back pain, but also your ability to fucking speak. He smirks, lifting your chin for your eyes to meet his. The space between you two had diminished in an amount of seconds. With just centimeters away from one another, his hot breath had mixed in with yours. Your breathing patterns had formed a song only you two could understand. It's as if the world had stopped, and caught on fire all at the same time. The pads of his cherry lips just barely brush past your own, making his motive all the much clearer.

"Say it." You freeze at his tone. Your head clouds with lustful intents that not even the devil would consider. His hand comes to rest atop your thighs, each palms curved perfectly around the surface of your heated skin. "S.. say what..?"

"Say you want me."

This is risky. Really fucking risky.

Jungkook had just stepped out of the room, not out of the mother fucking building at least!!

Everything in your head had been screaming at you 'no'. Well, you'd gone with the better option.

His breath rolls past your padded lips as his tongue comes out to wet his. The muscle barely brushing your own in his action. His eyes have narrowed to only see you. He continues.

'I don't like repeating myself, Y/n." You whine at his tone, before finally letting the former feeling win this war.

"I want you."

That's all he needed to press your lips to his. This was it. All that you had wondered all those years from your youth. You and he hadn't been so far apart in age, just a little to where people would go 'oh.'

5 years. You and he had a five year age gap. When you were graduating high school, he'd been graduating from college. It wasn't that looked down upon, but still. Also,

'Fuck- exactly how I thought you'd taste. Mmm, so sweet." He moans against your lips as one of his free hands come to toy with your bra strap. Teasingly tugging it up before letting it go, making a 'snap' sound. You groan at the sensation, felling your own way up his elongated torso. Your hands come to toy with the healthy roots of his silvery locks, pulling every so gently. He pulls away, only to tumb his pad along your swollen lips. His demanding voice sent chills up your spine.

"Open." He commanded. You oblige as his two fingers are shoved into your mouth. "Suck." You do, as your tongue swirls around the digits of his finger tips before he pulls them from your mouth.

"Good girl." His fingers make their way into your underwear as his digits card through your folds. Your back arches, earning him tight groan.

"Shit-" He curses, pulling himself from you. You whine from the loss of contact.

"What's wrong?" You ask, wondering why all of a sudden he stopped. "Is your back still hurting?" You slightly nod, taking his hand in yours.

"It was feeling better though..." You whine, trying to connivence him.

"Come onnn, we can worry about that afterwards." He hesitates, but nods while capturing your lips with his kisses. This all felt so right. His kisses deepen, as the pad of his tongue reaches out in fight to win against yours. You both moan against each other's lips, finally feeling what could've been all those years.

"Fuck- You're so fucking beautiful." His hands reaches up to pull the thin fabric down from your tits. He watches as they bounce slightly from their newly freed positions. He chuckles, planting kitten-like licks to the buds of your breasts. Taking each nipple in one at a time before gently tugging on the with his two front teeth, then soothing the area with his tongue. Your head lulls back, as your hips instantly buck up against his. The prominent tent in his pants quickly showing against his jeans. Your hand reaches out to palm him, as his head rolls back.

"Fuck- just like that baby." Now it's your turn as your hand dips into the fabric of his jeans before passing his underwear as well. You quickly pull both layers of material down in one go. His hardened cock bobs up and down at your motions. Your mouth falls open at the sight.

"Holy shit.." He chuckles, watching as you take in all the gory of his dick.

"Like what you see?" He teases, as you nod making quick haste to spit into the palm of your hand before wrapping around the base of his cock. You watch as his stomach contorts at the grip, as your hand bobs up and down the length. Teasing over the plush, cherry red tip just for fun. His hands had made quick work as well, as he'd now shoved two fingers into sopping core. You moan at the sudden contact, but don't faulter in your own moves against him. Both of your breaths are labored, as you two are in an unspoken battle to see who can make the other one cum first.

"A-Are we really making this a co-competition?" He asks while his mouth forms a permanent o-shape. Yours hadn't been doing too well either.

"M-Maybe-ah!" You whine at his speed in which he added one more finger.

"F-fuck this." He removes his fingers before quickly making his way over to his desk drawer, pulling out a square packet.

"You really keep those here? Why? You fuck all your clients?" He chuckles at the hint of jealousy he'd picked up in your tone.

"Only my well-behaved ones~" You scoff at his cockiness.

"Full of yourself, Park." He smirks, yanking your articles of clothing down before they fall to the floor. He pulls you down to meet his hips. His cock running between the slick of your folds, teasingly dragging this out for even longer. Soon, he slides in while making his remark.

"No my dear, You're full of me."

You moan, wrapping your arms around his neck as his hands come to rest on your hips to hold you steady. You two had been in a position where you'd use it to fuck in the shower or something. Your tits bouncing against the flat of his chiseled chest, as his cock is mercilessly pounded up into your dripping core. Your head lulls back as he buries his face into the crook of your neck. With each thrust, his teeth tug more and more at your abused, sensitive skin.

"Oh fuck- yeahhh baby. Just like that. Fuck! You like me fucking your little pussy? Ah fuck baby- you feel so good." Your nails had been scratching at his back for the last 2 minutes. Some, enough to make him bleed. "Fuck! Oh fuck fuck fuck!" He lifts your body up off the table to slap your ass once.

"When did I give you permission to curse, huh? Bad girls don't get daddy's cum. You want my cum baby? Want me to fill you up so good? Nice and full for daddy, hmm?" You couldn't help the strings of loud moans that fill the small room. His grunts and thrusts making it near impossible to speak.

"Yeah baby. Doing so well for me. You gonna cum? Mmmm cream daddy's cock baby, show me how good you are for me." His hand reaches between the space of your bodies, quickly finding your click and rubbing harsh circles against the throbbing bud. Your legs unconciously wrap around his torso, as his thrust start to slow down just a bit.

"Better hurry up, darling. Jungkook's coming back any minute. wouldn't want to see his new roomate getting fucked by his best friend, would he?"

You moan out in a staggered breath "Fuuuck youu" He chuckles at that.

"Well since that's off your b-bucket li- fuck. List... What's n-next?" He laughs-kinda moans at the second part. His thrusts get sloppier. "Fuuuuck Oh! Come with me baby, come on. Cream my cock like the good girl you are. Show me how much you like daddy fucking you!"-

"ahhhh! So muuuch!!" Your orgasm washes over your like the ending to an exciting roller coaster. Your limbs fall imminently as he stands Infront of you to keep your limp body upright. Once he's sure you're good by yourself, he starts dressing your figure once more. When you're both fully clothed again, he clears his throat.

"So.. Is your back still hurting?"

______________________________________________________________

(I think Jimin fucked it back into place hahaha)

#BTS park jimin smut #bts smut #bts jimin smut #bts jimin ff #jiminbts #bts jimin #bts smuts #bts drabbles #bts fics #flames of us #park jimin #bts #pjm #jeon jungkook #jjk

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john-kramers-left-sock · 7 months

Text

Inktober Day 7: Drip

Pairing: John Kramer x Reader

SFW

(This is the edited version because I changed the direction of my story)

"Come on, there's no one here. Let's just take a quick look," your boyfriend of six months, Sam, encouraged you and your friends to step through the gap in the chain-link fence. The abandoned warehouse towers over your entire group, covering the moon and casting a dark shadow on the land around you.

"I don't know about this, guys. What if we get caught? There have to be cameras or something around the property. I mean, it's not like we're the first ones to try this," Emma, your best friend raised her concern to the group. It was mainly met with eye rolls and a couple of groans.

"You gotta be kidding me. It's just an old warehouse. Wait, are you scared that it's haunted or something?" The bad boy of the group, Eric, snickered slightly. He wrapped an arm around Emma, mocking a ghostly moan. "Woooo I'm the ghost of of a warehouse worker named Bob! I'm going to bore you to death by talking about my kids and my erectile disfunction!"

"Knock it off, Eric. It's fine for people to be freaked out with this kind of thing. I mean, it's pretty dark out," Ben gently pulled Eric away from Emma, his brows slightly furrowed in concern.

"It's Halloween night! What's better than going to a creepy, abandoned building? Who knows, we coulf find a body or something," Sam replied with a smirk. He looked at you, a grin on his freckled face. "Besides, (Y/n) is pretty good at this urban exploring stuff, right?"

"Well, I've only done it once before. It's not like I'm an expert," you awkwardly attempt to explain to your friends, rubbing the chills from your arms. "We should just be careful. If it seems dangerous, we'll just leave. Besides, I'm sure an old building like this has interesting history."

"Yeah yeah, we don't need a history lesson. Let's just get inside. It's gonna start raining soon," Eric pushed his way past you and Sam, crawling under the gap in the fence. One by one each person slipped through, making it to the imposing warehouse before them.

"Wait, there's no lock?" Emma said in a surprised tone as the group gathered in front of the large doors. It was clear that it had been chained up before, but not right now. "We should head back, someone might be in there."

"No chance. There's not a single car around and the front gate is still chained up. Maybe the last people who snuck in left it unlocked. Let's go," Sam pulled the door open without questioning, waiting for everyone to enter the warehouse.

As you enter, you catch the sign nailed to the outside wall. DO NOT ENTER is printed out on the metal shape, years of wear leaving it covered in rust. Your instincts tell you one thing, but your curiosity wins out in the end. You enter the warehouse, watching Sam shut the door behind you.

'Damn, it's dark in here. Stick close, guys," Ben pulled out his phone, turning on the flashlight and shining it across the room. It doesn't look very special, with worn furniture scattered across the room and rusted tools on the floor. The rafters creek on their own and a dripping sound can be heard in the distance. "I was expecting it to be more... Terrifying."

"Well, maybe this is just a front. Who knows, there might still be some stuff hidden around here. Let's look around," you suggest, looking over every detail. The group stays close together, checking each room. Most of it was empty, having been cleared out when the warehouse was shut down. As you continued, the dripping noise got louder and louder.

"Woah, look at this," Ben speaks up after shining his flashlight to the right. The light hits a large metal door. It was solid and heavy, almost like the entrance to a vault. Ben approached it first, pressing his ear to the metal. "I think I hear that dripping coming from in here."

"Now you're talking. Move, I'll get it open," Eric rolled up his sleeves and grabbed the handle. He pulled with all of his strength, expecting it to be locked. However, the door swings open, sending him to the ground with a thud.

"Are you ok?" Emma rushes to Eric's side, kneeling to check him over. Her lips purse in concern when she sees a scratch on his arm. "That looked like it hurt. Hold still, I have a bandaid."

While Emma tended to Eric, you, Sam, and Ben approached the large door. Glancing inside, the room was empty, but far cleaner than any of the place in the warehouse. You step inside, hearing the dripping coming from the ceiling. Liquid would form on the surface before dripping down to the floor below.

"That's weird, this is too dark to be water," you mumble to yourself as you step inside the room, holding out your hand. After catching a drop, you gaze down at the substance. It looks to be red, and a strong smell of iron hits your senses.

Suddenly, the metal door slams shut, locking behind you. You whirl around, panicking as you bang your fists on the door. "Guys?! This isn't funny! Let me out!" You yelled, trying to twist the handle. From the other side, you can hear small dull thuds and yelps, before an overwhelming silence hits. "Guys...?"

No one responds to the sound of your voice. You stand there in silence, thoughts racing. Just when you think that this is some messed up dream, you hear a voice from the corner of the room. A speaker sits on the ground, a raspy voice muttering through it.

"Hello (Y/n), I want to play a game."

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dollystuartwrites · 1 year

Text

Stray Gods - Chapter 26

Pairing: Gods!OT8 x !F!Reader

Genre: romance, friends to lovers, polyamory, mystery, supernatural, angst, fluff, smut

Wordcount: 3224

Chapters: [1] - [2] - [3] - [4] - [5] - [6] - [7] - [8] - [9] - [10] [11] - [12] - [13] - [14] - [15] - [16] - [17] - [18] - [19] - [20] [21] - [22] - [23] - [24] - [25] - [26] - [27] - [28] - [29] - [30] -? MASTERLIST

Summary: With no memory of who you were, you wake up in the woods, only to be found by eight unusually handsome men. With no information of the past, the guys decide to take you in and take care of you for the time being. But that time becomes years, and as time passes, you start to notice that there is something different about them... and something different about you...

Warnings: angst, praise, thigh riding, kissing, fingering, overstimulation, lovebites, bad/miscommunication, low self-esteem, swearing, name-calling, dry humping, college, degradation, gods, special powers, vaginal sex, oral sex (f&m), mentions of contraception (condoms&thepill), injuries, mentions of death (but no character deaths), virgin!reader, teasing, orgasms, daddy kink, poly relationship, semi-public sex. I've probably forgotten some so let me know if I did and I will add more as the story progresses.

Taglist: @eastleighsblog @tangerminie @speedybagelmongerpasta @swittyregan

Special thanks to my beta and cheerleader Millie.

Packing was a lot harder than you thought it would be. You had never packed for anything before, and although you had only been on this earth for about three years, you had never truly realised how much stuff you owned. Clearly, you couldn’t pack everything, but you were having a hard time choosing what would be essential to bring along with you and what would be less necessary.

When you had finally decided on all the stuff you wanted to take with you on your bed, you suddenly realised that you did not own a suitcase. Nor did you own big or enough bags to stuff it all into. You looked at your watch; there were only ten minutes left. You hurried out of your room and ran down the stairs. Seungmin was already sitting at the kitchen table, a large duffel bag and a suitcase next to him as he scrolled on his phone and drank tea. Clearly, he was the first one done packing. Just when you reached the foot of the stairs, Felix was coming out of his room, carrying a large backpack and rolling along a suitcase on its wheels.

You sprinted towards Hyunjin and knocked on his door.

‘Yes?’ his voice sounded, and you quickly entered. Usually, Hyunjin’s room looked like an art/fashion bomb had exploded, with art supplies and clothes everywhere. But right now, it was as if you had never truly seen his furniture before. His room was spotless, and his three suitcases were packed and ready as he was hoisted off his bed.

‘Jinnie, do you have a spare suitcase for me, please?’ you asked desperately.

‘Oh, no, sorry honey,’ he said as he looked up surprised. ‘I’ve already given my spare one to Changbin.’

You swore under your breath.

‘You could ask Chan and Han if they have any spare bags, maybe?’ Hyunjin suggested. His face looked a little sheepish, and he clearly regretted not being able to help you.

‘Right, thanks,’ you said quickly as you dashed off again.

In five minutes, you had managed to ask all the guys for their biggest spare bags and brought them back to your room. Frantically you started shoving all of your stuff into the bags, not minding the possibility of stuff breaking, leaking or wrinkling.

At 5.13, you were standing in the kitchen with your five bags barely closed, panting and puffing, and sure, you probably had forgotten something important.

‘Impressive,’ Hyunjin admitted as he put his arm around your shoulder and wiped the sweat from your forehead with his sleeve.

‘Alright, everyone ready?’ Chan asked with his own backpack on his back, one hand clutching the handle of his mid-size suitcase and the other holding his beloved laptop.

Everyone nodded.

‘Y/n, who will you go with?’ Chan asked.

‘She can come with me,’ Jeongin said as he pulled you out of Hyunjin’s arm, making him slightly lose his balance. You gave a curt nod, letting them know it was alright.

‘Right,’ Chan said. ‘And remember, guys, 15-second intervals before you can go, okay?’

They all nodded again, as did you, although you weren’t sure what he was talking about.

‘Right, Lino, it’s go time,’ Chan spoke. Lino nodded, grabbing his suitcase and disappearing with the sound of a gusting wind. Chan checked his watch, as did some of the others.

‘Next,’ Chan said after 15 seconds. Changbin hoisted a bag so big over his shoulder that it could easily fit himself in it before disappearing with that same whooshing sound.

Next was Hyunjin, Han, and then Felix, all at 15-second intervals. Seungmin went next, and then it was only Chan, Jeongin and you.

‘You guys go next; I’ll go last,’ Chan said with a nod. Jeongin nodded curtly as well. He hoisted his backpack over his shoulder, as did you, and he managed to get two of your large stuffed bags in each of his unexpectedly strong arms. You took the last bag and grabbed Jeongin’s suitcase in your free hand.

‘Ready?’ he asked softly, a soft smile on his face, his golden eyes greeting you. You nodded. Slightly clumsily because of all the bags he was carrying, he put his arms around you.

‘Close your eyes,’ he instructed. You did as he said.

‘Go!’ Chan said, and for a moment, you could hear the loud gushing of wind. Before you knew it, Jeongin let go of you again.

‘Quick,’ he said, grabbing your arm and pulling you to the wall of the narrow, dark, dead-end alleyway you had landed in. All the others were standing flush against the wall as well. The front two, Changbin and Minho, were keeping watch at the entrance of the alleyway.

You had just pressed your back against the concrete wall when there was another gush of wind, and Chan arrived, landing in the middle of the alley, precisely where you and Jeongin had landed just a few seconds ago. You now understood why everyone was standing to the side. You didn’t want to think about what would’ve happened if you had still been standing there. You shivered and decided that it was something you wouldn’t ask.

‘All good?’ Chan asked. Changbin and Minho nodded. ‘Good, let’s go then.’

You all gathered together and walked towards the entrance of the alleyway. The many bags Jeongin had been carrying were taken over and divided by the others so his load wouldn’t be too heavy.

You hadn’t noticed it in the alleyway, but as soon as you stepped out of it, it was raining. Instantly you realised something you had forgotten: a coat and an umbrella. Luckily, however, some of the others did have an umbrella, and you were able to share one with Seungmin.

‘Why didn’t we just teleport into the hotel? Like in the bathroom or something?’ You asked him, suppressing a shiver as you followed the rest.

‘Cause, it’d be far too suspicious. There are cameras everywhere, and if a group of 9 people suddenly comes out of the bathroom while they haven’t been seen anywhere before, it would be a bit strange, wouldn’t it?’ Seungmin explained. Right. Made sense.

Luckily you didn’t have to walk that far before you arrived at a luxurious-looking hotel.

You all entered, and Chan went up to the reception to check-in.

Ten minutes later, he returned with a handful of key cards and explained that you all had the entire floor to yourself.

The room cards were randomly divided, and you barely managed to fit the group of you in the large elevator up.

‘Guys,’ you began before you entered your room. They all looked at you. ‘I know it’s not really social or anything, but I think I’m just gonna go and sleep for a bit. I’m exhausted. I’ll see you guys again tomorrow, okay?’

They all nodded understandingly, and you quickly slipped into your room. It was a large albeit basic room, most of it white. The windows were floor-to-ceiling and gave the most beautiful view of the buildings beneath and the coast with the sea. But you weren’t in the mood to admire this right now; all you wanted was some good old sleep.

You let yourself fall onto the bed and had barely pulled up the covers before you had already gone.

You were looking down at the bright lights.

The five of them were resting.

They did not notice a sixth light passing them by.

They could not sense it or see it the way you could. Unable to recognise each other at first glance.

But you knew at some point your favourite light would dip into the Inbetween and notice the sixth light presence.

And soon enough, it happened…

You woke up and stared at the dark ceiling.

It was as clear as day. As bright as the sun peeking through your not-completely closed curtains. You remembered.

You remembered the dream you had had, or better said, the memory. You remembered “being” whatever it was that you were and watching them. Their lights shining so brightly it filled your soul, your entire being.

But what did it mean?

You stretched out on the bed and took your phone from the nightstand; unfortunately, it was almost empty. Right, you had forgotten to charge it last night. You quickly pulled out the charger that was in your bag and connected it. You opened the curtains in front of the window, and a stunning view of the morning sun rising over the island sprawled before you. The calm rippling water of the sea far away reflected the sun beautifully, making it look like it was sparkling. The clouds and rain of yesterday were nowhere to be seen, and as far as you could tell from the clear light blue sky, it promised to be a sunny day.

It was still early, and you decided to take your time to get ready and start the day by taking a long shower. After which, you brushed your teeth and got dressed. By that time, your phone was charged halfway, which would be enough for the day, so you decided to go out and explore the hotel.

You rode the elevator down to the lobby and quickly found the restaurant where breakfast was already served. At the moment, the only people in the restaurant were the staff, which meant you could have a nice and silent breakfast. You were just loading your plate with some of the most delicious breakfast options when someone else walked into the restaurant.

Something weird happened.

You knew someone was walking into the restaurant because you could hear their footsteps, but it felt like an invisible hand was scratching you lightly at the top of your spine, right under your hairline. It gave you a weird kind of shivering feeling, and you turned around. The person who had walked in was a very tall man. He was extraordinarily handsome with broad shoulders and a very kind and calm face. His aura was so calm and collected that it was almost entrancing. You had never seen him before, nor did you know him. But still… You knew. You knew for certain, just as you knew you had two eyes, hands and feet, that this man was no man; he was a God.

It was a knowledge clear as day, undisputable and definitive. And it piqued your curiosity.

Almost as if you were in a trance, focused and with a twisted sense of fascination, you walked after the man. He sat down near the window with his book, his position giving him the perfect view of the still deserted pool and sports courts. He opened his book and started to read, the light hitting the pages at the perfect angle.

You didn’t quite dare to go sit with him, so instead, you decided to sit down a few tables away from him. Close enough to observe him properly but far enough to use the excuse of the view as the reason for your respective seating.

You could barely taste your food as you chewed; your mind was preoccupied with the angelic reading only metres away.

What kind of God was he? Was he alone? Or did he have his own group like you? And did he know what you were?

‘Saved me a seat, I see,’ a cheerful voice spoke. The sharp sound of his voice almost felt like a slap in your face and startled you looked up. Changbin was standing in front of you, his shirt drenched with sweat. Clearly, he had just returned from his usual morning run.

‘Binnie, hi,’ you said, startled, feeling like you had been caught. Changbin, however, hadn’t seemed to notice that you had been staring at another man and simply sat down opposite you.

‘Are you still gonna eat that?’ He asked as he pointed at the soup and the croissant you had on your plate.

‘It’s yours,’ you said as you pushed the plate to him. You weren’t feeling particularly hungry anymore. You took a quick glance at the stranger, who seemed to read on unbothered. Changbin took the plate from you eagerly and started on the soup.

‘Slept well?’ he asked.

‘Very, thanks. You?’ you asked, taking another glance at the stranger.

‘Yeah, fine. They have surprisingly good beds here,’ Changbin said airily. ‘Oh, by the way, I still got some of your bags in my room. Just lemme know when I should drop them off,’ he said with a nod.

You nodded and looked over at the stranger again.

‘You know him?’ Changbin suddenly asked curiously. Shit. You had gotten caught.

‘What? No?’ you said quickly, fixing yourself and focusing all your attention on Changbin, but he wasn’t to be fooled. He cocked his head slightly, and a slight smirk appeared on his face.

‘Don’t tell me you’re going to make us jealous of some rando, are you?’ he said in a soft low voice. Your face instantly flushed, and you quickly shook your head. You weren’t at all interested in the stranger romantically. No, it was simply aching curiosity that made you desperate for answers.

‘Good, ‘cause I don’t think I’d be able to share you with one more,’ Changbin hummed. He got up from his seat, took the croissant and walked over to you. Standing behind you, he grabbed your shoulders and bent over, his mouth level with your ear. ‘You know, I can be quite possessive and jealous…’ he whispered in a teasing voice as his lips brushed the shell of your ear. A hot shudder went down your spine and made you clench your thighs together.

It was as if your body was a dry haystack and someone accidentally had dropped a spark on it. You were on fire. For the past two weeks, you had abstained from intimate relations as you did not have the time nor the headspace for it. But right now, it was as if your body was realising what it had missed, and it was screaming, aching for it to be repaid in full. With additional interest.

Changbin chuckled and let go of you, and without saying anything else, he skipped out of the restaurant, croissant still in his hand.

Your mouth suddenly felt dryer than the Sahara, as opposed to the space between your legs. You scrambled to get out of your seat, but at that exact moment, the rest of the group came strolling through the doors, talking and laughing. Felix instantly spotted you and waved.

‘Hi y/n!’ Jeongin chirped as he walked over. ‘Slept well?’

You nodded, cheeks still feeling hot.

You weren't sure how it happened, but the guys pulled you in and hugged you, making you unable to leave. Every moment they touched you or even smiled at you, you could feel the heat between your legs rise again. You were sure Hyunjin and Felix knew, but they seemed to choose to ignore it. Whether to help or tease you, you weren't sure.

By the time all had loaded their plates for themselves and urged you to take some more as well, and they were about to sit down, the stranger got up from his seat, closed the book and walked out of the room. You felt slightly disappointed that he had already gone, but your mind was too preoccupied to dwell on it too long.

Now and then, you tried to get out of the conversation, but somehow you couldn’t seem to get through.

Barely an hour later, you found yourself on the volleyball pitch, sitting on the sideline as a referee while the boys were playing four against four.

It was tough to focus and referee the game as the guys quickly started to become sweaty in the hot sun, their shirts sticking to the curves of their muscles and their hair looking all wet and wild. Which wasn’t the only thing going wet and wild…

When the match was finally over, you quickly returned to the hotel, excusing yourself and telling them you simply wanted to get out of the scorching sun for a bit. In reality, you hurried off to your room, desperate to finally find release from the aching between your legs. Although it wasn’t nearly as satisfying as any moment you had spent with any of the boys, it was enough, for now, to not go insane. After calming down and feeling like you could finally breathe again, you returned downstairs around dinner time.

You waited in the lobby for the rest to arrive, confident enough to face them now and have a nice, fun meal with them. Positioned in such a way that you had the perfect view of the elevator doors, you leaned back and waited. Of course, you could call them up and tell them you were waiting for them in the lobby, and they all probably would come rushing over to you, but you respected their peace and space as they had respected yours this afternoon, so you simply relaxed.

After a few minutes, the elevator doors opened, and four men stepped out. One of them had been the reading stranger of this morning. The three other strangers were just as handsome and aethereal as the first, although their vibe seemed significantly different. One of them looked much younger and had a playful air of speaking and big round doe-like eyes that contrasted the sleeve tattoo on his arm. The guy he was speaking to was tall and slender, with a nose that looked like a slide and a radiance that almost blinded you. He seemed to be a walking ray of sunshine, and when he laughed at the remark of the doe-eyed boy, you couldn’t help but chuckle with him. The third man was smaller and, there was no other way to put it, simply looked like a very sleepy kitten. It was obvious to you, without question or doubt, that these three newcomers were also Gods.

So, they had a group too…

Was it like gods to live in groups? Or was this just a simple coincidence? The four men paid you no mind and walked in the direction of the dining hall, disappearing out of sight.

They probably hadn’t noticed you; if they had, they simply hadn’t cared enough for you to react to your obsessive stares.

Would they recognise you as something more than just a human admiring their beauty? You didn’t expect them to, as your own group of boys hadn’t recognised you as anything else until just recently. But still, you did feel slightly shunned. Perhaps it was simply because of your own realisation of your divinity that you had expected him to recognise it in you in some way or another.

But then something crossed your mind. The words Changbin had said this morning; he had referred to the stranger God as “some rando”. You hadn't thought much of it at the time as your mind had been preoccupied with something else, but now that you thought about it… It seemed as though Changbin had not recognised the God's true nature. Otherwise, would he have referred to him the way he had? Knowing Changbin, you didn’t think he would’ve. You blinked in awe. Changbin hadn’t recognised another god. But you had.

Hi peeps! Thanks again for reading so far.

The next few chapters will be very important to the lore of the series and will bring some revelations... >.> However, this means that there won't be as much smut in the next few chapters but please bare with me and I promise it'll be worth it!

Smut will return soon :)

Lots of Love, Dolly

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char-lie-spirals · 5 days

Note

YOU HAVE A OLIVER GRAHAM SKYRIM AU!! (I know nothing about Skyrim)

I DO!! For the past like 2 months I've done next to nothing other than playing Skyrim and learning about Skyrim but I have the 2 of them on my mind constantly so Of Course I put them in Skyrim!!

I'll explain the AU in a second under the cut, but before that, to get the basics out of the way - Skyrim is a game in the Elder Scrolls franchise where the main character, you know, runs around, kills dragons, and does quests for the people of Skyrim. It's also very fun and I love it. It's also far too big to properly explain in a single paragraph so I'll try to provide context as I go.

Now, I don't think either of them would take on the role of the main characters, so with the AU I mostly tried to focus on what they'd do/be like in Skyrim, as just normal NPCs. And the first thing I wanted to decide was Where to put them on the map. Said map, for context:

Let's start with Graham for now. In the AU he was born and grew up in Solitude (the city in the North, on the left side of the map). His parents owned a general goods store there, but seeing as there's already a different one in the city, business was,, slow, so they took orders from other cities as well. At some point, they both set out to transport a bigger order to Markath (The city in the West), but... well. The roads around Markath are particularly dangerous, and they didn't even make it to the city before they were attacked. This is this AU's version of them dying in a car accident on the M1 near Sheffield.

At their insistence, Graham stayed behind to watch the shop, so he was still safe within the city's walls and inherited the place. He tried to keep it open for a while, but eventually struck a deal with the other shop owner - he closes down his store and in exchange, he will get permanently hired in hers. She'd be his boss, but he'd still have a job and the business should get easier to keep afloat.

Solitude is also one of the 2 cities with a college available - the bard's college, and just like in mag 003, he takes a few classes there to kill the time and broaden his mind. Is he a bard? No. Does he know a couple of songs now? Yeah :]

I also found a very fun way of translating his passion for interesting antique furniture into Skyrim! He's one of those people who looove learning about the Dwemer. The Dwemer/Dwarves were a race of elves that was Incredibly advanced, they had huge underground cities, technology, all that... but then hundreds if not thousands of years before Skyrim takes place, they just,, poof! Disappeared! And after all that time, their robots still work while the rest of the world is running around with swords (and magic), so a LOT of people are trying to learn more about their technology, inventions, culture, etc.

And Graham is one of those people. Show him a chunk of Solid Dwemer Metal and he will buy it from you no matter the cost. He also wanted to move to Markath one day, seeing as the city was built on Top of a Dwemer ruin... but well, after what happened to his parents, he's less eager.

One last thing I want to say about him is just his general armor/weapon preference: He strikes me as your average heavy armor one-handed sword user, but he also dabbles in magic a bit. Now, magic is kinda frowned upon by a lot of people in Skyrim, so he's not Loud about it, but he does know a fair few restoration spells. That extra bit of health can be really helpful and all, you know?

Now, onto Oliver!

Oliver doesn't live in Solitude. In fact, he's never visited it, even! He grew up in Dawnstar (North city, middle of the map), and I think he Might've briefly moved to Winterhold to attend a semester or so in the Mage's College, but he quickly moved back home. I also think he might've been on his way to joining the Jarl's court (the Jarl is basically the head of the city and they have a court, which usually has a Stuart (handles finances), court wizard (handles magic stuff), but a few extra people too, depending on the city), however, with how Messy everything's been lately, he just had to take a solid step back.

You see, Dawnstar is a smaller city. Hell, they don't even have a general goods store! There's a caravan that sets up camp by the town every couple days/weeks, so they can still get their supplies, but it's all very limited. Not to mention, something's been Off in Dawnstar lately. All of the residents have been plagued by horrible nightmares. Nightmares of death and alike, that may or may not have something to do with a powerful entity affecting their memories.

Which, you know. Fits Oliver, doesn't it? Nightmares, death, powerful Thing responsible for them, as well as patchy memory? Best part is, This Is Literally In The Game. This Is What's Happening In Dawnstar At The Start Of The Game. I'm sure you can see why I put Oliver in this city rather than any bigger one, right? :]

Now, regardless of whether I'll end up deciding he's been to the Mage's College or not, he does know a fair couple of spells as well - mostly Illusion ones but I think I can let him know a Destruction Spell or two - maybe Flames? Just like Graham, he doesn't talk about using magic much to make sure other people don't look at him differently, but he's quite proficient with his magic regardless.

Other than that, he prefers light armor over heavy armor, and uses bows rather than melee weapons. He just hates being in the heat of the battle, is all. And the distance is safer! Of course, if push comes to shove, he probably has a dagger and it's also possible to use Destruction magic up close, so he's not entirely defenceless... just less likely to come out of it unscathed.

Like I mentioned, with everything happening in Dawnstar he ended up taking a step back from trying to earn his place in the Jarl's court, and doesn't exactly have a job per-se anymore, he just helps around? Runs errands for people if needed, and helps out the old lady at the alchemy store by looking for ingredients for her outside the city as well.

Now with all that background information out of the way (tears in my eyes there is so much of this), the proper plot:

The Caravan that usually sets camp by Dawnstar was attacked by bandits on their way. They weren't killed or anything, but lost quite a few of their goods, so they don't have much to offer. Since the town relies on their supplies and is running quite low, the Jarl decides not to wait until they're back with more supplies and sends Oliver to the nearest town that can provide everything they need - Solitude.

The issue is, going from Dawnstar to Solitude through the official roads takes 2-3 days, depending on your pace and the amount of stops you take, and they need supplies ASAP, so instead of backtracking South and going through Morthal, Oliver decides to head straight West - through the marsh. It makes the journey take a bit over a day, but the marsh is also full of things that want to murder you.

I actually walked that path in the game just to see, and I ran into a dozen Mudcrabs (not strong but camouflage well), a troll (very dangerous) and even a bug-creature that poisons you. I had to resort to running most of the way, and it all ends in having to cross a very strong river. Which is to say, Oliver makes it to Solitude in a day, but Good Lord does he nearly die like 5 times on the way.

He gets a bit lucky, though, because as he jumped into the river to get away from the things chasing him, extinguishing his torch in the process, Graham just so happened to be outside of the city walls and spotted the light going out. And yeah, Graham's not a fan of leaving the city, but he also gets worried about travellers easily, so he decides to go down to the river bank to see what happened.

He uses his restoration magic to heal Oliver back up, or at least keep him stable in spite of being poisoned, and then helps him to the town and the tavern/inn. They get to know each other a bit over some food and then part ways.

The next day, Oliver does what he's been sent to do - goes shopping. He spends most of the gold he was given at the general goods store, and is very surprised to find out that Graham actually works there! They chat for a bit and Oliver explains he'll probably be heading back to Dawnstar now that he bought everything the city needs, and, well...

Even if he's not heading to Markath, the roads can be dangerous and riddled with bandits, and Graham really likes Oliver's company already, so,, he offers to escort him there! Watch his back and all! As well as make sure he sticks to the proper path instead of cutting corners and trying his luck in the marsh again.

They get even closer during their 2-day journey, and it just so happens that Apparently There Are Some Dwemer Ruins By The Road To Dawnstar???? Between that, and Oliver himself, Graham starts considering moving a bit closer to Dawnstar. Not into it, at Oliver's insistence, seeing as that would mean the nightmares would get to him as well, but somewhere close :]

I think he and Oliver will eventually open a general goods store + Tavern/Inn between Dawnstar and Morthal, seeing as neither of the cities have a general goods store and making it into an Inn as well makes travelling there for supplies safer (you can stay the night if you head out too late to make it back before dusk). And yeah, they'll probably go somewhere from there :]

"Unrelated" fun fact, you can get gay married in Skyrim!

If you have any questions re:the au or just like skyrim in general feel free to ask me i am. "normal" about both of them. as evidenced by the length of this post. I just checked and this is 1.7k words. Good lord.

#asks.char #my current fic posting has been slow because of uni and writer's block but i will be so real #the amount of time im spending playing skyrim is probably a bit guilty too #anyway thank you sm for the opportunity to talk about this au it is very dear to me

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ironmanfridgemagnet · 2 years

Text

Sitting On The Shelf - Marcus White x Reader

Part 35 - Grand Reopening

SOTS Masterlist

"I hope you all had an amazing vacation." Being back inside of the store was nothing like how you remembered it to be - however, that could've been due to all the dust-sheet-covered furniture and the builders still lingering around and completing odd jobs and ends.

"By "vacation," you mean the two months we were laid off without pay?" Garrett scoffed, as unhappy to be here as everyone else and possibly even more so. You'd definitely missed his Garrett-like charm.

"Uh-huh.Anyways, I've been doing a lot of soul-searching since the tornado, and..." Glenn was quickly cut off by the loud shout of one of the builders to let him know that he was 'coming through, followed by a comically long series of more builders carrying stuff right where Glenn wanted to stand. "Almost got me there. And and it's been raising some big questions for me. Questions like...questions that..."

After the constant disruption of the usually quiet and empty front of the store, Glenn had insisted you all move to the breakroom, desperate to get his point across in peace and quiet - and safety given how he nearly got hit by a ladder. However, that didn't last for more then one sentence slipped from Glenn's lips, Cheyenne nearly falling out of the breakroom window that appeared to be missing the glass pain that usually sit within it. And so, you'd been forced to move to the front of the store, wherein Glenn's speech was interrupted once more. There was only on option - and apparently that was a twenty minute long walk away from the chaos and into the quiet.

"So that's what I've been thinking about. Anyone else have thoughts on that?" Glenn concluded his way too drawn out speech, a soft smile curling onto his lips as he finished his address for the first time in months. "Okay, then. Let's get to work!"

Jonah was the only thing separating you and Marcus after months of not talking, and the only thing stopping the two of you from noticing the other sneaking glances at them. He had a knack for that, it seemed. "What was that, a twenty minute walk?"

"Twenty-three." Mateo confirmed, the group beginning the return to the store to embark on the first shift in over two months. It was going to be a long day getting used to things again, let alone while trying to dodge Marcus all day; as long as you could help it.

"Y/n! Come on!" Jonah said, interrupting your thoughts as he grabbed your arm to bring you back to the rest of the group, pulling you back into reality as he did. Jonah had been your absolute rock these past few months, as you had his, and you knew as long as you had him at your side, today would be fine.

"Remember, single file when we cross the highway." Dina instructed, joining Glenn at the front of the line forming behind him.

"Are we cloud one?" Glenn shouted as you all began to walk back to the store, ready to restock everything.

"No!" You had all joined in on the chant, though tiredly and with lacklustre effort, it dawning on you you'd missed this place - these people - more than you thought you had over these past two months.

————————————————————————

As soon as you'd made your way back to the store, you were split into groups to begin restocking and rebuilding the store. You and Jonah were building a set of shelves with Cheyenne and Mateo, catching up on everything you'd done over the past few months.

"Yeah, it well, it wasn't justmyapartment. The tornado levelled thewholebuilding,so..." Jonah recounted the story for what felt like the millionth time, you having been glued to his all day so far and having heard his explanation to everyone who asked how his time off had been.

"Scary." Cheyenne gasped, leaving Mateo to try and put up the second shelf by himself. "Were you in it at the time?"

"No, I was here, at the time."

"Oh, right." Cheyenne scoffed, pushing her hair back over her shoulder and turning back to the shelf. "Blonde moment."

"Yeah,so anyway, everything I own is gone, and now I'm,well, I've actually been living with y/n." At the mention of your name your head perked up, waving at a cheery Cheyenne and a Mateo's who's interest in the conversation had suddenly peaked.

"I thought you only had one bedroom, y/n?" Of course Mateo had found some kind of thing to gossip about in the whole of Jonah's story.

"Yeah,I do." You confirmed, standing straighter as you fought against what Mateo was clearly implying, his smug smirk only furthering your confidence he thought something was going on between you and Jonah. "And if he doesn't get out of it soon, we're left with no choice but to find a bigger place."

"Why didn't you consider that sooner?" Mateo was looking you up and down, a deeper smirk curling onto his lips as he thought he'd finally caught you and Jonah out.

"Didn't think it'd be this long." You answer honestly, returning to the shelf and letting your frustration at Mateo dissipate. "But, Jonah's a good roommate, I'm actually leaning into the thought of us moving into a bigger place together."

Jonah dropped what he was holding at the statement, for so long you'd been adamant that you weren't going to move out, not for his sake; and to hear you say you would stuck a chord in his heart. "Wait,really?"

"J." You cooed, wrapping on arm loosing around his side and pulling him into a hug, a fond look gazing up at him. "I'm really going to miss having you around if you go.Yeah, I love my apartment, but I love you more."

The tender moment between the two of you was a regular occurrence at this point, living together for so long having changed the nature of your relationship ever so slightly. Jonah had been one of your closest friends, but now, he was more like your brother; the one you'd never had and always wanted.

Mateo, however, cringed in disgust at the sweet turn of events, going back to ignoring the three of you and doing his own thing instead of the work.

"Oh. Why don't you move into Garrett's apartment?" Cheyenne asked, eyes filtering between a hopeful Jonah and a really scared Garrett; was he really so terrified of living with Jonah?

Garrett's face seemed to move through all five stages of grief as he tried to figure out an appropriate answer to the question ofwhyJonah couldn't move in with him. "No! No. I meannah. Jonah doesn't want to live with a roommate. He's an adult."

"Heliterallyspent the last few months with a roommate." You scoffed, ignoring Garrett's questioning gaze as you continued to build up the shelf.

"What roommate? Where? I didn't hear of a roommate."

"Me!" You shouted, turning to face your friend with a look of almost concern. "Did you not hear thatentireconversation?"

Garrett rolled his eyes at the revelation, clearly desperate to get out of having to house a roommate his necessarily didn't want or need. "But I mean, it wouldn't be a problem.I could do it.It's just that it'sreallycramped."

"Oh. I thought you had a two-bedroom." Cheyenne, yet again with the perfect timing, he'd Jonah holding onto hope he should've let been squashed.

"Ah, okay. Sure,yes, you know, if youwantto get architectural about it, thenyes, I do have a second bedroom,but, when you use a wheelchair, you need multiple bedrooms." Garrett's blatant lie had laughter bubbling in your chest, and if it weren't for the obviously disheartened look on Jonah's face you would've let it slips

"Oh. Why?"

"Safety. Excuse me. Gotta go."

Patting Jonah's arm, you gave him a soft smile. "We'll figure things out,J. 'Always do."

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The three of you had been stocking the freshly built shelves in silence, you, a physical barrier preventing Jonah and Amy's would-be awkward reunion.

"Back at it,huh?" Amy had broke the silence, cautiously making eye contact with Jonah around your smaller figure.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's like we never left. So, uh, how are things at home?" Jonah asked from his place next to you, stumbling over his words. Similarly to you, he hadn't spoken to hiscrushsince the tornado, andboywas he nervous about it; he hadn't shut up about it in the car ride over. "Emma. How..."

"How's Emma?" You asked her, finishing Jonah's train of thought for him as he struggled to form a full sentence in-front of Amy.

"Awesome. Yeah, she's starting high school." Amy turned to the cart next to her, taking a box off of it and placing it on the shelf, avoiding Jonah's piercing gaze that didn't move from her.

"Oh, wow. Uh, that's exciting. Teenager." Jonah smiled at her, unsure of what he could possibly say to make things alright.

"Oh my god,high school," you sighed looking at Amy, a wistful look of longing crossing yo features as you leant your back against the shelf. "I remember high school, what a place."

Amy raised her eyebrow at you before letting out a half-hearted laugh. "Y/n, you dropped out of high school? I thought you hated that place."

"I did." You shrugged, picking up another item to place onto the shelf, and ignoring the one that had fallen to the floor as you'd dazed about high school. "But I feel cool knowing Emma's going now, I'm like an alumni...or whatever."

Amy always had appreciated your attempts at making her times with Emma easier. Knowing you had made raising Emma that little bit easier - whatever you'd been though, Emma went through sooner or later in some capacity. And having that help, especially over the past few years, had been exactly what Amy needed.

Jonah sent you a knowing look before walking over to Amy and talking to her in a hushed tone.Oh, you thought,he's really just going for it huh.

Maybe you could take some inspiration from Jonah. Sure, he sometimes was out of his depth, butgod you had to give him credit for how he never backed down from what he wanted to do. Jonah had put his mind to talking to Amy, and he did. If only you could do that too.

Continuing to stack the shelf as Jonah and Amy converted, you fell into a daze, only breaking from it as Jonah loudly shouted "Hey Marcus!" breaking away from Amy as he did.

"Marcus!" Amy added, clearly happy for the tall man to be so close by and intervene with the undoubtedly awkward route their conversation was going down.

The brunettes sudden appearance had you startled, throwing your arm into the shelf and knocking over half of the end cap, a glass bottle falling to the floor and smashing, liquid and glass spreading everywhere.

"Oh shit, I'm- I- I'll..."

Marcus had pulled you from within the radius of the broken glass without though, his hand wrapping gently around yours as he guided you to avoid the sharp shards that now littered the floor. "You got to be more careful." He muttered, concern wrinkling his features.

The second you'd realised the position you'd ended up in, you jumped away from Marcus, stuttering and stumbling over trying to explain you needed to get a dustpan and brush to clean up your mess while hiding the raging blush that covered your cheeks.

Running away from the group, each calling after you, voices laced with concern, you headed for the warehouse in search of what you needed, not intending on returning to the spillage until Marcus was long gone from your line of vision.

Though you'd been happy your first interaction had beendecentlyun-awkward, it was still far too soon to speak to him again. The image of him jumping to your rescue wouldn't leave your mind; if he cared that much, why hadn't he contacted you? You supposed a relationship was supposed to be a two way street, you'd have to put in the effort too if you wanted to fix things - or at least find out why they hadn't been fixed...yet.

————————————————————————

You put the palm of your hands on the counter in the men's staff bathroom and pushed yourself up onto it. As you shuffled further back onto it Jonah started to unbutton his shirt, your eyes carefully avoiding his chest as it became revealed to you.

Though you'd spent months living together, you still hadn't gotten used to the sight of Jonah beingsocasuallyhalf-naked around you. It had taken a solid month for him to even take his shirt off with you in the room, but come this morning he didn't even think twice about you walking into the bathroom to brush your teeth while he used the shower.

"You know, my offer still stands." You said, pulling at his chin to make him face you, stubble scratching at your hands as he finished unbuttoning his shirt and let it fall to the floor.

Turning the tap on, Jonah began to splash water against his warm, flushed face and body - his interactions with Amy getting more and more embarrassing as the day went on. "I've loved living with you the past few months, don't get me wrong." Jonah dragged his hands slowly over his eyes, letting out a king sigh as he did. "But we either need to move into a bigger place, or I need to move out."

"First of all, you know how I feel about moving to a new place." The two of you had had plenty of discussions over the past week or so about moving out and into a bigger place together, but the more Jonah brought it up the more you realised just how much you didn't want to. There were too many memories attached to it now, and after everything you'd lost in the past few months, you weren't ready to lose this too. However, for Jonah, you'd do it. It'd take some time and convincing but you liked living with the brunette.

"Second of all, I wasn't on about that." You smoothly pulled the razor out of your back pocket and waved it in front of you, having snuck one out of the pile you'd been asked to stock in health and beauty. "I was on about my offer to get rid ofall that facial hair."

"Wow," Jonah let out a full belly laugh at your words. "I didn't think you were serious! I think it looks good, it lookssexy." He wiggled his eyebrows at you, the pair of you laughing for the first time today, forgetful of its events so far for a mere moment.

"How was your discussion with Amy? Seemedawfulfrom my point of view." You teased, dipping your hand under the running water and flicking it in Jonah's face.

"How wasyourdiscussion with Marcus? Seemed awful frommypoint of view." Jonah teased right back at you. When Jonah came over that first night, you cried into his arms about everything - how you'd messed up things with Marcus, you were out of a job, and how your entire life seemed to be falling apart. You hadn'tmeantto not tell him you loved him, in the moment the words just wouldn't come out, but considering he hadn't spoken to you at all since that moment, you were almost certain you'd ruined things between you for good.

"Haha, very funny Mr." You let out a sigh before looking up at Jonah and frowning. "Why do you think I'm hanging out in here with you?"

As he began to respond Garrett wheeled into the bathroom. "What is going on here?" He asked, raising his eyebrow in confusion.

"I'm just hanging out in here, don't worry about me." You sent Garrett a small, shy smile, swinging your legs back and forth as they hung over the ledge of the counter, much like your usual place atop the customer service counter:man, how you'd missed that place.

"Well, gotta do what you gotta do." Garrett shrugged before wheeling closer to the bathroom stall.

"Yeah. It's, it's just until I find a long term place, or someone who will let me stay with them, so ..." Jonah didn't finish his sentence, holding out for Garrett to offer him a place. In all honestly, you weren't upset he didn't want to live you, and was constantly pestering Garrett: Garrett had a spare room, and you? Well, you had a couch or the other half of your mattress if he planned on staying much longer.

Besides, you wouldn't mind getting the whole of your bed back sometime soon.

"Mm-hmm. Well, I'm a..." Garrett pointed to the stall before fully wheeling in.

Jonah sent you a pointed look as you tried to hold in your laugh behind your hand. "Don't you dare!" He whisper yelled at you, stifling his own laugh too.

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"Hi, I'm Glenn. This is my voice. How come no one ever told me that I sounded like that?" Glenn frowned; Garrett merely mentioned how high pitched his voice was, and it was all Glenn could think about since, completely taking his mind away from the disarray the store seemed to be in.

"Aw, Glenn. It's notthatbad. I think it's,uh, adorable." You said with faux confidence. Though Glenn's voice could sometimes get ateenybit annoying, there were definitely worse things in the world.

"We thought you knew." Amy sighed, dealing with Glenn's antics was one of the few things she was hoping to avoid today.

"But that's not how I sound on the inside! On the inside, I sound like "Hi, I'm Glenn."" He tried again but to no avail, he still sounded just as before.

"That's the same voice." Jonah confirmed, looking intently at you, who thankfully was standing opposite to Amy and not at her side, the two having yet to speak again since there awkward interaction this morning.

"Not what you hear. What I hear." Glenn said, pointing his finger in Jonah's direction.

"Okay, I found a costume shop with two Minion costumes." Dina said as she walked towards you, phone being tucked into her back pocket quickly as she returned to her usual, more formal self.

"Do I have a weird voice?" Glenn asked Dina hoping for a different response, a deep frown settling its way into his face.

"Yeah. It's preposterous. Anyway, I guess they were rented for some birthday party, but the kid was murdered or kidnapped, or changed his mind or something. I don't know. I wasn't listening. The point is, you two should go right now and pick them up." Dina said, folding her arms and looking between Amy and Jonah.

"Oh, I can go with Amy, Dina. I'm sure Jonah has lots to do around the store. I wouldn't want to take him away from his work." You responded, hoping to prolong Jonah from the inevitable confrontation between the two knowing he'd do the same for you if the roles were reversed.

"Yeah! Why can't y/n come? Why us?" Amy asked, clearly uncomfortable with having to spend so long with Jonah so soon.

"Me and you have a lot to do y/n.All right? Besides Henry can't be around children. Marcus is on his third DUI. Elias is afraid of Minions.Nobody knows where Brett is!" Dina's frustration seemed to be getting the better of her as she ushered Amy and Jonah out of the store. She folded her arms across her chest, a proud smile working its way onto her face as she watched them get into Amy's car.

"So what dowe have to do Dina?" You asked her, now standing by her side.

"Everything Y/n. There store is opening in 4 hours. Didn't you know? I swore we asked Garrett to make an announcement." Dina replied, swiftly walking away to find someone else to get started on one of the many things that needed to be done.

"What!" You yelled, running after Dina to try and figure out how you were going to get everything done in such a short amount of time.

————————————————————————

After spending the past few hours in a rush to try and get as much done as possible, you happily sunk down into a chair in the break room. Spending a moment just appreciating the quiet and the calm of the break room you stood up and opened one of the cupboards, grabbing a pot noodle before setting water to boil.

As you stood there, enjoying the silence in the room, you heard heavy footsteps coming towards it. Turning towards the door to see who it was you felt your stomach drop at the sight of the jumpsuit-clad warehouse manager. Tense silence fell across the room as you just started at each other, neither wanting to be the first to speak. Fortunately, it was readily broken by the shriek whistle of the kettle come to boil.

Picking up the kettle to pour the hot water into the pot you decided you'd have to be the one to break the silence.

"You're bleeding." Marcus had beaten you to it, silently crossing the break room and loosing wrapping his fingers around your wrist, pulling your forearm close to his face to inspect the small knick that had red bleeding through your shirt.

You gently placed the Kettle down before turning towards Marcus. He looked good. As good as the last time you'd really seen him, when his face was inches away from yours. Maybe better than then, especially in the dimmed lights and solitude of the break room.

Marcus just stared at you, his forehead creasing in deep concern, rolling up your sleeve to check out the small cut that rested on your forearm; how it had even got there, you didn't know. In the rush of the day you'd not stopped for more then 10 seconds, and the glass bottle you'd broken surely couldn't have done it - could it?

You could feel the tears pooling in your eyes again just like they had the night after the tornado. Marcus was being so kind despite all you'd felt had happened, maybe it was just in your head how bad it'd been?

Marcus reached up on top of the fridge, pulling down the old and dusty first aid box that had sat unused since you'd first began working at the store, opening it and pulling out a wipe and a band aid.

Neither of your spoke as he wiped away at the now dried blood and then delicately placed the band aid on top, smoothing down the material to make sure it stayed sealed against your skin. He contemplated pressing a kiss against the broken skin, willing your would away, but decided against it, instead remaining mere inches away from your face; chest pressed to chest.

With a slow and deep breath, you built up the courage to finally speak to the brunette, continuing to hold eye contact as you asked your simple and only question. "Are we okay?"

Marcus gulpedhardat the question. Things were weird, that was for sure, and you never called and agreed to go for coffee which, as far as he knew, was enough conformation as to what you two were. Maybe he'd taken things too fast, but he'd never regret telling you he loved you in the warehouse that day; it was the truth, and he wanted -needed- you to know.

It wasn't what he wanted, but he could tell it's what you wanted.God, if only he knew how wrong he was. "We can be friends."

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Somehow you'd completely misread everything and made things weirdagain. Tears pricked at your eyes as you pulled away from Marcus's touch, pot noodle and boiled water long forgotten and you left the break room with a quiet murmur. "Yeah,friends."

Unbeknownst to you, Marcus didn't want to be friends, he wanted to bemore than friends. Marcus wished he'd said something,anything, to you that showed how he felt, but he hadn't, and now it might've been just too late to fix that.

————————————————————————

"Okay, well, this is going to be fun. Now, do you want to room with Timur or Jacob? Timur's a sweetheart, but he does have night terrors. On the other hand, Jacob is really quiet, but in a scary way. Sometimes you wake up and he's just standing over you." Glenn said to Jonah as you walked out of the back. Was Jonah really going to move in long term with Glenn? Before you?Wow

"All right. You can stay with me." From behind you Garrett spoke, causing you to jump slightly as he seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Really? Are you are you sure?" Jonah said in disbelief. After all of the things that had happened, it took the threat of living with Glenn to offer up his apartment to him.

"You're going soft,Gare." You teased, swallowing down the lump in your throat and furiously wiping at the tears that blurred your line of vision, desperate to keep it hidden from the others.

"Oh, okay. Well, if anything changes, the men's bathroom key also works on my front door." Glenn, downtrodden by the news Jonah would not be living with him, sighed, walking away from the three of you.

Garrett spoke to Jonah as the three of you walked towards the exit, listing all he required out of Jonah as his new 'roomie'. Despite this Jonah's gaze was firm on you, and your puffy red eyes.

"You okay?" He whispered, still trying to listen to Garrett's words.

"I will be." You sniffled, causing Jonah to pull you into his side, hugging you as best as he could as you walked. You couldn't help be think how lucky you were to have Jonah - he was the best-ist friend you could've asked for. He was far too good for the likes of you.

"I will be."

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☆: .｡. Tag List .｡.:☆ @write-from-the-heart @despicablylara @whatafreakingloser @flowercrowns-goodvibes @millieb-3199 @lolawassad @catarina-trouxa @falsegodofmischief @thepurplebutterflythings @littleboysmile @sibsteria @quinn-7007 @aashy723 @maeisonline @lizziel1410

Want to be added to the taglist? send an ask to let me know <3

————————————————————————

HELLO IM BACK WITH THE FIRST PART OF SEASON THREE

Sorry for the lack of an upload last week I went on a date😧😧😧😧😧😧and went on another with the same guy today 😧😧😧😧😧😧 It's been a crazy time

Enjoy this part and the more Marcus angst I'm giving you I promise I'll be nicer with him in the future

As always have a lovely week!! And feel free to check out a Garrett fic and a Jonah fic im uploading later this week!!!<333

#sitting on the shelf marcus white x reader #superstore marcus x reader #marcus white imagine #marcus superstore #marcus white #marcus white x reader #superstore x reader #superstore imagine #cloud 9

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yirggzmb · 1 year

Text

Native Fruit Faire

February 25th is the first day of Spring in the northern hemisphere, and that means only one thing: It's time for the Native Fruit Faire!

What's this? You've never heard of the Native Fruit Faire? Ok, you caught me. It's an Animal Crossing celebration that I made up just to keep life interesting. After a couple months of snow, what better way to usher in the return of grass than to pay homage to whatever your native fruit is?

The Fruit Fair begins on February 25th (August 25th for you southern hemisphere friends!) and lasts one week, though of course this is a made up holiday, so if it's more fun for you to pick the first Sunday of spring and go from there (or whatever you like!) go for it!

How to Celebrate

We celebrate our native fruits in many ways! You can harvest and plant more fruit trees! You can craft fruit DIYs! You can dress in fruit clothing.

Dressing Up

Every fruit has a number of built in DIY clothing, and probably an umbrella too! Some of them look pretty silly, but when is a better time to use them than when glorifying the fruit that grew here first?

You can also make or download custom designs! There's lots of cool stuff out there if you're willing to look, but here's a few examples I think are neat if you'd just like a quick option:

Peaches

MO-YVQY-VRKK-JCSY

MO-11JN-5XCM-2SBP

MO-T6CS-5M83-TKMQ

MO-RL38-4FR3-9FGR

Cherries

MO-H53H-MD7H-762R

MO-MC0G-4R5Q-YD7G

MO-VFF5-917D-CSHG

MO-LY3F-934X-2QCQ

Oranges

MO-XB1L-5BX6-89S5

MO-QXFM-NF2X-NM8X

MO-BVT0-9CLG-B42B

MO-6P8T-KVH6-631R

Pears

MO-PW5P-1FTY-58NP

MO-JMNS-YSH8-6FPS

MO-PFXR-8M20-Q5PV

MO-CX95-PX45-04YK

Apples

MO-J0RT-S36F-BJX8

MO-7WM1-40S8-TCW7

MO-LWHW-82VT-D42W

MO-K78B-RW19-DY2L

Decorating!

Every fruit also has a number of furniture items that can be crafted! Some have more than others but, in a pinch, clothing can be placed. There's also a lot of recipes for different things made from fruit. In the picture above, I've created a little bake sale area!

And be creative! You don't have to stick purely to items that are specifically your fruit after all. What color is your fruit? Find items that are those colors, or plant flowers of those colors! This isn't a built in holiday with themed stuff to collect, so use that creative mind of yours and come up with something you think is cool.

Planting and Harvesting

If you don't have a lot of your native fruit around still, why not plant a few trees? Your native fruit is always available from Nook's Cranny! Sure, they may not sell for as much as those foreign fruits you've planted a whole orchard of, but they're part of your island's heritage and that's pretty neat.

And if you do have a lot of trees around, or just planted a bunch, it's harvest time! Take an afternoon and shake all those fruit trees. How many of your native fruit can you get? And then once you're done harvesting, share them with your villagers or craft them into more fun stuff to decorate with!

Specific to my own island, and pictured above, I have a festival grounds. During the spring and summer, I often have a peach tree planted in the center of it, and in the colder months it's often a bonfire or other thematic item. This past fall I decided to codify that, and decided that every fall I would move that tree to a "year grove" with a marker of some sort, and every spring I would harvest from that tree to plant a brand new sapling in the festival grounds. The old year begets the new. Today, I turn off the bonfire, and on the last day of the Faire I will start the new year with a new tree.

Conclusion

If you've read this far, just know I appreciate you. I feel like a bit of weirdness and person creativity is what keeps the spark of a game like Animal Crossing going. If you decide to take part in a Fruit Faire, I'd love to hear about it.

#acnh community #animal crossing new horizons #animal crossing #invented holiday #fruit faire #spring #acnh holiday #animal crossing holiday

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pbandjesse · 5 months

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I had a pretty nice day. And we got to end it with our signed contracts and getting the inspections scheduled. It is starting to feel more real and I'm getting to feel a little more excited.

I slept okay but not as well. I had very strange dreams. About exploring the basement of our building and moving and all those things my brain is working though. I let myself wake up naturally again and woke up around 930 and didn't feel amazing but I felt okay.

I had things to do before Naomi and Kim came over. She had texted me asking if I had green fabric and I said I would pull out some cheistmasy fabrics for us.

I would have eggsalad again and would pick up some stuff. I would take a hair drto the tops of my candles to try and fix a few imperfections. This did not work as well as I was hoping but I still think they look great and I'm very proud of them. I'm excited to give them as gifts.

I would do a lot of knitting today. And was able to finish all the pieces for one whole side of the blanket I'm making and I'm thrilled about that. I would do that basically on and off all morning.

I did some cleaning and played with sweetp and just enjoyed being home where it was warm and not outside where it was grey and gross. I encouraged James to take the car to work because of the weather and I'm glad they did because it was gross today and would start raining pretty soon after I got up. It was just grey and sad outside all day. It's still pouring now actually.

Kim would text me a little after 1 when her and Naomi arrived. I came down to get them and Naomi was clearly excited. Rushed right upstairs.

Sweetp was being very friendly and lovey which was really cute. And I love how much Kim and Naomi love him. He would hang with us some of the time they were here but he also would just do his own thing.

We had lot of work today. And that was awesome. I didn't want to be belittling or anything but I wanted to go over some basics and skills that seem really easy but take some skills. Like cutting the fabric and threading the needle but also just using a fabric tape measure. And I was able to go over a bunch of my tools like tailors chalk and pinking sheers and it was fun.

We started with a shirt and that went really well I also had Naomi do a blanket stitch around the collar because it's fleece and it makes it look more finished. And she did an excellent job. We would next use some cotton and I showed her how to sew down the hems first and then attach the pieces and that one would be a little jacket.

Finally we would work on a little scarf for one of the plushies that just has to big of a head. But he looks great! And we were just loving the way this scarf turned out. Honestly I could seriously see all the progression Naomi is making and I was having so much fun showing her everything. And she was able to use the sewing machine almost completely independently. I am thrilled. I hope to show her how to use her own someday!

Her mom was also just really nice to talk to. Kim is very sweet and I told her about the house and she wished us luck and she made me feel a little more excited.

I am still trying to not be to excited but I won't lie, I am excited. I've been saving ideas of painting and furniture and all that fun stuff and I'm just really excited to start figuring things out. I dont want to be disappointed but I don't think I'm going to be. I think it's going to be great.

After they left I would clean up our stuff and would jump into my next project. I heated up some frozen Mac and cheese and started planning out the stand for my fish knife.

I knew I wanted to do a board like a billy bass. But as I was laying it out I was thinking about it being on a plate. And I really ran with that and I love it. It's not done. I want to add something else to the plate but I had so much fun figuring this out.

I even used some modeling paste to create some dimension to the things on the plate and I was just having so much fun over the day. Painting. Then letting it dry. And coming back and forth. And for real, Callie knocked it out of the park it's such a good gift.

I would go back to the couch to continue to knit while I was waiting for the paint to dry. And soon James was home and I was so happy to see them. And they were so sweet when they got home being so lovey. They are very clearly stressed about everything but I was still really happy that they seemed so happy in that moment.

It was decided we needed to go to the grocery store for a few things for the dinner I wanted. James said I didn't need to come with them but I wanted to be with them. And so we headed out into the gross night together.

The grocery store was fine. We got a few fun things. But we stuck to the list for the most part.

While we were checking out Harold called us. And said to check our email because he has great news. His email was so cute with lots of bottle emojis. But the sellers signed the paperwork and we can move forward with the inspection. We are getting an air quality test tomorrow and then on Tuesday afternoon we are getting the home inspection. I'm thrilled. I am excited that we will get to be there so while he's doing his inspection I can be measuring things and looking at specifics like closets and the back "yard" and measuring things. Just being more excited and it's just really fun.

We had some stress after we called Harold back in the car and got some answers about how things will go and what we need to do. He said we needed to wire the money for the deposit over. But we didn't know how to do that so we had some stress when we got home.

We couldn't figure out how to Google it and our banks websites weren't helping. Finally we decided we should just text Harold and he said we can go to our bank in the morning. Excellent thank you Harold.

I had some nachos while James made us some Thai curry rice. Which was really good but I mostly wanted to eat the naan James made which was very very good. Love my James.

They were kind of upset with stress. But we would talk and try to just chill. They had forgotten their laptop cord at work so they used my laptop to watch sports while they painted their nails and I continued to knit and paint.

It has been a really nice night. I washed my hair. And we talked about our Christmas travels. And now we are in bed and it's just nice listening to the rain. I feel happy. Tired and sore but happy.

Tomorrow we have many things to do. We have to go to the bank. James is going to make cookies. I have to go pick something up from awah. We have to go get food gifts. And then we have the Christmas party at the BMI. It's going to be a full day but I think it's going to be fun.

I love you all. Goodnight everyone!

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nancypullen · 8 months

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Oh, Fall, I Love You

Our high today was 64 degrees. A moment of silence, please, in honor of the passing of summer. Hallelujah and amen. Prior to the birthday festivities I was swapping out porch decor, packing away pink and sweet in favor of autumn and Halloween. This beauty fluttered right past me and I wanted to break into a happy dance.

Hello, lover.

I don't have mums yet, and I'm hesitant to put them out just before leaving on vacation. I think if I give them a good dunking the day before we leave they'll survive. In keeping with my full-bodied embrace of autumn, I picked up another cheap print at the local auction. This was $2.

Just a cheerful, sunny harbor town. Not for long!

I've already roughed in a moon, a few pumpkins, a ghost coming out of a chimney, dressed the trees in autumn glory, and added some friendly neighborhood witches.

It's still in the early stages. Lots of loose blobs that will be refined.

That sign over the storefront may say "WANDS" or "FRESH TOADS" if I can make letters that tiny. I'll make a witch silhouette crossing the moon and maybe add some bats to the sky. It's just plain fun.

Couldn't be easier. Find an old print at your local Goodwill or yard sale. Decide what you'd like to add to spook it up, then make your space for them. I use gesso ( the stuff you prep a canvas with, allows the paint to move and spread more freely) to just sort of make a rough shape and then paint over that.

I feel like I should start looking for old prints and adding snow to rooftops, Christmas lights, and Santa and his reindeer sailing overhead. The possibilities are endless! Okay, enough of my nonsense. You know I'm happiest when I'm slapping paint around, whether it's on furniture, a canvas, or these old prints. BUT, we have just a few days left before we cross the pond and wander around Ireland. I have so much to do. For some reason I always feel the need to clean the house top to bottom before leaving, I need to lay in cat supplies for the gal who will be stopping by to feed and scoop, I'm about half packed and all I really need to add to my bag is toiletries, socks, and the jacket I decide to take. I really don't want to grocery shop before we depart. I'd rather clean out the frig and just eat whatever we have. That might mean soup and sandwiches for dinner a couple of nights, but that wouldn't kill us. Honestly, I'd be quite happy with popcorn or scrambled eggs. I don't much care for dinner. I'm also trying to crank out a few cards for some folks who requested them, and I feel like those need to go out within the next day or so. I've got some earrings to ship, and ohmygosh I'm running out of time! For someone with nothing to do most of the time I suddenly have too many things on my list. Ugh. It'll all get done, I just hate throwing myself into an airplane seat already exhausted. I need a wife to take care of all this. I'll have to finish this rambling post tomorrow. Somehow 10pm managed to sneak up on me and my buns should be soaking in a hot bath. My first day as a 60 year old was so busy that I forgot to be 60. I'll try again tomorrow. That's just a silly reminder that age doesn't mean a dadgum thing. I'm the same knucklehead I was at 59. Meet me back here tomorrow! I may have something of substance to share by then. No promises. I do have some birthday fun to talk about, and a hilarious grandgirl story. Until then, stay safe, stay well, and go get a pumpkin. It's time. XOXO, Nancy

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quickdeaths · 6 months

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GET TO KNOW YOUR ADMIN !!

name — Bryn

pronouns — She/Her.

preferred comms — Discord for sure! I'm on Discord basically all the time and I try to be pretty responsive to things. If you unlock the secret friendship tier, I will also bother you with memes/ship inspo/random conversation/etc. but even if you don't want that, it's got a big window and a search bar so it is infinitely better for plotting than anything else. That said, I do tumblr IMs too, if necessary.

name of muse — quickdeaths.tumblr.com/muses there's a lot of them take your pick

experience in RP — I started out 17-18 years ago on the forums for a D&D webcomic. Eventually I checked out of that scene, bounced around LiveJournal, had a cup of coffee in Gaia Online, and then came to Tumblr around 2012ish. Was pretty off-and-on here until 2015, and I've been part of the furniture here ever since. I've done a few things on Discord and through Google Docs since, but I think for better or worse, I'm just Here Now.

best experiences — Meeting my girlfriend will always be #1! We met here on tumblr and even though she doesn't RP as much anymore, I'm always going to be thankful for the things we wrote, and how RPing together helped us become friends, and then girlfriends. After that, all the things I've done with people that were long-term and plotted, with mutual investment. I've been doing this long enough now that even people who've left or who I fell out with, I still have a lot of fondness for those stories, as well as the long-term stories I'm doing now.

pet peeves / dealbreakers — The number one ultimate pet peeve for me is people dropping threads without personally notifying their partners. Not everyone lurks on dash, and it's easy to miss posts, and when people say things like 'gonna drop some of my drafts,' it's easy to feel like you've been put in a limbo state. Hiatuses are one thing but dropped threads like that just drive me crazy. Super long wait times on replies (I'm talking like, consistently 2-3 months or more) are rough for me too. Lack of communication as well, especially when it comes to choosing a muse(s) to write with.

muse preference ( fluff, angst, smut ) — Angst > fluff > smut for me. I'm an angsty bitch and I love the drama. I like drilling down into character flaws and weaknesses and forcing them to Go Through It and confront things they don't super want to confront, so I'll probably never get tired of writing angsty stuff. I like fluffy stuff too, but a bit more sparingly just because sometimes I think it can get a little circular. Smut... to be honest, I'm not against writing it if a plot calls for it and it makes sense for characters but I've had a handful of rough experiences in the past with people, and it's an area where I'm not very confident as a writer. You will never see a spicy sideblog from me though, I will simply put it on dash like a shameless heathen.

plot or memes — plots plots plots. Honestly, I would never do memes at all if it weren't The Culture here on tumblr. I never know who to send for, or from, when it comes to multimuses, I worry that the ideas aren't interesting and can't sustain long replies, and they don't usually inspire me. Plotting is great because you can figure out a dynamic, whether there's any preexisting knowledge, maybe a general direction you want things to go, etc. Almost everything I've loved doing has come from plots, but I'll still be offering both forever.

long or short replies — have you seen my blog i should be locked up and the key thrown away. I have lost the ability to write a reply under 5 paragraphs and with Certain People Who Know Who They Are I get up to like 8, 10, 12, occasionally some deeply unhinged 33 paragraph drabbles. I don't even have a good excuse really, it's just what feels comfortable for me to write. It lets me do all the inner world stuff that I use to round out my characters in a scene and contextualize them, while still (hopefully) having enough action and dialogue to respond to.

best time to write — It depends. Late afternoon/early evening is probably best, but later evening is fine too. Sometimes I will start a Particularly Ambitious Reply late late late and get too tired to finish it, and then finish it when I get up in the morning, and that seems to work for me too.

are you like your muse — Not really, I don't think? Although I guess that's for other people to judge. I try to give all my muses traits that I can relate to on some level, or at least one thing that feels connective between us, but I honestly think I'm too boring to be a very good RP character. I think Rio is probably the character I'm most similar to, but even then, I think it's more superficial similarities like hobbies than much else.

Tagged by: @more-than-a-princess Tagging: i will fill this in later, if you are seeing this post then i forgot to fill it in and that means it is a runabout, you can steal it, no one will ever know

#dash memes

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beardedmrbean · 6 months

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i have a sort of philosophical question that i'm curious about your thoughts on.

how do you think our human natures reconcile in heaven? i mean to say, i love my partner very much. obviously if we both make it to heaven, it'd be just dandy if we were there together, and where both of us are concerned, it just wouldn't be heaven if the other wasn't there. meanwhile, his mother is one boiled bunny away from a jocasta complex and to be quite frank, i don't really like her. she's not a BAD person, though, i just personally can't stand her--she threw a huge temper tantrum last week because her neighbor moved out and donated a bunch of furniture to charity, instead of letting her have a bunch of it for free, and then in the same afternoon continued to throw a fit because it was me and my partner's wedding anniversary the day before and we had gone to the cheese cave in waco and, to quote her, "how come you guys get to go and do stuff all the time? that's it, next time you go and do something fun like that, you're bringing me". (she also got mad at my partner on HER wedding anniversary, because he and i had been in san antonio at the zoo and she was pissed that he didn't do anything for her. for the record, he had sent flowers. she just wanted him to BE THERE. (i wasn't kidding about the jocasta complex)). so my point is--she isn't a BAD person, she's just kind of selfish (not a crime, doesn't make her a bad person) and i just can't stand her. but to her, it won't be heaven if she's not there with her son. to me, it won't be heaven if she IS there. and i won't be me if my personality is somehow re-written to find her tolerable, and she won't be her if she's somehow made to be appealing to be around.

so my question is, how do you think that all works? i've heard different ideas, that like, when you're in heaven, all of the worldly stuff will seem really petty and we'll all be able to see past all that and be happy with one another's company, but that still to me feels like a fundamental part of who we are is gone. almost like just being drunk or high for all eternity. i dunno. what do you think?

Mark 12:18-27

Matthew 22:23-33

I've always felt that last bit "Not the God of the dead but of the living" muddies up the other bits before it and I'm sure there's some kind of academic types that have sussed out what they believe it means with that bit in there with very good points and everything.

I like to think we retain a good deal of our "self" but the sinful bits are stripped away, so we'll be fully embracing God's forgiveness not just for us, but for everyone else.

There's absolutely nothing we as humans can do to each other that doesn't pale in comparison to him in terms of sin, because Jesus took all of our sins into himself on the cross so everything awful any single person has done to you was taken in by him as well as everything else that person has done, provided they've sincerely asked for his forgiveness.

And since we've been saved and are no longer in sin up there, none of the offenses will ever happen again so even if we retain our sense of self the forgive and forget clause will be in play.

There's also the possibility of a "multiverse" type situation where everyone that should be in each of our heavens is in our heaven and the ones that shouldn't aren't, but carrying a grudge isn't something I see making its way to heaven so probably not that.

_________________________

You might want to bookmark this ask since I'm guessing there will be people chiming in on it and it might be interesting to have even more perspectives.

#anonymous

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saiilorstars · 9 months

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Ch.6: P.S. I Love You

Steve Rogers x OFC fic • squeeze your eyes for a Bucky Barnes x (2nd) OFC

taglist: @ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @gloryekaterina @averyhotchner @foxesandmagic @lenonizi @kmc1989

Story Masterlist • Seren’s Masterlist• Chloe’s Masterlist

Also available on Fanfic ○ Ao3 ○ Wattpad

If you’d like to be a part of this OC’s work/edits, let me know!

The moment Seren stepped into Steve's apartment, she couldn't imagine anyone else but him living there. It was completely him in all aspects. It was warm, cozy and very neat. She even spotted the old record player she'd gotten him for his birthday 2 years ago. Warmth blossomed across her chest knowing he actually used her gift. He had a decent amount of records to choose from, having began a collection almost immediately after getting the record player.

"Seren, do you want something to drink?"

Seren tore her gaze from the record player to find Steve waiting for her to answer. He was being cautious with her and with good reason. She was well aware of her erratic behavior tonight. "I'm good, thanks," she smiled lightly. "I like your place. Some of the furniture is familiar, actually."

Steve nodded. "Yeah, I wonder why…?" They shared a small laugh. Seren had chosen most of his furniture for his first apartment. Back when he was just getting used to the new world, she'd done almost everything for him.

"I really like it," Seren reiterated. She set her purse on the coffee table. "I think you've made it very you."

"Is that a good thing? Because I've gotten several complaints from Chloe that it could be a little less old…" Steve shook his head at the memories. Sometimes, Chloe Winters was too much.

"You can kick her out any moment," Seren said, making them laugh again. When they got past it, Seren grew serious. "I don't think I've thanked you for keeping an eye on her while I was gone. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've just been pretty rude these past days when it comes to her."

"You don't have to—"

"I know Chloe can be a handful sometimes and the fact you let her stay here — in your room while you take the couch — means a lot. Anyone else would've just sent her on her way already. So, really, thank you so much."

"I've already told you — she's become like a little sister to me. Plus, I got a secret too…" Steve made a nod towards the couch. "It's a pull-out."

"Aah," Seren chuckled.

"Better than just a normal couch. Sometimes I forget how much better this world is in terms of inventions."

Seren started making her way to the couch. "But other things are far worse, aren't they?" She gave him a sharp look just as he was about to say that it wasn't true.

"Some things could stand to change a bit…" He said with his hands raised in front of him. Seren smiled at him and sat down. She patted the empty spot beside her for him. "The cellphone things could be a little less, uh, brainwashing?" He came to sit with her. He would continue the random subjects with her if it meant easing her nerves from the event. "I've seen so many people crash into others because they won't look up from their phones."

Seren chuckled. "Yeah, that tends to happen a lot. It's so weird, when I was growing up, there weren't cell phones like these. The first ones were so big and then suddenly we switched to these small things. Early 2000s is when we got cell phones with cameras in them."

"Did you have one?"

Seren snorted. "No! They were expensive. Plus, my parents didn't want me getting used to having all that stuff around me. They thought S.H.I.E.L.D. was plenty." At the mention of the organization, Seren fell silent for the next minute. It seemed like his distraction attempt wouldn't be working out so well.

"Seren, what is it?" he asked her. "If you ask me, the night went really well. You said everything exactly how it should've been."

"Yeah, I did. Everything went perfectly," Seren nodded slowly. Her bottom lip became chewing gum at that moment. "Maybe that's the problem."

Steve tilted his head at her for that last remark. "What do you mean? I thought you wanted—"

"If I get the approval, then I'll be off to another country again. I'll be starting over, meeting new people, making new colleagues — I'll be surrounded by strangers again. And when that's done, I'll go to another country...and then another…"

"You don't know that—"

"That's the plan, Steve. Rebeca and Fury already told me," Seren said, her voice falling into a whisper. "Will I really get to have a life that way?"

Oh, that was a good question that Steve unfortunately didn't know how to answer.

"This is exactly what my parents always talked about and I never really thought about it until now." Seren drew in a breath, feeling the weight of her future the more she considered what her life would be like if she was always on the move. She wouldn't have a real home anymore. Her friends would always be changing. Her family would be so, so far away from her. She could say goodbye to everything else. Once upon a time, it didn't really matter but today...it hurt her more than anything.

"Seren, I think that whatever you want to do should be just that: what you want to do," Steve said. "It doesn't matter what the 'plans' are. You are the only one who matters and you should value your happiness over whatever plans Fury and Rebeca have." He could say that he would love to have her at home again but that would be completely selfish. He meant what he said — she was the only thing that mattered in those plans. If she was happy going on with the plans, then so be it. He'd have to learn to live completely without her and move on.

"That's what I'm confused about." Seren sighed and shifted on the couch to face him. "I have always been with S.H.I.E.L.D. I've always known where my place is, what I want to do. There's never been any doubt but...something changed."

Steve felt something in his chest. "What did?"

Seren's eyes drifted to the side, landing on the record player. She swallowed hard — she knew exactly what changed. Chloe was right. She couldn't keep on denying the truth, denying the fact she hadn't been able to move on and forget. She had to understand that her thoughts about the future had changed. She no longer saw herself alone. She never considered what it would be like to be serious about someone. There was always an underlying fear that her significant other would lash out at her because of her Celessian side. It wasn't easy getting over the fact you were dating someone who was half alien. She wouldn't lie to herself and say that she didn't have that fear — just an inkling of it — with Steve too. But for that fear to even be spoken about would imply what she wanted to be with him.

Steve absolutely hated watching Seren in this position. She was so conflicted and he had no idea what to do to help her. He followed her gaze to the record player and, for one moment, he debated whether or not to go with his first gut feeling. Usually that's what he would do on a mission but Seren always made him feel like he should do more. He should go above and beyond to see her happy, and it pained him that he was ridiculously clueless.

Just do the first thing that pops into your head. Steve knew the answer before he even finished the thought. Without saying a word, he got up from the couch and walked around.

Seren blinked when he came up to the record player. "What are you doing?"

"You know back then, I struggled so much to talk to women...it was a nightmare." He was sifting through records so he missed the look Seren sent his way.

"As far I can see, you don't seem to struggle so much anymore. Everyone loves you." Seren felt her face flush remembering what Chloe had said earlier in the night. She wasn't one of those crazy women who only saw him and a bed. He was simply so much more than that and no one had a clue. He was someone you could talk to for hours. He was someone who would listen and try to comfort you however he could. He was so kind, and so loyal. If he said he had your back, then he did. Seren's heart wanted to burst the more she thought about Steve. She could literally spend hours thinking about him, and on most days she typically did. "Steve, I lo—"

"Yeah, but that's different and I'm still not that great." Steve seemed to find exactly what he was looking for. He never noticed Seren covering her mouth behind him.

She'd almost slipped! Dear God, what the hell did I almost do? Seren felt so embarrassed, despite the fact Steve didn't notice.

"I couldn't even ask a girl out to dance. I mean, she would've probably said 'no' anyways but I could've at least tried to ask, you know?" Steve went on, chuckling to himself.

"Sometimes courage is hard..." Seren said, "Sometimes the bravest people can also be the shyest. And I definitely know that you're the bravest man I know."

"Unfortunately, it can come back and bite you. I wasted time — I did that with Peggy — but I'm trying to use that experience and everything else as a guide to right my mistakes." Steve glanced over his shoulder to see Seren had laid her arms over the top of the couch and was resting her chin over her hands. She was smiling at him, clearly listening to his every word despite them probably being all over the place (and obscure). She was always so attentive to him. He wanted to show the same gesture towards her, and perhaps more. "I don't know exactly what's confusing you but if I can say a piece of advice—"

"Please do," she practically begged him. "Anything you say will help me organize my thoughts."

"The things that have made you unhappy in the past concerning S.H.I.E.L.D. should serve as a way to help you make a better choice this time 'round. They're mistakes, try to right them in a way that makes you the happiest."

Seren considered the idea. She could look back in her life and avoid making a decision that would bring her to the worst moments. "Thank you, Steve." She met his gaze with another smile — it was even prettier this time. "So, have you been able to right some of your mistakes?"

"I'm hoping to in a way," he said as he let the record spinner finally drop. He turned to face her just as the music began to play. Put Your Head on my Shoulder. "Would you like to dance with me?"

Seren knew exactly when her blush bloomed over her face. She pulled her arms from the top of the couch as Steve came around with a hand held out for her. "You bought the song?" She couldn't help the light laugh that slipped through her lips.

"I had to. It reminded me of you." God knew that Steve wanted as many reminders of Seren as he could get, even though it probably did his heart no good.

The blush grew deeper over Seren's cheeks. "Why would you want that?" she asked.

There were a million things that Steve could say to her that would hide the truth. He gulped.

Seren saw it. Seconds of courage helped her rise from the couch with a taunting smile. Her blue satin dress seemed to shine under the light. It was just like that, that Steve felt his heart thump a bit stronger. She was beautiful..and she wasn't his.

Because he was almost like a statue, Seren walked up to him and ultimately took his hand. "I'd like a dance," she raised her head to meet his gaze. She felt a rush of pride knowing that this time, nobody else would get a chance to look at him. Only her.

Steve brought his arms around her waist and planted his hand against the small of her back. Even though he was beyond nervous — Seren had yet to lift that alluring look off him — his feet actually moved at a decent pace to the song. When her hands moved to the back of his neck and they actually touched his skin, he felt an insane heat rush through him.

"You're a better dancer than before," Seren spoke quietly, especially considering what happened the last time they danced together in London. "Have you been dancing with other people during these past 2 years?"

"Umm…" Steve raised his eyebrows as he thought, "Not...not really, no."

"Mm, I don't know, I've heard you're quite popular with the ladies…"

That was the second time she said something like that and it was only now that Steve realized it. If he wasn't completely off, one could say that it sounded like Seren was...a bit jealous? Why would she be jealous, though? They were in his apartment, slow-dancing to a song that he clearly said reminded him of her (the whole reason he even bought the record in the first place).

"I honestly don't notice that kind of stuff," he said.

She smirked. "Really? Every man always notices when women trail after them."

"I think I've made it clear that I've never been good with women. Not smart at all," he shrugged and earned himself a light chuckle from her. He felt an irrevocable surge of courage then, seeing her so casual and at ease with him. She'd been so conflicted earlier and now it seemed like a thing of the past. He was responsible for that. He had to believe it in order to keep that courage from leaving him and being unable to say what he wanted to. "If I ever had been smart, I wouldn't have let you go 2 years ago."

Seren's eyes widened, the air in her lungs stilling. "What…?" She may have been having an odd night with her internal struggles but she was pretty sure that she heard right.

Steve held her closer to his chest. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be bringing this up after such a long time but if I'm being honest, I haven't had such a good time since London. I'm terrible at this stuff and it's awful because it means my chances with you are even lower than possible."

"Wait—"

"I don't know if you've already moved on. I mean, it wouldn't be that surprising considering how much time it's been but I think you needed to know what's been going through my head. I miss you, Seren, and I would want nothing more than to be with you." Steve was terrified of what Seren would say to him. He could be very right about her moving on. If that was the case, then he just completely ruined this relationship and he would have to move on for real.

But Seren didn't answer right away. Instead, she rested her head on his shoulder. "This is our song," she whispered. "You're way braver than I am. You go out and you buy things that remind you of me. I don't. I-I can't. I never did...because the thought of having something like you but not you hurts me too much."

They swayed slowly to the song for the following seconds. Their grip on each other tightened and the music seemed to overtake the apartment completely. Neither realized what ran through the other's heads. Steve was trying to process what Seren had just said and the implications that went with it. Seren struggled to come up with a good way to express her conflict — the job proposal, her future — but neither wanted to end their dance just yet. The fact was they loved where they were and the idea of separating (again) was too painful.

Can you really do it again? Leave without looking back? The mere question terrified Seren. No, no she couldn't do it again. She barely did the first time. She raised her head from Steve's shoulder and looked up at him. "It's you," she said quietly.

"What?" He blinked.

"What I'm confused about? It's you...you and my job."

"I don't-I don't want to ever put myself between you and your job, Seren—"

"I know that, silly," she smiled sadly. "It's what we were talking about earlier. We both know that if I get the approval from the Council, I'm going to be travelling nonstop. I won't be coming to D.C. for a very long time. And I'm not sure I want that. I don't know if I want to be alone for such a long time."

"You wouldn't be. If you want to try something, I'd support you. I'd make the visits myself." He wouldn't necessarily be making a sacrifice there. He'd love to visit her wherever she was and see the sights with her.

"I know. I know that you would do God knows what just to make me happy but it's not just about us, you know? My family's here. They're in New York and if I was here, in D.C., it'd be a lot easier to see them than if I were in France or Brazil or wherever else the Council would send me to. Natasha's here, Chloe — even though her schedule is a mess — would be easier to see here. I'm just not sure if I'm willing to give up my life for this Initiative, not when I already gave up so much before." Her childhood was gone, a good and honest relationship with her parents was never going to be possible because of the Initiative. "I may be thinking of a future that might not even happen but...what if one day I want to settle down and...I don't know...have a kid or something…" Her face warmed up with the idea once it expanded to include who that possibility might be with, "...do I really want to be that mother who's never home? It's really in the future and it might not even happen but—"

"It's a valid thought, Seren, don't be ashamed of it," Steve said. It was of course very into the future but something that had to be considered. He simply hadn't realized that she was thinking about so many things.

"It was easier to say 'yes' when it was just a 2 year plan but now that it could potentially be an all-my-life plan…" Seren bit on her lower lip, "It's hard to give things up. And that's never happened to me."

"I understand. Trust me, I do." Without even thinking of the implications, Steve left a kiss on her temple and lingered there for a few seconds. He'd heard the fear in her voice admitting to that. "You've been asked to give up so many things before and it's never been fair. You deserve so much more, Seren. You deserve more than what S.H.I.E.L.D. gave you."

"You are the one thing that I can truly thank S.H.I.E.L.D. for," Seren said, lifting her gaze again. "It gave me the opportunity to meet you."

"I yelled at you when we first met…" Steve would always hate that it was how their first encounter went. That was definitely not his finest moment. "I ran out on you, actually."

"Yeah, you did," Seren chuckled. "But I completely understood you. I didn't really like the method Fury went with your awakening. And trust me, there were meetings about how we were going to wake you."

"You guys had meetings about me?" Steve blinked. He couldn't imagine having a whole room of people talking about him.

Seren giggled. "We had the CIA in there too."

"Oh God..."

"A couple of us were against the idea that was made, and, honestly, I definitely did not pull off that 40s outfit." She shuddered, making Steve laugh.

"You looked fine to me," he said and she knew that he meant it 100%.

"However it happened, I'm glad that it did," she reiterated. She licked her lips nervously and cupped his face, having to lean on her toes for it to actually be possible. "Because if it had been any other S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in that room, we might not be where we are right now. And do you know, it actually wasn't going to be me."

There were way too many things happening at once that Steve felt his head spinning. Seren's soft fingers were on his face, gently stroking his skin. She was looking at him with warm eyes and a captivating smile. Her perfume was filling the air around him, drawing him closer to her.

"Did you just say" — he was blinking fast, trying to snap himself out of the trance — "you weren't supposed to be in the room when I woke up?"

Seren seemed to know what she was doing because she leaned closer to him, pressing a kiss on his cheek. "Aha," she murmured.

Steve's heart was racing again. "I-I — who — do you — who was...who was supposed to be there?" He couldn't imagine anyone else but Seren being in that room with him.

Seren kissed the corner of his mouth and that was the end of any thoughts Steve had. "One of our friends from the CIA, but does that really matter right now?"

Nope. Steve grabbed the sides of her face and kissed her completely. He might have crashed their lips together and he would definitely apologize for the brusque manner but later. Right now, he wanted to — no, he needed to — kiss her until he ran out of breath. There were 2 years of longing to get over and luckily for him, and her, their lungs were significantly strong.

Seren moved her arms around his neck, helping deepen the kiss. Every tensed nerve she had a minute ago disappeared, and how could it not? All her heightened senses were sharp and on fire, all caused by one Steve Rogers. Any other moment she might have been embarrassed at how easily and quickly she moaned into a kiss, but it was impossible to feel uneasy around him. Even with a rough kiss, Steve held her gently and carefully. Seren almost felt like reminding him there was more to both of them than the average human.

They stumbled down on the couch and still didn't let go of each other. Steve lowered his arms around her waist, hand pressing against her back and part of her exposed skin. Her skin was so smooth it felt like a crime to grip it or mark it in the slightest. He just wanted to hold her in his arms for as long as he could — hold the moment for as long as—

Seren recognized the buzz of her phone. She'd sat right over her bag (and hadn't realized a thing until now). "I—" She actually had to take in a big breath.. The fact someone had literally managed to steal her breath away was exhilarating.

Steve couldn't make out her facial expressions and what she was feeling. His mind was still trying to catch up with what had just happened. "Seren, I'm—"

"Shh," Seren held a finger to his lips while she pulled her bag out from underneath her. "I just gotta make sure it's not Rebeca." She pulled out her phone and only a few seconds of reading the text message on her screen, her entire expression fell flat.

Steve had no idea what happened. "Are you...are you okay?"

But just like that, she smiled at him and melted his heart. "You know, I say the first thing we should do together is...plot murder." Her lips curled into a frown as she showed him the message she'd received.

Steve read it quickly — it was just two short sentences — and frowned as well. "That's definitely not Rebeca."

"No, it is not." Seren looked at the message again.

Just a note, but if you're not already making out with Steve, then I'm coming over and locking you both in the room. We've had enough.

- Chloe

"I'm going to kill her. I'm really going to do it this time." Seren dangerously gripped her phone until Steve gently took it out of her hand. "She's — eugh!" She curled her hands into fists. "Would it kill her to stay out of my life!?"

"That would be too easy," Steve said, leaving her phone on the coffee table. "Plus, I'm pretty sure it's under the duties of a best friend. God knows that Bucky screwed me over so many times just to get me to go out with girls."

Seren lifted an eyebrow at him. "And just who exactly did he put you up with?"

Steve blinked at her. How had this turned around to him now!? "I didn't — that was — weren't we — we—?" he gestured between them. "Weren't we fine a minute ago?"

A smile stretched across Seren's face watching him fumble over his words. "Lovey, you're going to be fun messing with. Forget those other girls and kiss me instead."

As soon as he heard her, Steve stopped altogether. Lovey. That same word that kept slipping from Seren each time they were in a compromising situation. It was the word that gave Steve the courage the first time to actually kiss her 2 years ago. It was her fond name for him. And he was oh-so-fond of her too.

"Yes, ma'am." He leaned over and kissed her again.

Seren happily rejoined her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her. Their kiss was slower now, leaving room for giggles and words here and there.

"You do realize we're not getting cinnamon rolls tonight, right?" Steve said to her, pressing his forehead against hers.

"Mm, that's fine by me," Seren shrugged. "I'm suddenly not in the mood for cinnamon rolls anymore."

"New craving?"

"Something like that…" Her alluring smirk was something that Steve never thought he would need in his life.

"You are…" He started already without much breath, which led to a fit of giggles from Seren.

"Adorable?" she finished for him with a wink after.

"Something like that," he settled for. He wouldn't want to waste any precious moments with her, not when they were like this.

They kissed again and with no interruption whatsoever — maybe it was really good that no one would be coming by after all.

Seren enjoyed every minute that passed by without them fully breaking apart. It was refreshing being that close to someone without fearing an accidental display of non-human traits like extra strength. Because right now she was using every last part of her strength to keep Steve right where he was. He was, unsurprisingly, hesitant to let his hands roam when they clearly wanted to. She moved the hand reluctantly touching her left knee higher up until it was settled prominently on her thigh.

"Sorry, I—" Steve mumbled, much to her amusement.

"You're fine." She tilted her head up to capture his lips in a sweet kiss. "I've been there, trust me."

"You?" Steve raised an eyebrow at her, clearly unconvinced with her promise.

Seren pointed to the prominent star birthmark on the right side of her neck and her shoulder-bone. "Look who you're talking to, lovey. I don't have serious relationships because not everybody would be able to see past my out-of-this-world traits. I always have to hold back, whether it's the truth or physical things like strength and my powers."

"Not with me," Steve said automatically. "I don't know what's going to happen but you will never have to hide anything from me. I promise you that." He let his fingers run through her soft ginger hair. "Not even your real hair color…"

Seren burst into laughter. "Brunette-Seren thanks you."

"I mean it." Steve's fingers came down to her star birthmark at the end of her shoulder. He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss over it.

Seren's eyes closed with the contact. "Mmm…" She could have said 'yes' to anything he wanted right there and then. Burn the entire building? Sure thing. "Can I stay with you tonight?" The question slipped from her before her brain could discourage her from asking it.

Steve pulled back to look at her, of course surprised with the question. "Uh, I mean…"

Seren would soon find reality again and flush with embarrassment. "Oh my God, I'm sorry. I didn't...of course not — I don't even — I haven't even given you any explanation—"

"What explanation?" Steve said, making a face at her.

Seren sighed. "Well, you know, what happened the last time we saw each other."

"Seren, that was then. This is now. I'm not all great reading signs but I want to say that I understood this one pretty well."

"I just don't want you to think this is me changing my mind back and forth because I promise that's not it," Seren said, shaking her head. "I've...I haven't been able to forget what happened and I couldn't forget about you. It's actually pretty scary."

"Scary?" That wasn't exactly the feeling that came to Steve when he thought about her. "Why...why would it be scary? Did I do something?"

"No!" Seren exclaimed. "God no! You...of course you didn't do anything. It's my stuff, my weird out-of-this-world stuff. Look, I've said it before multiple times. I didn't exactly do a lot of dating and a huge reason for that is because of my fear. My fear of being honest about what and who I was. In the past, I've been able to push away any guy who was genuinely interested in me — and trust me that number was pretty low to begin with — and not think twice about it. I moved on like nothing. I couldn't for the life of me do that with you." She jabbed her finger against his chest. "You with your ridiculous smiles and pretty eyes and comforting ways...I...I couldn't do it. I couldn't forget about you. That's never happened to me."

Steve gently pulled her finger off of him and wrapped his entire hand around his. "I'm sorry..."

Seren chuckled, throwing her head back. "No, lovey, that's not to mean you did anything wrong. You don't have to apologize to me."

"I don't like seeing you conflicted," Steve said simply. "Especially if I'm the cause."

"But you're not — not in that way, anyways." Seren sighed, pulling her hand out of his and bringing them to rest on his shoulders. "I want you to know that this isn't something I just thought about this morning. I haven't stopped thinking about you. I'm in...I love you. I'm sorry I didn't say it before. And I'm sorry that I hurt you."

Steve's eyes had widened, his throat going completely dry. His heart was doing no better seeing as it really wanted to burst from his chest now.

Seren looked no better herself. Her eyes were filled with fear for his response. She kept talking about her mistakes, after all. She hated how stupid she'd been. "I'm sorry," she whispered, lowering her head. She felt hands slide over her cheeks not a minute later and lift her head up. The moment it happened, she had lips on hers, kissing her for dear life.

"I love you, Seren," Steve murmured against her lips. "We have one very similar flaw. We're both so afraid because of the past, because of who we are. I'm willing to try and learn a better way to live if you are..."

Seren didn't think twice as she nodded. "Yes, please," she said in a strained voice. "Can I stay with you tonight?"

Steve smiled like he had already thought about it. He never answered her, just went straight for a kiss again. Something changed in that moment. Where their kisses had slowed, they'd intensified again. Heightened senses and urges were raging to be met and appeased.

Steve kissed the crook of Seren's neck, over her star birthmark, and the second one. What she felt like she had to hide from everyone, he adored. He loved her whole and realized he could only love her with that intensity. He had no idea about the feeling until now. He needed her to know that; he needed to show her. This time, his hands roamed her body with no hesitation. He gripped her waist, pulling her on his lap. One of the straps of her dress had fallen down her shoulder. He met her gaze for a moment, making sure that she was okay. Without saying a word, she flicked her other strap down her shoulder. The act was so quick, so innocent, that it brought a laugh out of Steve.

"I love you," he said, in case she doubted him.

Seren was very proud of herself. "I love you," she spoke in a language that Steve had only heard once before. The day he caught one of her training sessions with Atria. It was Celessian.

"If I'm going to love you, I'm going to do it with all of my sides," Seren said a minute later, earnest. "And this is who I am, as much as it frightens people."

"Doesn't frighten me," Steve assured her. "I'd love to hear more of that language..." He cupped the side of her head. "Everything about it, actually."

Seren nodded, a smile growing across her face. And relief. She was guilty of testing him just to verify that he really meant what he said. It was hard letting the fear go altogether but she would have to work on it if she wanted things to work. And she really wanted things to work.

So she kissed him again. Hard. He matched her strength and soon they were ripping the zipper off her dress and the buttons off his shirt. Seren felt Steve's hands crawl down her legs until they found the straps of her heels and pulled them off her. She pulled her legs up and around Steve's waist. No words were exchanged as their mouths were practically mushed against one another's. The only real thought that would make them come out for air — maybe — was to ask whether or not they would move.

~ 0 ~

Chloe tossed and turned in bed, squeezing her eyes shut as if the extra pressure would bring her closer to a peaceful sleep. The bed was comfortable, the pillows were beyond squishy like marshmallows, the room was nice and cozy, and yet here she was still unable to sleep. Every time her eyes closed, or she got a bit comfortable, she saw flashes of places and things.

First, there was an explosion. Then, it was a highway in broad daylight. Then there were men fighting on a street. Another moment, it was a bank and she walked through it. Then there were a series of needles, flashing lights, an insane throb of pain, and she heard herself scream.

Chloe gasped and shot right up from bed. Her breathing was fast and ragged, eyes wide with shock and horror. As she calmed, she heard one more thing in her head.

'Be ready. There's a 98% chance they are coming.'

Chloe shook her head as if that would shake the thoughts out of her head altogether. She looked at the window and saw a sliver of light peaking through the curtains. For a moment, she forgot where she was and why she was there. Once she got her bearings back, she went in search of her phone. She had a bit of a headache from last night. Natasha always wins the wine competition.

Chloe got out of bed, only to get a repeat of those flashes. She stumbled back, almost falling down on the bed.

I need air. She felt like she was suffocating.

She looked around the room, seeing Seren's suitcase lying in the corner of the room. Without thinking twice, she hurried towards it and ransacked it for some more suitable day clothes. Going out in a party dress simply wouldn't do it.

Natasha was still lying on the couch, unconscious, when Chloe tiptoed towards the door.

"Hold it right there," Natasha's smooth voice stopped Chloe just as she had reached for the doorknob.

Chloe made a face and looked back at Natasha who had not moved from the couch. "Okay, how do you wake up and not have that weird morning voice?"

Natasha turned her head in Chloe's direction, opening her eyes and smirking. "Because I'm good like that." Chloe groaned. "Where are you going?" Natasha exhaled a breath and sat up on the couch, reaching for her phone on the coffee table. "It's not even 6 yet. Don't tell me you're going back to Steve's?"

"Ha, no," Chloe rolled her eyes.

Natasha looked through her phone again. "Well, I've got no death threats sent. You?"

"No, I checked."

"Then it might be safe to say mission accomplished," Natasha smirked.

"Yeah, I guess," Chloe said pretty quickly and made to open the door.

"What's up with you?" Natasha stopped her again. "Thought you'd be more happy or something?"

"No, yeah, of course I am," Chloe nodded. "Who knows, if they're eager to catch up on wasted time, we might end up with a super-soldier-half-human-half-Celessian baby 9 months from now! Whom — by the way — I," she pointed at herself, "will be the godmother to."

"Tell you what, I'll gladly step aside if you tell that to Seren's face," Natasha said, standing up from the couch. "And Steve's."

"Don't feel like dying yet, thanks." Chloe opened the door, about to step out when Natasha called her.

"Where are you going?" Natasha frowned. "If you're not heading back to Steve's, then where to? Are you wearing Seren's clothes? Bit small for you, don't you think?"

Chloe tugged on her shirt. It barely covered her waist. "Give me a break, I'm like 4 inches taller than Seren. I'm surprised her pants fit me and even then they're a bit snug."

"Where are you going?"

"On a walk, sheesh. What is this? Twenty-one questions?" Chloe didn't stick around and headed out.

Even then, she continued to see the same images in her head, hearing her screams.

~0~

She was doing everything she could to free her mind. Meditation, counting, stretching — it didn't work.

Chloe sat down on the grassy ground and leaned against a tree. She groaned. She was going to go crazy if she didn't get any sleep soon. She balled her fists and pressed them above her head.

You need to sleep. I also need to get my shit together.

"Well, well, well, the not-running girl around here — again?"

Chloe lowered her hands and opened her eyes just as Sam was walking over. "Sam, hey…" She was about to pull herself up bit Sam made a gesture that she stay there.

"What are you doing here? I thought you don't run?" Sam set his hands on his waist. "Or did Steve drag you out here again?"

"Nah, he's busy this morning," Chloe shrugged. "It's just me today."

"And you ran?"

"Hey, I don't appreciate the tone there…" Chloe mock-glared at Sam, making him laugh.

"Sorry, last time I heard you weren't the running kind. Almost thought you'd murder Steve that day."

"I would, but my best friend would be pretty pissed then — it's a whole thing."

Sam chuckled again. "Alright, so why are you here then? The real reason, because I'm not buying the 'I came for a walk'."

"So do you just think I'm fucking lazy or something?" Chloe made a face.

"I think you look like someone who could do with some rest..." Sam remarked, leaving Chloe quiet for a moment. "I know the faces — I see them all the time down at the center."

"Right..." Chloe sighed.

"You okay?" Sam asked her gently, but not at all prying. Chloe figured he had tons of experience with that too.

"Yeah..." she leaned her head against the tree, bending one leg up. "It's just been a hard couple of nights. I keep, uh, having bad dreams." At least she hoped that they were just dreams. She didn't forget the fact she saw the bomb coming on the Lemurian ship.

"What do you do for work again?" Sam said.

"SHIELD, like Steve. There's a lot of things I see and sometimes it just gets to me. Nothing new."

"For some reason, I don't quite buy it..." Sam remarked, earning a glare from Chloe. "You're out here, early, and without your track-star friend. You don't want him to see you."

Chloe swallowed. "I like being alone. For your information, I actually do a lot of my mission solo."

"Oh, age doesn't deceive me," Sam said, hands raised in front of him. "Age doesn't matter when you're skilled. But it does lead to a higher risk of getting hurt. Bet SHIELD doesn't know about this, right?"

"Seriously, you know everything or something?" Chloe cocked her head to the side. Sam smirked.

"Call it experience."

Chloe groaned. "Trust me, you don't have experience on this matter. Nobody does."

"Try me," Sam said, and began to sit down on the grass in front of Chloe. She lifted an eyebrow at him, not quite believing he would give her the time of day for this stuff.

"You're a weird kind of guy, Sam Wilson," she said.

"Yeah," Sam half smiled at her. "But I'm a good listener too."

"I'm sure that you are..." nodded Chloe, "But my stuff, it's a whole thing and...I don't even tell my friends about it. No offence but I barely know you."

Instead of being offended, Sam laughed. "Well, sometimes it's actually easier to tell your problems to a stranger. C'mon, try it. What's the worst that could happen?"

"You could send me to the psych ward."

Sam smirked. "Try me."

Chloe raised an eyebrow at him. She didn't expect his determination but maybe he did have a point. She had the worst trouble trying to come clean to Steve, Seren, Natasha and just about anyone else. Tony was easier because she didn't see him every day...

Maybe this guy's smarter than he looks, she thought. She met Sam's gaze and smirked. "If you send me to the psych ward, I'll kick your ass."

Sam chuckled. "Lay it on me."

~ 0 ~

When Seren woke up, she was in the best of moods. Granted, she was still a little sleepy when she felt a kiss in the crook of her shoulder, but she would make an exception.

"Good morning to you too, lovey," she turned in bed with a grin to see Steve already looking a her.

"You're cheerful even in the morning..." he noted.

Seren watched him reach a hand on her cheek. "That a bad thing?"

"Not at all. Chloe's not a morning person. I'm used to the morning grumps."

Seren laughed lightly. "Yeah, well, not with me — at least when I get my full sleep. Although, with my schedule, that doesn't happen a lot. Anyways, good morning."

"Good morning." Steve rubbed gentle circles on Seren's cheek, just taking the moment in. Just as he neared her lips for a kiss, he heard a quiet grumble of a stomach. He pulled back, meeting Seren's gaze, and chuckled as she groaned.

"And leave it to me to ruin the moment!" She pulled the covers over her face.

"What are you talking about, Seren? Trust me, nothing can ruin this moment." Steve gently pulled the covers down, though it was a momentary tugging match between him and Seren. Ultimately, he won and he was able to see her face again. "It sounds like you need some breakfast. You didn't actually eat dinner last night, did you? At the event?"

Seren shook her head. "You stopped me from having drinks, remember?"

"Oh, so now it's my fault?" Steve laughed. "Well, since it's my fault then, let me take you to breakfast! A date."

Seren nodded right away. She really was hungry (and she may have worked an appetite). "I'll have to borrow clothes from Chloe..."

Steve's brows raised when he remembered the state of her satin blue dress that was in the living room. "I will — I will definitely get you a new one. Sweetheart, I'm so sorry—"

Seren grabbed the sides of his face and kissed him. "I'm not," she whispered. "Let's see what Chloe has in the closet. You want to help me?" She smirked seeing how quickly the red tint spread across Steve's face.

The two ultimately got out of bed to get dressed and ready to head out. Seren found a dress amongst Chloe's things that she could more or less wear. It was slightly bigger than her normal size but decent. The shoes were a bit more difficult but she managed.

"You look adorable," Steve laughed when she came out into the living room. The dress was big, period.

Seren groaned. "I know it fits weird. Why is Chloe so frikin tall? She's like a pipe-cleaner with blonde hair!"

"You really do look adorable," Steve insisted as he grabbed her hand and pressed a kiss on the back of it. "I'm thinking cinnamon rolls. I do owe you some from last night."

"That sounds great to me!" Seren nodded quickly.

With that decided, they headed out of the apartment. Just as they were coming into the hallway, one of the other tenants was coming down the opposite end.

"Morning, Kate," Steve politely greeted the woman.

"Morning Ste—" Kate stopped in her tracks when she met Seren's gaze. The latter froze as well.

As surprised as Seren was, confusion soon seeped through when she realized what Steve had called the woman. "Hold on, Ka—"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kate." The woman held her hand out to shake with Seren.

With brows pinched together, Seren slowly shook Kate's hand. "Seren...?"

Kate seemed to swallow hard, though she quickly smiled at the two. "You guys heading out?"

Steve nodded. "Breakfast. Did you just get back from a shift?"

"Mhm..." Kate said. Her eyes would flicker to Seren every so often.

"Kate's a nurse," Steve told Seren, "And about the only friend I have in the building."

"Mhm..." Seren hummed, "Nurse." Kate ducked her head.

"You must be tired, Kate. We'll see you later," Steve said and started leading Seren down the hall.

Seren looked over her shoulder and saw 'Kate' getting her keys out. "Hey Steve, I forgot to grab my phone. Can I go back quickly?"

"I'll get it for you, sweetheart," Steve said, dropping a kiss on her temple.

Seren stopped him from leaving. "Actually, I can get it. It's fine."

"But I—"

"I can get it, Steve, it's fine," Seren smiled. "Keys?"

Steve reluctantly handed her the keys to the apartment, still volunteering to go get her phone for her. Seren assured him that she could do it and she would catch up with him downstairs.

As soon as he was going down the stairs, Seren was heading back to the apartment. It seemed like Kate had overheard because she stood by her apartment door...waiting. When she saw Seren, she leaned off the door and walked to meet Seren halfway.

"I didn't know you were back in town," Kate said, taking note of the odd dress on Seren. She was pretty sure it was Chloe's.

Seren instinctively tugged on her dress as if it was anything close to being short. "I came back a few days ago to present the new team I created in London." Seren leveled a hard look on the woman. She was familiar with 'Kate', crossed paths occasionally but not enough to be on a friendship basis. "Did Fury post you here?" She went straight to business, and she wasn't happy about it.

Kate closed her mouth and just nodded.

Seren's lips curled down into a frown. "And Chloe?"

"She knows who I am. Natasha too."

"And they didn't tell Steve anything?"

"Fury gave the order, Seren. You know how it goes."

"I do but this isn't any ordinary agent, Sharon." Seren rubbed her fingers against her temples. "Steve has never trusted SHIELD to begin with and when he finds out that Fury put a frikin bodyguard next door to him—"

"He can't know about this," Sharon said, shaking her head. "He thinks Fury stopped."

"Stopped?" Seren made a face and before she could ask what Sharon had meant, she got a delightful piece of news.

"Fury had Steve's apartment bugged."

"Bugged?" Seren brought a hand over her chest, feeling absolutely mortified. "Like—like the whole apartment?"

Sharon nodded. "But Chloe took them down. Fury was not happy about it."

Suddenly, Seren forgave Chloe for absolutely everything she'd ever done in the past. She would just die if that apartment had been bugged.

"Chloe negotiated with Fury about this stuff, alright? You can be mad all you want but I'm just following orders from Fury. If you're worried that I'll say something about you guys—"

"I don't care," Seren said flatly. "Fury has nothing to do with what Steve and I do, okay? You report what you gotta report." She turned to leave when Sharon called her back.

"Wait! Are you going to tell Steve?"

"Uh, I sort of have to!" Seren snapped. "Steve hates being lied to and I don't exactly like it either!"

"Seren, if you tell him who I am, he'll be furious!"

"I'll talk to him, I know what it's like following orders. It'll go back to Fury."

"And Chloe," Sharon pointed out. "She's known the whole time."

Seren shook her head. No, she didn't want Steve to be upset with Chloe but she didn't want to be part of the unnecessary lie. It was so pointless having a bodyguard. Fury was being ridiculous.

"Seren, please..." Sharon said, looking genuinely fearful of the matter.

Seren sighed. "I'm sorry, but I'm telling him. I can't lie to him — not anymore. I'll take the heat from Fury but trust me, he'll have a lot more coming from Steve than you will from them both. I'll make sure of that." She turned away again and went to catch up with Steve downstairs.

~ 0 ~

As much as they ate at the pastry shop as well as having samples — Seren was guilty of beating Steve in that aspect — they decided to bring back another box of cinnamon rolls to continue munching on at home. All throughout their date, Seren tried finding the right moment to tell Steve about Sharon and what Fury had ordered her to do. She didn't want to ruin their perfect morning, especially not with SHIELD business. But apparently, Steve knew her better than she thought.

They had just returned to the apartment when he brought up her strange, shifty feet.

"My feet aren't shifty," Seren argued weakly. "And even if they happened to be, it's because these are Chloe's shoes."

Steve chuckled at her. He dropped the box of cinnamon rolls on the coffee table. "Maybe, but you're still acting weird. Did I do something? Did you change your mind?"

"No, of course not!" Seren exclaimed. What she wasn't going to allow was for SHIELD to ruin something so good between them. "Come here..." She took his hands and sat down on the couch together. "I, uh, I need to tell you something but...it's...it's not going to make you happy."

"And it's not about us...?" Steve needed to make sure that nothing had changed between them. Anything else didn't matter.

"It's not," Seren assured him again. "You, um, you know that neighbor of yours? Kate?"

Steve nodded. "Yeah, what about her?"

"I really hate to be the one to tell you this, and honestly it makes me feel like a snitch but—"

"Is there something going on with Kate? I-I don't understand—"

"She's a SHIELD agent, Steve," Seren blurted. She squeezed his hands while he reacted. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry to tell you but I can't — I can't lie to you. It feels so wrong after everything and I—"

"She's a SHIELD agent?" Steve said slowly, eyes flickering towards his door. "Kate?"

"Her name's actually Sharon..."

"Sharon?"

Seren nodded.

"Did—why? I don't..." Seren saw the exact moment it donned on Steve and braced herself for his true reaction. "It was Fury wasn't it?" His voice hardened. Seren nodded. "What? She's supposed to be my babysitter?"

"I know it's irritating but you shouldn't get upset with Sharon — or even Chloe, or Natasha—"

"They both knew!?" Steve gawked. "Are you kidding me!?"

Seren squeezed his hands again. "They were following orders, Steve. Fury was the one who commanded it."

"Of course!" Steve scowled. "You know, I'm getting real tired of Fury and all his secrets. And Chloe — and Natasha — they just keep secrets so easily and I—"

"I know, I know," Seren sighed. "But it comes with the job and it sucks but it's the truth. I'm sorry."

"What? Seren, it's not your fault. You weren't even here..." And for that matter, Steve tried his best to calm down. As angry as he was, it had nothing to do with Seren. "I'm gonna have a word with Fury next time I see him..."

"Please don't get into arguments because of this..." Seren could only plead at this point. "I know it's irritating but—"

"It's for another moment," Steve said, deciding to push the matter away. "Right now...you're here, and I want to take full advantage of that."

"Are you — we could go to SHIELD right now if you want? I can come with you and we can—"

Steve was shaking his head already, refusing the idea. "I am not going to give SHIELD any of my time when you're around." He pulled his hands out from hers and slid them over her face. He had priorities now, and he was learning from past mistakes. He would not waste anymore of his time. "Besides, the cinnamon rolls might get cold..." He pressed a kiss on her lips.

"Well...who can deny a kiss..." Seren sought out another kiss from him, and got one...and then two...

Before they knew it, they were lost in a series of kisses.

"Mm, the cinnamon rolls?" Seren murmured, bringing her hands over his on her face.

"Right..." Steve leaned back, clearing his throat. He'd left the box on the table and grabbed it.

"Oh! Chloe's chocolates, remember?" Seren spotted the box of chocolates she'd left on the table last night. "Good thing we can take the sugar, right?"

Steve chuckled. "I'll say."

Seren opened up the box of chocolates and was delighted to see a dozen little pieces assorted inside. "Where to start, hmm?"

Steve watched her go through a process just to pick one piece. She was so adorable...

"Chloe's too lucky," Seren said after taking a bite. "Girl gets gifts left to right from admirers."

"Oh, I've noticed," hummed Steve. Even though Chloe was always in and out of D.C., he was often around her when she was being flirted with or given the occasional gift. It was bemusing to see such straightforwardness but Chloe seemed quite at home with it.

"She's got the Angel face, you know?" Seren shook her head. "She used to be head cheerleader in high school and I'm sure a popular girl too."

"I remember those girls, sans the cheerleaders. Those were hard to talk to…of course none of them were ever really in the mood to talk to me."

Seren scooted herself closer to him. "I think you and I would've been good friends if we were in school together."

Steve would have loved the idea but given his history, he doubted it would happen. "I don't know about that…"

"I'm sure of it. Those eyes of yours, one charming smile, the 'ma'am' thing and I would've been all yours." Seren popped in another chocolate piece.

"Really?" He was already smiling at her with fondness. None of those traits were enhanced with the super serum.

"Mhm. They're my favorite things about you!"

"Things would've been very different if you'd been around back then." The first thing Steve thought of was the horrible double-dates Bucky always set him up on. Of course then he realized how nervous he'd be having an actual date with Seren in those days.

"What?" Seren raised an eyebrow at him once his thoughts started seeping through his face. "You wouldn't have liked me?"

"What?" Steve laughed. "Are you kidding me? I was just thinking how nervous I'd be asking you out on a date."

Seren cocked her head. "Seriously?"

"You better believe it. I'm sure I'd be fumbling over my words — don't be fooled, I might be doing that in the future too."

"Duly noted." It was Seren's turn to laugh.

"That's funny to you?"

"Kind of, yeah…but sweet too!" Seren cleared her throat after swallowing another chocolate piece. She decided to try one of their cinnamon rolls instead.

Steve wrapped an arm around her waist as she took one cinnamon roll from the box. He imagined all the dates they would have with cinnamon rolls and grinned from ear to ear.

"Oh gosh, they're so good..." Seren hummed, "I love them!"

"I can tell," Steve chuckled. Seren flushed and tried to slow down on her eating. "Keep eating, sweetheart. They're for you." He leaned over and kissed her forehead

Seren cleared her throat again, feeling like something had gotten stuck. She started rubbing circles on her chest, and coughed.

"You okay?" Steve watched her for a moment.

"Yeah," she cleared her throat. "Um, I just…" She lowered the cinnamon roll in her hand, and took in a breath only to come halfway. She shifted on the couch to try and get a better position to take in a bigger breath.

Steve grew concerned the more he watched her continue to take these breaths only halfway. She let her cinnamon roll drop on the ground suddenly and tried taking in an even bigger breath but, just like before, she couldn't do it.

"Okay, Seren, what's wrong?" Steve didn't know whether to help move her to an easier breathing position or anything else.

"I-I don't know but I can't…" Seren started clutching her neck, mouth wide open and gasped for breath. "I can't breathe! Steve, I can't breathe!"

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