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toruro · 1 year

Text

— ✧ oh my!

pairing: xu minghao x reader

description: choosing to be roommates with vernon chwe would undeniably be one of the few life-changing decisions you made in your lifetime. he brought along support, friendship, and most importantly: a hot friend. — or, in which you’re roommates with vernon and you happen to fall for one of his many chaotic friends.

tags: smut (18+), oral (m receiving), just stupid mutual pining, fluff, seriously self indulgent, mentioned past toxic/controlling relationships

w/c: 13.6k

a/n: REPOSTED. this was my first attempt at a kpop fic ever and my first time writing smut so please bear with how awkwardly written it is. a fic that was supposed to be multiple parts but i couldn't come up with a real plot either so ummm … nevertheless i hope u enjoy!

I. OH MY!

Moving in with Vernon is among your top life changing decisions, pretty much ever.

You two met in college, first sharing a calculus class together and occasionally studying together. Your friendship was budding—he was someone you could count on and never had to second guess. Spending more time together, you naturally grew closer, eventually reaching a point that when Vernon mentioned moving out of his shitty studio, you two immediately decided to find a place together.

Fresh out of college, it was the best decision in all ways possible—money was not nearly as big of a burden as before, and it was fun having a friend to talk to whenever you wanted in the vicinity of your own home.

It’s been an enjoyable eight months since you two started renting out this place together, and this evening, you’re in the kitchen cooking some brownies with an old package of brownie mix you found shoved in the back of one of your cupboards. You’re making a bit of a mess, but you can only hope that Vernon doesn’t mind too much—you will clean it, after all.

You’re in the midst of pondering about how long it’ll take you to clean up the little (big) splatter of flour you dropped on the ground when there’s a buzzing that comes from your phone. You huff, looking down at your fingers that are coated in oil and brownie batter. Setting down the bowl you were mixing, you then go to wash your hands as the buzzing dies out. After wiping down any moisture left on your skin, you pick up the phone to see a missed call from Vernon.

Did he forget something? you wonder, pressing the call back button and holding your phone up to your ear. You hear him pick up the line almost immediately, curious to know why he called you. “Hey,” you say casually when you know he can hear you. “Everything good?”

There are a few voices in the background that you hear, and you recall how he told you this morning he’d be hanging out with his friends. “Yeah, yeah, everything’s great. Look, I was wondering if it would be okay with you if my friends came over to our place? I would’ve asked earlier but I didn’t think we would be hanging out more and…well you get it,” Vernon sighs.

Your lips make a little ‘o’ shape, nodding to yourself as if Vernon could see you right now. “Yeah of course they can come over!” you tell him.

“Are you sure?” he clarifies, and you smile at the sincerity. “It’s just—I mean like they’re probably going to stay a while?” It comes out as a question and you laugh. “Don’t laugh at me,” Vernon grumbles, “I’m just making sure because they’re probably going to stay late in the night and there’s a lot of them.”

“Yes Vernon, I know there’s a lot of them—twelve to be exact,” you retort. “Yes, I’m okay with it, it’s not like I do anything these days anyways. I’ll be fine,” you tell him honestly.

“Okay, thank you so much,” he replies, relieved. “We’ll be there in like ten minutes.”

“Ten?!” you shrieked, quickly taking in the giant mess you made around you, baffled when you think about how you’re going to clean this up.

“Yes, sorry,” Vernon murmurs. “These guys change their minds so much and—ugh—you get it. We’re already close to the apartment complex so we’re just going to come up. Is there a problem?”

You hum, looking around you. “I might’ve made a bit of a mess in the kitchen, but…but I’ll figure it out.”

Vernon laughs. “I doubt they’ll care—most of them are dogs.” You giggle at the muffled protests heard in the background before he continues. “Anyways, thank you, I owe you one. See you in five.”

Your phone beeps when he hangs up and you stand by yourself in the middle of the kitchen. “Five?” you whisper to yourself, “Fuck! He said ten! But now five? Fuck!”

You whip your head around to look at the kitchen, grimacing as you’re dawned with the realization that there is no way you’re going to clean this up before they come. It takes you around 5 seconds to debate your options, finally deciding to just give up on trying to clean up and focus on finishing the batter and getting the pan in the oven.

You set your phone back down on the counter, picking up the batter bowl and giving it a few more stirs to rid it of any clumps before spreading it all out on a pan. It takes you a few moments to find the mittens and stick it in the preheated oven, a wave of relief washing over you when you’re done.

That’s one thing out of the way…I guess , you think to yourself, letting your hair down from the tight up-do you had it in earlier. Looking down at your black t-shirt and yoga pants, you take a few moments to try and dust off whatever flour rubbed off on the cloth. Of course, many stains still remain, but you figured this was better than nothing.

You’re about to grab a broom to clean up the floor when you hear a knock at the door. Sighing in defeat, you wash your hands once before heading to the door. You’re placing your hand on the door knob before you hear some clicking, hesitating to open once you realize it’s Vernon on the other end unlocking it himself. You step back from the doorway as the door is pushed slightly ajar, allowing you to poke your head through the small gap.

You’re met with the sight of multiple guys crowding around the door, a slightly frantic and honestly exhausted-looking Vernon leading the group. “Hey,” he greets as you step back once more, pulling the door open fully.

“That was less than five minutes!” you exclaim, trying your best to ignore the gazes of the unfamiliar faces behind Vernon. You’ve seen pictures of them before on Vernon’s social media and stuff but you don’t really know them at all—you’re only aware of bits and pieces from the stories he tells you occasionally.

“I’m sorry!” he puts his hands up in surrender, stepping through the doorway as you back into the kitchen that remained in the chaotic state you left it in.

“I didn’t have time to clean!” you whine, frantically waving your hand at the kitchen, allowing Vernon to take in the scene.

“Hey, hey, hey,” a new voice pops in and you see a hand snake it’s way around Vernon’s shoulders. A man with blonde hair and a chiseled face looks at you sympathetically. “It’s not Vernon’s fault,” he tells you calmly. “You can blame it on us for changing plans quickly. Don’t worry, Vernon feels bad about it, he told us.”

You sigh, a small pout making its way onto your face. “Fine,” you huff as the rest of the boys fill the large room that contains the kitchen and living room. You aren’t sure what to do now, watching them all shuffle around, taking off their shoes and attempting (key word: attempting ) to organize them in front of the doorway. You hadn’t really thought this far ahead—should you go to your room now? Would it be awkward to just hang around here while they’re in the living room (your kitchen and living room are basically one large room, so there’s no real way to avoid them)?

You’re glad Vernon picks up on your uncertainty. He turns to his friends, speaking up and saying your name, which catches you by surprise. “My roommate,” he clarifies, as they all look at you. You smile awkwardly, giving a small wave before averting your gaze. Vernon then turns around, pointing at the couch across the room, “Now can one of you set up the Mario Kart?”

The rest of the boys nod, beginning to break out into small conversations by themselves as they all make their way to lounge in the connected room, finally giving you a bit of space to breathe (not that they were making you uncomfortable or anything—you’re just a little shy).

“I’m sorry again,” Vernon tells you, and you can hear the genuinity in his voice. “What were you making, by the way?” he asks curiously, peering over at the mess.

“It’s okay! And I was making brownies—I found some old box mixes in the back of the cupboard and I figured I should make them before they expire,” you explain, looking over at his friends who have now settled in the living room comfortably. “Do your friends want some? I’ve made a big enough batch for everyone, I’m sure,” you tell him.

“Are you sure?”

“Vernon can you stop asking me if I’m sure,” you complain loudly, running a hand over your face. You hear a snicker come from the other side of a room, catching sight of one of Vernon’s friends seated on ground, a playful smirk on his face upon hearing your conversation. You feel your ears burn, quickly turning back to Vernon. “Yes, I just made them for fun. It’s better to share with them than have us eat all of it,” you chuckle, picking up a dustpan from the corner of the kitchen to begin cleaning up.

“Okay fine,” Vernon murmurs. “Thank you a lot,” he concludes, finally turning and joining friends on the couch. You begin your work to clean up the flour you dropped on the ground, getting lost in your own little world after slipping in your airpods, tuning out the noises of rowdy men and Mario Kart sound effects.

You’re practically done with cleaning the kitchen when you hear your timer go off, nearly skipping to the oven to turn it off and pull out the pan of brownies you’ve been putting so much effort into. The aroma floats through the room, and you catch the glances of a few of Vernon’s friends who peek over, trying to get a look at whatever you’ve come up with.

You smile to yourself, placing the pan on the counter before pulling out a knife to make nice, even pieces. It takes you a few moments, but once you’re done, you look down at them happily. Slipping on your mittens, you carry the tray over to the living room, a small, upwards curve pulling at your lips.

The boy you remember from earlier—the one who laughed at your reaction to Vernon—notices you first, and you can’t help but wonder how you didn;t recognize him from any pictures because holy hell he’s pretty. His eyes are looking at you through heavy eyelashes and there’s a coy smile tugging at his lips—he’s charming .

It takes you a good five seconds to realize you’re staring at him and another five to realize he’s caught you in the act. You whip your head away, looking at the rest of the boys, some of which who are intently focused on the game on the screen, others of which who are indifferent.

“Um, I made some brownies, if you guys want,” you tell them all, clearing your throat. “They’re fresh, so they’re a little hot, but you can wait for them to cool down.” You set down the pan on the table as the rest of them quiet down, some immediately spewing out words of gratitude.

“Aren’t you going to have any?” one of them asks, and you recognize him as the tallest. Mingyu? You recall some stories about him.

You shrug. “I kind of just made it because we had the boxes left…I think it’d be better if you guys shared it.”

Another boy with glasses sitting on the armchair speaks up. “You can eat it with us—our way of saying thanks,” he encourages. You throw out a close lipped smile, glancing at Vernon as if to ask if this was all just a show of politeness or an actual offer. He offers the slightest nod, and your once tight smile is let loose. You nod your head cheerfully, looking around you to find a spot to sit.

Noticing your confusion, the boy with the blonde hair and sharp face from earlier points to your right. “Sit next to Minghao, I’m sure there’s room there.”

You look down, met with the gaze of him , trying your best to hide your twinge of excitement as you silently shuffle over and sit down at the edge of the rug. Minghao . You like that name, you say to yourself in your head before shaking your head lightly—what are you thinking? You can’t be crushing on a guy you just laid your eyes on!

Inhaling sharply, you turn your head to the screen, grateful to see everyone else’s attention has also averted to the heated one-on-one match between the glasses guy from earlier (you now have learned his name is Wonwoo) and Mingyu.

They’re a loud bunch, but you can’t find it in you to mind—watching them all get along so well, so freely, is liberating in itself. You feel relaxed in a way you didn’t know you could be.

As content as you feel right now though, there’s an anxious thought buzzing at the back of your mind, and no matter how desperately you try to push it back, it keeps crawling its way up, especially when you feel your thigh brush Minghao’s .

Stop it , you chide yourself. Stop it! A little more harshly. Stop thinking about him!

“Hey…” the first time he says it, the words don’t quite reach your ears. “Hey,” he says again, nudging your thigh with his knee, increasing the minimal physical contact you two already had. You’re snapping out of your daze in an instant, whipping your head up to look at him . “You good?” he asks, and while you can tell he’s being sincere, there’s an almost playful smirk gracing his lips.

“Huh…oh, yeah,” you murmur, bashful that he caught you lost in your own head, thinking about him. “Just zoned out for a second,” you explain with an awkward laugh, pulling your legs into your chest and resting your chin on your knees.

“I could tell,” Minghao replies, and you can’t help but gaze at how cool he is as he reaches toward the coffee table, cutting himself a piece of the brownie. You watch him carefully as he takes a bite—you’re honestly just admiring his face, but you think you can brush off your shameless ogling as looking to see if he likes the brownie. He catches you staring, and you’re unsure of what he thinks of it, opening his mouth to talk again once he’s swallowed it. “It’s good,” he tells you, and you smile.

“I’m glad…it would have been kind of embarrassing if it wasn’t.”

“Don’t worry—chocolate isn’t even really my thing but I like it,” Minghao compliments, and you can’t tell if he’s being genuine or faux out of sincerity. Your grin brightens nevertheless as you sink back into the front of the sofa behind you, averting your gaze to the screen once again.

You’re feeling a little shy, of course, and the silence that now sits between you and Minghao isn’t uncomfortable or awkward, rather it’s…heart-warming. Your smile doesn’t leave your face as the room is full of cries and laughter and taunts as the results of the first round are revealed.

You sit in an amused silence, watching them for around another twenty minutes and even getting to play once (albeit your minimal effort—Mario Kart always gives you a headache anyways), before quietly standing up as the boys are cheering over Wonwoo winning yet another match. Minghao looks at you as you raise yourself above him, and your stomach churns at the way he raised a brow.

“Leaving already?”

You shrug casually. “I think it’s about time I get to doing my own stuff,” you explain, throwing out a small smile before retreating to your room before Minghao—or anyone else—can notice or say anything. You’re grateful Minghao didn’t make a scene about you leaving—it’s not that you don’t like the boys (far from it), but you’ve been tired the whole day and were looking forward to a nice nap.

Settling into your bed after shutting your blinds, you pull the covers up to your chin shooting a quick text to Vernon to make sure he wakes you up for dinner if you didn’t wake yourself up in time. You shut your eyes tight, doing your best to ignore the tight feeling that settles at the bottom of your stomach.

The second you identify the feeling, you squeeze your eyes closed tighter. Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Your words don’t aid you, of course, because all you’re thinking about his stupid fucking Minghao and his stupidly hot face and his stupidly cute smirk and the stupidly handsome way he looks at you and— oh my god you need to turn your brain off right now.

You settle on not breathing, trying to pretend you’re dead, in hopes it’ll lull you to sleep. Of course, the effect is the opposite of your intentions—the lack of oxygen only reminds you of the way Minghao took your breath away when you first noticed him.

You huff to yourself, rolling your body over so your face is pressed into the pillow as you quietly curse to yourself. “God, I’m so fucked,” you whine, childishly pounding your fists against the plush of your mattress.

You’re being immature, you know you are—like a child throwing a tantrum—but who can blame you? He’s just so pretty and that smile of his is so endearing and you can’t help but find yourself so falling for him.

It’s a miracle that you fall asleep at all, let alone so quickly. You figure the exhaustion from the past week has finally caught up to you, even with the onslaught of attraction that came your way after seeing Minghao.

When you wake up, it’s much darker. The sun hasn’t fully set yet, but the sky is painted a deep red which is bound to morph to purple within a few more moments before finally sinking into nighttime. You glance around and you realize that the only thing besides the outside light that’s illuminating your room is your bed lamp that you forgot to turn off.

You rub your eyes a few times, still in a bit of a groggy, drowsy daze, before remembering what woke you up in the first place—the knock on your door. “Hello?” you croak out, immediately slapping a hand over your mouth at the mangles sound that leaves your mouth. It’s quiet for a moment and you’re able to identify the faint voices in the rest of the apartment as Vernon’s friends.

Your mind is suddenly racing through the possibility of who could’ve knocked on your door and— oh my god! What if it’s Minghao?! What if he heard y—

You hear your name being called out softly and your speeding train of thought falters. It’s Vernon. Thank fucking god. “You up?” he says through the door and you pull the covers off of you to meet him at the door. Poking your head through the crack as you open it slightly, you squint immediately at the intrusion of light to your unadjusted eyes.

“Good morning,” you joke, stepping back to let him in. “Thanks for waking me up…jeez, I was knocked out,” you murmur to yourself, rubbing a hand over your face as you walk to your dresser to find yourself a comb. “What time is it?”

“It’s like six…the guys were worried that they were being too loud when I told them you were sleeping,” Vernon muses, pulling up his phone to scroll through something. “But I was like nah she sleeps through everything—and I was right,” he says with a laugh as you roll your eyes, trying to make yourself more presentable as you pull your hair back into a low do.

“Whatever…did you guys have fun? I’m assuming so since they’re still here…”

“Yeah, we’re ordering dinner right now. I told you they were gonna stay for a while. That’s why I woke you up too: I was gonna ask if there was anything specific you wanted—if you wanna eat with us of course,” he explains, holding up his phone to display the food delivery app he had opened earlier.

“Would that be okay? If I had dinner with you all?”

“Yeah of course, no one would mind,” Vernon assures you as you look at yourself in the mirror, fixing your hair, narrowing your eyes at your roommate.

“You sure?”

“Okay now you need to stop asking me if I’m sure,” Vernon huffs with a roll of his eyes followed by your laughter.

“Okay okay, fine,” you reply. “Give me like two minutes I’ll come out and we can decide something with everyone,” you say, ushering Vernon out. He puts his hands up in surrender, turning around to join his friends in the other room. After he leaves, you debate with yourself whether or not you should change or join the rest with your pajama pants and loose fit t-shirt.

Overcome with the still lingering drowsiness from your nap, you choose comfort, and decide to just throw on a loose cardigan over whatever you’re wearing now before stepping out of the room. A yawn escapes your lips as you enter the living room, catching sight of all the boys lounging around—some are seated on top of the kitchen island, legs hanging over the edge, while others are laying down on the couch with their feet kicked up, the rest with their legs folded on the ground.

You try not to stare at Minghao too much when he enters your line of vision, but the task is becoming impossibly harder the longer you look: he’s laid back on the couch, feet resting on a blonde boy—Jun, you think is his name’s—lap, and you don’t miss the way his arms are crossed behind the back of his head, shirt lifting up just enough to reveal a little bit of the skin that dons his torso.

You begrudgingly peel your eyes away from the marvelous sight when you hear someone call your name, heads turning to you once they realize you’ve finally joined them.

“About time,” the boy with sharp features from earlier—Jeonghan—says as a greeting, waving you over as he stands next to Vernon. “Come on, help us decide what to order.”

“D’you sleep well?” another asks, and you turn your head to see who’s speaking as you approach Jeonghan. You recognize the boy now as Seungkwan, and you smile while nodding. “I swear me and Chan thought you were dead!” he exclaims jokingly as you furrow your eyebrows.

The boy next to him shoots Seungkwan a death stare before speaking up, much to your amusement. “What Seungkwan means is,” Chan begins with a huff, “we were playing a game and Mingyu lost and he yelled and we were scared we woke you up but nothing happened!”

“I told you, she sleeps through everything,” you hear Vernon mumble from behind you, not missing the joking look that’s toying with his face. You roll your eyes and hit his shoulder, loud enough for everyone to hear and cause them to laugh, smiling internally at the reaction you were able to elicit.

“That’s not true!” you whine, looking over his shoulder to see what restaurants they were choosing from.

“Joking, joking,” Vernon mumbles, turning his phone so you could see better. “We’re choosing between Mexican and Thai. You can choose which, since we’re all pretty evenly split.”

You hum for a second, thinking about which you’re craving more, finally settling on, “Thai!”

There are some cheers that erupt behind you, and your face heats up right away when you turn around to see some of them (Minghao in particular) with cheerful smiles and fists of victory in the air. “Thai it is!” Vernon announces. “Tell me what you guys want,” he says before looking at you. “The usual?” you nod with a grin, backing away as he places the order while the others call out the array of dishes you want, making your way to the seating area to sit down by one of the sofas (totally not because that’s where Minghao was sitting).

As you settle down onto the ground, Minghao speaks up. “Do you want to sit here?” he asks, sitting up from his horizontal position, pulling his legs back to make space between him and Jun on the couch. Your eyes shoot up, darting between Minghao’s deep brown eyes and the space on the couch.

“Are you sure? You can lay down if you w—”

“Nonsense,” Jun says with a chuckle, and you can’t even comprehend what’s going on until you feel Minghao’s cool fingers wrap around your wrist, tugging you up slightly as a direct invitation to take up the spot next to him. God his skin is so soft and his touch is demanding yet so gentle and it’s just enough to get the butterflies that you thought died off to be resurrected once more. “Our way of thanks for choosing Thai,” Jun tells you.

“Yeah,” Minghao agrees, and you try your best to focus on what he’s saying even if it’s impossibly hard with the way his body is pressed up right against you. He leans back as if to stretch his body, arms reaching back behind the couch and settling in the space behind you,

God, you feel like you could die on the spot—it’s not like he’s got an arm wrapped around you or anything so why does this feel so intimate? You can only hope and pray that he doesn’t feel the immense heat radiating off of you as you adjust yourself to sit more comfortably on the couch. In hopes to diffuse the tension that you’re kind of sure you’re the only one feeling, you speak up. “Do you guys want to watch something? A show? A movie?” you suggest reaching forward to pick up the TV remote from the coffee table.

“I’m down,” Wonwoo says with a shrug.

“Oh yeah!” Seungcheol speaks up, “I’ve been wanting to rewatch Batman for a while!”

“Batman then?” you, looking around at everyone as you click the remote to pull it up after you see the nods of their heads. You put on the movie, sinking back into the couch as you do your best to focus on the screen in front of you, and not the faint touch of Minghao’s arm to the back of your neck.

You’re successful for a bit, thankfully, but your peace of mind hardly lasts when the food comes in and everyone settles on the ground to eat—your and Vernon’s rule that there’s no eating curry on the couch. You, Minghao, and Jun slip from your spots on the couch and sit on the ground where your feet lay just a few moments ago, and suddenly you’re hyper aware of the little space you three are squished up against.

It’s a miracle, you think, if Minghao doesn’t notice the way your skin burns against his as his thigh is pressing right up against yours. This touch is different from the one in the afternoon—that one was…light…innocent. This one…this one’s different—it has you burning and yet shivers run down your spine. If you were a little bit more in your senses, maybe—just maybe—you would notice the tight lipped smile that tugs at Minghao’s li ps as well.

Oh my! Now the crush begins.

II. COME TO ME

That night, after the movie, the food, and some beer, the twelve boys shuffle out of the house at around eleven, murmuring soft and tired “thank yous” and “goodbyes.” You can’t deny that you’ve been…a little stiff the entire evening. Sitting next to Minghao for a good 2 hours wore you out—it was a constant battle between your moral consciousness and your…budding feelings.

Stop looking at him! You’d say one moment, but then, god—oh my god his hands! No! Stop! He’s so close to me —stop acting like you’re in middle school! But his smile is just so pretty, god he lights up the room , but wait, stop being so cliche!

Naturally, you're convinced you’ve gone insane. Once the boys left, you and Vernon are left in the comfort of each other’s silence before beginning to make small conversation as you guys begin to clean up (the others honestly didn’t leave that much of a mess, you were just a bit of a clean freak).

“Your friends are fun,” you tell him quietly as you throw out the food containers that you finished earlier. Vernon looks up at you with a small smile, and you can tell that he’s been anxious about you not enjoying your time.

“That’s good, I’m glad.”

“Why haven’t you brought them over before?” you ask curiously, pondering about how there might have been a chance you could have laid your eyes on Minghao ages earlier. “Aren’t they like your best friends?”

Vernon shrugs. “Well yeah, they are, but there’s a lot of them, like you saw. I didn’t know if you’d be okay with that, today just happened to be a day where it was hard for me to say no to them.” You laugh heartily at that—the image of Vernon being persuaded by twelve guys looking at him with puppy eyes. “I really am glad you liked them though. If it’s okay I’d like to have them over more,” he puts out tentatively.

Of course, you perk up at that—maybe a little too noticeably. “I’d love that!” you say excitedly, before shrinking back down at how eager you sound. “I mean like, of course I won’t barge on your time with them but they’re really fun to be around and I’d like to see them more often,” you explain, placing your hands on the counter now that you’re done cleaning all the dishes. Vernon seems to catch onto something and you want to die from embarrassment with the way he’s raising a brow at you.

But if he does notice anything, he doesn’t say it, instead choosing to shrug again and trudge away from the kitchen. “That’s great. Can I have them over next Saturday?”

You blink once then blink twice. “Of course,” you reply without a second of hesitation.

Saturday can't come soon enough. With your own work to do, you find your mind drifting constantly to the face of a pretty man who you can't seem to stop thinking about. You need to scold yourself every single time you realize you're daydreaming—god no, more like fantasizing—about a man who you've not only seen only once, but is one of your roommate's best friends.

Daunting as it is, you're finding this whole situation quite...fun. You can't remember the last time you've felt something so pure and rejuvenating as this crush—gosh, you feel childish for calling it that but what else can it be? Your heart palpates when you think about him, your eyes ache to see his beautiful face again, and holy hell you don't even want to get started on the raw goosebumps you get when reimagining the moment where his skin brushed up against yours.

It's Friday night now, and your stomach swims with anticipation of what tomorrow will hold. You're sitting on the couch in your living room when Vernon comes home from the gym, dropping a bag of food on the kitchen counter. "Hey, I was at the gym with Mingyu and he got me some leftovers that his mom made," he tells you as you look up at him.

"Oh sweet," you say, relieved you won't have to go through the effort of figuring out what to make for dinner. "Your friends are coming over tomorrow, right?" you ask, feigning nonchalance—fucking acting like tomorrow hasn't been the only thing on your mind for the past one week.

"Yeah, they're gonna come up pretty early actually. I was gonna ask you actually, if you wanted to come with us since we're planning on going to the beach later. It's gonna be pretty hot and we haven't gone down in a while," he explains, beginning to open the bag of food as you get up and join him, trying to ignore the endless thoughts that run through your mind.

"The beach? Of course I'd want to come—wait, would that be okay with them? I wouldn't wanna intrude in on your day."

Vernon shakes his head with a chuckle. "Oh my god can you stop?" he says jokingly, "they were the one's who suggested, actually. Not that I don't want you to come either—I do—I just want you to know that they enjoyed you being there last week just as much as you did."

"Really? Who suggested it?" You hope you aren't coming off as too curious—Vernon is perceptive, and you'd be a fool to think he couldn't figure out exactly why you're so insistent on figuring out who asked for you to be there.

He seems preoccupied though, taking the food out of the containers, much to your relief. "Uhh, it was Minghao I think. But like everyone agreed after that, Jeonghan even said he'd pay for your ice cream if you came."

You're convinced the universe is bullshitting you right now. Minghao? Your Minghao? Asked if you could join them? At the beach?

You might just pass out.

Naturally, Vernon looks at you funny. "Are you good? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

You shake your head nervously with a smile, turning back to grab a piece of fried chicken he pulled out. "No no, I was just thinking about if I even have any swim suits—I think I threw them out last summer because of Jungho," you murmur, and while it's not the full truth about what you were just thinking about, it is something that's on your mind. Vernon looks at you with a frown.

"You threw them out because of Jungho?" he asks sadly. "Fucking hell, I forgot how crazy he was," he murmurs, looking down to take his own bite of the food. You shrug solemnly, finding yourself in a mood a bit more down than you'd like.

"Weird times," you reply simply. "Think I could just go to the beach in like some shorts and a shirt? It's just water after all."

"Yeah that should be fine. We'd be leaving before noon so I don't think you'd have the time to buy new ones anyways," Vernon agrees, pushing himself off the counter.

You nod with a smile, ignoring the small pang of sadness you felt just moments ago. "Sounds good."

You're a heavy sleeper—you always have been—and given that it's a Saturday, it's no question that you're bound to sleep until Vernon is banging your door to make sure you aren't dead. Seriously. Saturday morning, despite your excitement, kicks off with a groggy start. You're rolling around in bed, ming hazy as you aimlessly try and figure out what time it is and what exactly woke you up since you know you don't set alarms for weekends. It takes a few seconds for the knocking on your door to register in your brain.

You blink once and rub your eyes, squinting so that they can adjust to the light as you peer at the clock, realizing that—shit, oh shit, it's almost 11. Didn't Vernon say that his friends were going to be here in the morning?! And that they were gonna leave before noon?! Shit!

You're scrambling out of bed, digging through your drawer as you call out a meek, "I'n up!" to whoever's knocking on your door, throwing on the only swim suit that you—thankfully—found tucked away in your closet the night before, covering it up with some shorts and a loose top that you picked earlier as well. You're quickly faced with realization that you still look like you just rolled out of bed which, to be fair, you had. That doesn't stop you from frantically brushing through your hair, trying to put it into a simple braid before finally feeling ready to open the door.

You're expecting to see Vernon, in all honesty, since that's how it went the last time they were all over. The man standing in front of your door is, in fact, definitely not Vernon. No, the man in front of your door is Xu fucking Minghao, and you think you're absolutely fucked by the way your knees go week.

"Hi, sorry, I hope I didn't rush you," he greets politely, stepping back, allowing you to take a good look at him. He's wearing a white sleeveless shirt that hugs hugs his body tightly, followed by a blue hawaiian shirt that sits loosely on his upper half. His lower half is adorned by simple swim trunks, and you do your very, very best to not stare at his calf muscles.

"I, uh..." your voice trails off, in a haze from how attractive he is as well from your fading drowsiness. You rub your eyes once under your glasses before responding. "It's okay, I don't know why I didn't get up earlier," you huff to yourself, looking down, "I thought I would."

"Don't worry about it," Minghao murmurs, and he brings a hand up to your head on top of your hair to ruffle it a bit. You might just scream. "It's good that you slept," he continues, walking back to the living room as you follow him. "We thought you'd wake up from how loud we were," he says with a chuckle as you enter the room with everyone else in it as they turn to you.

"Yeah," Seokmin agrees through a mouth full of muffin, Joshua lightly hitting his shoulder and chiding him for talking with his mouth full.

"She's awake!" Jeonghan cheers playfully.

"i know Vernon said you'd sleep through anything," Chan begins to admit, "but literally do not understand how you didn't wake up until now. I swear, there was a moment where Soonyoung was just screaming at the top of his lungs and we were all wondering if that was gonna get you to come out but Vernon didn't even bother to check."

Your face burns at the comment, but there's a warm sort of feeling that bubbles up in you when they all laugh—it's not a mean laugh, no, it's friendly and it's kind, and it's making you feel welcome.

"You guys just don't listen to me," Vernon huffs, tossing you an orange from the kitchen. "We're going to head out in like five minutes," he tells you. "We need to figure out the car situation because I think Wont's car and Joshua's can only five each and mine can hold four."

The next few minutes are spent trying to figure out who's going to go in which car, everyone deciding that Seungcheol, Seokmin, Chan, and Jun would be going in Wonwoo's, Jeonghan, Jihoon, Soonyoung, and Minghao would be going in Joshua's, and Mingyu, Seungkwan, and you would be going in Vernon's. You won't and say that you aren't a teensy bit disappointed that you don't get to sit with Minghao, but the beach is only a twenty minute's drive away anyways, and you feel this is also a chance to get to know Vernon's other friends better too.

The car ride is fun, and you enjoy Seungkwan's cheeky remarks to everything, laughing along to pretty much everything he says, as well as Mingyu's oddly calm hyperness...? You aren't sure how to explain it but there's a constantly endearing and jumpy aura radiating from the tall boy, yet he seems quite tame for the most part. Nevertheless, you're entertained and excited to spend more time with them as Vernon parks the car on the beach, pulling out his phone so he can figure out where the other's are.

"Ah" you murmur, as the fourteen of you are grouped up finally, making your way into the hot sand and towards the water. "This is like the perfect weather for the beach," you say, wiggling out of your slippers so you can walk on the sand with your bare feet. Seungkwan is standing next to you as you both trail behind the rest of the crowd a little, the both of you immersed in the warm feeling of sand between your toes.

"I love the beach," he says, throwing his head back to look up at the bright side. "I'm from a beach town, so when I found out that the beach—and all my friends—were here, I just had to move here too, you know?"

"The beach is nice, but I won't lie, it always makes me so exhausted after I spend a day out here," you admit, dragging your feet across the sand, basking in the hot feeling it brings. "Who knows, I'll probably go home and sleep so hard tonight that even Vernon might think I'm dead," you joke, causing Seungkwan to chuckle.

You two continue to talk about the beach and Seungkwan's home town as your group nears the water, everyone beginning to set up their towels and the picnic blankets you bought. Everyone helps out, and before you know it, Mingyu, Jeonghan, Seungcheol, Seokmin, and Seungkwan are ripping off their shirts and running towards the water. You watch them with amusement, standing up to shimmy out of your shorts and shirt.

Vernon looks at you, speaking, "You were able to get a swim suit?" he asks, confused considering your conversation with him last night. You smile somewhat sadly, and Minghao, sitting next to Vernon, can't help but notice.

"Uh, not really," you mumble, looking down at your black bikini. "I think Jungho just never knew about this one so I didn't get rid of it, and it was just shoved in the back of my closet or something. Anyways, I'm burning and I really want to get into the water," you conclude, turning around without giving Vernon a chance to respond.

As you run off into the water, Minghao turns and looks at Vernon him. "Who's Jungho?" he asks, shameless about his curiosity.

Vernon frowns as soon as he hears the name, and Minghao wonders just what kind of person this Jungho guy might be. "Just some ex. A really shitty one," Vernon murmurs, looking out at the sun. Minghao feels something uneasy churn inside of him. He gives Vernon that look, which tells him he wants to know more. "Like he just sucked. Didn't treat her right and shit. I didn't like him at all. None of her friends did. He tried to get her to throw out all of her swim suits and stuff because he didn't trust her at the beach or some bullshit like that."

"Goddamn," Minghao hisses, leaning back on his hands as he watches you play in the water. You looked like you were having so much fun—you were so at ease. He wants to chide himself for looking at the way your skin glistens in the sun, your bikini hugging your body in all the right places and in all the right ways. He knows he shouldn't be thinking about you like this, especially when he's only just met you a week ago, but that isn't to say he hasn't missed your quick glances. The way your eyes dart towards him, his body, his eyes, his lips, and quickly jump away when you realize he's caught you.

You feel the same way, he's sure of it. Minghao knows you feel the same tingles, the same sparks, the same rush of pure happiness when you see each other.

His thoughts are interrupted by Joshua speaking. "He made her throw out her swim suits?" he exclaims incredulously. "Insecure much," he mutters under his breath, and Minghao laughs along with that. "Good thing he's just her ex now—that sounds horrendous."

"Agreed," Minghao replies while Vernon nods, standing up to pull off his hawaiian shirt and top. "I'm gonna go into the water," he tells the rest of his friends before jogging lightly, following in your faint footsteps.

You're feet hit the water, and you stop in your tracks as you take a few moments to get used to the temperature change. You're looking up to see Seungkwan and Jeonghan waving you over to around twenty feet further into the water, but you call out to them to tell them to wait a second as you just melt in the feeling of the water against your toes. You stand there for a few moments before you hear a familiar voice coming up from behind you.

Oh. My. God.

You don't even want to turn around because you're scared of your reaction to seeing him shirtless—god, you aren't even sure if you'll be able to contain yourself! You think if you pass out, you'll just have to blame it on the heat, but still, how are you going to be—

"Hey," Minghao says cooly, stepping next to you in the water and holy crap, he's toned and he's practically glowing in the sunlight, the shadows hugging every peak and curve of his chest, his arms, his hands, his collarbone, his v-line—oh my god you need to stop. Practically ripping your eyes away from the wondrous view that is Minghao's body, you're forcing yourself to look up at his eyes (not that it's any less of a view—his eyes sparkle just as much as he does).

"H-hi." Did you just stutter? No fucking way you just stuttered. You think you might have to drown yourself right now. "I thought you were going to stay around with the others a bit longer," you say sheepishly. Minghao smirks at you, and he thinks now is his chance to try and fluster you up a bit more.

"Well I can't just let a pretty girl go into the ocean by herself, now can I?" he replies smoothly, taking a few steps in front of and waving you to follow him, and you would only if you hadn't just stopped breathing. How could he say that so casually!? How could he—wait. Wait! He just called you a pretty girl. He thinks you're pretty. Xu fucking Minghao finds you pretty, and he's saying it to your fucking face. You actually might die right now.

You can't even formulate a response, just tearing your gaze away from him and smiling shamelessly at the ground as you follow behind him slowly. Mission accomplished, Minghao thinks to himself, and something inside of him goes batshit crazy by seeing you so smiley and undone.

"W-whatever," you finally say as the water near to your hips as you two start nearing the others guys who are currently splashing each other with water. Minghao watches them, and get an idea, playfully splashing some water your way. You jump back quickly, eyes widening before you gasp. "You did not!" You quickly splash water back, but Minghao seems to see it coming and he moves out of the way. "Get back here!" you yell, running after him as he nears Mingyu, hiding behind the larger boy. With your eyebrows, you pay no mind to this, continuing to splash water everywhere, hoping that at least some of it will get on Minghao.

Mingyu puts his hands up, eyes scrunched up as he tries to block the water that's inevitably going his way. "Hey! Hey! Hey! Not me! Not me!" he cries out as the others laigh.

"Get Minghao!" you call out to the other boys who catch on quickly, joining you on your rampage against Minghao. Eventually there's just so much water splashing everywhere that within minutes you're all spent, gasping for air as you all try to rub the water away from your eyes. Once your vision is no longer blurry, you blink hard a few last times before turning your vision towards Minghao again and holy hell, you didn't think he could look any hotter than he did sitting in the sun but wow. His hair is wet and hanging low on his forehead but it's so messy and so hot and all you can think about is running your fingers through those locks yourself and making a mess in your own little way and—okay stop, you can't be thinking about this, especially not in public.

It takes a moment for you to fully calm yourself down before you're laughing with the other guys as they start to play a new game. You try to ignore the butterflies you get whenever you near Minghao, but it's a painfully hard task. You grow to accept the feeling as the minutes go on, simply existing alongside the bubbly feeling instead of pushing it down.

The next hour is spent in and out of the water, everyone else eventually joining those of you in the water, and you find that time is passing faster than you can even think. Time with them is fun, it's carefree, it's liberating, it's refreshing. Once you're all too tired and too spent, you're trudging back to the little spot you all have set up as everyone begins to pull out the food they packed. As you snack on your lunch, the fourteen of you sit in a circle and talk about the plans for the rest of the day.

"Let's play beach volleyball," Wonwoo suggests after everyone's finished eating, and it's no doubt that everyone else pretty much agrees immediately.

"Yeah, I saw a court in that direction, and I'm sure we'd be able to find a ball," Jihoon adds on as everyone stands up.

"I think i'll stay behind," you tell them all, leaning back on your hand as you fan your face with the other. "I'm kind of tired and I think I just need to sit down for a bit," you explain.

"That's okay, but you sure you won't be lonely," Vernon clarifies as he stands up.

You shake your head, but right before you're going to respond, Minghao speaks up. "Don't worry about her, I'll stay behind too." God, someone save you—your poor heart can't take much more of this.

"Oh okay, great!" Joshua says happily, the others standing up as well to go follow Jihoon to the volleyball court. "Catch you later!" You and Minghao wave at the rest as the drift off into the distance before being left in the silence that sits between you.

Minghao speaks first. "It's nice that you came, it's refreshing to have someone new, especially if they're like you."

You raise a brow at him, turning your body so that you're completely facing him, legs crossed as you lean forward. "Like me? What does that mean?"

Minghao gives you a sly smile, like he was expecting this. "Fun. Easy-going." He pauses. "Pretty."

"Is this your way of flirting or do you just enjoy being very direct about what you're thinking."

He laughs at that, throwing his head back. "Nice one. Those two are actually the same thing for me, so take that as you see it," he says with a shrug. You're face is on fire, and you're sure he can tell by now. Minghao catches on and he leans forward. "Is it working?"

"Maybe it is," you murmur nonchalantly.

"I think it definitely is," he shoots back with yet another smirk. God, you can't do this anymore. He's just so close to you and you don't know if it's because it's hot or if you're flustered or whatever but you're burning and not thinking straight and before you know it you're leaning in so close that you can feel Minghao's soft breath on your lips, stopping right before you two can connect.

It's the silent words now: kiss me, kiss me Minghao, and you almost think that this is true love when he leans in immediately after, heeding your silent requests.

Minghao's lips are plump and soft and taste slightly salty from the remains of the ocean water, in contrast to the sweet way he's got one hand cupping your chin. His thumb strokes at your skin and the touch is so light that you think you might go insane, gripping onto one of his biceps as you try to ground yourself in reality—in this moment, that you're scared might almost just be a figment of your imagination.

News-flash, it's not. In fact, this moment is very much real, very much happening, and very much one of the closest things to heaven you've experienced.

When you pull away, his hand is still on your chin and yours still rests on his arm. "I won't lie," you whisper, "I've been thinking about doing that all week."

"Me too," Minghao admits almost immediately, the revelation sending both shock and relief coursing through your veins. You let go of his arm, finally, and he drops his hold too, but you scoot closer to him so you're not sitting side by side as you face the ocean. "We shouldn't do anything else right now," he says quietly, and you know he doesn't have to say to know what you're both thinking. "I don't think you'd want the others seeing anything."

"You're right," you say with a nod, but you still interlace his fingers that are next to you with yours on the ground. Minghao squeezes your fingers back slightly in confirmation that this is very much okay. "Do you want to get something to eat? I saw some people selling fruit on our walk through the sand," he suggests after a few moments. You nod along, shuffling through the pile of clothes that are everywhere so you can find your shorts—it's sp warm out right now that your skin and swim suit have already dried off.

While you're fishing out your shorts and slipping them on, Minghao finds his hawaiian t-shirt and slips it on, although his bare chest is still very much on display, despite your poor heart's cries for him to cover it up—no! Don't let anyone else see! You blush bashfully at your newfound jealousy of others seeing Minghao the same way you do, but those thoughts are soon pushed away as he reaches out a hand to you to help you stand up. You grab his hand with a smile, following after him as you both head toward the fruit stands at the front.

"What do you want to get?" he asks you when he sees you squinting to try and see what they're selling.

"Pineapple!" you cheer when you realize one of the stands has your favorite fruit, and Minghao can feel his heart swell at the sound. "Can we please get pineapple? It's my favorite fruit and it's the best for hot days."

Minghao smiles and nods, and your heart nearly pops out of your chest. "Pineapple and mango?" he suggests as you stand in front of one of the stalls, pulling out his wallet. You nod before thinking for a moment, pulling out your own wallet before he has a hand a hand on your waist, pushing it away. "I'm paying," and it's not a question when he says it. You slowly push your wallet back into your pocket, mind racing with the thoughts of how a man can be as perfect as Minghao.

"Okay well," you reply, pulling your wallet back out in defiance, "I want to buy some fruits for the others too," you explain. "And I don't think it's fair for you to pay for all of that."

Minghao huffs, letting go of your wrist before turning back to guy at the stall. You two end up splitting the cost of five cups of fruits before returning to the set up on the sand that you have with your arms much fuller than before. Back once you're both sitting, you chat about whatever and you definitely forget how to breathe the multiple times that Minghao picks up a toothpick and feeds you the fruits himself. There's something so domestic and so comforting about the way you both smoothly speak, move, flow—being with Minghao is languid and despite your racing heart at the thought of being with him, you feel...relaxed.

This feels right.

After around an half an hour of talking, you find yourself laying on your back as you have Vernon's hat on top of your head as you listen to the ocean. "Should we go to find them? They'll probably be hungry by now and beach volleyball is starting to sound fun," you say, sitting up and readjusting Vernon's cap on your head.

"Bored of me already?" Minghao teases, sitting up as well, readjusting his shirt.

You roll your eyes. "You know that isn't it. The fruit isn't gonna taste as good later, even if we keep it in the cooler. It tastes better fresh," you reason.

"Fine fine," he murmurs in defeat and you grin, getting up to pick up two of the cups of fruit while Minghao grabs the other two.

"You know where they went?" you ask him, looking to your left and right, trying to recall which direction the boys left in.

"This way I think," Minghao says, pointing to your left and you squint, nodding excitedly when you see some volleyball courts in the far distance.

"Wow, that's pretty far," you think out loud as you both start walking in that direction.

"Can't handle it?" he coos, looking down at you as he takes his effortlessly long strides.

You scoff, turning your head away as you feign nonchalance. "Whatever."

"I'm joking," Minghao says quickly, reaching one hand over to pick up the cups of fruit your holding so that he's holding all four now. You're about to protest but he simply turns his arms away from you so they're out of your reach.

"Thank you," you say sheepishly, holding your hands behind your back as you two begin to speed up your pace when you both realize that the fruit will grow warm soon. It takes around seven to eight minutes for you guys to reach the volleyball courts, calling out to Vernon when you reach hearing range. "We brought fruit!" you yell, pointing at the cups that Minghao graciously carried for you.

The boys run over, almost all of them in a panting, sweating mess.

"It's like you read our minds," Seungcheol tells you and Minghao, picking a strawberry and stuffing it into his mouth.

Seokmin nods along, picking up a piece of mango. "We were just talking about how we're already hungry again."

"Yeah," Chan agrees, "and I think Mingyu was gonna pass out in the next five minutes if you didn't bring him something to eat." You all look at Mingyu who's sitting across from you, legs out and upper body leaning on his arms behind him as his face is scrunched up—he nearly looks like he's dying.

"Fuck you all!" he groans, falling back onto the sand. "I swear, Jun and Cheol were targeting me! They kept hitting the ball in my direction!"

Jun laughs at that, throwing a hand up to Seungcheol for a high-five. "Damn, I didn't think you'd catch on."

"How could I not!?" Mingyu whines, sitting up again to pick up another fruit. "I was on the verge of the death because of you guys."

Jeonghan ticks his tongue as everyone laughs, "Ah, don't be so dramatic Gyu, we were just having fun. Plus, who doesn't want to win."

Mingyu grumbles as he kicks some sand Jeonghan's way as everyone retreats back into the normal conversation of the plans next. After a few moments of discussion, you all decide to go back to your set up and stay there until sunset before heading home.

Once you all make your way back, the hours are spent chatting, building a moat (Mingyu and Chan seemed especially interested in this for some reason), and playing in and out of the water. As the sky begins to merge from blue to yellow to a deep orange, you begin cleaning up. At the moment, you aren't sure who brings it up, but the word "sleepover" gets thrown around and everyone is practically on their knees, asking to sleep over at Vernon and your place.

"Why our place?" Vernon complains. "Why not Minghao and Jun's? Or Joshua and Jeonghan's?" he begins throwing out the other's names.

"Because we like yours the most," Joshua says simply, everyone nodding their heads vigorously in agreement. Vernon huffs and looks at you for help, but you only shrug—you aren't sure how to respond to this and you aren't going to pretend like you aren't a teensy bit excited about the chance of Minghao spending the night (even though there'll be 12 other guys in your home).

"You guys owe us," Vernon finally says with a deep sigh, "big time."

The car ride back begins by Vernon, Joshua, and Wonwoo yelling at all of the passengers to not get sand into the car, and while you all desperately try to heed by their wishes, it's nearly impossible. You should've expected that nothing with this group is ever especially peaceful, but you're pleasantly surprised by how every event with them somehow has you bursting into laughter until your stomach hurts.

When you all return to your apartment, it takes a messy, chaotic hour or two for everyone to sort out when they would be taking showers, realizing that you should have planned this better once you knew that fourteen people would be scrambling to try and use your and Vernon's single shower. Once you're all washed up, you're left sitting in the living room, trying to figure out how you're going to pass the next few hours. Of course, one brings up Mario Kart, and suddenly they all perch against the couch trying to see who can beat Wonwoo.

It's now when you start to feel the exhaustion of the day catch up to you, recalling how you told Seungkwan that beach days make you tired. You excuse yourself to your room, locking the door behind you before slipping under the covers and nuzzling against the pillow.

In the silence—well not really silence, since apartment walls are thin and boys are loud, but still—of your own room, you find yourself catching a moment for you to properly think. And then it all comes crashing onto you.

Minghao. His lips, his eyes, his arms, his hands, his fingers, his lips (yes, his lips again), his touch, his gaze—and holy hell do you need more. You almost whine out loud into the sheets at the thought of having to wait for him any longer, your brain fuzzy from both your exhaustion and the tingling feeling that courses through your nerves.

Your mind races through the endless possibilities of what has happened and what can happen and before you know it you're falling asleep.

It's two hours later at around 8pm when you hear your phone buzzing by your chest, hardly lifting your head to see who it is. When you recognize the caller as Vernon, you hit the answer button, putting minimal effort into lifting the phone up to your ear as you grumble.

"God, do you ever stop sleeping?" he huffs on the other end, and you can faintly hear someone in the background laugh. You rub your eyes as you push yourself out of bed, rummaging through your drawer to pick out a cardigan to throw on.

"Sorry," you grumble with a yawn. "Beach days make me tired."

"I can see that. Anyways, we're in the living room ordering takeout, so hurry up if you want to have your choice," he threatens playfully.

"Alright alright," you mumble, trying to make your bed a little neater before leaving your room and heading towards the living room. They're all there, as expected, some movie playing on the TV as Jihoon is playing something on the guitar (where the hell did he get a guitar from?!) and Wonwoo and Mingyu are playing yet another game of Mario Kart on the Switch tablet.

"And she's here!" Chan exclaims, causing some eyes to turn to you. Minghao, sitting on one of the chairs at the kitchen island turns to you quickly, and the eye contact has you turning into mush immediately.

"When you went to your room," Vernon begins to say, distracting you from your thoughts and placing a hand on your shoulder, "I thought you were just going to chill for a bit. I didn't expect you to be napping."

Seungkwan comes in and swats Vernon's hand away from you. "You're so judgemental Sollie! Let her be!"

"Thank you Seungkwan!" you agree immediately, turning to raise an accusing eyebrow at Vernon. He rolls his eyes and steps away, holding up his phone which has the food order on the front screen.

"Hey, I'm ordering your food!"

You step back, putting your hand sup in surrender. "Okay fine! Fine! What are we getting tonight?"

"Mexican!" Jeonghan calls out. "It's my treat!" Everyone cheers as you tell Vernon your order, sitting down on the ground in the living room as everyone bunches up in the middle to begin discussing the next big problem you all have—sleeping.

It seems like no one quite thought this out earlier but your apartment is small and fitting fourteen people into this space seems near impossible, especially when you know that they'll all insist on you sleeping alone in your own room. It's a hassle to pull out all the extra pillows and bed sheets that you have, everyone trying to clear space to make as many makeshift beds on the ground as they can.

Somehow, you're all able to fit eight "beds" in the living room, Chan and Seungkwan being the lucky ones to squeeze into the extra space that Vernon has left on his bed and Jun and Jihoon calling the spots on the sofa and arm chair. From there on out, time seems to pass easily with the thirteen of them, and you're starting to understand how Vernon's been able to be their friend for so long. The hours pass quickly and by ten p.m., you're spent and tired from the day—too tired to go on.

Before you know it, you're helping them all make the final touches to the makeshift beds, bringing out as many extra comforters as you can in hopes to make sleeping on the ground a bit more comfortable. Bidding goodnight, you wave to them all and retreat to your room, but not before staring at Minghao for maybe a little too long. He stares back, of course, and anyone else would miss it, but you don't—the way he nods slightly, before turning away to say something to Jun.

III. OUR DAWN IS HOTTER THAN DAY

It's eleven when you hear the knock on your door, and it's embarrassing how quickly you scramble out of bed to open it. On the other side, as expected, is Minghao. You're pulling him in without a second of hesitation, grabbing his neck and slamming his lips onto yours hard. His hands are making their way onto his hips immediately, moving up and down along your waist and torso to feel every inch of you that he can. You've both been waiting for this for ages, and it's about time you lose control.

"Hao," you whine softly as he presses you into your wall, his tongue running against the corner of your mouth. His only response is kissing you deeper, teeth clashing as you seek to explore every last bit of each other. Minghao swears he feels his dick twitch at the way you call him by his nickname, his fingers tightening their hold on you.

"You'll drive me crazy," he murmurs, kissing down your neck as you run your hands up and down his arms to feel the curve of his arms.

"That's the—ah—plan," you grunt as you sucks at one spot on your skin. Minghao continues peppering your skin with kisses before you feel like enough his enough, intertwining your fingers in his hair and pulling his head up so he can look at you. "Can I suck you off?"

Minghao is, undeniably, taken aback by your forwardness, and while his head his telling him to take his time with you right now, his other head is telling him to give in. In any other situation with any other girl, he would be denying you, taking his time to at least finger you first but he's been too pent up and too horny since the first time you kissed him to say no.

You're surprised when he quickly nods—you aren't the type to dive right into this kind of stuff but Minghao has been doing something that's reconnecting the wires in your brain, causing the overwhelming urge to sink to your knees for Minghao to crash into you.

The second you're on your knees, you have your hands on the waistband of his shorts, pulling them down at once with his boxers to reveal his length, long and pretty and hard with a bead of pre-cum dribbling off the end. You reach up, holding the base with a hand as you look up at Minghao to meet his eyes.

"Fucking hell," he groans, throwing his head back before you reply with a hiss.

"Quiet! They can't hear," you remind him, before adjusting yourself on your knees so you're in a better position to prod his tip at the front of your mouth. You drink in the way Minghao's breath hitches as your lips wrap around him, tongue swiping at the tip softly before pulling back.

"Don't—" he takes a deep breath, "don't be a fucking tease."

"'m sorry," you mumble, pulling your head back. "Can't help it." You kind of mean it and you kind of don't. Honestly, you aren't sure what to think—all you want to do is make Minghao feel good and do it now. Minghao notices the desperate glint in your eyes, and he takes this chance to wind his fingers into your hair, pulling it back into a makeshift pony tail so he can move your face in the face that he wants. The thought has you both going down into a spiral.

Minghao looks down at you so intensely that you think you just might cum from the look alone, but then he's speaking. "You okay with this?" he asks quietly, running a thumb along your lower lip with the hand that's not holding your hair back.

"Yes," you reply almost instantly, and your eagerness has his eyes darkening—you can see it.

"Fuck," he groans, leaning back again while he takes your hand that isn't wrapped around his length up to his thigh. "Tap twice if you want me to stop, 'kay?" You nod quickly, hoping Minghao will get the idea that you're beginning to grow impatient.

Message received, it seems because before you know it, Minghao is guiding your mouth back to the tip of his length, so you can take him in. Once you have your lips wrapped around him, he pushes you forward more, causing your eyes to widen as you realize he's nearly hitting the back of your throat. You take this as your chance to do exactly what you've been aching for, and you begin to bob your head back and forth.

The moan Minghao lets out is near perfection, and you're immediately encouraged to push more, to push deeper, to do whatever it takes to make him make that sound again. You're about to do it again before you feel your hair being tugged so that you're fully pulled off his cock. "Fuck," he chokes out, looking down at the sight of you with red, puffy lips and blown-out eyes. "Do that again," he demands, and you don't waste a second before you wrap your mouth around him and push down as far as you can. His hand is pushing at the back of your head, his soft words from above encouraging you to go harder to go deeper because you're his angel and he knows you can do it.

God, the words that are spilling out of his mouth are downright filthy but they're messing with your head and before you know it your moving your head back and forth in sync with Minghao's hips that are snapping forward slightly, causing him to batter the back of your throat. It's not the most comfortable feeling but the discomfort definitely not what you're thinking about when you hear Minghao's pants—his soft groans that escape his lips now that you've got him so desperate.

There's drool running down your chin and it's so messy but it's so hot and it has your pussy aching but you can't even think of relieving yourself—not when you can feel the vein on the understand of his dick against your tongue, not when his hand is laced in your hair with such a tight hold you think you might just pass out, not when you know he's so close to his release within minutes all because of you. "Fuck," he grunts again, snapping his hips once more, particularly harder and sloppier this time. "I'm gonna—fuck, I'll come soon."

Your jaw is aching by now but it doesn't compare to the throbbing you feel in your panties—god, you're going to go crazy. You use your hand to rub whatever of his length you can't fit in your mouth, using these last few moments to let Minghao jut his hip and shove your mouth further onto him and holy hell do you love it. You can feel it coming with the way he twitches inside your mouth and you can tell he's about to come when he pulls you off of him, before you're opening your mouth wide again, eyes silently begging him: inside my mouth.

It's like earliedirtr, when you kissed, except now it's so much more frantic, so much more ecstatic—Minghao hears your silent requests and only takes a second to push himself back into your mouth. You only need to suck once or twice before you feel it in your mouth—his cum, hot and shooting down your throat. He pulls out after that, you taking a second to swallow and then lick the glossy tip, your body filling with pride at the way you see his leg twitch.

"God—fuck," Minghao finally manages to say between sputtered breaths, "You're so hot." He pulls you up by the arm as he slips his boxers and shorts back on, placing a hand on your hip as he brings you up for a fierce kiss. Your lips are all swollen and Minghao is extra gentle with the way he runs his tongue along them, kissing you so softly you almost forget that he just face-fucked you less than a minute ago. He's pressed up against the wall right now, but takes this moment to flip you both so it's you who's leaning back.

Minghao pulls away from your lips, chuckling at the way yours chases his in the few seconds after, before connecting his lips to your neck like earlier. "Let me give you something in return, yeah?"

"Yeah," you agree, nodding dumbly the second you feel his hand slip down your shorts, ghosting over your panties.

"Fuck, you're so wet," he groans as he pressed down through your panties.

"Hao," you moan, as he rubs little circles on your clit over the fabric, "please, please, hurry." Minghao chuckles and usually you'd be embarrassed but then again, there's nothing usual about getting fingered by your roommates best friend while all of his friends are asleep in the next room over. Minghao still is going slow with you, taking an extra moment to slowly push your panties aside. You're growing so impatient, the throbbing between your legs getting so impatient, that you think you might start sobbing. "I've been so good, Hao, please? I wanna cum," you beg, meeting Minghao's eyes as you look up at him.

God, you're doing something to him, he thinks—you might just be the death of him. You just look so cute and so desperate and the way your eyes are already glossy has his dick hard again. The fact that he didn't even have to ask you to beg for him is more than enough for a million thoughts to be racing through his mind, but in all honesty, the only thing he wants to focus on right now is making you come.

"Angel, fuck," he murmurs, into your skin, placing a kiss on your collarbone as he uses one hand to lift your shirt up to your neck so he can hold one of your tits, the other hand running through your folds so he can coat his fingers in your slit. "You wanna come?" he coos, prodding one finger at your entrance, and he thinks he might tease you a little longer but then he sees how quickly you respond and it has his resolve crumbling. He sinks is finger in and it's so long and so thick and reaches places in one go that you can't even even imagine of reaching with your own fingers.

You let out a deep sigh, instinctively grinding down on his hand so that your clit is also brushing against his palm adding to the stimulation. Minghao is gentle in the first few moments, moving his finger in and out at a steady pace before you murmur his name once more, causing him to push a second finger inside. "Oh my god, Minghao," you moan, and his eyes shoot up at yours, using the hand that was at your tits to cover your mouth.

"Quiet," he demands, as he continues to fuck you with your fingers. The sound of your wetness and his fingers against your gummy walls is echoing though the room and all you can think about is how dirty and how erotic this feels, and you moan again quietly again at the thought. Minghao's fingers still inside of you at the sound, and you feel your eyes widen and tear up once more. "Be quiet, or I'll stop," he murmurs, resuming his ministrations once he sees you nod.

"Minghao," you say quietly, throwing your head back when you feel him start to play with one of your nipples. "Feels so—so good," you hiccup, doing your best to keep quiet. He's fucking into you ruthlessly now, the pads of his fingers hitting spots you didn't even know existed, and you know your end is close by the way your vision nearly goes white. You grind against his hand harder, and Minghao picks up on the subtle movement.

"Gonna cum?" he breaths out and you don't even have it in you to say anything, your only response being your quickened movements. "C'mon angel, cum for me," he whispers into your ear and maybe it's his voice or maybe it's the way his fingers have you seeing stars or maybe it's the stimulation of your clit against his palm or maybe it's everything combined but you're cumming hard and fast within seconds around his fingers, and holy shit you think that might just be the best orgasm of your life.

You're left panting as Minghao's fingers slow down inside of you, twitching every few seconds from the overstimulation, before he's pulling them out of you and your panties completely. You want to hide your face, looking away when you realize how wet they are. "Why're you looking away?" Minghao asks, grabbing your chin so you can look at him. "It's hot," he tells you with a shrug, bringing his fingers up to your mouth, raising a brow. You're slightly embarrassed, yes, but you'd be a fool to try and deny him, opening up your mouth and suck your own wetness off him when he presses his fingers into your mouth.

After you swirl your tongue around him a few times, he pulls his hands back, replacing his fingers on your mouth with his lips, kissing you sweetly. You bring your hands up to his hair, moving your lips in unison as he places one hand on your waist, pulling your shirt back down to cover you.

"That was fun," you finally say when you're both pulling away.

"You're gonna drive me up a wall," Minghao mutters under his breath, taking a small step back. "But it was." He's silent for a moment before speaking again. "I'm gonna head back—wouldn't want anyone to wake up and find out I'm not where I supposed to be."

"You think someone would wake up?"

Minghao chuckles, and you feel those butterflies again. "You were pretty loud," he says, bringing a hand up to scratch the back of your neck.

"Whose fault is that again?" you ask.

"Dunno," Minghao says casually. "He must be super hot though."

You click your tongue as Minghao walks backward toward your door. "Hmm, I'll have to agree with that."

He smiles and kisses you hard one last time before ruffling your hair. "Sleep well angel."

a/n. not even going to bother reading this through because i'll get embarrassed. dw guys i'm working on a better hao fic soon >_<

#xu minghao #xu minghao smut #xu minghao x reader #minghao x reader #minghao drabbles #minghao imagines #minghao smut #minghao fanfic #minghao #seventeen imagines #svt smut #seventeen smut #svt scenarios #seventeen x reader #seventeen scenarios #svt fanfic #📝 writing

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the-stove-is-on-fire · 2 years

Photo

Interview With A Ghost

Red Robin, (aka Tim Drake) decides to host a YouTube series called "Teenage Hero Burnout'' after he makes a video by the same name talking about his own experiences.

He interviews current and past heroes who started their careers as teens and discuss how it shaped their outlook on heroing & life in general. His primary focus is on current teen heroes. Once he runs through his whole team roster and all willing (and unwilling) BatFam members he branches out to look for more obscure teen heroes. (Inadvertently he ends up building a support network for young heroes but that's for another time.)

Ficlet under the cut vvv (Ao3 Link)

Today the "studio" is decorated with little ghosts and miscellaneous Halloween decorations to match his guest's theme. Clearly a homemade set, but RR has a high-quality camera and sound equipment. Today's episode is titled "Teenage Hero Burnout #56: Interview With A Ghost.”

Phantom is sitting in his chair invisibly with a cup of coffee (the coffee mug has his DP logo on it), which of course makes it look like RR is interviewing a floating cup of coffee. But every now and then the camera picks up a blurry shadow in the shape of a person. Super creepy. (And in case you were wondering, yes, this is 100% the Halloween special.)

"Let's get this over with already," Phantom mumbles into his mug, taking a sip. Red Robin ignores his guest's comment and continues his little intro.

"Welcome back everyone! I hope all you Birdies have been taking care of yourselves since the last episode. Today's guest is Amity Park's Phantom. A lesser known small-town hero, but no less of a powerhouse who has helped the Justice League themselves on several occasions. Say ‘hi’ Phantom.”

The floating coffee mug rises and bobs in the air like someone making a salute with it.

"Thanks man, I totally feel like I’m not talking to myself,” Red Robin mutters.

“Calm your shorts bird boy, do you have any idea how crazy ghosts get around this time of year?”

“No, but it sounds like I should put an underage drinking disclaimer on this video.”

“It’s not underage when you’re in a different dimension.”

“And jumping off of THAT robust rebuttal, since we're using this series to focus on the experience of teen heroes here, let's start with how old you are, Phantom?"

"What are you, a cop?”

Red Robin glares intently at the seemingly vacant chair beside him.

“Kidding, kidding. Do you want my ghost age or my human age?"

"Can you elaborate on that?"

"Well, the whole phantom thing isn't just a gimmick. I am an actual, bonafide member of the afterlife. Age isn't as straightforward for us. It could be my assumed age based on my appearance, how old I was when I became a ghost, how old I'd be if I were still alive, or how long I've been dead. Which is only three years, by the way. Shocker, I know. Despite what some people think, I'm not an ancient trickster ghost with the face of a child."

"Don't worry Phantom, we'll give you a century or two to work on it first. How about you tell us how old you were when you first started acting as a hero?"

"Same as when I died, fourteen."

"So that makes you roughly seventeen now."

"In human terms, yeah."

"And what are your pronouns?"

"He/him"

"Nice, same. Any fun facts about yourself before we get into the real meat of things?

"Uuuuuuuuh, do I have any facts about me that are fun? I really like flying? Yeah. Flying is probably my favourite power. I love being up in the air. It's the best."

"We know you started heroing about three years ago, but can you tell uus why you started heroing? Were there any inciting incidents?"

"Ah, origin-story time. Amity Park has always been a thin spot between this world and the next with lots of natural ghost activity. Mostly just small stuff. There are thin spots all over the world. Sometimes they get thinner, sometimes they move or close up entirely. It's just another weird part of nature. But when ghosts in Amity started coming through the veil at a more rapid rate and clashing with the living residents I just felt like it was my...duty? I guess? To protect the town. I wanted to protect my family and friends from other ghosts."

"You still have living relatives and friends?"

"Yeah, it's complicated but we make it work."

"I'm glad you've got a diverse support system, especially since you haven't been a ghost for very long. Also mini PSA to the audience:" RR gestures to Phantom to pick up where he left off.

"Never ask a ghost about their death unless you'd like an express ticket to your own funeral. Red Robin cleared these questions with me ahead of time."

"Are you still an active hero?"

"Yes."

"What kind of villains do you normally face?

"Ghosts."

"What about ghost hunters? In fact, do you consider yourself a ghost hunter?"

"I used to think of myself as a ghost hunter in the early days but now I think ghost fighter is a better label for what I do."

"And human ghost hunters?"

"Uuuuugh, yeah. Sometimes I have to deal with humans hunting me. The Fentons and Red Huntress have chilled out and I have truces with them but the GIW fucking sucks. If you ever have a ghost problem, never call the Gits In White. They will make your problems worse and the anti-ecto acts that let them get away with it are inhumane and discriminatory."

"Yikes. Human troubles aside, do you have a traditional rogues gallery of ghostly enemies?"

"I guess? To be honest I've become frenemies with a lot of the ghosts that used to give me a hard time. There's a lot more diplomacy and negotiating in fighting ghosts than you'd think."

"Any examples you're willing to share?"

"Hmmm, I'll use Ember as an example because she'll appreciate the free press. So Ember loves making music and she's really good at it. Like, good enough to literally hypnotize people. Obviously, mind control and enslaving the living are no-nos in my haunt. But because most ghosts can't stray too far from a steady source of Ectoplasm without an alternate energy source Ember didn't have many options. We got stuck in this cycle of her controlling people to get enough energy to leave Amity and me not letting her control people while in Amity. Eventually, we talked it out and found some non-mind control methods to help her get out and establish her music career in a safe and healthy way. That's Ember McClain by the way, check out her new album 'Domino Effect'."

"Shameless."

"I owe her a favour or two. Nowadays we only fight to blow off steam and hang out."

"Sounds like we have another tally for rehabilitation being the most effective method for dealing with villains."

"Wow, you really have a board for that?"

"The power of friendship is not to be underestimated."

"Sort of related to that; earlier I was planning to say that I've made more friends after dying than I ever did alive for my fun fact but I figured that was kind of depressing to start off with."

"I mean when you say it like that, yes. How about we re-frame it? You didn't get the opportunities to make more friends during your life, but as a ghost, you've been given a second chance to make as many friends as you can! And it sounds like you've been pretty successful in the new friend department so far."

"Oh. Yeah, I guess that is a better way to look at it. Sure wish I didn't have to get my ass kicked so often before I figured it out, though."

"Eh, sometimes the learning process sucks. But you know what doesn't suck? Bingo time!" Red Robin hits a buzzer and little ghost confetti rains down on them. The outline of Phantom is more visible because of the little clumps that land on him.

Hero BINGO cards:

Free Space (Hero Complex) "I refuse to use the free space." "I mean, it's a free space, it counts whether you want to use it or not." ":/"

Gone to Space "Yup, another fun fact, ghosts can do just fine in space."

Been to Another Dimension "I actively live in another dimension."

Visited an Alternate Timeline "Unfortunately."

Saved the world "Technically."

Have you ever been cloned Sigh, “Yes” "Dude, really? How does that even work?"

Kidnapped "Yep." "Who hasn't?"

Imprisoned "Isn't this the same as being kidnapped?" "Nah this one's more formal, like detained by a government body or authority." "Ah, okay. I got that one too."

Impersonated "Oh yeah."

Mind-controlled "Glad to know I'm not the only one."

Died and Resurrected "..." "..." “How alive do you have to be for it to count as a resurrection? Like, percentage-wise. 50%?”

Fought an Evil Version of Yourself "This highly specific and traumatic thing is a common enough problem to be a BINGO card?" “Yeup.” “Yeeesh. But again, glad to know I’m not the only one.”

Have an Arch Nemesis "That's like, a prerequisite. This should be the free space."

An Adult Mentor "Kind of? I honestly don't know if I can say yes to this one." "Have you ever had an adult train you or help you with being a hero and/or your abilities?" "I'm going to pass this one and just say no. My head hurts thinking about the adults in my life." “That’s fair.”

Dead Parents "Isn't this one a little dark?" "Sometimes the best way to start addressing your trauma is by laughing at it. And yes, it is also a highly specific and traumatic thing common enough among teen heroes to be on the bingo cards." "Jesus."

Government-funded Experimentation "Oh come ooooon! This whole thing has to have been tailored for me." "Dude… I take it back, Hero Bingo hates you. What even is your afterlife?" "Endless suffering."

A Social Life "Surprisingly, yes."

Last of Your Species "Unfortunately, no."

Poisoned "Ye- wait. Wait no, I've never been poisoned. How is that even possible with my luck?" "Knock on wood right now dude."

Homemade Costume “Weellll….” “I feel like that should be a yes or no answer…” “Does it count as homemade if I died in it?” RR face-palms.

School Dance Interrupted “Weirdly enough, yes.” “It happens way more often than you’d think and we have no clue why.”

Evil Ancestor “Does a witch hunter count as evil? In modern context, yes, but in a historical context...?” “I’d go with evil. Burning or drowning people usually puts you solidly in the evil category. Regardless of whether or not they cursed your dick to look like a toad or whatever.”

Framed for a Crime “YES, AND I WILL NEVER GET MY RECORD EXPUNGED BECAUSE ‘A CRAZY CLOWN MADE ME DO IT’ IS ONLY AN ACCEPTABLE DEFENSE IN GOTHAM.”

Your Crush/SO is Evil “Thankfully no. I mean she used to shoot me a lot, but she also thought I was the evil one.”

"I have like, six BINGO's. Is this supposed to be difficult?" “Not really, but man, your luck...”

"Well… BINGO was… interesting. How about we finish up the last few questions?"

"Have at it."

"Like a lot of supers, your relationship with the media hasn't been the best. Are there any common rumours or misconceptions about you that you'd like to clear up?"

"YES. For the last time, ghosts are NOT INHERENTLY EVIL. The vast majority of ghosts stay in the ghost zone and mind their own business. The ghosts that cause trouble for the living are like 1% of the population and even then, the ones who actively go out of their way to hurt people are an extreme minority. Ghosts in the mortal world are most likely there because they're lost or completing unfinished business. We are not mindless or emotionless, and YES, we can still feel pain. If you have had a negative interaction with a ghost, chances are you probably did something to piss them off first. That's not to say that all ghosts are safe to be around. Treat ghosts like people. Don't bother them unnecessarily, don't ask invasive and overly personal questions, and be polite."

"We should do a whole Ghost Safety PSA Mythbusters style one of these days."

"Honestly, I would be so down for that."

"Sweet. Do you feel being a teen hero has negatively impacted your mental health, why or why not?

"Yuuuuup. The saving people part is nice. The dying and being dead part is less nice. Also, being hated for my species while still trying to protect the people who hate me has been hell for my self-esteem. I somehow have a social life but it's about half as dead as I am.

"Getting the shit beat out of me is more my physical than mental health but I've been told that constantly being on edge and expecting to get attacked at any moment isn't good for your mental health. I guess I don't have to deal with receiving or inflicting lasting injuries and facing mortality the same way heroes like you do since ghosts are pretty much indestructible.

"But seeing what comes out on the other side of death, and hearing the horrific things some ghosts went through to manifest is its own can of worms. You haven't had real mental scars until you've been trapped in a room with someone reliving their own death over and over and over with no way to help them."

"Shit."

"Yeah. Don't die. Or if you do, don't become a ghost. The afterlife is fucked up."

"If you're still active, will you continue heroing into your adult life, or in this case, for the rest of your afterlife?

"Yes. I'm pretty sure I'm locked in for the rest of my existence."

"How so?"

"My… purpose, I guess you could call it, is helping and protecting people. As long as there are people getting themselves into danger I'll have a reason to be around. Never-ending unfinished business."

"That's… wow. I can't imagine doing what I do for the rest of eternity."

"Yeah, me neither."

"Hm?"

"Sorry, I know this is supposed to be about positive mental health and stuff but… I'm going to keep doing this until it ends me. I don't really have any other options. But I don't see myself doing this for eternity either. Somewhere along the way, hopefully a couple lifetimes from now, the hero life will take me out for good and that'll be that."

"I do try to put an emphasis on thinking positive but you're more than welcome to share the dark parts too. We can't grow if we focus on only the palatable thoughts and feelings. I can't begin to understand what it feels like to be in your situation. Do you think that you're fatalistic or realistic?"

"I like to think I'm being realistic. Maybe I'll change my mind when I've been dead for a couple of centuries, maybe I won't."

"Maybe you'll see humanity making their way into space en masse? We know there are hundreds of other species and planets out there. If life on Earth ever gets boring you can always head for the stars."

"I- thank you, Rob, you have no idea how much that means to me."

"Anytime."

Closing comments.

"That's all for today everyone, don't forget to brush your teeth, take your medication, and get some fresh air! As usual, links to mental health resources and our Hero Health forum will be in the description below. And remember my Birdies, knowing when to ask for help is a sign of strength. Whether you're a Kryptonian, an Amazon warrior, the embodiment of fear itself dressed as a bat, or just some dude, never battle your demons without backup! Red Robin, out!"

Blooper scene/skit while the end credits roll:

"Dude, you promised you'd make an appearance."

"Trust me, this is more for your sake than mine."

"Sure it is. What, did you forget to wear your suit?"

"...."

"Shut up, are you serious?"

"Well I didn't expect to be summoned in the middle of the night so someone could cash in a favour."

"You agreed to do this months ago! Besides, it's YouTube, casual is fine, preferred even. No one is going to care if you're in your pj's- wait you are wearing clothes right?"

"Uuuuuuugghhhhh, yes. I am wearing clothes."

"Well now I'm curious."

"I'm not showing your fans what I sleep in."

"Will you show me if I edit this section out?"

"..." deep sigh, "fiiiiiine."

Phantom drops his invisibility but the only thing the camera picks up is a horrific, vaguely human-shaped blob of distorted static with two neon green points for eyes. When Phantom speaks his voice is extra crunchy and echoing.

"͔̐̿͗͑̒T̃̑̿͂h̻̠̬͍e̖͔̥͚ͣ̾͋͑̚ͅr̙̈̏̔e̊̽̈ͬ̑͂̂,̤̖̖͍̖̞̪̋ͩ ̝̳̖̺͖̲͉̇͐̇̏̾h͉͙͈͓̙̞ͬͅa͓̤̐ͥ̋̇̃̍ͥp̘̺̬̞̬̮̹̈́̈́ͧ͐̅p̥̦̺̹ͭͧ̌y̭̟͉̅̚?̭̤̻̑͋̈ͥ"͙͔͔̱̅͂

"Oh my god, that's adorable."

Highlights from the comments section:

People calling Phantom an Eldritch Horror.

Calling Red Robin a monster fucker.

Asking what Phantom could have possibly been wearing??? (Answer: His NASA themed footie pajamas)

Telling Phantom to get more sleep.

Telling Phantom encouragements.

Thanking Phantom for protecting his town.

Thanking RR for introducing them to a cool new teen hero they'd never heard of before.

There are the occasional comments claiming that Phantom couldn't do the interview in person and 'invisibility' is a creative work around for his absence that still ties into the Halloween special.

Philosophical debates on the pros and cons of immortality and listing off other (allegedly) immortal heroes that Phantom should get in touch with.

[A/N: Congrats if you made it this far! This ficlet is a bit rough around the edges but I hope you enjoyed it! Any readers feel the desire to do so, they are welcome to take this, in part or wholesale verbatim, and use the idea for their own fic.]

#Danny Phantom #dp #Red Robin #DC #Tim Drake #dcxdp #crossover #long post #zalgo text #<<but only briefly #ficlet #I know that's not how bingo works I just wanted to come up wit a response for each one #my bingo sheet is so crunchy lol #stove on fire #38006

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m1ckeyb3rry · 3 months

Text

── THE GLASS PRINCESS // FIVE

Series Synopsis: You wake up in a strange room with no memories, broken glass at your bedside, and a prince named Zuko as your only chance at figuring out who you really are.

Chapter Synopsis: You visit Ember Island with Jia-Li and grow closer with her and her brother. Everything comes to a head, though, when a party on the island goes wrong.

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Zuko x Reader

Chapter Word Count: 7.4k

Content Warnings: complicated relationships (strangers to friends to lovers to enemies to strangers to lovers to enemies to lovers), amnesia, alternate universe, lots of secrets and lying and mystery

A/N: would you guys believe if i said i thought we’d already know reader’s real identity this many words into the fic?? anyways enjoy the fun times while they last folks because trust it will be getting angsty at some point probably

Dear Zuko,

I’m sorry for whatever I did that made you angry with me. Please forgive me. I don’t want you to be upset.

Sincerely, Ursa

P.S. Destroying Chan’s house was wrong, but since it was him, I won’t chide you. Jia-Li and I also participated a bit, so it would be hypocritical, anyways.

P.P.S. I’m not friends with Ruon-Jian anymore.

Though you had been at sea for quite a bit of time now, you still had not grown bored of staring at the ocean. Jia-Li had sat back down under the shade of the silk canopy a while ago, eating a bowl full of ice cream and watching you in amusement as you stood at the prow and peered down into the water.

“It’s so beautiful,” you said.

“You’ve said that like a hundred times,” Jia-Li teased you.

“I know, I just…I just can't get over it. I’ve never seen anything quite so blue,” you said, though this was somewhat a lie. That blue from your memories, it resembled this water in depth, though not in texture — the water was clear and lucid, whereas the blue you remembered was harsh and matte.

“I guess I should be glad that you’re enjoying yourself already! Just think about it — you haven’t even gotten to Ember Island yet, and you’re having so much fun. Imagine how much better it’ll be once you’re there!” Jia-Li said.

“I can’t wait,” you said dreamily. “As long as we can go swimming, I’ll be happy.”

“Of course,” she said. “We’ll swim every day! My brother wrote to me, he said that the tides have been forgiving this season. Maybe I can convince him to teach you how to ride the flying dolphin fish. He always shoos me away whenever I ask, but it’s impossible to hate you, Ursa, so he’ll definitely say yes.”

You had been growing accustomed to that name. It still felt like an alias at times, but it was a familiar one, said around you so often that you barely even hesitated before responding to it.

“It’s fine if he doesn’t,” you said. “Though it would be nice to learn something like that…”

“Maybe you should ask him!” Jia-Li said. “There’s no way he can refuse then!”

“I wouldn’t want to be imposing,” you said immediately, shaking your head. “He shouldn’t have to do something just because he’s too guilty to say no.”

“No, I was more thinking along the lines of ‘you’re pretty and he doesn’t say no to pretty girls’, actually,” she said. “He’ll be happy to oblige you, but if it’s a request from his little sister, he’s likely to say no just to be contrary.”

“We’ll see,” you said after ruminating on it for a second. “Also, thank you for the compliment.”

“It’s just the truth,” Jia-Li said. “But since we’re on the subject — I know you don’t have memories, so you can’t answer about your past life, but what about recently? Have you had a crush on someone before?”

“A crush?” you said.

“Yeah! I mean, have you ever liked anyone?” she said.

“I like a lot of people,” you said. “For example, you and Ty Lee.”

“No, silly, not in that way. I mean liking someone romantically,” Jia-Li elaborated. “I know a few of the boys in the Royal Fire Academy for Boys have been talking about you, so I was just curious.”

“Oh!” you said, covering your face with your hands so that she could not see the embarrassment blooming on it. “I didn’t know that they were.”

“Sure, of course they are! They talk about a lot of us, so it makes sense, and anyways I wasn’t lying when I said you’re pretty. They’re all too scared to actually talk to you, but I’m sure that if you went to the market alone and met one of them, they’d propose on the spot,” she said.

The academies for girls and boys had separate campuses, but they were run conjointly, so that your breaks aligned and your events were held in tandem. Though you tended to avoid attending sporting matches, you had gone to one or two in your time as a student, so you supposed that must’ve been when you had become a viable prospect for whatever nonsense Jia-Li was spouting.

“I don’t talk to any boys,” you pointed out. “Even if any of them like me, I don’t know them, so I can’t say I like them back.”

“You talk to the prince a lot,” she said.

“What?” you said.

“Did you really think I didn’t notice how often you send letters to him via Bian?” she chided. You coughed uncomfortably.

“Um, well, he is my benefactor, so I have to keep him updated with my day-to-day activities,” you said. “It’s, er, part of my scholarship, you know.”

It was not, but Jia-Li seemed to buy the lie readily enough, nodding sagely, though not without a dramatic pout.

“That does check out, but it’s not nearly as exciting as a secret love affair or letters written out of pining and sent with longing, stamped with your heart’s greatest desire for a man that can never be your own!” she said.

“Sorry?” you said. “I don’t think any of that fits the situation, though.”

She sighed. “It’s okay.”

“What about you? Do you have any crushes?” you said, recognizing that this was the logical next step in the conversation. Jia-Li blushed and looked at the wooden paneling of the deck, using her fingers to twirl the hair which escaped her ponytail to frame her face.

“Yes,” she said. “Kind of. But it’s someone who I shouldn’t like, and who would never like me back, so I’ve never said anything.”

“Who?” you said. “Your family is pretty influential, isn’t it? I can’t imagine most anyone rejecting you. Unless you like Prince Zuko and are projecting your ‘heart’s greatest desire for a man that can never be your own’ onto me?”

“No way!” Jia-Li said. “It’s more complicated than him being of a higher ranking than me.”

“Then what is it?” you said.

“He’s my brother’s best friend!” she said, all in a rush, her entire face in flames at the confession.

“Oh,” you said, cringing in empathy. “I see. He would not approve?”

“Definitely not,” she said. “But there’s something worse than him not approving: marrying this boy would mean having Kaho as a sister-in-law!”

“Oh, Agni,” you said, slapping your palm against your forehead. How had you forgotten? It was the only reason Jia-Li was somewhat exempt from Kaho’s reign of terror, despite her association with you: her brother and Kaho’s were best friends. But if she liked Kaho’s brother, then what would that mean?

“That’s the scenario,” she said. “And to top it all off, he’s notoriously popular with girls. He probably wouldn’t even look at me twice. I’ll always just be Ruon-Jian’s annoying little sister to him.”

“I doubt that that’s true,” you said as you approached the docks. “Really, Jia-Li, I don’t think that's the case. You said his family will be on Ember Island at the same time as us?”

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “Although Kaho mentioned not being able to come — something about volunteering as a scribe for some official meeting that the Fire Lord will be hosting over the weekend.”

“Perfect! That’ll be our goal, then,” you said.

“Huh?” she said.

“We’re going to get you noticed by your crush! Who cares about the consequences? Kaho and your brother can just deal with it, and if they have something to say, then they can talk to me,” you said.

“That’s nice of you to offer, but what would you even do?” Jia-Li said.

“I don’t know,” you said. “Talk to them, I guess. Kaho already doesn’t like me, so it’s not a tragedy if she hates me more, and I don’t know your brother that well, so if he and I don’t get along after that kind of conversation, it won’t be a great loss.”

“Do you really think we can do something like that?” she said.

“We have to try,” you said. “You deserve it, Jia-Li.”

“Thank you,” she said, swallowing. “You’re a really good friend, Ursa. If you ever change your mind and decide you do like Prince Zuko after all, just let me know—”

“Jia-Li!” you warned her, though the threat fell flat, as she only laughed in return.

Jia-Li’s home on Ember Island was close to the docks, and it was right on the water. She told you as you walked up the seashell-lined path that that stretch of sand was actually a private beach that belonged to her family, so you wouldn’t have to worry about anyone bothering you while you were there.

“Sometimes my brother goes to the bigger beach a little ways away, though,” she said. “They like seeing other people our age and hanging out with them and whatnot.”

“Maybe when I’m a little more confident, we can try it,” you said. “For now, I’m just glad we have our own space where I don’t have to be worried about embarrassing myself in case I drown or something.”

“I wouldn’t let you drown,” Jia-Li said. “But I’m fine with that plan. It’s not like I have some huge desire to be on a massively crowded beach with the others, so it’s not heartbreaking for me if we just stay here the whole time.”

“Now, now, not the whole time,” you said. “We have to leave the house at some point so we can meet this guy you like!”

“I’m still not so sure about that,” she said, pulling out a key from her pocket and using it to unlock the front door. “Now hush, I don’t need my brother overhearing us. We can talk more later tonight or something.”

“On it,” you said, pretending to seal your lips shut. She rolled her eyes before motioning you after her. Carefully, you stepped into the grand foyer, scuffing your shoes on the welcome mat to rid them of the sand. Jia-Li smiled in approval, presumably at your politeness, and you smiled back at her.

“Mother, father!” Jia-Li shouted. “Ruon-Jian! Ursa and I are here!”

Jia-Li’s mother peeked her head around the corner, nodding demurely at the two of you, though it was deeper and more reverent when it came to you. She looked exactly like Jia-Li, only a little older, her features aged, the cut of her face sharper.

“It is good to meet you,” she said. Her voice was musical and quiet, carefully controlled — it was the culmination of years of training as the wife of a high-ranking Fire Nation official. It was what you and Jia-Li and Kaho and Ty Lee would one day sound like, once you had graduated from the academy and were ready to enter society properly.

“And you as well, madam,” you said, clasping your hands, bowing your head slightly. “Thank you for welcoming me into your home. It is greatly appreciated.”

“You are so polite,” Jia-Li’s mother said, the slightest traces of happiness flickering over her face. “I am glad Jia-Li has such an exemplary friend to look up to.”

“Nice to see you, too, mother,” Jia-Li said. Her mother laughed, opening her arms.

“Come here, then,” she said. Jia-Li brightened, racing into her mother’s arms and hugging her. You looked away, feeling like you were intruding on the moment and wishing you had your own mother to embrace like that.

“Where’s father?” Jia-Li said. Her mother sighed.

“He and Admiral Chan were called back to the palace for some important meeting, so they’re not on the island for the moment,” she said.

“It must be the meeting Kaho is scribing for,” you said.

“Most likely,” Jia-Li said. “Do you think he’ll be able to come back before I leave for the academy again? I haven’t seen him in so long.”

“I’m not sure, darling,” her mother said. “If he is still in the capital by the time your boat leaves the docks, I will send him a message to stay in the capital and receive you before he returns.”

“Thank you,” she said. “What about Ruon-Jian? Where is he?”

“Oh, that boy, he’s being as troublesome as ever. I believe he’s locked in his room at the moment. Ruon-Jian! Please come downstairs and say hello to your sister and her friend!” her mother said. It was strange — even yelling, she sounded soft and polite, which should not have made sense but somehow did.

“Why?” a deep, grumbling voice said. There were heavy footsteps on the stairs, evidence that Jia-Li’s brother was on his way but wasn’t exactly happy about it. “I don’t wanna meet Jia-Li and her stupid friend — woah.”

Her brother was tall and willowy, with shaggy brown hair that fell into his face, giving him an effortlessly cool appearance. His eyes were the same color as Jia-Li’s, but that was about where their similarities ended. If you had seen him outside, without introduction, you wouldn’t have been able to guess that they were siblings in the first place.

“This is Ruon-Jian,” Jia-Li said when it became obvious that her brother wasn’t going to introduce himself. He was far too busy staring at something, his jaw dropped and his eyebrows raised, though when Jia-Li spoke, he was able to pull himself together, running his hand through his hair and then smirking.

“That’s right,” he said. “The name’s Ruon-Jian.”

“That’s what I just said,” Jia-Li said.

“What about you?” he said. You looked from side to side, wondering who he was talking to, and then you realized it was you, which meant that the thing he had been staring at was also…

“Ursa,” you said. “I’m Ursa.”

You weren’t sure how you felt about the attention. Maybe you liked it, or maybe you didn’t. It was strange and fluttering and unfamiliar in the pit of your stomach, and behind your back, you wrung your hands nervously.

“Ursa,” he said. “Great name. It’s as pretty as you are.”

“Um, I guess if I knew who my parents were, I’d pass along the compliment,” you said.

“Wicked,” he said. “So, what are you doing on Ember Island?”

“She’s my friend, idiot. My roommate from the academy,” Jia-Li said.

“Shh, Jia-Li, I’m trying to get to know her better! Stop talking and interrupting her,” Ruon-Jian said. You exchanged bewildered looks with Jia-Li’s mother, while at your side, Jia-Li fumed, the air shimmering from the heat she gave off as a Firebender.

“She’s right,” you said. “I’m her roommate back at school. She’s one of my greatest friends.”

“Sick,” he said.

“I don’t think I am,” you said, puzzled.

“It’s slang,” Jia-Li said.

“I understand,” you said, although you didn’t, not fully. This way of speaking was entirely foreign to you, but you figured that if you had Jia-Li with you to translate, you’d probably be alright.

“Who’s your family, Ursa?” Ruon-Jian said.

“I don’t have one,” you said.

“Word?” he said.

“He’s asking if that’s the truth,” Jia-Li whispered. “It’s like saying ‘really?’”

“It is the truth,” you said. “I have no memories. I am the girl that the royal family sponsored to study at the academy after I was rescued from the Earth Kingdom.”

“No way!” Ruon-Jian said. “That’s so cool!”

“Not really,” Jia-Li said. “She doesn’t remember anything. Including her family. Idiot.”

“If I could forget you, I’d do so in a heartbeat,” Ruon-Jian said.

“Well, I’d do the same!” Jia-Li snapped. You cleared your throat.

“I’m just grateful to Prince Zuko for saving me and ensuring my future,” you said. “He, and the rest of the royal family, are likely the reason I’m still alive and standing before you today.”

“Word,” Ruon-Jian said.

“I am not lying this time, either,” you affirmed.

“No, that was more of an expression of agreement,” Jia-Li said.

“I am a little confused,” you said. “But I shall trust you on this one, Jia-Li.”

“Do you have plans for the week?” Ruon-Jian said.

“Jia-Li is going to teach me to swim,” you said, beaming at Jia-Li, who gave you a high-five in return. “Beyond that, no, not really.”

“We were going to ask you if you could teach her to ride the flying dolphin fish,” Jia-Li said. “I know you’d never teach me, but—”

“Definitely!” Ruon-Jian said, cutting Jia-Li off. “I’ll teach you anything you want, Ursa.”

Heat rushed into your face, and you bit your lower lip, shifting from foot to foot nervously. Glancing at Jia-Li, who shrugged, you trained your attention on the ground instead of looking at Ruon-Jian when you responded.

“I think that that would be fun,” you said.

“We’ll get started tomorrow,” he said.

“Ruon-Jian, usually I’m joking when I say it, but you really are an idiot! How can you teach her to ride flying dolphin fish if she doesn’t even know how to swim?” Jia-Li said.

“The day after tomorrow, then!” Ruon-Jian declared. “See you around, Ursa!”

With that, he bounded back upstairs, taking the steps two at a time, leaving you, Jia-Li, and her mother standing in the foyer, somehow even more confused than before.

The next day was somehow sunnier and brighter than the previous, which was a relief, as it was the day you were supposed to learn to swim. At present, you were wearing one of Jia-Li’s sets of swimming clothes, your towel spread out on the sand as you looked at the ocean with furrowed brows.

“You ready?” Jia-Li said.

“I think so,” you said.

“Let’s go!” she said. Without waiting for you, she charged into the water, flopping onto her stomach once it was deep enough for her to do so. Not even taking a second to think, you sprinted in after her, and when the water rose to the level of your thighs, you didn’t second-guess yourself. Using your legs to push off, you dove into the water, jetting through it, forcing your eyes open and laughing soundlessly as you wove amongst the flowing bubbles and colorful fish that decorated the ocean.

It was many seconds later that you pushed your way to the surface, taking a deep breath, your legs churning the water so that you stayed afloat. Some ways away, Jia-Li had done the same, though she was busily scanning the shore for where you might be.

“Jia-Li!” you called out. “Over here!”

“Ursa!” she said, clapping her hands in delight. “I guess you do know how to swim!”

“I guess so!” you said, overcome with a rush of euphoria at the weightless feeling the water afforded you. Jia-Li paddled over to where you were treading, doing the same beside you so that you two could talk.

“That means you can learn to ride the flying dolphin fish sooner rather than later,” she said slyly. You lowered your eyes.

“Maybe,” you said.

“I knew it!” she squealed. “You have a crush on my brother!”

“No!” you said, far too quickly to sound convincing. “I mean. No.”

“You do!” Jia-Li said. “I can’t understand why you’d ever have a crush on him, but I guess there’s really someone out there for everyone.”

“I don’t even know him,” you said. “Sure, he’s cool and all, but I don’t know the first thing about who he is as a person. How can I say for certain that I have a crush or anything?”

“That’s why you have to get to know him,” Jia-Li said, poking you in the forehead. “Right?”

“True,” you said. “Then I can tell you for certain how I feel. What about you, though?”

“What about me?” she said innocently.

“When will I get to meet this mysterious crush of yours? You can hardly expect to pursue him if you never even go to see him!” you said. She splashed you with water.

“I’m not about to just go visit his house for no reason! It would be weird,” she said.

“Maybe a little bit,” you said. “But there has to be a way for you to accidentally run into him! And when I say accidentally, of course it won’t be an accident at all, but it’ll appear to be one.”

“Just forget about it,” Jia-Li said. “It’s not a big deal. If it’s meant to be, something will come up.”

“If that’s what you want,” you said. “But you have to promise me that if something comes up, as you say it will, you’ll really try your hardest.”

“Okay,” Jia-Li said in determination. “If there is some opportunity for me to talk to him, I’ll do it.”

“That’s the way!” you said. “Now, let’s race. I want to see how fast I am, too.”

“First one to that bit of driftwood wins?” Jia-Li said, pointing at a smoothed-over log floating in the distance.

“You’re on,” you said. “Three, two — hey, I didn’t say go yet! Jia-Li!”

You could not remember ever having as much fun as you did during that time on Ember Island. You and Jia-Li spent hours lazing around on the beach or swimming in the water, eating whatever her family’s chef prepared for you, drinking fruit juice that was sometimes sweet, sometimes sour, oftentimes both. At night, you would stay up until the moon was high in the sky, giggling and exchanging secrets and stories, making fun of your classmates and the boys in the Royal Academy for Boys.

“You know, one of them has a shrine dedicated to Kaho,” Jia-Li told you one night. You howled with laughter.

“No!” you said.

“Yes, he really does! He found a portrait of her and leaves money and food in front of it every week,” she said.

“You’re making that up,” you said.

“Nope, I found out during one of the sporting matches,” she said. “I was a little disgusted, but now that I see the humor in it, I confess I’m entirely amused by the entire thing.”

You would sleep late into the day, sometimes missing the morning entirely and only waking up for the afternoons. Jia-Li’s mother never scolded you two for it, saying that she was happy you were catching up on your rest, since dark circles were not comely on a woman or something along those lines.

Sometimes, Ruon-Jian would spend a few minutes with you both, but for the most part, he was off with Chan, his best friend and Kaho’s older brother. When he was with you, he was usually sitting at your side, making fun of his sister and complimenting you all at once. And even though you barely knew him, you had to admit that it was nice to have someone paying such close attention to you for once, treating you as if you were worthy of his time and entirely normal, the way he was, instead of tiptoeing around you and your lost memories.

“You ready, Ursa?” Ruon-Jian said, plopping down on the bench beside you as you and Jia-Li ate breakfast — or was it lunch, at this point?

“For what, Ruon-Jian?” you said, batting your eyelashes at him. From across the table, Jia-Li pretended to gag.

He elbowed you in the side. “To learn to ride flying dolphin fish, of course!”

“Yes!” you said, shooting to your feet. “I thought you’d forgotten!”

“How could I forget about you?” he said. “The currents just haven’t been right for a beginner recently. You should’ve seen how badly Chan wiped out the other day!”

You glanced at Jia-Li. She mimed falling over, and you gave her a discreet thumbs up.

“You didn’t fall, though, did you?” you said. Ruon-Jian beamed and flexed his arms.

“’Course not. I’m way better than Chan,” he bragged.

“Very impressive. Then there must be no one in the Fire Nation more equipped to teach me,” you said.

“Not a single person,” he agreed.

“I can’t bear to watch any more of this,” Jia-Li muttered to no one in particular. “You guys have fun. I’m going to collect our clothes so that they can get washed, Ursa.”

She left without another word, though as she walked away, you thought you caught her saying something about how you could do better. Ignoring it, you followed after Ruon-Jian towards the beach behind his house, struggling to keep up with his brisk stride.

“There’s a pod of flying dolphin fish that visits our beach pretty regularly,” he said. “We should be able to catch a ride there.”

“Okay,” you said. “Is it safe?”

“We’ll ride the same one, so I can look after you, but on the whole, flying dolphin fish are very docile, so as long as the waves are gentle, it’s fine,” he said. “That’s why I’ve been waiting to take you out.”

“That sounds good,” you said. He whistled.

“That’s how we call them. Now, we just have to wait until they come,” he said, pulling you forward to stand beside him.

“Then what?” you said.

“It’s a surprise,” he said. “Just kidding! Then we swim out and find the friendliest one and get on.”

It took a few minutes, but eventually, in the distance, there were splashes. Ruon-Jian whooped in delight, grabbing your hand and dragging you after him before you could protest.

“They were fast today!” he said. “Let’s go before they decide to leave again!”

Ruon-Jian was a little faster than you at swimming, though you had been faster than Jia-Li. You didn’t feel insulted, though; he spent much of his time in the ocean, so it was to be expected that he was better than both you and his sister alike. The end result was that he reached the flying dolphin fish before you, and had already mounted one by the time you swam up to its side.

“How do I get on?” you said.

“You don’t,” he said, using his legs to hold onto the body of the flying dolphin fish and then bending over to pull you out of the water and set you in front of him.

“Thanks,” you said, suddenly very aware of how close he was to you, how he held onto your waist and rested his chin on your shoulder.

“Just rest your hands on its head,” he said. “Like that. Good job! I’ll do all the steering and stuff with my legs, so don’t worry about that for now. All you have to do is focus on your balance.”

“Got it,” you said.

“Then let’s get going!” he said, clicking at the flying dolphin fish, which took off with a push of its powerful tail, propelling itself through the water. Its speed was breathtaking, and as the wind rushed against your face, tears gathered in your eyes, tears of joy and freedom and also of regret. When was the last time you had felt like this? When was the last time you had been so happy? Why didn’t you endeavor to be so more often?

Suddenly, the flying dolphin fish took off into the air, and then you were soaring. Everything faded away, the rest of the world and Ruon-Jian and the flying dolphin fish and even you. It was all nothing. You were all nothing. There was only the sky and the sea and the smell of salt on the wind, blue taking over your vision and almost, for a second, reminding you of something else.

Then you were slamming back into the water, the flying dolphin fish not even slowing its pace as it went from air to ocean. The spray that hit your face from the impact was enough to wake you up from the daze, and you were reminded of where you were and who you were and what you were doing.

“That was so fun,” you said as you and Ruon-Jian re-entered the house, still dripping with saltwater despite the towels wrapped around you both.

“It’s sick, right? I knew you’d like it,” Ruon-Jian said. “Speaking of things you might like…my friend Chan is holding a party later tonight. You wanna come?”

You perked up at the name Chan, knowing he was none other than the object of Jia-Li’s affections.

“Yes, but only if Jia-Li can come, too,” you said.

“Aw, no way! Chan never leaves her alone, and I don’t want my best friend bothering my little sister. It’s so odd!” he said.

“It’ll be really lonely for me to be at a party where I don’t even know anyone,” you said with a small frown.

“That’s fair,” he said.

“And she’s my friend, so it’ll be more fun for me if she’s there,” you continued. “That’s why I’ll only go if she can, too.”

“Okay, okay,” Ruon-Jian said. “Fine. She can come, too.”

“Yay! Thank you so much!” you said, clapping. “It’s going to be so much fun.”

“Sure will be,” he said. “You should go get ready, though. There’ll be a lot of influential people there, so you should try to look your best.”

“Of course,” you said. “See you soon!”

Luckily, Jia-Li had been right in assuming that you and her would be the same size. You had been wearing her clothes for the entire vacation, and tonight was no different, as she picked out something nice for you to put on for the party.

“Ursa, I’m convinced you’re a miracle worker,” Jia-Li said, shaking her head. “Seriously! How is it that you managed to get us invited to one of Chan’s parties? They’re super selective.”

“Simple. Your brother invited me, and I told him I’d only go if you could, too. He was initially a bit reluctant, since he seemed to think Chan wouldn’t leave you alone, but he came around,” you said.

“You’re the best,” she said.

“I honestly might’ve just said no from the get go, but I heard that Chan was hosting, and I knew we had to attend. This is literally the sign you were waiting for!” you said. “What are the odds that your brother would invite me to a party hosted by the man of your dreams?”

“Pretty high, considering he thinks you’re really attractive and the so-called man of my dreams is his best friend,” Jia-Li said. “But I know what you’re saying, and I agree. Enough about that, though. The only thing left is for us to do our best to look amazing!”

Because Ruon-Jian and Chan were best friends, you arrived at the party before anyone else so that you could help Chan set up. His house was enormous, according to Ruon-Jian, and he had said it would be greatly appreciated if you all could lend a hand. With a meaningful look at Jia-Li, you had accepted.

“I made sure that Chan knew what food you like, Ursa, so that he could serve it,” Ruon-Jian said, his arm tossed around your shoulders. “I want you to have the best time!”

“Aren’t you so romantic, brother?” Jia-Li said dryly.

“Thank you, Ruon-Jian,” you said.

“Anytime,” he said with a smirk.

“Ruon-Jian!” a tall, muscular boy said as he opened the door to the mansion. “I thought you’d never get here.”

“Jia-Li took forever getting ready, dude,” Ruon-Jian said. “By the way, Chan, this is Ursa. And Ursa, this is Chan.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” you said.

“Pleasure’s all mine,” Chan said. “Did you say Jia-Li? Is she here?”

“I am,” Jia-Li from where she was hiding behind you and Ruon-Jian. “Hi, Chan.”

“Jia-Li! It’s been ages since I saw you last. How have you been?” Chan said, yanking her by the arm and into the house.

“Quit flirting with my sister!” Ruon-Jian shouted, though he went ignored by both Chan and Jia-Li. You patted him on the arm.

“It’s okay,” you said. “She doesn’t seem upset about it, so you shouldn’t be, either.”

“It’s just so freaky,” he said with a shudder. “Jia-Li’s my baby sister. She shouldn’t have guys interested in her, let alone guys that have been my best friend since I could count.”

“She’s grown up now,” you said. “She can make her own decisions. You should just support her.”

“If you think that’s what’s best,” he said reluctantly. “You’re pretty mature, you know.”

“It’s funny, I feel like I’ve heard that before, though I don’t quite recall who might’ve said such a thing,” you said. “It doesn’t matter; either way, thank you.”

Jia-Li and Chan were too busy talking with each other, and Ruon-Jian was too busy fixing his hair in the mirror, so the brunt of the party set up fell to you. You didn’t mind, though, liking the act of working, and you were so efficient that everything was ready right around dusk.

“The place looks great, Ursa,” Ruon-Jian said when you rejoined him in front of the mirror.

“Your hair does, too, so you can stop fiddling with it,” you said. He pulled you in by the waist, flashing a peace sign in the mirror.

“Don’t we look so good together?” he said. “It’s like…like you were meant to stand beside me.”

“I suppose so,” you said, though you weren’t sure if you would go so far as to say all that. Still, it was nice to know that someone thought you belonged with them, so when he began to lean in, you did not move away.

Right when his lips were about to brush against yours, there was a knock on the door. He drew back in irritation.

“Who is here this early?” he said. “Whatever. Where were we again?”

The moment was ruined, though, so you pretended to be preoccupied with straightening your clothes, your head tilted downwards so that he could not even catch your eye.

“These are some really punctual party guests,” you said. “No one else is here yet.”

“Yeah, punctual’s one word for it,” Ruon-Jian said, clearly taking the hint you had given him and hopefully not being too miffed about it. “Wait, it’s that group we invited when we were on the beach earlier! Should’ve known they’d be the type.”

“On the — Ty Lee?” you said.

The first one to enter, Ty Lee turned in search of whoever had said her name. When she noticed you standing beside Ruon-Jian, one of his arms still around your waist, your posture clearly still set towards him, her jaw dropped.

“Ursa?” she said. “What are you doing here?”

“I feel like that’s a question I should be asking you,” you said as she cartwheeled over to drag you away from Ruon-Jian and into a hug so tight you temporarily stopped breathing.

“We were just hanging out on the beach when we got invited to come by Chan and Ruon-Jian!” she said. “I can’t believe you’re here, too.”

“Ruon-Jian is Jia-Li’s older brother, and he’s best friends with Chan, so I think that my presence is a little more explicable than yours,” you said. “When you say we, though, who do you mean?”

“Me, Mai, Azula, and Zuko!” Ty Lee said, pointing at each of them in turn. Mai was sitting by a painting, glaring whenever someone tried to approach her, and the girl who must’ve been the infamous Princess Azula was talking to Chan while Jia-Li stood behind her, ostensibly shoved out of the way so that the princess could have her turn talking to the host.

As for Zuko, he was still awkwardly standing by the doorframe, though when he glanced over at you, his eyes widened. At first, relief filled them, but when he noticed your proximity to Ruon-Jian, a strange sort of malcontent settled over his expression.

“Zuko!” you said as he stormed over to you. Ty Lee looked at him and then back at you before promptly dashing over to Mai’s side, the only one who didn’t get glared at for daring to go near her. “What are you—?”

“Who is he?” he said.

“The name’s Ruon-Jian, dude,” Ruon-Jian said, holding out his hand for Zuko to shake. Zuko looked at it disdainfully before scoffing and then returning his gaze to you.

“He’s Jia-Li’s older brother,” you said.

“Right,” Zuko said sardonically. “That’s why the two of you are so close.”

“I’ve been staying at his house the whole time I’ve been on Ember Island, so yeah, it’s probably a contributing factor,” you said.

“I’m gonna go get some food, Ursa. There are some freaky vibes here right now that I don’t really approve of,” Ruon-Jian said, inching away.

“Do you like him?” Zuko said. You blinked, taken aback by the direct question. In his letters, he was so kind and tactful, so you had come to associate him with that sort of language. The elegance with which he wrote, the careful concern he always showed for whatever you said — all of it had caused a fondness for him to grow in you.

“He’s just my friend’s older brother,” you said. The way he was speaking now was as if he was accusing you and you had to defend yourself or face judgment, but what crime had you even committed in the first place? “He taught me to ride flying dolphin fish and invited me to the party. That’s all.”

“Of course,” he said. “He’s so cool, with his dumb hair and clothes and flying dolphin fish, so of course you like him. No surprise there.”

“Are you angry?” you said. “Why?”

“Am I angry?” he said. “No!”

“You sound a little angry,” you said meekly. “I just wanted to make sure.”

“Why would it even matter to you?” he said.

“I don’t know?” you said. “I was only asking.”

“Don’t ask questions for no reason, especially when you don’t care about the answer in the first place,” he said.

“But that’s not the case. I did care about the answer, or else I wouldn’t have asked,” you said.

“Well, next time, just ask that boyfriend of yours,” he said.

“Ruon-Jian?” you said.

“Yes?” Ruon-Jian said, appearing out of nowhere. “Here, this is for you.”

“You have such horrible timing,” you said under your breath, accepting the plate he handed you. “Zuko, have you eaten anything yet? There’s a lot of really good food out. I’m sure you’ll like it.”

“It’s all Ursa’s favorites!” Ruon-Jian said. “I made sure of it myself.”

“Oh, yeah?” Zuko said with a sneer. “What the hell do you know about her, anyways?”

“Yo, chill, dude,” Ruon-Jian said, holding his hands in the air. “Who even are you? I probably know more than you! Her and I are really close, you see.”

It was probably the worst thing he could’ve said. Zuko’s face darkened, and then, before any of you knew it, he was grabbing Ruon-Jian by the collar and throwing him into a nearby vase. You jumped at the noise before rushing over to help Ruon-Jian stand.

“I’m fine,” Ruon-Jian said, waving you off as he staggered to his feet. “What is your problem, dude?”

“Stay away from her,” Zuko said.

“Who are you to say that?” you said. “My benefactor? That doesn’t mean you get to control my life, Zuko! Why does it matter to you who I’m hanging out with? He’s from a perfectly respectable family, so it’s not like it’ll reflect badly on you. I don’t get what the big deal is!”

“Seriously?” Zuko said. “You think I care what family he’s from? Do what you want! It doesn’t matter to me. It’s what you’ll do anyways, so why should I try to stop you?”

“What happened?” you said. “Why has your opinion of me lowered so thoroughly? What have I done to offend you so greatly? I know that you are angry, and I know it is because of me, but I cannot understand why!”

“There’s a lot of things you can’t understand,” he said.

“I heard a crash, is everyone — who broke my nana’s vase?” Chan shrieked as he came back into the main room. Ruon-Jian pointed at Zuko. “You! I’ve had enough of you, alright? Get out of my party!”

“I was just leaving,” Zuko said, though not without one last glare at all of you.

“See you around, loser!” Ruon-Jian said.

“Jia-Li’s right,” you said as Mai, Ty Lee, and Princess Azula excused themselves as well. “You really are an idiot. Do you know who that was?”

“Some jealous loser?” Ruon-Jian said. You opened your mouth to argue before deflating, knowing that there was no point.

“Just forget about it. Let’s try to enjoy ourselves for the rest of the party,” you said.

Some time later, there was a knock on the door. Chan opened it, and then his face fell.

“Hello, Chan,” a voice that could only be Princess Azula’s said. “Thanks for inviting us earlier, but I have some unfortunate news to share.”

“The party’s over,” Zuko said, and then all four of them were in the room, sending bursts of fire everywhere, kicking the tables in half, swinging from the chandeliers and slicing up the paintings.

“What is going on?” Jia-Li shouted, covering her head with her hands.

“I have no idea,” you said. “Hey, what are you guys doing?”

Chan screamed as Mai threw a set of knives into a pair of antique paintings on the walls and the chandelier came crashing to the ground under Ty Lee’s weight. Jia-Li pulled you out of the way of a stray lick of blue fire from Azula, and you buried your face in your hands.

“This was a pretty terrible party,” Ty Lee said, dropping lightly to her feet in front of you. “You could say we’re showing our appreciation as guests!”

“By destroying his house?” you said as Zuko kicked an entire pillar in half.

“Yep! Wanna join?” Ty Lee said.

“No!” you and Jia-Li said in unison.

“To each their own!” Ty Lee said before springing away.

“Well…” Jia-Li said. “It would feel nice.”

“What? Why?” you said.

“I thought Chan was confessing to me on the balcony earlier, but it turns out that even though he does like me, he wants to live a free and unburdened life, without the commitment of having a girlfriend. He told me that the best he could offer me is a long-term arrangement in which he does what he wants and then spends some time with me whenever I’m on the island,” Jia-Li said.

“That’s horrible,” you said.

“And while I was out there, he told me that Ruon-Jian invited Mai and Ty Lee because he thought they were hot and he wanted a chance with them,” she continued. “So there’s that.”

You scowled, and even though you hadn’t been betrayed, it felt as if you had been. Naturally, you held no claim on Ruon-Jian, but the entire reason you had grown close to him in the first place was because you liked being someone’s priority. If you weren’t even that, then what was the point?

“Jia-Li,” you said. “Since it’s the prince and princess in charge of the destruction, you could consider it a royal order.”

“You could,” Jia-Li said, a grin creeping onto her face.

“And as students of the Royal Fire Academy for Girls, we are duty-bound to follow all royal orders,” you said.

“That we are,” she said.

“I think that means we have to participate,” you said.

“I think you’re right, Ursa,” she said.

“Of course, it’s not because we’re angry at Ruon-Jian or Chan or anything,” you said.

“Definitely not,” she agreed. “We’re just following in the prince and princess’s example.”

“That’s exactly correct,” you said. “After all, what are we but their humble and obedient servants?”

“Nothing, indeed!” Jia-Li said brightly. “All hail the royal family!”

With that, she ignited her hands and placed them right on a portrait of Chan as a child. You cheered before taking a steak knife and using it to cut up the curtains, tossing them into the fire she had started as kindling.

“I’m glad we’re friends, Ursa,” Jia-Li said.

“Yeah, I’m glad we’re friends, too.”

Ursa,

It wasn’t anything you did. I’m sorry; I was upset about something unrelated and took it out on you. You have no need to ask for my forgiveness — if anyone should be doing that, it’s me. Please, please forgive me for being so angry. I promise that I will make it up to you the next time we meet.

Yours, Zuko

P.S. I did not think that you and Jia-Li would join in, but I can’t say that I’m disappointed.

P.P.S. Ruon-Jian is ugly and his hair is terrible. You don’t need to be friends with him, anyways.

#zuko x reader #zuko x y/n #zuko x you #zuko #avatar the last airbender #atla #reader insert #canon au #the glass princess #m1ckeyb3rry writes

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dannybobany · 9 days

Text

Guyysss… the autism caught up to me…, I’m currently thinking about assigning TMA fears to omori characters

Very vague omori and tma spoilers for this rant I’m about to go on ⬇️

But genuinely though I’m thinking really hard about it-

Basil is the most obvious to me- I feel like Basil must be a flesh avatar right? Because of the floral theming? Yeah he’s a flesh gardener for sure (although one could make the argument for corruption due to his abandonment issues and need to be loved, but in that sense I feel the corruption is the fear he’d die to while the flesh is the fear he’d embrace and become an avatar for in the situation that he did)

Sunny is more complicated he doesn’t have as obvious of a match… my first thought was actually end avatar because omori’s personality works well with the whole inevitability thing end avatars have going on, plus the only end avatar I know about (Oliver what’s his name) is associated with dreams so maybe he OLIVER BANKS THAT WAS HIS NAME anyway. So maybe sunny would have a similar death-in-dreams theme? But if we’re talking dreams and sleep we gotta at least consider the dark right? Unseen beasts shrouded in shadow? That gives somthing energy in a way …

I could also pretty easily see him as a web avatar for how he crafts narratives and stories, plus! Spiders! Gotta love that aesthetic

I think Aubrey makes a pretty good hunt avatar, she’s got the right personality for it and I can imagine her being very afraid of her short temper getting the better of her and hurting someone she cares about… that’s a very hunt thing

Kel and Hero are weird because I have no idea what to do with them

Kel I feel like… stranger? The stranger is a very whimsical and positive avatar and the idea of masks and not knowing who you are is good for Kel with the whole…. Burying his emotions and dumbing down his personality to ignore his grief and please those around him… also clown kel sounds like a lot of fun and I wanna draw that

Thinking of it now I think Hero must be a lonely avatar right? But less in the way Martin is and more in the way Peter Lukas is, not an inability to connect but a willful self imposed isolation, basically what he did after Mari died but dialed up several times

Now. Mari. Mari … Mari …. Mari … The Eye? As a consequence of perfectionism she might seek knowledge to better herself and become obsessed with the idea of improving her skills through consuming more and more information… sounds pretty classically eye avatar right? The pursuit of perfection through knowledge? And I know that’s not her whole character but the thing about TMA fears is they tend to eventuate your worst characteristics and since perfectionism is Mari’s main flaw that might dictate which fear she’d fall into

Also. The one eye? Yeah

Final thoughts:

Basil- Very definitely a flesh avatar, I mean. Flesh garden is RIGHT THERE you can’t not right? Also the flesh is my favorite of the 14 fears and Basil is my favorite character so naturally I would put the two together

Sunny- probably a Web avatar honestly? He does clearly feel a need for control in headspace based on how things work there, if he were given the opportunity to do that in his real life? That’s a power he could fall victim to I feel

Kel- Stranger avatar makes the most sense for him and his issues, I like the imagery of kind of… ship of Theseus-ing yourself into a wooden doll to represent changing yourself for the sake of others

Hero- lonely …. Realistically … but I WANT him to be a vast avatar because that was be very cool aesthetically, but realistically he is a Lonely avatar for sure

Mari- the Eye, would be fucked up if she did the trope of died and came back wrong like that archivist monster from that one episode? But avatar wise Mari is an Eye one

Nobody is gonna see this post because the overlap of Omori fans and TMA fans is so so small but whatever, my peace is said !!! Also I might draw some of these ideas (flesh basil, eye Mari, and stranger kel sound very fun to draw)

#this is a very stupid crossover but ever since listening to tma I’ve felt the need to assign fears to every character in every other media #omori #omori sunny #omori basil #kel omori #omori hero #mari omori #the magnus archives #tma podcast #the magnus pod #tma crossover

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honeyjars-sims · 5 months

Text

2.9 Itinerary

[Cece and Ben are cuddled up on the couch]

Cece: I really need to study, but I’m so comfy right now.

Ben: Yeah, me, too. It’s hard enough getting up the motivation to do anything for school as it is, much less when it means I have to stop snuggling with you.

Cece: Wait, do you have senioritis already? The semester just started!

Ben: I don’t think it’s that. All my classes are so boring. I really thought I wanted to work on the technical side of the music industry, but lately all that’s been on my mind is being onstage.

Cece: This is a hell of a time to come to that realization! I know what you mean, though. I’m glad I’ve gotten to work on my songwriting skills, but now that I’ve been performing more that’s all I want to do. What do you think you’ll do after graduation?

Ben: Well, there’s what I think I’ll do and what I want to do, and those are two different things.

Cece: Now I’m curious.

Ben: What I think I’ll do is stay in Del Sol Valley, try to get in with one of the record companies to do some sound engineering, and do that 5 days a week for the rest of my life. What I want to do is travel the world, perform in different cities, and snuggle with my girl on the tour bus every night.

Cece: Hmm, you’ve been bringing that up a lot.

Ben: A guy can dream, can’t he?

Cece: Well, since you’re soooo sure we’re going to have this fantastic life together, there’s something I should probably tell you.

Ben: Uh oh. Nothing good has ever followed those words.

Cece: It’s not that bad. I think. It’s just…I’m on the asexuality spectrum. And while I do find you attractive, I’m not sure that our sex life is going to be as active as you might expect.

Ben: [laughing] Are you for real?

Cece: Yeah, I am. You don’t have to laugh about it. If you’re not interested in me anymore, just say so–

Ben: No! Cecelia, I’m so sorry! I wasn’t laughing at you, I’m laughing because I’m greysexual and I’ve been too scared to tell you. An active sex life is pretty low on my list of priorities.

Cece: Wow. I feel like I shouldn’t be this happy to hear that the guy I like doesn’t want to have sex with me! How do you feel about kids?

Ben: Oh, now you’re all about the future talk. If I’m being honest, parenthood isn’t really my gig. I’m more of the uncle type.

Cece: Yeah, I don’t want kids, either. The thought of having a baby doesn’t appeal to me at all.

Johnny: What are you two talking about? Nobody in here better be having any babies any time soon.

Cece: Uh, definitely not. Ben and I were just talking about how we don’t want to have kids.

Lexie: Wow, you’re having those kinds of discussions already?

Ben: See, Lexie, when you have such a strong and undeniable connection like Cecelia and I do, your future becomes clear as day. Yes, I can see it now…Cecelia is about to give me an exasperated look and swat me on the arm–Ow!

Cece: I barely touched you! Anyway, we’re just making sure our expectations match up. Don’t you and Johnny talk about stuff like this?

Lexie: We haven’t, no. I’m just saying, there’s no point in rushing things.

Cece: Nobody’s rushing anything, not even this doofus. There’s no harm in making sure you’re on the same page about the big stuff before you get too invested. What if Johnny really wants kids and you don’t? Wouldn’t you rather know that now instead of later?

Lexie: I don’t know, I just turned 19. I don’t even know if I want kids or marriage yet. I just want to pass my test on Thursday and plan something fun for Spring Break.

Johnny: Yeah, I’m not trying to think about any of that stuff yet, either.

Ben: Lexie’s right, the only thing we should be thinking about right now is Spring Break. I have the itch to travel. How does everyone feel about taking a few days to unwind in Granite Falls?

Cece: I’ve always wanted to go! And since we have a few weeks, that gives me plenty of time to plan. I can get started on an itinerary so we can make sure we don’t miss out on anything.

Lexie: I’ve been there a few times with my family. I can help you out with planning! There are some really great hiking trails we should check out, and you just have to see the falls. This is going to be a blast.

Johnny: I’m totally down to get away, but I’m telling you right now, I’m not following any damn itinerary. You said "unwind" and that's what I'm gonna do.

Ben: Awesome! I'm glad everyone's on board. Cecelia and I can bring our guitars and serenade each other by the campfire.

Johnny: On second thought, maybe I'll just stay home.

Previous | Beginning of story | Beginning of chapter | Next

#ts4 #the sims #sims 4 #ts4 story #simblr #sims story #ts4 stories #sims storytelling #simlit #stksafeharbor #sh:chapter2 #sh:cecelia #sh:cecilia #sh:ben #sh:johnny #sh:lexie #safeharborstory

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so-many-fandoms-here · 1 year

Text

(English isn’t my first language so feel free to correct any mistake you notice <3)

It’s valentines day y’all! And because I am lonely today I‘m writing this!

How Alice In Borderland characters react to you asking them to be your valentine

• Characters: Shuntaro Chishiya, Hikari Kuina, Suguru Niragi, Takatora Samura (Last Boss)

• Genre: fluff

• Warnings: hints that they may have sex

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Shuntaro Chishiya

Acts like it isn’t a big deal but is beyond happy

„If I wanna be your valentine? Sure, why not?“

Will take you out to dinner after his shift

He even has flowers for you <3

He won’t break his facade and won’t give you a single hint about how excited he is

Maybe a nice walk after you ate

Will bring you home

When you offer him if he wants to come inside he will gladly accept

If you don’t he will ask you for your plans at the weekend

„It was a nice evening. May I take you out again? How about saturday?“

On his way home a smile is glued to his face

I don’t think valentines day would have any value inside of borderland but I add a little something anyways: He will probably go on a little walk with you, chatting about anything besides death. He will be even more careful to show no emotions. Bonding in Borderland isn’t the smartest thing to do but he is aware that there could be something between you. Will eventually walk you to your room and maybe will spend some more time with you there.

༺♡༻

Hikari Kuina

Absolutely thrilled that you asked her out

„Of course. I‘d love to be your valentine!“

Of course she brings you flowers

You’ll go an a long walk in the evening

After you either go to her or to yours to warm up with a cup of tea

„May I stay?“/„Do you wanna stay?“

You two will laugh a lot together

„You wanna go out again soon?“

Inside of borderland you two will also go for a walk and ending up in one of your rooms. „Let’s go on a real date after we made it out of here.“

༺♡༻

Suguru Niragi

This man will act cocky as hell

„Be your valentine? Oh so that’s what‘s going on between us.“

Just as you start to question why you even asked he adds: „But yeah. We’ll have a nice evening.“

Well saved Niragi, well saved

If you want to have flowers you asked out the wrong person

Will take you out to a bar or to the movies

Won’t admit that he was quite excited about it

„Let‘s spend the rest of our date somewhere more private, you down?“

„We should do this more often.“

Inside of Borderland you two will most likely have sex. But not this let’s-have-a-bit-fun-while-we’re-here-sex more like i-won’t-admit-it-but-i-like-you-sex

༺♡༻

Takatora Samura (Last Boss)

He‘ll look at you like you just told him you’re from the area 51

„What?“

Wants to say yes but thinks it’s a prank

After a while where you just look at him waiting for a response he realizes that you’re being serious

His heart drops to his stomach

„Y-yeah. Sure.“

Has absolutely no idea what to do as soon as he‘s at your door

You have to guide him. This man never had a date before

You take him on a walk, talking about deep things like the meaning of life and stuff

When you invite him to stay for the night he will stay awkwardly in your room at first, not knowing what to do

Guide his ass down on the couch or your bed before he stays there all night

After a while he will warm up again just like on your walk

You’ll be the one asking if he wants to go out again and again he’s too stunned to speak, thinking your messing with him

„Yeah. I‘d- I‘d love that.“

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babyfairy · 11 months

Text

hello…life updates lol

i saw the little mermaid with my mom and my niece (we went on my mom’s birthday 💌) and i loved it??!? i think halle was the perfect choice for ariel!! i was so enchanted by her mannerisms the entire film. she’s got such an otherworldly beauty so paired with her voice she REALLY looks and feels like a disney princess…loved her so much. no comment on awkwafina’s unfortunate addition to the film

we’re restarting one of our long running dnd campaigns and i’m pretty sad about it ❤️‍🩹 it’s the best choice because the setting was made by our DM a long time ago and she wants a reset because she’s improved her narration/lore/etc since its creation but it’s still sad and hard to let go. i’m really excited to relive some of my favorite moments with some new twists and i have a deeper understanding of my character now so i think i’ll only end up loving her more as i replay her. dnd with my friends is truly one of my favorite hobbies and it’s so important to me! there have been so many changes throughout the years i’ve played but i’m so glad to still be playing despite it because it’s very fun and therapeutic lol

i got a raise at work 🫨 not that it makes much of a difference LMFAO but i was seriously considering leaving my job before my raise so it’s nice to be making a little more money. the cost of living in washington is so insane that i feel really unsure of my future lol but it’s seriously my dream to own my own house. just a little one story house that i can call my own. i know it seems like a small dream lol but it’s literally my number one motivation and i’m always daydreaming about how i’d decorate my own home inside and out!!

i finally bought tears of the kingdom and i’ve been obsessed with it!!! not surprised because i loved breath of the wild lol. i love link so much he’s such a cool protagonist. always wanted to be like him when i was a kid LMAOO either him or sheik! i would say i’m more like a deku scrub…💀 like look at this fella…

like….???!!!! THATS ME…the lil angry face. love these guys. anyways i love the game LMAO i hit about 50 hours and realized i should maybe try tackling my first dungeon 💀 it’s just so much fun to run around and collect ingredients and koroks…plus i have a little pack of zelda amiibo cards so every day i hop on and scan them all so i can open treasure chests as a little treat…love it!!! i can’t wait to see king sidon again btw. that’s the light of my life

ever since my OCD diagnosis i’ve been avoiding my therapist (L) and struggling to really understand why but i think it’s because i feel guilty about being diagnosed LMAO…i have like this weird fixation on unknowingly manipulating/lying to others and my brain keeps trying to convince me i manipulated her into a diagnosis. i don’t feel like i have “real” OCD if that makes sense. and i feel this weird sense of guilt about making light of it or like taking resources from people with real, severe OCD. it’s frustrating because i know that’s definitely a symptom of OCD but i also feel like none of my symptoms are legitimate and they’re just delusions. it’s incessant. which like logically is that probably just a symptom of the OCD? yeah but i also am having trouble admitting that to myself for some reason lol. at least not without guilt or shame attached and i really try to avoid feeling that way if i can. anyways it’s a real pain in the ass and i finally sucked it up and made an appointment for tomorrow so i can try to talk through some of this with her

i’m up and down a lot, it’s been the worst year of my life i think lol but somehow i’m still chugging along 💀 every day i put the rainbow clown wig back on and march thru my day despite it all though so it’s whatever i guess. definitely going thru my saturn return and ngl so far it sucks and i definitely hate it but you know! my 20s have been Not Great so maybe my 30s will be better for it. hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. let me know what you’re up to in my inbox if you want! i always like when people message me their life updates lol. it’s sweet when people think of me as someone they want to update ❣️

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minaramen · 1 year

Text

Idol Star 2023 - Prince Stage: Minami Natsume

[Disclaimer: I’m NOT a professional translator. I’m using my knowledge from 4 years of university. Please, feel free to let me know if you notice mistranslation/typo/error of any kind]

***

Torao: Minami, are they already gone?

Minami: Hello, Midou san. Who are you talking about?

Torao: C’mon, you know who I’m talking about

Torao: The little guys

Minami: Little guys?

Minami: Ah, you’re referring to the kittens they kept at the agency. The four of them all found a caretaker

Torao: I see

Minami: Do you feel sad, Midou san?

Torao: Not at all!

Torao: You were the one who found them abandoned under the rain, after all

Torao: It’s good that all of them were adopted!

Minami: The staff looked for a place for them, so it’s thanks to them that they were brought to some kind owners who will take good care of them

Torao: I see…

Minami: 🐱

Minami: You must be really sad, Midou san

Torao: I already told you I’m not!

Torao: I thought that you may have felt sad. Recently you've done nothing but go to the agency to take care of them

Minami: Thank you so much for worrying about me

Torao: Nah, Haruka was the one worried…

Minami: Oh, my… and you were not, Midou san?

Torao: That’s not what I said…

Torao: He said that you were very fond of those kittens. Also, he talked about how nice it would have been to keep them at the agency

Minami: Yes, I had that thought once as well

Minami: However, we’re part of the entertainment world and the staff of the agency has lots of things to do. The kittens would have ended up feeling lonely

Minami: It’s good they were adopted before we got too attached to them

Torao: Yeah. I’m afraid we would have been too busy to take care of them

Torao: Also, if they got sick we may have missed the signs

Torao: They’re in a new home now, ready to start a new life

Minami: Yes. Just like us

Minami: By the way, Inumaru san is allergic to cats. Do you think he had a hard time?

Minami:

Torao: Yeah. He needed to wear sunglasses and a mask every time he passed by the agency, so I guess it wasn’t easy for him

Minami: I’ll probably never forget Isumi san looking at him and saying “You must feel like quite a celebrity, showing up like this at your own agency! So cocky!”

Torao: He’s a celebrity for real, though

Torao:

Minami: I have some pictures of Torao and the others, so I can show them to you when you miss them

Torao: Torao…?

Minami: Yes. The bigger, tabby kitten 🐱

Minami: He had a pouty look and seemed quite full of himself, but he was actually a good boy who always came to me when I called his name

Torao: W-wait

Torao: There are many things I’d like to investigate, but first of all tell me the other kittens’ names

Minami: The lively, energetic kitten was Touma. And the spoiled, clingy one was Haruka

Minami: Lastly, the kitten who always groomed the other three and acted as if he was their foster parent was Shiro

Torao: Shiro, the foster parent…?

Torao:..wait, that’s not what's important. Why did you name them after us??

Minami: I chose those names just so we wouldn’t get too attached to them

Torao: It’s more likely the opposite! It only makes the thing even more difficult, if you ask me!

Minami: However, since I noticed that the number of toys increased every time I went to take care of the kittens, I guess it was already too late

Minami: Torao loved the mouse toy you brought

Torao: D-did you know it was me…?

Minami: I saw you playing with the kittens and I decided not to bother you, so I silently closed the door

Torao: You did what?!

Minami: You seemed like you were having so much fun, after all.

Minami: I have a video of Torao, Haruka, Touma and Shiro playing with that toy. You were not there the day I recorded it, but I’ll show you tomorrow at the Idol Star recordings

Torao: Mh, I’d like to watch it

Torao: However, the names you chose make the whole thing pretty awkward. I can’t get the image of us playing around with a toy out of my mind…

Minami: Since I call you by your surnames, it doesn’t affect me that much

Torao: Yeah, I thought as much

Torao: Speaking of which, will you call us by our surnames forever?

Minami: Would you like me to call you by your names?

Torao: Nah, I don’t really mind. You can call us whatever you like

Torao: It would definitely pump everybody up if you called us by name

Minami: Oh, I’d like to see that

Minami: I will give it a try next time, maybe

Torao: Yeah. I can’t wait

The end

#minami natsume #Idolish7 #idolish7translation #zool #torao mido #touma inumaru #haruka isumi #Shiro Utsugi

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ghosthermione-reads · 1 day

Text

The Golden Enclaves, by Naomi Novik

Saving the world is a test no school of magic can prepare you for in the triumphant conclusion to the New York Times bestselling trilogy that began with A Deadly Education and The Last Graduate.

The one thing you never talk about while you’re in the Scholomance is what you’ll do when you get out. Not even the richest enclaver would tempt fate that way. But it’s all we dream about, the hideously slim chance we’ll survive to make it out the gates and improbably find ourselves with a life ahead of us, a life outside the Scholomance halls. And now the impossible dream has come true. I’m out, we’re all out–and I didn’t even have to turn into a monstrous dark witch to make it happen. So much for my great-grandmother’s prophecy of doom and destruction. I didn’t kill enclavers, I saved them. Me, and Orion, and our allies. Our graduation plan worked to perfection: we saved everyone and made the world safe for all wizards and brought peace and harmony to all the enclaves of the world. Ha, only joking! Actually it’s gone all wrong. Someone else has picked up the project of destroying enclaves in my stead, and probably everyone we saved is about to get killed in the brewing enclave war on the horizon. And the first thing I’ve got to do now, having miraculously got out of the Scholomance, is turn straight around and find a way back in.

The first two books in this series were the fun and entertaining kind, an inclusive take on the magical school genre - the kind of schools where the heroine is a bisexual indian-british sorceress and trans kids just need to buy a couple of spells in lieu of gender confirming surgery. So, a nice refreshing change from the, uh, main reference in the genre.

It also dealt with the trauma of being The Chosen One(s) and the implications of having to fight all kinds of monsters when you're just a kid, and trying to stay alive while the adults around you do nothing. So, while fun, the series always had a depth to it.

The third and final book in the series brings a lot more to this universe, as El is finally out of the school and free to roam the real world. And, apparently, save it from itself.

As we learn how enclaves are built, and El struggles with intricate ethical questions, Novik asks us to contend with what one would do to protect one's children, and what price is too much. And above all, never to trust prophecies.

I was truly moved by this book. I was reading at a coffeeshop at one point and had to stop, and go home to finish, because truthfully I did not feel like crying in public. El, our narrator, remains as wry and sarcastic as in the first two books, but the conclusion to the story is also a lot more complex and emotional under that layer of humour. Besides the ethics aspect, the characters are really well fleshed out and you can't help but care for them. Not just from a life and death perspective, but that this ptsd-riddled heroine, who did not trust anyone 2 books ago, learns to trust and rely on and help her friends in turn? Yeah, that did something to me.

#reading #book blog #book review #naomi novik #the scholomance #the golden enclaves

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symbiotic-slime · 15 days

Note

it’s even somehow awkward to “ask” you so many questions-- ":)

but:

5, 19, 22, 26, 33, 34.

5. what color are your eyes?

brown 😔 I got the default colour lol

19. imagine we’re at a sleepover, would you paint my nails?

hell yeah!! I have a bunch of nail polish, and that sounds like it would be so fun (if you wanted your nails painted ofc :3)!

22. what type of person are you?

uhhhhh like overall? ummm okay I kinda struggled to come up with an answer to this one so I just took a bunch of personality quizzes:

16 Personalities: INTJ ! this has changed several times, I’m honestly surprised because I used to get INFP or ENFP??? anyways, it’s saying I’m pretty introverted, very intuitive (creatively minded), barely more logical based than feeling based (51% to 49%, I think a good decision requires both so I think that’s why it’s very in the middle!), and very judging (which in this case means organized)!

Big 5:

sorry this is a bit of an odd way to respond to the question but I was struggling to come up with an answer lol 😅

26. a scenario that you’ve replayed multiple times?

if we’re talking like a real life scenario? I tend to replay small mistakes a lot in my head 😭

fictional scenarios tho, any pointless fluff with my favourite characters gets played on repeat in my brain :3

33. the last adventure you’ve been on?

I ventured to USA yesterday (I live close to the border and needed gas lol �� it’s way cheaper in the states than canada)

34. is there a song you know every word to by heart?

there’s so many!!! my favourite right now is probably Buried Alive by Love by HIM!!

#thanks sm for the ask!!!#ask game #and it was not awkward at all dude #I love getting asks !!!

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romanarose · 2 years

Text

Sunshine, Starlight, Sweetheart, Brightside: Chapter 1

Pairing: Stever x FEM!OC, Marc X FEM!OC latter on. Jake will come around latter on but you'll see

Masterlist

Chapter 2

Content: Smut, fluff, angst, talk of self-harm, scars, depression, suicide, family issues, abuse, stalking, sexual assault (past and an attempt latter in the fic, not by the Moon Boys of course), canon typical violence. The OC has a lot of *eMoTiOnAl DaMaGe* so like it's heavy. But also, fluffy. Things will get smutty in a few chapters.

Italics is Marc's thoughts; Bold is Steven's thoughts.

Also, this is incredibly self indulgent. Like, OC is basically me. I will not be ashamed. OC is a fucking nerd for sci-fi and music, loves kids and the color red. OC's background is similar to mine. I just wanted to write this for myself and if you like it, even better.

Steven Grant was walking down the London streets after a particularly long day at work. Donna had been making him stay late to do inventory to make up for the days he lost. Still it wasn’t super late, but late enough that the cold London fall had darkened the streets. There were an abundance of people milling about; Steven supposed that made sense, considering it was a saturday night. He had never quite understood the appeal of drinking and crowds, but he thought it was nice that everyone was so lively and joyful. They say youth is wasted on the young, but Steven didn’t agree. They had a free spirit, even if it was just for a night, that Steven and Marc never had. Steven was always in his head… well… That's what his memory was anyway. Who knew how much of that was real. As for Marc, Marc was burdened with more than any child ever should. Marc never got to enjoy life after his brother died. There was lots of drinking, of course, but not the carefree fun nights that the kids here had.

Steven smiled at a giggling couple holding hands as they passed him when he heard the scream. It was off in the distance, no one else had noticed it. He summoned the suit that he still wasn’t sure why he still had, and ran down to the ally to the girl’s voice. When he arrived, it was not exactly as he had expected. What he had expected to see was a girl being attacked in an alley by a man, being hurt. What he saw… well he still wasn’t sure if she was being attacked or not, but she was fighting back, hard. In a red dress and black boots, she fought back. Steven was temporarily distracted by this, and didn’t initially step between them, but when he saw the girl take a punch, he swooped in. Suite and all, he pulled the man off of her and she fell to the ground backing against the ally. Steven beat him until he passed out, and left him behind a dumpster as he walked over to the scared girl “Miss, are you alright?” he crouched down to her, but stopped when she flinched “Oh, sorry, it’s okay, I won’t hurt you.” He stood back up, giving her space “Are you hurt?”

“Um… no, I don’t think so…” She looked up at him, still looking nervous. She was american.

“Right, well, that’s not exactly true is it? I saw you take at least one punch.” He held out his hand for her, which she took “Can I help you get somewhere? Is there a friend you’re meeting or something? You probably need ice for that hit”

She just looked at him as he helped her up “Are you Moon Knight?” She looked uncertain.

“Uh, well…” Steven considered saying yes, but he wasn’t a fan of lying. Just say yes Steven, and send her on her way. I want to get some fucking food. Marc grumbled at Steven. Steven ignored him “Not exactly. I’m Mr. Knight.”

“Are you his… sidekick or something?”

Steven could hear Marc laughing in his head “No! I mean… god, how to explain it?” Don’t explain it. Just go home please, we’re starving. Steven said his next words purely to spite Marc “There’s two of us in my head” He tapped the side of his head.

“Oh… like multiple personality disorder?”

Steven considered this “Well… the technical term is Dissociative Identity Disorder… but… yeah”

“Oh. Sorry?” She didn’t exactly look completely sorry.

“Don’t be. Can I…” Steven don’t “Can I walk you home? Or somewhere near your home, I suppose you don’t want to show a strange man where you live… Or to a friend or… a boyfriend… Or girlfriend!” Stop, this is painful to watch “Or wherever you… feel… safe” He trailed off, but she was smiling.

“Yeah, yeah you can walk me home… my name is Samantha”

Steven considered the fact his identity wasn’t exactly a secret… don’t you fucking tell her your name Tony Stark told the world who he was You are not Tony Stark, and remember what happened to Spider-man? I don’t want that happening to y- Steven had the mask disappear “I’m Steven Grant” he smiled Jesus christ…

She smiled brightly back at him, blushing a bit as she looked at his handsome face. Steven’s full suit disappeared, leaving him in his work clothes. She looked him over, and he was embarrassed at his casual dress and wished he had dressed better.

As Steven walked her home, he felt like they had known each other a long time, the conversation flowed so naturally. Samantha asked if Steven wasn’t Moon Knight, who was? Steven explained Moon Knight and Kohnshu. Samantha didn’t even seem phased, but he supposed after the last 10 years, everyone just rolls with the punches. Samantha asked to meet Marc, but Marc refused. He wasn’t a fan of what Steven was doing. Marc worried Steven would get hurt and it would disrupt their newly found balance. Samantha asked if there was anyone else living in his head.

“Uh yeah, we think so. Well, we assume.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well there’s been black outs, black outs since Marc and I have bled into each other. We will black out and wake up and there's just… bodies. Dead bodies” good job Steven, that’s how you flirt with a girl “Neither of us killed them,” Steven added quickly.

She didn’t look as concerned as she should “Just… random bodies or specific bodies?”

“Oh! Bodies of people trying to kill us. Not just the shop keeper…or pretty girls” oh bullocks, that was bad You’re damn right that was bad. Was that flirting or a threat? Why do you care? I know you don’t want this to work. It’s a bad idea. I deserve good things Marc, we both do!

Marc shut up. Steven tried to save face with Samantha “Sorry, sorry I’m nervous.”

She smiled reassuringly and was about to speak when they were walking through a crowd of rowdy men. She quickly grabbed onto his hand and wrapped her free hand around his arm as they passed. Steven heard a few comments and whistles, and Samantha held on tighter “Sorry” she muttered as she let go on his arm. He didn’t know where he got the courage, but he continued holding her hand. He was careful not to make it seem like she had to keep holding his hand, he simply kept gently holding it.

“Don’t be sorry, I can’t say I’m complaining.”

What’s your game plan here? One night stand? Fall in love, get married? Have you already named your future kids? Marc was being condescending and Steven was tuning him out.

Samantha cleared her throat “So, this third identity” Damn, I hoped she forgot about that “Neither of you have met him? Or, I guess you guys don’t probably meet, do you. Sorry, that was probably offensive” Christ, she’s as awkward as you

“No! No thats not offensive at all. Marc and I have technically met. If he wants to, he can appear in my reflection. It’s easier to talk that way, but most of the time I can just feel when he’s present in my head and vice versa.”

“Is he here right now? Marc, I mean”

“He is, and he’s being a right bugger” Steven smiled and Samantha smiled back at him.

“This is my apartment complex… Can I… would you like a drink? I got some shitty boxed wine.”

Steven stop, I’m begging you to walk away “Samantha, I would love to!” Steven was ecstatic.

Samantha seemed relieved that he said yes “Awesome!” And please, just call me Sam. And not Sammie. Just Sam.” She took Steven down the hall.

“Understood, ‘Just Sam’. I’m Steven, not Stevie, Steven with a V”

Sam unlocked her door “Right then, Just Sam and Steven with a V. Quiet the team. Can I make you anything? I’ve got some pizza I can heat up.”

Please, if you are making me suffer through this at least feed me, I’m starving “Oh, no thank you. I’m actually vegan.”

“Oh gosh, um… would you like some chips? I think that’s about it for vegan options here, I’m so sorry” She looked mortified.

“Please, don’t worry about it, I’m not even hungry” Steven… Fine “Chips would be great, love.”

She smiled and went to the kitchen and put chips on a plate. Before she even took out glasses, Steven saw her reading the label of the wine, she turned the box around checking all the sides. What is she doing?

“Wine is clear!” she called

What does that mean? She checked the label to make sure it was vegan…

When Samantha brought everything over, Steven noticed the cups the wine was in “Sorry Steven, I don’t have any glasses so we gotta drink from mugs”

Steven found it endearing enough, but was elated to see “”Doctor Who” on the mugs “Are you a Doctor Who fan?” Steven asked excitedly.

Samantha beamed at him “Oh boy, am I?” she left up her pant leg to show a TARDIS tattoo “Big fan, like, life consuming.”

It was like they were old friends. They talked of their favorite episodes, how they felt about the Davis era vs. Moffat era vs. Chinball and spoke about David Tennant’s newest projects they were excited for. It wasn’t until Sam stifled a yawn that Steven looked at the time “Oh bullocks, it midnight, I’m so sorry to keep you so long, I must've overstayed my welcome.”

“No, not at all! My first class isn’t even until 9, plenty of time to sleep”

“Nine? You should’ve sent me away hours ago!”

“No, I was having too much fun! Everyone here likes Doctor Who, but I never meet people who are as into it as me!”

“Yeah, bit odd for an American, innit?”

“Oh I was raised in Hertfordshire, actually. My family moved out here when I was in middle school, well, secondary school for you. My dad was a lawyer and he got a job teaching at the University. I think my parents just wanted a change. I moved to London for school.”

Steven was suddenly aware she said she had class “What are you in school for?”

“Early childhood education! I work in a nursery school right now, before and after class. I just love kids”

“I bet they love you too” Steven complimented with almost nothing to base this off of, she just seemed so warm.

Sam giggled “Thanks, they are the light of my life, honestly. Every day they make me glad I changed my career”

“Oh, did you just return to school?”

“Yeah, I was in school for pre-law, following my dad's footsteps, trying to get his approval. Well I realized it wasn’t coming no matter what I did, so I just decided to go for what I wanted. Unfortunately, my parents were paying for my school and they would only pay for things they think are worthwhile. That’s fair of course, but I couldn’t afford to go to school without their money so I took some time off and worked my ass off to save up. Which is why I’m 25 and still trying to get through school. And now I’m almost done. Spring term is my last!” She smiled proudly.

“That’s great! I’m always impressed with anyone who could finish school. I always thought I’d do research or teach Egyptology or something, but school wasn’t going to happen with my brain. Thought it was a sleep disorder at the time. Hold on love, you said you go to work before school? Jesus, what time do you have to work?”

Sam looked like she had been caught “Uh, at 5:30…”

Steven stood up right “Oh my god, look at me! Prattling on like an idiot while you’re trying to sleep! I’ll get out of your hair, please excuse me” Steven grabbed his coat and began to head out, not wanting to keep her up any longer.

Seeing him out, she hoped to god he would kiss her. She wanted so badly for him to kiss her, for her to wrap her hands in his dark curls…

“Have a good night, Steven with a V, I had a lot of fun. Thank you for saving me…”

“Don’t give it another thought, just Sam. I’m glad you are safe.”

Sam scribbled something on a paper “Call me or text me sometime if you ever want to hang out again. I promise I don’t usually fight people in alleys…” she teased.

Steven took the number “Thank you, I will” He wanted to kiss her, but after her ordeal earlier that evening, it seemed inappropriate “Goodbye”

“Goodbye”

When Sam closed the door, she fell with the back to it, swooning like a girl in a silent film. She couldn’t believe the day she had. Her friends had always warned her not to yell back at men who cat called her, but something always took over. The rage she felt when she got catcalled tonight through her into a spiral and she screamed that man who walked past her. This escalated and the fight broke out. Then, low and behold, the most handsome man she had ever seen in her life comes to her rescue. And he loves Doctor Who? Her siblings told her she’d never find a man as hot as David Tennant who was a Whovian that was actually interested in her, and yet it seemed this mysterious man was everything. He was kind, brave, funny, handsome and nerdy. They had struck up a friendship, but alas he hadn’t kissed her. Maybe he wasn’t interested, maybe the whole evening was him being kind. Had she strong-armed him into staying so late? She heard a knock at the door, perhaps he forgot something. It was Steven, but he looked… off. He stood taller it seemed, his face was calm and confident.

“Steven? You forgot something?”

“Not Steven” An american accent. He smiled a sly smile. It would almost be creepy coming from a face other than the man she already trusted.

It dawned on her “Marc.”

“Pleased to meet you” He didn’t seem too pleased. “Here’s the deal.”

Sam braced herself “Yes?”

“Steven is fragile in a lot of ways. He’s had a tough time lately and my job is to make sure he doesn’t get hurt”

Sam was curious, but not hindered. “Is this where you tell me to leave him alone, or if I hurt him, you’ll kill me?”

Marc smiled a little more broadly “No. I saw you reading the box.”

“What?”

“The boxed wine. And the chip bag. You were making sure they were vegan, weren’t you? For him?”

“Yeah…”

“That was very kind of you. Steven needs more kindness in his life. I can’t give him much of that… I’ll make sure he calls you, he’s a bit shy sometimes. I need you to do something though.”

“What’s that?”

His face softened “You’ll need to kiss him. He’ll never make the first move. He’s too polite. He’s afraid of accidentally kissing a girl who doesn’t want to be kissed. You have to make the move.”

Sam smiled “You’re a good friend to him, Marc. You from Chicago?”

“Yeah, I didn’t think my accent was that bad though.”

“I’m from Zion. I can always pick out Chicagoland people. I’ll see you later Marc, thank you.”

“Be kind to him” Marc pleaded finally “Whatever happens, just be gentle.”

“I will,” Sam promised.

“Goodnight”

Sam watched him leave. She could’ve sworn she saw the exact moment he turned back to Steven.

*********************

Chapter 2

THANK YOU FOR READING!!!!

Reblogs really really help share my work, but comments mean the world to me <3

#moon knight #steven grant #marc spector #marc spector smut #moon night smut #moon night fanfiction #steven grant smut #jake lockley #marc spector moon knight #marc spector fanfic #this will be sinful

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supermarine-silvally · 5 months

Note

Hellooooo, it's meeeeee (remember that song?). I'm here to ask for all of the Relationships asks for Yara. Hope you're having an amazing day!

All of them? Hell yeah! (I've had so much fun with these asks you can't even imagine lol)

Ask game here!

1. What is your OC's relationship to their family - biological or found?

She has a great, very close relationship with her found family on the Whitebeard Pirates. She loves and adores Whitebeard as if he really were her biological father. There’s a line Marco had in the anime about why the WBP call Whitebeard “Pops” -- something along the lines of “Because he calls us sons. We’re all hated by the world, so it makes us happy.” And in Yara’s case, this is very true as well. She’s Whitebeard’s youngest “daughter” and gets spoiled by her “father” as such. Yara doesn’t know anything about her biological mother and only finds out about her biological father because of an old bounty poster issued before the creation of the Seven Warlords. She spends a lot of time resenting Mihawk and denying their connection until he saves her life at the end of Marineford and takes her back to his castle, where they finally have a chance to reconnect. (It’s at this point Yara learns about her biological mother, too). Post-timeskip, Mihawk and Yara have a much better relationship. It’s still a little strange, but a lot of the resentment seems to have faded away. They have the sort of relationship where they won’t talk for months at a time but then one will call the other out of the blue (probably Yara going “You let that CLOWN be in charge of Cross Guild??? Wtf were you thinking???”) and they’ll spend the next five hours on the den den mushi doing nothing but shit-talking Buggy.

2. Does your OC act differently around different people?

Not really? Yara is Yara. The only real factor on how different she is around other people is how much she likes them.

3. Is your OC a good leader? Do they like to lead or do they prefer to follow?

Yara prefers not to lead (though she’s just as skilled as the division commanders on Whitebeard’s crew, she refused to take a command position even when it was offered to her because she didn’t want one) but can and will step up in a pinch. She served as Acting Commander of 2nd Division in Ace’s absence during his Blackbeard hunt and after his capture in the Paramount War. She fully intended to relinquish the position upon Ace’s return, however.

4. Who influenced them the most on their journey?

Whitebeard. He saw promise in Yara as a young teenager and has been fostering her development ever since while also giving her the paternal love she never got growing up.

5. Do they have any siblings?

Not biologically, but she counts the other WBP as being like her siblings (except Ace, for… obvious reasons lmao). Marco is the person she’s closest to and openly refers to as a brother, despite their 20-odd year age difference. (In the anime, she would refer to him as “Marco nii-san”). Once she and Zoro train together during the timeskip, he becomes like a brother to her, too-- and Perona has decided that she and Yara are sisters now as well.

6. Are they more dominant or submissive in their relationships? (Not just sexually if even at all - Do they give in easily? Are they demanding? Are they stubborn?)

She’s very dominant and can be quite stubborn. Once she has her mind made up about something, it can be difficult to persuade her otherwise. That being said, she’s practical enough to know when to back down. But she’s no pushover and there are many things on her list of stuff she would rather die than do.

7. What type of friend are they?

Yara is fiercely loyal to her friends-- the kind who will help someone move and bury a body, lol. But she’s also brutally honest with them when she needs to be. If she thinks one of her friends is making a huge mistake, she’ll tell them. She might then proceed to go along with the mistake (i.e. allowing Ace to pursue Blackbeard while his other crewmates tried to stop him) but will at least not lie and say it’s a great idea.

8. How loyal are they?

Extremely so. Her loyalty is one of her defining character traits. Even long after the WBP disbanded, she still identifies herself with them and refuses to remove her tattoo or renounce her allegiance to Whitebeard. As mentioned above, however, that loyalty can be her undoing, particularly when she chose to remain true to her loyalty to (and love for) Ace in supporting his decision to go after Blackbeard.

9. How far would they be willing to travel for a loved one? What would it take to convince them?

Travel as in physically? Yara’s loyalty would definitely take her anywhere in the Four Seas, the Grand Line, and the New World, no questions asked. If someone that she’s loyal to asks her to be somewhere, she will be. As for how far she’d go for a loved one… Well, she was more than willing to jump right into starting a literal massive war to rescue Ace, so there’s that. The world could burn to the ground for all she’d care. All she wanted was Ace back, repercussions be damned.

#oc: bravada yara #my ocs #asked and answered #chats with evie

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puppy-coded · 2 years

Text

Waffles DNI{R.W.}

warnings: Reader has problems with waffles, terrible siblings, definite mentions of food

pairing: platonic!Ron x reader

word count: 883 words about hating waffles

A/N: So... for context... my mutuals and I probably should not hang out in real life. @authorofemotion started this. We’re all insane weirdos.

You and Ron were walking into the Great Hall together for breakfast after he waited patiently for you to get ready. It was nice having a friend as sweet as Ron, according to you. You two were talking about random things, Ron trying to analyze your dreams because of divination, and actively trying not to run into pillars, ghosts, or other students.

You two got to your house table and, despite sitting in front of the waffles, you took toast with butter for breakfast.

“Okay, I have to ask: What’s wrong with you?” Ron asked, pulling his plate closer to him. He’s always known you to not like waffles, for whatever reason.

“Lots of things,” You shrugged. “Please be more specific.”

“Why don’t you like waffles?” He asked, taking a bite of his own breakfast.

“They are of the devil,” You said dramatically. “Long story, don’t ask.”

He shrugged and kept eating. “Okay. Just know that I will ask for that story in the future.”

🧇 🧇 🧇

Ronald Bilius Weasley would not leave you alone. He thought it was so absurd that you didn’t like waffles. He’s seen you destroy pancakes like nobody’s business but waffles? They were made of the same batter and just had little pockets in them as syrup holders.

Every time Ron was about to ask for the waffle story either a teacher would start talking or he’d get distracted.

It was a long two hours in Ron’s eyes.

He forgot about it and never mentioned it for the rest of the school year.

🧇 🧇 🧇

“Hey Ronald!” You chirped, making your way to the Gryffindor table. Last day of term really does things for the happiness scale.

“Hey (Y/N), ready for summer?” He asked excitedly.

“Always! Which place are we heading to this time? Yours or mine?” You asked.

Ron thought about for a moment, at least, he looked like he was thinking. “Yours. Probably less chaotic than mine,” He decided.

You cringed at that assessment. “Really?”

“Yeah, you’re an only child right?” No answer. “Right?”

“... No...?” You said, trying to process what just came out of Ron’s mouth. “I thought it was common knowledge, I talk about my siblings all the time.”

“I have never once heard you talk about your siblings. Maybe you do to your housemates. How many siblings?” Ron groaned, wanting a semi-peaceful half of a summer break.

“... three,” You said quietly.

“Three? Oh thank the lord! I thought we were going to have the same amount from the way you were acting,” Ron said, clearly relieved at the information.

You shook your head and rolled your eyes. “Alright, let’s get planning. We have all day today and on the train tomorrow.”

🧇 🧇 🧇

You had dressed comfortably in your muggle clothes for the long long train ride and had a bag of everything you thought you would need during it. Notebook, pens, pillow, blanket. Everything. Not necessities but nice to have for a long train ride.

You two planned, talked, and napped the entire time. It was fun. You failed to, however, prepare Ron for the chaos of your family.

“So... Are we going to talk about waffles now?” He asked awkwardly. “And why you hate them?”

Your eyes narrowed slightly at him. “If you must know... my siblings are animals. Probably stocked up on ingredients for them,” You huffed with your arms crossed.

“That doesn’t sound so bad. I wish my siblings would make me waffles.”

You laughed at Ron’s very innocent statement and didn’t say anything. Before long you were napping. Blissful sleep before the storm of waffles.

🧇 🧇 🧇

When it was time to get off the train it felt a little refreshing. It was nice to be back in London with nothing exciting happening and nothing that could traumatize you for life.

You got your things and basically dragged Ron to your parents.

“Your parents seem like perfectly normal people,” Ron whispered.

“I never said my parents were animals, I said my siblings were,” You reminded him.

You could hear your dad laugh at what you said since, you know, you were only a few feet away from them and he probably heard you.

“Ready to go to the animal hut you guys?” Your mom asked, also probably hearing you.

“Yes!”

“Is it too late to go back?”

🧇 🧇 🧇

You were nervously fiddling with the hem of your shirt as your mom unlocked the door. Knowing what was behind it you braced yourself.

You knew it was going to come to a shock to Ron, which is why you decided to be a bad friend and not tell him.

The second that door opened and your parents were through you heard your siblings.

“(Y/N)’s home!” Followed by waffles being thrown at you.

It was a storm of waffles. You immediately put your arms to your face and yell out. You grabbed Ron and headed for your room. You screamed and flailed your arms the whole way like someone would if there was a bug right by their ear.

You shoved Ron inside your room and slammed the door behind you. Slightly out of breath and leaning on the door.

“Now I see why you don’t like waffles,” Ron breathed out.

#ronald weasley #ron weasley #ronald weasley x reader #ron weasley x reader #ron x reader #ronald weasley x you #ronald weasley x y/n #ron weasley x you #ron weasley x y/n #platonic #platonic!ron x reader #ron x you #ron x y/n #harry potter #harry potter x reader #waffles #➴➵➶➴athena writes➶➴➵➶#-ˏˋ♥̩͙♥̩̩̥͙♥̩̥̩ ⑅ronald weasley⑅ ♥̩̥̩♥̩̩̥͙♥̩͙ˊˎ-

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lettheladylead · 2 years

Text

running in circles

chapter forty-nine: this will be our year, took a long time to come summary: Goldie and Scrooge spend time with the kids. warnings: references to sex, nothing explicit wordcount: 9384 playlist (will be updated as chapters are posted): shorturl.at/bfBCQ ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33776632/chapters/104223471 site link: https://sites.google.com/view/running-in-circles/chapters/chapter49

here’s chapter forty-nine!! text will also be included in this post for those of you that don’t use ao3:

2020; Yucatán:

“Did you know Chichén Itzá has some Toltec influence in the design of the main pyramid?”

“No. How and why would I know that?”

“I didn’t! But I love learning new facts!”

“I thought you might appreciate it, Webby.”

“But did you know that they sacrificed thousands of people here and carved their terrified faces on the Platform of Skulls as a reminder?”

“Um…I don’t know if they talk about that in the Woodchuck Guidebook…”

“They probably wanted to spare you the gorey details, Hue.”

Goldie and Scrooge walked ahead of the squabbling trio of children, leading the way to a cave at the base of the ancient Mayan pyramid. They’d arrived in Yucatán that morning and were excited to finally be closer to their prize - though despite Goldie’s promises, she wasn’t entirely sure there’d be a treasure to enjoy.

Louie, Webby, and Huey were trailing behind and were very pumped for what was supposedly lying ahead. Louie, in particular, was excited about the gold. Huey seemed most excited about the history, while Webby was just happy to be out on an adventure.

Goldie was excited that Scrooge had finally said something to her about the pyramid photograph she’d left for him back in 2017. She'd thought for sure that he had forgotten or lost it (since it wasn’t with the ancient coin he moved to his old lockbox), but it turned out that his little sort-of daughter had stolen it, shoved it in a locket, and then placed that locket on some family tree she kept in her room. It was weird. But cute. And definitely made sense for someone with so much of Scrooge’s DNA. He could get intricately obsessed when he wanted to be.

So when Scrooge texted her about taking some of the kids on a little trip down south, Goldie was happy. It was happening more often now than ever before in her life - real, genuine happiness - and though a big part of Goldie was constantly afraid of it being ripped away from her at any moment, for now she was enjoying it.

“Remember, bairns, we’re just normal, regular tourists for right now,” Scrooge said with a wag of his finger. He was wearing his favorite outfit for jungle adventures - it had plenty of pockets, a nice green camouflage, and made him a lot less recognizable. “Goldie and I will assess the area while you three enjoy the sights.”

“Yeah, Uncle Scrooge, we remember,” Louie said with an eye roll. Though it seemed almost impossible, he had definitely gotten sassier when he turned thirteen. “Just act natural ‘til the sun goes down.”

Huey shoved his Woodchuck Guidebook back under his hat. “Wouldn’t it have just been easier for you to pay for the area to be shut down for a day? Your money is pretty much unlimited at this point.”

Goldie chuckled and elbowed Scrooge in the side, who let out an offended peh! “There’s no reason to waste my money on somethin’ like that when we can just use flashlights instead!”

“Your uncle certainly does love a challenge,” Goldie said with a smile. She was making fun of him, but she also really loved that about him. It was one of the cornerstones of their relationship, after all.

Webby stepped closer to the adults, standing next to Goldie as the five of them stared in awe at the beautiful structure. The sun was shining brightly behind it, giving the top of the pyramid a glowing halo effect. Webby felt an inescapable urge to grab Goldie’s hand, and reached out for it…

…only for Goldie to move her hand out of reach at the last second, laying it on Scrooge’s arm.

Was that on purpose? Or was it an ill-timed coincidence? Webby wasn’t sure, but the bad feeling in her gut stayed there nonetheless. She knew Goldie wasn’t her mother and had no interest in being a motherly figure to her - which was fine, she had Della and Penumbra and her granny and plenty of female role models - but she still wanted Goldie to like her. It took Webby a while to want that, since she'd genuinely disliked the woman for such a long time. But things had changed, and she saw how happy Goldie and Scrooge were together, and she wanted to be a part of that happiness.

Goldie was saying something to Scrooge and Huey was saying something to Louie when some tourists walked by and the five of them froze awkwardly, not wanting to continue talking about their future illegal activities where someone might hear. At that, they split up - Goldie and Scrooge going one way and the three teens going the other.

“I read that there’s a whole series of tunnels under Chichén Itzá,” Huey said. “I wonder if that’s how the locals dealt with the heat or avoided people they didn’t want to talk to.”

“I can identify with that impulse,” Louie muttered, shoving his hands into his hoodie. He had never regretted a fashion choice more than he was regretting this. It was halfway through October, but it was so hot he felt like his feathers would melt off.

Webby waltzed over to the informational plaque, reading the Spanish with ease. “Ooh, guys! This actually mentions the cave!”

The boys rushed over to see, but neither of them could understand the words on the plaque.

“It says that the cave was first discovered in 1966 by an archeologist named Victor Euphonia Pinto! He never fully excavated the cave and quickly closed it back up again without explanation.”

Louie frowned. “That’s kind of ominous.”

“What? You think he closed it back up for a bad reason?” Huey asked.

“Oooh, maybe there’s an evil demon down there and he didn’t want to let it loose!” Webby said with excitement, dancing around in a circle. “Then instead of just digging through dust for old artifacts, we could get into a really dangerous fight! See who’s truly the toughest duck here!”

Huey and Louie chuckled. “Webby, we all know you’re the toughest duck around.”

“Yeah, well…I don’t know if Goldie knows that.” Webby crossed her arms over her chest. “She still treats me like I’m a kid she got saddled with.”

Louie, who’d spent the most time with Goldie one-on-one and who was considered the Goldie Expert amongst the kids, shrugged. “I think she’s still not sure what your relationship is supposed to be.”

Webby sighed and rocked on her heels. “By now, I think she should have some idea.”

Louie elbowed his cousin, chuckling lightly. “It took her over a hundred years to figure out where she stands with Uncle Scrooge, I think you’ll have to give her a break, Webs.”

Webby smiled at that, comforted by Louie’s nonchalant attitude. “Yeah, you’re right. We’ll figure it out.”

A few hundred feet away from them, Scrooge and Goldie were walking arm-in-arm and pointing to random things around the pyramid to make themselves seem as touristy as possible. Goldie even took out her phone to get some nice selfies - though she made sure the view of the pyramid behind their heads was helpful to plan out their scheme.

“It’s reconnaissance, Goldie,” Scrooge said with an exasperated smile. “Not casin’ the joint.”

“Semantics,” she responded happily. “I really don’t think we need all this prep work, though. I’ve been here at night before and it was completely dead.”

“Better to be overprepared than unprepared.”

“Yes, of course. I’ll make sure to embroider that on a pillow.”

They walked around together for another minute, surveying and checking out the area. There was nothing that would get in the way of their plans, Goldie pointed out, and she saw the cave entrance location was completely unprotected.

“I dinnae know what ye expected,” Scrooge said as they headed back towards the parking lot. “It’s just a little wire fence.”

“That's what I was saying before, Scroogey.”

After a moment of comfortable silence, Scrooge cleared his throat as he prepared to address an elephant. “I, um…I wanted to ask ye about Webby.”

“She can’t call me ‘Mom’.”

“Ha, ha. No, Goldie.” Scrooge stopped the both of them in their tracks and grabbed his partner’s hand to keep her attention. “I’d really like it if you two could try spendin’ some time together.”

“You act like I’m ignoring her.” Goldie frowned. “I just took her out for ice cream and girl talk two weeks ago.”

“I-I know, but…” He took a second to consider his words. “I know ye arenae interested in bein’ a mother to her, but since I am technically her father -”

“Which is why she still so lovingly calls you Uncle Scrooge.”

“...and since you are technically my wife,” he continued with a glare.

Goldie held back her sarcastic comment for that descriptor and let him go on.

“...I need ye to try harder, dear.” Scrooge grabbed her other hand and held both her hands tightly. “I want her to love ye as much as I do.”

“That’d be a little creepy, don’t you think?”

“Goldie! I’m bein’ serious!”

She sighed and squeezed his hands back. “I know, alright? I’m working on it. Just because I bonded with Sharpie right away doesn’t mean it works the same for each of your kids. Pink’s gonna take some time.”

“I know,” Scrooge said with a sigh as they started walking again.

“It doesn’t help that she takes everything I say the wrong way. She definitely gets that from you.”

“Me? Now that’s the pot callin’ the kettle black!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Scrooge McDuck.”

—

When they regrouped, Webby was very obviously not looking at Goldie, and Goldie pretended not to notice. She took the wheel of their rented jeep, ignoring Scrooge’s complaints that he’d wanted to drive, and listened closely while Huey gave her directions to the hotel.

Things were going to get awkward after they checked in. Scrooge had set them up with a girl’s room and a boy’s room since none of the hotel rooms were big enough to comfortably fit all five of them. (Not comfortably by Goldie’s standards, of course. Scrooge would’ve been fine sleeping on the floor for a few thousand pesos less.)

Their rooms were right next to each other with a shared door, which made life easier. They all agreed to take an hour to unpack and relax, then they’d go eat dinner and get ready for the caper.

Goldie and Webby entered their shared room and Webby quickly bounded over to the bed closer to the window.

Goldie frowned, unsure if she should say to this child what she’d say to anyone else. “I…usually take that bed.”

Webby was unzipping her suitcase and paused. “Oh. Me, too. But we can switch!”

“Yeah…” Goldie felt the awkwardness in the room like a weight on her shoulders. “It’s just closer to the air conditioning and I like the cold, so…”

“No, yeah, that makes sense!” Webby said, tossing her suitcase from one bed to the other. “I’m not picky!”

“Right, thanks.”

The two of them unpacked relatively silently, wondering why they didn’t go with a kid room and an adult room instead of boys and girls. Webby was perfectly comfortable around the boys, apparently they had sleepovers all the time. But Scrooge had insisted that he didn’t trust the boys to stay away from the minibar, so he wanted them to be supervised. So he said. Goldie had a feeling he was actually trying to force her and Webby to spend more time together.

She’d been trying. Despite every urge not to, she really had. Forcing it on them was only going to make their relationship more awkward. Webby needed time to adjust and so did Goldie.

So it was going to be awkward. Goldie had survived years of torture, she could definitely survive a weekend hotel stay with a teenage girl whose biological father she was seeing. And married to. But the kid didn’t know that part and it was probably better to keep it that way.

—

After more awkwardness (including an especially awkward dinner), the five ducks headed back to Chichén Itzá. It was dark out, almost nine, and the further they got from the hotels and restaurants, the quieter and creepier it became. Webby and Scrooge seemed excited, but the other three just kept their heads up. You never knew what could come out at night.

They parked and exited the car, same as they had a few hours earlier, and started making their way to the pyramid. It didn’t look like anyone else was around, but they avoided using their flashlights just yet and let the light of the moon guide them.

“Um…” Huey said quietly. “Did you guys know that there’s actually a bunch of smaller pyramids inside the main pyramid? It’s like-”

“Shh!” Louie shushed angrily, elbowing his brother. “Why are you so bad at this?”

Huey pouted and opened his beak to talk back, then realized by doing so he’d just be proving his brother right. He sighed instead and they all continued to walk in silence. Though he really wanted to tell everyone about the Jaguar Gods and their origin stories. Webby probably knew about them already, but he still wanted to share.

Goldie hopped over the wire fence and motioned for everyone to follow her. She guided them over to the area that had the cave, though she quickly realized the entrance was smaller than expected. The kids could fit in, probably, but not her and Scrooge, and they weren’t about to toss the tykes in by themselves.

“The Treasure of the Jaguar Gods is in…there?” Louie asked quietly.

Goldie nodded, digging through her bottomless bag. “Should be.” She pulled out a big shovel, much to Louie’s surprise. “Just give me a few minutes to widen this.”

Scrooge stretched and watched, not sure how to help. Normally he’d take the shovel from her and make some comment about how she didn’t like to do hard work and he would do it faster and more efficiently, but lately he hadn’t felt the urge to deride her. Especially not around the kids.

She’d been trying, despite his comment otherwise earlier in the day. And he knew that. He just wanted her to try a little bit harder because he was feeling a strain on his relationship with Webby and knew that Goldie was partially to blame for it.

(The rest of the blame would probably go to…the circumstances that led to Webby’s existence.)

Part of him knew that he should back off. Goldie was known to disappear in a moment’s notice when she was feeling emotionally threatened, and though she’d been sticking around for days and weeks at a time…there was no guarantee that that would last.

She was like a ticking time bomb. He wanted to assume things were alright, but when he’d done that in the past, things went sour. It was better to brace himself for the possibility than be caught off-guard. Like he’d said to her earlier that day - better to be overprepared than unprepared.

As Goldie started digging, Huey was quietly reading aloud from his Woodchuck Guidebook while Webby and Louie were anxiously waiting for the opportunity to get some treasure.

Goldie lifted up a patch of dirt, feeling confident, when the two more excited teens got a little too close for her liking. She gave them a side glare that Louie noticed right away.

He frowned and tugged on Webby’s arm, pulling them a bit away from the older woman.

Unfortunately, they ended up in exactly the wrong spot. The dirt beneath them was dry and weak and cracked under the weight of two little ducklings. Neither even realized what was happening until they were falling through the ground and down into the cave below.

“Sharpie!”

“Webby!”

Scrooge, Goldie, and Huey shouted at the two ducks that fell, foregoing all their earlier warnings to stay quiet. They ran towards the broken ground to see Louie and Webby at least fifteen feet down laying on the dirt and rubbing their heads.

Scrooge rolled up his sleeves, getting ready to join them and make sure they were alright, until Goldie rushed past him and dove into the cave with the kids. She landed on her feet roughly, taking a moment to hold her hands over her knees.

“Are you two alright?” she asked Louie and Webby, who were staring at her like she had two heads. “What?”

Louie smirked, still brushing dirt off of his hoodie. “I can’t believe you dove in after us like that. So heroic.”

“It kind of was,” Webby added, combing dirt out of her hair with her fingers. “We’re fine, though.”

“Good.”

“Goldie! Is everyone okay?!” Scrooge shouted from above.

She responded with a thumbs up, though everyone could tell she was still focused on her knees. It seemed like the landing did a number on her.

“We’ll be down in a moment,” Scrooge added. “Huey’s just grabbin’ some rope and tools from the car.”

Uninterested in waiting, Goldie looked up to see Louie and Webby using their cell phone flashlights to search around the cave. There were plenty of artifacts around, though nothing was standing out as gold. It was always possible they’d stumbled into the wrong cavern or someone had gotten the golden treasure before them, but they’d continue looking just in case.

Louie found a little idol and picked it up without a moment’s hesitation. “This is a cool looking bat…”

“Drop it, Sharpie!” Goldie scolded, walking closer to him. “Bats and Mayan tombs are a really bad combo.”

“Why’s that?”

“Bats represent death!” Webby answered cheerfully. “Didn’t you read up on Mayan culture before we came here?”

“I think you know me well enough by now to answer that yourself.”

Goldie chuckled at Louie's response and they all continued to look around. Though she wondered about the artifact with bats all over it, because it was surrounded by several similar artifacts that were all untouched even though other objects around them had clearly been touched before.

"I wonder if the bats are why Victor Euphonia Pinto decided to close this place up and never come back!" Webby said suddenly.

"Wait, what?" Goldie asked, turning towards her.

"Oh, I assumed you knew about it! An archeologist named Pinto apparently came down here but then left and boarded it up and never published anything about it!"

"...no, I didn't know about that." Goldie suddenly felt a chill down her spine and glanced around the room suspiciously. "This might've been a bad idea.'

Just as she said that, all the lights of their phones suddenly shut off.

"That can't be good…" Louie mumbled, but Goldie noticed that he seemed further away from her than just a moment earlier.

"Sharpie?" she whispered, getting no response. "Pink- er, Webby?"

Still nothing.

Goldie looked around and realized the darkness around her was getting darker. She couldn't hear the kids, couldn't feel them around her, and she couldn't pinpoint the spot where they fell into the cave. Where was Scrooge? Wasn't there some moonlight before? Suddenly there was nothing.

Concerned, Goldie took a few deep breaths and tried to find a wall. She reached out and felt the damp stone in front of her, tapping her fingertips against it.

As she did this, a bright light appeared behind her and she quickly turned around to see what it was.

"...huh?"

It was Scrooge. But he had his eyes closed and he was wearing all white and he was, well…he was glowing. It was weird. It was mesmerizing. Almost hypnotizing.

"Scrooge…?" she mumbled quietly, walking closer to him.

As this was happening, Louie Duck finally got his phone light to work again. He shook his phone and quickly scanned the area around him, seeing Webby rubbing her eyes from the sudden light.

"Oop, sorry, Webs." Louie continued to scan. "Aunt Goldie? Are you…?"

He cut himself off when he came across Goldie walking slowly towards a beautiful (but absolutely terrifying) duck woman with long, black hair. She was dressed in a long white gown and was combing her long fingers through her hair. And though Goldie was walking towards her, she didn't look totally in control of herself.

"Aunt Goldie! Stop!" Louie yelled, rushing over to grab her hand. "Wake up! Come on!" He squeezed her hand and pulled on it roughly while trying not to look at the scary glowing woman.

His efforts weren't really helping, other than attracting Scrooge and Huey's attentions up above them. "What's goin' on down there?! Goldie?!"

Webby stood up and stared at the scene in front of her, fists clenched by her side. She'd been trained for situations like this all her life and she wouldn't let anything bad happen to her father's girlfriend. She ran over and screamed out as she jumped and kicked the demonic-looking woman in the face.

The demonic woman fell back with a screech. She held her face with one hand and dug the claws of her other hand into the wall.

Webby stood her ground with her fists up, ready to hit her again.

Goldie had fallen on her ass in the opposite direction of the woman, scared and confused. She barely noticed Louie doting over her and asking her questions, too busy trying to get her focus back on the real world.

Scrooge and Huey came down into the cave just as the scary woman hissed and slithered away, melting into her shadow and slinking into the cracks.

"What was that?!" Huey asked, immediately terrified.

"I…" Goldie started, but her mouth felt so dry. She could barely speak. She finally looked at Louie and let him help her into a standing position, though her legs still felt weak.

"I think that was Xtabay!" Webby said excitedly. "I can't believe I got to fight her! That was on my bucket list!"

Scrooge chuckled. "Good job, dear. But…are you alright, Goldie? You dinnae look well…"

Goldie shook her head. "Charming as always. I'm…I'll be fine. Just need to get over the shock, I think."

"It was weird," Louie said quietly. "Like you were in a trance."

"I was." Goldie shook her head again and put a hand against the wall. She started walking along the wall, trying to find somewhere to sit for a minute.

"Should we…leave, then? Get you some medical attention, maybe?" Huey asked, stepping closer to her. "What if Xtabay comes back?"

Scrooge shook his head as Goldie glared at the teenager. She responded with an annoyed, "Are you kidding? This is just a momentary setback. She won't come back now that we know who she is, so keep looking for the treasure!"

Huey frowned, unconvinced, and decided to keep an eye on Goldie despite her order otherwise. Normally he was a big fan of listening to adults, but he knew Goldie was troubled and didn't take care of herself the way she should. She was probably in worse shape than she realized. And the demon woman could definitely come back and just try to kill them all, he'd read about her before and she was powerful.

The other three went back to looking, though Louie glanced at Goldie out of the corner of his eye every few seconds.

Goldie continued her search for somewhere to sit and finally came across a low shelf carved into the rock. She reached over to see if there was enough space for her to sit, accidentally knocking something onto the ground.

Everyone jumped at the smash of ceramics on the ground, and Goldie grimaced. "Sorry, I was-"

As if she'd been cursed with terrible luck, Goldie was quickly surrounded by a cloud of dust that came out of the little jar she'd smashed. She didn't notice until it was too late and accidentally breathed some of it in, sending herself into a violent coughing fit.

"Aunt Goldie!" Huey said cautiously, a cloth mask already around his beak. "You've gotta be more careful!'

"Usually I am," she mumbled between coughs.

Scrooge, Webby, and Louie continued to search, but the three of them were feeling like this adventure was a bit of a bust.

"Maybe we should just go," Louie said.

"Don't be quitters! I'll be fine, come on. Scrooge, I know you're not about to pack it up just because I breathed in some disgusting cave dust!" Goldie said angrily.

"She's got a point, bairns. We've been through much worse together and still carried on!"

"It's not like we have a long journey back to the car," Goldie added. "I'll be fine. Find that gold!''

Though uncomfortable with it, Webby and Scrooge and Louie continued to search. Huey didn't care what she said and pulled a water bottle out from under his hat, handing it to her.

Goldie stared for a second, the large part of her that hated being helped wanting to brush him off. But she did need some water. "Thanks, Scout."

Huey nodded. "Are you sure you're alright?'

She took a long swig of water. "Don't ask me that again. If I say I'm fine, then I'm fine."

He was still unconvinced, but understood that Goldie wasn't going to concede.

"Ooh!' Webby shouted as she dug through some dirt on the opposite side of the cave from Goldie and Huey. "I think I see gold!"

Goldie smirked at Huey, who continued to frown. He wasn't interested in the treasure so much as the health of his pseudo-aunt (that he'd recently started to suspect was really his aunt through marriage, based on some conversations he'd overheard).

"Excellent, Webby!" Scrooge shouted, walking closer to her. "I knew ye could find it!"

As the two of them were trying to grab their treasure, Louie was struggling with his loyalty to Goldie against his loyalty to gold. He kept glancing between his aunt and his uncle, not sure who he should be standing by.

He felt like Scrooge was treating Goldie's experience as if it was nothing, but so was Goldie. Maybe he did that because they had an agreement about this sort of thing. But Louie had never signed any sort of agreement. He didn't think Goldie looked alright at all.

As Scrooge and Webby revealed a big pile of golden treasure hidden in a medium-sized wooden chest, Louie finally made the choice to join Huey in giving Goldie too much unwanted attention. He didn't care if she'd yell at him, he could see her legs wobbling.

"There, we got the treasure. Let's get out of here," Louie said. Goldie opened her mouth, definitely ready to scold him, but he cut her off with an annoyed, "I wanna leave, this isn't me treating you like an old lady. It's damp and gross down here so let's go."

Goldie frowned, unable to argue with that. She knew he was playing her, but she also knew she wanted to leave. Get some cold water, take a hot shower…mostly she wanted to go to sleep.

Huey put a hand on her arm and Goldie wanted to push him away, but a little part of her heart ached. She didn't want to be babied like this, but it was something she hadn't experienced in a long time. Scrooge used to treat her like that, but she took it as an insult. When Huey and Louie did it? She felt…loved.

It was scary.

So she nodded and started towards the rope that Huey and Scrooge had used to come down. She was feeling a little woozy still…hopefully the fresh air would clear her mind.

Scrooge watched as Webby collected the box of golden treasures, proud as could be. He felt a little bad about Goldie's hiccups on this adventure, but knew she'd be embarrassed and mad if he treated her the way the boys were. At least Webby knew that Goldie was too proud for that kind of treatment.

"Okay, Uncle Scrooge," Webby said quietly, still feeling a little awkward about how she should refer to her biological father. "I think we should go."

He considered suggesting they stay, see if there was any other golden treasure they were missing, but knew that Webby was right. They'd found what they came for and Goldie probably wanted to go get a drink and a shower. "Of course. I'll follow right after ye."

Webby smiled and skipped towards the exit, big heavy box balanced in her arms. She'd always been strong, but had started lifting weights while she studied and was stronger than ever now. She could easily hold the box with one hand while climbing the rope with her other.

Scrooge smiled and watched her go, happy that Goldie and the boys were already up top. Before he left, he decided to use his phone (Goldie had forced him to buy a smartphone and he had to admit, it was much more useful than his old flip phone) to light up the cave and do one last sweep.

His flashlight landed on the spot where Goldie had smashed a little jar, and he immediately noticed the broken pieces of limestone made up the shape of a bat.

Scrooge frowned deeply. That couldn't be a good sign.

—

Goldie didn't start showing symptoms until the next day when they were back in the air.

She'd been sluggish and tired and a little cranky since waking up that morning - unable to give any attention to the awkwardness between her and Webby because she was too busy trying to find the right combination of pills to ease her minor sufferings.

But when they were in the air again - probably about when they'd reached Texas airways - Goldie suddenly ran to the bathroom and puked.

It was loud and caught everyone's attention (except for Launchpad, who was happily shouting fun facts about Texas that were mostly not true - like that there were six horses for every one person in the state).

Scrooge walked over and knocked on the bathroom door. "Ah…Goldie, dear? Are you alright?"

She reached out and kicked at the door, scaring Scrooge. "Do I sound alright?!"

He frowned and glared at the offending door, fighting the urge to say something insulting. They'd moved past that (for the most part) and this definitely wouldn't be the right time to fall back into old habits.

Huey joined Scrooge, Woodchuck Guidebook in-hand. "Based on all of her symptoms, which started after the trance and got worse after she inhaled all that dust, I think Aunt Goldie might have been poisoned.”

Scrooge looked down at his nephew, trying not to seem nervous. It wasn’t like Goldie had never been poisoned before. “I, um…I think ye might be right, lad.”

Goldie groaned from the bathroom. “I didn’t-!” She paused to dry heave. “...swallow anything!”

“You inhaled a strange dust, though. After being attacked by a demon. I think we have a right to be concerned.”

Louie and Webby joined the other two standing in front of the bathroom, though they all knew Goldie would kill them if she saw this line of concerned family members waiting for her.

“Should I call Lena and Violet? They’ll be able to help.”

“I’m fine! Just need to puke it out!” Goldie yelled.

“Yeah, text them,” Louie said uncomfortably. “Tell them to meet us at the manor in two hours.”

Webby nodded and did just that, making sure to emphasize the urgency. Though Goldie didn’t want to admit she was sick and Scrooge was disturbingly calm about the whole situation, she thought it sounded pretty bad. Goldie hadn’t eaten much, so all this vomiting couldn’t have been good for her. And she’d been kind of woozy and disoriented all morning. Poisoning was the most reasonable explanation.

Even though she had a weird relationship with Goldie, she didn’t want the woman to die. Webby never wanted anyone to die, but especially not someone who was basically a member of her family.

—

By the time they reached McDuck Manor, Goldie was so disoriented that she was practically hallucinating. She’d vomited to the point of no return, there was clearly nothing left to vomit, and then chugged water for the rest of the trip. Scrooge and the kids suggested they go to the hospital, which she (of course) rejected.

Fortunately for them, Violet was sure to have a solution. She’d done her last big science fair project on causes, symptoms, and cures related to poison and brought home a blue ribbon for the assignment.

Violet and Lena were standing in the foyer when the group of adventurers entered the building. Violet had a huge bag of stuff with her, and Lena was there to help determine if there were any faster, magical solutions to the problem (and to see Webby, of course).

Scrooge was holding onto Goldie, who’d been leaning against him while she tried to walk. Even though she was barely able to comprehend the world around her, she still yelled at them when Scrooge asked Launchpad to carry her into the house. They were worried about her, but she was still fighting the effects of the poison, so they had time.

“So she inhaled dust and ash and other unknown substances from a broken jar in a Mayan cavern?” Violet asked, taking notes.

“Yes, exactly!” Huey answered. “It fell over and broke and there was a big cloud of dust, so she might’ve inhaled a lot, we’re not really sure.”

Violet nodded. “Sounds lucky that the rest of you didn’t also inhale it. Can you describe the jar for me?”

“Um…” Huey paused, suddenly very ashamed of himself. How could he not think to examine the jar?! How could they determine the nature of the poisoning without a photograph of the instrument? It was so amatuer! Imagine if he got bit by a tick and didn’t save the tick for analysis? What kind of Woodchuck was he?! No wonder Violet was still so far ahead of him. “I…”

“A bat.”

They both looked over at Scrooge, who was lightly shaking Goldie in his arms to make sure she was awake.

“The jar had a bat on it. Evil-lookin’.”

Goldie mumbled something and Louie suddenly looked even more nervous.

“A bat jar in a Mayan cave?” Violet repeated. “Then it’s a good thing you called me. I’ve got exactly what you need. Lena?”

Lena, who’d been chatting with Webby about what was going on, appeared at her sister’s side and pulled a big case out of one of their bags. “Yeah, yeah, I got it. Which one?”

“Antidote G, appropriately enough.”

Lena pulled out a syringe filled with a light yellow substance. Everyone in the room fell silent as she held it up, handing it slowly to Violet.

Scrooge suddenly fell to his knees as Goldie became unable to hold herself up any longer. He held onto her tightly and continued shaking her a bit. “Goldie, dear, come on - stay awake! You’ll be better in a few moments. Right?”

Violet walked over with the syringe. “Well, the antidote has some odd effects, but she won’t be dying anymore. My methods are tried and true.”

Goldie mumbled something about how she wasn’t dying. Everyone just ignored her.

As she positioned the syringe to Goldie’s arm, Scrooge asked, “How exactly did you manage to test all these antidotes?”

“Oh, Lena offered to be my guinea pig,” Violet said, digging the needle into Goldie’s feathery skin. “With her magical body, she could just expel the poison if my methods didn’t work, so we were able to do a lot of tests.”

“Lena got to experience so many poisoning symptoms! It was amazing!” Webby said, disturbingly gleeful. “A normal person would’ve been killed for sure!”

“You got that right, Pink.”

Violet pulled back the syringe and handed it to her sister, then held out a hand to Huey.

Huey was so concerned and confused that he simply reached out and grabbed her hand with his own.

Violet looked at him. “Hubert, I was hoping you would hand me one of the bandages you keep under your hat. I apologize for not specifying, but I thought it was obvious in the moment.”

“Oh!” Huey pulled his hand back, embarrassed, and quickly grabbed the bandaids. “Yeah, no, sorry, I’m just a mess right now!”

As they took care of this problem, Dewey and Beakley arrived from different areas of the house, obviously very concerned with whatever the hell was happening. Beakley was especially concerned about the muddy footprints that they’d left all over her newly-cleaned floor, while Dewey had been dealing with a serious case of FOMO all weekend and this discovery left him knowing he really did miss out on something exciting.

“Did you at least find treasure?” he asked Louie.

“Oh yeah. We didn’t really get a chance to look at it yet, but we’ve got a whole big box of gold idols ‘n stuff.”

“Cool, cool.”

“Yeah.”

“So Aunt Goldie’s not gonna die, right?”

“I hope not. Violet seemed really confident about it.”

Dewey nodded. “If Violet’s confident, then I am, too! She’s the smartest person we know so I’m sure she’s got it.”

Goldie was laying still on the floor, Scrooge and Webby and Violet hovered over her.

“So…what’s goin’ to happen? I was in such a hurry to get her better, but now I need to know what to expect,” Scrooge asked Violet pointedly.

She flipped through the little notebook in her hands. “Considering how far along the poison was, she’ll probably need several strong stimuli to wake up - strong smells or a slap to the face, you understand. She’ll still be disoriented for a while, and you should try to get her to eat and drink a lot, but there won’t be any more vomiting or struggling to breathe. Just some dizziness and…now, this could’ve just been a problem for Lena because of her magical body, but she might be compelled to spill her secrets.”

Scrooge looked confused. “Wait, what?”

“Yeah. When Lena was recovering from poisoning caused by inhaling substances from an ancient demonic artifact, she started telling me about her crushes and embarrassing things she’d done in public and all about her feelings regarding Magica De Spell…I’d thought it would be therapeutic for her, but she barely remembers any of it.”

“I did what?”

“But again, that could be due to her magical body.”

“Goldie’s body is also imbued with a significant amount of magic, though,” Scrooge said with no small amount of concern. “She’s had her body enhanced by magical youth water at least ten times, probably more.”

“Oh. Well.” Violet wrote something down. “Then this will be very interesting.” She turned to look at Mrs. Beakley, who was just observing everything, clearly uncomfortable. “If you could get her to the kitchen and get some food in her, that would help her recover faster.”

“Thank ye, Violet,” Scrooge said genuinely. “I’m glad Webby has ye in her life. Both of ye,” he added, looking up at Lena. “I’ll make sure Goldie sends her thanks when she’s all better.”

Scrooge started to lift Goldie up, but Beakley cut in and grabbed the blonde, throwing her over her shoulder like she weighed absolutely nothing at all. She marched towards the kitchen and Scrooge followed quickly.

All the kids sat in the foyer, watching while Violet and Lena cleaned up their case of syringes.

“So this is how you won the Duckburg County Science Fair last month?” Huey asked.

“Yes, it is. I heard you received third place, but I didn’t get to see your project. Do you still have it?”

“O-oh, um…yeah, but it’s really not-”

“I’d like to see it, if that’s alright.”

Huey rubbed the back of his head. “Okay, just don’t expect anything impressive.”

The two of them started up the stairs, and the other four shrugged and decided to join.

“So what have you been up to while we were gone?” Louie asked his brother.

Dewey fell into different poses while he answered. “A little of this, a little of these, a little bit of who-knows-what…you know me, I’ve always got something going on!”

—

Though Scrooge thought she would want to slap her awake, Beakley had a packet of smelling salts hidden in the kitchen and used them to wake Goldie back up. The woman remained disoriented, but quickly devoured any food they put in front of her.

So far, so good. Violet’s antidote seemed to be working as she said.

“How are ye feelin’, dear?” Scrooge asked while he watched her eat another sandwich.

“Been better, been worse,” Goldie answered between bites. “Having Bentina around always makes me feel safer, so that’s a plus.”

Beakley’s eyes widened, shocked at that confession, and Scrooge’s jaw almost dropped. Goldie would normally never say something like that, especially not right in front of Beakley. He wondered if he should try to get her alone so she wouldn’t say anything too embarrassing or incriminating, but…well, she was still eating.

“Is-...is that so?” Scrooge asked.

“Yeah. I know I spent a few decades being…” She cut herself off to continue eating. “...jealous of your relationship, but I’m glad she’s here.”

Bentina blinked rapidly, trying to take all this in. She hadn’t been shocked speechless in a long time. “Well…thank you for saying so, O’Gilt.”

Goldie shook her head. “You could thank me by bringing me another sandwich! I feel like I haven’t eaten in weeks!”

“That’s not surprisin’, considerin’ how long ye were in the airplane bathroom.” Scrooge leaned his arms on the table. He’d always kind of known that Goldie was suspicious of his relationship with Beakley, but he didn’t realize she’d had such a change of heart over the years (or maybe just over the last few months). His own relationship with Beakley was strained after all the problems caused by S.H.U.S.H. and F.O.W.L. and Bradford, but overall…he was also very glad she was such a big part of his life.

He couldn’t imagine how mortified Goldie would be if she knew what she’d just said.

Beakley placed one more ham and cheese sandwich in front of Goldie and sat down at the table across from her. “O’Gilt.”

“Mm?”

“How would you describe your relationship with Webbigail?”

Scrooge’s eyes went wide and his breath caught in his throat. Beakley really knew exactly what to ask at exactly the right time. But he was a little worried that he wouldn’t like Goldie’s answer. What if this was the end of their relationship improvement? If she said anything negative about Webby, well…he didn’t know what he could do but tell her to stay away.

He really hoped this went well.

Goldie, barely aware of what she was saying, simply shrugged. “I don’t really know how to describe it. She’s a sweet kid, but she’s pretty clearly not comfortable around me and I don’t want to push anything on her ‘til she’s ready. Even though Scrooge wants me to hurry up and be her new mommy, that’s really not in the cards here.”

Both mentally sound people looked at each other, surprised by how normal that response was. Nothing weird, nothing mean, nothing bad.

“How would you describe your relationship with her?” Goldie suddenly asked, looking right at Beakley.

The housekeeper frowned, decades of secret-keeping making her lock up her thoughts and toss away the key. Even though Goldie was being honest at this very moment, she was still Goldie O’Gilt and Beakley would never fully trust her. Beakley’s relationship with Webby was significant and strained (because of all the lies) and that was nobody’s business but her’s and Webby’s.

With no immediate response, Goldie was back to focusing on the sandwich. She probably didn't even remember asking anything.

"Goldie, dear…" Scrooge started, scooting her water closer to her. "Why dinnae ye finish up here and I'll take ye upstairs? I think ye could probably use a bath and a nap after all this."

"Mmm…" Goldie mumbled into her last few bites. "Dirty old man wants to get me in the tub, is that it?"

He blushed deeply and suddenly couldn't make eye contact with Beakley, who just rolled her eyes. "I-I, um, no, Goldie, I meant…um…I just think you're a wee more talkative than usual and you'd probably prefer to, ah…be alone."

She took a long drink of water and slammed it onto the table, letting out a loud ahhh! "Alone with you, you mean."

"...yes, I suppose." He looked over at Beakley for help, but she was already at the sink with Goldie's dirty dishes. Scrooge was on his own. "I dinnae want to leave ye alone completely just in case the antidote doesnae work properly…it was created by a child, after all…"

Goldie chuckled and swayed a bit as she tried to stand up. "You surround yourself with the world's most capable children. I'm sure I'll be fine."

They started up the stairs together, with Goldie constantly making comments about anything. The portraits on the walls, especially, she had a lot of comments about. Some of them weren't the nicest, but Scrooge was just happy to hear her voice. He had really underestimated the severity of her poisoning and was ashamed of himself for not forcing Goldie to a hospital right away.

She was going to be fine, so he knew not to stress about it. But he also wanted to be better. He'd spent so long with Goldie challenging him and keeping up with him - swooping in to rescue her was a recent development. And though she seemed to like it for the most part…sometimes it made her pull away. Like she was preparing herself for some sad inevitability.

Scrooge brought Goldie to his room and to his bed. He didn’t want to stress her out or anything, but he was also very curious about this heightened state she was in. He could ask her questions - things she’d never answered for him before - and she might not even remember his curiosity.

But would that be right? He knew she was in this state and it’d be wrong to take advantage.

Then again, Goldie had put him through a lot of shit over the years. Didn’t he deserve some explanation for some of her behavior?

Sure, he loved her, he loved being with her, he was happier than he’d ever been to have her as a part of his family and home, but…sometimes he’d get reminded of times when he thought they were good and then suddenly they weren’t. There was a big part of him that was constantly on-edge, waiting for her next betrayal. And a big part of that was him never knowing exactly how she was feeling.

“Goldie…”

“Yes?” she asked, laying on his bed and waving her limbs around on the comforter, almost like she was making snow angels.

“You’re, um…are you happy?” he asked quietly.

Goldie was quiet for a few seconds before sitting up on her elbows and staring at him. “Am I happy? What kind of question is that?”

“A…a normal one?”

“I don’t think so. I don’t know, Scrooge. Is it possible for me to really be happy? When I’m still having nightmares about shit that happened to me almost a century ago? When I frequently wonder when you or your family will get tired of me and ask me to leave for good?”

Scrooge stayed silent, not sure how to respond. He didn’t expect that.

“Overall, I think I’m pretty happy. Here. With you and Sharpie and the rest of your family. Sometimes it feels like the people here really genuinely care about me and that’s terrifying, but…it’s definitely nice. I like it. Just not sure what to do with it all the time.”

He walked over to the bed and sat down next to her. “Why is it terrifying for my family to care about ye, Goldie?”

“What do you mean?” she asked sincerely. “What about that isn’t terrifying? Having important people in my life, people who care about me and want me around…that means I have a responsibility to them. I know it’s been over twenty years, but I’m still not used to taking care of anyone else.”

“Twenty years since what?”

“Since I had to start paying attention! And then it got even worse with Louie, and now the other kids want to get to know me and want me to be their Aunt Goldie and it’s a lot, Scrooge. It’s a lot of pressure.”

He hesitantly put a hand on top of her’s, still wondering what happened twenty years ago but a bit more focused on the rest of what she said. “It doesnae have to be, Goldie. They’re happy with you bein’ you.”

“Well that’s definitely not true. Goldie O’Gilt is a thief and a scoundrel and swindler, remember? You spent a hundred years reminding me of that.”

Goldie chuckled, feeling very light about this conversation thanks to the fog in her brain, but Scrooge frowned deeply. She wasn’t wrong, he did remind her of her thievery a lot. But that was because she was a thief! And as a man of principle, he never stole (unless he was in a situation that made it necessary to right a villain’s wrong). But still.

“...you’re not only a thief, Goldie. You’re a lot more than that. And the kids can see that,” he said softly, squeezing her hand. “So can I.”

She got quiet and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “I know that. But you asked why it’s terrifying and that’s how it is. I know I’m not the woman I used to be, but I’m still not the woman you want me to be, either.”

“That’s not…that’s not true, Goldie! All I’ve ever wanted is just you bein’ you.”

“Oh yeah? Is that why you never call? Never write? You never ask me to come with you on trips or adventures. Half the time you want me and the other half you treat me like a burden,” Goldie said with an eye roll. “It’s no wonder I never know where we stand.”

Scrooge frowned. He always felt that he was just bouncing off of her, not the other way around. “I didnae think ye wanted me to call. When you run off in the mornin’ without sayin’ goodbye, it tells me you’d rather be left alone.”

She closed her eyes and sighed deeply. “It’s like we’re just going around in a circle forever. I want you to reach out so I leave, you don’t want to overwhelm me so you stay away.”

“It sounds ridiculous when ye put it that way.”

“‘Cause it is ridiculous!” Goldie ran her hands through her hair and groaned. “It’s no wonder I’m struggling so much with your family when I can never figure out if I’m wanted or not! Everyone here makes me feel like I’m trapped in a play without a script. I walked onto the wrong set and they’re all too polite to tell me to leave.”

“Goldie…” Scrooge could feel his heart breaking a little. He could’ve never known she felt like this, and if he had…he would’ve done everything he could to prevent it. “The kids love you. You’re a part of this family, dear.”

“Y’know…you should hear the way your daughter talks about me.” Goldie said suddenly, ignoring his attempt to convince her she was wrong. “She has the lowest expectations of me. Maybe even lower than Bentina’s. Who would’ve thought that was possible?”

“She does not,” Scrooge said roughly, grabbing Goldie’s other hand and turning her to look at him. “Goldie. Webby admires ye, she just doesnae understand ye very well. That’s why I asked ye to try harder with her, that’s all. It’s not ‘cause she doesnae like you!”

“It’s not like you understand me that well, either,” Goldie said quietly, tilting her head. “Which is mostly my own fault. I’ve never been confident enough in our relationship to fully invest myself in it, even though it’s all I’ve thought about for a hundred and twenty years.”

His eyes widened, shocked by that confession.

“I spent so many years thinking you were only interested in me because I offered you a challenge that the idea of domesticity was impossible. You’d get bored and I’d get bored and then we’d be out of each other’s lives for good. And then all these years would’ve been for nothing.” Goldie didn’t seem emotionally invested in what she was saying, almost like she was reading lines out of a book.

Scrooge, on the other hand, was very invested. And a bit upset.

“Goldie, we…we talked about this last year in Florida. I thought you understood my feelings,” he said sadly.

Goldie shook her head and shrugged. “Yeah, well…one good day and one good conversation can’t suddenly fix me. It can’t suddenly make me good at this.”

“I know that! I know. I’ve been givin’ ye plenty of space and plenty of time to adjust. But…” Scrooge squeezed her hands, not wanting to ever let go. “I love ye, dear, and I want ye around.”

“I know you do. I know. But I can’t help it, Scrooge. I’ve spent so long being stupid and anxious about where we stood that’s it gonna take me longer than you want it to.” She pulled her hands out of his grip, placing them in her lap. “We might have to have a lot of weird, emotional conversations on this stupid, comfy bed of yours. And I don’t want to have a bunch of stupid conversations, obviously. But I want to be better. For the kids. And you.”

Scrooge had a big smile on his face, feeling almost giddy. He had all these insecurities about whether or not Goldie would stick around, but she was just nervous. And emotionally traumatized from years of drama, of course. But still…she wanted to stay. That’s all he wanted to hear.

“I’m happy to wait, Goldie. I waited this long, after all.”

She rolled her eyes. “You didn’t have to.”

“You’re worth waitin’ for, dear.”

Goldie’s cheeks turned bright red and Scrooge wondered if she was embarrassed or feeling sick or maybe a little bit of both. She inhaled and exhaled deeply before leaning forward and pressing a small kiss to his beak.

She pulled back and looked straight into his eyes. “I love you.”

Scrooge smiled, blushing lightly. “I love ye, too.”

They stared for a few seconds, both wanting to say more and wanting to just make out and fuck out all their feelings, knowing the feeling of holding or being held by each other would be the perfect end to a weird, weird day.

Goldie kissed him again and Scrooge grabbed her arms, massaging gently. They fell onto the pillows and laid on top of the comforter, kissing and holding each other.

She pulled away and sighed, laying her head against his neck. “I don’t think we should fool around while I’m like this.”

Scrooge chuckled and brushed his fingers through her hair, pulling it free from her ponytail. “No, I dinnae think so, either.”

“I feel weird, still.”

“I know.” He played with her hair, smiling into her forehead. “I hope ye dinnae regret this conversation when you’re back to yourself again.”

“...I hope so, too.”

—

When Scrooge woke up a few hours later, Goldie was gone. He wondered if she was in the bathroom, or if she’d gone to get more to eat or talk to Louie or something, but when he checked his phone, he was greeted by the answer.

Need some time to myself. I’ll be back. XOXO

Scrooge sighed and laid his head back down on the bed.

He thought about the things they’d talked about earlier and pouted, considering his best choice of words. He wanted to get this right and make sure she understood exactly how he felt at that moment.

He decided that what she needed from him was the most honest description of his feelings and quickly typed a response, sending it before he could get nervous about scaring her off.

Miss you already. Come home soon.

After one hundred and twenty three years, she’d probably appreciate it.

---

REAL HISTORY FACTS: - Everything written here about Chichén Itza is true! All of Huey's little facts especially - Even the little fence is accurate I visited Chichen Itza with google maps. Scoured the area. You can get really close on there it's neat - The archeologist Webby mentioned is based off the real archeologist who did discover a cave under Chichen Itza and did close it back up soon afterwards. Real thing. His name was Victor Segovia Pinto (Euphonia is a type of bird common to the Yucatan peninsula) - Anytime I think of Goldie going by "mom" I'm reminded that Allison Janney (Goldie's voice actress) was doing a TV show called "Mom" at the same time as DuckTales. Fun facts - Bats do represent death in Mayan culture. This is also a nice time for me to recommend the cartoon "Maya and the Three" go check it out, it's good - The legends around Xtabay are interesting and a little varied. She's usually interpreted as a classic Enchants Men And Then Kills Them but I like to expand into more of a...enchants victims with their heart's desire, dulls their senses, lures them into a false sense of security...then kills them! Gotta love people stuck in trances. Anyway that's what I did here

DUCK FRANCHISE REFERENCES: - Why does Webby still call Scrooge "Uncle Scrooge"? 'Cause in the Duckburg Life podcast, she does exactly that. I think after all she's been through, Webby deserves some status quo normalcy - You might be thinking "why didn't Dewey come with on the adventure?" Because three kids is enough lol Chapter 50 includes so many characters doing so many things and it just reminds you of how this show has an endless number of characters

#ducktales #scroldie #scrooge mcduck #goldie o'gilt #webby vanderquack #louie duck #huey duck #violet sabrewing #lena sabrewing #lena de spell #dewey duck #bentina beakley #running in circles #fic #fics #is that everyone who shows up here? idk. this chapter has a lot of characters

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mieux-de-se-taire · 11 months

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Vampires Will Never Hurt You - MCR Interviews

Anemic Magazine Interview - 7/1/02

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Interviewer: Some rumours I have heard is that you guys like bats. What's the fascination with them? Is it the Will Haven song BATS, or you just like the species? Gerard: Haha...the whole bat thing came about at an early practice when Mikey joined and we finally gelled. Our energy just came together and a giant heavy metal vortex opened up and out flew a swarm of bats. We all saw it. It was like an awakening. After that we accepted bats into our lives. It was also while we were playing "Vampires Will Never Hurt You" so it probably had a lot to do with that.

89.5 WSOU FM Interview - 7/11/02

20:58-21:02, 21:10-21:14, 22:03-22:19, 26:28-27:12

youtube

Ray: (After being asked his favorite song to play live (20:20)) As far as live, Vampires is always incredible Interviewer: Right Ray: ‘Cause it’s just so fun to play ... Frank: I like Knives a lot to play, and...Vampires is always fun ... Gerard: My favorite to record, um, that’s a tough one. Vampires, even though it was done before the whole album. I was-- that was awesome because there like was this huge storm that rolled in when we recorded it, and it was so cool. And everybody thought like I (I’ll?) let some bats go and stuff, and that was really cool ... Interviewer: But let’s talk about Vampires, and then we’re gonna play it for everybody Gerard: Okay, um, it’s obviously this metaphor for something that, you know, had happened, not just to me but like a lot of people in real life. It’s kinda-- I don’t know if I should give away too much ‘cause a lot of people take away their own things from it, you know, but um Interviewer: Right.That’s what’s also good, I think, about the record, that you can interpret it your own way, apply it to your own life, and it may not mean the same thing but... Gerard: Yeah, I mean like I get emails from people saying like how the song helped them get through a situation that-- and like what their meaning of the song meant to them and it helped them, and I thought that was awesome, so I don’t want ever, on this one especially, to divulge too much of what it’s about ‘cause it’s pretty personal, but (laughs)... but um, it’s like, you know, it’s about vampires. (Everyone laughs)

Sucker Newspaper Interview + src - July 2002

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Interviewer: You got Geoff [Rickly] of Thursday to produce your record. How did you hook up with him? Gerard: Mikey and I met the talented Mr. Rickly when Thursday first signed to Eyeball Records. We played him the rough of “Vampires Will Never Hurt You” which he liked so much we asked him to produce the record. He accepted.

Dot Alt Interview - 8/30/02

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Gerard: We take a semi-autobiographical approach to things, with some roots in fiction. We try and connect with people in a more abstract way, to get more meaning out of what we’re trying to say. Interviewer: Like using cult imagery on Vampires Will Never Hurt You? Gerard: Yeah, obviously we use vampires as a metaphor for something else, something deeper than just the supernatural. But there's just something about the bloodsucking walking dead, that can say so much to people. There are really so many people trying to get control over you on a daily basis and steal your soul in some way, take a part of you...

Noise Theory Interview - 11/13/02

Page 1, paragraph 6

Interviewer: ‘Vampires Will Never Hurt You' is a truly amazing song. How did it come about? Ray: The writing process for most of our songs starts out with one band member having an idea of what the song should be, usually its already written in his head and its just a matter of getting it out. Gerard had this idea for a 6 minute song that had multiple changes, guitar breaks, a slow breakdown at the end, pretty much everything was in his head before we ever played a single note. The song was still tough to write though, because we were having trouble writing the chorus for it. Matt really helped on this one because what he plays on drums can sometimes just totally inspire you to try something different, and that’s what happened with this one. Somewhere there Is a version of us playing Vampires with the old chorus...it sucks. No pun intended. As for the lyrics, I know Gerard was inspired by a trip to a seedy bar. I'm not sure what the hell was going on there, but it made for a great song!

Page 2, paragraph 1

Interviewer: MCR’s music can be pretty varied, do you have a particular favorite song that you like to play live?

Ray: Hmm...live I think my favorite songs to play are Our Lady of Sorrows, just because of the pure energy in the song, and Vampires, because it has quiet parts that gradually explode and it’s fun to see kids whig out when that happens.

Radio Takeover Interview - 6/17/03

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Interviewer: Well, is there even a message or is it the kind of message that people realize for themselves, a subjective one? Frank: It's both. Gerard: There are some things that we say directly to people and there are the things that we want people to get out of it. When you get the message out of something yourself. Matt: It means a lot more. Gerard: It's more rewarding. A song like "Vampires" is probably our most metaphorical song. Matt: It's not about vampires at all. Gerard: Because vampires don't exist and I'm not even going to fucking talk about them anymore. You get what you want out of that though. Frank: It is about something though. Gerard: Yeah, it is about something that happened to me and we have a lot of different messages and hopefully we have a lot of time to tell them all. Frank: I think the best line in that song, is "I'll never let them hurt you." That is the best line. Gerard: That is the most important line in the song because that is the line where nothing else matters in the set. When I say that line, sometimes I am completely spent and it's funny because it's a breather line and it means the most.

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Interviewer: The lyric, "It's hard to say I'm shakin’ by the choices that I make, I choose this life I've taken." What is the hardest choice you've had to make to get to this life that you've taken? Gerard: Sacrificing being with our loved ones and our family and all the people who have made us who we are. Sacrificing spending time with them. Frank: when we were in Jersey our friends and our family were the only people who gave a shit about anything that we did and what we were putting out and no one else cared, and we have made a choice to get out to as many people as we can and to meet the people we reach. It's hard for us and it will continue to be hard for us for as long as we do this to be away from those people though.

89.5 WSOU FM Interview - 7/3/03

21:58-23:10

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Interviewer: (Unintelligible) wants to know what Vampires Will Never Hurt You is about. Gerard: (Frank laughing in the background) Vampires Will Never Hurt You, obviously vampires don’t exist, it’s obviously metaphorical, just so everybody knows I don’t believe in vampires. (More laughter in the background) It’s about basically seedy bars and seedy people you meet at those seedy bars that will have nothing better to do than keep you from growing up and/or being responsible and not drinking and not being an alcoholic and just sucking you into their world. (Unintelligible comment from Mikey that Gerard repeats) No, it’s about-- it’s about that. It’s, you know-- there’s no such thing as vampires, and I know that (band laughs). Ray: You just broke a lot of kids’ hearts. Frank: Whoa, whoa, whoa. What about glampires? Gerard: And, uh-- and you should know that too! Wise up dude! (band laughs) Like it’s just movies, c’mon, and-- seriously it’s a metaphor for other things in life, be it drug addiction, heroin addiction, stuff like that, and being-- Matt: (Interrupts) Coca cola Gerard: Coca cola and being involved with really crappy people, you know what I mean, people that just have nothing better to do with their lives than drink with you and drag you down with them.

Equal Music Interview - 10/31/03

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Interviewer: There are a couple theories circulating about your repeated mention of vampires in your lyrics. Can you clear that up? Gerard: It’s a metaphor for being in your twenties and getting sucked into that singles alcoholic nightlife culture, ya know what I mean? It’s interesting, because you’ll find that a lot of bands use the supernatural as a gimmick, and that’s really all it is, it’s just like horror punk, and that’s all it is. We’re not really into vampires. I like to wear black, but...

Alternative Press #197 - 9/17-20/04

Page 3, paragraph 10 to page 4, paragraph 1

“As soon as it came time for Gerard to do vocals for ‘Vampires [Will Never Hurt You],’ this insane storm hit,” Saavedra remembers. “Gerard was getting very frustrated because it was his first time recording, decently, in an actual studio. He was overwhelmed and he was over-thinking it... So I punched him in the face!” The blow loosened Gerard’s jaw and somehow gave him the motivation to take to the mic and rip a bite out of the track.

Gerard laughs triumphantly, “I remember it hurting a lot, and going, ‘All right, I hope I can do this.’ I remember singing, and something clicked. I remember Alex’s face was just amazed that the song was finally coming together. I think it was the second take that we ended up using.”

Blaring Out Show Interview - 9/28/04

2:26-3:17

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Gerard: The coolest thing that ever happened was the first time it ever happened was the head of our street team, Carlos, who we love very very much-- he was really our first fan. He was our first big fan, and he IM’ed me one day on the computer, and I didn’t know who he was, and he said that Vampires Will Never Hurt You off the first record, to him, it was helping him get through high school because he saw all these people that were, you know, kind of, I guess, not so much jocks and stuff, but just people that were picking on him and stuff. And it actually kind of scared me when I first heard it, and I was like ‘Oh man, people are going to start thinking people are vampires, and they’re gonna to try to shoot them with shotguns,’ and I got kinda scared about all of that, but you know, it ended up-- it just helped him get through a really bad relationship where a girl was jerking him around in high school and all the people had picked on him, so, you know, that-- obviously, the song is about being an alcoholic, but, not to him, you know, and that’s the coolest part.

Circus Magazine Interview - July 2005

Page 2, paragraph 8 to page 3, paragraph 1

Gerard: We were in the studio 3 months later to record our debut album ‘I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love’ for the New Jersey label Eyeball and we were trying to record the song Vampires - all of a sudden I was frozen, I simply couldn’t sing, I couldn’t talk, I just stood there like a piece of wood, I know I was terribly nervous and there was thunderstorm brewing outside, all I could hear was the sound of the rain and the thunder, I really thought that’s it, I’m never going to make it, then the label boss Alex walked up to me and he just hit me right in the face. I snapped out of my state and everything worked out fine!

Zero Magazine Interview - December 2005

Page 5, paragraph 10 and page 7, paragraph 1

Gerard: There’s always a fear that people might overlook “I Brought You My Bullets...” Occasionally, when we play on this tour, with the exception of Vampires and Our Lady of Sorrows, we play 4 or 5 old songs, usually when the venue’s quietest - but then again, when we play the UK, those are some of their favorite songs. The UK was very accepting of Bullets, whereas America didn’t know about it. They like hearing it, they’re just not familiar with it.

Kerrang #1142 - 1/17/07

Page 10, paragraph 5 to paragraph 7

“I was about to sing ‘Vampires Will Never Hurt You’,” remembers Gerard. “There was a storm forming outside, my teeth were hurting, and then Alex came up to me, gave me a hug, then punched me right in the mouth. I think he did the right thing, to tell you the truth. It was an act of love, but I was fucking riled. I went up to the mic and nailed it first time. We listened to it in the van ride back. It was just the loudest, gnarliest, darkest, most melodic song I’d ever heard. It was fucking amazing.”

Forcing himself into character is a trick Gerard has repeated ever since.

“It’s almost like method acting,” he says. “‘Vampires’ was definitely the first instance of that.”

Kerrang #1143 - 1/17/07

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Gerard: Again, it had a visual quality. That song [Headfirst for Halos] and ‘Vampires Will Never Hurt You’ both gave us a real sense of identity. They brought in the entire gothic thing. It was those songs that made people think we were a vampire band!

BBC Radio 1 Audio Documentary - 2007

15:06-15:56

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Gerard: We went to do ‘Vampires,’ and it was, still to this day, like, the most magical, incredible recording experience I’ve ever been a part of next to, really, making The Black Parade. But nothing beats your first time on a mic. (‘Vampires’ plays for a few seconds) Gerard: There was an energy. It wasn’t that I was nervous or anything, there was just this energy. There was this storm building outside, everybody had tracked the instruments, and it was sounding incredible, you know. (’Vampires’ continues to play) Gerard: And it was very inspired, and I was outside with Alex [Saavedra], and he just clocked me in the face. Alex: He was getting really hard on himself, and you could tell, and he was really losing it, so...I helped him focus, and I punched him.

MCR Forum Interview - 10/30/10

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Ray: And after we wrote Na Na Na we really felt ‘wow the sky is the limit, we can try so many different things!’ So the song that we ended up writing after Na Na Na was Vampire Money, which has the same energy. And then the song after that that we wrote was Planetary (GO), which has a different energy, but it’s something that we’ve always tried to write, but we never did one hundred percent. If you look at a song like Vampires Will Never Hurt You, it has a little bit of that. It doesn’t have the electronics in it, but it easily could.

Grammy Museum Interview - 1/26/11

25:15-25:34, 26:16-27:12

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Frank: I remember being a fly on the wall when they finished ‘Vampires Will Never Hurt You,’ and that was the first song that you guys really recorded, and it was like...you guys were so excited about it. You were like “Oh my god, this-- you gotta hear this song!” And they would play it over and over again, and then, after they played it, they would all high-five each other. (Crowd and interviewer laugh) And they were like “That was awesome!” And I’m just like “Yeah, that was really cool.” ... Frank: So ‘Vampires Will Never Hurt You’ was the first song that was actually really really recorded. They did like 3 songs in an attic, but like, they went to a studio to record ‘Vampires.’ And as soon as you guys recorded it, I think-- it got played on pirate radio, which is like Seton Hall in New Jersey, and then we put it up on the internet. And, within a month after that, there was A&R people from major labels calling the studio, which was-- it was ridiculous ‘cause like, at that point, Thursday had a lot of heat on them, which is another amazing band from Jersey, Midtown was getting signed, Saves the Day was getting signed, and so there was this crazy thing going on, and, you know, My Chem was kind of getting pushed into this circle. And there was a lot of attention, and we were playing shows and kids were going off. It was immediate though, like, in that circle-- I wasn’t even in the band at that point, but when you heard that song, you knew something amazing was going to happen. I don’t know how to pinpoint it, but, like, there was something really special.

#mcr #my chemical romance #i brought you my bullets you brought me your love #bullets #vampires will never hurt you #mcr interviews #song interviews #this is most of them #there's a few more #but they didn't fit #i'll add the rest later

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