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#the smartest people I know are also complete morons
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“why does the fandom portray Aziraphale as such an idiot when he is canonically intelligent”
today a colleague with an engineering phd had a wasp get in his car and drove around with his door open until it flew out and only realized like 10 minutes later he could have rolled down the windows, next question
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evilminji · 16 days
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Behold! o/ The Face Of Benevolent Evil!
Mr. Principle! A professional hero and educator!
Also possibly some sort of stoat hybrid! Certainly a chimera of Japanese fauna! With the Quirk High Specs, he is one of, if not THE, smartest beings on the planet of which he resides! With a background perfectly justifying a decent into hatred and villiany, he instead chose to channel his incredible world shaking intellect into the shaping of future generations!
He likes to fuck with people!
For FUNSIES~☆!
What can he say? It keeps a man young and mentally stimulated! Plus the hysterical screaming of his staff and students is HILARIOUS. He can even argue it makes for good reaction training! Unforseen situations, children! React!!! *psychotic chortling*
Mmmmm, yes. We all have our trauma responses. Ways we deal with them. He should probably find other means... but he won't! Tea and tormenting the student body make for good future heroes, you know! They adapt!
But! You may ask! Why am I introducing you to this... *polite yet somehow deeply threatening smile* c-completely sane and normal individual!? Esteemed educator that he is! Ha ha...
A good and not at a under threat question!
Villains? Are fuuuuuckin STUPID!
Doesn't matter how many PHDs you possess! In fact! That makes it WORSE! You moron! You absolute fool! No traveling circus would have you, you sub-rate CLOWN of a jingle jangle dunce jester! You have a god damn PHD! Possibly MULTIPLE PHD!
And you thought "ooooh I should go into cwiiiiime~☆"?
Do you hear yourself when you talk? DO YOU?! Ooooh boohoo. They won't let you study what you WANT to study. It's called an ETHICS BOARD. And YEAH, NO SHIT! Maybe get over it and keep you fucked up fantasies to your SELF.
Or? If you REALLY can't hold it in? Lay the ground work like EVERYONE FUCKING ELSE! You're not special! Everyone wants to play god! It's FUN! They let you have the COOL toys! But you have to EARN that shit! Not jump straight from graduation to "fucked up superscience"!
And? If it's NOT the Ethics Board? But just some bureaucrat on a power trip? You don't have to fucking STAY. This? This RIGHT HERE? Is why I-Island fucking EXSISTS.
APPLY.
They are SO MANY countries you could move too. SO MANY other labs. You actual DUMBASS.
But NO! You decided to commit to a fucked up underground Villian Lab. As though HUNTING THOSE isn't the PERSONAL fucking passion project of THE SMARTEST BEING IN JAPAN. Frankly? You deserve this. You deserve this and our school doesn't know you. Never heard of you. You whoms't?
Coulda changed the world. But instead all you did was piss of The Fuzzy White Demon Lord of UA. Rest in pieces. *click*
*sound of doors smashing open*
*violent Raid Upon Your Labs noises*
But! You may ask? What's IN the Lab?
What MAKES this a DP crossover?
I like your question asking spirit! Good one! And the answer? You know what's better then ONE(1) Nedzu? A second one that you can ACTUALLY control this time! After all! You could consider Mr. Principle a prototype. A proof of concept, if you will. If you were able to make ANOTHER.....
Well, you would set off EVERY. SINGLE. ALARM. Nedzu has set up!
All of them!
Because he don't PLAY THAT.
He has long last trauma from the labs and is the SOLE FUCKING SURVIVOR. There WERE others. They Did Not make it. And their slow agonizing deaths are carved into his brain for the rest of his life. Truely "The living shall envy the dead"; it was a place that made hell seem merciful.
When he declare Never Again?
He fucking MEANT Never Again. He will BURN your empires to ash, with you in them. No More Labs.
So :) You can IMAGINE :) HOW HAPPY HE IS :)
That someone out there is trying to RECREATE his SUPER traumatic childhood, on ANOTHER CHILD. Ha ha! Gonna be a second Nedzu huh? Planning to torture HIM like you did me, HUH? Shove him in a cage and treat him like an animal? Force him to watch as the others die? Collars and whips and cattle prods? Mazes?!
Nedzu may lose his shit.
Juuuuust a little bit.
But if anyone there knows what good for them? They saw NOTHING. What's a little PTSD flashback between friends? Now what is the baby?
Smashcut to said baby!
Because it was a TEAM effort, Danny was successful in "Nuh Uh!"ing out of Rulership. But NOT out of governance. Since he DID help. He's a Councilman now. It's? Not as bad as it could be, honestly. Since it's opened the Zone up to a more democratic system.
Still held by "kick the ass of the person you wanna replace" but still!
Babysteps.
Thing is? There was apparently this weird? Leak? Like a couple hundred years ago, in this one area, that was never addressed. Everyone just moved their doors and stuff. Treated it like the floors flooded. But now that they HAVE someone to complain too?
They all want their territories back.
"Go fix it!" What are we? Janitors?
Danny looses the rock, paper, scissors competition. He's pretty sure Boxy cheated. But like? Dude has a kid to go home too, so Danny doesn't fight him to hard on this. Uuuuuugh. Just remember the Spider-Man motto. Great power~ blah blah blaaaah~
And? Wow is it fucked out there.
The whole PLANET has to be limnal as FUCK. Yikes.
Problem is? When he and his team (Because YES, he HAS learned from his mistakes, Jazz.) get close to the... frankly the Zone here looks like distorted spiderwebbing. With him leading the charge, obviously.
....something happens.
It's... it's not a portal. Wrong color. It's like someone USED the weird spiderwebbing effect to... to reach INTO the Zone? But they are severally Limnal. Clawed hands, blue tint. But that's not the problem.
No, the problem.
The Horror.
The thing that his team can only watch on in agonized terror as it plays out... is that hand? It shoots out of nowhere. Ghostlike in the Zone. Meaning it must be living. And PLUNGES directly into Danny's chest to wrap around his core.
Time seems to slow.
He can't even scream in pain. At the violation. His team, acquaintances, yes, but friendly ones. Can not even cry out in horror, as they watch their friend and team lead be butchered before them. Before that uncaring hand is ripping back. Perfect ice and starlight in its uncaring grip.
For a terrible moment... he is in two places at once.
Then he is crushed in a burning grip. Like molten bars. Watching his own body dissolve into nothing in an instant, pain and horror still etched upon his face. The beginnings of screams ripping from his team as they jerk away from the nightmarish threat.
Then he can not think at all.
He... he TRIES. Knows he has been captured. Is certainly not the sort to give up easily. But... he's so tired. His body feels? Weird. Not wrong, per say. It's HIS. But... small and weird. Like he's shape shifted into a new form and hasn't adjusted yet.
....
.......
...........
He's getting really sick of all the goop against his whiskers and in his ears. It feels WEIRD against his fu- WAIT a second... did those assholes shove him into an animal? Why?! To contain him? Ha! Jokes on them! He's DONE THIS before!
For FUN!
He once spent a whole ass summer as a tiny dragon just 'CAUSE!
Unfortunately, said assholes notice him waking up. Dump him in a glorified hamster cage. But like.... a SHITTY "I don't care about the pet I bought" hamster cage. Dude. And he's naked.
Is that Japanese? Ooooh! It IS! Thank you, Tucker's Weeb phase.
......actually, never mind. Lotta dehumanizing language there, my guys. What is this? The GIW international? You couldn't even give me PANTS? Swear to God, call me an "it" ONE more time and the next time I have to go? I am going to aim through the bars at your-! *alarms going off*
....wasn't me.
I mean, be all means, ha ha and get fucked, but? Wasn't me. Oh hey! Some one exploded the doo-
AND? In Lab 4?
Nedzu finds a child with fluffy, ungroomed black and white fur, and the curious yet cautious eyes of a survivor. They are the most magnificent green, pale and luminous they glow in the laboratories lighting. Paws too big for his small frame, delicate ears on the swivel, equally large. Yet to grow into either. Adolescent, at best.
He watches the child take him in. Note his features and the chaos behind him. The injured scientist under his feet. Come to him conclusion. Nedzu will not rush him. Now that he... he stand the chance to be the hero he himself never had. It is a strange feeling. At once cathartic and unbearably painful.
He is given the equivalent of a cheerful grin, as the lad points the the lock on the cage. Is asked if he happened to bring a spare pair of pants. He can not help his amused chortle as he makes quick work of the lock. The unbearable RELIEF he feels.
He... he was not too late.
These monsters had no chance to crush the boy's light. To make a monster of him, like they did with him. He survived his laboratory, his hell. But not all of him left that terrible place. He knows that. Some innocence, some goodness, died alone in the dark. But here? He insured there would be no chance.
With amusement, he watches the boy turn the lab upside down until he finds spare scrubs. Triumphant, he then considers his own, tiny claws. Dismisses them. Attempts to hop up on a chair to retrieve something sharp. It? Is unbearably cute. To watch him rip and shred, problem solve. His little mind churning away. Whiskers twitching as his eyes dart around, considering his options.
Nedzu offers one of his spare knives.
Watches him light up.
Adorable~
@legitimatesatanspawn @hdgnj @nerdpoe @babbling-babull @lolottes
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foeofcolor · 1 year
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Thank you for going apeshit with me <3 I hate James Bond I love him he's a moron he's the smartest man in the room he destroys everything he touches and he knows it and even so he can't help but reach out in something so human as 'please love me please need me please tell me i did good' he's a whore and a saint and a weapon dont worry im kissing u too
LITERALLY LIKE. He is extremely intelligent and yet he makes the stupidest decision ever possible because he has no sense of self and context or normality.
Everything he touches withers and dies!!! And yet he wants and james bond is someone who does not want by half, if he wants something he needs to consume it or be consumed by it. He's fully and completely everything or nothing kind of guy!!
"Please love me, please tell me I did good" the crux of his relationship with M. She was for the longest the most stable figure in his life and their relationship is a complicated dance, one where bond desperately craves her approval but she will never voice it, one where she makes excepted for him but it will never be enough for him because see above.
He needs absolute certainty, he craves absolution but she will never give it to him lest she lose a weapon so they make do with the fact that she will grant exceptions and lencieny when she can but when pudh comes to shove, the mission will be utmost. To james, that is the surest truth of his life and one he's always conflicted about because she should trust him to do his job but he will also never hold it against her. He can not.
"A whore and a Saint and a weapon" Oh God quantum of solace.... sobbing screaming throwing up.
This is also why when james starts feeling thins for people he tries to leave !! To quit!! Because if he loves someone he need to devote himself in his entirety, he is so unhinged and insane. This is why he leaves with vesper, this is what he means when he says "I've no Armour left, you've stripped it all away", this is why all felix has to do is ask and james goes back.
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melodiesandwords · 10 months
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Fun facts.
I can’t look up because i hate the pity, I can’t look down because I know strength. I have loved a good company all my life or maybe I’ve always had someone, someone besides me to sit in class, to work with to have a bare conversation. I have never in my life entered a room thinking “shit! Where am I supposed to go, who am I supposed to be with?” All i have known is how to barge into a room, speak with confidence even if I know i might be sounding like the most stupidest person or the smartest person in the room. Having company of friends to laugh with ,have fun with and hang around like a stupid moron. But now as an adult i don’t know where am I supposed to go when i enter a room, knowing I’m not who i initial was. I’m not a friend to anyone, there won’t be anyone to hang around with me (for that I must thank library for, only place that doesn’t bite you if you are alone, loner in a youthful crowd). The idea of being nowhere to go and being alone in a crowded room which is by definition a place to make friends with and have group circles- college is frightening, the fear of getting my lecture cancelled because it gives me an hour of nothing i try to sit with people but the mere nonchalance on their sides doesn’t help.I don’t like it , it bothers me and i also know I could have done a better job at being less of a loner but i can’t do much about it now and it’s just I need to put it out in the world to have an open circle for people like me. For people who don’t have anyone to sit by their side, to make plans and have fun, to go and enjoy a cup of coffee at the least. Because “I never thought this would be my reality because I know like all of them”. But it’s how life turned out for me and honestly it’s completely normal but i just don’t want to loose the strength of walking into room and owning the sight of sitting alone on a three-benched seat- a fucking irony.
A. @melodiesandwords
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orcinus-ocean · 1 year
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Is anyone here a farmer or has anything to say about pigs? 😀
Because I want to make a case for the (relative) unintelligence of pigs.
I am sick to motherblubbing death of hearing "piGs aRE aS sMarT aS cHiMpS aNd eLePhAnTs!!1" Animal behavior and intelligence is an interest of mine and I just... can't see this.
From what I see, pigs are just an ordinary mammal. Of course they can recognize faces, solve problems, and remember. Almost any mammal can do that (except for morons like koalas and sloths).
One thing I've noticed with intelligent animals, like dolphins, whales, elephants, apes and parrots, is that they tend to have "intent" to their physical movements, a clear sense of humor, and an extreme curiosity to anything new. More scientific than that, they will have complex social behavior and need for mental challenges.
Pigs, on the other hand, move randomly and twitchy, are only interested in immediate physical needs, and seem completely uninterested in new things. "Food? Belly-scratch? If not, I'm out."
Maybe they can beat dogs in some cognitive tests, but chimps can beat humans in some cognitive tests... yet chimps have nowhere near the mind and awareness that we have.
Of course vegans love to shout from the rooftops about “PIGS ARE LIKE CHIMPANZEES” to get us to stop eating them, but as for farm animals, I think cows seem a lot more intelligent than pigs. They seem to have stronger lifelong bonds and more complex social lives than pigs, and most importantly of all, if something new turns up in their environment, they walk over there and STARE. They’re very curious.
I constantly see three animals repeated as "the SMURTEST" by people who don't really know anything about animals (and thus, countless online magazines who did all of five minutes of research before writing on a topic): Dolphins, octopuses, and pigs.
Dolphins, okay, yeah, maybe, but other toothed whales are often said to be much smarter than small dolphins anyway, and many of dolphins' greatest feats, can also be seen in wolves. Wolves are smart, but I've never even seen them on a top-10 list of "world's smartest animals".
Octopuses? They show great problem-solving skills, but that's also it. The max any octopus can live is about 5 years, which means they don't have time to learn stuff. As for super-intelligent vertebrates, the shortest-lived is crows, averaging 15-20 years.
I think what these three animals have in common is that they're all "animals we used to think of as really, really stupid, but then it turns out they weren't."
Dolphins were thought of as "just big fish", without any more thought or feeling than a tuna.
Octopuses were seen as "a slug with arms", just a dumb invertebrate.
And pigs were thought of as just "meat on legs", not needing any consideration. (And thus could "rightly" be given the treatment we would NEVER bestow on a dog, cat or horse.)
But that's as far as I would take it. Dolphins are clever, I think they have an edge above most mammals. While many "special" things about them (lifelong bonds, mourning for the dead, problem-solving, having their own "name" in their vocalizations) are also found in wolves, I see in dolphins the "intentional movements" (showing great awareness, it's hard to explain without comparing) and humor seen in very few other animals.
Octopuses are the smartest invertebrates, and probably smarter than some birds and mammals, but that's also it. They definitely can't compete with crows or elephants.
And pigs... of course they have emotional needs and appreciate mental enrichment, of course they can love and solve puzzles, they're probably also smarter/more aware than dogs in certain ways, but that's as far as I would take it.
A very important note is that intelligence is not a ladder, where you're automatically above or below the one closest to you. Rather, there are many different types of intelligence (it's even this way with people between individuals, let alone different species from vastly different taxa).
So, say that there are 10 categories of intelligence (just pulling a number out of the air), maybe one species fills 4 of those, and another species fills another 4, but they're not the same categories. They thus have completely different types of intelligence, and ways of understanding the world.
That's why we can never "rank" them, from more to less intelligence, in a neat list.
In my opinion, the most intelligent animals on Earth after humans are probably elephants and killer whales. Orangutans. Some parrots (kea and grey) and corvids (don't know about specific species) are also up there. And pigs don't even scratch the bottom of the list.
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facelessxchurch · 2 years
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Remember when you mentioned that some people think SP is So Deep? Sad thing is, it could be yeah. I'm not surprised they detect the possibility and mistake it for the real thing. The series broaches a lot of pretty deep ideas that could have been manifested quite splendidly, but they were not. Maybe that is in itself the moral of the story. Grim lmfao
Or maybe the people that think SP is deep are twelve-year-olds. If not physically then mentally...
I mean, Land fucked up the most basic of philosophical mantras. "I think, so I am", he messed that up when he had Skul state that Darquesse is just Val's bad mood since at the time Darquesse had already developed her own personality. And I know that he didn't have Skul get it wrong on purpose bc he always tries to portray Skul as the smartest person in the room even tho he's a fucking moron whose 'plans' usually consist of out-punching the opponent.
There is also a part where Val and Skul talk about going to therapy and what Skul says shows Landy's complete ignorance of the value of therapy/going to a psychologist. This man doesn't even know the basics about the human condition, which... explains a lot about these books actually.
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zombvibes · 2 years
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(2/2) let alone 20 in one day! even sending anons like this is scary, especially since sometimes people DO say mean things. how are you able to do all that without fear? to be loud and proud about your sillyfun interests and your sillyfun aus? :<
I’m not sure what the first part of your ask was (it’s not showing up in my inbox for some reason??) BUT I’ll try and answer your question to the best of my ability :
Tbh I think it’s a little funny (not “haha” funny but like “….huh” funny) that you’re sayin I’m “loud and proud” about my interests even though I don’t really feel like I am because THAT means my self-esteem has improved A LOT. So, thank you for the ego boost anon! Soon my ego will be so huge that it wouldn’t even be a joke anymore!! (Ok well…maybe not THAT far but still maybe some day…).
Lemm tell you a quick secret, c’mere. Closer? A liiiittle closer? There we are. AHEM :
Sometimes…I feel embarrassed and kinda fearful about sharing my interests! ESPECIALLY about my aus. Heck, I have an au related thing I want to post atm but I’m kinda worried that it’s too self-indulgent? I’ll get over it in a minute though so don’t worry about me LMAO. But, I’m certainly getting better at not feeling bad about being self-indulgent (because that’s what I’m doing). I just…kinda embrace it, you know? It’s easier said than done, but I assure you, once you get over that fear MAN…it’s really the best feeling in the world.
A lot of it for me was “faking it until I make it” by constantly saying “You’re not cringe for simply liking something. And even if you are, it’s fine because you’re having fun and enjoying yourself! Are you not enjoying yourself? I know you are!!” etc etc along with “You’re the smartest person on the planet, you’re amazing, lovely, and people enjoy and want to hear your voice and your thoughts!” etc etc. Just…lots and lots of self-affirmations and joking about me having huge ego that I’m growing. (Basically the opposite of self-depreciation humor.) Well that, and also others telling how much they enjoy the stuff I make and what I have to say! People enjoying what I do/say has really helped me with that too! And after a while, I just…stopped caring. I’m annoying and cringe!! So what?? It’s just something that’s a permanent part of me that I embraced with…uh…slightly open and shakey arms. But the embrace was warm and welcoming. It’s became…nice. Like falling sleeping under a warm blanket during the winter when it’s snowing outside. It really was nice. Just…not caring anymore. And even for the days where I do care, I think about the people who enjoy what I do and post my stuff for their sake! “YEAH I KNOW my followers will LOOVE this!! I know SOMEONE will love this!” And that’ll make me happy. All of my ramblings and other dumb stuff is to make someone happy. Whether that be me or someone else or both. Also ya know…cringe culture is basically dead at this point. Nobody cares if you talk about a harmless thing you enjoy!! And if someone does, it’s THEIR problem! Not yours!!
Now, I obviously don’t know you, so my method of self-praising and jokes may not work but maybe try it. Be kinder to yourself. Maybe do something a little self indulgent today…as a treat! Maybe by rambling about your favorite character? Maybe looking at fanworks? Maybe CREATING fanworks??
Just, ya know, have fun!! Unapologetically!!
TLDR : I’m not completely over my fear. I am, however, trying my hardest TO get over it. Mostly with self affirmation and praise! Whether that be from myself or from others. Just have fun and stop caring!! It’s easier said than done, I know. But once you get over this, you’ll much be happier, I assure you. It’ll be difficult but what isn’t? I know you can do it! Hell I did! And I can’t do anything right!! I’m a moron! (A cool moron but still…point still stands.)
Hopefully this answered your question? Sorry if I didn’t and nothing made sense…I’m not really good at giving advice, lol. Can barely take my own advice half the time aldhajhdkal
Again, I’m not completely over my fear. It’s a beast I’m still fighting. Though, I’m certainly winning because of how cool and strong and I am, the fight isn’t over. But one day, our fight will be over and done with. And we can sit back, relax, and rest. And talk about how cool our favorite characters. Without fear.
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tiny-tigers · 7 months
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✨ My thing with anti-vaxxers and alike is just the sheer audacity. Do they really think that if milk 'cured' a health condition that doctors and scientists wouldn't have discovered it first? These people really think that they're the smartest people in the room because they're going against the norm? Stop.
And you're completely right - I cannot imagine being the parent of a beautiful child, who happened to have a disability, reading crazy mums online giving so called-tips on how to 'cure' your child. Pure rage.
I can see where TC is coming from in flagging it though - apparently there was a similar event between them in their last match up last Autumn which doesn't help - but rugby players throw the word 'c*nt' around all the time without even flinching, but its the colour bit in front of it which poses a problem, white OR black. [whether it was what was actually said or not, only they know] but yeh. I've never been down with trash talk of any kind tbh - its just not necessary. Get riled up another way.
Anyone else a bit nervous about the Arg game after seeing selection? 👀🥴
P.S was it your bday last Sunday or this Sunday..??? 😅💖
I only publish this one because I value so much what you said but I'm still on a journey to get it all off my chest about disabled people , if you are interested I can make a big summary of my experience working with them for months and what changed , how it changed some of my visions ?
The main problem is also the resonance and audience they have, Tom should never have received hate towards his family but I guess one hateful comment leads to another one and what appears to us as a small event can grow quickly and begin to look like harassment instead of isolated morons. The whole stuff has been accentuated by media when it should have stayed between their circles in my opinion. He did the right thing to report but there was nothing much here : end of the story. Do they all need to have some foreign languages skills on specific rugby terms : I think so yes. Could open their minds to other cultures. Do I also hated the boos and shouts during haka : yes and public should also be educated. And last take : swing low sweet chariot is still inappropriate for me to sing and we should invest into a new song. It's only my vision.
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miekasa · 3 years
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six thirty
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+ pairing: armin arlert x (fem) reader
+ genres and warnings: college au, enemies to lovers… kinda… in a very nerdy academic rivalry kind of way, me being a comedian you’re welcome, fluff, smut/nsfw content
+ word count: 5.6k… pls say sike
+ notes: shout out to ryn​​ for listening to me during our very many rambling sessions and also for extorting me into posting this. consider it a late birthday present for my favorite menace </2
+ side notes: no i am not a part of armin nation and i never want to be, nor do i wish speak of this again.
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Armin Arlert is the perfect student. Prompt and well prepared during lecture; smart and insightful during office hours; the apple of any teacher’s eye. Unfortunately for him, so are you.
If you asked Armin, you were a little too clever for your own good, and liked to make it very well known that you believe you’re the smartest person in any room you walk into. That may be true, but it doesn’t mean that he has to sit there and worship your superiority complex. 
If someone asked you, you’d say that Armin was a know it all, and a manipulative little piece of shit. Again, not a completely false statement, but perhaps a slightly biased character analysis.
Neither of you are wrong. It’s why you’re both the bane of each other’s existence.  
There’s a noticeable grimace on your face, chin in your palm, elbows resting atop your desk, as you turn your head to where, sure enough, Armin is seated where he always is: first row, right side, directly in front of the podium, like perfect little teacher’s pet he wants to be. He doesn’t have any books to unpack like everybody else because a shiny, blue iPad is propped up on his desk in place of all of that. He’s robably looking through his pre-written list of showboaty questions to ask during lecture. Like he’s a cut above everyone else.  
Maybe some of the other morons in this course, but not you, that’s for damn sure. You bet that if you broke his thousand dollar tablet he wouldn’t think he’s such hot shit anymore. Maybe that would knock him down a couple of pegs.
“Look at him sitting there with his stupid blue eyes, and his stupid Bieber haircut, and his stupid, shiny blonde hair, and his stupid fucking glasses. I bet they’re not even real and he just wears them to—”
“Did you just call his hair shiny?”
You snap your head to your left, “What—no, of course not. I said shoddy, he’s probably a bottle blonde. Maybe all the chemicals from the hair dye seeps into his head and warps his sense of reality.”
“I’m pretty sure you said shiny.”
“Shut up, Annie.”
She raises an eyebrow at you, “You got something against blondes? Because your track record would beg to differ.”
“Once. We kissed once, and it was truth or dare, and we were both sloshed.”
“You still chose me,” she reminds you, pulling her notebook out of her backpack.
You huff, ignoring her words and turning your head back to Armin, this time finding him twirling his stupid fucking expensive Apple Pencil between his fingers like it’s nothing. You can feel your eye begin to twitch.
Perhaps he can, too—or maybe he can just feel your eyes boring holes into him—because he turns in your direction and ceases his pen twirling the moment you make eye-contact. More students filter in, walking past your line of vision, but each time they move, you and Armin meet gazes again; neither one of you daring to look away, a palpable tension between you.
His eyes might be icy blue, but you can see the rose pink tint underneath his skin, even from the distance; a familiar blush that spreads across his nose and cheeks. You exhale with a silent laugh, breaking your eye contact before he grows completely red, just in time for Dr. Zöe to start the lecture.
Everybody thinks that Armin’s so brilliant, so smart, so untouchable. You know that his only genius is that he’s fooling everyone into thinking that he’s the kind, humble, little nerd boy who wouldn’t harm a fly, when that’s far from the truth.
Armin is mean. He’s competitive and possessive and snarky and sly. He’s the definition of a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but you’re pretty sure the only person in the world who might believe that is Eren. Though, you’ve heard some of the insults Armin throws Eren’s way, and they’re not exactly soft. Granted, that’s a factor in any friendship, and most of his jabs are coated with a layer of intellect the brunette likely doesn’t understand, but that doesn’t make Armin any less sarcastic. It just means Eren’s too dumb to know what’s going on.
Poor kid. Maybe it’s for the best.
That’s all to say that Armin is nothing but a big talker—not even; a smooth-talker, is more like it. He comes across as perfect, all good and sweet and soft, because that’s what he lets people see. Nobody else looks through to the sharp tongue and ragged edges, because they’re too busy cooing over innocent blue-eyed baby in front of them.
But you know that Armin, the one he doesn’t want other people to see: the one that’s so good, he’s bad; so sweet that he’s sick; so nice that it’s cruel. And you know just how much pressure to apply to make his façade crack.
And you intend on doing so.
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“I don’t know which formula to use—hey, are you two eye fucking again? Cut it out, I’m trying not to fail over here,” Eren exclaims, poking Armin’s shoulder with his pen.
The jab averts the blonde’s attention back to his friend, eyes wide as he blinks himself back to reality. He curses under his breath when he feels a familiar warmth creeping across his cheeks. Few things piss Armin off like the way he gets red in the face after thinking about you, or even just looking at you, for too long. Whether it’s red out of pure annoyance, or another feeling he tries to push down, it’s irritating, and above all, embarrassing.
He spares one more glance over his shoulder, to where you and Annie are sat a few tables away in the library. You’ve looked away by now, focusing back on your notes, but Armin swears he can still see that irritating smirk on your face from this angle.
He rolls his tongue along the inside of his cheek. He should be able to keep it together around you by now, but he can’t, and it bothers him. You bother him.
“We weren’t eye fucking,” he refutes, turning his back to you completely, “She’s such a little know it all sometimes, s’annoying.”
Eren raises an eyebrow. He knows that you and Armin don’t get along, but he doesn’t understand why. Armin knows almost all your friends, and you definitely know all of his—Eren would even go as far as to say that you and him are pretty close friends—so it’s not a matter of not spending time together. You’re also the two smartest people Eren knows. In theory you should have more than enough to talk about together, but every time you’re in the same room, you hardly acknowledge each other outside of surface level commentary, or glances that border on staring.
Thankfully, the bickering remains in the classroom for the most part. Eren’s seen you and Armin go at, and he’ll be the first to admit that it’s beyond intimidating. Though, a little part of him finds it oddly entertaining, and he can’t help but to be impressed. All the more reason for you two to start playing on the same team. 
Eren thinks the two of you should get to the root of the issue already. Which, if you asked him, has very little to do with your rivaled academic genius, and a lot to do with your lack of it concerning your feelings for each other.
“She’s not that bad,” Eren vouches for you, “I think you two might get along if you ever spoke outside of trying to one-up each other in class.”
“I’m not trying to one-up anybody,” Armin rolls his eyes, a nasty habit he’s picked up as of late, “And if you stopped and used your brain for a moment, then maybe you could solve the problem.”
“I did use my brain!” Eren’s lips fall into an offended pout, “But none of this makes any sense to me! I fucking hate math, you know that.”
Armin sighs, feeling sympathetic for Eren as he slumps into himself defeatedly. He knows that Eren isn’t dumb, but math in any capacity is certainly not his strong suit. He also knows that he shouldn’t give Eren all the answers, but sometimes he needs a little push to get him there. A little bit of added guidance and motivation to keep him going. It’s either that, or he has to trick Eren into doing the work himself, but clearly that method wasn’t working out today.
“You already solved for the activation energy, now you’re supposed to use the Arrhenius equation in the expanded form.”
Eren’s lips fall into a small o-shape, as his eyes scramble across his paper again. “But—how do you—”
“There’s two measurements given for temperature.”
“Oh. Oh, yeah! Okay, right, but then—”
“You have to convert it to Kelvin first or it won’t work. It��s given to you in Celsius.”
Eren furrows his eyebrows together, and then it finally clicks for him. He mutters to himself as he puts his pencil to paper to begin to work through the problem, “How do I convert—”
“Add 273.15 to it. Make sure you put the bigger one first in the equation, or else you’ll get a negative error.”
“You didn’t even do it,” Eren huffs, angrily punching numbers into his calculator, “How do you know it’s right?”
“Because I took this class already,” Armin reminds him, sparing a brief glance over his shoulder, “Isn’t that why I’m tutoring you?”
Eren coughs over his embarrassed blush, “Oh, yeah, right.”
It’s quiet between them as Eren makes a final attempt at solving the equation, carefully and proudly circling his answer when he’s finished. He looks to Armin with bright eyes, and is content when the blonde gives him a reassuring nod, confirming that his answer is correct.
“Well that was a bitch to work through,” Eren sighs, stretching his arms behind his head with a slight yawn, “Chemistry is nothing but glorified math. It’s barely a science.”
Armin shrugs, but he doesn’t disagree. He isn’t the biggest fan of chemistry, unlike somebody else he knows. “Why’d you take chem if you knew it would have so much math?”
It’s Eren’s turn to shrug, slumping back in his chair and running a hand through his hair, “I gotta take all the pre-med requirements… just in case.”
“You wanna go to med school? Since when?”
Eren averts his eyes from his friend, a telltale sign of his bashfulness coming over him. It doesn’t happen often, but Armin knows it’s sincere when it does.
“Dunno. I’m not sure of it, just wanna keep my options open, you know?” Eren replies casually, “Doctors help make a difference and all that, and surgery looks kind of cool. Besides, if my bastard father could do it, how hard could it really be?”  
A gentle smile grows on Armin’s lips, “You can do it. If you really want to, I know you can.”  
Eren’s head snaps up, eyes wide and filled with affirmation and adoration. He relaxes his expression quickly after, but the pink hues are still present, “Thanks, Min.”
From his position he catches eye of another head of familiar blonde hair over Armin’s shoulder, and beside it, your own hair. There’s a flash of a moment when your eyes meet Eren’s, and you offer him a small wave before turning back to Annie to resume doing your homework. Eren barely gets the chance to wave back, but a dopey smile sits on his features at your kind gesture. It fades when he looks back to Armin, once again pondering the animosity between you two.
You and Armin aren’t all that different, you just need to get to know each other better. Actually, Eren thinks that you might make a good couple if you both stopped overthinking it.
“So, what’s the deal with you and (_____)?” Eren asks, bending his right knee to wrap his arm around his leg and rest his chin on top of it, “You act like she kicked your cat.”
“What?” Armin questions, flustered, “What—no, she wouldn’t touch Soup.” 
Eren quirks an eyebrow at that. “I still can’t believe you named your cat Soup.”
“It’s technically a nickname.”
“A nickname for what?”
“…For Miso Soup.”
Eren blinks. “Okay, if she didn’t mess with Soup, then what’s the issue? You scared of her or something?”
“Why would I be scared of her?” Armin asks, tone incredulous; then softer, more subdued, like a kid who doesn’t want to admit they’re wrong, “’M not scared of her.”
“You stare at her like you are—well, you look kind of angry, but also scared. Like, when you see those balloon things outside of car washes. You hate them, but you can’t look away from them—”
“I am not scared of those!”
“You are, and it’s okay,” Eren waves away his friend’s denial, “Oh, I get it—is this one of those things where she makes you nervous, so you respond with anger and sarcasm instead of thinking through your feelings?”
“You’ve been going to therapy for one month, relax.”
“Maybe you two should go to friend therapy and work this out,” Eren bites back, “It probably doesn’t help that she’s always with Annie. They both look like they would murder someone with no remorse. I admit, it is kind of scary… but it’s kind of hot, too.”
Armin spares him an unamused glare. Eren crosses his arms in defense, “What? I’m not wrong. It’s sexy in a scary kind of way, maybe that’s why you’re always eye fucking. I don’t blame you, she’s hot. I would let her and Annie axe-murder me without regret.”
“Eren?”
“Yeah?”
“Shut up and do problem six, I don’t have all day.”
Eren huffs, but flips the page to the next problem, grumbling under his breath as he attempts the, “It’s not as sexy when you’re mean, you know.”
Armin hits him silent.
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Tuesdays are Armin’s favorite days because he only has one class. Sure, it’s three hours long, but it’s much more bearable than his usual eight-hour day.
It’s also the one class he shares with you. Which is why he’s always mentally exhausted by the end of it, but physically, he feels like he could punch a wall; all his pent up anger and frustration is channeled into his body and he’s desperate for an outlet for it. It’s a feeling he hates to love.
Annie seems to have cut class today seeing as she’s not next to you; and it’s almost as if it’s emboldened you to mess with him even more than usual.
He bites his tongue as Dr. Zöe enthusiastically uses your latest point as a segue into the final topic of the evening. He made that same point ten minutes ago. You just worded it differently—admittedly, more concisely, but somehow with a little more nuance, than when he had hesitantly proposed it—and, yeah, maybe you made it sound more convincing, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t come up with it first. If his stupid, fancy stylus didn’t cost upwards of $200 he might have snapped it in half.
You’re definitely the better conversationalist, that much he can admit. Words have never been his forte and he hates the way you can talk circles around him, and that there’s so little he can say to make you stop.
He wishes you would just shut up. In fact, he’d like to shut you up himself.
Thankfully, class ends sooner rather than later. Armin finds himself briefly talking with Dr. Zöe afterwards, most other students having taken the opportunity to leave early for the night. To nobody’s surprise, you’re not one of them, having stuck around to talk to the professor, too.
“The two of you should consider lab research this summer,” Dr. Zöe suggests ardently, walking between the two of you as you exit the lecture hall, “I could really use two students like you!”
Armin chuckles at his boisterous professor. He’s known about the research opportunities at their lab for quite some time now, and he knows that you have, too. “I don’t know that lab work is really my strong suit.”
The three of you come to stop at the hallway intersection, the professor now standing across from you and him. You give them a polite smile, “And I’m not sure that collaboration is mine.”
Armin spares a glance just in time to see you flash one of your own in his direction. Dr. Zöe’s eyes flicker between the two students rapidly, a slight squint to their eyelids.
They aren’t quite sure why their two brightest students seem to despise each other. They wish you two would just get along already, so that they don’t have to spend the summer training half-witted chemical engineering majors how to use basic lab equipment; and instead, conduct some actual research.
“Well, I hope the both of you reconsider,” they smile, “I’ll see you during office hours, I presume?”
You two nod in sync, sending the doctor off with happy smile, just long enough until you see that they’ve turned the corner further down the hall
“Had fun stealing my point earlier?” Armin questions, looking your way as you still wave mindlessly, eye-twitching at your polite façade.
“I would call it improvement,” you tell him, not bothering to turn in his direction; still and smiling waving like the professor can see or hear you, “You should stick to showing, rather than saying. You never were good with your words.”
Armin kisses his teeth together. He’ll give you what you want, if that’s how you want it.
In a fit of irritation, he grabs your moving hand by the wrist, and pulls you down the opposite hallway, not caring for your dramatic wailing behind him.
“Hey, Einstein, the exit is the other way, do you have any idea where we’re going?”
“Ever heard of observational learning? Maybe if you shut up for a second, you would figure it out,” he snaps, pulling you further.
There’s a door on the left that Armin knows is unlocked, and he’s quick to open it and pull you inside. Before you have the chance to glance around, he has you pushed up against the wall, jaw forced up and forward.
He could scoff at the small hitch in your breath at his actions, clearly a little too satisfied with being manhandled; but instead, he takes the opportunity to press your lips together. Armin quite likes the feeling of your lips on his; warm and soft and far too welcoming; a rare moment of silence.
“Someone could hear us.”
Or not so silent.
“Then be quiet,” he snarls.
Armin feels your fingers weave themselves into his hair, scraping along his undercut in sync with his lips trailing down your jaw. A groan falls from his when he feels you tug at the ends of the strands, just hard enough to force his face back to eye level with yours.
“You’re the one with the big mouth.”
“You’re so smart, huh. Always got something to say,” Armin lets out a low chuckle, deft fingers running down your sides to squeeze at your waist, “You can be really fuckin’ annoying, you know that.”
You mirror half of his ministrations, letting your right hand trail down his chest barely brushing over the very visible bulge in his jeans, before hooking your index finger under the belt loop, effectively pulling him closer to you.
The smile on your face is dirty, but you’re not laughing like he was, “Do something about it then.”
His blue eyes grow cloudy as he takes a good look at you; slowly rakes over your features, from that stupid, snarky look in your eyes, to your kiss-bruised lips, down to your chest, and back up again. Armin finds himself copying your smirk for all the wrong reasons. But it’s your own fault; you always did like to push him one step over the edge.
“Fine.”
Despite your twisted grin there’s a look in your eyes that’s eager; willing; ready for the taking. That same look you have when you talk over him in class; when you pretend to ignore him around your mutual friends; when you want him to fuck you stupid.
Armin uses his right hand to cup your jaw again, closing the distance between your mouths with a less than gentle kiss. He feels your groans reverberating through his body, waves of heat accompanying them and going straight to his erection. Your arch your back into the kiss, but he forces you backwards, left hand flat against your tummy.
Following suit, he pushes himself against your body, pressing his knee between your legs; the thin fabric of your stockings doing little to prevent your thighs from rubbing against him.
He swipes his tongue over the seam of your lips, earning a frenzied whine when glides his tongue across yours, and teasingly licks at the roof of your mouth. Your tongue is lithe against his, but somehow just as deceptive and sly as always, and Armin would be a fool to deny that he loved it.
There’s a spark flickering in his stomach when you push your center harshly against his; and it’s only ignited further when he feels you bite his bottom lip. A guttural growl escapes him, his right hand moving to your throat with practiced ease, pushing the back of your head into the wall.
He pauses for a moment, drinks in your wide eyes and desperate visage, “You are the single most frustrating person I’ve ever met in my entire life.”
And he couldn’t get enough of it if he tried. He couldn’t get enough of you.
You must see through his words, into the grainy expression of adoration in his eyes, because he can see it filtering into yours, pupils dilating with both want and care.
“Aw, baby, I love you, too,” you pout, leaning forward as best to can to peck him on the lips, “Now, shut me up and fuck me. It’s exhausting being this pretty and smart-mouthed, you know.”
Armin dips his head into your neck, squeezes against the column of your throat with warning until he hears a gasp escape from your lips. He presses gentle kisses into your skin, in stark contrast to the increasing pressure from his fingers, waiting for one last request, and then, finally—“Please.”
He smiles, loosens his grip for a moment, just long enough to hear your pretty panting, before slotting his lips against yours again. Your moans are lewd and sloppy and breathless between kisses, and it makes his dick twitch in his pants. You really are so fucking loud. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.
He uses his free hand to push your skirt up, and subsequently dip past the weak barrier of your tights and underwear. The slightest flicker of his fingers against your center has you choking out a moan, and Armin is forced to press his right thumb harder against your neck.
“Quiet,” he reminds you, “You asked nicely, so I’ll give you what you want. No need to be loud about it.”
He watches you nod with short and restricted movements, a sadistic kind of power washing over him at your eager compliance. He uses his middle finger to rub slow, careful circles around your clit; the feeling of your wet cunt against his fingers, coupled with your wanton moaning only spurs on the throbbing in his pants.
“Armin,” you whine, impatiently; but he expected that of you, “Don’t tease.”
His eyes flash to yours briefly, pressing his lips to yours again to swallow your shuddered moans. He dips his tongue into your mouth at the same time he does his middle finger into your cunt. An obscene moan echoing through the classroom, as Armin feels your body arching into his again; feels your fingers frantically flying to his hair, searching for purchase to anchor yourself on.
He pulls away in time to add another digit and watch you groan underneath him. He pushes both his fingers in to the knuckle, carefully curling them upwards to elicit the prettiest sound out of you. He has to admit, it’s probably his favorite thing to hear come out of your mouth.
He keeps a steady pace, pumping his fingers in and out of your pussy with perfect friction, teetering between letting you moan his name and choking you silent. Your hands are frantic in his hair, grasping and pulling and so, so, desperate, Armin can’t help but to finger fuck you harder.
“You want one more?” he questions, but his voice is taunting, words ghosted over your lips just out of reach for you to kiss.
He can feel your leg trembling against his, see you pupils shaking along with your shaking head. Armin stops to smile; he thought you might do that. He could probably make you cry right now if he wanted to. Maybe later.
“Want you to fuck me,” your words short and ragged, eyebrows raised when he uses his thumb to press lightly against your clit, “Armin, please.”
The blonde shakes his head, “You’re dumber than you look if you think I’m gonna fuck you in a classroom, baby, so if you want to cum now, you better tell me.”
You have the audacity to pout of all things, “You’re mean.”
Armin lets out a breathless laugh. “You like it,” he leans forward to peck you sweetly, “So, what’ll it be?”
“Fine, but I want head later, too,” you tell him, words becoming less firm when Armin teases his ring finger against your slit, “Please.”
Armin hums in compliance, leaning forward to kiss you again, this time with more tact, and he chases your whines when he finally pushes a third finger inside of you.
“Look at you,” he croons breaking your kiss and forcing your head back again, “You take it so well.”
“Ah—fuck, there, Armin—there,” you cry, wet heat squeezing around his fingers in intermittent spasms.
Armin watches your chest heave with desperate breaths, air stuttering to pass from your lips to your lungs with his hand around your neck. He can feel your walls constricting around his fingers, feel your body shaking underneath him when he increases his pace. He curls his fingers again, just right, just until he hears you sing a strained call of his name. And when he feels your nails scraping down the nape of his neck, and the slight weight of your body convulsing, Armin knows you’re done for.
He’s nice enough to fuck you through your orgasm, shallow thrusts of his fingers bringing you to and down from your high as he watches you pant for him. He presses small kisses against your throat, up, up, up, until he’s kissing you, and carefully pulling his fingers out.
He removes his hand from your neck, and slides it down your waist to offer you support. He’s not prepared for your sudden pull on his neck, forcing him into a kiss that conveys your content; he’s quick to raise his left hand, palm meeting the wall to hold himself up against your sporadic actions, chuckling lightly into your kiss. You were always so reckless and happy after an orgasm.
You kiss him like you have him wrapped your finger despite being the one pleading moments ago. You do, so he supposes it’s not unwarranted; and he welcomes your flirtatious kisses despite the annoying blush they always bring forth.
And sure enough, he can feel his face on fire when you pull away. Armin scoffs internally at himself; he really should be able to keep it together around you by now. But when you kiss him like that, you kind of make it hard to think straight.
“You’re so good when you’re not… pretending to be good,” you hum, a blissful, hazy look on your features as you wrap your arms around his neck.
Armin shakes his head with a chortle of disbelief; leans forward to kiss you again, “’M not pretending. I am good.”
“Yeah, you’re such a good little saint that arguing with your girlfriend turns you on,” you taunt him, “It’s okay, Armin, you can admit it.”
He groans, out of shallow annoyance this time, and it makes you giggle. “Why are you acting like you’re not complicit in this?”
“Oh, no, no, no,” you refute with an exaggerated roll of your eyes, “You get turned on by hearing me talk about biochemistry. I like it when you tell me to shut up about it. We are not the same.”
“Yeah, because you look hot doing it,” he tells you, “Speaking of which, Eren called you hot today, so I kind of need you to slip a neurotoxin in his Gatorade.”
“Aw, Eren thinks I’m hot? Tell him I think he’s hot, too,” you bat your eyelashes at him, but Armin only offers you an unimpressed glare in return.
“I think he might be onto us, actually,” Armin notes, affectionately bumping his nose against yours.
“If he’s onto us, then it’s because you’re the one giving it away, not me.”
“Oh, because you could never do anything wrong, right?”
“Right,” you flash him an overconfident smile before reaching up to kiss to the tip of his nose, “See you’re so smart, baby.”
Armin shakes his head again in disbelief. You’re a handful, he can see that much.
“Come on,” he prompts, “We should go, I still have to finish my lab write up, and I know you haven’t started your paper.”
Armin tries to motion you forward, but is stopped when he feels your hand combing through his hair, and sees the genuine spark of concern in your eyes. “The one for your elective? I thought you said you were going to finish it on Monday.”
“I was,” Armin admits, “But then I didn’t.”
“You want me to help you with it?” you offer kindly, pushing his bangs back and letting your hands fall down the sides of his face, palms resting against his ears.
He nods gently, turning his head to press a kiss into your left palm, before wrapping his hand around your wrist, “I can help you outline your paper.”
You nod in return, and Armin spares one more kiss, before pulling your hand away to lace your fingers together.
Thankfully, nobody’s around to catch you exiting the classroom, or see you holding hands as you make your way out of the building and towards the bus stop. This was Armin’s favorite part of any Tuesday; the one time he could hold your hand on campus without the fear of getting caught by your friends.
He reasons that you guys should probably tell them soon, though, especially if Eren might have an idea of what’s going on. You were bound to get caught sooner rather than later. That, or Eren and Sasha would start meddling.
“If you think Eren knows, then Mikasa definitely knows,” you note, swinging your intertwined hands as you walk through the parking lot as a shortcut.
“Maybe if you actually remembered to hide Soup’s toys, there would be less evidence for her to piece together.”
“Yeah, well, maybe if you didn’t forget when your midterms are, I wouldn’t have to emergency cat sit the hour before Mikasa comes around, and there wouldn’t be any toys to hide in the first place.”
“I’m bad with dates, you know that!” Armin pouts, “I don’t say anything when you forget about ten page papers until four hours before they’re due.”
“You’re saying something right now, actually.”
“That’s not what I—you know, you’re so—”
Armin’s quiet when he feels your lips pressed against his cheekily, “Annoying. I know. You like it. You’re not very good at staying mad for very long.”
Armin’s tempted to roll his eyes yet again—he really needs to quit it, or at the very least, get your own temper under control before it’s irreversible and completely rubbed off on him—but takes the opportunity to kiss your forehead, instead.
“You’re lucky you’re cute.”
Your eyes twinkle under his affections. “And that you love me?”
He nods, “And that I love you.”
“And that you’re gonna fuck me before you make me write my paper when we get home, right?”
Armin chuckles and presses another kiss to your forehead, “We’ll see about that one.”
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Hange huffs as they make their way through the parking. They always forget their keys in their office, and always, inconveniently park half-way across the campus. In their defense, this parking lot is free, and the one closest to the Medical Sciences building is not. So, really, capitalism is the one to blame for their frequent late night car lot strolls.
They hear two familiar voices bickering just as they’re about to step into their car, and are more than surprised to see their two favorite students walking together. Walking together and holding hands. Wait—you and Armin are walking together and holding hands?
Hange blinks for a moment, drowning out the sounds of the conversation after they see you two kiss. Their jaw practically falls to the asphalt and they might not blink for a full two minutes as they process what they just saw.
Their trance is broken when it finally, finally clicks together, and Hange has to try their hardest to contain their squeals before sitting in the driver’s seat, an overly forceful slam to the car door following. They waste no time fumbling with the pockets of their lab coat to fish out their phone, and make a call to their favorite math professor.
“Levi, I told you Arlert and (_____) had to know each other outside of class! I think they might be dating! You know what this means, right? I can have them both in the same lab without worrying they might start a chemical fire, and I won’t have to hire two brick heads this summer!”
Levi has never hung up a call more quickly in his life.
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bwbatta · 3 years
Text
four - believable
Abstract: Draco and you are just friends so doing him a favour and pretending to be his girlfriend wouldn’t effect your friendship right?
Pairing: Draco Malfoy x reader
Warnings: this is super fluffy beware
Word count: 3944
A/N: well, I’m back and BOY do I have a good one for you! Christmasy vibes are at 100% as I’m struggling to believe Christmas has actually been and gone, hopefully this will fulfil your Christmas Draco cravings! 
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Series Masterlist | Main Masterlist | Part 3
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If you thought people gossiped too much about the rumour of Draco and you being in a relationship before it was even confirmed, the gossip that was instigated from your kiss in the middle of the Great Hall was on another level.
No one said it to your face but everyone thought the chemistry between the two of you surely couldn’t have been faked.
Little did they know though, right?!
Whispers died down after a couple weeks of seeing the two of you walk around holding hands or with Draco’s arm over your shoulder pulling you close in his grip.
In fact the two of you touching in some way became such a constant that it almost felt odd when his hand wasn’t resting on your leg while you were together.
The one thing that wasn’t so weird to come from the game you two had going on, was how Pansy had dialled down her desperate attempts to seduce the blonde Malfoy heir.
Sure she still tried when you weren’t around, but it was a lot less than before and all her attempts were rebuffed and ignored by Draco.
After about a month, her attempts had dwindled and come to a halt.
Not that the two of you noticed that much.
You both had to admit, you enjoyed how things were with each other right now, not that you’d tell the other.
“Hey Sweetheart”
Broken out of your thoughts you looked up to see the familiar blonde approaching you with a grin on his face.
The two of you saw each other earlier that day for breakfast and then later for Potions, but since you both chose different courses, you didn’t have the time to cross paths again until later that evening.
You had been flicking through an astronomy textbook, attempting to finally finish your essay in the Library. Christmas was fast approaching which meant so were final deadlines for the term. Mostly you were fine with the workload you had, thanks to a specific muggleborn Gryffindor who had kept you on track, yet astronomy was kicking your arse.
As hard as you tried, you couldn’t tell your constellations apart from your galaxies.
“Hi” you sighed in reply causing the boy to frown
“That doesn’t sound very happy”
“That’s because this Astronomy essay is making me want to knock myself out with a telescope” you rested your head on your arms dejectedly. “It would be less painful.”
Draco didn’t stop the snort escaping his lips as he rolled his eyes at your dramatics and grabbed your excuse of an essay. With a snicker he shot you an amused look at the last line you’d written on the parchment, aka when you’d really given up all hope.
“’The Sirius constellation looks like a dog but you can’t really tell which breed’?! You’re honestly going to give this in?!” he laughed 
“You can’t tell though!”
“Well first, Sirius is a star not a constellation and second the constellation it’s in is obviously a terrier.”
“How helpful” 
His grey eyes shot you an amused look before gathering up your books and papers and put them away in your bag. Grabbing your hand he pulled you up and out of the Library which you groaned at, complaining you needed to finish your essay.
“I know” he just responded, pulling you close to him by your hands before detaching them and dropping his arm around your shoulder, pressing a kiss to your forehead in the process as he saw a gaggle of Ravenclaws pass you on their way to the Library. “Let’s grab some dinner and then I’ll help you with your essay.”
The kitchens weren’t as busy as usual as dinner was already happening, but still busy enough to have three house elves approach the two of you asking what they could get you.
“Two plates of roast beef, one with extra roast potatoes, the other with extra yorkshire puddings.”
Immediately your stomach growled at the thought of the food to your embarrassment. You really hadn’t realised how hungry you’d gotten.
Almost in no time at all, two steaming hot plates of food were given to you and the two of you made your way to the astronomy tower, taking a seat on the floor so you could take in the view of the setting sun.
“Why are we here? I thought we’d go back to the Library or common room to finish the essay?”
“How else am I gonna teach you the constellations if you can’t see them?!”
You were taken aback a little.
“You’re teaching me by pointing them out? How do you know astronomy?”
“The entirety of my family are named after stars and constellations on my mother’s side. It was something I just knew growing up because she taught me from when I was young.”
“So there’s a star called Draco?”
“A constellation actually” he mused, “it’s suppose to look like a dragon.”
“Suppose to?”
“Looks more like a snake if I’m honest”
The subject changed over dinner to other things you’d each thought of or heard throughout the day, when you hadn’t seen each other. Apparently the head boy and head girl had been caught by McGonagall in a broom closet getting frisky.
There had also been a fight which had broken out in the Herbology greenhouses which resulted in a mandrake pot being shattered and everyone fainting because of the screams from the young plant.
The real highlight of the day however, was the rumour of the Ancient Runes professor showing an interest in one of the sixth year Hufflepuffs.
“Contrary to popular belief, those Hufflepuffs aren’t as innocent as everyone might be led to believe” Draco snickered as you slapped his arm jokingly.
“I can’t believe a professor here would do that thought!”
“We’ve had worse teachers, lets be honest” he laughed. “Lets recall our last five years shall we?!”
“First one was killed by Harry after having You-Know-Who on the back of his head, the second was a complete moron and obliviated himself- one was a werewolf! Then lets not forget the disguised death eater and then finally this year we’ve been delighted to have the pink toad as a teacher.” 
“I feel like we’ve really lucked out if I’m honest” Draco snorted as you snickered at the humoured sarcasm you shared.
A cold breeze shifted through the open tower when the sun finally set, causing you to shiver involuntarily. Deciding to only wear a thin jumper, forgoing your robes whilst you studied earlier may not have been the smartest idea once the two of you decided to eat at that destination.
Draco noticed and immediately leaned back against the wall, holding his arms out to you.
“Come here”
With a shuffle, you were under his arm, pressed against him as you settled into his side, his body heat being a welcoming factor.
“Merlin, you’re freezing” he frowned pulling you closer before conjuring up an emerald green blanket.
“Winter doesn’t really agree with me,” you joked “now tell me about these bloody constellations.”
“Well you’ve got the northern constellations and the southern ones. The northern include some such as Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Lyra and Pegasus. The southern have ones like Ara, Orion, and Canis’ Major and Minor.”
“Which one is Draco in?”
“Northern” he grinned down at you as you reciprocated his smile. “You then also have the zodiac constellations which are the 12 most commonly known ones.”
“Like Sagittarius, Aquarius and all that?”
“Yep. Within all those constellations, you’ve then got your stars.” 
The blonde boy explained the basics of the stars to you almost effortlessly as your gaze flicked back and forth from him to the sky, when he pointed out which section he was talking about.
He talked non stop about the stars and you couldn’t help but admire the Slytherin as he spoke of the subject. Draco wasn’t arrogantly top of the class like Hermione was, but he was in no way lacking in knowledge when it came to subjects he knew about like it was second nature.
Time passed you both by like the cool breeze that surrounded you, and before you knew it, hours had passed just being in each others company as he easily gave you enough clarity to finish off your essay, without even having to resort to drastic measures.
You also learnt so much more than any astronomy professor had taught you in all your years at Hogwarts.
Maybe that was just because they weren’t as captivating as the blonde beside you.
You wouldn’t say it out loud, but you knew exactly what your favourite constellation was after that evening, and it just so happened to look like a dragon.
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Christmas drew closer and Draco was adamant on sticking to his side of the deal, so with a sigh he set off to Hogsmeade in search of the extensive list of Christmas gifts he had promised to get you. 
He had to appear like the perfect boyfriend after all.
Something was nagging at him though and it was constantly circling his mind as he trudged down in the frost to the village. 
It had been that evening when the two of you were in the astronomy tower and he was teaching you about the stars, when it had happened.
In the midst of his talking, he pointed out the Orion constellation before glancing down at you and pausing a second to catch his breath, not because he was chatting too much, but because in the vivid light of the moon, you were ethereal. 
He had whole heartedly planned to carry on talking, but the sight of you, curled up against him, with the moonlight highlighting your features, his breath was stolen from him. 
Almost in a trance he brushed the back of his fingers against your cheekbone causing you to snap your gaze to him, eyes wide at the delicate gesture.
Your wide eyes shocked him out of his state and immediately he paused awkwardly, racking his brain for some kind of excuse.
“Um... eyelash” he murmured, grey eyes not breaking from your own.
“...thanks.”
His mind was screaming at him to just carry on talking, yet no words came out of his mouth. 
Instead, almost like his body had a mind of it’s own, his fingers continued to move to brush away the lock of hair which had fallen out of it’s place.
Finally gaining control of his actions again, he dropped his hand and pulled you closer to him, effectively breaking your line of sight. Draco began to talk about Orion again but his mind wasn’t 100% paying attention to the facts that came out his mouth.
What the hell was that?
Shaking those questions from his head, he pressed his lips to your temple and continued his rambling about stars.
It had been quick, fleeting, but Draco hadn’t missed it and he really hoped you had. The affection which was suppose to be scripted for everyone else’s belief had reared it’s head like it was second nature to the pair. 
You hadn’t said anything or brought it up so Draco definitely wasn’t going to. 
He agreed with himself it was probably best left unspoken about. It was a slip up, something which felt right to do at the time but it wouldn’t happen again.
Attempting to convince himself, he muttered about how you probably didn’t even notice. It was nothing. 
After all, whatever was happening affectionately between the two of you wasn’t real.
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In short, you’d noticed. 
Draco showing you affection was nothing new, yet Draco showing it when no one else was around, okay, that was new.
The kiss he left on your temple could of course be in a friendly manner, right? The brush against your cheek? The way he looked at you?
Friends are affectionate to each other, it was probably nothing more than a friendly endearment. Like a hug.
So why did it feel like there was so much more unsaid?
With a groan of annoyance, you shut it from your mind. There was no use in overthinking something as small as a simple affection. You were smarter than that. 
The truth was, the two of you were so hellbent on making everyone around you believe you were in a relationship, you failed to noticed how neither of you denied how believable it was to each other.
Your stomach grumbled loudly, catching the attention of the witch opposite you who eyed you with annoyance.
“Are you just going to sit there, starve yourself and annoy me, or are you going to get some food and leave so I can work in peace?”
“Merlin, Hermione, it’s almost like you don’t want me around.”
“I don’t when you’re distracting me”
“Charming as ever, I see”
With a huff, the bookworm turned her attention back to her books.
Completely bored with your homework, you fidgeted with your quill between your fingers.
“Hey, Hermione? Are you going home for Christmas?”
“You couldn’t ask me this later?” she sighed as she paused in her writing and shot you an irritated look. At the shake of your head, she rolled her eyes. “Yes, My family and I are planning on going skiing again. Are you heading back?”
“Not this year, my parents are off visiting my cousins in America so I said I’d stay at Hogwarts.”
“You’re staying here for Christmas?”
A new voice entered your conversation from behind you and at the look of Hermione’s scowl, you knew immediately it was your blonde boyfriend.
Turning in your seat, you greeted him with a smile. Pecking a kiss to your lips, more for Hermione’s purpose than your own, he took the seat next to you, placing his own stack of books on the table next to you.
“Yeah, like I said, parents are going to America, it’s just easier if I stay.”
“Not many others are planning on staying though, not even the Weasleys” Draco frowned.
You shrugged at his insinuation, knowing exactly what he was getting at.
“I’ll be fine, might actually get some peace and quiet to be honest.”
He didn’t look convinced. 
“I’ll write to my parents and tell them I’m staying for Christmas”
“Draco-”
“Nope, I’m not going to let you spend Christmas alone,” he was adamant, “Can I borrow a piece of parchment, I’ll write to them now.”
“Go ahead, I’m not using it” you replied which earned you an exasperated look from the Gryffindor opposite you, which you ignored.
Hermione took the time to observe the two of you and how effortlessly you interacted around each other. It was like a cleverly choreographed piece.
You looked down at your work, Draco looked up at you. Draco looked down at the letter he was now writing, you looked up at Draco. You rested your hand on his arm when you were talking, he leans into your touch.
The Granger witch couldn’t help but almost admire the chemistry between the two of you and how easy it seemed it was to be with the other. Sure, she had doubts at the very start when you’d just begun dating, yet getting a front row seat to seeing the two of you bounce off each other, Hermione Granger believed wholeheartedly the two of you loved each other. 
Even if you didn’t know it yourselves yet.
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Draco had followed through with his promise and as it seemed every other student had journeyed down to the train a couple days ago. The two of you were sat happily in the Astronomy tower, basking in the silence of the castle and embracing how relaxing it was. 
Since the first time the two of you had sat around the tower before, it seemed like this was the place you both chose to come every time when it was just the two of you. 
Neither of you had brought up the small affection from the previous time, but acting like it didn’t happen seemed like it was working for the two of you.
“What’s the best Christmas gift you’ve ever gotten?” Draco asked you after a few moments of silence.
You had to think for a moment before a grin rapidly grew across your face at the exact present you knew you loved. 
“Snitch socks,” you chuckled “I was given a pair by my grandma when I was like 10 or something and they were the fluffiest, comfiest pair of socks I ever owned where there was a little charm with made the snitches fly around the design. They must’ve cost a knut or something as they fell apart after I only wore them for a few days! Young me was so heartbroken about her socks, she cried for three days!”
“You cried over socks?!”
“The best socks! I don’t think I’ve even known real joy since”
Draco snorted out a laugh into your hair as he wrapped an arm round your shoulders.
“That’s so stupid”
“Don’t be such a jerk, I was 10” you scowled at him playfully “besides, my grandma passed away a couple years later and I have no idea where she got them, so I’ve made my peace with it.”
“Would you still wear them now if you got another pair?”
“Oh 100%, but either way, like I said, I’ve made my peace with it.” You shrugged nonchalantly before turning to the boy next to you, “go on then, what’s been your favourite Christmas present ever?!”
“A pocket watch” he grinned reaching into his pocket and pulling one out, passing it over to you to look at. “It’s a Black family heirloom - my Mother’s side of the family, and it’s suppose to keep you on time for everything. It used to belong to one of my great uncles or someone but I’ve never been late to anything when I have this on me.”
“Really?” you asked sceptically 
“Really”
“What about that time you were late to potions?!”
“Left it in my dorm accidentally. Actually that whole day was kind of a disaster. Bloody Pansy and her love potion.”
You snorted as you admired the watch and flipped it over in your palm to examine the back. Cursive words were engraved in the back in another language- probably latin, which had something to do with keeping the owner on time, all the time.  
It was silver and about the size of a large golf ball in diameter, yet surprisingly light as you played with it between your fingers. 
“It’s pretty”
Draco hummed in agreement as he watched you trace the intricate details with your fingers before smiling and handing it back to him. With a fond look at the watch, then you, he slipped it back into his pocket.
“I just pray I don’t lose it, wouldn’t hear the end of it from my Mother”
“For good reason probably” you snorted, “if it’s a family heirloom it probably means a lot to her.”
Draco hummed once again and pinned his warm gaze on you. He wouldn’t say it out loud but he rarely let the things that meant a lot to him out of his sight.
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“God rest ye merry hippogriffs-”
“I’m begging you to stop”
“-ye are A BIRD OF PREY!”
“Y/N-”
“We come in all our splendour, to lead ye ast--”
A hand covered your mouth as you laughed heavily at Draco’s attempt to quieten your singing. You had purposefully tried to make it the worst edition of the Christmas carol possible to annoy the blonde that Christmas morning, yet you hadn’t planned on being tackled into the Slytherin sofa as an attempt to be shut up.
“Did you just lick my hand?!”
You shook your head innocently, not fooling Draco for a second. 
The two of you had gathered in the Slytherin common room, as most of the house had gone back for the holiday.
Only a couple of students remained, but after the wizard had glared at the couple of second years, they scattered somewhere else for the time being.
“Okay, presents!”
You almost dived under the tree as you caught sight of a carefully wrapped gift with your name on it. However, finding the label attached to a rather large bundle of Honeydukes chocolates, the smile you shot Draco was almost blinding.
“You did get me the chocolates!!”
“I promised, didn’t it?!”
Draco watched you with a fond grin as you rifled through the basket picking out a couple of chocolate frogs and chucked one to him. He caught the small packet quickly, thanking his seeker reflexes as he did, and looked at you questioningly.
“What, you didn’t think I’d be able to get through all these myself?! Plus I know chocolate frogs are your favourite.”
Draco felt his smile grow wider.
“I got something for you too” you matched his smile
“You did?”
“Of course!”
Pulling out a long rectangular box from under the tree, he kneeled down next to you as he pushed it along the floor so it wasn’t obstructed by anything.With a wary look towards you, he paused slightly.
“It’s not anything that will bite, right?”
“Oh shut up, of course not, now open it!”
With a roll of his eyes, the Malfoy ripped off the wrapping paper and pried open the cardboard box to see the broom he had been envying Harry Potter over for the last year.
“You got me a Firebolt?!”
“Couldn’t have you whining about Harry’s broom any longer, could I?!”
“Merlin, Y/N! This is fantastic, thank you!” He grinned at you before his eyes snapped to the tree and back. “There’s some other things for you still under the tree.” 
It was your turn to pin him with a questioning look, eyebrows pulled together in a frown. 
Turning back to the tree, you pulled up a few branches and spotted another large box at the back. With great effort, to which the Malfoy just found great entertainment in, you managed to retrieve the box. Pulling open the top flap, the boots and jacket he had also promised you, sat inside.
With a laugh you pulled the boots out first and then the jacket, before spotting a smaller bundle at the bottom. Reaching in, your fingers came in contact with something soft which you pulled out, only to gasp at what it was.
A pair of fluffy green socks sat in your hand as golden snitches whizzed round the design. Not being able to find your words, you looked up at Draco with the softest look you were sure you’d ever looked at him with. 
“Draco... you got me snitch socks?!”
“I may have mentioned about the socks to my Mother and she just so happened to know where they were sold. I picked the green ones because I couldn’t have you wearing red ones now, could I?”
“Merlin, they’re perfect! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Pretty much launching yourself at him, you pulled Draco into a warm hug, arms around his neck, as he instinctively wrapped his own arms around your waist in return. 
“You are the best boyfriend ever, oh Merlin!”
“If I knew it was this easy to please you, I would’ve bought you them ages ago” he snickered.
You pulled away, only to move to put the socks on as you chatted non stop about how great they were, and in turn, how great he was. Seeing your entire face light up because of a pair of socks made Draco smile even more. 
Again, he wouldn’t admit it out loud, but seeing that smile on your face, which he had 100% been responsible for, made his entire Christmas so much better.
490 notes · View notes
thatasianstereotype · 4 years
Text
Fuck. I’m Gay.
I’ve been reading a lot of ml salt fics lately (mainly @unmaskedagain which is a literal goldmine of saltiness). And getting into the Damienette ship. Marinette really does deserves better (Fuck Canon) but so does Adrien. He is not a “sidekick”. Chat Noir and Ladybug are partners = equals. So I decided why not write a fic where Adrien gets his own happy ending in the form of a grumpy assassin-turned-vigilante that loves animals more than people. 
Somewhat of a crack writing where creative liberties were definitely taken. 
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Lila Rossi is a bitch and everyone knew it. Well, by everyone, Adrien means himself, his good-amazing-make-pastries-for-him friend Marinette, his maybe-not-really-sure friend Chloe and his-not-that-close-really-classmate Nathaniel. 
Yeah. It was a small number. 
But Lila is still a bitch. 
Anyway, Lila’s lies and manipulations have disturbed the status quo and not in a good way. She ended up making the majority of the class fawn over her like she was a perfect goddess and not a pompous-temperamental-hormonal teenager. Teenagers were prone to be gullible; he can understand his classmates being inclined to believe her. But this was utterly ridiculous (man, Chloe is rubbing off on him). No. You know what’s even more ridiculous? Ms. Bustier letting Lila get away with it. She doesn’t even stop the class mistreating Marinette who claimed she was a bully just because of you know who - Fucking Lila Rossi. The audacity of that bitch and her bitchy followers, am I right? 
Growing up he watched the tv shows and the animes. High schools always had their drama but he thought that was to get some plot going on. He didn’t think it was an actual thing that happens in real life. But he was proven wrong. Françoise Dupont High School had their drama and it was way worse than what he watched on screen. 
The worst part was that he couldn’t get away from Lila. Or he’ll be pulled from school (Fuck you Dad). He had to sit next to that bitch and listen to her drone on and on about things they both knew she didn’t do, about things she promised to do for her ever gullible followers friends. And couldn’t say anything against it if he wanted to stay in school. But even his discreet questioning didn’t do that much. It got some of the class to think something’s possibly fishy with her stories but not enough to think Lila was evil. So he just gave up. Because what was even the point? 
He was distancing himself from Alya and Nino. He couldn’t really be friends with people who thought Lila held the sun and moon. They didn’t hang out as much as they used to and he made excuses when they did invite him to stuff. Lately, he was making outrageous excuses - like he had to take his cat to the vet even though he didn’t have a cat - to see if they caught on. They didn’t. It was fun but he didn’t know whether to feel happy or sad about that. But feeling sad-depressed-pain over it was a bitch so he decided to take his victories as they come. 
Chloe had left the school earlier on. Her mom wanted to spend one-on-one time with her daughter (Yeah, Audrey is better at being a mother here). She was completely out of this drama mess. And Nathaniel kept his head down to not paint a target on himself. 
His only consolation and ally in this whole mess was Marinette. His darling angel. His sunshine incarnate. His own goddess (not like that bitch Lila let’s get one thing straight). 
When he was feeling overwhelmed (which was a lot), he spent it at her house. They spent it discussing fashion, trash talking Liar-la and the sheep class, playing video games, and making/eating the best baked goods in all of Paris. If he wasn’t at his photo shoots or at school, he was at her house. And with how often they spent time with each other, it wasn’t long before they accidentally revealed their alter egos to each other. 
(The class’ Everyday Ladybug was actually Ladybug. How amazing is that! Isn’t Marinette the absolute coolest?!) 
Since they outed themselves to each other, they had to give up their miraculous. And new heroes had to be chosen. As the guardian, Marinette decided to give the Ladybug miraculous to herself and the Cat one to Adrien. And make them the superheros of Paris. 
(Just when he thought that Marinette couldn’t get any cooler) 
They both collectively decided that being friends were for the best and put away their obsession crush over the other far far away. Now they were best friends-almost siblings. Oh who was he kidding? He was an honorary Dupain-Cheng. Marinette and her parents said so. And who was he to deny the goddess? 
All was well. 
Until he met this gorgeous boy with raven black hair and piercing green eyes that made him question everything in life. 
Like fuck. His life wasn’t hard enough already? 
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It was a slow patrol. Just stopped a few petty crimes. No akuma tonight. He wasn’t really expecting much to happen.
Mari said patrolling regularly gives citizens a sense of security and it helps if one of them were on scene if an akuma does appear. 
He didn’t mind. He loved running on the rooftops and feeling the wind in his face. After some time, he stopped and stood on top of one of the tallest buildings. Just soaking the view. The peace and serenity of it all. Seeing the glowing lights of his beloved city. Seeing the Eiffel Tower standing tall and proud. 
(Forget school. Forget Liar-la and her hoard of bitches) 
This was his city. This was why he fights Hawk Moth with Ladybug. They had something precious to protect. 
He was done patrolling the regular routes and all his schoolwork was already finished. He could go to sleep but he didn’t feel that tired. And he really didn’t want to go back home. Mari shared her theory on his dad being Hawk Moth. She had really good reasons and a plethora of proof. If they could switch miraculous, why couldn’t he and Mayura - most likely Nathalie? Which would explain how Gabriel got akumatized.
After all her support with dealing with Lila, he was way more inclined to believe her even without the evidence. But those things just made him more wary of his dad. And he wasn’t too stoked on spending more time than what he can get away with with the guy. Because his dad being Hawk Moth explains why he wants Lila (his strongest supporter - Chameleon and Oni-chan, anyone?) close and makes Adrien play nice with her. And anyone who enables Lila’s bitchiness is on his enemy list. 
Anyway, he was out here to enjoy the good mood not think about evil bitches and evil dads. So he sat himself down and enjoyed the sights. It was more calming than you would think. 
He heard cars blaring and even a dog barking. The slight breeze felt nice. The moon was pretty bright tonight. The stars too. There was a lone couple walking through the park. There was also another teen in black running on rooftops a few buildings away. 
Wait. 
What? 
He blinked and looked again. Huh, there was another teen in black running on rooftops. And it was not a hallucination. 
What the actual fuck?
He was instantly on his feet, baton already in hand as he raced across the roof to reach said stranger. 
“Hey!” 
But because he was the lucky owner of the unlucky miraculous, the moment he said that, the guy was about to jump off a building to presumably roll onto the next one like Chat was watching him do beforehand. But his call made him lose focus and Chat watched horrified as the guy slipped and started falling into the alley. 
Oh fuck! Mari was going to fucking kill this dumbass kitty!
He hoped to everything that Mari thinks is holy that he makes it in time. Extending his baton, he used it as a huge Pogo stick to basically catapult himself towards the stranger and wrapped his arms around him as he braced himself for the full weight of hitting the gravel at this height and speed. But he wasn’t that that concerned. His suit protected him from the majority of the injuries that would’ve occurred if he wasn’t wearing it. It hurt but it isn’t as bad as it could’ve been. Remember earlier? He takes his victories as they come. 
This was not the smartest of ideas, he’ll admit. Mari had the brains to be honest. But it wasn’t bad if he say so. And he does say so. 
He rolled over and immediately looked over the stranger that was remarkably unharmed in this whole mess. 
And oh.
Oh.
The stranger was taller than he was with a lithe and lean frame. He had raven black hair that complimented his tanned skin and gorgeous green eyes that pierced through him, making his heart do funny things. 
He was not expecting him to look as hot as he did. He wore a simply black t-shirt and jeans but he looked like a fucking Adonis, what the fuck.  Even the moon shone down on him, highlighting his handsome features even more.  
He shook himself of those thoughts and focused on what was more important. “I’m so sorry. Are you alright?” 
He was rudely pushed away, but he didn’t take offense. He did cause the guy to fall after all. 
“Do not touch me.” (What kind of accent is that?) “I’m fine. You are truly a moronic imbecile of the highest accord to yell like that. And what are you even supposed to be? Some kind of knock-off Catwoman?” 
At that, Chat looked at Hot-And-Sexy weird. “Are you new here? I’m the superhero Chat Noir. I protect Paris with Ladybug.”
“You’re joking.”
“I know I come off as the goofy hero because I make purr-fect puns all the time but I’m not joking about this.” 
He took out his phone to show the foreign (since he’s obviously not a Parisian) stranger the akuma attacks and Ladybug and Chat Noir being a dynamic duo, saving Paris and beating Hawk Moth. Ok, he showed the stranger a lot of stuff. Sue him. He gets to brag about his Princess. And himself too.
“I never heard about this before.” Hot-And-Sexy (he has got to come up with a better name) said afterward. “3 years this has been going on? Why didn’t you ask for help from the Justice League or other superheros?” 
Chat shrugged. “We tried. But they said we’re obviously pulling a prank and making this all up. So we stopped asking for help.”
For some reason this made Hot-And-Sexy angry. “They ignored your plea for help and left you to fight for yourselves?”
“Pretty much, yea.” 
“You and Ladybug are children.” 
“Excuse me? Are you doubting our ability to protect our city?" He was not apologetic at the sharp edge his voice took. Forget looking hot. How dare he? The audacity really. 
Hot-And-Sexy shook his head. “I’m not. I know some child superheroes who are adequate at their jobs and a few who are remarkable like Robin in Gotham. But the majority of them had adult mentors to guide them. From what you’ve shown me, you and Ladybug had no one. You were left alone to fend for yourself with essentially no help.” 
He never thought of it that way. But hearing it like that made him think: Fuck Adults Who Chose Children to Fight Their War For Them and Fuck Hawk Moth For Putting Them In This Position In The First Place. 
You know what. Just to clear all his bases - Fuck Everyone But The Dupain-Chengs. 
Chat couldn’t help but shrug, not quite knowing what to say to that. “Life is a bitch, I’ve come to find out. But enough of that. Why were you running on rooftops anyway?”
“It calms me down.”
Relatable. 
“Is...Is your tail moving?” 
“Huh?” He looked behind him to see his tail was indeed moving lazily. “Yeah. I’m called Chat Noir for a reason.”
“May I touch them?” Chat was used to people (usually kids) pulling on his tail to see if it was real (It was). And it really hurts because they usually rough. Not that he blames them. Kids don’t know any better. Still, he usually says no when people ask. 
But Hot-And-Sexy had such a sincere expression that he said yes. To his surprise and delight, Hot-And-Sexy was extremely gentle (Can this guy be anymore perfect?) and it felt nice to be petted like that. Curse his touch-starvation (again Fuck you Dad).
Hot-And-Sexy was apparently fascinated by his ears and tail. 
“Are you a meta?” He noticed how Hot-And-Sexy’s voice turned softer and fonder (or was he imagining that?).
“Nah. I’m fully human. I just got powers to transform into this.” He looked down at his phone seeing that the time was nearing 2 am.
“Have you suffered any injuries from your stupid stunt?” 
“Hmm?” Chat looked back at him before gesturing to his body. “Don’t worry. I may not look like it but I can take it.”
He can practically feel Hot-And-Sexy rolling his eyes. “What an utter dolt.” 
But there wasn’t any heat behind it so he didn’t take it to heart. 
“Thanks, babe.” 
“That was an insult.”
“And I’m taking it like a compliment.”
Chat stood up and stretched his limbs. Hot-And-Sexy doing the same but dusting off his clothes instead.
“So, uh, need any help getting home?”
“I am perfectly capable of finding my own way, thanks.” 
“Ok. Have a nice night.” He was about to leave when he was caught off guard by Hot-And-Sexy staring at him for a good few seconds, making his limbs freeze in place at the heavy attention.
Before he said. “You should try contacting the Batfamily in Gotham about Hawk Moth. They’re used to dealing with weird things. I’m sure they won’t turn you or Ladybug away.” 
Chat was a bit distracted by how intensely those green eyes focused on him, making his heart beat faster and his cheeks turn a vibrant red. 
He was so screwed. 
He used his baton to shoot himself up so he can run on rooftops, hurrying to the Dupain-Cheng bakery. 
.
“Mari! I think I’m gay!”
“It’s 2 in the morning, Chaton. Go to sleep and we’ll talk about it in the morning.” 
.
After a good night’s rest (and thank everything that was right in the world that today was a weekend), Adrien told Mari all about Hot-And-Sexy. And yes, he did call the stranger that out loud. His everything-that-actually-matters sister simply took it in stride after giggling a bit. They spent the majority of the day discussing emotions and everything that came with that bundle. 
Before he finally came to a conclusion. 
He is definitely gay (He liked girls but not like like them). And most definitely had a crush on Hot-And-Sexy with the pretty green eyes. 
Good news: He is no longer having a sexuality crisis. 
Bad news: He is going through an emotional crisis. 
Like dealing with these feelings that is making his stomach flip flop over and over again? The only one he ever had to deal with was the one he had on Ladybug and that (he talked with Mari about it months before. She was amazing with these emotional matters) was more of a hero-worship crush than anything really romantic. 
And his crush on Hot-And-Sexy was so much more. 
.
So it’s been about 2 weeks since he encountered Hot-And-Sexy. And he still haven’t figured out what else to call him. But the nickname was growing on him. 
(He also told Mari about asking the Batfam for help but she was a bit apprehensive after the disastrous attempts of convincing the Justice League. He shrugged, trusting her opinion and left it at that) 
Anyway, Lila was being her usual bitchy self. Father was being non-existent like always. Mari was his only source of sanity at school. And Hawk Moth was being a bitch. 
Because of course, the day before they have a huge test, he decides to akumatize someone (in this case, a businessman who was really unhappy with getting fired) and cut in on study time. And this akuma took a while to defeat. Guess he drew a lot of strength from his burning hatred of the failings of the corporate world. 
And just yesterday, a teenager who was upset at being grounded got akumatized and terrorized the city for 3 hours before Ladybug could purify her. It did however confirmed her fears. Hawk Moth was getting stronger. It took longer to defeat his monsters. They needed to find him and ended this fast. 
Adrien landed on Mari’s balcony and slipped in her room, crashing on her big comfy bed, de-transforming on the spot. Plagg sleepily floating and laying next to him on the pillow. He was so tired. And photo shoots and school drama were not helping things.
.
For the record, he was not at all expecting to see Hot-And-Sexy in a bookstore of all places. 
He was so engrossed in looking through the latest Boku no Hero Academia manga (can’t wait until Season 5 comes out) that when someone touched his shoulder, he was not proud to admit he squeaked a bit.
He turned around and his eyes widened his surprise. 
“Hot-And-Sexy!” 
It was indeed the Adonis Adrien had a huge crush on. Today he was wearing a white t-shirt paired with a blue denim jacket and black ripped jeans. Wow. He really can make anything look hot.
No. Bad Adrien. Don’t let him know you actually have a crush on him.
And oh fuck. Hot-And-Sexy was staring at the blonde and Adrien tried not to let himself get flustered. He has a very intense stare. For all he knew, Hot-And-Sexy stares at everyone like that.
Calm the fuck down, heart. You too brain.
He raised a handsome eyebrow in amusement. “Excuse me?”
Adrien felt himself burn with embarrassment, his face turning bright scarlet. No wonder he was fit for the unlucky miraculous or was this just a side-effect? Note to self, ask Mari about this later. 
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t get your name last time. And I just started calling you that in my head. Cause you’re really hot and you have pretty eyes.”
Fuck mouth! Why won’t you stop talking! Please for the love of everything that makes Mari a BAMF stop. Stop digging further into the hole of embarrassment! Abort mission! Abort!
“When did we meet?”
At that, he blink a few times. Oh fuck. He was not Superhero Chat Noir. He was Civilian Adrien Agreste. Mari was definitely murdering his dumbass tonight. Lightning please strike him down right now. Where was an unlucky lightning strike when you need it?
After a few seconds of his horrified silence, Hot-And-Sexy chuckled (he had such a nice laugh). “You are extremely lucky I already figured out your alter ego beforehand, Chaton.”
Before Adrien could even unwrap that statement, he held out a hand and had a dangerously sexy smirk on his face. “My name is Damian Wayne. Would you care to get a cup of coffee with me?”
And Adrien nodded his head, not trusting himself to speak. He can deal with the superhero thing later when he can think straight (hah!) and is not distracted by Damian’s beautiful smile and alluring green eyes and perfect everything.
.
Guess what?
Ya Boi got game.
(At least, he likes to think he does)
After a successful coffee date (was it a date? Please let it be a date), they exchanged numbers (cue internal squealing) and met up a few times afterward to hang out.
Apparently, Dami was here on business to deal with something for Wayne Enterprises.
“Aren’t you 17?”
“Father believes in preparing us when we’re young.”
Dami was amazingly sweet. Arrogant and pretentious with a stick up his ass but sweet. He treats stray animals with such reverence that Adrien’s heart melt every time he sees it.
It was an added bonus when Damian scorned Lila with cruel words and disgusted looks when she tried to cut in Adrien and Dami’s date(?)/meetup(?)/spending-time-together event.
She cried and whined afterwards and Adrien has to endure his father’s lecture. But it was totally worth it.
Oh yeah. Mari was not pleased that he accidentally outed himself to a civilian. But nothing that a couple of sad kitty eyes can’t fix.
“You are so lucky you’re cute, kitty-cat.” Mari grumbled but she was smiling. “I just need to have a good talk with him on the importance of secrecy.”
.
That day Damian Wayne learned to fear a certain Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
.
It was 2 weeks later when Adrien woke up to a package next to his futon in Mari’s room. When he opened it, he saw the Butterfly and Peacock miraculous inside.
There was a card beneath it. And in beautiful cursive script read: 
I dearly hope you enjoy my courting gift, mon amour. Allow me the honor to formally ask you out on a date. I look forward to hearing favorably from you soon.
- Damian Wayne
He couldn’t believe it.
“Mari! Damian likes me back!”
“Chaton, I swear. It is 2 in the morning.”
Next
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giorno-plays-piano · 4 years
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hey!! i love your writing sm💕 idk if you’re still taking requests or if you’re comfortable w a like platonic or father figure yandere. But how about yan! Steve Rogers where he kidnaps a teenage girl to be his daughter then shields her from the world to “protect” her kinda like rapunzel. if you don’t want to that’s no problem at all tho💕
Hi, sweetie! This is a very peculiar request, and I really, really like it! I guess I’ve made Steve a little softer than I expected, but here he is. Hope you’re going to enjoy this!
The one he cares about
Tumblr media
Pairing: adoptive dad!Steve & Reader, Peter Parker x Reader (if you squint)
Warnings: yandere, obsession (non-romantic!), stalking, kidnapping, death of minor characters (but nothing too scary).
Words: 1870.
P.S. Just to clarify this is NOT an incest story, Steve does not harbor any romantic feelings for the reader, he loves her like a parent does.
__________________
Pacing up and down nervously like a caged tiger, Steve threw a glance at the clock on the kitchen wall, ready to take out his cellphone and give you a call. It was just 10 pm, but he felt something wasn't going quite right. Was everything ok at that party? Were you enjoying yourself? Did you finally confess to that silly guy Steve didn't like at all? What if he had already got you, Steve's precious little daughter, into bed?
Breathing in deeply, the man tried calming himself down. You were an adult. At one point you would start dating people, and it was perfectly alright, Sam reminded him the other day. You weren't some princess locked in a tower with Steve guarding you like an angry dragon. You had the right to love and be loved, create your own family, for God's sake. When he thought of you leaving him Steve was ready to break that kitchen wall.
No, no, no, it was alright. You loved him with all your heart, and no stupid guy could take it away from Steve. He was your father. Adoptive father, of course, but he did everything he could to make you trust and love him as much as you true family. You were calling him dad, after all. And even if you eventually married someone, Steve would always stay close to help and support you - and your kids, if you ever decide to have any. At the thought of him kissing the cheeks of his cute little grandchildren Steve had finally relaxed.
Oh, was it the sound of the front door opening? As much as he wanted to rush to meet you, the man quickly put on his apron he ironed this morning and turned to the heated stove to put a meat pie in it. Alright, alright, you were already home, it was perfect.
But why so early? Steve was really generous this time and gave you till 1 am - of course, if you took a taxi, not go walking the streets in the night. Did something go wrong? Did the guy reject you? Did he take advantage of you? Did he... do something he shouldn't have?
Steve felt his blood boiling. In a second he was ready to storm out of the kitchen to beat the shit out of that bastard who was stupid enough to hurt his child.
"Hi dad! I'm home!"
As you walked in, carrying your beaded clutch in your arms and yawning tiredly, Steve put a smile on his face momentarily, assessing whether you were hurt within a couple of seconds. No, apparently, you were alright: you moved just like before; your hair wasn't ruffled, and your makeup wasn't smeared eather. He had overreacted again.
"Welcome back, sweet pea." Steve moved closer to you, giving you a tight hug and a kiss on the forehead as you giggled softly, throwing your arms around his broad back. "How did it go?"
As your face turned gloomy for a fleeting second, he knew his sixth sense wasn't lying to him: something didn't go well.
"Nah." You brushed it off as you sat on the chair, carelessly leaving your clutch on the table and stretching your legs with a loud sigh.
"What is it, sweetie?"
Furrowing his brows, Steve sat across from you, his hands folded as he stared at you with worry. Shit, did this guy try doing something funny? Did he offend you? Oh, Steve was going to have a nice talk with him, a moron who thought he could do this to his little girl and it would never come back at him. Should he call Natasha? Maybe Bucky? He knew they were still in town. No, no, he would take this matter in his own hands and go have a nice talk with that stupid ungrateful ba-
"It's alright, I swear." You muttered and forced a smile, drawing his attention back to you. "He just... well, just didn't return my feelings."
"Did he reject you?"
For a second Steve felt both relieved and ready to go murder that kid in a cold blood. Rejected you? The prettiest and smartest girl in the town with a heart of gold? Who did that little shit think he was, rejecting Steve's precious daughter?
But it was better than him forcing you to do something you didn't want. At least that asshole didn't do anything inappropriate to you, probably too scared to face your angry dad who could crack his skull with one hand.
"Not like reject in the full sense of the word, but... um, I feel like he was a little scared of me." Your smile turned bitter, and you leaned onto Steve, pressing your forehead into his chest as you exhaled loudly.
Well, it wouldn't be the first time it happened. Everybody around knew you were the daughter of retired Captain America, and people were treating you with such caution as if you were some time bomb, clearly unwilling to make the world's first Avenger angry. Partly, it was a good thing since no one tried messing with you. However, you were also left pretty much alone, ignored by the majority for the sake of their own well-being. Although you had found several friends, dating someone was a completely different thing: guys were running away from before you even spoke to them.
"I'm so sorry." The man said quietly, rubbing your back and gently caressing your head with his other hand. "This is my fault."
You sighed, lifting your head and looking at Steve so tenderly he suddenly felt like he was the happiest man in the world. What, weren't you upset?
"Come on, dad." His heart sped up when you called him that, and he was ready to lift you up in the air, kissing his little girl's nose. "I thought he's different, but he's just a chicken like all other guys. I'll get over him soon."
"Hard to live up to our standards, I guess." Steve smiled and pinched your nose a little, making you laugh again. "But you need to know I am really sorry, sweat pea. I swear I wouldn't stand in your way if you decided he was the right guy for you."
Actually, Steve pretty much would, but you wouldn't know about it. Happiness of his only child was the only thing that mattered to him now: what was the point of being a parent if you couldn't make your kid happy?
"It's okay, really, dad. I wouldn't change the things as they are now. When I think what could happen if you didn't see me on the street that night... uh-huh." You didn't finish the sentence, not that you needed to.
If Steve didn't find you that night desperately searching for food on the streets of New York, you'd probably be dead now.
You were born to a good family, and you spent the first 11 years of your life in a nice place, having loving parents, the roof above your head and food on the table. You were just one more happy kid among thousands of others, neither better nor worse than all of them. It all changed when your parents were killed by two robbers who had broken into your house, and soon you ended up in an orphanage - you still had nightmares about this place. You spent a year there before you escaped, choosing the streets over an orphanage. Silly you, thinking it would be better.
When Steve found you, you were 13. Dirty, always hungry, acting like a little wild animal, you were no more pitiful than any other homeless child, ignored by the majority of people, but Steve saw you. He took you with him - forcefully, of course, because you fought him like a little angry cat, frightened to the core he was going to take advantage of you like all those people pretending to help you. But he didn’t. He was the one who had truly cared.
It took him months to get you accustomed to living in a house again with someone close to you. Steve spent even more time trying to make you trust him, make you believe he was your friend, somebody you could rely on, trust, see as a parental figure. You couldn’t even name all those people he hired to help you: countless psychologists and psychiatrists; doctors and nurses of all kinds; visiting teachers and tutors. Despite liking to live alone, Steve brought so many strangers to his house it felt like living in a royal palace with tons of court attendants. All of this was for you, the only person he cared about, his little child.
When you were 15, you started calling him dad, and that was the day neither Steve nor you would ever forget: he scooped you up and kept swinging you around till your head was spinning while he laughed and shouted how much he loved you, the best daughter he could ever had. 
You never knew the extent to which Steve cared about you, following you secretly when you finally agreed to leave the house - he needed to know you were safe and sound. Of course, he was always there when he supposed someone wasn’t treating you right, and he did everything he could to keep his only child happy. Unfortunately, you were lonely until Steve found a couple of good friends for you, but it was alright. You were perfectly okay now.
“I love you too, sweet pea.” He smiled, caressing your head gently. “But you know what? Don’t worry about that guy. I actually have someone who I want you to meet, and he’s a really sweet kid.”
“Whoa, what? What kid?”
“Well, you know. Kid from work.”
“Dad, what work? What kid?” You rolled your eyes at him, giggling. “How old is he, at least?”
“A little older than you, but he’s alright. He’s been wanting to meet you for some time.” But before Steve wasn’t sure kid was the right guy for you, considering that he was still very much an Avenger and was involved in all kinds of dangerous situations. 
“Dad, what kid? Are you talking about your superhero colleagues or something?” 
“... yeah? I promise, you’ll like him. Peter’s a good kid.”
“Peter? Peter goddamn Parker?!” You exclaimed loudly, realizing he was talking about Spider-Man. “Are you joking?!”
“What did I tell you about swearing, sweetheart?” Furrowing his brows, Steve shook his head in disapproval, but laughed in the very next second, watching your guilty expression. “Alright, alright. I’m not joking. If you’d like to meet him, I’ll ask him to come tomorrow for dinner, ok?”
“Yes, please!”
As he took the pie out of the oven with you waiting at the dinner table, Steve thought about giving the kid a big lecture about what he was and wasn’t supposed to do to you, but he was more or less sure Peter knew what was right and wrong. Steve could spot that familiar glint in kid’s eyes when he was looking at your photo that Steve had been showing him proudly. 
It would turn out alright. Your father was ready to do anything it takes to make you happy.
___________________________
Tags: @finleyjayne @alexakeyloveloki @helenaeisenhower @villanellevi @hurricanerin @inlovewiththefictionalcharacters @abyssaint @heeeyitskay @chris-evans-indian-fanfic @navegandoaciegas @rosalynshields @brattycherubwrites @sllooney @angrythingstarlight @lookiamtrying @buckysbunny @soleil-dor @stargazingfangirl18 @dillybuggg @literate-lamb @cosicas-cuquis @iheartsebastianstan @lovelydarkdaydream @sarge-barnes-sir
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professorspork · 3 years
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blek
BLEK!!!
*inhales*
Blake is the best, smartest, most capable, most insightful person alive and also a complete moron, the only cool member of RWBY and also a huge dork, someone destabilized by trauma in a way that still affects her day-to-day decision-making but also someone who has worked really hard for it to no longer get in the way of her fierce advocacy and natural charisma
Blake is EVERYTHING
which, I understand, doesn't really narrow it down for the purposes of this meme.
I actually struggled with Blake at first; of all the superhell ficlets I wrote, hers is the one I feel least captured the essence of of the person whose POV I was in. and that was largely a structural thing, as the prompt was actually about Ruby and Jaune's friendship and I was using it as a bridge for what I'd decided the series would become, but it also nagged at me because I LOVE BLAKE and I felt irked by the idea that I hadn't done her justice. it wasn't until I wrote her monologue about Adam in the Jaune section that I really felt like I'd managed to get my arms around her. (And then, of course, I wrote the Yang section, where YANG got to get her arms around her, ayyyyyy wink wink.)
I suppose... when I think about Blake, I think about commitment. in a few ways! she's dedicated and dogmatic, which can sometimes be a huge flaw if she's hyperfocusing on the wrong thing (i.e. "I'm the kind of person who runs away from my problems" becoming a recurring self-fulfilling prophecy) but is mostly a tremendous credit to her. like, going back to the beginning with these girls-- Yang said she wanted to be a Huntress for adventure, and Ruby wanted to help people, and Weiss understood she had A Lot To Make Up For and wasn't sure where to start, but Blake... Blake wanted to end racism and create an equitable, more just society and save the world. She has an actual moral vision for what justice should look like, not just an Urge To Help. (This is also the trait that saved her from falling into the trap Emerald got into with Cinder, when it came to Adam-- she believed in the movement and the goal more than she believed in him, and so she was able to walk away when he betrayed her ideals.)
but I also think about commitment in terms of just straight-up scrappiness. every ounce of peace Blake has managed to attain has been hard-won, and once she gets it, she works really, really hard not to backslide. once Yang gives her the lecture about burnout, she takes it to heart-- even when things are at their worst with the White Fang in Menagerie, we don't see her work herself to the bone in the same way. the whole thing about her flight from Beacon is that, like. Blake's failing isn't that she's flaky and toxic, it's that she's convinced she's toxic and flaky when she's not-- which is an entirely different issue! but after Sun puts his foot down about how she pushes everyone away, again, she takes it to heart. she doesn't shrink from conflict after that-- if anything, she throws herself at it with Yang so hard that Yang's like "please stop, you're just making it worse by bending over backwards for me." she learns from her mistakes, and she's not... tremulous, or unsure. not anymore. and because she's Been Through It, she's a steady presence and a soft place to land for her friends when they're hurting, because she knows exactly what it's like. she's been there. Ilia tries to murder her and her whole family and she STILL forgives her, because her sense of empathy is so well-developed. after all, if she learned to forgive herself her worst mistakes, who's so bad they can't earn her forgiveness? even with Adam, she doesn't actually wish him malice-- all she asks, over and over again, is for him to move on and leave her alone.
Blake is also both the kind of person who will mercilessly roast her crush with sick burns, AND the kind of person who covers her mouth when she laughs because she's genuinely charmed and gets all sheepish and embarrassed over it. even when she was at her most aloof and standoffish, it's because she was too busy reading cheesy paperback romances to be social--which says a lot about where her actual priorities are.
but again, I find myself just waxing rhapsodic about why I love her and what I think she's about, instead of how i WRITE her. This meme is hard! so, okay: in serious conversations, Blake is tender and frank; in casual ones, she's deadpan and sarcastic. uhhhhhhhh the one thing she finds hotter than an unshakeable code of ethics is a blonde acting like a total goofus dweeb okay yeah i'm tapped
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sweetestlamb · 4 years
Text
Teenage Dream
Genre: Molasses level fluff and teenage hormones. 
Summary: What if our babies didn't have such traumatic lives and they went to the same high school? Teenage Gang-Tae falls for Mun-Yeong, the moment he sets eyes on her. He just doesn’t notice that she’s not far behind. The misadventures of a boy blindly in love. 
Gang-Tae let his best friend tow him into the their recent hangout spot, Subways, around the corner from their high school. It was always bustling with kids their age after classes were dismissed, most of his classmates came here to relax or the brainiacs would use it as a spot to continue their studying. Gang-Tae alternated between both category depending on the day, he wanted to have a high ranking to impress his mother and older brother, Sang-Tae. But studying all the time was tiring and made him stressed out about all the material he didn't know. He also wanted to impress her. The prettiest girl in their grade and probably all of Korea. Ko Mun-Yeong. He sighed thinking about her, her lustrous chin length hair perfectly curled around her beautiful face, those dark eyes framed by long lashes, her aquiline nose that made her face even more interesting and finally those rosy plush lips. She was the smartest girl in their class, quiet and confident, he read all of her short stories in the school newspaper. His recent favorite was a story she had written about a young boy who learned that bad memories could be helpful for emotional growth. All of your life experiences crafted who you are, if you only remembered the good then you wouldn't have empathy or coping devices when something went askew. She had a unique way of looking at the world and he couldn't stop the crush he had developed on her if he had a choice. She was the whole package,beauty and brains. Unfortunately, this resulted in her immense popularity, which made her unapproachable, there were barely any moments that she was without a crowd of people. Students hanging off her every word, and with the warm timber of her voice he couldn't fault them. Her voice filled all his dreams. Especially the riskier ones. He didn't mean to think of her in such a manner, tried his upmost to respect her, but in the depths of his slumber his imagination created scenarios that made him wake up tangled in moist sheets. Shaking those memories off, he joined the conversation his classmates were having around him, "We need to study for Mr. Kan's science test, if I bring home any more low grades my mom promises she will lock me up in the basement with textbooks." He groaned in agreement, he hadn't done his best on the last exam either and desperately need to do well this time around. They all agreed that this was the best course of action, opening their textbooks to the correct section. The study session went by in a blur, they took a quick break to get sandwiches as brain fuel and then went back to studying. Before, he knew it his head started to feel heavy, he jerked up, taking a big gulp of soda trying to wake himself, it was a short term fix and soon he stopped fighting and laid his head on the table. His classmates voices white noise in the background, he drifted off into a light sleep. Minutes passed by before he was shaken awake by Jae-Su, "Moon Gang-Tae! Are you sleeping? You always slack off when it's time to studying...", he groggily rubbed his sleep laden eyes and then he felt lightning rush through his body. There she was. Alone. Casually sitting, her cute nose in another book, before she checked the time and began to pack up, collecting her trash and without full awareness, he stood with her. "Where are you going? Moon Gang-Tae! We're not done studying!" Jae-Su exasperated voice shouted after him, as he haphazardly snatched all his belongs and raced after her. She hadn't noticed him yet. Peacefully crossing the street, her delicate hands gripping the straps of her book bag, he had ached so many times to offer to carry it for her, to carry her books to class for her and maybe get a smile in appreciation. If there was one thing that made her even prettier, it was her smile. She had the kind of smile that could light up a room. He would do anything if it meant seeing that smile. He stalked closely, it felt invasive following her this way without her consent, the last thing he wanted to do was made her uncomfortable. He raised his fingers through his fringe, hoping his quick nap hadn't completely ruined his hair and with a deep inhalation both for courage and necessity, he called out "Hey....excuse me... um hey." Although he had trailed her for this very purpose he still wasn't mentally prepare to meet her eyes when she turned around. Curiosity and then recognition running through them. A small smile graced her lips as she tilted her head in concession, hands now clasped in the center of her body. Wow. She is even prettier in person, up close. Look at those eyes. They are the prettiest eyes I've ever seen. I could die right now knowing I saw those ey-- "Yes?" Her voice cut through those his traitorous thoughts and he snapped back to reality. She has started to nibble on her lips, question still in her eyes and his mouth felt like a dessert, dry and brittle. He thinks of what he can say that won't scare her away, he doesn't think professing his undying love is right for their first conversation. Maybe their third. Maybe he can ask her what she thought about the school lunch today, what did kids there age even talk about? He feels like an alien in his own body, screaming at himself to say something, anything before she loses her patience and walks away. But all his months of wanting and wishing hadn't prepared him for this moment. In all his dreams, they magically got together and there was none of this overwhelming sea of awkwardness that he was currently drowning in. Say something. Anything!! "I...um I like....you...r um... I like your outfit!" He blurted out, immediately wanting to smack himself in the face, she was wearing the damn school uniform! The same uniform that thousands of other students wore, she was going to think he was a moron and walk away. He had wasted his first impression. Starting to plan his exit, he opened his lips to apologize for wasting her time, he should have just kept watching her from afar, anything was better than this humiliation. But then, she started to giggle, the most melodic soothing giggle, his eyes snapped up from their permanent spot on the ground, to see her covering her mouth with her dainty hands, soft pink nail polish this week. He couldn't believe she wasn't gone. She was here giggling. At something he said. Granted what he said was ridiculously stupid but it didn't matter because she was giggling. He made Ko Mun-Yeong giggle. He wanted to shout it from a rooftop. "Oh this?" She tugged at her uniform collar, "It's one of a kind." With a twinkle in her eye, she knocked him off his metamorphic feet. Laughter burst out from his winded lungs and she laughed with him, shifting comfortably on the heels of her feet. "I know you, I've seen you at school. Moon Gang-Tae? That's your name right?" She knew his name. He tried not to show how much she was knocking his world off balance. He was able to muster up a shaky nod in agreement. "So what did you want to say to me Moon Gang-Tae?" She inquired, checking her watch once again. "I....um....do you have to be somewhere?" He asked in return, hoping he wasn't getting in her way. "My driver, Sang-In was supposed to pick me up but he messaged saying I should just head home on my own." She responded and without a second though his mouth said, "I can walk you. It's dark, I don't ....um what anything to happen to you. I mean if you want me to, I'm using sure you can walk home on your own and..." "Okay." She cut off his rambling, turning to continue her trek as he stood frozen. "Are you coming?" She looked back over her shoulder, and he ran to catch up out of breath and not from his sprint. They walked in silence, his brain racing, disbelief that he was really walking next to her. Maybe he was still asleep in Subways? How could this be reality? He looked over and her, turning his head away when he found her eyes already on his face. Absently, he wondered if he had food on his chin or something, that would be just his luck. Casually, he wiped at his face pretending to have an itch. "Do you always walk girls home? Everyone always says you're so nice but I didn't know to this extent." She teased, making his cheeks redden in shame and pride. He didn't feel very nice right now, he was doing this for his own selfish purposes. After a long pause he broke his silence, "No. This is my first time walking someone home." He answered honestly, knowing that most boys his age had done much more than walk a girl home, but he was as his older brother Sang-Tae described a "hopeless romantic". He knew that other girls at school liked him, or at least found him attractive. He wasn't bad to look at, and he had enjoyed a growth spurt over the summer, making him taller than most boys in his grade and all of the girls. After months of convincing, the basketball coach had convinced him to join their team and that had increased his popularity overnight. But none of those girls were Ko Mun-Yeong. He was polite but never flirty, there was only one girl that had taken a hold of his heart. "Honored to be your first." He blushed at her words, his mind instantly sinking to the gutter. She looked at him as if she knew exactly what he was thinking but thankfully did not comment. Suddenly she stopped, looking up at a high rise building, he quickly realized that they were in the more affluent part of town, with modern buildings and luxury cars. He tried not to be intimidated. He failed, spectacularly. "This is me." She pointed at the sleek building. "Oh. Okay. Get inside safely." He said with a downward shift of his lips, he had hoped that this walk would never end. He hadn't garnered the courage to say anything to her during the rest of the walk. Just quick glances to confirm that she was still there and he hadn't lost his mind. She walked towards large glass doors, before turning back, "Thank you for walking me home, Moon Gang-Tae." She said, beatific smile on her face. He was too stunned to respond and then she was gone. His heart raced as he jogged home, grin on his face, he felt untouchable. Tossing his shoes and book bag at the entrance, he bounded into his house. He heard voices in the kitchen, his mom and Sang-Tae. He rushed to join them for dinner. "What's got you so happy?" His brother instantly questioned him, string bean hanging from his lips. Gang tried to tame his smile, not wanting his too perceptive brother to find out anything. He was always so embarrassing when it came to girls. "Nothing, nothing. I just had a great day." His mom turned around with a smile, "That's great sweetie, how about you go wash up and help your brother set the table?" Knocking Sang-Tae's hand that reached for another string bean. His brother always got hungriest right before they ate dinner. As he washed his hands, with soap and water, his brother swaggered in with a knowing smile on his face. "Okay, who is she?" He dropped the bar of soap at the question, putting all his focus on washing his hands. Giving it his full attention. With a war cry, his brother grabbed him and easily put him in a headlock, he wriggled trying to free himself, splashing water on his brother to counter his attack. "Tell your big brother, there are no secrets in this house!" Sang-Tae shouted ruffling his hair and he groaned at the rough treatment, until his mother's voice called out, "Boys come for dinner, stop playing in the bathroom. You would think I'm raising toddlers..." With one final twist, his brother set him free. "You'll come to me in due time, little brother. " Dinner was delicious as usual, he feigned fatigue to escape early, eager to relive the day. Thoughts of her smile filled his dreams.                     
                       <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 Nerves churned in his stomach as he nodded and hmmed to whatever Jae-Su was talking about, he had already berated him for quote, "Abandoning him like a stray animal to fend for himself." And after his fifth apology, he had ultimately tuned him out, he had bigger things to worry about. Like how he was supposed to act now? He didn't know if walking her home had changed anything? Was he allowed to say good morning to her now? Or did she want him to act the same as before, strangers who didn't acknowledge each other. He didn't want to do the wrong thing. And he couldn't ask Jae-Su, who had adamantly declared that they didn't need girls because they led to the decay of friendship. The only person he could think to ask was his brother, but he didn't want to deal with his smug smirk, You'll come to me in due time little brother. There had to be an easy way to know if a girl wanted you to say good morning to her? Maybe he could say good morning to other girls and use their reactions as a gauge for how Mun-Yeong would respond? He was so consumed in his thoughts that he didn't that the object of his thoughts was right in front of him. "Good morning Moon Gang-Tae." Tripping over nothing, he reached out to grab Jae-Su for support. She had said good morning to him. She was standing with her best friend, Seung-Jae, a quirky girl known for her eccentric style, who always had loads of buttons and stickers on her bag. Before, he could locate his tongue and answer she continued cheekily, "Do you like my outfit today too?" She turned around as if on her own personal run way and his cheeks scorched with the embarrassing memory. He groaned placing his head in his hands. Jae-Su and Seung-Jae both looked on in confusion. With a lift of her lip, she clutched her books to her chest, walking off to her class. "What was that about?" Jae-Su chased him down, as he shook his head, too bashful to explain that particular incident. The day dragged, he was itching to see her again. He wondered what she was doing right now? Definitely not thinking about the idiot who had complimented her uniform. He would never live that down. But still he smiled, it was almost as if they had an inside joke. It was safe to say that he didn't learn anything today, all of his brain capacity busy thinking about his next encounter with Mun-Yeong. Jae-Su had left as soon as school ended, leaving him by himself and he stalked the hallways hoping to accidentally run into Mun-Yeong but after the third lap he gave up, sighing in disappointment. Pushing the school doors open, he squinted his eyes as at the influx of bright light. Due to this light he didn't see the figures, a few places ahead of him. He saw her before he heard her. "I don't need you to wait with me. I would prefer to wait alone." Mun-Yeong. And she sounded.....annoyed. He walked closer, instinctively yearning to protect her from whoever was bothering her. A male voice responded, Gang-Tae vaguely recognized it, Daniel Choi, he was one year above them and the school's heart throb. He even had his own fan club, according to the flyers around school they met on Mondays and Fridays. "It's no problem, I could never leave a pretty girl like you alone on the street, who knows what creeps are out there?" He answered, magnanimously, moving further into Mun-Yeong's personal space. Gang-Tae watched her take a step back. The look in her eye reminded him of his neighbor's cat right before he scratched you for daring to pet him. "You mean like creeps who don't take no for an answer and pester girls who aren't interested, creeps like that?" Daniel laughed, humorlessly, reaching out a hand as if to grab her and Gang-Tae moved before he registered the intent, "Don't touch her." "Don't touch me." They uttered at the same time. Her eyes cut to Gang-Tae in surprise and maybe a bit of relief. Daniel yanked his hand out of his grasp, snidely looking at him, "This has nothing to do with you Moon, mind your business." He stood between them, shielding Mun-Yeong's body with his own. "She said she didn't want you to wait with her, how about you respect that and leave her alone?." He didn't know what was coming over him, he had never been in a fight before. Never even argued with anyone, but he knew in this moment he would do anything it took to maintain her safety. Daniel eyed him, annoyance clear on his face, lips snarling before he rolled his eyes and scoffed, "She's not even that hot. Not worth all this trouble." With that dig, he turned away stomping down the sidewalk until they lost sight of him. Gang-Tae took a deep breath to control his anger, before turning back to Mun-Yeong. "Are you okay?" He briefly scanned her body, she looked fine, perfect actually. Finally she spoke, "Yeah I'm fine. He was just very persistent." "I'm sorry." He apologized, wishing he could have been there sooner, whenever she needed him he wanted to be there, it felt natural to protect her almost like his body was made for it.  "Why? You didn't do anything." "I'm still sorry." She laughed breathlessly, "You really are nice, huh? Probably why you're so popular with the girls." He knew she was teasing him now, her nosed crinkled in the cutest way when she did, but he ached to ask her if she was part of that group. He would trade in all those girls for a chance with her. He was too much of a coward though so instead he said, "What are you waiting for?" She jostled her books in her hands, trying to find a comfortable position, "My driver again, he said there was traffic but he would be here soon." Wordlessly, he extended his hands, gesturing at the heavy textbooks in her hand. She looks back with a blank stare and he almost retracted his hands, but then she leaned forward, placing them in his hands. The tips of their fingers brush during the exchange and he wonders how long he could reasonably go without washing his hands. His mother would have his head. Like their walk the other night, they lapse into silence. He clutches her textbooks to his chest as if they were the finest jewels. He can faintly smell her intoxicating scent lingering on them. Then he recalled her newest story in the school paper, "Zombie Kid", he had tried showing it to Jae-Su but he had denounced it once the mother gave the child her limbs, calling it cryptic and weird. Gang-Tae thought it was brilliant, raw and thought-provoking. Like all her short stories, they had a message if you were willing to look past the surface. "I liked your story. Zombie Kid." He forced the words out, desperate not to waste a second opportunity with her. " You did? Did you get the message?" He nodded, meeting her eyes, "Love is truly what everyone wants, not just to sate their base desires." She lit up  at his answer, excitedly replying "Seung-Jae said I should have probably left out the cannibalism but I thought it served its purpose. Fairy tales should help us wake up from our sugar coated dreams and face reality."
He smiled at her, blown away by her mind. He’d never met anyone like her before.  Suddenly, a car pulled up at their feet, tires screeching and a man in a suit jumped out, "My dearest apology, Ms. Ko, I'm sorry to keep you waiting. I hope it wasn't too much of a bother." He proceeded to collect her bag, and open the car door. "Oh, but I see a friend waited with you. " He looked expectedly at Gang-Tae with clinical eyes, "This is Moon Gang-Tae. He's the nicest boy in my grade." She answered for him, he coughed choking on his own spit. Was nice a good thing? Did girls like nice boys? "Is that so? Well thank you for waiting with Ms. Ko. Would you like a ride as well?" The man offered but he shook his head in refusal, it was such a small space to occupy with Mun-Yeong, he wasn't quite ready for that. "Okay, well we need to get going. Thank you again." And Gang-Tae turned to return Mun-Yeong's textbooks, gently placing them back in her arms. "Thank you Gang-Tae, I'll see you tomorrow." She beamed up at him, hopping into the car, her uniform skirt bouncing distractedly with the movement and he watched it drive away. He smiled all the way home.                               <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3 It was their first game of the new season, coach had been putting them through the ringer, lap after lap, drills until they were sweaty messes on the ground. Gang-Tae wasn't particularly competitive, but he did enjoy the discipline and team building that came with sports. The best team was only as good as their weakest link, coached had drilled that into them, especially the first practices when they were all finding their footing. A fight had broken out because someone had been upset that the ball hadn't been passed to him, claiming that he was the better shooter. Coach Hwai had made them all run 10 extra laps, stating that they suffered as team and won as a team, they would practice until everyone was great shooters. There was literally no "I" in team. They had learned that with sweat and tears. He sat on the bench, stretching, usual nerves in his stomach but also excitement, above all he enjoyed basketball. He searched the stands looking for his brother, he had taken the day off work to watch his first game, his mother hadn't been able to do the same. But she had woken him up with favorite breakfast and a kiss on the cheek for good luck. He spotted Sang-Tae, in the back row, frantically waving at him, proud smile stretched across his face. He hadn't been able to find Mun-Yeong after classes, he had no intention of inviting her to the game, that was too much pressure but he had wanted to let her know that he wouldn't be able to wait with her today. After the first time, it had become a routine, he would wait with her for her driver, Lee Sang-In, and he would happily hold her textbooks. Most times they were silent, sometimes they would talk about their day. He was still extremely shy around her, finding himself tongue twisted at random moments. Still in disbelief that he was allowed to be this close to her. But he loved listening to her, the excitement in her voice infectious when she talked about new ideas for her short stories. How could someone so beautiful also be so smart? It just didn't seem fair. He had given up finally after looking for her for fifteen minutes, coach would have his head if he was late for the game. He sighed, hoping she made it home safely, tensing at the thought of Daniel bothering her again. With a shrill blow of the whistle, the game started with a blur of passes, dribbling and shots. He tried his best to pace himself, taking deep breathes, not wanting to get winded too soon. Suddenly, the ball was in his hands and quickly scanning the court to see if anyone was in a better position than him, seeing that no one was he took the shot. The ball easily slid through the hoop. 2 points. He pumped his fist in the air before turning with exuberant pride, needing to know if his brother saw that and that's when he met the eyes of Mun-Yeong. She was with a group of girls that he had seen at school, but her face was the only one that stood to him. Had she gotten even prettier since yesterday? She cutely waved the pompoms the school provided to everyone in the stands at him, mouthing "Wow." Her lips looked lovely forming around each letter. He didn't feel his team mates pats of congratulations and forgot to look for his brother. It was a struggle after that, he was hyper-aware of her presence and he couldn't focus. He dropped the ball so many times his teammates stopped passing it to him. It was like his first practice, all over again, nerves shooting up and down his skin, his heart beating like a drum, boom, boom, boom.  Half time was a blessing. "Okay team, we're looking good but I need to see more passing. Remember this about teamwork so use each other. But don't be afraid to take shots, you shouldn't be looking for anyone specific, everyone here is capable." He sighed in relief when he wasn't singled out, albeit prematurely, "Moon, I don't know where you are but you need to get your head back in the game. Go for a walk and come back ready." "Yes Coach." His first stop was the bathroom, to splash water on his face. He glared at himself in the mirror, pointing at his reflection, "What are you doing? This is not how we get the girl. Get it together. You can do this." Then with one last shake, he left the bathroom only to collide with Mun-Yeong. She stumbled backwards and impulsively he reached out to steady her by her shoulders, when she looked balanced he pulled his hands back, suddenly shy, he was all sweaty and gross. "So I was waiting for you outside and you didn't show up, when I came inside I heard all the noise coming from the gym and I found out you had a game. How come you didn't tell me?" She inquired, eyes glimpsing down his body, so fast he almost missed it,  she was probably disgusted by how sweaty he was. "I'm sorry. I tried to find you to tell you I couldn't wait with you. Are you okay? Did anyone bother you?" His fist clenched at the idea. She shook her head side to side, "No you worrywart I was fine on the sidewalk, I was just curious why you didn't tell me about your game. Did you not want me there?" He detected....hurt in her voice but that couldn't be right, right? "I..um.. well." He stuttered over his words scared to tell her how much he wanted her everywhere with him but how distracting she was and how much he liked her. He was saved from saying any of that by his brother bursting out from the doors, "Little brother, why are you hiding out here? The game's going to start again soon, your coach looks like he's going to pop a vei--" Sang-Tae paused noticing Mun-Yeong, looking back and forth between them. "Now who might this be? Little brother you didn't tell me you had a pretty girlf-" He ran over, clasping his hand over his brother's big mouth before he would finish that sentence. "Shut. Up." They started to push each other, his brother licking his hand to free himself, ew, he shoved him in retaliation before his brother grappled him into his signature headlock. He tapped in concession until he was freed, only to see Mun-Yeong's retreating back. "Gosh, you're so annoying." He puffed at Sang-Tae looking longingly at her back, not wanting to leave their conversation like that, he hadn't even gotten a chance to explain himself. Hadn't built up the courage to tell her his true feelings yet, he was working hours to it. Slowly. Molasses dripping in summer slow. "Hey miss, with the short hair? I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt." Sang-Tae called out, ignoring his punches, beckoning her back. She stopped. Then turned back towards them, as he shuffled awkwardly, not comfortable conversing with her around other people, much less his brother, who knew what would come out of his mouth? When she reached them, Sang-Tae offered his palm, "I'm Gang-Tae's older brother, Moon Sang-Tae and you are...?" She politely shook his hand with a sweet smile, "I'm Ko Mun-Yeong." "Are you two just friends or..." He mischievously glanced between them, his eyebrow wriggling up and down.  "Can you stop? This is why I don't introduce you to anyone." He grumbled, shooting apologetic glances at Mun-Yeong. I'm so sorry my brother is an idiot, please don't stop talking to me.  "We're friends, your brother has a knack for showing up right when I need him, some would say it's destiny." Nose crinkle. She was teasing again. Sang-Tae looked at him with mock awe, "Oh helping ladies in distress huh? I'll take credit for that little brother, you clearly learned that from me." Then one of his team mates slammed the gym doors open, calling his name, there was two minutes until the second half started. Half time over and he didn't feel any more prepared to be back on the court. He started to walk away, unsure of what to say to Mun-Yeong, so instead choosing to run, but his brother had other plans in mind. He grabbed his jersey, bodily yanking him back. "Now miss Mun-Yeong, are you superstitious? Little brother here looks like he could use some luck, he seems a bit distracted. Would you be willing to help him out this time?" He watched her head tilt inquisitively before she answered, "Sure, how can I help him?" "Well, of course a good luck kiss." Gang-Tae felt his brain go offline, shut down. There was no way his brother had actually said what he thought he heard. Sang-Tae was not that crazy. He must have heard wrong. "He's just joking", he smacked his brother, hard, in the stomach, "He has a sick sense of humor, I'll just be going, I'll see you both aft--" "Okay, if you think it'll help." She answered resolutely, calmly approaching him, catching his wrist in her small hand. He held in a gasp. His eyes fixated on her lips, the same lips that had starred in his dreams. He’s never kissed anyone before, but thoughts of doing that with her kept him wake at nights, tossing and turning. At one low point, he had even considered kisses his damn pillow to have some sort of practice for the real thing. 
He couldn’t breathe, it was like all the air had been sucked from the room and his vision blurred until all he could see were her lips. Moving closer, she lifted herself on the tips of her toes, looking like a real ballerina in her black ballet slippers. Her hands taking a hold of his shaking shoulders for balance, and finally soft as a butterfly’s wing, her lips met his cheek. She pressed a little bit harder and with a mwah, it was over. 
Words escaped him. 
“I hope that was enough luck.” With that those final words and a wave, she sauntered away. 
He let out the breath he had been holding in, touching his warm cheek, before turning to his brother in shock and pure jubilation, and did he already say shock? 
“See little brother, I told you all you needed to do was come to me. She seems nice, make sure to keep being a gentle man, impress her.” Sang-Tae clapped him hard on the back, before dragging him back into the court, his legs felt like they jelly.  
They lost the game. He really didn’t care. 
                                                 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3
Mun-Yeong hadn’t come to school today, it was her birthday and as usual she was missing. He hoped that meant she had plans with her parents, everyone knew about her parents, her father was a renowned architect known for his amazing skyscrapers in the heart of Seoul and her mother was a famed mystery writer, consistently on the bestseller’s list. Clearly, she had inherited her mother’s passion for words, her own short stories were read by everyone in the school. 
He was sure that her birthday was a huge spectacle in her house, with a banquet of food and gifts that spilled to the floor, she always came in the day after with a new trinket. Gold earrings, a ruby hair pin that made her hair look glossier than normal, designer boots, obviously all birthday gifts. 
That knowledge made him wilt in chagrin as he thought of the measly gift he had gotten for her, when he had mentioned it was her birthday to Sang-Tae he had all but dragged him out the house to purchase a gift for her. “You can’t not get her a gift, haven’t you ever courted a lady before?”  He blushed recalling, the answer was clear, he had never courted anyone and Mun-Yeong was not just anyone, she was perfection.  It was intimidating to say the least. He also wasn’t completely sure what they were? After the kiss incident, they had continued on as normal. 
Greetings in the hallways when they crossed paths, he had started walking her to her class in the morning, happily carrying her books and helping her store them in her homeroom locker. The first time he had felt everyone’s eyes on him in the classroom, as if their presence had paused all conversations in the room. Whispers erupting, “Oh my god are they dating?” “She has never let anyone carry her books before!” “Didn’t she turn down Daniel Choi?” 
Mun-Yeong had acted on as if she didn’t hear the gossip surging around her, instead placing a warm hand on his cheek, thanking him for his help. She sent him off with a honeyed smile, “Thank you. I’ll see you later?” 
He nodded. Walking away, touching his cheek in wonder, again. 
Then it became a routine. He would show up early, waiting for her and carry her books to class, savoring her little touches of gratitude. A warm hand on his cheek, syrupy sweet smiles, eating it all up like he was starved for affection. 
But maybe that’s how friends behaved when they were of opposite sexes, he’d never had a female friend besides Nam Ju-Ri but that was different they barely spoke, he would just find her staring at him at odd times. He didn’t think too much about why. 
Whenever he thought of Mun-Yeong touching others the way she did with him, the urge to punch something came over him. Preferably whoever else was getting her attention. But he never saw her with other boys. Despite all the attention she received, she seemed ignorant to their interest. 
As he caught sight of Seung-Jae he snapped out of his thoughts, he needed to ask her a favor. She was on the phone has he approached her, voice soft but audible, “I’m sorry, do you want me to come over? I can be there in ten minutes..” She trailed off as she turned around to find him standing there. Her eyes lit up as if she had just conjured an extraordinary idea. “You know what, let me call you back. Destiny just showed up.” 
His face twisted in confusion at her words, but he didn’t question her, still thinking of the favor he needed to ask. 
“Moon Gang-Tae, what a pleasant surprise, do you know that today is a very special day?”
Great, they were already on the right track. 
“Yes, I know. I wanted to ask you a favor actually.” 
He had gotten closer to Seung-Jae as a result of hanging out with Mun-Yeong, she was nice and fiercely loyal to her friend. He was happy that Mun-Yeong had a friend like that, at times her other “friends” didn’t seem completely genuine. 
“A favor? What favor? I have something I want to ask you too.” 
She swung her arms, inquisitive look on her round face. 
He clumsily reached into his back, pulling out a box that was wrapped with shiny paper and a simple silver bow. It was thin and rectangular in shape. 
He handed it to Seung-Jae, “Can you...um if you don’t mind, can you give this to Mun-Yeong? It’s nothing special but I wanted to give her a gift.” He mumbled under his breath.
Seung-Jae slowly took the box, surveying it with spacious eyes, illustrating why Mun-Yeong’s playful nickname for her was Bambi. 
“I want to counter your favor with a different favor. Can you bring this to Mun-Yeong yourself?”
He stood silently, perplexed by her question. Why would he do that? He’s never been inside Mun-Yeong’s house, the few times her driver didn’t show up and he walked her home, he had simply done that, walked her home. He would stutter out a quick goodbye and be on his way. 
“You really don’t know huh?” She looked at him like he was the stupidest person on earth before sighing and whispering under her breath, “This guy is really something else.” 
This was hands down the most confounding discussion he had never had. 
“Just take it to her yourself, trust me.” She pushed the box back into his hands, rolling her eyes at him before striding off, “Don’t just stand there. Bring it to her, now.” 
That was how he found himself at the sleek building, twisting his fingers, he didn’t even know how to get to Mun-Yeong. With trepidation, he finally entered going to the front desk, he had never been in a place this fancy. 
“Good afternoon sir, how may I help you?”
“Um...I..um..well.” He floundered over his words, cursing Seung-Jae for placing him in this predicament. Until he got a savior in the form of a snappy, loud driver. 
A strong hand landed on his shoulder and with a jolt, he twisted around, to the calculating eyes of Mun-Yeong’s personal driver, Mr. Lee. 
“Moon Gang-Tae was it? What are you doing here?” 
He felt minuscule under the intense gaze and it took all of his fortitude, not to look away, it felt like a test he couldn’t afford to fail. 
“I am...um I came to bring Mun-Yeong a birthday gift. I know today is her birthday.” 
Mr. Lee’s hand tightened on his shoulder, he quietly winced in pain and then the hand was gone. And he was rewarded with a slight curve of the lip, it was too small to call a smile but it was on its way. 
“Is that so? Okay.” Mr. Lee then turned to the smiling worker at the front desk, and within second he was given a name tag that he carefully placed on his uniform shirt. Moon Gang-Tae. He was informed to go to the sixtieth floor, only one elevator took you there. 
“Don’t hurt her.” Mr. Lee said with iron in his voice, and his steps echoed on the marble floor as he stomped away. 
Gang-Tae stood speechless at his words, hurt her. He would never dream of it. He didn’t have the capacity to even think of hurting her. He was counting the seconds until she decided this friendship was no longer worth her precious time, on that day he would know pain like no other. But him hurt her, inconceivable. 
He shuffled outside the glamorous door, it looked more expensive than everything in his own home. He knew that Mun-Yeong came from wealth, but to see it so visibly was daunting. 
With his heart in his throat, he brought his shivering fist up, curled his fingers and knocked. First softly and when that went unanswered he knocked harder. 
He heard movement behind the door and then she appeared. Looking like a fallen angel in all black, she donned a short black dress with long sleeves and a short pleated shirt, gold buttons shined remarkably on her chest. On her creamy long legs were knee-high socks, his brain stopped and then reset at the sight. 
“Gang-Tae? What are you doing here?” She pulled him in the lavish space, all smooth marble and hard wood. Everything was neat and organized, it looked like something out of an architectural design magazine. 
She looked up at him with dewy eyes and that’s when he noticed the slight red that rimmed them as well. She had been crying and on her birthday, why? That was unacceptable. 
Instinctively he reached out with sure hands, brushing against her eyes, “You’ve been crying? Are you okay?” He yearned to draw her into his arms and fight whoever had made her cry on this special day. 
Her head descended as she rubbed at her eyes, before looking back with a joker smile, only the corners of her mouth moved, “I’m fine. Just had something in my eye.” The lie settled in the air and he allowed her this moment of dishonesty. Sometimes it was hard for him to put his true feelings into words too. Pushing her wouldn’t yield the desired outcome. 
“Anyway, what are you doing here? Did you come to check on me? How did you even get in? I haven’t added you to the guest list yet.”
Yet.  She had plans to add him to some exclusive list, he straightened up in satisfaction. 
“Happy Birthday Mun-Yeong, I brought you a gift.” He pulled the box from where he had it hidden in his pocket, looking away as he pressed it into her hands. 
She gasped, looking between him and the box, unraveling the box and lifting the cover. If he had been looking at her, he would have seen the tears that filled in her eyes, the soft o that formed on her lips, the way her body melted as she saw his present. 
Unfortunately he missed all that. 
On a plush bedding, laid a gold pen, besotted with small diamonds, on the very top sat a larger diamond that sparkled with the natural light that filtered into the room, as she turned it over, her own named stared back at her in looping letters, Ko Mun-Yeong. 
Her silence was unsettling. 
“I know it’s not much....but when I saw it I thought of you. You write such beautiful words, I thought it was..fitting that you have a worthy pen.” 
Silence continued. 
Until there was a whimper and suddenly he had an armful of crying Mun-Yeong. He stood paralyzed as she clutched to him, fingers twisting in his uniform shirt, her tears wet on his chest. Delicately, he brought his arms up to encompass her, trembling fingers on her back and she grounded in closer and that broke his resolve, he wrapped her up tightly, ever so carefully stroking her hair. 
His own heart felt shattered as he felt her break apart in his arms. 
“It’s okay. Don’t cry. Everything is going to be okay.” 
He uttered those words to her, they were lies even to his ears. He was not okay. He needed a minute for his brain to catch up with everything that was occurring. But his drive to protect her overrode his drive to protect himself. 
She tearfully started to talk, “Every year, they tell me they’ll be here. That we’ll eat together as a family, I get so excited. Everyone thinks it’s great having rich parents, but I never see them. I spend all my time alone in this huge apartment, the only person I ever eat with is Sang-In. Then the day after gifts show up, pretty empty gifts that mean nothing to me. I just want...”
The sentence is left incomplete, but the rest is clear, want my parents. I just want love. Zombie Kid becomes clearer. 
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”  He lets her cry into his shirt, until her whimpers peter off. She doesn’t leave his arms, but he feels her head lifting and he glances down to meet her gaze. 
“Gosh, I’m so sorry I cried all over you.” 
“I didn’t mind, I’m glad I was here to be your tissue.” He means it with all his heart. 
She lets out a wet laugh, “You are the most ridiculous person I’ve ever met.” 
You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met. One day he’ll say it out loud. 
“I’m relieved my awful gift didn’t make you cry, my brother always says I’m a horrible gift giver.” He reaches back to scratch his neck nervously. 
She looks back down at the pen with wonder-filled eyes, “I love it. It’s the best gift I’ve ever received, every time I write I’ll think of you.” 
Their eyes meets and its as if there is a gravitational pull, she grabs his shoulders and he finds himself leaning down bridging the gap between them, their lips inching closer and closer together, his heart thumping out of his chest, he’s sure she can hear it. She licks her delectable lips, now millimetres away and then his stomach grumbles loudly. The sound loud enough to smack them out of the moment, he violently blushes, wishing that he would sink into the ground. 
Her light giggle permeates the air and as he watches the joy on her face, his shame fades, he would be the butt of every joke if it meant seeing her smile. 
                            <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3
He hadn’t expected her to agree, actually hadn’t even meant to ask her, but as usual when around her his brain wasn’t able to function properly. That’s how he found himself inviting her for dinner at his house. Her enthusiasm was unanticipated therefore he knew that he couldn’t rescind the invitation after seeing her elation.  
Alas, they got on a bus and ventured off to his house, he was too terrified of her driver to accept her offer to have him drive them, and once she had put on heeled boots he knew he wouldn’t let her walk the distance. 
Her beauty did not go unnoticed on the bus ride, several times he found himself seething at random men who deemed it appropriate to devour her with their eyes. He didn’t notice her knowing smile as he had placed his body directly behind her, shielding her from their hunger gaze. 
It was with a huge sigh of relief that they finally exited the bus and made the quick walk to his humble abode. Their fingers brushing, the temptation to clasp her hand in his was astronomical. But he fought it off, too much of a coward for something so bold and revealing. 
His house was nothing compared to her luxurious apartment but still her first words were, “It’s lovely.” And his... fondness grew, if that was even possible. 
They both removed their shoes at the door, and his mother’s voice shouted out at the familiar sound, “You’re home a bit late, we were just about to start eating without you.”
He’d thought of calling ahead and asking threatening Sang-Tae to be on his best behavior, he knew they would both make a big deal about this, he’d never brought a girl home before, and never thought his first would be the girl of his dreams but his life was out of control lately. But he’d gotten distracted by the creeps on the bus and defending Mun-Yeong had taken priority. 
“Hi mom, actually.... um I have a...guest.” 
“Oh, is it Jae-Su? Come on in sweetie, I made more than enough food, he can join us.” 
Then he heard Sang-Tae join in, “No, tell him to go eat at his house. He’s always here, doesn’t he have his own family? Little punk.” 
He heard his mother’s resounding smack and Sang-Tae’s answering cry of pain and he walked further into his house, Mun-Yeong following closely behind with folded hands in front of her. He’d never seen her nervous before. 
All of  a sudden, her hand grabbed onto his arm, stalling his progression. He looked at her in question, watching as she nervously fixed her already faultless hair, “How do I look? Do I look okay?” 
She couldn’t be serious. He searched her face for the joke but found nothing but earnest honesty. That took his head for a spin, she didn’t know she was perfect. Wow. 
“You look pretty.” He found himself saying exactly what was on his mind for once, and was instantly glad about his decision, she rewarded him with the most brilliant smile, he desperately hopelessly wanted to kiss it and see if it tasted as mouthwatering as it looked. 
“Listen, it’s not that I don’t like you but you gotta eat at your house.....”  Sang-Tae’s voice trailed off as he rounded the corner and his eyes landed on them, then settling on just Mun-Yeong, his eyes widening in shock and then mischief. Gang-Tae mentally groaned. 
“Brother you brought your pretty...lady friend! How wonderful! Why didn’t you say so? She is always welcome here, come in, come in. Don’t spend all evening in the doorway.” He watched as his brother took Mun-Yeong by her shoulder, guiding her into the house, excitement bubbling in his voice. 
He followed behind them. 
Dinner was loud as usual with his family, he was scared that she would feel overwhelmed but after a few wide-eyed stares she joined the ruckus. Answering all of Sang-Tae’s ludicrous questions and politely complimenting his mother’s cooking, causing her to blush and wave it off.  With a heavy heart he realized that the most important people in his life were all in this room. He blinked away the happy tears that gathered in his eyes as he slurped his noodles. 
“So Mun-Yeong, you look beautiful today.” His mother gestured at her outfit, “Is it a special occasion? Or..”  She nodded and quietly stated, “Yes. Today is my birthday.” 
Gang-Tae watched more questions wash over his family’s face. Why was she spending it here with them? Why wasn’t she with her family? But with a quick slap of his hand on the table, he got their attention and firmly shook his head, no. They understood. 
“Well, thank you for joining us on such a special day. We should sing for you.”
His mother found some candles in a drawer and they stuck it in a cupcake, with only the soft glow from the candle, they sang for her, all ignoring the wetness that swam in her eyes.  Happy birthday to you. 
He waited with her outside, an old jacket of his wrapped around her slender figure, he’d noticed her shivering and shed the jacket immediately to give to her, ignoring her arguments. Lifting her hand and placing it on his stomach, “It’s okay I run hot.” Her fingers had trembled at bit on his stomach, sudden heat in her eyes as well before she drew her fingers back. 
Mr. Lee had sounded surprised that she was not home but had agreed to come collect her. 
The wind blew as they waited for him, sitting on the steps at the entrance of his house. She looked so small swimming in his jacket. His eyes darkened with desire seeing her wrapped up in him. 
“Usually, I spend my birthday alone, ignoring Sang-In and Seung-Jae because I want to believe my parents are going to show up. It’s always so shitty, but today, it wasn’t shitty at all. That’s thanks to you. You always show up when I need you.” 
He tried to decipher the emotion brimming in her eyes, but couldn’t quite place them, he had to be projecting, it was impossible that she was looking at him, the way he looked at her. His brain and his heart warred, screaming opposite messages rendering him lost. 
Then in the blink of an eye, he was found. 
Easily closing the distance between them, her lips found his, a soft press, skin against skin, time slowed down and all he could hear was their staggered breathing. He felt his body move on auto pilot, his hand reaching out to cradle her head, deepening the kiss, her mouth slide open and his tongue slithered in. Her taste exploded on his taste buds and he was eager for more. Her hands sunk into his thick hair, tugging softly, bursts of pain shot through his scalp and he moaned in pleasure. She crawled into his lap and he held on for dear life, pulling her back when she shifted away, lifting her easily and swallowing her gasp. 
They pulled apart with puffy wet lips, the desire in her eyes hitting him like a tidal wave. 
“Where did you learn to kiss like that? How many girls are you saving?” She panted out teasingly, but he could hear an edge of truth in her voice, he blushed both at her inquiry and how unbelievably sexy she sounded. 
“No one. Just you. It’s always been just you.” 
“Good.” And he was pulled into another mind-melting kiss. 
                     <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3
Suspended. For a week. Principal Oh had scolded him until his ears were scarlet, he’d sat squirming as the man berated him for using his fists instead of his words. His mother was not going to be happy with him, his grades were subpar at most, Mun-Yeong had tried tutoring him but they often got..distracted and most session would end with someone’s tongue in the other’s mouth. It was the absolute best. 
Jae-Su had also not been happy with him, “You’re my best friend what I am going to do without you for a week? Why did you have to punch him? What’s wrong with you lately?”
He hadn’t meant to really, it was like his body went primal and when he came back he was smashing in Daniel’s pompous face. He’d stayed late for practice, Mun-Yeong seeing him off with a warm kiss and “Have a good practice” and he still wasn’t used to that, the fact that he got to have that. Her kisses and her hugs and her smiles. They were all gifts and somehow he’d been lucky enough to be on the receiving end of those precious things. 
That’s when he had heard the voice, “You know she’s just trying to make me jealous right? There’s no way she’d choose you over me, girls like her they enjoy the chase.” The smarmy voice invaded his ears and he walked around him, pushing back his angry and insecurity. He, himself had thought similar ideas before, wondered what a girl like her could see in a guy like him? But she was steadfast, always quick to praise him and tell him what a great boyfriend he was, how happy he made her.  Soon, her words soaked into his skin and he started to believe her. He clung to that now. 
“Or maybe she likes slumming it, has some weird fantasy about being with someone beneath her. Bet she likes it roug--” And he never got to finish that disgusting sentence because Gang-Tae’s fist interrupted, slamming hard into his mouth, Daniel grabbed his face in shocked pain and suddenly they were wrestling limps on the ground. Coach had been the one to break them up, all of his basketball teammates looking on in awe, in pure disbelief at the participants of the fight. 
He sighed at the memory, it wasn’t his proudest moment, he was of the mindset that fighting didn’t solve anything but damn it had felt good to knock the smug smile off that bastard’s face. He could eat shit in the nicest way possible. 
However, now with time process, he was definitely second guessing his sporadic decision, how would Mun-Yeong feel about his fighting? She had mentioned on many occasions that she hated men who acted like women were a prize to be fought over, that’s why she loved how calm and rational he was. He groaned. 
He was so lost in his thoughts, that he missed the knock at his door. Then he jumped as it turned to pounding. He dropped the towel filled with ice that he was using to ice his knuckles and went to the door, cautiously pulling it open. 
Mun-Yeong instantly pushed her way in, speedily removing her shoes, before taking his hand and dragging him into his living room. She shoved him into the couch before plopping next to him. 
The stark anger on her pretty face shifted to worry when she saw the various bruises on his face, his lip was busted and he had a cut next to his right eye. it stung a little but he had carefully cleaned it when he got home, employing all the first aid techniques his mother had taught him. 
“I heard you got suspended! What happened? Why didn’t you call me right away? Who were you fighting? Are you crazy?” She fired off question after question, voice raising in octave after each other and he placed a finger on her lips to stop the diatribe of words. 
“I can’t answer your questions, if you keep asking me new ones.” 
She scoffed crossing her arms but quieted down, looking at him expectedly, okay go ahead, explain. 
“Well as you heard I got into a fight. I’m not proud of that but he had it coming, I would do it again.” He answered with conviction, her eyebrows lifted in surprise at his eyes. 
“What were you fighting about?”
The one question he didn’t want to answer. He loathed the idea of being another neanderthal in her eyes, someone who couldn’t control themselves and lashed out like a child. That wasn’t who he was, but his actions today said otherwise. The last thing he wanted was for her view of him to be altered. Losing her would break him, he knew it. 
But he also couldn’t lie. When they had stumbled into this relationship, she’d made him swear that no matter how painful it may be, she always wanted the truth in its entirety. Up until today, that had been an easy request to honor. 
So he stayed silent. 
She moved closer, gentle fingers brushing over his bruises, pulling back as he winced. “Tell me, why did you fight today?”
With a quiet plead he begged, “Please, I don’t want to.” 
With finality she responded, “It was about me then, you fought someone trying to defend me.”
His head snapped up to look at her- how an earth did she know?-  expecting to see disappointment and instead he was met with....passion? She took his silence as agreement and her next words knocked him off his feet, “I know I shouldn’t but I find that really.....hot.” 
He gaped at her and suddenly, she lunged at him and he was knocked onto his back on the couch, her body smashed against his. “Will it hurt if I kiss you?” She breathlessly asked and he grabbed her neck, pulling her into a heated kiss. Wet tongues twirling and stroking, her breath hitched when he grabbed her waist, dragging her impossibly closer. Wet smacks reverberated in the room and he hissed when he felt her cool fingers creep under his shirt, nails scratching across his abs. 
The first time she’d seen him shirtless, she had gasped and then reached out with a bold hand, caressing his skin, “Mmmm all mine.” His cheeks had burned but he hadn’t argued, he was all hers, there was no competition. 
But they hadn’t gone beyond kissing yet, she would eagerly reach under his shirt during their make out sessions but he had yet to return the favor, despite her encouragement. He was scared of his own reaction. 
She loved bulldozing over his comfort zone though and seeming emboldened today she leaned back, he missed her body on his instantly, suppressing his own sad whimper, he raptly watched her.  She plucked his hands from there stationary position on his sides and lifted them, then slowly she brought them closer to herself. Soon the destination became clear. 
Her breast. 
His hands tense in fear and anticipation, before he felt the soft mounds underneath his hands. Electricity rapidly moved through his fingers. “Touch me.” She whispered with a sultry look from beneath dark lashes and he squeezed. 
She easily climbed into his lap, rejoining their lips, forcing his mouth open with her tongue, as she moaned at his hands exploration of her breast, he could feel her hard nipples through the thin material of her uniform shirt. She began to grind on his him, he realized with thunderous clarify that he was hard, all of the blood surging to his burgeoning erection. 
Instinctively, he grinded up into her, moving one hand to tug her skirt up and out of the way, groaning at the sudden heat he could feel though her panties. She was panting, bobbing in his lap, as they grinded through their clothes. 
Wet mouths met over and over, until they just hovered over each other’s lips, breathing into each other as their bodies met in harsh collisions. She was moving faster now, grinding with intent as he roughly handled her breasts and he felt the moment she reached euphoria, she threw her head back, nails digging into her shoulder as she shuddered in his arms. 
He watched her face intently, her pretty red lips, her eyes closed in pleasure and that was all it took to push him over the edge, his orgasm knocked him back, his vision clouded up and he groaned at the warm stickiness in his pants. 
“Next time we’ll do that with less clothes.” 
He mewled at her words, too spent to become hard again so soon. 
After freshening up in the bathroom, she’d dragged him into his bed, snuggling into his arms, he started to pull away knowing that this was a dangerous game they were playing, they couldn’t fall asleep. His mother was accepting but even she would not want two horny teenagers in bed in her house. She soothed him, “Don’t worry, I’m not staying I just want to cuddle a little. I set an alarm, I’ll leave soon. Just hold me.”
He wrapped her up in his arms, as she placed her hand and head on his chest. Fingers rapping on his chest before she fell into a deep slumber. He watched her sleeping face in awe, she was his girlfriend and they had just...did that on the couch. 
He felt his own eyes getting heavy with sleep, and soon started to drift off too, for once not having any dreams, because his biggest dream was already a reality. 
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snorlaxlovesme · 4 years
Text
Walk Me Home
So I guess I wrote this fic for a SoMa week prompt last year and then didn’t post it??? I found it in my drafts and was really confused what a fully completed one-shot was doing staring back at me lmao
So. Here’s a fic for I think the “2am” prompt. Title a reference to the P!nk song, since I’m pretty sure I spammed it while writing this.
                             ____________________
“Hey. Hey!”
Maka hears Soul’s voice call out from behind her, but she doesn’t turn around. She doesn’t want to talk right now; she wants to leave.
“Jesus, why are you walking so fast? Slow down, fuck’s sake.”
The grit of the sidewalk digs painfully into the heels of her bare feet. It doesn’t slow her down, nor does it stop her. In fact, when she hears Soul’s panting from behind her, she petulantly picks up her speed until his hand is landing on her shoulder and pulling her to a stop. He tugs her around despite her best efforts to keep walking.
“Hey, you wanna tell me what the problem is? Why did you leave the party?” He doesn’t even look mad at her, just concerned, which somehow makes her just feel worse. Soul continues, “I went to go talk to Kid for a few minutes and when I came back everyone said you left. Did something happen?”
Clearly something must have happened. She knows he can see it all over her expression, in the way she bolted away from him. Hell, he can probably feel waves of it coming directly from her soul.  
But she doesn’t want to talk, so she pulls her shoulder away from his grasp and keeps walking, marching towards the direction of home, probably. She’s still a little tipsy, even though she only had a couple drinks at the party. But whoever Kid hires to bartend at the Gallows Mansion has a heavy hand when it comes to mixing drinks. Either her cocktails were stronger than normal or Maka really is the lightweight every assumes she is. She keeps walking despite her protesting feet and the way the world is swaying around her.
“So you’re just not gonna talk to me?” Soul asks, still trailing behind her. She can feel his hand come to rest on her shoulders every now and again, steadying her when she tips a bit too far in one direction, but pulling away once she’s righted herself. Protecting her while also respecting her boundaries. It’s infuriating.
Soul keeps talking to her back. “Was it something it something Black Star said? You know how Star gets when he’s drunk. He’s got no fucking boundaries.”
It’s not Black Star. It’s not anyone specifically. It’s just everyone. It’s everything. It’s nothing. She doesn’t want to explain it, because that would just be another weakness to add to the ever-growing pile.
“I can kick his ass if you want,” Soul keeps trying, knowing full-well that he could never take Black Star in a fight. The pathetic offer almost makes her smile, but she gulps it down and tries not to cry.
Soul circles around in front of her. “Look, you don’t have to tell me, but could you please stop for a sec? You’re not wearing any shoes and your feet are gonna get all fucked up. There could be glass or something.” Maka, being Maka, doesn’t give a damn about potential dangers to herself, and continues marching forward, leaving Soul to roll his eyes and pick up his pace to catch up with her again. She’s trying not to look at him, but she can see the way his eyes widen in his ‘I have an idea’ face, and two seconds later he’s transformed into a scythe in front of her, hovering a few feet off the ground beside her. His wings flap quickly and silently to keep steady beside her.
“Please?” His voice comes his weapon form, tinny and desperate.
Now Maka is the one rolling her eyes. His winged-form only rubs salt in her emotional wounds, but her feet are admittedly in a lot of pain after almost a half mile of walking on cracked concrete. She concedes and throws a leg over his handle. She grabs onto him with both hands, expecting him to whisk her away to their apartment above the buildings of Death City. Soul surprises her by hovering another foot in the air, so her feet don’t drag on the cement, but flying at the same pace she was walking.
The quiet extends before them into the night. The farther they get from the Gallows, the harder it is to hear the booming bass of the music. Soul lets Maka direct them with her soul through the residential neighborhoods and away from crowded streets. She started this walk with the intention of being alone.
But, ten times out of ten she’d rather be with Soul.
She swallows. “Do you care what people think about you?”
On a normal day he’d snark at her for finally deeming him worthy of conversation, but today he’s quiet as he thinks of what response she might be looking for. She can feel he’s trying to pick apart the meaning of this starting question, but eventually just decides to answer honestly.
“Yeah. All the time.”
It’s the truth, Maka can feel in his soul that it is, but she still doesn’t believe it. In the time that Maka has known Soul, he’s grown so much. She’s always admired the way he just lets things roll off his shoulders, not giving a shit what others think about him. Maybe he’s just been faking it, but he does a damn good job playing the Cool Guy he’s always wanted to be as a kid. He makes Maka’s version of the same kind of make-believe feel like child’s play. No one believes in her flimsy brand of confidence.  
“Do you care what people think about us?” she asks.
There’s always been something in the way people talk about the two of them. Soul, the powerful, confident demon weapon that took down Arachne and helped save the world from madness on the moon. Maka, the meister who just managed to hold on for the ride. Maybe that’s not exactly what they say, but it’s implied. In the way other students will look at him with admiration, with appreciation, and then how they look at her, like they’re surprised it was little unstable Maka Albarn who managed to produce a Death Scythe. She knows she’s weak, but do people have to throw it in her face all the time? Like she was the last person they expected to be helpful in the apocalypse?  
Even at a freaking party there are people coming up to Soul and asking him for autographs while Maka stands right next to him. Like somehow they know the exact imbalance of strength between Soul and Maka and they’re disappointed in Maka the same way she is with herself.
Just thinking about it has her unconsciously pulling Soul forward down the street a little faster. She breathes deeply. Just a few more minutes and she’ll be home.
Soul finally speaks, breaking her out of her own internal pity party.  
“No.”
Maka blinks.
No?
“Our partnership is no one’s business but ours. If people have something to say about it, whatever. I only care about one person’s opinion when it comes to our partnership. And that’s you.”
God, it’s such a simple yet complete answer. And he’s totally right, like always. She doesn’t know why she gives a shit what other people think about her and Soul. None of it matters in the end, but God, does Maka wish for once that when she thought of the word “strength” she could picture herself embodying that word instead of never measuring up. Instead of feeling guilty for somehow always thinking she’s holding Soul back.
“You know there’s nothing wrong with you, right?”
Maka’s soul spikes so suddenly in surprise that Soul comes to a halt in the middle of the street.
“I’m serious. I know you wanna be the best meister you can be, but you’re too stuck in your own head to realize how fucked I would be without you as my partner.” He quiets in a way that means he’s gathering his words, and Maka listens with bated breath.  
“You’re the smartest and bravest person I know, okay? And you’re also a reckless moron who pulls some of the craziest shit in battle that I’ve ever seen in my life. It sucks that I have to keep saying this to you, but I’ll keep reminding you until you believe it. The only reason I ever had a prayer of becoming of a Death Scythe was because you’ve been my meister. Stop thinking that you’re not good enough, because you’re better than every asshole at the party. You did something they never could and now never will be able to do.”
Maka closes her eyes for a few heartbeats, allowing this to sink in. Even now, at 2am with the sky pitch dark because of the blackened moon, it’s hard to imagine that she was involved in that fight. She helped save the world and she’s still convinced that she’s somehow not good enough. Maybe Soul’s right, and what they have could only be accomplished with the two of them together. Maybe no one else matters but her and Soul.
“Soul? Transform for me, will you?”
Without hesitation, Soul morphs back into human form, holding her now on piggyback instead of on his weapon form. The shift from being supported by his handle to hanging off his backside is so natural that Maka doesn’t even have to think about it, just adjusts her arms so they’re tighter across his shoulders. She presses her face into the side of his neck in gratitude.
“You always know what to say, you know that?”
Soul snorts and hops a little to scoot her higher up his back. “It’s easy when your soul is practically screaming at me what you’re upset about.” He starts walking again, refusing to put her down because of his stubborn insistence that she’ll hurt her feet. “So. Party sucked for you too, then?”
Now it’s Maka’s turn to snort. All of a sudden the night’s whole emo conclusion feels very overstated. She feels foolish for being so dramatic but remembers that Soul thinks she’s strong even when she’s a drama queen. Depends on her even when she gets caught up in her own head. The reminder calms her soul down considerably.
“Think I drank too much,” she says, nestling closer to his back and laying her arms heavily over his shoulders to remain balanced. “Ox said some dumb shit about me being the weaker partner and it made me sad.”
“Alcohol is a depressant,” Soul says, kind of snooty. He’s repeating what she’s told him on his Moody Drinking nights.  
“Wait a minute,” Soul says. “Did you say Ox? Who the fuck is he to talk about being a weak partner?”
“I thought you said you don’t care what anyone thinks about us.”
“Yeah, but that was before I found out it was fucking Ox Ford who was talking down to you. I could totally take his ass in fight.”
Maka laughs for the first time all night. Soul continues ranting all the way home about how he’s going to beat Ox’s face in the next time he saw him (he won’t) and Maka thinks that maybe real strength is remembering that you always have someone on your side.
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amythecinnabunny · 3 years
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Space AU and Time Travel for Juke 👀 <33
Holy shit holy shit holy shit ok ok ok ok first of all AKDBJSJSJJEJE YES
Okay okay so let me try to iron out the mess in my head skxbjsjjd I hereby apologize if things get out of order or whatever but I am literally vibrating with excitement someone please write this I'll love you forever
Ok so I'm thinking also an aged up au for ✧・゚: *✧・゚:* reasons *:・゚✧*:・゚✧ sjsnnsn
Also, I've done this before and I'm gonna do it again, but Bobby and Trevor are two different people for the sake of the timeline here.
Time frame for this would be WAY into the future. Humanity has gone galactic. We also had our asses handed to us by several alien planets but we probably deserved it. Anyway, after we got rid of Elon Musk, we eventually made peace with the aliens and now roam the galaxy freely. 20-30yo generally try to get into a different fleet, just to learn about other races. Think all those alien ships adopts a human posts.
Julie, Carrie and Flynn are my three girl geniuses. They're like,,, the smartest people in every room. They've been like this since freshman year of college. Julie, Carrie and Flynn also all want to get into the student exchange program, which is exactly what you think it is. Alien races (and this now includes humanity) swaps out older students with each other so they get a feel of what the other race is like. It's fun, educational, and! You get to make super long distance pen pals!
I'd also have so much fun making up new memes???? It would be so fucking stupid tho but I love it.
Anyway, so after a few years of jumping through the exchange programme, hoping from planet to planet, unfortunately, without their bestfriends :<, the three of them qualify to board research ships!!!
So at like 23-25, my girls come back together on the same ship!! Its a massive thing and so they've hired so many interns from so many different races. It's like a landing hub for several smaller ships. They have like 10 interns per species and that's only because there are laws against having too many of one kind after they put 50 humans on a space station and the humans tried to take over. Also, humans multiply faster than the others. This terrifies some races.
Anyway, the ship's really just a bunch of college kids from different planets trying to avoid exam season by submitting research papers from their ship. They all bond over deadlines, breakups and coffee (or the alien equivalent thereof)
Flynn dated an alien girl for a while. They were cute. Flynn: as a lesbian, it's my duty to date all the women in space
This is also where they run into Willie!!! Yay, Willie!!!
Nick Danforth-Evans and Kayla Evans-McKessie are around ... somewhere ... in bunk beds like the little toddlers they wish they were, crying about the 15 page essay on why Xjsbsjdjd is a very intelligent race that we could learn a lot from (yes, that is a keysmash I'm too buzzed to be creating alien species names sjdjjdjd)
Carrie and Nick do date for a while but then Carrie hooked up with Kayla. Bisexual queen who?
Julie met Willie that time she didn't sleep for over 48 hours because she had a research paper due within a week and she hadn't started yet and it was 10 000 words on her experiences with the Psjxjjdkeiwj race. Luckily for her, the kid she bumped into and spilled an energy drink all over had the same paper and helped her finish it. Willie sometimes goes by the nickname Lifesaver, thanks to Julie. This confuses the metaphor-less people because Willie's never saved anyone's life?? So why is he a lifesaver??
ANYWAY ON TO THE TIME TRAVEL BIT
On their own, Julie, Carrie and Flynn are professional smart people who know what they're saying and are clever enough not to do things with too many risks. In the same room, however, they turn into dumb geniuses who can and possibly may blow up the entire ship. It's a good thing they have Willie, Nick and Kayla to babysit them, right? WRONG. Willie Kayla and Nick egg them on.
They decide there going to gather all the information there is on time travel and they're going to decipher it and make it work! Yay!
When they find stuff in alien languages they start calling up their alien pen pals "hello what's this word mean in this context? What, haha oh no, it's a research paper on why time travel projects were abandoned before completion. Okay, thank you!"
Before long, they have a working time machine. I mean,, they hope so. And so they enter a random date from the past and prepare to pop their heads through just to see what the world looked like approximately 200ish years ago
2020s, post covid because that exists for joke reasons later, Sunset Curve is performing live for one of their biggest audiences yet when mid-song, the floor just opens them up and swallows them whole before vanishing. The crowd things it's a stunt but Sunset Curve's managers are flipping their shit
Back on the ship, the machine starts sparking and with a soft boom and a hiss, the power in that quadrant goes out -- not before Willie's is pelted in the face with a pair of drumsticks and then a whole person.
It's a miracle the drums survived the trip, pet alone everything else.
So now these sleep deprived geniuses and co. have to hide three people and several musical artifacts, plus the smoking remains of a time machine, from their Supervising Officer, who is regrettably, a human too.
And none of them are very good at lying.
Luke and Bobby are though, and after piecing together bits and pieces from the frenzied rambling around them, Luke and Bobby save the group.
Shenanigans ensue as they try to rebuild the time machine under the watchful eye of the SO, while trying to mantainbfake credentials for the boys and trying to explain their very dated clothing. (Yes, Sunset Curve STILL rocks the 90s vibe. In the 2020s. It's their thing.)
Willex happens in the background -- and I mean that very literally. (Jukebox having a tension moment, Willex making out in the background.)
Honestly I'm not sure yet how theyd solve the problems, whether they'd send the boys back or not or what, but I do know that they will all cause a BUNCH of problems in between.
Sometimes they play music just because they still can. Sunset Curve becomes a house band for the ship. They get broadcasted to neighbouring or passing ships like "hey, losers, we have live music, SUCK IT!"
Focusing on the jukebox aspect of this whole fic, that's gonna be a fucking hilarious slow burn.
It will definitely contain the lines "Oh my god, I have a crush on Julie." "Congratulations, you're officially the last to know." "What? Even [SO's Name] knows??" "Dude. The ship's navigation crew knows." "Does ... Julie know?" "No, you're both morons."
Julie is having the exact same conversation four hallways away.
They'd talk a lot about sending the boys back home and it'd be really quiet conversations when everyone else is asleep.
Julie and Luke write music together and after a while, Julie performs a few of them too. Thanks to the concerts, they meet the other human interns that were on the other end of the ship and Carrie and Kayla form Dirty Candy.
The ship becomes known as the party bus.
A thing that will happen: Luke helps Julie write one of her history papers that she gets an A+ for and a comment about how dedicated she was to have delved so far back in the history records to get authentic insight.
Julie and Luke speak in memes but they don't speak the same memes and it drives them both up the wall.
Luke says yeet one day and Julie's soul leaves her body because she hasn't heard anyone say yeet since she was a toddler back on Earth.
Julie: odd display, but acceptable.
Luke, physically experiencing a record scratch: what the fuck did you just say
That is all I have to offer because I'm afraid of plotting further and causing angst somehow.
oh one more thing, someone gets to bang an alien and it's probably Flynn.
Oh oh oh another one more thing. Reggie says "this is just like in Star Wars" for literally anything. The band goes along with it for shits and giggles. The rest of them are very interested in this ancient tale called Star Wars. Reggie sees a picture of Flynn and her green gf and says "hey, you dated photoshopped Yoda" and Bobby just loses his shit.
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