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#those two foods aren’t even in the same category in my head
leobashi · 1 year
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Are we talking about crime pizza? I've never committed a pizza crime, only regular food crimes. Like eating only white rice with salsa on it. It was pretty good but it did feel like I was spiraling
Rice with salsa??
That’s such a strange combo. I can understand rice with spices/herbs, or just a bowl of rice in water, but with salsa???
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rjzimmerman · 2 months
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This tiny flower teaches us all we need to know about growing old. (Washington Post Opinion)
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For most of my life, I marked the progress of spring by its blooms. First came the crocuses of February and the daffodils of March, followed, in quick succession, by the tulips and hyacinth, the lilac and flowering cherry and the saucer magnolias. Later, the azaleas would explode in a pink and red riot — and, before long, the peonies would unfurl to proclaim the approach of summer. Each arrival announced itself with a spectacular burst of color and, often, a sweet perfume that filled the yard.
But lately I’ve come to share the view of Wendy Cass, the head botanist at Shenandoah National Park, when she sees a waving clump of daffodils.
“Boring,” she says.
What I had been watching all those years was spring as humans made it. This year, I’m experiencing spring as God made it.
Those tulips, lilacs and all the rest were imported from Europe and Asia, curated and genetically manipulated by humans so they would grow with no effort and display improbably sweet and showy blooms. They are beautiful, no question, and I will always smile when I see a host of golden daffodils as Wordsworth did, “Beside the lake, beneath the trees/ Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”
But this year, I’ve instead been walking in the still-bare forest and looking for Dutchman’s breeches.
In case you are wondering why some European left his pants in the woods, let me explain that the Dutchman’s breeches is my new favorite flower. Its bloom, just a half-inch tall, looks like an upside-down pair of white pantaloons, belted at the waist with a yellow rope. Native to this part of the eastern United States, it’s one of the first wildflowers of spring, popping up in late March or early April, flowering for a couple of weeks and disappearing as quickly as it came. Its entire growing season — from the time its first green shoot emerges from the earth to the moment its last bit of green foliage dies for the year — is just a couple of months.
Yet so much life comes from those delicate trousers. It’s one of the first foods in the forest after a long winter, and a crucial bit of sustenance for the queen bumblebee. When she emerges from her overwintering nest in the ground (the other bees die during the winter), she stretches her long tongue into the Dutchman’s breeches to reach its nectar, which nourishes her as she lays the eggs that will replenish the colony with the next generation of workers.
The Dutchman’s breeches are part of a class of plants felicitously known as “spring ephemerals.” They appear on the forest floor before the trees have leafed out, taking advantage of the sunlight. They flower, go to seed and die back within just six to 12 weeks. These are flowers you generally won’t find at florists: They are bluebells and bloodroot, trout lilies and toothwort, spring beauties and rue anemone. They are joined by other flowers that, while not “true” ephemerals (their foliage lasts a bit longer), generally share the same category: the great white trillium, hepatica, star chickweed and mayapple.
They are notoriously difficult to cultivate, hard to transplant and even harder to grow from seeds. It can take seven years from the time a trillium seed is planted to the appearance of just one of its three-petal flowers. Ephemerals are finicky and fussy plants, growing only in forests and typically near streams. They aren’t as bold and colorful as garden-variety flowers, and most don’t even have a scent. You won’t spot spring ephemerals from your car window with an “ooh” and an “ah.” To find them, you have to go on a treasure hunt in the forest. Their flowers can be tiny — sometimes just a millimeter or two — and you could easily miss them if you don’t look carefully.
That is just the point.
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obeymeoasis · 3 years
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The First Time They Say “I Love You”
Lucifer
At first you just did small things, like cleaning up the used coffee cups on his desk. Things that you wanted to do for him because he was so tired all the time. But after you pointed out a calculation error in a R.A.D organization’s monthly expense sheet, Lucifer started relying on you more. He often asked you to do a final scan over documents before he submitted them to Diavolo just in case he missed anything.
You found that your work styles were very similar: extremely organized, detail-oriented, and meticulous. You enjoyed spending time in Lucifer’s office. And helping him with his work meant that he got done more quickly and had more time to spend with you. 
Right now he was at his desk, furiously scanning through a stack of papers. You could tell he hadn’t slept in a while. The buttons at his throat were undone and he had dark smudges underneath his eyes. Somebody had apparently mixed up the schedule for an upcoming series of lectures and Lucifer was left to solve the problem.
You shut the door behind you slowly and carefully made your way over, trying your best to balance the tea tray and multiple folders you were holding. "Here, Luci. I brought you peppermint tea and shortbread. You should have some while you work, you look absolutely exhausted.” He looked up at you and smiled gratefully, a private smile that only you got to see. “Thank you MC, I appreciate it.”
You then handed him the thick folders. “Also, these are all of the invoices from last week’s alumni dinner party. I thought they were a bit messy to look at so I organized them into different categories based on the business and then sorted the purchases sequentially. Also, I calculated the total expenses and thankfully we were able to stay under budget.”
Lucifer's mouth was slightly ajar and his eyes widened, looking at you as if you'd done something incredibly strange. You asked self-consciously, "Is... is something on my face?"
With the same bewildered expression on his face he said "MC... I love you."
You laughed, a little startled. "Why, because I organized some files for you?"
"Well, yes. No. I mean yes and no. It's not just the files, it's everything. The way you're always thinking of me and taking care of me. The way we work well together. The way I can trust you with anything. I love you, MC. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to say so."
You felt your cheeks flush with happiness. "Well... I love you too, you know. A lot. Now hurry up and finish your work so that we can spend some actual time together."
Lucifer laughed gently and then reached to take your hand in his, pressing a delicate kiss against your fingers. "Anything for you."
Mammon
You were at the casino with Mammon on a Wednesday night. On school nights he usually went alone because you were busy with homework. But tonight he looked so lonely as he headed for the door that something spurred you to put on a jacket and run after him.
When you took his hand in yours, he turned to look at you in surprise and the most radiant smile lit his face. “You’re coming with me, baby?”
The first couple of hours weren’t bad. Mammon brought you small plates of food and you were content to just watch as he flourished in his natural environment. You smiled amusedly at his antics, the way he bantered with the dealer, how he yelled in delight when he won and how pouty he became when he lost.
But pretty soon the long day of classes caught up to you and you could feel your eyelids growing heavy. You were tucked into a small table in the corner, away from the other guests but still visible to Mammon out of the corner of his eye. You figured no one would mind so you laid your arm on the table and rested your head in the crook of your arm. Within a couple of seconds, you were deep asleep.
Meanwhile, Mammon was having some of the best luck he’d had recently at the blackjack table. He turned to where you were sitting to give you a smile and boast about his winnings a little, only to have his heart clench tightly at the sight of you. 
You looked absolutely adorable, sleeping with a little smile on your face. It must have been a little cold for you in the casino because you were curled up tightly against yourself. Mammon flushed at how cute you looked and then felt a sudden rush of emotion. 
Even though you were tired, you still took the time to come out with him tonight. He knew these places weren’t really your thing but you never complained, you genuinely just wanted to be with him. And that was something Mammon wasn’t really used to.
You stirred at the sensation of Mammon draping his jacket across your shoulders. Rubbing the sleep out of your eyes, you looked up to ask: “Hey Mams, how’s your luck been tonight?”
He stood silently for a moment before enveloping you into a sudden, crushing hug. “I-I love you, MC. I really love you.” You were startled and tried to move back to get a look at his face but Mammon wouldn’t budge. “No, don’t look at me. I’m probably super red. But I need to tell you how much I love you. I kinda realized it just now that there’s no one like you. No one who cares for me, who accepts all of me like you do. Thank you for always being here.”
You could feel tears forming in your eyes and buried your face against Mammon’s chest. “Oh, Mams. I love you too. I can’t imagine how alone you must have felt, especially the way your brothers treat you sometimes. But I’m here now, okay? I’ll always be on your side.”
You heard Mammon’s breath hitch a little before he leaned down to kiss your forehead.
Leviathan
You came to discover that there were a lot of little holidays in the Devildom, an occasional day or two when you didn’t have to go to classes. Sometimes you took the opportunity to travel to the human world, often to pick up small necessities or bring back foods you missed.
Today you were here to pick up something specific: strawberry preserves. You had brought back a jar from the human world recently and after having a bite, Levi had practically eaten the whole jar by himself. The preserves were the specialty of a local farm close to your house and Levi absolutely loved them.
Since you were there, you decided to pick up some different jars as well. An employee carefully packaged the jars of strawberry, peach, blueberry, and cherry preserves so that they wouldn't accidentally break on the journey. What he didn't know was that you would actually be travelling between completely different worlds.
As soon as you were back in the Devildom, you quickly made your way to Levi's room with your purchases. He was in the middle of playing a game but when he heard you come in, he turned around to welcome you back. "Hey, MC. How was your trip? What are all those boxes for?"
You opened the topmost one and showed him the little glass jar with the floral pattern on the lid. "I picked more of these up for you today, along with some other flavors I thought it would be nice to try."
Upon recognizing what it was, Levi immediately set down his controller. "MC, this is awesome! I love you!" You froze in shock at his words and it took Levi a couple of seconds before he realized what he had said. He too froze so that the two of you stood there, Levi bright red, neither moving or speaking.
Levi was the one to eventually break the silence. "I-I didn't mean that! Ignore me just now! I don't know what I'm saying." Your heart sank in disappointment. You had merely been shocked that Levi felt the same way about you as you did him. But now he was saying he didn't mean it?
Your disappointment must have been evident on your face because Levi stammered out, "I-I mean, I do mean it! It's just- aargh, this isn't how I wanted to say- Ugh, I don't know what to-" You decided it was best to just be upfront with him. "Listen Levi, I love you a lot. Have for a while now. Can I ask you how you feel about me?"
If he was bright red before, Levi's face looked almost neon red now. He stared at you open mouthed, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You- You love me? Really? You aren't making fun of me or something?" You couldn't help but huff in response. "Levi, am I seriously the type of person who would make fun of you about this?"
It seemed to finally sink in for him then. "No, no you're not. MC, I- I love you too. Ah, I can't believe I said it out loud!" He clapped his hands over his mouth and you giggled at how adorably flustered he looked.
"Hey Levi, now that we know how we feel about each other, is it okay if I give you a kiss?" Levi practically fainted then, and you had to run down to the kitchens to get him a glass of water.
Satan
Satan was used to being alone. None of his brothers or classmates really shared any of his interests and he found that he much preferred being by himself. He was always too engrossed with his books and research that he never considered himself to be lonely.
That is, until he met you. You were somehow able to slowly inch yourself into his heart and without realizing it had become the most important person to him.
The other day, he found a funny quote in one of the novels he was reading and made a note of it to show you later. Then he started thinking about how much his daily routine included you in some way. You had classes together, ate meals together, talked and laughed together, and read late into the night together, enjoying each other’s company.
He realized that he was a lot happier now. Not that he was exactly unhappy before, but it was different with you. He was a lot more relaxed, more prone to smile and laugh. And a lot of it had to do with your influence and the time you spent together.
You were both reading in his room. There was a comfortable, relaxing silence and the atmosphere was especially cozy because of all the lit candles. You had prepared a tray for Satan: a plate of rosemary biscuits and a pot of black tea to wash them down with. This was another thing he appreciated about you; you were always taking care of him.
Both of you were engrossed in your books for a while, until suddenly you could feel Satan staring at you. You marked the page you were on and turned to him, a smile playing on your lips. “Is there something I can help you with?”
He looked at you for a few moments, unsmiling. You frowned, thinking there was something wrong, but before you could say anything Satan said “I just wanted to let you know that I love you dearly.”
You were surprised to say the least. Satan wasn’t really the type to talk about his feelings this explicitly. But after the initial shock, you realized how happy you were that the person you loved felt the same way about you. Satan didn’t let people into his life and into his heart that easily.
It was only when you heard Satan say “Oh love, I didn’t mean to make you cry” that you realized tears were streaming down your cheeks. You put down your book and practically flung yourself into his arms. He hugged you back tightly and waited until you were calm enough to speak. “I love you too Satan, so much. You mean the absolute world to me.”
You laughed wetly, thinking it funny that you were crying during one of the happiest moments of your life. Satan smiled at you fondly before handing you a handkerchief so that you could dry your eyes. 
You spent the rest of the night in his lap, smiling and giggling as he attempted to read you a story out loud.
Asmodeus
These kinds of days rarely happened, but they happened nonetheless. Mean, ugly days when no matter what outfit he tried on, it didn’t look right. No matter how much time he put into styling his hair, it just looked flat and dull. And his makeup seemed to refuse to cooperate with what he had in mind.
On these kinds of days Asmo locked himself in his room under the pretense of “needing self-care”. He hated having to speak with others because their usual compliments just sounded mocking and fake to his ears.
Asmo remembered an incident when one of his admirers had complimented his hairstyle and he had snapped at her furiously: “Shut up! Don’t make fun of me!” before storming away. He was incredibly embarrassed about it and apologized profusely to her. Since then, he figured it was safer to just hide out in his room.
But it was hard to be alone in his room when you were already there. You knew something was up with Asmo when you texted him saying "Hey, could you help me pick out a new coat?" and he replied with "Maybe another time, sorry darling!" He would have never refused an opportunity to go shopping with you.
So you raced to his room after classes and thankfully managed to slip in while Asmo was in the kitchen gathering some snacks. When he saw you standing in his room you could see he struggled to act nonchalant. "Darling! I didn't know you'd be here. I'm sorry, but I'm feeling a bit under the weather today. I wouldn't want you to catch anything so it'd probably be best if you went to your room."
Your heart clenched at the blatant lie. "Oh Asmo, I'll leave if you really want to be alone. But just know that I'm here for you. Whatever it is, there's nothing I wouldn't do for you. I want to be your strength."
You could see the conflict in Asmo's eyes as he stood quietly for a couple of minutes. You were about to turn around and leave, giving him some alone time, but he suddenly blurted out "I feel ugly today. I feel disgusting and horrible and hideous."
Asmo closed his eyes, embarrassed at his outburst and also dreading what inevitably came next: empty compliments and false flattery. He didn't want to be told he was beautiful when he didn't believe it.
But instead, you surprised him by enveloping him in a strong embrace. You alternated between gently patting his back and smoothing his hair and were rewarded with feeling the tension leave his body. You didn’t say anything, just continued to hold Asmo and wipe away the few stray tears on his cheeks.
Eventually you moved him to his bed, Asmo’s head lying on your chest and his arms wrapped around your waist. You weren’t sure how much time had passed but he seemed to be much calmer. He tilted his head up to look at you, his eyes searching your face, before almost whispering “I love you”. Your eyes widened in surprise. “You seem to always know what to do, MC, how to put me back together again. You’re honest with me and you actually listen to what I’m saying. I love you. Please stay with me forever.”
The two of you fell asleep like that, Asmo’s head on your chest and your hands intertwined. 
Beelzebub
Beel was a bit nervous, considering this was one of the most important Fangol games he had ever played in. Not only was it against their rival school, but also Beel’s coach had let him know that there would be scouters from the professional league coming to watch for potential talent.
It was too bad that you wouldn’t be able to watch him play. He considered you a very important part of his game-day routine. In the morning, you always made him a hearty breakfast and at the pre-game warmup, he frequently went to you for kisses and headpats. He considered you to be his good luck charm.
Unfortunately, you weren’t feeling well. You kept having bad stomach pain and the doctor had said it was probably your body reacting to some unfamiliar Devildom food. You were currently lying down in your room with a heating pad on and some warm green tea.
Beel missed you terribly. It had only been a few hours since he had last seen you but he couldn’t help but feel lonely. You were always there shouting and cheering for him on game days which made your absence feel that much larger.
His teammates and coaches could tell that something was off with him. They kept coming by to ruffle his hair or pat him on the shoulder and ask, “Is everything okay?” and “Don’t worry, you’ll do great!” 
Beel knew he was being silly. He would go see you right after the game! And yet his heart wasn’t in it during the pre-game stretches. He kept spacing out and staring at the wall instead of actually getting ready.
Suddenly, one of the assistant coaches came into the room. “Beel! MC is here! Now hurry up and stop moping around!” He saw you behind the coach looking a bit uncomfortable, your stomach must have still been bothering you. But you were also smiling at your little surprise.
Beel ran up to you and hugged you gently. “MC! What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in bed? Are you okay? Are you feeling better?” You laughed at his barrage of questions before reaching up on your tip-toes to give him a pat on his head. “I’m still in a bit of pain but I wanted to be here. I couldn’t miss such an important game! Now what’s this about you moping around?”
Beel blushed and ducked his head before mumbling, “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” You laughed again and Beel’s heart soared at the sound. He was suddenly struck with the realization of how much he loved you. You, who always had his back, who was always there to support him and motivate him. 
He wrapped his arms around you and whispered in your ear, “Thanks for being here, MC. I love you so much, you know. Sometimes it feels like my heart is going to burst.” Your arms tightened around him in response. “I feel the same way Beel, I love you so much. Now go and win this game, okay? Show them how amazing you are.”
After the game, Beel was surrounded by his coaches excitedly telling him about how many scouters were interested in seeing him play again. But all Beel could think about was having you in his arms again.
Belphegor
It occurred to Belphie one day after class as he was walking down the hallway. There was a couple leaning against the locker, engaged in a full display of public affection. They kept giggling and yelling “I love you!” at each other. Belphie fake gagged a little before moving past them.
But then it occurred to him. Is that kind of thing something... you wanted? Your relationship was relatively new both in terms of time and in that this was something Belphie wasn’t really experienced with. You were one of the people that knew him best though, apart from his brothers, and Belphie had just assumed that it would be okay to continue acting as he had always had around you.
What if secretly this was something you wanted as well? All of the endearments and displays of affection. Belphie hadn’t even- hadn’t even said the “L” word to you yet. This continued to trouble him even as he lied down for his afternoon nap. In his dreams he kept seeing visions of you crying while looking on enviously at other couples and asking, “Why can’t we be like that?”
By the time he sat down at dinner, Belphie was exhausted. And you of course noticed, especially since he was eating a lot less than he normally did. After dinner the two of you made your way to his room, where you were getting out some textbooks to study and he lied back down on his bed. “Hey Belphie, is everything okay? You seem a lot more listless than usual.
Belphie stared at you, contemplating whether to tell you what was going on. But in the end he decided against it. “It’s nothing, MC. Don’t worry about it.” His voice definitely didn’t sound like it was nothing. “Okay, Belphie. But let me know if you want to talk about anything, okay? I’m always here.”
For the next hour or so, you studied for your classes while Belphie tormented himself. He did love you. But he wasn’t good at expressing his feelings, especially in the way the couple in the hall had. What if that now you were dating, you expected him to change? Would he even be able to? Frustrated at the swirling questions in his mind, Belphie ended up blurting out “I love you!” to your back.
You turned around in your chair slowly, surprised at his sudden intensity. “I... love you too. Belphie, is everything okay? You’ve been acting strange all day.” He sighed. “MC, you know what kind of demon I am. I’m not good at all the... lovey-dovey stuff that other couples do. But if that’s what you want, I can at least try to be different.”
You shook your head. “I... honestly have no idea what you’re talking about. I know how you feel about me, Belphie. I don’t need you to be like “the other couples” because I fell in love with you and who you are. I don’t expect you to be someone you’re not. Where are you even getting the idea that I want something other than what we have?”
Ah, Belphie really did love you. There was no one else in the world that knew him so completely and still loved and accepted all parts of him. And... he just realized that he had said “I love you” for the first time by practically shouting it while your back was turned.
He got up and stood next to his desk. You were sitting and looking up at him, concern evident on your face. He smiled and leaned down to kiss you gently before mouthing against your lips, “I love you, MC.”
You could feel how hot your cheeks were as he moved away and went to lie back down on his bed. You pretended to be unbothered, flipping randomly through your textbook, but none of the words made any sense. You mumbled under your breath, “”You’re pretty good at lovey-dovey stuff.”
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thefanficmonster · 3 years
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Matured
Corpse Husband & Little Sister Reader (Female)
Warnings: Swearing
Genre: Sibling Fluff, Humor, RPF (Real Person Fic)
Summary: Corpse’s search for a roommate ends shortly after his little sister calls him, telling him she’s moving out of her high school dorm in the suburbs following her graduation to attend college in San Francisco.
Requested by @bugger2002  Hi darling! Thank you so much for this adorable request, I had such a fun time turning it into a fic! Sorry it has taken me so long to complete it but here it finally is and I hope you enjoy the read! Love, Vy ❤
Alright, it’s been a month since Y/N announced she’d be moving in with me - no, she didn’t ask if she could nor if I’d want her to, she straight up casually informed me she’d be moving in with me since she’s starting college. I’m lucky she even thought to tell me, knowing her it wouldn’t have been so strange for her to just show up on my doorstep with a grin like “Alright, I live here now.” Having a six years younger sister who can act both younger and older than me - sometimes both at the same time - is a bit complex. Obviously, my protective and nurturing brotherly instinct kicks in whenever she complains to me about something, but seconds later she tells me she’s taken care of it already and I feel like a fool for overreacting even if it was only internal. She’s calm and rational when she needs to be and a reckless airhead whose only goal is to have fun when she wants to be.
And judging by her and her friends’ main methods of obtaining said fun I can see how much alike we are: playing drunk video games, drunk darts, drunk pool. You see, there’s a lot of drinking involved and that’s something I’m greatly unhappy with and have scolded her on countless times just to get a fake promise, probably with fingers crossed behind her back - that she’ll cut down the alcohol. Not to mention she’s not even old enough to drink so I’ve been very insistent on her cutting her bad habit. She’s tried calling me hypocritical at times but she can’t do so rightfully since I’m, you know, of drinking age. So she’s basically bound by law to follow my advice and orders.
At least now that she’ll be staying with me I’ll be able to keep a better eye on her. A rascal high school student will either mature-up in college or go even more downhill. I aim to make her fall in the first category, but I’m making no promises - she’s very unruly, just like me. Damn, never did I think my own traits would come hitting me in the back of the head like a boomerang but here we are.
Regardless of all the crap I’ve just spewed about her, she’s a wonderful girl. She’s always been my pillar of support and never gets tired of it. She never misses a call of mine and has never not replied to a message of mine, no matter how drunk she’s been. She’s never skipped a Saturday night Skype call, no matter how busy she’s been. She’s never let herself forget she has a brother who often times needs her by his side.
Once she even talked one of her friends who has a car and a driver’s license drive her all the way to my apartment complex when I was having a really bad anxiety attack and legit couldn’t talk on the phone. She went door to door to find which apartment I live in and stayed with me the whole weekend she was supposed to spend at a music festival or something. It’s not wonder she’ll be a med student - she’s always wanted to be a nurse and has practically been my personal nurse since she was twelve. She maybe wasn’t always physically present to help me, but she’s a great instruction giver for when I need her and she’s unable to come to my aid.
Well now, we’ll both be there to aid one another.
“BEEP BEEP FUCKER!“
I nearly flip off my chair at the distinct yelling coming from directly below my window. I’d recognize that voice anywhere, and it’d always bring a smile to my face without fail.
I rush to get up from my desk chair and open the window but when I do so, she’s no longer on the sidewalk. There’s only a car I recognize to be the one of the friend that drove her here during that nightmarish episode I explained earlier.
Before I can ever back away from the window, I hear my front door swing open and a yell echo from down the hall, “Corpse! How many times do I need to tell you to lock your door, damn it!”
“The same amount of times I’ve had to tell you to cut down on the al- WHOA!“ She doesn’t let me finish the sentence and jumps me the second I step out in the hallway.
“Missed you, stupid!“ She says, her legs wrapped around my waist as she ruffles my hair, “I’ll trim your hair later. Why have you let it get so long?“ She questions, furrowing her brows at me while running both her hands through my mess of a hair - she has a point, I’ve let it get out of control. While doing so, she seems to get an idea all of a sudden so she quickly climbs down, reminding me of the huge height difference we have now that her feet are on the floor. “I know you two have met before, but I think you need to re-meet...“ she says, turning to look at her friend who’s smiling timidly at her. She sends the flustered girl a wink before turning back to look at me, “Corpse, I’d like you to meet Abbey, my girlfriend“ she says proudly, skipping over to the blue haired girl and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Y/N pushes up on her tiptoes and places a kiss on her girlfriend’s cheek. It’s adorable to see her shorter than yet another person she clearly adores to annoy.
I smile at the two girls, holding back a chuckle as to not embarrass Abbey more, “Well then, nice to meet you Abbey. You should know you are one strong soul to be putting up with all that.“ I purposely don’t look at Y/N as I motion towards her, earning me a pissed off “Hey!“ as a response to my remark, “Stick around for dinner, don’t worry neither of us will be cooking.“ I point at myself and then at Y/N as if to reassure her she won’t be a victim of food poisoning.
“Actually...“ Abbey says, tilting her head to look my shortie sister in the eyes as if taunting her to say something.
She finally caves, raising her left hand as though she’s volunteering, “Ugh fine, I may or may not have taken a cooking course and may or may not know how to cook a decent meal. It’s whatever, really.”
To say I’m impressed would be an understatement. I’m impressed, shocked, surprised and flooded with joy that my sister has finally decided to start maturing. “Cooking course, huh? When did you decide living off of takeout isn’t a nice way to live?”
She rolls her eyes at me, “Oh no I still go full weeks with only takeout and cereal, I just needed a distraction because...well...” she trails off, her gaze dropping awkwardly as she fishes for words or perhaps already has them found but doesn’t want to spit them out.
Abbey huffs, taking Y/N’s hand and lifting it to show off her wrist where I catch sight of a batch of colorful handmade bracelets, “Because these aren’t gonna earn themselves.”
I raise an eyebrow, puzzled as to what exactly she’s referring to.
Y/N sighs, taking one of the bracelets, playing with it nervously, “I have one for every month I’ve spent without getting drunk - Abbey made them for me. I need a distraction to stay sober so...I took up cooking.“
I can’t remember a moment I haven’t felt proud of my sister. Y/N’s always been on top of her shit, drunk or sober she knows what she’s doing. She’s mindful even when she’s reckless, thinks soberly even when she’s been drinking heavily. She’s always proved herself to me and to the people who think of her as a lowlife without even trying. She lets the world breeze by her without thinking too much of it and yet she still mesmerizes me and many of the people she meets - Abbey has now officially joined the club.
But, all things said and considered, I think I’ve never felt as proud of her as I do right now, seeing those six bracelets on her wrist - half a year without getting drunk. I know she wouldn’t lie to Abbey, she rarely lies to me too, so those bracelets have been earned and well-deserved and that makes me feel like the Y/N I remember is not the one standing in front of me right now. That silly girl is still in the suburbs, making a shitty-ass choice of messing up her liver. A grown woman, a responsible adult has taken her place though, and I couldn’t be more glad.
“Y/N...“ I finally manage to utter her name, making her gaze meet mine, “I’m so fucking proud of you.“
A smile slowly stretches the corners of her mouth upwards, her eyes shning in a way that has nothing to do with the lighting in this hallway. She’s not a crier though, I know those tears are gonna stay right there, stubbornly refusing to escape her eyes, “Thanks, Corpse. I’m proud of you too....” she says, nodding her head slowly, “I can overlook the untrimmed hair.”
Sigh
Y/N will always be Y/N no matter what I guess. That’s a good thing - I love her just the way she is.
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flyingflosser09 · 2 years
Text
Cursed / Armando Salazar x OC / Chapter 13
Chapter 12: https://flyingflosser09.tumblr.com/post/672713930116923392/cursed-armando-salazar-x-oc-chapter-12
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I step back to admire my handiwork.
The once charred and broken bed in the Great cabin now has a new mattress, the one that used to be in the pirate captain’s cabin, to be precise. It has sheets, blankets, pillows, and everything. Although they smell of rum and pipe smoke, I’m looking forward to sleeping on something soft for once and not waking up cold and sore.
To add some character to the cabin, a hammock hangs from the ceiling which I thought is perfect for reading or just relaxing in after another thrilling training session with Magda. I’ve never had a hammock before, so this is by far the best thing in the room.
To list the other things I found on the pirate ship, there are another ten large barrels of rum, fortunately, some barrels of water, fresh fruit and vegetables, and… actual food that aren’t wet or moldy or suspicious. For a bunch of pirates, they certainly know how to dine in style. It makes me wonder how they came to acquire all this food. Bread, cheese - the dry kind - chicken, beef, sausages, jams, milk, cream, biscuits, and even some tiny cakes with cherries on top.
This will last me for weeks and considering how cold it already is here in the Triangle, I’d say it will probably stay fresh longer than it would have on the pirate ship.
But food isn’t the only thing I found.
There were books - dry ones - stashed underneath the captain’s bed. It doesn’t seem as if he read any of them, more like he stole them because he can and then kicked them underneath his bed afterward. There are books on astrology, books on history, books about countries all over the world, books with myths and legends, books about poetry, and books about true love. I cannot wait to read them, all of them.
Besides the books, there were more dresses hidden in a drawer of the captain’s room - no doubt stolen, of course. Some are fancy, others are modest, and I certainly found two in my size that fit each category. The modest one looks much like the one I’m currently wearing, except it’s a light beige color with a leather corset with floral shapes carved into it. The fancy one is a dark blue color, so dark it almost appears black. The riffles at the bottom of the sleeves are the same shade as seafoam, and the skirt is adorned with sewn-in white beads that remind me of pearls.
I’m slowly starting to wonder if the pirates got all of this from a merchant’s ship perhaps.
However, keeping my training with Magda in mind and recalling all the times this dress caused me to slip and fall, I had to find an alternative attire for those lessons. And that’s when I came upon the dead pirate. He was slightly on the short and scrawny side, not nearly as brutish as his crewmates, and he wore a pair of leather trousers and a loose white shirt. Luckily, nothing was blood stained and I deemed the outfit suitable for sword practice.
And let’s not forget the boots - I found boots that fit! Adiós, heels and aching feet!
My admiring of the new objects gets interrupted once three knocks sound at the door. Knowing that thumping is the Capitán’s signal, I cross the room to answer the door myself.
“Lesaro,” my mood brightens even more, “this is a surprise. Please, come in.” Only when he steps past me, do I notice the bucket of salt water in his hand, “And this?”
“As ordered by the Capitán, señorita,” he says and places the bucket on the table, “He said it’s for the cut on your neck. May I see it perhaps?”
“Oh…” By now, it shouldn’t come as a surprise when a bucket of water is delivered to the cabin for me to heal myself with. However, usually, it’s Magda who sends it. Hearing that the Capitán ordered it this time, I dare to say made my heart beat slightly faster. Remembering his question, I say, “Oh, yes, of course.”
Tilting my head back, I show him the fine cut across my throat. It stopped bleeding while I was looting the pirate ship, but the slightest neck movement would remind me of its presence in the form of a sharp, uncomfortable burn.
Lesaro emits a breath and looks away, “If that was a fraction deeper and if water could not save you, Samira, you’d be lost to us now.”
“You think I don’t know that?” I tell him softly, “I’ve tried ending my own life so many times now, I lost count. But when I find my life in the hands of another, I start to realize how precious every breath I take is. I don’t want to die and yet, it is always the only way I can think of to escape this curse.”
“For what it’s worth,” he says after a moment, “none of us think of you as cursed. To us, you are a blessing.”
With that, Lesaro turns and exits the cabin, leaving me to mull those words over in my head.
No one has ever referred to me and what I can do as a blessing before, not even Henry. Yes, he is amazed by my abilities and Elizabeth has gone out of her way to keep me safe and hidden from the outside world, but neither of them ever called it that - a blessing. I think to them it has always been another curse like Henry’s father’s, something that needs to be broken for me to be happy. They were sympathetic towards it if anything.
With my raging thoughts, I approach the bucket and scoop some water into my hand before splashing it against my neck. Shortly afterward, I start to feel the familiar itch that indicates the wound is closing and healing. It’s always worse on the neck, though, and I find it hard not to scratch.
Once the healing is complete, the front of my dress is soaked and stained light pink due to the diluted blood. At last, my modest blue dress has served its purpose and can now be deemed unfit to wear. There is no way I’d be able to scrub out those stains by just using saltwater. But I’ll keep the dress for a spare, anyway.
It so happens that, as I grab the beige dress with the leather corset to get changed, a few knocks sound at the door.
“Come in!” I call and fling the dress over my makeshift dressing screen. The door opens and a moment later, a set of heavy footsteps enters the cabin. I’d recognize those steps anywhere. “To what do I owe the pleasure of being visited by the Capitán himself?”
He huffs at my flattery and stops in the middle of the room, “The crew worries about you. I thought I’d see if you are well to give them some peace of mind.”
“So,” my voice trails off as I take a few steps towards him so we are facing each other, “is it just the crew who is worried?”
A dry laugh escapes his blueish lips. Instead of answering, he reaches up and tilts my head to the side, inspecting the now healed skin where the pirate’s sword cut me. I want to shiver when his thumb traces the thin white scar that is bound to be gone in an hour.
“Does it still hurt?”
With his gentleness rendering me speechless, all I can do is shake my head. What is it with him and this effect he has on me?
Forcing myself to think, I say, “Thank you for the water. Lesaro mentioned that you sent it.”
“Oh, he mentioned it?” He scoffs as if that was a strictly confidential discussion he had with his Lieutenant, who all but blurted it out, “Did he mention anything else?”
Should I reveal to him what Lesaro told me? What if he doesn’t share the same opinion? As safe as I feel with the Capitán, the last thing I want to do is push my boundaries and make him close up again.
But something tells me we’ve established trust between us - perhaps because he finally doesn’t see me as a witch anymore. Or perhaps because he saved me from that pirate. Or perhaps it’s the blue ribbon that is still tied to the hilt of his rapier. I want to smile as I notice the latter, feeling flattered that he kept it.
I’m going to go with my instincts and just tell him.
“Am I truly a blessing to the crew?”
Although it has been the talk around the ship for some time now, her question still catches him off guard. And it’s not as if he doesn’t know how to answer it, but he doubts he is the right person to do so.
Only a week ago, he accused her of magic, thus proving what he really thought of her. And a few days after that, he began seeing her for who and what she really is. Lesaro has a point, she cannot lift their curse fully, but she makes them forget about it for a short while.
He feels he isn’t worthy of answering her question, that it would make him feel like a hypocrite for believing her a witch last week, only to believe otherwise now. But how can he deny her that answer when she’s looking at him like that? With eyes as deep as the ocean, swirling with mysteries and danger?
Here goes nothing.
How is he supposed to say this?
Deciding to just go with his long-dead instincts, Armando finally says, “You were right about us being good men once. All we ever wanted was to serve the king and cleanse the ocean of pirates - it was our only purpose and the curse took that from us.” His voice softens as he continues, “But then came you and, all of a sudden, Lesaro can feel the wind, Santos engages in conversation, and Magda…” he shrugs and she understands what he means. Magda went back to being Magda.
“Are you implying that my presence is lifting the curse?” She whispers, astonished at the assumption.
“Not lifting the curse, no, but it is restoring my men’s sense of purpose. We believe that is what makes us feel.”
Her eyes glaze over as she ponders that possibility. Salazar seizes that moment to admire her face in the golden light of the lantern, how it makes her eyes stand out and gives her skin an ethereal glow. Now she reminds him of the ocean at sunset, when the sun touches the horizon and drowns the waves in gold.
And that’s when it dawns upon him that she is utterly and profoundly breathtaking inside and out. That’s what keeps him drawn to her, the mysteries she keeps hidden within her soul and the thrill of diving deep enough to learn all her secrets and desires. He wants to know what makes her happy, he wants to know what causes her pain, he wants to know what keeps her awake at night, and he wants to know what she thinks off when she falls quiet…
She represents the ocean in its purest form and he’s sailed right into the current that draws him to her.
“And you, Capitán?” Her voice pulls him back to the present, “What purpose do I restore in you?”
If only he can name just one…
Suppressing the urge to cup her face in one hand and running his thumb over her skin, he finally settles on an answer, “To be a good man once more.”
His dead heart wants to break free of its cage when her face lights up in a soft smile that he likes to believe she reserves only for him. But what nearly brings him to his knees is when she reaches up to place her hand on his cheek.
Of course, his first instinct would be to flinch away, remembering that his face is littered with cracks and signs of their curse. But the instant warmth he feels when her skin touches his renders him incapable of any movement. With little to no resolve left - and much to his inner horror - he leans into her touch, emitting a longing breath at the feeling of her thumb tracing over the cracks in his cheek.
“You are a good man, Capitán,” she whispers.
“Armando,” he says before he can stop himself. Hearing his own name fall from his lips sounds foreign, he hasn’t used it in years. But he wants her to know it, he wants to hear her call him by the name that has been forgotten along with the crew of the Silent Mary. “Call me Armando.”
“Armando,” his name falls from her lips like a siren’s song. Then, out of the blue, she turns around and sends him a smile over her shoulder, “Would you be so kind to undo my lacing again? I would do it myself, but you, Armando, just happens to be here.”
Despite his frightening appearance, despite the cracks on his face, and despite the black liquid pooling at the corners of his mouth, he breathes a laugh - and genuine laugh - and takes the final step towards her.
A/N:And that's how far I've come, it seems. Let me know if it's any good and if I should continue it sometime :)
xoxo
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babymetaldoll · 3 years
Text
Character development (Matthew Gray Gubler / Reader)
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Not my gif
A/N: I don't know if any of you haven't seen or doesn't know what happens with Spencer in Season 8, but anyway: HUGE SPOILERS ALERT OF SEASON 8 of CRIMINAL MINDS.
Requested: Yes. "Hi! I was wondering if you could do a Matthew/reader one where the reader is watching criminal minds, and Maeve just died, and the reader is sad and finds out Matthew suggested that Maeve's character got killed off, and Matthew makes it up to her."
Summary: Gubler reaches home and finds a very depressed girlfriend waiting for him to talk about the bad things that had just happened to Spencer in that week's episode of Criminal Minds.
Category: Fluff
Warnings: Well, spoilers of season 8 of CM, I think a curse or two, and that's it.
Wordcount: 1,6 K
Masterlist
.
The whole house was in silence when Matthew walked in. That was weird. Since he and his girlfriend (Y/N) moved in together, he was greeted with laughter, music, hugs, and kisses every time he got home.
But not that day. Silence and darkness in the whole house were all that welcomed Matthew.
- "Bunny?"- he asked, frowning confused- "Are you home?"
But nothing. Only silence.
Matthew walked around the house. It was so quiet it was creepy.
- "(Y/N)?"
- "In here"- her voice was small, and it took Matthew a minute to find her, curled up on a couch. The tv screen was the only light in the whole room.
- "Hey, Bunny"- Gubler sat next to her and kissed her lips sweetly- "Are you ok?"
- "Yeah,"- she whispered and cut him the worst smile ever- "Did you have fun with your friends today?"
- "Yeah, we had dinner, watched a movie. It was fun. What did you do?"- Gubler knew there was something wrong with his girlfriend, and he wasn't going to let it pass.
- "Nothing. I just watched tv."
- "And did something happen today at work?"- but (Y/N) shook her head- "Then why are you so sad? Your eyes are puffy, Bunny. What is it?"
- "It's honestly nothing. I just..."- (Y/N) turned off the tv and sighed- "I watched today's episode of Criminal Minds."
- "Oh..."- Matthew thought about it for a second until it finally hit him.
That week's episode was "Zugzwang," and he knew it would be a rough one for everybody. It had actually been hard to film. Reid's girlfriend would die right in front of him, and Matthew knew (Y/N) wasn't going to take that episode very well. Ok, no one would, but she really wanted Spencer to have a girlfriend, finally.
- "Oh... so, what did you think?"- (Y/N) looked at him and almost rolled her eyes.
- "Look at me, I've been crying for an hour,"- Gubler chuckled and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, cuddling her.
- "Come on, Bunny. It's just a tv show."
- "I know, but can you explain why Maeve had to die? why can't Spencie be happy?"
- "Why do you call him Spencie?"- Gubler frowned and looked at her confused, but she dismissed his question and pouted instead.
- "Honey, why did they decide to kill Maeve? Why didn't you argue against that stupid decision? Reid needs a girlfriend."
Matthew opened his mouth and was about to answer when he thought that might not be a real good idea. You see, it had been Matthew who suggested Maeve had to die in the most tragic way possible to make the storyline work.
At the time, it made sense for Gubler, but now, watching how his girlfriend had cried watching the episode, he wondered if they had maybe done it a little too sad.
- "Bunny, it's just a tv show. You know that right?"- he whispered and kissed her hands. (Y/N) nodded in silence and just stared at the empty space for a moment.
She knew it was just a tv show, and she understood it was stupid to be so profoundly affected by it. Still, at the same time, it was impossible not to feel moved by it, especially after watching Matthew impersonating Spencer crying with such sadness. It broke her soul. Literally, she felt something inside of her shattering as she watched him on the screen, sobbing. That was when she started crying along with Spencer.
- "I know it's silly but, though I know it's a tv show, and I know none of that is real, it still kind of hurt"- (Y/N) tried to explain- "Imagine any of that happened to us..."
- "Bunny, that won't happen to us. No one is going to kidnap us or hurt us, ok?"- Matthew smiled and kissed her hands one more time. (Y/N) nodded and sighed.
- "I'm sorry, I know it's silly being this upset over something that ain't even real."
- "No, Bunny. I think it's cute"- Matthew was sincere, but (Y/N) felt pretty silly. She had spent the last hour and a half of her life crying over the death of a fictional character.
- "Just let's make sure I get over this impasse before I visit you on the set, 'cos I don't think I will be able to be cool around the writers of the show after this episode."
- "About that,"- Matthew bit his lips and decided to face the truth once for all- "Maeve's death might have been..."- but (Y/N)'s wide-opened eyes didn't let him finish talking. He just stared at her and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear carefully.
- "Might have been what?"
- "My... idea."- Gubler murmured and looked at her, trying to read her reaction.
- "I'm sorry, what?!"- (Y/N) didn't move. She just stayed still, staring at Gubler, trying to understand what he had just said.
- "Ok, so don't get mad at me, but I only agreed to get on board on Spencer having a girlfriend if she died the most tragic way possible."
There was a deep and long silence between them after Gubler said those words. It was like (Y/N) couldn't believe what she had just heard, and Matthew tried to smile in a useless effort to ease the mood.
- "Why did you do that?"- (Y/N) finally whispered and tried to understand what her boyfriend was talking about.
- "Well, it was for character development. Reid's story is overall tragic, and his relationship with his girlfriend wasn't what we could call normal, right?"
(Y/N) stared at him, speechless. Reid was a fictional character portrayed by her boyfriend, but somehow he had become a beloved imaginary being they actually talked about.
- "What did Reid ever do to you? Why did he deserve this?"- (Y/N)'s voice was a whisper, and Gubler just stared at her. He wanted to kiss her cheeks and tickle her, to make her smile, 'cos he thought it was adorable how she reacted to the episode.
- "It just makes sense for the story"- Matthew leaned in and gave her a peck on the tip of the nose- "I'm sorry you got so sad. Was it my incredible acting that made it all so believable?"- he joked and kissed her cheek several times.
- "You looked miserable, Gub"- she whispered, still upset- "You were so convincing I cried along with you at the end."
- "I'm glad"- he stopped kissing her and looked t her, narrowing his eyes- "Not glad that you cried, I'm just glad you were convinced... I think"
- "It was a good episode, Gubler."
(Y/N) sighed and looked at him, still pouting. Matthew kissed her slowly, rubbing his lips against her and moving his tongue carefully, tasting her. He felt how her body relaxed at his touch and held her closer to him. When the kiss was over, and she had sighed, resting her forehead against his, Matthew whispered.
- "It's only a good episode for me if you like it, Bunny."
- "Yeah, well, I have the feeling you are gonna have to make it up to me for making me cry"- the way (Y/N) spoke made her sound like a spoiled kid, which she actually was around Gubler. He would always coddle her in every way possible.
- "Make it up to you how, Bunny?"- Matthew murmured in a lower voice, still holding her so close in his arms, she was now sitting on his lap.
- "I don't know... you can do stuff."
- "Stuff?"- Gubler repeated and kissed her again- "Stuff like what? I need more info"- (Y/N) giggled and hid her face on the crook of Matthew's neck, inhaling deeply.
- "I haven't had dinner yet."
- "What does my Bunny want to eat?"- Gubler replied in a second, running his hand up and down her back- "Pizza? Chinese? Thai? you love Thai food."
- "Gubler. I wanna eat Gubler,"- she whispered, biting his shoulder playfully, making him laugh.
- "You can't eat Gubler!"
- "Why not?! He's delicious!"- (Y/N) kissed Matthew's neck and licked it until a soft groan left his lips.
- "Don't start things you won't finish, Bunny"- she heard him saying, as his lips crushed against hers with lust.
Sometimes Matthew could manage to step from sweet, cute boyfriend to hungry, dominant animal in a second. (Y/N) never told him, but it was one of the many things she loved about him.
Matthew's hand roamed from her back to underneath her shirt in a second, unclasping her bra in a blink. (Y/N) could feel how he was getting hard underneath her legs and the urge in his lips. And it was just what she wanted.
- "Maybe you are right"- she whispered and ended their kiss- "Pizza would be better."
- "Really?"- Matthew looked at her with widened eyes, and (Y/N) couldn't help but giggle- "Why are you teasing me like this?"
- "It just makes sense for the story. It's for character development"- she answered, mocking his earlier answer about Criminal Minds. Gubler groaned, letting her go, just to look at her pleased smile.
- "You are really gonna make me pay for what happened to Maeve and Spencer, aren't you?"- and (Y/N) just nodded- "If it makes you feel better, I really felt miserable the day we shoot that scene."
- "I'm sure you did. And I felt miserable watching you being miserable."
- "It's the circle of life, Bunny"- Matthew leaned in and kissed her- "We should do something to feel better now."
Gubler winked at (Y/N), and she giggled. His hands reached for her hips and moved underneath her shirt again, playing with her skin.
- "You may be right about that, but dinner first."
- "Are you gonna eat Gubler?"- he asked her, biting his lips, looking incredibly hot.
- "Pizza for dinner"- she teased and kissed him for a second- "Gubler for dessert."
****
Taglist: 
@all-tings-diego​
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calpalirwin · 3 years
Text
Happiness in Misery
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Summary: Amidst the torture that is the Winter Soldier program, Bucky finds solace in another recruit’s company.
Word Count: 6.1k
A/N: Everybody say thank you to @jessalyn-jpeg​ for beta-reading/crying over this with me
And away, and away we go!
__
A light clunked on loudly overhead, so bright I had to squint in order to see anything at all. “New recruits to train. C’mon,” was the gruff instruction, followed by the sound of metal clicking and the door of my cell swinging open. “Now!”
Silently I followed the guard through the corridors, knowing better than to ask any questions. Instead I wondered what type of recruits they had gathered this time. And whether or not any of them would survive the process. Useless wondering as I already knew the answer. The recruits were going to be a ragtag round up of hopeful prospects: people who put up a fight when being captured. And they might pass today’s training, but the serum would kill roughly half. And the others would die eventually when they proved to be noncompliant and dangerous. Leaving me to train a new batch of recruits, and the cycle would spin on. Exhausting work, but my compliance meant I lived another day. And I’d survived too much to die in captivity.
The large gymnasium training area had about twenty hopefuls lined up along the back wall, guards scattered strategically throughout the room. But it wasn’t the guards I gave my attention to. Some of the recruitments had more fear in their eyes, some with more fire, but all with the identical cold expression. All but one. A young woman at the end of the line had her lips pulled back in a snarl. The fire in her eyes burned brightly as we locked stares, a low rumble in her throat. Her stature felt too small to bear the weight of such intimidation she was projecting, but I liked it all the same. She reminded me of someone I felt I had known before: a small man with an unwillingness to give up. The details were blurry, and I wasn’t sure if the memory was even real. But it gave me hope nonetheless. Hope that almost caused me to smile at her.
I took up my mark in the middle of the room, standing at attention, waiting for the order to be given. Twenty versus one? This would be a breeze.
A whistle blew, but nobody moved, the twenty people looking around in confusion. “Fight!” came the verbal order.
With hesitance, a few people walked my way, fists raised. Punches thrown half-heartedly were easily blocked as I stayed on the defensive. Only defend until they get the serum. You can take the blows, they can’t, and if you accidentally kill another potential… I suppressed the shiver, refusing to let myself go down that path.
Punches and kicks came with less hesitance. Stronger as the expectation of what to do settled in their minds. Grunts of effort filled the room, along with the occasional scream of agony as a fist collided with metal instead of flesh.
I blocked, ducked, and dodged, receiving a couple of well-placed hits, but I stayed on my feet, my body barely moving from my original mark.
Five minutes ticked by, then ten, each prolonged minute resulting in more recruits sitting down in exhaustion. As fifteen minutes neared, three people were still trying to fight me. But they were getting wiser about it. They started working as a team.
Two of them advanced. The distraction. I defended the advances, scanning around for the third, knowing they were coming but unable to locate them as the other two kept giving me their all. Then, something, or rather someone, came crashing full force into my side, my feet squeaking against the wooden floor at the unexpected hit.
I thought that was it. The one sneak attack just outside of my peripheral. But no. Again, the body slammed into me, the ear-piercing squeak from my boots sliding on the wood emitting around the room again. Then a third attempt that finally knocked me unsteady.
My hand flew out to break my fall, but the body came at me again, full on tackling me to the ground. And because flinging them off, even in defense, would result in trouble for me, I had no choice but to let it happen.
My back hit the ground, the person landing on top of my chest. With a yell, they started hailing punches down on me, their knees driving into my sides. I raised my arms over my face, and tucked my legs, rolling out from under them.
They fell off of me in a huff, and I knew they weren’t ready to give up. Unfortunately for them, I was the quicker one to my feet. Gently, I pressed one of my boots on their chest, getting a good look at the opponent who’d managed to do what many have failed to do. The young woman, her snarl still in place, the growl still in her throat.
She gripped my ankle, trying to push my foot off her. When that didn’t work, she switched to hitting my foot as hard as she could, yelling all the while.
In a simple, but swift motion, I lifted my foot off of her, then pulled her up by the front of her shirt, setting her on her feet. I flickered my gaze over to a guard who nodded, before blowing a whistle.
Knowing they didn’t care for, need, or want my input, I turned to head back to my cell, certain I would see the young woman again very soon.
~~~
“Do you talk at all?” a voice asked me as a tray slammed down across the table from me.
I raised my eyebrows in silent question as the young woman from earlier sat down across from me, fork poised over her dinner as she studied me. Waiting for an answer I never gave.
Each of us took a bite of food, chewing while we studied the other. “Well?” she asked with an impatient eye roll. “Do you not speak English? Hello?” She waved a hand in front of my face. “Earth to Robot Arm. Anyone home?”
“It’s James,” I stated, flatly.
Her eyes flashed in delight. “He speaks!” she marveled. “So… what’s the deal with this place?”
“That’s confidential. You’ll learn on a need to know basis. If you’re lucky.”
“If I’m lucky? Uh-oh. Don’t like the sound of that…”
“Just do as you’re told.”
“Mmm… Is that what you were doing earlier by not fighting back? Doing as you were told?”
“You don’t want to fight me.”
“You don’t know what I want.”
“Yes, I do. You want to survive. And I’m telling you the best way to do that is to follow orders, and keep your mouth shut!” My words were harsh, but I needed her to understand. And I feared I’d already said more than I was ever supposed to.
~~~
The screams of those deemed worthy of moving on to Phase Two sounded through the halls the next morning. Tortured screams of agony as the serum changed them on a molecular level, setting every nerve ending on fire. Panicked screams as it took with some, and wiped out others, no one sure of which category they fell into until it was too late. The burning was otherworldly, but from experience, you wanted the burn. The burn meant you were alive. A test of survival in the cruelest of manners.
The screams lasted all day. The cafeteria held faces covered in haunted exhaustion or sheer terror of the fate that still awaited some. In their faces, I scanned for hers, feeling my heart drop when I couldn’t find her.
“You could have warned me,” her voice said, heavy with exhaustion as she joined me across the table.
I let out my breath in a sigh of relief. “How are you feeling?”
“A lot better than them, that’s for sure,” she said, raising a finger to gesture at the screams still echoing throughout the compound.
I nodded, keeping my thought of how she looked better too to myself. She now had a fighter’s body to match her fighter’s spirit, no longer the fragile thing she’d been yesterday.
“You don’t say a lot do you, James?”
“No.”
“Woooow,” she deadpanned.
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not sure what your deal is, but I’m not the person you want to make friends with. In fact, I’m about to become your worst nightmare.”
She waved her hands sarcastically. “Oooo, I’m so scared, James. What makes you think I want to be friends with someone who hasn’t even asked me my name yet anyways?”
“It’s not important.”
“Riddle me this. How is it important for you to go out of your way to look for me, and be relieved that I seem to be okay, but that importance doesn’t cross over into knowing my name?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but she cut me off.
“And don’t bother with some line about how you weren’t looking for me, or care if I’m okay, because we both know that’s a lie. We don’t know each other all that well, but I know damn well that you aren’t asking the others if they’re okay, or looking around worriedly for them. So what gives, James?”
“I care because you’re proving you have what it takes to survive. But learning your name, or anything about you for that matter, is a useless waste of time because unless you listen to what I told you about following orders and keeping your mouth shut, you won’t survive.”
“And why do you care if I survive, or not?”
“Because you remind me of something I think I used to know.”
“Did that person survive? Or am I your sick attempt at a second chance?”
“I don’t know. I don’t even know if he was real, or if I made him up.”
“Damn, that’s dark…”
I shrugged. “Just try not to hate me too much when I get my revenge for you knocking me on my ass the other day.”
Her eyes sparkled playfully. “Oh really? You gonna fight back this time?”
“I’m allowed to now.”
~~~
It took a few days for her to learn what I meant. Phase Three happened at a slower pace. Instead of a group fight where I couldn’t do much besides play defensive, Phase Three meant individual hand-to-hand combat. And I wasn’t allowed to hold back.
For them to run their proper tests, and to make sure I was always in top form, Phase Three was spread out over a week, with a fight occurring once a day. But, I knew well enough now that if Phase Three was only a week, it meant that only seven had survived the serum of Phase Two.
I fought her on day four.
Much like the first day, she had a snarl on her lips and fire in her eyes. And she wasted no time in figuring out her newfound strength as she attacked.
Her blows landed harder and with more accuracy as I blocked, waiting for the break I knew was coming to launch my own offensive against her.
My first swing connected with her stomach, and when she hunched, I hit her in the jaw, taking a small pleasure in the way her eyes widened in surprise.
Back and forth we went in a choreographed dance of exchanging hits, the serum putting her on an even playing field with me. And while I had more training, she still had that unwillingness to quit, making us more even-matched than most recruits I’d fought with.
With no one yielding, the guards ordered us apart after a half hour, both of us bloody and bruised, but still with more than enough energy and sheer willpower to keep going.
“If it wasn’t for your fancy arm, I would’ve had you,” she tried to joke later at dinner.
“No you wouldn’t have,” I smirked. “You’re gonna need a lot more training to take me down.”
“I’ve done it once, I can do it again.”
“It took you four tries, and two other people distracting me. And I wasn’t allowed to fight back,” I reminded her. “So keep gloating over that victory, cuz it’s the only one you’re gonna get with me.”
“That’s what you think. But, I think it’s time you learned the name of the girl who’s gonna take you down.”
My eyes went wide. “No, don’t!” I rushed to stop her.
“Y/N,” she said anyway.
“God damn you…”
“Oh, relax. I know your name. What’s the big deal?”
“If you have to ask, then you haven’t been paying attention.”
~~~
Names, along with any personal details, meant attachments. Attachments meant caring. And caring meant getting hurt. And as much as being alone sucked, getting hurt sucked a lot more. Physical pain I was growing accustomed to. But emotional pain? A risk I avoided at all costs.
Thankfully, stubborn streak aside, Y/N appeared to take my advice to heart. When the remaining six of her recruitment class started dropping, I knew she had her suspicions that she wanted to talk with me about. But she didn’t voice them until the evening she walked into the cafeteria and it was just her and me.
“What the hell is this place, James?” she asked me in a whisper. “And I swear if you tell me that’s confidential information, I will bash your head into the table until I see brain matter.”
I snorted at her threat as I glanced around. “The name changes depending on who you ask. The Super Soldier Project. The Winter Soldier Program. The Americans called it Operation Rebirth.”
“Operation Rebirth? That’s what made that Captain America guy. Are you saying we’re him?”
“Yes, and no. America had their version. And Hydra has theirs.”
“Who’s Hydra?”
“We are.”
“And the serum?”
“Made you a super soldier. And Hydra’s going to either make you the perfect obedient soldier. Or they’ll get rid of you.”
“Is that what happened to everyone else? They got…” She slid her thumb across her throat.
I nodded. “If the serum doesn’t kill you, Hydra will.”
“Hasn’t killed you,” she pointed out.
“That’s because I play by their rules.”
“So that’s why.”
“Why what?”
“Why you don’t talk much. And why you’re short with me when you do. It’s a defense mechanism. A useful one, but a defense mechanism all the same.”
“Congratulations, you cracked the code,” I deadpanned, before reaching for the cookie on my tray and handing it to her, “Wanna cookie for being so smart?”
“How about you teach me how to become one of the survivors like you instead?” she asked, taking the small dessert from me anyway.
~~~
Although missions and training were tense under Hydra’s zero tolerance for error expectations, having Y/N around almost made it bearable. Something about misery loving company.
Under Hydra’s eye we became the perfect unit. The compliant assassins. And after the exceptionally tough days, it was nice to have someone to seek comfort in. Gentle reassurances that we’d survive after nightmares plagued our sleep, or after we helped bandage up each other’s wounds in the infirmary after a mission mishap.
Knowing that we weren’t alone in our hellish existence was enough to keep us from going completely mad.
Right up until a mission went wrong. Or maybe it went right.
Y/N was fighting with a red-haired woman, my own focus fully locked on the blonde man with the shield that he kept trying to hurl at my face. A wild swing sent my mask scattering to the ground and when I locked gazes with the man, he paused. Confusion and concern replaced the fighting exertion previously painted on his face. His eyebrows furrowed together. “Bucky?” he asked slowly.
“Who the hell is Bucky?” I asked in equal confusion. Memories of a blonde man similar to the one in front of me flashed through my head in a rapid succession. Memories I never knew were real or not. But as I stared at the man and he continued to stare at me, part of me wondered if maybe the memories were real. More than that, I wanted them to be real. Or at least, I think I wanted them to be real.
An explosion went off, and someone was tugging me forcefully away as the man ducked for cover. “James!” Y/N hissed in my ear as we made a break for it. “What the hell was that?!”
“I- I don’t know,” I told her. “I-I think I know him. Knew him.”
“Well you better forget real fast,” she said, her voice a low warning.
“I know…” I replied, internally wincing at what I knew was coming for having hesitation during a mission.
~~~
I wasn’t sure which was worse. My own painful interrogation session, or listening to hers across the hall, her screams of “No! I don’t know anything! I swear!” filled with more terror than I ever knew a scream could hold.
Leave her alone! I wanted to scream at them. She’s telling the truth! It’s me! It’s my fault! But all I could do was answer their questions as vaguely as I could. I don’t know how the man recognized me. I don’t know if I know him. I was just following orders, I don’t know what happened, but it won’t happen again. I won’t hesitate, they could trust me.
And then try not to scream so loudly myself as electricity shot throughout my body.
~~~
Her face bore the same scratch marks as mine, her eyes holding the same skittish fear, body flinching at every excessively loud sound. My fingers itched to reach out to her. To have the pads of my thumbs soothe the ache in the abrasions, and catch the tears threatening to spill down her face. To allow us each, for even the briefest moment, the chance at vulnerability and weakness. But I swallowed thickly, and with it the urge, forcing my face to remain blank and void. Not in here, James, not in here.
“James…” her voice croaked across the table at me, her eyes even struggling to meet mine.
Quickly I pressed a finger to my lips, scanning around the cafeteria. “Shh. Not here.”
“Hurts, James.”
“I know.”
“Worse than training.”
“I know.”
We ate what we could stomach before slinking off to the barracks. Now that the serum was proving to be working more often than not, we’d gotten a small upgrade. No longer trapped in a cell by myself, I now had an entire barrack to myself. Technically there was a no fraternization rule, but it mostly applied to the new recruits that continued to come in droves, leaving Y/N and I with the closest thing to real privacy we could get in a place like this.
“They didn’t believe me,” she said, taking a seat on one of the bunks. “They know how close you and I are, so they think I knew the man too.”
“I’m sorry…” I said, the bunk creaking as I sat next to her.
“Why did that man think he knew you? And why did he call you Bucky?”
“Do you remember back when we met I said that you reminded me of someone I think I used to know?” I asked in lieu of answering.
“Was that him?”
“I think so… I- Everything about my past life before Hydra is a messy blur. That’s part of the training. Making you forget. Making you unsure of what little you do remember. But if he knew me, then that means that those memories I have are real. And if he’s still around…” I didn’t dare finish my thought. Didn’t dare let myself go down the path of hoping that I could turn the clock backwards. Get my life back. It was useless because I knew better than by now to think there was any chance of getting out of Hydra alive. And it was utterly selfish as I locked gazes with Y/N and she nodded sadly in understanding what I left unsaid.
“If he’s from your past, and he’s still around, that means you have hope,” she voiced it anyway.
“Yeah…”
“Take your chance, James.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why not? If you have a chance to get your life back, why not take it?”
“Because.”
“Because why?!” she snapped, angry that I appeared to be stupid enough to not risk everything to get the hell out of here.
“Because they’ll kill you! They’ll think you had a hand in it, and they’ll kill you for it! And I’ve worked too damn hard to keep you alive, so you’re not dying because of me, understand?!” matching her anger at her not understanding that I couldn’t leave her behind. That I didn’t want to leave her behind.
“Coward,” she spat in my face.
I rose to my feet, towering over her. “Coward?! I’m the reason you’re still alive, but I’m the coward for wanting to keep you that way?!”
“Yes!” she shouted, glaring up at me as she stabbed a finger into my chest. “You trained me. Not them. So do it! Take your chance! And let them try to kill me. But something tells me that they won’t want to do that.”
“Oh, and why’s that?”
“Because I’m stronger than them for one. And for two, it would be a stupid waste for them to lose not one, but two super soldiers.”
“That’s a stupid gamble.”
“Take your chance, James, and we’re both free.”
“Both of us can’t get free at the same time.”
“I know. So just come back for me, okay? Take your chance. Then come back. Be my hope, like this man is yours. And we can handle whatever comes after that.”
She spoke with such certainty that I wanted to believe her. I wanted to believe that getting out would be worth whatever potential consequences would surely follow. I wanted hope. And what really were the consequences? We both already knew what Hydra was capable of. We already lived in a situation that was worse than death. A life lived constantly on edge, wary of every move we made. So maybe it really wasn’t that stupid of a gamble after all. “Okay,” I promised. “Okay.”
~~~
It turned out that getting free meant a lot of isolation, which I was already used to, so it wasn’t that much of an adjustment. Well, isolation within reason I should say. I had to stay low, off the radar. But I wasn’t alone. I had the blonde man. Steve. His name was Steve. And we’d been close friends before. And he helped me make sense of the muddled memories of my past, like slowly putting together a puzzle where all the pieces were one color, impossible to differentiate one from the other. And he had his friends, the Avengers they called themselves. And they helped me too where they could, breaking down the mental blocks Hydra had instilled in me.
But the fear lingered. Not so much that Hydra would eliminate me once they found me. If they found me. But fear for Y/N. Fear for what she had to suffer through for the cost of my freedom. Fear that I wouldn’t be able to hold up my end of the promise of being her hope of getting out. A fear that ate away at me every day I was cooped up in the Avengers headquarters.
And then, one morning a newspaper was slammed down in front of me. “What is this?” Steve asked, his tone somehow both demanding and soft.
I looked down at the article. A headline about a recent attack on the UN. A grainy black and white photo of the building in flames, and a blurred image of a person slinking away amongst the chaos. But even though the person was blurred, I could make out what they were wearing because I’d worn it myself for so many years. 
For a moment, panic made my chest tighten. Had I? No… I couldn’t have… Could I? No. No, it had to be her. There was no way it could have been me.
“Buck,” Steve prompted, his arms crossed as he waited for an answer.
“I- I don’t know. I didn’t do it, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“No, I know you didn’t do it. But word on the street is that it's related to Hydra.”
“Okay,” I said, not sure what kind of answer he was looking for.
He sighed. “There’s only so much we know about Hydra. But you…”
There it was. The reason he was bringing this to my attention. Not to accuse me. But so that I would provide the much needed intel as the resident Hydra expert. Unfortunately, I didn’t have an answer he was going to like. “They never told us anything. They gave us the target, and we carried out the mission. Ready to comply…” I clicked my tongue in my cheek with disdain, shuddering at the bad taste that the last three words left in my mouth.
He pointed a finger at the blurred person. “But do you know how many others like you are out there? How many are under Hydra’s control?”
“Just me and her. They keep trying to make more. Waves and waves of people. But nobody lasts long. They kept me out of necessity. They kept her because I trained her to be a necessity as well.”
“So bringing her down is…”
“Not an option unless you involve me.”
“But if we get her, we get Hydra.”
“Yes. But trust me, you can’t get her without me. She won’t let you, for one thing. And for another, I won’t let you.” Unless I was the one standing in front of her, she’d kill anyone in her path because that’s what she'd been trained to do. It’s what kept her useful to them. And hell, even if it was me standing in front of me only guaranteed that I’d be on the receiving end of her skills. But I had the advantage of knowing her moves before she made them. After all, they were my moves.
“No,” he shook his head. “No. You tell us everything we need to know about how to bring her in, but you’re not on this mission, Buck. We’re not risking having you near Hydra.”
“Then you don’t have a mission.”
“This isn’t the time for threats, Buck. This is serious.”
“I’m not threatening you. I’m telling you the facts. If I am not on that mission with you, she will treat you like a target for her own protection against Hydra. And you do not want to be a target. Bring me on the mission. We get her. We take down Hydra. It’s that simple.”
He sighed, his face contorting in deep concern and worry. “It’s a huge risk… you being near Hydra.”
“It is,” I agreed. No point in disputing the obvious. “But here’s the thing. Hydra taught me how to do a lot of things undetected.”
He sighed again. “I’m not sure how well I like this plan. But I’m gonna trust you on this. We all are.”
~~~
“If you find her, tell me,” I directed with authority. “Nobody engages with her, but me. Understood?”
There were nods and murmurs of agreement. The memory of fighting me was still fresh in their minds, none of them were overly eager to engage with another super soldier of my caliber again if they didn’t have to. And Y/N wouldn’t hesitate like I had. I’d be lucky if she pulled her punches, but I wasn’t counting on it. She didn’t know we were coming. And she couldn’t give Hydra the slightest inkling that she was pulling a fast one on them once I located her. It was a delicate balance of using the skills Hydra had drilled into me against them.
Perhaps lucky for all of us, they didn’t really know what or who to look for, whereas I did.
I noticed the shadow well before anyone else, slinking away to catch her off guard. I crept quietly up behind her, and as I reached out to grab her, she whirled around, a knife burying into my side. I hissed through my teeth, not having expected that at all, and pulled the blade free, letting it clatter to the ground as we locked gazes, her eyes wide as she took me in.
I nodded in answer at the question she didn’t dare ask, pressing a finger to my lips.
Her eyes flickered to the small bloom of blood that was darkening my shirt, and when she raised her eyes again to meet mine, I thought she might look apologetic. But all she did was smile sinisterly at me.
Alright, game on, I thought. “Initiate plan,” I spoke into my earpiece, as I dodged the punch she delivered my way.
The plan was a diversion so Y/N could disappear with me under Hydra’s radar, preferably before we had to actually hurt the other, current knife wound aside.
It was like deja vu of our first meeting, her attacking and me playing defense. The only difference this time was that when her blows did land, the hit was rather painful, especially when she targeted her hits to my weakened side.
I took it all in stride, blocking and dodging the best I could against her as I waited for the diversion I knew was coming.
When the building went pitch black, I struck out, knocking her own comm system out of her ear and stomping on it forcefully, listening to the crunch of it under my boot. “Move!” I barked, grabbing her arm.
I dragged her along for a few steps before she found her footing, her stride matching mine quickly as we made our escape. I knew she wanted to say something, but I shook my head sharply. There were still risks that Hydra was listening somehow, even if I’d broken the main way of connection to her.
Through a tangled maze of hallways, I navigated our way through the dark to the getaway car, the van doors pulling open welcoming us. I shoved her in ahead of me, sparing a glance behind before I jumped in after her.
Aside from the sound of us catching our breath, the van was silent as the driver peeled out, and headed back to headquarters.
Then, as reality settled in that the mission had gone off exactly as planned, Y/N threw herself across the bench seat, crashing into me.
“Ow…” I wheezed, as she held me in a vice grip hug.
She immediately let go, sliding across the seat away from me. “James…” she said, her voice a tremble of a whisper.
I nodded, opening my arms for her to fall back into. “It’s over,” I soothed, relishing in the feeling of holding her against me. “It’s all over. We’re safe.”
“Oh, James,” she wept, her fingers softly grazing over my injured side.
“Shh, don’t worry about that. It’s over. We’re safe. I’ve got you.”
~~~
I wish I could say that getting Y/N out of Hydra meant that all our problems went away. But that wasn’t the case. Because what came with the fallout of bringing down Hydra was having to figure out what to do with not one, but two super assassins with a crime record a mile wide. Words of “pardons” and “life-sentences” were thrown around. There was also the concern that even though Hydra had been brought down, that they could resurface in the future, and would go to any length to recapture what they had lost. And they could do it too. They caught me twice before, and her once. How hard could it be to do it again?
It was very much the conundrum of winning the battle while the larger war still raged on. And when they started the circle of fighting over options for the millionth time in an hour, I snapped.
My hands slammed down on the table in the conference room, startling everyone. “Shut up!” I hissed. “Shut up with your pardons, or ideas of serving time! Shut up with your Hydra worries! Just shut up!”
“Buck-” Steve started.
“No!” I thundered, rising to my feet. “The only people who can protect me and Y/N, are me and Y/N! We know what it takes to survive Hydra! So just… Don’t worry about her and me. I got it covered.”
“Buck-” Steve tried again.
“No,” I shook my head. “Look, I’m grateful for all the help. But we’re not a problem you guys need to solve.”
“Well,” Tony cleared his throat matter-of-factly. “Most of us live in the facility here. Accommodations. Easy to track each other down when we need to. Security.”
I smiled wryly at the man. He was as egotistical as his father had been, but he was a man of action over words, and wasn’t big on emotions, which was something I could both respect and relate to. No sense in being sentimental about things that didn’t require sentiment. Words of thanks were on my tongue, when a scream echoed through the building.
While they all looked around at each other with more startled expressions, wondering who had screamed and from where, I took off at a run.
I burst into the room she was in, finding her curled up as tight as she could be, eyes frantic as she cowered in the corner of the room. “Y/N…” I said softly, feeling my heart crack in my chest. Electricity shooting through my body was less painful than seeing her scared, because I knew how hard she always fought to not let that part of her show. As much as I liked to think she’d survived everything because I’d been there to ensure it, that was only half of the truth. She’d set the world on fire before daring to admit that she was scared. And this now made it the third time I’d seen her this terrified, and all I wanted was to set the world on fire for her. Make everyone pay for any ounce of hurt she’d ever endured.
“James?” A broken sob of uncertainty.
I nodded, taking a slow step forward. “It’s me. I’m here.”
“Where are we?”
“With the Avengers.”
“No more Hydra?”
“No more Hydra.”
Her lower lip trembled, a rogue tear sliding down her face. “You came back?”
I smiled, taking quicker and longer strides now across the room, closing the distance between us. Always too much distance. “I promised you I would,” I said, sitting down next to her.
“You don’t know how hard it was without you… What they did when they realized you were gone…” Her breathing sped up as the tears spilled faster.
“Shh,” I soothed, pulling her into my arms, much like I had in the drive over here. “Nobody’s ever gonna hurt us again, okay? I’ll keep you safe. Always. We’ll be okay. I’ve got you.”
We sat like that for a while, me rubbing at her back as she calmed down and slowly relaxed her body against mine. And then I felt laughter bubbling up in my chest, and before I could stop it, both of our bodies started shaking with the force of my laughter. “What are you laughing about?” she asked with her own giggle.
“I just-” I wheezed, fighting to get the words out as I tried to stop laughing. “It’s just…” I took a large intake of breath to steady myself. “Oh, man… Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to be able to do this?” I asked, meaning me holding her, but I didn’t wait for an answer, the words spilling from my lips. “I- I was alone for so long. I got used to not caring about people, and not being cared about. Used to turning off that emotional part of me. But every time I tried to push you away, you pushed back even harder. And… God… you ruined me. You absolutely ruined me.”
“You don’t sound that angry about it,” she said, her fingers resting gently against my chest that heaved with each half chuckle of breath I took.
“I’m not. You’re the first person I cared about after Steve. You were the only person I cared about when I was the worst version of myself. And I- The lengths I would go through to make sure you’re safe. The lengths I have gone through, and will always go through for you… I just… You mean a lot to me, and I hope you know that even if I don’t always have the words to say it directly.”
“I love you too, James.”
__
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elaborating on my autism headcanons!!
- sarah -
her special interests are usually between one and three. once she develops a special interest, it stays with her for years; in fact, some of her interests, like reading and writing, have been with her for as long as she can remember. her other special interests are theatre and arts and crafts; the latter is quite a broad category, but it includes things like sewing, felting, embroidery, watercolor painting, book binding, and making collages. sarah delves further into her interests the more they’re encouraged, but she also uses them as coping mechanisms to feel better about or distract herself from the real world around her. in the cases of acting and crafts, she uses these to express how she feels, whereas reading and writing are used more as forms of escapism. her favorite genre of literature is fantasy, though she doesn’t mind any particular fantasy subgenres and is willing to broaden her knowledge of the genre by reading most of them. meanwhile, she isn’t anywhere near as selective when it comes to theatre. so long as there’s a soundtrack and cast that resonates with her, she doesn’t care if it’s opera or ballet, tragedy or comedy, contemporary or dating back thousands of years. indeed, she doesn’t ever feel like her knowledge of theatre is complete—and while it feels unattainable, she’d like to develop at least a cursory knowledge of every play there is.
sarah stims by talking to herself, chewing on her lips or hair, pacing, doing needlework, doodling, and absentmindedly writing. she also has echolalia, repeating the same word or phrase to herself either out loud or in her head; certain phrases can get stuck in her head for weeks on end. she’s rather quiet when she talks to herself—in fact, most of the time, she just whispers or mutters. furthermore, when pacing, she walks in circles or back and forth. she doesn’t use stim toys very much because they don’t appeal to her, though she does like the idea of making her own stim toys and other objects, such as slime or reversibles.
her relationship with routine is complicated. on the one hand, she doesn’t take change well and has difficulty adapting to new situations, especially those that are unfamiliar and stressful. this means that, to some extent, she prefers it when things stay the same. however, this is more of a general status quo sort of sameness that she likes to maintain. on a smaller level, she’s easily bored by sameness and likes it when at least one novel or interesting thing happens each day. for instance, if sarah has gone to the same school her entire life, she’s going to be upset—even devastated—if circumstances force her to change schools without any sort of preparation or warning. however, if her commute to the school every day is identical, she’ll grow bored of it easily and may one day consider taking a different path there just to see what happens.
sarah tends to struggle with eye contact and, on the rare occasions that she wants to maintain it, has to force herself to do so. it makes her immensely uncomfortable to look someone in the eye for an extended period of time. while irene sometimes mistakes this for her not listening, sarah is trying to explain that it’s not something within her control.
she is hyposensitive to (and indeed fascinated with) colors and lights. however, loud noises bother her and can be painful for her. sarah also prefers not to be touched unless she initiates the contact first. being touched without her permission startles her and makes her immensely uncomfortable, as does being surrounded or cornered; all of these can easily overwhelm her in the right circumstances. she hates haunted houses for this exact reason. her hyposensitivity also extends to texture and physical sensations, albeit not in the same way; rather than being obsessed with or actively seeking out sensations and textures, sarah is so hyposensitive to both of them that she sometimes doesn’t even notice sensory input unless it’s excruciatingly painful or needs constant adjusting. her senses of taste and smell are neither above nor below what’s considered average, though she has a preference for sweets, white meat, and anything crunchy. 
something else that she and jareth have in common is the fact that their living spaces, specifically their rooms, both have to be organized in a very specific way. any alterations in this organization are bothersome and overwhelming to the both of them; this includes rearranging or removing objects, changing the location of the room entirely, or changes in things like how much light or air the room receives. 
- jareth -
he tends to have a lot of special interests at a time, and they change often. his current ones are architecture, illusions, astronomy, fashion, humans/anthropology/sociology, various pseudosciences, and surrealist art. however, in the past he’s been interested in ornithology, geology, romanticism in art and literature, the labyrinth’s prehistory, wordplay and rhetorical/literary devices, cats, different types of governments, letter writing, collecting trinkets and antiques, choreography, and many, many more. living for such a long time has provided him with the opportunity to both develop and engage in a wide variety of passions. in fact, some of these past special interests still remain with him today and simply aren’t considered his “main” ones anymore because they’re not as strong.
his favorite pseudosciences are graphology, phrenology, and astrology. he also likes to try and determine the future via methods like alectromancy, astromancy, augury, scrying, and lithomancy.
he stims using crystals/via contact juggling. this is usually when he’s understimulated, absentminded, or just needs something to occupy himself with. it’s also enjoyable to him. he has other ways of stimming, though, many of which are meant to self-soothe. for instance, feeling nervous or excited might drive him to shake one leg or hand; he also feels compelled to chew on things in such instances. when overwhelmed, he scratches his arms as one would if they had an itch. jareth is trying to stop doing this and is thus looking for alternatives. he views stim toys as some of humanity’s greatest inventions. if he lived aboveground, i imagine he’d have different versions of the same stim toys for different purposes: neutral colors when he needs to prevent overstimulation, bright colors when he’s just stimming because it makes him happy.
he doesn’t mind loud noises, but he is sensitive to bright lights and colors. in fact, he’s so nonchalant toward noise that, when he listens to music, he likes for it to be as loud as possible. in his mind, good music is never quite loud enough. there are certain textures and tastes he doesn’t like, which drives him to be very selective with what he wears and what he eats. with regards to clothing, he likes silk and leather but can’t stand wool, denim, anything baggy or distressed, or velvet. because he conducts magic through his hands, he has sensitive palms; his gloves allow him to touch things without being bothered by them, while also allowing him to use magic undeterred. he’s especially sensitive around food, preferring things that are bland or savory and refusing to eat anything with a consistency that’s too soft. for instance, he finds eggs revolting in most forms.
without a routine, jareth tends to become dejected or burnt out. unfortunately, though, his frequent executive dysfunction makes it difficult for him to plan out and adhere to routines without frequent reminders—which, when they come in the form of goblins, usually annoy him more than anything else. this is why he hasn’t had a proper schedule in years. it’s a bit of a vicious cycle; his unhappiness has led to a lack of motivation, and his difficulty creating something he can stick to has made him even more unhappy. he works best with clear, written instructions that are placed where he can see them. he especially needs specific times to eat and sleep; without them, irritability and physical discomfort set in. in the event that he does have a routine, changes that might seem small to others are often nerve-racking to him.
though he sometimes uses eye contact and close proximity to others to intimidate, he genuinely feels uncomfortable without eye contact and has difficulty remembering to mind others’ personal space most of the time. he can be quite touchy-feely when he cares about someone—even platonically—and isn’t afraid of showing it, but he doesn’t really know when or if to back off unless explicitly told to.
- didymus -
when it comes to special interests, he and sarah have a lot in common. they both love drama and literature; however, didymus has a particular interest in folklore, both that of humans and that of the labyrinth. he only has two special interests: literature (including plays) and history. both of these influenced his desire to become a knight and continue to influence his behavior, as he seeks to emulate the idea of a noble and valiant knight to a T. he has some difficulty responding appropriately to or understanding various social cues. as a result, he spends most of his nights and some of his mornings scripting out how his day is going to go: how he’s going to speak to other people, how they might respond to him, and how he’s going to respond to their responses. whenever didymus makes a new friend, he puts effort into studying their mannerisms and personality so he can adequately pinpoint how they might behave toward him and thus figure out how he’s going to interact with them. furthermore, he speaks and acts like a gallant knight from a fairytale or play because of his constant reading. his consumption of literature provides him with a consistent model of behavior that’s bound by a set of rules, unlike the behavior of people in the real world—which can often be unpredictable, and whose rules are less coherent. as a result, didymus believes that emulating the kinds of characters he admires will make others admire him in turn, and make him easier to understand. 
his favorite earth authors are william shakespeare, miguel de cervantes, and alexandre dumas. he is also especially fond of arthurian legend and various human mythologies, such as norse, celtic, and japanese.
one of his favorite ways to stim is by chasing or wagging his tail. he also stims by absentmindedly practicing swordfighting moves with his cane, scratching behind his ear with a hind paw, pacing, and talking to himself. pacing is the only one out of all of these that doesn’t lift his spirits; rather, he does it when he’s thinking because it helps his ideas flow. didymus is most inclined to chase his tail or scratch his ears when he’s bored, practice his parries when excited, and talk to himself when he’s overwhelmed. in the last case, this is often combined with pacing; together, both stims provide a good release for emotions he has difficulty expressing otherwise. when didymus talks to himself, he is unlike sarah in that he doesn’t do so quietly. his volume remains the same as it usually is in a conversation; when he grows passionate, it raises accordingly. sarah introduced him to stim toys; his favorite ones are the ones that make noise, whether they click or woosh or do something else. he also uses dog toys as substitutes and enjoys the ones that squeak, though he has to keep his own set somewhere where ambrosius won’t find it.
his strongest sense by far is his sense of smell; it isn’t necessarily a lot of scents at once that can be upsetting for him, but rather scents that he finds unpleasant. these include sharp or chemical smells such as vinegar, ammonia, spices, perfume, citrus, alcohol, cleaning products, and herbs. aside from these, there aren’t any smells he can confidently say he doesn’t like. he also has hypersensitive hearing and prefers soft classical music, hymns and chants, or music that dates back thousands of years. he hates the sound of bells chiming, loud drums, or thunder; the last of these especially bothers him, though he would never admit it. he was once bothered by the sound of metal objects clanging together when he was a kit, but he appears to have outgrown that in particular. he has poor color vision, as do most canines, so bright colors don’t affect him at all. he finds flashing lights mildly frightening in some cases and annoying in others.
to didymus, routine is the thief of joy. he craves adventure every day and hates when things are the exact same; even having to do the same task in the same way as he did the day before, for instance, is enough to bore him out of his skull. as a result, he likes to mix up how he does things by placing his daily activities in different orders, doing them with his friends, or replacing some activities with others entirely. for instance, he, hoggle, and ludo take turns with household chores—not only so that they can share responsibilities, but so that didymus can have time to go off and pursue his knightly dreams. much of the time, his friends are willing to accompany him on his adventures so long as he’s able to keep them safe—and so long as they can be home by dinner.
he doesn’t really like eye contact, but he tries to maintain it because he thinks doing so is respectful. he does see one perk to his small stature; he’s too short to meet eyes with most people, so his lack of eye contact usually isn’t judged. it wouldn’t be either way because almost everyone in the labyrinth either is ND or knows someone who is ND, but he really does want to maintain eye contact because the books he reads make him think that it’s the proper thing to do. his friends are trying to convince him that he doesn’t need to make eye contact if it makes him uncomfortable; however, because he seems to believe that it’s a rule, he has difficulty convincing himself not to follow it. in fact, didymus is very much inclined to follow the rules that are provided to him and becomes anxious when encouraged or required to break them. without clear rules, the world becomes nonsensical and unpredictable—and therefore upsetting—to him. it was his idea to propose a set of rules for his friends’ home; they accepted and have worked together to write them down so that guests know how to behave.
he gets along really well with the wiseman; despite his typical impatience, didymus is one of few people who actually have the patience to listen to the wiseman. in fact, didymus isn’t just patient with him; his ramblings actively intrigue didymus, and whenever he has the opportunity he makes his contributions as big as he possibly can. didymus really appreciates it when his friends let him infodump, and he figures it’s only fair that he should let others do the same. in fact, didymus also places a lot of value on fairness; it’s the whole reason he opposes jareth in the first place.
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huihuiheart · 3 years
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Spiked - Minho
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Part of @clandestine-lixie ‘s Smutmas Collab and a great excuse to get some more Minho on my page! 
Summary: It’s pretty much tradition at this point that Changbin spikes the eggnog at the annual Christmas party. What happens though when secrets slip through drunk lips and aren’t forgotten the next morning? At least not forgotten by the very person you confessed to. 
Pairing: Minho x F! Reader
Warnings: Drinking (not drunk when having sex), drunken confessions?, cursing, some angst in the beginning, smut, lovemaking, unprotected sex (stay safe kids), oral (f! receiving), lots of petnames, moments where Minho is kinda smug, lots of praise, it’s sugary sweet, mild sir kink for a moment, fingering, some playful teasing.
I sincerely apologize but I haven’t had time to edit this yet, so...please excuse any errors and stuff I’ll be getting to those when I have some time. I wrote over half of this today with a migraine so we’re working on fumes here. Also if something seems off I apologize, I’ve never celebrated the holidays before so I honestly don’t know what Christmas is like....sorry.
Word Count: 4,992
“Awe don’t tell me you’re already finished taking bets? I haven’t even got mine in on how long before Changbin tries to get us all drunk.” You tease the rambunctious group in the living room as you remove your shoes by the door. Christopher joining you a moment later to help you with your coat, hanging it up for you as he often did. 
“Hey, don’t look so glum. Felix was just getting to the interesting wagers now anyways. Bets of any kind are in Minho’s care this evening. Gifts for tomorrow morning under the tree as always.”  Chris caught you up with where the ever excitable boys had already impatiently gotten up to, before stepping away with your coat so you could join the others.
“So what did I just miss then? You know the topic that had you all in a giggle fit?” You raise a brow as you claim a spot in their circle, between Minho and Hyunjin.
“Oh we were just discussing the last bet. Not that you’d be able to participate anyways seeing how it was about you.” Jisung smirks wickedly until you match his gaze with your own that was just as devious, making him fold in an instant, or so you think, “Just betting on whether we thought you’d stay the night or not this year.”
“That’s not interesting though, I stay practically every year cause I’m too drunk to go home alone and none of you will take me.” You chuckle shaking you head, “ A better bet would be who will get drunk the fastest, my money’s on Hyunjin.” 
Minho took your bet money counting it out before the other boys made their wagers too, writing them all down as more and more bets danced through your group. Both those typical for the Christmas party and those unique to this year for whatever reason. Debates starting up over a few of them as they always did.
“No I’m telling you Y/N will be the first one to admit it. She always gets loose lipped when she drinks.” Jisung teases despite the validity of his statement, something you’ve proven true to them at more than just the previous Christmas parties. 
“Still who she likes is the secret she guards more than anything else, she’d have to be so shitfaced for that to come out it would be ridiculous!” Changbin counters, “ My money is on Felix, he was practically giving it away unprompted last year. It wouldn’t be too hard to get it out of him if we really tried.” 
“Maybe that’s just cause Y/N doesn’t trust some of you to keep your mouths shut.” Christopher shrugs as he takes a seat, though all eyes are on him not because of the motion, but because of his words. Giving away that you had already confessed your crush to at least one person in the room. 
“Wait. So you told him, but you didn’t tell me? What do we even gossip for? Let I’m lowkey offended right now.” Hyunjin whines used to being your partner in crime when it came to exchanging secrets about your group, even the things you’d never tell anyone else. Trusting the other to lock it down tighter than even their own secrets, even if you exploited that information at times. Like when Hyunjin conveniently ended up paired with his crush for every game of the spring break party.
“In my defense I was distraught and looking for you when it slipped. Chris was just the only one around, so he’s the one who got that information.” You counter knowing there wasn’t any taking it back at this point anyways, Hyunjin barely accepting your answer with a grumble. You were somewhat glad that it was the case though, he’d surely exploit the information tonight if he had it. In this case you should be safe, or so you thought before you noticed the subtle smirk on Christopher’s face before he glanced between you and the very crush you’d revealed to him....Minho.
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“Hey, the boys sent me to see if you needed any help.” Minho steps into the kitchen watching as you moved to pull something out of the oven. Most of the food had already been prepped before you arrived so you offered to be the one to actually cook it. This being the fourth time in an hour and a half that Minho had been sent to check on you, each time he showed up besides you though he announced himself with those same words....the boys sent me. Them digging a little deeper into your heart whenever you’d hear them again. It implying that that he never actually chose to come to you of his own will, only coming to you since the boys told him to.
“I’m fine Minho. You can go back to the others.” Your words were sharper than you intended and it nearly made you wince, even if he didn’t return your feelings he was still your friend and you shouldn’t be so harsh to him. Sometimes your feelings managed to rear their ugly head before you could stop them though, something you’d feel regret for later
“Rose....your thorns are showing again.” Minho’s gentle voice says the familiar phrase as he moves to stand at your side. His nickname for you with a subtle announcement of the fact that your emotions were slipping out quicker than you often registered, something he always managed to stay calm through no matter how snappy you sometimes got, “I don’t know what riled you up, and I don’t have to. You should go take a minute to calm down though. I’ll watch the food.”
The way he spoke to you was enough to calm you down enough to regain your composure, but not wanting to be so close to him and unintentionally get worked up again you conceded. Slipping outside into the frigid air for a few moments to collect yourself before finding the others in the living room again, sitting besides Christopher now.
“The eggnog spiked yet?” You question with a soft sigh as you lean against his shoulder, causing him to chuckle and nod, “Good, cause I’m going to need a drink to make it through the night.”
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“You drunk yet Y/N?” Changbin teases as he pours you another glass. Internally cursing him out, he knew damn well he put something stronger in the eggnog this year without any warning. Knowing that you and Felix at least would try to keep up with everyone else despite being two of the light weights of the group. The others in that category smart enough to stop before they could make a fool out of themselves, even accidentally.
“Not drunk enough to lose to Felix or spill any secrets yet, if that’s what you’re asking.” You call him out, brow quirking as if to challenge him to tease you again. The alcohol buzzing through your system making you more confident in challenging them, even if it slowed your wit slightly. 
“Nah just wondering if you’re drunk enough to at least confess you’re spending the night? Well officially anyways. We thought of a way to determine who you’re going to stay with tonight.” Changbin brings his own glass to his lips, hiding his smirk knowing that Christopher had come to him and Hyunjin with a plan to rig it so that you’d end up with Minho. 
“Fine, I’ll confess to that.” You chuckle not catching onto their schemes, “So how are we figuring it out then? What’s your big, genius plan?” 
The sarcastic way you’re carrying yourself makes Hyunjin snicker, leaning towards Christopher,��“Oh if only she knew...” He shakes his head slightly before shaping up, to hide any suspicious acts from you, “Simple, you’re just drawing the name out of a hat. You know the deal though, you only get to pick once and that’s who you’re stuck with.”
“Yeah, I know the deal.” You sit up further waiting for them to bring the hat over, the liquid courage running through you making you feel really good about your odds. It was only a 1 in 8 chance that you’d end up picking Minho, you were most likely safe from your crush. Well the possibility of embarrassing yourself while alone with him anyways. Or so you thought until you managed to pull his name out of the hat.
“Well.....I guess I’m rooming with Minho tonight....”
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"Alright I think that's enough for one night." Minho takes the glass from you before you can get it refilled yet again. You'd lost count three drinks ago, hoping you'd get passed out drunk instead of having to face him. Luck wasn't on your side this evening though as Minho still had his wits about him and he refused to let you do something dangerous to your health.
"But Minho, if I'm not drinking what am I going to do?" Your whine is only added to by the small subconscious pout adorning your drunk face.
"We've both had enough and are going to bed now. It's 4 fucking 37 in the morning and you know someone's gonna be waking is up too goddamn early hangover or not. So if you wanna drink something it'll be water on the way to bed." Minho insists moving to help your inebriated form up from your seat on the floor and towards his upstairs bedroom.
"You can use the bathroom, I put some clothes in their for you so you can sleep comfortably." Minho sits on th edge of his bed, pulling out his phone to scroll through seeming almost entirely disinterested as you wobble off to the bathroom. Not getting far though before you have to pull the door open with a blush, your shirt wedged half on with only one arm successfully out.
"M-Minho I got stuck, c-can you help me?" Your words held no room for any hidden implications, especially not when panicked tears started to well in your eyes.
"Hey, it'll be okay. I'm gonna help you and you'll be just fine." Minho coos trying to reassure you, not knowing your panic was partly due to having to face him like this. His warm hands gently in the way they helped untangle you from the shirt you'd somehow managed to get trapped in.
"There you go, all better. Now go get those warm clothes on and get in bed before the cold settles in too much." He insists gently wiping away the last of your tears before you returned to the bathroom.
Silence filled the space when you returned, saying nothing as you switched places with Minho. Sliding into the bed while he was in the bathroom. It wasn't like you'd never slept there before, staying with the boys frequently meant that you'd slept in all their beds at some point but never since your feelings for Minho had developed so much had you stayed in his. Never after you'd felt like you'd embarrassed yourself beyond repair in one evening either. Not realizing you were sniffling with a fresh batch of tears until Minho returned.
"Hey what's wrong rose? You've been upset all day. Please talk to me, we don't like when you're upset." Minho's brow furrows as he uses the paw of his sweater to gently wipe away the tears again.
"I-It's just so hard Minho. I don't know if I keep doing this." You feel exhausted from the alcohol, the excitement throughout the evening, and now an emotional breakdown too and yet you needed to get this off your chest or even that might not be enough to let you get rest tonight.
"What is? What's hard? What can't you do?" Minho asks feeling his heart bleed at your distress even if he was able to stay as calm as he was.
"L-Loving you...."
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You had passed out nearly the moment those words had left your lips, but Minho couldn’t, not after your confession. It had been the last thing he’d seen coming after trying not to look desperate to you all day. Yet you’d confessed to him of all people and it weighed too heavily on his mind for the next two hours to even consider getting any sleep. Only getting maybe two hours in before an excited Jeongin bound in to try and wake you both up so everyone could come downstairs for Christmas. Though Minho ensured he never got to you before he shoved him out with hushing sound. Slipping down behind him to grab some water, coffee, and pain meds for when you’d wake up. Telling the boys you’d had a rough night, probably drank too much, and should be left alone to sleep as long as you needed. Not expecting you to already be shifting awake when he returned to the room. 
“Hey, you can sleep more if you want. It’s alright.” Minho gently brushes the hair out of your face as your eyes slowly blink open, leaning into the warmth of his touch without realizing, “I brought you meds and coffee if you’re felling hungover.”
You accept his help to sit up and take the meds, willing your fuzzy mind to clear enough to recall what happened the night before, “Minho...d-did I do anything last night? I-I can’t remember.”
Minho froze debating how he should answer that, he wanted to be honest with you, but after seeing how upset you were the night before he didn’t want to embarrass you at all, “W-Well, umm....”
“I-I said something didn’t I?” You could read his face for once, the calm demeanor gone and it telling you something had happened. The way his eyes widened at your question was enough to confirm what you thought as panic bubbled up and made your throat feel tight, “W-Whatever I said I didn’t-”
Minho cut you off by pressing his lips to yours quickly, feeling his own panic, “P-Please don’t say that you didn’t mean it. I think I would die if I lost the hope that you actually loved me back.”
The panic stopped almost instantly, feeling it dissipate as you processed his words, “L-Love you back?....Y-You mean you love me too? B-But you were acting like I was such a bother yesterday.”
Minho sits on the bed, pulling you into his arms before you could cry again, “I didn’t mean for it to come off that way. I-I just didn’t want to look desperate when I couldn’t think of a reason for you to love me too.” 
“You’re an idiot, I was literally like so obvious.” You whine softly and he chuckles though his focus seems to shift as his gaze falls to your lips, “You can kiss me again you know....a-after all we both just confessed so it would make sense to...”
Minho’s eyes flick back up to yours as a smirk forms on his face, but he makes no smart comment as he gives in to what both of you are wanting. Leaning in to kiss you again, less panicked this time as his lips softly meld with yours. Though the both of you were pouring too much emotion into it for it to become anything less than desperate. Now that you had each other you needed that more than air itself, it remaining sweet despite the way you both chased after each other as if afraid this would all disappear if you separated for any real stretch of time.  You feel the faintest trail as Minho’s hands move from holding you against his chest to cradling your head as he lays you back onto the bed. 
“If you want to take things slower then just say so. I-I just don’t want to let you go.” Minho’s voice comes out so light you wonder how you hear it over the beating of your own heart, especially with how it races when his lips press a fleeting trail down your jaw between his words. 
“Y-You don’t ever have to slow down Minho, I’ve wanted this.....wanted you for too long to do that now.” You insist with a low moan as his lips press a little firmer against a sweet spot on your neck.
Minho hums against your skin too caught up in you to care about words when he could show you how he felt better anyways. His hands gripping at your sides, thumbs rubbing soft circles as if he’s afraid he’ll break you by being too firm. So you decide to make a larger move, reaching to grip the hem of his sweater and pull it off him, letting your hands and eyes roam his newly exposed skin. The feel of his warm skin beneath your fingertips heating you up inside, the flame of desire flaring up faster than you would have thought possible if the person before you had been anyone other than Minho. Minho’s hands gripping yours before looking up at you for permission, hesitating even as you nod.
“You sure you won’t be too cold?” Minho’s fingers peak under the hem to rub gently at your skin beneath it.
“Well if I am then I guess you’ll just have to warm me up.” Your words seem to light the same fire in Minho as he doesn’t hesitate a second longer to his sweater off you. Hands running over your stomach to squeeze your breasts through the bra, leaning down to kiss you again.
“Guess I will.” Minho speaks against your lips, tone deepening as he lowers again moving to rid you of your bra as his lips trail towards your chest. You nipples pebbling slightly from the frigid air and his advances, but noticing the unpleasant chill that runs through you he presses against you more, letting his warmth radiate onto you. His warm mouth closing around your one nipple as his hand toys with and warms the other, switching between them with a new path of kisses to make sure they get equal attention.  Until he gets impatient to show his affections elsewhere and his mouth lowers while adding soft nips between kisses to reach the hem of the sweatpants he gave you to wear. His fingers nimble as they work on the tie, though he doesn’t do more than that until he has permission from you to pull them down and leave you in only your panties.
“Oh the thoughts I had while helping you get untangled from your shirt last night my flower, and to think now a few of them are becoming reality.” Minho places a kiss to your hip, as his hands gently spread your legs, loving the way he’s able to fluster you so easily, “I’ve been dying for a taste and you’re not making it any easier for me. May I?” 
The way he drags his thumb over the wet patch of your panties makes it hard to respond when you’re moaning and focused on that surge of pleasure, but the thought of getting something more urges you to form words, “Y-Yes please, I’ve been wanting to feel your mouth.”
“All you had to do was ask precious.” Minho gently blows against the wet patch making you squirm before kissing your thigh and slipping off your panties and lowering himself between your legs, placing the gentlest of kisses to your clit. The way you whine impatiently makes him chuckle against your core only making you squirm, his thumbs rubbing softly against your plush thighs as he grips them firmly to keep them open instead of impeding his work. He has no intent on tormenting you with teasing, not this morning anyways, but he still wants to savor the moment. The way he licks through your folds slow yet firm enough to spark delicious waves of pleasure through you, enough so that you can’t complain too much about his pace. Minho’s tongue and lips working everywhere to get every last drop of you that he can, while also focusing on your reactions to find what makes you feel the best. Knowing that his own patience will wear thin soon enough and he wants to know how to throw you over that sweet edge with more intensity than you thought possible, wanting to make all of you feel as amazing as his heart did upon hearing your confession. 
“M-Minho please, I want to feel all of you.” Desperation bleeds into your words and actions as you squirm against his grip, hips trying to roll against his mouth and it has his eyes darkening with a new surge of lust. Nearly giving into you pleas, but you’re his first priority and it has him pulling away slightly making you whimper.
“Shh pretty girl, shh.” Minho coos softly, grip loosening as he runs his hands over your thighs and hips trying to get you to relax some, “Calm down, don’t get so worked up. I’ll give you what you want, I promise. You just need to calm down so that I can get you ready for me. We’ve waited a long time I know, but you can be good and wait just a little longer can’t you?”
This time a simple nod isn’t enough for him as he’s a little firmer with you in this moment, pinching your thigh lightly as he demands your words, “Y-Yes sir, I can be good for you.”
Minho has to take a deep, shuttering breath when he hears the word sir fall from your lips so perfectly, now was not the time to lose control, not when he wanted to show you every emotion he’d had trapped inside for so long. Not when he knew there’d be plenty of time for that later. Yet, it does have him snap a little as he dives between your legs again with more purpose. Lips suckling and kissing your clit like his survival depended on it, eyes locked on your face as he feels your fingers weave into his hair. The soft tug you give has him moaning against your clit, only adding to that pleasure as he eases a finger in, though it’s not long before he’s able to add another. Curling them with each thrust in search of the spot that would have you trembling against him, thriving off the pleasure he’d able to feed you right now, nothing else in the world mattering more than your cries for him and the way you lose yourself to the sensations. He knows he’s found that spot, when you’re clenching around him, practically sucking his fingers in, thighs shaking as your edge hovers so close and yet just barely out of reach. 
“Minho, please I’m close. Please make me cum or give me your cock, I-I don’t know how much longer I can wait.” Your pleas sound magical to Minho, it being enough for him to give you what you want, speeding up his fingers as his tongue flicks against your clit as he brings it between his lips again. Willing to throw your over the edge for the first time, so that he can have you losing his own patience as your nails drag lightly over his shoulders. The was you fall apart beneath him is like a work of art, the most beautiful Minho has ever seen as he slips his fingers from your spasming core to gently lick over you and ride you through the pleasure until you come back to him. Kissing you briefly before licking his fingers clean while keeping his eyes locked on yours.
“You’re sweeter than I ever could have imagined my flower.” Minho hums in approval, his smirk almost showing more in his eyes than on his lips. You’re quick to respond though not wanting him to drag it out any longer.
“I bet we’d taste sweeter together, but there’s only one way to find that out now isn’t there?” You purr back as your fingers work to untie his sweatpants, gripping both them and his undergarments to impatiently push both down at once. Freeing his beautiful, hardened length to you finally. Not giving him to to ask for your permission before you rub his tip through your folds, leg locking around his waist to urge his hips closer. Your actions seem to be enough as he places his hands on either side of you, slowly pushing in and leaning in as he gives you a moment to adjust to him.
“You were awfully loud earlier flower, if you don’t quiet down then all the boys will know what we’ve been up to. Do you want that?” Minho’s question is somewhat serious, but it also holds a teasing to it as he’s proud of the fact that he can make you feel good enough to be so loud. You getting him back by rolling your hips against him and earning a groan from him. Hands slipping around his neck to tug him down and tease his lips with your own.
“Why don’t you shut me up then?” Your words are almost daring and they have him crashing his lips messily against yours as his own hips start to move against you. The patience between you both is gone as he finds a quick pace and yet he’s not manhandling or overly rough in his treatment, the erotic scene still one of passionate lovers. Baring their emotions to each other in the most desperate of ways despite not being able to handle a slow pace any longer. It being everything you could have asked for and more, right now you didn’t need the soft, slow lovemaking. You need this the desperate lovemaking, the kind that showed that Minho had been longing for you just as much as you’d been longing for him. The kind that showed that you were his now and that he would show you that in every way possible for as long as you would ask it of him. Where every move he made was to find what made you feel best, because you were what he most cared for in this world and where it was so much better than he could have imagined that he wasn’t sure if he could hold off. Though he was intent on your pleasure coming first as he angled himself to perfectly hit the spots he found brought you the most pleasure with each drag of his cock, thumb rubbing quick circles into your clit as his other hand tangled into your hair to keep your lips pressed against his. Taking in all of your moans as your pleasure explodes once more, the feeling of you cumming on his cock enough to send him spiraling into his own high as he moans into your mouth in response. Slowing his thrusts as he rides you both through your highs. Hands gently tracing shapes over your heated flesh, finding you glowing in the aftermath of your climax.
“Come on my flower, I’ll help you shower before we join the others.” Minho kisses your forehead softly before scooping you up to take you to the bathroom. Getting you in the steaming shower as quickly as he can so that you won’t have to face the cold while bare for too long and so that you two can be quick enough to be able to get some food in before the others ate everything. Not that he wouldn’t cook you up a good breakfast if it came down to it. Willing to shower you in all affections imaginable after what you both had just done. Though before long Minho had you both cleaned up and in warm fresh clothes, going down the stairs to join the others.
“Weren’t you wearing something different this morning?” Jisung questions Minho slyly as if they hadn’t all heard what you two had been up to earlier. Minho knew what he meant, but still didn’t give him the satisfaction.
“Yeah well I took a shower, so I put on something else.” Minho shrugs pulling out a seat for you, before taking his own so you two could eat breakfast as well.
“Oh did Y/N shower too? Her hair is all damp still.” Jisung innocently inquires taking a bite of his pancake trying to hide his smug expression. Minho gently moving your damp hair away from your bare skin so that it wouldn’t get too chilled.
“Well then you obviously know the answer.” Minho rolls his eyes adding his portion of whipped cream and other sweet toppings to your plate instead of his own.
“Hm I just find that interesting considering we only heard one shower running.” Jisung smirks at you both as the others snicker and chuckle, teasing you all through breakfast while exchanging knowing looks. 
The teasing had died down some later as you all gathered around to exchange gifts. Feeling your heart stutter as you hold Minho’s in your hands, the man seeming flustered as you go to open it. Finding a small necklace inside one that looked like a lifeline with a heart at the end, flipping it over to find his initials on the back besides yours. 
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“So if things had been different this would have been when I confessed.” He admits in a soft whisper into your ear,  a blush adorning his cheeks so beautifully as you laugh softly.
“It’s alright I liked the way things turned out much better anyways.” Minho admits before the guys pretend to gag and whine at all the pda they were witnessing.
“Alright enough of the mushy stuff, you have to open mine next.” Hyunjin dramatically insists shoving his gift in front of you, a pretty envelope sitting on top and beckoning you to open the card first. Your attention immediately drawn to a special little note at the bottom...
PS. Minho’s name was the only one in that hat.
“Well guess I ruined your little plan huh?” You tease, flustering along with him as he presses a soft kiss to your cheek in front of everyone.
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Text
HASO, “Dye and Diversity.”
Hope you guys enjoy the story today 
Yeb stared.
She tilted her head this way and then that, and then continued to stare on the other side.
A soft sigh, “My eyes are up here.”
Yeb looked up to where the human was staring at her ascance his head slightly tilted.
“What?”
“Sorry dumb joke.”
He pulled to a stop, and the strange wheeled chair below him pulled to a halt.
She stared some more, “That is so strange! It looks so fun!”
Her interjection seemed to surprise him, and he glanced down  at the chair, “Um, I suppose I’ve never thought about it. It’s kinda fun sometimes. I don’t use it much.”
Yeb waddled behind the chair and clambered up on two little pegs she saw jutting  out from behind, “Why not?”
“Well usually I can walk, and it is generally frowned upon to use a wheelchair if you don’t need one.” 
Yeb felt a rush of wind as he pushed the chair forward, and they began to roll slowly down the ramp, “Well why not?”
He laughed and shook his head, his earlier sour demeanor lost behind grim amusement. A few of the others came to join them as they rolled downward and off the platform. Yeb lifted her eyes  wide-eyed in shock as she stared at her strange and unusual surroundings, and the massive interior docking bay of the space station…. To think! An entire city built in space! Looking around she could see ships of many sizes and designs, and other unfathomable and strange creatures hurrying this way and that.
A thought came to her, “Why aren’t you using the arm sticks?”
“Arm sticks…. Oh the crutches?”
“Yeah.”
“My arms are sore from using them, and plus the wheelchair seems safer on the station. I'll Be less likely to trip and get hurt.”
“Oh ok!.”
It still surprised her to no end that the human had even managed to survive without a leg. At first she thought he might have been born with that deformity. On her planet, while it was possible to survive with an issue like that it was not very common at all. She could think of only one Tricar she had seen live to adulthood in such a condition. There were always complications, plus, while Tricar were semi-social they tended to live only in mating groups and abandon their pups at a very young age. 
If you couldn’t survive to adulthood in the cold metal mazes  of her planet than that was a personal problem.
She climbed up higher onto the back of the human’s wheeled chair to get a better look. She wobbled dangerously in her excitement, her hands and feet not exactly built for climbing with her stubby fingers and large flat feet.
With wide eyed excitement she looked all around them marveling at the diversity of lifeforms. There were so many of them!
She pointed to one, eyes wide, “What alien is that!”
The human turned his head to look then frowned “What do you mean?”
“That one right there!”
He frowned and looked again then laughed, “Oh well Yeb, that is a very tall human.”
“Oh, she frowned.” It sure didn’t look like any of the other humans she had seen, sure it was the same general shape, but it just looked so different that she couldn’t have been sure. But she supposed now she could see the resemblance. Like a stretched human.
“How about that one!”
The human continued to smile, “That is a human with a lot of fat, Yeb.”
“Oh….  what is that?”
“Er, like blubber but not really.”
That translated better and her ears flipped back over her head in mild understanding, “Oh, I get it, so those humans must be from cold climates, and that’s why they have insulation?”
“Not exactly.”
Her head turned and she pointed to another group, “Are all of those humans too!”
“Yes all of those are humans.”
“So pretty!” She exclaimed, they came in such interesting and new color combinations, ice white to stone ebony. Granted they all looked human, but the diversity in them was so astonishing that it was hard to believe they could all be the same species. As a biologist herself she might have assumed that maybe they were under the same classification, like fish, and how fish all sort of looked the same but that didn’t mean they were in the same biological category.
“Are they all the same subspecies?” she wondered.
“Yes.”
“Really? But they all look so different!” on her planet while they did tend to be diverse in height, their fur was generally always the same color, a grey white.
“There used to be other subspecies of humans a long time ago, but then they slowly started to die out. At the end it was only the Homo Sapiens and the Homo Neanderthalensis. Both of them coexisted for a while and even interbred but then the Neanderthal died out leaving only the Homo Sapiens with some Neanderthal DNA in certain cases,so we are all that's left, and our diverse lifestyles have given us different adaptational traits despite being the same species.”
She stared at him enthralled by this strange revelation about humans.
“For instance, in the middling areas towards the equator, things are a lot warmer and the light of the star hits the Earth directly, so humans kept their original dark skin color as protection against UV rays which can cause DNA mutations leading to cancer. A lot of times humans towards the equator tend to be taller and leaner which helps them to not overheat.”
“Your planet has a climate that diverse?”
“Yes, we can be as cold as your planet, or more than twice as hot.”
She stared wide eyed and shuddered at the thought.
“In fact, where I grew up we had seasonal changes in temperature. In the summer it was about thirty degrees hotter than the comfortable level I keep on the ship, and in the winter it could plunge to temperatures well around your home world.”
“How does anything survive in a climate so varied?”
“With air conditioning and heaters.” he said smiling, “Anyway, humans slowly began to move north, and as they did the rays of the sun couldn’t cut so easily through the atmosphere, as they were angled. That meant less UV light actually making it to earth. Problem is, humans need the sun to create certain vitamins used in the body. Darker skin helped to block the sun's rays when they become too much, but when there is less sun it isn’t so easy, and so humans developed lighter skin tones that were more vulnerable to sun damage but more easily allowed for the creation of those vitamins. In addition humans in higher climates tend to be shorter and stockier to conserve heat.”
“So…. you can tell where a human comes from?”
“You can tell where their ancestors come from.”
“So your family is from a cold climate?”
He smiled, bright white teeth showing the light above, “Yep, my ancestry stretches back to Russia, Norway, and other assorted parts of north eastern europe, but my family has lived far away from those places or the past few thousand years.” He smiled, “And yes, I can trace my lineage that far back. We’ve had pretty good record keeping for the past few thousand years considering we have internet databases stretching back about that far, and massive archives.”
“Wow/” She muttered quietly, “And I don’t even know who my mother was.”
The human raised an eyebrow at her, but by that time she had already transitioned to looking and pointing at something or someone else. She loved looking at the humans, they were so diverse and strange, and there was always something new to see. Sometimes it was their clothes sometimes it was their skin, sometimes it was their hair,
Sunny, the big blue Drev, placed a hand on the human’s shoulder in a quick gesture, “I am going to go look for the parts, I’ll get back to you in a minute ok?”
“Cool, bring me a working leg when you do.”
“She snorted but nodded and walked off,while he and the others continued onward.”
Yeb lifted her head in wide eyed wonder watching as they passed down a dark hallway from the docking bay, and then out, into an absolutely massive room. It was so large they might as well have been outside, a huge curving room in the shape of a doughnut that went around for miles and miles in either direction. Much of the ceiling above the mwas covered in some sort of see through glass structure giving her a view of space outside,and the rest of the expansive station highlighted by thousands of stars and hundreds more blinking lights.
Voices echoed and warbled all around them as hundreds and thousands of people filtered through the station like slow moving ice water. The room was so large that they had even built structures on the inside, which rose up many stories into the air glittering with colorful neon lights. She saw hundreds of aliens slipping in and out of these buildings and passing overhead on catwalks high in the air, talking, chatting and walking together.
It was all so alien and she was so excited.
She almost fell off the back of the chair as her unfit feet and hands slipped off a climbing surface. A hand steadied her from behind, “Don’t get too excited.”
She was pleased to find after that that the humans were very interested in bringing her around and showing her all of the new things. WIth her ability to eat a wide variety of food, she even got to try and taste some of their more strange concoctions, both excited and repulsed by some of them.
They walked past another shop whose brightly glowing lights attracted her like a moth to a flame and she backpedaled. Sounds pulsed and throbbed around inside her head and brightly colored pictures decorated the walls. On the inside, she watched in wide eyed fascination as one human sat patiently arm exposed, as another inked a pattern onto their skin with a whirring machine. The colors they used fluoresed under the strange blue light above.
A hand on her shoulder, “that is probably a human tradition you don’t want to experience.”
“What?”
“Tattoos, injecting ink directly into your dermal layer through use of tiny needles.”
She cringed a bit, “Why?”
“Because you can get cool pictures.”
There was a hum from beside her as one of the other humans walked up, “Maybe not the tattoo, but…” She trailed off and pointed to the other side of the room where humans were sitting in chairs leaning back as other humans painted strange chemicals on their fur. One of them stood up, and when she did, her hair was long and blue.
Yeb stared, “You change your fur color!”
“Yeah all the time.”
Adam rolled up behind them, “I don’t know if that's a good idea, we don’t know what kind of chemicals….”
“Well there is only one way to find out.”
They turned to look at her, “Want to dye some of your fur a cool color?”
She was so excited all she could manage was a squeak. The thought was so strange and exciting. There was only one fur color on her planet, to think that she could just go and change it!
Why hadn’t her people thought of this!
“YES!”
Her enthusiasm seemed to surprise them, but with smiles they were very encouraging and walked in with her as one of the humans came to greet them, “What can we do for you.”
Maverick patted Yeb on the shoulder, “Our alien friend here would like to go a different color.”
The human looked down and started with a frown, “Er…. what…. What are you. You don’t look like any Tesraki I’ve ever seen.”
“That's because she’s not. A new species, just coming into the galactic community. Anyway what do you say?”
The human paused then shrugged, “Long as you sign a waiver saying that we aren't responsible for any allergic reactions or damage to the hair of an unknown species, then sure.”
They glanced at Yeb, and she waved it off, “Let's do it!”
It was probably a horrible idea to have a team of humans not exactly known for their good life choices cheering on a naive Tricar as she chose bright neon green which was supposed to be at its brightest on the top of her hair and fade down slowly to the furn on her back.
The humans were excited all around, and she drew a small crowd as they began the process.
She probably should have been more concerned not sure what the chemicals would do to her, but nothing ventured nothing gained: that was a human expression she had learned just a few minutes ago, and she really liked it.
Warm water ran through her fur, and then a strange sticky paste was applied to it. Shehad to sit around and wait for a little bit as the color set, and then sit around some more as they washed the residual color out. When they were finally finished, she was turned to face the mirror, and her eyes went wide again.
Her grey white fur, against the bright neon green!. She turned back and forth watching the light glitter over the bright color.
“Wow.”
“Wow.”
“Wat have we done.”
“I love it!” She exclaimed, leaping out of her seat to look at herself more readily in the mirror.
She watched as Adam leaned over in his seat and passed his arm over some sort of device.
Se assumed he was paying for it and was quite pleased walking out of the shop with her new fur enjoying the eyes on her as she passed.
It wasn’t long before some of their other companions returned. Sunny turning to look at Adam with a frown, “What did you do.”
He raised his hands, “Oh come on, its harmless, na look at how happy she is. Come on.”
Sunny rolled her eyes..
“Spirits give me strength.”
Yeb capered around the group, rubbing her paws through her newly colored fur. It didn’t feel any different, but she sure FELT different.
She was sure she was going to really enjoy all these strange human things.
Then again.
She had really only experienced the good things.
It would remain to be seen if she was going to be able to handle the darker side of humanity. 
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txtdiaries · 3 years
Text
Void - Chapter Three
SUMMARY | Amidst your world shattering to pieces, the boy you met long ago manages to fit everything back together again. Also - zombies. Lots and lots of zombies.
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PAIRING | Yeonjun X Reader feat. TXT
CATEGORY | apocalypse au, end of the world, survival, angst, romance, enemies to lovers, slow burn, etc.
WORD COUNT | 3.3k
WARNINGS | dark content, swearing, gore, weapon possession, etc.
A/N | So this hasn’t been proofread, but I hope there aren’t too many mistakes and u guys enjoy it anyway. Thanku for reading! <3 
SONG REC | Wires - The Neighbourhood
Preview / Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Three
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The sun is dipping behind the horizon, colors melting against sky as the car rolls along the freeway. The majority of the younger boys are asleep in the car, it is silent, and Yeonjun is stressed out.
Of course, who wouldn’t be? He almost lost his life to something that looked like it walked straight off the set of The Walking Dead. And Yeonjun has never forgotten his weapon - ever. It’s in that moment that he knows.
He has to get rid of the girl sitting in the passenger seat. Soon.
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The silence is uncomfortable as he drives. Neither is speaking, and even though he isn’t looking at her, he knows she isn’t asleep.
After a few minutes of the silence ticking along with the minutes, Yeonjun feels like he is going to burst. And then, finally, she speaks.
“Listen… uh- Yanjun-”
“My name is Yeonjun.” The older boy sneers, accent thickening as he enunciates his Korean name, still annoyed. He realizes just how annoyed he always is with her.
“Right, sorry! Yeonjun.” He stays quiet, letting her go on.
“I’m really sorry for what happened back there. I may have overreacted a little bit.”
Yeonjun scoffs as she continues, “And I just want to thank you for saving my life. I really appreciate it.”
The girl sticks her hand out as if he’s not driving, and after he gives it a side glance, she retracks it.
“Maybe we can be friends, you know, work together?”
Yeonjun almost swerves off the freeway at 90 MPH.
“Here’s how this is gonna work...” He searches her eyes for a second, noticing how she sits up straighter. She replies quickly with a, “Y/N.”
“Okay, Y/N, this isn’t some fucked up stockholm syndrome situation. I didn’t tie you up and throw you in the back of my Jeep because I thought you were too precious to save, and I definitely didn’t do it because I wanted you with us. I did it because it was the only option, got it?”
The girl blinks at him.
“It was the only option, and at this point you’re just deadweight to us now, okay? We aren’t going to work together, and we sure as hell aren’t going to be friends.”
It’s silent for a lot longer this time, before Yeonjun hears the girl reply back in a whisper, “If I’m just deadweight to you, why did you save me?”
“Jun, where are we?” Soobin grumbles suddenly from the backseat, stirring a bit as he starts to wake up.
“Just about there, Soobin. Go back to sleep.” Yeonjun replies as he pulls off of I-86 and into what seems like the local college town of the area. He decides to ignore the girl’s question as he turns on the radio. Of course, it’s just the low sound of static, but it’s better than listening to her questions again.
The farther Yeonjun drives into the town, the more he starts to notice the tattered college flags hanging from the unlit street lamps, and all of the broken windows in every building they pass. As he drives with caution, Yeonjun can tell how eerily quiet it is, apart from the radio. He spots the girl looking out the window, and decides to do the same, allowing himself to survey their surroundings.
A few home style diners and restaurants dot the blocks they pass, along with small gas stations (probably empty), and a few fast food places as well. The road guides him to a gentle curve, and then he realizes that he’s going in the direction of an underpass. For some insane reason he doesn’t completely understand, the lights along the inside leading to the other side are on, and they guide him to something that is shocking for him to see. The underpass opens back up at the end in a way Yeonjun can only feel like exiting a time machine would be. The tunnel cuts off, barren and with the walking path fences on either side rusted and destroyed.
But that’s not the part Yeonjun is paying attention to.
The buildings are breathtaking. They are old stone, brick, and clearly had been worked on to keep their vintage roots. One of the buildings on the right has huge archway windows on the second floor, which the moon reflects off beautifully. The street lamps are winded with decorative mistletoe, but the ribbons attached are tattered and almost black. Yeonjun sees what used to be bars, restaurants, all different colors. Green, red, and a pretty maroon color. He’s almost sad to see all of this - to get a glimpse of the real world back in front of him.
The farther he drives, the worse it gets. The town is beautiful, and he can only imagine how beautiful it used to be in the world before.
“This is old town.” The girl says softly from the passenger seat as Yeonjun approaches a huge park, even more trees on display and decorative lamps. He almost thinks he sees a fountain before he looks back at the girl.
“What did you say?”
“Old town. Like, downtown. The original one for the city.”
“How…” Yeonjun is surprised the girl knows as his curiosity intensifies.
“I uh… I used to live here. I went to college here.” She clarifies, avoiding his gaze now.
The older boy is even more surprised than he was before. She looked old enough to be in college, but he didn’t even consider it. Someone else having a life before all of this, much like he did. He never considered it until now.
“Up ahead it’ll take you to the fairly decent houses, lots of cops and bankers used to live on this side of town, but the houses will be trashed most likely. The long road past that will take you up the mountain to the super rich houses on top. Those might have some food and supplies, but it’s more dangerous. The high school is to the right, but the college is back around the way we came. Up to you.” She nods, not speaking anymore. Yeonjun is surprised she’s even helping him, but he hadn’t thought that far ahead.
“Thank you.” He says awkwardly, turning back around the way they came. He figures the college is their best bet. More buildings to search for safety in, and all relatively close to the gas stations.
She says nothing as he makes his way back toward the college.
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The drive to the campus is somehow more tense than before, and Yeonjun is grateful when they finally pull into the main parking lot, in front of a building labeled, Museum of Natural History.
“The SUB is up ahead.” The girl speaks flatly, and Yeonjun gives her a confused look.
“Student Union Building. They have an event center inside, super spacious, just incase.” She clarifies, looking at him again.
“Sorry, I just never went to college before this all happened…” He explains, finally parking the Jeep.
The parking lot extends to a walkway that goes under the second floor of the SUB, and Yeonjun finds himself parking there to keep the car hidden. It’s almost like the whole slab of the SUB’s second floor is covering the walkway for a few yards, and then connects to the neighboring Museum’s second floor too. Past the end of it all, he sees a grand cement staircase leading up to the side door of the building. It’s perfect.
He pushes the gearstick into park and finally cuts the engine, sitting silent for a few moments.
The smaller girl is still gazing out the windshield, eyes scanning along the huge quad slowly.
“Is it weird to be back here?” Yeonjun doesn’t know why he asks, but he can clearly see the girl is visibly upset as she has her hands bundled in fists.
Without answering, she unlatches her seatbelt, swings open the door, and steps into the cold. After her feet hit the ground and she slams the door closed, the rest of the boys in the back groggily come to.
“We’re here.” Yeonjun sighs, turning on the upper light and pocketing the keys, “Grab your stuff, we’re setting up camp for the night.”
And then he’s getting out of the car himself, slamming his door and heading for the trunk.
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“Hyung look, there’s a giant tiger statue back there!” Kai says with excitement, motioning back through the door they just came in through.
“It’s a Bengal.” Y/N corrects the youngest boy before leading the group farther in the empty building. The inside is pitch black, but the moonlight allows Yeonjun to see their surroundings, just barely.
To their right there is a huge staircase leading to the lowest level of the building, and a long hallway filled with multiple tables and chairs, like a huge eating area. Next to the help desk in front of them, small restaurants are grouped side by side as the window parallel shines even more light on all of the walls. The girl drags them to the left, taking them toward the offices and hallway that lie ahead.
“Fuck.” She says when she finally sees the door. It is bolted shut, with wooden planks and furniture piled against it. There is no way they’re getting in.
“Plan B?” Yeonjun asks annoyingly, making the girl brush past him, feet stomping along the way.
“Shut the fuck up, will you?” She snaps as she drags them back past all the small food places, leading them toward a staircase near the side of the building. Yeonjun can’t help but make another snarky comment at her. Soobin laughs under his breath. The youngest boys look shocked.
“Doesn’t this place have elevators?”
She glares at him when he speaks again, and juts her chin to the elevator along the right wall as they walk into the stairwell, saying nothing as she climbs up the stairs.
The boys all follow her, saying nothing at their interaction.
“Hey, Y/N, do you know where we’re going now?” Soobin speaks up, his voice timid as he catches up to the angry girl.
“Yep. Clearly the elevators don’t work but the top floor is our safest bet. There are tons of big rooms where we’ll be safe in. Unless you guys wanna spend the night in the bowling alley or the movie theater.” She throws in the last options offhandedly, knowing both will just be annoying to settle down for the night.
The two youngests perk up at this though, all voicing their excitement.
“There’s really a bowling alley and a movie theater here? This place was so awesome.”
“It is awesome.” Y/N clarifies, swallowing thickly before she leads the rest of the boys up the remainder of the flights.
Once on the top floor, Yeonjun knows why the girl chose it for their spot. There are dozens of lined rooms down the hall on either of them, and huge windows that show the entire campus and more, the land extending for miles upon miles. He can even see the mountain just off campus, trees swaying in the wind.
“Here you go.” She says, finally shrugging off the backpack she was actually able to retrieve from the trunk, “Home sweet hallway.”
The largest room is to their right, which gives them a view of both doors on either side of the hallway. Yeonjun nods a bit before appointing the group to set up their own sleeping bags and spaces.
The three youngest always stick together, all chatting about whatever is on their mind as they set up their sleeping bags, and Yeonjun notices that Soobin is back to chatting with Y/N easily, saying something he can’t pick up as he starts laying out his sleeping bag as well.
It’s like that for a few minutes, all of the boys laying out their sleeping bags, whipping their blankets in the air to get it into shape before laying it on the thin material of their makeshift bed. Yeonjun honestly cannot wait to sleep. He’s so tired, he doesn’t even think much about the fact that they can’t eat dinner. He hopes they will be able to find some food tomorrow.
“Hey Jun?” Soobin asks, catching the attention of the older boy as he looks up toward him.
“Where is Y/N going to sleep?”
All eyes settle on the girl sitting criss-cross on the floor, shivering lightly with her coat draped over her shoulders. Soobin frowns at Yeonjun before motioning toward her obviously, and the older boy just sighs.
“It’s not my problem Soob-”
“She can sleep in my sleeping bag if she wants.” The younger boy offers, already looking back toward the girl again. Yeonjun feels his heart leap up into his throat. He has to try hard to not eagerly deny the fact that she very much cannot sleep with Soobin.
It’s not that Soobin is a bad guy - quite the opposite actually. And the last thing Yeonjun needs is to hear the girl giggling from Soobin’s goofy antics all night long. No, he will not have that.
“She’ll sleep with me.” Yeonjun says firmly, nodding before he kicks off his shoes and places them next to his flimsy little blanket layers on the ground.
“Not happening.” Y/N finally speaks up, glaring at Yeonjun, “I’d rather get mauled by a zombie.”
“Be my guest then, that is, if you don’t freeze first.”
Yeonjun grins sarcastically at the shivering girl, and even though she is wearing multiple layers, he knows she’lll still be freezing if she doesn’t contain enough heat to get her through the night.
“Jun.” Soobin tries to interject, but the blue-haired boy just glares at him.
“Not a debate, Soobin. Go to sleep.”
The tallest boy looks sadly at the girl, before turning on his back away from her. The rest of the boys do the same, leaving her shivering in silence.
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Yeonjun doesn’t know what time it is when he feels movement from his side. His eyes snap open in fear quick enough, though, and he almost reaches for his bat next to him before a soft voice breaks through the darkness.
“Jesus, relax. It’s just me.”
The girl’s teeth are chattering as she crawls under the layers of blankets Yeonjun has above his body, and he doesn’t say anything as the side of her body is suddenly flush against his.
“Thought you’d rather be mauled to death.” He rasps, still half asleep as he nuzzles further into the blanket.
“Shut up, will you?” The girl responds, voice still low so she doesn’t wake the others.
It is quiet for a while, both of them just breathing together. Yeonjun doesn’t know if it’s awkward, but he’s too tired to care. After driving for so long, it starts to take its toll.
“Yeonjun?” The girl says softly, causing the older boy to glance over at her. She sighs before speaking again, “Who were you before all of this?”
The boy blinks at her, mind reeling before he stares up at the tiled ceiling again.
Does he want to do this? Does he really want to open up to the girl who he can’t help but fight with every single second?
He doesn’t have much of a choice as he opens his mouth, and his exhausted body starts speaking honestly.
“I lived in Korea.” He explains, but he doesn’t know why she cares enough to ask. He doesn’t know why he cares enough to explain. He wouldn’t have asked about her, but it’s clear she had other intentions.
“I worked for a company called Big Hit. It’s like a company that trains and creates Idols. Kind of like celebrity performers.”
The girl listens intently to his words, not speaking as he goes on.
“This was our first debut, coming to America. I always dreamed about coming back. I studied in California for a few years when I was younger, but it was always my dream to come back. You know you’ve made it when you make it in America.”
Yeonjun shifts to his side to get more comfortable, and suddenly realizes how close they actually are. He can feel the girl’s breath across his cheeks, and he has to keep himself from pulling away with anxiety.
“I- um… the rest of the boys were in a group with me. We were all idols. But when the virus hit, we got stranded here. Our managers died in a car accident, and we were lucky to make it out alive. We all just want to go back home.”
He doesn’t know why, but somehow he can’t stop. Maybe it’s the way she’s looking at him, listening, or because he hasn’t talked to anyone like this in a long time.
“I loved dancing. I trained as an Idol for years, but it was all worth it because I loved it. Before all of this, I studied really hard, and I enjoyed hip hop the most. It was my favorite to dance to. Just being able to move my body freely to the music, I loved every second of it.”
Yeonjun stops now, not really knowing what else to say. He feels embarrassed, a bit flustered, and he tries to take the attention off of him as he asks, “Who were you before all of this, Y/N?”
The girl is still, eyes glossed over as she bites her lip a bit. Yeonjun can see it’s hard for her to talk about it, but she still does. She still opens up to him, because he did to her.
“I was… I was a student. I worked my ass off at community college to come here, and I got scholarships and grants just to be able to live here on my own. I had a rough time in high school, but college was supposed to change everything for me. I was living alone, trying to make friends, and just attempting to start my life. I came from a small town, where people get trapped like poison. No one comes out of my hometown unless they’re willing to risk everything for it.”
Yeonjun can feel his heart beating steadily against his ribcage as the girl speaks, and he can’t help but feel understood by her. He takes a deep breath to stomp the feeling down.
“I remember I was so excited to finally start. I was studying marketing and creative writing. I loved writing so much, I was so excited to be able to do what I loved. It may not seem like much, this town, but it’s all I had. It was the only chance I had at becoming someone else - someone better.”
She looks over at Yeonjun suddenly, and is surprised when he nods for her to continue.
“I grew up in this state my whole life, and my only goal was to leave. All I ever wanted was to leave.”
The smaller girl can’t help but get choked up, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down. Yeonjun easily slides the blanket farther over her shoulder, hoping the softness will comfort her a bit.
It takes a bit for her to finish, but once she does, Yeonjun knows she is exhausted.
“So that was it. I made it here, and then the virus stole it all from me. My education, my family. All the hope I had. Just… gone.” She says, eyes now closed as she lies next to him. He doesn’t know what to say, and he truly doesn’t think anything he can say will make her feel any better.
“You should rest.” He whispers to her, hand moving up before he realizes what he’s doing.
Before Yeonjun knows it, he’s wrapping his arm halfway across the girl, holding across her chest in a hug, his hand holding onto her right shoulder gently.
He slightly expects her to swear at him. He also expects her to punch him in the face.
She does neither.
Instead, her breathing evens out, and she falls asleep like that. With her body finally warm next to Yeonjun’s, and a single tear slipping down the side of her cheek.
Yeonjun allows himself to fall into a deep slumber soon after.
After all, tomorrow, they have to get a move on.
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dropsofletters · 3 years
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how to lose someone in seven steps? | prologue
— summary: love-induced heartbreak is one of the most overrated things to ever be talked about, and she doesn’t get why most of her friends take up on such conversations with sighs following every statement. relationships aren’t something to linger on—but when one of her friends dares her to make one of their infamous exes, whom they had a hard time getting over with, fall in love with her, she takes up on the challenge. earning them? easy. losing them? even easier.
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— title: how to lose someone in seven steps? — pairing: wayv x reader (depending on whose route you select) — genre: bet!au ; strangers to friends to lovers!au ; love experiment!au (and other au’s depending on the routes) — type: fluff ; romance ; humor ; drama ; angst (varying according to the route) — word count: 2,821
She once said she’d die the day she fell in love.
It’s one of those rare concepts that her literature teacher loved gushing about when she wrote them on paper. Dying for love, actually, has been romanticized for as long as she can remember. Think The Notebook or Romeo and Juliet—hell, even The Walking Dead could enter in this category in some of their episodes. The toxicity of such matter, however, goes past what she has ever wanted to portray when saying those words. She’d die if she ever were to fall in love.
Because, falling in love feels like dying, and though she hasn’t lived it, she can tell by the look on her friends’ eyes whenever they got their heart stepped on, munched, bitten, spat out at their feet—whatever. Promises of never going through the same thing lived inside her head when she had to push one of her friend’s hair back to have them throw up on the club’s flooring, crying after a break-up. Or, rather, when she saw one of her friends skimming through Instagram for the twelfth time that day and, yes, absolutely, her boyfriend is, still, liking the pictures of a bunch of women with cup sizes bigger than hers.
It’s unnecessary. People dream about it, hear songs about it, but they never quite think about how much they could avoid if they didn’t go around seeking for love, or for one-time-things that will only end up in another person getting entangled. It’s the common mistake of never getting to know another person well, and hence, never getting to know oneself nicely enough. Love starts from the moment we give our first breath.
As of currently, her friend Ada can’t breathe. Or, well, she can—but she chooses not to as she downs yet another shot and weeps at the memory of her latest break up.
The food settled on the table in between the group of eight women smells delicious, but no one has payed enough attention to the meal itself and rather, downed a few drinks for the sake of making Ada feel better. With her makeup running down her chubby cheeks, her once long brown hair cut into a bob after the break-up that has kept her crying for the past two days, and her hands shakingly reaching for the soju to pour some more, she finally takes the first bite of the salad she had ordered, eyes glimpsing at what she never wants to have.
Heartbreak is the ugliest, yet most overrated, thing that could ever happen in this world.
The kind of beauty a woman possesses when getting into a relationship erases itself when she’s out of it. It’s momentary, sure, she’s well aware that Ada will go back to her bubbly, adorable self one of these days, but it’s neither tomorrow nor the next day. “I—I just don’t get it—” And, preferably, the people on the table next to them must not get it as well. They have been snooping on what Ada has been worrying about for the past thirty minutes. “The sex was good. The kisses were good. I just—Why did he have to be such an asshole at the end?”
Ada believes in happy endings, though. When they were children—and she’s one of her oldest friends—, she’d always dress up as Cinderella on Halloween, throwing her shoe around in hopes of someone catching it and looking for her. No one did, but one can only dream. “Baby,” Elena, the classiest of the group, takes out a small handkerchief from her purse before patting it against Ada’s moist cheeks. “That’s what you get for dating an exotic dancer. Who thinks an exotic dancer is going to settle down for them?” She pushes her long black hair away from her shoulders, her porcelain skin matching the deep burgundy of her plush lips. Elena’s beauty is unmatchable.
“I did, b—but…” There it is, the worry, the excuses that come with dating a man. “But Yukhei just seemed different. He always talked about his dreams…and about how pretty he thought I was. It just—” Before she could refill her glass with soju, she takes the bottle away from her.
Heartbreak may have never reached her, but she’s not letting it affect her friend. “Ada, stop it. Enough alcohol for today. Grab a bite or something.”
“Ah!” Ada, as dramatic as always, pushes her head back. “Stop babying me, you’ve all been in this position. Just let me motherfucking drink—!”
Elena sighs from her spot, fingertips running over the glassed table of the restaurant they’re in. Red curtains over glassed windows who trail over the lightened-up city, matching the champagne colored walls. “I didn’t act like this when I broke up with Kun.”
Yifei, who has just come back to the table after a smoke break, ruffles the curled up strands of her bleached blonde hair before scoffing. “That’s because you didn’t love Kun, honey.” Taking her bomber jacket off, she lets her tattoos be on full display, roses and thorns the most outstanding one. “You’ll know what real love is when they leave you for someone else, not when you’re the one leaving.”
“…Damn.” Ada whispers from her spot, licking the outline of her shot glass before sighing. “Did Kun Hang hurt you that much?”
Yifei has thick skin, hurts in ways that no one ever notices, and her love affair from four years ago still lingers within her. “It’s not exactly pain, but when your high school love admits that he’s been in love with this old ass businesswoman for the entirety of your months-long relationship, it hurts.”
“That was four years ago,” Elena answers, swatting her hand in the air. “Besides, I was in love with Kun, but contrary to your two guys…he loved too much. I felt like I was being constricted and, girls, I am a chef—” Pride bleeds from her every word when she takes a sip of her pink champagne. “I know when bad things are cooking up, and Kun was a big red sign for clingy.”
A hiss leaves her lips then, rubbing her hands together. “Oh, damn, we’re getting good spice today, aren’t we? Tearing your exes apart!”
It’s fun—it’s the kind of activity they have to do to have Ada smiling at them. “Well, Ada, now that you’re single, some advice:” Liying speaks from her spot, fixing her perfectly sleeked back bun just to grab a bite of the immaculately prepared carbonara pasta in front of them, twirling her fork in the air. “Never go for younger guys. I went for a college guy, thinking that because he didn’t have much experience, he’d go to me, and because he was rich as all hell, I thought he’d pay for everything…” Liying’s voice trails dangerously, her face without an ounce of makeup scrunching up in disgust. “But younger guys? They’re insecure, end of story.”
It’s a bit difficult to remember who had swept Liying off her feet, considering she’s now happily in a relationship with a journalist. “Who was that again?” She asks, well aware that she is the only one who has stayed single for the majority of their friendship, and Liying turns to the side to look at her.
“Liu Yangyang. Rich nightmare.”
Yifei whistles from her side. “But he was rich. That’s always a plus.”
“Not when he’s always texting you, Yifei.” Liying conquers, pursing her lips in the process. “Like, babe, like, are you sure that you didn’t, like, sleep with someone while I was in Germany? Like, babe, really, like, it is better if you just tell me. Like. Like. Like.” She repeats over and over again, and it’s at this moment that her brain clicks. Right. Liu Yangyang…Liying had introduced her to him once at her birthday event, but she doesn’t remember much from him.
The women around the table burst with laughter, and she looks towards another one of her friends, trying to make Ada feel better. “This group of friends was formed because we all have shitty tastes in men,” Angela instructs, moving her bangs off her forehead to showcase her big eyes, wetting her lips with her drink before hissing. “You remember my ex Ten, Ada? Sometimes, when we slept together, I used to think he was actually getting off to the thought of himself.”
Elena actually snorts at those words, and to have elegant Elena Wang give such reaction means that it is something truly interesting. “No way!”
“Yes! He was too vain. Everything he said was amen.” Angela raises her hands in the air, sighing deeply. “I was saved the day he decided to break up with me.”
She turns to the quiet woman to the side, Shishi’s platinum hair cascading down her back, her thick eyeliner definitely something outstanding about her. “What about you, Shishi?”
“I broke up with someone not too long ago…” The quiet woman says, though the entire table already knows about that.
Yifei groans. “Come on, Shishi, let it out!”
“Fencer asshole.” Shishi, who rarely cusses, lets it out in the air, wrapping her hand snugly around her fork. “Xiao Dejun liked every woman who had good makeup skills. Wear red lipstick and you’re ready to get on his good list.”
Someone lifts their gaze from her phone—Bingbing, happily in a relationship for the last two years, lover of men with smart mouths to carry on with her perfect texting skills. “Can I talk shit about my ex, too?”
“Aren’t you happily married?” She questions, only to have Bingbing waving her phone in the air.
“And I’m keeping my relationship alive because of what I learned.” Bingbing replies, pushing her body forward and resting her head on her interlocked hands. “If a man is hard to decipher, he’s just not that into you. Men are simple creatures, you see.”
“Word to that!” Ada says from her spot, a hiccup following soon after. “Men are simple creatures, because they can’t be considered human.”
For a moment, silence falls around the table and she takes this time to lose herself in the taste of lettuce, tomato and onions sliced together into a perfect concoction with rosy sauce on top. Only when she takes a big bite, downing it with a bit of water, does she realize that all pair of eyes are settled on her. Fourteen eyes capturing her every move is already enough of a terrifying visual.
“What?” Her voice lifts a bit after she says those words, patting a napkin against her lips in case there is something on her lips.
Ada rolls her eyes, too much alcohol taking away her dulcet features. “Babe, tell us about your biggest heartbreak. The biggest asshole you’ve met.”
For a moment, she tries to think. The last date she had was over a year ago…and after losing her time with someone who actually didn’t want to be with her, she cut things off. Not that it hurt, just that she simply decided not to continue dating. It’s a waste of time, seriously.
“I’ve never…had anyone break my heart. If you don’t let anyone do that, it doesn’t happen.” Or so she wants to believe. She never wants to give anyone the benefit of the doubt.
“Come on,” Ada replies, taking her phone out of her pocket and looking for something before turning the screen to her. “Tell me you wouldn’t fall for someone like this. You just have dated people who are not worth a heartbreak, I guess.” A golden skinned man meets her vision, and it’s the first time she has seen Yukhei. His brown hair parts naturally, the dimly lit room letting her see the curve of his plush lips, the straightness of his nose and his big, almost doe, eyes. A glint of sweat trails up his biceps as he places one hand on his head, his collarbones on full display on the picture, and though the image does not go lower, she can tell he’s shirtless.
Attractive and yet, she shrugs. “Too typically handsome. I wouldn’t consider him my type.”
“What she wants is the absolute opposite,” Elena says, already rummaging through her social media. “A goody-two-shoes who would leave everything behind for you: Qian Kun.”
This time around, she gets to see a picture directly from Instagram. This guy’s hair is darker, sporting a chef’s uniform as he lifts a tray of food up into the air. Exquisite at its finest, but he’s not bad looking in any way. Slim lips welcoming a big smile, eyes twinkling in innocence, looking too posh to ever make a mistake. “…Not bad, I like the dimple. He seems too good to break your heart, though.”
“What about an artistic guy?” Angela says from her spot, showing her own phone but from another account. This breakup must’ve been messier, she guesses. “I’m sure you’d get your heart broken by Ten. He’s just…too risqué, you fall for him without thinking.”
This man is seated on a leather couch, a camera up to his face, one of his eyes squinted but the one that is opened lets her see the cat-shaped form of them. His lips are slim, though the glimmer of his cheeks is the perfect highlight, tattoos shaping his form, his legs ones to desire. “Nah, he couldn’t break my heart even if he wanted to.”
It becomes a competition, with Shishi rushing to find the pictures she saved on her phone of her latest relationship, clinging to the side of a man in a white uniform. His eyes are an enigma, though the smile on his face is sweet, his brown hair pushed away from his face. “What about the fencer asshole, Xiao Dejun?”
“He’s okay.”
Then, Liying refreshes her memory of Liu Yangyang. Seated in between a big group of people with a smile on his face, his surroundings rich enough to point out in what kind of party he is, the suit on his body deep blue like the ocean. “What about younger guys? Maybe, she just needs someone who is reckless—”
“I’d crush his heart.” Overconfidence starts to take up on her, taking a sip of her drink. “Give me a better shot.”
Yifei, one of her latest options, pushes her phone forward. “What about Kun Hang?”
She remembers Kun Hang, and the man may be gorgeous—but his goofy ways don’t figure him out as a heartbreaker. “We’d be great friends. I doubt we’d even get together.”
“Last chance, ladies!” Bingbing stands from her seat to get over her, wrapping one arm around her shoulder before showing her the screen. This man is more simplistic, his black hair covering most of his forehead, though the prettiness of his face is not to be missed, plump lips, nicely rounded cheeks, and a look on his eyes that screams ‘boy-next-door’. “Is Dong Sicheng the kind of guy who’d break your heart?”
“Girls,” She says, pushing Bingbing’s phone away before chuckling. “You just give people the power to hurt you. I could make any of these men cry for me if I just put my mind into it. Heartbreak is mental, no matter how much people try to say it isn’t.”
Shishi deadpans, then. “Break one of their hearts and we’ll believe you.”
Ada must have seen a goddess right at that moment, with wings and promises that have her widening her eyes and smacking her hands against the table. God, she’ll be lucky if people stop looking at them for once tonight. “Yes! You can pick someone and break their hearts, and teach us your ways!”
“I doubt this is a good idea…” Elena whispers, though Ada shakes her head.
“Raise your hand if you want her to break your ex’s heart.”
Six hands are raised, and Elena raises it with one final sigh.
It’s one of those ‘a rush in the moment’ things, when adrenaline pumps inside her body too quickly and she’s overexcited. Very rarely does someone feel like this in adulthood—as if youth and power lasts forever, so she puts one hand forward. “Put all your phones down with the pictures of the guys whose heart you want me to break, and I’ll pick someone.”
Cheers fill the air for the tale of a bad idea given by alcohol, but she feels powerful, staring at a group of men that she doesn’t know—men she should hate for breaking the hearts of those whom she loves. It shouldn’t be that difficult, right? If they were able to break her friends’ hearts, she can do the same thing.
Her hand hovers in the air, pondering, seeing, letting her mind choose who would be the easiest, who deserves it the most. A challenge, that’s what she wants—
And a smile appears on her face when she grabs certain phone.
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elena-reina · 4 years
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Worth It - Draco Malfoy x Reader
Request: (1/3) heyyy, can you do an imagine that draco comforts you for having depression for whatever reason and one day he saw you standing on the roof of hog warts almost leaping off the balcony but he catches you in time (you can create the ending) thank u if you do!! :)) - Anon
(2/3) Can you do a one shot where Draco knows about the readers eating disorder and he helps her overcome it? I hope that makes sense, I love your stories so much, please don't stop writing! - Anon
(3/3) Yay, you’re back! I was wondering if you could do a Draco Malfoy x reader where he finds her self harming? I get it if you aren’t comfortable - Anon
Warnings: Very triggering- read with caution please, depression- suicide related, anorexia, self-harm
A/N: PLEASE READ! These three all fall under the same category for me, so I just combined them. I just want to make it clear that I am not, in any way, romanticizing or making it seem as though I am pro self-harm whatsoever; I purely write whatever requests come in. To those that do, I know you’ve got a lot going on and there is a lot of emotions, trauma, and hurt; believe me I know a lot about it. But it gets better, I promise you. It always gets better. Incase you all haven’t heard it, I love you, I care about you, and I know you’re strong enough to make it through anything. If anyone needs to talk, my messages are always open and again don’t ever think you’re not enough or worth it because you all are golden. You were put on this earth for a reason :)
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Just another day on top of another.
Yawning, you lightly scratched your head and stood in front of your mirror in your dorm room; nothing covered you besides your undergarments. Looking up and down your body completely still, you wouldn’t be able to tell there was anything wrong. You lifted your arm and looked at your wrist leading down your forearm; the markings covered the insides of your arms and varied in color, shape, and size. Some of them were old, obvious by how they shined and caught light at just the right angle. Some were bright red and bold, there was no denying it. Most were about a month old, looking like a cat scratched you and drew blood; which would be believeable considering you owned a cat- Pumpkin; some you could also blame on an accident. 
Well, what kind of accident?
Well, you didn’t have that answer. Not as if anyone were to ask anyways due to the fact that you kept them hidden in the first place.
You started at your feet, averting your eyes from your own reflection. Your feet were bony and thin, like the rest of your body. Raising your gaze, you winced at the emaciated figure that stared back at yourself. 
What had you let yourself become? 
To others, you looked sickly. 
Had you come to Hogwarts like this initially? No. It was harder to hide it at home, so your mind never crossed it other than maybe dark thoughts here and there.
Did you have a good life at home? Well, that’s subjective. You had a roof over your head, clothes on your back, and food in the fridge. All the necessary things to provide as a necessity to live.
But did you have genuine friends, loving parents, and a place to call home? No.
Your once plump and vibrant self, now looked thin to the bone. Once the soul becomes so thin, the body will inevitably follow in its footsteps like a wandering toddler, learning and adapting from the shadows within. Instead of a growing sense of ultimate self-love, self-worth, or self-positivity, the soul doesn’t have the strength to ascend upwards to health anymore. And so it is extremely hard to eat more, even when it is a simple bite at a time; drink more, with a tiny sip of water needed to survive; live more, the simple act of breathing eventually gets difficult from time to time; and ultimately hard to listen to that part of yourself that wants to stay alive and be loved.
Would you still go to the Grand Hall? Well of course, if there was one thing you hated more than yourself was unwanted attention. Part of you belives it’s your fault that you don’t have friends soley because of how introverted you are. And with the friends, well friend, that you do have just so happens to be the person most people don’t get along with; Draco Malfoy.
What’re the odds.
There definitely was more to it than just being “friends” with Draco, but neither of you fully acknowledged it. He knew about your eating disorder, and he tries his best to help you, encouraging you every step of the way- even when you blatantly push him away.
You never asked for help- Not that he cared if you did or didn’t anyway.
Turning away from the mirror, you slipped on your white button up shirt making sure to clip the button around your wrist, taking attention away for your skin. Sliding on your skirt, Y/H tie, and your Y/H robe, you were ready to head down for breakfast. 
Your hand rested on the cold metal door knob, as you stared at the small piece of silver metal on top of your dresser; whom you have a terrible relationship with. You bit your lip, hesitating. You knew you shouldn’t take it. You knew you shouldn’t have it on you because it will only ingite triggers. 
Fuck it.
You quickly walked over to your dresser and picked up the sharp piece to put in your pocket. Spinning on your heel, you headed on out of the room and to the Grand Hall.
You walked through the aisles, and immediately met with Draco’s eyes. He lit up and waved you over to your usual seat right beside him. He scooted over, patting the space next to him as you sat down. He grinned, happy to see you.
“G’morning, Y/N,” he said pulling you into a tight hug. He was always careful when touching you because he felt like he could snap you in half if he were to be too rough on you.
You smiled warmly, breathing in his calming smell. “Good morning, Draco.”
“Alright, I know we’ve been doing baby steps for the longest time, but I think you are just about ready,” he spoke.
You furrowed your eyebrows. “What’re you talking about?”
He leaned over the table and placed food onto your plate, more than he’s put on the last times. Before it would just be pieces of fruit here and there, maybe a piece of sausage; but this time he put a waffle, more fruit, and two slices of bacon.
Your stomach gurgled for the food, desperate to be full off of something. But at the same time, you felt sick to your stomach.
“Draco, this is too much. I’m not even all that hungry. We had a big dinner the night before remember?”
“Nonesense, you literally only ate a handfull of rice and two small pieces of asparagus last night. Even my owl eats more than that,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes.
You stared at your plate, leaning back. Your tongue felt dry, despite your cup of water being right in front of you. Your throat felt as if someone thrust a handful of itching powder down and it was dying to be coughed out. If possible, you could sit in the chair for fifteen hours straight; you just weren’t in the mood to eat.
“Listen, you don’t have to eat it all, but please try for me.”
You nodded and picked up your fork, stabbing to the orange melon. Bringing it to your lips, you slowly chewed as your stomach was growling in pleasure being finally fed. 
Draco cheered you on with every bite, causing you to laugh. He wanted to distract you so that you focused less on what you’re eating and more on conversing with him so you weren’t as distracted with how much you were eating.
Eventually, you finished about half the waffle, all your fruit, and had no more bacon left. You were surprised at yourself when you looked back at your plate and then to him.
“I’m so proud of you! You ate more than I expected- not that I am complaining, I’m definitely not because I am really happy for you,” he quickly chuckled, “Maybe tomorrow we can put two waffles.” He nudged the side of your bony rib jokinly.
“Ha ha very funny,” you joked, rolling your eyes. 
After some time, you had to go to class. Sadly, you didn’t share many classes with Draco if at all. Walking into potions, you sat in your usual seat in the back of the room. As usual, there were always a few Slytherin’s that would pester you  solely because you were one of the few people in the school who was able to even share the same space as Draco; it was pure jealousy but you didn’t have a say in anything, or even how your friendship blossomed in the first place.
“Y/L/N,” Daphne sneered, leaning close to your face.
You really tried your best to focus on your Potions book but the group of girls that taunt you every single day just so happened to want to be extra annoying and sit around you. And when I say around you, I mean literally in front of you, next to you, on both sides, and even behind you. You lifted your head from your hand to looked at Daphne in front of you, considering she was right in your face. You opened your mouth to speak, but she beat you to it.
“I really don’t understand how us purebloods are forced to associate with people like you rotting mudbloods,” she giggled, making a disgusted expression as she said the last part. Her friends burst out into obnoxious laughter. 
You weren’t even a mudblood. You had friends who weren’t magical, but that only led people to paint you as a mudblood.
"Can’t say anything? Can’t stick up for yourself Y/L/N? My goodness, do you even speak or is that too hard for you?” Sarah on the side of you asks, awaiting your response, “I see the way you have Draco baby you. It’s pathetic really.”
They took your silence as an answer and continued but this time it was Heather behind you. "See, she doesn’t even deny it,” she snickered, "Just look at you. I don’t see what he sees in you. You look like, I don’t even know how to say it, a walking pole-”
“No, a broken twig!” Daphne interjected, laughing.
“Yes a broken twig!” Heather continued, slowly enunciating each word, “Nothing but a pathetic, filthy, mudblood who pretends to be sick just to get the attention from those who actually matter.” 
Each word felt like a stab in an open wound over and over again, being thrusted through your entire body. Tears welled up in your eyes as you blankly stared down at your Potions book, threatening to fall at any given moment. 
“What? Cat’s still got your tongue?” Alicia from the other side of you jerked, shoving on your roughly causing you to bump into Sarah. Sarah let out a disgusted groan and pushed you back off of her.
“Gross! Do not touch me!” she gagged, as Heather joined in and pushed you to the point that you fell out of your seat and roughly onto the floor with a loud smack.
“HEY! LEAVE HER ALONE!” someone in the classroom, whom you recognized as Justin Finch-Fletchley, spoke loudly finally witnessing what was happening.
Tears silently cascaded down your cheeks. He quickly jogged over to you as the mean girls dispersed to a different part of the classroom snickering together.
“Are you alright?” he asked concerned, extending his arm out towards you. You looked at his hand through blurry eyes and nodded, lightly grabbing onto him. He helped you to your feet. Grabbing onto your book, you turned and rushed out of the room and headed in the direction of the bathroom.
Keeping you head low, you sped walked, and crashed into someone that sent you flying to the floor. Choking over your tears, you didn’t bother to look at who it was and instead rushed to find your Potions book and hurry out of there.
“Y/N?” that familiar voice spoke.
Draco.
You still avoided eyecontact as you kept searching to your book only to find him holding onto it, to give to you. Standing up, you straightened out your skirt. Lightly grabbing it, you whispered a quiet thank you and tried to continue down the hallway. He stopped you grabbing onto your arm, alarmed.
“Woah, wait. What’s going on, what happened, what’s wrong?” he asked all at once as he watched the translucent tears glide down the sides of your face. You stood straight.
“Please, let me go,” you spoke softly, your voice slightly cracking.
“Was someone saying bullshit to you? Did someone hurt you? Because you know I’m always here for you and I’ll make sure they don’t say anything to or about you ever again.” He growls getting angrier by the second.
“I just really want to be left alone, Draco. I’m sorry,” you said snatching your arm back and sped walked down the hallway.
His scowl lightens, worrying for you. He slowly followed you. 
Initially you wanted to go to the bathroom, but changed your mind last minute. Turning a different corner, you kept going up more and more stairs until you inevitably reached the top of the Hogwarts building. Rushing to the edge, you dropped your book onto the floor and stood slightly leaning over the edge to get a good look at the bottom of the building with your hair flowing in the wind. It was a long way down that will ultimately end up in costing you your life. Trying to force yourself out of your thoughts, you looked in your pocket for that piece of metal, grateful that you grabbed it earlier. Frantically unbuttoning the shirt around your wrist, you felt numb as you choked over your tears silently.
“I’m not worth it,” you thought to yourself.
You stood on the brink of something you couldn't describe. The weight of everything seemed to press down on your shoulders and you struggled to take even a single step forward towards anything positive.
You felt worthless. 
A waste of space. A waste of air. A waste of life. 
It was too much. All of it. 
The tingle as the sharp metal glided against your skin provided a senseless, numb feeling. Every step cost you as the darkness in your mind grew darker and darker; the pain grew sharper and stronger; all of it seemed to only swell in strength and you began to wonder if things could ever get better.
You were tired of feeling things. Everyday felt like never ending dread. With an exception of Draco, nothing seemed worth it anymore. Hell, Draco will only end up forgetting about you in the end of it all.
You don’t play that much of a significant role in his life to matter to him in the long run.
Sometimes you wonder if someone ever notices that sad, broken look in your eyes that you see in the mirror that are masked with a smile and fake enthusiasm. 
If they see beauty where you see ugliness. 
You laugh, traveling up your arm going over old scars, a bitter, sarcastic laugh, at yourself. Nobody cares. No one notices. 
They never seem to, do they? You’ve fought for years, all for what.
The crimson liquid dripped down your arm, falling onto the stone floor. The wind pushed and howled against you as though to try and shove you back. Clumsily, you dropped your metal blade.
“No!” you shouted, dropping to your knees and it fell further and further, out of your sight. You choked over your sobs, feeling broken. Your arm stung and you looked at it through blurry tears.
“I can’t take this anymore,” you spoke aloud to yourself and shakily stood up. You inched closer and closed on the edge, as you looked up inhaling the fresh air. With one last breath, you closed your eyes, opened your arms, and took your last step forward and felt the pressure of the wind beat you on the way down. 
The blackness behind your eyes was perfect. It provided a visual silence that gave a respected admiration. With your eyes closed there was the simple sweetness of the longing of existing, of being, of breathing, and how those moments extended with such grace until you are met with the concluding dark abyss.
Prior while had Draco followed you, he could feel the dark and depressive energy emerging out of your presense. He knew you needed your space, but something was off. The higher and higher you went up the stairs, he had enough of following you and simply looked up. Only the worse things plagued his mind as he quickly rushed back down the stairs and sprinted through the halls to hurry and get outside. He had no seconds to waste, because he had a feeling you were going to try and jump.
He could’ve followed you all the way to the top, but if you had jumped he would’ve been to late. At least this way, he had a chance of catching you.
Ignoring the pain in his chest from running, he ran pushing anyone and everyone who got in his way. 
Darting outside, his eyes widened as he saw your body flying down the side of the building. With one last push of exertion, he caught you in his arms just in time. He fell forward into the floor, but was sure to cradle your head so you got the least amount of injury.
Breathing heavily up and down. You opened your eyes and met Draco’s silver, scared ones. You didn’t know what to think. You didn’t think he was going to be there. Your fresh wounds, began to soak up in his white shirt. Draco sees them, the sight of your new scars reveal themselves to him. He sees your arm, not that he’s surprised. Still being held in his arms protectively, he starts to cry. 
“Y/N,” he says your name like you had just broken his heart.
Your throat tightens and you feel yourself on the brink of tears as your eyes stung. You didn’t know what to say. You were broken.
“I’m sorry,” you apologize, not knowing what else to say or do. “I’m sorry. I–”
He interrupts you. “Why...” he stammers gazing down at your arm, “How many times?” He rang a soft finger down your arm, wincing at every raw wound.
“I don’t know,” you mumbles. 
“For fuck’s sake,” he cried out, his tears dripping off his chin. “I’m sorry I wasn’t…I wasn’t there for you enough.”
You shake your head, “No, Draco, it wasn’t your fault–”
Draco looked down at you with confusion and anger before he smashed his desperate lips onto yours.
Suddenly, the anger, the self-hatred, the loathing, the rage left your body for a split moment. It diminished as soon as his lips pressed against yours in a long over-due, intense passion. It was as if he was taking all away all your pain and misery and threw it away.
You kissed him back with burning amount of fiery love he was kissing you with. Your lips worked hungrily against his as his hands snaked their way to your waist and pulled your shaking body closer to his to kiss you deeper.
Your cold hands grabbed his face and pulled it closer to yours, if that was even possible. His calming scent flowed through your nostils, making your eyes water under your closed eyes.
Too many emotions were going through your brain and you couldn’t handle it. Deep down,  you had always dreamt of being with Draco. Although, you wish that it could have happened under very different and happier circumstances. Nonetheless, you were grateful.
Pulling away, he gazed into your eyes. “Y/N, can you answer me why? Why didn’t you come and talk to me.”
You tried diverting your gaze, but he grabbed your chin with his hand lightly to keep his eyes locked with yours. “Please.”
“I can’t take it anymore. I hate myself and everything I stand for,” you began to cry, “I just... I just thought it would make it easier for everyone else if I were to end everything and erase myself from existence.”
“I would miss you and I don’t know what I would do without you. What if I had just offed myself and left you there to wonder where you went wrong.”
You broke down into sobs, burying your face into his neck as he embraced you in a tight hug.
You shook. “I... I know, but I’m nothing special. I’m just–”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” he snapped harshly. “You are so fucking perfect, it drives me insane. I love you so goddamn much, do you know that? Do you? I love you too much to let you keep doing this to yourself. You are worth it. You are loved. You are my everything. I want you to remember that feeling you had right now at the thought of me ending my life, because that’s what you’re doing to me whenever you cut me out of your life like I’m nothing.”
“I’m sorry,” you cried lifting your head sniffing, “Draco, I wasn’t trying to hurt you, I swear. I was just…I was just..” but you didn’t have any excuse, so you collapsed back into his warm embrace.
“I know,” he murmurs against your hair. “I know. I love you. I love you so much.”
369 notes · View notes
writerpeach · 4 years
Text
Reunion
Girls’ Generation Taeyeon x Male Reader
5484 words
Categories - smut, semi-clothed sex, bathroom sex
18+
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You really had no business being there.
It had been years since you had graduated top of your class at university, a time in your life that seemed light-years away. But here you were for some reason at your five-year reunion.
You looked around and scanned the room - a buffet full of catered food, a bar that granted two free drinks, and saw a few familiar faces but nobody you would call anything more than mere acquaintances.
Trying to give the whole thing a chance you made small talk with people who at best pretended they remembered you, leaving you completely uninterested in their tales of settling down with children, boring careers, and their weekend barbeques. There was little reason to stay at such an event as you handed your free drink vouchers to the nearest couple and decided it was time to bounce.
And then she showed up.
Kim. Taeyeon.
Stunning from head to toe in a plain white blouse and tight jeans, it was the first time you had ever seen her with such light-colored hair. She had the body of a model and a face ten times prettier than one.
Taeyeon was your former girlfriend. Calling her an ex sounded too harsh, your relationship ended mutually. You spent the best two years of your life with her.
The two of you were heartbroken when she moved away and started a new life in a completely new country. You still remembered the day you saw her off at the airport, knowing you might never see her again. You tried to keep touch but her job kept her so busy that eventually, you gave up.
But here she was. Taeyeon had only gotten more gorgeous with age. She didn't see you as she arrived which in some ways was a blessing in disguise. You weren't sure you were ready to see her either. She made her way to the bar right away, chatting up the bartender. Taeyeon always made friends with everyone. You took a deep breath and followed her, scared at any possible reaction.
The closer you got to Taeyeon the more nervous you got. Should you turn back and head out the door? It had been years since you had since each other, the least you could have done was say hello if nothing else.
You approached the bar with a lump in your throat. Taeyeon turned and gasped as she saw you.
"Oh my god!"
Taeyeon wrapped her arms around you and took you into a deep hug that you returned. It had been years but her touch still seemed familiar.
"It-it's been so long! I'm sorry I didn't return any of your calls. Life got hectic."
"I totally understand. I'm just glad you made it. I'm proud of you Kim Taeyeon."
"I have so much to tell you. Can I buy you a drink?"
"Isn't this an open bar?"
Taeyeon blushed. "I guess you're right."
"I'll just be boring and have water."
"Still don't drink much, huh?"
"Only when I need to. I like seeing how pretty you are sober."
Taeyeon smiled. "Still cheesy I see."
"If I recall correctly you liked that about me."
"Maybe I still do."
"I guess I'll be boring too. Give me a cola, please," she told the bartender.
"How's your business doing?" she asked.
"You remembered."
"Of course, I couldn't forget anything about you."
You let out a shy smile. "It's doing great, we're part of the top ten companies in the city."
"Ah, congratulations. It sounds like you. You were always so ambitious. I'm so happy to see you successful, you were so worried when you started it."
"Thanks. How's being the world's greatest singer?"
Taeyeon blushed again. "Oh please, I still have a lot to learn. I'm not that successful yet."
"Tell that to those number one singles."
Her cheeks stayed red as she finished her drink. Taeyeon felt herself opening up already, letting loose at just the situation of an old flame.
"So, are you seeing anyone? I bet you're married by now aren't you?"
You laughed. "I'm not married and I'm not seeing anybody. I had a couple of failed relationships that never went anywhere. Nobody was as good as you were."
"That's sweet."
"What about you?"
"I don't have the time. I had to force my company to give me time off to make this."
The time flew by quickly. The conversation flowed freely just like the old days. For a moment it felt like it was just yesterday that you broke up. Like there wasn't an entire continent and a fourteen-hour flight that separated you.
"I...I missed you a lot, Taeyeon."
Taeyeon looked at you with the same glint in her eyes as when you dated. "I missed you too. I felt so bad for not being able to talk to you, but I was just busy. I didn't even have time to eat or sleep. I'm so sorry, you deserved better."
"You don't have to apologize. It's all part of the job."
"But it shouldn't be. It's fine to stay busy but I had to throw my entire life away for this. It sucks and I wish it was different."
"It was all worth it though. So many people love your music now."
"I know, but it wasn't fair to you."
"I'm to blame too. I could have followed you. I could have taken a plane and seen you every couple of months."
Taeyeon shook her head. "There's nothing you could have done and you have nothing to blame yourself for. Long-distance relationships never work and you would have lost everything you put into your business just to see me."
"It would have been worth it though."
Taeyeon smiled regrettably. "I'm here now though. I could only free up enough time for the weekend though. Let me make it up to you."
"You don't need to."
"Yes, I do. Follow me."
She tipped the bartender and grabbed your hand and whisked you away from the action.
"Where are we going?" you asked.
"You'll see."
Taeyeon quickly found what she was looking for, her destination was of all places, a bathroom. You laughed as she opened the door to a single small room and flicked the light switch on.
"After you."
"No, ladies first," you insisted.
Taeyeon grinned and headed in first after you took a look to see if anyone was around. She locked the door after you closed it.
You both looked into each other's eyes for the first time in years, still seeing that sparkle you had for each other that never burned out. Taeyeon leaned in and kissed you, pushing you against the door as her unforgettable soft lips smacked deeply against yours like hardly any time had gone by. Her lips still tasted the same. You grabbed her waist and pulled her in closer, needing more of her.
"Remember I always wanted to do this? How much I wanted to blow you in public?" she smirked.
"You're so bad, Kim Taeyeon," you teased.
"Maybe. If I remember you liked that about me."
"I do. As long as you're okay with this."
"I am. You were always so careful around me. I always felt safe. I still do."
Taeyeon kissed you again. She smelled so good. Your touch melted her the same way it always did. Everything just felt so familiar.
You felt her pressing against your body, her soft pale skin kissing your own.
"I want to suck your cock," she whispered, getting straight to the point as each syllable of every word dripped with seduction.
"I'm not going to stop you."
Taeyeon giggled as she went to her knees. Her delicate hands went to your pants and she unfastened and pulled them down with ease, taking your boxers with them. She smiled wide at seeing your cock again, just the sight of seeing on her knees made you hard for her.
She wrapped her long slender fingers around your cock, the same way she had done it plenty of times before and slowly stroked you up and down.
The whole thing made you spontaneously laugh.
"What?" she said confused.
"I've never gotten a blowjob in a bathroom before," you said.
"I've never given a blowjob in a bathroom before," she replied.
"There's a first time for everything."
She nodded. "Just relax. I'm going to make you feel real good, like how I used to."
Her words stung a little but at the same time were comforting. She brought her lips to your cock and kissed your tip. You twitched, Taeyeon's touch always felt magical.
When she felt your cock was fully erect she brought her tongue to it, placing it flat at your base and slowly dragged up. The sensation caused you to jerk, and when she swirled her wet tongue around your sensitive tip you groaned.
"Still know what I'm doing I guess," she said as her tongue flicked against your slit, tasting every drop that leaked out.
She used her soft pink tongue and licked your length, wettening your shaft as she prepared to blow you. Taeyeon was always so eager when she gave you a blowjob, like it was her favorite thing in the world, licking your shaft up and down like one of her favorite popsicles.
Taeyeon looked up at you the same way she always did, fixing a strand of hair behind her ear. She smiled, puckered her soft red lips around your cock, and wrapped them around it.
"Fuck...Taeyeon," you moaned and gritted your teeth as she moved her lips up as the tip of your cock disappeared in between her silky lips. It felt so good already, she hadn't missed a step when it came to her oral sex skills.
Her lips were sealed tight around your dick, her playful tongue flicking against the underside of your shaft, hitting your sweet spots, and making you moan her name. She took half of your cock into her warm mouth, her eyes glued on your own the whole time.
"Does that feel good?" she asked. You nodded. Taeyeon was always so good at this.
"I haven't done this in a long time. Wasn't sure I was still good at it."
"You are. Fuck, you're so good at it."
Taeyeon's lips were wet from saliva and her mouth was hungry. She moved her luscious lips up and down your shaft, bobbing her head as she began a rhythm. You ran a hand through the locks of her pretty hair and held on to the back of her head as you let her do what she was best at.
Her lips felt so good, so fucking good. Tight and soft and wet, like delicate warm silk squeezing every inch of your shaft. Taeyeon went deeper, much deeper until she took your entire cock down her warm throat with ease, her eyes keeping you in their sight to make sure you liked what she was doing.
"Taeyeon..."
You kept your hand holding the back of her head, if only just to give yourself an outlet for what Taeyeon was doing to your body, she didn't need any guidance.
Your cock became wetter as she covered it in her drool, slurping every inch down deep into her mouth. She kept her eyes on you the whole time as she proudly watched your features become contorted.
You couldn't help yourself from moaning, not when Taeyeon was making your dick feel this good. She was grateful, as it only encouraged her. She moved a little faster, sliding her lips all the way up and down from base to tip, giving you every bit of pleasure she was capable of.
"Fuck...Taeyeon, I'm going to cum if you keep doing that."
"I won't stop then."
Her lips applied more pressure, she knew just how much longer you had left. Her mouth worked magic up and down your shaft, and you already felt yourself getting close to climax.
Her soft lips assaulted your cock, leaving wetness slathered on your shaft as they moved, her pace faster and faster as she knew just how to bring you to that point of no return.
"Taeyeon...fuck, Taeyeon, I'm gonna cum."
She didn't stop or change position, she had tasted your cum several times before and was more than happy to receive it again. You were so close, so damn close you could taste it. Taeyeon was going to make you explode, you just needed a little extra push.
Just as you were about that fall over that edge, three harsh knocks stopped you cold in your tracks.
You both froze. You heard the same knocks again.
"Anyone in there? The other bathroom is closed. Need to go real bad," an unknown voice said.
Whoever was outside the door couldn't have had worse timing if they tried. Taeyeon reluctantly slipped your cock out of her mouth and helped you get dressed, your erection still poking through your pants as you tried to clear your mind and thought of anything non-sexual, which was impossible after Taeyeon had just sucked you off in a bathroom. Taeyeon unlocked the door and you both shyly rushed out and headed straight to the nearest exit.
"Damn that was close," Taeyeon said.
"It was. What now?" you asked.
"Take me to your place," she said abruptly.
You looked at her incredulously. She laughed.  "I'm serious. I'd rather not go back in there, I don't recognize anyone besides you anyways."
"Same here. I was actually just about to leave before you walked in."
"Wow, guess I have perfect timing."
You walked her to your car which wasn't that far away, the same car you had for years surrounded by huge SUVs and gaudy expensive sports cars, the perfect avenue for people to flex their spendings. You unlocked your car and opened the passenger side for Taeyeon.
"Still such a gentleman," Taeyeon said.
You didn't have the flashiest or the most expensive car, but you didn't have to make payments for years and it ran perfectly. The engine was quiet and the A/C was cold, which was enough to impress Taeyeon.
Nighttime already, you let Taeyeon pick the station who fumbled through everything before giving up and stopping on whatever.
The conversation peaked early, which was fine. You were happy just to be in each other's company again.
You focused on the road and the pleasant silence, there was little traffic and little to worry about. The comfortable silence went on for several minutes until you heard something break it. A noise, one that you had heard many, many, times before. You brushed it off, thinking nothing of it and maybe it was just in your own head until you heard it again. It was a moan. Taeyeon's moan.
As your head started to turn, Taeyeon stopped you.
"Eyes on the road please."
You reluctantly obeyed. Just out of your view Taeyeon had unzipped her jeans, a hand slipped inside all the way in between her thighs.
"Sorry for the distraction. I just...I'm just so...wet. Giving you a blowjob just made me so insanely horny. I haven't had an orgasm in weeks."
"Weeks?" you repeated.
"Yes, weeks. When I get busy, everything suffers."
"Then by all means, continue, Taeyeon. Just try not to make a mess on my seat."
"No promises."
Taeyeon laughed, a laugh that was quickly replaced by a soft moan as her fingers slipped inside her pussy again.
"Ah...oh...oh fuck..."
She tried to keep her moans gentle and light as to not cause too much of a distraction. Taeyeon's fingers moved in and out slowly, enough to carry a rhythm but not enough to cause an orgasm. She didn't want to finish after all before she had gotten to your place.
"H-how...how much longer?" she asked.
"About five minutes."
"Shit," Taeyeon muttered under her breath. She was still so so horny, and didn't know if she could make it that long. Her fingers went deeper inside, moving slow enough to tease herself, feeling her digits getting wetter.
"Oh god...it feels so good..."
"Almost there," you said.
"So am I," Taeyeon said as her fingers kept moving inside her.
"Fuck...oh fuck, I'm...I'm c-close, I-I-"
The car stopped just in time. "We're here."
Taeyeon took a second to catch her breath, resting her head against the headrest. She zipped her jeans back up, grabbed her purse and followed you inside as if nothing had just happened.
You led her all the way into the bedroom hastily in complete darkness, both of you kicking your shoes away into obscurity as you fumbled for one the lamps and switched it on. It was just bright enough to illuminate the bed and that all you needed anyways.
Once the bed was lit up you took charge in kissing Taeyeon, her lips smothering your own as she playfully knocked you backward and you both crashed on the bed.
Taeyeon lifted your shirt off your torso and tossed it away, kissing your neck and marking a trail of her lips down your chest and abdomen until she reached your waist. She took your pants and underwear off again as she aimed to finish what she started, but you stopped her in her tracks.
"No, It's your turn," you insisted as she turned shy. Taeyeon scooted back until her head rested on the pillows, and you laid on top of her and buried your mouth into her soft sensitive neck.
You kissed the milky skin of her neck before sucking on it deeply, if she was only here for a weekend then you wanted to leave her with a parting gift in the form of a mark on her neck, something to remember you by.
Taeyeon softly moaned as you sucked on her skin and when you broke contact enough to stare at her she looked up.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing. You're beautiful even in the dark."
Your fingers went to undo her top, but you suddenly felt a burst of impatience and ripped it open, sending buttons flying but she didn't seem to mind. She wasn't wearing a bra underneath, one of her habits which you were thankful she kept, her small but perky breasts exposed.
"S-sorry," you said, feeling regretful. "I'm sure that was expensive."
"Shh. Keep going."
Taeyeon looked so sexy in that white shirt, her naked breasts and tight abdomen exposed that you felt no need to remove it from her. You kissed down her body, starting at her collarbone and planting your lips on her breasts, and leaving a slow trail down her tight stomach until you reached the end of her waist.
You unzipped her jeans and tugged them off her slender legs, revealing a cute pair of simple pink panties, the crotch of them with an obvious damp spot from her little car session. You grabbed the top of them and peeled them off, she lifted her butt to help out as you removed her panties off her hips and down her smooth legs, leaving her mostly naked except for that ruined white blouse and the necklace around her neck.
Before you did anything your eyes roamed her body from top to bottom, her creamy skin still pristine and beautiful as ever. You planted several soft kisses up her legs, moving your lips up her body until you reached her beautiful soft thighs and spread them open, letting you see her beautiful pussy and the pink glistening lips that were hidden in between. You kept your mouth on her thighs as you peppered them in kisses, making her sensitive and needy before you could even give a taste.
"You always loved teasing me."
"And you always loved being teased," you said as you gently nibbled on her soft thighs, licking them up and down and making her squirm. Her gaze met your own, that deadly gaze that was burned into your brain and you wanted to move on to the main event.
With your attention now focused on her pussy you brought your middle finger and ran it up the wet silky flesh of her slit, collecting her slick on your fingertip.
"You're so wet."
"What are you going to do about it?"
"What do you want me to do about it?"
"I want you to taste me."
"I don't want just a taste. I want all of you, Taeyeon."
You traced and teased the outline of her folds before slipping just the first knuckle of your finger inside Taeyeon. Her hips jerked and she gasped. Taeyeon was still so tight, just as tight as the very first time you fucked her. You could have made her climax right there if you wanted to, but there was no fun in rushing to the finish line when you could enjoy the ride first.
You pushed your finger in deep before adding another, feeling just how wet Taeyeon was already as you curled your fingers and moved them inside her at a brisk pace. She moaned and clenched around your fingers as you pumped them inside her, finding her spot with ease and she released noises that sounded as pretty as her.
As you fucked Taeyeon with your fingers you had flashbacks to the first time you gave her an orgasm, how loud and messy she was and how beautiful she looked, not unlike how she did right now. This time your goal wasn't to give an orgasm, but to give a taste of what was next as you slowly withdrew your fingers, now covered in Taeyeon as you licked them clean.
"You're as delicious as ever," you said, making Taeyeon's cheeks blush as she felt her core heating up. She was more than ready and while you did always enjoy making her work for it, this wasn't one of those times as you were ready to dive in between her thighs and eat her up.
You gave the view in between her spread legs a glimpse, the dripping wet flesh appetizing, and oh so inviting as you brought your mouth to it and licked in between Taeyeon's folds, running your tongue through them as you tried to taste as much of her as you could.
She moaned loudly and was heaven to your taste buds as you gathered her slick on your tongue, exploring her pussy until you found her clit and flicked against it, teasing it just a bit before you brought it into your mouth and sucked hard on it, looking up at her as you kept a firm pressure.
"Fuck, just like that, you're still so good at eating me."
Taeyeon squirmed and whined loudly as you ate her out, burying your tongue into her as far as it would go as you felt the warmth of her soft thighs squeezing around your face.
She was your own personal buffet and you were devouring her pussy like you hadn't had a meal in days, filling your mouth with her delicious nectar. Taeyeon moaned like crazy, hips bucking, and grabbed onto the back of your head, trying to force your tongue deeper inside her cunt.
"F-fuck, that feels good, I'm so damn close."
You felt her hands pulling your hair as her thighs squeezed around you tighter, keeping you in between her as you brought her sensitive clit in between your lips again and suckled harsher, slurping messily as you brought her even closer to climax.
"Oh, oh fuck, you're going to make me cum, don't stop, please don't fucking stop!"
You loved the way Taeyeon always became an absolute mess just moments prior to orgasm, lips tightly sealed on her needy clit as you stared at her gorgeous features. She needed just a little more as you slurped on her clit, she squirmed even more and more as the tightness in her stomach grew to be too much.
Taeyeon came beautifully into your mouth, drenching your lips and chin with her essence as her nails dug into your skull and her back arched, moaning non stop as the intense pleasure rocked her body. You kept your eyes on her the whole time, watching her pretty mouth that stayed agape as her thighs vibrated around your face.
You cleaned up her delicious folds and her messy wet thighs, going in for a second round as you overstimulated her as she shrieked and pushed your mouth away from her with tired breaths, running her hands through your now messy hair and releasing you from between her thighs.
"F-fuck...you were always so good at that," she said as she panted and tried to regain her composure. You gave another kiss on each sensitive inner thigh as you positioned yourself with your cock in your hand, preparing for what you both were waiting for.  
You stole another glimpse at Taeyeon's mostly naked body illuminated in the dim light, but it seemed she didn't share your patience.
"Are you just going to stare or are you going to put it in me already?"
You grinned and pushed your cock against the dripping hole of her entrance in response, feeling that pleasing warmth and tightness inviting you all the way inside. Looking at Taeyeon the whole time you made her wait just a moment, you pushed your cock enough to enter with a groan and she responded with a whiny moan as your tip disappeared inside her.
Feeling just how damn wet she was you looked for any signs of discomfort, and upon not finding any you pushed in deeper, moving in one smooth stroke as you bottomed her out and filled Taeyeon with every bit of your hard throbbing cock, her tight slick walls swallowing your shaft.
"Fuck," she moaned, the feeling of having all of you stuffed inside her so satisfying
and overwhelming at the same time. You let her adjust as much as needed to, and she signaled with her eyes that she was ready, the lust and desire in them palpable.
There was a tension in your bodies that quickly released as you began moving your hips, slowly sliding your cock and out of her as her walls clenched around your shaft, moaning every time you plunged all the way inside.
You grabbed on to Taeyeon's slender waist, thrusting just fast enough to cause pleasure in the two of your bodies as you stretched her out. The way she felt couldn't be described with enough words, her warmth so welcome as her pussy wrapped around your cock and squeezed, her honey coating your hard shaft as she felt every inch of you.
This wasn't your typical session, you had certainly partaken in rough sex plenty of times where Taeyeon had begged for you to ruin her, but tonight was different. Perhaps there would be time for that later, but your only goal was to make her feel all of you, and to make both of you feel good, something you had more than accomplished already.
"You feel so good," Taeyeon said with neediness to her voice.
"You feel better."
You quickened the pace a little and leaned your body forward, allowing Taeyeon to wrap her hands around your waist, your faces only separated by the air in the room.
She felt so tight, her walls hugging your cock to make sure you belonged inside her as every thrust into her body felt heavenly, causing you to become breathless with each entrance and exit that caused you to moan in tandem.
You brought your lips to Taeyeon's again, giving her a few seconds of messy open mouth kisses before you buried your face into the crook of her neck, kissing her sensitive spots as you made every thrust count, not knowing if you would have another chance with her, although you felt a second and third round was highly probable.
Taeyeon looked perfect in the dim light, her pale flushed skin so beautiful, you wanted to stay in this moment forever. Her tightness was overwhelming, the hot dripping flesh wrapped around your shaft so wet around you that you don't know how you lasted this long.
"Fuck me harder," she whispered and you obliged without any hesitation, drawing your cock and plunging back in, adding a little extra oomph at the end of every thrust, eliciting a beautiful sound of pleasure from the writhing body underneath you.
"Just like that, that's perfect," she said as she made grabby hands and you intertwined your hands with hers, interlocking your fingers as one.
You went full speed inside her knowing you were close. Her bathroom blowjob had done a number on you and left you regretting that you couldn't last any longer. Taeyeon moaned in approval and her breathing became heavier with every thrust. You felt that tightness in your stomach and the end was near as the sounds of skin slapping and moans filled the room.
"Fuck, I'm gonna cum, Taeyeon."  
She gave a response after hesitation, but not one with words, wrapping her legs around your waist and locking you in tight. Perfect, you both wanted the same thing.
"Make a mess inside me."
You both smiled as you brought her arms and pinned them over her head, your hands still tangled with hers as she squeezed yours.
"I'd love to, Taeyeon. I'm going to cum the hardest I ever have inside you."
"Good. Fill me up more than you ever have."
Taeyeon was so irresistible and given the green light to finish inside you increased the pace as you fucked Taeyeon with long deep strokes as you hurled yourself towards the finish line. Her pussy so wet and tight that it took zero effort as you had such a burning desire to spill all your load inside her.
You felt Taeyeon's limbs wrapping tighter around your body as you gave her everything you had, thrusting as fast as your body would let you until you finally reached your limits and braced yourself as the moment of climax mercifully arrived.
Taeyeon moaned first as you erupted, her walls clenched around your throbbing cock as you buried your shaft inside her and filled her warm pussy with your hot thick seed. Your whole body felt lighter as you emptied your cock into Taeyeon, coating her wet walls with warmth and stickiness, each thick spurt that left your body and entered hers so orgasmic you thought you might pass out.
She kept you locked inside her as her body milked you dry, making sure not a drop spilled outside her. Once the high of your orgasm brought you back to earth you brought your face to Taeyeon's, her glazed over eyes tired yet satisfied as she gave out a proud smile.
Your mouths exchanged saliva one more time, lips tasting each other as fatigue sat in. Taeyeon let out an exhausted smile as her pussy still filled with both your cock and your cum satisfied her to no end.
"It feels so good. Nice and warm."
You smiled even as you were gasping for breath, slowly withdrawing your cock from Taeyeon as you both watched the hot sticky mess you had left deep inside her pretty pussy slowly leaking out from her wet pink lips. A thin stream of pearly semen turned into a huge one that flooded out of her tight fucked hole on its way to staining the soft bed sheets.
Taeyeon brought her hand in between her thighs, gathering some of your load on her fingers before sucking them clean with a satisfied pop, delighted with what she tasted and perfectly content with you had given her.
"Still as delicious as I remember," she said with a smirk as you crashed on top of her body, both spent, panting and almost delirious. You looked at each with a word for what felt like hours until Taeyeon broke the silence.
"What now?"
"Well we could shower, order a pizza, whatever you want."
"Pizza sounds good. But we shouldn't shower yet, not until you fuck me again." She cutely smiled
"Again? You're insatiable, Kim Taeyeon."
"I am, but you already knew that about me."
"I did. Anything you want is yours."
"I want to spend my whole weekend here with you then, we need to make up for lost time. We can start by having you underneath me this time."
"There's no better place I'd rather be."
"Good, because I'm going to fuck you until we both can't move."
You shared one more smile, saving your energy for what was next, looking forward to lots of pizza and a one very fun and exhausting weekend.
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leonawriter · 3 years
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On Writing Fankids
Writing this because I now have two different fankids for the same pairing, in vastly different ways, and they’re very different people. So.
I don’t know how many points I’m going to make, and I don’t know how useful this is going to be, since Disclaimer: I’m not an expert on real children or medical practices, but I am trying to put effort in.
Most of this is composed of questions, because I don’t know who your fankid (or, OC-fankid) is, and the point is to make you think rather than just put ideas into your head by telling you what’s right and what’s wrong.
1 - How did they come to exist?
This is the FIRST question you should be asking when coming up with a fankid. What they look like and how cute they are is all well and good, but when you’re thinking of actually writing a story, that won’t help you.
If the parents are a cis male and cis female couple, then it’s easy to assume how they had a kid. That said, that’s not always necessarily the case, as some people may be infertile, or may simply choose to adopt. However, the answer to this becomes more complicated when fans get to wanting to give a gay couple children, as this usually means they want to give them biological children.
In the event of pairings where the parents are canonically not reproductively compatible (which includes gay, lesbian, nonbinary, and so on) there are still options, which include: a trans parent, which involves being able to write a trans person and not just overlooking how this would change their story; surrogacy, in which someone else carries the child to term for those who can’t, and the related idea of a sperm donor. 
In going into other biological options, there’s also the question of “how believable and realistic do you want this to be? how scientific? how much fantasy or sci-fi do you want here?” and if the answer is “I have fantasy and/or sci-fi in my setting” then you can use that.
That said, please don’t rule out the possibility of adoption. Adoption is the most common way for queer parents in the real world to get kids, and just because a kid isn’t biological doesn’t make them any less their parent’s child. Even/especially in a fantasy setting! And knowing if a kid was adopted, that’ll extend into how they see themself, as well as who the parent is and why they chose to adopt.
Related to that, if a kid is adopted, how aware of that are they? How were they adopted? Are they a canon character that was adopted, or an entirely new character? If they were too young to remember the adoption, how do their parents (or parent, if there was only one person adopting them) explain? If they were old enough, how do they see the person who took them in? How do they see their adopted siblings, if any exist, or any future siblings? What about any prospective additional parents, if they originally only had one, or if their parent/s is/are polyamorous? 
2 - How good are their parents at parenting?
Yes, you want your favourite pairing to be great parents, but no matter what people are going to have their own idiosyncrasies. How do the parents deal when the kid throws a tantrum? 
What if the child shows signs of being neurodivergent, are the parents any good at spotting those signs, and whether they are or not, how do they handle the difference from what they might have been expecting?
My advice here is to pay attention to the pairing in their normal canon and how they deal with situations and also how they handle children in canon, as well as then going to further sources that show what parenting is really like. Your fankid is going to be a baby, they’re going to be a screaming toddler, they’re going to have a personality and wants and they’re going to frustrate their parents a lot. If you want to put the effort in to write the family well, ask someone you know who has kids, even.
3 - What are their circumstances during their childhood?
The fun one about this is that depending on the context the child was created in, the answer can be different for children of the same pairing! 
In my case, I have Satoko and Fumiya. Satoko’s childhood (outside of her parents’ control) was traumatising, and left her as a quiet kid, despite how much she’s shown love later on. Fumiya, on the other hand, grows up in a loving environment from the start, and because of that he’s much more comfortable and confident, despite everything else that happens and so on.
This is where the child starts to develop their own personality. Think about how in the real world, children are shaped by their surroundings and the way that they grow up. Does your fankid learn that they can trust the people around them? How much attention are they given? Is that attention positive, negative, stifling? Do they feel neglected, or coddled? How easy is it for them to find food, or their favourite food? Are they surrounded by children of their own age, or mostly living around adults? Is their living situation, no matter whether their parents love them and take care of them or not, a dangerous one, and how aware of that are they?
Also important is the question of whether they even have both of their parents, or either of them. Maybe the situation here is complicated. Maybe they’re an orphan (sorry, parent pairing). Maybe they’re separated from their family, and they have to fend for themself. Maybe their parents are separated for any given reason. 
Any one of these things is also going to affect their mindset while growing up from being a baby through being a toddler, a pre-teen, and a teenager. If you want them to feel like a fully rounded out person, you have to think of them as such.
4 - What do they look like?
I’m well aware that this is the first thing that most people go with when creating fankids. I’m just saying that it’s not the most important thing you should be thinking of. 
Making a fankid shouldn’t be a mix-and-match game when you’re making biological kids. When you’re coming up with an adopted kid even less so. They aren’t a paper doll. Some children may look like a mix between their parents, while others will take on attributes from previous generations... although when looking at fictional characters you don’t own the IP of, assuming what genes a fankid’s grandparent might have passed on gets tricky. For this I’m focusing mostly on biological kids, but it should help for adopted as well in some parts.
One good rule of thumb here is to look at how genes actually work.
If nothing else, a simple starting idea would be to look at the general population and say “what is the most common eye colour here” and “what is the most common hair colour” and if your fankid is from that area, that’s probably the most dominant gene, over others.
When creating my own fankids mentioned above, my idea went that blue is an eye colour that tends to be dominant, and red hair tends to come through even just by making dark hair lighter. 
That said, hair and eye colour aren’t all you should be thinking about!
Other things that should be thinking about are: how tall are they? what shape are their eyes? Does the structure of their face take more after one parent than the other, no matter their eye/hair colour? Do they have any markings on their body (moles, birthmarks, etc), and if so are they shared with other family members? Are their features they share with family members who aren’t their parents (i.e, a sister, an uncle, a great-grandparent)? 
As they grow up, do they get taller or stay shorter than their parents? In terms of their body, do they become muscular, or not, and if so, why? Do they become fat, or thin? 
Does their health impact on the way that their body looks? This can mean both disability in terms of walking around with a cane, using a wheelchair, or any number of other things.
Do they change their body in any way? Do they choose to add tattoos, or is something done to them in some other way? Do they have any scars? Would they want to share those scars with other people, or would they choose to hide them away?
5 - How canon affects them, and how they affect canon.
Whether or not your fankid grows up before, during, or after canon events makes a difference. If it’s “before/during” then you’re going to have to think of the consequences of that on both them and their parents, but also everyone else. This isn’t just “add in a kid, aren’t they cute” this is an entire new character, with the capability to become a loose cannon and change canon events.
Things can change. That’s something you’ve got to think about, and accept, the moment you want to add this new character into things. Are you willing to change things, and if so, how far?
The kinds of changes can generally be divided into two categories: internal, and external.
Internal changes are the ways that the characters change mentally and emotionally in response to a child (their child, even) being present. In one of my stories, I change very little on an external level, but the focus is on the internal side of things, as the father of this child faces the idea that he might have lost his son, and how that makes him feel when going into a dangerous situation he may not come back from. Other characters might not see any difference, but the internal conflict is there.
External changes are the big ones, where the child being present - and, by extension, the child’s backstory and its knock-on effects - affect the present, and cause things to change in visible ways. This can mean anything from “the pairing’s child has wandered into a dangerous area filled with plot, and needs to be rescued” to “the plot has found the child” or even just “the parents have relationship issues to sort out, and that changes the plot.”
Things to think of here are - aside from “how old is this kid” as you might have come up with a kid that by this point is an adult as far as I know - how active is this kid? Are they happy to stay put and not affect things, or dot hey have insatiable curiosity and the need to do something? Do they stumble into the plot without being aware of it, do they go seek it out, or does it find them? How much danger does this put them in? If it does put them in danger, how do they deal with that, and how do their parents (or single parent) deal with that? If no danger at all, do they have fun, or are they stressed?
6 - Interactions with the rest of the cast.
Honestly, my main point here is, not everyone is going to react to a kid the same way. Just because they’re cute doesn’t mean everyone’s going to like them! And no, that doesn’t mean they’re evil. And sometimes, even the “evil” characters might handle kids better than some “good” characters. In fact, some “good” characters might do so badly with kids that they make them cry, and that doesn’t make them any less “good.” It just makes them bad at handling kids.
Otherwise, how does the kid fare with the other members of the cast, in general and specifically?
Is there anyone that they like in particular? If so, why? Did that person look nice, did they give them their favourite food? Did they do something special? What did they do to become friends?
Likewise, is there anyone they dislike in particular? What did they do to deserve that? Were they mean on purpose, or did they become disliked by means of an accident or miscommunication? Is it that this person raises their voice and the kid doesn’t like raised voices, or they don’t talk loudly enough?
Depending on the situation with the child’s parents, they might prefer people who are positive toward their parents, or who are negative toward their parents. Because let’s not forget those who don’t like being compared, and those who have parents who aren’t any good. For instance, is the child’s parent a villain in their setting? Are they thought of as a villain? Are they a criminal, or on the side of the law, and regardless of which that is, does the child agree with them, and how does that affect their relationships with others who agree or disagree with that parent?
If your fankid, for example, was mistreated by a certain set of people when they were younger, then how does that relate to later on in life, or the canon cast? My Satoko’s backstory involves medical abuse, which makes her wary of doctors scientists, and things that would remind her (even subconsciously) of that setting. Two of the characters in the cast are medically trained. Her interactions with them are going to be affected by that, even if she grows to like and trust them.
In conclusion: a fan kid can be a fun five minute thing, but if you only put five minutes’ thought into their design, their backstory, and their personality, then you’re only going to get the same view of them as a sketch compared to the time it takes to fully line and colour a work of art. 
If you want to write them, or create a full comic with them, you have to ask yourself questions about who they are, and also who you want them to be. If you want them to be a fully rounded person, then you have to put the time into it. And, really, that if this kid starts acting in ways you don’t expect, but that work, just... listen to that.
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evolutionsvoid · 3 years
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I have to say, the more I think about Slimes, the more excited and confused I get. For a natural historian, they sure are fascinating creatures! There is just nothing else like them! However, they bring me a whole lot of headaches because how do you categorize these things!? How do you understand or even define them? The main issue I have is a bit similar to the problem I run into when figuring out how to categorize the different dryads and the ever-growing arrangement of hybrids. The wide array of crossbreeding and how each "species" can make other "species" is quite mind boggling in the dryad world. In the land of Slimes, it is even crazier! I am sure some may recall other entries I have had on Slimes, like the Flayers, Leg Eaters and Stone Chimneys. These Slimes have chosen particular lifestyles in certain environments, and this creates quite a distinct creature. Even the entry I will shortly get into here follows the same path. The thing is, though, is that these adaptations and abilities are not locked to one group! A Flayer has adjusted its pseudobody to create an adhesive composition, while a Leg Eater has influenced its own slime to produce acidic substances. Despite this, any other normal Slime could easily walk up to one of these "species" and copy their abilities! One simple transfer, and they could learn the ways to slowly change their composition to match. So all of these different groups are just Slimes who have decided to follow a certain path, one that they could just abruptly change at any moment, or even combine! What do we do when a Fire Flayer is created? Or spike-shooting Leg Eaters start to take form? It's a mess! Sure, we could just call them all Slimes and be done with it, but where is the organization? The understanding? That doesn't sound like a conclusion, it sounds like a surrender! I refuse to take the easy route! I do not just drop these things the moment they get tough! That is when I get motivated, because if we don't figure this out, then who will?! Oh right, I am supposed to be writing about Fire Slimes. Whoops! I am sure just saying the name "Fire Slime" already makes things quite obvious to most folk. They are Slimes that can produce fire. That description is a bit reductive, but if you needed to explain it to a common member of the public, it works. In truth, the Fire Slimes do not just conjure fire out of nowhere. The flame comes from the flammable fluid that their pseudobody creates from its food and waste. This liquid can be secreted on the outside of their bodies to coat themselves, or it can be stored in bubbles that are formed inside their pseudobody. Often, they do both, storing a whole lot of it on the inside, then sweating out the excess as a defensive measure. Despite their ability to secrete this flammable substance, they can't actually ignite it. The Slime does not have the means to naturally create the spark or heat that would be required to light it all aflame. This isn't too much of problem for them, as there are plenty of other sources in this vast world that can provide them with this spark. The easiest and most abundant are rocks like flint that can be struck with metals to create a shower of fiery sparks. The Fire Slimes will collect their first fire starters in their early stages of life, and continue to amass an entire collection during the following years. This is to ensure they always have a fire starter on hand even if a foe destroys one of them during a fight, and it is also for decoration. All Slimes love a bit of fashion, and these fellows enjoy coating themselves with rocks and steel. With a fire starter in their possession, a Fire Slime is now capable of igniting their fluids. Just one spark, and it all lights up in an instant! These flames don't last too long, as it burns through their fuel quite quickly. However, these Slimes have found many ways to utilize this weaponry to the best of their abilities. With stores of the liquid inside them, they can use internal pressure to shoot it out from their bodies, either in a tight stream or a wide spray. A quick clacking of their flints will ignite the torrent and turn it into a blast of fire! This is why people tend to think that Fire Slimes can breath fire from their "heads" or shoot it from their "arms," as it looks the part! Alternatively, the Fire Slime can gather its internal stores of liquid and seal it in a thin layer of slime. Pushing this bubble to the exterior of their bodies, they will coat the outside of it in fluid and set it on fire. In one quick motion, they will launch this burning gob at a foe, looking to stick it to their hides. The gooey coating will get stuck on armor or skin, but its loss of contact with the Slime's heart will cause it to fall apart. This means that the store of flammable fluid will begin to leak out, coming in contact with the fiery outside and igniting all at once. Essentially, it all goes "boom," and that is really bad when that stuff is adhered to your face. So, in short, they can fire off explosive gobs of flaming slime, quite the weapon! While intimidating, these weapons aren't the most commonly used ones. The most frequent use of all this is focused on the liquid that coats their whole pseudobodies. A thin layer of this fluid is present on them at all times, and a simple strike of their stony scales will set it all ablaze. When agitated, a Fire Slime will rattle its fire starters as a warning. If the foe ignores this, they will activate every pair of stone and steel on their bodies. A spray of sparks will ensue, and the outer coating of fluid will burst into a huge aura of flame. This sudden burst of fire is quite terrifying, but not super deadly. It lasts for only a few moments, and it will only singe those that are in close quarters. However, this display is often enough to scare away foes and leave them with a few smoking hairs. It is mainly used as an intimidation tactic, though it does have another use. External parasites are a plague for Slimes, and what better way to be rid of them than to burn them off?
 Fire Slimes can use this arsenal for defense, but they also find it handy for hunting. Explosive blobs are good for blowing apart larger prey,  and streams of flame can flush food from their burrows and dens. Seeing a Fire Slime torch a gnu is both fascinating and horrifying, and I am not sure if I am ever going to forget that. I am sure there are many who hear about this behavior and liken it to dragons and their fiery breath. In fact, there are quite a few folk out there that say that Fire Slimes picked up this ability by mimicking dragons. I mean, c'mon! Flammable liquid expelled from the "mouth" that is then lit by sparks! That's just like a dragon! While I won't deny the similarities, I believe this is not the source of their inspiration. I am not alone in this thinking, as a whole bunch of other researchers have looked into the spread of the Fire Slimes and the environments their ranges cover. Yes, Fire Slimes can appear in volcanic areas, but they are primarily found in arid places. Within this ranges, researchers have noted quite a few alkaline lakes in their territory, a habitat that Fire Slimes are quite fond of. Another piece to the puzzle is found on their pseudobodies, as Fire Slimes tend to form very familiar structures with their collected ores. Some would say it is an "avian" look! Speaking of birds, what are the most famous birds to inhabit these alkaline lakes? Phoenixes! Yes, indeed, we believe that Fire Slimes owe their origins to their blazing beauties of the burning lakes! I dare say it is obvious! Phoenixes use their metallic beaks to create sparks that ignite their own flammable powder, which would be the perfect inspiration for a curious Slime! They would mimic this behavior and even copy their appearance to better grasp the concept. A sparking beak and feathers can be seen in the way Fire Slimes carry themselves and their collections, unknowingly honoring the source of their epiphany! You can even look at the ranges of Phoenixes and Fire Slimes and see that the two tend to overlap quite a lot! It's incredible! It makes you wonder what Slimes will come up with next! What creature will they find inspiration from and birth an entirely new category of Slimes! Unfortunately, not everyone shares my excitement of these prospects, seeing as the Fire Slimes are already a bit of a problem. People already aren't a fan of Slimes, now imagine their joy when they see one that can spray fire. Though it varies with each individual Slime and their knowledge, there are indeed enough wilder Fire Slimes out there that don't grasp the concept of "please don't burn me and my property." It doesn't help that most of their problems are solved with fire, so the second they are accosted by an angry landowner they tend to start spraying. Or if they see a tasty goat that isn't theirs (which doesn't bother them, as concept of property is a bit of a shaky subject with Slimes) they will happily treat themselves to a cook-out without a hesitation. They don't really think about those who aren't resistant to burning, as the simpler Slimes tend to divide all living creatures into two groups: "Those That Burn" and "Those That Don't." To them, things that can be set on fire are Food, while things that cannot are Not Food. On one hand, it creates the obvious conclusion of "Hey! That farmer is on fire! I guess I can eat them!" However, it can also create the idea of "this person says they aren't food, so I guess they don't burn!" It is not as terrifying as the first example, but let me tell you it can cause its own set of problems. For example, a fellow Fire Slime may get annoyed by insects trying to feed on its pseudobody and decide to unleash its fire aura to fry the nibbling gnats. They do this without hesitation because they aren't worried about the fire, and since the inquisitive plant person accompanying them said they weren't food, they shouldn't mind either! I minded. Quite a lot.     Chlora Myron Dryad Natural Historian -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Going from something fresh and new to something that is really old and has been sitting in my posting folder for practically years. Nothing too crazy or flashy, but I had to post them sooner or later!
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