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bvidzsoo · 6 months

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Love made me crazy...

❅Boyfriend!Jongho❅

TW: mentions of a panic attack, and just an overload of fluff and delulu lol

Word count: 2,5k

A/N: Uh...hi? I don't want to talk about it, okay? I don't know what's happening to me because I keep writing and writing when I have so many other things to do, it's maddening. But this is solely Jongho's fault: 1. he keeps bias wrecking me, and I love this man so much that I can barely contain myself at this point; 2. he just had to mention the first snow fall in Korea man...; 3. I love Choi Jongho. Anyways, this is a small scenario/drabble, I don't even know what to call it. I hope you all enjoy it and leave feedback, I really appreciate it! Happy reading!

There was something about winter time that you didn’t particularly like. Perhaps it was the sun going down too fast, coating the world into darkness at 5 pm already, or perhaps it was the cold which never seemed to go away, seeping into your bones, making it a constant reminder that you handled warmth and summer a lot better. But then there were also things you absolutely loved about winter: the cozy clothes you could wear, the hot chocolate with marshmallows you could frequently enjoy, the Christmas Carols which became annoying once the holiday was over, the joy and excitement you felt wrapping up presents and then opening yours, the possibility to go skating on a warmer day, the relief of entering a warm place after being out in the cold for too long, and the snow. The snow was your number one favorite. You couldn’t wait for it to finally fall, the first snow holding a deeper significance. If you were with your lover while the first snow fell, that meant eternal love and a lifetime spent together. The thought alone could make you giggle and you muffled your mouth with the paw of you thick sweater, having gotten off track while studying. The holidays were right around the corner and winter break would soon start, you wanted to get some homework done before you’d be on your merry way, and what better place to do that at other than your university’s library? The studious ambiance helped focusing on your task at hand, feeling determined to finish your assignment in cultural studies. It was a subject you weren’t fond of and found it hard to sit yourself down and proceed with the assignment, but after all of your friends have handed in theirs, you realized the deadline was dangerously nearing, and so, you finally committed yourself to doing it. If it weren’t for the library and all the other hard-working students, you probably would have given up after half an hour. But now, three hours later, you stood proudly, and admittedly quite tiredly, as you stretched in your seat, a grin on your lips. It was almost 7 pm, the library would be closing in just an hour. You only had to write the conclusion for your assignment, but that was something you could do in the comfort of your room too, so, you grabbed the two books you have used for research, and stood, turning to walk to place them back on their respective shelves. One section wasn’t far from your desk as you quickly found where the book belonged to, having memorized the shelf and two other books you have taken them from beside. Then came the last book, which was more towards the back of the library, where the lights were dimmer in order to save up some costs since no students sat around there. You turned to the left, walking down between two large bookcases, eyes narrowed at the titles of the books. Your vision was slightly blurry as your eyes hurt from having stared at your laptop for three hours without a break. You realized you had turned onto the wrong row, so you went to check out the next one, successfully finding the empty spot where your book belonged. You cheered very quietly, pushing the book back to its place, just as you felt hands on your waist, squeezing. You yelped loudly, grateful that you were in the back and not bothering anyone, as you quickly turned around, slightly terrified by who would sneak up on you like that, but your heartbeats slightly calmed at the familiar face of your boyfriend.

“Jongho!” You whisper-shouted as you lightly slapped your boyfriend’s chest, his lips pulling up into an adorable grin, cheeks puffing up and eyes twinkling with amusement, “You scared me!”

“I thought my girlfriend would be more aware of her surroundings,” Jongho teased as he ruffled your hair, making you pout, “Especially when a handsome man like myself was trailing her—”

“Ey, Jongho, now you’re just asking for—” You tsked as you narrowed your eyes at your boyfriend, who slightly stepped closer, making you walk into the shelves behind you.

“Asking for a what?” He asked cheekily, making your heartbeat pick up again. Jongho and you had been dating for two months now and you knew you should have gotten used to his antics, his shameless flirting and playfulness, but you could never quite do so. He always said something which took you off guard or made you a blushing and stuttering mess. Like right now, as he jut his lips out and made kissy faces, teasing you as you pretended to be annoyed, desperately trying not to giggle.

“Who’s the one asking for a kiss now?” You teased back, but only blushed more when Jongho smirked, leaning closer, your noses almost touching.

“I can’t help myself when my girlfriend is so cute.” You would’ve rolled your eyes but Jongho’s soft lips were pressed against yours, making your eyes close as your arms went around his shoulders, pulling him into yourself. Jongho’s hands wrapped around your middle, smiling into the kiss as your lips assaulted his eagerly, having missed him all day long. He had classes early in the morning and then he had to attend his swimming classes, his tournament was soon coming up, he had to train hard. You didn’t even agree to meet up today, but his presence was more than welcomed as you had been thinking about him all day. Your lips moved softly against each other, kisses drawn out and slow, Jongho taking his time in tasting you and the hot white chocolate you had drank not too long ago—you had to sneak that into the library, but what the librarian doesn’t know about won’t hurt her. You revealed in Jongho’s comforting arms, his honey like cologne sweet and familiar. He felt like home, like that cozy place you’d frequent because you grew to love it and made you feel safe, protected from the cold outside world. That’s how Jongho made you feel like, safe, and like you could conquer the whole world with him by your side. He was the sweetest person you had the luck of meeting and far the most loving person in your life. He was so easy to love, your heart felt full as your lips moved together, breathing in each other, wrapped up in your own world before Jongho slightly pulled back, seemingly breathless. It made you chuckle as you cradled his cheek and rubbed his flushed soft skin with your thumb, not even trying to fight off the huge smile on your lips.

“I missed you.” You couldn’t help but giggle as you allowed the confession to slip past your lips, and Jongho’s face lit up even more as his cheeks flushed a darker shade of red, lips pouting as he looked down embarrassed, but still nuzzled his face into your hand. Sometimes he made you wonder how you survived his cuteness without having a heart attack yet.

“I missed you too, how was your day?” Jongho asked as he raised his head up again, and kissed your cheeks slowly, slightly distracting you from what you were about to say.

“Way too long without you by my side, but—” You giggled as Jongho bit your cheek lightly, “I finally managed to do my social studies assignment!”

Jongho hummed and pulled away to be able to look into your eyes, “Finally, I thought I’d have to tie you to a chair myself and force you to do it.”

You snickered and lightly punched his shoulder, wrapping your arms around his neck again as you pressed a quick kiss against his cherry red lips, “And how was your day?”

“Productive and practical,” Jongho said confidently, eyes glinting with mischief, “I have mastered how to keep you out of my thoughts, you won’t be able to bother me anymore when you’re not with me.”

You gasped dramatically and tried to step away from Jongho, but his arms tightened around you as he grinned, fingers flexing against your sides, threatening to tickle you, “Don’t pout like that. If I keep thinking about you only I will lose in the tournament, and then I’ll be really sad.”

“You won’t lose, Jongho, you’re phenomenal, I’ve seen you compete before.” You encouraged him with a fond smile, having seen him competing before. It’s actually how you got to know of the existence of Choi Jongho. Your best friend had been a big swimmer until an awful injury, which led her to now enjoying going to swimming competitions, cheering for her once fellow teammates and rivals. Apparently, Jongho and her used to train under the same coach, so when she heard that Jongho went to the same university as the two of you while maintaining his swimmer career, she was exhilarated to go and see him compete. And, of course, she dragged you with herself, trying to convince you why you should also pick up a few swimming lessons as you couldn’t swim very well. The match seemed to be quite interesting, but you found yourself bored throughout the half of it, having to excuse yourself to the bathroom. On your way back is when you ran into Jongho, quite literally, as he came stumbling out of the men’s restroom. He seemed to have trouble breathing and when you noticed he couldn’t really form coherent sentences, it became obvious by his lack of breathing pattern that he was having a panic attack. Your best friend having those quite often, you were familiar with the process, and you managed in helping Jongho calm down, only to find out that he got proposed to join the national swimming team. Since he was already nervous from the current match, and that combined with the shocking news he had just gotten it lead to him feeling overwhelmed, which then lead to a breakdown. After you were sure he was feeling fine, the two of you parted ways and you went back to my best friend, explaining why you came back later than expected. And much to your surprise, after the event was over, your best friend forced you to wait with her for her long-time friend, only to introduce you to the guy you had helped with his panic attack, Choi Jongho. You seemed to run into each other quite frequently at university after that, and after a few in passing quick conversations, Jongho asked for your number, which you gladly gave to him. That was probably the best decision of your life.

“What would I do without your support…” Jongho mumbled to himself before he pecked your lips and stepped back, offering his hand for you to take, “Are you hungry? Want to grab some dinner on our way home?”

“I’m a bit tired, if you don’t mind, we could just hang out at my place instead of eating out.” You said as your fingers interlaced and the two of you took off towards your table. Jongho wore an ankle long dark brown coat, his black ripped jeans peeking through as he walked.

“That’s fine by me,” Jongho answered quietly with a smile, “how do you feel about some Chinese take-out?”

You grinned as you nodded your head at him, “That would be lovely.”

After gathering your things and placing them in your backpack, Jongho and you were off towards the Chinese take-out place, hands clasped together, and noses hidden behind your thick scarves. Jongho talked about his day, told you about meeting his new coach and instantly taking a liking to him. He mentioned how Hongjoong got the call too and would be joining their team, leaving Jongho ecstatic that his best friend would be once again by his side not just out of water, but in water too. He knew you wouldn’t see each other for a month as he’d be touring the country very soon, so very enthusiastically he showed you the calendar on his phone and what plans he had made for the two of you for the remaining days of the month, wanting to spend as much time with you as possible. You couldn’t help but tear up a bit at how attentive and caring he was, pecking his cheek lightly despite Jongho hating PDA; he didn’t exactly complain as he turned his head and stole a swift kiss, making you giggle. Just as you crossed the road, the Chinese restaurant a few steps in front of you, something wet fell on your cheek. Your eyebrows furrowed as you looked up, dreading the thought of rain as you hadn’t brought an umbrella with yourself, and by the looks of it, Jongho didn’t have one either. Jongho noticed how you had stopped moving and he turned around, eyebrows raised as he gazed at you curiously, your eyebrows furrowed as you stared up at the dark cloudy sky, white specks helter-skelter falling from the darkness above. Your eyes widened as more wet spots fell on your face and you raised your free hand up high, opening your palm to catch the small snowflakes. Jongho’s eyes wandered around in surprise as he took in the sudden snowfall, fingers tightening around yours. It was the first snowfall of the year. Upon realizing this, your lips pulled up into a huge grin and you beamed up at Jongho as his eyes found yours. That gummy smile which you loved so much was back on his face and he gently tugged on your joined hands, pulling you into his chest.

“Would you look at that,” He muttered with amusement; however his eyes were filled with fondness, “The first snowfall of the year.”

“Just when I was walking with my boyfriend, how convenient.” You chuckled as your nose scrunched up and you leaned in, kissing the corner of your boyfriend’s lips.

“You know what this means…” Jongho trailed off, grinning as the snow continued to fall around the two of you, wrapping the world into a white blanket.

“I do, Jongho.” You whispered, suddenly feeling shy as your boyfriend cooed at you.

“I suppose you’ll be stuck with me forever now.” He said quite smugly, shrugging nonchalantly as he made you laugh, content about the prospect of having to live his life with you by his side.

“Wouldn’t want to have it any other way,” You brought your joined hands inside your jacket’s pocket, fingers having frozen by now, “I love you, Jongho.”

“And I love you too, pookie.” The nickname made you burst into laughter, but you pulled Jongho into a hug, burying your head into the comfort of his neck, the inside of his scarf warm against your skin. Your nose was freezing and Jongho yelped when he felt it pressing against his hot skin, making you chuckle. But he didn’t pull away as he patted the snow out of your hair, feeling content.

“Let’s go inside before we turn into statues.” He mumbled close to your ear and you nodded, agreeing with him. The moment might’ve felt magical, but you fancied knowing your body wouldn’t freeze over. With your hands still intertwined, you hurried inside the Chinese take-out place, giggling as Jongho ruffled his hair, making it stick out in odd places.

Yes, perhaps there were no coincidences. You could totally imagine living your life with this one lovable human being.

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ackerifle · 5 months

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season of giving!

yan. fiancé captain levi ackerman x fiancée commander. reader

+ CW. — reverse power dynamics/power imbalance deadlock, forced relationship & forced marriage, coercion; can be perceived as the same timeline/sequel to paying the price in full; not proof-read

the soldiers of the survey corps are only granted leave twice a year: upon receiving ghastly injuries that render them ‘unfit,’ for work, and for the winter holidays. thankfully, today it is the latter. although the official holiday leave allegedly begins today, many — if not all — of the scouts made off the day prior. which you had so graciously allowed, seeing that you didn’t rule the corps with an iron fist; unlike your predecessor who you vaguely remembered writing up those who had fled from the headquarters at 23:59 on the eve of last year.

your comrades in arms were grateful, and those who did not run off the moment you informed them they could leave early were kind enough to bid you farewell and send their warmest wishes. the only requirement you listed was that the cadets clean their areas and barracks before they go, as soldiers were notorious for taking more than a mere few days off. and you’d rather them not return to find rats and roaches in their living quarters. and thus, the scouts could be seen preening and polishing the survey corps’ base throughout the day, up until evening, but the majority of them had left around the afternoon (which made you question how thorough they were).

only the ranked officials and a handful of your squadron had actually departed on the day of, but only because they had paperwork to complete before they could go. all of whom had given their last wishes to you intimately, one at a time. expectedly, the first to greet and first to say goodbye was erwin, who awoke promptly at the crack of dawn to knock on your office door. your section commander had turned in his neatly stacked pile of documents, and a wine bottle with ribbon around the neck (poorly tied, but you could only assume how long it had taken him to get the singular bow to sit correctly with how wrinkled it was, and imagining him re-tying it with a frustrated look brought a smile to your face). you thanked him, and told him to, “not bring alcohol into your office during working hours in the future,” but he was out the door before you could even finish your sentence.

less than a minute later, a far too lively hange opened, no, slammed, your door open. they were already rambling before they could step foot into the perimeters of your office, and you interrupted them to scold their loud tone and impertinent salutations. hange had apologized, waving their hand dismissively, excusing it with a, “there’s nobody in the damn building anyway!” as they dropped their papers — which appeared to be suspiciously bigger than the amount you had assigned them — on your desk, creating a loud thud once settled, and you swore you heard the wood crack. hange had read you like a book, because they quickly defended that they were also delivering moblit’s work, thus why they had such an ungodly amount of files, and not because they babbled and rambled in their notes.

unlike erwin, it seemed hange wanted to do anything but leave, chatting you up with all their newly found research and information on langnar’s journal. and eventually when you ushered them out under the pretense you were required to sift through all of their’s and the other captain’s and vice captain’s paperwork by midnight (which you were), they finally left. but they returned two seconds after the fact, apologizing profusely and throwing an assortment of small gift-wrapped objects at you, then hurriedly rushing out the door and slamming it shut, just as you instructed them not to.

when the sun had finally risen, there was another knock on your door. you had known it was mike when there was a long pause after the knock, and not the typical automated ‘commander, it’s cadet so-and-so,’ and the only form of acknowledgement you had gotten from him after permitting his entry was a subtle nod. mike was thoughtful enough to clip his papers together, setting them aside from erwin’s and hange’s onto what little open space was left on your overcrowded desk. however, the wine bottle caught his attention; it had been pushed to the corner, and he saved it from potentially falling, picking it up with both hands and inspecting it with a sniff. shaking your head with a disappointed sigh, you had asked if he wanted it, muttering something along the lines of how you didn’t drink, and erwin knew that very well. but mike set the bottle down at the center of the desk, responding with a simple, “but levi does.” you dismissed him after that comment, but gave him an honest and genuine goodbye.

as the day dragged on, you couldn’t help but let your mind wander. it was empty, and rightfully so, as you knew this may be the only day happy families could rejoice with their loved ones, reunited after months away before they return scornfully to their duty on the battlefield. perhaps if you cared more, you would have gone home like the rest of the soldiers; but the pursuit for your own life, and needs, and wants, and worldly desires has led you here. back to your office chair, the one you sit at for hours a day so you can placate the curiosity that has since been ignited by the anomalies and inconsistencies in (what is left of) humanity’s history. sometimes, you question if this valiant effort is worth it, it’s been years with little payoff, and you’re starting to think that—

“fuck, is it cold out there.” your head snapped up at the voice, and you see levi standing in the doorway. you don’t recall hearing the sound of the door opening, considering it was quite infamous for creaking anytime someone had so much as breathed near it. his hands are full, papers and all, but a tiny yet neatly sheathed package sat atop of the reports, a pretty ribbon and all to complete it. you catch yourself grinning, which you excuse as being happy that levi has finally turned in his work and not because he’s actually here, and a frown quickly settles onto your lips, “don’t curse, you know i don’t like it.”

he shoots you a look, raising a brow as kicks the door shut with the slight nudge of his boot, “really? because last night, i’m pretty sure you were the one cursing.” levi stops in front of your desk, unbothered by the clutter, and your stare blankly as he sets his paperwork on the empty spot you had just cleared, “screaming, ‘oh my fucking god, levi—”

“okay, enough. and i don’t sound like that.” you critique his voice pitch and horrendous imitation of you, mainly to preserve your dignity and pride, and to stop the heat you felt rise to your cheeks. you placed both of your hands flat on the edge of your desk, pushing yourself backwards in your chair, but with no effort to sit up, you let your head fall back. staring intensely at the ceiling felt much better on your eyes than reading over ink writings, some unintelligible, others with atrocious handwriting, and all too tiresome.

your eyes drop to levi, who has his arms crossed, as if waiting for you to acknowledge his presence, he huffs when you two finally make eye contact, “where have you been all day?” you can’t help but be curious, standing to retrieve the present on top of his paperwork-pile, and sitting back down, “busy. why? did you miss me?” you bite back a scoff.

“hardly, it’s just… odd that you weren’t around.” the box is light in weight and small in size, fitting nicely in the palm of your hand. without moving your head, your eyes wander towards levi, who is already looking at you, urging you to open the gift with the swift motion of his hand.

you must admit his wrapping skills are unmatched to all the presents you received for this year’s annual winter holiday. including the ones that had been shoved into your mail, all of which had difficulty fitting into the thin slot, cascading onto the floor and taking up an outrageous amount of space. most of them had been from the cadets before they left, and the rest were letters from the government, pestering you about legal papers and official business. but levi’s gift was darling, and the bow was certainly tied much better than erwin’s, even if that wasn’t saying much. tugging lightly at the end of the ribbon, and it falls apart in your grasp along with the wrapping paper. the naked box is black in color, and smooth to the touch, so you are careful to slide the lid without denting the box with your nails.

upon opening it, the glint of a jewel catches your eyes. parting your lips with an impressed gasp, you hook your hand under a silver chain, retrieving the necklace from its confines, “do you like it?” of course you do, it is undeniably beautiful. you unclasp the necklace, bringing it up to you and wrapping it around your neck. levi takes long strides to help you re-clasp it, placing his hands over yours and moving your hair aside, fidgeting until it clicks, “yes, it’s very lovely. thank you.”

you hold the centerpiece of the necklace in your hand, eyeing it carefully. the embellishment is the same one that belongs to the center stone on your engagement ring, that is why it’s so awfully familiar. it comes as a mystery to you as to when levi had time to go and buy it, especially when he’s practically glued to your side all day long. it only sinks in now that you hadn’t bothered to get him anything, not that you particularly owed him anything; not when levi decides he’ll take from you whenever he pleases. you feel guilty, even though you shouldn’t, you do. and it doesn’t help your regretful conscience when levi presses a chaste, but sweet, kiss to the crown of your head.

“i never did get you anything. did you… did you want anything for your birthday?” you hesitantly query, almost like it pained you to ask in the first place; because it does. you can only bend your will so much, after all, “marriage.”

eyes wide with surprise, you shut your eyes with a grimace, “can’t you request something more reasonable? we only have a day off, and it’s what?” you raise your head and take a glance towards the window, and a blend of bright orange and yellow hues can be seen illuminating the stuffy room, “late in the evening? the registrar’s office is likely closed by now, if not closing as we speak.” turning your head to face levi, you gauge his reaction, which isn’t immediate, but he seems almost too calm to a response he would otherwise argue with you for hours on end about.

“i went earlier, they don’t close until midnight,” reaching into the pocket of his green long coat (which he hadn’t bothered to take off due to the ill-suited weather), he retrieved a scroll tied with a single red string. he held it out for you to take, and you apprehensively take it, unfurling the paper. the first thing you see is the big bold letters that read, certificate of marriage, you don’t bother looking at the rest, “i filled everything in for you, all you need to do is sign it, and we’ll go before the day ends.”

you’re pretty sure this is far from legal, and it concerns you that he memorized all of your information down to a t. dismayed at your delayed reply, levi places a heavy hand on your shoulder, hand clenching onto your body with such force you think he’s trying to rip your arm from its socket, “lest you need some more convincing, that is.”

#ackerifle #yandere #yandere x reader #yandere attack on titan #yandere aot #yandere aot x reader #yandere levi ackerman #yandere levi ackerman x reader #levi ackerman x reader

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duskofastraeus · 4 days

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24th of May 2024

Redid 2 dynamics assignments

Redid all of the lecture notes examples for my dynamics exam

Studied French (reading and listening)

Started preparing for my writing and oral examination in French

Started preparing the reading list for next semester

Notes of the day:

- I haven’t been active on here due to exam season and some health problems impeding me from being as productive as I wish I could be. As of now I’ve finished 5 exams out of the 6 I am meant to do so let’s hope my body is capable of surviving this ordeal…

- Pressing academic deadlines aside, I have been able to secure at least one partial internship for this summer and I am hoping to be able to do 3 extra credit classes next year (two semesters of Russian and one ‘Philosophy and Science’ module). I am also planning on getting my French certificate this summer so I’ve been reading ‘The Secret History’ in its French translation!

- Winter is gone here and now I am not used to the sun despite the fact that my home country barely has any winters to begin with... I might not be able to go back home before Christmas and I do not know to what extent that will affect me mentally? Perhaps it will pass like a breeze and I won’t even notice it, one minute in northern winters and another in southern shores, who knows really…

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gojo-mochi · 6 months

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Making Snowmen in The Shape of You

SYN: The winter blues been increasing the levels of curses lately and you finally found some time alone to yourself. You decided to take this time to build a funny little snowman totally not in the shape of your crush

CW: A bit of dirty talk at the end, Gojo being Gojo, Mostly Fluff.

WC: 1.4k

A/N: Was supposed to be apart of a bigger series but shush its ok.... My actual Gojo bday fic will be out tomorrow!

You had a free hour away from your students and paperwork. Well, technically, you made a deal with Gojo to shove all your paperwork on him in exchange for some special, limited-edition mochi you managed to snatch on one of your work trips. You were 99% sure that Gojo would still try to pawn off his paperwork to Ichiji or some other poor sap. Curse activity has been through the roof lately due to seasonal depression. You roll your shoulders, trying to loosen some of the tension and stress you've been feeling lately due to the increasing number of missions you've been assigned.

You packed the snow tightly on the miniature snowman you were making as these thoughts crossed your mind. While you were grateful to have a momentary break, you couldn’t lie and say that you didn’t miss the company of the boisterous students and a certain white-haired coworker of yours. Blood ran to your face as you thought about Gojo, and you blamed it on the cold weather instead, pushing down any inappropriate thoughts you had. Your hands moved on their own as it finished building the base of the snowman, picking up some of the fallen leaves nearby and placing them sticking up on top.

By the time you were done giving the snowman a hairdo, taking a step back, you realized that it oddly resembled Gojo in some sort of hilarious way. Your hands found their way in your pocket as you were thinking of what to do for its eyes, remembering that on one of your missions you came across a small toy shop. Selling buckets full of marbles that you used to play with as a kid, one of them caught your eye as you were walking by it—a shiny and bright blue. As you picked it up to peer in closer, you were faced with an endless blue ocean. No matter which side you were peering in from, the endless blue in the marble always seemed to shift endlessly.

A cough pulled you out of your trance. The shopkeeper was eyeing you warily. You coughed and embarrassingly smiled back at them, asking if they had another marble with the same color. They gave you another look, grunted that if they were one, it would be somewhere in the bin, and told you to find it yourself. The click-clacking of marbles running into each other still haunts your dreams even to this day, but you held your head high as you found an exact match to the marble that caught your eye. As your fingers roll the two marbles together in your hands now, you wonder what possessed you to go to such lengths to get these marbles anyway.

A certain annoying laugh invaded your mind as these thoughts passed. You sigh, bending down to your tiny snowman and poking in eye holes so you could place the marbles in. Backing away a bit to look at your sculpture, The sun shining down made the marble almost seem to glow with an intense blue fire. You squinted your eyes to make sure you were thinking right, laughing a little at how much it resembled Gojo. ‘It only needs that dumb blindfold he always wears now.’, you absentmindedly tug at your black scarf, thinking silently. You pull it off in the next moment, being careful as you wrap it around the snowman’s head.

The marbles were hidden away now, like precious gems. You stood proudly in front of the Gojo snowman, puffing out your chest proudly at the silly resemblance. Taking out your phone, you decided to take pictures of it to send to your students, knowing that some of them would get a kick out of seeing it. Only to get spooked by cold hands suddenly appearing on your neck, you screamed and dropped your phone on the snowy ground. Turning around to find a snowy man with a shit-eating grin on his face, "Scared, ya?” Gojo laughed at the expression on your face, his infinity blocking the snowball you threw at him while bending down to get your phone. Dusting off the snow on your screen, Gojo took this lean over your shoulder, squishing his cheek next to yours and placing a hand delicately on your waist.

His long fingers just barely pressed down on your uniform, like he was afraid that he applied any more pressure that you would break. “Is that supposed to be me?” He points at the mini-Snowgojo with his other hand. You swat at his outstretched hand but made no move to get away from his hold, fighting down the blush that was threatening to come up from being so close to your not-so-crush crush. “Kinda, it definitely doesn’t capture your annoying aura, though.” You murmur, and Gojo faked a dramatic gasp and pretended to faint on you, making you catch him in your arms.

He didn’t put all of his weight on you, but it was still enough to make you struggle a bit. "Gojo, get off of me!” “I told you to call me Satoruuuuuu.” Gojo pouted and crossed his arms, not making a move to get up. “Fine, Satoruuuuuuu~ Can you please get off of me?” You mimicked his whiny voice, making him pout those pretty lips of his even more, but he did eventually get back off of you. Crouching down to look at this mini-me, “You used your scarf for my blindfold?” He tugged at the makeshift blindfold on the snowman, accidentally pulling it too hard and pulling it loose.

“Whoops.”

As the scarf fell loose, the marbles also fell off with it. You scrambled to get them before Gojo could, but his reflexes were much quicker than yours. Scooping up the marbles in his hand and bringing one near to his face, he lifted up his blindfold to take a closer look. “You know… These marbles have a very striking similarity to my eyes. Did you miss me so much that you went out of your way to build this?” He clutched at his heart and pretended to wipe away a tear. “If I knew that my absence would affect you like this, I would have taken you on my missions with me!"

The blush went on full force this time as Gojo continued to tease you, “Satoru, I’m not a special grade like you; I wouldn’t survive if I went on your missions.” Gojo draped an arm around your shoulder, resting his chin on top of your head. “Now, when did I say that you'd be fighting alongside me?” His arm goes down to rest on the small of your back now. “Now, when did I say that I’ve put you on the front lines with me, hmm? You would just be resting back at the hotel, all nice and cozy, waiting for me to come home to you, like the good girl I know you are~."

Gojo whispered the last part directly next to your ear, making you shiver like crazy. “Did you really think I didn’t notice all those looks you would give me all the time? Hmm~? Especially when it was training day, your eyes were glued on me, weren’t they?” He pulls you in closer, his lips brushing against your earlobe now. “Naughty girl, you should have been focusing on teaching and not trying to eye-fuck me.” “I-I wasn’t-ah!” You let out a strangled yelp as Gojo bit down on your earlobe gently, but the surprise and the warmth of his tongue were enough to make you start melting even in the winter weather.

He suddenly lets you go and walks back, still holding up the marbles in one hand, taking off his blindfold fully now to take a good look at you and your adorable, flustered expression. You had to suppress a whine at the loss of contact, "Satoru-"

“SATORU GOJO, COME BACK HERE AND FINISH YOUR PAPERWORK!”

“Principal Yaga?!”

You turned around to see Yaga stomping his way towards you and Gojo, but before you could say another word, Gojo took your hand in his and started running away, laughing maniacally as he did. “Satoru! Let me go! You’re going to get me in trouble with Yaga too!” He pauses for a bit, making you stumble at the sudden stop, only for Gojo to scoop you up in his arms and start running away faster. “Sorry, cutie, I waited too long for you to finally make a move, and I’m not about to let anyone ruin this for me.” He winks down at you. “What do you say we head over to that new cafe and you could stare at me all you want there~?"

#₍ᐢ. ̫.ᐢ₎ softy writes #softy writes #gojo x you #gojo x reader #gojo fluff #jjk x reader #jjk fluff

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hoe4sports · 2 months

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The first meeting | Caroline Graham Hansen

AN: No trigger warning. You are a girl from Norway, Benedicte. I had to chose a random Norwegian name. This will be a storyline in forms of imagines, so I recommend reading chronologically.

I was fresh out of University, and for sure done with anything related to lectures, studying and assignments. I grew up in this silly little Norwegian town, Tromsø. You know, a place where you can see the northern lights, reindeers and polar bears! Well, the latter is not entirely true. It is just a dead polar bear stuffed for tourists to see and take pictures of. Regardless, I grew up here with my grandparents. My father left when I was a baby, and my mother? I went no contact a few years ago as she put me through a lifetime of trauma. That is exactly why I decided that when I was finished with my bachelors degree in sports leadership, I needed to get out of this sad little town. It is always cold, and we have winter for 9 months a year. Three of them are in complete dqrkness, no sun or no daylight. It’s just as bad as it sounds. That’s why I applied for jobs pretty much anywhere but here. Towns like Oslo, London, Australia (hello Sam Kerr) and even the us. I however ended up getting a job offer from the women’s department in the club known as Barcelona. It was just what I needed; Sun, beaches and Spanish women.

I decided to go to Barcelona a week early, I had to take advantage of checking out the city and the nightlife! Barcelona had arranged this beautiful apartment for me downtown. It was a decent sized apartment in a new building with spectacular views from my bedroom window in the 23rd floor. I have never seen anything like this as I grew up very poor, and only lived in an apartment with my grandparents. I spent the first week checking out bars, restaurants and beaches. I also found a huge mall with all of my favourite stores! Naturally, I had to purchase new clothes as I was told that there would be an athletic dress code. Lululemon for the win!

I didn’t really meet a lot of hot Spanish women during my first week, but I made a few friends in the building. One of my closest neighbours, Ingrid Engen lived two doors away from me. I recognised her from a talent camp for 13 year olds in Norway. And somehow she recognised me! We had spent the first week getting to know each other, and when she found out I was going to be working for Barcelona; she was beyond excited. We clicked naturally, and we went out to all her favourite bars, restaurants and shops. She really gave me the full experience!

Fast forward to today, Monday morning. The first of August. At 5.30. Let’s just say that I regretted the last bottle of wine from last night. But today was the day! The day were I finally start my first “big girl job” and you bet I was feeling excited. I got my tired body out of bed and opened up the blinds in my apartment. The views just took my breath away. It was stunning! A beautiful sunrise with the most beautiful colors that I’ve ever seen. I made myself a black coffee, and wrapped my robe around me so i could sit outside on my private balcony. It felt relaxing. The air was crisp, I could hear the ocean and I could smell the salty beach. It was like a dream come true.

My daydreaming soon became interrupted as I knocked myself intro reality. First day of my first job, right. I quickly made it to the bathroom and had a steaming shower. The smells of my floral soap felt like a full on aroma therapy session. I quickly got out of the shower and patted myself dry. My blonde long hair dried and put in a half up half down bun and I did light makeup as my skin was tanned from the week in the sun. I always used some mascara, it really made my icy blue eyes pop. I got dressed up in what I was asked to wear; Black athletic shorts, a black tank top, my trusty black hokas and a hot pink lululemon jacket. It felt wrong, but my new boss had insured me that any athletic wear was good. I grabbed my bag and took a deep breath. I took a look in the mirror, and I added some fruity chapstick. This was going to be the first day of the rest of my life.

*fast forward to being with your boss*

“Ah, and this office is where you will be working from! Feel free to decorate however you like.” The Spanish woman said. I nodded and listened as active as I could. “Here is your work phone, your laptop and your camera. If there is anything you need, you let me know.” she said as she handed me what looked like a tower of apple and canon products. I was stunned. “Wow, this is amazing, thank you so much! I’m so excited to get to know the team, and I’m eager to get to work.” I replied as I sat down my new work gear and followed the tall woman as she talked enthusiastically about Barcelona and their work culture.

*Caroline POV*

Jonathan was going on, and on and on and on about what this season was gonna look like. I was tying up my white Nike cleats, they were brand new as the team wanted us to start fresh. I however, hated fresh and new and change. I liked stability, routine and same old. Why change something that isn’t broken?

The door to the hallway suddenly swung open. There was the head of staff, Maria. She was always so bright and shiny and talkative. Not really my way of life. “Ah, Maria, just in time!” Jonathan called out. “Come, come!” He urged and a blonde petite woman popped up from behind Maria. “This, ladies, this is Benedicte. She is one of the new assistant coaches, and she will be primarily working with the wingers. With her, we will be unstoppable!” Jonathan said enthusiastically. The girl blushed, and smiled. “Hi squad, Im looking forward to kicking your asses on a daily basis” she said with a cheeky grin. I was staring at her as I couldn’t remember why she seemed so familiar. “Caro, stop staring!” Mapi hissed at me. I rolled my eyes. “I wasn’t staring” I hushed, but with no luck as the team was already making their way onto the pitch.

#caroline graham hansen #imagine #woso imagine

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charlewiss-writes · 2 years

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the beach is for lovers / daniel ricciardo

masterlist

day 6: tourist (part of one-word november prompts!)

pairing: daniel ricciardo x reader

word count: 0.8k

summary: after the disastrous year you two had (you, due to your break up and him, with how hard the season has been), nothing better than going back to home sweet home.

"why don't you go to australia with me?"

daniel fucking ricciardo was many incredible things. he was known by his amazing race craft on the track, that allowed him to be on the highest step of the podium eight times. but apart from being a talented driver, he was also fucking unpredictable. it was a phenomenal trait to have on-track, but off-track, you had learned, after a few months working with him at mclaren as his pr manager, it led to being surprised by whatever his mind came with that day.

"wait, what?"

it would have been a normal weekend, if it wasn't the last race of the season: abu dhabi. the year had been unbelievable tough for both you and daniel, and you two couldn't wait for the winter break that was approaching around the corner. nonetheless, it was for very different motives. he was sick of mclaren, the team that had stabbed behind his back, just like your boyfriend of two years had.

he repeated, like you truly hadn't listened clearly before. "come with me to australia. i heard your talk with lando saying that you didn't want to go back to your the apartment you shared with that asshole. so don't" he shrugged, like it was the most normal thing to propose. "dan, you haven't seen them since winter break. you deserve some quality time alone with all of your family together."

the whole conversation had been going on since he finished with the press conference he had been assigned to attend. so now, after trying to keep up with his fast walking back to his driver's room, you were left out of breath when you arrived at your destination. he turned to look at you, just as you had closed the door behind you. "what if I want you there?" he said, tilting his head.

—

so now you were here, at the airport, after a 14 hour trip, only because daniel fucking ricciardo asked nicely. another one of his traits, you learned late enough, was being annoying until he had what he desired: a quality that was incredibly helpful on the track, but proved to be used against you, as you now were on the home country of the australian gp that was beaming beside you.

"you'll meet michelle first. she'll take us to her house where you'll get to know the little demons i always tell you about" he continued talking about his whole family while you two made your way towards the entrance of the airport. you were far too quiet to answer to him, which he found weird instantly. "you're awfully quiet. what's up, sunshine?" he dodged your shoulder, trying to make you talk to him.

"you're sure this was a good decision?"

he laughed like you had told him the funniest joke to ever exist. "of course, sunshine. they'll love you. and you'll get to know all my friends and all the places i grew up in" dan was beyond excited about all the plans he had already made for the two of you.

—

and he executed all the plans he made with precision like clockwork. you had arrived on monday evening, and by saturday, just as he promised, you had already seen almost everything dan wanted to show you: the park where he used to go when he was a kid, the school he attended growing up, the bar where he met on fridays with his friends. there was only one place left to show you: the beach.

it was close to his house, so after a little walk you finally arrived. the sun was already setting when dan and you laid the picnic mat that you had brought, along with the cans of beer that daniel had insisted on bringing, claiming that he hadn't see you drinking before, which was a blatant lie.

"my dad always said that I shouldn't wait until it was too late to look back over history, otherwise it would be filled with nothing but regret. i think I wasn't true to his word this year". you knew the season had been tough on him, but you two didn't talk about it on the weekends, too busy with all the work being part of mclaren's media team included. seeing that he hadn't met your attentive look yet, you keep quiet, understanding that he wanted to go on with whatever he had wanted to say. "I don't know what the future holds, y/n, but I would hope it included you in it".

"I know it's too soon. I understand. I just appreciate you coming all the way here, supporting me after this year." dan looked at you now, grabbing your hand with his free one. "I would like to do the same for you" he smiled, and ended his speech with the biggest smile you had seen in him all year. "I would like that very much, i'll try to be half as annoying as you are" you told him, jokingly. he launched himself at you, tickling you until you couldn't even breathe, "please stop, i'm only joking" you almost screamed, not being able to control the laugh that erupted from your body.

thank god for australia, you thought. and thank god for daniel fucking ricciardo.

#f1 imagine #f1 x reader #f1 x you #charlewiss writing challenge #one word november prompts #user charlewiss #f1 x y/n #f1 x yn #daniel ricciardo imagine #daniel ricciardo x reader #daniel ricciardo x you #daniel ricciardo fluff #daniel ricciardo x y/n #daniel ricciardo x yn #Spotify

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sugurusdiscordmoderator · 4 months

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Captain Levi part 3

a/n: this has been in my drafts since christmas and I hit 100 followers today so I decided to finish it. smooches xoxo love you guys. Not proof read and I’m half asleep bc I’ve done so much writing today lmao, sorry if this doesn’t live up to your expectations!

part 1 • part 2

The evening of the winter party comes faster than anticipated.

In the week leading up, Hange, Petra, and Captain Levi took turns accompanying you to town in order to book vendors and buy decor.

The word was spreading around the scouts and everyone seemed very excited for a chance to celebrate some.

Levi and you hadn’t hooked up again but had a few lingering touches and looks that made your stomach heat up. By the middle of the week, you had to relieve yourself after being around him so much.

By Thursday it was time to head back to the castle to finish cleaning and to set up decor. Levi, Hange, Petra, and a few volunteers from your squad accompanied you. The crisp December air chilled your bones riding your horse there, wishing you opted for an extra jacket over your scouts uniform.

The ride seems to go slow, and Levi opts not to speak a whole lot given your two closest friends are there and neither of them know of your relations. Well, they know that you along with the rest of the female scouts find him mysterious and beautiful.

Petra talks about the dress options she has and how she’s going with Eld and Gunther because she felt bad saying no to either. Hange says they’re going to fly solo so they can hit on anyone they want. You hear Levi “tch” and let out a slight chuckle at Hange’s words, the closest he’s come to laughing at one of her jokes yet.

“Are you taking a date y/n?” Petra tilts her head at you as you dreaded this question.

“Yeah, actually Captain and I are going together,” you say quietly. Hange’s jaw drops practically to the floor and Petra asks, “Wait like-?” And points between the two of you.

“Yes.” Levi responds this time, and you notice the tops of his ears have turned pink. He is a few paces ahead of you three, and he refuses to turn around to face you. Hange and Petra fall silent at his answer with awkward silence following.

Few words are spoken for the time remaining of the ride there.

As you arrive to the castle, you see the cart waiting outside with all of your decorations you sent ahead of time.

“Wow, these are going to look great, I’m so excited!” You can’t hold back, everything you picked out looks so good together. Your three companions all smile back at you, happy that you’re happy.

“Give us jobs, where should we start?” Hange asks, getting off their horse and tying it up.

“Hm.. let’s see.” You think for a second, sizing up your helpers and the jobs that need done.

“Hange, you’re the tallest here so you can hang up the wreaths. Petra, I’m going to let you deal with the decorations inside in the foyer and hallways, and Levi and I can work on the great hall and then help put finishing touches on everything. We’ll split the volunteers between you two Hange and Petra.”

It’s almost if all three of them read your mind and smirk at you for assigning yourself with Captain Levi. You blush looking down at your notebook ignoring them as you organize the decorations for which group they need to go to.

Hange walks past you with a ladder making smooching noises only loud enough so you can hear, and you shout whisper at her “Hange! Enough!” You pass some wreaths to the volunteer lingering behind them and and send them to decorate the outside of the castle.

You, Levi and some other volunteers head into the main hall, and you give directions. You tell them where the tables should go, which table cloths they get, demonstrate the centerpiece arrangement, and place candles in all the windows. By the end of the day everything looks magical, the sun glows orange as it begins to set on the horizon while you all put the finishing touches up. The volunteers make their way back to base with Petra and Hange leading them, leaving you and Levi to perfect every last detail, and he was the best person for that job. As you make your way around the hall putting table numbers, place cards, and menus, you hum a little tune of an old song your grandmother used to sing you as a kid. You tend to do it subconsciously when you're focused, but then you hear a whistling of the same tune. Levi has his back turned to you, hanging up garland around the window ledges, with a lovely whistle adding to the melody. You look up to him and stop humming, causing him to turn to you, "Why'd you stop?" he asks plainly.

"Sorry I just didn't realize anyone else knew that song, you sounded lovely." You set down your pile of papers and walk to where he is, helping with the last window. He gazes off, not wanting to make eye contact while talking about his teenage years. "My friend, Isabelle. She would sing it to some of the kids we would help in the underground, when they had no food or parents."

Then you remember, the back story of Levi's first few months in the scouts. He lost the two people he came from the underground with, one of them must have been Isabelle. After a few seconds of silence Levi begins to apologize, "Sorry I didn't mean to make it awkward-" You cut him off by abruptly hugging him from behind, nuzzling your head against his and resting on his shoulder. "It's okay." You whisper so only he could hear, although no one else was there to hear you two. You feel him relax in your arms after a few moments, obvious that he is not big on physical affection and has not been hugged a lot. He wraps his hands over top of yours and lets you hold him for a few minutes, "Thank you, y/n," he whispers.

The intimate moment comes to an end when Levi shifts in your arms, gently placing them back at your sides, leaning in to kiss your forehead. He returns to finishing up the details like nothing happened, and you both finish your tasks, riding back to base for the evening.

As you're in the stalls tying your horses up, Levi breaks the silence, "You make a really good leader you know?" The comment catches you off guard, very rarely does Levi compliment anyone, even with the complex relationship you two have. You smile at him, "thank you, but not as good of a leader as you captain." You finish with a wink and watch as he blushes and turns to head to the sleeping quarters. He walks you to your door in silence, giving you a soft kiss on the lips before turning to walk to his room. "Goodnight, Levi" you softly call after him. "Goodnight L/N" he responds without turning around to look at you. You're not sure why this evening has been so awkward but you hope you find out before the party tomorrow.

The base was buzzing on Friday morning, you heard Erwin gave everyone a half day to prepare for the party this evening so they can look their best, plus with the winter break coming soon everyone couldn't wait to have a good time. You sit at breakfast with squad Levi although he is not there. You answer countless questions about tonight's party and listen to Oluo ramble on about something you couldn't care less about. After finishing your meal you head to talk to Commander Erwin, but stop in your tracks when you hear a conversation from his office with the door open.

"Levi, I don't know what to tell you. Superior's can't be in a relationship with their subordinates in any fashion."

"Erwin, promote her already, she doesn't need to be on my squad, she's more than capable and then we'd be equals." You can almost hear Levi rolling his eyes and sassing his commander.

"Listen, because were friends, I will pretend like this conversation never happened and you two can keep what's going on a secret. Until something else gets figured out. Understood, Captain?"

"Understood, sir."

Signaling the end of their conversation, you rush back down the hallway , trying to pretend you were just going for a stroll when Levi walks out into the hall. You don't turn around but continue walking, thoughts racing, not noticing Commandant Shadis coming out of the dining hall and running right into him. Your eyes grow wide and you spew out apologies of "I'm so sorry sir, I wasn't paying attention, please," As you reach down to help pick up the papers you knocked out of his hand. Shadis was never too happy of a guy but seeing you in borderline hysterics had him feeling a little sympathy. You stand back up to see Captain Levi looking at you with an eyebrow raised, and hear Shadis make a quiet comment to him, "Keep an eye on this one, she's rather clumsy." Your stomach drops even further at his words, not even daring to make eye contact with Levi, and rushing to your room.

The combined events of this morning and being stressed about the party this evening sends you into a panic attack, tears stream down your face as you sit on your bed staring at the dress hanging in your closet. You and Levi hadn't even talked about what you were yet and he was already asking Erwin to take you off his squad? And there is no way you'd get promoted if Commandant Shadis thought you were a clumsy mess. There is a soft knock at your door, but you don't bother to get up to get it. If it's an emergency you'll find out sooner or later. But your door creaks open softly, revealing a worried looking Levi. Seeing your state he rushes over beside you on the bed, sitting himself behind you and wrapping his arms around you. "Shhhh, it's okay, shhh," he gently tries to calm down your shaking body, setting down the glass of water he got you on your night stand. He kisses the back of your head and rubs circles into the soft skin of your biceps to sooth you. "You don't have to tell me anything, I don't need to know what's wrong, I just wanted to help." Your cries begin to die down as you take deep breaths laying your head up against the side of Levi's.

After sitting in silence for a few minutes, he stands up and moves to your window, opening it for you. "The fresh air and the sound of birds may help," he offers sheepishly. You nod, taking a sip of the fresh glass of water from him. Levi returns back beside you, stroking your hair as you wipe the remaining tears and snot from your face with the handkerchief he handed you.

“Isabelle was like my little sister. She used to have panic attacks from the things we saw down there.” He says, catching you off guard. You sniffle and nod your head. “You remind me of her…not in like a sister way but in your courage and kindness.” He smiles with the last part, as you finally bring yourself to make eye contact with him.

“What time do you want to head to the party tonight?” Just like that, the soft Levi is gone and closed off. Your voice cracks, trying your best to keep up with the whiplash of his emotions. “I should probably get there a half hour or so before everyone else.” You say trying your best to sound like an enthusiastic party planner. “I’ll go with you, I’m your date after all.” He smiles down at you before kissing your forehead “I’ll be in my room if you need me.” And just like that Levi is gone before you can understand the feelings between the two of you.

You do your best to remain calm that afternoon, taking a long shower and letting your hair dry in curlers, putting more makeup than you usually wear on. You take special care of the forest green gown you and Petra picked out, which accentuates your small waist and large chest. You put on the finishing touches while Hange and Petra bust in your room to fawn over your beauty. Petra wears a lovely dark purple velvet dress and Hange a suit that suits them very well. You give them both a kiss on the cheek before rushing to Captain Levi’s room to let him know you’re ready.

He meets you at the door and ushers you out to your private carriage that he arranged since you two were leaving earlier than the others. The last light of day is creeping through and you see his cheeks flushed a shade of pink.

“You look incredibly amazing. I’m sorry but I’m kind of speechless.”

“You look pretty handsome yourself,” you say bashfully, trying not to bite your lip so you don’t mess up your lipstick. After a few minutes, you speak up again.

“Levi, I want to know more about you.”

“I- what?”

“I just get these glimpses like you randomly bringing up Isabelle and I do care, I really do, but I want to be able to put your puzzle pieces together,” you sigh, “you can be such an enigma.” You finish with a sarcastic eye roll and a small smile.

“No- nobody’s asked me that since Erwin took me from the underground.” His tone sounds sincere but almost sad.

“You don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to. I just want to get to know you more.” You hold his hand and lean your head onto his shoulder, being careful to not mess up your hair.

“Well- short story I guess. My mother was amazing but got handed a shitty deal in life. She worked in a brothel in the underground and died from disease when I was 8… I never knew my dad… this guy named Kenny who I hardly knew took me in and trained me to be a killer. I stole from the rich and took for the poor. I had two best friends Farlan and Isabelle. They died on our first scouting mission when we made it above ground.”

You lift your head from his shoulder and stare him in the eyes, “I’m so sorry.” He looks away, and doesn’t respond for a little. “Don’t pity me or anything now. I don’t tell anyone that shit for a reason.” You can’t tell if he’s joking or not and just smile and squeeze his hand.

As you arrive the castle glows from the candles and lights luminating it against the newly settled in dusk. You gasp, “oh my god it looks even better than I imagined!” With that Levi helps down from the carriage, and holds your arm properly as he walks you inside like a gentleman. You instantly go to work, talking with the musicians and caterer and bartenders. Levi sets out the name cards at the table that you finalized who was sitting at what tables yesterday. The first carriage arrives in no time, with all the leadership and higher ups. Erwin, Shadis, Pixis, Zachary, and a few of the higher ranking captains with other squads in the scouts make their entrance. They take their turns greeting you, bowing as you curtsy and giving your hand a gentle kiss, and they shake Levi’s hand. To most, it would seem that it was just a supporting captain helping his team member, but Erwin winks at Levi and whispers something in his ear, to which he blushes and adjusts his tie.

You make your way over to the bar, helping yourself to a glass of wine to release some nerves now that the party is in progress. Carriage after carriage arrive of the scouts and their dates, most of them enter the castle with mouths agape, flabbergasted by the beautiful decor you worked so hard on. You don’t greet everyone at the door but make your way to your table at the very front. Levi sits talking to Miche as you set your wine glass down and attempt to join the conversation. Levi subconsciously wraps an arm around your waist before you clear your throat. Miche raises an eyebrow between the two of you and you decide it may be best if you’re not in this conversation. Walking back towards the main entrance you wait for Petra and Hange, you got them at a table as close to you as you could but since they are technically without rank they were with most of the general population.

Soon enough all the guests have arrived and Erwin makes a brief toast to the courageous scouts and all those that could not make it home for the holidays this year as they made the ultimate sacrifice. You always tend to tear up around the topics, having watched someone your fellow cadets lose their lives on the battlefield. After the sad part of the speech, Erwin turns his attention to you, making you stand up and thanking you for planning the party. As the toast ends you cheers your white wine glass against Levi’s red wine glass. You are reminded of the first time you were intimate and the wine you shared. As if he read your mind, Levi takes a swig and winks at you. You feel heat in your core and know that you need to suppress it for the evening.

After dinner, drinks are flowing and the music is lively. Most of the men no longer wearing their suit jackets. Levi has his sleeves rolled up just to see some of his forearm and he loosened his tie a bit from his neck. Not that he dances, he just had enough drinks that his body was warmed up. You have about 3 glasses of wine in and are making eyes at him from your spot on the dancefloor.

He mouths to you “meet me upstairs,” before he gets up and heads to the main staircase just out of the great hall doorway. You wait just enough time so it isn’t suspicious before following his steps.

When you make it to the top of the stairs you feel Levi before you see or hear him. He pulls you into a random room which looked to be an old office or study, pressing himself up against your backside, caressing your face from your cheek the whole way down your neck and arm, sending shivers down your spine. “Sweetheart, have you been trying to tease me tonight?” Levi has the slight smell of alcohol on his breath, enough to be tipsy but not to raise concern.

He takes a hold of your jaw, turning your face to kiss him. His lips are addicting, you’re unable to stop once his tongue enters your mouth and a flame inside you has been ignited. You pull slightly on his tie as he pushes you up against an old wooden desk that looks not too study. He nudges your legs for you to sit on the desk while his lips find your ear lobe, neck, collar bone, and down to your beautiful cleavage, leaving kisses all over the exposed part of your chest. He doesn’t dare leave any hickies because after all he doesn’t want to give you a bad look with the higher ups if he wants you promoted! You reach down to hike up your long gown, allowing Levi access to between your legs. He takes this opportunity to kneel down, face close to your wetness, to ask “Do you want this hun?” To which all you can do is whimper before he moves your panties to the side to find your glistening cunt. He doesn’t waste any time, knowing people will wonder where you and he are soon. He dives into your pussy tongue first like a starved man, licking a strip from your hole up to your clit and circling it. His tongue is magical, making you whimper and moan like a mess just for him. When he feels you’re sufficiently prepped, he stands back up, allowing you to unbutton his pants and free his hard cock from its confines. You spit on your hand to rub his tip, getting him warmed up.

“Such a naughty girl,” he groans, taking in the sight of you with your pussy out stroking his cock in your formal wear. With that you’re begging him to put it in, and he adjusts you on the desk so he can angle into you perfectly.

He lines himself up looking you in the eyes, pupils blown out with lust and hairy disheveled from you running your hands through it. “Please,” you whimper and with that he pushes into your tight folds. He wastes no time picking up speed, but being careful not to be too mean to you so your hair and makeup don’t get messed up. You can’t help but moan each time his cock perfectly angles to fill you the whole way up and he is not much better, groaning and muttering filthy, sensual, words to you. The sounds of skin slapping and moans could sure be heard in the hallway outside the room, you just hoped nobody would be upstairs with you.

“You’re thinking about getting caught aren’t you baby?” He looks at the door and back into your eyes, his pace unrelenting. “You want someone to walk into you getting your shit rocked by your captain? See how good you are at pleasing me and the way you submit to me?”

Your body answers for you, clenching around his length and rolling your eyes back. “Yes, please,” you moan out, knowing he expects an answer from you.

“Mmhmm, good girl. Such a perfect girl for me. Have to make sure nobody else gets you.”

This is the first time you’ve heard some jealousy from Levi, but your brain does not have the capacity to think about it. His low sultry voice is enough to get you close to the edge. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, Levi pops one of your titties free from your dress and sucks on your nipple as he thrusts harshly into you. Your moans are enough to get him close, “baby where do you want it?” He asks, and in your cock drunk state all you can answer is “inside, insideeee, insidee,” through breathless moans. Watching Levi about to come undone sends your orgasm shock waving through you, whorish high pitched noises escaping as your nails dig into his exposed forearms. He follows shortly after feeling your pussy beg for his seed, irregular shallow thrusts as his rests his forehead against yours, hips stuttering. You both remain still for a few seconds, allowing each other to come down from your highs. Levi pulls your panties back over your cum filled puffy cunt. “It better still be in there when we get back tonight.” He whispers in your ear, helping you off the desk and adjusting your dress before he tucks his now soft penis back into his pants. You both fix each other to make it seem like you didn’t just fuck at a work function.

Too caught up in post orgasm infatuation with each other, you forget to walk down the stairs separately, and are met at the bottom with a conversation between Erwin, Petra, and Hange.

They all grow quiet as you approach, you figure they must be talking about the two of you as you head back into the main hall to finish off the night. A few more glasses of wine later, you are on the last carriage back with a bunch of other drunk scouts. Levi stopped drinking a while ago, helping you up and sitting you on his lap to make room for all the people cramming in. You doze off on the ride back as he plays with your hair and comforts you, it’s not like anyone can see him touching you in the dark anyways!!

When you get back to base he carries your drunk ass bridal style to his bedroom, washes your face and dresses you in some spare clothes of his. You blabber on about how handsome and sweet and caring your boyfriend is. All Levi can do is smirk and wait to talk to you about this in the morning. You make it so hard for him to keep you a secret.

another authors note: sorry guys but I'm sooo over this story now that its not the holidays so this will the the last part but definitely will be writing more Levi stuff in the future!

#levi x reader #captain levi #Levi Ackerman #Levi smut #aot x reader #aot smut #levi aot #attack on titan x reader #attack on titan #daddy Levi

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blueberrypancakesworld · 24 days

Text

Coffee, bread and a kiss

Marc Schrader x girlfriend!reader

warning : fluff, kiss, flirting

Summary : Marc starts his morning on the ward at the computer and the best moment is when the secretary comes in, his fairy godmother, his lover and girlfriend who always brought coffee, bread rolls and something sweeter for him.

Info : Another little story for Marc as the last one was so well received thanks for that and have fun with this one I'm glad you like it so much ;) Ps : I just realized that I always spelled Minks wrong sorry with k and not x ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another Monday morning in Berlin, a morning that was cool, foggy and without any sun. An uncomfortable morning as Marc and his girlfriend found out when they both woke up and shivered because they had left the window tilted. ,,No, it should be warm,” she grumbled and looked out onto the street, which was now filled with people, cars and work, and she sipped her tea, which at least provided some warmth.

The warming blanket they had both wrapped themselves in had evaporated after the shrill wake-up call they had given themselves so as not to miss work as they were not morning people and liked to go back to sleep, which had led to one or two conflicts.

A warning look from Minks Marc's boss and her superior station manager who followed them every step of the way.

As if they both had nothing better to do, but in the end it was the police you always had to be careful no matter what. ,,Well, you're warming me,” she suddenly heard his voice and a hand on her hip as Marc snuggled up to her from behind and put his head on her shoulder.

She could feel his fingers making little circles and playing with the waistband of her sleep shorts. ,,And you make my day,” she replied, turning around and giving him a kiss, which he returned before she broke away when she heard the pling of her cell phone, telling her that the new documents had arrived, which in turn meant that she had to leave.

Detaching herself from him with a wink, she finished her tea and disappeared into the bathroom before letting Marc in a few minutes later and fetching the car from the underground garage to wait for him. However, she could still see his tiredness and the slight dark circles under his bright eyes that looked at her as if he was still dreaming.

She ran her hand over his brown hair and tidied it up a little, as much as he was a sweetie in the morning, the energy was quickly gone again. But she appreciated his attempts to stay awake, even though he looked like a cute bear who had woken up from his winter sleep.

,,Don't worry, my sleepyhead, we'll be right there,” she assured him and patted him on the cheek before driving the slightly longer distance towards the city center, as they lived in the slightly outer area where they could still afford something.

Turning onto the road to the police station and headquarters, she drove into the parking lot designated for employees and parked in her assigned spot.

She could hear Marc sighing as he ran his hands over his face, but still gave her a smile when they both knew they had to get up. ,,Better now than getting fired,” he said, winking at her and she saw his non-existent enthusiasm, which she shared as the young couple made their way to the entrance.

She greeted the nice woman at the entrance as usual with a ,,Guten Morgen und einen schönen Tag" and turned into the elevator where she felt his hand on hers, one last little touch before she got out or him and he had to go to the floor above her.

Arriving on her floor, she could already hear the sound of paperwork, so she took the small trolley and got the coffee, rolls and file ready, which she distributed to everyone to get the system up and running.

,,And don't forget anything!” she heard her supervisor call out and she almost winced again, which she answered with a ,,Of course not” before getting into the elevator, glad that she hadn't wasted any more of the coffee. Working her way up the lower floors, she was glad when she arrived at Marc's floor and hurried to his room.

,,The dear coffee elf, my pretty savior,” he said and took the files from her, placing the pile of bright paper carelessly on a free spot on his desk before he almost wanted to take the coffee, but she pulled it back.

,,Well, what's the magic word?” she asked with a cheeky grin and saw his smile instantly grow bigger and bigger as he rose from his chair and his hands slowly wrapped around her.

,,As always, my love, hot as coffee,” he joked and pulled her into an intimate kiss, his hands wandering along her body until he finally took the coffee from her as cheeky as he could be in the morning and she held out a bread bun to him with a giggle.

,,Hot, intimate and a total sweet sleepyhead,” she added mischievously and threw him an air kiss which he caught and gave the imaginary heart another kiss and stroked it.

Before she disappeared out of his door to continue her work. He heard the giggles from the room and knew that he would enjoy his coffee before he took the roll with jam.

,,I'll see you at lunch darling!” she heard him call and could swear she felt his kiss on her lips again, his hands on hers and a word of praise at her ear, and a kiss that would move from her lips to her cheeks and then to the back of her hand when he got bored and wanted her attention.

The two of them were a little strange in the otherwise so monotonous and austere institution, but they always conjured up a smile and a kiss on each other's face to get through the day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@common-people-rep , @allloudontheeasternfront , @nn-nnenov ,@pinksodaaa , @hanslandasstrudel , @oceansrose2002

#tattoo movie #tattoo 2002 #august diehl #tatto marc schrader #marc schrader #marc schrader x reader

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mitsies · 1 year

Text

-;, white chocolate mocha ; kenji (oc i GUESS)

written for @sixosix and all the losers who fell in love with this random ass guy from SNAKEBITES and... KENJI DRAWN BY @kruinka (*crowd going wild!!*)

the hot coffee in your hand spread a surge of warmth through your palms, trickling down into your veins as you speed-walked to your destination. the heat from the drink counteracted the incessant spattering of rain which sent sparks of cold ricocheting down your spine.

you were done with your work for the day, having just finished your shift at a local cafe and completed your classes a little before that, rendering you with nothing left to do. all your schoolwork was completed, and you didn't really feel like going home yet (seeing as it was only around 6pm) so there was really only one logical course of action left: to go bother your boyfriend who worked down the street.

kenji, your boyfriend since you were both quite literally 13 years old, had recently been employed as a tattoo and piercing parlour's receptionist, a position he'd chatted your ear off about when he'd first scored it out of sheer excitement. it wasn't only a good paying, interesting job- it was close to your place of work, only a 5-minute walk away.

rather quickly, it became a habit for you to drop by whenever you could for the purpose of keeping him company. kenji never failed to brighten up (a feat you never thought would be possible, but you were proved wrong often) whenever you walked through the parlour's doors with two to-go cups of coffee in hand. you had his order memorised- white chocolate mocha, hot in the winter and cold in the summer.

when you pushed open the doors to the building, you were greeted by the smell of cinnamon and upbeat pop music you recognised as a track from your shared playlist humming quietly from the speaker system. kenji sat behind the desk, head slumped over and arms around his face. you bit back a smile, moving closer and seeing the gentle rise and fall of his chest. shaggy dark hair and the sleeves of his dark brown crewneck obscured most of his face, save for the apple of his cheek. a dusting of hazel freckles shifts with his skin as he mumbles something in his sleep.

"kenji. wake up."

he grumbles something more and shoves his face deeper into his arms. more dark hair covers what you could see and you roll your eyes. he's always slept like the dead, no matter where he was.

you place the drinks down on the counter and reach over to shake his shoulder gently. "you alive?"

your touch rouses him, and he raises his head. droopy, tired eyes blink up at you, not registering what they're seeing. "do.. you have an appointment?"

you exhale a sigh, hands landing on your hips. "you need to start wearing your glasses."

and then you see it: he brightens like the sun rising in the sky, a light being turned on, a sparkle glinting behind his expression. cheeks turning rosy and creasing as he beams at you, he greets you with a delighted rendition of your name. you've known him for 5 years and loved him for a dozen lifetimes but the way he says your name is always something so sweet, intimate, and never fails to make your heart rate pick up.

"i can't believe you're already asleep; it's only, like, 6."

he groans, and flops his head back into his arms. one eye peeks up at you. "but it's so boring, no one's scheduled until later."

"that's great," you say dryly, "good opportunity for you to catch up on all your late work."

your boyfriend huffs and you laugh. he comes around the other side of the desk to stand next to you, a bright grin cracking through his feigned annoyance. "you're overestimating me," he wheedles, "there's too many."

"and whose fault is that?"

"not mine!"

"you're literally studying education. you have nothing to be complaining about with your what, two assignments a week?"

he scowls at you. you fail to hide your smile. kenji's head lands on your shoulder with a sigh, and with your free hand you reach over and grab the cup of coffee you brought him. "you'll need this if you're already passing out."

he blinks at the drink, not taking it. and then his face erupts into a furious red blush, once which he tries to hide by shoving his hands over his cheeks and groaning. it didn't do much to veil the redness of his ears, striped off by the myriad of silver piercings decorating them.

"what? are you okay?" your inquiries fall upon deaf ears as kenji leans even more of his weight onto you, almost toppling you (and the drink) over. "oh my god, what? are you actually dying? do i need to call someone?"

he rises back up a little and looks at you, with that same expression that's solely reserved for things he loves: it's how he looks at cats, his drums, and the ocean; his little sisters, flowers, and thai food; it's how he looks at you, always.

"you remembered my favourite drink," he says in a watery, teary voice, as if it's a big deal, "i'm in love with you."

you bite the inside of your cheek to fight your grin. "you have the most basic taste. it'd be hard to forget."

kenji looks up at you, through his lashes and his bangs. his eyes glow more gold than their usual green in the warm lighting of the parlour. "i'm g'nna marry you one day."

you blink at him as he snatches the white chocolate mocha (cold, because it's winter) from your hands and takes a sip. you blink again. and again.

and you think that sure, you're okay with that being your future. yeah, you're definitely okay with this.

#i can’t believe i did this.#THE THINGS I DO FOR SIXOSIX.#mitz’s mind #literally who even is this guy #i kid u not his name is literally just from a list of ‘common japanese guy names’#and SOMEONE fell in love with him so.#six owes me fr #he’s about 18yrs btw

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connan-l · 4 months

Text

Colorful

Fandom: Natsume's Book of Friends Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship: Morinaga Souko/Natsume Reiko Summary: So many colors suited the forest girl that Souko couldn't assign a single one to her. Words: 7,123 Link: AO3 | Fanfiction.net

Notes: Believe it or not, I actually started writing this in 2018, and for some reason was never able to complete it lol. But I got so excited with the announcement of season 7 that I decided it was a good time to finish this, before we get to see those chapters get adapted.

Find out Reiko and Souko’s story still makes me cry even 5 years later, and I can’t wait to bawl about them once they’re animated!

* * *

People were always surprised when Souko told them she didn’t like the color blue.

It wasn’t like she hated it, but she just wasn’t very fond of it.

She liked green, yellow, purple, red — vivacious pigments that felt alive, cheery; hues that a child would love to use to paint one of his drawings.

Blue was just sad.

The watery tint of the deep sea, the cold tint of winter.

Souko loved assigning colors to people. She saw her father as a vibrant red, and her mother — from the little she remembered of her — as a soft purple. Her uncle was golden, her aunt orange, her grandmother green.

So although she didn’t hate it, a part of her always felt disappointed ‘blue’ was the color people associated with her the most — simply because it was what she’d been named after.

Sometimes, Souko thought it was a funny twist of fate, for her to bear the name of a color she only connected to sadness; a warped prediction of what her life would look like after she fell ill.

No one who met her after she got sick would believe it, but she actually used to be a very energetic child. Back then, she could spend the entire day running around and climbing to trees and playing all sorts of games outside with other kids, giving her father a hundred of panic attacks.

All of that crumbled away when her heart started to malfunction two years ago, and suddenly her whole body began to fall apart without her control.

It had been gradual. Slow and excruciating.

She barely noticed the first signs; the shaking in her hands, her frequent headaches, her legs incapable of walking or running for very long. One day on her way to school, she passed out — and just like that, she spent the following year practically unable to get out of bed.

Her life then withered away.

She couldn’t do any of the things she liked anymore, couldn’t go to school anymore, couldn’t see anyone but her family.

She stopped running and playing outside, and she stopped gardening, and she stopped cooking.

She didn’t really had any friends, as the shy girl she’d always been, but she’d still managed to have some decent relationships with some kids at school, at least.

Now she didn’t even had that anymore.

She withered, drowning away in a bottomless cerulean sea, and for a long, long time, nothing seemed to really matter anymore.

During those endless days, there was only two things she could do: read, which she took the habit of doing since then, and stare at her window. Her bedroom was in front of their garden, so she had a direct sight on the many colorful flowers her mother had planted there long ago, and that Souko had continued to take care of since then. But most of the times, it wasn’t the rainbow of flowers she would stare at, but the blue of the sky — getting lost in its infinity, her heart heavy with anguish and anger at her own life.

Dad had told her, once, that the reason why they named her ‘Souko’ was because she’d been born during a day with a completely clear blue sky. No clouds, no shade of gray, no sun; only blue and blue and blue, as far as the eye could see.

But as Souko kept staring at that same sky, the only thing she could think about was how profoundly empty that blue looked.

* * *

With the help of medications and reeducation, she slowly started to get better — but the doctors were unequivocal on the fact that she would never be able to move like she used to.

She had to limit her gestures, her outings, her breathing; she couldn’t run anymore, or barely so. She was getting better, but she still felt like she was imprisoned within her own body; a bird unable to get out of a cage of its own making.

But the worst wasn’t really any of this. It all weighted heavily on her, of course; but she could bear that. She didn’t really have a choice. The burden her illness had taken on her family, however, was another thing entirely.

The Morinaga household was constituted of only Souko and her father since her mother’s death when she was little, but her uncle and aunt lived nearby and were practically part of their home since as long as she could remember. Dad was very close to his brother, and so her uncle was almost like a third parent to Souko, always having been deeply involved in her life.

Thus her illness had repercussions not only on her father, but on her uncle, her aunt and the whole family. Everyone was always so tense whenever they came to see her, obvious tight smiles and stiff shoulders as they looked at her; and through the months she’d heard hundreds of arguments between her father and grandmother, between the two brothers, between most of her relatives, all about the same topics. What to do with her condition, with her treatment’s cost, with everything else.

Even Dad stopped looking at her like he used to, and instead a pained expression spread across his face every time his eyes met hers. She felt more like a poor little wounded animal he pitied than like his daughter.

That was the hardest part. The idea that not only her body was getting torn apart, but her family did as well — and that it was all her fault.

She couldn’t stand it. It made her want to run away.

Find a place far away; cut from all of her problems, where she wouldn’t have to worry about anything, and where she wouldn’t worry anyone.

A place to be all alone.

And then one night after dinner, Dad approached her with an awkward smile and addressed her in a gentle, careful voice:

"The other day the doctor made me an offer... I thought about it and it could be a good opportunity. He said that… to help with your convalescence, we could move to the countryside.”

At first, Souko wasn’t sure what to think of it.

Truthfully, she didn’t want to move.

She knew nothing at all about the small town where her dad wanted to go, and going there would mean losing all of the landmarks she’d known her whole life. It meant leaving their house where she grew up. Uncle and Auntie. Mom’s grave from a few meters away in the cemetery. Her school.

Souko might not have had any friends here, she still didn’t want to lose the relationships she had with the people of her hometown — and she didn’t want to have to make the effort to form new bonds with strangers.

The very idea made her stomach twist with anxiety. But she couldn’t turn Dad down; not when she knew he also probably didn’t want to move either, and that he only proposed that for her sake.

So against all of her better instincts, Souko agreed.

* * *

She couldn’t manage to assign any color to the forest girl.

No matter how hard she tried to, none of the choices — none of the different tints and shades and hues — seemed to fit her.

Or, rather, all of them fitted her.

The girl — her match companion, the teenager she’d met hidden within the deepest parts of the woods, like a rare, delicate diamond — was the most beautiful and fascinating person Souko had ever seen; ephemeral like a ghost, flippant like a cat and fluttering like a butterfly.

Her long silver hair seemed to change color with the sunlight; turning white or golden or purple contingent on the sky’s whims.

Souko blurted that out, once, without thinking much about it beforehand; and then regretted it right away, because of how childish it sounded.

The girl just laughed.

“Purple?” She repeated, and Souko felt herself blush. “Really?”

“B-Because, look… Your hair is so light, so it take on the dusk’s color. And when dusk turns orange, or pink, then your hair also…”

“Is that so.”

The girl looked over at the horizon, which was indeed starting to take on a mauve tint. For a moment, her companion seemed contemplative; then finally, she turned towards her again and grinned.

“Well, what do you think? Is purple my color?”

Souko felt the scarlet of her cheeks deepens even more, but she was able to muster the courage to actually reply truthfully: “I think every color is your color. You look pretty in everything.”

And that was true, too.

Souko could imagine her in red, pink, purple, orange, black and white — and that girl, her mysterious nameless acquaintance of the forest, would be just as wonderful and breathtaking as ever.

She would look beautiful and full of life even in blue.

Souko had never seen a person like that before, so radiant and mesmerizing that her eyes couldn’t stop staring at her, that her mind couldn’t help but think of her almost all the time.

For a very brief moment, the girl looked slightly taken aback; but she quickly seemed to get over it and simply smiled back at her.

The girl was always smiling.

It was a little disconcerting, sometimes — and it wasn’t that Souko didn’t like seeing her smile, but she just wished that smile looked actually genuine.

Once I’ll win, she swore to herself.

Once I’ll win, I’ll make her give me her name. I’ll make her become my friend — and then I’ll be able to make her smile for real.

* * *

“Oh, the candy’s blue.”

“Isn’t it pretty?”

“Yeah. Like the blue of Souko.”

Her voice resounded in her mind even long after the two of them parted way.

She couldn’t stop thinking about the manner she’d said her name. Softly, fleetingly, lost in the wind, like no one but the girl herself had been supposed to hear it.

The blue of Souko.

Souko had never been fond of her name. She’d never really liked the color blue.

And now, after all she’d been through, the only thing it managed to evoke to her was the emptiness of the sky as she looked through her room’s window stuck in her bed.

That was all the blue of Souko was to her.

But when the girl spoke it… When she said her name so softly, so longingly, Souko couldn’t help but love it.

The girl was a little like a fairy, Souko thought; an otherworldly being who seemed to be able to transform every bad aspects of her life into something magical.

Her name sounded beautiful when she said it. That town in the countryside seemed so fun now that she started spending time with her. Her new home, her tense family, her unfamiliar school and classmates — everything seemed bearable now that she had that girl by her side.

Even the color blue would surely feel warm and vivacious, if her secret companion started wearing some of it.

Before meeting the forest girl, Souko had simply not been able to feel at home anywhere in that town.

It wasn’t like people here weren’t welcoming — at the contrary, everyone was quite nice to her, but Souko still hadn’t been able to shake off the feeling that she simply didn’t belong. She’d always been a timid girl, but suddenly moving here while cutting all ties to her old life, added to the months she’d spent completely isolated from the world because of her illness, made her feel like she’d lost all of her social skills. She could barely handle normal conversations with the other kids, or with the townsfolk — always feeling like people were staring at her, judging her, monitoring her every moves. And even when she was alone, she couldn’t stand to be at her house either, in that unfamiliar place.

That was why coming in the middle of that forest, away from any form of life, away from her family and other people, was the only time that had finally made her feel a little comfortable — and that despite the fact this place had a strange ominous aura and sometimes gave her headaches.

And then she met the girl. The time she spent by her side, chatting idly and having silly matches and laughing together about nothing made her the happiest and most free she’d felt in months. Not since she fell ill.

The girl wasn’t always nice; she could be quite prickly and cold, and it wasn’t like Souko didn’t think that girl was... strange. Truthfully, she could be a little unsettling, or even scary sometimes. Occasionnally, she would just say weird things out of nowhere, or stared past Souko’s shoulder as if she was seeing someone behind her, or dragged her away from a place as if she was trying to run from something.

Something Souko couldn’t see.

(And, sometimes, Souko almost had the impression there really was something else with them, and that it wasn’t just the two of them in the middle of these woods.)

But even so, despite all of this, Souko still didn’t think she could, or wanted to, stop seeing the girl.

At least, she treated Souko like a normal person. She never walked on eggshells around her, even after she’d learned she was sick. And even with all her prickliness, Souko could tell that she had a kind heart, buried behind her sharp gaze and barbed comments. She wouldn’t have let Souko stay by her side otherwise.

The girl and those meetings were so odd, so detached from everything in her life — that sometimes Souko almost felt like she was hallucinating them. Like she was doing some forbidden rituals with a witch, and not just playing childish games.

There was only ever the two of them in that forest, after all — no one else here to confirm the real from the surreal.

Her rendez-vous with the forest girl was the most exciting part of her day, and she spent the whole time thinking about what new games they would play next.

Wishing that today would finally be the day she win — would be the day she finally earn her name.

Earn the right to be her friend.

“Are you going out again?”

Her father stopped her just as she was about to leave the house, and Souko startled. “Ah, yes…”

A worried look crossed his face. “Souko… I’m glad you seem to be so happy, lately — really, but… You need to be more careful. Your body is still…”

“I know,” Souko said, maybe a little more forcefully than she intended. Of course she knew her body was still frail. It was her body, after all — she understood the consequences of its weakened state better than anyone. “I’m careful, Dad, I promise. You don’t need to worry.”

But of course, that was probably a meaningless thing to say. Her father would always worry regardless of what she said.

“…Is that a friend that you see like that every day?” He asked. “I know you said you’ve been getting along better with your classmates lately…”

Souko opened her mouth, then hesitated a little.

She still hadn’t said anything to her father about the forest girl. She hadn’t said anything about her to anyone, period.

She wasn’t really sure why.

She’d told Dad about the classmates she’d started to talk to — they weren’t really friends yet, but they were nice, and Souko would like to become closer.

That, too, was thanks to the forest girl, in a way. It wasn’t like she had encouraged to talk to others or anything, but being able to have normal conversations with someone her age after having been isolated for so long had managed to cheer Souko up and make her feel braver.

The girl always looked so strong and confident, after all; solid as a rock, standing tall among the trees. Souko always felt like nothing could ever hurt or reach her.

So she’d thought that if she wanted to be worthy of befriending the forest girl, then she should try to befriend the more approachable kids at her school first.

But her classmates were different from the girl, and so Souko felt that she couldn’t simply tell Dad about her like she would with a normal classmate. Maybe she wanted to become friends with her for real before telling him — or maybe… maybe she just wanted to keep her as a secret. For now.

Something only Souko knew about.

Her father had still noticed the changes, though, and he looked simultaneously happy and worried about them. He’d already been very concerned from the start, when Souko went back to school, and then about the fact he could tell his daughter had clearly struggled to fit in at their new place. And now he clearly wasn’t happy about her escapades after school; didn’t like her going outside to play around in the forest. Souko sympathized with his feelings, knew that he was only worried for her; but it had been the best she’d felt in such a long time, and she wasn’t about to let that go.

Dad said nothing for a moment, then narrowed his eyes at Souko — and only when she noticed his suspicious look did she realizes that she was blushing.

“…Is that person you’re seeing a boy?”

“Wha— N-No! I-It’s not like that… we’re just…”

Her father laughed a little, and waved his hand. “Sorry, that’s none of my business. But you don’t need to be embarrassed about it, you know. It’s normal, at your age.”

“I-It’s really not like that…”

And it’s not a boy.

But Dad didn’t seem he would believe her no matter what she could say, so Souko felt it would be pointless to argue further. Instead, she went to her rendez-vous spot with the forest girl, and as usual they played together, Souko lost, and then they talked for a while. At some point, the girl took her hand and dragged her somewhere else. Her hand was rugged, and her skin sturdy — but it felt warm.

Souko wished she could keep holding her hand forever.

Maybe Dad isn’t entirely wrong, she thought then, looking at the girl’s pretty long hair flowing in the wind, her heart skipping a beat at the sight.

If she were a boy, maybe I would fall in love with her.

It would be so easy to fall for her. She was so beautiful and strong and fun. Souko was certain most boys at her school must be crushing on her.

(She’d inadvertently said this, one day, and to her utter surprise the girl bursts out laughing ; so hard she had to hold her stomach, and Souko had never seen her laugh so loudly and for so long before.

“No way!” She’d exclaimed after calming down. “Boys don’t like me, at all.”

“H-Huh?” Souko let out. She didn’t think she would lie about this, but she heavily doubted that was true. Maybe no one ever confessed to her, but there was just no way not a single person had at least some feelings for someone as charming as her.

The girl grinned, her green eyes boring straight into Souko’s. “I scare them. Well, to be honest, I don’t really like boys either.”

Souko didn’t know why, but at these words her cheeks flushed and she felt a small warmth of hope bloom in her chest.)

Late in the evening, when Souko came home, the first thing she did was going out in the garden, just as twilight was starting to set.

The place was still barren. Back at their old home, they used to have a garden with a lot of colorful flowers — hibiscus, daisies, orchids, tulips, marigolds… Her mother’s flowers, that Souko loved to take care of; the first thing she would see upon waking up, a rainbow of delicate, shiny petals. In their new house, a lot of things were different, but Dad had made a point to get her a bedroom where she could see the garden too, just because he knew how much Souko had liked it before.

She finally wanted to start feeling at home here, too. So maybe she could start by planting some flowers. Dad would probably like that as well — he’d loved their flowers too.

One day — after she’ll finally be able to learn the forest girl’s name and become her friend, Souko will invite her to her home and introduce her father to her.

Show her her flower garden.

But in the meantime, the forest girl would stay her little secret — something that was hers and hers only.

* * *

One of Souko’s new favorite things was when she was able to surprise the girl.

She always thought a lot about the types of games she could propose to her — even asked her uncle and dad to give her some new ideas. And every day, it felt like the girl was surprised to still find her here in the forest with a new challenge. Almost like she expected her to suddenly stop coming any time now.

How silly, Souko thought. There’s no way I’ll ever stop coming to see you, even if I wanted to.

But even so, she’d never seen the girl as shocked as when she decided to show up one day with lunch boxes in her hands.

“What’s this?” She asked in a bewildered tone, her pale green eyes pinned on Souko like a cat’s.

“Lunch.”

“I can see that,” the girl snapped back sharply, but by now Souko was used to her curtness. She could be a little mean sometimes in her way of speaking, but Souko had come to learn it wasn’t necessarily because she was annoyed. “I was asking why you brought this here— and why you brought two of these.”

Souko flushed a little, but still didn’t let go of the girl’s eyes.

“Well, I… I was just thinking, that you often seems hungry when we meet, and also, how you’re very thin, and so— I just thought that maybe you should just eat a little more. There’s meat in there, and…”

The girl narrowed her eyes at her. “Who do you think you are? My mom?”

Souko blushed even further, and looked away. That did seems a little silly and pretentious to bring that girl a lunch out of the blue, when she put it into words like that. But she couldn’t help it, and— truthfully, Souko had started to get quite worried about her.

It was often that the girl’s belly would suddenly start gurgling in the middle of one their matches, and Souko had noticed how she seemed much lighter than a girl her age should be (absolutely not because Souko was staring her at a little too much, of course; that had nothing to do with this). She’d once asked her if she was eating enough — and then the girl had snorted, rolling her eyes. But she hadn’t replied. So Souko thought, that she could…

But maybe it had been rude of her to do. Just as she was about to apologize though, the girl suddenly grabbed her lunch box and chopsticks, and Souko barely had the time to turns her head towards her that she saw her open the box and starts digging in.

“What?” The girl shot back, catching her staring. “You did say it was for me, right?”

Souko smiled, and nodded enthusiastically. “Y-Yes, of course!”

And so she quietly watched her eat away the whole meal with a smile she couldn’t quite manage to hide. She didn’t even left a single crumb — which on the one hand, Souko was happy about, but on the other it definitely had her more concerned, because that seemed to confirm the fact she truly didn’t get enough to eat at her house.

Souko could never brings herself to ask, but she has the distinct feeling that things were… not great at home, for the girl.

To start with, it was strange for a teenager to hang out in a forest so far away like this. The girl always seemed to be all alone, too; and she was spending so much time here… it didn’t seem like she had any other friends. Much like Souko. But much more worrisome was the fact that she was often hurt. Souko frequently caught glimpse of scratches, bandages, and bruises covering her body. Some of them might be because of her playing around in the woods — and Souko had absolutely seen her doing a lot of reckless things that would get her injured — but…

Others must have been made by someone, Souko was pretty sure.

She tried to ask her a couple of times about her family, but the girl always brushed her asides and changed the topic when she did. Even Souko talked to her sometimes about her father and her uncle and her family, but the girl would never say anything back about herself. She clearly didn’t want to talk about her life at home. So Souko respected that — even if she didn’t like it.

She didn’t want to jump to conclusion about things she couldn’t possibly know either, but… she still worried.

“H-How was it?” Souko decided to ask, trying to stop thinking about such morose things.

“Hm? Oh, good. It was really good.”

Souko beamed. “Really?”

“Why would I lie about that?”

“Hehe, that’s true. Thank you! I’m so glad you like it.”

The girl actually stared at her and lifted an eyebrow at her words. “‘Thank you”?”

“Ah… I’m the one who made that.”

She had woken up earlier this morning specifically to prepare it, following her mother’s old recipe. Dad had been so surprised to see her in the kitchen — it had been the first time she cooked anything since she got sick. Until now, he’d been the one taking care of most of the cooking — or sometimes it was her aunt, when she was home.

Souko had forgotten how much fun cooking actually was.

She used to do it quite frequently back then, but then stopped after she got sick, just like most of her hobbies — and even now that she was recovering, she hadn't gone back to them. Even though now she could easily try them again without endangering her health. Gardening was the same, too. She wondered if she’d have as much fun gardening, if she did it again now.

It’d be nice if I could do those things with her, too, she had thought this morning while cutting off vegetables. The only things she did with the girl was playing games and talking, but she was sure they’d have fun doing other type of activities together as well. I wonder if she loves cooking and gardening…

The idea made her so happy that she had decided to creates the prettiest lunch box for the girl — as colorful as her old flower garden used to be — putting shades of red and green and pink all over, carving orange carrots in little flowers, putting the yellow egg yolk in the form of a sunflower.

Each color so vivid and lovely, each of them suiting the forest girl.

The memories of this morning made Souko smile, and she was only brought back to the present moment thanks to a strong wind blowing through her short dark hair. She turned her head towards the girl, about to apologize for her absentmindedness, but then stopped.

To her surprise, the girl actually seemed really taken aback, eyes wide and mouth agape. Was she truly that shocked by the fact Souko could cook?

(Or was it because she’d cooked for her, specifically?)

“O-Oh,” the girl stuttered — and for a bewildering, fascinating moment, Souko saw her cheeks reddens slightly.

Is she… blushing?

The moment disappeared as quickly as it appeared, and Souko almost thought she’d made it up, a conjured illusion of her mind. But the scarlet on her otherwise white cheeks, and her embarrassed expression, was engraved inside Souko's heart, and she couldn’t help the wide grin that then spreads on her lips.

Of course, scarlet was just as pretty as any other colors on the girl’s face.

She looked just like a flower herself, in all her silver and green and white and red.

Souko wished she was brave enough to kiss her just then.

Instead, she quietly promised to do everything in her power to see that expression on her face once again.

* * *

She couldn’t even remember how she managed to get home, that evening.

Her head wouldn’t stop pounding, so much that she was unable to think. Her body was so heavy that every step felt like torture. Her heart seemed like a dead weight inside her chest; a burden pulling her down and down.

She felt just like that day she’d collapsed for the first time, two years ago; the day that marked the start of the end of her normal life. The only lucid thing she could register was her voice, echoing inside her skull again and again and again.

“Reiko. My name is Reiko Natsume.”

“Go away.”

“You look pale. It’s starting to rain, so you should go home.”

“You should go home.”

Souko knew she should never have gone home the moment she turned around. She knew she should have stayed; that she should have kept talking to her — her forest girl, her ghost of an acquaintance; the lovely, strange, colorful person she fell in love with.

But her voice had been so cold, when she told her to go away.

Her eyes were blank and sharp at the same time, so different from the way she usually looked at her, and Souko couldn’t stand to see that.

And she just hadn’t… she had never even expected that she could be…

It made sense, if she really thought about it; what other teenage girl would spend all her time alone in the forest, but the rumored weird delinquent from the neighboring town?

But Souko had never thought of her like that until now; both seemed so unrelated in her mind, and she felt so shocked she hadn’t been able to properly process it.

And now her duel partner had already vanished, like a mirage of the woods, like she’d never existed at all.

Souko had taken her name, and then nothing of the girl was left.

Now she was all alone in the rain, and the blue of the sky had faded away, replaced with nothing but a foggy, looming gray.

Souko’s steps vacillated, and her head still hammering, she fell on the ground.

She’d finally won, after training for so long — she finally knew her name — and yet she still wasn’t… still couldn’t be her friend.

She needed to go back, she needed to apologize, she needed to talk to her—

But the sound of the rain and the coldness of Reiko Natsume’s voice were the only thing she could hear before her consciousness slipped away.

* * *

The following days were spent in a blur.

Souko barely even registered her father’s voice or her uncle’s hands or the doctor’s visits. She felt like she was in another dimension, far away from this house, this town, this country.

She felt like she was still stuck in that forest, alone with Reiko, the rest of the world non-existent.

In her dreams, Reiko was here, by her side; pretty in all colors of the rainbow, and she smiled, and laughed, and talked. They played games together, they cooked, they gardened.

In her dreams, Souko apologized. She told her she hadn’t meant to leave, she told her she didn’t care about the rumors about her. She told her that to Souko, she wasn’t a violent scary girl, but a fun, and beautiful, and kind person.

She told her she loved her.

In her dreams, Souko was brave enough to finally kiss her.

But then she opened her eyes, and she was all alone in her bed, and there was only the blue of the sky from her bedroom’s window.

One night, she had a different dream, though.

She felt like she heard someone crying, and then Reiko was there, blue petals falling over her hair and uniform.

As she woke up, Souko couldn’t remember what the dream had been about.

* * *

It took her three whole days before she was able to stand again.

Dad and Uncle were relieved, but Souko couldn’t share any of their enthusiasm. She still felt sick, but insisted nevertheless to go back to school. She couldn’t really bring herself to talk to anyone there though, even as her classmates fussed about her health; her mind focused on only one single person — and as soon as the day ended, she ran towards the forest, towards their usual rendez-vous spot.

(She knew she shouldn’t run, she was still coughing, she still felt so weak — but she couldn’t help it.

She had to see Reiko again, as quickly as possible.)

“Reiko?” She exclaimed upon arriving, but there was no one else.

There's no one yet, Souko reminded herself, trying to stay positive. I’m still early. She could come later.

“Reiko!”

She repeated her name for a while — and couldn’t help but think that if only the circumstances were different, she would feel so proud over it.

To have finally been able to learn her name, to be able to call it out like that.

But that didn’t matter much if no one was there to respond to it. To call Souko back.

I don’t even know how it’s written, she thought.

She tried to think of all the combinations of characters to write ‘Reiko’ that could fit her the most, but just like with colors, she couldn’t decide upon a single one. All of them could suit her.

She would have to ask her about it, next time she saw her.

At least she felt pretty certain on how to spell ‘Natsume.’

All-seeing eyes of the summer, the season of ghosts and spirits.

Souko sat at their usual place.

She waited.

She kept staring left and right, attentive to every sound; trying to catch the slightest glimpse of a silver thread.

But by the time dusk came, there was still no one.

She was still all alone.

* * *

Souko stopped talking to her classmates.

A few days after her last encounter with Reiko, she’d asked the girl from her class who’d first told her about the violent high schooler from next town if she knew anything else — but she’d ended up getting into an argument with her. Her classmates had always been very nice up until now, but as soon as she started asking about Reiko Natsume, they completely changed tune and started spewing all those terrible things about her — that she was a violent delinquent, that she was crazy, that she hurt people.

Souko couldn’t help but defend her. Her classmates had never even met Reiko — what did they know about her? But everyone refused to listen to her. They almost all had a specific creepy or terrible anecdote about Reiko Natsume; she hit my cousin, she talked to trees, she burned down a shop — I tell you, that Natsume girl is bad news! C’mon, Morinaga, why do you even want to associate with someone like that? — and so Souko stopped talking to them.

She didn’t mind. She had no intention to keep hanging around such judgmental people who spoke badly of someone purely because of some rumors they’d heard.

She herself felt so ashamed, to have simply believed those hearsay and repeated them thoughtlessly. She had believed she was doing the right thing by warning Reiko about a potentially dangerous person, because she cared about her and didn’t want anything to happen to her — but she couldn’t even imagine how Reiko must have felt hearing this. How badly Souko must have hurt her. And then, when she’d learned her name, Souko had just run away…

She wouldn’t be surprised if Reiko never wanted to see her again.

But even so, she couldn’t just leave things like that. She had to apologize, at least — she had to tell her that she… she didn’t think any of that, about her.

So she tried to ask around about Reiko, tried to find out if anyone knew where she could live, what school she went to — but whenever she did, she only received vague, uncertain answers. Reiko Natsume was a weird orphan who kept being passed around among families like an unwanted stray, so it was hard to keep track of where she was.

Nobody wanted her, and nobody tried to know anything about her.

She's just a poor crazy girl, was the kindest thing one could hear on her behalf.

The more Souko learned about Reiko Natsume, the less it made sense.

This weird, insane, violent girl was nothing at all like the girl she’d gotten to know. Her Reiko could be a little cold, and a little too blunt, but she was nice, and fun, and amazing. It was like two entirely different people sharing the same name. Souko couldn’t even begin to comprehend how anyone would say such awful things about her.

In the end, she wasn’t able to find anything more about her, and so she had no other choice but to go back to the forest, and wait. Which she did, day after day, even against her family’s protests, even when it rained, even when her health kept deteriorating.

She continued waiting alone.

But sometimes, just sometimes, she felt like she could feel another presence.

Like a ghost sitting by her side, waiting with her, sharing in her lost love and her sadness.

Souko thought back to the legends she’d heard about the forest from her classmates; the strange things Reiko would do sometimes — the stares behind her shoulder, dragging her away forcefully just because a branch had snapped, the way she’d gotten startled during their last match, as if she had been distracted by something…

Maybe Souko wasn’t so alone, after all.

Maybe there truly was someone else by her side, someone she couldn’t see.

Maybe if Reiko had seemed so radiant and vibrant, that was because she actually was able to see another world: a world full of new colors, invisible to others.

Souko found comfort at the idea; that she truly had a companion to share her feelings — her pain — with, even if only a little.

* * *

It was during a day with a completely clear blue sky when she had that dream again.

Souko had stopped being able to go to school a while ago, and thus at the same time she stopped being able to go to the forest as well — the first one she didn’t care about anymore, but the second was more troubling.

She didn’t really think Reiko would come back by now — but she still kept coming there, just in case, like a last prayer.

She wondered if her companion she couldn’t see would feel lonely now that she wouldn’t be there anymore. She wondered if they would miss her.

Where could Reiko be now? Was she still sleeping in a forest, talking to creatures only she could sees?

Was she still all alone?

Souko wished wherever she was, it was far, far away from all those people who spoke and treated her so badly. She wished she was able to find a friend, someone who would love her for the person she truly was and would stand by her side no matter what — even if that person couldn’t be Souko.

Her father was in the living room now, sleeping. He had spent the whole night crying, no matter how much Souko had tried to comfort him.

She wished she could find the right words for him — tell him that she was fine, that her life had still been full of wonders and happiness despite all the suffering, that he’d been a wonderful father — but they both knew there was nothing she could do that would soothe his pain. She wished she could apologize to him, for leaving him all alone just like Mom did, but she didn’t even have the energy to do so anymore. The rest of the family — her uncle and aunt and grandmother — should arrive tonight, and Souko hoped they’ll be able to do a better job than her at comforting him.

She looked up from her bed, at the window in front of her.

The large sky spread wide before her, and it was so deep and blue, and Souko wondered if this was how it looked the day she was born — the day her parents decided to name her after the saddest of all colors.

Although Souko had stopped finding blue as sad as she used to. Now when she thought of blue, she thought of the way Reiko used to say her name so gently, of the blue candy in her palm, of the blue flowers she saw in a dream that she couldn’t remember.

The blue of Souko.

From here, she could also see the barren garden — in the end, she hadn’t been able to plant anything there. She closed her eyes, slowly, and tried to picture the colorful flowers she would’ve liked to put there, the ones she wished she could’ve shown to Reiko.

As her mind drifted away, she heard someone crying.

A gentle voice, from a gentle presence.

Souko smiled, because she knew that presence; it was the same person — the same creature — that had kept her company all this time, while she was waiting for a girl she loved that would never come.

Like with her father, she wished she could comfort them, but nothing came to her mind.

However, as she kept straying farther and farther away from reality, a sight suddenly opened up to her eyes.

She’s in a meadow.

A flower field with blue, blue, blue petals everywhere — fluttering, dancing, as far as the eye can see.

And here, in the middle of the blue flowers, all alone, is her forest girl.

Tears wells up in Souko’s eyes, but she smiles, big and wide — and do the one thing she wishes she could’ve done months ago: she calls out her name.

“Reiko.”

The girl she loves turns around, and as her green eyes melt upon recognition, she has the most beautiful and genuine smile Souko has ever seen.

All the colors of the sky, of the forest and of the meadow gets reflected in her long silver hair, and blue has never looked so joyful.

* * *

Note: The first time I read those chapters, I didn’t even realize that Soranome implied Souko died at the end until someone pointed it out, and I can’t stop thinking about how terribly sad it is. I suppose one could argue maybe Souko just moved at the end and that’s why she stopped coming, but it doesn’t seem likely with the way Soranome phrased it. At least with Reiko, there’s a chance she was loved and happy for a while with the grandfather and then with her daughter afterwards, even if she still ended up losing them at the end. But Souko never got that chance. I only take comfort with the idea she had a loving family who took care of her. (And yes, if anyone’s wondering, I decided she was raised by a single father as a parallel to Tanuma.) But it’s also terrible there seems to be some implications that if Reiko had stayed then Souko wouldn’t have died, given it seemed to be the youkai of the forest that amplified her illness (much like how Tanuma has gotten healthier since meeting Natsume).

I went back and forth about the idea of Souko cutting ties with her classmates in the aftermath of her losing Reiko, because that also felt a little mean to her, but I honestly think she wouldn’t have tolerated anyone speaking badly of Reiko and would feel guilty for listening to the rumors.

I want to try writing something else less sad about them, but truthfully I really love the tragedy of their story haha. Still, maybe I’ll give them a silly little happy ending one day.

9 notes · View notes

gaoau · 6 months

Text

Strike Back

Everyday, Properly warnings — none. word count — 975

prev.

It's their third and last year of high-school, still in the same class and still filling the same roles. The 100 of his class and the average of 90's. He remains turning in his assignments in time, while only last week she handed in a math test blank because she doesn't like drawing graphs.

They decide to share another cup of tea in a breezy afternoon. Where they usually divert their paths, Kita follows her left and to her house. Much like the first time, she forces him to wait at the table as she boils the water and soaks porcelain in flavor.

He had been surprised on his first visit, shortly after the spontaneous offer that leaped off his tongue. [Name] never cared to do anything adequately, taking all credit both when they failed or somehow succeeded. The weight of indifference vanished from her body as she carefully prepared two cups, hands gentle and fingers dancing with softness.

Tea had never tasted so powerful; his tongue could pick apart every single spice mixed in a package.

She settles across from him, white porcelain knocking twice on wood. The inevitable topic of the future pops up before his second sip. "What're yer plans after graduation?" he asks someone that doesn't know what they'll eat for dinner in a few hours.

[Name] sets her cup down. Elbow beside it, cheek in her palm. "Physics," she replies with a shrug—she always shrugs—as if it were a matter of fact. "What 'bout you?"

"I'll take over my family's rice farm."

"Sounds like somethin' Kita Shinsuke can pull off. I know I can't." She puffs her cheeks and blows out air.

"S'all 'bout doin' it properly. Everyday, properly."

"As admirable as that is, there're things I don't care enough 'bout ta do 'em properly."

"Things like what?"

"Geography, makin' friends, payin' attention during economy, bein' alive."

He brings his cup up only for it to freeze before it reaches his lips. His eyes find hers. "You don't care 'bout bein' alive?" He forgets the beverage in his hand.

"I ain't really good at it, so I stopped carin' 'bout doin' it properly. Same with the other things. Hats off to ya for bein' so diligent, though."

"Ya still properly brew tea an' properly ace yer math tests."

"Yeah, I ain't sayin' I don't care 'bout anything. I ain't good at livin', but I don't wanna die. So I play with numbers ta pass the time."

"What's livin' life properly for ya?"

"I dunno." Her shoulders lift longer than usual. "Not wastin' my time and actually doin' all the things I wanna do. Maybe, I dunno."

"I think repetition, perseverance, and diligence just feel good. That's a life properly lived."

"Don't think I could do that. I only see things through if they matter. I agree, diligence's good, but I can't go above seventy percent of myself."

"I'll take it ya'll see yer physics career through, then."

"Long as it matters to me."

"Ya should try puttin' in more than seventy."

"Ya keep doin' you, Kita—"

"You'll survive."

They finish the last bits of their teas. Mentalities unchangeable and thoughts standing on parallel; face to face, endlessly, never overlapping. They don't need to agree, they just have to talk.

Spring carried mist over the mountains, Summer followed close behind. Fall creeped by until Winter seeped in. Repetition just feels good. Spring comes back before anyone can blink to start the cycle again.

It's time to graduate and leave behind years worth of useless knowledge and unnecessary all-nighters. They hold diplomas between fingers that hooked around twin teacups. Words they shared still taste fresh on their tongues, like the first bag full of spice she ever soaked in steaming water.

Mr. No Gaps Kita Shinsuke graduated at the top of his class; Ms. Well Whatever [Surname] [Name] shrugged her way out of high-school. He did things properly and she survived.

The crows cry out their song to the sinking sun, sky a flaming red hue. An unsightly envy simmers in [Name]'s chest as she walks next to Kita for the umpteenth and last time in her life. Wasted high-school years replay in her mind and his words relentless beat down upon her.

He makes her want to live a proper life.

They cross the school gates. She finds his eyes reflecting a bright future. A lazy smile crawls onto her lips.

Orange fades into a palette of cool pastel colors. "S'most likely we won't meet again. I'll probably forget 'bout ya."

"Seems like ya still prefer bein' alone."

"S'always better to be alone than in bad company."

"Ya sayin' I'm bad company?"

"D'ya see me tryna leave this conversation?"

There are carefree notes of laughter mixing with the flapping of feathers into the horizon. There's no space for silence as they stop to face each other.

"I wanna forget my high-school years," [Name] lets her criminal thoughts billow to the Spring clouds. She swings her diploma like a fallen tree branch. "Whatever ya set out to do, do it properly. Though you don't need me to tell ya that."

"I'd say the same to ya. Bye, [Surname]."

She throws a bored wave behind an uninterested shoulder. "Goodbye, Kita." Slipping off her tongue, is a farewell building up over three years.

As the night swallows her in blue, Kita is another friend not properly made, lost to the sunset in the distance. She holds her diploma in one hand and tightens her fingers around Kita's words. Truths too bitter to drink down, but too precious to let go of.

—あごす (agosu) • 2020

#Everyday Properly #Haikyuu #Kita Shinsuke #Kita Shinsuke x Reader #Kita x Reader #Haikyuu x Reader

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forevfangirlwrites · 2 years

Text

serendipity

She’s cute, are the first words that register in his mind. Though he doesn’t actually see too much of her face since she’s bent over a notebook with her blonde hair falling forward, blocking most of it.

What does catch his eye, though, is the speed at which her hand flies across the page. It’s as if her hand can’t keep up with whatever is going on in her mind. He only catches a glimpse of her wrinkled nose as she tilts her head up for a second, as if she’s unsatisfied by the way things are playing out.

It’s adorable.

He tries to stifle the small smile as he continues to make his way through the library. He’s only been here a few days and of course his English teacher already has a book for him to read.

“You joined at the perfect time!” Mr. Blofis had said. “We’re just about to start another book.”

He doesn’t think there is ever a perfect time to join when you’re changing schools in the middle of the school year, but he hadn’t said that because Mr. Blofis actually seemed nice.

Finding the book in question, he trudges to the front desk with his newly made library card and checks it out. Even the library card is different, a bright blue instead of…whatever the last one was. It’s interesting how his old life seems simultaneously so close and yet far away.

Obviously, having to move high schools with only a little more than half of his senior year left has been tough, though he tries not to let it show to his mom. They’re better off here, far away from the things that hurt them before. And yet, this small town feels unfamiliar and strange.

He steps out into the cold, the late afternoon sun glinting off a car and blinding him for a moment. The car drives away and he’s left standing there, staring out at the road.

It’s a surprisingly pretty view, the library being located on a slight uphill which draws a nice horizon line.

“Apricity.” He jumps at the sound of a voice beside him and turns to see the girl he saw writing earlier standing right next to him.

“Huh?” is his elegant response.

“The warmth of the sun in winter,” she recites, not even looking at him but out towards the sun moving lower in the sky.

“Oh…I didn’t know there was a word for that.”

She finally turns to look at him and he sees her properly for the first time. She’s really pretty with her curly blonde hair (like some sort of Disney princess) and grey eyes that have an inexplicable depth to them.

“You’re in my English class.”

Is he? He tries to rack his memory of the one full day he’s been in school, but honestly it had been such a blur that he doesn’t remember any of his classmates except for a guy named Grover who had ripped out an extra sheet of notebook paper for him.

“I don’t like that book,” she continues, nodding towards the book in his hand.

“You already finished it?” he asks. As far as he knows, they just got this assignment two days before he joined the class.

She shrugs. “But maybe you’ll like it.”

He doesn’t know how to respond to that. But as he’s trying to figure out what to say, she speaks up again.

“Anyway, see ya.”

And then with a small wave, she starts walking down the street without waiting for his goodbye. He stands there for another second, trying to process the encounter. It was strange and he feels a little bad that he didn’t recognize her from class when she clearly did.

Strange, but not awkward. Which maybe makes it stranger. Shaking his head, he starts his own walk towards the new apartment.

And maybe it’s because she’d drawn attention to it, but the cold November winds don’t feel as bad with the sun shining on his face.

-.-

“Percy have you—oh.” His mom’s words stop short when she enters his room to see him sitting on his desk chair with the book.

“What’s up?” he asks, looking up at her. She already looks five years younger ever since they came here, despite the stress of the move. It’s a testament to how hard things had been, and he knows it. But he can tell she’s nervous when she lingers in the doorway and asks questions.

“Is that for your English class?” she asks.

KEEP READING ON AO3

#percabeth #percy and annabeth #percabeth au #percabeth fic #first meeting #percabeth fluff

129 notes · View notes

bruce--yamada · 8 days

Text

“ The seasons. ”

Pt 2 / ?

Includes - Rinney / Finbin

As the day passed, Robin got more and more nervous. As he waited in his seventh class, he could only watch the clock that stood at the top of the door. Tick, tick, tick. It rang in his head. Tick, tick, tick. God, why was it so annoying. Tick, tick, tick. Five minutes passed, then two, then one.

"Robin Arellano," He snapped out of his trance with the clock as his teacher spoke. "the clock won't move any faster with you staring at it, get to work. That assignment is due tomorrow and I won't be giving you extra time."

Robin sighed and looked down at his paper, he stared. Some words started to form into Finney, he flipped it over to the back quickly which gained another comment from the teacher. "Robin Arellano. There's nothing on the back, if you don't get started, you will have detention." She glared at the kid.

"Sorry miss." He mumbled and flipped the page back over, he pretended to read. He couldn't risk getting detention. Not when him and Finney were supposed to be hanging out after school. That was if Finney ever wanted to lay eyes on him again.

‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

Finally, the bell rang and Robin threw his stuff into his bag. Not like he would care, most of his papers were already crumbled and destroyed.

Robin huffed as he let go of Finn's hand. "Jesus- I don't know why I'm so out of breath.." He groaned, he looked at Finney and smiled. "What's happenin'?" He asked like usual. "Keepin' on keepin' on." Robin smiled more as he said it. "Ready?" "What's the full plan, Robin? You know I like my plans."

He rushed out of the classroom, finally escaping the ticking noises of the clock. He looked around before running to Finney classroom. A smile came on his face as he saw Finn leave his class. "Finn!" He yelled out and smiled, he slowed down as he reached the boy.

Too many people, his first thought was. Before Finney could respond to Robin, the dark haired boy grabbed the other's hand and led him to a less crowded area.

Right, he did. Finney absolutely loved plans. Robin sighed and shrugged. "I was just thinkin', maybe we stop by grab 'n go and get some snacks and drinks and just go chill? Maybe we can have a sleep over at my house? My mamá doesn't get home till super late and she already loves you so, I doubt she'll see a problem with it." He smiled.

"Sure Arellano." Robin blinked. "Please, if you're going to kill me today, please just tell me.... That's the second time you've done something man. You're scaring me. I am scared." Finney nudged him with his elbow. "You don't get scared." "God, feed my ego, Finn. Make me fall more in love with you."

"Okay Blake. Come on, I don't wanna be here anymore." Robin finished as he already began to walk away, Finney jogged up next to him and they went on with their day.

‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

Robin threw down the grab 'n go bag, soon following it as he plopped into the snow. He smiled and soaked up the cold. Finney sat down next to him before he laid back.

"I love winter." Finney stated. "I know." Robin replied. "I know you know." Robin turned his head and looked at Finney, he looked like a god. So handsome. The way the sun illuminated his face, bringing out his features. The way Finney's freckles could barely be seen due to the snow or how his hair got every so slightly lighter.

He turned his head back forward, he looked at the sky, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Robin?" A pause. "Yeah?" Robin sighed. "You know I know Spanish, right?" "I do." Finney looked at him. "Why did you call me your love?"

"Because.." He started. Should he really confess his feelings? Nah. Not now. "It was just a thing, you know? Because you're my best friend." He mumbled. "Oh, alright. So when you say " I love you " You mean it platonically?" Robin sighed, he didn't want to lie, especially because he knew it wasn't platonically.

"Yep." He lied. "Alright.. Thought so." A hint of sorrow in his voice. "Finney?" Robin kept his voice low. "Yeah?" He responded. "I love you more than there are stars in space." Finney felt himself tense up a bit, his face going red.

"Do you mean that?" He asked. "Yes, and I always will." Silence. The ticking of the clock came back into Robin's mind. "You don't mean that platonically, do you?" Robin looked at Finney. "No. Please don't hate me, I can't lose you. Please don't leave." "I do."

Robin looked forward. "Can we head back to mine?" He asked. Silence, tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

"I'd like that."

‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

TEHEHEHHE <3333

#robin arellano #finney blake #the black phone #rinney #robin x finney #finbin

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bluestripedspeedo · 2 years

Text

Indiscreet - 04. On the Riviera Pairing: Writer/Producer!Javi Gutierrez x you (Hollywood AU) SERIES MASTERLIST

Chapter summary: You give Javi the cold shoulder and he confronts you. Chapter warning: Single appearance OCs. Grown up talks about mental health. Inappropriate, unwanted touching (not by Javi). We're getting a little hot here (with Javi). 18+ only, please! Word count: 7,3k

Playlist: Wildest Dreams (Duomo cover)Gold Rush (Instrumental)Dream Violin - Craig Armstrong Gold Coast Sunset - Justin Hurwitz

✧✧✧

FEBRUARY Two days later Day 1

Rows and rows of villas sprawl below you as you watch a convoy of big black cars pulling into a driveway of one of the massive estates, its staff already lined up waiting to welcome the owners. The pink chateau sitting on the top of the hill where you are is lovelier than you remembered. You’re sipping on your lemonade while your hair and makeup team work on you for the night shoot, grateful for the slight change in weather although it’s getting windy fast. You remember being here a couple of winters ago, it was much quieter, just you and…

“Hi.”

You look up and shield your eyes with your hand, forgetting that you are indoors and the sun isn’t high up anymore. Javi is standing over you.

“Hi,” you choke out.

You were woken up late last night to a frantic call from a PA. You had deliberately ignored your phone for the entire day, wanting to be disconnected before you’d have to see him again on set soon. But instead of continuing to sulk in bed like you’d planned, you ended up having to pack your entire wardrobe because of the location manager’s error. You weren’t supposed to go to the South of France until next week, but the other chateau that Óscar was supposed to film at was double booked and the couple who was going to have a wedding there couldn’t move dates. So you had spent the morning frantically fitting everything into your suitcase to make it to a flight three hours away.

Between the chaos, your phone ran out of power. When you finally touched down in Nice, you were busy trying to find your assigned driver without a phone that you forgot to charge on the plane because you fell asleep the whole way over. Your lack of French didn’t help, either. And then you were driven straight to the set where you hurried to relearn your lines on the way.

You haven’t had any time to think about Javi again after last night. You were almost grateful to be busy as a distraction… until now.

“Did you get my texts?”

He seriously has the audacity? “Didn’t have time to check my phone,” you shrug.

He sits on a vacant chair next to you. Please, not now. “Doesn’t matter. We’re both here. Crazy, isn’t it? You should’ve seen Óscar losing his shit when he found out. Never seen him like that.”

“Poor guy,” you suck your teeth, meaning the location manager who you usually see every day, but is definitely not here now.

“So,” he starts, keeping his voice casual. “Have you seen where you’re staying yet?”

“Nope.”

“It’s pretty great.”

K. Good to know, you think. “Lucky me.”

“Have you seen the garden?” he continues, not noticing your disinterest.

“Long time ago.”

“Come walk with me.”

“It’s closed.”

“I can ask them to let us through.”

Of course he can. He’s the reason you’re all here, because he’s pulling favors left and right so that filming would still be finished right on schedule. You wouldn’t be surprised if he knew the people who own or manage this place. Maybe he’s even one of them.

“We’re kind of busy here,” you gesture to your hair and makeup ladies.

“We’re actually almost done, if you want to go,” one of them tries to be helpful. Shut up. I don’t. You know she means well so you just smile at her.

“No, it’s fine. I need to learn my lines anyway.”

“I’ll help you. Come on.”

You huff out and surrender, not wanting to make a scene. He definitely knows how to work this in his favor too. It’s not like you could continue giving him the cold shoulder in front of the crew without raising questions. And you couldn’t say no to one of the producers asking you for a private discussion without appearing difficult. You begrudgingly get up after your hair is secured and walk out the gilded doors ahead of him.

“You can’t even see anything here,” you grumble when you trip over small rocks for the fifth time. You’ve been walking for ten minutes without talking to each other and now the sky is completely dark. “I’m going back.”

You turn around and his hands grab your arm to hold you in place. “Just… one second.”

“What do you want?”

“I know you got my texts. And calls. You’re always on your phone.”

“And what about it?”

“Is something wrong, babe? Why are you ignoring me?”

“Don’t– Are you fucking serious right now?” You yank your arm from him and walk away and you hear his heavier footsteps following you. “No, I– just stop. Leave me alone.”

To his credit, he leaves you alone for the rest of the night.

Unfortunately, when you get to the hotel you find out that Javi had taken the liberty to put the three of you in the villa instead of the main building with the rest of the cast and crew. You’d been looking forward to locking yourself away in the privacy of your room all day… you still have your own room, of course, but it still means you’ll be running into him every single day and night.

At least Óscar offers to switch the master bedroom with you so you could have the bathtub, and that means he’ll be on the same floor with Javi, not you. So that’s one advantage.

✧✧

Day 3

Javi wishes he had stayed back at the hotel. Correction: he wishes Óscar had said no to you instead of making everyone go to this stupid yacht party thrown by some fuckhead who is now flirting with you. He can’t fathom why you’re giving him a silent treatment. It’s been five days since that night you ran into each other at Annabel’s. You don’t even talk to him on set anymore, leaving all communications to Óscar and PAs. Even back at the villa you always act like he’s not there if Óscar isn’t around too. What happened? Did you suddenly realize you could do better than him overnight? Or you realized you could be with guys your age instead? He’d respect your decision but he’d appreciate a heads-up so he wouldn’t have to witness whatever this is. You couldn’t have been mad at him for taking a rain check on the date. You two had ended up in the same place anyway. So wha–

“Do you need to be somewhere?” The beautiful tall brunette with a pseudo French-Transatlantic accent next to him asks. Kelsea, if he remembers correctly. No, that doesn’t sound right. Kelly. Cassie?

You’ve introduced her to him and Óscar when you arrived. Apparently you have been friends for a few years but haven’t seen her in a while. She had reached out when she saw you posting on location and invited the entire cast when you told her why you’re here. “A proper welcome back,” you had told Óscar over this morning’s breakfast. “And she’s a big fan of yours so please please please come.”

“No, why?”

“You don’t seem to be enjoying yourself.”

“Sorry. Long day.” He clears his throat. “Nice boat.”

“Thanks. It was my grandpa’s.”

He nods, uninterested.

“Would you like a tour?”

“Sure.” It beats hearing you laugh at whatever the tool just said.

He silently follows Karlie - no, that’s someone else - around and appropriately nods every time she tells him a tidbit about this custom made yacht that has no business being the size of a small country. It’s even bigger than his own back in Mallorca. Eventually they reach the game room where Óscar is playing pool, obliterating his poor opponent. At least someone is having fun. “Where have you been?”

Javi shrugs and grabs a bottle of beer. “Around.”

“What are you grumpy about?”

“I’m not grumpy.”

“Don’t bullshit me. Go, grab a stick.”

✧

You finally, finally have alone time to yourself tonight. You didn’t mind being introduced to rounds and rounds of new people, but now you need to recharge. You grab a flute of champagne at the bar and wander throughout the yacht until you find Óscar and Javi on the upper deck playing pool. Empty glasses and bottles scatter the room, a few guests that still remain walk in and out to gather their belongings and get their last drinks, waiting for the much smaller boats to take them back to the pier. The party is winding down and you want to get them so you can leave.

“There you are! Come!” Óscar’s voice booms. “Take Javi’s, he sucks.”

You take the cue from Javi and notice he doesn’t look particularly happy. Not that you should care, obviously. Javi walks away from you and takes a seat against the wall right behind Óscar.

“I was just telling him to lighten up.” Óscar tells you.

“Why? What happened?” You chalk the tip of your cue.

“Don’t know, he’s just been quiet this whole night. Weird.”

“I’m literally right here,” Javi grunts.

“This is weird too. What is going on here?” You’ve never given much thought about how a pool table would work on an ever-swaying boat, but now you see that it literally follows the movements like water while the flat surface and balls remain stationary. It’s fascinating.

“Right? You should get one of these,” Óscar says to Javi. “Anyway, your friend Camille tried to talk to him and he ignored her the whole time.”

Camille! That’s it.

“Ouch,” you glance at him in fake playfulness. You’re already exhausted from filming and this party, but the show has to go on. As far as Óscar is concerned, there’s nothing wrong between you and Javi, an act that you drop whenever he’s not around.

“That’s a MILF right there. He’s so fucking dumb.”

You gleefully cackle as Javi makes a disgruntled face. She’s a MILF, all right. If there’s anyone on earth whose looks you envy it’s either her or Elise.

“Ava would love hearing that,” Javi chides Óscar.

“She’d agree with me. I’m not saying I would, but I’m saying she would be good for you.”

“I have to agree with Óscar, I mean, she’s fucking gorgeous.” You play along. No harm in it, and you can’t even be jealous. Camille is the ultimate girl’s girl - she’d never go for someone if her friends are already eyeing them. You might not see her often, but you trust her with anything.

“See?”

“Fine. She is.” Javi slumps dejectedly. It’s the truth, although he’s not interested.

“Go and find her, then. God knows when’s the last time you got laid.”

“C’mon, man.” Javi looks around hoping no one overheard that.

“Your loss.”

The three of you are deep in your own bubble; Javi’s on his phone to look busy, Óscar’s knocking back his drink and giving you tips, and as tired as you are, there’s no way you’re going to let Óscar win. You’re taking position to shoot when you feel an unfamiliar hand snake around you and another slides down your back. Your eyes widen when you realize what’s happening.

“I’ll show you,” a slurred voice murmurs into your ear.

“I’m good.” You swat away the hand on your waist and scoot closer to Óscar, whose guards immediately go up and he shields you behind him. You briefly see Javi’s eyes quickly filled with anger as he stares down the newcomer. “I got it.”

“Mmmmkay. Or I can show you something else.” He staggers forward to side-step Óscar to get to you, but Óscar stops him with the tip of his cue to his chest.

“Move along.” You can’t see Óscar’s face, but you can hear the anger in his voice. The guy doesn’t budge and Óscar taps his chin, leaving a chalk mark. “I’m not gonna tell you twice.”

Just fucking poke his eyes out, Javi thinks.

“What’s your problem?” The intruder sizes Óscar up, his eyes red and unfocused.

“You mean her problem?” Óscar challenges back.

“You don’t have a problem, do you, sweet cheeks?”

As if right on cue, Javi sees the same tall guy who was flirting with you earlier comes bounding towards where you’re all gathered. His hand grabs the back of the guy’s neck to roughly shove him aside away from you and Óscar. Two uniformed staff catch him and drag him out of sight. But it doesn’t make him feel better. He should’ve come to your defense, instead of just sitting there glaring like a coward.

“Fuck off, Felix!” Kylian shouts and he goes over to you. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You manage to choke out.

“I’m gonna get you some water.” Kylian touches your arm and you nod weakly.

“I’ll see him out!” Kelly calls out to him from across the room and you see her retreating back. You stand there with a blank look on your face, staring straight at Óscar, as you feel Kylian wrap a jacket around you.

✧

Javi looks back at you from the front seat of the car. “Are you okay?”

You nod a yes. You lean forward and fold your arms on the back of Óscar’s seat, resting your chin on it.

“I should’ve said something.”

“People like him…” you sigh. “Well, once word gets out why he got kicked out, he’s done being invited to these things.”

“That’s good to know,” Óscar says gruffly.

“Yeah. Kylian is gonna make sure everyone he knows knows. And what he says always goes.”

Javi sits in silence.

“And anyway, it was a great party, right? You guys enjoyed yourselves.”

“Except this loser right here,” Óscar relaxes and glances at Javi. “Can’t believe you didn’t hit that.”

“If it’d make you feel better, she wasn’t interested either,” you say dryly. Óscar barks out a laugh and you don’t try to hide your smug smile at Javi’s expression. “No, seriously. It’s complicated enough with her ex and kid.”

Even without her situation, Camille already knows that you have - had - a crush on Javi and she wouldn’t do anything to disrespect that. Bless her heart for trying to keep him company while he was shooting daggers at you earlier. Yeah, you felt that in the back of your head. He’s impossible to ignore.

“Thank you,” Javi says sarcastically. You didn’t say that to hurt his ego, but hey, if it works…

You lay back down on your seat to let the wind blow your hair. “But, she likes you guys, and said we’re free to drop by her place anytime we want. It’s that one, actually.” You point to a mansion on top of a hill that no one would be able to miss from wherever they’re looking from.

Óscar whistles. “How do you know them anyway?”

“Camille and I met by chance a few years ago. In a spinning class, of all places. Kylian…” You sneak a quick glance at Javi who’s intently looking straight ahead. “He was a few grades above me but we went to the same school once. I don’t really keep up with my schoolmates anymore, so it was nice meeting someone familiar, you know?”

“He seems like a good guy.” Óscar says sincerely.

“Yeah, he is.”

“Do you want to take the day off tomorrow?” Óscar looks at you from the rearview mirror.

“I really am fine, Óscar. It’s nothing.”

“If you say so. Whatever you need, just let me know.”

You look out to the darkened endless body of water in the distance. You suddenly feel heavier than you’ve been the days before. You hear Óscar and Javi conversing in Spanish for the rest of the drive, but you don’t bother listening in despite grasping a little bit more of the language now. You’re tired. You are so, so tired.

✧✧

Day 6

You perk up to the sound of your door being opened with a click and you bolt to grab a bathrobe. Aren’t you alone here…? Did Óscar order food for you? But the butler always knocks first and didn’t you hang a Do Not Disturb sign, as you do every time you’re inside? You pop your head out of the bathroom and prepare to reprimand him for his manners. Instead, you see Javi standing in the middle of your bedroom.

“Hey. Is everything fine with you?” He walks towards you and you step back.

You tighten your robe. “What’s it to you? Get out.”

“Please tell me what’s going on? It’s been a week, honey.” He looks like a mess. Like he’s been missing out on sleep for exactly that long. His hair is unkempt, there are dark circles under his eyes, and his scruff has grown out.

You scrunch your nose at the endearment. He’s got to be joking if he thought using pet names would bend you to his will. “Really? Please leave my room, I need to rest.”

“Just… say something… else. Anything. I don’t understand.” His tone turns exasperated now. “Do you even want this anymore? I miss you and–”

You turn to him and your voice shakes. “This? And what is this? Fooling around while we’re working behind your best friend’s back? Showing up only when it’s convenient for you? You left me out in the cold, waiting, and you want to know why I’m not talking to you? Is that so hard for you to understand? Are you fucking kidding me?”

He’s taken aback at your answer. “Where? At Annabel’s? I didn’t leave you.”

You scoff. “Don’t give me excuses, please, it’s sad enough you only asked me out because you pity me.”

“What? Where is all this coming from?”

“Just stop,” you plead. “You could’ve at least not done it in public.”

“I told you it was a meeting–”

“YOU LEFT ME WAITING ON THE SIDEWALK FOR HALF AN HOUR!”

Javi is silent for a few moments. What are you talking about? “Baby, what do you mean? I thought you’d left.”

You look at each other in confusion, so silent that you can hear each other’s breaths. “WHAT?!”

“You told the hostess to tell me that you weren’t feeling well and you already went home.”

What the– “...what?”

“That’s what she said.”

“And you didn’t think to ask me yourself?” You cannot believe what you’re hearing. “Are you dumb?!”

Javi internally agrees. Yeah, that was dumb and shortsighted. “You did look tired, babe…”

“Stop calling me that. Did I look tired to you? I ca–” You pinch the bridge of your nose. “Somebody lied. You, her, someone else, I don’t know!”

“I have no defense here, ba– I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I really thought you just wanted to get home.”

You try to make sense of his recollection to yours. Why would a hostess speak on your behalf? You didn’t say anything to anyone, and even if you wanted to say something, you’d tell him directly. It doesn’t make sense. Who saw you? Was the doorman in on it too?

“Did you say anything to anyone when you left?”

“No.”

“Not even the doorman?”

“The doorman? Why would I do that?”

“He knew I was looking for you when I waited.”

Javi ponders. Who else saw him? And how did they know?

“I need to think.” You snap. “I need to sleep, and think.”

✧✧

Day 7

You wake up face down the next morning. Last night you ordered a bottle of the cheapest white wine on the menu once you’d exhausted the minibar supplies, just to help you sleep fast and deep. You didn’t need to drown in your emotions while your thoughts weren’t sorted yet. You still don’t know what to make of what Javi said. It’s very strange.

After you take an indulgent bath, you walk into the kitchen and find Javi sitting there, the clicking of his phone’s keypad loud enough to echo throughout the large space. You’d have to tell him how to turn that off. You were expecting to be alone this morning because Óscar and Javi usually have already left by this time. The usual breakfast spread was already cleared out, replaced by a selection of burger and fries, cobb salad, sashimi, tiramisu, tarte tropezienne, and so many other small bites you gloss over.

“Morning,” Javi starts. “I took the liberty to order… everything, basically. I don’t know what you’d be in the mood for.”

You side eye him and open the fridge to get your overnight oats. A fresh box of macarons and an untouched glass of chocolate milkshake are waiting for you inside. All your comfort foods, basically. He did well. Javi’s attentive, you’ll give him that.

“What are you doing today?” Javi asks while you eat.

“Going to Camille’s. You?”

“Nothing. Thought I’d talk to you again.”

“Okay,” you gulp. You’ve thought about your situation with him, albeit not as thoroughly as you’d like, so you haven’t come up with how to segue into it. And, it still doesn’t make sense.

“How are you?”

“I… still have a few things to think about.”

He hums in understanding. “I remember one thing now. Your friend. She was outside smoking.”

“...oh?”

“Yeah. I’m not gonna accuse her blindly of anything, but, convenient, don’t you think?”

You don’t know what to think. You barely understand how all this happened to begin with. Javi reaches forward and takes your hand in his.

“I’d never leave you out in the cold like that, trust me. That’s not the kind of person I am. I’m sorry that I took someone else’s word for yours, and I should’ve checked in on you.”

You study his eyes, and see the sincerity in them. He looks pained.

“May I drive you? To Camille’s?”

“Okay.” You finally give him a small smile after a long week, and Javi considers it a triumph. He’s missed you.

✧

Javi goes out to the vast balcony for a smoke. He checks his watch and sees that it’s already half past ten. He’s been here for much longer than he has the patience to be. He’d driven you to Camille’s villa for what he thought would just be lunch, so he didn’t hesitate accepting her invitation to join in. Then lunch turned into going for an afternoon dip in the sea and a shopping trip in Cannes while he waited for them in her smaller yacht, occupied with a business call. Then it turned into early dinner back at the villa and people started arriving for an impromptu party Camille and Kylian decided to throw. Óscar has let him take the day off as long as he promised to look after you, but now he’s had his fill of being the only middle aged man in the midst of 20- and 30-year olds. He cannot take another conversation about his old life or their fawning over his recent successes.

Nor could he take another second of dudes flirting with you. Again. He’s pulling out his pack of cigarettes when Camille appears at his side and interrupts him.

“Try my dad’s cigars.” She points to a box on the table by the door and he opens it, finding the stack full. He lights one up and offers to light another for her.

“Oh, no. I don’t smoke. I just like offering these to people, just to tell my dad what they think. So…?”

Javi takes a drag and exhales. “Best I’ve ever had.”

She smiles in satisfaction. “Hey, mind if I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Are you two together?”

Javi looks away from her, his gaze lands at the parked boats and twinkling lights on the horizon and he pretends to contemplate his cigar. “Who?”

“Are you gonna pretend you haven’t been looking at her all night? That you’re not mingling inside because you’re jealous?”

“I’ve just spent hours indulging people asking me about financial tips,” Javi squints at her.

“Uh huh. But it’s not just now, it’s the other night too. And you’re out here because you don’t want to see her getting my brother’s attention again.”

Javi scoffs. “She can talk to anyone she wants.”

“Don’t worry. He doesn’t like her that way. I’ve asked.” Camille sizes him up. “I know that she likes you too. I just want to know how… genuine you are.”

Javi raises his eyebrows at her and takes a long drag. He feels relief and doubt at the same time, but he’s getting annoyed by her prying. “What’s it matter to you, Camille?”

“I don’t know if she’s told you about her ex, but he wasn’t exactly the best person. I don’t want it to happen to her again. And you’re older and–” He shakes his head, softly laughing to himself. “If you two were together I’d want to know that you’re not taking advantage of her.”

Now she’s pissing him off. “It’s none of your business.”

“It is, a little.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you’re such close friends.”

“We were once.” Before Javi could come up with another jab he hears your giggle from the pool and he grimaces. “I don’t mean harm, Javi. You don’t have to be defensive. I actually care about her, that’s all.”

He knows she’s being honest. He’s being an asshole, he knows that… not only tonight but on her yacht too. Just like she said. Most of your friends that he’s met or heard of haven’t impressed him much. They’re too showy, too self-centered, too ridiculous. He has to admit that he’d assumed Camille would be just the same before he even met her in person, but he stands corrected.

“Yeah,” he rolls the cigar around his fingers and clears his throat. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

“I understand.”

Javi nods in acknowledgement and contemplates before asking. “That guy that… from the other night. Who was he?”

“A friend of Kylian’s friend. He’s taken care of.”

Whatever that means.

“Has that happened to her before? That you’ve seen?” You’re entirely too calm and quiet about the incident. Why didn’t you defend yourself? He knows he should ask you instead of your friend first, but he can’t help himself.

“Eh, a few times.”

“A few times?!” He recoils.

“Yeah,” Camille says wistfully. “Just female things, you know? It’s a rite of passage at this point. Can’t really do anything about it. There will always be guys like that. You have touchy fans too, right? You know what it’s like.”

“No, not the same.” Javi takes another long drag. It’s unfair, and there are too many similar incidents in the industry, and it shouldn’t be ‘a rite of passage’.

“Fuck me, it’s cold.” Your voice breaks the awkward pause. Javi is stunned to see you soaking wet from head to toe. “I got thrown into the pool,” you explain. “I need to borrow your clothes.”

“Okay, come with me.” Camille takes you by the arm. “Nice talking to you, Javi.”

“What were you guys talking about?” He hears you ask Camille quietly as you’re walking back inside the house.

✧

An hour later, Javi decides to go back inside where he grabs a few water bottles for the drive back to the villa. The party is winding down and the house is almost quiet. He’s about to text you to meet him in the car when he overhears a group of people by the foyer, a guy with a thick French accent being the loudest.

“–with Kylian. No fucking shame.”

“She’s gotta be with that old guy. Why else was he here?” A different guy chimes in. American, Javi thinks.

“Aren’t they filming together?”

“Yeah, but they didn’t tell us what kind of movie.” The American snarks.

“Wardrobe optional. I bet.” Barking laughter between them follows. Javi is fuming. He told everyone who asked what he’s working on - they are purposely mocking you.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re fucking. He’s a director, right? Actresses fuck directors all the time for roles.” Javi can’t believe what he’s hearing. Way to set feminism back a few decades, woman.

“She has to be. She’s fucking boring.”

“She would say, ‘depressed’”. The woman chimes in again. Vile, this one.

“Hah, you believe that? She just wanted Gabriel’s attention”

“I feel sorry for Kylian. Gabriel’s sloppy seconds? He could do better.”

“If that wasn’t a lie. She’s just a gold digger. At least she’s not ugly like the last one.”

“This one’s not much, either.” The woman’s tone is laced with so much venom and Javi sees red. He turns to find another exit and finds you standing, frozen in place.

✧

Javi follows you back into the villa, intentionally walking a few paces behind and putting a distance between you. How should he approach this? He knows what they were saying is false. But he has one question… not like he could ask you in your state of mind right now. He’s surprised you’re even civil to him all day, though that might have been for show.

You go into your bedroom and kick your shoes off, and before you could close the door on him he reaches for you and envelopes you in his arms. He feels you take a deep, shaky breath and he holds you tighter, burying his face into your neck in comfort. Instead of breaking free from his grasp, you fall further into his embrace.

“I’m sor–” Javi murmurs on your shoulder and is cut short by you letting go and closing the door behind him. You lead the way further into the room.

“I don’t wanna be alone tonight.” You sit him on the corner of your bed while you take your time changing into something more comfortable. When you’re done, you get on the bed and pull him towards you.

Javi is speechless. You’re distant all week and now you’re pulling him into bed? What’s going on?

You start with a sigh and your hands shake. “So, um… just for the record, I’ve never gone out with anyone for their money. Ever. And I don’t want Kylian or his, just so you know. And uh, I’d never lie about being depressed. It happened, I went to therapy, and that’s all in the past, distant past. I don’t even know how they knew about that, but anyway… um, it might come and go, in the future, who knows, you know? So I just wanna let you know… if that’s not a thing you want to deal with later.

And, well, obviously I don’t sleep around for jobs, but you already know that.”

Javi pulls you into his arms again and keeps you there. I’m sorry, he kisses the top of your head, telling you he didn’t believe any of their gossip anyway. I’m sorry, he kisses your forehead with apologies for leaving you and not standing up for you the other night. I’m sorry, he kisses your fingers and admits he doesn’t know how to make it up to you.

He’ll never forget the nervous tremble of your lips when you bury your face into his clavicle. You’re so hurt, and there’s nothing he could do except be here for you. He tightens his arms around you, letting you calm down and even your breathing.

Minutes pass and you let go of him, sitting up on the bed. “You can’t really stay, can you?”

Javi lets out a sigh of defeat, his heart heavy with disappointment too. “He’s upstairs.”

“Yeah. You should go.”

“Will you be fine alone?”

You nod. “I’ll manage. It’s not worth it if he starts wondering.”

“See you in the morning, ba– um. ‘Night.”

✧✧

Day 8

“You coming to set today?” Óscar asks Javi over breakfast on the terrace.

“That depends. I might drop by later.”

“Going somewhere else today?”

“Maybe.”

“Late night last night?”

“Yeah.” Silence falls over them. Honestly, Javi is too tired this morning to have any kind of conversation. He has a lot to think about and not enough sleep to clear his head.

“Morning,” Óscar says as you pull out the chair next to him. Did something happen yesterday? Javi is uncharacteristically not chatty and you’re avoiding looking at his direction. A stark difference from the previous days where breakfast was always lively.

“You have to come to set tomorrow. It’s the last day,” he says to Javi before turning to you. “Cast and crew dinner right after. Bring your friends if you want.”

“Oh, yeah, I’ll tell them.”

The rest of breakfast is in silence, which makes it look even odder to Óscar. What happened? Did you not enjoy Javi’s company off set? Or did you feel like Javi was being tasked as a chaperone for you and you couldn’t fully enjoy your time off?

“I gotta go,” Óscar chugs the remainder of his juice, saving his questions for later. “Take care.”

Javi reaches for your hand once Óscar is safely out of the driveway. “Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah.” You had a loooooong night. Instead of going straight to sleep and saving the emotions for another day, you ended up heatedly texting Anya to clarify Javi’s (and your) suspicion. Suffice to say, she didn’t deny anything. Why she did all that, you could only guess.

But it’s a new day in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Your troubles will wait ‘til you’re back home.

“I was thinking… I just want to swim this morning. Relax a bit. Then Èze in the afternoon, see the sunset?”

“Sounds great to me.”

You note Javi’s tired eyes, guessing he missed a few hours of rest too. “You can nap while I swim.”

And so he does.

But not before taking a peek at what you’re wearing.

✧

Javi finally feels relaxed for the first time since he arrived here. Who knew a day out in a cactus garden could be therapeutic? To be honest, that’s only because it’s with you. And, you’re already talking to him normally again. Like nothing is at odds between the two of you. He’s tempted to ask what changed overnight, but if it ain’t broke…

The entire day you play with his curls, tug his hand along, rest your head on his shoulder while watching the sunset. Dare he say it’s pretty much a date?

Once back at the villa you pull him into your room again and wrap your arms around his neck, lips brushing his. Javi is stunned, to say the least.

“Hi,” he looks down at you in amusement.

“Hi,” you reply nervously.

“You feel all better?” You answer him with a nod. “Good. It killed me that you were avoiding me.”

Javi carefully puts his hands on your waist, pulling you closer. You let him and rest your chin on his shoulder. “I got it all sorted out. We should be fine now.”

“How so?”

“Yeah… it was her, I think. Anya. She didn’t deny it. I don’t think she liked me going home with you.”

Javi chuckles into your hair. “Live with it. I only ever want you.”

You pull back, enough to get a good look of his face, and you want that to be true. Nothing about this is easy, even aside from your own anxieties.

“What was your plan?” You decide to ask.

“Hmm?”

“For our date.”

He runs his hands up and down your sides. “Dinner, then I take you to bed. Keep you there. Like I said.”

“Uh huh… for how long?”

“Anytime you’re not on set, I’m keeping you there.”

“So we’re not gonna talk about my goals and dreams at all? Our feelings? Our friends, families…”

“Between you moaning my name…” Javi’s hand squeezes your hip. “...yes.”

“Mmm,” you giggle. “Too bad I don’t sleep on first dates, though.”

Javi raises his eyebrows in question. “No?”

“No.”

“So, second date, then.”

Second? You like where this is going. “Hmm, maybe, maybe not…”

“How many dates then?”

“Five dates or three months,” you say with a grin and a mischievous glint in your eyes, holding back a maniacal laughter. “Whichever comes first.”

Javi freezes.

“And it depends on how great the dinner is.” You fake ponder, enjoying his expression that becomes grumpier by the second. “And obviously, how serious you are.”

“I promise you, babe, you’d be the one telling me to skip dessert.”

Bold Javi. You’ve missed him.

“And tell you I’m the only dessert you need? Very possible.” You let go of him and start walking towards your bed, him following suit. “I was kidding anyway,” you tell him over your shoulder. You might be picky, but you have needs.

“Thank fucking God.”

“It’s really your fault you didn’t check in on me, because we could’ve been doing a lot of things right now…”

“Yeah?” Javi’s voice becomes raspy.

“Yeah…” You climb into bed and kneel on it, grabbing Javi closer by the collar of his shirt and stroking it. “It’s fine, I can take care of myself when you leave.”

“You’re killing me.” This is actual torture. You’re inviting him to bed, but not really. You’re very straightforward about what you want to do, but also not really. He definitely knows what he wants, and that hasn’t changed since that first day. And he’s pretty sure it shows.

“I think it’s fair for now. Come here.” To his delight, you pull his neck closer and kiss him. It’s fucking bliss. It’s been too fucking long. “I miss you, Javi. I only ever want you too.”

You arch your back to press closer to him and you whine, feeling the tent of his pants growing on your stomach. There’s no stopping your urge to buck against him which makes him unlatch from you and groan in response. His lips find your neck and start kissing it, and you let out a loud moan when he nibbles on that one spot.

“Baby, baby. Let’s save that for my place, all right?” Right. Óscar might be upstairs, and that didn’t even cross your mind.

You giggle and plop down on the bed after giving him a quick peck. “I was thinking this morning when I was swimming, that I’ve always wanted to be fucked in a pool.”

“...no.”

“No?”

“Yeah, no. We have no privacy, and it’s cold.”

“I wasn’t thinking about here, unless you want to die Gatsby-style. I think Óscar would spare me. You… not sure.”

“On second thought, it might be worth it.” Javi climbs on the bed, parting your legs to sit on his knees between them.

“So… back in London, maybe?”

“It’s not heated.”

“Seriously?”

In his defense, it’s not like he uses it much. “Consider it done.”

You nudge your knee on the side of his stomach and start grazing it. You find it adorable, his has softened with age in contrast to the washboard abs you were used to seeing. It makes him even cuter in your mind. You wonder if it’s too early in your dynamic to start affectionately referring to it as ‘dadbod’, or to tell him you want to sleep on it.

Javi stops your motions and starts to hover over you. “Ouch! Ow, ow, ow-”

He drops on his stomach next to you, hand reaching for his back.

“Oh my god, you’re so old.” You burst into laughter.

Javi rolls his eyes at you. “I have one foot in the grave, it’s not the same,” which makes you laugh harder.

You are concerned though, so you replace his hand with yours and start lightly massaging the spot.

“Is that better?”

“Of course.” He assures you with a kiss. Certainly much better than his massage chair at home that cost him thousands of dollars, and he tells you so.

“Wait, where?”

“My office. It’s godsend when I’m in the middle of meetings.”

“I wanna try it next time. So: one, try the massage chair, two, fuck in the pool…”

“Three, cook some homemade dinner.”

“I don’t cook. You can teach me, though.”

“How did you survive through college and living alone?!”

“Restaurants, dude. I’m surprised you cook. Don’t you have private chefs everywhere?”

“Did you see any chefs in my house?” No, it was always just you two. “Sure, in Spain, and only because they used to work for the Adriàs. But my grandmother used to make me cook with her every Sunday, and I’m grateful for that. It’s therapeutic. Dude.”

“And here I thought you barely know how to use a microwave. I can’t wait. All of it.”

“Anything for you.” He leans for a kiss and you run your hand on his chest and he shivers against your lips.

“You’re really gonna make me leave? We can still take care of each other.” And he doesn’t mean just his back.

“You already know I can’t be quiet. And I’m soooooo sore and tired,” you answer with a yawn.

“I know, baby,” he sighs. “I know. You should look forward to more of that.”

“Ooh, hyping yourself up. Go, leave, so I can tend to myself, thank you.” You stick a tongue out to him.

“Dammit. Is that what you’ve been doing all week?”

“Hell no, I was upset at you. Before, though…”

“Same here.”

“Yeah? Tell me.” You stroke his chest, liking how his heart is pounding under your touch.

“Since that night at Mira’s house.”

“So that black jumpsuit worked?”

He nods. “And you smelled so fucking good. You always do.”

“Good, ‘cause I wanted you to notice me.”

He noticed you, all right. “These looked amazing that night,” his thumb grazes over your sideboob. “And your backless dress… I wasn’t even watching the movie, to be honest.”

“I wore that for you, too. I was hoping you’d take it off of me.”

“You should’ve just asked.”

“I was so wet, Javi. I had to touch myself on the flight home.” Thankfully you were in a first class suite and you could ease the itch under the blanket.

“Fuck. Did you come?” He pulls you flush to him and he growls against your neck. He had left on his private plane a few hours before you, on his way to meet an investor in another continent. He would’ve changed his plans had he known.

“Yeah,” you nod, rubbing your barely covered breasts on his chest so he could feel your hardened nipples. He looks down at your cleavage hungrily. “But it wasn’t enough.”

He flips you over and kisses the tops of them all the way up to your neck, making you grind on him. You feel his hands on the inside of your thighs but you don’t dare to look down to see how big they are, and so close to where you want him most. You’re pretty sure you’ll come on the spot. You let out a soft sigh and let your head fall on the pillow when he licks the spot behind your ear.

“I liked those bikinis you posted too. My cock would like to thank you. That was a great day.” You squirm at the mention of his cock and you look up to see him smirking. “Next time, I want a private show.”

“Which one?” You don’t know what comes over you but you decide to brave through your next move. There’s something about this man’s presence that makes you feel equally as bold, but also vulnerable at the same time. You cup a hand over your mound, moving it back and forth. “This… or just the bikinis?”

His hand grips your thigh firmly and you gasp in pleasure just as the sound of a car being parked sobers you both. Javi reluctantly pulls off of you and gets on his feet, straightening his clothes and hair back into place. You walk him to the door and give him a kiss goodnight on the gray spot of his beard.

“‘Night, baby.”

“‘Night, Javi.”

✧✧✧

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