Tumgik
#I just need to make sure the sticker club members get their stuff sent out first.
Summertime Story
Summary: The Lantern Night people had come to visit town! Fireworks, food stalls, festival games! Helping Mammon pay off his debt! Underneath this festive atmosphere a single wish blossoms in your heart,
“I want this moment to last forever...”
Based on the Summer Festival Event.
Rated: T for Teasing Mammon about outdoor sex  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Tags: Established Relationship, Too Much Love for Mammon, Yearning, Love Words are: Acts of Service, Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Physical Touch, with a dash of Receiving Gifts, B-I-N-G-O.
--
The day had begun in a peaceful manner, and you were enjoying a rare moment to yourself in which Mammon was not particularly in need of your affection, in this case it meant that the two of you were just holding hands underneath the dining table and eating breakfast with one hand. It was peaceful precisely because Levi wasn’t making a fuss over it, Belphie and Satan wasn’t throwing an oil tanker to the fire and neither was Lucifer frowning over it.
Summer had come into Devildom and it was officially, a few months since you had been part of the Exchange Program, and a few months since forming a pact with Belphie. During that time, you had done your best to juggle time between the six of them and pursuing Mammon. It had been a rough time, since more often than not your chances either backfired or Mammon himself would end up ruining it. However with the power of love (lol) you were able to successfully confess your love with help from Levi and Asmo and now Mammon and you were going steady for a total of three weeks.
And now you were enjoying a breakfast “date” with Mammon, skillfully ignoring the other background characters (lol). You had been tuning out the conversation, focused on the rare karaage Mammon had brought home last night for you, when your ears had heard the words “casino” and “debt” come out from Mammon’s mouth.
“Eh? You went to a casino without me?” You blurted out.
Which caught the attention of the others. Asmo already had the teasing look on his face as he said, “How cute~ Hey! Mammon how does it feel like having a girlfriend that attached to you?”
“I-It’s not fair! I want someone to say that kind of thing to me too!” Levi whined.
“I love you so much!” Mammon blurted out with a red face, an apology of sorts for not bringing you out with him to play.
“Hehehe... you’re so easily pleased aren’t you?” Belphie teased you as you snuggled up and melted into Mammon’s warm embrace.
You opted to ignore him and instead told Mammon, “If you needed money, you should have come to me!”
“Oi! You understand he’s like that because you keep on spoiling him right?” Satan said, worried at how easily you spoiled his idiot older brother.
“?”
The look of confusion on your face easily told him that you had become an idiot for love. But a quick glance at Mammon rubbing your face together and intermittently kissing your face in different places made him realize you still, at the very least, had your IQ points.
“Tch! Both of your deserved each other” Satan grumbled as he looked away at the sickening display of affection.
“Anyways! Please help me out with the stall!” Mammon begged, “I can’t just use my wife’s money like that after all.”
“I’ll ignore what you just called our Master but sure I’ll help you out~” Asmo agreed.
“I’ll do the same” Beel added.
“Me too” Levi spoke through gritted teeth.
“In that case I’ll do the same and head out for the library to figure out what stall we should do” Satan replied and headed out.
“Well, it seems like you’re having fun so I’ll do the same.” Belphie said before finishing up his breakfast.
“It’s rare to see all of you this cooperative” Lucifer commented as he watched with wide eyed disbelief that his troublesome brothers were cooperating this smoothly.
“We all probably have ulterior motives though...” You replied, still snuggled in Mammon’s hold and now being fed by him.
“We?”
You hummed and addressed Lucifer’s unsaid question,”Yep. I just want to spend time with Mammon.”
Hearing this words only invigorated Mammon’s love for you further and made Lucifer torn between exasperation and fondness for your love of Mammon. 
-
After the brainstorming session on the library, the whole lot of you with the exception of Lucifer started to practice making Candy Apples.
Carefully following Satan's instructions Belphie and you poured the sugar into the dyed water carefully. All of you watched in fascination as the sugar melted into the water.
"Hehe this feels like we're about to make poisoned candy apples~" You were amused at the thought of such mischief.
"Just be honest and say this feels like we're a couple of witches brewing poison" Satan outed your inner thoughts.
You turned your head around and gave him the kitty blep. Belphie had interrupted the fight before it could even escalate with a well-timed question,
"Should we stir it?"
"We probably should? I remember that burnt sugar tastes bad" You frowned as your brain recalled the taste of your burnt caramel pudding.
Your answer had led to Belphie to start stirring in panic. Mammon, your darling demon, in his impatience, grabbed the stirrer from Belphie's hand and began to stir enthusiastically.
"Oh crystals are forming?" Asmo looked at the cauldron, you took a peek as well and realized that there was indeed crystals.
'Ah...I messed up...' You looked sadly at the wasted efforts just as Belphie angrily asked,
"Whose idea was it to stir it?!"
Levi, your saviour, decided to shift the blame on Belphie. You sent him a grateful smile and secretly decided to pamper him a little bit more, once the opportunity arises.
"Let's just feed this batch to Beel" You told them as you took the tray away and delivered it to Beel.
"Ahahaha, you're treating Beel like a disposal unit!" Asmo laughed in amusement as he recalled all the times you had fed Beel your failed cooking and desserts that just didn't meet your standards.
You blushed as you remembered how much time the three of you had spent baking and cooking just so you could give a home-made lunch set to Mammon. It had ended in vain due to a mishap with a lower demon but you couldn't deny the happy feeling of Mammon eating the fallen spicy squid rice ball you had made for him.
"It's delicious! You should cook for me next time~!" He had teased you.
"This is just me being practical..." You hmphed at him and gently stomped your way out of the kitchen as they began to make a new batch.
When you were faraway enough to not overhear anything, Asmo chimed,
"She really does spoil all of us doesn't she?"
Mammon happily agreed, "Isn't she just the best!"
"Of course you'd say so, out of all us, you're the one she spoils the most!" Levi grumbled as he began washing a new batch of apples.
Satan hummed to show his agreement, "You must be so happy getting exactly the kind of lover you want."
Mammon blanked out for a moment before he remembered what Satan was talking about.
"I want someone who'd invest on me as much as I'd invest on them!"
He remembered the sticker you had sent at that time. Your cute and almost childish enthusiasm and your following comically rude disinterest at the following answers. It was in the early days of your stay when they were all interested in you, not as you were, but as a human they happened to be living with.
Mammon smiled softly and replied, "I am! That's why I'm doing this for her!"
Satan stared at him in shock.
-
You came back to see that others were resting while Belphie was still going at it.
"Anything I can do to help?" You asked him as you silently settled across him and stared into the cauldron.
"Keep me company? It's rare to see you and Mammon not attached to the hip." Belphie answered, soft smile gracing his lips.
You nodded your agreement and proceeded to talk to him about mundane stuff and the occasional gossip you would get from your succubi and incubi Tea Appreciation Club members. It was an open secret among your demons that the club was really just a front for Gossiping. And Diavolo allowed it simply for the fun and sometimes useful nuggets of information you'd tell him on your weekly report about the Exchange Program.
"Oh! I think you've got it down Belphie!" You noticed the perfectly melted candy and Belphie happily ordered you to prepare the tray of apples.
"Aye aye, Captain!" You saluted him and then quickly assembled the tray and watched him pour the candy over the apples.
The two of you watched the candy dry in glee and cheered.
“Let’s do the next batch?”
“Let’s take a taste test first,” Belphie replied as he took one candy apple and gave it to you “Here, take it.”
You gingerly took the apple and happily took a large bite on the side. You closed your eyes and gleefully savored the sweetness of the candy that worked well with the light sourness of the green apple.
“Is it delicious?” Belphie asked.
“Yep! You should have a bite!”
You moved the apple towards him and Belphie took a bite on the opposite side. Seeing him eat the apple made you laugh as you remembered the story of Eden. Belphie had looked at you in confusion and you explained,
“Bit on the nose isn’t it?”
You smiled and gestured to him, the apple and then yourself, “A demon, an apple and a woman.”
Realization sinks in and Belphie laughs lightly. “Well the apple certainly wasn’t green at that time.”
Your eyes widen at the implication of Belphie’s words however he refuses to elaborate what he meant.
-
The next couple of days were spent building and designing the stall. It had been fun painting the sign board, coming up with the prices just on the side of a little bit pricey without outright scamming the festival goers, flirting with Mammon, convincing Lucifer to let Diavolo drop by (Barbatos had seen through your attempt at free advertising), and scheming to get Lucifer's fan club to drop by (Lucifer had caught wind of it and you were given an impromptu running exercise). As the final preparations came to a finish, you couldn't help but ask a few questions about the festival itself,
"Ne ne Satan~" You poked at Satan's arms "Do you know if there would be fireworks shows at the end?"
Seeing your inquisitive look Satan began telling you what to expect at the Festival,
“These demons have different culture than the ones you typically see at RAD, theirs share a commonality with the human world’s Japanese Culture. An example would be the food stalls and the game stalls, the clothes called Yukata, animal masks, fireworks show and of course the Bonfire dance.”
“What’s the differences then?” You asked.
“Well...I guess the difference lies on the intent behind the bonfire dance?” Satan mumbled as he held his chin with his hand in thinking position, “Up there, the humans do the Bon Dance to guide their spirit ancestors to the underworld, in here the Lantern Night folk lights the fire to welcome those who arrived.”
“Lord Diavolo rents them an entire mountain range to use for this occasion,” Lucifer added “Though this event had always been here even before we arrived.”
“Then it’s just sad Dia-chan never got around to drop by until now~” You frowned at the thought that it took a long time before Diavolo even considered to drop by the festival until you invited him (with harmless ulterior motives that Barbatos let go).
“Dia-chan?” Lucifer repeated with a thunderous expression on his face.
“Get over it, I’m his human best friend.” You told him non-nonchalantly and wandered off to help and flirt (again) with Mammon.
The day of the festival arrived and as all of you were preparing to head out, Asmo had arrived with presents.
“Oh! Is it food?” You asked excitedly, trusting that Asmo knew your tastes by now but seeing the pout on his face you knew that any hope of having a light snack on the way was null.
“It isn’t! Jeez, why are you like Beel whenever someone gifts you something?” Asmo whined and you laughed at him.
“Because food is life.” You answered and then winked at Beel who was happy to support your claims.
“So what present did you get for us?” You asked once you had your fun and let Asmo do his thing.
“Ta-da~! Levi and I made clothes for us to wear at the festival~!” Asmo handed out the paper bags to the rest and presented yours with a flourish, “This one was specially made for you~ I had to hunt down the exact fabric and accessories just to make it come true!”
Seeing the proud look on his eyes, you happily praised Asmo and then some. You didn’t forget to praise Levi as well and happily watched his face turn red from embarrassment with your heaps of praise before inviting him to cosplay with you sometime.
“Hehe~” You hid your giddiness behind the wide and long sleeves of the soft white kimono. Admiring the detailed phoenix embroidery on the left side, while pink hand painted cherry blossoms littered at the bottom of the hems. the thin gold threads that formed clouds made it sure that the phoenix was soaring upwards.
“Thanks a lot, Asmo! I really like this!” You thanked Asmo once more before praising him for his cuteness and assured him he’d be a body breaker with how good he looked.
As each of the brothers went out to show their festival clothes, you made sure to praise each and every single one of them. Naturally, Mammon received most of your praise and appreciation, you made sure to thank Asmo once more for his nice assist. 
“Mammon you look so handsome in your yukata!” You praised your boyfriend and made sure that he knew you were throwing very appreciative looks on his well-toned abs even if it was partially covered by bandages. You even patted his chest, taking the chance to grope his firm pectorals.
“Oi! Do that kind of thing at our bedroom!” Mammon lightly admonished you, as he gently grabbed your wandering hands and held you tightly against him.
“We can do it too if we find a dark secluded place in the forest...” You whispered to him and then loudly added, “You can grope me too if you want~! I’m allowing you to do so! Actually please do so!”
“Oi! Don’t tempt me here!”
You laugh at his agitation and kiss him before quickly running away with Asmo and Levi on tow.
-
After setting up the stall, you and Mammon were on the first shift. You watched in amazement as Mammon turned on his charms and easily sold the first two pieces of Candy Apples. You silently thanked your lucky stars that your Mammon wasn’t a ladies man but was instead just as utterly devoted to you as you were towards him.
“Hey, you should try calling out for customers too” Mammon gently nudged you to call out for customers and you gathered up your courage to at least contribute to the sales.
“Hey, Handsome!” You called out to the fox demon, “Come try our glossy candy apples!”
“Is there anything special about it?” The fox demon asked you.
Your mischief senses tingling to make a sale made you answer, “The special thing about it is that we sell it as a pair! Give the other half to the one you like and you’re guaranteed to have a wonderful event~!”
The fox demon blinked at you and hesitantly asked, “How did you— ”
“Handsome Fox-sama~ Our apples are guaranteed to help you have a beautiful memory from this event~ also seeing how much effort you put in tonight, a little luck from Enmusubi-sama won’t hurt!” You winked at him and you knew that he had fallen for your sca—sales speech.
“Then I’ll take two, please!”
“Here you go~! Two candy apples to go!” Mammon wonderfully assisted you and the two of you spent the shift doing excellent sca—sales work.
As the shift came to an end, Mammon began asking you what you wanted to do. You thought about it for the moment and said, “I want to see all the stalls while holding hands with you! And I want to see if they have fortune telling stalls too!”
Mammon blushed at your words and shyly said, “O-ok! As a reward for doing well, I’ll take you around and do everything that you want!”
“Then in that case I’d like to add that I want to dance with you around the bonfire. watch the fireworks with you at the end of this festival, and share a kiss that could lead into something else with you in a dark secluded space.” You looked at him in the eyes, conveying the seriousness of your wish.
“The-the last one might just be a bit...”Mammon trailed off as he stammered and felt his face heat up.
You made sure to show him your well-honed (courtesy of Asmo) puppy-dog eyes. And boosting up your charm just to get a sweet, passionate kiss from Mammon like both of you were part of a shoujo manga special.
“Grah! I got it! I got it! I’ll ki-kiss you at the end of the fire works show so stop giving me those eyes already!”
“Hurry up and leave you shameless PDA couple.” Satan told both of you off with dead fish eyes.
You did as Satan said and quickly pulled Mammon away from the stall to start of the date. The two of you idled around, sampling snacks and feeding each other.
“Here, have a drink. You’ve earned it” Mammon placed the cup of iced tea in your face and you took a sip from the straw.
‘Indirect kiss~ get!’ You thought happily as you drank.
“You did really great compared to how you used to be when talking to other demons” He praised you as you finished taking a drink, he tucked in the stray strands of hair away from your face and you blushed at the intimacy of his actions.
“It was all thanks to you...”
You looked away from his loving eyes, and squeezed his hand tight. You knew that most changes you had could be attributed to Mammon and your never ending desire to keep his eyes on you.
“Wh-what’s with this cute act!? Do you want a kiss or something?” He stammered and you could only shyly snuggle closer to him and nod slightly.
“Yes, please.”
Mammon leads you away from the crowd and prying eyes, the two of you were now tucked behind the stalls and Mammon’s hand was gently cupping your face.
“You’re really spoiled you know that?” He complains and yet his eyes were soft and fond of you.
You had always heard that eyes were the window to the soul and Mammon’s eyes told you everything he felt for you. And as always you couldn’t help but drown in them. You watch his face get closer to yours and you closed your eyes as his breath mingled with yours.
Mammon’s kisses would always begin in this way, soft and cautious. Always giving you a chance to pull away, even if everything in you would always seek him out, he kisses you like you were something infinitely more precious than the gems and countless treasures he stored away from the House of Lamentation. He kisses you in a way that never allows you to doubt for a single moment that you weren’t important.
He pours everything that he feels into his kisses and you accept all of it and give him back everything that you are. You drown in his love and let yourself grow weak in the knees and Mammon, your devoted demon, never fails to catch you and hold you close to him.
-
The rest of the shifts you had were a blur of events as your mind kept on wandering to the kiss Mammon gave you behind the stalls. It had felt different and you didn’t know why. This in turn made the situation feel like it was the start of the Exchange Program once more, and everyone but Mammon could see that you were crushing on him. The difference was that this time Mammon was aware of the blush on your cheeks, the reason behind your increased heartbeat and coquettish looks that you’d send to him.
He would without fail take his chances to payback for all of the times you’d tease him and you would take it like a champ even if you stammered or blushed your way through it.
Levi who couldn't stand it anymore got fed up and told the both of you to go PDA somewhere else.
“Be back before the fireworks show.” Lucifer said as Mammon took you away and proceeded to do everything that you asked of him.
The two of you garnered attention with your matching themed festival clothes, the dragon and the phoenix. Female demons would sigh and look at envy with the careful and gently way Mammon treated you, his doting and affectionate looks towards you made you feel muddle-headed while increasing the envy of the female demons. 
The unsatisfied female demons who were single made up their mind to buy the blessed candy apples, while the ones who weren’t glared at their useless lovers and asked why they can’t be treated as sweetly as you. Thus, every demon that got criticized for not being as romantic as Mammon silently cursed your boyfriend in their heart, you were oblivious to this of course.
The two of you drank the free cup of sweet sake given away for those who got their fortunes told, and continued to leisurely walk around the stalls while holding hands. You spotted a stall selling couple charms and asked, “Can we check out that stall? I want to buy matching charms.”
Hearing the word “Matching” Mammon began walking towards the stall and enthusiastically began picking the ones that would look best for the both of you. Among the numerous charms you saw a pair of maneki neko and took it. Examining it carefully for damages, you turned to Mammon and said, “Darling, what about this?”
“Hm? What does it do?”
The vendor seeing her chance answered Mammon, enticed by the idea of gaining more luck when it comes to money, he bought it for the two of you. As all vendors of charms are to do, the crow demon lady also advertised a red thread of bracelet as a couple charm. Knowing the lore behind red threads, you shyly handed over twice the amount and bought it for you and Mammon.
Both of you thanked the lady demon and went off. You were admiring the woven red thread bracelet on your wrist, adoring the idea that you had tied your fate with Mammon. Seeing how happy you looked at something that was cheap, Mammon wondered if the bracelet you had tied to his wrist meant something deeper but he remained silent and instead opted to admire the pleased look of your face and fell in love with you all over again.
He tugged you closer to him and bent down a little bit to whisper to your ear, “ The bonfire dance is about to start, let’s go?”
Your ears reddened at the warmth of his breath and you remembered the kiss again, you could only weakly lean against him and nod your head. Mammon, seeing you so docile and practically transmitting your love for him to all demons and angels within range, made him smug. He leads you carefully towards the bonfire, and masterfully leads you to dance. Your hands clasped together, bodies close, and the warm light of the fire as both of you gazed at each other lovingly was the envy of all who were watching the dance.
You knew that Mammon was no angel, but the way the light shone upon him made him look so soft, and your love for him was overflowing that it hurt. But it was a pain you had grown to be familiar with. A small silent proof that you were capable of loving, and that you were worthy of being loved back.
As the time for the fireworks drew near, Mammon and you slipped away and headed to a spot he knew. It was up into the mountains and a secluded viewing platform that was overgrown with trees and grasses.
You glanced down to your linked hands and smiled at the realization that not once had he let go of your hand. You couldn’t help but keep on smiling, smiling so much for the whole evening that your face hurt. Today’s Mammon had made you realized how lucky you were to love and be loved by someone like him.
Mammon who was always considerate of you, silently taking care of you, and always looking out for your best interest. You recalled all the times, he’d cook for you and secretly put all the best parts on your plate, the times he’d just hang around you all day when you’d wake up with a heavy heart and body. You remembered how he had happily supported you with your naivety of saving that other version of you, how he always had your back and supported you unwavering in his belief on your abilities even when you doubted yourself.
“Look!” Mammon called your attention as he pointed into the sky.
The first firework exploded like a blossoming flower on the sky, and then came the next and the next until the Devildom sky was decorated in varieties of colored fireworks. You were mesmerized and couldn’t help but let out a soft, “It’s beautiful...”
You turned to Mammon and met his eyes, soft and utterly in love with you.
“You-you should be watching the display...” You hid your blush behind the sleeves of your kimono.
Mammon let go of your hand and you looked at him in confusion, he chuckles at your displeased look and instead brings out a velvet box. Your heart stammers and you feel blood rushing to your ears.
He calls your name softly, preciously, sweetly, as if it was as holy as his Father’s name and to him, your names was perhaps even holier than God’s. A name meant to be said only with love, a name that carried so much meaning for him. You had carved a hole in his heart and filled the empty spaces in him with your love. Your love had changed him irrevocably, remade him into a better version of him, made him unable to think of a future that didn’t have you in it and fear such possibilities.
You had made him care for you in a way that he had forgotten since he fell, and Mammon wanted you to take responsibility for it because he was no longer just the Avatar of Greed, one of the seven Rulers of Hell. He was now your Mammon, your lover, your most beloved demon, and most devoted avatar.
“Is this...?” You trailed off, not daring to hope too much on what a small box could mean.
“There is no such thing as marriage among demons not in the way humans do, not in the way angels used to have...but I can give you my vow, to love you as I always had in this obscure and inhuman way where I give all of myself to you.”
You tear up as his words envelop you and Mammon continues, ever so gentle with you as he whispers the words only meant for your ears, “Let me continue loving you in spaces between my ribs and in my heart, in the shadowed and rough edges of my soul, allow me to join you in your darkest days and happiest hours, i’ll weather the wind and rain for you...all I ask is that you give me the entirety of yourself...the bits and pieces that you hide because you think I am capable of being disgusted by you, those parts of you that you hate because it is the worst of you and you think it is ugly.”
“Mammon...”
“I don’t know how to love the way you humans do, all I know is that I love you as simple as the fact that my heart, sometime ago, without me knowing began to beat for you.”
Your tears flow, and you could only give him a choked up, “Yes.” 
Mammon smiles with tears in his eyes as he slides the ring into your ring finger and kisses you on your forehead. You do the same to him and the two of you snuggle together and watched as the show slowly came to and end. You stare at his content face, and you can’t help but wish,
“I want this moment to last forever...”
Mammon blinks before his a wide mischievous and doting smile blossoms on his face, “In that case let’s start the tradition of spending this festival together from now on!”
You happily agreed and once more linked your hands together, red bracelets intertwined without you or him realizing.
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arcticnami · 5 years
Text
The English Teacher
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Fluff, drabble. 
“Are you ready to start off the week y/n?” Jimin’s cheerful smile is too much for seven in the morning.
You give the choir director a small smile, “Yeah test scores weren’t great though so my day is going to start off rough.”
His warm hand squeezes your shoulder as the two of you approach the school door. “I’m sure it’ll be fine, we can go out after work if you want?” Jimin’s eyes twinkle with mischief, probably pondering setting you up again with one of his relatives.
You give him a light shove, “It’s monday, we aren’t going out on a monday,we are nerdy teachers.” A sigh escapes your lips as the two of you head into the school, it’s quiet for now. “I’ll see you at lunch yeah?” Jimin gives you another smile and nods as you two part ways.
The school is decorated with different posters of club activities as well as different artwork the art teacher, Seulgi decides to highlight for the time being. The posters lining your door mainly historical quotes but you also kept different flyers from faculty members that you are quite close with. Jimin’s choir concert flyers are a permanent fixture. As well as Hoseok’s ‘stay fit’ flyer and Taehyung’s theater productions.
You unlock your classroom door with a small struggle, like always the lock was giving you trouble. A quick jiggle of the key allows you to finally unlock the door with a frustrated sigh. The small sticker of a crab on the window brings back the small smile on your face. As a gift to Namjoon, the English teacher across the hall, he insisted on giving you one of the cute sticker sheet you had gifted him. His exact words were, “I can’t not share the cuteness.” The simple thought of your fellow coworker brought an idiotic smile to cover your face.
Your computer turns on as you prepare for the day putting your stuff under your desk. The projector that was refusing to cooperate was still the same from last week but the small sticker was on your mind allowing you not to freak out over the dysfunctioning projector.
“Jimin said you were in a funky mood but you look fine to me.”
With a sharp glare at Jungkook who stood in your doorway you wave your hand at the projector. “Fix please.”
He just rolls his eyes, “So you ARE in a funky mood.”
You give him a sarcastic smile, “I was just a little pessimistic earlier with some poor test grades.”
He nods, “Tough life of being a teacher am i right?” The technology teacher jumps on one of the desks and starts to find the problem with the projector hanging from your ceiling.
“Thanks for helping by the way,” you mumble fiddling with your empty mug glancing at the door, normally Namjoon came by at this time to walk down to the teachers lounge with you to get the coffee Yoongi normally made when he got to school at the butt crack of dawn.
Jungkook steals a quick look at your quiet frame staring at your save the bees mug. “He’s not here, he might be running late. I’ll walk you down to the lounge if you want.” The younger teacher wiggles his eyebrows at your depressed state making you frown.
“Some company would be nice,” you shrug and turn to leave your classroom before Jungkook could start complaining. You knew he was trying to cheer you up but he was going to complain the whole short walk to the lounge. He had always been a loyal friend, meaning he was going to tease you about your crush on the English teacher and cheer you up when needed. He was also going to complain about everything.
“I don’t even like coffee,” he grumbled as he caught up with you. His long legs allowed him to walk ahead of you to open the door to the lounge and close in your face.
“Jerk.” You sent him a glare and Jungkook gave you an award winning smile as he searched the fridge for something.
Yoongi stood at the counter sipping his coffee, black. He picks up the coffee pot and pours you coffee in your outstretched arms. This was how your mornings work, normally Namjoon would walk with you to the lounge to get coffee, he would try starting a conversation with Yoongi who really hated being up so early simply nodding at whatever the English teacher was rambling on about as you give him a sympathetic smile as a way to apologize for your over talkative colleague.
“You guys are weird,” Jungkook states loudly interrupting Yoongi’s silent morning.
“That’s my yogurt you little shit,” Yoongi responds to Jungkook practically chugging the yogurt Jungkook pulled out of the fridge forgoing a spoon.
Jungkook slowly lowers the cup of yogurt and glances between you and Yoongi, “It said Seokjin on it, not Yoongi.”
“He brought it for me,” Yoongi responds taking a long sip of his coffee while staring at Jungkook. “This makes Namjoon’s blabber sound much more appealing,” Yoongi says as he makes his way out of the lounge to get away from the technology teacher.
Jungkook frowns and looks at you purposely ignoring the two teachers as you pour creamer into your coffee cup.
“You ready to head back?” You look at Jungkook pouting as he eats the rest of the yogurt.
He shrugs and tosses the now empty cup into the trash bin and walks you back to your room.
“I’ll see you at lunch,” he says with a pout and heads a few doors down.
You shake your head and finish pulling up your notes on your computer for your students as they walk in for the day.
The morning goes by quick as your class is working on their presentation coming up allowing you to finish grading a few things. The class before the lunch period was filled with quiet chatter as you stare the computer screen in front of you, grade input was finicky at times. The class grows quiet all of a sudden making you frown and look at your students who are looking at you with curiosity. You glance at the clock on your computer screen to see there were still 2 minutes left before the bell rang.
“Class isn’t over yet,” you roll your eyes at yourself, what a teacher thing to say.
A throat was cleared near the doorway causing you to turn your head towards the door.
“Oh.. Hello, what can i do for you Mr. Kim?” your voice squeaked a little as you remember you need to remain professional in front of your students, the last thing they needed to see was your school girl crush over their english teacher.
Namjoon stood in the doorway peering at the stack of papers in his hand.
“I was wondering if you could read these over for historical accuracy,” he mumbles as his brown eyes finally turn to look at you.
“He could just google it ya know.”
Namjoon frowns at your class now after whispers break out. The students were right, he could just google it but he wasn’t like that.
��You can’t believe everything on the internet children,” he scolds.
“I can take a look, do you want to go over this later?” You finally respond as you take the stapled copy from his hands. You flip through the pages quickly as the whispers around you continue. Weird, I think he’s shown this to me before.
Namjoon nods ignoring the students now and lowers his voice, “The lounge would be too loud at lunch, do you want to get dinner tonight?”
Your eyes shoot up to look at Namjoon who was staring at you intently. The bell rings and the students don’t run out of the room as fast as they normally would, some of them even walked past Namjoon slowly in attempt to hear the conversation.
“I would love to, but uh Namjoon?” You take a quick look at the students walking out of the room.Your voice lowers even further, “We’ve spoken about this before, last semester maybe?”
His cheeks turn pink and he clears his throat once more, “Yeah I know, my free period was getting quite boring so I wanted a reason to come talk to you. I’m sorry I missed this morning.”
It was your turn to blush now, “Oh, it’s okay. Jungkook came to fix my projector this morning.”
He nods, “I still want to know if you want to get dinner tonight.”
You smile and stand up grabbing your lunch bag and water bottle, “I’d love too.”
“But you didn’t want to go out with me,” Jimin says appearing out of thin air behind Namjoon with his lunch bag.
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holdenmgrudges · 6 years
Text
Chapter 15 - Effectsies
Whoops. I forgot to post this here when I posted it on AO3. In this chapter,  Crutchie and David try to help Jack out, Spot has a sleepover at Jojo's, and Sarah has a conversation with the Delanceys.
Or read on AO3 if you prefer.
The vandalism caused a big commotion, in the principal’s office, that was led by Jack, Katherine, and Race. Miss Medda joined in as soon as she saw. Crutchie was angry, but he knew it was better if he let the others try to handle it. Crutchie felt like his voice didn’t matter, or that he’d be pitied.
He sat outside the office, waiting to hear what was happening, and he stared at his crutch, thinking how no matter what he did, he wouldn’t ever feel normal again. Even if he got some kind of new mechanical leg. But he knew that a crutch was better than a wheelchair. It was way more uncomfortable, but at least he could walk.
When the three teens and Medda came out of the office with the principal, they all still looked angry, but a little more calm. Jack told Crutchie that the principal was going to search lockers for any kind of spray cans. Crutchie thought that was a dumb idea. The graffiti may have been discovered that morning, but the culprit essentially had all weekend to do it and he figured they wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave the evidence in their locker. But at least it was something to do. Meanwhile, a custodian would paint over the graffiti.
As he walked to class, Crutchie couldn’t help but look at every single person he passed in the halls, wondering if any one of them could have done the damage. He tried to distract himself with his actual classwork, but it wasn’t long until he got a text that would keep him preoccupied.
When the bell rang, he knew what he had to do. He walked as quickly as he could to the principal’s office, ready to make some noise. He didn’t care how much trouble he got in. Jack needed him and he was going to be there for him.
When he got there, however, a tired-looking Jack was leaving with Miss Medda at his side. “Jack, I was just gonna tell Pulitzer--”
Miss Medda held up a finger. “Crutchie, don’t say anything else. It’s all been taken care of. Go to your next class.”
“I’ll see you at lunch,” Jack was able to mutter.
When lunch came along, Crutchie hurried to Miss Medda’s room. The door was open, as the paint was still drying. Miss Medda was in there making a call, but Jack wasn’t there yet. He sat down and a minute later, David came in.
“Hey, Crutchie. What’s going on? I got a text from Specs earlier that said Jack was in trouble. That they’d found spray cans in his locker.”
“Yeah, he sent me that text too. I went down to Pulitzer’s office to tell them the cans were mine but...Miss Medda said it was taken care of.”
Miss Medda had finished her call and had apparently heard them talking because she went up to them and cheerfully said, “Hey, boys, can you come help me in the costume room?” The two of them followed her into what was essentially a walk in closet full of costumes. She made sure none of the other students in the classroom had followed or were close enough to listen.
“Okay, here’s what happened,” she said. “Yes, they found spray cans in Jack’s locker. So the principal called him to his office. Luckily he didn’t say anything until I got there. I told Pulitzer that Jack had the spray cans because he was helping me paint a set for the next school play and I forgot that I’d given them to him. Pulitzer was suspicious, but he had no reason to doubt me. Just as I have no reason to doubt Jack.
“I know he didn’t put up the graffiti, and that’s the only reason I said what I said. But those cans weren’t mine and they weren’t his so...Someone is trying to frame him. I think right now he’s trying to find out who, but...I think he just needs his friends. And I’m sure you need him too.”
The boys nodded and then they proceeded to go try to find Jack. But when they did, he was too far into his investigation. He was angry and he was making it his sole purpose to find out who was trying to frame him. For the next few days, he kept obsessing over it to the point where Crutchie and David needed a break. He’d even brought it up in the LGBTQ+ Club meeting.
The next week, Crutchie texted David and they met in Miss Medda’s room for lunch. He knew Jack wouldn’t mind going at his investigation alone. He probably preferred it that way. But Crutchie was tired. The graffiti could’ve been done by anyone.
“We need him to stop,” David said as they settled down into their desks.
“But how?” Crutchie had tried everything shy of physically snapping Jack out of it. He even tried reasoning that the damage wasn’t bad enough to be so focused on it, although he didn’t believe that himself. People at school were still talking about the incident, as they probably would be for the next few weeks. Even as he went into the little theatre, he’d seen people staring at the door, wondering if the vandalizer would strike again.
“I’ve been thinking,” David said slowly and quietly. “I mean, I’m not sure it would work, but...It would probably distract him…” Crutchie waited. “But I don’t know if it’s a good idea.”
“What is it, Davey?”
“Okay, so ever since the graffiti thing happened, I’ve just been wanting to do something. Something big. Something to make us feel stronger. To...give a big middle finger to the man. And to whoever put up that...hateful word.”
“Just spit it out. Your idea.”
“Okay, well, what if we hold some kind of pride pep rally? I know at the very least everyone in the club would participate. We could hand out stickers and stuff. Get a few others to join in. Maybe have new people join the club.”
“Jack could make a speech.”
“Katherine could write it.”
“Davey, I could kiss you!” David blushed a little, though it went unnoticed by Crutchie. “That’s a great idea! It would definitely distract Jack, and it would also help us out. We should definitely pitch it at the next meeting. You...you’re a genius.”
“I wouldn’t say genius…”
“Godsend then. An angel. A saint. Deus ex machina.”
“Crutchie...please…”
At the next meeting, Davey, with Crutchie’s help, pitched the idea to the club, and everyone was on board. They all put effort in and by the next Friday, they were holding their rally. Jack was successfully distracted and everything had gone according to plan. Stickers were handed out, some other clubs joined in for the pep part of the rally, there were even some possible new club recruits, and Katherine had written a speech for Jack.
Jack was at the end of the speech when he suddenly stopped. Crutchie could tell that he’d just gotten one of his crazy Jack ideas. Ideas that could go either way.
“You know,” Jack said into the microphone. “I’d like to thank you all for showing your support for the our community and for your classmates. But most of all, I’d like to thank one person in particular, for who we owe this rally to. David Jacobs, could you please come up here?”
David looked at Crutchie, wondering what he should do, but Crutchie was just as confused and he shrugged. David looked back up at Jack and upon seeing his inviting smile, went up to the stage nervously.
Jack took David’s hand and looked back out to the audience. “This guy right here has done more for the LGBTQ+ Club than I’ve done since I started it. He’s made it a real safe space. He has all the best ideas. He’s...he’s amazing.” He turned back to David, who was fully red. “I have a question for you, Davey. Will you…” Jack swallowed before finishing the question. “Will you be my boyfriend?”
There were some gasps from the audience. Crutchie knew at that moment that this was probably one of Jack’s more worse ideas, but he didn’t know if he thought that because it was true, or out of jealousy. David looked right at him as Jack waited for a response. But again, all Crutchie could do was shrug.
“Yes,” David said as he turned back to Jack.
“Yes?”
“Yes.”
Jack smiled and he pulled in David for a kiss. In front of the whole school. Cheers came, mostly from the front where members of the LGBTQ+ club were standing. Some groans were heard from the back. Crutchie then figured it out. He wasn’t jealous. He wouldn’t have traded places with David if he could. All of this, it wasn’t personal. It was a stunt. Crutchie felt sad, not because Jack and David were officially a couple, but because he felt that Jack had just started on a path to ruin another relationship.
Spot couldn’t exactly react to the vandalism. He had to pretend he didn’t notice it or that it didn’t affect him. Except it did affect him. He was much quieter in the weeks after it happened. He was focused on wrestling more than anything. He usually gave the team inspirational speeches before every meet, but now he was letting Jojo give them. Spot was just trying not to break down and cry.
The Friday after the graffiti was found, the school paper had released a front page article about it. For some reason, Spot’s mother had gotten a copy of it and someone had sent her a picture of the graffiti in question. “Serves them faggots right, huh son?” she’d asked him straight to his face. He agreed with her and then went to his room, crying as quietly as he possibly could.
But he could deal with that. He was strong. It wasn’t until the pride pep rally that he’d finally had enough. He was standing towards the back, trying to pay attention to Jack’s speech, but the Delancey brothers were standing nearby talking loudly. He wanted to yell at them to shut up, but he didn’t want to draw any attention to himself.
Then Jack called David to the stage and they kissed. He’d seen it before, in front of Sarah’s house. He’d felt awkward about it at first, but he had tried not to think much of it. Now that it was in public for everyone to see, Spot felt like he was the one on blast even though it wasn’t him on stage. “That’s fucking gross,” he heard one of the Delanceys say. He wanted to punch them both in the face. Instead, he subtly walked away to the nearest bathroom.
He’d locked himself in a stall when he heard the footsteps of someone coming in. He hoped to god it wasn’t Race. He didn’t want to deal with him and his radical ideas. He hoped it was just some random guy that needed to pee and would leave right after. Of course, whoever it was knocked at his stall. “Spot?”
Luckily, it wasn’t Race’s voice that he heard. It was Jojo’s. And he couldn’t have been happier to hear it. He got up and exited the stall, giving Jojo probably the biggest hug he’d ever given him. Probably the biggest hug he’d ever given anyone. Without saying anything, Jojo hugged him back. “Hey, Jo? Can I stay with you this weekend?”
Spot told his mom he was staying at a wrestling buddy’s place for the weekend to study for their end of year tests. It wasn’t exactly a lie, although he didn’t think they’d do a lot of studying. He got to Jojo’s house and was a bit irked to see Race open the door. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see him. He just would have rather it be only him and Jojo. Race was an emotional overload for him. Around him, he felt happy, sad, horny, angry, and peaceful all in the span of one glance.
Race looked just as pleased to see him, a bit reserved at first, but then all smiles. He took Spot’s hand and pulled him into the kitchen where Jojo was pouring them drinks. A screwdriver for Race and two orange juices for Spot and himself. Race continued holding his hand.
“God, you guys are making me look like an alcoholic,” Race said before downing his entire drink happily. Jojo and Spot laughed.
They spent the rest of the night playing games and watching tv. After midnight, Spot could tell Jojo was tired, as he kept yawning. He figured Jojo liked the company and didn’t want to be the first to bow out. Spot wasn’t sleepy, but he felt obligated to let his friend rest. “Hey Jo? I’m getting kinda tired.”
“Oh? Yeah, man, it’s pretty late, huh?” he replied. Race groaned a little as they all got up to go upstairs. He seemed to still be up for a party. “Do you want to sleep in my room or take a guest room?”
“Guest room’s cool,” Spot said. He didn’t want to bother Jojo as he slept, and he knew if he was in the room, Race would be too. He felt like being alone with his thoughts.
After brushing his teeth, Jojo led him to one of the guest rooms and said, “Race, my room,” when he saw Race tiptoeing towards the bed. Spot smiled at Race but pushed him out before saying good night and closing the door.
He lay awake in bed, with the bedside lamp on, thinking about the way he’d let his mother dictate how to live his life. He loved her, and as a kid, he thought she could do no wrong. The older he grew, the more wrong he realized she was doing.
He’d always blamed the alcohol for everything. He’d always thought she relied too much on it. He’d thought it was the reason she had hit him when he was younger. She’d stopped when she realized he could do more damage to her than she could to him. She never realized that he would never hurt her. But he was starting to realize the alcohol wasn’t the issue. She was.
He got up and went downstairs. He took a glass and poured some vodka in it. At first, he stared at it. Then, he took a sip. It burned and he wondered why people liked the stuff. Maybe he needed more. He took a gulp this time. He hated it. Or maybe he hated himself enough to drink more. Was this how it started? With one gulp of self-hatred?.
“I thought you didn’t drink.”
Spot turned around and saw Race standing at the doorway, watching him. “I thought you didn’t want to look like an alcoholic.”
Race walked toward him and took the glass from his hand. He drank the rest of the vodka and put the glass down. “I’d rather be an alcoholic than turn you into one.”
“Thanks. I hated it.”
Race smiled at him and took his hand like he had earlier. “Bedtime.” Spot wanted to just melt. This whole thing with Race was too complicated for him to handle, but it was easier when he didn’t think about it. Maybe that’s why he tried drinking. He was tired of continuous thinking.
They went upstairs to the guest room, where Race closed and locked the door. He led him to the bed and they immediately began making out. But as much as he didn’t want to think, Spot knew that they couldn’t just keep doing that and not expect there to be consequences. Cheating on Sarah was one thing, but he was getting too comfortable. He was heading towards a point where he wouldn’t be able to go back.
When Race took a condom out of his pocket, Spot didn’t know that would be the deciding point. He was overcome with lust and the shot he took was starting to affect him. He couldn’t control his impulses. Race guided him through everything, from stripping down, to loosening him up. It was an experience he would never forget. There were some awkward moments, but when they finished, he felt he’d been successful.
He woke up needing to pee. Race was on the other side of the bed, having stolen all the blankets. Spot put his shirt and underwear on and went to the bathroom. He figured he might as well shower and brush his teeth. When he’d done that, he still didn’t want to go back to the room. He didn’t know why. It would be so easy to go back to bed and watch Race sleep until he couldn’t take it anymore, waking him up with kisses and cuddles. Easy, but wrong.
Instead, he went to Jojo’s room. The door was open and he could see the guy was still sleeping. The floor creaked as he turned to walk away, and he heard the movement of sheets. “Spot?”
Spot turned back around and smiled at his friend. “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.”
“It’s fine. I was already awake. Just being lazy. Come in.” Jojo sat up as Spot went to sit down next to him. “I assume the ghost of Racetrack present paid you a visit last night?” Spot smiled and nodded. Jojo sighed. “He told me he was going to break it off. Guess he can’t quit you.”
Spot got up and closed the door before heading back. “I guess I can’t quit him either. But...it sucks, Jo. Because...I can never be with him.”
“What makes you say that?”
“I’m not...out. I have a girlfriend. I’m captain of the wrestling team. The only pride my mom has is in having a hetero, masculine, little man who loves her. I...I can never be with Race.”
“Never is such a bullshit word. You don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. Never could turn into someday. And someday could turn into...now.”
Spot shook his head. “I can’t, Jojo. I’d lose everything. Everyone. Sarah, my team, my friends...my mom.”
“You wouldn’t lose me. Or rather, you haven’t lost me and you won’t. Do you know why I joined the wrestling team? Because I saw you and your leadership skills and I thought, I want to be that guy. He’s cool, and he’s fierce, and he makes it look so easy. Whether you’re with a girl or with a guy, you’re still you, Spot. And if people can’t see that, they will. You’ll show them.”
“Even so, it’s not like I could ask Race to deal with all my shit.”
“He likes you. He really likes you. He doesn’t want to admit it, but he does. The last guy that Race really liked...He’s still not over it. But I think you can help. I think you can make him happy. And he can make you happy. You just have to be brave. At your own pace. Remember, not never, but someday. Until it becomes now.”
Spot nodded, thinking about it. Thinking of all the hurt he would have to cause in order to make himself happy. Thinking of how much happier he would be once he was able to kiss Race just as publicly as Jack kissed David, without feeling all the guilt and shame that he felt now. He wished he could just skip to the end.
Sarah was sure the writing on the door wasn’t directed at her. It was a blanket term for the community. But she didn’t know how to not take it personally. She’d been called that before by people she’d grown up with. She’d been called that by strangers who felt they thought they knew who she was. She hated the word.
But while a lot of her fellow club members were angry, she retreated into sadness. If this was the kind of treatment they got with her not even being out to anyone, what would it be like when she did? Even if what Jack had said was true, that the club was a safe space, once she told everyone in there, the rest of the school would probably find out. And once she left that safe space, she wouldn’t feel safe anymore.
Sarah had managed to convince Tommy Boy and Hot Shot to attend a club meeting, though she thought they were just being nice. Her own boyfriend wouldn’t attend, saying Jack Kelly would probably have him kicked out. She’d tried to tell him he wouldn’t, but Spot had made up his mind. She understood, though it didn’t put her at ease.
The week after the rally, Sarah was sitting on a bench outside the gym waiting for Spot to get out of practice. She had finished her homework and had started reading a new sci fi romance novel, her favorite genre. She’d even enjoyed the Twilight series at its peak, though she’d moved on to better written books.
The gym doors opened and she looked up, hoping to see Spot, but instead was met with the Delancey brothers. They hadn’t bothered her or Katherine since the award ceremony, but now they were headed straight to her. Without putting her book down, she stared them down. “Oscar, Morris, come for another beating?”
The brothers looked at each other and smiled before looking back at her. She didn’t like that. “Actually, we came with a proposition,” said Oscar.
“Sorry boys, even if you could afford me, it’d still be a no.”
“You haven’t heard us out,” Morris whined.
Sarah closed her book.
“You know, at the beginning of the year,” Oscar spoke, “we had a free period so we both chose to use it to be aides in the main office. It was something to do at the time.”
“Our dad said it would give us valuable experience.”
“We just thought it’d be boring office stuff. Putting staples in the staplers, sending memos to teachers, making copies on the copy machine.”
“They don’t even let us use the copy machine.”
“Is there a point to this?” Sarah asked impatiently.
“We didn’t think of the possibilities,” Oscar continued, a mischievous smile forming on his face. “We didn’t think that we’d be able to go through files without anyone finding out. Student files. With personal information.”
Sarah went pale. She remained silent as she waited for the ball to drop.
“We know you’re a dude,” Morris confirmed.
It was a terrible feeling to be called that to her face. The graffitied word would have been more welcome. She wanted to kick their asses again, but she waited, because she suspected there was more.
“You probably want to bust our skulls in, don’t you?” Oscar asked, rhetorically. “Thing is, you could do that. But then you’d force us to tell the whole school that we didn’t get our asses handed to us by a girl. Because she’s actually not a girl. She...is a he.” The brothers laughed as Sarah clenched her fist tighter and tighter.
“We own you,” came out of Morris’ smug lips. “You have to do whatever we want, whenever we want. Or else we tell everyone we can that you’re...whatever you are.”
“And the first thing we want you to do…” The two brothers smiled at each other again. “We want you to go into the principal’s office and tell him that you spray painted the graffiti on the little theatre.”
“It was you,” Sarah finally said. The Delanceys smiled at each other once more and shrugged. There it was. She was sure there wasn’t anything possibly worse than that. She should’ve known they were behind the tagging. The fact that they had access to student files meant they had access to student lockers. “You tried framing Jack.”
“My idea,” Morris said proudly.
“Even if that had worked,” Oscar suggested, rolling his eyes, “this is a much better plan. It’s win-win. We don’t get in trouble for the graffiti, and your secret doesn’t come out. We’ll uh...give you ‘til Friday, pal.”
With that, the Delancey brothers went back into the gym, leaving Sarah there with her thoughts. It may have been win-win for the Delanceys, but for her it was lose-lose. She could either take the blame for the graffiti, or she could risk the entire school finding out that she was trans. As much as she thought of it, she wasn’t ready to come out to anyone. She unclenched her fist, cursing herself as she saw the marks she’d left on her palm with her nails. She picked up her book, wishing she was a character in it. She couldn’t get it out of her mind that maybe the graffiti had been directed at her after all. Sarah only saw one solution.
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