#I volunteered at a science museum in high school | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

viktorybell · 2 years

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Modern Wonder

Modern!Viktor x Art Teacher!Reader (GN)

Word Count: 3.4k

Warning: nothing, but there’s a slightly suggestive joke at the end

Piltover’s Science Museum was truly a modern wonder. It was probably the biggest museum they had in the entire city, and most definitely had the most care put into its exhibits. Hundreds of years of progress and discoveries all documented there in one building. You’d been dying to go and explore the building for ages, never finding time in your busy schedule for it. So, when the opportunity happened upon you, you’d swiped it up as quickly as you could.

It would have been a perfect trip too…that is, if you didn’t have about twenty hyperactive fourteen year olds dragging you around the Museum’s ‘Young Mind’ section for the last hour.

Suddenly, your overwhelming enthusiasm for the museum was dampened by the constant noise coming from your kids. Whether it was them laughing and messing around way too close to a fragile exhibit or literally running through the museum like the windows of the building alone didn’t cost more than your feeble art supply budget.

The most embarrassing part was how miserable of a tour guide you were. If this were the art museum on the other side of town, you would have killed it. You could name the artists of the work being displayed there right now, but the second one of your students asked what ‘inertial force’ means, you were done for.

Because you were an art teacher. An art teacher for a severely underfunded high school on the border of Zaun and Piltover. An art teacher who had stupidly volunteered to chaperone a group of freshman for this year’s big field trip. An art teacher who was so glad it was time to sit down, they could have cried.

Most of the trip was exploring the museum itself, but there were a few scheduled activities you had to usher your rambunctious group to. On the schedule it said something pretentious like ‘Men of Progress: Live Demonstration of Up and Coming Blah Blah Blah.’ You literally have no fucking clue what that’s supposed to mean and the title is so long you didn’t bother reading it through. All that mattered is that when you entered the lab, there were rows of chairs set up. They were all facing a large counter, similar to the kind they had back at the high school’s lab, but much newer.

“Y’all are big kids so I’m not assigning seats, but stick to the same general area, please.” You glanced back at the teens following you like lost ducks and gestured towards the folding chairs.

“Can I sit next to you?” One of the smaller students with a choppy, bright blue haircut asked, tugging on your messenger bag. You recognized her from your beginning art class. She was sweet when she wanted to be and an utter menace, also when she wanted to be, but art meant the world to her and it was something you could relate to. “I want to point at you and draw attention when they ask for volunteers.”

Aaaaaand there’s the menace.

“You can totally sit with me, Jinx, but if you do that shit I’m taking you up there with me,” You rolled your eyes as she burst into giggles. Menace.

A couple other groups filed in and got settled as well, along with the few random people that had decided to come to the museum midday on a random thursday. Then the lights in the back half of the room dimmed and a tentative hush fell over the audience as two men wearing cheesy lab coats and goggles on their head popped into the room, coming to stand at the front next to the counter.

The taller of the two was carrying a large plastic tub while the other had a clipboard tucked under the arm he was using to lean on a cane, waving with his free hand.

“Good afternoon, everybody!” The taller one projected as he set the tub onto the counter. “I’m Dr. Jayce Talis and this is my partner. They call us…the Hexbros!!”

“They do not call us that. Dr. Talis calls us that,” Soft laughter filled the room as the second man spoke up, his light accent catching your attention.

“Thanks, pal,” Jayce rolled his eyes good naturedly before beginning to unpack the box, spreading out a myriad of different objects. “We’re both from Piltover’s Academy and once every month we come to help out at the museum! Are you guys ready for some science?”

Jinx literally screams at the top of her lungs in response, and all you can do is cover your mouth and laugh at her enthusiasm.

“Energetic crowd today, yeah? My name is Viktor and today we’ll be doing a couple of demonstrations, the first of which requires a volunteer. Do we have any takers?” Viktor scanned the crowd, looking among the sea of arms that immediately shot up, most of them your students. You shot a quick glare at Jinx and she smiled sheepishly at you but she just raised her hand. Agreeing, at least for the moment, not to draw attention to you.

Viktor continued glancing over the crowd, making a big show of stroking his chin and humming as he did so. His eyes flitted over you and you could’ve sworn they doubled back, but you were too taken aback by the color of them to know for sure. You’d never seen such bright golden eyes like that before, they were striking. Trying to ignore the jolt of interest that Viktor sparked, you turned your attention back to where Jayce was setting up some kind of experiment using three glasses of water.

At random, the scientist chose a student from a different group and they came up to help with the experiment. Which is how the demonstration went over the course of half an hour. They’d pick a volunteer while setting each activity up, go through with the experiment, then explain the science behind it through witty banter while they cleaned it all up afterwards.

None of their demonstrations were particularly complicated, similar to something you’d see at a middle school science fair, but the two inventors at the front of the room were entertaining enough that it held everyone’s attention. Jayce had the golden boy look about him, playing it up with a charming smile and a disarming way of speaking. While Viktor was the polar opposite, the moon to Jayce’s sun, the cynical partner of the group with a dry humour that had you snorting more than once through the show.

“Our last experiment for the afternoon is the most simple one yet, though it always receives a standing ovation,” Viktor explained to the crowd as Jayce pulled out a bag of balloons, a box of matches, and a pitcher of water.

“You wanna blow up the balloon, Vik?” Jayce asked, pulling one from the pack.

Without even looking at him, Viktor shook his head. “You’ve got more than enough hot air to fill them with, Jayce. All you.”

You swear you nearly bit your tongue with how quickly you had to stop yourself from laughing obnoxiously. Obviously not well enough seeing as it still drew Viktor’s attention and now he was sending a quick smirk in your direction. What was Jayce doing? You should look at Jayce now. God, it’s so stuffy in this room. When’s the show over, again?

In the time it took to pull yourself together again, Jayce had blown up the balloon and held it up, Viktor at his side with the matchbox.

“I require an audience response for this one, what do you think will happen if I were to light this match and touch it to the side of the balloon?” Viktor asked and held the match out for everyone to see.

There was various shouts from the students, most of them convinced the balloon would pop. Viktor nodded thoughtfully as he took in their answers.

Quickly, he struck the match against the side of the box, effortlessly lighting it and touching it to the bottom of the balloon where Jayce was holding it upside down. With a loud bang, it popped, making a few people in the crowd yelp.

“Most of you were right! So we filled a balloon with air and when touched with a lit match, it popped,” Jayce grinned, tossing the scraps and burnt match into the trash. “What do you all hypothesize will happen if we put water in the balloon?”

The audience starts to get excited, some of the kids in the row behind you halfway out of their chairs as the students shout out their answers, this time the group is an even mix of ‘it won’t! It will!’

“It’s not gonna pop!” Jinx yelled from beside you. She’d been thoroughly invested through the entire ordeal, but especially so after Viktor grinned mischievously at the crowd and asked;

“Do we have a brave volunteer willing to test this out?”

Jinx leaped to her feet, both hands pointing and waving frantically as she borderline screamed your name.

Your jaw. Drops. She had to have been holding this in the entire show. She had heeded your warning and only raised her hand for herself the entire time, even getting to go up and assist with the pendulum experiment, but now all bets were off.

Immediately, both Viktor and Jayce turned to face Jinx who is now jumping up and down.

“This is my art teacher! Pick my art teacher!!” Jinx yelled out.

You cover your face with your hands. Trying to ignore that, along with the two scientists, everybody else is staring at you. It felt like you were three seconds from spontaneously combusting.

“Jinx,” You whisper yelled through your hands. “Sit down. I’m begging.”

“It seems we have a very enthusiastic volunteer!” Viktor sounded amused and also much closer than he had just a minute ago.

Your hands fell from your face only to be replaced with Viktor’s outstretched hand. At some point, in all of Jinx’s dramatics, Viktor had made his way from the front of the room to where you sat in the front row of chairs. Your gaze flicked between his hand and his face as he peered down at you expectantly. From this close you could see two moles on his face, a detail you never would have been plagued with if your students didn’t have it out for you.

Jinx was gripping your arm now, shaking it back and forth and begging for you to go up there. Some of the other kids in your group were in on it too now. The things you did for your students.

Begrudgingly, you placed your hand in Viktor’s letting him help pull you to your feet. Jinx lets out a triumphant ‘WOO!’ as she flops back into her seat and excitedly watches as you and Viktor head over to the front of the room, where Jayce has placed a single chair.

“You’re going to be very popular with your students after this,” Viktor hummed, only loud enough for you to hear as Jayce struggled to get the riled up crowd’s attention.

You glared at him, the effect ruined by the smile you couldn’t bite down on. “Why do I feel like I’m heading to the gallows right now?”

Viktor barked out a laugh and gestured for you to sit in the chair. Your stomach dropped.

“It seems we’ve got our brave volunteer!” Jayce grinned as you reluctantly settle into the chair. From behind you, you could hear Viktor’s cane tapping the floor as he headed back to the counter, presumably to set up the second balloon. “Have you got a name, oh mysterious art teacher?”

You gave him your name and he repeated it back louder so the audience could hear, behind you was the sound of a balloon being blown up.

“And do you think the balloon will pop, yes or no?” Viktor asked from the counter, sounding more than a little amused.

“Well I was sitting next to an incredibly smart girl during this whole experiment, and she says it’s not going to pop, so I trust her judgment,” You smiled, watching as Jinx wiggled happily in her seat, having pulled her knees up to her chest as she watched in anticipation.

“Or maybe she just wants to see her favorite teacher get soaked,” Viktor hummed back thoughtfully, coming back into your line of sight with a second balloon. This one was blown up and tied, held upside down just like the first had. The only difference between this balloon and the other, was the water you could see sloshing around the lower half.

“I appreciate your strength in this scary situation, but don’t worry, we haven’t popped a water balloon all morning!” Jayce reassured you, taking the balloon from Viktor and holding it over your head.

“But there’s always a possibility,” Viktor countered while pulling out a match from the box. “Any electronics in your pockets you’d like to remove before we test your hypothesis?”

Thankful for the warning, you tugged your phone from the pocket of your jeans and handed it to Viktor, who put it in his pocket for safe keeping.

“Hold your breath!” Jayce teased as Viktor lit the match.

You did exactly that, squeezing your eyes shut as you fully tensed, arms folded to your stomach like that’d stop the balloon from dumping its contents over your head. The crowd was deadly silent as Viktor reached over and slowly pressed the flame to the very bottom of the balloon and…

Nothing.

The balloon didn’t pop.

Almost immediately the students started making noise, a chorus of ‘awww man’ coming from your kids in particular. You let out a deep breath, relaxing your shoulders.

“Oh my god, you guys had me so nervous,” You groaned, chuckling a bit to yourself as you sat back in the chair fully, glancing at Viktor where he still held the match to the bottom of the balloon. He smiled back down at you.

“Ah, yes. You must have gotten lucky today,” Viktor nodded before removing the match and pressing it into the empty top half of the balloon, popping it over your head and utterly drenching you in freezing water.

Your kids went. Insane. It was pure chaos.

From under the loud din of about sixty something high school kids cheering, you could hear both Viktor and Jayce laughing.

“Oh it’s funny, huh? ‘Cause I’m about to be hilarious,” You warned, flicking the water out of your eyes with your equally wet hands.

“And that’s my cue to go grab a towel!” Jayce said, booking it to the counter just as you stood up from your chair.

“Hey-what, no! You can’t just leave me here! This is ableist Jayce!” Viktor protested. He was laughing a little too hard to back away from you, now was your chance.

“Are you a hugger, doc? You seem like a hugger,” You grinned, grabbing the same hand he’d used to pull you from your chair earlier to pull him into a bear hug.

Immediately he yelped, trying to jump away from where the cold water you were drenched in transferred to the front of his shitty lab coat. “Ah, how kind of you!” Viktor chuckled, gingerly patting your back.

“Aw, c’mon guys. I’ve only got one towel!” Jayce whined as he came back over with a towel that, while sorely needed, is not going to be enough to dry all of your clothes.

You pulled away from Viktor, satisfied that you’ve at least gotten his jacket wet and also ignoring how warm he had felt. Nodding at your handiwork, you accepted the towel from Jayce. They both thanked you for your participation and you headed back to your seat.

Viktor was right, though, you were extremely popular for the rest of the day.

Jinx was practically as glued to your side as she could be without actually touching you and your awful damp clothes. It was almost worth it. Almost. You really despised walking around the last few sections of the museum feeling like a drowned rat.

“Are you gonna ride the bus back to school with us?” Jinx asked as you recounted your group in the lobby, making sure everyone was accounted for.

The buses had finally arrived and it was time to cram the students back in three to a seat and head back to the school.

“I’m sorry, Jinx. There’s not enough room for all the chaperones on the buses, I volunteered to drive myself.” Jinx gave you puppy dog eyes and you laughed at her dramatics. “You’ll see me in class tomorrow, stop pouting.”

That seemed to cheer her up as she held out her fist for a quick fistbump before chasing after the rest of her group where they were piling into the bus. You watched them walk off, standing in front of the museum and wondering what you had in your car to cover your seat with so it didn’t end up just as wet as you did.

“Wait!”

You turned as your name was called out, finding none other than Viktor trying to speed through the lobby towards you.

“Viktor?” You asked, meeting him halfway. He wasn’t wearing the lab coat anymore, instead he was wearing a form-fitting, black button down with a red tie. It fit him a lot better than the baggy white coat he’d been practically swimming in earlier.

Like, it fit him a LOT better. Wow. Oh shit, he was talking to you, focus.

“-everywhere for you, I’m so glad I could catch you before you got on the bus. I didn’t know how else to-”

“Woah, Viktor, it’s cool. I’m not even getting on the bus,” You jerked your thumb over your shoulder to where the buses were currently pulling out. “What’s up?”

“Your phone, it was still in my pocket from earlier,” Sure enough, Viktor pulled your phone from the pocket of his slacks, handing it over.

You took it from him gratefully. “Oh my god, I hadn’t even realized I’d left it behind. Thank you so much, you didn’t have to go hunt me down to give it back.”

“Nonsense, it’s the least I can do after I got you wet like that in front of all those people.”

Dead silence.

You couldn’t bite back the laugh that shot out of you, hand coming up to cover your mouth as you watched Viktor’s face slowly turn red.

“You-I, let me rephrase.” Viktor stumbled over an excuse and you couldn’t hold back your laughter anymore.

“Nah, I get what you mean, doc,” You took mercy on him and he smiled sheepishly at you.

He seemed different now that it was just the two of you, shyer than he had been when he was with his lab partner, popping a water balloon over your head in front of a live audience. It was like there was something else he had to say, something trapped just behind his brain to mouth filter that he was struggling to push past.

“I better check and make sure everything’s here, I’m not sure if I trust you after that balloon incident,” You teased, turning your phone on to scroll through your contacts.

“Wh-? I’d never!”

“Oh, yeah? Then why am I missing a number in here, huh?”

“What? Let me see that, I promise you I didn’t even touch your phone before I brought it here. Who’s number is missing?” Viktor huffed as he stepped to your side and peered over your shoulder at your phone screen.

“It’s yours.” You grinned, waving the phone at him. The screen was pulled up to create a new contact.

Immediately Viktor was red-faced again. He was trying to glare at you, but it was ultimately weakened by the smile he couldn’t fight off. “That was an utterly awful pick-up line.”

Regardless of how awful it had been, Viktor took your phone and started typing his number in.

“It can’t possibly be worse than picking me out of a crowd to pop a water balloon over my head in front of my students,” You countered. Viktor chuckled in response as he handed back your phone.

“You might have me there,” He conceded. “I’ve got to get back to my lab now, but do try calling if you ever want me to, uh, get you wet, again. As it were.”

It was your turn to stutter out a response, nearly dropping your phone. As you were trying to piece a witty retort together, Jayce pulled up in front of the museum in a shitty camry.

“Ah, that’s my ride. Have a good evening!” Viktor smirked, every bit aware of the effect he had over you in this moment as he walked to the passenger side of the car and hopped in.

You watched the two pull off, trying to gather your thoughts as they shrank into the distance.

Piltover’s Science Museum was truly a modern wonder.

#viktor #viktor arcane #viktor x reader #viktor x male reader #viktor x fem!reader #viktor x gn reader #jinx #jayce talis #gn!reader #arcane #the arcane #jinx arcane #arcane fic #modern arcane au

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lovelytaes-blog · 3 years

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colours (1) - kth

pairings: singledad!taehyung x artist!reader

synopsis: when you meet a little girl at a park by chance, who would've thought that you'd be falling in love with the man who had the exact same boxy smile as her in such little time?

genre: angst, fluff, smut (18+); strangers to lovers

warning(s): angst, fluff.

word count: 8.8k

note(s): helloo lovelies!!! Introducing my taehyung fic! It's pretty short, but I am super proud of this one. I'm so in love with this couple, that it hurts. I hope you enjoy their story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

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“So pretty!” You were currently smiling at your toddlers as they were finishing up their finger painting for the day.

You held painting classes on Saturdays in your little studio for toddlers. You began offering these classes in attempts to help out busy parents, that way they could get some errands done; in a sense, it was like a ‘daycare’ program. You didn’t think that it would be as great of a turn out as it was, but thankfully, many parents have taken up the opportunity. You had around 10 kids per session, which doesn’t seem like a lot, but because they all vary in age (3-8) it gets a little rowdy from time to time.

Luckily for you, many of the kids are behaved and well-mannered, of course, you still have the mischievous children, but they never bothered you or done something to upset you. You love kids, so this was really a great addition in your line of work. As an artist, who is well-known for many beautiful paintings at your local art museum, your modestly high income allows you to broaden the creativity in the community. It also gives opportunities for children and their parents to find potential opportunities in the art industry.

“Y/n, they’re doing so well!” Mi-ha whispered to you, while observing the quiet toddlers smiling to themselves while they continued painting.

Mi-ha is one of your best friends, who also happens to work with you during your painting lessons. You and Mi-ha have been best friends ever since college when you both continued your degrees; her in fine arts and yours in sciences. For a number of years, you were in the operating room as an anesthesiologist assistant, surprising, right? Not a lot of people knew you were in the medical field before you quit altogether—well sort of… you still volunteered on your days off at your local hospitals—to pursue your art career, it really is unbelievable and a great accomplishment at just 22. You were always a smart child, graduating high school and university earlier than most. Your parents couldn’t have been prouder, even when you told them that you wanted to pursue your art career, they supported you through and through. You were thankful that they were so supportive of your decision.

“Yoon-ji is enjoying herself, I’m glad!” You gushed while pointing to Mi-ha’s daughter who was happily painting random lines on her canvas. Mi-ha had Yoon-ji three years ago, with her long-time boyfriend, now husband, Namjoon. It was a surprise for everyone, nonetheless, the couple was excited for the arrival of their first child together. You remember how freaked out Mi-ha was when she had the positive pregnancy test in her hands. She was nervous about telling Joon, but eventually you had given her enough courage to tell him, after all, it’s his kid too. From your understanding, Namjoon’s friends all had children, at least from what Mi-ha said, maybe a couple of them didn’t, but you weren’t completely sure. You, however, hadn’t any of them, even though you’re closest to Mi-ha, Joon, and Yoon-ji, you never really had the pleasure of hanging out with Joon’s friends.

“Okay kiddies, time to clean up! Your parents will be coming soon!” You exclaimed to the kids while hearing groans. Giggling to yourselves, you and Mi-ha helped wash up the kids. It didn’t take long to put away the paints, easels, and canvases, since they were much smaller than your normal sized ones that you keep in the back room, for your purposes. You had gathered up the mini stools and stacked them in the closest where your other mini supplies were. Shutting it, you turned around to see all the little boys and girls smiling brightly up at you.

“Thank you, Ms. Y/n!” They bowed, respectively. Bowing too, you smiled at all of them.

“You’re very welcome! Now let me just get your parents!” Walking over to the closed door, you welcomed the parents of the children. Each child held up their artwork towards their parents while they left with mumbled thank you’s and see you next week’s. As the last child left your studio, Namjoon walked in giving you a wave.

“Appa!” Yoon-ji ran towards her dad, who welcomed her with opened arms. Picking her up and spinning her around, Mi-ha giggled beside you at her little family.

“Hey, Yoonie, what’chya got there, hm?” Yoon-ji thrusted her artwork towards him, almost getting his blonde-dyed hair wet with drying paint, had he not tilted his head fast enough, “Wow, princess! So pretty!” He walked over to Mi-ha, pressing a kiss to her temple before turning to you.

“Yoon-ji’s birthday is coming up,” Namjoon says giving his daughter to his wife.

“I know,” You nodded smiling, “Next, next Saturday, right?”

“Yeahp, all of my friends will be there too! So, you finally get to meet the other half of the family.” He jokes with you.

“Ugh, I can’t wait,” You huffed out, “it’s like you two didn’t want me to ever meet them.”

“No!” Mi-ha exclaimed, “it’s just that every time we had something planned with them, you always had an art show!” Joon laughed as Yoon-ji blew raspberries at him with a gleeful gaze.

“Oh, actually?” You wiped your hand on your apron, untying it and hanging it up on the hooks behind you, “Well, thankfully I don’t have an art show for a while, so I’m free!” You checked your watch, “Oh, shoot, sorry guys, I have to run!” You exclaimed grabbing your keys, “I need to let Mochi out.”

“Go ahead, we’ll lock up!” Mi-ha says, “See you next, next Saturday Y/n!”

“Don’t forget to bring whatever snacks you want!”

“Bwye, Awnty Y/n!” You waved to the three and exited the studio.

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“Good girl, Mochi!” You exclaimed jogging with your baby Pomeranian-Husky mix who was running beside you with her tiny legs. Giggling to yourself you picked her up walking her to the park that was by your apartment. Giving her treats as the two of you sat down on the grass, you looked around you to see the park with couples walking their dogs together, people running, or elderly sitting on the benches feeding the birds. You smiled down at the puppy who was gently gnawing at her treat, but her eyes started to droop, leaving her treat half in her mouth and half on the grass as she closed her eyes. You pat her head gently, only to stop when you heard a little yelp from behind you. Peering around you see a little Pomeranian and a little girl with pigtails bobbing behind it.

“Oh, hello there!” You smiled down at the dog, patting its head you noticed the dog staring at the treat in your hand, nudging its head towards it. You comply, as it ate the treat from your hand.

“Yeontan!” The little girl gasped, crouching down to the puppy, who yelped at her. Sighing she sat down with him, but looked up at you with a shy gaze, “Sowwy…”

You cooed at how cute she was, “Oh, don’t be! I have plenty of treats! Mochi is sleeping, she won’t mind!” Handing the little girl more treats for her dog.

“Tank you!” She placed another treat in Yeontan’s mouth, she looked behind her and sighed, “Tannie, Daddy go get mad at us fow wunning off again…” Her shoulders slumped as she placed the dog in her lap.

“Kim Aera!” A man came from behind the trees jogging towards the little girl.

“See, Tannie… He mad mad.” She sighed again, petting the dog.

As the man jogged closer you noticed that he was in baggy pants paired with a beige vest and a white t-shirt. He sported white shoes and many bracelets decorated his wrists. Puffing out air, he crouched down beside the little girl.

“Didn’t I tell you not to run off with Tannie like that?” He sighed, picking up the dog, “and you,” he looked down at the confused looking puppy, “you know better than to run away from your sister like that.” He scolded.

“Sowwy, daddy,” The little girl says making sad eyes at her father, “but! Pwetty yady keep com-com-com... pony!” You watched as the man paused and turned around to look at you. His eyes were a beautiful hazel, probably contacts, and his hair was fluffy. He was really attractive and seemed really young to be a father to a girl who couldn’t be any older than four years old.

“I see…” His eyes gazed into your own, gulping, he gave you a nervous smile, “I’m really sorry about Aera, she and Tannie have a habit of running off.” You laughed dusting off dirt as you stood to your full height. Your eyes widened when you notice that you were still peering up at the man.

Shoot, dude’s gotta be at least 6 feet.

Blushing you coughed, “It’s not a problem, really!” You smiled at him.

You see the child tug on her dad’s pants, he bent down and she whispered to him. His eyes bulging out of his sockets as he put Tannie down and dusted himself off.

“Sh—” He sighed, “I didn’t even introduce us,” He patted the little girl’s head, “This is my daughter Aera,” Aera smiled at you and gave you a wave, “This is Yeontan,” he pointed to the dog that was now laying beside Mochi, who stared with curious eyes at her companion laying beside her.

“And I’m Kim Taehyung.”

Drawing your attention to the model-like man, you smiled shyly, feeling heat rushing to your cheeks as he gave you a boxy grin.

“I’m Hyeon Y/n.” You peered behind you to the puppy that was nuzzling her face into Yeontan’s fur, “and that’s my puppy, Mochi.”

Aera squealed and bent down towards the two puppies, Mochi greeting her with many kisses. Taehyung smiled down at his daughter and looked back at you.

“It’s really nice to meet you, Y/n.” His deep voice rang in your ears again, “Thank you again for accompanying Aera while I looked for them.” You waved a hand.

“Really, Taehyung, it’s no worries, I love kids and puppies!” Gesturing to the three on the ground. Taehyung chuckled before looking back at you.

“We should get going, I’m sure you have things to do. Aera, Tannie.” Taehyung says as Aera patted Mochi’s head one last time before scooping up the Pomeranian and smiling at you.

“Tank you fow da tweats and watch me!” Aera says sweetly before pressing her cheeks against your legs and staring at you, “see you again?” Shocked you peered down at the little girl.

“Aera!” Taehyung exclaims, his cheeks tinted pink as he looked down at you, “I’m sorry—she—”

“Of course!” You smiled, crouching down to the little girl, “I actually hold painting classes at my studio, completely free every Saturday at 9!” You watched the little girl’s face brighten as she looked at her dad. Stunned with yourself you looked up at her dad too before uttering out, “only if it’s cool with your dad.”

“Daddy? Pwease, pwease, pwease! Paint, I paint!” Aera jumped excitedly as she asked for her father’s permission.

“I—” He starts looking down at his daughter’s bright eyes filled with excitement, “I—sure, why not?” He smiled down at his little girl. Aera rushed up to him and gave him a big squeeze, excitedly repeating tank you’s.

“Yay!” You perk up looking at the two, “I’ll see you two…on Saturday?”

“Yes! Next Saturday, though. We have prior arrangements, but next one for sure.” Taehyung says. You smiled.

“Next Saturday then.” You agreed.

“Great, uhm—” Taehyung begins, taking out his phone, “Do you mind if—Can I—May I have your number uhm so I know where your studio is?” He blushed facing his phone to you. You nodded frantically.

“Right! Uh—” You typed in your number giving his phone back to him, “Here you go!”

“Thanks,” He sighs, “for everything, we’ll see you not this week, but next!” You nodded your head.

“Of course! See you guys, it was nice to meet you three!”

“Likewise!” Taehyung said sending you a boxy grin, Aera having the same smile as her dad, the three walked off, while you picked up Mochi and headed to your apartment.

══════ ∘◦❀◦∘ ══════

19:21 08.25.21 ???: hey, thank you again for today. -taehyung.

19:25 08.25.21 y/n: hey, Taehyung! Really, it’s no problem!

19:26 08.25.21 Taehyung☺: Aera is super excited for next Saturday, you said it’s at 9am?

19:28 08.25.21 y/n: yeahp! Here’s the address of my studio xxx!

19:29 08.25.21 Taehyung☺: I was just about to ask, thank you! I’ll let you go, Aera can’t find her socks. Goodnight, y/n.

19:31 08.25.21 y/n: Oh no!!! Guess you gotta find those socks lol! And no problem, Taehyung. See you Saturday ((:

“Who are you smiling at?” Mi-ha’s voice scares you, causing you to tuck your phone away.

“Wha—me?” You blushed looking at your best friend who was carrying a sleepy Yoon-ji, “Just some guy I met at the park today.”

“A guy?!” Mi-ha screeched in a whisper. You nodded.

“Yeah, his daughter was chasing their dog and the dog stumbled upon me and Mochi.” You shrugged, “and before you ask,” Mi-ha’s mouth opened and closed, “yes, he’s unbelievably attractive.” You whine throwing your head back against your couch.

Mi-ha wiggled her eyebrows while heading for the door, “Ouuuu, does he have potential?” Shrugging your shoulders…

“Well—I just met him…” You sighed, “but… maybe? I don’t know.” You mumbled.

Taehyung is an attractive man, and just from meeting him and Aera today, you could already tell that the two were super sweet and super nice.

“Hm… Well, just play it by ear, I guess.” You watched as Mi-ha slipped into her shoes, still carrying a sleeping Yoon-ji, “You deserve to be happy, by the way. I just want you to be happy and in love.” You giggled.

“Yah,” You made your way to the door, “I’ll find it when I find it.” Smiling you gave Mi-ha a side hug as she made her way out of your apartment and down the hall towards her and Namjoon’s.

It was now Wednesday and you were in your studio with Mochi.

After a long week, you were excited to finally see Aera and Taehyung this coming Saturday. You and Taehyung have been texting back and forth during the week, getting to know each other a little more, and of course exchanging work stories for the day. Sometimes he’d text you good morning and good night as well, so you’d often times find yourself smiling constantly whenever you see his name pop up onto your screen. He was—is—such a good guy. The sweetest human you had ever met, and Aera was no different than her father. Some days, Taehyung would send you a picture of Aera, because she wanted to show you her new painting. You couldn’t help but feel all fuzzy and warm when you would receive a text from him. Sometimes he’d even tell you all about the important meetings he’d have and his success with collaborating with other big time fashion icons with upcoming collections for his new menswear line.

Today though, the museum had asked you to come up with a few pieces that could be showed in their gallery for the end of November. It wasn’t one of your art shows, so it wasn’t too demanding and you didn’t have to show face. However, you had to finish the pieces a month before the showcase. It never took you too long to finish a painting piece; you’ve always been creative and had an eye for art. This time you wanted to try something different. Many of your paintings were hung up on display in the museum, along with some of your photography pieces, so this time, you wanted to mix the two mediums in a way that’ll capture the uniqueness of your work.

You heard a quiet bark behind you to see Mochi wagging her tail looking up at you with curiosity. You bent down to pat her head and led her to her little bed in the corner of the studio. The minute she jumped into the large puppy bed; her eyes began to droop. Mochi was so tiny still, only 10 weeks old, that the large bed engulfs her tiny figure. Cooing at the adorable puppy, you went back to painting the large canvas. Humming along with the quiet radio in the background, you left some spaces open for the pictures that you need to take before pasting it onto the canvas too. You were in your own little world thinking about Yoon-ji’s party on Saturday. You had all her gifts ready, along with remembering to pick up her cookies that you had promised Mi-ha to pick up, since Namjoon had to go pick up the cake.

Taehyung then drifted into your mind. Encountering him two Saturday evenings ago, hadn’t stopped playing in your mind. He was the prettiest man you had ever met, and he sounded so humbled, soft-spoken with a very deep voice. He was enticing, and you couldn’t wait to see him again on Saturday. And Aera. Aera is probably the cutest little girl you had ever met, and that’s saying something because you worked with many kids, along with Yoon-ji –who is another very adorable child— but Aera’s features were striking. Definitely too pretty for a three-year-old. But now, with the fact that you two have been texting back and forth for about a week now, that really couldn’t be good for your heart. You’re really not the type to fall for someone quickly, you enjoy being single because it’s less complicated, but for some reason… You were just drawn to the strikingly handsome man.

You heard a knock at the door ripping you from your thoughts. Thinking you were hearing things, you continued painting… Until the knock came louder. Furrowing your eyebrows, you checked your watch, 10:17am, you weren’t expecting Mi-ha for another couple hours.

“Just a minute!” You called setting down your brush and wiping your hands on a rag that you retrieved from the top of your canvas. Pushing your hair out of your face, you reached the knob of the door and pulled it open to reveal the duo that clouded your thoughts just moments ago.

“Hi, Awnty Y/n!” Aera quipped brightly. Today, her hair was pulled up to one side, where she bore a purple bow. She was wearing loose jeans with a white shirt and denim jacket. Beside her stood Taehyung, handsome as ever. Today, he sported loose shorts and a black t-shirt. Super simple, but for some reason, super attractive.

“Oh my gosh, hey!” You peered down at your attire which consisted of leggings a baggy top, and your painting apron. Your cheeks heating up, “Sorry—gosh—I wasn’t expecting anyone today.” You smiled sheepishly as Taehyung quirked an eyebrow.

“No—no, it’s cool,” He gestured to Aera, “We were in the area picking up some food and we thought that we’d come say hi.” Aera thrusted a small box towards you.

“Yeah! We bwought some cookies!” Aera says, “Daddy say that pwetty giwls need deli…” Aera paused, scrunching her eyebrows, “delis-eowus cookies,” She confidently smiles, “so Daddy call da-da cookie stow and buy his favowite cookies fow you! He no let me have any and say that he buy some fow me next time, because he want to buy just fow humph—” Taehyung gently cupped his hand over his daughter’s lips, chuckling nervously to himself.

“Hahahaha, oh Aera, you’re so funny!” Taehyung coughed out, his cheeks turning slightly pink, “Kids…” He trails off giving you a boyish grin. Releasing his hand from his daughter’s mouth, Aera seemed to have forgotten what she was talking about as she squealed seeing Mochi. Bouncing her way towards the sleeping puppy, you turned your attention back to Taehyung.

“That’s really sweet of you guys! You didn’t have to buy me anything, a simple ‘hello’ would have sufficed, or even a text to let me know you were both coming today.” You nudged his arm, spinning around, you gestured him to follow you as you placed the gifted cookies in the small kitchen of your studio.

Taehyung shrugged, “We figured you’d be too busy for a text, so we kinda dropped by as a surprise…” Smiling you opened the box of cookies, taking three out and putting them on a plate that you keep in the cupboards. “She hasn’t stopped talking about you since last Saturday.” He confessed.

Smiling up at the handsome man, you place the cookies in front of the two of you, “That’s so cute!” You gushed, pushing the plate towards him; he happily accepts a cookie, taking a bite. Walking over to Aera and Mochi, you handed her the small plate with the cookie on it. Luckily Mochi didn’t notice that there was food on the plate and Aera quickly took the sweet treat and popped half of it in her mouth.

“Were we interrupting? We could—”

“Oh! No—” You started, seeing worry flash through Taehyung’s eyes, “No—don’t worry about it! I’m almost done anyways.” Taehyung visibly sighed a breath of relief as he peered around your studio.

“Your paintings are really good.” He observed staring at your almost finished canvas and your other completed works that were hung up around the room.

“Thanks, they really don’t take much time for me, I guess I’m one of the lucky few that were able to get somewhere with their hobby.” You shrugged staring at Taehyung.

“You really are talented,” He turns around to face you, “What else do you do? I know you said this is basically your job… But you seem like the type to have a lot of things going on?” You laughed.

Funny that you both have been getting to know each other during the week, but you had never asked what he did. Your conversations would always end up with work stories, but you both never really spoke about what you both truly do.

“You’re a gifted observer,” You teased, “Other than holding a bunch of different art classes, I work part-time at the hospital.” Taehyung’s eyebrows raised.

“What do you do in the hospital?”

“Anesthesiologist Assistant.” You smiled; Taehyung’s eyes grew wider before showcasing an impressive grin.

“Huh,” He smirked, “You’re quite the character huh, but don’t take this the wrong way,” He trailed, “but aren’t you quite young?” You giggled to yourself.

“I get that a lot,” You start before washing the paint brushes that were on your counter, “I actually graduated high school and university fairly early. I was turning 16 when I finished high school, took my MCAT at 18, got my undergrad at 20, and settled for an assistant rather than an actual MD, but still had to go through the same process.” You finished looking up at Taehyung. He held an impressed expression the whole time and smiled at your back story.

“That’s actually insane,” He chuckled, “You make me sound less successful than you!” You furrowed your eyebrows.

“OH—please don’t compare yourself to me! It really is nothing.” You blushed, now drying your paintbrushes.

“Intelligent, talented, beautiful, and humble?” Taehyung questioned, “You really are a man’s dream, Y/n.”

You blushed profusely, “Oh please, look at yourself Mr. Kim.” You teased, “What is it that you do by the way? Seems only fair that you tell me about yourself since I just told you my life’s story!”

Taehyung’s laughter boomed throughout your studio, “I’m actually the CEO of Gucci Korea.” It was your turn to gasp.

“Gucci—” You choked, “CEO…? Korea?!” You stuttered, feeling intimidated.

Taehyung chuckled, “Yes, CEO of Gucci Korea.”

“But? You’re so young!” You sputtered out.

“Ah, Ms. Y/n, you can’t possibly think that you were the only child prodigy, did you?” He teased, but before you could voice out an apology, he continued, “Much like you, I graduated at a young age as well!”

You were in awe, man’s was smart, handsome, and freaking humble?? Where has he been all your life.

“I’m 25 by the way.” He winked before going over to get Aera who seemed to have fallen asleep next to Mochi. Smiling at the two, you watched as he lifted her into his arms and walked back towards you.

“I’m really sorry to cut this short—I’m needed back at the office—but hopefully we’ll have more time to get to know each other more, in person at least?” He asked with a hopeful smile. Nodding your head, embarrassingly fast, you led them to the door.

“Yes—I mean, yeah—sure! I’d love that.” You sputtered, “Thank you for dropping by… and for these amazing cookies.” You gestured behind you to the opened cookie box on your kitchen island.

“Of course, it was our pleasure.” Taehyung winked, causing you to blush again, “We’ll see you on Saturday? For the painting lessons?”

You nodded, “Of course, see you then, Taehyung!” You watched as the man headed out of your studio and you shut the door. Catching your breath, you couldn’t help but smile. Was he flirting with you? Or was he just being nice?

“Mi-ha!” You called while greeting the parents, yet again, this beautiful Saturday. Smiling and waving, you held small chat with some of the parents as their kids ran past you and to Mi-ha.

“Don’t worry, I got them!”

You sighed in relief, a smile returning to your face as you continued to greet the parents. As you watched each child enter, along with their parents, you failed to see the familiar tall man that had captured your attention with the few interactions you had with him and his adorable little girl. You couldn’t help but briefly look around the parents in front of you as you greeted them, in hopes to find the boxy grin that had been haunting your mind as of late, only to be disappointed with the bright blue sky outside the door. Sighing, you watched the last parent leave, walking them out the door, you peered around one last time in hopes to find the little girl and her father. To your dismay, your eyes were greeted with an empty street and nothing but cool air kissing your face. Frowning, you headed back inside your studio; Mi-ha already starting the class for you while the kids waited. You sat down on your bench, watching Mi-ha take over the class for today, since you two alternated each Saturday.

You couldn’t help but feel disappointed, you had just seen them a few days ago, but when Taehyung had said he’d be seeing you Saturday—and he did state Aera has been talking about you nonstop—you had hoped they’d be the very first people to be at your studio door… Yet you haven’t seen them; no boxy smiles and no text messages either, you’d think that Taehyung would have texted you to let you know that they were going to be late or maybe that Aera—or himself—have changed their minds in coming; you were hoping to have at least a head’s up so that you didn’t get your hopes up.

Why were you even concerned? Dang it, Y/n, you encounter the family and received cookies from them once, and you’re hung up on seeing both of them. Maybe they were just too polite to decline your offer, after all, Taehyung is a busy man; He’s running Korea’s biggest fashion line and he’s a father. Maybe he’s still with Aera’s mother, but you never recalled seeing a ring, or him speaking of her… But maybe that was it, had you overstepped a line with flirting? But he was flirting too? Wasn’t he?

The frown etched onto your face deepened, while you thought about all the possibilities as to why you hadn’t heard from Taehyung today. Biting your lip, you got off your chair and headed over to the little girls and boys that were happily painting away on their canvas’. Faking a smile, you crouched down to each individual and complimented their art works, earning massive grins from the children. Your heart still tightening as you gazed at the door from time to time, in hopes you’d hear a knock, but it never came.

“Y/n?” You heard Mi-ha’s voice. You peered up at her with a small smile, brushing off your pants, you stood up beside her.

“What’s up?”

“I think the parents are here, Yoon-ji and I can clean up here, you okay to get her cookies?” You looked at the clock—Oh wow, has it really been 2 hours?—you nodded shaking your head. Time really flew today.

“Yeah, sure! I’ll bring them over! I’ll see you guys at your apartment!” Shrugging off your apron, you smiled at the kids, waving goodbyes to hear little voices of “bye Ms. Y/n!” as you opened the door to let parents in. Peering down at your phone you see unopened messages from non-other than the man you had hoped to see today. Reluctantly you opened it.

11:10am 09.04.21 Taehyung☺: I’m so sorry, Y/n, Aera really wanted to attend today, but I had forgotten that Aera and I had breakfast with her mother today at the same time ):

11:11am 09.04.21 Taehyung☺: I was going to text you earlier, but we were in a rush and I completely forgot to tell you.

11:11am 09.04.21 Taehyung☺: I’m really sorry… Next week??

11:13am 09.04.21 Taehyung☺: You’re probably still with the kids… Text me when you get these? Aera and I would really love to make it up to you.

Frowning at the texts, you opt to locking your phone and sliding it back into your pocket.

You knew that there was a possibility that Taehyung was probably married; he has a kid. You probably shouldn’t have gotten your hopes up with him, seeing as you had literally just met that guy—despite you texting. But anyone with eyes could fall easily for a successful and humbled CEO such as himself. You were scolding yourself for falling for his boxy smile and his kindness so quickly, that you felt as if you were a teenager falling in love.

Walking towards the cookie place that Mi-ha had ordered Yoon-ji’s birthday treats, you were gazing at all the couples that were roaming the streets. Letting out a sad sigh, you continued your way. Your heart still feeling the aches of being let down by the guy that you potentially began liking… Maybe liking, you weren’t exactly sure what it was, but you knew that this man was on your mind. Constantly.

The sign of the dessert place is now in your line of vision, so you picked up your pace in hopes to forget the numbness you were feeling in your heart. Goodness, this wasn’t even a date, it’s not like you were stood up.

Upon entering the little store, the workers smiled and waved as you accepted the order for your best friend. Walking out, you couldn’t help but deflate. As if this man is consuming your thoughts the way he has. You’ve met over a week ago, and yet he’s running through your mind like clockwork. Not just him, but sweet Aera… You couldn’t help but fall in love with the sweet little girl; the cutest, most polite 3-year-old you had ever met, besides Yoon-ji, but nonetheless, you enjoyed the little girls presence just as much as you enjoyed her father’s.

Shaking your head from your thoughts, you headed towards your apartment. Times like these is when you’re grateful that your best friend and Namjoon have decided to stay in their apartment complex down the hall from yours. Of course, eventually the family of three will move out, but as of right now, it was nice to have them so close to you… Especially seeing as you’re still a bachelorette.

As you walked towards Mi-ha’s apartment complex, you could hear many people talking and socializing, unsure of who is all invited, your heartrate picked up slightly at the thought of finally meeting Joon’s friends. It has been a long time coming, but it still made you nervous to meet new people. Would they like you? Will they hate you? What if you don’t like them? Your thoughts disappeared as you come face to face with Mi-ha’s apartment door. Apparently, your hand had a mind of its own, your own fist knocking on the door loudly.

Expecting Mi-ha or Joon, you were surprised to be greeted with a man with blue hair with a bunny smile.

“You must be Mi-ha noona’s friend, Y/n!!!” The man states, gesturing you to enter. You bowed with a small smile tugging at your lips to see a group of men and women around your age—maybe slightly older—gathered around Mi-ha’s kitchen.

“Hey, Y/n!” Mi-ha waved you over, standing next to her were 3 other women who looked at you with warm smiles. As you approached, Mi-ha gestured to the women, “Y/n, please meet mine and Joon’s friends! Everyone,” Mi-ha turned towards the men on the couch, “please come introduce yourselves to my best friend from college!”

Feeling heat coming up to engulf your cheeks, you smiled shyly at everyone. As you stood next to Mi-ha, the men from the couches stood next to what you assumed to be their wives or girlfriends.

“You’re Y/n?!” The girl with a long bob squeals, “Mi-ha talks about you so much! I’m so excited to finally meet you! My name is Rae and this is my husband Hoseok,” The couple pulled you into a tight hug, before turning around and gesturing to a little boy who was sitting next to Yoon-ji on the floor in front of the tv, “and that little boy by Yoonie is our son, Mujin!”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Rae and Hoseok!” You smiled at the two.

“Hobi!” Hoseok chuckled, “Please, call me Hobi. Hoseok is way too formal for me!” He finishes wrapping his arm around Rae. Nodding in agreement you smiled.

“It’s so great to finally meet you, Y/n!” A girl with long, blonde-dyed hair smiled at you, “My name is Sarang, and this is my husband Jin!” Gesturing to the blonde-haired man next to her, “We’re the elders of the group, only by a smidge!” She winked, earning a laugh from her husband. Clinging onto Sarang was a little girl and clinging to Jin was a little boy.

“These two are Ji-hoon and Yuna, our 4-year-old twins!” Jin exclaims, picking up the boy.

“Very nice to meet you guys!” You smiled, “Hello Ji-hoon and Yuna!” You waved at the two children who greeted you with claps of their hands and little hello’s.

“Hi, noona, I’m Jungkook!” The blue-haired man smiled at you, “This is my girlfriend Haru, and this is our son, Youngji.” The beautiful girl beside him with dark brown hair, that reached just below her ribcage, was holding a little boy no older than 2 years old.

“Super excited to finally meet you! You’re stunning!” Haru gushes while bouncing the sleeping boy in her arms.

“It’s nice to meet you three! You have a beautiful family!” You say to the couple with a grin, “but you don’t need to call me Noona, Jungkook… You’re older than me!”

Jungkook’s eyes widened, “Huh?”

Nodding, “Yeah, I’m only 22! I think I remember Mi-ha telling me that all of Joon’s friends and their wives/girlfriends range from 23-28!” You quipped with a small smile. Jungkook fist bumped the air and shrieked “I’m finally not the youngest!”, causing everyone to laugh.

Lastly you were engulfed in a hug by two women that had two men trailing behind them.

“Hello Y/n! My name is Seung and this is my husband Yoongi!” The man with a gummy smile waved as he hugged his wife’s waist, “our daughter Nari is here somewhere…” She trails looking around the apartment, “uhm… you’ll meet her later!” Chuckling you smiled.

“Hi!” A girl with straight pink hair waves, while the blonde man behind her gave you a shy smile, “I’m Hyuna, and this is Jimin!” Peering around her, she scrunched her eyebrows together, “I think we lost ours, Chim…” She whispered to the man beside her who frantically looked around the room. Sighing he gestures to the little girl cuddled up against a pillow on the couch.

“She’s so tiny, I can’t see her sometimes,” Jimin chuckled, “our daughter Soomi is 1, so she… kinda likes to just sleep a lot right now.” He chuckles quietly.

“It’s very nice to meet you all!” You smiled at everyone, “Your kids are adorable!”

“Aish,” Namjoon circles around the table to stand behind Mi-ha, “We’re missing one more little family… They should be here—”

“Sorry, we’re late!” A familiar voice echoes throughout the complex, which made you freeze in your spot. Quietly turning around, you face the man that’s been consuming your thoughts every waking hour. He was breathing heavily with his arms wrapped around his daughter who was cradled into her father’s neck, slumped over in his arms. His hair slicked back, unlike the mess of curls they were a few days ago. His eyes locked on yours with his mouth slightly agape.

“Here he is!” Joon cheered, clasping his hand around the man’s shoulder, “Y/n, this is Taehyung and Aera!”

To say you were surprised was an understatement. What were the odds that the man that was clouding your every waking thought, would stand before you AND is best friends with your best friend’s husband? That was just too weird…

The fact that your eyes were blown out of your head, along with Taehyung look like a deer in headlights, Aera was the one to break your staring war with Taehyung, when she sleepily turned around in her father’s arms but her eyes immediately widening as soon as she spots you.

“Awnty Y/n!” Aera struggles against Taehyung’s hold, dropping down from his arms and running towards you and clasped her little arms around your leg. Gazing down at the little girl, a small smile etched its way onto your face, bending down to engulf her in your arms.

“Hey, cutie!” She giggled as your hair brushed against her face, “Missed your face today!” You whispered into her ear, trying hard to cover up the sound of disappointment. The little girl pouted and stared at you.

“I’m sowwy, Daddy fowgot that we go out wit Mommy fow bweakfas,” Aera states sadly, “Daddy say he text you.”

You nodded, “Yeah, he did. I’ve—” you paused as you noticed from the corner of your eyes that Taehyung perked up, probably wondering why you hadn’t texted back if you got his messages, “I was super busy today.” You finished.

“Okay wait—” Mi-ha interrupted as you stood up from hugging Aera, “Y/n, you’ve met Taehyung and Aera?”

Nodding sheepishly, Mi-ha put two and two together and her eyes widened.

“Y/n and I met in the park a few weeks back.” You heard Taehyung say. The rest of the group giggled and chuckled.

“What a small world.” Namjoon laughed. Feeling awkward—along with feeling Taehyung’s eyes on you the entire time—you decided to gesture to Yoon-ji.

“Well—it’s someone’s birthday!” You turned away and picked up Yoon-ji from the living room, “Let’s blow out some candles and eat some cake!”

══════ ∘◦❀◦∘ ══════

“It was actually really funny,” Hyuna giggled, “Chim and I weren’t friends at all! He was that cool jock guy in college, and I was just admiring him from afar. He was also so mean too!” You giggled along with the girls, as Hyuna continued her story about how her and Jimin ended up together.

“—low and behold, we went to the same frat party, hooked up, and I guess Jimin couldn’t help but keep talking to me so… Here we are!”

“That’s actually really cute,” You sighed, looking at Mi-ha, who was eying you wearily. Since she is your best friend, she could tell that your demeanor had changed ever since a handsome dad walked into their apartment.

If it was obvious to anyone, it was especially obvious to Mi-ha, that something was bothering you. You had become a little quieter ever since the father and daughter—that you were hoping to see that same day in your art studio—had joined the party. You were sneaking glances at Aera’s dad while he was manspreading on the couch chit chatting with his best buds. You shouldn’t be feeling this way, you couldn’t like Taehyung in that way. Not only was he a father with an adorable little girl that you very much enjoy being around, but it was clear that the mother is, in fact, still in the picture—despite the fact that he doesn’t wear a wedding band on his ring finger. You know you shouldn’t have gotten your hopes up that you possibly found someone that you were so into. You couldn’t possibly like him after the few encounters you’ve had. You’re being ridiculous. What were you? A girl in high school?

“Y/n?”

Snapping out of your trance, you stared at Mi-ha, who was staring at you with worry, “Are you alright?”

Were you?

The man that ultimately had you pining over him was in the same room as you, the same man that had promised to see you today after dropping off cookies at your art studio the week before because he was in the area. How could you be fine? Maybe he was just being nice, you thought. He never gave you a reason to think he was even single. Sure, it seemed like he was flirting—and sure he bought you cookies… But again, he never gave you a reason to think he was remotely interested in you, he was just being nice.

“Never better.” You forced a smile. Mi-ha looked skeptical; she knew you weren’t okay.

“We can talk…” Mi-ha offers, giving you a sympathetic look. You shrugged, you could feel a certain individual’s eyes on you, but you refused to look his way. You weren’t mad per say, but you weren’t exactly feeling the greatest. You didn’t know how you were supposed to act now. How were you expected to react when you literally just found out that the guy you were constantly thinking about was best friends with your friend! Alright, that’s enough. You wanted to hurl, you wanted to scream, just disappear. You were still unsure why you were so hurt by not seeing him today, maybe it was still the fact that he could’ve texted you sooner, or maybe he should’ve stopped giving you mixed signals… Who just casually buys you their favorite cookies and delivers it to you just because he was in the area???

Having enough of feeling like complete ass. You turned to Mi-ha, “I think I’m gonna head out early, I’m not really feeling well.” You gave a small smile to Mi-ha.

“Are you sure? I can drop—”

“No, it’s okay!” You rushed out, “I’ll see you Monday! Thanks for the invite.”

Giving Mi-ha a tight-lipped smile, you turned to the rest of the group, “I’m going to head out now!” A chorus of boos and no’s erupted from the group, Taehyung keeping his eyes trained to the floor, not uttering a word. To say you were even more disappointed was an understatement. You didn’t quite know what you were expecting from him, but you sure as hell wasn’t expecting him to remain quiet or to completely ignore you the whole time. Your heart clenched, yet again, but you shoved the feeling away as the rest of the girls gave you group hugs.

“Please!!! Let’s all hang out! This was so much fun!” Haru exclaims jumping up and down.

“Oh my gosh, yes, yes!!!” Seung exclaims, “Oh, do you mind giving us your number?” Thrusting her phone in your face you giggled, typing in your number, and giving it back.

“It was really great to meet you, Y/n!” Rae smiles warmly, while Hyuna and Sarang nod in agreement, “We hope to see you soon!” The rest of the boys waved at your departure, while Taehyung remained silent, but now was shuffling around the kitchen, pretending as if you were already gone.

Ouch.

Saying your final goodbyes, you attempted to make it out of the door quickly, trying to leave before you could feel the ache in your chest grow heavier with every movement towards the door. Trying to keep your breathing as normal as possible, you felt a little fingers wrap around your pants, gently tugging at you. Squeezing your eyes shut to try and rid yourself from the unnecessary tears that were willing to fall, you peered down to see Aera shyly smiling up at you.

“Bye awnty, Y/n,” As if your heart couldn’t hurt more. “I see you swoon?” Her big eyes that shimmered with hope stared right back at you.

Please, stab my heart some more, Aera, you thought.

Unsure of what to say, you ruffled her hair, “Sure, sweets. Soon.” And with that Aera lets go of your pants running back towards Yoon-ji to continue playing.

Without another glance, you exited the apartment with a shaky breath, and making your way to your own apartment down the hall. Flashes of Taehyung’s face appeared in your mind as you walked towards the end of the hall and to your apartment complex; the way he had smiled at you at the park when you had first met, the way he looked so interested when you were exchanging information in your studio, the cute text messages he would send throughout the day… All of that was now clouded by the way he looked at you with surprise when he had first entered the apartment, the way he wouldn’t meet your eyes from across the room, the way he had his muscular back faced towards you—as if he was deliberately trying to find every excuse not to look at you. You didn’t think that letting down bits of your wall and opening up to someone that had made you happy would’ve backfired on you. Especially when he had been so inviting, so sweet, and so interested… but maybe he truly wasn’t into you that way.

Upon finally stumbling into your apartment, you shut the door quietly. Sliding down the smooth, cold surface of the wooden barricade that divided you from the comfort of your own home to the hallway, the tears flowed down your cheeks; your hands finding a way onto your face as your sobs filled the quiet space of your home, and pieces of your heart breaking for the man that sat with his daughter just down the hall.

Waking up the next morning was dreadful. Absolutely awful.

Your eyes were sealed shut due to the mass amount of crying you had done the night before. You were being pathetic, you knew that. You have no reason to be hung up on this guy when you have a whole life ahead of you. Well… a whole life, you’re only 22. But seeing that you had met all of Mi-ha’s and Namjoon’s friends, you felt as if you were behind. They were only a few years older than you, and they all seemed to have stable jobs—which you have—their own forever homes, and a little family.

Rubbing the sleep out of your eyes, you really didn’t feel like going to your studio today, luckily for you though, you had your own little makeshift studio in your apartment. It wasn’t as large, obviously, as your actual studio, but it does the job when you feel like staying at home to get some work done. Sometimes, you find that you get more work done at home than you do in your studio.

You here Mochi padding her way through the hallway and towards your bedroom. Watching as your bedroom door creaked open, you were greeted by the little puppy at the foot of the door, curiously examining around the room to find your eyes. As if the stars in her blue eyes weren’t bright enough, the moment she saw you, you could’ve sworn you saw the galaxy in them. Mochi trotted her way towards the little stairs by your bed, struggling to get up them, she growled in annoyance and plopped down by your side. Your little pup gazes at you with a questioning look, almost as if you ask if you were okay. You had been told before that most animals feel the emotions radiating off their owners, but you hadn’t really believed in that. Until now.

Mochi’s eyes drooped, almost forming a sad expression and nudged her little head against your hand with a tiny whine. If you had thought that you were all cried out from last nights fiasco, you were terribly wrong. As soon as Mochi crawled her way onto your lap to snuggle closer, the tears began to from and roll down your face. Choking out tiny sobs, Mochi continued to snuggle closer in attempts to comfort you.

You honestly couldn’t remember the last time you had cried this hard—let alone over a man. Maybe you were just so used to having such high expectations that the other men that you had dated, or had gone out with, just never had this type of affect on you. You were always used to being let down, anyways. So, what really made Taehyung any different? Why had you gotten your hopes up? Was it his constant texts that had you unknowingly falling for him? Was it Aera who seemed to have idolized you? Was it the kind gesture of buying you cookies that had made you think about a potential future with him? A future where, in a perfect world, Taehyung was your husband and Aera as your step-daughter coming to visit you during your workdays with the same batch of cookies that they had delivered to you on that Wednesday?

But that’s all it is, right? Just wishful thinking, hoping, that the guy that had made you fall in love with his charms, his devilishly handsome good looks, and his kind heart—hoping that he was the one for you, hoping that he was the one to love you unconditionally. But that’s all it was.

Wishful thinking.

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“—so, are you going to tell me what’s going on or…”

Mi-ha had dropped by with Yoon-ji to come check up on you. When she headed towards the studio, but didn’t see any lights on, she knew you were cooped up in your apartment complex. So, it really wasn’t a surprise when she had knocked on your door to see your eyes swollen and red with your hair up in the messiest bun she had ever seen, and a paint brush in your hands. Like the best friend she is, she gave you a sympathetic smile, but didn’t comment—at least not until now.

You had continued painting one of the art pieces that you had began working on. Getting lost in the strokes of your brush to numb the pain in your chest, sniffling here and there, yet no tears had fallen. You were finally all cried out. Nonetheless though, your eyes still stung, as if it were trying to produce some form of waterworks, but you know that you really couldn’t cry anymore. Dabbing your under-eyes and feeling the sting from how raw the skin was from all your continuous rubbing.

“There’s nothing going on.” You croaked, still facing your canvas, and ignoring the presence of your best friend that stood behind your easel with her sleeping toddler in the little bean bag chair that you have in your art room.

“Cut the bullshit,” Mi-ha snaps quietly, “Have you forgotten we’ve been best friends for so long? I know when something’s wrong, what did Taehyung do?”

Pausing your brush strokes, “How did—”

“Please,” Mi-ha comes around to lean against your easel, “anyone with eyes knew something was off between you two. What happened, Y/n?”

So, you told her.

Your first encounter with him at the park, your constant text messaging, how he had dropped by as a surprise. You told her how you were confused, how could you fall for someone so fast? You were choking on sobs again, but still no tears have fallen from your eyes.

You felt pathetic. But bless your best friend as she continued to listen to your confused self, rubbing your back and whispering encouraging words. By the end of your talk, Mi-ha gives you a soft smile.

“Oh, baby…” She says in hushed tones, “You’ve got it bad…”

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tag list: @belladaises @chimmysomemochi @kirbykook @ggukkieland @taeandpuppies @betysotelo18 @maichiverse @rjsmochii @vaekth @hantaev @purelyecstacy @preciouschimine @jenotation @dear-thama @gukkmoans @xpeachesncream @kookingtae @writtenwhalien (my moots, I hope you don't mind the taggg <3)

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#kim taehyung x reader #bts fic #bts #bts fluff #bts angst #bts smut #artist oc #single dad taehyung #bts dad au

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andsheloved · 2 years

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helloooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!! could i get prompt #12 with zemo??? i am a museum volunteer myself so if u could do it with the female reader from the other zemo drabble u did i would die actually

hello there friend! uH OF COURSE YOU CAN!!! hello fellow museum friend!!! this made me so happy holy cow! oh my gosh! there's more of us!! oh my goodness okay i hope you enjoy the heck out of this!!

pairing ~ helmut zemo x f!reader

word count ~ 804

warnings ~ literally just fluff!

prompt ~ “can you say that again?” “were you not listening?” “no i was, i just like hearing your voice.”

It wasn't that you didn't enjoy working at the museum already, it was just that having someone to always listen to you ramble made it all the more enjoyable.

You hadn't really thought much about if Zemo had a job outside of coming in to see you every other day, if not every day, always meeting you at 11 AM sharp at the information desk to ask you what was on today's agenda.

"Schatz"

Hearing his smooth voice from behind you, you tried your best to hide the shiver that ran up your spine as you turned to face him. You may not have had a masters degree in any foreign language like some of your other colleagues, but you didn't need one to know that you definitely did not mind him calling you that.

"Zemo" You replied, a mock formality lacing your tone.

"What will we be doing today? Collections? Fundraising? Tours?"

You smiled softly at his inquisition, you couldn't believe anyone could be as excited about those seemingly mundane tasks as you, but you quickly learned during your time with him that he had a way of surprising you everyday.

"Actually, I have a surprise..." You answered, quietly drumming your hands on the desk in front of you.

Zemo tilted his head in confusion as he awaited your grand reveal.

"Field trip!" You exclaimed, noting how his eyes seemed to light up a little more as you did. "Local Elementary School is coming in for their science field trip, they can be a lot, so I could understand if you didn't want-"

"I'd love to."

His quick response shocked you, and you noticed he was now gripping on to the edge of your desk as he leaned slightly over it. Seeing the typically stoic man so enthralled with the idea of a children's field trip made a specific type of warmth bloom in your chest, though that would have to wait to be addressed at a later time, as the high pitched murmur of children had you both turning towards the door.

Before you could even greet their Teacher, Zemo was kneeling down to greet the children. "Are you excited for your visit to the museum?" He asked enthusiastically, his smile growing wider with every moment he spent with them as they all shouted what exhibit they were most excited for.

After collecting the paperwork from their teacher, you began to lead the group through the exhibits as you usually would, making sure to answer any questions the children may have throughout the tour. Though, as you gave your tour, you couldn't help but get distracted by the back of the group. Amongst the large group of neon-shirted students, Zemo stood behind them, quietly encouraging them to ask questions, even asking some of his own in the process.

As the children gawked and pointed around excitedly in the prehistoric fossils room, you noticed he had now taken the hand of a little girl.

You furrowed your brow at him in a silent question

"Lost" He mouthed, throwing a quick thumbs-up your way as he did

You simply nodded in response, trying to slyly hide your growing smile with your arm, pointing out the Horseshoe Crab shells to the class.

The rest of the field trip went just as planned, the teacher and chaperones almost never needing to deal with the students themselves with Zemo's attentiveness, gently quieting them down or even chiming in with the occasional 'isn't that amazing!' or 'this is my favorite exhibit' that never failed to make you loose your focus.

After the tour had concluded and all of the students all but trampled you to get to the gift shop, you and Zemo stood at the information desk once again.

"I wish everyday were field trip day" You sighed, "All of them are just so into it, it's hard to get a full sized human to not just pass by all the exhibits in 30 minutes..." You continued to ramble on about the lack of appreciation some people had for your favorite artifacts, only to turn to see him just staring at you, with an expression you couldn't exactly name at the moment.

"Can you say that again?" He asked, and you felt your nose scrunch slightly with disappointment

"Were you not listening?" You felt your cheeks warm at the thought of you rambling for so long only for your words to fall on deaf ears.

"No, I was," He clarified, a crooked smile creeping its way onto his features "I just like hearing your voice."

This time, you didn't make an effort in hiding your smile.

And as he returned your grin, looking at you with the kind of adoration you had seen just moments ago within the eyes of the students as they stared in awe at the various artifacts, you couldn't help but oblige.

can zemo please visit my museum?? oh goodness, i hope you enjoyed this fellow museum friend! and everyone else as well! my heart is extremely warm after this one!! as always, likes, reblogs, and comments are always, always appreciated! mwauh!

join in on drabble tuesday!

#helmut zemo x reader #zemo x f!reader #helmut zemo fluff #zemo fluff #zemo x female reader #helmut zemo comfort #zemo comfort #zemo fanfic #zemo x you #zemo x y/n #madeline's drabble tuesdays!

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ferrariwrites · 2 years

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created as part of the wtw march madness challenge - day 1, a character study

To say that Princess Margherita of Monaco is ‘normal’ would be a little absurd. Few people are born a princess, few go viral for table-dancing at the Louvre, and exactly one person, Her Serene Highness, Princess Margherita of Monaco, is a princess who has table-danced at the Louvre. As the only child of Prince Olivier and Cecilia, Duchess of Dalarna, Princess Margherita is first in line for the Monégasque throne.

— ALEXANDRA KIM FOR VOGUE

It is 11.34 and I am trying not to vomit. Around me, a team of marine biologists works in controlled chaos, deftly navigating the rolling waves. There’s a complicated computer setup, maps spread out over tables, and crates of lab equipment open and waiting.

In the center of the whirlwind is a beachy blonde dressed in a worn-in souvenir t-shirt (from Monaco’s famed Oceanographic Museum) and a pair of loose fitting jeans rolled up to mid-calf. She’s sitting cross-legged on the deck, carefully cataloging vials of water with coordinates, depths, and specimen names. A particularly harsh wave rocks the boat and she looks at me, smiling.

It’s a smile that has graced countless magazines, topped many a “10 Most Beautiful” listicle, and entranced the world. I’ve never met a princess, let alone been sick near one, but there’s never been a princess like Princess Margherita of Monaco, either. I feel a little silly for being nervous, for the hours spent mulling over what I could or could not say to Monaco’s crown princess. She is simply a charming 25-year-old, volunteering with a marine conservation charity.

To say that Princess Margherita of Monaco is ‘normal’ would be a little absurd. Few people are born a princess, few go viral for table-dancing at the Louvre, and exactly one person, Princess Margherita, is a princess who has table-danced at the Louvre. As the only child of Prince Olivier and Cecilia, Duchess of Dalarna, Princess Margherita is first in line for the Monégasque throne.

Later, once we’ve finished our research mission and the princess and I are sharing a bottle of champagne on the - blessedly still - docks, Princess Margherita agrees that her life is more than a little unusual. Still, she says, in a voice with the strange, complex accent of someone who grew up speaking five different languages (she speaks eight now, though she considers her Mandarin “elementary”), “I’m not the Duchess of Cambridge. No one cares much about me.”

It’s not exactly true. In her nearly two-and-a-half decades of public life, she’s been the subject of countless tabloid headlines dissecting everything from her hair color to her university degrees. Both are real, by the way. Virtually every detail of her life is available online. The media fanfare surrounding the princess and everything she does is a bit of a wormhole, from the countless Instagram accounts dedicated to tracking what she’s wearing to the viral TikToks of her simply walking. Lately, she’s been under the public microscope after a video - posted, of course, to Instagram, practically in real time - leaked of her criticizing the European response to refugees. While she trashed everyone from Johnson to Macron to leadership in her own country, what drew most fervor was the fact that the rant occurred in a nightclub, and the princess was double-fisting…?

“Champagne,” she tells me. “And isn’t it funny - you asked me that, but haven’t asked me anything about my views on the refugee crisis? That is what frustrates me. Who cares what I’m drinking?”

Gossip and fashion insider news doesn’t interest her, not even when it’s about herself. It’s current affairs and politics that she’s engaged in. Following a stint studying Political Science at Oxford University, Princess Margherita was accepted to Columbia University’s prestigious School of International and Public Affairs, where she pursued a Masters degree in International Affairs. One of her Columbia professors, international human rights lawyer Denma Kamir, who has overseen trials at The Hague, was impressed by her work ethic. “I was struck by how present she was. She showed up. She did the work. She engaged with her classmates. There were no airs.”

As a UNHCR ambassador, she works to highlight the plight of refugees and has travelled to refugee camps all over the world. Sustainability, too, tops her list of concerns. She grows fierce when discussing climate change, the plastic crisis, and the impact it has on vulnerable communities. “I have always felt driven by the question, how can I do the most good? And for a time I wondered if that meant walking away from the monarchy. I wanted to be a human rights lawyer. But I also understand the immense responsibility and privilege I have in my position. I have the opportunity to help other people be heard, and to bring attention to important causes.”

Princess Margherita’s position is a unique one. The Monégasque royal family is one of the few in the world that plays an active role in government. Any legislature must be approved and introduced by the Prince. Princess Margherita understands that she’s not just a figurehead - “I think we’ve moved past the need for royal figureheads. If we were just a publicity stunt, I would say the monarchy should be dissolved. Maybe it still should be.”

At this point, the princess’s press secretary steps in. I’m used to being asked to avoid certain questions, but this time it’s squarely our subject being told, in no uncertain terms, not to continue down that line of commentary. Once her handler returns to her iPhone, Princess Margherita shoots me a wink.

Frivolity aside, it’s clear she understands that she has the opportunity to bring about real change in her country and beyond, and is determined to move forward with compassion and an understanding of the issues both domestically and abroad. Hearing her speak about Monaco leaves no doubt the depths of her love and her devotion to her country, but she also cares for the good of the world and people suffering all over. She’s ready to put in the work.

Recently, that has included work in her own backyard. She has been working with the small but mighty, Monaco-based charity, SWELL. “Being near the ocean, being near water is something that’s very important to me. It’s like it’s a physical yearning and I need that. I need to be near bodies of water. I think that’s the Monégasque in me. We have a very rich, beautiful maritime history.”

Reproductive health issues, too, have been a subject of controversy, as Princess Margherita has lobbied her own father to overturn the country’s longstanding ban on abortions. Although there are notable exceptions to the law, Princess Margherita thinks it should be repealed completely. It has made, the Princess tells me, for some awkward family dinners. She doesn’t mind. “It’s always worth it to be gutsy. Always be gutsy! Be bold. Even if you’re wrong, you may just convince someone you’re right.”

I suspect that what many people see, when they look at Princess Margherita, is boldness itself. In person, she is an expressive talker, an enthusiastic gesticulator, and an easy laugher. She radiates a self-possession that is untainted by self-seriousness, a quality that she has put to good use in life, too, while blowing ocean water out of her snorkel or peeling off a wetsuit. When asked if she has any mantras or rules for life, she thinks for a minute and says, “Never skinny-dip alone.”

Princess Margherita grew up scuba diving and sailing, free-diving with great white sharks and assisting in coral rebuild programs, so perhaps it’s no surprise that much of her life and activism is related to the ocean. “During very hectic, intense periods, I go into the ocean and imagine how much is down there,” she says. “I try to put myself in the brain of a whale, or maybe a mermaid, and think they’re there right now swimming and think of the sounds and what they’re experiencing. That’s something I really love doing, just sort of pulling myself into the ocean in my mind - kind of like a mental escape.”

She sounds quite genuine when she talks about being a mermaid, and we talk more about the fact that fairytale writer and author of Little Mermaid Hans Christian Anderson was from Denmark, where Princess Margherita’s mother was born. “Why not believe in them? What’s the alternative - being boring? That’s the wonderful thing about life. There are so many layers to it, always something more and deeper and more beautiful. Why limit yourself to what you can see, or what you think you know?”

Perhaps we could all benefit from spending a little more time underwater, clearing our minds, putting things into perspective - and hanging out with the dolphins and the mermaids. Perhaps we can shift the focus of our attention. Perhaps we can all become a little less selfish, a little more globally aware and more understanding that the world is a single unified existence. Perhaps we can grow stronger.

We hug one last time and make a promise to see each other soon. Princess Margherita, an earnest look on her face, says that we’ll go to her favorite spot in Cannes, a hole-in-the-wall where they drizzle farm-fresh potatoes with truffle oil and lavender. And unlike most people, whose words blow away with the wind, I know that she means it from the bottom of her burning heart.

#wtwcommunity #wtwevent #wtw: march madness #wip: full send #fs: margo

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carnegiemuseumnaturalhistory · 3 years

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How I Became an Archaeologist

If you had told me when I was 15 that I would spend my life as an archaeologist, I probably would have been pretty surprised. I didn’t grow up knowing a great deal about archaeology or even being fascinated by arrowheads. At that time, I might well have asked what an archaeologist really is and what one actually does. I did get to visit the Parthenon and other ruins while on a trip with my aunt when I was sixteen. Even then, I don’t remember having more than a casual interest in what could be learned from these places. I was more interested in the living people and the new food dishes I encountered on that trip, which was my first trip outside the United States.

From talking to other archaeologists, I’ve learned that there are a lot of paths to deciding archaeology is going to be your life’s work. In my case, what led me to archaeology was anthropology, and specifically an elective course I took in the Fall of my senior year in high school that was taught by a Ph.D. student at the University of Massachusetts. Until then I had not been a serious student, although I did well enough in school. Perhaps I was slightly bored by most of my courses, but anthropology was anything but boring! It looked at people elsewhere in the world and over great periods of time. Many of these people lived different lives than my friends and I did, and they sometimes thought very differently about what was important in life than people here in the United States. I was fascinated, and, honestly, I particularly liked the fact that the conventions of American society, which to my teenage self were sometimes a little confining, weren’t after all the only sensible way to approach life. That year, as I chose a college to attend, I specifically looked for anthropology programs. I chose Beloit College in Wisconsin, which to this day has an excellent anthropology program.

Initially, I thought that I was most interested in cultural anthropology, but like most anthropology departments in the United States, Beloit required its anthropology majors to take courses in biological anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and archaeology as well as cultural anthropology. These are what are known as the four fields of American anthropology and together, they give us a more complete picture of humans in both the past and the present. Most people focus their careers in one subfield or another, though we recognize the importance of each one for understanding humans, and in most cases in North America our degrees are in anthropology not one of the subfields. In college, I found all these courses more fascinating than anything I had studied before, and I actually became a good student as I explored anthropology. I was learning so much neat stuff! I also did volunteer work in the Logan Museum at Beloit, which was founded at the end of the nineteenth century and holds some pretty amazing ethnographic and archaeological collections. It was there I first became interested in artifacts and learned to clean and care for them. After a college internship in cultural anthropology convinced me that cultural anthropology was not the most interesting part of anthropology after all, I began to focus on archaeology. I was most intrigued by my courses in Mesoamerican archaeology and North American archaeology, which before college had been completely unknown to me.

When I graduated from college, I still wasn’t sure what I would do with my life. I worked for about two years both in social work and as a tax auditor for the IRS, but decided in 1974 to try graduate school in archaeology because I still found what archaeology had taught me about past people compelling. I lived in Chicago, so I enrolled in the Ph.D. program in North American archaeology at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

My graduate self in the late 1970s. Photo credit: Phillip Neusius

The biggest shock of graduate school was my professors’ almost immediate insistence that I pick what research I wanted to do. They pushed me to develop an expertise or skill within North American archaeology through my research. It sounds obvious to me now, but I think many beginning graduate students are like I was, lovers of the discipline’s knowledge, but a bit daunted by becoming an independent researcher. Developing an area of focus and specialty skills is part of becoming a professional archaeologist. One reason for this is because contemporary archaeological undertakings rely on teams of researchers, each contributing special skills and knowledge to accomplish the many aspects of excavation, analysis, and interpretation. If you envision archaeology as the solitary pursuit of an elusive artifact or site, you don’t have the picture quite right. Think instead of archaeological fieldwork involving groups of scientists working together to discover and carefully record many different bits of evidence about what the world used to be like and what people did in it. Also think about the many hours these scientists and others will spend not only in the field, but in the laboratory after an excavation is completed cleaning finds, describing artifacts, and analyzing data in order to make meaningful interpretations.

For someone like myself, who loved all aspects of anthropology, not to mention archaeology, and who had only gradually settled on North America as my geographic focus, picking a focus on entering graduate school was a hard task. There was so much that would be interesting to study! However, I did remember especially enjoying a research paper I had done in college on the relatively new interdisciplinary field of zooarchaeology, so under pressure, I told my professors I wanted to pursue this subfield in graduate school. Amazingly, this turned out to be a good choice of specialization for me. I found that I really love to work with collections of animal bone. For me, opening a bag of bone refuse from a site still is exciting. Bone identification work is a little like doing a jigsaw puzzle without all the pieces. It is challenging, and it takes concentration and careful observation to piece together what you can. There is so much to figure out about any single piece of bone! What animal is it? How healthy was the animal? What part of the animal’s body is it? Has it been burned or cut? How was the bone buried and changed after the humans were done with it? Then you have to record this information so it can be combined with other observations on the assemblage of bone you are looking at. After identification, making sense of what a collection of the bones means and correlating these kinds of data with other information from a site and region requires careful analysis, but also insight and creativity. To me it is endlessly fascinating.

Besides finding that I liked the work, choosing zooarchaeology was also serendipitous since my professors were looking for a student to work with them on this aspect of a big project they were undertaking in west-central Illinois centered on the Koster site, which was first inhabited more than 9000 years ago and then reinhabited by people right up into modern times. Most importantly the poorly known Archaic Period levels were numerous, well-preserved, and distinct from each other so we could add a lot of new information through our work. For my dissertation I was able to look at the animal remains from levels of this site dated between approximately 8500 and 6000 years ago, which represent how people used animals at that time.

Koster site strata. All those dark layers are from Archaic period camps at the site. Photo credit: Del Bastian, Center for American Archaeology.

Graduate school was intense, but I continued to be fascinated by archaeology’s ability to tell the story of people lost to standard Western history. In those days I was excited to be part of this science that could do so much more than describe and take care of cool artifacts. It was a heady thing to learn that I could contribute to what was known about people who lived thousands of years ago. In later years, I’ve had to think more critically than I did then about what a privilege it is for an archaeologist to learn about the history and lives of other ethnicities. Today’s archaeologists recognize their responsibility to present information about past people for both scholarly and public use in ways that are sensitive to what is considered sacred and private by the descendants of those people. I think this is an important change in perspective, but in the 1970s most archaeologists just wanted to show that people’s stories from the past could be told using the techniques of archaeology. I certainly was happy, if a little naively so, to have found a way to contribute to telling the human story.

If I consider entering graduate school as the start of my professional career as an archaeologist, I have been pursuing this career for more than 45 years! Over the years I have done zooarchaeological and archaeological work in the American Midwest, Southwest, Southeast, and Northeast working on telling the story of people who lived as long as 9000 years ago and as recently as the Sixteenth century. I’ve worked at several universities, in a small museum, and on small and large archaeological projects in the field of Cultural Resource Management (CRM) doing archaeological survey, site excavation, and zooarchaeological identification and analysis. I’ve written scholarly papers and articles as well as a textbook on North American archaeology. However, beginning in the late 1980s, I spent more than 31 years doing research and teaching anthropology and archaeology here in Pennsylvania at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. In this job I taught both undergraduates and graduate students, but, as is typical of university professors, I also spent time doing fieldwork and analysis as part of my research while at IUP. Fortunately, because archaeology is a team undertaking, I’ve been able to involve many students in my research. Working with students in research as they discover what fascinates them has been a highlight of being an archaeologist for me. I’ve now retired from teaching but not archaeology. I’m still working with both physical and digital archaeological collections both through CMNH and elsewhere and writing about archaeology. Who knows what this career still will bring me!

Drawing a profile at the Johnston site with one of my students in 2008. Photo credit: Erica Ausel, IUP Archaeology.

Tracking down a bone identification with one of my students in the Zooarchaeology Lab at IUP. Photo credit: Beverly Chiarulli.

If you are reading this blog because you are thinking about archaeology as either a career or a hobby, I hope you realize that mine is just one story among the many that could be told. Because there are so many aspects of archaeology, people come into it from all sorts of backgrounds and because of all sorts of interests. I think that it is important to remember though that it really is about understanding people and telling their stories through the artifacts and other evidence we find. This is what interested me in archaeology in the first place. Discovering the details of the human story is a giant undertaking. There is no shortage of research problems or work to do, but solving the puzzles presented by sites and collections is both challenging and fun. I’m certainly glad I decided to become an archaeologist and zooarchaeologist so many years ago!

Sarah W. Neusius is a Research Associate in the Section of Anthropology at Carnegie Museum of Natural History and Professor Emeritus, Department of Anthropology, Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Museum employees are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences and knowledge gained from working at the museum.

Definitions of Bolded Terms

anthropology -the study of humans including the physical, cultural and social aspects in the past and present.

cultural anthropology - the study of the cultural aspects of humans especially recent and contemporary social, technological, and ideological behavior observed among living people.

biological anthropology – the study of the biological or physical aspects of humans, including human biological evolution and past and present biological diversity.

linguistic anthropology - the study of the structure , history, and diversity of human languages as well as of the relationship between language and other aspects of culture.

archaeology - the study of past human behavior and culture through the analysis of material remains.

ethnographic – relating to the scientific description of people and cultures especially customs and beliefs.

Mesoamerican archaeology - the archaeology of the area from central Mexico southward through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica.

North American archaeology - the archaeology of the area from central Mexico northward throughout the United States and Canada.

zooarchaeology – a subarea of archaeology involves the identification of animal remains from archaeological sites and investigates the ecology and cultural uses of the animals represented.

assemblage - a collection of artifacts from the same archaeological context.

Archaic Period - a time period from approximately 10,000 BP to 3000 BP that is recognized in most of North America.

Cultural Resource Management (CRM) – an applied form of archaeology undertaken in response to laws that require archaeological investigations.

archaeological survey – the systematic process archaeologists use to locate, identify, and record archaeological site distribution on the landscape.

#Carnegie Museum of Natural History #Archaeology #Zooarchaeology #Archaeologist

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thetorchwoodarchive · 3 years

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[Image Description: a banner for the Across the Bay Crossover Fics You Didn’t See Coming fest, featuring beach signs on a tropical island, reading “Cardiff by the Sea”, the name of the fest, “authors”, “torchwood” (partially obscured), and “one shots” (partially obscured), and a warning sign where Myfanwy chases a swimmer]

ACROSS THE BAY: CROSSOVER FICS YOU DIDN’T SEE COMING MASTERPOST

Thank you everyone for submitting your crossover and fusion fic recommendations. Below are all submissions and some of our favorites!

Is it Insensitive for Me to Say by aliciajazmin (EstherJohnTosh | complete | 2441 | T)

Toshiko Sato and Esther Drummond absolutely will make fun of their boyfriend for deciding to attend an audition, while also attending said audition with him.

Crossover With: The Outer Worlds

Golden Apples and Norse Gods (Or How Ianto Got His Groove Back) by blackkat (JackIanto | complete | 1592 | G)

Ianto finds himself back from the dead and, apparently, in the position to double-cross a power-crazed Norse god intent on conquering the Earth by taking out a team of superheroes. Must be a Tuesday.

Crossover With: Avengers/MCU

The Magic of Torchwood by Bella the Strange (JackIanto, IantoJohn, JackOther, Non-Torchwood Ships | wip | 546,512 | T)

The Torchwood team have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Set between Adam and Reset. Rated T because of Jack Harkness, swearing, mature themes, slash etc… it’s Torchwood!

Crossover With: Harry Potter

Welcome to Torchwood by Jackdaw818 (Gen | complete | 1601 | T)

A strange creature behind the Ralphs, a break-in at the Museum of Forbidden Technologies, and visitors in Night Vale. Overall, a slightly unordinary day for Cecil Gershwin Palmer

Crossover With: Welcome to Night Vale

Torchwait for iiiiit by lady-demacabre (Gen | complete | 3k | K+)

When Shawn and Gus are called in on a case for an eccentric collector of alien objects, they get more than what they bargained for. One shot, Psych oriented.

Crossover With: Psych

Theme and Variations by nemo_baker (JackIanto, GwenRhys, OwenKatie | 5817 | T)

Time Agent Jack Harkness is sent back in time to solve the mystery of a mysterious train bombing. The problem is, he only has eight minutes to do it.

Written for Reel Torchwood screening 8 on Livejournal. Movie Prompt: Source Code (2011)

Crossover With: Source Code

Day Tripper by Croquemboucheballpit (Gement) (JackBessie the Third Doctor’s Car, Bessie the Third Doctor’s CarLightening McQueen (past) | complete | 2360 | M)

Bessie’s like any other companion: far from home, more than she appears, and always up for an adventure.

And Jack Harkness really will seduce anything that moves.

Crossover With: Pixar’s Cars

An American Volunteer by That_one_kid (SteveBucky, BuckyJackSteve | Complete | 4395 | T)

What if Captain Jack Harkness met Steve & Bucky during the war? What if he ran into them again, present day?

AKA

Captain Jack Harkness and his mission to seduce the two gorgeous, capable soldiers who keep running into him.

Crossover With: Captain America/MCU

Statement #0041708 - Future Sight by Jackdaw816 (Gen | complete | 1690 | T)

Statement of Lisa Hallett regarding a peculiar mirror found at a car boot sale

Crossover With: The Magnus Archives

(Un)Welcome Aboard by Jaune_Chat (Jack | Complete | 4,154 | T)

To make ends meet, Mal listens to a suggestion from Inara than he rent out the other shuttle. She has the perfect candidate, a charming Companion named Jack…

Crossover With: Firefly

Death and the Definitely-Not-A Maiden by Odsbodkins (JackIanto | Complete | 3,6K | PG-13)

When Jack dies, Death is there to meet him. Every time. Written in 2008 for the Doctor Who Crossover Ficathon. Takes in Torchwood to end S2, Doctor Who to end S3, Discworld to Soul Music.

Crossover With: Discworld

Remarkable by snowwhiteliar ( JackIanto, IantoLisa | Complete | 20.971 | PG-13)

Summary: Once upon a time, in a small village in a distant province of a peaceful kingdom, there lived a boy called Ianto

Crossover With: Fairy Tales

Got That Friday Feeling Again by NancyBrown (OwenOther, JackIanto, GwenRhys, GwenOwen | Complete | 18.3K | R)

HELP HELP HELP HELP

I AM TRAPPED IN A TIME BUBBLE

The magic marker all over the nice chintz wallpaper bled and smeared as Owen wrote in increasingly desperate lettering across the walls. Ls and Ps dragged down, wiggly at the end or drawn out in slashed strokes.

He ignored the pounding on the door frame. He’d shoved the wardrobe in front, which always kept Jack out for twenty three and a half minutes. He ignored the sweat and tears and snot dripping down his face, down his mouth. He ignored the high-pitched singing from his own throat, “If you want my future, forget my past,” chanted over and over.

HELP

Crossover With: Groundhog Day

Back, and Back, and Back a Little More (Future Optional) (JackIanto, JennyVastra | Complete | 32591 | M)

Accidentally shot into the past by a time-travelling car, Ianto has to fix his own mistakes or he won't have a future to go back to.

Crossover With: Back to the Future

Truth, Justice by NancyBrown (SupermanOwen | complete | 414 | M)

The green shit does not work. Warnings: dubcon (AMTDI)

Crossover With: Justice League Unlimited/DCAU/Superman

Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodies, or, A Humourous Interlude Between Epics by copperbadge (Gen | complete | 749 | T)

Ianto neglected to introduce himself as he informed the senior staff that Atlantis was now under the jurisdiction of Torchwood, whatever Torchwood is.

Crossover With: Stargate Atlantis

Never Have I Ever by st_aurafina (JackIanto, JackDoctor (past/implied), PepperTony (implied) | complete | 1714 | T)

Written for the prompt Ianto, Donna and Pepper end up at a secretaries'/assistants' conference and have a conversation about their bosses.

Crossover With: Ironman/MCU

Beware the Sparkles by elisi (JackIanto, JackEdwardBella | complete | 4793 | T)

It's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true, the bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats, and we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after. Oh and Jack has sex with sparkly vampires.

Crossover With: Twilight

The Death Note Discovery by KaibaGirl007 (JackIanto | complete | 18,992 | T)

“You’ve clearly just got a notebook belonging to some geek, a rather sick geek I’ll give you that, who likes to keep note of people’s deaths.” - Will the team resist the urge to use the Death Note or will one of them give into temptation?

Crossover With: Death Note

A Confluence of Personalities by galaxysoup (JackIanto | complete | 4839 | T)

Conner Kent’s body might be dead, but his soul has apparently decided to take the scenic route.

Crossover With: DC Comics/Young Justice Comics

Imposters Among Us by gwendolyncooper (JackIanto, GwenRhys | complete | 9117 | M)

The Torchwood team (+Rhys) are out for a night of fun when they end up on a spaceship with no power, no info, and no crew. Known only as THE SKELD, the team tries to fix the ship and figure out what happened to its previous occupants.

But something out there is killing them.

Something that may be someone they know.

Crossover With: Among Us

Traitors (Among Us) by princessoftheworlds (JackIanto | complete | 440 | G)

In a happy future, the team plays Among Us, and Ianto suffers.

Crossover With: Among US

Tagline: I saw the VIDEO. Got the CALL? What Next??? by BricklingGhost (TeamGwenee) (JackIanto, JackSamara | complete | 2424 | Not Rated)

'Tagline: I saw the VIDEO. Got the CALL? What Next???

Bollocks. That’s just a myth. Some git showing off and claiming to be the one person alive who Samara doesn’t bump off. He’ll be boasting that he’s been chosen to kill Voldemort next.'

When another unsuspecting victim falls foul of the cursed tape, he is pointed towards Captain Jack Harkness as his only hope for salvation.

Crossover With: The Ring

(My God, He Just) Came and Went by Brokenpitchpipe (SteveBucky | complete | 1591 | M)

It starts on a cold, snowy September night in 1916, on the day Winifred Barnes walks to Doris Lindow’s house to see her new telephone and catches the eye of a handsome young man on the other side of the street. He tips his hat as she sees him, and she flushes scarlet and nods in return.

And nine months later, a little baby boy screams his way into the world.

But that’s not when it starts. Not really.

Crossover With: Captain America/MCU

Beast Inside by Flamingbluepanda (JackIanto, OwenTosh, GwenRhys | complete | 26934 | M)

"Argue with anything else, but don’t argue with your own nature.” - Phillip Pullman

Inside us all, there is an animal that expresses our soul. How would the world change were those animals outside?

Crossover With: His Dark Materials

Rifts and Robots by Paycheckgurl (JackIanto | complete | 3021 | G)

Jack and Ianto’s date at the movies is interrupted by two robots with no theater etiquette.

Crossover With: Mystery Science Theater 3000

The Jack and Ianto Show by Paycheckgurl (JackIanto | WIP | 7392 | T)

Jack and Ianto are a regular couple, living a quiet life, and trying to fit into the quaint Village of West Castle. Sure they're keeping the secret that Jack is an immortal time traveler from the future, with a fantastical machine called a vortex manipulator that can manipulate time and space around them, but they have much more pressing concerns. Such as strict bosses and nosy neighbors. Everything is perfect, a dream come true.

And Jack is going to keep it that way.

Please Stand By...

Crossover With: WandaVision

Mutually Assured Uncooperation by princessoftheworlds (JackIanto, OwenTosh, MarthaMickey, FitzSimmons, LincolnDaisy (past) | complete | 31547 | T)

Aliens, time-travelling, resurrections. These are all experiences familiar to not just one but two top-secret organizations that have a hard time keeping a low-profile. Figures that they would encounter each other eventually.

Or: the five times that SHIELD and Torchwood had an encounter that neither were pleased with, and the one time they had to work together when two of their own were taken.

Or: There's Kree running amok in Cardiff, including a murdered one, and Torchwood is on the case, but so is SHIELD. Also, don't forget the memory-manipulating aliens there too!

Crossover With: Agents of Shield/MCU

all i know is (infatuations) by princessoftheworlds (JackIanto, JackJohn, OwenTosh, LisaIanto | complete | 439 | T)

Seventh-year Slytherin Ianto Jones handles a break up, getting a boyfriend, terrible emotional misunderstandings with his best friend Jack Harkness, being miserable, and reconciliation. (Not precisely in that order.)

Crossover With: Harry Potter

#torchwood #au:crossover #genre:crossover #event:across the bay crossover fest

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