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#a lot of my friends from high school who went straight to university feel less? grown-up? I guess?
cha1cedony · 2 months
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Was rereading some old OC stuff from high school and. oh my GOD the way I write 14 year olds now is soooooo different from how I wrote them when I was also 14 😭😭😭 The shit I was putting these freshman OCs through… omg
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silentsundown · 1 year
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"So, how do you like our first girls' night out?"
"Those drinks are pretty good", Beatrice said. "I haven't had a night out in a while, but I think we should hang out in there a little more."
"Not even with Aiganym?"
"Nah, she doesn't like bars. She'd rather dine out once in a while at a fancy restaurant than go for drinks. Alcohol causes her to flush really badly and she gets a bad headache and stuffed nose. I think it's an allergy of sorts. Her body is quite sensitive."
"I had no idea there was such a thing", Jess marveled. "I mean, there is probably an allergy to anything, but..."
"Turns out there is. We live in a weird world. I mean, there are people allergic to water, so..."
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Jess laughed and took another gulp of her drink.
"Dylan doesn't like drinking either, but I don't think it's an allergy. He just hates alcohol. He was fine drinking with me when we were dating, but now... he never has anything nice to say about a drink. He didn't say a thing about me going here though. I won't get shitfaced like I did back in my college years anyway. One trip to the ER back then was enough."
"I should introduce him to our former friend in Sunset Valley", Beatrice joked. "She was super straight edge. Hated anything that looked like a drink, drugs, and she was even not too comfortable with sex. Granted, she was in her 40s, but still.. I think they'd have got along very well. Introverted, not much into what people consider fun, loves books, athletic..."
"Looks like he found a good friend in your wife though. Don't worry, I don't think he'd steal her from you. He's not the homewrecker type."
"Oh, I'm not worried about it. She isn't really into guys. Say, Kinsey 5, whereas I'm a solid 3. Ok, perhaps 3.5, but he's literally not a threat to me."
"They say that in a group of four, there will always be two and two. Well, looks like we do have our pairs. You and I, Dylan and Aiganym."
"Hahaha, yes. I agree. It's an universal law of sorts, I guess. Though technically, I'm in two pairs at the same time."
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"By the way... I've been meaning to ask for a while, but how did you meet her?"
Beatrice chuckled.
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"...At the hospital. Seriously. Out of all places, at the goddamn hospital. We were in the same room and we got along really well. She had her appendix removed and stayed for a while, and I had a broken leg after a car hit me. We befriended each other and she visited me after being released. After a while, well, it became clear we weren't just friends. We couldn't get enough of each other, and we started dating shortly after."
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"Now that's an unusual place to meet someone, a hospital... meanwhile it's a friend who introduced me to her brother's friend, and the rest is history... Boring!"
"Oh, some people meet on cruises, some others on a parking lot", replied Beatrice, finishing her drink. "My ex-boyfriend's mother met her husband in his taxi. Yeah, she married her taxi driver. I believe they're still together to this day, even if it was back in high school. I also dated a girl from my flying club before I met Aiganym. People meet in all kinds of places. Just, yeah, not many meet in a hospital."
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As the conversation continued, the alcohol kicked in and the discussion started to take a more emotional turn. They went outside.
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Jess's eyes started filling up with bittersweet tears as they sat on the foldable chairs. It was less noisy there, and everyone knows that in the dark, or at least at night, hearts tend to open up more, moreso with a couple drinks into one's system.
"Beets, you think I should try and fix my marriage?"
Beatrice felt a bit taken aback by the question.
"I don't know... I don't like just giving out answers like that one, but it's up to you. From what you've told me though, it feels like his heart is not in it anymore. You can't fix it only by yourself. One-sided efforts will just lead you to a nasty burnout."
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"It feels like it's all my fault again. I wasn't enough."
"Sometimes things just don't work out, Jess... and it's hard, but it's better to accept it than to fight it. "The more you fight it, the worse it gets."
"I'm just never enough for anyone, I feel. Everyone likes Jess, Corporal Sigworth, but no one likes Jessica, except Christie, maybe. And even, she likes Mommy more than Jessica, but I never show her when I'm sad. I don't want her to ever think she makes me sad. She is the light of my life, and I'd choose her happiness above everything else."
"Why would she think she's the cause of your sadness anyway?"
"Kids make it all about themselves. And, well, when you've heard how you were a mistake every time your mom was mad at you, or that you made her sad, it does things to you. You end up putting on a face so people love you."
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"I can relate, for me, it was being strong. I had to be the example for my siblings, the strong one, the big sister who is almost a parent to the others. And in a way, I don't always know when I can slow down and stop. I feel useless when I'm out of order. I felt useless in the hospital, back when I met Aiganym, because with my leg in a cast and tiredness from the surgery, I couldn't do much. The damn thing got infected on top of that. I almost wanted them to cut off my leg just to get it over with, but it was treated rapidly."
"Ugh, I feel you. I've never broken a bone nor had surgery, but yeah, the uselessness..."
"Hm. It put things into perspective for me, kind of. I think that's also why I fell in love with her. It's because in her eyes, I didn't have to be strong. She saw me in my most vulnerable moments, and was pretty much the only one who did."
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"I think I should dine out with Dylan sometime, just to try and talk with him about that in a neutral place. If you want, you could babysit Christie while we do that. I just don't want her to... you know, hear about all of this, and have her little heart broken."
"Sure, I'd be happy keeping an eye on her. Aiganym would love that as well. But, you know, if... that happens, her heart will be a little bit broken regardless. It's always hard when your parents don't love each other anymore."
Jess sighed. Beatrice made a small gesture and she snuggled up to her. They weren't much talking anymore, but that silence and the warmth of each other's bodies was enough.
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They stayed like that for a while until it was time to go home. It was close to midnight already, better not be home too late.
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⚛ 》 》 》 ◆ 《 《 《 ⚛ 》 》 》 ◆ 《 《 《 ⚛
Previous ~ Chronological ~ Next Pose in the penultimate shot by @kreiistn
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Tw for weight issues, potential ED and mention of EDs, unhealthy behaviors, emetophobia tw, meds
I wanted to know if there's a name for this so that I can start tackling it better?
In high school I was a normal weight. I wasn't overweight but my friends were all taller and underweight. I would sometimes get teased for being "chubby" and not dieting (like having people at lunch make comments about what I was eating and point the calories out), but never let it bother me. I knew my BMI was fine, it just looked like I had a chubbier shape from being short, and from my friends having a different body type.
In university I started to get intense panic attacks, which would lead to vomiting. I know some people gain weight in college but I went in the totally opposite direction. Panic would make me throw up, and I'd lose my appetite for days. I lost 30% of my body weight.
I graduated now, but I have never been able to put back on the weight I lost. And I'm still stuck in the cycle of throwing up during intense panic attacks, and then being unable to eat for a few days. However... I then started getting into the habit of binge eating?
I'll go over this week, for example:
Day 1 - Feeling anxious, might still manage a few bites of a very small snack which I don't finish, but overall not have much appetite and be feeling nauseous the whole day so for the most part I'll be avoiding food Day 2 - Finally the feelings of anxiety are too much to bear, and I'll throw up while experiencing other panic symptoms like heart palpitations, racing thoughts, tension headaches, etc. (sometimes for several hours straight, even if I don't have anything in my stomach, or if I try to drink water I just throw up the water and have kind of "foamy vomit"), No food Day 3 - Panic has subsided but I'll still have no appetite. No food Day 4 - Binge eat a variety of different foods, usually at night (even though I know you're "not supposed to eat" at night, but whatever)
I've had trouble with doctors because just based on my weight alone, they'll accuse me of being anorexic. I've had family members suspect that I'm anorexic too. Finally, I had someone point out that I looked like I had sialadenosis (swollen salivary glands, which I know people associate with bulimia).
However, forgive me if I'm wrong but I always grew up with the thought that eating disorders had to do with people who don't want to gain weight, or who purposely want to lose weight, while in my case, I'm not trying to lose weight, and actually feel extremely unsatisfied that I don't weight more?
Eating disorders were a huge thing at my high school and it always had to do with them feeling too heavy and wanting to avoid putting on weight, from what they said around me. But when I vomit or don't eat, it's not because I don't want to gain weight. It's because my body is responding to extreme stress. And the binging will be because after going for a while without eating, I get hit by a huge amount of hunger and tend to overdo it (not purposely but just I get cravings and want to keep eating lots of different things).
A doctor prescribed me a medication that's supposed to help me with my appetite, but the problem is that it causes drowsiness in me, so I'll take it and start to feel a little hungry but then I fall asleep before I eat anything. I have tiredness all throughout the day, so there's no time to take it when I'm less sleepy since I'm basically always sleepy. I've also tried some anxiety medications and one helps me but I still get panic attacks, I know medication is supposed to go hand in hand with lifestyle changes, but my life feels like it's super chaotic and unstable for a bunch of reasons so instead of having a stable life, I just jump from one panic-inducing life situation to the next.
Do you have any experience in knowing what this is called, and how to deal with it? Thank you.
Hi anon,
First of all I'm sorry about what you've been through, and thank you for sharing your experience.
It seems like you may be dealing with a complex combination of symptoms related to food, anxiety, and panic attacks. While I'm not an expert in eating disorders, I can do my best to listen and provide suggestions based on my limited knowledge of eating disorders. Ultimately, it's important to seek professional help to receive an accurate assessment and diagnosis.
From my understanding, anorexia essentially means that you avoid eating as much as possible and when you do eat, it's insufficient. However, it sounds like you may be dealing with some kind of binge purge cycle where you eat a lot but throw up. But, like you said, bulimia necessitates voluntary purging, whereas in your case it sounds like you're throwing up out of anxiety and panic, rather than intentionally expelling any food. Unfortunately I'm not sure what this could be.
It sounds like the medication your doctor prescribed isn't really helping, and you may want to consider having a conversation with your doctor to explore other options. It's also worth noting that while something like an anxiety medication is supposed to go hand in hand with lifestyle changes, it can serve as sort of a safety net during this tumultuous time. I know when I started medication at 16 I was dangerously depressed and was only just embarking on my recovery journey, so for a long time the medication was pretty much doing all the work until I could get on my feet and pull my own weight, and that's okay. If it makes your life any easier then it's needed.
I think a key thing that's missing from this equation is what may be causing your panic attacks and anxiety, as these are symptoms of a larger problem. It's seems very apparent that your panic attacks are debilitating, making you go days without eating, which is really bad for your body and your overall health. I'm not sure if you know where this panic or anxiety is coming from, but it could be something to explore with the guidance of a mental health professional such as a therapist, ideally one who specializes in eating disorders. Even if you don't immediately discover the source of your panic, a therapist could help you minimize the effects of your panic attacks, and hopefully work up to a more consistent diet.
I hope I could help. If anyone has any comments or suggestions, feel free to add on. Otherwise, please let us know if you need anything.
-Bun
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hello!! could i kindly request for a student campus crush! wonwoo hehe and you’re best friends and have unrequited feelings but u dont know if he feels the same so over a sleepover u tried confessing and you can continue from there hehe -🐼
let me hear you say | j. ww
✎ pairing: best friend!wonwoo x female reader
✎ genre: collegel!au, friends to lovers!au, mostly fluff
✎ warnings: none!
✎ wc: 2.40 k words
✎ notes: hi 🐼 anon! i got a little carried away with this one because soft, cuddly wonwoo makes my stomach do flips but i hope you like it! i'm not sure how i feel about my portrayal of yn here because i wanted them to be really supportive of wonwoo but kind of having a hard time because of their feelings towards him. i hope i was able to express that without portraying them as kind of eh :/
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“Don’t you ever get tired?” You take a quick glance at your best friend as he folds up another piece of paper with a phone number written on it.
“Of what?”
“Of everyone in this school falling head over heels for you,” You say like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, proceeding to look back down at your notes. In reality, you were trying to prevent yourself from looking at the cute (albeit, confused) way your best friend was staring at you over your abrupt question.
“Well I can’t say I’m not flattered, but there aren’t really that many people yn,”
A total lie, you think to yourself. Every time you two walked around campus, your best friend attracted the adoring stares of all your classmates like some hotshot celebrity. Yes, he was popular, and yes, he totally deserved it, but if everyone knew how dorky he was, maybe they wouldn’t be so quick to hand him their number after a single conversation.
Another lie, if everyone knew what a nerd Jeon Wonwoo actually was, they’d probably fall for him harder. You would know of course, first hand experience taught you a lot of things.
It taught you how endearing it was when Wonwoo wore oversized clothing, so that he could pull the sleeves over his palms when sipping on a hot drink at the local campus cafe. It made you realize his habit of pushing his glasses up his nose, because he was too stubborn to get the bridge adjusted. It made your insides melt whenever he was nervous because he had a habit of fiddling with his fingers. You were certain that if anyone was completely head over heels and absolutely smitten by him, it was definitely you.
“Not many people my ass,” you scoffed, “you spoke to her once, just once! And now you are holding her number.” Wonwoo laughs at your poor attempt at hiding your annoyance, “For your information, we were talking about a group project, and exchanging contact information. Nothing more, and nothing less.”
You gave a little huff before going back to pretend-studying, you definitely couldn’t focus when he was sitting right across from you. You knew you were more prone to jumping to conclusions nowadays, and you hoped that Wonwoo didn’t notice your shift in behaviour. In reality, you couldn’t help but feel a little pang of worry whenever your best friend was asked out on another date. And while he rejected the offer every time, you worried that one day he might say yes and you could lose him forever.
Not that you were against Wonwoo falling in love someday. If he found a good person that he wanted to be with for the rest of his life, you would support him in a heartbeat. It was just the selfish feeling that blossomed in your chest that prevented you from feeling any true happiness for these kinds of situations, and you hated it.
You knew that he would never abandon you completely, because Wonwoo was the best friend you could ever ask for. But you also knew that it would kill you inside to see him sweep someone else off their feet.
You’ve known Wonwoo since high school, and you definitely harboured a puppy crush on him all of first year. This was back when he was still trading pokemon cards in the gym stairwell and poking at you to buy him something from the milk vending machine. The crush went away eventually and you found yourself enjoying the rest of your high school career with your closest confidant by your side.
Once you both entered university, Wonwoo had a sudden growth spurt that now put him a total head taller than you. He no longer lurked at the stairwells during lunch and instead made lots of new friends that he went out for coffee with. He started dressing nicer, and once he exchanged his old glasses for a pair of round silver ones that rested on his nose so perfectly, he instantly transformed into someone straight out of a kdrama.
Now, you have caught feelings again. And you’re scared to admit that this time a puppy crush doesn’t even encapsulate everything you’ve been feeling lately. Of course Wonwoo’s sudden change in appearance didn’t spark anything new in your feelings towards him. It was the fact that he had a new air around him that was just completely different.
Wonwoo in high school was shy, and you loved him for who he was. You two had your own small circle of friends and you would spend all your time reading or playing games in his bedroom. Wonwoo in college however, was breaking out of his shell and being the first to approach people and make new friends. He was still introverted of course, shyness and introvertedness were two different things after all. But you were proud to see Wonwoo take the initiative to make plans more often and reach out.
Wonwoo has also gotten a lot more comfortable around you. He’s grown fond of resting his head on your shoulder after a long day of classes, and wrapping you in his sweaters whenever you came by his flat. In conclusion, everything about university student Wonwoo, was driving you, (and probably the entire campus) crazy.
“Hello? yn? Don’t you have a class soon?”
You swat away the hand that was waving in front of your face to meet the eyes of the cause of all your heart troubles. One smile from Wonwoo and you were in shambles. You had it really, really bad. “Right, right, sorry I was just...distracted.”
“We’re still on for tonight right? You can just head straight to my dorm after your last class.”
“Of course Won, did you really think I was going to miss out on another rewatch of Extraordinary You?”
“Of course not,” Wonwoo chuckled. You were met with another one of those soft gazes from him, and you immediately tried to break your stare. Something in your heart tells you that you should just confess right now, and that Wonwoo was a sensible individual who wouldn’t let go of your friendship if he didn’t feel the same way.
“Hey Won, can I tell you something after class later?”
“Of course.” There was that smile again. If you weren’t so busy trying to slow your heart rate down, you would have caught the way his eyes brightened at hearing your question, and the way he looked down to twindle with his fingers.
You give Wonwoo your own smile before heading off to your last detour of the day.
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Sleepovers with Wonwoo always consisted of a mountain of blankets, a never ending pile of snacks and a show to watch before eventually both of you fell asleep. When you arrived at his flat just as he was adding the finishing touches to a home cooked dinner, you realized that sleepovers with Wonwoo also consisted of another thing: Your tragic inability to keep your heart rate down.
“Dinner will be ready in a bit, you can just wash up and get changed for now,” Wonwoo turns to greet you before adding some pepper to the tteokbokki.
You nod and head over to his bathroom, where you already find your change of clothes resting on the counter. Any outsider would have been under the impression that you and Wonwoo lived together, considering that pieces of you were scattered all over his apartment. From the matching toothbrushes that were kept by the sink, to the drawer reserved only for your clothes in his bedroom.
The only reason that you and Wonwoo didn’t room together upon entering university, was the fact that your parents were wary of you rooming with a boy you weren’t even dating. Not that it mattered now, considering that you at least spent two nights at his place away from your own dorm.
After you showered and changed into your pajamas, you realized that Wonwoo had given you one of his sweaters to wear, instead of the usual shirts you slept in. Usually you would have raided his bedroom after dinner to steal one (you slept much better when you wore his clothing) but this time it appeared that he had taken the initiative for you.
Once you stepped out of the bathroom, you saw that Wonwoo was already sitting at the dining table and was on his phone. It looked like he was texting someone, and you felt your heart sink a little when he laughed at a message. No, you are not going to be jealous. You are going to be happy for your friend because he deserves all the happiness in the world.
“Is that the girl from your group project?” You sat down across from him and started piling the tteokbokki and rice onto your plate. “Yeah, she said that the professor just sent out a mass email to our class, saying that we were going to be given an extension. Turns out that email was meant for another course, but everyone is already celebrating the new deadline.”
Wonwoo shuts off his phone and turns to you, “Was there something you wanted to tell me today?”
Right. You were going to confess your feelings. It was now or never, and you weren’t sure if you could hold it in much longer. “I can just tell you after dinner, I’m starving.”
Tragic. Tragic. Tragic. Why couldn’t you just say the words, “Hey Won, I have feelings for you, do you feel the same way?” Must you be in a spiraling paradox of questioning the presence of unrequited love in the relationship you had with your best friend? Yes, most definitely yes. Since the world likes to make everything difficult for those in love.
Dinner was eaten in a comfortable silence for the most part. You liked that you never felt the need to fill the air with more conversation whenever you were with Wonwoo. There were days where you would just sit in each other’s presence and do your own thing, and those days left you with lots of time to ponder on your feelings for him. Tonight was the night that you were going to say these feelings aloud for the first time...you just needed a bit more time to procrastinate.
After you both finished your food, you relocated yourselves to the couch. You fidgeted with the end of your (his) sweater while Wonwoo searched for the show on Netflix. You figured that you would let him know in the morning, since there was a chance that you two would fall asleep before the episode ended. And you didn’t want to confess beforehand either, in fear of having to endure a brutal one hour of awkward tension if he didn’t feel the same way.
“Who would have thought that out of all the days the wifi could have chosen to bail on us, they chose the day where we were going to find out whether Haru belonged to Dan-oh’s story or not,” Wonwoo fiddles with the remote some more, while you panic in silence at the thought of spending the night with no distractions from your feelings.
“It’s not like we don’t already know how it ends,” You take deep quiet breaths to calm yourself down, you can definitely make it through the night, “We can just do other things.”
“What do you have in mind?”
You couldn’t answer him right away. The only thing you had on your mind was the fact that Wonwoo’s hand was now resting on your knee and that it was baffling how good he could look in pajamas. Wonwoo, sensing your inability to form words nervously glanced up at you before moving the conversation in a different direction, “Look, I know you had something to tell me today yn, but I realized that I wanted to share something with you too. I am in love-”
“I am in love with you Jeon Wonwoo!”
There. You blurted out a long-awaited confession before the anticipation consumed you whole. You couldn’t tear your eyes away from your hands in fear of seeing the look on Wonwoo’s face.
“Let me hear you say it again.”
“What?” You turn to Wonwoo, who no longer looked nervous. Instead, he wore the biggest shit-eating grin on his face that made you want to both kiss and strangle him. “Say it again.”
“Not when you look like you just won the lottery you nerd, you didn’t even say-”
“I am in love with you too yn.”
Well, you were never one to complain about the fact that your feelings were returned. But the way Wonwoo was cooing at your adorable expression of shock only made you want to shove him off the couch.
Which you proceeded to do.
“Hey! Aren’t you happy that I like you too?”
“Of course I’m happy! You didn’t have to try to beat me to my confession though, tonight was going to be my night!”
“You didn’t seem like you were going to say anything for the rest of the evening! You were going to wait until the next day weren’t you?”
Absolutely yes. “No!”
Any remaining tension in the atmosphere washed away as you and Wonwoo made fun of each other on the living room floor. You were beyond relieved and a little giddy that your best friend in the whole wide world saw you in the way that you saw him.
“But on a more serious note Won, were you also going to confess tonight too?”
“Actually no, but once you came out of the washroom wearing my sweater, I just had to say it before I tackled you with cuddles or something.”
“You gave me your sweater instead of my clothes to wear!”
“I know!” Wonwoo was holding your hand now and rubbing circles into your palm. The idea of cuddling the entire night didn’t sound so bad. “But you looked all nervous and shy and I was hoping that you were going to be the one to say something first.”
“Can we just agree that we confessed at the same time?” As the adrenaline from the confession began to slip away you suddenly became very tired, and you were hoping to just spend the night in the arms of your favourite person.
“Deal. So can we cuddle now?”
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celamoon · 3 years
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are requests open? because imagine saiki with a dumb childhood friend (to lovers? 👀) who's just a little too naive. she's caught him using his powers before and just went oh, and he's pretty sure her brain didn't even process what he was doing. and she attracts so many boys but she's just clueless so now saiki has to shoo them away from her <3
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Anon your brain is astronomically huge I’m in love with this concept.
To clear things up though I do take requests (suggestions) but I won’t always write them since some make me go bRR and others don't really speak to me so it depends on what it is. (also because I'm not technically a writing blog pfft)
You wrote the reader as a she so I’m going to use female pronouns for this one. I hope I did your request justice!
Warnings: none, just fluff
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Saiki was absolutely terrified when you first walked in on him using his powers in second grade. I mean it wasn’t like Akechi didn’t figure it out, but you straight up walked in on Saiki while he blew the classroom to pieces. He was about to erase your memory of the incident before you had tilted your head cutely with a pout. 
“Did someone break in?” You rushed off to grab the first aid kit to try and help the others.
Kusuo read your thoughts to see if you suspected that he was a psychic and the only thing he got from your thoughts were 'oh, I guess Akechi was right in some way'
Saiki had watched you put a bandaid on the wounds and secretly helped you heal the others. No one believed you when you said the classroom was blown up the next day, I mean it was like someone reversed time on it! Nothing was scattered or anything else of the sort!
Saiki also transferred away that time. You were kinda sad, you wanted to befriend the kid who was standing in the middle of the room after the supposedly ‘break in’.  You were pleased when you moved shortly after with your parent’s job. So you ended up at Saiki’s school again.
That was a while ago though, both of you have grown by now. You had followed Saiki around each time he moved, you were convinced that was the universe telling you to become best friends with him. (It wasn’t, you’d later on find out that Saiki had used mind control so you could follow each school he went to).
“Kuu!” Saiki looks away from the passing car and nods at you. 
Both of you were in your second year of high school now. Saiki hadn’t changed much other than the glasses and growth spurt. You on the other hand? You had grown impressively. You were prettier, taller, and for some odd reason the universe blessed you with an ideal body. This meant trouble.
“Did you wait long?” You close the gate to your place as Saiki shook his head.
‘Same as always,’
“Ah, alright then,” You hum. “Anything new happen?”
‘I literally saw you less than ten hours ago Y/n.’
“So? Lots of things can happen in ten hours! For all we know you could’ve travelled to Kyoto and back!” You grinned. Saiki glared your way before continuing to walk.
“You’re so boring now Kuu-chan,” You grumble. Saiki chooses to ignore your words as he watches Nendou and the others join the two of you. Soon enough, you guys are at school.
“Ah, another letter,” You slip out your shoes to change into and set the letter into your bookbag. You head over to your desk and pull it out from the bag.
“Who is it from this time?” Kaidou looks at the letter on the desk and you hum.
“I think… ah it says someone wants to meet up with me on the rooftop,” you read.
‘Good grief, I thought you made it clear that you weren’t interested last time’ Saiki peers over your shoulder, caging you in, and you jump slightly.
“I mean it wouldn’t hurt actually going…”
“Y/n’s getting a boyfriend?” Yumehara joins your group at the shoe lockers and you shake your head.
“Someone wrote me a letter saying they want to meet up,” You show her the letter and the girl inwardly sighs. ‘How come Y/n-chan was able to pull people so easily and I couldn’t even find a good boy to date!’
‘That’s because you’re too obsessive’ Saiki reminds inwardly.
“You’re going?”
“Don’t worry! I, the jet black wings, can accompany you to meet up with whoever this is!” Kaidou offers.
“I’ll come with Nendou if you don’t want anything creepy to happen,” Kuboyasu smiles.
“A-ah it’s alright! I’ll just bring Kuu with me,” You smile.
“You sure?” 
“Mhm!” You grin. “I’ll be fine with Kuu,”
Speaking honestly, you’re quite nervous. You had gotten letters before, but none of them actually asked you to meet up. Most of them could be read, and then Saiki would offer you to toss them out in some way. Your favourite was when he used his pyrokinesis to burn it in his hand, he was always helping you reject people.
“Offu,”
“Good morning Teruhashi offu!” 
“Good morning everyone!” Teruhashi smiles, flowers bloomed in the room because of that.
“Good morning Teruhashi-san!” You grinned as she walked over. 
“Good morning Y/n-chan! Oh is that a letter?” Teruhashi notices the envelope in your hands. ‘Why did she get a letter? Is she being confessed to? Ugh! No calm down Teruhashi, you’re a pretty perfect girl. You don’t need to be jealous, it’s just one letter’
“Yeah… It tells me to meet up with them at the roof,” You mumble. “Teruhashi-san how do you turn people down?”
“A-ah?”
“You’re always being confessed to right? How do you do it?” Your eyes glimmer and Saiki grimaces. Out of all the people you admire, you decide to admire Teruhashi. It wasn’t like she was rude, but it was more like she was fake.
“A-ah well…” Teruhashi panics inwardly as she looks for an answer. ‘I mean none of these high school boys can match up to me. Sure Saiki-san makes me feel different but seriously he doesn’t even have an income of 40 million yen… what do I tell her?!’
“It’s ok if you’re not too sure either Teruhashi-san,” You smile. “Sometimes we reject people so naturally that we don’t even realize it,”
“A-ah yea… sorry it’s just I don’t get confessed to that much…”
“Ah right!” You grin. “You’re better than everyone here so it would make sense that no one dares to approach you!”
“H-hUH? That’s not true!” Teruhashi flushes red at your compliment and you smile.
The rest of the school day passes as usual, and soon the final bell rings. You pack your bags and wander to the roof to meet up with the supposed secret admirer. Saiki walks beside you, ready to kill someone if you asked. 
“Uh you can stay here, I’ll call you if he tries anything,” You open the door to the roof and Saiki is forced to use clairvoyance on you.
“H-Hi! Y/n-san, uh I’m Hito-kun from class 2… will you go out with me?” The boy bows and you’re thrown off guard.
“Ah, Hito-kun there’s a bit of an issue, uh I already have a crush on someone…” You half lie. Sure you thought Saiki was cute, but he was off limits since you know, best friend things.
“A-ah? Is it Saiki-san? I’m sorry! I thought you thought of him as a friend so I took the chance-“
“I-It’s ok! Kuu’s my best friend, it’s just I’m suspicious that he’s aromatic so uh-“ Saiki slams the door to the roof open and you panic. You forgot he was there. The boy who was previously confessing to you flushes red and rushes off with an apology.
“Kuu! I- uh, you heard nothing…?”
‘Y/n.’
“I know you aren’t interested in me or anything but like feelings work like that you know? Ugh I just ruined our friendship didn’t I…” You shrink onto the floor and Saiki walks up to you, crouching down to meet you eye to eye.
‘Y/n.’
“What…” you mumble.
‘I… I’m not too sure what I feel around you, but I think I like you too,’
“Nice joke Kusuo, sure made me feel so much better,” you grumble, looking away. “I may be dumb but I’m not that dumb,”
‘I’m not joking,’ Saiki forces you to meet his gaze. “I like you too.”
You pause when he actually speaks. 
‘Did I kill you?’
“Kuu you can’t just say that and not expect me to break down!” You shove your face into your knees and Saiki smiles.
‘I’ll keep reminding you until you’re convinced, and I’ll take care of you until you know.’
“Then I’ll stick by you until this endless loop ends,” You smile, holding up your pinky.
You two sealed a promise that day.
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missmentelle · 4 years
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 A partner who won’t do their share of household chores is a dealbreaker. 
A partner who doesn’t manage their money responsibly is a dealbreaker.
A partner who has no basic life skills - and no interest in learning any - is a dealbreaker. 
A partner who is proud of their inability to care for themselves is a dealbreaker.
A partner who expects you to parent them is a dealbreaker. 
A partner who makes you take responsibility for their life is a dealbreaker. 
I answer a lot of questions about relationships - and spend a lot of time browsing relationship blogs - and there’s a big issue that I keep seeing over and over again: people who are at the end of their rope because their partner refuses to be a functional adult. 
The posters - who are usually women, but not always - are frustrated that their partners can’t or won’t take basic responsibility for their own lives, and they are exhausted from having to “parent” their partners. Many are in a position where they have to constantly chase down their partner to do basic chores, pay their share of bills or take care of their basic work and school responsibilities, day after day after day. There are certainly times in a relationship when one partner may need to support the other, and one partner may have a disability or medical issue that changes the types of chores they can do, but these situations are well beyond that - many of these people have been dealing with these issues non-stop for years. By the time they’re frustrated enough to turn to the internet for help, they may have had dozens of conversations with their partner about the issue and seen their partner break just as many promises, and they are desperate to find a way to make their partner take the problem seriously and finally change their ways. 
Unfortunately, if you’re in this situation, I don’t have good news for you: your partner is hugely benefiting from this arrangement, and if they’ve been living this way for months or years, it’s unlikely that they’ll ever change. 
Take it from me. When I graduated from university, I moved in with my boyfriend at the time. He had dropped out of college for the second time earlier that year, and was taking some time off to work and mature and “find himself” while he figured out what he wanted to do with his life. 
At least, that was the plan. 
In reality, however, he did nothing. For two straight years. He lost a series of jobs after less than a month because he repeatedly turned up late or simply didn’t go at all. The money that he did have went to video games, takeout and snowboarding equipment - I covered his share of the rent and utilities for months, while I was supposed to be saving money for grad school. Even though I was working full-time and he was mostly unemployed, all of the household chores would fall on me - even asking him to do something as simple as putting his own dirty dishes in the dishwasher or taking the garbage out required constant reminders, pleading, nagging, begging and arguing. It was more work to get him to do a simple task than it was for me to just do it myself, even if I was exhausted and run-down from a stressful day at work. The few times he could be convinced to help out, he did a poor job on purpose, claimed that he was “no good” at chores, and that I’d be better off just doing it for him. And so eventually, I stopped fighting with him - I did absolutely everything by myself, while he sat on the couch and played on his iPad and demanded to know when dinner would be ready. It was an exhausting way to live. 
After two years of this, it dawned on me that I did not actually have a partner - I had a 23-year-old child. I had to do everything for him - I was the one typing up resumes and submitting applications for jobs that he lost two weeks in. I was the one coming home to find my pans burnt and ruined because he’d left food cooking on the stove on high for hours while I was away. His parents gave him thousands of dollars for rent and utilities, and I never saw a dime of it - he frittered it away on junk while racking up thousands of dollars in credit card debt that he refused to deal with. His wealthy parents offered him unlimited access to the best therapists and doctors that money could buy if depression was the issue, but he refused and claimed it wasn’t - he just didn’t like chores and didn’t feel like working. After two years of pleading and nagging and teaching him over and over again, he claimed to still not know how to use a vacuum cleaner, washing machine or dishwasher, even while he easily learned how to use complicated technical equipment for his hobbies. In two years, he had made dozens of promises to change his ways and to start being an equal partner, but none of those promises ever stuck - he’d be good for a day or two, and quickly slid back into “I’ll do it later” and then “you’re better at it, it’ll be easier if you just do it for me”. We had great conversations and made each other laugh and were the best of friends, but ultimately, he was draining the life out of me. He watched me struggle for years and chose his own convenience over supporting and helping me. 
And I was done. 
It can feel petty or silly to say that you are walking away from a long-term relationship because of dirty dishes. But it’s not really about the dishes. It’s so much more than that. It’s about having a partner who values your time and happiness as much as they value their own. It’s about having someone who helps you carry the burdens of life, rather than stacking theirs on top of yours and walking away. A partner who truly cares for you doesn’t sacrifice you for their own convenience - they put the work in. 
Even if that work is dishes. 
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handsmotif · 3 years
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The Queercoding of Pinky and the Brain
This originally was just me infodumping to my friends on discord, but I decided it might be interesting to some people on here, so I polished it up and made it an actual essay lmao
To start, we’re going to break this into 2 sections -- the relationship between the mice, and Pinky’s relationship with gender, because queercoding doesn’t just mean gay!
For a 90′s show, Pinky and the Brain (and its mother show, Animaniacs) was very progressive for its time! But there were still lots of things that they couldn’t slip by censors, and thus, that’s where we have to read between the lines. And that is something I wanted to clarify here before we dive in, the actual meaning of queercoding. It’s NOT the same as queerbaiting. Queerbaiting is when the people producing certain media purposefully dangle the possibility of queer representation to lure in audiences (most prominent examples are BBC Sherlock, Riverdale, and Supernatural I GUESS? who knows abt that last one anymore), but never follow through, purely for profit. Queercoding is when media producers WANT to write in queer representation, but can’t, usually because the censors won’t let them. So, they must resort to subtext. (example: the policemen from Gravity Falls) It could also be unintentional, simply assigning certain characteristics associated with the LGBT community to characters. (example: Bugs Bunny, many Disney villains) Either way, it heavily relies on the audience picking up subtext, but whether it’s malicious or not varies, depending on the media. Bugs Bunny is an example of positive accidental queercoding, while a lot of Disney villains are negative examples.
Now, to actually discuss the gay little mice! Pinky and the Brain, whether it be intentional or not (based off comments from Maurice LaMarche, Rob Paulsen, and Tom Ruegger, signs strongly point to intentional, but it’s never been explicitly confirmed), is an example of positive queercoding.
There are many moments that I could pick out to discuss here, but we’ll start with some VERY on the nose gay metaphors. 
Remember Romy? If you don’t, that’s their actual biological son! Romy came about due to a cloning accident, where their DNA got combined and spat him out. 
There’s SO many things I could say about Romy. Every appearance he makes has an overarching gay metaphor as the plot. His first appearance in the episode Brinky (yeah it’s literally titled their ship name), it deals with his dads (WHICH I ALSO WANT TO POINT OUT, he DOES call them both dad, and they do both call him their son) disapproving of the fact that he wants to leave home and not follow in their footsteps of taking over the world. Brain even goes as far as disowning him whenever he tells him, which is certainly something a lot of queer people can unfortunately relate to. Also seen a lot in this episode is Pinky and Brain arguing even more than a married couple than usual, which pushes Romy away even further. Later, when Romy eventually does leave, and Brain starts to regret chasing him away, he tries desperately to reach out to him, but Romy doesn’t want anything to do with him. They end up tracking him down to an apartment building, where Romy is now living with his human girlfriend. When questioned about their relationship, the girlfriend, named Bunny, goes off on a tangent about how people shouldn’t judge others based on labels or relationships (hello?), and that Brain needs to be more tolerant. Brain apologizes and Romy forgives him. Happy ending.
Romy’s only other appearance is in the comics. Essentially, the plot of this one is that Brain wants to become the president of the local high school’s PTA, but he needs Romy’s help to make it look like he has a normal home life. He also enlists the help of Billie, the obligatory Woman introduced to make sure Brain doesn’t look as gay as he actually is, that he has a crush on. She pretends to be his girlfriend, and Pinky pretends to be Romy’s uncle, while they make up the story that Romy’s actual mother was lost at sea. Because if the organization found out that Brain has a son with a MAN??? THINK of the controversy! Anyway, the plan works, and Brain actually manages to get elected as president. Throughout this though, Pinky gets WEIRDLY jealous that Brain keeps brushing him aside for Billie. To the point where during Brain’s inauguration, Pinky actually dresses up as the wife/mother lost at sea and storms into the room.
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[ID: Comic panels of Pinky, Brain, and Romy on stage at the inauguration ceremony. Pinky busts into room wearing drag, saying, “Yoo hoo! I’m back from years lost at sea to be with my son and ungrateful husband! Narf!” He then hugs Romy, while glaring at Brain. He goes on to say, “I’ll stand by your side, even though you left me behind!” The people in the audience begin to question this, saying, “Oh great fuzzy bangs!”, “What’d she say?!”, “He deserted her to be with that other woman!”, “What kind of monster is he?!”. Brain then rips off Pinky’s wig and says, “This isn’t my wife! This isn’t even a woman! It’s my roommate, Pinky.” Pinky replies, “Well, yes... But Romy really is my son! Poit!” And Brain responds, “N-Nonsense! He’s my son!” More people in the audience angrily speak up, saying, “What’s that?”, “He lives with a guy who likes to dress up in women’s clothing and the both claim to be that kid’s father!”, “Grumble! Mutter!” /END ID]
Needless to say, this doesn’t end well for them. What we can conclude from this is that homophobia exists in the Pinky and the Brain universe, and our characters are directly affected by it.
Moving on, And-There-Was-Only-One-Bed is a pretty common occurrence with these two. Their cage is big, they have plenty of room for two beds, but? They choose to sleep together? Even in some times where this has been inconsistent and they DO have separate beds, they’re always RIGHT next to each other. (what if we put our minecraft beds together ❤😳)
I would like to mention the episode, You’ll Never Eat Food Pellets In This Town Again! This episode is interesting to say the least. Deals with a lot of the meta of the show. Anyway. In this episode, Brain has a nightmare that he’s in a loveless marriage with Billie. You know, the woman he’s supposed to have a crush on. In the end, he wakes up from the nightmare in the same bed as Pinky.
Speaking of female love interests, Pinky is seen having multiple relationships with characters of different species. Any time this is brought up by Brain, Pinky counters with Brain being too intolerant. An honorable mention with this is in Wakko’s Wish, when Pinky is with Pharfignewton, and Brain’s constant pestering about their relationship could be read as jealousy. Pinky needs a mousy date, after all!
Something else I would like to mention is in one episode (I forget what it’s called, I’ll try to look it up later and edit this), Brain is applying for a job. The employer asks Brain if he’s married, and Brain hesitates before saying he “has a roommate,” but that he’s occupied with his own things, which then cuts to a shot of Pinky applying lipstick.
Leading into part two of this essay, Pinky’s relationship with gender! Pinky has always been very gender nonconforming, and loves to wear dresses, do his makeup, and make himself look pretty. For the most part, this is played pretty straight, and not as a gag, like a lot of shows tend to do! It’s just a casual fact about him that he likes to present femininely sometimes.
This does play into their taking over the world plans pretty often, where Pinky wears drag, usually either to sneak into somewhere. Like in one of their earliest appearances on Animaniacs, Noah’s Lark, where they pose as a couple to board Noah’s, and I quote, “love boat.” After boarding, Noah says to himself, “Who am I to judge?” Okay. Yeah. Alright. Anyway.
I actually had less to say on this than I thought I did, but I wanted to make sure to emphasize that Pinky at the very least is coded as being Not Quite Cis, and that he’s played a key part in helping a lot of people watching the show figure out that they’re also Not Quite Cis. 
Wrapping this up because I’m hungry, but I want to throw in some more honorable mentions that I really do not see any type of cishet explanations for:
They literally go on a romantic date at a very fancy restaurant in Brain’s Night Off. This is played extremely casually, and the only remark from anyone that they receive is that they are “much smaller than the usual clients.”
Pinky, on at least one occasion, daydreams about him and Brain being a married couple, and wanting to be a housewife (the original malewife ❤)
There’s an issue in the comics where Pinky has a crush on another male mouse, and when Brain gets annoyed, Pinky reassures him that he thinks Brain is cute and quite the catch too
Brain attempting to kiss Pinky in the reboot??????
Brain actually did conquer the world once in the Halloween special, because Pinky made a deal with the devil for it, and thus Pinky got sent to hell! Brain actually went to hell and gave up the world to bring him back
Brain was extremely close to conquering the world once more in the Christmas special, but after reading what Pinky’s feelings for him were (nothing romantic, just Pinky basically just praising Brain for being so hardworking and an amazing mouse, and lamenting that he never gets anything for it), he gets so emotional that he sabotages himself and wishes everyone a Merry Christmas instead
TLDR; these mice are very queer and need therapy, and are probably the most heavily queercoded characters that I can think of in children’s media.
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bbangsoonie · 3 years
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to my ex (best friend)
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member: juyeon genre: fluff?? word count: 2,175 synopsis: thanks to kevin’s tiktok obsession, you end up sending out a google form to all of the people you used to call your best friends. one response brings back forgotten memories and feelings.
“I can’t believe I’m stuck with the Canada boys for another 4 years,” you jokingly groaned.
Today was officially move-in day and the beginning of your college life. After roughly unpacking in your dorm room, you went over to Jacob and Kevin’s room to hang out. Jacob had his guitar out and was playing random chords for you to hum along to. Kevin, on the other hand, was glued to his phone. TikTok had been his new obsession and he was constantly watching the endless feed of videos.
“Hey, we are the iconic trio,” Jacob insisted.
“Wow Eric is basically a TikTok star now,” Kevin commented as he showed you two the video that popped up on his For You page. “This kid is stuck on straight TikTok though.”
Jacob laughed, although he was unsure of what that exactly meant. Knowing this, you chuckled at his efforts to appease his roommate.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Kevin tugged at your arm in an urgent matter. “Can we also do that Google form trend?”
“Uhh which one?” you asked.
“The one where you send out a Google form to your ex-crushes or ex-friends,” he turned to Jacob to further explain. “So basically it’s a questionnaire either revealing your past feelings or confronting what happened between old friends.”
“I don’t know, man. Our high school years were pretty vanilla. We didn’t even have that many crushes,” you shrugged.
“Hmm I mean we did have that huge friend group freshman year. It’s a shame it kinda fell apart as time went by,” Jacob reminisced.
You were reminded of the people you once considered to be your best friends. It was you and twelve other boys, which should’ve hinted at the inevitable end. The beginning of the end started with Hyunjoon transferring to a different school. Then, as you all grew older and high school drama kicked in, you were the topic of many rumors. People didn’t understand—or like—that you were the only girl in an all male friend group. Girls called you all sorts of names and spread ridiculous lies about you that spread to neighboring schools.
No one in the group had any bad blood with each other. Life just pulled you in different directions and you simply grew apart. Some joined the dance team, which consumed most of their time. Some joined varsity teams and focused on getting a sports scholarship. Some became trainees and lost contact with everyone. Some, like you and the Canada boys, became busy with college applications. Everyone had their own reasons and there were no hard feelings.
“Wouldn’t it be fun to finally find out what they all think? Get closure before we start our journey as college students?” Kevin asked, eagerly.
“I guess,” you agreed.
“Alright! Then we’ll play rock paper scissors to choose who has to send them out,” Kevin declared.
Your unlucky streak, without fail, won you the embarrassment honor of writing and sending the form to all your former friends. You grumbled, displeased at the fact that you were now the scapegoat fulfilling Kevin’s curiosity. Nevertheless, you searched through your contact list to find everyone’s phone numbers and sent them the link, hoping that no one changed their number.
By the next day, you received responses from all 10 of them. The trio reconvened in Jacob and Kevin’s room to review the answers. The first few were essentially what you all expected. They explained how life became hectic and your paths just crossed less and less as your interests and goals changed.
When you came across Haknyeon’s comment, you couldn’t help but laugh.
“You still owe me ice cream for lending you my pen during our final exam,” you read aloud. You recalled the day; you were freaking out about your misplaced pencil case and he had kindly offered his extra pen.
“What else would you expect from the foodie?” Kevin laughed.
By the time you got to Juyeon’s response, however, you froze. Curious as to what caught you so off guard, Jacob took the laptop from your lap and gasped. Kevin peeped over Jacob’s shoulder and his jaw dropped after reading it. He immediately looked at you, wondering how you were taking the information.
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You were confused. He had been the object of your love and attention for a good three years in high school. Not wanting anyone to find out, you had swallowed those feelings and the Canada duo were the only ones to ever catch on. You and Juyeon used to be extremely close—even closer than you and Kevin or you and Jacob. He always quietly took care of you and the two of you shared everything with each other until one day he suddenly became distant. Without an explanation, he left your side and never returned. You just assumed he wanted to stop being friends. It hurt but you didn’t want to force a one-sided friendship so you stopped reaching out to him.
“What the heck?” you finally blurted.
Jacob slowly closed the laptop shut, eyeing Kevin who seemed way too giddy. He felt uneasy, not knowing if this was a good thing.
“So your first love was requited,” Kevin said smugly. “I told you so.”
“Okay you had absolutely no facts to back up your assumption back then,” you argued.
“What did I tell you? My gut is never wrong.”
“Yeah but he also just cut me off out of nowhere. How else was I supposed to interpret that?”
“Clearly not the way we did.”
Jacob smacked his hand over Kevin’s mouth to shut him up. He knew how much pain Juyeon’s name brought you. You didn’t show it but you still had a soft spot for him.
“It’s okay, Jacob. Whatever feelings I had for Juyeon—good and bad—are history. You don’t have to walk on eggshells around me,” you assured. “Besides, this doesn’t even mean anything. He wrote all of this in past tense. He’s just clarifying the reason why our friendship ended. Like Kevin said, I guess I finally got closure.”
“Closure? My brilliant idea has brought forth an opportunity for you to rekindle your love!” Kevin exclaimed excitedly.
“No. No way,” you shook your head. “The past is in the past. We are living very separate lives now.”
“Oh stop quoting Frozen and just try texting him,” he rolled his eyes. “Jacob and I never told you but he’s actually attending the same university as us.”
This prompted a very loud “What?” from you. Jacob buried his head in his hands, groaning. He was definitely going to get an earful.
“You’re bound to run into him eventually. So just take the initiative and face things head on,” Kevin advised. “Won’t that be less awkward than coincidentally meeting him after ignoring his response to the form you sent him?”
“And who’s the one who made me send it?” you glared, puffing your cheeks.
“You’re going to do it anyway so just hurry up and pretend you have no choice but to listen to me,” he snickered.
“Moon Hyungseo!”
At your use of his full Korean name, his eyes widened in fear and he jumped up to run away, barely avoiding your slap. Watching the scene in front of him, Jacob laughed. He had secretly hoped that you would reconnect with Juyeon as well. He knew how much you used to like him.
That night, you found yourself staring at Juyeon’s contact on your phone. Your heart raced at the thought of talking to him again. It had been years since you two last spoke and so many things had changed since then. You were no longer oblivious and clumsy teenagers. You knew each other’s past selves but didn’t know a thing about each other’s current selves. You were afraid that even if you became friends again, it would be too different. It was why you never harbored any hope for things to go back to “normal” with him. You couldn’t be disappointed if you never had any expectations to begin with.
Still, you took a leap of courage and sent a simple “hey” before you could chicken out. His reply was almost instant, which startled you.
You: hey
Juyeon: Hi Y/n
You: would it be weird if i asked to meet? i think we have a few things to talk about.. if that’s ok with you
Juyeon: Sure! How’s tomorrow at noon? We could talk over a meal at the school cafeteria
You: sounds good. see you then :)
You wanted to scream into your pillow. The awkwardness was driving you crazy but you were still looking forward to seeing him. He still had you wrapped around his finger and you hated it. But you still loved him.
The next day, your clothes were flung around all over your bed. You had rummaged through your entire closet to find an outfit you were satisfied with, resulting in you running a bit late.
Juyeon had arrived at the cafeteria early. He was so nervous that he couldn’t just stay still in his dorm. After all these years, he was finally confronting everything that he had concealed. He always felt guilty about the way he treated you and he was glad he could finally explain and apologize.
When he saw you approach him, he couldn’t stop himself from staring. It had only been a summer since he last saw you at graduation but your beauty still amazed him. He gulped, standing up to greet you when you reached the table.
The first few minutes were spent eating in awkward silence. Unable to bear it any longer, he cleared his throat to begin the conversation.
“Um so I guess my response to that form was a lot to unpack, huh?” he said sheepishly.
You almost choked on the food, surprised by his straightforwardness. He passed you your cup of water as you coughed.
“Yeah..” you mumbled.
“I want to start by saying I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I think I always had feelings for you. At first, it was subtle. I just liked spending time with you. I liked making you smile. I was content with just being friends. You know me, I’m the type to just watch my crush from afar. Then, as we got older, those feelings grew to be bigger than I could handle. I began to get greedy. And I felt that I could literally do anything for you. That’s when I realized how hard I fell for you and that scared me. I was afraid of ruining our friendship but I was also scared of my own feelings. So I started distancing myself from you. It’s a poor excuse but back then, I was a coward,” he confessed.
Juyeon had always been a very direct person. He never really beat around the bush and you liked that about him. That hadn’t changed about him but yet it still surprised you.
“If I could go back in time, I wish I could have done things differently. I knew I was hurting you but I thought that after all that’s happened, continuing to be friends with you would make you the center of gossip again. I didn’t want to make your life any harder,” he added.
“Juyeon, I cared about you a lot more than I did about those stupid rumors.”
“I know that now. But high schooler me was terrified of you finding out about my feelings.”
You contemplated on whether or not you should bring up your own past feelings. You wanted to reciprocate his honesty but were worried that it would be unnecessary. You took a deep breath and decided on the first option.
“You know, I was also terrified of having you find out about my feelings,” you admitted. Your words shocked him as he tried to figure out what you were implying.
“Wait, you.. You liked me too?” he gaped, making you blush.
“Let’s uh stop talking about that now,” you said as your cheeks reddened to a darker shade.
“While we’re opening up..” he looked at you with hesitance. “Is there any chance you still feel the same way now?”
His question caught you entirely off guard. You blankly stared at him, wondering if you heard him correctly.
“Juyeon, this is the first proper conversation we’ve had in years,” you deadpanned.
“That’s not an immediate no,” he lit up.
You wanted to laugh at his simplicity. His childlike innocence was still the same. It warmed your heart to see that he hadn’t changed as much as you were afraid he would. Yet, the fear in the back of your mind remained. You weren’t confident that you could even resume your friendship with him. At your silence, he tried to lighten the mood.
“So then would being friends again be okay with you?” he asked.
“I guess we could try,” you slowly nodded, bringing a bright smile to his face. You didn’t notice that your expression reflected his.
“Great,” he grinned happily.
And that was the beginning of a new story between you two.
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bonus:
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bukojuiice · 3 years
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rose-colored boy
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ೃ pairing: (eren jaeger x fem! reader)
ೃ  tags: college/modern au, fluff, humor, love at first sight cliché, mikasa is your cute little sister, armin, sasha, jean, and connie are your besties, and eren is a himbo who works hard and has terrible friends.
ೃ warnings: strong language and mild suggestive content
ೃ part 1/??? of my (eren x reader) college au!
ೃ word count: 3000 words
ೃ  my nav  →  my mha writing masterlist 
ೃ This is my very first snk x reader fic! so i hope you bear with some errors! qwq 
i’ve been following the anime ever since it was released in 2013, and this is the first time i’m  going to be writing for it.  this month’s manga chapter really took me out so why not channel my sadness thru writing an fluff! eren fic? 🤧 i hope you enjoy either way!
ೃ  please do reblog if you enjoyed!! (feel free to add tags too because i love reading them and my heart swells with happiness when people love my work!)
ೃ  in which (Y/N) (L/N), 20, still in school, and regretfully-unregretfully-her little girl scout sister's assistant, meets eren jaeger in an embarrassing too innocent door-to-door cookie sale whilst a humiliating party was going on.
cookies, suspicious maybe-maybe-not pot brownies, meddling little sisters and friends, “oh my god they were roommates” vine on replay 24/7, homework, tears, and fairy lights bring them together.
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“I’m going to enter now.”
“Ahhh yes, please!”
“Shut up, please.” Eren muttered to himself as he tossed and turned around in his bed, but still couldn’t get to sleep. “When will they ever stop doing this?” Why did Eren’s next-door roommate and his girlfriend have to do this five times a day? They had a lot of stamina for 21-year-olds who didn’t have anything better to do.
Eren’s thoughts eventually brought him to his parents.
His parents- did they even exist?
For pretty much 14 years of Eren’s life, they had been out of town or out of the country. His older brother, Zeke, blonde, bespectacled, tall, and sometimes too far up his own ass older brother who Eren is able to confide in from time to time, recently got a girlfriend whom he’s hopelessly in love with (they’re even thinking about getting married which isn’t really a problem since the girl is genuinely nice to his older brother so Eren is good with her.), so… things in the family had been a bit rough and busy to say the least.
Communication with his parents wasn’t always the best.
Eren would study late at night back when he was seven, because no one bothered to help him with homework. Along with the fact that he wasn’t the brightest kid in class, and he knew that very well, but he had ambition and he was determined to make it big in the world. He focused more on sports, particularly Soccer in middle school and high school, and tried to balance that with his studies.  After being granted a Sports Scholarship from Shigashina University, Eren decided to rent and share a flat, living with his batchmates who he met at a mixer party (before Uni started as this whole meet and get to know each other kind of thing) and whom he was so quick to call his ‘friends’, just so that he could get out of the hellhole that was his own house.
But things turned out much worse than expected.
Eren thought that the ‘College Life’ was to focus more on pursuing your future career and make a name for yourself but… it was the other way around.
He thought that after Freshmen year, everyone would take things seriously. Sure, have some drinks, get wasted after finals, or have house parties from time to time. But he was unfortunately, dragged into the wrong crowd. After attending around 5 parties in the first few months of being generalized as one of the infamous and pompous freshman archetypes present in every university, he called it a year and spent the rest of his nights doing homework, projects, playing video games, staying at the school soccer field until 10PM while his roommates were probably smoking crack and not caring about the number of units they needed to take for each of their goddamn subjects.
 He was ~living the life~ and now that he regrets most of the decisions he made in freshman year, the only option that he has left was to wait until his third year and move to a different apartment.  
 Now, here he was, Sophomore year, nearing the end of the semester, and very much eager to get the hell out of here and also study for his upcoming finals on Constitutional Law II, as his professor, Mr. Erwin Smith, was going to throw hands if one of his students score below average on the exam.
 “EREN MICK JAEGER! BROOOO!” Eren winces when he hears the shrieky and annoying voice of his flatmate Thomas Wagner, calling out to him. “Wanna go and party with us?” Eren smiles halfheartedly, shaking his head, “Ah, no thanks. I have a game tomorrow and finals coming up on Thursday.” Thomas smirked and wrapped his arm around Eren, “Oh fuck that, live the college life ya spoon.”
“No, really I have to study.”
Thomas frowned and groaned, “Oh god, you’re such a killjoy. Fine, if that’s what you want. Don’t blame us if we tell you to buy some beer down the block.”
Eren cracked an obviously fake laugh and pushed Thomas away from him, “You’re an ass. That only happened once and that was when we first met. Don’t you even dare try to ask me to buy you shit again.”
“Woah. Woah. Woaaaaaah. That was a joke Eren. Loosen up will you?” Thomas raises an eyebrow, clearly taken aback by the brunette’s sudden aggressiveness. He hums Moves like Jaeger by Maroon 5 as a way to spite Eren whilst passing by him down the staircase.
The brunette shook his head, tying his hair into a bun carelessly and sprinting into his room without uttering another word.
Eren just wanted to study. He really did.
Instead, his roommates, all of them, mind you, were all partying in the lounge and the music was too loud and Eren was too annoyed.
They did manage to bring him out and make him stay in the kitchen where he mindlessly glared at anyone who came in. He sighed and tapped his pen restlessly amongst the insane amount of books on the table.
There was a knock.
His roommate, Floch, came in the kitchen with his girlfriend who Eren couldn’t even name with all the women he has brought into the apartment. She was hanging onto his arm and giggling. Floch’s eyes were red and his speech very slow and lazy. "Eren!" he said with a sly grin.
Eren raised an eyebrow, shooting him an irritated look. "What now Floch? Are you here to tell me to take a shot again?" The ginger-haired’s girlfriend giggled once again and kissed Floch’s cheek. Floch laughed and swatted her away, though he missed by a long shot. "Someone's at the door," a thumb pointing to the den. "wouldchumind ge'in it?" another giggle. The girl nodded sloshily. "Yesss! Erenieee get 'em door, please. Be a dearrrrr."
Eren frowned and stared at them menacingly, earning no reaction from the two as they were mad drunk. "You were just in the den," Floch’s eyes widened. "My lovey wovey-we was in the den?" His girlfriend’s mouth went into an O. "Di'nt notice tha'!"
Eren sighed and stood up. He miraculously got through the throng of bodies and to the front door. "Yes?" he called out exasperated, not knowing who was outside.
"Do you want cookies?"
Eren turned and looked to see a little raven-haired girl, a girl scout no less, a blonde-haired boy pulling on a trolley who looked significantly shorter than him, wearing rimmed glasses, and an overall appearance whom his “friends” would immediately label as a nerd they had to be a few feet away from if they saw him and lastly, a girl who looked very tired and very done with life.
Beautiful (h/c)-colored hair, her eyes looked like the starry night sky, twinkling as he catches her gaze and a smile that looked forced, but warm all the same.  
A girl who was just absolutely fucking gorgeous.
Eren was captivated. His heart was beating like crazy and he could feel his ears turn red. He would make a fool of himself if he looked red as a tomato right now.
"Um," The girl peeked inside and grimaced, squeezing the hand that was her little sister's shoulder and catching Eren’s gaze. "Mikasa, I don't think these kinds of guys would want cookies."
“Unless they're pot cookies,” Eren almost said. Mikasa pouted and widened her eyes at Eren.
The older girl crouched down and frantically covered her little sister’s eyes. "Nopenopenope, Mi, don't pull that on him."
"But (Y/N)!"
(Y/N).
Her name was (Y/N).
Eren smiled sincerely (for the first time today) and leaned back inside to the drawer by the door to grab the extra cash he and his roommates put there for emergency pizza and stuff. "You know what? You're absolutely brilliant at selling cookies. I'll take one."
Mikasa smiled back at him cheekily and tugged her older sister’s hand. "See, (Y/N)?! He wants some! Go get 'em!”
The raven-haired girl then turned to the blonde teen, practically jumping up and down. “Armin look! We sold another one!"
“We did!” The boy who was apparently named Armin, clapped his hands together, then gave the little girl a high five. “You’re a natural at this Mikasa!”
(Y/N) looked at Eren, then Mikasa, and sighed. She grabbed a bag from the trolley Armin was dragging around and pulled out a box of cookies. Eren grabbed them slowly from her, their hands almost touching as he gave (Y/N) a small smile. The (h/c) girl blushed lightly, though not visible enough for the brunette to notice.
"Hope to see you again!" Eren called out when the siblings said their thank you's and bid farewell.
And, this time, even for the slightest moment, Eren’s serotonin levels were going straight through the roof. His heart was still beating loudly, almost in sync with the trash music his roommates were blaring on the speakers. and for a moment, even just for a moment. 
He felt genuine happiness that he hasn’t felt in a very long time.
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 The three of you continue to walk animatedly, now that the coast was clear and the guy from earlier wasn’t within earshot, your blonde friend just had to break the silence.
 Armin smiles, pushing his glasses up to the crook of his nose. “(Y/N), you did see how he looked at you right?” The blonde chuckles softly, catching his best friend off guard.
 You blinked. “Him?” You try to stop yourself from smiling, blushing profusely. “Geez Armin, I don’t even know his name yet.”
 “I’ll bet you 100 bucks that he goes to our Uni.”
 “Even if he does, it’s not like we’ll talk to him or anything. Judging from the place he lives in and the people he was hanging out with, we’re in two completely different worlds.” You shook your head in denial, holding Mikasa’s hand, your interlocked arms swinging playfully. Armin gives you a knowing look in response.
 Mikasa continued to wave back at the boy whom they had just sold cookies too. (Y/N) looked over her shoulder and smiled. “Wasn’t he nice (Y/N)?” Mikasa asks her older sister. (Y/N) returned her sister a small smile, “He was.”
 "I hope we see him again!"
"I'm sure we will."
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 The day of Eren’s dreaded finals finally arrive.
He has prepared tirelessly for this. Hours upon hours of hard work. But, before he finally gets his well-deserved sleep, he has a few more hours to cram and absorb more knowledge for his exams.
So, what better way to do so than head straight to the library as soon as it opens at 6 AM?
This time, no one was going to bother him. No annoying roommates and no distractions.
Eren heads over to a table near the coffee and snack machines. He puts down his bag on a seat next to him, and begins to study once again. Looking through the course materials and the lessons that he still didn’t quite understand. Eren was so absorbed with studying and relying on his gut feeling that no other student in this university would think of going to the library at 6 AM on the day of finals… then he’s wrong. Very wrong. 
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 “Sasha, should you even be eating mashed potato this early in the morning?” Armin asks the brunette worriedly, a huge tone of concern in his voice.
“Armin! Don’t chu worry! I ate heavy breakfast! Bacon, Eggs, and Toast! Did you not see me in the kitchen!?” She reassures her blonde friend, continuing to scoop up the mashed potato on a reusable cup.
“Liar.” Connie hissed, narrowing his eyes. “I was awake since 4 AM. Not once did I see you sneak into the kitchen until (Y/N) woke you up.”
“Atatata. Can we… stop with the negative vibes for a second?” Jean tries to become the mediator by holding his hands up against his two friends who were about to start an argument. “It’s finals week. We have to keep a clear mind, body and soul-“
“Jean, you know that’s BS.” You yawn widely, still practically half-asleep.
“Oh, come on! Can’t you just let me be positive just this once!? If we fail this exam I’m going to blame you!“
The five of you continue to talk mindlessly on the way to the library. Connie pushes the glass door open, very much excited to have this huge library all to yourselves.
Until…
There was someone already there.
Your eyes immediately come into contact with Eren’s. His radiant jade eyes staring into yours, mouth practically agape, his hands holding on to wooden chopsticks as the hot air of instant ramen breezes through his face.
“Oh?” Connie blinks. “Guess we aren’t the first ones here then.” He whistles.
“(Y/N)!” Armin nudges you in the arm in an attempt to tease you. “Guess your wish came true huh? We did see him again! By himself too!”
“W-what am I supposed to do exactly?” You turn to Armin, speaking in a hushed whisper.  
“Say thank you to him! Offer him to go on a boba date or something!”
“You got the Sasha seal of approval (Y/N)! He’s hot!” Sasha motions you a thumbs up and you can’t help but feel yourself already wanting to die of embarrassment.
The four of them slightly push you towards his table. With your friends cornering you like this, there was no way of escaping this.
All you had to do was talk to him and properly thank him for buying cookies from your little sister.
That was it.
No need for any extra ad-libs or poor and bad attempts of flirtation.
Just thank him (Y/N).
You can do this.
You breathe a hefty sigh then approach his table with confidence. The brunette continues to look up at you whilst turning the page of his reviewer that he wasn’t even looking at.
“Hi again! I just wanted to thank you properly for helping my sister and I, out the other day. Mikasa really appreciated the gesture you did for her, and she couldn’t stop talking about you to our parents since we saw you. You see, none of the other girl scouts want to be paired up with my sister because they think she’s an emotionless and monotonous freak. They’re really mean to her but she really wants to continue being a girl scout so my friend and I accompany her whenever she has to sell cookies!”
“It’s N-no problem!” Eren quickly replies, running a hand through his hair. “Why would they say such horrible things to your sister like that? Judging from the way she acted in front of me, she was quite the opposite. In a positive way of course! Those kids are just assholes who are intimidated because another girl their age is seemingly better than them.”
You giggle in response. “Thank you. I’ll tell Mikasa that you said that!” 
There was short silence for a few seconds until you realized that you forgot to say something. 
“Ah! I’m (Y/N) (L/N) by the way!”
“Eren.” He smiles, reaching his hand out to you for you to shake. You grip his strong and calloused hand firmly, and Eren could feel his ears turning red again while you were about to blush as red as a tomato.
You hear your friends snickering in the background and you took this as a sign to go back to your table. “I guess, I’ll see you around campus?” You ask, tilting your head. For, you actually really wanted to see him again after this.
“Yea! I’ll be seeing you!” He grins widely, watching you leave where he was seated. His smile then envelops into a frown as soon as you went away then he goes back to studying.
“(Y/N)! (Y/N)!” Connie whispers loudly, calling you over by waving his hand. Why was this dunce being so painfully obvious? “Ask him if he’s looking for an apartment or if he wants to live with us!”
“Already!?” You ask in disbelief, a bit shocked by what Connie had just said. He scoots to the left, as you take a seat between him and Sasha. “Guys, you’ve known him for like… 3 minutes. Only Armin and I actually interacted with him before this.”
“He has to pass the vibe check first.” Jean shrugs, sipping on an iced expresso. “But, yeah, he does seem alright from a few feet away.”
“Come on (Y/N)! Ask him!” Sasha nods approvingly. “It’s weird that he’s studying alone like this while we’re in another table trying to remain unaware that he looks lonely as hell.”
“UMmMM… maybe he wants to study alone because that’s the only way he can focus? That’s a thing that normal people do, Sasha.” You remark sarcastically, trying to think up of more reasons to not approach him again.
Armin clears his throat, “Look, (Y/N), it won’t hurt to try right? Besides, don’t you feel a tiny bit sorry for him? He does seem lonely and you do have a crush on him so… more ways to interact with him right?”
Your shoulders slump and you breathe a defeated sigh. “Okay okay fine.” You make your way to Eren’s table again but before you do, you turn to your friends. “By the way, I don’t really have a crush on him just yet. I just find him cute okay?”
“Yeah yeah.” They say in unison as you continue to walk back to the brunette’s table.
“Hi again Eren!” You wave and try your best not to fumble or look painfully obvious that you were infatuated by him. He looks up and you try your best not to smile like a weirdo.
“Hm?” He hums.
“Would you like to come over to our table and study with us?”
To be continued.
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outoftheframework · 4 years
Text
characterization cheat sheet: the batfamily boys
Hey everyone! I had the idea to compile a comprehensive list of different traits and attributes for each member of the batfamily based off of both canon and fanon interpretations. I think this could be useful for new members to the fandom, or those looking to write and/or draw for these characters. Remember that these will have a slight bias considering I, a fanon creator, am creating the lists. But I’ll try to make them as accurate as possible.
Appearances vary from artist to artist, so I’ll try to stray away from general details and add more little things you can consider in your art.
Bruce Wayne:
Age: 35-45
Appearance: Extremely physically fit, but signs of aging and prolonged exertion can slip through. Has a collection of scattered scars varying from fresh to fully healed. Strong, dark features. Conventionally attractive, but can easily switch to be foreboding/intimidating. Well kept in public appearances, but can look like death incarnate when in private.
Personality: Dual personas: “Bruce” (at home, but not as batman) and “Brucie” (public appearances like galas, news interviews). Bruce is stoic, well-read and educated, well-mannered, and occasionally can be witty and laid-back. Smirks rather than smiles. Brucie is loud, spontaneous, charming, and sometimes oblivious. He is the womanizer and scandal-maker. Often the actions of Brucie are motivated by Batman’s interests.
Speech: Bruce was mainly raised by as English butler, so his speech patterns are proper and smooth. Rarely uses speech fillers such as “uh” and “um,” except when interrupted while concentrating. Despite living in Gotham his entire life, he has not picked up the accent. His voice is newscaster American, almost impossible to pinpoint to a certain region. His speech as Brucie changes to relate more to the audience he is addressing. Speeches to Gotham high society will sound different than those aimed to the general public.
Additional Attributes: Bruce Wayne in all of his personalities is fiercely protective, and can easily slip into a deeper voice to intimidate. Bruce can be extremely empathetic and slightly impulsive when it comes to children who have lost their parents. As learned through his training to become Batman, Bruce is disciplined and can work for hours straight.
Dick Grayson:
Age: 23-29
Appearance: Dick Grayson mirrors a young Bruce Wayne despite their not being blood related. This could be a subconscious action by Dick to absorb traits of his father figure. His lean acrobatic body starts to set him apart from Bruce’s image. Dick manages to be well-built but still limber and flexible. His feet and hands are rough and calloused. His hair can get long but usually stays at a length in between Bruce’s and Tim’s. His eyes are bright blue without even a hint of green or brown. 
Personality: In one comic I believe it was Superman who said that Dick Grayson is a universal constant, meaning that on every alternate earth or timeline, you can always rely on him to be good and pure. I think this really sums up who Dick should be. He is kind to a fault, and can sometimes be naive and not think things through. He loves to love, be that in his family, in his romantic relationships, in his friendships, and even in strangers. He is a chronic hero who only wants to see the world as a better place. But it’s important to note that Dick can get angry when pushed, and holds grudges.
Speech: Dick is an extremely interesting study in speech patterns. As a child he traveled with the circus, until he lived with clear-spoken Bruce Wayne and a proper English butler. So influences to his speech and accent come both internationally and locally to Gotham and Bludhaven. As a child living at Wayne Manor, Dick picks up a slight Gotham tinge to his accent with some British flourish in his vowel sounds. He regularly speaks in slang. As Nightwing he is able to suppress his unique speech to sound more evenly American.
Additional Attributes: Dick acts differently around each of his family members as to be what they need in a big brother. For example, he is more fatherly to Damian while to Tim he is more an equal. Dick can fidget and has less of an attention span than Bruce. He can use jokes as a coping mechanism.
Jason Todd: 
Age: 22-26
Appearance: Hair is often long on top and shorter on the sides, sometimes with a white streak as a side effect from the Lazarus Pit. Tallest and heaviest of all the kids, very physically intimidating. Has a lot of scars and burns, and in some fan works he has a “Y” shaped scar the length of his chest from his autopsy. Never skips leg day. Green/blue eyes.
Personality: Jason goes through a lot of character development, but for this list I’m going off a timeline of post-Under the Red Hood, where Jason is on okay, yet still a little shaky, terms with the rest of the family. Jason has a hard time separating vigilante life and civilian life; his death as Robin ended his life as Jason Todd, blurring the lines between the two. Jason is legally dead, so he is basically building an identity back up. He holds some attributes from childhood: brave, impulsive, loud-mouthed, and street-smart. But his experiences post-Robin have made him a hardened loner. He lives modestly and with some semblance of order. He’s hard to foster a relationship with, but can be a passionate friend/family member when he opens up.
Speech: Jason probably has the least influence from Bruce and Alfred’s speech patterns, seeing as though he spent a lot more time with his biological family/on the streets than he did as a preteen in the manor. He is the definition of Gotham vernacular, with a rough edge. So much so that as a child, the high society gala attenders sometimes had a hard time understanding him. Often talks in curt, short sentences.
Additional Attributes: He has trouble expressing his emotions, more specifically anger and/or grief. Can both love or hate furiously. Inherently good, but sometimes does “bad” things. Protective over children, especially those living on the street. Very much a believer in “the ends justify the means.”
Tim Drake:
Age: 17-20
Appearance: Pale skin, dark hair. Sharp cheek bones and jawline, mostly from how skinny he is. His body isn’t technically “built” to be extremely athletic, but he’s forced a nice lean build from stringently working out. Easily loses and gains weight as a direct result of his work, causing fluctuations in his build. Five foot something, will eventually be out-grown by Damian. Long hair that can still be styled to look professional.
Personality: Tim Drake is very passionate in pretty much everything he sets his mind to. He feels as though he imposed himself onto Batman to become Robin, so he works twice as hard to prove his worth. He can be self conscious and deprecating. Tim as Robin or Red Robin is very different than civilian Tim; his hero personas can be bolder and more confident. Despite dropping out of high school, he values education.
Speech: Tim grew up rich, and his speech reflects an intelligence gained from private tutors. Despite this, he knows how to interact with those his age in using less formal language and slang. Often quotes books and movies. Can be awkward and stumble over his words when teased by his friends/family. He can manipulate people easily in business settings by talking fast and confidently while explaining complex topics.
Additional Attributes: Tim’s demeanor is directly tied to his varying levels of confidence and anxiety. Tim is has above-average intelligence and is diligent in detective work, but can still act like a teenager. He can be stubborn to extremes and will patiently play the long con. He does not cope well with loss.
Duke Thomas:
Age: 17-19
Appearance: Short dark hair, shaved on the sides and/or the back. Often wears the colors yellow and black. Around the same height as Tim, but a little taller. Stronger and heavier build more alike to Jason than Dick, but he’s still light on his feet. Expressive face that can give away his feelings easily. Still a bit of a baby face, but he’s still well-proportioned and conventionally handsome.
Personality: In my works, I’ve often described Duke as having a “sun-shiny” personality. He is one to not even think twice about putting others before himself. Duke uses his own personal experiences to guide him as a hero rather than suppress his emotions. Duke went from being an only child to having a large family, so he can sometimes feel overwhelmed. He is on friendly terms with every member of the batfamily, as well as many other heroes. Duke is self-sacrificial and is still learning how to effectively work as a detective.
Speech: Duke grew up in a middle class Gotham family, so his speech is influenced by his parents as well as his city environment. Duke has a mild Gotham accent and speaks a lot in modern slang. He hasn’t had much influence from Bruce and Alfred, considering he hasn’t lived with them for long. It’s possible that as he grows he will pick up some influences from Bruce and Tim’s way of speaking, but will most likely hold onto the accent of his childhood.
Additional Attributes: Duke is a metahuman vigilante in a city where Batman typically bans them, which causes a bit of an insecurity and a perfectionist drive. These are exasperated by the long line of history preceding him, as well as the fact that he involved himself in the Robin movement rather than being handpicked by Batman. He and Tim can relate in that way. Duke is an ardent student of Batman and is dedicated to the cause.
Damian Wayne:
Age: 10-14
Appearance: Looks similar to Bruce when he was the same age, yet stronger and with tanner skin. His hair is expertly cut and styled, but still age-appropriate. He is the shortest of the batkids, but still has a lot of time and potential to grow. He pretty much won the genetics lottery with Bruce and Talia as his biological parents, and is made for athletics. He has some scars that stand out with their pale coloring against his tan skin. 
Personality: Damian is slowly becoming less of a brat, to put it bluntly. He admires his family and tries to mimic them, but will never confess it. Damian is quick to judge and will voice his opinion no matter how scathing it may be, both as civilian and hero. Damian is slowly realizing he may not want the Batman mantle as quickly as he planned. Jon is a perfect foil to Damian, and often makes him a better person when they’re together. 
Speech: His speech is proper and formal. Prefers formal titles: ex. “father” over “dad” and last names over first. Damian is at least bilingual (Arabic and English), and can switch between languages easily. Most of his speech patterns developed from his tutors in the League, and more recently, Alfred. Influences like Jon and Dick have introduced him to a more modern, laid-back way of speaking, which he sometimes utilizes when relaxed.
Additional Attributes: Damian has problems with authority, especially those that he doesn’t respect like his teachers at school. He can be arrogant and childish ever though he often acts like he knows everything. Damian is still a child and has much to learn from batman and family as well as unlearn from his time at the League. Dami was forged to be a ruthless warrior, but now has to find a balance between the hero Robin and the child Damian Wayne.
Hope this helps someone! Feel free to add on if you think I missed anything. Just please remember to be civil and respect different interpretations of these characters. Let me know if you want another one of these posts outlining the girls or other characters.
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sierraknox · 2 years
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Sierra Knox headcanons pls???
👀 yes yes of course! Strap In lmao
I like to headcanon that she and her father never died. That obviously violates canon in a big way but I don’t care. She’s my blorbo and she is alive and unwell in my head.
Technically I guess the fact that she’s a lesbian can be considered just a headcanon (depending on how in denial you are) but like… it definitely is canon
Kronstadt is one of those companies that boasts their allyship on Twitter Quackr in June, but they’ve told Sierra in no uncertain terms not to talk about her sexuality in interviews or publicly date girls. You can tell from listening to the crowd that a lot of her fans are men who are horny for her and that there are still a lot of racing fans that don’t think women should be race drivers. It’s a matter of preserving her popularity in the field, but it still sucks.
Her father knows, but they’ve never talked about it.
She dresses really masc. The Kronstadt office is generally pretty formal, so she wears slacks and button downs with neckties. She prefers to dress more casually when at home, though.
She’s dating Brigitte, who’s a few years younger than her and dumb af and kind of just a pretty thing that Sierra originally just wanted to fuck. However, she kept her around because she craves that validation and eventually realized that she’s really sweet and genuinely cares about Sierra so they end up having a more serious relationship.
She was good friends with and had a crush on Rachel Frick, the girl whose legs she had broken, before the incident.
Romanov, her ex-girlfriend (whose first name I always imagine was Sophia for literally no reason) broke up with Sierra because she drank too much
Sierra is 100% an alcoholic. This is also barely a headcanon, since her bio states she parties hard and she drinks a lot and talks A LOT about drinking, especially if she loses the race. She’s also done her fair share of drugs, obviously. One reporter claims she was recently arrested for drug use.
She was out of control in high school. Her father was pretty much gone and she was so desperate to prove herself to anyone she’d do pretty much anything if someone dared her to or suggested she couldn’t.
She has anxiety. A LOT of anxiety.
Her father is giving her radiation sickness to further his business. This one is less obviously canon to me than the lesbian thing, but it’s still implied. I like to imagine how this would have played out in my universe where they lived, and I go back and forth between her father being at least a little compassionate and making at least some reparations with her and him being uncaring about it and her subsequently leaving and exposing Kronstadt. They are both very fun to imagine and result in her getting at least a little redemption.
Robert Knox wasn’t always a terrible father. I mean, he was, but if he was straight-up evil and abusive, she wouldn’t have given her whole life to making him proud. He was fun and all she had and even though he was withholding and angry, he did care about her. As he became able to give more of himself to his business over the years, he cared less and less.
Growing up, he never really let her celebrate her birthday because of her mother’s death. Some years he would get her a cake, but he also tended to get angry from his grief around then. As an adult, she still feels weird celebrating it and hates when her friends or girlfriend make a big deal about it. She prefers to just get very very drunk on September 25th.
She wasn’t raised rich. Her father was raised upper/upper middle class, but he himself was horrible with money and the company wasn’t ridiculously valuable until Sierra became CFO. He was given, earned, and lost a lot of money a lot, so they went from being well off to struggling to pay the bills pretty frequently.
She’s currently next in line to inherit the company, but just by default. Robert Knox knows she’s good with money, but he wants to find someone who shares his larger-than-life vision to take the reigns if he dies. Yes, if, because he thinks a lot about developing a way to upload human consciousness into a machine and live forever.
She’s still definitely resentful of him though, and they get in very loud and public falling outs way more often than anyone would like.
She gets weirdly jealous whenever people refer to PALLAS as Robert Knox’s brainchild or when he talks about his AIs like they’re real people. He definitely loves them more than her.
She sabotages a lot of her relationships with her alcoholism and anger issues, but she’s generally really well-liked by anyone who spends a lot of time with her. She’s charismatic and good at making amends, and can be really nice to her friends. Grace, the mechanic, is one of her longest term friends. Even though they’ve had a lot of intense arguments, they both really respect each other.
She’s not a sociopath. She has a lot of genuine regret for her temper (borne from her canon IED) and the things she’s done for Kronstadt (she justifies them in her head, but it’s not enough). I also have the tendency to tone down the straight up murder bad things she does in my head when I’m thinking about her possible redemption. Again, she’s my blorbo and I’ll make her sympathetic if I want to.
Honestly, these are just the ones that sprang to mind but I hope you enjoyed them! I’ve probably forgotten a lot over the years, not to mention all the scraps of fanfic I’ve written and imagined since H2 came out. I know this is kinda cringey but hey this kind of stuff is exactly what this blog is for 😅.
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rogueyami · 4 years
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Haikyuu!! Fic Recs
I love reading fanfics, and I have so many bookmarked that I want to share. Hope you all enjoy and give these writers all the love. All of these are completed works, and they are a mixture of one shots and multi chaps.
Kagehina
where the night goes by bigspoonnoya (M)
Summary:
When their bond loses the immediate context of volleyball, they're left to consider why it's still so vital and important.
Meeting again, by chance, six years later.
Somewhere to Belong by Esselle (E)
Summary:
Once a year, all the villages that follow the way of the sun offer up one of their own to be taken to the sun god's divine temple. Kageyama Tobio, an orphan and loner, never wanted to be chosen—and until the sun god appeared, no one ever wanted to choose him, either. All Tobio wants is to find a place he fits in. What he actually gets is another story entirely.
by this time next year by reeology (T)
Summary:
"I got offers from two universities," Kageyama announces, pointing at his chest with his thumb. "I'm going to play volleyball at Keio this spring."
"You still have to pass an exam, even if it's an easy one," Takeda-sensei hurries to add, although he is beaming and bursting with pride at his fluffy little crow chick taking off to play volleyball at a university level.
"I'll pass," Kageyama says with the same kind of confidence he uses when he tells Hinata he'll get the toss to him. He looks straight at Hinata, and Hinata jerks and turns red, wondering if maybe Kageyama knew he was daydreaming about something as stupid as the way Kageyama talks to him during a game. But then Kageyama just points at him and says, "You'd better get in, too."
Hinata, stupid, naive, idiot that he is, grins wide and nods and says, "Yeah!"
He doesn't know what he's in for.
Not Alone by seconddaysea (E)
Summary:
"I'll visit you," Hinata says. "So you're not allowed to get lonely, you got it?" He turns so they're facing each other, hands warm against Tobio's back. "I'm already lonely," he replies quietly, and he presses his face against Hinata's heart, squeezing his eyes shut, because if this is a dream he doesn't want to wake up.
maps, from me to you by tothemoon (T)
Summary:
This is a (non-chronological) account of the memories they make out of millimeters.
Iwaoi
we can do better than that by spaceburgers (M)
Summary:
Oikawa and Iwaizumi go on a road trip during the summer after their high school graduation. It doesn't go as expected, but maybe that's not such a bad thing after all. 
we shine like diamonds by whiitemists (T)
Summary:
Oikawa is nine when he first hears the word. The boys on the playground whisper it like it's dirty, like the way they daringly mutter the word fuck and then look over their shoulders to check their parents hadn't heard.
"You know Abe-kun from class?" they snicker, hands cupped around their mouths like they're passing along a filthy secret. "I hear his older brother is... gay."
here comes your man by newamsterdam (T)
Summary:
Iwaizumi’s left his cell phone on the bench, and while Suga keeps his gaze away from Iwaizumi the phone lights up with a new message.
Iwa-chan, it reads, Have a good day today! Good luck! <3 <3 <3
Suga chokes. It’s hard to imagine anyone calling the scowling and fierce Doctor Iwaizumi “Iwa-chan.” But marriage probably comes with all sorts of liberties.
Mrs. Iwaizumi must be quite the doting wife, Suga thinks. Delivering hand-made bentos and sending along loving messages.
No one really knows much about the new surgical resident, Doctor Iwaizumi, other than the fact that he's married. Suga's determined to find out more, and make a friend of him in the process.            
just hear me out by loveclouds (T)     
Summary:
To stimulate Japan's low birthrates and take most of the guesswork out of dating, a beeper system was biologically developed in people's wrists, an audible confirmation to show romantic compatibility.
Iwaizumi's beeper has been going off for Oikawa since they've been kids. Oikawa's has only ever been silent.
 Call Security! by DeathBelle  (T)    
Summary:
Oikawa Tooru is attractive, charming, and irresistible.
He thinks so, anyway, until he meets the mall's new security guard.
In which Oikawa has a crush, Iwaizumi has no interest, and a chain of shoplifting incidents brings them together.
Bokuaka
(Don't) Touch Me by DeathBelle (E)         
Summary:
Akaashi has always had an aversion to human contact, but earlier in his life it had been bearable. It isn't until his last year of high school that it becomes intolerable. By the time he enters college, any skin contact has the potential to send him spiraling into a breathtaking panic attack.
He reconnects with Bokuto in college, and he seems to be the only person with the ability to calm Akaashi down. He finds himself relying on his old captain more and more, especially when Bokuto deems himself Akaashi's own personal guardian. Despite their connection, he can't touch Bokuto, either; no matter how badly he'd like to.    
Upstairs by yoogiboobi (E)    
Summary:
Bokuto first sees his neighbour at the supermarket, three days after he's moved into his new place.
[...] 
For about a second, a heartbeat, he's met with a pair of dark, piercing eyes, with what is probably eyeliner, looking back at him. It really is just a split second before his hand knocks down three cereal boxes that hit him square in the head, effectively making him break eye contact and drop his groceries to the floor.
In which some of the first things Bokuto learns about his upstairs neighbour are the colour of his eyes and the sound of his moans.         
bang! now we're even by Authoress (E)
Summary:
Akaashi only has two rules when it comes to his profession. One, complete the job as swiftly and cleanly as possible. Two, never trust anyone who smells like blood.
Rule three is to shoot Owl Eyes in the face should he ever come across him, but Akaashi never tells anyone about that one.
Crisis Converted  by valiantarmor (E)    
Summary:
Akaashi Keiji is just a normal cop with a penchant for getting himself into trouble, when quite suddenly he finds himself with a big promotion and a brand new partner.
But his habit of finding trouble hasn't gone away -- if anything, it's only gotten worse. 
cracks in the pavement will lead you home by deusreks (M)    
Summary:
Bokuto often thinks about Akaashi, especially when he’s running. It’s like his legs know where they’re supposed to take him. He grows into a habit of running a lot, just to keep that feeling going. Cracks and holes in the pavement aren’t fun to jump over if the final reward isn’t seeing Akaashi’s face.
An alternate universe with a little bit of magic and a lot of growing up.         
Ushiten
died in my dreams by MTrash (Makaria) (T)
Summary:
If anyone asked Ushijima how it came to this, he wouldn’t be able to formulate a proper answer.
Ushijima likes his quiet, his order, and his solitude. That is, until a loud, talkative and a little chaotic cyber tech convinces him that that's just plain boring.
while i nodded, nearly napping (suddenly there came a tapping) by pseudoanalytics (T)     
Summary:
Of course if there was one thing that could be counted on, it was Ushijima’s blunt, total honesty. “Do you think Tendou is attracted to me?”
Reon froze. “T-Tendou?”
“Yes.”
Tendou was notoriously hard to read, but Reon kind of figured that he wasn’t the type to be anything less than painfully overt with romantic affections.
“I... I don’t think you have anything to worry about. I think if Tendou was attracted to you, he would let you know,” Reon said. “I'd guess he just considers you his best friend.” He hoped his answer would satisfy whatever frenzy the guy had worked himself into so Reon could finally take advantage of his last precious hours of sleep.
But instead, Ushijima visibly deflated in front of him. “Yes. That’s what I thought too,” he said miserably.
Oh, Reon realized. Oh no...
Executive Excursion by DeathBelle (E)    
Summary:
Tendou is fun, quirky, and interesting.
Ushijima is none of the above.
It's no surprise that Ushijima is drawn to Tendou's magnetic personality. What's surprising is that Tendou seems to like Ushijima, too.
With a little support from his coworkers, Ushijima decides to take a chance and ask Tendou on a date. The results are better than expected.
fascinating facts about geckos by miracleboysatori (T)        
Summary:     
Ushijima Wakatoshi.
That’s the coach’s name. And he’s the new biology teacher on campus, so not only is he incredibly beautiful, he's also smart as hell.
Tendou can tell he’s completely doomed.
Affection, and other Quantifiable Actions by badbavarois (T)   
Summary:
(He's a monster) Ushijima Wakatoshi isn't a monster.            
Misc/ Other ships
but not for spring to well up by tookumade (T)  OsaSuna 
Summary:
After ending a relationship with a fiancé, Suna returns home and tries to heal from heartbreak. Here, he finds friends in the form of the Miya brothers, and learns patience, forgiveness, and what happiness means to him.           
the more things change by deadseasalt (E)  OiKage   
Summary:
“So let me get this straight. You went to the Meiji-Chuo game and saw your old crush and after watching Meiji bring Chuo to a crushing defeat, you realized you were still crushing on him big time?”
Kageyama wishes he could spit in Tsukishima’s drink. “It’s not a crush.”
Tsukishima laughs. “You poor dumb fuck.”
Third Impression by DeathBelle (E) Kuroo x Semi
Summary:
If Semi has a type, Kuroo isn't it.
After their first meeting, Semi concludes that Kuroo is smug, presumptuous, and a little too flirtatious for his own good. Their second encounter doesn't change his mind, and Semi does his best to avoid a third.
Kuroo has other ideas, and Semi finds himself tricked into an impromptu tutoring session with Kuroo himself.
It doesn't go as badly as Semi expects.
Mannequin Men by surveycorpsjean  (E) BokuAkaKuroTsukki
Summary:
The modeling world is full of hungry wolves, constantly clambering over the other, snarling and desperate. They fight, and they kill, trampling over anything in their path.
In this case, Akaashi fell in love with the wolves.
Efflorescence by h_lovely (E) MatsuHana
Summary:
"Are we flirting?"   "Do you want to be?"
[Efflorescence (n.) a state of blooming, flowering, and development.]
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aereres · 3 years
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For You, I'd Become Hercules | 2 | - Auston Matthews
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Summary: A happy life with Tyson. That was what you and Auston had been expecting ever since you had moved in. The universe, though, had other plans.
A/N: Here it is! Oh-my-God I couldn’t wait to finally post part two!
Word Count: 5,3k
Warnings: smut, lots of panic and crying, stalking, creepy people, court and lawsuits lmao I think that’s all
“Daddy,” Tyson whined when Emily, his kindergarten teacher, told the parents it was time to leave. “I don’t want you to go,”
“Tys, c’mon, be a good boy,” Auston kneeled near his little boy, gently caressing his back. “You’ll have fun with all the other kids,”
“I’ll pick you up in only a couple of hours, baby,” you whispered, wiping the tear that slipped past Tyson’s eye before kissing his cheek. Your own eyes were glossy, it was hard for you to actually see.
When Auston looked up at you to find some sort of help, you saw just how much everything was affecting him too. Tyson was slowly growing up, already headed off to Kindergarten, and it was especially hard for your lover to let him go. Auston had been his father for years, but he had never thought seeing him start school was going to be that hard, never.
If you hadn’t paid attention to your surroundings, you would have thought it was an angel calling for Tyson; instead, it was a little girl dressed in yellow, her red hair in a high ponytail. “Do you wanna color with me?”
Tyson’s teary eyes left Auston to settle on the little girl, who was pushing a blank paper his way, a bag full of crayons in her other hand. The little boy nodded his head, wiping the remaining tears on his cheeks quickly before sitting down next to her, leaving you and Auston on your own.
“Do we really have to leave?” Auston whispered, watching over his kid, who was smiling like crazy already.
“I think we should,” you mumbled with a strangled giggle, noticing the glances the teacher was giving the two of you, the only parents left inside the classroom. You left the overly decorated room after saying goodbye to Tyson and his new friend, Tiffany.
Your hand slipped into Auston’s when the door was shut behind you, heading towards the car to get back home. The drive was silent, Auston’s hand still linked with yours over the console as he kept his eyes on the packed road.
He missed the turn to reach your condo, instead driving straight away from the city until he reached the top of a hill. He turned the car off just then, finally letting you take in the landscape, the CN Tower seeming so distant from your spot.
The silence inside the car was enough to activate the crowd of thoughts that had been sitting inside your head for what felt like months, your thumb mindlessly caressing the back of Auston’s hand.
After the family trip to Cabo, everything had seemed to move so fast. You had been busy with work, but tried to spend as much time as possible with your boys, which then led to Auston asking you to move in.
It had been a big step, if you had to admit it. Your life after officially living with him and Tyson, though, had become the best life somebody could ask for. You didn’t mind waking up in the middle of the night to Tyson’s crying because of a bad dream, or you didn’t mind packing lunches for three one bit. Secretly, it was the life you had wished for ever since you had been Tyson’s age.
Auston sniffled from your side, catching your attention and finally snapping you out of your thoughts. You looked at him, noticing his red, swollen eyes and his still wet cheeks.
“Aus-”
“He’s just- he’s growing so fast,” he whispered, biting on his lip as he squeezed your hand. “I’m really happy, you know, just kind of shocked he’s leaving us already,”
“It’s just kindergarten, baby,” you reassured him, wiping his cheeks with your palms before pressing a soft kiss to his lips.
“He’ll be in college before we know it, Y/N,”
You laughed at that, making a smile appear on his own lips as he turned the car back on. “Let’s just focus on the moment,” you whispered, smiling his way before leaning in to kiss him again. “And he’s already made a friend, there’s nothing to worry about,”
“What’s her name, again?”
“Tiffany,” the glare you gave him was enough to make him laugh. “Auston, you’ll have to start remembering his friends’ names, from now on,”
“I will, I will!”
-
Tyson was running to you with a wide smile the moment you hopped off the car, tackling your legs in a hug. “Mommy!”
“Hey, little man!” You said excitedly, ruffling his hair before sending a quick wave to the teacher. As you propped him into your arms, he started talking about his day, he showed you his drawings when you were strapping him into his seat, and you weren’t shocked to see him fast asleep in the backseat just a few minutes later.
The ride back to your condo was short, with the radio playing lightly in the background as Tyson’s slow breathing filled the car. He didn’t wake up when you propped him back in your arms when you parked the car in the building’s garage, but snapped his eyes open excitedly when he heard the sound of his father’s and godfather’s voice.
“Mitchy!”
You let him to the ground, watching him run towards Mitch and hug his legs in less than a second. “Little man!”
You walked towards the kitchen, reaching the three of them and leaning against Auston’s side. Tyson had already been lifted on top of the island, his shoes barely off as he gained the attention of everyone before he started his monologue about his first school day.
Mitch was listening closely, giving Tyson every ounce of his attention as Auston smiled tenderly. “And I also made a friend! Her name is Tiffany!”
“Tyson is already finding girlfriends, I see,” Mitch teased, tickling his tummy as the two of them laughed. “‘Atta boy!”
Tyson laughed, finally able to skim away from Mitch’s hands and finish his story about the day. By the end, his eyes were droopy, barely staying awake as he tried to focus on what his godfather was saying.
“Let’s go take a nap, Tys,” you whispered, lifting him into your arms before you walked to his room, gently helping him inside his bed. You let your eyes stay on his sleeping form for a little while, gently carding a hand through his hair as you zoned out.
You didn’t hear the front door close, but you were snapped out of your thoughts by a gentle hand on your shoulder, your head snapping around to meet Auston’s eyes.
“Thank you for picking him up,” he whispered, wrapping his arms around your frame and holding you close to his chest.
“Of course,” you breathed out as you leaned on the tip of your toes, meeting his lips in a soft kiss. His hands sneaked down to your waist, holding you tightly as you wrapped your arms around his neck, deepening the kiss.
“Oh my God,” he chuckled between kisses. “Not here,”
You giggled, remembering just then you were still in Tyson’s room. He picked you up in less than a second, expertly leading the two of you to his bedroom right after shutting Tyson’s door.
Everything seemed to move so quickly as he sat on your shared bed, your legs straddling his waist as the two of you made out. Your shirt came off pretty quickly, followed soon by his, and you let your hands wander around the newfound skin of his chest.
“Is this okay?” He asked softly, his breathing uneven as he let his forehead rest against yours. You nodded your head, grabbing his hands and putting them on your body, giving him your consent. His eyes darkened, positioning you on your back, his body sliding back on top of yours in less than a second.
What had happened after that became history, just two bodies moving against each other in their own first, love-filled dance. You found yourself lying in Auston’s arms a few hours later, your eyes still groggy from the nap and your body feeling pleasantly sore.
“Hey,” Auston whispered, his fingers running through your hair as he smiled at you.
“What time is it?”
“Just a little after five,”
You mindlessly drew shapes on his chest as you relaxed against him, never letting your eyes leave his.
“I love you,” he whispered, everything he had been thinking about spilling from his mouth before he could have even stopped himself. “And it’s fine if you still don’t, you know? I just felt like you should have known,”
Your heart stopped beating for a quick second at his words, a big smile forming on your lips right after his declaration. “Auston?”
He didn’t respond, just hummed your way as his eyes stayed on your intertwined hands. “I love you, too,”
-----
Tyson ran towards you after another day of school, his entire body excited for what was about to come right after the two of you would get inside the car: his first-ever ice hockey practice.
The small duffle bag was already waiting for him in the backseat, with the tiny skates and the hockey stick they wouldn’t be using for a while, since everyone in the course still wasn’t able to skate.
“Mommy!” He squealed excitedly, jumping in your arms before having you buckle him inside his seat.
“Ready for practice, big boy?” You asked, kissing the top of his head quickly. “We’re picking up auntie Steph on the way,”
He smiled excitedly, looking out of the window as you stepped around the car, closing his door behind yourself. You felt like you were being watched again, the same feeling you had felt that morning when you had dropped Tyson off.
The front of the school was still packed with mothers, fathers, grandparents picking up their little ones, but it didn’t take much for you to figure out who was looking - rather, glaring - at you.
She stood to the side, sketchily smoking a cigarette as her black hair flowed over her shoulders because of the breeze, showing off a big tattoo near her neck. Her eyes never left yours as you stepped inside the car, giving her one last look through the rearview mirror before speeding off towards the rink.
Tyson talked your ears off about his day, but it was hard for you to follow through with his monologue as your mind went back to the woman in the parking lot. You picked Steph up quickly before heading towards the rink, keeping quiet the entire car ride until you unbuckled Tyson from his seat.
“You okay?” Steph whispered, her hand placed carefully on your back as you grabbed Tyson’s bag for him. “You seem kind of shocked,”
“I’ll tell you later,” you mumbled, letting your eyes scan the rink’s parking lot to reassure yourself Tyson was safe. Entering the doors, you were greeted by the coach: a patient-looking man in his fifties whose face lightened up as soon as he saw Tyson.
“Tyson Matthews?” He asked, kneeling down to your boy’s height to shake his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,”
He later pointed you and Steph to the stands, where a couple more moms and dads were sitting, looking at their kids on the ice.
“You’re worrying me, Y/N,” Steph admitted when the two of you sat down, your leg bouncing anxiously as you looked around the rink for any sign of the woman. “What’s happening?”
“This morning I brought Tyson to kindergarten,” you started, your eyes finally meeting hers as you explained your side of the story. “I felt like I was being watched, you know, as if someone was looking at me,
“I picked Tys up earlier and this woman was watching us, it was creepy,” you admitted, taking a quick look at your phone before letting your eyes find Tyson in the middle of the rink, laughing with another kid. “I’ve never seen her, no idea on who she is,”
“Maybe you should tell Auston,”
“But what if it’s just a coincidence?” You whispered, rubbing your temples with a sigh. “I’ll just- I’ll wait a little and see what happens. He’s already so busy with practice and all,”
“I just want you and Tys to be safe, alright?”
“Yeah,” you muttered under your breath. You tried to relax, letting the sound of skates on ice and kids’ laughter lull you into a state of calmness until almost all the anxiety left your body for the night.
Tyson quickly waved your way, smiling up at you as he showed you he had already learned how to skate. With a proud smile on your lips, you took a video for Auston, and decided to let the entire matter about the woman leave your mind.
Your kid was on the ice for the first time, it was a moment you just couldn’t forget.
-----
You were sure nothing would ever make you as happy as seeing Tyson on the ice did. He seemed to love hockey just like his father did, spending hours on hours on the iced surface just to have some fun.
He had been able to go to one of the team’s practices, he had skated next to his dad, shot pucks as best as he could, and played around with the coaches and the rest of the team. It looked like the kid and the ice were made for one another, and you and Auston couldn’t help but be extremely proud of your boy.
Standing by the glass of the rink, you watched Tyson with his teammates and coach, running after their respective pucks with mini sticks. Aaliyah was on the phone with you, ranting about what her current boyfriend had done during the previous days, her voice annoyed.
“And guess what! He was at the bar with his friends all that time!”
“No way,” you muttered in shock, stifling a laugh when you heard your best friend pouring herself what you could only guess was wine.
“Yeah, and when I went up to talk to him he became super bitchy,” Aaliyah sighed, probably shaking her head. “I’m proud to call him my ex, now,”
“It was time you dropped that asshole,” you admitted, letting your eyes scan the rink, finding Tyson in the middle of the ice, handling his puck with a smile on his lips. When you looked up, though, you realized there was more to the picture.
Behind him, right on the opposite side of where you were standing, stood the woman. The one with the black hair, with the tattoo on her neck. Seeing her there made it clear: it wasn't just a coincidence anymore.
"Man, that guy was truly a douche. He couldn't even make me cum," Aaliyah mumbled in your ear, but you barely even registered her words.
You stared the woman down, deciding what your next move would have been. "Y/N? Are you there?"
"A, I'll call you later," you muttered quickly before ending the call, making your way around the rink to confront the woman. She had been at your neck for days, following you and Tyson around. You were done with it.
She was quick to run away from you, but it didn't stop you from chasing her. You had made it to the exit of the rink, but when your eyes scanned the parking lot, she was nowhere to be seen. No trace of her around you.
Breathless and angry, you went back to your previous place on the stands. Nothing was holding you back anymore, at that point.
You needed to find that woman.
-----
“No, I don’t think we should advertise it like that, honestly-” your co-worker Martha began speaking, the loud sound of your ringtone interrupting the conversation. Looking down at the screen, you realized Tyson’s kindergarten was calling.
“I’m so sorry, I have to take this one,” you muttered, heart beating out of your chest as you left the meeting room. “Hello?”
“Mrs. Y/L/N? I’m Emily, Tyson’s teacher,” the woman on the other side spoke. “I called to inform you that someone has been trying to pick Tyson up the entire morning,”
You stopped in your tracks, your eyes bulging out of your head as Emily kept explaining. “She was consistent, didn’t want to leave after we explained to her she wasn’t authorized to pick Tyson up,”
“Can you- can you give me a brief description of her?”
“Uh- dark, long hair, tall, in her twenties,”
It was her. The woman that had been following you all that time. And she had tried to pick Tyson up.
“You didn’t let her take Tyson, right?” You asked, tears springing to your eyes as you panicked.
“Obviously, we didn’t,” she reassured you. “Are you okay, Mrs. Y/L/N?”
“I- uh, I’ve been feeling worried about Tyson’s safety. That woman has been following us for quite a while, now,”
“We can ban her, if it would make you feel safer,” Emily gently said. “I’d also recommend talking to the authorities about it, ma’am,”
“I’ll be there to pick Tyson up in ten,” you shakily said, ending the conversation with the teacher with a quick ‘goodbye’ before leaving your workplace. You had never felt that scared in your entire life, barely holding on as you pulled up to the kindergarten, your heart beating out of your chest.
Before entering the school, you grabbed your phone, dialing Auston’s number. Just as you thought you were going to be sent to his voicemail, his voice snapped you out of your trance.
“Babe?”
“Auston, we- we have a problem,” you sniffled, running a hand through your hair as you looked out of the car window.
“What’s happening, baby?” He asked, sounding worried, too. “Please, talk to me,”
“I’m picking Tyson up right now,” you whispered, brushing a stray tear from your cheek with the back of your hand. “Can you come home as soon as possible? We’ll talk there,”
“Sure,” he stuttered out. “Y/N?”
“Yes?”
“I love you, I’ll see you later,”
-
When you had finally reached home, Tyson speeded off to his room, obviously after greeting his father. You were sure you had never seen Auston that worried in your entire life, a frown masking his face when he saw your teary gaze.
Without even saying a word, he wrapped his arms around you, embracing you in a warm hug as you finally let the tears fall. You felt extremely anxious; your worries for Tyson, for Auston, for your own self, were overwhelming.
“Whenever you’re ready, baby,” Auston whispered in your hair, swaying your bodies to lull you.
“This- this woman,” you sobbed, your tears staining his hoodie. “She’s been following Tyson and me for months,”
Auston’s shock was evident when he quickly cupped your cheeks, attentively making eye contact with you. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I just- I thought it was just a coincidence. She was always at the kindergarten, I thought she was just there to pick up her kid,” you admitted. “But then I also started seeing her at the rink, and today Emily called me to tell me that woman had attempted to pick Tyson up multiple times,”
“Fuck,” Auston muttered, running a hand through his hair as he looked down at you. “We should probably call the police,” He sat on the couch, wrapping his arms around you when you settled next to him. “Can you maybe describe her for me?”
“Black hair, skinny, tall,” you mumbled. “I don’t know if it’s helpful, but she always wears red lipstick,”
Something clicked inside Auston’s mind, you could have told. Pictures of her crowded his mind as he tried comparing her and the woman you had described. Scrambling for something he remembered her for, he could only come up with one of the most obvious things about her. Tattoos.
“Does she have a neck tattoo? Close to the shoulder area,”
With your eyebrows scrunched, you nodded your head, remembering quite easily about the inked skin you had noticed. His head dropped in his hands, making your heart beat against your ribcage heavily. “What are you thinking, Aus?”
“That’s Jessica,”
Tyson’s mother.
-----
Auston had never thought she would have come back. She had made it clear that night: she wasn’t going to come back; and yet, there she was. She had been following his son and his girlfriend around, creeping around them like a stalker, scaring them to death.
They didn’t deserve it, at all, was all he thought. He had never seen Y/N that shocked in his entire life, tears of fear and worry streaming down her face. It made his blood boil, it made him angry to see her like that. Jessica was going to pay.
With a sigh, he looked at himself in the foggy mirror: the dark bags under his eyes - the first thing you could notice about his appearance - were the result of a couple sleepless nights spent to figure out what he was going to do, how he was going to help you. His unshaven stubble peeked out, reminding him of all the mornings spent in front of papers, trying to solve the big knot that was child custody, something he had been so clueless about for his entire life.
And then came his eyes. They were filled with anger, with frustration.
He had been the happiest man on Earth ever since Y/N had come back in his life, stealing his heart all over again; Jessica wasn’t going to ruin his life just when he was at his happiest.
-----
“So we should settle for a restraining order?” Auston asked, mindlessly stepping around your room as he talked to his lawyer. “I’m afraid this might need more than just a restraining order,”
You sighed when you heard the doorbell, stepping out of your room and finding Tyson playing with Ema, who had been kind enough to help you and Auston during the complicated situation you had been going through. You had kept Tyson away from kindergarten for his safety, what had previously happened with Jessica was enough to scare you to death.
“I’ll take the door,” you whispered to Ema, who was silently looking at her grandson, a worried look on her features.
The doorbell rang again, this time snapping the toddler out of his thoughts. He latched onto your side, a clueless smile planting itself onto his lips as he waited for you to open the door.
It shocked you to see that familiar tattoo so closely, every detail imprinting itself in your memory. Jessica stood in front of you with all her pride, her eyes gingerly falling on your face before flying down to Tyson.
“Look at my baby,” she whispered under her breath, kneeling down to the kid’s height to take a good look at him. Putting all the shock aside, your protectiveness took over, pushing Tyson away from her.
“Don’t even look at him,” you hissed, eyes cold as they found hers.
“Baby, the lawyer is asking-”
Auston stopped in his tracks when he saw who was at the door, quickly stepping towards the two of you to stand by your side. Ema also joined the scene, picking Tyson up and sending the mother of her grandchild a glare before leaving the room.
“Jessica, what do you want?” Auston was quick to ask, his voice filled with venom.
“Auston,” Jessica greeted him, smirking your way. “I want my kid back,”
“After everything you’ve done to us?!” Auston raised his voice. “You left him on my doormat, Jessica. You left us alone with no help and now you come back?! You’ll never be able to see my son again,”
“Our son,” she specified, looking at you as she reminded you who really was the mother of the kid you loved so much, a pang of pain hitting your heart.
“Don’t even try to consider him yours,” you hissed, clenching your jaw. You had had enough. “Tyson doesn’t have a mother because you abandoned him and never came back,”
“You will never be his mother, no matter how hard you try,”
“At least I try to be present in his life, Jessica,” you said, your fists clenched into balls as you stared her down. “At least I show him love, I treat him as my own son. You won’t take him away from us, no matter how hard you try,”
“We’ll see you in court,” Auston said sharply from your side, wrapping his arm around your waist to stabilize you, to support you.
“Oh, is that how things are going to go?” Jessica huffed, rolling her eyes. “Just let me see my kid,”
“You don’t even call him by his name, do you expect us to let you meet him?” you snapped. “We will see you in court, and you should leave the building before I call the police,”
“You won’t forget about me, girl,” she hissed before walking away, leaving you to stare at her back as she left. Your heart was still beating against your ribcage, so fast from all the adrenaline when Auston pulled you back inside your house, wrapping his arms around you in a firm hug.
“Auston, I-” you cried, sniffling against his chest as you finally let yourself relax in his hold. “I’m so scared,”
“She’s never going to take Tyson from us, baby,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. “I promise,”
“Mommy?” Tyson’s voice was small, you barely even heard it. “Mommy, don’t cry,”
Even more tears left your eyes at his words, and he was quick to find himself in your arms, hugging you tightly.
“Oh, Tys, I love you so much,” you sobbed, tightening your grip around his smaller body as you enjoyed the moment. “I will always love you, no matter what. Okay, Tys?”
The toddler nodded your way, his eyes soft as he let his face hide in the crook of your neck. Auston joined the two of you, kissing the top of your heads before swaying all of your bodies from side to side.
“We’ll be alright,” he whispered in your ear. “We’ll be alright,”
-----
You hadn’t expected to ever find yourself in court for something as serious as child custody, ever. You were nervous, to say the least. You, Auston, and Tyson were in the hands of one of the best lawyers specialized in child custody; you had been reassured you’d win the case at least twenty times already, but it didn’t help to calm your nerves.
In the short time that had divided your first real encounter with Jessica and the day of the sentence, you had truly started appreciating every single moment you had with Tyson. God only knew what was going to happen in that room.
Auston held your hand during the entire sentence, squeezing your palm every time he’d feel you getting nervous. As the matters were discussed via your respective lawyers, you let your eyes peek in Jessica’s direction.
She was dressed in black, her usual signatures - the bright red lipstick painting her lips, and her neck tattoo - shining under the lights of the room. ‘How could such a beautiful person live without kindness, or love, for her own son?’ You asked yourself. ‘How could she heartlessly leave Tyson and Auston alone, and come back years later to try and snatch him away from the loving hands of his father?’
You spaced out, blocking the sound of people talking, focusing on the ground. In your head, you replayed every single moment you had been able to spend with Tyson, the little boy that had stolen your heart.
You focused on every important moment: the time in the hospital, the lazy Sundays spent with your boys and Felix on the couch, the gala where Tyson first called you ‘mommy’, his first practice.
‘We do not remember days, we remember moments’, was what Cesare Pavese had once said, and finding Tyson and Auston finally made you really understand what he meant, with that quote.
“The sole custody of Tyson James Matthews will be given to the father, Auston Taylour Matthews,” the judge, a middle-aged woman, spoke. “Have a good day,”
It felt as if your heart started beating again, when she spoke those words. Tears of happiness welled up in your eyes as you looked at Auston, who was equally as happy as you were.
Even if not appropriate, he pulled you in a hug, burying his face in the crook of your neck as the two of you created another moment together. Ema, who had been sitting behind you all that time, joined the two of you with tears streaming down her cheeks.
“We did it, baby,” Auston whispered, sniffling slightly as he wiped a fresh set of tears from your cheeks. “We finally did it,”
-
You spent the afternoon trying to explain the situation to Tyson as best as you could, his curious questions bringing you even more happiness. As much as you wanted to spend the entire night with your boys, Auston was determined to bring you out to dinner.
The entire deal about Tyson’s custody had made both of you extremely busy, you barely even were able to see each other. Mrs. Blake had been more than happy to keep Tyson for the night, and maybe you really needed to spend a night with your lover.
“You look beautiful,” Auston said from behind you, nervously fidgeting as he looked at you putting on your favorite set of earrings.
“And you look nervous,” you giggled, turning around to press a kiss to his lips. “Do I still make you nervous, Matthews?”
“How could you not?” He smirked sweetly down at you, kissing you another time before grabbing your clutch for you. “Let’s go, baby. This is our night,”
You laughed, spinning in his arms before slipping in a pair of heels, ready to leave your condo and get to the restaurant. The look of shock you had given Auston the moment he parked in front of the CN Tower was enough to make him laugh as he helped you out of the car like the gentleman he was.
He spoiled you with a wonderful dinner, talking about everything in front of a glass of wine and the beautiful view of Toronto. Your dessert was brought to you after a while: two nice bowls of ice cream, just what you always used to order when you were kids.
“You know, I was thinking about it,” Auston mumbled, clearing his throat as he pushed the spoon with the last few remnants of ice cream into his mouth. “And we’ve been together for almost a year,”
“Damn, you’re right,” you chuckled in amazement. Time had gone past so quickly you had barely even noticed it.
“This has been the best year of my life,” he admitted, pressing a quick kiss to the back of your hand, his palm sweaty. “And I wish the next ones could be as perfect as this one year we spent together,”
You smiled at him, biting on your lip as the butterflies in your stomach kept dancing to the music that was his love.
“I know it’s probably too soon, but I just can’t help myself, Y/N,”
A hand cupped your mouth as you finally realized what he actually had meant, and when he let himself sink on one knee, opening a velvet box with the most beautiful ring you had ever seen inside, tears started to spill from your eyes.
“We’ve been through hell and back to be where we are now, and you’ve loved me unconditionally no matter what I did or what I said. You’re the only one I want, you’re the only one I need. Will you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?”
It was a no-brainer. You didn’t even have to think about your answer, it was clear.
“Yes!”
Taglist: @thirstyybitch @bellaguarneri @brokeninsidebutnobodyknows @trashforbarzal @roopehinttz @callllumhood​ @sunsetholland​
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razorblade180 · 3 years
Text
Interdimensional Moms: Bonus
Part 4 here<-
After many tears and tissue boxes, all members of team RWBY had finally stopped crying. Blake was the best off with her eyes a little red while Ruby was the complete opposite. The girl’s face was still rather red and her eyes were puffy. She hadn’t even completely stopped sniffling yet; much like tear marked partner. Yang on the other hand rested her head on the table. She had cried hard enough to giver herself a minor headache. She was completely drained.
Yang:Ugh, this blows! I thought this was gonna be a fun learning experience.
Blake:We definitely learned. It just so happens we had to poke at some.... extremely sensitive topics.
Weiss:I’m all for looking inward and self reflection but I’ve had my fill.
Ruby:Same. Should’ve kept the summary light.
Yang:No, I’m glad you got that off your chest. We just need a way to lighten the mood.
Blake:.....I kicked Weiss’s butt in a tournament.
RWY:......What?
Blake:During the time spent training for Salem, another tournament was held between the schools. It had team matches and singles. I kicked Weiss’s butt in my fourth round. It was a good day.
Weiss:How is that lightening mood!?
Blake:Listen, it was a big deal! I never thought I was gonna win the whole tournament but I really wanted to beat you. I love you but your head gets a little big when you’re on a roll for too long; plus I just really didn’t want to lose. I always felt a bit of rivalry between us.
Yang:Hehe, is that you’re way of saying “It would look bad to lose to a Schnee?”
Blake:Well it would!
Ruby:Hehehe.
Yang:Wait, does that mean we went back to school?
Blake:Yeah. It was pretty comforting. There was definitely a lot left to learn.
Yang:Weird. School kinda faded into the background.
Ruby:I went back to school. We all did actually. It was fast tracked by roughly a year but it was fun. We all got to pose in caps and gowns.
Weiss:Damn! I should’ve went back just for that. Unfortunately I was busy making rent and learning how to properly preheat a oven.
Yang:It’s like two buttons.
Weiss:Gas stove, and six years out of date.
Yang:Awww, you had to learn the hard way. I’m surprised and thankful you never left the gas on.
Weiss:There’s an alarm for that. Also I’m not irresponsible! Anyways, I mentioned similar tournaments earlier. I didn’t participate much but enough old videos of me in them were enough for to really light a fire under my kids. For awhile I was a bit concerned that they were just following a trend but they really love it. They used to always go around playing like knights when they were tiny.
Ruby:Carmine was a little different. She definitely always tried doing things I could but nothing got the girl jumping like seeing Yang’s horses or new ballet shoes. There wasn’t a morning when I didn’t hear a vase fall over or seeing her spin like a top. Carmine still hums some old routines when she isn’t paying attention.
Yang:Not too many memories of Yujin when she was pint size. But I do remember that wild child always loved using my bandannas for everything! Napkins, capes, ropes; anything but an actual bandanna. I used to get a bit upset with the napkin one but she’d always look at me with her big eyes and crazy hair. I never stayed mad.
Weiss:Softie.
Yang:She was like a pudgy puff ball! Fat cheeks and wholesome smiles. Ah! So adorable!
Weiss:I used to always have at least one of my kids on my hip when I was out and about. I think the media has a magazine amount of pictures of me at the park kissing my babies. Summer liked tummy rubs. She’d never go to sleep without one. Some nights I’d sing too but start to doze off so Jaune would have to take over.
Yang:*smiles* Speaking of Jaune.....
Ruby:No.
Yang:You don’t even know what I was-
Ruby:Were you about to suggest we compare our Jaune’s in the bedroom?
Yang:*red*......Well not just the bedroom! What’s the harm!? I just wanna know if he’s consistent across the board. No need to get detailed.
Weiss:You really never change no matter the world.
Yang:Can’t change greatness. It shows in any form!
Blake:He’s pretty compliant and accommodating. The benefits of being his first when I had prior knowledge I suppose.
Ruby:Don’t answer!
Blake:Why not? I’m comfortable with it.
Yang:Don’t listen to those two Blake. They’re just a bit more embarrassed since Jaune has literally been their one and only.
Blake:Huh, I never thought about it like that. Jaune would’ve been the first person you two opened up to on such a level; especially Weiss.
Yang:That’s still hilarious. All the protesting and somehow you found yourself stripping for the guy.
Weiss:Shut up! I already know! It was....I.... *blushing* emotions ran really high.
Ruby:An entire mental rollercoaster of thoughts and firsts happening all at once. Anxiety was high.
Yang:Heh, so you could say that Jaune Arc-
RW:Got through our walls. Hardy har har.
Yang:Shit, I am the same in every universe. Well I don’t have any reservations about it! *grinning* He makes me feel special every time!
Blake:Bottom.
Yang:I’m ignoring you.🎶
Ruby:Hehe, sounds about right. He...might make me feel a bit special as well.
Blake:Switch.
Ruby:How can you just guess off of that!?
Blake:It’s a gift.
Weiss:......
Blake:*smiling*
Weiss:Leave me alone.
Blake:I don’t know what has you embarrassed. You told us you’ve slept with everyone here except Ruby! I knew you were repressed but geez.
Weiss:For your information it wasn’t my idea! It was yours!
Blake:Not surprising. Let’s switch the topic. How is this other child of mine? Can’t picture me having a daughter.
Weiss:Veronica is very sensitive. Even if she tries to act like she isn’t. One time when she was tiny, a soccer ball hit her straight in the face and she sprung up saying “I’m fine!” Then you took her behind the bleachers to patch her up; tears all on her face. It both breaks my heart and very adorable to see her act fine while her ears are folded back.
Ruby:Your other son Kovu was a bit of cry baby. Partly my fault. Carmine kept beating him up and making fun of him.
Blake:What!?
Yang:Ha! Wait, that’s my kid too. How the heck!? Are you telling me you raised the rowdy child and I got the baby?
Ruby:Yang you’re a baby. I’m like twice as rowdy compared to you. A nevermore got worked day one at school.
Weiss:She has a point. You cry the most out of any of us.
Yang:Wha- that not- how....shut up! *pouts* I’m not that touchy.
Ruby:Kovu is a sweetie and not a cry baby. Carmine is just a little mean when she tries to care about others. She beat him up in an attempt to make Kovu give up dreaming about being a huntsman. That way he wouldn’t be in such a dangerous job. Reasonable logic but you know, a little over the top. Almost broke his arm. Boy did I chew her out. All it did was make him want to try harder.
Yang:Fantastic. I shouldn’t expect less from my own blood. I bet Yujin would like him. Which reminds me, anybody have kids in relationships?
RWB:We’re working on it.
The three women paused briefly before laughing at their meddling. Yang could only admire and fear her friends.
Yang:Should I be scared for your children?
Blake:Lucas needs someone to break up the routine in his life. I’m not saying he has to date her, but it would put a smile on my face.
Ruby:Carmine takes after me, not really thinking about stuff like relationships much. However, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t at all. Carmine tries her best to not act like she’s a teenaged girl with teenage wishes. But everyone sees right through it. I’m fine with her not being in one but I would like if she acknowledged that it’s okay to just....ugh, be normal! Why can nobody have normal knees in my life!?
Weiss:Nick likes Valerie who tries to deny she likes him by liking Summer, who doesn’t like her; while Veronica crushes on Nick who obviously has conflicting feelings.
RBY.....
Yang:Why is it always complicated with you?
Weiss:How is this my fau- okay it is a little bit.
Blake:Where do you stand?
Weiss:I think Valerie would be lovely for him.
Yang:What’s wrong with my baby girl!?
Blake:Yeah!?
Weiss:One, not yours. Two, have you met who I’m married to? Can’t really say he’s wasting his efforts. Though I wouldn’t be upset with Veronica. I think those two might be good for each other.
Blake:Any other bombshells people got?
Ruby:......
Ruby:Ilia is happily married.*sips coffee*
Blake:Oh that’s wonderful! I’m glad she found a loving wi-
Ruby:*smirks* To Sun.
Blake:....*stands up* I need, champagne!
A bottle of champagne poofs into existence with several glasses. Blake immediately pours everyone a glass before raising hers into the sky.
Blake:Ruby Rose, today you’ve erased guilt upon my conscious. I’m happy there’s one world where it seems all of my good exes get over me.
Ruby:Are the Ilia and Sun where you’re from miserable like Yang!?
Blake:No, but they kinda fumble in actually going for relationships. It just always makes me feel a little bad.
Yang:You can technically count two worlds. I’m fine, Ilia is dating a pretty secretary, and your one evil ex is now raising a morally good family.
Blake:You’re right! This calls for a double toast! To alternate universes! *puts glass down*
Weiss:Haha, aren’t you gonna drink it!?
Blake:No I’m still recovering; but how could I pass up the opportunity!? Man I wish I could attend that wedding! I don’t know if I’d be a bridesmaid or the best man!
Yang:You’re just gonna steal Neptune’s thunder like that?
Blake:Hey, Sun and I have taken bullets for each other and stab wounds. I think I deserve to be a little greedy and say I ride or die for that man just a little harder than Neptune.
Ruby:Geeeeeez Blake! Haha, I didn’t even tell you about the baby.
Blake:*visble excitement* Excuse me!?
RWY:*raises glass* Cheers.
Blake:CHEERS! What’s he like!?
xxxxx
Aero:AAAACHOOOO!
Carmine:Eugh! Cover your mouth! I don’t need to get sick.
Aero:Damn! What happened to uh I don’t know, “bless you!?”
Carmine:*pulls out tissues* Happy?
Aero:Where...why are those in you book bag?
Carmine:It’s flu season.
Aero:....I can’t tell if you’re the coolest person around or just a second mother.
Carmine:I can be both. My mom is arguably both but don’t tell her that. It’ll make her month and she’ll hug me too tight.
Aero:Bitch, you love hugs. Stop being difficult.
Carmine:Mmmm nah.
Aero:I feel bad for your mom.
Carmine:I feel bad for yours.
Aero:Hop off. You’re so childish.
Carmine:And yet you love me.
Aero:*red* In your dreams!
Carmine:It would make your day if I dreamed about you,wouldn’t it?
Aero:I hope you dream of spiders.
Carmine:We do not joke about that! *grabs him* Aero I will beat you up if I dream of them tonight! That’s just mean!
Aero:Stop crying ya baby. I could’ve said they were- ow!
Sun:*hitting him* Shut up and just kiss something! We’re trying to watch a game.
Aero and Carmine:We don’t like each other!
Jaune:With all do respect, that’s a lie. But please by all means Aero, continue not touching my daughter if you know what’s best for you. I don’t wanna have to fight you and your parents right afterwards.
Sun:Ilia would kill you.
Jaune:Yeah! That’s why I don’t want the fight! Much like Ruby, she’s short and terrifying. Her size holds the rage.
Ilia:*peeks in* Who’s talking shit?
JASC:Nobody, we love you!
Ilia:.....Got my eyes on you four. *holds Garnet up* and this one; the most well behaved in this bunch even with no nap.
Garnet:*fussy grumbling* I’m a ball of rage!
Ilia:You wanna nap?
Garnet:Yes!!!
Ilia:See, behaved. *walks away* don’t make me come back out here.
Carmine:....So do you like me because your mother is also imposing?
Aero:This is it, my evil origin story. It begins today.
xxxxx
Ruby:I admire his patience.
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The Mom Friend
Yeah… though Neku had certainly never signed up to be these four’s mom—and he still had no idea how that had happened—he now knew he wouldn’t change it for the world. Oneshot. Canon compliant. Mom friend Neku. Neo spoilers.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/33385999
At first, if you had asked Neku if he had become the mom friend of the Wicked Twisters, he would have laughed in your face.
Because while he would admit he loved the youngins’—and was very protective of them—some old habits of wanting to be cool, and being somewhat rough around the edges, died hard.
But it was with Nagi that Neku finally realized that this was the case.
The girl had decided to go vegetarian, but her body was rejecting not having a lot of protein and thus needed something like nuts this very instance? Who was it but Neku, who went out to buy her some, at near three o’clock in the morning (because he was a good friend and had expanded his horizons that much), since her parents had recently died in a car crash and they could no longer do it for her, the poor girl.
So, Neku crept into Nagi’s dorm window around one-forty-five-ish—which, looking back on it, probably hadn’t been a good idea and could have scared his friend. But, hey: Neku had gotten used to being in the Game. And the week that Coco brought him back before he ran into Beat, he’d been in hiding, and had maybe gotten used to the idea some; and Nagi didn’t seem spooked, so maybe her mind was still stuck on sneaking around in the Reapers’ Game, too—and Nagi took the food out of Neku’s hands like it was the easiest thing in the world before ruffling his hair.
“Much obliged, Lord Neku,” she said as she fixed her glasses in this dim lighting, so she could see him better. Or so Neku guessed. “Now, hopefully, I can feel better enough, that I can work on my essay about the Canterbury Tales. …No one knows such suffering as me,” Nagi moaned, before going back to her bed and starting on the cashews.
“No, problem,” Neku said then—feeling sort of awkward, as he went to mess with a pair of headphones that were no longer on his person anymore—“if you need help with it… I, uhh, guess I could try and lend a hand. I have university coming up soon, too. And I know they’ll have me doing some English stuff, so…”
“Unless you want to be bored to tears, I suggest that you not make such a promise, unless your heart knows little joy,” Nagi warned him.
And Neku didn’t have to be told twice. So, he did backout of helping her with that paper.
But he knew when he visited Shiki soon—and she asked him what he’d been up to—she would still tease him about being the mom friend, for going out and buying protein for Nagi in the wee hours of the morning.
And it continued on like that… and Neku was somewhat loath to admit it, because hey: he had an image to uphold here.
But then again… maybe not, because if this was him pushing out his borders as far as they would go—as Mr. H had instructed him to do three years ago—Neku knew he would gladly do so… even at the risk was being called a “mom”, and even an “old maid”, or something.
Right now, Rindo had severely hurt his ankle… and who was he holding onto as they hobbled away, with designs to get him to a hospital? Neku.
“This is the last time I ever try something from the 90’s again!” Rindo complained, as Neku was half-carrying him to his car now (and how nice it was, that Neku could drive now—from memories of another him that hadn’t lost such formative years—that Joshua had implanted into his head).
“Yeah, Rindo… scooters were cool and everything—yours truly had one—but even I don’t know why you decided to try and bring them back now of all times… Especially since they had a bad habit of spinning right back around and nailing you in the ankle… which you know all too well now,”
And godamnit. Neku really had become the mom friend, huh, if he was now telling his younger friend this venture had been dangerous from the get-go, and how he could have easily seen that if he’d tried to?
Neku pulled on one of his spikes, irritated with himself here, but tried not to show Rindo, lest he think he was mad at him.
“Well, I’d thought about getting a motor scooter,” Rindo explained, Neku loading his pal into his backseat now. “So, I think that’s what got scooters on my brain… But I was trying to be green, and still think of a faster way to catch things in FanGo than walking! And now look where it got me. Oy! …But I guess I shouldn’t be complaining. This should be the least of my problems, when just a few weeks ago I was fighting for you guys’ survival, huh?”
And Rindo paused in where he’d been about to put a hand over his eyes, to peek at Neku now who was currently getting into the driver’s seat—as if he was asking for the past Living Legend to remind the new one to have his priorities straight.
“For real,” Neku told Rindo, whilst he started to pull away now. “When I got out, I was mostly thinking about the Game… about what Joshua did, and how even then, I still trusted him but couldn’t forgive him. And I was so excited to finally meet up with my friends—to finally have some and care about that—be glad, Rindo, that you got out with your friends, and there’s so much trust between you. Like there is between Josh and I now.”
And Rindo set down his phone then—apparently like he had when he first met Shoka in the RG—like he was really listening to what Neku had to say, and he had to appreciate that.
And it might have been his imagination… but Neku could have sworn he saw a flash of blue nodding his head at Neku’s words, as it sat back there with the injured Rindo.
The next time Neku ended up being the “mom” for someone in the Wicked Twisters, after the Game, it was with Fret.
It was towards the end of his and Rindo’s sophomore year of high school…
Fret had been ecstatic to come back to life, Neku had known, and wasn’t wasting his second chance. He had really thrown himself into his studies, Rindo had told Neku in private (quite proudly, Neku might add).
If he could keep it up, he would probably even be able to graduate early. And talent scouts were looking at him, Neku had been told: towards a kid who hadn’t strived that hard in school, but now was and excelling because of it.
Naturally, Fret had decided that his calling was fashion—everyone who had been playing the Reapers’ Game with him would have gathered just how much he loved clothes—and apparently he had really thrown himself into designing towards the end of the year, and was trying to put a portfolio together for Jupiter of the Monkey to look at: who the school was suggesting he try and intern with, as they had some connections with (and damn, if Neku didn’t wish he’d gone to Fret and Rindo’s school now, being a huge J of the M fan himself).
Part of Neku wondered why Fret just didn’t try to intern with Shiki during his senior year, but perhaps it was because he was afraid Shiki would just give him the position because they were friends and not because she really thought he was talented.
Anyway… Fret hadn’t gotten the internship. J of the M had said the Fret should try to use less color (you know what? Maybe Neku didn’t like them very much anymore…).
And since then… Fret had seemed to give up on his dream of being a fashion designer, and was trying to be an actor.
And, look: Neku had no problem if him wanting to do both, if he thought he could do it and this was really what Fret wanted… though call him crazy, but he felt like something else was at work here: something that Neku and Shiki had both experienced before.
So, Neku had sat Fret down to talk about it at Ken Doi’s—away from the filmmakers who were currently trying to film in Dogenzaka, that Fret had just been a part of—and laid it all out on the table, “It’s okay… to get Imposter Syndrome. I’ve had it before with my art. Even Shiki has before. But if you want to be an artist, you’re going to fall down a few times… Fret, I feel like you don’t want to be an actor, so much as you don’t mind people dinging your acting, because that isn’t something you care about as much as your designing.”
And after Neku had spoken, Fret somehow looked both like Neku had made him had an epiphany he hadn’t quite realized, and like Neku had stumbled upon the horrible truth he hadn’t wanted anyone to figure out.
Neku took a bite of the yummy curry that Ken Doi had been kind enough to make just for him, after he’d brought Joshua around recently (he’d said he’d missed the two of them. Go figure), and let Fret get his bearings.
And now he was sighing, and running a hand through his hair, much like Neku often did. Neku smiled, finding it hard not to sympathize.
“Oh, man. I really do have to get back into fashion, huh?”
“You do,” Neku agreed, wondering what wonderful articles of clothing Fret might come up with for him to wear in the future. Shoka, too. Really, with those two and Shiki and Eri, Neku had it made in the clothes department, and he was not complaining. “And it’ll be hard sometimes. But most things in life worth gaining are.”
And when Fret smiled back at him, Neku knew he’d made some progress here—which was good—and then he did one thing that was decidedly not mom-like, and let Fret get the bill. Why? Because Neku was a starving college student at this point, and Fret still had parents who paid for stuff for him.
And then the last person who needed Neku’s help (…for now, he guessed. Because apparently this was a full-time gig. And at this point, Neku wasn’t complaining because he happily would have taken custody of all the Wicked Twisters long ago if he could’ve), was Shoka.
…Who was freaking out after Rindo having tried to give her a promise ring and wasn’t at all being her usual FanGo loving self, where Rindo was concerned.
And, yeah… Shoka could be a bit of a tsundere sometimes, but Neku felt like the issue ran much deeper.
Neku also happened to see Shoka looking into the mirror a lot lately… And at first, he wondered if she’d become self-conscious like Shiki had been.
But upon hearing the arrogant comments that Shoka still said about herself—that Neku’s surrogate little sister so deserved to say, he thought—he knew that wasn’t the case.
He tried to use a bit of his soul power on her… because it turned out that Neku was strong enough to use it in the RG some, but all that really told the ginger was that it was a deep-rooted issue with Shoka and not what said issue was.
Finally, Neku knew he had to just talk to her.
“Let me in, Shoka,” he urged her—after he’d caught her looking at wedding dresses in her apartment at a group hang-out (it was just the two of them at said hang-out right now; everyone else had gone to get food for everybody). “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
And it was pretty fitting, Neku would later think, that he used Shiki’s old words to him with Shoka here, since she made him think of Shiki some—what with her favorite Mr. Mew hoodie and all. Especially when they’d been in the Game.
And at his question, Shoka sighed—like opening her thoughts to Neku was the biggest burden in the world—and dropped the magazine like it had burned her.
“What?” she demanded, fiddling with the zipper at her neck. “About Rindo? I feel like him wanting to give me a promise ring is silly—and of a time gone by—so of course I told him ‘no’, and give him a hard time about it. Not all of us can be you and Shiki, you know…”
And with that, Shoka seemed content to ignore Neku, and to go boot up her PS5 so she could play the “Stranger of Paradise” demo.
And, hey: more power to her—Neku thought it looked sick, too—but no way was he letting her get off that easily. “That’s a lie, Shoka, and we both know it. So, what’s really going on here?”
Shoka was sighing once more now—as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders. And it probably was, with this tragic girl—but she shuffled on the couch closer to Neku, which he saw as a good sign. “Fine… I guess I should have known that I couldn’t lie to Mr. Soul-Reader… I just- I feel I look too much like them: Ayano and my little sister. And I know it’s dumb, but I worry about it.
“Will I be like Ayano and settle into one thing? Like, say I get really into being Rindo’s girlfriend here… but I force myself to marry him one day, because he really wants that: what if we end up living a loveless life because of that, I didn’t want to tie the knot but forced myself to just because it was what he desired? And since I look like Little Sis… If Rindo and I do end up together, what if I end up dying young like she did and leaving Rindo alone. It’s too much.”
And here Neku had to pull Shoka into a small hug and kiss the crown of her head, whilst he ran calming hands down her arms. Shoka had been through way too much trauma for someone so young. It wasn’t fair. But even with all of that… Neku had to make sure she was sure of one thing right now.
So, he got off the couch and kneeled in front of Shoka, so she was looking into his eyes, and wouldn’t miss how serious this was. “Shoka… you definitely have a lot of baggage there, that I do think you should talk to Rindo about. And I’m so sorry that you’ve lost so much family for someone so young… but know that your family isn’t you. Their lives aren’t yours, nor are the things that they did. The things you do are going to be totally different from them, and you have to make those decisions for yourself. Got it?”
“Okay, Neku,” Shoka allowed, while she helped to pull Neku back up now. And she seemed to be blushing a little… but that was okay, because so was he. Neku may have been the mom of this little group, but big declarations of the heart like that could still be hard for him.
“Thanks!” Shoka beamed, before throwing herself at Neku to give him a quick hug this time.
And Neku laughed slightly. “No problem. Now, what do you say we get super far in this awesome demo before our friends get back, for being losers in forgetting to take us with them to get the food?”
“I think that sounds like a pretty sweet deal!” Shoka agreed, already pulling away from Neku and going for the controller.
Yeah… though Neku had certainly never signed up to be these four’s mom—and he still had no idea how that had happened—he now knew he wouldn’t change it for the world.
Especially when the rest of his children came back happy—which was always a perfect sight to see—and Shoka did end up working things out with Rindo.
It was a wonderful world, indeed.
Author’s Note: Yeah, I’m headcanoning here that the last Dive that you do (not counting Rhyme) for the little ghost from Shinjuku was Shoka’s sister.
Hope you all enjoyed!
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jackrrabbit · 4 years
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Unprofessional [pt. 1] /// Yandere Tendou x f!Reader
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Summary: The new hire you’re supposed to be training at your office job is a little too attached for his own good…or yours. [Part 2]
A/N: Someone requested yandere Tendou and I was like !!! However when I wrote it, it turned out kinda long so I split it into 2 parts; I’ll answer the req when I post part 2. Anyway I’m obsessed with the concept of salaryman Tendou, please enjoy!
Tags/warnings: yandere, timeskip (Tendou is 22-23 in this), workplace/office setting, liberal use of “senpai”, alcohol, Tendou’s crackhead energy is toned down a little bit because of the setting [In part 2: smut, 18+]
You don’t really like Tendou when you first meet him.
Your first impression when your boss introduces the new employee is that he’s all talk and no substance. He’s been hired fresh out of university, and he’s got the stink of a former frat boy all over him—that baseless enthusiasm, chaotic goodwill and arrogance mixed together. That might have been your type when you were still sucking down cheap keg beer from red solo cups, but you’re two years into your career as a real grown-up adult now, and the cockiness that radiates off Tendou in waves is just…annoying.
Unfortunately, when your boss tells you to take the newbie under your wing, train him, and be his mentor, it’s not a request. It’s a demand. So you decide to suck it up. If you’re going to have to spend every second at the office with Tendou trailing after you like a baby duck, you may as well get used to him.
After a few weeks, you have to admit he’s not that bad. Sure, he’s not the best at respecting personal space, but how can you blame him? When he looms over you to reach for a file above your head for the nth time and traps you between his body and the cabinet, you finally lose your patience and snap at him to give you some space, but he looks so surprised and apologizes so sincerely that you can’t help forgiving him. You feel a little bad, even, when he explains that he’s never worked in an office before so he’s not used to all the rules that he’s expected to follow in a professional environment.
You can’t really fault him for that, especially when you’re the one who’s supposed to be teaching him these things. “It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean anything,” you tell him, and he perks up so quickly that you feel even worse for chewing him out in the first place.
The thing is, Tendou doesn’t really stop getting close to you once you chastise him. It just bothers you less. The dozenth time his hand lingers over yours while you’re passing him a document or he picks an invisible thread off your blouse or sits a little too close when you’re riding in the back of a taxi to a client meeting, you start convincing yourself that you’re overreacting. He’s probably not being that much more pushy than your other coworkers—you’re just more aware of him because you don’t know him as well.
And it doesn’t help that he’s tall, towering over you and pretty much everyone else in the office. The cheap suits he cycles through can’t quite conceal the hard lines of muscle underneath—oh, whoops. Now you’re the one crossing boundaries. Tendou is so big that you’re just…more conscious of his presence, right?
This is drilled into you one night after a marathon overtime session when you’re carrying a tall stack of boxes back to the archives. Maybe it’s because you’ve been at work for 11 hours, but the files feel like they’re filled with rocks, not paper. Your muscles are this close to giving out when Tendou appears out of nowhere to pluck the files out of your arms. “Here. Gimme, gimme, I’ll take ‘em.”
The way he carries the heavy boxes so effortlessly makes you kind of embarrassed at how much you’d struggled with them. “You’re pretty strong, hm,” you say absently. Oops, was that inappropriate? You don’t want him thinking you’re hitting on him or something.
“Oh—yeah I guess?” Tendou’s laugh (the one that used to grate on your nerves) sounds like he’s pleased with himself. “I go to the gym a lot.”
“Wish I could find the time. Or the discipline,” you reply as he replaces the file box in the archive room.
“Wow, senpai is calling me disciplined. My heart is pounding.”
His tone is sarcastic enough that you don’t think twice about the second part of his statement. “Don’t get too full of yourself. If you have the energy to go to the gym, you should spend that time double checking your expense reports before you submit them.”
“Ouch.” Tendou holds his hand over his heart in mock betrayal. “Targeting my weak points, how ruthless. But seriously, working out is second nature to me. Been doin it since I was a kid so it doesn’t take any kinda discipline.”
“Oh? Did you play sports or something?”
“Yeah…” Tendou’s voice trails off and when you pause from your task of organizing the files to look up at him, he’s staring directly at you. “…Used to play volleyball. Grade school through college.”
The way he’s looking at you, searching your face for something you can’t identify, makes you think this is more important than it seems. You tip your head to the side, waiting for him to continue.
“Our team in high school was pretty good,” he says slowly.
“That’s cool,” you say, turning back to the paperwork. “Did you ever play Shiratorizawa? They’re my old high school—I think their volleyball team went to nationals back in the day. I was never into sports though.”
A moment passes, and you frown. Did you say something wrong? But just before you’re about to change the subject, Tendou starts laughing. “Shiratorizawa? No, I don’t think I ever played them.”
Your laugh joins his a second late, although you don’t know why he thinks it’s funny in the first place. In the echo of your voices, you can hear how quiet it is in the archives. There’s something here you’re missing, but you’re not sure what.
Luckily enough, the somewhat awkward atmosphere doesn’t carry over to the next day. When you get into the office, Tendou is his usual clingy self, distracting you from your own work to ask you to teach him something and pulling you away when you’re talking to your coworkers so you can double check his emails before he sends them. If anything, he’s more attached than usual—when you go to a contract renewal negotiation with a client he insists on tagging along, so you let him after making him promise not to get in the way.
Of course he doesn’t keep his promise, but you end up appreciating his intrusion more than you could have predicted. The client is stubborn and rude until Tendou chimes in (much to your dismay, at first) with an offer to add on some oddly specific perks to the contract. You’re already practicing your apology speech to the boss in anticipation of losing the client, but to your amazement he agrees to Tendou’s terms and the deal is sealed, along with a healthy bonus for you.
You’re on cloud nine, practically skipping out of the building with Tendou at your side as you fantasize about what you’re going to do with the bonus after you split it with him. A weekend vacation out of the city? An online shopping spree? Some fancy dinners at five-star restaurants? Knowing you, the money will end up going straight to your savings, but you still can’t contain your giddiness. “How did you know he wanted that add-on? Seriously, I had no idea!”
“A guess! I’m good at reading people.” Tendou’s just as elated as you, pumping his fist and whooping like a kid as soon as you’re away from the client’s earshot. “Woohoo! Yay! Our first sale together!”
“A guess? You risked that huge contract on a guess?” You roll your eyes but you’re too excited to be mad at him. “Anyway, you don’t have to say ‘our’ first sale, I know it was all you. I’ll tell the boss you’re doing a good job.”
“No way, it’s ours! Both of us. Me and senpai.” Tendou’s hand reaches down and his fingers lace with yours, squeezing so tight his knuckles go pale.
The thrill of your success flickers as nervousness sets in. Is he holding your hand? “Tendou—“
“Senpaiiiii~” he says in sing-song, swinging your hand as you walk to meet the taxi and ignoring your meek attempts to pull away. “Didn’t I do a good job?”
“Y-Yeah. Good job, Tendou.”
Work friends. The two of you are work friends. Your boss passes all comments to Tendou through you (mostly things about how he’s good with clients and charismatic but needs to stop making minor errors on paperwork). When one of you is sick, your coworkers ask the other to pass on their good wishes. Tendou fits into his role at the office seamlessly, and you can’t say you don’t appreciate the fact that all of his good work is reflecting well on you.
So when his birthday rolls around two months after he’s hired, it’s up to you to plan the office drinking party (only after he complains to you about how he doesn’t have any friends since moving to Tokyo). You have the date you got from Facebook—May 20th—circled in red pen on your private calendar along with a little doodle of a birthday cake.
“What’s that?” asks one of your coworkers, pointing to the circle, as you flip through your agenda a week before the event.
“Tendou’s turning 23,” you tell him. “It’s a Friday, so some of us are going to go to a restaurant and drink a little. You’re coming, right?”
“Oh…yeah.” Your coworker scratches his head and clears his throat. “You guys are pretty close, huh. Um, I actually wanted to ask—you’re not together, are you?”
A chill runs up your spine. “Together? Who said that?” If this rumor gets around to your boss it’ll kill your career. These things always look worse for the woman than for the man. God, it was probably something Tendou said without thinking, he’s always talking about you and someone could easily misinterpret all that praise…
“Well, if you’re dating—“
“We’re not dating,” you say quickly. “We do a lot of work together because I’m training him, but it’s not like that.”
“Really?” Your coworker straightens and smiles. “Cause I was actually thinking of asking if you wanted to go out this weekend—“
“Senpai? Can you help me with this draft?”
Damnit, it’s Tendou getting in the way at the absolute worst time—especially considering he just had to come up behind you and put his hand on your shoulder. Seriously, how many times do you have to tell him to stop doing that when you’re talking to someone else? You’re not sure whether to be irritated at him for cutting your coworker off, concerned that the other man won’t believe what you said about you and Tendou having a strictly professional relationship, or relieved that you don’t have to give an answer to what sounds like an offer for a date.
You cast an apologetic glance at your coworker and make your way over to Tendou’s desk, hoping against hope that the interruption doesn’t look too suspicious. You’d die if word got around to your boss that you were dating your mentee.
///
You’ve got this office drinking party thing down to an art. Step one is to load up on greasy appetizers that’ll increase your alcohol tolerance, step two is to drink plenty of water, and step three is to pour yourself a single drink early and take small sips.
There’s a step four, too: make sure no one else’s glass get’s below the 1/4 mark. Your boss and coworkers are a lot less receptive to how little you’re drinking when they’re all nice and tipsy. It’s a system you’ve perfected over the years, one that allows you to have fun with people from the office without risking making an ass out of yourself or getting a hangover (which, at 25, is a lot more unpleasant than it used to be).
You can’t count the number of times you’ve witnessed the awkward drunken escapades of your fellows, which range from the endearing (your boss crying over how much he loves his wife) to the awkward (coworker makeout sessions) to the potentially criminal (bar fights. So many bar fights). You’re happy to remain a neutral observer, and tonight is no exception.
The only problem is that Tendou hasn’t yet mastered the art of drinking lightly when you’re around people you work with, so now, at the end of his party, he’s (for lack of a better word) trashed. His cheek is mashed flat to the restaurant table like it’s glued there and his head is surrounded by progressive rings of bottles and cans. It’s some kind of miracle that he hasn’t yet gone to the bathroom to get sick.
“Sorry Tendou,” you sigh. “I should have been keeping a better eye on you.” You had no idea he’d get so drunk so quickly. Aren’t tall guys supposed to have high tolerance or something?
“Sssshenpaii,” Tendou slurs, hoisting his head off the table with that looks like Herculean effort. “I liiiike when…when ya look at me…”
“Ha, ha,” you say sarcastically.
Tendou’s head whips around. “Where’d everyone go?”
“They all left—now it’s time for us to go home too. Come on, I’ll help you get to the taxi.” You pay the bill (oof, there goes your petty cash for the week) and pull on Tendou’s shirt sleeve to get him to stand up. Luckily he’s just sober enough to realize what you want him to do and he follows you out to the street with an arm draped over your shoulders to steady his meandering footsteps.
The real trouble comes when the two of you are seated comfortably in the cab and the driver asks for Tendou’s address, which, apparently, he can’t remember. You do the sensible thing and look through his phone, but his own contact card provides no hint to where he lives in Tokyo, only a phone number, email, and address in Sendai which has to be his parents’ house—
Wait.
Tendou’s from Sendai?
You’re from Sendai. You didn’t know he was too. What a coincidence that both of you moved to Tokyo from Sendai. You’ve mentioned your hometown to him a couple times—how come he never told you he’s from the same place? You’re only two years older than him; maybe you’ve run across him in Sendai before the two of you started working together.
Now that you think about it, his face has always been kind of familiar…you thought it was just ‘one of those faces’, but…?
This isn’t the time to wonder, though. You poke Tendou gently in the side, careful not to jar him enough to risk any stomach upset. “Tendou? Do you remember what street you live on?”
After a long pause Tendou names a street, but it’s your company’s address which isn’t located anywhere near a residential district. When you tell him to think harder, he grimaces, lips pulling back to bare his teeth. “Don’ wanna go home…lemme sleep over at senpai’s house.”
“What? You can’t stay at my place.”
“Why noooot? ‘m tired,” he drawls, eyes closing as his head droops onto your shoulder in the back of the cab.
“It’s—it’s inappropriate—wait, no-no-no-no don’t fall asleep,” you tell him desperately but it’s already too late. A light snore filters out of him and you curse. “Tendou—“
“Address?” the cab driver barks insistently, giving you the stink eye in the rearview mirror.
Shit. Well, it is his birthday, you have a pull-out couch, and it’s not like anyone from the office is around to see you going home together. Tomorrow morning you’ll just have to give him a lecture about professional boundaries and make him promise not to breathe a word of this to your boss.
You give your own address to the cab driver. Tendou sleeps peacefully on your shoulder throughout the entire drive, rousing only when you whisper his name in his ear outside your building (which is a miracle, because you know without a doubt that you’re not capable of carrying him). When you get up to your apartment, you deposit him on the sofa bed and tell him not to look through your stuff while you brush your teeth.
Obviously, he doesn’t listen to you. When you emerge from the bathroom, Tendou is standing in the middle of your living room and turning the pages of an old photo album of yours.
“Hey, give me that.” You try to pull it away from him, but he doesn’t let go and his grip is stronger than yours, so the album remains firmly in his hands. “If you’re sober enough to mess with my things, you should go home.”
“This is senpai, right?” Tendou says, pointing to one of the photos.
Despite your exasperation, you lean in to take a look. It’s a picture from high school with you and some friends, all of you wearing your Shiratorizawa uniforms and grinning cheekily at whoever took the picture. Your fingers are cocked up in a peace sign. “Yeah? That’s me.”
“So cute…senpai is really cute…” Tendou’s long finger trails over the edge of your face though the filmy plastic covering the photo.
“Um…you need to get to sleep,” you say nervously, pulling a little harder on the album.
He doesn’t budge, instead just flipping back in the album to older pictures from when you were little until he stops at a photo of you and your younger brother in grade school. Against your better judgement, you frown and look closer to try and pick up whatever caught his interest in this particular image.
“How old…?” he asks.
“I don’t know, 10 or 11 maybe?”
Tendou nods. “When I met senpai…you were this old, yeah.”
“Jeez, you’re really drunk. We met two months ago, remember? I was on the interview board.”
“Yeah.” Tendou’s gaze is glued to the photo. “I was so sad, ‘cause senpai doesn’t remember me. But also really happy to see you after such a long time…I thought it was a dream…”
“Hm? I don’t get it.”
Tendou finally looks up from the picture and meets your wary gaze with those wide red eyes. God, you used to think his face was so creepy—lately you find his zealousness endearing, almost childlike, but right now? It’s making your feet itch how much you want to step away from him. “I was really hoping you would remember on your own, but I guess I’ll have to tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
“How me an’ senpai met…”
Are you imagining it, or does his voice sound a lot less slurred than it did just 20 minutes ago? “You’re not making any sense.”
“Shh, just listen…your little brother played volleyball when you were kids, didn’t he?”
How did he know that? You nod hesitantly.
“Yeah…he was in my grade. He was a bad kid, y’know that? Always saying mean things to me.”
It’s true. Your brother’s always had a mean streak in him.
“He used to call me a monster. ‘Cause, y’know—“ Tendou taps a finger against his face. “Guess I look weird. And my name, too. So he said he didn’t wanna play with me. Demons can’t play on human teams. Every day, saying cruel things. I really hated him.”
Monster. Volleyball. Your little brother. Tendou Satori like the mind-reading spirits from folklore. Something’s coming to mind, a memory you haven’t thought about in years—no, decades.
Your little brother making fun of another kid. A tall kid with red hair in a bowl cut.
“I-I remember,” you stammer. “I came to his practice one time and you were there, right? That bowl cut kid was you. I got mad at him for calling you names and I yelled at him. That’s when we met?”
“Correct!” Tendou’s beaming like you just told him he won the lottery instead of recalling a random fifteen-year-old memory. “You made him let me play! I got to get on the court, and block him, and see his beaten face looking up at me. All because of senpai.”
You can play this off, you think to yourself. Tell him you’re sorry for how your brother treated him. Ask him why he never told you that the two of you have met before. Say something. Anything. But your mouth is too dry to let you speak.
“And, you know…” Tendou’s voice softens and a light blush dusts his cheeks. “I thought you were so cool. I couldn’t believe you were related to that jerk. Can I…tell you a secret?”
No. Deep down you know what he’s going to say, and you don’t want to hear it.
Tendou’s hand comes up to comb through your hair, gently pulling through the delicate strands next to your face and tucking them back so he can lean in and whisper into your ear (even though there’s no one else around). “I like you, senpai.”
Stop it. Stop it. Your blood feels cold in your veins.
“I’ve liked you ever since then. I used to wish we were in the same grade so I could be your friend and talk to you every day. Whenever we were in different schools I missed seeing you in the halls and hearing your voice when you spoke to other people.”
“Stop...stop talking,” you whisper, but Tendou continues like he didn’t hear you.
“Why’d you have to go all the way to Tokyo for college? In my third year at Shiratorizawa I studied for your school’s entrance exam forever, but I didn’t get in. Was too busy with volleyball, I guess.” He pauses. “Oh, by the way, I went to Shiratorizawa. I lied about that, sorry. But—seriously, d’you have any idea how hard it was for me when you were away at university? Not seeing the person I love for six years?”
Love, he said. You feel nauseous. “Tendou, you don’t—“
“Let me finish, okay senpai? You don’t know how much I’ve been through. Always having to respect your ‘personal space’—“ he frames the phrase in mocking air quotes— “when I need to touch you so bad I feel like I’m gonna explode.”
And then he’s hugging you into his chest, crushing your torso into his. You struggle and try to get him to let you go, but Tendou is so much stronger than you.
“You’re not that different from your brother after all, are you?” he hums into your hair. “You’ve been torturing me. You know how you lean over my desk when you show me something on my computer? I can…see down your shirt when you do that. And I smell your perfume. I spent two hours at the mall trying all the different perfumes so I could find the right one…thought my nose was gonna stop working! But don’t laugh—“
You’re not laughing.
“—the salesgirl looked at me funny but I got it eventually. Chance Eau Fraiche, right? I can’t believe how expensive that stuff is, what is it made of gold? It was worth it though! I saw this news article about how smelling things in your sleep can trigger memories, so I tried spraying your perfume on my pillow before I go to bed and now I get to see you at work and when I’m dreaming—”
“STOP IT!” Your slap echoes across the room with a resounding crack. You’ve never hit anyone before in your life, but your aim is good enough to leave Tendou staring with a shocked expression off to the side and a bright red mark on his face. His arms fall down from you and you back away from him, clutching your hand to your chest. “You need to get out. You’re drunk and you’re not thinking clearly. We...we can talk about this tomorrow, but right now you have to go.”
Your heart is beating like hummingbird wings, sending a flush up to your face that you know is visible. Tendou ghosts his hand over his cheek and is quiet for a long moment. “I wanted to do this the right way,” he says finally.
“What?”
“I tried. But you’re so obsessed with professionalism. You refused to see me like that,” he sighs. “You’re too responsible. Although it’s one of the things I like about you.”
“Please listen to me...” The psychological anxiety of this revelation is stirring up a primal fight or flight instinct, and you start backing up.
“I really wanted to treat you gently. You deserve to be treated well…”
“Tendou, wait.” How far are you from your bedroom? You don’t want to resort to hiding from him, but you’d feel a lot better with a locked door between you and him.
“…but senpai, I’ve waited so long. And it’s my birthday.”
Your hands scrabble for the doorknob, only—oh. He’s not just stronger than you, he’s faster too.
➠ [Part 2]
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