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nish-with-no-niche · 4 years

Text

When No One's Around...

Chartered accountant!Jaebeom x Software engineer!Reader

Summary :

Ever wonder how much alcohol tolerance can Jaebeom have for you? Read till the end to find out ;)

Warning :

1) This chapter.....is a long ass ride.

2) I know some people prefer using their name, but I only realised it later that instead of (Y/N) I accidentally gave reader-nim a name, i.e, Yeseul. So kindly bear with me as it's my first time writing a 2nd person perspective and just imagine your own name in its place. Thankyou and.....enjoy!

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You finally had finished your board meeting and were heading out of the office building with your co-workers to retire to your humble abode.

"It's 7:37 pm ladies and gentlemen, and we are finally free for the night.", said Sarah, one of your close colleagues.

"Aaaand we're leaving 2 hours later than the designated office hours. This is over time!", exclaimed Kyunghwan, your senior, and sales manager. It was totally unusual but justified for everyone to feel this way. After such a heated discussion about the proposals everyone was exhausted and acted dramatically. Even though they were your seniors, almost everybody still treated each other without the honorifics outside of work; albeit they could seem eccentric given the time and place. You yourself had experienced it first hand and maybe tonight had just a little bit more in store for you.

" Everyone, I totally understand how you must feel.....", stated Mr. Yoon-ho, the team director. "We, are not getting paid enough. Let's go to a restaurant and give ourselves a well deserved treat. The person who is wearing blue today will be the ones to pay up!", came his suggestion.

Hearing his sudden offer, each person constituting the 8 people group cheered and hooted but started checking their dress colours as the realization hit in. 'Oh thank god, I'm wearing anything but blue today' , everyone thought simultaneously.

However everyone's eyes landed on you as you were the only one wearing a turquoise blue ruffle shirt with beige coloured cigarette pants. And everybody knew exactly where that suggestion in the director's mind had come up.

' Oh lord, it's Yeseul again.'

Firstly, Yoon-ho was a huge-ass spend-thrift. Even if he knows he wont eat or use something, he would still spend money on it. Especially when it's someone else's money.

And secondly, he despised you. You and your intelligence. And the fact that you were humble made it even worse for him.

Atleast one can hate on arrogant people for their arrogance. As for humble people, we can't even hate them for anything, much less like. Tch.

Sarah, concerned for you asked if you were okay with that. Not that you really had a choice in the first place.

But you had stopped listening-in to their conversation, midway. Because your eyes were solely fixated on this unexpected visitor, standing right across the road, leaning against his car and looking right at you.

Im Jaebeom, your soon-to-be fiancè, in all his glory was right in front of you and you had no idea what he was doing there.

"Sarah, I'll see you later."

Coming to your senses after 3.57 seconds, you waved back at him and quickly crossed the road to reach him.

" Yeseul, hey" started Jaebeom.

"Uh, hi! I didn't know you were here. How have you been?", unsure, you asked him.

"I've been good. I got off work early today so I decided to pick you up like a responsible boyfriend", smirked Jaebeom.

He had his hands in his pant pockets the whole time, was wearing a suit with his hair gelled up and looked like the epitome of a perfectly successful banker.

"How long had you been waiting?", you questioned. "Not too long, about 20 minutes? .... Yeah. Don't worry though, I was busy on my phone." He lied. He knew you'd feel even worse about the truth because in reality he had been waiting for you since two hours thirty-seven minutes and sixteen seconds.

But even then you insisted, " Now this makes me look really bad. You didn't have to come all the way here. Why didn't you call me?"

"I wanted to be here", he replied cheekily and pat your head. "And it was a good surprise, wasn't it?"

(Sighing) "what if I already went home or I was staying in late?"

"Well then lets just say I got lucky" he smiled.

You were about to say something further, but he cut you in, " By the way, your...... colleagues, they seem... expectant?" Looking back at them you see them all wide-eyed and smiley-faces as if they just didn't come out of an exhausting office day. Realizing their expressions , you turned and asked Jaebeom, " oh, um, Jaebeom-shi, you're not too tired, right? Have you eaten something?"

"No, not really, why?"

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" HA, HA, HA, HA, HA! WHAT A NIGHT MAN, WHOO!!" roared a drunk Mr. Yoon. "Wow, Yeseul, you have such a nice boyfriend, he's a keeper, hahahaha. Everyone! say, 'THANKYOU IM JAEBEOM-SSI!'.

Bashfully, everyone complied, giving you sorry smiles and yet enjoying the food and drinks in front of them as if it was their first time eating.

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Since the time the talks of you about to being engaged rounded up in the halls of your office, everybody had been eager and curious to meet this Mr. Perfect who they had only seen in photos. Everyday not only the women but also your male coworkers would come over at your desk asking you to set up a get together with him.

They all wanted to know who this mysterious person was, taking a liking for someone as stoic as you. They never imagined you being in a relationship with anyone- always holding the title of 'Fashion Femme Fatale'.

So now here you were- with Jaebeom- and a gang of 8 people who were doing nothing but wasting Jaebeom's hard earned money.

Yes, he offered to pay up in your stead.

Ah! So chic!

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You were getting really uncomfortable because you felt bad for Jaebeom who was nothing but sweet to everyone all this time. You were barely starting off in a relationship and now he had to witness all of ....... this.

You wanted to just take your bag and run away with him.

"Hmm, Yeseul , how long has it been since you guys started dating?" Asked Yoon-ho.

Huh?

" uh, it's been about...... 2 months?" you replied looking at Jaebeom for confirmation. After getting his nod of approval you continued, "why do you ask though, sunbae-nim?"

"Ah! I didn't get to congratulate you. First of all....... let me pour you a drink!"

"What, out of nowhere?"you retaliated.

"Ahem! I'm your superior."he countered. "You didn't even touch anything yet, Drink~ bottoms up~~".

In the midst of his coercions, you contemplated- 'Why... do I get intimidated by Yoon-ho ssi? .... Soju's too strong ...... Jaebeom won't be able to drive if he drinks it.... house is far tooo. *sighs* it's over for me if I get drunk and act like an idiot in front of them.... hhnnngg. But if I refuse, the mood will get cold.... last time I was fine for the first few drinks, right?-"

"Give it to me."interceded Jaebeom.

"Huh?"

Turning towards the crowd, he stated, "Yeseul's bad with alcohol. I'll drink for her."

"Ooo~ hahahaha~~"

"playing the knight for your girlfriend ? ~~ "

"so cool!! Whoa~"

Sighing you looked at him, starting to get a little worried. But suddenly everyone chimed in- "still! We're not satisfied with one drink!"

"Let's get Yeseul-ah drunk~!"

"Me too!"

"You cant resist our drink! We're your superiors!"

"Aah~ now, let's not push her too hard. Take it slow. Slow~" said Yoon-ho, giving you his ever so sweet smile.

'It is you I hate the most!' You thought.

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"Aah~ Jaebeom-ssi drank them all"

"~Food is great here!"

"Heard this is the hidden place for gourmets."

After a while things seemed to settle down, your thoughts again wandered towards Jaebeom-

'He keeps on tapping his fingers and feet.... all the while maintaining his smile. I wonder if he's getting bothered by them..... ' -

"Hey~ she cant take her eyes off her BOYFRIEND!" chirped Yujin( colleague, same age as you). Following suit everyone got started off- "He's good looking right?" " you didn't even glance at the others ~" "what ? No, when did I.. " you tried to defend yourself. Sarah who was sitting next to you all this time whispered, "don't take them too seriously 'seul- ah, they're only teasing you, and you know everyone is as good as drunk."

Suddenly Kyunghwan, who was sitting opposite to you, waiting for the right opportunity slipped in~ " You can take mild Brandy right?"

"Ah yes, I can"

"NO." Jaebeom interceded. Again.

He took the glass from his hand and drank it.

"Aish intercepting it all, gosh!"he exclaimed.

But leaving no stone unturned, he kept pressing, "hey! You guys are a couple, atleast show us a kiss!" And everyone started hooted demanding such a public display of affection.

Hearing this, your ears flared up, " oof, what's with you all? Dont you think it's too much? ..... please stop it already. I dont really want to do it. ........Why do we have to do it in front of you?"

Now this... was just too much. Right when you were about to give them a piece of your mind-

"Okay."Jaebeom announced.

" ...... "

" ....... "

What.

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The truth is that both of you had never really kissed before, the closest form of affection you were able to showcase for now was simply a hug, that too only when you were alone. You had no idea what went through his mind when he agreed to everyone's plea. Was he finally drunk? You had never seen him drunk before, all though a few of his friends that you had met told you he had a strong temperance. Maybe this was okay for him?.... Did he probably hear it wrong? Not being able to make head or tail of the situation you questioned him, "Jaebeom-"

"You....... and you." Cutting you off, said person pointed at Kyunghwan and then at Yujin.

"If you two do it, we'll do it too. In fact, it doesn't matter if any other two do it either." explained Jaebeom with a smile.

And then you realised what he was actually doing.

"Don't want to, right?..... I stink of alcohol and 'seul said she doesn't want it. Moreover, it won't look good, if a lady's colleagues at work would act like this, much less her seniors."

"Uh. . . . " a flustered Yujin tried to speak.

" Well I wasn't going to force her to do that" resigned Kyunghwan with a pout.

"Yeah let's just forget about it, okay guys? ", Sarah spoke.

"Wow~ get married already Yeseul, reqally" Said Yoon-ho.

"Such a perfect couple. Tch" mumbled Yujin.

However, when everyone went back to their own, Kyunghwan caught Jaebeom giving him a side glance with a poker face who then turned to look at you. Even though such a gesture unnerved him, the alcohol immediately brushed off that feeling.

You on the other hand were getting more and more worried about Jaebeom, you lost count of how many glasses he must've had on your account, and tried one more time to check up on him- " are you alright? You've been really drinking a lot." But he only gave you a smile in return.

(Sighing) 'He drank way too mu-' *plop*

His head suddenly on your shoulder now, he spoke, " I want to rest."

Looking at you Sarah whispered," He must be tired, you should go home now, don't worry, I'll take care of it here."

"Okay. Jaebeom-ssi ....... Jaebeom? Let's go home now, ok?" You asked.

"Seul."

"Yes?"

"My head aches."

"What? Headache?"

"Its too noisy here..... my head aches.....". Alarmed by this sight you wondered ' 'why's he like this ? Since the start he seemed a bit off. Is his head hurting from being drunk? This was such a bad idea."

You see him gently lift his head up and stare at his hands. Or the table. Or the plate? You see jaebeom blink.

"..."

And he blinked again.

'Ohmygod,he's definitely drunk.'

" uhh, hey- let's go get some fresh air, okay?" You asked holding him by the shoulders. You never witnessed something like this before. But he just stared at you.

'Answer me already.' You thought. Helping him stand up you took your bag, "okay, Sarah, we'll be leaving now, I'll catch you tomorrow, take care!"

"Yeah, you too, goodnight~" returned Sarah.

Once outside you tried to remember where the car was, since the restaurant didn't have a parking lot. You walked a few meters and then stopped. Due to him leaning on you, your back and neck hurt a little, so you decided to sit on the nearby bench. 'Ah, I'm out of strength.'

You both just sat next to each other like that for a while and then you asked him where the car was kept.

But he just smiled at you.

Heaving a sigh, you stood up and started searching around. "Just sit here, and dont move Jaebeom- ssi, I'll be right back." He saw your retreating figure as you left.

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After about 10 min you find the car at the backside of the building and return to where Jaebeon was.

"I found the car, give me the keys and I'll drop you off home" you said.

"Yeseul."

"Yes?"

He smiled. Again.

"Seems like you won't get up for a while." So you sat down. Did he even listen to a word you said? And no sooner than you did, he reached his hand out to touch your face, whereas you instinctively moved back. He paused for a moment, mid air, and then touched your cheek. "You look tired", he said thoughtfully.

Well he wasn't completely wrong.

He let his head drop on your shoulder, and again with the same sweet, mellow voice recited you name," Ye.seul.ah."

"Yes, yes I hear you." You laughed.

"I should've just left with you after work was over rather than come here. Everyone just wanted to meet you so bad. I'm sorry."

" . . . "

"Plus I didn't want you to pay for those guys." You confessed.

"Pay?", queried Jaebeom. "seeing how they sat and behaved with you , it's obvious that they were trying to leech off." He finally spoke.

" Yeseul, I want you to be very cautious and smart about who you associate yourself with in that work place and any where else. I won't always be around you, so you must be wary of people like Kyunghwan. Got it?" And then he lifted his head up to stare straight ahead.

So that's what was bothering him.

Trying to lift the strange tense atmosphere you spoke in childish wonder, "how dare they think of you as a pushover! In fact, why did you even drink whatever came my way, I could've handled-"

"What would you have done?" Cut in Jabeom.

You fell silent.

"Those two men and that woman, those three were your seniors. And anyone could notice how they exploited their position. I understood you couldn't do much from where you stand", he reprimanded you.

After a pause he continued, now in a smaller voice- "I dont think I can drive, how will you get back home?"

" Well thanx to a certain someone, I'm completely sober. So I'll drive your car to your house and drop you off. Then I'll take a cab to mine."

" 'seul?"

"Hmm?"

"You like me right?"

"Huh", you sat up straight, taken off guard by his question.

"You're sincere to me right? Whatever I do, I have always been sincere towards you."

Suddenly flustered by this uncharacteristic side of him you just tried to avoid his question, staring straight ahead.

"Just give me the car keys, let's go home now..." you said in a daze.

'Its definitely the alcohol in his brain.'

"Yeseul!"

"Ah, yes-"

chu!~~

"Wha..."

Chu!~~~

Jaebeom kissed you.

And the realization hit in.

Huh.

Huh???!!

" #$%@&**?! Jaebeom-!!! "

" ? "

"What are you ?! Why did you?!-"

"Hm? What? No one's around."

And he kissed you again. This time properly. Making you feel nothing like ever before.

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Sadly, he ended up passing-out right after and you drove him back to his house, aided the house-helper lay him on bed, took a cab, went back to your home, changed into your night clothes, slipped in your bed and you laughed. You laughed until sleep graced you with her presence.

Except she never came.You were awake the whole night, rewinding and playing the scene again and again with the thought that would nag any other girl in your shoes- 'How do I see him after tonight! '.

Adjshklllajsldgddhddfffff !!!!!!

Eeeek!

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That's the end readers! I hope you enjoyed it my very precious people. If you did then do like and comment. Feedbacks are highly appreciated 🤧🤧

And I wish for your good health in such times and hopefully I was able to help make this quarantine maybe a little more bearable for you. Thanx for reading and dont forget- You Da Best!!!

#got7 #g7net #jaebeom #im jaebeom #jaebeom x reader #lim jaebeom #park jinyoung #kpop #kpop au #kpop reaction #kpop scenarios #kpop icons #got7 jaebeom #got7 jaebum #got7 bambam #got7 jinyoung #got7 jackson #got7 fanfic #got7 yugyeom

46 notes · View notes

seven-oomen · 4 years

Photo

Since you’ve been posting candid type pics/story ideas, this is one I found that I had almost used for one of the moodboards, because I was like “hey, group of the adults”, but it has Susan in it, and I wasn’t sure if you had plans to bring Natalie into the story or not, so I skipped it. But it’s adorable and worth sharing, anyway.

And your explanations for Jackson and Ben are entirely sensible and logical, but I still like my theory. XD I also look forward to meeting whatever future spawn you decide on for the boys. I can’t decide if it would be more entertaining for Noah’s mini-me to also be a druid or turn out to be a wolf. Speaking of twins, a friend’s 10yr old daughter said recently “if I had a twin that was five minutes younger than me, I’d tell them ‘When I was your age’ and then describe what I was doing five minutes, ago”, and I can’t figure out if it sounds more like Allison or Malia, but it definitely sounds like one of them.

Apples to Apples is basically like a more kid-friendly version of CAH, unless you are playing with people like my friends, who can find a way to make anything deeply wrong and vaguely offensive if they wish. And also I feel like there are many incidents of Stiles and Jax getting stupidly heated while playing Candy Land with their little siblings, to the point where they end up banned from joining in.

I adore the idea of clothes sharing (hence me being so determined to find images of them in what I could pretend was the same black button down for the family moodboard.) And I feel Chris and Peter would have vastly different ideas about what constitutes “too tight” than Noah and would occasionally try to get him to wear some of their shirts anyway, for their own enjoyment. (The olive green hoodie Peter is wearing in the ep where he and Derek hire Braeden seems very his style, for example.) I don’t think either of the other two are quite brave enough to try Peter’s “v-neck cardigan worn like it’s a normal shirt” look, though. XD All of which also begs the question of whether they do it for…other reasons, too. Like if Noah is ever stuck in an endless budget meeting only to suddenly get a text from the other two of them wearing some of his spare uniform shirts and very little else. Or if Peter ever comes home to find his Omegas each wearing one of his leather jackets (because you know he’s got several) and their triskelion necklaces, and suddenly he’s getting “we missed you, Alpha” crooned in both ears simultaneously in a gravelly whisper, and wow I’m getting way off topic here… Anyway, yes to clothes sharing, is what I’m saying. (Also, the pen thing is golden. Just imagine the looks on people’s faces.)

And I like the new preview, am super happy to see Jordan. I can’t wait to see how he fits into things and helps with everything. I don’t think I’ve ever really seen an a/b/o that tackled how nb identities would fit into that sort of society, so I’m excited to see it explored. Also he always tends to come across as pretty calm and easy-going, and lord knows they could use a few people like that right now.

Hope you’re feeling better, and that Mo has calmed some. I know just how much the pressure changes from storm systems can mess with someone, especially if you were already not feeling the best.

I’ve honestly just been smiling at this the whole day and I managed to write 3.3K to the draft because of this message and the new review by @ready-to-kick-some-ass.

Right now the chapter has almost 8K on it and I will probably try and get it to 10-12K.

I’m not sure if I’ll add Natalie and if I can naturally fit her into the story. But I definitely know she was a part of the friend group in this universe, so that picture is just really fitting. It’s so sweet <3.

As for the twins, I’ll let you have your headcanons. But I’m not gonna tell too much. It’s fun watching you speculate ^^.

Speaking of twins, a friend’s 10yr old daughter said recently “if I had a twin that was five minutes younger than me, I’d tell them ‘When I was your age’ and then describe what I was doing five minutes, ago”, and I can’t figure out if it sounds more like Allison or Malia, but it definitely sounds like one of them.

Both of them. Either of them. Malia or Allison would absolutely do this to Jax and Stiles. They’re both about 20 minutes older than their younger siblings, so they would definitely describe something they’ve done 20 min ago just to piss the boys off.

And my god would they be banned. I feel like Chris just listens to them screaming for twenty minutes until he finally has enough of all this bullshit and just bans them from playing that game ever again. Malia is quickly banned thereafter when she gets heated over having to move backward and loses to Ben and the youngest twins. Allison and Lydia take over playing the game with the kids.

And you know they would. Chris has quickly figured out that he can get either of them home within ten minutes if he sends them a risque picture of him just wearing a toolbelt with his hunter gear on it. He’s not wearing anything else, just the toolbelt with the guns and bow and the triskelion necklace. But it works just fine. (The weapons are positioned in just such a way that he’s not actually revealing any of the goods, but he’s also not wearing any clothes. So.. yeah)

Chris and Peter would send Noah pictures of them wearing his uniform shirts while he’s in budgeting meetings or performance reviews or whatnot. Especially during the months when they’re actively trying to expand the family, things would crank up to 100 with these boys. But even when they’re not, they love to get each other riled up with sexy pictures.

And I feel Chris and Peter would have vastly different ideas about what constitutes “too tight” than Noah and would occasionally try to get him to wear some of their shirts anyway, for their own enjoyment. (The olive green hoodie Peter is wearing in the ep where he and Derek hire Braeden seems very his style, for example.) I don’t think either of the other two are quite brave enough to try Peter’s “v-neck cardigan worn like it’s a normal shirt” look, though. XD

Fair point, they absolutely would try and get him to wear their shirts. Because let’s be real, he’d look absolutely smoking in a tight shirt or a tight-fitting hoodie. And seeing Noah in their shirts just does something to Peter and Chris. It’s a matter of staking their claim on their sheriff.

And I think nobody can wear those v-necks but Peter. Chris lovingly refers to them as the porno shirts. Because honestly, only Peter or a porn star could get away with a shirt cut that low.

They certainly need a calm mind right now, and I really wanted to add a trans* NB character who’s also on the aro/ace spectrum and somehow that just clicked for Jordan. I don’t know why. But I really want to explore a society where there are two ‘main sexes’ (both with two variations male and female) and then add someone who doesn’t identify with any of them. And yet said person is probably the most level headed and calm of them all, so to speak. I’m excited to add Jordan to the cast list and explore his identity.

Mo and I are doing okay today, he’s been really clingy after the thunderstorm but it’s slowly getting back to his usual behavior. I reckon he’ll be fine by tomorrow.

#ben says stuff #once upon a time comments #submission

0 notes

arlingtonpark · 5 years

Text

#worthit

You know, we’re lucky Zeke is a moron. At long last he has access to the ultimate power in the world, and instead of using it then and there, he tries to show Eren the error of his ways like this is A Christmas Story or something.

Zeke thought he was Chris Marley and Eren was Ebenezer Scrooge. Turns out, he’s a QANON believer and Grisha is the owner of Comet Ping Pong.

It’s just stunning how unself-aware Zeke is. He’s like one of those hyper-partisan, extremely-online people who shout about how Obama is a tool for the rich, but freeze up when asked for details. This is a man so immersed in his own worldview, his head so far up his ass, that all he accomplished is making the most spectacular own-goal of the entire series.

I mean, he takes Eren on this wild ride, is basically making this all up as he goes along, certain that the next memory will be the one that proves Grisha’s EVIL-ness, and they spend God knows how long watching a dude filing paperwork.

This exercise was meant to turn Eren to his side, but all it’s done is create an opening for Eren to turn Zeke. And that may happen, honestly. Zeke’s beliefs have been pretty shaken now, so he may be receptive to some reasoned persuasion.

But up next is Grisha stealing the Founding Titan, so Zeke definitely won’t be want for validating material.

The only bigger jackass this chapter is Eren.

Eren really, honest and for truly, fucked up. He shat on his friends, he shat on his country, he shat on little kids, and he did it so he could trick Zeke into unlocking the Founding Titan powers for him.

Except now all that’s out the window because actually Zeke is in charge.

Oops.

Eren presumably did all this because he couldn’t bear to see Historia’s life shortened, but now it seems he has no choice but to do it anyway, meaning he did all this shit for nothing! Amazing! Dreams really don’t come true in this story!

I love how the chapter foreshadows Eren dropping the ball by showing him literally dropping a ball.

At least now it means Historia is going to be relevant again soon. I don’t think I’ve ever said it before, but I lean towards the pregnancy being fake.

Yeah, Historia having a kid means Zeke’s dream can be easily undone, but Zeke probably realizes this and plans to overwrite King Fritz’s deal with the Founding Titan with one of his own: all future royal bearers of the Founding Titan will be infected with Zeke’s ideology instead.

After that, all he’d have to do is feed Eren to Historia. Zeke’s ideology takes over, and everything is set.

Eren needs Historia to eat Zeke, and Zeke would need Historia to eat Eren. And all the while Historia just wants to eat out Ymir.

Would Zeke really do that to his little brother?

…Yeah, he would. Zeke himself said Eren was just a key this whole time. He wants to save Eren from Grisha’s brainwashing, but remember that means convincing him life isn’t worth living. Because of that, Zeke probably wouldn’t even see it as a betrayal. From his perspective, it’d be him freeing Eren from the hell of life.

The reason why I think the pregnancy is fake is because I figure Zeke somehow coerced Historia into it, but then Eren told her about his true intentions and told her get pretend-pregnant. Then, once Zeke was disposed of, Historia could drop the act and live happily ever after.

(And then die with no heirs, thus leading to a succession crisis.)

And if the pregnancy actually is real?

Well, that would be a travesty and I’d rather not think about that.

This chapter has the most explicit endorsement of nationalism so far. Which is bad because no matter how much gold the series puts on it, nationalism is still a garbage heap of an ideology.

Talking about nationalism and this series is a bit complicated because really there are two levels to this. There’s the depiction of nationalism in itself and then there’s that depiction as it relates to the social context of the story.

Just looking at the story, taking back the Founding Titan and actually having a ruler who cares for his subjects is very reasonable. King Fritz is a lunatic who believes Eldians deserve to die for the sins of their former Empire. And it’s understandable that people like Grisha would be pushed to support extreme beliefs like that the Empire must be restored.

Issues start to arise when you look at the social context of this story. King Fritz is pretty obviously a caricature of progressives who emphasize the need for society to own up to past sins. You see this in the United States with recent debates about Confederate monuments, for example.

Other debates about how the founding of the country is glorified and morally questionable actions like the three-fifths compromise are swept under the rug have been ongoing for literally centuries.

There are progressives who think these facts are not reflected upon enough, and then there are conservatives who think the progressives want Americans to hate being American.

Japan has a similar debate going on. The Japanese Empire of course did many awful things throughout its history, especially during World War II, when it tried to conquer East Asia. Japanese progressives argue this history is not given its due. (It isn’t)

King Fritz is obviously a caricature of these people and not a very flattering one. The strongest evidence that this series leans conservative is the echoing of the popular Japanese conservative talking point that the official history is a “masochistic” one designed to shame Japanese people.

Like, I don’t actually have to explain how the obvious parallel is obvious, do I?

Everything about King Fritz reads like a satire of liberals written by a Fox News pundit. Deranged king so obsessed with past sins he’s cool with his people dying for it? Did Sean Hannity write that?

Said King is a chump because he’s…a pacifist, which makes him weak, I guess. (How can a series be anti-war if #pacifismisforlosers?)

SNK’s brand of anti-pacifism seems reasonable on the surface, but when you consider the real world analogs the story’s set up, things start to fall apart.

The story’s message seems to be that the Eldians should be allowed to live as themselves with no outside interference and they should be allowed to use the wall titans to defend themselves if needed. That seems reasonable, but then you realize the Wall Titans are basically nukes, so the series is basically endorsing nuclear weapons and nuclear proliferation.

Nuclear weapons are not military weapons, as their in-story equivalents are set to be cast as. They’re used to wipe out women and children and unarmed people, and not for military uses. And their use leads to massive environmental damage.

It’s disturbing that the series treats the morality of their use as a given. Isayama doesn’t seem interested in grappling with this exceedingly difficult question at all. There is no debate between the characters on this, literally everyone wants to use them, even Armin who previously made a point of not wanting to.

It’s simply stunning that this series would set up such a weighty situation and just not grapple with the moral implications of it. Does Isayama even realize the metaphor he himself has written?

This isn’t to defend Fritz’s actions. Just up and leaving like he did was lazy and irresponsible, but that just ties back into the hyperbole of the caricature. The details aren’t important in the sense that what’s important is the overall statement being made. It may seem weird, defending the idea this character supposedly stands for, but not defending his literal actions in the story, but that’s because you’re not approaching the story from the perspective of satire.

Isayama’s laughable statements aside, Attack on Titan is clearly satirical. It is making its point through hyperbolic caricature. Though with King Fritz the series arguably veers into straw-manning.

It may be hyperbole, but no reasonable pacifist actually believes we should roll over and let other people kill us, and I honestly can’t believe we are apparently supposed to take this seriously.

The point is that pacifism is bad.

King Fritz swears a vow to renounce war, which the series has lambasted at every possible opportunity. This vow is directly analogous to the vow to renounce war contained in Japan’s constitution, which also binds future generations no matter their personal beliefs since, ya know, it’s the law.

Fritz does this because he believes it will lead to an everlasting peace, which also echoes Japan’s constitution, which renounces war specifically in the name of peace.

Article 9 in Japan is broadly popular with the public, but is criticized by a small usually conservative minority.

All of this is to say that the series echoes conservative talking points and generally seems to be written from that perspective.

Now we come to this chapter. Zeke explicitly refers to Grisha’s ideology as a nationalism and is then made to look like a dumbass for thinking Grisha is an evildoer.

#nationalistshavefeelingstoo.

Yeah, Grisha loves his family, but who cares? The series is clearly going frame Grisha forsaking his mission to be with his family as a mistake, because that’s what this series does! In the world of SNK, people who chase their dreams either fail in some way or are otherwise evil, unless that dream is to fight for the survival of your race, in which case you’re a hero.

Nationalism is bad because it’s an ideology centered on loving your race. It is an inherently exclusionary belief system. The series may not be afraid to criticize specific methods, but the idea of fighting for your race is itself not presented as a bad thing.

Even though in the real world, you would be hard pressed to find a similarly sympathetic example of a nationalist movement.

Nationalism is an inherently emotional ideology, it is fueled by grievance. The series acknowledges that certain expressions of nationalism can be fueled primarily by emotion, but we are also apparently supposed to think that a “rational” nationalism is possible.

In fact, rational nationalism is an oxymoron.

The idea of fighting for your race can never be rational because the notion is inherently irrational. The only people who would care enough about their race to emphasize fighting for it are the desperately insecure.

Whether it’s because they’re desperate for anything about themselves to love, like with Floch, or outraged over the targeting of their race specifically, like with Grisha, nationalism is never born out of some coldly rational thought process.

So now the Yeager Bros. finally succeed and Eren finally gets to betray Zeke. But wouldn’t you know it! It’s the royal who has control of the Founding Titan!

I was leaning against this idea, but for a while now I’ve had the inkling that the Founding Titan is supposed to be a metaphor for the concept of sovereignty, and now it seems that instinct was right.

Sovereignty refers to the absolute authority that governments have. In republics like the United States, sovereignty resides in the government, but it is exercised on behalf of the people.

In monarchies, sovereignty resides in the reigning monarch, who rules by God’s grace.

The key word here is “resides.” The king/president is merely a vessel for the sovereign authority of the government.

For many centuries, kings, and, later, officeholders in general, were thought of as having two bodies.

Their body natural, that is, their physical, human bodies.

And the body politic, that is, the power that comes with the office.

When the king dies, only their body natural dies, but the body politic is eternal and passes on to the next body natural that occupies the position of king.

The Founding Titan is apparently modeled after this idea. Each successive Eldian king is a vessel for the Founding Titan, which grants absolute authority over all Eldians, but only to those who are of royal blood, ie those with the right to rule.

Of course, only people with a legitimate claim to the throne may properly exercise sovereign authority, just as only Zeke may command the Founding Titan. As I said in an earlier post, as a commoner, Eren’s use of the Founding Titan is illegitimate by default.

Needing a royal sympathetic to his cause creates an opening for Historia to become relevant again and that just highlights how everything would’ve been better if Eren had just used her in the first place.

I get that Eren cares about his friends (really hoping he and Historia are just friends), but if you think that makes Eren sympathetic, then let me tell you a little secret: it doesn’t.

Prioritizing someone’s literal life over another’s simply because you know them is awful. It reduces the choice of what you should do to the randomness of who you just so happen to have gotten to know better.

If this was just about who Eren was going to spend a Saturday night with, then choosing based on rapport would be fine, but the stakes here are significantly higher. People are dead.

The excuse that Eren is doing this for his friend’s sake is no excuse at all.

At this point we’re half way through the fourth volume of this arc. The next chapter will probably wrap up this A Christmas Story riff and the chapter after that will most likely end with the Wall Titans finally being awakened.

Afterwards, I’m betting it’s just one more volume to close out the story proper and then maybe we’ll get a volume for that epilogue Isayama mentioned once in an interview.

#shingeki no kyogin #attack on titan #snk 120 #spoilers #snk chapter 120

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smokeybrand · 3 years

Text

Play It Again, Sam

Texas passed their voter suppression bill on the sixth, under the cover of night, because they know it's bogus. Three in the morning, if I'm not mistaken. Now, the bill as drafted, was passed in an effort to quell voter fraud and "protect the purity of the ballot box." That was term actually used by the kid, and i do mean kid, who drafted SB7 because it's enshrined in the Texas State Constitution under Article VI, Section 2, and Chapters Twelve and Thirteen. I just want to make sure you understand what I just said because it's going to be a thing in a minute. The kid who wrote SB7, cited Article VI of the Texas constitution, as precedent to write his own law. Okay. Now the violence. That article was passed into law after women were granted the right to vote WAY back in the late Tens. I think 1918, to be exact. There was an Amendment added to the Constitution out there but I can't remember if it was in 1918 or 1919 but around there is when women got to go to the polls legally. But not all women. Not Black women. Not Black people. Period.

You see, Article VI of the Texas Constitution was added to specifically disenfranchise Black people, and Minorities as a whole, but us Negroes in particular, from voting. That language used to justify the voter suppression bill in Texas that just passed under the dead of night on the sixth of May, in this, the year of our lord, 2021, SB7, was pulled directly from an Article in their constitution, created for the sole purpose of denying Blacks and Minorities the right to vote in Election Primaries, back during the Reconstruction. You know what that was called? There was name for it because it was a thing in the South. I'll give you two guesses.

White Primaries.

"Protect the purity of the ballot box" was the legalese used back during Jim f*cking Crow to suppress Black people from voting and that exact language, that exact Article, was used as justification, as the linchpin precedent, on which to base SB7. Which passed. Under cover of night. Because anyone with a cursory understanding of Reconstruction Era America and access to Wikipedia, could see how f*cking outrageous this sh*t is. They were called White Primaries, man! That, alone, is enough to give me pause but not Texas. F*ck no, they went all in so here the f*ck I go!

That verbiage appears, verbatim, in SB7. "Protect the purity of the ballot box.” So, if you're pulling from a law designed to suppress votes, how is your bill not designed for the same thing? Tell me again how this sh*t isn't objectively race motivated when the Constitutional Article sighted as precedent to create this bill, was? Tell me again how this bill is to protect voter fraud and not to stop the very, very, Purple Texas from going all the way Blue, based on ll the polling showing the Minority vote, the vote this new bill, like the old, specifically targets, is only growing more and more powerful? Tell me again how this isn't blatantly voter suppression when the core of the actual f*cking bill, is based on a racist law written into the State Constitution, to deliberately suppress Black and Minority votes so much, they called the entire voting process 'White Primaries?" That's historic fact. Look it up. It was rampant through the South until Thurgood Marshall successfully argued the case in front of the Supreme Court back in 1944 and they ruled in his favor. Article VI became Texas law in 1923 so, after some quick math and a whole ass Supreme Court ruling against it's constitutionality, we're doing this same filed sh*t again, ninety-eight years later? We're really using century old, racist propaganda, to suppress Black and Brown voices in 2021? Outstanding! Tell me again how using the exact same goddamn tactics from Jim Crow, doesn't make this Jim Crow 2.0? How is it f*cking different? How can the position be different if you use the same goddamn laws and justifications from back then, to support your position, now? That's what precedent is! That's what it's used for. And that precedent, that law, was already struck down at the highest level for being unconstitutional. On the basis that it's F*CKING RACIST! It's like they're not even trying to hide the bigotry anymore and, as an intellectual and free thinker, i find that sh*t mad insulting.

It took me ten minutes of google to verify everything i said here. I saw Maddow do a thing on this and, not that I don't trust her to do the do-diligence or what have you, I don't trust anything anyone just says to me, ever. So I did the research on my own. Research the kid who wrote that f*cking thing didn't do because you'd think he'd find some other old ass precedent that wasn't so unapologetically f*cking racist, to justify his unapologetically racist new law. A sitting Texas State Lawmaker, couldn't be bothered to fact check the origin of the precedent on which he based his new law. That happened. That's real. Are you f*cking kidding me?The first thing they teach you in English comprehension is to double check your work. Proofread your sh*t. The first thing they teach you when you start writing reports is to verify the facts and cite your sources. I literally did it with this post! Uploaded it to Word and proofread it twice! Double-checked most of my dates and made sure to correctly label Articles and Cases because people are lazy as sh*t and they won't do research for themselves. That asshole makes a living writing legislation and working in law. His whole industry is based on research. That's his entire job. That asshole wrote a whole ass law and did none of that! And it passed! I f*cking hate the South so much.

Now, i know that read was a little redundant at times. That was for emphasis. I wanted to make sure my points hit home. Redundancy is a good way to do that. You might not agree but, apparently, Texas does. They seem to be falling over backwards to give Jim Crow a second shot with SB7, in the most obvious and blatant way possible. I guess they REALLY want to emphasis how goddamn racist they are, out there in the Lone Star. Also, an this has nothing to do with Texas, but I just found out the Missouri finally desegregated all of their school districts in 2017. Civil Rights act passed in 1964.

I hate the f*cking South so much, man.

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textsfromumbridge · 6 years

Text

All the men and women merely players (3/5)

A Christmas gift to this wonderful fandom, and in particular a gift for @catty-words and @rebeccaplimpton (my favorite owl).

Chapter three: Loser like all of these idiots (AO3)

Someday he was actually going to murder that Geoffrey guy.

And maybe that someday would actually be this very day.

It wasn’t just that the guy kept stalking him in rehearsal - he claimed to have mastered all of his ensemble parts so he’d come to Nathaniel so he could be a proper understudy. Like that guy could ever be a decent replacement for him. The guy wouldn’t be a proper replacement for anyone, but especially not for him.

Maybe he was just a little more harsh on him because of the incident with Bunch at that Saturday rehearsal. If he hadn’t shown up, he was sure he would have gotten to at least second base with Bunch, possibly more.

But no, the idiot just had to show up and completely kill the mood.

He’d been so damn close! Bunch had even been the one to make the first move, which meant that he was totally in her system now - but it was all dependant upon the right atmosphere and the right moment.

It had been right there: an abandoned hallway in a locked building, no way for anyone to disturb them. And not in a creepy way - just in the ‘certain activities should really remain private’ way. No spectators required.

But of course freaking Giles just had to break that unspoken rule. He just had to ruin this like he ruined everything.

Now how was he going to get Rebecca, to get Bunch to go near him again? She’d retreated right back to the ridiculously named Chan Plan. Apparently that was safer than actually doing anything with someone who wasn’t named Josh Chan.

Fucking Muggle.

“Mr. Plimpton?”

“Yes, Mr. Whitefeather?”

He was screwed. Clearly someone had said something, or someone had found out about his moment with Bunch - and now his teacher was going to use it against him. What else did Mr. Whitefeather need to blackmail him into doing?

“Don’t worry,” his teacher immediately tried to reassure him in that doofus-like way. “I just wanted to have a quick chat about your future.”

What the - his future? What was that supposed to mean? This was not a good sign.

“You probably already have everything figured out for next year,” Mr. Whitefeather just yammered on and on, “but I was hoping you would consider something else.”

Like what exactly? What was he going to be forced into now?

“I know you didn’t join the program voluntarily,” Mr. Whitefeather finally admitted to at least part of his shady dealings. “But you are a very talented young man.”

Okay, something bad was coming. No one ever complimented him without there being some kind of ulterior motive - or without it being used to soften some kind of blow. Had something happened to his mother again?

“Thank you?” Even in an awkward situation he prided himself on feigning politeness.

“I just think it would be a waste of talent,” Mr. Whitefeather continued, “to let our production of Cinderella be your only theater experience. So I’ve done a little research.”

A little. There was no way that the gigantic binder his teacher just foisted upon him constituted a little anything. Even his own, admittedly fantastic, muscles were surprised by the weight of it.

There was just so much in here that he didn’t even open it to see what was inside.

“A little?” he remarked skeptically.

“Just some applications and information about theater programs,” Mr. Whitefeather tried to brush it off. “Some of these can be combined with a business degree - seeing as that was what you intended to do before the stage called to you.”

What the hell?

Wow, the man certainly had a flair for the dramatic. Not that he didn’t already know about that, but this just proved it once again. The stage called to him? Seriously? What kind of Bunch-esque nonsense was that?

She would totally say something like that, looking all serious with her eyes laser-focused on her target. Maybe she wouldn’t say it about him, but she would absolutely say it about herself.

And this was not about her, so why was he going there? Again?

“Mr. Whitefeather,” he tried to interrupt the incoming dramatic monologue before it even started.

“Nathaniel you have grown so much in these past few weeks,” Mr. Whitefeather had started to wax poetic and he was not going to stop. “When you started with us, you were angry, and distant, and dismissive of all of us. But you have grown into it, and your bond with Ms. Bunch is truly something special. The chemistry!”

This was not going into a direction that he was comfortable with. He had not grown or changed significantly over the course of these past few weeks. He was not suddenly friends with any of these people. There was absolutely nothing special going on between him and Bunch.It was just teenage hormones and general idiocy (yes, that last part was referring to that Graham moron).

No, he was not going to let that go so easily.

“I’m sure this will be our best show yet,” there was just no stopping Mr. Whitefeather when he was on a roll. “And we do owe a lot of that to you, Mr. Plimpton.”

Was this a thank you? Was this actually Mr. Whitefeather wanting to thank him for the effort by doing all this ridiculous research that he was never going to use? There was no way that his father would ever allow him to study theatre, not even on the side. There were so many more important things for him to do.

Trying to take over the world, for example (thanks Pinky). His father may not have seen the humor in it, but Nathaniel almost did. For a few seconds, before the importance of business and the company were impressed upon him yet again.

“Thank you?” It came out as a question.

“I just feel like not pursuing this further would be a waste of your talents,” Mr. Whitefeather smiled at him. “I would be happy to act as a reference for any of these applications. I just hate seeing talent such as yours go to waste.”

Had he offered the same thing to Bunch?

Not very likely - she would have started doing this very research about three to four years ago. She probably already asked - read: demanded - that Mr. Whitefeather vouch for her in every possible way. And knowing Mr. Whitefeather even a little bit, he probably wrote her an extensive letter describing her every virtue in great detail. And not even in a creepy way.

Nathaniel’s description of Bunch’s virtues - that was not for anyone under eighteen. Or for anyone to hear really - not even for Bunch herself. It might actually make her think that he gave a damn about her.

Which he really didn’t, of course.

“You don’t have to decide right now,” Mr. Whitefeather just kept on talking and talking. “I just feel like you should consider all of your options.”

Except this was not a real option, not for him. Plimptons did not study theater. They never did anything even remotely frivolous. They went to school for business and got excellent grades, and they spent the rest of their time working out and otherwise being the perfect son.

Otherwise he might make his mother upset again.

“These options aren’t,” he tried to explain it to his teacher.

“Just consider it,” Mr. Whitefeather interrupted him before he could finish a sentence. “Just take this binder and look through it. When you feel like it. No pressure.”

The man was infuriating. Mr. Whitefeather just refused to let him off the hook, even though he was fully aware that Nathaniel was not going to be able to pursue this. This one show was risky enough - his father had questioned his absences, even though he hadn’t even been at home himself.

“I’ll take the binder,” he agreed, knowing he’d get rid of it the second his teacher had his back turned.

Wait, did he owe his teacher something now? After the whole totally setting him up to nail Bunch thing, and now the binder, he really kind of did owe the man something. He had to say something.

“I appreciate everything you’ve done for me,” he just blurted it out without another thought. “Especially the whole helping get me laid thing. So, I kind of owe you, and I figured… You’re clearly really into Coach Wilson, and I have some solid advice to make that happen.”

It was so obvious, anyone could see what was happening. Well, except maybe that Grant guy, but no one else seemed to manage his particular level of cluelessness. Even creepy Karen seemed to have caught on to the ogling and the flirting and the swooning.

And if Karen had caught on, everyone knew.

And if everyone knew, it was about damn time to actually do something about it that was more than just making googly eyes at various exposed body parts. Coach Wilson was totally into it, but the man wasn’t making a move.

Someone had to do something - and he knew that Bunch “shipped” it. It would totally also score him bonus points with her if he made it happen.

“Mr. Plimpton, this is highly inappropriate,” Mr. Whitefeather stammered. .

“That’s kind of the school motto,” he correctly surmised.

The guidance counselor was basically writing up seduction plans for a student she treated like a daughter. That one guy that made the students call him Robert had been fired for doing it with a student. Creepy Karen had some weird ass activities going on in the Bio lab with some of the school’s pet snakes.

Honestly, a little teacher on teacher flirtation was nothing compared to what his poor eyes had seen in that lab.

“You may have a point,” the older man acknowledged.

There was a beat of silence. All he had to do now was wait - the bait was set and Mr. Whitefeather was totally ready to bite.

He held on to his stupid binder for a little while longer, mentally figuring out if the humongous thing would fit in his locker. Maybe he didn’t have to throw it out right away.

“So, about this advice?”

So predictable.

It was all over.

It had happened so quickly, so easily. It didn’t take him any effort at all to throw her in the garbage, where she belonged.

Josh Chan had dumped her.

He’d just abandoned her, just like all the other men. Just like her father, like Robert, like all of them. He was just like them.

Somehow he’d seen inside her garbage head, somehow he’d seen that she really wasn’t worth it, and instead of making her happy he’d just moved on to some pretty blonde transfer student who only seemed to care if her eyebrows were on fleek.

That Anna girl was probably a drug dealer too. The girl was always trading something or other with her fellow fashionistas - Valencia would probably know all about it.

Poor Valencia was probably heartbroken - which for her only showed in the level of rage she exuded. Heather was the only one who hadn’t run away screaming, because Heather was smart enough to see what was really going on, and badass enough to give as good as she got.

Heather was kind of really awesome, okay.

Unlike Josh, who was really The Worst. Like, he officially threw Nathaniel Plimpton off the throne of hell - or his dad anyway. Still, Josh was the WORST.

He led her on. He made her believe that they were going to be together, and then when she found him at Hector’s party he didn’t want to be seen with her.

Not like he had at - he never wanted to be seen with her. He was embarrassed by her, embarrassed to be seen with her, but not too embarrassed to make out with her when no one else was around.

And she’d just let it happen.

It was just so embarrassing - she was smarter than that, right? Or at least, she’d really thought she was. Maybe that was the worst part, because her smarts were a big part of the very little she had going for her.

The feelings were swallowing her up and none of them were good. She could just feel herself slipping back into that depression state of mind, and there was absolutely nothing that she could do to stop it.

What was the point when no one wanted her?

Well, except Nathaniel, but he didn’t count. It didn’t matter that he obviously wanted to have sex with her, not when Josh wasn’t interested in her.

Josh Chan was supposed to be her perfect match, her soulmate.

Nathaniel was just... a roadblock. Someone who got in the way of her happily ever after with Joshua Felix Chan. He was never supposed to be the Prince, not off stage.

So maybe he was really charming on stage, and he was hitting more than a few of the right buttons off stage. Still, it didn’t mean anything. It couldn’t mean anything, because she wasn’t meant to be with Nathaniel Plimpton the Third.

(Her mother would die of happiness if she even mentioned his name, which was another point against him. Not that she hadn’t already gathered quite a lot of reasons not to even think about him. Chief of them being Josh. )

It did not matter that Nathaniel was tall and attractive with those blue eyes that just randomly turned soft with warmth when seconds before they’d been lit up by a spark of intelligence. She never asked him to be kind to her - she didn’t even want him to be kind. She didn’t want his pity, or his perceived little crush.

And there he was, staring at her again.

He’d been doing that a lot lately, and even more so after the stupid Josh thing. Somehow he just knew that she’d been dumped.

Ugh, he was the worst and she didn’t even know why she was thinking of him again.

“Stop pitying me,” she hissed at him as she walked by.

“Pity is for losers,” he corrected.

Which was basically her title at this point. So why wasn’t he rubbing it in?

“So?” she stopped in her tracks.

“I’d pity Chan,” he smirked. “Not you.”

What?

If anyone was the loser in this scenario, it was definitely her. Josh was the captain of the team, the leader of the pack. She was just a theater nerd whose own people didn’t even respect her. She didn’t even have friends - she’d just been lying to herself again. Paula was her only friend, but that was just kind of weird.

She was very aware of how weird that was, but it didn’t change anything. It’s not like she would suddenly become more likeable overnight.

Not that she cared about that - she didn’t. She wasn’t going to remember any of these people anyway, when she made it big.

So if they didn’t care about her, and she didn’t care about them?

“You okay there Bunch?” Nathaniel was still around for some lame reason. “You’re about to start catching flies.”

If she didn’t care about anyone - that included stupid Nathaniel - it would be easier. She could be bad, really bad.

“Fuck off.” She flipped him off for good measure.

It was time for her to get some good old-fashioned revenge.

They could not put it off any longer. They had to do it.

Mr. Whitefeather was making them practice that one scene: the final scene. The scene that involved the true love’s kiss neither of them really believed in. Still, they had to sell it to the audience.

But with Bunch being in her current state, he doubted they could sell water in a desert together.

She was completely occupied by her stupid revenge plan. He didn’t even know what she was planning exactly - he was very sure that he probably really did not want to know a single thing about it - but it was obvious that it had completely consumed her.

Bunch was acting like a jilted bride, like she’d been left at the altar by this complete idiot. It was a high school fling at best - it wasn’t like she’d even remember Josh Chan at their ten year reunion. She’d probably be ruling the world by then, or just the Broadway stage. Or quite possibly, both.

She was ambitious like that - she had more than a little Slytherin in her. And if she wanted to, she could have a lot of Slytherin in her - yes, he meant sex. A lot of it.

But perhaps they’d start with a kiss - a staged one at that, right in front of meddling Mr. Whitefeather. Sure, he had game, but not the kind of game he wanted to show to his teacher (no matter how much Mr. Whitefeather would probably learn from it). This needed to happen just between him and Bunch, if it was ever going to be something real.

Ew, why would he want this to be ‘something real’? He just needed to get her out of his system. One go and he would be right back to normal.

Well, maybe one night. There were a couple positions he was sure she wouldn’t mind trying. But just one night, because Nathaniel Plimpton the Third did not do anything more than one night. He did not do relationships. Ugh, the thought alone made him more than a little sick to his stomach.

That was kind of a good thing at this point, because thinking about having sex with Bunch had made his loose pants much too tight all of a sudden. Which again: just fine when it was just him and Bunch, but not okay with their teacher right there.

“Can we get this over with already?” Bunch was less than excited.

“Miss Bunch,” Mr. Whitefeather gently chided. “We are looking to create a certain atmosphere here. This kiss is supposed to be the culmination of your incredible chemistry throughout the show. It needs to be romantic, loving, a true embodiment of happily ever after.”

Wow, no pressure there. Clearly Mr. Whitefeather still had some serious heart eyes going on - head in the clouds, thinking of Coach Wilson at inopportune moments, the whole shebang. He’d now reached the spreading the feeling stage, trying to get others to join him in a love bubble of their own. Sickening.

At least Bunch seemed to agree with that sentiment, her pinched face in sharp contrast to the romantic scene they were supposed to be playing out.

If it continued like this, there would be actual vomiting before they even got close to working on the actual scene. And he was not sure if it would be him or Bunch, but he was fully aware that Mr. Whitefeather would be the cause.

Something had to be done, and he knew he was the man for the job.

“Mr. Whitefeather,” he just had to play this right. “I’m sure you understand that it is kind of uncomfortable to practice a kissing scene with one of our favorite teachers examining everything. So how about you give us some time to practice it ourselves?”

Sucking up worked - he’d seen Bunch do it enough to know that much. He probably wasn’t as good at it as she was - less experience - but he was willing to give it a try if it meant that Mr. Whitefeather would go off somewhere, anywhere. It was bad enough that he’d have to do it in front of a full auditorium at some point, but for the first time? Yeah, it was not going to happen with all the hovering that was currently going on.

“Oh, I remember my first kissing scene,” Mr. Whitefeather was immediately off on another random tangent.

“I agree with Nathaniel,” Bunch ended their teacher’s story before it began.

She was absolutely being nice to him because it would get them what they wanted, and it was absolutely turning him on.

That had nothing to do with how much he liked it when she used his first name - that should not be a thing. That dramatic way she spoke was not going to be a kink for him. He did not want to have to kinkshame himself.

“Rebecca is right,” he got right on the wagon.

Of course he had to use her first name to get the right effect. Mr. Whitefeather was never going to buy it if he kept calling her Bunch. That was the one and only reason he was using her first name.

“Finally my two leads are on the same page,” Mr. Whitefeather was delighted at this development - as delighted as he was all the damn time.

He was not going to ask his teacher if the man could just leave already, but he was definitely sorely tempted. But he was not raised to be rude to his teachers, even if he was smarter and better adjusted than they were. Plimptons respected authority - and his father’s authority above all else.

“Your exercises really helped us,” Bunch was laying it on a bit thick now.

If she said anything about getting in touch with anyone’s feelings, especially his, he was going to throw up the salad he had at lunch.

Sure, he did appreciate the unnecessary help Mr. Whitefeather had given him in the seducing Bunch plan, but it wasn’t like there were any feelings involved here. It was all teenage hormones and getting some things out of their systems.

“Your chemistry is just so inspirational,” Mr. Whitefeather looked about ready to swoon. “It’s a shame you’re both seniors, because I’d love to keep working with you two, together.”

One show, no encores, no repeat engagements. There was no way he would be blackmailed into doing anything else.

And doing this voluntarily? No, he was not that far gone yet.

“You flatter us,” Bunch practically pushed their teacher out the door.

He just made sure to smile at the man until the second after the door closed in his face. Then, he prepared for battle.

Bunch was certainly not going to make this easy for him. He was just about ready to curse Josh Chan’s name for ruining this for him. She’d pretty much been a sure bet before - she made the first move to kiss him last time - until Josh “dumb-dumb” Chan showed her that all men were superficial assholes. And while Bunch obviously knew that in theory (and maybe some practice) the reminder had stung.

And that was why she was currently glaring daggers at him instead of letting herself be seduced by their circumstances.

“I’m not going to kiss you,” Bunch was dismissive.

Damn you Josh Chan! Damn you Graham for interrupting what had been such a promising moment!

“I never thought you wouldn’t take your role seriously,” they both knew he was baiting her with that one. “It’s about true love, Bunch.”

For a girl who had no trouble manipulating people to get what she wanted, she definitely had a mushy side he could easily take advantage of. She clearly wanted to believe in soulmates and true love, and if that did not get him what he wanted, he was still baiting her.

She never could let him win.

“You’re the worst,” she declared.

“I’m okay with that,” he shrugged.

That stopped her in her tracks. Not in the way he’d wanted, with her dropping the subject and moving on to the good parts of this meeting, but in that analytical way that told him she might be seeing something he didn’t necessarily intend for her to see.

What kind of quip could he use to distract her? Making her angry usually worked, but she’d been filled with so much anger that it had become a little risky. Too much anger and she’d walk right out and he’d never get another chance to get with her. Because that was all he wanted from her.

“As long as it gets you what you want,” Bunch was still looking at him like that.

“Would you prefer I fake some feelings?” he tried to distract her.

He wasn’t moral enough to play the honesty card all the time. It worked on Bunch, but many a girl had needed a few sweet nothings whispered in her ear to allow him a few liberties. Either way, the result was the same: he got what he wanted and he moved on.

“You aren’t that good an actor,” she dismissed him.

“That sounds like a challenge,” he was almost amused.

Maybe if he pretended not to notice that she’d actually stepped closer to him to properly dismiss him, maybe she wouldn’t notice either. Maybe she would keep doing it.

“No thanks,” Bunch scoffed. “Let’s just get through this stupid scene.”

She was still moving closer, no matter what her actual words were saying. So maybe he wasn’t alone in feeling this ridiculous attraction - he knew he wasn’t - and they could just finally get it over with.

He needed the show to be over, and her to be out of his head, so that he could go back to his normal life. The life that he was supposed to lead, the one that did not involve theater and this girl who’d somehow made him pay attention to her.

“If you insist,” he drew her in closer with his words.

“Don’t act like you don’t want to kiss me, Nathaniel,” she reached for him with one hand.

It was going to burn right through his chest. It shouldn’t be possible, but that single touch of her hand had completely drawn him in. How did she do that?

“You’ve been wanting it too,” he whispered, slowly moving down to her level.

She could not deny that - he did not want her to deny it. She needed to admit that she did want him, because that meant he won.

But was he even keeping score still?

“I’m acting,” she reminded him, taunted him.

Her hand had made its way to the back of his neck, pulling him further and further down as she reached up to meet him.

“And I’m not?” he quirked an eyebrow.

His hand was on the small of her back, and this was absolutely not going to be allowed for their stage kiss. That was all chaste and romantic and pure - and why was he even still thinking about that?

This kiss, this had nothing to do with Ella and Prince Topher.

“Please,” she whispered.

If that was still in response to something, he’d long since forgotten it. It was a plea for him to finally bridge those final inches, a plea to not let that Grant guy interrupt them this time.

How could he not grant her wish?

Their lips met sharply, a contrast to how slow they’d been moving before. This was all pent-up frustrations, hormones, attraction against their wishes. She pulled at him, contorting him into the perfect position to just keep kissing her. And so he had to push back, clinging at his perfect control by the edges of his fingernails.

They continued to fight even in this kiss, a yank on his hair and a tug at her hips to get her even closer. It was desperate, frantic, passionate… And it was everything he wanted, or was it?

“Bunch,” he pulled away to catch his breath.

“Shut up,” she pushed him against the closed door.

He’d dreamt of this, but not this.

“Slow down,” he tried to reach for her face, gently.

“Shut up,” she repeated, pushing his hand away.

There was no way for him to move comfortably, and yet she tried to pull at him. Another kiss, one that seemed even harsher than the first, all teeth and tongue.

God, it was hot, it really was. Bunch, Rebecca… She couldn’t stop trying to get even closer to him, pressing her body tightly against his.

But he felt a doorknob pushing against his back, and his neck was starting to hurt from being pushed and pulled into such an awkward position.

“Rebecca,” he spoke without thinking.

The change was absolute. She stilled immediately, eyes wide and hands trembling as she tried to fix her shirt.

He hadn’t even been staring at her cleavage - what the hell was wrong with him?

“I need to go,” she disentangled herself from him, her body shaky and her face closed off.

And he was left alone in the room, pants too tight and heartbeat racing.

The clock had struck midnight and Ella had run from the prince. But there was no glass slipper, no clue as to what had gone wrong.

She did not mean to be distracted, she just was.

And it was a serious problem.

“Rebecca,” he’d said.

Nathaniel Plimpton had used her first name, and it was soft and warm and completely unexpected. And most of all, it was bad and wrong.

If he’d just kept that stupid, surprisingly soft mouth of his shut, she’d have been on top of him in an empty classroom at this point.

But no, he just had to use her name and ruin everything.

How dare he make it sound like he gave a damn about her? This was Nathaniel Plimpton the Third - he didn’t do anything involving the full spectrum of human emotions. He was supposed to bang her and leave her, just so Josh Chan would never be able to have her first time.

Because he didn’t deserve it.

Not that it was even about deserving it, it was about her choices. And she’d chosen Nathaniel for this one. Just this one time, just to get those damn hormones out of the way so they could both move on with their lives. She wanted to be bad, to let the animalistic urges rule her just once, just like they ruled everyone else in school.

So why wouldn’t he just let her?

He’d been turned on when he said it, but she knew all about how true feelings came out when the normal filters were gone, and what he’d said was her name. She couldn’t get over it, couldn’t get it out of her head.

“Cookie?”

It was probably just another twisted, devious manipulation. He was the Evil Plimpton after all - perhaps this was like She’s All That after all and he needed to make her believe that he gave a damn about her so she’d fall for him.

She could probably expect a prom invitation any day now.

Not that she’d say yes to that - she’d seen the movies and she didn’t exactly want to end up crying on prom night. Not that she’d cry, because she didn’t actually care about Nathaniel and his hurt feelings. She didn’t!

What she cared about was her revenge.

“Cookie?”

Yes, all she wanted was revenge against Josh Chan. He was the only man, the only boy that mattered right now. Only until she’d left him weeping, of course.

He’d be sorry he abandoned her, sorry that he ever led her on and made her feel like glitter was exploding inside of her. He’d be sorry for the secretive affair, for not wanting to be with her out in the open. Joshua Felix Chan would be sorry for all of it.

And maybe then, finally, she could get Nathaniel out of her head, and the way he’d looked at her after he said her name.

“Rebecca!”

“Don’t call me that,” she whirled around to confront Natha- Paula?

Oh, right, they were supposed to be coming up with revenge plans together.

“Cookie?” Paula seemed more than a little freaked out.

“Sorry,” her apology was only slightly exaggerated. “My head was just off in the clouds, you know what that’s like.”

Did she sound blase enough? Good, because it was awkward, the kind of bad awkward that people remembered. Especially when by people she meant her best friend and guidance counselor. Paula was too good at figuring things out for her to learn anything that might make her suspicious.

Which was why she could never learn about what had happened between her and Nathaniel. No one ever needed to know that.

She was going to have enough trouble looking him in the eye ever again after that, and they were supposed to be love interests. In the show. She meant they were supposed to play love interests.

“Right,” Paula didn’t seem to buy it, not completely.

“So, what’s the plan for Chan?” she purposefully rhymed, knowing it would distract Paula.

As expected, Paula snickered happily. Sometimes she worried about her friend, about why she treated one of her students as her best friend instead of finding someone she was on more equal footing with.

But that was not a concern right now. Right now, there was nothing but vengeance.

“I have brought in an expert,” Paula grinned evilly.

That was disconcerting. Not the grinning, no, she wholeheartedly approved of the evil grinning and possible future cackling. The bringing in an expert part was her real concern.

Because who could this be? Who at this school was an expert on pain and vengeance and evil plans? (They were making evil plans!)

“Sup?” Heather Davis nodded as she dropped into one of the chairs.

Wait, Heather was the expert? That made little to no sense - Heather was generally one of the most chill people in the entire school, and while she definitely wouldn’t let anyone mess with her, there was no vengeance in her bones. Heather was the kind of person who called someone out on their shit and then moved on with her life.

Which was super cool, but definitely not what she was going for right now.

“Heather,” she nodded like she’d been expecting this all along.

“I’m just here for moral support,” Heather opened up a notebook and started doodling. “I’m thinking about being a psych major, and this is fascinating.”

That was both the most and least surprising thing she’d ever heard Heather say. Which meant that it was actually perfectly on brand for Heather.

She had a beanie over her messy curls, and this week the colored streaks in her hair appeared to be purple. Hipster culture had nothing on Heather.

Honestly, she wished she were half as cool.

“I’d say sorry for being late,” Valencia Perez threw open the door to Paula’s office, “but I’m not actually all that sorry. I had things to do.”

What the actual hell was Paula thinking? This was probably the worst idea ever.

Or the second worst, because practicing a kissing scene with Nathaniel Plimpton in an empty classroom might have been one for the books. Really, how did she think that was going to end? (Spoiler alert: sex. Lots of it.)

Ugh, why did she keep coming back to stupid Nathaniel?

Paula actually brought Valencia in on the revenge plan against Josh? Did she want Rebecca to get murdered? Because that was absolutely what was going to happen when Valencia found out she had been all over Josh when they were still dating. It was going to be death by yoga and claws. And words. Vicious, vicious words.

She’d have to change schools after this - her mother might actually kill her, because changing schools this close to graduation was going to kill her chances at several of the Ivies she’d been forced to apply to.

Was witness protection an option here? She could change her name and move across country.

Rachel, she could be a Rachel.

“I’m glad you’re here, miss Perez,” Paula was still smiling. “It’s time for us to destroy Josh Chan.”

Now those were fighting words. Now she was interested. Now she was no longer distracted by Nathani- damn it.

His face was just so damn distracting, especially his eyes. And his mouth.

This was not helping!

“Right, so I’m only here because I hate Josh Chan,” Valencia picked the most prominent chair to gracefully sit down in. “You were probably the reason he broke up with me, and I kind of hate you for it, but at least he didn’t leave me hanging on for another ten years. He’s scared of confrontation like that.”

That was a surprisingly mature standpoint from the person who’d been lowkey bullying every loser at this school for the past four years.

Was she right to be suspicious of that, or was Valencia Perez actually growing? Had Heather’s mellow disposition rubbed off on her? Those two had been spending a lot of time together lately, and while it made sense for Valencia to be the alpha female, Heather’s almost supernatural calmness was kind of infectious.

Either way, she should probably be grateful.

“We all hate Josh Chan,” Paula was pleased at how well this was going.

“I don’t,” Heather shrugged. “But keep going, this is fascinating.”

The four women came together as one to figure out what would hurt Josh Chan the most. It was almost inspirational.

Oh my God, she was finally part of a girl group now!

He’d been avoiding her for days, pretending his ego wasn’t bruised by her abrupt departure from that classroom. And it wasn’t, because he didn’t care about Rebecca Bunch. Not at all.

It was just a little unflattering that even a pathetic loser like her bailed on him. That was all that was.

Still, it was a good sign that he needed to stay focused, that he needed to do a few extra reps at the gym this week, because clearly his perfect physique was failing him. His body could not be trusted this week, especially not around Bunch.

So, avoidance.

Of course, that only went so far, because he still had to see her in rehearsals. But after his demand to work some more on some scenes that in no way involved Cinderella herself, Mr. Whitefeather had rather reluctantly acquiesced.

After all, he did not want the show to fail because he’d left it all to depend on chemistry. That Jim guy was still woefully behind on learning his lines, and Tim wasn’t much better (if he finally managed to correctly guess who was who, anyway). They had a lot of catching up to do to get even in the same stratosphere as he was in. And that was the only reason why Nathaniel was currently running through the same few scenes over and over again until these idiots finally got it right.

“Once again, from the top,” he ordered, barely even breaking a sweat.

Jim and Tim - Tim and Jim? - were wrecks. The amount of sweat those idiots produced wasn’t quite healthy. And here he’d figured that Jim (it was Jim, right?) had been in excellent shape, seeing as how he showed up at the gym at least twice a week.

Well, clearly he’d just been there for the girls, because that was all he could talk about.

“Hello there fellas.”

Of course there was no way that she could just let him be. Not in his dreams, and not in real life. No, Rebecca Bunch just had to interrupt his manly bonding time.

(As if he would ever try to bond with any of these losers.)

“Hey Rebecca,” Jim immediately sidled up to her.

“Jim, get back to work,” he ordered, rolling his eyes. “You’re still pathetically out of shape.”

It said something for his natural leadership skills that Jim didn’t even speak another word before he started another circuit of reps. Yes, he was a true leader.

“That’s alright,” Bunch wasn’t deterred even for a second. “I wanted to talk to you anyway.”

Of course she wanted to talk to him now, when she could act like she had the moral high ground in front of their cast mates. She did so thrive around a captive audience, and he’d rather not have a dramatic confrontation straight out of Les Miserables.

The word miserable was right there in the show title, and he’d actually seen it a few times. There was a lot of death, and both men involved in the Confrontation were dead by the end of the show. He didn’t exactly fancy ending up like that, not that he thought Bunch would actually resort to murdering him. He hadn’t quite earned that yet.

Or had he?

“I’m busy,” he dismissed her.

He wasn’t even lying about that - he was busy because these idiots needed a lot of work and the premiere date was getting ever closer. They were due for their costume fitting soon, and if everything fit properly - and he’d made sure it would - they would start rehearsing in costume in a week or so.

Which meant that in about a week, he was going to have serious trouble trying to look Bunch in the eyes - just the idea of her in a corset was already ruining his life. The reality would undoubtedly be much, much worse.

“Or we can do this here,” she had him cornered and she knew it.

Damn her and her everything.

None of these losers were ever going to know about anything that had happened between him and Bunch. They might actually start to think that he was on their level, and then they’d treat him like their buddy.

That could never happen, should never happen. He was superior in every way, like a Plimpton should be.

“Maya, could you take over?” he left the tiniest girl in the group in charge.

Oh, her looks were deceiving - that tiny person could take down every single fragile man boy in that group with just a few phrases. The time she explained to Tim that his long time girlfriend had been faking it with him had been particularly brutal - or just particularly entertaining for him.

Maya could be trusted to run a tight ship.

“Totes,” Maya saluted him.

“Ma’am,” he nodded at her, playing along with her little joke.

That seemed to surprise Bunch, as she stared back and forth between him and the tiny girl with the big glasses, as if there was a thing going on there that she wasn’t aware of. When all it was, was a congenial relationship between cast mates. Maya wasn’t completely useless, and she was willing to work hard, unlike most freshmen.

It meant nothing, but Bunch was undoubtedly going to make a big production out of this small, insignificant moment.

“Let’s go, Bunch,” he did not have the time or the patience for her usual shenanigans.

“No calling me Rebecca this time?” she pointedly asked as she followed him into the empty hallway.

Oh yeah, she was not going to let that stupid mistake go. One freaking slip of the tongue and he was going to hear about it forever - or just until graduation, because there was no way he was ever going to see Rebecca Bunch again after that.

They were going very different places in life - him to Stanford and her to some ridiculous drama school in New York, probably. That was where losers like her thrived.

“You didn’t seem to like it last time,” he remarked, unwilling to let her have the last word about anything, not even this. “I never met anyone who was scared of their first name before.”

Yeah, that hit its mark, as it was intended to. How else was he supposed to get back the power he’d lost with a single word?

Bunch would never let anyone call her afraid, and she especially would not let him get away with it. Her ego wouldn’t let her.

“Scared?” she huffed, blowing herself up for proper hysterics.

“Running away tends to mean fear,” he had the high ground now.

It was funny how she tried to seem taller, tiny as she was compared to him. Sometimes, because of her giant personality, he almost forgot that she was tiny enough for him to pick up and carry. He was strong enough - stronger than that Chan idiot.

Obviously, he was superior in every way, not that Bunch would notice.

“Well, I’m not running now,” she crossed her arms over her chest.

He looked down and gulped. Well, there went his focus.

Damn her for continually distracting him from his moral high ground. Half the time, she wasn’t even doing it on purpose, but judging by the scheming glint in her eye, she was very aware of what she was doing right now. And she was most definitely up to something - she wanted something from him.

“I’m so proud of you,” sarcasm dripped from his every word.

Was she still on that revenge scheme? Probably.

“Flattered,” she returned. “I’m still not scared, Nathaniel.”

Was she actually trying to make him say her name again, just to prove that she was not going to run away from him again? Yeah, he was not actually dumb enough to meekly follow along with that pathetic little scheme.

He had his pride.

It was not going to keep him warm at night, but he was still going to hold on to it for as long as he could. At least here at school, he had the possibility of maintaining his pride - at home, there was no question he had to swallow it and take whatever his father was in the mood to dish out that day.

“What is it going to take?” Bunch was not amused by his silence.

“What is what going to take?” he just had to play dumb, to make her say it.

Was it about getting something out of her? Perhaps it was, perhaps he just wanted her to eat crow for a bit. Perhaps he just wanted her to be honest for once about where they stood - they’d been hiding in played parts and denial for a while now. Maybe some truth wouldn’t be so bad.

Or maybe it would ruin everything. He’d be forced to give her truths in kind, and he had none to give. There was nothing to give, just pretty words that didn’t mean a thing, and a final dismissal either from her or from him.

Because he didn’t actually care.

“I need you to do it again,” she scrunched up her face at his raised eyebrow. “I need you to say my name again.”

And neither did she. He was a convenient means to end when it came to the Chan Plan - he was not foolish enough to think that she’d given up on Josh Chan just because he’d dumped her. If he apologized, she’d take him back (not that she’d ever had him before).

It was true love after all.

“Is Josh coming by?” he was not fooled.

“Yes,” she couldn’t even look at him as she said it.

He laughed, because what else could he do? Walk away and tell her he was not going to be a part of this ridiculous scheme? That would mean something.

“It won’t work,” he just said, because someone had to say it.

Her friends - since when was she friends with Valencia Perez anyway? - clearly hadn’t discouraged her from any of these ridiculous schemes. Him saying something wouldn’t actually change anything, but at least he said something.

Giving her false hope seemed more cruel, somehow.

“I don’t care,” she seemed smaller then.

Still, he pressed on, reminding himself that he didn’t actually give a damn about her hurt feelings.

Or his own.

“Fine,” he ignored whatever passed for inner turmoil in his head. “If your kink is being called by your first name.”

Yes, he was absolutely going to be an asshole about this. She’d left him hanging, embarrassed him, no matter how much he was not willing to admit that. There was no way that he was going to let her off so easily.

“Nathaniel,” she pointedly caressed every single syllable of his name.

That was not a thing for him. He did not just kinkshame her about this, only to feel his pants getting tight just because she said his full name in that soft voice she hardly ever let him hear, with her head slightly tilted and her eyes filled with warmth.

He was not going to get turned on by her play-acting at kindness. He was going to beat her at this game.

“Rebecca,” his voice was low, hinting at hoarseness.

Did he do that on purpose, or did that just happen when she smiled at him like that?

There was no guile in her in that moment, just a soft smile and a slight widening of her eyes, as if he’d said something that she’d actually been waiting to hear. Had she, maybe - no. No, it didn’t matter.

“Rebecca,” he dumbly repeated, taking a step closer to her.

She followed his lead - that never happened - and moved in closer as well. His eyes frantically roamed the hallway, trying to find Chan’s hiding place. Obviously Rebecca, Bunch had spotted him and now she was just playing along for her revenge plan.

But there was no one else there. Just like in the room, when he was left angry and rejected.

There were so many feelings bubbling up inside of him and he didn’t want to feel any of them - but just being faced with Rebecca so close to him made them impossible to avoid. Maybe he had the right idea when he avoided her for several days in a row.

Avoiding her made things easier, left him clear headed for once, instead of feeling muddled and constantly confused about what the hell was going on with him and where his life was going. He knew exactly where his life was going, he knew what he was going to be doing with the rest of his life, and it had never seemed particularly confusing before.

These stupid losers were getting to him. Rebecca was getting to him.

Rebecca was suspiciously silent, and he was not willing to break the silence either. Any word would just ruin the fragile peace that existed between the two of them.

Her hand had once again landed on his shoulder. He knew where this was going, and he wasn’t exactly protesting.

He wanted her, he was very aware of that. He wasn’t conflicted about that.

She kissed him again.

It wasn’t like the last time. This time she reached up on her tiptoes, her moves gentle and languid as she pressed closer to him.

Their lips met once, twice, and then a third time.

Time slowed down, sped up, and then stopped completely. There was a faint buzzing of people in the hallway. They weren’t alone, but he couldn’t be bothered to see just who was there and what their response was to Rebecca kissing him so softly.

This was everything he’d dreamed of. It was different somehow, but he didn’t exactly understand how. It didn’t make sense.

She pulled back, breathing heavily, and he smiled down at her. He probably looked like a complete dope, but she didn’t make fun of him for it.

“Rebecca,” he said her name again, just because he could.

From the corner of his eyes, he saw Josh Chan passing by. His eyes widened as he saw Rebecca with him, but he never paused.

He didn’t tell Rebecca. That would be cruel.

So they’d kissed again.

It still didn’t mean anything. Not at all.

She just had a brief lapse of judgment and kissed Nathaniel Plimpton in a very public hallway without Josh Chan being anywhere in the vicinity.

Maybe not all was lost though - Josh had probably heard about it by now, because the rumors were spreading like wildfire. Most of the rumors involved him seducing her for some bet (so her She’s All That idea wasn’t even that outlandish), but they at least got the very public kissing right.

Some of the stories even made it seem a little romantic, some story of star-crossed lovers meeting on the stage and falling for each other just as their characters had. Those stories talked of stealing romantic moments - some people even told tales of Nathaniel plying her with romantic gifts.

There were boys who acted more… immaturely. Comments about how she must have some assets that tempted the great Nathaniel Plimpton were now a regular part of her day. Whispered asides about how she must be a freak in the sack lasted for about a week before they quite abruptly stopped.

Nathaniel was behind that, she would put money on it.

She hadn’t talked to him outside of rehearsal for a week. She just couldn’t face him after she’d so stupidly let herself be soft and kind and vulnerable in front of him.

But how could she not have kissed him when he said her name like that?

He’d looked almost lost, those blue eyes wide and questioning. She couldn’t take it, couldn’t stand him looking at her so softly. She had to kiss him.

At least then he wouldn’t stare at her with feelings in his eyes. They looked like feelings anyway, but how would she know what feelings looked like on a soulless automaton like Nathaniel Plimpton the Third?

Except he wasn’t soulless. She’d actually hurt his fragile little man baby feelings when she left that first time. She wasn’t even aware that he could have feelings - she didn’t want him to have that ability.

That was just too much, too complicated. She wanted her revenge on Josh and then she would be free to leave this place in a few months.

New York was calling her and she had to answer. Her future was right there, amidst the bright lights of Broadway, no matter what her mother said about doing pre-law as a solid backup if her little hobby didn’t actually turn into something.

She just had to get through this show without caring too much about Nathaniel, about anyone else. She could leave Paula - there would be other students who needed her help a little too much. She could leave her girl group - they’d forget all about her anyway when they all went to different colleges. Or no college at all, because Valencia was not planning on going anywhere. She could leave Nathaniel in California, leave him to become that asshole he was genetically predisposed to become.

In ten years, at their high school reunion, she’d swoop in with her first Tony award and look down on everyone who’d ever made her feel inferior, and he’d be there with his first (or second) trophy wife, still trying to fill his daddy’s shoes. Maybe their eyes would meet briefly, and she’d remember this moment. But that was how their story ended, how it was supposed to go.

If she wasn’t meant for Josh Chan, maybe she just wasn’t meant for anyone after all. Maybe the stage was supposed to be the real love of her life.

At least she had learned that much.

That was something she could do, throwing herself into her career, throwing herself into the world of Cinderella for these last few weeks (barely months). She could pretend to be the commoner turned princess, and she could sing and dance with her prince.

Ella could have her true love and her happily ever after. Rebecca could have a career and the memory of a few heated kisses with a boy she could never care about.

The hormones were still there, buzzing under her skin, and she would be on top of him right this second if she believed that she could pull it off without him getting soft and gooey and kind on her.

Ugh, that was not hot. It wasn’t.

Why couldn’t he just let her be all over him without consequences?

“Are you comfortable?” Maya pulled at the lacing on the back of her corset. “Not too tight?”

The answer to the first question was definitely a no, but the second question was probably safer to answer. Seeing as that answer would actually be related to her costume.

“It’s fine,” she tried to sound calmer than she currently felt. “Thanks Maya.”

“No probs,” the freshman shrugged. “Short girls have to stick together.”

They pulled on the dress together, awkwardly lifting it over her head as Maya tried not to fall off the stool that was the only way Maya was tall enough to assist with this part.

“Just the zipper now,” Maya easily fixed up the dress.

Shouldn’t it be too tight and uncomfortable? That was her experience with costumes in this school, always made for the pretty, skinny girls. Not this time.

“All done,” the tiny freshman hopped off the stool. “You totes look like a princess. Hashtag fairy tales, hashtag true love’s kiss, hashtag happily ever after.”

And with that, Maya rushed off to help someone else, and she was left staring at herself in the mirror. All she saw was a complete stranger.

She’d pulled her hair back awkwardly, and she wasn’t wearing a crown yet, but from the neck down she looked like an actual princess. The corset emphasized her chest a little too much, but since the dress was actually made with her measurements in mind, she wasn’t too uncomfortable. She actually looked like she had a waist, and the big skirt made her feel like she actually was a princess.

“Knock knock,” Mr. Whitefeather was waiting outside the door.

“I’m coming out,” she called, taking one last look at that strange royal creature she saw in the glass.

How was this regal women the same pathetic girl she saw in her reflection this morning?

Shaking off those thoughts, she stepped out into the hallway, holding her skirts so that she wouldn’t step on them and embarrass herself in front of everyone. There was just so much to this dress that she had to consider.

“Miss Bunch, you look like an actual princess,” Mr. Whitefeather gushed. “I think the color is perfect too. It’ll match your prince.”

Nathaniel would be in costume too. Oh, she hadn’t even considered that. As much as she wanted to think that he might just look ridiculous, she was a woman with eyes. There was not much that Nathaniel could not pull off.

He was going to have the girls in their class throwing their panties at him, and she’d have to pretend like the idea of that didn’t sting.

She was gliding down the hall into the auditorium, where everyone else was gathering to see their friends in their costumes. Heather and Valencia were helping each other, adjusting bows and lines on each other’s dresses, touches lingering a little longer than strictly necessary.

So that was happening now.

“Meet your princess,” Mr. Whitefeather stopped them right in front of Nathaniel.

She looked up at him slowly, terrified that he’d shatter her blooming confidence with a well-placed remark - but even more scared that he would not react at all.

Everything stilled for a second, and then their eyes met.

His reaction was everything she hoped for. Not that she’d thought about his reaction to her in this dress even for a second. No not at all.

Once again, he stood ramrod straight, almost too still to keep breathing. His eyes roamed over her body slowly, hotly, until she felt goosebumps break out on her skin. He took a deep breath then, his body slowly going back to normal posture as he tried to act like she didn’t affect him at all.

Well buddy, kinda missed the mark on that one.

She was getting to him, and not even in his stupid heart-eyed way. No, this was chemistry fizzling between them, desperately trying to pull them closer.

It was Mr. Whitefeather who gave them an excuse, a reason other than just temporary insanity to reach for each other.

“How about you try your dance?” Mr. Whitefeather proposed. “You need to get a feel for how the dress is going to move. You might need to adjust the distance between you two a bit. You’ve been dancing closer than the dress might allow. We just need to be sure.”

They had been moving closer and closer in rehearsals - she didn’t think anyone would notice, except maybe Nathaniel. He noticed. She’d felt that he noticed.

Her face was flushing just thinking about how often she’d noticed, about how sometimes it seemed like he was in a constant state of arousal around her. It was only fair.

“Your highness,” she curtsied and he bowed.

The kiss on the hand had never officially been added to their choreography, he’d just started doing it one time and it had stuck. And they’d never faked the gesture, had always committed to this part wholeheartedly and grabbed on to any excuse they had to touch each other. Or at least, that was her excuse. Was it his as well?

“Milady,” he murmured as he stood up straight. “Would you like to dance?”

She could hear music in the background, and everyone else in the room was fading away until there was no one there except the two of them, just as it was supposed to be. Her stupid, confusing prince had placed his hand in hers again, and she’d tried not to trip over her skirts as he swept her off her feet.

The music got louder, and they swept through the choreography like it was second nature, because by now it was. She felt like she would remember these steps for the rest of her life, like she could be woken up in the middle of the night and still follow every step.

Still, it was different with her giant skirt swishing between the two of them. Breathing was difficult enough, but that had nothing to do with the corset and everything to do with the way her prince just would not stop looking at her.

He led her around the floor, still pressing as close to her as her damn dress would allow - not close enough, but they managed. Their hands were the only real points of contact for a while, until they fell into the crescendo of movements that led to her favorite part of the dance: the ending.

Nathaniel’s arms were around her waist, and as she let herself fall down into his hold without hesitation, he never stopped looking at her face, even though her chest was right freaking there and looking spectacular in her corset.

His eyes never strayed as he held her for endless seconds. Her heart was pounding heavily in her chest. There was glitter exploding inside of her once again.

Gently, slowly, safely he pulled her up into a standing position, standing much too close for this to be entirely proper for a royal ball.

She did not care, and neither did he.

God, she wanted to kiss him again, wanted to hear him break the illusion of acting by whispering her name in her ear. Had anyone ever said her name quite like that, like they were marvelling at the luck of being allowed to say it?

No one that she could remember.

“Nathaniel Plimpton,” a deep voice bellowed. “You take off that ridiculous outfit this instance! What do you think you are doing?”

That broke the soft spell they’d been under. There were others in the room again, but she refused to look in the direction of the voice - maybe Mr. Whitefeather would send away the intruder and they’d just be able to try again.

This was not how it ended.

She glanced up at Nathaniel. He’d gone completely still in the most unnatural way, as if he’d snap in half if she so much as breathed on him too harshly. His eyes were wide, his skin no longer golden but pale and clammy in her warm hold.

“Father,” he breathed, panic in his electric blue eyes.

AN: Soooooo, thoughts? :P

#rethaniel #rebecca x nathaniel #otp: can’t be with cedric if you’re already with ron #crazy ex girlfriend #my stories #fic: all the men and women merely players

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