#and probably someone needs to start spritzing me with a spray bottle or something because this is

[triflesandparsnips]

(eta 10/10/23: Having just realized that this is now a very easy to google explainer, please also see the full end-of-game roundup here: "when something is definitely not a game, but most definitely a gift" or my related #definitely not a game tag. We now return you to your regularly scheduled nonsense, currently in progress.)

So... so.

So this just dropped.

And listen. LISTEN. For people who haven't been following this Our Flag Means Death-related alternate-reality-shenanigan fest, the following will make no sense to you-- or, wait, fuck it--

A Brief History of the Javid Denkins Alternate-Reality Game

(I didn't intend "overly long essays about in-depth fandom-related shenanigans" to be my brand, but by god I'm here now and I will make us all suffer through it.)

Reality (As We Know It)

Established and verified gay pirate showrunner David Jenkins is a regular shenanigineer on twitter: retweets fanart, retweets cosplays, calls fans sluts (endearment), has ongoing fight with medieval cats.

Back in 2022, David Jenkins implied heavily that he had joined tumblr, but did not cough up his account name.

This is the sum total of real and actual events and identities.

Through the Looking Glass

Fans started looking for David Jenkins's tumblr. What fans found is the tumblr of one Javid Denkins, who appeared to be new, had a variant of Jenkins's twitter icon, and seemed to be cheekily maintaining an incognito by steadfastly asserting that he is definitely not David Jenkins.

Fans got weird about it, because that is the nature of fandom. I said something about it here, because I have Feelings about the Rules of Incognito and also about Not Being Weird About People Who Make the Content We Like. I put it as a reblog to the post, as per regular tumblring, no response requested/required because babes, if I'm going to be perceived, I want it to be organic. (ahem... FOOTNOTE 1)

I kept a cursory eye on things, because it can be Really Lonely to be a famous person who just wants to have a regular online experience, and if that's what whoever was on the other end wanted, then that's what they should get to have imo. Unlike a regular tumblr that I might reply to directly or engage with on a same-level kinda way, I let them set the rules of engagement because unless/until they came clean, they would always be Schrodinger's Showrunner to me, and therefore subject to my internal Don't Be Creepy ruleset.

My second Javid reblog was pretty much what I would do to any other newbie tumblr person (as they professed to be): adding on to a gag by referencing the "color of the sky" meme and also a seagull, for OFMD-related reasons (which fit within the ruleset, because Javid was actively connecting himself with OFMD type things). And Javid reblogged it, so hey, I was winning at tumblr interactions, a thing that is normal to want and possible to achieve.

Time passed. Javid dropped (what will be revealed to be the first of many) photo manipulations. (FOOTNOTE 2)

On the same day, Javid posted what looked like an accidental smashkey. I reblogged with a seagull, because again, established rules of engagement and me winning at tumblr interactions. He reblogged himself, though, with what looked like another smashkey, but was actually a goddamn Caesar cipher-- and started using the tag #definitely not a game.

From there, Javid started up a stream of fairly fun puzzles. I didn't keep up with it fully, but since it looked like Javid wanted people to interact, I interacted (while trying to ensure that other people could keep having fun too). He also started subtly changing his icon, his tumblr header, etc., expanding the bounds of the puzzle space, as it were. (And if you want a complete rundown of the puzzle history and the associated answers, this twitter thread is enormous and thorough, thank you @eefaevie.)

The seagull made an appearance every once in a while; I threw together various season 2 bingo cards in response to these potential spoilers; I spent my time largely keeping back so I could eat popcorn and Not Be Creepy. But... but.

The thing was, Javid's method of posting (in a "heeeere fishy fishy fishy" manner) seemed, to me, to be the actions of someone trying to play with the audience and/or provide enrichment for the enclosure. So after some thought and, again, remembering the loneliness of being a Creative Person but trying to be mindful that this person was still incognito and could be the actual dude, I started using the seagull to reblog extra content, links, whathaveyou, with the tag #enrichment can go in BOTH enclosures-- with the idea that, if Javid wanted to look, he had the option to do so-- and if he did, he'd be rewarded with, again, no demands on him or his attention, but just: some content. Some enrichment. Some fun. A "picking up what you're putting down" kind of vibe from one person to another, both of whom are, at the very least, interested in communicating with an audience.

To be clear: For me, at the end of the day, it had to be a choice. I needed to provide room for Javid to choose to enter the magic circle of my additional game play-- but I also wasn't going to hold my breath about it. This was Javid's space, with intentions and purposes I had no way of knowing (nor should I)-- I was just, metaphorically, bringing another set of dice and maybe some graph paper with an extra room drawn on it that he could easily enter if he wanted, to play in a space intended to complement his. He was putting in a shitton of labor for what was essentially just a gift; I wanted to show appreciation for that labor, while putting in some of my own to gift back.

So when the first round of puzzles ended, and a new one began, I linked the answers to one of his anagram puzzles inside some seagull gifs-- but I figured, why not add something extra? I used his pigpen cipher to dare him to use a book code next. To even see the dare he'd have to want to decode the gifs-- and if he ultimately didn't want to engage, no skin off my nose. (That's why there's a border around the magic circle with clear entrances and exits.) Either way, I was having a nice time.

The next puzzle type was a stereogram. (Neat.) The puzzle after that, though? I get tagged and informed that Javid has, in fact, posted a motherfucking book code. (FOOTNOTE 3)

Enter the Thunder Parasocial Dome

This is the point where I first have to be pulled down from the curtains by rational people who have only my best interests at heart.

(Having a whole Thesis Statement about why I was engaging with Schrodinger's Showrunner is one thing. Having possible evidence that my engagement was, like, actually engaged with is quite another.)

By sweet and loving friends and family I was reminded that:

Other people are, in fact, allowed to be clever about things too.

That all sorts of pre-planning may have gone into all this, and that therefore the timing was a coincidence.

That there are a limited number of easily accessible ciphers out there, so the code type could also be a coincidence.

And that either way I still have my important Don't Be Creepy code of ethics.

So. I took a deep breath. Cool. I was totally and absolutely cool about this.

...And in a totally normal manner I proceeded to lay an elaborate trap.

AHAHAHA JUST JOKING what I mean is: I replied to the tagged post, acknowledging that the sphere of potential puzzling had now expanded beyond tumblr. I used Javid's own fake-link trick to link to a seagull laugh. And in the tags I threw in a lot of potential internet-related alternate reality stuff.

But also, crucially... some more ideas for Javid to use. (FOOTNOTE 4) If he wanted them. If he was actually looking.

Since I was now playing In Earnest, I spent some time putting together a youtube channel, an alternate tumblr, a neocities account -- a whole new field of play, if Javid wanted to engage there. I pulled out the dusty memories of a Yuletide fic I wrote several years ago that used similar shenanigans to tell an interactive fiction story about Monty Python. (Hilariously enough, my first RPF.) I continued to play with all these new and fascinating toys.

A Strange Ship on the Horizon

What with one thing and another three years pass, a Javid puzzle eventually lead to an AO3 account-- which to me definitively opened Schrodinger's box: maybe this was a member of the production playing with fire, more likely it was a clever fan whose brain is fucking fascinating, but it most definitely was not David Jenkins.

But. Javid was still in incognito. And I still don't know if I had been perceived.

I read the fic the Javid account is writing (which is still a work in progress and pretty great ngl)-- it's a fandom AU, where Ed and Stede are fans of a gay pirate romcom called Blow the Man Down, featuring Sam Bellamy and Olivier Levasseur. The showrunner is named Javid, who doesn't have social media but gets cornered into agreeing to join twitter (rather than our universe's tumblr). And Ed decides, on a lark, to start a fake twitter account, tag it #definitelynotjaviddenkins... and then freak out because a large contingent of fandom shows up on his metaphorical doorstep saying HELLO, JAVID.

As if this weren't enough: beyond the fic itself, suddenly a whole multimedia alternate universe suddenly appeared, with multiple twitter and AO3 accounts beyond just Stede and Ed, forming an entire fucking fandom, Goncharov-style, around Blow the Man Down. It was and continues to be fucking wild. It's also amazing. And the porn is surprisingly approachable. (BUT SEE AGAIN FOOTNOTE 1)

Grappling Hooks Breaching the Parasocial Divide

The thing is, though. The thing. That is.

I have officially reached Level 2 Curtain Clawing.

As I read the fic and the accompanying universe, I started to. Notice things.

References to soap (but... but surely that's normal. Many people talk about soap, not just amateur history enthusiasts like myself).

References to obscure scents (LABDANUM. Someone referenced labda-motherfucking-num. But surely. Surely it is not an entirely unheard of thing; I am not the first person to discover it or the fact that it gets combed from goats jesus christ the goat thing I forgot about that--)

References to the drilled coin from the wreck of Sam Bellamy's ship, which appeared as a random bit of possible future lore for Javid in this bit of enrichment (but I put in lots of possible lore! I had a whole thing going about figureheads! Bad luck to kill a seabird! I had a whole thing for a while where I thought maybe the digraph code Javid was hinting at was actually a Playfair cipher! I have been wrong many times before and added lots of random possible narratives. SO SURELY THE COIN IS A COINCIDENCE).

References to... okay not really references, and I've never articulated it quite like this (though this is definitely my vibe), but references to the idea of these puzzles and enrichment being a conversation in and of themselves, held at a remove and existing entirely in call (Javid) and response (the audience).

Finally... I started to notice that Stede decodes/interprets Ed-as-Javid's puzzles in a long twitter thread (like... like the one linked above) but also... sends back puzzles. Like, well, me.

"But STILL," I screech from the top of the curtain rail. "This could ALL BE COINCIDENCE," I yowl as friends and family try to bat me down with a broom. Even, by god, today's drop... which uses a password-protected url shortener. The exact same one I used in an earlier enrichment. But! It's not like there are a lot of those! Maybe this was just the first one that cropped up for Javid, just as it was the first that cropped up for me! (BUT THEN AGAIN, MAY I REFER YOU BACK TO FOOTNOTE 4)

The fic is at chapter 14. There are, if AO3 is to be believed, 7 more chapters to go, plus who knows how much additional extra-universe material. There is so. much. here.

...And so many more opportunities to climb all the curtains.

“It's a great huge game of chess that's being played—all over the world—if this is the world at all, you know.”

So at this point... what, in fact, is happening?

I'm inside a Schrodinger's box whose sides are entirely composed of parasocial uncertainty.

Maybe Javid is here. (HELLO, JAVID.)

Maybe he isn't! (HELLO, THE MIRROR IN MY ENCLOSURE.)

Maybe I'm not actually being referenced at all, but the writer of that twitter thead, @eefaevie, is (HI EEFAEVIE WHAT'S UP HOW'S THE PARASOCIAL AIR IN YOUR ENCLOSURE DOIN')

I don't know. I can't know. Unless someone opens the box.

and my god, what if they never do?

tl;dr. This is the most enriching fun I've had in months, and if the magic circle is going to widen to include me, then friend, I intend to BRING MY A-GAME.

---

FOOTNOTES

1. During the course of that mini-essay, I say the following:

"If it's someone who is not the dude but just a tumblrite who managed to catch on really quick? Well goddamn, good for them, and also A+ Wink-Nudge acrobatics. Real dude can have a peaceful time reading critical analyses of Goncharov, Javid here can quietly start introducing strange lore and running gags and other fun-with-plausible-deniability shenanigans".

One day later Javid starts answering questions about characters with enigmatic season 2 spoilery things; a little less than ten days later, we get the first fake link (which, imo, is the real start of the game).

2. This is now only 24 days after my "strange lore and fun with plausible deniability" post.

3. My dare: January 26. Javid's book code: February 4.

4. My tags on the post wherein I acknowledge that the dare has, possibly, been taken up, read: #you know what's cool? besides how #enrichment can go in BOTH enclosures #is how much you can do with html #like sure sure we've all seen the embedded links #but I remember the days of hidden source code messages #websites with delayed redirects #passwords hidden on one site to open the locked contents of another #you know #~normal things~ #I'm certain none of this will become relevant #because this is #definitely not a game

#OH HEY also eta 10/10/23: changed 'augmented' to 'alternate' because that's a more accurate description #definitely not a game #our flag means death #enrichment can go in BOTH enclosures #the absolute wildness of narrative and alternate reality games #a brief history of #javid denkins #and probably someone needs to start spritzing me with a spray bottle or something because this is #this is a lot

[downywrites]

Sap.

Dream and george find out that water makes sap very sensitive and use it to their advantage.

The rain was pouring. Pouring a little too hard for the blaze hybrid’s liking. Sapnap leaned on the side of the railway, avoiding the droplets of water that threatened to fall on top of him with every shift of the wind. The cutting edge of the wind felt like a blade to his throat, soft sizzling emanating from his form. He sighed softly. “Where are the other two? They said that they would be here to get me that stupid umbrella I need.” A scoff. “Seriously, are they busy snogging or something? Prime, they are the most annoying people on the SMP-” 

Footsteps on the path snapped him out of his trance.

 He stepped back from the railing in surprise. “Hello?” Tail softly lashing back and forth, he turned around to see absolutely nothing but a haze of rain. Dejected, he looked down at his shoes. “Of course it wasn’t them. It’s probably Tommy or something. Another round of footsteps graced his ears. He perked up again for a moment, excited. His chest raced with muted interest. “Dream? George?” Again, no sound but the pattering rain pierced the air. He shook his head back and forth. Was he hearing things? He stepped back from the railings completely, taking a seat on the cold stone floor below him. Carefully crossing his legs into a criss-cross position, he took in the world around him in a different perspective. He was never the kind to meditate (or slow down at all, for that matter), but his lovely husband has taught him how. Sapnap let his eyes flutter shut. Almost immediately, Karl’s voice serenaded him amongst the sound of water flowing beside him. “Alright, Sappy, breathe in time with me. In…” Sapnap inhaled. The scent of water and grass and soggy wood permeated his senses. “And out.” The breath of white smoke that came out of his mouth was not stress-induced, not at all. “In…” And the rain went on and on. “Out….”

Sapnap came to with the sound of birds chirping merrily in his ears. Groaning softly, he rubbed at his eyes and uncrossed his legs as best as he could. The stretch in his legs hinted that he may have been in that position for more than a few hours too long. He rolled out of the position, uncaring of how much morning dew could be on the grass directly outside of the blaze hut/shelter he had made in a panic. Morning dew… His eyes shot wide open. “Dream!” He pulled himself upright, entire body tingling. Tingling? Why was he tingling? He didn’t know, didn’t care. (Later on, the dew he rolled in may end up not being as insignificant as he thought. But he didn’t know that then.) He ran over the Prime path, carefully avoiding any random puddles that pooled like little miniature lakes in the divots of the dented wood.

The smell of spring greeted his nose as he ran. The sweet-itchy scent of flowers in full bloom was present in the cacophony of sights, sounds, and smells. At one point, a certain pollen-filled flower from the Egg caused him to set a small tree on fire, forcing him to slow down and put out the fire before it made too much of an ashy mess on Hannah’s property. Nevertheless, the blaze hybrid ran on, determined to find (and catch) his buddy in the act of being relatively indecent. He was already snickering at the idea.

The amount of blackmail he could get in one awkward moment between the two obviously dating lovebirds? Astounding.

He weaved through the bamboo nearby to get to the community house. His footsteps made dull thunks as he leaped from place to place, eager to catch Dream in the act. A door slammed open. “Dream! I got you-” Dream and George were, unfortunately for him, not sitting on the crafting table. No, they were doing something much worse. “Is that...a spray bottle? Full of water?” George and Dream fumbled for their mask and googles respectively. “Uhhh…” “Certainly not, no way! Haha…”

Sapnap placed his hands on his hips like a disapproving parent, tutting softly. “Seriously, you left me out in the rain to ambush me?” Prime Almighty, you guys are the worst!” Dream glanced to the side, flushing slightly. “Well, we weren’t trying to ambush you, we were just, uh-” George’s voice reverberated slightly to his left, causing him to turn to look at him. Red-orange eyes glared fiery wrath at the blue-clad man. “We were just organizing the chests. We lost track. Sorry.” Sapnap’s spaded tail lashed in anger. “Lost track of time? Organizing chests?!?! What kind of chests take all night to organize!?!” He huffed, crossing his arms across his chest and pouting as a child does when they don’t get their way. An amused huff escaped George. “Sapnap, don’t worry. You seemed fine when we came over. Besides, we wanted to test something out on you.”

The blaze opened one eye to look at him. “Test? Test what?” George smirked slightly. “Just a little something. We heard that only heavy water hurts you. So…” He trailed off, glancing at his taller friend expectantly. Dream stood up a little straighter, grateful for his intervention. “We decided to see how sensitive you would get if we spritzed you with a water bottle when you woke up.” Sapnap opened his eyes fully. His countenance softened from outright angered to annoyed as he processed their words. As he slowly understood their, -albeit, still rather foolish- thought process, he nodded.

“Humph, fine.” The duo’s shoulders sagged downwards in relief. “But, you have to admit, leaving me out in the fucking cold all night for your bullshit is definitely not the best decision you’ve made, you hoglin-birthed idiots.” Dream’s breath caught in his throat for a moment. He stuttered over his words, fumbling with the white and black spray bottle as he spoke. “W-well, I mean, do y-you w-ant to test the theory out now?” He grabbed his mask and swiftly put it on with one hand, relaxing almost immediately. “Shall we?” Sapnap nodded, teeth snagging on his lips as he smiled. One thing he could never, ever replicate without his cryptic friend is the way he could morph into someone completely different with his trusty mask on. It was a party trick that never got old- and almost always won the trio a hefty amount of gold and valuables from friend and foe alike.

He took a few steps forward, glancing at the spray bottle with a small amount of trepidation. Small flurries of anxiety flitted to and fro in his mind. ‘What if it sprays wrongly and it burns me?’ ‘What if they just want me dead, and this is the best way to do it? Nobody’s ever seen a water-burned body after death!’ He tried to shoo the bad thoughts away. ‘No, no! These are my friends, my very best friends. They wouldn’t kill me just like that.’ He glanced over to George, who was slowly moving to Dream’s side of the room. As he moved, Sapnap got a much better look at his ‘refined’ hunter ally. As he took in more and more details of his friend’s state, it became more and more clear that they were doing much, much more than just organizing the community chests. His usually perfectly groomed hair was mussed up, gel making his hair go absolutely askew from its normal, streamlined appearance. His shirt was slightly off and most definitely inside out, judging from the way the tags stuck out to the side.

He suppressed a snicker at the way he looked, earning a slightly cold glance from the goggle-wearing man. George held out his hand, fingers wiggling in a come here gesture. Dream complied, walking over and placing the spray bottle in his hands, before carefully grabbing Sapnap’s arm and leading him over to the nearest bed. Sapnap laid in the bed willingly, only stopping to look at Dream and George and wiggle his eyebrows to get a soft blush and a rough shove from the unmasked of the two. Sapnap, face down on the pillows, turned his head slightly to get a better look at the two men’s figures. “Okay, so what next, geniuses?” The sound of the bottle spraying and the sensation of mist landing on his back made his eyes widen. “Wait, what are you-”

A warm, rough hand traced a small circle on the meat of his shoulder, trying to calm him down. Another hand pulled the back of his shirt up. The next round of mist landed on his bare skin. The soft hissing started up again. Soft, gentle tingles erupted from his back. He tried to get up a little, but the hand kept him firmly pinned to the soft confines of the bed. “Don’t move, Sap. We need to get some research in.” A single finger traced a small scar on his back, making him stifle a giggle. “If this kind of mist doesn’t do anything dangerous to your body, what does it do?” Another finger joined the first, and suddenly the pattern on the pillow looked awfully interesting. Sapnap bit his lip, struggling to keep the laughter encased in his chest. “Sap? You’re awfully quiet. Is this hurting you?” The genuine concern in Dream’s voice reminded him of his obligation to answer based off of the ‘testing’ they were doing. After all, they certainly didn’t know what they were doing to him, were they? Sapnap opened his mouth to answer, but all that came out was a stream of honey-sweet giggles.

George and Dream exchanged glances. Dream’s concern melted into curiosity and a slight hint of mischief. “Ohh, so that’s why you avoid water at all costs. Because if you so much as gently touch it…” He wiggled a finger over his shoulder blades, making the blaze underneath him shudder. “It would completely undo your fiery attitude. Speaking of fiery attitude..where’s your usual sass?” Sapnap tried to turn his head to look at Dream. “Ihihit’s stihill here, yohou dihihpshit!”

George raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow. “Oh? He definitely needs to watch his mouth. After all, he’s the one at our mercy right now.” To prove his point, George sprayed another round of mist onto the blaze. As the soft water droplets landed on his skin, the feeling of Dream’s hand fluttering over his back increased tenfold. The blaze squirmed away from his hand, giggling like mad. “Nohoho! Guhuhuys, cuhuhut ihihit ohohut!” “Aww, coochie coo Sappy! Who’s our little ticklish blaze? Oh, you are!” Dream cooed, suddenly feeling the urge to take off his mask and grin full force at the twitching hybrid below him. Sapnap’s tail curled around his hand, twitching every once in a while. “Nohoho, dohohn’t bahahaby tahahalk!”

George seized the moment, grabbing the flat part of his tail and scribbling his nails lightly over its surface. His reaction was instantaneous. He bucked his hips, frantically trying to escape his friend’s clutches. “Ehaha! Gehehe-HEAHAHA!” The sensations sparked through his spine at the same time the now-familiar sound of the spritzer bottle hit his ears. “NAHAHAT THEHE- THEHE TAHAHAI-” A loud squeal cut off his words as George decided to change his technique from mild scratching to semi-firm rubbing. Dream, absolutely charmed by the sound of his blaze friend’s laughter, continued to explore the scars on his back, dewy from the misting that George was periodically giving it. The masked man found a particular spot at the base of his collarbones. Grinning, he turned to look at George, then back at Sapnap. “Oh Sapnap~ I think I know how to expose your wings~”

Sapnap’s blood ran cold. He squirmed even more than before, struggling to escape (but not genuinely. All of them knew he could just throw him off at a moment’s notice). Dream thumbed the base of his shoulder blades, carefully rubbing at them so as to not cause any bodily harm to the fragile items. With great care, he scratched at the nubs barely protruding out of his back, waiting for the telltale sound of nether magic. He stepped back a little, allowing his friend’s wings to unfurl. George, being the person that he is, decided that Sapnap didn’t need that much of a break. He dug his fingers into the leather of his tail, scratching roughly there.

Sapnap howled with laughter, his tail twitching in George’s grasp so quickly it would have escaped from his grasp hadn’t George had the sensibility to wrap an extra coil of his tail around his wrist. Dream winced in sympathy. “Ooh, that must feel really, really bad….” George scoffed, inaudible to everyone but him. “Tch. Seriously? We can’t be all empathetic in the middle of an experiment, Dream. We need to stay calm. How in the world are we going to get results if you slow down?” Hesitantly, as if waiting for Sapnap’s cue, Dream grabbed at the crook of his close friend’s wing. He coasted his free hand over the held wing’s thin, sensitive membranes, equally enjoying and besmirching the twitching and squirming of the appendage. If Sapnap was in ticklish agony earlier, this was some new form of torture that he could never have dreamed of.

All the same, he refused to pull his wing or tail away, enjoying the electric-hot sensation zipping through every single one of his nerves. At this point, he couldn’t form words or sentences long enough to explain his feelings. Every time he tried to speak, all that came out were shrieks and inhuman noises as his tail wiggled in George’s grasp from the intense attention. His wing was more manageable...barely. Dream wasn’t actively trying to get him to tap out, but the sensations coursing through his veins still caused him to twist and turn in his grasp. “CAHAHAT IHIHAHA- AHAHA! NAHAHA!”

A particularly high-pitched squeak escaped his lips as another round of water landed on his extraneous limbs. “NAHAHA- MAHAH- GEHAHA!” Dream smiled fondly at his friend, fluttering his fingers over any spots that made Sapnap’s breath hitch for a moment too long. Even George began to sway over to the cackling blaze’s side, a small quirk to his lips being the only sign of being charmed. Eyes flicking to the soft, fluffy base of the man’s tail, George could immediately see that his little subject was beginning to tire. The twitching of both limbs had slowed down to a few twitches here and there, and the poor man’s laughter was dwindling down to silent laughter and small little wheezes when he could inhale long enough to oxygenate his lightheaded consciousness. It was all Sapnap could do to keep from passing out from the rough tickling at this point. His eyes felt like lead weights had melted and hardened over his eyelashes.

Even his tail, the most lightweight part of his body, felt like solid metal to move save from the involuntary twitches from the almost overwhelming stimulation. Sapnap tried to grab at Dream’s sleeve weakly, tugging at the fabric as well as he could from his position. George and Dream shared a look. Brown met green through the eye holes of the porcelain mask. Dream unpinned the wheezing hybrid quickly. George, picking up the slack, gently nudged the limp warrior with one hand. “Sapnap..?” Sapnap made no effort to answer. A small sigh.

With a few deft movements, George freed his spaded tail, which flopped limply to the wooden floor. George tried again. “Sapnap.” This time, the man answered with a noncommittal “Mmm…I don’t think I can get up.” The blue-clad man rolled his eyes dramatically. “We weren’t even trying that hard, you drama king. Precious Prime.” Sapnap shot back with a little hint of heat behind his words, “Well, sorry, Mr. Pretty Princess. You don’t get just how much more sensitive I get from that stupid shit. I thought you guys would let up after I stopped breathing right!” His tail lashed slightly, rooting for any sign of George.

Dream held his hands up in a placating gesture. “Look, guys, I’m sure we can solve this later. Sap, can you get up?” He didn’t even try to move. “I don’t think I could move if the lives of my husbands were in jeopardy.” The masked man giggled softly, holding a hand up to his mouth to hide his smile. “Okay, well, you can lay there for a while longer. I think George and I may want to finish the chest-sorting we were doing earlier. Sapnap snuggled into the pillow more, smushing his face against the soft fabric and drying some of his still-fresh tears. When did he cry? He didn’t remember, he didn’t care. All he knew was that he was happy, and he felt loved… wait. “Chest sorting? You guys weren’t actually chest-sorting, were you?”

The sound of nervous laughter echoed in the house. Sapnap huffed into the pillow. “So you guys really did leave me in the rain to fuck? You guys suck so hard.”

“Of course Dream sucks, what else would he-”

“Prime, George! Don’t say that!”

“What? Worried he might think you're a bottom?”

“I’m not!”

“Oh yes you are~”

Sapnap decided that the pillows would be a much better pair of earmuffs than his hands.

#Downy writes #My fics #my writing #dsmp tickle #mcyt tickle #lee!sapnap #ler!dream #ler!george #i am tired lmao #and sorry for the long waits in between #Lol #sfw tickling

[kinsurou]

Forgive me Lord, for I am sinning

Pairings: Dabi (Touya) x Reader

Word count: 5.4K

Warnings: Smut (18+), Incubus!Dabi, Swearing, Dirty talking, Alcohol, Oral sex, Unprotected sex, Hair pulling, Slight mentions of breeding, Dabi being a little shit, Slight comedy.

Part 2 of the Incubus!AU. This one's a bit different from the first part. Special thanks to @dragonhrte for beta reading this monstrosity for me, and my friends @hawks-senseis @shoutogepi @honeytama @gr0vndz3ro @wakaoujisenhime @sailor-manga for listening to my non-stop ramblings as I worked on this piece! ❤

If somebody had said that after visiting your stranded family, you would end up coming back home bonded to a demon after getting laid inside the same church that brought nightmares upon you for years. You would have laughed at them before asking them to hand over some of whatever it was they may have drank.

But now, as an all too familiar weight drapes over your body, emitting such heat, that it covers your body with a thin layer of sweat despite the intensity of the air conditioner. Followed by a pair of warm lips slowly kissing the back of your neck, as they descend all the way to your lower back. Lastly, the pair of hands squeezing their way in between the mattress and your front to play with the soft mounds in your chest. 

It all makes you think twice about everything you once believed to be nothing but myths and bedtime stories a parent would tell their child so they would behave.

An eyebrow twitched in annoyance as those hands pinched your nipples teasingly, tracing a small pair of piercings adorning the erect nubs. But you made no effort to move from your position in bed, trying to get as much sleep as possible before the start of the day.

“...What do you think you’re doing?” But your tired, sleepy voice was simply ignored, and the owner of those hands leaned down to purr softly over your ear as they started biting the lobe softly.

“Well...I firmly believe there’s no better way to start the day than with some nice morning sex.” Sharp fangs nibbled gently over your neck, right over the spot where a burgundy mark branded the sensitive skin. ”C’mon little one, I’ll be quick.” 

Taking a deep, tired breath, a hand reached out for a small spritzer on the bedside table. Without even bothering to open your eyes, you quickly proceeded to spray the creature looming above your previously sleeping self, who by the way, started hissing painfully by the moisture damping his face.

“What the fuck is that?!” This time, you actually rose half-way from bed to glare at the demon rubbing his smoking face as if his life depended on it. Teal eyes were dangerously lowered into a glare, but honestly? After spending nearly two months stuck with Dabi, he didn’t scare you one bit anymore.

The demon that took you under the eyes of God and the little shit in front of your bed are two completely different individuals by this point. Now, every single day was spent being followed around the apartment by a horny demon trying to either seduce you or feel you up in order to satiate his hunger. Of course, it always backfired on him.

“Holy water.” The spritzer was pointed at him yet again, and he flinched back slightly, glaring at the plastic bottle with nothing but disgust “When I said I was mad at you, It was serious! Why are you still here anyway? Didn’t you get your own place next door?” 

“Not really, just used my hypnosis on the old lady to get in.” He shrugged “If it makes you feel any better, I gave her back the keys some time ago. Told her I found them laying around.” He followed with a sly grin, that somehow riled you up even further “By the way, she thinks I’m your boyfriend.”

He got spritzed again, Much to his chagrin.

………

“So, ‘Touya’...” At the mention of his “name”, Touya looked up from his spot on the couch, frowning slightly after what happened that morning. Those little tantrums of the devil’s spawn usually lasted a few hours before he was back to his casual, lazy, and annoying self. “How did you become trapped in the church in the first place?” 

“Why? Want to send me back? Sorry doll, but there’s no way I’m going back.” He got up from his seat and slowly approached while you were busy having some food. Coming up from behind, his face came from one side to give an alluring kiss to your jaw. “Especially now, that I have such a nice, little vessel all for myself.”

Even though you kept ignoring his approaches, those small shivers that went through your body with his every touch, were more than enough to nourish him for a while. But it’d be a lie if he said he wasn’t expecting a full meal like the one from that night. 

“And what’s with this ‘vessel’ shit? Why me? There were plenty of girls back home, so why did you pick someone like….me of all people?” You jerked away from him, much to the demon’s disappointment, and picked up the empty dish, getting up from the chair to let it sink into the soapy water from the sink before turning to look at him with a frown.

“It’s just like I said before.” He twirled a lock of your hair between his fingers. “There’s something different about you. Besides, all of them are just like those instant meals you like, full of artificial shit. Like that cousin of yours, what’s their name again…? Meh, doesn’t matter, you know who I’m talking about, don’t you?”

You rolled your eyes and huffed knowingly, fully aware of who he was talking about. The family’s golden child. The one who’s never disappointed the family and is their little star. But behind closed doors? They were probably worse than you.

“But you’re different, want to know why?” He got so close, that you could feel the heat of his body through his clothes. His face was so close as well, and it was strange looking at him without all those stitches and scars. Now that you think about it, it’s been a while since he stopped using this “Glamour”. 

“Because you’re not someone who’s afraid of speaking your mind, so what if you’re not their golden child? You’ve always stayed true to yourself.” A hand made its way inside your shirt, claws roaming seductively all over your back. You couldn’t help closing your eyes and gasp quietly as ‘Touya’s hand kept grazing your body with that burning, lust-filled touch.

But as soon as his lips grazed your own, the loud shrill of your phone caught the both of you off guard and nearly caused you to bump ‘Touya’ in the face.

Flushed face turned away from the demon, you turned all your attention to the device. The caller’s ID made you smile in excitement once you saw the name of your best friend, there was only one reason she would call you this early during the weekend.

“Hey, What’s up!” Her cheerful voice made you walk away from the sink, leaving a frowning demon behind. Touya only glared at the device as he saw you talking happily with the girl on the other side of the line. He caught the word “party”, and couldn’t help but smirk smugly once he realized just what that meant. He was really going to enjoy this.

“Alright, I’ll go get ready, see you there!” Ending the call with a squeal, you ran into your room to look for a proper outfit and do your makeup. He just followed behind silently and leaned against the open door, watching you get undressed with a hungry glint in his eye and a devilish smirk.

“Ugh...Which one should I wear?” You mumbled to yourself, looking at the two tops in the bed with a pensive look. Black or Blue top?

“The blue one looks better.” The demon’s voice surprised you for a bit before a loud shriek was heard as he got the other top thrown at his laughing face, but you had to admit he had good taste. The top he suggested had been sitting at the bottom of the closet for a long time anyway, so it was the perfect time to use it!

Grabbing a pair of black jeans, you quickly got dressed and began putting on makeup, just enough to make your eyes stand out with the lights from the club, and a beautiful shade of red that complimented your skin just perfectly. Lastly, a pair of boots that fit the outfit just perfectly. From his place, Touya gripped the fabric thrown at his face strong enough to slightly tear through it with his black claws. Pupils dilated at the sight of those boots adorning those beautiful legs of yours.

Checking the hour, you still had some time before meeting up with your friends. Snatching a small handbag nearby, you made sure everything was in place. Money? check. Keys? check….A condom, just in case? Check.

“I’ll be back later. If I find any of the neighbors at the door, I’m exorcising you myself!” You looked at Dabi with an annoyed squint, remembering the last time he got in trouble for scaring one of the nosy neighbors from the other building, claiming they had it coming for trying to peek through your window.

He said nothing as he saw you rushing out, a wicked grin appeared on his face as he thought of the surprise you might get tonight. It was going to be so much fun.

Two hours later, you were having the time of your life with the others. Taking shots, dancing to the loud music, and sharing looks with one of the hottest strangers you’ve ever met in your life while sitting at one of the barstools. Too intoxicated by the high from the party to notice the burning sensation around the skin of your neck.

“Sooooo, why haven’t you texted these past weeks?” Your friend sat down at your left, resting for a bit from dancing her heart out with this other girl that kept making eyes at her, much to her flustering. “She’s totally checking you out! Atta girl” She couldn’t stop giggling like a teenager at your remarks. 

“I’ve been busy, lots of stuff that needs to be taken care of.” Like how to get rid of the demonic hobo that keeps stealing the instant ramen. But your friend only gave you a look while downing another shot of some liquid courage. 

“The last time you said that we had to take all of the stuff you dropped at your ex’s home after you broke up with them. You’re seeing someone, aren’t you?” She gave you a knowing grin. This girl knows you better than your own family, but what were you supposed to tell her?

Yeah! I went to visit my family and ended up fucking a demon at the church, who just happened to move in with me and won’t stop trying to get laid! 

At this rate, you’d probably end up locked up if someone could hear your thoughts.

Downing another shot, she stood up from her seat and made her way back to the dancefloor and into the arms of her admirer. Thinking about the situation back home left you thinking about Dabi, and that day back at the church. He may try to get into your pants nearly every single day, and yet, he usually stopped his approaches after a while.

Despite all the stress he caused, sometimes he'd go out of his way to help out, even though most of the time he kept messing with your stuff...Maybe...he wasn’t so bad after all…

“Gah! What am I thinking?” Shaking the thoughts out of your head, the drink in front of you was quickly downed.

“Something troubling that pretty face?”  Another voice came from your right side before you had the chance to order another drink. Looking back quickly made your face get warm. The same guy that kept looking at you was standing right there. Just having him this close made something stir inside, as well as a burning sensation at your neck that was brushed off in favor of admiring this beautiful stranger.

“You can say that again, haha….” He sat down beside you, before ordering two beers and handing one over to you.

“Well, hearing a pretty one out is my specialty. Cheers for our troubled lives, am I right?” He raised the bottle before taking a big gulp of the cold, bitter liquid and you followed after him, the night passed by with some small talk and laughter as your face began getting warmer because of the alcohol.

And by the time the clock struck past 1 am, you were already close to this stranger at the far corner of the club.

….Or at least you tried to.

Another two hours passed by, and the sound of the door being slammed loudly caught Touya’s attention as he read one of your favorite books at the same spot from that afternoon.

“You….!” A furious growl came out of your throat. He didn’t bother looking up, already feeling the heated glare at the back of his head before hearing your marching to the bedroom, and he just grinned in realization once he caught a whiff of your scent. 

Dropping the book carelessly behind him, Touya walked nonchalantly inside the bedroom, spotting you taking off all the make-up, half-ruined by your sweat.

“Something wrong, little one?” You turned to glare at him furiously, before throwing the cotton pat at him, which was quickly dodged. But he couldn’t dodge when you pulled him by the collar and began shaking him in anger.

“What did you do to me?!” He felt the frustration coming out of your body, and he also saw it on those fiery eyes of yours “I was this close, THIS CLOSE to getting laid with one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met in my life!” Your faces nearly touched each other “But right as we were about to do it, not only does this fucking mark starts burning like crazy! I couldn’t feel anything as he touched me!” 

You smacked his chest rapidly, trying to let out all that pent-up anger inside, if only this bastard could actually react to your punches, it would actually be satisfying to hit him, but he wouldn’t even flinch.

Before a hand could land on his face, he quickly caught it mid-air, pulling you closer by the waist with something dark in his eyes. Bright, glowing eyes looked down at you. 

“That’s just a side-effect of being a vessel. You can actually be pleased however you want, but there’s a catch.” The way he grinned gave away his answer even before he continued to speak. “As long as we’re bonded to each other, only a master can actually please their vessel.”

You pulled away from him, holding the wrist he held closer to your chest. Like he could tear off the limb in an instant if you weren’t careful enough.

“Besides, think about it. Why would you want to be pleased by a mere mortal, when you know just what exactly your master can offer? Or have you forgotten that night? When you could only scream how much you adored my cock?” 

As much as you wanted to pour the contents of the spritzer on him...he had a point. Why in the world did you want someone else when someone that made you feel such wonderful things, was living under the same roof as yours?

It’s a trap.

Looking down at the floor, you bit harshly at your lip and headed towards the bathroom. After everything that happened tonight, you really needed to freshen up.

Getting undressed and stepping under the running water in the bathtub was easy. Allowing the cold stream to run down your body, trying desperately to ease the aching heat between your legs was the hard part. With each passing second, the increasing heat became insufferable, but no matter how chilled the water felt, the aching wouldn’t go down one bit.

Lust began clouding your thoughts the more time you spent under the cold bath, it was starting to become downright painful and as much as you tried pleasing yourself, it just wasn’t enough.

Walking out of the shower with a soft towel carefully wrapped around your body, you tried to distract yourself blow-drying the damp locks of hair. Trying to ignore the clenching between your thighs. Despite having just taken a shower, there was already slick running down your legs. 

Whimpering, you walked out of the bathroom. Colliding with Touya’s hard chest as he stood in the way between the bathroom and the hallway. His whole body trembled as he let out a low, dangerous growl as soon as he caught a whiff of your scent. It would be a lie if you said that sound didn’t scare you…and at the same time, excited you.

Slowly tilting your head up to look at him, you were met with the same dark eyes from that time at the church. And before you realized what was happening, he had already pushed you against the wall, caging you in the spot with his arms. 

“T-Touya…?” 

But he just ignored you and crashed his lips upon yours with a bruising force. Sending an overwhelming shock from head to toe that nearly made your body give up and fall down on the floor. It was fierce, strong, passionate. You couldn’t even begin to fully describe it, but it was perfect.

“I could smell you from the other side of town.” He broke the kiss, allowing you to catch your breath before he kissed you again as eagerly as before. This time you were ready, and gladly began kissing him back with the same strength. Moaning into the kiss and holding onto him for dear life as his middle finger began prodding its way inside you. He swallowed your every noise happily, enjoying the way your body began trembling as his hand gave you a slight taste of sweet relief, that was so desperately needed.

Then he broke the kiss one more time, teal eyes engulfed in black as he admired your warm face and half-lidded eyes. “That sweet scent of your body, crying out to be pleased, begging to be satisfied until you become nothing but a limp mess underneath your master.”

He looked at your eyes closing with nothing but bliss, begging for more of his unholy touch. Nothing mattered to you anymore, all you wanted was for Touya to defile your whole being like he did the very first time.

“Ahhh….Please…” Lust glazed eyes fluttered open to look at him, and he almost wanted to take you right there, right now “Take my body however you want, Master…”

In an instant. He pulled his hand away from your core, yanking the towel away in the process. With little to no effort, Touya lifted your body with both hands and wrapped your legs around his waist, before taking your begging self to the bedroom. And this time, nothing would stop him from having you, and if he had to obliterate someone to ashes, in order to get what he wanted, he would.

He set you down in front of the bed and sat down on the edge, spreading his calves wide open, just enough for you to fit in at the same time that he leaned back on his lean arms. Face leaning against his knuckles as he looked at your trembling self.

“What are you waiting for, little one? Your master is waiting.”

Nothing but pure, concentrated arousal fueled your every thought. One knee bent down on the floor, the other one followed soon after. Finally, you sat in front of the demon, resting both hands over your knees, and waited for his next commands while staring at a growing bulge, easily noticeable under the layers of black denim. 

“Time to worship your master’s cock, little one.” 

Shaky hands made contact with the zipper of his jeans, slowly tugging it down. A small purr was heard from above you, and the room slowly began to get warmer as the demon’s pants slowly became looser around his waist.

“Look what you do to me. I’ve never wanted to fuck you more than I do now.” He growled in contempt once his jeans were undone and his underwear was pulled down. That all too unique cock sprung out before your half-closed eyes, already dripping with precum. Having it this close to your eyes was way different from last time. 

You could see every detail of the ridges at his sides, and this time, there was something else you definitely did not see, or feel the last time. He smirked widely, showing off those longs fangs of his when he saw you look up at him with curious eyes.

“This is new...When did you get a Jacob’s ladder?” Your hand grasped around the erect member, taking as much of it as it could. Thumb tracing a small vertical line at the underside of it, right in between the row of piercings decorating his shaft, all the way from the base until it stopped right below the tip. The slightest touch was almost enough to send the demon into a frenzy.

“Shortly after leaving the church. But what can I say? I wanted to surprise you.” He didn’t move one bit as he stared at you with those bright eyes. His hands cupped the side of your face, nails scratching gently at your cheek, and you couldn’t help leaning towards his warm touch. “This cock isn’t gonna suck itself. Come on little one, get those pretty lips of yours to work.”

Too lost in the haze to even bother giving the demon a snarky remark, you happily obeyed his orders. 

Slowly, your hand started touching his length with cautious, but firm strokes. The more you kept touching him, the heavier his breathing became. 

“Your hand feels so good.” As much as you wanted to keep on teasing him, the trembling between your legs just kept getting stronger. Desire kept growing inside you like vines, snaring themselves painfully against your very soul.

Leaning forward, your lips gave the tip of his cock a tender, delicate kiss, and not only the feeling of those soft lips against him, but the dazed look in your eyes made Touya grip the blanket with force, growing nails digging into the material underneath, much to your chagrin. But right now, that didn’t really bother you. The only thing that mattered, was worshipping the throbbing cock in the palm of your hand.

Might as well give the demon what he wanted…

“Mmmm...Is my master enjoying this?” You kept moving your hand while peppering his tip with more kisses. Starting at the head before leaving a trail all the way down to the base. Not once did you break eye contact with him, and he couldn’t really complain about the view. 

“Stop with the teasing already,” His hand pulled harder on your hair, leaning down until both of your faces were so close to each other, that you could practically feel his jagged breathing fanning against your warm face, and those hypnotizing blue orbs nearly digging a hole in your soul. “Now’s when the real worship begins. You know what to do, little one.”

You couldn’t hold back a gasp as he pulled harder on your soft locks, and he took advantage of that little noise, to push that pretty mouth down on his cock, hissing in delight at the warmth of your mouth.

“Shit…! your mouth feels so fucking good, it’s just as nice as your pussy!” Both of your hands came forward to rest on top of his thighs while moaning around the pulsing length. Small vibrations made him tilt his head back with closed eyes and a satisfied groan.

He tasted so good, that the pent-up frustration accumulated over the past week because of him, dissipated in an instant, and all you cared about was showing him...just how much you loved, your master’s cock.

Not waiting for a command, you began bobbing your head immediately, taking as much of him as possible, while continuing to stroke whatever bit couldn’t fit inside your mouth. Saliva and pre-cum mixed together into a lewd mixture, slowly dripping down your chin with each bob of your head. 

The grip in your hair became firmer the more your tongue kept tracing circles on his tip. Touya could hear your little, satisfied hums the more you attempted to take him deeper with each thrust of your head against his hips. Thighs shaking desperately once the taste of his precum reached every corner of your tongue.

“As much as I love the way you take my cock with that filthy mouth,” With a single maneuver, he pulled your face away from him despite the little whines you gave, wishing to taste him just a bit more. “I can’t wait to leave bruises all over that pretty skin.”

Unwilling to wait any longer, Touya pulled you off the ground, and with a grin, he threw you face down on the bed. The mattress dipped down on your side by the weight of the demon climbing over your withering body. 

“Get on your knees, right now.” The authority in his words was almost enough for you to melt on the spot. Obediently, you positioned yourself just as the demon said, and felt him grab on your hips with a force that would certainly leave a path of dark bruises. 

When he began rubbing himself against your soaked folds, the friction from those firm ridges sent an exquisite sensation through your whole body, it made him laugh darkly once he heard those small, silent gasps as you waited eagerly to be filled. 

A sharp pain shot through your backside when his hands smacked the skin of your ass, and although it was painful, it felt so good at the same time.

“What’s the matter, little one?” Another smack was given, making you yelp from excitement “You like this don’t you? What a filthy slut!” 

When a third smack was given, tears ran down your face desperately. All you wanted was for this demon to ravish you at once. Not a pinch of pride or shame remained inside. You wanted him, and badly.

“Ahh...Please, master…” A hand snaked its way underneath, spreading those slick folds wide open as an offering to the demon. “Please, fuck me already. I can’t take it anymore!” 

“Good!” One of his hands pushed lightly on the head of his cock, guiding it towards your warm, little hole and with a swift thrust, Touya buried himself all the way in. “Cause I’m gonna fuck you senseless, make you feel so damn good, that the thought of being with someone else will never cross your mind ever again, little one.”

Oh god, it was even better than last time. You could feel every single ridge, and those piercings brushing snuggly against your walls as he began with a fast pace immediately. His every thrust turned you into a mess underneath him. 

Why did you even want someone else in the first place when you had this? If you had to settle for one dick to satisfy you for life, then maybe this wasn’t so bad after all.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Your face buried against the bed with a lost smile and eyes rolling into the back of your head. In addition, your hands kept gripping the sheets with a death grip as Touya began hitting a spot over and over again that knocked your breath away. Watching you squirming underneath him was truly a sight to behold, nothing could come close to how beautiful you looked in the demon’s eyes.

“I can’t get enough of this delicious pussy, it feels amazing having you taking my cock like this…!” He held your body closer to his, hands kneading your chest in synch with his every push. 

Your moans became louder with every single hump of his pelvis ramming against your ass, it brought you closer and closer over the edge. Until that all too familiar knot in your stomach. 

“Master!...I’m coming! I’m coming!” Your whole body began trembling from the upcoming high, inner walls clasping around the throbbing girth humping your insides so wickedly good. 

But then, Touya stopped moving so abruptly that it almost made you cry out in frustration. Was this his revenge for the spritzer?

But that’s wasn’t it. Instead, he flipped you over and pulled those beautiful legs to rest against his shoulders. Nibbling softly on the soft flesh of your inner thighs made goosebumps appear all over your body, and with a grin, he once again slammed his cock inside that warm, sloppy hole he adored. Picking up his brutal pace from before caused the headboard to slam loudly against the wall with each jab of his hips against yours.

“I want to see that look on your face again. That look in your eyes as I fill this delicious pussy with my cum!” You couldn’t stop gasping for air the more he kept shoving his length into the depths of your warmth, savoring the feeling with eyes closed tightly in nothing but pure enjoyment.

"Take it you little lamb! Take all of your master's seed until you become big and swollen with my offspring!"

He gave another rough thrust, hitting that same spot from before with an intensity that made you cling onto him for dear life, wrapping your arms around his neck. The heat from his body was searing hot, a little more and it could burn you alive at any moment. When you opened your eyes again, the sight you witnessed was hypnotizing.

His body was engulfed in blue flames, and despite being so close to him, that fire around him didn’t burn your skin in the slightest, but instead, it began burning away at his skin, and you realized it was actually destroying his disguise. When he lifted his head from your neck, you saw the same scarred face from that night at the church.

But his unnatural appearance didn’t bother you anymore, too lost in the high as Touya...No...As Dabi let out a deep snarl and with a powerful thrust, that tight knot in your stomach burst. Making you scream as an orgasm overtook your senses.

The look in your face sent Dabi into a frenzy, the sound of his length sloshing into your sloppy core resonated through the bedroom, and with a couple more thrusts, he slammed himself deep inside, clinging onto you as he filled your womb with his scalding seed. 

You both stayed in place, breathing heavily while clinging to each other. Slowly, he pulled out and crawled back, the motion caused your legs to plop on the mattress and he watched in satisfaction as his seed kept leaking out of your drained body, before getting up from the bed and walking out of the room.

For a good ten minutes, you didn’t bother moving, wincing slightly at the sticky sensation all over your whole body, and when every single spasm kept making your body leak with Dabi’s cum, you felt even stickier. The bedsheet laid there completely torn to shreds, soaked and slightly charred. 

“Come here.” Dabi walked back inside the room without his human disguise. Carefully he picked you up bridal style and took you back to the bathroom, where the bathtub was nicely filled. He helped you get in and lean back against the edge as the steaming hot water helped your worn-out body to relax. “There we go.”

“Why are you doing all this? I thought demons didn’t care about us mortals.” From the corner of your eyes, you spotted him picking a small towel from the shelves before he approached the tub again, he soaked it slightly in the tub, before using it to wipe your face.

“Well, I need to take good care of my vessel.” This time, he used the towel on your hair, the warmth felt nice on your sensitive scalp after having your hair pulled for a good time. “And honestly? I like this. You have guts standing up to a demon. Can’t say I don’t like the thrill though. So, as long as we’re bonded, just sit back and enjoy your daily life while I make sure to give you whatever you need.”

You hated to admit it, but it was a tempting offer. Either way, you’re definitely going to hell anyway....Maybe this deal wasn't so bad after all.

@hawks-senseis @honeytama @savagetrickster @unbreakableeiji @wakaoujisenhime @fanfic-me-up @natsuosfairy @sailor-manga @shoutogepi @gr0vndz3ro @divinewhimsy

#bnha imagine #mha imagine #bnha imagines #mha imagines #bnha smut #dabi smut #bnha dabi #dabi x reader #dabi is touya #touya smut

[heroprose]

aromatic;

a/n. forewarning for the usual vampiric shenanigans.

ship. hitoshi shinou x reader

summary. contemporary vampire au. (+ slight office au)

//

hitoshi shinsou despises you, you’re certain of this. 

what you’re not quite sure of is where all the animosity stemmed from, especially since he seemed to conduct himself well enough with everyone else. 

out of all your fellow colleagues, he treated you with the most transparent curtness, from promptly exiting whenever you entered the breakroom for a refreshment, to visibly retching the one time you tried to take an empty seat next to him during a conference (you’ll never forgive him for that slight).

it was really starting to grate on you. you were going to have to confront him about this yourself.

besides, you’ve no longer a choice in the matter: this unspoken tension had begun to affect the workplace, with people sometimes looking to and fro between you and him, confused to high hell why he always kept himself a good several meters away from you if he could-- not that you were complaining. social distancing can be quite mutually beneficial, after all.

and it wasn’t an issue you’d like to bring up with human resources either: that seemed a little too petty, even if he was literally gagging at your presence. 

you did try to ameliorate the work relationship-- really, you did. but there’s only so many times you can crack a joke and be left hanging in that awkward silence before you stop altogether. you once thought it’d been something you said in poor taste that made him abhor you so, but unless he had a seething hatred for mild puns, that didn’t seem right. 

and so what that you were a newer addition to the team-- you’d entertained the idea that maybe he had a thing against strangers, but hell, it’s been months and even interns get more conversation out of him than you.

although given his visceral reactions, you’re inclined to think it’s something about how you smell... but that’s just insane. you took your daily showers and used reasonable amounts of detergent in your laundry; and if you can take the pungency of axe body spray and the zestiness of dior’s sauvage on every man in the building, then he should be able to tolerate your own signature scent, which wasn’t even that bad... was it? 

no one else complained about it though. and you’ve even asked around too, so you know you’re not wearing absolute funk. it’s an unfathomable situation.

today, however, you forewent the perfume. if it really was the fragrance, then this should leave no opening. you’ve tucked the bottle in your workbag instead, in case you needed it like a piece of evidence for his rude behavior, ace attorney style.

you waited until lunch break, where most of the other colleagues would leave the building for nearby restaurants or go to the cafeteria, before approaching him. it was best this way, lest it got weird; at least only few people would witness it. 

hitoshi was currently invested in whatever it was on his computer, and if you were correct in his observations, he would pull out his own homemade meal shortly enough to eat at his desk. some days, he didn’t eat at all, which was surely unhealthy but you were hardly in the position to scold him considering your own bad habits. plus you didn’t want him to hate you even deeper. 

you got to observe this routine over a good number of weeks and it was truly no easy feat, with his desk set in the far corner of the workplace far from the wall-length windows and him being constantly out and about on his own assignments.

with your workbag in one hand, you walk up to him with as much nonchalance as you could muster. “hey! not going down to the cafe today?” it’s rhetorical: you knew he wasn’t.

he hardly responds, eyes flickering up at you briefly and giving a greeting nod before returning to his work. “mm.”

you round the corner of the desk so that you stand beside him. leaning down slightly to squint at the screen, you deliberately put yourself in his space. “oh wow, the deadline’s so far away but you’re already working on this part?”

he began to open his mouth, only to clap a hand over it with remarkable speed. and he coughs, goodness, with shoulders jumping.

“oh my god,” you can’t help but say as you withdraw. could he smell it even from your bag? you weren’t even sure if it was the perfume or just you anymore. “okay, i’ll cut to the chase. can we talk? alone?”

you’d think he would think it over, at the very least, to give a semblance of polite reflection. “no,” is his immediate reply, spoken forcefully, so forcefully that a lone passing colleague even gives you two a glance. 

“i was, uh, just leaving,” they say. “want anything?”

“i’m good, thanks,” you reply, bidding them farewell with a breezy smile before refocusing on hitoshi. he has already turned away from you, eyes blazing at the computer screen.

without another word, you reach over, placing a hand over his, and drag his mouse to click out of his report.

“what do you think you’re doing?” hitoshi demands, jerking away from your touch. and he’s angry now, genuinely irritated: you can see it in the way his jaw tightens. too bad you’ve been annoyed ever since you’ve been moved to this department.

“it was google docs, relax. your work is saved,” you soothe over. “now come with me. i just want to talk to you for five minutes, tops. please.”

he’s deeply conflicted for a heartbeat, but finally relents. “five minutes,” he echoes. you give him the space to stand up, clutching your workbag strap tightly in your fist. if he knew what this was about, he gave no mention as he walked openhanded behind you.

hastily, you lead him to the breakroom. with its doorless entrance, you assumed that the ventilation there would be moderately good, if it got too stuffy for him. then again, you wouldn’t of minded if he suffocated a bit either. admittedly, the entire floor was probably empty save for you two, so this dialogue could’ve been held out in the open but it didn’t hurt to have that extra layer of seclusion. 

“i already know,” you say into the quietude, leaning against the counter. behind you, the coffee machine beeped every so often. someone should get that fixed. you cross your arms and look at him carefully. the vents are tinny above you two, warm air rushing out noisily.

“you-- what?” his dark eyes widen ever so slightly, and for once, his expression isn’t quite so tense with you. “what do you know?” he must’ve not expected you to be so direct. he takes his hand out of his pocket.

“you know what i’m talking about. why you treat me like, i don’t know, the plague?”

“i don’t do that.”

“you nearly threw up when you saw me.”

hitoshi stays silent. ha, gotcha! “i only coughed,” he relents eventually.

“whatever. and i know it’s not me and that it’s really all you because guess what? no one else has this problem. and i’m thinking you don’t want me to air out your business to everyone else because that would be...” weird, for one, but you didn’t want to ruin your own case. “doesn’t matter; in any case, there’s no reason to be rude over this.”

“alright. so you know. i avoid you because of your scent.” his voice is dangerously calm. “what are you going to do about me, then?”

“about you?” you repeat with a scoff, “oh, so i should report you? what would i even say? HR would laugh at me.”

he smirks, chin jutting out. “right.”

“so now i only have one question. wait, make that two.”

“go on.”

“how should we fix this? because obviously i don’t want our little dance to start affecting our work ethic. you can’t wave me away forever. it’s how i smell, right? do you have a recommended detergent or deodorant, or something?” you ignore the fact that you’ve technically asked three questions.

“none of that covers it,” he mutters and your jaw drops. “masks don’t help either.”

“no way. i smell that b-- you know what... moving on. we’ve got to compromise somewhere though. but not my perfume.” your hands reflexively ball up. there’s no camera, so if you did something unsavory, there equally wouldn’t be any real witnesses...

“your perfume,” he repeats, seemingly dissatisfied. 

“yeah, no way. that’s my signature scent. go wear nose plugs or something, if it’s that bad. and i can’t believe you say scent and not body odor, like just call it what it is! damn.” 

the coffee machine lets out its intermittent beeps. hitoshi just stares at you, mystified. then, he breaks into a snort, like he’s the one who can’t believe he’s having this discussion. “i understand. in that case, i see no solution.” whilst bringing a hand to the back of his neck, he starts to move, intent on passing you to exit the room.

you let out a frustrated noise. “you leave me no choice, hitoshi.”

intending on presently the bottle to him proudly, perhaps even spritzing him once for good measure, you jam your hand into your workbag to fish your perfume out. you grab onto the rectangular shaped glass, and pull it out with great gusto.

and it goes terribly. 

to your horror, the bottle slips like butter between your fingers and sails, tumbling down to the floor right in front of you with a heartrending crash, glass splintering like ice. the beautiful blue lid goes spinning across the tiles, and like that, the whole room now blooms a gorgeous citrus, white floral scent. “oh nooooooo! shit!”

no longer minding him, you go to pick up the shards, bending down at the knees with a sigh. gingerly, you begin to clean up.

“hey, be careful. i’ll get a dustpan,” you hear him say and it’s one of the nicest things he’s ever said to you, but in your melancholy, you shake your head solemnly.

“no, no, i’ve got this. i’m just so-- OWW?” you wail without warning. you drop the wet shard you were grasping, still slick with liquid. “ugh, never mind. get the dustpan.” you bring yourself up on your feet again.

using your shoe, you kick the shards into a more cohesive, but wet pile. the clattering of the glass causes you some emotional pain. “terrific,” you mutter, watching blood bead up at across two of your fingertips. “well, at least i won’t be wearing that anymore. right, hitoshi?” you ask sarcastically. shaking your hand to rid it of perfume residue, you end up just flecking your blood droplets all over the floor. you glance up when you’re met with silence. “hitoshi?”

“nnngh...” a low, deep groan escapes his throat, and immediately he turns his cheek and takes several stumbling steps away. he grits his teeth, the vein in his neck growing more prominent like it’s physically paining him to pull apart from you. “you’ve got to be fucking kidding me...”

“you okay?” you close in on him. it felt almost backwards to ask such a query, seeing as you were the one bleeding. “maybe you should sit d--”

“get away from me,” he all but spits out, eyes squeezed shut. “you set this up, huh? figures.” stray hairs were falling into his face as he presses a hand against his temple and bit back another groan. “i was doing just fine before... so why... nngh.”

you purse your lips. “hey! what do you have against dolce & gabbana’s light blue eau de toilette? it’s a perfectly respectable, fresh, work-friendly fragrance! it was, at least!” you wanted to shout. but that didn’t happen, as your concern and confusion won over your sense of petulance. “set what up?” you ask, bewildered.

on closer inspection, he was not, in fact, okay at all. 

for a second, you thought he was having an allergic reaction. that would certainly explain his avoidance of your body, and perhaps why even a deep black had replaced the cool purple in his irises when his eyes snap open to glare. his pupils were blown out despite the bright tube lighting overhead, and his mouth parts wide.

yet an allergy did not explain everything. as opposed to weak, however, hitoshi suddenly looked frightening. 

because, instead, what came out of your mouth was a strangled, “uh, what the-- are those fangs?” 

and indeed they were, confirmed as they descended upon your skin before you  could even blink. at the very least, he had the decency to pant out a small but distinctively unapologetic “sorry” before his lips pressed around your bleeding fingers, tongue hot against the stinging cuts. 

you hope fervently your coworkers take their leisure at lunch.

#shinsou x reader #shinsou hitoshi x reader #hitoshi shinsou x reader #bnha imagines #bnha x reader #why do yall still follow me wtf anyway here u go #tbf maybe shinsou prefers chanel no 5 #i think i wanted this to be more twilight adjacent but i dont know what happened

[soyeahitsmiddleearth]

Multi-Dimensional pt. 2

The Company x Reader

Trigger warning: reference to past domestic/animal abuse

Really angsty but funny at the beginning.

@barbar126​

So when you finished your little '10 minutes alone in your house' test, you were actually pleasantly surprised to see everyone sitting around your living room and enjoying their tea and food without a fuss. They hadn't even taken their weapons back, and nothing was broken either. 

After that, you realized that things were probably going to go well and you can afford relax a bit. Plus... free labor. 

Around 5 or so days pass by without much incident (of course showing them how to use the bathroom was awful since they didn't seem to grasp the fact that the water just comes out of the showerhead and they don't need to fill anything... and that the water could actually be warm if they waited for 10 damn seconds).

You made the mistake of not telling the 'dwarf' known as Dwalin to wait while you got everything set up, and when you turned he had already been half-naked. 

Suffice to say, you screamed so loud that a bunch of those 'dwarves' came running over with weapons drawn and everything. 

You're going to have to make a spray bottle and spritz them when they pull out their pointy things like that, but only after you're 100% sure they won't shank you for it. 

The first time they saw your barn full of horses, cows, goats, and some sheep they were excited, and when they saw your aquarium room with all your fish and the terrariums with your snakes and turtle that you pet sit, they were a little more nervous. 

The youngest, who you know to be Ori, had asked if the reptiles would eat them, but you only smiled and said, "Not unless I tell them too." You can't actually make them attack the dwarves, but it's best to keep them on their toes. 

You decided to 'employ' all of them to help you take care of the animals, though you don't really need it, and may I say that the sight of your tiny hamsters, rabbit, and turtle being held in big 'man' hands is probably the cutest thing you've ever seen. 

Yeti has also betrayed you, for he has fallen in love with that blond 'hobbit' known as Bilbo, and will only listen to him. If you had known Yeti would drop everything and have an affair the moment you turned your back, you would've sent them away (not really). The first time Yeti refused to come to you while he was snuggling the small hobbit shattered your heart. The betrayal shot through you like a poison arrow and spread throughout your whole body, leaving nothing in its wake other than sorrow and pain. 

You got called dramatic for that. 

"Fine! I don't need you anyway, Yeti! I've got Copper!" You cried, much to the amusement of your guests. 

To be honest, you act like a total nut job with the sole purpose of bringing some joy into their everyday lives... and to keep them underestimating you in case things go south. 

The quieter Balin seemed to take to your cat Butterscotch immediately, and now you rarely see him without ole Scotch in his lap. Your other two cats Midnight and Mittens were a little less pleased to have so many people around them, but they tolerated the dwarves and eventually got to petting terms with them. 

The brothers Fili and Kili (you keep mixing them up, you're ashamed to admit) seemed to like your rabbit and hamsters the most. After you showed them how to feed the little fluffy boi's and how to open their cages, you often found them walking around holding them in their arms. It's very cute.

Thorin, the leader of this entourage, acts like he doesn't care for any of them, but you saw that bastard feeding Copper scraps under the table when he thought you weren't looking. And, apparently, Mittens kinda likes him which is interesting. 

It's been only 5 days, but you found yourself becoming fond of the lot of them rather quickly, and they to you (though you don't know that).

You have two spare bedrooms with medium-sized beds, the love seat, long couches, and a chair in your living room, and a small couch in your bedroom too. You decided that moving the couch out to one of the other guest bedrooms would be beneficial, but it'll take some time so you were postponing it. 

Now is as good of a time as any, you suppose. 

You had been feeding your fish with Nori and Ori, and when the inspiration to move the couch hit you, you handed them the shaker and said, "Be careful not to overfeed them, otherwise they will explode and I will cry." You make your way to the door and pause, "A lot." 

With that, you leave toward the stairs, and Copper rises from his spot next to Thorin (you feel weird not saying Mr. before) to follow after you. 

"Oh, here's my good little boy!" You kneel down and squish his fluffy face, making over-exaggerated smooching noises as you kiss the top of his head and his snout, "Who's a good boy? Who's my good boy!?" You ask in a baby voice, scratching his back and petting him all over. His tail wags excitedly as you smother him in affection, and it only makes your heart melt, "You would never betray mommy, no you wouldn't! You wouldn't ditch me for a hobbit, would you baby? Oh, I love you." smooch, "so," smooch, "much!" You kiss the top of his head one more time, then stand back up with a bright smile on your face. 

Someone clears their throat behind you, so you turn and see the majority of the intruders standing behind you. Some of them look amused, a few disturbed, and others are actually laughing. 

"What?" You ask indignantly, feeling your face heat up from embarrassment. You forget that there are others in the house who aren't use to your animated way of talking to your babies.

"You have quite an interesting way of speaking with your animals." Mr. Thorin asshole Oakenshield states (he's actually a pretty nice guy). 

You can't even help the violent blush from spreading across your cheeks, "D-Don't talk to me like that!" You exclaim, pouting rather childishly. "Copper! Attack!" You yell, pointing in his general direction.

A few of them stiffen, but Copper just kinda lazily ambles over and sits down in the middle of the dwarves, making you gasp dramatically. There's some more laughter, and while you knew Copper wouldn't actually attack them, it did nothing to ease how flustered you are like you thought it would. 

You throw your arms up in the air in defeat and yell exasperatedly, "Fine! Have fun laughing while I put small animals in your things!" You don't wait around to see how they react and instead walk up the stairs and head to your room to begin moving the couch.

There's some murmuring that you can hear down below. 

"Did we actually offend her?" Someone whispers.

You don't know their voices well enough to decipher who is who, yet, but their conversation actually warms your heart a bit. 

"We didn't, did we? I only found it to be slightly amusing, and cute..." Another voice states. 

"Yeah, it was cute, t-the dog I mean..." 

Ooh, they think you're cute. Nice. 

You decide that you should stop eavesdropping and go ahead and start moving the couch. Or try at least. 

At first, you try pushing it, but the carpet simply doesn't allow for it, so you instead try to pull it, but that doesn't work either. Then, you crouch down and manage to lift it slightly from the ground, and so you, still gripping the gap beneath it, slowly walk back with it a few steps. You only manage to make it about 3 feet before you have to take a breather though. 

You do that 4 more times, and eventually, you make it to the still-open, door. Once you get it there you stop and lean against it, panting quietly from the exertion. 

For about a minute you stand there, and once you've caught your breath somewhat you lean back down and lift it as much as you can again and begin dragging it backward. You make some grunting noises from your effort and breathe out loudly when you drop it 2 feet later, standing up straight since the position is making your back hurt. 

You bury your head in your hands and groan dramatically, "I'm a failureeeee!"

"Are you okay?" Someone says behind you suddenly. 

You turn your head a bit and see one of the brothers, the brown-haired one, Kili you think (or was it Fili?), on the stairs looking at you with furrowed eyebrows, so you drop your hands back to your side. 

"Just peachy. Do you need help with something?" You ask, wiping your hands on your jeans. 

He shakes his head no, then glances at the heavy couch you're trying to move. "No, but it looks like you do." 

You look down at the couch, then back at him and shake your head, "No, no I've got this. I've just gotta bring it across the hall over there." You point towards the end of the catwalk, but your resolve diminishes slightly when you realize just how far it is. Of course, you don't retract your denial since you don't want to look stupid. "All good over here." 

You turn your back to him again and go back to your little system of lifting it slowly, pulling it back a few feet, then dropping it. 

Honestly, it's painful to watch. 

He then asks again, "Are you sure... you do not need help?" 

You shake your head 'no' and don't bother turning or answering verbally this time (definitely not because you're out of breath), instead you just do the same process again and finally pull the damn thing all the way through your door. 

"S-See? I've got it all under control!" You look over at him with a weary and very unconvincing smile. Damn, you don't even believe it yourself. 

"Hey Fili, come here!" He calls suddenly, not acknowledging your assurance that you're all good. 

Oh great, now they're gonna watch you fail together and make fun of you. 

You huff indignantly and turn away, moving to pick it up again and, hopefully, arrive at your destination before you can be embarrassed anymore today. 

Heavy footsteps ascend up the stairs and you groan internally, but continue nonetheless.

"What is it?" You hear him ask Kili (now you've got it), "Oh, uh, what is she doing?" 

You do your best to tune them out and just go about your business. When you drop the couch this next time, though, you kinda just stand there for a moment and wait for your back to stop hurting. 

A voice then pipes up next to you, "Allow us." 

You look down at the blond dwarf with surprise, not having heard him approach, "Um, I don't know if you'll be able to..." Your eyes drift over to Kili (you know that's his name for sure this time) who is at the opposite end of the furniture, and when he lifts it, it goes up much higher than what you managed. 

How is that even possible? They're smaller than you are! In height, at least... Okay, actually maybe it does make sense since, as stated 5 days ago, these bitches are thicc👌.

"Okay." You don't see the point in arguing any further and just step out of the way (plus you hate physical labor), watching as they carry the whole couch to the other room in record time. Now you just feel silly, having so adamantly refused any assistance when the job effort was cut in half in literal seconds. 

After a few moments of just standing there, you follow and go into the room, seeing that they've already placed it in a free space in the room. 

"Is this alright?" Kili asks, looking over at you with a slightly smug expression. 

You just nod dumbly, looking between them and the couch a few times, "I don't...," you pause before you finish that thought, squinting at the couch, "Move it a little to the left." 

They do just that, and when it's done you smile brightly, "Looks good. Thank you." 

Fili opens his mouth to say something, but a loud knock on your door and barking from Copper and Yeti silences him. 

You spin around on your heel and look downstairs frantically at the entrance, seeing a distorted figure through the wavy glass of your front door. Your eyes go wide, and you turn back to the two brothers, "Don't go outside!" 

You then race downstairs, the two following close behind, and wave everyone looking at the door over to you, "Go hide over there," you point to an area out of sight from the front door. You smile and say, "Good boys!" out of habit, but another knock keeps you from getting embarrassed.

You start to run over to the door, but pause and run back to say, "And don't leave this area. I don't know who's here." 

A louder knock resounds throughout your main room, and you yell, "I'm coming! Just give me a moment!" Once they're all hidden away, you make your way over and open the front door. 

Your face falls immediately, "Erick... what are you doing here?" Suddenly all the confidence and joy washes out of you, leaving nothing but a barren wasteland of confusion and dismay.

The man at your doorway, Erick, looks down at you with a blank stare, then down at your dogs. A smile comes to his face and he says, "Hey, Copper! I've missed you, buddy!" 

Copper doesn't go up to him, instead he growls a bit and you feel satisfied about it. Yeti just turns away and goes to where everyone else is hiding, no doubt to look for Bilbo.

Erick steps forward a bit and goes to pet him, but you snap, "Hey! Leave him alone. What do you want?" 

When you ask what he wants, he steps back out onto the patio and glares at Copper briefly before looking back at you, "I just came by to see Copper, is all. He's my dog too you know." 

His words make your blood boil, but you try to keep your cool and instead shake your head, "No, the moment you raised your hand to him he was no longer your dog. And I doubt you made a trip all the way here just to see him. Just tell me what you want so I can get back to my day." 

His fists clench at his sides and you unconsciously flinch but maintain eye contact. "Fine, you're right. I came to take him back home with me."

"What?" You ask incredulously, looking down at Copper's sweet face, then back up at him. "Yeah, no way, he's my fucking dog." 

"Yes way, he was our dog, and being as I bought him for you and paid all his bills before you began this worthless animal sitting shit, I have more of a right to him than you." His voice sounds so smug, and his smirk makes you sick to your stomach

"You only bought him for me because you needed something to make me stick around." You argue, "Why are you doing this now? Why not last week? Or tomorrow? Or literally any other time? Why did you have to come by without even calling me in advance?" 

He crosses his arms and leans forward intimidatingly, purposefully looming just to unnerve you, "Because I want my dog back." 

Oh, you know exactly what he's doing. Copper is precious to you in more ways than one, and after your not so great breakup with this slimy bastard, he looked for every way to piss you off and fuck you over. You can't count on two hands how many times he threatened Copper's well-being just to force you to do something. He thinks that by taking Copper now he can psych you out and make you come back to him. And, well, he probably can, but there's no way you're going to just give Copper to him. 

"Over my dead freaking body." You snap back, crossing your arms much like he did, "I can pay you back for everything in cash, but he's not going anywhere with you." 

"Yes, he is. I've got the receipts to prove it too. Give him to me or I take you to court." 

Oh, this fucker. 

"Then fucking take me to court!" You stand your ground and shake your head, taking a calming breath so you don't explode, "Why can't you just leave us alone? Copper is my dog, I love him so much, and you know that! I'm sorry I broke up with you and it hurt your feelings, but you have to leave him out of this! Isn't there something else I can give you? Like my money?" 

"Well... I suppose I can make this all go away." He suddenly says, a smirk curling upon his lips and he leans down slightly.

You don't dare hope that he's going to say something rational. "How?" 

"Just let me take you out on one more date, I'll show you that I'm not that guy anymore." He attempts a 'sweet' and 'apologetic' smile, but you can see right through him, "I didn't even mean to hit him anyways." Just as you expected. 

You lean back when he gets closer and your nose scrunches up distastefully. "Um, yeah, you didn't mean to hit him because you meant to hit me, or did you forget about that? I'm not going anywhere with you. End of discussion." At this point, you've completely forgotten about the 14 people hiding not 20 feet away. You're just so damn angry you can't even think straight. 

"Then I'm going to take him back home with me. And if he happens to get out and run into the middle of the road... well, my dog door doesn't lock, as you know." 

You recoil at his hateful, disgusting words and feel a spark of emotion shoot through you, "I w-won't let you take him. He's been through enough because of you!" In a way you're expressing your own frustrations through Copper, speaking about him in a way that conveys what you're actually feeling too. "Please, Erick just leave us alone. I can pay you back for the things you got him, that way you haven't lost anything." 

"Except for you." He tries to sound disappointed and regretful, but you know he isn't. He isn't. "You know I love you..." 

For a split second you almost believe him, but you shove that trust away as soon as it appears. It took you a long time to get to where you are today, and you're not about to relapse and start forgiving him again now. "You don't love me, Erick, you love to control me. I left, and that's your fault!"

"If you won't get back with me, then give me Copper and I'll leave you alone." 

Great, an ultimatum. 

Yes, having this prick leave you alone for good would be wonderful, but sending that innocent fluff ball with him is a death sentence. You don't know what he did to him when you weren't home if he did anything at all, but you loathe the thought of Copper being at his mercy (mostly because he has none). 

Copper was the only ray of light in your dark life then. He was your only solace, your beacon of hope, and your only ally when Erick made you drive everyone else away. In some ways, you'd first die then part with him. 

"No! I already said I'm not going to give him to you! You only gave him to me so you could use him against me anyways! You don't love him, and you don't love me. You're crazy."

He glares daggers into you but doesn't reply to that. Then steps to the side and whistles, "Copper, come here." 

Copper's ears twitch, but he doesn't move to get up. He's scared. 

When Copper doesn't move Erick begins to step inside, but you get in front of him and glare up at him, "Hey! You can't come in here, Erick!" 

He doesn't move at first, clearly not having expected you to stand up to him physically like that. 

"This doesn't have to be difficult, Y/N. Just give me his leash and we'll be on our way." 

"Over. My. Dead. Body!" You repeat, reaching back to push Copper away a bit and urge him to run off. 

"That can be arranged." He hisses, a dangerous glint gleaming in his eyes.

"Hey, g-get away from me!" You shrink back and start to step away, but he reaches up and grabs your wrists, causing you to physically cringe when his skin meets yours. "D-Don't touch me!" You cry in alarm, hearing some shuffling from the very place you hid your new friends. The new friends that you instructed not to come out. Copper stands up when you start to shout and he barks at Erick, but he only ignores your good little floofer and shakes you a bit.

"You were so much better when you listened!" He snaps, releasing one of your hands to grab your face in a bruising grip.

"Stop!" You yell louder, voice slightly muffled and intended for both him and the no doubt distressed dwarves and hobbit. One of your knees comes up almost on its own, and though it doesn't quite hit it's target, it does hit his stomach. His grip on you loosens, so you wrench your wrist from his grasp and shove him backwards out your door, causing him to land on his butt on the wood deck. 

"Did you really just do that?!" He screams, staggering to his feet with murder in his eyes as he moves to come back inside. "You're gonna fucking wish you-"

He reaches towards you, but you slam the door on his fingers before he can come any closer or finish his threat. A loud cry of pain comes from in front of you, but you slam your door instead of going to look. You turn all the locks quickly and step back from it, tripping over your own feet and falling on your butt much like he did when he starts to bang on your door from the other side. 

"Give me that damn dog, Y/N! I will get a judge involved! I'll sue you for assault and robbery!" 

He continues to scream and break things outside your door, and at some point you wrap Copper up in a tight hug, sniffling softly from a mixture of both relief and fright. 

Erick screams every curse in the book. He screams violent threats against your animals, describing what he's going to do if he ever get's his hands on them, all the ways he's going to hurt you. How he wants you to die, and how he'll kill you if you ever cross paths again.

You don't know how long he goes at it, yelling these hateful and threatening things at you and your poor animals, but eventually, he quiets. With one final kick at your door and exclamation about how he's going to get you for this, he leaves. 

Your heart is beating rapidly in your chest, and you're unable to move for a little bit until Copper's cool nose presses against your cheek gently. 

He's shaking (or maybe that's you), you notice, so you stroke his head gently and mumble, "Hey, it's okay sweetheart... It's okay." You don't know if he can understand you, but your voice seems to calm him regardless. Despite being slightly traumatized, you're actually a little proud of yourself for standing up for yourself and Copper like that. 

More shuffling registers from behind you, but you don't turn to look. You don't want them to see your tears, even if you consider them your friends. People are horrible, and when they see someone like you as you are now they either pity you needlessly, or see someone they can take advantage of. And you're done being taken advantage of.

You just continue to sit there on the ground, hugging Copper's fuzzy head to your chest while you whisper comforting things to him, sniffling occasionally while you wait for your violent trembling to cease. 

A few minutes pass of complete silence, you could probably hear a fly landing on something with how quiet it is. There is nothing you loathe more at this moment then having to face the people behind you, but you stand up anyways. 

"Miss Y/N?" 

Ah, you recognize that voice. It's the hobbit Bilbo, and it sounds like he doesn't know what to say.

You ignore him calling your name and just dance around the topic and try to make a joke out of it by stating, "W-Well that was awkward, wasn't it? I didn't think this is how our day would go." You don't turn to face them, shoulders stiff while you look at Copper's sweet face and try to keep your tears at bay, "I... I don't feel so good all of a sudden. I think I'm going to retire early tonight." Your voice is soft and weak, heavy from crying, and you just feel humiliated all around (especially at the way your voice breaks when you attempt a laugh).

You turn slowly and force a smile, one much too bright and cheery to be paired with your puffy eyes and heart-wrenchingly frail demeanor. "H-Help yourself to my kitchen." 

You cannot stand the expressions on their faces, even the half-deaf one heard everything, so you turn your gaze down to your feet and, without another word, make a bee-line for the stairs and practically run up them with Copper and Butterscotch on your heels. Even Yeti follows after you. "Good night!" You rush out before slamming your bedroom door, avoiding the same 14 pairs of eyes still trained on you. 

If you had taken a little longer to look at them, you would've seen more than pity though. Some of them held anger, some looked sad and empathetic, and some were simply shocked or upset themselves. They've seen nothing but the strong-willed and funny part of you, so seeing that... 

It seems that your distress has affected the mood of this company quite a bit more than you realize. 

#tolkien #the hobbit #originally posted on ao3 #kili #thorin oakenshield #multi-dimensional #the company of thorin oakenshield #the company x reader #thorins company #the hobbit thorin #the hobbit bilbo #the hobbit fanfiction #kili fic #kili imagine #fili and kili #fili x reader #fili #kili x reader #dwalin #bofur #bilbo #bilbo baggins #bilbo x reader #thorin x reader

[tardytothepardy]

Fruits Basket - Vol. 18

The first part of this book was honestly pretty sweet, I was living for it. The second part of this book reminded me that Haru can kick ass if he wanted to, but for the most part he doesn't. The third part of this book reminded the characters that Tohru wants to help these people in their predicament, but she also wants to help one person in particular out of their predicament.

By the end of it, I kinda want Kureno to carry around a spray bottle and spritz water or vinegar at Akito every time he does something bad. Probably vinegar. It wouldn't do anything bad, but he'd be smelly.

So, the first part. It's mostly just with the Student Council, continuing the graduation ceremony stuff from the previous book (and no, Tohru and Co. are not graduating. I don't know why I thought they were), with some focus on Machi, Yuki, and Kakeru. How fun.

It starts with the one strict guy (I've never had to talk about him at all so I wasn't sure what his name was for a while, honestly. It turns out his name is Sakuragi Naohito. The more you know, I guess) lamenting about how graduation is near, which the rest of the group finds odd, because no one in the group is graduating this year. Then a couple girls show up at the door, saying that Machi knocked down some boxes of chalk, and generally made a mess. They also brought up some random (but very personal) rumor about Machi trying to kill her baby brother a while back, and surely that's why Machi is the way she is. Kakeru tells Yuki about it, from what he was told. It was said that Machi became jealous of her younger brother (who, according to Kakeru, had been decided to be the heir to the family's fortune) and tried to kill him. Afterwards, her parents decided that it would be best if she was removed from the house entirely, and ever since she had lived alone. Kakeru offered to take Yuki to Machi's place, to ask her herself, which Yuki didn't really agree to. Kakeru also mentioned, offhandedly (because he was just jumping from one topic to the next) that he once saw Machi, out in the snow, making footprints all over it. He had no idea why, but he said she seemed pretty intent on it.

So they arrived unannounced to Machi's place, which she did not appreciate whatsoever. She might have been fine with Kakeru showing up, but she was more flustered once she saw that Yuki was also there. (I wonder why,,, hmmm) While they were there, Kakeru was just being weird and put one of Machi's bras, all rolled up, in Yuki's hand. Why did he do that. Don't manhandle bras, dude. They're expensive. Anyway, once he got kicked out for that (they kinda started cleaning up Machi's room, and he was taking out the trash), Machi asked Yuki about the rumor, and if that was why they were here. Yuki didn't answer that, and instead asked Machi if she hated perfection. The answer is yes, she does, because of shit that her mom said and did to her.

Basically (and I feel like this was touched on a bit earlier), after Kakeru acted out and got tired of the family's bs, more pressure was put on Machi to behave, to do the best that she could, get the highest marks in school, have the perfect behavior, etc. She couldn't step out of line, otherwise she would be punished severely. Despite this, her mother would often talk about how boring she was, in front of Machi. This was especially the case after her younger brother was born, and her mother would talk about how glad she was for another heir to the family, because Machi was just so average, so dull. After one of these times, Machi actually confronted her mother, asking, "Why do you say that? I thought this was what you wanted me to be like?", to which her mom was like, "You say that like it's my fault. Well, maybe it is. Oh well."

That sense of "Oh well, onto the next one" was not the thing that Machi needed. She needed reassurance, that she wasn't just some blank, dull, empty person, who brings nothing new or interesting to anything or anyone. I think it's kinda here when she started tearing things apart: anything that was too neat or orderly just reminded her of that suffocating feeling, and she couldn't stand it.

It was then that Yuki praised her, basically, for all the hard work that she did, all that work, just to try and keep ahead. Clearly, this was not something she had ever experienced, because it caused her to break down, and she told him about what actually happened with her and her younger brother: she was just putting a blanket over him. She thought he was cold, and he could get sick. But when her parents saw her holding a blanket over him, they already had a bias against Machi, and were convinced that she was jealous, that she had ill intent. They wouldn't listen to what she said, they didn't care. She had shown a "sign" of something bad that easily fit into their narrative, and took that as a reason to take her away from her younger brother.

Yuki then offers that, if the snow gets thick enough, they can go outside and make footprints all over it, and, honestly? That's some cute ass shit. I love that kinda thing, really. That's romance: stomping around in the fresh snow. Who needs physical contact when you can stomp around on fall leaves? That's the real stuff, right there.

But Kakeru interrupts the scene (he was kinda lingering behind a wall, listening to most of this. I think he was there for the story about their younger brother), but I liked it. It was nice. That wasn't entirely where this section ended, however. There's still a little bit more, with Sakuragi, and why he was so bummed out about graduation.

The short answer is that a girl he likes is graduating. But she (I looked it up and her name is Motoko Minagawa) likes Yuki, who doesn't like her. And Sakuragi is kinda taking out his anger on Yuki, who is mostly just bummed out that so many girls are coming up to him and confessing their feelings, and he just has to turn them down. In the end, Yuki and Minagawa had a chat, things are fine. She told him how she felt about him but she wasn't expecting anything in return, and she said she wished for the best for him, which he was unnecessary. Later, Sakuragi kinda?? told Minagawa how he felt about her, but he mostly just gave her well wishes, and now he is less angry and uppity. How nice.

Moving onwards to the second chunk, Hiro's mom had a baby! Her name is Hinata, and she's not a Juunishi. It's great. Hiro's gonna do his damnedest to make sure that Hinata gets everything she needs, and probably try to protect her from the burning dumpster that is being a Sohma. (Really, it just doesn't seem to be that great.)

While that's going on, there's discussion of Izusu, where is she? People say that she's in the hospital, but they won't say which one, or where. She's not at Kagura's house, where she lives, and she hasn't shown up at school for ages. Kagura had to actually attend Izusu's graduation in her place. It's all very weird. People are started to ask around, but no one has the answers. Kagura's worried, Tohru's worried, Hiro's mom is worried, and at one point Yuki even went up to Haru and asked him if he'd heard anything about where Izusu was. Haru hadn't, but afterwards, he got on the search. On the way to the search, he ran into Hiro and Kisa. They all kinda knew what Haru was doing there, and that's when Hiro told Haru that the last time Izusu got really hurt, it was because Akito had pushed her off a second-story ledge. He then apologizes to Kisa, saying that it was his fault that Akito lashed out at her, and he wasn't allowed to anything about either incident. He then reveals that Izusu is trying to break the curse, and she did something, Akito found out, and that's why she was punished (along with Akito forcing her to break up with Haru).

Anyway, now Haru's pissed. He makes a beeline straight to Akito's room, and he's looking for some answers. He cuts to the point, asking, "Why'd you push Izusu out the window?" Akito denies it, of course, who'd own up to that? He says that Haru must have made that up, or heard wrong from someone, but Haru is not swayed. He's gonna get answers one way or another.

While all of this has been happening, Kureno had noticed that there was a person carrying a tray of food and wandering off to where people don't typically go. He followed her, and tracked her down to a dilapidated building, and he asked her what she was doing. She wouldn't say, but she give him the key to the building, saying that Izusu hadn't eaten in days, she was withering away. So Kureno found Izusu, her hair was hacked off (and Akito did it, it's not even speculation, there's a page where you see him doing it. Well, he's coming out of the room, scissors in hand, with these long clumps of hair trailing on the floor. He totally did it.), and took her to the hospital. So when Haru is questioning Akito, Kureno comes in and tells Haru that she's in the hospital, which is probably a good thing for Akito's sake. Haru is pissed. I haven't forgotten about the "black" Haru thing. The last time that came up, it also had to do with Izusu.

Haru asked Kureno where she was, and it's revealed that she was in the Cat's dungeon, essentially. (I think of it as a dungeon, personally) This totally sets off Haru, who asks if this was another attempt to kill Izusu, and Akito was basically like "So what if it was?" which was not the correct answer. There was no correct answer, at that point, but that one was the most wrong answer. All sorts of feelings were welling up in Haru, at this point, and all kinda gathered into one really nasty feeling: helplessness. He felt like, despite how much he loved Izusu, and how much he cared about her, it wasn't enough. He wasn't able to protect her from the shit that had happened. Fortunately for Akito, he only punched a hole in the wall, rather than Akito's face, but he then left the room. Kureno followed him, and said that he should try to get to the hospital, because he thought that Izusu wanted to see Haru, specifically because she had been saying Haru's name when Kureno had found her.

Later on, we are in the hazy mind of Izusu, who woke up in the hospital and is pretty disoriented. Last she was aware, she was in the Cat Room of Doom, not a hospital bed. She could remember that Kureno was there, that he carried her out. She was looking for him, especially after she saw him talking to Tohru, and when he left, Tohru was crying. She wanted to know what Kureno said to Tohru, and tried to track him down. Turns out that he's pretty elusive. But she did run into another person: Ren. She asked Ren if she knew of a way to break the curse, and Ren said that there was something of hers in Akito's room, a box, and that if she got that box back, she would,,, have it back. She didn't actually say that she would tell Izusu anything, but Izusu's desperate to break the curse. Unfortunately for that desperation, Akito found her, right in his room, holding the box. Akito threatened to hurt Haru, if Izusu tried to get out, but Izusu saw this as payment for her failure, she made absolutely no attempt to escape.

There's a little blip back to Ren and an old lady who reprimanded Kureno for even finding Izusu at all, and it turns out that Ren probably didn't know how to break the curse anyway. She didn't particularly like Izusu, so it wasn't a huge loss on her end. She just wanted to get that box back, for some reason, and was using Izusu to try to get it.

In this hazy dream-state, Izusu's just confused. She can't remember what actually happened, but she's kinda bummed out that she dreamt all of that, and Haru wasn't there. Then he popped up, conveniently. She apologizes to him, saying that she failed, her attempts to save him and break the curse were worthless (and she also thinks that she's worthless). "Dream" Haru says that she can't go off anymore, because he missed her, a lot, and if she went away again, he wouldn't know what to do with himself. She says that this is such a nice dream, but it's not a dream (as I'm sure you could tell with the quotation marks). Turns out, she's lying on the pavement, outside somewhere, and Haru found her. It's reminiscent to the other time that Haru found her lying barely conscious on the pavement, but this time he can pick her up and carry her home. He reassures her that she's not a burden, that she should take help when it's handed to her. In this case, she should let herself be carried when she can't walk.

It seems that Izusu is now staying at Kazuma's house, probably because Kazuma is so chill with that kind of stuff. Tohru was really glad to see Izusu again, which gave Izusu some conflicting feelings (mostly "agh stop don't care about me" but also "hey it's actually kinda nice to know that people care about me"). Tohru wasn't told why Izusu's hair got chopped off, or much about the situation. They ("they" being Yuki, Haru, and Kazuma. I suppose Izusu as well) didn't want Tohru worrying too much, she already was very concerned.

Later, Shigure came by Kazuma's house, to talk to Izusu about what happened, and basically confirmed that Ren was using her, and that she wouldn't know how to break the curse. He also said that he think Izusu should give the curse-breaking thing a rest, because the curse is starting to break itself without anyone doing anything (as we've seen with Kureno). Izusu doesn't believe him, but he doesn't say anything more about it. He just says that, probably in a couple years, it'll be broken, and no one will have to do anything. Then Tohru arrives (who was coming over to see Izusu, and even had a gift for her), and says that that's not good enough, that the curse has to be broken before next spring, before their graduation. This shit has an ever-increasing importance to Tohru. She hates the way that Kyo talks about it, like he's already come to terms with what will happen. Tohru will not stand for it for a single second, and she'll probably do her damnedest (hey look i used that word again) to break the curse before then.

(Also this is kinda, I think, when Izusu and Shigure are kinda like, "Whoa, she really cares about Kyo, huh? Hm, surely there isn't any deeper relationship there, right? Hmmmmm"

#Oh wow it didn't take as long to write this one #Only around a day #And it isn't as long which is also nice #I was reading through one I wrote almost a month ago and holy crap #It's empty #I suppose that's why I make these so long #It's so that I can look back and read through these and still mostly understand what I was saying #Vagueness is not my thing if I can help it #Anyway I'm totally a fan of Machi and Yuki getting closer #For some reason I always adhere onto romances that aren't really the main focus #Like with spop I didn't care about catradora and instead became a huge fan of entrapdak #Idk why they just appeal to me more #Maybe because there's less drama or high stakes? #No that isn't true #Idk #anyway #tohru honda #yuki sohma #kyo sohma #hiro sohma #hinata sohma #kisa sohma #izusu sohma #hatsuharu sohma #shigure sohma #akito sohma #kureno sohma #machi kuragi #kakeru kuragi #naohito sakuragi

[sakinei-blog]

How to Make Jirou’s Earjacks

I figured I’d make a tutorial for those who want to make realistic earjacks that can be flimsy enough to twirl (1st image) and firm enough to bend for posing (2nd image). This was my first time experimenting with silicone and latex, so if you have any tips for me, let me know! Unfortunately I don’t have a ton of pictures because this stuff works quickly and I was in a time crunch for a convention, so i’ll tried to be detailed when needed (these images were a test run, the final result is on my Instagram at Sakine-cosplay).

Materials (with apprx cost): 

1. Platsil Gel 10 silicone ($17) https://www.ebay.com/itm/M00511-150-MOREZMORE-Try-PlatSil-Gel-10-Pourable-Silicone-Rubber-Liquid-150-g/142987077241?hash=item214ab1a679:g:-FgAAOSw2JxboBja 

2. Flesh colored pigment ($5) https://www.ebay.com/itm/Concentrated-Silicone-Pigment-Flesh-Peach-Platsil-Gel/372628136273?hash=item56c25e2151:g:G38AAOSwyedbIBG8 (If you’re skin tone is darker than this, I’d suggest searching for brown pigment, I couldn’t find a skin tone set to share, but just a little goes a long way so i’d suggest one of the two)

3. Mold release spray ($11) (I bought my Castin Craft spray at Hobby Lobby. Look for coupons online!)

4. Rubber straw ($4 for a set at Target)

5. Regular straw (free at many fast food restaurants)

6. Wire ($3 optional but necessary for posing) https://www.hobbylobby.com/Beads-Jewelry/Bead-Stringing-Chains/Beading-Wire/Aluminum-Wire---22-Gauge/p/JL85073 (I threw out the package, so i forget exactly which size it is. I want to guess size 20 or 22. Go to Hobby Lobby or your craft store and feel the difference. It should be easy to bend, but strong enough to hold its shape)

7. Amazing Mold Putty kit ($8-$20) You don’t need a lot, but they only sell one size for about $20. It’s good if you plan on using more in the future, however, I’m including a link I found that gives you 4oz for $8. If used wisely it should be enough. https://www.etsy.com/listing/594123659/make-your-own-silicone-mold-food-safe?gpla=1&gao=1&utm_campaign=shopping_us_ClayPaperScissors_sfc_osa&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_custom1=0&utm_content=16561831&gclid=CjwKCAjw67XpBRBqEiwA5RCocd4_HioObmZud-27R8H16b_djgqcI3uObN-7GqEf1Vq5AqGV_6hDexoC7REQAvD_BwE

8. Liquid Latex ($8 at Walmart)

9. Earring studs ($3-$5) (if your ears are pierced, it helps with support, if not, only use latex. WARNING: make sure the back of the studs are not super tight on the posts. Try sliding them back and forth and see if it glides. Loosen the backs manually if they are very tight by gently pulling it apart)

10. Earphone/Aux jacks (x2) ($1-$5 each) (I used two headphones jacks as long as they aren’t the L shape)

11. Wire cutters ($2-$5) or see if you can borrow them from someone

12. Tape and scissors (look at a dollar store, I used electrical tape for flexibility)

13. Small mixing cups (x3)

14. Popsicle sticks or something similar to stir

15. Sandwich baggies (2-3)

16. Very small disposable measuring cups (x2) (check dollar store)

17. Piece of carboard/plastic/newspaper to work on top of (it’s gonna get messy, a thicker material is best if you have it) 

18. Q-tips (preferably the pointy ones they use on nails)

19. Vaseline (travel size should be cheap)

20. Hair dryer

(you can ignore the syringe in the picture. The amount of pressure it created inside didn’t allow me to use it with the material because of how thick it was, I replaced it with a baggy as a piping bag)

Step 1: Use the mold putty to create the earjack shape.

Since we are using a rubber straw (tube) to create the extended lobes, we need to enlarge the nub at the end (that yellow bit in the above image). If you look at your headphones/aux cord you’ll see the nub that that connects the wire to the plug is larger, so we need to make that so we can attach it.

-Take a small amount of your molding putty in a 1:1 ratio (equal amounts) and use your hands to mush them together and blend it until its a light yellow. 

-Once evenly mixed, flatten it until its about 1.5″ (inches) wide (measure it out, you may under estimate how small an inch is) and then pull it until its long enough to fully wrap around the rubber tube. You don’t want it to be too thin, make sure it’s about 1/8″. 

-Wrap it around the edge like shown in the above image. Smooth out the end that is covering the body, as if blending it into the tube (not where the tube ends, other side), that way its less likely any silicone will leak through later.

-Wait about 30 minutes or so until it hardens to a rubber like texture (try lightly pinching it towards the bottom and see if it tries to return to its shape)

- Once it’s done, you’re gonna have a bit of a difficult time wiggling the tube out of it. Be patient, just squish and pull it until its out (it should look similar to the one a couple images down).

Step 2: Align the wire to the center of the tube.

This part depends on how bendable you want them to be. For mine, I used wire that went down one fully for posing, and the other about a 3rd of the way so it could be adjusted by the ear if necessary and 2/3rds of it flimsy and flesh-like. You can also opt to not use wire at all, but you wont be able to pose it (although without wire will make it a lot easier to apply to your ears due to the lack of weight. Even for the flimsy one, I still use a little bit of wire just in case, but its not necessary). If you don’t want it to pose, skip step 2 and step 5.

-Using the wire cutters, either cut about 4″ of wire for a partial pose, or cut enough to match the same length of the tube for full pose. 

-Find a small flat surface that you can tape one end of the tube to (small square of cardboard works well. You can probably use one of the containers your materials came in). Take the cut wire and tape it so it is standing vertically on the flat square as straight as possible (I’m sorry I dont have a picture of this). Try not to have the tape too far up the wire since it will be poured over with silicone. Try bunching layers of it at the bottom to reinforce it instead.

Step 3: Cut the tube

-Take the yellow jack nub you created and slide it over one end of the tube. Make sure there’s at least one full inch that hangs over the tube edge, that’s the part that will be filled in (so only 1/2″ should actually be covering the tube).

-With the yellow nub attached, take scissors and make a straight cut through the yellow nub and the tube all the way towards the end, but leave about 1/2″ at the end uncut. This will help make sure the tube closes evenly since it’s still intact (nubless cut tube shown above). Now you can easily take the nub off, but I suggest leaving it on whenever you can so the seams from the cut stay aligned.

Step 4: Apply mold release and liquid latex

This next process is what takes the most time to do.

-Following the instructions on the bottle, shake the mold release well and then spray a couple inches of the inside of the tube, covering the center and edges completely. I find it easier to do sections at a time and keep it held open under a fan until it dries since its hard to keep the entire tube spread open. 

-Shake, spray, and let dry until you have the entire tube coated. Make sure to spray enough at the end that isn’t cut so the bottom doesnt stick.

-Repeat this at least one more time (3 times total to be safe). The silicone doesn’t let go of the rubber very easily and sometimes will prefer to rip off if there’s not enough mold release applied, so if you are patient enough, spray multiple layers along the center and edges of the inside.

- Once 2-3+ coatings are applied, make sure the inside seams and the top seam is also covered.

Unfortunately silicone doesn’t like to separate from the mold putty, even with the mold release, so we’re going to use a layer of liquid latex to cover the inside of the yellow nub. This is IMPORTANT because without a full coat, the putty will attach to the silicone and you will need to cut it off, which we don’t want. I usually went back and forth between adding layers of latex and spraying mold release depending on when they dried so they can be worked on at the same time.

- Take the nub off the tube. I recommend using the small mixer tool they include with the silicone to apply the liquid latex.  Dip the tool into the latex and only add a thick stripe starting at one side (starting from one end of the seam to the other end on the inside of the tube). You don’t want to coat the entire thing in one go because its round and the latex will spread out and bunch in the center. Also, when applying, be quick about it since it starts to dry relatively quickly. If you’re smoothing it out as it dries, it can begin sticking to the spreader and mess up the coat. The latex on the spreader will dry, make sure to remove it before each coating.

-Once the first portion is dried, slowly make your way coating (and drying) until there’s an even coat all inside the nub. It doesnt need to be a thick layer as long as the entire surface is covered. If you add too much thickness if could dry unevenly and make it look lumpy, so try to keep it smooth.

-Apply a layer of latex to the top of the nub and along the seam (save the inside of the seam for last). Once the inside is done, the outside edges are done, then we can apply a coat to the seam area where the nub was actually cut. We save this for last because if the two seams touch (even when dry), they’ll want to stick, and we don’t want that yet. All of these areas are being coated because its going to get messy and its better to have everything covered so there’s no accidental sticking. The only spots we aren’t covering are the outside center and bottom of the nub since silicone shouldn’t reach there (although its still good to add a little to the bottom just in case)

-Once the seams have their layers dry, make sure to keep them spread apart, if they touch you may need to peel that portion off and redo it. 

-Add a spritz of the demold spray to the inside.

Step 5: Attach wire and tube

- Take the uncut end of the tube and place it over the standing wire and feed it through until the end meets the taped stand (you can tape the tube closed if it makes it easier). Now the wire is inside the tube and the bottom should be as close to the cardboard as possible.

-Look through the top of the tube down the tub to see where the wire is. You can gently move the tube around until you see the wire is in the center (if the wire isn’t straight enough, bend it until it is), if the wire is leaning against the side, then it will puncture through the silicone since it wont be coated properly.

-Once you think its centered enough, tape the tube to the flat surface the wire is attached to. Make sure the bottom of the tube is as flat as it can be so silicone doesnt seep through. Tape around it thoroughly.

-With your tube sprayed down and the nub coated, wrap the nub back over the tube (1/2″ covering the tube, 1″ hanging over) and align the seams, BUT DONT press the seams together yet, keep the nub open. You can tape the bottom of the nub to the straw so it doesnt move around.

Step 6: Mold your ear

-Using the mold putty again, make another small 1:1 mixture. Depending how much you have left from the nub, use about half each to mix together. 

-Once blended- flatten it a bit, choose an ear, and wrap it around the earlobe (If you are not doing earrings, this step is optional). You dont need to cover a lot of the ear, just make sure to get it around the base of the ear, and the front and back of the lobe. If you make it too tall/big, we can always cut it down a bit.

-Hold/press it to your earlobe for at least 30 minutes while it sets. The finished product are the yellow pieces in the image below (one for each ear, make sure to label them with a marker RF-Right Front and LF-Left Front for later)

- These are also made out of the putty so they also need coats of latex within the entire mold (thats why they look shiny).

Step 6: Prepare your station

Now that the tube itself is prepped, we need to get the rest of the station prepped because once you mix the silicone it begins to dry quickly, so we don’t want any mistakes.

-Make several precut tape stripes (10 to be safe) and have them ready nearby (about the length of your thumb)

-Lay out your newspaper/cardboard for your work area

-Take the cords/earbuds you’re using for the plug tips and cut it as close to the tip as possible (most likely need to cut where the nub starts, so you have a nub and a tip).

-Cut just over an inch off from the regular straw and set the larger amount aside

- Have your baggy, regular straw (inch), mixing cups (3), measuring cups (2), and mixing materials nearby. 

- Mark each of your mixing cups/measuring cups as A, B, and C (no C for measuring cups).  Do the same if you’re using Popsicle sticks, otherwise make sure you keep the mixing items separated).

-Lay down the tube so the open seam is facing upwards. You will fill it like this and tape it closed as you work.

Step 7: Mix the Silicone/pigment

We don’t have a lot of silicone, so we need to be careful with how much we use at a time. I actually had to buy a second batch since i was new to it.

-Using your measuring cups and separate mixing sticks, pour about a third of the corresponding container into it (Part A to A cup, Part B to B cup.

-Open your pigment container. A little goes a long way, so start with just a small dot at a time and mix it into the Part A cup. Your ears tend to be darker than you might think since it has red mixed in it (feel free to buy some red pigment flecks if you want, but i think its unnecessary for this since the silicone wont blend well anyway when applying it)

-Once you think you have your skin tone, add a bit more until its a tone darker. Mixing it with Part B will lighten it up again. It doesnt have to be a perfect match, but make sure its not too light or you’ll see a big difference (compare my skin to the test i made in the first image). 

-Add half of A and half of B into the corresponding mixing cups. Now we have 1/2 in the mixing cups and 1/2 in the measuring cups. Since it tends to dry quickly, and you dont want to work too fast, we’ll use half of the mixture at a time. Once you finish the first half, you can quickly mix up the second premade half and finish it. But make sure to keep some off to the side, we’re filling the tube and nub separately. It will be the same color so there should be no blending issues.

-It can be done by yourself, but if you have an extra pair of hands, I highly recommend getting help.

Step 8: Mixing and filling the tube

Before taking these steps, I highly suggest reading through them first to get familiar with what you will need to do so you don’t waste time.

-Pour the Parts A and B from the mixing cups into the C mixing cup and use the C mixing stick to stir it. 

-Stir quickly and thoroughly to make sure its blended. If you still think you need a bit more pigment, carefully add a bit more, but try not to do this so we keep both mixtures the same tone. It’s harder to do that when you add extra color separately.

-Once it’s mixed, carefully take the mixing cup and pour it into a sandwich baggy as close to the corner as possible using your mixing stick. Make sure to push all the mix to the corner so it’s tightly packed and can be used as a piping bag.

-Cut a very small hole at the corner of the baggy (small enough to fit within a regular straw opening. Which is very small. This way the mix won’t overflow out of it from a large opening). If you have a friend available, have them hold open the tube and be in charge of closing it as you pipe in the silicone. If it is only you, use one hand to hold open the tube while the other pipes it in. It will be messy.

-Starting from the bottom of the tube (taped), you’re going to open the nearest seam and insert the piping bag into it as far as you can and squeeze the mixture towards the end until it fills up. Basically squeeze until you see it coming towards the seam. 

-Continue slow piping underneath the wire until it begins to fill to the top.

-As you pipe, let the seams close as evenly as they can and take a piece of tape and throw it over the seam to keep it in place. You can go over it with more tape after you finish. As you close the seam along the way, it will seep through the seam. That’s fine, you’d rather have too much mix instead of air bubbles from not being filled enough.Just try to smooth out the top of the seam from the mix so its only a thin layer of silicone  instead of a gob. the tape will stick better and you can try to push the mix into the tube.

- As you pipe and tape up the tube, keep the wire in mind and make sure you’re piping under it so it’s not touching the tube itself.

-It’s likely you’ll run out midway. Now you can take an equal portion of A and B of the the premade mixture into cup C (Don’t use all of it, just enough to fill the tube, not the nub.). While that mixes, if you have a friend, have them fix up the tape and make sure the seams are smooth.

-Once the next batch it mixed, add it to the piping bag. If you noticed the old mix beginning to harden already, use the other corner of the baggy to pipe. Remember, cut a very small hole.

-Only fill up to the other end of the tube where the nub starts. Once you get to that point, you can tape that up as well as the press the nub seams together (make sure it’s pressed evenly for a seamless seam). Now that the tube is full of silicone mix, feel free to tape the nub together and add more tape to secure the seam.

-Once everything is taped up, let the tube stand vertically and lean it against something where it won’t fall over (I had a cardboard tube that fit over it to keep it straight while it leaned lightly against my monitor. Try to have items surround it to keep it standing straight).

- After about a half hour, it should be firm enough that liquid wont spill out (check any leftovers in the C cup and see how firm it is, it should be similiar), so you can now mix the remaining mixture and add it to a new piping bag (or a clean corner). 

-Cut a very small hole. This time you will use the inch long straw to help pipe the mix through the nub from the top.

- With the hole cut, place the straw into the nub (make sure there's still enough sticking out so you can hold it.) and place the baggy tip (with its tiny hole) over the top of it. You will be filling it vertically from the nub opening.

-Pipe the mix into the straw and slowly bring it up as it fills. By using the straw, it ensures no air bubbles from where you left off. If you run low of mix in the bag, remember to squeeze out the mix trapped in the straw.

- DO NOT fill it to the top of the nub, stop short.

Step 9: Insert the jack tip

- Once it is 85% full, while still holding it vertically, take the jack tip you cut off earlier and slowly insert it into the middle of the mix from the top until only the metal it showing (image above). If you get some mix on the metal, you can peel it off, but try to keep it clean.

- Hold the jack tip steady so as much metal is showing while hiding the nub attached to it. This requires patience, you cannot let it move until it hardens after a few minutes. If you let it go, it will sink down. If you tilt it to the side to make it straight, make sure to check all the sides. It’s best to hold it by the tip if possible to ensure it stays int he middle and doesnt move.

Step 10: Opening the tube and touch ups

After about a half hour, you can check the top of the nub to check the firmness (remember, check the C cup to check the firmness without touching the actual pieve first).

-Once it is done setting, you can remove all the tape.

-Carefully and slowly begin to pry open the nub seam. You may need to cut it a little if its resistant.

- As you open the nub, the latex should peel off with the silicone. peel the latex off once detached.

-Very delicately, wedge open the seam for the tube. Depending on how even and how much it was sprayed will decide how easily it comes off. sometimes there are tough spots that want to stick, you need to slowly pull at it and use your finger to jab at the stuck silicone to nudge it off. If you pull too much it may rip, so pull and nudge. Take your time if needed, it will be a waste if you rush this part.

-As you gently make your way down, you can undo the tape securing the tube to the flat surface to free it along with the wire. 

-Once it’s all freed, snip off the end to make it flat (use wire cutters to snip excess wire).

-As long as everything came out okay, you can use scissors to cut the seam excess. Boom, main body is done

(If you have bubbles, tears, or other issues, it’s possible to make a small of amount of mix, recoat the tube in spray, pipe a thin line down the center, and use that as a layer to cover up imperfections, but you need to make sure the skin tone matches up, so make sure you have references to match it. This isn’t recommended because it makes the earjacks thicker and only complicates it more, but when trying to cover imperfections in other ways, it didnt turn out smooth and it came out shiny which was noticeable. Use only if needed.)

Step 11: Add the earlobes

-Now that the main body is done, use the same process for the ear molds. Make sure they are properly coated with latex, spray the demold in it.

-Make small batches for the ear and apply thin layers, one side at a time. If its too thick, it will build up and make it thick along the bottom instead.

-Continue on the front, back, and bottom of the ear until if has a decent thickness to it from several layers.

-Once done setting, remove it along with the latex.

-Take the main body and the lobe, and see how they should line up in the mirror for where you should attach them.

- Cut out a slit on the top of the end of the body where the lobe will be attached. This way it will sit in a small slit comfortably instead of on top of it.

- Mix more silicone to use as glue. You shouldn’t need that much. Add some in the sit before placing the lobe there, and around both of them to help blend the lobe of body together. Once done, it will look like the image above (minus the earring).

Step 12: Add the earring studs

-Go back to the mirror and see approximately where the stud should go on the inside of the lobe where it fits in your ear. If you don’t have earrings, skip this step.

WARNING: make sure the back of the studs are not super tight on the posts. Try sliding them back and forth and see if it glides. Loosen the backs manually if they are very tight by gently pulling it apart. It will be impossible to take them off if they are super tight, please check and adjust them before testing them out. Once they slide easily on the posts with minimal friction, then you can try them on and go from there.

-Make another very small batch of silicone and place the stud where it belongs on the inside of the front of the lobe. Use the silicone as glue to attach the stud all around it (make sure the stud is attached to the front so the pole can go through your ear and to the back). It should look like the image above when dried.

Step 13: Attaching the earjack to your ear

I know it doesnt look pretty, but your wig should cover it anyway. This also takes a long time (about an hour each ear from my experience)

-Pull your hair up away from your ears (wig cap is best)

-Generously apply Vaseline all over your ear (front, back, sides and bottom) and an inch or so around it by your jaw and hair line. This is the only way you will get the latex to come off without absolutely ripping all your facial hair off.

-Align the correct earjack to the correct ear. 

-With a Q-tip (preferably the pointed ones they use on nails), take a bit of latex and apply it inside the edges of the lobe on both sides of the earring stud. Make sure not to get any on the earring itself, only the edges of the lobe

-With the wet latex, insert your ear to fit within the piece properly and push the earring through and secure it with the backing.

-With one hand, hold the lobe in place so the edges are as close to your ear as possible for the best seamless fit. Let it dry for ten or so minutes.

-Once the inside dried a little bit, take the Q-tip and apply a layer of latex around the seam on the lobe and on your ear. MAKE SURE to not add latex to the earring! otherwise you’re gluing it to yourself. You want the latex and your earring always separate.

-Let it dry using the hairdryer on cool. It’s best to wait until its completely dry before adding a new layer.

-Keep adding thin layers and letting them dry. Add latex along the seams in the front, along the bottom, and along the top where the lobe is suppose to blend in. You can add a little bit to the back as long as it does not touch your earring, you might want help with this part (If you’re not wearing earrings, just slather the latex on everywhere, but still in layers).

After layers upon layers, it’s done! Just repeat the process for the second one. Be careful though, latex will fall off after awhile if it moves around too much. The more layers and the more ear it’s attached to, the better, but I still had issues when using them. It’s not comfortable when they start coming off and hard to fix on your own if you’re at a con. When taking it off, just start peeling off the latex and take off the earring. It’s still probably gonna hurt a bit, but not nearly as much if you didn’t use the Vaseline. It’s not gonna be blend in very nicely, and make up didn’t work well for me, but rely on the wig to cover that and try to take front facing pictures.

For the flimsy ones, it’s a little easier. Full wired ears take more latex and more time to dry because of the added weight. (then again, the one i made was thicker overall so that probably didn’t help). For the wired ones, I suggest making a pose where you can walk around and have the wire rest against your collarbone. I kept the wire straight down until it was resting against me, then curved it up and forward like a U shape, then twisted the jack-tip from there. The U is what sits on your collerbone though which helps support it’s weight. To see some examples (if I posted them) you can see me finished cosplay at Sakine-cosplay on Instagram.

It’s not perfect, but it served me well for the con (as long as you have time in the morning). If you have any suggestions on how to improve it, let me know! If you have any problems or questions feel free to ask. And if you make some or any other silicone related projects you may have used this for, I’d love to see how they turn out!

#cosplay #props #makeup #costume #jirou kyouka #tutorial #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #earphone jack #mha #bnha #how to #my art #convention

[norted4fun]

Random Bakugou HC’s That no one asked for.

Warnings: swearing, fem reader, pot/beer, first HC, RANDOM, horny bakubabe, pre-dating

*sees you walking ahead of him in the halls with your head phones in, ignoring everyone like you intended whilst wearing your world muters.

*pulls one of them out to put into his own ear and you try not to look agitated, yet his brazenness is kinda sexy.

*nope, it’s REALLY sexy.

*”oi, who the hell listens to this crap”

*and right when you thought you both were having a moment.

*well it was fun...while it lasted

*being one of your favorite songs you attempt to pull the wire from his ear and he dodges you slightly

*”chill”

*EL OH EL. You? He was telling YOU to chill?

*at least he wasn’t calling you an asshat or idiot.

*he catches you hiding earphones beneath your hair during class. Knowing you space out with music, and it flusters him low key.

*nope, high key

*wants to know what you’re thinking about as you twirl the pieces of your hair through your fingers or flick your pencil in between your fin

*”hey space face, what the hell were you thinking about.” Asks anyways

*he can’t show how shaken he is when you both make eye contact, so insults it is.

*his name calling becomes more lame then usual when it comes to you, he doesn’t want to be mean to you.

*he’s so full of it, he CAN’T be mean

*kirishima calls him out on it seeing as he’s clearly full of it. “Bro, your sprung for y/n huh?” Sitting in the locker room changing after the last practice of the day finished.

*bakubabe doesn’t take well to being teased on it, worse that it’s visible to others how whipped he is for you.

*”shut your face, shitty hair” pulling his black tee over his head and dipping ASAP

*he thinks so much, all the time in fact. Goes to bed an hour early every night just so he can focus on the events of the day.

*typically it leads to him thinking of you.

*ends up scrolling through his phone on your social media profiles starring at your selfies with dumb captions...

*but that ass tho

*He’s stuck on you, about everything. It’s almost as if you were made with him in mind.

*so help him if he sees you struggling with something, friends, work, practice. He’s there with his bandwagon of comments but more importantly his help.

*it takes you a second to see through the jabs and actually notice the helpful advice that actually might work.

*bakugou is brilliant, like straight A student, but never brags about it or participates in classes or join discussions, unless he’s feeling extra spicy.

*”what THE FUCK are you talking about you damn extra’s? Of course that’s not the answer, it’s B.”

*bakugou suffers when it comes to group projects, if he was doing it himself it would have been done already. Tips back in his chair balancing himself.

*you were assigned to his group coming in late. And you wave causing his chair to slam back on all fours.

*you were a diligent student but it didn’t come naturally unfortunately, you put in a lot more time studying than you wished to. Your grades are great but math, that shit had you STUMBLING.

*the way you chewed your lip, he notices that, low key has a bite kink.

*who’s great idea was it to involve the alphabet with numbers anyways?

*probably a sadist

*speaking of sadist’s... you feel eyes on you

*you turn to your side during the pop quiz, and there he was. Staring at you with hands resting on his head, one of the first to have his test finished of course.

*he doesn’t even look flustered when you catch him.

*bakugou refuses to blush, he’d rather be forced to work with deku and icy hot bastard rather then show that he’s a smitten little fucker.

*and if he does blush... don’t tease our best boy. He’s never been this messed up over someone before, you’re doing a fine number on shaking him UP.

*doesnt enjoy smoking pot and/or drinking too much but sometimes he’ll join sero and kiri for a IPA and joint.

*weed calms bakugou...a little, his vulgar vocab is there but minus the screaming.

*”damn did you see the girls today doing the stretch test? Thought mineta was going to pop a grape and rocket to the moon” Kirishima says passing the joint to sero

*”hahahaha, we all saw, but bro no one beats (y/n), dude she’s so hot and flexible, imagine...

*before he can even finish bakugou can’t help but get defensive, you were his crush, HIS ALONE.

*the only thing explosion murder king shared was air...and that’s because he had to.

*kiri saw the face Katsuki made and attempted to change the subject before he had to clean up sero’s bodily fluids (aka blood) off of his dorm floor.

*”you better not finish that sentence you second rate adhesive or I’ll kill you.”

*sero throws his hands up in a calming effect

*”bakugou you can’t deny (y/n) is one of the prettiest girls in this school, she’s just... different”

*”I have eyes dumbass, and if anyone makes a pass at her I’m going to light their asses up, have em’ breathing fire for a week.” Calm but deadly.

*NUMBER ONE VIBE KILLER: KATSUKI BAKUGOU

*the three leave kiri’s dorm to go get some food, into the elevator they go

*”Oops I hit down instead of up, hahaha” kiri says and sero laughs as bakugou just stares angrily

*”...idiots”

*buzzed,sexually frustrated and pissed off wasn’t the best combo for poor explosion boy.

*the B lights up on the elevator and doors open

*’great the gym, where sweaty ass extras...’

*you walk into the elevator and smile at the boys and greet them.

*skin glistening, hair pulled back, sports bra, tight spandex...

*bakugou does not compute, I repeat bakugou CAN NOT COMPUTE.

*you stare at him and start to laugh.

*”oi” bakugou comes back to earth

*You giggle and ask again” I asked if you could hit 7 for me”

*bakugou stumbles mentally,’ who’s 7? I won’t just hit em, I’ll roast em alive...’

*kirishima and sero look concerned but kiri is the ultimate wing man and hits the 7 button as the doors close and they ascend. except for poor boom boom, he’s ascending in a whole other manor.

*he’s currently screaming in his head so loud.

*bakugou silently vows to never smoke weed again.

*everyone making light conversation as bakugou struggles to overcome... himself

*”oh bakugou I got my schedule changed, I’m in studies 101 for first course, aren’t you in that class too? Maybe we can walk together tomorrow?”

*maybe it was the fantastic workout but you’re a bold babe, what can he say besides yes?

*”whatever, Just text me..” just text me? #bakugouinternalfacepalm

*you smile and tell him okay, the door opens and before you step out you reach into your bag and pull out your spray bottle and give 3 spritzs in the elevator not directly hitting the guys.

*”sorry you guys Wreak” You say with a wave and walk out

*mmmmm watching you walk away was nice

*bakugou smelt like you and it made him melt.

*not only was he impossibly teased the entire time the guys were out.

*a cellphone pinged and all boys checked theirs, bakugou’s being the one who’s phone had lit up.

*“Text from (y/n) -Hey! Meet me down in the lobby tomorrow let’s say 7? Sorry, it’s early but I’m going to need some coffee before school =p”

*and just like that, he had a chance to grab coffee with you tomorrow.

*Bakugou wore his trademark ‘Eat Shit’ Grin and felt his confidence spike.

#bhna #bakugou headcanons #HC bakugou #mha bakugo katsuki #y/n

[hansolmates]

jun; stupid cupid (m)

feat. matchmaker!Jun x female reader

genre/warnings: university!au, fratboy!svt, semi-crack, lots of silly humor and fluff, minor use of penetrative sex toys, slight dom!Jun

word count: 8.4 k 

summary: After seeing your best friend get paired up through an alleged matchmaker, you can’t help but wonder about the credibility of his business. Wen Junhui, your resident Cupid, can’t help but take on the challenge of setting you up with Mr. Right. (Un)fortunately it seems like that person is right in front of you.

for @wen-junehui, remember that jun loves you to lil bitty bits and misses you

College is supposed to be some sort of life-changing experience, but the only thing that is currently blowing your mind is the lack of experience.

“I’ve accepted it.” You groan, plucking out another lace panty from the meticulously folded display. “I mean, why am I even buying sexy underwear if I’m not even gonna show it off?”

“Because these are absolutely adorable!” Your best friend squeals, going through the drawers with practiced ease. You swear that your best friend buys way too much underwear because her nightstand is overflowing with them, but for whatever reason she thinks the 8 for 28 is such a steal every other month and drags you along for the ride. She brandishes a cute pair of boyshorts decorated in pink peach animations, dropping it in her bag. “And don’t you feel so hot when you’re wearing cute underwear?”

“Not particularly, no.”

“You suck.” She pouts, her little body weaving towards the display of body sprays. With a flourish of her hand, she hikes her shopping bags higher up her arm to spritz a ruby tinted bottle on the inside of her wrist. “Vernon loves the smell of strawberries.” She warbles thoughtfully, her voice just as light and sweet as the perfume. Vernon Vernon Vernon. You remember exactly how your best friend got around to dating the guy, a moment of happenstance. You remember the night she stumbled into your apartment sporting a yellow bruise on her hip, claiming that she ran into the banister and then Vernon ran into her, causing both of them to tumble down nearly half a staircase in the Academic Building. (“But we’re alive!” she hummed as you pressed a bag of frozen peas to her leg, “And I got his number!”)

It seemed like after they started dating his presence grazed nearly every conversation of yours like a fine blade. “How exactly did you guys start dating? When you two fell down the stairs, did you guys immediately fall for each other too?” you ask, picking up another pair of peach underwear for yourself.

“Ha ha, very funny.” Throwing the ruby body spray in her bag, she props a hand on her hip. “But no, actually. Jun introduced me to him beforehand, the whole falling-down-the-stairs thing was just the tipping point. Get it, tipping point?”

“You’ve inherited your bad jokes from Vernon too, right?”

“Possibly. But you should definitely meet Jun if you need some help in the dating department. And considering you spent the last three nights holed up in your room with your vibe,” your friend cackles shamelessly at the way you blanch, “I’m sure he’s the perfect guy to set you up with someone.” Without even asking she hands over her cell phone, swiping down the contacts. “Give Wen Junhui a text, you never know.”

With a scoff you accept the proffered device, your lazy eyes trailing down the ten digits and pretending not to care at how potentially precious this person’s number could be. You watch your best friend trail behind the register. In plain view you saw the easy smile on her face as she talked to the cashier about how it was “date night” and how she thinks that Vernon would find the pineapple boyshorts the perfect amount of “booty to her cutie”. While it was a disgustingly worded phrase, you had to admit that while her and Vernon were pretty stupid, they were stupidly adorable together.

Biting the inside of you cheek, you quickly add Wen Junhui to your contacts list before you could regret anything.

[You] Hey uh, you hooked my best friend and Vernon Chwe up last year. I just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate what you’ve done for them! They’re super happy (to the point of me wanting to throw up my own blood, in a good way, I swear) and I want to thank you. If you have any pointers as to how you did that though, I’d really appreciate it.

[Jun] lol so you want to be matchmade? just had to ask. Meet me after my class tomorrow if you’re free, room 2125 after the 1:10 session.

[You] Sounds perfect, see you then!

You visibly flinch at how absolutely desperate and needy you sounded before you could bring up the topic of needing his help, the fact that you probably sounded like a 40-year old virgin with a stickler for proper grammar. The thought of being “matchmade” sounded incredibly forward and almost too daring for your comfort, you couldn’t even recall what Jun looked like from the parties his brothers had hosted from previous semesters.

The awkward small talk was already on the tip of your tongue as you fiddle with your phone, the screen indicating that it was already 1:10 and students were milling out of the room like ants. Leaning against the wall by the door you pretend to busy yourself with the buttons of your light blue button down, playing with the small plastic like it was the biggest conundrum of your day.   

Your eyes cling to the pair of black Vans that suddenly parallel yours, and you hear your name being called. You blink and look up at the caller, mouth subconsciously parting open and unable to close.                                                 

Oh hell no.

You can’t help but wonder how drunk you were the night you visited his house, because you would definitely remember a guy like Wen Junhui. He leaned opposite from the wall, clutching the strap of his half-slung backpack and looking mildly amused at your wide eyes. You blame the undying thirst for human contact, but you couldn’t help but take in the fact that his burgundy and navy striped button down was crispier than a bag of Lay’s potato chips, and the way his onyx jeans were impossibly tight around his lithe frame, contrasting his warm blond tresses. He was a tall glass of something special, and you couldn’t believe he was interested in helping you.

“Uh, hey Jun!” you say, your throat feeling more cramped than a rock and hard place. You try not to contract at the obligatory handshake, the way your hands disappeared under his large ones and linger on your skin a tad too long for comfort.

“Hello.” His reply is velvetine, his voice comparable to the taste of raw honey. “You’re tense.”

“I’m—I’m not!”

Jun pouts down at you disapprovingly, the pink tint in his uneven lips reflecting in the yellow light from the building. “I was told you’d be awkward.”

Damn you Vernon.

“But that’s okay.” he adds, “It’s kind of adorable.”

With that he gestures for you to follow him out, and it takes you all of three seconds to smack your face when he’s not looking before falling into step. It took two long strides for you to match up to his one lazy step as you walk outside to the main yard of the campus. There’s a stretch of metal tables and open grass for the students to lounge around, and a pizzeria to snack in before the next class period.

With the minimal talking you could practically feel Jun’s stare as you order a slice of pizza for yourself. Is he silently judging you because you want the mac and cheese pizza? Wordlessly going outside, you find yourselves a two-seater under the shade.

Jun comes out seconds later with his own slice of pizza and a pepper flake shaker. Taking a seat, his hands violently pat at the pepper flake shaker, fiery red flecks coating the slice of cheese. You raise a brow questioningly, making a face at the excessive amount of pepper.

“What?” he asks, not bothering to look up. “I like my things spicy.”

Trying not to choke on your mac at the implications of his comment you chew harder, looking away from him to stare at the Starbucks that was crowded out the door. Jun didn’t seem to mind, and went back to adding some oregano and decorating his pizza like it was the finest piece of art to graze the campus.

“So,” your eyes flicker back to Jun, and you’re surprised to find that his pizza was already a quarter of the way eaten. “Who’s the guy that you’re interested in?”

You mentally blanch at the comment, suddenly feeling dehydrated. It wasn’t like you didn’t expect him to ask something like that, after all, he was here to matchmake you. But the bluntness of his question just made the possibility of you getting out of this single-rut so much more possible, and it simultaneously excites and terrifies you. The problem is however, there wasn’t really a guy under your radar. Sure, there’s really attractive guys here and there, but nothing to make you hide under the table and blush like a middle schooler.

The matchmaker himself looked at you expectantly with those deep cacao eyes, and with a bitter taste in your mouth you reminded herself that Wen Junhui could not be an option.

Your eyes dart back and forth past the guys in the grass area, two of which you know very well. They’re seated on the plush foliage, laughing about something on one of their phones. The one with the blond hair that challenged the brightness of the sun is Yoon Jeonghan, a medical student with a heavy reputation for being simultaneously smart just as he is irritating. Irritating in a good way, unattainably so. Would it be too cliché to ask if Jeonghan was single? Was this a question Jun got asked on the daily? To be honest you didn’t mind dating anybody, heck even a blind date would do nicely. Biting your lip, you ponder the friend next to Jeonghan.

“Wonwoo?” You wondered aloud.

A pregnant pause. “Wonwoo?” Jun cries aloud, so loud that the people behind them are startled by the outburst.

“What’s wrong with Wonwoo?” You snap, ripping a piece of crust with your teeth.

“He’s boring.”

“I think you’re mistaking boring for intelligent.” You retort sharply, looking back at Wonwoo and Jeonghan to find them lounging in the sun, Wonwoo’s head on Jeonghan’s lap. You watch as Wonwoo’s face scrunches up at something Jeonghan says, his nose crinkling adorably. “I think he’s pretty cute.” When Jun didn’t answer right away, you glare at him. “Were you like this when you set Vernon and his girlfriend up?”

“No. They’re losers.” he shrugs, “They’re perfect losers together.”

“True. Then are you saying that Wonwoo and I can’t be a perfect match?”

The challenge in your gaze bothers him, the sharp plane of his nose lifting up in defense as he drinks in your hard stance. And in one fell swoop he collapses, stuffing the last of his crust in his mouth and shrugging his broad shoulders. “I’ll find your perfect match.” he promises, crumpling his paper plate. “My methods are foolproof.”

“I hope so.” You reply. “So, how does this work? Will you set us up or something?”

“Something like that. But first, are you free Saturday afternoon?”

“I guess, why?”

“Because you’re going on a date.”

And that’s how you ended up spending your Saturday in the corner of the Korean-Japanese fusion restaurant, wringing your fingers under the table as you watch Jun order the both of you a mango shaved ice. Your eyes drift over to the open street, knowing your apartment was just a way’s off the road in case you needed to run back and hide before Jun knows all of your deep dark secrets.

You look down at your unfinished bowl of chicken katsu, regrettably noting that when you assumed that Jun said you’d be going on a date, you didn’t expect the date to be with him. It was simultaneously unnerving and exhilarating, every time Jun asked a question about yourself you’d fumble to answer. It wasn’t about being coherent, but it was doing your best to sound interesting. You would’ve given anything not to sound boring like he claimed about Wonwoo, you reasoned to yourself. No way, no way did you want to sound interesting because you were so allured by the fascination that filled his tawny gaze when you answered something. Maybe you’re embellishing your life a little bit, but it was well worth it knowing Jun was holding onto the other end of the conversation like a leash, his attention focused on nothing but you.

“So,” he drawls, waving his spoon around. “Have you read any good books lately?”

An innocent enough question, but enough to make you furrow your brows together and mull over the last time you’ve ever read a book for fun. “Huh, kinda?”

“Have you read King Lear?” he asks airily.

“Uh, no.”

“Ah, my bad. You look like you’re into romance. How about Me Before You by Moyes?”

You raise your brows, “Are you into romance?”

“No.” He says, “they’re Wonwoo’s favorite books. I’m just trying to gauge potential conversations you two could have. It’s be a whole lot easier if you actually had things in common.”

The way Jun said it, hurt. you felt the familiar pang in your chest, the feeling of rejection you’ve tasted too many times to count. You didn’t know if it were possible for you to have anything in common with anyone you’d be remotely interested in, but you’ll take your chances. You force yourself to bite back, waving your own spoon around. “We do have things in common! We’re quiet and sensible and intelligent!”

“Sounds like a study buddy rather than a boyfriend.” he teases, momentarily distracted by the waiter dropping off their mango shaved ice between them. “Oh, they put Fruity Pebbles on top.” he giggles, stabbing his spoon in the middle.

You try to ignore the way that Jun’s face lit up at the sight of the confection, his coral pink tongue darting out to lick at the beads of mango juice that dribbled onto his lips. It’s so uncharacteristic of the charming, calculated Wen Junhui you acquainted yourself with earlier this week, and it was terribly attractive.

Wonwoo who? The evil subconscious was asking yourself, because all you really wanted was to be matched up with anyone, but then Jun had to go ahead and ask if you were interested in someone specific. If you said no, you would’ve sound desperate (which wasn’t a lie) but at the same time ultimately pointless if you really didn’t even like Wonwoo in the way you claim you do.

Jun calls your name, once, twice. You probably look like an idiot, staring intently at the colorful mochi that dotted your desert. Shaking your head you ask, “Yeah?”

He grins, “I’d like to take you out on another date.”

Cupid help me.

Jun explained that you two were hanging out so he could get to know you (“For Wonwoo, of course.”) But it seemed like Wonwoo was a brittle foundation for what was really going on between the two of you, at least in your head. Jun was enigmatic, charismatic, and every single -matic that seemed to gnaw at every fibre of your being whenever you two hung out. He asked a lot about you, and you were fairly sure he knew all the unnecessary things about your life from the way you like your tea to your unbalanced study habits. You never found it necessary to ask about Jun, if he really wanted to tell you his life story he’d say it.

Sometimes he didn’t even have to say it.

You press yourself further into the mirror, feeling the heat of the room circulate further and further into your face. It was as if you were turning into furniture, because Jun was so absorbed in his own dancing that he probably wouldn’t blink at the thought of you leaving at this very moment.

But you can’t leave. He is captivating. The music pounds so far that it reached through every cell of your body to the point that your heart must’ve pounded, too. Beads of sweat pool from his gold bangs, glistening like little gems against the white fluorescents. Every move he conducted is calculated, the way he moves his hips back and forth in the rhythm, in control of everything in the room.

The music stops, and you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding in.

“Wow,” you gape, “You’re really good.”

He blinks, momentarily distracted as he tried to unplug his phone from the speaker. “What were you saying? Something about me being tall, dark and handsome?” He broke away from staring at the mirror to smile at you, sending you a playful wink that had you folding your legs closer to your chest.

You scoff, pushing yourself up, “Did you just bring me here to show off?”

“Did it work?” he rubs his neck with a white towel, his head tilted cutely. “The look on your face says it did.”

“Go to hell.”

“I’ll meet ya there.” He holds out his hand. “Now do you want to dance with me, or not? Before we got to hell, of course.”

The relationship doesn’t feel as business-like as you anticipated, and you can’t gauge as to whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing.

Today you opted against hanging out with Jun because of a little kitchen accident in the beginning of the week. You were trying to cook pasta (and how the fuck does anyone manage to screw up cooking pasta, but you) and you accidentally burned your stomach leaning against the stovetop. You were sporting a pretty pink burn under the layers of bandage, lying on your bed with your laptop on your lap.

Two knocks on your door and you didn’t bother to reply, continuing to stuff more white cheddar chips in your mouth. Halfway into your second chip two more knocks echoed through your room, and you sigh a half-hearted “Come in!” before letting your eyes roll back to your dimly lit laptop screen.

“Hello hello, it’s your favorite person in the world.”

You bite the inside of your tongue at the sound of his voice, jolting so far in your bed as to disrupt the dull pain in your stomach and have your laptop slide dangerously to the edge. Jun pops his head in, the gangly thing then ducking his way inside with his sock-clad feet and soft grey sweatpants. He must’ve gotten in through one of your roommates, the sneaky bastard.

“Favorite person?” You scoff, propping the pillows up so you could look at him properly. “Who told you that lie?”

Jun quirks his lips in a crescent smile, plopping his long body on your bed. Truth to be told, it was a little much when you insisted on cancelling your plans for today because of a little burn you got five days ago. But it was moments like this why you can’t handle Jun, especially at your weakest moments. He demands attention, and unfortunately you were more than willing to give it to him. “Don’t deny me.” he says, stepping inside and making a beeline to your bed.

He started bouncing on your thin mattress, each bump creaking the weak wood as he dents your duvet.

“Jun, my roommate might hear.” You glare, “She gets really nervous when you hears noises late at night, she’s terrified of ghosts.”

“Then I guess you’ll have to be quiet.” Jun murmurs in that all-too familiar milk-and-honey drawl, his fingers trailing over your flannel shirt. “Can you do that for me, doll?”

No matter how dark it was, you could always see his pearl white canines poking through his playful grin, edging you on. It was infallibly frustrating, the way you felt him hover over your bed like he owned it, and yourself dipping further and further into the plush blankets like you’re being swallowed in a sea of cotton and silk. This was beyond friendship, but then again what you two had wasn’t exactly friendship.

“Don’t ‘doll’ me.” you half-hiss, your fingers curling expectantly over the duvet, ready to fight.

“But I need to do this. I’ll die if I don’t.” he resorts to a puppy-pout, revealed through the moonlight that seemed to hit him like the way a spotlight would be so perfectly planned to aim at the right moment. “It’ll benefit the both of us, I promise.” he murmurs, his saccharine-drenched  words trying its hardest to destroy your sanity.

“It’s going to hurt.” you whimper.

“Only if you let it hurt.” he reasons calmly, “Just relax.”

“Okay, nope.” you grit out, shooting up like a silver bullet and pushing his chest away with both hands. The attempt was destined to be futile, and he bobs an inch forward only to come even closer to you. “Get the hell away from me!” you cry as loud as you could between the thin walls of your suite, backing further in an attempt to grasp the cool metal of your headboard.

His gaze suddenly darkens, and if it wasn’t obvious by his looks, it was definitely felt in the air. It was fueled by his ambition to win, especially when you two fight over petty things. “That’s it,” he growls, jumping forward to grasp at your flannel pyjamas, his fingers going under the sensitive skin.

With a fierce tug, he pulled at the bandage that wrapped around your stomach with a sickening riiiiip.

“Jun!” you cry with a yelp, tears pricking the tips of your eyes. Screw your roommates, the pain was unbearable. Your hands immediately grapple at the tender flesh, white hot needles pricking at every crevice of where the bandage settled itself. “I told you not to take it off! It’s still healing!”

“You were whining like a baby all week!” Jun shot back in frustration, his gangly arms up in the air. The slightly yellowed bandage dangles in his grasp like a trophy. “Girl, that burn needs to breathe! How do you think it’s going to heal if you don’t let it see the light of day?”

“Quit being sassy to me and say you’re sorry!”

“Why would I say that, that’d be lying.” he raises his eyebrows in innocence, and if it was just a little lighter in the room you could imagine how satisfied his smirk must look. “Problem solved. You can heal your burn and I can leave knowing I’ve done my good deed for the year.” he got off the bed, his weight sinking into your fuzzy carpet.

“Get out.” you seethe, pulling the the covers over your body, “You’re never allowed over ever again.”

“I’m okay with that.” he shrugs, already halfway out the door. “See ya in the morning, doll.”

Ignoring the way he blew a kiss in your direction, you groan, throwing the white duvet over your frame. Like the burn Jun was absolutely painful to deal with, but even more painful to be without.

“So what got you into matchmaking?” you ask, twirling your cup of hot cocoa with the café’s tea spoon. “Did you just watch Hitch and get inspired?”

“No.” he replies as if you told him elephants could fly, his brows furrowing together. You can tell he’s never watched the film before, even though it was sorta-kinda representative of his situation. “I married my best friend’s sister two years ago. Talked to her old high school sweetheart for her because she was too shy.”

“So what, they dedicated you at the wedding and all that?”

“Yup. And a little figurine of me at the bottom of the cake.” He deadpans, drawing triangles of condensation caught by the hardwood. You could tell that there’s more to this story, but he doesn’t look terribly inclined to share. “Why, are you questioning my ability of getting you a hot date?”

“I mean, I’ve only heard stories.”

“I’m not doing this to play with people’s hearts, that’s never my intention.” Jun looks up, his eyebrows disappearing under his fluffy fresh-from-the-shower bangs.

“Then what is your intention?”

He then puffs out his cheeks, something he’s been making habitual these past few weeks when you’re together. The expansion in his mouth causes the apples in his cheeks to bloom a fresh shade of cranberry.

“To make people like you happy.” His smile is trapped between his lower lip, his teeth fighting the urge to not smile too hard. He looks embarrassed, his gaze focused on his half-full coffee. “I’m sure Wonwoo’s going to make you very happy.”

The authenticity in his reply suddenly made you feel very guilty, and you look down to your own drink, feeling your lip quiver as you bite your straw.

“Hooooolllllyyyyyy shiiiiiitttt.”

How the hell did your best friend get the key to your suite? Her voice was too loud, like call-the-police frightening.  

“Holy shit, Kerry!” she screamed towards your roommate, the flabbergasted voice echoing from the living room. You hear the padded footsteps of your roommate coming to the main dining area at the beckon. “She bought a new bra! And it’s sexy and made of lace! Our girl’s boutta get laid!”

You freeze, spitting toothpaste foam all over the sink. Rinsing once and swiping your mouth with a towel you storm in the living room where your two girlfriends were currently gushing about your new purchase from Victoria’s.

“Guys!” you cry, gaping at the two of her ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’-ing at her latest purchase. “I have a date with Jun and he’s going to get here in thirty seconds so will you please fucking leave—”

“Hey.”

The front door shutting sounds more like your fate being sealed, ending with social suicide as Jun appears at the front of the doorway. He looks effortlessly chic as usual, despite the fact that he’s only in a black and white raglan and cuffed jeans. He grins amusedly at your friends, his canines popping against his cheeky smile.

“Hi Jun!” Your two friends pipe up, and Kerry was still holding your new bra up in the air.

“Hello ladies.” he tilts his head to the petite pair that are grinning eagerly at him, then turn to you. “I’ll wait for you outside.”

The door slams shut just as quickly as it was opened, and you glare at your two friends menacingly as soon as he was out the door. “You let him in!” you huff angrily, quiet enough for Jun not to hear from the hallway but loud enough so that the two ass-brats would get the picture. “You let him in and let him see my underwear!”

“But don’t you want him to see your underwear?”

“I do!” you hiss, reaching over to rip the bra from Kerry’s grasp. “But when the door is obviously locked and we’re in the moment not when your curiosity,” two pairs of smirks creep up on you, “makes you act like two year olds with no sense of privacy!”

Your two friends are going off like Bonnie and Clyde, spitting comments back and forth to each other like a juggle tag team.

“She’s been going out an awful lot with Jun these past couple of weeks!”

“Shit you never even goes out with me that much.”

“That’s sayin’ something. I bet this bra is the make or break of this relationship—”

“Shutupshutupshutup.” you grit out, stomping back into the bathroom. The silly giggles of your friends only continue in your head as you close the door shut. Frustrated exhales escape your mouth, echoing against the faded yellow tiles. Holding the royal blue bra in your hands, you untangle the straps in an attempt to put yourself back together.

“So, we’re here.”

Maybe you were a little over your head when he said your plans for the night were a surprise. A walk around the bridge, maybe more silly conversations over mango shaved ice. Romance is not dead, you convince herself, but it was certainly unconventional. The large house of ΣΛΤ is  a beacon of strawberry milk pink in the middle of the street, making the dark houses pale away in the darkness. Girls and boys were hanging out on the deck, Converse clad feet dangling off the railing and and red cups lazily cupped between their fingers.

“Um,” you bite your lip, realizing that this was the moment. Jun’s about to set you up with Wonwoo. “I don’t think I’m ready yet.”

“I didn’t spend a month with you preparing so you could run away when the magic really happens.”

“If the magic is in there,” you wince as one of the brothers trail down the stairs with only a pair of green and purple Patrick-esque boxers, “I want no part in it.”

“What are you talking about?” Jun furrows his brows, holding his arms out to you. “You look beautiful tonight.”

Your heart warms, and it wasn’t because of any alcohol, at least not yet. You look down at your plain mustard tee with the embroidered rose on the side, tucked into a pair of light wash shorts. It really is nothing special, despite the fact that you may have spent a good half hour in front of the mirror fixing your makeup, it was nice to know that someone still appreciated the effort you put into your appearance.

“Let’s go inside, yeah?” Before you could make another nervous protest, his hands splay across the small of your back, fire hearth warm as his grip melts through your shirt and into your skin.

The inside wasn’t as much of a mess as you anticipated, but nevertheless it was a party. Lee Jihoon’s lips purse fretfully as he toggles with his MacBook in his respective corner of the couch, presumably in control of the synthed beat that reverberates through the building. The room is comfortably crowded, and for once you don’t feel like sweating in a college party.

“Here,” Jun hands you a small glass of something clear and questionable, “Liquid courage.” His voice is terse as he took his own gulp of the liquid, smacking his lips and pointing his pinky to a corner in the back. “Won’s over there.”

You take your own shot, feeling the alcohol burn away your throat as you saw Wonwoo with some brothers playing darts. He is adorably dressed in an oversized black hoodie, but there was no denying that you felt absolutely nothing for him. It was the inevitably tragic high school movie twist: you can’t help who you’re attracted to. You poke Jun in the chest with your glass. “Another one.” You mumble.

He raises a brow, but took your cup away to refill it once more. “Drink up, buttercup.” He toasts his glass to yours and you take another one together.

By the third one you start to feel dizzy, and while Jun isn’t necessarily swaying, you feel like he’s moving much like a jellyfish from his stagnant position by the kitchen table. He grasps your shoulders, leaning down and tilting his head next to yours. “Ready?”

“Mhm.” Ready for what?

And all of a sudden he whirls you around, enough to believe that the world’s axis had broken. He lets go of your body, and instead of being reunited by his warm hands you feel a frosty grip take its place.

Wonwoo calls your name, and smiles down at you. You’re surprised he’d even remember you, from that one god-awful business class where you didn’t utter a peep. He’s remarkably sober, looking like he’s been having a good time. Your semi-inebriated self hopes you wouldn’t be the one to ruin his night. “Hi!” You squeak, your voice an octave higher than normal.

“You came here alone?”

“I came with Jun.”

“Ah,” Wonwoo’s eyes clear, and he nods in realization. “So I suppose it’s me then, right?”

A shot of lightning courses through your body, and you realize that Jun was nowhere to be found, and it was just you and Wonwoo in the kitchen. Wonwoo knew of Jun’s escapades, but he seems willing to fall into them like quicksand, slow and steady.

But falling in love, falling in like, or just crushing on someone isn’t willing at all. You can’t help what your heart wills for, and your heart wasn’t willing for Wonwoo.

“Yeah,” you sober up quickly, “I suppose it’s you.” But you were shaking your head, trying to rid yourself of the music that was eating at your eardrums. “But it’s not you, I’m sorry.”

You squeeze Wonwoo’s shoulder, giving him an apologetic smile. You had no idea whether Jun told Wonwoo about you or not, but it didn’t matter. You didn’t want any of this. Your stomach hurts and your chest hurts for turning down a guy you claimed you wanted, your brain hurt from all the running around you’ve been doing this past month. Turning around you leave the house, needing a breath of fresh night air. Jun is hanging by the door, in the middle of talking to another brother.

“What happened?” he pulls away from his slouched out form.

“I’m going home.” You declare tersely, trying to brush past him.

“What? Why?” You could hear his feet bouncing against the pavement, his long legs taking no time into getting in front of you. “Are you crying? Did he do something to you?” It wasn’t until you brought a hand to your cheeks that you realized that slow streaming tears were in fact flooding. You rub a hand over your eyes, uncaring of your smudged liner.

You hated how Jun felt the need to bend down and look you in the eyes when you couldn’t even find the strength to run away. The way his carmine eyes bore deeply into yours, his soft golden hair contrasting against the night sky as his lip worries in a frown. It’s frustrating, being so needlessly coddled by him when all you want is to go home and pretend he never existed.

“Please, I’m fine,” you hiccup, doing a shit job at looking fine. “Just let me go.”

You feel bad for pushing past him and ignoring how fucking sad he looked as you stalk away from the house. You feel bad for yourself, because you feel absolutely awful for playing along all this time because you couldn’t admit how much you liked the matchmaker himself.

[Jun] Open the door

[Jun] open open openopenop

[Jun] ur not deaf

[Jun] i cn hear you BREATHING

Trashing your Half-Baked Ben and Jerry’s, you hop off your couch and pad to your door, only standing but not opening. You’ve been ignoring his messages the past couple of days, which was probably a shitty thing to do but considering you’ve been feeling nothing but shitty it seemed appropriate. You could practically feel Jun’s insistence through the door with each rap at the wood, your hands twitching with the urge to open it. You miss him. And you hate hate hate it.

So you open the door and muster the sweetest smile you could possibly conjure, because you’re weak and at this point uncaring as to whether you could salvage your friendship or not. “Hey.” You feel like you were practically hacking out the word, it had only been a few days and it was more than enough just to have your heart skip when he’s looking right at you.

“Hey,” he echoes breathlessly, blinking shamelessly. He looks tired, like he just came from a day full of classes. “I honestly didn’t expect you to open the door. You’ve ignored my texts all weekend.”

“I haven’t.” You reply defensively, opening the the door wide enough only for his lithe body to slip through the cracks. He dumps his bag by the door, following you to the couch. You pick the corner farthest from him, but he decides to sit at the coffee table in the middle, stretching his legs out to face you.

“Saying K when I send you a whole novel is considered a felony in my books.” He says bluntly. “Was there something wrong with Wonwoo last night? Because I know he says some stupid shit but we all gotta accept that people can be a little weird—”

“It’s not about Wonwoo.” You say levelly, crossing your arms.

“Then what? Did I do something wrong?” He jabs a finger in his chest, looking palpably annoyed. “Because I just did what you wanted me to do. Is that not what you wanted?”

“It wasn’t.” You mumble, rubbing your fingers over your forehead.

“Then what do you want?” Both of you were equally frustrated. Jun, not knowing what direction to turn to, feeling cheated out of his own work. And you, frustrated at yourself for not being honest with him, for being too scared and stupidly insecure to realize that the one thing you wanted was right in front of you.

You take a breath, wanting all the butterflies in your stomach to fuck off and let you handle this on your own. “Jun, you matchmake people because you want them to be happy, right?”

He gives you a funny look, resting his elbows on his thighs. “Yeah. I told you that.”

“Well, I’m happy with you.” you confess, your words feeling both gummy and dry against your mouth. “And that’s all I want, I’m sorry I wasted your time and couldn’t tell you sooner.”

You feel all the air in your system evaporate, the weight you’ve been harboring disappear from your shoulders. You gnaw at the inside of your cheek, Jun’s expression warping in and out of the room as he lets your words sink in. You can practically feel your heart rate accelerate and unable to keep up with your body, ready to take a trip down the road so you could never fall for someone ever again. The chestnut wood of your coffee table creaks in protest as Jun gets up, his hands gripping at the armrest and the couch cushions, effectively trapping you.

“I want that, too.” Is all he says before he leans in, pressing his lips to yours.

Jun’s lips feel pillow soft against yours, and tasted like cotton candy and red hots rolled up into one superdrug because you were both heavily confused and aroused by the turn of events. You sigh at the loss of body movement, letting Jun shift the both of you on the small couch that definitely wasn’t capacitated for extended making out, but it wasn’t stopping either of you.

“‘Mm still angry that you lied to me,” he mumbles, nibbling your bottom lip between his teeth. You take this opportunity to let your lips dance over his jawline. “But there’s multiple ways to curb anger, if you wanna get a head start.”

He rubs himself into your belly, and something in your body stirs equally in response.

“Y-yeah,” you manage to answer, a little wobbled at the sudden turn of events, but the tension in the room was high and the both of you were more than ready to make up for lost time.

A few more rushed kisses to his jaw and you’re pushing him off, tugging him into your room.

In a rush of making your way to your bed you bang your knee against your open drawer, yelping as you land on your sheets. You expect him to pounce on you just as he’s ambitious for everything he does in school, but his eyes dart over to the glass item that rolled around the shaken drawer. Looking towards you in question, he bends over to pick up the object in question.

“Is this?” his eyes were practically blown apart as he looked through you with your glass toy, the amethyst color tinting his view of you.

You bite the inside of your cheek as you watch Jun utterly fascinated by the pink dildo. You can’t tell if you’re sweating from how turned on you’re on, or your sheer embarrassment, possibly both. You ordered it online sometime ago, but ever since you moved in you haven’t been able to try it out to its full capacity. Attempting to use it with enough alone time in a dorm filled with three other roommates was moot, you were lucky your mates were out at the moment. He held it in an almost embarrassing childlike wonder, feeling the smooth material like it was silk. His eyes flicker between you and the pink bulb expectantly.  His gaze is thick, and full of want.

“Uh, yeah.” You choke out, feeling considerably less bold. “I haven’t used it yet, though. I haven’t been able to, y’know.”

“Probably weren’t ready for it yet.” He says, plopping on your bed. “But I can fix that.”

You couldn’t find the air for a snappy retort when Jun reaches over to cup your sex, his fingers mapping out constellations over your clothed core. You whimper off like a switch, throwing your head back to hit the wall as you quickly squirm out of your underwear, digging your heels into the blanket.

Jun traces figure eights into your dampened skin, his tongue making a path in the dip of your collarbone. He slips a finger in, and with a few experimental thrusts you were already writhing in your own world, absorbed by his warm touch.

“Tight,” he murmurs simply, letting your juices butter around your folds, coating his long fingers. He inserts another, the squelch of your arousal echoing in the small bedroom as he thrusts slowly. You feel his fingers scissor and stretch you out, feeling every minute pressure of your skin as it conforms to his digits.  

On the other hand you definitely feel cheated, Jun’s fully clothed and here you are, oversized shirt hiked all the way up to your chest and revealing the propped up hem of your cobalt lace bra. Your body is so hot you’re almost sure the clothes would singe off before you managed to remove them.

“Jun,” you huff, tugging on his black shirt, “off.”

“Lights off?” he murmurs into your skin, thrusting deeper.

“Ngh, no.” You cry, swiveling your hips distractedly, “take it off.”

“Take the lock off from the door?” he hums jokingly, “Then everyone will see me fucking you. Unless you’re into that.”

“Fucking take your clothes off or I’ll do it for you.”

It got silent, only the dirty sounds of his fingers inside you painted the room. He lifts his head from your neck, looking down at you with his molten eyes. “Is that a threat, doll?” He adds another finger, stretching you even further. It stings a little, but it still felt feels pleasurable as you’re under the hypnotic spell of Jun’s gaze. “I wouldn’t go around being mean to the one who’s making you feel this good. I’m still a little upset, don’t you want to apologize to me?”

Everything is getting blurry and clouded with stars both from the night sky and your mind, quickly succumbing to his molasses drenched words and soul-searching stare. You manage to take off your shirt and bra, throwing it across the drawer. His fingers are still welled deep into your core, your hips thrusting against his.

“Look at you fucking my hand,” his tongue darts out to lick his lips, gesturing for you to look at the way his hands disappear like a mantra into your body. “Looking absolutely pretty, who knew you’d be so good at this.”

His other hand reaches to unfurl his sweatpants, easily shucking them off to the side. Your eyes can’t help but focus on the apparent bulge between the white boxer-briefs, but you continue thrusting in his hand, feeling the high quickly approaching.

“But I think you’ll be even prettier with this inside.”

With a “pop” he removes his hand, and before you could groan in protest he wiggles the cool glass toy in its place, rubbing your fluids against the smooth surface. You nearly forgot about the dildo, but now your thighs are practically on fire, and with a firm push the head was already inside of you, gliding like butter through your folds. The pressure is almost decadent, you never knew how useful a sex toy would be until you had Jun using it to it’s fullest. Your juices squelch in pattern to his thrusts, his eyes mesmerized as he watches the pink dildo appear and disappear before him.

“J-Jun, don’t stop,” you sigh, your voice overwhelmed with breathy distraction and overstimulation, “Mmph, I need more,”

“Are you sorry?” He asks tauntingly, slowing his pace, and you can feel his warm grip linger across your folds, blocking the dildo’s path.

“I’m sorry,” you whimper, edging your lips closer to the toy, but he only pulls it farther.

“Sorry, for,” he presses the head inside, and you whine, aching for sweet relief.

“S-sorry, sorry for—ungh—ple-ease,” you could barely formulate a reply when he swirls your gloss with the tip, “Sorry for, ah, not telling you I wanted you.”

“Are you sorry that you missed out on this?” he stage-whispers, leaning his body so every inch of his skin was against yours as he returns his thrusting to a steady pace. His other hand moves to trap your wrists above your head, preventing you from moving too much. His voice is rough yet smooth, gliding across the shell of your ear. “Are you sorry that we could’ve done this sooner?”

“Mhmph, yes!” you sigh aloud, lifting your hips to match his pace, You dig your fingers into his palm. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, please just do whatever you want to me and don’t stop!”

Letting go of your grip his long legs move to straddle you, going over one of your thighs in particular as he thrusted the toy faster. Resting his pelvis on your outstretched thigh he cants his hips against your bare skin in tandem to his movements, the thin material doing absolutely nothing to hide his hardness.  Feeling his dick against your skin only made you even wetter, your slaps getting louder as you start to hit the peak of your release. Getting messier you feel the stars in your head implode into supernovas, your fingers squeezing the sheets taut and your walls clenching around the toy that was now equally hot as your body.

You’re numb, but still willing to go farther once you see the hunger in Jun’s eyes. He pulls out the toy with a painful slowness, and you shiver from the sensitivity. Your juices are dripping from your orgasm, and Jun brings it up to his face. Looking straight at you, he licks the toy.

Your clit twitches in betrayal.

Throwing the toy across the bed his long arms reach for the drawer, pulling out a condom from the same place he found your toy. Somehow his shirt is already off, probably stripped away in the middle of your orgasm. He quickly throws off his boxers, and his dick stands erect, scarlet with pearls of precome at the tip. The foil rips like it’s being cut with a thin blade, Jun quickly throwing the condom on his hardness.

“Do you still want more?” He asks, running his hands over his dick a few times. As sexy as the phase sounded, his gaze looks nothing but boyish in front of you, waiting for your consent. It was uncharacteristic of his previous control but nevertheless welcomed. Moonlight decorated his hair, reflected by the cracked window and the navy sky.

You manage a small nod, and a careful “Yes.”

“Good.” he hovers over you, pressing a quick kiss to your forehead. “Because I want to give you more.”

Your hands splay across his chest, running across his neck before securing a grip on his shoulders. Jun adjusts the two of you as he rubs himself at your entrance, filling you up. You gasp, lifting up slightly to grab onto Jun’s shoulders as he stretches your folds, feeling comfortably full. He groans into your ear, the sound echoing through every pore of your body as you felt him start to rock against you. This was by far better than any silly toy, and it didn’t feel as if you were satisfied just moments ago. You wanted more, and Jun was here to give you everything you needed. His hips snap against yours in a steady rhythm while his smoked out breaths sighed into your ear, murmuring your name and telling you how you’re good, so good for him.

“You feel so nice,” he groans, his thrusts getting sloppier as he edged on, “Nggh, you feel so good with my cock stuffed in you, does it feel good?”

“Yes, yes it feels good,” you whimper, unable to catch up to his messy thrusts. His dick went all the way to the spongy spot in your body, one that was making your head spin. You feel the walls connecting you two slicken, giving him more room to fuck you harder as he lifts your leg to penetrate deeper. “Mmph, Jun, keep going—” you encourage, reaching a hand to rub circles into your clit.

His hips were going at a fierce rate, slapping against your skin as you moan in pleasure, writhing your head and marking his back with your crescent shaped nails. “Come around my cock,” he husks out, his voice quickly losing traction, “So I can come too.”

His mouth was gaped and against your neck, sighing and gasping for release when you squeeze his dick, and with a final thrust he collapses over your sticky body, moaning in satisfaction. His face plants itself into the crook of your shoulders, nuzzling your skin. With a couple lazy thrusts he pulls out, a blind hand reaching to safely remove the condom from his body. You close your eyes in an attempt to settle your breathing, focusing on the inhale and exhale of your chest as Jun gets up to dispose of the latex. Your eyes slowly return to a mere half-liddedness, a notably perkier Jun returning to your bed and putting his face close to yours.

“Hi.” He chirps, carding a hand through your sweaty strands.

“Hello.” You smile weakly.

“So, are you satisfied with your service?”

“Satisfied? Jun!” You laugh tiredly, slapping his shoulder.

“Has my performance as your matchmaker improved your lovelife?”

“I don’t feel the need to satisfy your ego after you just pounded me into my mattress.” You reply tartly, snatching the blanket and placing it higher above your chest.

“Please?” He lets his face sink into your pillow, his eyes twinkly and sweet in the dark room.

Sticking out your tongue, you reach a finger to poke his nose. “My lovelife,” you shuffle to press his lips to yours in a half-hearted, glowy kiss. You feel Jun’s hands warm up to your sides, pulling you closer. “And yours, is definitely satisfactory.”

#jun #jun scenarios #seventeen #seventeen scenarios #kkreationsnet #jun fic #junhui #wen junhui #seventeen fic #kpop #kpop fic #kpop scenarios #jun smut #seventeen smut #prince jun

[tmntreasures]

Honor Among Thieves Ch.10

The next morning, Aida was up early as always, preparing herself before she left to check up on her siblings. The girl was spritzing herself with Febreze, trying to mask some of the sewer smell that clung to her clothes.

Bonnie watched the girl get ready, and just as she was about to leave she slipped out of her sleeping area and snuck up to her. She was dressed to go as well. She tapped on the girls shoulder lightly, and quickly stepped over to her other shoulder as a joke.

Aida looked over the shoulder that was tapped and huffed when she saw no one there. Thinking it was someone else, she snapped to the other side, "Mik--oh! Bonnie?" She gave her a confused look, especially when she saw the girl was dressed. "Why are you up so early?"

Bonnie smirked at little when she successfully pulled off the prank. She chuckled, "I'm coming with you today. I need to stretch my legs, and get some fresh air."

She raised a brow at first but then shrugged in compliance. To be fair, Aida was shocked the girl had stayed down for as long as she did without complaining. "Alright," she tossed her the febreze and pointed. "Spray up! You'd be surprised what Orlan can sniff out."

Bonnie took the bottle and spritzed herself all over with it. "What is he, a dog?" She clicked her tongue.

Aida smirked, "He acts like one sometimes. Also if you need to smack them go ahead. They're teenaged boys after all."

Bonnie laughed again, and started walking towards the exit of the lair. "Will I be meeting anyone else from your family today? Kind of tired of hanging around teenage boys..." She sighed.

Aida cringed a little and shrugged, "My...little sister and her twin brother?" She began to make her way out of the lair and continued, "I'd say my dad, but even when he's home most of the time he's asleep."

"That sucks... You need a nanny." She pointed and teased.

Aida laughed a little and pointed at herself. "I was the nanny."

Bonnie smiled and crossed her arms. "It's funny because you remind me of my old nanny… A little bit."

Aida paused and furrowed her brow. "Wait...your family had enough money for a nanny?" She looked at her in complete shock. She didn't know much about Bonnie's family life; it seemed like a sore subject so she never tried to talk about it with her. And even though Bonnie had fancy clothes, she figured they were stolen just like most of the things in her apartment. Now she wasn't so sure...

"They probably still do." She shrugged and continued forward. "I don't know. I haven't seen them in a while."

She kept walking but could not hold her tongue. "Why not? If they're loaded why do you steal?"

"The same reason you do. To provide for myself." She said and hopped over a puddle of water. She turned and faced the Latina. "I know what you're thinking... I must be a spoiled little rich girl." She adverted her eyes and paused for a few seconds before perking up. "And I was! But that's just it; was."

"I dunno, you still kinda do act like one," Aida joked, trying to ease the air. "So...what happened? They didn't like your boyfriend or something?" She kicked at a crushed can.

Bonnie clicked her tongue, but smiled. "True... And no." She laughed. "I wasn't allowed to have boyfriends until I was older. Which meant never as long as I was under their roof."

Aida scoffed. "Fuck that. You must've been super angsty then huh?" Although Aida had had boyfriends in high school, she never got very far with them. She was very picky about who she would go out with for starters and she was terrified of pregnancy. So anytime her boyfriend’s got upset with her because she wouldn't go further, she would end it then and there.

Bonnie laughed more. "Noooo. I was actually very well behaved... For the most part." She smiled weakly.

Aida giggled and shook her head. "Alright, so you were kind of an angel. But you left becaaause...they were too over-bearing or something?"

Bonnie was now looking at her feet as she walked; deep in thought, her expression turned stern. She glanced at Aida and opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself. She sighed frustrated. "Something... like that." She lied.

The girl knew that tone; she had never heard Bonnie use it before, but she had heard it from her mother. It was the tone that said 'don't ask questions you don't want answers to'. Though in Bonnie's case she was sure it was not nearly as bad, but she decided to drop it anyway. Instead, she patted the girl's back. "Well, when we get to the surface, let's rebel and get some strawberries. Make those boys eat something that's not smothered in cheese for once."

Bonnie looked to her with a weak smile again, but soon after let out a little laugh. "Oh my god… Have you seen those videos? Where there's a tiny turtle trying to eat a giant strawberry?" She laughed again when trying to finish her thought. "I don't- I don't know why but, imaging them like that!-- " She laughed some more.

Aida cooed at the image and patted at Bonnie's arm excitedly. "Aww! Eso sería tan lindooo!" She turned to the girl and stated, "We're getting some then." She grinned at the image and giggled. "Dios mio, just think if big, scary Raphael struggled like that little turtle did!"

"Hehehe..." Bonnie took a breath to stop herself from laughing. She sighed again but it was more relaxed this time. "Speaking of the turtles… You seem to be getting pretty cozy with them." She nudged her in the arm.

Aida shrugged a bit, not thinking much about her comment. "Hey, they're cooler than I thought they'd be. Plus once you get pass the sewer smell, they're not too bad." She poked at Bonnie and grinned, "Raph totally likes you though."

Bonnie snorted. "If by ‘like’ you mean, ‘wants to throw me in jail’, then yeah. He likes me!" She shook her head. "I get it... he's a control freak, and since I stole from him, he lost control; but It's not like I'm gonna try it a third time!... Probably." She shrugged.

Aida held up her hands and jumped ahead of her. "Hey, I'm just sayin'! Little kids hit the ones they have a crush on. And if these guys have never experienced a crush before theeeen." She giggled and pointed at her. "I'll bet you one-hundred pesos he’ll try to kiss you in the future.”

"Eck!" She stuck out her tongue. "Can't even imagine how that would taste." She looked down in thought. "Probably salty…" She mumbled.

"And greasy too," She added and stopped to think. "In fact...I don't think I've seen any of them take a bath the whole time we've been here." She paused and pointed, "We're gettin' some soap and a ton of scrubbies."

"That whole lair needs a scrub if you ask me..." Bonnie mumbled.

Aida shuddered at the memory of some of the things she found. "What Splinter should have taught them was basic hygiene, not kung-fu."

Meanwhile, back down at the lair, Raphael was finally emerging from his room. He stretched his arms out before cracking his neck and getting to work. He did his warm-up before going right into his workout routine, ending it all by practicing the basic forms of ninjutsu. All-in-all, the whole process took a couple of hours, and it was then that he noticed just how quiet the lair was. He swaggered into the main room of his home, looking around.

Leonardo was reading an old looking book while Donatello and Michelangelo were playing a game of chess. Donnie, of course, was going very easy on the poor little brother, who looked to be in deep thought for once.

Finally, he figured out what had been missing. "Girls left?" He grunted.

"Mmhmm," Donatello answered.

"Even Bonnie?" He asked again, sitting on a small chair to watch the two battling brothers.

"Yeah, but it looks like she's with Aida." Leonardo looked up from his book and nodded at one of Donatello’s computer screens. The screen showed a map on it, and a pinpoint of Bonnie's tracker. It reside in the neighborhood the Latina lived in.

Michelangelo scratched at his head and groaned. "Augh... Why can't we play checkers? It's so much easier to get!"

Raphael looked at the electronic map and whistled, recognizing the part of town from the news. "Damn. Good thing they're going in the middle of the day," He muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Because someone," Donatello looked at Raph when he spoke, "lost most of the pieces when he got mad."

"Hey, that was a bullshit move and you know it!" He pointed at his brother.

"It was perfectly fine and within the rules of the game!" Donnie argued. "You're just a sore loser."

Raphael crossed his arms, "Yeah well, you're a sore winner!"

Michelangelo groaned again, and leaned back in his chair. "This is so boring yo… I wish I was up there-" he frowned and pointed upwards at the ceiling. "With the girls!"

"Don't start..." Leo gave his younger brother a knowing look.

He huffed and crossed his arms. "It just sucks... April comes by so little now that I don't even notice; but with Aida coming back every day..." He paused for a moment. "I can smell the fresh day air on her, and feel the sun on her skin.”

Donatello reached forward and knocked on Mikey's head with a grin. "Wooow! You really do have a brain in there!" He chuckled and sat back down.

"And since when do you ever feel skin? You make it sound like the two of you cuddle," Raphael snorted. He did agree with some parts of what his brother said. Every time the Latina girl came back down, she brought new scents with her. Granted they had always been able to smell the city whenever they went to the surface, but they never knew what a home smelled like. Even that night when they had all been on the fire escape at Bonnie's apartment, the smell of the thief's abode wafted through the air; it had been rather intoxicating in a way.

Mikey clicked his tongue. "Me and Aida were way close until this guy," he pointed to Leo. "Made me put her in a Jiu Jitsu pin!"

"Heeey! I didn't make you do anything! You volunteered, and did bad all by yourself. Oh, and let’s not forget the ‘April is bae’ thing." He licked a finger to turn the page of his book.

Both Donatello and Raphael laughed at the memory and just how badly Michelangelo was ruining it for himself.

"Yeah, you really screwed it up with that line," Donatello chuckled. "But not as badly as Raph breaking Bonnie's nose."

"Hey!" His laughing stopped and he narrowed his eyes. "That was an accident. She surprised me!

"She surprised a ninja." Leo added, but didn't look up from his book.

 Mikey laughed this time and sighed a shortly after. He leaned over the table and rest his chin in his hand. "But real talk though... what do you guys think of them?"

This time, Leo looked up from his readings. "What do you mean?"

"Okay I'll put it in Leo terms." Mikey gestured quotation marks with his fingers. "Do you enjoy their company orrr are they just part of a mission?" He asked.

Leo looked down in thought for a quick second before answering. "Mostly just part of a mission. I enjoy Aida more than Bonnie though. She shows potential and doesn't seem like she'll go straight back to being a thief once this is all said and done with. Bonnie however..." He trailed off.

Donatello shrugged and moved a piece, "Well, to be fair, Bonnie hasn't taken anything since she's come down here. So she's got a chance."

"Yeah right," Raphael snorted, "You heard her. She can't help it, it's like second-nature to her."

"Just like how it's second-nature for you to hit first and ask questions later." He argued before sighing. "Look, I've been keeping inventory of all our stuff, especially my stuff, when she came down here." He held his arms out and grinned, "Nothing's gone missing!"

"Because she doesn't have anyone to sell it to," the red-clad ninja hissed.

That was when Donatello pointed at the map behind him and spoke, "She's on the surface now. She clearly wanted to go outside for a while. This would've been the perfect time to sell out things." He tapped at the chess board and stared at Raphael, "She can restrain herself. Just like you can restrain yourself from punching me right now. She just has to learn."

Raphael's jaw clenched when his brother not only explained the situation but called him out. His fists relaxed as he thought about what he had said. There really were times when he just couldn't help but attack someone, or something; he didn't know why, but it was like an itch that had to be scratched. If that's how Bonnie was with stealing, then he could sympathize in a way. Especially if she felt the same amount of guilt he felt sometimes after doing something really stupid.

"I think Bon-Bons pretty cool." Mikey shrugged and moved one of his chest pieces without thought. "She's like the high school girl who sells cigarettes in the middle school girl’s bathroom. Cool and dangerous, but I wouldn't take her home to Master Splinter."

Leonardo sat up and threw his book at Michelangelo’s head. "You already did, dummy!"

"Oww!!" He held his head and whined. "You're the one who made the call!"

Donatello grinned but bobbed his head, "Yeah. She's pretty cute too." He looked down and moved a knight before saying, "Check."

Raphael gave his brother a look, surprised the words came out of his mouth. "...Didn't think she’d be your type, Donnie."

"What? Proportionally speaking, for her face and body, she's cute!" He sounded offended and gestured with his hands. "Besides, I'm shocked she's not your type."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked genuinely curious.

Donnie paused for a second, trying to be careful with how he picked his words. "Well, out of all of us, you're the strongest. So bigger muscles right? Well Bonnie's got..." He made cupping motions with hands and blushed a bit before waving his brother off. "Y-you've seen 'em before! They're pretty big too. So ya know. Big muscles go for big...lady-parts?" He scolded himself for sounding so stupid and turned his attention back to the game.

It was true though; Raphael did think she was a good looking girl. When he first met April, he thought for sure she was the prettiest woman on the planet. Until he met Bonnie at least. But then she stole from them, not once but twice; which muddled his perception of her. He couldn't decide if he liked her or not.

Michelangelo laughed again. "Suuuperrrbbb logic, Donnie!" He grinned.

"Oh shut up," Donatello grabbed the King from Mikey's side and chucked it at him. "At least I don't compare my crush to other girls."

Mikey's eyes lit up as well as his smile. “First you say she's cute, and now you're saying stuff like, my crush? Donnie boy, you're catching a love-bug!" He cooed, and wiggled his fingers at him.

Donatello's cheeks began to burn as he blushed. He began to smack his little brother's fingers away and whined. "I-it's not like that! I just...admire her! It's totally different and definitely less creepy than what you think about!"

"Admire what, Donnie?" Leonardo jumped in finally. He stood up from the spot he was sitting at and stomped over to the two, placing a hand on the table they were playing chess at. He towered over the two of them and stared down at them. "Look, before you two romantics get any bright ideas, think again.” He put emphasis on his words. “Not only are they human, but they also live on the surface." He glanced back and forth between the two. "We're ninjas. Defenders of New York City. Love does not fit in our trade." He let up on the table and walked out into the lair.

Donatello felt himself shrink under Leonardo's gaze. He stared at the ground for a while before finally nodding weakly in agreement. "Yeah...he's right," He stood up and looked at the screen to make sure the girls were still in Aida's neighborhood. He tried not to think about how nice it must feel to walk out in the open in the daylight and returned to his work. It may have been typical, but it at least kept his mind busy.

After Leonardo's brief lecture, Raphael couldn't help but look down at his hands. He recalled the girls' initial reactions to himself and Michelangelo and it struck a hard chord inside of him. The four of them could admire all they wanted, but the chances of ever experiencing a connection with someone were zero. They were mutants and the girls were human. No matter how friendly they got with them, it would never happen.

Mikey's eyes began to well up with tears but he rubbed them away with his forearm. He couldn't help but to think of the time where they had the purple ooze, and Leonardo had given them the choice on whether or not they wanted to be human. It was a choice they should've made together, but one took it into their hands. Michelangelo silently glared over at Raphael when he wasn't looking. He might've been able to give up this role, and live a normal life among the humans if it weren't for him, he thought.

He let out a frustrated huff and got up from the table. He stomped over to his belongings and snatched up his skateboard. "I'm going out." He said to no one in particular, and then left the lair.

#TMNT #TMNT 2016 #TMNT OC #TMNT FANFIC #Honor Among Thieves #Bonnie #Aida

[adapted-batteries]

Love is More Thicker Than Forget

Fandom: The Librarians

Rating: general audiences/sfw

Ships: low key Jazekiel

So for some reason my brain decided 3 am was the perfect time to write my first Librarians fic. Surprisingly, I didn’t have to edit much. Also, I started this story thinking that Stone and Flynn had left to get beers from the fountain of youth, but I realized that was from the previous episode. I decided to keep it anyway cuz he’s probably got a big stash in there.

This is set a little bit after the last scene in the annex on episode 3x06 “and the Curse of Cindy”

Posted on my Ao3 here.

------

Jake and Flynn returned from the depths of the Annex with several cold beer bottles in hand. Jenkins, scowling with his face conveying the message “I would tell you not to use an artifact like that but you will ignore me anyway,” claimed needing to clean his lab after hastily concocting the antidote potion, and left through another door, leaving the librarians and guardian in the main room. Ezekiel wasn't feeling up to drinking just yet, not after what Stone had said to him anyway, so he wandered down the hallway towards Jenkins lab.

He was doing as he said: cleaning. The lab wasn't in a horrible state, but Ezekiel could tell he had been in a rush from the various jars and vials still laying on the counters. Jenkins himself was standing at the sink, scrubbing a beaker down with some shimmering soap, probably magic soap. He hadn't noticed Ezekiel enter.

“Hey Jenkins,” he started, making his presence known. Jenkins turned around to the voice, still scrubbing away at some glassware.

“Oh, hello Ezekiel. Is there something you need?” he asked, keeping an eye on Ezekiel moving more into his lab.

“Uh, yeah. So how does that love potion work?” Ezekiel responded, looking at all the stuff strewn about Jenkins’ workspace.

“Like I said before, it’s not a love potion. It creates obsession,” Jenkins scoffed. The comforting whooshing noises of his scrubbing stopped as he paused to think. “Though I suppose you could call ‘love’ a form of obsession.” He went back to scrubbing away.

“But how did it not work on me? It’s not like I’m in love with anyone to begin with,” Ezekiel clarified, picking up what looked to be an old-fashioned perfume bottle. It smelled pleasant, but different from Cindy’s potion. Out of instinct he pocketed the bottle.

“You are so self-absorbed that the potion couldn’t affect your perception of others,” Jenkins responded matter-of-factly.

“Is that really why it didn’t work?” His conversation with Stone had made him question that statement.

“Yes...and no. I do think your ego was part of it, but I can’t figure out what else. For instance, we all know Flynn loves the library, he would die for the library, but he was affected, which is why love doesn’t protect someone from it,” Jenkins said. He turned to look at Ezekiel again, with a hint of pity on his face. “If it’s really bothering you, I’m sure we have a book on potions that may shed light somewhere.”

“Oh no, heh, I don’t want to research,” Ezekiel stuttered, his brain turning over what Jenkins had said. “I was just...curious.”

“Well, don’t let anyone tease you about it. Being immune to a love potion is a good trait to have,” Jenkins added.

“Will do,” Ezekiel smiled.

“If you’d like, you could help me clean---actually nevermind, I don’t want you taking anything you think is ‘cool,’” Jenkins said.

“Nah, I’m not one for cleaning, especially if I can’t take things,” Ezekiel laughed. Jenkins just rolled his eyes and turned back to cleaning.

He left the lab, feeling the bottle in his jacket pocket. A prank on Stone felt like a good idea at the time, even if he had no clue what this bottle of stuff actually did, though he had a feeling it was related to the whole ordeal they just went through. Perhaps he could prove an obsession potion had nothing to do with love like Stone had claimed, or at least that his love was aimed at Cindy (surely all the times he had risked his life for the other, for his family, would've been obvious enough to show where his affections lie, but Stone could be a little thick). Striding back into the main room he saw Stone and Flynn still sitting at the main worktable, chatting about some obscure culture fact. The girls had gone off somewhere, probably bored out of their minds listening to the two dorks argue about 14th century art or something.

“I'll have that beer now, if you didn't already down it in my absence,” Ezekiel called, sliding up next to Stone like nothing was up.

“I was tempted, but I figured you'd get thirsty eventually,” Stone sighed, passing him the unopened bottle.

“Your love for me is oh so evident,” he chided, making sure to sound pretty sarcastic. Stone didn't seem to think anything of it as he turned back to Flynn.

“So like I was saying, The Decameron had always been written like it was fiction, and for years historians interpreted as such, but…” Jake droned on about some piece of literature, and Flynn listened like a dog waiting for the right time to steal the toy from its sibling, waiting to find something Stone didn't know so he could parade his knowledge around. Ezekiel had gotten used to zoning out when they did this, which while not happening often, got made up for by lasting for hours on end.

He felt the small bottle in his jacket pocket, maneuvering it so he could push the bulb and hold on onto it with one hand. He had a plan of course, to get Stone to smell it before Flynn did. Stone occasionally put his right hand on his thigh, smoothing out his jeans unnecessarily. If Ezekiel spritzed his hand, eventually stone would take a drink, bringing the potion-misted hand near his face. Feigning attentiveness to the conversation, he waited for several minutes until Stone set the plan in motion.

It took a couple minutes for the effect to kick in, but it was very obvious when it did. Stone stopped mid-sentence, turning his head to look at Ezekiel next to him. His art-concentration face had changed to what Ezekiel could only describe as “bedroom eyes.”

“Stone, are you alright?” Flynn asked, confused by his behavior.

“Never better,” he mumbled, not taking his eyes off Ezekiel. Then, of all things, Stone started reciting a poem.

“love is more thicker than forget/ more thinner than recall/ more seldom than a wave is wet/ more frequent than to fail/ it is most mad and moonly-”  Stone purred in his poem reciting voice. Ezekiel noticed Flynn fidgeting, a blush forming on his cheeks as he gawked at Stone.

Before he could recite anymore, footsteps rang from the hallway behind Ezekiel. “I know you took it! Give it back-Oh, you did not!” Jenkins shouted, storming back to his lab and returning with the bug sprayer still filled with the working antidote. He gave Stone a good dousing, then stuck his hand out to Ezekiel. “Hand it over, now.” Normally he'd play coy with Jenkins, but the contempt contorting the immortal’s face made him comply. Jenkins looked like he was going to berate him, but instead sighed heavily and walked back to his lab.

Stone, now out of his induced-lovesick daze, looked from the still flushed Flynn to Ezekiel. “What just happened?” he asked, more of a demand than a request.

“I, uh, heh, well I-” Ezekiel stumbled on his words, suddenly embarrassed with how stupid he had been just now. “I may have just sprayed a nondescript bottle of potion on you, unknowing until now that it was probably the leftover love potion Jenkins used to make the antidote.”

“You...what?” Stone’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Why the hell would you do that!?”

“I...I dunno, thought it would be funny I guess,” Ezekiel stammered.

“Funny? Really!? After what just happened!?!” Stone growled. He was getting quite angry.

“Ok! It was a stupid idea, I get it!” Ezekiel snapped. He looked to Flynn for help, but Flynn had quietly disappeared. So much for that escape plan. He looked back to Stone, who suddenly looked calmer than he had been.

“Was it because of what I said earlier?” Stone asked, somewhat forced sympathy in his voice.

“Yeah, I guess. I didn't really think about it, spraying you I mean. I did think about what you said though, and you're wrong,” Ezekiel clarified, not sure why he was divulging to Stone.

“What do ya mean ‘I was wrong’?” Stone’s eyebrows were back to furrowed in confusion only.

“I didn't, I don't love Cindy. I saved her because I saw myself in her, or rather myself without my confidence and natural ‘Ezekiel Jones charm.’” He couldn't help acting cocky when talking about his self-esteem, but he dropped it. “I had no one, like her, and I knew how it felt. I could sympathize with her, get her to see the error of her ways, save the day and all. But I never loved her. And Jenkins said it wasn’t love anyway.” He paused, swishing the beer in his bottle like it could alleviate the situation. “If anything my...love...was aimed elsewhere.”

Apparently Stone thought this was the time to joke now. “Oh, well who's the lucky lady?”

“You.” Ezekiel hadn't meant to blurt that and quickly backtracked at the look of confusion, and sudden blush on Stone's face. “I mean you, and Cassandra and Colonel Baird and Jenkins and Flynn. You all filled a hole of what I didn't have: a family who cared about me. And I don't want to lose that.” He laughed to the ceiling, uncomfortable with this sudden sharing of feelings. “Have you not noticed how I changed? I'm not just the thief who waits for my time to shine when I'm needed anymore. I'd die for you guys...I have died, many times, because I don't want to lose you.”

Stone was shocked; his mouth hung half open like he was trying to say something but it wouldn't come out. “I didn't know, I swear.” he looked to the bookcases, a smirk forming on his face before he looked back to Ezekiel. “Now that I think about it, I should've noticed. I guess I got it stuck in my head that you were the self-absorbed thief, so everything you did ultimately was for yourself, but that's not the case anymore.”

“You better not speak a word of this to Colonel Baird or Cassandra,” Ezekiel whispered, feeling quite self-conscious all the sudden.

“Never,” Stone smiled, touched that Ezekiel opened up to him. He ruffled Ezekiel's hair playfully for a moment, though his hand lingered a little longer than necessary. “Thanks for telling me this.”

Ezekiel smiled back meekly, fighting the urge to kiss Stone then and there. He cleared his throat, more for himself than for ending the conversation, and stood up. “I should probably go apologize to Jenkins. I don't want him ticked off at me for a week.” He took a swig of his mostly untouched beer before turning to leave.

“Go get ‘em,” Stone said.

Suddenly something hit him in the butt. Ezekiel jumped, spinning back to Stone smirking at him; a hint of those “bedroom eyes” from before were back. Deciding that was enough feeling confession for now, Ezekiel high-tailed it down the hall to Jenkins, hoping Stone missed the painfully obvious blush on his face.

#the librarians #Ezekiel Jones #Jake Stone #Flynn Carson #Jenkins #The Librarians fic #low key jazekiel #jazekiel #jacob stone

[merrygaytrio]

Ten visits; that was enough for poor Jackson Tag to develop a healthy crush on the three doctors that always took care of him. By the fifth visit, he and the reception nurses were what he dared consider a friendship. It took about six months to pile up those visits, so regular that the nurses jokingly suggested looking into a frequent visitors discount card. Jackson has laughed it off but couldn’t help but wish if only.

The tenth visit is a bloody nose. Broken nose, probably, the nurse had warned him. Zach-- Dr. Hazelwood-- is the first to stop by once he gets a room to himself.

“Oh, Jackson.” Exactly six visits ago, Zach had dropped the formalities. Jackson knew this, because he kept count. “What did you do to yourself this time?” Zach crosses his arms, amused.

“Zach!” Jackson’s voice sounds comedically stuffy, nose clogged with blood and misshapen cartilage. He smiles, teeth stained with blood. “I, uh, fell. Busted up my face.”

Zach steps closer, looking him over with suddenly serious, calculated eyes. Jackson feels like a germ under a microscope. Zach reaches out and places his fingers under Jackson’s chin. He does not grip very hard or try to move him himself. “Up,” he instructs quietly. Jackson does so, Zach’s fingers following him. It’s silent for a few seconds.

“Broken,” Zach says suddenly. Jackson’s mouth twists.

“Ugh, really?” He asks, as if arguing with a doctor could fix his nose and spare him the pain. Zach sniggers, drawing his arm back to his side.

“Serious as a heart attack,” he says, which, looking back, was a bit in poor taste, given he’s a doctor working in a hospital. Jackson watches him shuffle through a drawer from across the room. Zach pulls out two latex gloves, a wad of tissues, and a small spray bottle of a clear liquid.

Zach says, “Gonna have to put that nose back in place,” then slips on his gloves. Jackson swallows. “Sorry,” he adds, and looks like he really means it.

“It’s cool,” Jackson replies, even though it really isn’t cool, it is not cool in the slightest. He leans back into the bed, exhaling. Zach is suddenly back at his side, mouth pursed in concentration as he feels up the bridge of Jackson’s nose. Jackson lets out a quick and jerky “ah!” at the sudden pain.

“No, no, don’t move.” Zach is using his Serious Doctor Voice, which usually makes Jackson very happy, though now he’s not so sure. But when his breath hitches with pain, Zach’s voice drops into something more… Real. “Hey, it’s alright. Just gimme a second. I got you.”

Zach has one hand under his chin again and other firmly on his nose. Just as Jackson is about to make a nervous but joking comment, there was a yank and a snap and Jackson shouted out loud enough to make even Zach flinch. There was a beat of shocked silent before Jackson realizes a fresh flow of hot blood is trickling from his nose. Zach hands him a tissue, but it seems to be for naught, because he immediately starts dotting his own tissue at the blood. Jackson sits, awkwardly, breathing through his mouth and eyes watering from the residing pain.

“You okay?” Zach asks, his voice still that low and comforting one Jackson never really heard before.

“Yeah,” Jackson says. If anything, his nose is even more stuffy than before. Zach gives his last clean tissue a spritz of the bottle, then touches it to the scrape just above the break. Jackson hisses-- it’s disinfectant, and that shit hurts too.

“You done torturing me?” This makes Zach laugh. There’s still blood trickling slowly from Jackson’s nose, and old blood dried around his mouth, but he steps back and lets Jackson take control. “For real, come on; no more, right?”

Zach says, “No more from me. I still want to do a quick concussion check before we let you leave, though.” He pulls off his stained gloves and tosses them into the waste bin.

“Not from you?”

“I’m five minutes into my lunch break, man. You’re lucky you have those frequent flier benefits.”

Jackson doesn’t have time to feel guilty, because Zach gives him a grin and makes a break for the door. Through the open blinds, he sees that Zach is greeted by Dr. Dauner. Shane. Jackson tries not to make heart eyes at the both of them, especially when Zach murmurs something to Shane and the blonde doctor spins around to look into the window. He waves enthusiastically, and from the looks of it, he’s laughing. Jackson waves back. Shane loops an arm around Zach’s waist, and off they slip into the steady stream of people. Jackson lays back. His nose hurts, and his heart flutters thinking of Zach’s low voice and Shane’s stupid smile. Fuck.

There’s only about ten minutes for Jackson to sit and pout about his nose before someone knocks on his door. Before he can answer, a very familiar, very flustered doctor sweeps her way in and damn near slams the door behind her.

Dr. Casillas-- Rose-- is holding a classic brown paper bag in one hand, the other hovering over her pager. She looks almost surprised to be there, once she settles down. “Jackson,” she greets, almost out of breath. Only two visits ago had she finally dropped the dying attempts of formality.

Jackson raises an eyebrow. “Everything okay?”

Rose pauses, looking down at herself then back to him. “Oh, yeah. My supervisor is pissed at someone and I’m trying to, just, not run into him today.”

“I’ll fucking fight your supervisor,” Jackson says, before he can stop himself. Rose bursts into laughter that both warms Jackson to the core and embarasses him. He bring up a tissue in front of his face, even though his nose had stopped bleeding seven minutes ago. At least Rose seems less wound up. She places her brown bag on the cabinet that housed the latex gloves and turns to him.

“I should be asking you if everything’s okay. Broken nose, huh?”

Jackson nods. Rose is approaching his bed, looking him over with the same professional gaze Zach had. It was nothing new but he could still feel Rose’s eye tracing him.

“How hard did you hit your head?”

Jackson shrugs. “Kind of hard?”

“Does it hurt?”

“My nose does.”

“Did you just hit your nose?”

Jackson feels like she’s just making up questions now. She’s now only a few inches from his face, still closely examining him. He grins at her, tilting his head so that she had to follow him.

“Back of my head, too,” he says. Rose huffs out a laugh, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small flashlight. Her hand cups that back of his head and if Jackson hadn’t known she was feeling for an injury he wouldn’t know what to think. Her fingers brush over a tender spot and he tries not to flinch.

“Yeah, there’s a little bump there. Not too bad,” she murmurs to herself. “Look at me.”

There’s suddenly a bright light shining into his left eye, then his right. Rose seems satisfied, stuffing the light back into her pocket, then holds up a finger.

“Follow, please.” Her Doctor Voice is so nice, Jackson can’t help but obey. He likes her normal voice, too. Now that he thinks about it, he likes almost everything and anything she has to say. His eyes easily follow her finger from left to right a few times before she lowers her hand.

“I’m gonna say you’re fine,” she says, and oh how Jackson especially likes that. “Not even gonna make you do a balance test.”

Jackson smiles. “Best news I’ve heard all day.” Rose laughs a little, scooting back and getting up. She leisurely makes her way back to the cabinet, grabbing her bag, and looks at him.

“You got anywhere to go?”

Jackson shakes his head. “No. This-” he gestures to his bruised nose “-got me sent home from work for the day.”

“Want to have lunch?”

Jackson’s view snaps from the ceiling to the doctor, who had seated herself in the complementary visitor’s chair that accompanied every room.

“What?”

Rose pulls out the contents of the bag; two half-smushed sandwiches, a crinkled bag of Sunchips, and a water bottle. “I don’t want to risk bumping into my supervisor in the lounge,” she admits, lining up the food across the side of the bed. “And you’ve been here for, like, three hours.”

Well, she’s not wrong. Jackson sits himself up, crossing his legs, and reaching hesitantly for a sandwich. “Are you sure? I mean,” he laughs a little. “You’re actually working. I’m just chilling.”

Rose has already unwrapped her sandwich and was working on the crust. “I don’t need two sandwiches. Nine thinks I do.” She watches happily as Jackson slowly grabs the remaining PB&J. “I would ask you if you’re allergic to nuts, but. You know. Doctor.”

Jackson peels the cling wrap from the sandwich and snorts. “The only thing I’m allergic to is--”

“Tetracycline,” they say simultaneously. Jackson laughs, and Rose looks proud of herself. Jackson takes a bite, not saying anything once he realizes it’s crunchy peanut butter. He’s about halfway finished when he finally speaks up again.

“Nine made you this?”

Rose lights up at the mention of the surgeon’s name. “She did. She’s the best.”

Jackson isn’t lying when he says, “She’s pretty.”

And with that, Rose goes on a tiny rant going on about how great Nine is. Jackson, at first, makes sure to nod his agreement with her as she spoke, because it was all true, in his opinion. He tries to keep up, he truly does. Maybe he really is allergic to peanuts, or he really does have a concussion, because he eventually can’t concentrate on anything but her.

Her auburn, tightly curled hair is tied up in a careful ponytail that bobs and sways when she moves and talks. She stops every now and then to think, or smile, or laugh. She has all sorts of pens all over her, be it tucked behind her ear or just barely peeking above her coat pocket. He’s seen her fiddle with the caps; popping them off, spinning them between her fingers, then popping it back on. She’s a thoughtful doctor, too. It was cute, how hard she tried to keep formal for so long. Maybe that’s not the right word. She is cute, but so admirable at the same time, enough to make Jackson want to never call or think of her as something so simple as ‘cute’ again. Oh fuck, he realizes. She’s not just cute; she’s beautiful.

Jackson had totally spaced out and finished his sandwich without even noticing. He looks over at Rose, who’s staring at him.

“What?”

“You stopped replying, so I stopped talking,” she says simply, no malice to her voice. Jackson flushes with embarrassment.

“Oh, um. Sorry. Spaced out.”

Rose munches a chip. “It happens. I’ve had patients do worse than space out while I’m talking.”

Jackson finds himself laughing. “Oh, God.”

“This one lady, she-- Oh, I shouldn’t talk about this while we’re eating.”

“You can tell me later.”

Rose raises an eyebrow at him, grinning. “You plan on coming back sometime soon?” Jackson silently mulls over his words, snatching a chip from the fun-size bag and popping it in his mouth.

“Maybe, if it means I get to have lunch with you again.”

Rose’s grin was so wide Jackson couldn’t help but give her one in return. Soon, she began laughing, and if he stared hard enough, he swore he could see a blush rising high on her cheeks.

“You don’t have to get yourself hurt to have lunch with me.”

“What about doctor Hazelwood and doctor Dauner?” He put extra, unnecessary emphasis on the ‘doctor’ part. He knew the three of them-- four, including Nine-- were good friends. He’s pretty sure Zach and Shane are dating, but he’s also seen Shane and Rose exchange kisses, and he knows the way Zach looks at Nine from across the hallway. It was all a tangled mess he was more than willing to throw himself into.

“I’ll have to ask them,” Rose finally says, slyly, playing into his game as cooly as he started it. “Maybe we could arrange something. We’re busy people, you know.”

“I’m not.”

“I know, seeing as you’re in here every other week. Your friends are bad influences, Jackson. Looks like you might need new ones.”

“Shame no one in this hospital likes me.” And, oh, he’s trying not to laugh as he grins at Rose with as much mischief he could manage.

“I think I know some people.”

Jackson opens his mouth to make some quip back to her, but a firm knock interrupts them both. He’s shoved back into reality, instead of the two-person universe he and Rose had found themselves in. The janitor of that floor poked his head in, looking directly past Jackson and right at Rose.

“Ma’am, I was told this room needed cleaning by three?”

Shit. It’s 3:06, according to the clock above the door, and Jackson feels his cheeks heat up. Rose handles the whole thing very professionally, nodding at him and smiling her ever-friendly Doctor Smile.

Rose says, “Of course. I’ll let you know as soon as I get him discharged, thank you.” Without breaking eye contact, Rose grabs the cling wrap and empty chips bag and shoves them into the thick brown bag. The janitor doesn’t give her a second glance after he nods and leaves. Rose looks back to Jackson. “Can’t stay here forever.”

“Shit,” Jackson mumbles, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Come on,” Rose says, gesturing for him to come with her. His legs prickle with lack of blood flow, and he wiggles his toes inside of his shoes when he stands. He realizes Rose is tall, almost reaching him. He thinks about this until well after he’s officially discharged. It’s only when Rose is waving him goodbye does he bother to turn back to her.

“Hey, wait,” he sputters, suddenly feeling a shift of nervousness. “You never got my number.”

Rose does not look concerned.

“I’m a doctor, I can always pull your number off your files.”