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#anytime someone says that my art helps their body confidence just!!!!
ioniiaa · 2 months
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My Darling, My Honey
Alastor X Fem!Reader (Part 13)
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13
Part 13:
After practically being dragged by Vaggie back into the main lobby of the hotel with Alastor quietly humming behind the two of you, you were basically swarmed by Charlie, Angel, Husk and Nifty.
"WHERE WERE YOU? I was so scared!" Charlie barely manages to get out past the blubbering tears streaming down her face as she hugs you.
Angel examined your body with all of his arms, checking to make sure you were okay, "Geeze, toots, how'd you manage to survive that long against Smiles over there? I was sure you'd be dead meat!"
Husk gave you a glance up and down, "Glad you're alright. I'd hate to miss out on getting to know another drinking buddy." Husk glances over to Angel and grumbles under his breath, "You owe me $50."
"You were betting on if (y/n) was alive???" Vaggie groans, hands rubbing her face in exasperation.
Nifty is basically hyperventilating in your face, sniffing and examining your hair strand by strand, "Yup- still gross- EW!" Before she launches off your shoulders to go and do god knows what somewhere in some far corner of the hotel...
You let out a breathy chuckle, "I appreciate the concern... and the vote of confidence... Angel..." You give a sarcastic glare over in the spider's direction, earning a sheepish smile from Angel.
Taking Charlie's hands in your's, you take one of your hands to dry the tears from her eyes and say, "Charlie, you don't need to cry. You're such a sweet girl. I honestly can't thank you- and Vaggie-" you smile in Vaggie's direction before continuing, "- for saving my life and bringing me here to the Hazbin Hotel. I came here to find the love of my life- back from when I was alive. It's only been a few hours, yet you've already helped me fulfill the goal I've been trying to achieve for decades!"
Your words brought surprised looks upon Charlie, Angel, and Husk's faces.
Husk nearly dropped the glasses he was cleaning, "Uh.. Say what now?"
"Excuse me, but did you just say you found the love of your life... from when you were alive?? Who the hell-" Angel started to say before Alastor walked over put his hand on your shoulder,.
"Oh, you gotta be fuckin' kidding me." Husk interrupted Angel's sentence with the most deadpan yet exasperated voice he could muster.
"Wait... you mean... Freaky face has a fuckin' WIFE???" Angel yelled out in disbelief. "What the actual FUCK? I didn't think that guy was capable of love!"
"Ahem." Static noises became louder as Alastor glared in Angel's direction.
"Alright, alright, jesus, sorry! Husk, I need a drink."
"Already on it."
Meanwhile, Charlie just stood there as still as a statue from the shock. Until she suddenly started chuckling slowly, "Ah ha... hahaha... wait... really?" She brought her hands up to her mouth, trying to hide the huge grin that was slowly forming on her face.
You nodded, "Well, not quite wife haha... I was killed before he could propose..."
"Geeze, talk about grim.."
"Why, I do say that is quite enough from the peanut gallery!" Alastor piped up, menacingly twisting his head towards the bar where Angel and Husk were.
Charlie turned to Alastor, "How come you never mentioned you had someone special before?"
"Well my dear Charlie, I am a very private person, I do not often willingly divulge personal information about myself or my life back when I was alive."
"Oh." Charlie looked down at the ground dejectedly, thinking she was closer to Alastor than to be kept at such length still.
You patted Charlie's head, "Don't worry- I'll be happy to chat with you anytime! Though I don't know if you'll have fun hearing how I killed my husband- er- before Alastor. Maybe I'll have to settle for stories about my art career!" You chuckle smiling at her.
"Jesus, she IS crazy after all."
"Takes crazy to know crazy"
"Oh, shut up."
Charlie gasps, suddenly perking up, "Oh.. MY... GOSH!! Does this mean we get to host the very first wedding at our hotel??" She squeals and gives both you and Alastor the puppy-eye look.
You link your arm through Alastor's and look up at him with an inquisitive look.
"Ahaha! Why, if it is what my dear (y/n) desires, then that is what we shall do!"
You grin and bring your left hand up and hold it out to Charlie, "We already have the rings!"
Charlie blinks blankly and her mouth hangs open holding your hand to examine the ring on your hand. Vaggie leans over to look as well, "I honestly don't know I missed that..."
After staring at the ring for a while, Charlie smacks Vaggie's arm a bunch before squeezing her in a big embrace- the sounds of her squealing excitedly filled the room.
"WE HAVE A WEDDING TO PLAN!!!!!"
-> Part 14
Tag List:
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cayennecrush · 5 years
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Big oof I am awkward but uh- Hi, I love your art so much! The way you portray Jasper makes me so happy and confident! I'm a trans guy, pre everything, with some padding (lol) but like, I kinda have the same body type as Jasp and it makes Me??? So happy?? You made me really confident in myself through your drawings! I know Jasp isn't trans but let's say that I look up to her a lot. Your art has helped me so much, thank youuuuu ♡♡ May I request a happy Jasper with a big smile? Thank youuu ♡♡
AAAHHH awww oh my gosh!!! that makes me super SUPER happy, thank you SO much omg!! here is a happy jasp especially for you and all the other amazing trans jasper fans too💕💖💗
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donutloverxo · 3 years
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A Royal Scandal 2
Modern royalty au
(Image from Pinterest)
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Cowritten with @lizzygal
I'm so sorry! I made a mistake while posting this yesterday so I'm reposting it now. Hope y'all enjoy💖
Note - Since y'all liked it so much we've decided to post this fic on both ao3 and my tumblr! There will be no taglists for this however💖 You can subscribe to the ao3 story to receive updates!
Please note that my stories are not to be stolen or reposted on any other site. Reblogs are welcome. This blog and this story is 18+. Do not read, follow or interact if you are not 18+.
Summary - Modern ruler, His Majesty King Steven G Rogers, is on a quest to make his long term secret relationship the real thing. He is a man in love and wants his lover and partner to be his queen.
Warnings - Smut (m/f), dub con/non con, sex tape, scandals, mentions of past domestic abuse, soft dark Steve, possessive Steve, spanking, power imbalance, Mentions of previous domestic abuse.
Pairing - King!Steve x reader
Word count - 8k
To be fair, Steven could understand why his mother was so upset after watching the entire footage from the royal steam rooms. He had a far better understanding after having seen the footage in question. The one that had led to his mother’s reaction that very morning.
Seated beside Carol on the ride back, he slipped in his wireless earbuds and pulled up the first video he found online on his phone.
A separate car had been sent for you for whenever your meeting completed. However, he had a whole series of his own back at the palace before his day could be considered over in the administrative offices. Days were never really over for him. Should anything happen somewhere in his nation, he would be informed. As was expected for a ruler.
Until then, he had fifteen or so minutes to kill till he arrived back at the royal palace, depending on city traffic.
Which was how he found himself watching what was obviously some sort of hidden camera. As the royal banya did not have CCTV cameras. Steve found himself making a mental note to himself to ask Carol about it.
After he watched the video.
He had the feeling that this would not be going away anytime soon. Therefore, he needed to know what was on there if he was going to have to defend his actions, or even speak about it.
It was somewhat surreal watching himself walk into view wearing nothing. Not even a towel. Talking with someone who was obviously you.
Based on where the camera was located, Steve could tell it was somewhere in the hallway that led from the steam rooms into either the showers or locker room. Thank all the saints above your back was to the camera. Half of it anyway. You were standing at a turn in the hallway, leaning against the wall. Half of you hidden. A towel wrapped around your body.
Thanking those saints above still that there was no sound, Steve watched on as a voice narrated the video, some celebrity blogger dissecting the footage as if it were a pivotal moment in some sporting event.
Steve watched himself turn to face you, facing the camera too and exposing his entire self to the world.
Not that he was ashamed. He had nothing to be ashamed about. Steve was built tall and powerful like his father and mother’s father. He kept himself in shape and as for the manhood that hung heavy between his thighs, he refused to be embarrassed by that either. The blogger however did have several opinions about what she referred to as, the royal sword.
She also seemed to be very opinionated when Steve watched himself kneel down in front of you. He’d never watched himself go down on you before and found himself transfixed, easily able to ignore the blogger’s excited rambling.
For once, Steve watched your hands sink into his hair as he sank between your legs. He watched your pleasure grow and grow, he watched you sag back into the wall and reach up, grabbing at it like a cat stretching out in the hot sun.
Seeing it happen like this? Steve felt like a voyeur. He felt like he was doing something wrong. And then, he watched you climax on his face. He watched your hands tighten up against the corner of the walls meeting. He watched himself stand and no longer noticed the commentary as he sheathed himself between your legs and proceeded to pound you into the wall without mercy.
His attention caught on one little inconsequential thing. Watching one of your legs that wound over his thigh bounce wildly each time.
Quickly he exited out of the video and blog. Unwilling to watch more. Pulling a bud from his ear, he glanced over at Carol who was watching the city fly by her window.
“Have you inquired as to if the palace guard has looked into how the video was taken in the royal banya?”
Blonde hair dusted her shoulders as she looked at her king. Carol answered without a second of hesitation. “Already done Your Majesty. The camera was found this morning. A webcam of some type. It’s been sent away for fingerprints and I have the best IT professional I know looking into it, to determine if we can track down who it belongs to. The royal guard has also launched an investigation into all palace employees.”
“Thank you,” he answered her with complete sincerity.
Captain Danvers had been at his side since he assumed the throne and had proven herself hundreds of times over. She was his confidant. She was his bodyguard. She was his closest thing to a friend, if Steve could say he had such a thing. He could tell Carol anything. He had told Carol about you. Carol had told him about her sick mother and in return, Steve have given her a cottage on palace grounds while providing a nurse. So that Carol would be able to spend as much time as possible with her mother in her final days. Carol still lived on the palace grounds in that cottage down by the gardens.
“I’ll let you know when I know something,” she assured him.
***
Your return to the palace felt like it took forever. Mostly because your panties were very obviously damp from leakage and you were greatly concerned about a wet stain. The modern equivalent of a scarlet letter. Letting everyone know what you’d done.
Twice you’d checked in a bathroom along with every mirrored surface you came across.
Alas, it seemed you were in luck.
No one would know that you’d had inappropriate contact on a workday, or think you’d had an accident. Granted if someone would have noticed you planned on blaming your monthlies.
By the grace of the many women who came before you, you managed to get back to the palace without being caught and were about to go change your panties when a familiar face popped into your office.
“Hey! You’re coming! I’m not taking no for an answer!”
Wanda.
Bright red hair and a brighter red dress that was far from office appropriate appeared in your office, leaping in like an acrobat leaping onto a stage. Making you look up from where you stood behind your desk, digging through your handbag.
A bunch of different thoughts buzzed through your head.
What was Wanda talking about? Where did she want you to go? Did Wanda wear that mini-dress to work? Cause it was about five inches too short and did downright sinful things to the girls. Wanda could always pull off anything. She looked amazing in clubwear, sweats and those tea-party dresses that Jackie O was always wearing.
“Coming?” Fell from your lips in a valiant attempt to stall till you could make sense of what was happening. “What are you not taking no for an answer for this time?”
In your roommate swept like a hurricane.
“It’s practically six!” She declared, as if that was supposed to mean something to you. It had you staring at her and waiting for more information. Hands paused in their hunt for clean panties and a pantyliner in your bag’o’stuff. “No more talk of this fake boyfriend. You and me are going to go have dinner. We’re going to hit the bars to pre-game and then to the clubs! Everyone is going so you are too!”
Such news had you freezing in your patent leather pumps.
Pre-gaming? Dinner? Clubs? Everyone?
How?
It was only Thursday and then you remembered.
It was a long weekend. The winning of some great victory over the Germans from the big war that you only kinda remembered hearing about. Mostly because you’d been busy with the border issue and the education overhaul. You’d known that it was coming up and the entire four-day weekend would be spent celebrating.
Wanda saw your face. She saw what you were thinking. She was practically a mind reader. Which led her to pointing at you scoldingly. “No! No no no! No checking emails or messages. No more work. No! We’re going out tonight and we are going to have fun! You remember what fun is? Right?”
But…you really did have emails and messages to check. You actually did have a ton of work to do. Granted you always had emails and messages to check, plus work piling up. It was the nature of your job. Helping in the running of a country was a 24/7 gig.
“Wanda…”
“Nope!” She declared, marching on into your office and behind your desk to chase you out. Shooing you. Literally making you hop away and grab your handbag because you just knew Wanda wasn’t letting you back near your desk. That much was for sure.
Like a sheepdog, she herded you around your messy desk as you attempted to protest, to get her to listen, to inform her that you really really did have a good bit of work to do.
“Wait…hold on…wait, Wanda…just one second…gah!”
“No more protests! I’m not going to hear it anymore! I refuse to let you hide behind work or the fake boyfriend.”
More protests came from you. You tried. You really really did. But Wanda was shoving and pushing and hip bumping you out into a hallway that did not look like an office building, instead, it was very obviously a palace.
Your heels clicked on polished white marble that shone. Walls were cream and had priceless art hung around, gold gilded borders ran up along where the ceiling met the walls. Light fixtures were old, bronze and cut glass. Furniture that belonged in Sotheby’s was sparsely decorated around the halls.
Door were old and creaky up and down the halls, wooden with locks that required big iron keys.
It was unlike any other place you’d ever worked.
You could feel and see and even smell the smokey history oozing from the walls.
A few people were hurrying out of their offices and locking the doors behind them, which Wanda didn’t even let you do as she went on indignantly. “No! Nope! Clint from Tinder will not wait forever! He digs foreigners and he has a job and he loves to dance!”
At mention of Tinder, your gut lurched.
Dear god not this again.
Why had you ever agreed to let Wanda make you a Tinder profile? At the time it seemed so reasonable. Let her make the profile and she’d get off your ass about your alleged imaginary boyfriend. Problem solved! How on earth were you to know she’d be on the damn app making matches for you?
“Why don’t you go out with Clint from Tinder,” you wanted to know, earning yourself a roll of Wanda’s eyes as you were dragged down along the hallway to the massive marble stairs. Looking as if they’d been carved from one piece, smoothly curling down a floor to the ground floor. Large chandeliers hung with cut glass that threw light everywhere. A massive painting hung up on the large wall of a long dead large royal family in the palace of past.
“He’s not my type. But he is absolutely your type.”
Somehow you doubted that.
Sighing deeply and focusing on not snapping your ankle on the stairs and in your heels, you followed Wanda down, mixing in with the few stragglers who were leaving work and making mental notes to text Steve and let him know you’d be late coming back to the palace that night. You were then planning when you could check your work emails and work-phone messages. That had to be done in a quiet place where no one could overhear. Maybe you could go out to the club and feign a tummy ache? Then sneak away from Clint? It’d probably be much easily to sneak away from Clint than Wanda.
Click. Click. Click.
With every step you maneuvered down your heels were noisy. You’d managed to fling your sizable bag over your shoulder and just knew Steve was going to be annoyed with you. But he was an adult. Being adults meant the two of you would have to do things that you didn’t want.
“So help me, if it kills the both of us, you and I will be going out tonight and having a fun time! This is a celebratory weekend! There are festivities going on all over the city!” Wanda went on, yanking you along behind her upon reaching the bottom step and heading in the general direction of the ground floor exits.
Hurrying along behind her, you followed but you weren’t happy about it.
God did you have so much work to do and you really really wanted to spend the night with Steve. And maybe if you gave in to Wanda, she’d get off your ass about your fake boyfriend? Wait, no, your secret boyfriend, because Steve was very real, you just didn’t want to be eviscerated all over the internet and tabloids for dating a king.
You’d seen what happened when a pretty actress had dated then married a prince who didn’t rule his country. The only thing you had going for you was Steve’s country was still looked at with some serious side-eye from the world, due to past events and rulers. Plus, he wasn’t a young prince that had grown up before the eyes of the world. He was a son of a tyrant, a citizen of a sizable nation the world still viewed suspiciously with a questionable human rights record.
“You’re going to love the club! It’s totally new and they open at ten. Meaning we can have plenty of time with the girls!”
Girls?
As in plural?
Because of course this would be a group event. Wanda never half-assed anything.
“Wanda…” you began.
Before Wanda could turn her attention on you, loud shrill lady screams came and you were greeted to the sight of Maria, Okoye and Pepper. All three threw up their arms and grabbed Wanda in a big hug, yanking her away from you and freeing you from her grip.
Loud girl screeches followed.
There was group hopping and hugs and laughter.
It should have made you realize that it’d been so long since you had a fun girls night. It should have reminded you that you were young and your life shouldn’t be all about work and sneaking off with your boyfriend whenever the two of you were able to.
Your heart should have been warmed by the sight of your palace coworkers who were clearly part of the aforementioned Girls.
How long had it been since you had fun?
How long had it been since you’d had a night out on the town?
What were you doing?
Were you jumping and screeching and hugging too?
No.
You were digging into your handbag so you could text Steve real quick. To let him know about your change in plans before he began to think you’d bailed because you were a coward and got cold feet.
Just as your fingers touched the smooth surface of your iPhone…
A noise caught your attention.
Movement.
Peering up to the side at the wall, or what you’d assumed was a hallway wall since you were in another hallway nearly identical to the one upstairs. All while the hugfest continued. You noticed that the wall was at a weird angle. As if it were opening up on a hinge and by the time you realized that the wall was actually an opening to a hidden passageway, a hand grabbed your elbow and yanked you in.
No more than a soft squeak came from you.
In you tumbled.
Into a dimly lit hallway that was actually a passageway you found yourself. With a metal sounding click the wall slid back into place and a big hand fell over your mouth. Making you immediately panic, immediately reach up to grab the hand that was silencing you. Making an arm band around your chest and pull you flush back against a broad muscular body.
“Did you honestly think for one moment that I would allow you to go get drunk with Wanda? Or go to a club with a man that she met for you on Tinder?”
Steve.
It was Steve.
His faint aftershave still burnt your nose but paired with the masculine scent that was him, you relaxed only a little bit, just a smidge.
How the hell did he know all of that? Had he bugged your office? Was he following you?
Deep in your chest your heart pounded wildly. Your skin was on fire. Even though it was dimly lit, you swore you could see each nail and groove in the wooden walls of the hidden passage.
Steve’s shoes were soft on the carpeted floor. Yours however never reached. Your legs dangled. Desperately you stretched out to try and reach your toes down, but alas, Steve was holding you up and was simply that much taller than you. Easily holding you up as he carried you.
His voice an angry snarl, a seething whisp against your ear. “That is so disappointing my love. A failure on both our parts,” came his angry voice. Walking with sure footing and a quick pace through the only barely lit halls.
Turning here and there, quickly and suddenly, until you were very much lost.
A protest came from behind his palm that was crushed against your mouth. Your blood heating with every passing second till it felt as if it were boiling. All that sudden fear was turning into anger at this treatment.
“I’ve clearly failed you if you’re unable to announce with nothing but the utmost certainty that you’re both in a relationship and have no desire to go out clubbing with whomever Clint from Tinder is.” The word clubbing was spat out, as if Steve found it vile on his tongue. “As for you? Yesterday we were discussing where to go for your birthday and today, you refused to answer one of my calls! You have work to do tonight to make up to me your behavior today!”
Further down the hidden passageway you were unceremoniously carried pulled to his front. Your brain racing at warp speed.
You had work to do? You had to make up for your behavior?
Had he lost his damn mind?
Had he not seen the video of his naked nether-regions all over the internet? Or the sex that made the footage a sex tape? The two of you were now amateur porn stars and he was mad that you? Because you were trying to be lowkey until the entire situation blew over? Steve was mad because you were being reasonable?
A most valiant attempt was made to free yourself.
You struggled. You kicked. You flailed and shrilled behind the hand over your mouth. No longer taken by surprise or frightened. Now you were growing angry.
On top of being terrified of being found out in that footage and ridiculed by the world, or worse, chased out of this country by a horde of angry people who didn’t agree with you being the kings choice as not only a foreigner, but one from pretty humble roots. You were upset that the world saw such an intimate moment between the two of you and even if Steve didn’t care that his junk was all over the internet, you cared. You cared a great deal. The royal junk was your junk. It was bad enough you had to know he’d dated women before you who’d seen him nude and were intimate with him, but now the world? It was simply too much for you to comprehend.
Steve slowed and turned, using his elbow he made something pop and a slight crack of light where there was obviously another hidden door in the wall appeared.
Using his broad shoulder, Steve pushed the door open and stepped out into a hallway that led down to the royal chambers and split off.
With his knee, he shoved the hidden panel shut and tightening his grip on you, Steve hurried down that hallway.
A completely different one from where the administrative offices were located.
Rich wooden paneling covered the walls. Making everything appear warmer, lusher. An amber haze hung in the air.
Thick carpet was underfoot. Furniture spoke to its age but had been made with a quality that endured. Like this palace. Built when his land was called something else but had stood through time in proof of his claim to the throne.
Generations before him had ruled, claimed spouses and lovers in these halls, grown old and made history and now it was his turn.
Merely that knowledge had him growing excited in his slacks for a second time that day. All of your thrashing and struggling didn’t help. If anything, it sparked a part of his brain that insisted he ravish and conquer you in his royal bed.
Mouth pressed to your ear, till he felt amber and diamonds press against his lips. “I swear, I will spend the rest of tonight inside of you until things are as they were yesterday. Until you remember that when I speak to you in any manner, you answer. Considering how thoroughly you’ve consumed every last part of me, it is only fair.”
And then, in his slowed pace down the hall ever closer to the door that would lead into Steve’s Royal Apartment, he saw a portrait up on the wall that made him pause.
It was him.
Or his portrait from when he’d turned thirty.
There he stood looking down at you both. Dressed ceremonially in his crown, holding the traditional ruling scepter and wearing the robes from kings of past. Fur, jeweled toned fabric that he’d easily filled out with gold adornments, amber buttons and pipping on his shoulders.
What was most striking about this portrait compared to all the others of Steven throughout the palace, was he was alone in it and unlike all the others, at the time, he’d not been single.
Further making that internal fire burn hotter.
Making him stop and force you to look up at it with him. Framed in a gilded bronze heirloom. Up where he had to look at it to be reminded of what could have been.
“Look! Look!”
You stopped struggling and looked, were well aware of his mouth against your hair.
“See? See it? You could have been there with me. At my side. Wearing my crown. Wearing the robes and jewels of my grandmothers. My queen.”
And indeed you saw.
When you’d seen the finished portrait, you had been blown away at how your body reacted to the sight of your lover in his traditional uniform he only pulled out for big special events. How powerful he looked. How sexy he was wearing a crown, holding a golden scepter with an eagle on the end clutching a piece of amber the size of an egg.
The arm around your chest fell so he could point at the empty space in the picture beside him. “Look. Right there. That is where you would have been. Right there. At my side.”
His hand over your mouth still held you flush against him. Pulled tight against him.
That thought, that entire notion of you painted on a portrait, up there with Steve at his side. It was so surreal to you.
When it was just you and Steve it was fire and gold and everything was amazing. When it was King Steve and his Chief of Staff it was stimulating and exciting. You still weren’t sure about being queen. A queen! That wasn’t like being a princess or a duchess. A queen was different. Even the word felt different.
It made your heart start to pound wildly in your chest again. It made you breathe hard against the back of his hand. It made you have a physiological reaction.
***
This was not how Carol intended to spend her night.
It was not how she wished to start her off-time. Having given Val the update on all things that had transpired for the day as she handed off command of the Royal Guard to her fellow captain.
No sooner had she told Val everything, did one of the messengers from communications come hurrying in. A slip of paper in her hand. A note that changed everything for that night, that week and even that month.
It had left Carol walking through the royal apartments towards the Queen Mother’s rooms.
As she knew exactly what King Steven was doing and quite frankly, she wanted no part in disturbing that unless she absolutely had to.
Besides. The message that had been sent to the palace via royal envoy was meant for Her Majesty. It was best Her Majesty the Queen Mother figured out how best to deal with this coming…situation.
Compared to His Majesty’s Private Rooms, Sarah’s were all light and brightness. White marble and ornate touches. Colorful priceless paintings and large bouquets of fresh flowers in crystal vases. Soft plush furniture held little personal touches. A white chenille throw draped over her couch by a fireplace. Pink slippers sat on the floor. Books both new and ancient with various markers holding her place were scattered about. Fresh flowers. She loved fresh flowers. They were everywhere.
As expected, the door to the Queen Mother’s apartments were open.
Carol still paused outside of it to knock gently.
“Your Majesty?” She called out, looking at her watch to see that it was nearing seven. Around seven was when the queen took her dinner meal privately. Of course she’d leave the door open for kitchen staff to bring up food as usual. It wasn’t one of the nights that was reserved for Steve and his mother to have their dinners together.
After the death of her husband the former king, Sarah had effectively thrown open all the doors that he had imprisoned her with.
Her soft voice drifted out.
Delicate and gentle.
The Queen Mother sat in a large chair by a big window overlooking the city. Her pale hair pulled back at the nape of her neck. A string of pearls tightened and loosened around her fingers as she lowered the book she’d been reading. A pleasant smile came over her soft features.
Upon seeing the stone of Carol’s face, the queen frowned. “What is it? What is wrong?”
Only confirming that something was wrong, Carol shut the door and locked it.
Dinner had been brought up. Smells emanated from the queens private dining room off to the left. It reminded Carol that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast that morning. It had been that kind of a day.
Clasping her hands before her, she rocked back on her heels. “A message was sent by Her Highness Janet Van Dyne. She and her daughter will be at the palace tomorrow…”
Janet and Hope Van Dyne?
Steven’s former fiancée and her mother?
Two golden eyebrows rose, making Carol press on. “Her Highness is under the impression that they’ll be staying here? In the palace?”
All of this was new to Sarah.
She had not heard from Janet since Steve’s coronation. When she and her husband had been in attendance. Earlier that particular year, Hope had broken her engagement with Steven to run away with a Maharaja.
It’d been all over the tabloids.
A young princess of the Netherlands had broken her engagement to the crown prince of an incredibly traditional nation to follow her heart. Hope had spent many years splashed across tabloids and blogs with a handsome charismatic Asian Prince. She’d lost her royal title and gave tell-all interviews about how her family had forbade her from running away and how she’d never marry a man from infamous Rogers Royal Line. And then, oddly, she was back home with her family this year.
Sarah had found it unusual. Alas, she was a busy woman with a life of her own to keep her busy.
“Was anything else in the message,” Sarah wanted to know.
Carol shook her head.
It had been a simple message that was very to the point.
Sighing in a most un-Sarah-like sort of way. She set her book down on the arm of her chair and rose. Tall. Willowy. Pursing her lips. Her dress fell around her in a gauzy cloud.
“Do you want me to tell His Majesty?”
Pausing, the older women considered the question. Dare she tell her son? He deserved to know. Nothing good would come from this visit.
If it were Janet alone? Sarah would not be so suspicious. But Janet and Hope? And that they would come so last minute? After the release of this video footage from the royal sauna?
“Is my son with her?”
Silence.
Carol was quiet.
A noise came from the Queen Mother. A clicking of her tongue. Stepping into her slippers, she pulled the hem of her dress up. “I suppose I should not be surprised that you would keep this from me.”
More quiet came.
“I won’t ask. I’ll find out my own way and leave him be for now. Janet and Hope won’t be here tonight. This can be a problem for tomorrow, today has been difficult enough for us all. Let tomorrow be tomorrow.”
Let tomorrow be tomorrow.
On her other hand was her wedding band. A treasure itself. Now on the widow’s finger. It was so symbolic of the cage she’d lived in for the duration of her marriage.
Absentmindedly, she twisted the rings. “Have you eaten yet?” Pulling them up and down her hand. “I had hoped you would come. I had the kitchen bring up extra.” Off slipped the rings that she had to wear in public. In her hand they jingled until she set them down on a smoothly polished table.
With two heavy clicks, they bounced on the wood by a vase full of peonies. Freeing her for the time being.
“I missed you while you were away.”
A blush bloomed over her porcelain complexion at Carol’s words.
As she watched Carol lock the door to her chambers, a warmth bloomed within her chest. Such words were so simple. So honest. They were words she had not heard before in her life. In this new chapter however, in this new time in her life, she had become accustomed to kind words and compassion.
“I missed you as well.” She confessed, stepping closer and still keeping space between them. As some habits died hard. “Stay with me? Tonight?”
“There is nothing I want more, Sarah.”
***
As it turned out, now you were ready to talk.
However.
Unfortunately.
Steve was now past that point and was on a whole other page.
You found yourself protesting when he carried you into his bedroom like some manner of caveman would carry a slab of meat. Shrilling out when he yanked and ripped and tore at your dress, forcing it over your head after ripping fabric and popping buttons, till it was an unsalvageable heap of material and threads.
Which was an absolute tragedy.
You loved that dress.
You even pointed out that fact to him somewhere between the threshold of his bedroom and his massive bed that really was fit for a king.
It was so big!
A headboard wider than Wanda’s itty-bitty car was long. An elaborate collection of regal flourishes and shapes. Dark sheets so soft they were slippery awaited you as you screeched and hollered, letting out an outraged sound when your bra was popped then yanked roughly from you.
“Steven!” You admonished your king, toes digging deep into the thick carpet as you’d lost your shoes back in the hallway leading to his quarters.
This whole evening was going off the rails for you. There was no other way to put it.
Dim sconces on the wall lit the way. Highly effective mood lighting if you ever saw it. Allowing you to see the set in Steve’s face, the firm line of his mouth.
His fingers wrapped around the back of your neck so he could hold you close, ground out for your benefit. “All day long I tried. Calls. Messages. Texts. Did you want to talk? No. You ignored me. Now I do not wish to talk either.”
Pushing you forward, you found yourself stumbling but knew if you didn’t walk on your own, Steve would merely toss you up on his bed. Up on the sea of pillows. Framed by gilded silver and dark curtains that came down from above to allow for privacy.
“All day long you denied me. I’ll remind you what is mine until you’re thinking clearly again. Until we’re back where we were yesterday!”
“I’m ready to talk now! I’m in a place where I can discuss this with you! I am thinking clearly!”
Words were not needed.
Oh no.
Not when the king grabbed your hand, pulled your arm back and pressed your palm against his straining erection. Hot to the touch. Shockingly hard. Painfully so even you were willing to bet.
Your knees hit the bed and you were pushed forward till you fell over, till you wound up on the expanse of bedding in a tangle of hands and knees and that silky smooth material.
A big explosion came from Steve. Feeling like and you were flailing on your stomach, trapped beneath his oppressive weight and the bed. Fighting. Wiggling. Trying to get free from beneath him but bigger stronger arms had your wrists.
Something was being wrapped around your wrists that you couldn’t see, as your vision was impeded by the broad chest in your face. Right there. Blocking your line of sight. Pinning you down to the sea of grey until finally, finally, he was up and you were once more struggling, wiggling, jerking and finding that you were tied to the headboard.
You were tied to the headboard. You were naked and bound to his bed.
Silky fabric that was Steve’s tie bound your wrists snugly together and wove into the headboard, securing you there most soundly.
It was outrageous! It was absurd!
You were tied to his headboard!
It was a first for you.
When your gaze returned to your boyfriend and even that was now a bit questionable, you were greeted to the sight of Steve shedding his suit. Yanking off each garment without pause or care. A few tears were heard and he was far rougher than need be. A button or two may have flown off.
“You cannot be serious! That’s your plan? You’re going to take what’s yours? Are you serious? This is not the dark ages!”
Ignoring you, Steve shoved his slacks down his long legs. Allowing his rigid cock to bob obscenely. Causing an eyeroll to immediately come from you. A hint of something dark on his hip caught your eye. But it was only a flash and as he was moving, yanking off his suit jacket and fiercely ripping open buttons on his shirt, you couldn’t get a good look.
Was it a bruise? A tattoo?
Somehow you doubted kings were even allowed to have tattoos. Or that Steve even had the time to get himself permanently inked. When the hell did he get that bruise?
Momentarily distracted by him climbing up on the bed, you looked up to give your bindings a good hard yank.
No luck.
Steve’s weight was pushing you down. Shoving you into the bed. Pinning you down as you protested, implored and began to plea. Which was exactly what he wanted. After everything you had put him through today? You would beg. You would plead. You would forget all about that video.
“Open your mouth.”
It was an order.
It could be nothing less.
An absolute command that had your lips slowly parting as your eyes widened in surprise at the sudden treatment, this roughness. Steve held his painful erection in hand and pushed his tip to your lips. Pushed the red end of his cock sticky with precum past your lips. Till you were forced to open your mouth wider and wider for him. To take him deeper and deeper into your mouth.
Steve held your gaze and pushed his member in further. Straddling your chest and gripping his headboard in one hand, till it dug into his fingers. While his other hand grabbed your face to hold it tight.
You’d never be able to take all of him. He knew this. You’d never been able to no matter how much you’d tried. But he wanted to see how much he could fit in your mouth tonight.
“Don’t swallow. Don’t let me down again.”
Your mouth was so warm closing around him. Wet. Sacred. It made him want to close his eyes to sink in deep but Steve would not. He would do that soon enough. He would lose himself in your cunt soon enough.
A few small movements from his hips sank his cock deeper into your mouth. Filling your cheeks as you struggled. Until you found a motion of moving up and down his length, running your tongue along his sides. Wetting up his shaft till sloppy noises started to fill his ears and a small little dribble began to moisten the corners of your mouth.
Those blue eyes remained set on your own. Never once showing you mercy.
“Tomorrow. In the future. If I call or text, you will answer.”
There was no follow-up. Nor was it a question.
Long fingers that belonged on an artist or musician sank into your hair tightly.
All you could do was nod as drool rolled down your chin and you suckled his cock like you would a popsicle, without swallowing, sucking on his sensitive flesh as he liked and without the aid of your own hands to steady his member.
It was glorious and Steve could only slightly appreciate it. As the words that fell from his mouth were more important, more vital.
Feeling how wet your mouth was getting was fantastic. Absolutely. Your nimble tongue was a gift. No one had ever sucked his cock like you.
However…he was still frustrated, still angry, still hurt even.
He’d not worked his way through those feelings as of yet.
Perhaps? In your body?
Those feelings teased and taunted him with his unworthiness. Of how you hadn’t been firmer with your roommate. How you had allowed her to drag you down the stairs for a night out with possibly another man? It infuriated him. It sent his hips rocking into your mouth. It had his cock rubbing up along the back of your throat and made your eyes water.
No.
Steve would not lose you. He loved you too much to even entertain such a notion. No. Infact, he would make sure that he ruined you. By the end of the night, he would make certain that you’d never even amused the notion of being set up. He would be completely sure that when you left his chambers come morning, you would never be doubted when you told Wanda or anyone that you had a partner.
“I want to start publicly courting you. I want to be engaged this year. I do not want to hide any longer. When people look at you, I want them to know that you belong to me.”
Noises came around his cock that Steve knew were words and he did not care.
“Look at yourself.” Steve stilled, his words harsh, bitter even. “You have my cock in your mouth and I am completely at your mercy. Tied to the bed of kings because I cannot go one night without dreaming of you, fantasizing about your tight cunt and smooth skin. I would give you the world and all you want is nothing. You are the worst type of infuriating.”
As if to prove his point, he steadily pumped his pelvis up into your mouth. Each slide in pushed saliva and pre-ejaculate out, making it ooze from the seal of your lips around his erection. Against your throat his wet balls bounced. His ass rested on your chest and he could not get enough. More. He wanted more. He needed more. Craved more.
The urge to go harder was strong.
Steve wanted so badly to fuck you. To make you feel how much you drove him mad. How you caused him physical pain from longing alone.
With drool smeared down your chin and neck, never looking more beautiful in his opinion, Steve pulled his dick out. Done with your mouth for now. Needing more. Needing to grab your tits and to be closer to your face, looking closer into your eyes.
In a familiar sort of way, your throat bobbed.
“Did you just swallow when I specifically told you not to?”
A moment of hesitation followed from you that had Steve gripping your face, easing his body down yours but holding your slippery chin tight in his grip. Your eyes were wide. Again, probably without even realizing, you swallowed in nervousness.
“I’m…I’m sorry…”
“I’m sorry what,” he demanded, leaning down closer, licking the wetness from your chin and earning from you a most satisfying shiver that wracked your body.
“S-s-sorry, Your Majesty.”
His tongue was hot and wet on your chin. His body was heavy and hot on your own. Skin on skin contact made your brain short circuit. It was a miracle you could string those syllables together. With your hands bound so snugly to the bed. All you could do was take it. Take what he gave you.
Feeling him push your thighs open and position himself between your hips made you gasp. Words failed you.
And then words didn’t even matter because he was pushing into you. Claiming you. Taking what was his because you did belong to him. You belonged to him in every possible way.
A scream exploded out of you when he dove right in. Sank in till his crown was pressed up against the wall of your cervix. Deeper than anyone had ever been before. Hands were grabbing your ankles and spreading you wide. Spearing you on his cock. Stretching your body taut.
“So wet. You were made to take me. Made to take your king.” He whispered more to himself even though you heard. You would have heard a pin drop. You could hear your heart pound and blood rush through your ears, each gasp your lungs took. You could feel every last inch of him deep inside your core. Painfully stretching you open like this. Burning. Tingling. Twisting.
Hands tightened on your ankles till you looked up at Steve. Hovering over you like a pillaging warlord about to ravish his prize.
“You have till Monday to decide how you wish us to become public. I will not wait a day longer.”
Seeing you like this before him. Splayed out. Your pussy curled around his member, plump from being filled with your breasts round puddles up on your chest. It set his hips into a frenzy. Powerful thrusts were sent into your tight walls that made Steve grunt every time from the power behind his motions, from the sight of his cock vanishing up into you. Watching your pussy take him so hungrily as you cried out beneath him each time. Breasts swaying. Skin slapping on skin with the contact. Your hips jiggled, his headboard creaked, his balls slapped soundly against you both.
“Say it. Say the words to me. Say them!” Steve commanded you. Pieces of his hair falling and sticking to his sweaty forehead as he sank in to the very depths of you then pulled out, revealing a glistening shaft before slamming his member right back in where it belonged.
“Yes…yes…yes…yes…” you chanted, over and over, again and again with every thrust in, every withdraw that was like heaven and hell, your body needing him to complete this circuit only the two of you could create. “…yes…yes…my king…yes my king…”
Those words. They were a song to his ears and had your ankles slapped together. Those words had the backs of your thighs slapped wetly against his chest, your feet touching his shoulder as Steve continued to pound into you.
Pumping into your now closed thighs, into your tighter walls at this angle.
“Look!”
Dimly your eyes fluttered, you looked into his burning blue eyes.
“Look. Here.”
You followed his gaze to where he pointed, looking down at his pelvis, where his hip met his abdomen in that hard cut of muscle that was visible above his beltline. The one you loved to lick.
He did have a tattoo.
It took you a second to realize what you were looking at and focus, as his thrusts continued without mercy, pounding away, slamming into you without mercy. Shaking and pushing you into his bed.
Your writing was inked into his skin. Your very own signature.
Your name was forever scrawled into Steve’s skin and then, it hit you. Your climax took you by complete surprise. Your entire body went stiff. A pained noise came from you and you shattered all around his cock. Fingernails dug into your palm and you stared at your name in cruel ecstasy.
Steve fell too. You could tell from his thrusts getting wild, falling out of sync. You could tell because he swore out, clenched his face and held your thighs tight to his chest.
Pumping deeply into you while your body milked him for everything he had to give.
Making him merely a man in that moment with you.
Up on his headboard, you were tightly secured and would soon have bruises from arching up against the silk tie restraining you. Unable to do anything but feel and accept what your king was giving you. On your back. In a bed that past kings had slept in.
None of which was lost on you.
Not as your body felt leaden, filled with molten hot lava. Limp. Your secret garden continued to suck him in, clench around him and spasm, making your eyes roll up in your head, your body dig into his bed and words fall from your mouth.
In a most dignified sort of manner, your king humped into your body like a jack rabbit, chasing the last vestiges of his climax with coral wet lips and dark honey hair now damp with sweat.
A sight for your satiated eyes.
“Let me call my mother in the morning.” You breathed out slowly, as if figuring out how your lungs worked once more after a marathon. Your words making Steve still above you. Though your cunt did not. It twitched around his royal girth and you met his gaze from on his pillows. “Tomorrow you can have Maria release a statement saying whatever you want. Just let me tell my parents myself. They should hear from me that I’m not coming home.”
Whatever wind that may have held up his sails had clearly been withdrawn.
Almost tenderly now, Steve leaned forward to quickly loosen the silk around your wrists and free your hands from his headboard. Stretching out his long powerful body above you. Flushed red now. Glistening. Though he left his tie there. He remained inside of you too. Filling you and stretching you full.
Gently, he pushed your legs down until they wrapped around him and he was able to rest his weight most carefully on top of you. Pressing wet kisses to your nose, your cheeks and chin. Worshipping your face with delicate touches and caresses.
“I’ll fly them out here whenever you want. When we get back from Switzerland, I’ll have them waiting for you.”
Softly you answered, reveling in his softness now that your body had been given her reward, her treat, her pleasure from his roughness. Smelling the musk of his sweat and feeling the wet glide between your bodies.
Leisurely, your hands found their way up his muscular arms to his shoulders. “You know what I mean. I won’t ever be their daughter again. I won’t ever be Wanda’s roommate. I’ll have to quit my job. Nothing will ever be the same.”
Those words, well, they settled uncomfortably in him.
All of them were true.
You would be giving up so much. He would have to make sure to take care of you even more so, keep a closer eye on you. He would need to have a talk with his mother come morning.
“That’s true,” Steve softly conceded, rubbing his nose along your own. Barely grazing his lips over yours. A hint of a tongue touched you before his breath danced over your mouth. “We would be together though. Finally together. You. Me. Not hiding anymore.”
Speaking of hiding.
That word alone had you pulling away from his mouth to lean to the side, to get a look down at his Adonis belt. At the alluring groove that led down to his pubes where your name was now in black.
Nay, your signature.
As if sensing what you were after, your boyfriend tilted up a smidge. Enough for you to see but not enough for him to leave your body. Pray tell that couldn’t happen.
“When did you do this?”
“Do you like it,” Steve asked, as if your opinion mattered. Which was laughable considering how permanent it was.
He’d literally took your signature and had it tattooed on his body.
“Of course I love it. Now you have a part of me on you all the time.” An incredibly modern take on Steve’s royal jewel gift thing, but in reverse you thought. Then grinned as it sank in. “I can’t believe you did it though.”
Why wouldn’t he have done it?
Steve hadn’t thought twice when Maria had gone on about getting her late mother’s writing tattooed on her side, in a lasting forever tribute. Having your writing on him at all times had been an idea that hadn’t left him. Not until he’d had a tattoo artist praised for their work brought to the palace late the other night.
He wasn’t even going to lie, king or not, there was something downright satisfying about having something like this hidden on his body from all. Known only by you and him. A secret only for you two.
Bringing him right back to the thought that the biggest secret the two of you shared would soon be out.
Soon it would be public knowledge and that had Steve brushing his fingertips over your cheeks, kissing the swell of your cheekbone and moving ever just so to make a small moan come from you. “You’ll never regret this. I’ll love you for the rest of my life. I’ll devote myself to making you happy. You’ll never regret becoming my queen.”
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nataliedanovelist · 3 years
Text
GF - Timestuck AU: The Power of Mabel ch.2
While fighting over a time machine so one twin can win a pig or the other can win the heart of a girl, Mabel is left stranded in a snowy forest with no time machine and no brother. Oops.
The BEAUTIFUL art pieces were done by @clownwry and @elishevart ! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! 😭❤️💋
ch.1 - ch.3
~~~~~~~~~~
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Ford was way more nervous than he was letting on.
She had long, pretty brown hair, braces over her teeth, sneakers, a skirt, and a sweater that allowed the cold air to pass through it. Her cheeks were slightly chubby with youth and nosy, as well as her nose, due to the freezing weather. Her eyes matched her hair perfectly, and though they were clouded with fear and confusion, Ford swore he could see sparkling behind the clouds, sparkling that made itself well-known when she asked if she could make him a sweater or when she saw his hands.
She had long, pretty brown hair, braces over her teeth, sneakers, a skirt, and a sweater that allowed the cold air to pass through it. Her cheeks were slightly chubby with youth and nosy, as well as her nose, due to the freezing weather. Her eyes matched her hair perfectly, and though they were clouded with fear and confusion, Ford swore he could see sparkling behind the clouds, sparkling that made itself well-known when she asked if she could make him a sweater or when she saw his hands.
Ford would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy Mabel’s company, but she was practically a stranger, and keeping a random girl in his house that was located in the middle of the woods was fishy and Ford couldn’t help but feel like it was illegal. But he couldn’t leave her out in the snow and send her on her way to find her home and family, so he decided to keep her warm or healthy, simply because it was the right thing to do.
But then she said she had no parents to call. Only a brother, who was lost, too. Ford can remember the old rule: If you’re lost, stay where you are until you are found. So he then decided that she could stay here until her brother found her, which should be by morning at the latest.
Still, he felt uneasy, so once Mabel was settled in front of the TV, Ford excused himself and went into the kitchen to make a phone call. There was only one man who would have better judgement in this situation than him.
The phone rang a few times. Ford checked his watch to make sure it was a reasonable time to call. It wasn’t Sunday, was it? But then the ringing stopped. “Howdy! This here Fiddleford McGucket.”
“Hey there, buddy.” Ford smiled to himself at hearing that cheerful voice. “How have you been?”
“Stanford Pines! Good t’hear from ya!” Fiddleford cheered. “M’just fine, just fine! How are ya?! Ya haven’t gotten eaten by monsters yet, have ya?” He laughed, making his old friend chuckle along.
“No no, I’m alright.” Ford almost brought up the reason he called, but then he remembered something very important to Fiddleford. “How are Emma-May and Tater?”
“OH! They’re doin’ great! We’re all very happy n’ doin’ well! Ya won’t believe how big Tate’s gotten since ya last saw him! He’s already crawlin’!”
“Wow, that's great to hear.” Ford sat in a chair at the kitchen table. “Has he said his first words yet?”
“No, not quite. Actually, he’s extremely quiet. Not a lot of baby-babble.” Fiddleford chuckled. “The doctor says that’s perfectly normal. Tate’s so smart, he’s reachin’ for specific colors n’ such, n’ ya can tell he’s thinkin’ a lot n’ knows what’s goin’ on, he just got nothin’ t’say.”
“I was very shy when I was young.” Ford commented casually. He didn't feel like mentioning why. “If Tate is anything like either of his parents he’s very intelligent.”
“Oh, he’s so much like both of us it’s scary. Ya know Emma-May, so clever n’ quiet n’ such. Tate’s got all that. But he already looks so much like me! But he’s got his mama’s hair! N’ Santy Claus brought ‘im this fun little fishin’ game where ya fish for plastic fish with a pole with a magnet on it, n’ he loves it! I can’t wait to take ‘im fishin’ when he’s big enough! Ya really outta give yourself a break n’ come down for a visit, he’d move to see his Uncle Ford again.”
Ford’s face felt hot. “Perhaps. Spring is when a lot of anomalies are active and breeding, so i would prefer not to miss that, but maybe I could visit for a weekend before that…”
“Well, no pressure, I won’t assume anythang until ya tell me to, just know there’s always a bed for ya here.”
“Thank you, Fiddleford. The same for you and your family. The clean air will do everyone some good.”
“Oh, I’m sure.” Fiddleford sighed happily and perked up. “So! Whatcha callin’ for? Not that I’m not happy just t’chat, but ya never call.”
Ford laughed and shrugged to himself. “I suppose I don’t. I’m sorry.”
“No need t’be sorry, Stanford, just wanna know what’s up.”
“Well, I was hoping to get your advice on something.”
“Shoot.”
“Um… well…” Ford rubbed the back of his neck, unsure how to tell him this. “I heard some unusual sounds outside today…”
“What kind of unusual sounds?”
“Cracks, like lightning. And some faint yelling.” Ford answered. “I thought it might be a tree branch or a new anomaly to catalogue, but when I opened the door a young girl was standing there in the snow with no coat.”
“Heavens! Is she alright?!”
“She’s okay, no frostbite. She was cold, but after sitting by the fire, drinking some hot chocolate, and changing into some dry clothes, she’s okay now.”
“Well, good.”
“So of course I brought her in. I tried to call her parents, she probably got lost playing…”
“Sure.”
“... but she says she doesn’t have any parents.”
“Oh.” Fiddleford sighed. “Oh. Now, wait, are ya sure she didn’t just say that so ya wouldn’t call?”
Ford chuckled and said, “I first thought that too, but she looked too sad to be lying.”
“Okay, I see. Does she got somebody ya can call?”
“She says she has a brother, but he was out there, too. So he is probably out there looking for her and therefore nowhere near a phone.”
“Fair enough, okay. So, I reckon y’all are waitin’ for him t’come ‘round.”
“Yup.”
“Well sounds to me like you’ve handled this all pretty well.” Fiddleford said confidently.
“You think so?” Ford asked. “I can’t help but feel like I’m doing something wrong. Like I’m missing something. Am I doing something wrong?”
“Nonsense, buddy, you’re doin’ great.” Fiddleford assured. “Look here, ya can’t just leave a young gurl out in the snow t’try t’find her way home...”
“I agree.”
“... so ya really got one option n’ that’s t’keep an eye on her n’ let her in as a guest. N’ ya tried t’call, but nothin’. The best thang ya can do right now is be there for this lil’lady n’ just be kind t’her. N’ if nobody comes for her by mornin’, why don’t ya go into town n’ see if anybody knows her, then they can help y’all out.”
Ford nodded, then remembered that his best friend couldn’t see it, so he said, “Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. Thank you, Fiddleford.”
“You’re welcome. N’ hey, are ya okay?” He asked seriously.
“Yes, yes I’m okay. I just want to make sure I do this right.”
“O’course. I understand. Ya want me t’come down there n’ give a hand?”
“No, that’s not necessary. I’m sure Mabel will find her brother in the morning.”
“Mabel, huh? Well, if y’all don’t, please call me. N’ even if ya do find her brother, call me. Keep me updated.”
“I will. Thank you, Fiddleford.”
“Anytime, Stanford.”
~~~~~~~~~~
When Mr. Ford gave Mabel the remote for the old TV and went into the kitchen, she decided to use her awesome detective skills to figure out what year it was. If it was before Grunkle Stan lived here and opened the Mystery Shack, she must be pretty far back in time. But she had no way of knowing if it was 1999 or 2005 or the 50s.
The TV was old, but so was Grunkle Stan’s in her time. So Mr. Ford could have had this TV for a long time and didn’t want to replace it. 
Okay, so when was the TV made? Mabel didn’t know. Dipper would have known.
Okay, Grunkle Stan mentioned watching TV when he was a kid once or twice. So at least Mabel was when Stan was a kid, okay. 
Mabel turned the TV on and it was in color. Okay, so she wasn’t too far back in time. But the TV was playing a commercial for clear skin. The picture was gritty and all the people in it had puffy hair and long socks and oh my god was that woman wearing legwarmers?! Mabel grinned at seeing her favorite fashion on TV, but then her face dropped. When was she?
She tapped her chin and tried to think of how to know the date without being suspicious. She could ask Mr. Ford, but that might be suspicious. Mabel decided to start flicking through channels to try to guess what year she was in based on what was airing. A lot of shows were about cowboys, space, or game shows. Huh. Okay.
All the TV shows were definitely older. Nothing her dad would watch from when he was a kid, so if Mabel had to guess by everyone’s crazy air, the cheesy TV shows, and the music occasionally playing, she was in the 70s.
Huh. Okay. But she needed an exact year. So Mabel turned off the TV, saw an old radio on a desk, and turned it on to listen.
“... cuz it’s cold doesn’t mean you can't boogie, folks! So grab someone you wanna get warm with, turn up the music, and get your bodies warm in the coolest way possible! Here’s Night Fever, by the Bee Gees!”
Mabel grinned at the disco music. Her personal favorite song from these guys was More Than a Woman, but Night Fever would do. For a moment Mabel forgot her mission, jumped off the couch and left the blanket behind, and in the over-sized gray t-shirt Mr. Ford gave her while her clothes were drying, she danced along to the music, singing the chorus since those were the only words she knew.
“When you reach out for me. Yeah, and the feelin' is right,
Then I get night fever, night fever. We know how to do it! Gimme that night fever, night fever. We know how to show it!”
Mabel laughed at herself as she spun around in her socks and tried to do the point-and-hype dance she didn’t know the name to, but everyone did it when a disco song played.
Little did she know that Ford had returned to check on her, and was smiling at her as she shook her hips and waved her hair around and had fun. He leaned against the doorway and planned to let her dance in peace, but when she did a spin and saw him, she grinned and took his hand. “C’mon, Mr. Ford, come dance with me!”
Ford chuckled and shook his head. “No, no! I can’t dance!”
“You got two legs that aren’t broken?”
“Yes.”
“Then you can dance! C’mon!” Mabel encouraged, let him go when they were both in the middle of the room, and she started to dance again. “Don’t make me dance alone!” She even pulled an evil move and gave him puppy eyes. Rude.
Ford smiled slyly at her and hesitantly copied her boogie moves. It was true that Ford never liked to dance, but there was no one around but Mabel, and though he had only known her for an hour or more, he was sure she would never make fun of him.
And he was right.
“Wow! Look at you, Mr. I-Can’t-Dance! Yeah!” Mabel hopped on the couch, standing, and took Ford’s hand. “Here, I’ll spin you!”
Ford laughed and allowed it, doing a single spin, but then scooping her in his arms to dip her and then let her down, making her laugh as they continued to dance. 
“Alright alright, you crazy cats, that was Night Fever by the Bee Gees! It's a snowy day here in the heart of Oregon, with snow flurries coming in harder all night, but it should clear up by morning and be a fun day to go out and play! The date is January 26th, 1978 in case you gotta write a check or mail a thank you note to a friend or family member. I’m still writing letters for Christmas! We’ll be right back with some of your favorites after a word or two from our sponsors, so don’t go anywhere!”
Mabel stared at the radio. “Wow, 1978.” She breathed. Her parents were only kids right now, maybe only six or seven-years-old. Wow.
Ford chuckled. “I know, I’m still in the bad habit of writing ‘77.”
Mabel realized her mistake, but was grateful her host misunderstood her. “Me too.”
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for dinner. How about some ramen noodles?”
“Yes, please! Can we play a game after we eat?”
“Sure. I don’t have many board games, but I do have a deck of cards.”
“Do you know any card tricks?!”
“A few.” Ford admitted, wiggling his fingers. “There are some advantages to having more fingers than average.”
Mabel grinned up at him and followed him to the kitchen for dinner.
238 notes · View notes
himbobeel · 3 years
Note
Hiiii! I'm excited for the requests! How about mystic messenger zen and v with a first kiss?
hi!!!! thank you sm for being my first request back, and with my two favorite boys at that <33 i would love to do this. here we go!! 
feel free to send me more requests to my inbox
hiiii! i'm excited for the requests! how about mystic messenger zen and v with a first kiss?
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zen
on day 11, after the end of the rfa party. once the last guests have filed into their respective limos and the venue is 100% clean, zen takes you back to his apartment to make you dessert. after the two of you are stuffed to the brim with chocolate cake and have watched a sufficient amount of television, he takes you out onto the roof. the same one where he brought down his walls for the first time and told you about his family.
as he takes your hand, helping you sit on the safest part of the ledge, you gasp at the brilliant blanket of stars that hangs just over your head. he can’t help but blush at your excitement.
it’s quiet for a while as the two of you search for constellations and point them out to one another, basking in the glow of a successful evening. zen has been slowly inching his hand towards yours for the past few minutes, and eventually he musters up the courage to slip your fingers between his. 
 as a cool breeze blows through your hair, you turn to look at him. the way the moonlight eclipses on his face makes his eyes glow just as bright as one of the stars in the sky. he looks absolutely ethereal like this, mouth slightly parted and tongue in his teeth as he tries his best to search the sky for god knows what. he must become aware that you’re watching him, because as he turns to you, his cheeks turn ever so slightly pink, like a spring rose.
“thank you for being so helpful tonight,” you say, giving his hand a light squeeze.
“thank you for hosting it,” he squeezes back. “it’s been hard without rika, and...i think tonight is just what everyone needed.”
both of you stare at one another for a while, and as if you both can read each other’s mind, you lean in and your lips meet. he’s hesitant at first, making sure you’re comfortable before he continues. you inch closer to him, pressing a hand to the back of his neck in encouragement. kisses still featherlight but confident, he brings his own hand up to your cheek, rubbing gently back an forth with his thumb.
the way your mouths move together in harmony, the love dripping from each touch to your neck, back, knee. you are a puzzle and he is your final piece, fitting together with you so perfectly.
V
after the events of the party in his good ending on the main route. after v’s return from traveling, the two of you decide to take things slow. while both of you know what you want, his healing journey is far more important to you than anything else. he does, however, ask to see you as often as he can; taking you to coffee shops, art galleries and exhibitions, and reading to you are some of his favorite activities.
this particular morning, you woke up to a text that he has something important that he wants to do with you. greeting you at the door, he takes you into a long hug, something he loves to do anytime he sees you now. he covers your eyes and takes great care leading you across his apartment. after a moment, he stops, removing his hands and whispering for you to open your eyes. on is balcony, sat on his recently-purchased oak easel, is a canvas.
an empty canvas. you furrow your eyebrows. v must see your confusion, because he motions for you to sit in a stool. for a moment, he leaves you further in confusion as he rushes back into the apartment and returns with a black bag. he rummages through it before pulling out his glass paint pallet and a small kit of different colored acrylic paints.
“i figured we could paint together,” he smiles at you warmly. “how does that sound, flower?”
you nod, eagerly taking the brush and paints from him.
you both sit with your easels facing away from one another, a small table of snacks, brush water cups, and napkins between you. over the course of the next few hours, you paint and snack on biscotti and discuss everything going on with elizabeth 3rd and zen’s new musical. when you finish, you turn around yours to reveal a winter scene, the centerpiece being a frozen pond and small duck with a scarf. although it’s not very good, v claps for you enthusiastically anyways, his eyes twinkling along with the sheer size of the smile on his face.
when he turns his around, you gasp. on his canvas is a portrait of you. you’re sat on a couch holding a black cat in your lap with glistening, teary red eyes. you remember this day vividly. on the first “date” (or whatever you would call it) v took you on, you both decided to go to a cat cafe that recently opened. to your (happy) surprise, they were some of the fattest, cutest cats you had ever seen. your cheeks blush, embarrassed that just a cat brought you to tears.
"this was one of the most special days of my life,” he says. “it had been so long since i did anything that fun someone i truly cared about without feeling miserable. and it was sitting there, watching you fall in love with every cat in the place, that i realized that my heart let me to the right person.”
and he kisses you, soft but confident and chaste but passionate. he leans off of his stool, taking your hands and walking you over to him. he wraps your body in his arms, and you reciprocate by taking his face in both hands. 
how fortunate you were to love kim jihyun.
73 notes · View notes
lvlyhao · 3 years
Text
『you’re dating him but he’s not your bias』
reaction fic; NCT Dream
A/N: this is nct dream’s reaction to realizing your bias is not him (and you’re a couple). gender neutral, got way too deep at some points and was NOT meant to be this long. enjoy.
note that english is my second language and i speak mixing slang, accents and spellings from 3283928 places so i did notice there’s practice written with both s and c down there so
just dont mind it pls
also, today’s photo theme is dream looking cute in low quality shots.
𝓖𝓮𝓷𝓻𝓮𝓼: fluff (♡), angst (❆), comedy (☼), crack (⍢).
𝓦𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼: lots of swearing, my tough love for the neos, one mention of cheating that doesn’t actually happen, a couple of mentions of alcohol and drinking, some violence hidden in metaphors, me being chaotic, it got a bit more angsty and darker than i intended, but we do have all happy endings.
word count: 6.8K
pairing: nct dream members x reader ( includes mark, renjun, jeno, haechan, jaemin, chenle, jisung)
disclaimer: the characters in the story below do not reflect real people or present real facts. this is purely fictional, and you may not copy, change, translate or repost my work in any way. all rights reserved © cherry-hyejin 2021.
*✧・゚: *✧・゚:*✧・゚: *✧・゚:*✧・゚: *✧・゚:*✧・゚: *✧・゚:*✧・゚: *✧・゚:*✧・゚: *✧・゚:
Mark
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oh, poor baby
i feel like he would be a little heartbroken 
just a little
not so much if it’s someone from dream, because they’re his little brothers, but if it’s one of his hyungs from 127 or wayv,,,,,
boy might cry
he’s not super dramatic about it or anything but i don’t see him as being super confident about himself
so he might think like
“do they think he’s cooler than me?”
and it’s silly, yes, he knows
but it’s just something that pops up in his mind sometimes when you bring him up
so for the sake of this fanfic let’s pretend you’re johnny biased
because gods know i am
at least when it comes to 127
mark would be divided into fanboying with you and being like “YO, HE’S THE COOLEST GUY ON EARTH OH MY GOD I’M SO GLAD YOU AGREE”
and
“a h”
<gives you a little tiny smile to cover up the sound of his heart breaking>
would constantly try to get closer to you when johnny is around, and just
showing off in little (kinda dumb) ways
complimenting you
being even more whipped than usual
like yes he’ll give you all of his watermelon slices just please don’t look at johnny like that again
i think johnny would kind of play into it with the whole “imma steal your s/o” thing
and he doesn’t do it to make mark jealous or hurt
we know he’d rather get hit by a train than ever actually upsetting his son on purpose
but we also know he’s johnny
cue “OH DUDE HE’S FLIRTING”
so yeah he might call you lil pet names (beautiful, cutie, you get it)
just to see you giggle 
(and see your soul leave your body)
might say he’s taking you out for dinner when he’s just driving you to get more ice cream for a movie night with the gang lol
and winks
expect a lot of winks
anywhere and anytime
which makes mark sometimes feel like he’s intruding???
and that you appreciate johnny more than him???
he genuinely doesn’t understand how you can date him and still not have him as your bias
don’t you like, love him above everyone else or smth lol
his “showing off” phase eventually fades tho
now every time you hang you with the boys and johnny is around, he’ll be a bit more distant 
he thinks he’s giving you space to interact with his friends but he’s just shying away from competing with one of his favourite people ever
and it’s a competition that Does Not Exist™
but he’s not 100% aware of that
and you’re not that dense 
so ofc you notice
and you wait till you two are alone to talk to him, and he BEGRUDGINGLY admits that you being johnny biased makes him feel kinda small and unimportant
he’d never try to make you change your bias or anything
he just needs reminders that he’s your #1 boy sometimes
which is fine by you
and by him
cus now it’s you calling him pet names all the time
and hugging him
and kissing his cheek
and praising his work
and blowing kisses from across the room
and just telling him straight up that no matter what, you’ll always go to him
(not that you ever had any chance with johnny lmao)
THIS GOES TO SHOW COMMUNICATING IS KEY, CHILDREN
COMMUNICATE
Renjun
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wym donghyuck is your bias lol
literally are you fucking kidding him
don’t get me wrong ok
everyone knows renjun loves haechan
they’re bffs and could not live without each other
but at the same time,,,
what is wrong with you
who did he choose as his s/o gods help him
if it was jeno, or mark, or jaehyun, or winwin, or kun, or lucas, or yuta, or taeyong, or ten, or,,,,
literally ANY of his other members
he’d understand your point and be like “ok fine”
but haechan???? hmmm bestie no
he’s not gonna throw a fit
not after the first time you told him anyways
HE WAS SURPRISED OKAY
and he just whined very loudly after having laughed for 5 minutes thinking it was a joke
<flashbacks of that one time he had to sing the ottoke song with haechan on weekly idol>
if you don’t know that iconic scene, renjun had a whole ass meltdown in 3 seconds while yelling “aAAAAAH JINJJAAAAA” and getting ready to punch the living shit out of hyuck
for no reason other than the fact that it’s haechan we’re talking about and injun’s little body is filled with rage
BACK ON TRACK
would probably try to act all cool about it and be like “i don’t mind” but bruh does he mind
and it doesn’t help that haechan is such a little shit about it
he doesn’t even flirt with you
he just
constantly reminds renjun that he’s your bias—not him—and then constantly praises himself over you
“ah, y/n~ did you choose me as your bias because i’m the best vocalist? or was it because i’m the best dancer? mAYBE IT WAS BECAUSE OF MY OH SO BROAD SHOULDERS—”
(pause for injun to punch him)
(unpaused)
and ok in the beginning it was funny seeing him all worked up but now it’s just annoying to be in the same room as these two
haechan won’t let either of you live
and renjun just wants to
fight
so it eventually gets to the point where you’ll talk to renjun and jeno will talk to hyuck cus even the other dreamies are tired of it
except maybe for chenle, he always laughs his ass off when they start bickering
ANYWAY
your conversation goes something like “oh my god renjun i’m literally dating you, i don’t like haechan better or anything you little pile of fury”
while jeno sits hyuck down in front of him and jaemin and just
“bro why are you like this”
“bro”
no but renjun would apologize for going overboard with his protectiveness and jealous energy because he’s not generally like that
he’s angry all the time but never about something involving you, you know
he tries his best to treat you like the royalty you are
but something about hyuck being your bias makes him feel a bit like a castaway???
he’s very creative and as an artsy kid myself i know we’re very prone to feeling left out because we’re just different from the others
so he’d think maybe haechan really has a better voice
or better dancing skills
or he looks better
he is taller than injun after all, and has broader shoulders, and his hair is all fluffy and—
the whole thing just made him insecure about things he had settled with himself long ago
he was fine with being him
but not so much when it came to that
i don’t think you two would fight over it cus tbh i think renjun would really only get with someone who can be very understanding of him
and i think hyuck would actually apologize to renjun too
not when everyone’s around but like, maybe after dinner or something and he just needs to feel like they’re besties again
hyuck never meant for things to get out of control
he just really likes both injun and you as his friends, and aside from skinship his most prominent love language is,,,
teasing
he was really just trying (very poorly) to grow closer to the person his best friend loves so much—you—because renjun is SUCH a big part of his life it would just feel wrong to not be good friends with you as well
don’t tell them i said this but they hug it out
injun strikes me as someone that could take a bit of time to bounce back from something that hurt his pride or his sense of belonging
and his way of healing and bonding is just,,,
art
sure, keep being haechan biased, but also please read with him
and talk about his fantastic animal creations
and watch those buzzfeed unsolved alien theory videos because he really wants to discuss it and maybe even draw what he thinks the aliens look like
hyuck tones it down, you make sure renjun knows you like him for him, renjun starts to (secretly) appreciate hyuck’s talent along with you...
and now let’s take a moment to imagine the minute you watch their latest mv with injun by your side
and yes okay the first thing you see is CLEARLY how good renjun looks because holy fucking shit he’s an angel (and i’m clearly not renjun biased)
but then,,,,,,
wAS THAT A HAECHAN HIGH NOTE
(there’s always a haechan high note, just look for it)
and ok maybe he did scream a bit with you because of how good it all sounded
and you know what, it works out perfectly bc you two are my new otp and you were meant for each other
but we do have to mention the eventual happening of chenle saying like “oOoOoOoH y/N wErE yOu dRoOliNg oVeR hAeChAn AgAiN” after a special stage
and then you, injun and hyuck all attempt to choke him
i’m kidding
or not
Jeno
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ah, lee jeno
aka samoyed boi
yes i do call him that no i will not stop
everyone is always writing jeno as being super protective and literally about to burst a lung if someone else ever does as much as look at you
but i just 
don’t see him that way
he’s a taurus and from what i know about taurus they can be v v jealous, yes, but they mainly seek comfort
so he’s fine with you biasing jaemin
as long as you’re not ditching him or anything lol
and ok, imma be 100% honest here even if it sounds like literal no fun (jenojaem wink wonk)
jaemin doesn’t flirt with you
not any more than he flirts with
every other breathing creature
ever
he’s really only platonically interested in you, never remotely romantic or anything lol
on the other side, he is in love with jeno
basically, if jaemin is your bias, jeno is his
so nothing really changes
we know how nomin are, okay
they hold hands, they stare deeply into each other eyes, they nearly kiss at least once every time they go live
it's just them
you gotta respect it bruh
i know this is the most boring reaction ever so let’s create the one (1) instance where jeno would actually dislike that you bias someone else
i think he would feel a bit hurt if you seemed to be more supportive of jaemin’s work than his
and it’s not something big or on purpose
it’s just something like going with him to a recording session but not going with jeno because you have homework
or after a very busy practise day going to praise jaemin first
even if it’s just three words
“you did good”
and then you’re going towards him, he’s gonna feel like maybe he doesn’t deserve your praise as much as nana????
i actually feel like, among the dreamies, jeno is the least confident one when it comes to his performance
he knows he’s not an awful rapper or anything but i think it can be a bit too much, being around such bright and huge presences like the others while his nickname literally means “no fun”
his members are just so loud and full of energy most of the time
and sometimes he just really needs to be quiet and observe in silence 
(yes i do know he’s chaotic and a crackhead, i’m just saying as we know he can be a bit introspective)
so what if you just
stopped seeing him?
did he become invisible to you?
did you finally fall for jaemin’s beautiful smile and stupid pick-up lines?
he’s not gonna let it show that he’s affected, though
earth signs are nearly always the ones to “stay strong” because we have this image that people are relying on us???
so we do what we do
bottle everything up and overwork ourselves bc we only got two modes
1. chill, super balanced and down to earth (ay for the pun)
2. please make us take a break we’re literally about to cry if we work for one more minute but we can’t allow ourselves to fucking take it easy
so yes you’ve guessed correctly, we’re going with 2
jeno is going to go so, SO hard on everything he does 
literally every single activity you can think of from dance practice to photoshoots to cooking for the dreamies
he stays up later than usual to get that one tricky move in the choreo just right
he works out more because he thinks he has to look absolutely perfect for when they shoot the mv
jisung asked for ramen? he’s making it but you bet your ass he’s spending over 40 minutes just chopping so
many
vegetables
AND STUFF THAT JISUNG WON’T EVEN EAT
but he’s doing it anyway for the reason being that it just has to be the Best™
and it’s not like he’s competing with anyone else to be diligent
this is just about being better than he was and showing himself—and maybe you—how painstakingly hardworking and driven he can be
maybe then you’re gonna acknowledge him as much as you acknowledge nana :((
:(((((
writing this is making me downright sad, jeno is so underrated and unaware of his power UGH
and i need to point out this is NOT about making you change your bias from jaemin to him, this is solely about having you recognize his efforts, even if you already do
if you just thought jeno was like going off in work because it was asked of him to, jaemin would DEF notice and talk to you about it
turns out it’s a habit of jeno to go extra hard sometimes and he needs someone to make him take a break
so it goes down like you breaking into the practice room when jeno and jisung were practising
the first reaction is confusion
the second is oh hey babe how are you
third is
a-are you dragging jeno and his bag out of the door while screeching at jisung to order pizza and doughnuts for everyone??
yes you are and i’m proud of you
so jeno is still confused and making those cute “hUh” noises he does omg i love him so much
and you’re just rambling about how much of an amazing artist he is, and you love his voice, and he’s a fantastic dancer, and his expressions and gestures are on point, and he takes such good care of the dreamies and
he’s perfect
and he knows jaemin must have talked to you, and he feels so vulnerable to have you know how on edge he’s been
baby boy just needs some rest
and that’s exactly what you give him, with a bath full of those fancy bath bombs and flower petals and candles at your house/apt
then a quick sheet mask while you massage his shoulders and keep saying how much you genuinely admire him
the mask might be ruined cus he started crying out of exhaustion
after that’s been done and you’ve hugged for at least like 5 min nonstop, you head over to the dorms, where hyuck was in charge of setting up a blanket fort while mork and nana gather board games, jisung gets the food and chenle
well chenle just had to make sure jisung doesn’t forget to order for someone and doesn’t break like 10 plates trying to set the table lol
this is way longer than the others so imma wrap it up
make it obvious and loud that you see and respect jeno’s hard work and he’ll be alright again
and maybe make those game nights a weekly thing when possible, it would make him very happy
he’ll never again feel sad when you praise jaemin cus now he’s sure he does enough, and above all, he is enough
Haechan
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haechan = full sun
why would you ever bias someone when you’re dating the goddamned sun
does not understand
but also does not care that much
actually, one out of two really depending on who your bias is
if it’s one of the members he has that tom/jerry relationship with, prepare for so
much
complaining
and clinging
AND HE’D BE SO LOUD OH MY FUCKING GOD
donghyuck please stop screaming about doyoung not deserving to be your baby’s bias, it’s 2 am
on the other hand, if it’s one of the (few) members he,,,
adores with all of his heart and is not afraid to show it
ex: sungchan, jaehyun, taeil and yang2x
then you can bet he’s going to be right beside you whenever you feel like throwing a fit because he’s just so handsome and talented
IF IT’S MARK OSHDISJD
i’m going to write you as being mark biased ok? ok
i honestly don’t know if he’d feel more jealous of mark or of you
he loves you both
a lot,,,,
and he really doesn’t like it when mark blushes when you compliment him
and he doesn’t like it when mark literally just walks past you and you trip over your feet because bro tf u doing, that’s some embarrassing shit
lowkey done with you two
but also PAY HIM SOME ATTENTION
or don’t, he’s fine either way (cue crossed arms and staring at you from across the room until you come give him a kiss)
“he’s pretty cute but i’m cuter right baby”
pouty pouty pouty if he ever feels neglected
will be so fucking annoying lmao i can’t write haechan, i love him but i do understand why renjun is always trying to beat him up
he’d be a show-off in a different way than mark because he can be so petty
will take every chance he gets to pull a one-liner
will sing everything he has to say just so you know he can hit those high notes
what do you mean dream doesn’t have a schedule today
oh man, he could swear they did
because that is the sole reason why he’s wearing his most expensive clothes and shoes + makeup to walk around the dorms, yes
no he doesn’t want to impress you
shut up
will text you like every single fancam he sees on twitter
every
single 
one
and are they mark’s?
lol no, they’re his
he is so genuinely trying to make you a member of his sunflower cult 
<whispers> “tell me i’m your bias” 
“donghyuck what the actual hell why are you standing at the end of my bed in the middle of the night like a fucking demon child”
he really wants to act all cool and composed but he wants to be your bias so fucking bad
he’s a bad bitch all around and just does whatever
cus haechan privilege
and he tends to not care about what people say and think???
bc he knows he’s lee donghyuck
he’s fully aware of the effect he has on people
but you
not biasing him
naw, he can’t take it
will do anything and everything he can to make you say, JUST ONE TIME, he’s your bias
then you can go back to loving (his) mark
so for your sake, for his sake, for mark’s sake
just give donghyuck what he wants
i can promise he’ll keep being an ass no matter what you do
like yeah did you just buy him coffee and his favourite cake? well that’s sweet but iS HE YOUR BIAS YET
“aw babe thanks so much for taking a bullet for me but now please say i’m your bias”
if you still don’t do it, it’s time to be extra petty
will actually drop you for mark
his logic is something like: he can’t be your bias? pity, so he’s just gonna date him instead
and mark is mark so he has no idea what’s going on
everyone in 127 and dream finds this absolutely hilarious cus suddenly donghyuck seems to be doing his best to win over mark’s heart and i mean more than usual???? and he’s treating you like his bro????
<you leaving the dorms to go to uni or smth so you go to hyuck for a goodbye kiss> “no can do, i’m committed”
“i’m your partner”
“no that’s mark”
it’s not 100% a joke when i say i can see him getting down in one knee to propose to mark while making eye contact with you to
assert his dominance
and mark is just
“dude
what HAHAHA”
and you are so done, i’m so sorry you have to go through that bby
i don’t think there’s another way to fix haechan other than just admitting he was your bias for an era, or a comeback or something
like yeah with the other dreamies before him it’s bonding + healing time bc i wrote it all kinda angsty (lol sorry) but with donghyuck
no
“will you stop this if i say you were my bias during reload era”
“mark wasn’t in dream that era tho”
“yes i know”
i say he’s gonna take what he can get and now things can finally go back to normal
with the exception that something else comes along with hyuck being satisfied with you biasing him
he just has a full pass to fanboy over mark now too
what am i talking about?
new 127 mv is out
you: watching it beside haechan and going off about how pretty mark looks
him: going off even harder bc he’s whipped too
this is what a happy couple looks like 
but now i pity mark because he has you two idiots fanboying over him irl
savemork2021
Jaemin
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nana is just such a chill and fun guy
i can’t see him being actually jealous or anything if he finds out you bias someone else
and so the two of you become insufferable together
bitch, i’m telling you
he (ur bias) is not gonna have one peaceful day ever again in his entire life
cus you know the thing jaemin does where he just looks at someone doing some random shit and goes “oOoOoH sExY”
yes that thing
he’s doing it to your bias 
and you’re doing it too
and your bias probably wants to run away to some very far away land
PLEASE IF IT’S JISUNG
i’m not gonna write this whole thing as if you bias him but let’s just imagine
two fully grown people
pilling on top of poor, poor park jisung playing games on his phone
“URI JISUNGIEEEEEE
MWOYA, MWOYAAAA~"
i genuinely think he would avoid being around you two at the same time
cus individually he can handle it
like yes y/n please let me go this hug has lasted for about 4 minutes now
or oh hi jaemin hyung my cheeks hurt when you pinch them that hard
but when you two are together
bruh
a power couple not bc you two are v confident or some shit but bc you can and will be extremely affectionate towards anyone that comes too close
and now let’s talk about how it would be if you biased jaehyun
jaemin loves jaehyun
they’re 2jae
2jae are soulmates
therefore,,,, it’s also kinda hellish but in a different way???
bc 2jae are on the end of that spectrum about the neos that know how in love the entire world is with them
they’re too powerful
they’re aware of their charm and they do everything they can to rub it in our faces
so the flirting between 2jae and you would be insane
and i mean insane
insane as in even johnny is kinda disgusted tbh bc
they’re doing a photo shoot with the 23 of them for some shit, idk don’t ask me
and of course, you had to tag along
but oh my god you three, please stop calling each other sexy/hot in weird voices now, the staff is staring
there are def rumours the 3 of you are a poly couple lmao
jaehyun denies everything on social media (throwback to saying “no way lol” when we asked if he REALLY slept in the same bed as jungwoo)
but every piece of content there is of you and jaemin or you and jaehyun or just them is so ridiculously flirty
you can bet there are compilations on youtube like 
“y/n being in love with 2jae for 8 minutes heterosexual”
ok i was having way too much fun with that, moving on
i don’t think he’d ever be actually upset about you biasing someone else
he trusts you and treasures you a lot so he doesn’t see the problem in you also appreciating another one of his members
bc gods know he does
he’s a bit in love with everyone so why shouldn’t you be too lol
one time he would feel a bit blue because of it???
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
i think it’s possible he’d turn pouty or whiny or just kinda needy (not in a bad way, he just misses you) when he’s like
done with people
and needs some time away from everything
we know he’s an introvert, even if he acts very, very loud around the boys and it’s honestly just a matter of time until an introvert grows tired of being around humans
it depends on each person, of course, but there’s a 99% chance every once in a while he’ll start to feel too drained
and he’ll need a break to get his energy back
jaemin would probably want you around even when he feels like that, though
i see you being such a big source of comfort for him in a relationship
he enjoys taking care of people so please take care of him too
and for just this one day don’t talk about your bias that much, or don’t leave nana to go over to him to chat
and just cuddle him a lot
that will make him a smiley baby again
and then things are back to how they normally are
and by that i mean most neos hiding from you because they’re scared 
i don’t have a lot to say aside from that so let’s think about the neos that would be the most intimidated by your shared thot aura
dotae would be confused in different ways lol
taeyong would be just ????????????blush/awkward smile/hahaha??????
and doyoung might actually ask what is wrong with you
<points to jeno and his s/o> “why can’t you be like them”
mark would laugh-scream and slap his knee into oblivion whenever you two are cornering him
but then go super shy and be like “dUDE DON’T DO THAT”
resident confident gay jungwoo would rejoice in the attention and make so many goddamned jokes
a literal comedian i love him
i think sicheng and renjun would be on the same wavelength of repugnance towards you lol
chenle would deadass call you weird and tell you to leave him alone
shotaro and kun might faint (or kun will panic-scold you)
taeil is as confused by affection as usual (have you seen the face he makes when haechan kisses him LMFAO he’s smiling but like wondering wtf happened on the inside)
ten is not very amused but might play into it
yangyang: that’s disgusting, man (cue flashbacks to that live with renjun after the from home stage where renjun pretended to lick his hand and slick his hair back,,, catboy injun,,, you know the one)
xiaojun and hendery are such panicked gays they just turn to stare at whoever else is around and make that “help” expression like they’re on the office
haechan is haechan, kinda doesn’t mind it
jeno is used to dealing with this at this point
lucas and yuta love the attention but while yuta will flirt right back lucas is just gonna smile and try to jop his way out of there while screaming
sungchan will go hide behind haechan and say “hyung they’re being dumbasses again”
this turned into ‘how would nct react to you and jaemin being super flirty together’ and i’m not sorry
Chenle
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chenle is so fun to write i love him lmao
okay so
he doesn’t strike me as the possessive type with anyone other than jisung (bc i swear he can be a bit jelly towards his bestie but i think it comes with sungie being the sweetest bean ever, he’s just protective)
he’s such a ray of sunshine and witty jokes and dolphin laughter i love him
back to the plot
he literally couldn’t care less about you biasing someone else
b u t
i will say there’s an exception
this exception is tall, kinda lanky, very awkward and born on the 5th of february
you’ve guessed it, it’s jisung
i think most of the time he’d tease THE SHIT out of you for it because c’mon
you had 22 chances not to mess up
and you still somehow ended up biasing jisung? lol do better next time
and this is not me and chenle hating on jisung, please—
he’d just find it funny that your bias is his best friend and
hold the fuck up
your bias is his best friend
oH NO NO NO NO NO
i think after realizing that he would lowkey try to keep you two apart because he’s somehow jealous of both????
and if he can’t help it then you can bet your ass he will be screaming all along
it’s his sweet, dummy jisung
with his sweeter and dummier y/n
what is he going to do
probably has a mini-breakdown with kun because like he’s always wanted you two to get along bUT NOT LIKE THAT
kun will just sigh like the tired father he is and pet his back while saying “there, there”
and a genius idea is going to come to chenle’s mind
you know the teasing thing?
well it’s upgrade time
he’s gonna turn into such a try-hard with tmi and embarrassing shit you two have done
and he’s not trying to stop you from being friends
he just wants you to like
know who you’re befriending
bc i think since he’s really really close to jisung, he doesn’t want you getting closer to him bc you like his idol side alone
and he doesn’t want jisung getting close to you just because you’re his partner either
if you had high hopes for each other and ended up kinda falling face-first into the ground bc it was nothing like you had imagined—
he’d be so broken
because he loves you so much :((((
so like, if you can get past the teasing and annoying barrier he’s putting up, he’ll be more than happy to have two of the most important people in his life being buddies
so get ready for it
if you’re the type of person to go batshit crazy when you drink, oh boy, oh boy
so you and the dreamies are just having dinner when lele feels like it’s the perfect time to disclose some of your drunken adventures
“hey y/n”
“yeah babe?”
“remember that time you got really really drunk on vodka and candy and wanted to call your mom”
“chenle the hell don’t talk ab—”
“but then you tried using the microwave as a phone”
“...”
“...”
“or that other time you were equally as drunk and watched the make a wish mv and cried because you noticed the height difference between xiaojun hyung and lucas hyung”
yeah so now’s the part you get up to chase him around the dorms and try to land a kick
BUT WORRY NOT, HE’LL MAKE SURE TO EMBARRASS JISUNG JUST AS MUCH
he likes doing that when it’s just the three of you though
so picture this
movie night the girls boys
chenle would 100% pick the most terrifying horror movie he can find so that he could see jisung clinging to whoever’s closest to him
and then right before a jumpscare, he’d whisper like
“jisung”
“w-what”
“why don’t you do that thing you were doing while you slept last night”
(honestly, i’d be mildly scared if i heard lele say this with no context at all)
and then the jumpscare happens and jisung is nearly fainting and crying at the same time
but chenle is laughing
and trying to get out what he wants to tell you between wheezes
“he-he” <dolphin wheeze> “hE WAS SINGING CHEER UP BY TWICE WHILE SLEEPING” <more wheezes>
and look this is just gonna go on for weeks until you and jisung are over it
and stop being weird and awkward around each other
lele needs you two to be bros ok
so be bros
once you do adapt to being pals with your bias i think chenle would take the teasing down a notch just to make you more comfortable
and like he’s so happy now the three of you can hang out and there’s just no tension
happy chenle is the thing i love the most i swear to gods
and if you don’t adapt to it?
well,,,
i honestly think he’d be pretty disappointed, cus it means to him one of you isn’t ready to fully embrace the weirdness within????
and like what u scared of
jisung is a weirdo, what about it, so are you
either that or he’d think you’re maybe being judgemental
so yeah please accept jisungie and your dumbass boyfriend
then everyone can be besties
i love thinking about the three of you as just this hellbound chaotic trio
because chenji already wreak havoc wherever they go as the two of them
but now that you’re coming along,,,,
no neo would escape from your pranks ever again (and even members of other groups lmfao watch out sehun, i’m talking to you)
and it’s so incredible infuriating in a good way that it just turns to be endearing
you’re cute as fuck so no one gets actually mad with the shit you pull????
which is dangerous, someone should really keep an eye out on the three of you 
we don’t need sm to be on fire
well we kinda do cus they’re pretty bad but not my point
i said somewhere above that chenle would tone the teasing down but i don’t mean he’d stop
bc c’mon guys
he’s chenle
no limits here
but sorry, i really cannot write jealous!chenle cus his heart is just too pure and filled with joy for him to be jealous for real
last scenario?
chenle after a comeback stage: ya y/n, i was gonna ask how was my performance today but you were probably more focused on jisung’s arms right
jisung is choking on water somewhere behind you
Jisung
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it’s maknae time <plays i.n’s maknae on top>
i don’t mean to picture jisung as being like
ridiculously innocent or just downright naive because i really dislike it when people do that
he’s a literal 19 yo and jaemin himself has said he’s not as innocent as we think lol
however
i do see him as being quite new to all things love 
i think you’d probably be his first partner and with first relationships comes a lot of other firsts
first kiss maybe, first time holding hands, first time being jealous….
first time being jealous, yes, focus on that
i don’t think jisung would be aware that like
you not biasing him is even a possibility
cuz you’re dating
doesn’t that come along????
ah poor baby i love him
if you biased chenle i think he’d be just
disgusted and weirded out but okay?? you do you i guess???
he’s comfortable enough with lele to not feel intimidated
but if it’s another member
ESPECIALLY one of the oldest ones
i think it would be a blow straight to his confidence 
you biasing ten, kun, taeil, taeyong, doyoung or johnny and maybe yuta would make him feel a bit hesitant and concerned
his first thought would probably be that you don’t like being with someone as young as him
and who knows, maybe you’re even younger than him, maybe you’re the same age, but what if you actually like older guys??
what about him then???
and jisung doesn’t mean to feel so worried and insecure, ok, pls understand where i’m coming from
first relationships normally take like a very long time to build trust and acceptance of the other person’s feelings bc it’s literally a whole new world for you
and that goes extra hard for jisung because he is so fucking whipped for you it’s still hard to believe you like him as much
and it absolutely does not cross his mind that you’d cheat on him with your bias, GODS NO
he really respects you and his hyungs 
so no, never
that’s not a thing that can happen
but you realize you’re too good for him and maybe see he doesn’t fit your ideal type?
well, yes, that’s what he’s thinking
probably goes straight to chenle or renjun (he talks about renjun so much asjahj) to vent and ask for advice
i think they’d be surprised to see what’s going on inside his pretty little head because it’s so obvious for everyone that you just adore jisung
and they do tell him that
however, i don’t think it would completely calm his nerves, and again, this has nothing to do with not trusting you
it’s just that
his hyungs are so cool…
HE CAN’T HELP IT OK
would probably try to mirror your bias (i’m saying it’s taeyong for the sake of what i’ve imagined ok) and like
grasp onto some of his qualities?
so in his mind taeyong is: nice, sweet, caring, amazing, perfect, smart, perfect, sexy, mature and did i mention perfect
i can see him trying some new rap styles that mimic tyong’s a bit???
like would lowkey learn his raps from cherry bomb and superm’s one and listen to recordings frequently to pick up on how taeyong does it
i think he’d also just change the way he acts in general to dodge a bit from his maknae image
so now he tries to speak with a more formal-ish language and learns random facts about things you like to seem more intelligent???
“good morning y/n, you look as beautiful as one of voiello’s paintings today :]”
“wait i thought that was a pasta brand”
he’s just trying to show you he can be mature and serious if you want him to
long story short, he’s not acting like himself (not that he’s childish, he’s just out of it) and you don’t like it, so you ask about it and wait for him to feel comfortable with sharing
when he does talk about it breaks your heart so much :((
you’re going to need some patience to try and show him you’d choose him, and not your bias, even if you had the chance
they’re completely different people and you love him BECAUSE he’s jisung, not for any other reason
please reassure him so he can go back to acting like his authentic self, i think it would be such a relief for him too
your words and affection are obviously enough for him, but if it ever happens that he feels especially low and insecure again, it would help if your bias talks to him too
and taeyong wouldn’t have a problem with it
actually, scratch that, taeyong probably knew what was going on all along
he just has that motherly 7th sense (ay) that is even more acute with the dreamies cus like 
127 has him, wayv has kun, but dream has…
the dreamies
and that, my friend, is terrifying
anyway he’d come to talk to jisung asking like “what’s wrong buddy :(“ and sungie would be a bit ashamed because it sounds so silly when you say it out loud
of course tyong wouldn’t judge him, and he just really has to tell jisung what is it you and he are always talking about
it’s him
“when they come around to talk and hang out here it all goes back to you, jisungie. they can’t spend one second without mentioning your name
it’s so cute; it’s always like ‘oh jisung would love this’ or ‘jisung likes it that way’
so please be kinder to yourself and let yourself see that they’re in love with you, not with me and not with any other member they ever mention”
jisung would feel 10000000% better
and smiley
and giggly
and oh my god do you really talk about him that much
LOOK HE’S BLUSHING
would just go over to your house immediately and hug you, burying his face on your neck from behind you
and not let go
ever again
the whole situation just teaches him a lot about accepting your love for him and not questioning it 
shut up i’m not crying
---
final notes: this was my first work after the humanity series and it was so fun lol i think next up is probs gonna be an ideal type scenario for ot23 (but if i really write it i’m gonna post it by subunit and its gonna be way shorter than this, don’t expect 23K words at once lmao)
if you’ve enjoyed this fic please consider reading my humanity series, which is a zombie apocalypse au with kun <3
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dimonds456 · 4 years
Text
Gem Steven’s gem is flipped upside-down. (Theory/Speculation time!)
SPOILERS FOR @spudinacup’s SU AU “Gone Wrong”!
Also WARNING: long post!
So recently, someone pointed out that Steven has a scar on his torso going across his gem’s location, which I found interesting in and of itself. Makes sense, since he wasn’t able to heal it since he DIED and his gem was shoved out of his body before it got the chance to heal him. That slash mark is there now. Wow, neat! Nice detai-
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Wait.
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Hold on a sec.
Is his gem... flipped upside-down? Well, it’s been like this for a while, maybe it’s just a creative choi-
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...oh.
This is VERY intentional.
So I did some digging, and found much more symbolism and possible foreshadowing, and now I want to throw out my theory about Gem Steven here, including his potential arc and character development. I’ll try to keep everything brief while still blowing your minds, and I’ll try to get across what my jumbled mind has come up with.
Spud please notice me.
I will not be uploading photos to go with everything I say (go reread the comic after this and verify for yourself what all I’ve said), but I’ll show visuals when they’re necessary. I do not claim ANY of this art as mine (I wish my art was this good ;u; ), all of it belongs to Spudinacup and their SU AU, which has all kinds of hidden symbolism, foreshadowing, and visual cues we haven’t picked up on yet, as I’ve just learned while researching this theory. This ain’t your run-of-the-mill AU, everything in here is intentional. Scott Spud doesn’t do coincidences. So I’ll point out that stuff in screenshots.
Okay let’s go.
SO! To begin with, let’s talk about why his gem may have flipped, and to realize that, we have to know when. We don’t see the gem much, but we do see it constantly through Chapter 1, where it is normal. The pentagon is pointed upward. However, in Chapter 2, this is where we see it flipped upside down. When did that happen? We didn’t see it. I believe it happened in that first scene in the bathroom, right after we left. The butterflies were swarming angrily, and Steven was very lost in thought.
Notice whenever those butterflies appear. They seem to show up every time he thinks about who he is. Is he still Steven, or is he someone else now? Steven is dead. Everyone is mourning him, trying to heal him, but Gem is still here. So if Steven is dead, but Gem is still alive, that must mean he isn’t Steven then, right? But then that undoes everything we learned in “Change Your Mind.” He IS Steven. He’s always been Steven. But that’s when they were together...
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...And so the butterflies swarm.
Notice how the first one shows up when he looks at himself in the mirror. When you look in a mirror, you should see yourself, right? But who IS he? In the show, butterflies represent thoughts and ideas, mostly dark ones, disturbing ones, or ones you don’t want to think about. Well, he already spent WAY too long proving who he was, so now to do it again sucks.
But he isn’t Steven anymore. He’s on the couch being mourned. But he’s already proved he IS Steven before, and it’s this uncertainty that is making his mind swirl. I believe this is why he flipped his gem. Just upside-down, so it’s a small thing no one will notice, while he tries to figure it out. In doing so, he’s separated himself from “Steven”, as they’re not one and the same anymore, and the flipped gem shows this. He’s someone else right now. Maybe. He’s not sure.
So what do we call you for right now? Steven. He already proved he was Steven, so until he’s proved otherwise, Steven it is. Now he just has to figure out what exactly that name means and wether or not he still fits that quota.
Flipped gem/Pink Diamond imagery is EVERYWHERE, mostly hidden in drastic shadows or in panels. It’s things you don’t notice at first, until they’re staring you in the face. See if you can spot them from the 3 screenshots below.
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There’s probably more hidden throughout the comic, these are just the ones I’ve found that I feel confident enough to show as hard evidence.
So, what does it all mean? We’ll talk about the screenshots in order, left to right.
First, the Diamond is hidden as the panel in the center. In it, Human Steven lies upside down while the gem-panel is technically upside right. This can be interpreted in a few ways, but what that means to me is that something isn’t right here. If you flip Steven back around so he’s upside right, the gem is now upside down. Notice Gem Steven looking towards his human half on the bottom panel there, clutching his shirt over his gem. It’s a motion we’ve seen Steven do a TON throughout the show, anytime he’s thinking about Rose/Pink, who he is, or complicated gem stuff as a whole. Because early on, his identity was always shrouded in shadow. THAT is Steven, on the couch, without his gem. So for Gem Steven to call himself Steven is inaccurate, but also not at the same time. It’s all swarming in his head, and thus, the gem is flipped.
Next, he’s just broken the rejuvenator. This was probably the hardest to spot of the three, but if you look at the panel where Bismuth asks “feel better?” you will see, in the background, a white line cut through the soft pink hues. Look closer. It’s the outline of the gem, but it’s flipped correctly this time. This is because Bismuth seems to be the only person NOT saying Steven is dead, and treating his gem half one and the same. Is she unnerved? Yeah, but who WOULDN’T be? This is still Steven we’re talking about, as emotionally blocked as he is. He’s aware of why everyone is being weird around him, so to see Bismuth trying her best to treat him with familiarity instead of a completely different, new, dangerous stranger is really calming and helps to calm the storm a bit.
Notice the gem is flipped correctly. This is because he feels like Steven right now. Bismuth has been constant confirmation that he is still Steven, no matter the circumstances. Notice how his eyes dialate back to a larger size. They do that a lot in the comic, articulating his emotions without changing the rest of his face. It’s a clever detail to keep track of. His eyes grow more relaxed, dialating bigger when she pats his shoulder, asking if he feels better after destroying the weapon that killed him. It’s a huge relief for him to hear. So, the gem is correct.
Finally, we see Bismuth telling Greg that his son is dead, which is very contradictory to what Bis was saying earlier (in Steven’s eyes). Where is the gem on that frame? Look at Steven’s shadow. There it is, facets and all. To us, the gem is correct, but think about it this way: if Steven were actually replaced with the gem in that frame, what would it look like, Pink’s or White’s? That’s right. The point is coming from his feet, meaning it would look more like White’s, meaning it is back to being flipped upside down. Again, Bismuth just said Steven is dead, meaning he’s back to questioning his whole entire identity. So it’s back to being flipped upside-down.
It seems that the orientation of the symbolic gems hidden throughout panels show quite clearly where his head is at in terms of who he is. If it’s upside down, he’s separating himself from the cold meatball on the couch, whereas when it’s normal/upside right, he is associating himself WITH the cold meatball on the couch.
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Notice he’s been grabbing at his gem a lot recently, too, all things he does while in turmoil over who- or WHAT- he is. He cannot heal right now. He can’t use his powers. Some powers are new and unfamiliar (see the more recent pages where Lapis struck out with water and he blocked with those hexagonal shields/walls). “Steven HEALS people.” He can’t, so who is he?
This is something he’ll need to have an answer to by the time the comic is done, and this is a mission for Gem Steven and Gem Steven alone. If his human half were alive (and content without his gem), he’d probably call himself “Steven” no questions asked, since he GOT his answer already, two years ago. But Gem can’t do that, not when everyone keeps drawing all these lines between the two. He needs to learn what being “Steven” means, and know that he is a part of a greater whole, but on his own, he is STILL Steven. Everyone else needs to realize this, too, and stop separating the two. It’s gonna be rough, since it may feel like replacing what they lost, but is it really? It’s going to be a tough road to trek, and I don’t know what anyone’s answer is gonna be (that’s the big mystery here, after all), but I’m here for it.
Remember, all of this has been speculation on what may happen based on facts and clues Spud has presented us with. I’m not claiming to know how Gem Steven’s arc will end, but I am throwing my hat into the ring on where I THINK it will go. Either way, the foreshadowing, symbolism, and unspoken characterizations here have been excellent, and I’m looking forward to seeing everything play out. Spud, your mind is incredible, and whatever you’ve got planned over there, I’m confident the answer will be satisfactory.
I’ll shut up now. Thank you for reading this huge meta post, and go read Spud’s comic. You can find it at @suaugonewrong or on Spud’s Tumblr, which was linked above. If you think I’m wrong or have a counter argument, bring it. Let’s talk, cause this is genuinely interesting and fun to dissect. I wanna talk about it OwO
Thank you. You may now continue scrolling.
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writhingcreature · 3 years
Note
I LOVE the idea of jock/nerd Mericcup and cheerleader/jock Rapunstrid, do you have any more headcanons for that au?
I tried writing this and got distracted and now O have to start from the beginning so... let’s try this again
- Hiccup keeps trying to ask Merida out but his awkwardness and self Doubt keep tying his tongue and hands and feet and he fails again and again. Merida knows what he’s trying to say but she wants to give him the chance to do it since she knows it might hurt his pride if she asks him. Eventually she does anyway though and Hiccup is so relieved he’s been put out of his misery he kisses her right then and there and everyone’s like OoO
- Hiccup and Astrid are neighbors and they grew up right next door to each other. Like, saw each other through the window and climbed onto each other’s roofs and such. They did that thing where they opened their windows and just... talked if they were too lazy to climb up onto the roof. So they’re like actually really close friends. As kids Astrid always found Hiccup annoying and it was like “your mom is friend with my mom” but eventually he started tutoring her and she thought she was doing fine at school but suddenly she was acing everything and it all made sense and after that she thought Hiccup was cool
- Merida and Rapunzel live quite a bit from each other but Merida skateboards and Rapunzel goes on morning bike rides and walks and jogs and skates (on rollerblades) and really ANYTHING that gets her out in the morning. They end up meeting when Merida falls off her skateboard and busting her knee - Rapunzel took care of it with the med kit she always takes with her everywhere. After that they were best friends and upon hitting middle school, joined sports together to figure out what they liked. Rapunzel was good at cheerleading, being very petite and acrobatic, and Merida was better at the classic sports (soccer, hockey, baseball, football, etc.). They do figure skating together. When Merida had to fight to be on the guys’ team, or just. Create a girls’ sports team, Rapunzel was there to support her every step of the way.
- Astrid and Merida are on a team together. Astrid does either hockey or soccer (or maybe both Idk which seasons they are but it feels like they’d be in different ones) but eventually Merida talks her into joining every one that Merida is in too. They get each other SO much and eventually develop like a secret language. No one knows if that’s true for sure, but these two girls can communicate without moving their body or saying a single word and it’s so effortless and perfect a system that people thought they were dating for the longest time. When someone finally brought it up (it was Snotlout) the two laughed so hard and so long that he blushed, and they NEVER let him live it down. It was just so absurd to them....
- Astrid and Rapunzel actually happened pretty fast. Everyone thought Astrid would take charge, and normally she does. She’s confident and sure of herself and has fingers in SO many pies, and she doesn’t ever shrink from any competition. Everything seems very easy for her and she never falters off fumbles... that is until she tries to talk to Rapunzel. Because Astrid can affectionately bulky Hiccup and Merida already gets her so well that she doesn’t have to try to communicate with her. But Rapunzel is... her opposite in a lot of ways. She’s small and soft spoken and artistic. Her mind is creative and her hands are gentle and her eyes are huge and her smile is warm. Rapunzel is this golden stream in a fairytale and Astrid is.... probably a rock. Of some kind. Anyway, the point is Rapunzel approaches her with that pretty smile and those large eyes and very clearly asks her out and Astrid’s lucky that Merida’s there to say yes for her because her mouth forgets how to move
- Rapunzel cheers SO LOUD for Astrid every game, and they start to sit on the bench together if there’s any free time. During the half time show, Astrid cheers just as loud for Rapunzel and the phrase “THATS MY GIRLFRIEND” gets thrown around a. Lot. They get super competitive all the time and end up having so much fun. Rapunzel is a bit of a softie and let Astrid win a lot in the beginning until Astrid called her out and called her a loser (affectionate) and from then it was ON. No one thought anyone could beat Astrid at anything until Rapunzel came around.
- Hiccup tries to follow what’s happening in the games but he often gets really distracted and confused and ends up analyzing the plays and bombarding everyone with questions afterward. Astrid and Merida eventually directed him to Rapunzel, who actually listened to him and realized how genius his ideas and observations were. They started to talk with the coach about ways to make the team better, and Hiccup eventually starts to just. Help the coaches in general and no one even asks anymore.
- Hiccup has a cat named Toothless and he and Rapunzel are the BEST of friends. Astrid didn’t like him at first but softened upon seeing Rapunzel and Hiccup be so adorable with the little creature. Toothless HATED Merida for the longest time no matter what she tried and it made everyone laugh constantly. Eventually the little thing warmed up to her but for a while there Merida stayed by Astrid “where it’s safe” as she said.
- Rapunzel also has a pet chameleon and she DOTES on that thing. She knows everything about them and anytime anyone asks about Pascal she just wants and rants and rants about fun facts. It’s the only time Astrid will without complaint Listen to someone just talk facts and knowledge. Astrid usually finds it so boring but Rapunzel is so adorable when she goes off about this thing she’s so passionate about that Astrid doesn’t even mind.
- After watching Hiccup with Toothless for a while, Astrid gets her own cat named Stormfly and they are a DYNAMIC duo. Stormfly is almost as well trained as Toothless a lot sooner, and they just have this very clear understanding. Stormfly doesn’t hate Merida, so the red head prefers this cat, and Toothless often glares at her for hours for it. Rapunzel and Stormfly take to each other even faster than Rapunzel and Toothless did. Rapunzel smells like Astrid and Stormfly is HERE for it
- Rapunzel and Merida take riding lessons on the weekends. It was something they looked into when they were really young and when they finally convinced their parents to let them it was the single best thing to ever happen to either of them. Riding Maxmimus and Angus are the best parts of their week in most cases (unless something special happens) and the horses are considered as much their pets as the cats or chameleon. They end up buying them after they get out of college and securing a house for all four of them with a big enough back yard to keep the horses in. It’s a good time.
- Hiccup works as a mechanic, fixing mostly cars but also small stuff like bikes and the such in his free time. Toothless came to him missing a leg, so Hiccup comes up with a lot of really clever contraptions and systems to help Toothless move around the house without Hiccup’s help. He still prefers to be lifted into bed, but anywhere else is free game.
- Rapunzel gets a job at first at a diner, where she spends her highschool and college career working her butt off. It wasn’t the best experience but it achieved the goals Rapunzel needed to so she could go to college and become an art teacher instead. It wasn’t the best paying job, but it allowed her to show others why she valued painting so much, and left plenty time in the year to also go traveling if she wished. She’s very good at saving money so she makes it work.
- Astrid works a lot of fast food at first and even takes a stint at the diner with Rapunzel, but her short temper ends up getting her into a lot of situations where she hates her job and ends up leaving after six to eight months. Nowhere was very good for her until she finally got a job at a gym where she ended up learning a lot of really fun skills like self defense and axe throwing. She did it for so many years and got so good that she was hired on as the instructor, and she’s never been happier than in a position where if a man pushes the limits or a Karen tries her patience, all she has to do is sink an axe into a target and turn to them with a raised eyebrow and ask, “What was that again?” It works every time and unless someone has an actual problem they don’t bother her.
- Merida struggles with work. She gets every job under the sun, taking stints at the diner with Rapunzel and the mechanic’s shop with Hiccup and even eventually at the gym and fun enter with Astrid. She gets bored very easily and doesn’t keep a job more than like four or fives months at Max. Ever. She doesn’t think she’s good at anything and might have peaked in high school... until she discovers archery. In an attempt to help her out, Astrid pitches to the fun center to add archery as an activity, and Merida begins to come to it. Unfortunately they can’t really find a teacher who knows what they’re doing and Merida is the only one who shows up so for a while it’s threatening to shut down. But then Merida teaches herself via the internet and insane amounts of practice, and tries out for the job. They give her the position, but tell her that without customers it’s still going to go down.
- the four gather ALL of their friends and begin mass sharing any and all information they can get out there about the fun center and Merida’s growing skills and how helpful she’ll be as the teacher. They just spread the news and encourage people to at least try it out. Through sheer force of Will and hard work, they get enough people with interests peaked who end up coming. Merida’s classes are full of all kinds of people of all kinds of ages, and she loves it.
- none of them get paid a LOT, but Rapunzel and Hiccup are very good at saving money and slowly, Astrid learns as well and between the three of them they can get things figured out even if Merida doesn’t want to waste energy on budgeting and planning everything out and such. When the fun center is out for winter time, and school is out for Summer, they start taking temporary jobs that pay a lot more money. These jobs end up being labor intensive, but they always try and work together and combined, they can find the fun in even the most annoying jobs. Sometimes Hiccup will join them if he’s having a slow time at work, but he never lasts long and the girls tease him a lot about it.
- Yes the hall live together and yes they have “family nights” where they all go out and do something fun once every month, and they eat dinner and breakfast together as much as they can and they’re all very close and mean a lot to each other god I love them.
There are obviously a ton of other characters in this little world I’ve built so if you have any questions feel free to ask!
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She’s thunderstorms
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Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Helena Craig) x M!OC (Clay Banner)
Words count: 2.5 k
Warning: 🔞 content/Language
Category: Angst/AU
A.N: Part two of A Triangle of Love Series. Events after the Sweet dreams, TN fic. Helen is the alter ego of Klaw Craig. Feel free to judge me because now that I’m re-reading it… it’s bullshit and I don’t know what to call this. Especially the song it’s not fitting duhhh. Going to log off after posting it. *sighs*
Song: “She’s thunderstorms” - Arctic Monkeys
MASTERLIST
———————————————————————
She’s thunderstorms
Lying on her front, up against the wall
She’s thunderstorms
Bryce Lahela was right.
She’s like a goddess that entered to this building and blessed my life when I made eye contact with her.
Indeed a blessing.
She was the most incredible woman and everyone would take a bow just for her hand and fulfill all the wishes she wanted.
He couldn’t feel his breath in that short moment when they exchanged looks. Did someone pause his heart and his body? Because surely he had multiple questions as his mind drifted into thoughts.
When did she come here? How did she find him? Where did she work before coming here? Is she alone? But if not, who was with her? The hair colour and style had changed too. From the straight dark brown with bangs had gone into long, wavy light ash blonde hair that seemed to make her a different person.
But her face was still like he left it. Her arched brows that made her confident; captivating eyes with determination; full and inviting lips that always gave him chills when she crooked them into a playful smirk; her strong and beautiful jaw that tilted whenever he teased her or touched with such delicacy that made her gasp into pleasure; her long neck… without his necklace. He almost scoffed. Of course she had taken it off. What was he expecting?
Their bodies pining in the wall in ecstasy and hearing her sounds...
I’ve been feeling foolish, you should try it
She came and substituted the peace and quiet for
Acrobatic blood, flow concertina
Cheating heartbeat, rapid fire
Everything.
He wanted to do everything.
Anytime and anywhere.
With her and only her.
When he saw her hand shaking with another one... he felt a pit into his stomach and a familiar feeling came into his brain.
Mine.
She’s thunderstorms
Lying on her front, up against the wall
She’s thunderstorms
Here is your host, sounds as if she’s pretty close
When the heat starts growing horns
She’s thunderstorms
That greatly but destructive feeling called jealousy was in his veins. He wanted to reach out and twirl her around and to whisper to her:
I’m sorry and I really missed you.
Instead he came with slow and confident steps as if his imagination vanished quickly without so noticing and a small professional smile appeared in his face and she seemed to understand it. One more reason why he loves her.
“Ah Clay here you are,” Simon spoke breaking his trip of memory lane. “I want to present you Dr. Helena Craig the surgeon who’s going to replace Edgar for a while. Helen this is Dr. Clay Banner our future cardiothoracic surgeon.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Dr. Banner… I have heard a lot about you.” It seemed like a lifetime since he had heard her angelic voice that was a symphony in his ears. He held his tears from falling and coughed to fight the strangle voice that was about to let out.
“A pleasure to meet you too Dr. Craig and I can say the same thing about you.”
Something inside of Helen was igniting.
Her flame.
That old flame which burnt her into many pieces and toyed with her body all of those times sharing with him. She couldn’t say that she didn’t miss him. The real him. The one she fell in love with. His adoring face, his soft hands, his broad shoulders where she leaned on and his assuring voice when she felt insecure.
She had mastered perfectly the art of acting and pretending to be satisfied with everything in her life. Little did those people in the room know how her heart was aching miserably and was shattering from disappointment and hurt from the very same man that was just two feet away.
But a baritone and irritating voice seemed to cut off all of that momentary darkness which in fact she thanked him in silence. “Done with the introductions? Great. We’ve got work to do.” Ethan turned his back and started to write in the whiteboard. “The patient is from Manhattan Presbyterian…”
While Ethan was explaining the symptoms, Helen held a transfixed face to all of the theories of her attending and unexpectedly to other colleagues, she started to ask questions which resulted helpful despite being a surgeon. Sometimes she shared thoughts with Clay and even agreeing with them. It was part of the job after all and Clay couldn’t help but feel proud for his woman.
Correction: his ex.
A past tense that he had to learn from now on. But deep inside of him there was a spark of hope that maybe… maybe things would get back to normal. And maybe she would forgive him.
The team was finally dismissed but only two people stayed. Ethan called Helen before she would leave and that made Clay’s blood boiled because all he wanted was to talk to her right after this meeting. He had to try one last card even though it was useless.
“Dr. Ramsey can we talk for a moment?”
“Is there anything wrong Dr. Banner?”
“No j-just,” he stuttered. “Q-questions about the team in general.”
“We will but after I finish a discussion with Dr. Craig if you don’t mind.”
Fuck you.
“Not at all Sir.” He closed the door reluctantly and sighed in defeat.
“What’s the matter Dr. Ramsey?” She asked although she knew damn well why he had called her.
“What are you doing here?” Ethan clasped his fingers as if to stop whatever his mind was blowing now. His ears were still echoing with her words whispering softly.
Thank you for the distraction. I really needed it.
“Starting my job,” she said innocently and shrugged. “Is it irrelevant?”
“Yes, it is,” he nodded and his feet was carrying him over her; something inevitable that no matter what, he couldn’t stop. “I don’t think all of this is a coincidence.”
“Well lucky for you now you’ll have the most trustworthy person in your team that won’t let you down.”
He scoffed while shaking his head. “I highly doubt your confidence.”
“Just wait and see.”
I’ve already seen you.
After their encounter last night Ethan couldn’t sleep. Many times of trying to change and find the perfect position led to nothing but drinking in the balcony that even his dog Jenner didn’t like it and cooed sadly to his owner. What was this woman doing to him? Why he felt so weak in front of her that immediately wanted to bend her over to his desk and scream his name?
“So,” she crossed her arms behind her waist. “How was I?”
He frowned in confusion and god she thought to herself why he had to be such handsome even in that moment. “Hm?”
“In making you feel surprised.”
“Ah that. Well you’ve clearly exceeded my expectations.”
“Wow. So I rendered you speechless then.”
Giggles were ringing in the walls and for the first time in a while Ethan Ramsey smiled at that. It was something so natural that came from her as other people didn’t get his dry humour but she... she was different. It was like a magnet that more and more you get closer, the more attached you become to her.
She’s been loop-the-looping around my mind
Her motorcycle boots give me this kind of
Acrobatic blood, concertina
Cheating heartbeat, rapid fire
He cleared his throat in purpose of changing the subject. “The reason why I called you,” he put his hand in his front pocket to reveal a tiny and shining object that seemed familiar to her. “Does this belong to you?
“Oh my god yes! This is my earring!” Helen exclaimed shockingly while grazing it with her thumb. Apparently had slipped when she whispered in his ear. “I was looking it all over my room but I couldn’t find it anywhere.” Her gaze now was turned back to him in gratefulness. “Thank you.”
Without thinking she closed their distance by enveloping him into a hug. This caught Ethan off guard but now he returned the hug back and closed his eyes while inhaling her perfume. She did the same too and in that moment both of them felt safe on each other’s arms as if they knew where they belonged. The world around them didn’t exist for a few seconds and both of them despite not saying out loud, they wanted to continue it.
She’s thunderstorms
Lying on her front, up against the wall
She’s thunderstorms
“It’s nothing.” He smiled politely when they separated.
“No this is not nothing. I owe you because this earring was really special to me.” She inhaled slowly while considering an option. Taking some risk wouldn’t hurt her? Right? “What do you say uhm- a drink? In this case I can apologise for yesterday’s… thing.”
“You have nothing to apologise for.”
“Sure I have, because to be completely honest Dr. Ramsey… I knew who you were.”
And here he thought that she was just another stranger that thankfully didn’t know him. Now he was feeling raged and betrayed because that meant she wanted to impress him only by her appearance and make a spot here on his team. His authoritative voice came back as if to maintain the last straw of himself.
“You did know who were you talking to?”
“Yeah I did. Now I’m speaking to my attending,” she moved tantalising and confidently just like yesterday. “To my colleague. And,” then tilted her chin while saying. “To a possible friend.”
“For the latter dream on.” He warned her.
She laughed heartedly. “We’ll meet at Donahue’s at 9 PM sharply and don’t be late because I can’t wait more than two minutes.”
His eyebrows narrowed incredulously and crossed his arms to his chest. “I don’t remember accepting your offer. And besides… how do you know my agenda? What if I’m busy?”
“Well I don’t remember taking a no answer from you and I’ve got my sources about your special agenda.” She shrugged innocently. “See you tonight doctor.”
The door was closed but not before throwing a playful wink to him. He let out a laugh while shaking his head in disbelief. This woman was really crazy but it was one of a kind and Ethan Ramsey couldn’t wait to know more about her.
——————————————
Helen wasn’t surprised to see him waiting impatiently in the corner while she was talking with Dr. Ramsey.
What was so important that took them this long? He thought.
Actually that was only five minutes but to him it seemed like five hours already. When she got out he couldn’t help but stare at her not knowing where to start first.
“Helen.”
“Dr. Banner,” the plastered smile didn’t leave her face despite being furious and ready to wipe his ass in front of everyone. “You can go now to Dr. Ramsey. He’s free.”
“Actually, can we talk?” She rolled her eyes. “I won’t make you wait too much. I promise.”
Helen whispered only for the two of them to hear. “You and your promises,” a tackle of her tongue was heard twice. “Aren’t in coherence. I don’t know why should I listen to you. Let me guess- I’m sorry my Helen but I had to step in you to gain my spot here in Edenbrook thanks to my parents who are very powerful and influential people in Boston.”
“I-”
“I’m not finished,” her hardened gaze was evident and he knew he had to stop. “Or how you accepted without so much caring not one but two strange women in your bed while you were fucking drunk. That must’ve been a fruitful threesome huh? Why didn’t you try with a boy too? That would’ve been the cherry on top.” Her words were poisonous and she thought he deserved much worse than these. “Or how your mother has always tried to make me feel miserable in front of everyone when you did absolutely nothing to stop it. Not even moving your finger.”
In an unusual place, when you’re feeling far away
She does what the night does to the day
She was right about everything. He couldn’t disagree with any of the words she said. Helen Craig was rarely found to be wrong.
“I think that our conversation ends here Dr. Banner.”
He grabbed her elbow without thinking twice for his recklessness and made her narrow her eyes in annoyance. “Tonight at Donahue’s bar 9 o’clock and I will explain you everything.”
“Get off me or I’ll scream.” She warned dangerously.
“We both know you can’t.” Clay had no idea where this was leading but he could see the fire into her eyes. “You wouldn’t want people to find out that you had a boyfriend working here huh?”
Look at this prick starting to talk.
“Well well do you need a reminder that my father and my brother can make you beg for your life again?”
The last encounter with the Craig males was one year ago when they found out that this jerk had dumped the most precious thing of their family. Patrick Craig was the first to reach for the drawer to load his gun just in case whereas Brian her brother made sure to find Clay’s location with his advanced knowledge of technology. The end resulted in a bloody and a harsh fight between them and warning the latter to not come any centimeter closer to Helen. And the scar on his neck was still visible after that time.
“That happened once. It can’t happen again,” he grasped her out of his hand. “I’ll be waiting.”
With that he left the ultimatum settled in her hands and keeping it until 9 PM. Helen stayed still like someone had glued her in a position that she couldn’t escape.
She wouldn’t go.
No.
She wouldn’t hear him again and believe his words. But there was such a confidence in his voice that made her scared. Thanks to that she felt the anxiety rising up and panic for what was about to come.
She could easily cancel the plans with Dr. Ramsey and not go to that bar. But when she met him yesterday it felt something different with that share of eye contact.
Despite being half-drunk and exhausted from her flight he had made her forgetting all of her plans and the reason why she came in Boston. It was entirely a new world, a new dimension that she hadn’t explored yet and was eager to find more about this man.
It was unethical but did she care? Not in the slightest. Helen was ambitious and she definitely would possess it. She had to think of a plan how to sabotage this whole thing but how?
The choice she had to make was like a ticking bomb that in one way or another, was going to blast.
She’s thunderstorms
Lying on her front, up against the wall
She’s thunderstorms, thunderstorms, thunderstorms
—————————————————————-
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hualianff · 3 years
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Mi Amor(tentia) II 《I》
Every Sunday, XL personally delivers the ingredients to HC to restock after each week. Sometimes it’s during the morning before classes, HC inviting XL to stay and chat over coffee.
Other times, it’s in the middle of HC’s classes because XL’s only has so many chunks of free time to drop the ingredients off. XL usually keeps himself scarce as he helps himself to deposit the ingredients off on HC’s desk in his office.
On days XL is especially busy with classes, meetings with outside personnel and tending to the school’s greenhouse, his sixth-year teaching assistant, BY, will deliver ingredients to HC.
HC is easily the person XL enjoys spending time with the most. They have such fun conversations and HC makes XL feel so comfortable and listened to. Plus, HC is undeniably charming and handsome. XL thanks whatever higher power there is that someone as refined as HC took XL under his wing.
XL has learned and observed that HC is a professor that students either love or hate. Some perceive the potions professor as sketchy-looking and unfair in his grading. They take HC’s pushing as ridiculing, then complain about their poor marks after refusing to do the bare minimum of the assignment.
(Unbeknownst to HC, XL has taken it upon himself to passive aggressively warn these students from bad-mouthing HC in the hallways.)
Understandably, The first year students absolutely cower in HC’s presence. But from fourth year and up, HC is one of the most loved professors. When HC begins to passionately lecture with really big hand gestures and funny word combinations, the students can’t help but admire him with starry eyes.
(Student: “Hua Lao Shi, I don’t think ‘impossibleness’ is a word.”
HC: “It is now. As I was saying, don’t let the impossibleness of a goal influence your confidence in working towards it. You should not pay attention to whether something is possible or not, but rather focus on what steps you’re taking to find your answer.)
He’s clearly smart; intellectually based from the readings he assigns students from his own books; socially as his humor is always on point and he never misses a beat to tease his students; and emotionally because HC does not tolerate bullying in his house or his classroom. (Nor in the school, if he can help it.)
HC himself was bullied back in the muggle orphanage and during his time at Hogwarts. He knows what it feels like to wake up dreading going to classes and interacting with people who had nothing better to do than put others down. 
So while HC can seem intimidating and blunt at first, he genuinely has his students’ best interests and wellbeing in mind. Witnessing how seriously HC takes his job as a teacher and trusted adult figure, XL’s feelings wrap around him like vines and squeeze him in their hold anytime he’s around HC.
XL’s never had a crush like this before.
Later in the semester, XL and HC are chosen as the professors to monitor the first years on their first trip to Hogsmeade. There is no doubt the transfiguration professor, SQX, took part in pulling some strings to make this happen for XL.
What no one knows is that the defense against the dark arts professor also played matchmaker. In an intense game of wizard's chest that unfortunately ended in his defeat, HX was forced to nominate HC to go with XL. 
HC and XL make the best guides. XL is very enthusiastic in answering first years’ questions while HC is good at describing things through muggle terminology.
During his years at Hogwarts, XL has always loved the Hogsmeade trips and bought new candies from Honeydukes each time. In fact, he has a huge sweet tooth that he can never satisfy. Cue XL showing the students around Honeydukes and HC buying all of XL’s favorite goodies in the background.
When it’s time to move on to the next store, HC presents the bagged sweets to XL with a smile.
(XL, staring at the bagged sweets: “San Lang! You shouldn’t have!”
HC, grabbing XL’s hand and physically transferring the bag: “Nonsense. Gege deserves a reward for working so hard lately. Giving him a few candies is the least I can do.”
XL, clutching the bag tightly, fingers tingling from brushing against HC’s own: “If you insist. Many thanks, San Lang.” 
XL snacks on some sweets for the rest of the trip. HC watches with a pleased eye.)
One day during finals week before winter break, XL falls ill with a terrible migraine. He’s been prone to migraines for a while now, which he’s used to enduring with medicine tablets that don’t do much to ease the pain. 
XL manages to get through his morning classes. But by lunch time, his stomach pain worsened tenfold to which HC, who planned on having lunch with XL, convinced the herbology professor to take the rest of the day off. 
“But my classes-” XL’s voice breaks off as he winces as another wave of nausea sweeps through his body. HC puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. 
“I will fill in for you,” HC assures. XL looks like he’s about to protest, however, the potions professor holds a finger up to his lips. “I can quickly brew something up for your pain. You like the smell of eucalyptus, right? I can add a faint scent to soothe your sinuses too.”
“San Lang…”
HC fixes XL with a pointed stare. XL’s face softens, eyes closing in defeat.
“Thank you,” he says gratefully. Without thinking, HC reaches over to cup XL’s cheek, sliding back to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear before massaging his temple. 
“It’s not a problem. Gege needs rest.”
Luckily, HC doesn’t have afternoon classes lined up for the afternoon. Once XL has retired to his room to relax, HC settles behind XL’s desk as students filter in for class to take the final exam.
(Students who had potions that morning entering the herbology room: “Oh shit-”)
Between classes, HC completes the tasks written in XL’s planner he left during lunch. Unfortunately, HC has a certain TA who sidles up next to him out of nowhere, whispering inconspicuously, “I know you have the hots for Xie Lao Shi.”
HC, who had been marking scrolls, jolts in shock. His left hand streaks across the parchment, leaving a red trail in its wake. 
(Student who receives his scroll with a huge red line: “The fuck???? Does this mean it’s wrong? Do I need to do it again?”)
HC ignores BY as he continues about his business. Except BY rolls a chair right beside the desk, her prying eyes making HC feel like he needs to cover more than just his right eye.
“Tell me everything.”
“There’s nothing to tell.”
“Liar.”
“Watch how you speak to your professor, young lady-”
“Watch how you speak to your professor, young lady,” BY repeats in a nasally voice. HC tightly clenches the pen in his hand. BY, unfazed about testing HC’s patience, sighs pitifully. “Sorry, Hua Lao Shi. I swear, I’m only trying to help.”
“Help with what?” HC asks, attempting to remain oblivious. BY gives HC a deadpan. “Ok, fine. How could you possibly help?”
“Well, I heard that Xie Lao Shi might be crushing on another professor-” HC chokes on his spit. “-and maybe you two…”
BY taps the tips of her pointer fingers together. 
“What!?” HC aggressively clears his throat. The scrolls are long forgotten now. “H-how do you know?”
“He told me,” BY reveals, smirking like the devil’s child.
“Who is it? Tell me more,” HC demands.
“Ah ah ah–you first.”
HC can’t believe this girl who has him cornered is the same timid third-year transfer student who couldn’t even look him in the eye. He bites his tongue, reluctant to discuss his person of interest with a seventeen-year-old. BY just sits there, looking unbothered as she examines her nails while waiting for HC to cave.
It doesn’t take more than ten minutes before HC admits it. 
“Fine. Yes, I like Xie Lao Shi.”
“What do you like about him?” BY asks immediately. HC itches to take points from Hufflepuff; what is this, an interrogation?
To no one’s surprise, HC spends the next half hour praising XL’s selling points (which are all of them) and subtly hinting how plans to ask the herbology professor out soon. BY unhelpfully inputs that HC needs to confess his feelings first. 
“And then he needs to accept your feelings too,” she adds, much to HC’s irritation. 
“I thought you were helping me?”
“I am,” BY smiles innocently. “By listening.”
“You’re not going to tell me who…?” HC falls silent, glaring at the last scroll he finished grading. A glance at his watch indicates there are fifteen minutes left before the final class of the day begins.
“Of course not. I don’t go around spilling professors’ secrets, especially Xie Lao Shi’s,” BY says. HC nods in resignation. 
BY doesn’t tell HC shit in the end, yet somehow made him unload a few things about his feelings regarding XL. HC supposes she was right about the listening part. 
Must be some sort of witchcraft. (HC tells himself that XL definitely would’ve laughed at this thought.)
Strangely, HC feels better after this little confessional session. Though he is incredibly curious as to who has caught XL’s eye in this school. HC’s heart painfully twists in on itself at the possibility that it’s anyone but him. 
HC desperately hopes BY’s rule about not sharing secrets applies to him as well. 
《III》
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xpeachesncream · 3 years
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acquainted | seven
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> series masterlist | series playlist <
summary: the biggest goal of a grad student is to get through school in one piece - no petty drama involved, no sweating over the little things. however, that plan almost always never follows through. sometimes, you can’t help but fall into the most unthinkable, unexpected traps and learn the hard way. like, exhibit a: being unable to resist your engaged, substitute teacher, kim seokjin.
pairing: jungkook x reader x engaged!teacher!seokjin
genre: grad school au, student life au | fluff, angst, smut
words: 3.9k
warnings: unprotected sex (in the form of a flashback in the middle of chapter), dick riding/straddling, slight scratching, slight marking, making out, cussing, mature language/implied sexual content, overthinking, insecurities, guilt, jealousy, some possessiveness, slight bitter feelings and tension in the air, wild, wild thoughts
tags: @laurynne5 @yiyi4657 @miinoongi @teamtardis-notdead @bluesharksandfish@photographic-girl @yonkoghan @moonchild1​ (pls msg me if you would like to be added to the taglist!)
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"Y/N!" Ryujin gasped, her facial expression hard to read. She almost seemed proud, but also disappointed at the same time, but also really confused? You expected much, really. Just take a fucking look at your situation. "What the fuck! Seriously, you have balls! You do know he's still engaged, right? And that you really can't continue doing this with her around? That's coming from someone like me." You groaned.
"Fuck, I know, okay."
"S-so, what? What now? I knew you wouldn't let up on this!" She stutters, her hands out like this is some major political debate.
"I don't even know, I didn't even get the chance to process last night."
"You spent the night with him, didn't you? Where was his fiancé?"
"She's in New York for work."
"Did you guys fuck on their bed?!"
"Ryujin, really? Do I have to answer that?" She squealed, causing you to pinch her on the side to get her to be quiet.
"Holy, you're naughty as fuck!" Her jaw is still hanging from all the dirty details spilling out this morning.
"It was intense." Is all you respond with. It's silent for a minute, Ryujin getting a chance to read your body language and how torn you were.
"Ohhhh, Y/N baby." She brushed the hair out of your face. "You need to get out while you're still not in too deep."
"It's just.."
"You already developed feelings for him, haven't you?" She sighed.
"I know I shouldn't."
"What about Jungkook?"
"What about him? I haven't blown him off or anything like that. I texted him back this morning."
"Ohhhhhhh, this is fucked up."
"I'm stupid."
"No, no. No, you're not. We make mistakes. It's just best you learn from it and move on, especially in this position." You looked at her.
"Don't tell Jimin or Tae right now, please." She shook her head.
"I won't." Part of you was hoping you could get this settled before even telling them anything. But you knew it wasn't going to work that way. Last thing you wanted to do was hide this from your boys.
"I don't know what to do about Jin. I told Jungkook I'd go out on a date with him, and God, he's also so fucking attractive and sweet. But I—last night—" You sighed heavily, unable to finish your sentence. Last night was fucking amazing.
"Here's the thing. You need to stop talking like Jin is an option." You silently nodded and looked down at your feet.
"You're right."
"I'm sorry, baby. I know that's not what you wanna hear but we really have no choice. He's not someone you can go for, and quite frankly, if he can do this to his fiancé, he's capable of hurting you too. He obviously needs to get his shit together and figure out what he truly wants, but it's best you keep your distance while he does so. This could hurt a lot of people."
"Tried to keep my distance, obviously failed."
"Okay, but you didn't have Jungkook." She smiled. "Look, I can't tell you how to feel or force you to feel a certain way, but Jungkook looks like a good guy and he's probably worth giving a chance. Maybe he can make up for the lack of attention or touch you're yearning for. Maybe this can help stray you away from Jin."
"I... fucked him, though." You emphasized as reality settled in.
"Jungkook doesn't need to know that, you aren't a couple and you just met him last night." She sighed. "Please just promise me you'll give him a chance and stop meddling with engaged men. We all know Jin is beautiful, but we can't settle this way." You slightly chuckle. She was right. Maybe you just longed for someone good. Maybe it was time you started dating again. You couldn't have this with Jin, and you couldn't expect him to drop everything with Grace. Your gut was telling you that it wasn't going to happen that way, even with how things went down last night. What's done is done.
However, could you absolutely 100% say you'll keep up this end of the promise? No. You were being honest. It wasn't going to be easy, not with the way he fucked you so good last night. You let that door open and you weren't sure if you were ready to close it for good.
"Yeah, I hear you." She nodded, sighing in relief.
"Bitch, I don't believe you!"
"Stop, okay. I'll do my best." You shrug while she continued to cut her eyes at you.
"God, what a fucking night."
"Tell me about it."
"Was the dick good though?"
"Ry!"
"Probably a dumb question, huh? Jin is truly a work of art."
"Not helping."
"So is Jungkook." She added. "What a family. I'm sure his dick will be twice as big with all that muscle he's packing. It's exciting to think about."
"I—" You pause, shaking your head. "It doesn't work that way, Ry. Let's just not, please." She chuckled.
"You're going to see Jin in class and just remember him destroying your pussy. Creative writing, who?"
"Fuck, okay! For the love of God. Are you finished?"
"I think." She laughed. "Just about." And so you continue walking around the lake, Ryujin now divulging the details about grabbing Namjoon's number and how she was interested in seeing where that went. Then, she finally put her pride aside and honestly told you how she had some feelings for Taehyung but she knew he wouldn't be getting his shit together anytime soon. So, she didn't pursue it, and probably won't. But, she was close. Not like this was anything new to you or Jimin.
You both ended up walking around the streets a little more before Ryujin decided she wanted to go home and take a nap to feel fully rested. You, too, were feeling tired being that you didn't really sleep for more than 4 or so hours. You got into your jammies, and laid in your bed, completely disregarding the assignments you had planned to get done.
It felt like you were asleep for all of 5 minutes before your phone went off.
You sleepily opened your eyes to see Jungkook's name flash across your screen, so you picked it up as you dug yourself back under your covers completely.
"Hello?" You said softly, causing Jungkook to chuckle.
"Did I wake you up? I'm sorry, Y/N. Just let me--"
"You're okay, Jungkook. I should be getting up anyways." The thing about Jungkook, even though last night was really the only time you could say you 'spent' time with him, was that he had the softest demeanor. He was kind, and sweet. He was almost innocent in a sense, but you knew he was just an all-around gentleman.
"Tired from last night?" Mmm, you have no idea, love.
"Yeah, a bit. Did you finish running your errands?"
"Just about. I had to stop by Jin's really quickly to pick something up." That name makes you feel hot and bothered, especially in between the thighs. "I literally just stepped through my door, but I wanted to see how you were doing." You hear him fiddling with stuff in the background before shutting a door.
"That's sweet. I'm surviving." You chuckle.
"You and me both." He lets out a content sigh, assuming he had just plopped onto his bed or couch. "So, are you free this week?"
"I don't really have a life." You shake your head. The fuck Y/N, get it together?! "I-I mean, I do, but like, I meant to say I don't really do much outside of school and work." He laughed.
"Either way, I don't judge. What about Tuesday or Wednesday? Would you be able to spare me an entire evening on one of those days?"
"An entire evening, huh?" You chuckled. "Tuesday. I don't have late classes that day."
"Yeah, I planned a few things."
"What's the plan?"
"Mmm, I do remember saying I wouldn't spill the details."
"That's not fair."
"It'll be worth the wait, I hope." You blushed to yourself. Why was he so fucking cute?
"Setting yourself up for some high expectations, Jungkook."
"Never settle, right? Besides, I just want you to have a good time. That's all that matters to me."
"Cute." You chuckle. "Well, I'm looking forward to it." The phone conversation continues, even as you start getting up to finish up your homework. You easily felt comfortable with Jungkook, talking about random things and going off on different tangents. The more you slowly got to know him and the type of person he was, the more you felt torn. You just had this discussion with Ryujin and you were confident at the time; but as the day went on, you really couldn't stop considering Jin as an option. You wanted to hold onto something that wasn't even yours to begin with. On top of that, here was the added complication of Jungkook. Although it was too early to really determine what was going on between you and Jungkook, you didn't wanna stop exploring the possibilities with him. So now, you were in this predicament where you wanted to hold onto something that wasn't even yours to begin with, but you also wanted to see what Jungkook was about.
How the fuck do you even see your way out of things like this without hurting anyone?
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[ start flashback ]
Jin held your hips as you straddled him, guiding your hips as you rode him on the edge of his bed. You fixed your position so that you rested your feet on the bed, your hands on his shoulders and your legs working inwards in circular motions. You watched as Jin tilted his head back, his hands now running up your back to help support you.
"You know how to ride my dick so fucking well." He groans as he tilts his head back in pleasure.
"God, fuck, I'm gonna cum, Jin." You moan, gripping onto his shoulders tightly, nails scratching the surface and leaving red marks. His soft hands are caressing your back as he leans forward to lick a stripe up your cleavage and to your neck. He begins to suck gently on the base of your neck, gently nipping at your skin. He makes his way up to your lips as your hands are gripping around his thick neck, fighting for dominance with your tongue. His moans are captured inside your mouth as you begin to lightly bounce on his cock. Once you feel yourself beginning to spiral out of control and lose your senses, you begin to moan loudly, calling for Jin as if he wasn't just sitting below you, feeling you cum all over him.
He watches your facial expressions change as you ride out your high, making it enough for him to blow his load right into you. The veins on his neck begin to pop out as you hold him close, him filling you up and coating your walls with his seed while you continue to grip his neck and—
[ end flashback ]
"Y/N!" Jimin says at a rough, low whisper. "Hello?" You shake your head to bring yourself back to reality, the events of last night constantly taking up your conscience. It's obvious the promise you had made Ryujin was proving difficult to keep, being that you brought your ass over to Jin's house last night for another good fuck. You had hurriedly got yourself up and out of his house to make it to work, with Jin almost coaxing you into another round of 'me & you' time. And god, did you wanna risk being late for work for it, especially since Grace would be back later in the day.
"Sorry, Jiminie." You say, taking out a piece of binder paper. "W-what are we doing?"
"We have to work on this question together." He furrows his eyebrows a bit, confused as to why you've been in a daze all class. "Are you okay? You've been out of it all class."
"I'm fine. I just barely got any sleep last night and I'm dying to go home."
"Mmm, okay. Well, we're almost there, just hang tight." He continues to write his notes. You shoot Jin a look at the front of the room, a very subtle smirk on his face as he presses his glasses against his face and makes his way around the room to check on the rest of the class. Jimin is leading most of the conversation, and you know he's doing this because he's worried about you but he doesn't wanna press much on what's been bothering you. After a few minutes, Jimin changes the topic as you both are almost finishing up the partner work. "So, have you talked to Jungkook?"
"Yeah, I have." He smiles. He smiles from ear to ear because he really wanted to see you happy after all the things you've gone through and he was excited to see what could come out of this. And, that smile gets you every single time because if he only knew, he would be incredibly disappointed in you. Jimin was the one you were afraid of disappointing because he meant a lot to you [along with Ryujin and Taehyung] and he thought so highly of you. He never failed to remind you of it, and how he truly adored the strength you had.
Welp.
"So?" You chuckle.
"What?"
"Are you gonna go on the date with him?"
"I am, tomorrow."
"Oh shit!" He says excitedly. "Y/N has a date with Jungkook." He repeatedly teases and looks over at Taehyung and Ryujin working behind you two.
"Jimin, quit." You whine.
"You two doing okay here?" Jin comes from behind you, his facial expression slightly unamused.
"Sorry, yeah, we're good!" Jimin responds in typical Jimin fashion, chuckling and throwing a thumbs up his way. Jin simply nods, then fixates on you while pointing the piece of paper in his hand towards your way.
"Can I speak to you after class, Miss Y/L/N?"
"Yeah, sure." You swallow the lump in your throat as he sends you a reassuring smile before walking off.
"Whatever it is, tell him I didn't copy your shit word for word." You throw your pen at Taehyung.
"You're an idiot." Ryujin flashes you a look, dying to say something, but she knows she can't since she promised she wouldn't around Tae and Jimin.
[ryujin] 7:34pm: what the fuck is that about?
[y/n] 7:35pm: how do i know?!
[ryujin] 7:36pm: you should since you've been riding that man's dick! i'm onto you, woman! you said you promised :( come on, stay strong for jungkookie
[y/n] 7:37pm: ugh, i'm pretty sure it's nothing, okay? relax
You shoot her a look in hopes that she'll quit acting the way she is before the boys question you both. Class begins to wrap up, with you and Jimin passing your papers forward to be looked at and graded. The classroom is slowly emptying, your friends almost being the last ones out.
"Do you want us to wait for you?" Jimin asks as you both are about to approach the front desk. You shake your head and give him a reassuring squeeze.
"I'll be fine." He shrugs.
"Get some sleep then, okay? You worry me. Text me if you need anything." He ruffles your hair before walking out. You watch as Taehyung follows behind, quickly caressing your chin before shooting Jin a nod and walking out. Ryujin simply looks at you as she walks out, slowly hovering by the door as you turn your attention towards Jin.
"Uhm." He chuckles as he sees Ryujin still peeking by the door. "Is there anything else I can help you with, Miss Shin?"
"Noooo." She presses her lips tightly together as she slowly passes the door. You mouth for her to go and she simply rolls her eyes and walks away completely. Jin walks over to the door and shuts it close, being sure that no one else is hovering around.
"What do you need?" You hold onto your books tightly.
"Wanted to make sure you were okay."
"What makes you think I'm not okay?" You ask. You put up this wall in between you and Jin every time you have to be his student. You only felt obligated to, and you sure as hell didn't wanna make it obvious that there were things going on between you two beneath the surface. Having Ryujin know was enough work alone.
"You do know I can see you during class, right?"
"I'm fine. I'm just really tired." He nods.
"So, going on a date with Kook tomorrow, huh?" You roll your eyes.
"What's this really about, Jin?"
"Why are you catching an attitude with me? It's just a question."
"Yeah, I am." You look at him, the jealousy coming through to his eyes. He doesn't say much, nor does he break contact with you as he leans over on the front desk.
"Have fun with that."
"I will. Don't you have to pick up your fiancé?" He looks at his watch.
"In a few, yeah." You roll your eyes and subtly shake your head. Honestly, you have no fucking idea why there was so much bitter tension in the air between you two right now. You both had no right to be acting this possessive or jealous, especially Jin. But, he was wreaking of it and he didn't even have to try to show it. He wasn't even trying to shield it, for that matter.
"Good, you should get going then. Let me get out of your way—"
"I still wanna see you."
"And how is that gonna work?"
"You can tone it down, you know? No one's here." He says, slightly feeling agitated by your attitude. "Last time I remember correctly, you were in my bed calling my name."
"Jin." You flatly say. "Look, I don't know how that's possible. Maybe it's just something we need to tone down in general." He lightly scoffs.
"Okay. Clearly not trying to make ends meet here."
"Not with Grace around."
"Not with Jungkook around either." He retorts.
"I can do what I want, even if that includes your brother." You cut your eyes at him. "I'm not the one engaged, remember? Are we finished here?" Where the fuck did all this attitude and bitter energy come from? You had no idea. You were just going along with Jin's vibe, and quite frankly, he had started it with slipping Jungkook into the conversation the way that he did.
With reality really slapping you in the face tonight, you were beginning to understand how incredibly difficult it would be to keep this up with Grace back. You weren't sure if you could keep up. You knew it wasn't worth it, but Jin certainly had his ways to keep you wrapped around his finger.
Part of you also can't help but feel your pussy throb at this entire encounter. You knew he'd fuck you good and senseless with all this energy—Nope! We are not going there.
"Just about." He says lowly as he watches you swing the door open and slam it close.
"Hey!" Ryujin says coming out of the corner. You should've known.
"Girl, why the hell am I even surprised you came out of the corner like that?"
"I don't know, beats me. You should know me by now."
"Where's Chim and Tae?"
"Went home. I said I needed to stay behind to finish up some things." She flipped her hair. "So, what was that about?"
"Can you believe he has the nerve to ask me about the date with Jungkook? Made me catch an attitude with him."
"Ooooh, he doesn't like it one bit. How spicy." She catches herself. "Except we're not doing anything with Jin, remember?!"
"Too late, I already fucked him again last night." You blatantly spill the beans. Ryujin already knows, there's no point in hiding it.
"Oh for Christ's sake, I knew it! You both wreak of day after secret sex!"
"What is that even supposed to mean!"
"I know you both are trying really hard not to be obvious, but it's obvious, honey. You two can't stop staring at each other! You need to quit it, now."
"I am, okay? Grace is back."
"If she wasn't, would you be back at his place though?"
"I don't know." She groans.
"Wrong answer!"
"Look, calm down. Maybe things will change tomorrow." You say in a positive light.
"Hopefully?! Please don't hurt the guy, Y/N. He seems like a sweetie who would take good care of you!"
"I hear you."
"Please." She pleads. You have never seen her plead like this before, so you knew it was serious. "Don't do this to yourself. You've already been through enough."
"Okay, Ry. I won't." You squeeze her arm. The rest of the walk to your cars is pretty silent, with Ryujin updating you a bit on the latest news of her love life. To be honest, the entire conversation with Ryujin had brought your spirits down. It was hard to focus on whatever she was saying because you were too busy thinking about your own thoughts. It's annoying as hell. Why the fuck was this so hard for you?
Later that night, you get yourself into a nice, hot bath, scrolling through your phone as you and Jungkook text each other back and forth. You hadn't heard from Jin, but you didn't know why you were looking for him knowing where he was at. To be fair, he really did want to talk to you. He was starting to feel needy, and almost possessive. He felt greedy with you, even though he knew it wasn't right. Picking up Grace, he tried his hardest to put on his 'welcome home' face, his 'i missed you' face; even though he had been pretty occupied with other things.
And so when he gets home, Grace suddenly throws herself on her fiancé, almost like she had been gone for months on end. He wasn't expecting it, but he was a man who had needs, so he lets it happen. He wraps himself up, knowing Grace wasn't on any type of birth control and knowing where he had been. She doesn't question it because it wasn't anything new - she knew Jin wasn't ready for kids and nor was she being at this point in her career. Nothing has changed for her as she gets home, although lots has for him. He's trying his hardest to get into the soft, vanilla sex that Grace was always into, but he couldn't get your face out of his mind. And as completely and utterly fucked up this is, you're what gets him off tonight. The nasty, filthy shit you do to him, the faces you make, the way you yell his name like no one else exists - your moans repeating in his head over and over again like sirens.
And Grace has no idea what's going on in that itty bitty head of his. She just enjoys the fact that she can come home to him and have sex with him like any ordinary couple who had been away from each other. They cum together once and she calls it a night, when Jin could go for hours with you, pussy and cock almost throbbing in pain from how much you two can't keep your hands off of each other in one night.
She doesn't know you exist. She doesn't know you've slept on her side of the bed.
She doesn't know you're the one who's actually fucking Jin right now with the way he's thinking about you.
You're exactly what he needs to get off.
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rhysismydaddy · 4 years
Text
After Midnight pt. 3 (Feysand)
Part 1 | Part 2
Uhhh this is kinda long and took me FOREVER to write which was v annoying. Disclaimer: stole a line from Grey’s Anatomy what’s new
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~Feyre~
I’m aware that pacing is one of my bad habits. My ex told me all the time how it drove him crazy to watch me go back and forth, back and forth. Most of the time, I can catch myself doing it and stop. 
But right now, I think I’d find a way to pace even if I were chained to a tree. 
Because I’m so freaking nervous about Rhysand coming over that I’m practically coming out of my skin. 
Which is ridiculous, because the man has seen me naked, for gods sake. 
He’s done more than just see, too. 
And yet the thought of him staying here, sleeping next to me all night, has me ready to run for the hills. Somehow, sharing a bed is more intimate to me than having sex to me. 
It’s fucked up, I know. 
But the last man I shared a bed with... 
There was a level of trust there, and it was broken. And knowing that this is the only way to rebuild the ability to give that trust doesn’t make it any easier. 
I also know that if I go downstairs, I’ll end up drinking myself stupid to make this easier, so I’ve asked Rhysand to just meet me up here. And to make myself even more miserable, I’m early. 
I mean, I’m always a few minutes early, but I somehow forgot we decided to meet later than usual and got here an hour ago. 
Which gave me plenty of time to start freaking out. 
A knock on the door snaps me out of my nerves-induced pace, and I tiptoe to the door and look through the peephole, both excited and anxious when I see Rhysand there. 
Just like last week, he's wearing dark pants and a thin white shirt that does nothing to hide the body underneath. I think he does it to drive me crazy, honestly, because the sight of all that tattooed muscle-
“Are you going to let me in?”
Shit.
I swing the door open, already blushing, and say, “Sorry.”
He looks down at me, full lips pulling into a smirk. “Hi, Feyre.”
The way he says my name is somehow so full of innuendo it threatens to send my cheeks scarlet, but I say politely, “Hi, Rhys.”
He walks into the room, dropping a backpack I refuse to acknowledge on the floor. “How was your week?”
Well, I spent the entire seven days fretting about what might happen tonight and was barely able to eat anything, so not that great. “It was fine. Yours?”
His lips twitch. “Also fine.”
Then he gives the biggest, fakest yawn I’ve ever seen--throwing in a stretch, too--and says, “Well, I’m exhausted. Want to go to bed?”
He’s so damn nice, it makes me want to slap him. “Okay,” I agree, walking to one side of the bed and pulling the covers back. 
I’m already dressed in my sleep shorts and a tank top, but grabs his bag and heads to the bathroom. 
I can do this, I tell myself, not at all believing it. He’s nice, and it’s just sleeping. Most women would kill to sleep next to someone who looks like him. 
The last part of that thought is confirmed a second later when Rhysand steps out of the bathroom in low-hanging shorts and nothing else. 
His tan chest is on full display, and even though I’ve seen and touched every inch of it, I find myself studying it once again. 
I suddenly wish I had a paintbrush and an empty canvas.
The urge shocks me. I haven’t thought about painting, haven’t yearned to pick up a brush, since before everything happened. If I’m being honest, long before everything happened. 
“I thought we weren’t doing anything sexual tonight,” he murmurs, voice a little deeper. 
“We aren’t,” I confirm, forcing my eyes to his perfectly innocent chin. 
“Well then put your horny eyes away,” he scolds with a smile, walking over to flop on his half of the bed. 
I smother a laugh with my hand and get in the bed next to him, trying to ignore the warmth leaking from his skin to mine. 
Neither of us move to turn the small lamp off, so we lay there in the soft light, perfectly silent. 
I’m lying down in a nice hotel room with a good looking man. My body is relaxed, and I am calm. 
Rhysand is a very nice person, and even though I’ve known him for only three weeks, I don’t think he’d ever hurt me.
But his soft, even breathing is a constant reminder that he’s next to me, and the weight in the bed is too familiar, too close. Pressing my eyes shut doesn’t help, because it just allows me to think about the past two years and everything that happened in them. 
My heart’s beating so fast and hard I’m surprised he can’t hear it, and a cool, horrible sweat breaks out over my back. 
Tears threaten to spill over, and I’m discretely trying to take deeper breaths and force myself to calm down.
It doesn’t work in the slightest, so I throw the covers off, turn on my side away from him, and pretend he isn’t there. 
Which becomes pretty damn impossible when a warm hand lands on my shoulder. “Feyre?”
“I’m asleep,” I lie. 
His hand gets a little firmer, turning me on my back so he can see my face. Soft, understanding eyes notice everything written so painfully clearly on it, and he says, “You know what? I’m actually not that tired.”
I think I could love him for that sentence alone. 
He rolls over and leans to reach into his bag. Sitting up, he throws a deck of cards on the bed between us and asks, “Fancy a hand of cards?”
Thank the gods above for warm, compassionate hookers. 
“Sure.”
I sit up across from and diligently ignore the sight of all those tattoos as I watch him expertly shuffle and deal the cards. He looks so serious that it comes as a surprise when he murmurs, “I’m going to cheat if you start beating me.”
My lips curve into a smile. “That probably won’t happen. I’m horrible at cards.”
“Good. I’m a sore loser.”
One hand in and I see that he was serious. He completely kicks my ass without a shred of hesitation or mercy, but I don’t even care because I’m finally starting to relax. It’s easy to when he’s in front of me, making jokes and laughing and smiling. 
He deals another hand without asking, somehow reading me well enough to know I need it. “If I win this hand, you have to answer a question.”
Oh, gods.
This is a recipe for disaster, because if I were him, I’d want to know why exactly I’m so fucked up. 
But I can’t exactly turn him down when he’s been so kind and easy-going about everything. “Okay. Same if I win.”
“You won’t, but okay.”
Cocky bastard.
A few minutes later, I realize his confidence was well-deserved because once again, he beats me. “I think you might’ve cheated there, but you can ask your question.”
I’m mentally praying it’s nothing serious, because I don’t know if I could handle opening up to him while looking into his pretty eyes and-
“If you were arrested for a crime, what would it most likely be?”
I find myself laughing as I look to see he’s completely serious. “That’s what you want to know?”
He smiles back at me and just shrugs. 
“Probably tax fraud,” I admit, laughing again when his eyebrows shoot up. “And before you ask, no, that isn’t why I’m well-off. I just have never understood those stupid forms, so I’ll probably mess up and end up in prison one of these days.”
Rhysand chuckles, grabbing the cards to deal another hand. 
“What about you?”
Putting his elbows on his knees and leaning forward like he’s telling me a secret, he whispers, “Road rage. I’m a really angry driver, and I find screaming at people helps.”
He says it without any remorse at all, so it’s pretty believable. 
“Same deal?” I ask, looking at the cards in front of me and knowing without a doubt I’m about to lose again. 
Almost an hour later, we’ve asked each other the most ridiculous, absurd questions we can think of. I now know he’s afraid of sharks, doesn’t believe in black holes, and was voted most likely to succeed in high school. 
He’s also found out about my sisters, my strong dislike of cilantro, and my dream of moving to France and working in the Louvre.
My stomach hurts from laughing so much, and there’s a quiet kind of peace inside me I haven’t felt in years.
We’re laying down, propped on our elbows, when we finish yet another game, and he puts his cards down and looks at me with unusually serious eyes.
I know he’s about to break our unspoken rule to not ask any personal questions, but for some reason, I don’t stop him. 
“Why don’t you paint anymore?”
His tone tells me that if I want him to drop it, he will. 
But... I want to tell him. I want to tell him what I went through, how it changed me. How it both broke me and made me stronger. 
So I do. 
“The last time I painted was over a year ago. I know it sounds cliche, but my art... it comes from a place inside of me that just isn’t there anymore.”
Rhysand nods, even though what I said didn’t make that much sense. “Do you think it’ll ever come back?”
“Yes,” I say, blushing and looking at his shoulder. I have no idea why I tell him, but I can’t seem to keep my fat mouth shut. “I actually wanted to paint earlier tonight.”
“Oh?” He gives me a knowing smile. “So those weren’t your horny eyes, they were your artist eyes?”
“Of course, you pervert.” They were both, to be honest, but I’m not about to tell him that when he’s looking at me like he just won the lottery. 
“Well, you can paint me anytime you want.” He gives me a wink and waggles his eyebrows. “I posed nude a couple times in college.”
He says that so casually it takes me a second to really hear and understand his words. “You went to college?”
Rhysand freezes, and I think about how I asked that question and want to smack myself. I didn’t have to sound so damn surprised, even if it did catch me off guard. “I didn’t mean to sound like that, I just... I shouldn’t have assumed-”
“Feyre, it’s okay. I just didn’t really realize I’d said that.”
“Okay.” 
There’s a moment of silence, and then he says something that completely surprises me. “I actually have a PhD.”
My mouth drops open, and he laughs. “In what?”
“War and Maritime History.”
For a few seconds, I just lay there and stare at him, mouth swaying in the breeze. “You have a PhD in history?”
It’s almost impossible to imagine this insanely handsome man sitting in a dim, dreary classroom, talking about something as dull as history. 
“I do.” His tone goes a little despondent as he murmurs, “I don’t use it, but I have it.”
He presses his lips together and reaches for the cards lying forgotten between us. I know I should listen to the silent cue, but I can’t stand seeing him like this. 
“Why don’t you use it?” I ask, making sure to keep my tone casual and inviting. I want to give him the same opportunity he gave me. 
He shuffles and deals, then looks at his hand and shakes his head, snatching up my cards to re-deal. At least he was honest about the cheating.
I hardly even notice, though, because he says, “I did for a few years. I was a professor at UVelaris.”
Now that, I can imagine. 
Him standing in front of a body of students, driving all the females crazy, lecturing and being the cool, funny professor everyone wants to have. 
“Not anymore?”
Rhysand shakes his head. “Didn’t pay enough.”
Something about his face tells me it’s time to drop it and change the subject. Which I guess makes it my turn to share.
So as I start to lose once again, I tell him, “I can’t go to sleep next to you because one day I woke up and my ex-fiance had locked me in our apartment.”
It’s blurted and quiet and a terrible way to spring that on someone, but he just says, “My hand is absolute garbage. You might actually win this one.”
“About time,” I mutter, weirdly relieved he didn’t start asking questions. Or worse, getting angry. 
It should probably concern me that he somehow knows and can read me well enough to find the perfect response, but I’m too busy marveling at how easy this all feels with him. 
Every minute of therapy is like a punch to the gut, but with Rhys... I feel like talking to someone who won’t judge, who won’t ever tell me what I should’ve done.
Pushing those thoughts out of my head, I actually concentrate on our game, and when I finally defeat him, I stick my tongue out at him and smile. 
He grins back, but something about it makes mine fall away. 
Because it’s his turn, and even though I’m prepared for the worst, I don’t know what it is until I hear it. 
“My cousin has a rare form of leukemia, and the university didn’t pay enough for me to cover her treatments.”
He says it quickly and quietly, just like I did, but it still carries a heavy punch that knocks the air out of my lungs. 
Because he... I don’t have the words to describe him. 
He gave up his dream job and does something he probably hates for his family. It’s the most selfless, heartbreaking thing I’ve ever heard. 
But I want to give him the space to say things at his own pace like he is for me. “Let’s play another hand. I’m feeling lucky.”
Rhysand nods, eyes looking relieved, and starts to deal again. 
My turn.
“My ex was really paranoid and thought I was cheating on him, and he had to go out of town for a work trip. That’s when he... I was locked in there for five days, and he took my phone and laptop, so I didn’t have a way to call for help.”
Rhys is silent for a long moment, jaw clenched tight. But when he speaks, it’s in the same calm, easy tone as always. “There’s not enough luck in the world for you to beat me this time.”
I laugh despite the heaviness of the words I just spoke, and even though it’s his turn, I keep talking. “I went a little crazy. I tore the place apart. I tried to break a window to get out, but we lived on the eighth floor and had Plexiglas windows.”
Our game is long forgotten at this point, and I know I should shut up, but talking to him... I can’t stop. “By the time he got back, I was... different. I was having panic attacks all the time and couldn’t bring myself to eat, and then he just strolls through the door like nothing happened.”
“And he was angry with me. For making such a mess. He hardly noticed I was a shell of who I used to be. Over time, he’d broken me down so completely he was used to it.” Taking a deep breath, I shrug and say, “So I left. I didn’t take the time to pack a bag, I just saw the open door and ran.”
“How long ago was that?” he asks, the first time he’s said something besides his endless taunts about cards.
“A year ago. I was with him for three. It took me a long time to leave him because he wasn’t always emotionally abusive and harsh. There were times when he’d be so sweet and good to me. I wrote it off as mood swings for a long time since I loved him so much.” I take a deep breath and push away the memories threatening to drag me under. “But I got out.”
I say it to him, even though it’s as much a reminder to myself. 
Rhysand smiles, reaching to slowly tuck my hair behind my ear. “And now you’re free.”
“I’m free,” I say, proud of myself for telling someone besides my shrink what happened. 
It’s the first time I’ve ever opened up about our relationship willingly, and even though it was a brief, abbreviated version of the full story, I’m happy with myself.
But it’s a bittersweet moment, because I can’t forget what Rhys told me.
I can’t forget why he’s here, what he’s been through. 
“I wish you were free, too,” I whisper. 
And gods, is it true. Even though I’m happy I found him, even though I’m grateful he’s helping me, I wish he was free to go back to teaching. I wish he didn’t have to carry this burden. 
I wish he wasn’t looking at me with enough sadness in his eyes to make my chest hurt. 
He doesn’t respond, and I don’t want him to feel pressured, so I say simply, “I’m tired.”
Rhys nods, sweeps the cards up, and tosses them back into his bag. Then we’re laying there staring at each other, and I’m noticing the way the light turns his skin a deep bronze and lights up his eyes.
Something feels different between us now that we know the dirty details of each other’s lives. It feels less like a transaction. 
It feels like he cares about me. 
I scoot forward and put my head on his chest, grateful he turns on his back so I don’t feel too trapped. 
His hand is on my hip, the other tucked behind his head, and as I put one leg over his, I think that I’ve never been this comfortable in my life. 
Which surprises me, but I’m not complaining. Especially not as the hand on my back starts moving across my back in small, soothing circles that make my breathing slow. 
Sleep comes for me quickly, but right before I close my eyes, I press a kiss to his chest and murmur, “Goodnight, Rhys.”
His response is the last thing I hear before I go to sleep, warm and safe in his arms. 
~
I don’t really remember where I am when I wake up. My eyes stay shut as I wiggle around a little, finding myself very warm and comfortable and happy.
It’s only when someone’s breath brushes the back of my neck that I remember where I am, and who I’m with. 
Rhysand is behind me, warm body wrapped around me. One arm is under my head, the other is mingled with mine, and his legs are tucked behind mine. His head is in the hollow of my neck, stubble tickling my skin slightly.
It’s been a long time since I’ve woken up in a man’s arms, and I’ve forgotten how good it feels. 
Careful not to move too much, I stretch my legs and arms out, enjoying the weight of his body on mine.
He must feel be stirring anyway, because next thing I know, his mouth is pressing against my neck in a soft, sleepy kiss that makes me smile. 
It’s natural and easy and it feels like we do this every morning. 
I trust him, I realize with a slight start. 
It’s insane to trust someone after such a short time of knowing each other, but I do. Especially after last night. 
He listened to me and made me feel heard without being overbearing or giving me pity. He’s been there for me through panic and sadness and somehow managed to make me smile regardless.
And I want him to know how much it means to me.
So I turn my head and meet his mouth with mine.
Rhysand doesn’t hesitate, sweeping his tongue into my mouth in a rich, hazy kiss that makes me immediately want more. His hand cradles my head, arms loosely wrapped around me. 
I turn around so I can put my hands in his hair, and I’m so lost in him I don’t even realize we’re violating our nothing-sexual rule. 
I don’t want you to touch me unless you want to. 
I attempt to pull away, but his mouth follows me, pressing kisses across my upper lip, the corner of my mouth. “Rhys,” I breathe, putting a hand on his shoulder to give myself room to think. 
He pulls away, violet eyes heavy hooded and happy. “Feyre.”
His voice is scratchy and his hair is ruffled and he looks so goddamn edible I can’t resist anymore. “I want to touch you. Please.”
It’s almost comical how quickly the drowsiness fades from his eyes. 
His full mouth opens and shuts, then repeats the process once again. And then he murmurs, “You never have to say please.”
Taking that as permission enough, I cup his face with my hands, running my thumb across his cheekbone. He leans into my touch, eyes drifting shut. 
I feel like I’m in a dream as I run them lightly down his neck, across his shoulders. 
I trace the lines of his tattoo until they stop, then my fingers explore his abs, the muscle tightening under them. 
And then I slip my hand past the loose waistband of his sleep shorts. 
Both of us react immediately. I completely stop breathing, mind going probably-permanently still at the feel of him in my hand, and Rhys’s eyes snap open so fast I watch as the dilate. 
We’re both staring at each other, the only thing breaking the utter silence in the room his shallow breathing. 
I run a finger over the length of him, then the tip, and he hisses my name. 
“Please,” I repeat, ignoring the fact that he said I didn’t need to ask. 
His jaw clenches as I wrap my hand around him, and he’s almost glaring at me as he says, “You’re going to fucking kill me.”
Fighting a smile, I start to move my hand and shrug. “This is about me, remember?”
He still wears a serious expression, but his lips twitch, so I keep going. 
I’m moving so slowly I think we’ll both be insane by the time this is over, but I can’t bring myself to speed up. His hips are moving slightly, pushing into my hand, and it’s addictive to watch him react to me. 
Rhys makes a low sound, then bites his lip as if to keep it in. 
Which is a mistake, since now I want to do it, too. 
Leaning in, I take that lip for myself, nibbling and sucking on it until he can’t take it anymore and starts kissing me again. 
I scoot a little closer and move my mouth to his neck, and all I can breathe or taste or think about is Rhys. 
A hand in my hair tells me this situation is unacceptable, and then his mouth is on mine again, desperate enough I take pity and move my hand faster. 
His body is tight with pent-up energy, like he’s determined to keep himself still and let me have my fun. 
One hand still between us, I run the other through his hair, pulling on it until he groans. I run my thumb over the end of him, and he mutters my name, voice holding a touch of warning that makes me smile. Even as I do it again. 
He curses, and then he’s falling apart in my hands, and I pull away to watch, just like I know he did with me. 
And it really is a sight to see. 
His muscles bunch tight, jaw even tighter, and his eyes drift close as his head goes back and a moan falls off his lips. His breathing is heavy and there’s a heavy, satisfied look to him that I can’t get enough of. 
Eventually, his eyes open again and find mine. 
Rhysand kisses me softly, then pulls back enough to smirk and say, “You’re welcome.”
A laugh bubbles out of me, and then the room falls back to silent. 
And I realize I’m laying in bed with him, laughing, and practically begging to give him pleasure.
Fuck. 
He gives me a strange look, cuing me into the fact that my panic is probably all over my face, so I smile, then roll out of the bed. “I have to go.”
“Interesting,” he states, tone making it clear he’s a filthy liar. A very amused liar.
I just roll my eyes and grab my bag, hoping that when I come out of the bathroom, he’ll be gone. 
No such luck. 
Ten minutes later, I’m fresh-faced and dressed, and he’s still lounging in bed, arm tucked behind his head. And the sight of all that beautiful, muscled, tattooed-
“You have your horny eyes on again.”
“You’re delusional,” I shoot back, mentally making a note to wear sunglasses around him at all times. 
“Come here.”
I shake my head, knowing where that’ll lead even without the look on his face.
Because after last night, things feel different. 
They feel casual.
Which is the exact opposite of what I wanted. I did this so I could find someone unattached and easy and... not him. He understands me better than I do, for gods’ sake. 
And he’s caring and gentle and so understanding, and my brain is just having a hard time keeping up. 
He opens his mouth to argue, but I throw a pillow at him from my safe spot halfway across the room. “I have to go to the museum.”
Technically, this is a lie. We’re on schedule for the next event. But I could go and get ahead. Which sounds like a great idea. 
“That’s not even remotely believable, but alright.” He rolls smoothly to his feet, remind me once again how comfortable he is in his skin. 
I look at the ceiling, and he makes an amused sound. “No self control. It’s sad, really.”
I hate him. 
Even though I’m grinning because it’s true. 
He throws on a dark shirt from his bag and steps into some jeans, all while I adamantly study my very interesting, unpainted nails. 
And then we’re walking down the hallway to the elevator and standing across from each other. If I had a knife-
No. If I had a spoon, I could cut the tension in there with ease. 
He smiles like he knows what I’m thinking, and I almost weep with relief as the doors open to the empty morning lobby. 
Rhysand moves to get out, but I’m going down another floor to the garage, so I stay put, firm in my resolve to appear unaffected. 
That plan goes out the window pretty quickly, considering he narrows his eyes at me, marches across the small elevator floor, pulls me into his arms, and kisses me. 
I kiss him back without hesitation, both of us only pulling away when the door bings unhappily. 
What the hell was that?
Did he just... kiss me goodbye? 
What the hell was that?
I don’t have time to ask, because he steps into the lobby, looks me up and down thoroughly, and says, “See you next week, Feyre.”
Oh, gods. 
I have to see him again. 
Because even though I know I shouldn’t, there’s absolutely no way I’ll cancel. 
I’m a stupid, stupid woman. 
But I replay last night and this morning in my head, and as the elevator starts dropping to the garage, I realize I don’t even care. 
_______________________________________________________
Part 4
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mymelodyheart · 3 years
Text
All I Want For Christmas Is You Chapter 4 ~Revelations and Snogs~
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Previously in A Christmas Request ...
"Claire?"
"Hmmm?" Her voice was like a breathless whisper, and he wasn't sure if he imagined the yearning look in her eyes. It took all his self-control to keep from kissing her right there and then. Instead, he locked down all his muscles and willed himself to think of animals that start with the letter D. And all his damn brain could summon was the word dragonfly.
"May I ask ye a favour?"
"I don't kiss on the first date," she said too quickly, but her words contradicted her manner as she stared at his lips.
"That wasn't what I was gonnae ask ye."
"Oh!" Her eyes flew to his, and she blushed profusely. "Oh, well, that depends on the favour then."
He swallowed hard and leaned forward, taking her hands in his. "Will ye spend the rest of yer holiday with me?" He cleared his throat. "What I'm trying to ask of ye is, will ye stay here until the Three Kings ...until it's time for ye to go back to London?"
She blinked thrice. 
"Alright."
"Alright?" A lungful of air whooshed out of him.
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   Alrighty Beauchamp, what have you just done?
Grabbed life by the balls? Isn't that the mantra?
Nope!
What do you mean nope?
Those are not your words. Not our words.
Yes, they are. You know, live in the moment and la-di-dah!?
Nope, definitely not.
Whose are they then?
Annalise's.
Ah, well ...
Claire mentally shrugged. 
"Sassenach?"
She snapped out of her tunnel vision, then looked at the big hands still holding hers. She was still trying to wrap her head around the idea of agreeing to spend the rest of her holiday with a total stranger. Who are you and what have you done with the ol' Beauchamp? "I'm sorry. I was thinking of Annalise. This is our holiday together, you see. I just agreed to spend the rest of my holiday here without consulting her." She shook her head and laughed despite the conflicting thoughts floating around her head. "I'm quite sure she'll be fine with it. She's the one who's always pushing me to be more spontaneous."
He squeezed her hands. "I'm flattered to be the reason for your spontaneity."
Her face heated. "I've never done this before ...just so you know."
He tried to catch her eye, and when she returned his gaze, he gave her a lop-sided smile. "Neither have I."
Oh, he's so good. Claire blew out a breath and stilled her heart. "That's comforting to know," she said, trying not to look too flustered. Knowing so little about him, she knew she should be wary, but for some reason, she felt safe. Everything about him was brand-new and familiar at the same time. It's as if there had been a melody playing in her head for her entire life, and he'd finally given it words.
"And Analise is welcome to stay too," Jamie quickly reassured her. "Ye said ye're booked at the Airbnb until Boxing day, but I dinnae think there'll be any guarantee ye'll be able to extend yer stay there with it being high season and all. But we have a family cottage that we rent out for the long term, and it was recently vacated. With all the Christmas fuss and work during the past few weeks, we never got around to letting it. Ye and Annalise are welcome to stay there for the rest of yer holiday." And then he grinned. "I'm quite certain my brother would be thrilled with the idea of yer friend staying too."
Claire laughed. "You're probably right. They seemed to have hit it off."
"Ye could say the same for us, don't ye agree?" he asked in a low voice.
She stared at him. How could he looked so calm and collected when she hadn't figured out how to articulate what she was feeling? On top of it all, it seemed he'd perfected the art of persuasion with finesse, so much so, she'd immediately jumped at his invitation to stay in Broch Mordha without a second thought, surprising herself. When it came to the dating game, she would have equated over-confidence to smugness which as a rule turned her immensely off. But there's a sincerity to Jamie's flirting that she found all too endearing and very charming.
She searched his face. Ready or not, she was curious to explore the unfamiliar emotions this beautiful man was drawing out of her. In her history of dating, no man had ever moved her to make her take the leap of faith. Deep down, something always seemed to be missing, and she'd simply put it down to her inability to know what she wanted. To say her hope of finding herself in a romantic relationship had taken a hit would be an understatement.
When her last date had ended in a blaze of abject embarrassment after she was accused of being a cock-tease, she'd decided she was done with men, at least for the foreseeable future. She had a concrete five-year plan, and getting involved with someone when her heart wasn't a hundred per cent into it, wasn't one of them. Annalise continued to hassle her to dive back in into the dating pool head first, but she'd been content to wade in the shallow end. It may have been frustrating to never take the plunge, but at least, there was a nil chance of her drowning in a sea of mistake. But now?
"Baby steps," she whispered.
"Sorry ...I didn't quite catch that."
She pulled her hands from his hold and drank the rest of her already cold Dutch coffee. When she finally placed the mug down, she looked up and smiled at him. "That rental cottage you were talking about, can I at least give you some money for it?"
He shook his head. "No way. In case ye've forgotten, I invited ye to stay."
"But you've been paying for everything all evening. Hardly seems fair."
"Spending my hard-earned quid for the pleasure of a gorgeous lass' company? Every penny spent is worth it if ye ask me." 
When he talked like that, she knew her blush wasn't going to fade anytime soon. "Annalise will disapprove, and I'm pretty sure she will want to have her say in the matter."
"And so will Willie."
"Are you always this stubborn?" she countered.
"Only if I want something badly."
They have a stare-off for a few heartbeats before Jamie tore his gaze away and cleared his throat. 
He glanced down at his watch. "So, the last horse carriage ride around the village is in about twenty minutes. We should probably get going." 
"Horse carriage ride?"
"Aye. Part of the Christmas night tour." He got up from his seat and gallantly offered her his arm. "Shall we?"
It's so old-fashioned and chivalrous, she laughed out loud. "Well, I guess we shall." As soon as she linked her hand into the crook of his elbow, he sucked in a quick breath. "Are you alright?"
He looked down at her hand on his arm and smiled. "Aye. I'm just concerned I might have trouble adhering to yer nae-kiss-on-first-date rule."
They headed out of the cafe and into the frosty air, and she was acutely aware of the low voltage electricity buzzing around them. "Would it help if I put my retainers on? I have them in my bag. I usually put them on at night."
"No, not really. I just have to remind myself of the promise I made to Annalise before we left the pub earlier."
"What promise was that?"
"I promised her I'd behave otherwise ..."
"Otherwise?"
"I have to face the consequences."
She laughed. She knew Annalise's threat so well and by heart as the same lines had been often used to warn her dates in the past. "Well, let me see ...did she say if you misbehave she's going to show you the end of the world up close. And she's going to let you see the kingdom come with your own eyes by sending you straight to the southern hemisphere and letting the ashes of death rain all over you."
He grinned at her. "Something like that. How she's going to achieve that, I have nae idea."
"Never mind how. If you keep on focusing on Annalise's threat, that should be deterrent enough."
He gave her a sceptical shrug. "If ye say so." And then he looked down at her and winked. "But then again, ye're worth tempting fate for."
..........
Claire found herself being hoisted into a festively decorated horse-drawn carriage with twinkling garlands, gold & white berries. To her amusement, even the shire horses were wearing faux antlers. As she sat down, she felt their buggy dipped low as Jamie followed and settled next to her, putting the gift bags on the floor and pulling the woollen blanket over them. As their transport rumbled and creaked into motion, he put an arm behind her, resting it the edge of their seat's backrest, leaving her no alternative but to lean against the curve of his body. His closeness and the motion of their carriage added another layer of tension to her already overworked adrenal glands.
"Comfy?" he whispered, leaning into her, his warm breath on her ear.
"Uh-huh," she managed, licking her lips that had gone suddenly dry. It was a challenging feat to ignore Jamie's presence when his sheer size encroached her space, his thigh brushing against hers and the motion of the ride, sinking her deeper under his arm.
She forced herself to focus on the sounds of the hooves and bells, and admire the trees wrapped in lights, wreaths adorning almost every window, and Santas or nutcrackers standing guard outside front doors. For once, Jamie didn't speak, and she allowed herself to relax, revelling the clean, crisp air of the Highlands. Although Broch Mordha was nothing like London, quieter and had a slower pace of life, the atmosphere in the village was electric. It was almost magical, more natural and everything seemed to make more sense, instead of the rat race that occurred daily and nightly in the big city.
Every year, at around Christmas time, she came back to the Highlands in search of some peace, and every time she returned to London, she always felt like a brand new person, invigorated, well-rested and ready to tackle the New Year. But there was something different about her visit in Broch Mordha compared to the other places she'd been to in the Highlands, and she had a feeling deep in her guts, she'd have trouble leaving this place once her holiday was over. 
"Ye dinnae look tired at all, Sassenach. Ye're used to staying up late?"
She glanced up at Jamie and smiled. "I sleep very little. I don't know, maybe I have insomnia."
"Really? Perhaps it's just a consequence of living in the city. I mean it's loud there, and I presume ye live in a flat where ye can hear the comings and goings of yer neighbours."
She sighed. "Yes, there's that. The flat Annalise and I live in is not really the most tranquil setting. It doesn't help that I am an overthinker."
"What do ye think mostly about when ye cannae sleep?"
"Mostly about work," she shrugged, glancing at the lights overhead that were hung above the streets. "Don't get me wrong. I'm happy, and I'm grateful for the good life I have. It's just that sometimes I think about the day when I would stop searching for ..."
Jamie waited for her to finish her sentence, but she couldn't find the words. "For what?" he finally asked, his hand squeezing her shoulder, urging her on.
"More," she replied candidly, surprising herself with the unguarded utterance that came from her very soul, ragged with honesty and desire for something she didn't have a name for. Yet. Suddenly, the empty place inside her reared up, seeking company. "How about you? What do you think most of at night?" She paused, trying to tamp down the sudden curiosity that flared up, but it was out before she could stop herself. "A certain lass perchance?"
To her astonishment, she felt him tensed beside her, and after a few seconds, he let out a sigh. "I have nightmares," he confided.
Her head jerked up, and she twisted in her seat to look into his eyes. He was probably waiting for her to ask a torrent of questions, but she remained silent, allowing him to set the pace of their conversation. She nodded her head to continue.
"I used to be with the SAS. It's a special force unit for the British army. The unit I was in was responsible for a number of roles including covert reconnaissance, counter-terrorism, direct action, and hostage rescue. My best friend, Simon MacKimmie, was captured while spying behind the enemies' lines. He was a valuable informant for both sides, and my team were under direct orders to get him out of there alive and as swiftly as possible." She watched as his throat worked as if he saw the scene replaying in his mind. "We found him quickly enough and thought we were out of the woods. But the enemy fire broke out just as we were about to board the helicopter. Simon and I were hit, but my wound was superficial, whereas my friend's injury was fatal. I promised him everything would be alright and would make sure he stayed alive for his family. Before he slipped away, he made me promise to take care of his wife, Laoghaire, if he didn't make it. She was pregnant at the time. I didn't hesitate and made a vow to keep that promise."
"Oh, Jamie ..."
He pressed his lips into a determined line. "Months later, I was discharged from the army after I was diagnosed with PTSD. I resigned myself to a quiet life as the flashbacks from the horrors of the war and friend's death worsened. Laoghaire and I became close, as we talked a lot about Simon and I helped her with the things she needed. That was when I found my purpose in life again, and even though I wasn't in love with her, I loved her like I loved Simon so I asked her to marry me so that I could take care of their child. It was a sacrifice, aye, but it was a small price to pay, considering I get to live, and my mate will never get to see his unborn child. So we planned to marry after the child was born. So while we were waiting for the big day, I bought a house for us, and my brother helped me restore it."
"But Laoghaire didnae want to live here. She wanted us to move to Liverpool because she couldnae stand the quiet and the remoteness even though she was born and bred here. I told her we would talk about it after the baby was born. But I was worried that living in the city would make my PTSD worse. Meanwhile, rumours were going around that Laoghaire has been seeing another man when Simon was still alive and that she would often disappear to Liverpool weeks at a time. I ignored it as I didnae care for idle gossips and dismissed it as such. Ye see, she lived and worked in Liverpool before she married Simon; hence, I thought, that was where the rumours had stemmed from. She's a very ambitious lass and has this dream of making it big one day. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I later found out from a reliable source that not only had she cheated on Simon, but she cheated on me while were engaged. I began to wonder if the child she was carrying was even Simon's. While I was building her a house and funding her trips to Liverpool, she was seeing the same man she'd been meeting up with when Simon was still alive. When I confronted her, she admitted to it. So the wedding was cancelled, and she went to Liverpool to give birth to her child and to be with the other man ." 
He shook his head at the memory. "She reminded me of someone I used to pursue. She'd rather be with a man wearing a five grand suit than be with a labourer like me. I guess it's the lure of the city. Sometimes I feel like I failed Simon and his family. I made him all sorts of promises that I couldnae keep and the memory of the glimmer of hope he had in his eyes turning to death, keep recurring in my dreams."
Claire knew the last things Jamie needed were apologies and pities. He seemed like a proud man who didn't shy away from responsibilities and was unapologetically himself. "I guess we both have demons that keep us up at night," she finally said.
Jamie shrugged and waved his hand. "Dinnae fash. I didnae take ye out so ye could watch me wallow. I've done enough of that myself."
She took a deep breath. "I'm not going to pretend I wholly understand everything you've been through, but one thing I know is that you being part of the SAS means you were trained with the elite. You were drilled to save lives, and with that comes, precision and no room for error. So when something goes wrong, and someone dies during your watch, it becomes your fault."
He looked at her as furrows deepened on his brows.
She placed a hand over his. "You tried to absolve your guilt of not being able to save your mate's life by taking care of Laoghaire, who was so undeserving of your kindness and generosity. God or a higher power or the universe, or whatever you wish to call it, is trying to show you something important. You don't get to choose, Jamie. At the end of the day, you can only do your best, but you can't save everyone. No one can. Right now you're learning to live with that, and all you can do now is make sure you get to the other side. You can't take responsibility for everyone's action but yours."
Something lit up in Jamie's eyes. Emboldened by the small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, she grinned at him. "No wonder you won at the caber toss and your team trashed the opponents at shinty today. You have so much pent up emotions dying to come out."
Jamie suddenly laughed out loud and pulled her against him. "I think I need to fire my therapist and hire ye, Sassenach. All this time, we'd circled around the realisation, always walking on eggshells. But ye ...ye just gave it to me straight. I think I'll need ye to stay longer past three kings."
She poked him on the ribs. "Be careful what you wish for!"
..........
A couple of hours and a glass of mulled cider each later, they walked in silence as Jamie guided her down the path that led to the bed and breakfast cottage. As it turned out, he lived three minutes walk away from where she and Annalise were staying.
After spending a whole night out with him, her body was still buzzing with so much energy. She'd never had such a powerful reaction to a man before. Nor enjoyed the company of one as much as she did tonight. She felt like she could uproot all the trees that stood on her path.
"I had a really grand time," he said.
"Me too. Thank you for a wonderful evening."
"And thank ye for the company."
As they neared bed and breakfast cottage, she realised they were exchanging lame small talk, but there's nothing lame about what's passing between them. Either way, she couldn't care less as she'd never laughed so hard in her life.
When they finally reached the small gate, she stopped and turned around to face him. "Well, here we are," she smiled, trying to conceal her reluctance to go.
He hooked the giftbags onto the wooden gate and nodded tensely, the tightness in his jaw quite evident. "Aye. Here we are at Mrs Fitz's place. I ken the ol' dear. She used to feed me and my brother jam piece and milk when we were bairns." He took a step forward and cleared his throat. "I ...um ...tonight was really special." 
"I think so too. Thank you again for everything."
He ran a hand through his hair and blew out a breath. "I'm no' tired yet, so I'm just going to take a walk some more until I'm ready for bed," he said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder.
"Yes, you do that. Fresh air is good for you. And I ...ah ... I'll talk to Annalise about extending our stay here. Ah well ... that's if she's still awake." She rolled her eyes and let out a nervous laugh. "Or if she's home. So ... I'll see you around?"
"Aye, I'm just down the road if ye need anything."
"Yes. Got it. Down the road. A hop, skip and jump away."
He stared for a few heartbeats, then ran his hand behind his neck and gave her a crooked smile. "I meant it, Sassenach. If ye cannae sleep, ye can drop by anytime. I'm a light sleeper. Apart from personalised packaged-tours, I also specialise in making a mean toddy to help ye sleep. And a wicked mushroom omelette if its breakfast ye want. Oh, aye, I'm good at foot massage as well."
She stifled a giggle threatening to burst as a ball of warmth bloomed in her belly. "I have no doubt you're good at those things. I'll bear what you said in mind if I need anything or if I have trouble sleeping. And if I have a sudden urge for a foot massage, I'll pop by."
He shook his head. "Ye're not just saying that to spare my feelings are ye?"
"No. Of course not. I enjoy your company. So ..." Claire took a deep breath. "...this is it. Good night, Jamie. And thank you again for everything." Oh, dear God, I keep saying thank you! She stood on her tiptoes to give him a peck on his cheek just as he offered his hand. Their sudden awkward movement made her lose her balance, bumping her nose on his jaw. They both took a step back and laughed. This time she held out her hand, and he shook it.
They continued to stand there and shake hands, neither of them letting go, their smile slowly ebbing away as they stared at each other.
Jamie was the first to speak. "Right, this is the part where I watch ye walk away."
"Yes. I'll go now. It's getting late." She smiled as she took a tentative step away from him, but he didn't let go of her hand.
Her bottom hit the wooden post behind her as Jamie took another step forward. His height and breadth blocked out the street light, and in the shadows, his expression looked almost pained. She'd had men looked at her with desire before, but nothing like the way Jamie was doing right now. The way his jaw and muscles tensed and his breathing shallowed, she knew it was taking him a lot of effort to hold himself back. Her eyes travelled down to his throat and watched his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.
"Sassenach." His voice cut through the haze, and her eyes flew to his as he leaned down and cupped her face. "Maybe ye could stay for just a wee while more."
Her heart began to thump wildly against her ribs as the air between them charged. "I really should get going," she whispered, the blood roaring through her ears almost deafening. She willed herself to move, but she remained fixed on the spot.
"Or perhaps ye can just stand here for a few minutes more and let me do this."
She stopped breathing and time stood still as he softly brushed his lips across hers. Then he pulled away for a brief second waiting for her to object, and when she didn't, he kissed her again.
Her brain seized, and her eyes automatically closed. She'd never felt lips so soft nor been kissed with such gentleness. She once read an Oscar Wilde quote, and it said, "A kiss may ruin a human life." It had puzzled her then because up until now, she'd always thought, although some kisses were sweet it was nothing more than two people putting their faces together and exchanging spit. But Jamie's kiss? She knew it had ruined her for any future kisses. This was the type of kiss she never even knew existed. It was the kind of kiss that inspired stars to climb into the sky and light up the world.
She waited with bated breaths for more, but nothing happened.
When she opened her eyes, he was staring at her. "I've wanted to kiss ye from the moment I laid my eyes on ye," he whispered and grazed her lips once more. "Ye've nae idea how beautiful ye are."
Oh, sweet Jesus! He'd barely touched her. It was merely a light brushing of their lips and the slightest sensation of his breath on her face. But it was enough to cause the static crackling between them to be ignited, and she was left wanting more.
Before she could reassemble her thoughts and make sense of her emotions, he stepped away from her and tunnelled his fingers through his hair. "May I please have yer phone, Sassenach?"
"Oh! Wot for?"
He smiled at her. "I'm giving ye my number." 
She reached into the back pocket of her jeans and handed her phone over. She watched him dial his own number on her screen, and after a few seconds later, his own phone rang. 
"There, now I have yers too." He pushed her phone into her back pocket and blew out a breath. "I'll see ye tomorrow?" 
"You want to see me again?" she teased, smiling.
"I dinnae even want to leave ye tonight."
She dropped her head down to hide the heat creeping up her face. "I'll see what's Annalise is up to and we'll take it from there. I'll either call you or send a message."
He placed a finger under her chin and tipped her face up. "Ye're not mad I kissed ye? I havenae forgotten yer rules about first dates."
Claire picked up the gift bags, stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. And then she smiled. "I'm starting to believe the rules don't apply to you. Good night, Jamie." And with that, she turned around and walked towards the cottage without looking back, knowing full well Jamie was still stood there waiting for her until she'd safely made it to the house.
Once inside, she allowed herself to slide down to the floor and relived the memory of their first kiss. And she sat there for a very long time.
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Dear Readers,
Here's a little story about this chapter. I got stuck at the beginning of writing this one. So what did I do? I started writing from the middle, then the conclusion and finished the opening in the end. It's common to get stuck in writing, so I thought I'd share this wee tip with you. So just in case, the latest update lost some of its fluidity, you now know the reason why. 😀
Anyway, thank you for reading and your feedback from the previous chapter. It's something I truly appreciate. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I look forward to reading your thoughts. Meanwhile, sending you all best wishes and hope you're taking care of yourselves and your health. x
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solaeter · 3 years
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Hi :D can I request a Jujutsu Kaisen matchup? 👑
Appearance: I have dark brown eyes and hair, I wear glasses and have a long curly mohawk haircut. I'm 1.64 cm tall and have a slim body type but I would love to gain more muscle!
Love language: I think my love language would be Quality time and Acts of service.
Personality: I'm often quiet but when I'm comfortable enough I love to make others laugh and can be sassy and sarcastic. I'm often told I have a resting b!tch face but when I talk to someone I tend to smile a lot. I also take my studies really seriously so I'm often stressed and in a bad mood because of not sleeping well so I prefer to avoid others so I don't end up being mean.
Sexual preference: I'm a straight girl! :3 so a male matchup please.
Interests: I'm studying animation so I'm into any type of art and my dream is to become a writer and create my own characters and stories. Right now I'm learning how to draw anatomy correctly but I also enjoy drawing flowers! I also love dancing, superhero movies, playing videogames and love learning languages, whenever I hear someone speaking another language I get super excited and love learning the meaning of interesting words.
Dislikes: I dislike those type of relationships that are too clingy or overly sweet.
What I look for: I like some romance but I would also like someone that I can joke around with and annoy them like we're best friends. I would also appreciate someone that helps me relax more often and enjoy life and helps me be more independent (for example I would love to learn how to drive but I still get scared of crashing again).
Confidence and insecurities: My main insecurity was how my nose looks, for many years I've been told I should change it to look better but I honestly have heard enough and have decided to accept how I look and what I love, I was also insecure for loving anime but I'm also over that fear, sometimes this insecurities come back but now I remind myself that I shouldn't care what others say or think about them.
Right now I'm only insecure about my artistic abilities but that's why I'm studying so hard to be better!
Sorry for any grammar mistakes and Thanks! :D
Jujutsu Kaisen Matchup Event | OPEN
Thank you so much for participating! I’m sure your art is amazing! Keep up the work, I believe in you ( •⌄• ू )✧. I hope you enjoy these, I’m such a noob with matchups heh ^^;; Thank you so much again!!
Out of everyone in Jujutsu Kaisen, I pair you with…
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Megumi is the type of man that would look at someone for who they are, not what they look like. He isn’t picky, but for the love of god, you are the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. He thinks your glasses make you look sophisticated and your hair is just the cutest! Will definitely enjoy playing with it in his down time as a means to relax. When it comes to your body type, Megumi doesn’t have any comments aside from wanting what makes you happy. Supportive boyfriend 101. 
In the beginning of your relationship, it’s safe to say things were awkward. You were quiet, he was quiet so opening up took some time. But once that happened, the pieces fell together and Megumi was sure he found his one. His potential best friend that would be able to handle him even at his worst. Your resting bitch face didn’t bother or deter him, if anything he could resonate because of what and who he deals with daily. Honestly how you guys even got close was due to him helping you study one day. You guys are precious, I will admit that. 
Megumi would definitely fit in the same categories of your love languages. He’ll cover you up if you end up falling asleep at your desk one night, or even going as far to put you to bed if he happens to stay the night. He can cook! So expect some type of dish in the morning before he has to leave and if he’s passing by, he’ll bring you something. It’s the little things and plus seeing you always makes his day a million times better. Quality time for you two is simply being in the same room. You don’t have to be huddled together even though that is nice, but just the presence alone is enough. You can do your own thing while he does his, idle chatter and peaceful silence follows depending and it’s just so so amazing.
One the days you avoid others due to your mood, Megumi respects that and gives you the space you need. Though he will message you throughout the day, just to check on you like the good boyfriend he is 🥺
Megumi isn't the type to be clingy. He values his space as much as you and admires that you don't expect him to be too sweet. He can be himself and that's enough for him to say he loves you dearly. And it goes both ways, he wouldn't expect you to be anything other than yourself. Independence is something Megumi has been familiar with for a long time, so he doesn't push but rather encourages when you need it. If you're scared, he's the one to attempt uttering reassuring words. Megumi struggles sometimes so be patient 😌 but he's by your side for any support you need until you feel confident. [As someone who is 24 and still doesn't drive, I can relate with the fears lemme send you all the hugs 🤗]. 
When it comes to your insecurities and how you got past them, Megumi is very proud even if he doesn't directly say it. If someone offends you though, he's quick to defend. He's good at being a bully if needed hehe so he'll protect you from anyone that tries to bring you down. I'm not sure if Megumi would be a fan of anime, but you will definitely catch him paying more attention if you're watching it one night. If you call him out, he'll just shrug you off and say something dismissive but..You'll catch him again later for sure. 
You're an artist? Holy hell Megumi is amazed. Like his girlfriend can make beautiful pieces and they're just so good?? Will praise you anytime he sees something new and will brag in his own way to his friends. When you're feeling down about your abilities, Megumi will reassure you and say that it takes time and not to give up. A typical response yes, but he has so much faith in you to succeed and achieve your dreams it's unreal. 
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Logan’s Gay and Remy’s in a Suit
Summary: Just read the title Content: Gays, so much gays, nb!remy, nb!logan (he uses he/him pronouns but he’s still an enby suckers), mentions of dying of gay, logan thinking that flirting = bullying because he’s a useless gay Pairing: Romo losleep Notes: I’m so sleep-deprived I should be sleeping but i HAD to write this so. have it. inspired by this art by @strawberryjellystuff
~~
    Logan was a smart person. He knew a good deal of things. He knew the distance from the earth to the sun, to the moon, and to Mars. He knew the average amount of bones in the human body at any given interval of life. He knew the names of every capital of every city in north and south america.
    He also knew that he was very, very gay. This fact alone wasn’t too shocking or even that impressive. Logan had known he was gay since he was fifteen. It hadn’t been hard to figure out.
    It was the ‘very, very’ that was important. As a rule, Logan rarely felt the need to enhance his words with ‘very.’ He made his points, he made them clearly, and he made them exactly as he wanted them. There was no reason for him to use ‘very.’
    Then he met Remy.
    And Remy… woo boy. Remy.
    Remy made Logan feel it extremely necessary to add ‘very, very’ to his normally adequate descriptor of ‘gay.’ That was because Remy was very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very pretty. And there was only a little bit of the author’s bias showing through in that statement. It was mostly cold, hard fact. You know because LOGAN’S thinking it and he thinks in pretty much only fact.
    So Logan was gay, Remy was (objectively) the prettiest person to exist, and Logan was trying his hardest to stop his writer from taking away his braincells and turning him into a proper gay disaster.
    Except he and Remy worked at the same university. In the same department. During most of the same hours.
    Logan was having a hell of a time holding onto those braincells.
    However, while it had taken time, Logan had adjusted. Survival of the fittest, and all- if Logan wasn’t able to adapt to constantly being around someone so pretty it was outlawed in several made-up countries and a few real ones, then Logan wasn’t fit enough to survive. So he had adapted and he had done so flawlessly.
    Better put, he had suffered several weeks learning how to adjust to the fact that Remy’s naturally perfect looks were only increased by xyr leather jacket and sunglasses, the fact that xy knew how to smirk like xy owned the world (impossible, Logan had considered before, considering Remy was clearly the world, and one could not own oneself), and the fact that Remy was a bully.
    That was the only word Logan had for Remy’s actions towards him, anyways- after all, there was no way Remy had missed the way Logan’s cheeks seemed to literally light on fire every time xy smiled at him, or the little giggle Logan had never properly learned to fight down every time Remy called him a petname (a wholly ridiculous response considering Remy called lots of people petnames- sure, xy only ever seemed to call Logan ‘darling’ or ‘sweetheart’ or ‘light of my world and stars of my universe’ but that didn’t mean anything), or the way Logan stumbled over his every word when attempting to return an offhanded compliment that Remy likely had paid him by accident while thinking of… coffee. Remy did like xyr coffee, after all.
    But Remy’s bullying aside, Logan HAD adapted. He was able to look at Remy with minimal flushing, he had become the master of avoiding conversation topics designed to trap him (though Remy was becoming creative with xyr compliment-trap setups… Logan would have to start adapting faster than Remy if he hoped to survive the semester), and he knew the fastest exits out of every room and building in the entire university, ensuring that- if ever needed- he could literally flee Remy. He was surviving in his new, Remy-included environment.
    And then the author Jelly Remy decided to adapt as well.
    It had been a normal day of work up until then- Logan was working on checking over papers and going through his lesson plan a few more times, making sure he had everything ready for the school day. Upon realizing his coffee had run low, he got up, stretching as he began to move towards the staff lounge, seeking a refill.
    There was only one other teacher there at the moment, which Logan figured made sense- most of the astronomy professors had early morning classes, Logan being one of only two who didn’t. He had gotten out of it by luck- the other had insomnia and wasn’t normally at school in the mornings.
    Logan barely glanced at xyr, however, wanting to get his coffee before he had to deal with being flustered at seven in the morning. He was fairly certain it wouldn’t be that bad of a fluster, anyways- he was at least partially prepared this time, and he was about to have coffee on his side, and it looked like Remy had traded xyr normal leather-jacket look for a suit of some kind, and Remy had probably had a rough night if xy were in early so xyr flusters wouldn’t be top of xyr game, and-
    Logan stopped. Blinked. Processed. Processed again.
    A… suit?
    Logan turned to look at Remy and immediately regretted the decision. Because those braincells he had mentioned earlier? Gone. Stolen. Removed from existence. In theory, the author’s got them stored up somewhere but… eh, their location’s not important. Not like Logan could use them even if he found them.
    Because Remy was in a suit- a blue suit with delicate, lovely white flower designs traced over the chest and around xyr wrists, complimented by a lovely purple tie Logan had never seen Remy wear before- mostly because Remy didn’t normally wear ties. Or suits. Why was Remy wearing a suit?
    To kill me Logan decided barely a second later when Remy caught him staring and smirked at him in a way that was most decidedly an act of bullying.
    “Good morning, sunlight and starshine.” Remy said, further proving that xy was a bully and that xy was bullying Logan right then and there, a conclusion Logan came too as he clamped a hand over his mouth and focused on not making any sound even slightly akin to a giggle. “How are you on this morning that’s nowhere near as fine as you?”
    Logan, smartly, didn’t respond. Speaking would ultimately result in him stuttering, mumbling, and tripping over his words, which would make Remy smirk more, which would make Logan blush more, which would create a horrible cycle that would only end when either Remy left or Logan died. So, by not responding, the cycle never started and therefore could not end in Logan’s death.
    In choosing to do nothing else but stare at Remy without saying a word, however, Logan apparently had responded, in a way- Remy’s smirk still grew and Logan still ended up blushed harder.
    “Oh, darling, don’t tell me I’ve made you speechless.” Remy teased, moving from xyr spot against the wall to stand in front of Logan, tilting xyr head to the side. “No, wait, do tell me. I do love to hear your voice.”
    Logan remained silent. Remy couldn’t go on forever with no new material… right?
    “Or, hey, maybe it’s not me.” Remy went on, unconcerned with Logan’s silence. “Maybe you’re just tired. That’s why you were acting perfectly fine until you saw me, after all. Just tired. Is that right? Or should I keep guessing?”
    Realizing that silence was getting him nowhere and nothing (besides more flustered), Logan decided to simply attempt to move on with his day. Maybe ignoring Remy would make xyr go away.
    Logan had just barely turned to once more resume his walk to the coffee pot when he was forced to stop once more, this time not by Remy’s looks but by the fact that Remy had a hand and the ability to grab Logan’s wrist with it.
    A very annoying ability for sure, given it not only prevented Logan from continuing with his brilliant plan of ‘if you just ignore xyr eventually xy’ll go away’, but also increased his blush and got him looking at Remy again which was increasing his blush even more. By now, Logan was fairly sure his entire face was red, which was completely unfair given that blue was much more his colour.
    “Come on, sweetheart, don’t be like that.” Remy said, voice now both confident and sweet, which wasn’t helping Logan’s goal to Just Stop Blushing Already at all. “If you really have had a long night, I don’t mean to tease.”
    “N-no, I’m fine.” Logan said, which was a lie, because he wasn’t fine at all, he was doing terribly, but he was also doing a million times better than usual, which also wasn’t fine but it was in a completely different direction than terribly. So, either way, his statement was a lie. “Just uh… a long morning.”
    Logan realized that was the wrong answer the moment Remy’s softer smile once more became a smirk. “I take it back, then. I very much mean to tease.”
    “Ah-” Logan cleared his throat, trying to find a way to backtrack, “I do have, uh, a couple of papers to take care of, so-”
    “And you don’t have class for at least another hour.” Remy pointed out for him, still holding onto his wrist and giving no indication that xy’d be letting go of it anytime soon. “You’ve got the time to spare for a bit of conversation with your favorite colleague.”
    “You presume to be my favorite?” Logan managed to say without tripping over any of his words.
    Remy’s smirk just turned knowing. “I don’t have to be a poker player to spot your tells, babe. Unless, of course, you have another reason for constantly blushing around me.”
    “You possibly have a higher-than-average body temperature that causes all the objects and people within your near vicinity to heat up as well, therefore prompting a blush in those organisms that have the ability to blush.” Logan offered, well aware everything he was saying was bullshit meant only as a poor attempt to save himself.
    Unsurprisingly, Remy saw right through him. “Nah, hun, I don’t think it’s that. You can try again, if you want, but if you’d let me take a crack at it-”
    “Please do not.” Logan interrupted rather hurriedly, which only fueled Remy’s amusement. “I am simply… tired. And busy. So, ah, if you’ll excuse me, I really should be getting back to my work-”
    “Alright, beautiful, I know when I’m wanted.” Remy said, politely half-ignoring as Logan looked away and pretended to cough into his arm as he let out a small giggle. “One question before you go?”
    “I really should be-”
    “Are you free tonight?”
    That shut Logan up. “I- what?”
    “Are you free tonight?” Remy repeated, only smiling at Logan’s confusion. “I know this really lovely place downtown, I promise you you’ll love it, though not nearly as much as I love you-”
    “I- what?!” Logan said, more panickedly this time. Tonight? Restaurant? Love you?
    Remy titled xyr head to the side, looking puzzled. “I don’t know how to make this any clearer for you, love.”
    “I- ah- you- are you- are you asking me out on- on a date?” Logan demanded, not caring much for how many times he had to restart his sentence but having no solution for that particular problem.
    “...I would’ve hoped that was fairly obvious, yes.” Remy answered, shaking xyr head a bit as they continued to watch Logan with amused confusion. “This isn’t a surprise to you, is it?”
    “Well- I- uh- it’s just-”
    Remy laughed. “Oh, darling, I hate to laugh at you, but- Lo, hun, I’ve been flirting with you for weeks now. This can’t be that shocking.”
    “You’ve been flirting with me?!” Logan responded. “When?!”
    “I- Logan, I’ve been calling you the most ridiculous of petnames, complimenting you every time you so much as blink, repeatedly breaking into your classroom to force you to eat lunch with me, interrupting your classes to tease you- what do you think I’ve been doing?”
    “Bullying me!”
    “I was- I’m sorry, say that again?”
    “Bullying me!” Logan repeated as asked, moving his coffee cup into the hand that Remy was holding hostage so that he could run his fingers through his hair, feeling frazzled. “You kept- you kept doing things to make me blush and- and lose focus- and- and giggle, for gods’ sakes- what else could you have been doing?!”
    To Logan’s surprise, instead of defending xyrself, Remy just laughed as xyr face broke out in the widest grin Logan had seen xyr wearing all morning. “You absolute dork.” Xy said, though xyr tone was only endearing. “You really are a disaster gay, huh?”
    “...Just a little.” Logan said weakly, before forcing himself to amend, “Maybe a lot.”
    “A lot sounds more accurate, yeah.” Remy agreed, still laughing a bit. “Bullying you- oh, you really are too cute, sugar.”
    Logan resisted the urge to run to exit number fifty-nine and escape the blush that, at this point, was likely hot enough to permanently burn his skin. “You’re still being a bully.”
    “Oh, probably.” Remy admitted before xyr grin was once again replaced by a smirk Logan had both memorized and yet also knew he would never get used to. “But am I being too much of a bully that you won’t go out on a date with me?”
    “I- uh- I-” Logan ducked his head. He couldn’t accept Remy’s offer, he really couldn’t, it would almost guarantee his death, and he had worked so hard to become immune to Remy’s killer charm (pun not intended and not appreciated).
    But at the same time… Logan wasn’t sure he had the willpower to refuse.
    So, predictably, he settled for a quick little nod that said everything Remy needed to hear without Logan having to stutter his way through a single word.
    Remy’s grin turned dazzling. “Perfect!” Xy exclaimed, quickly pressing a kiss to Logan’s cheek before he could even begin to react. “I’ll pick you up after all our classes are out, okay?”
    “O-okay.” Logan said numbly, free hand raising to rest over the spot where Remy had kissed him, feeling half-trapped in a dream.
    “Perfect!” Remy repeated, still grinning as xy let go of Logan’s hand, heading towards the door, bursting with energy and clearly on xyr way to continue planning the exacts of Logan’s demise.
Before xy could fully get out of the room, however, Logan managed to get his voice back about him and call out, “Wait!”
Remy immediately stopped, turning back to look at Logan. “Yes, sweetheart?”
“I- uh-” Logan gestured vaguely at Remy, “Your suit. You- You never wear suits. Why today…?”
At that, Remy’s grin just widened to a degree Logan wasn’t entirely sure should be humanly possible. “For our date, of course!” Xy answered, raising xyr sunglasses just so that xy could wink at Logan. “I had a feeling you’d say yes.”
And with that, Remy left, leaving Logan to stand in the middle of the staff lounge, empty coffee mug still in one hand, the other still resting on his cheek and over the spot where Remy had kissed him, feeling dazed in the best sort of way possible.
He was still standing there when another one of the teachers wandered in, shooting him a strange look. “Are you alright, Logan?”
“Not at all.” Logan answered truthfully.
He was much, much better than alright.
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fuckinsteverogers · 4 years
Text
The Art of Solutions
Pairings: Steve Rogers x Reader
Word Count: 5.2k
Rating: MA? But next part will be 18+++++
Warnings: Lots of emotions, Lots of crying, Kissing
Synopsis: A Seductress is what they call you, capable of seducing any person into submission. Joining the Avengers as a viable asset, you come to realise that you might not be as capable of seduction as you once thought.
Author’s Note: I’m really sorry this took so long, but here is the ‘technically’ final part of the series. I am going to do an additional one with a follow up of the beginning of their relationship, but seriously don’t hold out hope for it to be up anytime soon. Thanks for the support, guys. Enjoy!
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10 Months Earlier
You pass him in the hall. That’s where it starts. A glance here and a glance there, you take the transformation slow, introducing a smile, then a touch, then a laugh, but it doesn’t seem to be taking the same effect as it has everyone else. Everyone else thinks you’re charming. You can see it.
Lying in your bed on a sunday morning, one of the first sundays with the Avengers; you think about him, his smile, his laugh, the scruff on his chin at the end of the day. It all seems so complicated, trying to win him over, but it’s an ache deep in your chest, something you never thought you’d experience. But despite the feeling overwhelming you, you get up and go about your day; briefly thinking about him in everything you do.
“Push through it, Y/N,” Sam encourages, but the pain is unbearable. How can you push through it when it hurts as much as it does? Your chest burns, but somehow you manage.
“Fuck,” You curse, adjusting your hands and pulling yourself up again. You cast your eyes to your side where Natasha is pulling herself up effortlessly, chin hitting above the bars. Watching her do it, it seems impossible to do it as she does, like an art. It hurts like hell. You both are well above a hundred at this point, completely lost count of the amount of pull-ups you’d both done. You almost give up, almost, but then he enters the gym, in loose basketball shorts and a tight shirt, and it’s like a shot of adrenaline runs through your body.
“Yes!” Sam claps as you pull yourself up again, faster this time, pushing through the plateau that has hit you. Your muscles are on fire, but Natasha is winning and you can’t let her win; not in front of him.
He stands and watches, eyes racking over the both of you. Sweat begins to drip down your face, down your neck, in between your breasts as Bucky calls two hundred for Natasha and then you three pull-ups after, and that’s all the incentive you need to pick up your pace.
“Give up now, Romanov,” You boast, casting your eyes to her as you pull yourself up again and again and again. 
“Over my dead body, Y/L/N,” She replies, a smirk making its way onto her lips. She pulls herself up again and you catch what looks like a slight hint of pain with the raise of her upper lip. Hope, is what you see.
The boys watch from below as the fatigue hits you both, Natasha’s body catching up with yours fast, and within seconds, it’s like slow motion, both of you lose grip on the bars; the sweat soaking your body slipping through your fingers and dislodging your grip.
You hit the floor a second after Natasha and directly on your shoulder, groaning sharply at the angle.
“Shit,” You curse out, rolling onto your back, chest heaving dramatically attempting to intake as much air as possible.
You don’t notice anyone move until Bucky is leaning over you, a smile of pity on his face. You screw your eyes shut and curse under your breath, because fuck, you’ve lost.
“Sorry, doll,” Bucky says. The fact that you’ve lost doesn’t bother you so much, losing to Natasha Romanov is a feat in itself, but to lose to her in front of him is heartbreaking.
Bucky helps you off the ground, supporting your weight with his arm tucked around your waist. Everything is sore and you just want to go have a long bath in epsom salts.
You watch as he helps Natasha off the floor and claps her on the back with a proud smile spread across his lips. You had two pull-ups between you, yet when he meets your eyes, moving towards you and Bucky; he addresses Bucky with the same warm smile and the moment he looks at you, the smile drops and he narrows his eyes. The look scares you.
“I hope you’re going to be training after that performance,” are his first words to you in a week. They make your jaw drop and your chest burn in a different way. You feel Bucky draw his eyes down to you, slumped against him the same way Natasha is slumped against Sam.
You lost by two.
Maybe it’s just him encouraging you to be better. It has to be.
You throw your shoulders back, straightening your posture despite the pain, looking up at your captain with wide eyes. 
“Not today, but I plan on kicking all your asses by the end of the month,” You reply sullenly, throwing Bucky a look of annoyance before you slide out of his grasp and make a run for it. Distancing yourself from the comment and planning a serious implementation of your plan.
He is so going to regret that. You’ll have him before the year ends.
5 Months Earlier
“Y/N, get your head out of the clouds,” He yells to you as you dodge a fist, ducking underneath the terrorists arms to shove him towards Bucky who catapults his metal fist into the man’s face. You hear the damage before you see it. 
“Unwad your panties, Cap,” Tony says casually over the intercom, flying overhead. You smile at the comment and throw your entire weight at the back of an assailant, climbing to wrap your legs around his throat like Natasha had taught you. You get him to the floor unconscious within a matter of seconds.
“Good one,” Buck praises, holding a hand up for a high five which you return, grinning up at him.
The mission is simple. In and out. Grab what you need and don’t cause too much trouble. It’s proving to be as such as Natasha comes out of the building holding up a USB, containing every piece of information you need.
“Back to the jet everyone,” Cap shouts over the intercom, which would be fine, but across the field where Cap stands near the quinjet, you and Bucky are stuck in a huddle of five terrorists trying to disarm you.
Bucky has his handsful with two and you manage to knock another out, but the two remaining prove a challenge. 
“Hurry up!” Cap yells again and it takes all your self-control to not berate him over the intercom. 
“I’ll show you hurry up,” You hiss out, unholstering your gun and pistol whipping one of them hard enough to knock him unconscious. 
The second terrorist stops and stares at you for a moment before he ducks behind a building and runs for it. You look at Bucky who has the last one in a choke hold and just shrug at him. 
You wait for him as he finishes and he leads the both of you back to the jet. Feeling mildly accomplished, your eyes find Steve who is standing in front of the doors, watching you both walk up.
It’s a weird moment, because all of a sudden Steve’s face changes. From the sullen, stern Captain to Steve, but a Steve you’ve never seen directed at you. His features are written with fear.
“Y/N!” He yells and tears off the platform to run towards you. 
You don’t even have time to turn around before you hear it, the click of the safety turning off and then the bullet leaving the chamber. The impact sends you flying. 
You miss Bucky by an inch, who has stopped and stared at Steve, and crash a metre away onto the hard dirt. Your head smacks the ground, then the rest of your body. You know you’ve been hit, that’s obvious. The pain is excruciating, like a hole has been blown out of your back. Then the spots appear, your vision blurring suddenly. 
The last thing you see is Steve, ripping you up from the floor into his arms and carrying you towards the jet. You black out as he starts to speak, you wish you heard what he said, because you’re sure it was glorious.
If you had died then, you are so sure it would have been a happy death, flashes of Steve behind your eyes, the feeling of his hands desperately grasping the body of his team member… because that’s all you are to him, if that.
You thought you had died there for a second, darkness surrounding you like a virus. Like a nightmare, everything swallowing you until there is nothing.
Then it’s light again, almost too soon, bright lights everywhere.
You feel cold. Way too cold. There is pain all across your back, a burning, constant pain that feels like fire ants chewing on your skin. You want to roll over and rip the skin off, but when you try to move your limbs, pain bursts through every part of your body.
“Don’t move,” Tony says, his voice ringing loud and true in your ears. The sound of his voice grounds the panic spreading through your chest and when you open your eyes, he is there, stood beside you in bloodied clothes and red rimmed eyes.
Your eyes lift from him and search the room… for any remanence of him, but there isn’t any. The dread sinks deep within your stomach; you were truly stupid for thinking that someone who hadn’t paid you the light of day since you got here would be waiting patiently for you to wake after you got your back blown to smithereens.
“He couldn’t be here,” Tony says, sullenly. He knows who you’re thinking about, of course he does. He was the first person you confide in when you realised that your feelings for Steve were more than just infatuation. “Dr Cho is on her way.”
You lay back and close your eyes, focusing on the pain and how it grounds you, makes you feel normal and human for the first time in a long time.
You used to be so different, so independent. Not hung up on some guy who glowers when you enter a room, but surely you can fix this. You can make any man drop to their knees for you at a moments notice and Captain Rogers is no exception.
You’d sprouted in high school. Second year in, your mum took you out of school and moved both of you halfway across the world. You remember why. That was the year your dad turned his anger from your mother onto you, you knew that she’d convinced herself that she could handle the pain but the moment the evil, gutless father you were cursed with turned his gaze to you, she refused to watch you suffer.
Your father hit you three times before your mother pulled you out of school one day with the car full of everything the both of you owned and drove as far as possible before getting on the first plane to the first place she could think of; New York, heavily populated and hard to navigate.
Thinking back on it, your mother was the strongest woman you’d ever known. She never approved of the attention you drew, with the short skirts and revealing tops, hanging out with characteristic ‘bad boys’ and teasing them beyond belief. 
She’d said to you, “Y/N, one day, one of those boys are going to show their true colours and get very sick of waiting around for you. They’ll take what they want with no consideration for your feelings, just as your father did to me.”
It hurt when she’d said it, the realisation of your actions. So you’d done what you needed to, found someone who could teach you how to defend yourself. Turns out Natasha Romanov made a surprisingly good teacher and allie. 
After the accident, after Dr Cho did a fantastic job at repairing the damaged tissue on your back; you made a decision.
No more tentative moves. You were going to lay everything on the table for him to take or leave. You remained persistent, motivated in that his resolve was fake and not him actually hating you.
That lasted all of ten seconds before Steve ripped your heart from your chest and crushed it beneath his polished boots. 
You made a lot of wrong turns, gave yourself to him in ways that he didn’t want, but nothing hurt more than seeing him standing in the doorway of that hospital wing, staring at Tony and you, asking for more than you could give him.
“Can we talk?” Steve asks you, grazing his blue eyes from you to Tony.
“You knew he was there, didn’t you?” You ask, turning to look back at your obscene father-like counterpart. A wide grin spreads across Tony’s lips and he shrugs, only to cry out in pain from the movement of his shoulder.
“Maybe,” He says with a painful smile. 
You turn to look at Steve again, regarding him with a pointed stare, watching him as he looks back at you. You assess him, your eyes travelling across his body; tension, nervousness, guilt, sadness. 
“Please?” He asks finally, gaining your attention from staring at his hand placement. You huff out a breath, nerves filling your chest.
Nothing bad could come from talking, you conclude rising from your chair.
“Well, say what you wanted to say,” You tell him impatiently, shutting the door to the medical bay. Steve leans back against the wall, his hands lacing together in front of him, a sign of nerves.
“What you said in there…” He begins, eyes drawing up to yours. You cross your arms over your chest, fisting the ends of your sweater in your hands. You notice there is blood on one of your sleeves, it doesn’t distract you from Steve.
“If you’re going to tell me the usual shit-” You interrupt him, sullen beyond words. “The ‘I didn’t know you were serious’, the ‘I thought I was another one of your conquests’, the ‘but I still can’t return your feelings.’ Then get it over with, I have things to do.”
Steve’s eyes widen at your words, your anger, while it doesn’t surprise him; it stings.
“I… I was stupid, Y/N. I’m not used to dating, but in modern terms, it was rattling,” He tells you, eyes glistening under the harsh lights of the medical bay hallway. His hands clenching and unclenching. He’s uncomfortable, nervous; but not readily looking for an exit strategy. He wants to be here, despite the stress it’s bringing him. Which evidently, also indicates honesty. “After Sharon, I wasn’t ready to let anyone in, let alone someone I thought was using me as a conquest, so I was cruel.”
Steve shifts, pushing himself from the wall and moves towards you. You don’t shift, not intimidated by his large frame or his sullen features. He stops in front of you, leaving a few inches between you and his body, but it’s close enough that you can feel the heat radiating from his form.
“For that, Y/N, for my cruelty towards you; I’m so sorry,” He says, you meet his eyes and see all the sadness that lies behind them. The apology is genuine, and that’s what makes you open yourself up again, uncrossing your arms and shoving your hands into your pockets instead, still unwilling to give yourself over completely to the emotions of this situation.
“Don’t get me wrong, Steve; in a way you were a conquest, some unattainable person that I convinced myself I could get, but it wasn’t a mission. It wasn’t me trying to tear someone down, it was me trying to get to know a man I had been infatuated with since the moment I saw him,” You state, averting your gaze to the floor, scared to see what his reaction is to your words. “I’d run through all the scenarios, the strategies, tested them all. I made myself visibly beautiful, attainable, desirable, charismatic, funny, smart; convinced myself that it was me that was the wrong piece in the puzzle, but I received cold after cold remark, little to no facial expressions, and not even a hint of kindness in your eyes.”
You shake your head, stopping for a moment to catch your breath; feeling stupid. You take a breath and lift your eyes from the tiled floor up to his eyes, which are filled with such sadness that it makes you almost tear up.
“I accept your apology, but I need you to know that I’m done. I’ve been killing myself over you for too long and I can’t work with you and do that anymore,” You say, clenching your fists inside of your pockets. Steve looks completely floored, he opens his mouth to rebuttal, but you can’t handle the conversation anymore. “I’ll see you around, Steve.”
And you leave, turning on your heels and exiting the situation, leaving Steve Rogers behind you.
It was a breath of fresh air to be able to leave it behind... leave him behind.
It took you two seconds to decide to pack a bag, filling it with clothing and some books of choice. Leaving behind the sparkles of the elaborate gowns and making your way towards the parking garage, which seemed like a good idea until you stop to grab the keys to the car and are faced with half the team including the man you’d basically told to go fuck himself.
“Where are you going?” Natasha asks, stepping out from the group of recovering superheroes. She runs her demanding eyes across you and takes a few steps towards you.
“Nowhere… I,” You stop and look at them, including Steve who has his mouth open like he wants to say something, but you know he won’t, not after everything you said. “My mum lives a few states over. I’m going to go see her.”
“You have a mum?” Bucky is the next to chime in, swivelling in his seat to stare you down. You nod and avert your eyes to the floor; a part of being who you are, transforming yourself into anyone means you have to distance yourself from the person you really are, including the person you are with your mum.
“She lives near the ocean. I haven’t seen her in a while,” You tell them, moving to grab the car keys. The moment you grasp them, you beeline for the elevator.
“Why now?” Natasha asks, standing tall in the doorway. Her brows are scrunched together and she looks unhappy, which is not a normal thing for Natasha, to show any emotion at all. The more you look at her, the guiltier you feel, so you turn away, pressing the elevator button.
The moment you’re in and have pressed the garage button, you look at her again. A flood of emotion fills you, the guilt of leaving them behind. 
“Just tell Tony that I’m sorry,” You finish as the doors slide shut.
You drop your head and begin to cry, the emotions you’d held in from the talk with Steve overflowing your body. You love him, there is no denying it and it hurts to run, but you are doing what you were taught; if you can’t dig your way out, run. 
Your mum would know what to do. That’s the only thing you knew for certain besides your love for Steve.
You step on the accelerator the moment the car is clear of the garage door, avoiding looking in the rearview mirror because you know someone has run after you, and the guilt that soaks you is too much to bear for you to meet the eyes of whoever has run after you.
Instead, you flick on the radio and step on the gas, keeping your eyes away from the mirrors so as to not see the Avengers logo dim in the background. 
The drive takes hours. You don’t stop even when you get thirsty, just the pure need to hug your mother is suppressing every feeling within you, and when you pull past the last corner and drive past the houses you’d walked past a million times in your life, the tears begin to well in your eyes.
With tears streaking your cheeks, you throw the car into park and beeline for the front door of your mother’s home. You can hear the music from the car, a soft lull of the record player which had encased your final high school years.
“Mum,” You sob out as you open the front door, leaning in and crossing the threshold. Shutting the door behind you, you step further into the house, crossing through the living room, into the kitchen; still no sign of her and you begin to panic in your fragile state. 
She’s been here recently because the record is still playing and the kettle is bellowing steam. You go through the bedrooms and finally, towards the backyard when you see her, sitting in a chair, a cup of tea clasped in her hands. She has her head thrown back in a laugh and looking completely different from the mum you saw three months ago. 
The man sitting beside her is handsome; with grey hair and a slightly greyer beard, and he looks at her like she lights the stars in the sky. This isn’t new and it makes the guilt sink to your stomach. Not only have you been fucking up your work life, but you haven’t taken even close to enough time to realise that your mother is in-love. It makes your stomach sink and suddenly you feel sick.
It doesn’t occur to you that you’re hysterical until the man looks past your mother and stares directly into your eyes, the ones that are burning straight into him. He speaks and your mother throws her head around to look directly at you, and you can’t contain yourself anymore; tears, snot and all. 
“Baby, Y/N, what’s going on?” She says as she throws the door open and takes you in her arms. The arms that have cured so many problems, ailed so such sickness, loved you beyond everything, “Talk to me.”
“I…” You begin beneath the sobs, burying your face in her shirt, holding onto her like you’ve never done before, bringing yourself back to Earth. “I love him.”
“You love who?” Your mum asks, dragging you to the couch to sit. You draw your face up to look at her in shock and realise that you didn’t tell her how you felt about Steve, You look at her as the man moves around the living room to stand in the doorway, she moves her eyes from yours to steal a glance at him and her eyes are back on you just as fast as she looked away.
“Cap. Steve. I tried stopping it, but I couldn’t,” You tell her, open and free, opening your heart to admit it to the world for the first time.
“Sweetheart, love isn’t something you can stop. It’s an unstoppable force, it overwhelms you before you even realise what’s going on,” She says, taking your hand in hers. You stare at her, eyes red rimmed and heart aching for the man you left behind. “Have you told him this?”
“Not in so many words, but yes.” It’s not a hundred percent true, you haven’t said those words, but you know he knows… right? You glance at her, then at the man who is staring wide eyed at the two of you. “I couldn’t face the team anymore. I can’t face him.”
You get up out of the seat and pace, blood still on your sleeve and it’s probably freaking the hell out of this man who your mum has definitely not told that her daughter is a member of the Avengers.
“It’s your work, honey. Your family,” Your mum stands with you, pulling your pacing to a stop to stare you in the eyes. You shake your head so hard that strands of hair dislodge from your ponytail.
“You’re my family!” You tell her, exasperated. “And I have been so stupid that I didn’t realise you were dating.”
Your mother’s eyes widen dangerously and her eyes drag from you to the man and back to you. You know she’s ready to deny it before her mouth even opens.
“We aren’t… I mean, we haven’t,” She begins and you can’t help the laugh that comes from your chest, stepping back from her grip.
“Mum, please. You know who I am, what I do, what I can do,” You can see the pure need to deny it in her eyes, she’s so scared of what you’ll think about this, than admit how she feels about him… She and you aren’t so far apart. “I could tell the moment I saw you and him together.”
“Honey…” She says slowly, reaching for you, but you step back. She wants to comfort you, like you’re that sixteen year old girl again afraid of all men that she’d never let herself get close to anyone.
“You don’t have to explain yourself, mum. You deserve to be happy, you’ve always deserved it, I’m just sorry I wasn’t around enough to see it happen,” You tell her painfully, moving towards her to wrap her in a hug.
“I’m so proud of you. You know that, right?” She tells her, leaning back out the hug to look you in the face. This is raw and real and the most vulnerable you’ve been in a long time, not to mention in front of a complete stranger. “What your father did to the both of us tore you apart and I thought I’d lost you for a long time, but meeting Nat and seeing you become a strong woman and then joining the Avengers was the proudest day of my life. I knew you were special from the moment I saw you, but when you stepped on that stage at the press conference; I felt the proudest I’ve ever felt in my life.”
It doesn’t take much mental process to throw yourself at her, hugging the dear life out of your mother. You’ve been so focused on the pain within you, consumed by this ever present resentment for your father, and hatred for men that you didn’t realise that this woman felt it tenfold. She had to pick up the pieces that your father left, she iced the bruises and listened to the cries. She is the strongest person you know.
“I don’t mean to interrupt the moment, but a car just pulled into the driveway,” The man speaks up, causing your mum and you to pull apart from each other. The sinking feeling in your stomach returns and you throw yourself in the direction of the window, slipping beside the man to see through the drapes just in time to see Natasha get out of the car.
“No, no, no. I can’t,” You babble, backing away from the glass until your back hits the wall. 
“Honey, you need to go out there and talk to them,” Your mum says, moving towards the window and wraps her arms around the man.
“Is Captain America actually on your lawn, Y/M/N or am I losing it?” He asks her, staring wide eyed through the glass. You watch them and listen carefully to the car doors shutting, and slowly their footsteps move across the porch and suddenly there is a rapping on the door.
You stare at it as your mother and her boyfriend stare back at you, and all you have to do is swallow your pride and open the door, but all you can do is run, turn on your heels and make a break for it into the backyard.
Clutching your knees, you try to regain your breathing. In and out. In and out. In and out. But it doesn’t matter because you hear the door open, the greetings, the heavy boots hitting the floor, the glass door sliding open, the sigh; all of it, you hear it and you know he’s close because all the hairs on your body stand on end.
You straighten and stare at the lemon tree sitting in the corner of your mother's yard. You don’t want to turn around and look at him. You can’t look into his eyes, not now, not after everything. He should have just stayed away, but Nat would have convinced him, always about a resolution that girl.
“Y/N,” He says, all raspy and sweet and the sound of your name leaving his lips turns your body into liquid. Tears spring to your eyes and all the emotions return in a gigantic wave and you dip your head to attempt to contain yourself, sobs raking your body. “Y/N.”
You hear him move towards you beneath the sounds of your sobs, but it doesn’t occur to you that what happens next could happen. 
You feel the strong arms wrap around your shoulders, pulling you tight against his chest. He grips you tight, dipping his head to rest it in the crevice where your shoulder meets your neck. It only makes you sob harder. This is the first time he’s touched you, minus the time you were bleeding everywhere. 
“I can’t…” You sob. The words refuse to come out, but you think he understands because he pulls you just slightly tighter against his chest.
“Don’t run from me,” He speaks, achingly beautiful in the silence. “Not anymore.”
You struggle to wrap your head around the scenario. He followed you, he came to you, fought his own urge to run to find you instead. Pulling you from the depths of your constant despair.
“I can’t love you from a distance anymore, Steve,” You choke out, battling with the tears that continue to threaten to spill.
“I can’t either,” He says, releasing you from his grasp and turning you in his arms to face him. You stare at his stormy blue eyes with your bloodshot ones, focused solely on the man you are so deeply enamoured with.
There’s nothing on Earth that you want more than him. You would sacrifice everything for him, time and time again. So you do the only thing you can think of, you sacrifice your dignity and pride, and throw yourself into his arms. 
Wrapping your arms tight around his neck, dragging yourself the short distance to his mouth and you press your mouth to his.
His arms slowly find their way to your waist and wrap tightly around you, dragging your body tight against his. Your hands grip the side of his face as you tilt your head to deepen the kiss. He responds by dipping his tongue into your mouth, sending your body into shockwaves of arousal. 
This is all you’ve ever wanted. To kiss him. To be kissed by him.
“I can’t be away from you anymore,” Steve rasps out finally, leaning back slightly to look you in the eyes.
“Then don’t be.”
“Break it up, kids. We have a job to do,” Nat says from the sliding door, you lean around Steve to look at her with furrowed brows. “Fury just called.”
“Fuck,” You breath, leaning your forehead against Steve’s shoulder. 
“To be continued,” He whispers, pressing a light kiss to your temple; unravelling himself from you and moving both of you towards the house.
The good fight never ending. Not even for love.
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