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keanureevesisbae · 3 years

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But professor… - c.4

Summary: Penny is going to see her professor for the first time again after they kissed.

Professor!Walter Marshall x Penny Townsend (Asian ofc)

Wordcount: 5.1k

Warnings: Thunderstorms (?)

Masterlist // But professor… masterlist // Previous chapter // Next chapter

The next day it’s time for my criminology class, the first one I’ll have after our kiss. I haven’t spoken to Walter since the kiss, because a) it was literally yesterday and b) after I told him I was going to bed, I actually went to bed and fell asleep.

To make matters even worse, our meeting isn’t even gonna be in a private setting.

It’s in lecture hall setting.

Despite me falling asleep not long after I arrived home, I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t fall back to sleep. Since I was hungry, I decided to have some late night snacks, but I am incapable of eating normally, because I totally spilled some sauce on Walter’s sweater.

In other words: I had a little early morning laundry moment.

With Walter’s sweater neatly folded in my backpack, I take a deep breath for some encouragement, as I walk into the lecture hall. There are already around ten other students in their seats and Walter sits on the edge of his table, as he reads through his notes. He looks up, but his expression barely changes. Emphasis on barely. There is a slight shift in his eyes, but it’s hardly noticeable if you don’t know him that well. ‘Morning, miss Townsend.’

Like nothing ever happened between us.

‘Good morning, sir,’ I say, before walking up to my assigned seat. I should not let out a sigh of relief, but I still do. I tell myself I shouldn’t be this nervous, however it’s an impossible task. My leg moves up and down in a restless pace and my jaw is painfully clenched.

I try my best, but it is out of question to focus on the entire class. Thankfully, Walter must’ve noticed that my brain is everywhere but in this class, because he doesn’t call out my name once. For the first time in forever I don’t have any questions about the assignment, so when a few other students hang around after class, I manage to sneak passed them and make my way to the library.

My brain really is malfunctioning, because I keep staring at my screen, unable to do anything slightly productive. I look into my backpack, to see Walter’s sweater. About an hour has passed and maybe… Maybe I could bring it to him now?

I grab my phone and decide to just send him a text. I can take the first step after yesterday, right? I’m a big girl.

Me: Can I come over to your office now?

I don’t get an answer straight away, which is only fueling up the doubt that has been brewing inside my heart. Not quite the big girl after all.

What if he thought this was a mistake? Oh shit, the kiss was terrible, he hated it and I should therefore never ever kiss again!

My breathing stops when I see his answer.

Walter: Of course, princess 💕

I swallow hard. This is a good sign, right? The heart emoji and the nickname that led me to internally screaming all night indicate he didn’t think the kiss was terrible, what we did wasn’t a mistake and that we should totally kiss again.

Right?

The hallways are empty, as a lot of people are already back at their dorms due to the bad weather that is forecasted for later today. Normally, I would do the same, but I think I lingered around campus, so I had a chance of talking to Walter. I walk towards his office and knock on his door. I hear a deep and annoyed: ‘Come in’ and I take it as my cue to open the door.

‘Hello,’ I say, ‘you sure I can come in?’

He looks up from his desk and smiles. Small crowfeet appearing near the corners of his eyes, a tiny bit of evidence that he is genuinely happy to see me. ‘Of course Penny,’ he says, standing up from his seat. He walks towards the corner of his office, lifting some stuff up, to reveal a chair. He places it on the other side of his desk. ‘Please, take a seat,’ he says, holding out his hand.

All of this trouble for me? ‘I wasn’t planning on staying long.’

‘Doesn’t matter,’ he says, waiting for me to take place on the chair and I quickly do so. When he sits on his own chair again, he asks: ‘How are you?’

That’s such a sweet and darling question of him. ‘I’m okay. I just came by to give you your sweater back.’ I pull it out of my bag and say: ‘Thank you for lending it to me.’

He nods. ‘Of course.’

‘I washed it,’ I add, ‘since I kinda dropped some hot sauce on it. I hope you like my laundry detergent.’

I hand it over the table to him and he presses his nose against the fabric. ‘It smells great, thanks.’

I smile at him, since I can’t really stop it. He is so different around me, then he is when he’s a professor. There is no annoyance, no boredom. Only adoration if I’m correct. It feels good to be on the receiving end of it. ‘That was all actually. For once I don’t have questions.’

‘I see,’ Walter says. ‘You got a lot of work to do?’

I shake my head. ‘No, not really. Just your class.’

He chuckles. ‘I’m sorry about that.’

‘Don’t worry about it. Anyways, I should go. I have a few things I have to pick up from the grocery store anyway. Forgot some things yesterday,’ I say.

Walter nods. ‘Of course.’ While I said I should go, I can’t seem to stand up. Walter tilts his head and asks: ‘What’s wrong, princess?’

‘Nothing,’ I whisper.

‘Is it… The kiss?’ he carefully asks. ‘Because if it is, I have to apologize. I was crossing multiple lines with that.’

I shake my head. ‘No, Walter, don’t worry about it. I enjoyed it. It’s just… It was my first kiss.’

His eyes enlarge, nearly rolling out of his sockets. The surprised emotion is one I haven’t seen with him in real life. I actually thought nothing could startle him. ‘Your first kiss?’ he repeats. A few seconds pass by slowly as he runs his fingers through his disheveled curls. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

I shrug again. ‘I don’t know. It didn’t seem relevant.’

He sighs. ‘I’m so sorry, princess.’

‘There is nothing to worry about. If it makes you feel any better, I’m glad this was my first kiss.’

He leans back in his seat. ‘Penelope Townsend,’ he says, with a slight smile on his lips. ‘You’re quite something.’

Oh shit, he uses my full name. That… That can’t be good, right? Panic is taking over and I quickly say: ‘I really have to go.’ I grab my backpack and shoot out of his little office space, not even waiting for him to say something.

My brain is fried.

On autopilot, I managed to find my way to the grocery store, where I buy more instant noodles. I don’t know why, but I even grab some hair products for Walter. It’s getting ridiculous that I’m actually going to buy this, but on the other hand, he told me I could help him out with those slightly dry locks of his.

I spend little to no time in my dorm, because I am unable to stop thinking about Walter. I shouldn’t have left like that, I think to myself. He now must think I don’t like him, when in reality: I like him a lot.

As I am pacing through the room, nearly ripping out my hair out of pure frustration, I hear the rain against the window. It’s mild, especially if you compare it to the forecasted weather. I check my weather app and realize that with this type thunderstorm, I really don’t want to be alone here.

Without even thinking about the pros and cons of this plan, I pack some stuff I need and when I walk outside, the bus to his place is thankfully already there. The clouds are turning a darker shade of grey, as I’m hopelessly walking around the block after I got off the bus. My sense of direction is severely lacking and it takes me awhile before I even see his building.

It starts to pour and I turn into a shivering mess. By the time I’m at his door and knocked on it, I realize that I should’ve called.

This, Penelope Townsend, was a very poorly thought out plan. This is terribly rude and there is no turning back now. Oh no, what if he thinks that—

‘Hey,’ Walter says when he opens the door and smiles as he notices it’s me. ‘What are you doing here, princess?’

He doesn’t seem mad, that is a good sign. ‘I am terribly sorry, Walter, I really shouldn’t be here. I don’t know why I’m here even. Okay, I do know, because I don’t want to be alone with this weather, but I should’ve at least called you. I mean, you probably aren’t even in the mood to deal with me, which is totally understandable. I’m so sorry, please forget this ever happened and I’ll just go.’

‘Don’t be silly,’ he says, holding my wrist tightly in his large hand, not allowing me to leave. ‘Come in.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘I’m very sure. They say it’s gonna be shitty weather anyway and I’d hate if you had to go back. Besides, you’re soaking wet.’

‘You really sure I’m not bothering you?’ I ask, as he gently pulls me inside, still unsure whether or not I’m welcome.

‘Positive.’ He helps me out of my coat and tells me I can change in the bathroom. He grabs some of his own clothing and hands it to me. ‘Now, I’m gonna tidy up in here a bit,’ he says, ‘because I left some crime scene pictures around.’

I smile as I grab the clothing. ‘I should’ve called,’ I try to sort of apologize again, but he is having none of it.

‘Nonsense,’ he says, ‘you don’t have to call. You are always welcome here.’ He places his hand on my cheek, before pressing a soft kiss on my forehead. ‘Besides, I’m glad you’re here. I kinda missed you.’

I let out a chuckle. ‘Walter, I’m sorry I left your office. I was freaking out.’

‘I know,’ he says. Of course he knew. ‘It’s okay, Penny.’

‘It is?’

He nods. ‘Now get changed, you’re freezing.’

✎ ✎ ✎

After I changed into some of his clothing and hung my own clothes over the heater, I walk back into the living room, only to see him preparing some dinner in the kitchen.

That is such a domestic move.

‘Thank you for letting me stay here,’ I say, causing him to look over his shoulder. ‘I’m not great with this kind of weather.’

‘Figured,’ he chuckles. ‘You’re afraid?’

‘No,’ I answer, as I walk up to the counter. ‘Absolutely not.’ Almost on cue, a loud bang of thunder fills the room, causing me to yelp. ‘Okay, maybe a little.’

Walter starts to laugh. When I’m within arm reach of him, he lifts me up on the counter like I weigh nothing to him. ‘Sit still and be pretty, okay?’

I frown. ‘How am I supposed to be pretty?’

‘By being yourself,’ he says, ‘and smile at me from time to time. Seems doable, right?’

‘I can try,’ I say, a smile already appearing on my face. ‘What are you making?’

‘Some pasta,’ he answers. ‘You like that?’

‘I do,’ I say, pushing my glasses better on my nose. ‘I really do. Especially when someone else makes it. Don’t you have that, when someone else makes the food, it automatically tastes better?’

He shakes his head. ‘No, I don’t.’

Leave it to him to be an exception. ‘Why not?’

‘I like making my own food,’ he says.

‘Hm.’ I lean my head back against the cupboard. ‘I really can’t cook well,’ I admit. ‘My mom was always the one that would make my meals back home. I’m a disaster in the kitchen, hence the reason I live on ramen, which I can easily screw up as well.’

Walter smiles, placing one hand on my leg, as he holds a wooden spoon to stir the sauce. ‘Here, taste this,’ he says, grabbing a string of pasta and blows on it so it can cool off a bit. He brings it to my lips and it’s such an automatic move to place my hand on his wrist.

‘It’s good,’ I say.

‘I’ll grab a plate for you. How about you get comfortable on the couch?’

I jump off the counter and walk towards the living room area. His couch looks kinda dull, in a beige tint that reminds me of my grandma’s wardrobe, but don’t be fooled: it’s the most comfortable thing I’ve ever sat on. I grab a blanket and place it over my lap.

Walter joins me, handing me the plate with pasta and sits next to me. It only takes a second, before I flinch as the thunder is now accompanied by lighting. ‘You’re so easily scared,’ he snickers. Without me doing it on purpose, I scoot closer to him. I know he cannot psychically protect me against it, but not being alone with weather like this, is a relief itself. ‘Careful, princess,’ he says, ‘it’s hot.’

As we eat in silence, I keep thinking about what I can say to him. ‘I brought some hair stuff with me,’ I say. ‘Bought some today.’

‘For me?’

I nod. ‘For you,’ I confirm. ‘Maybe you want to use it.’

‘Or you use it on me,’ he says. ‘I have no idea what I’m doing anyway.’

As I finish the pasta (which was delicious), he takes the plate from my hands and places it on the coffee table next to his own empty plate. ‘Come here,’ he says, pulling me closer in his warm and protective arms.

I wonder whether or not it’s odd that I’m this comfortable with him this soon. I usually have a warm up period of at least a few weeks when I meet new people. When I worked in a cafe back in Japan during my gap year, it took me a month before I wasn’t painfully shy with some of my coworkers.

But with Walter, I am still shy and sometimes a bit awkward, but it doesn’t feel unpleasant. It’s like he understands and is patient with me.

I place my legs over his and hold his hand in both of mine. My fingers trace over his knuckles, where I notice some slight scarring. ‘How did you get this one?’

‘Bar fight,’ he says, ‘before I joined the academy.’

‘You were that type of guy?’

Walter doesn’t say anything and when I look up, I see he is not even looking at me. He is staring at the window. ‘Yeah, something like that. In case you wondered: he kinda asked for it.’

There is so much I want to ask him. What he was like when he grew up. What he thought of the academy. Interesting cases he solved.

However, a loud bang brutally interrupts my thoughts. At the exact same time, the lights shut off. My breathing stops. Oh no, a power cut? I’m so glad I’m not in my dorm alone. I might’ve called Walter crying, ask him to risk his life so he could pick me up.

Good thing I’m already here.

‘Great,’ he mumbles, turning on the flashlight on his phone. ‘There isn’t much I can do,’ he says, ‘except wait for it to come back. You want me to light some candles?’

I hate the dark this much, that I quickly say” ‘Please.’

He stands up, but I hold on tightly to his hand. ‘What’s wrong, princess?’

‘Can I walk with you?’

‘Of course.’ His fingers lace through mine and together we walk around his loft, looking for the candles and a lighter. We scatter them around the apartment and it gives a soft and warm ambiance, one that is slightly misplaced here in his loft. I can unclench my jaw from the painful grip and Walter pulls me back on the couch.

‘Did you feel awkward?’ I ask him. ‘In class today?’

He shakes his head. ‘But I know you did.’

I purse my lips together, as I feel completely caught. ‘Was I that obvious?’

‘Not to others, but to me you were.’

‘I’m sorry.’

He shakes his head. ‘Don’t apologize for that. I just wished I knew what I could do for you to feel less awkward about it.’

I shrug. ‘I don’t know. Never thought my first… Whatever we have, would have to be in secret.’

He sighs, clearly agreeing with me. ‘I wish I could show you off,’ he says. ‘Wish I could tell Fitzgerald to stop ogling you.’

‘He doesn’t do that,’ I say.

Walter scoffs. ‘He totally does. It’s not even subtle anymore.’

I place my head against his chest, melting in his arms. I close my eyes, as I enjoy being engulfed in the warmness and protectiveness of his embrace.

No one has ever held me like this before.

‘Walter, why me?’

‘What?’ he asks.

‘Why are you even paying attention to me? I’m such a nobody.’

‘You’re not a nobody,’ Walter retorts. ‘I like you, Penny. You have an ethereal beauty, combined with an adorable and kind nature. It’s so rare to meet someone like you. I see that there is so much potential in you, no matter what you choose later on in life. It’s just that you don’t know it yet, which is such a shame really. Besides, princess, I’m not risking my job for simply anyone.’

As much as him being my professor should turn me away from it all, should make me walk towards the door and not associate myself with him anymore, I don’t feel that way. Part of me wants to hide my smile, but I can’t. ‘I kinda like you too.’

‘Just kinda?’ he asks, pretending to be offended. ‘What can I do to change that?’

I smile. ‘Kiss me again.’

He doesn’t answer, simply leaning towards me to press his soft lips on mine. One of hands squeezes my thigh, as I wrap my arms around his neck. It feels so good to kiss him. ‘Can’t believe yesterday was your first kiss,’ he whispers against my lips. ‘You’re quite talented, princess.’

‘I just follow your lead. I think that says more about your kissing skills than mine.’

‘Knew you were an excellent student.’

✎ ✎ ✎

The lights aren’t restored by the time I grow more and more tired. It’s Walter actually that tells me to go to bed. When I’m tucked away underneath the blankets in just his thick sweater, he sits on the edge of the bed. ‘I want you to be honest,’ he says in a stern voice. ‘Do you want me to sleep here or on the couch?’

It’s a sweet thing of him to ask, especially since it did cross my mind a few times. I grab his hand, my thumb caressing his knuckles. ‘I don’t know,’ I whisper.

‘Why are you hesitating?’

‘Because… I don’t want you to think I’m a prude or anything.’

He smiles. ‘Princess, I can sleep on the couch. Don’t worry.’

I blink my eyes a few times, slightly nervous. ‘You don’t mind?’

‘Of course not. Just call for me when you need me, okay?’

‘Okay.’

He gives me a quick and loving kiss on my lips. Checking with me one last time, he carefully makes his way back to the living room. While I can hear him making himself comfortable on the couch, I roll around the bed. There is an inability of mine to fall asleep, something I barely encounter. There is this annoying, but also terrifying ticking like sound against the window and I can’t wrap my mind around it what exactly makes that noise.

The thunder and lightening are dominating the skies and my state of mind.

‘Walter?’ I finally ask him, after rolling around, being all ears and incapable of falling asleep for at least an hour. It takes only a few seconds before he walks into the bedroom. His hair is disheveled and he looks like a sleepy owl in a cartoon. It’s adorable, a word I never expected to use to describe him.

‘What’s wrong, princess?’ he asks me.

‘What is that noise?’

‘Just the water and a branch. It usually taps against the window from time to time.’

‘Oh, okay,’ I whisper. ‘Sorry to wake you.’

‘Don’t be,’ he says. He leans against the doorframe. Despite it being dark, I can still see the contours of his large body. ‘You seem wide awake.’

‘I am,’ I admit. ‘It’s just that I can’t sleep. There is too much noise here I don’t know.’

‘Want me to join you?’

I nod, only to realize he might not be able to see it. ‘Please.’

He walks over to the bed and gets in underneath the covers. I can already feel his warm body heat closer to mine and I hold my breath. ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Walter chuckles. ‘It’s just me.’

I can’t stop being “ridiculous”. I mean, I am completely overstepping all sorts of boundaries. I mean, I’m in my professors loft. The same professor who I kissed. Whose clothes I’m wearing.

Who I’m severely falling for.

Walter holds out his arm and I turn to my side, nuzzling against his warm frame. He only wears a simple shirt and a pair of boxers. ‘Why are you shivering?’

‘I’m a little scared.’

‘Why?’

‘It’s just all those new sounds and a different bed,’ I mumble. ‘I don’t know.’

‘You have nothing to worry about,’ he says. I place my chin on his chest. As my eyes get used the dark, I can sort of see more of his face. I don’t have my glasses on, so it stay slightly blurry. ‘Nothing is gonna happen to you now, princess,’ he continues to say. ‘Not when I’m here.’

I smile. ‘I know,’ I say. ‘It’s just all so new to me.’

‘Yet you adapt perfectly fine.’

I bite my bottom lip. ‘Really?’

‘Really.’ He places his hand on my cheek and leans a bit forward, planting a soft kiss on my lips. It’s not my plan to deepen the kiss, but when someone’s lips taste this good, of course I don’t mind deepening it. His teeth slowly sink into my bottom lip, careful not to hurt me.

When he lets go of me, his hot breath tickles my already sensitive lips. Walter presses a kiss on my nose and whispers: ‘Go to sleep, princess. You seem tired.’

‘I am,’ I chuckle. ‘Quite the detective you are.’

✎ ✎ ✎

The next morning when I wake up, I’m still engulfed in Walter’s arms. He looks so innocent and vulnerable when he sleeps. His hand has slipped underneath my shirt, his warm palm on my back. For a second, my mind wanders to a time where it’s more than this. More than just a hand on my bare back.

It’s about him seeing me naked, him touching me and whispering sweet nothings in my ears.

It doesn’t take long for Walter to wake up as well and he smiles when he sees I’m already up. ‘I don’t mind waking up like this,’ he admits. ‘Seeing your beautiful face first thing in the morning is a lovely surprise.’

Don’t blush, Penny. Don’t you dare blush.

‘Give me a kiss, princess,’ he says.

‘I haven’t brushed my teeth yet,’ I mumble.

‘Doesn’t matter to me.’ He leans in to give me a gentle peck on my lips, followed by a few more. I giggle against him, as his fingers softly—and probably unintentionally—tickle my sides. ‘I’ll go see if the power is back on,’ he says. ‘Want something to eat?’

‘Yeah,’ I say. ‘Doesn’t really matter what.’

Walter kisses me one more time, before he gets up out of bed. It doesn’t take long before I slip out of the bed as well, putting on some socks and sweatpants.

This morning is the prime example of how a domestic couple behaves. I always envied my parents, for being able to find the love of their lives, living according to a certain routine with one another. I remember sitting at the dinner table, watching them dancing in the kitchen as mom would make dinner. I remember sitting in the backseat, hearing my parents sing along with the radio.

They have always been outgoing people, in complete contrast to me. Mom always comforted me telling me that one day I would find my soulmate. Dad always told me that the so called soulmate had to be approved by him.

I wonder what would happen if they found out I met Walter. It’s way too early to think about that, but my brain isn’t stopping this thought process. Especially when Walter lifts me up the counter. When he presses mindless kisses on my forehead. When he lets me use some of the products on his hair. He smiles when I massage his scalp as I’m washing his hair over the stink and use the conditioner on his dry hair.

It’s great to see Walter with his guard a bit down. Allowing me to see who he is hiding when he’s teaching and maybe when he was at work as a detective as well. His touches are soft, are kind and not once is he overstepping. He carefully reads me and my body language.

But at one point, I realize that it’s time for me to go back. My mom used to say to leave a party when it’s still fun, instead of waiting for the awkward moment where you are practically forced to leave after you overstayed.

With his curls nice dried and less frizzy, he drives me back towards the train station and the parking lot and the station itself are almost vacant. People are probably still hiding inside their houses, not wanting to deal with the aftermath of the storm yet.

‘I hate that I have to drop you off here,’ he admits. ‘You have to walk for a while. Wait, I have an idea, you call me as you walk towards your dorm. I’ll leave here when I know you’re safe and sound in your room, okay?’

‘You really don’t have to do that,’ I chuckle. ‘I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself.’

‘I know that,’ he says, ‘but I care a little too much about you. I don’t want anything to happen, okay?’

It’s nice to be taken care of like this. I could get used to this. ‘Okay,’ I say, before I give him a kiss. ‘I’ll miss you.’

‘I’ll miss you too, princess.’ He pulls out his phone and says: ‘I’ll call you in a second.’

A second truly is a second, because my phone rings when I close the door. ‘Really?’ I ask him as I pick up the phone, still being able to see him.

‘Yes, really.’

I wave at him, as I walk towards the dormitory building, which is about a ten minute walk. ‘You have a cute walk,’ he says, when I’m out of sight for him. ‘There’s almost a little skip in it.’

‘Way to make me more self conscious than I already was.’

‘Ah, princess,’ he says, ‘don’t be like that. You have nothing to be self conscious about. You’re beautiful, you’re cute and you are the sweetest thing alive.’

‘Don’t say stuff like that. I’m blushing.’

I can hear his chuckles from the other side of the line. ‘Where are you now?’

‘I can see the dorms already. You really want me to call you until I’m in my room?’

‘Yes.’

I can’t argue with that determination. While I simply chat to him about the damage done by the storm, I see Fitzgerald near the entrance. Great, I really can’t use this now.

‘There she is,’ he says, when I open the door and walk passed him to get inside.

‘Is that who I think it is?’ Walter asks me.

‘Yes.’

‘He does that often?’

Correct me if I’m wrong, but he sounds kinda possessive. ‘Sometimes.’

‘Sugar plum,’ Fitzgerald says as he follows me inside. ‘I have a question for you.’

‘I’m on the phone,’ I tell him, hoping it’s enough for him to get lost. ‘Can’t really wait.’

It seems like he didn’t pick up on the underlying no in my answer. ‘Where have you been?’ Fitzgerald asks me.

My mouth grows dry. Does he know? Have Walter and I not been subtle enough? Oh my gosh, Fitzgerald totally knows. Do not start hyperventilate, stay calm, Penny. ‘Ask him if he’s stalking you,’ I hear Walter’s soft tone in my ear.

That seems doable. ‘You stalking me?’

He must be surprised that those words roll out of my mouth. I mean, I didn’t expect them from me either. ‘No, just wondering. Saw you getting on a bus after class.’

‘He really is stalking you,’ Walter says in my ear.

‘Sounds like you’re stalking me after all.’ Oh my goodness, Penny! What on earth is happening? I don’t know if I was supposed to repeat that.

Fitzgerald is flabbergasted to say the least and he actually walks away. Did I just do that? ‘He’s gone,’ I whisper.

‘That’s my girl,’ Walter chuckles. ‘Proud of you, princess. Asshole really doesn’t take no for an answer. I am tempted to fail him for my class.’

I start to laugh, as I make my way to my dorm. ‘You don’t have to do that.’

‘I hate his guts.’

‘Don’t use the word hate,’ I scold him. ‘Instead, use the word despise.’

‘Not with him, I won’t.’

I quickly walk up the stairs and let out a deep sigh when I’m back in my own dorm. ‘I arrived safe and sound in my room,’ I tell him. ‘Thank you for letting me stay over at your place. I really don’t do well in thunderstorms.’

‘Of course,’ he says, and I can almost hear the grin in his voice. ‘Can’t have you alone during a power cut. Also, it’s quite nice not to be alone.’

A certain vulnerability I was not expecting from him, let alone over the phone. ‘It sure was,’ I agree.

‘I’ll call you later,’ he tells me.

‘Alright, of course.’

‘Take care, princess.’

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mxvladdy · 3 years

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heyy i just read your fic Case of the Munchies on ao3 and im Loving it!!!! its amazing!! i was wonder if youre accepting requests and if you haven’t done it could you write the same for the rest: mammon, levi, satan, belphi, dia, barbatos and smth for simeon and luke (ofc platonic) like how angles have a true form and that means they can never relax around mc and how solomon has so much power at his fingertips he can just snap and end them or smth like that? pretty please and thank you!!!!

A/N: Of Course! Of Course! I already did Mammon and Levi HERE so I’ll do the other four in this request! You sent me a lot of good ideas and I’ll sprinkle them out into other requests soon!

Hope you like it!!

Case of the Munchies prt 3!

Word Count: 4.2k

Characters: Satan, Belphie, Diavolo, Barbatos

TW: Mentions of eating and cook humans, very mild gore

Satan

As the only full-blooded demon of the seven, he has thought about it...just hypothetically of course. When you were new to the Devildom he did find your scent more appetizing than the others. It’s a good thing he has the most restraint and control of all his kin, especially when it comes to his more base urges.

He doesn’t hide this knowledge from you. It’s readily available in the library and his own room in the history books. He just won’t bring it up. So if you don’t say anything, he won’t either. What would he say anyway? “Yes, I’ve thought about it, up until it was outlawed it was a staple of our diet after all…” Ye, probably not the best thing to say.

When you finally brought it up he was exasperated. Did you have to bring it up during the few hours he had alone with himself? He wasn’t going to lie but the thought of hurting your feelings would just about do him in.

He will alleviate your worries if you have any. If Satan was anything, he was genuine.

Mini Fic

His wine curdles in his stomach, turning sour along with the take-out he had nabbed for the two of you to enjoy tonight. Drinks and dinner were becoming a staple in your T.V. night tradition. If one of you had had a rough day you would drop by your favorite shop of the hour and pick up a meal to share while you vent.

Today in particular had been a shit day for him. Failed experiment after failed experiment, and one bottle that didn’t explode on impact with the potion he dropped. Sigh. At least your comforting words soothed his wounded pride a little. You chuckle at his escapades glad to see he is not hurt at least. It was nice to have someone to see the humor in something that normally would have dampened his mood.

“You’re a pest.” He laughs at you while snapping his takeout chopsticks in half to use. “I need sympathy-hours of work wasted.” You snort into your own bowl of udon.

“You need words of praise like Beel needs another stomach.” Satan gasps in mock insult pointing a sauce stained chopstick at you.

“How dare you insult your host! After I toiled over this meal of-” What did he get exactly? Honestly, when he placed the order he was near boiling with rage at his careless fumble. It was to be a surprise for you, something to give you a bit of magic while supervised by himself. He knew how frustrated you were with your lack of magical ability in class so he wanted to gift you something grand. Now he has to wait months to try again.

Ah, well...nothing ventured nothing gained as they say.

You watch him sulk over his soup dumplings, his mile away from the comfort of your company and his room. “Come on blondie.” You poke him with your foot before burying them under his pajama-clad thighs on the couch. “Eat your ‘hard earned’ meal before I do.” You snatch up his D.D.D forgetting your own food for a moment to set up your favorite streaming service to cast to his small T.V. “Want to watch a bunch of humans fail miserably at baking?”

"I thought you would never ask."

Satan feels you stiffen in his arms two hours into your bake-off marathon. Your takeout boxes are cold and forgotten on his coffee table, a bottle of wine gone between the two of you. He glances down at you curious.

You were transfixed on the screen. The novice baker on screen was struggling to keep his monstrosity of a cake upright. It was the annual Halloween episode and this fool went for a Silence of the Lambs inspired cake. A good concept really, but very poorly executed. The fake body parts and sugar blood weighted the pastry down dangerously. If he were, to be frank, the cake was also tacky as hell. Heh, he'd have to try to make this for Lucifer.

"Does his abuse of the piping gun offend you that much?" He jokes wrapping an arm around you.

Your laugh is breathy and lacks its usual warmth. "It is excessive isn't it?" You look up at him. "Hey, Satan-have you ever eaten people before?"

"Uhh…" Great, how eloquent. This came out of nowhere, did Lucifer set you up to this? No-no you wouldn’t. Would you hate him if you knew? “I have.” He admits through clenched teeth waiting for your reaction.

“Didn’t Diavolo ban it?” He can tell you are doing the mental math in your head.

He chuckles dryly. “Well, you never asked if I did it legally.” You move away from his touch and pause the show. “I mean...I did it legally! ” His mouth runs freely, his brain screaming at him to shut up.

“Satan.” You cross your arms unimpressed.

“It was a new law and I never meant to eat it for the most part. It was at a time where I was still struggling to control myself.” Young and stupid as Lucifer had said defending him every step of the way when he would slip up. Was it sold on the black market now? Yes. Did he know how to get it? Sure, but he would never nor would he tell you about it either.

You nod thinking about his words. “I can empathize.” Oh, thank the Devil. “Have you thought of eating me?”Ahhh. “Oh my God, you have.” You chuck a pillow at him with a laugh.

He catches the pillow and clutches it to his fiery hot face. “Everyone did at first!” If he was going down then he was going to take every one of his brothers down with him. “I wasn’t going to act on it! It was a spur of the moment-why are you laughing!”

“Sorry, sorry.” You wipe at the tears in your eyes wishing you had your phone to take a picture of his blushing face. “I kind of figured you did.”

Satan looks at you incredulously. “Shouldn’t you be a bit more torn up over this?”

You shrug. “After everything we’ve been through? I admit it was a shock to think at first but I mean, you would have done it by now right?”

“Well, thank you?” He flops back on the couch, still clutching the pillow to act as a barrier between you two. He’ll take it as a compliment.

You scoot close, nudging his knee with yours. “You ok?” He nods. “Can I touch you?” He nods again eagerly. You wrap your arms around his shoulders and squeeze. “Sorry, I made you uncomfortable.”

Satan chuckled, dropping the pillow to hug you back. “It’s ok.” He peaks your forehead. “Now, with that out of the way. Shall we finish this?” He swipes up his phone to hit play. You nod, flinging your legs over him to snuggle closer. “Good, I’m dying to know how he tries to save that thing. I’m putting money on icing.”

“You know.” You break the silence once more, unable to stop yourself. “I wouldn’t be opposed to being eaten...in some ways.”

Belphegor

After your first *ahem* encounter, he doesn’t bring up the whole food thing. He is afraid that if you learned about it, it would be the last strike for you and his relationship. Perhaps it’s paranoia on his part but better safe than sorry.

In all honesty, he didn’t eat it that much anyway. Killing humans was something he did often in his youth as a demon. A stupid attempt at revenge on his part. It filled the holes in his hearts to hurt those he believed killed his sister.

But to eat their flesh? Disgusting. He tried it a few times and it turned his stomach with every mouthful. He just hated them too much to even stomach them. He’s mellowed out with time but still never got a taste for it.

When you asked it was a shock but welcomed in a way. Like he could finally get this weight off his shoulders every time he looked at you.

Mini Fic

“It’s gross.” Belphie yawns, jumping up to sit on the high garden wall. He bends down to help you up placing you gently next to himself. The wind catches you by surprise threatening to topple you back from the wall before he rights you. He tosses his sweater over you with a nod of satisfaction.

You snuggle into the fleece lining burying your nose into the fabric. It smelled of elderberries and honeysuckles. Belphie watches you curl up into his side with a fond smile. “Seriously, you all are nasty.”

“Ouch!” You push his shoulder with a grin. “I feel like I should be offended on behalf of all humans.”

Belphie snorts, looking up into the bright colors of the night sky. “Good. Be offended. You, humans, are slimy.” You squawk indignantly. “It’s true, never in all my years would I willingly ingest it.” He shudders theatrically.

“Rude.”

“Shouldn’t you be happy? Lest I eat you?” He growls playfully, taking a swipe at you. He pulls you close to kiss the pout off your face. He stops only when your face is hot and your smile threatens to pull a muscle. “I’ll keep you safe, always.” He vows resting his chin on your head.

“Do you think other demons would try to eat me?”

“Have you met my twin?” He teases. He takes your jab to his ribs with a smile. “But if one of those lesser demons even tries to breathe in your direction I’ll kill them.”

“Ok, Mister sleeps till dinner.” You joke. His vow warms your heart a little, chasing away the small bit of fear that had rested itself in your chest. You saw how some demons looked at you at R.A.D, the longing and hungry looks got to be a bit much sometimes. A few older demons would discuss it loudly when they knew you were close by. Apparently, it was a long standing tradition of demons eating humans both body and soul when a pact was concluded.

Imagine what those brothers would do to them…

You shake your head hugging Belphie closer. You had nothing but his word that he would keep you safe, yet that was enough for you. Besides, he wasn’t one to follow the rules even at the best of times.

“I’m serious. You're off limits for everyone.”

You nod into his shirt, closing your eyes to enjoy the peace of the moment. “I’ll hold you to it.”

Diavolo

It is so far from his mind that when you say something it is like a rug was taken out from under him. He could be diplomatic about it, but you deserve better than a half-truth.

He was a wild child in his youth. Sometimes he would overindulge in his father’s heritage and gorge himself on his newfound powers and privilege. He would dine with the elders and eat with abandon under their proud eyes.

He regrets it now, in your company it brings up a slurry of emotions. Sometimes when he looks at you he sees flashes of his past behavior.

The urge is stronger in him than the brothers, a constant nagging tug in his guts, but he is strong. Stronger both in willpower and sheer physical prowess than them so the pull is more of an annoyance than a burning need. He can temper the hunger in other ways if need be *wink*

He fears what you might think of him if you ever found out the truth, but however you take it he will handle it in stride. He loves you too much not to.

Mini Fic

Dinners, when Diavolo could eat alone, were a rare and special treat. The solace of just being allowed to exist without constantly checking his posture or presentation was a blessing, just him, his thoughts, and a good meal. It was nice to have no paperwork to worry about staining this time or a tedious meeting where he couldn’t savor his meal. No, no this was good. He looks down at his heavily laden plate and smiles. Well, almost… Pulling out his phone he snaps a quick picture and sends it to you with a simple question. Join me?

Private meals were wonderful, but with you, they were perfect.

You arrive faster than he expected, flushed face and clutching a stitch in your side from rushing over. He almost felt bad before he saw the eager look in your eyes. Barbatos helps you with your school bags and coat before placing another plate of food across from the young lord. He winks at the prince before disappearing back through the door.

“Thank you for the invite!” You beam taking your seat across from him. “I hope you don’t mind that I'm not dressed for the occasion. I was just wrapping up a study session with the boys.” You look down at your rumpled lounge clothes.

Diavolo waved his hand disregarding your concerns. “I would emulate you if I had the time.” He looks at his own pressed school uniform. He had another meeting this evening, much to his distaste. “You look rather comfortable.” You smile in delight before tucking into your own plate.

You eat in a comfortable silence reading the room well enough to tell that he wished for some company but not needless chitter-chatter. Barbatos arrived moments after you put your fork down and left with the plate leaving behind a delicious smelling hot drink. You couldn’t put your finger on the flavor but it tastes spicy like cinnamon and coats your throat like warm honey.

Whatever was in the drink seemed to work some magic on the prince. His shoulder droop, his back sinking into the chair as his legs stretch out till they are close to brushing against yours. He starts talking over the drink, eyes slowly lighting up with delight. You drink, nodding along with him as he builds up steam. It was nice to see him so unguarded and light. You listen to him talk about simple innocent topics. You knew how he tried to have these conversations with the others to no avail. The brother’s always tried to stay clear of him, and Lucifer simply dismissed these things most days. Barbatos and the angels were a bit better but still listened mostly to placate him.

“Ah!” Diavolo stops mid-sentence as his door opens once more Barbatos holding a small platter in his gloved hand. Dia claps his hands in delight. “I’ve been wanting to have you try this with me for forever. The human palate is so different, but I hope this is tasty.”

“What is it?” You eye the covered plate curiously.

Dia says a word in infernal. It is harsh and guttural in his throat but his delight was evident in his tone. “It is like...a roasted nut? Sorry, it is difficult to explain but it has been a favorite treat of mine since I was a boy. I hope you like it too.” He opens the lid with little ceremony and tilts the bowl to you. Inside were several golfball sized pods piled on top of each other. Even from across the table you could feel the molten heat radiating from the porous black shell. It looked...ugly. Like a hunk of dried lava. You eye it suspiciously as Diavolo picks one up with his bare hands and bits it. The shell cracks under his sharp teeth, a fang catching in a weak spot with a noise that makes you shiver. Underneath the thick casing, you could see a dark red and fleshy core. He hums in delight pulling put the meat of the seed and discard the shell pieces onto an empty plate. He makes quick work of the innards already reaching for another by the time you casually pick up a seed.

The seed itself was dense and warm to the touch. You squeeze it, noting that the porous coating felt like a mass of steel in your hand. “Dia-how do I open it?” No way you could bite it, not without breaking your jaw in the process.

“Allow me.” He takes it from you and effortlessly cracks it. “It is a tradition to break them with teeth, instead of hands or utensils. Something about a show of strength. I just find it fun.” He shrugs, handing you the broken seed.

“Fun!” You marvel at his pearly fangs. “Those are some big chompers.”

“All the better to eat you with my dear.” He chuckles.

You blink in shock, eyes widening. “Would you? Eat me?”

Diavolo’s smile drops. “No.” He lies on reflex, his political nature kicking in. “No-no wait.” He shakes his head. “I...at a time would have without hesitation.” He feels you recoil. “It was common practice back in the day. To the common demon it was a great meal and for the ruling class a show. He looks down at the broken fragments of shell on his plate. Breaking the shell was far too reminiscent of other things. He squashes the unwanted wave of memories coming up. Instead, he looks up at you.

You sit quietly mulling over his words. You haven’t run yet. “Why did you stop?”

He leans back with a loud exhale. Why did he stop? There were many reasons, none he wished to divulge into at the moment, but he had to say something. “I grew up, and began to resent and regret it.” He used to read human stories of demons and his kind. They hurt their characterizations of him and his people. Yet, they had all been scarily accurate. He wanted to prove that they weren’t stagnating beasts, slaves to their desires. Even if it wasn't a popular opinion.

“I see.” You pick up the seed again. “Thank you for telling me. You didn’t have to.”

“But I wanted to, and to apologize… such admissions must have ruined your appetite. If you wish to retire-”

“Is it weird if it didn’t?” You cut him off. You felt-not apathetic to the knowledge but close to it. It confirmed a lot of things for you and put certain things in perspective. You still felt safe with him even with this new bit of knowledge. Without a second thought, you pop the treat into your mouth. You gasp in delight. The flavor and texture were not what you were expecting, but was delicious all the same. “Can you open another for me?” You push your plate over to him.

“Of course!”

The food was as wonderful as his company.

Barbatos

You knew he cooked it. He probably knows a million different ways to prepare a human. He is also very blunt about his dabblings in the market.

He doesn’t eat it, hasn’t ever. He sees no reason to, especially since he doesn’t need to eat anyway there is no temptation. He did find the meals he created beautiful though.

Once he lived for the praises of the courts and his young lord. He was a master at all mediums he cared to work with. Time, decorum, or of the flesh.

He is 100% unashamed of his past with the dark side of the Devildom’s history. In fact, he is damn near proud of it. He is a demon and it was a part of his life, if that frightens you, well there is nothing he can do about it.

He’ll entertain your questions and will try to put any lingering worries at ease. Just don’t expect to be coddled when he does.

Mini Fic

Barbatos had very few personal pleasures in his life. His schedule simply didn’t have the space for such things. So why even bother looking for a pastime. It wasn’t until Diavolo gifted him with an old worn cookbook did he find it.

Cooking was a necessity for his prince, but with that little book, it became something he looked forward to doing. Slowly, he began to seek them out, filling his growing quarters with cookbooks and loose-leaf slips of paper. He enjoys reading them. Each book was a little time capsule into the cook's life and memories. Could a mix of spices really remind someone of the arid heat of their motherland? Or does following a certain way of aging meat really honor the writer's late grandfather’s memory? He tries them all, each recipe a little invasion to a happier time.

He wrote his fair share of cookbooks too in his day. Simple modifications to things the young lord liked to the odd machinations of his own imagination. He got good at experimenting with flavors and textures over the years, mastering certain cooking techniques and flavors just for fun. He didn’t share many of them, a lot of his recipes were just too complicated for most. Luke was allowed to look at his pastry books only. The little cherub was enamored with his techniques and wanted to learn as much as he could in the short amount of time he was in the Devildom. Admirable, but he made sure to keep some of his...less savory books away from the boy. He shudders to think what Simeon would do if he scarred the young angel.

You are the only one who has full access to his collections. Whether you liked to cook was inconsequential to him. He simply enjoyed sharing this interest with you. Some nights you would take it upon yourself to be his “sous-chef”. Which meant you sat in the corner of the kitchen and read out the ingredients and steps for a recipe he knew by heart. Sometimes you would add in extra steps in an attempt to stump it. Cute...but ultimately failed each time. So, most nights when you tagged along to the kitchens you just flip through his collection, reading his immaculate scribblings crammed into the corners of the pages or where he scratched out certain ingredients for more demon-appropriate foods and more sustainable options.

You had gone through many beautiful books before you found it. The cookbook was small and inconspicuous compared to most. Just a simple black cover with a well-worn spine. What made you take notice of it was just how dusty it was. That wasn’t like him to do. Barbatos would never let something get so dirty. You wished you never had opened it. You weren’t stupid by any means, but after reading a few pretty graphic recipes it had unsettled you. So you withdrew from Barbatos trying to forget about the book tucked away deep in the bowels of your school bag.

“You’ve been distant.” You choke, hand flying up to your chest as you swear your heart skipped a beat. Damn demon. Should put a bell on him. “What’s wrong?” His eyes are piercing, cutting away at your feeble defenses.

“Nothing…” You fiddle with your bag’s strap. Your eyes drop to the floor taking in the differences between his polished shoes and your scuffed boots.

“Of course not…” You could hear the skepticism in his voice. “I trust that if there was something wrong you would feel safe enough to confide in me.” His words hit like a ton of bricks on your shoulders. He sighs seeing that his words got no reaction. “Please?”

Wordlessly you rummage in your bag and thrust the book into his chest. “Sorry. It shook me up more than I thought it would.”

Ah. He knew this book all too well. For a time it had been his favorite, one to pull out with Diavolo had guests or a deal that needed to be sealed. He accepts the book, noting how much your hands shook. “I understand.” He slips the book into his breast pocket making a mental note to hide it in one of his lesser used rooms. “Would you like to discuss this? In my room perhaps?” You follow with a timid nod.

“Where shall we begin?” Barbatos asks the moment he closes the door to his room.

“You don’t seem perturbed.” You frown. Barbatos shrugs, pulling the book out and opening it. He had a lot of good memories stored here. Some of these were still considered signature dishes, oftentimes a visiting dignitary would lament to him about the good old days when he could show off his craft when flesh was plentiful. He takes pride in that still to this day even. For as much as he loved you, he would not be ashamed of this.

“I didn’t mean it like that.” You shake your head when he says as much. “It just confused me. Do-do you see me as food?”

“I never saw humans as food, no more than I see demons or angels as it.” He picks at an imaginary bit of lent from his pant leg. “As for seeing you as food no. No matter how sweet your lips are, or how honeyed your words can be.” He smiles, taking impish delight in your squirming. “I merely did my job as a butler for my lord.”

“Oh- sorry for not coming to you sooner.” You felt foolish now. Barbatos waves it off, pleased to have this issue put aside so quickly and cleanly. “Wait-" You gasp as his words finally sink in. “Have you prepared angels before?”

He flashes you a mischievous smile putting a single finger up to his lips. “Perhaps~ do you wish to read that too?”

#obey me #om satan #om belphegor #om diavolo #om barbatos #fun request!

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purple-cat-demon · 3 years

Text

Forever Starts Under the Ginkgo Tree: Part 5

Genre: domestic fluff

Pairing: Gavin x Hazel

Word Count: 2,746 (long chapter this time)

Warnings: mild harassment

Let's get this trip started! 🤣 Enjoy and thank you for your patience~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~Friday 5:40pm A.E.C.~~

“No, no, NoOoO! Where is it?”

The lament came from Hazel’s desk as she frantically looked through her computer files for the recent proposal to send to Victor. Anna rushed over to her boss’s cubicle.

“What happened?”

Hazel looked at her colleague with tears of despair in her eyes.

“I can’t find the proposal to send to Victor! It was here earlier and now I can’t find it!”

Hazel looked at her phone, and saw the time, causing her to panic even more.

‘I’m gonna be late to get home,’ she screamed internally.

“Mmm, it’s gotta be here somewhere, did you label it something different than usual,” Anna questioned. Hazel scratched her head, wracked her brain a bit; then a shout came from Willow’s desk.

“Hey Boss, is this it?”

Both Hazel and Anna ran over to Willow; Hazel scanned the file on Willow’s computer. Relief hit the frazzled woman’s face; she gave her colleague a tight hug.

“Thank you so much, Willow!”

“No problem Boss, but it doesn’t look complete, did you not save it properly?”

Hazel did a double take, eyes widened with fear; after looking it over thoroughly, she hung her head in defeat.

“Dammit… Quick, Willow, send that to me,” she ordered as she rushed back to her computer. As soon as the file popped up, Hazel clicked on it and typed furiously to finish it. After having Anna look it over and make some small corrections here and there, Hazel sent it off to Victor for review.

It was now 6:30pm, and Hazel was apologizing profusely to Gavin via text over being late. Thankfully, her boyfriend had the bags packed and ready to go.

*Ding*

An email notification came through on Hazel’s computer, to which she promptly clicked on it. It was Victor approving the report and wishing her a good weekend. She was puzzled over how Victor knew that she was going out of town, but paid no mind as she packed up her purse and told her colleagues goodbye.

As she made her way to the subway station, her phone rang with a picture of her and Gavin on the screen.

-Hi, my love, I am so sorry for being so late!-

-It’s okay, it’s okay. Where are you now?-

-I’m on my way to the platform for our station’s stop.-

-Wait, how about you just meet me at the platform for the bullet train?-

-What about the luggage?-

-It’s only two bags, I can carry them to the station, no problem.-

-Hhn, okay, what was the platform again?-

-It’s platform twelve, just wait for me there. I’m on my way now, see you soon.-

-Okay, my love, see you soon!-

Hazel meandered through the immense labyrinth that was this particular subway station until she found platform twelve on the upper levels. There she waited against a wall away from the evening rush, right next to a security kiosk. As she was going through her Moments App, a suave looking businessman sauntered up to her.

“Hello there, pretty lady, would you be interested in modeling?”

Hazel looked up with an annoyed look on her face.

“No, thank you.”

“Wait, wait, at least hear me out, yeah?”

Hazel glanced over at the security kiosk, the guard was keeping an eye on her.

“I said, ‘No,’” she didn’t even spare the guy a glance back when she said that. Just as the guy was about to retort, a familiar voice rang clear in the bustling station.

“She said, ‘NO,’” Gavin had appeared behind the guy, with a look that would stop even a mob boss in their tracks. The guy spun around and composed himself in an attempt to intimidate the officer. He paled when Gavin brought out his badge.

“Scram…,” Gavin seethed. As soon as the guard saw Gavin’s badge, he came over and started questioning the guy. Hazel gave a sigh of relief when the guard took the guy away.

“Are you okay?”

She turned to her boyfriend, “yup, I’m just glad you got here when you did.”

Gavin put his arm around her then glanced up at the information screen.

“Our train will be here any minute, let’s go line up.”

“Mhm!” Hazel beamed at him as she took her bag from him and walked over to the loading area. The sleek bullet train stopped smoothly at the platform; doors opening with an audible ‘whoosh’ as people filed out of the cars. Hazel and Gavin boarded the train and found seats toward the middle of the train car. Gavin placed the bags overhead as Hazel settled into the seat next to the window. She stifled a yawn as she looked out the window, gazing at Loveland City all lit up for the night.

“It’s going to be a two hour ride, if you want to sleep a bit then go for it,” Gavin mentioned as he looked his tired girlfriend over.

“But then you’ll still be awake…”

“It’s okay, I got more rest than you did anyway, I’ll wake you up when we’re close.”

A muffled grunt in protest came from his girlfriend; he just smiled tenderly at her, earning him a defeated sigh from her.

“If you’re okay with it…,” she trailed off as the train started moving. Hazel wrapped her arm around his arm and used his shoulder as a pillow. She found sleep right away as Gavin looked through his phone, confirming a booked reservation for a restaurant on Saturday night.

The two hours apparently flew by because the next thing Hazel knew was Gavin waking her up.

“Hey,” he softly called out to her, slightly shaking her arm, “our stop is coming up.”

She quickly composed herself as Gavin got up to get the bags down from overhead.

“We should go wait by the entrance,” he said.

“Mhm,” she replied, still a little groggy from sleep. She then got up, took her bag from Gavin and headed to the entrance with him in tow. The small box that was in his coat pocket fell out and into the aisle. An elderly woman noticed and picked it up, calling after the young man.

“Excuse me, young man.”

Gavin turned to see the woman holding the small box.

“You dropped this,” she said, smiling sweetly. Gavin’s eyes widened in realization as he patted his coat pocket, then proceeded to stride over to the woman.

“Thank you so very much,” he expressed his gratitude profusely. The woman winked and smiled at him,

“Good luck, young man.”

Gavin smiled and nodded, then made his way back to Hazel, shoving the small box in his pant pocket this time.

“What did you drop,” his girlfriend inquired.

“Ah, my train pass,” he fibbed, hoping his slight flush would go unnoticed by her. They disembarked the train and wandered through the station, finding the nearest exit to the surface. From there, Gavin pulled out his phone and punched in the hotel’s address. Thankfully, it was only a twenty minute walk from the station; plus they were traveling light in regards to luggage.

As they walked through the somewhat deserted area, they kept their eyes open for any restaurants that were still open at 9:45pm. All seemed lost and they were ready to find a convenience store for their dinner, when they turned on the street their hotel was on. A noodle shop was still open and served as a welcoming beacon to the hungry couple. Three other customers were enjoying some late night food as well. The cook gestured to the two of them to sit anywhere. Settling on a table for two by the window, the young couple sat down and looked over the menus in front of them.

Hazel made a mental prediction of Gavin choosing the spicy beef noodles after she saw it listed. Moments later the cook came by to take their orders.

“What can I get you two,” he asked while setting some hot tea down for them. Gavin gestured for Hazel to go first; she flustered a moment but soon chose the cold soba noodles. As predicted, Gavin did choose the spicy beef noodles; Hazel smiled at his choice.

“All right, I’ll get those cooked up for ya,” the cook chirped, and went to the kitchen. Hazel took a sip of the hot green tea and lightly sighed; content with finally getting to their destination.

“You okay, my love,” a question came from across the table. Hazel turned her gaze from the window to Gavin; her smile dispelling the concern from his face.

“More than okay, I’m just so happy to be here, with you.”

Hazel clearly saw the slight tinge of red his ears took on under the shop's lighting.

She giggled a little, "and what are you so flustered about," she coyly inquired. He coughed and went back to shipping his tea. Hazel pulled out her phone to see where the hotel was in regards to the noodle shop. When she saw how close it was on the map, she looked out the window and saw the hotel’s lighted sign across the street, only a few doors down.

“We can come here for lunch too, since it’s so close to the hotel,” she said, pointing out the window towards their hotel. Gavin was about to reply in agreement when their food arrived at the table. The spicy noodles smelled wonderful, and for a brief moment, Hazel regretted her cold soba noodle dish; but quickly remembered the spice wreaking havoc on her stomach the last time she ate them. So she happily started dipping her soba noodles in the dashi sauce that accompanied them.

“Mhm!”

“I take it your food is good,” Gavin inquired, smiling at his girlfriend. The furious nodding of her head confirmed this; he chuckled at her reaction.

“Then we’ll definitely come back before we head home,” he said assuredly.

“It looks like you two enjoyed your meals, there’s nothing left,” the cook said brightly as he took the empty dishes from the table. He returned with the bill, to which Gavin already had his debit card out for.

“Heeey, didn’t we agree that I would take care of the food for this trip?”

Gavin thought for a moment over Hazel’s protest.

“Hmm, I don’t remember agreeing to that,” he replied with a mischievous smile on his face.

She puffed out her cheeks in response to his devious behavior.

“I told you, I want to spoil you on this trip,” he reached out to touch her hand, “please let me.”

“But don’t you do that everyday,” she pointed out, blushing vividly while looking out the window.

“Yes, but this weekend is special…,” his voice trailed off.

Hazel side-eyed her boyfriend, cheeks still puffed out.

“Oh? And what makes this weekend special?”

He flushed scarlet and cleared his throat.

“Uh, b-because it’s been a while since we had a weekend to ourselves,” he replied, trying to maintain his composure.

They bid the cook goodnight and headed out towards their hotel, hand in hand. Their hotel had a modern contemporary feel in the lobby, which made Hazel super curious about the room itself. Gavin never actually showed her the room he booked, so it was going to be a surprise for sure. With the key cards obtained, they headed towards the elevators, only to walk right past them and through the glass doors leading into a courtyard. As if almost sensing her confusion, Gavin explained while walking to their room,

“Sorry, the room won’t have the greatest of views, but it has something I thought was better.”

“Oh? What is it,” she eagerly asked.

“You’ll see,” he chuckled as they walked up to the last bungalow in the row. Hazel was taken aback slightly at the exclusivity of the bungalow. Gavin flipped on the light just inside in the entrance and made his way further in. The first thing Hazel noticed was the small kitchen on the right. Beyond that was a small dining table; and beyond that, was a king size bed next to the sliding glass doors to the back patio. Hazel sat down on the bed and flopped backwards.

“Aaaah~,” a satisfied sigh filled the room. Gavin turned on the lamp on the nightstand closest to the wall near the patio doors.

“Pleased with the room?”

Hazel shot up and turned towards Gavin, with a big smile on her face, “Mhm!”

“Wait, you haven’t seen the part that sold me on booking this room,” he said, walking towards a door that Hazel just now noticed.She hopped off the bed as Gavin opened the door. She barely made out what was in the room but then gasped when Gavin turned on a dim light to reveal a private hot springs bath.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me, are you sure you don’t need help with this,” she gestured towards the bath, flabbergasted. Gavin just shot her a look of disbelief.

“Really, my love? I’d be offended if you tried to help out…”

Gavin’s expression changed to bewilderment when he saw tears in his girlfriend’s eyes.

“W-what’s wrong?”

She threw her arms around him and squeezed him tightly.

“Thank you so much! I was not expecting any of this,” she looked up and kissed him on the lips. He leaned into her kiss as his hands wandered up her back. He broke off the kiss then gently pressed his forehead to hers.

“You want to try it out?"

His girlfriend’s eye sparkled at this temptation,

“Wait, what time is it?

Gavin fished his phone out from his pocket,

“It’s a little after eleven.”

Hazel contemplated for a moment, as if carefully weighing out the decisions.

“Hmmm, perhaps tomorrow?”

“Mm, okay, let’s get some sleep then,” he replied, turning off the light; with Hazel leading him back into the main room.

“Are you gonna use the bathroom first then,” he asked her.

“Mm, if you don’t mind~”

“Not at all, take your time, my love,” he said, kissing her forehead. She then rummaged through her duffle bag for her essentials, and made her way to the bathroom. Gavin walked over to the patio, unlocked the sliding glass door and stepped out into the brisk night. The inky black sky greeted him with a cloudless view of the stars shining brightly. He closed his eyes and made a silent prayer to the stars; in hopes that everything would go well tomorrow at the giant ginkgo tree. Just as some small anxieties were starting to settle in, the sudden appearance of his girlfriend caused him to jump slightly.

“You okay, babe,” she asked, lightly massaging his shoulders, “oof, you’re pretty tense!”

“Yeah, I’m okay,” he replied, almost melting into her healing touch, “just waiting for you.”

“Ah, yes, the bathroom is all yours now~”

He turned and kissed her temple, “okay, be right back,” he then headed off to the bathroom, closing the sliding glass door behind him, while Hazel got settled into bed. The sheets felt cool against her skin; she was thankful he packed a pajama set that gave some warmth on this cool night. Waiting for her boyfriend to join her, she decided to open up her Pokemon Go app. She immediately cried out, causing Gavin to poke his head out of the bathroom.

“You okay,” he asked, slightly panicked.

“Oh! Oh yes, an incredibly rare Pokémon hatched out of an egg just now. Sorry, my love~”

“As long as you’re okay,” he breathed a sigh of relief, then resumed his nighttime routine. A few minutes later, he emerged to join his girlfriend in bed, clad in his favorite pajama pants.

“What hatched that was so rare?”

“A Riolu,” she beamed, quite pleased with herself.

“Which one is that again,” he inquired, climbing into bed. She showed him the newly acquired Pokémon.

“Why is it named Ginkgo?”

Hazel giggled a little, “in honor of our trip.”

Gavin stifled a laugh, earning him a playful smack on the arm.

“Come on, let’s get some sleep,” he urged her while trying to take her phone. Though, he did regret over-reaching as his wound on the right side stung, causing him to hiss and cease his actions.

“You okay,” she inquired, halfway giggling but also concerned.

“Y-yeah, let’s sleep,” he carefully shifted over to give her a goodnight kiss before gingerly settling down under the covers. It was going to be a big day tomorrow, and they both needed their well deserved rest.

#mlqc #mlqc gavin #mr love queen's choice #love and producer #mr love #gavin #mr love gavin #恋与制作人 #bai qi #mr love game #pcd writes

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lawliet-imagines · 3 years

Text

@mishmishz32 OML you sent this to me AGES ago, I am so sorry for the delay! Here's some long-awaited Mello content for you 🖤💛🍫

His younger childhood was spent with his Russian parents where both he and his mother were victims to his father's physical abuse. His mother never hit him, but she was verbally abusive and made it clear she'd never wanted children in the first place.

When his father was arrested, Mello was put into the system. News came some months later that his mother had committed suicide.

His was an angry child when he arrived at Wammy's House at ten years old. He refused to befriend anyone, but some redheaded nerd wouldn't leave him alone.

Matt's persistence was the beginning of a beautiful friendship and lifelong brotherhood, and the two became insperable. While Mello still attempted the appearance of indifference, the truth is, he'd have done anything for Matt... and Matt understood that.

Mello never wanted Matt to be involved in the Kira case, but the gamer boy was just as stubborn, and so he complied. When Matt died, Mello saw his last reason to live die with him. Giving his life in the name of the late L and the only man on earth he'd ever looked up to became his final purpose.

Now that the angst is out of the way, some general HCs: Mello LOVES spicy foods. The hotter the better. If the chicken wings don't bring tears to his eyes, they're too mild.

He's a great cook, and culinary arts interest him. He's meticulous like that, and even when living on his own in a shitty, one-room apartment in the ghettos of LA, he still managed to make things like seared chicken with mushroom marsala sauce and marinated Thai beef with sauteéd vegetables most nights for dinner.

He turns his nose up at fast food and instant dinners, but he won't say no to good takeout pizza or Indian food... locally owned, not chains.

His motorcycle is his baby, and he does repairs himself when he can. He has trust issues like that.

He sleeps shirtless with sweatpants. He has this weird thing about his legs getting cold.

The first thing he does in the morning is down a cup of scalding hot black coffee. Best not to try to approach him before this happens.

Despite his temper and hardened demeanor, he's actually a fun guy to hang out with once you're accepted into his circle.

He gets really competitive with strategy board games like Monopoly or Risk. He's hella good at them too.

He likes swimming, and he uses the pool at his gym often. Doing laps destresses him, and "Maybe you should go jump in the pool" becomes a phrase Matt uses to mean "You should probably relax, man."

ANYWAY, I apologize again for the long wait! :) Hope you enjoy!!

#my asks #death note #mello #mihael keehl

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thesweetestkimberry · 3 years

Text

Let Her Go

Pairings: Hanta Sero x Reader

Warnings: ANGST, cursing, main character death (non explicit), OOC

Notes: This is my first time publishing something angsty,, what started off as a halloween crack fic, became this. AND I APOLOGIZE,, I WOULD’VE POSTED THIS ON THE 30th BUT IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY AND I WAS OUT FOR THE WHOLE DAY.

also lowkey inspired by a Let Her Go by Passenger

enough of me talking,, I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOY AND I HOPE YOU ALL HAD A LOVELY QUARANTINE HALLOWEEN.

『° 。✰˚⋆☾⋆。✰°』

“Hanta!” “AH SHIT-“

You crouched as you held your stomach, laughing loudly from sneaking up on your boyfriend. Wheezing as he stumbled to the floor, pants tangling at his ankles.

“Don’t,” he spoke, shaking his hands and shooting an accusing finger at you, “Do that!” taking in a gulp of air, you looked up at your Sero who glared at you.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it! You were just so vulnerable!” You watched him struggle to stand up, reaching down to pull his pants up, “Yummy.” you muttered, giggling as he snapped his head towards you in warning.

“Just because it’s Halloween doesn’t mean you can scare me.” He says fastening his belt, the view of his front being reflected in the mirror. You sat on the bed and admired his form, from his shoulders to his lean torso, even admiring the way his mullet seemed to suit him perfectly.

“That’s exactly what it means babe.” He chuckled and finally turned to you, making his way over and cupping your cheeks in his hands, your skin feeling a tad cold. “You’re beautiful.” He says planting a kiss onto your lips. He could feel the way your lips quirked into a smile against his own, your hands covering his and gently running your fingers over it.

“God, I love you.”

“I love you too Hanta. So damn much. forever and always. You know i’ll always be here for you right? Even when i’m not exactly here.” You semi joked, needing to know that he understood you and your love for him.

The moment was broken before he could respond, when a knock sounded at your door making you both turn, “I’ll get it (y/n).”

Opening the door, Kirishima and Bakugou stood outside, one looking happier than the other. With a bright smile the redhead spoke, “You ready bro? movie night’s starting.” Sero looked to you and nodded, “Yeah, we’ll be down there soon.” He says as the two just outside the door give each other side glances.

“Just hurry the fuck up or we’re starting without you.” Bakugou said, shoving his hands into his pockets and glancing into the familiar room. You smiled and waved at him, however he did not return either, he only stared at you.

“Stop being such a grump, Katsuki.” You tease, Standing up and off-shoulder to Sero, still smiling at the two. “Alright, see you down.” Kirishima said tugging Bakugou back along into the elevator.

“Bakugou seemed a little more distant to you than usual didn’t he?” Sero says taking your hand, “Aw, i wouldn’t worry babe, you know how he is,” You offer with a smile, “let’s just go watch the movie.”

And with that, the two of you were off to the common room. Upon arrival, Sero was quick to pull you to the couch to get the good seats, giggling at his antics, you and him sat down in the corner, him pulling you into his side.

Just before the movie started, Shoji was about to sit and having not seen your frame, he was about ready to sit on top of you, “Woah dude! (y/n)’s sitting here, man.” Sero warns making the dupli-armed boy bow his head slowly, “I apologize, “Can i sit here?” he asks pointing to the spot next to you, “Of course, Shoji” You say with a smile, Sero nodding at his question with a smile as well.

Everyone was silent during the exchange, looking back and forth between them, and after a while, they were reduced to sympathetic whispers.

“Let’s get this started, yeah?” Mina said, breaking everyone’s muttering, a chorus of voices agreeing to start the movie.

Sero smiled and kissed your head, you snuggled into his side and looked up at him sadly, a look that he didn’t notice.

Throughout the movie, Sero would whisper his own commentary into your ear and would grin every time he made you laugh aloud. He would shush you for laughing too loud, even though the others didn’t seem to react to your boisterous laughter at your boyfriends’ comedic comments.

After about an hour and a half, the movie had finally ended, it’s credits rolling through the screen. You stretched your body out and sat up, your boyfriend looking over at you tiredly, “Bedtime?” he asked hopefully while you snorted, “Sir, it’s only 9.” You teased and watched as he gestured over to Bakugou, “well it’s way past his bedtime so i assumed it was time for ours.”

“What the hell did you say about me, Soy Sauce?” Bakugou shouted, the others looking up at them in amusement, “I was just telling (y/n) that it’s past your bedtime, old man.”

Bakugou’s fighting stance faltered and he only glared, sadness and hurt hiding behind his eyes. “Fuck you. i’m going to bed.” He says making Sero wince, you shook your head at him and watched him grimace.

Just as Bakugou walked out of the common room and into the hallway to get to the elevator, he crossed paths with Aizawa who was doing his final check in.

Without looking up from the floor, Bakugou spoke, “He’s doing it again.” and with that, he entered the elevator and made his way to his dorm, leaving his teacher to mull over his words and sigh.

Sero looked at you and noticed you weren’t talking to your friends like you usually did. Instead of chatting with your closest friends in the class, you simply sat beside him, only smiling at everyone.

“Sero.” Aizawa’s voice called, the boy jumping in surprise and turning to his home room teacher, “Yes, sir?” Your boyfriend responded as he glanced over at you who met his eyes and mocked him like a child who got called into the principal’s office, “Oooo you’re in trouble.”

Sero swatted at you while Aizawa watched him, “Come with me, and bring (y/n) along.” He said simply, his words making everyone else start to whisper again.

Walking out of the dorms and into the courtyard, Aizawa led them both to the large tree in the center, “What’s going on Mr. Aizawa? Am i in trouble? If you’re here to ask about who drank the bottle of soap , i just wanted to see if it tasted like it smelled.” Sero confessed. You and Aizawa started at him with a bewildered expression, not really knowing how to take that.

“No- Wait, you drank soap?” His teacher asked, The boy standing rigid, “No... you’re the one farting bubbles.”

Aizawa sighed heavily and rubbed his temples, only until Sero turned to speak to you, did Aizawa revert back to his main goal.

“Sero come read this plaque.” The older man said, stepping aside to allow his student access to the plaque on the tree. “Um.. okay?” the boy said confused but opting to listen to his teacher anyway.

“‘Once you’ve met someone, you never truly forget them.’ In Loving memory of (y/-“

Sero’s blood ran cold and he felt his eyes widen, his face now contorted into one of mild confusion and hurt, “W-What is this?” he says aloud, not being able to tear his eyes away from the plaque.

He stared at the mocking inscription and red it over and over in his head, his brain not registering what this meant, “Babe? what kind of fucked up joke is this?” Sero asks, finally being able to turn to look at you, only to see you looking at him with tears rolling down your cheeks.

“You have to let me go, baby.” You whisper as Aizawa stands about two feet away, and watches his students’ heart break all over again. “N-No! I love you!” he choked out, sobs now threatening to escape his trembling form.

“Hanta. Hanta,” you coo as you move over to him and take his face in your hands, those of which now felt icy against his own skin. “I love you, but you can’t keep doing this. You need to move on.” You sob out, your thumbs trying to wipe his tears away, only for it to do nothing.

“Please don’t go. I need you here, you can’t leave me...” He shouts, trying to hold you, screaming out in pain once he realizes he can’t touch you, his arms going through you like a hologram.

“I’ll always be here Hanta...” You offer with a miserable smile, not wanting to leave him but knowing you had to. “(y/n) please...”

“Goodbye Hanta.” You whisper, leaning in to press a ghost of a kiss into his lips, what of which he sobbed out when he realized he couldn’t feel it.

“Goodbye (y/n)...” he choked out, watching as you turned translucent and ultimately transparent until you were no longer there. The light of the full moon shone down on the breaking boy as he fell to his knees, Aizawa walking up to place a comforting hand on his students’ shoulder, tears nearly springing to his eyes as well as he remembered the day.

“‘Once you’ve met someone, you never truly forget them.’ In Loving memory of (y/n) (l/n). A beloved daughter, friend, girlfriend and student. Destined for greatness until a life was cut short by fate’s cruel kiss. She will forever be remembered.”

『° 。✰˚⋆☾⋆。✰°』

#sero #sero hanta x reader #hanta sero imagine #hanta sero x reader #bnha angst #sero hanta imagine #sero angst #bnha x reader

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primasveraas-writing · 3 years

Text

Finnpoe Modern AU- Single Dad!Poe- PART 3

AHH here it is!! I’m really happy with how it turned out; thank you again to the darling Eliane who sparked the orginal idea. The brunt of the story is done, but I hope (and suspect) that I will be returning to this AU soon, in the form of more headcanons or one shots.

I hope you enjoy! All requests are currently open.

Part One l Part Two l Part Three

XXX

Poe buys Finn a drink

...then Finn buys Poe a drink, then Poe buys them both drinks because Finn is on a teacher’s salary and the only gay bar within a reasonable distance gets away with overpriced beer

Poe learns rather quickly that Finn is more than just an incredibly attractive teacher who’s good with his son- Finn is also shy, and humble. Kind and honest. Slightly giggly when tipsy and rather close in proximity after 3 beers

There comes a point when Poe’s chest aches from laughing and he almost puts his hand on Finn’s knee- he almost leans in- then he remembers himself

Buying his son’s teacher a beer is fine- he likes Finn and so does BB

Kissing his son’s teacher is an entirely separate matter

Poe clears his throat abruptly, and he can feel the heat rushing to his already-warm cheeks as he straightens, pulling away from the other man

Finn pulls back too, a split second of hurt flashing across his face

“I’m sorry,” Poe says thickly, wondering how quickly he can flee the scene without seeming like a total ass, and Finn shakes his head

“Don’t worry about it,” Finn says, unable to fully meet Poe’s eyes. “I should probably get back to Rey, anyways”

Finn stands, and Poe blurts out “it was good to talk with you-” before he can think any of it through

Finn stops, turning back to look at him. He smiles, briefly, then says: “it was”

Poe is still sitting at the bar when Rey and Finn leave

Poe pretends he’s not watching them go

The upside to the next day is that his hangover is very mild, and that BB waits until 7am to wake him up instead of jumping into Poe’s bed at his usual 6am

Small blessings, even on a Saturday

They have a good day, and Poe is able to bury all his worries and regrets about Finn until BB does his homework

(he has to color in a hand turkey and he and Poe are both covered in glitter and ink by the end of it)

But the craft is enough for BB to start talking about school, which he does, pieces of glitter falling to the floor one by one as he signs

We do lots of art in Luke’s class and Finn helps me. He is nice and he brings in candy sometimes. He never rushes me or worries like Mr. C does and he is learning ASL very fast and sometimes he lets us stay out for recess for an extra three minutes and he will push us on the tire swing-

So Poe adds to his list of the way he can describe Finn- adored by his son. Generous. A total sucker for cute kids. Endlessly patient, a quick learner, a sweet tooth… off-limits.

What does he know about Finn, from a few hours of talking and stories from his son? Is it enough to justify his pining?

It doesn’t matter, in the end. At best, he and Finn are friends, and Poe has only BB’s best interests in mind- everything else is secondary to his son

The guilt and ache fade, for the most part. He sees Finn here and there, and the two men keep it friendly and brief

At parent-teacher conferences, Finn barely looks at Poe

It stings in the fall, but even that wound has healed when spring comes. Finn is still removed, a little less open, but he manages a small smile when Poe catches his gaze during the last conference that year

Summer arrives, and Poe has almost stopped dreaming of kissing Finn entirely

There’s a small celebration to celebrate the end of the school year, hosted by one of the PTA moms

BB takes off with some of the kids immediately, leaving Poe to his own devices

He’s half-heartedly participating in a discussion about gluten-free sugar cookies with some of the parents while watching BB chase his friends around the yard

He feels a light touch on his arm and turns to see Finn standing there, smiling

“I wanted to tell you what a delight it was to teach BB this year,” Finn says, “and that I’m sorry I won’t have longer with him.”

Poe starts, brow furrowing in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“I’m teaching preschool next year,” Finn says, looking down at his feet before glancing up at Poe again. “I originally applied to work with younger kids, but they didn’t have an opening until next fall.”

“So you’re not teaching BB anymore?” Finn shakes his head. “He’ll be devastated.”

Finn frowns, sadness filling his eyes, but Poe nudges him with his elbow, grinning softly

“I’m happy for you Finn, really. BB loved working with you.”

“I loved it too.” Finn is quiet, serious, and his voice falters before Finn goes silent. He blinks rapidly, and Poe realizes just how much Finn cares about his students

“We’ll have to have you over for dinner. To thank you.”

Finn’s eyes widen, wetness replaced with a brilliant spark. His mouth opens, then there’s the unmistakable sound of children colliding, a solid thud followed by squeals, giggles, and shouts

Poe sighs, looking around for BB, despite knowing in his heart of hearts that BB is almost always involved in whatever shenanigans are happening

“I should go.” Poe rests his hand on Finn’s arm. “We’ll work out a date later,” he says, winking before he turns around to chase after his son

When the time comes, BB is excited as Poe is nervous- he insists on helping with the cooking, which slows things significantly, if only because Poe has to sign each recipe and he runs circles around the small kitchen hovering over his son

BB has little regard for things like measurements or cation around a hot stove- about halfway through cooking the pasta needed for an old family recipe, BB tries to grab a noodle out of the boiling pot

Poe pulls his hand back just in time, rambling warnings and curses in Spanish and signing his worries and reliefs rapidly in ASL

BB stares up at him innocently, and Poe melts

He also puts his son on his back, so Poe finishes the cooking with a seven-year-old pointing where to go and what to do

They both have to squeeze in a shower before Finn arrives, as they’re each covered in sweat and sauce and flour

(Poe finds a bit of salsa behind BB’s ear as he towels his son off, and he sighs)

Poe is dressing when the door rings. First, he hears BB tearing down the hall, his feet thundering, then the door opening- Poe follows his son, finishing the last buttons on his shirt, then Finn is in his living room, BB tugging on his hand to bring Finn into the apartment

“Hi,” Finn says, kneeling down to hug BB

“Hi,” Poe says, and his heart flutters like it did a year ago, when he saw Finn for the very first time

It progresses from there because BB loves Finn, and Poe believes in love at first sight, even if he can’t admit it yet

(He loves Finn too)

Dinners with Luke, Leia, and Finn resume, in addition to meals whenever BB demands that Finn eat with them

(It’s been too long, Dad, BB will say. You and Finn are lonely without each other)

Poe doesn’t know how much he can disagree with his son, partly because BB is largely right, and partly because BB has Poe wrapped around his finger

Even so, it’s nearly a month before Poe asks Finn out properly, with no children or bosses to accompany them

Finn accepts in an instant

Dating Finn is nice- for one, he fits into Poe’s life easily- but he also validates the months Poe spent dreaming of the impossible scenario where he and Finn could finally be together, because dating Finn is better than Poe ever imagined

Finn is funny, more sarcastic than Poe had realized, direct and curious and teasing. Deeply loving and loyal and defensive and stubborn, and also a good kisser, with perpetually warm hands that always find their way into Poe’s grip

That summer is glorious, and none of them- Poe, nor BB, nor Finn- want it to end. It is the beginning of all wonderful things

Poe accepts quickly but with relative uncertainty, that Finn will be Poe’s boyfriend long before he will become one of BB’s caretakers

Finn is good with BB- he speaks ASL and understands his son better than most, and Poe is forever grateful he never had to navigate a wide dating pool as a single father, mostly because he’s certain there’s very, very few people worth bringing home to BB

Even with adjustment periods and the time it takes to figure out how exactly Finn fits into their lives, BB is wildly fond of Finn, who spoils him and makes him laugh

You smile lots when Finn is around BB says one day

Is that good? Poe signs back. Do you like when Finn is around?

Finn makes me happy BB says, and Poe knows that’s all that ever matters

November comes with an with the first snow; BB complains that he misses seeing Finn at school, but he sees Finn every weekend and most weekdays, so he’s satisfied, even if Mr. C is stuffy and old, but nice I guess

They are comfortable together- things are calm, settled into the new school year- and Poe figures he knows what to expect from life with a hyperactive seven year old and a boyfriend he’s hopelessly in love with

What’s unexpected, however, is the call he gets at 3am on a Friday night- or rather, the 6 missed calls, and the one that Poe finally picks up, his heart pounding wildly when he sees Finn’s name on the screen

He hit a pole, Finn explains, because he swerved to avoid hitting a cat

“I’m fine, honestly, Poe, the airbags went off and I was wearing my seatbelt and most of the damage is on the passenger side-”

Finn is fine, he promises, but his car is damaged fairly badly and also Finn rescued the cat, who is also fine, and they have no way to get home

So, Poe wraps BB in a blanket and carries him out to the car, and together they pick up Finn off the street in the dead of night

In five months of dating, it’s the first time Finn spends the night at Poe’s apartment with BB there

Finn sleeps on the couch, next to the makeshift nest of blankets where the kitten finally falls asleep

BB spends his Saturday writing a list of names for the kitten, who is entrusted to his care (and Poe’s) while Finn makes endless calls to a towing company and his insurance, and the bank and the local vet

Finn spends the next night, too, because he doesn’t want to move the cat, who is young and probably scared, and very attached to Poe and BB already

On Sunday, Finn goes to the vet to see if the cat is missing or chipped, and Finn leaves with a purring kitten that belongs only to him

BB is then allowed to name the cat officially; he becomes D-O, much to Finn’s amusment and Poe’s exasperation

(BB doesn’t deign to explain this decision, and Poe cannot bring himself to ask BB why this name was chosen more than ten times)

By then, they’ve also agreed that Finn will stay with BB and Poe until Finn’s car is fixed, so Poe can drive Finn to work, and so that D-O can stay with BB a little longer

Finn sleeps on the couch Sunday night, but BB sneaks out of bed to cuddle with the cat, and Poe finds them Monday morning, BB curled in Finn’s arms, D-O snuggled at their feet

Poe takes a picture before rousing them for school, and the picture is first the background on his phone, then printed and framed on the wall of their first home together

A smaller copy is slipped into his wallet, too, so that the three of them are with him, always

BB cries at the end of the week, when Finn has his car again, and he and D-O are ready to go home

(By Christmas, Poe has given Finn a key to the apartment, and by Feburary, they’re looking for a place to share together)

When BB turns eight, the three (four) of them move into the apartment that becomes their first home as a family, and it marks another beginning for them all

When BB turns ten, his father gets married, and he with his grandfather walk Poe down the aisle

Poe and BB are a family. This fact was slow and learned, but absolute all the same and Finn, still gradually, but just as certainly, becomes their family too

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league-of-thots · 4 years

Text

For You, mae amare

Pairing: Shouto x reader

Warnings: sensory deprivation (mild), little bit of food play, nipple clamps

Word Count: ~3.3k

A/N: This is a rather late bday fic for the wonderful @burnedbyshoto im sorry its late!! I really wanted to get shouto as well as i could so i may have re-written it a few times LOL. in all seriousness im so happy to call you my friend and i hope you enjoy!!

It’s a normal day when you decide to ask your boyfriend to try a little something new in the bedroom

“Hey Shouto,” you start. He looks up from his book, the hand that had been stroking your leg gently stopping as he quirks an eyebrow at you. “I’ve been thinking about something, and I’d like you to hear me out before you decide on anything.” You’re a little nervous at what he’ll think, given its outside the normal range of your activities, but mostly you’re excited to see if he’ll agree to it.

“That’s something you say before you suggest something that is probably dumb, or something I’m not going to like.” He says with a pout, and you have to crush the urge to reach out and brush the longer strands of his hair above his undercut back into place.

“Shouto, how was I supposed to know that the ropes would snap, they said they were quirk proof!” you say exasperated, having been over this multiple times. “You’re too hot baby.” You smirk at him and he groans at your words.

He sighs, “Fine. I’ll listen to it, but I swear if it’s anything else where I’m off the ground I’m putting my foot down.” You knew he meant it, Shouto was a man of few words, but one that stuck to them. You remembered how long it took to convince him that changing his hairstyle would not drastically alter his fighting. Midoriya had been close to tears by then end when he’d finally decided that he wanted to spite his dad more than he cared about miniscule changes in his fighting style.

For a pretty quiet guy, he got his point across when he wanted to and was oddly stubborn about certain small things.

So, you’d explained to him, a couple times having to reassure him there was no chances for him to fall, your idea. To your surprise, he actually seemed interested in it, you could tell from the way he bit the inside of his cheek and the slight quirk of his eyebrow.

People that thought Shouto Todoroki didn’t show his thoughts with his body were wrong, you could read him like an open book. Right now, that book was telling you that he found the idea of you much smaller frame dominating him and taking away his senses and movement was extremely interesting to him.

You knew that you had him on board with you even before he gave his verbal consent, and you were exhilarated at the possibilities that would be open to you. You sit up straight and pull him over by his shirt to give him a quick kiss in your good mood and immediately got back on your phone to start doing some more in depth research on what you could do to him, and what you should possibly stay away from.

Something that was intriguing to you was how easily you’d be able to incorporate kinks that the two of you already had and fulfilled quite often. Apparently, it would also feel different for Shouto, who during the time would be deprived of a few senses, which was something else to consider. You wanted to use the familiarity Shouto would have with the normal motions to calm him through the sensory deprivation so he’d enjoy it, but if it would also feel new to him, you didn’t want to overwhelm him.

Another thing stressed was that aftercare had to include slowly and carefully giving him back his senses and to make sure he was well comforted afterwards. That wouldn’t be a sweat for you, you liked to think that you gave damn fine aftercare and you feel like Shouto would agree with that.

After research and planning, you decided to check if you still had ample supplies for your ideas, which was a good idea because you realized you were low on lube, candles and sauces. You wanted to stick to only touch based ones because you wanted to take away his sight, and didn’t want to startle or turn him off with harsh sounds. It was also the reason you decided to only do it with his eyes completely covered, you know that Shouto prefers being eased into new ideas in the bedroom, one of his own personal requests that you always make sure to follow.

You don’t have time during the next few days to actually head out to the shop and restock on supplies and buy a few new things. It makes you impatient and Shouto can tell and it amuses him to no end.

“I mean I could just fuck you normally? I know it’s not as, ah- thrilling?, as your idea. But I’m not a bad lay.” He nearly hides the laughter in his voice but you catch it, and give him an unimpressed look. But you take him up on the offer anyways, not being one to turn down sex with your amazing boyfriend.

It also made you a lot less antsy to get your idea rolling, you decided to just go with the time would show itself when it was ready. Besides, having it come about naturally would be way more fun for the both of you. So, you placed some order online instead of rushing out and waited.

Just over a week later, you came home to your house with a package sitting on your front porch. At first, you’d forgotten what it was, but were quickly reminded when you thought about it, and you jogged up to your door with some pep in your step. Shouto wouldn’t be home until later that evening, had already told you not to wait up for dinner, and so you’d have time to prepare.

You knew it’d been a few tough weeks on him, so this was bound to be a way to relieve some of that pent-up frustration. He did the same for you after all. Until then though, you had a few hours to kill, so you ordered some Thai take out and sat down to watch some Netflix on your couch.

While you were eating you got a few texts from Shouto saying he almost got out early, but there was an emergency that he had to go help with. Sending back a quick “Stay safe, I love you,” you turn off Netflix in favour of the news, trying to see what was going on that had taken him away from home.

You turn it on to see that a villain had caused a truck to crash with a gas station, creating a large explosion and setting fire to the surrounding buildings. You saw some sheets of ice going up to cover the building and you knew that was why your boyfriend had been called in to help. He had a good quirk for helping to contain the damage and helping to rescue civilians from the buildings.

Part of you wanted to watch it, but part of you hated seeing your boyfriend throw himself into dangerous situations. You couldn’t turn it off though, you had to watch as he saved person after person, teaming up with his sidekicks to make sure that the most unstable zones were taken care of first.

Luckily, everything seemed to go fine, and the news eventually switched over to something else. You tried to relax, easing your mind with the fact that you saw the entire thing taken from an emergency zone to a relatively stable situation. You give him a quick text, telling him you saw him on the news, asking him if he was all right. He quickly shoots you back a quick thumbs up and a “be home as soon as I can”. Sighing in relief you go to grab a drink from the liquor cabinet, craving some alcohol to calm the rest of your nerves. Gin is the way to go tonight, you think, quickly draining a first glass and pouring yourself another.

By the time Shouto comes into the house, you’re mildly tipsy and you run up to greet him as he hangs his jacket up in the front closet.

“Shoooou-!” You throw yourself into him and he reacts with reflexes befitting a tired pro hero, quickly turning and catching you. “Missed you, babe!”

“Yeah, I missed you too- wait, are you drunk?” his eyes narrow in concern.

“No, hun, just a bit tipsy.” You bring him down and start kissing him intensely, the excitement, anxiety and love you felt today just tipping over into your actions. He responds easily to you, pulling back only when he needs to breathe.

“What’s gotten into you tonight?”

“Just missed you today, I was stressed about you, and excited ‘cause the toys came in. You’ve had such a hard week and I’m so excited, I think you’re going to love it Shou, I really do!” you’re babbling a bit but he follows your words, eyes never leaving your face as you talk.

“I’m sure if you thought of it for me that I’ll really enjoy myself, love.” He presses his lips sweetly to yours, and lets you take control. You lick into his mouth, he tastes like strawberries – he must’ve had some before he got home – and you slowly guide him to the bedroom. Your lips never leave his until you’ve gotten him onto the bed.

“You trust me, right?” You know he does, but you want him to verbalize it.

“Of course.”

“You’re going to tell me if you need to stop then, alright?”

He gives you a look that clearly says ‘let’s get on with this, then�� and you roll your eyes.

“Fine, fine, I’m getting the stuff now. Get your clothes off.” You hurry over to where you’d kept them all put together.

“I thought you’d want to rip them off given you’re being the dom tonight, babe?” You can hear the teasing tone of his voice and you ignore him, slowly turning around.

“Get them off. Now.” Your hand is on your hip as you glare at your boyfriend from across the room. You see him take a deep breath, eyes taking you in. His pupils are dilated, betraying his excitement he’d tried to hide with his teasing.

You toss the things onto the bed as he scrambles out of his clothes, you slowly taking them off as you walk towards him. You’re wearing the pale blue that happens to be his favourite. Sitting down in front of him on the bed, you grab the rope from beside your body and you crawl over him. You kiss him deeply, hands grabbing his as the two of you get lost within each other. You pull away panting when you’ve managed to maneuver his hands above his head, grinning down at your dazed boyfriend.

You quickly tie his wrists together, tying his wrists to bedpost behind him as you go back down to kiss his neck, slowly, sensually. He groans, trying to grind his hips up from underneath you. You move to sit down above his hips so he can’t do anything, the tent in his boxers obvious.

“You don’t get anything yet Sho, don’t be impatient.” He whines a bit at that, but stops wiggling around. You go back down, pressing open mouthed kisses to his chest, leaving marks every few kisses and he grunts in approval.

After marking him up a bit, you ease off of him, looking to get the thick and soft eye mask you’d gotten and turn to him.

“Ready?”

“Yeah, let’s do it Y/N.” You love how dishevelled he looks just from the small make out sessions the two of you had, his cheeks red and breathing thinner than usual. You carefully ease the blindfold over his eyes and kiss him gently. You admire your handiwork and stroke his hair. You can feel him shudder beneath you; he loves it when you stroke his hair.

“Feels ok, Sho?” He nods once in assent. “Alright then let’s see how this feels then.” You begin working you way down his body, hands smoothly going down caressing the taught muscles of his sides. You leave marks all down his body and he groans in pleasure at the sting of the bites. You love to mark him almost as much as he likes to mark you, and you love the way the red and purple bites look on his pale skin.

When you reach his boxers, you’re unsurprised to find them stained with precum, his length still straining against the fabric of his clothes. You slowly wiggle them down and his cock springs up to slap his stomach. He lets out a sigh of relief that turns into a stifled moan as you like a stripe from the bottom of his cock to the tip, teasing the tip with swirls from your tongue.

You take the head into your mouth and he bucks his hips upwards, trying to get you to stop teasing him. You pull off completely and he groans in frustration.

“Be good and just sit there Sho, or else I won’t let you cum at all, how’s about that?”

“No, don’t do that, I’ll stay still. Just please get on with it, it feels so good…”

“Don’t make me stop you again.” You warn, and he shakes his head almost frantically.

Taking him once again into your mouth, still slowly, you notice he’s straining so hard against his impulses to fuck upwards into your mouth. Seeing him do this for you fills you with power and lust, and you suddenly take him deep in your throat, your nose tickling his neatly trimmed pubes.

“Fuck!” he shouts out in surprise. “God you feel so fucking good babe, you’re so good to me!” Bolstered by his praise, you continue to bob your head, quicker than before. You feel your own slick dampening your panties and you hear the noises he’s making, loving how wrecked he sounds. You look up to see his head thrown back and your hand goes up to play with his balls.

He must like that, because he cums without warning, leg muscles tensing up as thick ropes of cum shoot down your throat. You swallow it all with a little difficulty and pull off of him. He’s breathing heavily, his dick now soft again, but you know with what you have planned, that won’t be the case for very long.

“That’s just the start Sho. I have a bit more for you.” You say, grabbing the nipple clamps from beside you. You circle the cool metal around his nipples until the pebble up and you clamp the first one down, which he takes stoically. The second one however, elicits a soft whimper from him. “Ah, but you’ve done this a few times before, babe. Does it feel different now?”

“Better,” he chokes out. “It feels better.”

“Well that’s what I was hoping for, so that’s good for me to hear.” Having said that, you grab the chocolate sauce you’d gotten and click open the cap. “You know what I have, don’t you Shotou?”

“Something in a bottle, I don’t think its lube?”

“It’s not.” You then start to pour some of the sauce down his stomach, putting some up by his collar bones and neck. “Keep your mouth closed.” He nods once more as you pour some of the sauce onto his lips. Leaning down, you start kissing him, tasting the sweet chocolate, and he takes that as an open invitation to open his own mouth and get a tast for himself.

You stay there, making out with him, the sweetness making it more fun, until you pull back and start licking away the sauce on his neck.

“Ah, your tongue shouldn’t be allowed to move like that! How am I supposed to stand a chance?” His voice is pitched low with arousal. You smirk against his skin, but don’t answer, continuing to enjoy the sweet moans – and sauce – as long as you could.

However, after moving down to his stomach, his noises, cut off. You look up and see the reason why, he’s bitten his lip to keep from crying out anymore. That won’t do.

“Shouto, I want to hear you, pretty boy. Stop biting your lip please, or else I won’t ride you like I planned and you can use your hand.”

“No, no. Alright fine. You’re picky today.”

“I’m going to do you a favour and ignore that one.” You slip off your panties, seeing as he’s hard again as you straddle him. You loved riding him, it was so fun to set the pace and make a mess of him.

You line yourself up, and ease yourself down slowly. You wince a little from the stretch, so caught up that you’d forgotten to prep yourself, but with a few rolls of your hips you got him completely inside you. The vein on the underside of his cock felt as good as always, and you teasingly clenched your muscles and Shouto let out another set of curses that would have his PR team in tears had he said that in public.

Laughing slightly, you begin to bring your hips up slowly, and slam them down all the way. As you set a pace, Shouto catches on and starts bucking up into you as you slam down, hitting deep into your pussy, and you let out a cry of surprise and pleasure.

“Shit, Shouto! Just like that!” you can feel yourself clenching in pleasure around him, the entire situation and the stimulation of your clit slapping against his hips bringing you closer and closer to your own orgasm.

Shouto must sense this, because as you falter, he thrusts up into you harder, grunting at the exertion, having to do it without much help with his arms. He manages to hit that spot inside you that has you seeing stars and crying out his name as you clamp down on his cock and cum. With a final thrust deep inside you, Shouto comes as well, releasing once again and then sinking into the mattress.

You ease yourself off, whispering sweet nothings to your boyfriend and lying down beside him, running your fingers through his soft and silky hair. You feel blissed out from you orgasm so you forget that he’s tied up and can’t take off the blindfold.

“Hey, Y/N? I do love having you snuggled against me, but I think it’s way better when I can actually hold you.”

“Oh my god, I’m sorry Sho!” you quickly scramble up, untying his wrists from the bedposts and each other. You hold his much larger hands in your own, kissing at the slightly irritated skin that came from the bindings. You do the same thing, showing lots of love and care to his chest as well after removing the clamps. Throughout this, you hear sighs of satisfaction and pleasure from your boyfriend.

You slowly take off the blindfold as look into his eyes. He grabs your face gently, guiding you in for a kiss that’s all sweet and slow. You sigh as he pulls away, and you set your head down onto his chest, looking up at his face. He stares back at you, lovingly.

“So? Yes, no, maybe?”

He chuckles. “Yes, way better than the swing.”

“When are you going to drop the damn swing already?”

“Hey, I didn’t drop it, it dropped me.” You groan and stick your face into his chest. “In all seriousness, it was really different. But in a good way.”

“I’m glad. You feeling a bit more relaxed?”

“Yes, but I’m sure I’ll feel even more relaxed if we can clean up and cuddle a bit.” You laugh at the rather pointed suggestion.

“Alright, princess. Let’s go get us all cleaned up then.”

#shouto todoroki x reader #bnha x reader #jays writes #smut

178 notes · View notes

itshardcandy · 3 years

Text

Strawberry Flavor - Part 1

Pairing: Kim Seokjin x Reader, Min Yoongi x Reader, Park Jimin x Reader

8789 Words

Genre: Fluff, Idiots Friends to lovers, crack

Warnings: None except some super light swearing, an unhealthy obsession for Jimin’s cakes ( I think i might have a problem idk ) and some light flirting ( I tried to create some mild tension at the end... not sure I did it right )

Summary: What’s a girl to do when her handsome colleague, her sweet business partner and her mysterious, piano playing friend compete for 1st place on the list of her favourite people?

Heavily inspired by the “Another Story” individual stories in the BTS World game but with a twist. The final pairing isn’t fully decided, yet, so if you have some input or some suggestions or just a burning desire for me to twist the story into a certain direction please let me know and maybe we can work something out ;)

IPlease don’t hesitate to give feedback and like & reblog if you enjoyed <3

______

“Strawberry Flavor! Strawberry Flavor, where are you?”

Hotel-service intern Kim Seokjin rushed into the kitchen of the hotel restaurant to find you, his colleague and only friend in this hell of an establishment,

“Yah, Strawberry Flavor! This is important, where are you?”

He knew the kitchen area would be empty at this time, save for you. Most of your colleagues had already clocked out for the night but you usually stayed longer to wait for Seokjin to finish his shift as well. Which is why he busted through the doors of the locker room, guns blazing, to find you already waiting for him and packing your things,

“Ah, there you are! Didn’t you hear me?”

Accusingly, he thrust his hands in your direction, which were full of laundry items. You turned around, wide-eyed and flabbergasted at Seokjin’s dramatic entrance in the break room,

“Kim Seokjin, I swear on all that’s holy in this world, one of these days I will bash your head in with a frying pan, if you yell at me like that again!”

You pointed at his smug face and tried to look like you actually meant it,

“I could have been changing in here, you punk! Don’t you have any manners? Jeez, you give a guy leftover chicken and suddenly he thinks he owns the place…”,

Jin took a moment to process your words before he smiled at you and rolled his eyes,

“Ah, Strawberry Flavor, I’m sorry, I’m just so excited! You said there’s more leftover chicken again today, what am I supposed to do? Stay calm?”

You didn’t actually mean anything you said, of course, you adored your tall, handsome and broad-shouldered colleague and were glad that you had become friends. Or so he liked to think, at least,

“Yes! That is absolutely what you are supposed to do!”

You tried to answer without a smile creeping on your face but seeing Jin just did that to people. He was handsome, sure, but his face, when he got a little worked up over something, was one the funniest things known to mankind,

“You know I can’t be held responsible for my actions when chicken is involved…”

He dropped his gaze and kicked at imaginary dirt on the ground. You took a deep breath and remembered that Seokjin was essentially an overgrown child with an even more overgrown appetite,

“I saved it for you, no one’s going to steal it”

You said and Jin huffed, pouting at you,

“Ok…”

You noticed the laundry in his hands just now,

“Did Areum give you more laundry, again?”

You asked as you pointed at the various blankets and stuffed animals he was carrying,

“She said she wants them dry cleaned by tomorrow morning. How am I supposed to do that? Everyone already left…”

He explained and you sighed. That girl knew how to keep him on his toes,

“Well, you just have to come in early tomorrow and beg the guys from laundry to run an express load”

You checked the contents of your purse, before turning back to Seokjin again,

“Hm, you’re right. I should drop this in the laundry bins, right? Be right back!”

He mumbled and turned on his heels to leave,

“Can you heat the chicken up for me, please? Thank you”

You heard him say as the doors closed behind him. You shook your head and let out a long breath,

“This guy really has no shame”

You said to yourself as you grabbed your things and went to work on the chicken for Jin, so you both could finally leave, as soon as he got back.

------

As you walked along the beach promenade, a Tupperware in hand containing Jin’s chicken, you listened to him munch on a piece of it while he tried to recount all events of the day to you. Apparently, the lady, who had been staying in 306 for the last week, wasn’t as sweet as you thought. Jin told you about this morning, when he went to bring her breakfast to her room and she pinched his butt while he was on the way out. His eyes almost bulged out of his head, he was so invested in his own story,

“And then she said the bacon looks good this morning! The bacon, Strawberry Flavor! As in MY bacon! Can you believe?!”

Were he not so busy to stuff his mouth full of the wings you had saved for him, he would have ranted on about it for hours,

“No, Jin, I can’t, in fact, believe”,

“I know it looks good, I have eyes, after all, but just pinching my bacon like it was a cheap side dish…”

“Absolutely outrageous”

You commented while typing away on your phone. You knew by now that you just needed to pay attention at the right moment to appease Jin’s ego,

“Exactly!”

He flung his hand around and looked like he tried to fight someone with the chicken leg, that he was currently holding,

“Did you say anything to her? Or did you just do that creepy customer-service fake smile”

You asked, already knowing that, even if Jin talked a big game now, he probably just squeaked like a squirrel when the thirsty grandma felt him up and looked like a deer caught in the headlights when she shut the door in his face. Deep down, he probably enjoyed the attention, though,

“No, I didn’t. can’t risk an additional complaint from any of the guests with all the negative points I keep scoring with Areum…”

He mumbled and his puffed chest deflated a bit at that,

“Ah Seokjin, don’t worry! I’m sure Areum will see soon how much effort you put into everything she makes you do!”

You patted his shoulder reassuringly and handed him a tissue to wipe the spicy chicken sauce off his face,

“Thanks, Strawberry Flavor, you always know what to say…”

Unbeknownst to you, Jin was thankful for more than just your kind words and company today. He was thankful for a lot more when it came to you and the chicken was only the cherry on top of the biggest, most delicious scoop of heart-shaped ice cream, he had ever imagined in his life.

When you two met on the day you were examined as a potential addition to the kitchen staff at the hotel, he didn’t think you’d become such an integral part of his life but he’s certainly thankful things played out the way they did. Even though he wishes he was brave enough to ask you for more, he is content to just be the best friend to you, that he could be. You deserved it. If not for you, he would have been kicked out of the hotel multiple times already because he just kept messing up so much. Most of the kitchen staff still avoided him because of the wedding cake incident a few months back. He cringed inwardly; it had not been pretty,

“And even if she doesn’t and tells Manager about all your shortcomings and he kicks you out, you can count on me to save you chicken from time to time!”

He almost chokes on said chicken when he has to laugh at your poor attempt to lighten the mood,

“Jin, you need to swallow!”

He could only laugh harder and it made you smile,

“Yah! Stop laughing! You’re gonna choke! I don’t know any first aid…”

You clapped him on the back and he slowly calmed down, still cackling like a little kid. You wanted to see him laugh like this more often, lately, because interning at the hotel wasn’t working out so well for him. He had a lot of difficulties with the service and it didn’t help that he was assigned as Areum’s caretaker during the time she would be staying at the hotel. That little girl… you knew she was only 7 but she drove you up the wall sometimes. Especially when she scolded Jin for all the things he did wrong, which was a regular occurrence,

“I’m fine, I’m fine, do you have any more tissues, though?”

Jin asked and you dug around your purse until you found one. He coughed roughly and then took a deep breath,

“Phew… Let’s just hope Manager keeps me around a little longer, yeah?”

He smiled at you and you nodded,

“He has to, or I’m going on strike. See how he handles the rioting guests when there are no more Special Strawberry Flavor Pancakes around!”

Jin puts his arm around your shoulder and hugs you to his side a little awkwardly,

“Ahh, don’t do that, you’ll be fired, too! And then who will be my chicken hero?”

You cough out an awkward laugh at the physical contact and quickly try to get your bearings back,

“Ok, ok… I won’t go on strike”

“And I’ll figure something out with Areum… she’s just a kid, how hard could it be to find something she likes to do? Do you think maybe I should try bribing her with candy?”

You opened your mouth to answer when a familiar voice interrupted you,

“Hey Rice Cake, I’m over here!”

It was your roommate Park Jimin; passionate dancer and number 1 rice cake enthusiast. He was waiting for you at the bus stop like he usually did to pick you up after work. He insisted on doing so, even if he had to take a few extra buses after dance practice to get here.

You happily waved at him and turned to Jin to say goodbye for tonight,

“There’s my ride. Well, my companion for the bus ride, anyway… You should probably come up with something more creative than bribing a little girl with candy, though, ok? I’ll see you tomorrow! Good night!”,

“Yeah, ok… Good night, Strawberry Flavor”

He smiled and waved half-heartedly after you already turned around and walked towards your friend. Park Jimin seemed like a good guy, as far as he could tell; he obviously cared about you enough to go out of his way to get you home safe and in Jin’s books that was the least you deserved. Still, he would rather he was the one to accompany you on your way home.

_________

As Jimin watched you say goodbye to your colleague he briefly wondered why you still let him be the one to take you home when there was this tall, good-looking man in your life, who, clearly, was head over heels for you. He had known the minute he met Kim Seokjin for the first time a few months ago, that the handsome hotelier had the hots on for you. He couldn’t fault the guy, though; he knew first-hand the power your pretty smile and beautiful personality held. If Jimin didn’t feel so insecure and small in the presence of the other man, maybe they could have become friends but all Jimin could see, was a really tall, handsome and impressively built obstacle in the way of his plan to get you to be his girl when he looked at Kim Seokjin.

Jimin loses his self-deprecating train of thought pretty quickly though, when you enter his personal space and hug his arm to your chest,

“Jiminahh, I had such a good day! I can’t wait to tell you all about it”

You smiled at him and for a few precious moments he just felt lucky to have you in his life at all. Kim Seokjin and his good looks be damned. He reached for your hand and took your bag to carry it for you. He knows you would never admit it, because you’re a strong, independent woman, who don’t need no man but you secretly loved that he did all these little things to make your life a little easier. Even if it was just carrying a bag, that, quote unquote: wasn’t even really that heavy,

“Yeah? Tell me about it”

He smiled down at you, as you both went to sit down on the bench and waited for the bus to arrive and take you home,

“It was my turn to decorate all the little pastries and cakes today! Well… after I fried a shit ton of chicken for the buffet in the conference room”

You answered and Jimin smiled to himself. Decorating cakes was one of your favourite things to do, even when you helped him out in your spare time in the little rice-cake shop he inherited from his late grandmother. He was quite good at it himself, too, having watched his grandma make and decorate rice cakes with a burning passion for years, but he let you do it whenever possible, just so he could watch your face scrunch up cutely in concentration when you bent over the sweet little treats and painted fantastic floral works of art on them,

“Sounds like you had a lot of fun today”

He commented and you nodded,

“I did. And Manager even said I did good today, so that was worth all the hours I spent covered in chicken grease afterwards”

You stifled a yawn after you said that and Jimin laughed quietly. You did actually smell faintly of fried chicken but honestly? That was just a bonus because you looked like a snack already.

Just as he was about to comment on your fried chicken smell, the bus rolled into the station and you took your seats and fell into a comfortable silence for the duration of the ride. It wasn’t too long of a way home but it was enough for you take a quick nap on your friend’s shoulder, before he gently shook you awake again, to signal the imminent arrival of the bus at your station. You followed Jimin outside and as the bus rode on peacefully, you walked the rest of the way towards the rice cake shop and the apartment you shared upstairs.

You felt thankful for it every time you set foot in your shared home because it had been the first good thing to happen to you in a long while. Starting off as Granny Park’s apprentice in the rice cake business, you first met Jimin as he was about to head out and handle some deliveries for the day. He was shy at first but quickly warmed up to you when he noticed how seriously you took your work and how respectful and hard-working you were with his grandmother. Granny Park taught you and her grandson how to make the most delicious little cakes and she had even let you live in the spare room in the apartment she shared with Jimin. She had given you so much and you were determined to prove worthy of her trust. Sadly, not long after she had taken you in and you and Jimin became close friends, she passed away and left you and her grandson to continue to run the shop. You and Jimin had made some significant changes to the way the shop operated and now, it ran more profitable than ever before. You hoped Jimin could see how happy and grateful you still were now, months later.

Jimin dropped your bag in your room and you took a few minutes for yourself to change into more comfortable clothing and wash up. Even though you got to do something fun at work today, doesn’t mean you weren’t exhausted and ready to drop dead on the bed. You took your phone out of your bag and swan dived onto the sheets. A few notifications were waiting for you, including a few texts from Jin and Yoongi, another friend of yours. Apparently Jin had finished all the chicken before he arrived home, which was a new record for him and he had sent you a selfie of him and the empty Tupperware to prove it. You snickered and replied with a few thumbs up.

[You 20:34]: Glad u liked it! U know I never met anyone with such an unhealthy love for chicken, right?

[SeokJerk 20:35]: Ha… then stop feeding my addiction! Shaming me while enabling me… smh

[You 20:36]: Ugh why am I friends with u…

Jin sent an angel emoji and you decided that was enough Jin for today and then switched to Yoongi’s chat. It was just a series of pictures of a few different outfits and a question mark at the end. He was a man of few words. You knew Yoongi had an important gig coming up and he desperately needed your input, so it didn’t surprise you that he didn’t send an entire paragraph voicing his concerns about the wrong choice of attire. You answered with number 3 and a few flame emojis and heart eyes. Going for the fancy choice while also maintaining his casual style seemed like the best way to go. He replied a few seconds later with a thumbs up. Just as you were about to put down the phone, it dinged with another text from your roommate. Why he didn’t just knock and ask whatever it was he wanted, you didn’t know. He was probably being lazy like you right now.

[Mochi 20:46]: u still up? Netflix? Or u too tired?

You debated that for a second; it was only 9 pm, you could probably remain conscious for another 2 hours or so. Even though you had to pass by the hotel to meet Jin for lunch, you could sleep in.

[You 20:48]: Sure, u gotta come here tho bc I’m not moving

2 minutes later your door creaked as Jimin opened it and walked in the room with his laptop balanced on his arm,

“I picked something good this time, I swear”

He did, in fact, not pick something good.

________

When you woke up the next morning, Jimin was already out and about, busy bee that he is. You didn’t have to worry about getting ready just yet, since you didn’t have to meet Jin for another few hours, so you enjoyed the feeling of your soft and warm sheets for a few more minutes and played around on your phone until there was nothing left to do but get up.

Should you have breakfast? A question you asked yourself every day, regardless of the fact that the answer was always no. So, you skipped the trip to the kitchen for now and jumped in the shower straight away.

You should take care of some boring chores and house work today, as well, preferably before you met Jin.

The rice cake shop was closed for today so you didn’t have to worry about the mess downstairs for now. Maybe Jimin had left out some treats for you to take with you. You would go through the shop and check when you left.

___________

“Yah, Seokjin! Stop hoarding the sauce!”

You snatched the little bowl from under his nose while he was distracted and finally, you could dip your food into the spicy goodness,

“Leave some in there for other people”

You added and Jin tried to act like he didn’t know you were chastising him, of all people. It was no use anyway, so you changed the topic,

“Did you get Areum’s laundry done on time?”

Seokjin nodded his head, while chewing on a spoonful of rice,

“Luckily, yes. I owe the guys from laundry big time”

He swallowed the rice and took a deep, sobering breath,

“Don’t know what she would have done, if I didn’t show up with her favourite blanket, this morning…”

He visibly shuddered at the thought and you also felt an unpleasant tingle slide down the length of your spine,

“Let’s just be thankful you’re still in one piece, hm?”

You smiled sweetly at him and Jin briefly forgot what had him so shook just seconds ago. He watched you eat some grilled vegetables for a few moments until he snapped out of his reverie,

“Thank you for meeting me for lunch, Strawberry Flavor, it would have been so boring alone…”,

“You mean there would have been less food for you to devour”

You snickered to yourself and Jin huffed,

“Don’t make me look so bad, you brat! I’m still older than you, show some respect!”

He couldn’t help but smile at how, even he, couldn’t take himself seriously. You started laughing and had to put down the food you were about to put in your mouth,

“Alright, alright, I’m so sorry, Seokjin-Oppa… I promise I’ll be a good girl from now on, ok?”

You dragged out his name and your lips formed the most adorable little pout. Although he knew you were teasing him just now, Jin felt warmth flood his cheeks and he cleared his throat,

“Ah… yes… don’t worry about it, Strawberry Flavor”

He tried to sound casual but his voice betrayed him. Alas, he was but a man, sat in front of the prettiest woman he knew, trying not to look like the complete simp he was for you. A few moments of food-related silence ensured until you put down your bowl,

“I almost forgot, I brought these for you”

You suddenly started digging around in your purse and produced a little package wrapped in simple brown paper,

“These are from a batch Jimin and I made last night. They didn’t come out shaped as nicely as usual but I thought you wouldn’t mind having them, since we can’t sell them like this”

You held the package out to him and he put down his chopsticks to receive it,

“Seriously? You didn’t have to!”

He stumbled over his own words because he felt a little touched. You thought to bring him some of your lovely rice cakes? He unwrapped the package and found a colourful assortment of sweet rice treats in the paper,

He slapped a hand over his face in a theatrical way,

“Ahh, I can’t look at them for too long, they are so pretty! Strawberry Flavor, what are you doing to me…?”

You giggled happily like a little kid when you saw his reaction to the cakes and he had to smile,

“You have to look, though, if you want to eat them!”

You tried to gently lift his hand from his eyes,

“It’s too dangerous, I’ll go blind…”

He loved making you laugh, so he would ride this wave as long as you would let him,

“So, you’re never gonna look at my cakes again?”

Well. Not that he would mind looking at your cakes once in a while, he just felt really inappropriate doing so. Or were you talking about the rice cakes? Probably the more likely option…

“Don’t sound so disappointed”

He lifted his hand and put the cakes down on the table in front of him,

“What if I feed you one? You won’t have to look then”

“Ah, Strawberry Flavor, you’re so smart! I never would have thought of that”

You rolled your eyes at him but still you smiled. You picked up your chopsticks, lifted a rice cake from the package and held it to Jin’s lips. He slowly opened up and let you place the small treat inside his mouth.

You stared at him expectantly, eyes wide,

“Good?”

You asked and, even if the cakes didn’t taste as amazing and sweet as they did, Jin would have told you they were the most delicious thing he’s ever tasted. He closed his eyes and savoured the taste before he answered:

“They are amazing”

Your lips spread into a shy smile,

“Really?”

“Really”

“Maybe you can share them with the laundry staff as a thank you?”

You suggested and Jin’s eyes went wide in disbelief,

“Are you kidding? I may owe them but I don’t owe them enough for that”,

“You are impossible”,

“Impossible to please, yes, but these are pretty close to perfection”

He grinned and you tried to hide your smile,

“Now give me one more”

He opened his mouth and waited for you to feed him another rice cake. It really was the simple things in life, huh?

_________

Over the course of the next week you and Jimin perfected the new recipe for the revolutionised rice cakes you were going to permanently keep in your assortment of treats in the shop and they turned out to be just the right amount of chewy and sweet. You might have used Jin as your personal lab rat and fed him an obscene amount of cakes until his eyes got glassy and his shoulders sagged in satisfaction. ‘This is heavenly’ he had mumbled while chewing and you knew it wouldn’t get any better than that. Jimin trusted your opinion but he had, of course, also tasted a fair amount of cakes before he agreed with Jin’s judgement. Both of you were lucky you got a few extra days off, since you had collected some overtime in the last month, which gave you enough time to work on the cake recipe. Jimin was grateful for the extra time he got to spend with you, even if Jin had intruded on some of it. At least he got to feed you some of the extra cakes while Jin watched and tried to hide the, very much obvious, jealousy on his face.

That evening, when Jin left, he had touched your upper arm for just long enough for Jimin to consider it inappropriate. Of course, you were oblivious to their childish behaviour.

Today was your last day off before a new week of work started and there were no more cakes to prepare for the shop. Last night, Yoongi had texted you to ask if you wanted to join him for coffee and keep him company while he practised a piece for another upcoming show. You had said yes, since you hadn’t seen your friend in a while and you were happy, he wanted to spend time with you. He was the elusive kind of friend that surfaced out of the blue after periods of being completely dead to the world.

On your way to the university he studied at, you picked up coffee for both of you and a snack for Yoongi, since he usually forgot to eat when he was working on something. You found him in the usual place, already sitting at the piano on the far side of the room, playing away and not noticing your arrival until you plopped down on the bench next to him,

“Hey, Piano Man, take a coffee break”

He stopped playing and turned to you, clearly not having expected you yet,

“I didn’t think you’d be here so soon”

He said, a surprised pout on his lips. You smiled and handed him the coffee and the snack you brought him,

“Left early so I could get you some sustenance”

“How do you know me so well, hm?”

He squinted his eyes at you suspiciously before opening the paper bag and taking an experimental sniff, then nodding approvingly,

“Well, I don’t have that many redeeming qualities but I like to think keeping the people I care about fed, so they stay healthy, is one of my better ones”

You smiled shyly and took a sip of your own coffee. You were wrong though, Yoongi thought. You had a ton of good qualities; far more than he ever thought could be found in a single person. You were the reason he was still in school, after all, and to hell if you didn’t think that counted for something,

“I don’t like it when you do that”

He mumbled under his breath and took a sip of that sweet, sweet bean juice that would bring warmth back into his heart and soul,

“Do what?”

You asked, creasing your brows in confusion,

“That thing where you talk badly about yourself and cover it up with humour”

You huffed and ran a hand through your hair,

“You act like you don’t do that, too”

You accused him and he gave you a look that just said ‘really?’

“I don’t, not like that, anyway. I know I’ve got some good qualities, I’m just super insecure, anxious and nervous at all times, there’s a difference”

Well. He got you there,

“So, stop talking like that, yeah? You know you’re a good person, Serenity, no need to doubt yourself”

He knew he didn’t have a way with words as much as he had a way with the keys on the piano. He just hoped that the essence of what he meant bled through the words and reached your core. He really did mean it like that: you were a good person. In fact, you were the best person in his life, even if he couldn’t show it in a way that he felt would be meaningful enough for you. Through all the problems and hardships thrown at him by his professors and the university and all the obstacles placed in his path by all the policies, regulations and deadlines, you had been there to support him and provide him with advice. You grounded him when his nerves threatened to reach a breaking point and you helped him find the calm and peaceful place in himself that he could retreat to when the world became too much.

He had told you so in his own way; calling you his Serenity, when he felt you needed a push to take his words seriously,

“Alright… I’ll work on it, ok?”

You picked at your nails when you agreed and he was satisfied with the conclusion,

��Ok”

He said calmly and sipped his coffee,

“So, how’s practice going?”

You asked, changing the topic,

“You tell me. You heard me playing when you snuck in like a damn ninja”

Yoongi answered and grinned,

“Everything you play sounds good to me but I’m also not a professional musician, so my opinion isn’t really gonna help you much…”

You would always tell him when you liked a piece, he introduced you to but beyond that? You had close to zero knowledge about music and all the terms and whatnot used to describe it, so Yoongi would have to be satisfied with you either saying ‘it’s great’ or ‘I love it’ repeatedly,

“Hm, fair enough”

He grumbled and turned back to the keyboard. To anyone else, he probably sounded condescending but you two were close enough for you to know, that was far from his intention. He just gave off particularly grumpy and unapproachable vibes at all times.

He sighed loudly and rolled his head around to loosen up some tension in his neck and shoulders,

“Alright… well, will you listen to it anyway?”

He asked and placed his hands on the keys according to the notes on the music sheet,

“Take it away, Maestro”

You said and the smallest smile crept its way onto his face before it scrunched up in concentration and he started playing.

_________

Work was really slow today for some reason. Well, as slow as work in the kitchen of a hotel with hundreds of guests can be. But it felt slower than usual and you had yet to feel like ripping your uniform off and quitting dramatically in the heat of the moment, like you usually did. The majority of the guests currently occupying the rooms were tourists, who only visited the small fishermen town for the yearly celebration of exactly that: the fishermen who had inspired the people of the town to celebrate their work over the hundreds of years since the town had been established. By now fishing wasn’t the main source of the town’s income anymore but regardless, the tradition of celebrating was still going strong. The main source of income was now tourism.

It also meant dinner shift didn’t make you want to repeatedly punch the wall. Who would’ve thought that less guests equals less work?

As you enjoyed a few minutes of relative peace and quiet in the kitchen, you thought about your own relationship with the festival. A while ago, you and your friends, and also some of their friends, had decided you’d all visit the festival together this year and you were looking forward to it. You and Jimin would have to man your little rice cake booth for a while but since you were the business owners you could decide when you would close up and enjoy the rest of the festivities. You would probably only have the booth up during the day and leave it closed in the evening so you would have time to join your friends and get the party going. The festival was approaching fast and you had a feeling it would be a series of nights to remember.

Your thoughts were interrupted by a few new room-service orders, delivered by none other than your favourite colleague and intern, Seokjin. He entered the kitchen through the big double doors and invaded your workspace like it was nothing. Classic Jin,

“Strawberry Flavor, do you have time to make all this? It’s for Areum and another guest”

He handed you a note with a couple of orders scribbled onto it in terrible handwriting. Luckily you were accustomed to Jin’s writing by now and deciphering it was no problem for you anymore,

“Hm, sure, although… it’s already pretty late, Areum shouldn’t have any sugar before bedtime, don’t you think?”

You answered and Jin nodded, looking thoughtful,

“I guess you’re right… what else can you make for her? I don’t wanna show up empty handed”

You mulled it over for a second, tapping you bottom lip with your pointer finger,

“How about something light like a yogurt with a little bit of fruit in it? Nothing special but I can make it look really nice for her”

You suggested and taped the note to your workstation, so you could get started on the other orders, as well,

“Sounds good”

Jin simply said and leaned against the counter to watch you prepare the food. Like yours, his day had been a little less eventful than usual and he was thankful for the extra time he got to relax in between chores. He chose to use a few minutes to talk to you and watch you work. He liked seeing you whirl around the kitchen and grabbing ingredients here and there to put together a perfect meal. He loved food and he loved it even more when you were the one to prepare it. He was sure all the guests that were lucky enough to have their food made by you could taste all the love and effort you put into it,

“Jin, can you come help me? I can’t reach the damn pan on the shelf!”

Jin listened up and pushed himself away from the counter to walk over to where you were standing on your tiptoes, trying to reach the highest shelf,

“Sure”

He said and before you could step aside to make room for him, he stood behind you and placed a hand right next to you to support his weight while he slightly pushed his body forward to reach the shelf. You felt his chest pressed to your back and suddenly your hands felt a little clammy,

“I can reach it but I can’t move it, there’s too much other stuff around on the shelf”

Jin said and you cursed the person who reorganized the shelves the other day,

“Wait a second, I’ll get you something to step on”

You mumbled and tried to move away from Jin but he had a different idea,

“Don’t bother, I’ll just pick you up and you can get it. It’ll be easier, just do it like this”

He maneuvered you around until he was leaning with his back against the shelf and you stood in front of him. Usually you would have protested against this. So much physical contact was not only strange for you and Jin but it was also inappropriate in your place of work,

“Jin, what are you doing?”

You mumbled to yourself while Jin was already bending his knees and wrapping his arms around your middle. You took a deep breath and let out a surprised squeak when Jin lifted you off the ground. The position was more than inappropriate but Jin didn’t seem to mind,

“Is this ok? Am I holding you too tight?”

He asked, seeming concerned with your uncomfortable expression,

“No, no”

You cleared your throat and started to support yourself with your hands on his shoulders,

“It’s fine, just… don’t drop me, ok?”

you looked down at his handsome face and he smiled gently up to you,

“Don’t worry, I won’t”

You held onto his shoulders a little tighter. They felt nice, strong. Did he work out?

“Can you get it?”

He asked and you remembered the pan, so you let go of his shoulders,

“Ah… yes, just a second”

No rush, thought Jin. You started rummaging around the shelf and moving things around to make room for the pan. While you moved around a little more you felt Jin squeeze you a little tighter and it didn’t feel as uncomfortable anymore.

Jin knew he had taken a risk with this but he also just wanted an opportunity to get closer to you. He didn’t do anything too inappropriate; he would never touch you in a way that would make you feel uncomfortable or unsafe. He knew you trusted him and he knew you knew that he valued that trust. Thus, he also knew, you wouldn’t mind it if he held you like this. Granted, he didn’t think his face would be this close to your boobs but it wasn’t like he would ever complain about that. He wouldn’t mind being even closer.

You had finally managed to procure the pan without pushing anything else off the shelf and Jin had let you slowly slide out of his secure grip until you were the one looking up at him, again. You brushed your shirt off and cleared your throat once more before awkwardly thanking him,

“I’ll get back to work…”

You mumbled and walked back to your station. You couldn’t exactly explain why you felt a little nervous all of a sudden. Or why your mouth had run dry. Or why you felt a tingle in the places where Jin’s big and gentle hands had touched you. You also couldn’t exactly explain why your innocent friendship suddenly didn’t feel so innocent anymore.

_________

Jimin couldn’t pick you up from work tonight and when you got home, you peeked through his open door and found him already fast asleep in his bed. You had hoped he would still be up when you came home but you guessed practice must have been especially exhausting today. You quietly closed the door and retreated to your own room to unwind and then go to sleep, too. Tomorrow would be an eventful day for both of you, since you needed to transport your little booth to its spot on the festival area and decorate it; make it look pretty and approachable for all the visitors and potential customers.

Together, you had developed a nice decoration scheme and decided to go with minimal but effective. Small but cute decorative figures and little Stickers for the children to take with them. Working with Jimin was always so easy. You couldn’t remember even a single time when you and him had to argue about something because you both preferred to stay rational and talk it out like adults.

You had recruited Jin and one of Jimin’s closer friends, Namjoon, to help you transport and set up your booth. You weren’t thrilled at Joon’s involvement in the delicate process because the independent writer had a reputation for being one of the clumsiest people alive. And even if you were thankful for the help, you were going to need to be prepared to deal with any major damage Joon would most likely cause.

For now, all you wanted to do was sleep and recharge for the events of the next day, yet you felt restless.

Nervousness started to creep in on you and you only tossed and turned in your sheets, unable to fall asleep. Were your rice cakes really going to sell tomorrow? Would the visitors of the festival actually consider your booth and try the cakes? Maybe the recipe wasn’t perfect, yet, after all… Suddenly you sat up and sighed deeply,

“Ah.,. let’s just check the recipe one last time, I won’t be able to sleep, anyway”

You mumbled to yourself and pulled a thin nightgown over your body before you made your way back through the dark apartment. Stumbling over a box you or Jimin left in the hallway, you made your way down into the shop and started putting together the ingredients for the dough. You tried to rustle around the kitchen as quietly as possible, not wanting to risk waking up Jimin, who clearly needed the rest more than you,

“Ok… let’s do this”

Cracking your knuckles, you looked at the prepared work space.

The bowls of ingredients stared back at you, taunting you and your skills as a baker,

“Ugh, this is ridiculous”

You rolled your eyes and took a deep breath. It couldn’t be so hard, could it? Why was this making you so nervous?

“Rice cake? What are you doing in the shop so late?

Jimin’s soft voice pulled you out of your thoughts and you turned around to see him standing on the last step the stairs and leaning against the wall. He was looking at you, squinting his eyes sleepily and trying to adjust to the light,

“Jimin, why are you up? Did I wake you? I’m sorry, I tried to be quiet”

You said and moved around a little to try and cover up the bowls behind you,

“Are you ok? You look stressed”

Jimin walked over to you and put his hand against your forehead, trying to feel your temperature,

“I’m fine, I just couldn’t sleep”

You pulled his hand away from your forehead,

“Do you need something to help you sleep? Tea, maybe? I can make you some soup or porridge- “

“Jimin, I’m fine, really”

You smiled at his suggestions, loving how he wanted to care of you,

“Thank you, though. I think I just need a minute or so, to calm down”

He nodded and pursed his lips, then he noticed all the stuff behind you on the counter,

“What’s all this?”

He craned his neck to get a better look and you gently pushed against his chest to avoid having to explain yourself,

“You want to prepare cakes, right now? It’s the middle of the night”

His creased brows and confused expression made you feel a little bit guilty,

“What’s really going on? Are you nervous about tomorrow?”

He asked and you felt yourself at a loss for words,

“I- “

You were surprised time and time again, how well Jimin knew you and could how easily he could tell what really went on inside your head,

“Well… if you really wanna know, then, yes. I’m a little worried”

You confessed and turned your eyes to the floor, then continued your explanation:

“I’m worried people won’t like our booth and the cakes. We’ve put so much work into this shop… what if it was all just a waste of time? I know the locals like what we do but that won’t be enough to sustain a growing business for long, you know? I was hoping we’d branch out eventually, maybe open up another shop in the next big city, or something. If we can’t convince a few lousy tourists to buy from us, then how are we going to establish ourselves anywhere else?”

“That’s what you’re worried about? That people won’t like the cakes?”

He asked and you pouted. When he said it like that, your worries seemed so small and unreasonable,

“Yeah…”

You kicked at some imaginary dirt, wanting to avoid Jimin’s kind eyes at every cost but he wouldn’t have it, trying to wiggle into your line of sight even if you turned your head away from him,

“Hey, Rice Cake, look at me…”

“No, I feel stupid for worrying”

“It’s not stupid to care about what you do. This shop and the cakes, they’re your babies. They’re also my babies but without you, I wouldn’t even have made it to this point. So, don’t feel stupid for wanting to succeed”

Maybe he had a point, you thought. You let out a quiet breath and lifted your gaze to find Jimin smiling reassuringly at you,

“Ok”

“Ok? You sure?”

He asked and gently nudged your arm with his elbow,

“Yes, I’m sure”

You said, finally smiling again,

“Good. Now tell me… is it only me, or are you suddenly craving something sweet?”

Jimin raised his brows expectantly,

“I don’t know, I guess I could eat something”

You answered and Jimin chuckled,

“Then it’s a good thing we’re both so good at baking, right?”

Jimi whipped past you and started to mix up all the stuff you had laid out and you just watched in astonishment, unable to believe the nerve of this guy,

“What are you waiting for? Get to it, the flour won’t sift itself”

You just shook your head, smiling to yourself and thanking every higher power out there, that Park Jimin existed in your life.

The two of you worked in comfortable silence for a while. You worked well together in the kitchen. All the time spent down here, working on recipes, manoeuvring around the limited space without bumping into each other had really helped your coordination as a team. Jimin had whipped up some creamy dough and you were about to prepare the steamer. You watched Jimin whisk the mixture a little more until he was satisfied with the consistency. You watched him curiously, prepared to take the batter off his hands and form little balls to put in the steamer but you found yourself not only watching the whisk but also the arm whisking it. A very nice arm, one might say. Smooth skin, visible veins and strong muscle, all working together to create a picture you found yourself admiring a little, if you were being honest. Objectively speaking, Jimin was handsome; no one, not even you, could deny it. Years of passionate dancing had shaped his body in a way, that you could definitely appreciate. Even though you lived together, you had never seen Jimin wearing less than jeans and a t-shirt. An unspoken rule about decency had always kept you two from crossing each other when you were wearing anything other than a full outfit. The fact that he was standing before you in a tank top and sleeping shorts, was what made this situation feel even more out of the ordinary, than it already did.

You pulled your nightgown tighter around yourself, more aware of your own state of (un)-dress. Your shorts were even shorter than Jimin’s and you wondered, if he also felt a little weird about the situation. If he did, he didn’t let it show,

“You ready for me, Rice Cake?”

He asked you without looking up from the bowl,

“Yes, I’m ready”

“Wanna taste it first? Make sure it’s good?”

Jimin’s voice suddenly didn’t sound so soft and gentle anymore. You stuttered and then cleared your throat,

“Um, I trust you”

You replied, sounding a little insecure,

“You sure?”

Jimin looked up at you now, focused on your unsure expression. He put away the whisk and slowly dipped a finger into the batter and then placed it in his mouth, without breaking eye contact.

A quiet moan left him and he smiled,

“Come try it, have a little taste”

He beckoned you forward with a curled finger and your feet moved on their own accord until they were planted firmly on the ground, next to Jimin’s

“Ok”

You mumbled and looked up at him,

“Close your eyes”

He said and you sighed and let your eyes fall closed,

“I’m sure it’s good, we’ve worked on the recipe for- “

You were caught off guard and simply obeyed without a second thought, opening your mouth. A second later you felt Jimin place his finger on your tongue, covered in batter. You closed your lips around it and opened your eyes, finding Jimin’s gaze fixed on your lips, with his own slightly parted. You tasted the sweetness of the batter and let the taste overrun your senses. With your tongue slowly starting to move around Jimin’s finger and gently sucking on it, you were able to taste all of it; the sweet, the tangy and the slightly salty taste of Jimin’s skin.

“Good?”

He asked, voice sounding a little strained. You nodded,

“Yeah? You like it?”

He asked again and you looked up at him with wide eyes, slowly letting his finger slide out from between your lips,

“I like it”

You said and Jimin ran his other hand through his hair. He had to look away; you were too sexy for your own good.

And you didn’t even notice it! The worst of it all was, that he had never seen you wear anything like this before: just a camisole with thin straps and sleeping shorts. Not to mention that scrap of a night gown. He’d never seen so much of your skin and he had to admit, it was becoming harder and harder no to reach out and touch the smooth-looking skin of your upper arm, where your shoulders started, or accidentally brush his fingers against the soft skin of your thighs in passing.

He was about to pop the most uncomfortable boner while you licked your lips and didn’t even pretend to acknowledge the sexual tension in the small room,

“Ok, good…”

Jimin mumbled and wiped his finger on his shorts before he grabbed the bowl and stepped around you to the steamer. He quickly needed to focus on something else because he didn’t want to risk accidentally bumping his problem into you and making things awkward. He thought maybe you didn’t notice how his shorts slightly tented and he did his best to turn his body away from you, while he filled small portions of the batter into the steamer. Maybe he could get you to leave and have some time to cool down again,

“Ah… Rice Cake, why don’t you go ahead and wait upstairs, hm? This won’t take long. I’ll bring them up when they’re finished”

He smiled at you reassuringly,

“What are you talking about, this was my idea. I can’t let you slave away over this alone…”

You pouted slightly and took a step towards him,

“No, no, don’t worry! I’ll take care of it, get some rest, ok?”

You considered it for a second and then sighed. He may have sounded slightly more panicked than necessary but hey, if it did the trick,

“Ok, if you’re sure… I guess I’m a little more tired than before”

You said and promptly yawned,

“Go to sleep, you need the rest”

Jimin ushered you out with a wave of his hands and a last cute smile and then he could finally let out a deep breath,

“Well, that was close”

He said to himself, after he heard the door to the upper floor close, then wiped the metaphorical sweat off of his brow,

“Ah, seriously Jimin-ah, what are you, 12?”

he looked down at himself and pointed a finger at the, still very much visible, tent in his pants as a warning,

“You could have gotten us in trouble…”

Then he shook his head and sighed, remembering the little cakes in the steamer. He hoped you would already be asleep by the time he brought the last batch upstairs because he wouldn’t be able to handle the visual of him, feeding you a few of them, after what had just happened.

Later, when he was finally back in bed, he still wasn’t quite sure what had possessed him. You, however, slept like a blissfully ignorant baby that night.

_________

Thank you so much for reading! Part two is now here !

#bts fanfction #bts #BTS jin #BTS suga #bts jimin #Joon makes a quick appearance #min yoongi x reader #min yoongi x you #kim seokjin x reader #kim seokjin x you #park jimin x reader #park jimin x you #Jin is a dork #Jimin is the sweetest bean #Yoongi is bad with feelings #I love them #please ignore how much i mention rice cakes #itshardcandy #hardcandywriting

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tastetheravenn · 4 years

Text

The One with 100 Ways

Jackson Wang x Kim Namjoon/ RM

Description: Jin is away on his year of military service, and Namjoon needs a friend. He just never expected it to be Jackson Wang.

Content Warnings: Steamy and sensual but no smut, mild cursing, mild drinking

A/N: Have we decided the definitive ship name for Jackson x RM?? Anyway, this is an addition to the last fic “The One Where Namjoon Doesn’t Know What to Say,” but you can totally read this on its own! I hope you enjoy!

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Jackson Wang was standing in his kitchen. Watching him, laughter suspended in his eyes over the rim of a beer bottle.

Namjoon had given into the other man’s countless phone calls, texts, emails for god’s sake – and anyway, what with the Bangtan Boys on break, Jin away, Jungkook at university, Jin away… it’d been a year already. Maybe he was lonely. Maybe.

“Wait, wait – show me again!” Jackson prompted. “Teach me your ways. I –”

“You’re fine. You’re not a bad rapper, Jackson,” Namjoon said, a little exasperated and a little confused. He wasn’t even sure why he was so frustrated, his insides unruly like the storm outside the window. He wasn’t even sure why he was confused at Jackson’s presence here, except maybe that bit in the back of his head that kept trying to remember whether Jin had ever even been in this apartment. They’d never stopped, had they? Was it that each other’s faces reminded one another of the endless moving?

“Are you okay?” Jackson asked, and Namjoon started as he continued to absently stir the pot, lost inside of it as he was.

“I’m sorry, did you say something?”

“Nothing important. Can I sit here?” Jackson asked, gesturing to the counter. Namjoon shrugged and Jackson nimbly scrambled up on the counter, swinging his sock feet near the other man’s knees.

“That doesn’t count, you know.” Receiving only a confused look, Namjoon elaborated, “You’re still shorter than me!”

Jackson gave a short laugh, though his eyes remained thoughtful and deep. He reached out a hand and pointed to Namjoon’s face, fingers stopped just short of the other man’s dimple. “There it is!” Before Namjoon could react to Jackson Wang’s hand hovering near his face, he withdrew it, expensive watch flashing, and ruffled the back of his own head. “Do you need help there?”

Namjoon, deciding that he was done being flustered by attractive men sitting on his counter, was sloppily cutting vegetables. Slaughtering them really. Who forgot to teach this man how to adult? “Nah. I’m good.” Jin usually does the cooking, he thought. But he didn’t want to talk about Jin to Jackson. Not that it mattered. Not that anything had happened. I mean, a couple of letters? Just the same to the other guys.

But he plastered a smile on his face and turned towards Jackson. “I’m good, but thanks.”

“I can leave if you want me to.” The problem, Namjoon supposed, was that he wasn’t even sure if he liked Jackson. It was awful, really. But he was nice, he was fun… in small doses. Really, he hadn’t had a chance to see him as anything but a puppy. Namjoon heard Jackson ask him for help, heard him make casual, self-deprecating remarks, and assumed that the other man only said those things because he wanted a free handout of compliments. Because, though Namjoon was insecure in many ways, he was cocky too. He recognized confidence, or thought he did.

Jackson was shallow, Namjoon assumed.

But he was leaving.

Namjoon had once said he wanted to be found. He’d wanted to be found by Jin (but hadn’t the other man stopped looking?) (But hadn’t it been beyond both of their control?) Namjoon whipped around and caught Jackson by the wrist. “I’m sorry, I’m a shit host,” he said, because Jimin told him to have a good time, and Taeh had said he understood, and J-Hope had cried when he couldn’t relax enough to cry himself.

Jackson nodded his head, sizing him up as if they hadn’t hung out a few other times before in the previous month, or that he hadn’t admired RM and basically chased him down for a single beer, just one before hitting the road. “Okay, but I’m helping you cook -”

Namjoon backed up, hands raised. “No way! I’ve seen that smoothie you make…”

“Hey! It’s nutritious!” Jackson walked up to the pot and stared in, wrinkling not just his nose but his entire face. Definitely a puppy. “We can order out,” he began before Namjoon walked up and nudged him out of the way with his hip.

“Oh, move! I’m trying to do a thing here.”

And that was, more or less, how they ended sitting with their backs against the stove and the pot in between them. It wasn’t as if they didn’t have plates, but it seemed to be the mood of the night. Besides, it wasn’t a date or anything, Namjoon figured. Just two bros, being bros.

“I thought I was gonna die. It was that bad,” Jackson elaborated. “Okay so, here I was…” he continued, waving his arms and gesturing with his chopsticks.

“Wait, wait, wait, you had a panic attack and that’s how you tell the story?”

“Hm?” Jackson asked through a mouthful. He glanced around for a napkin, but Namjoon reached over instead and wiped away the spot of sauce near his lips with a flick of his finger.

“I said – nah man, you heard me!” He laughed. “Are you ever serious?” Namjoon said it jokingly, but it was a serious question.

“When I have to be,” Jackson responded, and they stared at each other for a moment in the silence. Namjoon noticed how close their heads had gotten, though Jackson didn’t seem to – or at least didn’t acknowledge it – when he broke into a smile. “It’s better to be wild. The funny guy. But I’m happy you guys are on a break. It helps with burnout.” Namjoon opened his mouth and then closed it, looking away. “Okay, your turn!”

“What?”

“Confess! I mean, not the deepest darkest stuff, I don’t know you like that.”

“Don’t know me like that, or don’t want to know me like that?” Namjoon said, wiggling his eyebrows. Sometimes Namjoon had no idea who the fuck he was.

“Hm, what time is it? Check back in an hour.” Namjoon bent his head as he laughed, to hide his red face.

“Okay, okay,” Namjoon began, sitting up. “I think I’m a shitty dancer.”

“Not a secret. Next!”

“Hey, asshole!” Jackson gnawed the edge of his chopsticks, cheeky and thoughtful, before balancing them carefully on the edge of the pot.

He stood up and brushed off his immaculate pants, reaching his hands down to help Namjoon up, hands to forearms. RM was a live wire. “Okay, follow me!” he shouted, standing in the middle of the kitchen, just out of reach of the bright light. The wind buffeted the screen door against the wooden one.

“You look like you’re in one of your music videos…”

“Yeah, hm, you have a fog machine? I’ll look like a better dancer if you can’t see most of me. You really are already a better dancer than me…” Jackson said, glancing over his shoulder at Namjoon.

“Jackson, why do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Pretend you’re shitty at things. Fish for compliments,” RM said. Oh God, had he said that out loud?

Jackson shrugged. “Are you in my head, RM?” Jackson started dancing, leaning forward and whispering, “Maybe I just like the sound of my name on your lips.” RM had never met anyone he wanted to hit almost as much as he wanted their fingers to hover near his face, almost touching. “Come on,” Jackson said, and they were dancing together, nearly. No music, just the rain outside on the windows and the whisper of their socks on the wood floor. “No, no,” Jackson said, his voice with the soft pedal pressed.

He walked near the other man, reaching his hands towards RM’s hips. He stopped, his hands hovering again. RM, lips dry, throat a desert, nodded and Jackson put his hands on his hips. “Like this,” he said, and moved his RM’s hips underneath his hands. Slowly, Jackson knelt down and looked up at RM, his eyes dark. He leaned forward and rested his head in the other man’s stomach, RM’s own shell-shocked hands reaching around and touching Jackson’s hair. “I’m sorry I like you so much,” Jackson said, his hands holding around RM’s middle.

“I thought I hated you,” RM said, and he could’ve sworn he was drunk on something, though he’d only had one or two beers. Maybe he was drunk on the rain and the sound of socks on wood floors or a watch that slipped down an arm as its owner brushed his fingers through his own hair.

Jackson snorted into RM’s stomach. “I get that a lot, I think.”

“And then what happened?” Yoongi asked, smirking, eyeing the hickey that peeked out from inside Namjoon’s loose collar.

“Oh, shut up!” Namjoon said into his drink.

“This is good. Have you told Jimin? He’ll probably throw you a party.” Namjoon sighed and fixed him with a half-exasperated, half-fond smile that was cracking around the edges and near his eyes. “Okay, okay,” Yoongi said, grinning just a bit. He leaned back and watched his friend with half-lidded eyes. Anyone would think he wasn’t listening, sleeping or wanting to sleep. But he was the best listener. “Does this have to do with Jin coming home?”

“He is home. He – he came to visit me. Yoongi, he saw Jackson. Who may have been wearing one of my shirts.”

If Yoongi was surprised, he didn’t show it. Namjoon didn’t fail to see his tell as his eyes shifted and he shifted in his seat before going back to his composure. “Are you okay?” he asked.

RM thought back. He had woken up in the morning nearly dizzy, looking over and seeing the beautiful back of a beautiful man in his bed. But it wasn’t a bad dizzy. He wasn’t ashamed or awkward, but not confident really either. He was more stable than he’d ever felt before. Sum, zero, placid, the sun that streamed in through the window and bounced off of the rain drops still suspended on the window. What time was it? Nearly eleven, he saw. Found a shirt on the floor, a pair of sweats.

Then there was a knock on the door. Almost eleven, he reminded himself. Namjoon was usually a fairly early riser, but then again, he usually went to bed early too. Earlier and earlier as of late. He was running out of reasons to stay awake. He glanced back at Jackson, wondering why he had hated him. Maybe he was afraid of him, a bit. But like most people, he was without any mask when he slept. Come to think of it, Jackson was pretty mask-less when he was awake too.

The knock came again, and as he remembered in a sunny café with one of his best friends sitting across from him, he flinched.

It was Jin, of course it was Jin. And RM realized in that moment, that for once, he hadn’t thought of the man grinning on his doorstep. He hadn’t thought of any of them. Nothing. But then, of course, it hit him like a truck. But, could he cheat if they had never said I love you and meant it like I love you – could it be called cheating when they’d never really held one another like they were holding one another? When he’d only got two letters, the same letters the others received?

Jin rubbed an awkward hand through his shortly cropped hair. “Hi!” he said before cracking up. Meanwhile, RM was cracking. “I wanted to see you. I have so much to tell you.” Jin had dropped the bag he was carrying on the ground. Honey, I’m home. He pulled Namjoon into a hug, head tucking into the neck of the nearly paralyzed rapper.

Jin was starting to talk, but all Namjoon could hear was I forgot him I forgot himIforgothim, until that is, he could hear Jackson’s voice calling as he walked down the hallway. “Hey, I think you have my shirt, so I stole your shirt…”

“Hey! Snap out of it,” Yoongi said.

“It was bad,” Namjoon said absently.

“Do you regret sleeping with him?”

“Of course not,” he said far quicker than he had thought he felt.

“And yet, you feel like you betrayed Jin.”

“I thought –”

Yoongi held up a hand, leaning forward again. “You don’t have to know everything. We can’t know everything. Not even what’s inside of us. Especially what’s inside of us.”

“Suga, that doesn’t help me at all.”

“Well, maybe when you’re older…” But the other man was smirking even as he started his joke. “Have you talked to Jin about it?”

“Oh, sure. Hey, um, I thought we were in love with each other, but we never talked about it or showed it, and now I feel sick a bit that you saw me with someone else.”

“You can love more than one person,” Yoongi said, as if it’s the simplest equation, written in his DNA. Yoongi tapped his friend’s forehead. “Stop trying to wrap your head around it, because it won’t make the kind of sense you’re looking for…” Yoongi paused and read the face of his friend. “It’ll be okay.” He thought back to when Jin touched his face and told him to shut his brain off, and he thought of Jackson’s hands on his hips, or his fingers hovering near his face. Everything was in stark relief, yet he could see nothing.

Was he really okay? Would it be okay?

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grownups-are-the-real-monsters · 4 years

Text

C'est Si Bon

Summary: Jack frowned, going to sit on his windowsill with a bitter expression. His mind filled with pictures of a lost boy in the middle of a yellow brick road. Only, it was not the green pastures of Oz. No. It was the place where Jack somehow knew was called ‘The Territories’(?). The great & terrible.

The ‘dreams’ had stopped attempting to fade and now just stick to the vulnerable parts of Jack’s brain. He no longer felt the place was a dream. But a memory, yes. That was right. He only couldn’t tell Rational Richard...his best friend and...whatever it was they were to each other now.

Ships: Jack Sawyer/Richard Sloat

Word Count: 4,442

Tomato sauce coated Richard Sloat’s tongue in a disgustingly thick pile which slid uncomfortably down his throat.

Coming close to their Senior Year Winter Break was nice & all but who in their right mind wanted a pizza party served to them at eight o’clock in the morning? Classmates of theirs filled the room with laughter while ol’ Rich got his answer...

Jack Sawyer shoveled the triangle slices into his mouth, folded in the middle just the way he liked it. A mess of cheese & sauce squeezed out the sides but his best friend never stopped claiming that was the best way to eat it.

The mild stare was quickly caught by Jack’s travelin’ eyes that never seemed to be satisfied with their view. The smile he shot back pulled Richard Sloat back into a memory with a strong & muddy grip on his cold arm.

--Shooting daisy air rifles in Jack’s backyard while miss Lily Cavanaugh Sawyer prepared iced tea despite the cold weather. Richard had been so afraid he’d catch his death from the wet air but Jack’s breath flew over his shoulder in visible puffs...yeah, Jacky taught him how to shoot.--

The sly movement of Jack’s blunt pencil brought him out of old thoughts and into something a little more...uncomfortable. There were occasional slinky moods which came over Jack like waves of cool blue water.

They could strike him at any moment, it was never a picky type. Jack would just begin to roll his tongue in a low bounce that sounded like pop thundering into a fountain glass. ‘HollywoodLand Jack’. That was how Richard referred to his risky persona though it made his best friend feel sort of annoyed.

Jack slid his note across his desk and into Richard’s view.

‘I know all the lyrics to C'est Si Bon now.’ was smudged in pencil

Richard pushed his thin frames up his nose and shook his head, unwilling to participate. He kept his eyes forward on their teacher who was attempting to ease back into a lesson or two. He was quite sure Jack could be patient enough to wait for his trademark response of ‘that’s nice, Jack’.

But as he so often did these days, Jack pressed on.

His pencil danced once more across the paper. ‘Payin’ attention to me, sugar?’

Richard huffed quietly, he stole the pencil and wrote quickly so the teacher would not notice. 'Would you stop it, Jack?’

Jack Sawyer peered over Richard’s arm with an amused but loving grin. It said, ‘Oh Richard, you freak. Live forever.’ to anyone who listened. He did not write that in response however. No. Instead, he wrote; ‘Marry me!’ just for the sake of teasing.

Surprisingly, Richie whispered his response before the note was passed again. “If only you make me a widow quick, Jacky.” He rolled his eyes and faced forward again.

The Jacky boy laughed. 'You wouldn’t be a widow long, Chum.' He wrote carefully though he figured it was safe to speak anyway.

'You bet I wouldn’t.' Richard printed on the note carefully before handing it back, reluctantly. He was in the middle of writing ‘And don’t call me Chum!’ when their teacher called out to them, legs stretching before him.

“Mr. Sloat, Mr. Sawyer, I hope your note passing was important enough to interrupt our lesson.” He frowned, wrinkles forming around the old mouth. Anyone who thought serving pizza & trying to continue teaching at the same time was a bright idea...well they deserved to be interrupted.

Richard froze, dropping the pencil as he did so. Jack looked at him with pain and guilt which doubled at the next sentence.

“Would you like for me to read that important note out-loud?”

Jack, ever so quick with his loudmouth, tried to think of a response but found himself too late as the paper slipped out from Richard’s binder and into the hands of their old teacher.

An old, old man might still recognize flirting when he saw it behind thick frames. He may even share it with joy to embarrass two sorry closeted gay kids in his class.

His sunken eyes flickered over the words and crumpled the sheet. “Consider this your first and last warning. Everyone turn your books to-”

Jack stopped listening but heard the sad ‘aw’ sounds of the kids around them, sad to be missing a chance to embarrass their classmates. He was glad to have dodged that but he just knew Richard was likely going to be steamed...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Of course I’m mad!” Richard wiggled his arms wildly as they walked towards the Sawyer household which had been housing ol’ Richie for some time since his father...passed away when they were twelve. “We could’ve been...exposed to our whole class.”

Weather-wise, it was a lovely sunny almost summer day. Jack clutched his books tighter and frowned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize he’d-”

Richard shrugged. “I already forgave you so I suppose we don’t need to bicker about it anymore.” He huffed like that frustrated him before smiling softly at his friend next to him. “I suggest the notes need to stop. Might be good for your health.” He chuckled.

Jack bounced. “That a threat, Richie boy?” He pulled Richard’s arm.

“No. Just a thought. You should take care of yourself.”

“Why I think the little man does care!” Jack pulled him again and giggled.

“I don't care. It's just that I'm used to you, that's all.” Richard smirked and quickened his pace, hoping Jack would gallop on over to catch up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miss Lily, victim to a new & happy routine, was again gone out for tea in the hour just before her son came home from school.

Jack had encouraged his mother’s hesitant belief that she needed to get out more with something of a prideful yet relieved attitude.

Richard knew not to question his best friend on the topic, not only because he believed Jack to be correct to have hope for his mother starting to enjoy life again, but also because the topic of dreams almost always followed.

The young boys had been sharing a bedroom since Richard’s trouble left him homeless. And since their nightly routines joined, Jack had begun to mumble in his sleep. Strange things of his mother, werewolves and hell sometimes Richard’s name even slipped out ( Known as Richie to the sleepy Jack). Years of being the kind of best friends who breezed in-and-out of each other’s homes lead Richard to knowing this was a new development, most likely brought on by stress of his sickly mother falling ill & recovering so quickly together.

But Jack did not like to discuss that. So Richard tried not to bring it up anymore.

“Come on, Sugar. Time’s a wasting!” Jack smirked brightly and rushed towards their doorway.

“Slow down, Jacky.”

Jack came over a step or two & watched Richard pull a diet coke from the fridge. He sipped at the rim, eyes peering over his glasses with his own special innocence. He completely ignored Jack’s impatient stare.

He laid against the doorway like a TV cowboy. “Bring you & your coke over here, Richard.” He tilted his grin and chuckled.

Another sip & Richard finally strolled over, going right past him. He fought a blossoming blush as Jack smoothly kissed his cheek and stole the can for his own drink. “I am dying to make-out with you until we fall asleep, Chum.” He never did have a problem with voicing his feelings as of late.

Richard appreciated that in a sense but a bit of strange discomfort nipped at his skin. He licked his lips because he couldn’t realistically hold back his charmed reactions. “You make this so easy, Jacky.”

Jack swallowed a second drink and handed to coke back over with a genuinely curious expression. “What do I make easy?”

Richard shrugged and with a push of a button, the TV static revealed a half clear image of that actress Jack liked so much...Myrna Loy. “Liking you.” Was about the simplest and most correct way to put it.

His friend’s face melted...the sentiment apparently rendering him speechless. Richard tried not to take a selfish pride in that reaction but it was hard not to. He found himself giggling, popping up to his knees on the edge of the bed.

He threw his arms around Jack’s neck and continued laughing against his neck.

“It’s all about you, Richie baby.” Jack gently pulled Richard back and stroked under his chin, pressing a kiss against his temple. He then rested his own chin atop his friends hair and froze there for a moment or two.

There was obviously something on that creative mind of his which Richard craved to ask for. He always went about things like that the same way since the boys were tots. Curving back so he could look him in the eyes, he gave him an old look.

Jack pulled away. “I wish you’d keep that mouth of yours closed, buddy.” He said, no venom in his tone at all. Just a sad...and sort of content(?) sounding sigh.

Richard leaned back on his palms and smiled. “Are you still dreaming?”

Jack frowned, going to sit on his windowsill with a bitter expression. His mind filled with pictures of a lost boy in the middle of a yellow brick road. Only, it was not the green pastures of Oz. No. It was the place where Jack somehow knew was called ‘The Territories’(?). The great & terrible.

The ‘dreams’ had stopped attempting to fade and now just stick to the vulnerable parts of Jack’s brain. He no longer felt the place was a dream. But a memory, yes. That was right.

He only couldn’t tell Rational Richard...his best friend and...whatever it was they were to each other now.

“Bad dreams?” Richard questioned farther.

“C’est Si Bon.” Jack answered smugly and hopped onto the bed, deciding to be chummy again. “So nothing to worry about.” He sat next to him and brushed some of his featherlight hair from his face.

Richard opened his mouth but it fell shut when Miss Lily Sawyer could be heard coming into the living room. Jack slouched against him, head resting on his shoulder with a mixture of expectance and disappointment.

“So long HollywoodLand Jack.” Richard mumbled quietly, pushing his glasses back up and kissing Jack’s cheek as he sat up.

Jack huffed but smiled nonetheless. He attacked Richard’s cheek and neck with kisses.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the first time in a long while, Richard dreamed of his Father among other things.

Not nice dreams.

‘The closet with the folding doors...his daddy going inside and not coming out. No matter how long he called for him...’ Richard stirred in his bed which went unnoticed to his sleeping friend on the other side of the room.

‘Shooting daisy air rifles--yeah, Jacky taught him how to shoot.’ Richard let out a whimper. ‘Richard was there in full-body now. A small degree of a fever burned under his skin--Jacky was teaching him how to shoot in the closet. They were in there together.’

He shot up in his bed, sweat pouring down from his temples. The wide world of unfamiliar beauty had almost been painted behind his eyelids for a moment there. He hardly was aware of the scene his waking up had been until he glanced up to see the concerned face of miss Lily.

Her beautiful face was close by as she knelt on the carpet, robe pooling at her knees. He wanted to cry. Cry for his lost daddy but knew with all his heart that he very well couldn’t do that. Especially with Lilly Sawyer just there next to his bed.

“My word.” She smiled gently. “You were just about inches from plopping onto this old carpet.” Their relationship hadn’t been all sunshine & rainbows considering what old Morgan Sloat had done to her & her family. But credit to Miss Lily. She always treated him kindly.

“I’m sorry for waking you, Mrs. Sawyer.” He frowned, blinking into the dark room. She shook her head and set down a glass of water onto his nightstand.

“I was already up. Drink some and go back to sleep, will you?” She tapped the glass and looked onto him with what might’ve been fondness.

And just like that, she was gone from the room.

Richard slurped down the water, attempting to slow down before he gave himself the hiccups. He was about to settle in for sleep again when Jack padded over, pajama pants a bit long for him. Richard wasn’t quite sure when the boy had woke.

He sat down next to him and looked down with a curious expression. It was nothing like any of his usual faces which unsettled Richard immensely. He shuffled closer and rested his cheek against Jack’s arm.

“I’m sorry, Sugar.” Jack mumbled, shifting down so they could lay face-to-face instead. Richard simply hummed.

“Just bad dreams, Jack.” He blinked his eyes closed, long lashes free from behind his glasses, and nearly drifted again.

His partner just continued to frown, drifting closer. “I hope you can remember the time I fell in love with you, Richard.” Jack spoke so softly that Richard barely heard. He figured he really wasn’t supposed to hear that. Jack thought he’d gone back to rest. “When and where.” An afterthought, he spoke aloud.

Jack kissed his temple and returned to his own bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Myrna Loy was on the cheap TV again the next Saturday morning. Jack watched her move about William Powell as he shoveled dusty cereal into his mouth. He’d even picked up Richard’s habit, no milk but still using a spoon.

“G’Morning.” Jack mumbled into his bowl.

Richard could tell from the missing keys on the hook by the door that Miss Lilly had left, he hoped she was treating herself to a quiet breakfast. So he slowly started on his toast, kissing the top of Jack’s head for a greeting.

“I want to talk about us-”

“Can I ask you about your dream last night-?”

The boys spoke at the same time, not unlike them at all, but felt a flicker of pre-tension. Richard frowned. He didn’t want to talk about the useless dream, he knew he was a big fat hypocrite but there really was no point in chatting about something probably induced by a heavy dinner or stress. “It was a nightmare. About my dad.” He shrugged. “It’s nearing his Birthday, now that I think about it. That’s probably why.” He rolled his lips together and forced tears back in.

Jack gently took his hand and rubbed circles on his skin. “Any other details you remember-?”

Richard ripped his hand away and scuffed, moving to the other side of the kitchen area. “I don’t know, Jack. What does it matter anyway?” His eyes narrowed.

Jack shrunk back but kept a stoic expression. “I just want to talk about it, Richard.” His tongue clicked. “You always want to talk about mine-”

“Yeah! But that’s because I can help you figure out the real reasons for your dreams.” He finally pushed his glasses (which had been hooked onto his sleep shirt) onto his face. “I fear for how you might encourage my odd dreams.”

Jack groaned. He took slight offense at the comment. “I’m not insane.” His friend frowned, clasping a coffee mug close to his chest.

The room was silent for another twenty minutes or so while Richard finished making his neatly plated breakfast and sat across the counter. “I still want to talk about us.”

Jack blinked up at him and then...shrugged. As if to say; ‘Go ahead but I’m still pissed. Might even win this argument because of it.’

“You love me?” Richard hated the phrasing of his question. It made him sound childish but...he felt as nervous ever. “As in...in love...you know? Are you in love with me? That’s what I mean.” He was embarrassed that he lost his ability to articulate.

Jack wanted to be angry still. That much could be seen in his initial expression but it melted shortly after. His cheeks flushed a light red color. “Yeah. Of course I am.”

‘Not thinking, Jack came back in for a moment and kissed Richard’s cheek. Richard put his arms around Jack’s neck for a moment and hugged fiercely. Then he let Jack go. Neither of them said anything.’

Richard felt that spike of memory hit the middle of his forehead and he squinted from sheer pressure. “What did you mean then? Last night? When & where?”

“Are you sure you want to hear about that, Sugar? Might encourage your odd dreams.” Jack went back to pissed rather quickly from smitten. Richard felt a pang of guilt. He rolled his lips together and sighed. “If you know, you know-” He started, leaning over the counter to claim some of Richard’s body heat.

“What does that mean-?”

Jack chuckled. “It means...maybe one day, you’ll remember. I hope so. But-” He cut himself off and tilted his half-grin.

‘And you won’t always be reminding me? You know...jogging my memory?’

‘Not if you want to forget.’

‘I do, Jack. I really do.’

Jack shook his head. “I don’t know that I should just keep reminding you.” He felt a sudden burst of dizziness and fell back on the seat of his fading jeans.

Richard took a deflated bite of toast. “You make me happy, Jack.” He swallowed, speaking earnestly. His buddy had a way of telling if he wasn’t.

Jack’s face came over with another beautiful smile. “Just the four words I wanted to hear, Richie.” He reached over, wiped a crumb from his friend’s lip and kissed him softly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Outside the crystal clear windows, flakes of snow danced through the air and pelted the ground. Jack Sawyer’s mind nearly recalled every bit of his twelve year old self’s adventure. There was an odd bit of a mourning period after the most of it rained down on him. The Territories seemed so close yet so far out from his reach.

He folded the laundry and kept himself entertained with a thin novel, cracked open in his free hand. Richard was working on a fresh pot of coffee and his mother was in her morning shower.

Though, Richard came from the kitchen in mere seconds with his light-blue mug clutched in a steady hand; which he then used to turn the knob on the Television down. Jack watched him settle gracefully on the carpet with a smile. He folded one of his shirts and took it upon himself to start singing ‘Love & Marriage’ quietly...

Richard peeked up at him with an amused smirk. “Who are you saving that lovely singing voice for? Your actress...” He raised a brow and sipped his coffee. He tipped his chin to yet another Myrna Loy movie playing on the screen.

Jack smiled. “Not my type.”

“You have a type?” He chuckled.

“Only you, Sugar.” Jack threw another shirt into the basket. “A Lanky brunette with attitude.” He winked and enjoyed the way Richard rolled his fond eyes. He crawled onto the floor next to him and kissed his cheek over & over.

Richard chuckled and pretended he didn’t love the soft attention. He curled closer after a few seconds of gently swatting him away. Once he was basically between Jack’s legs & leaning on his chest, he sighed.

Jack hugged his boy a little tighter and heard himself speak in his head. ‘I’m going to take care of you Richard. You’re the herd now.’ Air just barely made it past his lips as they thinned together, nestling his face into Richard’s hair.

A second voice spoke in a nasty tone. ‘Do you know what the bible says about homosexuality, Jack? Well, all boys are bad. It’s axiomatic.’

The door to the bathroom flew open & just like that, his old chum jumped back onto the couch. It left a cold feeling of disappointment deep in Jack’s gut while he watched Richard straighten himself out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Failing to start his car in the middle of the movie rental parking lot was where Jack began to realize he was genuinely worrying for Richard for the first time in a few years.

His chum was curled up on the hood of the old car, sneakers flat on the metal as his knees curled up to his chin. The sun gave his skin a shiny glaze which was reminiscent of the old days they’d used to spend playing at the park. But the chill was unmistakable.

Rich was in the thick pine green sweater that Jack simply adored because it was like cuddling with a pillow.

‘I want to be awake, Jack. I don’t want to have this dream anymore. No. I don’t want to.’

Jack stuck his head out the window and enjoyed the view he was gifted for the few seconds he had left. Richard turning to look back at him with the pale winter sun shining on the roads behind him. “Are you still having those dreams?” He dared to ask.

Richard frowned, legs sliding down the hood. “Yeah. But things pass as time goes by.” He looked as if he knew that answer would only disappoint Jack. He shook his head. “Where did you get these ideas about my dreams being...real?”

With the inflection on that question, Jack was positive now that Richard remembered his time with Travelin’ Jack & the Territories. He was just masking it as he’d done when it was a current event in his life.

Richie knew Jack knew this too. But hell if he’d admit to it.

Jack rolled his eyes and stood from his seat, shutting the car door behind him. “I don’t want to fight about this, Chum.” He spoke earnestly, sounding a bit like a black-and-white film star. “I just want to know if you’re hurting at all?”

“I was.” He tilted his head. “Most of them were nightmares about my dad...or me getting hurt badly.”

Jack tried not to picture those gray moments where Richard had been grotesquely injured in the Territories.

Richard’s eyelids fluttered from the weight of a long afternoon. “But some...” He leaned into Jack just the slightest. “Are you & I speaking of how we love the other before going on another leg of some journey. Those ones are nice.” He nodded.

Richard, who’s eyelashes were short but his eyes were huge, looked up at Jack with so much love in that moment that Jack might’ve swept him into a long movie kiss if they weren’t in public. “Maybe I don’t remember a lot about the where, Jack.” (He remembered more each night) “Hell, maybe I don’t even want to-” (he didn’t) “But I love you. So much and so seriously.” (He did. More than he ever loved anyone.)

Jake softened, opening his mouth-

“I just don’t like thinking about that time.” Tears started to fall down Richard’s cheeks.

“But you admit...?”

He swallowed something thick and nodded with annoyance. “It happened. I know that.” He looked Jacky in the eyes. “But I don’t want to remember it because it scared me. Badly. What my dad did...”

He shook his head. “I hate him. But when I think back about that time in my life...when you came in through the Thayer window. Well, I remember how I used to love him. I don’t want to give his memory that satisfaction. And I sure as hell don’t want to live through the heartbreak again.”

Jack glanced up at him and almost died of fright. For when he looked up, he briefly saw... ‘Richard’s poor, tired face was covered with running blood...He could see the naked gleam of Richard Sloat’s skull’

“I’m sorry, sugar. I’m so sorry-” Jack rushed forward, momentarily forgetting they were definitely in a public area, and kissed his boyfriend over-and-over.

Richard hummed. “It’s ok...” the hum turned into a chuckle. “Jack? Jacky? C’mon before people stare. Or throw shit.” He patted his back and smiled when Jack pulled away. “I’m sorry I can’t remember some if it as fondly as you can. But just know that I’m so amazed by you for what you did. And I’ll gladly hear more of your Wolf stories anytime.” He pushed some of Jack’s sweaty hair back.

Jack positively glowed. “You remember me telling you about Wolf?”

Richard nodded. “I wish I got to meet him.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lilly fixed the boys some hot tea before bed & told them earnestly that she knew. She knew about them being together & for a while. It’d shocked Richard to no end but Jack just grinned. So, so happy to have his mother in his life. So thankful for the chance to save her.

She said her goodnights and headed off for bed.

So Jack figured he’d gotten a gentle permission to lay in bed with Richard...at least until he fell asleep. Then he’d move to his own bed again & give his boyfriend some space.

He laid there next to him, brushing his hair back and enjoying Richard’s quiet ramblings.

“I’m sorry if I...” He started. “If I worry too much. I know I have a lot of anxiety and that can be difficult to deal with.” Richard mumbled as Jack softly removed his glasses for him.

“Don’t apologize, Chum.” He kissed Richard’s nose when it wrinkled at the nickname. “I know that there are people who might think that’s a bad thing about you...but I get it. And I love you for it.” He leaned down to kiss him.

Jack chuckled at his own sudden nerves. “I don’t want you to ever end up with someone who makes you feel bad about yourself...who would want you to be more of a ‘normal type person’ or some shit.” He felt an odd bunch of tears start to drown his eyes. “Who wouldn’t know to leave your greatness alone. Ok? So I just want to say that I can do that for you...for the rest of your life, if you wanted.”

Richard pushed himself up to a sitting position and was dead silent for a few seconds. “We can’t get married, Jacky.”

Jack grinned and nodded his head. “I know. But I think maybe one day we’ll be able to. Would you like that?”

Richard wiped his cheeks with his sleeve and giggled. “Yeah! I would. You dork.” He smashed their lips together and enjoyed the way they melted together.

They laid together just long enough to hear ‘C’est Si Bon’ play on Jack’s record player 1 time and then were off to sleep...

#richard sloat is one of my soul characters #i love him so much #jack sawyer #richard sloat #richard/jack #The Talisman #my fanfiction #stephen king #peter straub

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satannedtrash · 5 years

Text

a new year’s resolution | qian kun

summary: where you go out with friends to welcome in the new year, but you never expected to welcome something - or rather, someone - else.

pairing: qian kun x reader

word count: 3.3k/3365 words

genre: fluff. just fluff. pure fluff

format: dot points (still not experienced enough yet :|)

warnings: none unless mild to moderate swearing and total drunks aren’t your thing (also not edited oh dear) (and ooc kun cuz i suck at this ok)

author’s note: tHIS WAS MEANT TO BE FINISHED LAST WEEK BUT STUFF CAME UP SO IT’S HELLA LATE AAA but anyway at first i wasn’t entirely sure what member to write about, but then i remembered how sm didn’t even release a happy birthday post to kun (jan 1). so i thought that i can dedicate this to kun. happy (extremely belated) birthday to the butter-for-our-ears vocalist, angel and mum, kun! (also y/f/n means your friend’s name)

EDIT: just realised there was a whole section missing (i realised after a month because i didn’t want to read back on this - thing - until now) and without it the oneshot didn’t flow, so i added it in. hope it all clears things up!

11:19 pm

before this story starts imma explain sum stuff

first of all: bless kun

second of all: appreciate kun

third of all: say happy birthday to kun

oh and this is an au where the nct members aren’t idols so don’t expect to see saesangs or fans with their cameras out taking a photo of every move they make being mentioned in here

aaand i’m rambling so with that out of the way lez go

laughing at a friend’s joke, you lifted your right hand which held your phone, causing the screen to turn on

“gEEz okay then”

the bright, white light emitted from it shocked your eyes, making you blink furiously

when you could finally see without being partially blinded, you quickly checked the time and placed your phone face-down next to you

“what’s the time?” y/f/n asked, chin on your shoulder

not bothered to check again, you just say “11:19” and then leaned your head on theirs

“can you believe that 2018 is ending?”

“yep. this year sucked for me so i’m down for it to end”

“always looking forward, huh?”

you shifted your gaze from the city skyline to your friend. “have to. can’t afford to stick to the past”

pouting, y/f/n was about to respond when you lifted your head and stopped leaning back on your arms to sit upright

“besides, we gotta enjoy tonight, instead of moping around.” here, you noticed your friend eyeing the beers nearby you and sighed heavily. guess i need to be chaperone for the night

well considering that the rest of your friends and their friends were wasted might as well make sure they don’t mess the docks up

as you handed the bottle to your friend, their expression brightened as they snatched it from you

well damn aren’t they excited to get drunk

wait it’s not even 11:30 yet and we’re still going to a bar nearby after the fireworks wat

“er, shouldn’t you wait till after midnight to drink?”

“nah m8 tis the best time to have some”

(i have just realised that the vibe of this went from serious storytelling to a memey laidback sorta thing damn it)

(oh well i’ll roll with it)

not knowing what to do now that there wasn’t much to talk about, you brought out your earphones and decided to listen to some music to pass the time

calming music, such as a song with nine glorious men singing and some bed squeaking in the background

(i’ll let you guess what song i’m talking about)

you let your head bop to the song as you looked out to the sea port twenty metres in front of you, watching the dark waters ripple

11:48 pm

the next time you turned on your phone to see how many minutes left you had become a third wheeler

quite the strong third wheeler might i add

a few moments after the first song you were listening to finished, your good friend yuta had joined you and y/f/n because his other friends were “too rowdy”

but as soon as he saw the bottles he said “gimme”

so you were sitting there (barbecue sauce on my-) with two just barely sober adults acting like complete children

you had to wrestle out of y/f/n’s koala hug around your waist and escape yuta’s chin noogie to grab your phone

“oh for fuck’s sake” father why have you foresaken me

when you finished preparing yourself for another possible 27 minutes of torture, you turned around to see yuta and y/f/n throwing themselves at each other, singing like magpies

“wE wIsh yOU A mErrY chrIstmAsssss aNd a hAppY nEw yeeeEeAArr!!1!” they then took the opportunity to laugh, squeal and kiss the hecc out of each other’s cheeks

you knew that your friend was absolute shit at singing, but yuta was a whole different story good lord

you thought he was good???

maybe just when he hasn’t had a few drinks

you stared at the two dolphins then promptly stood up and sat down behind them because you had to make sure they didn’t do anything more than whatever the hell this was

not like it could get any worse

you could feel the gazes of pity the others were sending you, but frankly you didn’t care

before, you couldn’t wait for the new year to come, but now you were more eager than ever

someone please save my poor soul

11:59 pm

“yEEEE BOI a minute left!”

eleven minutes have passed and the final 60 seconds of the year were being counted down

you were less excited for the new year and more excited for the end of your chaperoning being closer

all you had to do was get through the firework display, watch the adorable couple in front of you until the bar and let them do what they want (there were sure to be other friends who were willing to let them join in)

it seemed like a simple, solid plan! :D

before you knew it, yuta and y/f/n had already started counting down from 15, so might as well start now

“13, 12, 11, 10...”

you took a glance at y/f/n, who grinned back at you and threw their arm around your shoulder

“7, 6, 5, 4, 3...” here we go

“1 - happy new year!!”

it was at this moment you realised that your eardrums were incapable of tolerating the two dolphins beside you

sINCE WHEN WAS YUTA ABLE TO SCREAM THAT LOUD AND HIGH THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE

yay to starting the new year with loud friends screaming like there’s no tomorrow amiright

you had trouble focusing on the fireworks to the point you could only hear most of the big ones

that’s how hard it was to be next to them but oh well

marvelling at the city skyline, the fireworks seeming like entirely new stars, you began having very deep thoughts

the typical ones, such as “ what will 2019 bring?”, “what will i be like by the end of the year?” and “will i be happy with someone?”

you had asked the exact same things when 2017 shifted to 2018 and found that you actually had an answer for all of them

2018 brought some crappy stuff but also some good stuff to balance that out

you were still sort of the same, because every time something major came up you only changed a bit then went back to normal

and you weren’t with anyone yet, which you had expected

but a little birdy on your shoulder said, “then get with someone in 2019! make it a new year’s resolution!”

your eyebrows furrowed at the thought, but you decided to focus on the sky for now

because since when did you ever make or follow new year’s resolutions?

12:16 am

“12:16 okay then”

turns out you didn’t consider the walk to the bar part of your chaperoning

by the time the display ended, yuta and y/f/n could walk, but not without wobbling and intense laughter

so guess who had to make sure they could at least make the trip to the bar?

“um, are you sure you don’t want to go home yet?”

“nah, i caan’t, my sister was meaant to be at home-!”- y/f/n stumbled a bit but you caught them before they fell - “-but she’s not, and i can’t beeee home by myselfff”

no wonder

here, you were struggling to keep the both of them propped up as you walked along the road, so there was bound to be a slip up

“you should’ve seen their face! haHA-!” yuta laughed a little too hard and nearly fell over his own feet, prompting you to panic and scramble to keep him from falling to the ground

“oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit-!”

but you didn’t need to because someone else already beat you to it!

sighing in relief, you looked up to see none other than the great qian kun putting yuta’s arm around his shoulder

he looked over to you gaping at him and smiled that warm smile that looked like it was sculpted by the gods

wow he looks great in this lighting

you were always attracted to kun, ever since you two began talking after stopping a full blown war between doyoung and ten

he appeared so soft and kind to you and you two seemed to have a lot in common

so naturally you hit it off

because who doesn’t love kun? :D

“you’re welcome?” oh shit i didn’t just stare at him for that long did i

“oh - sorry - thanks for that” nice going there y/n you idiot

kun just chuckled and hefted his drunk friend as he started walking, you doing the same

it became comfortably silent as your group made their way down the street and turned left into a reasonably sized bar, which as surprisingly not that busy

you set y/f/n down on a chair that thankfully had a tall enough back to keep them up and sat down next to them, exhaling

kun patted yuta’s back and went to sit down next to you

laying your head on the counter, you thought of striking up a conversation with kun

so, instead of saying things like “happy new year”, “thanks for helping me” or even “they’re hard to deal with anyway”, you just said “woah.”

yEAH AGAIN NICE GOING THERE Y/N

“‘woah’? what’s ‘woah’?” he responded, taking on a teasing, motherly tone

you could hear the grin in his voice

you panicked and stammered some illegible words before you could actually speak

“i meant like, woah, that was exhausting, they made things real hard and all that…”

then you thought of something brilliant

you took out your phone and googled “woah”, only to find that it wasn’t spelled w-o-a-h but instead meant to be w-h-o-a

you frowned but typed “whoa meaning” instead and showed the definition to kun

all the while still laying on the mahogany-coloured counter

to your surprise, he rolled his eyes, laughed and ruffled your hair

“that was a really bad joke but you’re lucky i have the same sense of humor” his laugh was infectious so you had to smile

then he asked, “are you okay? not too tired?”

sitting up, you put your phone back in your pocket

“nah, my arms just ache, but it’s fine.” your polite smile suddenly grew into a wide smirk. “thanks for worrying, mum”

“i’m not a mum!” his expression made you have the sudden urge to burst into endless chuckles

in the corner of your eye, you could see ten, doyoung and johnny elbowing each other, pointing at you and kun and singing “kiss the girl”

you then had the sudden urge to throw some hands

kun (obviously) overheard them and sighed

“why are they like this”

“i wish i knew”

you and kun talked some more, random topics like how uni was going for you, how his singing was, how your book was going, all that jazz

with some playful banter and the occasional jokes that made you laugh so hard your back hurt

“kun loving puns and dad jokes? a coincidence?”

“i only laugh at them to make you feel better!”

“gasp! how dare you!”

“only joking, y/n!”

while you two giggled, y/f/n suddenly turned to you and said, “i think yuta and i will be fine here…”

you stopped and looked back at them, concerned

“you sure?”

“we’ll just go sit with the boys over there-!” a hiccup. “-it’ll be fine!” then, it hit you

is this bitch trying to play matchmaker

you grumbled “i’m not sure…” but then kun spoke up

“yeah, sure, that’s fine,” when you gave him a quizzical look, he added on, “as much as i don’t trust johnny, doyoung and ten, at least it’s not just the two of them?”

he phrased it as a question instead of a statement, his voice getting higher by each word spoken

you pondered over this

well, he’s not wrong

you exhaled in defeat, saying “fine, go ahead”

y/f/n grinned at you and gave a knowing wink before dragging yuta over to the three boys

two of whom were busy flirting to each other and the other one third wheeling

you raised your eyebrows up and down at them before turning back to kun, who was looking outside

“so,” you started, causing him to look at you, “are you sure you want yuta and y/f/n wreaking havoc with those three?” you nodded in the group’s direction

kun stayed silent for a bit, then said “yeah, i’m sure. it kinda looked like you needed a break from them.”

“true. there’s only so much you can take.” kun chuckled at that and looked outside again

it went silent, but in stark contrast to the vibe of the walk leading to the bar, it was very awkward

too awkward to handle

so you took the opportunity to debate with yourself whether or not you should study kun

damn what if he looks at me though i’m not really risking that

but how can you not look at him? and what’s there to talk about?

it’s not worth the embarrassment

look-

at-

him

you were about to take a quick glance, but then kun spoke

“besides, i want to show you something”

once again, another puzzled look

“if you don’t mind, of course”

without another thought, you said “sure.”

“really? you’re okay with it?” you smiled at kun’s eagerness

“yeah, might as well, now that we don’t have anyone to watch over.” kun grinned and stood up, making sure to push in his chair (we love a polite king)

you two were about to walk out the door when you looked at a certain group three tables away from you

johnny and ten were still flirting and yuta and y/f/n were still laughing

but this time, doyoung wasn’t a third wheeler anymore, because a man who looked younger than him was having a somewhat civilised conversation with doyoung

you elbowed kun and made him look at them and made sure doyoung, johnny and ten saw you before both mouthing, “sha la la la la la my, oh, my~”

you took a mental screenshot of their faces before you and kun cackled your way out of the bar

12:47 am

“what are you planning on showing me?”

the two of you had been walking and talking for a while now, but kun still didn’t say what he was going to show you

you were waiting patiently, expecting him to eventually tell you, but you gave in

“it’s a surprise~” he said in a sing-song voice, which slightly irritated you

“i know that it’s at the docks, because that’s where we’re heading,” you gave him a light nudge with your arm. “so might as well tell me now!”

he stubbornly shook his head. “i refuse to tell you until you see it.”

pouting, you crossed your arms and muttered under your breath, “you’re lucky you’re adorable.”

to your relief, he didn’t hear you, because he laughed at your pout and pressed on

you lightly scoffed and picked up your pace so that you could walk alongside him

“can i at least have one clue?” you begged

“uh uh.”

“pleeeaaassee?” he looked at your hopeful smile and rolled his eyes

“fine,” you yelled “yes!” a little too loud, making people stare at you. “your clue is…

“...it’s big and sparkly.” you gave him a look showing that you weren’t impressed

“wow, kun, what a descriptive and totally-not-vague clue! i am sure to get it now!”

kun grumbled, “you sound like doyoung,” before remembering something

“don’t tell me the answer until we get there!” he quickly said, receiving yet another puzzled look. “so that i can give you the benefit of the doubt to make it all the more exciting! it’ll be fun!”

you in turn muttered, “well, you sound like y/f/n, and fine. i don’t wanna ruin the surprise. you look real enthusiastic about it too” he smiled gratefully before leaving you to do your thinking

thinking about that smile :)))))

damn his smile always gets me grrrrr

you pulled your mind away from kun’s personality and tried to think of a place with the clue “big and sparkly”

two came to your mind, the big ferris wheel and the big floating silver christmas tree out on the water

they’re both big and sparkly, but you couldn’t predict which one he was going to take you to

you were hoping the ferris wheel, but you just had to wait and see

“think of any places yet?” you jolted so hard, you threw your phone up accidentally

don’t worry, you caught it

kun looked at you, his eyebrows showing worry but his eyes glinting. “you okay?”

very nice going there y/n, how many more times will you mess up??

and my face feels like it’s on fire oh good lord

“i’m fine, just got scared,” you had to take a breather before you put your phone in your pocket - where it should’ve been in the first place, but your dumb ass decided to hold it - and gave kun a thumbs up

he gave a thumbs up back and said, “surprised you didn’t scream.”

biting back a retort, you replied. “rude.” you sunk your hands deeper into your pockets. “and as for your question, yes, i did think of a place or two”

“good, because we’re getting close now”

you turned a corner and saw both the floating tree and the ferris wheel come into view

the ferris wheel carriages were lighting up one after the other, making it look like a loading symbol (great comparison there) from afar

a pretty and romantic loading symbol

while the christmas tree was dazzling, the rainbow lights getting brighter and dimmer like a pulsing star

while you two waited for the pedestrian light to turn green, kun said to you, “when we make it to the other side, make sure to close your eyes and keep them closed until i say so”

“let me guess, to ‘make it all the more exciting’?” he grinned and nodded

“yup”

you did as what he had told, closing your eyes and relying on kun to guide you the right way

“i swear to god if you push me off the pier i will drag you down with me”

“now you sound like ten, but don’t worry, i won’t,” he gently pushed you away from an upcoming obstacle. “thanks for thinking so highly of me.”

“no problem, mum” you grinned victoriously when you heard a heavy sigh

you knew you were close to the water when you smelled less alcohol and more salty sea water

“are we there yet?” you asked impatiently. you couldn’t be bothered to be patient anymore

kun said, “waaait,” and guided you a bit to the left. “there! now you can open your eyes.”

“finally, i was wondering when- holy shit.”

it wasn’t the ferris wheel that you were hoping that he’d show you, but it was something you decided was way more worth it

the floating silver christmas tree towered over you both, and it looked like it was the brightest and most colourful thing for kilometres (or miles, you choose)

coloured lines streamed down from the top to the bottom, like a very pink, purple and blue waterfall, while stage lights at the bottom smoothly changed from red to orange to yellow and more

it also reminded you of the windows screen when you used it for the first time (if that even makes sense?)

white light shone from beneath the many large stars decorating the tree, making them pop, and the wind revealed that the tree wasn’t made of smooth silver metal, but silver sequins that showed the water ripples and waves from below

the star at the top was the most intensely bright of them all, with a rainbow outline and a gold center

needless to say, it was pretty darn beautiful for a sight that would otherwise hurt your eyes

you stood there with your mouth wide open, looking like a pathetic fish, and almost missed what kun was saying

“i wasn’t sure if you would like the ferris wheel or the tree, but then i found out that the ferris wheel would be closed today, so i just chose this,” you felt his gaze shift onto you, and you tried not to get flustered. “do you like it?”

you took a moment before you spoke. “yes, i really like it a lot,” the view was that breathtaking it took away your ability to talk like a proper adult. you turned to him and gave a smile, trying to make it look as genuine as you could. “thanks for bringing me here, kun.”

he gave you an equally big grin and said, “you’re welcome. glad you like it too.” he turned back to look at the tree, and you did the same

but not without sneaking a glance at him in all his ethereal beauty

kun never failed to surprise you, whether it be showing you a very rainbow tree, being so kind and trusting or just being himself

your mind floated back to the three questions you had asked yourself earlier, “what will 2019 bring?”, “what will i be like at the end of the year?” and “will i be happy with someone?” and the new year’s resolution you made

you took another look at kun then whispered under your breath, “huh.

“guess i am on the way to completing one.”

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pllandcompany · 5 years

Text

Fire Meet Gasoline (Part Two)

Summary: Hospital!AU. Family dinners are hard. Therapy sessions are worse. Fortunately, both eventually come to an end.

Warnings: mention of past drug use/addiction, description of past child abuse, some yelling, crying, description of anxiety, food mention, drinking/drunk character

Tagged: @ziallwarrior @thefallendog @apologieslogan @trueunreal @flyingfreeyt @thecatchat @crofters-jam @jakesmolbean @band-be-boss-blog @ab-artist @asylia-5911 @backatthebein @oonagh-una

Pairings: Romantic Logince and QPP Moxiety

Notes: Part Two is here! I tried something a little different with the writing style, it’s a little more dialogue heavy than I usually do and the scenes with Logan and Roman are not taking place at the same time as Patton and Virgil. I basically kind of mashed up two standalone fics in one; hopefully it isn’t too confusing. Also, I’m sorry if I suck at writing Picani. Cartoons are not my forte (thank you, deprived childhood). As always, feedback is appreciated and enjoy!

The waiting room was quiet, almost eerily so. A clock tick, tick, ticked steadily behind the heads of the two gentlemen seated in the desolate vestibule. A deep sigh echoed against the walls followed by the impatient drumming of fingertips on a plastic chair. Gentle hands clasped the anxious fingers, drawing a surprised glance from the drummer. The hands drew back to their original place and silence reigned supreme in the space once again. Tentative peace was broken once again by the drawn-out gurgling of a nervous stomach accompanied by flushed cheeks and a chuckle from both men. The unexpected moment briefly released a modicum of tension from the atmosphere and the first words were spoken.

“Sorry. Didn’t eat much before I came here. Nerves.”

“I can tell. Maybe we can go have lunch afterwards?”

A pause. “We’ll see about that.”

“Roman Courtland? Logan Taylor?” A bright voice pierced the air, earning the surgeons’ attention. “Well, what are you two peering at me with your Brown-Eyed Peas for? Come on in; let’s get it started in here!” The therapist sung the last few words of his sentence, posing valiantly as if it was the most brilliant joke known to man. The pervasive silence definitely indicated otherwise.

“I apologize, Dr. Picani, I don’t know that one.”

Dr. Picani hunched his shoulders but maintained his giddy smile. “Not a problem, Logan. It wasn’t my best work anyway. Seriously though, let’s get started.” He began frantically ushering the pair into his office. Roman lagged slightly, already unimpressed.

“Wonderful. It’s like Patton on speed.”

****

“Honey, you gotta slow down. You’re gonna burn yourself or break something!”

Patton closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was only about the millionth time Dot had panicked over his speed in the kitchen.

“Mom, I’m fine. I always work this fast and stay safe. You taught me how to, remember?” He gave her a gentle but pointed look. “You’re hovering. Don’t worry so much. I’ve got this.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, honey. I just can’t help it! It’s what moms do, you know.”

“I know, Mom, it’s…it’s fine. Maybe you and Dad can help set the table? That is if he’s not still traumatized from surgery this afternoon.” Patton chuckled to himself at the thundering footsteps rushing down the hallway. Larry skidded to a halt in the kitchen doorway, pointing at Patton vigorously.

“No! You do not get to mock me! You took a needle the length of my arm and stuck it in a pregnant woman’s stomach! And you made me watch it!”

“Yes, honey, but he did it to fix her baby’s heart defect. He saved a life before it was even born.” Dot was practically beaming. Larry shuddered, still trying to erase the image from his brain.

“I get that, son, and we’re so proud but…I don’t know how you ever got used to that. You’re braver than me, that’s for sure.” Patton had to let himself grin on that one.

“It’s just my job, Dad, but…thanks. Can you and Mom set the table? Dinner’s almost ready.”

Dot checked her watch, suddenly furrowing her brow. “Sweetie, didn’t you tell Virgil to be here at 6:00? It’s almost 6:30.”

Patton looked up sharply. “Really? Wow, I didn’t realize it was that…late…”

“You are sure he wanted to do this, right, son?”

“Larry, don’t do that! Something could have come up; he is a surgeon too. Maybe there’s an emergency.”

“But wouldn’t they have also paged Patton? Wouldn’t he have let him know he had to go to the hospital? I’m just saying- “

“Mom, Dad, calm down. Virgil probably got held up with something at work. He is chief of trauma now; that comes with a lot of responsibility that he has to fulfill before he can leave.” He turned back to the pot in front of him, stirring the sauce absently. “He’ll show. Don’t worry; he’ll show up.”

****

It took Roman a second to process what he was seeing. Posters of cartoons and Disney movies littered the walls and there were plush animals and toys piled in a corner. He couldn’t even readily identify the plaque that held this man’s doctorate under the multiple stickers that covered the frame.

“Are you a children’s therapist?” God, I hope so, Roman thought.

“No! Everyone always says that, I haven’t the foggiest idea why…” Roman shot a dark look to Logan who widened his eyes and nodded to the red leather couch for him to sit. Roman pursed his lips and sat down on the opposite end from Logan.

He was not convinced about this at all.

“Okeydokey, welcome to couples’ therapy! I am Dr. Picani and while I’m no stranger to Logan over here, I don’t know you as well, Mr. Roman Empire so why don’t you tell me about yourself?” Roman raised an eyebrow at the rapid-fire introduction. This guy literally chirps when he talks. He let out a deep sigh and folded his arms across his chest, barely concealing his irritation.

“Okay…well, my name is Dr. Roman Courtland and I’m a neurosurgeon.”

“Oh, fascinating! So, you study the brain too! Well then, this should be a piece of cake for you!” Roman simply huffed in response, earning a look from Logan. Dr. Picani would not be deterred though. “Okay, well, obviously you two are here to work out some issues in your relationship, right? So, what’s going on in the world of Rolo?”

“Rolo?” Roman spat out incredulously.

“Yes, it’s your ship name! Just a little something I like to do with my couples.”

“Well, I don’t like chocolate.”

“Roman! That’s enough!” Logan’s shout startled both the counselor and the neurosurgeon. “Why are you being so rude? I admitted to you previously that his methods were unconventional. I also told you that they have helped me tremendously. Can you please just give it a chance?” Roman leaned back against the arm rest on his side of the couch, folding his arms yet again.

“Fine…what’s up, Doc?”

Dr. Picani smirked at the defensive doctor. “Very clever! You’re a quick one! Okay, back to the world of Rolo.”

Silence pervaded the space. “I-I’ll start.”

“All right, Logan, way to be the Brave Little Toaster and heat up this discussion! What’s on your mind?”

“Well, I believe that I am…no…I feel…afraid.”

“Good job. It’s okay to admit your feelings.”

“Afraid of what?” Roman’s voice was harsh and unyielding, the coldness rattling Logan slightly.

“I…well, I’m afraid that you want to leave me. I fear that my deception has pushed you away.”

Roman scoffed. “I think I’ve proven that I won’t do that.”

“Maybe not but you still resent me. I can tell; I’m not-”

“Stupid? No, definitely not. It takes incredible mental skill to manipulate those closest to you into believing nothing’s wrong without them ever catching on.”

Logan recoiled. “You’re angry.” Roman turned away and looked at the wall. “And rightfully so. You of all people didn’t deserve to be lied to. I am deeply sorry for that.”

Roman didn’t answer.

****

“Sweetie? Honey, the food’s getting cold, maybe we should eat- “

“Just heat it up then, Mom!” Patton was visibly tense.

“Hey! Don’t talk to your mother like that! She’s trying to help you!”

“I know, I know but I don’t need help because he’s coming! He just got held up at the hospital. He’s on his way.”

Dot hesitated, fearing the consequences of her next words. “But sweetheart…we haven’t heard from him- “

“He’s coming, Mom!” Patton looked down the hallway, listening for the door. “He’s coming.”

****

“Logan, why don’t you go ahead and tell Roman what we talked about sharing with him last session?”

Logan looked up, his face impassive except for the mild fear glazing over his eyes. “Now? Oh, ah…all right.” He took a beat to calm his nerves. “Roman. Firstly, I want you to know that I lo- “

“Can I ask a question?” Roman was looking straight at Dr. Picani who looked back at him, slightly surprised. “Well, I believe Logan had something he wanted say- “

“No, it’s fine. You may ask your question, Roman.” The neurosurgeon shifted forward, finally facing Logan with a steely gaze.

“I want to know…what made you start using? The first time, not this time.”

Logan’s face remained blank, the pounding of his heart secretly betraying him. “I don’t see how that’s relevant.”

“Really? You don’t see how it’s relevant?” Sarcasm dripped from each word.

“Let’s stay calm here, Roman. This is a safe space.” Logan held up a hand to cut off Picani.

“No, Roman, I do not see how the genesis of my addiction is relevant to our current circumstances. Please elaborate.” Logan could be sarcastic too.

“You’re telling me that you don’t see how the origin of the sole issue that is ripping the very fabric of our relationship apart is relevant to our current conversation? You really can’t see that?” Roman’s voice was starting to rise.

“That is not fair!” Logan began to shout back. “Our issues are not all on me! It takes two people to make or break something!”

“Exactly! And while I have given you everything, you have given me nothing!”

“I couldn’t, Roman! I was sick and overwhelmed; I couldn’t give anyone anything!”

“No, of course not, because addiction isn’t your fault! Because you have a disease! Because you were traumatized!”

“Don’t you dare mock me. You can resent me all you want but I won’t tolerate being mocked.”

“I’m not mocking you! I am just stating facts. Because of the nature of your condition, you can’t ever be blamed for anything! This leaves me to shoulder the burden of our entire relationship!”

Logan froze, his eyes filling with tears. “You think of me…as a burden?”

Roman panted, his eyes blown wide. “No…no, that’s not what I meant.”

“Well, then what did you mean?!” He was outwardly panicking now. Dr. Picani had to step in.

“Logan? I think Roman is trying to say that he feels alone in this relationship. Am I close, Doctor?” Picani bore a slight smirk on his face at Roman’s stunned expression.

“Um, yeah, yes. I do…feel alone.” He turned back to Logan. “And I don’t want to be. But…I don’t know you, Logan. Not truly. And it makes it not trust you. I have to know you to trust you, so I need you to give me something. Tell me something honest. Tell me how this all started so I can better understand how to help you fight it. Because I want to, Logan. I want you. All of you, even the broken parts.”

Logan stared down at the ground hard, fighting the urge to break down. The room held their breath as they waited for him to come back to them. After an agonizing eternity, Logan finally looked up, a stony expression draped over his face like an iron curtain.

“Okay. I’ll tell you.”

****

“I’m gonna go ahead and start cleaning up, dear.” Patton didn’t move a muscle, barely noticing his mother shift next to him and start gathering plates. He was drowning in disappointment. How could Virgil do this? They had come so far, how could desert him now? Larry reached out and grabbed his son’s hand, squeezing it reassuringly. “I’m so sorry, son. I know how much this meant to you- “

The sound of a frantic doorbell pierced the air. Patton shot up from his chair like a rocket, practically sprinting to the door. He wrenched it open to discover a disheveled Virgil, dressed in an all-black suit and holding a wilted bouquet of roses.

“Virgil! What happened to you?! You’re two hours late!”

“PATTY!” Virgil bellowed, opening his arms wide and swaying slightly.

“And you’re drunk…” Patton couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“Only a little but ‘ts fine, Patty…” He was slurring badly.

“You never drink.”

“First time for -hic- everything!”

“Virgil, what the hell is this? Why would you sabotage this evening?!”

“Psssh, I dunno, it’s crazy, right? Maybe I’m crazy, Pat!” He wildly gestured to his head, bugging his eyes out almost comically. Patton continued to rant, ignoring the erratic behavior.

“Virgil Davidson, this is not a joke! You were supposed to be there for me tonight! Do you know how scared my parents were for me when I came out? How much they worried that no one would understand and what that would do me? And now I’ve finally found someone who does understand but when I need them, they don’t show up! You know how important this was to me! You know how much it means to my family that they know the person that loves me!”

“Yes, I know, I know, it’s important to you, it’s important to them, my job is important, it’s all so freakin’ important and it’s too much! I can’t handle it! I am not good enough to do any of this!” His voice suddenly cleared up as he started to shout. Patton watched sorrowfully as his partner broke down in front of him. “I’m not good enough for you or your family, Pat. My dad was a drunk. My mom was a junkie. Hell, maybe I’m a drunk too. It’s in my blood! It’s who I am! I am made…from bad blood. So…you’re better off, your family is better off…”

Patton swallowed thickly, gathering up the courage to battle Virgil’s negative thoughts. “You think I’m better off.”

“Yeah!” Virgil flailed his arms dangerously.

“Without you.”

“Yeah, Pat, that’s what I said!”

“I’m sorry but…that! Is a damn lie!”

A sudden gasp sucked up all the air between them. “You-you never curse, Patty…” Virgil stumbled again as Patton took the hand free of roses in both of his.

“Virgil…you are good enough. You are so good. To me, to your patients. Your past will always be your past, sure, but it doesn’t define everything about you. In fact, it’s part of what’s made you so good and kind and loving: because you’ve suffered unimaginable pain and you want to protect others from ever feeling that way. I just wanted you to share that kindness with my family, that’s all.”

Virgil stared into middle space, eyes shining. “I’m good?”

Patton chuckled lightly. “Yeah, Virge. Of course you are. You know that.”

“Yeah…yeah, you’re right. I am good…I’m good. I’m good!” Virgil suddenly took off past Patton, through the open door…and right into the kitchen where Patton’s parents were still cleaning. Patton was hot on his heels but not fast enough to stop him.

“Hey! You guys! Patton’s family!” Larry and Dot whirled around at the same time, both wearing expressions of equal parts anger and confusion.

“Oh, geez,” Patton mumbled.

“Oh, now you show up. You listen to me,” his father growled, launching forward. Dot just barely held him back in time.

“Larry, no! You just calm down!” Dot turned to Virgil, brow furrowed in disappointment. “What are you doing here? Why bother coming now?”

“Look, I know you’re probably thinking all sorts of terrible shit about me right now! I showed up wicked late. I’m drunk. And I’m wearing all black so you probably think I’m some child of darkness and the truth is…I am. I don’t get family, like, at all. My family was super messed up, my childhood was insanity. I don’t know what it’s like to have parents like you. But I do know what it’s like to be loved. And even though sometimes I’m really shitty at showing it, I also know what it is to love someone and that is because…of your son. I love your son. A lot. A whole heck of a lot and because I love him…I wanna get to know you. Maybe then I’ll finally get what family is, you know? If…if you don’t hate me, that is.”

Nobody dared to move and break the palpable tension in the room. Every muscle in Patton’s legs twitched but he forced himself to stay still. Virgil had to face this on his own. The two parents exchanged a brief look, one that implied a seemingly secret communication. As if taking a cue from a director, Larry began to slowly walk forward towards the shuddering trauma surgeon.

“Oh God, are you gonna punch me out?” Virgil was terrified.

“What? No! I was gonna offer you a seat and some water. You look like you need to sit down, son.”

Virgil eyes shone for the second time that night. “Son?” His voice was barely above a whisper.

“Have you eaten, dear? We still have some pasta left. You should have some food and water and then you should get some sleep. We can talk more in the morning. Ooh, we should go for a pancake breakfast! That would be nice!”

“Or we could just make pancakes here, Dottie dearest!”

“Oh, don’t be so cheap, Larry, this is a special occasion! We’re expanding our family!”

Patton walked over from the hallway and collapsed at the table across from Virgil, both doctors too stunned to mind the gentle bickering of Larry and Dot over breakfast plans.

“I cannot believe that worked,” Virgil mumbled. Patton gently laid his hand over the shocked surgeon’s, a loving smile lighting up his face.

“I can.”

****

“It was the third year of my residency. I was the resident on call that night and after already having been at the hospital for a coronary revascularization that took hours, I was paged. I hadn’t even left yet but a massive apartment fire broke out and they needed hands. People came flooding in, the unit was packed; it was typical trauma madness. I was working on a 40-year-old man. He had what looked like minor injuries, a couple broken ribs, a head laceration, minor burns. I checked his airway, did an examination, stitched his head wound and moved on to the next patient. Three hours later, my attending was telling me that he was dead. He had a brain bleed and by the time we finally caught it, it was too late.” Logan stopped himself briefly, clearing his throat and letting out a choked sob.

Roman didn’t dare interrupt.

“My attending told me that he was a single father and the injuries he sustained were from pulling his two daughters out of the fire. He then said…that this man absolutely would have had a chance if I had bothered to order a head CT when I first saw him but because I was careless and failed to follow protocol, he was dead. He asked why I didn’t order the scan and I had to tell him the truth. I simply…forgot. It was shameful, I know but I was exhausted and rushed and I just…forgot. God, he was furious.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me this?” The neurosurgeon’s voice was soft and tentative.

“I didn’t want you to think I was weak. I didn’t want you to see…how failure follows me everywhere I go.”

“That’s not true.” Logan went on as if he didn’t even hear him speak.

“My attending then forced me to deliver the news to his two young children. He called it a learning experience. He said it would make me stronger, more careful.” Logan chuckled bitterly. “I guess he was wrong. After I informed the family, I left the hospital with my prescription pad and drove straight to a 24-hour pharmacy. It’s funny. I picked up the drugs because I wanted to erase that night from my memory but…I’ve never forgotten it. And it happens every time. I fall into the trap of thinking the drugs will mask the pain but it’s still there.”

“Logan…you were a resident. You were young and inexperienced, you’re bound to make mistakes. God knows I did.”

“But I am not supposed to!” Dr. Picani leaned in.

“Why, Logan? Why can’t you make mistakes?”

“Because the mistakes we make cost people their lives.”

“What else?” Roman prodded.

“What?”

“No, we all have that responsibility as doctors. And we all fall short at times, but it doesn’t break us like it broke you. So what else is there?”

Logan struggled to find his words. “My…mother was not…understanding when it came to failure. She had…high standards.”

“About?” “Everything. From my performance in school to how I should dress to how I should behave, about everything. And if I did not meet those standards, she was…unkind.”

Roman closed his eyes. “Did she hit you?”

“Never. But she did…other things. Denied me food. Locked me in closets and screamed at me to study. So many nights I fell asleep in the linen closet on a textbook with a dead flashlight in my hand. One time, I failed a test and the teacher called her about it. Before I got home…she had the locks changed. I slept at a friend’s home for the rest of that week until she finally gave me a new set of keys.” Logan rattled off his list of horrors in a detached manner, as if he was reciting a grocery list instead of recounting the most painful memories of his life. Roman didn’t dare to move or speak. He simply held Logan’s hand until he suddenly made eye contact with him, terror and pain clouding his eyes.

“Don’t you see now, Roman? How it was so easy for me to believe David Bacall’s words? I’ve heard them my whole life.” Roman had to clear his throat before he could talk again.

“Well, then…everything you’ve heard your entire life is wrong.” Without warning, the cardiac surgeon crumpled into Roman’s chest, clinging to him for dear life as he cried. “You are not a failure. No matter what mistakes you’ve made, you are still a good person. You are worthy of love. Give yourself room to be human, darling. I’m here, I can help you through it. It’s okay, Logan. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

****

“Virge. Virge, wake up.”

“Mmm, noooo. It hurts to wake up.”

“Hmm, I bet, that’s what happens when you drink yourself silly. How much did you have anyway?”

“You know that bottle of rum we split when we dressed up as pirates for Halloween?”

“Yeah…oh, Virgil, no.”

“Yep, it’s gone. Along with my dignity.”

“Nonsense. My father actually appreciated your blunt honesty. And my mother found you quite charming. They are concerned though that you’re doing…okay.”

Virgil thought for a moment. “Maybe I’m not as great as I thought I was. But I still have you so I’m pretty good.”

Patton smiled, running his fingers through Virgil’s hair. “Still, I think we should check in with Nate. Just to make sure we’re on a healthy track.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“And no more drinking alone.”

“No more drinking period, this is awful.”

“Aww. You know the best cure for a hangover? Pancakes and friendly conversation! Come on, Sailor Jerry, let’s get up.”

“Ugh, no alcohol references, please.”

“Aye, aye, Captain!...Morgan…”

“You hate me.”

“I love you.”

****

“Roman? Whatcha thinkin’ there, slugger?” Dr. Picani’s brow was knitted tight with concern.

“I just…don’t know how we move forward together now, Logan.”

“Wh-what?”

“I still want to, of course! It’s just…if failure is a trigger for you then how can I ever feel safe expressing how I feel when I’ve been hurt? Or when I’ve hurt you? Because it’s going to happen. We’re human, we’re going to fail each other. But I can’t have you going and hurting yourself because things fell apart. I won’t be in a relationship like that, I love you too much to put you through that.”

“Well, now, hold on here, Roman,” Dr. Picani chimed in, “keep in mind that Logan’s recovery is ultimately Logan’s responsibility. You can support him, sure thing, but managing his feelings and his reactions to those feelings? That’s on him. You know that, right, Logan?”

“Absolutely. That’s what being here has done for me. I have plenty of coping skills at my disposal to navigate difficult emotions. Other than using drugs, of course.”

“That being said, Roman brings up a good point: how does Rolo move forward? I think the best way to ensure that your relation-ship stays afloat is with open and honest communication! Logan, you need to make sure that you’re talking to Roman honestly about your feelings which means first talking honestly to yourself about them. Own your emotions and don’t be scared to let them out! Look at all the things you opened up about today. Is Roman rejecting you? No. He’s right here, willing to stay with you through this.” Logan looked at his partner, realization dawning.

“And Roman, you need to create a safe space for Logan to heal by letting him go at his own pace. You can’t push him to be vulnerable. Healing can’t be forced, otherwise it’s not real healing. Don’t underestimate his strength. It takes a lot to push him towards wanting to use. And one other thing…you need to forgive him. He knows he hasn’t been fair to you but he’s willing to make the commitment to showing you that things will be different now. Forgive him and trust that he’ll come to you.”

“That’s actually what I was going to say earlier. I thought that admitting that I recognize how I’ve hurt you and apologizing would be what you needed to hear. I didn’t anticipate you needing to know why it happened.”

“You don’t need to apologize anymore, Logan. You’ve felt guilty for enough, far more than you ever should have. And my anger earlier was misplaced. I’m not angry with you, I’m angry at the situation. I’m angry that someone would ever think to willfully hurt someone as wonderful as you. And I was hurt that you didn’t tell me why you were hurting so much, especially after what we went through together. I haven’t always been fair to you either and I’ve tried so hard to make up for it. Being shut out…it made me think that you didn’t trust me, and that thought was…so painful. So, I lashed out. And I’m sorry. You don’t deserve that. You’re trying.”

Logan gently took Roman’s hands into his own. “As are you.”

Dr. Picani smiled fondly at the new development between the two surgeons. “Hey guys…you’re sitting next to each other now.” Both men looked down simultaneously to their now touching thighs, exchanging hesitant but sweet smiles at each other when they looked up. “You know, I’m gonna go ahead and prescribe one more thing for you two.”

“What would that would be, Dr. Picani?”

“Simple: Go on a date. Once Logan comes home and you two feel ready, go out! Have fun with each other! Laugh, talk about anything other than therapy or work. Remember what it was like to fall in love with each other. You two have been through so much and you’ve come out on the other side together. Go celebrate that! Celebrate your lives.”

“That sounds…most reasonable. We…we can do that.” Roman nodded in agreement.

“Splendid! Welp, that’s all folks! Gotta run to the next session! And I mean literally run, it’s all the way on the other side of campus.”

“Porky Pig!” Roman blurted out.

“Nice catch of the reference, Dr. Roman Empire. Very clever. Now, Logan, I’ll see you in a few days and you two cool cats back here next week! Okay, shoo, I wasn’t kidding about needing to run.”

“Oh, well, we’ll be going then.” Logan rushed out of the door, leaving Roman to pause and turn to the cheerful therapist. “Doctor?”

“Yes, Roman?”

“I, uh, I’m…thank you.” Dr. Picani simply nodded, a gentle smile playing on his lips. Roman nodded back before joining his partner in the hallway.

“Well then! Now that we’re done with that, shall we grab that lunch we discussed earlier?”

Logan grinned earnestly. “Sure. I think I know a place.”

#sanders sides #logince #romantic logince #moxiety #logan sanders #roman sanders #virgil sanders #patton sanders #queerplatonic moxiety #sanders sides surgeon au #my writing

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cmhuns · 5 years

Text

good, clean fun

who: charlie hunnam + rami malek ( @rami-pastrami ) where: napa valley when: friday afternoon what: after meeting up in napa, charlie and rami have some fun together in the shower triggers: nsfw

r a m i

this kind of event was right up his alley, and it was a welcome comfort after the emotional roller coaster that was finally wrapping on mr. robot, knowing that he'd never get to slip into that second skin again. new york had literally become a second home to him, and those people, that cast and crew, they were his east coast family. he was going to miss them terribly, and being able to step away so soon after cutting the metaphorical umbilical cord was already proving to be cathartic. rami felt much more chipper than he had in the last couple of days--even having oscar back at his side hadn't been able to fully lift the gloom that settled over him on that last day on set. of course, the promise of a lot of his closest friends all in one place, some of whom had made their desire to get him alone very clear, did a lot to lift his spirits. one of those close 'friends' was charlie, who arrived at the hotel after rami, oscar, and pedro already had, each of them making their way to their rooms to drop off their things. getting word that he was there, rami quickly grabbed something off his bed and made his way back down to the lobby, looking around for charlie and hurrying over to him once he was spotted. "hey!" came his enthusiastic greeting, one hand held behind his back while the other reached up to wrap around charlie's neck and give him a tight hug. "i uh... i brought you something," rami added with a grin, bringing the other hand around to his front to reveal a bottle of hard cider. "there's eleven more in my room, i snuck 'em in for ya so you don't have to struggle your way through wine tasting."

c h a r l i e

Charlie wasn't all that comfortable in dressing super nicely all the time, sipping wine and interacting with people in the industry, but his manager had convinced him to go. She said it would be 'good' for his image. Though there was nothing wrong with his image, he knew what she meant and had begrudgingly packed his bags. He hadn't slept on the plane -- since it was less than two hours it didn't really matter, he supposed -- and was feeling particularly cranky because he had to socialise with people he didn't know. The Brit found his room, met his roommate and began unpacking his things as best as he could, hanging up his coats to avoid having to iron anything before deciding to look around a little bit. Making his way down to the lobby, he was mid-stride when he heard Rami's voice, "Hey...!" he hummed, turning to hug him in return and press a warm kiss to his cheek, "How was your flight?" His curiosity got the better of him and Charlie raised a brow, "You brought me something?" When he revealed the ciders, Charlie grinned in surprise and laughed softly, "Amazing...!" He hummed, taking the bottle and inspecting the label, "Thank you Darling," he chuckled, "That's real decent of you -- eleven is going to last me the evening. What am I supposed to do tomorrow?" he teased, nudging his friend playfully.

r a m i

"Ugh, long, but what else is new? I slept through most of it, anyway." He truly had a knack for sleeping anywhere, any time of day. Beaming as Charlie looked the bottle over, his smile turned to a playful scoff and he gave the Brit an enormous eyeroll, shrugging his shoulders. "I could only fit two six packs in my bag, I'm sorry!" he laughed, giving Charlie a playful punch on the arm. "I gave up the space for my three other pairs of shoes for these, so you better be grateful." Shaking his head at the man, he held out a hand to him. "C'mon, let's go see what else this place has, so I know where to find you when you inevitably disappear from the party tomorrow," came his promised dose of sass, lips curving into a small, catty grin. "Who's your roommate?" he asked as they walked, "Did you meet them yet?"

c h a r l i e

“You gave up a extra three pair of shoes for little old me?” He asked playfully, smirking easily before tucking the bottle in the back pocket of his loose jeans. Not entirely sure why he did it, Charlie looked around to see if anyone else was close by before reaching down to grab Rami’s hand when it was offered. He didn’t want to come off as if he was on the look out to make sure no one would see them, it was just an instinct he had in preferring his life to be more private than what was usually on offer for ‘celebrities’. He chuckled a little and sighed, “Ah, you know me too well,” he replied, his thumb gently caressing the back of Rami’s hand as they walked, “Yeah, he and I met when I got here. He seems pretty chill. A beer over wine drinker too, which is nice. Which room are you staying in? Y’know... in case someone asks me ‘cause they’re looking for you or something.”

r a m i

Throwing an incredulous look over his shoulder, Rami couldn't help but smirk. "Right, yes... in case someone else is looking for me," he repeated slowly, tone dripping with good humored sarcasm. "Is this 'someone' a little over six foot, blonde, and devastatingly handsome as well? If that's the case, I might be in trouble, I don't think I'll be able to keep my hands to myself." As if on cue, he gave Charlie's hand a mild squeeze. He hadn't missed the glance around before they started to walk together, and in the interest of preserving some hint of privacy, the Egyptian didn't tug the man closer for a sneaky kiss until they'd rounded a corner and were obscured by hedges. Rising up onto the balls of his feet, Rami brought his opposite hand up and braced it against the back of Charlie's neck, thumb brushing over his ear. "Hey," he muttered against the Brit's lips, "m'lookin' forward to Hawaii, n' gettin' a lot more of this."

c h a r l i e

"You never know who's looking for you, Babes," Was all he could hum in reply a small smirk growing on his lips. When Rami continued on and described him, Charlie couldn't help but gently roll his eyes, "Devastatingly handsome? You been fantasising about Brad Pitt again?" It felt nice to be talked about like that, especially when he was definitely thinking the same way about Rami. There was just... something about the other man that Charlie was innately attracted to; his personality, his charm... his looks. It was strange since Charlie had taken a little longer to realise his attraction to the same sex, but with Rami, an attraction had come quite quickly into their first meeting. The kiss took him off guard, but he was thankful the younger man had stolen it from him somewhere they wouldn't necessarily be seen. He kept his lips against the other's, leaning down so Rami didn't need to be on his toes the whole time before softly deepening the kiss, "Mmm," he hummed, lips moving against the other's, "It'll be a hoot..."

r a m i

"Ooh, shit, you caught me. Brad's my secret lover... sorry I didn't tell you sooner," came the man's quip before he made his move, a smile still on his face. He felt light beneath Charlie's hands, like being here with him was right, almost like a relief from the overbearing grip of unrequited attraction and uncertainty. Fuck, and what a useless thing that had been all this time, if he'd just paid more attention, he might have known sooner that Charlie was genuinely interested. But of course, some things happened for a reason, and perhaps his blindness had been a good thing, giving him time to figure himself out and nuture himself with someone as selfless and understanding as Oscar. Who knows what might have happened if things had played out differently... Rami didn't want to imagine a world in which he inadvertantly pushed Charlie away from him and hurt him, as he'd done to so many others before Oscar. "I'm gonna give you my room number, and I fully expect a late night visit, alright?" Rami purred, pulling out his phone to open their text conversation and send off the number. "Don't disappoint, or I'll be quite sad."

c h a r l i e

"God, that's a damn shame, isn't it?" Charlie sighed gently, shaking his head a little as if he was looking at a blown tire or a spot of tomato sauce he'd dropped on a business shirt, "No one can compete with him... but I hope the two of you will be happy together." He knew it was a out-of-type for a man who looked like he did, but Charlie really did enjoy the sweet moments as much as the rough ones. Stolen kisses behind hedges as the two of them muttered about meeting in the dead of night made his heart race with excitement. As Rami text him, Charlie ran his hand through his hair and trailed his short nails against his neck, "Y'know I'm not good at disappointing you, don't you?" he asked cheekily, stealing another easy kiss, his teeth dragging on Rami's lower lip.

r a m i

All Charlie got was an amused scoff at that point, his attention quickly diverting away to the closeness of their bodies and the way Charlie was looking at him. "Oh, I'm aware," he answered with a smirk, "you've done exactly the opposite of disappoint me since day one." Groaning quietly at the way Charlie teased his lips, Rami quickly fou d himself wishing they were already up in said room. "You remember the way I used to come around your trailer at all hours?" he added in a sultry tone, gripping Charlie's jacket with both hands. "Even though I was supposed to be with someone... well, our relationship was on the way out, and I just keep hoping..." Rami glanced up at his companion, shrugging with one shoulder. "You've kept me balancing on a ledge for some time, whether you knew it or not, big guy. Hardest I've ever pined after someone... far from disappointing."

c h a r l i e

As Rami took a hold of Charlie’s jacket, the older man hooked his fingers in the other’s belt loops and tugged him a little. Once he had a grip on them, he directed Rami to press himself up against the wall behind him so they could mess around a little. He was about to kiss the man again but couldn’t bring himself to as Rami started to talk about being with someone else, “Ra—“ he began, sighing ever so gently, “We Don’t need to talk about that stuff... we’re different now. We can be good, y’know? All that crap can be left away somewhere else...”

r a m i

"Right, sorry," Rami muttered sheepishly, clearly making a physical effort to push it from his mind. He couldn't help it, there were a lot of 'what if's' in his recent past, and he always seemed to steer himself toward a path where he questioned all his choices. Even if the best outcome was clear, even if that's what had ended up happening... he still wondered. "Forget I said anything." Rami offered an apologetic smile, pulling Charlie against him to pin himself to the wall, a move somewhat reminiscent of their first time together.

c h a r l i e

Charlie nudged Rami's temple with his own, shaking her head gently, "You don't gotta apologise... just relax a little. Isn't that what you kept telling me to do?" He didn't want his friend to get into his head about what could have been because Charlie felt quite good about where things were currently, "Nah, I won't forget, it's nice to watch you squirm a little. He moved easily to pin Rami into the wall, his head dipping once more to kiss the shorter man at length, "I can think of a few ways to help you relax..." he spoke against Rami's lips.

r a m i

"Yeah yeah, you're right... I know. I'll cool it." Fuck, Charlie really knew how to wind him up in seconds flat, didn't he? Feeling the man's weight holding him where he stood, helpless to his every whim... Rami gave a heated moan that, while it was relatively quiet so as to not give them away, appropriately conveyed the abrupt peak in his lust for the blonde currently (gently) manhandling him. "Oh you can, can you?" he breathed in return, his hands grasping at Charlie's hips before sliding back over the curve of his ass. "Wanna share 'em with me?"

c h a r l i e

"Good man," he hummed gently, his hands moving down to feel Rami's body over his shirt. He loved the sounds the other man made and was learning he wanted to know them all and understand their different meanings as quickly as possible. He'd seen his room mate leave just before he had for the day so Charlie knew if they went back to his room they'd be alone... at least for the time being. He smirked as Rami's hands began to wander and reached behind him to grab the other man's hand and lace their fingers together, "C'mon, I'm, much better at showing than telling..." he gently tugged at Rami's hand and pulled away to lead him off to his (hopefully) unoccupied room.

r a m i

Happily following along, Rami asked no questions when the two made their way back to Charlie's room, accepting whatever was awaiting them, even if it meant having to kick this other beer-lover out of his shared room. As luck would have it, they seemed to have it to themselves for now, and Rami had barely made it in the door before he was pouncing on his companion (almost literally), grasping him from behind to push up against his ass, his fingers trailing along the man's V, currently hidden by his clothing.

c h a r l i e

Once they were in the room, Charlie couldn't help but snort as Rami's hands began to roam, "You're getting ahead of yourself, Darling," Charlie hummed, his hands smoothing over Rami's and slowly pulling them off his body, "I said I'd help you relax..." He turned to face Rami and kept a hold of one of his hands, slowly moving backward into the bathroom. He lent close to Rami to close the door behind them, catching the shorter man for another easy kiss, "I hope you like the water hot," he hummed, pulling away to turn the large shower on so the water would warm up quickly. Coming back to Rami, Charlie reached for the other man's shirt to slowly peel it off him.

r a m i

"'m perpetually ahead of myself, get used to it," Rami responded, his voice lilting with playful disappointment as Charlie pulled away. His expression was something akin to mild confusion until Charlie spoke again, mentioning hot water. Brow raised, Rami's eyes followed his motions carefully, and when he returned to start taking off Rami's clothes, the Egyptian's heart beat a little faster. The shirt came off over his head, mussing up the already wild, short hair that sat atop there, trimmed down from its natural curly state for work. Rami wasn't going to make this task completely easy for Charlie, not when he had the power to prolong it by interrupting the process with heated kisses and wandering, overzealous hands.

c h a r l i e

"Maybe you really DO need to relax," Charlie hummed easily in reply, his hands slowly moving down Rami's shirt so he could eventually pulling the cloth off him entirely. His hands moved slowly down his chest as Charlie lent down to kiss him easily, humming out a happy moan against his lips, "God, I could kiss you every fucking minute of the day..." he mumbled against the other man's lips, fingers gripping his belt and tugging him flush to his chest as he undid the belt and slid it off.

r a m i

"Mm... maybe you should," Rami countered with a sly smile, draping his arms over Charlie's shoulders, leaning into him heavily. He was loving this attention, loving the way a simple kiss could ignite such a reaction from the man. It was... comforting, actually. After so many false starts, Rami was hesitant to try and walk into anything with anyone else, so having Charlie acting the way he was was reassuring. The words in particular, they sent a warm feeling rushing through his body that he'd all but given up on experiencing with someone new, dramatic as that sounded.

c h a r l i e

Charlie smirked against Rami's lips and tugged his belt off, tossing it aside before unbuttoning his pants and unzipping them so he could slide the pants down, "C'mon," he hummed easily, lips breaking away from Rami so he could remove his own shirt and starting on his pants, "Drop trou' and let's warm up..." He smirked softly over at Rami before walking backward and tugging off his boxers. After a moment of exposing himself to his 'friend', Charlie turned to hop into the large shower and dip his head under the hot water with a happy hum.

r a m i

Watching Charlie undress was a feast for the eyes, and Rami made sure to eat up every last moment of it, his lower lip pinched between his teeth as he hurriedly wriggled out of his pants and boxer briefs. "Yes, sir..." Stepping into the shower behind him, grateful that it was just as roomy as the one back home, Rami quickly closed the space between them to press a kiss to the man's shoulder. Fuck, he was somehow even more attractive than last time, Rami noted.

c h a r l i e

Feeling Rami come into the shower behind him, Charlie smirked as the shorter man kissed his shoulder. He turned slowly, reaching out to catch Rami's hand and pull him in for another deep kiss, the water cascading around his broad shoulders and onto Rami's chest. His hands held the other man's neck for a moment before slowly sliding down his body to feel each ridge of the Egyptian's muscled chest.

r a m i

He was pulled to Charlie like a magnet, his lithe body moving to meet the Brit's every touch, soft, exasperated sighs rolling over his tongue. He didn't know what to do with his hands at this point, eventually opting to get them out of the way again by bringing them up to frame Charlie's face. Rami gave an impatient grunt after a few more moments of heavy kissing, rocking himself closer to press his hips into Charlie's front. Pulling his head back slightly, he peered up at the man through the misty haze created by the steam, his grayish blue eyes silently begging for more. He ached to know what Charlie would ask of him, what he would require of him... the thoughts never seemed to be far from his mind, but could he be blamed?

c h a r l i e

His large fingers moved along Rami's chest and down his stomach, ever so gently ghosting the other man's length to try and tease him as best as he could. The Brit loved these moments, the ones where they were both clearly in the mood for something more, but being a little restricted from simply fucking in the bed in case his room mate came back. When he felt Rami press a little into his hips, he sighed a little at the sensation. "You can't just make out for a bit?" Charlie asked with a gentle smirk on his lips, "God, you're so needy..."

r a m i

"I can too..." Rami shot back with a small pout, moving back to where he'd been before. He knew Charlie was just picking on him for the sake of it, but that wouldn't necessarily stop him from hamming it up. "But you're right, I am needy... better get used to it, bub, or you're gonna run out of stamina real quick." Now it was his turn to smirk, his hands sliding down Charlie's chest to his midriff, where they trailed softly along his sides.

c h a r l i e

"I don't think you've shown me any proof of that yet, Darling," he hummed easily, his hands moving to the other man's hips to pull him close once more, "Don't you go anywhere now you've been close to me again. That's rude." He chuckled gently as Rami mentioned him running out of stamina quickly and grunted against his lips, "I can go all night, Ra... don't you tempt me to prove myself." As Rami's hands moved down Charlie's sides, he bucked his hips a little as if to encourage Rami to explore more of his skin.

r a m i

Huffing out a playfully annoyed sound, Rami let himself be guided back until their skin met beneath the hot stream of water. With the reactionary movement to his wandering hands, Rami gave in, favoring his lust for his friend over wanting to prove him wrong.... and ah, speaking of that..." Oh, I definitely think you should make me believe that some night," Rami teased, grasping a handful of Charlie's ass with one while the other rode dangerously low on his hips, threatening to slip between their bodies. He could feel the physical manifestation of their desire for one another, pinned to each other's legs as they were. "Find out how many times you can make me come in a single night... lemme do the same to you... mm. Sounds like a treat to me."

c h a r l i e

Charlie wanted Rami to touch him -- well, he wanted Rami's lips wrapped around him like they had been their first night together, but the ache of them both wanting to touch and not actually touching was all too enticing to give up, "I promise I will," he insisted, lips moving across the top of Rami's collar before he bit down on the other man's shoulder, "When we get back from Hawaii... I'll have you all fucking night long, Ra. All you gotta do is make time for me."

r a m i

Rami gave a soft moan at the bite, pressing his forehead into the curve of Charlie's neck. "With a promise like that, how can I say no?" came his heated answer, the semi he was sporting growing ever harder. It got to the point that he had to readjust himself, and when he went to do so, he spared another glance in the blonde's direction. "Charlie," he started, able to read their body language well enough to know that this current setup wasn't going to satisfy much longer, "I need you. Take what you want from me... make me do it. Promise I'll be good," the Egyptian muttered in a low voice.

c h a r l i e

"That's why it wasn't a question," Charlie replied pointedly, turning her head a little so he could lean back in and suck a small mark into Rami's neck, "Rami..." he replied when his name was called, his eyes watching hungrily as Rami explained himself. When he asked Charlie to make him do what he wanted, Charlie knew his eyes would have grown a little darker as he locked his gaze on Rami and replied in a soft command, "Down on your knees, Darling..."

r a m i

Rami obediently sank to his knees, slow and deliberate, keeping his gaze trained up at Charlie all the while. Holding the curve between his thumb and index finger against the base of Charlie's cock, Rami took himself in his other hand as he teased the underside of his head with his tongue. It was only moments before he had to take the member in his mouth, bobbing his head a few times before he was sliding as far as he could go, stopped only by his lips and nose meeting with the man's abdomen. The pace was then set, and with every back and forth, Rami sank to the hilt, taking Charlie in full.

c h a r l i e

Once Rami was down in front of him, Charlie ran his hand through the other man's wet hair, pushing it off his face so he could see just how perfect he looked taking him in his mouth. The Brit moaned gently, not wanting to be too loud in case Arin had come back early from whatever he was doing that afternoon, "You look so fucking perfect," Charlie praised him as Rami took him as deep as he could and when he had, Charlie rocked his lips a little to see if he could force himself down a little further into Rami's throat. He let Rami set the pace, not wanting to overwhelm him by being pushy just yet, but he made sure to keep his hand gripping Rami's hair tight, growls and soft praises leaving his mouth as his pleasure began to build.

r a m i

Though any sound he made was significantly muffled, it was still audible, even with the patter of the water hitting the floor around him. He seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself, particularly when Charlie voiced his pleasure as it would always draw out a throaty moan from him, diminished to what was mostly just a vibration. Encouraging the rocking of his hips, Rami eventually coaxed Charlie into making full thrusts, gripping the Brit's thigh to keep himself steady while his dominant hand was still going to town between his legs.

c h a r l i e

Rami sure knew how to drive him crazy and Charlie was loving every minute. His gaze was fixed down at Rami, his pupils dark with need as the other man began to encourage him to thrust of his own accord. Charlie started out a little less forcefully, slowly moving his hips back and forth so Rami wouldn’t be uncomfortable before slowly working up to snapping his hips back and forth at a much more stimulating pace. He moaned harder, his thighs starting to twitch as he knew the feel of Rami’s mouth wouldn’t keep him back from his pleasure for much longer. Looking down again, he realised Rami was touching himself and so he spoke gruffly, “That’s it Darlin’, you gonna cum with me? Thinkin’ about just how good it feels to have me in you?”

r a m i

Every word out of Charlie's mouth acted like a low electric shock to his system, filling his brain with static as he lost himself in the moment. His eyes fluttered between being open and closed, their gaze directed upward, catching glimpses of the delicious look on Charlie's face as he pumped his cock between Rami's eager lips. The questions were met with yet another muffled groan, because yes, /yes/, that's all Rami could think about. How fucking incredible it had felt to have Charlie bent over the top of him, using him in the way he so fervently wanted. The hand in his hair that tugged at the roots with every thrust kept bringing him back to the moment, forcing him to look up at his partner and pushing him that much closer to the edge. In response, all he could do was give the tiniest of nods and squint his eyes shut again, his hand pumping faster, heat building in his core. The approach to his climax was swift and relatively silent, evidenced only by the way he rocked his hips forward and grasped at Charlie's legs with both hands, fingers digging into him.

c h a r l i e

Charlie loved the way Rami looked up at him, his dark pupils focusing on the delightful sight. His hand ran through the other man's hair once more, nails dragging against his scalp still to encourage the other man as best as he could, "That's it..." he hummed his encouragement, biting down on his lip and groaning easily, "Fuck, Rami..." The closer Charlie grew to his orgasm he knew it was going to be a big one but when his shower-partner's nails dug into his skin and the vibration of a moan rocked through the taller man, Charlie found himself falling over the edge of his own ecstasy and finishing right in Rami's mouth, "Rami...!" he growled as he came, his hips shuddering and his hand reaching out to press against the shower wall so he didn't accidentally crush Rami if his knees gave way.

r a m i

There was hardly a need to swallow, considering how forcefully Charlie's load had rocketed to the back of his throat. Yet another instance in which Rami was thankful for his significantly subdued gag reflex, truth be told. Letting his hands curve around to the front of Charlie's thighs and slide down toward his knees, Rami slowly pulled his head back, carefully suckling at the head to clean up anything still left over before finally rising to his feet. His palms moved across the blonde's warm, wet skin, tracing over the contours of his sculpted chest while a smile danced on his lips. "Like hearin' you say my name like that," he quietly muttered, his voice raw.

#(rm)

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neruran · 5 years

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Kippou

Series: Boku no/My Hero Academia Rating: T (for language mostly) Genre: Fluff Relationships: Bakugou/Kirishima/Uraraka [Kirikacchako] Characters: Uraraka Ochako, Bakugou Katsuki, Kirishima Eijirou, Bakugou Masaru, Bakugou Mitsuki, Uraraka Ochako’s Parents, Kirishima Eijirou’s Parents, OCs, minor characters created for the story Other Tags: Established Relationship, Polyamory, Future Fic, Pregnancy, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, probably a little OOC Summary: Informed that all is well and healthy so far, Ochako, Eijirou, and Katsuki decide to tell their parents the happy news; that they'll all be grandparents in a few months.

Check notes for AO3 link, because this hellsite has a vendetta against links within posts and I hate the link post format, so I gotta make a workaround.

(Title means "good news" in Japanese)

Remember when I said “famous last words” regarding not writing a continuation to Tsuwari? Yeah I was right. I also told myself when I started writing this “oh this’ll be short, just a couple snippets from different points along the timeline of Ochako's pregnancy and their forays into parenting” - you know, like a fool - then 2k later and I still hadn’t gotten to the main point of this so-called snippet, and I finally accepted that this was going to be its own oneshot. Sometimes I hate being so rambly. I admittedly struggled with this more than Tsuwari for various reasons, and I've also done further research and found a couple minor things in Tsuwari aren't quite correct, largely with how Japan deals with pregnancy and childbirth, but it's ultimately relatively minor stuff so I'm not arsed to correct it. It's actually been a little fascinating reading up on the official (as in government-related stuff such as paperwork and healthcare) and social/cultural differences between Japan and North America, so I tried to incorporate hints to some of what I learned, and if I can wrangle my focus and inspiration to write more about Kirikacchako's adventures into parenthood, I'll try to show the differences in those fics/snippets as well.

Once again I have footnotes, which are not really necessary to read to enjoy the story but add flavour, you could say.

As always, comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated, but likes, kudos, and bookmarks are nice too! Hope you enjoy!

The day after her little discovery, Ochako books an appointment for that week with her ob/gyn. When she goes in a couple days later and relays the story to Dr. Houkou, they laugh heartily for a good five minutes, much to Ochako's embarrassment. [1]

"I'm terribly sorry for laughing, it really is a little amazing you didn't put the pieces together until now,” they say once they've calmed down, dabbing their eyes with a tissue.

"You can't entirely blame me," Ochako mumbles, hiding her red face. She knows Dr. Houkou doesn't mean any insult, and honestly it is a little funny, but still, she can't help but feel embarrassed for herself.

"That's true, and to tell you the truth, this is not the biggest case of lack of observation; I've heard stories of people who didn't realize they were pregnant until they went to the hospital complaining of stomach pains, when it turned out they were in labour!" [2]

"Oh gosh, I hope I would've noticed long before then!" Uneasily, she rubs her belly. "If not me, one or both of my partners.”

"I'm sure you would; from what I know of those instances, there were certain factors that led the parent-to-be to not recognize the signs, or made the signs less than obvious, which while that's evidently somewhat applicable to you, those situations were more...extreme, I suppose you could say?"

"I'm just glad the worst that's happened to me is this broken wrist," Ochako says, lifting her cast. "I forgot to ask at the hospital, but will this affect the baby at all?"

"No, it should be fine. At worst, it'll be a little slow to heal as most of your body's resources are focused on what's in your womb rather than healing your injuries, but I'm sure the extra downtime will be good for you. Oh don't pull that face, you workaholic," Dr. Houkou scolds, rolling their eyes at the poorly concealed pout Ochako has. "I know you're a busy hero, but it's important you take time to recover, especially now it's not just yourself that you need to look out for.”

"I know, it's just going to be tough," sighs Ochako. "I love helping people! After being in this field for so many years, I feel restless at the idea of not doing anything more than paperwork or small tasks, but I'll have to get used to it for the next while."

"Don't worry, before you know it, you'll be having your baby and jumping back into the fray. Now, let's figure out that due date."

~~~

"We're home!"

"Welcome back!" Ochako calls back, peeking her head over the back of the couch to smile at her partners as they make their way into their apartment. "How was work today?"

"Nothing super exciting on my end, just broke up a scuffle between a couple of rowdy yankii while out on patrols," Eijirou reports.

Katsuki huffs, evidently jealous. "Boring as shit."

"Oh calm down, you got to stop a robbery last week."

"Doesn't make this week any less boring."

Rolling his eyes, Eijirou picks up a meowing Hotaru, placing her on his shoulder as he plops down beside Ochako. He peers curiously at the various booklets and pamphlets she has scattered around her. "How about you? How'd your appointment go?"

"Well, besides giving them a good laugh when I told them how I hadn't noticed I was pregnant"—she shoots a pouty glare towards the kitchen when Katsuki snickers, but he ignores her as he starts on dinner, so she continues—"they confirmed everything's going well and that I'm probably on the tail end of twelve weeks, and we worked out my due date."

"Oh, that's awesome! When is it?"

"February 20th!"

"February, huh," Eijirou muses aloud. "We're just at the beginning of August; February seems so far away...The due date's just a guesstimate, right? So it could be born on a different day. Think it'll be a Valentine's baby?"

"I fucking hope not," Katsuki gripes. "People would probably only give them chocolate and Valentine shit for their birthday, I sure as fuck don't want our kid subjected to that."

"Hey Eiji, you think we'll have to implement a swear jar when the baby's born?" Ochako says teasingly. "Or do you think Katsuki'll manage to get his language under control before then?"

"Shut up, my language is fine."

"Sure, sure, I'm sure all of our mothers would appreciate it when one day while babysitting, our kid says ‘fuck' out of nowhere, and I'm sure it would not be much of a mystery as to who they learned that word from," Eijirou replies. [3]

The noise of Katsuki preparing dinner pauses for a moment. Ochako and Eijirou exchange knowing looks.

"...I'll work on it."

"Wary of what Mitsuki would say?"

"Hell no, that old hag can nag all she wants, she's not much better. It's your mom's disapproval I'd rather avoid," Katsuki answers, pointing at Eijirou.

"Mine? Do you mean Mom or Mama?"

"Ikane."

"Really?" Ochako questions, giving a little laugh in disbelief. "But she's such a sweetheart like Eijirou here." She reaches up to ruffle Eijirou's hair, earning a half-hearted complaint about his drooping hair spikes being messed up.

Eijirou chuckles as he gently swats her hand away from his head, petting Hotaru when she meows at him. "You haven't seen her in full mom mode. Once when I was in middle school, I said something crass without realizing while Mama was babysitting some neighbour kids, and the look she gave me could've pierced right through my Unbreakable state. Not to mention the ear twisting I got shortly after." Absently he rubs his ear, recalling the pain.

"I...suppose I can see that. If it's anything like the expression you make at villains that make you angry, it must be something."

Katsuki mutters a "you have no idea" unnoticed. For the best; he doesn't care to explain to Ochako the incident that lead to him earning Ikane's ire, however brief it was.

"Mama does like to say I inherited her passion instead of her quirk," Eijirou says with humour. "Though, speaking of; do we want to start telling people we're expecting? I mean, I know some people wait until the end of the first trimester anyway since the chances of miscarriage are pretty low after that point, so then it's pretty set in stone that a baby's on the way."

Ochako hums thoughtfully, drumming her fingers absently on Eijirou's knee. "I think I'd like to tell my parents first, but I'd prefer to do it in person or on video call. It seems impersonal to give them the news any other way."

"I wanna tell my moms right away; I just know Mama's gonna love hearing that she'll be a grandma. But I'm also excited to tell all our friends.”

"Why don't we just conference call all our parents and tell them all at once?" Katsuki proposes, scraping some vegetables he just cut up into a pot. "I know the hag'll complain if she's one of the last informed, so if we do it that way, it gets it all out of the way at the same time and I don't get my ear nagged off."

"That's...not a bad idea," Ochako says, blinking in mild surprise.

"Of course it's not, I came up with it. You make it sound like I come up with bad ideas on the regular basis."

Eijirou smirks slyly. "You mean ideas like putting too much hot sauce in your food just to prove you can take it, only to get hit by the consequences later in the bathroom, Kacchan?"

"Shut up, at least I can take it!"

"Now, now, your unfortunate dietary decisions aside, I didn't mean to imply you don't have good ideas," Ochako interrupts. Katsuki grumbles, but puts up no further argument. "I was just surprised I hadn't considered it. Since I have the next couple days off to give my wrist a little more rest, why don't I contact everyone and coordinate it?"

"Sounds like a plan! And then we can start telling all our friends and stuff!" Eijirou giddily hops in his seat, which of course disturbs the cat on his shoulder. She lets out a growl and bats at his head. "Ow, yeah, sorry Hotaru, I deserved that." He sets her down, letting her stalk off to cuddle up with Kyou who's laying in her doggie bed in the corner, touching his ear to check that she didn't scratch him.

Ochako giggles at him. "You think everyone will assume we're adopting another cat at first?"

"I mean, they might, but we only did that once with Hotaru and it was funny! I think in this instance though, I'd prefer to tell some people face-to-face first before announcing it on our social media. Mostly I wanna see Denki, Mina, and Hanta's faces when they hear the news.”

"Yeah, Dunce Face will probably flip his shit, it'll be hilarious."

"I'm excited to tell Tsuyu-chan, Tenya-kun, and Deku-kun. Oh, stop making that face, Katsuki."

"What face? I'm not making any face," Katsuki replies petulantly. "I'm not even facing you."

"Yeah, but I know you and I know you're pulling a face at the idea of involving Deku-kun, because you always do even though you two are friends now," she says, rolling her eyes. Eijirou snickers to himself.

"We are not friends, I just tolerate the stupid nerd enough to work with him on occasion."

Once again, Eijirou and Ochako exchange looks then simultaneously roll their eyes affectionately, fully aware that whatever bad blood the two had as children has long been resolved enough that they frequently trade spots on the hero rankings and collaborate on missions, all the while throwing harmless barbs and challenges back and forth. The relationship is complicated, as "friends" doesn't quite describe them, but "rivals" or "frenemies" doesn't seem right either. They're just "Deku and Kacchan", a category of their own.

"Point is," Ochako continues. "Deku-kun is my friend, and I'm looking forward to sharing the news with him. I know he's going to be very happy for all of us."

"Think he'll cry?" Eijirou asks.

"Definitely," Ochako and Katsuki answer simultaneously.

Eijirou laughs, leaning into Ochako. "You're right, dumb question. He may be better than when we were first-years, but I should know better than to underestimate the secret Midoriya secondary quirk. Now, what's all this you got here, Chako?"

Lighting up, Ochako eagerly explains the various pamphlets that cover things like her recommended diet, the baby's development, and what sort of information she needs to submit to the Health Office. Eijirou just as eagerly listens, nodding his head and asking questions, and though he's busy making dinner, she knows Katsuki has an ear on the conversation so she makes sure to talk loud enough for him to hear as well.

~~~

Coordinating the conference call with their parents ends up being a more difficult task than Ochako expects; each set of parents has different schedules and events, not to mention there's Eijirou and Katsuki's schedules to consider, so it actually takes several phone calls and emails to figure out a day and time that works for everyone. The entire time Ochako also finds herself dodging the question for why this is so important, merely explaining that their triad had some good news for them and wanted to announce it to them all at the same time. She admittedly flushes when Mitsuki teases that perhaps one of them proposed to the other two or vice versa—the idea of getting married to Eijirou and Katsuki flustering her even if they're already expecting a child—but clumsily acts coy to keep her from guessing the actual news.

After two days of back-and-forth, they finally all agree that the upcoming Friday after dinner will work for everyone, barring any emergencies. Which gives Ochako several days time to build up her excitement, but also her anxiousness. What if any of their parents don't approve? Her own parents had been rather apprehensive about her being in a poly relationship back when she first told them, but now that it's been several years with only a couple hiccups, they're happy for Ochako's happiness, but what if this changes their minds again? Sure she's a grown adult capable of making her own decisions in life, but she's always been close with her parents so she'd hate to lose that relationship over this. Mitsuki's reaction also worries her a bit, as while she does like the woman, she can be rather brash and critical like Katsuki at the most unpredictable of times.

She quietly admits this to Katsuki as they're snuggled up on the couch waiting for Eijirou to get home from a late-running patrol shift; he gruffly assures her that both his mom and dad will be ecstatic at the news, so her parents will surely feel the same, which means she has nothing to worry about. In return, he confesses feeling a little apprehensive himself regarding her and Eijirou's parents reaction to him being involved, but Ochako's quick to tell him that if she's fine, then he's fine as well because their parents all know what a good person he is and seen how wonderful and loving a partner he's been, so they should have no qualms.

Eijirou, on the other hand, seems to vibrate with anticipation with each passing day, as if the information that they're expecting is waiting to burst out of him like an explosion from Katsuki's palms. It even seeps into his aura while out doing hero work, enough that one of Ochako's sidekicks happens to take notice.

"Red Riot-san was more energetic than usual when I happened to pass by him doing patrols on my way home yesterday," Subspacer muses when Ochako stops by the office to pick up more work to do from home. "When I asked him if something good had happened on patrol, he grinned and said no, but he did get some news that made him really happy recently, but didn't elaborate further." They turn to her, head tilted curiously. "Any idea what that's about?" [4]

Ochako gives a chuckle that she hopes isn't as nervous-sounding as she feels. "Oh, I wouldn't think on it too hard...You've seen him in casual work settings, he gets excited over the smallest stuff." She does her best to maintain a smiling poker face as they eye her a moment, before they let whatever it is they're thinking go, going on to fill her in on what's happened at the office in her absence. Ochako knows they're suspicious, but mentally thanks them for not pressing the matter.

The days pass and Friday arrives without much fanfare. All three of them are antsy in their own ways during dinner; Eijirou can't seem to sit still at all, Katsuki's foot bounces restlessly, and Ochako frequently slips into her natural Kansai accent as she talks, excitement and anxiousness starting to come to a head as the promised time ticks closer. Soon enough, their dinner is eaten and cleaned up, their pets are fed, and then they're sitting on their couch with Eijirou's laptop opened up on Ochako's lap.</p>

On her right, Katsuki's phone makes a little ‘boom' noise to indicate he has a new message. "My old man says he and the hag are ready when we are," Katsuki says after checking.

Eijirou's phone dings to her left a moment later. "My moms are good to go!"

Sure enough, hers buzzes less than a minute after, and a quick glance tells her that her parents are also ready. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she smiles at both her partners, then clicks the button to start the conference call.

Eijirou's mothers are the first to pick up, but her parents and Katsuki's follow suit seconds after. It's almost overwhelming seeing six faces on the screen, but besides the big news she intends to drop during this call, this is something they've all done before in lieu of separate phone calls and emails. Besides, it's been weeks since she's seen any of them through anything besides social media, so it's nice to be able to talk to their families face-to-face, even if there's a screen separating them. Smiling brighter, she gives a little wave, Eijirou doing the same. "Hello everyone!" she greets. A chorus of greetings echoes back from their parents. "I'm glad this worked out, it's been so long since we've been able to do a group call like this!"

"The woes of adulthood and having busy jobs, right hon?" Mitsuki turns to Masaru, who nods in agreement.

"How is that new line coming along, Masaru-san? I recall Mitsuki-san mentioning before you two had a deadline this week," asks Karuko. [5]

"I've finished everything that's within my control, so now it's just a matter of waiting for the samples to see if there's anything that needs adjusting before going into full production." [6]

"That's good to hear! Considering your other work, I'm sure it'll be a success."

"Not that I don't want to hear how the rest of you are doing," Tomoe interrupts, blunt but not unkind. "I think I'd like to hear from our children, since it's often so hard to get a hold of them with their unpredictable jobs." Ikane smiles a little, apologetic for her partner's abruptness. [7]

"Aw, but we wanna hear what you're up to too, Mom!" Eijirou jokingly complains, grinning.

"She does have a point though," Saburou says. "Ochako, how's your arm? I hope you're getting proper rest so it heals properly."

Katsuki snorts. "As if either of us would let her do anything reckless on our watch."

Ochako shoots him a sharp look hidden behind a smile that says “be glad you're sitting on my injured side, because I would be giving you such a pinch right now if I could”; Katsuki simply smirks back at her. Huffing, she turns back to their families. "I promise I'm getting plenty of rest; all I've been doing the past week is paperwork, which I'm glad I can do on my laptop because it's difficult writing left-handed! I feel so antsy sitting around barely doing anything though, so at my next check-up I'll ask if it's okay to go out for runs or something."

"I understand feeling restless, but please be careful, Ochako," her mother chides worriedly. "We wouldn't want you to get hurt further."

"Agreed!" Ikane cheerfully pipes in. "As amazing as that takedown was, it wouldn't do if you were out of commission for months instead of weeks."

The trio shares a glance at that, which doesn't go unnoticed by Mitsuki. "Now what's that look for? Is that related to whatever news you had to share with us?"

"Oh that's right, you did mention having some sort of good news. Did one of you go up in rank?"

"Did you get new sidekicks?"

"Are you being recruited for another overseas assignment?"

"New sponsors?"

"Whoa, whoa, one at a time," Eijirou laughs, holding up his hands. Once their parents settle a bit, he continues, "It's not anything related to our jobs, though it will kinda affect them."

"Particularly for Ochako here," Katsuki adds, nodding to her.

Confused and curious faces stare at them, bringing Ochako's nerves back, but she steels herself; after all, what do any of them have to be unhappy about? "So, when I had told you that they didn't have anyone with a healing quirk on staff at the hospital to heal my wrist, I wasn't being honest with you. Truthfully, they did have someone there, but because of some tests they ran, they were hesitant to use the quirk on me as they weren't sure how my body would react."

In the corner of her eye, Eijirou's grin gets steadily wider, his hand gripping hers as he tries to contain himself from bouncing in his seat. With a roll of his eyes, Katsuki reaches behind her and gives his arm a gentle swat, but it does nothing to hinder Eijirou's energy. On the screen, Tomoe's eyeing them intensely, to the point that if Ochako wasn't absolutely sure her quirk doesn't work through screens or cameras, she'd almost think that she's reading their auras to try and get a bead on whatever it is they're building up to. Not for the first time, she finds herself glad she's never considered going into business law, as she'd hate to be stared down by Tomoe during negotiations or prosecutions.

"Why is that, Ochako-san?" Masaru inquires. "What did they find?"

"Well, turns out that I—"

"You're going to be grandparents!" Eijirou blurts excitedly, unable to hold himself back any longer. When Ochako and Katsuki both turn to him with fondly exasperated expressions, he at least has enough awareness to look sheepish at his outburst. "Sorry, I just couldn't wait any longer."

All their parents are quiet, faces in various levels of stunned and surprised. It's Saburou that speaks up first. "Pardon me, what?"

Shaking her head at Eijirou, Ochako turns back to the laptop. "Turns out I'm pregnant, nearly fourteen weeks now. We're having a baby!"

"Wait, really?" Mitsuki exclaims, and it seems the Urarakas are about to speak as well, but everyone's interrupted by a joyous scream that makes them all jolt.

On the Kirishima-Keshiki part of the screen, Ikane's leapt from her seat and started hopping around, still squealing happily. "Ohmygodohmygodohmygod, I'm going to be a grandma! Tomoe we're gonna be grandmas! Oh my god!"

"You really did get your passion from her," Katsuki observes dryly, earning a giggle from Ochako.

"She's going to be like this for a minute or two, so I'm going to mute us until she calms down so the rest of you can talk," Tomoe says, rolling her eyes fondly before Ikane's happy screams go silent, though she's still jumping around on screen.

"Your mother really does love children, doesn't she, Eijirou-kun?" teases Mitsuki.

"Oh you didn't see his reaction when Ochako told us the news, he did pretty much the exact same thing as Ikane."

"Katsukiiiii, they didn't have to know that!" Eijirou complains, flushing a bit.

"You literally just shamelessly blurted out the surprise, you have no right to be embarrassed now!"

"Boys, play nice," Ochako chides playfully, patting them both on the leg.

"While I am happy at this news," Karuko butts in, expression stuck between elated and concerned. "You said you're close to fourteen weeks along, right? That means you've been doing all that strenuous and stressful hero work. Are you sure everything is okay?"

Ochako nods, turning her gaze down and placing her uninjured hand on the bump that's become a little more prominent in the past week but is still easily hidden by her clothing. "I was really worried when I first heard the results for that exact reason, but I got a check-up at the hospital and have had two appointments with my doctor since then, and they've said I've got a healthy and hardy baby growing despite all the factors that could have made it otherwise."

Sound returns to the Kirishima-Keshiki feed, with Tomoe and Ikane settled back in their seats. "Whew, I'm sorry for my outburst, everyone," Ikane says, looking a little out-of-sorts and somewhat teary-eyed, but still positively glowing from joy. "I got a bit overzealous. But still, I'm so happy and proud of you three! To have a baby that's managed to hold on and stay healthy without you being careful means it must be fate for you to have it. Do you have an idea on which of you is the father?"

"No," Ochako's quick to answer before either of her partners could. "And I don't think we'll really know until it's born, but to be completely honest, if possible I don't think I want to know at all, because even if only one of them will be related by blood, both Katsuki and Eijirou will be raising them with me together, and I think that counts just as much if not more than whoever contributed chromosomes." She looks up again, and her eye strays over to Tomoe. There's a subtle expression of understanding and gratitude on her face, and her hand's wandered to grasp Ikane's, and Ochako knows that she sees her point more than any of the other parents on this call. "No matter what, they'll both this baby's father. No ‘real' father or bullshit like that."

Everyone's silent for a moment, stunned by the sudden conviction and seriousness in her words. She knows her partners are both staring at her, but she stays looking at the screen so that she doesn't lose her nerve. It's only when she hears a quiet sniffle beside her that her concentration breaks, but before she can turn to see what's wrong, Eijirou's got his arm around her and pulling her close, face buried in her hair.

"That was so manly," he whispers, voice a little choked up, and he presses a soft kiss to her head. "You're the best, I love you so, so much."

On her other side, Katsuki all but shoves his face into the space between her neck and shoulder, his hand gripping her bicep. He murmurs something, but she doesn't really catch what it is. While she appreciates the sudden affection, she's a bit embarrassed that it's happening with their parents right there, and she's not really sure what's brought it on. "I— Uh— What—" she stammers, stuck between looking for help from their onlookers and avoiding eye contact with them. On screen, her parents and Masaru have politely chosen to turn their attention elsewhere while Mitsuki grins, unbothered by the PDA and in fact looking oddly proud. [8]

"You're right." Ochako turns her attention to Ikane and Tomoe's feed, where Tomoe seems to be holding back giggles at Ochako's predicament but also looking away politely. Ikane, on the other hand, is watching their triad with fondness, gaze soft. "That was rude of me to say, especially when I'm fully aware that love and family aren't defined purely by blood." Her hand finds Tomoe's, and she gives it a gentle squeeze in apology. "You're going to be a wonderful mother, Ochako-chan, and I'm glad my son has such loving partners in you and Katsuki-kun."

Eijirou whines, ears turning pink as he hides his face further. "Mama, don't say things like that, I'm gonna cry more! And then Ochako will start crying because hormones, and I'll feel bad for making her cry, and then Mom might get involved—"

"Hey now."

"—and maybe Katsuki will get overwhelmed—"

"Oi, don't just assume things—!"

"Nothing wrong with some manly happy tears, Ei-chan; I know we taught you that!"

"I know, but it's still a bit embarrassing to do it in front of everyone!"

"Says one of the two currently clinging to me without shame..." Ochako mumbles.

Both Eijirou and Katsuki stiffen, realizing that yes, they're practically smothering Ochako while their parents are watching; Ochako can't move her head much in this position, but she's sure they're both starting to flush. After a moment, the two finally pull away, their heads turned to avoid eye contact with everyone.

Eijirou lets out a sheepish chuckle, ruffling his hair. "S-Sorry about that, I guess we got a bit overwhelmed and forgot about our company."

"No harm, no foul," Saburou assures gently, waving off the apology.

"Besides, it was kind of cute. It's not often I get to see my Katsuki get so emotional," Mitsuki teases.

"Shut the fuck up, old hag," Katsuki grumbles, flushing more and sinking a bit into the couch.

Masaru puts a hand on Mitsuki's shoulder when it seems like she's about to scold their son. "Be nice, you two," he chides, waiting until Mitsuki's hackles lower before looking to Ochako. "Really, we're delighted at this news, and we're happy that you've shared it with us all. I'm sure all of us parents can agree that it's not always an easy road, but we're all here for you if there's anything you should need along the way."

"Of course!" Karuko pipes up. "We'd be happy to give you advice and help whenever you need it. Now, tell us more about everything, like when are you due?"

From there, the conversation flows smoothly, starting at talks about Ochako's pregnancy and what the three of them are to expect in the future before eventually moving on to general life updates such as new projects at work or what their neighbours are up to. As the group call edges towards the two hour mark, everyone notes with amusement that Ochako's eyes have begun to droop. Ochako tries to insist she's fine when Saburou points this out, but before long her head is leaning against Katsuki's shoulder, barely able to stay up. The families all say their goodbyes, promising once again that the three of them are welcome to come to them for anything and kindly demanding to keep updated, then the call ends. Eijirou reaches over to close the laptop, taking it from Ochako's lap as he stands and chuckling when Ochako shifts to sleepily cuddle with Katsuki now that she's free to move.

Katsuki, on the other hand, rolls his eyes, though it does nothing to diminish his affectionate smirk at Ochako's drowsiness. "C'mon Ochako, let's get your ass to bed."

"Nooooo..." Ochako tiredly protests. "'m fine, yer just"—she yawns—"just warm and cozy..."

He snorts. "It was fucking thirty degrees outside today and it's not even that cold in here with aircon, why the hell do you want to be warm?"

"Shhhhh..."

"Alright then." Despite her protesting, he stands, scoops her into his arms with no more than a quiet grunt, then saunters off towards their bedroom even as she half-heartedly wiggles about. "If you behave and go to bed, you can cuddle me all you want."

"But I dun wanna go to sleeeeeeep," Ochako whines, pawing at his chest in a lazy effort to get away.

"Oi, if you don't stop wriggling around, I'm gonna drop you and it'll be completely on purpose," he warns.

"No you won', 'cause 'm pregnant, injured, 'nd cute, 'nd I know ya love me too much to drop me..."

As they enter the room, Katsuki hears Eijirou—who's getting changed into his sleepwear off to the side—laugh at Ochako's sleepy retort, so he levels a frown that says "don't encourage her" at him, even though he knows that she's completely right in that statement. He would maybe consider dropping her on her butt just to show that he won't put up with her being a little shit if she wasn't pregnant, but circumstances are not in his favour, so instead he unceremoniously deposits her on the bed, earning a squeak.

"Uncalled for..." she grumbles, pouting petulantly as she rolls to the side and hugs her pillow. "What if I hurt my wrist more?"

"I know you're not that fragile, Round Face, so don't try to guilt me."

"Eiiiijiiiii, Kacchan's bein' mean to meeee..." Rolling his eyes again, Katsuki goes to change into his own sleeping clothes.

"There, there, if you really don't wanna sleep, you can cuddle with me and watch me play some Street Fighter," Eijirou says as he slides into bed, handheld console in hand. "Do a bit of backseat gaming. How's that sound?" [9]

Ochako hums, her tired brain considering the offer. "...'Kay..."

"But first, you're getting changed out of your day clothes," Katsuki announces, tossing a set of her pyjamas on the bed. When Ochako makes no move to do so, he huffs, then reaches over and pulls her towards him, tugging gently but forcibly at her clothes. "C'mon, you're not going to be comfortable sleeping in those shorts, let alone your bra."

"Whoa, getting frisky, are we?" Eijirou teases, waggling his eyebrows with a sly grin. Katsuki responds by throwing a pillow at Eijirou, who cackles even as it hits him in the face.

Before long, Ochako's changed into her pyjamas and curled into Eijirou's side, her head resting on his chest so she can watch the screen, her cast wrist pillowed carefully. Katsuki slips in on her other side after finishing his nightly routine; instead of cuddling, however, he chooses to sit up against the headboard, reading glasses perched on his nose and a book open on his lap. Eijirou's game and the occasional turning page are the only noises in the room, until barely half an hour later, both boys glance up at a quiet snore, smiling upon seeing Ochako out cold as predicted. Eijirou lets her continue sleeping on him for a little while longer, then carefully shifts her to sleep on her proper pillow, kissing her brow softly. Katsuki sets his book and reading glasses aside as Eijirou gets up to finish his own nightly routine, shuffling down under the covers and putting an arm around Ochako, who shifts closer to his warmth in her sleep. When Eijirou returns to the room ten minutes later, he's greeted with the sight of Katsuki spooned protectively against Ochako and just as asleep as her. While not a new sight, it's one that Eijirou can never get tired of, and he can only imagine how much better it will get as Ochako's belly grows, and then when their new addition comes into the world. Quietly, he takes a picture to appreciate later, then goes to join them on the bed, leaning over Ochako to peck Katsuki on the cheek before turning off the bedside light and settling in to sleep himself.

Footnotes: [1] - This time the doctor is not named for their profession, but still named for their quirk; I had a thought a little while ago that went something along the lines of “you know people probably take on jobs that have nothing to do with their quirk all the time, why don’t we see more of that in the HeroAca world”, and so we have Dr. Houkou. Their quirk basically makes them a human GPS; their name is made up of the kanji for “direction” and “navigation”.

[2] - This is apparently a thing that has happened to some people, believe it or not. Not something that happens often, mind you, but it happens. Factors for why the pregnancies go unnoticed include the person’s weight, the size and position of the baby, and things like spotting being mistaken for light periods. Which is why if you thought I was stretching the truth too much by having Ochako not notice for three months, surprise! Reality is weirder than you think.

[3] - Me: You know Bakugou’s language in Japanese isn’t really full of swearing, it’s just very blunt and rude because Japanese doesn’t have the same equivalents to curse words so the likelihood of a child imitating his speech is unlikely.

Also me: Meh who cares, gonna write it like that anyway, it’s funnier to think about it this way.

[4] - Unlike the doctors I’ve named in this story and Tsuwari, Subspacer is a full-fledged OC of mine! I’ve given careful thought into their quirk, name, and personality, though I’ve been undecided on their age and professional status for a while. I decided to add them in as one of Ochako’s sidekicks for giggles, but if I do get around to writing more of this storyline, you’ll likely be seeing more mention of them!

[5] - Since Ochako’s parents don’t have names (truly a travesty; they’re an important part of her motivation, but they have yet to get profiles like the Bakugous or Jirous? I call unfairness), I decided to give them names. Following Horikoshi’s current naming conventions for parents—which involves separating the kanji in the children’s names and giving at least one to each parent as part of their names (i.e. Katsuki “勝己” separates to get Masaru “勝” and Mitsuki “光己”), the only exception so far being the Midoriyas as Izuku “出久” only shares kanji with his yet-to-be-seen father Hisashi “久”—I took the “茶” and “子” from Ochako’s name and searched through various kanji readings and meanings to get Saburou “茶奉郎” and Karuko “軽子”. The sa in Saburou means “tea” and an alternate reading of the kanji, while bu means “offer, dedicate” and rou means “son” (this same kanji is in Eijirou’s name; it’s a relatively common kanji for boy names). Karu means “light (opposite of heavy)” which is supposed to reference what I can only assume is the family quirk (again, we have no idea what her parents’ quirks are; I DEMAND TO KNOW HORIKOSHI), and then ko means “child” and—similar to rou being common for boy names—is pretty common for girl names.

[6] - I will admit I have no idea how the production of fashion lines work, and unlike many other things, I’m not arsed to research it for a single line of dialogue (I do that enough as it is...I’m very easily distracted) so if I’m horrendously wrong on how fashion designers work in a company, please ignore it.

[7] - I actually have come up with entire profiles for Eijirou’s mothers, but I do not have the room in the notes to go into complete detail on them on here, so feel free to read about them here instead. I unfortunately don’t draw so they don’t have ‘official’ appearances, but I’ve tried to describe them as I see them in my head as best I can.

[8] - I think it’s relatively well-known that PDA in Japan tends to get the side-eye if it’s anything more than holding hands, and while Japan as a culture does seem to be slowly getting laxer about it and this fic is set in the hypothetical future, I doubt there would be significant change, plus I’m sure they’ll still think PDA in front of one’s parents is pretty taboo. Personally I’d feel a bit shy about hugging/cuddling with my S/O in front of my family, but I’m also aroace af so what do I know, hahaha.

[9] - Just imagine the gaming console Eijirou’s using is similar to the Switch, but like...a future version. Maybe it’s not even a Nintendo product, who the heck knows what game technology is gonna be like.

I considered also writing about the trio telling their friends the same week in-universe, but all the ideas I have for that are kinda vague and I’m not really sure how to write the scenes out without seeming repetitious, or how to keep them interesting to read, so I nixed that in favour of ending at this point, especially since I’ve struggled so much to get here. Maybe that’ll be an actual snippet, but no promises, hahaha.

#my hero academia #boku no hero academia #kirikacchako #katsuki bakugou #kirishima eijirou #uraraka ochako #kiribakuraka #nerufic #once again this is queued up to post during the day

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