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rokuhoku · 1 year

Text

"... are you pouting?"

Pairing: Namor x Filipino!Reader

Rating: General Audiences, Comedy

Summary: Namor waits by your usual meeting place... except this time you don't show up. And for the following days, you fail to show up again, causing your friend to feel greatly unnerved.

Word Count: 3,552

Content Warning: None

Disclaimer: Again, as mentioned before, Namor is slightly cold towards the reader! He isnt hateful or anything, just has his guard up bc of surface world resentment. Though, that guard can be taken back down sometimes ;)

__________

Reminder: This fic is part of a Namor x Filipino!Reader miniseries, but can be read on its own! Miniseries fic(s):

a piece of your history. / "beloved." /

"... are you pouting?"

__________

“I always go here before the sun sets, the view gets really good, you know? Pero wala pa rin siya sa Pinas, ang init dun, shet.”

You stated, though what you said only seemingly fell on deaf ears. Namor continued looking ahead, not showing any signs that he was actively listening. Nonetheless, you smiled, staring back at the ocean, just as he was.

“Yung tipong parang niluluto ka na nung araw kada labas mo.” You laughed to yourself, and Namor’s lips twitched upwards for a split second.

The golden hues shining on your skin wasn’t as scorching as it was in your country, however. You mused to yourself. Your hands splashed a bit in the water, as you were in it with him this time, making sure to wear something waterproof.

Was it a dumb idea to be in the same environment as someone who could kill you in an instant? Probably. But it was a particularly hot day out and you will be damned if you don’t take a dip in the water.

“So when you come up here to…” Your lips pursed, and a part of Namor disliked your hesitation. “... meet up. Make sure to not make it so late? I don’t like waiting until night time. Baka magtaka kaibigan ko tas masampal pa’ko pag nakauwi ako ng sobrang late na, hehe.”

Namor would’ve scoffed if he could, it was as if you were demanding him to attend these meetups that weren’t even mandatory. It did not benefit him nor you in any way to keep meeting up like this.

And yet.

He still always managed to come on time.

Just as how it is right now.

Namor’s eyes scanned the area from where he was in the deeper parts of the water. You weren’t here yet, which was particularly strange for him. You always managed to get here a few moments after noon, so seeing your regular spot empty was somewhat foreign to him, having spent so much time with you.

He frowned, this was peculiar. You were always there to greet him with an enthusiastic smile and wave, sometimes with a book in your hands or with the soft tunes of your native tongue in the air. Today, however, none of those were present on the land he often frequented.

Had something come up? You would usually tell him the day before if you were not able to come by, though he would often reply with nothing or just a silent nod. He did not know why, but his stomach seemed to turn in on itself as he anticipated you to walk in any moment now.

Namor waited with bated breaths while he stared down your usual spot, as if you would materialize there in any moment. He waited for you to walk in with a laugh, pointing at the way his head would stick out of the water. He waited for the sound of your home country’s tunes, or the sound of your voice humming quietly as you would set down a blanket of sorts to sit on, because you hated the feeling of sand in your clothes.

He waited.

Namor paused in his thoughts. Why was he overthinking this? An earlier, not so distant past version of him would have felt relieved to not see your face, to not see the face that was somehow capable of flipping his whole worldviews upside down, who challenged yet understood his worldviews.

The blue hues of the sky soon faded into a colorful mixture of yellow, orange, and purple. Yet there was still no sign of you, causing Namor to slowly feel quite dumb for waiting in the water for as long as he did.

He should just go back, his mind would reason with him. Manage over the people, protect your land, protect your people.

Namor’s lips twitched downwards as the scenery around him already darkened, the sun disappearing over the horizon, and still no sign of you.

He wistfully sighed and turned back around to head for his home, it was not fair of him to expect you to always attend these daily meetups of yours. He, for one, has been guilty of not attending these meetups and just leaving you in the dusk. So of course, he should not have expected punctuality from you when he himself did not even do it.

The familiar heavier pressure of the waves underwater enveloped Namor’s body, as did the feeling of... disappointment.

~~~

The following day, Namor made sure to come a bit earlier, justifying that this time he would leave earlier instead. When in reality, the back of his mind had been telling him that he should try to make up for the lost time from yesterday.

Your usual spot had still been empty, with no evidence of you by a blanket or bag in sight. The sky wasn’t clear this time, as if the clouds were accompanying Namor in your absence. This time, his head was fully out of the water instead of the upper half just peeking out, so he could get a good look from his position to the whole beach.

His eyes desperately searched the area, his ears twitching in hopes of hearing your familiar mischievous laugh, his hands twitching within the water as he remembered the few times it had brushed with yours.

Namor’s actions of today echoed those of yesterday, yet now with a slight hint of more desperation and anticipation. It felt foreign not to see your face, the way it somehow always managed to trick his lips into smiling more and more as the hours would go by.

This hadn’t even been the first time he hadn’t seen you for days at a time, yet those were by his terms. Now, it was you deliberately not meeting up with him, and it somehow affected him quite a bit.

Namor’s thoughts recalled those of his yesterday, as he is reminded with the various times he would just not show up for days at a time, and yet you were always there to welcome him with a laugh and a wave. Sometimes, you would even come with a mango in hand that you claimed to be superior to the rest as it had come from your home country specifically.

He should not feel bad. His mind would reason. He is the one tasked to lead and protect his people. It continued. He had duties. Of course he wouldn’t always be available. Namor knew that, and he was sure that you did too.

And yet, the multiple times of Namor not even showing up seemed to have weighed heavily upon his shoulders as he returned once more to Talokan, the sky already turning dark.

~~~

As the days went by, the feeling seemed to only grow heavier and heavier, as he felt somewhat more and more anxious and impatient to see you, desperate to listen and reply to your various musings about the most mundane things.

The people of Talokan could somewhat feel the disappointment and loneliness haunting their king as he went on his usual strolls about their kingdom.

The king thought he was subtle, but almost everyone knew of his escapades, often disappearing into the shallower parts of the water. But no one had the heart to tell or stop him, seeing as he always seemed to be in a better mood, his smiles being gentler and brighter whenever he visited their various homes.

Their king had a sort of bounce to the way he traveled the waters, and this feeling seemed to travel and spread with his people, as children were joyfully laughing, playing and running by him.

Yet now, the king seemed to wear a sullen expression, his eyebrows pushed down, furrowed as he seemed to be deep in thought. Of course, he would still gently smile and nod whenever making eye contact with his people, yet it felt hollow and empty this time.

The Talokanil did not speak of it, but it was clear that whatever their king had been doing, he had not seen much of it recently.

~~~

It had officially been five days since the last time Namor saw you.

And there had still been no sign of you.

For five straight days, Namor waited by the deeper depths of the water until it was past dusk, waiting for anything from you. The past five days have felt as if they were five moons, with him constantly scanning the area in hopes that you were only playing a cruel game of hide and seek. Namor kept on arriving earlier than the previous days, yet still going back to Talokan only when the sky was too dark for him to justify that you would somehow still arrive. He felt like his mind had been drowning in various anxious thoughts regarding you.

What if something bad happened to you? What if you were in great danger? What if you moved back to your country without telling him? What if you decided his grumpy presence wasn’t worth it? What if you got sick of him for being so distant and cold? What if others had found out about your close relationship with him, and planned to blackmail information from you?

Wait.

Close relationship?

He shook his head, bubbles forming around it. The thoughts swirling inside his mind could conquer the strongest cyclones and typhoons if they tried. A few fishes were nearby, side eyeing him as if to say, calm down.

Namor found that his world had become rather… quiet and uneventful without you trying to trick him into swearing, or trying to learn his own native language and stumbling over your words, before trying again with a determined look. Without the soft tunes of your music lulling him into entering a world where he could just be. Where, for a moment, he could just relish in the calming sound of the waves and your humming. Or even with only the quiet sound of you turning a page and subtly acting out the descriptors of your book with your face.

He didn’t know when or why it had become so… empty and quiet without your company. A large number of your meetups, you two wouldn’t even converse and would simply just exist around each other, with him occasionally sitting beside you and silently reading along to whatever book that piqued your interest.

The corner of his lips pulled downwards even more, as he practically bore a hole with his eyes onto your usual spot, an action he had been doing for a few days by now. Namor was somehow never tired of trying to find you and repeating the same actions, thoughts, and feelings beat for beat with each passing day of your absence. The sky was yet again fading into a warm mixture of orange, yellow, and purple hues, the sun already beginning to lower.

Namor looked back at your usual spot before sighing, shaking his head and turning away, already making up his mind to go home. He should stop waiting for you for so long, anyway. He was sure that the people of Talokan were starting to take notice of how often he would leave for more hours at a time than usual.

Thud.

Namor’s head whipped back as a loud footstep was met on the sand’s surface. Could it be…?

Thud. Thud. Thud. The familiar sound of running.

Familiar.

As if not believing his own senses, Namor’s body slowly moved through the water’s currents, as the top half of his head peaked through the water’s surface, his eyes squinting under the harsh rays of the rather beautiful sunset.

A laugh, and a point.

You were catching your breath by the seashore, an eco-bag over your shoulder, with your usual blanket tucked under your arm. You let out a rather tired sigh of relief, muttering to yourself about how thankful you were you didn’t miss the sunset. The moment your eyes met Namor’s, it seemed as if his world had become much noisier once again, as he was suddenly very much more aware of the tactile feeling of the water’s texture surrounding him, more aware of the fishes swimming near or around him.

“BA’T KA LAGING GANYAN SUMILIP AMPUTA?!” Followed by more laughter, as you practically keeled over laughing.

And more importantly, he could clearly hear the sound of your laughter, your voice.

You were laughing at him again, more than usual. Perhaps it was due to the fact that you missed seeing him weirdly peeking out of the sea with a glare, or perhaps this was just one of those days wherein you decided to be a bit more teasing.

His mouth moved on its own, a smile slowly forming on his face, as he rather dramatically flouted out of the water, the sound of his ankle-wings flapping in the air. When he was nearing you, you bore a grin at him, before setting down your bag and blanket, ready to hangout like you always did.

However, when Namor’s feet finally landed on the sand, you were met with a rather sour expression on his face. Your eyes narrowed at him, as the corner of his lips tugged downwards, the usual scrunch between his eyebrows being scrunchier than usual.

“O, anyare sa’yo?” Namor frowned even more at you, if it was even possible. His mind was already throwing its own tantrum. ‘What’s up with you’? That’s the first thing you say?

This caused you to feel quite flabbergasted on how quickly Namor can switch from smiling at you to suddenly looking at you as if you gripped on his wings (again). You stood up from your spot on the blanket, crossing your arms and tilting your head to the side in confusion.

“Did something happen?” Namor refused to look you in the eye, and his arms soon mirrored your own, albeit it was aggressively crossed. His head turned the other way, and you were sure you heard a quiet hmph come from him, causing you to laugh lightly. You hummed, noting the way he refused to meet your eyes.

“Teka…” You muttered quietly, before stepping a bit closer to scrutinize his face. You practically shoved your head towards him, causing him to flinch for a split second before going back to such a grim and tight expression.

“... Are you pouting?” You were holding back laughter, he could tell from the snorts you tried to cough away.

Namor sighed, already inching towards the water. Why he waited ever-so-eagerly for you is beyond him now, as he is met with the usual teasing and laughing from you.

When he started taking a step towards the water, you panicked. You already knew that look! You immediately stopped and grabbed onto his bicep. A part of him found that the scorching touch of your hand against his cool skin was relieving, though this part was quickly buried away.

“Hoi! Joke lang, ‘eto naman!” You practically protested, pulling Namor back to your usual sitting space. This obviously did not work, as his body went rigid, with you practically hauling him back to no avail. Damn you, super-strength!

Namor sighed once more, and turned back, sitting down with a ‘thump!’ on the sand next to your blanket, crossing his arms once again. This confused you for a moment, before you shrugged it off and sat down on the blanket, not really used to the close proximity as the fish-man tended to prefer being in the water instead of the sand.

The thick blanket of silence was placed upon the both of you, as you practically fiddled with the material of the blanket between your fingers. Meanwhile, Namor was simply sitting beside you, staring straight ahead. Gago, ba’t ang awkward?! Isang linggo lang naman kami ‘di nagkita!

In reality, Namor was also in the same predicament as you, finding himself at a loss for words or what to say to you. For a reason that escapes him at the moment, he made sure to patiently await your company for days at a time, so why can’t he say anything right now?!

He collected himself once more, opening his mouth to speak to you.

“... Tu'ux ka'ach?” Namor’s head turned to you, his frown softening along with the scrunch in his eyebrows, as he looked at you with what appears to be curiosity, maybe even with a hint of concern?

Catching on that he spoke in his native tongue, you slowly mouthed out the words he said, a quirk he noticed earlier on, before beaming at him with a reply, indicating that you understood what he had said.

“Ay! Nilagnat lang ako ng sobra, hehe.” You casually said, practically waving it off as you pulled out some usual snacks and fruits you brought with you from your bag.

“Ba'ax úuch?”

Namor was exasperated with how you brushed off the fact that you were sick, his eyes now fully showing concern as he slightly turned towards you more, leaning down to listen more intently. You decided that stuffing your face with more snacks would distract you from the palpitations that seemed to have come from nowhere. You were sure that he could hear the violent pounding of your heart, so you swallowed thickly as you processed his question.

“Actually, ‘di ako sure? Bigla lang ako nagkasakit, baka dahil nag-swimming ako nung isang araw.” You recalled, noting the way you practically didn’t even try to dry off due to how hot it was that day.

If Namor had it in him, he would have facepalmed at your carelessness. Sometimes, you were too careless with your body, just as how you were when you two first met (but that is a whole other story on its own).

He clicked his tongue at you. “You’re only human, ten asab Bik.” Namor basically scolded you. You playfully scoffed and rolled your eyes at him. “Pasensya na, ‘di lahat kasing lakas mo.” You remarked lightly. Though, with the way he seemed to be worried over you did make your heart skip a few beats. You took a mental note of going to the cardiologist.

“Seryoso ako.” Namor suddenly spoke up, jumpscaring you to your core as he spoke in your mother-tongue, albeit you can hear the slight hesitation in his voice.

His arms uncrossed, as a hand hesitantly placed itself on your leg. “Kanantaba, take care of yourself."

You were at a loss for words, sputtering around the place. A corner of Namor’s lips curled slightly upwards, amused that he somehow managed to make you choke on your words, with you always doing it to him any chance you get.

You cleared your throat, before a mischievous look glinted within your eyes once again, causing Namor to feel that maybe he should have evaluated the situation more.

“Bakit?” You started, leaning towards him, the space between the two of you now only being centimeters apart. Namor didn’t flinch, surprisingly enough, as he was too shocked at your actions.

“Na-miss mo ‘ko, ‘no?”

Silence.

If a fellow Filipino were to have heard you right now, they would have smacked you with a hanger due to how cheesy the line you delivered was.

Meanwhile, Namor was too busy having a crisis on his own. Did he miss you? Is that what it was? The anticipation? The waiting? The disappointment? What nonsense! You were but a mere surface dweller and he was the king of Talokan! (Namor would later on realize that he sounded like a child throwing a temper tantrum.)

Back to your perspective, you were only met with complete and utter silence. You didn’t know if it was the heat or what, but you were sweating quite a bit as you awaited his reply. Soon however, dread settled in your stomach as you thought of the possibility of him walking out on you again.

“Uhm, huy, joke lang yu-”

“Yes, I did.”

Silence once again.

But this time, K’ukulkan was the one to have the mischievous glint in his eyes. The way he answered so matter-of-factly caught you off-guard, and he was glad it did.

Your mouth was practically agape when you finally processed what he said. Did he just admit to emotional vulnerability? To you?! Especially about missing you?!

However, when K’ukulkan’s lips soon curled up into an amused smile, you rolled your eyes and turned away from him, hoping that the pounding of your heart against your chest couldn’t be noticed.

“WHATEVER, ‘bala ka ‘jan!” You exclaimed, pretending to look for your phone in your eco-bag, just to find something to do with your hands. K’ukulkan chuckled, which sounded like a melody to your ears, so you couldn’t help from smiling and quietly chuckling with him.

After a few moments, soon enough you were both back to your usual positions, with K’ukulkan back in the water as you quietly read a book from your blanket. The soft tunes of your native tongue played in the air, as Namor took note that this was one that he particularly favored, and he was sure that you caught on to that. He felt that this moment was close to his home.

A small part of K’ukulkan meant what he said, and he also wondered if you felt the same.

You did.

You both did.

#namor x reader #namor x you #namor x y/n #namor x filipino!reader miniseries #namor x filipino!reader #filipino!reader #namor imagine #namor one shot #namor x pinoy!reader #pinoy!reader #mcu x reader #namor of talokan #mcu x filipino!reader #mcu fic #namor fluff #namor x filipino reader #namor mcu #mcu x filipino reader #namor x reader fluff

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magicshopaholic · 10 months

Text

Other People (Seokjin x OC)

Summary: You learn a new trick, while Seokjin discovers something unexpected at Big Hit.

Pairing: Seokjin x OC

Genre: Best friends; angst

Word count: 8.5 K

Rating: 18+

Warnings: language, alcohol, mention of diets, mentions of brain surgery, mentions of a car accident (again, Nari is a surgeon, so)

A/N: This got unnecessarily long; I would apologise for it, but I couldn't find a single thing I wanted to delete. It's also two am so I've made an executive decision to not proofread this. I wish I could predict the reaction to this fic but I honestly have no idea. Takes place approximately three months after The Test.

Tagging: @bbl32 @quarter-life-crisis2 @dreaming-with-happiness @meirkive @faearchives @margopinkerton @purpleseoul7 @kflixnet (italics could not be tagged; drop a message if you want to be added)

Listen to: "don't know why" by norah jones

seokjin masterlist | main masterlist

It’s cold and rainy in Seoul, even when it shouldn’t be.

The day had started off as a nice sunny winter morning in November, the sun a soft golden, a welcome respite from the low temperature. As noon arrived, so did the clouds. By late afternoon, they were grey and ample, sealing the city in a coffin.

Now, the evening doesn’t look at all like it’s continued from the same morning. The rain comes down in torrents, creating a constant din, loud enough for people to have to speak in slightly raised voices to be heard properly.

Nari stands outside the ER with a coffee in one hand and her phone in the other, waiting for the ambulance to arrive. The coffee is losing its heat with every passing second and she tries to gulp it down as fast as she can without burning her tongue in the process.

“What do we have?” Daeun appears from behind her, tying her hair into a ponytail, trauma gown already on.

“Two cars crashed into each other outside the mall,” supplies Nari. “Five victims, multiple contusions, broken bones and at least one head trauma. Coffee?”

Daeun accepts the cup with a nod and takes a noisy sip. “Ah, that’s good stuff. Shit, the rain is bad. I don’t think this will be our only car accident today.”

“Not even close,” mutters Nari, as two more fellow doctors join them. “I just hope we have the room.”

“We don’t,” says Jason, shifting from one foot to another. “Two of the trauma rooms are still unusable from the pipe leakage and the most of the X-ray machines are done after the Wednesday Soccer Team Incident. We have exactly one CT machine in working condition. The hospital is going to have to scrape money off the sidewalk to pay for all those repairs,” he adds, shaking his head in disappointment.

“Good thing they’re hosting a fundraiser then,” says Daeun dryly, just as the ambulance pulls in and the paramedics spill out. “A bunch of rich donors with their cheque books hanging out of their pockets - if that doesn’t work, I don’t know what will.”

Two patients, strapped to a gurney each are then lowered out of the ambulance. All four of them dash forward and tag themselves to a patient, hurrying inside as they listen to the paramedics rattle off their initial assessment and vitals on the field. Nari finds herself next to a woman, possibly in her thirties, with fresh cuts on her face and arms. Her t-shirt is drenched and her jacket has been ripped off, most likely by the paramedics themselves.

“Abdomen is tender so there might be internal bleeding,” says one of the paramedics. “There was no fire but there’s indication that she might have a swollen airway because of the fumes.”

“Alright, we need to get a CT,” says Nari, scanning the ER for an empty trauma room but finding none. “Damn it,” she mutters. “Okay, we’re going to have to keep her here - maybe we can use an ultrasound for now until we can move her.”

“Empty bed over here.” Jason steers the gurney over and immediately hooks the patient up to an IV. “I’ll get the portable ultrasound.”

“I’ll check her airway.” Nari gets to work immediately, trying to intubate the patient, who seems to have passed out entirely. She’s almost done when Jason returns, a nurse and the portable ultrasound machine in tow.

“This better work,” he mutters to her as the nurse begins positioning the patient correctly. “If we can’t find the bleed on this, we’re going to have to get in line for CT, which will take… hours.”

“Here’s hoping,” she agrees, standing back and observing the screen as he moves the transducer over the patient’s abdomen. She sighs and bites her lip when the image comes up clean. “Nothing. Move it to the left?”

Jason obliges, clicking his tongue. “I can’t believe the hospital doesn’t have a budget set aside to fix this stuff. This is a hospital,” he repeats, sounding appropriately frustrated. “Damn it, this bleed is really small. It’s barely showing up on the scan.”

“It has to be there. Here, let me try,” she offers, taking the transducer from him and moving it slower along the woman’s torso. “Do we all have to actually go to this fundraising thing, though? Can’t we skip?”

Jason scoffs. “It’s either dress up and smile at a bunch of rich people or stay here in the ER all night because all the attendings will be at the event. We’re not going to get a night off. The best we can do is make sure we’re all there so we at least have someone to talk to.”

It takes a second to click. “Shit, that’s it.”

“What is? Did you find the bleed?”

“What? No. Sorry,” she mutters, going back to the ultrasound, feeling an encouraging flutter in her stomach. I didn’t find the bleed, she thinks apologetically. I found a segue.

—

It’s hours later when Nari finally gets a moment alone. Sitting at a table in the residents’ locker room, a sandwich in one hand and her phone in the other, she stares at her last chat with Seokjin. It’s a depressing series of heys and what’s ups and not muches, which is all it’s been for months now, ever since they’d last seen each other in August.

It started with superficial questions and forced conversation, half-hearted plans to meet before he had to leave for Europe again, until they dwindled down to monosyllabic answers that Nari found herself too humiliated to keep going, for more than one reason.

For one, it didn’t help her newfound insecurity of being a clingy friend, especially to a man who had made perfectly clear that he didn’t see her as anything but a friend. On top of that, she had no way of knowing what he was thinking. He wasn’t angry; she knew what Seokjin was like when he was angry and if he truly was, she would know.

No, he wasn’t angry. He was… distant. Part of it could’ve been that he was busy, completing an entire promotional activity across Europe. But now that he’s back from their last stop in Japan, Nari knows that they have to get back on track. Being her date to a fundraiser isn’t her top pick, but it might just be the right balance between an organized event where he can’t ignore her and a public enough place that they won’t have to be alone at any point. Besides, if it doesn’t happen now, between his stint in Europe and his tour beginning early next year, she has a sinking feeling that their relationship will stagnate right here.

She swallows, her heart racing slightly. It’s the middle of the night; Seokjin is most likely asleep, which gives her a great excuse to text and not call.

Nari [01:11]

Hey.

She sends it before she loses her nerve, the soft whoosh sounding awfully final. Her stomach tugs uncomfortably with anxiety that she’s only recently started to associate with Seokjin, a strange and new feeling of not being able to expect what’s coming.

She continues staring dementedly at the phone, its screen dark, until she finishes the entire sandwich.

“It’s the middle of the fucking night, Nari,” she mutters to herself, standing up with a groan and stretching. There’s no point wasting her night worrying when she’s probably not going to get a response until tomorrow. She changes out of her scrubs and runs a hand through her unwashed hair, counting herself lucky that she can get a good six hours of sleep before she has to return in the morning.

The rain has slowed to a drizzle now; despite the cold, Nari tilts her head to the sky slightly, welcoming the fresh air. She runs her hands through her hair again, feeling the droplets cooling her scalp as her hair falls around her shoulders in clumpy strands. She doesn’t even make it past the entrance when she feels the unmistakable vibration of her phone in her bag, touching her hip.

Nari freezes. This is unprecedented; Seokjin is never awake this late. Fishing out her phone, she lets out a low breath when she sees a message from him. She can ignore it, to be sure, and deal with it tomorrow morning - but then she would come off as a coward.

Maybe it’s the fact that it’s ridiculously late, maybe it’s the fact that she just spent a better part of the evening fixing a bleed in a person’s abdomen - but the inner voice in her head simply sighs tiredly and goes it’s just Seokjin, prompting her to shake her head and open his message.

Kimbap [01:35]

Hey.

It’s anticlimactic, for sure, but still unexpected. Nari takes a seat on a bench near the parking lot and wipes the droplets off her screen with the sleeve of her jacket, hoping this isn’t going to be another one of their pointless conversations.

But he replied, didn’t he?

He did. Even though it’s the middle of the night. Encouraged, she responds.

Nari [01:39]

Didn’t expect you to be awake.

Kimbap [01:40]

We’re watching a movie at the dorm.

Nari [01:40]

Oh. Which one?

Kimbap [01:41]

Hereditary. I hate it.

Nari [01:41]

Jesus. Then why are you still watching it?

Kimbap [01:41]

There’s a bet and Jungkook is involved. It’s a long story.

Nari’s immediate response of I have time gets backspaced instantly. The honest truth is that she doesn’t have time and he clearly doesn’t want to talk about it. She can’t be sure how well a joke will land right now but she also knows that she needs to respond fast or this is doomed to be another one of their hopeless attempts at a conversation.

All of a sudden, her phone rings and Nari almost drops it. It’s Seokjin, his name blinking bright on the screen. Now fully panicking - because this was not part of the plan - Nari looks around wildly around the empty parking lot, as though hoping for someone to spring out of the bushes and tell her what to do.

The phone is still ringing. Before she realises what’s happening, her thumb does an awkward sort of spasm and lands on the screen, answering the call.

Here goes nothing, she thinks. “Um, h-hello?” she stutters.

“Hey.”

It’s like a football being kicked into her ribcage from the inside. Nari winces, wondering when her anxiety got this severe, to the point where her best friend’s voice is starting to cause her physical comfort. She leans back on the bench and tries to breathe slowly.

“Aren’t you, um, watching a movie?”

“Yeah. But if I’m on the phone, I have a decent excuse to get out of it.”

Oh. Nari feels her shoulders deflate. “Glad to be of help,” she murmurs, chuckling awkwardly. “How - how are you? Are you in Seoul?”

“Yeah, I am. Busy, though,” he adds quickly. “The album’s coming out in a week, so there’s a lot of work going on for it.”

“Right. Of course. How’s that going?”

“It’s fine. Hectic, as per usual. What about you?” he asks after a moment. “How’s the hospital, and the… surgeries and stuff?”

“Same. I mean, hectic. As usual.” Nari closes her eyes and feels her heart sink at the sheer effort this conversation is taking. She can’t begin to think about how they got here and it seems way too exhausting to even try.

“You sound tired.” Seokjin pauses, the sentence sounding incomplete. “Have you - I mean, are you still at the hospital?”

“Going home now. I just got a sandwich at the cafeteria,” she adds, hoping she’s guessed his half-question right.

“Now? I thought you hated the night cafeteria.”

“I do, but it beats the vending machine crap. Have to make do when the jajjangmyeon isn’t an option,” she jokes, bracing herself for his response.

But all he does is chuckle half-heartedly. “Yeah. What’s up? You texted?”

“Oh, right. Yeah.” Nari had barely worked up the nerve to text him about the fundraiser; asking him over the phone was a whole different ball game. “I was just thinking…” She trails off, her eyes widening as her vocal chords stay unwilling to go further.

“M-hm?”

Pull yourself together, woman.

“I was thinking that… we haven’t hung out in a while,” she ventures bravely, her knee jerking up and down. “And there’s a - there’s a thing later this week, so… that could be… you know.” She swallows, wishing Jason hadn’t put this stupid idea in her head in the first place. “... If you want,” she finishes lamely.

Seokjin is silent for a few seconds, during which Nari goes from anticipation to full-blown horror. “I’m sorry, are you - are you inviting me to something?” he asks, sounding confused.

“Um, kind of?”

“Like a party?”

“Well, no. Not a fun one,” she says wryly. “It’s a - there’s a fundraiser. And I have to go and… yeah, I was wondering if maybe you do, too. Since we haven’t hung out in a while.”

“Fundraiser, huh?” He doesn’t sound enthused at all. “Like, for charity? Wait, who’s the charity?”

“We are the charity,” she explains, rolling her eyes. “The hospital. Which means it’s just going to be all board members and senior doctors and other board members - and us. The residents.”

“Huh. Way to make it sound appealing, Nari.”

“It’s not appealing, at all. But it’s free food and booze and I get a chance to get out of my scrubs,” she points out. “Nice dress, straightened hair. And you’ll have to wear a suit,” she adds apologetically.

“Right.” There’s a soft sound and Nari realises a moment later that he’s laughing quietly. It makes her stomach feel uncomfortably heavy.

“What?” she asks, a bit defensively.

“Nothing,” he says, still chuckling. “We haven’t hung out in a while, so your idea was to do so at a… boring work event?”

Nari is quiet for a moment. The fact that he laughed is still prickling. “Well, I’d be open to other suggestions but you haven’t really had the time,” she can’t resist saying. “I work long hours; I don’t really get a lot of other opportunities to go out.”

“Yeah, Nari, I work long hours, too,” he reminds her, sounding irritatingly calm. “But if it’s either that or a hospital charity fundraising event filled with doctors… I think I’ll pick the long hours.” He chuckles again.

You’re a fucking idiot, Nari.

“Got it. See you around, Seokjin.”

“Nari, come on, I was joking -”

His words get cut off when she hangs up, fuming. She puts her phone on silent then, for good measure, and begins storming home in the cold. She won’t respond to any of his calls or messages tonight, the arse, she thinks. But fate must be on her side, for even after she gets home, changes and gets into bed, Seokjin doesn’t call or message.

—

Seokjin reaches the Big Hit building earlier than required. There’s no one in the rehearsal room yet, not even Hoseok, so he decides to get a much needed shot of caffeine from the cafeteria on the fourteenth floor. As he waits in line, he scans the food menu, each item like a gourmet creation.

Have to make do when the jajjangmyeon isn’t an option.

Seokjin sighs and tries not to think about what Nari had for dinner last night, but by the time his coffee is handed to him, he knows he’s a goner. It had taken him every ounce of restraint to not reach out to her again last night, knowing that no good would come of it. But now, in the light of day, he knows he can’t avoid it any longer.

He calls her before he can talk himself out of it. Looking out at the city from the floor-to-ceiling windows and sipping his coffee, he hears her phone ring continuously until it goes to voicemail. He tries not to read too much into it; she’s probably already at work and she rarely answers unless she’s taking a break. It’s better than the other option; the feeling of Nari being angry with him is too foreign for him to consider right now.

He dials her number again to be certain and when it once again goes to voicemail, he clears his throat and takes another sip of coffee for liquid courage.

“Hey, Nari,” he begins, then sighs. “Look, I’m sorry if I was a bit of a dick last night. You just caught me off guard. Honestly, I… I didn’t think you really wanted to hang out with me so when you said you did, it just kind of threw me. And your event does sound boring,” he adds, hoping she hears the teasing in his voice, “but I’ll be there anyway. Suit and everything. I want to hang out with you, too,” he says after a moment, knowing the words don’t even begin to explain the magnitude of how much he wants to see her again, how hard it’s been to distance himself since the last time he saw her. “So… yeah. Text me the details.”

He should be saying something more but he can’t think what. As he looks around, hoping the words will come to him, he spots a figure just outside the cafeteria doors and does a double take. His mind runs through a myriad of memories to zero in on the right one, when he remembers he’s still on the phone.

“Anyway, I have to go. Bye.” Locking his phone and heading out towards the figure, Seokjin pushes his shoulders back and hopes he isn’t wrong. She’s in a slim navy blazer, skinny jeans and very high heels, a sleek laptop tucked under one arm and her fingers flying across the keypad of a Blackberry.

He taps her shoulder with a feather-light touch. “Um, hi? I think I have something that belongs to you?”

When she turns around, face carefully blank, Seokjin is momentarily sure of two things: one, that she is exactly who he thought she was, and two, that her lack of expression can only mean that she doesn’t remember him.

“You do?” A moment later, her perfectly lined lips tilt upwards slightly. “That’s right. What was it again?”

“Um…” Seokjin licks his lips, glad that he didn’t just go up to a random stranger and interrupt her in the middle of what seems to be a very long email. “I think it was a collectible of some kind? Very glamorous. Had a name on the inside?”

Her smile widens. “Do you remember what it was?”

Seokjin gulps but keeps his face still. “Of course. It was… Seulgi.” The relief at her nod is unexpected. “You think I’d forget the person that saved my hand that night? How would I ever hold a mic otherwise? My career might have been over!”

Seulgi laugh, a nice, low laugh. Her teeth are perfectly lined and perfectly white, shining against light bronze skin without a single pore. Her hair is long, straight and black, not a strand out of place. She looks like she belongs on a pamphlet for corporate employees.

Which reminds him.

“Do you - do you actually work here?” he asks. “In Big Hit?”

“Yeah,” she answers, looking only very slightly apologetic. “I thought I recognised you that night as well but I couldn’t be sure. I only just moved to the Marketing team. Sorry.”

“Uh, no, don’t be.” Seokjiin shakes his head. “It’s good to see you. And now I can return the wrist brace to you, too! This is great.”

“I mean, you don’t have to. I told you, I have a bunch of them,” she reminds him, raising her left hand slightly. From under the sleeve of her blazer, a navy blue brace, just like the purple one she’d lent him, peaks out.

“No, no, I should,” he says anyway, shaking his head and glancing at the clock on his phone. There’s a message on his notification tray… “It’s back in my…” He wracks his brain, “... uh, flight. Which I took. The day after you lent me the brace.” He drops his face in his hands when she laughs again, low and husky.

“It’s really okay,” she says, touching his arm before taking a step back. “I actually do have a lot of them. And maybe they’ll help out some other poor soul who’s hurt his wrist.”

“That’s the hope,” he agrees, knowing his ears are reddening. “Man, I really wish I’d known you worked here. I would’ve… I don’t know. Broken the news about losing your brace sooner, for starters.”

“The loss would’ve been easier,” she agrees.

Seokjin bites his lip, preparing to let the awkwardness wash over him but it doesn’t. Seulgi’s warm, despite her appearance suggesting she’s about to walk into a room and fire a dozen people.

“I feel really guilty, though,” he repeats after a moment. “Can I - I don’t know… buy you a coffee? It’s no collector’s edition wrist brace, but still?”

“Oh, that actually sounds good,” she replies, and for a moment his heart skips a beat of relief, “but the line seems long and I have a meeting.” She holds her Blackberry up apologetically.

For the first time, Seokjin notices a Galaxy in her other hand – a personal cell and a work cell. She’s core corporate, he realises, possibly senior management. He doesn’t know why, but it’s slightly intimidating.

“Oh. Oh, okay. Sure.” He nods as she moves past him. “It was good to see you, though.”

“Yeah, you, too. Glad your wrist is better.” With a quick wave, she heads down the corridor and disappears from view.

Seokjin watches her leave, still cringing somewhat over the wrist brace he hasn’t thought about in months. She’d been the only person that night he’d had a normal conversation with - somehow, this doesn’t seem like the best way to show his gratitude.

It’s time to head for practice, anyway. As he steps into the elevator, he opens his messages and breathes a sigh of relief.

Nari [09:14]

[Location]

Nari [09:14]

Friday, 7 pm

—

It’s hours later when they’re finally done with practice. All seven of them, a choreographer and a couple camerapersons are the only ones left. Jimin and Jungkook are still standing, going over their portion of the choreography as Hoseok watches, even though they look like they might collapse any second. Taehyung is spread-eagled on the floor, his bowl hat on his face. Yoongi is sitting in one corner of the room, staring into nothing.

Seokjin feels too tired to move, every single muscle aching. He leans back against the mirror and tries to catch his breath. Next to him, Namjoon is lying on the floor and texting. Seokjin catches a couple of words and immediately looks away; It seems to be in English, so it’s a fairly easy guess who the other person is.

“Any plans tonight, hyung?” Yoongi trudges over and tumbles down on his other side, crossing his legs.

“Not a one,” answers Seokjin. “In fact, I don’t think I’ll be getting out of bed for a while so if you need anything, I’ll respond to you in two to five business days.”

“You need to be at the studio tomorrow morning.”

There’s a pause. “Fine, but apart from that,” he amends, wagging his finger in Yoongi’s face, “two to five business days.”

“There’s also the interview on Friday.”

“Damn it, Yoongi,” groans Seokjin, glaring at him. “Fine, but that’s the last one. I have plans to vegetate all weekend in my apartment,” he informs him, knowing that there’s no way he'll get the entire weekend off, but needing to put across the point, “so just… don’t ruin it for me.” He watches Yoongi make a motion that might be a chuckle and rolls his eyes. “And besides, the interview is on Thursday. So my weekend begins on Friday.”

“The interview is on Friday,” says Yoongi calmly.

“No, it’s not. It’s Thursday. The twenty-fourth.”

“Thursday is the twenty-third.”

“No,” repeats Seokjin, feeling his pulse start to race, “it - it was always on Thursday.”

“No, it’s Friday,” pipes up Namjoon from his other side, not looking away from his phone.

And thus, Seokjin is left to spend the rest of the day in a growing pit of guilt, knowing that he’s going to have to disappoint Nari yet again - this time, completely unintentionally.

Her hesitation last night had not gone unnoticed by him. It was hard to hear but equally hard to respond to, and Seokjin half-hoped that she would find it too hard to go through with actually inviting him somewhere and drop the idea altogether.

But she persisted and while it made Seokjin profusely glad that she still cared, it also meant that he would have to find a way to face her after avoiding her for months.

It doesn’t feel nearly as easy as it sounds, for Seokjin has absolutely no idea what to expect when it comes to Nari now. Part of him still feels guilty for lying to her the day after the wedding; her question had taken him completely off guard and lying about his feelings was the only way he’d been able to think of to avoid the situation getting worse.

It was a mess already but somehow, twenty-four hours later, it was So Much Worse. Somehow, Nari had come to him with a problem he couldn’t ignore. Somehow, he suddenly had to reevaluate his entire life with her in it, and somehow, in less than a day, his short-lived future with Nari as the mother of his child and best friend for life had been created and shattered.

It was hard to think of, and so much harder to talk to Nari about. Seokjin had been on the verge, dozens of times, of just breaking the ice and chatting with his best friend while he sat in cold European towns and watched Taehyung get his heart broken over and over again by Dilara Komyshan.

At least we’re not that bad yet, he’d tried to tell himself. He wanted to tell her, too, that they weren’t that bad, that they were okay, that he just needed some time. But the thought of confessing his surreal daydream, of irretrievably changing their friendship felt like too much of a responsibility - especially if she didn’t respond well. Avoiding her sucked, but it beat being around her with nothing to say.

Still, saying no to her outright, when she’d asked him point blank to accompany him to something was too hard. The fundraiser thing did sound boring, but he wanted to see her, too, so badly. It felt like a missing limb, not being able to talk to her.

Nice dress, straightened hair. And he would have to be in a suit. He shudders when he remembers what happened the last time she was in a nice dress and he was in a suit.

“Namjoon.” Seokjin jogs over to the leader as they’re heading out of the building to their cars in the basement. “About this press conference on Friday.”

“Yeah?”

Seokjin hesitates, already sensing a no-nonsense mood. It hasn’t been the best day for Namjoon; the choreography was a complicated one, he was having to negotiate schedules all day, and if he’s not mistaken, he and Kaya have definitely been having some disagreement all day.

“About this press conference on Thursday -”

“Friday.”

“- I was - yes, Friday -” Seokjin clears his throat. “How important would you say it is for all of us to show up, on a scale of one to… Grammys?”

Namjoon stares. “At least VMAs.”

Seokjin nods seriously, even though it doesn’t help him in the least. “Okay,” he says, changing tacks, “how long do you think it’ll go on?”

“Uh, I don’t know.” Namjoon sighs, scrolling through some document on his phone. “It should be done by six, but there’s a sponsors’ dinner after that - but that won’t be filmed so maybe we can leave early… of course, we’ll need to let management know so they have an exit plan…” He shakes his head and continues muttering under his breath.

“Okay, sure,” interrupts Seokjin, sensing that Namjoon is starting to lose the plot. “But what time do you think the event will actually end? Because I have to be somewhere else.”

“Where?”

“Uh… a thing. With Nari,” he adds shortly. To his relief, Namjoon simply raises his eyebrows but doesn’t probe.

“I - I don’t know, hyung,” he says, not sounding apologetic at all. It’s definitely a fight with Kaya. “We won’t know until we get there. Depends on the sponsors. If it helps, it’s happening right here, in this building.”

It does help, a bit, for the location is closer to the Big Hit building than the hospital is. Still, it could be better.

“Look, I just need to tell Nari if I can make it or not,” he says, no longer beating around the bush. “I don’t want to make her a promise I can’t keep.”

Namjoon licks his lips slowly and nods. “I think you’ve been in this business long enough to know the answer to that, hyung,” he says cryptically, patting his shoulder and walking away.

“What the hell does that mean?” Seokjin demands, but Namjoon just shrugs and continues walking away.

He does know what it means, though. But you’re a coward, Kim Seokjin, says the voice inside his head, sounding like Nari’s, as he prepares to text her later that night rather than call, knowing (and somewhat hoping) that she’ll be too busy to answer right away.

Seokjin [20:11]

I have some not so great news.

To his horror, she replies almost immediately.

Nari [20:13]

Bring it.

Seokjin [20:13]

Promise you won’t get mad?

Nari [20:14]

I’m two beers and a tequila shot down. This would be the right time to give me some not so great news.

Seokjin pauses. She’s drinking, which means she got off work at a reasonable time tonight. He should be glad about that, for her, but he can’t figure out what is also bothering him about it.

Seokjin [20:16]

Oh? No surgeries?

Nari [20:16]

Nope, I’m not on call tonight. I was going to go home and crash but the others convinced me to have a drink first.

Seokjin [20:17]

Sounds like more than a drink.

Nari [20:18]

I may have gotten carried away, but zero regrets.

Seokjin [20:18]

Do you have a ride home?

Nari [20:19]

I live half a block away from the hospital. I’m sure most of these guys will crash at my place when they’re too trashed to get home.

Seokjin [20:19]

Are you sure?

Nari [20:20]

Yes. You don’t have to worry about me, you know.

She’s drunk; her transparency makes that clear. This may be the best or the worst time to give her the news, but Seokjin doesn’t think he can continue worrying about this for the rest of the night.

Seokjin [20:21]

Okay. Look, I need to talk to you about Friday.

Nari [20:21]

Something came up and you don’t think you can make it?

Seokjin’s heart jerks. He may not have met Nari much over the last few months, but he still knows her well enough to tell when she’s reaching the end of her tether.

Seokjin [20:22]

It’s a press thing. I can’t miss it.

Nari [20:23]

Of course. Unfortunate that you found out about it only today.

Seokjin [20:23]

No, it’s not that. I actually forgot. I thought it was on Thursday but it turns out it’s actually Friday. It’s my fault - I mixed up the days.

Nari [20:24]

Of course. Some other time, I guess.

Seokjin can picture her scoff, locking her phone and placing it on a bar table, screen down. He scrambles.

Seokjin [20:25]

I’m just saying I’ll be a little late.

Nari [20:25]

Late? Are you sure?

Seokjin [20:26]

Yeah. I don’t know how late but I’ll be there. I’ll try my best anyway.

Nari [20:26]

I’m sure you will.

This time, her status goes from “online” to “offline” and he knows she’s gone. This is a side of Nari he hasn’t seen in years: snide and sarcastic. It’s incredibly rare, requires a mix of things to be going wrong in her life, and has never, ever been directed at him.

Seokjin feels squeamish and guilty and helpless all at once - but he’s also beginning to get mildly annoyed. He’s determined to show up now, if for nothing else than to prove her wrong.

Take that, Nari. He pictures showing up at the event, jogging up the stairs and bursting into a hall filled with white-haired individuals in conservative finery. Nari, in the same leaf-green bridesmaid’s dress with strappy high heels, would be at the end of the hall at the bar, looking victorious at the assumption that he hasn’t shown. The crowd would part then and she would turn, the satisfied smirk fading at the sight of him, late and panting - but there.

The next moment, Seokjin cringes at this ridiculous fantasy. Even the imaginary voice in his head that sounds a bit like Nari snickers.

—

Nari fingers the strap of her dress nervously, feeling rather odd at being this dressed up around people who only ever see her in scrubs. Most of the other doctors seem to be feeling similarly, though, and she tries to coach herself to remember that they’re still the same people - just wearing make-up and cologne.

“Hey,” comes Jason’s voice from behind her, and she turns, glad to see someone she knows. “You - wow, you look amazing.”

“Really?” Nari asks quickly, smoothing down her dress. It’s long and plain black, nothing fancy, with a thin necklace and the only strappy high heels she owns. “It’s not too low cut?”

“Um -” Jason frowns and immediately looks away. “I - I don’t know. It looks - I mean, I didn’t -” He stutters in confusion, his gaze darting around in panic. “I don’t - I mean, should I look?”

“What? No, of course not.” She shakes her head and sighs. “Sorry. I’m just not used to it.”

“Used to what?”

“This,” she says, referring to nothing in particular. “The dress and the hair and the - the make-up. I don’t do it very often.” Looking up to see him still deliberately looking away, she slaps his shoulder. “Damn it, Jace, you can look at me now.”

“Oh.” He makes a big show of slowly moving his gaze towards her, grinning when she chuckles begrudgingly. “Don’t worry, dude. You look great.”

“Thanks. You, too, by the way,” she says honestly, noting the suit and the neatly brushed hair. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen your jaw this smooth,” she remarks, turning his chin slightly.

“A last minute shave in the residents’ locker room changed the game.” Jason rubs his jaw and winces slightly. “Should I be concerned about my skills as a surgeon that I cut myself in two different places while doing it?”

Nari laughs, feeling slightly less nervous. “Not unless you’re the patient. Also, where the hell is everybody else?”

“Oh, Daeun got pulled into surgery - her motorcycle guy ruptured his spleen,” he answers, gesturing to the bartender. “She said she’d be back if it got over in time. Hyeri had to monitor her valve replacement lady to see if she’ll make it through the night. Oh, and Eunji is over there,” he adds, pointing to the other end of the hall.

Nari squints in the direction he’s pointing. “Who’s that she’s with?”

“Her boyfriend, probably.” Jason shrugs as the bartender comes over. “A chaebol type, from what I can tell. Hey. you want a drink?”

“Uh, sure. Beer. Wait, can we have beer?” She frowns.

“I don’t know. Not fancy enough, is it?”

“We don’t have beer,” volunteers the bartender.

“Right,” says Nari. “In that case, I will have a glass of your strongest… whatever is strongest.”

Jason nods seriously. “Two of those. Thank you.”

The bartender raises an eyebrow but nods anyway, going back to mix their drinks.

“So… it’s just you and me?” She leans back against the bar and scans the room. “Wait, do you have a date coming, too?”

“What?” Jason wrinkles his nose. “No. I’ve been on a neuro rotation all week - I haven’t had time to breathe, forget about looking for a date. You?”

“Have I had time to breathe?”

“Do you have a date.”

“Right.” Nari bites her lip. “Not exactly. I mean, I - I invited a friend. Seokjin - you met him, remember?”

“Yeah, of course.” Jason nods as their drinks arrive and they automatically pick theirs up. “Cheers. So why isn’t he a date?”

“Because he’s a friend.” As she says it, a terrifying possibility occurs to her: could Seokjin actually think this is a date? It would explain his random excuse to arrive “late” - if he does at all.

“He is? Really?” He looks mildly curious. “Because that night at Hyeri’s - I could’ve sworn he had a thing for you.”

Nari’s heart skips a beat. “You’re not the first person to think that,” she mutters into her glass, taking a stinging sip of what tastes like scotch. “Ugh, that’s disgusting.”

“It’s strong,” he remarks. “But I didn’t catch that. What did you say?”

“Nothing.” She shakes her head, the painful humiliation of that moment after the wedding seeping into her body again. “Just… he doesn’t. Have a thing for me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Really? I mean, because it seemed like -”

“Jason,” she interrupts him, needing this conversation to end. “He doesn’t. Believe me. I’m completely sure.”

For a moment, it looks like he’s going to say something else but then seems to think the better of it. Nari is thankful; reliving that moment is bad enough, but her mind is now also preoccupied with the possibility that Seokjin might be avoiding coming tonight because he thinks she’s asked him on a date - and because he’s nice and can’t reject her outright twice, he’s having to resort to half-hearted lies and work excuses.

It’s a grim thought. She and Seokjin haven’t spoken since he told her he’d try to make it - and she’d been less than gracious about it. It was the alcohol, she’d reasoned the next morning, and despite the annoyance with his flimsy attempts at avoiding her, she’d dropped him a cursory Seriously, don’t worry about it. She’d waited just long enough to get a I’ll still try my best, and tried not to think about it since.

Nari takes another sip of her disgusting drink, not sure which is worse - if he shows or if he doesn’t.

—

“There he is. Jerk.”

Seokjin’s ears perk up at Taehyung’s quiet snarl. He follows the younger member’s gaze and feels his mouth twist as well when he spots the one journalist who had pestered them relentlessly with questions, each one more backhanded than the previous one, ranging from their solo ambitions to accusations of plagiarism.

“Where’s Namjoon?” he mutters, looking around. “Let’s make sure he doesn’t run into that guy without other guests around. Or witnesses,” he adds.

“He’s over by the water,” supplies Jungkook. “I think he’s talking to one of the sponsors.”

“Let’s keep an eye on him, then,” says Yoongi dryly. “Just in case he decides to do something drastic, like get into a logically structured argument.”

Seokjin half-chuckles. He does want Namjoon to come over, partly to keep an eye on him but mostly to check when he can leave. He checks his phone; it’s almost eight. As much as Nari’s last message, days ago, hadn’t seemed at all confident that he would make it, it only made him more determined to show up.

Namjoon doesn’t come over, though. Eventually, Seokjin joins him, hoping to get a moment of his time between guests.

“Maybe you should take a break,” he suggests, after another one of the sponsors leave and Namjoon’s well-practiced public smile fades. “Eat something? Or even have a drink?”

Namjoon smiles wearily. “Thanks, hyung. Maybe later.” He runs a hand over his face. “God, I can’t wait to get out of here. Zoom date with Kaya,” he adds, answering Seokjin’s silent question.

“Then we should leave now,” he says immediately, jumping at the opportunity. “Or you’ll just get even more tired and you’ll have to cancel on Kaya.”

“Are you kidding? It’s the only thing I’ve been looking forward to all day,” he replies, shaking his head. “There’s no way I’m cancelling.”

Seokjin responds to this with a grimace; while he would ordinarily find it sweet, right now, this blatant happiness is just annoying. He tries to think of another line of reasoning that could convince Namjoon to bounce, but before he can, two middle-aged people, one man and one woman, join them.

There’s some initial greeting; Seokjin gets through it robotically while Namjoon goes from tired to charming in a microsecond. The topic predictability begins with the press conference that just took place, followed by both guests praising Namjoon for his wonderful answers that he receives with respectful gratitude.

“I’m sorry you all have to stay for the dinner,” the woman says to Seokjin while the other two speak about something else. “You’re so young; I’m sure you all have other plans tonight.”

Lady, you have no idea. But he forces a smile on his face. “We’re happy to be here. Besides, if I’m lucky,” he adds hopefully after a moment, “my plans might still be there after this.”

“Oh?” The lady seems most interested. “A fancy party you need to get to?”

“Something like that. I have to meet someone at an event.”

“Girlfriend?”

“No,” he answers hastily. “Just a friend. It’s a work thing at the hospital she works. She’s a doctor,” he adds for good measure.

To his surprise, the lady nods. “Oh, I know that. It’s a fundraiser, right? Seoul National Hospital?” When Seokjin raises his eyebrows and nods, she smiles in acknowledgement. “I have a couple of friends there, too. Those doctors do such good work - pity they don’t have the money to continue their work in peace. Your friend is smart, though,” she says after a moment, patting Seokjin’s shoulder with a knowing look, “inviting a BTS member to the event.”

Seokjin doesn’t immediately understand. “I’m sorry?”

“Well, they need the money, don’t they?” She chuckles, sounding almost impressed. “Not a lot of people have the contacts to bring in someone like BTS to be a donor.”

Something drops in his stomach. “Oh, I - I think you’ve misunderstood. She’s my friend and we - we haven’t met in a long time because we’ve both been very busy. It’s not a - I mean, I’m not a - a donor.”

The lady looks confused for a moment. “Oh. My apologies. It just seemed like a smart thing to do, you know?”

Seokjin swallows. “Sure,” he says shortly. “But, uh… it’s not like that.” He nods to himself, knowing he’s right. “Nari would never do that.”

—

Nari shuffles through the crowd to where she can see Jason with Eunji and her boyfriend, taking care not to trip in her heels. She sees them turn and spot her as she gets close, but she doesn’t have time for pleasantries.

“Incoming,” she states. All of their eyes dart up and behind her; Eunji is the first one to notice.

“Damn it. Come on, babe,” she commands her partner, taking his hand and setting off. “Let’s go dance before he gets us.” In a flash of a second, they’re both gone.

“Okay, it’s our turn,” she says hurriedly to Jason, placing her drink on the bar and gathering her long dress in her hand. “If Dr Jung gets hold of us, it’s going to be a repeat of the mixer.”

Jason grimaces. “Oh, God. You mean when he tried to recruit each of us one by one by using his holiday calendar as a selling point?”

“That’s the one. Come on, he’s already seen me, but maybe we can still make a break for it!” she whispers dramatically, getting ready to go but stopping when he grabs her wrist.

“It’s too late,” he says gravely. “We’re going to need another plan. Tell me about your craniotomy today.”

“I - what?” Nari’s eyes widen. “Did you not hear me?”

“I did. Now talk to me about something medical,” he instructs. “And make it seem like there’s a problem - like, just talk urgently. Come on,” he urges, shaking her wrist.

“Um - okay, uh, the patient came in with migraines and was having seizures so we did an MRI and found an aneurysm located in the temporal lobe of the brain -”

“That’s great,” he whispers, and Nari notices his gaze slide carefully to the left to watch Dr Jung reach them, before quickly looking back at Nari. “But his vitals still aren’t stable,” he says suddenly, at a regular volume.

Nari’s jaw drops before she realises what he’s doing. “His blood pressure is what we need to observe carefully or he’s going to need another surgery tomorrow.”

“Is there any chance the aneurysm could’ve burst anyway? Even after you clipped it?”

Nari stares, a little thrown by how convincing his acting is.

“Answer me!”

“A little over the top, don’t you think?” she mutters.

“The man is two feet behind you,” he replies, equally quietly, before tugging her closer and placing his hands dramatically on her shoulders. “What if it’s a brain bleed? What if -”

“How dare you?” She interrupts him, jabbing him in the chest. “My aneurysm was clipped perfectly, you son of a bitch!”

Jason’s eyes flicker with this unexpected turn of conversation but he plays along. “We still need to get an MRI to rule out any other complications, like a hematoma, or an air embolism or -” He pauses, craning his neck slightly, “... and he’s gone.” His shoulders relax and his hands slide off her arms.

“No way did that work,” she marvels in a low voice, turning around to check and see that he’s right.

“Of course it did. Nobody interrupts two doctors discussing a patient,” he says absently, rubbing a spot on his chest. “You may need some practice, though. I think you bruised my chest.”

“Don’t be a baby,” she tells him teasingly, asking for another drink and feeling a lot more relaxed than before. “But that was a pretty neat trick.”

“I can teach you many, young ‘un,” he says seriously, casually taking a sip of his third scotch. “But I don’t think we have the time tonight. Won’t Seokjin be here soon?”

Her drink arrives then and Nari takes it with a quiet thanks. Taking a larger sip than intended, she shakes her head. “He’s not going to make it,” she says, swallowing and wincing.

“Oh.” Jason frowns. “Did he call?”

“Nope.” Nari shakes her head, finding it a bit sad how unsurprised she is. “But he’s not going to make it.”

His frown deepens slightly and she’s sure he’s picked up on her change in tone, but she’s thankful he doesn’t mention it.

“Do you want to learn another trick then?” he offers.

Nari smiles, trying to look at the bright side: Seokjin would not have enjoyed this. He wouldn’t know anyone and he wouldn’t understand any of their conversation. A call would have been nice, but things aren’t the same anymore.

She’s here, she has a night off, and she’s not alone. It could be a lot worse.

“Sure,” she answers. “But I’m going to need to be a lot more drunk for the next one.”

—

The ETA on the map says forty minutes. Seokjin has no idea how long hospital fundraisers last, but he needs to try. He exits the building, already tired from the negotiating he had to do to leave early. It’s starting to drizzle, so he ducks into the nearest establishment - a small cafe - as he waits for his car. The traffic outside is ridiculous, though; he hasn’t the faintest idea how long it’ll actually take him to get to the fundraiser.

Nari hasn’t called or messaged, though. Neither has he, he knows, but her last message had implied such a lack of faith in his intention to show up that it had rankled him just a bit. Over the course of the week, it had festered until it’s now more of a challenge than anything else, for he can’t think of a single other reason as to why he’s going to this thing.

For Nari, says the voice weakly, sounding unconvinced. Nari, it seems, neither knows nor cares if he shows up, for all the interest she’s shown in his whereabouts. I’ll try me best, he’d said, meaning it completely, but she clearly didn’t believe it.

Seokjin sighs, mentally so exhausted that he can’t even muster the energy to be annoyed or hurt or confused right now. He’s just about to step back outside when he hears a voice he doesn’t expect.

“Can I get a bottle of water, please?”

He turns to see straight hair and a blazer, mint green this time, with the sleeves pushed up. “Seulgi?” he calls unsurely.

She turns and her eyes light up in recognition. “Hey, Seokjin. How are you?”

“Tired,” he admits. “You?”

“The same. Just trying to find the guiltiest pleasure on the menu to break my diet with tonight,” she says, pointing at the few items on the board. “It’s just been one of those days.”

“Tell me about it,” he murmurs, taking a few steps to stand beside her. “Anything catch your eye?”

“Not really. It’s just sandwiches,” she grumbles. “But I don’t really have a lot of options right now.”

Seokjin is quiet for a few seconds while she gets a bottle of water and takes a long swig from it. “I actually know of a ramen place close by. If you want. I break my diets there all the time,” he tells her.

“Really?” This time he isn’t imagining it; her eyes do light up. “How much?”

“Well… enough to feel like I’ve rebelled against the company for the night, but not so much that I can’t resume it the next day.”

“That’s the perfect amount.”

“Is that a yes?”

Seulgi grins tiredly, reminding him for a moment of Namjoon earlier tonight. “It is.” Her eyes flicker lower and her smile fades. “Oh, wait. You’re in a suit - are you going somewhere?”

Seokjin bites his lip. “I was at the press conference, and the dinner after that.”

“Oh.” She doesn’t look fully convinced. “And you were going… where?”

“Well, now I’m going to get ramen because it’s in my head.”

She cracks a smile. “I’m serious, though. You’re in a suit,” she repeats, adjusting the strap of her handbag on her shoulder. “Are you sure you don’t need to be somewhere?”

Question of the hour. But Seokjin knows that even if he does make it through the traffic, this will still be the easiest conversation he’s going to have all day.

“No. I don’t need to be anywhere.”

—

Thank you for reading. Don't forget to drop a review :)

#seokjin x oc #seokjin x reader #seokjin fanfic #thebtswritersclub #btshoneyhive #bangtanwhq #bangtantheatrenet #bangtanbathhouse #bangtanoasis #micdropnet #hyunglinenetwrok #k-vanity #wkcnet #bts jin fanfic #bts jin angst

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nspwriteups · 10 months

Text

Pehla Nasha | Kundavai x Vanthiyathevan OS (Modern AU)

A/N:This had been sitting in my drafts for weeks... finally found the confidence to post it. Happy reading 😊

Kundavai = Keerthana , Vanthiyathevan= Vaishnav, Aditha = Adithya and Arulmozhi= Amal

Keerthana stood at the return section of the public library, glancing at the news channel in the tv mounted on the wall. She waited for the staff to return her library cards and made her way to the book section. She scanned the stacks for the book she had been searching for weeks. It was too boring for her to use the Web Opac on the library computer to get the book of her choosing. She preferred searching through the long rows of paperback until an interesting title or an attractive book cover caught her attention. But try as she may, she wasn't able to find THAT book yet. She looked around for a minute. Maybe because it was almost noon or maybe it's because it was a Sunday, there were only two people in the book reference section there - she and another guy,who seems to be in his own world - whistling an unrecognisable song and staring at the books ahead of him with hands in his pocket. She was again too lazy to go all the way over to the staff section to enquire and so she briefly glimpsed at the seemingly oblivious guy again. Her friends always called her out on her introverted nature. She wasn't really introverted, she just preferred to listen and observe others over talking non stop. She slowly walked over and tapped the guy's shoulder. He was taller than her and when he turned around she noticed his brown eyes meet hers in a look of confusion and curiosity.

"Hello. I was wondering if you know where I can find Kalki's Ponniyin Selvan novels?" She put on her friendliest smile and politest tone. He looked around for a moment before turning back to her with an embarrassing expression. "I am not the library staff.. I'm just browsing books like you"

She knew that. Of course she knew that but still she couldn't help but feel awkward all of a sudden. Maybe he noticed it because he quickly added "But I have time to kill. I can help you find the book". She gave a quick nod and together they went to the Tamil literature section and started digging from the opposite sections. As she searched, she couldn't help checking out her helper of the hour - his olive green jacket fitted him well and his entire body language gave him a laid back demeanor. He looked like a Wattpad male lead character with his tall frame, boyish outfit, silver chain peeking out of his jacket collar and striking brown eyes. She saw him turning slightly to look in her direction and quickly turned her attention to the books in front her. Get a hold of yourself Keerthana! She thought to herself.You are a research scholar for God's Sake! Don't act like an infatuated teenager. Keerthana prided herself in being clever, practical and disciplined - a complete opposite to her brothers who were prone to spontaneity. Even though her friends teased her for shooing away even the slightest chance of a relationship coming her way, she never told them the real reason she wasn't willing to give her heart away. She had her moments of checking out the cute guys she met now and then (like now for instance) but deep down she was waiting for a romcom version of love - an unexpected meeting followed by a series of chance encounters until the hero says something like "You have Bewitched me body and soul" (She absolutely loved Pride and Prejudice) - that was her secret, that behind her calm,composed and strategic facade was a girl yearning for a silly and magical romance. She was snapped out of her thoughts with a book waving in front of her."Found it" He declared with a grin. She smiled and said "Thanks a lot. You were such a great help". It was true, he was such a friendly person."How can I not help someone as beautiful as you" He replied with a smirk. Huh, friendly and flirty then. "I am Vaishnav. And you are?""I'm Keerthana" She said as she made her way to the book issue section. He caught up with her easily, a book called Exploring the World tucked in his arms. So a wattpad-ish looking person with a love for reading travelogue? This guy seems to be the dream vision of many of the reader girls out there. "Keerthana as in Keerthana Viswanath? Adithya's sister?" He asked and Keerthana stopped on hearing her older brother's name. "Yes. How do you know?""I'm in the same football team as him. He always talk about you and your brother Amal. It's so nice to finally meet you" He said with the same grin as before, looking at her amusingly. Aah, so that must be why she felt a familiarity with him. They exited the library together, both unintentionally walking at a snail's pace, engrossed in their conversation. She learnt that his favourite colour is green, aspired to become a travel writer and was best friends with her brother. He got to know that she was a bookworm with a love for classics, loved boat rides and was as impressive as her brother. They faced each other once they reached the parking lot.

"So.." He began, not knowing what to say despite the fact that he prided himself in being a sweet-talker.

"So..." She also initiated, feeling the awkwardness climbing back up

"I hope I can see you around. Maybe another encounter at the library? " He joked

"We'll see" She joined in on the joke, with a playful smile and a thumping heart.

Later, when she was in her room, already pages deep in the first book of the Ponniyin Selvan series, she imagined him to be Vallavaraiyan Vanthiyathevan and herself to be Ilaiya Piratti Kundavai. Because she couldn't picture anyone else to be the flirty and enthusiastic Vana Kula Ilavarase. And the more she imagined, the more she felt as if maybe there is something about this boy that is pulling her towards him, a sort of feeling that somehow he will come into her life as more than Adithya's best friend. She placed a hand over her heart beating faster than usual at the thought of such a possibility. "Silly heart" she whispered with a soft giggle.

@ramcharanobsessed @dumdaradumdaradum @vibishalakshman @harinishivaa @hollogramhallucination @kovaipaavai@rang-lo. @willkatfanfromasia@thelekhikawrites@thegleamingmoon@deafeningflowercat@yehsahihai@whippersnappersbookworm@itsfookingloosah@gemsmusings@chiyaanvikram@elvenladysakura. @matka-kulfi. @madatdisney@bumblebeeskywalker@vahnithedreamer@nkarti@dosai-maavu@utterlynotperfect@winter-birds@happy-bookworm @tumbledout @anabanana4115 @freeunknownwasteland @bhataktiatmacore@rapunzels-stuff@celestesinsight@mairablue@rationalelderberry@existenceiswhateven@arachneofthoughts@spider5884fan11 @cara-2003 @nirmohi-premika @stella12

#ponniyin selvan #ponniyin selvan 2 #arulmozhi #kundavai #aditha karikalan #vanthiyathevan

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applcrumbl · 2 years

Text

Picking Fights with Plaster Casts.

Pairings: Steve Harrington x F!Reader Warnings: Sexual Assault and Harassment, Canon Level Violence Author’s Note: Wayhey first fic on the new blog!!

Summary: He may still be nursing a broken hand, but like hell was he going to let anyone treat his girl, who wasn’t his girl, like that.

It was a stupid idea, both punching a hole through his wall and the subsequent events that followed. But, God knew, Steve Harrington was an idiot.

His reasoning behind his actions was never quite revealed, much less explored, but the broken hand that he was left with opened up a seemingly never-ending list of questions from Robin. The small video rental that occupied their time from noon until close was rife with business today. It was Saturday, by far their busiest of the days in the week, yet the pair never seemed to mind. The job was simple; help customers pick out a movie; ring up said movie as a rental; ensure that the movie was returned; sit and wait for the next customer. Mundane, boring, but miles better than their previous occupation. The simple green vest and name-tag were significantly more comfortable than the sailor themed get-up, complete with a tied neckerchief, and a sailor's hat.

Steve was thankful that his new uniform was much more attractive than his last, he still couldn't help feeling disheartened that he even had to wear the uniform at all. The former ‘king of Hawkins High’ stood alone behind the counter of the ‘Family Video’ almost upset. Last year he would have been out at a party, not stuck working for minimum wage with a huge plaster cast on his right hand. He handed over some children's film to a family, paying practically no attention to what it was. Eyes trained on someone who had just entered through the heavy glass doors.

Panic flooded the brunet’s features as he slid into the back room. Coming face-to-face with Robin, who was pulling off her coat. The shorter girl had just begun her shift.

“Evening, Dingus”

“Robin I need you to start out front” he practically begged, “I’ll clean up back here”

“Clean up?” She smirked, something was up. “Let me guess, Y/N’s here?”

Teasing him was just too easy, and something that never would have happened when the two were at school together. But previous circumstances had allowed them to become close, and Robin had learned that Steve was an open book. An open book turned to the page dedicated to you.

“She doesn’t know I work here and I don't really want her knowing.” He sighs, “I’m trying to impress her”

A roll of Robin’s eyes cued the ding of a bell. Someone was at the counter waiting to be served. “You owe me” She sighed, pushing herself through the two-way door. Steve peeked through the crack as Robin recited the rental terms and conditions. Picking up a nearby mop to use as an alibi.

The mop leant against his shoulder as he used his non-broken hand to guide the soapy water across the linoleum floors. It wasn’t easy, but Steve was proud of what he’d achieved. The simple things in life began to excite Steve. Robin slid the door open as he broke into a slight celebratory dance. She chose not to make fun of it.

“Hey, Steve? You might wanna see this”

He leant through the threshold. Brown eyes scanned the room until across they met yours. Your vision was slightly blurry with the tears that filled them. In the parking lot, cornered by some drunk seniors that you knew from school. You tried to push one of them off of you, but it was no use. The three boys chanted words of harassment, and one even trying to put his hand down your jeans. Your friends just stood and watched, Your best friend giggled at your expense.

“You did it for Tommy, why won’t you do it for me? Huh, Princess” One spoke, almost spitting in your face. He was so close you could smell the mint from the gum in his mouth. It almost made you sick.

“Get off of me, please” Even when being assaulted, you were always so polite.

“God, Y/N stop pretending to be a prude, we all know the real reason why you stay single. So you’re not tied down to one man.” another hissed, earning a chorus of laughter. It made Steve see red.

Robin waited for his reaction. She would have given the group a strong word herself had she not been so frightened. All three of the boys were bigger than Steve, but they towered over her. Before she could even ask the boy next to her whether she should call the police, Steve had already thrown himself over the front counter, and to the front door. It slammed against the wall as he pushed through, causing the group to turn.

His hand throbbed as he threw the first punch, knocking the guy into the shop window, In his peripheral vision he saw Robin pick up the phone from the counter, undoubtedly calling for the sheriff's department. Another punch was thrown as the gathered crowd grew larger. Steve’s nose was bleeding, his opponent was much stronger than him but he stayed resilient, hitting the guy with his cast-covered hand once more. He may still be nursing a broken hand, but like hell was he going to let anyone treat his girl, who wasn’t his girl, like that. A final blow to the stomach had the group scattering away.

Steve was advised to take the rest of the day from work. His hand was bloody and clearly needed medical attention. Instead, He sat alone on an outdoor bench. Eyes closed and head hung. He didn’t move until you stood near.

“Thanks for that” you almost whispered, “you didn’t have to”

Admittedly this was the first time you’d spoken to him, you felt guilty that it was under these circumstances.

“I know” Steve smiled, “I couldn’t let them do that to you though, just basic morals”

“Still. Thank you”

The atmosphere was comfortable as you sat next to him on the uncomfortable wood. Yet you both stared straight ahead. Unsure of what to say next, too afraid to look at each other.

“I’m Y/N, by the way”

“I know” he smiled, before letting it fall, “I don’t mean that in a creepy way, I just mean that you were in the year blow me in school, and you know some people that I know. I don’t stalk you or anything, cause that would be weir-” He cut himself off, “I’m Steve”

“I know”

Steve nodded, a smile returning to his face. He fiddled with the edge of his vest, nerves getting to him. Usually calm, collected and a true ladies man, he let out a shaky breath. You never would have recognised the man in front of you had it not been for his mop of soft brown hair.

“Your hand. Is it hurt?” You asked, “Do you need to go to the hospital?

Steve shook his head softly. “No, it was broken before.”

“And you still fought with it?”

A soft smile and a chuckle. “Worth it” he whispered.

You reached for the cast on his hand. A tender moment interrupted as the sheriff's car pulled up. Steve’s heart pounded, not in fear, but in love. “Hey, Y/N?

“Mhmm”

“You wouldn’t want to go out sometime?” he stuttered, “with me?”

“Christ sake, Harrington, I thought you’d never ask”

#writing #steve harrington

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snivyleague · 2 years

Text

(You’re the) Best Part

Post Timeskip!Bokuto Koutarou x GN!Reader

wc: 1.4k

summary: waking up in the middle of the night? sucks. love of your life coming to the rescue? sucks less!

content warnings: none! maybe mentions of insomnia and anxiety, pet name ‘baby’ used like once I think? seriously this is just tooth rotting fluff, so so self indulgent

A/N: lightly inspired by the song “Best Part” by Daniel Caesar featuring H.E.R !! just such a pretty love song :) also hi I missed writing so I’m dippin my toes back in

!!! MINORS DNI PLZ AND THANKS !!!

Sleep was hard to find on nights like these.

It was strange, you think, how even when the night was at it’s calmest, sleep still evaded you. You could hear it, your boyfriend sound asleep in the next room, his rhythmic breathing echoing through the stillness of your shared apartment. It should be calming... you should be asleep alongside him. But quite honestly, sleep avoided you the most when it was like this.

You could never truly understand. Realistically, this was the perfect night to be getting the best night’s rest. You and your boyfriend both had a day off tomorrow, it was nice and cool outside and within the apartment. You’d had an amazing dinner before bed, the both of you working in tandem to cook it. Bokuto had spilled some soy sauce all over the counter, and the pout on his face had been so adorable you couldn’t stand it. You watched one of your favorite movies, Koutarou’s head cradled in your lap, your fingers tangled in his hair. He’d laid there perfectly contented, littering kisses to your wrists and thighs as he pleased, pulling little giggles from your chest. It had been such an amazing night.

So why were you awake?

Simply put, you felt a sort of restlessness on nights like these. When everything was perfect and warm and fuzzy. A sort of anxiousness settled in your bones, making it’s appearance when you least expect, or least desire. And the only remedy you’ve found is to get up.

Normally when this happens, you get up out of bed to make yourself some tea. No easy feat, with Koutarou in the bed with you, of course. When he sleeps, he likes to wrap himself around you, get as close as he can to you without actually settling beneath your skin. It was one of your favorite things about him... until you actually had to get out of bed.

But you’d been together for quite some time now, so you’d almost become a master. Especially considering on days he didn’t need to be up for morning practice, he’d sleep until noon if you’d let him. You always got up before him on shared days off, to make him some coffee and wake him up with kisses littered to his face. You supposed considering the time, this time was no different.

Once you slip away from bed, you begin your sort of ‘go back to sleep’ routine. You shuffle your slippers onto your feet, and as quietly as possible you make your way to the kitchen to brew some tea.

The apartment was so quiet, comfortable in the same way rereading your favorite book is. It soothes you to some degree, scanning your tired eyes across your living room.

It was a little messy, but you preferred to call it ‘lived in’. There were blankets and pillows strewn along the couch where you and Bokuto had been cuddling last night, the dvds still stacked on the coffee table. You could remember so clearly his boisterous laugh from yesterday, when the movie had reached your favorite scene, and you’d laughed so hard you snorted. It brought a soft smile to your face as you remembered it.

The water on the stove begins to boil, and you carefully select your tea bag, something herbal, calming, taking the pot off the hot burner and settling it near the back to steep. The smell alone was helping soothe that strange midnight anxiety. The restlessness you couldn’t explain. You turn off the stove and wait patiently for your tea.

You were so absorbed in watching the water slowly turn golden with the addition of the tea bag, you hadn’t heard the shuffling steps down the hall, coming up behind you.

Two strong arms appear around your waist, hugging you back into a broad, warm chest. You startle a little at first, but you’d know him anywhere of course. You knew his body better than your own, most days. You lean back into him, relaxing as he sets his head atop yours. Making a space for himself there against you, breathing you in.

“Kou, what’re you doing up? You should be asleep.” you murmur, and you meant it to be firm but it just comes out all soft and fond. He huffs against your hair.

“No, you’re s’pposed to be asleep. What’re you doin’ up?” he mumbles against the crown of your hair. His fingertips had slipped beneath the hem of your sleep shirt (his shirt, actually), settled warm against your bare skin beneath. It makes you smile, despite your sudden and annoying bout of insomnia.

“Can’t sleep. Go back to bed, love, I’ll be there soon, don’t worry.” you hum, but with the way his hold tightens around you just a bit you have a feeling he wasn’t partial to that.

He nuzzles into the side of your neck then, pressing kisses there, and you? You were helpless. Even half asleep, he was quite convincing in his tactics. Knew exactly how to get you to melt every time.

“Can’t sleep when you’re not there. Come be awake in bed with me. I’ll stay up n’ keep you company.” He mumbles against your skin, trying to sound convincing, sure of himself. You huff out a quiet laugh.

“Kou, you’re half asleep right now.” He whines softly in complaint, and your heart aches with just how in love you are with him.

“Am not. M’wide awake. Come to bed.”

He was, in fact, not wide awake. Anyone with eyes and ears could tell, but it was so incredibly adorable, hearing him mutter soft pleas into your skin.

But alas, you were really looking forward to this tea, your midnight sleep remedy. And you knew if you’d let him drag you off to bed too soon, you’d just lie there awake until it was acceptable to get up again.

“But I already made my tea...” you pout over your shoulder at him, hoping to be convincing.

“It’ll only be a minute or two to drink it. Then I’ll come to bed, I’ll be all yours.”

“But then I’ll have to wait! and I’ll miss you. And if I miss you, I can’t sleep. Then I’ll be tired and cranky at practice tomorrow.”

“You have the day off tomorrow, remember? We both do.” Both you and him knew his argument wouldn’t hold water, but indulging him was one of your favorite activities. Especially when he was being so cute.

“...I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Koutarou...” you had moved past bargaining, getting alarmingly close to the inevitable acceptance of your fate.

“C’mon babyyyy... you said we have the day off tomorrow, right? All the more reason for you to come lay with me n’ lemme love on you. We can sleep in tomorrow.” He draws the nickname out into the cutest little whine and you can feel your soul melt from the warmth it brings.

A sigh falls from your lips, and you could feel his smile pressed into the juncture of your neck and shoulder. He’d always been alarmingly good at breaking you down just enough to drag you back to the comfort of your bed. And he had you right where he wanted you.

“Alright fine. You win. But you have to be the big spoon.” you murmur, a playful defeat. And he may have been half asleep, but by god the sleepy grin on his face seemed somehow triumphant. Truth was, Bokuto had experience with this exact situation.

You’d wake, slip away from bed, and Bokuto truly couldn’t sleep well when you weren’t there. He’d rouse from sleep and pout, then seek you out. You were always in the kitchen, and somehow, he’d always find away to convince you to cuddle him until you fell asleep again. Just as you were a master of escaping the bed in the morning, he was a master at coaxing you back to sleep.

As soon as you gave him the go ahead, he was already in the process of pulling you away from the stove, through your ‘lived in’ apartment, back to the sanctuary of your bedroom.

The restless feeling would never truly go away. It’d come back every now and then in the middle of the night, rouse you from sleep like always. But Koutarou would always be there to keep that feeling at bay, as long as you let him.

Plus, you could always warm up the tea again in the morning.

#bokuto koutaro x reader #bokuto koutarou #hq bokuto #bokuto koutaro x y/n #msby bokuto #bokuto x y/n #Bokuto Koutarou x reader #Bokuto #bokuto kotaro #bokuto kotaro x reader #koutarou bokuto #kotaro bokuto #koutarou bokuto x reader #kotaro bokuto x reader #bo 🌿#fern’s flora 🌿

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eyeslikewatercoolers · 10 months

Text

Death of a Witch (Camine- Magical Girl AU)

Here's part two of the Magical Girl AU! As always, any and all feedback is appreciated

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Camden took the next few days until her next shift to accept the fact that she's got an official partner again. After several months of working with seemingly endless amounts of magical girls in the region, she has a partner to work alongside her to protect their city from the lingering dark spirits and witches.

The only issue about her partner was that Jasmine was an impulsive chatterbox that barely even passed her magical girl training three months before they met.

Camden has avoided running into Jasmine outside the team's headquarters over the last few days. She knew how Jasmine looked de-transformed, which was deemed helpful. But on the other hand, Camden knew that Jasmine knew what she looked like as a human too, which could mean she could try to speak to her outside of work at any time.

Camden tried to set herself a boundary with any potential partner by not allowing the other to see herself as a human. She couldn't get too emotionally attached to a partner that could face the same fate as Rosé.

She walked into the headquarters using the downstairs entrance. Camden had to go through the way back of a Chinese takeout restaurant and up an elevator that needed a six-digit PIN, and scan her ID chip that was embedded into her brooch. The team's headquarters was practically more secure than the Crown Jewels.

She arrived at the headquarters about an hour before sundown. Camden always liked getting to her shifts early. She left the dance studio she worked at during the day around noon on the nights she had to work, giving herself some moments of peace before fighting off spirits. She had yet to transform, walking down the hallway to the locker room to prepare for the evening.

Before Camden opened the door to the shared locker room, she heard mumbled voices from the other side. The door was too heavy for her to tell who the voices belonged to before she gave a quick warning knock and pushed open the door.

Camden opened the door to see another magical girl duo sitting on the bench, not transformed yet. She looked at Daya lying on her back along the bench's length with her legs bent at the knee. Her head rested on Bosco's lap, as her partner leaned against the wall behind her. Camden didn't bat an eye at the duo's PDA, since she's known that they have been dating since they met at their training a few years before getting recruited to join the team.

"What are you two doing here? I thought it was my shift tonight." Camden asked as she walked over to her locker and started turning the dial to put in the code on the lock.

Bosco snorted in response "Wow, Deja was right. You really are bad at saying hello these days." Camden shot her a look as she opened the locker, and Daya shifted to sit next to Bosco. "We heard that you got an official partner again. Do you wanna tell us about that?"

Camden let out a small sigh, knowing she would have to work with Jasmine again tonight. "It's true. She's still a little green in this field, but the other night went mostly fine for us." Camden had chosen her words carefully since gossip traveled fast in their city.

"Really? I heard you and Jasmine had a run-in with Kerri's mom and barely made it out together." Daya spoke up. Camden was about to shortly explain how they had barely escaped Sasha's attacks, but she realized something.

"Wait, I never said her name. How did you know who my partner is?" She said as Jasmine walked in from the other side of the locker room, carrying an open book. Jasmine wasn't transformed yet, her blonde hair in loose curls and wearing contacts instead of her glasses like the previous night. Her bright green eyes looked over to Camden and showed a small smile as a welcome. Camden responded with a quiet 'hello' as Jasmine closed the book and started spinning the lock on her locker.

"I've been looking through all of my old textbooks from training. I can't find anything that explains the white orb thing I saw the other night with Sasha. Do you know what it could be? Because I can't figure it out." Jasmine told her, her body slightly leaning in with concern. Camden remembered that Jasmine asked her about a white glow on witches when they arrived at headquarters after their shift. She thought about it over the last few days but couldn't recall ever seeing a white glowing spot on a witch, and she doubted Daya and Bosco had any idea either.

Camden shook her head no, and told Jasmine, "Me neither, I don't think I've seen anything like that before. I don't know what it could mean either." Jasmine had a disappointed look on her face, her mouth forming into a sight pout. If Camden wasn't still trying to figure out the white glow, she would have thought that Jasmine looked pretty cute while she was pouting.

All four of them directed their attention to the opening door and walked in Deja and Kerri, followed by Willow in her human form as well. Willow started passing out the trackers and earpieces to each of them, as they all noticed that Kerri had a worried look on her face and her arms crossed over her chest.

Deja stood in the middle of the room and started speaking, "I'll make this quick since we have a big mission tonight. Sasha has been constantly on our tracks for the past few nights, and she's been more destructive since when we first found her the other night. We heard from another team in the city that she's even caused injuries on both mortals and magical girls." Deja paused and looked over to Kerri, who gave a small nod before she continued "We're going to have to take her out for good tonight."

Camden realized why they called in Bosco and Daya as well, since taking out a witch was a big task. She and all the other magical defense teams in the world all have known that the only way to permanently end a witch, is to kill her.

They were going to have to end Sasha, tonight.

Camden let out a shaky breath, and looked directly at Kerri "Are you sure about this?"

"It's the only way that we can stop her. I can't let her keep hurting innocent people." Kerri said, trying to keep her voice straight. Camden nodded, respecting Kerri's authority.

Camden took her brooch from her locker and looked at the other magical girls, "Okay, let's transform and get out there. It's going to get dark out soon, and Sasha is probably waiting for us."

It didn't take long to locate where Sasha was in the city's financial district. The group could see the mix of flower petals and dark dust before the dead end. Camden stood next to Jasmine on a rooftop as they looked down towards the alley below. She heard Bosco and Daya hover behind them by the flaps of their wings. She turned to look at everyone, knowing that she was the one to lead the mission "Let's do this."

Camden felt the dark dust and petals surrounding her as she descended to the ground by her ribbons. Jasmine wasn't far as she saw her partner step off her spinning flower and pick it off the ground. The other duo landed on a closed lid of a dumpster, standing not too far away from them. She carefully stepped toward Sasha, who turned to look at the magical girls that just joined her.

"Oh, it looks like you brought some friends! That's nice to know since I invited a friend of my own to join us." Sasha's distorted voice made a chill run down Camden's spine.

As Sasha moved closer, she revealed a sealed small glass container held in her hands. Inside the container, there were bright red swirls within dark dust. The team knew what the object was, it was a trapped dark spirit that had been contained before they return it to headquarters. What Camden didn't understand was how Sasha got in possession of one.

Before she could ask, Sasha lifted the container above her head and forcibly threw it onto the street. As the glass shattered, red smoke filled the immediate atmosphere. Appearing through the smoke, was a male dark spirit, that floated a few inches taller than Sasha. The witch placed her hand on the spirit's shoulder and stood slightly behind him. "This is Anetra. He was a special friend of mine until another team of magical girls decided he would be better off trapped in a tiny glass jar. So I hunted them down and took him back." She gave a frightening smile to the girls, and looked at Anetra, "Are you ready to get your revenge on the magical girls, Netra?" Anetra nodded in response before floating fast up to the rooftops of the surrounding buildings. Bosco and Daya flew behind him, chasing him down in the moonlight, as they knew the other team would take care of handling Sasha.

Daya hovered a few yards away, facing Anetra, seeing Bosco hovering around a cooling tower nearby. She watched as her partner pulled out a new glass container, placed it on the roof, and gave her a nod to start off trapping the spirit once again. Before Anetra had the chance to plan an escape, she found the three objects on the different rooftops she'll be speeding laps around.

She flew around in a large triangle shape cornering around the cooling tower, a generator, and a lift overrun, all sticking out of the roofs. She gained momentum and increased her speed, knowing that Anetra had no quick escape. As she flew faster and faster, she made the triangle smaller with each lap. Just as she was getting to her fastest speed, she felt the giant sound wave that Bosco emitted.

In the corner of her vision, she saw that through the center of the laps, Anetra came crashing down onto the nearby rooftop. She flew out of the trap she made and swooped over to the cooling tower to pick up the container that Bosco left. Daya flew over to the rooftop on her left and saw where Bosco had Anetra lying on the roof, still in whiplash. She opened the container as Bosco used small soundwaves to fit him inside. Daya put a tight seal on the container and handed it back to Bosco for safekeeping until they return to headquarters.

Before they could celebrate the victory, Daya and Bosco looked at each other as they heard a faint beeping in their earpieces. They both realized that the beeping was two separate beeps that sounded frantic.

"Is everything okay? Daya and I keep hearing a beeping in the earpieces." Bosco said, pressing the earpiece closer into her ear. Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. A moment of silence fell between them as they waited for a response.

"We have a problem. You two need to go back down to the alley right now." Deja's voice commanded.

Bosco and Daya started hovering above, and both dived back to the alley. The cloud of dark dust was much bigger than when they left a few minutes before, getting thicker toward the ground. "What's going on? We can barely see through all this dust!" Daya spoke up as she flew near the wall, guiding herself along the bricks.

"Camden and Jasmine's trackers are going haywire, we can't get an exact location on either of them," Willow spoke up, as they heard the keyboard clacking behind her voice. "We can't find Sasha on the map either, can you guys see anything on the street?"

"I can't see anything in this dust. We need to get rid of it," Bosco spoke from the other end of the alley. An idea came to Daya's mind as soon as she heard her partner.

"I think I know how to get this dust away. Bos, stand back for a minute." Daya said as she flew around the alleyway, creating a wind vortex for the dust to funnel into. She saw the dust rise with her as she slowly flew up the length of the buildings. She let the dust fall on a rooftop and landed to look down below again. Once she saw that the air was clear again, she flew back down.

"Smart thinking. Now what can you see down there?" Kerri's voice broke through as she landed back on the ground. She and Bosco walked down the alley, visually scanning their surroundings. Two small objects glimmered by the dumpster at the dead end. She pointed to them, and they walked faster to see what it was.

Laying on the ground face up, were two magical brooches. One that was pink ballet slippers, and the other an orange jasmine flower.

Daya looked at Bosco, who matched her horrified expression as they came to the same conclusion.

Camden and Jasmine were both gone, and Sasha was also nowhere to be seen.

This was not how this mission was supposed to go at all.

#magical girl au #camine #rpdr fanfiction #rpdr s14 #my fics #my writing #rupauls drag race #jasmine kennedie #lady camden

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promptfighter · 9 months

Note

Digimon frontier prompt: Tommy playing with some Digimon children as Kumamon. The kids needed some time to have fun as Digimon without having to be fighting.

Playdate at the school

Why they were back at the school Izumi and Junpei had saved they couldn’t figure out, but back at it they were. Junpei and Izumi found Togemon and quickly fell into an excited discussion with her, with some of the kids she was taking care of joining in. Bokomon found a soft spot in the grass and sat down, pulled out his history book and read out loud to a few of the kids who wanted to listen. History wasn’t everyone’s big interest though. At least not Tomoki’s, and he saw a few of the kids roll their eyes and shuffle away to play instead. Tomoki followed them, and then Takuya showed up with a football he had found near the building. One minute later the group had split into two groups, Tomoki in one and Takuya in the other. Football. Kouji shook his head when he saw it and left, sat down at the back of the building were Neemon had already taken cover and fallen asleep.

Tomoki laughed where he was running after the ball. This was nice. Fun. Like a normal day, playing games with friends and enjoying the freedom after school. Even if the friends this time happened to be heads with tails bouncing on the ground.

...The digital world was weird when he stopped to think about it. So he didn’t.

The sky was free from clouds and the sun shone bright and hot over them. It traveled quickly across the sky, reaching noon way too soon in Tomoki’s opinion. Everyone was getting warm. He saw Izumi sit down in the shade, where Bokomon and their group of kids had already retreated to. He could hear her talk, maybe she was telling them stories from the human world. Junpei was sitting in the doorway, showing off his tricks to Upamon and Yaamon. Kouji and Neemon were probably still hiding behind the school.

Tomoki stopped running, put his hands against his knees and crouched. He was so hot. Absolutely melting. Sweat ran down the side of his face. Takuya stopped as well, dried the sweat of his forehead. Tomoki almost considered suggesting a short break. For lunch or something.

One of the kids, Kapurimon, tackled Takuya, took the ball from him. The other laughed, ran after him, and the game continued. But the heat from the sun was getting to them, they moved slower, missed more shots.

Wait. The heat. Tomoki stopped, looked towards the sun. He could do something about that! He was the warrior of ice! He grabbed his digivice.

”Wait, I’ll show you all something cool.”

Digicode appeared around his hand. He dragged his digivice over it, scanned the code.

”Spirit Evolution!”

Data pulled at his body, changed it. Made it rounder, softer, squishier. The world around him felt hotter, but he was cold, he was winter.

”Chackmon!”

The kids stared at him, eyes wide. Chackmon grinned, put his hands at his sides and stretched his back.

”Betcha never saw anything like that before, ey?” Chackmon asked.

Yaamon rolled their eyes.

”Tsunomon also evolved, you’re nothing special.”

Chackmon fell over. Brutally murdered by a baby. Junpei stopped in the middle of whatever trick he had been doing and looked around.

”Where is Tsunomon? I was hoping to see him.”

”He left”, Togemon said.

She stood up and started herding the kids towards the building again. Some of them snuck away when she looked at Junpei. Junpei’s shoulders fell.

”No one stays here for long after they’ve digivolved”, Togemon continued. ”The school’s too small for them.”

”Aww…”

Izumi looked up from Bokomon’s book, tilted her head. Bokomon grabbed the book and put it back in their haramaki.

”It makes sense”, Izumi said. ”Just like how we move to different schools when we age. Imagine being stuck in kindergarden until you’re 18 and need to get a job.”

Takuya kicked the football into one of the goals they had put up. It hit a tree and flew back into the playing field.

”When I’m 18 I’m already famous and living in Italy, playing football for the national team”, Takuya said.

Junpei turned towards him while putting the handkerchiefs back into his pockets.

”Why not Japan?” Junpei asked.

Chackmon sat up again, looked between them. This hadn’t quite gone to plan. He grabbed his snowball canon, looked at it instead. Upamon and Motimon bounced closer to him, probably wondering what it was. Takuya put a foot on the ball and grinned.

”Because Italy has the best football players in the world and I will be the best of them all.”

”You’re an idiot”, Kouji said.

Takuya whipped around, glared at Kouji, who had probably gotten attracted by the discussion.

”Why don’t you say that to my face?!”

”Fine.”

Kouji walked over and crossed his arms over his chest. The whole situation was so… normal.

”You’re an idiot”, Kouji said.

Chackmon pelted him with a snowball. The kids laughed around them and Chackmon fired another snowball on Kouji. Takuya laughed as well. Kouji shivered, turned around and glared at Chackmon instead. Chackmon jumped back onto his feet, snow fell around him. The air felt a lot cooler. Everyone laughed around him, and Chackmon felt envigorated. He fired a snowball at Takuya, hit his shoulder. Takuya laughed, grabbed some snow from the ground and threw a ball right back at Chackmon, almost hit his hat off.

The kids jumped in excitement. Kouji grabbed a handful of snow and shoved it straight down Takuya’s t-shirt. A shiver ran through Takuya’s body and Chackmon laughed. Got on his skiis, snowball gun in hand. He went circles around the group, fired at all of them. Snow spread as he moved. The kids scooped it up with their tails, tried to throw it back and hit Chackmon. But Chackmon was quick on his skiis and easily slalomed between the balls, fired back when he had a shot. Junpei and Izumi joined the snowball fight as well. Everyone against Chackmon.

Perhaps it was a bit unfair. They didn’t have much of a chance against the warrior of ice.

The kids gathered up a bunch of snowballs, threw them into the air. Nyaromon jumped after them, spun around in the air.

”Galactica magnum tail!” they yelled.

More balls than Chackmon could evade flew through the air. Knocked him off his skiis and buried him. He laughed.

”Victory!” the kids yelled around him.

They jumped in joy. Chackmon sat up, shook the snow off himself. He was ready for another round. Izumi laughed, then leaned down and started rolling a bigger snowball. Kouji dusted snow off himself and joined her. Nyaromon looked at them.

”What are we doing now?” they asked.

Izumi smiled.

”A snowmon”, she said.

Nyaromon tilted to the side, their tail raised slightly. Chackmon got up on his feet and stepped closer.

”What’s a snowmon?” Nyaromon asked.

Izumi looked towards the sky, thought for a few seconds. The kids bounced closer as well.

”It’s a digimon made from snow”, Izumi explain.

Chackmon grinned at that, posed infront of them. If anyone was a snowmon…

”You’ve got the perfect model here!” he said.

Junpei shoved him over with a laugh. The snow was soft under him. Winter was the best time of year, no argument. He watched as Junpei leaned down to make his own big snowball to help Izumi.

Hands grabbed Chackmon from behind, lifted him into the air. He twisted, tried to break free. The hands were warm.

”I’ll make a perfect snowmon of you, little brother”, Takuya said.

”I’ll turn you into a snowmon”, Chakmon laughed.

He grabbed his snowgun again and buried Takuya in snowballs. Takuya was stuck, couldn’t move even an inch. Chackmon laughed. The kids saw it and started piling even more snow on Takuya, shaped him into a big snowball. Gave him a tail and ears. This was great, Chackmon thought, they should have a snowday together when they got back to the human world again.

Kouji stretched, returned to the tree where Neemon was still sleeping and sat down under it again. Too cool for winter, probably. A couple of the kids joined Kouji and Neemon, fell asleep right next to them. How were they already tired?

Takuya got free from the snowpile, tackled Chackmon. Chackmon grabbed a handfull of snow and pressed into Takuya’s face and Takuya answered by shoving him, throwing snowballs as he went. Chackmon curled up, launched himself towards Takuya. Crashed into him and then they crashed right through the snowmon Izumi and Junpei had done. Izumi grabbed Takuya and shoved a handfull of snow under his shirt. Takuya shivered violently.

”What was that for?!” he yelled.

Izumi glared, her eyes hard and angry. She put her hands to her sides. Chackmon almost felt scared, despite Izumi only being a fragile human at the moment.

”We work hard on that!”

Takuya crossed his arms over his chest and turned his back to her. How he dared Chackmon couldn’t tell.

”It will melt the moment Tomoki returns to normal anyway”, Takuya said.

He had a tone of voice that made even Chackmon feel annoyed and overlooked. Izumi grabbed Takuya’s shirt, stuffed another handfull of snow into it before stomping away. Junpei and another couple of kids followed. Motimon and Wanyamon stayed behind, but were starting to look tired as well. Takuya rolled his eyes, then stalked away toward Kouji while Chackmon looked at the pile left after the snowmon. It would melt, but it had meant a lot to Izumi. He gathered the snow up, started pressing it together. Maybe he could rebuild it for her. Wanyamon and Motimon joined him and he wondered if they knew just what a useless task it actually was.

Despite the uselessness of it he wished every digiworld day could be like this. No fighting, just playing in the snow with friends. The sun shining. Laughter filling the air.

”We never see snow here”, Motimon said as they worked. ”Togemon says it only falls in the north.”

”Yeah”, Chackmon said.

He looked at the sky for a second, remembered when he met Nanomon, the snowy area around the city. The big furnace keeping it warm. Went back to forming the snow.

”They never see the sun instead”, he said with a laugh. ”At home, in the human world, we get both.”

He’d never complain about the different seasons again.

”We get rain”, Wanyamon said. ”Togemon told us the humas saved the school from a huge flood a while back.”

”That was Izumi and Junpei!”

They had mentioned it when they all met up again afterwards, although the flood had seemed like a sidenote. Bokomon had been so proud about being a teacher it had overshadowed everything else. Chackmon put the finishing touches on the snowmon and waved to Izumi.

”They’re great, they’ve protected me a lot during our time here.”

Izumi lit up when she saw the restored snowmon. Chackmon clapped his hands in excitement.

”Are you guys gonna save the world?” Wanyamon asked.

They curled their tail around themself, ears drooped slightly. Chackmon didn’t like it, everyone should be happy and hopefull. They had to do something about Cherubimon, had to free this world from his tyranny.

”Of course!” Chackmon said. ”Takuya is really strong, he can defeat anyone who wants to destroy this place. We’re all doing the best we can!”

Motimon laughed. Wanyamon looked slightly less worried. Good. Everything was good. Chackmon smiled, his spirit returning to the digivice. The snow melted around him, water gathered in pools in the grass, was absorbed into the ground. The sun shone less hot now. Tomoki’s stomach rumbled and he laughed, scratched the back of his head. It was way past lunchtime.

Togemon’s came out from the school building. She carried a big pot in her hands. Motimon and Wanyamon hurried away towards her and Tomoki went to Takuya.

”Lunchtime!” Togemon called.

The digimons that had fallen asleep around Kouji woke up and bounced away. Tomoki looked at Takuya.

”Are we staying?”

”It’s probably time for us to keep moving”, Takuya said and put his hands behind his head. ”This world won’t save itself.”

”Yeah…”

Tomoki looked at Togemon. At the kids. Junpei, Izumi and Bokomon waved goodbye and came up to the rest of them. Tomoki smiled. They’d save this world, for the kids. So they could keep playing in the grass without any worries.

”Come on!” he said. Smiled. ”Let’s go defeat Cherubimon!”

#prompt fill #ask #digimon frontier #sorry it took time x3 #I am very rusty at writing fluff #AS YOU CAN TELL #and Tomoki on top of that?#whew #but the kids can have little a snowball fight as a threat >:3 #I hope this was to your liking #despite the ages it took for me to write it x3

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blueberry-beanie · 2 years

Photo

Foals at E-Werk Köln | 21 June 2022

A very long tale about the day I ended up in Köln instead of Berlin, met the boys at the record shop, got front row spots again and had a quite surreal experience overall.

It's half past six in the morning and I'm sitting on the sofa in an apartment somewhere in the east of Köln. It's a weird feeling to be here all by myself after what has happened in the past 24 hours. But wait, how did I end up in Köln? Shouldn't I have been in Berlin right because of the Aurora concert? Yeah well... about that...

I was supposed to go to Aurora's concert and had booked everything already. The catch was, I had to choose between Aurora and Foals, who somehow managed to be in Germany at the exact same time. I really love Aurora and I'm sad I didn't get to experience her live yesterday.

Rachel (whom I met in Berlin at the Foals concert) has asked me if I'll be in Köln. I told her no, I had other plans. Last weekend there was the Hurricane festival, which I was supposed to attend with Charlotte, but decided against it. Last Friday Foals released their new album and did a small livestream on Instagram – while sitting in Hamburg.

That was the first time I realised I was somehow quite sad, because I ended up crying at the kitchen table after returning from my riding lesson. On top of that, I somehow managed to miss out on both livestreams from Hurricane and Southside. But that alone wouldn't have been enough to change my mind.

A few days ago, a record shop announced there would be a signing session in Köln. Still, I had just met them a few weeks ago. On Sunday noon, I received a message from Mickey, whom I met in Amsterdam. He asked me if I was going to Köln because he has been thinking about going there last minute.

I told him, no, I'm not going, please give the boys my greetings. Then started crying. Now I was unhappy about the prospect of going to Berlin all alone instead of seeing some people again who are actually asking about me

Enter insanity. I told him that I was looking to change my plan. And we started planning out our trip. I don't know which part of this is more insane, maybe you can decide for me:

- Berlin tickets and accommodation are non-refundable, and I am not a millionaire - We have two days until the concert - for some reason (Billie Eilish and Lorde probably) the entirety of Köln is completely booked out, with prices starting from 110 € upwards for any kind of accommodation - this makes it way too expensive for getting a single room, so Mickey and I decided to share - I don’t know him other than having spent a few hours at a concert with him

But of course, why not, right?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

two days later, at home

Mickey said on Sunday evening, “Yes, let’s go” and I did not know whether to grin like an idiot or panic. So, I first grinned and then spent Monday and Tuesday morning with panicking. Seems fair. I don’t know why anxiety kicked in as much as it did, but it nearly made it impossible to prepare because I was shaking with fear.

I booked my trains and Mickey booked an Airbnb half an hour from the city centre and about the same time from the venue E-Werk. It was the only remotely affordable flat anywhere near we needed to be that did not just have one bed, but also a sofa. Oh well…

On Tuesday morning I was too nervous to eat anything and left the house with a bag of food and fear. In the train I tried to distract myself with Life Is Yours and Everything Everything, hoping that the uplifting music would relax me. That did not really happen.

At least both the train to and from Hannover were fairly punctual, and so were his trains. Finally in Köln, I discovered that the station in fact has two entrances on the same side. I told Mickey I’d wait in front of Kamps bakery and started scanning the crowd. And what a crowd it was. It seemed like the entire town was up and about.

Then finally, when I already thought we won’t find each other and maybe I don’t remember anymore how he looks like, Mickey suddenly materialised in front of me. I asked myself how I ever thought I won’t recognise him. We both said hi in a rather awkward way and had a moment of doubting whether we should hug but decided to go for it. It was already about 12:40 and we decided to go and look for the Underdog Record Store which was only a few minutes’ walk from the station.

I happily let Mickey navigate (although we made a few wrong turns) and we tried to somehow become more familiar with each other. I remembered him as a very nice person who was pleasant to talk to and this impression was only confirmed. He told me about his university courses and about how exactly he happened to somehow be based in three countries at once. We talked a bit about Foals, but also about how this entire situation is a bit funny.

At some point I joked that my best friend was kind of shocked I was about to just go ahead on a trip with a “friend” I had only known for a few hours, and he laughed about that and said he’ll try to be a good companion.

We arrived at the tiny record shop way ahead of time and discovered they only sell vinyl. There was already a small queue, but we wanted to check out a bakery for food (not tasty enough) and a nearby Saturn for the LIY album. Just as I predicted the CD cost insane 18 €, but I gulped my guilt down and bought one, because it felt odd to arrive without any of their music.

[x]

The previous day I had already printed out some photos of the band members for Mickey and bought a strong white cardboard for myself for Yannis to write the lyrics of Mountain at My Gates. I was unsure whether that wouldn’t be too much work, but when we arrived back at the shop and saw Rachel and her friends Lea and Maggie, I saw it was not more work than they had brought.

Lea had a whole assortment of CDs and a big print from ENSWBL 1 deluxe she wanted to get signed. She wore a Pidge t-shirt and turned out to be quite the superfan, despite this being her first Foals concert. That was a good thing, because she craved to be at the barrier, and I knew we would be really late that day. So we were lucky I knew Rachel and could just come and join them later.

Rachel showed us the papaya and lemon she brought for Yannis, and we all burst out laughing, because it was a reference to his tweets about favourite fruit the previous day.

Speaking of the devil – suddenly a black car with tinted windows pulled up at the store. The door opened – and a very smol and tired Yannis emerged. We stared at him and awkwardly greeted him, and he also said hi to us and proceeded to vanish inside the shop.

Yannis wore his red shirt with flowers that day, together with obligatory black jeans and white shoes. At some point he sat down in the little adjacent café and some woman, who seemed to be part of their team, brought a pile of cards and pencils. It was a bit odd because not only could we see him, but he was also watching us.

The awkwardness was alleviated by Jack suddenly appearing around the corner with his foldable bicycle, stylishly sporting one of Yannis old t-shirts, the grey-white-orange one with circle and spot patterns. He folded the bike and carried it in, greeting us in a good mood. By now it was already 2pm, but Jimmy was not here yet. He came a few minutes later with a woman and we were like “Hi Jimmy! You are late!” and he replied “Yes, I know I know”.

I was starting to get quite nervous because we were one of the first in line, right after Rachel, Lea and Maggie. We caught a glimpse of Yannis with his papaya and giggled about it, but then it was suddenly our turn. I had joked that Mickey had to go first in case they will eat him alive, but they were in contrary incredibly sweet.

[x]

Mickey put the photos on the table to sign and they said the photos look really cool and wanted to know where they are from. I said, these are my photos and pointed out which are from Amsterdam and which from Berlin and they complimented me about them. He asked Yannis if they can play his favourite song Exits, but he politely denied, saying that they may play it at a later point. Mickey also asked them to record a small birthday message for his friend Sasha. Jack was the one talking, and the others just chimed in with Happy Birthday.

Now this was all taking quite a bit of time and their assistant woman (or whoever she was) wanted us to take a photo and move along but I said I still had some things to sign, sorry. The boys were very patient, but this woman clearly was not. Understandably so because there was quite a queue.

I started telling Yannis “Umm, hi I don’t know if you remember me, but we met in Berlin, I was the one who gave you the letter from Nikol.” And he was like “oh, yes, sure, I remember!” and proceeded to thank her for the letter and the Chili. He said he liked it very much and “it is made of ceramics, right? I wore it a few times, it’s great” and the others also seemed to know what he was talking about. Then he said, without me mentioning it, “and thanks also for the soap, it is really good”. By that time my heart had already melted, to be honest.

I asked them if they could sign the CD for Nikol and they all proceeded to do so, but then Yannis wanted to write her name and asked me “How do you spell that?” and my brain sort of short-circuited and I forgot the alphabet and helpfully said “err, with K”. Thankfully Mickey had not lost his brain and spelled it out for him.

To the dismay of the woman timekeeper I also asked Yannis very messily with compromised grammar whether he could write the chorus of Mountain at My Gates down for me “because it’s my favourite song and um err I always listen to it when err I- I think I can’t go on anymore and and I would hang it up on my wall and look at it” *facepalm*. Yannis said “yeah sure I’ll do that” but then he realised he did not know the lyrics and was like “umm oh I need to look that up” and I think even had the audacity to say “oh you should know your own lyrics” (while being too star struck to know them myself, mind you) and he apologetically told me about how it was difficult to remember them but how about I just leave the paper here with him and he’ll do it in between and hand it out to me later?

Of course, I agreed with that and was so happy and then we had to take one awkward photo in which I stood next to Jimmy and didn’t know where to turn myself… and then it was over and we went out.

I immediately sent out a voice message to N telling her about the Chili and then took a photo of the signed things. N first did not realise it is a signed CD and thought it is a card, but she was really happy about the news.

Mickey and I waited around for a bit to get the written lyrics. When the woman gave them out to me along with a little card, I couldn’t believe the precious gift I was holding in my hands. That song had really guided me through some heavy things and given me a lot of energy. To have it handwritten by the person who came up with the song in the first place is an invaluable gift.

We also sent everything to Charlotte, and she started screenshotting it and was excited for us. She did not know we’d be in Köln and so it was a surprise for her. Meanwhile she was already on her way to Glastonbury. Rachel and the girls departed after exchanging approving glances at each other’s signed things.

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Mickey and I turned to go back to the main station to get some food and get the train to our accommodation. On our way I asked him about his family and about his friend Sasha. Since he is Ukrainian, he had quite some things to tell about how he and his family experience the war. Thankfully they are all alright, although the situation is of course less than ideal.

At the main station Mickey got himself some sandwich and was kind enough to sponsor my vegan couscous. We sat on the steps leading up to the Kölner Dom and talked about work and university, before going in for a quick glance at the Dom. We then took the train with the number eighteen and made our way to the accommodation, which is in a part of the city that reminded us more of a village than a big city.

I was a bit nervous because he was so spontaneous with determining when we had to get out, but he just laughed and told me to relax. Granted, my sixth sense saved us from missing our stop. Still, he was good at navigating, and we made it to the house with the number twelve, located in a quiet street.

After ringing the doorbell once or twice a nice woman opened the door and told us to come in. She asked why we are in the city and we tried to explain in English and German that we were here for Foals and the city is packed because of Billie Eilish and Lorde. She was very nice and showed us to our flat upstairs and explained how the key worked. After introducing us to her sweet black curly dog, we were left on our own.

The flat was quite big, with a corridor, a bathroom to the left, a kitchen straight ahead and a huge living and sleeping room with a wooden balcony. The living room had a huge double bed and a foldable sofa, as well as a dinner table and a TV. The balcony led out into the garden with a view on an idyllic pond. To be honest, if it had not been for the price, I’d stayed in this flat for much longer than one night.

We freshened up a bit, re-packed our bags and headed out to catch the train to E-Werk. It was around 4:30 pm by now and I was nervous about the state of the queue waiting for us, although I knew Lea was already there. The train took its sweet time to arrive and we had to catch a bus after.

By now all nervousness had disappeared and I was just happy to have a companion with me. He told really funny stories, like the one about his colleague telling the waiter in the restaurant “Ich warte!” in an attempt to practice his German. Mickey himself has quite impressive German skills although he claimed that Dutch has ruined his pronunciation (which was nearly perfect the whole time).

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We finally arrived at the venue with the bus, together with another dude wearing a Black Bull t-shirt. Apparently the bus stop is just in front of E-Werk. Me wanting to be at E-Werk for Coldplay in 2014 made me think it’d be a beautiful venue, but it really was quite small and shabby-looking with huge windows.

Said windows were almost shattering from the sound of Egyptian Blue soundchecking. Thankfully Rachel and the others were already there and I also saw the guy from Berlin with the Inhaler t-shirt (and again I managed to not ask his name, goddamn me, I am hopeless). He was wearing a Foals t-shirt today though and sat next to us all on the steps.

We had to admit Egyptian Blue sounded better from the outside than the inside of the venue and joked we’d just stay out here until they were done. Suddenly we noticed Jack behind the bushes next to the tour bus inconveniently parked in plain sight. He was talking to the guy in the Black Bull t-shirt, who had told us earlier that he missed the signing session. I guess he wanted a private signing session now, but security dared to disagree and sent him out.

We did not remain seated quietly for long, though, because N sent me a tweet with the coordinates of a hidden vinyl. Mickey and I got up and running down the street in an attempt to get there first – too late! Only minutes after the tweet the vinyl had already found a new owner. It was great fun though running down the street and giggling, not caring what people thought about us.

By now it was almost half past six, nearly time for doors to open. Security took care to make rows and more and more people appeared, making us glad that we had a good spot. Mickey still needed to send me my ticket which he had gotten from Ticketswap.

And then it was time. Thankfully nothing happened, the tickets were valid, no questions about my bag… and Rachel did not even have to lie down on the floor like Charlotte to secure our spot. Again a perfect spot, right where Yannis would be!

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The only thing was that this time I was sandwiched between Mickey and the huge Berlin guy (I swear next time I’ll ask his name). But I tried to see the positive sides: with such strong guys next to me it was certain Yannis would come here for What Went Down. If only security had been this strong too… but more of that in time.

Now it was waiting time again. When Mickey went to the bathroom, some drunk guy from the back already wanted to steal his place, claiming he “just had to touch the barrier once to see how it feels”. Like dude… no. Touch it after the concert is over. We met Paula, who brought a bouquet of pink roses to the concert.

We were all very “enthusiastic” about Egyptian Blue who played as bashingly loud and bad as usually. But thank God that was over soon. And then they started to build up the Foals stage! Yannis microphone was set up right in front of my nose, a bit too much in front of me for my taste because I knew it’d be in the way all the time.

Mickey noticed that there appeared to be no screen this time – just a black huge banner that reminded us of something we could not point our finger at. We engaged N as a detective and found out it resembled the pattern on the black LIY vinyl. I prayed that the light would be good enough for photos.

And suddenly, shockingly on time, Foals appeared onstage with the known intro music and Wake Me Up. Yannis was really right in front of me again and had made the effort to change into another shirt (actually one of my faves). I felt like I overdosed with Foals in the last month, because not only was this the third concert but I also spoke to him twice. This all felt too unreal to be true.

He was in a good vocal shape, but somehow the vibe was different from Berlin and Amsterdam. They seemed to be a bit tired, although they tried to play a good energetic show. I remembered my purpose of a photographer and started testing out my new prism, to the surprise of and displeasure of the security guy in front of me. Well, I know it looks weird, but the results are worth it, man… and if even Foals say the photos are good…

At first the setlist had no surprises, only when they got to Looking High, we all got excited because that was a rare one. They had last played it in the UK, and only four times. Mickey was already sad because he thought they scrapped Life Is Yours, but to his surprise they played it right after.

I found the crowd to be more drunk but less enthusisastic than in Berlin and I missed Camille and Charlotte for the In Degrees jumping marathon and “Brighton Rock!” yelling. I think they should play Spanish Sahara right after in Degrees so we can all have a rest on the Floor, to be honest.

Yannis was a bit forgetful that day (although not with the Mountain at My Gates chorus, bless). He messed up the beginning of Looking High, and I have heard better performances of Inhaler. However he said “Dankeschön” in a very sweet way even twice, so my heart melted anyway. I will miss him a lot, because that was definitely the last concert of the year. I hope I can memorise how wonderful it is to have a whole concert (or three) to just see all with my own eyes and even speak to him on multiple occasions.

He came down to the crowd for Providence, but I did not catch his hand this time, only his shoulder on the way back (green shirt still leads in terms of softness, but this dotted one is a close second!). During the Encore break I told Mickey that we really need to go and get some food and drink after, because I felt really weak. No surprise in that.

They came back to play Black Bull and then – What Went Down. Now was the chance. We gave everything and hoped he would come to us. He gave away his guitar, climbed down and got up right to us. I thought this is too good to be true, and truly, it was: he decided not to climb up on the barrier today. I suspect, maybe he was being tired but also security stood there like it was their first day on the job and showed no signs of wanting to help him get up.

I can’t blame him for not doing it, but I was a bit sad still. He briefly went to the spot where Rachel and Lea stood, but then he climbed back up on stage. During Two Steps I already noticed just how exhausted I was. And then, suddenly it was over, and they disappeared.

We had no luck with setlists, drumsticks or plecs and they closed the stage area really quickly. I noticed that the entire right side of my T-Shirt was completely soaked in sweat, and it was not my own. My jacket, meanwhile, was safely waiting for me at home… We briefly said goodbye to our friends and then Mickey and I quickly got out to catch the bus.

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Somehow the rest of the evening added to the sense of all of this being completely unreal, like a glimpse of stolen life. I am well aware that many people do things like this on a regular basis and it is no big deal to go to a concert last minute in another city and meet new people and hang out with them.

However, for a home-sitting lonely introvert like me this is really far away from my usual life and still causes me to have some feeling as if everything is just another story I made up in my mind.

At the train station all food shops except one lonely Rewe were closed, so we went to get some shockingly healthy food (“let’s get Papaya with lemon”) and ended up with yoghurt, cereal, apples, wraps, a big bottle of sparkling apple juice (sadly no Sprite, sorry). We somehow forgot how thirsty we were and did not think of buying two bottles, so we shared ours while waiting for the train.

In the train we reviewed the setlist (Mickey was actually the one who created the concert date on setlist.fm) and realised they left out Late Night and Black Gold in favour of new songs. Then we arrived in our “village”. It was dark and I had no idea where we were going. Normally I’d be in panic in this situation, but oddly I felt very safe and incredibly happy in that moment.

We quietly snuck into the flat to not wake the owners downstairs. After eating and washing we talked for a while and it was sad he had to wake up so early next morning to go back, because late night talks are the most interesting. But it was already late, and we had to sleep.

I fell asleep and woke up startled by something when it was already morning. I turned around to find Mickey standing right next to me. I managed to say “oh my god”, and probably scared the hell out of him with my reaction because he asked “Are you ok?”. We had an awkward moment and finally managed to say “…good morning?”.

The goodbye was just as awkward as our greeting less than 24 hours earlier. We first stood a few metres apart and he was not sure about going for a hug or not. He told me to write to him when I was safe at home and suddenly I was all alone.

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I needed an hour to somehow get myself together enough to function again. I ate up, packed and dressed and left the flat after 7:45 to get a train to the botanical garden.

I think it is almost a tradition for me to visit the botanical garden in each city after a concert. There is something meditative and soothing about them, I thought, wandering through the Flora next to Köln Zoo.

Nobody was here yet except for some runners. I had all the time in the world to take as many photos as I wanted and calm down my hopeless brain. Amongst the roses and pink flowers I thought that this would be something Yannis enjoys: first a crazy concert and then the garden.

Afterwards I headed back to the main station in hope of visiting some museums. But the city center is not a welcoming place early in the morning. Most shops are closed and all the construction sites did not help with navigation.

The museums started scaring me, so I thought, “screw this2 and wanted to go to another park. But first I had a whole odyssey trying to find affordable vegan food (which turned out to be disgusting, sadly). In the park I sat down on a bench near the big pond to eat and write to N. By that time it was really hot already. I managed to get lost with google maps and eventually settled under the shade of a big tree.

There I found a four leafed clover which I showed to N and to Mickey, who did not know the concept of them as lucky charms. A mail reached me: my green patterned shirt had arrived, and I would be able to pick it up soon.

Then it was already time to go back to the station and catch the ICE to Hannover. The train was very full, and the air was thick. I originally wanted to write down my adventures but found myself almost sleeping instead. Even worse, we were significantly delayed, and I missed my second ICE by a minute. That meant I had an odyssey with two Metronom trains until I finally arrived in my home town, exhausted and ready to just eat and sleep.

It has been two days now and I still feel like it was all a fever dream, even as I sit on the sofa and look at the photos I took. Not entirely sure how any of this qualifies as a travel or concert diary still, but it sure as hell is a lot of reading material to remember.

#my concerts #foals köln #foals #yannis #jack #jimmy #my photo #liy

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evereinefaust · 2 months

Text

*.·:·.✧ 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 ✧.·:·.*

After a whole day of suffering from jetlag and headache pains, most of the actors were able to adjust and operate properly the next day. Now, the LOH crew was out and about the resort, exploring many tourist spots and beginning to enjoy their stay at Diamond Resort like they were supposed to.

[Y/n] woke up at 6 in the morning, as she had planned for this week. After refreshing herself and bidding her family good morning, the young girl headed straight down to the hotel restaurant where she would indulge herself in delicious meals.

"This place may be my favorite one so far~"

[Y/n] took a deep breath as she strolled inside the dining hall, the aromatic air circulating making her stomach growl and mouth water. Sporting a cheeky grin, the [h/c]ette scanned the area for any vacant booths or if she could spot any of her colleagues to join in for breakfast.

Fortunately for her, she didn't have to dine alone...

"Good morning, everyone~" she chirped, gliding seamlessly next to the table where her friends were.

"Good morning, [Y/n]," Krom responded, pausing his eating to face the newcomer.

"You're in a good mood, huh," Aran mentioned, noticing the girl's bright disposition.

Zaira reciprocated the smile. "Morning."

"Mind if I join in?"

"No need to ask. Just take a seat anywhere."

"Hehe~ Thanks," walking over to a vacant chair, the young actress seated herself between Aran and Krom.

[Y/n] took the menu from the middle of the table, scanning through the list of meals once more. But unlike yesterday, she already had her breakfast in mind. After all, she already listed her favorites and even others she wanted to try. And since she was planning to spend the whole day outside, eating a hefty meal in the morning would be okay in her book.

It didn't take long for her orders to be received by the passing waiter, now, she just needed to wait for her personalized five-course breakfast to arrive in a few minutes.

"How was yesterday for you guys? I didn't get to meet you yesterday or even see any of you in passing," [Y/n] asked, her round orbs blinking curiously at her friends.

"Charles and I just took a stroll at the shore and visited some shops in the street," the blue-haired man replied, taking a bite of his steak. "We woke up a little after noon so we didn't have that much time to explore."

"Mhm. I see," she hummed. Gazing at the tanned redhead next to Krom, she then smiled. "How about you, Zaira?"

The tanned woman rubbed her temple, recalling the events that she went through yesterday. "Uhm... I spent most of my time in the hotel room until I was invited by Oswald and the others to take a walk around the area."

The teen nodded her head, puckering her lips. "I see. I see. How about you, Aran? Any news?"

"Ian and I were tagging along with whatever Biryu wanted to do or go, but in the end, I ended up taking the lead in exploring the resort," Aran said with a smug expression, her emerald eyes sparkling. "We discovered a lot of places around the island without the help of a tour guide. Did you know about the park uphill?"

"Oh~ That place~" [Y/n]'s face also brightened, cheeks tinted pink. "After I took the bus tour around the island yesterday, I went to Ever Garden, the park that you were talking about. I spent about an hour or two there with the others."

"So that's its name, huh? Great."

Krom sweat-dropped, looking at the redhead. "So you arrived at the place without knowing it?"

"Pretty much."

"How did you three end up there?" the other redhead asked. "I only know about the path near the hotel."

After taking a bite of her cupcake, Aran answered. "Oh, I think we were on the opposite side of the hill when we were out on a walk. I just saw a staircase leading somewhere and took it. That's how we ended up at the park."

"Wow... So there are also other ways to go to the same place, huh? Well, I mean, this resort is huge, after all."

In a moment, [Y/n]'s breakfast came in. The waiter placed down about six plates of different food on the table, all ready to be devoured by this petite girl. As the three were pretty much done with their breakfast, they instead spent the remaining time watching in interest as the small [h/c]-haired actress continuously shoved food after food into her mouth. The way her flushed cheeks swell and jingle when she chews reminded them of a small animal enjoying its food.

Their eyes would soften at the sight as the young actress emits noises of satisfaction and her [e/c] pools twinkle happily. They, too, graced a smile on their lips just from observing this particular girl.

"So you guys are here."

A new voice sliced through the atmosphere, making everyone's attention turned toward the source. Approaching their table were two adults — a male with short, raven tresses and a female with curly, blonde hair and a freckled face. [Y/n]'s eyes lit up at the sight of her older brother, though she could only stare at them as she was busy chewing her food inside her full mouth.

"Good morning, everyone," Bianca greeted, giving a small wave.

"Morning."

"Good morning."

"Good morning, Dietrich, Bianca."

After swallowing a bit and opening up space in her mouth, the girl greeted. "Guf moming..."

Dietrich narrowed his eyes, frowning. "Don't speak with your mouth full, [Y/n]."

"Mhm," instead of answering, she just nodded her head and grunted in response.

"This girl..." sighing, the older [L/n] took a seat next to Zaira as Bianca sat on Aran's left.

After an hour of cheerful conversation during breakfast, [Y/n] decided to go exploring on her own, despite her older brother's insistence on coming along. That's because there's only one thing that the girl was planning on doing today, and she didn't want Dietrich to accidentally know about it or else he'll surely get in the way.

"Hm... I just need to find the person around the shop street... Too bad the clue only pointed to the shop street and not the place..."

[Y/n] walked along the stone pavement on Sunset Street, her gaze darting from each shop lining on the side, trying to find the particular place the hint was about. Yesterday during the bus tour, the tour guide lady mentioned the limited-time activities and quests on the island for tourists.

One quest, in particular, intrigued the [h/c]-haired teen — Diamond Resort's Treasure Hunt.

"The treasure hunt is available for about a week, and each day, there can only be one person who accomplishes it. I don't know if the treasure hunt changes each day or if it stays the same, but if I don't try to solve it today, I doubt I could even have time to do it for the next few days..."

She released a sigh, slumping her shoulders. "I just hope I get lucky..."

The young actress strolled around the street, looking down at the paper she held in her hand and then at the clothing store called 'Crowned Casuals' in front of her. It's the last shop at the end of the street. As she glanced at the large windows of the clothing shop, she spotted a few familiar mops of hair loitering inside. Sporting a smile, she then turned her heels and headed inside.

"Lyn~ You guys are here!" [Y/n] glomped the said girl from behind, surprising the pink-haired teen.

"Oh, hello, [Y/n]," Lucilicca greeted, her eyes wide in surprise to see this particular girl inside the store.

"Heyyo~"

"Geez! You almost gave me a heart attack, [N/n]!' Lyn huffed, though her visage immediately brightened at the sight of her friend. "Are you also here to shop for some clothes?"

"Maybe it's not that bad to look around while searching for the next clue."

"Mhm," she nodded.

[Y/n] walked around the store, her eyes scanning the wonderful selection of various summer-themed apparel. Furthermore, she didn't expect to see either Charles or Aries inside, but it made her happy that she kept bumping into her friends in any place she went.

There weren't that many customers inside, though the young girl couldn't help but notice a certain woman who kept walking back and forth in the same area. From a customer's perspective, she may seem like looking for clothes and comparing each one before buying what suits her. But the [h/c]ette noted that she was doing this for a couple of minutes as if she was just idling by the area to either wait for someone or something else.

Even Charles mentioned it to the girl, and she can't help but think that something's up...

"Excuse me..." [Y/n] built up the courage to speak to the woman.

"Oh..." surprise etched on the blonde woman's face, her cerulean eyes dilating a bit. However, she regained her composure in a minute. "Yes? What can I help you with?"

[Y/n] remained silent for a while. She can hear her heartbeat thumping hard against her ribcage, the utter nervousness overriding her system. Despite being a fully-fledged actress and experiencing a lot of situations where she had to interact with strangers, the girl still can't get used to it. After all, most of the time, the other party was the one approaching her and initiating a conversation, not the other way around.

"It's fine... Don't get overwhelmed by anxiety, [Y/n]. You're just here to talk to her, no worries. If she wasn't the one in the hint, then it's fine."

Exhaling a deep breath, the young girl finally faced the woman. "I'm sorry if this may be out of the blue, but did the treasure happen to be around here?"

The woman squinted her eyes, red lips curving up in a smile. She adjusted her position while taking a piece of parchment from her pocket, then she took [Y/n]'s hand and placed the parchment on her palm. "Sadly, the treasure isn't here with me. But I found a clue as to where it could be."

"Uwah! Lucky~"

"Thank you," she dipped her head towards the woman, pink tinted her cheeks and lips curved up in a smile.

"No problem."

Waving goodbye to the woman, [Y/n] opened the small paper to read the contents. She couldn't believe that she found the hint on her first try, but the girl knew that she shouldn't be expectant or complacent since this was just the start of the treasure hunt.

I’m tall but I’m not a basketball player I’m thin but I’m not a flagpole I shine but I’m not the sun I help sailors but I’m not an anchor I’m a building but I’m not a skyscraper

"What's that?"

[Y/n] looked up at Aries, noticing his line of sight at the paper in her hold. "Oh, just a piece of paper containing a riddle."

"Hm... I see," he murmured, focusing on scanning the various clothes hanging on the rack.

"This has to be a place, right? Well, I guess I need to get a move on."

"[N/n]! Let's get a matching outfit!" Lyn chirped, shoving a dress into the said girl.

"O-oh..." the [h/c]ette sweat-dropped. "Sorry, Lyn. Maybe next time..."

The pink-haired teen deflated, her arms limped to the side. "Eh~?"

"It's rare for you to turn down such a suggestion," Charles mentioned, quirking his eyebrow in suspicion.

"Hehe..." a nervous sweat rolled down the side of her face at his claim.

"Do you have somewhere to go?" the silver-haired woman piped in.

"Y-yeah, sorry..." she replied, rubbing her head sheepishly. "Sorry, Lyn. I promise to make it up to you soon!"

Lyn just smiled and hugged the smaller girl. "No worries! In the meantime, I'll buy us matching clothes. Oh! Maybe you, me, Charlotte, and Cannae could be wearing themed clothing~"

"Ufufu~ I like that," [Y/n] giggled.

"Take care, [Y/n]."

"Don't go wandering off to places you're not supposed to, kiddo."

"See ya later, [N/n]!"

"Mhm. See you later, everyone!" Bidding goodbye to the four, the [h/c]-haired teen exited the shop.

Now that she had found the second clue to her treasure hunt, she just needed to identify the place the riddle was referring to and get there. Fortunately for her, she was smart enough to decipher what the answer to the riddle was, and that it was already directly in front of where she was.

"I'm thankful that I don't have to walk for about 30 minutes just to find a lighthouse. Now that I think about it, this area is the only busy and populated section of the whole resort island."

With her resolve, the young actress proceeded to walk towards the lighthouse up on the nearby hill. There was already a paved, stone pathway up the hill, so she didn't need to worry about climbing the steep elevation or finding other ways to get there. Yet, despite that, it still took the girl about 10 minutes just to arrive at the said lighthouse.

"I... wasn't ready... for exercise..." she huffed, hands on both knees as she finally arrived in front of the lighthouse door. She wiped away a couple of sweat that rolled down her face, expression scrunched up in displeasure at the sudden exertion of energy. "Anyway..."

Trudging over to the wooden door of the lighthouse, she gulped. [Y/n] raised her hand, ready to take a knock on the wood.

"And I'm back down here..." a certain girl murmured to herself, unamused by the physical endeavor she had to do to accomplish the treasure hunt. Her half-lidded eyes gazed at the large ice cream shop in front of her, the words, Frostbite Frozen Delights popping out. Soon, a small smile emerged on her tired facade. "At least I could get ice cream in the process..."

Entering the ice cream shop, [Y/n] was greeted by a cozy and welcoming atmosphere. The place was quite huge, with white and pink, vertical striped walls, white wooden columns and skirting boards, and a beige oak wood floor. There were a couple of booths inside able to occupy about five people on each. And there were even some garden tables and chairs outside the place.

"Whoah... ice cream..."

[E/c] hues sparkled in delight at the menu hanging above the counter, reading the list of available flavors of ice cream. She then turned her attention towards the ice cream bar on the side, seeing the frozen treat being displayed for many to see. Since the young actress was walking for about half an hour now, pretty much all of her breakfast was halfway depleted. Add the fact that she ended up ambling about the whole area underneath the harsh rays of sunlight, the girl thought that ordering an ice cream was a must.

And that, she did.

"Welcome to Frostbite! What can I get for you?" the cashier was a curly, blonde, bespectacled woman. She offered the [h/c]-haired actress a sweet smile.

"Uh... uhm... can I get a [f/f] on a cone, please?" [Y/n] ordered, her eyes glued to the menu board above.

"Sure thing, sweetie~ Is that all?"

Glancing back at the woman, [Y/n] pursed her lips, contemplating what she was going to do. In the end, she decided to kill two birds with one stone. "About the lighthouse..."

The woman's eyes lit up at the girl's words, the corner of her lips curling up. She first scanned her shop before returning her attention to the [h/c]-haired teen. "You know, I heard that the person who was living in the lighthouse often came to my shop to buy ice cream. However, whenever they come, I'm absent from the store. Though, a few of my employees would meet them. Maybe they can help you with your quest."

"How do I... find them?"

"Here's a list of my employees and where they could be found during each hour," the woman gave [Y/n] a piece of paper. "If you've talked to the right one, return to me."

The young girl glanced at the folded paper, gulping. "Thanks."

"No problem! Now, I'll go work on your order, sweets~"

After a couple of minutes, [Y/n] paid the woman for the ice cream she ordered. The girl decided to sit in a vacant booth and rest for a while, assessing the new clue that she was given to complete this quest. She knew that completing a treasure hunt like this one wasn't that easy, however, no matter how committed the young [h/c]ette was, she truly overestimated her abilities and patience in terms of physical undertaking.

"This is a treasure hunt, stupid. Of course, you'll be required to run around the area to find the next clue to the treasure. Why did you think it would be easy?"

The girl frowned, a crease embedded between her brows as she ate her ice cream. Pulling out her phone from the sling bag that she was carrying, [Y/n] opened the device to check the time. 10:09, it read. Waking up at 6 in the morning, having breakfast for about an hour, and finding the next clue by aimlessly strolling for about two hours... and now, this? Surely, this would be the most annoying and tedious part of the hunt. If she was able to search for the first few clues within three hours, this would take a lot longer than that.

[Y/n] let out an exasperated sigh, feeling her eyelids close due to the fatigue. "But all of these would be worth it in the end..."

"Is that [Y/n] over there?"

A familiar voice said, capturing the mentioned girl's attention. Opening her eyes, [e/c] pools met with four pairs of different colored eyes, all belonging to her friends. A few feet away from her, Fram, Waltz, Schneider, and Aslan were lined up at the counter to order.

"Oh, hey, everyone," [Y/n] greeted, giving them a small wave.

"Hey, [Y/n]~" Fram beamed, grinning brightly.

"Good to see you here, kiddo," the tall ravenette guffawed.

Meanwhile, Waltz and Schneider just smiled at her and waved.

"You guys are also here to order ice cream?" standing up, the young [h/c]ette sauntered over everyone, her half-eaten [f/f] ice cream still in her hold.

"Yep! What flavor did you have? I'm gonna try Schneider's favorite, mint chocolate!" Fram said, her blue eyes sparkling in delight at trying the new flavor.

[Y/n] giggled, taking a bite of the waffle cone and licking the melted ice cream. "I had [f/f]. Maybe I'll have some other flavors later."

"How was your morning so far?" Waltz spoke.

"Oh, pretty fine. After having breakfast at the hotel, I took a stroll around the area and met the others. Then, I ended up here," the girl shrugged, finally finishing up the last of her cone. "I'm just resting here for a while before I return to my excursion."

Schneider's brown eyes lit up. "Wow... all by yourself?"

"Hehe~ Do you want to join me, Schneider?" she grinned. "How about you guys? How's the second day for you all?"

After meeting with the four at the ice cream shop, [Y/n] ended up ordering another ice cream and joined them in a conversation. Aslan treated everyone with ice cream, and the youngsters were pretty grateful for his generosity. They sat in a booth, chatting while enjoying the frozen delight during one hot summer day.

As everyone had different flavors of ice cream, [Y/n] decided to taste everyone's preferences and see if she could add those flavors to her favorites as well. The five of them ended up chatting for about an hour, staying at the shop even after they finished eating their desserts. Despite [Y/n]'s plans of treasure hunting for today, just an hour or two of break spending it with her friends was enough to motivate her to finish what she was doing.

[Y/n] bid everyone goodbye, proceeding to accomplish the next step of the treasure hunt. Reading the paper the woman gave to her, the [h/c]-haired actress decided to visit the farthest person first. Luke was the man's name, and he was located on one of the small islands near Diamond Resort.

There are two ways to get there — one is getting on the gondola lifts that connect the main island to the smaller island, and the other is renting a speedboat or jet-ski. Of course, since [Y/n] doesn't know how to use any water-based vehicle nor have any money to rent it, she opted for the lift instead. At least, she could marvel at the surroundings while she was up there.

"Wow... The view is even beautiful up here..."

[E/c] orbs were wide in awe, sparkling as she stared outside the gondola lift she was in. Since only a few people wanted to travel to the smaller island at this hour, the young actress was able to nab a whole cart for herself and not worry about acting childish in front of other people.

It took about three minutes before she arrived at the landing area of the lift. And then she hopped off the cart, now arriving at one of the smaller islands. Her gaze scanned the area — it is pretty much an empty island with a little vegetation and a dock where one can rent a jet-ski.

"That must be Luke..." she muttered, noticing a brunette sitting at the edge of the wooden dock.

She approached him, determined to get this task done so that she could still have time to search for the others if he wasn't the one she was looking for.

"Fancy seeing you here again, [Y/n]," a certain blonde chuckled, cheeks tinted pink as he saw the girl talking to the cashier.

A long-haired ravenette popped up behind Waltz, a grin emerging on her lips as she, too, spotted the [h/c]ette. "Maybe she just can't get enough of the ice cream here."

"True."

After returning from Luke, [Y/n] went straight to Frostbite just like what the woman said. The young actress was glad that she got lucky with Luke since he was the first one she decided to check on and he was, fortunately, the one she was looking for. She wouldn't want to imagine the amount of muscle pain she would experience from continuously walking around the resort or even how long she would take just to finish it.

Finishing up her talk with the woman, [Y/n] turned around to see Fram and Waltz, a tired smile present on her lips. "Hey, guys. You're here again, huh?"

"Yep, I'm going to buy ice cream for Grandpa," the boy said.

"I'm just here to buy a couple more ice cream since it's so good~"

[Y/n] chuckled. Since she was here to complete the next task of her treasure hunt, she wouldn't need to wait for long or even linger in the store to rest. It's already lunchtime, and the girl wouldn't want to fill her empty stomach with cold deserts, or else she'd be suffering from stomachache in the middle of her treasure hunt. And that is the one thing she wanted to avoid at all costs.

"Maybe I could buy some pizza or pasta for snacks, just to sate my hunger. Thankfully there's a nearby pizza parlor here."

After paying for his order, Waltz turned to [Y/n], his golden eyes scrutinizing her body gestures. "Are you going to stay here like earlier, [Y/n]?"

She shook her head. "No. I'm just going to get what I need and then dip."

"Oh. Do you need to be somewhere? Maybe we could accompany you?"

"It's fine, Waltz," the girl waved her hand dismissively. "You need to bring the ice cream to Grandpa Walther, right?"

The blonde boy frowned. "Yeah, but I could accompany you after I bring it to him."

"I'm also available, you know?" Fram chimed in, placing a hand on her hips. "Although I planned on going somewhere with Johan and the others, I could tell them that I'm with you."

"It's alright, you two," [Y/n] sighed, shaking her head at these two insistent individuals. She showed them a reassuring smile, hoping that they won't press further. "I'm just going to the lighthouse on top of the hill nearby. It's just a few minutes walk away so you two should focus on whatever activity you're planning."

Fram and Waltz exchanged looks. The pout on their faces was evident, and when they glanced at [Y/n], the [h/c]-haired actress had to try her hardest not to give in to their puppy eyes. Fortunately, the woman returned with their orders, successfully stopping the two from whatever they were doing to persuade the girl.

"Thanks," taking the strawberry ice cream in a cup, [Y/n] skipped towards the exit. She turned back to the two, waving them goodbye. "After this, if we meet again, let's hang out! See you two later!"

"And there she goes..." the ravenette said, taking a bite of her cotton candy-flavored ice cream.

"She must be extremely busy... I wonder what she is on about."

Sped-walking at the side of the stone pavement, [Y/n] tried not to get distracted by the cold treat in her hands. The woman earlier offered the girl another ice cream of her choice for completing the task of finding the employees — serving as compensation for her hard work. Although the teen had to pass on the offer for now, she was glad that the offer still stood.

"Just a few more... I hope I can win this."

Finally arriving at the base of the hill, [Y/n] went up the stone staircase, two steps at a time. Despite the soreness she was feeling on her calves and knees, the [h/c]-haired teen pushed through. She wiped a few sweats from her face, feeling the scourging heat battering her petite form.

"Uwah! Finally...! I'm here!" the girl exhaled, pausing to take a breather from another set of exercises.

She took her time to rest, trying to calm her racing heart and wiping away a couple of sweats rolling down her face. When she regained her composure, she glanced around the area, spotting a peculiar pair nearby.

"Aran? Krom? It's rare to see them together like this."

"Aran! Krom!" [Y/n] shouted, waving her free hand up in the air.

"[Y/n]? You're here too!" Aran was the first to notice her, a smile on her lips as she jogged towards the girl. "So there's also a pathway here, huh."

Krom casually walked up to both girls, a slight crease in between his brows as he wiped a sweat. "You're here alone?"

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, I was just doing a meager task, that's why I'm here," the girl responded. "How about you guys?"

"Aran and I were buying ice cream at Frostbite for the others, though we got lost while trying to return to them. Aran said that it would be better to get on high ground to make it easier to search for the others so here we are."

"Oh, I see..." [Y/n] pursed her lips, trying her hardest not to make fun of the two. "Do you need help in finding your way around? I have a copy of the resort's map."

"Great, that's very much appreciated," the blue-haired male sighed in relief, a pink smear across his face and eyes soft.

Browsing carefully inside her sling bag with her free hand, [Y/n] gave them the extra map she got from the hotel's lobby. "Here. Careful on going down, you two. And oh, the path over here is much closer since it links up to the back of Sunset Street."

"Okay, thanks."

Bidding the two goodbyes, she watched as Krom and Aran went down the path she took to arrive at the hill. Nonetheless, she proceeded with her task — returning to the lighthouse to obtain the last clue to this treasure hunt, and hopefully win it.

"So, I need to solve the order of this code so that I can enter the hidden entrance to the cave... Hm..."

After completing the task earlier, [Y/n] received another parchment for the next and final clue of the treasure hunt. Fortunately for her, she doesn't need to cross the whole island to do this one. She just needs to go back down and enter the cave underneath the lighthouse.

The cave was pretty well-kept and is considered a public tourist spot, so there's no need to worry about safety. Knowing this, the [h/c]ette actress assumed that there would be some tourists visiting the cave at this hour. And as luck would have it, she stumbled upon some of her friends.

"We keep bumping into you, huh, kid?" Aslan guffawed, gently placing an arm around the girl's shoulder.

Schneider perk-up at the newcomer. "[Y/n], hey. Can you believe that this cave exists here in this resort?"

"Good noon, Aslan, Schneider, Bianca," the girl tittered.

Bianca reciprocated the smile. "I see that you're also curious about the tourist spots around the resort."

"Hehe... Yep," she grinned.

Aslan removed his arms around the girl, allowing her to walk further into the cave. There were a couple of tourists further inside, she even spotted Aries' snow-white hair in one corner of the area, admiring the indented crystals on the wall. Although the cave was truly mesmerizing, [Y/n] had to refrain from viewing the area. She need to finish the treasure hunt or else she would get distracted and probably lose this chance.

That's why the girl slipped through the crowd to find the place she was searching for. The cave goes deeper inside, with a pathway that twists and curves unnaturally. However, at the end of the cave was a large circular space. There was a small body of water in one area, sectioned off with a barrier.

Despite the sheer size or the number of shining crystals on the wall, [Y/n]'s gaze was instead fixated on a peculiar entryway at the very back of the cave. There was a person — who seemed to be a guard — standing next to it, his eyes inspecting every tourist in the area.

Gulping down her anxiety, [Y/n] walked towards the man. He immediately noticed her, relaxing his posture and waiting for her to speak.

"Um... 'When I arise from the sea, Starfish below quake at the sight of me! My teeth Pearl-y and sublime, my Tail long, glistening, it shines! In the misty blue brine, I search for Sailboats, they'll all be mine mine mine!"

"Ugh. That's so cringy."

After saying her piece, [Y/n] hoped for the best. The last parchment that she had received was one of the hardest puzzles that she had to solve to finally win this treasure hunt. She had spent the entire time thinking about the code order while she was walking. The girl doesn't know if she could get a second shot trying if she somehow messed up the arrangement. Though, hopefully, she gets this right.

Pursing her lips, [Y/n] tried her hardest to calm her speeding heart. The man before her scanned her entire being, his stoic face only intensifying her anxiety. His silence and the suspense around her were killing her, and she wanted nothing more than to escape this undesirable situation.

"That..." Finally, the man spoke. [Y/n] tensed up, hoping for the best in this situation. Noticing her sudden jolt, the man graced a smile. "Congratulations. You may enter the prize room."

"H-huh...? Did I... just win the... treasure hunt? This isn't a dream...right?"

[Y/n] blinked a couple of times, unconsciously holding her breath once she heard the words coming from this man. Despite her efforts, her heart rate didn't go down, instead, it only increased. After a moment, the reality dawned on her, and she couldn't stop a sheepish smile from emerging on her lips, her cheeks tinted with pink.

As the man opened the door to the next area, [Y/n] walked inside and was met with a young woman with red hair. She was seated behind a wooden desk. The 'room' was well built — the walls and floor were made out of wood and it was fairly furnished with furniture and a couple of decor.

"Welcome, dear," the woman said, her mellow voice making [Y/n] stare in a trance. "So you're our winner for today?"

"H-huh? Uh! O-oh, y-yes..."

The adult chuckled at the younger's flustered behavior. "Can you show me the parchment papers given to you?"

"O-of course," following her request, [Y/n] rummaged through her sling bag to retrieve the parchment papers containing the clues. Then, she walked over to the redhead and handed her the papers. "Here."

The woman hummed, scanning the paper she received. Upon concluding that the [h/c]ette indeed collected all and went through the entire treasure hunt legitimately, she pulled the drawer below and got out an envelope. She placed the item on top of her desk, sliding it toward [Y/n].

"Congratulations, Miss. You won this day's treasure hunt," she declared, a big grin present on her face. "Here's your prize. This envelope contained a couple of coupons for Diamond Resort's best facilities. You can redeem any coupon until the next year. Furthermore, you can enjoy the luxury with friends and families with a maximum number of 10 people, excluding yourself."

"W-w-w-what...? Is this for real? Did I just win this?!"

If you may, please sign this congratulatory contract for winning the prize. Don't worry, we just need to ensure that you've won today's treasure hunt and your basic information will be documented by our tourism sector."

Snapping out from her blissful stupor, the girl then glanced down at the legal document presented before her. "Alright."

After reading the contract and completing the documentation, [Y/n] took the envelope, a cheeky grin plastered on her face upon staring at the item.

"Once again, I congratulate you, Miss [Y/n] for winning today's treasure hunt. I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay here at Diamond Resort."

"So the reason why you were adamant about exploring on your own was because of the treasure hunt?" a certain raven-haired male mentioned, the spite and saltiness of his tone didn't fail to deliver. He narrowed his eyes at the jovial girl, his lips sporting a frown as he crossed his arms. "You're so selfish."

"Hehe~ Sorry, oppa," [Y/n] stuck her tongue at him, holding the envelope that contained her prize for winning the treasure hunt earlier that day. "I don't want you getting on my case every minute. Besides, I wanted to win this treasure hunt for myself. I wanted to prove that I can achieve something big on my own."

Zelda, Dietrich, and Cannae circled the girl, peering over her shoulder to see what lies inside the fancy envelope. Rouin, on the other hand, just watched from afar, enjoying the light quarrel between the siblings.

"You should've let me join in the fun, unnie!" Cannae whined, puckering her lips cutely.

"Hehe~ Sorry, Cannae. It just slipped my mind," the [h/c]ette chuckled, patting her younger cousin's green tresses to console her. "Next time, I'll invite you."

"Yay!"

Zelda pouted, pointing to herself. "How about me, [N/n]? Can't I join too?"

"Hmm..." the mentioned girl tilted her head, placing her thumb and finger under her chin as she feigned pondering. After a while, she faced her older sister, a smirk gracing her lips. "Sure. Why not?"

"Huh? So I'm the only one you're excluding? That's unfair!"

"What can I say? You're the only boy in the family," the female twin placed a hand on the other's shoulder.

Dietrich face-palmed, groaning in displeasure. "You girls..."

"Hehe~"

"Well, I'm still proud you managed to win a treasure hunt," he mentioned, a gentle smile emerging on his lips. He then ruffled his little sister's [h/c] locks. "Though, tell me next time where you're going. You're going to worry us if you just decide to go somewhere on your own."

"Mhm. That's right, [Y/n]," Rouin chimed in, walking over to everyone who was huddled on the couch. The young girl blinked her eyes at the oldest in the group, noticing his soft expression. "Always inform us where you're going to be. Since we're in a foreign place, it'll make us worry more if you're by yourself."

"I understand, Rouin oppa. I'll do that, don't worry," she replied, smiling close-eyed. "Though, don't worry much. The others are also with me most of the time."

#fanfiction #fanfic #alternate universe #oneshot #one shot #reader insert #x reader #fluff #drabble #female reader #moments in archive #lord of heroes #loh

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thetravellingvagrant · 4 months

Text

Day 14 (and a bit of 15): In Which Time Has No Meaning Any More, Have I Always Been In Torrellano? Will I Always Be Here? (no, and its only been 12 hours)

Today marked the last full day of, honestly, a reasonably sedate and okay trip. My plans were, by necessity, to take it easy and do very, very little of any significant blogworthy interest.

I begun the day by clinging as hard as I could do my private room, which I had use of until noon and which, also, I had really begun to despise. It was cramped, hot and someone had etched a little cartoon monster into one of the blacked out windows, which the hostel had elected to simply cover with a piece of cardboard, haphazardly taped over the frame. It was, though, also the only place I knew where it would be permissable to walk around in just some pants for the next little while, so I stayed.

12 rolled around as it usually does and with it, I bid goodbye to the cleaner whom I had been awkwardly bumping into in the corridor about six times a day, since I arrived and made the relatively brief jaunt to Alicante’s big nice train station. I had booked myself a room in a very expensive yet not even that good looking hotel near the airport, in the nearby town of Torrellano and so, needed to navigate one last bit of Spanish public transport and let me tell ya, this was the most baffling of all.

I had thought that because Alicante is 97% English expats named Terry that it would be a piece of piss, though thisnwpild prove to be my undoing. Or not my undoing - I did do it, but it was annoying, is what I'm getting at.

I approached a ticket machine and pretty swiftly punched in my intended destination. Torrellano is about 15 minutes and two stops away from Alicante and I knew there were like three trains and hour that went there, so you can imagine my surprise when the machine proudly told me, like a child that had painted a nice picture of a horse, that I had missed the only train of the day that was scheduled to visit.

That couldn't be right - Google was telling me an entirely different story and I trust Google with my life, so jog on, machine, actually. I reasoned that it was probably just the train line that owned these particular machines that only ran one journey a day there and tried a different set of machines.

These machines did not operate in English. They said they did - I could pretty the ‘change language’ button, however all that did was change the language of the language select screen and absolutely nothing else, so that was cool.

I stood there, dumfounded, phone in hand, slowly Google translating everything on the screen to figure out what I was missing as a queue of mildly irritated Spaniards formed behind me and eventually figured out, by some - if I may say absolutely incredibly stroke of luck and vagrant’s intuition that the option I needed to press was “simple”, although the process has been anything but. I found my destination, selected my fare,scanned my card and…waited. For ages. Before the machine told me my transaction was cancelled. Well shit. I'd have to try the neighbouring machine. This was my last option before I had to speak to a person, which essentially meant this was my last option before I walked.

I realised, upon using the second machine that what I had been doing wrong was that not only did I have to tap my card on the contactless reader, I also had to put my pin code in, making it a two step verification and security process to buy a train ticket for two euros fifty, which, I will be honest, did seem a little like overkill.

Regardless, I had my ticket in hand and so I sat for a bit, until my gate was announced, then quite easily found Mt correct train and sat on it for a bit until it was time to get off.

Torrellano, I have to say, is a bit horrid. It looks a bit like a nuclear bomb had gone off in it thirty years ago and was only just getting round to recovering.

We don't take kindly to yer types, roun' here.

I sat on a park bench eating a pretty terrible lunch, writing my blog and watching the freaks pass until three o'clock rolled around and I could finally check in to my - and I do have to stress this - very expensive but not even that nice hostel, which, to gain access to, you had to walk through the back room of a neighbouring restaurant in a brazen attempt to cross-advertise and which, surely, is an immediate sign of quality for both establishments.

I dealt, curtly with my first and only unpleasant receptionist of the trip - of course it was the one in the proper hotel - and immediately locked myself in my very expensive but honestly not even that nice room, which has a very expensive and begrudgingly quite pleasant en suite bathroom. It was only Three-ish, but I decided to just hunker down for the night rather than explore the local area and risking all the associated radiation burns that go with such an endeavor. I sat then, until around 10ish, at which point I decided to go to sleep, in preparation for my ludicrous 3am wake up the next day.

I may well have decided to go to sleep, however the occupants of the neighbouring room weren't going to make that easy, staying up, as they did, until 1 in the morning, shouting, banging (doors, not genitals) and generally being as loud and distracting as they possibly could without physically being in my room. It's fine. I would probably only need two hours of sleep anyway.

I awoke two hours and fifteen minutes later in a nightmarish haze of hair, limbs and dry mouth, in a panic, as my phone's alarm went off at the maximum volume I could set, in an attempt not to sleep through it. I peeled myself off of my now very sweaty sheets, hoisted my bag onto my back and, grumbling more deeply and intensely than I have, possibly ever before in my life, set out into the night/early morning.

There were no buses to the airport at this time so I had decided to walk. It was only a 50 minute journey and I'm sure my bag wouldn't hurt me too badly in the process, so whatever. It was fine. Who needs shoulders anyway? Not me.

The walk, I have to say, was the single most terrifying point of this trip. Only the first ten or so minutes of it were furnished by street lights and upon crossing the train tracks leading out of time, I realized I would have to make the rest of the substantial walk in pretty close to complete darkness

How did I not die

…and without a discernable pavement. Excellent.

I took my earphones out, and cautiously, slowly, began trudging along the muddy, grassy verge beside the motorway; a vagrant classic.

Ultimately though, while harrowing, it was fine and not even that bad and frankly, a big fuss over nothing - I have to say that so I don't get shouted at by people who inexplicably care if I get hit by a car - and soon found the departure lounge of the airport.

I had been warned by my ticket to be there no later than 4:30am because “the airport was likley to be very busy”, so obviously it was entirely empty and I breezed through security in literal seconds, with effing she's to spare. That was fine, though. Better early and bored than late and panicking, I suppose.

I sat, then, early and bored, for what actually only ended up being a few minutes, by my gate as the airline (Ryanair again, who can, and this is true, get fucked) began loading us onboard at around five to five, with our estimated departure time being 6am. Or, I say boarded! What they actually did was make us all get out of our seats so we could stand up instead, holding heavy, unpleasant bags instead of laying them on the floor and waiting for nearly 45 minutes until the queue actually began to move. Superb, as ever, O’Leary.

Once - finally - on board, I took my seat next to an okay woman and a terrible man who snored when awake, had warts all over his fingers and rested his arms in his tummy in such a way that when he breathed, the expending fat would push his elbows out over the edge of the arm rests and into my ribs. It's a good thing this flight was only…/Three and a half hours?!/…/delayed to four hours!?/

Four and a bit hours of disjointed uncomfortable micro-sleep and barely cognisant awake bits later and with genuinely slightly sore ribs from fatty wart man's inexplicably respiratory arms, I was in my final destination of the trip, dropping 26 degrees of temperature in the space of half a day in the process.

I'm writing this bit on the flygbuss to Göteborg city, with less than three hours of sleep and a missed dinner and breakfast under my belt, so I feel like this is as good a place as any to curtail the blog for this year - save, perhaps, a small epilogue about the people who annoyed me on the flight home - as the rest would, and I cannot stress this enough, just be a list of the incredibly unhealthy food I would have eaten over the next four days.

The moral, then, of this trip - and each trip *does* have a moral, is quite simply that Ryanair truly can get absolutely fucked in all holes, while trapped in a bin.

#travelling #vagrant #travel #photography #alicante #spain #ryanair #fuck ryanair #even though there was basically no problem this time fuck ryanair

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botanyshitposts · 5 years

Photo

Fossil genera of Late Palaeozoic lepidophyte stems showing surface views with leaf bases or leaf scars, vascular and parichnos marks in the leaf scars and ligule pit apertures, and side views of the ‘uncompressed’ leaf bases and laminae. Redrawn from Thomas and Meyen (1984).

- Introduction to Plant Fossils, Cleal and Thomas, 2009

i was talking about different shapes of leaf cushions used for identification in this post and i remembered this chart showing a few pieces of different lepidophyte trunk fossils from the same era. all of these ‘scales’ are leaf cushions left behind from microphylls, alongside what they might have looked like supporting leaves on the living plant 400 million years ago; although Lepidodendron was arguably the most important species in this group in terms of ecology and the biggest in terms of size, this one gives a cool survey of some of their relatives, close and distant, living around the same time.

#eyyy now that im back at school i have access to my uni's big library and their fancy scanners #i first saw this chart writing my isoetes term paper and was thinking about it all morning #but i had to wait until NOON to get the book and scan it in #they have a little paleobotany section i wonder if they have any good Noodle Pictures(tm)#paleobotany

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loousir · 3 years

Text

[Naga] Snake Bites

Naga Male x Bold (& kinda dense) Artist Male Reader

Syerca

Setting: Mostly a Naga's cave deep into a forest.

Warnings: Soft lime at the end (marking/mate), bad (was the first oneshot in the original book), slight mention of naga attacking reader

Masterlist

-----------------------

The fall breeze blew gently, tossing some fallen leaves around some worn shoes. The man who wore said shoes brushed away the strands of hair that had fallen into his face. He stared out into the woods, eyes following a gorgeous path until it disappeared.

"Hope you don't plan on goin' out there, " An older resident said. They were at the edge of a small cabin town. Some houses we're newer than others but that didn't seem to bother anyone. The houses were decently spaced and it was pretty active for being where most elders come to retire.

The man shrugged at the other's comment and adjusted the large hiking bag on his shoulders. "You shouldn't. Most don't make it back." The other male rolled his eyes and looked back to the elder. "I'm well aware of what lurks out there." He turned away from the other and set out on the path.

The path almost instantly secluded anyone who walked it from the chaotic world around it. He examined the terrain and all it had to offer, collecting some things along the way. His side bag was full of odd rocks and a book that had some pressed foliage, now had ones he hadn't collected before.

The walk was peaceful. Birds chirping as the wind rustled the leaves. The path was mostly covered but the leaves caused rays of light to shine through, giving him inspiration. He eventually found a spot to rest and decided to paint the path he was walking. Once his bag was set down, he pulled out a roll of canvas and laid it as flat as he could.

There were some paints and brushes in a holder in the middle of the roll and he smiled softly as he picked them up. He opened the bag and pulled out what he thought he needed as well as a small jar that held water to clean the brushes.

Close to 30 minutes had passed when he got a slight chill down his spine. He paused his painting and looked around. His eyes only saw the woods so he somewhat hesitantly went back to painting. After another 40-ish minutes passed, he finished his first of few paintings.

Luckily, the breeze dried his paints quicker than he had anticipated. He very carefully added a few layers of a sealant he had and let it dry. The same chill from earlier came around again but it was a bit more intense. He looked around as he finished cleaning and putting things away, noticing something in the distance.

Whatever he was looking at disappeared and he sighed as the now dry canvas was gently rolled and placed back onto the bag. He stood up, stretched, and continued his mostly peaceful walk, forgetting what he had seen earlier.

Some hours had passed, his periodic breaks allowing him to gain inspiration for future paintings. It was just after noon when he decided to make his own path. He pulled out a book and wrote directions so he could find his way back. In the process of creating his own path, he stumbled upon one of the most stunning places he'd ever seen.

It was a small, oasis-like area that had a magical feel to it. He stopped what he was doing and found the perfect spot to paint the scene in front of him.

While he painted, some birds had visited him and even a small snake had managed to befriend him and his paints. The snake had coiled gently around his wrist while he worked which made him smile.

The man had sat and painted the space for another 2 hours, finishing at around 2 o'clock. His (e/c) eyes looked up to the sky and he sighed, sealing his now finished work before packing everything away.

The snake was still on his wrist, not even bothering to leave so he just dealt with it. He continued on his own path for another hour. It was still fairly bright when he found himself at the entrance of a cave.

The small snake uncoiled itself and slid into a pocket on his cloak. The cave went deeper but he was cool with not going into it since he was going to leave soon anyway.

He stayed at the entrance and found a nice area to sit and relax, maybe get another painting done of what the cave looked like. It was gorgeous after all, nature framed the entrance perfectly, leaving some vines to hang down, moss covers rocks and small fungi scattered every so often.

He decided on just relaxing as he set his stuff down and leaned against a wall.

Soon enough, he had dozed off into his dreamland.

------

I ssswear I'll kill that woman...

Ssshe won't leave me alone...

The large, gorgeous albino Naga slithered through the leaves, carefully making his way to his home. He had noticed some newer prints, clearly from something with two legs, but he didn't pay too much mind to them.

He reached the cave and sighed as he entered. Bright blue eyes scanned the area and his heart sank to his stomach when he saw a (tall/short/avg) man with (h/l) (h/c) hair leaning against the wall.

Pleassse dear godsss tell me he iss alive...

He quickly made his way to the motionless body, not noticing said body's items not too far away.

If ssshe killed another human to try to pleasse me... I ssswear...

As he was lost in thought, the other stirred thanks to his intense staring and slightly heavy breathing. The human yawned and stretched his back slightly as he looked up to the Naga with a slightly annoyed expression.

"Is there something you need?"

The Naga jumped slightly and stared down at him with shock but also joy, happy he wasn't dead.

"I apologize... I wasss afraid you had passsed..."

The Naga paused for a moment while the other rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"Wait... You aren't... Afraid of me?"

The (h/c) shook his head and looked up to him again. "If you don't mind, I would like to take my leave." He said placing his hands on the ground in preparation to stand. The Naga stood speechless, staring at the smaller human sitting in front of him.

"Can you move please?"

With a nod and small apology, the Naga moved away from the male who carefully stood and stretched his limbs.

The white and yellow snake watched as the other took out a small pocket watch, that the small snake from earlier was now holding on to, and checked the time. "When the hell did I get so late..." The man mumbled to himself. The time read 8:11 and judging by the lack of light it was night time. He slipped the watch and snake back onto his pocket.

"Well, I better get going." He said grabbing his bag and putting over his shoulder. The Naga still stood, watching as the male walked to the mouth of the cave.

"W-wait!"

He looked back to see that the other had slithered closer and held a worried look on his face. "P-please don't leave! Y-you can't!"

"Oh yeah, and whys that?"

"I would rather not find sssuch a beautiful man ssslaughtered on my cave-step in the morning..."

Said beautiful man turned to look at him, slightly shocked at the statement.

"Pleassse just ssstay with me till the morning and I'll essscort you back to the village..." He looked frantic and genuinely seemed like he cared.

With a sigh, the other looked to the pleading blue eyes and said, "I don't bunk with strangers. I'll be fine." He turned and walked out of the cave, leaving the Naga shocked and frozen.

"Wait! I'm ssserious! Pleassse!" He followed after the human and froze once again when he saw him pinned by the she-devil herself. His bag had been tossed to the side, most of the contents falling out. She had him wrapped in her tail and smiled as he struggled to get free.

His shy demeanor had dissipated rather quickly. The small snake had gotten out of the other's pocket and hid in the nearly empty bag.

He suddenly lunged towards the woman he hated so much. She clearly hadn't noticed him before then and threw the human off to the side, his body slamming into a tree. The two of them fought as the one tossed aside slowly passed out, struggling to stay awake.

------

Soft hands gently rubbed his back as he awoke again. His (e/c) eyes looked around the best the could but they didn't see much other than a wall. His whole body was sore but those hands were working wonders. The room was warm and whatever he was laying on was extremely comfortable. He closed his eyes and let out a pleased groan.

The hands froze and pulled away quickly, making him turn his head the other way. A set of bright blue eyes were staring with surprise that the male was awake. "H-hello there..." The human smirked and slowly blinked, "Hey sexy, why'd ya stop?"

The blonde blushed and looked away. "I dessspissse that remedy ssso much..." He mumbled as his hands carefully went back to massaging. "Mmm... I'm soooo tired... Will you cuddle with me?"

"No... Just go back to sssleep human..."

"Mm... Oh-kay."

------

A soft warm light lit the room, if you could really call it a room. A rather noisy yawn resonated from a still fairly sore male. He carefully stretched and sat up, almost instantly laying back down.

"Fuuck me..."

His hand fell from what he now knows as a large hammock. Soft locks brushed against his fingers and without thinking he gently combed them, enjoying the soft and cool feeling on his slightly rough hands. The owner of said locks leaned into the hand, clearly not realizing whose hand it was.

The two enjoyed each other for a moment before the blonde realized the situation. He pulled away and sat up, looking at the still sleepy human in his bed. "Are you feeling better? Do you need anything?" He asked leaning in slightly.

"Something to drink, and maybe a name?" The Naga nodded and got a cup of water first. He sat up in the hammock carefully and crossed his legs slightly. Looking around, the room was neat yet cluttered with various items. He spot his stuff and cautiously, yet somewhat reluctantly, left the hammock to inspect them.

He sat on the large plush rug and rummaged through his own things, glad to see that everything he had was still there. Other than his canvas. He panicked slightly and looked around, immediately regretting the sudden movement.

Laying back, he closed his eyes and sighed. Mr. Naga came back and looked at the other on the ground. He hovered over him slightly till he opened his eyes. "Here, it'sss fresh ssspring water."

"Thank you." He said carefully sitting up and drinking what he was given.

"My name is Sssyerca." The other nodded. "(Y/n). Do you happen to know where my canvas is at Sssyerca?" He asked mimicking the way the other said it. Syerca blushed and nodded, moving over to a small table to grab it. (Y/n) stood up carefully from the floor and followed him to said table.

There was a large couch, clearly made for the naga, that (Y/n) sat on. Syerca sat next to him, and (Y/n) leaned on him, closing his eyes as he took in the snakes, surprising, warmth. Said snake blushed and looked down to the (h/c). He gently took the cup from (Y/n)'s hand and set it on the table.

"I hope you don't mind that I may have looked at your paintingsss..." (Y/n) shrugged and looked up to Syerca, one eye pressed against his side. "Are they ok? Physically?"

"Ah, yesss! They're fine. And quite beautiful if I might sssay..." Syerca said with a soft tone. (Y/n) smiled and looked down to the rolled canvas. He stood up and Syerca watched as he stood on the opposite side of the table. "Lie on the couch and get comfortable. Let me grab something real quick." He said walking over to his bag and rummaging around for a moment.

Syerca hesitantly did as the painter asked and made himself comfortable on the couch. (Y/n) found all of the supplies he needed and set them on the floor next to the table before sitting on his knees. "May I make a request?" He asked looking up to Syerca. The Naga nodded as he watched (Y/n) unroll the canvas. "Look cute and don't move till I say you can." Syerca blushed and adjusted slightly so that he was looking at the other.

(Y/n) started to put blobs of color onto the canvas. Syerca watched as the soft yellows and whites turned into his tail, then tans to his chest, and so on till it had gotten to his head, his face still not painted.

It had been close to 2 hours by that point but neither had seemed to notice the time go by due to being entranced by the painting. "Syerca. Could you look at me? Don't look at the painting." (Y/n) said, starting at the other's eyes. He blushed softly and looked into (Y/n)'s (e/c) eyes.

Syerca took this opportunity to examine the human closely. His (e/c) eyes we're soft yet focused, while his (h/style) (h/c) hair moved slightly with his gentle head movements. He blushed and bit his lip slightly as he looked at his lips. They were a soft pink color and we're parted slightly as he worked, the occasional blep happening due to his focus.

Many minutes had passed before (Y/n) looked up and said. "Alright. You can move again." Syerca snapped out of his trance and looked down to the canvas. (Y/n) cleaned up as Syerca turned the canvas to look at properly. His eyes shined as he looked at it closer. "The amount of detail iss amazing..." (Y/n) looked up and smiled. "You can have it if you want it. I'll put it on a frame and sign it if you do." He said with a small laugh.

Syerca looked up as his eyes widened slightly. "Really? That would be lovely..." (Y/n) nodded and said, "I'll have to head back to my home though. If you'd be willing to come with me I could do it today." He went to get his pocket watch to check the time when he heard Syerca get off the couch. (Y/n) though nothing of it but tensed when he was hugged from behind.

He turned his head slightly to look at Syerca who buried his face into the crook of (Y/n)'s neck. "Uh... What are you doing that for?" The other stayed silent for a moment before responding. "I know thisss is extremely sssudden... But... Would you be willing to become my mate?"

"... What would be in it for me?" (Y/n) asked looking to Syerca who pulled away. "Protection from any other Naga, free-range of my territory... It will finally let me rid thisss world of that vile woman that attacked you..." He said mumbling the last part. His eyes looked to (Y/n)'s (e/c) eyes and the other said,

"So you wanna be my boyfriend?"

Syerca was quiet before he broke out in laughter, his eyes closing as he did. "Yesss... I-if that'sss what humansss call... Call matesss." (Y/n) looked up and shrugged. "Ok. I'm single anyway." Syerca smiled and hugged him, gently pressing their foreheads together. "Would it be ok for me to mark you?" He asked quietly, looking into (Y/n)'s eyes.

"I-I don't know what that entails but um... Sure..." (Y/n) gently wrapped his arms around Syerca's bare torso. He gently rubbed the others back. It was smooth but the occasional line like bump came up, telling there was a scar there. Syerca leaned down to (Y/n)'s neck and placed soft kisses under his jaw. (Y/n) gasped and shivered, slightly tightening his grip on the male, not expecting what he did.

Syerca continued to kiss before mumbling, "Sssorry... But thisss might hurt..." (Y/n) was about to speak up but Syerca bit down on his neck, his canines sinking in. (Y/n) gasped and let out a small moan of pain as he hugged him. Syerca pulled away slightly and licked the spot where he bit. It left a tingling sensation behind and (Y/n) felt a bit weak after.

"Are you ok..? The mark will tell that your claimed... My ssscent will remain and only be picked up by other naga..." He gently brushed (Y/n)'s hair back. "I wish you told me that's what you were going to do..." Syerca looked away and sighed, "I didn't think you would allow me if I told you."

(Y/n) looked up to him and moved his hands from the others back to his cheeks. He gently rubbed them with his thumbs. Syerca smiled and (Y/n) smiled too. His thumbs gently rubbed over Syerca's lips, they were thin but still nice. Syerca smiled more and stuck his tongue out, showing it's slit. "I don't know what's in that... Saliva of yours but it made me feel pretty good."

Syerca moved (Y/n)'s hands from his face and interlocked their fingers. "Also what's with you and making me feel good?" He asked, resting his face on Syercas chest. "I apologize... But... Thank you for letting me... M-mark you." (Y/n) pulled away and looked up to the others eyes. "Let's get to know each other before we call it official though." Syerca nodded and rested his forehead against (Y/n)'s.

"I'll take you back to your village a little later. For now, let'sss get to know each other... Like you sssuggested..."

----

3066

Definitely not my fav but hey

#mxm #monster x male reader #male monster x reader #monster male x male reader #oneshot #x male reader

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